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mike pompeo
President-elect Donald Trump has offered Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas the position of CIA director, his transition team said Friday.
Trump also selected retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama as attorney general.
"He has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens," Trump said of Pompeo in a statement. "Mike graduated number one in his class at West Point and is a graduate of Harvard Law School where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies."
Pompeo is a tea-party-aligned House member who originally supported Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in the GOP presidential primary. He expressed some criticism of Trump during the campaign but ultimately offered his support after Trump secured the Republican nomination.
"You have seen him make good decisions in his business life, his family life, with his children," Pompeo said in July. "So I am excited for a commander in chief who fearlessly puts America out in front."
Pompeo has been a strong opponent of President Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal, and he is well known for his fierce criticism of Hillary Clinton during the congressional investigation into the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Pompeo has been criticized in the past for his comments about Muslims, as he once argued in 2013 that clerics who failed to fully denounce terrorists were "complicit" in the attacks.
He also apologized in 2010 for a tweet his campaign posted that called his Indian-American opponent, Raj Goyle, a "turban topper" who "could be a Muslim, a hindy, a buddhist etc who knows."
NOW WATCH: Trumps attorney general pick was once denied a federal judge job over alleged racist remarks
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STEVEN Spielbergs Close Encounters of the Third Kind is an undisputed classic of the talking-to-aliens genre, but Denis Villeneuves Arrival ups the stakes by posing the question of how to deal with cracking the code of inter-species communication when there are multiple UFOs in play.
Where Close Encounters centred on the appearance of one craft in the Wyoming desert, its 2016 cousin examines the extra stresses and strains imposed on the hurriedly-appointed translator(s) when a dozen spacecraft have pitched up at locations around the globe.
Its all very well gradually immersing yourself in the newcomers language in this case represented by slightly-varying inkblots squirted onto a transparent screen by the the squid-cum-spider beings but when China and Russia are getting ever more jumpy about the shell-shaped ships on their own doorstep it takes the calmest of minds to ward off panic.
Thank the heavens then for Amy Adams sad but peacable language expert Dr Louise Banks and her physicist sidekick Dr Ian Donnelly.
Thrown together by the military to unravel the mysteries of the seven-legged aliens mix of throbs and honks, the pair soon overcome their visitors intial frostiness by letting their guards down a little and end up compiling a wealth of the aliens circular signs.
But what does it all mean, and when the aliens apparently use the word weapon, is this simply a misinterpreted signal or a genuine act of aggression?
The hawkish Chinese and Russians see it as the latter, their own linguists observations prompting them to amass their military muscle and start bandying threats around.
In a clear nod to Close Encounters, Banks is given special access to the aliens environment as the clock ticks down and faces it with the same mix of enchantment and bafflement we saw in Richard Dreyfuss Roy Neary all those years ago.
Indeed, while Jeremy Renner's Donnelly is on-hand with occasional comic relief and as a sounding-board for Banks, it is Amy Adams who dominates the drama, Banks' digression into apparent day-dreams featuring her absent daughter running parallel to her battle for a breakthrough to the arrivals mother tongue.
Aside from the obvious leap of faith needed to buy into any alien-based film, Arrival asks its audience to consider the concept of a non-sound-based language and even the idea of non-linear time.
Sound complicated? It is, but when the weird science threatens to overwhelm the human journey, Adams compelling, thoughtful performance forms the perfect bridge between the two.
Forest Whittaker also provides able support as the Weber, the Army colonel struggling to balance the more aggressive instincts of his colleagues - the catalyst for one jarring and (oddly) hurriedly-overlooked subplot with the desire for a peaceful outcome.
Banks and Donnelly may be captivated by the potential positives of making new intergalatic connections, but Weber's tension perfectly illustrates the flip side.
Paying homage to its highly-lauded predecessor while offering new ways of looking at time, language and emotion, Arrival is thought-provoking and welcome addition to the sci-fi genre.
Like the graceful aliens at its heart, its strangely beguiling to look at, intriguing to spend time with and stretches credulity to its limits.
But most importantly, it takes that ages-old concept its good to talk and embues it with new life.
Its message is clear with no single leader and no shortage of paranoia, its not the aliens from outer space we most crucially need to connect with, but the ones on our own planet.
PROUD dad Mark Edwards has thanked staff at Rotherham Hospital for making it possible for him to give his daughter away at her wedding just weeks after he suffered a stroke.
Mark (55), from Aughton, was referred to the unit in July and spent 27 days as an in-patient before being cared for at home by his family and staff from Rotherham NHS Foundation Trusts stroke early supported discharge service.
His main motivation during his rehabilitation and recovery was to be able to see his daughter Laura tie the knot to husband Steve Haynes in September.
Mark said that dream came true thanks to the work of occupational therapist Natalie Cox and physiotherapist Katie McEwan.
He said: It was very much Natalie and Katies ambition to get me to the wedding as much as it was mine.
They wanted to succeed in getting me to the wedding and they even came on the morning to help me get ready, although Katie and I needed a little help from Youtube to tie my cravat.
Everyone was happy to see me at the wedding.
My son pushed me down the aisle and I got my cue to stand to give Laura away.
I felt really proud of how far Id come but I couldnt have done it without Natalie and Katies support.
Laura, who now lives at Handsworth, near Sheffield, said the couple even considered postponing their big day.
She said: It meant everything to have my dad there.
He had the stroke six weeks before the wedding and everything went through my mind.
It was a very stressful few weeks. He was in hospital for four weeks and he had only been home for two by the time of the wedding.
My mum had a meeting with the hospital and they said they were really willing to help get him there.
Laura thanked Natalie and Katie for their amazing efforts in helping him with his recovery.
She said: It was little things we hadnt considered like getting him ready in the morning and they took over everything.
My dad is doing okay. Progress is slow but we just want to see him back on his feet because he was so active before the stroke.
Katie said: Mark mentioned Natalie and me in his speech and said that he would not have been there without our help and support.
There wasnt a dry eye in the house.
We felt incredibly honoured to be able to support him at the wedding and proud of the work wed put in to help him get there.
Zijn Platinum appoints former SA finance minister as deputy chair Nkwe Platinum and South Africa Zijin Platinum, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Zijin Mining, have appointed former South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni as a non-executive director and deputy chairperson of South Africa Zijin Platinum.
Saudi Arabia seeks support from Australian miners to diversify its oil-dependent economy Saudi Arabia is seeking support from Australian miners to support its $170 bn plan to build a mining industry, and diversify its oil-dependent economy this decade. Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef is in...
WGC: Global gold demand up 28% y-o-y in Q3 The World Gold Councils latest Gold Demand Trends report reveals that gold demand (excluding OTC) in the third quarter of 2022 hit 1,181 tonnes, up 28% year-on-year. Strong demand pushed the year-to-date total to its pre-COVID levels. Gold...
Karo Mining to raise $50m to develop Zim platinum project Tharisa, the platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome co-producer, says its subsidiary Karo Mining has opened a fixed income note offer to raise $50 million to be listed by way of introduction on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX)...
Grafton Group Plc (GFTU.L) announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Gunters en Meuser B.V. G&M, a distributor of tools, fixings and ironmongery in the Greater Amsterdam Area. The combined will trade from a network of 53 branches.
Gavin Slark, CEO of Grafton said: "The acquisition of G&M is a unique strategic opportunity for our existing business in the Netherlands to gain a strong presence in the Greater Amsterdam Area. G&M is a high quality business and brand that is synonymous with the ironmongery market in Amsterdam where it has traded for 190 years. This will be a further important step in the Group's development strategy in the Netherlands and increases our exposure to the growing Dutch ."
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Business News
Automaker Volkswagen AG (VKW.L,VLKAF.PK,VOW.BE) said Friday it will cut 23,000 jobs in Germany as part of a re-positioning of its core brand and to enable a shift from conventional car making to electric vehicles as well as digital mobility.
The Board of Management and General Works Council of Volkswagen have signed a so-called "pact for the future" in Wolfsburg following constructive negotiations.
Volkswagen, which has been entangled in diesel-car emissions cheating issues, said it intends to completely reposition the Volkswagen brand by 2020.
The company expects the restructuring to have a positive impact on its earnings of 3.7 billion euros per year by 2020. Of this figure, the company's German facilities will account for 3 billion euros.
The company also plans to invest about 3.5 billion euros in "future-oriented areas" over the next few years, which will result in the creation of 9,000 jobs.
The German automaker will implement the 23,000 job cuts via natural fluctuation and partial early retirement, but without compulsory redundancies. Reports have projected job cuts of 30,000 in the next few years.
Under the pact, Volkswagen plans to improve the productivity of the German plants by about 25 percent and increase the operating margin to 4 percent by 2020 from an expected 2 percent this year.
The automaker's plants in Germany will develop and produce electric vehicles and components, while a pilot plant for battery cells and cell modules will also be developed. In addition, the company will take steps to safeguard the future of conventional units.
The plants at Wolfsburg and Zwickau will assume responsibility for the production of electric vehicles based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit or MEB.
In order to ensure efficient capacity deployment, a further model will be produced at the Emden plant, while an additional Volkswagen Group vehicle will also be produced at Wolfsburg.
Brunswick will continue to produce the battery system for the Modular Transverse Toolkit and will also develop and produce the battery system for the Modular Electric Drive Kit.
Volkswagen said that the creation of about 9,000 additional jobs in future-oriented areas will be done by filling the vacancies with existing employees as well as by recruiting specialists from outside the Group.
In October 2016, a federal judge in the U.S. approved a $14.7 billion settlement in the Volkswagen Group's diesel car emissions cheating case, representing one of the largest settlement in U.S. history.
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Business News
President-elect Donald Trump has offered the post of Attorney General to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., one of his closest allies, U.S. media reports.
A former prosecutor elected to the Senate in 1996, Sessions is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and served as an adviser on Trump's immigration policy during the presidential campaign.
The news comes a day after the President-elect met with Sessions in his office in New York.
Following the meeting, the Trump transition team said Trump has been unbelievably impressed with Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and U.S. Attorney.
"It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition," the transition team said in a statement.
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
Donald Trump has offered the post of Attorney General to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, one of his closest allies, US media reports.
It has also been reported that US President-elect's trusted military adviser Retd. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is touted as the new National Security Adviser (NSA).
The possible successor to Susan Rice is in favor of Trump's idea of intensifying the fight against Islamic extremists. In his recently published book, the retired three-star general had advocated freezing aid to Pakistan, if it continued to help the the militants.
A former prosecutor elected to the Senate in 1996, Sessions is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, and served as an adviser on Trump's immigration policy plan during the presidential campaign.
The news comes a day after the President-elect met with Sessions in his office in New York.
"While nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his cabinet, the President-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and U.S. Attorney," the Trump transition team said in a statement Thursday. It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition, it added.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota embodies the unexpected turns of the 2016 campaign. Once considered a presidential prospect himself, he watched the primaries from the sidelines, complimenting Senate colleague Marco Rubio but not endorsing him.
Once Donald Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, Thune started showing up on vice presidential short lists before Indiana Gov. Mike Pence got the nod. By October, after disclosure of taped remarks in which Trump discussed groping women without their consent, Thune called on the billionaire businessman to withdraw from the race in favor of Pence.
Now, as third-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership and chairman of the Commerce Committee, he's a key ally of the president-elect as the all-Republican Congress moves to implement shared priorities such as tax cuts and repealing the Affordable Care Act. Yet he's also prepared to buck Trump by pressing to curb Medicare and Social Security benefits to address their looming insolvency.
Thune sat down with me in his Commerce Committee hearing room to discuss Washington's path forward in 2017. What follows is a condensed, edited transcript of our conversation.
HARWOOD: So Donald Trump comes in January 20th. Do you think of your job in the Senate and the Congress' job in general is to hit the gas for what he wants, or to pump the brakes?
THUNE: I think our job is to work with him to try and put together something that we think is achievable and doable. I think it's not to over promise. I think it's to set realistic expectations. It may be some of both.
HARWOOD: Now, when you think about his agenda, what are the things, if any, that you yourself think, "No, that's going too far for me."
THUNE: If he's talking about fixing a broken immigration system, if he's talking about fixing a broken tax code rolling back some of the regulatory overreach, repealing and replacing Obamacare, I think those are things that all, at least generally that that there's agreement on.
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Now, obviously some of them get more contentious. The immigration issue in the past has been, you know, is a difficult one to work through.
HARWOOD: You are not for deporting 11 million people.
THUNE: No. Right. And I suspect that that would be where a lot of my colleagues are on that particular issue.
HARWOOD: And what about ripping up NAFTA and starting with something new, putting a 35 percent tariff on Chinese goods.?
THUNE: I think that we've got to be engaged in the international global marketplace. And I come from a state that depends heavily upon exports. So some of these things that have been proposed I think are unlikely.
HARWOOD: Donald Trump has cast himself as a populist, saying he's going to help the forgotten people who have not done well in this economy. You've got a lot of those people in South Dakota . What, in Donald Trump's agenda, do you envision tangibly, concretely, helping your constituents who are in that group?
THUNE: I think one of the biggest frustrations that you hear from people across South Dakota this Obamacare stuff is very real for people. Blue Cross/Blue Shield pulled out of the individual market in South Dakota about a month ago. That left 8,000 people without coverage.
This will be the first administration that hasn't had a single year of 3 percent economic growth. A lot of people left the workforce. And wages have stayed flat. We feel that in South Dakota, too.
HARWOOD: Trump's tax plan the Tax Policy Center did an analysis and said for the middle 20 percent of the population, it would produce an average tax cut of about $1,000 for those families. For the top 1 percent, $214,000. For the top 0.1 percent, $1 million apiece. Are you comfortable with a tax plan with that kind of distribution of benefits?
THUNE: You're going to have to have, to pass anything up here, a tax plan that people believe will, one, benefit them, and two, will generate economic growth. The key to me is that what tax reform ought to be about is growth. We need a pro-growth tax code that gets out all these embedded costs that we have in our tax code today and enables the economy to start growing at a faster rate.
Because that creates better paying jobs. And so I think ultimately that what our objective ought to be is a tax reform proposal ultimately that will unleash the economy and generate that kind of growth.
HARWOOD: The president-elect will be the leader of the Republican Party. He says that he will not touch Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid benefits. Does that mean that's now the position of the Republican Party? Is it now John Thune's position?
THUNE: I think entitlement reform is important. I think we have to deal with programs that are growing at rates that are unsustainable and are not going to be around for future generations of Americans.
So, you know, whether or not that is something that's doable in a Trump administration remains to be seen.
HARWOOD: One of the judgments that markets have made and economists have made is that, given Donald Trump's priorities no entitlement reform, big tax cut, big defense spending increase, big infrastructure spending increase that we're going to have higher deficits, and that will stimulate the economy. That will produce higher growth. Is that OK by you?
THUNE: I think in terms of how we deal with deficits and debt going forward, it's really two things. You know, obviously, we've done as much as we can on the discretionary side, or what we call domestic discretionary spending.
But the two-thirds of the budget that represents what we call mandatory spending that's entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid we've got to figure out a way to make those programs work better and cost less.
And that's where I think tax reform comes into play. And then I think we've got to rein in entitlement spending. I think it's twofold. It's reducing government spending, and faster growth in the economy. Tax reform ought to be revenue-neutral, budget-neutral, deficit-neutral.
HARWOOD: Right, but just to be clear, (Trump) has not proposed revenue neutral tax-reform.
THUNE: Correct.
HARWOOD: Steve Bannon, the former chair of Breitbart, has been appointed chief strategist in the White House. Does that trouble you?
THUNE: I don't know him. I've seen reporting, but he ran a very successful election and campaign. He's got a record, successful in the business world. And I think they hired him because they want to have a successful run in the presidency.
In situations like this, when it comes to hiring decisions, you want to give a lot of deference to the administration. Give this team a chance.
HARWOOD: Breitbart has a story that's out in the last 24 hours saying, "Republican lawmakers are already trying to undermine President-elect Trump," and particularly going after Paul Ryan. What do you think about that?
THUNE: I hope not. I mean, I think Paul Ryan's going to be essential to getting anything done up here. If you want to move a legislative agenda or program, you've got to have allies on Capitol Hill. There are always stories and attempts to create wedges. But in my view, it's very early on.
We've got to have some patience, allow these folks to get their team put together, and then see what we can do to work with them to get some things done for the American people. I think that's it. Voters want results. They want us to get things done.
HARWOOD: Let me ask you about a few things before the Commerce Committee. Donald Trump has said he opposes the AT&T (NYSE: T)-Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) merger. Do you?
THUNE: I look at all these in light of, you know, what's the effect on competition out there? And I think it's a little early at this point. I haven't made any pronouncements about that. The Justice Department will look at it, the FTC will look at it.
HARWOOD: Do you have an inclination?
THUNE: Some mergers, when looked at in the overall context of how it affects competition after it's said and done, come out differently than others. there are some where you create undue concentration of market power. And I think you have to look at those differently. But I'm still evaluating this.
HARWOOD: Does this look to you like one of those cases?
THUNE: I don't want to say at this point.
HARWOOD: Net neutrality is that gone? And will it be gone through a rewrite of the Communications Act? Will it be gone by a new FCC chair?
THUNE: I would like to see Congress have an opportunity to weigh in on this. I suspect that with the changeover at the FCC there could be some changes made.
The way to put clear rules of the road in place is to have Congress engage and come up with a legislative framework that updates and modernizes our laws. That Title II reclassification used a 1934 law to do what they did. And I think it's high time that we modernize it. So I hope what comes out of this, and depending on what the new FCC does, is a renewed interest in having the legislative branch weigh in on this and create some clear rules of the road.
HARWOOD: But is there no doubt from your standpoint that net neutrality, the policy implemented by the Obama administration, will be gone?
THUNE: I'm not going to speculate about that. That'll be by and large a new FCC decision. But I would not be surprised based upon the strong views that that generated and the very partisan way in which it was done that there would be a serious consideration of relooking at that.
HARWOOD: The head of the NSA said (Monday) at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council that no one should have any doubt that Russia got involved in our election for the purpose of achieving a specific effect. Are you concerned about Donald Trump's position on Russia, closeness with Russia, and Russia's role in this election?
THUNE: Russia is constantly looking for ways to undermine and disrupt our democratic systems. I mean, I think they wanted to create doubt, and skepticism, and anything they can do to raise questions about that. So sure.
HARWOOD: Did they succeed in tipping our election?
THUNE: Well, I don't think they succeeded in tipping the election. But they certainly attempted, I think, to be very engaged in the political process this time around. We have to view them skeptically. They have been a historic adversary. And anything that we do with the Russians, I think we need to have both eyes wide open.
HARWOOD: You want Donald Trump to have a different attitude?
THUNE: He's going to shape his foreign policy. But, you know, he'll have, I suppose, some input from Congress on some of these issues. And I just think that you need to be very cautious and very wary of things that we do with the Russians. They're very aggressive in a part of the world. they've demonstrated that they don't have our best interests at heart.
ATLANTIC SKIES: Stellar asterisms eye-catching pretenders to the constellation throne and just part of the bigger picture
Most everyone, or at least most amateur astronomers, are familiar with the constellations in the night sky to some degree. Many, however, may not be familiar with the numerous asterisms in the night sky. What is the difference between a constellation ...
Pot may have been a big winner in the 2016 elections, but what will the budding marijuana industry look like under a Trump presidency?
[The election] was a giant deal for the industry as a whole and a surprise to a lot of people, said Kelly Barbieri, editor-in-chief of the online cannabis magazine, The Fresh Toast. We had the red states passing medical marijuana, which means were going across party lines and across economic lines, Barbieri tells me in the video above.
In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 41% of Republicans support use of medical marijuana. By the time Donald Trump is inaugurated January 20, 2017, one in five adults will be living in a state where medicinal marijuana is legal.
On November 8, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington in legalizing recreational marijuana, while Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota joined the 25 other states that already allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Click on the map here.
The cannabis industry is expected to generate $22 billion in annual sales nationwide within the next 4 years, but industry leaders wonder if a Trump White House will create a barrier to growth.
Trump has said the legitimization of marijuana is a matter for the states to decide, though he has called marijuana use for anything other than medicinal purposes a bad experiment. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been vocal about his opposition to legal weed.
Some speculate that a Trump administration may not back the banking reform necessary for recreational marijuana sales to flourish. Marijuana businesses cant deposit money in banks because of current federal banking laws. Limited banking access has put cash-only pot businesses at risk of robbery and money-laundering. The industry would like Congress to pass an amendment to the financial services spending bill that would prevent the federal government from penalizing financial institutions that do business with legal marijuana clients.
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Pot proponents are holding out hope. Venture capitalist and Paypal founder Peter Thiel has joined Trumps transition team. The controversial tech leader, who will reportedly help Trump connect with Silicon Valley companies, has made a big bet on weed. In late 2014, Thiels Founder Fund invested undisclosed millions in Privateer Holdings, a holding company for cannabis-related businesses.
But investing in pot is not for the faint of heart. Trading in marijuana-related stocks is marked with volatility. There are currently more than 200 publicly-traded marijuana companies, but Alan Valdes, chairman of the marijuana retailer Diego Pellicer, warns that the majority of them are not well managed or well financed.
The Marijuana Index, which tracks the leading marijuana stocks, was on fire in the run-up to the election. Since then, the index has lost some ground as investors try to determine what a Trump presidency will mean for the industry.
Even companies indirectly associated with cannabis are getting a lift. Shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. are up nearly 36% in 2016. The company is best known for lawn care, but its products are also used by weed growers.
If nationwide legalization happens, analysts say dont be surprised if big pharma and big tobacco companies have a change of heart and decide, If you cant beat em, join em. Those industries, which have historically opposed legal-weed, may be looking for opportunities to capitalize on the growing market for marijuana.
By SA Commercial Prop News
Property Sector Charter Council CEO, Portia Tau-Sekati says the research creates a hub of knowledge about the property sector, consolidating information and developing a common and consistent understanding.
The South African property sector is worth a whopping R4.9 trillion according to a new study undertaken to discover the size of the countrys property sector.
This Property Sector Charter Council commissioned research is the first study of its kind in South Africa.
CEO of the Property Sector Charter Council, Portia Tau-Sekati says: The research creates a hub of knowledge about the property sector, consolidating information and developing a common and consistent understanding.
By determining the size of the South African property sector, we are moving towards a proper baseline measure to assess market size and its components, the scale of different services and activities within the sector and ultimately BEE transformation figures in line with the Property Sector Code scorecard.
Establishing the scope of the property sector is important for an accurate overview of the South African economy, taking into account that in 2009 the property sector contributed 8.3% of SAs Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) research report The Economic Impact of the Property Sector in South Africa.
The figures in the study provide a snapshot that reflects the status in the property sector at the base date of December 2010.
Only around 1% of land in South Africa is urban and residential, according to the research. Over 73% of land is South Africa is natural pasture. Around 12% of land is agricultural, and about the same portion comprises nature conservations and reserves.
The study shows nearly two thirds of property owned in South Africa, estimated at R3.0 trillion, is residential. Commercial property carries a value of some R780 billion. Undeveloped land zoned for development equates to R520 billion. Publicly owned property including national, provincial and local government as well as state-owned enterprise totals around R570 billion.
Currently, the research combines various studies that estimate the size of South Africas residential market. While the number of housing units formal and informal vary in the source studies, from 13.1 million dwellings to 8 million, value calculations are all estimated at similar levels of R3 trillion.
Of the R780 billion commercial property in South Africa, the research reports corporate property accounts for R600 billion, including investment property of R120 billion held by South Africas listed property sector. Further investment property, held by life and pension funds and private equity funds, totals R180 billion.
Retail property has the highest value of the commercial property sectors in South Africa at R340 billion, followed by office properties at R228 billion and industrial properties at R187 billion. Representing a small comparative value of R25 billion is hospitality, leisure and other property.
For publicly owned property, the study used available information, which reflects R342 billion of property held by provincial government, R188 billion by national government, R37 billion by local government and R6 billion by state-owned enterprises.
The significance of this research is far reaching.
Tau-Sekati says: Besides being a benchmark to monitor and evaluate the progress of transformation of the sector each year. This study marks the beginning of an ongoing research process, which will update information on the property sector annually. The study is a useful tool for understanding the South African property market and its dynamics. It is working progress and we hope to build a better and clearer picture of our industry. We welcome information sharing with the industry in terms of studies undertaken which could further refine our data and shine light on the mechanisms of the sectors component parts.
IPD is a global information business, dedicated to the objective measurement of commercial real estate performance. As the worlds number one provider of real estate performance analysis for funds, investors, managers and occupiers, IPD offers a full range of services including research, reporting, benchmarking, conferences and indices. IPD operates in over 25 countries including most of Europe, the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
By SA Commercial Prop News
Lesetja Kganyago appointed new governor of South African Reserve Bank seen shaking hands with President Jacob Zuma after the announcement.
President Jacob Zuma today named Lesetja Kganyago to replace Gill Marcus as the new governor of South African Reserve Bank with effect from 09 November 2014.
He will be the tenth governor of the central bank since its founding in 1921.
It was initially expected that Kganyago would replace outgoing governor Tito Mboweni in 1999 but the job went instead to Marcus.
Kganyago has been with the bank since May 2011 after heading the national treasury for more than seven years as director general.
"I will not disappoint ... I dont have to reinvent anything, I just have to carry on from where Ms Marcus left," Mr Kganyago said.
Outgoing governor Gill Marcus announced that she will not be seeking a second term at the monetary policy committee media briefing on 18 September.
President Zuma commended Marcus work over the past five years, saying the Reserve Bank had acted independently, without fear, favour or prejudice and thanked her for her dedication and leadership in a difficult economic climate.
Marcus governed during a challenging time for the domestic and global economy. She took over in 2009, as international markets were reeling from the global financial crisis and advanced country economies were in recession.
She steered the local economy through a downturn in 2009. For most of her term, the central banks monetary policy committee was on a loosening path, with the repo rate falling between 2009 and 2012 from 10.5 percent to 5 percent. The central bank then went on a tightening path from January this year, raising the repo rate to 5.5 percent then 5.75 percent in July 2014.
Kganyago holds an MSc in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and various diplomas.
A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border
What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the
Several local companies successful in Best of the Best awards
The writer spoke at the Prize Giving of the 2016 Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition held at Vaitele last night. This is what he said:
Good evening and greetings to you all!
Let me begin by saying, it is my pleasure and privilege, to add my own personal welcome to you all, for making the time to be with us here this afternoon, so that together we can help make the prize giving ceremony of this years Samoa Observer Short Story Competition, a positive and a happy occasion.
And now on behalf of the Samoa Observer and its staff, I extend our warm greetings to all those, who had taken the time to write those stories, since surely without them, this event would not be possible.
And as for those whose stories have won prizes, I am delighted to say well done, and congratulations to you all.
Briefly, the stories that were submitted for this years competition were from authors living in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
Four of them, are being awarded prizes this afternoon. So lets say well done to them, while at the same time, lets urge the others who did not win prizes to never give up.
Let them sharpen those creative talents of theirs instead by getting to those laptops, and then keep on writing those stories since as they all know, that is the only way they can win those illusive prizes.
To our partners and sponsors, the Chinese Embassy, Digicel Samoa, Ah Liki Construction, Samoa Stationery and Books, the National Bank of Samoa, UNDP, Business Systems Limited, ANZ Bank, Ace Hardware and Samoa Builders Supplies, Samoa Spare Parts, Air New Zealand and of S.P.A.C.L.A.L.S, we are sincerely grateful for your kind, unwavering support.
We want you to know that without your support, this competition would not be the success it has become today, so we say thank you very much.
To our judges, Silafau Dr. Sina Vaai and Dr. Selina Marsh, we say thank you.
We are well aware that your contribution, to the success of this competition is invaluable so let me say on behalf of our staff, thank you very much for your kind support.
Lastly, now that the Ambassador for Government of the Peoples Republic of China, Mr Wang Xuefeng, is with us here this afternoon, may I ask for your indulgence, so that I can say a few words about Samoas friendship, with the Peoples Republic of China.
I promise Ill be brief.
It began back in 1976
That was when Samoas late Head of State, Malietoa Tanumafili II, paid a state visit to Beijing.
It was during that visit that diplomatic relationships between the governments of China and Samoa were established.
On 11 May 2007, Malietoa passed away peacefully. He was 94.
Upon hearing about Malietoas death, the President of the Peoples Republic of China at the time, Hu Jintao, wrote:
I was shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of His Highness, Malietoa Tanumafili II, Head of State of the Independent Sate of Samoa.
On behalf of the government and the Peoples Republic of China, and in my own name, I wish to convey our deepest sympathy and sincerest condolences, to the Government and people of Samoa, and to the bereaved family of His Highness.
Mr Hu Jintao also wrote: His Highness was a Statesman of noble character and high prestige, who made outstanding contributions to the independence and development of Samoa.
As Head of State of Samoa, he was not only friendly to China but was also committed, to maintaining and promoting the cordial and cooperative relations between Samoa and China, which the Chinese people will never forget.
And then looking into the future, Hu Jintao wrote: I hope and believe that the cause of friendship initiated by His Highness will be continuously consolidated and strengthened, with joint efforts by both the Samoan and Chinese Governments.
Indeed, he added: (Im hoping that) his legacy of peace and friendship with the government of the Peoples Republic of China based on mutual trust and friendship, lived on.
(And that in doing so) it would remain the nourishing bond, thats continuing to keep the governments of the two countries respectful of each other, to this day.
And lived on, the legacy of peace and friendship between the two countries that President Hu Jintao, was talking about, had surely lived on.
Indeed to this very day.
Whats more, it is also looking remarkably well and strong, and all you have to do to be convinced is look around you wherever you happen to be, and soon the truth is there.
And there, right before you are stacks of indelible evidence, that say the legacy of peace and friendship forged 30 years ago between Samoa and China in Beijing, is still alive and well here in Samoa today.
Whats more, that legacy has since been entrusted to Ambassador Mr Wang Xuefeng, who has already embarked on making sure that it would remain the nourishing bond thats continuing to keep the governments of the two countries, respectful of each other, to this day.
And that legacy, like it or not, is the unseen tool being deployed today - the Chinese way - in the development of Samoa with Chinese help from around Apia all the way to Faleolo, where that brand new Chinese-built Airport is rising slowly and yet irrefutably towards the sky, for everyone to see.
So lets hope the legacy of peace and friendship between the government of the Peoples Republic of China and Samoa, based on mutual trust and friendship that President Hu Jintao was talking about back there, would indeed live on.
(And that in doing so), it would remain the nourishing bond, thats continuing to keep the governments of the two countries respectful of each other, to this very day.
In the meantime, now that that little snag about the friendship between China and Samoa is out of the way, lets say Congratulations! one more time to the winners of this years Short Story Competition, and lets say thank you to everyone here this evening, for making the time to be with us on this very special day. Soifua.
Re: Australian Federal Police denies report
I read with much interest the quote from AFP, Mr. Timson was also asked if the assistance for the Samoan police will be affected due to the current situation at the Ministry of Police. . . . .
Not at this stage, he said.
These are telling words in a situation where our Police Department is wrapped up in scrambling; blame evasion, bitter disagreement and irrational decisions. And thats just the publics view! Something is seriously flawed in our Police administration and it is slowly but surely dividing our nations faith in the integrity of the police force.
If and when the AFP say Not at this stage I hear doubt in the ability of the Samoa Police to deal with their obvious attempt to cover up a covert group of Police management determined to protect their corrupt status quo. The tactic they are using is nothing short of bullying the Commissioner into submission. Shame on you Samoa Police!
Peka Faletasi
Acadia Pharmaceuticals has become one of the most highly valued biomedical companies in San Diego largely on the promise of an experimental drug for psychosis.
Next year, the 21-year-old company expects to begin delivering on that promise.
Sometime in the first quarter of 2015, Acadia plans to submit a marketing application for its medication Nuplazid. The drug, also known by its generic name of pimavanserin, has successfully completed Phase 3 testing for Parkinsons disease psychosis. Its in Phase 2 clinical trials for schizophrenia and Alzheimers disease psychosis.
Together, these conditions represent a huge population of patients and thus a potentially huge pharmaceutical market.
Acadia, with a stock value of more than $3.2 billion, has gained a following among investors and stock analysts who believe Nuplazid will succeed. Shares of Acadia closed Tuesday at $30.17, down 6.4 percent for the day and up 21 percent for the year.
ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS Founded: 1993 Location: San Diego Employees: 95 Chief executive: Uli Hacksell Product: Nuplazid, which has gone through Phase 3 clinical testing for Parkinsons disease psychosis with good results. Company is expected to seek marketing approval for the medication next year from U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Online: acadia-pharm.com
Scientists have found no cure for Parkinsons disease, a neurodegenerative movement disorder that affects about a million Americans, or for Alzheimers, which afflicts more than 5 million. As both diseases are linked to aging, the number of patients is expected to grow.
There are treatments for schizophrenia, which affects roughly 1 percent of the U.S. population, but they frequently dont work.
While these diseases have very different causes, theyre often associated with delusions, hallucinations and agitation symptoms that Nuplazid is designed to counter.
Clinical testing indicates that Nuplazid doesnt produce the dangerous side effects of other anti-psychotic medications. In addition, the drug promotes sleep, an important benefit in its own right.
Breakthrough therapy
Nuplazid blocks a specific cellular receptor a molecular target on the surface of a cell used by the neurotransmitter serotonin. It counteracts psychosis symptoms in Parkinsons patients without interfering with other Parkinsons medications, which often act on another neurotransmitter, dopamine.
We think pimavanserin has a good shot at improving on the atypical (anti-psychotic drugs) for the same reason it appears to do so in Parkinsons disease psychosis: efficacy with a cleaner safety profile due to more targeted activity, analyst Charles Duncan of the research firm Piper Jaffray wrote in a Nov. 11 research report.
Uli Hacksell, chief executive for Acadia, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recognized the importance of Nuplazid, giving it a breakthrough therapy designation this past summer. Drugs with that categorization get expedited review by the agency.
This tells us they share our view of the unmet medical need in Parkinsons disease psychosis, and that they are also impressed by the clinical data we have, Hacksell said. So things look very good, very exciting.
Hallucinations related to this type of psychosis can be especially disturbing, he said. Its very common that they see a deceased relative on the other side of the table, Hacksell said.
And the burden of caring for the patient frequently falls on his or her spouse, who may not know how to cope with the deterioration in behavior.
They have paranoid delusions, they are afraid their spouse is having an affair. All of this causes a lot of stress in the relationship, Hacksell explained. Parkinsons psychosis is the major reason why Parkinsons patients have to go to nursing homes. The caregiver cant deal with the patient anymore.
Coast to coast
Acadia was founded in Winooski, Vt., in 1993 as Receptor Technologies by Mark Brann, a professor at the University of Vermont. The company originally focused on identifying drug candidates with its technology for rapid genomics screening.
Acadia CEO Uli Hacksell in his San Diego office. / photo by K.C. Alfred * U-T San Diego
It underwent a dramatic makeover four years later: The business moved to San Diego, adopted its present name and changed its business focus. Instead of helping other companies find drugs, Acadia decided to develop its own.
We could have gone one of two ways build up the company for short-term revenue as a research tool company or become a drug-discovery company, Brann said in a 2005 interview. My passion was to be a drug-discovery company, to develop drugs, and thats the path we went down.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals is named after Acadia National Park based on its initial ties to New England and the parks beauty. Brann also wanted a name that started with an A.
Hacksell joined the company as chief executive in 2000, while Brann served as president and chief scientific officer. (Brann left the company in 2006 to establish another San Diego biotech, Abbey Pharmaceuticals, which received seed funding from Acadia.)
In February 2001, at the end of a buoyant biotech market, Acadia filed for an initial public offering. But the company withdrew its offering in September of that year, citing poor market conditions. Acadia then succeeded with its IPO in 2004, raising $35 million at $7 per share.
The company endured a major setback in June 2008, with the failure of a schizophrenia drug in mid-stage clinical testing. Its shares dropped 44 percent in one day, and Acadia scrapped the medication.
That was when Nuplazid became Acadias flagship product.
Nuplazid sales
It took years for Acadias shares to recover from the loss of the schizophrenia drug, with the first sustained rally beginning in November 2012, when shares traded for less than $2 apiece.
Now, with years of testing data to buttress Nuplazids efficacy, prospects are looking up, Hacksell said. Assuming all goes well, the company could have FDA marketing approval sometime in mid-2015.
Acadia plans to sell Nuplazid on its own, without a pharmaceutical partner. So the company intends to hire about 135 people for its sales staff.
Six to nine months after the FDA application is submitted, Acadia is scheduled to submit a marketing application for European sales.
Meanwhile, more clinical trials are planned for Nuplazid one for schizophrenia and another for Parkinsons patients with sleep disturbances.
Further down the pipeline, Acadia is testing two drugs for chronic pain and glaucoma, both with the pharma company Allergan as its partner.
An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who went through six concentration camps is set to celebrate his bar mitzvah Nov. 19 at Chabad of Poway in what many call a historic moment.
Ben Midler was 13 and ready for his bar mitzvah, a Jewish coming of age ceremony, when he was taken from his family by Germans who invaded his home in the Polish city of Bialystok in 1941. He recalled that the Bialystok synagogue was burned down by Germans in June that year with 2,000 Jews inside.
After living in a ghetto for two years, Midler was taken to six concentration camps between the ages of 15 to 17. He still has the numbers printed on his arm.
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Midler said he survived because he worked in the ghetto and did not associate with other kids, who it turned out, were sent to Auschwitz.
In August 1943, Midler and 50,000 others were taken in six cattle cars three went to Treblinka and three to Majdanek. When he got to the camps, he told the officer he was a presser, which he said saved his life because at that time the Germans were fighting the Russians and needed warm clothing to be made. They gathered about 200 men and women whom were tailors and the rest they killed on the spot.
Anytime they said they needed people to work, I said I am ready to go this saved my life, said Midler, who lives in Rancho Bernardo and is author of The Life of A Child Survivor from Bialystok, Poland.
For someone who has lived through the Holocaust, and yet thanks G-d every day for the miracles G-d has done for him then and now, this is truly a celebration, not just for Ben Midler but the entire Jewish Nation, said Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, director of Chabad of Poway.
The event is at 10 a.m. at 16934 Chabad Way. Visit chabadpoway.com or call (858) 451-0455.
In a couple of telling scenes from the smart new touring version of The Sound of Music, people struggle to summon the words to songs that have faded from their lives and minds.
Thats not likely to be a problem most Civic Theatre audience members will face: The lyrics to such tunes as Do-Re-Mi are imprinted so deeply on our brains that they probably show up on CAT scans.
But it brings up a couple of key points about former Old Globe Theatre artistic director (and Broadway heavyweight) Jack OBriens take on the beloved 1959 musical.
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One is that his show seems to position the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein numbers My Favorite Things and The Sound of Music as something like Austrian folk tunes that the characters apparently learned in childhood (an endearing if suspect notion).
The other and the one that gets more to the heart of the show, and maybe to our own moment in time is that those we meet in the course of the story are in grave danger of forgetting not just the songs they once sang, but who they are as a people.
It helps to remember that beyond the clean-scrubbed charm of the nun-turned-governess Maria (played superbly on opening night by Anna Mintzer) and the seven adorably uniformed von Trapp children, The Sound of Music is a pretty political story.
Its made more so here by the salvaging of the song No Way to Stop It, which appeared in the original Broadway production but was excised from the 1965 Julie Andrews movie.
As Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouses story (based loosely on the real-life von Trapp saga) has it, Capt. Georg von Trapp (Ben Davis) is a fiercely loyal Austrian whos one of the few willing to defy the encroachment of Germanys Third Reich.
His friend Max (Merwin Foard) and romantic interest Elsa (Teri Hansen) believe he should just cave, and its their spineless sentiment that drives No Way to Stop It, which includes Maxs sadly misguided advice to the captain: Just sit tight and wait for it to all blow over.
(He doesnt; and, if youll recall from your history books, it doesnt.)
The Sound of Music
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown
Tickets: About $22.50-$107.50
Phone: (619) 570-1100
Online: broadwaysd.com
None of this is to suggest OBriens staging has turned The Sound of Music into some historo-political screed; not remotely. But that sharper focus on real-life consequences helps ground the shows sometimes fairy-tale feel and unapologetic sense of uplift.
And who wouldnt be lifted up as in just about rocketed to the Civics rafters by Melody Betts beautifully operatic rendition of Climb Evry Mountain?
She plays the wise Mother Abbess, who breaks the news to Maria that shes probably not meant for life as a postulant, and sends her off to her destiny at the von Trapp home.
Betts and the rest of the sisters also open the show with the intricate vocal harmonies of the Preludium, eventually giving way (though the show does a little bogged down in the abbey) to Mintzers soaring rendition of the secular hymn that is the musicals title tune.
The show is loaded with strong performances, from Davis stalwart but sympathetic captain to Austin Colbys scarily zealous Rolf, the young Nazi convert.
And those hard-working von Trapp kids all deserve their own bouquets of edelweiss (Paige Silvester as the precocious Liesl and Iris Davies as the ever-perceptive Brigitta were particular standouts on opening night.)
Music director/conductor Jay Algers 16-piece orchestra performs vibrantly in a range of styles from oom-pah to gentle ballad to lofty anthem, and the elegant interplay of Douglas W. Schmidts sets and Natasha Katzs lush lighting is music to the eyes.
Its probably no spoiler to note that the von Trapps will go on to, as the song has it, sing once more. Its a glint of optimism that one can hope applies to stories whose endings are yet to come.
Twitter: @jimhebert
jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com
Linda Anderson is an artist who loves to tell stories.
Everyone has a story, and Im drawn to and intrigued by the narratives of people everywhere, said Anderson, a 1967 graduate of Hoover High who went on to get advanced degrees in drawing from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. What grabs my heart the most are peoples of different cultures and circumstances, and a lot of my work is about expressing the uniqueness of humans around the world.
Anderson, a resident of La Mesa, is a nationally recognized art quilter one who creates quilts for art rather than bed coverings. Shes been featured in numerous galleries and museums around the country and just last month won two awards at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. Her Dance Break Oaxaca is one of 25 quilts traveling around the United States as part of a touring exhibition by the National Quilt Museum.
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She saw her first art quilt in 2008, and my immediate gut reaction was, This is what Im supposed to do with the rest of my life. Everything I had ever loved came together in one medium drawing, color and sewing. I always knew one day I would return to my art, and this was it.
When she spotted a photograph in the Union-Tribune, she knew she had found her next project. It was a photo of jazz musician Joshua White. She had been to many of his concerts around town, and she has always been mesmerized by his brilliance at the keyboard. I had taken many of my own photographs of him playing, but when I saw the photo by Eduardo Contreras, I knew that was the story ... that needed to be told.
She got in contact with Contreras and asked for his permission. He, in turn, was intrigued by what Anderson was going to do. So he asked if he could pay her a visit and take some photos of her. She said yes, and Contreras took photos over a span of three months.
It was, in many ways, a beautiful intersection of music, art and photography.
There is such beauty and color and richness in just the everyday being of living, said Anderson, who worked as a therapist, decorator and school counselor for 25 years before finding her way back to art. It is capturing those moments, and bringing them to life through the use of fabric, paint and stitching, that fills my days completely.
1 / 25 Using colored pencils, art quilter Linda Anderson hand draws a 18"x24" mock up (left) using the original image (right) as a guide, at her home in La Mesa, California. This hand drawn mock up is a constant guide throughout the whole project. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 25 Detail of hand drawn mock up, which is a constant guide throughout the whole project. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 25 The hand drawn mock up is enlarged in B&W and on paper at the printers to the intended finished size of the quilt. In this photo art quilter Linda Anderson is using the blown up B&W image to create a plastic template to aid in joining together the individual cotton fabric pieces of the quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 25 Detail of art quilter Linda Anderson using a blown up B&W image to create a plastic template to aid in joining together the individual cotton fabric pieces of the quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 25 The background base cotton fabric of the quilt is painted to replicate mock up drawing (right). Anderson is painting the floor of the piece in this photo. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 25 After the background base cotton fabric of the quilt is painted to replicate the floor, Anderson hangs it to dry in her garden. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 25 Art quilter Linda Anderson arranges all the painted cotton fabric pieces that will make up the final quilt using her plastic template. The painted fabric pieces will be ironed together with a fabric adhesive. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 25 Detail of Art quilter Linda Anderson arranging all the painted cotton fabric pieces that will make up the final quilt using her plastic template. The painted fabric pieces will be ironed together with a fabric adhesive. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 25 Art quilter Linda Anderson irons together all the painted cotton fabric pieces that will make up the final quilt with a fabric adhesive. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 25 Art quilter Linda Anderson arranges all the painted cotton fabric pieces that will make up the final quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 25 Because the face is so detailed and central to the success of the project, art quilter Linda Anderson waits till late in the process to paint the face of jazz musician Joshua White for the quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 25 Detail of Linda Anderson painting the face of jazz musician Joshua White for the quilt at her home in La Mesa, California. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 25 Artist Linda Anderson works on her art quilt based on a photo of jazz musician Joshua White by Union-Tribune photographer Eduardo Contreras. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 25 Detail of Linda Anderson stitching her quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 25 Using a hand sewing needle, loose threads on the back are hidden by weaving them into the batting. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 25 Clamps (top left) lift the weight of the quilt off the table for ease of stitching. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 25 With clamps lifting the weight of the quilt off the table, Anderson is capable of very fine detailed stitching. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 25 Art quilter Linda Anderson blends thread colors of some of the stitched areas of the quilt using colored pencils. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 25 Matching thread color to the painted area is critical. Thread color is changed hundreds of times during stitching to match each individual painted area throughout the quilt. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 25 Once about 90% of the quilt is stitched, art quilter Linda Anderson begins rendering the face which is the centerpiece of the art project. Anderson says the face will take at least 20 different colored threads. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 25 Detail of Anderson as she begins rendering the face. Anderson says the face will take at least 20 different colored threads. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 25 Stitching the interior of the piano. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 25 Anderson marks trim lines of the final art piece with a laser square. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 25 With the help of her husband Stephen (right), Linda Anderson trims the final art piece with a rotary cutter. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 25 At left is my original Joshua White image that appeared in the Union-Tribune. At right is Art quilter Linda Anderson with the finished quilt at her home in La Mesa, California. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd
michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com
Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, one of Donald Trumps earliest and most enthusiastic backers to be president, has been offered the job of attorney general, Trumps transition team said Friday.
Sessions, 69, is considered one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate and has extensive legal experience as a federal prosecutor in his home state of Alabama.
For the record: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Sessions in 1986 said that the NAACP had taken positions adverse to U.S. security interest. Sessions was referring to a different organization.
But his expected nomination was immediately met with fierce opposition from critics who said it would put federal civil rights enforcement into the hands of a man whose confirmation to a federal judgeship in the 1980s was blocked over allegations he made several racially offensive remarks.
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If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said in a statement. No senator has fought harder against the hopes and aspirations of Latinos, immigrants, and people of color than Sen. Sessions.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, soon to become the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that as a longtime member of the panel, Sessions is well aware of the thorough vetting hes about to receive.
But Republicans vowed to fight for his confirmation.
Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called Sessions a respected member of the panel who has worked across the aisle on major legislation. He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position. With this background, Im confident he would be reported favorably out of the committee.
If Sessions accepts the job and is confirmed, he would lead an agency of more than 100,000 employees and a nearly $30 billion budget that is tasked with investigating and prosecuting terrorists, civil rights violators and those who break environmental laws.
Generally liked and respected by his colleagues in both political parties, Sessions has earned a reputation for being one of its most conservative members and often backed tough-on-crime legislation. He is particularly tough on illegal immigration, one of Trumps signature issues. He voted against President Obamas two selections for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Sessions, who became the first U.S. senator to endorse Trump in February, has since emerged as one of the business moguls closest advisors.
Senate staffers said they expected him to be confirmed, but the process may not be an easy one.
Theres going to be a confirmation fight, said Frank Sharry, executive director of Americas Voice, an immigrant advocacy group. He couldnt get confirmed as a judge. Why should he get confirmed as the top civil rights officer for the country?
In 1986, his nomination to be a federal judge was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee after it emerged he made racially insensitive remarks.
During his hearings, four Justice Department lawyers testified that he had expressed racist views or endorsed them. He acknowledged in testimony that he called the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and American Civil Liberties Union un-American, though he denied believing such statements.
A colleague also testified that Sessions had agreed with a statement that a white lawyer was a disgrace to his race for handling civil rights cases. A black lawyer testified that Sessions once called him boy. Sessions denied having made those statements.
If confirmed to be attorney general, Sessions would lead an agency that under Obama has waded aggressively into civil rights issues, particularly in the wake of unrest sparked by the killings of black men by police officers in recent years.
Now Trump has his chance to change Washington. But it might change him instead
The Justice Department has investigated nearly two dozen police departments whose officers allegedly violated the rights of citizens they served.
Sessions has also opposed strengthening federal enforcement powers under the 1965 Voting Rights Act and was one of a handful of GOP senators blocking a bipartisan bill to loosen sentencing rules for low-level offenders.
Is he going to be a challenge on sentencing reform? Of course, said Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, a coalition of conservative and liberal groups backing criminal justice reform.
Im hopeful that the movement will not have a knee-jerk and alarmist reaction to this, throw their hands in the air and take their ball and go home, she said.
Harris noted some brighter spots in Sessions record, mainly his friendlier stance toward proposals to ease offenders reentry into life after prison. And she said that progress made in the states to reduce prison populations and decrease recidivism may set a trend that Washington could eventually embrace.
There are roughly 30 states that have implemented some form of significant reform legislation, and theres one attorney general, she said. I feel very confident that if there is influence to be had, I think it will be on the Trump administration.
Sessions was an active-duty Army Reserve officer in 1973 near the end of the Vietnam War. He stayed in the reserves through 1986, rising to the rank of captain.
The son of a country store owner, Sessions was born in Selma, Ala., and grew up in nearby Hybart during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
He worked his way through Huntingdon College in Montgomery, where he was active in the Young Republicans and became student body president before graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1969.
He was tapped by President Reagan in 1981 to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, a position he held through 1993. In 1994, he was elected to be the states attorney general. Two years later, he won a Senate seat.
He is married and has three children.
Staff writer W.J. Hennigan contributed to this report.
Follow @delwilber on Twitter
del.wilber@latimes.com
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UPDATES:
9:25 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network.
8:30 a.m.: This article was updated with additional reaction.
5:30 a.m.: This article was updated with additional background.
This article was originally published at 5:05 a.m.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence stood before a roomful of House Republicans on Thursday and asked how many had his cellphone number.
Chuckles of laughter rippled through the private meeting in the Capitol basement.
A lot of you do, Pence said, according to those in attendance.
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The former congressman is proving to be an effective envoy for President-elect Donald Trump, and his Capitol Hill visit offered a preview of the crucial role many believe the outgoing Indiana governor will play as liaison between lawmakers and the Trump White House.
He is the secret weapon, said Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), who was among those fiscal conservatives initially reluctant to support the partys presidential nominee. Theres going to be tough moments, and hes someone you can pick up the phone and call.
Dispatching Pence to Capitol Hill was part of the Trumps team ongoing effort to reverse the narrative of a rocky presidential transition.
High-profile visitors, many eyeing top Cabinet posts, went in and out of Trump Tower in New York, including Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Wall Street executive Steven Mnuchin, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and several of Trumps children. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was thought to have visited but was not observed by reporters entering the building.
Also reportedly ready to meet with the president-elect was former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had called Trump a phony and a fraud during the campaign. According to numerous media reports, the pair planned to speak over the weekend.
On Thursday evening, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was having a face-to-face meeting with Trump that raised some eyebrows because it went beyond the short congratulatory phone call that usually occurs between a president-elect and a world leader.
Trump advisors downplayed the session as a private, informal meeting and said the president-elect was being briefed by advisors about proper diplomatic protocol during this and other interactions with foreign leaders.
We realize there is only one president of the United States, Trump spokesman Jason Miller.
During a newly launched daily conference call to update the news media on the transition, Miller said that by next week the team will have announced a roster of aides who will begin contacting various federal agencies to discuss transition matters. Delays in making those contacts have caused alarm among some.
Im hearing from all these agencies that theyre beginning to panic that theyve heard from no one on the transition team, said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). So I think its a problem.
Miller said the first landing team will focus on national security, reaching out to officials from the Pentagon, the State Department and other security agencies. Officials said the Pentagon team could arrive as early as Friday.
An economic team is promised by Tuesday and a domestic team by Wednesday, Miller said.
Were working seven days a week here, Miller told reporters on the call.
The transition team has been battling the perception of disorganization and infighting, particularly after the departure earlier this week of key advisors.
The shake-up purged some of the more respected figures who had been advising Trump, notably those close to or hired by the former transition chairman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
It also led to speculation about the oversized influence of Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whom some blamed for pushing Christie and his allies out. When Christie was a U.S. attorney more than a decade ago, he successfully prosecuted Kushners father on tax evasion and other charges.
Sending Pence to Capitol Hill served as a reminder of one the reasons Trump chose the even-tempered conservative for his team.
Not since Dick Cheney has a vice president been expected to play such a leading role in an administration led by a newcomer to Washington.
Especially with his experience in the House and Senate, the friends he has, the new president not having served I think its going to be a different vice presidential role, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).
Pence attended the morning huddle of House Republicans and later conferred with Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. He also met privately with Democratic leaders Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.
Pelosi made it clear that House Democrats have deep concerns with the appointment of chief strategist Stephen Bannon, the former Brietbart News chief who has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks and giving a platform to white nationalists. She asked Pence to urge Trump to reconsider the appointment, according to Pelosis spokesman.
In an apparent gesture of support for Bannon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer told reporters at Trump Tower on Thursday that Israel looks forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever. He declined to say why he singled out Bannon.
Like Republicans on Capitol Hill, Pelosi also seemed to view Pence as a figure in the Trump administration that Democrats could work with more easily.
Youre going to be a very valued player in all of this because you know the territory, she told Pence, adding that she meant no disrespect for the sensitivity and knowledge of the president-elect.So in that territory, we will try to find our common ground where we can. And of course, stand our ground when we cant.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already invited Pence to join the weekly Republican lunches much the way Cheney did to provide a conduit between Republicans on Capitol Hill and the administration.
Even doubters of the president-elect came away feeling more at ease with Pences presence.
He made it clear that he and the president-elect want to work with all of us, no matter what position we took during the presidential campaign, said Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), an outspoken opponent of Trump. Im very encouraged. Hes going to be very engaged perhaps in recent history the vice president that will most be engaged in the Congress.
lisa.mascaro@latimes.com
Twitter: @LisaMascaro
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Nosing into port Friday morning, the Navys newest amphibious warship joined the worlds largest and most lethal strike force in San Diego, part of an ongoing buildup of American forces realigning to face increasingly powerful Russian and Chinese fleets.
Completing an inaugural voyage that took it to Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Jamaica, Barbados and the Panama Canal, the amphibious transport dock ship John P. Murtha boosts the strength of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 to more than 14,000 sailors aboard 14 ships.
The Murthas primary mission is to use MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, helicopters and landing craft to bring up to 800 Marines ashore, but the vessel is far more versatile than that.
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These ships are truly multi-mission capable and theyre well designed for out-of the-box kind of projects that need to happen, like humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief operations, said the Murthas skipper, Capt. Kevin J. Parker.
A former enlisted submariner from Casper, Wyoming, Parker pointed to the warships large footprint of command and control infrastructure and advanced communications that turn the Murtha into the ringleader of a major operation, like the emergency evacuation of an embassy.
With a current crew of 396 members, the Murtha is the 10th of an expected dozen San Antonio-class amphibious warfare ships. The new amphibs are slated to replace nearly four times as many aging transport vessels, shaving crew and maintenance costs while adding capabilities the previous ships didnt have from advanced robotic anti-air defense systems to a sleek and stealthy silhouette to defeat-enemy radar.
Following the United States strategy of pivoting to the Pacific, more than half of the new amphibs will be homeported in San Diego or at bases in Asia, such as in Japan.
Because of the nature of what a strike group does, were the only group of surface combatants thats designed to get close enough to the shore for good or bad people to see us, Strike Group commander Rear Adm. Daniel Dano Fillion said during a Wednesday address before the nonprofit San Diego Military Advisory Council. If were there to help, well be a welcomed sight floating off your coastline. If were there to do something else, we might not be a welcomed sight, but well be a formidable and inevitable one.
To Fillion, his groups grunts, aircraft and warships like the Murtha should deter aggression, but if needed, they would win control of what strategists call the global commons the dimensions of sea, sky, land, space and cyberspace.
Mastering all of these commons usually wins a war because it allows a nation to wear down a foe with an unstoppable combo of ships, planes, troops, satellites and hackers, which is why Fillions strike group is charged with dominating all these dimensions from the sea.
Seventy percent of the globe is water, 80 percent of humanity lives near the coasts and 95 percent of the planets Internet and telephone traffic courses through undersea cables, which can leave deep-sea data lines vulnerable to sabotage or eavesdropping by enemy spy submarines.
During the next several years, Fillions strike group plans to add fast and stealthy Marine F-35B Joint Strike Fighters that land vertically on a warships flight deck, allowing Marines to control the air domain before destroying sea and inland targets to prepare the way for the infantry.
The messy counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan showcase potential challenges that ground units like the Marines face once theyre on land. Meanwhile, Americas long dominance in other commons has eroded since the collapse of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago.
The most lethal challenge comes from new super-silent submarines built by China and Russia.
Beijings underwater navy is believed to boast 56 submarines now 41 of them very quiet and hard to hunt, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence predicts that China could deploy 74 increasingly modern subs by 2020 about 13 more than the United States anticipates sending to sea. That hikes pressure on American strike groups to destroy an underwater enemy before U.S. warships are spotted.
As a warning, Fillion pointed to the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in 2010 while it was conducting anti-submarine exercises alongside American warships. International investigators concluded that a torpedo fired from a North Korean midget sub likely destroyed the Cheonan.
Fillions strike group gets new anti-submarine capabilities next year, although the Murtha already totes what Navy spokeswoman Lt. Laura Price called onboard systems that provide a robust countermeasure capability for undersea threats.
The high-tech upgrades aside, the Murtha entered port on Friday towing controversy in its wake.
1 / 17 Petty Officer First Class Kareem Haughton hugged his twin daughters Kylee, right, and Kayden, left, after he got off the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 17 Petty Officer First Class Kareem Haughton spread out his arms to welcome his twin daughters Kylee, right, and Kayden, left, as they ran towards him after he got off the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha . (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 17 Nine year-old Andrew Roach held on tho his dad tony Roach who is the Executive Officer aboard the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 17 SAN DIEGO, CA.-Nov. 17 2016: Elizabeth Rodriguez kissed her 21-month old daughter Bella Grace as part of the first-kiss tradition. PHOTO/JOHN GIBBINS, Staff photographer, San Diego Union-Tribune) copyright 2016 (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 17 The flag was at half staff on the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha in memory of former defense secretary Melvin Laird who died this week. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 17 Sisters Ailine Flores, left, and Estephanie Flores, right, watched as the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha arrived with their uncle Chief Petty Officer Adan Flores on board. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 17 Claudia Young and her daughter Cassandra waited for her husband, Petty officer First Class Jerome Young to come down off the ship. She was talking on the phone to him as the ship backed in and he manned the rail. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 17 Petty Officer First Class Jerome Young waves from the ship to his wife Claudia and daughter Cassandra who were waiting for him. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 17 Rodney Perryman holds his son Gabriel as he waits for his wife, Petty Officer 2nd class Xylona Perryman. Nylons mother, Gloria Evans is at right with sign. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 17 The Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha arrived at its new home port today to begin its service life. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 17 With sailors manning the rail, he Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha backed in to a pier at Naval Station San Diego. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 17 The Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha backed up to the pier, docking in front of the Littoral Combat ship USS Montgomery. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 17 Johnathan Burlinson holds a sign welcoming his father Chief Petty Officer Burlinson home. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 17 The Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha arrived at its new home port today to begin its service life. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 17 Gloria Evans holds her grandson Gabriel Robinson and a sign welcoming her daughter Petty Officer 2nd class Xylona Perryman home. The Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha arrived at its new home port today to begin its service life. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 17 A naval security boat sped past the Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha as it arrived at its new home port today. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 17 The Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha arrived at its new home port today to begin its service life. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Outgoing Secretary of the Navy Raymond Ray Mabus drew criticism for defying ship-naming traditions by honoring deceased Rep. John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who helmed the powerful House Armed Services Committee. Traditionally, warships like the Murtha pay homage to geographic areas.
A highly decorated Marine, Murtha was the first Vietnam War combat veteran to enter Congress, but he later condemned the invasion of Iraq and alleged war crimes committed by Marines there, angering conservatives.
The price tag for warships like the Murtha also ballooned to more than $1.6 billion each double the initial estimate. And the lead vessel in its class, the San Antonio, was a mechanical disaster plagued with leaks, poor steering, bad pipes and other engineering defects that Navy officials insist were fixed long before the Murtha launched.
On Friday, there was none of that controversy amid the glee of relatives waiting for the Murthas sailors to return home.
Rodney Perryman, 25, of Detroit, peered for his wife clambering down the gangplank. Electricians Mate 2nd Class Xylona Perryman, 25, deployed 16 months ago to Mississippi while the Murtha was being built. The couples 2 year old son, Gabriel, perched atop Dads shoulders.
Im going to give him to her, the father said with a grin. Gabriel, you go to her and Im probably going to go shoot some pool or go to the gym.
***
FAST STATS
Name: John P. Murtha (LPD 26)
Class/type: San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi
Speed: 22 knots (25 mph)
Complement: 32 officers, 364 enlisted service members
Displacement: 25,000 tons when full
cprine@sduniontribune.com
From the moment he saw Lucca, Chris Willingham knew she was special.
The two met in 2006 in San Antonio. Willingham was a Marine specializing in the training of military dogs, and Lucca was a 2-year-old German shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix being taught to sniff out bombs. They came together for their first war-zone deployment.
She had a lot of expression in her face, with these intently focused eyes. You could tell she was trying to figure me out right away, Willingham, now a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton, recalled about their introduction to each other. I sensed that she would have a lot of drive and enthusiasm.
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Last Tuesday, Lucca again looked intently at Willingham as he put a medal around her neck. It was the Dickin Medal, billed as Britains highest award for valor by a military animal.
Trustees of the the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals voted unanimously to honor Lucca with the distinction, making her the first U.S. military dog to receive the medal.
1 / 4 Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with retired US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery. (Frank Augstein / AP) 2 / 4 Heroic US Marine dog Lucca after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross. (Frank Augstein / AP) 3 / 4 Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with retired US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery. (Frank Augstein / AP) 4 / 4 Heroic US Marine dog Lucca after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. (Frank Augstein / AP)
The recognition is bestowed only when the organizations board believes a case merits it, so years can go by without any nomination being approved. In this case, the evaluators cited Luccas distinguished record of leading more than 400 patrols in Afghanistan and Iraq during three combat tours. Shes credited with at least 40 confirmed finds of insurgents, explosives and ammunition and for having no human casualties during her patrols.
The trustees also noted her physical sacrifice. During a 2012 patrol in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device went off after Lucca sniffed it out. The blast burned part of her body and led to the amputation of her front left leg.
Lucca gave tireless service to the military communities of the United States of America and coalition partners, the dispensary said in its medal citation.
The organization praised the dog for continuing to be a role model. Lucca has become a symbol of hope and inspiration to many as she attends military outreach functions, wounded warrior hospital visits and parades championing the dedication and efforts of all service animals, the citation reads.
Amy Dickin, spokeswoman for the dispensary, said Lucca has commanded more public attention than any other Dickin Medal honoree in the programs 73-year history.
One reason is the long relationship Britain and the United States have shared, so Lucca has garnered interest on both sides of the Atlantic. Another is that Lucca is still alive, as compared to some past recipients who were recognized posthumously.
But it comes down to Lucca being such a beautiful dog with a lovely personality, Dickin said. Everyone has embraced Lucca. They mob her on the streets and hug her and take photos with her. She has even had paparazzi following her around London since the [award] ceremony.
Willingham confirmed the publics adoration of Lucca.
We were doing interviews the whole week. They focus on her and then three to four minutes later, they finally realize theres a human being holding her leash. Then they get around to talking with me, and thats the way it should be! he said.
Lucca follows an eclectic succession of Dickin Medal recipients.
The dispensary has given the award to 32 pigeons (including G.I. Joe, a member of the United States Army Pigeon Service during World War II who became the first U.S. animal honored), 31 dogs, three horses and a cat. The common requirement is that they all served with distinction in some military capacity.
Maria Dickin, founder of the dispensary, created the medal program as a way to spotlight the bravery, loyalty and accomplishments of animals.
Canine war hero
When Dean Sienko was a general overseeing the Army Public Health Command, he learned that the U.S. military could nominate animals from its ranks. So he asked around for recommendations, and the Lucca story kept coming up.
The nomination packet included records of the dogs service, testimonies from witnesses to her courage and photos of her deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I take great pride about being a military dog handler. This medal is not just for Lucca, its also a fitting honor for our long, rich heritage of military dogs, said Willingham, 36, who currently works as a kennel master in his 17th year with the Marines.
They are heroes in every right, and the public needs to know more about their achievements. Thats why Im really happy about this award, he added.
Willingham and Lucca are now back at Camp Pendleton. The familys other members are Willinghams wife and two children, plus a newly adopted yellow lab puppy.
Lucca has embraced her mentor role, and the puppy keeps her spry, Willingham said.
Spry for a 12-year-old dog, that is. Willingham said Lucca likely has a year or two more to live. Between her public engagements, Lucca likes to lounge on the living room floor, wrestle playfully with Willingham and shower love on the rest of the household.
Willingham said she was low-key and relaxed during the entire time in London, true to her humble nature.
But I know this is a special honor, he said. Ill give her an extra reward. Probably a piece of steak.
An innovative privately operated international port of entry connecting San Diego with Tijuanas A.L. Rodriguez International Airport launched operations on Wednesday, opening a new chapter in cross-border travel.
Years in the planning, the 9 a.m. opening of the Cross Border Xpress took place with little fanfare just the presence of luggage-toting airline passengers who smiled broadly after taking minutes to cross from Tijuana to San Diego. They emerged from what looked like a long hallway spanning the international border, presenting documents to U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors, and proceeded to their destinations.
View the Video New cross-border bridge opens
Very very nice, said Gino Bertozzi of Mexico City, who flew to San Diego for a few days of shopping. Wow, way better, said Irma Ramirez, a grandmother returning to Moreno Valley in Riverside County after a vacation in Guadalajara taking minutes for a crossing that in the past has meant two or three hours in the pedestrian line at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
Cross Border Xpress 5 805 125 905
The crossing is a private, for-profit enterprise owned by Otay Tijuana Venture, a U.S. company with U.S. and Mexican investors, including Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell. The group has been in negotiations for years with government agencies on both sides of the border to build the $120 million facility, a structure with striking colors including purple and orange that stands out from the large box-like warehouses in the surrounding industrial area of Otay Mesa.
It is an airport without a runway, said Enrique Valle, chief executive of the Cross Border Xpress, or CBX.
The bridge gives ticketed airline passengers the chance to avoid long northbound lines at the nearby San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry. And for those with trepidation about driving into Tijuana, they can now park their car on the U.S. side the long-term parking fee is $10 a day and walk across to catch their plane in Mexico.
The Tijuana airport, the second best connected in Mexico, served nearly 4.4 million passengers last year. More than half of the users of the airport according to one study, as many as 60 percent cross to or from California, and CBXs owners are counting many of them using their facility. Valle hopes the new bridge will entice others to fly out of Tijuana, including non-Latinos interested in flying to different parts of Mexico.
The advantage includes not only lower ticket prices, but also a broad range of destinations that are not served by San Diego International Airport. The Tijuana airport currently serves two international destinations Shanghai and Oakland and the great majority of its flights are to Mexicos interior, more than 30 destinations across the country.
View the photo gallery: USA/MEXICO cross border bridge opens
CBXs operators are seeing some long-term opportunities as well, as the Tijuana airport has room to expand. Tijuana has a lot of capacity for growth, said Valle, a former director of the Tijuana airport. They have a lot of land, the runway doesnt have problems receiving large airplanes, they dont have restrictions and are open 24-7, he said. In the future, we can be a small Miami, where we can connect flights not only to Asia, but to Central and South America.
For now, the aim is to persuade enough crossers that the $18 one-way fee is worth the price. Sandra Rosales, a 43-year-old bookeeper from Oxnard, said she is considering using the bridge when flying later this month from Tijuana to visit family in San Luis Potosi. But with four family members, the cost of flying, the crossing fee, and parking the familys vehicle could be steep.
Were trying to see if its convenient, Rosales said. Im looking around for options.
The only port of entry on the California border that requires users to pay a toll, CBX is also only U.S. land border crossing that is linked to a foreign airport. It consists of a 390-foot enclosed pedestrian bridge that connects the Tijuana airport with a structure in Otay Mesa that includes a CBP inspection area, airline ticket counters, 850 parking spaces, car rental booths, and opportunities to connect with inter-city buses, taxis and Uber vehicles. Over the next few days, it will also include a duty-free shopping area and a restaurant.
CBXs future plans include the construction of a 340-room hotel, gas station and shopping center on the site.
For the first few days, users are not being charged. But starting Dec. 19, there will be an $18 toll to use the bridge, with 20 percent discounts for those over age 65 and under age 12. Users up to age 3 can cross for free.
The CBP is treating the facility like other pedestrian crossings on the U.S. border, and the agencys secured area includes eight inspection booths, four X-ray machines, and kiosks where crossers can swipe their radio-frequency identification documents such as the Sentri card. The agency, charged with enforcing laws at U.S. ports of entry, was consulted for the design of the facility, which includes secondary inspection areas and holding areas for anyone taken into custody.
This is a land port of entry, said Joe Misenhelter, the assistant port director overseeing the Cross Border Xpress. The only difference is that you have to be a ticketed airline passenger.
Business leaders are hailing the Cross Border Xpress as a precedent-setting project that can change not only the experience of crossing the border but also draw attention to the San Diego-Tijuana region and its economic opportunities.
Its changing the dynamics and the image of the border, said Humberto Inzunza, president of the Tijuana Economic Development Council. While there has been some resistance to the project in Tijuana from taxi drivers, shop owners and others who stand to lose business, Inzunza said, the city will benefit in the long-term.
At the beginning some economic sectors will be suffering, but eventually, it will bring us more resources, well have more people in this region visiting us, Inzunza said.
From the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to the South County Economic Development Council to the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, business groups in San Diego have been enthusiastic backers of the project.
Ive had people already asking where they could buy land nearby, said Rob Hixson, a commercial real estate broker who is chair of the city of San Diegos Otay Mesa planning group and a member of the South County Economic Development Council.
A man who publicly smashed President-elect Donald Trumps Hollywood Walk of Fame star with a sledgehammer and pickax has been charged with vandalism.
James Otis, 52, faces one felony count of vandalism for causing more than $400 in damage to the star, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.
Otis, who talked to The Times about his actions, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in downtown Los Angeles.
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The Oct. 26 attack, which was caught on video, shows Otis hacking away at the pavement and bronze medallions.
Clad in a hard hat and construction vest, the Beverly Hills resident said he spent weeks planning the nonviolent action.
He even spent a couple of nights near the star, assessing the area in the Hollywood and Highland complex.
Otis said he had disdain for Trump and his attitude toward women.
I just sort of had enough with Mr. Trumps aggressive language toward women and his behavior, his sexual violence with women and against women, Otis said. Ive had personally in my own family four people who have been assaulted or have had sexual violence happen to them. It all became very personal.
Trump has called such accusations false.
After smashing the star, Otis removed the center TV emblem, some letters of Trumps name and a small piece of the star. He kept the brass pieces.
Otis said he planned to auction them off and raise money for women who accused Trump of assault as well as a college organization working to end sexual violence on campuses.
Los Angeles police estimated the damage at $2,500. Otis has said he would gladly pay the damages to the site.
A day after the attack, police arrested Otis. The arrest came hours before Otis planned to hold a news conference announcing he was going to turn himself in to authorities.
If convicted, Otis faces up to three years in jail.
Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
veronica.rocha@latimes.com
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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A 29-year-old Long Beach man has been arrested in connection with a pair of sexual assaults in which teenage girls told police they were held at knifepoint in South L.A., authorities said.
Samuel Alexander Vasquez was arrested by detectives with the LAPDs elite Robbery-Homicide Division as he left his job in Long Beach on Friday, police said. He was booked on suspicion of kidnapping with intent to commit sexual assault, according to an LAPD news release.
In both attacks, Vasquez is accused of using a knife to hold the victims against their will in his car, police said. On Sept. 27, police say Vasquez approached a 16-year-old girl who was walking home in the area of 75th and Figueroa streets and he forced her into his car at knifepoint. He then drove to a second location and assaulted her, police said.
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One month later, on Oct. 28 near 70th and Flower streets, police accused Vasquez of forcing a 14-year-old into his car, then driving away and assaulting her while holding a knife against her.
Vasquez will be held in lieu of $1 million bail.
james.queally@latimes.com
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A Los Angeles couple who went missing during a visit to the desert wandered for five days, drinking their own urine to survive, before they were discovered by the U.S. Border Patrol, according to a friend of the couple.
On Friday, the LAPD confirmed that Mariya Mitkova, 27, and Aaron Morganstein, 33, were discovered in good health near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The couple was last seen leaving the pairs home in the 2200 block of Shoredale Avenue, in Elysian Valley, about 3 p.m. last Saturday. They told loved ones they had planned to drive to Joshua Tree National Park or Imperial Sand Dunes for the weekend, according to the LAPD.
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Mitkova and Morganstein, according to LAPD Officer Tony Im, were found in Mexico and were going to be picked up by family members.
Briana Gonzales, a friend, sent details of the couples ordeal to The Times on Friday, citing a cousin of Mitkova and people who spoke to them after they were located.
Gonzales said the couple were at the Hugh T. Osborne Lookout Park in Imperial County on Sunday and left their car to go on a day hike and take photos.
This was also the last time the pair had a wireless Internet signal, Gonzales wrote.
They got lost while out on their hike and could see a red light flashing in the distance so they started walking [in that] direction, Gonzales wrote.
Mitkova and Morganstein spent five days walking in the desert without food and with little water.
In order [to] conserve their water they also drank their own urine, Gonzales email states. They saw helicopters flying, and actually were able to light a fire to get attention but no one was able to see them.
The couple is said to have walked to a cellphone tower, where they saw maintenance workers who contacted the Border Patrol.
Mitkova said that they were nearly dead, exhausted, dehydrated and thought that they were gonna die and then they ran into someone, said Gonzales email, citing Mitkovas cousin.
The couple had been expected to return to work Monday, Gonzales told The Times earlier this week.
Morganstein, a professional photographer, planned to go to San Diego, where he was to assist in a photo shoot on Monday, she said. Once they arrived in San Diego, Mitkova was going to catch a train on Sunday and head back for work in Santa Monica.
But the couple never showed up for work, Gonzales said.
Its super-odd for him not to show up to a gig and for her not to show up to work, she said.
The couples ATM transactions show they made no purchases since Saturday, Gonzales said.
Before taking off for the desert trip, the couple withdrew $120 from an ATM, then paid for gas. At some point, they fueled up again at a gas station in Cabazon.
Then a cellphone pinged off a cell tower in Rancho Mirage, Gonzales said.
At 6 p.m., Mitkova called a friend and said they were headed to the sand dunes.
Gonzales said Riverside County sheriffs deputies conducted an air and ground search for the couple and their car, a 2002 blue Subaru Outback. Three Joshua Tree park rangers also looked for the couple without success.
Joseph.serna@latimes.com
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
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UPDATES:
1:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details provided by Gonzales.
This article was originally published at 11:35 a.m.
A $25-million settlement was reached Friday resolving three fraud lawsuits filed against Donald Trump and his now-defunct Trump University, averting the prospect of a trial for the president-elect.
The settlement covers two class-action suits filed in San Diego and a third suit brought by the New York state attorney general. The deal comes 10 days after Trump was elected president and 10 days before the first of the cases was set to go to trial.
The lawsuits alleged that Trump had defrauded customers into thinking they would learn real estate secrets from professors he had handpicked. The students said they learned little and instead were subjected to hard-sell tactics urging them to spend thousands of dollars on classes.
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Trump does not acknowledge or admit any liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Under the terms, $21 million will be spread among the plaintiffs in the San Diego cases and $4 million will go to the New York case. The plaintiffs attorneys agreed to waive their fees and work pro bono, maximizing the amount the students could recover.
The attorneys wont be making money on this case. All will go to the students, said San Diego plaintiffs attorney Jason Forge.
The 7,000 or so eligible members in the class-action suits should be able to recover at least 55% and possibly 100% of the money they spent on Trump University, Forge said.
Some students had paid up to $35,000 on elite memberships that offered a year of mentorship and said they were encouraged to max out credit cards to pay for the instruction.
Students will be very pleased to be able to pay their credit card bills and move on with their lives, said plaintiffs attorney Rachel Jensen.
One of those students was Sonny Low a 74-year-old named plaintiff from Chula Vista representing California class members in the lawsuit that was to go to trial Nov. 28. He has been paying off a $9,000 credit card debt from Trump University and now will be able to recover that money, said one of his attorneys, Patrick Coughlin.
The law firm Zeldes, Haeggquist & Eck, which helped represent the plaintiffs, said in a statement Friday that it was incredibly painful to end the legal battle now.
We stand behind their claims 100%, the firm said, but there is always risk in taking a case to trial and that was particularly so here, when the defendant was poised to be the next president of the United States.
The lawsuits dogged Trump on the campaign trail, and he denied the allegations many times and said he would not settle the cases. He told supporters at a May rally that he would come to San Diego to testify after winning the presidency.
I could have settled this case numerous times, but I dont want to settle cases when were right, he said at the time. I dont believe in it. And when you start settling cases, you know what happens? Everybody sues you because you get known as a settler. One thing about me, I am not known as a settler.
Trump attorney Daniel Petrocelli said outside court Friday as seven protesters held signs behind him that he was not sure what path the case would have taken had Trump not been elected.
President Trump is pleased to have this case behind him so he can focus on every important issue facing this country, Petrocelli said. He was willing to sacrifice his personal interests to put this behind him and move forward.
The terms were reached in the hours before a 1:45 p.m. hearing Friday in San Diego before U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the two class-action lawsuits. Last week, Curiel suggested both sides meet with U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller, who had offered his services to see if a settlement could be worked out before Lows case went to trial.
Both sides spent all day Wednesday with Miller, and on Thursday worked to include the New York attorney generals office in the settlement, Petrocelli said.
I am pleased that under the terms of this settlement, every victim will receive restitution and that Donald Trump will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the state of New York for violating state education laws, New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman said in a statement before the settlement was officially announced. The victims of Trump University have waited years for todays result, and I am pleased that their patience and persistence will be rewarded.
Because it involves class-action litigation, the settlement still must be approved by Curiel. The judge said he needs to make sure it is fair, appropriate and reasonable. That will take at least a month.
If Curiel grants preliminary approval, notices will go out to the class members, who can object or opt out of the agreement.
Forge on Friday made note of the attacks Curiel had faced over his role in the case, especially after Trump accused the judge of unfair or biased rulings against him during the campaign. Trump called Curiel a hater and hostile judge, saying his Mexican heritage and membership in a Latino attorneys group conflicted with Trumps views on immigration and building a border wall.
Outside this court, things have been pretty ugly, frankly, Forge told Curiel. Inside this court, I havent seen any hint of that. No bias shown on either side.
Curiel said that the settlement represented an important milestone in the lawsuits, and that he hoped it also said something about the postelection healing process this country very sorely needs.
kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com
Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Union-Tribune staff writers Greg Moran, Lauren Schroeder and Kate Morrisey and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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UPDATES:
8 p.m.: This article was updated with more comments by plaintiffs attorneys and a statement by New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman.
4:55 p.m.: This article was updated with comments by the plaintiffs attorneys and Trumps lawyer.
2:03 p.m.: This post was updated with details from San Diego court.
1:48 p.m.: This post was updated with details of the settlement and background of the cases.
1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with announcement that a $25-million settlement has been reached.
This article was originally published at 11:45 a.m.
Its North Countys Hundred Years War, I wrote in 2009. Long after my earthly remains are buried, Gregory Canyon will still be working its way through a permitting process only Kafka could love.
Saints be praised, I was wrong. I lived long enough to see the damned dump declared dead.
Thursdays requiem for the landfill, delivered in the form of a press release, was greeted with a chorus of cheers in North County.
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The most conspicuous winner, of course, is the Pala Band of Mission Indians, the tribe that bought the western side of Gregory Mountain and Gregory Canyon, a pastoral 700-acre portion of the 1,700-acre proposed landfills footprint.
Bottom line, a sacred Indian site, a cultural touchstone for several regional tribes, has been returned to the people who revere it.
As part of the purchase, the tribe promised not to oppose a large mixed-use development on the 1,000 acres near state Route 76, which might be an easier sell than, say, the more remote Lilac Hills Ranch that was rebuffed in the last election.
The future is always hard to predict, but this part of the bargain with GCL LLC does not appear terribly Faustian. (Its anyones guess if a general plan amendment for a large development will win approval. Using the land as a mitigation bank or selling to a conservation group are options that may come into play.)
A cast of memorable characters has performed parts in the Gregory Canyon drama. The city of Oceanside joined the opposition, as did former Supervisor Pam Slater-Price. (Californias governors, on the other hand, have turned their backs following countywide votes of approval.) Everett DeLano, whom Ive dubbed the NIMBY lawyer, has been the longtime counselor for RiverWatch, an environmental group that fought the project.
On the other side of the ledger, memory darts from the late Richard Chase who for years was the face of the landfill, a charming defender of the indefensible to his former wife, Nancy Chase, the unsinkable spokesperson who always expressed absolute confidence that Gregory Canyon would be built despite countless legal and financial obstacles.
But as I review the last quarter of a century, a period that roughly parallels my time as a columnist in North County, I keep returning to the last Trash Bag standing.
I called Ruth Harber Thursday at her home close by Gregory Canyon.
Harber had learned about 45 minutes before I rang that the specter that has bedeviled her for some 28 years has gone poof. (About 17 years ago, when we were walking Gregory Canyon, Id told her the dump would never be built. She was pessimistic, even fatalistic. In her view, it was David vs. Goliath and there was nothing gigantic about her team. But the long odds only made her more determined.)
So youre a survivor, I told her over the phone.
In more ways than one, she replied.
A Jewish girl during World War II, she hid from the Nazis in Belgium (an Anne Frank who made it). A married woman in her early 60s, she moved to her bucolic corner of Valley Center to grow avocados. Three years later, a woman approached her to sign a petition opposing a proposed dump and attend a meeting in Pauma Valley.
Little did I know then that I was embarking on a fight against what came to be known as Gregory Canyon, she told me.
Harber joined forces with five remarkable women who became known as the Trash Bags, a title adopted with good-humored pride. They were the most remarkable group of NIMBYs Ive ever met, women with grit, Mensa-level smarts and time and energy to fight. Warriors with bulging manila folders, they were willing to attend innumerable meetings, delve deep into geology and topography.
Those were the times when the phone and fax machines were our only weapons to stay informed, she recalled. There were no emails then. I used to write pamphlets and went regularly down to Pala to use their copy machines and also recruited my husband to make copies at work before he retired. I used my electric Smith-Corona to write. And, boy, did I write letters! Even to the Pope. Remember that? When the Catholic Diocese of San Diego ignored my pleas to join other religious organizations asking that they protect the ancient beliefs of the Pala Indians, I wrote to the Pope and got a response. Next thing: the Diocese complied. Those were the days.
Harbers scores of letters to the editor were gems of the genre. Concise, caustic, uncompromising.
The other Trash Bags are gone, either away or to the other side. Only Harber remains on the barricade.
Its been 28 years since this sordid story began, she said. Im now 88 still around and ready to fight more battles had it been necessary.
Fortunately, its no longer necessary. Harber can rest easy. The second war in her life is over.
Basking in the glow, she even finds it in her heart to throw a bone to an undeserving watchdog.
You have been our champion even if we were called NIMBYs too many times to count, she told me. I was proud to be one. Who else would save our environment if there were no NIMBYs?
I called DeLano to ask him what hell always remember about Harber.
He loved recalling a water-quality meeting about seven years ago in Escondido City Hall, a gathering in which high-school students had been hired to pretend that they supported the landfill. (Harber uncovered that embarrassing fact and fed the tasty morsel to me.)
At one point in the proceedings, Harber stood up and started questioning the panel of bureaucrats, holding their feet to the fire until they nearly cried.
When shed finished, Harbers husband stood up and said, Im her husband and you think this is something? I have to live with this!
As the husband of a strong woman, I have to ask: Who wouldnt give anything to live with something like that?
logan.jenkins@sduniontribune.com
Judge Jay M. Bloom has rejected a request from the owner of a medical-marijuana business to force the District Attorneys Office to return more than $100,000 in cash seized, given that no criminal charges have been filed.
In a ruling dated Wednesday and received by lawyers in the case on Friday, Bloom said that a San Diego police detective successfully demonstrated probable cause to believe criminal activity was occurring when he gained judicial approval for a January raid of the Kearny Mesa business.
The test here is not one of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or clear and convincing evidence, the San Diego Superior Court judge wrote. It is simply one of probable cause.
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Lawyers for James Slatic, owner of the Med-West Distribution medical-pot company, said Friday that they would appeal the ruling as soon as next month.
The courts decision allows the government to take an entire familys money based on mere suspicion that one family member committed a crime, said Wesley Hottot of the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit advocacy law group representing Slatic.
That isnt just wrong; its unconstitutional, Hottot said. And we will be appealing to ensure that the Slatics money is quickly returned to them.
Dozens of drug agents entered the business in January and seized more than $324,000 in cash, computers and other records and the inventory of pot-laced products like edibles, creams and vaping cartridges.
Police arrested two employees on site, and they were later released without criminal charges. Slatic also has not been charged with any crimes as a result of the raid.
Almost three dozen employees lost their jobs when the business closed after the drug sweep, Slatic says.
In addition to seizing cash and property at the Med-West headquarters, police froze and then seized Slatics personal bank account and those of his wife and two daughters.
Investigators said the personal assets were likely derived from criminal activity because Slatic transferred money between his business and family accounts.
The return-of-assets case only concerned the cash that was confiscated from Slatic and his family.
In affidavits supporting the seizures, San Diego police Det. Mark Carlson said the firm appeared to be extracting marijuana illegally to make concentrated pot products. He did not identify Med-West as a medical-pot business permitted under Californias Proposition 215.
You cant include the entire history of the world in affidavits, Carlson testified at a court hearing Monday.
Slatic and a chemical scientist testified at the same hearing that Med-West was not extracting marijuana to make a concentrated form of pot. Instead, the company was refining it under a process that is legal under state marijuana laws, they said.
Judge Bloom said some supplies found in the raid could be used in an extraction process, so probable cause for seizing the Slatics assets existed.
Witnesses at the hearing all established the marijuana extraction process at Mr. Slatics business involved the use of ethanol, which is a flammable product, the judge wrote. This type of extraction is a violation of Health and Safety Code 11379.6 concerning the manufacturing of marijuana.
One of Slatics witnesses, a San Diego scientist named Andrew Pham, testified the ethanol was used in the refinement process, not extraction, and that extraction could not be done with the lab equipment on hand.
The District Attorneys Office declined to comment on the ruling, saying the case is still being reviewed for possible criminal charges.
The lack of criminal charges to date did not escape the judge.
The court does have some concern with the fact the People have kept money for nearly 10 months without filing a case, he wrote. Before the year is up from the date of the seizure, the People will have to file a forfeiture case or a criminal case to keep the funds.
The District Attorneys Office and San Diego police and sheriffs departments collect millions of dollars a year under the asset seizure program.
A bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September requires criminal convictions before law enforcement agencies can keep most seized assets, but the new law does not go into effect until January.
jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
UPDATE:The New York Attorney general has announced a $25 million settlement in the case. Details coming.
A settlement may be near to resolve three fraud lawsuits filed against President-elect Donald Trump and his now-defunct Trump University real estate seminar business.
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Several news organizations were reporting Friday that a settlement of $20 million to $25 million was in the works. It would settle two fraud lawsuits filed in San Diego and a third suit brought by the New York state attorney general.
All allege largely the same thing that Trump defrauded customers into thinking they would learn real estate secrets from professors selected by the businessman, but learned little and instead were mostly subject to hard sell sales tactics urging them to spend thousands on classes.
The reports in the New York Daily News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others said Trump would not acknowledge wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Lawyers for Trump and the plaintiffs did not return emails seeking comment Friday.
During the presidential campaign, Trump on several occasions said he would not settle the cases.
News of an impending deal came just hours before a 1:45 p.m. hearing Friday in federal court in San Diego, where Trumps lawyers were to argue for a delay in the Nov. 28 start of one of the trials. Trumps lawyers say the delay is needed as Trump works on the transition to his new administration.
Fridays hearing is still on the calendar for U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the two class-action lawsuits. Last week, Curiel suggested both sides meet with U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller to see if a last-minute settlement could be worked out.
Both sides said they were willing to try to reach a settlement.
Preparations for the trial have continued. More than 100 prospective jurors have been summoned to jury selection on Nov. 28. The court has also been making preparations to accommodate what would be a large contingent of news media and citizens who will want to observe the trial.
Twitter: @gregmoran
greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
The National Border Patrol Council has high hopes for President-elect Trumps border security policies.
The unions president, Brandon Judd, has been advising the Trump transition team. The union has encouraged the building of a border wall and changing enforcement policies put in place in the past four years.
San Diego-based Shawn Moran, vice president of the union, said a wall on the border would be a vital tool, and its difficult to say exactly where along the border a wall is needed.
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The problem arises when you secure one area, you push traffic to another, Moran said, citing a Border Patrol program called Operation Gatekeeper that blocked entry to much of the San Diego area.
We didnt think they would go through the mountains. We didnt think they would go through the deserts. But they did, Moran said. The smugglers really didnt seem to care.
Related: Welcoming cities label debated as Trump term nears
He did not know specifics about what kind of material the wall might be built out of or how tall it might be.
Many immigrant rights advocates, like the Southern Border Communities Coalition, have spoken out against such a wall.
Border communities are safe, thriving, and contribute to the economic and cultural fabric of the United States, said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition. Misguided proposals that seek to militarize border communities by deploying more federal agents and building walls do not contribute to improving the quality of life for the more than 15 million people that call the borderlands home.
The San Diego area has about 60 miles of border, according to James Nielsen, a San Diego sector Border Patrol agent and spokesman. About 46 miles has fencing and about 13 miles has two sets of fences.
The older fencing is made out of excess landing mat material from the Vietnam War. Newer fencing involves steel, poured concrete, and, in some places, layers of razor wire.
Nielsen said that in 2015, San Diego agents had to make more than 550 repairs to the fences.
Moran said the old landing mat fencing was effective in stopping cars driving across the border, but not for people.
When it comes to people, weve found that if you build a 20-foot fence, they build a 21-foot ladder, Moran said. Theyre going over it, or the cartels are digging under it.
The wall on its own would not be enough, Moran said, but it could be effective when paired with an ease in restrictions on Border Patrol agents actions.
He said former deputy commissioner David Aguilar made a policy that border agents could not operate at public transit hubs unless they had specific intelligence that smuggling activity or criminal activity was taking place there. Aguilar designated several such spaces for restricted enforcement, such as schools and hospitals, in a 2013 memo.
Moran said the union wants to get rid of the priority enforcement program or the policy of focusing enforcement of immigration laws on those with criminal records or those caught crossing the border.
Right now we basically have to catch them jumping the border fence or coming out of the river, Moran said. Our position has been that we cant be that restrained. Obviously we want to go after the violent criminals first, but you shouldnt be protected if youre here breaking the law.
He also said that the U.S. government doesnt prosecute enough of the assaults on Border Patrol agents.
We average one major assault every day of the year nationwide, Moran said. Our agents think theyre viewed as expendable.
kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
Authorities found more than $2.1 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine stashed in a mans SUV in Oceanside early Thursday, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.
Ricardo Lujan, 44, of San Ysidro, was arrested and faces drug-related charges.
According to the federal complaint, an Oceanside police officer who was conducting random vehicle registration checks on Harbor Drive saw Lujan get into a Mitsubishi Endeavor with expired tags.
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The officer stopped the SUV about 12:40 a.m. before Lujan got far. Lujan, the registered owner of the vehicle, appeared nervous while the officer spoke to him, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. He agreed to a vehicle search.
The U.S. Border Patrol was called out, one of the agencys drug-sniffing dog reacted to the SUV.
Agents from a San Diego-based Drug Enforcement Administration task force searched the vehicle. They found 99 packages of cocaine and 58 bundles of meth all vacuum sealed in plastic containers.
The contraband was hidden in floorboards, door panels, center console and elsewhere in the SUV, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.
The 89 kilograms of cocaine have an estimated street value of $1.7 million dollars, authorities said. The 69 kilograms of meth have an estimated street value of $450,000.
Oceanside police said Lujan was driving with an expired vehicle registration and without a drivers license.
He is set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major on Friday. He faces a count of possession of drugs with the intent to distribute.
Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A woman was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of swinging a metal pole at a man and later stabbing him with a knife in East Village, San Diego police said.
The 52-year-old victim was standing on a sidewalk on the J Street overpass above Interstate 5 about 6:30 p.m. As he waited for a friend, a woman walked up and swung a metal pole at him, police said.
The man dodged the pole and backed away from the attacker, who then put the pole down and began rambling. When the man approached the woman to speak to her, she took out a knife and lunged at him, stabbing him in the neck.
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The man left, and a stranger spotted him bleeding a short distance away, on 17th and K streets.
He was taken to a hospital with a 2-inch stab would that was not considered life-threatening, police said.
A witness saw the woman climbing into a tent where she lives on J Street, police said. Officers arrested her and booked her into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A San Diego company has been named as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit that accuses the firm of systematically cheating homeowners trying to make their property more energy efficient.
Renovate America, which is based in Rancho Bernardo, runs a popular program that arranges for homeowners to borrow money to install solar panels, improve doors and windows and make other improvements to reduce their energy use.
Company officials rejected the allegations and said they would defend the suit vigorously.
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Under a program it calls the Home Energy Renovation Opportunity, or HERO, Renovate America finances the improvements and arranges for the costs to be added onto property tax rolls. Loans can be financed up to 25 years at up to 15 percent of the propertys value.
Over 50 types of energy-efficient products are eligible for no money down, 100 percent financing, the company states on its website. More than 50,000 families love coming home to lower utility bills.
According to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Renovate America overcharges virtually every cost, fee and amount due from borrowers in the HERO Loan program to maximize its own profits at the expense of HERO loan borrowers.
The 33-page case was filed earlier this month by property owner Michael Richardson, who alleges that the company charges excessive closing costs and other fees. He said he agreed to borrow $43,159 to pay for a new roof, windows and other improvements, but was assessed $48,777.
Defendants simply inflate the stated amount of each HERO loan by the amount of accrued interest and then re-compute interest on that inflated amount, the complaint states.
Renovate America spokeswoman Ellen Qualls said there is no merit to the legal complaint.
We take our commitment to compliance with laws, rules and regulations, and to consumer protection, very seriously, and we strive to exceed all applicable requirements and best practices, she said.
The case has yet to be certified as class-action litigation, although Richardson estimated more than 5,000 customers may have been affected.
jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
On the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 8, I was at Hillary Clinton headquarters in downtown San Diego. I wasnt there to help ensure a victory. I was sure that victory had already been sealed. I was there to participate in the celebration.
Wednesday morning, my grief was overwhelming.
For me, this loss is personal. As a woman who is assertive, outspoken and strong-willed. As a woman who sweats the small stuff, does her homework and goes to bat. As a woman who has been called aggressive where a man would be praised for confidence, this hurts.
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For me, this loss is also scary. In a world of climate change, Dakota Access, the sixth mass extinction and rampant habitat loss, I am more fearful now for our planets future than I was the night before the election. I am not the only one who felt devastation and fear as the results came in. Many other women, minorities and members of the LGBT community felt it as well.
Much of this devastation comes from the shock of an outcome so few predicted. Leading up to the election, the right answer seemed so logical that in cities across the U.S., pundits on both sides of the aisle predicted a Clinton victory. Nearly every newspaper that endorsed a candidate supported Clinton (including this one), some breaking century-long Republican traditions to do so.
Now, as emotions begin to temper and hindsights perfect vision settles in, it seems we all missed two important realities: People dont vote on logic, and the divide between rural and urban America is bigger than we ever thought possible.
The first part, the logic, is not going to change. It was the swell of hope that brought Barack Obama to victory in 2008 more than his resume. And it was the stoking of fears that persuaded a minority of Americans this year to cast ballots for a man found unsavory even by many of his supporters.
The illogical nature of the average voter isnt going to change. The divide, though, thats something we can work on.
Bridging this deepening divide is the only thing that will make America greater, and it starts by openheartedly listening to the other side. The problems of small-town, middle America have long been left out of a political conversation focused on race, gender and the environment. Now they are at the forefront and if we dont listen up, the divide that brought Trump to victory will only grow.
That doesnt mean the protests across the United States should stop (although I do urge peace and nonviolence). This isnt about losing an election, its about sending a clear message that hate and bigotry will not be tolerated. And it doesnt mean the problems of white, rural America are greater than anyone elses, only that they matter, too. And it certainly doesnt mean our new president will work meaningfully to fix any of these issues for us. That responsibility is on our shoulders.
But if we have learned anything from this election, it is that we cannot afford to ignore those with whom we fundamentally disagree. I never saw this coming because I refused to open my eyes to the other side their fears, their struggles, their reality. Through all the noise, we have stopped talking.
So, in the words of Sen. Cory Booker, as we bring grit to our grief and heart to our hurt, let me humbly add my own request:
To those who disagree with this outcome do not tune out. Do not disengage. The moral arc of the universe is long, but we know which way it bends. Though that justice cannot come quickly enough for those who work for change, know that the sun is shining even if we cannot see it and love is there even if we cannot feel it.
To those who disagree with people like me start a conversation. Do not unfollow, unfriend or ignore. Though we may disagree on the path, I believe with my whole heart that we agree on the destination.
And to everyone as those wiser than I have implored, let us not be daunted by the enormity of the worlds problems. We are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are we free to abandon it.
As for me, I will never stop fighting for what I believe is right, because it is absolutely worth it.
Schwartz Lesberg is the director of conservation for San Diego Audubon and serves on several coastal advisory committees.
We asked two San Diego County voters for their views on this months election and whats next.
See also: Donald Trump victory brought sense of relief, a pleasant surprise
Even as details about Donald Trump s long-proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall begin to surface, Americans can get a preview of what it might look like to live in a divided region: many countries in the world are already so separated.
Before we get to those, heres a closer look at how Trumps idea may materialize.
On Thursday, one border security adviser to Trump told NPRs Morning Edition that the wall would not likely be a wall, but rather a fence, and that it would not likely cover the entire 1,954-miles boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.
Instead, an additional 200 or 300 miles of fencing could be added to the roughly 650-mile-long stretch of existing fence between the two countries, said Brandon Judd who is a Border Patrol agent and head of the National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents more than 16,000 agents.
The wall is going to be absolutely effective in certain locations. We do not need a wall along the entire 2,000 miles of border. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
So, who pays for the additional border fencing and security?
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Trump adviser on immigration issues, told Reuters that some Department of Homeland Security funds could be used to build the wall instead of asking Congress for funding. Just exactly how much that would cost remains unclear.
The existence of hundreds of miles of extra fencing on the border is not hard to imagine. There are dozens of places in the world where countries and regions are already divided by either a fence or a wall and security forces.
Here are five parts of the world that already live divided.
1. Israel and Palestine
The 420-mile part-wall, part-fence West Bank barrier, which separates Israelis and Palestinians, has been the focus of much controversy since it was erected in 2002. Most of it is made up of a concrete base with a wire-and-mesh superstructure and rolls of razor wire and a deep ditch on one side of it, according to the BBC.
This Oct. 24, 2016 photo, shows part of a cement barrier and a fence securing the parameter of the Israeli settlement of Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
2. North Korea and South Korea
The 160-mile border dividing North and South Korea is named the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ, which acts as a buffer between the two countries that are continually at war. The DMZ was reportedly created after the Korean War when China, North Korea and South Korea agreed to a cease fire agreement in 1953.
South Korean army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
3. Spain and Morocco
The Mediterranean Sea separates Spain and the African country of Morocco but a fence and now a wall separates the African enclave of Ceuta, which is Spanish territory. The fence was first erected in 1993 and Morocco recently joined the effort to curb illegal migration by erecting a wall with barbed wire on its side.
A man walks along a fence in the border separating Morocco and Spains North African enclave of Ceuta, in Ceuta on October 27, 2016. (JORGE GUERREROJORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
4. Greece and Cyprus
The roughly 11-mile wall has separated Greek and Turkish Cyprots living in this small island south of Turkey since 1974. While the two countries continue to attempt a resolution to their conflict, its border is patrolled by U.N. forces.
A couple walk in front of a wall with graffiti, near the UN buffer zone, Green Line that divide the Greek and Turkish Cypriot controlled areas in divided capital Nicosia in this eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
5. India and Pakistan
Parts of the border between India and Pakistan remain bitterly divided by fencing after years of conflict between the two countries. As recently as this month, the two countries have accused each other of attacks that violate a cease-fire agreement. The two countries split in 1947 when British colonial rule ended.
An Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier patrols along a fence at the India-Pakistan border in R.S Pora south-west of Jammu on October 3, 2016. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFATAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images)
Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @RunGomez
Deputies from the sheriffs Ramona station responded to a call of a shooting in Ramona Terrace Estates mobile home park, 1212 H St., at 1:42 a.m. Friday, which led to the arrest of an 87-year-old man, reported the sheriffs department.
When deputies arrived, they found an injured victim who said the suspect, Don Aspin, was inside the residence and was armed with a hand gun and a rifle, stated Sgt. Mark Knierim. The suspect reportedly fired several rounds from inside his bedroom, through his bedroom door, and one of the rounds struck the victim in the leg, the sergeant said.
ASTREA and deputies from the Poway station assisted with setting up a perimeter and deputies made several announcements for the suspect to come out of the residence. After about 20 minutes, Aspin came out and was taken into custody, said the sheriffs department. He was transported to San Diego Central Jail and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the report.
The victim of the shooting was transported to a local hospital for treatment of an injury that is not considered to be life threatening. No other injuries were reported.
East County business owners, civic leaders and law enforcement officials are taking the first steps in creating a regional approach to address homelessness in their communities.
We need to bring everybody together so people understand how homelessness is impacting all these different sectors of our community, said Eric Lund, CEO and President of the East County Chamber of Commerce.
In January, a count of homeless people countywide found El Cajon had 103 people in shelters or transitional housing and 218 people living on the street, in tents or in cars. Spring Valley had 134 homeless people, La Mesa had 31 and Lemon Grove had 12, with people in all three communities unsheltered..
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Lund said the chamber directed him and staff members to create the San Diego East County Regional Homeless Task Force, which held its first meeting Wednesday at the El Cajon Police Department.
About 100 people attended, and guest speakers agreed that the homeless population has increased and it will take a collaborative, regional effort to address it.
Representatives of faith-based groups and social services also spoke about how they already are helping homeless people in East County.
Lund said information shared at the task forces first meeting will be used when the group convenes again in January and holds break-out sessions on various topics. The task force will develop a regional plan based on ideas generated from that and future meetings, he said.
I can see where all the connections are, Lund said. We just need to bring these people to the table so they can talk to each other and work together.
While the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless already includes East County, Lund said the new group will have a specific focus on local issues and services to better serve the area.
City managers from El Cajon, Lemon Grove and La Mesa at the meeting each said they were struggling with how to deal with a growing homeless population.
Its a complex, deep-seated problem and its getting worse, said El Cajon City Manager Douglas Williford, calling the issue well beyond a police matter.
Williford said he struggles with how the city can be compassionate to homeless people without attracting more. He also noted that the homeless population in a city park had exploded after people started bringing food to them.
Lemon Grove City Manager Lydia Romero said her community sees an influx of homeless people whenever San Diego does sweeps of encampments, and she thinks all cities around hers should work together.
Its a regional problem, she said. This is an East County problem, and not one city should share the burden.
Law enforcement officers from El Cajon, Rancho San Diego, Santee and La Mesa agreed their roles were just part of the solution.
Everyone has to contribute, said El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis.
After noticing that El Cajon and Santee were pushing homeless people into each others cities whenever they did sweeps, Davis said they finally got smart and started talking to one another.
That resulted in the creation last year of the East County Homeless Outreach Team, which includes Sheriffs deputies from Santee, officers from El Cajon and social workers from the countys Health and Human Services Agency.
Faith-based groups attending the meeting included Rock Church, Foothills Christian Church and Meridian Baptist Church.
Pastor Greg Hendricks of Rock Church said his organization has outreach ministries that work specifically with homeless people and a voucher program to give them clothes from the churchs thrift stores.
Addressing the question of how to help people who decline help, Hendricks said the outreach workers get to know them over time to gain their trust.
We try to help them understand their identity and how God sees them, he said.
Representatives from the Crisis House, Salvation Army and East County Transitional Living Center spoke at the meeting about how their organizations help homeless people.
Capt. Sean Kelsey of the Salvation Army said his organization is planning to open an El Cajon pantry that will give people in need more dignity by creating a shopping experience rather than a hand-out.
Among the people from schools who spoke, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Vice Chancellor John Valencia said it sometimes is difficult to identify homeless students on campus, but he know they are there.
I met a student last week who said he has to find a new couch to sleep on every week, he said.
Grossmont College has hired an engagement coordinator who is planning to open a new pantry to help needy students, Valencia said.
Speakers representing local businesses said the homeless population in East County has become more aggressive and more of a problem.
Shoppers number one complaint is the homeless, said Ben Potter of Grossmont Center, which has about 100 businesses. I cant tell you how many times a shop owner will call and say, I dont want to sound unsympathetic, but this is affecting our business.
Christina Park of Taxes by Design said shes moved her El Cajon business a few times because of the homeless population, and twice in the past six months shes had to call police because she felt in danger.
gary.warth@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @GaryWarthUT
760-529-4939
County supervisors have approved a nearly $1 billion contract to provide information technology services for the next seven years, one of the governments largest contracts with an outside company.
At their meeting Tuesday, the supervisors voted unanimously in favor of a renewed deal with HP Enterprise Services to provide and run the countys computer networks, tech support, data center, applications, and handle other technology-related needs.
The contract will cost the county $918.5 million over seven years, at an annual price tag of more than $140 million. The county currently has a $5.36 billion annual budget, with expenses and revenues varying between years.
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There is an option to renew for another five years and the annual cost will increase by approximately one percent.
San Diego County has outsourced its tech needs since 1999 and has used HP Enterprise Services since 2011. The current contract expires in January 2018, and an analysis by the county determined that the new contract will be slightly cheaper than the current one. Staff also estimated that it would cost at least $49.5 million more to provide the same services in-house rather than through an outside vendor.
The deal was widely praised by board members at their meeting Tuesday.
This is the best contract yet, Supervisor Dianne Jacob said.
Part of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, HP Enterprise Services will do several things: run the countys information technology system, help different government departments determine their tech needs and set up and maintain the necessary hardware and software like many IT arrangements. The contract has new provisions including, for the first time in San Diego, an innovation incubator co-funded by the county and HP Enterprise Services to develop new ideas and technology to improve county business. It also includes cybersecurity requirements.
The contract sets standards for how fast computer networks will run and how quickly calls are answered by the technology help desk, as well as other quality metrics.
County staff began the process of hiring an IT company a year ago, and after issuing a request for proposals received plans from both HP Enterprise Services and IBM. Both made competitive offers, but county staff ultimately determined that their current vendors proposal was of better value, county documents said.
What is really good about this contract is that it is going to outlast all of us into a new board. Its good that were thinking about continuity, Supervisor Dave Roberts said.
Future board members could terminate the deal with HP Enterprise Services, per terms of the agreement, and the vendor is required to assist with the transition to a new contractor, documents show.
While the IT contract is a big expense, the countys payroll, like with most government organizations and businesses, is the single-largest expense.
Twitter: @jptstewart
joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1841
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The views presented in the Post reflected, and frequently guided, American opinion. As war was declared in Europe in 1939, the Post was ambivalent about intervention. But that perspective began to evolve over the next two years in the face of Japanese and German aggression.
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This feature is included in Pearl Harbor: 75th Anniversary Special, a print publication highlighting articles, picture galleries, and editorials that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post before, during, and after December 7, 1941. This special edition is available for sale at shoptthepost.com.
The views presented in the Post reflected, and frequently guided, American opinion. As war was declared in Europe in 1939, the Post was ambivalent about intervention. But that perspective began to evolve over the next two years in the face of Japanese and German aggression.
Must America Be the Worlds Policeman?
Destiny has an errand here and we are about to keep an appointment with her. We do not know for sure what the business is. We do know it is important and that it behooves us now to steady our minds and think for ourselves.
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The event of incomparable human significance, one to which war itself is subordinate, is that the star of world supremacy has passed from the old to the new world. The thought of world supremacy passing from Europe to America was one the European mind could not entertain. It happened and was not believed. American power determined the outcome of the World War, which England and her allies had otherwise lost. Still it was not believed.
Now the World War has been resumed. Again we shall have to decide what to do with our power. The decision we make may alter the history of the world for a thousand years. Twenty-two years ago we were saying to ourselves, and believing, that we had engaged in a war to end war. It sounds ironic now. Nevertheless, it is one of the romantic facts to be written down in history that we had no other purpose. We were defeated. We were defeated because it was not our war. It was Europes war, and the peace that was written was a European peace, laying down the lines for the next war.
Neither is the present war our war. We had no spoon in the caldron. Yet what are we saying about it? We hope we shall not be drawn into it. But we should not now be saying of the European war either that we hope to stay out of it or that we are fearful of being drawn into it. Instead, we should know beforehand, and with certainty, under what conditions we would go to war at all. It would have to be our own war, not Europes. It would have to be one wherein we were sure who at the end should write the peace, that it might be the American peace, unlike any peace that had been made before.
America, Editorial, October 7, 1939
At What Point Do We Go to War?
How should a great nation go to war, if it goes? The answer is unhesitating. A great nation should go to war in a proud, forthright manner, saying what it does and why it does it, keeping faith at the same time with both its own laws and the laws of the world.
What have the American people and the American government been saying in their moral indictment of the aggressor? They have been saying that the aggressor makes war without declaring war, that he breaks the faith of treaties, that he tramples down the inconvenient law of the world and this, of course, is intolerable.
But for all its power of moral judgment, how, in fact, does this great, proud nation of ours get into the European war against Hitler? How ready we are to see what is taking place in the world. A moral debacle of frightful proportions. All law between nations breaking down. No treaty worth the paper that has helplessly received the writing except there is on both sides of it equal gun power.
On Going to War, Editorial, October 19, 1940
Reality Check
It would be wonderful if we could defend our own world, save Great Britain, overcome the principle of evil in Europe, rescue China from the Asiatic aggressor, and be at the same time achieving for ourselves a more abundant life. In good American humor we should then erect a monument to Hitler for having obliged us to do it. But we think we are more likely to arrive soon at the peak of our self-limited exertions and come awake on the hard bed of reality with a terrific shock.
The Escape Phantasy, Editorial, January 11, 1941
Are We Dreaming?
By an evolution of American foreign policy, national defense has come to mean defense of democracy and freedom everywhere in the world. Thus we find ourselves running two defense programs at once one of our own and one for all the other people who resist the aggressor. We undertake to be freedoms arsenal. But to suppose that in a world aflame on both sides of us we can protect our own house and put out the fire that we can make America the inexhaustible arsenal of democracy, save ourselves, save freedom everywhere in the world, destroy the principle of aggression, and at the same time raise the American way of life to new levels of comfort and well-being, is dream stuff.
Dream Power, Editorial, February 8, 1941
Whats in It for Us?
It is time to realize that this country has assumed an unlimited responsibility for the outcome of the war. We have arrived at that responsibility with no material condition, no bargain, no stipulation beforehand at least none that the American people are aware of and, so far as we are informed, with no realistic political forethought.
Is it permitted to ask what America will get back? Do you suppose the liberated democracies of Europe in their gratitude will buy the American agricultural surplus instead of South American grain and meat and cotton at lower prices? Or can you imagine that Europe would say that the rich American people, by providing the only weapons if that were all had tried to buy the right to dominate the peace? What if Europe should resent our moral imperialism? And if Europe did that, what could we do about it? Demand our weapons back? Or ask to be paid for them in cash?
We are being neither realistic nor rational. No other people in the world would behave in this manner, or could survive if they did. The world we now undertake to save is one we have imagined. It does not really exist. But for all we have said, and beyond any reason, the spirit of crusade is a noble possession.
The New Apocalypse, Editorial, March 22, 1941
No Splendid Isolation
Looking back is to say farewell. Misgivings are forbidden, but let us not on that account be mistaken about what has happened. It is not a new chapter of American history that now opens. It is a new book with a new theme. The story that began with the Declaration of Independence is finished.
We have broken with our past. We have thrown away our New World, our splendid isolation, our geographical advantage of three to one against all aggressors, our separate political religion. There is no longer a New World, nor an Old World, but now one world in which the American people have been cast for a part they will have to learn as they go along.
There is no longer a Monroe Doctrine. In place of it there is an American Internationalism. We do not yet know what that means.
From now on there is for us no foreign war. Any war anywhere in the world is our war, provided only there is an aggressor to be destroyed, a democracy to be saved, or an area of freedom to be defended.
We are suddenly staring at the fact that we had assumed ultimate and unlimited liability moral, physical, and financial for the outcome of war on three continents, for the survival of the British Empire, and for the utter destruction of Hitler. Anything less or else would be the first American defeat.
Toward the Unknown, Editorial, March 29, 1941
Forward at Any Cost
We have received a great many letters asking us why we gave up the fight to keep the country out of the war.
Our answer is to say to them that a time comes when every American must somehow resolve one simple question: If for anything you could do about it, your country nevertheless becomes involved in war, where are you going to stand?
Many keep saying that time has not come. The clock has not struck. The fatal words have not been uttered in the form of a resolution by Congress. But the American government has proclaimed that Hitler must be destroyed. It has solemnly pledged itself before the world to employ its total resources to bring that result to pass. It has proclaimed that there can be and shall be no peace with Hitler. It has announced that a negotiated peace would be a defeat for democracy and freedom and the American way of life. It has proclaimed that the American way of life cannot exist in the same planet with the German thing. One or the other must die. Trying, therefore, to maintain the fiction that this country is not in the war against Hitler is like running from an earthquake.
We shall have to make up our minds to go on and on at any cost, to reconquer Europe and destroy Hitler there, even with American manpower or turn back; and if we turn back we shall be remembered forever as the Falstaff nation of the world, boasting of a power it did really possess, boasting of how it would put it forth against the aggressor, and then changing its mind when the night came.
But the peril we speak of does not lie in making the wrong choice. It is there whatever we choose to do. We cannot now escape.
Everyone must be aware of what it will mean to go on. Do we see what it will mean to go back? The peril in that case is no less, may be even greater.
In going on we face the possibility of defeat, whether we can imagine it or not. But to go back is to face the possibility of national death. That is the reality as we see it; that is the reality we accept. The alternative had been to create here on this hemisphere the impregnable asylum of freedom and let tyranny in Europe destroy itself, as tyranny always has done and is bound to do again.
The Peril, Editorial, May 24, 1941
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Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/18/2016 -- The market for baby diapers in East Africa has gained substantial traction in the past few years owing to a notable decline in infant mortality rate, rise in disposable incomes, and increased awareness regarding the need to maintain hygiene to ensure the healthy growth of infants. A vast surge in the region's urban and educated population and efforts undertaken by government and non-government organizations to increase awareness about personal hygiene across rural parts of the region have equally contributed to the development of the market in the past few years.
Transparency Market Research estimates that the East Africa baby diapers market will expand at a healthy CAGR of 3.6% from 2016 through 2024. Rising at this pace, the market will rise from a valuation of US$155.7 mn in 2015 to US$218.7 mn by 2024. Volume-wise, the market will exhibit a 3.2% CAGR over the period.
Get More Information: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=13925
Baby Diaper Market in Kenya Emerges Leading Contributor in Terms of Revenue
Kenya, estimated by the World Bank to be the fastest growing economy in East Africa, is presently the largest market in the East Africa baby diapers market, in terms of both volume-wise consumption and revenues. The baby diapers market in the country accounted for a 42.7% share in the overall market's revenues in 2015. Volume-wise, the country accounted for over 40% of the East Africa baby diapers market in the same year. Large population base, a notable reduction in child mortality rates, stable growth of economy in the past few years, and rising disposable incomes are the key factors driving the baby diapers market in the country. Over the period between 2016 and 2024 as well, the country is expected to retain its dominance in the East Africa baby diapers market.
Tanzania is the second largest revenue contributor to the East Africa baby diapers market, accounting for over 24% share in the market in 2015, and is expected to expand at a healthy pace over the forecasting horizon as well. Uganda is the third largest country for the baby diapers market in East Africa. All the three countries are expected to maintain their positions in the overall market through 2024.
Disposable Diapers are Leading Product Type but Cotton Diapers Present Sizeable Opportunity
Of the key product varieties available in the East Africa baby diapers market, the segment of disposable diapers is presently the most popular and leading revenue generator. The segment held a share of over 80% in the East Africa baby diapers market's revenues in 2015. Volume-wise, the segment fared even better, accounting for over 91% share in the market in the same year. Disposable diapers are expected to remain the dominant product segment in the East Africa baby diapers market over the next few years as well. However, their popularity is witnessing a notable decline owing to concerns about adverse long-term health effects and short-term skin rashes with their continuous use.
These concerns are also stimulating the increased demand for cotton diapers, the product varieties that contain no harmful chemicals and are considered safer than most varieties of disposable diapers. The demand for cotton diapers is also surging in East Africa owing to the rising awareness about environment safety the need to switch to biodegradable products. The segment of cotton diapers is expected to expand at a high CAGR of 5.8% over the period between 2016 and 2024, rising from a valuation of US$13.5 mn in 2015 to US$23.0 mn by 2024.
Some of the leading vendors operating in the East Africa baby diapers market are Unicharm Corporation, Procter and Gamble, Indevco Group, Johnson and Johnson, SCA Hygiene, Interconsumer Products Ltd., and Mega Soft (Fujian) Hygiene Products Co. Ltd
Washington, DC -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/18/2016 -- Plumber in DC has announced through their website the capability of the local DC area plumbing company to provide water heater services to customers within its extensive service territory. This water heater service is available in addition to the variety of other plumbing services it provides to both commercial and residential customers.
The announcement on the company's website acknowledges the regularity with which people have issues with their water heater. It further states the importance of having these issues evaluated and fixed by plumbing experts with considerable training and experience. Plumber in DC asserts their employment of such experts and their dispatching of them to fix their customers' water heater problems.
The variety of water heaters serviced by Plumber in DC is also pointed out on their website. The company notes their ability to fix and experience with fixing all types of electric, gas and hybrid water heaters. Not only is their experience with the repair process conveyed, their experience with the evaluation and diagnosis of issues is relayed with equal measure. Plumber in DC encourages, on their website, potential customers to contact them regarding all forms of water heater repair, maintenance and replacement.
Plumber in DC informs customers throughout its website of its ability to respond to the plumbing needs of both commercial and residential customers. The company's description of its water heater services is no exception to this, as explicit mention is made of both commercial and residential water heater needs being met by Plumber in DC.
Due to the potential of a water heater service need being of an emergency nature, Plumber in DC's service description accepts this potential reality and affirms its importance. Both emergency water heater repair and emergency water heater replacement are among the services listed on the company's website. The local plumbing company concludes its water heater service description by assuring customers that they utilize master plumbers and gas fitters employed by the company, as opposed to the use of sub-contractors for plumbing services.
Further information about the water heating services of Plumber in DC can be found on their website under the heading "Services" and the sub-heading "Water Heater Services." Among the other services the site lists prominently are plumbing services, emergency plumbing services, commercial and corporate services and remodeling and renovation services.
Details can be found at http://plumberindc.com/services
About Plumber In DC
Plumber in DCs website notes that they strive to be a company where "integrity and service meet." They are a family owned and operated business and report taking considerable measures to ensure their plumbers are properly certified and equipped to deal with a full range of plumbing issues. Their website further reports their employment of licensed master plumbers and licensed master gas fitters. Such certifications are meant to ensure that proper training has been provided and experience and skill is possessed by their employees.
For more information on the business and the services they offer, Plumber in DC may be contacted utilizing the information below.
Contact:
Plumber In DC
Address: 620 Park Road NW #22, Washington, D.C. 20010
Phone: 202-810-0624
Email: plumberindc@gmail.com
Website: http://plumberindc.com/
A group of stars in the Milky Way is moving faster than most other stars. They were spotted by a team of European astronomers.
The descriptions of the finding were published on arXiv.org on Nov. 2, 2016. The discovery could provide key information about stellar dynamics.
Jason Hunt from the University College London, U.K., and who led the discovery told the Phys.Org that they wanted to examine the speed with which the stars rotate around the Galaxy. With this, they need velocity in three directions. He added that they have never could explore local galactic dynamics in such detail because very few stars have had reliable distance estimates.
Hunt explained that the first data that was released provides the distance estimates for around 2 million stars in the solar neighborhood. Meanwhile, the next data release will have more than 1 billion. He further explained that this is a substantial improvement on the previous mission, Hipparcos, which specified measurements for about 150,000 stars.
Hipparcos was a satellite of the European Space Agency, which was launched in 1989 and became operational till 1993. It aimed to provide accurate measurements of the positions of celestial objects on the sky known as astrometry. This also determined the motion of stars.
In the discovery, the astronomers found that the group of stars is rotating faster than the Sun by about 20 km s. They also discovered that it is rotating significantly faster than the mean rotation of stars.
The team said that this may be caused by one or two major spiral arms of the Milky way known as the Perseus Arm. Thus, the stars that are behind the spiral arm and at the pericenter of their orbits experience an extended period of acceleration from the gravitational potential of the Perseus Arm.
Hunt explained that the extended period of acceleration causes them to move significantly faster than the other stars. They also know that this will either occur at one point along the spiral arm if the arm moves as a wave with a constant pattern speed through the disc, or it will happen along the arm is the spiral arm moves with the same velocity as the stars that is predicted by computational models based on the gravitational interaction of stars known as N-body simulations.
Pyramids are one of the world's wonders. Their origin may not be clear to many. Now, a team of archaeologists might discover the original pyramid structure in Mexico.
It has been reported last Wednesday that archaeologists discovered what may be the original structure built on the pyramid of Kukulkan at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
It is also has been discovered last year that the pyramid also known as El Castillo was onto a subterranean river or a cenote. The archaeologists discovered this with the help of electrical imagining techniques. It has already been known by the archaeologists that a smaller pyramid is enveloped underneath the visible temple.
The researchers said that they had noticed an even smaller structure within the other two structures. The experts use the "ERT-3D" or the tri-dimensional electric resistivity tomography. They have found that a 10 meter (yard) tall structure in the 20 meter (yard) tall "intermediate" pyramid was enclosed by the last stage of construction. The experts have estimated that is around 900 A.D.
Denisse Lorenia Argote, an archaeologist, said that "if we can research this structure in the future, it could be important, because it could tell us about the first-period inhabitants" of the location. Argote, who is also from the Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, added that the first structure might be in the "pure Maya" style from about 500 and 800 A.D., according to New York Times.
In line with this, San Diego anthropology professor, Geoffrey Braswell from the University of California who also conducted a separate research at the Chichen Itza, suggests that the discovery may be new, or may be a structure detected in the 1940s.
Braswell said that "The tunnel was unstable, so we know very little about this platform. It appears to be much smaller than the outer two pyramids, and is not perfectly aligned with them."
Meanwhile, a researcher from National Autonomous University's Institute of Geophysics Rene Chavez said that "It's like a Russian nesting doll. Under the large one, we get another and another," as quoted by BBC News.
Although there have been several attempts to determine how or why conditions like autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, experts are still left with no clue. However, the search for any factors that may add to these psychological conditions is still ongoing. In a recent study, researchers revealed that they have their attention set on maternal allergies.
In a new study involving rats, it could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are identified and linked to higher risks for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism in children.
According to The Ohio State University, researchers at The Ohio State University found significant changes in the brain makeup of fetuses and newborn rats that were exposed to allergens during pregnancy. Animals that lived to adulthood after allergen exposure before birth showed signs of hyperactivity and antisocial behavior and decreased anxiety, as found by a research team led by Kathryn Lenz, an Ohio State assistant professor of Psychology.
"This is evidence that prenatal exposure to allergens alters brain development and function and that could be an underappreciated factor in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders," said Lenz, who presented her research on Nov. 16 in San Diego at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Even though there have already been several links associated with allergies and ADHD and autism, as well as between inflammation and risk of autism, schizophrenia and ADHD, the levels of cellular changes that could add to those connections still remain unknown.
"We're really interested in figuring out unknown factors in psychological disorders and in differences between male and female brain development as it relates to autism, ADHD, and other disorders," Lenz said.
For the study, the team sensitized female rats to an egg white protein, ovalbumin, before becoming pregnant. Then the rats were presented with the allergen, 15 days into the pregnancy, which triggered an immune response by the animal.
After that, they examined whether being exposed to the allergen before pregnancy changed the number and behavior of immune cells in the developing brain of offspring. They considered several factors in the young rats' physical activity, anxiety-like behavior, ability to learn and sociability. They also examined the density of dendritic spines in the young animals' brains. The spines protrude from neurons and are considered important to cellular-level communication in the brain.
The team found that the rats whose mothers had been exposed to an allergen had an increase in certain immune cells in the brain -- called mast cells. They also showed a reduction in another type of immune cell, microglia. These differences were seen in both sexes, reported Medical News Today.
Another prominent change was observed in their behavior. Allergic mothers' offspring were hyperactive and demonstrated the less anxiety-like behavior. According to Lenz, "Young rats engage in social play and males are rougher and tumble and usually play much more than females." However, the males in the allergy group were found to roughhouse with their peers significantly less.
"The males born to the allergen-exposed mothers looked more like females. They were more socially reserved. They were really hyperactive but socially disengaged. That looks a bit like ADHD," Lenz explained.
Killer robots programmed to seek and murder humans will no longer be a futurist's worst nightmare about a dystopian near-future. Not because humanity has finally figured out that not using technology to murder one another could somehow benefit it but because it is a reality even today. And the worrying (or exciting, depending on one's threat perceptions) part is that Russia has already developed two of such robots to deploy on its borders.
According to Mirror, these Russian robots are designed to track and attack humans from more than 4 miles away. The shooting range is even higher -- more than 6 miles to be specific -- for ground vehicles or low-flying drones. Equipped with cutting-edge radar technology, multiple long-range grenade launchers and HD & thermal video imaging, they can neutralize any ground or aerial threat well before it enters the Russian territory.
The robot-pair will operate together to guard Russia's borders that have allegedly witnessed a lot of aerial surveillance by rival powers of late.
Meanwhile, Russian engineers are claiming that the new robots can also be used to pick out targets for long-range explosive weaponry. However, the new system will initially be only used for general surveillance.
The robots will have the technology to not only monitor the exact locations of an incoming drone but also find details such as its point of origin, as well as the arc of its movement through the sky.
"In its structure there is a radar unit that detects a target: humans to about 7km distance, a car up to 10km," chief project engineer Dmitry Perminov told Russian news media, Mail Online reports.
Perminov added that the device is regularly being refined and upgraded in the hope that it will one day be able to operate at optimum capacity without requiring any human intervention whatsoever.
FLORENCE, S.C. -- Investigators are asking for the public's assistance to identify two people wanted for questioning in reference to an instance of credit card fraud.
The subjects were seen leaving the business in a silver SUV, according to a release from Lt. Mike Brandt, Florence Police Department.
Anyone with information about these subjects is asked to contact the Florence Police Department at 843-665-3191 or Crime Stoppers (1-888-CRIMESC / 1-888-274-6372).
As at end-2015, Chinas total shipyard capacity was estimated at 65m dwt, down from around 80m dwt in 2012. But the current capacity is still too excessive, and Chinas shipbuilding industry needs to slim down further by removing another 30% or more of capacity, said Li Dong, head of the equipment industry under the ministry of industry and information technology.
The 30% reduction in yard capacity from 65m dwt would translate to around 19.5m dwt.
Guo Dacheng, president of China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi), said the 30% reduction is considered conservative, in view of the sorry state of the market with a dearth of demand and equally excessive vessel tonnage. He cited analysts reports pointing to a global need for just 60m dwt of shipbuilding capacity for the 2016-2020 period.
But this begs the question of which shipyard then needs to cease operation and hence contribute to capacity cutting?
Wang Qi, director of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), subsidiary of state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), observed that China needs to prevent the emergence of speculative private yards, which he referred to them as cancer cells of the industry.
If the market starts to recover and you have this influx of speculative yards, they will throw the demand-supply equation off balance again, Wang was reported saying.
Ni Tao, deputy general manager of state-owned Cosco Shipyard Group, concurred that private yards can open and close as they like, unlike state-owned yards that carry national responsibility and are needed for any nation.
Zhu Bingkang, deputy director of privately-owned Jiangsu New Century Shipbuilding, however, disagreed that private yards are largely to be blamed for the overcapacity. There is nothing wrong for private companies to build their businesses upon opportunities in the market. In fact, state-owned enterprises are given all sorts of protection such that they have contributed little to reducing capacity. Most of the capacity cuts have come from private enterprises that shut down, Zhu said.
Industry players in Chinas shipbuilding market are looking forward to more favourable policies from Beijing over slashing of yard capacity. For example, distressed shipbuilders are hoping that they can demolish their unwanted yard facilities and free up the land, in exchange for a cash amount from the local government to cover the costs of tearing down the facilities. But this has been met with resistance from the local governments.
Since 2015, more than 20 large to medium sized Chinese shipbuilders have either declared bankrupt or stopped production altogether. There was no mention of tearing down the idled shipyard facilities. Huarong Energy, renamed from Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group which was once Chinas largest privately-owned shipbuilder hiring more than 30,000 workers, is now touted as a ghost shipyard with its sprawling facilities left standing.
On the back of the protracted slump of Chinas shipbuilding sector, Chinese shipyards received 18.83m dwt of newbuilding orders in the first 10 months of this year, down 7.6% year-on-year, and orderbook backlog as at 31 October 2016 stood at 106.02m dwt, a drop of 20.6% from the year-ago level.
Net loss for the three-month period was recorded at MYR7.3m ($1.7m) compared to the loss of MYR5.8m in the year-ago period.
Third quarter revenue plunged by 70% year-on-year to MYR13.86m due to lower contributions from the shipbuilding and ship chartering divisions.
Kuala Lumpur-listed Sealink said it completed and delivered three landing crafts during the first half of this year, and the yard currently has two harbour tugs at advance stage of construction and their revenue will only be recognised on confirmed sale.
The industry is continually facing immense challenges due to the reduced oil and gas activities globally and these slowdown had resulted in severe oversupply of offshore support vessels, Sealink commented.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances or events, we anticipate that the remaining 2016 will continue to be a challenging year where charter rates will likely be flat or weaken, with shipbuilding activities curtailed since crude oil prices are not expected to be northbound from the current levels in the short term.
Losses have already been accelerating this year, with Singamas turning in a net loss of $36.62m in the first half.
"The expected widening in net loss for the financial year ending 31 December 2016 is primarily attributable to the decline in the groups turnover and gross profit margin due to the continuing downturn of the macro economy since second half of 2015," the company said in a stock market announcement.
"Slowdown of global economic conditions generally affected world trade and exports from China, which in turn affected the market demand in, and the average selling price of, new dry freight containers," Singamas added.
It noted that many new containers vessel deliveries have been postponed since 2015, which has had a knock-on effect on demand for new containers as well. The low average selling price has also significantly affected the groups overall profitability for 2016.
"Nevertheless, the company has seen market recovery recently. The group received more orders from customers and the corresponding average selling price also increased recently," Singamas said.
It pointed out that this is due to, among other things, the increase in raw material costs, especially corten steel, and shortages in new containers inventory in China. "Besides, as the shipping companies and the leasing operators have not placed major orders for a long time, there is pent up demand for new containers. The recent improvement of their business allows them to invest in new containers," Singamas noted.
It warned however, that in light of the persisting global economic fluctuations and uncertainties, there is no assurance that the market recovery will be sustained.
There's an unlikely subculture in Botswana, Africa that has recently started to gain momentum. They are African death metal musicians and fans alike, and they're slowly making death metal a mainstream part of African culture.
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Guiseppe Sbrana who does lead vocals and guitar for the death metal band Skinflint says that their brand of death metal is distinctly African because it combines heavy metal with African culture. All of their lyrics reflect African mythology and spirituality. Guiseppe's bandmate Alessandra Sbrana who plays drums for the group says that she wishes more people would open their eyes to heavy metal as a genre because it's much more fun and exciting than they realize.
It can be challenging for the people of Africa to get onboard with death metal because it is often associated with being anti-religious and labeled as satanic. Shalton "Spencer Thrust" Monnadikgang, lead guitar for the death metal band Overthrust, says that it's been difficult to get people to accept it as a form of music for that reason. But they have made a lot of progress as a subculture in recent years and they love coming together as a community. When they're around each other they can dress however they want, which most commonly involves a lot of leather and studded accessories, and they know they can truly be themselves.
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Press Release
November 18, 2016 Legarda: Going Low Carbon Crucial in Achieving PHL's 2040 Goals Senator Loren Legarda today said that treading the path of low carbon development would be beneficial to the Philippines and help the government achieve its long-term goal of a "matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay" for Filipinos. Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and UN Global Champion for Resilience, made the statement after the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) issued a report commissioned by the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), independently developed together with climate science and policy institute, Climate Analytics, titled Low Carbon Monitor (LCM) at the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22). The Senator said, the report examines benefits and opportunities of limiting warming to 1.5oC as enshrined in the goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change. "Keeping to a 1.5oC limit could raise growth economic output by as much as 1% by the 2040s, since so many of the devastating impacts associated with higher levels of warming would be avoided," stated the report's Preface signed by Legarda, together with Gemedo Dalle, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Ethiopia, and Edgar Gutierrez, Minister of Environment and Energy in Costa Rica. "If we take into consideration the facts stated in the report, we will see that going low carbon is crucial in our pursuit of our vision and development goals under the Ambisyon Natin 2040 of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)," said Legarda, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Finance. The LCM states that if the government aligns its policies with the 1.5oC limit, the Philippines will improve its chances of enjoying the benefits of low carbon development. The report enumerates some of the benefits that the Philippines will gain if nations are successful in limiting warming to 1.5oC. This would prevent a loss of 0.5 percentage point in GDP growth per capita by the 2040s compared to a high-warming world, prevent reduced labor productivity due to heat in the work place, and investing in renewable energy would improve economic stability and independence in the country. Since global warming affects productivity due to heat in the work place, if the Philippines goes low carbon, it will minimize losses caused by extreme heat to total national work hours of 1% at 1.5oC compared to 2% at 2oC. Moreover, the report indicated that limiting warming to 1.5oC would create 68% more energy-related jobs in 2030 compared with current policies. In the Philippines, more than 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects had been completed under the Feed-in Tariff System (FIT) of the Renewable Energy Act as of April 2016. The construction of these renewable energy plants has created approximately 100,000 jobs. "Today's priority is to access the largest possible share of the benefits of the low carbon transition, and as quickly as possible. With the whole world working together, if all embrace low emissions development, renewable energy could be five times cheaper or more by 2050-that is a vision of a low cost energy future we believe everyone wants and should get. 1.5oC can and must be done. We will make it happen not just to survive but also to thrive," said Legarda. Copy of the 2016 Low Carbon Monitor
Press Release
November 18, 2016 'Malayo at malabo,' Recto says of 'ICCexit' President Duterte's threat to pull out from the International Criminal Court (ICC) "is just one of his trademark 'thinking out loud' moments which spice up his public speeches." This is Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto's take on the Duterte's statement that the Philippines may join Russia in formally withdrawing from the ICC. "We should know the drill by know. When he says something, it is not automatically a state policy," Recto said. "Besides, and this is important, the President said 'may' and not 'shall.' So the countdown does not begin. Malayo at malabo pa ang ICCexit," he said. "Floating trial balloons is a favorite hobby of his. He wants to rock the boat. And when he does that, it leads us to thinking. It provokes discussion. It starts a national conversation. Some would try to shoot down the balloons, other would want them to soar," Recto said. "That's the style of the President. So by now, some of his statements should no longer shock us. Many of his statements should be taken with sacks of salt," he added. Recto said "the process of disengaging from an international commitment or disaffiliating from world bodies cannot be triggered by an off-the-cuff statement from the President." "It should be the product of a study, debated in policy circles, even shared with our allies, so that we will be able to cover all angles, and be apprised of all ramifications. We do not want to be blindsided," he said.
Press Release
November 18, 2016 Villar says 2017 budget of the Department of Agriculture
to address barriers to competitiveness Sen. Cynthia Villar said the P50.5-billion proposed budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for year 2017 was crafted to address the barriers that hinder competitiveness of farmers and fisherfolks. Villar, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, presided over the budget hearing of DA and its attached agencies under Finance Subcommittee "E", and was tasked to defend the budget in plenary. "I am pleased to say that we have high expectations that the budget of DA next year will address the barriers that hinder Filipino farmers and fisherfolks from being more competitive and to increase their income," Villar said. "We have taken into consideration that the agriculture sector has had to contend with tougher competition with the opening or reintegration to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) since last year and on top of that, climate change issues," she added. Villar said studies have identified the factors that affect competitiveness of Filipino farmers as the lack of technical expertise, inadequate access to socialized credit, lack of mechanization and financial literacy. "Thus, the objective of the 2017 budget of the DA is to increase competitiveness of farmers and fisherfolks by bringing down production cost and mechanization," Villar said. The lady senator said the proposed budget allocated P2 billion for free irrigation fees, provisions for farm mechanization through the shared facilities program, and improvement of farmers' technology, among others. The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation budget nearly doubled from this year's P1.6 billion to P2.5 billion to fund the subsidy for insurance premium of subsistence farmers and fisherfolks. Villar also stressed that the proposed budget for next year includes funding for recently-enacted laws, which she authored. This will enable the laws to deliver on its promised benefits to the intended beneficiaries in the agriculture sector. The Sugarcane Industry Development Act or Republic Act (RA) 10659 provided an annual budget for the sugar farmers. RA 10654 or the Amendment to the Fisheries Code will give our fisherfolks, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), additional sources of funding support through increased penalties against illegal fishing. In addition, the extension of the period of implementation of the Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) up to 2022, under RA 10848, will take effect in this budget. As stated in the law, 80 percent of the fund will be extended as a form of credit to farmers' cooperatives; 10 percent as grants for research and development; and 10 percent for a comprehensive and attractive grant-in-aid program for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary medicine education, to be implemented by the Commission on Higher Education. "Hopefully the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act shall be passed this year to provide funding support to raise the income of our coconut farmers, who remain one of the poorest in our country," Villar said. Villar also said she looks forward to the implementation of the P21-billion program that will allow Filipino farmers to produce the rice requirement for the 4.5 million household-beneficiaries of the government's Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). "Our 4Ps program should really be tied with agricultural programs, since 40 percent of 11.8 million farmers and fisherfolks are living below the poverty line. If we can reduce the number of poor people in agriculture, then we can reduce poverty in the Philippines," Villar said.
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Heres something for BART riders to contemplate while crammed elbow-to-belly button on their daily commutes: The number of people packing onto trains is down for the first time in six years.
The number of weekday riders from July to September has declined ever so slightly by about half of a percent, or about 2,100 riders per day, BART officials said Thursday. But the number of weekend passengers fell by 4.3 percent on Saturdays and 6.2 percent on Sundays.
Overall, ridership declined 1.3 percent compared with the same period last year. Those figures, released in a quarterly report to the agencys board of directors, are below BARTs projections officials had expected ridership growth to continue, by about 6 percent.
The little bit of extra breathing room during commutes might seem like good news for BART riders, but since the system gets so much of its revenue from fares about 78 percent the transit agency will have to trim its operating budget, said Paul Oversier, assistant general manager for operations.
How BART will make those cost-saving cutbacks will have to be determined. BART staffers are keeping a close eye on spending and will present a plan to directors in December, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
BART ridership typically rises and falls with the economy, particularly the employment rate, as well as traffic congestion. All of those remain high. So BART officials suspect that the decline is the result of the system being hit simultaneously over the past five years with aging and growing pains as ridership climbed by more than 100,000 and the system turned 44.
Breakdowns of trains, train controls and electrical systems have increased, leading to a rise in the number of delays and a decline in what was once the agencys pride its on-time performance ratings. Trains are crowded, forcing many passengers to stand, sometimes for rides that can take an hour. At the same time, riders complain that trains and stations are dirty.
Weve reached our capacity, Oversier said Thursday. If you ride at rush hour, it is not particularly pleasant. Its like riding the New York subway.
While the drop in ridership may be slight, some BART riders interviewed Thursday afternoon say theyve noticed.
Michelle Hughes, 28, lives in Alameda, works in San Francisco, and catches BART from the city at 3:40 p.m. to get to school in Berkeley every day.
The trains are less crowded, Ive noticed, she said Thursday while waiting for her train at Civic Center.
Instead of driving, Hughes depends on the Bay Area public transportation system because she can count on it to get her to school on time.
I like that its consistent, she said. Driving with traffic can be so inconsistent.
When she rides in the morning, she sometimes notices delays, she said, but not as much in the afternoon when time is more of an issue.
Fred Lantin, who catches a 6 a.m. BART train in the East Bay every weekday morning to get to his construction gig in San Francisco, said train cars are usually packed on his way in, but there seem to be fewer riders in the afternoon, before the evening commute and the surge of 9-to-5ers.
I usually get a seat in the afternoon. Its changed, he said. On Thursday and Friday, it tends to be pretty light.
But sometimes on a Friday after work, hell go out with the guys for a beer and gets stuck in the evening crush load. Its then that he sees no evidence of a ridership drop.
People that work 9-to-5, it must be killing, he said. I hope they have good legs.
BART is trying to fix its problems, in part with money from a $3.5 billion bond measure voters approved Nov. 8. That money will be spent over the coming decade to rebuild the rail system including tracks and new electrical cables and substations to a new train control computer and a modern maintenance yard.
New railcars about 100 more than BART has now have been ordered, are being tested and should begin carrying passengers next year. Oversier said the new cars, which have fewer seats but wider aisles and more standing room, can carry more passengers. The arrival of the new cars, in addition to using some of the existing ones, will permit BART to run 10-car trains on each line during commute hours, he said.
After reviewing the report at a Thursday board meeting, BART directors said theyd like to get more information on why people are avoiding the transit system or riding it less frequently.
They speculated that BARTs decreased reliability and the conditions of stations, especially in downtown San Francisco, may be pushing riders to their cars.
Director Joel Keller, who represents eastern Contra Costa County, said he thinks the grimy downtown San Francisco stations, and the need for riders in his district to weave their way past homeless people on the concourses, dissuade some of them from riding BART into the city to go to the theater or restaurants.
Tom Radulovich, the board president, said the increase in delays may be convincing some commuters they cant always count on BART.
I talk to a lot of people who used to like their commutes, he said.
Some, like Herrick Jackson, 76, still do, though his trips into San Francisco for therapy allow him to ride during the less-traveled afternoon.
Jackson doesnt have a drivers license, so he depends on transit to get around. BART, he said, isnt a bad way to go.
Its a great thing, he said. Its easy and its quick.
Michael Cabanatuan and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com and esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan and @EvanSernoffsky
Oakland marijuana businesswoman Debby Goldsberry a pot activist for decades whom High Times once named Freedom Fighter of the Year had planned an election night filled with joy.
But as President-elect Donald Trump surged in battleground states, her mood turned, even though California was in the midst of legalizing cannabis. And now, a week and a half after voters passage of Proposition 64, Goldsberry said she has not had one iota of joy about this whole situation.
Im so scared. Its awful, she said. Were just concerned the (Drug Enforcement Administration) is going to be sent back into California to start busting heads again.
Americas multibillion-dollar cannabis industry is balancing massive uncertainty about the policies of a Trump administration with cautious optimism the president-elect will keep his promises to allow the state-level medical and recreational pot trades to exist. That optimism, though, faded Friday when Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, a marijuana opponent, emerged as Trumps nominee for attorney general.
Sessions would be, as far as I can tell, a nightmare on marijuana and all other drug policy, said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nations leading drug-law reform group.
Antimarijuana activist Kevin Sabet, director of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the news offered him hope after four states legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over.
Its become a lot risker to be a marijuana investor, and the market doesnt like risk. Right now, the chances of marijuana legalization being tolerated on the federal level have fallen from the sky, Sabet said. It makes the loss in California feel like it took place a million years ago.
Marijuana remains a federally illegal, Schedule 1 drug that the U.S. government considers as dangerous as heroin or LSD. In 2015, police made roughly 570,000 marijuana-related arrests, FBI data show.
Trump said during his campaign that medical and adult-use cannabis laws were states rights issues that he and his subordinates would respect. Now, industry players wonder if Trump will keep his word.
Erik Altieri, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an email that Sessions nomination, should send a chill down the spine of the majority of Americans who support marijuana law reform, and who respect the will of voters to enact regulatory alternatives to cannabis prohibition.
In Las Vegas this week, about 10,000 people attended the Marijuana Business Conference and Expo, which has roughly doubled in size from last year. Feelings on the show floor ran the gamut, from fear to optimism, said Henry Wykowski, a cannabis attorney and former federal prosecutor.
Some people are not concerned, others are very much concerned, he said.
At stake is a nascent, regulated industry that, according to estimates, provides tens of thousands of jobs and serves hundreds of thousands of patients and recreational users. Eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana, while 39 states have some form of law legitimizing medical marijuana. Retail sales of pot in California could hit $7.3 billion by 2020, analysts say.
Only two documents proscribe federal prosecutors in cannabis cases: a congressional law blocking the Department of Justice from interfering in state medical marijuana systems, and a White House memo ordering prosecutors to ignore state-legal pot activity.
The congressional law the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment could sunset Dec. 9. And a new Trump administration could tear up the White Houses Cole Memo on Inauguration Day.
In a worst-case scenario for the industry, Sabet said prosecutors could target high-profile, state-legal pot operators for civil asset forfeiture, as they did in California beginning in 2011. Sessions could quickly dismantle state pot systems, too.
What they can do is simply send letters to state regulators saying, You have 90 days to revoke licenses and close up shop, and I think they will, Sabet said.
Some law enforcement groups that opposed legalization are hoping for some sort of crackdown, said Nate Bradley, director of the advocacy group California Cannabis Industry Association.
The best-case scenario for the industry, according to many players, is a continuance of the status quo, with the Trump administration allowing the legal cannabis sector to flourish, while focusing enforcement on international drug cartels, interstate traffickers and other bad actors violating both state and federal drug laws.
Bradley said several Republican congressmen who have spoken to (Trump) personally have told me he has promised them he will recognize states rights.
But Trumps selection of Sessions, who must be confirmed by the Senate, has raised new questions. In an April Senate hearing, Sessions said he was concerned the White House had sent the wrong message about a dangerous drug. He said that good people dont smoke marijuana.
Nadelmann said the attorney general, as well as appointed U.S. attorneys who will head local offices around the country and federal judges, may have a lot of latitude to make life miserable for this emerging industry.
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.
Even so, its unclear if Trump would spend political capital on an issue he never prioritized during the campaign, said Tom Angell, a Washington, D.C., activist and founder of Marijuana Majority.
According to some polls, more than 60 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, and more than 80 percent support medical marijuana. In the swing state of Florida, which Trump won, 71 percent of voters supported Amendment 2 to legalize medical pot use.
Sessions isnt good news for marijuana reform, said Angell, adding, I think the politics are such that it will be very difficult for people around the new president to convince him to walk back those pledges.
A pot crackdown probably would galvanize the industry, most Democratic voters and about half of Republican voters, Angell said. The political factors are aligned such that itll be easier for (Trump) to make the right decision, he said.
So far, the election results have not appeared to deter new investment in pot ventures.
Theres this sense that the green-rush train is pulling out of the station, and if I dont get on it there might not be a seat for me, said Wykowski, the cannabis attorney.
Goldsberry said that while a Hillary Clinton presidency would have allowed the pot sector to start slacking off politically, Trumps election is a wake-up call to remind us our work is far from done.
And in the short term, the pot-shop owner has seen sales jump especially for insomnia and anxiety-reducing indica flowers and edibles.
Business has gone up, she said. People are anxious and worried, and theyre using more medical marijuana because of that.
David Downs is The San Francisco Chronicles cannabis editor. Email: ddowns@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @davidrdowns
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Homelessness across the United States fell slightly last year but increased in California and other West Coast states, largely due to a shortage of affordable housing, federal officials said Thursday.
Around the nation, homelessness was down 3 percent amid growing scrutiny of the problem. In California, however, homelessness climbed 3 percent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments annual snapshot assessment of homelessness in America.
We have a lot left to do, said HUD Secretary Julian Castro, adding that the incoming Trump administration had a responsibility to continue the effort. I sure hope the next administration will take the baton and make more progress, and not drop the baton.
Nationwide, Castro said, there were 549,928 homeless people counted in the point-of-time homeless census conducted in January.
Theyre not just a visible reminder of a public policy challenge, theyre human beings, Castro said.
On the West Coast, homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon. It also increased 14 percent in Washington, D.C., and grew in Idaho as well.
As it has for many years, Los Angeles recorded by far the highest homeless count outside of New York City 43,854, up nearly 7 percent from 41,174 in 2015. New Yorks tally came in at 73,523, down 2 percent from 75,323 in 2015.
Rising rents in California are making it harder and harder to exit homelessness and to find places that homeless people can afford, said Matthew Dougherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
In San Francisco, the federal survey pegged the homeless population with a slight uptick to 6,996 people, up from 6,775 in 2015.
However, when adjusted for different counting methods between the feds and the city, the population stayed about the same. Federal enumerators added in 221 extra shelter beds that opened during the El Nino rains last winter, but werent open when the city did its last biennial count in 2015.
Point-in-time counts are acknowledged to have a measure of guesswork, since they involve volunteers going out on one night and visually estimating who they think is homeless which automatically misses people who are remote or hidden. That number is added to figures from jails and other institutions such as shelters, which in San Francisco dont have enough beds and always have a waiting list of more than 700 people.
Jeff Kositsky, director of the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said the disparity in the numbers punches home the urgency of one of his goals for his new department: Getting better data, which includes doing counts annually instead of every two years.
Its something people want to know, and I want to know, and we should have the numbers every year anyway, he said.
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, the homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties. The survey counted 4,145 homeless people in Alameda County, up from 4,040 in 2015.
Nationwide, there were steady declines in unsheltered homeless people, homeless families and in homeless veterans over the last six years, the report found.
The statistics were released in Washington, D.C., at virtually the same time a homeless encampment of about 20 people in tents was being ousted from across the street from Berkeley High School. Two dozen officers arrived at the encampment at 4 a.m., in some cases seizing blankets and laptop computers, tent dwellers said.
The group, which included homeless activists, moved briefly to the front of the nearby Berkeley post office where, minutes later, they were evicted again.
They were very polite, but they told us if we didnt move wed be cited for obstruction, said Freeman Sullivan, 56.
Mike Lee, another member of the encampment, said the group was demanding legal camping places, affordable housing and an end to the criminalization of homeless people.
This is the seventh time weve been evicted, Lee said. Weve been on a mobile protest tour for the last two months.
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Two weeks ago, City Council candidate Nanci Armstrong-Temple was arrested at one of the encampments. Prosecutors declined to charge her.
Mayor-elect Jesse Arreguin observed Thursdays homeless sweep and said the next step is to have a location for people to go.
Until we have enough emergency shelter and housing for people, we need to entertain the possibility of a place for people to camp, he said. Were in a crisis.
Steve Rubenstein, Jenna Lyons and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com
At a glance
549,928 people in the U.S. were without homes in a federal count done in January.
Nationally, homelessness fell 3 percent last year, but the number of people without homes in California went up 3 percent.
Homelessness increased 7 percent in Washington, 4 percent in Hawaii and less than 1 percent in Oregon.
In San Francisco, the federal survey counted 6,996 homeless people, up from 6,775 in 2015.
The homeless count in Alameda County increased slightly, while it decreased in Santa Clara, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties.
May 21, 2013, was the best day of Paolas life.
It was the day she learned that she had been accepted into the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, a federal program for certain people who had entered the U.S. as children and were undocumented. Paola, now 23, had arrived in the U.S. with her parents from Mexico more than two decades before as a 2-year-old.
When she felt a card inside the envelope announcing the decision that day, she knew it was a work permit and that she had been approved. She broke out in tears, finally feeling accepted in her country.
She never imagined that years later, she would worry that becoming part of the program might put her at risk of deportation.
With the application she submitted, the federal government has her photograph, address and fingerprint sensitive information that is guarded by many in the immigrant community. Her father did have early concerns that the information the program gathered would put applicants at risk, but those fears subsided as they saw others obtain approvals.
Now Paola, who agreed to speak on the condition her last name not be used, is one of hundreds of thousands of people watching how President-elect Donald Trump will deal with immigrants when he takes office. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. More recently, he said he would begin by deporting those who have committed crimes, but he has avoided discussing other specific plans.
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That leaves Paola and those like her with a unique anxiety. More than 741,000 people were approved for the deferred action program, created by the Obama administration in 2012 to allow those who qualified to defer deportation for two years and obtain a work permit. Not quite a third of those accepted into the program live in California, and many are worried that they may become targets for deportation since they are already known to the government.
Its hard to focus on other things, she said. President-elect Trump wants to deport 11 million people, and the easiest ones would be us because they already have our information. I think about it every day.
Some members of Congress are scrambling to try to protect deferred action participants sometimes referred to as Dreamers before the Trump administration takes office in January.
The office of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park (Los Angeles County), has received countless calls from both program recipients and advocacy organizations. Chu is asking the Obama administration to step in and protect the information from being used punitively.
We need to protect these people, Chu said in an interview with The Chronicle. We have to do the right thing or risk losing the trust of the most vulnerable in this country. And America can be better than that, and we should be better than that.
Her office has suggested how the Obama administration could address the issue:
The president could issue an executive order protecting the identities of those who applied for the deferred action program. That would force President-elect Trump to take action to undo Obamas order, which could signal that more deportations will occur.
James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle
Other congressional leaders, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, called on Obama this week to pardon the group, but a White House official told reporters Thursday that clemency power could not give legal status to any undocumented individual.
Obama has already implored the president-elect to think long and hard before endangering the status of the group, whom he said that for all practical purposes are American kids.
"It is my strong belief that the majority of the American people would not want to see suddenly those kids have to start hiding again. And that's something that I will encourage the president-elect to look at, he said.
The deferred action program made it possible for Paola and many others to attend college. In high school, she earned a 4.5 GPA but was worried she would never be able to go to a good college because she was undocumented. But after being approved for the program, she was accepted into a Northern California university and is on track to graduate with a double major in legal studies and Latin American studies.
Achievement like hers is not unusual among deferred action recipients, a 2015 survey shows. The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, D.C., found that deferred action recipients average hourly wages went up 45 percent, while 92 percent pursued educational opportunities that they previously could not.
But these days, she wonders whether taking part in the program was worth it. She has trouble sleeping, paying attention in class and keeping herself from crying.
Jose Arias, a 30-year-old who came to California with his parents from Mexico as a child, said the program finally gave him a chance to consider dreaming of a career, because it gave him a work permit. Now, he wonders whats next for him.
The reason he and so many others came out from the shadows, he said, was that we wanted to be part of the states not to create a profile to be rounded up and (sent) back to the country we hardly even know, Arias said.
The federal government needs a legal basis to begin proceedings to remove an undocumented person. That can include proving a person born abroad either overstayed a visa or entered the country without permission. All of the individuals who applied for the deferred action program provided that information in their applications.
Immigration officials, said Irma Perez, an immigration attorney in Hayward, could use that information to serve program applicants and recipients and begin removal proceedings.
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Thats really what can happen. Will it happen? I dont know, said Perez, who has fielded calls from panicked clients for the past week.
But some, such as Kevin Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law and an immigration law expert, believe it is unlikely that the Trump administration would go after the deferred action population by using the information the group handed to the government.
Johnson said that could be a political disaster the population is young, educated and either working or trying to get jobs and contribute to society. It would be an extraordinary action, he said, and carry the risk of the immigrant community never cooperating or trusting the government again.
I think it would be an unprecedented moment in U.S. immigration history to use this kind of voluntarily given information solicited in good faith for a relief program and turn it around to try to engage in mass deportations, he said.
He also predicted that any attempt to use the information against the applicants would be met with a robust legal objection. Advocates could cite the fact that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website tells deferred action applicants that their information will not be shared with immigration enforcement officials for the purpose of deportation except under exceptional circumstances. The agency pointed to that statement when asked for comment on how the information would be protected.
The logistics of carrying out a mass deportation of any kind would also be an obstacle. In a primer on immigrants rights on its website, the advocacy group Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund says that deporting hundreds of thousands of deferred action recipients would be time-consuming and expensive. Hundreds of thousands of removal proceedings already under way are clogging U.S. immigration courts.
Vanessa Pumar, an immigration attorney at Catholic Charities of the East Bay, was the first deferred action recipient to be admitted to the State Bar. She said in an interview that she wants the immigrant community to stop being fearful. Shes told her clients they should stop trying to predict the future, and reminded them that the program is still in place right now. Trump could decide to keep it, or allow those who applied and were accepted a chance to keep their work permits, she tells clients.
Our community was already fearful. It has been in the shadows for so long until the DACA movement, she said. I dont want this fear to drive people to go back into the shadows.
If Trump does attempt to scrap the program and use the information they volunteered against them, the immigrant community will be ready to push back, she said. It has political pull and is highly organized. Pumar is ready to use her legal education to her communitys benefit, she said.
I dont think this is a population that is going to step back and say, Take it away, heres my work permit, you can deport me tomorrow, she said. We now have the tools to defend our community. There are people willing to fight, but people have to fight for themselves, too.
Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
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Teachers arent supposed to take sides in politics.
But after a polarizing and emotionally charged presidential election a teachable moment if there ever was one educators in the Bay Area and beyond have often struggled to encourage discourse and open-minded inquiry without imposing their political views.
Little more than a week after Donald Trumps victory, teachers have been criticized and even disciplined for going too far as they wade into the hyper-partisan muck, raising questions about their role in discussing an unprecedented president-elect known for extreme views.
In San Francisco, where 84 percent of voters supported Hillary Clinton for president, district officials widely distributed a strongly opinionated, optional lesson plan to help students process the Trump win.
Let us please not sidestep the fact that a racist and sexist man has become the president of our country by pandering to a huge racist and sexist base, wrote Fakhra Shah, a Mission High School teacher, in the introduction to her lesson plan. DO NOT: Tell (students) that we have LOST and that we have to accept this.
Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
The partisan commentary was echoed at Tuesdays school board meeting, where Vice President Shamann Walton deviated from the agenda to publicly address the election results.
We cannot sit idly by and pretend this is not hurtful, he said.
For many in blue-state schools, a Trump presidency is considered an objective disaster, one reflecting a hate-fueled campaign targeting immigrants, women, Muslims, journalists, the disabled and others.
Yet the Republican candidate won with broad support in many parts of the country and the temptation to politically proselytize is equally strong for Trump-supporting teachers.
An Alabama teacher came under fire following the election after posting an image of Trump over the words, Obama Youre Fired! a reference to the president-elects motto on his Apprentice television show.
Closer to home, in Oakland, a teacher at Bishop ODowd High School faced criticism for a pro-Trump message he posted on Facebook that contained offensive language. The post was captured and shared among students on social media.
Trumps victory is a vote for the common man, its a vote against Obamacare, ILLEGAL immigration, sanctuary cities ... the DC ruling class, pussification and lacrosse, the teacher wrote. To all the dip s who said they would leave this country upon not getting their way, pack your bags and haul ass you loser!
He formally apologized for his language, and the schools principal expressed regret in a letter to parents over the teachers poor judgment.
While teachers have a right to express their views in school, there are limits. In California, teachers can wear political buttons on campus, for example, but not in the classroom, said Julie Harumi Mass, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
Because of the influence teachers have, its important they not impose a particular political view, Mass said. The schools really have a lot of leeway to teach civic engagement and democracy, to determine what the curriculum is as long as they are respecting students rights and not shutting down opinions.
But in San Francisco, Trumps pledge to deport more immigrants has led many students to express fear to their teachers, who want to know how to respond, said Lita Blanc, president of the United Educators of San Francisco. These teachers want to know what their rights are in voicing an opinion about the president-elect, Blanc said.
Our position is that we cannot close our eyes to the rhetoric that Trump put out during the campaign that was racist, sexist and xenophobic, Blanc said. If were to do our job as educators, its important to spell things out for what they are.
Federal and state laws restrict teachers from saying whatever they want when teaching. Legally, they are speaking for the district when in the classroom, and the ACLU advises teachers to be cautious so as not to appear to advocate for a particular political or religious view.
Teacher comments made outside class, on Facebook for example, can also be restricted if they are thought to impact student learning or violate school policies.
Legal ramifications aside, parents worry that teachers are advocating their personal views rather than teaching children to think for themselves, said Paula McAvoy, program director for the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Theres a difference between proselytizing and teaching political discourse, she said.
I think all teachers need to pause for a moment and consider, do students at the end of my class think the world is a simple place or a complex place? said McAvoy, a former Mountain View teacher. Making good guys and bad guys is not good education.
For example, she said, a critical look at Trumps proposed crackdown on Muslims would be appropriate, but, You dont then have to add, Hes a terrible person.
Schools can play an important role in helping bridge the political divide. And they can make it worse, especially in what McAvoy calls like-minded schools where there is wide agreement on political issues.
For the most part, its easier to have conservations in the like-minded schools because you all agree with each other, she said.
The problem: If your classroom talks are, Lets talk about how we all agree, you end up exacerbating the polarization, she said. We need to bridge those gaps for young people.
After a backlash against the lesson plan distributed in San Francisco, union officials on Thursday emphasized the need to ensure all students feel safe and supported, regardless of their political choices.
San Francisco students who support the president-elect should be protected from intimidation and fear and their voice should be included in all discussions about the presidential race and the future, Blanc said in a note to members.
District officials also acknowledged a need to help teachers navigate the political landscape without violating laws or policies preventing the promotion of personal views.
In general what we encourage teachers to do ... is to have discussions that are inclusive and present multiple viewpoints on controversial issues, said district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe.
At Lincoln High School, history teacher Valerie Ziegler has embraced the election and the Trump victory as a teachable moment. On Thursday, she worked with the students on sourcing information, showing examples of false information on both sides of the political aisle that circulated on social media throughout the campaign.
Ziegler showed students a quote attributed to Trump from 1998, in which he said that if he ran for president, it would be as a Republican because they are the dumbest group of voters.
Some students said they had seen the quote. Its not true, Ziegler said, pointing to respected source who had debunked it.
Over the course of the campaign, students repeatedly asked who Ziegler was voting for, but she never told them. She advised they look at the issues.
My job isnt to tell them what to think, Ziegler said. My job is to teach them how to think.
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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University of California students protesting tuition increases disrupted a UC Board of Regents meeting on Thursday and were threatened with arrest after they began chanting and refused to leave the meeting room.
Students from across California had traveled by charter buses to UCSFs Mission Bay Conference Center to protest against a probable tuition increase the first in six years that would apply in fall 2018.
They had gathered outside the center before the meeting and chanted, Two, four, six, eight cant afford to graduate! as regents entered the building.
Tuition and fees for the 2016 school year averaged $13,500 across the UC system, but combined with expenses like books, room and board, and health insurance, the average cost for off-campus students is $30,300, and a survey conducted last year found that 40 percent of students lacked consistent access to healthy meals.
When UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks showed up for the meeting, he was greeted with chants of Chancellor Dirks, you cant hide! We can see your greedy side!
Things were more congenial inside the meeting, where UC Student Association President Ralph Washington Jr. addressed the regents using metaphors from his chosen field of study, entomology, to make the case that UC must provide a safe environment for students, particularly given the current political climate.
There are certain limestone caves in New Zealand that are a little more pleasant to navigate at night because glow worms cover the ceiling, Washington said. We need to remember that even if we find a way to create a luminous sanctuary in a very dark place, its still OK to be afraid of the dark.
When Washington finished, board Vice Chair Bonnie Reiss told him: You are a magnificent representative example of the depth and brilliance and thoughtfulness of UC students.
But tensions between students and regents began to rise when UC Chief Financial Officer Nathan Brostrom said tuition increases can help low-income students by bringing in dollars that can then be directed to financial aid. Brostrom was referring to a UC policy that waives tuition for students from families earning less than $80,000. The cost of their education is subsidized from a third of the tuition increase paid by other students.
When the board tried to end the meeting early, those tensions erupted into chanting and protests, as some students shouted that they had traveled from as far as San Diego to attend. Regent John Perez suggested the board hold another open comment period to hear from the students, but Reiss said there were agenda items to get through, drawing chants of Abandon the agenda and We are the agenda from students.
Reiss called a recess, and police declared the protest an unlawful assembly, offering students five minutes to clear the room. Many students lingered, chanting No justice, no peace and shouting the number of the National Lawyers Guild hotline, but they eventually left with pleading from Student Regent Marcela Ramirez and Student Regent-designate Paul Monge.
Students say that even without tuition increases, the rapidly climbing cost of living has made their lives difficult.
Our entrance into the conversation comes from the intersection of tuition costs and the cost of living. While one has not risen, the other certainly has skyrocketed, said Rachel Roberson, a graduate student in education policy at UC Berkeley.
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One of the things were asking for goes beyond transparency were asking for accountability. If this election cycle has taught us anything, its that the folks that are going to be impacted the most by decision-making processes are often not in the room when those decisions are being made, she continued.
Thursdays student protest was not the only conflict to flare up over the course of the two-day meeting.
Layoffs among UC workers and wages for campus staff also riled the crowds during comment periods on Wednesday and Thursday. At Wednesdays meeting, workers and union organizers ended the open comment period with chants of Pay us enough to eat! A study released by Occidental College in October found that 7 in 10 UC employees struggle to put enough food on the table.
On Thursday, the board acted on one contentious issue by approving a motion that extends their rules regarding sexual harassment to regents not only in their capacity as regents, but also in their unrelated business and private lives. Earlier this month, Regent Norman Pattiz came under scrutiny for sexual comments made to a female co-worker.
I just wanted to say how proud I am of our regents, Reiss said once the measure had been approved. No other university has a standard that high for its board.
I have always enjoyed spy novels by greats like John le Carre, Alan Furst and Eric Ambler. Yet truth can be stranger than fiction, and The Angel, by Uri Bar-Joseph, is a nonfiction work that contains all the essential elements of spy tradecraft: a high-placed source whose motivations are suspect, rivalries between different intelligence agencies, exotic geographic locales and the suspicious accidental death of the spy at the heart of it all.
The Angel is the code name bestowed upon Ashraf Marwan, son-in-law of the Egyptian President Gamal Nasser and confidante of his successor, Anwar Sadat who is identified as the miraculous intelligence source who gave Israels Mossad Egypts battle plans and strategy to help it fend off the Egypt-Syrian attack in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
At age 21, Marwan met Mona Abdel Nasser, a daughter of President Nasser. The following year, they married. Soon, he was working in the presidents office where Nasser, who disliked Marwan because he was overtly ambitious and had a high-priced lifestyle, could keep him close. In 1968, Marwan, Mona and their son, Gamal, relocated to London, where Marwan began studies for a masters degree in chemistry, and embarked on a life of expensive and risky appetites. At 26, he was a chemical engineer and Egyptian Army officer, but he wanted much more.
As the son from a good family, Ashraf Marwan succeeded, through his marriage to Mona, to tie himself to the center of power, dining at the table of the greatest leader in the Arab world, Bar-Joseph writes early in this meticulously researched book. On the face of things, he was the archetypal Egyptian patriot. In truth, however, he was about to undertake the single greatest act of treason in his countrys history.
Marwans first act of betrayal began in London in 1970 when he spontaneously called the Israeli embassy, asking to speak with an intelligence officer. By the time he connected with someone from Israels Mossad, Nasser had died of a heart attack, and Anwar Sadat was the new president of Egypt. Marwan quickly moved into Sadats inner circle.
As the tale unfolds, Bar-Joseph builds suspense around the details of the eventual rendezvous between Marwan and his Arabic-speaking handler from Israels Mossad intelligence agency. And he offers a tutorial in spy tradecraft.
As a walk-in, Marwan could be part of a trap, or a double agent. Any information he shared would have to be assessed for value and validity. Marwan passed these tests, and his spy career and betrayal of Egypt began.
Why did Marwan betray his country? The author concludes that it was a mix of money and ego. Marwan is portrayed as someone who was driven by a craving for attention and adventure as well as money.
During the three years leading to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Marwan became Israels main source of information about Egypts war plans, the Armys Order of Battle, records of its arms deals with the Soviet Union, and accounts of Sadats meetings with Arab and Soviet leaders. And, he is the one who warned Mossad that war will break out tomorrow.
Throughout the book, it seems that no detail is left untold, making for a tedious read at times. Yet the telling of this story retains the feel of a thriller, even though we know the outcome for Marwan from the outset.
Ultimately, Marwans secret life as a spy is made public through a combination of sources, including journalists, historians and the man who served as director of Israeli Military Intelligence - and who had refused to accept the validity of Marwans warning about the launch of the Yom Kippur War.
Shortly after being outed, Marwan is seen falling from the balcony of his fifth-floor apartment in London. By that time, he was no longer spying for Israel. And Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, actually praised him as a true patriot. While some portrayed him as a double agent, the author rejects that scenario. The question of whether Marwan was executed, committed suicide or fell accidentally from the balcony is left unresolved by the end of the book.
Uri Bar-Joseph, a political science professor at the University of Haifa and an expert on Israeli intelligence, has written a fast-paced narrative that rivals the best spy fiction. The critical difference is that the story is real. At its heart remains The Angel, an elusive figure whose motivations we might never understand. His treachery, however, was essential to Israel and to its ability to withstand the combined attack of its enemies.
Janet Napolitano is president of the University of California and former secretary of Homeland Security. Email: books@sfchronicle.com
The Angel
The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel
By Uri Bar-Joseph
(Harper; 372 pages; $29.99)
When Donald Trump becomes president in January, he will lead a sharply divided country, given his inflammatory rhetoric on immigration, race and trade. But there is one thing that Trump can do to simultaneously boost the economy and perhaps ease tension with critics.
Trump has already said he wants to reform the tax code and fix the countrys aging infrastructure. So why not combine the two?
In exchange for a lower corporate tax rate, corporations like Apple, Cisco and Google could bring back to the United States billions of dollars of profits they stash overseas to avoid paying taxes. Trump can then deposit a percentage of those repatriated profits into a National Infrastructure Bank that would finance repairs to roads, bridges and highways.
The idea is not new nor partisan. Hillary Clinton, Trumps Democratic opponent, embraced the proposal during a stop in San Francisco in 2014.
The stars may now be aligning for the idea to become real policy. For the first time since 2005, Republicans control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. Trump ran on a populist message, so getting big corporations to pay for such a massive project without borrowing or using taxpayer dollars could appeal to both liberals and conservatives.
We are in the best situation to get something done, said Jennifer Blouin, a professor of accounting at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. We have an awful lot of corporate funds overseas. This could help allow trapped earnings to get back to U.S. hands.
Americas 35 percent corporate rate is one of the highest in the industrialized word. Thats why cash-heavy firms like Apple and Google prefer to stash profits abroad. American corporations routed more than $2 trillion through foreign countries like Ireland, the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands, according to Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.
Thats money not flowing into U.S. coffers.
To bring back that overseas corporate cash, Trump has said he wants to tax profit at a 10 percent rate a sizable discount from the normal 35 percent rate. (He also wants to lower the standard corporate tax rate to 15 percent, which will be highly contentious.)
If the repatriated money could flow into infrastructure, that could meet bipartisan approval. Just as President Obama was able to push through the controversial $800 billion stimulus package through the Democratic Congress in 2009, Republicans and Democrats can pass similarly ambitious economic legislation in 2017. Thats because good infrastructure benefits everyone by creating jobs and easing the transportation of workers and goods across the country.
If we dont do it now, its hard to see the conditions under which it will happen, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt told me this week in San Francisco. The idea of a national infrastructure bank could be a way to link (tax reform and transportation repairs) and give us the flexibility to allow capital to return to the United States.
Immelts words carry weight though fixing infrastructure of course plays to GEs core expertise. GE has been under fire by critics like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for using aggressive legal strategies to limit its tax bill in the United States.
Meanwhile, infrastructure has been rapidly deteriorating. From 2008 to 2013, the United States spent just 2.4 percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. To meet the needs of its growing population, the group estimates, the country needs to spend 3.1 percent of its GDP every year from now to 2030.
The Bay Area could certainly use the money. This month, Trip, a nonprofit transportation research group in Washington, released a report that ranked San Francisco-Oakland as having the worst highways and roads of any major urban area. The organization said 71 percent of the regions pavement is in poor condition and provides a rough ride for commuters.
Since Congress has been reluctant to raise taxes or add to the national debt, tapping those corporate profits to fix our roads makes sense.
Taking just a small percentage of the $2 trillion for transportation repairs represents a good chunk of change, Bloudin of Wharton said. This would provide pretty fast cash to do it. Both Republicans and Democrats realize this.
Actually, the government attempted this before. In 2004, Congress passed the American Jobs Creation Act, which offered corporations a one-time 85 percent exemption on taxes for overseas profits they returned to the United States. The move effectively lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 5.25 percent.
Congress had hoped the corporate profit would stimulate the U.S. economy. But instead of putting the money toward job-creating activities like research and development, some critics say the corporations used most of the $312 billion in returned deferred dividends to buy back stock.
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Unfortunately, the lack of enforcement mechanisms for the investment plans ... led to limited domestic economic stimulus, according to a report by the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. But if 2004s repatriation holiday succeeded in one thing, it proved that preferred tax treatment is a highly effective way to bring that overseas profit back to the U.S.
Brookings says an infrastructure bank would ensure that taxed profits go to our transportation systems. Under such a plan, the federal government would provide the bank with initial capitalization at around $25 billion. Taxpayers would be directly reimbursed by a one-time tax reduction of repatriated corporation profits that would effectively lower the corporate tax rate to 10 percent.
An infrastructure bank is an internationally proven tool that helps get nationally significant infrastructure projects off the ground, the Brookings report said.
To truly fulfill its mission, the bank must finance projects that benefit all communities, including those in minority neighborhoods.
In March, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told the Washington Post that the United States had an ugly history of ramming highways through minority neighborhoods, further isolating them from economic progress. He cited the Staten Island Expressway in New York and the Century Expressway in Los Angeles.
The country is reaching the end of the useful life of a lot of our infrastructure, and were going to have to replace and rebuild a lot, so I want people to be thinking about this, Foxx said. We ought to do it better than we did it the last time.
Trump should heed these words. Blacks, Latinos and other minority groups already distrust the incoming president. An infrastructure program that provides them with jobs and economic empowerment would go a long way to winning some trust.
Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
San Leandro Police Department / San Leandro Police Department
Occupants of two cars raced through San Leandro shooting at one another Thursday, before one of the vehicles collided with a car occupied by an elderly couple as a suspect tried to flee the scene, police said.
An elderly man and woman in a dark-gray Toyota Prius on Dowling Boulevard near Washington Elementary School around 12:30 p.m. Thursday were hospitalized after a Nissan Altima driven by a man police say was involved in the shooting struck their car head-on.
Ron Chapple/Getty Image
An officer with the U.S. Marshals Service shot a man Thursday afternoon while serving a warrant in Hayward, police said.
A 26-year-old man sustained a very minor and superficial injury in the shooting that occurred just after 3 p.m. in the 2800 block of Romagnolo Street near Maud Avenue, said Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, the agency investigating the shooting.
A week after the election, San Francisco has finally figured out how to respond to the looming specter of President-elect Trump. Walls have gone up all over town.
These arent Trumps walls, thank goodness. For all of San Franciscos problems, this is not a place where residents feel like the answer to anything will be found in a big, beautiful barricade of our borders. Instead, San Franciscans have taken over public space with blockades of ... our feelings, written on bright, colored paper.
The day after the election, the staff at Southern Exposure gallery (at 3030 20th St.) pulled out some blocks of Post-it notes, stacks of construction paper and markers. They placed these humble materials near the front door, and sent an invitation on social media for people to share your words of protest, solace, anger, wisdom in their storefront window.
Although Southern Exposure is tucked away on a sleepy corner in the Mission District, the spontaneous idea has taken over the gallery filling both of the storefront windows, spilling into the exhibition space.
When I went by the gallery on Thursday morning, every inch of glass was covered with beautiful, thoughtful papers expressing a wide range of emotion.
We have the test we need! said one gallery-goer, while another expressed the too-long-denied truth that #BlackLivesMatter. Children theres an elementary school nearby had drawn monsters; one respondent who must have been an artist had wordlessly torn a hole in the paper with just-right jagged edges.
We wanted people to express how they were feeling with their own hands, said the gallerys executive director, Patricia Maloney. We guessed that it was going to be cathartic for people.
It has been both for the public and for the staff.
It stops people in their tracks. Every time I look up from my desk, someone is stopped outside and taking pictures or reading the messages, Maloney said. And there have been some absolutely wonderful messages Justice may be late sometimes, but never absent. I make sure I read that one every single day when I come in.
I read that one, too multiple times. Then I kept walking to the 16th and Mission BART stop, still thinking about the messages in the window.
One of the things I thought about was the fact that San Franciscans who spend time at galleries are a literate bunch, and their messages reflected that. There were lines from Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass (Resist much, obey little. ... Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever afterward resumes its liberty), and Bertolt Brecht ( In the dark times, will there be singing? Yes, there will also be singing about the dark times).
While I love both of those writers, and both of those messages, theres a part of me thats still feeling ... raw. Furious.
Im not alone. Because we are diverse and determined, San Franciscans have another wall for that.
The #wallofempathy at the 16th Street Mission BART Station is more public than the one at Southern Exposure gallery, and the writing material Post-it notes is smaller. On Thursday morning, all of the walls outside of the main station entrance were blanketed in a rainbow blizzard of notes, and walking up to the wall was a dizzy experience, like stepping into a snow globe.
I noted with some satisfaction that there was a great range of feelings on the wall. There are lovely, gentle messages Todos unidos saldremos adelante (united we will move forward) was one. Be the change you want to see was another.
But there was also a wide response of our lets face it angrier feelings. There were obscenities directed toward Trump, in a variety of languages. There were expressions of rage and fear. Forgive but fight, was one I particularly liked.
I was floored by the response, said Tamilla Mirzoyeva, a 28-year-old marketer and event planner in San Francisco, who co-created the wall with two friends, Muriel MacDonald and Melissa Goldman. We didnt have many expectations. We just wanted to do something beyond reading Facebook and articles online.
Two days after the election, the three women talked about a post-election Post-it note assemblage in the New York City subway that theyd seen in a video. (The project, called Subway Therapy, was organized by a therapist named Matthew Chavez.) They called BART and the local police station, both of which gave them the thumbs-up. Then they spent $100 for Post-it notes at OfficeMax, and the rest is history.
Its almost become a shrine, Mirzoyeva said. No one has messed anything up, people are helping to clean and retape the Post-its that have fallen off, everyone is being helpful and respectful.
Creating a community experience she describes as surprisingly spiritual has been especially rewarding for Mirzoyeva, whos an immigrant from Azerbaijan.
Its been really tough to sleep for us, for a lot of immigrant families who have survived totalitarian or violent regimes and moved here for their dream, Mirzoyeva said. Its important to find things that are positive and uplifting like this.
See it for yourself. The 16th Street Mission BART wall was coming down on Friday night, but Southern Exposure gallery told me theyre leaving their wall up as long as people need it.
Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner
Tragedy struck amid natures splendor.
The Chronicles front page from Nov. 18, 1980, covers a massive rock slide at Yosemite National Park that killed tourists and hikers.
Rangers brought in dogs yesterday to help search for victims in the jumble of granite debris piled up by the huge rock slide near Yosemite Falls that killed at least three persons Sunday and injured six others, the story read.
Boulders the size of buses broke loose from the mountainside and tumbled down toward the hiking trails. Giant trees were snapped in half, and the earth shook under the feet of a group of West Germans hiking below.
In seconds two of us were dead, mourned Hartmut Rader, 36, of Munich in broken English. It was no chance. First we think an airplane. We look to sky. Whats that? We cant see anything, and at the last moment we saw stones coming down.
Two of the Germans were crushed to death. Also killed was a teenager, Jason Pulis, a Concord High School junior.
The digging would take months.
Business corner: Most United States banks raised their prime lending rate to 16.25 percent, a story near the bottom of the page read, a three-quarters of a percentage point rise that took the key rate to its highest level since mid-May. Well take the 130-year mortgage. Thanks.
Top O the Top of the News: Contra Costa County opened its new $24.5 million jail that is roomier and better furnished than most college dormitories. Page 6. The foods about the same, too, but the freedom in the dormitories is a tad better.
See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers history.
More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.
Chronicle Covers highlights one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive every day for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken and producers Kimberly Chua, Michelle Devera and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim ORourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke
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If cannabis growers in Northern California and beyond want consistent, high-performance yields with the finest genetic pedigree, theres really only one place to go: Oakland.
Dark Heart Nursery has been cultivating cannabis clones, the starter plants and strains with names like Girl Scout Cookies, Tahoe OG and Gorilla Glue #4, since 2007.
But soon, Dark Hearts clientele may be shopping outside of Oakland.
If the Oakland City Council continues dragging its heels on establishing a pot permit system, Dark Heart may take its wildly popular clones to a nearby city taking the tax revenue and jobs with it.
Its absurd that Oakland, which became the first city in the U.S. to issue a permit for a medical cannabis dispensary in 2004, is losing its lead as a cannabis trendsetter. If it cant get its act together, other cities in the region will step into the role.
The contention stems from the dubious pot laws the council unanimously passed in May. The laws include a program, sponsored by Councilwoman Desley Brooks, that sets aside half of Oaklands pot permits for people who satisfy certain criteria: They must have had a past marijuana conviction or have lived for at least two years in an East Oakland neighborhood with high marijuana arrests in 2013. The idea is to ensure that the industry does not leave behind black and brown people penalized for marijuana offenses during the War on Drugs.
While equity is an essential component, the laws have to be recrafted so they arent restrictive. Several council members agree, but Brooks and her allies, council members Larry Reid and Noel Gallo, have shrewdly delayed the process. At a special meeting on Nov. 14, the council voted 4-3 to direct the city administrator to write laws and revise the equity permit program. It shouldnt have taken four hours of debate to do the obvious.
Can the council move any slower? Ill answer that with another question: Is Thanksgiving next week? The council also requested an analysis by the citys Department of Race and Equity. So maybe theyll get around to voting in January.
There was some good news at the meeting: The council ditched outlandish proposals to require businesses to give 25 percent of their profits to the city and fine retailers $10,000 a day for every day they operate without a permit.
But until the council reaches a resolution something that, if the current course is any indication, might not happen until the spring the city cant begin the application process for permits. And that has businesses like Dark Heart concerned, because state law requires that cannabis businesses have a city permit and state license by January 2018.
If they dont have both, theyll have to shut down. Or they can find security in a city that knows what its doing.
Now the heat is on for Oakland to act, but turkeys slow-roasted overnight keep a better pace than this council. And, remarkably, Brooks isnt worried about the potential loss of revenue.
Theres no rush, Brooks said before public comments. Ive heard that businesses are going to move out of Oakland, and yet I havent heard of a single business that closed as a result of this conversation.
Was she listening when William Roberts, a Dark Heart lab manager, told the council during public statements that the equity permit program in its current form would create an impossible situation for us?
And what about businesses, like Solidarity Nursery Cooperative, that are giving up on opening in Oakland?
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Frankly, were afraid the city is going to change the rules once we get started, Matt Witemyre, the co-owner of what will be a seed library and storefront nursery, told me. You cant have a business model where you dont even know if youll be able to get a permit.
Witemyre is contemplating Berkeley and San Francisco for his business.
Still, James Anthony, an Oakland lawyer and marijuana compliance expert, is confident the council will get it right. But he said hes helping businesses explore options outside of Oakland.
Theyre shopping around for jurisdiction, Anthony said of his clients. If I wasnt giving them other jurisdictions to look at, I wouldnt be doing my job.
Heres why Brooks isnt in a rush: The longer she can cause the council to dawdle, the more likely it is the original ordinance with her equity program will remain.
Its clear to me that theyre trying to run the clock out, Witemyre said.
If Brooks wins, Oakland loses.
Otis R. Taylor Jr. is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist whose column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
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There is a widespread, hardly unfounded, belief that government regulators and business are in perpetual, bitter conflict over regulations concerning environmental, food and drug, transportation and workplace safety. Government wants tough standards and businesses say they will cut into profits or drive them out of business, or so the story goes.
That story is not entirely true.
When business and government collaborate on matters of science, it is better for public well-being and the economy, and it generally results in more efficient and less antagonistic public policy and regulatory outcomes. Americas successes have so often depended on scientific innovations that have been funded by government and then spurred economic growth. Reinvigorating this collaborative approach, more in vogue from the FDR to Johnson administrations, has been a significant achievement of the Obama administration and one that needs to be continued and expanded under the Trump administration.
One unheralded achievement of the Obama administration has been its emphasis on science-based policy and its simultaneous effort to bring government and corporate scientists to the table to agree on scientific approaches and protocols that bring benefits to both public safety and businesses.
For example, with the development of ever-tougher auto emissions standards and the growing market for clean vehicles, the U.S. auto industry could have kept up its long, tooth-and-nail fight against government regulations. However, it chose a different tack. Seeking regulatory certainty and recognizing the need to compete with cleaner, more efficient Japanese and European cars, as the Obama administration pushed to double fuel-efficiency standards and halve carbon-dioxide emissions, automakers worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board to hammer out new science-based regulations between 2009 and 2012.
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, under the aegis of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research, energy companies, and the U.S. Department of Energy, launched the U.S. Drive partnership in 2011 to accelerate development of clean, energy-efficient auto technology. Earlier, Detroits Big Three also joined the EPA and CARB as part of the Automobile Industry and Government Emissions Research consortium to more accurately measure emissions. The Commerce Department and five big energy companies signed on, pledging to minimize emissions and enable the transition to a hydrogen transportation economy.
During the last few years, the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies have opened stronger lines of communication to better ensure the safety and expedite the approval of new drugs and medical devices, although conflicts still arise. And just this fall, the FDA announced guidance to better scientifically define what are nutritious foods. Intended to help consumers choose foods that use mono or polyunsaturated fats and are high in vitamin and mineral content, the directive also enables manufacturers to appropriately use the popular healthy food label to market their products.
Illustrative of these government-wide trends, in May, Congress passed a strong, bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act reform bill to establish risk-based, nationally consistent safety standards for evaluating chemicals. The bill was supported both by the chemical industry and by groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and U.S. Humane Society.
In a parallel move, manufacturers of silicone polymers, used in many consumer products, are partnering with the EPA to assess environmental levels of D4, a chemical that some regulators believe requires scrutiny. EPA and the silicones industry jointly developed a D4 monitoring program, and the agency will use this data to better evaluate D4s environmental impact. This type of data-collection and data-sharing initiative could be a model for the EPA and other chemical manufacturers as the new toxic substances act is implemented.
Beyond safety, the Obama administration has tried to spur more innovation and business creation through the National Science Foundations Innovation Corps. The 2011 America Invents Act updated patent laws to help companies and inventors more quickly bring new products to market. In 2010, the Federal Communications Commission received stimulus funding to work with industry to expand broadband wireless access.
Government-business scientific collaboration, before it got a bad name in the late 20th century, has a long history of building innovation and prosperity. World War II research involving the Defense Department spurred the development of the computer, jets, radar, the microwave and synthetic fabrics. Later, Cold War research under the Pentagons legendary Advanced Research Projects Agency developed the Internet, artificial intelligence and GPS technology. Support from the National Institutes of Health has funded biomedical research that has led to life-saving and -enhancing drugs, procedures, technologies and processes brought to market by the private sector. And Alexander Hamilton, as the first Treasury Secretary, famously created the government-sponsored, public-private Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures in New Jersey in 1791 to bring together inventors and entrepreneurs to harness water power for cotton mills to seed Americas fledgling manufacturing economy.
Scientific collaboration between business and government not only yields huge dividends in terms of safety and economic development but it also diminishes both public distrust of corporate-sponsored research and business antipathy to government-produced data and diktats. Of course, both sides need to hold up their end of the bargain to maintain trust and a commitment to sound scientific policymaking.
Andrew L. Yarrow, a public-policy expert and U.S. historian, is working on two new books, one on Look magazine and how mid-20th century mass media helped foster a less polarized nation and the other on the changing circumstances of many American men.
Since opening Babu Ji in Manhattan nearly 18 months ago, Jessi Singh has earned headlines for his modern take on classic Indian cuisine some have even compared Singhs efforts to that of another high-profile New York chef, David Chang. Not surprisingly, with the high praise have come hour-long waits.
Now, San Franciscans will get to see what all the fuss is about with the debut of Babu Jis San Francisco outpost, which opened Nov. 21 in the former Nostra Spaghetteria space on Valencia Street.
For us, its kind of like coming back home, says Jessi Singh, who opened the restaurant with his wife and business partner, Jennifer Singh. The two met and fell in love here in San Francisco.
Following their time in the Bay Area, the couple traveled the globe together, opening the first iteration of Babu Ji, along with two other restaurants, in Melbourne, Australia. The pair sold the last of their Australian restaurants in 2015 before their return to the United States. For Singh, who grew up in northern India and Australia, the couples travels are strongly reflected in his cooking.
A lot of the time I call my food unauthentic Indian food, Singh jokes. I take the best of Indian cuisine, the best of American, the best of Australian and traveling around the world and put all of that into Babu Ji.
As at the New York outpost, Singhs cooking in San Francisco will reflect the countrys cuisine as a whole rather than focus on a single region of India.
More for you Recipe: Babu Jis Yogurt Kebabs With Beet Sauce
The San Francisco menu will bear a strong resemblance to the New York one, including signatures like Colonel Tsos Cauliflower, described as an Indo-Chinese style cauliflower in a tomato-chile sauce with sesame and onion seeds. Like New York, there will also be a $62 chefs table menu available, featuring a thali (a collection of assorted small dishes) with curries from all over India as the centerpiece.
You see more global influences in another Babu Ji signature: a yogurt kebab appetizer, which Singh says is a nod to the Persian Empires impact on Indian cooking. The dish is more reminiscent of a cheese croquette than what most Americans might consider a kebab although Singh points out that despite the fact that everyone thinks of kebabs as meat, there are many vegetarian varieties out there. Even as a nontraditional dish, Singh says, it pleases everybody: Plates always come back licked.
Another carryover from the New York restaurant is the help yourself beer fridge with a rotating selection of about 40 beers. The beer menu will be complemented by wine and cocktails put together by well-known sommelier Rajat Parr, best known for his time in the Mina Group, and bartender Vincent Chirico of Raines Law Room in New York.
Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
A major difference of Babu Jis food compared to many other Indian restaurants is that Singh doesnt use ghee (clarified butter). Meat has its own fat, he explains. When you add spices, theres so much going on, you dont need oil.
Its how he grew up eating in his mother and grandmothers kitchen, after all. Most Indians cant afford ghee and when its added to a dish its usually at the last minute for flavor, says Singh. He also points out that ghees high calories dont suit our modern more sedentary lifestyle. Very simple and clean food; thats what I wanted to showcase.
Sarah Fritsche is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sfritsche@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @foodcentric
Babu Ji: 280 Valencia St. (near 14th Street), San Francisco (415) 525-4857. www.babujisf.com. Dinner, 6-11 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Wednesday; until midnight Thursday-Saturday. Reservations accepted.
When Gretchen Roehrs walks through a farmers market, she doesnt see dinner. She sees clothing.
The fashion student-turned-app designer, a Midwesterner who interned at Vogue in New York before heading to San Franciscos digital Gold Rush, is finding fame with food doodles. During lunch at her tech job a few years ago she began drawing whimsical stick figures with gowns made of radishes, fennel fronds, persimmons and figs, and sharing them on social media with far-flung friends.
There was an element of teasing in sending these drawings of delicious produce of California to friends on the East Coast eating potatoes in winter months, Roehrs says. Teasing and maybe a little mean-spirited like, if they cant eat it, they can at least feast with their eyes.
But as her friends devoured the posts, an international audience began eating them up, too some 80,000 followers worldwide on Instagram. Marc Jacobs beauty, Chantal Guillon macarons, Bon Appetit and others have employed her unique talent in ad campaigns and editorial work.
Roehrs also has a deal with Rizzoli, an Italian publisher scheduled to release a book of her drawings in spring 2018. She has launched a sticker app, called Chic Eats, on iTunes. The Bay Areas Farmgirl Flowers will feature her drawings this holiday season. During the day, she works for Chime, an online bank, and in her spare time, she heads to an art studio where she paints in gouache.
I have this background in fine art, so when I came to California and was working in the tech industry, I was missing it, says Roehrs, 27, sipping coffee at Caffe Trinity on Market Street in a thigh-length cardigan, jeans and square-heeled red velvet pumps. Just doodling at lunch became a nice way to take a break and give my brain a rest and connect with that side of myself that I had left behind in New York. I didnt have an outlet for my creativity when I came out here. Like many artists, I doodled what was in front of me.
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market was her first exposure to local produce after moving to the Bay Area in 2012. That California can produce year-round was astonishing to me, says the native of Marshall, Mo., a small town 90 miles east of Kansas City, where winter means snow. . Walking through (the Ferry Building), my brain goes haywire. It wasnt that I started with fashion in mind. I started with appreciating the weird beauty of produce, the natural beauty of stuff out here.
Roehrs grew up on a family farm, the middle child of three, and as escapist fare read fashion magazines and clipped out pictures of supermodels Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell for her scrapbooks.
The soft-spoken student relied on cartooning to joke with her classmates. At Stephens College, a womens design school in the Midwest, she learned the fundamentals of fashion history but struggled with life drawing. It forced me to look at the proportions of the human figure, she notes. As Ive matured my style, Ive abstracted it and elongated it.
While her fellow students dreamed of starting their own labels, Roehrs says she was more drawn to the how and why of fashion. I loved the challenges of design of antibacterial scrubs for hospital nurses, as in, How can you make them comfortable and machine washable and durable and not encumbering to their movements? she recalls. That sort of challenge I have lights on fire when I think of stuff like that.
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In 2011, she interned at Vogue.com, where her experience in Photoshop came in handy. Roehrs enjoyed the digital side so much that after graduating from fashion school she turned down jobs in New York to have a go in tech. The move to Silicon Valley with no job prospects and $20 in her pocket was harder than she imagined.
I was like, Well, if I have Vogue under my belt, obviously Ill be fine, and in New York, that would have been the case, she says. Vogue means nothing out here. That was a very humbling experience.
She was hired by a Palo Alto startup called Shopkick to work on a shopping app, then for a nonprofit that works to improve diversity in the tech world, before joining Chime.
Perhaps initially influenced by the limits of lunchtime, Roehrs drawings are done with the greatest of speed. Using a Pentel brush pen and a photograph of the fruit or vegetable that inspires her, she completes each in about two minutes. I just ink out the essence of a figure, she says, and leave the rest to everyones imagination.
Carolyne Zinko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: czinko@sfchronicle.com
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An automated army of pro-Donald Trump chatbots overwhelmed similar programs supporting Hillary Clinton by 5-to-1 in the days leading up to the presidential election, according to a report published Thursday by researchers at Oxford University.
The chatbots basic software programs with a bit of artificial intelligence and rudimentary communication skills would send messages on Twitter based on a topic, usually defined on the social network by a word preceded by a hashtag symbol, like #Clinton.
Their purpose: to rant, confuse people on facts, or simply muddy discussions, said Philip Howard, a sociologist at the Oxford Internet Institute and one of the authors of the report. If you were looking for a real debate of the issues, you werent going to find it with a chatbot.
Theyre yelling fools, Howard said. And a lot of what they pass around is false news.
The role fake news played in the presidential election has become a sore point for the technology industry, particularly Google, Twitter and Facebook. On Monday, Google said it would ban websites that peddle fake news from using its online advertising service. Facebook also updated the language in its Facebook Audience Network policy, which already says it will not display ads in sites that show misleading or illegal content, to include fake news sites.
In some cases, the bots would post embarrassing photos, make references to the FBI inquiry into Clintons private email server, or produce false statements, for instance, that Clinton was about to go to jail or was in jail.
The use of automated accounts was deliberate and strategic throughout the election, the researchers wrote in the report, published by the Project on Algorithms, Computational Propaganda and Digital Politics at Oxford.
Because the chatbots were almost entirely anonymous and were frequently bought in secret from companies or individual programmers, it was not possible to directly link the activity to either campaign, except for a handful of joke bots created by Clintons campaign, they noted.
However, there was evidence that the mystery chatbots were part of an organized effort.
There does seem to be strategy behind the bots, Howard said. By the third debate, Trump bots were launching into their activity early, and we noticed that automated accounts were actually colonizing Clinton hashtags.
A hashtag is used to indicate a Twitter posts topic. By adopting hashtags relating to Clinton, the opposition bots were most likely able to wiggle their way into an online conversation among Clinton supporters.
After the election, the bot traffic declined rapidly, with the exception of some pro-Trump programs that gloated, We won and you lost, Howard said.
Trump campaign officials did not respond to requests for comment. Twitter executives argued that more people would not follow the programs and so they would be picked up only by those who looked for particular hashtags.
Anyone who claims that automated spam accounts that tweeted about the U.S. election had an effect on voters opinions or influenced the national Twitter conversation clearly underestimates voters and fails to understand how Twitter works, said Nick Pacilio, a Twitter spokesman.
The researchers based their study on a collection of about 19.4 million Twitter posts gathered in the first nine days of November. They selected tweets based on hashtags identifying certain subjects and identified automated posting by finding accounts that post at least 50 times a day.
For example, the top 20 accounts, which were mostly bots and highly automated accounts, averaged over 1,300 tweets a day and they generated more than 234,000 tweets, the researchers noted. The top 100 accounts, which still used high levels of automation, generated around 450,000 tweets at an average rate of 500 tweets per day.
The Oxford researchers had previously reported that political chatbots had played a role in shaping the political landscape that led to Britains Brexit vote.
The researchers have coined the term computational propaganda to describe the explosion of deceptive social media campaigns on services like Facebook and Twitter.
In a previous research paper, Howard, and Bence Kollanyi, a researcher at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, described how political chatbots had a small but strategic role in shaping the online conversation during the run-up to the Brexit referendum.
The bot managers seem to repurpose the programs as well. During the British campaign, they discovered that a family of bots that had been tweeting around Israeli-Palestinian issues for three or four years had suddenly become pro-Brexit. After the vote, the bots returned to their original issue.
In the case of the U.S. election, the researchers noted that highly automated accounts the accounts that tweeted 450 or more times with a related hashtag and user mention during the data collection period generated close to 18 percent of all Twitter traffic about the presidential election.
They also noted that bots tend to circulate negative news much more effectively than positive reports.
One of the consequences of the intense social media campaigns will be a rise in what social scientists call selective affinity.
Clinton supporters will cut the Trump supporters out of their network, and Trump supporters will do the same, Howard said. The polarization of the election is going to make this stuff worse as we self-groom our news networks.
An Oakland police officer prosecutors had linked to an expansive law enforcement misconduct scandal involving a sexually exploited teenager will not be charged, an official said Thursday.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley said in September that her office would file charges against Officer Warit Uttapa and six other current and former officers and deputy sheriffs for crimes ranging from oral copulation with a minor to obstruction of justice.
Police in San Leandro are looking for other possible victims after they say a 40-year-old man was arrested for having sex with a teenage girl who he allegedly met online while pretending to be a boy her own age.
The San Leandro Police Department announced Thursday the arrest of Patterson (Stanislaus County) resident Ian Teager, 40, who was charged by prosecutors with four felonies related to having sex with a minor under 14.
Teager was arrested within the last two weeks police declined to release the date, citing the privacy of the victim the same day police say he met up with a 13-year-old girl in San Leandro before luring her to an East Oakland motel, where they say he had sex with her.
Mike Katz-Lacabe/CIR
He met the girl on the messaging app Kik while masquerading as a 14-year-old boy, Lt. Robert McManus of the department told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
She had no indication of what she was getting into until she crossed the threshold of the hotel room door and things went bad very, very quickly, McManus said.
Following interviews with Teager and an extensive investigation, McManus said investigators have credible evidence that there are others ranging from 12 to 16 in the Bay Area, as well as the Central Valley, who have been assaulted by Teager.
Teager owns his own consulting company in Patterson. Its unclear whether he had a prior criminal record, police said.
We dont know how many more victims there may be, McManus said, adding that police are urging nearby parents to talk to their children. Thats one of the ways these predators get away with these crimes. They build this level of trust. Fourteen and 15-year-old kids are easily impressionable. They believe adults.
Teager was held under $400,000 bail Thursday at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, records show. His first court appearance was scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the Hayward Hall of Justice.
Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
Contributed Photo/courtesy of U.S. Customs/Newsmak
A Rohnert Park man went to a post office box to pick up a package containing around $30,000 worth of the drug MDMA on Thursday, apparently unaware U.S. customs agents in San Francisco had intercepted the parcel and police were waiting to arrest him, officials said.
Aaron Christian Olesen, 36, was detained by Rohnert Park police as soon as he retrieved the 4-pound shipment of the drug, also known as Molly or ecstasy. Officials say the package was sent from the Netherlands and addressed to a man with a nearly identical name, Aaron Holesen.
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Guests to Kanye West's Thursday night concert at the SAP Center in San Jose found that his show had a little more political edge than they had expected.
Ticket holders say that West engaged in frequent extended political rants between songs on a short setlist, often to soapbox about President-elect Donald Trump and the divided state of the United States.
"There are things I like about Trump's campaign," said at one point. "That's not supposed to happen, right?"
He went on to say that he didn't vote, but if he had, he would have voted for Trump. That position contradicts an apparent endorsement photograph wherein he and his wife, Kim Kardashian, posed with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in September.
Warning: This video includes NSFW language.
West had earlier this year announced his plan to run for President in 2020, but on Thursday night, he laid out some of his at times nonsensical thoughts on American culture and intra-government communication.
"There are nonpolitical methods to speaking that I like, that I feel are very futuristic," he said. "That style, that method of communication has proven that it can be a politically correct way of communication, and I f with that."
He also said that he believes Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama should all be "consultants" for Trump.
Based on social media and on audio taken from inside the SAP Center, the audience appeared largely unimpressed with West's political opinions, and booed in response to some of his statements. See some of their tweets below.
Read Alyssa Pereira's latest stories, and follow her on Twitter at @alyspereira. Send her news tips at apereira@sfchronicle.com.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. In an enclave of a city known as the Venice of America, where dream-big houses look out over a maze of picturesque canals, the comparison to the Venice of Italy no longer seems so appealing.
On Monday morning, shortly after Novembers super moon dropped from view on Mola Avenue, it was easy to see why. The tide swelled on command. Seawater gurgled audibly through manhole covers and seeped up from the grass. Under a sunny sky, the water drowned docks and slid over low seawalls. By 8:15 a.m., peak tide, this street in the Las Olas Isles neighborhood was inundated, just like the Venice across the pond.
Sergio Lafratta, an independent business consultant who moved in just three months ago, stood shirtless in tall waders, watching the saltwater seep into his new lawn.
There goes my grass again, Lafratta said. His grass squares floated away down the street. His wife, Marilia, a psychologist, stood on the doorstep in her pajamas and chimed in. We spend too much money to live here, she said. We knew about this the flooding but we didnt think it would be this bad.
In South Florida, which takes rising sea levels seriously enough to form a regional compact to deal with global warming, climate change is no abstract issue. By 2100, sea levels could swell high enough to submerge 12.5 percent of Floridas homes. The king tides, which happen frequently, are the most blatant example of the interplay between rising seas and the alignment of the moon, sun and Earth. Even without a drop of rain, some places flood routinely.
Mondays planetary dance was particularly notable: The moon was both full and at its closest distance to the Earth since 1948. The closer the moon, the stronger the gravitational tug on the oceans, the higher the tide. Rising sea levels exacerbate the flooding, scientists said.
In much of South Florida, including Broward County and Fort Lauderdale, finding short- and long-term fixes to the challenges of flooding caused by rising seas is a priority. A new position now exists to deal with it: resiliency chief or sustainability director.
Pumps and back flow valves have been put in place. Roads will be or have been elevated (most famously in Miami Beach, which invested $400 million to deal with flooding). Seawalls are being raised. Counties are also beginning to rethink building codes. Taken together, the costs will be enormous.
In the next five decades, the seas could rise two to three feet, said Jennifer Jurado, Broward Countys chief resiliency officer.
WASHINGTON The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming.
A five-year offshore drilling plan announced Friday blocks the planned sale of new oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. The plan allows drilling to go forward in Alaskas Cook Inlet southwest of Anchorage.
The blueprint for drilling from 2017 to 2022 can be rewritten by President-elect Donald Trump, in a process that could take months or years.
Besides Cook Inlet, the plan also allows drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, long the center of U.S. offshore oil production. Ten of the 11 lease sales proposed in the five-year plan are in the gulf, mostly off the coasts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.
Confirming a decision announced this spring, the five-year plan also bars drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
The plan focuses lease sales in the best places those with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict and established infrastructure and removes regions that are simply not right to lease, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industrys declining interest in the area, forgoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward, Jewell said.
Industry representatives reacted bitterly, calling the decision political and not supported by the facts.
The arrogance of the decision is unfathomable, but unfortunately not surprising, said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group.
Once again, we see the attitude that Washington knows best an attitude that contributed to last weeks election results, Luthi said, referring to Trumps surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
More than 70 percent of Alaskans, including a majority of Alaska Natives, support offshore drilling, Luthi said, as do the states three Republican members of Congress.
Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, an environmental group, hailed the announcement and praised Obama and Jewell for protecting our coasts from dirty and dangerous offshore drilling.
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DALLAS The head of the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline said Friday that it wont be rerouted but that he would like to meet with the head of an American Indian tribe to try to ease its concerns about the project.
Kelcy Warren, the CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, said in an interview that the company has no alternative than to stick to its plan for the $3.8 billion pipeline, which would ship oil from North Dakota to Illinois and is nearly completed.
Theres not another way. Were building at that location, Warren said.
Warren said he would welcome the chance to meet with Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, to address the tribes concerns that the pipeline skirting its reservation would endanger drinking water and cultural sites.
Archambault, who who toured the tribes protest encampment Friday with prominent supporters, including the actors Shailene Woodley and Ezra Miller, said he would be willing to meet with Warren but that he doesnt think it would make a difference.
We already know what hes going to say that this is the cleanest, safest pipeline ever, the chairman said. What he doesnt know is that this is still an issue for Standing Rock and all indigenous people.
The 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline is largely complete except for a section that would pump oil under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota. The Standing Rock tribe fears that a leak could contaminate the drinking water on its nearby reservation and says the project also threatens sacred sites, which Warren disputes.
President Obama earlier this month raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline, and Archambault has said that would be acceptable to the tribe.
Warren noted that the Dakota Access route parallels the existing Northern Border Pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas as it carries natural gas from Canada and the U.S. to the Chicago area.
Were going to cross the river at that location, he said, calling it the least impactful site.
The Army Corps of Engineers in July granted ETP the permits needed for the crossing, but the agency decided in September that further analysis was warranted given the tribes concerns. On Monday, the Corps called for even more study and tribal input.
ETP responded the next day by asking U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to declare that it has the right to lay pipe under Lake Oahe. The judge isnt likely to rule until January.
WASHINGTON Michael Flynn, the former Army lieutenant general Donald Trump has asked to be his national security adviser, rose through the ranks of military intelligence on the strength of his reputation as an astute professional and an unconventional thinker. After retiring in 2014, he quickly turned on the Obama administration and accused it of being soft on terrorism.
In recent public comments, including his fiery address at the Republican National Convention, Flynn has emphasized his view that Islamic State extremists pose an existential threat on a global scale, demanding a far more aggressive U.S. military campaign against the group, as well as his belief that Washington should work more closely with Moscow.
Flynn is a champion of other foreign policy themes Trump pushed during the campaign, including renegotiating a seven-country agreement with Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions.
He has also stirred controversy with his dire warnings about the dangers of Islamist groups, complaining on CNN in June that the U.S. needs to discredit radical Islam, but that were not allowed to do that right now. He accused the Obama administration in July of failing to design a coherent strategy for opposing the Islamic State group. In August he spoke at an event in Dallas for the anti-Islamist group Act for America, saying that Islam is a political ideology and that it definitely hides behind being a religion.
Flynns dark warnings have not extended to the Islamist-leaning authoritarian Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In an opinion piece for the Washington newspaper the Hill just before the election, Flynn wrote that Turkey needs support and echoed Erdogans warnings that a shady Turkish Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania should not be given safe harbor in the U.S.
Erdogan has accused the cleric, Fethullah Gullen, of orchestrating an attempted military coup in the July and called for his extradition. The Obama administration has not complied.
Flynns warmth toward Russia and antagonism toward what conservatives call radical Islam have worried some national security experts. Flynn traveled last year to Moscow, where he joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials in a celebration of the RT network, a Russian government-controlled television channel. Flynn later explained that he had been paid for taking part in the event, but brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.
As Trumps national security adviser, Flynn would not require Senate confirmation.
Flynn, 57, is a native of Middletown, R.I. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981 with a degree in management science.
After he announced in April 2014 that he would step down as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Flynn asserted he had been forced out because he disagreed with the Obama administrations approach to combatting extremism. His critics, however, claimed he had mismanaged the agency and that his efforts to force change were met with internal resistance.
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Since 1917, one hundred years ago, seventeen women have called the White House home.
In fact, First Lady, Edith Bolling Wilson, married Woodrow Wilson (March 04, 1913 - March 04, 1921,) during his presidency on Dec. 18, 1915.
Jacqueline Kennedy was the youngest first lady to move into the White House at 31 years old. Despite her young age, Jackie Kennedy made a mark. She took on a restoration project that helped return the White House to a symbol of American history.
See More: Some 'bigly' changes could come to the White House
The most senior first lady to enter the White House was Barbara Bush at 63. And it may surprise you learn that the average age of the first ladies in the last century is 51.
When Melania Trump moves into the White House she will be on the younger side at 46 years old.
With every administration comes new ideas, new initiatives, and reasons for the first lady to be innovative and determined.
Take a look through the gallery above for a retrospective of the women who lived in the White House.
BART has settled a federal lawsuit over the tragic death of an on-duty detective who was fatally shot by a fellow transit agency officer nearly three years ago, attorneys said Friday.
The $3.1 million settlement will be paid to the family of Detective Sgt. Thomas Tommy Smith, who was accidentally shot and killed by BART Officer Michael Maes while the two searched a robbery suspects apartment in Dublin on Jan. 21, 2014.
Smith and Maes were among a group of BART officers who went to the ground-floor apartment on Dougherty Road to conduct a probation search in hopes of recovering stolen property. The apartment belonged to 20-year-old John Henry Lee, a robbery suspect who was already in custody, having been arrested five days earlier.
The officers hadnt studied the circular floor plan of the apartment, and when they encountered each other in a back room, Maes shot Smith after mistaking him for an armed suspect. Maes has since retired, according to BART officials.
Our deepest sympathies go out to ... members of the Smith family, BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey said in a statement. The BART PD continues to mourn the loss of Tommy. He will not be forgotten as we strive to ensure BART PD is a 21st century police department.
The friendly-fire death raised questions about why BART police had sent a group of detectives and officers into the apartment rather than a SWAT team. The federal suit also alleged Smith was denied specialized training on searching buildings, despite requesting it from his supervisor.
When it comes to a situation where an officer is requesting the very training that ultimately led to this tragic incident, theres a problem with it, and that needs to be rectified, attorney Joseph Lucia told The Chronicle shortly after filing the lawsuit in 2015.
The settlement was reached without a finding of fault or an admission of liability, attorneys said, but it revised BART policies so that when officers ask their direct supervisors for remedial training on any basic law enforcement practice, it must be provided.
Smiths wife, former BART Officer Kellie Smith, said she hoped the settlement would prevent similar incidents in the future.
I am very hopeful that these policy changes will avoid another tragedy like this from happening in the future, she said. I wish more than anything that none of my fellow officers families from the BART PD will ever have to suffer through what our family has over the past three years.
Joaquin Palomino is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jpalomino@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoaquinPalomino
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An old-school, hard-line drug warrior emerged Friday as the Trump administrations pick for attorney general, setting off something of a mild panic attack in the countrys nascent legal cannabis industry.
Republican Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions might be among the worst picks for pot law reform, critics said.
Sessions would be, as far as I can tell, a nightmare on marijuana and all other drug policy, said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nations leading drug-law reform group.
Anti-marijuana activist Kevin Sabet, director of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana, was buoyed by the news, a week after four states legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over.
Its become a lot risker to be a marijuana investor and the market doesnt like risk. Right now the chances of marijuana legalization being tolerated on the federal level have fallen from the sky, Sabet said. It makes the loss in California feel like it took place a million years ago.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws director Erik Altieri said in an email that Sessions nomination, should send a chill down the spine of the majority of Americans who support marijuana law reform, and who respect the will of voters to enact regulatory alternatives to cannabis prohibition.
Sessions received a failing grade on NORMLs 2016 Congressional Report Card, released this past fall.
Sabet called Sessions the most anti-marijuana person in the Senate in a number of years.
Aaron Herzberg, partner and general counsel at CalCann Holdings, called Sessions in an email, the worst pick that Trump could have made for attorney general as it comes to marijuana issues, and this selection bodes very poorly for the Trump administration to adopt a marijuana-friendly policy.
It appears that he is intent on rolling back policy to the 1980s and Nancy Reagans just say no on drugs days, Herzberg said. The legalization of marijuana both for medical marijuana in 28 states and recreational marijuana in eight states may be in serious jeopardy.
Trump has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that marijuana policy should be left up to the states, and that he and his subordinates would respect state policies. But the industry is having trouble taking him at his word after the Sen. Sessions pick.
A former attorney general and U.S. attorney from Alabama arguably the least progressive state in the nation with regard to pot policy Sen. Sessions has repeatedly made it clear he does not support the right of adults to responsibly use the drug. While most of Sessions political focus has been on border security and immigration, drug control also concerns him.
In an April Senate hearing on federal marijuana policy, Sessions the chairman of two Senate subcommittees, Immigration and the National Interest and Strategic Forces said that good people do not use marijuana.
In March, Sessions said in Congress during a speech on the nations opioid epidemic that he believed in the discredited gateway theory that pot use leads to abuse of harder drugs. Sessions said, It is false that marijuana use doesnt lead people to more drug use.
He endorsed Reagan-era drug policies that led to the arrests of hundreds of thousands of Americans for pot.
Drug use dropped dramatically when Nancy Reagan started the Just Say No program, and drug use began to steadily decrease. It is now beginning to steadily increase. You have to have leadership from Washington, he said.
Sessions said legal pot is already causing a disturbance in the states that have made it legal. And he voiced opposition to a White House Memo de-prioritizing federal enforcement of marijuana trafficking laws against state-legal pot businesses.
The White House should be supporting, not blocking the efforts of law enforcement to do their jobs and giving them the tools to arrest drug traffickers, Sessions said. We need to enforce our laws, and we have to make the consequences of drug trafficking a deterrent.
As attorney general, Sabet said Sessions could rapidly shut down all state-legal pot regimes by sending threatening letters promising civil asset forfeitures against any pot business or landlord, as well as threaten to arrest and imprison state marijuana regulators.
Forfeiture threats and intimidating regulators were common until the Obama administration in 2013 told prosecutors to ignore state-legal pot activity. In 2014, Congress de-funded the Department of Justices crackdown on medical marijuana.
What they can do is simply is send letters to state regulators saying, You have 90 days to revoke licenses and close up shop, and I think they will, Sabet said.
Tom Angell, a Washington, D.C. activist and founder of Marijuana Majority, said in an email that pot legalization has vastly more support than ever before, and an attack on it would be politically costly to Trump.
While the choice (of Sessions) certainly isnt good news for marijuana reform, Angell said, Im still hopeful the new administration will realize that any crackdown against broadly popular laws in a growing number of states would create huge political problems they dont need and will use lots of political capital theyd be better off spending on issues the new president cares a lot more about.
Most polls show heavy national support for marijuana legalization. A Gallup poll in October found 60 percent support overall, with 42 percent support among Republicans. A Pew poll in October found 57 percent support overall for pot legalization with 41 percent support among Republicans.
The truth is, marijuana reform is much more popular with voters than most politicians are, and officials in the new administration would do well to take a careful look at the polling data on this issue before deciding what to do, Angell said.
He should keep his word both because its the right thing to do and because a reversal would be a huge political misstep, said Angell.
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said pot should be a populist no-brainer for Trump: Unfortunately, the appointment of Sen. Sessions a longtime anti-marijuana zealot will simply ... cost Washington, D.C. further respect and credibility with the ordinary American voter.
While Republicans are nearly split on support for marijuana legalization, 70 percent supported respecting state marijuana laws, a CBS news poll found in April.
The National Cannabis Industry Association issued a statement reiterating that voters in 28 states have passed laws taking cannabis out of the criminal market and putting it into a regulated, tax-paying system.
Senator Sessions has long advocated for state sovereignty, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that states rights and voter choices on cannabis are respected, stated the associations director, Aaron Smith, in an email.
In 2015, Sessions said during a Judiciary Committee hearing that he was opposed to legalization, stating, the President should never have said smoking marijuana is like smoking cigarettes. Thats the kind of message that people hear, and now we have states legalizing it and theyre already talking about re-criminalizing it. Its a mistake. Weve seen that experiment before.
In 2002, Sessions said the nation must not forget the war on drugs, telling a conference of federal prosecutors the federal government should send a clear message that drug use cannot be tolerated.
The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law noted in a Friday email that during Sessions failed nomination for a federal judgeship in 1986, an African American Assistant U.S. Attorney testified that Sessions had described the Ku Klux Klan as OK until I found out they smoked pot. Sessions denied the allegation.
David Downs is the San Francisco Chronicles cannabis editor. Email him at ddowns@sfchronicle.com.
San Francisco Police Department / / San Francisco Police Department /
A 34-year-old San Francisco man was arrested and identified by police as an alleged serial burglary they have been trying to catch for about a month, officials said Friday.
Dominique Danquay Miles was taken into custody Nov. 9 when police from San Francisco, Daly City and Pittsburg served simultaneous search warrants on his home, officials said.
Willis Bond & Co's PwC Centre project on Wellington's waterfront came through this week's 7.8 magnitude earthquake unscathed with no obvious damage or liquefaction on the site.
The proposed four-level building, owned by the city council's Wellington Waterfront unit, is in the early stages of construction with one crane erected while the foundations are worked on. Buildings in the neighbouring CentrePort Harbour Quays district were damaged by the quake, centred near Kaikoura, but Willis Bond managing director Mark McGuinness says engineers cleared the PwC project, whose design was informed by the Canterbury quakes in 2010 and 2011, and the 2013 temblors near Seddon.
"There's no obvious damage to the foundation work, no impact on the project, the crane's fine and there's no liquefaction visible on the site," McGuinness told BusinessDesk. "For us, it's business as usual, and if anything, the earthquake has reinforced our design approach."
The PwC Centre project is scheduled to be completed in 2018, incorporating a base isolator structure and built to 180 percent of the current building standard. PwC is to be the anchor tenant with naming rights, with rural insurer FMG and Cooperative Bank also committed to renting space.
The government yesterday said it will investigate the performance of Wellington buildings, with Statistics House in Harbour Quays singled out for particular scrutiny. Several buildings have been cordoned off, though the capital city was largely re-opened for business with 48 hours of the quake.
McGuiness said buildings' first priority is to preserve life when they're being erected, but the industry has increasingly started trying to improve the operational resilience of the structures which had allowed such a quick turnaround in the wake of the quakes.
Willis Bond's other project under construction in Wellington - the former Deka site on the corner of Cuba St - "performed as expected" with no material damage, he said. The proposed six-storey building is a joint project with the Whitireia WelTec strategic partnership to create a centre of excellence for the performing arts and creative industries.
Wellington's Cuba St houses a number of buildings previously identified as earthquake risks, though the nature of this week's particular quake meant it had a greater impact on high-rises than the type of shorter buildings that populate that end of the city.
"We were lucky it wasn't a shape that was more of the threat to those older buildings that need strengthening," McGuiness said. "Overall, it might not seem like it right now, but this was a one-in-400 year event with a huge amount of energy involved - we've been remarkably lucky and fortunate."
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Motor Trade Finance says it will attempt to woo auto dealerships with new technology and non-recourse loan products such as it arranged with Turners after acknowledging a loss of market share in its latest year and a 2.3 percent decline in profit.
Based on registrations on the government's PPSR registry, MTF's market share fell to 11.6 percent from 11.9 percent as at Sept. 30, 2015. MTF has two business streams, its network franchise started in 2007 and finance company for auto dealerships is 40 years old. The franchise channel "is experiencing strong growth and profitability" but the dealerships, MTF's traditional distributor, had drifted away.
MTF said it aimed "to reignite support through this channel" with measures including offering non-recourse loans for the first time under contracts written by Turners, a partnership that was announced earlier this week.
Total assets increased 5.3 percent to $30 million, which it attributed to "strong second-half sales, with finance receivables accounting for the increase," it said.
Turners chief executive Todd Hunter said this week that he was optimistic the two-year programme, which was backed by Bank of New Zealand, would be rolled over.
Profits before commissions and fair value movements edged up 0.4 percent to $45.4 million, which the company said reflected favourable sales growth and a growing asset base.
Commissions to shareholder originators rose 2 percent to $34 million, the company said. Total amounts paid to MTF originators, including commission, fees and payment waiver, increased 4.7 percent to $54.1 million.
MTF's $40 million of NZDX-traded perpetual notes were quoted at $62 per $100 face amount, and carry a coupon of 4.47 percent.
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Ports of Auckland said it had an agreement with KiwiRail to lift freight capacity between Auckland and the lower North Island after Wellington's port was knocked about by the Kaikoura earthquake.
The state-owned railway had agreed to a plan to provide a daily rail link between Auckland's port, its inland hub at Wiri, and Longburn on the outskirts of Palmerston North.
The Wellington Harbourmaster Mike Pryce has declared a sea-side restricted zone alongside Wellingtons main wharves which excludes boaties from the area following Mondays severe earthquake. Ports of Auckland stands to benefit from disruptions to Wellington's CentrePort if it can quickly offer another route for freight customers.
Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said in a statement he was pleased to be able to put on this service to fill the gap created as a result of the recent Kaikoura earthquake, and we will keep it running until Centreport is able to get back on their feet.
Captain Price said in his notice today that he exclusion zone will ensure public safety and allow undisturbed access for structural engineers to inspect the condition of the wharves.
The service will help both importers and exporters, who are affected by the closure of Centreport in Wellington, the Auckland port's Gibson said.
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Tenon shareholders have approved the sale of the wood processor's US business to New York-based buyout firm Blue Wolf Capital, allowing the company to make a $100 million capital return via a share cancellation.
The sale and capital return were approved with a more than 99.5 percent majority at the annual meeting in Auckland, the Taupo-based company said in a statement. Among minority shareholders more than 98 percent voted in favour, it said. The sale for US$110 million represents a 2016 ebitda multiple of 7.3 times, at the lower end of the range in advisory firm Grant Samuel's assessment.
Tenon, which is controlled by NZX-listed Rubicon, said the capital return of US$1.10 per existing share is expected to be completed by the end of December, with a record date of Dec. 21, subject to receipt of final High Court orders relating to the return. Blue Wolf is buying the North American operations via its BW Empire Holdings unit.
Blue Wolf describes itself as a private equity firm, and Tenon USA joins a portfolio including the Twin Rivers Paper Co, American Builders Supply, and Suwannee Lumber Co.
Tenon USA comprises three distribution and manufacturing operations: Empire, Southwest Mouldings and Ornamental Products. The company's presentation for the annual meeting said the US business had grown "far beyond" what was envisaged when it was set up in the early to mid-2000s.
While the supply of clear wood products was still critically important to both parties, it could be addressed through a product supply agreement. Tenon USA's purchases from Taupo now account for just 10 percent of what the American business buys in and makes up less than 20 percent of sales from Tenon's Taupo plant, it said.
Following the sale, Tenon's remaining business would be its Clearwood unit, which is also in under strategic review and had positive earnings, strong cash flow and limited capex requirements, the company said today.
It will return the capital, US$71.3 million, or $1.55 a share at an exchange rate of 71 US cents, by cancelling one out of every two shares held and returning $2.20 per cancelled share.
Clearwood is being reviewed by investment bank Deutsche Craig. The New Zealand business was valued at between US$63.3 million and US$74.1 million in independent adviser Grant Samuels report on the US transaction. Its sales rose 5 percent to USS$81 million in the year ended June 30 while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to US$12 million.
Blue Wolf made its offer for Tenon's North American operations on Aug. 29. A year earlier, Tenon kicked off a strategic review of the company with Deutsche Craig to close what it described as "the perceived value gap that was evident in the share trading price at the time".
Grant Samuel expects Tenon will be liquidated above market value of $164 million if the US sale goes ahead and the Clearwood business is subsequently sold within its valuation range. In its 2016 annual report, Tenon said the sales process run by Deutsche had determined there were different potential buyers for the company's US and New Zealand businesses and that "in order to optimise value for shareholders separate review processes should be run in respect of these two asset classes".
Tenon's shares last traded at $2.60 and have declined about 7 percent this year. Rubicon, which owns 59.8 percent of Tenon, last traded at 22 cents and has fallen 23 percent so far in 2016.
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Team Shaw is 'on fire'
The 20th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department hosted a Firefighter Combat Challenge 5K Run during Warrior Day at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, Nov. 18.
The event gave Team Shaw members the opportunity to experience the challenges 20th CES fire department Airmen must overcome to accomplish their mission.
Participants in the 5K run and obstacle course, whether running as an individual or in a team, had to tackle 12 obstacles over the course of the run that tested their physical endurance.
The event had 12 stations stretched over a three mile course that each participant had to execute, said Tech. Sgt. Patrick Bentley, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron fire emergency service noncommissioned officer in charge of training. They were challenged with hose management and climbing obstacles that definitely pushed them to the brink of wanting to quit.
Although the challenge proved difficult for some, Staff Sgt. Terrell Thomas, Jr., 20th CES fire protection crew chief, said he got as much out of the course as he put in.
It was a challenge, a good challenge, said Thomas. It will give them a better appreciation of what firefighters experience in any given situation, on any given day.
Upon conclusion of the event, participants learned their times for the entirety of the course and gained confidence by successfully working as a team to build up resiliency.
The fire department presented a trophy and certificates to the winning teams and individuals to recognize their drive to complete the obstacles and 5K in the fastest time.
The event is a good example of what we go through when we report on scene, said Staff Sgt. Christian Alvero, 20th CES firefighter. Its good to see every squadron work together to tackle any obstacle with a positive outlook toward the next.
Muscles fatigued from the obstacle courses toll, Team Shaw members departed the course with a first-hand look at the challenges firefighters face and a better understanding of what training is needed to keep them fit to fight fires.
BENGALURU: The common people in the country are facing hardships in exchanging old currency and withdrawing new currency notes. Families having marriages around the corner and farmers are most affected by the demonetization move. Soon after demonetization, the government had set an exchange limit of 4000, which was later increased to 4500. However, NDTV Profit reported that government eased the transaction restrictions for families with upcoming marriages and farmers, but the exchange limit is decreased to 2000.
Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Economic Affairs said that families doing preparation for marriages can withdraw a sum of 2.5 lakh from their bank accounts after providing a self-declaration and PAN details to the bank. This decision came as a huge relief for the families whose marriage preparations are affected because of the demonetization move by the government.
Farmers are also facing problems with shortage of money due to withdrawal restrictions after demonetization.. Mr. Das announced that farmers having Kisan credit cards or taken a crop loan can withdraw 25000 per week. The farmers who received payments through cheque or RTGS in their KYC-complaint bank accounts can withdraw an additional amount of 25000 per week. As a whole, farmers with KYC-complaint bank accounts can now withdraw a sum of 50000 in a week.
In another announcement, Mr. Das said that government has decided to reduce the exchange limit to 2000 from 4500. This decision is taken by the government to facilitate more people at the bank counter. Many people repeatedly visited banks to exchange money while some others were not getting benefitted. The government came up with an idea of applying indelible ink on fingers of people exchanging larger denominations. However, now government decreased the exchange limit to provide benefits to more people.
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NEW DELHI: Government today made public CSR spending of more than 7,300 companies in 2014-15, totalling Rs 8,803 crore, but the amount spent by over 60 per cent of the entities was shown as zero.
Among the 7,334 companies, Reliance Industries spent the highest amount of Rs 760.6 crore towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15.
As per the data, spending by more than 4,500 firms, including some Tata group entities and Vodafone India Pvt Ltd, was shown as zero during that period.
Making public the CSR spending data, the corporate affairs ministry has also put out a disclaimer, saying it is making no representation regarding the completeness, accuracy or timelines of the information.
"MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs)/IICA (Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs) makes no representation regarding the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of any information and data contained in this file or that such information and data will be error-free," read the disclaimer.
"In the event that the information on Director's Report of Companies differs from the information contained in this file, the information on such report shall control and take precedence."
IICA comes under the ministry.
In terms of CSR spending, Reliance Industries is followed by ONGC (Rs 495.2 crore) and Infosys (Rs 239.5 crore). Others in the top ten are ITC Ltd, TCS, NTPC, NMDC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, and Oil India (Rs 133.3 crore), according to the data.
Giving a snapshot on CSR spending, the ministry said the reasons given for zero spending include financial restructuring, loss, non-finalisation of CSR areas, delay in board approval for projects, technical and procedural difficulties.
Under the Companies Act, 2013 implemented by the ministry, certain classes of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two per cent of three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities. In case of non-spending, then they have to provide reasons for the same.
Companies having a turnover of at least Rs 1,000 crore, minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore and those having net profit of Rs 5 crore or more in a financial year are required to comply with the CSR norms.
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NEW DELHI: A delegation of the European Union and the government's National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) held a conference to discuss the results, impact and the way forward of the EU-India Skill Development Project.
The EU India Skill development conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), Rajiv Pratap Rudy, in the presence of Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India, and senior government officials, said a EU press statement on Thursday.
Rudy said the collaboration between India and the EU in the area of skills ecosystem has been successful and hoped to work further with the EU in this area.
Kozlowski said, "The project worked with 7 states, 6 sectors; trained 199 trainers and 85 assessment professionals, and organised workshops for over 400 participants from different partner organisations. It has been successful in helping to implement the various policies and to design a framework for quality assurance of training and assessment, contributing to the employability of the skilled workforce. We believe this will certainly strengthen the National Skill Development Mission."
Skill development is one of India's priorities. Started in 2012 and funded by the European Union, the project has successfully assisted the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), selected State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) in implementing policies and developing frameworks to increase the employability and capacity for entrepreneurship of those trained under the National Skill Development Mission.
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NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy on Friday formally inducted four types of indigenously developed sonars that will boost its underwater surveillance capability.
The systems included Abhay, which is a compact hull mounted sonar for shallow water crafts; Humsa UG, which is an upgrade for the Humsa sonar system; NACS, or the Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System; and AIDSS, or the Advanced Indigenous Distress sonar system for submarines.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who on Friday handed over the sonars to the Navy, praised the force along with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and said he expects more synergy in the coming days.
The systems have been designed and developed by Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, a Kochi-based laboratory of DRDO.
With the induction of these four systems, the underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy will get a boost, besides providing a fillip to the quest for self-reliance in this critical area of technology.
Abhay is an advanced active-cum-passive integrated sonar system designed and developed for the smaller platforms such as shallow water crafts and coastal surveillance/patrol vessels.
It is capable of detecting, localising, classifying and tracking sub-surface and surface targets in both its active and passive modes of operation.
The prototype of this compact sonar installed on board a nominated naval platform has successfully completed all user evaluation trials to demonstrate the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements.
Indian Navy has proposed to induct this sonar on three of its Abhay class ships.
Intensifying the command over the high seas is the Humsa-UG, which is designed for upgrading the existing Humsa sonar system.
This system is proposed to be installed on seven ships of three different classes.
AIDSS, a distress sonar, is an Emergency Sound Signalling Device which is used to indicate that a submarine is in distress and enable quick rescue and salvage.
It is a life-saving alarm system designed to transmit sonar signals of a pre-designated frequency and pulse shape in an emergency situation from a submarine for a long period, so as to attract the attention of passive sonars of ships or submarines in the vicinity and all types of standard rescue vessels in operation.
It is also provided with a transponder capability.
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It's a blog for foodies around the world. Here you can read about recipes , new ideas and old techniques. You don't have to be a gourmet, just someone who really LOVES food and drink!!!!
A first-class ride for Cowboy Kel Bridle Path residents show love for mail carrier
For the past six years, Kelvin Hoang has been delivering mail and smiles to people living in Simi Valleys Bridle Path neighborhood. We love Kelvin. Hes the best. Hes like...
SV Womans Club to meet Detectives Kelly King and Jessica Getchius of the Simi Valley Police Department will discuss the problems faced by victims and perpetrators of domestic violence at the monthly luncheon meeting of...
Womans flight aboard B-25 bomber honors grandfathers WWII bravery As Kerri Braemer-Castro looked down at the mountains and valleys of Camarillo from the cockpit of a World War II B-25 bomber earlier this month, she finally felt connected to...
Shred your documents The Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold a drive-thru document shredding event from 1 to 4 p.m. Fri., Nov. 11 in the parking lot behind the Chamber office, 40...
White Baltimore teacher fired after calling black students racial slursPostmedia NetworkFirst posted: Thursday, November 17, 2016 07:20 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, November 17, 2016 07:26 PM ESTA white Baltimore teacher has been fired after being caught on video calling her black students idiots and punk-a-- n------ who are gonna get shot for misbehaving.The grainy 82-second clip, which was reportedly filmed in a Grade 8 science class at Baltimores Harlem Park Elementary and Middle School, begins with the teachers screaming fit already in progress. She repeatedly tells one of her students to get out of my class! Eventually, she pushes him into the hallway and comes back inside to direct her anger at the rest of her students.Youre idiots! she screams. Do you want to be like punk-a-- n-------? Youre gonna get shot!The class erupts with shouting, but the teacher can still be heard screaming over them, Youre stupid!According to the New York Daily News , Erica Gales Deminds, mother of one of the students, posted the video to her Facebook page late on Wednesday after her son showed her the recording, which was shot by another student.I see it and Im floored! she told the Daily News. So I uploaded it and shared it with my family, didnt think it would go as far as it went.On Thursday, officials at Baltimores public school board issued a statement condemning the tirade.At Baltimore City Public Schools, we are committed to creating positive and equitable learning environments in school communities where all members are welcome, supported, and valued, the statement read. No form of discriminatory behavior of any kind is or will be tolerated.(Facebook)
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St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) staff member Marie-line Andrew-Carty clocks 25 years with the Department.
A hearty congratulations to Andrew-Carty, on this milestone, on behalf of the entire Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications and in particular the Management and staff of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau.
PHOTO CUTLINE: L-R Mr. Gus Priest presents Andrew-Carty with a bouquet arrangement.
Two Scientists' Upbeat Views on Marrakech
Posted on 18 November 2016 by greenman3610
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections
Two scientists who participated in a recent global climate-change meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, come across in a new Yale Climate Connections video as hopeful, bordering on optimistic, about continued international efforts to address the problem. (See related posts here, here, and here.)
Glaciologist Jason Box, of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and Cara Augustenborg, an environmental scientist with University College in Dublin, point to a spirit of resolution and perseverance in Marrakech in the days immediately following the U.S. election of Donald J. Trump.
I thought before the election that, if Trump wins, well all just go home, Augustenborg told a meeting at Trinity College in Dublin on November 15, a week after Trumps election. But I was really surprised that the attitude in Marrakech was really quite positive. Negotiating team members and civil society representatives took the approach of: Look, this is going to make it harder for the U.S., definitely, but its only one country out of 196, and the rest of us are still on track, were still going to act.'
Everyones got more resolve to make the Paris agreement a success, Box said in a November 16 Skype interview with independent videographer Peter Sinclair. Thats what everyones talking about.
He said the T word was not a principal focus of international participants. This disruption, optimistically, will stir things up, he said in the monthly This is not cool video.
China with new role a big winner?
Augustenborg pointed to China as a possible big winner if the Trump administration pulls back on climate: For China, this is really seen as an opportunity. They said, Hey, the U.S. has always been leading this, but we want to lead.'
That view appeared to be reinforced in reporting by New York Times reporter Coral Davenport. She quoted Liu Zhenmin, Chinas lead negotiator in Marrakech and Chinas deputy minister of foreign affairs. Liu said China rejects a 2012 Trump assertion that the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
Whatever position the U.S. puts forth, China will continue to support the Paris agreement, Davenport reports Liu as saying in Marrakech.
They seem pretty upbeat about the role they play, Box says of China. Theyve become the largest producers of solar . Theyre taking it seriously, and there doesnt seem to be so [many] obstacles in the way for them.
The attitude was very much, Were going to keep going, and if the U.S. doesnt act, theyre just going to be left behind technologically, and thats their loss, Augustenborg said.
Clean energy just makes good economic sense, Box said. It really doesnt make economic sense to not participate in the clean energy revolution. He pointed to what he sees as a big role for free-market initiatives in that revolution.
Im getting a more positive feeling from being at this meeting than I was expecting, said Box, who from 2002 to 2012 was a scholaar at Ohio State Universitys Byrd Polar Research Center.
(See related posts here, here, and here.)
This is EugeObama administration bans Arctic oil drilling through 2022WASHINGTON The Obama administration on Friday banned offshore drilling in the Arctic, setting a likely collision course with President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to unleash new energy production in the United States by rolling back restrictions on oil and gas companies.The move by the Interior Department, part of a new five-year plan for energy development in federal waters, would put a temporary end to exploration in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the Alaskan coast. It also dropped plans to allow companies to drill for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic Ocean off of four southeastern states, including Virginia.The plan focuses on lease sales in the best places those with highest resource potential, lowest conflict, and established infrastructure and removes regions that are simply not right to lease, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Friday. Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industrys declining interest in the area, forgoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward.The areas off Alaska currently are considered by big oil companies to be too expensive to explore given low crude prices, the steep expenses of drilling in icy waters and the costly failure by Royal Dutch Shell to discover oil in 2015 after years of preparation. Shell spent more than $7 billion, and in the end the hole it drilled was virtually dry.Even if the economics of Arctic drilling improve and a Trump administration wants to reopen the area to exploration, both oil company officials and environmental groups say, Trump would be unable to toss out the five-year plan immediately. To undo the Obama administrations ban, a new administration would have to prepare a supplemental report, which could take as long as two years, depending on whether it needs to prepare a new environmental impact statement.
Loony liberal crybabies need to get over themselves and accept the fact that Donald Trump will be our next president.What we're seeing from the alt-radical left, as I call them, is so over the top, it's pretty hard to believe. But it is real and it's beyond ridiculous.Since last Tuesday's election, Hollywood celebrities who backed Hillary Clinton have been literally in tears, freaking out. Chelsea Handler, Seth Myers and Miley Cyrus are among the heartbroken celebs whose meltdowns have been televised or gone viral online."The message that I want to, like, spread out to other women is, is exactly what you're saying, is not to give up," Handler said on her Netflix show, "Chelsea." "I'm crying. I want to move to Spain. I really, really want to move to Spain right now. And everyone in my office is, like, 'You have a responsibility and you have a voice and you need to use it and you have to be here.'"mo
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THE WALL OF SHAME
"The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster."
--STEPHEN COLBERT
"[Ivanka Trump] Your father is a racist birther. Steve Bannon an anti-Semitic opportunist. You and your husband are enabling hatred. F--- your shoes."
--BRADLEY WHITFORD
"Melania [Trump] is a hooker."
--JACOB BERNSTEIN
"And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt."
"We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white."
--SALLY BOYNTON BROWN
"And to our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything: F--- you! F---you!
"Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House."
--MADONNA
"Barron Trump looks like a very handsome date-rapist-to-be."
--STEPHEN SPINOLA
"Barron [Trump] will be this country's first homeschool shooter."
--KATIE RICH
"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."
--MERYL STREEP
"There's a billion to one chance we're living in base reality."
[That means we're almost positively living in a simulation, like a video game.]
--ELON MUSK
"When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this'Oh shit, did I not see that?'"
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"In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure."
--CHARLIE SYKES
"I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."
--BRIAN WILLIAMS
"I'm here to tell you if you elect me governor of this state, I will end the civil war."
--TOM BARRETT
"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."
--RUTH BADER GINSBURG
"Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"
--ROBERT DE NIRO
"The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young."
--JULIAN BOND
"The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy."
--GWEN MOORE
"[Tea Party Republicans] have acted like terrorists."
--JOE BIDEN
"Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?"
--CHRIS MATTHEWS
"[T]he tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor."
--WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL
"I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."
--DAVID BROOKS
"I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around."
--FRED CLARK, DEMOCRAT
"The picture was of me, and I sent it."
--ANTHONY WEINER
"[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant."
--DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ
"This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now theyre here to kill women."
--LOUISE SLAUGHTER
"The protesters have proven today that theyre not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just cant fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776."
--JOHN NICHOLS
"They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates."
--MICHAEL MOORE
"Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy."
--DAVID LETTERMAN
"In 1933, [Hitler] abolished unions and that's what our Governor [Scott Walker] is doing today."
--LENA TAYLOR, Democrat State Senator
"So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government."
--CHUCK SCHUMER
"Well, when you start off with the Preamble of the Constitution, you talk about the pursuit of happiness."
--JOHN LEWIS
"I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor."
--SLY SYLVESTER
"Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand? I mean, is it a nod to the Tea Party?"
--JOY BEHAR
"We cant just leave it up to the parents."
"[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isnt just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well."
--MICHELLE OBAMA
"Actually, I did not take part in [the assassination of Sarah Palin]. I led it."
--KATHLEEN PARKER
"[The repeal of ObamaCare is] a kind of creeping genocide."
--JESSE JACKSON
"[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs."
--DAN RATHER
"And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons.
"Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy."
--KEITH "Reagan's dead and he was a lousy President" OLBERMANN
"I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform."
--CHRIS MATTHEWS
"[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil... I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch."
--JOY BEHAR
"So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression."
--HARRY REID
"And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out."
--RICHARD DREYFUSS
"Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed."
--BOB WOODWARD
"Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."
"The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution."
--AARON SORKIN
"Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends."
--HARRY BELAFONTE
"[Christine O'Donnell is] a witch who doesn't masturbate."
--JOY BEHAR
"Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns. You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco."
--BILL MAHER
"That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion."
--BILL GATES
"NOT the 'whiteman's bitch'"
--IESHUH GRIFFIN
"[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it."
--SARAH SPITZ
"You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies."
--KING SAMIR SHABAZZ
"If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this. "But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona."
--PEGGY WEST
"Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany."
--HELEN THOMAS
"After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is."
--PAUL McCARTNEY
"By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)."
--KATIE COURIC
"And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word."
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"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolaryou name it, any condition is job-locking."
--NANCY PELOSI
"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"
--TOM HANKS
"The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama."
--LOUIS FARRAKHAN
"I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century."
--JOE BIDEN
"Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price."
--ROLAND MARTIN
"Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican."
--CHUCK SCHUMER
"I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are."
--ED SCHULTZ
"We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington."
--JOHN KERRY
"A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee."
--BILL CLINTON
"I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old."
--TOM SHALES
"Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"
--MAUREEN DOWD
"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
--DAVID LETTERMAN
"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasnt lived that life."
--SONIA SOTOMAYOR
"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."
--REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002
"You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."
"Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail."
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"[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine."
--WANDA SYKES
"Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
--COLIN POWELL
"[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country."
--PAUL BEGALA
"I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court."
--BARNEY FRANK
"Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes."
--JIM DOYLE, Liar
"He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist."
--JOY BEHAR
"You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you."
--JON STEWART
"Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?"
--WHOOPI GOLDBERG
"I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."
--FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER
"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."
--MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
"We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."
--TED TURNER
"Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'"
--LAWRENCE O'DONNELL
"Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."
--FELIPE CALDERON
"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant."
--AL GORE
"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."
--ROSIE O'DONNELL
"Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?"
--CHRIS ROCK
"Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!"
--BARBRA STREISAND
"Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?"
--JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand
"I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."
--KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer
"I said what I said. I am not guilty."
--SADDAM HUSSEIN
"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."
--MICHAEL SCHIAVO
"On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. "
--BILL MOYERS
"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."
--HOWARD DEAN
"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."
--MICHAEL MOORE
"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."
--JOHN KERRY
"F---ing retarded."
"[Republicans] can go f--- themselves!"
--RAHM EMANUEL
"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
--HILLARY CLINTON
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
--BILL CLINTON
"And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."
--MICHELLE OBAMA
"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor."
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"If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill."
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"[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but theres real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes."
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"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."
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"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK."
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"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger."
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"We're buying shrimp, guys."
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"We are the ones we've been waiting for."
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"We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."
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"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if youre providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy."
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"If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
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"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."
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"But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11."
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"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America."
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"I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you."
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"We are God's partners in matters of life and death."
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"[T]he Cambridge police acted stupidly."
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"I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."
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"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system."
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"Over the last 15 months, weve traveled to every corner of the United States. Ive now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."
--BARACK OBAMA
So in what might pass as a fairytale elsewhere in the world, a Canberra mum-of-four is being paid $1500 to read a literary classic in quiet solitude without anyone nagging her every five minutes. For real.
Moira Christie, of Pearce, received the grant from the Spanish Embassy to read the 400,000-word epic Don Quixote within a month, all part of events to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of author Miguel de Cervantes
Celebratingh the announcement of the lucky person being paid to read arre from left Ciro Marquez from the Spanish cultural group mmmm, -co-sponsor of the Money to Read project; winner Moira Christie from Canberra; Director-General of the National Library of Australia, Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, and Ambassador of Spain, Manuel Cacho. Moria is being paid to read Don Quixote Credit:Craig Mackenzie
She will read the book, in silence, a bit at a time in the foyer of the National Library and then upload a video blog of her impressions via YouTube as she works her way through the literary classic.
A confirmed book lover - her Twitter handle is @moria_reads - Ms Christie said she would have done the reading for free.
Half her partner's pay goes on rent, with much of the remainder spent managing her chronic medical condition.
Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, who is unable to work, the great Australian dream seems just that - a dream.
It's here she draws fresh inspiration for her goal of buying and renovating a home.
"It's very daunting. It's hard for us to even consider ... saving for a house and we have to hope things will be better in a few years' time when we're a bit older," Ms McCarter said.
"At this point I don't even know if it's possible."
The latest CoreLogic Rental Index showed households renting in Canberra paid an average of $505 per week - recording the nation's biggest increase with a rise of 1 per cent for the month and 1.9 per cent year-on-year.
Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods Associate Professor Ben Phillips said rent was housing affordability's biggest issue.
"It's really the rental market which is where you have all the social issues and the lower-income families, that's really where the problems are," he said.
Police in Canberra have laid more than 1000 charges related to family violence in the past year. About four in five of those charges were for physical assaults.
On average ACT Policing attend eight to 12 incidents of family violence every day.
This is Canberra's black record for family violence in the past 12 months.
"Family violence remains a serious issue across Australia and sadly it's an all too common occurrence in the ACT," Commander Walters said.
"On average we attend every day eight to 12 incidents of family violence. Many of those offences relate to very serious crimes, murder, attempted murder, threats to kill, and serious violent assaults. That is unacceptable."
Of the 1000-plus charges laid from last November to October this year, 800 were for family violence related assault, assault causing actual bodily harm and assault causing grievous bodily harm.
More than 50 of the charges were for choking, suffocating or strangling a person. There were also 46 threats to kill.
ACT Policing were unable to provide figures on how many offenders the charges related to.
The Russian Embassy has hit back at claims one of its diplomats was aggressive when trying to settle a carpark bingle in Canberra and cited the old "rusty car" defence.
But the young public servant Erika Bacon, whose car was driven into by an embassy staffer, maintains she was bullied by a Russian diplomat who wanted her to take responsibility for the crash and wanted to know why she wanted reparation at all when her vehicle was "not a Maserati or a Ferrari".
Erika Bacon's car was hit by a vehicle driven by a Russian diplomat. Now it looks like she can't get her car fixed because he is claiming diplomatic immunity. Credit:Jamila Toderas
Despite the embassy promising an apology to Ms Bacon, Russian Ambassador Grigory Logvinov, in a subsequent letter to The Canberra Times, has defended his staffers and accused Ms Bacon of trying to extort the embassy into generally paying to upgrade her "rusty" 15-year-old car something she vehemently denies.
"All I did was present them for a quote for the damage to the car and asked them to pay it," she said, on Friday.
Australia's biggest independent supermarket chain has gone gourmet in the battle to grow sales and boost margins as it stares down a resurgent Woolworths, the expansionist discount supermarket sector and the pressure of price deflation.
It's a strategy that's paying big dividends for the largest owner of IGA-branded stores, according to Ritchies IGA chief Fred Harrison, who has sunk more than $5 million into a new up-market store format that showcases artisan bread, hand-rolled sushi, dry-aged beef and even bespoke peanut butter.
Less than a week after the opening of its first new concept store in the seaside town of Dromana, south of Melbourne, Mr Harrison said sales were up 50 per cent on the same time last year as customers warmed to the up-market selection of cheese, bread, meat and ready-to-eat meals.
He said bread sales has increased 10-fold to $30,000-a-week since the reopening of the store and customers had bought $800 in handmade chocolates in the first few days of trade.
The building and construction industry will be the next main target of the taxman's attempts to claw-back revenue lost due to the illegal cash economy.
The Australian Taxation Office has visited over 1000 building and construction small businesses over the past financial year to talk with them about their tax and superannuation obligations.
It will be visiting thousands more in the coming months. And it's now using social media to catch out tax cheats.
Assistant Commissioner Matthew Bambrick told Fairfax Media the top three risky industries were hospitality, made up of 70,000 businesses; hair and beauty salons, of which there are 50,000; and building and construction, made up of 406,000 businesses.
A few months ago, Melbourne artist Tony Sowersby gave me a print titled the ghost of tom joad. It's a portrait of a young man seeing the moral crisis of his time and place, and making his stand. The face in the print is actor Henry Fonda's Fonda played Tom Joad in John Ford's 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath, which was based on John Steinbeck's 1939 novel of the same name. The title of the painting is taken from Bruce Springsteen's 1995 album, The Ghost of Tom Joad. That's why the Tom Joad in Sowersby's 2015 print is playing an electric guitar. Springsteen wrote the song in protest against what was happening in America during the George W. Bush years: "Shelter line stretching 'round the corner/Welcome to the new world order.' The film of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. The classic novel of powerlessness and dispossession still resonates. At the start of Steinbeck's novel, Tom Joad is a scarcely literate young man just out of prison where he has served four years for manslaughter after killing an armed man in a fight. His family are Oklahoma croppers, poor people living off a small plot of land. Exploitative farming practices driven by the banks have degraded the land and now the soil is blowing away and burying crops in blankets of dust. The banks, seeing the croppers as liabilities, want their money back. Tom Joad arrives back to find his family home knocked over by a bulldozer. When he locates his family, they hazard the journey to California in an old car converted to a truck, looking for itinerant labour.
The Clintons are being held up as emblems of the failure of American politics. American politics failed long ago by not having an equivalent to the Australian Labor Party, an effective voice for the working poor. By the 1930s, when Steinbeck wrote his book, Australia had had three federal Labor governments. In the novel, Pastor Casy, a former preacher who has lost his faith in God, starts trying to organise a union for the itinerant fruit workers flooding into California. He's killed by the police. This is a novel about poverty. But it's also a story about an environmental crisis brought on by farming practices that see the earth simply as a source of profit. And it's a story about refugees, about people who are unwanted and have no home to go back to. It's a book for today. To quote American Steinbeck scholar Robert de Mott, The Grapes of Wrath is a classic "precisely because it keeps being informed by the most recent historical developments". Interestingly, the novel and the film have significantly different endings. The novel, as a work of art, is grand in its scope but rises to a single scene at the end, a Madonna scene, only the young mother has just lost her baby and she feeds her breast milk to a starving old man. In the movie, Tom Joad, having killed the policeman who killed Pastor Casy, is on the run but before leaving he makes a speech to his mother, the words of which are the climax of the Bruce Springsteen song. Basically, wherever people are suffering from injustice and oppression, you'll find Tom Joad. The book was attacked at the time by, including others, the Association of Farmers in California who called it "communistic" and a Republican senator who said the author had a sick imagination. Literary critics dismissed it as "sentimental".
Of all the lunacies of the post-fact world, my favourite is the fiction being peddled that "left-wing elites" in the media and elsewhere revealed their horrendous bias by expressing dismay at the prospect of a Trump presidency.
Voicing some discomfort at the prospect of a pussy-grabbing protector-isolationalist becoming leader of the free world does not a left-wing loon make.
Any political candidate who has been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan is leaving a lot of room out there on their left flank. You don't have to be Che Guevara to have inadvertently found yourself sitting in that space, desolate in the knowledge that the best you can do to stop the juggernaut is to un-follow The Donald on Twitter.
But progressive and free-thinking Trump first-responders (and since last week, we are all, from Senegal to Seattle, Trump first-responders) do have a problem with Melania Trump, first lady-elect, the woman ostensibly closest to the man but at the same time strangely incidental to him.
Scared workers who fear for their jobs are less likely to hold out for higher wages in negotiation, and less likely to strike. Credit:Greg Ellis Back in the 1980s and '90s the business community argued forcefully, and successfully, for the deregulation of the labour market. Rather than the system of centralised wage setting that had dominated the industrial relations system since Federation, the business community wanted market forces, not notions of comparative wage justice, to set wages in Australia. But since they got their way they have raged against any market forces that put upward pressure on wages, while remaining strategically silent whenever real wage growth was slow. Take the notion of a "skills shortage" for example. In a "free market" when the demand for something rises faster than the supply, the price will generally rise. At Christmas, for example, the demand for prawns rises faster than the prawns can breed, so the price goes up. The high price is used to ration who gets prawns for Christmas and who gets ham. The process has winners and losers, but it's the process business leaders profess to prefer. Except when it comes to workers. During the mining boom the demand for skilled mining and construction workers went through the roof, and their wages rose significantly. But their wages would have risen further still were it not for employers complaining about "skills shortages" and demanding the right to bring in temporary workers from overseas to put downward pressure on wages.
Economists don't usually talk about "prawn shortages" at Christmas, but whenever wages start to grow, conservative business and political voices are quick to talk about "skill shortages". Even if we were to take the issue of "skills shortages" seriously, such a problem is caused by a fundamental failure of the private sector to train the workers it knows it will need. Since when does capitalism rely on the public sector to anticipate the future demand for skills? Isn't placing bets on what the future will look like what entrepreneurs are supposed to be good at? Which brings me to apprentices. Apparently the "skills shortages" are also a result of the fact that it is hard to find young people to work for a pittance in exchange for a lack of job security. It is, we are told, the slovenly work ethic of the young, rather than their rational decision to choose a job that can cover their rent, that is the cause of "the skills shortages". The simple way to "solve" the "shortage" of apprentices is to offer them higher wages. The state-owned electricity corporations, water corporations, rail corporation and housing corporations once trained hundreds of thousands of apprentices, most of whom, on finishing their trade, went to work for the private sector, or themselves. But the business groups that wanted labour market deregulation also wanted privatisation and corporatisation as well. The "inefficient" staffing levels of those institutions have all been "fixed" and the supply of trained welders, carpenters and electricians has plummeted. Leaving aside that one person's skills shortage is another person's opportunity for a decent wage rise, it is remarkable in Australia how successful the spruikers of small government have been in blaming government, and the young, for the private sector's refusal to train the staff they need.
There are some things that every Australian can rely upon. The sun will emerge every morning. The birds will greet the dawn in uplifting song. Metropolitan housing prices will become more precariously explosive. And Peter Dutton will say something stupid about immigrants.
One of the most fascinating things about the Immigration portfolio over the past 20-odd years was the way that it stopped being handled by people that were enthusiastic about Australia's multicultural success story and went instead to people who seemed to be forever on the brink of accidentally saying "the darkies" during their press conferences.
Dutton's latest brilliant statement has been to accuse late Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser of being the reason why there are people travelling from Australia to Islamic State war zones today, on the grounds that they wouldn't have been alive now if Fraser hadn't selfishly saved their parents or grandparents' lives.
"The reality is Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes in bringing some people in the 1970s and we're seeing that today," he agreed with fellow intellectual powerhouse Andrew Bolt on Sky News. "We need to be honest in having that discussion. There was a mistake made."
While Ray and Marianne Simmons were enjoying vacation in Europe more than 30 years ago, a community tradition grasped Rays attention and didnt let go until he brought it back home with him to Fremont.
Ray and Marianne had traveled to Europe, and while they were there they saw something that they absolutely loved, said Stacy Heatherly, president of The Digg Site Productions and commissioner of the Eastern Nebraska Film Office.
What did the Simmons see? White lights, and a whole lot of them. To be more precise, Taper Candles dozens of them in home and store windows.
Upon returning home, the Simmons wrote letters to people living on Broad Street, Nye Street and Military Avenue, inquiring if they would have interest in putting Taper Candles in their windows during the holiday season.
Residents wanted to, but there wasnt an abundance of Taper Candles available, so Ray, who was a local lawyer, had them shipped in from elsewhere.
The lights could be seen everywhere, Heatherly said. It was beautiful.
The lights were such a success that Donald Skip Edwards nicknamed Fremont The White Light City. Heatherly loved the story so much that she named her documentary film companys film festival The White Light City Film Festival.
The festival, held every October, showcases local film, including films from students who participate in the Digg Sites annual Film Academy, where students learn the ins-and-outs of film and make their own 15-minute-long documentary film. The films are viewed during the festival weekend.
On Wednesday, an effort is being made to bring the white-light tradition back to Fremont.
It lasted for 10 years at least, Heatherly said. We want to still see that tradition come back to life. With the change of residents and younger community it just sort of dropped off. So now we want to make it alive and well again.
At 5 p.m., the large Pine Tree covered in a blanket of white lights will be lit directly outside of Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St.
Thanks to a generous donation from the Debby Durham Foundation, 1,500 white lights are being distributed to local churches and organizations and businesses in an effort to turn the Fremont Community into a reflection of Fremonts White Light City tradition, released information says.
A portion of the white lights will be given away to residents who attend the tree-lighting event, Heatherly added. In addition, the white lights on the Library tree were donated by the Debby Durham Family Foundation.
Attendees of the event will have the opportunity to keep warm inside of the library while enjoying a nice glass of hot cocoa, Heatherly said.
Heatherly hopes for a good turnout on Wednesday.
Its very exciting, she said. We see this as an opportunity to connect with the roots of our community by celebrating a tradition and honoring our citys history.
After a week of rhetoric from Bill Shorten about the need to protect Australian jobs, the Opposition Leader has criticised Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton over the number of foreigners allowed into Australia with work rights.
Mr Shorten said on Friday the visa system allocated more than a million people from overseas with work rights in Australia, but his claim was immediately criticised by experts.
"When we have got so many of our Australian young unemployed, when we've got blue-collar workers displaced by the mining boom not able to find work, something has to give," he said.
The US election, he said, had provided an opportunity for Labor to "repeat everything we have been saying before then about standing up for blue-collar jobs, construction jobs, engineering jobs. There is nothing inappropriate or wrong, despite what Mr Turnbull says, in me fighting for Australian jobs and Australian workers getting priority for Australian jobs."
One of Michelle Obama's go-to fashion designers has announced she will refuse to dress incoming First Lady Melania Trump, calling on other designers to do the same.
Sophie Theallet, whose dresses have been a fixture of Michelle Obama's wardrobe for the past eight years, said she would not continue to provide her services for the next First Family, in a statement released on Twitter on Thursday.
Michelle Obama walks with Barack Obama wearing Sophie Theallet at an Independence Day barbeque on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Credit:Getty
"As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady," Theallet wrote.
"The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husband's presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by. I encourage my fellow designers to do the same."
The wait had been too long and by the time her ticket was called the young mother was slipping away.
Watching her suffer through those last years it never occurred to her two small children that one day they'd be in her shoes.
Rachel Weaver, who recently had a life saving kidney transplant. Credit:Simon Schluter
As they each neared 36, her age at death, they too would be strapped to dialysis machines facing uncertain years waiting for a life saving kidney transplant.
But unlike their mother, Rachel Weaver and her brother were both saved by the generosity of Australians they will never know.
In 2013, Yoshe Taylor was a single mother living on an isolated property in Queensland. She had recently quit her job as a kindergarten teacher and was working part-time as a tutor while home-schooling her own two children, aged 9 and 14. She dreamed of building a new career in the arts. Taylor with her children, Archer (left) and Kahlyla (right), in Australia. Credit:Facebook Like millions of others, she went online in search of companionship. There she came across a man who offered even more - not just charm, sex appeal and romance, but the possibility of a job in an arts and crafts business. He went by the name Precious Max, and claimed he was a successful South African businessman working in Cambodia at the so-called Khmer Arts and Crafts business.
Over 12 months, the pair shared photographs and flirted. Long-haired and muscular, Precious posed in photographs at bars and shirtless in a swimming pool. Slowly he gained Taylor's trust. She had never travelled overseas, so when her new love interest offered to pay her way to Phnom Penh, Taylor jumped at the chance. There he wined and dined her, and talked more about her setting up a Brisbane branch of his business. Precious Max, now serving a jail term in Cambodia for drug offences. Over three months, Taylor travelled three times to Cambodia. On her second trip, Precious asked Taylor to carry back a package to give to a contact who supposedly ran the Sydney branch of the Khmer Arts and Crafts business. "He apparently has a job for me running an Cambodian art gallery in Australia," Taylor told a friend in a message. "Read a contract. It seems legitimate". The long digital trail between the pair indicates Taylor believed Precious Max's front. Fairfax Media and The Feed have reviewed dozens of pieces of correspondence in which Taylor discusses with others the concept behind the business opportunity. She even contacted real estate agents in search of a place to set up shop.
Precious provided Taylor with a copy of his passport - later assessed by the South African embassy in the US to be a forgery - as well as an employment contract and a fake form authorising the 'release' of $50,000 from Khmer Arts and Crafts. The money, he said, was seed funding for Taylor to help her set up the business. The funds never materialised. What Taylor did not know was that every move she and Precious Max made was being monitored by the Cambodian authorities. And for good reason. Precious Max is not South African. He is a Nigerian national. His real name is Precious Chineme Nwoko, and he is a convicted drug trafficker and fraudster who has groomed dozens, possibly hundreds, of women in Australia and other countries. To do it, he has created a number of convincing online profiles across multiple platforms including Facebook, Tagged, Badoo and Twoo. He has sent photos of offices and fake passports, along with other documents, to convince potential victims of his legitimacy.
"He gave me a contract, but first I'd asked him for copy of his passport," Taylor told Fairfax Media and The Feed from her prison cell. "Then when I got here, he provided me authorisation for seed money he had me totally fooled'. On September 18, 2013, Taylor was in Cambodia on her third trip and due to fly back to Australia. This time Precious had asked her to carry back a backpack full of samples. She hadn't even made it to the check-in counter at Phnom Penh airport when police swooped. They immediately went for the backpack. In the lining they found just over two kilograms of heroin. Nwoko was arrested only hours after Taylor. In local media, deputy chief of the Cambodian police's anti-terrorism department Lieutenant Colonel Kong Narin said Taylor and Nwoko "were arrested by our Cambodian anti-terrorism police based on a report from Australian anti-drug police after they seized a stash [of heroin] sent from Cambodia to Australia in early 2013."
Nwoko's lawyer also said his client had been arrested based on a report from Australian authorities - a story confirmed by Taylor. Taylor wasn't the first to be tricked by Precious Max. Just under a month before her dramatic arrest, another woman, Kay Smith*, had arrived back in Melbourne after a whirlwind four-day tour of Phnom Penh. She was there to meet a love interest who she had met online. This time, Nwoko had sold himself as a successful South African businessman in the import and export trade. He wined and dined Smith, before proposing marriage on the day she was to return to Australia. It was her first trip overseas, too. Giddy with the excitement of the engagement, she agreed to carry back samples that Nwoko claimed were for an Australian associate. At the Customs counter at Melbourne airport, the fairytale came crashing spectacularly to earth. She was stopped by officers who discovered two kilograms of heroin sewn into a secret compartment.
CCTV footage of the search shows Smith collapsing to the floor. It is not only the drugs being revealed to her at that moment, but the treachery of the man she thought she would marry. Officers lifted her into a chair. At Smith's committal hearing in 2014, lawyers for the AFP confirmed Australian authorities had passed information to their Cambodian liaison officer in the Phnom Penh embassy. But Smith herself was not prosecuted. In early 2015, a year-and-a-half after her arrest, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the case against her. It accepted that she had been duped, that she had not formed criminal intent. However the prosecution brief in the Cambodian case against Taylor includes details taken from Kay Smith's case in Australia, as well as that of one other Australian, a man arrested carrying drugs on behalf of Nwoko.
In June this year, AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin was in Phnom Penh to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Cambodian National Police to establish Strikeforce Dragon, which focuses on the illicit drug trade. The aim, according to Colvin, is to "protect our respective communities and to bring to justice those that seek to profit from transnational crime". But when contacted by Fairfax Media and The Feed, the AFP refused to comment on Taylor's case, or their involvement in her arrest. Police would only acknowledge that their senior liaison officer in Cambodia had received documents from Taylor's family in 2014. These documents, her family say, provide further information that suggests Taylor is innocent. According to Taylor and her family, she has crucial information that could assist the AFP in the fight against drug trafficking; she not only met Nwoko and his associates in Phnom Penh, but she also spoke on the phone and met with his so-called "business partners" in Australia. On her second trip to Cambodia, Taylor brought back a parcel, supposedly for a man called Alex. When she spoke with Alex by phone, he had an Australian accent. But the person who arrived to collect the package was, she believes, a Cambodian national. To her knowledge, the AFP has never followed up this lead.
In her three years in prison, Taylor has never been interviewed by the AFP. Nor have her family or friends. "No one has ever spoken to me. I've never seen anyone from the AFP. They did not even come to my trial; no one has ever visited me here," she says. The Department of Foreign Affairs would only say they were providing "ongoing consular assistance" to an unnamed Australian woman. The AFP has refused to answer questions relating to prosecutions brought against any who are connected to Nwoko's syndicate within Australia. Fairfax Media and The Feed were unable to find an example of any individual being prosecuted. The failure to follow up on the case of Yoshe Taylor raises concerning questions regarding the capacity of Australian law enforcement to stop the flood of illicit substances making their way into Australia, and seriously undermines the government's message on border security.
Fairfax Media and The Feed can confirm that Nwoko continues to operate from within a Cambodian prison. In 2015, two years after Taylor was arrested and Nwoko was imprisoned, a third victim, Joanne Mitchell*, a single mother-of-three from Melbourne, became ensnared in the scam. Again, Nwoko claimed to be a South African businessman - this time with the name Curtis - and was quick to declare love and propose marriage. "I love you so much. Happy to be yours forever," Mitchell responded. Precious Max is now in prison, even if his online persona still appears to be active. But when she travelled to meet him, he said he had been called away on urgent business and could not meet her. She did not know he was in jail at the time.
"Curtis" told Mitchell to return to Australia, but not before retrieving a special gift - a musical instrument. At Melbourne Airport, Mitchell was told that the saxophone she was carrying concealed nearly two kilograms of heroin - $1.5 million worth of the drug. "I'm a strong person but you will never get over it," she said, remembering that moment. "He used to video-call me, he sent money, he paid for my ticket - all from jail." Last year, Mitchell provided the AFP with an 18-page statement. All charges against her were dropped. Again, the prosecutor could not find criminal intent. Fairfax Media and The Feed understand that yet another drug mule, conned by Nwoko's syndicate and arrested in Australia, had their case go to trial but was found not guilty.
Online today, Precious Max, aka Nwoko, still has active online profiles. On Twoo, his profile has been accessed within the past 30 days. Is he back online from behind bars? Are others in the drug syndicate operating the profile? Whatever the case, it means that another Australian woman could be in the process of falling in love, travelling to Cambodia and ultimately carrying a bag of drugs back into the country. But while Nwoko's victims who were lucky enough to be arrested and charged in Australia are free to try and pick up the pieces of their lives, Yoshe Taylor faces another two decades inside the former Khmer Rouge torture camp that is now PJ Prison. She does not blame the Cambodian system. She says they were just doing their jobs. But she is furious at authorities in her own country, whom she feels have abandoned her. "There are so many people who've been tricked; I'm not the only one," she said.
During her three years in prison, her children have grown taller, lost teeth and gained new ones, and moved up three grades at school. They know that their mum is in jail, but they don't know all the details. When she was asked outside a Cambodian courtroom this month if she had a message for her family, she broke down and cried. Her message was a simple one: "I love you. I miss you". 'I haven't spoken to my kids since November 2014, when I was taken to hospital". Only then did a sympathetic guard allow her to use his mobile phone to call them. Taylor is appealing her conviction in Cambodia. A decision is due to be handed down on the December 6.
After claiming it was a "drunken Maccas run" gone wrong Michael Meakin has been jailed for at least 18 years for mowing down and killing a man with a van following a pub fight in western Sydney.
Delivering his sentence in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice David Davies said Meakin's actions had been so "out of proportion" to any offence he believed had been done to him that it "defies description".
"This case is another regrettable example of where excessive consumption of alcohol can lead," Justice Davies said.
Meakin drove his white work van into Nicholas McEvoy, 30, while he was walking on the nature strip along Richmond Road in February 2014.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has finished first after the final count of ballots in the Orange byelection, but due to the closeness of the vote the Nationals have been granted a recount.
Following the distribution of preferences, the Shooters' Philip Donato finished 55 votes ahead of the Nationals' Scott Barrett. Late on Friday the Nationals were granted a recount on Monday at 8.30am.
In NSW elections, either candidate can request a recount before the declaration of the seat but must set out reasons to the returning officer. The electoral commissioner can also direct a recount.
Orange would be the party's first seat in the lower house of the NSW Parliament. It has two members in the NSW upper house - Robert Borsak and Robert Brown.
A land and air search is underway for a man missing west of Rockhampton after his car and personal belongings were found in bushland on Friday.
Aaron Flynn, 29, was last seen leaving an address on Keilambete Road at Rubyvale last Friday and has not been in contact with anyone since.
Aaron Flynn has been missing since last Friday Credit:QUEENSLAND POLICE MEDIA
His black Volvo station wagon was found by a member of the public in bushland just off the roadway on Rubyvale Road.
Police said a number of his personal belongings were found inside the vehicle.
Innovation is the elusive ingredient every business is chasing. It's what keeps entrepreneurs up at night and pushes them out of bed each morning.
The secrets behind innovation are typically well hidden, but there are some innovators who are happy to divulge how they keep coming up with golden ideas.
Justin Webb in the field with AgriWebb
Matt Schneider, managing director of Perth software development company Optika, says innovation is the ability to see how things can be done better and creativity stimulates that vision.
"I believe the future is going to be around creativity and how we can come up with creative solutions to global problems and that's all about innovation," he says.
Shane Chartres-Abbott was killed in 2003. Credit:Andrew De La Rue First to Big George. The former power lifter knew he was in danger when he discovered the snoozer he put to sleep outside the nightclub was Mather's son. Just two weeks before he was killed, he tried to borrow $5000 from a relative to buy a handgun. "He said: 'I'm in trouble; there's a hit on me. I've bashed a kid. I didn't know who he was'," the relative said. (There is no suggestion Ray Mather was aware of any plot against Germanos). An inquest into the killing of George Germanos 15 years ago is expected to get under way soon. "He wasn't a career criminal. He was a quiet man who still lived at home. But from working security at clubs, he knew a lot of wrong people."
And it was some of those wrong people who set him up. "We have been waiting 15 years for answers to what happened. We desperately want the inquest to go ahead without any further delays," the relative said. On March 22, Germanos went to Armadale's Inverness Park for a late-night meeting. The open street directory later found on the passenger seat of his 1966 Valiant would suggest he did not know the area and the location was selected by his killer. It was the perfect place for a murder, as it was covered with trees, intersected five streets and offered easy getaways. Between 10.30pm and 11pm, he parked about 50 metres from one of the park's entrances and walked in, leaving his cigarettes and lighter in the car. (He left his mobile phone and wallet at home.)
If his plan was to slip into the park unnoticed, it failed. The killer beat him there and almost certainly hid under a bush near the entrance. Germanos walked in five metres, then turned back, possibly after the killer called his name. The last thing he saw was the muzzle flash as he was shot in his barrel chest. Then the killer shot him four times in the head from point-blank range. It is easy to speculate, but the planning of the ambush and the ruthless execution suggests the gunman was no novice. Police suspect the hitman was a man close to Mather, who had freelanced for him before. Which brings us to Belias, a con artist who always seemed to have several balls in the air. But when he tried to rip off Mather, one of the balls turned into a hand grenade.
Belias was an underworld debt collector heavily in debt. He burned in a loan scam the type of people who don't need to call consumer affairs to get their money back. On September 9, 1999 (9/9/99 lucky for some, but not for others) Belias had several meetings, with the last planned for 7pm in St Kilda Road. He drove into the city and parked outside the Regency Hotel and at 5.47pm Bluey Bob hopped into his car for a chat. He was the last known associate to see him alive and, as usual, Bluey refused to make a statement to police. Belias was lured to a meeting in an underground car park in St Kilda Road and just before 7pm was shot in the back of the head.
A muzzle imprint on the skin indicated the barrel was pressed against his skull. So, how could these underworld killings be connected to the murder of a young mum in Werribee? First, we need to look at Mather's wider social circle, which included a group of loud detectives and a gang of quiet crooks. The crooks, we now know, formed an armed robbery gang right out of a George Clooney Ocean's 11 movie. Fit and well trained, they would meet secretly in public parks and carry out meticulously planned armed robberies on the Olympic schedule of every four years. Each job was different with one common element: they always had an inside man, once leaving a sleeper in place for years until they were ready to move.
Over 20 years, the gang invested the stolen millions in property and businesses, avoiding indulgent purchases that could attract the interest of police and tax officers. After each robbery, they would disperse to live seemingly law-abiding lives, running businesses and bringing up children. Some worked as part-time actors, scoring roles in a local cop drama that featured a major armed robbery. Talk about method actors. But occasionally the cloak of invisibility would lift, such as when they turned up at certain underworld funerals to be given prominent positions in the mourning party. Which brings us to the murder of Maryanna Lanciana, 25, in Werribee in July 1984. She, like Belias, was shot in the back of the head at point-blank range. The gunman snuck into the Kiely Avenue house and shot her while she slept in her bed with her 22-month-old son asleep in a nearby cot.
But why? The suggestion is she fell on some information about the armed robbery gang and was callously dealt with like an errant thread in a favourite suit. In one way, it worked, as many on the periphery were frightened into silence at least until recently. Fear is a powerful deterrent, but greed, coupled with the desire to do a deal when police come knocking, is the equally powerful antidote. In 2014, when announcing an unprecedented collective $3 million reward for information about the killings, the then head of the homicide squad, Detective Inspector John Potter, said: "We have information the three murders are connected and there will be people in the community who have associated with a particularly criminal group with information that can assist us." What we do know is after years of near monastic silence underworld birds are chirping and police believe one gunman may be responsible for pulling the trigger in all three cases.
How much of this will be revealed at the Germanos inquest is anyone's guess, but when the matter came up for mention a couple of weeks ago before the State Coroner Judge Sara Hinchey she showed distinct signs of growing impatient at a series of delays. Intriguingly, the file was coupled with the murder of Shane Chartres-Abbott, who was gunned down on June 4, 2003, in the driveway of his Reservoir home. The Chartres-Abbott murder opened a drum of spitting pythons rather than the usual can of worms. In 2007, a notorious underworld killer turned informer volunteered to detectives he was the trigger man in the Reservoir hit. This was intriguing because in other cases when he confessed it was always out of self-interest, minimising his involvement and maximising his sentence discount.
This time, he admitted he was the shooter when he was not even the suspect. He was convicted of the killing and his statements resulted in three men being charged and acquitted. Although he was never charged, it was claimed Mather was the facilitator. There were allegations that corrupt police close to Mather were involved claims the now former police have always denied. For the first time, police are using a retired investigator to prepare the (Germanos) brief for the coroner. The choice of investigator, respected former detective inspector Steve Waddell, is no fluke. For he was in charge of Taskforce Briars, the protracted investigation into the Chartres-Abbott killing.
FOR THE LATEST DETAILS: Follow our live coverage of the Springvale Commonwealth Bank fire
Nearly 30 people have been injured, six with serious burns, in a fire at a bank in Springvale, in Melbourne's south-east.
A man set fire to the Commonwealth Bank branch at Springvale Central about 11.30am, police said.
Do you know more? Email scoop@theage.com.au
Robert G. Schroeder, 91, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, with his wife and daughter at his side.
He was born on Sept. 27, 1925, in Cuming County to Gustav and Ella (Clausen) Schroeder. He attended rural school and was a graduate of Scribner High School Class of 1943. Bob served his country by enlisting in the Army Reserves from 1946-1949. He then entered the plumbing business, with his uncle. Bob married Doris Johnson in 1950 and moved briefly to North Platte, later settling in Kearney to start a family and where he became a mechanical job superintendent for Anderson Brothers. He led hospital projects from Imperial to Fremont, including schools, dormitories and the Brunner Hall of Science at University of Nebraska Kearney.
In 1976, Bob started his own small contracting business named Independent Plumbing and Heating. Being self-employed, Bob felt free at last. He specialized in apartment and smaller commercial buildings. He was the mechanical contractor on the Glenwood School. In 1990, he semi-retired but could never give up his work completely. He was conscientious and took great pride in this work.
He was a faithful and devoted husband and father. Bobs favorite pastime was hunting or fishing with his neighbor, Ben Pahl, and his son on the Platte River. The family took many camping trips to Colorado and Wyoming to hike, fish, and enjoy the outdoors. They spent many happy hours hunting geese, ducks, turkey and pheasant. He introduced his young son to hunting by carrying him piggyback across the water to the duck blind water.
Bob loved animals. His favorite hunting dog was a black lab named Sal. He worked teams of horses as young man on the farm. He often came home from grade school to hitch up a team to mow hay. He also broke horses and enjoyed riding. When his daughter and sons grandparents gave them a Shetland pony one Christmas, Bob taught them to ride and built a pony cart.
Bob was a faithful church member his entire life. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Johns Lutheran Church (Cuming County Line) near Scribner. As a member of First Lutheran Church, Kearney, he served on the church council and various committees. He served as Vice Chairman of the Building Committee when the church was built on Avenue G. He laid the cornerstone. Bob took great pride in his church and watched over it. On the day of the churchs very hot July dedication day, Bob was found on the roof in his suit and tie adjusting the air conditioning. He rarely missed attending a Sunday service and was often found in the boiler room checking things over before services started.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Ella and Gustav Schroeder; two brothers, Wayne and Ray; and two sisters, Corrine and Dorothy.
Bob is survived by his wife, Doris; daughter, Barbara Schroeder of Omaha; son, Scott Schroeder, DDS, and wife, Cindy Schroeder, DDS, of Missoula, Mont.; and their daughters, Madison of Missoula and Macey and husband, Tony Incontro, of San Francisco.
Thank you to everyone, family members, relatives and friends who have been part of our lives and memories over the many years.
The funeral is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at First Lutheran Church in Fremont. The Rev. Marty Tollefson will officiate. Lunch will follow the service. Burial will follow in the Scribner Cemetery with military honors by Scribner American Legion Post 121. Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Monday at Ludvigsen Mortuary Chapel in Fremont with the family present from 5-7 p.m.
An online guestbook may be signed at www.ludvigsenmortuary.com.
The man suspected of setting fire to a Melbourne bank, leaving 27 people injured, is believed to be an asylum seeker who came to Australia by boat.
Federal government sources say the 21-year-old Springvale man is an asylum seeker from Myanmar living in the community on a bridging visa. It's understood he arrived in 2012 or 2013 and spent time in the Christmas Island detention centre.
On Saturday morning, two people were still fighting for their lives after the fire at the Commonwealth Bank in Springvale on Friday.
Six people with serious burns were taken to The Alfred hospital following the blaze, including the man allegedly responsible for lighting the fire in the busy bank about 11:30am.
The Alfred reports that there have been no changes to the conditions of the six patients who suffered serious burns, including the alleged attacker.
Concerns are gravest for the two in critical conditions, although one is stable.
Another is in a serious but stable condition, while the remaining three are stable.
It's been a terrible day for Springvale. That concludes our live coverage of the disturbing fire.
Here is a full account of the day's events.
Follow our live blog of the Springvale bank fire
A toddler and several people in their 80s are among 27 people injured in the horrific fire at Springvale on Friday morning.
Paramedics have also spoken to distressed witnesses who saw the terrifying scenes.
Do you know more? Email scoop@theage.com.au
Shaping his cabinet: President-elect Donald Trump. Credit:Matt Rourke Trump also has yet to say whether he'll ask for the resignation of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who he criticised over the handling of the investigation into Clinton and for not recommending criminal charges against her. Sessions would also be deeply involved in vetting potential Supreme Court picks for Trump, including one to fill the seat of Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Trump named retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his White House national security adviser. Credit:AP Sessions opposed all of President Barack Obama's US Supreme Court picks and also voted against the nomination of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, citing her support for the president's executive actions that shielded some undocumented immigrants from deportation.
"At the outset of this nomination process, I said that no senator should vote to confirm anyone for this position the top law enforcement job in America who supported the president's unlawful actions," he said of Lynch's nomination. Mike Pompeo will run the CIA. Credit:AP It's hard to imagine Sessions's fellow senators staging a fight over his confirmation, but there is likely to be scrutiny of his past in Alabama, particularly given the Justice Department's role in protecting civil rights. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan picked Sessions for a judgeship, but his nomination never got out of committee after a firestorm over charges he had made racist statements. Sessions acknowledged referring to the NAACP and other organisations as "communist inspired" and "un-American organisations with anti-traditional American values," the New York Times reported in April 1986. Sessions, though, eventually made it to the Senate and to a senior position on the Judiciary Committee.
Sessions has been hostile to gay rights, voting for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in 2006 and against the 2010 repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. David Stacy, the government affairs director for Human Rights Campaign, told Metro Weekly that the prospect of Sessions as attorney general is "absolutely terrifying." Sessions could also face questions over his defence of Trump's vulgar remarks about women that were recorded by the television show Access Hollywood. Sessions dismissed the notion that Trump was describing something akin to sexual assault. Sessions, who chairs the Judiciary subcommittee that oversees immigration, would also be heavily involved in the planned review of Obama's executive orders, many of which Trump has promised to reverse. Sessions called Obama's executive order that would have granted work permits to a broader group of undocumented immigrants "brazen" and 'illegal." His position on Trump's proposed Muslim ban could provoke the most scrutiny.
After Trump suggested a "total and complete shutdown on Muslims" entering the US, Sessions said, "It's time for us to think this through and the classical, internal American religious principles I don't think apply providing constitutional protections to persons not citizens who want to come here." Still, he stopped short of fully endorsing the idea. "As a principle, we want to be not condemnatory of other people's religion," he said to Bannon on the Breitbart News radio show last December. "And there are millions of wonderful, decent, good Muslims, hundreds of millions worldwide, and so we've got to be really careful that we don't cross that line and I guess Mr Trump has caused us all to think about it more concretely." Sessions strongly opposed a bipartisan criminal justice overhaul to reduce sentences on drug traffickers, although in 2010 he cut a deal with Democrats to reduce disparities between crack and cocaine sentences from 100:1 to 18:1. On the Armed Services Committee, Sessions looked after the interests of Alabama defense installations such as the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville and the Anniston Army Depot.
In the Senate, Sessions also sits on the Armed Services, Budget and Environment and Public Works committees. While most congressional Republicans spent much of the year avoiding talking about Trump, Sessions was an enthusiastic booster throughout, serving as a senior adviser on politics, national security and policy. Sessions serves a vice chairman of Trump's transition. Sessions had been fighting a lonely battle against the party's establishment before Trump came along. In Trump, Sessions saw someone strong enough to smash the system in Washington that he says caters to big money interests like the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street, particularly on trade and immigration. "Trump has a way of driving a message so people hear it. I've been talking about it for years and nobody hears it," Sessions said in an interview before the Republican National Convention. "Trump has that gift."
National security and CIA roles go to Trump loyalists Flynn, a retired US Army three-star general and one of Trump's closest advisers, was fired from the Defence Intelligence Agency in 2014, a move he has attributed to his outspoken views about combating Islamist militancy. Other officials who worked with Flynn cited his lack of management skills and leadership style as reasons for his firing. An Army intelligence veteran of three decades, Flynn was assistant director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama. Pompeo, 52, a third-term Republican congressman from Kansas, was a surprise pick to lead the CIA. He was a member of a congressional committee that investigated a 2012 attack on US diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police arrested the head of the pro-democracy group Bersih and several opposition leaders on Friday, widening a crackdown on government critics a day before a rally calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak to step down.
Thousands are expected to march on Saturday in a protest organised by Bersih, an electoral reform group, to demand Mr Najib resign over his involvement in a multi-billion-dollar misappropriation scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Mr Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
Pro-democracy activists in Sekinchan, Malaysia last month. They are expected to take to the streets again on Saturday to demand the prime minister's resignation. Credit:AP
Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and secretariat member Mandeep Singh were arrested shortly after the group's offices were raided.
City police said they were arrested for offences related to rioting. Laptops, bank and payroll statements were seized.
The Chatree gold mine in central Thailand. Credit:Craig Skehan "The mine has done nothing wrong. Many people here will suffer and lose their livelihoods. It's crazy," said Fai Mahasat, the head of one of four districts surrounding the mine. Fai and the chiefs of two other district councils told Fairfax Media during a meeting at the mine that 90 per cent of the 19,725 people they represent want Thailand's only major operating gold mine to stay open. Elected district chief Fai Mahasat expressed shock at the decision to close the Chatree mine. Credit:Craig Skehan "This decision came as a shock. No one is prepared for the hardship it will bring and we appeal to the prime minister to reverse his decision," said Chatnapa Muangpan, another district chief.
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army general, has cited a public outcry over health and environmental issues for his order, which shocked foreign companies with investments in Thailand. Thai children in a village 500 metres from the mine. Landowners and environmental activists say their health is at risk. Credit:Craig Skehan Environmental activists and some local landowners had campaigned vigorously against the mine, claiming toxic substances from it had poisoned people, including children. But the company insists that multiple studies, including by Thai government agencies, have failed to produce any evidence that the mine has damaged the surrounding environment, the health of workers or of nearby residents. Chatree general manager Brennan Lang says state-of-the-art health and environment safeguards are in place at the gold mine. Credit:Craig Skehan
The company has spent millions of dollars supporting locals, including providing scholarships, fresh water systems and financial backing for small projects such as mushroom farming. And Thailand has reaped tens of millions of dollars more in royalties and taxes. Until the order came to close, Akara, a company listed on the Thai stock exchange, was planning to invest a further $US1 billion to continue mining on adjacent leases for another 20 to 30 years, raising several billion dollars in revenue, company executives said. The Thai government, which is stacked with former generals, initially said it wanted to liberalise Thailand's mining sector, but 27,522 environmental activists opposed revision of the 1967 Minerals Act in a 2015 petition, indicating strong public opposition to mining. Thai media reports last month suggested the government may be reconsidering the closure decision, given there is no conclusive evidence of hazardous waste or contamination.
Thailand's Ministry of Industry was also considering the implications of the mine's closure on Thailand's free trade agreement with Australia, some media outlets reported. But the company, which has not been notified of any review, has already moved to end blasting in a 170-metre-deep open-cut pit and extraction of ore in the first week of December, with processing continuing until New Year's eve. Cherdsak Utha-aroon, the company's general manager for external affairs, said the closure "doesn't make sense" because there are no scientific or health grounds to justify it. "Yes, there are a handful of people who do not like us. Some have hidden agendas on land deals. They make a lot of noise, which has initiated concern in the government sector," he said. Cherdsak said there has been speculation that someone behind the scenes is orchestrating the mine's closure. "But as far as I can see I don't see any indication of such a move, so I cannot say," he said.
The mine was ordered to close for 44 days in January 2015 after tests by the Justice Ministry's Central institute of Forensic Science found elevated levels of manganese and arsenic in 329 of 600 blood samples collected from people living near the mine. The tests were conducted after locals complained of being poisoned by the mine. Australian miner Kingsgate has dismissed concerns over cyanide used in smelting, insisting its giant tailings dam is safe. Credit:Craig Skehan But the company does not use either of those metals at the mine and earlier studies confirmed that central Thailand had high levels of them in soil and water before the mine opened. The company uses cyanide in its smelting operations but insists levels are low and that it dissipates in sunlight from a tailings dam.
"A cigarette or cup of coffee may contain similar levels of cyanide to what's in our tailing facility," Kingsgate's chief executive Greg Foulis said in May. "We accept that there's always going to be minority groups that don't want certain businesses, industries and investments," he said. "However, the government still hasn't found a mechanism to deal with protests or interest groups." The company plans to sack all but about 20 workers and put the mine under a care and maintenance program on December 31, leaving uncertainty around the plant and future rehabilitation works costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Brennan Lang, the mine's Canadian-born general manager, said security guards will be deployed at the site to protect the processing plant and machinery, part of the company's $A1 billion investment in the mine. For now, the company is blasting 50,000 tonnes of ore a day to squeeze every last dollar out of the mine before its closure, hoping to clear outstanding bank loans.
50,000 tonnes of ore a day are being blasted daily to squeeze every last dollar out of the mine before its closure. Credit:Craig Skehan Kingsgate, a high-flying $A2 billion company when gold prices were high in 2011, this month rejected a share offer launched by Thai millionaire Chatchai Yenbamroong, while the company was in a prolonged trading halt. The offer valued the company at only about $A5 million. Komsan Kwankaew says he thinks he is too old to find a job in Bangkok, despite the skills he obtained working in Chatree's metallurgy department for almost 16 years. He said without his salary from the mine he will struggle to pay the school and university fees for his daughters, aged 22 and 15, and will probably have to move his family to another province so that he can work with his brother who has a mobile stall.
London: The family of a British woman arrested in Dubai for reporting her own rape has launched an online appeal, urging the public and the UK government to help negotiate her release.
The British woman was charged for having extramarital sex after she reported her own rape to police, according to UK-based legal advocacy group Detained in Dubai.
Dubai has established a glitzy reputation as a holiday and stopover destination. Credit:Getty Images
The case has revealed a persistent and deep-rooted prejudice against women in the Gulf state, rights groups say.
"The authorities continue to fail survivors of such violence by treating women who have been raped as criminals, instead of investigating and prosecuting suspected perpetrators," Drewery Dyke, from Amnesty International, said on Friday.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor wrote of Michelle Obama: "I'm tired of seeing an ape in heels." Credit:Facebook In New York state, students hung a black doll from a noose in an elevator at Canisius College in Buffalo. At the University of Pennsylvania, black freshman students were added to GroupMe chats, in which they were invited to "daily lynchings". At a middle school in Michigan, the white students taunted their Latino classmates with a Trump slogan "Build a wall!" and at a school in New Jersey, they chanted: "Ten feet higher! Ten feet higher!" In Georgia, an anonymous note was passed to a Muslim teacher saying her "headscarf isn't allowed any more" and "hang yourself with it". Former Clay County, West Virginia, mayor Beverly Whaling. Credit:Facebook In Maryland, a banner announcing a Spanish-language service at a church in Silver Springs was defaced with the words "Trump nation whites only". In New York state, a swastika and the "Make America White Again" slogan were painted on the wall of a dugout at a softball field in Wellsville. In Indiana, "Heil Trump" and a swastika were daubed on a church.
In the Pennsylvania suburbs, a woman found her car daubed with "Trump rules!" and "Black bitch". In North Carolina, graffiti on a Durham wall read, "Black lives don't matter and neither does your vote". Melania Trump and Michelle Obama met at the White House on Thursday. Credit:Getty Images There have been hundreds of such attacks and incidents since election night. Suicide helplines report a doubling in the rate of desperate calls as Muslims and mosques become targets. These attacks don't come out of nowhere. The FBI reported almost 6000 hate crimes in 2015, with a 67 per cent hike in violence directed at Muslims, the biggest spike in hate crime since the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Michelle Obama in Versace as she appears in the December 2016 issue of Vogue. Credit:Vogue/Annie Leibovitz
Andrew Anglin revels in it all. As publisher of the widely read neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, he urged his readers to pursue those who complain of harassment or were critical of Trump: "You can troll these people and definitely get some of them to kill themselves 'Mass suicide after Trump victory' would be a headline the media would play up but it would demoralise the left even further." One of Anglin's followers urged victims of the attacks to slash their wrists "Make it count!" Another told a woman who said she had cried on election night to "get dressed and get in the oven". Chong Cha demonstrates against Donald Trump with her dog, Zuzu, outside Trump Tower on November 12. Credit:AP/Mary Altaffer Anglin, who last year told the Los Angeles Times he believed "white people deserve their own country", continued his verbal rampage after Trump's victory: "We beat you, we beat you badly. And now that you are on the ground, we are going to keep kicking you in the head." Angry protests against the election outcome were accompanied by a handful of reports of vicious anti-Trump behaviour in Chicago, a man was reportedly beaten and kicked by a mob that accused him of voting for Trump; and in Washington DC a placard in a protest outside a new Trump hotel read "rape Melania", a reference to Trump's wife.
Lakeville Country Club owner Gary Mosca looks down at a message carved into the 18th green on October 13, 2009, in Lakeville, Massachusetts. Credit:AP/Boston Herald While Trump and his inner circle have remained cloistered at Trump Tower, saying little save for an occasional tweet, most of which have lashed the media, many who are expected to have key roles in the new administration have a record of bigotry, xenophobia or intolerance or all three. Top of the anxiety heap, after Trump, is Steve Bannon, who the President-elect has named as his chief strategist and White House counsellor, a remarkable ricochet from the dark fringes of American conservatism to a desk just down the passage from the Oval Office. Trump aide Kris Kobach is pushing for a national immigrant registry. Credit:AP Under Bannon's leadership, Breitbart News, or "Trump Pravda", as critics dubbed it, became the election's go-to news source for white nationalist American males reliably anti-women, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and anti-non-white. Hate-monitoring group the Southern Poverty Law Centre describes Breitbart News as a "white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill".
During the July Republican convention, Bannon boasted that the website was a "platform for the alt-right", a loose group of far-right ideologies fixed on the notion that white identity is under attack. Its followers are mostly young and male, white supremacist, anti-immigration, anti-feminism, and anti-multiculturalism. Senator Jeff Sessions and Kellyanne Conway, campaign manager for President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday. Credit:AP They are at war more with mainstream American conservatism than they are with centrist or left schools of political thought; and on social media, the targets of their bile are usually Jews, Muslims and other vulnerable groups. Bannon has become a lightning rod for non-white anxiety. In the West Wing, he is expected to advocate for the most aggressive of Trump's policies, described as he is by a Breitbart colleague as "a field general [who] very much sees the fight for the soul of this country as a war". Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars.com is a hit on social media.
In most developed democracies, the celebration of Bannon's appointment by a far extremity of the right would have made it impossible for Trump to stick with it "best possible position [because he'll] not get lost in the weeds", according to prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer; shows that Trump might "be for real", says the chairman of the American Nazi Party; "excellent basically creating the ideological aspects of where we're going", reckons David Duke, one-time imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. But it's not just Bannon. Many of those destined to be a part of the Trump administration or helping to shape it cause great distress in non-white America. Members of the Ku Klux Klan after a white pride rally in Georgia in April. Credit:AP Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, Trump's stoutest supporter in Congress who is widely tipped to be either defence secretary or attorney-general in the new administration, was rejected for a judicial appointment in the 1980s after his Senate confirmation hearing heard allegations of his racism. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, tipped to be secretary of state, has urged that Muslims on the government's terrorist watch list be electronically tagged.
A sign held up at a Clinton rally in Ohio in June. Credit:Bloomberg Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who heads the immigration unit in Trump's transition team, said this week that advisers are already considering a registry for all Muslims. On Wednesday, Kobach was cheered on by Trump surrogate Carl Higbie, arguing there was precedent for a registry in the mass internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II. David Clarke, the firebrand sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, who is touted to head the Department of Homeland Security, has called for Muslim neighbourhoods to be subjected to special patrols. Trump's elevation of Bannon speaks volumes. So does one of his few known attempts to reach out to supporters after winning he phoned arch-conservative radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to thank him and his audience for their support. Jones publishes the infamous InfoWars.com, which propagates myths that the Clintons are murderers and that recent US massacres were permitted by the government as a pretext to shrink American rights. As recounted by Jones, Trump told him: "Listen, Alex, I just talked to the kings and queens of the world, world leaders, you name it. But it doesn't matter, I wanted to talk to you, to thank your audience, and I'll be on [your show in] the next few weeks to thank them."
Jones told his audience: "He wanted to directly talk to you and thank you because you're the people, you're the bitter clingers, you're the people they couldn't break your will, they couldn't mind-control you, you're the core that's going to restore the republic." When pressed during a 60 Minutes interview, the President-elect claimed surprise on being told of the harassment of Muslims and migrants. But apart from saying he was "saddened", the best he offered was: "I say, 'Stop it.' If it if it helps, I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: 'Stop it'." As Tweeter-in-chief he was not moved to write a "stop it" tweet to his almost 30 million social media followers. And Trump's wife Melania, who was welcomed in that shocking Facebook post in West Virginia as a "classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady" because she would replace the "ape in heels", has been silent, despite declaring that her mission as First Lady would be to fight hatred and bullying. Princeton University professor Nell Irvin Painter parsed the election as the point on the political timeline at which white identity became a racial identity, instead of being the supposed norm from which all the "others" are marked as different: "From being individuals expressing individual preferences in life and politics, the Trump era stamps white Americans with race: white race." During the primaries, Reuters/Ipsos polled voters supporting Trump, his Republican challengers Ted Cruz and John Kasich, and Hillary Clinton, on their attitudes to African-Americans the Clinton, Cruz and Kasich camps all were of a par, but by significantly greater margins Trump's followers thought blacks to be less intelligent, more lazy, more rude, more violent and more criminal than whites.
More than 70 per cent of Trump supporters believed that Barack Obama was a Muslim and almost as many of them supported Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the country. Writing at University of California Berkeley's The Secret History of America website, Professor Michael Cohen observes: "Make no mistake, white racial resentment is one of the leading factors driving this election this sense of loss, of mourning on the white right, this sense of 'being strangers in their own land'." Quoting figures on a shrinking white demographic, he notes: "No wonder Trump supporters speak in such apocalyptic terms, because for millions of older white men, their world is literally ending." Trump calculatedly entered politics by assuming leadership of the birther movement, which denied Barack Obama's American birth and thereby challenged the very legitimacy of the first black presidency. Trump then stoked white working-class resentment by condemning brown and black communities for stealing jobs that rightfully belonged to whites and branding them as the source of violence and terrorism or as The Economist's Lexington column put it casting his opponents "as illegitimate, unfit, contemptible, un-American or [a favourite word] 'disgusting' ".
In its soul searching after defeat in the 2012 election, the GOP declared itself hostage to the demographic reality of modern, multicultural and diverse America it was doomed unless it opened itself to non-white minorities. But in doubling down, Trump figured there were enough insecure white voters out there who could be scared into supporting him if the message was right. Whites are a shrinking demographic 91 per cent in 1960; 72 per cent in 2012; and 70 per cent in 2016. Those among them without a college education are a declining species too 83 per cent of the electorate in 1960; just 36 per cent in 2012; and 34 per cent this year. They had reared up to elect Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. But Obama's triumphs in 2008 and 2012 were thought to have cast them to the margins of political life. Answering the "why" question in The New York Times, Thomas Edsall notes that among whites generally Trump barely moved the needle on the support won by the GOP's Mitt Romney in 2012, but that Trump was picking up a different white vote 14 points more than Romney among those who had not been to college. "Just as important, the working class voters Trump carried by such huge margins were heavily concentrated in the rust belt states of Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Pennsylvania all states carried by Obama in 2012 and lost by [Hillary] Clinton in 2016," he writes.
Together, those five states alone gave Trump 70 Electoral College votes, more than a quarter of the 270 he needed to win. Ultimately he won 306 college votes from 30 states. Instead of relying on customary Republican riffs that in the past had been communicated by dog-whistle, Trump shrieked them from the rafters at a rally in Minnesota in the days before the vote, he denounced the state's 25,000-strong, predominantly Somali Muslim community as a "disaster" for the state. Those of us who didn't figure that Trump had won when Clinton wrote off half of his supporters, not only as damned awful human beings but, irredeemably so, in her "basket of deplorables" speech early in September, were asleep at the wheel. The result prompted CNN commentator Van Jones, an African-American, to add a new term to the political lexicon: "This was a whitelash against a changing country." But America being America, a somewhat surreal election postscript is now unfolding: a nationwide bid for all to "make nice" over Thanksgiving turkey next Thursday. The airwaves and newspapers are full of handwringing and advice for families on how not to ruin the dinner should crazy Uncle Harry hit the grog and mention the name Trump.
Claim: When the Germans ordered Jews in occupied Denmark to identify themselves by wearing armbands with yellow stars during World War II , King Christian X of Denmark and non-Jewish Danes thwarted the order by donning the armbands themselves. Rating: About this rating False
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The legend of Denmark's King Christian X and his wearing of the yellow star is our most stirring example of non-violent opposition to evil: ordinary citizens (following the example of a courageous leader) defy their military overlords by selflessly putting themselves in harm's way to prevent the persecution of a defenseless minority. If only more people exhibited such moral fortitude nowadays, we reason, the world would be a much better place. Perhaps if more people had exhibited such moral courage back then, we think, the Holocaust might never have happened.
Although the Danes did undertake heroic efforts to shelter their Jews and help them escape from the Nazis, there is no real-life example of the actions described by this legend. Danish citizens never wore the yellow badge, nor did King Christian ever threaten to don it himself. In fact, Danish Jews never wore the yellow badge either (except for the few who were finally deported to concentration camps), nor did German officials ever issue an order requiring Danish Jews to display it.
We will assume everyone is familiar with the systematic persecution of Jews instituted in Germany after Adolph Hitler became chancellor in 1933, and the subsequent imposition of laws requiring Jewish-owned shops to be identified as such with prominent signs; passports and ration cards held by Jews to be stamped with the letter 'J'; and Jewish concentration camp inmates to wear yellow-and-red six-pointed stars. (Surprisingly, it was not until late 1941 that the display on clothing of a yellow Star of David with the word 'Jude' printed on it by Jews was mandated by law in Germany.) Denmark entered the tragic saga on the morning of 9 April 1940, when German troops overran the country and an ultimatum was delivered: if Denmark offered no resistance, Germany would respect Danish political independence. The Danish government and monarch, with no real options, quickly capitulated, and the five-year long occupation of Denmark began.
The occupied engaged in symbolic gestures of defiance against their occupiers, such as wearing four coins tied together with red and white ribbons in their buttonholes. (Red and white are the Danish colors, and four coins totalling nine ore represented the date of the occupation, April 9.) Tales of King Christian's snubbing of Hitler and the Nazis (some true and some apocryphal) began to circulate. When Hitler sent a letter of congratulations to King Christian X on the latter's 70th birthday in September 1942, the monarch's brief response ("My best thanks") was taken as an insult by Hitler, who recalled and replaced the German ambassador in Denmark.
A Swedish newspaper cartoon (possibly the origin of this legend) depicted the monarch talking with the former Danish prime minster, who asks him, "What are we going to do, Your Majesty, if Scavenius makes all the Jews wear yellow stars?" (Erik Scavenius was the Danish foreign minister who became prime minister at the insistence of the Germans after the Danish government resigned in 1943.) The king responds by asserting, "We'll all have to wear yellow stars."
Matters came to a head in Denmark during the summer of 1943 when strikes and other overt resistance activities against the Germans resulted in a demand from Hitler that the Danish government declare a state of emergency. The government refused to comply, resigning in protest, and the German commander-in-chief, Hermann von Hanneken, imposed martial law. The arrest and deportation of Danish Jews was finally ordered and carried out on 2 October 1943, but by then nearly all the Jews in Copenhagen had already been warned and gone into hiding while government officials secretly negotiated an agreement with Sweden to receive them.
Only 284 of an estimated 7,000 Jews in the area were rounded up, and over the next several weeks most of them made their precarious way to Sweden on fishing boats, private vessels, and any other type of floating craft that could undertake the journey. Fewer than 500 Danish Jews were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, and nearly 90% of them survived to return to Denmark after the war. (Only these few hundred Danes who were sent to Theresienstadt were made to wear yellow stars identifying them as Jews.)
Although this legend may not be true in its specifics, it was certainly true enough in spirit. The rescue of several thousand Danish Jews was accomplished through the efforts of "thousands of policemen, government officials, physicians, and persons of all walks of life." The efforts to save Danish Jews may not have had the flair of the "yellow star" legend, and they may not have required quite so many citizens to visibly oppose an occupying army, but those who were rescued undoubtedly preferred substance to style.
Variations:
Deloitte Ranks 2nd Watch Among Fastest Growing North American Companies
Posted by Publisher Hardware
SEATTLE, WA (Marketwired) 11/17/16 announces it ranked 92nd on Deloittes Technology Fast 500, an award program sponsored by Deloitte of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. 2nd Watch also ranked first among the 19 Washington state companies that made the list. The managed cloud provider grew revenues 1028% from 2012 to 2015.
2nd Watch, an original AWS Premier Consulting Partner, helps large brands such as Crate & Barrel, Conde Nast, Coca-Cola and Yamaha launch business transformation projects powered by the cloud. The companys tools and services optimize cloud migration and management processes through its deep expertise across the AWS platform.
Achieving this award puts us in great company with innovative enterprise-focused marketplace leaders such as Box, New Relic, Hortonworks and PagerDuty, says Jeff Aden, co-founder and executive VP of strategic business development and marketing with 2nd Watch. We are continuing to expand our expertise in AWS in order to help customers achieve faster ROI from the cloud. We expect our growth to continue as public cloud adoption increases.
Deloittes Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies both public and private in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the companys operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America.
2nd Watch is an AWS Premier Partner providing managed cloud to enterprises. The companys subject matter experts, software-enabled services and cutting-edge solutions provide companies with tested, proven, and trusted solutions, allowing them to fully leverage the power of the public cloud. 2nd Watch solutions are high performing, robust, increase operational excellence, decrease time to market, accelerate growth and lower risk. Its patent-pending, proprietary tools automate everyday workload management processes for big data analytics, digital marketing, line-of-business and cloud native workloads. 2nd Watch is a new breed of partner which helps enterprises design, deploy and manage cloud solutions and monitors business critical workloads 247. 2nd Watch has more than 400 enterprise workloads under its management and more than 100,000 instances in its managed public cloud. The venture-backed company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. To learn more about 2nd Watch, visit or call 888-317-7920.
Media contact:
Kevin Wolf
TGPR
(650) 327-1641
A number of questions remain such as how the woman was killed and whether or not she knew the alleged killer.
St. Pat's eagles rebuild nest. Plus new vistas created at other parks.
You can watch St. Pat's eagles rebuild the nest via Notre Dame's camera. And the new Lydick Bog platform is good for seeing waterfowl.
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GOES-R Weather Satellite
NASA
On Nov. 19, 2016, an Atlas V rocket launched the first next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) satellite. See photos from the launch and mission in our full gallery here. Check out our full launch story and video recap.
GOES-16 Close View of March 7 Storm
NOAA
This close-up view from a full Earth image by GOES-16 weather satellite shows the powerful nor'easter bringing snow to the northeastern U.S. on March 7, 2018 at 10:26 a.m. EST (1526 GMT).
GOES-16 Nor'easter March 7, 2018
NOAA
A full-disk view of the Earth on March 7, 2018 as seen by the GOES-16 weather satellite at 10:26 a.m. EST (1526 GMT).
Bomb Cyclone GOES-East Full Earth View
NOAA
This full-disk view of Earth from the GOES-East satellite shows a storm swirling over a darkened United States Jan. 4, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT).
The Sun by GOES-16
NOAA
The GOES-16 satellite's Solar Ultraviolet Imager took images of the sun using six wavelengths of light, spotting a large coronal hole in the sun's southern hemisphere on Jan. 29, 2017. See a video and the full story.
GOES-16 Earth & Moon
NOAA/NASA
NOAA's GOES-16 satellite took this photo of Earth at 1:07 p.m. EDT (1807 GMT) on Jan. 15. It was created using several of the 16 spectral channels available on the GOES-16 ABI instrument.
GOES-16 Earth Animation
NOAA/NASA
NOAA's GOES-16 satellite created the composite images that make up this animation in January 2017.
GOES-16 Caribbean
NOAA/NASA
The Caribbean islands and part of the southeastern United States are visible in this photo taken by NOAA's GOES-16 weather satellite.
Hurricane Irma GOES East Sept. 9
NASA/NOAA GOES Project
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES East satellite captured this visible image of Category 4 Hurricane Irma on Saturday (Sept. 9) at 10:37 a.m. EDT (1437 GMT).
GOES East View of Hurricane Harvey
NASA/NOAA GOES Project
This visible-light image of Hurricane Harvey taken from NOAAs GOES East satellite on Aug. 25 at 10:07 a.m. EDT (1407 GMT) clearly shows the storms eye as the storm nears landfall on Texas southeast coast.
GOES East View of Hurricane Maria, Sept. 19, 2017
NASA/NOAA GOES Project
This image of Category 5 Hurricane Maria moving through the eastern Caribbean was taken at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Sept. 19, 2017, by NOAA's GOES East satellite.
The Mars Society is conducting the ambitious two-phase Mars 160 Twin Desert-Arctic Analog missionto study how seven crewmembers could live, work and perform science on a true mission to Mars. Mars 160 crewmember Annalea Beattie is chronicling the mission, which will spend 80 days at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah desert before venturing far north to Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island, Canada in summer 2017. Here's her seventh dispatch from the mission:
At the Mars Desert Research Station, at 7 p.m. sharp this evening, our Mars 160 Crew received a message from Capsule Communicator (CapCom): [See more Mars 160 photos here, and get daily images by the Mars 160 crew]
Greetings Mars 160 Commander and Crew,
CapCom is now signed on.
Deep Space Network acknowledges Acquisition of Signal at 1900 hours.
I'm Bernard, and I will be your CapCom for this evening from 1900-2100 hours Earth Mountain Time.
Your local Martian weather (temperatures Celsius, Winds km/h):
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around -2. Southeast wind 6 to 11 km/h becoming light and variable in the evening.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 19. Calm wind.
Looking forward to your reports, updates and pictures.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Best regards
Bernard Dubb, Capcom
This is Bernard, our person behind the scenes this week at CapCom. He's our MDRS IT coordinator, contributing to Mars Desert Research Station Hab networking, robotic observatory and autoponics projects.
Bernard Dubb, the MDRS IT coordinator. (Image credit: The Mars Society)
I love this evening email from Bernard. It tells us Capcom is there every night from seven to nine p.m., ready to give us advice, send on reports and field all our queries.
We speak to someone from the CapCom each night. We depend on them, yet that person could be anywhere in the world and we never meet face to face.
Although they are the unseen and often the unheard part of our Mars 160 crew, CapCom team members are our "first point of contact," and key to Mission Support, not just for us but for every crew rotation at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.
A highly efficient, trained international team of officers, CapCom functions as an intermediary body between Crew and Mission Support specialists. As an essential part of MDRS operations, their volunteer work is often invisible. CapCom are Mission Support, not Mission Control. On Mars, the time delay for communications would make it impossible for CapCom to directly instruct us on something.
As Bernard says, "The CapCom Officer is the crews lifeline, whether if its how to test a battery, requesting fuel, food or water or to help coordinate the response to an injury."
The term "CapCom" was first used in the 1960s, when American astronauts were sent into space in capsules during the Mercury missions.
On May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he launched aboard the Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7. (Image credit: NASA)
CapComs on real space missions are astronauts who represent both the control team on the ground and astronauts in space. One of the first good jobs an astronaut can get is to to be a CapCom. Traditionally, CapCom, for crews off-Earth, is someone who has had the experience of being an astronaut, someone who has insider knowledge and someone the crew knows. The CapCom on shift is primarily the one person who is allowed to talk to the crew in space so they are not confused by multiple voices.
As there is no room for error, CapComs train by carrying out simulations and becoming very familiar with science operations at Mission Control. For example, at NAS's Johnson Space Center in Houston, astronaut Cady Coleman is also a spacecraft communicator (CapCom). Here she is monitoring communications during the grapple and unberthing of Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo ship, from the nadir port of the Harmony module on the International Space Station. [Private Antares Rocket & Cygnus Spacecraft Explained (Infographic)]
Inside the space station control room at Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center, astronaut Cady Coleman, spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), monitors communications during the grapple and unberthing of the Cygnus cargo ship from the International Space Station on Oct. 22, 2013. (Image credit: NASA)
For Mars Desert Research Station CapComs, the training is both instructional and hands-on, in that CapCom officers are provided with a detailed manual, as well as opportunities to get guided experience. CapCom Miguel Cooper used to follow space shuttle missions on NASA TV. He says he learned a lot by observing the way a CapCom communicates with the crew in orbit. Miguel says looking at experienced CapComs is very useful when you are training.
CapCom Miguel Cooper, working from his dining room. (Image credit: The Mars Society)
So we know what happens from this end when the CapCom communication window opens, as we always have plenty to report for instance, the Engineering report, Sol Summary, the Food Report, Journalist Report, Pictures, Science Posts, EVA Narratives etc. But what happens at the other end?
Anushree Srivastava, our biologist for Mars 160, is also a member of the CapCom team. She told me how it all works from the CapCom end of things.
CapCom logs in and greets the crew from Earth at the exact time when the CapCom window opens. As reports or queries are submitted by the crew, CapCom reviews them and forwards them on to Mission Support, then acknowledges the receipt of each report by replying to the crewmember.
After an hour, Capcom sends Mid-Com Notifications and asks if any other reports are to be sent. In the meantime, CapCom address questions and queries for instance, crew problems such as water shortages, fuel problems, any health issues and so on.
Any issues not manageable by CapCom are forwarded to the respective experts. For example, an engineering query is sent to the Director of Engineering Projects, Judd Reed. CapCom plays a very important role in coordinating this conversation between crew and those experts.
When the CapCom window is about to close, Capcom sends out a notification of reports received and wishes everyone a good night's sleep. Then a passdown log is sent to Shannon Rupert (our director of the MDRS), to Ken Sullivan (CapCom Coordinator) and to Robert Zubrin (president of the Mars Society), to notify them of the most important issues to be addressed.
Gael Mariani's workstation at home. (Image credit: The Mars Society)
CapCom Gael Mariani lives in the United Kingdon, so she gets up at 2 a.m. to do her CapCom shift.
In her CapCom work room, there is a budgie called Io and a cat, and she has three dogs who sleep by her side and bark her awake when the alarms go off. (Her neighbors must love those late nights!) Gael is doing a degree in astronomy; she has her own observatory and loves astrophotography. She says no matter how familiar you become with the process of being a CapCom, nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you go "live" in your first solo stint, where youre fully responsible for liaising with the crew onsite.
"It was a bit nerve-racking at first," she says, "but once you get a taste, youre hooked."
As CapCom coordinator for the Mars Desert Research Station, Ken Sullivan is a past crewmember of MDRS Crews 149 & 165 and has extensive background and certifications with all things mechanical, especially concerning aircraft. Ken says those people with an interest in Mars quickly learn of the Mars Society and the Mars Desert Research Station. Many of the CapCom officers have previously served as crewmembers at the MDRS. And Ken says, "We all would love to be able to go back!"
For Ken, the most challenging part of the job is the cat-herding aspect. "Most explorers," he says, "are Type A personalities with strong minds, assertive personalities and determination. So when you have very smart people who are extremely capable, but the rules dont allow certain things (for instance, legally you cant recycle urine), then sometimes that frustrates the Crew. Some experiments are not allowed even though they seem quite harmless. Trying to get the Crew and Management to work together on all things creates some interesting psychology scenarios!" ['Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet' Examines Exploration Issues (Video)]
Many CapComs I spoke with told me that that the worst thing for them is when communications (i.e., the Internet) fail. Ken agrees, and says that's when "CapCom becomes an old mother hen, worried and continually checking to see if there are any communications from the Crew anything to indicate that the Crew is well."
CapCom Coordinator Ken Sullivan in his lounge room. (Image credit: The Mars Society)
I'm always interested in working environments. Ken says all he needs is a notepad, a pencil and computer. He takes short notes while he reads reports and responds. Usually Ken is in his living room, with kids running around, while his imagination takes him to Mars.
CapCom Steve Knutson is an aspiring astronaut. As a scientist himself, he is always interested in the research done by astronauts in space. Steve would love to be aboard the International Space Station or on a lunar or Martian base investigating the effects of space travel on the human body. And he is fascinated by the technologies needed to help us work and live in space. I asked Steve about the most challenging aspect of CapCom.
CapCom Steve Knutson at his desk. (Image credit: The Mars Society)
Steve told me good time management skills are essential: "As a CapCom, you need to be very organized, and know how to prioritize and multitask. Multiple reports are coming in, and you need to review and forward them to the appropriate channels, all while keeping track of what you have received and recording details throughout the process. At the same time, you need to be able to answer crew questions and help solve problems, or reach out the correct personnel if you cant individually help. It can be a really busy time during the communication window, and you have to stay focused."
Bruce Ngataierua, teacher and CapCom (and member of MDRS Crew 118 KiwiMars, my old crew). (Image credit: The Mars Society)
CapCom Bruce Ngataierua and I were crewmates on Crew 118 (great team, Kiwi Mars). I asked Bruce about the kind of experiences he has had as CapCom to international crews.
He said, "I suppose one funny thing I recall about being online as CapCom is dealing with the different crews whose first language isn't English. I remember the Russian crew we had a few years ago, and sometimes they would forget to send their daily reports in English to me. I would have to translate some Russian words into English (using Google Translate thank goodness!) and try and figure out what they were asking. We have had French and Japanese teams on board as well. This is part of the fun being a part of the CapCom team at MDRS."
At the very end of the interview questions I sent to the CapCom team, in the spirit of exchange I asked if anyone wanted to ask me something.
Our good relationship with CapCom is always conversational.
Here are my responses to a couple of questions.
First up: Capcom Coordinator Ken Sullivan asked me if I had read the CapCom manual, which is used to train new members of the team and has the protocols for working as a CapCom. And I can truthfully answer: Yes, Ken, I certainly have.
I have memorized it; you can test me later.
Steve Knutson asked how I became involved in the space realm and MDRS in general.
I became involved in the Mars Society in Australia because I'm an artist in love with space science. I'm always thinking about how art will evolve in hardy extraterrestrial societies living in frontier environments like Mars. The Mars Society gives me the opportunity to participate in space exploration, through art, media, in technology testing and as part of a science team.
It's such a great inclusive, exploratory organization.
Miguel asked me about the most valuable experience I've learned from this mission thus far as a Mars 160 crewmember.
What have I learned?
Something you all already know, CapCom: Always put the team first.
Mars or Enceladus?
(Just kidding, Robert.)
MARS OR BUST.
Annalea Beattie
Greetings Commander and Crew,
Reports received today:
1. Sol Summary Report #50 - Forwarded
2. Engineering Report Reviewed
3. SSUIt project 4th entry Forwarded
4. Technology Narrative Forwarded
5. Phrase of the Day Forwarded
6. Picture of the Day Forwarded
7. Photo Report - Forwarded
If your report-to-be-posted is not listed here, please resend your report directly to me now.
This is my last evening as CapCom. Steve Knutson will be your CapCom starting tomorrow.
Ive enjoyed communicating with you all and will be continuing in my role as MDRS IT Coordinator.
CapCom is now signing off for the evening.
Thanks for your communication during the Com Window and throughout the week.
Have a pleasant evening and an enjoyable day off tomorrow.
Please acknowledge this transmission.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens."
Anaxagoras, 459 BCE.
Best regards,
Bernard, CapCom
Editor's Note: To follow The Mars Society's Mars 160 mission and see daily photos and updates, visit the mission's website here: http://mars160.marssociety.org/. You can also follow the mission on Twitter @MDRSUpdates. For information on joining The Mars Society, visit: http://www.marssociety.org/home/join_us/.
Annalea Beattie is an artist and writer based in Melbourne, Australia, and her art practice is based on space science. She is a member of The Mars Society's Mars 160 Twin Desert-Arctic Analog mission, where her art-based research explores how observation is key to the role of all field geologists, including those on a planetary exploration crew. Follow The Mars Society on Twitter at @TheMarsSociety and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
NASA's newest Mars orbiter has now been on the job for two Earth years, investigating how the Red Planet lost its atmosphere in the ancient past.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft reached Mars on Sept. 21, 2014, and officially began its science mission less than two months later, on Nov. 16 of that year.
MAVEN the first orbiter tasked with studying Mars' atmosphere as its primary task has made a number of interesting discoveries over the past two years. In 2015, for example, MAVEN's measurements allowed mission scientists to determine just how quickly Mars' atmospheric gases escape to space today at an average rate of about 4 ounces (100 grams) per second. [NASA's MAVEN Mars Mission in Photos]
"Taken together, the MAVEN results tell us that loss of gas from the atmosphere to space has been the major force behind the [Martian] climate having changed from a warm, wet environment to the cold, dry one that we see today," MAVEN principal investigator Bruce Jakosky, of the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a NASA statement.
MAVEN's data suggest that Mars had lost most of its atmosphere by about 3.7 billion years ago, mission scientists have said. For perspective, researchers think that life first appeared on Earth around 4 billion years ago.
The orbiter also spotted a cloud around Mars that likely consists of interplanetary dust. In addition, in a layer of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere the zone where auroras occur MAVEN found a layer of metal ions, or charged particles. These are produced when interplanetary dust falls into the atmosphere.
Some side observations have also yielded interesting results. For example, Mars has no global magnetic field, yet MAVEN found ultraviolet auroras spreading over the planet's northern hemisphere. The spacecraft also detected a stream of ions flying into space that had never been spotted before.
Though MAVEN's science mission officially began on Nov. 16, 2014, the orbiter started doing some science work in October of that year. One of MAVEN's earliest tasks was to observe Comet Siding Spring make a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19, 2014, to see what effects the comet had on Mars' atmosphere.
NASA recently announced that MAVEN has achieved all of its science objectives, and that MAVEN has been granted a two-year mission extension that will keep it operating through at least September 2018.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
HOUSTON Space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow said Nov. 17 that he believes that the Trump administration should as much as double NASA's budget in the coming years and make plans for a human return to the moon.
Bigelow, the founder of commercial space habitat developer Bigelow Aerospace, argued in a speech at the Spacecom conference here Nov. 17 that such a dramatic, and arguably long-shot, increase in NASA funding was essential to the future of both the agency's exploration efforts and business plans of commercial ventures, as well as affordable to the nation.
"I propose that NASA should have, beginning in fiscal year 2019, an annual budget equal to at least one percent of total yearly federal spending," Bigelow said. The Obama administration, in its fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, requested $19 billion for NASA, less than half a percent of the overall request of more than $4 trillion. [What a Trump Administration May Mean for NASA]
Part of the reason for the additional funding, he said, is to deal with inefficiencies with some of NASA's programs. "It is no surprise that NASA needs a greater allowance just to offset the politics, much less what's needed to really get going," he said.
The increase would also be used to support more ambitious space exploration efforts by NASA, such as lunar exploration. "The new White House needs to make a real commitment to this nation's space future," he said, specifically citing lunar bases and industrial activity. "The reason I'm focusing on the moon is because the business case for the moon is potentially substantial compared to the business case for Mars, and the financial requirements are of no comparison."
Bigelow said he believed the nation could afford that jump in NASA's budget because he expects economic growth in the country overall to increase significantly after Trump takes office, although he did not elaborate on how he reached that conclusion. "With this increase, the United States can easily afford NASA's one percent, and even more," he said.
In comments after his talk, he said he hadn't been in direct discussions with anyone on the Trump transition team about his proposal. He was also optimistic that the next administration could increase NASA's budget despite dealing with competing priorities, such as infrastructure redevelopment. "If you have a growing economy, it lifts all boats," he said.[The Biggest Space Issues Facing President-elect Donald Trump]
Bigelow's support of Trump he called Trump's election an early Christmas present for the country and for NASA is not surprising. In January, Bigelow joined the social network Twitter and immediately expressed his support for Trump. "What this country needs is an inspirational space program. I'll bet @realDonaldTrump could do it," he tweeted.
Bigelow was not the only person at the conference to support significantly increasing NASA's budget. "NASA receives a pittance of the federal budget," said Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the House space subcommittee, in remarks delivered by video at the conference Nov. 15.
Babin, though, was not optimistic about a doubling or any other large increase for the agency. "As much as I would be thrilled to see NASA's budget double, we have to be realistic, and ensure that the taxpayers' dollars we currently receive are prudently focused on the right missions," he said.
Separate from the budget, Bigelow discussed the growing commercial role in low Earth orbit and the transition he sees from government-led operations of the International Space Station to eventual commercial space stations. Bigelow Aerospace has long proposed the development of such stations as well as, more recently, the addition of a commercial module to the ISS.
"The decisions made in the next couple of years will shape the rest of human spaceflight for decades to come," he said. "How NASA transitions out of LEO, affecting costs and commercial markets, is arguably the most important decision that impacts progress for human spaceflight."
This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traveled to Uzbekistan for talks with senior officials.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived late on November 17 and will meet with acting Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyaev and other officials on November 18.
Erdogan was also expected to visit the grave of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, who died earlier this year after more than 25 years running the country.
Erdogan addressed the parliament of Pakistan on November 17, where he accused the West of facilitating the spread of chaos in the Islamic world. He urged Muslims to cast aside sectarian difference in order to fight [extremists] together.
Based on reporting by dpa, Interfax, and AP
MASON CITY A sign posted by a Mason City church as a reminder of Gods unconditional love after a contentious election has been vandalized with spray paint.
Again.
The message outside First Congregational United Church of Christ reads: We are a sanctuary for the least, lost, gay & straight, female, MuslimFor all! Gods love wins!
On Friday morning, Pastor Chuck Kelsey learned someone had sprayed red paint on the plastic sign covering over the word gay.
Im so sad for people who cant get beyond hate, Kelsey said, sighing. What it is in their lives that causes them to hate so much? Everyone has a different story. Im more than willing to listen to their story, but Im not, you know, Im not willing to give in to the hate.
Mason City church sign vandalized MASON CITY A Mason City church sign promoting an appearance by a gay mens chorus has been
It was the second time this year that the sign outside the church at 100 First St. N.E. has been vandalized.
In March, someone sprayed red paint all over a sign promoting an appearance by the Twin Cities Gay Mens Chorus.
The church posted the current sign as a message of inclusiveness in the wake of last Tuesdays election.
Election results dont matter to me, but the vitriolic language that occurred during the election and the promises made, if those promises are followed through with, scare the heck out of a lot of people, Kelsey said.
And, so, intentionally, I was trying to figure out some way to respond to my own feelings about it but also to let people know that we are a safe place, he said.
A Mason City police officer took photos of the damage. Kelsey submitted a statement for the officers report.
Kelsey figures itll take $200-$300 to replace the plastic on the outside of the sign. Thats what it cost last time.
He urged whoever damaged the sign to come talk to him.
I would love to hear their story, as I do everybodys story, Kelsey said. And, if were going to be a community that truly can grow and do the things that a community should do, then we need to be able to talk about it.
We need to be able to work past the anger and the hatred.
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ARD/SPIEGEL: In many Western societies, there is a groundswell of alienation between politicians and the citizens, and people are asking: "Are politicians at all in touch with everyday life?" People are anxious. We're talking about populism, of course. Is this a pivotal moment for leadership?
Obama: I think it is. Look, I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down. And I was able to excite and engage people who previously hadn't been involved in politics, and part of the reason that I was able to be re-elected and stay relatively popular in the United States was because even when the economy was bad or we had problems, people sensed that I listened to them and I was on their side.
I do think that all politicians today have to be more attentive to people wanting to be heard, wanting to have more control over their lives. The more we can encourage participation, I think the better off we are. Here in Europe, for example, some of the challenges have to do with structures that are so complicated. You've got Brussels, and you've got parliament, you've got councils and then you've got national governments. So people sometimes don't feel as if they know who's making decisions, and the more that we can bring people in and engage them, the better. Some of it is also cultural and social, people's sense of identity. You have social media and the Internet and immigration and so, suddenly, cultures are clashing and people feel as if they're less familiar with the people around them. That causes social anxieties.
ARD/SPIEGEL: What was the darkest moment of your presidency? Here in Europe, of course, people will talk about drone attacks, Guantanamo and, of course, about terrorist attacks and shootings.
Obama: Look, early on, I think people didn't fully appreciate how severe the economic crisis was, partly because we took smart steps, and we were able to avert complete disaster. But there were weeks where I wasn't sure whether we were going to be able to pull out of the crisis. For me, personally, the most difficult moments had to do with not just terrorist attacks, but also shootings.
You will recall that there was an event at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 six- and seven-year-old children were shot by a troubled young man, and I had to meet with the parents just two days after they had lost their child. The pain that they feel is hard to describe and will always haunt me.
Internationally, I have obviously been deeply concerned about how we fight the terrorist threat. How do we make sure that we don't change, even as we protect our people? I'm very proud of the fact that we ended torture. It's true that I have not been able to completely close Guantanamo, but we've drastically reduced the population from 700 or so to around 60 now, and I am going to continue in these two months to make every effort.
We have created a legal structure that is much more disciplined and consistent with rule of law and international norms. I know that drones have been a source of concern for a lot of people, understandably, but if you look at how we have constrained their use, we've created a framework that is consistent with how all of us going into the future should be thinking about minimizing the loss of life, but also being able to reach terrorist organizations in countries that sometimes don't have the ability to capture them. The alternative in some cases is to invade these countries where there would be much greater loss of life, and so we have to make difficult choices in these situations.
The good news is we've had very strong allies. In Europe, where the terrorist threat is probably greatest at the moment, the amount of information-sharing that's been taking place, the effectiveness of law enforcement across borders gives us the ability to protect ourselves while still being true to the basic precepts of our liberal democracies. I hope that that continues, and it is something that I think we should be worried about.
ARD/SPIEGEL: You have praised Angela Merkel, but you also said there is a free-ride mentality among American partners, that a large amount of the work is left to the Americans. Donald Trump has said that American engagement has to be reduced. Is this the moment for Western leaders like Angela Merkel to step up and assume more leadership?
Obama: Angela Merkel has been an extraordinary partner for me and for the United States throughout my presidency. One of the great qualities of Chancellor Merkel is that she is steady. She analyzes a situation. She's honest. Sometimes we've had disagreements, but when we do, it's very constructive. And we are consistently open with each other about how we should approach these issues.
But I do believe that Chancellor Merkel and Germany are a lynchpin in protecting the basic tenets of a liberal, market-based democratic order that has created unprecedented prosperity and security for Europe, but also for the world. I think sometimes Europe may take for granted the extraordinary progress that's been made over the last 40, 50 years. I recognize that sometimes there is great frustration that arises out of the euro zone or out of the EU.
Probably at no time in human history has there been as much prosperity and security as has existed in Europe during this period. The reason is because the values that we share -- freedom of speech, freedom of religious practice, freedom for civil society, free and fair elections, all the innovation that's been created through a market-based economy -- those things are ultimately going to be the path for us to continue into a better future. I hope that, despite some of the challenges we have, that people appreciate that. And I hope people appreciate Chancellor Merkel because, although she traditionally is considered center-right and I'm considered center-left, the truth is that we share those core values, and those are worth protecting. As the senior leader in Europe, as the leader who's been longest lasting, I think she has great credibility, and she is willing to fight for those values. I'm glad that she's there, and I think the German people should appreciate her. Certainly, I have appreciated her as a partner.
ARD/SPIEGEL: Are you going to pardon Edward Snowden?
Obama: I can't pardon somebody who hasn't gone before a court and presented themselves, so that's not something that I would comment on at this point. I think that Mr. Snowden raised some legitimate concerns. How he did it was something that did not follow the procedures and practices of our intelligence community. If everybody took the approach that I make my own decisions about these issues, then it would be very hard to have an organized government or any kind of national security system.
At the point at which Mr. Snowden wants to present himself before the legal authorities and make his arguments or have his lawyers make his arguments, then I think those issues come into play. Until that time, what I've tried to suggest -- both to the American people, but also to the world -- is that we do have to balance this issue of privacy and security. Those who pretend that there's no balance that has to be struck and think we can take a 100-percent absolutist approach to protecting privacy don't recognize that governments are going to be under an enormous burden to prevent the kinds of terrorist acts that not only harm individuals, but also can distort our society and our politics in very dangerous ways.
And those who think that security is the only thing and don't care about privacy also have it wrong.
We have to find ways in which, collectively, we agree there's some things that government needs to do to help protect us, that in this age of non-state actors who can amass great power, I want my government -- and I think the German people should want their government -- to be able to find out if a terrorist organization has access to a weapon of mass destruction that might go off in the middle of Berlin.
That may mean that, as long as they do it carefully and narrowly, that they're going to have to find ways to identify an email address or a cell phone of a network. On the other hand, it's important to make sure that governments have some checks on what they do, that people can oversee what's being done so the government doesn't abuse it. But we shouldn't assume that government is always trying to do the wrong thing.
My experience is that our intelligence officials try to do the right thing, but even with good intentions, sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they can be overzealous. Our lives are now in a telephone, all our data, all our finances, all our personal information, and so it's proper that we have some constraints on that. But it's not going to be 100 percent. If it is 100 percent, then we're not going to be able to protect ourselves and our societies from some people who are trying to hurt us.
ARD/SPIEGEL: Mr. President, we thank you for this interview.
Algiers, November 17, 2016 (SPS) -The 41st European conference for support and solidarity with Saharawi people (EUCOCO), which will be held on Friday and Saturday in Vilanova (Spain), will be an opportunity for participants to reaffirm their solidarity and commitment to the Sahrawi cause, and seek a lasting and democratic solution to the Western Sahara conflict.
This annual event held every year, since 1975, in different European cities (like Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Brussels, Valence and Madrid) is undoubtedly the most important international movement for solidarity with the Saharawi people, as it brings together participants from every parts of the world, organizers stressed.
EUCOCO meeting will be attended by "representatives of the governments that recognize the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as well as national and international representatives of Spanish regional, provincial and municipal governments.
Besides, the 41st EUCOCO meeting will be attended by political figures, unionists, men of culture, NGOs and associations of the friends of Saharawi people, who come every year to show their solidarity and commitment to the Saharawi cause and try to find the maximum of political support to reach a political solution to Western Sahara issue.
Organizers of the 41st EUCOCO, which coincides with the celebration of the 41st agreements of Madrid on 14 November 1975 that allowed Morocco illegally occupy the Sahrawi territory, is "an opportunity to seek a lasting and democratic solution to this conflict and remedy an injustice towards the Sahrawi people that goes back to more than 40 years."
The Conference will also be an opportunity to make a strong appeal to Spanish officials to assume their historical responsibility towards the Sahrawi people under respect for international law.
Conferences, meetings on agenda
The agenda of this two-day conference includes the organization on Friday of a political meeting at the Catalan Parliament, in addition to meetings of working groups.
The 2nd day will be devoted to reading the conclusions made by the participating working groups in order to present the final statement of the EUCOCO 2016 on Saturday. SPS
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VilanovaiLa Geltru (Spain), 18 November 2016 (SPS) President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, called on Spanish state to assume its historical responsibility towards the Sahrawi people by achieving the decolonization of Western Sahara, in a speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people.
In the speech delivered on his behalf by the President of the National Council, Khatri Adouh, the President of the Republic stated We look forward to seeing the Spanish state assuming its legal and moral duty towards our people by achieving expeditiously the decolonisation of Western Sahara. Spain is still, and perhaps more than ever, part of this problem that cannot be barred by any statute of limitation; it started in the past but it is still an integral part of the present.
We are not opposed to relations between Spain and Morocco in all fields, but it would be a heinous crime if the price to be paid would be more conspiracy against the blood, sweat and suffering of the Sahrawi people.
Spain of 2016 is not Spain of 1975, and there is no justification for not correcting this error because the democratic transition will remain incomplete as long as the Spanish state has not removed the stigma represented by the infamous Madrid Accords. The new government and the new parliament are called upon to act seriously to end the tragedy of the Sahrawi people by means of a referendum of self-determination. If Spain manages to do this, which it is able and legally bound to do, it will achieve a historic reconciliation with itself and with its history, and will contribute to the triumph of justice, democracy and peace, added the President of the Republic in the speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people. (SPS)
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VilanovaiLa Geltru (Spain), 18 November 2016 (SPS) President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, confirmed that the just and peaceful solution to the Moroccan Sahrawi conflict is in grave danger today due to the Moroccan repeated escalation and provocation, in a speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people.
In the speech delivered on his behalf by the President of the National Council, Khatri Adouh, the President of the Republic said I regret to say that the just and peaceful solution to the Moroccan Sahrawi conflict is in grave danger today. The explosive situation at Al Guergarat, in southern Western Sahara, would not have arisen if the Security Council, through the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), had not failed in preventing the Moroccan transgression. Because of this failure, the Sahrawi army was forced to intervene to prevent Morocco from annexing new territories and changing the status quo established under the military agreement n 1 that regulates the relationship between MINURSO and the two parties to the conflict.
There is no doubt that the Moroccan state of occupation is the responsible for this threat through its repeated escalation and provocation. However, the prime responsibility lies with the UN Security Council because it has failed since 1991 in implementing and defending its decisions aiming at the decolonisation of Western Sahara.
The UN Security Council is responsible for the impasse confronting the conflict today because it has unfortunately allowed MINURSO to be an exception, thus subjecting it to the will of the Moroccan military illegal occupation. Unlike other peacekeeping operations that operate in line with certain standards and procedures, no such considerations have been taken in the case of MINURSO in terms of car license plates, entry visas and monitoring of human rights as well as ensuring freedom of observers to visit the Territory and interacting with the population and the like.
Because of its continuous indifference and indecisiveness, the UN Security Council has given the Moroccan state of occupation a free hand to rebel against international legality and to attack the authority of the Council itself by expressing its unwillingness to cooperate with the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, expelling the political and administrative component of MINURSO and breaching blatantly the cease-fire.
Peace in Western Sahara is in danger. The UN Security Council therefore should take a decisive decision to enforce expeditiously the provisions of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan endorsed by the Council and signed by the two parties to the conflict, which aims at holding a free and fair referendum in which the Sahrawi people would exercise their right to self-determination and independence, added the President of the Republic in the speech at the opening of the 41st European Conference for Support and Solidarity with the Sahrawi people. (SPS)
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VilanovaiLa Geltru, 18 November 2016
Mr Pierre Galland, President of the European Coordination of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People,
Ladies and Gentlemen members of the Task Force and the presiding board of the Conference,
Ladies and Gentlemen representatives of governments, parliaments, political parties, organisations and associations,
Ladies and Gentlemen members of the international movement of solidarity coming from all the continents of the world,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The 41st edition of the European Conference for Solidarity with the Sahrawi people kicks off today. This annual international event demonstrates each year, with renewed determination, the strength, continuity and wide scope of the movement of solidarity with the struggle of the Sahrawi people for freedom and independence.
I would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all those who have contributed in one way or another to the preparation and organisation of this seminal forum. I would also like to applaud the tremendous efforts that have been made in record time and under great difficulties by the friends of the Sahrawi people in the municipality of Vilanova i La Geltru andin Catalonia and Spain in close cooperation with the Task Force and the representations of the Frente POLISARIO in Catalonia and Spain.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The organisers have decided to open the Conference with a deserved tribute to a great man in the history of the struggle of the Sahrawi people and the struggles of peoples in general for restoring their usurped rights, Martyr Mohamed Abdelaziz, the late President of the Sahrawi people. We have lost a seasoned leader, a staunch militant and a courageous fighter, ready to give everything for the most precious thing, the freedom and dignity of his people.
We have lost a dignified man who was a glorious example of sacrifice and dedication throughout all his life that he spent struggling on the path of the great heroes such as Sidi Mohamed Ibrahim Bassiri and founding leader, Martyr El Wali Mustapha Sayed.
The late Mohamed Abdelaziz, above all, was a man of peace and a staunch advocate of human values. He is the model for the peaceful Sahrawi people that are averse to violence and who have been forced to resort to armed struggle, a legitimate right of colonial peoples, in defence of their right to live in dignity.
Our struggling people have shown the world their ability to deal with this tragedy consciously and responsibly in an atmosphere of unity and harmony and have achieved a smooth transition based on the rule of law and democracy, thus foiling all the plans and plots of the enemies.
This is a message addressed to the Moroccan state of occupation and all those who support it that betting on fatigue or weakness amid our people is definitely a lost gamble. It has been more than 41 years of resistance and struggle and facing up to the harshest of conditions and challenges, but the flame of resistance has not been extinguished. With every day that goes by the Sahrawi people are more confident in the victory and independence, and the network of solidarity with their just struggle keeps on growing and expanding.
The Sahrawi state, as eternal and practical embodiment of the will of the Sahrawi people, has become an irreversible national, regional and international fact. It is operating with its executive, legislative and judicial institutions and is strongly present in Africa and worldwide.
The Sahrawi people, victim of Moroccan expansionism and aggression and subjected to genocide, displacement, repression and torture, have managed, under the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO, to achieve a quantum leap in record time that have brought about radical changes. Our people have built a modern and open society that is committed to its objectives and noble values and believes in the principles of democracy, equality and peaceful coexistence among religions and cultures.
This unique experience is being targeted today by a new kind of threats represented by organised crime gangs and terrorist groups that receive support and funding from drugs coming from the Kingdom of Morocco, the largest producer and exporter of cannabis in the world and the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region.
Through its social, educational, religious and cultural policies, among others, the Sahrawi state has become a factor of moderation and stability in the region. In line with its international and African Union obligations, and in cooperation with the countries of the region, the Sahrawi State has been working relentlessly to combat terrorism and extremism. These are great risks that threaten humanity and it would be a shame on the international community not to provide support and protection for our people and their legitimate cause.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We note with satisfaction the positive developments that have taken place politically, legally and judicially in Europe in relation to the Sahrawi cause.
The ruling of the European General Court issued in December 2015 and the opinion of the EU General Advocate Mr Wathelet delivered in September 2016 have debunked categorically the remaining misconceptions and fallacies in relation to the European legal engagement with the Moroccan-Sahrawi conflict. For the European Union, as is the case of the United Nations and the African Union and others, the Kingdom of Morocco does not exercise any sovereignty over Western Sahara and therefore the EU-Moroccan agreements do not include the territories of the Sahrawi Republic and its territorial waters. In addition to establishing the fact that Spain is still legally responsible for the Territory as a colonial administering power, the ruling also affirmed that the Frente POLISARIO is the sole legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and that it has legal competence to present legal cases before European courts.
Despite these unequivocal legal and judicial facts, in practice the position of the European Union in this regard is still fraught with indifference and contradiction. Europe is responsible for the outbreak of the Moroccan Sahrawi conflict given the fact that Spain has not yet fulfilled its duty as a colonial administering power of Western Sahara regarding the decolonisation of the Territory. Europe is responsible for the continuation of the conflict because parties such as France and Spain continue to support the Moroccan aggressive expansionism militarily, economically and diplomatically. Europe is responsible for the suffering of the Sahrawi people because France, Spain and other parties continue to conclude agreements, contracts and partnerships that violate international law and the ruling of the European General Court itself. They encourage the Moroccan state of occupation to persist in its intransigence and rebellion against international legality and its repression and human rights abuses and massive looting of the natural resources of the Sahrawi people and keeping them divided between refugee camps and exile and occupation and oppression.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I regret to say that the just and peaceful solution to the Moroccan Sahrawi conflict is in grave danger today. The explosive situation at Al Guergarat, in southern Western Sahara, would not have arisen if the Security Council, through the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), had not failed in preventing the Moroccan transgression. Because of this failure, the Sahrawi army was forced to intervene to prevent Morocco from annexing new territories and changing the status quo established under the military agreement n 1 that regulates the relationship between MINURSO and the two parties to the conflict.
There is no doubt that the Moroccan state of occupation is the responsible for this threat through its repeated escalation and provocation. However, the prime responsibility lies with the UN Security Council because it has failed since 1991 in implementing and defending its decisions aiming at the decolonisation of Western Sahara.
The UN Security Council is responsible for the impasse confronting the conflict today because it has unfortunately allowed MINURSO to be an exception, thus subjecting it to the will of the Moroccan military illegal occupation. Unlike other peacekeeping operations that operate in line with certain standards and procedures, no such considerations have been taken in the case of MINURSO in terms of car license plates, entry visas and monitoring of human rights as well as ensuring freedom of observers to visit the Territory and interacting with the population and the like.
Because of its continuous indifference and indecisiveness, the UN Security Council has given the Moroccan state of occupation a free hand to rebel against international legality and to attack the authority of the Council itself by expressing its unwillingness to cooperate with the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, expelling the political and administrative component of MINURSO and breaching blatantly the cease-fire.
If the UN Security Council has a collective responsibility in this regard, France in particular, as a permanent member of the Council, has systematically sabotaged the implementation of international legality. It continues to provide protection for the Moroccan obstructionist position and has blocked the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2006 and prevented that MINURSO be mandated to protect human rights.
France is today a stumbling block that continues to impede the Security Council from taking critical decisions that may give back to the Council its prestige. For this reason, it is responsible for any serious deterioration in the tense situation at Al Guergarat, where the Moroccan and Sahrawi armies are separated by a distance of not more than 120 meters.
Peace in Western Sahara is in danger. The UN Security Council therefore should take a decisive decision to enforce expeditiously the provisions of the UN-OAU Settlement Plan endorsed by the Council and signed by the two parties to the conflict, which aims at holding a free and fair referendum in which the Sahrawi people would exercise their right to self-determination and independence.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The occupied territories of the Sahrawi Republic live under blockade at a time when the Moroccan state of occupation persists in repression and torture, detention and various forms of gross violations of human rights in addition to its systematic expulsion of independent international observers from the occupied Territory. Perhaps there are among us today some of those who have been subjected to this disgraceful treatment that is unfortunately met with complicit indifference by governments and international institutions including the European Union.
On this occasion, we call for the lifting of the unjust blockade, the removal of the wall of the Moroccan occupation, which is a crime against humanity, the end of human rights abuses and the plundering of natural resources as well as providing MINURSO with an effective mechanism to protect, monitor and report on human rights.
In a suspicious move, the Moroccan state of occupation suddenly decided to withdraw the sentence passed by a military tribunal against the prisoners of Gdeim Izik, while keeping them under severe detention and ill-treatment conditions. There is no justification for their detention in Moroccan prisons, and they should be released immediately along with all other Sahrawi political prisoners. The Moroccan State of Occupation should also account for the whereabouts of all Sahrawi disappeared owing to the Moroccan military invasion of Western Sahara on 31 October 1975.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Sahrawi people, I would like to convey to you, members of the solidarity movement, our sincere thanks and appreciation and to pay tribute to the heroes who have left us. We salute all continental, national and regional parliamentary and friendship associations and groups and specialised bodies such as the International Western Sahara Resource Watch, among others.
Your standing by our people in their plight is a noble message to all nations and peoples of the world. Your principled positions ease the suffering of the Sahrawi people, reinforce their confidence and assure them that they are not alone in their struggle for freedom and dignity. The commitment and devotion to such lofty principles is clearly reflected by the European Coordination, headed by dear brother and friend Mr Pierre Galland and other honourable members, which has maintained its firm position since the first days of the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara.
The Sahrawi people are still in desperate need of more support and assistance. The Moroccan state of occupation persists in its policies of oppression, impoverishment and destruction of livelihoods and plunder of the natural resources in the occupied territories. In the meantime, the refugees are suffering not only from the harsh conditions and natural disasters but also from repeated attempts to reduce the humanitarian aid, which is already insufficient.
I would also like to express our most sincere greetings to sisterly Algeria and its government and people for the principled position in support for the just struggle of the Sahrawi people. The firm position that Algeria has exhibited from the very beginning underlines the need for the implementation of the UN Charter and resolutions based on the respect for the free and sovereign will of the Sahrawi people.
Our many thanks also go to Africa and its great organisation, the African Union, which has been strongly committed to defending the cause of the Sahrawi people as the last decolonisation issue on the continent considering that the freedom of Africa will be incomplete without enabling the Sahrawi people to regain their legitimate rights.
As we are proud to belong to Africa, we are also proud of our present and future cultural and geographical relations with Spanish and Latin American peoples.
I would like to take this occasion to convey our greetings and appreciation to the immense movement of solidarity that reflects the fraternal and sincere attitude of the Spanish peoples regarding the Sahrawi people.
We look forward to seeing the Spanish state assuming its legal and moral duty towards our people by achieving expeditiously the decolonisation of Western Sahara. Spain is still, and perhaps more than ever, part of this problem that cannot be barred by any statute of limitation; it started in the past but it is still an integral part of the present.
We are not opposed to relations between Spain and Morocco in all fields, but it would be a heinous crime if the price to be paid would be more conspiracy against the blood, sweat and suffering of the Sahrawi people.
Spain of 2016 is not Spain of 1975, and there is no justification for not correcting this error because the democratic transition will remain incomplete as long as the Spanish state has not removed the stigma represented by the infamous Madrid Accords. The new government and the new parliament are called upon to act seriously to end the tragedy of the Sahrawi people by means of a referendum of self-determination. If Spain manages to do this, which it is able and legally bound to do, it will achieve a historic reconciliation with itself and with its history, and will contribute to the triumph of justice, democracy and peace.
Long live free and independent Western Sahara!
Strength, Determination and Tenacity to enforce Independence and Sovereignty!
Thank you! (SPS)
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STAMFORD Murder charges initially lodged against two men arrested in connection with the stabbing death of a popular Westhill High School graduate were pulled back at their arraignment.
At their arraignment early Friday, James Rackover, 25, of New York City, and Lawrence Dilione, 28, of Jersey City, N.J., have each been charged with concealment of a human corpse, tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution. They were not arraigned on the second-degree murder charges they were arrested on by New York City Police on Thursday.
However, Assistant District Attorney Antoinette Carter said during the arraignment that "one or both of these people committed a murder, the Associate Press reported.
Authorities said 26-year-old Joey Comunale, of Stamford, was stabbed to death after a night of partying at Rackovers luxury apartment in Manhattans East Side.
Comunale was found Wednesday buried in a shallow grave in the Monmouth County shore town of Oceanport, N.J.
Each defendant is being held on $3 million bond and their next court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Advocate Friday morning, Dilione on Tuesday told a New York police detective where Comunales body could be found.
We took Joeys body to Oceanport, New Jersey and we buried it in a vacant lot, Dilione told police, according to the complaint.
The other suspect, Rackover, was born James Arthur Beaudoin and was arrested several times in Florida under that name for burglary, armed robbery and drug possession, according to the Broward County Sheriffs Office.
At the Grand Sutton apartment tower, where police said Comunale was killed, residents told the New York Times they knew Rackover as the son of Jeffrey Rackover, a well-known jeweler whose clients have included Oprah Winfrey and President-elect Donald Trump.
Authorities said James Rackover was seen placing a large duffle bag Sunday evening into the trunk of a black 2015 Mercedes that was parked outside of the building. The car is registered to Jeffrey Rackover, court documents show.
In a phone interview Thursday with the New York Times, an aunt of James Rackovers, whom she knows as James Beaudoin II, recognized a Facebook photo of him.
No way, Rachel Boyd said. "I love him. Hes not the type of person that could do this.
Comunale attended Stillmeadow Elementary School and Scofield Magnet Middle School before graduating Westhill in 2008. He worked at Tri-Ed Distribution in Elmsford, N.Y., played baseball and hockey and continued playing even after graduating from Hofstra University, his father said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
HAMPTON Alliant Energy officials met with landowners in Franklin County this week to answer questions about a $1 billion wind farm project.
The project is a westward expansion of Whispering Willow Wind Farm south of Hampton. Alliant announced the project in July and has since gained approval from the Iowa Utilities Board.
Our industry is changing drastically in how were generating energy for our customers, Alliant spokesperson Justin Foss said. The expansion looks to generate 500 megawatts of energy.
100-turbine wind farm planned in Worth, Freeborn counties NORTHWOOD | A Chicago-based wind developer is speaking with Worth County landowners to secur
Globe Gazette editorial: Wind project boost for Franklin County Were always pleased to see advancements in alternative energy in Iowa, and two recent devel
Construction is slated to begin in spring 2018 with the wind farm operational in early 2019.
Ninety percent of necessary landowners have signed on for the project, according to Ben Lipari, director of project development for Alliant.
We have 10 percent waiting on decisions, Lipari said, noting the company is working closely with landowners.
Part of the goal is to minimize Alliants footprint in these areas when it comes to access roads and facilities.
Over the years, more information has been available about wind energy.
Landowners are more educated than before, Lipari said. They do better understand wind energy.
Lipari said that transparency is key in building relationships with communities they work in.
Alliant Energy is based in Cedar Rapids and provides electric service to 487,000 customers and natural gas service to 226,000 customers in more than 600 communities, including North Iowa.
The initial phase would include building 80 wind turbines to produce about 200 megawatts of energy. The entire 5-year plan is expected to include approximately 200 turbines to produce the total 500 megawatts of energy.
Were still assessing, Lipari said.
Those turbines would not all be located within Franklin County but in locations in central, north central and northwest Iowa, Lipari said.
The project will mean increased employment throughout those regions. At the peak of construction, Alliant will need 1,500 workers to complete the project, Foss said.
Once construction is completed, Alliant estimated it could staff approximately 10 workers for maintenance.
Whispering Willow Wind Farm currently spans 33,000 acres with 121 turbines. The wind farm began commercial operation in late 2009 and has a capacity to generate 200 megawatts, or enough to power about 50,000 homes.
Foss said that wind energy is important to the company as Alliant plans to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
This is one of several major expansions of wind energy in Iowa announced this year.
In April, MidAmerican Energy announced a $3.6 billion plan to add 1,000 wind turbines in Iowa.
More recently, Chicago-based wind developer Invenergy announced plans to spread 100 wind turbines between Freeborn County, Minnesota, and in Worth County.
The company is speaking with Worth County landowners to secure leases for a proposed $320 million wind farm.
The proposed project would provide power to Xcel Energy customers in Minnesota.
STAMFORD A Stamford man wanted for questioning in the death of his wife has been caught after four days on the run, police said.
Capt. Richard Conklin said that New York City Police found 32-year-old Elmer Gomez Ruano in Brooklyn and are holding him on child endangerment charges after he left his five-year old daughter at the Port Authority bus terminal. Stamford police are seeking to extradite Gomez Ruano to face similar charges.
Police in Stamford, New York, New Jersey as well as the U.S. Marshalls Service have been looking for Gomez Ruano since his wife, 24-year-old Dionicia Bautista-Cano, was found dead in their Glenbrook apartment that they had moved into only a day before. Bautista-Cano moved to Stamford from Flemington, New Jersey, where she lived since coming to the United States from Guatemala about a year ago. Gomez Ruano has been living in Stamford for about a year and was working as a dishwasher at a Bedford Street diner.
I am pleased with the work these investigators have done and with our law enforcement partners in New York City. They have been very professional and accommodating to us, Conklin said.
Police say the child, who speaks mostly Spanish, has been placed in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families. Police are planning on interviewing the girl to find out what she knows about her mothers death.
The New York Daily News reported that a cousin of Bautista-Cano, who lives in Flemington, wants to adopt the girl, whose name is Daisy. The woman, Lorina Tobar, says she she and Bautista-Cano worked together at an Italian restaurant.
When she worked, she always wanted to make sure Daisy was taken care of, said Tobar, who often baby-sat the little girl, the Daily News reported.
STAMFORD The city has begun preparing for next years property revaluation, a process that generally pleases those who end up owning less in taxes and frustrates many who dont.
The state mandates that municipalities undertake a revaluation of residential and commercial properties every five years. The review assesses property values based on market conditions.
Taxpayers should have received notices inquiring about changes to their properties since the 2013 revaluation. When updated assessments are made available Oct. 1, taxpayers will have two months to contest their new bills.
The Revaluation Review Committee made up of Board of Representatives and Board of Finance members, as well as officials from the administration and tax assessors offices helps oversee the project. They met for the first time this month about the 2017 revaluation.
The committee is in charge of making sure residents are aware next year that the revaluation has taken place and that theres a time frame to challenge their assessments, committee member Sal Gabriele said.
During a revaluation, the citys tax burden is redistributed among taxpayers.
If your valuation goes up 5 percent it doesnt mean that your taxes will go up 5 percent, said Board of Finance chairman Richard Freedman, another committee member. In fact, its almost guaranteed that your taxes will go up some different amount.
The amount of taxable property in the Oct. 1, 2015, grand list is around $19.5 billion $17.5 billion for real estate, $1 billion for personal property and $900 million for motor vehicles. The average tax rate is 25.27 mills, the amount owned per $1,000 of assessed value. In Connecticut, homes are assessed at 70 percent of their true value.
In 2013, single-family home assessments decreased about 20 percent, according to tax assessor Gregory Stackpole, who called that revaluation an anomaly in that many people who saw a decrease in their assessments had their taxes increase.
I think weve seen an improvement in the market since 2012, but its too early to say how its going to affect the various classifications of real estate, he said.
Gabriele, who is on the Board of Finance, said he is concerned about the tax burden on homeowners.
Hopefully this time around, the large commercial buildings get assessed properly and there isnt the shift from large commercial properties back to residential properties that happened in 2013, he said.
Gabriele noted that last time, assessments on several of the citys flagship commercial properties including UBS, RBS and BLT Financial Centre went down by a total of $2 million. The decline reflected a 30 percent commercial vacancy rate at the time.
There were big property owners that people didnt think were really paying their fair share, said committee member J.R. McMullen, who also represents the 18th District on the Board of Representatives.
The citys commercial banking giants, UBS and RBS, which both have headquarters on Washington Boulevard, took the city to court in 2011 contesting their 2007 assessments.
Frankly, somebody like RBS and UBS can afford to have lawyers contest it, McMullen said. Somebody who lives on Hope Street doesnt have the same ability. They can spend their personal time, but theyre not going to hire lawyers to fight it.
Committee members said they hope to educate the public about the revaluation.
All of us who own residential properties would like to see it as much as possible pushed over to commercial properties, and all of us who own commercial properties would like to see it pushed over to the residential properties, McMullen said.
And within that whole thing your house is competing with the house across town on whether your property taxes will go up, he said. Its such a big nut and so many people dont understand how the process works.
eskalka@scni.com
DES MOINES The state Economic Development Board weighing whether to give $7 million to Mason Citys downtown redevelopment project is giving key elements of the plan a little more time to progress.
The state board at its regular meeting Friday in Des Moines approved a 90-day extension for final approval of state financing for the project. The extension allows more time for the project to reach key benchmarks sought by the board.
Mason City's Southbridge Mall sells for $1.5 million MASON CITY Southbridge Mall has been sold to a New York-based company specializing in mall
Mason Citys $36.2 million downtown redevelopment project calls for a hotel, parking ramp, mixed-use building, music pavilion, and an ice arena and multipurpose center.
The project received preliminary approval for $7 million in state financing through the states Reinvestment District program.(tncms-asset)feed65c2-a2a6-11e6-8b1d-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset)
Before granting final approval, the state Economic Development Board wishes to see $10 million in private investment which would be achieved by secured financing for the hotel and a finalized lease for the arena and music pavilion.
The new deadline extends to late January.
Mason City Administrator Brent Trout briefed the state board on the project, saying the city is making progress on the lease.(tncms-asset)edc239fc-a06d-11e6-8a9d-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset)
And the hotel developer recently told the Globe Gazette he is confident he will secure financing.
Trout said if the developer is not able to secure financing, the city will explore other options, likely putting out a new request for proposals.
M ilitary chiefs are reviewing how they run their 30 billion estate, which includes a key outsourcing contract with Capita, in the wake of a damning report from the audit office.
Capita, which also collects the London congestion charge, signed a 10-year deal with the Ministry of Defence to run its giant UK estate in 2014.
However the Ministry is reviewing how it wants to run its estate just 18 months after it signed Capita to help it with the mammoth project.
It comes in the wake of a report which found "shortcomings" in the tie-up with Capita.
The National Audit Office this week claimed the outsourcing giant pocketed as profits nearly 50% of the 90 million paid in fees, although that was before costs. Capita declined to say how much it made, but analysts said it normally has a profit margin of 12% to 15%.
Concern has also grown after the MoD said it considered Capitas performance mixed despite some positive benefits.
The Ministry and Capita tie-up has faced an uphill struggle to whip the estate into shape and NAO report says the deal has scored a number of improvements despite the problems.
Top brass are due to conclude their review on December 21. The defence board will decide early next year whether to keep the contract, which can be terminated at any time.
This is an important report and we are determined to deliver a better defence estate, the MoD said.
Capita said there was no indication the Ministry would remove its ability to benefit from private sector expertise and support.
The contract is focused on delivering huge benefits to the department by securing the best property outcomes to release maximum funds for the Department and delivering sustainable savings through the efficient future maintenance of the estate," a Capita spokesperson said.
Capita shares crashed in September after a profit warning blamed on Brexit-induced jitters delaying investment decisions from clients.
BANCROFT Relatives and friends of a Bancroft man better known as Mr. Pork Chop say he was passionate about many things in life among them, RAGBRAI and his small Kossuth County town.
To the tune of his bellowing, iconic pork cho-o-o-p call, Paul Bernhard served thousands of his thick-cut Iowa Chops grilled to juicy, smoky perfection above a bed of corncobs and served on a paper towel to thousands of hungry cyclists each July.
Paul died from complications of pneumonia Wednesday at Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona. He was 88.
His 1-inch chop, initially a staple at North Iowa church dinners and community banquets, was first offered during RAGBRAI in 1982, according to his son, Matt Bernhard.
The annual bicycle ride across the state was headed through Bancroft that year, and like other entrepreneurial townspeople, Paul decided to sell food.
Pauls pork chops were a hit with the riders, Matt said, and participants begged him to sell them on future RAGBRAIs.
A lifelong farmer and a past president of the Iowa Pork Association, Paul ended up selling the chops for 25 years, becoming a celebrity in the process.
It was one of those things where he had to learn a lot of lessons and a few failures, Matt said. He was stubborn enough he never gave up on it.
Matt laughed as he recalled some of those failures setting up at the bottom of a hill, being too far from the road or trying to set up his stand in towns.
He got kicked out of towns all the time, Matt said.
Success was eventually found at farmsteads, where the Mr. Pork Chop-mobile an old school bus painted pink and with added ears to look like a pig and billowing smoke from the grills caught the riders attention, as did Pauls signature hawking, which began during a contest.
He always had a big voice on him, Matt said. Every morning, he would wake us up with that all of 11 of us as he went through our names.
As for RAGBRAI, Paul loved the people it brought to the state especially the women.
As one of the bikers always said, your dad is a chick magnet, Matt said. They all wanted to come up and give him a kiss, which he enjoyed immensely.
A stubborn German, Paul also enjoyed a good argument and wasnt afraid to speak his mind.
Matt had been working with his dad on and off since the business started, and took it over in 2008.
Although its tough to find four or five people to help him for the six days of the ride, Matt plans to continue the legacy of Mr. Pork Chop, which sells roughly 3,600 to 4,800 chops each RAGBRAI.
The mantra among cyclists Matt has heard is that theyre getting a pork chop during the ride.
Riders say they cant get pork like this in California or New York, Florida, Chicago, Minneapolis or Indianapolis, Paul told the Globe Gazette in 1998.
RAGBRAI considers Paul a legend, according to director T. J. Juskiewicz, and the organization is working with his family to honor him during the 2017 event.
We dont use that term too often with RAGBRAI, Juskiewicz said via email, referring to the term legend.
He will be missed! he said.
In Bancroft, Paul was mayor for 12 years and served on the School Board. He launched a bid for the Iowa Senate in 1998 as an independent candidate, saying he hoped to be a voice for small towns and family farmers.
He was also a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus.
Bernhards funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Johns Catholic Church in Bancroft. Visitation is 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the church.
M agic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set to swap Fleet Street for Bishopsgate in one of the biggest leasing deals of year so far, the Evening Standard understands.
Industry sources say the company has chosen 100 Bishopsgate the skyscraper being built by Canadian developer Brookfield as the location for its new headquarters, moving an army of lawyers into the heart of the City.
Freshfields, which has been looking for 300,000 square feet, has chosen Bishopsgate, above the nearby 60-70 St Mary Axe scheme, nicknamed the Can of Ham.
The move, a fillip for the London commercial property market, will be the biggest City leasing deal of the year so far.
The only bigger one in the capital this year is US tech giant Apples planned move to Battersea.
Property players such as British Land and Land Securities this week warned of falling property values and sliding rents as demand slips in the wake of Brexit.
Freshfields current home is the former site of the Daily Mail but its lease expires in the 2021, the date for a likely move.
Brookfield committed to the 37-floor tower last year. A Freshfields spokesman declined to comment.
T he celebrity-adored bag maker Longchamp, has warned that soaring West End rents could push some of its London stores into the red.
The luxury French brand, which counts BBC star Mary Berry, the Duchess of Cambridge and model Alexa Chung as fans, is famed for its foldable tote bags.
It has stores on Oxford Street, Regent Street and at Westfield White City, as well as concessions in the capital.
In accounts just filed for Longchamp (UK), the firm said: Property rental prices are at a premium, and there is therefore a risk that the high element of fixed costs could lead to stores becoming loss making.
Performance reviews of each shop are conducted on a regular basis.
Rental woes are on top of concerns about a looming hike in business rates next year. Earlier this month the brands UK general manager Paul Lorraine was one of a number of retail specialists that signed a letter to the chancellor calling for business rate changes in Westminster, to secure future growth in the West End.
Sales at Longchamps UK arm rose to 8.7 million in 2015, from 7.3 million a year earlier.
A s I battled a hangover that would fell a rhino, the Mall Tavern in Notting Hill was the last place I wanted to be. Yet thats where I was on a recent Monday lunchtime to meet Simon Townsend, chief executive of Britains biggest pub company, Enterprise Inns.
The Mall is a wood-panelled Victorian job with poshed-up food and decent ales. Townsend, a big, friendly rugger type, gets stuck in straightaway to a pint of Reunion. He notices Im greener than usual and sipping a Coke.
Hung-over? On a Monday? Top work! he guffaws. I trust you were helping a pub with your celebrations, and not a supermarket?
We were indeed, I mumble. Brilliant! Brilliant! he booms, his voice and bonhomie a testament to a jolly good boarding school. Despite his accent, unlike the beerage aristocrats of yore, Townsend wasnt born into the trade. Neither and this may come as a surprise to pubco haters was he a banker who stumbled on pubs as a way to earn a fast buck.
Why might that surprise Enterprises critics? Because, like rival Punch Taverns, Enterprise is caricatured by some as being little more than a leveraged-finance property play for whom beer and community are merely incidental.
A history lesson may explain the perception. Modern pubcos owe their existence to the governments Beer Orders of 1989, which forced brewers to sell off thousands of their pubs. The idea was to spawn a new breed of boozers rented by tenants who could stock whatever beers they wanted, breaking the stranglehold held by the breweries since Victorian times.
"The jobs very different, its far more complex and Ive had to learn to be a bit less hands-on, but I love it."
Entrepreneurs would buy the pubs, rent them to tenants and supply them with beer and spirits from central purchasing departments. Enterprises founder, Ted Tuppen, was one of the first to act. He bought 372 pubs from Bass in 1991 and, borrowing from bankers eager to lend, rapidly built up and estate of 8500.
All was dandy until 2007. Then, the fates ordered a treble shot of lethal proportions: the smoking ban, a supermarket beer price war and most crushingly the credit crunch. By now, Enterprises galloping pub-buying spree had run up debts of more than 3.4 billion but banks no longer wanted to lend. Cue a forced stampede to sell pubs by the thousand. Enterprise now has about 5500 and debts are down to a more manageable 2.2 billion, based on long-term loans rather than a maxed-out overdraft.
It was a difficult process, says Townsend, but the company had no option: You learn from your mistakes and shortcomings. I am a better businessman as a result, he says.
If it was tough for Enterprise and its shareholders, it was miserable for tenants whose livelihoods and family homes were in those pubs. Complaints came in droves to MPs, newspapers and campaign groups which accused Enterprise and Punch of unfairly kicking tenants out, overcharging for beer and generally ripping them off. Many said they were not properly told of the risks of taking over a tenancy and quickly found the numbers didnt add up, pushing them to bankruptcy.
Townsend admits: In the good times, we were very focused on making the business bigger and bigger. It was difficult to look with any external perception about what we were doing. Enterprise failed to get to know its potential tenants well enough before partnering with them.
We didnt have the time or resources and bandwidth, he says. As Ed Bedington, editor of the industrys parish magazine, the Morning Advertiser, puts it: Ted Tuppen was seen as the bogeyman of the industry, the archetypal cause of a lot of licensees misery.
Tuppen left in 2013, handing his mixed legacy to Townsend, now 54, who was his operations director. In the City, Enterprise is seen these days as being at its healthiest for years. Townsend is more popular than he was, too. Says one analyst: Simon was the guy who beat people up and was aggressive in the analysts meetings. But now hes stepped up, hes become a lot more conciliatory. Hes been a bit of a puppydog, actually.
Old London Pubs - In pictures 1 /33 Old London Pubs - In pictures circa 1900 Ye Old Dick Whittington Pub in Smithfield in the City of London London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images circa 1905 The Greyhound Public House in Dulwich, London Reinhold Thiele/Thiele/Getty Images 1923 The bar of a public house in the city of London with turkeys and hams on sale for Christmas Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1937 Australian heavyweight boxer George Cook carrying a barrel of beer above his head at the pub he owns in Marylebone, London. Although the work keeps him fit, the British Boxing Board of Control has refused to renew his fighting licence J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1938 1938 'Kim', the buffet cat, with a barmaid at the Sloane Square buffet 'The Hole in the Wall' John F. Stephenson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1939 A group of sailors from the naval reserve enjoying a drink in a pub Walter Bellamy/London Express/Getty Images 1939 A couple of men enjoying a pint at a London pub, protected by sandbags George W. Hales/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1947 Fleet Street crime reporters meet at 'the dive', St Stephen's Tavern, across the road from the Houses of Parliament, London Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1947 Patrons of The Crown public house, on Blackfriars Road, London, celebrate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1948 A new sign about to be hung outside 'The Greyhound', an old coaching inn in Carshalton Warburton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1949 Publican Peggy Powell stocks a selection of London brews at the Shakespeare Hotel in Folkestone, Kent, in order to maintain her popularity with London holidaymakers Don Price/Fox Photos/Getty Images 1949 Mr John Chester, pub licensee, listens as organist Vick Smith plays the organ which he has had installed in his pub The Earl of Derby, Forest Gate Fox Photos/Getty Images A busy street scene outside the Elephant and Castle tavern, Southwark. A horse tram and horse drawn onmibus wait at the road junction. It was destroyed in the Blitz and the area has been redeveloped English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images 1949 1949: A view of pedestrians and a street corner pub in Prusom Street, Wapping, east London Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1949 Men unloading barrels of beer outside a pub in the Pool of London, while their carthorse feeds from a nosebag Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1950 Two men enjoying a drink at 'The Prospect of Whitby', one of London's famous public houses Central Press/Getty Images 1950 Training barmen at a pub near Cambridge Circus, Charing Cross, London Fox Photos/Getty Images 1950: A contingent of Chelsea Pensioners attend the unveiling of a portrait of one of their number outside 'The Old Sergeant' on Parsonage Lane, Enfield MacGregor/Topical Press Agency/Getty Image 1950 An old woman sitting in the Green Man, a pub in Bethnal Green, London Erich Auerbach/Getty Images 1955 A group of men play skittles in the Black Lion pub, London Three Lions/Getty Images 1959 Dominic Behan singing at a folk session, Enterprise Public House, Long Acre, London EFD SS/Heritage Images/Getty Images 1961 British film and stage actor Albert Finney playing the piano in a pub near London's Cambridge Theatre where he is appearing in the stage version of 'Billy Liar' John Pratt/Getty Images 1965 A group of four newly-appointed clergymen enjoy a drink with the Bishop of Southwark at a local pub Keystone/Getty Images 1969 Customers at the 'Piss House' pub on the Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London Charlie Phillips/Getty Images 1971 27-year-old landlady Linda Coulter-Brown poses with six of her barmaids at the 'Bird's Nest', a new Railway pub in West End Lane, north-west London Douglas Miller/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hes certainly in puppydog mode when I meet him. And hes surprised at that description of the old him: I dont think Ive changed particularly. The jobs very different, its far more complex and Ive had to learn to be a bit less hands-on, but I love it.
Now, out of the crisis phase, hes making long-term changes to the business model. Currently, 4500 of its pubs are leased to tenants who pay a discounted rent in return for buying beer through Enterprise. But in the next four years, many will go in two different directions: 1000 will be operated on a rent-only basis, while 800 will be wholly managed by Enterprise.
That last bit is a big shift. Actually running a boozer is very different to merely being a landlord and beer supplier. So Townsend has teamed up with operators such as Geronimo Inns founder Rupert Clevely and Karen Jones of Cafe Rouge fame to manage some of his venues.
These are guys weve rated for years and watched with envy. To now have the option to partner up with them and use their expertise and retail skills is fantastically exciting, he says.
Enterprise will, he says, apply the learnings to its other managed pubs. Cynics believe the shift is due to rules that came in this July, giving tenants the option to break the tie between tenants and pubcos. The aim is to placate tenants who complain that Enterprise, Punch and others overcharge for their beer and dont offer enough of a rent reduction to compensate.
Simon Clarke of the Eagle Ale House in Battersea, is one. He says: My rents excessive and I dont have the freedom to buy the beers I want at the price or speed I could get them if I went direct to the breweries. Hes trying to use the new rules to free himself of the tie, but claims Enterprise is putting hurdles and costs in his way. It seems like the primary aim is to deny us the option.
Enterprise denies this, but says some tenants want to have it both ways cheaper rent and no beer-supply arrangement. Thats not on and, Townsend says, could lead to pubs deteriorating in quality. If our income reduces, so does our capability to invest in the pubs. And if were no longer interested as an investor, somebody else has to be, to keep the place fresh and relevant. So whos that going to be? Banks? As one analyst says, managing its pubs in-house gets rid of the whole problem.
Boozers are clearly in Townsends blood. He seems to know practically every pub in London, and is grateful to his wife Sally for putting up with my passion for pubs for the decades since they met at university. His interest was sparked as a teenager when his father Patrick was hired to run Matthew Brown, a North-West brewer. It gave me the bug to see how excited he was about brewing, he says.
Townsend repeatedly speaks of his admiration for his late father, an enthusiastic and passionate businessman. He still winces at the angst he caused by failing his A levels. It was a huge moment between us. My father paid for me to go through school. It was as close a thing as you can imagine to a falling-out.
He passed his retakes and went to college to study agriculture. The subject choice still mystifies him. Beyond a passion for rugby, he was a bit lost in those days. Perhaps his schooling didnt help: he was sent away to Denstone College in Staffordshire, boarding from the age of eight, not even returning home for half terms. I hated it, he grimaces.
At uni, he took a course in making beer, emerging as a qualified brewer. That led to jobs selling beers, wines and spirits to pubs for the big producers. He was sales director at Marstons when Tuppen hired him to run logistics and marketing at Enterprise. It was 1998 and we had about 1000 pubs. By the time I became operations director in 2006, we were at 8000, he says.
After solid results this week, showing pre-tax profits of 122 million, it seems hes created a company with scale and a sustainable future. Would his father be proud? I hope so. I really, really hope so. I love the fact that Im doing what gave him so much pleasure in his career, and I hope hes looking down with a smile, he pauses, and a pint in his hand.
I wonder if Patricks casting a heavenly light on me too. My hangover has magically disappeared. A pint of Reunion, please, barman.
W hen it comes to loathsome and unscrupulous journalists its hard to beat J J Hunsecker in the classic 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success.
The New York hack, chillingly played by Burt Lancaster, is able to coerce Tony Curtiss desperate press agent into destroying a young jazz musician by planting drugs on him and tipping off the cops so that Hunsecker can pursue a controlling relationship with his sister. All in return for a one-sentence mention for the PR mans client in Hunseckers column.
Sadly, the golden age of newspapers has gone. Even though the Evening Standard now has close to two million readers, collectively the printed press doesnt have the circulation it did it in the Fifties. Thats the kind of power that came with 60 million daily readers. These days Id struggle to get a complimentary ticket to a Phil Collins concert.
Critics of the press would have you believe we spend all day thinking up nefarious plans to manipulate the mindless masses, but the truth is that newspapers dont have the monopoly on news anymore. Some might cheer this development. But what half-truths and full-blooded lies now pass as professional journalism?
The mainstream media has taken as much of a battering as mainstream politicians of late. But what would you prefer instead? Breitbart News and Donald Trump? And the internet is full of unverifiable, unaccountable fakery passed off as the real thing.
The President-elect shows no sign of letting up his Twitter tirade against The New York Times for having the impertinence to question pretty much everything about him. Yet Trump isnt the only one guilty of trying to silence dissent. The irony is that in the information age, with our social media friends and networks, were exposed to ever fewer viewpoints. We only read news and interact with people who reaffirm what we already believe.
Its a worrying trend. Its like a child sticking his fingers in his ears, refusing to listen to what he doesnt want to hear. A viewpoint that cant stand up to challenge isnt worth anything. Conversely, unpalatable views that cant be debated in the mainstream will naturally gravitate towards the fringes.
Despite the many failings of newspapers we have to appeal to the broadest cross-section of society or we go out of business. Real journalism takes time, training and money. Its getting into the real world, talking to people, holding the powerful to account. Its not sitting at your desk bashing out 140 characters on Twitter. Even if your desk happens to be in the Oval Office.
The force is still with Carrie and Harrison. We think
'Affair': Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in The Empire Strikes Back
Harrison Ford must be regretting he agreed to set foot back in the Millennium Falcon. First he cheated death when a door crushed his leg during filming of The Force Awakens and now hes having to account for an alleged affair with co-star Carrie Fisher on the original Star Wars 40 years ago. Young Han Solo might have done the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs but asking an old Han Solo to recall what happened in 1976 could be hard. Especially as Fisher said her own memory is hazy because of the brutal strength of Harrisons preferred strain of pot.
Questions would probably be asked today about a 33-year-old, married male actor getting together with a 19-year-old female ingenue. Yet Fisher, 60, offered the prospect of a happy ending for Star Wars fans when she said the pair could still grow old together. Ford, 76, had better hurry up and break the news to Chewie.
At least Arthur can say hes streetwise
Runaway teenager Arthur Heeler-Froods parents should be proud of him. He may have had them worried sick when he disappeared for 10 weeks, and sleeping rough on the streets of London is not the safest place for a 15-year-old, but Arthur is clearly a young man with get-up and go. Literally.
Most other bored teenagers would probably while away their time playing Xbox or sending selfies on Snapchat. Not Arthur. Not only does he read great books such as Down and Out in Paris and London, he decided to experience what George Orwell described. Mr and Mrs Heeler-Frood should be grateful that he didnt end up in Paris working as a plongeur. That really was the pits.
* Nine out of 10 British surnames can be traced back hundreds of years. The study by the Arts and Humanities Research Council would seem to suggest immigration is a recent phenomenon but history shows us that isnt the case. Britain has been subject to waves of migration going back millennia.
Whats more likely is that foreign names were anglicised while others faded out. Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis changed their names to make them sound less German. That was only 70 years ago. Holding on to our names, our identities, our otherness, may be a recent phenomenon but just because youre called Smith or Dawkins doesnt mean youre not descended from immigrants.
A piece of street art depicting Hillary Clinton as Wonder Woman has popped up near Old Street.
Anonymous London-based street artist Pegasus paid tribute to the Democrat Partys presidential nominee by taking a part of one of her recent speeches and incorporating it into the piece.
The artwork, which says Never give up can be seen on Great Eastern Street near Old Street.
The artist said that he was inspired by her first public appearance since she lost the election to Donald Trump, where she urged supporters to stay engaged in politics, adding that America is worth it. Our children are worth it.
(Pegasus ) / Pegasus
It has been an emotional week knowing the country I once called home is headed into dark days of uncertainty, Pegasus told the Evening Standard. After hearing Hillary Clintons speech during her first public appearance since last weeks results, I felt inspired to create a tribute of hope incorporating her positive words, Never give up.
In the same speech, she admitted that since losing the election all I wanted to do was curl up with a good book and our dogs and never leave the house again. Perhaps this inspiring artwork will convince her to make a trip over to Old Street.
(Pegasus) / @pegasusart
Visit standard.co.uk/arts for the latest news and reviews from Londons arts scene
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G ood news for skiers: Alpine ski resorts have been opening a month early thanks to big snowfalls, with more than a metre in parts.
However, it coincides with exclusive research for this page, revealing that car hire costs in European ski locations can be three to six times the price of a ski pass once the dreaded extra costs at the rental desk are added on.
In seven European ski locations researched for us, a six-day ski pass ranged from 158 in Bansko, Bulgaria, to 182 in Grandvalira, Andorra, and 234 at Alpe dHuez, Grenoble.
Meanwhile, a weeks car hire including extra rental desk payments for ski racks, winterisation charges, excess/waiver insurance, extra driver tariffs, sat nav charges and child car seat fees can total more than 1,000 in Geneva, 928 in Turin, 837 in Barcelona, 761 in Grenoble, 704 in Inverness, 682 in Innsbruck and 458 in Sofia.
iCarhireinsurance.com, which provides stand-alone car hire excess insurance, researched seven European ski gateways to see how a skiers costs snowball when they pick up their hire car. Hire companies Avis, Sixt, Europcar, Budget and Hertz were researched for the hire of a medium compact car from December 27 2016 to January 3 2017.
Geneva emerged as the most expensive place to hire a car for the week, at an average 418, with extras at the rental desk costing, on average, an additional 601, consisting of a ski rack (53), winterisation costs (25 for items such as snow tyres/chains), an extra named driver (90), a sat nav (142), childs car seat (61) and 230 for excess waiver policies (135 for super damage waiver, 51 for super theft waiver and 44 for tyre and windscreen excess waiver).
The costs of extras bought from the rental desk varied widely. Ski racks ranged from 23 with Budget and Sixt in Sofia to more than 60 in Barcelona with Avis and Budget. Winterisation charges ranged from 24 in Geneva with Avis to 95 with the same firm in Barcelona. iCarhireinsurance points out that travellers need to research the driving regulations of the country they are hiring in, otherwise they (not the rental company) could face a fine.
Extra driver costs ranged from 22 with Avis and Sixt in Sofia, to 106 with Budget in Geneva. For drivers under 25, prices can be prohibitive, with rental companies charging more than 200 for a young driver in Inverness and Grenoble.
Only in Sofia, which had an average sat nav hire cost of 57, did the cost of a unit fall below 80. In Geneva and Turin, the average cost was more than 100. Costs for car seats ranged from 22 with Sixt in Sofia to 158 in Turin with Budget.
As for car hire excess insurance waivers, rental companies often offer three different excess policies: one for theft (average cost 32), one for damage (average cost 110) and one covering tyre and windscreen protection (average cost 33).
Europcar bundles these policies together in a Combined Super Waiver policy across all destinations in the survey (apart from Innsbruck) from between 117 and 254. Other providers also bundle these products, but only in some destinations. For example, Sixt offer it in Barcelona for 82, Avis in Inverness for 119, and Budget offer it in Inverness for 119 and Turin for 289.
If a hire car is damaged or stolen, even if its not the hirers fault, the hirer is liable for the first part of the claim (i.e. the excess amount), which can be up to 2,500 (the excess amount in Turin with Europcar).
Family cars: Skoda Superb vs Ford Mondeo vs Volvo S60 1 /17 Family cars: Skoda Superb vs Ford Mondeo vs Volvo S60 1st Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 150 SE Technology 1st Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 150 SE Technology Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium Volvo V60 D3 Business Edition 1st Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 150 SE Technology Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium Volvo V60 D3 Business Edition Skoda Superb vs Ford Mondeo vs Volvo S60 1st Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI 150 SE Technology Volvo V60 D3 Business Edition Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 150 Titanium Volvo V60 D3 Business Edition
This is where iCarhireinsurance comes in. It points out that instead of buying excess policies from the rental company, you can buy a policy from a specialist insurance company for 23.92 for the week (or 37.99 for an annual policy for unlimited European trips). An iCarhireinsurance.com excess policy also includes vulnerable parts of a vehicle, providing up to 6,000 of protection cover.
Its good advice, and theyre not the only ones. When I rented earlier this year, I found a useful website moneymaxim.co.uk that helps you find the best deals. I ended up paying just 2.23 a day for excess waiver insurance.
Dont add to your holiday costs by getting caught out when you pick up your hire car, says Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com. Advance planning can keep costs to a minimum. Save hundreds by buying your excess waiver insurance from a specialist company in advance, take your own sat-nav and car seat, keep extra drivers to a minimum and you wont be looking at a wipe-out at the rental desk.
More on child car seat charges here: skyscanner.net/news/flying-babies
@djrwilliams
L atvia-based Dartz designs armoured SUVs for celebrities and oligarchs who want to add a touch of artistic flair to their military-grade vehicles.
Kanye West, and the producers of Sacha Baron Cohens The Dictator, are believed to have been previous clients of the firm, which has also made the worlds most expensive SUV. The Trumpmobile of Leonard Yankelovichs imagination would provide an electric shock to anyone who touches it, deliver 1500 bhp, and protect Donald Trump behind B7-rated armour.
Although many of the details remain unknown, the official state Trumpmobile is believed to have been undergoing secret tests at a General Motors facility over the summer. Obamas world famous Beast, described by the President as a Caddy, basically on a tank frame, will be decommissioned at the end of his presidency.
The Beast became internationally renowned for its manoeuvres in foreign countries, including a five-point turn outside Downing Street and getting beached outside the US Embassy in Dublin.
A military-grade vehicle kitted out to look like one of GMs Cadillac saloons, it has night vision cameras, 5-inch thick bulletproof glass, 8-inch doors, its own oxygen supply, and a 2 pint supply of blood in the event the President is injured.
Its designed to repel any kind of threat to Americas Commander-in-Chief, including IED and RPG strikes. There are no holes for keys and it is cut off entirely from the outside world in order to keep the President safe from a chemical or biological attack.
President Trump will have access to a similar fleet of these cars, probably around 12 in total, with each expected to cost more than 1 million.
The very first US President to start using cars for official engagements was President William Howard Taft (1909-1913), who had the White House stables converted to make way for his Pierce-Arrow limousines.
Donald Trump - In pictures 1 /112 Donald Trump - In pictures President Donald Trump takes the oath of office as his wife Melania Trump holds the bible and his son Barron Trump looks on, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC Getty Images Acceptance speech Republican president-elect Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to the crowd during his acceptance speech at his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of 9 November 2016 in New York Getty Images Little Trump Donald Trump pictured when he was 4 years old Donald J Trump/Instagram The Trump Princess Donald Trump waves to reporters in 1988 with his first wife Ivana as they board their yacht 'The Trump Princess' in New York AP Donald Trump stands next to one of his three Sikorsky helicopters at New York Port Authority's West 30 Street Heliport in 1988 Out on the town Trump and his first wife Ivana arrive at a social engagement in New York in December 1989 AFP/Getty Images Surviving at the top Trump followed up his successful book The Art of the Deal with Surviving At The Top in 1990 Random House Meeting the King of Pop With Michael Jackson in 1990 FilmMagic Taking a break with Miss Universe contestants Donald Trump meets Miss Universe contestants during a break in rehearsals in the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas in 1990 Miss Universe Organization via AP Genie of the lamp Donald Trump stands next to a genie lamp in 1990 as the lights of his Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort mark its grand opening in Atlantic City AP Marla's wedding day Donald and Marla Trump at their wedding in 1993 AP Donald Trump with daughter Ivanka at a Harley Davidson Cafe Event, New York City on 9 October 1993 Rex Features New arival Marla and Donald Trump leave St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida with their newborn baby girl, Tiffany on 14 October 1993 AP Behind the lens Donald Trump takes a picture of Bridget Marks in 1993 after interviewing her for Playboy magazine's 40th anniversary playmate in New York AFP/Getty Images Top Trump New York real estate giant Donald Trump poses in his Trump Tower office on a giant letter "T" on 08 May 1996 AFP/Getty Images New love interest Donald Trump and Melania arrive for VH1's Divas Live concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City on 13 April 1999 Getty Images Toasting in the New Year Donald Trump and Melania toast the new year during Trump's gala bash in 2000 The Sun-Sentinel/AP Wax work A wax replica of Donald Trump stands ready to be put on display at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, New York City in 2000 Madame Tussaud's/Getty Images Rebuild call Donald Trump talks in 2005 to reporters where he presented a proposal that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center be rebuilt in New York Reuters Cracking prformance Amy Poehler, Tracy Morgan, Donald Trump, Seth Myers, Maya Rudolph perform on Saturday Night Live in 2002 Rex Features 'How To Get Rich' Donald Trump poses with a copy of his new book 'How To Get Rich' during a book signing on 24 March 2004 at Barnes and Noble in Lincoln Center in New York Getty Images Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka (left) and girlfriend Melania Knauss (right) attend the "Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century" Costume Institute benefit gala on April 26, 2004 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City Getty Images Fired up figure Donald Trump poses with the new Donald Trump 12-inch talking doll 29 September 2004 at the Toys "R" Us store in New York City Getty Images Olympic flame Donald Trump carries the Olympic flame during Day 15 of the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay on 19 June 19, 2004 in New York Getty Images Donald Trump on The Celebrity Apprentice (2005) Rex Features Anyone for golf? Donald Trump gestures as he arrives at the Old Course in St Andrews where he was meeting with the media to answer questions regarding Trump International Golf Links on 28 April 2005 in St Andrews, Scotland Getty Images Hollywod star Donald Trump, billionaire developer and producer of NBC's "The Apprentice," with his wife, Melania, and their son, Barron, pose for a photo after he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles in 2007 AP In the Highlands U.S. property mogul Donald Trump gestures during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland on 27 May 2010 Reuters Donald Trump plays a round of golf after the opening of the The Trump International Golf Links Course in Scotland in 2012 Getty Images Family time Donald Trump, Barron Trump and Melania Trump attends Trump Invitational Grand Prix Mar-a-Lago Club at The Mar-a-Largo Club on 04 January 2015 in Palm Beach, Florida Getty Images Officially in the running U.S. Republican presidential candidate, real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump poses with his family after formally announcing his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during an event at Trump Tower in New York on 16 June 2015 Reuters Love, life and laughter Donald Trump sits with his wife Melania Trump while appearing at an NBC Town Hall at the Today Show on 21 April 2016 in New York City. Getty Images Thumbs up Donald Trump speaks on the last day of the Republican National Convention on 21 July 2016, in Cleveland, AFP/Getty Images Don't cry for me ... Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds babies at a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado on 29 July 2016 Reuters Donald Trump eating KFC on his private jet in August 2016 Is this really the Oval Office? Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump views a replica of the Oval Office on a tour of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 30 September 2016 Reuters Women for Trump Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump kisses a "Women for Trump" placard during a rally at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida on 12 October 2016 AFP/Getty Images In debate Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, America on 09 October 2016 AP Love your country The future is orange: Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump hugs a U.S. flag on 24 October 2016 Reuters U.S. President-elect U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S. on 09 November 2016 Reuters 60 Minutes Donald Trump and wife Melania being interviewed on 13 November 2016 by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes 60 Minutes/CBS At The Whiie House US President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office of the White House on 10 November 2016 EPA Kiss-story Republican president-elect Donald Trump embraces his wife Melania Trump during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in the early morning hours of 09 November 2016 in New York Getty Images Person of the Year U.S. President-elect Donald Trump poses on the cover of Time Magazine after being named its person of the year, in a picture provided by the publication in New York on 7 December 2016 Time Magazine Meeting Kanye U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and musician Kanye West pose for media at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York on 13 December 2016 Reuters First Press Conference President-elect Donald Trump stands with his son Eric Trump (left) daughter Ivanka and son Donald Trump Jr. (right) on 11 January 2017 Reuters US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington,Virginia 19 on January 2017 AFP/Getty Images Big shoes to fill: US President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania arrive to attend an inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on 19 January 2017 AFP/Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania arrive for a VIP reception and dinner with donors in Washington on 19 January 2017 AP British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump walk along The Colonnade of the West Wing at The White House on January 27, 2017 in Washington, DC Getty Images Pope Francis walks along with US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump during a private audience at the Vatican in May 2017 AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump inspects border wall prototypes in March 2018 AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump walk to a joint news conference at Chequers in July 2018 Reuters US President Donald Trump takes the hand of Prime Minister Theresa May as they enter Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire in July 2018 PA A six-meter high cartoon baby blimp of US President Donald Trump is set to fly as a protest against his visit July 2018 AP Activists inflate a giant balloon depicting US President Donald Trump as an orange baby during a demonstration against Trump's visit to the UK in Parliament Square, London July 2018 AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump with The Queen in July 2018 AP German Chancellor Angela Merkel deliberates with US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the official agenda on the second day of the G7 summit on June 9, 2018 in Charlevoix, Canada Getty Images President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island in Singapore on 12 June 2018 Evan Vucci/AP U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland in July 2018 Reuters US President Donald Trump meets with rapper Kanye West in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on 18th October 2018 AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian posed for a photograph together at the White House meeting Donald Trump/Twitter A White House staff member reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference in November 2018 Reuters President Donald Trump looks over tables of fast food for the the college football playoff champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House in January 2019 Reuters US President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un following a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019 AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump (left) with Nigel Farage when they met met face-to-face on 2nd March 2019 PA/White House President Donald Trump smiles at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, after signing a proclamation in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, Monday, March 25, 2019 AP US President Donald Trump (L) First Lady Melania Trump (C) and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe' Akie Abe (R) watch a sumo battle during the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on May 26, 2019 AFP/Getty Images President Donald Trump gestures after receiving a prayer at McLean Bible Church on 2nd June 2019 AP US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump make their way to board Air Force One on 2nd June 2019 AFP/Getty Images Donald and Melania Trump arrive at Stansted Airport on 3rd June 2019 AP President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are pictured ahead a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018 AFP/Getty Images Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg watches as Donald Trump enters the United Nations to speak with reporters on September 23, 2019 Reuters Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during a welcoming ceremony at the NATO leaders summit in Watford on December 4, 2019 Reuters President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, in Milwauke AP US president Donald Trump delivers a speech at the Congres center during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 21, 2020 AFP via Getty Images US President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio AFP via Getty Images A car with US President Trump drives past supporters in a motorcade outside of Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland AFP via Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump works in the Presidential Suite while receiving treatment after testing positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland via Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley October 4, 2020, in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Not shown in the photo also in the room on the call is Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Reuters Donald Trump walks out of hospital after receiving treatment for Covid-19 AP Mr Trump boards Marine One to return to the White House after receiving treatment for coronavirus AP Donald Trump stands on the Truman Balcony after returning to the White House from hospital Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump removes his mask upon return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 05, 2020 in Washington Getty Images
Remarkably, the Presidential state cars were completely unmodified until Franklin Roosevelt starting being driven in a converted Lincoln known the Sunshine Special, the "first Presidential car to acquire its own personality". Like Obamas Beast, the Sunshine was flown around the world for high profile visits, including the Potsdam conference with Stalin and Churchill.
Even more remarkably considering todays security concerns, the Presidents regularly rode with the top down during official visits, but this stopped after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.
Resplendent in gold and covered in body armour, the Trumpmobile envisaged by Dartz Motorz would be a radical adaptation of the Mercedes GL-Class. But while the Dartz machine will probably have to remain a render, the Secret Services 1 million Cadillac-come-tanks will be revealed to the world just before Trumps Inauguration Day on January 20th.
Follow Evening Standard Motors on Twitter: @ES_Motors.
B rand ambassador and beer whisperer Chris Moriarty has lived in Glasgow for three years and worked for the UKs first experiential brewery, Drygate in the East End, since 2014. Taking the idea of transparency at the heart of craft beer to the extreme, visitors can watch the brewing through a glass wall. If that isnt close enough, you can actually brew with the Drygate gang using their studio brew kit. Here Chris shares his thoughts on craft beer and favourite Glasgow hangouts.
What I love about Glasgow is the people. Its a very open, welcoming and inviting city. The people are really friendly and now weve got a really good craft beer scene, theres no reason to leave.
The number one thing Id recommend would be a tour of Drygate. Something else I find absolutely fascinating is the tour of Glasgow Central train station. There is so much rich history. Id also recommend Blue Lagoon, underneath central station, for a haggis supper.
My favourite Glasgow hangouts are Six Degrees North, theres also Dog House in Merchant City. Ox and Finch is probably the best date night restaurant in the world. It does sharing plates with locally sourced produce.
Ox and Finch restaurant, image: Morag McLean / Photograph by Morag McLean
The main difference in the craft beer scene in Glasgow is that we now have one. Theres Drygate, weve had West Brewery for a number of years - theyre inspired by traditional German brews so create wheat beers and lagers. We also have Shilling Brewing Company - a small brew pub in the financial district, and Crossing the Rubicon in the West End - a craft beer curry house.
The best place to go for a drink depends what youre looking for. If youre after cask beer, Id go to the State bar. For gin, go to Gin 71 for fantastic cocktails.
Glasgow cityscape
My favourite view is on my morning commute. Theres a stretch of track when youre leaving Partick train station and it gives you this interesting dichotomy of where Glasgows been and where its going. On the left you can see the old West End, the university buildings and the spires, and on the right the old industrial areas, the new developments, the Armadillo (the Clyde Auditorium), the SECC, the SSE Hydro, the BBC Centre, the Riverside Museum and the Science Centre.
Glasgow School of Art, image: Nils Hasenau
My favourite building is the Mackintosh building for the Glasgow School of Art. Theres also Glasgow University - one of the inspirations for Hogwarts.
A dish from the Stravaigin restaurant / Photograph by Julie McCulloch
Id spend a lazy Sunday eating as much breakfast as possible. Id recommend the Merchant City because you have Cafe Gandolfi and Something is reopening there. Gibson Street would be another good place because you have Left Bank and Stravaigin - theyre all really nice for breakfast. Around the corner is Tchai-Ovna - a delightful tea house where you could spend an entire day drinking tea, eating hummus and trying to forget you have a hangover.
Famed for its spectacular Victorian architecture and vibrant cultural scene, Scotlands largest city is a must-see. To discover more about Glasgow and the people who call it home visit peoplemakeglasgow.com
A woman has died after being hit by a car while reportedly standing on a traffic island in east London.
The pedestrian, in her 30s, was struck by a white Range Rover Sport, in Commercial Road, Limehouse, just before 11.30pm on Thursday.
It is believed she was standing on a traffic island in the middle of the busy road when she was hit.
Metropolitan Police officers and crews from London Ambulance Service and Londons Air Ambulance rushed to the scene but the woman was pronounced dead at midnight.
A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
He is being held at an east London police station.
A Met Police spokesman said: Next of kin have been informed. Formal identification is yet to take place.
A post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.
Detectives are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Met's witness appeal line on 0208 345 4955.
P olice seized this Lamborghini which was allegedly being driven without a licence or insurance.
The 225,000 supercar was pulled over on the Queens Road in Hendon, north London. Police accused the driver of using his mobile phone at the wheel.
The 42-year-old was then unable to produce a driving licence or proof of insurance, saying he did not hold a UK licence and his German one was back in Germany, officers said.
Police seized the right-hand drive vehicle, which had a German number plate, on Wednesday.
The driver could face disqualification and a fine of up to 500.
He will either be summonsed or receive a fixed penalty notice and points on his licence for driving whilst using a mobile phone, driving without a licence and with no insurance.
The arrest was part of a week-long national police operation against mobile phone use behind the wheel.
Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Rickett, Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: "Throughout the week of action, there will be up to 600 officers each day focussed on motorists who unlawfully use hand-held mobile devices whilst driving and who pose a very real danger to themselves, other drivers and pedestrians.
"I want to send a clear message to the motorists of London: driving whilst on a mobile phone is unacceptable.
You are unaware of your surroundings, you are not in control of your vehicle and you are breaking the law.
"If you are caught driving whilst on a mobile phone, you could receive points on your licence, a substantial fine or a driver disqualification.
If you cause a collision, you could be facing imprisonment.
MASON CITY Those who are staying at a Mason City motel have until Dec. 1 to leave due to alleged health and safety concerns that include fire hazards, mold and uncleanliness.
The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health this week revoked the motel/hotel license of American Best Inn & Suites, 24 Fifth St. S.W.
The motel is now under city regulation for health and safety as it is now considered a rental property rather than a motel because guests are staying there long-term, according to Kara Ruge, marketing and public information officer with the county health department.
It was the city that ordered everyone to leave by Dec. 1.
Ray Quayle, the Mason City housing official and zoning administrator who went along on a recent inspection of the motel, said the violations were so numerous that it would take an hour to describe them all in detail.
However, motel manager Robin Joines said, This whole things is bogus.
She said the county public health departments report after a recent inspection was exaggerated.
She also said the problems in the occupied rooms have already been taken care of and maintenance is now working on the unoccupied rooms.
Joines said the guests, who generally stay there temporarily until they can find somewhere more permanent to live, now have nowhere to go and could be homeless just when the weather is getting colder.
Housing in Mason City is extremely hard to find on a budget, she said.
She said if the guests who include a 75-year-old and another individual in a wheelchair die on the streets after leaving the motel, its on their heads, referring to the county health department and the city.
Quayle said the motel is owned by three Mason City doctors, but he doesnt know their names.
Online Cerro Gordo County property records indicate Ace Ventures LLC owns the motel.
Quayle said the police department and county public health have received numerous complaints about the motel.
Those complaints include mold, problems with electrical wiring and plumbing, fire hazards and a lack of general cleanliness, Quayle said.
Ruge said Iowa law defines a hotel or motel as a facility offering sleeping accommodations for transient guests.
Those who rent a room for more than 31 consecutive days is not classified as a transient guest, according to Ruge.
Ruge said administrative rules state owners or managers are expected to keep hotels clean and free of refuse; keep the floors, ceilings and walls in good repair; and keep furniture, drapes and accessories, bedding and linens clean and in good repair.
The motel was deemed not in compliance with all these rules in one form or another, according to Ruge.
She said guests were receiving mail at the motel and using their own linens, furniture and appliances, as well as providing their own housekeeping.
Once the license for a motel or hotel is revoked, the license holder has 30 days to request in writing a hearing before the county board of health, Ruge said.
Joines, who would not tell the Globe Gazette who the owners of the motel are, did say they plan to fight the decision.
We are not trying to be slumlords, she said. We want to fix these problems.
Joines, who has been the motels manager for two years, said it has taken that entire time to clean this place up.
She said police officers came along for the Nov. 1 inspection, but they did not find any drugs, drug paraphernalia or guests with outstanding arrest warrants.
Before the motel lost its license, Joines announced to the guests that she would be hosting a Thanksgiving Day potluck for them at her home, with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and pie already provided.
Id love for it to be a tradition, she said.
However, officials have told her theres no hope of keeping the place open after Dec. 1, she said.
Laura Bethke, one of the guests at the motel, said she doesnt have any complaints about the place.
It does not look good on the outside, but inside it is comfortable, she said.
Also, they keep it pretty clean in here and there arent any bugs, Bethke said.
Cable also comes free with the rent, she added.
Bethke, who works at Good Shepherd Health Center, said she has been staying at the motel since August, when she got out of the hospital after a bout of double pneumonia, because she didnt have the money for anything else.
She said a lot of people staying at the motel dont have the money to put down a deposit on an apartment.
Bethke said she wishes the guests had more time to make arrangements to find somewhere else to live.
I dont think thats right, she said.
T his is the shocking moment a drunken passenger shoved a ticket inspector onto the tracks minutes before a high speed train passed through the station.
CCTV footage shows the moment Andrew Kapta, 41, pushed 50-year-old Andrew Foran as he stood near the platform edge at Hanwell station in west London.
The footage, released on Friday, captured Mr Foran as he fell backwards and tumbled onto the tracks before Kapta laughed to himself and walked off.
Kapta was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Thursday after he admitted actual bodily harm and endangering the safety of a person on the railway at Blackfriars Crown Court.
The court heard how Mr Foran narrowly escaped tragedy as struggled to get back on his feet following the assault.
Traumatising: Kapta shoved ticket inspector Andrew Foran onto the tracks at Hanwell station / British Transport Police
The ticket inspector was forced to walk down the tracks to where the platform slopes in order to haul himself to safety just two minutes before a high speed train passed through.
After he managed to get back on the platform he dialled 999, leading to Kaptas arrest.
The court heard the 41-year-old has a string of convictions for hurling drunken abuse on the railways.
Judge Peter Clarke QC told him after he was jailed: What happened there was nightmarish, and it will live in Mr Forans recollection for the rest of his life.
It has had an extreme effect on him.
Jailed: Andrew Kapta, 41, drunkenly shoved a ticket inspector on to train tracks
You ended up smiling and chuckling at that man as he stood on the railway, hoping to goodness a train wasnt about to arrive I find this incident terrible.
Mr Foran said the attack left him traumatised, afraid to go to work and that he still suffers nightmares and flashbacks to the incident on Friday, June 17.
Police described Kapta as a dangerous and violent man after his sentencing.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Martin Coburn, said: This was a highly traumatising assault for the victim who continues to experience the shock of this nasty and senseless assault.
The consequences of Kaptas unprovoked shove could have claimed the life of his victim. Thankfully, he was clear of the tracks before the approaching train sped through.
Kapta was a dangerous and violent man and I hope this 42 month sentence gives him time to reflect on the severity of this assault.
We simply will not tolerate aggression, hostility and violence on the rail network, and will stop at nothing to bring offenders to justice.
A n investigation has been launched after a man died in custody at a west London police station.
The man, who is white and in his 50s but has not yet been named, died at Southall police station at 7.30am on Friday, November 18.
According to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), he had been arrested in Action at around 10.50am on Thursday morning.
At around 6am on Friday, staff started to become concerned about his health.
When his condition started to rapidly deteriorate, it is claimed they called for medical assistance but he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
A spokesman for the IPCC said: "The IPCC was informed of the death by the Metropolitan Police Service and an independent investigation was declared at 8.30am.
"IPCC investigators have attended the scene and the post incident procedure, where officers and staff from the custody suite are providing initial accounts.
"Efforts are being made to contact the mans family to inform them of his death. A post mortem is due to take place in the coming days."
Associate Commissioner Tom Milsom said: "My thoughts are with the family and friends of the man and all those affected by his death.
The investigation, which is in its very early stages, will look at the full circumstances surrounding this incident.
T he crew of a cargo ship told today how they helped save a drowning man from the Thames.
The Polla Rose was leaving Comleys Wharf in Fulham early on Tuesday morning when the three-man crew spotted the man in the water screaming for help.
They sprang into action and used the tide and the hull of the 700-tonne ship to try to manoeuvre him towards shallower water.
A police officer risked her life in the rescue by climbing down a pilot ladder on the side of the ship and into the water when she saw he was struggling to stay afloat.
The police constable, based at Hammersmith and Fulham, stayed with the man holding his head above the water for a number of minutes until a marine police unit arrived.
A Met spokeswoman praised the actions of the officer saying they went above the call of duty.
Rescue op: master Kevin Hughes, mate Connor Keeshan and deck hand Alan Mole
The 40-year-old victim was said to be recovering in hospital today.
The rescue effort took place at around 3.10am near the Fulham Riverside development. Master Kevin Hughes, 36, was in charge of the vessel along with mate Connor Keeshan, 21, and deck hand Alan Mole, 18.
They spotted the man and knew the nearest police boat was at Wapping and would not reach him in time. Mr Hughes said: He was shouting, Help me, Im drowning. I made the decision, bearing in mind how long the police would take, to have a go at saving him.
He was clearly distressed and in grave danger. We caught up with him between Imperial Wharf and where the Sainsburys is, and the mate managed to get a life ring to him. But he was disappearing under the water, so we got alongside him.
Mr Hughes saw police on the bank and pulled in close so they could board, before getting nearer to the stricken man.
Mr Keeshan got a ladder to lower into the water and a female police officer decided to climb down to get him.
Mr Hughes said: Although she was instructed not to, she lowered herself down the ladder and grabbed hold of him by the scruff of the neck and held him until police boats turned up.
He was struggling to stay afloat. It was very cold in the water, perhaps around 10 degrees.
When the police boat turned up, they tried to get him out but the police officer fell into the river as well. So by now we had two casualties in the water.
"Luckily the lifeboat turned up and recovered the two people quickly.
Polla Rose owners Thames Shipping Ltd today said: We commend Kevin and the crew for their instinctive reactions this is a testament to their calibre and their commitment to their profession.
"To manoeuvre this vessel appropriately and conduct an effective rescue is simply brilliant.
A police spokesman said local officers and officers from the Marine Policing Unit attended. The man was taken to a west London hospital with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.
T he Scottish and Welsh governments can intervene in the legal challenge over how Brexit should be triggered, the Supreme Court has announced.
Both devolved administrations had their applications to intervene granted, as the UK Government prepares to take its fight over whether MPs must vote for Article 50 to be triggered to the Supreme Court.
Government has been given the go-ahead to intervene in a legal challenge over how Article 50 should be triggered, with Holyrood Brexit Minister Mike Russell insisting the views of Scots "cannot simply be brushed aside".
The Conservative Government at Westminster is appealing against an earlier High Court ruling which stated the Prime Minister must first seek the approval of Parliament before launching Article 50.
As the legal system north of the border is different from England and Wales, counsel for the Scottish Government will be invited to address Supreme Court justices on the relevant points of Scots Law.
Holyrood Brexit Minister Mike Russell said: "We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court to allow the Scottish Government to intervene in the case, however we continue to call on the UK Government to drop the appeal and to accept that Parliament has the right to determine the triggering of Article 50.
"We recognise the decision of people in England and Wales to support Brexit, but the views of people in Scotland cannot simply be brushed aside.
The Lord Advocate will be making the case on behalf of the Scottish Government and he will set out his arguments to the court."
In Scotland, 62 per cent of those who voted in June's referendum favoured the UK remaining part of the European Union, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowing to fight for Scottish interests in the wake of the result.
The leaders of the five parties represented at Holyrood had all campaigned to keep Britain in the EU, and opposition politicians welcomed the Supreme Court decision.
Scottish Green external affairs spokesman Ross Greer said: "It's a sad state of affairs that the Scottish Government has to go to court to ensure the voice of voters in Scotland can be heard, nevertheless this decision from the Supreme Court is very welcome.
"The Supreme Court has given the Prime Minister an opportunity to live up to the rhetoric of the UK being a 'family of nations', a phrase the Tories repeatedly used in 2014.
Gina Miller led a high-powered legal challenge against Prime Minister Theresa May's right to trigger Brexit negotiations / AFP
Scotland voted to stay in the EU and if the Tories will not even try to recognise that and continue with their Brexit omnishambles, a referendum on independence seems inevitable."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: "It is right that the Scottish Government has been able to join the hearing at the Supreme Court.
"Whatever decision is made by the Supreme Court will have a profound impact here in Scotland. Previous court decisions have affirmed that Theresa May must not trigger Article 50 without a vote in Parliament.
Acting without the approval of Parliament risks plunging the UK into a constitutional crisis. Scotland will now rightly be able to contribute to this appeal."
The Supreme Court case comes after investment fund manager and philanthropist Gina Miller and Deir Dos Santos, a hairdresser, along with other "concerned citizens" brought a legal challenge to Brexit.
Three senior High Court judges ruled the Prime Minister does not have power to use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the two-year process of negotiating Brexit without the prior authority of Parliament.
Mrs May and her ministers are now asking the Supreme Court to overturn that unanimous decision. Their appeal is due to be heard by 11 judges between December 5 and 8, with a judgment expected in the new year.
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
A republican bishop who branded William and Kate shallow celebrities is to take charge of the Queens London diocese, the Standard can reveal.
In his outspoken career the Bishop of Willesden, Pete Broadbent, has also referred to Prince Charles as Big Ears and called the royal family philanderers.
Now the ex-Labour councillor, 64, is to stand in for the Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, who retires in February, until a permanent successor is chosen.
But in what some see as a snub to the Left-winger, the Queen has asked Dr Chartres to stay on in his role as Dean of the Chapels Royal until a new bishop is named.
The Dean, whose office dates back to 1312, oversees worship in palaces and at major events senior royals take part in, such as the Cenotaph ceremony.
Her Majesty The Queen / PA
Since 1748, the Bishop of London and the Dean have been the same person. But a Church insider said it would have been highly embarrassing for the Queen if oversight of her private worship had been handed to an avowed opponent of the monarchy such as Bishop Broadbent, who once stated that royaltys basis was corrupt and sexist. He has also made remarks about royals on social media, calling Princess Diana a porcelain doll.
William, Kate and Harry visit the London Eye
And he even claimed the marriage of Kate and William would not last more than seven years, saying the couple would be set up to fail by the gutter press.
He was temporarily suspended in 2010 after writing on Facebook about the couples engagement: We need a party in Calais for all good republicans who cant stand the nauseating tosh that surrounds this event.
Prince William visits Vietnam to fight against illegal ivory trade
London Tory MP David Burrowes, chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said Bishop Broadbent is a passionate supporter of Jesus Christ, Spurs and the Labour Party. In his elevated position he will need to drop his party political and anti-monarchy views.
Announcing his retirement after 11 years, Dr Chartres made clear it was the Queens wish he should stay on for now as Dean. Bishop Broadbent told the Standard in a text that the question of whether he would meet royals does not arise.
Z ac Goldsmith has just a handful of allies to fight for his London seat after Cabinet ministers were blocked from helping him, it was revealed today.
The former London mayoral candidate has been left without the support of a single minister after quitting his Richmond Park seat over Heathrow expansion to run as an independent.
Even friend Boris Johnson, an opponent of a third runway, must stay away.
Cabinet advice before the Heathrow announcement said members could not campaign against the Government, and a source said helping Mr Goldsmith would be seen as incompatible.
Tory HQ, however, is demanding MPs travel to Sleaford in Lincolnshire at least three times before the by-election there on December 8, sparked by the resignation of MP Stephen Phillips.
Zac Goldsmith on Heathrow airport decision
Mr Goldsmith is also facing a lack of electoral data which was carefully compiled by the Conservative Party. It is understood MPs are having to knock on every door to rally support as previous supporter data is off limits.
So far Theresa Villiers, Tania Mathias, James Berry and Jacob Rees-Mogg have visited Richmond Park. A spokesman said Mr Goldsmith has built up his campaign from scratch.
M ore than 130,000 users of the Three mobile network have been hit by a cyber attack which saw hackers access customer information, the operator has said.
Three boss Dave Dyson said in a statement that all customers affected by the hacking were being contacted individually and that while personal information had been accessed, no financial information had been compromised.
Three men were arrested after the data breach was revealed, over the alleged fraudulent use of the company's phone upgrade system in an attempt to steal handsets.
"As you may already know, we recently became aware of suspicious activity on the system we use to upgrade existing customers to new devices and I wanted to update all our customers on what happened and what we have done," Mr Dyson said.
"On November 17 we were able to confirm that eight customers had been unlawfully upgraded to a new device by fraudsters who intended to intercept and sell on those devices.
"I can now confirm that the people carrying out this activity were also able to obtain some customer information.
"In total, information from 133,827 customer accounts was obtained but no bank details, passwords, pin numbers, payment information or credit/debit card information are stored on the upgrade system in question.
"We believe the primary purpose of this was not to steal customer information but was criminal activity to acquire new handsets fraudulently."
Three said it was continuing to work with law enforcement agencies, and as a precaution additional security measures had been placed on customer accounts.
The company had been criticised by some customers on social media for what was seen as a muted response to the breach, however Mr Dyson said Three would address all consumer concerns.
"I understand that our customers will be concerned about this issue and I would like to apologise for this and any inconvenience this has caused," he said.
"We are contacting all of these customers today to individually confirm what information has been accessed and directly answer any questions they have."
Security experts have again called for major companies with large amounts of customer data to do more to protect consumers.
The breach is the latest in a string of cyber attacks and data breaches, including those on TalkTalk and Yahoo.
C hannel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman has been hailed for "skewering" right-wing journalist and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
Mr Yiannopoulos, a writer for alt-right American news site Breitbart, was being questioned on the recent appointment of his controversial boss, Steve Bannon, as Donald Trumps chief strategist.
And Ms Newmans persistent questioning of Mr Yiannopoulos widely-criticised views on rape, feminism and race set social media alight with praise for her outstanding journalism.
One viewer wrote: Cant believe you managed to keep cool. Hate how he puts his head on his hand like hes pretending to listen.
Cathy Newman and Milo Yiannopoulos / Channel 4
And another Twitter user added: Standing up to such a blather-mouth, getting (no, wedging!) your words and questions in: kudos. You're amazing.
At one point in the heated interview, she refers to his previous articles about women and says: I know you want women to log off the internet but we are now in the Channel 4 News studio and you have to allow me to speak.
She went on: You said that women offended online should log-off. You said yes well certainly let women on to the mens internet a few times a year as long as you follow a few basic rules.
You said mass Muslim immigration must stop or people will know real rape culture. Are we supposed to just soak that up and take that as a big joke?
To which he responded: You are supposed to take it as intended and not wrench it from context.
Cathy Newman to Milo Yiannopoulos: 'You're in the Channel 4 newsroom'
"You know perfectly well that it is a provocation designed to make people think and perhaps to make them laugh?
The Channel 4 presenter then goes on to ask how his delight in offending people reflects on Mr Bannon, who will be a senior advisor to the President-elect.
Mr Yiannopoulos argued that the grievance brigade has rule America for 30 years and people are ready for a change, citing feminists and Black Lives Matter supporters as examples of groups that spread conspiracy theories and propaganda.
He also said that the gender wage gap and university campus rape culture are not real.
A round 300 million of Chinese money has been ploughed into the capitals property sector since the Brexit vote, and billions of pounds more are coming to create a new financial district in east London.
Property agent Cushman & Wakefield told the Evening Standard that in the first three quarters of this year, Chinese investment into Central London reached over 1.1 billion - a 39 per cent increase on the same period last year. Around 300 million of that has been since the EU referendum.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese companies are on track to invest 4 billion in London property this year.
Chinese developer ABP pledged to invest 1.7 billion over the next eight years in its Royal Albert Dock project, alongside its partners.
The investment would see 4.7 million square feet of new space become available, including offices to provide a base for Asian and European companies, and boost trade links with international markets.
The developer hopes lower rents at the site near London City airport will prove attractive to occupiers, compared to soaring prices in the City and West End.
Gregor Wallace, managing director of Coldwell Banker Commercial, said the development would appeal to number of technology businesses wanting to open new offices.
The hub is due to be built in London's docklands / ABP
He added: This development around docklands has great potential. The UK is taking the lead in Europe for tech start-ups, meaning London can grow faster and further. Office occupiers are attracted to state of the art buildings.
Elsewhere in the Docklands, Sydney-based investment firm ASF, which is backed by Chinese investors, wants to create an exhibition centre of more than two million square feet in the capital.
Brexit: Corbyn accuses May of having 'no plan'
Under ASFs proposals, about 300 companies, mainly from China, would be able to lease space for offices and showcasing products.
Richard Divall, head of EMEA capital markets at Colliers International, said: Chinese investors are drawn to areas of infrastructure improvements where they can buy and develop large areas of land. East London has the fundamental elements that Chinese investors want both in terms of land availability and infrastructure.
Theresa May: Brexit is an opportunity to make globalisation work for all
The data on Chinese investment comes a week after the property market celebrated one of the biggest commitments to Londons real estate market since June.
The Chinese investments will allay concerns that Britain leaving the EU could weaken the UKs image as a place for businesses to invest in.
MASON CITY | A Cedar Falls couple hopes to open a new urgent care clinic in Mason City in the spring.
Dr. Hameed Khan, a physician practicing in Waterloo, and his wife, Husna Khan, recently bought the former Iowa Department of Transportation administration building at 1420 Fourth St. S.E. with plans to turn it into the Quick Care Medical Clinic.
"We felt like there was a need," said Husna Khan during a meeting Wednesday with people who live in the neighborhood.
The clinic, which will be open seven days a week, will include the usual urgent care services for injuries and illnesses that need immediate attention but are not severe enough to require an ER visit. Also included will be a medical spa with a separate entrance and waiting area.
The clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The weekend hours may be expanded if there's a need. The clinic will be closed on some holidays.
Husna Khan said the clinic is an option for those who are sick but can't get in to see their primary care physician right away.
She said their intention is not to "take you away from your primary care."
Urgent care clinic plans to locate in Mason City former DOT building MASON CITY A neighborhood informational meeting about a new urgent care clinic to be locat
The clinic also will have a trauma room for small injuries and X-ray equipment for fractures.
Husna Khan, who has a license in aesthetic medicine, said the spa will include massages for oncology patients as well as general massage, facials, Botox and body contouring. Hameed Khan was unable to attend Wednesday's meeting.
CASCO, a St. Louis-based architectural and engineering firm with branch offices all over the country, is designing the clinic.
CASCO has an urgent care clinic prototype that has been used in multiple locations across the U.S. The company is not affiliated with Mercy.
Steve Dahms, business development manager for CASCO, said the urgent care clinics the firm designs have a homelike, relaxing atmosphere.
Dahms said the entrance to the building will not be on Fourth Street Southeast and no major traffic increase is expected.
The exterior look of the building will be preserved but the brick will receive a facelift, he said. Landscaping work will be done and a privacy fence installed, he added.
A meeting with city officials will take place in two weeks, according to Dahms. He anticipates it will be mid-January before a building permit is approved.
Dahms noted it is more cost-effective to go to an urgent care clinic than the ER.
Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa has an urgent care clinic called Mercy Urgent Care. The clinic, which is open seven days a week including holidays, is located at Willowbrook Mall.
"We are not here to compete with anyone," Husna Khan said. "We want to work with Mercy."
Dr. Teresa Mock, a senior vice president at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, told the Globe Gazette there will be situations where the Quick Care Medical Clinic will need to refer patients to the ER or to a specialist at Mercy.
"We are looking forward to developing a relationship with Quick Care so we can provide those needs for them," she said.
Mock said wait times at the Mercy Urgent Care sometimes are "longer than we would like them to be" due to patient volume.
Mercy officials are looking into how to shorten those wait times, according to Mock.
She said some of Mercy's primary care clinics now have openings for same-day appointments, so if patients try them first they might be able to get in.
Mock said co-pays for primary care clinics are lower than those for ER or urgent care visits.
Even if patients can't get a same-day appointment at their regular primary care clinic, Mock said, Mercy might be able to arrange for one at another such clinic in the Mercy network.
F ans hailed Jeremy Clarksons new motoring show a huge success as soon as the first episode was aired last night.
Clarkson marked the arrival of the highly-anticipated new show with an apparent swipe at rival programmes. Hours before the launch, the star wrote online: "Great news. Midnight tonight there's a drama by Reggie Yates on Channel 4.
Fans were surprised to find the Grand Tour was available to watch half-an-hour earlier than planned on Amazon Prime on Thursday night.
Clarkson and co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond were due to debut their new project on the channel at midnight but fans were able to tune in at 11.30pm.
The Grand Tour: Jeremy, Richard and James take the Holy Trinity of hypercars around Portugal
He tweeted just hours before the launch: Great news. Midnight tonight there's a drama by Reggie Yates on Channel 4.
The post appeared to refer to a showing of Mr Yates's short film Road Kill - the story of Den, a middle-aged convict from inner-city London.
Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond invite fans to join The Grand Tour
The presenter, who launched the new show after being sacked from the BBC, made several backhanded jokes at the expense of his former bosses.
The Grand Tour Debut Episode 1 /10 The Grand Tour Debut Episode Jeremy Clarkson, pictured here on a jet ski, hailed the arrival of The Grand Tour with a swipe at C4 Amazon Prime The show, which included scenes of explosions and gunfire, was praised as being better than Chris Evans' Top Gear Amazon Prime A rare shot of some actual cars on the debut episode of The Grand Tour Amazon Prime James May takes aim with an assault rifle from the window of a moving car Amazon Prime The show has been described as being about "adventure, excitement and friendship" Amazon Prime The trio went to Jordan where they were subjected to military training Amazon Prime A scene from the show featuring a bizarre Mad Max style vehicle Amazon Prime Richard Hammond screams with fear/excitement in the debut episode which has been praised by viewers Amazon Prime
Speaking to fans in a desert in the US, he said: Its very unlikely Im going to be fired now because were on the internet, which means I could pleasure a horse.
Richard Hammond shows off his doomsday-proof VW campervan built for the Grand Tour / Amazon
He later added: This is our new travelling studio tent.
Toby Earle previews The Grand Tour
Were going to be roaming the world in it, were going to be like gypsies, only the cars we drive are going to be insured.
To which Hammond replied: Stop saying things that are going to get us fired.
Fans described the Grand Tour as amazing and an improved Top Gear.
One viewer, known as Mark, tweeted: Great episode of @thegrandtour amazing job guys! Can we have episode 2 now?
Craig Webster added: Fantastic start and glad to see the team have found an extra gear and improved the show.
Nathan wrote: Waking up on a Friday morning to @thegrandtour is what only dreams are made of! #TheGrandTour
The episode opened with a miserable Clarkson appearing to leave BBC's Broadcasting House in London, as radio bulletins of his sacking from the broadcaster are played in the background.
Action man Jeremy Clarkson rolls around in the sand / Amazon
He then escaped a rainy UK to the sun-drenched USA where he was seen hitting the open road in a Mustang.
His co-hosts then appear behind him in matching motors, much to the delight of viewers.
T he Met police chief has said he wants to dramatically restrict the amount of information released when they take a suspect into custody.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Scotland Yard Commissioner, said police should only confirm that they have made an arrest, giving no further details.
Sir Bernard's comments come after those of Sir Richard Enriques, a retired High Court judge, who last week called for a law to restrict investigative journalism and said police should only confirm they have made arrests, releasing no further information.
When asked if he agreed with Sir Richards proposal at City Hall on Thursday Sir Bernard said: My feeling is to accept what Sir Richard says and release no details. We have arrested a man and that is it.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has said he will step down as Commissioner in January / Glenn Copus
Addressing members of the London Assembly, he said: They (the media) approach us knowing who the person is and they know they wont get the name from us. If they are confident then they can publish.
Police currently follow a long-established practice of releasing the age, date and general location of those they arrest and whether they have been released on bail.
Media heads, academics and MPs have criticised the proposal.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe is the most senior policeman in Britain / Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)
Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, told The Daily Mail that such a huge change in police policy should be debated in Parliament.
The details they release do not identify any individual so I do not see how there can be a problem.
Such a key change would need to be debated in Parliament. It is important that not only do the police act in the public interest but are seen to be acting in the public interest.
There should always be proper public scrutiny of what police are doing while not interfering with the proper course of their investigations.
Sir Bernard announced in September that he would be stepping down as Commissioner in January, after five years at the head of the Met.
A terminally ill teenager won a historic legal battle shortly before she died - to have her body frozen after her death.
The 14-year-old girls divorced parents had become embroiled in a dispute relating to whether her remains should be taken to a specialist facility in the United States and cryogenically preserved.
The teenager, from London, had a rare form of cancer and had taken legal action at the High Court to ensure her mother would be the only person to decide on the disposal of her body.
She had written a moving letter to the judge explaining that she wanted a chance to "live longer".
The teenager's letter to Mr Justice Peter Jackson I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual thing done. I am only 14-years-old and I don't want to die but I know I am going to die. I think being cryo-preserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up - even in hundreds of years' time. I don't want to be buried underground. I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish.
Mr Justice Peter Jackson, who had visited the girl in hospital, told the High Court that he had been moved by the "valiant way" in which the teenager had faced her "predicament".
He said the girl's application was the only one of its kind to have come before a court in England and Wales - and probably anywhere else.
He added that he had made decisions relating to a dispute between parents - not about the rights and wrongs of cryogenic preservation.
The judge said the teenager had carried out internet research into cryonics during the last months of her life.
He said there was no doubt that she had the mental capacity to launch legal action.
A lawyer representing the girl had described her as a "bright, intelligent young person".
Mr Justice Jackson said the relationship between the girl's parents was "very bad".
He said the girl had lived with her mother for most of her life.
She had not had "face-to-face" contact with her father for eight years at the time of her death.
The judge said she had refused to have contact with her father, had not wanted him to know about her illness and had not wanted him to see her body after she died.
He said a child could not make a will - and he had been asked to decide where her best interests lay.
Mr Justice Jackson said the girl's mother supported her wishes for cryogenic preservation.
But her father had been reluctant to approve the plan.
He had been concerned about consequences of his daughter being cryogenically preserved, and had been concerned about the costs involved.
"Even if the treatment is successful and she is brought back to life in, let's say, 200 years, she may not find any relative and she might not remember things," he had told Mr Justice Jackson.
"She may be left in a desperate situation - given that she is still only 14-years-old - and will be in the United States of America."
But during the litigation his position had changed and he later added: "I respect the decisions she is making. This is the last and only thing she has asked from me."
Approving the decision the judge said that allowing the girl's mother to make decisions about the disposal of her remains would be in her best welfare interests.
The judge had said that nothing about the case could be reported while the teenager was alive, after she said media coverage would distress her.
He also ruled that no-one involved could be identified - again in line with the girl's wishes.
She had been too ill to attend the court hearing.
A London-based billionaire has gone to war with one of the worlds most prominent art dynasties over a 63 million deal to buy a townhouse.
Len Blavatnik claims in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan that the Wildenstein family believe they can do no wrong and can do whatever they want to whomever they want.
He branded the family notorious and said that he was seeking to end their heinous attitude. Mr Blavatnik launched his missive in the lawsuit against David Wildenstein, a 36-year-old heir to the family empire.
He accuses Mr Wildenstein of stringing [him] along during negotiations to buy the New York property, of bad faith and of fraudulent representations and omission. Mr Wildenstein has not yet issued a response to the claim, filed last week.
The case has pitted Mr Blavatnik, who is worth 14.8 billion according to Forbes, making him the 22nd richest man in the world, against the Wildensteins.
Mr Blavatnik, who was born in Ukraine and is a US citizen, is the third richest man in Britain according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Row: Len Blavatnik, with Warner artist Jess Glynne / Araya Diaz/Getty Image
He is the owner of Warner Music, an investor in the Broadway hit Hamilton and lives in a 41 million house in Kensington, for which he outbid Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
The Wildenstein art dealership dynasty was started by the late Daniel Wildenstein once described as probably the richest and most powerful art dealer on Earth.
On his death in 2001 he left a 30 million fortune which is being managed by Guy Wildenstein, 70, the family patriarch and Davids father.
Guys late brother Alec suffered a messy and very public divorce from his wife, Jocelyn Wildenstein, known as the Bride of Wildenstein because of her love of plastic surgery.
The lawsuit states the Wildensteins achieved fame and fortune through their art dealing business but recently became fodder for the tabloids due to the family members numerous personal peccadillos.
Mr Blavatnik claims David Wildenstein, pictured with wife Lucrezia Buccellati, had agreed to sell him the mansion / Craig Barritt/Getty Images
The lawsuit states: Defendants apparently believe they can do and say anything to suit their purposes. This suit seeks to end this heinous practice.
According to the lawsuit, the disputed property is in East 64th Street and was designed by Gilded Age architect Horace Trumbauer. It has 20ft high ceilings and a third-floor salon imported from the 18th-century home of a Parisian prince.
Mr Blavatnik, 59, already has a property on the block a 62 million mansion on Fifth Avenue and wanted Mr Wildensteins home as his offices.
According to the lawsuit filed by Access Industries, Mr Blavatniks company, Mr Wildenstein unambiguously agreed in a phone call on October 6 that Mr Blavatnik would be able to purchase the property.
The lawsuit claims the deal agreed was that Mr Blavatnik would buy the property on a contract date to be after Thanksgiving 2016, with a closing date in March 2017.
According to the claim, during that call Mr Wildenstein presented himself as authorised to speak on behalf of 1964 Realty LLC, the owner of the property which the lawsuit says is a domestic business that manages the affairs of the Wildenstein family.
Mr Blavatnik claims he devoted substantial time and resources to closing the deal and, as a result, lost out on two business opportunities a chain of 11 US hotels which he had hoped to buy for 176 million and a group of 10 nursing homes valued at 360 million.
Then on October 13, according to the lawsuit, Mr Wildenstein told Mr Blavatnick he was not authorised to sell the property and had to get board approval, apparently from 1964 Realty LLC, which is named as a co-defendant.
The lawsuit, filed in the New York Supreme Court, says Mr Blavatnik viewed this as a ploy to create a new condition.
Mr Blavatnik now demands that Mr Wildenstein pay him damages of 8 million, and he wants an order that the property be sold to him on the terms he claims were agreed on October 6.
In the lawsuit, Mr Blavatnik also claims that the Wildensteins have ignored residents complaints about construction on another of their properties on Madison Avenue, on the same block as the townhouse.
It states: This type of attitude is representative of defendants belief and attitude that they can do no wrong and can do whatever they want to whomever they want.
Raised in Moscow, Mr Blavatnik is said to have arrived in America with nothing before founding Access Industries. He is now based in London. He made his fortune in post-Communist Russia in natural resources and has since created the oil giant TNK-BP.
In 2011, he staked one third of his fortune on a 2.1 billion deal to buy Warner Music. Access Industries also owns stakes in three British media companies.
A spokesman for Mr Blavatnik said: It is regrettable that this matter must now be resolved through litigation.
Neither Mr Wildenstein nor the Wildenstein family was available for comment.
A handful of protesters rallied outside the US Embassy in London tonight to warn of an approaching "climate genocide" as a result of Donald Trump's election win.
The Climate Defence activists, including one wearing a plastic mask of the president-elect, brandished a large banner reading Trump: Climate Genocide at the Mayfair site on Friday evening.
Mr Trump has previously claimed global warming was a hoax made up by the Chinese to make US manufacturing uncompetitive, and has promised to boost polluting coal and pull out of the Paris Agreement.
The treaty is a global deal, agreed under the United Nations, which will see action by all countries to curb rising temperatures.
Trump has previously claimed global warming was a hoax made up by the Chinese / PA
Spokesman Phil Thornhill, 60, said the ascension of Mr Trump to the White House threatened an agreement which, despite its flaws, was a good start to tackling the issue.
The former window cleaner, who recently returned to the UK after time abroad, said: "To kill that dead is to kill the last hope of doing something before the consequences become inevitably and irreversibly catastrophic."
He said Mr Trump's position on climate change could also undermine the momentum of the overall global response and "take the energy out of actually doing something".
The demonstration coincided with the last day of a UN climate summit / REUTERS
Addressing fellow activists and a small group of pedestrians who stopped to watch later on, Mr Thornhill let out an anguished cry while recounting how he felt when the US election result became known.
The former coordinator of the campaign against climate change said he did not have a professional background in environmental science but said "to be honest, you just need to go read Wikipedia".
Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack also attended the rally and said the world looked to America for leadership.
She said: "This will bring devastation to the world's poorest, who are the sharp end of climate change and will see the most effects of global warming."
The demonstration coincided with the last day of a UN climate summit in Morocco.
A man set himself on fire inside a Melbourne bank causing an explosion that left him and five bystanders critically injured with burns.
Australian officials said another 21 people, including a toddler and people in their 80s, were taken to hospitals suffering from breathing problems.
Police said the suspect walked into the branch of Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Melbournes Springvale suburb at about 11.30am local time on Friday and used a flammable liquid to start the fire.
A 21-year-old suspect, who lives locally, was taken to a hospital in a serious condition and remains under guard, police said. The other five burns victims, four men and a woman, were taken to the same hospital.
Firefighters at the scene after the blast / EPA
Footage showed flames on the floor of the branch and thick black smoke.
One passer-by said he heard a huge blast and saw people running out with severe injuries.
The aftermath of the explosion at a bank in Melbourne / EPA
CCTV from a car mechanics garage obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation shows a man believed to be the suspect walking past carrying a plastic bag with an item inside.
Acting inspector Jacqui Poida said it was too early to tell what the mans motives were.
Inspector Poida said: He had some sort of accelerant with him in a container,
He walked into the bank and he lighted that accelerant which caused some sort of fire within the bank.
He set himself alight with that fire.
Country Fire Authority officer Paul Carrigg said there was evidence of an explosion.
Witness Ashley Atkin-Fone told ABC he ran to help after hearing the explosion and seeing thick black smoke pouring out of the bank.
Mr Atkin-Fone took a fire extinguisher from a nearby shop and used it to fight the blaze.
He said: This kid comes running out all burnt, screaming his head off, blood everywhere.
I was shocked for a couple of minutes.
I sprint across the road, go into Optus and get the fire extinguisher.
I go inside, get the fire out with this other kid.
This worker come out the front out of nowhere, its packed with smoke, so I said get him, go around the back see if you can get the fire exit open.
I got the fire out, I took four steps inside, I was shouting and shouting but I couldnt hear anyone, the alarms were going off, no-one was hearing me, and then all of a sudden a few minutes later the police come, and the fire engines and everyone else.
T he dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang Happy Birthday Mr President to John F Kennedy has sold for a world-record price at auction, fetching $4.8 million (3.87 million).
The sheer flesh-coloured design, which features more than 2,500 hand-stitched crystals, had a pre-sale estimate of $3 million (2.42 million) before it went under the hammer at Juliens Auctions in Los Angeles.
It was bought by Ripleys Believe It Or Not museum for a total surpassing the previous most expensive dress sold at auction, Monroes white dress from The Seven Year Itch, which went for $4.6 million (3.7 million) in 2011.
Edward Meyer, vice president of Ripleys Believe It Or Not, told the Press Association: We believe this is the most iconic piece of pop culture that there is.
Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden / Rex
In the 20th century I cannot think of one item that tells the story of the Sixties as well as this. Its a new world record for a dress.
The custom-made Jean Louis gown was so tight-fitting that Monroe was said to have been sewn into it before she performed for President Kennedy on May 19, 1962, before his 40th birthday.
The Hollywood star, 36, was found dead less than three months later.
M arion Cotillard has claimed that she wasnt worried about rumours that shed had an affair with Brad Pitt following his split from Angelina Jolie.
The French actress, who became the centre of speculation after the A-list couple went their separate ways in September, insists that shes not concerned by the talk.
Speaking on camera about her involvement in gossip surrounding the split for the first time, Cotillard said:
I never take anything personally when it doesn't concern me.
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The 41-year-old actress, who is pregnant with her second child with partner Guillaume Canet, added:
So, I didn't take it personally because I had nothing to do with those rumours or situation.
Speaking on The Today Show in the US, Cotillard went on to say that the furore around Pitts personal life hasnt ruined her experience of working with him on new film Allied.
"No, I don't give energy to this, she said.
Red carpet: Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt at the Allied premiere / Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
"It was a wonderful, wonderful experience working with such a visionaire director and an amazing actor, and that's all that matters."
Cotillard addressed the rumours in an Instagram post just a few days after news of the split broke.
She wrote: This is going to be my first and only reaction to the whirlwind news that broke 24 hours ago and that I was swept up into.
Allied Film Trailer
I am not used to commenting on things like this nor taking them seriously but as this situation is spiralling and affecting people I love, I have to speak up.
"Firstly, many years ago, I met the man of my life, father of our son and of the baby we are expecting. He is my love, my best friend, the only one that I need.
"Secondly to those who have indicated that I am devastated, I am very well thank you. This crafted conversation isn't distressing.
"And to all the media and the haters who are quick to pass judgement, I sincerely wish you a swift recovery.
"Finally, I do very much wish that Angelina and Brad, both whom I deeply respect, will find peace in this very tumultuous moment. With all my love, Marion (sic)."
P aris Hilton has revealed that she voted for Donald Trump to be president, saying that shes known him since she was a little girl.
While the hotel heiress and socialite wasnt too vocal in her support for the Republican candidate in the run-up to the US election, she has now said shes happy with the outcome.
When asked if she voted for Trump during an interview on Australias The Project, the 35-year-old said: I've known him since I was a little girl, so yes.
Ive known him my entire life and hes always been incredibly supportive of me.
In a later interview with KIIS FM, Hilton said that she had every faith that Trump would be a good president.
Everyone should just be happy because we all need to be positive and make the world a better place, she said.
Hes smart, he knows what hes doing, the heiress added.
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Kathy Hilton, Rick Hilton, Nicky Hilton and Paris Hilton in 2012 / Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for European School of Economics Foundation
Kanye West is another star to come out in support of Donald Trump now that he has won the election.
Speaking on stage in San Jose on Thursday evening, the rapper said: I told you I didnt vote. But if I voted, I would have voted on Trump.
I wanted to say that before the election, but they told me, Whatever you do dont say that aloud, he said.
Talking about how he admired the Trump campaign, he added: Not only did I not vote, but there were a lot of things I actually liked about Trumps campaign.
J eremy Clarksons new car show The Grand Tour has just launched on Amazon Prime and the first episode wastes no time in referencing his dismissal from the BBC.
The presenter was axed from Top Gear following a fracas with producer Oisin Tymon, sparking his move to Amazon with Richard Hammond and James May.
In the cinematic opening to the trios new series, Clarkson is seen leaving the BBC building and swapping rainy London for the Californian desert.
The first minute of the show re-enacts Clarkson leaving BBC Broadcasting House just north of Regent Street.
The Grand Tour: Jeremy, Richard and James take the Holy Trinity of hypercars around Portugal
The Grand Tour- first look 1 /6 The Grand Tour- first look Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May in Johannesburg film their first studio episode PA/Amazon Prime Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May in Johannesburg arrive on their brand new set PA/Amazon Prime The studio audience surround the trio in the pop up studio PA/Amazon Prime The makeshift studio in Johannesburg PA/Amazon Prime First look at the new series of The Grand Tour PA/Amazon Prime
Emerging from the revolving door, he hands his entry pass to a security guard, and wanders off into the rain.
Hopping in a cab to Heathrow, Clarkson boards a flight to Los Angeles and emerges in sunnier climes, where he picks up a rental super-car and glides off to the strains of Johnny Nash hit I Can See Clearly Now.
As he speeds down an open highway, Clarkson is joined on either side by a smiling Hammond and May, as the trio go off-road and head to their very own Burning Van music festival.
Reunited: Clarkson's car is joined by Hammond and May / Amazon
Its not the only reference the first episode makes to Clarksons BBC fate.
Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond invite fans to join The Grand Tour
Introducing the new show, he admits: The good thing is, its very unlikely Im going to be fired now, because were on the internet.
Amazon launch trailer of The Grand Tour
The episode is the first of 12 new instalments due to stream online weekly via Amazon, with Clarkson, Hammond and May touring a variety of locations across the globe in a mobile studio.
The Grand Tour Episode 1 is available now on Amazon Prime
MASON CITY | A Clear Lake man has been ordered to serve up to 10 years in prison for breaking into vehicles in Mason City and stealing items from them.
Jamie Lee Evenson, 29, was sentenced Wednesday to up to five years in prison each on three counts of felony third-degree burglary of a motor vehicle.
Two of the sentences are to be served concurrently but consecutive to the third sentence for a total prison term of up to 10 years.
He pleaded guilty to those charges this week. Two additional counts of third-degree burglary of a motor vehicle as well as one count of felony second-degree criminal mischief were dismissed.
Mason City police were called to a report on Sept. 21 that someone had broken into a parked car around 7 a.m. in the 1000 block of South Illinois Avenue and then pedaled away on a bicycle.
The suspect, Evenson, was later arrested in the 300 block of South Louisiana Avenue.
Evenson broke the windows of four other vehicles around Mason City and stole items from them between midnight and 6 a.m., according to the police.
T ake it one case at a time
Sometimes the scale of a work project can be overwhelming. When we step back and look at the big picture were all just tiny cogs in a giant machine. The solution? Dont step back and look. Instead, take it one case at a time or one tattoo at a time, in the case of Blindspot. In that show, the FBIs Critical Incident Response Group, led by Special Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton), must unravel the small truth behind each of Jane Does mysterious body markings, in order to get at the big truth that lays beyond.
Keep your flirting functional
The workplaces on Criminal Minds, Conviction, Scandal and Blindspot are all sexual harassment lawsuits waiting to happen: any HR exec would be horri ed. But at least this flirtatious banter has a noble purpose. Stephen Finch (Henry Ian Cusick) in Scandal used his personal history with DC coroner Lisa to gain access to a top secret autopsy report and, yes, Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell) strips down to her underwear during a Conviction team meeting, but only because she doesnt want to waste her teams precious time, so multitasks with a dress fitting.
Look the part
Dress down Friday isnt a concept thats familiar to Scandals Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, right) or Convictions Hayes Morrison. Those statement wardrobe items are a crucial part of their success. After all, colleagues may let you down, but a tailored trouser suit never will.
Leadership is smart delegation
No one rocks a statement coat like Olivia Pope, the dynamic head of crisis management team Olivia Pope & Associates in Scandal, but she also has another key leadership skill for which she gets less credit: smart delegation. Every episode includes a scene where Olivia thinks for a moment then starts shouting instructions Quinn, locate the ambassadors briefcase!, Huck, hack into the mainframe!, Abby, manage the optics! as her team scurry o to do her bidding.
Criminal Minds
Bring your baggage to work
Most workplaces discourage obsessive behaviour or fiery arguments and expect employees to work through any deep-rooted emotional trauma they may have on their own time. Things are a bit different in Blindspot, however. Here the childhood tragedy that befell Agent Kurt Weller (right) may hold the secret to the conspiracy theyre all hoping to unravel. On Criminal Minds, members of the Behavioural Analysis Unit do try to have a life outside work, but stalkerish un-subs can make it rather difficult.
Value the tech guy
They may not always get involved in the frontline action, but techies can do an impressive amount with a few welltargeted swipes at a keyboard. Having someone to triangulate cell phone signals to locate a suspect or just get your desktop to turn on in the morning (ahem) is invaluable. So respect where respect is due, especially if that tech guy is a girl, such as Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) in Criminal Minds. Or an ex-CIA assassin such as Huck (Guillermo Diaz) in Scandal.
Celebrate you accomplishments
Convictions Hayes Morrison may now be the venerable head of the Conviction Integrity Unit, but this former first daughter and party girl still knows how to cut loose. At the end of a long day exoner ating the wrongly convicted, shes often to be found kicking o her heels at a fundraising gala, local dive bar, or wherever else theres cold beers and hot men. Next time, she might even remember to invite her colleagues along too.
Use cool nicknames for each other
Using your own, given name is so uncool. In Scandal, Olivia Pope & Associates boost team morale by referring to themselves as Gladiators in suits, while in Criminal Minds, Garcia and Morgan exchange a variety of blush-making monikers including dollface, hotstu and, on one memorable occasion, statuesque god of sculpted chocolate thunder. Some pseudonyms are more sinister, however for instance, why cant Jane Doe in Blindspot remember her own real name?
OSAGE Rustys Last Call on Main Street in Osage has taken another step toward making the establishment a safe place for people to gather and socialize.
Having instituted the safe ride program a few years ago, they have most recently provided staff Raise the Bar training sexual assault prevention through Crisis Intervention Service.
Rustys is the first North Iowa bar to undergo the Raise the Bar training. Coupled with the TIPS training, this earns them a certificate and label of gold star bar.
You cant be safe enough, said Pam Broderick, manager of Rustys Last Call. I always wanted Rustys to be a safe place to come and spend time with friends.
In addition to the Raise the Bar training, staff at Rustys has also undergone I-PACT and TIPS training, which provides them with knowledge designed to prevent intoxication, underage drinking and drunk driving.
This is about watching out for the community and making sure they are safe, said Erin Myers of Crisis Intervention Service. This presentation is designed to help bartenders recognize situations as they arise and step in to prevent them before they become sexual assaults.
Myers first explained to the staff the wide spectrum of what is considered sexual assault, defining it as ranging from inappropriate touching and grabbing all the way up through rape. Myers, a former bartender, talked how bar life evolves over the course of the night.
Bartenders see a lot of things unfold, Myers said. And bar life is different from 6 p.m. than it is at midnight.
Bartenders see whos ordering double shots, whos hitting on who, whos trying to get in their cars and whos getting loud and beginning to engage in confrontations.
It puts them in the perfect position to see who might be in a potentially dangerous situation, Myers said.
There are a lot of reasons people dont get involved, Myers said. But being silent wont make the situation better. It usually gets worse.
She encouraged bartenders to take note of whos been separated from their friends and is with someone they may not know, who might be giving non-verbal clues that they are in trouble.
Within the community most people know each other and they will step in too, Myers said. We need to become a society of action.
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MASON CITY Health and safety violations at a Mason City motel that had its license revoked this week allegedly include heavily soiled or stained mattresses and drapes, broken doors and locks, and holes in the floor at the top of a flight of stairs.
Those violations at American Best Inn & Suites, 24 Fifth St. S.W., were listed in an inspection report by the Cerro Gordo County Health Department.
Other alleged violations indicated in the report are missing outdoor lighting, a staircase handrail that had fallen off, inadequate lighting in a hallway, and litter and refuse in the grass outside the building and in storage rooms.
In addition, many of the rooms inspected during an Oct. 28 visit had leaking sinks, missing handles for sinks and showers, and non-functioning valve shut-offs, according to the Health Department.
The motel also was cited for missing or inadequate flooring, mold, flooding, cracked tiles and heavily soiled walls, floor and ceilings in many rooms. Ventilation fans were not working in seven occupied or unoccupied rooms, the inspection report stated.
Many residents live at this facility, providing their own bedding, appliances, and maintenance, the report stated.
The Oct. 28 inspection was prompted by an anonymous complaint to the county Health Department. City officials, including police officers and members of the Fire Department, accompanied the Health Department during the inspection, the report stated.
The county Health Department revoked the motels license on Monday. The owners have 30 days to file a written appeal.
The city has ordered all the guests to leave by Dec. 1.
Robin Joines, manager of the motel, expressed her concerns to the Globe Gazette Thursday that the guests, who rely on the motel as a temporary place to stay until they can find something more permanent, will have nowhere to go.(tncms-asset)8cacd990-acf9-11e6-8279-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset)
She said homeless shelters have a waiting list and it is difficult to find affordable housing in Mason City.
Joines said the inspection report was exaggerated, and maintenance has since taken care of the issues in the occupied rooms and is now working on the unoccupied rooms.
She also said police violated the rights of the guests by searching their rooms without a warrant during the inspection.
Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said the officers did not search the property, but were available if the inspections personnel came across anything unusual or suspicious.
The officers also verified the identities of the motels occupants for record-keeping purposes, according to Brinkley. He noted no one they encountered was wanted on any warrants.
Brinkley said the police have been called to the motel in the past for a number of issues, including theft and suspicious activity.
Mason City Fire Marshal Jamey Medlin said he went along on the Oct. 28 visit to do a routine fire inspection for the motel, the same as his department does for other businesses in town.
He said he found nothing really major.
Potential fire hazards included missing batteries in smoke alarms, candles in rooms that violated the no open flame policy, no proper cigarette disposal container outside the building, issues with drop cords, and fire extinguishers that had not been inspected, according to Medlin.
He said a lawn mower was stored in one of the unoccupied rooms, noting anything that has fuel in it cant be stored inside the building.
The fire department gave the motel 30 days to correct those issues, Medlin said.
Ray Quayle, Mason City housing official and zoning administrator, said the owners of the motel are three doctors in the community but he did not know their names.
Ace Ventures LLC is listed as the owner of the motel in Cerro Gordo County online property records.
The agent for Ace Ventures LLC is listed as Aileen Prabhakaran. She is listed on the Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa website as a physician with the hospitals Diabetes Center.
The Globe Gazette left several messages for Prabhakaran on Thursday. A man who identified himself as her husband called the Globe and confirmed she is one of the partners but is not involved in the operation of the motel.
The man declined to give his name to the Globe Gazette.
MASON CITY | The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health will host a flu clinic from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at its immunization clinic in Mohawk Square.
Saturday flu clinics are a convenient way for individuals that dont have the opportunity to attend a standard weekly or evening flu clinics to still get vaccinated, according to a statement from the health department.
The following types of flu vaccine will be offered:
Traditional flu shot (four strains), $35
High-dose flu shot (ages 65 and older), $57
Pneumonia Vaccine, $111
PCV 13, $205
The health department accepts most major health insurance. With insurance, no money is collected at the time of the vaccination; services are billed directly to insurance. Any remaining balance is billed to the client after insurance has paid for its portion of the service.
Call 641-421-9321 or visit www.cghealth.com for more information.
Boy, was I wrong!
Back when there were 18 candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, I placed Donald Trump among the lower-tier wannabees who would quickly fade when support coalesced behind one of the mainstream candidates.
When Trump won the nomination, I assumed his bombastic style and outlandish statements would energize Democrats, turn off Independents and demoralize Republicans.
As a registered Republican Id all but ceded the White House to the reviled Democrat Hillary Clinton (even voted for her myself) and worried how much the anti-Trump blowback would hurt down-ticket GOPers and damage the party long term.
My apologies and congratulations, President-elect Trump.
Not only did Trumps unorthodox campaign deliver a victory, he actually had coattails that produced Republican gains at the local, state and national levels.
Having so badly underestimated Trump as a candidate, I can only hope Ive equally underestimated him as a president.
While Trumps campaign was marked by crassness, incivility and braggadocio that still leaves me pretty cold, he did have his lucid moments.
During one episode of seemingly candid reflection, Trump essentially admitted he didnt know everything and would surround himself with good people to serve and advise him.
If the president-elect follows through and can sufficiently check his ego to heed the council of those good people when needed, perhaps his administration wont be the disaster many, myself included, have feared.
For the sake of the country I hope so.
***
Clinton and many supporters blame her defeat largely on FBI Director James Comey, who briefly reopened investigation into Clintons questionable use of a private email server for handling government business while serving as secretary of state.
Comey, a Republican by background if not by current registration, updated congressional leaders on the renewed investigation via letter just two weeks before the election and followed up nine days later to inform them no actionable information was uncovered.
Such discourse with Congress is uncommon. Detractors claim it was uncalled for and most likely politically motivated.
Clinton et al further contend the renewed focus on her emails may have turned the tide in an election most experts felt she was destined to win.
While Comeys move was unusual, this was not a usual case.
Comey initially announced the investigation was closed in July. He then faced withering criticism from Republicans along with a summons to appear before Congress to explain himself.
Those critics at the time questioned whether he had succumbed to pressure from his boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to squash the investigation, whether the Clintons exercised undo influence over Lynch/Comey and whether Comey had inappropriate ties to the Clinton Foundation.
When Comey didnt flinch, Clinton and her allies portrayed him as a man of independence and integrity who refused to bow to such pressure.
Having subsequently discovered new information so close to the election, Comey was thus placed in a no-win situation.
By revealing the existence an ongoing but incomplete investigation, Comey did commit a minor breech of normal protocol that reopened an old wound for Clinton.
And, as it turned out, he did so over nothing of substance.
Imagine, however, if Comey had kept quiet, Clinton had won and the investigation had subsequently come to light or, even worse, turned up damming information.
Congressional Republicans would have been livid the inquiry had been reopened without their knowledge after Comey had testified it was closed.
The reputation of impartiality and fairness of both Comey and the FBI would have been called into question.
Trump and his supporters would have taken this as evidence of a cover-up, confirming their suspicion the system was rigged and Clintons win was illegitimate.
Given that possible scenario, Comey probably did the right thing.
At the very least his agency handled the renewed investigation in an expedient matter in order to give Clinton the all clear prior to Election Day.
Had his action truly been driven by partisan underpinnings, he could no doubt have found a way to drag out the process until long after the votes were counted.
If Clintons momentum in late October against a flawed candidate like Trump was so easily derailed, she needs to look to her own campaign for the reasons rather than searching for a scapegoat.
***
Trumps complaints about a rigged system and his refusal to emphatically state he would accept the results of the election regardless of the outcome ranked pretty high on the list of his objectionable behavior leading up to Nov. 8.
Clinton and company rightly lambasted him for it when they assumed she was going to win.
Now at least one poll indicates a third of her supporters view the election results as illegitimate.
Protests denouncing Trump have cropped up around the country, most peaceful but some disruptive and a handful violent.
Many are urging Electoral College voters to ignore the election outcome in their states and choose Clinton.
With the shoe on the other foot, these folks are wearing it pretty badly.
Although Clinton and President Barack Obama were gracious immediately after the election, they have not been particularly vocal or adamant in condemning these protests.
Respect for the process needs to come from both sides. Democratic leaders can begin the process of healing their party and our nation by doing now what Trump refused to before the election: forcefully declare that the results must be accepted even by those who dont like the outcome.
The election is over and the vast majority of Americans have let out a collective sigh of relief, but really we still do not officially have a president-elect.
Officially, on Nov. 8, we did not elect a President and vice-president, instead we elected electors. These electors, who make up the Electoral College, will elect our next president and vice-president on Dec. 19.
For most, this is confusing and sometimes, if the popular vote and the electoral vote favor different candidates, it is frustrating. However, it is Constitutional and unlikely to change anytime soon.
Our Constitution spells out how we are to elect the President and it is not how we often portray it. In Article II, Section 1 it reads, The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
There are currently a total of 538 electors and a candidate needs at least 270 electors to become the next president. If the vote is a tie then the president is elected by the House of Representatives and the vice-president is elected by the Senate.
The electors in each state are selected by the political parties. The candidate who wins the popular vote gets their electors appointed to vote in the electoral college. All but, Nebraska and Maine are winner takes all. The electors appointed have pledged to vote a certain way. In Nebraska, our three districts each voted for electors who have pledged to vote for Republican Donald Trump.
Right now Trump has 290 electoral votes compared to Democrat Hillary Clintons 232, according to Politico.com. However, Clinton received more of the popular vote.
Last time that took place was in 2000 when Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote, but Republican George W. Bush won the electoral vote.
Many Clinton supporters, unhappy with the result this year, with their candidate having more of the popular vote, are asking the electors to go against their pledge. Instead of voting for Trump, vote for Clinton.
Throughout history it has happened very rarely, but it has happened. Electors have done so in nine of the last 17 elections, according to CNN, but never in large enough numbers to make a difference.
The Constitution does not forbid last minute changes. Some states, however, such as Nebraska, require their electors to vote as pledged (Nebraska state law 32-714).
In the 2000 controversial hanging chad election, there was a strong lobbying movement to get electors to go against their pledge to vote for Bush, according to CNN. Only one ignored their pledge, but that elector simply didnt vote as an act of protest, over a completely separate issue.
So, as the voters of the this years electors, we hang our heads if they are not pledged to our candidate, or hold them high, if they are.
As the dust finally starts to settle on the 2016 general election lets respect one another, no matter who we voted for, and try to understand our differences. Most importantly, we need to learn to work with one another, whoever our electors select, in spite of our differences.
It is those differences that make us such a great country. It is those differences our Constitution protects.
The protests, petitions and lobbying for change is a part of who we are. It would be nice if we kept things civil without destroying property, but our Constitution (the first amendment) does allow for protests.
So will the electors we voted for change this crazy election on Dec. 19? Will they ignore their pledges?
History, and the way they have been selected, says no. However, this election has been anything but normal. So maybe our sigh of relief is a little premature and then again, probably not.
LINCOLN An Omaha candidate who lost in the election to State Sen. Ernie Chambers is trying another means to oust the veteran lawmaker.
John Sciara has filed a petition claiming that Chambers lives in Bellevue and not in the north Omaha district that he represents.
The petition, filed Tuesday with the Clerk of the Legislature, represents the first step under legislative rules to challenge an elected candidates qualifications to serve in the Legislature.
Sciara said he has been planning the challenge since 2012, when voters returned Chambers to the Legislature after a four-year hiatus and when he first considered running for the office.
Having been in the military for 25 years, I always have a Plan B, he said. Im going to beat the master of the rules by using the rules.
The Nebraska Constitution requires that state senators live for at least a year in their legislative district before they can serve.
Chambers, who answered his telephone at home Wednesday evening while watching television, dismissed the challenge.
Its not going to go anywhere, he said. Hes got to prove that I dont live here.
Chambers owns a house at 1825 Binney St., according to the Douglas County assessors website.
That is the address he used when filing for office and the address, he said, where he gets his bills and the daily newspaper.
Sciara said numerous people, including some in the neighborhood, have told him that Chambers actually lives in Bellevue. He said he plans to present witnesses to make his case.
But Chambers said that, according to case law, it is a persons intentions that matter in defining a residence, not the amount of time actually spent at the location.
Legislative rules set out the process by which an unsuccessful legislative candidate may challenge the qualifications of the winner.
Once a petition is filed, it is referred to the Legislatures Executive Board, which must set up a special committee with at least five members to consider the matter.
The committee is to hear and make a determination about the challenge as expeditiously as possible, while giving due process to both sides. The committees final recommendation goes to the full Legislature for a vote.
Unofficial election results show that Sciara got 1,662 votes to Chambers 7,481 votes on Nov. 8.
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When a political puck named Dick Tuck lost a California senate election in 1966, he famously conceded: The people have spoken. The bastards.
So now that the people have spoken up for Donald Trump, were they saying that they embrace his xenophobic, nativist, far-right policies?
Not necessarily. Most Trump voters say they went for him because they think hell shake up Americas elite establishment, not because hes a conservative. In fact, majorities of people all over the country voted for very progressive policies and candidates this year.
For example, all four states that had minimum wage increases on the ballot Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington passed them. Plus, a South Dakota proposal to lower its minimum wage was rejected by 71 percent of voters.
Meanwhile, voters in two states California and Washington passed initiatives calling for repealing the Supreme Courts Citizen United decision, which has allowed corporate cash to flood into our elections. Washington also voted to provide public funding of elections in the state.
And a Minnesota initiative to take away the power of state lawmakers to set their own salaries, moving this authority to a bipartisan citizens council, won 77 percent of the vote.
In addition, many solidly progressive firsts were elected, such as the first Indian-American woman in the House (Pramila Jayapal of Washington); the first Latina U.S. senator (Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada); the first Indian-American elected to the U.S. Senate (Kamala Harris of California, who is also the first black senator from her state); and the first openly LGBT governor (Kate Brown of Oregon).
Trumps going to the White House, but the takeaway from voters in this election is a mandate for progressive economic populism and more diversity among public officials.
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On an official visit to Israel, Romania's Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu has reconfirmed Romania's support for the consolidation of the relationships between Israel and the European Union, while also voicing interest in capitalising on the special bilateral relationship.
Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) says in a press statement released on Friday part of Comanescu's visit were discussions of the dimensions of political, economic and sectorial cooperation, with emphasis on projects envisaged for the 3rd Romanian-Israeli intergovernmental meeting.
"Mention was made of experience exchanges continuing in the areas of energy, defence, tourism, R&D and education. At the same time, cooperation between Romania and Israel inside international bodies was also addressed, with Romania reconfirming its support for the consolidation of the Israeli-EU relationships," says MAE.
The Romanian chief diplomat also exchanged opinions on international affairs of major interest, with emphasis on the latest developments in the Middle East, the peace process and also current European affairs, such as the future of the EU, the UK leaving the EU, migration, domestic security and terror.
Comanescu also attended a roundtable conference on business and research development in the areas of IT, cybersecurity and innovation, and toured the Yad Vashem Memorial to attend the lighting of the Eternal Flame; he also laid a wreath at the Remembrance Hall and signed the guestbook.
Part of his visit to Israel, November 16-18, Comanescu also met members of the Israeli Cabinet and officials of the Knesset. He was welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and met Israeli's Minister in charge of National Security and Foreign Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi; Deputy Minister for Diplomacy and Public Relations Michael Oren; Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and Avi Dichter, head of the Knesset's Committee on Foreign Policy and Defence.
agerpres.
Romania is at a non-stage as far as its accession to the Eurozone is concerned, President Iohannis said Thursday in northwestern Cluj-Napoca, adding that it is not good for Romania to get fixated on a deadline for accession.
'We have to fulfil certain conditions, which in principle we already do, but politicians were overzealous when they set 2019 as the deadline for our accession to the Eurozone. That is so unrealistic that not even the required technical committees are in place,' said Iohannis.
He added that 2015 was the last time when the latest developments in Romania's switchover to the European single currency were assessed.
'Somewhere in early 2015, I wanted us to be there in 2019, but that was neither realistic nor feasible. No assessment were made since to restate when to switch over, but it was agreed that we have to be better prepared so that when we get there we will have no new problems, given that once in the Eurozone many monetary policy levers are abandoned, levers that we are using and that helps us at this stage. Our 5-percent economic growth, compared with the one or two-percent growth of others, can be explained by the fact that we have moved easily using monetary policy tools. Specialists are arguing that Romania needs a somehow higher real convergence. A minimal convergence of 60 percent is generally acceptable and talks now focus on the idea that Romania has to pass this threshold once inside the Eurozone,' said Iohannis.
He added that Romania should not get fixated on a deadline for accession to the Eurozone.
'There is no deadline for us and I believe setting one is no good, given that the European Union is facing innumerable crises that we are not artfully managing, but we are barely managing. No deadline is not a problem. We get prepared in the most natural way, by economic growth, and we will wait and see when discussing a deadline for accession to the Eurozone is opportune,' said Iohannis.
Iohannis on Thursday attended a debate on the European Union between disintegration and reform and Romania's contribution to the consolidation of the European construction, held in Cluj-Napoca by the CITADEL think tank of the Babes-Bolyai University.
agerpres.
Seville, Spain, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ShapeBlue, the largest independent integrator of CloudStack technologies worldwide, today announced at ApacheCon Europe that it will be donating its CloudStack Container Service software to the Apache CloudStack project. The technology integrates CloudStack with Kubernetes and Docker to provide a seamless Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) offering within existing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) environments with no disruption to user experience or business process.
"We are really excited to be handing over the code and IP of CloudStack Container Service to the CloudStack project as part of our ongoing commitment to open source," said Giles Sirett, CEO of ShapeBlue. "The CloudStack project is the best environment for others to build on the work weve done to date."
CloudStack Container Service is a plug-in for Apache CloudStack that enables users to create container clusters within an existing multi-tenant environment, provided by CloudStack. The user experience is seamless: users can both manage container clusters and deploy/manage cloud native applications in the same user-interface that they use to manage their existing compute, network, and storage. Service providers running dedicated or custom UIs benefit from a number of simple API calls that have been added to the CloudStack API to allow simple integration.
"We have focused on creating a seamless experience between CloudStack orchestrated infrastructure and Kubernetes orchestrated container environments to meet demand from our customers," explained Sirett.
The project began as a collaboration between ShapeBlue and Skippbox, providers of platforms and tools that ease the deployment and lifecycle management of cloud-native applications. It has been available for download since May 2016 under the Apache 2.0 license and, ultimately, will be moved under the governance of the Apache CloudStack project.
"The Kubernetes CloudStack plug-in has been used by a number of cloud service providers for some time, and we are now confident about its potential to be utilised for a number of other use-cases by the open source community," said Skippbox founder and CEO, Sebastien Goasguen. "Open sourcing it is the right thing to do, to help the community transition to a container world."
The software gives end-users the ability to use multiple container engines such as Docker or rkt from CoreOS, hosted container registries like Docker hub, Quay or Google Container Registry (GCE), as well as their own private registries. It provides this whilst overcoming the biggest challenge for existing IaaS providers: how to quickly offer their users a robust CaaS offering, but with a seamless user experience and no disruption of their existing IaaS business processes and commercial models.
Ian Rae, CEO of Cloudops, said "ShapeBlue's contribution allows service providers to offer 'Containers-as-a-Service' for their customers (similar to AWS ECS) based on Apache CloudStack. Their customers can now provision and manage containers on top of their cloud resources. CloudOps works with many open source cloud computing projects and we believe this contribution represents an important advancement in the capabilities of Apache CloudStack."
"The underlying framework that we have created can be easily used as a basis for integrating Docker swarm, Apache Mesos, Apache Hadoop, or any other cluster orientated platform," explained Sirett. "Adoption can be greatly accelerated by making this part of CloudStack itself, where the community can collaborate on further development."
"Supporting containers is a great step forward for our users given the current cloud computing landscape," said Will Stevens, Vice President of Apache CloudStack. "We appreciate ShapeBlue contributing this integration to the CloudStack community."
Further information on CloudStack Container Service is available at http://www.shapeblue.com/cloudstack-container-service/
About ShapeBlue
ShapeBlue are the largest independent integrator of CloudStack technologies globally and are specialists in the design and implementation of IaaS cloud infrastructures for both private and public cloud implementations. Services include IaaS cloud design, software engineering, CloudStack consulting, and training. The company has a global customer base with offices in London (UK), Mountain View (CA), Bangalore (India), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Cape Town (South Africa). For more information, visit http://www.shapeblue.com/.
"Apache", "CloudStack", and "Apache CloudStack" are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. "Kubernetes" is a trademark of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. All other brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
AWARDS
The St. Louis Union Station Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton received a 2016 Readers Choice Award from ConventionSouth magazine.
Grant Contracting was named a 2016 Safety Advantage Award winner by the Mason Contractors Association of America.
Roeslein Alternative Energy received first place in the Friend of the ABC category at the 2016 American Biogas Councils industry awards. Roeslein won for contributions to a manure-to-energy project at Ruckman Farm near Albany, Mo.
Chad Doyle of RE/MAX Preferred was named the 2016 Certified Residential Specialist of the Year by the Illinois Council of Residential Specialists.
Washington University School of Medicine recognized Beyond Housing, a nonprofit community development organization, with the 2016 Homer G. Phillips Lecture Series Founders Award for its work to revitalize St. Louis neighborhoods.
A Doe Run Co. team won first place in the field competition at the annual Mine Rescue Day at the Missouri University of Science and Technology Experimental Mine in Rolla.
Dr. Robert Butler, a general dentist in Webster Groves, was named the 2016 Missouri Dental Association Dentist of the Year.
EXPANDING
Columbia Colleges Fishman Center for Entrepreneurship expanded its Student Business Pitch competition to its St. Louis and Orlando, Fla., campuses.
Scottrock Motors, 1637 South Old Highway 141 in Fenton, signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer.
HELPING OUT
Scott Credit Union donated $2,500 to the OFallon, Ill., Township High School Band.
Edward Jones employees raised more than $5.6 million for the United Ways community campaign.
MILESTONES
McCarthy Holdings Inc. marked 20 years of employee ownership.
OPENINGS
MedExpress opened two neighborhood medical centers:
515 Belt Line Road, Collinsville
326 North 24th Street, Quincy, Ill.
Solid Gold, a manufacturer and supplier of holistic pet foods, opened its new headquarters:
15455 Conway Road, Suite 100, Chesterfield
Hooters reopened a newly remodeled restaurant:
4061 Veterans Memorial Parkway, St. Peters
RECOGNITION
STL-Style was one of 100 businesses invited to Yelps Coast-to-Coast business leader summit on brand building, social strategy and human resource enhancement.
Martha Garcia-Perry, director of account management at MetroGistics, was recognized as one of the leading women in remarketing at the National Remarketing Conference. Jeremy Cope, vice president of logistics operations at MetroGistics, was recognized as a 40 Under 40 honoree.
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC was named Law Firm of the Year in the labor law-management category in the 2017 U.S. News Best Lawyers Best Law Firms list.
Thomas Dankenbring was named to Northwestern Mutuals 2016 Forum Group, which recognizes company leaders.
Centene Corp. will continue serving Medicaid beneficiaries in the state of Georgia thanks to a statewide contract award.
The contract, effective July 1, 2017, gives Centene's Georgia subsidiary five one-year renewal options, the company said Friday.
Centene's Peach State Health Plan will be one of four managed care companies to provide medical, behavioral, dental and vision health coverage to individuals eligible for Medicaid throughout the state of Georgia , the company said Friday.
As of Sept. 30, the Peach State Health Plan provided insurance coverage to 498,000 Medicaid members throughout Georgia.
Many states hire companies like Clayton-based Centene to insure its Medicaid recipients. Individuals with low-incomes are eligible for Medicaid health coverage through the state.
No clinically meaningful differences between biosimilar etanercept and the originator product in safety and efficacy over 52 weeks[1]
Innovative study design demonstrates switching between biosimilar etanercept and the originator product has no impact on safety and efficacy[1]
Sandoz biosimilar etanercept was approved by the FDA* in August 2016 and is currently under review by the EMA**
Holzkirchen, November 18, 2016 - Sandoz, a Novartis division, and the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars, today announced the publication of the EGALITY study in the British Journal of Dermatology. The confirmatory clinical safety and efficacy study shows Sandoz biosimilar etanercept is equivalent to the originator product, Enbrel***, in more than 500 adult patients over 52 weeks[1].
The innovative design of the EGALITY study includes switched and continuous treatment arms. Patients who switched treatments crossed over between biosimilar etanercept and the originator product three times with no clinically meaningful differences in safety and efficacy.
"Sandoz recognizes that clinicians need robust data on switching to confidently prescribe biosimilars. In EGALITY the same patients received treatment with biosimilar etanercept and the originator product in an alternating fashion and these three treatment switches had no impact on safety and efficacy," said Malte Peters M.D., Head Global Clinical Development, Biopharmaceuticals, Sandoz. "This innovative study demonstrates that Sandoz is at the frontier of building trust and confidence in biosimilars to increase access to biologics for patients worldwide." Peters continued.
The 52-week EGALITY study was a randomized, double-blind trial which involved 531 adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The study was carried out over 12 months in 74 dermatology clinical sites across Europe and South Africa and consisted of three treatment periods. In the first 12-week period, patients received biosimilar etanercept or the originator product. In the second period, patients with at least 50% improvement of psoriasis symptoms were re-randomized into four groups; the first two groups continued with their original treatment and other two switched to the alternate treatment every six weeks until week 30[1]. In the third period, the patients continued to receive their last treatment at week 30 up to week 52.
From baseline to week 52, the percentage change in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score was comparable between biosimilar etanercept and the originator product. EGALITY also confirms a comparable safety profile of the two medicines over 52 weeks, with similar incidence rates of treatment-emergent adverse events seen in all study arms. The primary endpoint of achieving equivalence in PASI 75 response rates were met at week 12[2]. These data were presented at the congress of the Psoriasis International Network (PIN), 2016.
The FDA approved Sandoz biosimilar etanercept in August 2016 for all indications included in the label of the originator product, which is used to treat various inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. It is currently under regulatory review by the EMA after the submission was accepted in the second half of 2015.
Sandoz is committed to increasing patient access to high-quality, life-enhancing biosimilars. It is the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars and currently markets three biosimilars. Sandoz has a leading biosimilar pipeline and plans to launch five biosimilars of major oncology and immunology biologics across key geographies by 2020. As a division of the Novartis Group, Sandoz is well-positioned to lead the biosimilars industry based on its experience and capabilities in development, manufacturing and commercialization.
About Sandoz biosimilar etanercept
The Sandoz proposed biosimilar to Enbrel, has been studied in a global development program, which included a comprehensive comparison of the biosimilar and Enbrel at the analytical, pre-clinical, and clinical levels, including data from four pharmacokinetic studies (GP15-101, GP15-102, GP15-103 and GP15-104) involving a total of 216 healthy volunteers, as well as data from the confirmatory clinical safety and efficacy study EGALITY (GP15-302). The development program also included five pre-clinical studies.
Disclaimer
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "under review," "committed," "pipeline," "plans," "launch," "well positioned," "proposed," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals for biosimilar etanercept or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline, or regarding potential future revenues from biosimilar etanercept and the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that biosimilar etanercept or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline will be submitted or approved for sale in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that biosimilar etanercept or any of the other products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding biosimilar etanercept and such other Sandoz biosimilar pipeline products could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including unexpected clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; competition in general, including potential approval of additional versions of biosimilar etanercept; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, industry and general public pricing pressures; unexpected litigation outcomes, including intellectual property disputes or other legal efforts to prevent or limit Sandoz from selling biosimilar etanercept or its other biosimilar products; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general economic and industry conditions; unexpected safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Sandoz
Sandoz is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. As a division of the worldwide Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people's lives. We contribute to society's ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2015 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2015, our products reached more than 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany's Greater Munich area.
* US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
** European Medicines Agency (EMA)
*** Enbrel is a registered trademark of Pfizer in Europe and Amgen in the US
GP15-104, one of the four PK studies that intended to demonstrate bioequivalence between GP2015 and EU-licensed Enbrel, was submitted as an amendment to the initial Biologics License Agreement at the request of European authorities
References
[1] Griffiths C et al. The EGALITY study: A confirmatory, randomised, double-blind study comparing the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of GP2015, a proposed etanercept biosimilar, versus the originator product in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque-type psoriasis. Br J Dermatol.
[2] Griffiths EM et al. GP2015, a proposed etanercept biosimilar, has equivalent efficacy, safety and immunogenicity to etanercept originator product in patients with chronic plaque-type psoriasis: 12 week results from the phase 3 EGALITY study. Poster presented at the Psoriasis 2016, 5th Congress of the Psoriasis International Network (PIN), July 07, 2016 (e-poster P222)
###
For further information, contact:
Eric Althoff
Novartis Global Media Relations
+41 61 324 7999 (direct)
+41 79 593 4202 (mobile)
eric.althoff@novartis.com
Duncan Cantor
Sandoz Global Communications
+49 (0) 170 650 6067
duncan.cantor@sandoz.com Tara Lanigan
Sandoz Global Communications
+49 (0) 172 8295 276
tara.lanigan@sandoz.com
Novartis Investor Relations
Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944
E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com
Updated at 2 p.m.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a California pet owner who sued the maker of Beneful dog food, Nestle Purina PetCare Co.
The lawsuit that sought class action status was filed in February 2015 in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California against Nestle Purina, which is based in St. Louis and is a unit of Swiss-based Nestle.
In the lawsuit, Frank Lucido initially claimed after he fed his dogs Beneful "kibble" style dog food, his dogs became sick. He later dropped those allegations and the lawsuit was amended to allege false advertising.
The judge dismissed all claims against Nestle Purina in the suit Thursday.
"We are pleased that after hearing arguments from both sides, the Judge dismissed all claims," Nestle Purina said in a statement. The ruling "confirms what millions of pet owners already know that Beneful is a safe, healthy, and nutritious dog food that millions of dogs enjoy every day."
Bobbie Carroll always thought of herself as a creative person, but she never expected to become an expert on a laser cutter and use it to make money.
Craig Caesar was already an entrepreneur with his own 3-D printing equipment, but didnt envision himself as a product designer and artisan.
The August opening of TechShop, a membership workshop in the Central West End, has propelled both Carroll and Caesar into the vanguard of the so-called maker movement in St. Louis. Both are using their technology and design skills and TechShops equipment to do small-scale manufacturing, and both are encouraging others to do the same.
Carroll, a freelance writer from Alton, toured TechShop before it opened and was wowed by the more than $1 million worth of equipment and tools. The $150 monthly membership seemed steep but her boyfriend, Adam Hosmer of Staunton, talked her into it.
We thought, were creative people, surely we will find ways to make use of this equipment, Carroll recalled. She quickly got trained on TechShops laser cutter and used it to make wooden keychains, which have sold well at craft shows.
From there, she branched out into snowflake ornaments and wooden door hangers with interchangeable seasonal designs. She and Hosmer have set up a website, Innotations.com, and are considering renting a mall kiosk.
Caesar came to TechShop with a plan for how he was going to use the machines. He needed customized parts for an electronics kit that his company, MakerMakers of St. Charles, sells as part of an educational program for children, and making them on a laser cutter would be faster and cheaper than ordering them from a contract manufacturer.
The first class on the machine lit me up with ideas, Caesar recalls. He made an acrylic-and-wood table for a display at the Murmuration festival in September, and people were more interested in the table than my kits.
So he pivoted and began taking orders for tables. To use some of the waste wood from making them, he designed an interlocking lizard puzzle, and sold $200 worth of those at the first show he attended.
Since TechShop opened, Caesar also has designed product prototypes for two other companies. He was already in business for himself, but now hes juggling multiple products and has a diverse revenue stream.
I aspire to be a serial entrepreneur, using my creative skills more than my business and organizational skills, Caesar said. Now Ive gotten a taste of what that can be like, and its pretty great.
Caesar is looking forward to using more of TechShops equipment. Hes already screen-printed a T-shirt and sewn bags for his puzzles. The metal shop and paint booth also beckon.
Those might sound like difficult skills, but TechShop offers beginner-level classes in all of them. It also has a community of members about 500 so far willing to share their expertise.
TechShop opened its first maker space in California a decade ago. St. Louis is the ninth U.S. location, and its also in Paris, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.
Mike Hill, TechShops general manager, says about half the members are using the shop for a business, while the rest use it for hobbies and do-it-yourself projects.
TechShop also has more than 30 institutional members, which pay for their employees to use the equipment. On a recent weekday, a Caleres employee was making a digital display for the companys shoe stores.
The business people, Hill said, arent much different from the hobbyists. Every person who makes something wants to share it, he said. Whether theyre sharing it for free, at cost or for profit, its our innate desire to share what we have created.
Updated to correct Bobbie Carroll's last name.
Gut reactions subtle bodily sensations that result from risky behavior have long been the stuff of financial market lore. Some successful stock market traders, billionaire George Soros included, have claimed they pay attention to bodily pains and other sensations to gain valuable insight into how they should trade on the markets.
A new paper published in Scientific Reports suggests some truth could be lurking behind these stories. These feelings, which result not just from a persons gut but also their heart, lungs, bladder, bowels, skin and other organs, arent just random. They contain signals that tell people about their emotional states, including pain, anxiety and doubt, the researchers say. And some people are better at detecting the signals than others.
The research, which was carried out in part by John Coates, a former derivatives trader who now works as a neuroscientist, looked at interoception, the ability to sense these bodily signals. London traders who could more accurately detect their own heartbeat were more likely to survive and thrive in financial markets, according to the study.
The researchers looked at 18 male traders who bought and sold futures contracts throughout the day, and compared that data with a control group of 48 non-trader males. The two groups were asked to count their heartbeat without directly feeling their pulse, and the traders were significantly better on average at counting than nontraders. The researchers also found that traders precision on counting their own heartbeats predicted their profit and loss record, and the number of years they had survived in the market.
While the study was small, it supports a larger body of research suggesting that subtle physiological changes can aid people in making tough decisions.
Past research has indicated that people who are better at detecting their heart rates perform better in laboratory studies of risky decision-making. When people were asked to gamble in laboratory settings, rapid and subtle bodily responses appeared to guide them away from unprofitable trades and toward profitable ones.
The Missouri Arts Council has named Shakespeare Festival St. Louis the Arts Organization of the Year, a statewide honor that will be presented in Jefferson City.
The ceremony will be Feb. 8, Citizens Day for the Arts.
In addition, Nancy Bell, the festival's playwright-in-residence, will be honored with the 2017 Visionary Award for Outstanding Arts Professional. Relaunched in 2015, the award honors contributions and achievements of women in the arts. Bell will receive her award April 24 at the Sun Theatre.
Besides its best-known project, the annual production of a free Shakespeare play in Forest Park, the festival also presents other efforts:
Shakespeare in the Streets, an annual, localized update of a play by Shakespeare. Bell has written all of the Shakespeare in the Streets productions, five so far. Two of them in 2013 and 2015, received the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for outstanding new play. Bell is also a well-known, award-winning actor.
Shake38, an annual production of some form of each of Shakespeare's plays. Theater troupes, schools, businesses and groups of friends are among those who take on a play, some that favor traditional approaches and some that are pretty offbeat.
Special events that tie in with other organizations. For example, Love's Labors, a Shakespeare mashup created and directed by Bruce Longworth, was recently performed in the galleries of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. The festival's associate artistic director, Longworth will direct the festival's free production of The Winter's Tale next year in Forest Park.
Many educational programs that travel to schools around the area, among them its annual Education Tour. The 2017 Education Tour recently received national recognition itself: It's being underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest's Shakespeare in American Communities Initiative.
Not much will get done in some homes on Friday. Thats the day the sun comes up again in Stars Hollow, the impossibly quaint little Connecticut town we left, wiping away tears, almost a decade ago.
Some of us may even nap on Thanksgiving day so we can stay up late Thursday to binge on Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, arriving at midnight Pacific time (2 a.m. Friday in St. Louis), on Netflix.
Nothing has changed, but everything has, since the Gilmore Girls faithful said goodbye to Lorelai and Rory Gilmore on May 15, 2007.
We thought the goodbye was forever. Gilmore Girls had run seven seasons and 153 episodes, first on the WB and then on the consolidated CW, but the finale was tainted by the departure, a year earlier, of creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, whose dazzling writing made Stars Hollow such a magical place.
The finale, written by David S. Rosenthal, who had replaced Sherman-Palladino, closed with mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory sharing coffee at Lukes Diner, just as they had in the first episode. But nostalgia was overlaid with sadness that the last scene didnt include the four final words with which Sherman-Palladino had always planned to end the show.
We moved on, but lots of us daughters, mothers, sisters, friends and hey, some Gilmore guys, too never really let go. We didnt have to.
With televised repeats (episodes currently air on Freeform), DVDs and streaming (every episode is on Netflix), we could check back in whenever we liked and also bring newcomers into the fold. And many of us did.
Thats because Gilmore Girls was more than a television show. It was a cultural touchstone for a segment of viewers who dont always feel catered to. It deeply explored mother-daughter relationships, celebrated friendship and the families we create for ourselves, and always empowered girls and young women to aspire higher and be proud to be smart.
Gilmore Girls was heartfelt and touching but also unfailingly witty and irreverent, with dialogue so snappy and fast-paced that even several viewings couldnt catch every great line. It reminded us regularly that theres no place like home, no matter how annoying the inhabitants might be.
No wonder Gilmore Girls was such a great candidate for watching and rewatching, a phenomenon ideal for the age of streaming.
The first talk was about a possible movie, and fans held our collective breath that it would ever happen. When all seven seasons arrived on Netflix in the fall of 2014, that turned out to be an important step ahead.
A cast reunion at the ATX television festival in Austin, Texas, in June of 2015 confirmed the fervor with which fans still viewed Gilmore Girls, blowing up social media with responses.
Revival-crazy Netflix was clearly the ideal venue for a new Gilmore Girls, and on Jan. 29, the streaming giant made it official, confirming that Sherman-Palladino and her husband and producing partner, Daniel Palladino, were both committed to a revival.
Lauren Graham (Lorelai), Alexis Bledel (Rory), Scott Patterson (Luke) and Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore) were listed initially as being on board, but since then the cast has grown to include virtually every other regular, with even Melissa McCarthy (who was Sookie before she was a breakout movie star) making time to drop in.
4 movies, 6 hours
Fans were thrilled enough even before learning that, instead of a movie, they would be getting four movies, each representing a season of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Four movies. Six hours. Arguably, thats the perfect binge length.
Sherman-Palladino initially opposed the binge model. I told them I was going to hang myself from a shower curtain if they put them all out, she recalled as part of a Gilmore Girls Netflix panel with TV critics this summer.
She lost.
Its such a journey, and its such a build to the last four words, she said. Also, we live in an age where I knew people were going to go right to the last four words and then put it on the internet and possibly spoil it for people who are going to take the journey. However, you know, you dont always get what you want.
Nevertheless, The good outweighs the bad in the sense that this is a wonderful place to be able to create things and do things in a different way. So, you know, shower curtain will wait.
Graham, who starred in Parenthood on NBC post-Gilmore, was one of the first to sign on for the revival and one of the happiest.
It was literally like no time had passed, she said. It just feels like such a perfect fit. I just couldnt believe I got to do it again.
Bledel agreed. It really was as if no time had passed.
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life will be set in the four seasons. Two major plots find Rory adrift, struggling with where her career should go, and all the Gilmores mourning the loss of patriarch Richard. (Edward Herrmann died in 2014.)
The shows other mother and daughter, Emily and Lorelai, still have issues, but new ones.
As Sherman-Palladino put it, I really feel like the (stuff) in your family never gets worked out. That, to me, is whats so great about family. Its a constant evolution. ... Thats why this show was such a great show to write, because youre never going to run out of conflict.
She doesnt look back on what might have been if she and her husband hadnt left Gilmore Girls when they did, in a contract dispute. She considers the Netflix show very much its own thing. When we left Gilmore, we left Gilmore.
Ten years ago, Netflix didnt exist as we know it today. When Netflix popped up and decided to storm the world and just take over overnight, we thought, well, what a great opportunity to delve into a different form, to tell stories in a different way using characters that we loved. And we get to get back into a room with these actors and be able to go at it again, but in a completely different way.
The different way, Sherman-Pallacino said, includes the fact that youre writing not (for) commercials or to sell soap or tampons. ... Its really just there to tell stories.
Sherman-Palladino isnt actually too worried that, hours or even minutes after the new episodes hit Netflix, the four last words shes kept secret so long will be everywhere and that some people might actually watch the end first.
It would be great if people who wanted to see the last four words first got some therapy before it actually aired and got rid of that inclination, she said.
It really is a journey leading up to the last four words, and I do think its going to mean a lot more if youve taken the journey and a lot less if you just flip to the last page. That being said, what can I do? I would hope that people would want to take the whole trip.
What Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life When Available for streaming at midnight Pacific, 2 a.m. in St. Louis, on Friday Where Netflix More info netflix.com
FERGUSON Prosecutors on Friday filed a murder charge in the shooting death of a Ferguson man.
Kevin Moore, 58, was gunned down at about 1:30 a.m. Monday in the 5000 block of Rockingham Drive, police say.
On Friday, Michael A. Murphy, 37, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. He was held in lieu of $1 million, cash-only bail. Murphy lives in the 5900 block of Pamplin Avenue in St. Louis.
According to court documents, Murphy entered Moore's home and shot him multiple times. The court records say the killing was on Tuesday, although police say it was Monday.
Neither Police nor the court records mention a possible motive.
Rockingham Drive, west of South Florissant Road, is on the southern tip of Ferguson, near Cool Valley.
A mugshot of Murphy was not immediately available Friday.
Joel Currier of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS Fallen Officer Blake Snyders job application to the St. Louis County Police Department in 2012 spoke of being called to serve.
The man who hired him four years ago, former County Police Chief Tim Fitch, recited an excerpt from that application Thursday at the 47th annual Crusade Against Crime Medal of Valor award ceremony at Orlandos banquet hall in Maryland Heights:
I look forward to being part of the solution by serving and protecting the community, Snyder wrote. I see the authority and power that I will be entrusted with as a huge responsibility one that I feel called to do.
Snyders widow, Elizabeth Snyder, and partner, Officer John Becker, accepted medals Thursday along with 17 police officers, a park ranger and five citizens for their acts of bravery.
The recent shooting of Snyder, of Edwardsville, and another St. Louis-area patrol officer struck a melancholy chord over a normally celebratory tribute to heroism.
Three citizens came to Flamions aid. Both officers and the three citizens were honored Thursday.
These officers, these citizens, Fitch, the keynote speaker, told a hall of about 300 people, they have sacrificed and worked hard for it. One hero has given his life for his community, and another heros life has been changed forever.
This years honorees were:
St. Louis police Sgt. Charles Lowe, who was shot July 14, 2015, as he worked a part-time security job and sat in his personal car near Maryland and Euclid avenues. His bullet-resistant vest stopped a slug from penetrating his torso. At least two men were charged in the shooting.
St. Louis police Officers Steven Korte and James Bain, who arrested two people who were shooting at each other on Aug. 8, 2015, in the citys Baden neighborhood. The two were taken into custody without anyone being shot. Korte and Bain also won Medals of Valor last year.
St. Louis police Officers Michael Joyner and James Wurm, who were involved in a shooting Feb. 3, 2015, in the 4100 block of Minnesota Avenue in the citys Dutchtown neighborhood. Joyner fatally shot Ledarius D. Williams, 23, who had a handgun, during an arrest attempt.
St. Louis Sgt. JD McCloskey and Officer Wesley McCormick, who arrested Walter Saddler on Nov. 22, 2015, in the 4300 block of College Avenue. Police say Saddler ran from the officers and shot McCormick, then a rookie, in the neck. McCormick shot back but missed. McCloskey also won a Medal of Valor in 2011.
St. Louis Officers Ryan Murphy and Thomas Streckfuss, who were honored for their role in the April 19 fatal shooting of carjacking suspect Jorevis Scruggs, 15, in the 2700 block of Bacon Street. Police said Murphy fatally shot Scruggs after Scruggs pointed a gun at police.
St. Louis Officers Timothy Nolan and Elijah Brummett, who on May 3 rushed into a burning house in the 4100 block of Penrose Street to rescue a man trapped inside. The victim was critically hurt but survived.
St. Louis Park Ranger Alonzo Wilkerson, who shot and wounded Demetrius Hebb, then 36, of Jennings. Police say Hebb shot another man April 24 during a barbecue at Carondelet Park. Police said Wilkerson returned fire after Hebb fired shots at him.
Erik Pyke, a citizen, who chased down a purse snatcher Oct. 11, 2015, outside a Schnucks at 4333 Butler Hill Road. Pyke also noted the suspects license plate number and helped police arrest the thief.
Lakeshire Sgt. Robert Planthold, St. Louis County Officer Benjamin Simmons and 12-year-old Blake Hoffman, who together helped stop a hammer attack against the boy and his mother, Jillian Hohman, on Nov. 6, 2015, in Lakeshire. Blake, bleeding from the attack, summoned help from neighbors. Planthold and Simmons arrived and saw Jacob Hohman, 30, threatening them with a claw hammer, and shot him several times, killing him.
Citizens Joseph Sciarratta and Susan and Emily Doig, who were honored for helping Flamion when he was shot July 8 on New Ballwin Road.
Police say Sciarratta applied pressure to Flamion's gunshot wound, and Susan Doig gave Flamion CPR while her daughter, Emily Doig, called 911.
UPDATES with vote to end the program
St. Louis' decades-old school racial integration effort now has an expiration date.
Local school leaders approved a road map on Friday for the last extension of the area's decades-old voluntary desegregation program.
The plan will allow only 250 new city students to attend suburban schools in the 2019-2020 year, the first year of what's expected to be the final extension of the program. That number will eventually decrease to just 150 in 2023-2024, the final year of the planned extension.
The extension is designed to primarily admit siblings of current transfer students. After siblings, families who previously were denied spots in the program because of space will get priority.
The plan will continue to allow county students to attend city magnet schools, though no enrollment limits have been specified. Siblings will also have priority for transfers from the county to the city.
More than 60,000 African-American city residents have been able to attend predominantly white suburban districts through the region's voluntary desegregation program. White county students have also attended city magnet schools through the program.
The program started in 1982 as a result of a federal school desegregation lawsuit. Participating school districts have since voted three times to extend the program past its previous 2008-2009 expiration date.
The board of the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation, which oversees the desegregation program, voted Friday morning to approve this final extension plan.
Members of the board, which is composed of superintendents and representatives of the school districts still participating in the program, stressed that this is not necessarily the end of school integration in St. Louis.
David Glaser, executive director of VICC, said there is a lot of interest in keeping it going past 2023-2024 as an income-based, rather than race-based program.
"This is not an end," said Keith Marty, superintendent of Parkway schools, at Friday's board meeting. "We all agree how important it is."
Program has downsized
Federal court rulings have said the desegregation program cannot legally continue forever as a race-based program.
The program has downsized significantly since its peak in 1998, as district participation became voluntary, and districts reduced the number of transfer spots available because of factors such as lack of space.
Still, the program has remained popular and difficult to get into. More than 3,100 new students applied for what ended up being just 611 city-to-county transfer spots this year. About 4,470 city students are participating in the program this year, down from 13,263 at its peak.
The program has been obviously a noteworthy program for a long time and it's supported kids and families, said St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams. What it really has done is give kids an opportunity they would not otherwise have.
Some officials say the program's phase-out makes sense at this point in time.
When the last extension for the program was approved years ago, there were fewer quality school options for St. Louis families in the city, Glaser said.
Now, there are more charter schools. And many area administrators agree that Adams has worked hard the past few years to improve city schools and add quality choices like magnet schools.
The improvements stand in contrast to perceptions held by some that a student had to leave the city for a good education.
Limiting the program, in a way, acknowledges the efforts the district has made to improve and expand education options in the city.
I wouldn't disagree that St. Louis, since that time, has made definite progress in improving the quality of schools and also increasing options for kids, Glaser said. All of us have a high level of respect for Dr. Adams and the work that he's done.
Adams said he thinks it's an opportune time to wind down the desegregation program, now that the district has shown more stability both in leadership and finances than it has in years previous.
We had a job to do, and our job was to make the schools as good as it can possibly be, he said. I think it had to end at some point in time. This is kind of a sweet spot.
Income vs. race
It is still possible that the VICC board could, in the future, decide to extend desegregation beyond 2024 as an income-based program.
Income-based programs are considered to be a more modern form of school integration. There are 91 school jurisdictions in the country that have socioeconomic integration programs, up from just two in 1996, according to The Century Foundation, a New York-based progressive think tank.
Such programs can achieve both socioeconomic and racial integration.
There are a number of things the VICC board would have to consider to convert to an income-based program. For instance, unlike race, which is a fixed characteristic, income can change over time. An income-based program could also see the involvement of north St. Louis County districts that are primarily African-American but more socioeconomically diverse.
Such a transformation of the program would require a unanimous vote by the VICC board. The board likely won't consider such a change at least for another year.
A study is currently being done by University of Missouri-St. Louis urban education professor Jerome Morris about the program's impact and ways it can be continued past this new expiration date. Officials expect a final report in December of next year.
The districts that still accept new desegregation students are Affton, Bayless, Brentwood, Clayton, Hancock Place, Kirkwood, Mehlville, Parkway, Rockwood, Valley Park, Webster Groves and St. Louis Public Schools.
Danish English
Highlights Q1 2016/17:
In the first quarter of 2016/17 Rovsing continued the strong sales growth. The sales grew by 61 % compared to same period last year.
Q1 2016/17 was dominated by continued activities for large Power SCOE contracts and the ramp-up of the DSTE products and systems.
In August 2016, Rovsing signed the agreement for deliveries of stand-alone Solar Array Simulator (SAS) modules to the MetOp-SG Satellite Programme.
In the summer, Rovsing won OHB System in Bremen, Germany as a new customer for its standards products and entered OHBs supplier base for future EGSE systems.
In September 2016, Rovsing signed the Distributor Agreement for the Chinese mainland with Shanghai Keliang Information Tech. & Eng. Co. Ltd (Keliang) for Rovsings Power SCOE products.
Rovsing was contracted by ESA/ESTEC to provide technical training for a Galileo IOV EGSE system that Rovsing delivered earlier to the industry prime.
Financial highlights Q1 2016/17:
Turnover for the period was DKK 9.0 mio. (Q1 2015/16: DKK 5.6 mio.) with an EBITDA of DKK -0.2 mio. (Q1 2015/16: DKK -0.1) The EBITDA is impacted by considerable investments in SAS and DSTE production ramp-up and knowledge transfer (cf. Annual Report 2015/16).
Equity amounts to DKK 15.2 mio. (30/9 2015: DKK 25.9 mio.).
Outlook for 2016/17
For the financial year 2016/17, Rovsing confirms its outlook of an expected turnover of DKK 32-35 mio. with an expected EBITDA of DKK 0-2 mio.
The very strong sales growth continues to challenge the liquidity situation in Rovsing. To pursue and support the full growth potential of the increased activities, Rovsing will investigate the option of increasing the capital by way of a direct listing of up to 10 % of the share capital.
Further information
Rovsing A/S, Cristian Bank, CEO (cbk@rovsing.dk)
JEFFERSON CITY Missouri GOP Chairman John Hancock announced Friday that he is stepping down from his current role in a party he says is stronger than its ever been in state government.
His decision comes after a banner year for the Missouri GOP, with Republican candidates for statewide office sweeping the ticket. Hancock is reluctant to take too much credit for that, instead praising the partys executive director, Jonathon Prouty, and contending that you win campaigns because you have better campaigns.
Still, Hancock said he was glad to see the Republican party in the state grow stronger and more unified that it had been when he took the helm.
We inherited a Republican party in Missouri that was in extreme debt, was highly divided, and I am pleased that through a lot of storms and challenges the party emerged financially, sound, stable, united and really in a very good position going forward, Hancock said.
Its unclear who will succeed him when the party selects his replacement in January. Hancock said he doesnt plan to endorse anyone and that he expects governor-elect Eric Greitens to have an important role in the choice.
Traditionally, the governor has a huge say. I would be looking to governor-elect Greitens if he has a favorite for that post, Hancock said.
"We look forward to working together with conservatives from across the state to continue to grow our party, and that includes the selection of a new chairman," said Austin Chambers, a senior advisor to Greitens who is overseeing his transition team.
Hancock told the Post-Dispatch that while he hasnt made any formal decisions about whats next, hes likely to return to the political work he was doing before being elected chairman in February 2015 advising conservative campaigns not just in Missouri but around the country.
Hancock took the job after former chairman Ed Martin left the position to head Phyllis Schlaflys Eagle Forum. Hes a former executive director of the state party and an analyst and co-host on KMOX-AM radio in St. Louis.
JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Senate is poised to close a potentially illegal bank account officials created to buy dinners for staff members and lawmakers.
More than two months after Auditor Nicole Galloway raised questions about the special fund, a Senate spokeswoman told the Post-Dispatch Friday that officials were looking at other ways of financing food purchases in the coming legislative session.
The decision came during a meeting of Senate leaders after the Nov. 8 election.
Following the direction of the Administration Committee, Senate Administrator Marga Hoelscher is exploring options for dissolving the Administrators Fund, said Senate spokeswoman Anne Marie Moy.
In the case of the special Senate fund, an audit of Senate operations for a two-year period ending June 30, 2015, found Senate administrators had solicited and received contributions from lobbying groups totaling $6,500 for meals.
Galloway, a Democrat, said the practice ran contrary to state law because the account was run outside of typical government procedures. And, she added, it represents a potential conflict of interest to ask groups seeking to influence state government to pay for meals.
It wasnt the first time an audit raised red flags about the account. Then-Auditor Tom Schweich also highlighted the issue in a 2013 report.
The move comes against the backdrop of the election of Eric Greitens, a Republican, as Missouris next governor. He campaigned on a platform of cleaning up Jefferson City and said he wanted to ban all gifts from lobbyists.
A lobbyist gift ban won favor in the Missouri House last spring but ran aground in the Senate after senators played down the effects of lobbyists paying for pizza, cases of soda and other perks.
In 2015, lobbyists spent $690,281 wining and dining lawmakers and other state officials, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission. In 2016, lobbyist spending through September totaled $531,543.
Typically, the special Senate fund was used to ensure that Senate staff and lawmakers had something to eat during the often-hectic late night legislative sessions that take place every spring when the House and Senate are meeting.
In other state offices, however, concerns about whether employees are fed are not so pronounced.
Galloway, for example, said her aides simply planned ahead when they expected to work a longer day.
They are adults and they take care of themselves, Galloway said. If they are planning to work late then they would bring their lunch, bring their dinner or order a sandwich.
Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, who is a member of the administrative committee, said it was not clear how meals for Senate staffers would be treated once the account was closed. In the past, she has bought food for her staff out of her own pocket.
The bottom line is, people gotta eat, Walsh said Friday.
Taxpayers also already provide money to senators for daily living expenses when they are in session. In addition to their $35,915 annual salaries as lawmakers, members of the Legislature receive a $113 check for daily meal and lodging expenses when they are in session.
Over an average of about 70 session days each year, that amounts to nearly $8,000. The daily expense rate has grown by 43 percent over the past decade.
Missouri television viewers were subjected to an unprecedented onslaught of political ads this season, producing a windfall for area TV stations.
They sold millions in ads to campaigns and interest groups that raised amounts of cash never seen before in Missouri politics.
By Nov. 8, local TV stations in the state had sold $124 million in political ads in 2016, according to estimates from Kantar Medias Campaign Media Analysis Group. That doesnt factor in ads run on local cable channels.
Because Missouri was never viewed as a competitive state for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, presidential spending in the state was minimal.
What led to the ad bonanza was a slate of statewide races in which the incumbent wasnt on the ballot, and a U.S. Senate race that proved to be far closer than most observers initially assumed it would be.
If you are fortunate enough to have a competitive race in your state, its a godsend, said Steve Lanzano, president of the the Television Bureau of Advertising.
For state-level candidates only, more ads ran in the St. Louis region than in any other market in the U.S., according to an analysis of Kantar data from the Center for Public Integrity.
Across Missouri, more ads were aired and more money was spent on the races for governor (an estimated $36.8 million), attorney general ($15.8 million), lieutenant governor ($3.5 million) and treasurer ($1.6 million) than in any other state. Spending in races for Missouri statewide and legislative offices doubled 2012 totals, and the $40 million in ads for the U.S. Senate race between Roy Blunt and Jason Kander ended up being far more expensive than originally anticipated.
Earlier this month, KMOV general manager Mike Murphy told the radio program Marketplace that the final month before the election would be a record-spending month in this market for political advertising. Theres no doubt about it.
The stations political ad revenue was up about 25 percent from four years ago, Murphy said, adding that he had never seen this much spending before in St. Louis. Ive heard about it in other markets, he said, but this has been tremendous here.
KMOVs parent company, Meredith Corp., reported record earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal year, which ended in September. In its earnings release, Meredith highlighted a 26 percent jump in political ad revenue from the last election cycle in 2014, driven in part by competitive down-ballot races in markets including St. Louis.
KTVI general manager Spencer Koch said it was the stations biggest year for political spending since at least the 2000 presidential race. If you look at this year, it was extremely busy and it was a record year compared to where we were (four years ago) he said, noting that the station added two more local news programs beacause of election interest.
Koch said it was important to provide voters with more news and information, though adding more local programming also gives political campaigns more opportunities to run ads during the local news shows where they can reach likely voters.
Nationally, many stations (and their parent companies) didnt fare as well. Donald Trump spent far less money on TV ads than most traditional candidates, and Clintons campaign spent less on ads than Barack Obama did in 2012. Super PACs which can be charged higher rates than those charged to candidates spent less on the presidential campaign than had been expected.
As a result, several broadcasting companies downgraded their earnings after political spending fell below initial projections. Lanzano said the final national estimate for local TV political ad revenue was $2.6 billion, down from $2.8 billion four years ago. How reliant local broadcasters are on political ads varies widely, but Lanzano said 15 percent to 20 percent of industry revenue this year will come from political ads.
KTVI was a welcome outlier for its owner, Tribune Media, whose political ad revenue fell a third below projections because of underwhelming presidential spending. KSDK parent company Tegna also missed earnings estimates after political ad revenue fell far short of expectations. KSDK earnings arent publicly available, and the station didnt respond to an interview request.
Many traditional advertisers pull their ads when the airwaves are overtaken during election season, and Koch, KTVIs manager, said much of that business was returning.
Will that offset political? No, he said. But political was enough.
English Finnish
The Mortgage Society of Finland
Press Release
Helsinki 18.11.2016
On November 17, 2016 the credit rating agency Standard & Poors Global Ratings (S&P) affirmed its investment grade BBB/A-3 long- and short-term issuer credit ratings to The Mortgage Society of Finland. The outlook of the rating improved to stable reflecting S&Ps view of the gradual recovery in the Finnish economy and strengthening of the housing market.
Additional information:
Ari Pauna, CEO
tel. +358 9 228 361 or +358 50 353 4690
Petteri Bollmann, Director, treasury- and funding
tel. +358 9 228 361 or +358 50 550 4355
Finnish English
S&P Global Ratings affirm the 'BBB/A-2' long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Bonum Bank PLC and the outlook remains stable (17.11.2016)
S&P Global Ratings has confirmed Bonum Bank Plc a credit rating of 'BBB' for long-term investment grade and a rating of 'A-2' for short-term investment grade on 17 November 2016. The outlook remains stable.
Previous S&P Global's rating report was from May 2015, when Bonum Bank received its rating.
Bonum Bank acts as the central credit institution for the POP Bank Group.
FORM 8.3
PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")
1. KEY INFORMATION
(a) Full name of discloser: HARGREAVE HALE LIMITED (for Discretionary Clients) (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. N/A (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree CRESTON PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:
For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 17 NOVEMBER 2016 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO
If YES, specify which: N/A
2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.
(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)
Class of relevant security:
ORDINARY 10P
Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 880,000 1.5525 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:
(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:
TOTAL: 880,000 1.5525
All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.
Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).
(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)
Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:
3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.
The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.
(a) Purchases and sales
Class of relevant security Purchase/sale
Number of securities Price per unit NONE
(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions
Class of relevant security Product description
e.g. CFD Nature of dealing
e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit NONE
(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)
(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying
Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit NONE
(ii) Exercise
Class of relevant security Product description
e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit
(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)
Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) NONE
4. OTHER INFORMATION
(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements
Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"
NONE
(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives
Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"
NONE
(c) Attachments
Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
Date of disclosure: 18 NOVEMBER 2016 Contact name: DAVID CLUEIT
HARGREAVE HALE LTD Telephone number: 01253 754739
Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.
The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.
The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
"Consultants can give the company guidance while overseeing an important green conversion."
Saving energy and lowering costs can be a boon for the supply chain, but it can also be difficult to implement. Not only do businesses have a huge amount of supply chain components to consider, there's also the problem of deciding which exact method will have the greatest impact. Some are not just trying to reduce energy emissions but offset them entirely through alternative, positive means.Furniture giant Ikea is planning to augment a distribution center with solar power panels, Chain Store Age reported. Working with the SoCore Energy group and Gray Construction, Ikea reportedly plans to place solar panels across the roof of its building in Joilet, Illinois. The assembly will consist of 8,966 panels and is expected to sit on the top of the building once it's finished roughly a year from now.Something other companies can take note of is the way this initiative fits the company's larger stated environmental mission. In 2015, the Ikea Group released its Sustainability Report, detailing, among other things, its progress towards energy independence.It also said that the values of green energy use apply not just to the customers, who have access to resource-saving products. This involved affirming the plan to promote a Code of Conduct for the company's suppliers through initiatives that extend into the future few years.Unfortunately, developing a functional green supply chain takes time and attention to detail, as well as reasonable, achievable goals. For a business to fully commit to a green transformation, it needs to understand the impacts on both the bottom line and the customer.In a chain of actions outlined in Industry Today, calculating the carbon footprint and ultimate savings of a plan can both factor into a new green initiative. Crucially, the source advocated for small changes as well as large ones, which could make the task of modernizing seem more feasible. Instead of putting all of their energy into a massive overhaul, a company can also update smaller pieces, such as lighting fixtures, to introduce changes slowly.One other component of this is the way procurement strategies can go along with environmental goals. The article emphasized the importance of smart procurement, with important sustainability criteria part of the process from the beginning. If a green project benefits from better data, procurement systems can give managers information from the beginning to structure a supply chain correctly.It goes along neatly with the goals of a procurement audit. Consultants can give the company guidance while overseeing an important conversion, and also make the relationships within the supplier network stronger and more productive.When there's already a holistic method in place for solving problems, it makes it that much easier for businesses to tweak their approach to reach environmental goals. Accurate reports can be the first step toward implementing change that lasts, no matter what the desired outcome.With environmental concerns important for producers around the globe and supply chains dependent on international passage, sourcing needs to stem from a business' most critical concerns.
The Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire presented the JMB Partnership with the Queen's Award for Enterprise.
WARWICKSHIRE based sales and marketing agency, The JMB Partnership was recently presented with the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise by Her Majestys Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox.
The Queens Award is one of the UKs highest accolades for British business success and is presented upon the Prime Ministers recommendation. The JMB Partnership has been presented with the Award for outstanding contribution to International Trade.
The JMB Partnership was one of only two organisations from the region to successfully receive the Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade, the other being international retailer Holland and Barrett.
Awarded to only those who demonstrate the highest levels of excellence within their field, JMB has received the award in recognition of their substantial growth and commercial success in the international business arena and year-on-year growth in overseas sales and export activity.
During the formal presentation, which also celebrated JMBs 10th anniversary, the highly coveted crystal bowl was presented to JMB managing director, James Blakemore by Her Majestys Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox. Other dignitaries in attendance included the Chairman of Warwickshire Council, Councillor Bob Hicks and fellow business leaders.
James Blakemore said: It is a true honour to receive such an accolade and recognition for the hard-work put in and the successes achieved over the last few years. I am immensely proud of the whole JMB Team for their commitment to driving both our own and our clients businesses forward. It is the pinnacle of achievement in terms of recognition for our proactive, dedicated approach to championing local, regional and international business growth.
The JMB Partnership was officially announced as award winners on 21st April on Her Majesty the Queens Birthday. In recognition of the award, earlier this year JMB Managing Director, James Blakemore and account director, Sarah Kingston were invited by the Queen to attend a formal reception at Buckingham Palace.
Men fish near an oil refinery in Kawasaki, near Tokyo July 5, 2012. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
By Ethan Lou
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Friday, closing out a strong week that saw crude buoyed by growing expectations that OPEC will find a way to cap production at the end of the month.
For the week, Brent and U.S. crude both rose roughly 5 percent, their first weekly gains in about a month.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is moving closer to finalizing its first deal since 2008 to limit output, with most members prepared to offer Iran flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said.
Iran has been the main stumbling block for capping production. While it has not yet responded to the proposal, the flexibility shown by others suggests OPEC members may be coming nearer to consensus as the Nov. 30 meeting approaches.
Brent notched a daily rise of 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $46.86 per barrel. Brent also had its first weekly increase in five weeks.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 27 cents, or 0.6 percent, for the day, at $45.69 a barrel. It posted its first weekly increase in four.
Crude has been moving up and down based on statements by OPEC members ahead of its Nov. 30 meeting, said James L. Williams, energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas.
"It kind of depends on which side of the bed the OPEC ministers wake up," he said of oil prices. "People keep digesting and re-digesting the news."
Williams said prices could fall below $40 if OPEC does not reach a deal on Nov. 30.
Stephen Brennock of oil brokerage PVM said there were still obstacles for OPEC to overcome.
"Iranian and Iraqi intransigence to the proposed output cuts remains in full force while competitive pressures among OPEC members was highlighted by news that Iran displaced Saudi Arabia as the top oil supplier to India," he said.
An OPEC output cut should boost profitability for U.S. producers. Activity continues to rise in the U.S., as oil services company Baker Hughes said U.S. drilling rigs rose by 19 to 471 in the week to Nov. 18.
Gains were limited by a rallying dollar, which reached its highest levels against a basket of currencies since 2003 after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday a rate increase could happen "relatively soon."
A stronger dollar makes oil, which is priced in the greenback, more expensive to buyers using other currencies.
(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London, Jane Chung in Seoul and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Jane Merriman and David Gregorio)
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), an advisor to U.S. President Elect Donald Trump, speaks to members of the Media in the lobby of Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar
By Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked three conservative loyalists to lead his national security and law enforcement teams on Friday, underscoring his campaign promise to take a hard line confronting Islamist militancy and curbing illegal immigration.
Trump picked U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, rewarding a staunch supporter whose tough and sometimes inflammatory statements on immigration have reflected his own. The choice was applauded by the top Republican in the Senate but drew sharp criticism from civil rights activists.
Retired Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who has championed Trump's promises to take a more aggressive approach to terrorism, was chosen as his national security adviser.
Trump named Representative Mike Pompeo, a vocal critic of the Obama administration's security policy, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The three choices, announced by Trump's transition team, come as the Republican president-elect works to fill key positions in his administration, which will take over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
The picks could heighten concerns abroad that the Trump administration might carry out campaign promises of banning Muslims from entering the United States or imposing more severe restrictions on migrants from countries or regions with high levels of militant Islamist activity, such as Iraq and Syria.
Sessions and Pompeo seem likely to be confirmed by the Senate despite heavy resistance from Democrats. Republicans will control a majority, with at least 51 seats in the 100-seat chamber, when Congress reconvenes in January. Flynn's post does not need Senate confirmation.
One of the earliest Republican lawmakers to support Trump's White House candidacy, Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico. He has also argued for curbs on legal immigration on the grounds that it drives down wages for U.S. workers.
A former Alabama attorney general and U.S. attorney, Sessions, 69, has been in the Senate for 19 years. Allegations that he made racist remarks led the Senate to deny his confirmation as a federal judge in 1986. The chamber's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said he would want Sessions to answer "tough questions" about his civil rights positions.
The attorney general acts as the country's chief law enforcement officer and head of the Justice Department. Civil rights groups slammed Sessions as a poor choice to head a department charged with protecting voting rights and running immigration courts.
"How can we trust someone in that role who has demonstrated he thinks all forms of immigration are bad for America?" said Beth Werlin, head of the American Immigration Council.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he strongly supported Sessions for attorney general, calling him "principled, forthright, and hardworking."
Sessions has been one of Trump's most enthusiastic backers on Capitol Hill and the president-elect has hired several of Sessions' staffers, including policy chief Stephen Miller and Rick Dearborn, who has a top job managing the transition.
Also on Friday, the first set of transition landing teams were starting work at the departments of State, Justice, Defense and the National Security Council to begin hashing out the details of shifting to a new administration.
ISLAMIST MILITANTS
Flynn, one of Trump's closest advisers, was fired from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, a move he has attributed to his outspoken views about fighting Islamist militancy. Other officials who worked with Flynn cited his lack of management skills and leadership style as reasons for his firing.
An Army intelligence veteran of three decades, Flynn was assistant director of national intelligence under Obama. He views the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a strategic blunder and has refused to condemn Trump's support for the renewed use of waterboarding. This is an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, is widely considered torture and was banned by Obama.
Pompeo, 52, a third-term Republican congressman and former U.S. Army officer who founded an aerospace company, was a surprise pick to lead the CIA.
A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pompeo has called for a revival and expansion of a now-defunct domestic spying program to include "financial and lifestyle information" as well as phone records. He has said that Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who uncovered the spying program and who now lives in Russia, should get the death penalty if he is ever tried and convicted.
Pompeo has been one of the most aggressive critics of the Obama administration's handling of a 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
Nevertheless, Democrats who have worked with him joined Republicans in describing Pompeo as knowledgeable and hard working.
"While we have had our share of strong differences - principally on the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi - I know that he is someone who is willing to listen and engage," Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said on Friday.
Trump met on Friday with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a possible pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a possible candidate for defense secretary.
Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA chief in 2012 after an extra-marital affair, is being considered for the post of defense secretary, the Wall Street Journal said.
Trump was expected to spend the weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, the home of the Trump National Golf Club. On Saturday he was scheduled to meet with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
Romney was one of the fiercest Republican critics of Trump during his unorthodox election campaign but is now under possible consideration for secretary of state.
Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, is the leading candidate to serve as Trump's director of national intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported.
(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson, Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle, Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)
BRAINWeek 2023 Will Convene at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, September 7-9 MONTCLAIR, N.J. (PRWEB) November 02, 2022 BRAINWeek returns following a successful 2022 live inaugural conference! The 2023 event will convene at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on September 7-9. Developed by the PAINWeek organization, BRAINWeek provides practical education for specialists and frontline practitioners treating CNS disorders. The multidisciplinary agenda is comprised of 20+ CME/CE credit hours across the 3-day conference. The program will present topics... (continue reading...)
HeroZona Announces Veteran Employment Forum Ahead of Veteran's Day PHOENIX (PRWEB) November 02, 2022 The HeroZona Foundation is excited to announce it will be hosting the 2022 Veteran Employment Forum on Thursday, Nov. 3 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Travis L. Williams American Legion Post 65 (1624 E. Broadway Rd.) in Phoenix. The event aims to empower Arizona's heroes through information from industry experts on the best vocational opportunities for military personnel in the state right now. Forum panelists include Westmarc President and... (continue reading...)
Girl Scouts--Arizona Cactus-Pine Council Awarded $2.25 Million Grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to Support the Expansion of Outdoor Programming Year-round PHOENIX, AZ (PRWEB) November 02, 2022 Girl Scouts--Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) has been awarded a $2.25 million grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation to support GSACPC's initiative to expand outdoor programming throughout the year. While GSACPC has consistently provided outdoor summer programming at its multiple camp properties across northern and central Arizona, the organization's three-year expansion plan will put an emphasis on leveraging these... (continue reading...)
Wyng Boosts Its Security Posture with a Successful Completion of a SOC 2 Type 2 Examination NEW YORK (PRWEB) November 02, 2022 Wyng, which provides software and solutions to earn, manage, and activate zero-party data, announced today it has successfully completed its System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 2 Report on controls relevant to Security, Availability, and Confidentiality for its brand personalization platform services. Developed by the AICPA, SOC 2 is an internationally recognized standard for service organizations, which reflects the... (continue reading...)
Sprouts Farmers Market Expands On-Demand Delivery Through Partnership with DoorDash PHOENIX, Nov. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the largest and fastest growing specialty retailers of fresh, natural and organic food in the United States, is now available on the DoorDash marketplace in select cities, for on-demand grocery delivery. Customers will be able to order thousands of fresh, natural and organic products from Sprouts by simply visiting the DoorDash mobile app or website, where they can choose to have their groceries... (continue reading...)
More Press Releases
MIAMI, Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Antarctica Advisors LLC, the leading Seafood Industry-focused advisory firm, acted as the investment banking advisor to Ocean Choice International L.P. ("OCI") in the CAD 240 million refinancing of its credit facilities with a syndicate of Canadian and U.S. lenders.
St. John's, Newfoundland-based OCI is a leading vertically integrated seafood company engaged in harvesting, processing and marketing of a diverse range of Groundfish and Shellfish species for domestic and international markets. OCI operates six frozen-at-sea fishing vessels and five processing plants employing over 1,700 people in Atlantic Canada and at sales offices around the world.
Martin Sullivan, the CEO of OCI, commented: "This transaction is an important milestone for the future of OCI as a leading global seafood supplier. The company has now secured a flexible capital structure that will allow OCI to continue to grow and develop our operations for the benefit of all stakeholders, including our customers, our employees and the communities in which we operate. The Seafood Team at Antarctica provided OCI with valuable support at this critical junction of the company's history. Throughout the refinancing process Antarctica worked closely with the company and the lenders in arranging and closing a long-term capital structure that fits our needs."
Antarctica Advisors is an independent investment banking advisory firm providing its corporate clients in the Food Industry with wide range of specialized services, including capital raise and balance sheet restructuring advise. Antarctica's Seafood Team is uniquely positioned to assist our clients due to our combination of industry knowledge, financing expertise and track record of success in debt arranging and structuring with a deep reach into the North American financing community.
Ignacio Kleiman, Managing Partner of Antarctica Advisors, commented: "The new capital structure provides OCI with the flexibility to continue on its path and pursue new and exciting opportunities. Our Seafood Team leveraged its relationships in the North American credit markets to identify the capital providers and subsequently arrange for and negotiate a financing structure that is tailored to the needs of OCI."
About Antarctica Advisors LLC Antarctica Advisors LLC is an independent strategic and financial advisory firm formed by a group of seasoned investment banking professionals with expertise in M&A advisory and private equity and debt capital raising. Antarctica's headquarters are strategically located in Miami, FL providing close connection to its corporate clients in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Antarctica Advisors LLC is a licensed broker-dealer, member of FINRA and SIPC
For further information on Antarctica Advisors LLC please go to www.AntarcticaLLC.com
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160906/404644LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/antarctica-advisors-llc-successfully-arranges-and-closes-cad-240-million-in-new-credit-facilities-for-ocean-choice-international-lp-300366124.html
SOURCE Antarctica Advisors LLC
FORM 8.3
PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")
1. KEY INFORMATION
(a) Full name of discloser: Jupiter Asset Management Ltd (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/ offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Deutsche Boerse AG (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held /dealing undertaken:
For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 17th November 2016 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" Yes
London Stock Exchange Group PLC
2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.
(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)
Class of relevant security:
Tendered Ordinary
Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 6,873,354 3.68 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:
(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:
TOTAL: 6,873,354 3.68
All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.
Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).
(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)
Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: None Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: None
3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE
Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.
The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.
(a) Purchases and sales
Class of relevant security Purchase/sale
Number of securities Price per unit Ordinary - Tender Sale 2,600 EUR 75.6418
(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions
Class of relevant security Product description
e.g. CFD Nature of dealing
e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit None
(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)
(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying
Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit None
(ii) Exercise
Class of relevant security Product description
e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit None
(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)
Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) None
4. OTHER INFORMATION
(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements
Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"
None
(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives
Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"
None
(c) Attachments
Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
Date of disclosure: 18th November 2016 Contact name: Lucy Wood Telephone number: 0203 817 1231
Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.
The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
CLEVELAND, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Point Capital Partners and its Blue Point III platform investment, Hilco Vision, announced today the acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear. The acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear further expands Hilcos product breadth, as it is the pioneer designer of sunglasses designed to fit over prescription eyewear and distributor of the leading brand in that category Jonathan Paul Fitovers.
In partnership with Blue Point, Hilco Vision continues to identify complementary products to add to its product mix and strengthens its geographic presence, said John LeMay, a Partner with Blue Point. The acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear follows three acquisitions completed in Europe in the last 18 months, and builds on Hilcos momentum to deliver on its promise to be a global partner to its customers worldwide.
Jonathan Paul Fitovers, currently headquartered in Austin, TX, originated in Australia over twenty years ago. The brand quickly developed a reputation as the market innovator and leader in this unique eyewear category. As a result, the Company began distribution internationally and continues to experience strong global demand.
"We are extremely excited about the acquisition of such an innovative brand, recognized for its originality, functionality and design, said Ross Brownlee, Chief Executive Officer of Hilco. I am confident that together with designer Paul Stables, we will reach our full potential as a true global partner."
Paul Stables, Founder of Jonathan Paul Eyewear, added, "I am delighted to be part of Hilco Vision as we continue to build this dynamic brands distribution on a global scale. The Fitovers brand is growing fast, and we are well-positioned to lead that growth by leveraging Hilco's extensive distribution channels and consistently high quality standards.
Hilco Vision (www.hilco.com) is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear and eye care accessories, supplies and equipment. Headquartered in Plainville, MA, with additional operations in Canada, China, Europe and Australia, Hilco supplies over 30,000 products in a broad range of categories to more than 25,000 domestic and international customers. The Companys five primary product categories include: professional tools, vision protection, consumer accessories, lens and eye care.
Jonathan Paul Fitovers (www.fitovers.com) is headquartered in Austin, TX, with distribution in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong and China. Jonathan Paul offers revolutionary fashionable and functional sunglasses designed to fit over prescription eyewear. The Company utilizes state-of-the-art frame and lens technologies to provide modern prescription frame wearers with a fit-over sunglass that fits their frames and lifestyles.
Blue Point Capital Partners (www.bluepointcapital.com) is a private equity firm managing over $800 million in committed capital. With offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle and Shanghai, Blue Points geographical footprint allows it to establish relationships with local and regional entrepreneurs and advisors, while providing the resources of an international firm. The Blue Point group has a 26-year track record of partnering with companies in the lower middle market to facilitate growth and transformative change. It is one of only a few middle market private equity firms with a presence in both the United States and China, which provides a distinct advantage for its portfolio companies. Blue Point typically invests in manufacturing, distribution and service businesses generating between $20 million and $200 million in revenue.
For more information, contact: BLUE POINT CAPITAL PARTNERS John LeMay Partner Blue Point Capital Partners, LLC 127 Public Square, Suite 5100 Cleveland, OH 44114 (216) 535-4707 [email protected] HILCO VISION Ross Brownlee Chief Executive Officer Hilco Vision 33 West Bacon Street Plainville, MA 02762 (800) 955-6544
Source: Blue Point Capital Partners, LLC
MONTERREY, Mexico--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CEMEX) (NYSE: CX) announced today that it has closed the sale of certain assets in the U.S. to Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A.B. de C.V. (GCC) for approximately U.S.$306 million.
The proceeds obtained from this transaction will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes.
The assets sold by an affiliate of CEMEX in the U.S. to an affiliate of GCC in the U.S. consist of CEMEXs cement plant in Odessa, Texas, two cement terminals and the building materials business in El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Citigroup acted as financial advisor to CEMEX in this transaction.
CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries. Celebrating its 110th anniversary, CEMEX has a rich history of improving the well-being of those it serves through innovative building solutions, efficiency advancements, and efforts to promote a sustainable future.
For more information on CEMEX, please visit: www.cemex.com
For more information on GCC, please visit: www.gcc.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of CEMEX or the transaction herein described to be materially different from those expressed or implied in this release, including not satisfying all customary closing conditions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. CEMEX assumes no obligation to update or correct the information contained in this press release. CEMEX is not responsible for the content of any third-party website or webpage referenced to or accessible through this press release.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005396/en/
CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V.
Media Relations
Jorge Perez, +52 (81) 8888-4334
[email protected]
or
Investor Relations
Eduardo Rendon, +52 (81) 8888-4256
[email protected]
or
Analyst Relations
Lucy Rodriguez, +1-212-317-6007
[email protected]
Source: CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL and DAVIE, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 11/18/16 -- The World Stem Cell Summit & RegMed Capital Conference has invited five faculty members from the Nova Southeastern University (NSU) Cell Therapy Institute to present on their research related to advancing new approaches to cancer immunotherapy and regenerative medicine at the organization's 12th annual meeting.
The summit is being held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida on Dec. 6-9, 2016. It is the largest interdisciplinary stem cell meeting in the world, featuring more than 250 prominent scientists, business leaders, investors, philanthropists, regulators, policy-makers, economic development officers, patient advocates and experts in law and ethics, presenting the latest scientific discoveries, commercial and innovation opportunities, legal and regulatory solutions, and best practices. The event is expected to attract more than 1,200 attendees from 40 nations.
Presentations from the NSU Cell Therapy Institute will include:
H. Thomas Temple, M.D., NSU senior vice president, translational research & economic development
Dr. Temple will discuss recent advances in bone and cartilage regeneration achieved by novel stem cell therapies and new approaches to treating sarcoma cancers.
Richard Jove, Ph.D., director, NSU Cell Therapy Institute and co-chair, World Stem Cell Summit
Dr. Jove will provide an overview of the various collaborative research projects at NSU including cancer immunotherapy and stem cell programs targeting vision restoration and heart disease.
Evren Alici, M.D., Ph.D., NSU visiting research professor from Karolinska Institutet
Dr. Alici will present novel approaches to cancer immunotherapy with a focus on targeted T-cells and natural-killer cells.
Outi Hovatta, M.D, Ph.D., NSU visiting research professor from Karolinska Institutet
Dr. Hovatta will address recent progress in the development of stem cells for disease models and therapies.
Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, M.D., Ph.D., NSU visiting research professor from Karolinska Institutet
Dr. Grinnemo will provide new insights into the differentiation of vital heart cells from stem cells for treatment of cardiovascular disease.
"Nova Southeastern University has positioned itself as an emerging center of excellence in stem cell research," said Bernard Siegel, M.D., executive director, Regenerative Medicine Foundation and founder and co-chair of the Summit. "We are proud key opinion leaders from the NSU Cell Therapy Institute will be presenting at the summit, including NSU's esteemed visiting research professors from Karolinska Institutet."
NSU is poised to be at the forefront of pioneering cell-based biomedical research with its NSU Cell Therapy Institute, an international collaboration with prominent medical research scientists from Sweden's world-renowned Karolinska Institutet.
The NSU Cell Therapy Institute is housed in the university's newly opened $100 million, Center for Collaborative Research (CCR), one of the largest (215,000 square feet) and most advanced research facilities in Florida. Located on NSU's Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus, the CCR is equipped with wet and dry labs; state-of-the-art research equipment, including access to a high-performance computing environment; and other resources, such as Florida LambdaRail, a high-speed broadband service delivery network with connectivity throughout the nation.
About the NSU Cell Therapy Institute: The Institute is dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative translational biomedical research, focused on the potential of cell-based therapies to prevent, treat and cure life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Led by Richard Jove, Ph.D., the Institute is accelerating the advancement of next-generation approaches to precision medicine such as targeted immunotherapy and regenerative medicine with an initial focus on targeting cancers, heart disease and disorders causing blindness.
About Karolinska Institutet: With an overriding mission to contribute to the improvement of human health through research and education, Karolinska Institutet provides more than 40% of the medical academic research conducted in Sweden and offers the country's broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. Many of the discoveries made at Karolinska Institutet have been of great significance, including the pacemaker, the gamma knife, the sedimentation reaction, the Seldinger technique and the preparation of chemically pure insulin. Since 1901, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.
About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): Located in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional degree levels. A private, not-for-profit institution, NSU has campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, while maintaining a presence online globally. For more than 50 years, NSU has been awarding degrees in a wide range of fields, while fostering groundbreaking research and an impactful commitment to community. Classified as a research university with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is 1 of only 50 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie's Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private, not-for-profit institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education's criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit www.nova.edu for more information about NSU and realizingpotential.nova.edu for more information on the largest fundraising campaign in NSU history.
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Jeremy Katzman, M.B.A., APROffice of Public Relations 954-262-1535 (office)954-661-7000 (cell) [email protected]
Source: Nova Southeastern University
-3D-imaging Suggests Grafts Retained Volume Over the Assessment Period-
-Cells Remained Viable and Proliferated in Renevia Hydrogel-
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a focus on pluripotent cell-based technologies, announced details of positive data from its Renevia pivotal trial, reported via a presentation at the 14th annual International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science meeting (IFATS) on Thursday, November 17, in San Diego. The presentation was based on data from the run-in, testing sample subjects to the European pivotal trial.
The presentation, titled Stromal Cell-Hydrogel Construct Possibly Generates Clinically Relevant Neo-Tissue In Facial HIV-Lipoatrophy Pivotal Multicenter Clinical Trial: Early Analysis On Testing Patient Sample, was given by Ramon Llull, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Stem Europe Mallorca Center, in Spain, and the principal investigator of the trial.
Highlights of the presentation included:
Adipose progenitor cells (fat cells) obtained from a liposuction aspirate remained viable and were observed to proliferate when combined with the Renevia hydrogel
The Renevia gel and progenitor cells were successfully administered in the run-in subjects with no serious adverse events
3D-image analysis suggests that the grafts retained volume over the assessment period, and the treating physician-observed incremental volume was retained in select patients who had progressed to the one-year follow-up evaluation
We are encouraged that the administration of Renevia worked well in these patients, commented Dr. Llull. Existing methods used to address HIV and age-related facial volume loss provide only temporary solutions. We are seeing signs indicating that Renevia may be able to generate new facial tissue which could result in more natural, longer-lasting outcomes.
Developed as an alternative for whole adipose tissue fat transfer procedures, Renevia is designed to mimic the naturally-occuring extracellular matrix and provide a 3-D scaffold that enables effective cell transplant and engraftment. In the run-in portion of this trial, the Renevia administration procedure was found to be reproducible, and the pivotal trial is now into its controlled phase. Encouraging signs of Renevia being able to promote new tissue generation were seen with the run-in practice patients. If the pivotal trial is successful, the company plans to file the data as the basis for the issuance of CE marking for European use. CE marking is anticipated as early as the second half of 2017.
About BioTime
BioTime, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies developed from what the company believes to be the worlds premier collection of pluripotent cell assets. The foundation of BioTimes core therapeutic technology platform is pluripotent cells that are capable of becoming any of the cell types in the human body. Pluripotent cells have potential application in many areas of medicine with large unmet patient needs, including various age-related degenerative diseases and degenerative conditions for which there presently are no cures. Unlike pharmaceuticals that require a molecular target, therapeutic strategies based on the use of pluripotent cells are generally aimed at regenerating or replacing affected cells and tissues, and therefore may have broader applicability than pharmaceutical products.
In addition to the development of therapeutics, BioTimes research and other activities have resulted, over time, in the creation of other subsidiaries that address other non-therapeutic market opportunities such as cancer diagnostics, drug development and cell research products, and mobile health software applications.
BioTime common stock is traded on the NYSE MKT and TASE under the symbol BTX. For more information, please visit www.biotimeinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Google+.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development, and potential opportunities for BioTime, Inc. and its subsidiaries, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of BioTime, Inc. and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in the Risk Factors section of its Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC (copies of which may be obtained at www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. BioTime, Inc. specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.
To receive ongoing BioTime corporate communications, please click on the following link to join our email alert list: http://news.biotimeinc.com.
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Investor Contact:
EVC Group, Inc.
Matt Haines, 917-733-9297
[email protected]
or
Media Contact:
Gotham Communications, LLC
Bill Douglass, 646-504-0890
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Source: BioTime, Inc.
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Americans have a love/fear relationship with technology, appreciating how it has bridged the gap between the rich and poor but many are concerned it will be a job destroyer in the future, according to a new post-election Vrge Analytics survey using SurveyMonkey.
Technology's impact on the economy looms large as American voters are at partisan odds on whether the shift to a global economy is a good or bad thing for the United States. Driven by the white males without a college degree that spurred Donald Trump's election upset, Republicans are pessimistic about the benefits of globalization. While 76 percent of Democrats call the trend towards a global economy a good thing, only 36 percent of Republicans think so.
"The technology industry faces political challenges in a Trump Administration," said Scott Gerber, partner and co-founder of Vrge Strategies. "But this survey shows that technology is also seen as the solution to many of America's problems. It's vital that the industry look at how it can address the economic concerns that surfaced during the election, while fulfilling a core mission to help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor."
The Vrge Analytics "Tech in the Age of Trump" survey saw challenges ahead for President-elect Trump. For example, a majority of American voters (54 percent) expressed a lack of confidence in his ability when it "comes to making the right decisions about the country's economic future." And a nearly identical majority said they lack confidence in his ability to maintain U.S. tech leadership.
And Trump may find many Americans uncertain about one of his signature policy initiatives: immigration. While Trump has vowed to curb illegal immigration and deport millions, Americans didn't cite that issue as a priority. In fact, it registered no higher than fifth among groups, behind issues such as preventing American companies from moving jobs overseas, promoting technology innovation, lowering corporate tax rates, renegotiating trade deals and removing regulations. The group most likely to prioritize immigration was whites with less than a college education, but only 1 in 6 voters called it a priority.
After eight years of a special relationship with President Obama, the technology industry is at an awkward moment with the Trump presidency. Silicon Valley leaders who nearly universally supported Hillary Clinton must now find a way to engage with the Republican president-elect on key issues.
There is some good news, however, that Silicon Valley can point to. Americans look at technology as helping them live their lives: 63 percent said it makes life better for them and their family, according to the survey of 1,833 respondents conducted November 16-17th.
But ominously, American voters also fear what is coming next: the majority (51 percent) report they expect technology will destroy more jobs than it creates in the next decade. For example, advances in automation and artificial intelligence that are transforming manufacturing and threaten to displace truck and taxi drivers with self-driving vehicles.
Tech's challenge will be to help find solutions that create jobs, or run the risk of being blamed for the loss of millions of jobs as technology-driven automation changes the economy.
Even so, Americans are often positive on the impact of technology companies:
76 percent say it's had a positive impact on American society while a whopping 87 percent said tech has been positive for the U.S. economy.
62 percent say it has "leveled the playing field between rich and poor," and that sentiment is shared evenly by demographic groups, for example those without a college education, who have expressed concerns about globalization's impact on the economy.
Americans (64 percent) expect the next business leader to come from the United States and that technology will set the agenda for the next decade even if they don't know what exactly what that technology will be. The number-one answer for what will drive the agenda was "some new device, service or product we don't know today."
Key Questions and Results from the Survey:
Q1. Do you think the trend toward a global economy is a good thing or a bad thing for our country?
Good thing 54% Bad thing 41% No Answer 5%
Q2. Which of the following do you think is the most important thing government can do to create more jobs for people like you? (Pick 2)
Prevent American companies from moving jobs overseas 58% Tax credits to encourage technological innovation 27% Lower corporate taxes 21% Renegotiate trade deals to limit international trade 18% Remove regulations 16% Slow immigration 13% No Answer 3%
Q3. When you look ahead 10 years, will technology
Make life better for you and your family 63% Make life worse for you and your family 15% Make no difference 20% No Answer 2%
Q4. When you look ahead 10 years, will technology
Create more jobs than it displaces 34% Take away more jobs than it creates 51% Make no difference 13% No Answer 2%
Q5. How much confidence do you have in Donald Trump when it comes to making the right decisions about the country's economic future?
Great deal 24% Good amount 21% Just some 19% None 35% No Answer 1%
METHODS This Vrge Analytics survey was conducted online using SurveyMonkey on November 16-17, 2016 among a national sample of 1,833 adults who say they are registered to vote. Respondents for this survey were selected from the nearly three million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The bootstrap confidence interval for this survey is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.
About Vrge Strategies
Vrge was founded on the premise that companies and organizations large and small must navigate disruption that is redefining how companies operate, how society views technology and how transformation is reshaping our economy and society. Vrge has senior leaders in San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In addition, Vrge operates Vrge Analytics, a research and polling firm that provides clients insights into how the public, businesses and policy leaders view the intersection of technology, business and society. Vrge is part of Next Fifteen, a global communications consultancy.
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SOURCE Vrge Strategies
By Hugh Bronstein
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina extradited an alleged Colombian drug kingpin known as "My Blood" to the United States on Thursday to face charges of organizing cocaine shipments.
Henry de Jesus Lopez, whose nickname is "Mi Sangre" in Spanish, was captured by Argentine police in 2012 at his favorite restaurant in the Buenos Aires suburb of Pilar, where he lived after fleeing his homeland.
He was turned over to U.S. marshals early on Thursday, Argentina's security ministry said in a statement.
The decision to send Lopez to face trial in Florida comes at a time of improving diplomatic relations and security ties between Argentina and Washington.
Lopez, 45, once key underworld figure in the Colombian city of Medellin, slipped into Argentina in 2011 with a forged Venezuelan passport. He has been charged in U.S. federal court with managing smuggling routes through which tonnes of cocaine left Colombia's Atlantic coast bound for the United States.
He had risen to prominence after Medellin's previous crime boss Diego Fernando Murillo, alias "Don Berna", was extradited to the United States along with other leaders of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups.
Lopez was also a leader of Colombia's paramilitary movement, which started as a way of protecting land owners from left-wing guerrillas now trying to close a peace deal with the government. Both armed groups ended up in the cocaine business.
Lopez also faces cocaine charges in Colombia, which often extradites suspects wanted by the U.S. courts to the United States.
Other Colombian traffickers are thought to be hiding in Argentina, which has become an export hub for cocaine smuggled into the country from the Andean region.
The extradition comes at a time of improving ties between Washington and Buenos Aires after center-right Argentine President Mauricio Macri was elected a year ago on promises of improving the economy, in part by attracting U.S. investment.
Since then, Argentina has been visited by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry after years of icy relations under previous leftist leader Cristina Fernandez.
Macri is one of the few Latin American leaders to have called Donald Trump since the Republican businessman won the U.S. presidential election last week.
(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama gestures during a teaching event in Milan, Italy October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
BEIJING (Reuters) - China told Mongolia to forbid the Dalai Lama's planned arrival there on Friday, suggesting the Tibetan spiritual leader's trip could harm Beijing's relations with its northern neighbor.
China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, though he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland Tibet, which Communist Chinese troops "peacefully liberated" in 1950.
"We strongly urge Mongolia to act by keeping in mind the big picture of maintaining the stable development of bilateral relations and to keep their promises made on this issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
"Do not allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Do not support or facilitate the separatist activities of the Dalai clique," Geng said at a regular press briefing.
Mongolian media have said the Dalai Lama is expected to arrive Friday afternoon.
After the Dalai Lama's visit to Mongolia in 2006, China canceled flights between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar. Flights later resumed.
Beijing frequently expresses its anger with countries that host the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese.
Rights groups and exiles accuse China of trampling on the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people, charges strongly denied by Beijing, which says its rule has brought prosperity to a once backward region.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
Razor wire is seen in front of an EU sign during a protest against barbed wire fences along the border crossing between Slovenia and Croatia in Brezovica pri Gradinu, Slovenia December 19, 2015. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic
By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's interior ministers will try late on Thursday to bridge deep divisions over how to handle refugees and migrants, but a proposal by the bloc's current president Slovakia has already drawn an angry response from Italy.
A deal between the EU and Turkey has sharply cut the number of migrants entering Europe via Greece this year, but the numbers trying to cross from Africa to Italy continue to rise and tens of thousands more remain holed up in detention centers, waiting to be relocated among the bloc's member states.
Under a plan to be presented over dinner by Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, EU states that refuse to take in their share of migrants would instead be able to offer more money or play a bigger role in policing the bloc's external borders or in assuming greater responsibility for deporting people who do not qualify for asylum.
The Slovak document, seen by Reuters, also says that at times of "exceptionally high number of arrivals" EU states should agree emergency measures but "on a voluntary basis".
A diplomat from Italy, a frontline state in the migrant crisis, branded the plan "highly unsatisfactory". Other diplomats said Germany, which has taken in more than a million migrants over the past year, was also very unimpressed.
RESISTANCE
Slovakia and three other eastern states - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - have been refusing to take in refugees and migrants from Italy and Greece, citing security concerns. They oppose fixed relocation quotas the bloc agreed last year.
Hungary's prime minister and some other politicians in the region have said the mainly Muslim migrants pose a threat to Europe's Christian civilization, a stance criticized by Germany, Sweden and others.
A spokeswoman for the EU mission of Malta, which takes over the bloc's rotating six-month presidency in January, said the tiny Mediterranean island would seek an accord that includes "mandatory relocation", the very opposite of the Slovak plan.
The EU has suspended its cherished Schengen zone of free travel amid the feuding over migration. Of 160,000 people the EU states agreed last year to relocate from Greece and Italy, fewer than 7,500 have moved so far.
However, the easterners show little sign of budging, with Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski telling reporters in Brussels on Thursday: "Poland's refugee and migration policy will only be shaped in Warsaw, nowhere else."
While the controversial deal with Turkey has cut the number of migrants arriving in the Greek islands, the EU border agency Frontex said this week the number of people arriving in Italy from north Africa last month reached a monthly record of 27,500.
Data from the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR shows the number of people arriving in Italy by sea this year has reached 167,091 so far, already above the 153,842 reported for the whole of 2015.
(Additional reporting by Tom Koerkemeier, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Gareth Jones)
File photo of German troops who are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), attend a memorial ceremony for slain soldiers, in the German Army's Camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, May 8, 2013. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of Germany's deployment of up to 980 soldiers to Afghanistan through the end of 2017, a government spokesman said.
The decision, which must still be approved by parliament, came less than a week after armed Taliban militants stormed the German consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and killed at least four Afghans and wounded more than 100 people.
"With up to 980 soldiers, the German army will in future advise, support and train Afghan security services," said the government in a statement.
Germany, which heads the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in northern Afghanistan, has its soldiers stationed on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, and another 150 soldiers in Kabul.
The NATO mission includes a total of 13,000 foreign troops from Germany, Italy, the United States and others. The NATO forces are focused on training the Afghan army and police, not combat operations.
Germany is also slated to provide up to 1.7 billion euros in civilian aid to Afghanistan through 2020.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Toby Chopra)
(Reuters) - Israel looks forward to working with all members of President-elect Donald Trump's administration, including senior White House adviser Steve Bannon, Israel's ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said on Thursday on leaving the Trump Tower in New York.
Trump's appointment of Bannon has been criticized by Democrats, civil rights organizations and some Republicans, who denounce the former Breitbart News chief as having made the website a forum for the "alt-right," a loose grouping of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites.
"We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all the members of the Trump administration including Steve Bannon, in making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Dermer said in the lobby of the Trump Tower.
(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and MONTREAL, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lomiko Metals Inc. (Lomiko) (TSX-V:LMR) (OTC:LMRMF) (FSE:DH8B) and Canada Strategic Metals Inc. (Strategic Metals) (TSX.V:CJC) (FSE:YXEN) (OTC-BB:CJCFF) are pleased to announce exploration has started at the La Loutre Flake Graphite Property in Quebec. 1500-2000 metres of drilling for a total of 10-12 drill holes is planned. The work will focus on the new Refractory Zone discovered in December, 2015. Although the zone has had high grade results, not enough drill holes were completed to add the zone to the 43-101 Resource Calculation released February 9th, 2016.
Highlights from the Refractory Zone
28.5 Metres of 16.53% Cg
21.5 Metres of 11.53% Cg
90.7 Metres of 9.00% Cg
On February 9th, 2016, Lomiko Metals and Canada Strategic announced resource for the La Loutre Flake Graphite Property of 18.4 M Tonnes of 3.19% Indicated and 16.7 M Tonnes at 3.75% Flake Graphite Inferred with a cut-off of 1.5%. The sensitivity table also features 4.1 M Tonnes of 6.5% Indicated and 6.2 M Tonnes at 6.1% Flake Graphite Inferred with a cut-off of 3%. The Resource is calculated on the Graphene-Battery Zone only and does not include recent high grade intercepts of 28.5 Metres of 16.53% Cg and 21.5 Metres of 11.53% Cg reported January 6, 2016 and 9% over 90.75 metres reported September 24th 2015 from the Refractory Zone.
The La Loutre property consists of contiguous claim blocks totalling approximately 2,867.29 hectares (28.67 km2 situated approximately 53 km east of Imerys Carbon and Graphite, formerly known as the Timcal Graphite Mine, North Americas only operating graphite mine, and 117 km northwest of the International Port of Montreal, key to shipping to North America and Europe. The Lac des Iles Property is directly west of the Imerys Graphite Mine. Lomiko is currently completing the 2nd option to acquire 80% of the La Loutre and Lac des Iles properties which requires $580,000 work expenditure between La Loutre property and other Canada Strategic properties.
The La Loutre Resource is constrained within a drilled area of approximately 900 m along the N150 striking trend of the graphitic paragneiss, 250 m across the strike and 225 m below surface. Geological interpretation and estimation were based on 62 NQ drill holes (totaling 8193.3 m) drilled by Lomiko and Canada Strategic Metals in 2014 and 2015.
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Jean-Sebastien Lavallee (OGQ #773), Geologist, is a shareholder of both companies, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Strategic and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
For more information on Lomiko Metals, review the website at www.lomiko.com, contact A. Paul Gill at 604-729-5312 or email: info@lomiko.com.
On Behalf of the Board
A. Paul Gill
Chief Executive Officer
We seek safe harbor. 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.
Refugees stand outside their tent at the Ifo Extension refugee camp in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border in Garissa County, Kenya October 19, 2011. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya said on Wednesday it had to agreed delay the closure of a teeming Somali refugee camp that it sees as a security risk, after international pressure to give residents more time to find new homes.
Nairobi had vowed to shut Dadaab camp this month, saying it was being used by Islamist militants from neighboring Somalia who have launched a string of attacks on Kenyan soil.
But rights groups criticized the decision, saying it would hurt Somalis fleeing violence and poverty, and accused Nairobi of forcibly sending people back to a war zone. The government dismisses that allegation.
"The government has accepted the request to extend the deadline for the completion of repatriation of Somali refugees, and this is essential to the closure of the Dadaab refugee complex, by six months," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Nkaissery said.
"However, the ongoing voluntary repatriation will continue uninterrupted," he told a news conference.
This week, a ministry official had told Reuters that the November deadline would be missed, although he did not give a new timetable. He also dismissed accusations from Amnesty International and others about forcible repatriations.
The official said the camp was now home to about 250,000 people, while U.N. officials had put the figure at about 350,000 at the start of the year.
More than half a million people lived there a few years ago.
"Kenya should end its threats to close the Dadaab camps," Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"The U.N. refugee agency and donors should press Kenya to publicly reassure Somalia refugees they are welcome in Kenya until it safe for them to return, he added.
Somalia's Western-backed government is battling an Islamist insurgency as it oversees a fragile reconstruction effort after decades of conflict. Swathes of the country do not have basic services.
(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Duncan Miriri; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Hugh Lawson)
Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo arrives to the meeting of heads of government Central and Eastern European countries and China in Riga, Latvia, November 5, 2016. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
By Justyna Pawlak and Pawel Sobczak
WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has expressed the hope that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will run for a fourth term next year, signaling a shift in tone after a series of quarrels between Warsaw and Berlin.
A closer partnership between the two countries could play an important role in pushing for continued western sanctions against Russia at a time when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may take a different line, having voiced admiration for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
"Personally, I am rooting for Angela Merkel and I hope she will be chancellor," Szydlo told Reuters in her first interview with a foreign news outlet since becoming prime minister a year ago.
"We have very good relations, and there aren't many female heads of state in the European Union. So far, there is (British Prime Minister) Theresa May, Angela Merkel and me... It's important for me also from this perspective."
Britain's pending departure from the EU will deprive Poland of a close eurosceptic ally within the bloc, forcing it to adjust its alliances.
But mending fences with Germany will be a challenge. Since taking power in an election last year, Szydlo's conservative government has quarrelled with its biggest trade partner over a range of issues, from gas pipelines to the migration crisis.
In particular, Poland opposes the imposition of EU quotas specifying how many refugees member states must accept - an idea favored by Merkel, whose country has taken in the majority of the 1.4 million migrants to reach Europe since the start of 2015.
Szydlo restated that disagreement, even as she affirmed her backing for Merkel.
"The policies of chancellor Merkel are predictable ... and stabilization is something which Europe needs very much," she said. "Although I think the migration policy has been a mistake."
Her tone contrasted with politicians of her Law and Justice (PiS) party, including its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who in their criticism of Berlin have alluded to Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland during World War Two.
Earlier this year, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski summoned the German ambassador in Warsaw after some German politicians suggested imposing EU sanctions on Poland over media and justice reforms they said were undemocratic.
Kaczynski has frequently accused Szydlo's predecessor as prime minister, European Council President Donald Tusk, of forging close relations with Berlin at the expense of Poland's national interest.
Merkel, in power since 2005, is expected to announce her decision to run for a fourth term at a news conference on Sunday evening, and opinion polls suggest she will win.
(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Shihar Aneez
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Thirty-two Sri Lankan Muslims from "well-educated and elite" families have joined Islamic State in Syria, the justice minister told parliament on Friday, promising that the government would clamp down on extremists.
The statement by minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was condemned by representatives of the Muslim minority, who complained of racism.
"All these (Muslims) are not from ordinary families. These people are from the families which are considered as well-educated and elite," Rajapakshe said, adding that the government was aware of some foreigners coming to Sri Lanka to spread what he called Islamic extremism.
"There is a greater fear among the public about ISIS," he said, using another name for Islamic State. "If somebody tries to spread extremism in this country, we will not allow for that from today. The law of this country is no different to Buddhist monks or ordinary people."
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL), an umbrella body that includes most Muslim organizations in the country, expressed concern, saying Rajapakshe's statement came at a "very opportune time to certain extremist elements bent on tarnishing the image" of Sri Lankan Muslims.
"The Muslim community is seriously alarmed about the re-emergence of the racist campaign that was carried out by extremist Buddhist monks since the end of the war in 2009," the MCSL said in a statement.
"We urge Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to provide the evidence and take immediate action against anyone who may have violated the laws of the land, irrespective of ethnicity or religion."
More than 70 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people are Buddhists, about 13 percent are Hindu, while Muslims make up around 10 percent.
President Maithripala Sirisena has been criticized for failing to curb religious hate speech by both Muslims and Buddhists. Some Sinhala Buddhist groups have threatened Muslims and their businesses on social media, while attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned properties have continued under the Sirisena administration.
Muslim leaders warned the government in 2014 of possible Islamic radicalization and Muslims turning to foreign Islamic groups for support, attributing this to attacks by Buddhist hardliners.
Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war ended in 2009 with the military defeating the predominantly Hindu Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who fought for a separate state in the island's north and east.
(Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during a news conference after his meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven at the Swedish Government headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden November 14, 2016. TT NEWS AGENCY/Claudio Bresciani/via Reuters
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine on Thursday blamed the Russian state security service for orchestrating a prank call to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko from someone pretending to be the president of Kyrgyzstan.
Earlier in November, Poroshenko's office announced a conversation with Kyrgyz leader Almazbek Atambayev, only for the latter to issue a statement saying the call had not taken place.
A recording of the call was subsequently published online, but Kiev said parts where Poroshenko was critical of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin were cut.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and supports separatist rebels in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.
"Now I understand why the so-called pranksters waited for so long. They were doctoring the conversation and had to wait even longer to get approval from their supervisors in the Kremlin and the FSB," said Svyatoslav Tsegolko, Poroshenko's spokesman.
"The FSB made a fabricated product specifically for the Russian public," he said in a statement, referring to Russia's security service.
Tsegolko said officials at Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs must have assisted the pranksters.
Kyrgyzstan's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment. Russia did not immediately comment on Ukraine's allegations.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams; Additional reporting by Olga Dzyubenko in BISHKEK; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas sits in federal court in Manhattan, New York, December 17, 2015, in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday sought to limit the fallout from a witness accused of lying in the trial of two nephews of Venezuela's first lady, urging the jury to convict the men of engaging in a multimillion-dollar drug deal to help their family stay in power.
During closing arguments in Manhattan federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Quigley acknowledged that the unusual development regarding the witness, Jose Santos-Pena, "looms large" over the trial but asked jurors to focus on other evidence against Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores.
Lawyers for the two men, nephews of Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, shot back that the witness "infects every aspect" of the trial.
"Without him, what is their case?," David Rody, a lawyer for Flores de Freitas asked the jury.
Two days ago, prosecutors took the unusual step of ripping up a cooperation agreement with the witness after the defense presented evidence it said showed he had lied and was secretly dealing drugs.
It was a setback for the government in a case with potential implications for relations between the United States and Venezuela's socialist government.
Prosecutors have accused Flores de Freitas, 31, and Campo Flores, 30, of trying to use one of Venezuela's airports to send hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to the United States via Honduras. Their arrests in November were the result of a sting operation involving paid informants; no drugs were ever shipped.
Prosecutors said their goal in part was to obtain cash to counteract money they believed the United States was supplying to the opposition before Venezuela's December 2015 National Assembly elections. Maduro's Socialist Party lost its parliamentary majority after the vote.
On Thursday, Quigley said the jury should focus on text messages and phone recordings which showed that the nephews were "eager and enthusiastic to do drug deals."
"The evidence in Venezuela comes not from Santos-Pena's mouth," Quigley said.
Lawyers for the defendants have argued that their clients were not sophisticated enough to carry out such a large narcotics deal and were entrapped by informants out to please the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which was paying them handsomely to lure in high-profile marks.
"These guys make a good living ratting out other people," Rody told the jury.
(reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Grant McCool)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * Radue Mark M (Last) (First) (Middle) C/O OSHKOSH CORPORATION 2307 OREGON STREET (Street) OSHKOSH WI 54902 (City) (State) (Zip)
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
OSHKOSH CORP [ OSK ]
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): November 16, 2016
Coeur Mining, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter )
Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) 1-8641 (Commission File Number) 82-0109423 (IRS Employer Identification No.)
104 S. Michigan Ave.
Suite 900
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(312) 489-5800
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
N/A
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
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 Instructions A.2 below):
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 8.01. Other Events.
On November 17, 2016, Coeur Mining, Inc. (Coeur or the Company) issued a press release (the Release) announcing that, as of November 16, 2016, the Company completed its previously announced at the market offering of $200.0 million of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the Offering). The Offering was conducted pursuant to an Equity Distribution Agreement, entered into on September 9, 2016, among the Company, BMO Capital Markets Corp., Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, LLC, as sales agents. The Company sold a total of 17,691,094 shares in the Offering, raising net proceeds (after sales commissions) of $197.0 million.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to reduce outstanding indebtedness, including the Companys outstanding 7.875% Senior Notes due 2021 (the Senior Notes), and for general corporate purposes. In connection therewith, the Company announced in the Release that it was calling for redemption $190.0 million aggregate principal amount of its approximately $368.0 million outstanding Senior Notes on the terms described in the Release (the Redemption).
The Release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Report and is incorporated herein by reference.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K and the exhibits attached hereto contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including, among others, Coeurs intended use of proceeds of the Offering and the Redemption.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeurs actual results, performance or achievements, including its use of proceeds, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeurs production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays, ground conditions, grade variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages (involving Coeur and its subsidiaries or third parties), the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of gold and silver reserves and mineralized material, changes that could result from Coeurs future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, reliance on third parties to operate certain mines where Coeur owns silver production and reserves and the absence of control over mining operations in which Coeur or its subsidiaries hold royalty or streaming interests and risks related to these mining operations including results of mining and exploration activities, environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdiction in which the mining operations are located, the loss of access to any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets silver and gold, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, Coeurs ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeurs most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) List of Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description Exhibit 99.1 Press Release dated November 17, 2016
SIGNATURE
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.
COEUR MINING, INC. Date: November 17, 2016 By: /s/ Peter C. Mitchell Name: Peter C. Mitchell Title: Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
NEWS RELEASE
Coeur Completes $200 Million At-the-Market Common Stock Offering and
Announces Partial Redemption of Its 7.875% Senior Notes Due 2021
Chicago, Illinois - November 17, 2016 - Coeur Mining, Inc. (Coeur or the Company) (NYSE: CDE) today announced that, as of November 16, 2016, it completed its previously announced at-the-market (ATM) common equity offering program. The Company issued 17,691,094 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $200 million.
The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the ATM offering to redeem $190 million aggregate principal amount of its 7.875% Senior Notes due 2021 (the Notes) of which there was approximately $368 million aggregate principal amount outstanding as of November 15, 2016. The redemption date will be December 16, 2016. The make-whole premium redemption price will be calculated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Notes. Interest on the Notes called for redemption will cease to accrue on and after the redemption date.
With the completion of our ATM equity offering and expected further reductions in our remaining debt levels, we plan to end the year with one of the stronger, more flexible balance sheets in the sector, said Mitchell J. Krebs, President and Chief Executive Officer. Following the completion of this partial redemption, our total debt will have declined by over 60% since the end of the third quarter 2015, translating to over $29 million in anticipated annual cash interest savings that will be invested in initiatives that will lead to high-quality future growth of our Company.
This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase common stock or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.
About Coeur
Coeur Mining is a well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with five precious metals mines in the Americas employing approximately 2,000 people. Coeur produces from its wholly owned operations: the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota, and the San Bartolome silver mine in Bolivia. The Company also has a non-operating interest in the Endeavor mine in Australia as well as a royalty interest in Ecuador. In addition, the Company has two silver-gold exploration stage projects - the La Preciosa project in Mexico and the Joaquin project in Argentina. Coeur conducts ongoing exploration activities in Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota and Mexico.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including statements regarding the anticipated use of proceeds of the ATM program, reductions in debt levels, balance sheet strength, interest savings, investments and growth. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeur's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeur's production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays, ground conditions, grade variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages (including those involving third-parties), the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of gold and silver ore reserves, changes that could result from Coeur's future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, reliance on third parties to operate certain mines where Coeur owns silver production and reserves and the absence of control over mining operations in which Coeur or its subsidiaries hold royalty or streaming interests and risks related to these mining operations including results of mining and exploration activities, environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdiction in which the mining operations are located, the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets silver and gold, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or
businesses in foreign countries, Coeur's ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeur's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.
For Additional Information:
Courtney Lynn, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer
(312) 489-5837
www.coeur.com
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): November 17, 2016
LSI INDUSTRIES INC. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
Ohio 0-13375 31-0888951 (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
10000 Alliance Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (513) 793-3200
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
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): Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
(e) At the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of LSI Industries Inc., which was held on November 17, 2016, the shareholders of the Company approved amendments to the LSI Industries Inc. Amended and Restated 2012 Stock Incentive Plan (the "2012 Plan") to increase the number of common shares available for issuance thereunder by 1,600,000, to set a ratio by which full value awards count against the share reserve and to authorize the issuance of deferred share based awards.
Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
The Annual Meeting of Shareholders of LSI Industries Inc. was held on November 17, 2016 at which the following matters were submitted to a vote of shareholders:
(a) Votes regarding the election of seven directors.
Name For Withheld Broker Non-Votes Robert P. Beech 18,574,969.97 1,877,608.79 3,608,595.00 Gary P. Kreider 16,557,881.28 3,894,697.48 3,608,595.00 John K. Morgan 20,104,897.97 347,680.79 3,608,595.00 Wilfred T. O'Gara 18,584,457.97 1,868,120.79 3,608,595.00 James P. Sferra 19,778,918.27 673,660.49 3,608,595.00 Robert A. Steele 20,103,379.92 349,198.85 3,608,595.00 Dennis W. Wells 19,837,868.49 614,710.27 3,608,595.00
(b) Votes regarding the ratification of the Audit Committee's appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as LSI's Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for fiscal 2017.
For Against Abstain 23,887,229.70 80,905.14 93,038.92
(c) Votes regarding the approval of amendments to the 2012 Plan to increase the number of common shares available for issuance by 1,600,000, to set a ratio by which full value awards count against the share reserve and to authorize the issuance of deferred share based awards.
For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes 17,842,329.72 2,582,024.77 28,224.28 3,608,595.00
(d) Advisory votes on the Company's executive compensation as described in the Company's Proxy Statement.
For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes 19,697,692.87 691,441.12 63,444.78 3,608,595.00
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.
The National Assembly on Friday passed a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the Indian attack on LoC causing loss of lives of Pakistani soldiers.
The resolution moved by Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Chaudhary Barjees Tahir expressed deep concern over the tragic incident of Indian unprovoked firing in which seven soldiers of Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom at the LoC in Bhimber sector by Indian troops on Sunday night.
The House took serious cognizance of the unprovoked and barbarian attack on the Pakistani border forces by the Indian army resulting in aggression and clashes.
Through resolution, the House recognized the sacrifices of Pakistan army and paid glowing tribute to the martyred soldiers for their valour.
Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified in recent weeks leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.
Tensions have been fraught since July when India Occupied Kashmir was rocked by street protests after the killing of famous freedom fighter Burhan Wani.
Islamabad launched an international campaign to highlight rights abuses by Indian security forces in Occupied Kashmir.
CARMEL, Ind., Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) today announced its participation in the following investor conference which will also be available via live audio webcast:
Bank of America, Merrill Lynch 2016 Leveraged Finance Conference
Eric Loughmiller, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, and Mike Eliason, Treasurer and Vice President Investor Relations, will speak on Tuesday, November 29th at 2:10 pm EST
Webcast of the presentation will be made available under the investor relations section of the companys web site, www.karauctionservices.com.
About KAR Auction Services
KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE:KAR), a FORTUNE 1000 company, operates worldwide vehicle auction services and provides related services. Based in Carmel, Indiana, the KAR group of companies is comprised of ADESA, Inc. (ADESA), Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. (IAA), Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC), and additional business units, with nearly 18,000 employees and 300 locations. Together, KARs complementary businesses provide support, technology and logistics for the used vehicle industry. For more information, visit karauctionservices.com.
Lawyer Hamid Khan on Friday requested the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to pardon him from representing PTI for litigation of Panama case in supreme court.
Hamid Khan submitted the application to the PTI chief saying media campaign against him made it impossible for him to continue representing PTI in the apex court. After media campaign it is not possible for me to continue representing PTI in the supreme court, read the application submitted by Hamid Khan.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed by a senior PTI leader that the decision has been taken to change the lawyer for Panama case. Decision regarding the change of lawyer has been taken but it will be announced on Monday or Tuesday, said a PTI leader, who wished not to be named.
Hamid Khan has been requested to humbly step down from the position, added the PTI leader.
Rumours have been circling on media since yesterday that PTI has decided to change its prosecutor for Panama case. However, PTI leadership had earlier rejected the rumour and termed it false.
A panel of senior lawyers including Hamid Khan and Naeem Bokhari were representing the PTI in the supreme court for litigation of Panama Papers case.
The apex court on Tuesday questioned the quality of the evidence presented by the PTI and deplored that their 680-page submission had almost nothing to do with the Sharif familys London properties.
We are at a loss to understand which lawyer is representing whom, the judge observed, comparing the PTIs tome of evidence to the never-ending tales from the Arabian Nights. We spent six hours simply looking for the relevant document, Justice Saeed deplored on Tuesday, asking Hamid Khan again tongue-in-cheek whose side he was on.
The cases latest hearing held on November 17 and it was adjourned to November 30.
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Median overall survival improved to 13.4 from 12.9 months after extended follow-up
64% of patients alive after one year compared to historical rates of 25-38%
Safety profile remains favorable; no dose-limiting toxicities to date
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cortice Biosciences announced today follow-up results from CB-017, a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating TPI 287 plus bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) who have not received prior bevacizumab. These results will be presented this evening during a poster session at the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Neuro-Oncology.
TPI 287 is a novel microtubule stabilizing agent that readily penetrates the blood-brain barrier. Prior preclinical and clinical results support the potential of this agent for the treatment of aggressive brain cancers in patients with few therapeutic options.
Results from our TPI 287 development program continue to support meaningful drug activity in GBM, said George Farmer, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cortice. Compared to overall survival rates observed in other multi-center clinical trials enrolling similar GBM populations, outcomes of CB-017 are very encouraging. We look forward to continued development of TPI 287 for treatment of GBM and presenting final results from the Phase 1 portion of CB-017 at another medical meeting next year.
Results in detail
Twenty-four patients with recurrent GBM that had progressed beyond first line treatment and who had not received prior bevacizumab were enrolled in the dose-escalation portion of CB-017. In addition to TPI 287 (140 to 220 mg/m2 administered every three weeks in seven dose cohorts), all patients received standard-of-care bevacizumab (10 mg/kg every two weeks). Twenty and 23 patients were evaluable for overall response and overall survival, respectively.
Key efficacy metrics are as follows:
Overall response As previously reported, 12 patients achieved an objective response per RANO criteria, including 3 complete (CR) and 9 partial (PR) responses. This corresponds to a 60% overall response rate. Ten patients achieved stable disease (SD) and 1 patient had progressive disease at first assessment for response. This corresponds to a 96% disease control rate (CR + PR + SD).
Survival Final median progression free survival from this portion of the study is 5.5 months [95% C.I. 4.1, 8.2]. To date, median overall survival is 13.4 months [95% C.I. 10.9, 17.9] after the occurrence of 83% of possible events and a median follow-up of 24.7 months. Of 22 patients with sufficient follow-up, 14 (64%) were or have been alive for at least 1 year.
Safety data available from 22 patients enrolled in CB-017 supports the favorable tolerability profile of TPI 287. With the exception of Grade 3 myelosuppression (3 patients), all adverse events regarded as possibly related to TPI 287 have been mild to moderate. No dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) have been observed to date.
Based on observations from CB-017 so far, an optimal dose of TPI 287 has been selected for the expansion stage of the trial. Following guidance provided by FDA, results from this study will inform the design of a single Phase 3 registration trial for TPI 287 in GBM.
The improvement in median overall survival to 13.4 from 12.9 months appears to be driven by outcomes in patients treated at the higher doses of this study, said Dr. Samuel Goldlust, Medical Director of the Brain and Spine Institute of the John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack, NJ and Principal Investigator of CB-017. This positive survival trend and the excellent tolerability of TPI 287 observed in the study to date support continued investigation in recurrent glioblastoma, an indication in desperate need of new therapies.
About TPI 287
TPI 287 is a novel taxoid which binds to and stabilizes the assembly of microtubules similarly to commonly used taxanes, including paclitaxel (Taxol and Abraxane) and docetaxel (Taxotere). In oncology treatment settings, microtubule stabilization by these agents leads to mitotic arrest and cancer cell death. TPI 287 has advantages over these taxanes for the treatment of brain cancers due to its ability to penetrate the central nervous system, which is often shielded from systemic administration of other anti-cancer drugs. Microtubule stabilization by TPI 287 may also have potential for the treatment of neurologic disorders affected by tau protein pathology. These include tauopathies such as Alzheimers disease and orphan diseases, such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and frontotemporal dementia.
About Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer. Five-year survival after diagnosis is about 5%. The Central Brain Tumor Registry estimates that about 24,790 primary malignant brain tumors cases will be diagnosed in the US in 2016, 46% of which will be GBM. Typical front-line treatments include stereotactic or whole brain radiotherapy plus temozolomide (Temodar). Patients with recurrent disease are candidates for treatment with Avastin, the last drug approved by FDA for this disease.
About Cortice Biosciences
Cortice Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage drug development company developing novel therapies for oncologic and neurologic disease indications with urgent unmet medical need. More information can be found at www.corticebiosciences.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This media release may contain forward-looking statements about Cortice Biosciences, which can be identified by the use of terminology such as "will," "would," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "may," "estimates," "predicts," "projects, or similar expressions intended to identify such statements. These statements reflect the current views of Cortice with respect to future events, are based on assumptions, and subject to risks and uncertainties.
IRVING, Texas, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the medical device market looks good with opportunities in the general medical devices, cardiovascular, and surgical & infection control segments. The global medical device market is expected to reach an estimated $343 billion by 2021, and it is forecast to grow a CAGR of 4.6% from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers of growth for this market are the growth in healthcare expenditure, increasing health awareness, and ageing population.
Early purchasers will receive 10% customization on reports.
This report has 79 figures/charts and 30 tables spread through 135 pages. For more detail on this report please click link http://www.lucintel.com/medical_device_market_2016_2021.aspx
In this market, surgical & infection control, general medical devices, cardiovascular, home healthcare are the major applications. Lucintel forecasts that cardiovascular is expected to remain as the largest market supported by growth in multiple chronic cardiovascular diseases and increasing ageing population. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel predicts that the general medical device segment is likely to experience the highest growth during forecast period due to growth in hospitals and healthcare institutions.
North America is expected to remain the largest region due to the high number of ageing population with multiple chronic diseases and stringent government regulation related to healthcare.
Asia Pacific is expected to witness good growth over the forecast period because of increasing investment in healthcare infrastructures, increasing health insurance facilities, and changing lifestyle.
For business expansion, the report suggests innovation and new product development to enhance medical experience with low cost solution.
The emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry, include design and manufacturing of portable and smaller device and increasing usage of software as a differentiator in medical device. Johnson & Johnson, Roche Holding Ltd., 3M, Philips Healthcare, and Medtronic are among the major suppliers of medical device. Some companies are also pursuing mergers and acquisitions as strategic initiatives for driving growth.
Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed growth opportunities in the global medical device market by application and region has come up with a comprehensive research report, Growth Opportunities in the Global Medical Device Market 2016-2021: Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis The Lucintel report serves as a springboard for growth strategy, as it provides a comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions.
Download free PDF report brochure here
http://www.lucintel.com/rb/medical_device_market_2016_2021.aspx
The study includes a forecast for the growth opportunities in the global medical device market by application and region as follows:
By Application [$ billion shipment analysis for 2010 2021]:
Surgical & Infection Control
General Medical Devices
Cardiovascular
Home Healthcare
Other devices
By Region [$ billion shipment analysis for 2010 2021]:
North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Rest of the World
For detailed table of content click http://www.lucintel.com/toc/medical_device_market_2016_2021.aspx
This 135-page research report will enable you to make confident business decisions in this globally competitive marketplace. For a detailed table of contents, contact Lucintel at +1-972-636-5056 or click on this link http://www.lucintel.com/medical_device_market_2016_2021.aspx or helpdesk@lucintel.com
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Culinary Conversations
with Peter Blakeway
Food writer, caterer and private chef
As some of you know by now Ive started as a tutor of culinary arts at Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology yes I know, its still the Bay of Plenty Poly to most of you which in some way explains why Ive been a bit remiss in my writing recently.
The reality is I had no idea just how challenging it would be to teach the next generation of chefs. After 25 years in the industry I should be pretty comfortable with most things in the culinary world, but facing a group of young chefs at the start of their careers certainly challenges that comfort. These young chefs are so much better informed than I ever was at the start of my cooking career. In those days it was the head chefs that ruled and we had limited access to information with which to challenge them, even if we had the courage to do so! Not so today, the thirst for knowledge is incredible.
I have to admit at first it was a bit daunting, then I realised out here on the Windermere campus we have the most astonishing team of industry professionals and head chefs to call on. We even have our own Belgium baker.
When you think Im teaching in the next door kitchen belonging to the ex-head chef of fish and Simon Gaults right-hand-man for many years, you can see this is an exceptional team. I started to try to total up the years of experience accumulated by the eight tutors of culinary arts but stopped when I realised the number was huge and it might make us feel old. Perhaps I should list accolades and awards?
As for the new name, Toi-Ohomai, it couldnt be more appropriate for this new tutor. It means to be awakened by learning or to aim high and achieve great heights. What a great sentiment, and not just for our students, but for the whole Bay of Plenty. To be awakened by learning should be the mantra that supports innovation, connectedness and motivates and inspires not just this institution but also the people of our slice of paradise.
Pannacotta with berry coulis
Serves 2
Ingredients
200ml cream
vanilla pod
lemon rind thinly pared
1 leaf gelatine
Tbsp cold milk
25g icing sugar
20ml grappa or other clear spirit (optional)
Berry coulis:
75g fruit for example, raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, blueberries
25g caster sugar
Method
Pour 450ml cream into a pan, add vanilla pod and lemon zest and reduce by one-third. Meanwhile, soak gelatine in milk for 15 minutes until soft. Remove zest from reduced cream and set aside. Remove vanilla pod and scrape the insides back into the cream. Remove gelatine, squeezing out excess milk and heat milk until boiling, then return the gelatine and stir until dissolved. Add to the hot cream and leave to cool.
Whip remaining cream with icing sugar and fold into cooled cooked cream, then add grappa. Place a piece of cooked lemon rind in each of 6 dariole moulds, pour in cream mixture and allow to set for two hours.
Clean and destalk fruit. Heat in a pan with the sugar and a splash of alcohol for example, fruit liqueur. But remember this is optional over a low heat for 30 minutes. Blitz in a food processor or blender and sieve. Chill until ready to serve.
As the response efforts in the south continue, two Bay of Plenty Civil Defence staff have packed their bags to lend a hand in Wellington.
This is in response to a request for assistance in the wake of Mondays 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Hanmer Springs.
Naomi Luckett and Paul Bourton left yesterday and will be helping with social media and logistics at the National Crisis Management Centre.
Its expected further staff may be deployed to assist the effort as the response continues.
Bay of Plenty emergency management director Clinton Naude says this is what we do and its great to be able to support this effort in any way we can.
People often dont realise how long support is required for after an event. Mondays earthquake was a big shock and the clean-up will continue for some time so its important staff who have been doing long days are relived.
The work is continuing here in the bay too. We have responded to more than 600 messages through Facebook, there has been a number of phone calls and we have seen an increase of internet traffic viewing our region wide Tsunami Evacuation Maps.
"We appreciate the thanks, queries and suggestions from the community as this helps us identify improvements.
Check out http://bit.ly/2fDh0cq to see the three different tsunami evacuation zones for Bay of Plenty or your local city or district councils website for more specific information for your area.
Meanwhile, several Givealittle pages have been set up to support those affected by the Kaikoura earthquake.
Red Cross NZ, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, and Tapu Te Ranga Marae are three community groups looking to raise funds to help those in need of disaster relief.
New Zealand Red Cross teams are responding after the series of earthquakes over Sunday night.
So far, $4000 has been raised to help support their efforts in ensuring those left homeless have food and shelter.
Red Cross is providing support across all affected regions, working alongside Civil Defence and city councils. Clean water has been identified as an urgent need in many areas and Red Cross will offer water bladders and tap stands for distribution if needed.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter team are also responding and need urgent support to help local communities who need medical assistance and rescue from rising flood waters.
Donations are desperately needed during this time as Westpac Rescues resources are being stretched thin. As well as providing support in the wake of the earthquake, it is still business as usual for Westpac Rescue, so the team is working around the clock to help those unaffected by the earthquakes who still need help.
The Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington is providing shelter for those affected by the earthquake in the Wellington who are unable to return to their homes following the threat of a tsunami.
The Marae currently has an MOU in place with the Wellington City Council to become a disaster relief centre.
Tapu Te Ranga Marae has a long history of helping those in need but needs support to ensure it can provide this help with an increased demand.
There is also a general Kaikoura Community Fund people can donate to.
Pupils at ACG Tauranga will be taking a journey down the rabbit hole, having tea with the Mad Hatter and avoiding the wrath of the Red Queen today, as they bring to life the weird and wonderful world of Alice in Wonderland.
Adapted from the film script of Tim Burtons award-winning Hollywood feature, Year 3-6 pupils from the Bay of Plenty school will be performing their first-ever primary production.
Due to the quirky nature of the script, which has been edited to suit the schools purpose, production co-ordinator Dee Ellwood says students have both enjoyed and been challenged by the material.
They quickly learnt that its not just about performing on the day, but the preparation that counts the whole process of creating a play. This is their first experience of the theatre and of dramatic performance, and while its certainly a tricky one to start with, theyve all picked it up incredibly well.
Dee, who has a professional background in speech and drama, has been involved in pulling the production together and co-ordinating the 26 students involved.
While there are no elaborate sets, there are fantastic costumes, thanks to Rebecca Goldstein, who has an extensive background in production and costume design, and has been creating guidelines for the parents to help pull together unique outfits for each character.
Dee says a lack of set pieces has been one of the most challenging aspects, with the students needing to rely heavily on their characterisation of the script.
With big sets its easy to let these do the talking, but for us weve looked at voice and movement as the main ways students will be portraying their character.
Its unique for a school production at this age level, but I believe its teaching our performers really valuable skills not just for theatre, but all aspects of their lives.
Principal Shawn Hutchinson, who is an advocate for the arts in all forms, says hes looking forward to seeing the finished production and credits Rebecca and Dee for helping bring it all together.
Taking on a character, be they good or bad, can teach students huge values in empathy and understanding of others seeing the world from a different point of view, even if it is in a fantasy land.
Dee and Rebecca have brought huge experience to the co-ordination of this production and I thank them for the time and effort they have put in to create this performance. Im sure our parents will be impressed with the results!
ATLANTA, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UPS (NYSE: UPS) will invest more than $175 million to expand its main Columbus, OH ground package hub on the Citys west side as part of a multi-year plan to modernize its global network operations and capacity.
When completed in the fall of 2018, sorting capacity will double to process more than 63,000 packages per hour. The 375,000 square-foot-addition and retrofit to the 5101 Trabue Road facility brings advanced technology and operations automation to respond to growing customer needs.
Columbus has grown as a UPS transit point for commercial and residential e-commerce packages moving across the country, said Derick Craft, president of the UPS Great Lakes District that includes mid-Ohio north through Michigan. We appreciate support by the city and state to be part of plans that optimize the UPS network. Our people will continue reliable service as we maintain daily pickup and delivery operations throughout construction.
At least 75 new jobs are planned to join nearly 1,800 workers at UPS package facilities in Hilliard and Obetz as well as the airport gateway operations. Earlier this spring, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved UPS participation in an incentive program for the project commitment.
Todays announcement is exciting news for Central Ohio, U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) said. UPSs investment will create high- paying jobs, generate greater economic opportunity for the entire region and also improve and expand UPS delivery services. Its a win-win for everyone.
The latest UPS sorting, processing and data capture technology are part of systems that increase the buildings flexibility to efficiently route packages through a maze of belts and conveyors. Six-sided decode tunnels will replace traditional scanning to rapidly capture package information from address labels. High-speed UPS Smart Label applicators will place labels on packages to give personnel instructions for proper routing, loading on local delivery vehicle.
Additional nearby property brings the facility complex to more than 90 acres, including current liquefied natural gas fueling to power the growing UPS fleet of alternative fueled tractors for which Columbus was an early leader in 2013. Changes in the building footprint provide a larger trailer staging area and expanded employee parking.
UPS employs more than 13,500 people across Ohio in package delivery, ground freight, aircraft operations, air and ocean freight forwarding and contract logistics.
About UPS
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the web at ups.com and its corporate blog can be found at longitudes.ups.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.
To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness, says Confucius.
For the past three days, local people in their droves have displayed all five of these virtues by making donations of food, water and non-perishable items to the Cans for Canterbury collection.
The collection is an effort to help the people in and around Kaikoura affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
Its been organised by local man Beni Hafoka, who ran a similar collection under the same name following the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake.
Since Wednesday, Beni, his staff from Tarpaulin Bay of Plenty and a number of their friends have been parked up opposite the Links Ave Reserve on Maunganui Road receiving donations from generous locals.
Its snowballed and gotten larger and larger every day since it began. A lot of locals want to help out, were also getting a lot of businesses pitching in which has been fantastic, says Benis friend Steve The Maori Daniel, whos been helping out.
Were just blown away. When people come and drop items off you see both pride and humility in their eyes because theyve got a chance to help. What weve also noticed is its the people probably perceived as the poorest in our community who are giving the most, its amazing and humbling.
Along with their roadside effort, the crew also approached local schools asking students to donate a tin of food and a handwritten message of support, which Beni and his staff were out collecting today.
The crew will be down there until about 4pm today, and will be back on Maunganui Road on Saturday from 8am-12pm.
On Sunday theyll then spend the day packing and stacking a 40 foot refrigerated container which has been donated to the cause by the TR Group.
The items will then be sent to the Salvation Army in Christchurch who are the experts in this situation, theyll know whats needed and where it needs to get to.
What a lot of people dont realise is Beni shut down his business for the week just so he could run this collection with the help of his staff.
He doesnt want to make a big deal of it but I think Beni and his actions definitely deserve some recognition. The mans got a huge heart.
Steve says theyre happy to receive any and all donations, as long as its easily transportable and non-perishable, but also adds theyre good for toilet paper after a local company donated about two pallets worth.
Weve actually been given a whole bunch of fruit too which we cant send down, so weve been giving it to people who make donations. Its great to be able to give them a little reward for their kindness.
The Cans for Canterbury collection can be found on Maunganui Road opposite Links Avenue Reserve until 5pm today, and on Saturday from 8am-12pm.
Donations can also be dropped off at Tarpaulin Bay of Plenty, 9 Portside Drive, Mount Maunganui.
Hand grenades and marijuana were among items seized when the gang was arrested, as officials say over 70,000 euros was stolen during the 14 raids
Miguel Briones (c) and police chiefs explain the haul. :: F. SILVA
Police and government officials gave more details last weekend of the gang that was recently arrested for a string of violent bank cashpoint robberies across Malaga province over the last few months.
National Police and Guardia Civil arrested five suspects last week, two British and two Spanish citizens, four of whom have now been charged. According to police chiefs, one of the Britons held has a criminal record in the UK for handling weapons, explosives and activities similar to the recent spate of fourteen ATM attacks.
Last Saturday, the national governments official representative in Malaga province, Miguel Briones, showed the booty seized during the arrest of the attackers.
Almost 40,000 euros cash, of the supposed 70,000 euros taken by the thieves, has been recovered, along with bags of marijuana and two hand grenades ready to be used.
Police believe the money was used to buy drugs, and that new line of inquiry has already led them to marijuana plantations and cocaine laboratories.
The thieves used explosives or gas to blow up the ATMs at night.
In October the number of passengers increased by 20 per cent, double the national average, and there were two million more travellers than in the same period last year
The airport could end the year with over 16 million passengers. :: SUR
The statistics regarding activity at Malaga airport are the best way of gauging how tourism is evolving, and that in turn is a sign of the state of health of the provinces principal industry. The busy month of October, when the number of passengers increased by 19.6 per cent, showed that this infrastructure is growing in leaps and bounds: last month the airport was used by nearly 400,000 travellers more than in the same month last year, and that was already a record.
However, it is the demand for international flights that has resulted in the airport registering 15 million passengers in a year for the first time in its history this week. If this trend continues in November and December, when more than 1.6 million people are expected to travel, the airport could end the year with over 16 million passengers.
Figures supplied by the Aena airport authority show that in the first ten months of this year 14,795,029 people passed through Malaga airport, which was an increase of 15.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.
The figure is even more remarkable considering that it is an increase of nearly two million since October 2015. Looking back further, the volume of passengers so far this year shows an increase of 3.2 million since 2013. This is a huge leap and the strength of Malaga as a tourist destination for visitors from abroad has contributed to the positive figures.
The level of growth at Malaga airport has been double that of other airports in Spain. In October the figures were similar to the busiest months on the Costa del Sol: there were more passengers than in June and the numbers were similar to those in September.
Sources at Aena attribute this to international demand, because last month there was a 21 per cent increase in passengers and flights to and from abroad, compared with an increase of 9.5 per cent in flights between Spanish cities. Specifically, in October 1,711,802 passengers travelled on 12,095 flights. In percentage terms, Malaga airport handled 19.6 per cent more passengers and 18.1 per cent more operations. Of the passengers, 1.5 million travelled on international flights. Never before have there been 1.5 million passengers in the month of October.
At Aena, sources explain that the UK remains the principal destination from Malaga airport, with 584,100 passengers travelling to that country; this was about 20.8 per cent more than in October 2015. The second highest number of passengers were travelling to Spanish airports. Germany, with 167,625 passengers, and France with 108,189 maintained their position as the next most popular destinations in October.
This activity has been a key factor in the programming of 108,230 flights in the first ten months of this year, an increase of 12.7 per cent. The volume of passengers and number of operations have risen throughout the year, by double digits each month.
By handling 15 million passengers, the airport is half way to maximum capacity, which with the construction of Terminal 3 rose to 30 million passengers a year and 600 flights a day. Two Saturdays last month were the busiest of all at the airport: on 1 October there were 68,752 passengers, and on Saturday 22nd the number of operations reached a peak, with 467 landings and departures.
The case against Fabian Picardo has been filed with a court in Madrid by activists of the right wing political party Vox
The chief minister describes the accusations as frivolous. :: SUR
Fabian Picardo, Gibraltars chief minister, says he will not be losing a minutes sleep over the fact that members of the right-wing Vox political party have lodged a case against him with the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid, accusing him of instigating torture.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Picardo described the accusations as frivolous and vexatious and a clear abuse of process. In addition, he said, the proceedings are a slur on the excellent reputation and work of Her Majestys Royal Gibraltar Police, Her Majestys Prison Service and the Gibraltar Magistrates Court and legal system, all of which I have complete confidence in.
The events behind the case date back to June, when the leader of Vox, Juan Ignacio Minguez, was arrested and remanded in custody after placing a large Spanish flag on the Rock of Gibraltar. Lawyer Pedro Fernandez was also detained for taking photos during the court hearing two days later.
Vox claims that both men were unlawfully detained and subjected to torture and crimes against moral integrity by the police and legal officers on the instructions of Picardo. Judge Ismael Moreno will now try to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and will carry out his own investigations before deciding whether to take any further action.
A Danish television company is to air a programme on Monday that looks at Brits' lives in Spain since the referendum
Still of Adrienne Bell-Chambers taken from the documentary. :: SUR
At 9.55pm on Monday 21 November, Danish current affairs programme, Horisont (Horizon in English), will be airing a 25-minute programme on the effect of Brexit on Brits living in Spain.
The programme, which was produced by Denmarks equivalent to the BBC, DR or Danish Broadcasting Cooperation-, will show footage of Brits living in Calahonda, in Mijas, as well as Valencia.
It follows the lives of British pensioner, Adrienne Chambers, who lives in Calahonda and who is reliant on the Spanish health care system for her insulin as she is diabetic, as well as British pub owner, Dave York, who feels that Brexit is already taking its toll through higher prices on imported goods from the UK as well as a slump in customer numbers due to the weak pound.
Producers of the programme also spoke to Ann Hernandez of the Brexpats in Spain group based in the area, as well as representatives from Mijas town hall about their views on how Brexit is already affecting the town.
We spoke to Bremainers and Brexiteers, says Camilla Markvardsen, a journalist with DR and producer of the Brexit programme. We wanted to get a balanced view and of course there are Brits living in Spain who are very concerned about what Brexit means and those that are not at all worried.
Although Camilla says that the programme was made simply as an informative documentary about British people abroad in the light of the EU referendum, she admits that it will be, very interesting to a lot of Danes as there is a similar attitude towards the EU in Denmark.
Countries in northern and eastern Europe have a weaker connection with the EU than say countries like Spain and Italy in the south, says the journalist.
As a nation leaving the EU is unprecedented, Camilla says, and there are a lot of people, not only in Denmark, but across the EU, who are watching the negotiations very closely to see what sort of deal the UK can negotiate for its citizens. Depending on the outcome of the process, she says, Denmarks relationship with Brussels may or may not be affected.
Of course, Denmark is not the only country that EU bodies are cautious about; with the rise of anti-EU, anti-austerity and anti-immigration factions across the whole continent, as well as the impending French and German general elections and the recent election of Donald Trump to the White House, pro-European federalists who believe in the European project are nervous.
Denmark, though, like the UK, has had a more distant relationship with the European Union; it is not part of the Eurozone and has negotiated a series of opt-outs to EU laws like the UK, including on immigration.
In December 2015, Danes were asked to vote in a referendum on the laws that it has opted out of in the past. Although the ballot paper came under heavy criticism from Danish citizens due to its wordy and confusing questions, 53 per cent of the public voted against adopting some of the rules that the country had previously negotiated, leaving a status quo in its relationship with Brussels.
The referendum, which came shortly after the Paris attacks and at a time when the refugee crisis was on the front page of every European newspaper, was closely watched by the British government. David Cameron was on the verge of announcing the date for the UKs in/out vote and the words of Sren Gade, a member of Denmarks Liberal party, ring true of the UKs Conservative party since the 23 June result, We will work very hard for the Danes to get the best possible agreement. But it will be difficult.
Mondays documentary will be aired on Danish television and available to view online for one month (www.dr.dk/horisont). Although the documentary is in Danish, footage of Brits speaking will be in English with Danish subtitles.
With a large Danish community on the Costa del Sol it will be interesting to see what they make of the documentary, the concerns of Brits living in Spain and their own views on their countrys relation.
Finnish English
CapMan Plc Stock Exchange Release 18 November 2016 at 5:10 p.m. EET
Norvestia Oyj's Board of Directors supports CapMan Plc's exchange offer for Norvestia's shares
This stock exchange release may not be published or distributed, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into or to any person located or a resident of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, or any other country where such publication or distribution would violate applicable regulation or would require additional measures in addition to the requirements under Finnish law.
CapMan Plc ("CapMan" or the "Company") has received the statement from Norvestia Oyj's ("Norvestia") Board of Directors regarding CapMan's voluntary public exchange offer relating to Norvestia's shares and securities entitling to shares (the "Exchange Offer").
Norvestia's Board of Directors have in a statement published on 18 November 2016 announced that under the prevailing circumstances, Norvestia's Board of Directors deems that the terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer are an economically fair and recommendable alternative to Norvestia's shareholders in comparison to continuing the business operations as an independent company or in comparison to the other possible alternatives assessed by the Board of Directors.
Norvestia's Board of Directors deems that the Exchange Offer and the amount of the Offer Consideration offered for the Norvestia share are under the prevailing circumstances fair to Norvestia's shareholders taking into account the viewpoints presented in more detail in the statement of the Board of Directors of Norvestia. The Board of Directors of Norvestia recommends that the shareholders of Norvestia accept CapMan's Exchange Offer.
Norvestia's Board of Directors have formed a composition to evaluate and process the Exchange Offer consisting of Hannu Syrjanen, Georg Ehrnrooth and Arja Talma, who are Norvestia's Board of Directors independent of CapMan.
The statement of Norvestia's Board of Directors and the Fairness Opinion statement by Nordea Corporate & Investment Banking are presented as an appendix to this stock exchange release.
CAPMAN PLC
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
For additional information, please contact:
Heikki Westerlund, CEO, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 559 6580
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Principal media
www.capman.com
Appendix: Statement of Norvestia Oyj's Board of Directors on CapMan Plc's voluntary public exchange offer relating to Norvestia Oyj's shares
CapMan
www.capman.com
www.capman.com/exchange-offer
CapMan is a leading Nordic investment and asset management company. For more than 25 years, we have been developing companies and real estate and supporting their sustainable growth. We are committed to understanding the needs of our customers in an ever-changing market environment. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions for our investors and value adding services for professional investment partnerships, growth-oriented companies and tenants. Our independent investment partnerships - Buyout, Real Estate, Russia and Nest Capital - as well as our associated company Norvestia are responsible for investment activities and value creation. CapMan's service business offering includes fundraising advisory services, purchasing activities and fund management services to both internal and external customers. CapMan has 100 professionals and assets under management of 2.8 billion.
Important Notice
This release may not be released or otherwise distributed, in whole or in part, in or into or to any person located or a resident of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or any other jurisdiction where prohibited by applicable laws or rules. This release is not a share exchange offer document or a prospectus and as such does not constitute an offer or invitation to make a sales offer. Investors shall accept the exchange offer for the shares only on the basis of the information provided in an exchange offer document and prospectus in respect of the exchange offer. Offers will not be made directly or indirectly in any jurisdiction where either an offer or participation therein is prohibited by applicable law or where any exchange offer document or registration or other requirements would apply in addition to those undertaken in Finland.
The exchange offer document and prospectus in respect of the exchange offer as well as related acceptance forms will not and may not be distributed, forwarded, or transmitted into, in, or from any jurisdiction where prohibited by applicable law. In particular, the exchange offer is not being made, directly or indirectly, in or into, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, or the United States of America. The exchange offer cannot be accepted from within Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, or the United States of America.
CapMan's shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or under any of the relevant securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States of America. CapMan's shares may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from the Securities Act or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
Certain statements herein which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding expectations for general economic development and the market situation, expectations for the combined company's development and profitability and the realization of synergy benefits and cost savings, and statements preceded by "expects", "estimates", "forecasts" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current decisions and plans and currently known factors. They involve risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results to materially differ from the results currently expected for the combined company. Such factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, including fluctuations in exchange rates and interest levels which influence the operating environment and profitability of customers and thereby the orders received by the combined company and their margin; the competitive situation; the combined company's own operating conditions, such as the success of production and product development and their continuous development and improvement; and the success of future acquisitions.
Attachments:
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5aefc66b-4e55-4550-ba65-91b9e4a33776
CLEVELAND, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Point Capital Partners and its Blue Point III platform investment, Hilco Vision, announced today the acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear. The acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear further expands Hilcos product breadth, as it is the pioneer designer of sunglasses designed to fit over prescription eyewear and distributor of the leading brand in that category Jonathan Paul Fitovers.
In partnership with Blue Point, Hilco Vision continues to identify complementary products to add to its product mix and strengthens its geographic presence, said John LeMay, a Partner with Blue Point. The acquisition of Jonathan Paul Eyewear follows three acquisitions completed in Europe in the last 18 months, and builds on Hilcos momentum to deliver on its promise to be a global partner to its customers worldwide.
Jonathan Paul Fitovers, currently headquartered in Austin, TX, originated in Australia over twenty years ago. The brand quickly developed a reputation as the market innovator and leader in this unique eyewear category. As a result, the Company began distribution internationally and continues to experience strong global demand.
"We are extremely excited about the acquisition of such an innovative brand, recognized for its originality, functionality and design, said Ross Brownlee, Chief Executive Officer of Hilco. I am confident that together with designer Paul Stables, we will reach our full potential as a true global partner."
Paul Stables, Founder of Jonathan Paul Eyewear, added, "I am delighted to be part of Hilco Vision as we continue to build this dynamic brands distribution on a global scale. The Fitovers brand is growing fast, and we are well-positioned to lead that growth by leveraging Hilco's extensive distribution channels and consistently high quality standards.
Hilco Vision (www.hilco.com) is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear and eye care accessories, supplies and equipment. Headquartered in Plainville, MA, with additional operations in Canada, China, Europe and Australia, Hilco supplies over 30,000 products in a broad range of categories to more than 25,000 domestic and international customers. The Companys five primary product categories include: professional tools, vision protection, consumer accessories, lens and eye care.
Jonathan Paul Fitovers (www.fitovers.com) is headquartered in Austin, TX, with distribution in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong and China. Jonathan Paul offers revolutionary fashionable and functional sunglasses designed to fit over prescription eyewear. The Company utilizes state-of-the-art frame and lens technologies to provide modern prescription frame wearers with a fit-over sunglass that fits their frames and lifestyles.
Blue Point Capital Partners (www.bluepointcapital.com) is a private equity firm managing over $800 million in committed capital. With offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle and Shanghai, Blue Points geographical footprint allows it to establish relationships with local and regional entrepreneurs and advisors, while providing the resources of an international firm. The Blue Point group has a 26-year track record of partnering with companies in the lower middle market to facilitate growth and transformative change. It is one of only a few middle market private equity firms with a presence in both the United States and China, which provides a distinct advantage for its portfolio companies. Blue Point typically invests in manufacturing, distribution and service businesses generating between $20 million and $200 million in revenue.
Syracuse, NY -- A jury this morning found a Syracuse man guilty of stabbing a fellow homeless shelter resident to death in a fight over a woman, a prosecutor said.
Daniel Jones, 31, was found guilty of manslaughter in the May 14, 2015 death of Gary Paris Jr. at the Catholic Charities men's shelter, 1074 S. Clinton St.
The men were fighting in a bathroom when Jones stabbed Paris to death, Senior Assistant District Attorney Melinda McGunnigle said.
Jones faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 12.
Numerous witnesses saw the fight and identified Jones, McGunnigle said. But only one actually saw the knife used in the stabbing.
Jones' mugshot at the Richmond County Jail in North Carolina.
Jones and Paris were acquaintances from their time at the shelter, which is considered a refuge of last resort for Syracuse's homeless men.
Jones fled to North Carolina before being apprehended in November 2015. His case was delayed in part by a switch of lawyers after Jones accused his original lawyer of lying to him.
--
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Giant puppets will bring the story of "Amahl and The Night Visitors" to life this holiday season in Syracuse.
The Christmas opera is about a shepherd boy and his mother who are visited by three kings carrying gifts for the new-born baby Jesus.
The family-friendly story is told from the shepherd boy's perspective.
The production will be at the First English Lutheran Church, 501 James St., Syracuse.
Showtimes:
Dec. 2, Dec. 3, Dec. 9 and Dec. 10: 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 4 and Dec. 11: 4 p.m.
Advance tickets re $18 for adults, $13 for youth. At the door, adult tickets are $20, youth tickets $15. Children under 2 are free.
For more information, visit the theater's website.
Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people, life and culture in Central New York. Contact her anytime: email | twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2246
MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Property Trust will host a conference call to discuss 2017 expectations on Tuesday, December 13, 2016, at 10:00 A.M., ET. The conference call can be accessed by dialing (855) 277-7530 and entering the passcode 22533902. The conference call will also be available live at www.libertyproperty.com in the Investor Relations section of the site. If you are unable to join the conference call, you may access the archived webcast in the Investor Relations section of the website. In addition, a recording will be available telephonically until January 13, 2017 by dialing (855) 859-2056 and using the passcode 22533902.
About the Company
Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty's 96 million square foot portfolio includes 566 properties providing office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 1,200 tenants.
Group of Diverse Multiethnic People Teamwork
In a compassionate community, people reach out and help a neighbor and are respectful, kind and considerate of one another.
(Rawpixel)
To the Editor:
On Nov. 17, through the unanimous support of Syracuse and Onondaga County legislative and executive branches, Central New York was declared a Compassionate Community at a press conference held at the Ska*nonh Great Law of Peace Center in Liverpool. Speakers included Tadodaho Sid Hill of the Onondaga Nation; Van Robinson, president of the Syracuse Common Council; Linda Ervin, floor leader of the Onondaga County Legislature; James Wiggins, Ph.D., and William Pollard, Ph.D. All endorsed the vital importance of compassion and understanding for the future of our community.
So what is a "compassionate community"? A compassionate community is one where the needs of all the inhabitants are recognized and met, the well-being of the entire community is a priority, and all people and living things are treated with respect, according to Karen Armstrong, the force behind the international Charter for Compassion. Established in 2009, the Charter has grown into an international movement in more than 300 cities around the world, including at least 60 cities here in the United States. Central New York appears to be the first community in New York state to declare itself a compassionate community.
Together with our civic leaders, we call on all members of our community to work together to develop and apply compassionate solutions to the issues in our community. Reach out and help a neighbor; be respectful, kind and considerate of one another; acknowledge each other as fellow human beings sharing and caring for the place we live and working together to meet the needs of our community, families, friends, and neighbors for the good of all.
James Wiggins, Ph.D., Co-chair
William Pollard, Ph.D., Co-chair
Mark Cass
Daryl Files
Craig French
Andrea Latchem
Gay Montague
Betsy Wiggins
Peter Willner
The Compassionate CNY Team
Blog_Dennis DePerro.JPG
Dennis DePerro, a dean at Le Moyne College, has been named president of St. Bonaventure University.
(Provided photo)
Dennis DePerro, dean of the Purcell School of Professional Studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, has been named the 21st president of St. Bonaventure University. He will take office June 1, 2017.
St. Bonaventure trustees unanimously selected DePerro on, Nov. 13, after an eight-month search.
Interim President Dr. Andrew Roth, who took over on Aug. 1 when Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., retired, will work closely with DePerro on a transition plan next spring and summer, officials said.
"Dennis is a great fit for St. Bonaventure University," said Robert Daugherty, chair of St. Bonaventure's board of trustees. "His innovative enrollment efforts, allied health program development, and commitment to the liberal arts in a Catholic setting make him an ideal president.
"What was gratifying is that, even though we had a couple of very strong finalists, the Board's decision was unanimous," he said. "That's how much confidence we have in Dr. DePerro."
He will be introduced to the St. Bonaventure college community at 10 a.m. Monday.
DePerro, 57, was vice president for enrollment management at Le Moyne for 18 years before becoming the inaugural dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies in 2013. He helped secure a $6.5 million gift last year for the school, renamed the Kathy and John Purcell School of Professional Studies, which specializes in allied health and education offerings.
St. Bonaventure established a School of Allied Health this fall.
DePerro has spent his entire 35-year career in college administration; both at Canisius College and Marietta College in Ohio before going to Le Moyne in 1995.
A Buffalo native, DePerro was one of Le Moyne's first two participants in the inaugural Ignatian Colleagues Program, a national program developed to strengthen lay leadership through formation and focus on Jesuit mission and vision.
BURBANK, Calif., Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imaging3 Inc. (OTCQB:IGNG) announced today that on October 25, 2016 John Vuksich filed a Petition for the Rehearing of an Order Denying a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in connection with the United States Supreme Courts denial of Vuksichs previous Petition for a Writ of Certiorari.
In May of 2012, John M. Vuksich, a shareholder of the Company who alleged that he held shares or proxies totaling more than 30,000,000 common shares in the Company (approximately 5.95% of the then outstanding stock in the Company prior to the Companys bankruptcy filing), filed a shareholder derivative action in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against the Company (the Vuksich Litigation). In that litigation, Vuksich challenged certain corporate actions taken by the Company beginning in 2010, including the Companys amendments to its articles of incorporation authorizing the Company to increase its authorized number of shares of common stock and to authorize the issuance of preferred stock. Among other things, Vuksich sought an order voiding certain Company financing agreements and sought an order compelling the Company to fill vacancies on its Board of Directors. The Vuksich Litigation, which also sought to alter the equity structure and management of the Company, required the Company to expend its limited resources in terms of both management time and funds for attorneys fees. The Company believed that the Vuksich Litigation could and would be defeated and vigorously opposed the Vuksich Litigation at significant expense.
Ultimately, the Vuksich Litigation evolved into the following appeals from United States District Court rulings which were heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 9, 2015:
Order Denying Motion to Dismiss Chapter 11 Case, Case No.: 13-56695 (9 th Cir.), appeal filed September 30, 2013, appealing the District Courts dismissal of the initial appeal of the order.
Cir.), appeal filed September 30, 2013, appealing the District Courts dismissal of the initial appeal of the order. Order Disallowing Claims Nos. 23 and 24, Case No.: 14-55499 (9 th Cir.), appeal filed March 31, 2014, appealing the District Courts order affirming the order of the Bankruptcy Court.
Cir.), appeal filed March 31, 2014, appealing the District Courts order affirming the order of the Bankruptcy Court. Order Denying Motion for Abandonment of Potential Claims Against Officers and Directors, Case No.: 14-55521 (9 th Cir.), appeal filed April 2, 2014, appealing the District Courts order affirming the order of the Bankruptcy Court.
Cir.), appeal filed April 2, 2014, appealing the District Courts order affirming the order of the Bankruptcy Court. Order Confirming Debtors First Amended Plan, Case No.: 14-55466 (9th Cir.), appeal filed March 24, 2014, appealing the District Courts order affirming in part and reversing in part the order of the Bankruptcy Court.
The court ruled in favor of the Company on all four appellate issues.
On December 18, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the rulings of the United States Bankruptcy Court and the United States District Court related to the four above appeals that Vuksich had filed, asserting:
That the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court should not have confirmed Imaging3s Chapter 11 plan of reorganization;
That the claim that Vuksich filed in the Imaging3 bankruptcy case was improperly disallowed by the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court;
That the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court should have abandoned the Vuksich litigation;
That the Bankruptcy Court and the District Court should have dismissed the Imaging3 Chapter 11 bankruptcy case because the court had no jurisdiction over the case.
On February 2, 2016, the Ninth District Judges Tashima, Callahan, and Hurwitz voted to deny Vuksichs petition for panel rehearing. Judges Callahan and Hurwitz voted to deny the petition for rehearing en banc, and Judge Tashima concurred. The full court has been advised of the petition, and no judge of the court has requested a vote on the petition for rehearing en banc. Fed. R. App. P. 35. The petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc were thusly denied.
In April 2016, John M. Vuksich appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari on the Ninth Circuit rulings dismissing his appeals. On October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court denied Vuksichs application for a writ of certiorari, thereby terminating the Vuksich Litigation.
On October 25, 2016, Vuksich filed a Petition for the Rehearing of an Order Denying a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari. The Company believes the Petition is without merit and will be denied.
About Imaging3
Imaging3, Inc., founded in 1993, has developed a patented medical imaging technology, called SafeScan, that will produce 3D medical diagnostic images in real time. Imaging3s SafeScan technology will allow healthcare professionals to perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures more quickly and accurately, with fewer safety risks for the patient. In addition, Imaging3s technology exposes patients to significantly less harmful radiation than current imaging technologies such as CT scans, which the company believes will allow scans to be used in more pediatric applications than are currently prescribed. The technology also allows for greater portability, easier installation, and a significantly reduced cost burden for the healthcare system overall. Imaging3 is planning to submit a 510K application to the FDA during 2017 in order to gain approval to commercialize the SafeScan technology.
Visit the companys website at http://www.imaging3.com for detailed information about the Companys technology.
Safe Harbor Statement
Imaging3 cautions you that any statement included in this press release that is not a description of historical facts is a forward-looking statement. Many of these forward-looking statements contain the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may" "intend," "expect" and similar expressions. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties inherent in the Imaging3s business, including, without limitation: the company may not ever obtain FDA approval for any of its devices; the company may not be able to secure the funds necessary to support its product development plans; and the company may not ever achieve the market success to sustain a profitable business. In addition, there are risks and uncertainties related to economic recession or terrorist actions, competition from much larger imaging companies, technological obsolescence, unexpected costs and delays, potential product liability claims, and many other factors. More detailed information about Imaging3 and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the companys Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Such documents may be read free of charge on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and Imaging3 undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Far East refinery demand to boost long haul trades
Global refinery capacity is projected to reach 96.6 mill barrels per day by the end of 2016.
Some 64% of capacity additions stem from the East of the Suez markets. The Far East, Indian Sub-Continent and Southeast Asia regions lack the amount of crude oil production needed to meet refinery demand, leading them to source marine transported barrels from foreign countries. The rearrangement of this sourcing dictates tanker trade routes and impacts tonne/mile demand in the East of the Suez markets. McQuiiling Services has analysed bilateral country trade flow data through July in order to more accurately understand the development of DPP tanker demand from 2014. The Far East region accounts for 46% of DPP tanker demand, as only 36% of the 18.4 mill barrels per day of refinery demand expected this year will be met through regional crude production. With Chinas crude production already averaging 248,000 barrels per day lower than last year and the expectation of further declines, the Far East region has relied heavily on increased imports to feed growing demand. According to demand data through July, flows into the region have averaged 2.4 mill barrels per day higher than last years average, contributing to increased demand for tankers. The Middle East, which represents 64% of Far East imports, is on track to increase flows by 26.6 mill tonnes, while West Africa flows are showing a 14.7% rise year-on-year. While higher volumes on these routes benefit tankers, increased long haul trading from the Western Hemisphere, specifically East Coast South America and the Caribbean, has been a major support for tanker demand. Although Venezuelan crude production has deteriorated this year, exports remain relatively stable, as the country opts to lower refinery runs and reduce oil swap programmes with neighbouring countries. McQuillings data showed that China will import 23 mill tonnes of Venezuelan crude oil this year, up from 20 mill tonnes in 2015. The high frequency of these longer haul global trades has contributed to the 5.6% increase in average tonne/mile demand into the Far East through July of this year when compared to last years average. This year, the Indian Sub-Continent experienced higher crude demand with import volumes on track for a 4% year-on-year increase; however, displacement of traditional crude sources has led to negative tonne/mile demand growth, which is projected to decline 4.8% year-on-year. West African exports to the Indian Sub-Continent are expected to decline 18.3% year-on-year, as Nigeria has struggled to maintain volumes, due to continued militant attacks on oil infrastructure. Meanwhile, Caribbean volumes are forecast to decline 2% relative to last year amid lower flows from Colombia and Mexico. Colombian exports have declined this year, due to a 170,000 barrels per day decrease in production, increased domestic demand from the restart of the 150,000 barrels per day Cartagena refinery and an increase in flows to the US. These long haul routes have grown tonne/mile demand in recent years; however, competition from increased Middle Eastern (Iran and Iraq) production has displaced some of these more traditional flows. With the lifting of nuclear sanctions, Iran has ramped up production by 250,000 barrels per day since the beginning of this year and is on track to export 14.6 mill tonnes to the Indian Sub-Continent. Similarly, Iraq has averaged 4.5 mill barrels per day of output through July, which is over 1 mill barrels per day higher than the 2015 average. This has resulted in a 5% increase in market share for Middle East suppliers, who now claim 62% of the Indian Sub-Continents market. For Southeast Asia, crude and dirty product imports into the region are expected to increase just marginally before the end of the year with tonne/mile demand already averaging over 7.7 bill tonne/miles lower than last year. The decline in tanker demand stems from both decreased crude imports and sourcing of more proximate supply. Through July, imports into the region have averaged 647,000 tonnes lower than the same period in 2015 with a majority of fall off stemming from more distant origins, such as Northern Europe, West Africa and the Caribbean. Last year, Southeast Asia imported 12.2 mill tonnes of dirty product oil from the Caribbean; however, flows are on track to decline to 9.5 mill tons for 2016, due to reasons mentioned above, McQuilling said. Dirty product imports from Northern Europe are expected to decline by 9.8 mill tonnes, as fuel oil exports from the Netherlands into the region are on track to decline by 34% year-on-year. These lower flows are projected to be offset by shorter haul trading from the Middle East, as well within the Southeast Asia region. Dirty product flows from regional producers are expected to rise by 6 mill tonnes, while imports from the Middle East are on track to jump by over 7.5 mill tonnes. Looking forward, East of the Suez markets will, in general continue to be supported by increasing Middle Eastern crude supply. However, regarding Far East demand, McQuilling noted refineries sourcing barrels from the Caribbean, East Coast South America and West Africa markets, effectively increasing tonne/miles into the region. Indian Sub-Continent demand will probably be fuelled by significant flows from the Middle East, as well as Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia and Malaysia. The Southeast Asia market is projected to be mostly supported by intra-regional trades, as well as Middle Eastern barrels, while lower volumes are expected from Europe and the Caribbean. Due to the higher frequency of shorter haul trading in both the Indian Sub-Continent and Southeast Asia markets, tanker demand into these regions will remain below 2015 levels. As tonne/mile tanker demand is not only a function of tonnage transported but also distance travelled, demand declines from more proximate sourcing of feedstock in the Indian Sub-Continent and Southeast Asia will be offset by overwhelming gains witnessed through increased longer haul volumes into the Far East, McQuilling concluded.
Green Award signs up MarineTraffic & Danaos
AIS vessel tracking service, MarineTraffic, has joined the Green Award scheme.
An increasing number of ship operators are using intelligence derived from AIS data to analyse, measure and drive a range of efficiencies across their fleets. On average, MarineTraffic receives position transmissions from 140,000 individual vessels per day. MarineTraffic will provide three key incentives to certified shipowning companies: 10% discount for any online subscription plan, including Enhanced Satellite Tracking for fleets (combining Inmarsat C-polling with AIS data). An extended free trial of MarineTraffic ship tracking systems. Certified companies will receive a three-month free trial for plans of their choosing, for an unlimited number of users, with premium support from the Customer Success team. Green Award logo prominently displayed on each certified vessel's and company's page on www.marinetraffic.com Demitris Memos, MarineTraffic, managing director, said: MarineTraffic joining the Green Award scheme is a happy marriage of shared aims and values. Being able to analyse trading patterns is key to evaluating the effectiveness of any new product or service on board a ship. By providing top quality commercial data and vessel tracking services to companies and organisations around the world, we aim to play our role in promoting clean and safe ship operations and increasing the transparency and efficiency of shipping. Dimitrios Mattheou, Green Award chairman said: Monitoring of fleet vessels is a vital element for shipowners, operators and other involved bodies into the shipping industry, providing situational awareness and information on the progress of each voyage. Marine Traffic provides an improved AIS tracking service, through a comprehensive database, having built a global reputation as being the most reliable platform in vessel tracking. Marine Traffic, AIS vessel tracking service, has created a daydream wish come true. Also joining the scheme recently was Athens-based software concern, Danaos Management Consultants. Mattheou handed over the Green Award plaque to Dimitris Theodossiou, Danaos co-founder and managing director to commemorate the companys official acceptance as a new incentive provider on 11th November. Green Award certificate holders are now entitled to a 10% discount on all the companys product licenses and services and to a one years free subscription to DanaosONE platform. I strongly believe on collaboration and incentives like Green Awards. In this essence Danaos technology can potentially integrate all Green Award members for the mutual benefit in efficiency, economy, quality and seaworthy shipping, said Theodossiou. It is impossible to imagine the shipping industry these days without information technology solutions. Databases and online platforms enhance information and data exchange in the maritime industry, allow making of fast and right decisions and encourage easier co-operation of parties. They are an integral part of many shipping businesses, said Mattheou. I am glad that Danaos Management Consultants has joined the Green Award scheme, entitling our certificate holders to favourable prices if they choose to add DanaosONE platform to their IT solutions package.
Markets And the winners are - Aframaxes
The VLCC market ended last week at a slow pace.
Charterers had basically finished for November ex MEG and the market players focused more on the forthcoming Bahri function in Dubai this week. Charterers continued to drip feed the market, but nevertheless owners managed to turn the recent soft/quiet trend around by forcing charterers to pay up, Fearnleys reported. Thus far, only BOT stems have emerged. Owners were looking for increased activity when the parties in Dubai were over and the outstanding stems are released. In the Atlantic, both West Africa and North Sea strengthened, as steady demand was recorded. Suezmaxes found some relief in a batch of West Africa east cargoes entering the market simultaneously on early Dec loading dates, but they received very limited interest from owners who did not want to commit vessels for low returns on long voyages. As a result, TD20 spiked at WS82.5 but had slipped earlier this week. The Black Sea and Med areas are currently stable being propped up by the rampant Aframax market. While the West Africa outlook will remain steady, we could see fallout if there is a reaction going forward on the Black Sea and Med rates, if Aframaxes become uneconomical. The North Sea and Baltic strengthened strongly last week, but have seen a slow start to this week. At the time of writing (Wednesday), North Sea and Baltic December dates could firm, as high activity in the Med and Black Sea drive momentum. In the Med and Black Sea, the market is going through the roof. With only a couple of ships to choose from, owners have been on the ascendancy, Fearnleys said. A couple of end-month Black Sea cargoes did not manage to find a ship last week, and as Turkish Straits delays kept increasing over the weekend, owners showed no mercy. For example, WS170 was on subs ex Black Sea, and there are still a couple of cargoes left in a tight window, so more high numbers will be paid this week, Fearnleys concluded. What is causing the strength in Cross-Med Aframax rates? Aframax Cross-Med freight rates saw a sharp spike last Friday, nearly doubling from WS80 to WS140 in a day, Ocean Freight Exchange (OFE), said. Rates have remained firm at WS140 since on the back of a combination of factors, including surging production in the region, which boosted exports, lending support to the tanker market as more barrels looked for homes. Key exporters in the region pumped more oil than ever, with Russian production setting a new post-Soviet record at 11.2 mill barrels per day in October and Libya returning to the market, OFE said. The start-up of Kazakhstans huge Kashagan oil field has led to an increase in CPC Blend exports, up from 600.000 barrels per day to 1 mill barrels per day in October. With exports from Kashagan and Filanovsky oil fields ramping up and Libyas largest port, Es Sider, poised to resume exports in days, the Med crude market is likely to remain vastly oversupplied. As excess volumes in the region fill up onshore storage sites, oil companies have turned to floating storage as an option. There are up to 20 Aframaxes storing crude in the region, potentially adding up to 12 mill barrels at sea, which has reduced the list of tonnage available. The steep contango in ICE Brent prices may further induce charterers to book more vessels for floating storage, despite the spike in freight rates. The Brent M1-M2 spread widened to $1.18 per barrel last week, currently holding at $1 per barrel. Recent storms in the Black Sea have caused longer vessel delays of up to four to five days, further boosting freight rates, OFE concluded. Meanwhile, in Libya, a tanker reportedly sailed from Ras Lanuf with 600,000 barrels of oil last Monday, the first newly produced crude oil to be exported since the terminal reopened in September, a port official said, according to Reuters. A second tanker was due to berth at Ras Lanuf shortly. Ras Lanuf is one of four ports that forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar seized in September. Three had been blockaded by a rival faction. One of the ports, Es Sider, remains shut. At, Zueitina, an official said three tankers had loaded this month with a fourth expected, compared to about 20 tankers per month when the port was operating normally, Reuters reported. In the charter market recent fixtures reported by broking sources included Frontline taking the 2011-built VLCC Oceanis for 12 months at $32,000 per day. Koch reportedly took the 2004-built VLCC Xin Jin Yang for six months at $32,000 per day, while Staoil was thought to have fixed the 2004-built VLCC DHT Condor for four option six months at $28,000 per day, plus the 2006-built Aframax Affinity for three, option three months at $17,000 per day. Navig8 was said to have fixed the 2004-built Suezmax Astro Polaris for 12 months at $21,000 per day, while Petro Barbero was said to have taken the 2007-built MR Nave Equinox for 12 months at $11,750 per day. In the S&P market, Indian-based AZA Shipping was reported as the buyer of the 2001-built Aframax Thera for $16.5 mill, while the 2015-built MR Amor was believed to have changed hands for $32.8 mill.
Social media awareness training on board ship
In collaboration with MTI Network, Seagull Maritime has produced an on board and online training programme on social media awareness.
MTI Network is an incident response network dedicated to serving the shipping, energy, offshore and transportation industries. It offers a variety of social media services such as training, guidelines and strategy. Seagulls new e-learning and video module explores the impact a seemingly innocent social media post can have when it involves a safety or security incident on board. Social media has infiltrated every aspect of both our personal and professional lives, said Roger Ringstad, Seagull Maritime managing director. People have gone from being consumers to also being producers of media. Social media reaches millions of people globally. Analysing your online presence, addressing potentially damaging coverage and establishing how it might be improved have become integral aspects of risk management. "Through social media crews can inadvertently become on-scene reporters when a safety or security incident is taking place on board, said Martin Baxendale, managing director - MTI Network. "Crew are often unaware of the reach of their pictures and status updates, and dont consider the consequences they might have if taken out of context. It's important that we provide education and guidelines as to what is and is not appropriate to post online."
The aim of the new e-learning module is to raise awareness of correct social media practice among both shore based personnel and seafaring staff. Ringstad emphasised the importance of fully understanding how social media should be used during a crisis and properly grasping the potential reputational and/or commercial risks innocent posts can pose to a company. When posting, be sensible; dont press send on anything you wouldnt be comfortable appearing in your bosses inbox, or on the front page of a national paper. If in doubt, dont post, Ringstad stressed.
Marizomib is a novel brain-penetrant proteasome inhibitor in development for patients with glioblastoma and relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma
TORONTO and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private drug development company dedicated to advancing novel compounds through clinical Phase 2 proof-of-concept, today announced positive full enrollment results from its multicenter, open label, Phase 1 study evaluating marizomib (MRZ) in combination with bevacizumab (BEV) in patients with WHO grade IV malignant glioma. The study results were presented at the Society of Neuro Oncology meeting today in Scottsdale, Arizona. Triphase separately announced on November 17, 2016 that Celgene acquired the assets relating to MRZ.
These results continue to demonstrate the potential benefit of both the combination therapy of MRZ and BEV, as well as MRZ monotherapy, for recurrent glioma," said Daniela Bota, M.D., medical director of Neuro-Oncology and associate professor of neurology at the University of California, Irvine, and lead investigator of the study. As we reported for our interim results, adding the expansion cohort of monotherapy with MRZ was extremely helpful in achieving robust results, and we think we may have established an optimal dosing regimen.
The Phase 1 open-label dose-escalation study included three dose escalation cohorts plus an expansion cohort, for a total of 36 recurrent glioma patients receiving MRZ on days 1, 8, and 15, with standard dose of bevacizumab (BEV at 10mg/kg) on days 1 and 15, of a 28-day cycle. The MRZ+BEV combination was well tolerated with no dose limiting toxicity at 0.8 mg/m2, which was the highest dose of MRZ evaluated in this study.
The Response Rate (by Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria) was 42% (14/33) in efficacy evaluable patients, with 34% of patients achieving six months progression-free survival (PFS) and 55% achieving nine months overall survival (OS). The 6 and 9 months PFS in patients with unmethylated MGMT a marker of poor prognosis and resistance to standard-of-care in glioblastoma - were 34% and 23%, respectively. These data are comparable to PFS in all patients (34% PFS 6 months, 22% PFS 9 months), suggesting a potentially unique clinical benefit of MRZ+BEV in this difficult to treat segment of glioblastomas. To date, the 9 months OS in unmethylated MGMT patients is 44%, with data collection continuing for most patients.
In an ongoing Phase 2 (MRZ monotherapy) portion of the study, a total of 15 recurrent glioma patients have been enrolled to date, receiving 0.8 mg/m2 MRZ on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. MRZ monotherapy in these patients has resulted in a partial remission in 1 patient, and stable disease in 2 additional patients, demonstrating activity of MRZ as a single agent. Based on these data, the study will continue enrollment up to 30 total patients. MRZ is generally well tolerated in combination with BEV and as monotherapy. The most common study treatment-related adverse events across both phases of the study include fatigue, headache, nausea, diarrhea, dysphonia, hypertension, vomiting, hallucination and weakness.
These clinical proof of concept results further support the value of MRZ as a potential treatment for recurrent glioma, said Mohit Trikha, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and head of Triphase Accelerator Research and Development. Equally as important for Triphase Accelerator, these results were instrumental to Celgenes decision to acquire the compound.
About Marizomib
Marizomib is a novel, brain-penetrant proteasome inhibitor, which inhibits all three proteasome subunits.
Triphase Accelerator is developing marizomib in both intravenous (IV) and oral formulations as a proteasome inhibitor for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The IV formulation has been evaluated in more than 300 patients in multiple clinical studies in patients with solid and hematologic malignancies, either as a single agent or in combination with dexamethasone, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, or an immunomodulatory drug.
The company is currently evaluating marizomib in a proof-of-concept clinical study in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with Grade IV malignant glioma (glioblastoma), and has received Orphan Drug designation for marizomib in glioblastoma in the United States from the FDA. In addition, Triphase Accelerator is currently developing marizomib in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, and has received Orphan Drug designation for marizomib in multiple myeloma in the United States and the European Union. Triphase Accelerator is also evaluating an oral formulation in preclinical studies.
Marizomib has not been approved for any use in any country.
About Triphase Accelerator
Triphase Accelerator is a private drug development company with a primary focus on oncology and with operations in Toronto and San Diego. Triphase Accelerator is dedicated to advancing novel compounds through Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical studies using a unique, science-based, high-quality model that is faster and more cost-effective than traditional pharmaceutical and biotech industry drug development approaches. Triphase Accelerator was spun out of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), with support from the Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT), MaRS Innovation and MaRS. It has a strategic relationship with Celgene for marizomib. For more information, visit www.triphaseco.com or LinkedIn.
Training - an essential modernisation role
Training acts not only as a career enhancer, but also plays an essential role in the modernisation of the shipping industry, claimed Esben Poulsson, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) chairman.
Speaking at the Crew Connect Global Conference in Manila this week, he said; The future sustainability of the industry requires an evolutionary response to the training and retention of seafarers. We need to do more than simply respond to changing needs, we must learn to anticipate them and thereby control the development of the industry. In an uncertain time for the global economy and world trade, and therefore the shipping industry, he pointed out the inevitability that structural change will follow and that operations and trading patterns will also change. There is always a danger in these circumstances that investment in training can be a victim, warned Poulsson. Now, perhaps as never before, companies must have an eye to the future and consider that significant growth in shipping could return within the next five years. Employers must recognise that decisions made in these difficult times should not inhibit the future sustainability of the industry. Investment in training and recruitment is an essential part of assuring good industrial health. We are experiencing a transition into a smart era, which will feature integrated technology and automated functions and systems. Certainly, there will be a continuous challenge to ensure that seafarers skills reflect their changing roles on board ship. Seafarers may no longer be required so much to use machines but rather to collaborate with them, he explained. As the January amendments to the ILO MLC are approaching, Poulsson praised the MLC and its intention of ensuring worldwide protection of seafarers; establishing a level playing field for countries and shipowners committed to providing decent working and living conditions for seafarers; and protecting them from unfair competition from substandard ships. He also highlighted a recent piracy attack on a merchant ship off Somalia, the first for several years, and gave a warning that the threat has not been eradicated and that self-protective measures must be continued in order to avoid the terrible consequences should there be another hijack. Poulsson then stressed the need for shipowners, maritime administrations and training providers to continue to work together to ensure full compliance with the new STCW training regime, that takes full effect in January, 2017, so as to prevent any disruption to the operation of the world fleet due to any lack of seafarers holding appropriate certification. In conclusion, Poulsson returned to the issue of future proofing training, warning: Changes may well be rapid and a failure to respond with equal speed may leave training needs assessment trailing in their wake.
V.Group acquires Selandia Ship Management
V.Group has acquired Selandia Holdings and its subsidiaries, comprising the Selandia Ship Management Group.
This is part of the groups strategy to offer clients high quality outsourced marine services from Asia, V.Ships said. Founded in Mumbai, India in 1995, Selandia will continue to operate as an independent shipmanagement brand within the V.Group portfolio and enhances V.Groups expertise and resources in the tanker sector. Combining the independent operations of Selandia with V.Groups existing portfolio, the group now claims to offer the largest shipmanagement fulfilment capability from India and has the widest access to Indian seafarers. Clive Richardson, CEO and president, V.Group said: By joining our portfolio of shipmanagement businesses, we are able to offer Selandia Ship Management Groups existing clients significant economies of scale and enhanced global responsiveness. For V.Group, this acquisition represents a great opportunity for us to continue to lead on our technical and crew management operations in India particularly the tanker sector, where there is high demand for specialist skills. Capt Naren Bhatt and Capt Umesh Thakore, joint chair of Selandia Ship Management Group, added: The team at Selandia Ship Management Group is excited to be joining the V.Group portfolio. Starting out in 1995 as a shipmanagement joint venture with Acomarit, which was acquired by V.Group in 2001, theres no surprise that weve found alignment in our commitment to assure performance of the assets under our management. V.Group is supportive of our teams vision and growth plans and we are very much looking forward to this next phase of our journey together.
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Conspiracy Theories in the Information Age, Part 1
In the past, heightened rhetoric and propaganda were the tools of choice for those looking to convince an electorate to vote them into office, and conspiracy theories were their bane. This election season has seen the rise of a new form of persuasion, one thats unique to the Information Age.
For months, WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange had promised to rain bombshells on the narrowing field of presidential candidates, and he indicated that Hillary Clinton would be the target of the release. Rumors had swirled around the secrets the former secretary of state might have wanted to protect when she deleted more than 30,000 emails from a private server.
As the U.S. celebrated Independence Day, WikiLeaks released the first batch of emails, and the fireworks began. Nothing in the emails proved particularly damaging for Clintons presidential aspirations, though.
WikiLeaks had released troves of sensitive information in the past, so at first glance its actions represented nothing new. However, that particular series of leaks was about to introduce much of the world to a new form of propaganda.
The Tainted Well
During the Cold War, authoritarian regimes had their own mouthpieces, along with enough control over the populace to stomp out dissenting voices, noted Mark Fenster, a professor at the University of Florida and author of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture.
They were organs of the state, and they spoke about whatever it was the government wanted to speak about, he told TechNewsWorld. Those were obviously perfect means of distributing propaganda particularly if the government was also able to suppress any other voices from making it to the public.
With the rise of the Internet, it became difficult to drown out competing voices. From the delivery of paquetes of digitized American culture in Cuba to hacktivism in China, the Internet has provided tools that make it next to impossible for any government to silence its critics completely, or to screen outside ideas from their view.
Weve got an interesting experiment going on right now, Fenster said in an interview conducted prior to last weeks election, if the allegations are true that Russian hackers, ordered by the Russian government, got hold of email documents from [Clinton campaign manager] John Podesta, the DNC and the Clinton campaign, and are releasing them collectively to in order to manipulate the election for their preferred candidate: Donald Trump.
The cache of Clinton campaign documents might not have been as devastating as Assange initially indicated, but it undoubtedly added a new dimension to this election season and introduced the public to what might be called the tainted well.
This isnt propaganda in the classic since, Fenster said, but it is a way of trying to shape government opinion.
Because of the positive adjectives Pressident-Elect Donald Trump used to describe Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the campaign, speculation grew that the leaked emails were intended specifically to damage Clintons chances.
However, it is still not clear that Russia even if it did commission the hacks aimed to sway the election toward Trump. Russia might have been trying to prevent either candidate from having a mandate upon taking office, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, in a conversation prior to the election.
I think Russia isnt trying to promote either candidate at the moment, it is operating to ensure that neither of them will be able to actually govern if elected, operating under a broad strategy of discrediting the government and effectively fermenting revolt, he told TechNewsWorld.
Please Sir, More Propaganda
Whatever the true motives of the leaks and their possible sponsors might have been, its indisputable that the Internet has created a world thats ripe for and receptive to propaganda in many forms from ads many try to avoid, to stories that gain attention through votes cast by mouse clicks and screen taps.
Even if unintentional, online news services currently track interests and serve up news based on those interests, noted Enderle.
During the latest election cycle, for instance, liberal and conservative voters received very different news streams, he pointed out, so their perceptions of the world were very different. It helped to massively polarize the two views.
Just as social media metrics have advanced to help marketers serve up relevant ads at the moment consumers are primed to purchase goods or services, those same tools can be used to dish out fake or heavily biased news, according to Enderle.
Confirmation bias already teaches we are very vulnerable to this type of manipulation, and this same methodology is largely used for telephone and Internet scams, he observed.
While there are few governments that grip as tightly as North Korea does these days, states still use propaganda for good and bad, according to University of Floridas Fenster.
Governments use propaganda all of the time, he said.
They do so by publishing information on their websites or releasing information to the press and NGOs to report on, Fenster noted. Oftentimes, governments have their own public relations offices that might not be named as such but work the same.
There are times when governments turn to conspiracy theories as a form of propaganda, suggested Richard W. Lachmann, a professor of comparative/historical sociology and political sociology at the University of Albany.
Whenever a country is losing a war, there always are conspiracy theories to explain the loss, he told TechNewsWorld.
When it comes to propagating propaganda about war, its common for governments to spin webs about traitors, he added.
Most famously, there was the stab in the back conspiracy theory in Germany at the end of World War I, when many Germans came to believe that their defeat was due to Jewish traitors in Germany rather than to the manpower and weapons edge of the Allies, Lachmann said.
In the Information Age, theres a new way to tell war stories that favor one side over the other. Dip from a tainted well and offer a drink to a world thats thirsty for information.
While not quite at the level of a parting of the waters, the news that Microsoft has joined The Linux Foundation may seem miraculous to those aware of the past enmity between the company and the open source community.
Microsoft has joined The Linux Foundation as a platinum member, it announced Wednesday at its Microsoft Connect conference in New York.
Google has joined the .Net foundation, Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise, also told attendees. Further, Microsoft and Samsung Electronics have joined forces to allow .NET developers build apps for millions of Samsung devices.
The first demo during the Connect conference was with Visual Studio Code, which has attracted more than 1 million developers, Guthrie said a sign of how the company has embraced open source.
The number of people who created their first GitHub repository has doubled in the past year from 5,000 to 10,000 per day, GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath told attendees.
More and more, were seeing not just pure open source companies, but companies that have either not embraced open source in the past or sort of done it here and there, really fully embracing open source, particularly the developer communities, he said.
Microsoft over the past two years has transformed the way it uses open source with the launch of .Net, he said, showing data indicating that Microsoft was the No. 1 company with contributors on GitHub, at 16,419.
Shock and Skepticism
Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin told Guthrie on the conference stage that when he told a few people in advance that he would be announcing the move, they responded, Whats the catch?
The foundation and Microsoft have had disagreements in the past, Zemlin acknowledged, but with the growing importance of mobile and cloud, there is too much software to be written for one organization or individual to write it by themselves, he said.
John Gossman, architect of the Microsoft Azure team, will join The Linux Foundations board of directors.
Microsoft previewed several new products that show their capabilities across multiple platforms, including SQL Server on Linux, Visual Studio for Mac, Azure App Service on Linux with support for containers, Visual Studio Mobile Center, Visual Studio 2017, and Azure Data Lake Services, which allows developers and data scientists to store petabyte-size files.
From what we see, Microsoft continues to recognize the importance of Linux and other open source technologies in the marketplace, observed Mike Ferris, vice president of business development and architecture at Red Hat.
Microsoft has been progressing towards putting more and more of its platform software in open source, said Al Hilwa, program director for software development research at IDC.
I think putting software in open source is the first step, but to get the true benefits of the process, you have to engage community and recruit contribution, he told LinuxInsider.
The move also reflects the work done by The Linux Foundation to include other prominent open source projects and communities, ranging from Cloud Foundry to Cloud Native Computing Foundation, node.js and Open Container Initiative, 451 Research Principal Analyst Jay Lyman told LinuxInsider.
The bad blood between Microsoft and Linux ran deep for many years, as the company viewed open source as a threat to its Windows operating system dominance.
Samsung Mobile
Samsung announced a new collaboration with Microsoft on open source projects, including .Net core and Xamarin.Forms, to enable .Net support for Tizen, the companys Linux-based open source operating system for more than 50 million Samsung devices.
Samsung released a preview of Visual Studio Tools for Tizen, which will allow developers to build applications for a variety of Samsung devices, ranging from smartphones to smart TVs, wearables like the Gear S3, and IoT devices.
The preview supports development for mobile apps, Samsung said, through device emulators and an extension to Visual Studio with full IntelliSense and debugging capabilities. Tizens .Net support will become available for all devices in 2017.
The most popular invite-only music torrent site, What.cd, has been shut down following a series of raids on its servers in France. The operators of the site confirmed through Twitter that they are "not likely to return any time soon" in their current form.
What.cd did not go into detail about the events that lead to the shut down, however other reports claim that France's National Gendarmerie (aka. the federal police) seized the servers that ran the site, its torrent tracker, and its IRC channels. Despite the seizure of these servers, the site is still accessible, although it now displays a short message about the shut down.
At this stage it's not clear what has happened to the operators of What.cd, as there are no reports about arrests related to the site. The message on What.cd suggests that all user data has been destroyed.
What.cd first appeared on the scene in 2007 shortly after another popular music torrent site, oink.cd, was shut down in a joint British and Dutch police operation. What.cd quickly grew to be the biggest invite-only music torrent site on the internet, and facilitated the piracy needs of millions of users over the past nine years.
Following this shut down, there aren't many music-specific torrent sites online any more. However, as is the case with most pirate site closures, users will simply flock to one of the many other sources of pirated music on the internet, or create an entirely new site to take What.cd's place.
A terminally-ill 14-year girl from the UK won a landmark legal case shortly before her death to be cryogenically preserved in the hope that she may be brought back to life at some point in the future. The teenager's estranged father had originally opposed the idea, but a court ruled that her mother should be the only one to make decisions about the disposal of her daughter's body.
The teenager, known as JS, died from a rare form of cancer in October but details of her case have only now been released. During the last months of her life, she used the internet to research cryonics, the practice of preserving a body - usually at around -320.8 Fahrenheit - so that the person can be resuscitated and restored to full health at a point in the future when technology is sufficiently advanced.
The girl's parents are divorced. She hadn't seen her father since 2008 and resisted his attempts to get back in touch after he learned of her illness in 2015. While her mother supported her daughter's wishes, the girl's father opposed them at first.
"Even if the treatment is successful and she is brought back to life in let's say 200 years, she may not find any relative and she might not remember things and she may be left in a desperate situation given that she is only 14 years old and will be in the United States of America," he said.
As a child cannot make a will, it was her father's objections that lead to the court case. Although he eventually changed his mind, saying he respected his daughter's decision, she would not agree to his wish that he be allowed to see her body after death.
During the case, the girl wrote to the judge, Peter Jackson, stating: "I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual thing done. I'm only 14 years old and I don't want to die, but I know I am going to. I think being cryopreserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up, even in hundreds of years' time."
"I don't want to be buried underground. I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they might find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish."
After visiting her in hospital, Jackson said he was touched by "the valiant way in which she was facing her predicament." He said the ruling wasn't about the rights or wrongs of cryonics, which is still regarded with skepticism by the scientific community, but about a dispute between parents over the disposal of their daughter's body.
As there are no cryonic facilities in the UK, the girl's body was transported to the US where a commercial company has frozen it "in perpetuity" for a cost of almost $46,000. The judge noted that the girl's family is not well off, but her mother's parents had raised the money.
As of 2014, about 250 bodies were cryopreserved in the United States, and 1500 people had made arrangements for cryopreservation after their legal death.
One of President-elect Trump's pre-election promises was to make Apple manufacture its products on US soil instead of China. Now that the Republican is on his way to the White House, such a move could be possible - and it seems an Apple manufacturing partner has been preparing for it.
According to Japanese website Nikkei Asian Review, Apple asked the two firms that assemble the iPhone - Foxconn and Pegatron - to look into assembling the devices in America back in June. Pegatron is said to have rejected the idea due to the increased costs, whereas Foxconn "has been studying the possibility" of opening US-based facilities.
"Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," an anonymous source told the publication. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."
It had been suggested that moving production to the US would see the price of Apple products shoot up - the Nikkei's source said "making iPhones in the US means the cost will more than double." The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, recently outlined why Trump's plan would be impractical, and wouldn't necessarily create US jobs.
However, some estimates claim that an iPhone assembled in the States would only cost about $30 extra, most of which would be a result of additional transportation expenses arising from shipping parts to the US.
With Apple's orders making up half of all Foxconn's business, it's not surprising that the Taiwanese company is looking into the possibility of a move, rather than face losing Apple as a customer. But whether Trump really does "get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries" remains to be seen.
Earlier this week, China promised to cut iPhone and US automobile sales in the country if Trump imposed his promised 45 percent tariff on imports from the Asian nation.
A new large valley has been discovered on Mercury.
Reporting their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists said the likeliest explanation for the existence of the "Great Valley" is that Mercury's lithosphere, which is made up of the planet's upper mantle and crust, had buckled when it contracted.
The high-resolution topographic map of the planet's southern hemisphere used by the scientists was created using stereo images from NASA's Messenger spacecraft.
"There are examples of lithospheric buckling on Earth involving ... but this may be the first evidence of lithospheric buckling on Mercury," said Thomas R. Watters, lead author of the study and a senior scientist from the Smithsonian's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies.
How Lithospheric Buckling Occurs
Earth's lithosphere is separated into numerous tectonic plates, but Mercury's is made up of just one. When Mercury's interior cools, it causes the planet's plate to bend and contract, with crustal rocks thrusting upward and valley floors sagging downward where contractional forces are strongest.
Mercury's Great Valley
The Great Valley recently uncovered on Mercury is about 250 miles wide, with floors extending up to 2 miles below its surrounding terrain. It is also 600 miles long, extending into the Rembrandt basin, which is one of the youngest but largest impact basins on the planet.
Two large fault scarps bound the Great Valley, also forming from the contraction. However, the fault scarps have grown so large that they have turned into cliffs. The valley floor is elevated well below the surrounding scarps, which hints that it was deepened by the same process that created the scarps as well.
According to Watters, even though it was expected for Mercury to contract because of its single-plate composition, it was still surprising to see that the contraction not only resulted in the formation of the Great Valley, but that it also featured the largest fault scarps on the planet and one of its biggest impact basins.
Tectonic Activity On Mercury
In September, a NASA-funded study reported that Mercury is not only tectonically active but is also still shrinking. Published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the study also used images from NASA's Messenger spacecraft and found small previously undetected fault scarps.
The fault scarps discovered were small enough that scientists initially thought they were geologically young, which also points to tectonic activity in Mercury being active.
"For years, scientists believed that Mercury's tectonic activity was in the distant past. It's exciting to consider that this small planet ... is active even today," said Jim Green, NASA Planetary Science director.
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Grizzly bears living at Yellowstone National Park in the U.S may soon find their Endangered Species tag removed as state and federal wildlife managers are holding parleys on it.
A meeting of officials is in progress in Cody, Wyoming, and they are discussing a post-delisting action plan.
The lifting of federal protection for the Yellowstone bears was mooted in March by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Grizzly bears were accorded protection in 1975 when their Yellowstone population crashed to fewer than 136 bears.
New estimates are claiming that the population has soared above 700. The emerging concern is that delisting would set the stage for hunting seasons that may be managed by the states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, which could again reduce the bears' numbers.
Conservationists Not Happy
The delisting plan has raised the hackles of conservationists even as officials are trying to address concerns saying that post-delisting plan would ensure that their numbers would never drop below 600.
State wildlife agencies would be regulating the quota of huntable animals and try to keep the numbers steady.
Conservation advocates are not convinced, and they say delisting could derail the progress made on the conservation front over the years.
Yellowstone superintendent Dan Wenk said visitors wanted to see grizzly bears in their natural environment and is opposed to delisting. Wenk voted against the plan.
The fear of conservationists is that there is a grave threat from poaching to the grizzly population if the legal protection is removed.
Once hunting is allowed, hunters may not be able to chase the grizzlies on national park land. But hunting will start outside the parks and the outskirts, such as the Grand Teton National Park.
To the assertion of Dan Ashe, Fish and Wildlife Service director, that there was tremendous success in conservation and that the "Endangered Species Act [had] done its job", Roger Hayden, managing director of the Wyoming Wildlife Advocates asked, "why there is haste" in delisting.
"'What is the rush to delist and why can't we wait to delist them for a couple years?" Hayden asked.
Environmental activists like Bonnie Rice of the Sierra Club are also disappointed.
"By the time bears sink down to 500, if it's caught, which again we think there are issues with proposed mortality limits, then we are far down that road in terms of trying to build back a population of bears we have now because they reproduce so slowly," she said.
However, wildlife officials are pointing to a recent study that appeared in the journal Molecular Ecology, that said the genetic diversity in the bear population has stabilized and "the number of bears passing genes to the next generation," quadrupled.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new Swedish initiative from a large trade union has opened a weeklong hotline where people can complain about sexual harassment or patronizing colleagues. The purpose behind this idea is to raise awareness about sexism at the workplace as well as to give employees the chance to talk about their conflicts.
According to the spokeswoman of the union, the initiative has been a tremendous success, dealing with hundreds of phone calls. This instrument works under anonymous conditions, and people who resort to it are given advice on how to cope with everyday office issues.
Mansplaining: A Deeper Concern
The mansplaining hotline hopes to draw attention on any potential discriminatory workplace issues in order to assure equality.
A recent study conducted by the company that came up with the initiative, Unionen, suggested that women are often helped when they don't need it due to the fact that the male population in their office often presumes they know better.
The organization, representing roughly 600,000 private sector workers, mentioned that the hotline will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during a week to address the issue of mansplaining.
The concept named "mansplaining" addresses a man who will explain something to a woman, believing he knows how to solve a problem better. In the context of this situation, it is possible for the woman to already have more knowledge on the topic than the man.
Sexual Equality: A Communication Issue
The issue often has psychological repercussions on the women, who are led to believe that they are less experienced and competent than they actually are, whenever faced with this type of behavior. While Sweden is one of the countries with the best gender equality situations worldwide, there is still much to be done, according to the representatives of the hotline project.
As communication is often the solution to such problems and anonymous calls guarantee the lack of negative repercussions the conversations will have on the employees, this initiative proves that open dialogue can solve whatever issues that may occur at the workplace.
The hotline has had more success than anticipated. A number of 20 men and women were selected to take part in this project, answering the hotline phone calls. Aside from the complaints that came from women located all over the country, the hotline also received phone calls from men who were concerned if they unknowingly engaged in sexually offensive behavior.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Owners of the Apple iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus who have preordered AirPods, will be happy to know the music listening device could ship out to customers on Nov. 30. Well, that's for the folks in France, but as it stands right now, the date is not concrete.
Earlier in November, several reports claimed the Apple AirPods won't ship out until January of 2017, however, another report claims the earbuds will definitely ship before the end of 2016, which is quite possible.
Furthermore, it's possible that some retailers might have already gotten demonstration units, and as such, they must now wait on Apple to give the go-ahead to demonstrate the product to consumers, according to Apple Insider.
What Is The Official Release Date From Apple?
The company has yet to announce the official release date, but as the Christmas holiday is just right around the corner, it's possible the company might make an announcement sooner rather than later.
When Will The AirPods Go On Sale In The West?
A Czech Apple retailer is saying fans should expect to get their hands on the AirPods come December of this year. No solid date, but if the Czech retailer is telling the truth, then a worldwide release could happen next month. Furthermore, this would allow Apple to take advantage of the Christmas holiday season as folks would be seeking to get their loved ones the hottest gifts.
When the AirPods are available at retail stores, consumers should seek to gain around five hours of battery life from the device on a single charge. There's also a rechargeable carrying case that promises up to 24 hours of battery power. Furthermore, just a mere 15-minute of charge will deliver three hours of battery life, which should be enough for when users are in a tight spot.
It should be noted the Apple AirPods are designed to work over Bluetooth. It will also feature the new W1 chipset designed for almost instant pairing with Apple devices and easy switching with iCloud devices.
As for the price, these wireless earphones will retail for the cool price of $159, which is $10 more than the competing and upcoming BeatsX Bluetooth earbuds. The main difference with the BeatsX is the fact that it will come with a neckband to keep the earbuds from falling to the ground.
If you're not up for getting an AirPod and would rather use a headphone with a 3.5mm plug, then you'd need to get an adapter. Here are the top 3 iPhone 7 3.5mm adapters to get your music listening hobby up and running.
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Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has warned humanity has only 1,000 years left on Earth, and it is high time they intensified efforts to find another planet to live on.
This is because Earth is no longer a safe place as risks of mass extinction are mounting.
Addressing students at the Oxford University Union, Hawking said the situation on Earth for humans will remain the same even if mankind survives the brunt of artificial intelligence, climate change and the threat of nuclear terrorism in the coming century.
"I don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet," he added.
Hawking's concerns over Earth are exacerbated by a "cataclysmic end" of the planet that is hastened by activities of humans that are depleting the resources of Earth at alarming rates.
"We must ... continue to go into space for the future of humanity," the 74-year-old Cambridge professor said.
Hawking added that the only thing that could salvage mankind is establishing colonies in other parts of the solar system.
At the same time, Hawking does not see human colonies on Mars as a viable option for another 100 years or so.
Despite the gloomy outlook, Hawking said he is still optimistic about 2016 as a "glorious time to be alive and doing research in theoretical physics."
Stephen Hawking's Recurring Concern
The Oxford speech is yet another iteration of Hawking's belief that Earth's days are numbered and humans need to figure out where their species will be living next.
In a lecture at London's Royal Institution early this year, Hawking also warned that nuclear war, global warming, and genetically engineered viruses are some of the major threats faced by humanity.
Sounding skeptical about artificial intelligence, the professor said it could either be "the best or worst thing ever to happen to humanity."
Hawking advocated that the only solution left for mankind to secure them is by colonizing another planet. He exhorted the university students to "stay curious" and "look up to the stars and not down at your feet."
Why Space?
A decade ago, Hawking told the BBC that, sooner or later, disasters like an asteroid collision or nuclear war would wipe out mankind.
"But once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe."
In 2010, Hawking announced that humanity's future "must be" in space. He said the same thing in his remarks delivered at Sydney's Opera House in 2015.
"For the future of humanity, I want to encourage public interest in space."
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Donald Trump, the next president of the United States who said that he wants Apple to move their manufacturing processes into the country, would be happy to know that the company is at the very least considering it.
The company's products have always been tagged as "designed by Apple in Cupertino," but the devices are generally manufactured and assembled by suppliers based in China. Will we see "made in the USA" labels on Apple products in the near future?
iPhone Production in the United States
According to an exclusive report by Nikkei Asian Review, Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group and one of Apple's biggest suppliers, is currently studying a plan to move iPhone production into the United States. Foxconn, based in Taipei's Tucheng district, makes over 200 million iPhones per year in their Chinese factories.
A source revealed that back in June, Apple requested for Foxconn, along with another iPhone assembler Pegatron, to analyze the possibility of making iPhones in facilities located in the United States. Pegatron refused to start working on a plan because it was concerned with the cost of making such a move, but Foxconn complied.
The Effect Of Making iPhones In The United States
Apple has sourced iPhone components from all over the world, but the assembly is done in China were costs for several aspects such as labor are lower. The reduced costs has allowed Apple to bring in sizable profit margins that has fueled the company's growth.
While Foxconn has complied with Apple's request to study bringing iPhone production into the United States, Chairman Terry Gou has not been supportive of such a plan due to the expected rise in the costs of production.
According to a source, making future iPhone models in the United States will more than double the cost of production, which would heavily impact the profit margin of Apple and its suppliers. It was earlier reported that it costs $225 to manufacture the 32 GB model of the iPhone 7, which is being sold at $649. If the cost of production would double, the profit margin for each iPhone would be halved from over $400 to around $200, excluding additional costs such as those associated with marketing.
The source added that it is believed within Apple's supply chain in Taiwan that Trump, at the very least, might push for Apple to make certain components of the iPhone in its home country.
Will Apple Go Ahead With iPhone Production In The USA?
With Trump securing an unexpected victory in the presidential election, will Apple now be taking an even more serious look into making iPhones in the United States?
Trump previously said in his campaign that he would place a 35 percent tariff on products coming into the United States that are manufactured in other countries such as the iPhone. The tariff is seen as a means to bring back manufacturing into the country, but with the massive costs that such a move would entail, companies such as Apple might instead continue manufacturing iPhone in China.
Apple would then likely pass on the additional cost of the tariff onto consumers, which would make the price tag of the $649 iPhone 7 jump to $876.
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix last month, a top-tier alpha dog smartphone specs-wise that's really one colossal screen pretending to be a phone, but don't misconstrue this pejorative, since the reception for the Mi Mix has so far been astounding.
A number of reviewers have issued the device generous praise, initially, at least, since it was a bit of a letdown when they found out that the Xiaomi Mi Mix won't launch in other markets, remaining in China instead.
The reason for this, according to an executive, is that the Mi Mix is sort of an uncharted territory in terms of marketing, placing specific difficulty in trying to market a bezel-less phone to a wide audience.
Xiaomi Mi Mix Mini Leak
Users from the Xiaomi community have shared that the company will release a new bezel-less smartphone, bearing the codename "Nano." Rumors have started circulating that this will be a smaller variant of the Mi Mix called the Mi Mix Mini, as reported by XiaomiToday.
The leaked images were first published by MyDrivers (translated), showcasing the rumored phone side-by-side the Mi Mix.
Xiaomi Mi Mix Mini Rumored Specs
The screen, while purported to retain its bezel-less aesthetic marvel, will be step down from 6.4 inches to 5.5 inches, though it will remain as powerful as the Mi Mix.
Like its larger sibling, the Mi Mix Mini will also be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. Whether or not it will have a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera like the Mi Mix still hasn't been confirmed yet, though if sources are correct in the Mi Mix Mini's release window, which sees the device out in the wild before 2017 starts, we might get more official details shortly.
Xiaomi Mi Mix Mini Price
With reductions both in the size of the device and the screen, XiaomiToday expects the Mi Mix Mini to cost $73 less than its bigger sibling. Hopefully, the Mi Mix Mini doesn't follow the Mi Mix's footsteps by never coming out in other markets except China.
As usual, everything that comes out from the rumor mill should be taken with a grain of salt, regardless of how convincingly the leaks pull anyone in.
Are you excited for a smaller version of the Mi Mix? Do you think the Xiaomi Mi Mix's large bezel-less screen was a potential marketing conundrum? Feel free to sound off in the comments below!
2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Facebook Will No Longer Harvest WhatsApp User Data In Europe | TechTree.com
Due to the mounting pressure on Facebook, the company has decided to not collect user data for WhatsApp, across the continent of Europe. This change in policy means, that Facebook will no longer be collecting data including phone numbers of users on WhatsApp. However, from within the Facebook ranks, it has been conveyed that this ban on collecting information might just be a temporary ban, as the new law to be implemented is being debated and discussed in various quarters.
In a post for the media, Facebook said, We hope to continue our detailed conversations with the UK Information Commissioners Office and other data protection officials. It went further to add remains open to working collaboratively to address their questions. In 2014, Facebook bought over WhatsApp for $19 billion, but did not utilise it as a platform for collecting customer data, until August 2016. That move drew the ire of many in the European Union (EU), out of whom 28 of the data collection authorities, signed an open letter, which essentially asked WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum to suspend all data collection activities, until the legalities were being decided upon.
The European fight
It already seems that the EU is already creating a sort of coup against Facebooks policy of collecting WhatsApp user data. Facebooks European Regulatory body, the Irish Data Protection Commissioners Office, had recently confirmed to the media, that data collection activities had been bought to a halt recently. Then Germany stopped their data collection activities, as they considered "an infringement of national data protection law. If that was not it, it even ordered Facebook to delete all data that had been collected thus far, from the 35 million users of WhatsApp in the country. This has been followed by nations like the UK, Italy, and France who are doing their own probes into Facebooks data collection activities in their respective countries.
TAGS: Facebook, WhatsApp, data snooping, European Union
Existential conundrum : How can I open the cupboard without breaking the plates asks mom to online users
Very often in life, you come up with a problem which seems impossible to solve. In todays world whats better than to put your query to the billions of online users to come up with a solution. This is what a frustrated mom from China did.
The mother took the picture given below, which showed a large pile of porcelain plates slipping off the shelf. She then asked the Facebook community to help her out of this problem. However, soon after her posting, this simple domestic took the online community by storm with each one giving his own opinion about whether or not to open a cupboard.
The photo shows a large pile of fine porcelain plates slipping off the shelf and leaning on the glass door. If one opened the glass door without preparation, the porcelain could easily break. The picture, posted to Baoliao Commune, a Taiwan Facebook group, garnered significant attention. Internet users chimed in with plenty of suggestions.
Sell it to the museum and name it the Frozen in Time series, one commenter said. They werent the only one to suggest abandoning the cabinet entirely. A Facebook user, named Tseng Shao-Tsen, said in the post: [This is] a cupboard that can never be opened. Another member of staff from Baoliao Commune, commented: Let bygones by bygones. Buy some news ones.
Here are some of the replies from the online community to the moms question
Hundreds of Facebook users have left comments on Baoliao Commune, suggesting ways to open the cupboard without breaking the plates.
Tilt the cupboard backwards, then open.
Put some thick blankets on the floor before opening the door; or ask someone to hold a blanket with them tightly to catch the falling plates.
Break a pane of glass of the cabinet door and take the bowls out that way instead of trying to open the door.
Sell it to the museum and name it the Frozen in Time series.
Put the cupboard down horizontally, the plate should fall back. The other way is to open it ever so slightly, then use a metal coat hanger to secure the plate at the bottom, at the same time keep sliding the door until the gap is large enough for your hand to fit in, then you can push up the plates with your hands.
Press the door while you slide it slowly until you can fit your hand in.
Tape the cupboard with scallop tape, then leave it for your grandchildren to deal with; or save it as a future dowry for your daughter.
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The Venezuelan president described the day with his Colombian counterpart as fruitful, intense and extensive. | Read More
Animation industry campaigning group Animation UK is to become a trade body after nearly a decade as a voluntary group and will join up with post, vfx and studios trade body UK Screen Association, under one umbrella organisation to be called the UK Screen Alliance.
Animation UK will be run by a Council formed under the umbrella Alliance to specifically drive forward animation policy.
Since Animation UKs inception, the childrens animation industry has doubled in size, thanks largely to the Animation Tax Credit, which the group campaigned for and which came in to force in early 2013. The industry is now large enough to afford its own professionally run team, to promote, lobby and support the industry.
The animation industry is worth an estimated 1.5 billion pounds a year to the UK economy and 250 million of inward investment a year but Animation UK believes that with proper targeted support in key areas, such as inward investment, development, skills, production and distribution/export, the sector can grow rapidly over the coming years.
The facilities and animation sectors have large areas of shared interest. Many of the skills and roles in animation and VFX are identical. The sectors both face the same challenges with globally mobile workforces. Each group benefits from tax credits and has a keen interest in maximising exports. So the UK Screen Alliance will have joint working groups to develop policies where there are obvious cross overs. The efficiencies made by sharing a back office, will enable the employment of extra staff to advance and promote both the animation and facilities remit.
Kate OConnor and Helen Brunsdon will continue to support the work of the Alliance and Chair and founder of Animation UK, Oli Hyatt MBE, will continue to be involved as the group transitions into the new body as a leading figure on the Animation UK Council and on the UK Screen Alliance board of directors. OConnor will be Executive Chair of the Animation UK Council and provide wider support for policy with Brunsdon taking the position of Animation UK Director.
Oli Hyatt said, I could not be more proud of what Animation UK has achieved to date, and the work and effort our industry has put in get us to this point. This is a new beginning for the organisation, and partnering with Neil Hattons team at UK Screen is absolutely the most effective way to drive our industry forwards.
Neil Hatton, currently chief executive of UK Screen Association will become CEO of the overall UK Screen Alliance and will continue to head up the existing facilities remit.
Neil Hatton said, We are incredibly excited to be joining forces with Animation UK. Oli and I have often found ourselves attending the same meetings, dealing with the same people in government departments and sharing very similar viewpoints on the issues that really matter to the sectors we represent. It makes an enormous amount of sense for us to pool our efforts and resources so that together we can provide more advocacy and benefit for our respective members. This really does feel like the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts.
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When the clamour of the world (and the Internet) grows harsh and cacophonous, I find it healing, grounding, and necessary to turn away from keyboards and screens, to ration the time I spend online, and to be fully present in the tactile world: in the morning light sifting through the studio, in the rising of the wind through the trees behind, in the words slowly forming in ink on fresh white paper spread out on my wooden desktop.
Instead of flicking through Web pages, imbibing the Internet's manic energy and then coming offline feeling fractured and spent, I pull books from down the shelves and turn their rustling pages at a measured, more human pace...and my soul unclenches. My attention deepens. Something vital in me is quickened back to life. And yes, I am using a keyboard now to share these thoughts with you online, but it's not a full rejection of the Web I am after in my life. It's proportion and balance.
The Internet is a useful communication platform, and an increasingly important one...but books, oh, books are more than paper and ink. They are powerful medicine. Real books, I mean. Physical books, sitting on the dusty shelves of my studio and surrounding me like old friends, dog-earred and battered with love and use, their pages thick with margin notes and underlines. How could I ever doubt that art matters? Words have saved me over and over. Words are saving me right now. Books are what I turn to when the world grows dark, and they never fail to give me strength.
This morning, for instance, Ben Okri asks me:
"What hope is there for individual reality or authenticity, when the forces of violence and orthodoxy, the earthly powers of guns and bombs and manipulated public opinion make it impossible for us to be authentic and fulfilled human beings?"
I've been asking myself the same question all week.
"The only hope," he answers, "is in the creation of alternative values, alternative realities. The only hope is in daring to redream one's place in the world -- a beautiful act of imagination, and a sustained act of self becoming. Which is to say that in some way or another we breach and confound the accepted frontiers of things."
Then Rebecca Solnit joins the conversation:
"Cause-and-effect assumes history marches forward," she notes, "but history is not an army. It's a crab scuttling sideways, a drip of soft water wearing away stone, an earthquake breaking centuries of tension. Sometimes one person inspires a movement, or her words do decades later, sometimes a few passionate people change the world; sometimes they start a mass movement and millions do; sometimes those millions are stirred by the same outrage or the same ideal, and change comes upon us like a change of weather. All that these transformations have in common is that they begin in the imagination, in hope."
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic," adds Howard Zinn. "It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction."
Barry Lopez pulls me out of a Western-centric point of view, reminding me of the things I share in common with people the world over:
"I believe in all human societies there is a desire to love and be loved," he says, "to experience the full fierceness of human emotion, and to make a measure of the sacred part of one's life. Wherever I've traveled -- Kenya, Chile, Australia, Japan -- I've found the most dependable way to preserve these possibilities is to be reminded of them in stories. Stories do not give instruction, they do not explain how to love a companion or how to find God. They offer, instead, patterns of sound and association, of event and image. Suspended as listeners and readers in these patterns, we might reimagine our lives. It is through story that we embrace the great breadth of memory, that we can distinguish what is true, and that we may glimpse, at least occasionally, how to live without despair in the midst of the horror that dogs and unhinges us."
Terry Tempest Williams concurs, and affirms the role that artists play in the transmission of such stories:
"Bearing witness to both the beauty and pain of our world is a task that I want to be part of. As writers, this is our work. By bearing witness, the story that is told can provide a healing ground. Through the art of language, the art of story, alchemy can occur. And if we choose to turn our backs, we've walked away from what it means to be human."
Then Toni Morrison takes me firmly by the shoulders and sends me back to my desk again:
Troubled times, she says, are "precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
"I know the world is bruised and bleeding," she adds, "and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge -- even wisdom. Like art."
Like art indeed.
Words: The first five quotes above are from the following books, all recommended: A Way of Being Free by Ben Okri (Phoenix, 1998); Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit (Nation Books, 2005); You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train by Howard Zinn (Beacon Press 2002), About This Life by Barry Lopez (Vintage, 1999), and A Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams, edited by Michael Austin (Utah State University Press, 2006). The final quote is from "No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear" by Toni Morrison (The Nation, March 2013); I owe thanks to Maria Popova of Brain Pickings for introducing me to it. Pictures: The drawing and painting above are by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939). The photographs are from my studio cabin, perched on a Devon hillside at the edge of a small wood.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) When Philando Castile was shot by a Minnesota police officer, his girlfriend broadcast his final moments live on Facebook. But experts say the footage from a squad car camera was probably a bigger factor in prosecutors' decision to charge the officer with manslaughter.
And that footage, which has not been made public, is still no guarantee that Jeronimo Yanez will be convicted, as other police shootings have shown.
"There have been cases that had video that resulted in either an acquittal or a hung jury, so sometimes the video may raise more questions," said Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University who tracks fatal police shootings. "It's very hard to convict in these cases."
Since the beginning of 2005, a total of 78 officers in the U.S. have been charged with murder or manslaughter. Of that number, about a third of the defendants were convicted 14 by juries and 13 through guilty pleas, Stinson said.
Of the 18 police officers charged with murder or manslaughter last year, at least 11 cases involved video evidence, he said.
Some of those cases are still pending, including the one against Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged last year with first-degree murder in the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was charged the same day the city, under judge's orders, released dashcam video that showed he shot the teen 16 times.
The investigation into the death of Alton Sterling after a struggle with two Baton Rouge police officers is still underway. The long process has frustrated many linked to the case, including Sterling's family members.
In September, experts who reviewed the footage of Sterling's death noted "bad police work," but that a conviction against the officers is unlikely.
Video does not always lead to a conviction. The trial of Ray Tensing, who was charged with murder in the 2015 death of Sam Dubose near the University of Cincinnati campus, ended with a deadlocked jury and a mistrial, despite video from Tensing's body camera.
In the Minnesota case, Yanez was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, and other counts. Prosecutors say he shot the 32-year-old elementary school cafeteria worker seven times in July after Castile told him he was armed and had a license to carry.
Video showing fatal confrontation circulates at protest over shooting by Baton Rouge officer A 37-year old man who sold CDs was shot and killed by a Baton Rouge police officer Tuesday m
Prosecutors concluded that the situation did not call for deadly force. They said the charges were based on evidence that included squad car video and conflicting statements from Yanez.
Yanez turned himself in Thursday, was processed and released. He is expected to make his first court appearance Friday. One of his attorneys, Earl Gray, said he had not read the charges but "we weren't hired to plead guilty. We were hired to go to trial." Another defense attorney, Tom Kelly, has previously said Yanez reacted to the presence of a gun.
Some of the video shot by Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, could be relevant because it might provide context or back up witness statements, said Jeff Cramer, a former federal prosecutor and managing director of the Berkeley Research Group in Chicago.
But Cramer predicted the dashcam video will be more revealing.
"Video does give prosecutors the ability to bring stronger cases, and it gives jurors the ability to see what happened," Cramer said.
Based on information that's been publicly released about the case, Cramer said, it seems Yanez would be hard-pressed to articulate a reason for drawing his weapon and firing. He noted that Yanez gave different statements on the night of the shooting than he did to investigators later.
"The officer didn't wake up that day saying, "I'm going to kill somebody,'" Cramer said. "This is just a tragic incident ... but this one could have been avoidable. I'm not sure what else Philando Castile could have done."
Lee Berlin, a criminal defense attorney in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a former state prosecutor, said the video provides important context for the jury, and the combination of video with witness testimony is powerful. Still, he said, these cases are tough.
"I would much rather defend this case than prosecute it," he said, adding that the video streamed by Reynolds showed an officer who was clearly distraught but maintained a position of authority.
"It all comes down to what that officer saw at a particular time" and whether "a reasonable officer" would have done the same thing, Berlin said. He said a defense attorney would need only to plant a reasonable doubt with jurors and to show that Yanez was afraid.
The multiple shots fired by Yanez show the "real palpable fear and concern he must've had," according to Berlin.
That said, when Castile told Yanez he had a permit to carry a weapon, that should have been a signal that Castile was not a felon, Berlin added. But if Castile made any move that was not authorized by Yanez, it would be tough to find fault with Yanez's actions.
"I have no idea," Berlin said, "what he actually saw in those brief moments."
Warren Kron stood in front of a map of East Baton Rouge splattered in green. Each dot represents a person who had called for rescue during the August flood.
With a few clicks, the information technology professional pulled up a new map that shows the location of every on-duty police cruiser, active crime scene and car crash. Police used that tool the day a shooter opened fire on local law enforcement in an ambush that killed two police officers and a sheriff's deputy.
During the tumultuous summer of 2016, whenever the police and fire departments set up an emergency operations command center, they were joined by the local government's IT department.
During GIS Day on Wednesday, they spoke about what they learned and how they hope to continue using such technology. GIS, or geographic information system, is a way to organize and map data. During the flood, IT workers mapped 911 calls in real time to help the fire department direct rescue boats, said Kron, the city-parish's GIS manager.
Afterward, the local government extrapolated from the 911 calls and subsequent 311 calls to form a rough estimate of the damage area. It was important to get that information out because the state was going to need federal assistance to rebuild, and the maps laid bare the extent of the flooding, Kron explained.
But the first version was just a sketch, so the city-parish decided to try something new: They pushed the imperfect map out to the public and asked residents to write in and tell them what they got wrong, identifying places that were marked dry but were actually wet and vice-versa.
As a result, East Baton Rouge has consistently published more-complete public information more quickly than any other parish, the state or the federal government. The city-parish data was the first to show that half the people in the parish who flooded did not live in areas where mortgage holders are required to purchase flood insurance.
The city-parish fact-checked the data during the mop-up phase by tracking debris contractors and following applications for flood-related building permits.
"We really feel like this is an accurate representation of the flood in August," Kron said Wednesday.
More recently, the city's GIS department has given political observers some data to chew over, breaking down the November vote precinct-by-precinct for races from Metro Council to President of the United States.
While the city-parish still maintains maps on utility lines, property boundaries and other data, Interim IT Director Eric Romero said the local government is trying to be more proactive in its approach to technology.
Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel calls his weekly IT meetings "one of the best parts of my job."
This week, city staff are receiving an award from the Center for Digital Government, a research institute that looks at the way municipalities handle technology. Baton Rouge finished in the top 10 among cities with populations between 125,000 and 250,000 for "using technology to improve citizen services, enhance transparency and encourage citizen engagement."
During the GIS Day event, David Gisclair, of the state Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, also spoke of advancements in technology that will allow Louisiana officials to better understand issues from hurricane damage to coastal loss.
"Think of the data as infrastructure," Kron said.
"Use it to do something to make our city better."
The city-parish's GIS site is gis.brla.gov.
GONZALES A new grand jury was seated Friday in Ascension Parish that is expected to hear allegations the parish president and a Gonzales businessman tried to bribe a then-Gonzales City Council candidate to drop out of the Nov. 8 election.
The assistant state attorney general handling the case went into the closed proceeding Friday for about 10 minutes before leaving the parish Courthouse Annex in Gonzales without calling any witnesses.
The new grand jury was impaneled three days after the Louisiana State Attorney General's Office called off one that had been slated to start hearing witnesses on Tuesday.
Assistant Attorney General Jeff Traylor declined comment Friday as he left the building. Traylor was also at the grand jury hearing on Tuesday at the Parish Courthouse in Donaldsonville that was called off shortly after it began.
A few minutes before Traylor went into the grand jury room Friday, Larry Buquoi, first assistant district attorney for 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, confirmed the new grand jury had been seated as he, parish Clerk of Court Bridget Hanna and Sheriff's Maj. Kevin Hanna left the courthouse mid-morning Friday.
District Attorney Ricky Babin had recused his office Monday afternoon on the eve of the planned grand jury hearing in Donaldsonville.. He did so after reports surfaced that members of his office contributed to Matassa's campaign last year.
The State Attorney General's Office, which the sheriff says led the investigation of the case with the help of his office, has now fully taken over the prosecution as well with the recusal of Babin.
Rush Wisher, spokeswoman for Louisiana State Attorney General Jeff Landry, has said the grand jury proceeding was called off Tuesday for two reasons: Babin's recusal and impending expiration of the grand jury.
"This does not change the nature of the investigation or our presentation," Wisher said of the delay on Tuesday.
It's not clear when the grand jury presentation will resume and witnesses will be called to testify.
Court records show that the grand jury was going to expire on Friday and could not have been extended.
Under state law, grand juries are impaneled twice a year. In Ascension, that happens in March and September. Grand juries are typically seated for six months. Under state law, their terms also can be extended, though only for two more months.
A court order for an extension of the now expired grand jury in Ascension shows that grand jury had been impaneled on March 21 and already had its six-month term extended for another two months in mid-September.
While the new grand jury apparently is not yet taking up the attempted bribery case, jurors continued to hear other local cases.
Audio and video recordings surfaced in August of Matassa and businessman Olin Berthelot purportedly offering then-Gonzales City Council candidate A. Wayne Lawson $1,200 in repairs for his trailer and a parish job to withdraw from the race against incumbent Neal Bourque.
The investigation into the allegations was soon delayed by the August flood, Babin has said.
Matassa and Berthelot have denied the allegations. Matassa said he was offering Lawson, a friend, a loan and unrelated political advice. Both men's attorneys said Tuesday neither has been formally identified as a target of the probe.
Matassa is in his first year as parish president after five terms as a Gonzales councilman.
Lawson has said he did not accept the bribe but was working with the publisher of the Pelican Post news website in an investigative sting on Matassa. Lawson did not withdraw from the election but lost to Bourque Nov. 8, 61 percent to 39 percent.
James Tullier says he hears that TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston is where miracles happen.
Now that his son, East Baton Rouge Deputy Nick Tullier, has moved to the hospital for continued treatment, James Tullier's biggest hope and prayer is that "Nick's Miracle" continues.
Nick Tullier, seriously wounded in an ambush on law enforcement officers in July, will receive treatment at TIRR that James Tullier hopes will lead to the "next phase of consciousness."
"After arrival, the TIRR Medical Team went right to work," James Tullier said in a Facebook post early Thursday. "CT scans and X-rays were done along with all kinds of other assessments of Nicks conditions."
He said Nick Tullier's vital signs were good Wednesday night, after a day of travel from Baton Rouge to the Houston rehabilitation facility after nearly four months of treatment at Our Lady of the Lake.
As happy as the family is to get Nick to TIRR, he said, it's sad to be leaving the massive support system at OLOL and among law enforcement in the Baton Rouge area.
As Nick's recovery continues, James Tullier says he plans to keep posting updates on Facebook. Also in his plans: "Now, we are going to get close to the Houston area cops! More friendships to make, more hands to shake, more hugs. LEO Strong!!!"
Nick Tullier was shot three times in the July 17 attack by gunman Gavin Long that also killed three other law enforcement officers.
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The East Baton Rouge Parish school system is temporarily offering open slots in its magnet schools to qualified students displaced by the August floods.
The School Board on Thursday approved the move unanimously. Board member Barbara Freiberg did not vote; she left the meeting early.
The change takes effect immediately.
The new Magnet Programs Exception to Admission Policy for Impacted Students policy applies only to students who are new to the school system, who are displaced by the flood and who are living within the boundaries of the school district. They could have previously attended schools in other parishes or attended independent charter and private schools within East Baton Rouge Parish.
Students now living Baker, Central and Zachary are not eligible.
These new students also must meet the admissions requirements for any given magnet school or program. Most of the 21 Baton Rouge public schools with magnet programs, including Baton Rouge Magnet High, require students to have at least a 2.5 GPA and that they do well on a standardized test.
Stanines and percentiles: new magnet school admissions tests being developed for East Baton Rouge school system Special testing of thousands of children seeking to get into magnet schools in Baton Rouge w
Deputy Superintendent Michelle Clayton said some displaced families are making decisions now about whether to stay in Baton Rouge.
They are looking for an option that is similar to where they are coming from, Clayton said.
To apply, displaced families need some minimal proof that they live here now, such as a letter from a local family, and proof that the student previously attended an out-of-district school. Families who want to stay in their new magnet schools in 2017-18 would have to show proof of residency, Clayton said.
Theresa Porter, magnet program director, said most magnet schools have at least a few open slots. For instance, Lee High, which moved to its rebuilt campus in August, has 49 slots total, with spots in every grade. Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School has just two vacancies. The ever popular Baton Rouge Magnet High has no slots available, Porter said.
East Baton Rouge Parish has added about 200 students from outside the district since the flooding, but has also lost about 500 students.
Board member Vereta Lee questioned the fairness of allowing displaced students to benefit from this change and not to extend it to the hundreds of students who previously were unable to get a slot in a magnet school.
Associate Superintendent Adam Smith said school leadership is debating further changes to magnet school policy to help some the students Lee referred to. Smith pointed out that letting students move mid-year within the district is problematic.
You dont want to impact the traditional schools, Smith said. Those principals might be upset because they are losing one of their higher performing students in the middle of the year.
Superintendent Warren Drake said the flooding is creating unique circumstances that gave rise to the new policy, but he sympathized with Lee, saying the issue needs more debate.
I think its a shame we have all these vacancies and we cant fill these vacancies because of our own policy, Drake said.
The school systems Magnet Program is currently taking applications for the 2017-18 school year. The application period ends at midnight Dec. 5.
Metairie Park Country Day School students greet Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and his wife Donna Edwards after he arrived via helicopter for an administrative naturalization ceremony at the school in Metairie, La. Friday, Oct. 21, 2016. Thirty-four people from over twenty countries received their official citizenship at the event.
UnitedHealthcare partnered with Justin Vincent on Nov. 16 to give new sports equipment and uniforms to St. Jean Vianney Catholic School, one of several schools that suffered damage during the recent flooding in South Louisiana.
Louisiana Attorney Jeff Landry defended his stance Friday and said his refusal to approve state contracts with wording that protects workers from sexual orientation discrimination reflects the stance of the Louisiana Legislature.
Louisiana voters may have gone all in for President-elect Donald Trump, but that support doesn't necessarily translate into political muscle. Three members of a congressional delegation that was already short on seniority are set to leave in January, and as of Friday, no locals appear to be among the crowds flowing in and out of Trump Tower these days.
With U.S. Sen. David Vitter heading for retirement, Louisiana won't even be represented by anyone who was in office the last time a Republican president put together an administration.
It turns out that doesn't mean nobody in the delegation has been through this process before.
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves was just elected to his second term, but before that he spent years as a staffer on Capitol Hill. Back when George W. Bush was putting together his administration, Graves worked for U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin. These days, he's spending his time trying to put what he learned into action, to identify people with expertise, connections to the new guard or both, and to make sure Louisiana's particular interests are represented in the new administration.
Louisiana still had two Democratic senators in 2000, so Tauzin played point man on federal appointments. Graves coordinated the process, and saw how getting names in front of decision-makers as soon as possible is key.
"One of the big things is recognizing that the more you can populate the new administration with Louisiana people, or Louisiana-friendly people, the better off you'll be," he said in a recent interview.
Graves is focused less on big-name cabinet-level appointments than on jobs in agencies and at the White House. Nor is he zeroing in on plum appointments for U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal and federal judgeships, which tend to come a little later in the process and go through the Senate.
Instead, he singled out some key issue areas where he thinks Louisiana needs advocates, including energy, fisheries, coastal restoration and international trade. And he named some potential names.
The best known and most eye-catching is U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, who is leaving his Acadiana-based congressional seat after having finished third in the runoff to replace Vitter. Boustany is a retired heart surgeon and longtime member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and in addition to health care, he developed an expertise in trade policy. Graves said he'd recommend Boustany for a major role in that area, perhaps as U.S. trade representative.
What's interesting here is that Trump ran as a harsh critic of existing trade deals, and Boustany is an advocate for the sort of international trade that plays a key role in Louisiana's economy. At a time when Republicans in Congress were divided on whether to keep the Export-Import Bank, which supporters say gives American companies access to foreign markets and detractors argue amounts to crony capitalism, Boustany came down staunchly in favor.
On the flip side, Boustany joined Trump and many other Republicans this season in opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he'd initially hoped to support. In a roundup of possible appointees for the job, Politico said he and Trump are aligned in their support for easing restrictions on energy exports.
Regardless of commonalities, though, someone like Boustany would certainly bring the perspective of a port-centered economy into a potentially protectionist mix.
"Instead of talking free trade, we talk fair trade, and I think Charles gets that," Graves said. "You've got to send both teams out onto the field."
Also on Graves' list are people like Robert Barham, a former lawmaker who headed the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under former Gov. Bobby Jindal and who now oversees state parks for Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. Graves said he could be a good fit in the Department of Interior or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He also mentioned Ryan Lambert, a political operative who ran Trump's Louisiana campaign and helped elect Graves, for a possible White House job.
So Graves is busy emailing, calling old contacts who are close to the transition, talking to his peers in Congress, and generally trying to plant ideas wherever they might grow.
"Getting in early, I think, is something really important," Graves said. "So the question is, where can we be part of the discussion?"
More than 80 per cent of government land releases in recent years have been for townhouses, apartments and units, government figures show.
Over the past nine years, the government has sold land for 34,900 new dwellings. In the earlier years, from 2007 to 2011, fewer than half the releases were for units, townhouses and apartments.
The Molonglo suburbs of Wright and Coombs in August 2015: Concerns have been raised about the amount of apartment and townhouse development in Coombs. Credit:Graham Tidy
But since 2011 numbers have crept up and in the past three years, they have peaked, averaging 81 per cent. In 2014-15, 91 per cent of government releases were for medium-density and unit-style housing. In 2015-16, the figure was 71 per cent.
Real Estate Institute of the ACT chief executive Ron Bell said he hoped the government would now return to a more "rational" split between apartments and detached houses.
If you're driving between Pialligo and the city on Sunday night, you'll see the Malcolm Fraser bridge lit up in a vibrant mix of blue, pink and white.
The colours represent transgender awareness and the bridge will be lit up on Sunday, November 20, to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
The bridge will be lit up on Sunday, November 20. Credit:iStock
Local transgender campaigner Ashley Kerlin is behind Canberra's very public display of support - she used Facebook and Twitter to call on the ACT government to get involved in raising awareness.
ACT MLA Tara Cheyne confirmed on Facebook that the bridge would be illuminated. .
Bringing the bush back into inner city suburban parks is the concept behind a $300,000 spend on play area development green-lighted by the ACT Government.
Three Canberra parks, Telopea Park in Barton, Finn Street in O'Connor and Tuggeranong Town Park in Greenway, will be transformed into a nature play co-design project where design teams work with the community to realise their ideas in each $100,000 revamp.
Aya Zisserman, 8, leaps into sharing her ideas to transform Finn Street Park O'Connor into an area for nature play. Credit:Georgina Connery
Space Labs director Geoff Bunnett said he was thrilled his team was one of three selected from the Australian Institute of Landscape architects (ALIA) 'Craft Your Park' competition.
And his first stop was to brainstorm bold ideas with some experts in play - kindergarten to Year Two students at O'Connor Cooperative School.
"I feel happy and very proud," Heath said. "But I was nervous getting up in front of the whole school to receive it."
She owes her life to her 10-year-old son Heath McDonald, who on Friday was awarded a joint ACT/NSW Ambulance Service Commendation for his bravery and actions on that horrific day in July.
To ease "a flu that I just couldn't shake", Shelley Richardson, 43, ran a scorching hot bubble bath, climbed in and laid down. Within minutes, the senior public servant had fainted and she slowly sank under the water and started to drown.
The North Ainslie Primary School student was playing Minecraft on his PC on the afternoon of the incident. He had earplugs in but heard "a strange banging noise in the bathroom" that sound was Shelley's body convulsing in the bath. A lack of oxygen to the brain had caused her to have a seizure.
Heath knocked twice before opening the door and seeing his mum slipping under the bubbles. He lifted her face just above water level to keep her alive. Despite being in a deep panic, and only nine years old at the time, Heath realised he could pull the plug and drain the bath, removing any further threat of drowning.
"At the start her eyes were rolling back in her head," he said. "I was scared. Then I just got the home phone and called triple-0 I was multi-tasking. I knew my address and I said mum was 42 when she's really 43."
The audio footage of the triple-0 call, provided to the family for medical reasons, is confronting. It starts with a distressed Heath pleading for help from an ambulance officer before unbelievably thinking about who else might need to know about the incident.
Jane would often envision the futures of the refugees she worked to protect on Nauru if they were to settle in Australia.
The Canberra-based whistleblower has joined condemnation of the Turnbull government's planned ban, which would prevent people held in offshore detention from July 19, 2013 who were re-settled in other countries from entering Australia - even for business, tourism or to see family.
Some of the 2500 protesters who rallied against offshore detention at Civic Square in October. Credit:Jay Cronan
"It saddens me to know that [if the bill passes] Australia will forever deprive itself of the resource and opportunity in the many talented, intelligent and thoughtful humans who are currently held in Nauru and Manus islands, either as residents, contributors to our society or even as tourists," Jane said.
"For me this is not about a nameless and faceless 2000-odd people, it's about the beautiful souls and faces with tired but heart-warming smiles I walked among, their hopes and dreams frozen in time, waiting on the humanity of Australia to prevail."
A former union official and his niece have been charged with close to $870,000 in alleged fraud offences linked to a shopping spree that included Tiffany's jewellery, online dating services and a tattoo.
Police arrested Derrick Belan, the former NSW branch secretary of the National Union of Workers and the union's former accounts manager Danielle O'Brien in Sydney's West on Thursday in relation to a series of alleged frauds.
The Trade Union Joint Police Taskforce established in January will allege the pair misused union credit cards and conducted fraudulent electronic transfers, and withdrawals of funds from union accounts. It is also alleged they processed false invoices through a third party who supplied services to the union.
Mr Belan, 45, was arrested at his Berkshire Park home and charged at Windsor police station with 24 fraud-related offences amounting to $440,000 and two counts of participating in a criminal group. He was refused bail and pleaded not guilty in Penrith Local Court on Friday.
Speculation continues about the identity of the netball player who has taken a case against Netball Australia for not receiving a contract in the new national competition. She is a goal shooter and claims that her figures are superior to those of several current players and that her omission has left her open to ridicule and derision. Her legal representatives are searching through the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in the hope of finding a condition that might cover her situation. Meanwhile, a man in Melbourne is also using the DSM to sue his local fast food outlet for not providing him with enough paper napkins to protect him from the fat in their food. He claims that his suit was damaged when the grease was not fully absorbed by the paper napkin he was given and he is unable to find a replacement suit that will fit his unconventional shape. This is keeping him awake at night and he has been reprimanded by his boss for being late to work. He is considering suing his boss also. A netball player has taken a case against Netball Australia for not receiving a contract in the new national competition. Credit:iStock The other case that has underemployed members of the legal profession trawling the DSM concerns a man who is suing his church for telling him that God made the world. In one of the days of his youth when he actually attended school, he heard the teacher speak about the fossil record, and this confused him so much that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His lawyers feel that when they can find a psychiatrist who is willing to diagnose the condition, they will have a strong case. OK, those are fictions, but they are examples of the way that American pseudoscience has dominated our reactions to distress. The following is not fiction: in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Sri Lanka was invaded by hundreds of counsellors with only one 'l' in their spelling, all explaining to the timid locals that they had a good case against climate deniers or insurance companies or the government and that they, the Americans had come to provide them with drugs for their psychological conditions. The locals had never heard the jokes that start, "I'm an American and I'm here to help."
The contagion has infected police work, too. If a person is injured in a drive-by shooting and decides that he will not co-operate with the police, there is little they can do and they must be careful lest their questioning cause him any DSM-approved psychological impairment. There was a time when they might have threatened some physical hurt but that was in the dark ages; these days, they must treat his dignity and privacy under penalty of reprimand by the legal profession. The fact that he did not offer the same standard to the poor devil who owed him a drug debt is neither here nor there. There was a time when a lawyer defending someone on a murder charge would make sure that the defendant's previous criminal record was kept from the jury. Nowadays that is not necessary, because the choices the defendant made during his life may be used to persuade the jury that he had a rotten childhood as a result of which he suffers from some condition that has been described in the DSM. Now all he needs is the testimony of a few expensive psychologists or psychiatrists. The DSM is the best friend a defence lawyer has. People will not be found guilty of a crime if it can be shown that at the time, they suffered from some condition that meant they could not control their behaviour. Such conditions may include the inability to think rationally because of anxiety or depression, for example. This is appropriate and is rightly the basis of law in most countries. However, the diagnosis of such conditions requires input from people in the mental health field. And since the diagnosis is often inexact or cannot be supported by more than one clinician, it is useful to have a source that can be referenced for arbitration. Here is where the DSM comes in, a publication that adds new conditions each time it is produced. Courts in some states of the US are so sceptical of it that they no longer accept an insanity defence even when it is fairly clear and would be accepted in other countries. As well as providing practical defence for criminal actions, the DSM is also a boon to what is known as big pharma. If some condition is named in that manual, a pharmaceutical company needs only to rebrand some existing medication to cover that ailment and the profits can follow.
A man dressed as a hammerhead shark tried to throw a net over NSW Premier Mike Baird as tensions boiled over in Ballina after the installation of the first shark nets in the region.
Conservationists confronted Mr Baird and protested against his announcement of the prevention measure.
Local marine conservationist Dean Jefferys, dressed in a shark costume, tried to cover Mr Baird in the net as he entered his car, an incident filmed by an ABC reporter.
After being questioned by police, Mr Jefferys told Fairfax Media he "wanted the Premier to realise what it's like for marine life to be caught in a net. I think he got a little taste of that today."
A former SAS trooper has broken down during a Senate inquiry as he told of his brother's attempted suicide and levelled allegations of impropriety at the Australian Defence Force.
Evan Donaldson, who has previously alleged he was sexually assaulted during high-level training in 2006 and also accused the army of identity theft, said his brother Andrew was grievously affected by the death of his best mate and fellow soldier Jason Brown in 2010.
At times struggling to speak, Trooper Donaldson told the Senate inquiry his brother had been hospitalised for psychological treatment in 2014, and while heavily medicated was "ordered to sign documents that would commence medical discharge".
Trooper Donaldson alleged that "the SAS command formally blacklisted my family" and subsequently relegated Andrew to isolated roles within his regiment while attempting to hound him out of the ADF.
Talk about spiralling down. The initial shock of Donald Trump's election win has already yielded to a second-wave effect in Australia, with policymakers adjusting their stances, toughening their rhetoric and playing to prejudices once discredited.
An atmospheric change in Australia's political discourse, on both sides of the aisle, is palpable. It is as if the anti-immigration grievance expressed through Brexit has now been turbocharged through Trumpism, prompting Australian political leaders, somewhat jarringly, to get with the program.
That program is nationalism and the path there is always the same: go low.
Succumbing to the lure of a "friendly" conservative barracker, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, whose job it is to promote multiculturalism, has told Andrew Bolt that Malcolm Fraser erred in the 1970s by allowing so many people into the country from certain places.
Paris Hilton has revealed she voted for president-elect Donald Trump.
The heiress, who is currently in Melbourne promoting her new fragrance "Gold Rush", made the comments during an appearance on The Project on Thursday night.
"I've known him since [I was] a little girl so, yes," she told panellist Peter Helliar, who had asked if she voted for the billionaire.
It is the first time Hilton, who is a friend of Trump's daughter Ivanka and received her first modelling gigs through his agency T Management, has revealed how she cast her ballot.
Australia's deal with the United States to resettle people from Manus Island and Nauru has drawn a conspicuously low-key response from the thousands of asylum seekers and refugees waiting in Indonesia.
While the Turnbull government suggests that people smugglers are waiting to launch back into action at a hint of softness by Australia, refugees and asylum seekers contacted by Fairfax Media this week say none of the people smugglers from 2013 remain active, and nobody is motivated to go.
"Nobody is interested now in boats," said Pakistani asylum seeker Faisal Khan.
"People don't care about boats. They all say, 'Ahh, forget it; it's impossible'."
The next five years will feature the biggest housing construction boom in Sydney's history, according to forecasts released by the state government.
The forecasts predict almost 185,000 new houses and apartments will be added to the city by 2021 about 85 per cent more properties than were built in the previous five years.
Parramatta will be home to the largest increase in dwellings, with another 21,450 properties added to the council area, according to the forecasts by the Department of Planning and the Environment.
The next largest increases are in the City of Sydney council area, with 18,250 new dwellings; Blacktown, with 13,600 new properties; and Canterbury-Bankstown, with 12,200 new dwellings.
Brothers for Life chapter leader Mohammed Hamzy fought Pasquale Barbaro in jail. An eyewitness says a heated exchange took place after Khaled confronted Barbaro, a loyal Rockpool customer, in the upmarket dining room, and the confrontation threatened to turn physical. It is an example of the many conflicts Barbaro found himself in, in varying underworld circles, before his execution this week. "There are many people that would have wanted to knock him for what Pasquale did to them," one source says. Barbaro has been painted as a man with countless enemies who was happy to mouth off about his associates but shied away from conflict.
"He always had bodyguards because if there was dramas he would never sort it out himself," one insider says. "He was a weakling." But three weeks ago everyone, including his bodyguard, appeared to desert Barbaro. On Monday night, as he left the Earlwood home of construction industry figure George Alex, at least one gunman with two accomplices jumped out of an Audi four-wheel-drive and opened fire. Witnesses heard seven shots before finding the tattooed, heavyset father-of-two dead on the footpath. Barbaro was the eighth underworld figure executed in Sydney in the last 18 months. Family ties
In some ways Barbaro never had a chance. Decent male role models in his family have been in short supply. Father Guiseppe "Joe" had already served two stints behind bars for drug offences and was on the run trying to avoid a third stint when Barbaro's half-sister baby Montana was kidnapped in Melbourne 2004. Pasquale Barbaro's father Joe Barbaro. Credit:Paul Harris PRH All hell broke loose in Joe's private life when it emerged he had eight children with three women. The existence of his other family in Melbourne was news to his fiancee Tanya Flynn, a Canberra dancer, who had two children with Joe. Waving her unworn wedding dress before the cameras, Flynn announced the wedding was off.
But Montana's mother, Anita Ciancio, 20 years his junior, was not concerned by her partner's secret life later saying of Joe: "Just because he is older and uglier than me does not mean he is not worth my love." Not long after the kidnapping Joe was extradited to NSW. In 2002 he organised for his son, Barbaro, to supply him with 1000 methylamphetamine tablets. Both father and son were jailed over this. Joe later appealed, unsuccessfully, claiming that the sentencing judge had given insufficient weight to the effect of the kidnapping. That same year, 2006, also saw Joe's brother "Fat" Frank jailed for four years over his own ecstasy bust. Barbaro was only 25 when he and his father were jailed but he already had an extensive rap sheet, including a stint in jail in the ACT over the armed robbery of the Helenic Club during which a security guard was bashed with a steel pipe.
Once out of jail for the drug offences committed with his father, Barbaro was back in the family business drug manufacturing. Pasquale Barbaro was shot dead in Earlwood on Monday. Credit:Instagram This time, in July 2012, Barbaro and his younger brother Rossario were arrested and charged with manufacturing two kilograms of the drug ice. While on bail Rossario was arrested in Queensland in 2014 over 36 kilograms of ice that police allegedly found in his car. His attempt to get bail last year failed after the police raised his "appalling criminal history", which included 30 convictions. Pasquale's grandfather, also called Pasquale Barbaro, was involved in the drug world. He was murdered in Brisbane in 1990, having survived a previous attempt on his life. His brothers Antonio and Francesco (also known as "Little Trees") were senior mafia figures based in Griffith and were named in the Woodward Royal Commission into Drug Trafficking.
Franceso's son, also called Pasquale, is currently in jail over the world's largest ecstasy bust. A complex web At the time he was shot dead at Earlwood, Barbaro was on $350,000 bail for the 2012 drugs charges and was due to face trial early next year. The execution-style hit transpired the night before a Sydney court was played phone intercepts of him speaking to his close friend, Brothers For Life gang leader Farhad Qaumi. Despite being a member of the same street gang, Qaumi known as "the Afghan" had also been in a long-running, deadly feud with the Hamzy family Barbaro had brawled with at Rockpool.
The phone intercepts of Barbaro were played as part of the evidence against Qaumi, who is on trial for allegedly arranging the murder of standover man Joe Antoun at Strathfield in 2013. In what demonstrates the complex and delicate nature of Sydney's underworld, Antoun was business partners and a close associate of Alex the man Barbaro had been visiting when he was gunned down. George Alex. Credit:AAP Barbaro also claimed that he twice attempted to kill Antoun over an outstanding drug debt but had aborted the hit on both occasions because the standover man's wife and had answered the door. At the time Antoun was shot dead, Barbaro was pursuing him over an alleged $750,000 debt owed to Griffith wine merchants. In this complex web of Sydney's underworld, Barbaro found himself squarely in the middle.
"He had the name, the Barbaro name, and people wanted to do business with him because of that," one insider says. "But he was cocky and he'd screw people over. No one could trust him." He had Mafia ties, he was close with Afghan gangsters like Qaumi, he was known to be hanging around with senior Hells Angels bikies and partied with Kings Cross identities including Michael Ibrahim. Others described him as a bully and a thug. "He's got 100 people that want to knock him," another well-known crime figure says. It was widely rumoured that Barbaro was a "snitch" or a law enforcement informant, although it was a claim he denied. He had survived at least two previous shootings.
The first was on New Year's Day 2014 when three gunman opened fire on a luxury Oscar II yacht that Barbaro was on, partying with other gangsters including Qaumi and Kings Cross identity Adam Freeman, son of bookie and organised crime figure George Freeman. Qaumi was struck in the shoulder in what police believe was an attack aimed at killing him. Barbaro was unhurt. Then in November 2015, Barbaro survived an attempt on his life at Leichhardt, in Sydney's inner-west. He was shot at several times but miraculously escaped injury. That shooting, almost a year to the day before he was killed, was believed to have been carried out by another underworld figure, Hamad Assaad. Hamad Assaad was shot dead on October 25. Credit:Instagram
Assaad and Barbaro were close associates of Dallas Fitzgerald, the national sergeant-at-arms of the Hells Angels and son of one of the club's most senior figures, Felix Lyle. Assaad was shot dead in front of a 12-year-old relative as he left his Georges Hall home on October 25. The 29-year-old was a prime suspect in the shooting of Walid "Wally" Ahmad in April, a brazen murder at Bankstown shopping centre that Assaad, who was known by the street name "H", had been bragging about. The deaths of Barbaro, Assaad, Ahmad and five other fatal underworld shootings in the last 18 months has prompted police on Thursday to establish a specialist strike force, Osprey, to look for links between them and to stop any further bloodshed. Loading It is a similar tactic used by Victorian Police at the height of the Melbourne gangland killings that involved that city's biggest underworld figures and was immortalised in the television series Underbelly.
Business innovators are disgruntled after $9 million in Queensland government grants did not advance, despite months of waiting "in the dark".
Applicants to Advance Queensland's $9 million Industry Accelerator Program were required to email their "industry focus along with a capability statement" before June 30.
Business owners complain about delay in finding out grant result from Queensland government.
Fairfax Media understands the intended contract start date was earlier this year slated as July 29.
On Tuesday, Opposition Innovation spokeswoman Tarnya Smith said businesses were concerned that the Industry Accelerator Program had not announced the successful applicants.
A man accused of a shooting murder in Brisbane's east has refused to stand for the magistrate as he appeared in court hours after allegedly handing himself in with a shotgun stuffed down the front of his pants.
Clayton David Backman, 25, appeared in the Roma Street Magistrates Court on Friday morning, charged with the murder of father-of-three Leslie Michael Brooks.
The accused, who also faced unrelated stealing charges on the same day in what Magistrate Anthony Gett noted as a coincidence, smiled and gave his mother a thumbs up as she sat in the back of the court, occasionally shaking her head.
"I love you," he said to his mother as he was led out of the court.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is determined to see an unemployment figure in Queensland that starts with "five".
Yesterday, ABS figures revealed the trend unemployment rate for Queensland in October was 6.0 per cent, compared with 6.1 per cent in September.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has described new laws to be introduced on Tuesday. Credit:Robert Shakespeare
There were also 16,900 jobs lost across the state in the last month, according to the latest labour force statistics.
Ms Palaszczuk made the comments before the start of a meeting of the Working Queensland cabinet committee on Friday.
London: A 14-year-old girl who has died of cancer has been cryogenically frozen in the hope that she can be "woken up" and cured in the future after winning a landmark court case in her final days.
The girl's divorced parents had disagreed over whether her wish to be frozen should be followed, so the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, asked a High Court judge to intervene.
The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, one of the companies in the US that specialises in cryogenic preservation. Credit:Todd Heisler/The New York Times
In a letter to the court, the girl, known as JS, said: "I don't want to die but I know I am going to ... I want to live longer ... I want to have this chance."
Because she was too young to make a legally recognised will, she had to have the permission of both of her parents to sign up for the process.
The father of a Melbourne woman who died in Mozambique last week says he is "absolutely certain" his daughter was murdered by suffocation.
Elly Warren, 20, was found dead outside a public toilet block on Tofo Beach, a popular tourist and diving spot off Africa's south-east coast, on November 9.
An autopsy was conducted last week and then her body was taken to Johannesburg, where her family has been working with a local funeral director to bring Elly back to Melbourne.
In a statement, circulated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade late Friday night, Paul Warren said he was in South Africa to "in order to bring my beautiful daughter, Elly, home".
They lurk in the shadows then slip in before the garage door goes down. Once inside they check to see which cars have been left open. Often a careless owner has left the keys and garage door remote in the vehicle. They turn the engine over then roll out in the stolen car as if they owned it.
Yes, even inner-city apartment dwellers who keep their vehicles in underground parking garages were not immune from the surge in car theft in Victoria last year.
Analysis of Crime Statistics Agency data shows car thefts almost doubled in the apartment-rich postcodes of South Melbourne, Docklands and Southbank in the 12 months to March this year.
National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council executive director Ray Carroll said there were cases of people sneaking into apartment complexes to steal cars.
There were scenes of utter chaos and devastation in Springvale on Friday, after a man doused his body in accelerant and set himself on fire in a crowded bank just before lunchtime, sparking an explosion that injured dozens.
Paramedics said 27 people were injured - six of them critically - inside the Commonwealth Bank on Springvale Road, about 11:30am.
Amateur footage taken by a witness and posted to Facebook showed dazed-looking people sitting on the footpath after the explosion, one woman weeping and moaning in pain, as witnesses poured water over people's injuries.
One toddler screamed in panic and pain, his hair and face blackened, as his sobbing mother tried to sponge his face clean.
Los Angeles Auto Show: Elio Motors Debuts E1c Engineering Vehicle
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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17, 2016 -- Elio Motors , the start-up vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheel vehicle that will get up to 84 mpg with a set $7,300* base price, today introduced its E1c engineering vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The E1c engineering vehicle is a significant step forward as Elio Motors progresses from the prototype to production phase. While the exterior is similar to previous Elio prototypes, the E1c engineering vehicle features foundational and structural improvements to the frame, suspension, and safety systems that will ultimately create a more satisfying driving experience.
The E1c is part of Elio Motors' E-Series vehicles, which are being built for testing and validation purposes. More than 80 percent of the E1c was assembled using soft tooling -- short-term, low-cost production tools -- to prove manufacturability and repeatability of individual parts prior to full production.
"The E1c represents our continued progress along our long-term plan to bring low-cost, highly fuel efficient transportation to the market," said Elio Motors' founder and CEO Paul Elio. "We have assembled an amazing team of engineers and supplier partners who have jumped into every aspect of this vehicle to make sure it meets or exceeds all of our targets. Their passion for creating a game-changing vehicle is one of our company's greatest strengths."
While the company has made hundreds of refinements during the vehicle engineering phase, some of the more impactful changes include the frame, suspension and safety systems with improved comfort and functionality.
The E1c features a unibody frame, which allows for better absorption of energy and greater safety tuning of the vehicle. The unibody frame was developed specifically for Elio Motors by the Elio Motors engineering team, Schwab Industries and Roush Engineering. In addition to the safety benefits, the unibody frame also will improve the production vehicle's fit and finish and will manufacturability.
The modified suspension will sharpen handling and improve aerodynamics, improve long-term vehicle durability and reduce noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
The E1c is the first Elio Motors vehicle to feature airbags, a key component in Elio Motors' Safety Management System, with two roof-rail side-curtain airbags and a driver airbag in the steering wheel.
"The soft tooling phase is crucial to our long-term success, as we progress from hand-built prototypes to more refined vehicles built with production tooling," said Jeff Johnston, Elio Motors' Vice President of Engineering. "The E1c features 80% production level components and systems and represents a monumental leap forward."
About Elio Motors
Founded by car enthusiast Paul Elio in 2009, Elio Motors Inc. represents a revolutionary approach to manufacturing an ultra-high-mileage vehicle. The three-wheel Elio is engineered to attain a highway mileage rating of up to 84 mpg while providing the comfort of amenities such as power windows, power door lock, cruise control and air conditioning accompanied by the safety of multiple air bags and an aerodynamic, enclosed vehicle body. Elio Motors' first manufacturing site will be in Shreveport, La.
*MSRP for non-refundable reservations only and applies only until non-refundable and refundable reservations total 65,000. Total current reservations can be seen at: www.eliomotors.com. MSRP excludes destination/delivery charges, taxes, title, registration, and options/installation.
3-D Printed Car, Motorcycles And Full-Size Porsche 919 Hybrid Racecar (Built With Legos) Among New Attractions At LA Auto Show
LOS ANGELES - November 18, 2016: The Los Angeles Auto Show will feature Tesla, Airstream, Divergent 3D and several new destinations for visitors to explore during its trade and consumer events. These companies join leading niche and global automakers, manufacturers of rideables and app developers as they showcase their latest automobility innovations/services for visitors to encounter and explore at the L.A. Convention Center during AutoMobility LATM (Nov. 14-17) and LA Auto Show (Nov. 18, 2016-27).
Tesla will be making its first LA Auto Show appearance with its Model X SUV, which will be towing an iconic Airstream travel trailer with a built-in mobile design studio. Similar to Tesla galleries and stores, the Airstream will be staffed with showroom displays and product specialists, giving visitors the opportunity to learn about the many benefits of Tesla ownership. Tesla's Model S premium sedan will also be on display.
Among other displays taking place during the LA Auto Show, there will be a variety of options for young people including the Chrysler Pacifica Kids Zone, where children can enjoy a full jungle gym and ball pit. Friends and family will also be able to stop by the Awsome "Pit Stop Photo Booth" to dress up in racing gear, pose and take home photo strips as souvenirs. Visitors can also count on seeing a full-size Porsche racecar made out of Legos, custom Corvettes and Harley-Davidson on the show floor.
"The LA Auto Show is bringing an abundance of excitement and exploration for our guests this year," said LA Auto Show and AutoMobility LA President and CEO, Lisa Kaz. "Whether you're a gearhead, techie, selfie addict or explorer, there's a little something at the show for everyone."
Some of the interactive attractions visitors will see at the LA Auto Show include the following:
Family-Friendly Destinations & Activities
Awsome "Pit Stop Photo Booth" : Located in "The Garage, powered by Prestone," Awsome Photo Booth will present an opportunity for attendees to participate in a photo shoot and receive full color photo strips at no charge. Attendees will be able to get into the racing spirit with props such as race flags, mustaches, glasses and helmets.
Located in "The Garage, powered by Prestone," Awsome Photo Booth will present an opportunity for attendees to participate in a photo shoot and receive full color photo strips at no charge. Attendees will be able to get into the racing spirit with props such as race flags, mustaches, glasses and helmets. Chrysler Pacifica Kids Zone : Kids ages 3-12 will have a blast at this year's Chrysler Pacifica Kids Zone, where they will be able to get out all their energy in the jungle gym and ball pit. Parents will get a chance to relax while watching their children from the lounge area where they can learn about the brand-new Pacifica Hybrid.
: Kids ages 3-12 will have a blast at this year's Chrysler Pacifica Kids Zone, where they will be able to get out all their energy in the jungle gym and ball pit. Parents will get a chance to relax while watching their children from the lounge area where they can learn about the brand-new Pacifica Hybrid. Harley-Davidson JUMPSTART Rider Experience : Visitors will have the chance to fire up the engine of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a stationary support stand. Guests will hop onto the bike under supervision of a trained professional.
Visitors will have the chance to fire up the engine of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a stationary support stand. Guests will hop onto the bike under supervision of a trained professional. LA Auto Show EyeCons : EyeCons is a classically addictive "distract and relax" match-two puzzle mobile game with custom LA Auto Show game tiles and location-specific rewards provided by sponsors as players advance from level to level. EyeCons is free and available for download on iTunes and Google Play.
EyeCons is a classically addictive "distract and relax" match-two puzzle mobile game with custom LA Auto Show game tiles and location-specific rewards provided by sponsors as players advance from level to level. EyeCons is free and available for download on iTunes and Google Play. Porsche Lego Car : Lego Master Builder Paul Chrzan will build two cars, a full-size Porsche 919 Hybrid racecar and a Lego Technic Porsche 911 GT3, at 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 , and Saturday, Nov. 19 . Lego kits will be available for purchase.
Lego Master Builder Paul Chrzan will build two cars, a full-size Porsche 919 Hybrid racecar and a Lego Technic Porsche 911 GT3, at on , and . Lego kits will be available for purchase. Toyota 3D Chalk Art: Toyota teamed up with We Talk Chalk, a group of professional chalk artists and street painters, to bring some artistic finesse to the LA Auto Show this year. The artists will create works of three-dimensional art for guest interaction using chalk.
Unique, Technologically-Advanced Transportation
BAC Mono : The world's only single-seater, road-legal supercar was created by Liverpool-based manufacturer Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and will be on display.
The world's only single-seater, road-legal supercar was created by Liverpool-based manufacturer Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) and will be on display. Divergent 3D-printed Car : Divergent's Blade production vehicle was built using Divergent 3D's proprietary platform. On display on the Show floor, the Blade supercar represents the future of automobile manufacturing and will be available to customers in 2017.
Divergent's Blade production vehicle was built using Divergent 3D's proprietary platform. On display on the Show floor, the Blade supercar represents the future of automobile manufacturing and will be available to customers in 2017. Elio Motors : The winner of last year's Top Ten Automotive Startups competition, Elio Motors will present its latest E-Series vehicle, the E1C, a three-wheeled automobile.
The winner of last year's Top Ten Automotive Startups competition, Elio Motors will present its latest E-Series vehicle, the E1C, a three-wheeled automobile. Polaris Slingshot : Polaris' three-wheeled, reverse tricycle will be on display for guests to visit. With bucket seats and over 170 horsepower, this isn't your average tricycle.
Polaris' three-wheeled, reverse tricycle will be on display for guests to visit. With bucket seats and over 170 horsepower, this isn't your average tricycle. Yamaha: The Show will feature the iconic manufacturer of motorcycles, ATVs, Side by Side vehicles, snowmobiles, outboard motors, personal watercraft, jet boats, generators, and its new eBike systems. It will be joined by its music division that will also display a "Garage Band!"
Custom Cars
Custom Corvettes : Famous customizer Ivan Tampi Customs is focused on designing and manufacturing aftermarket product lines for the elite range of cars such as Corvettes and Mustangs and will launch products for other exotic cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador. ITC will showcase its C7 Corvette and Z06 Corvette, both with the XIK WideBody Kit Limited Edition, as well as additional carbon fiber parts for the Corvettes.
Famous customizer Ivan Tampi Customs is focused on designing and manufacturing aftermarket product lines for the elite range of cars such as Corvettes and Mustangs and will launch products for other exotic cars such as the Lamborghini Aventador. ITC will showcase its C7 Corvette and Z06 Corvette, both with the XIK WideBody Kit Limited Edition, as well as additional carbon fiber parts for the Corvettes. Splinter Supercar : The world's only wooden supercar, the Splinter is a unique concept car completely made of wood veneers. The Splinter has a predicted top speed of 240 mph.
The world's only wooden supercar, the Splinter is a unique concept car completely made of wood veneers. The Splinter has a predicted top speed of 240 mph. Zelectric Motors Custom 1937 Porsche 911 with full-electric Tesla motor: At the intersection of modern performance and iconic design, Zelectric Motors offers a unique all-electric driving experience. Resto-mod classics on display this year include a mint Zelectric Ghia, vintage electric VW Microbus, a classic 100+mph Beetle, and a Tesla-powered 1973 Porsche 911. Built to order, all are zero emission with variable mileage ranges up to 250.
Additionally, social media lounges displaying guests' Twitter and Instagram posts on large screens will be located throughout the Convention Center. Visitors will also have a chance to take a break and juice up their personal mobile devices at one of several "recharging stations."
The LA Auto Show's AutoMobility LA includes exhibits from Intel, Green Hills Software, Garmin, Urgent.ly, Vizzion and What3Words, all located in the Technology Pavilion, located in front of the L.A. Convention Center.
Made possible by a variety of sponsors including Auto Alliance, Cisco Jasper, CNET, Edmunds, Global Automakers, Skurt, and The Foundry, the LA Auto Show takes over the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning with AutoMobility LA from November 14-17, followed by public days taking place from November 18-27.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Steinbach RCMP turned to the public for assistance on Friday, releasing information on a number of break-ins that occurred in the last two weeks.
Four dirt bikes were stolen from a business in the 300 block of Highway 12 North in Steinbach sometime around Nov. 4 including a white 2016 Husqvarna FC250, a white 2016 Husqvarna FE350, a blue 2005 Yamaha YZ144 and a grey 2014 Yamaha FZ09.
A number of tools, including a captive bolt gun for euthanizing animals, were taken from a barn on Settlers Road in La Broquerie on the night of Nov. 9.
A side by side off road vehicle, described as a grey 2015 CFMOTO ZF8E with Manitoba plate 9H749, was reported stolen on Nov. 14 and last seen on Thurston Drive in the RM of Ste Anne.
The Manitoba Hydro compound in Steinbach was entered sometime during the evening of Nov. 8 or early morning of Nov. 9. Grounding chains and copper wire lines were taken.
Anyone with information can contact Steinbach RCMP at (204) 326-4452 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.manitobacrimestoppers.com or text TIPMAN plus a message to Crimes (274637).
Estimados amigos,
Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.
Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.
Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.
There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.
You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.
No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.
Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.
Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.
Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
Brexits Doom Spirals
LONDON Financial markets are giving a thumbs-down to Brexit, and they are right to do so. But because it is finance, not democratic civil society, that is pushing back against the United Kingdoms decision to leave the European Union, the Brexit debate will become more bitter, and the fallout more severe.
The June referendums initial economic effects were negligible, and may even have been slightly positive, now that the UKs post-referendum growth figures are being revised upward.
But the British pound is sinking, the cost of financing UK government debt is rising, and the process of actually withdrawing from the EU could be highly destructive.
Having decided to leave the EU, it is in the UKs interest to manage withdrawal in a way that minimizes short-term adjustment costs and long-term adverse effects. Likewise, it is in the EUs interest to mitigate not only the economic impact, but also the reputational damage implied by the loss of a major member state.
Ideally, participants in a conflict think coolly and rationally about their long-term interests, and act accordingly; unfortunately, they rarely do. Just as a married couples divorce often leads to bitterness and pitched battles that benefit only lawyers, the UKs divorce from the EU will almost certainly descend into acrimony. As hostility rises, an amicable settlement will become less likely, and everyone will end up losing more than they have gained.
There are three potential doom spirals already baked into the UK-EU divorce proceedings.
First, there are political and structural risks to the EU if more member states leave. When the bloc loses a single member state, it looks like a misfortune that can be attributed to the departing countrys domestic peculiarities. But if the bloc loses more member states, it starts to look like negligence, mismanagement, or a fundamental design flaw. Thus, the EU has a strong incentive to make Brexit as painful as possible for the UK, in order to discourage countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, or Finland from following the British example.
Opinion polls show that support for the EU has surged in many member states since the UKs referendum. But this is not because the EU is suddenly functioning better. Rather, many Europeans share the view that former British Prime Minister David Cameron blundered by calling for a referendum on EU membership.
Immediately after the referendum, German Chancellor Angela Merkel beseeched Europeans not to be needlessly horrid (garstig) when thinking about the EUs divorce terms for the UK.
But, because the UK knows that the EU fears disintegration, it will inevitably read vindictiveness into any position the EU takes. UK negotiators will have to assume that their EU counterparts are trying to make the path out of the EU as economically and politically rocky as possible.
British negotiators will then respond to EU negotiators domino-theory logic by trying to make the process as painful as possible for the rest of the EU. Indeed, the UKs Leave constituency already firmly believes that the UK would be better off on its own, and that Brexit will hurt Europeans much more than it hurts Britons. This means that the Leave camp has a powerful incentive to fulfill its own prophecy.
The second doom loop applies to the UKs domestic political economy. Britain cannot simply start beating the Europeans at their own game by reviving its automobile industry, or by making its own wine to rival French and Italian producers. The principle of comparative advantage demands that the UK emphasize its service industries, and especially financial services.
The City of London already drives the British economy, and one post-Brexit scenario has Londons role as a global financial center actually increasing. To make that happen, the British government would have to establish a regime of low taxes, light regulations, and favorable treatment toward both skilled and unskilled immigrants working in and around financial services. But every part of this plan conflicts with the governments goal of reining in the finance industry and limiting migrant flows.
Indeed, strengthening fat-cat capitalism is precisely the opposite of what British Prime Minister Theresa May promised to do when she succeeded Cameron. In fact, the Leave camp is dominated by people in England and Wales who feel cut off from the gains of globalization, and voted against the privileges and riches of the glittering global megacity of London. Thus, one of the UKs most effective negotiating strategies would deeply divide Britain itself, and especially the governing Conservative Party.
That points to the third doom loop: migration, which weighed so heavily on the outcome of the Brexit referendum. The May government now must demonstrate to voters that it is doing something about migrants and foreign workers in the UK. But as long as Britain has a dynamic economy, it will attract immigrants, regardless of whether they are formally admitted. The government can guarantee less immigration only by wrecking the economy, which would then be blamed, naturally, on European viciousness.
Meanwhile, if the UK becomes a low-cost offshore financial center that sheds jobs, it could pose a danger to its neighbors. Continental Europe might be tempted to reject financial capitalism altogether, in favor of a growth strategy based on large state-driven investment projects.
Ultimately, Brexit could come to resemble the dismemberment of a body, with the British financial head separated from the European real economy. Britain would appear less attractive, Europe would withdraw into itself, and each side would blame the other. That would be a bad outcome for everyone. But it also adheres to the bitter logic of divorce which is why most couples opt for counseling.
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn hadnt even been officially named as President-elect Donald Trumps national security adviser before leading Democrats started going after him.
Ideally, the president-elect, who strikes me as someone with an impulsive personality, ought to have someone who is a stable hand smoothing out the rough, impetuous edges of the president, Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said at a conference in Washington on Thursday.
The impression I have of Gen. Flynn is that he has a like personality to the president-elect.
Flynn, a career military-intelligence officer who was once on the shortlist to be candidate Trumps running mate, is by far the most seasoned national-security professional in Trumps inner circle. And even his detractors admit that he was prescient about the rise of ISIS and the durability of al Qaeda. But Flynn has also been a lightning rod for controversy and one of the most divisive figures in the counterterrorism arena.
A former U.S. official who knows Flynn told The Daily Beast that he has spoken about terrorism in broad language that doesnt distinguish Muslim terrorists from followers of the religion in general, which feeds into Trumps calls to ban Muslims from entering the United States as a counterterrorism measure. Flynns Twitter feed has featured Islamophobic rhetoric and he has even retweeted anti-Semitic material .
Precision is not what hes best known for, the former official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. And precision matters when youre presenting issues to the president and representing the views of Cabinet matters.
Earlier this week, U.S. officials said that Flynns rising influence in a future Trump administration risked undoing years of outreach to American Muslims and playing into the rhetoric of terrorists.
Schiff also took issue with Flynns warm relations with Moscow. Flynn, like Trump, has also advocated for closer ties to Russia. He went to Moscow last year, a trip that raised alarms among Pentagon officials after it was revealed Flynn had spoken at an anniversary celebration for RT, the Kremlin-backed English-language news network, and had dined with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Some of the policy positions he has articulated, including a newfound affinity for Russians and the Kremlin, concerns me a great deal, Schiff said. He described Secretary of State Hillary Clintons outreach to Russia to attempt to reset relations as a sober effort, while Flynns are at odds with Russias aggressive actions in the interim, including annexing Crimea and sending troops into Syria to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Weve seen a lot more clearly what Putin has in mind that has raised alarm bells everywhere, Schiff said.
Schiff also brought up a recent op-ed Flynn penned that called for the extradition of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the increasingly authoritarian regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed for a coup attempt this summer. Flynns consulting firm reportedly has been lobbying for Turkish interests. And on Thursday night, Yahoo News released a report that Flynn received classified intelligence briefings while taking money from these foreign clients.
The fact that Gen. Flynn could be advocating essentially to extradite [Gulen] to Turkey when Turkey is cracking down on hundreds of thousands of people who had nothing to do with the coup attempt, without looking at the evidence concerns me, Schiff said at the conference, held by Defense One, adding that extradition decisions should be made independently by the Justice Department, not the national security adviser.
Flynns nomination also drew fire from human-rights officials. Michael Flynn has shown a stunning contempt for the Geneva Conventions and other laws prohibiting torture, said Sarah Margon, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. By offering this key post to Flynn, President-elect Trump is undermining U.S. commitments to international laws that have been broken to Americas detriment.
Flynn has flip-flopped on denouncing the CIAs use of harsh interrogation techniques that President Barack Obama has called torture. If theres an American strategic advantage, its our values, and we must protect our values at all costs, Flynn said at a Carnegie Council event. Yet in remarks to Al Jazeera in May, Flynn said, I am a believer in leaving as many options on the table right up until the last possible minute.
The Flynn that respects the laws of war is the one that Democrats hope turns up on Day One of the job.I do not agree with General Flynn on every issue. I have concerns about some of the statements he made in the heat of the campaign, said Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed in a prematurely issued statement Thursday. He praised Flynns 33 years of honorable military service, as well as that of his brother Charlie, who is an Army general. Now, in becoming national security adviser, General Flynn is taking on a very different and challenging new civilian role. He is familiar with the complex set of security challenges we face. And President-elect Trump does not have a wealth of experience in this arena.
Flynn has a long career in military intelligence. He served as the head of intelligence for the militarys elite Joint Special Operations Command, a position that included service in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2004 to 2007. He then moved on to become the U.S. militarys top intelligence officer in Afghanistan, where he won praise for blunt talk and his often-unconventional approach to gathering information. From 2012 to 2014, he ran the Defense Intelligence Agency, which works for policymakers and military commanders on a range of tactical and strategic issues. He retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general.
At a time when top-tier national-security experts and former officials have refused to work in a Trump administration, Flynn brings a hefty dose of real-world experience.
He also brings significant baggage. The circumstances of Flynns premature departure from the Defense Intelligence Agency, a year before he was scheduled to step down, have been a subject of dispute. Some insiders say he was forced out because of his brusque and aggressive management style. But Flynn and his supporters say he had sought to shake up the defense intelligence bureaucracy and focus it directly on al Qaeda and what Flynn warned was the underestimated Islamic State, or ISIS. In this narrative, Flynn was fired because he didnt toe President Obamas line that ISIS was the JV team of terrorism.
Back in 2015 shortly after retiring, Flynns verbal attacks on the Obama administration began. You cannot defeat an enemy you do not admit exists, Flynn said, in remarks reported by The Daily Beast. He also called the Obama administration "well intentioned but paralyzed and playing defense in its fight against a new enemy he said is committed to the destruction of freedom and the American way of life.
Flynn admitted to feeling like a lone voice inside an Obama administration that seemed to believe that the 2011 death of Osama bin Laden had signaled the end of radical Islamist terrorism as a seminal threat, the veteran national-security correspondent James Kitfield, who conducted the last interview with Flynn in uniform, wrote in Politico last month.
But Flynns career was given new life when he joined the Trump campaign as an adviser earlier this year. Indeed, Flynn has seemed to find an alter ego in the president-elect. At the Republican convention, Flynn led the crowd in a chant of Lock her up! when the subject turned to Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email system. Months earlier, Flynn had said that Clinton shouldnt be allowed to run while she was under investigation by the FBIa position that Trump himself took.
Flynn, like the man for whom he may work, has also engaged with some controversial social-media users.
In July, he manually retweeted a message that read in part: Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore, something for which he later apologized. Flynn has also taken to praising Mike Cernovich on Twitter, a man who infamously claimed once that date rape does not exist.
Follow Mike @Cernovich He has a terrific book, Gorilla Mindset. Well worth the read. @realDonaldTrump will win on 8 NOV!!! Flynn tweeted in October.
In another instance, Flynn praised an article Cernovich wrote and said, Citizen journalism is the new future for truth because truth fears no questions. Cernovich played a significant role in spreading rumors about Clinton with the hashtag #HillarysHealth throughout the 2016 election.
Flynn also once shared a fake new story from his account.
The man who preceded Flynn at DIA, retired Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess, is said to be a leading contender for the Director of National Intelligence, who oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies. Burgess has also been working with the Trump transition team to fill national-security positions.
The current intelligence director, James Clapper, submitted his resignation Wednesday, he told a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday. Clapper will leave his post on Inauguration Day.
with additional reporting by Gideon Resnick
It seems Russian President Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan, know more about the future of U.S. national security priorities under President-elect Donald Trump than the troops and diplomats who would carry it out.
Trump talked to Putin on Monday. And he reportedly met with Abe on Thursday in New York. But his transition team reached out to the Pentagon and several other agencies for the first time only on Thursday afternoon, a defense official told The Daily Beast. Throughout his first week as president-elect, Trump has forged ahead with crafting U.S. foreign policy apparently without the input of the relevant departments.
The decision to talk to foreign leaders about policy without even notifying the U.S. government officials is the latest unorthodox move by a president-elect defined by firsts. Most presidents-elect do not have extensive talks with foreign leaders without at least consulting the U.S. government for background information, a summary of the current policy, or advice on how to proceed.
To some currently serving U.S. officials, the decision to reach out to foreign leaders is an extension of how Trump ran his campaign: improvised, and more than a little chaotic. If any concrete foreign policy proposals are coming together now, theyre happening, in part, through meetings and calls with U.S. allies and foes alike.
Or as one U.S. defense official explained: We cant take every statement literally, even of a president-elect. We just wait and see.
World leaders seem to understand that now is the time to start shaping U.S. policy under a Trump administration. According to CNN, a top aide to Abe, Katsuyuki Kawai, said that hed been told by members of Trumps transition team that Trumps previous remarks should not be taken literally.
Abe hoped to meet with Trump to get more clarity and build trust, CNN reported.
There is no rule that says a president-elect has to consult the administration. But its uncommon for the current administration to have no idea what is being negotiated on behalf of the United States, even one with just weeks to serve. With so few details, U.S. national security officials, particularly those who will serve in the next administration, are left reading tea leaves and statements to figure out whats being negotiated. Pentagon and State Department officials said they were not aware of the calls beforehand.
Did Trump make promises the U.S. cant keep? Did he change policy? No one can say for sure, as the Trump transition team has yet to provide a readout of those interactions.
You could have President-elect Trump making commitments that dont make sense or he doesnt understand the full ramifications. And then it is hard to walk it back; that could undermine that relationship, said Lawrence Korb, a defense analyst for the Center for American Progress who worked on President Reagans transition team. The risk [is] that you make commitments that are not in the national security interest that become hard to back out of.
It is not even clear if the calls were secure. A transition spokesman, Jason Miller, told reporters in a call Thursday that appropriate security measures were taken but didnt elaborate.
The best source of information about Trumps conversation with Putin came Thursday, from the Russian state media news service Tass, which reported that during the 30-minute call the two talked about the war in Syria, the future of Ukraine, and setting up a date to meet after Jan. 20.
Putin noted readiness to build partner dialogue with the new administration on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and non-interference into each others domestic affairs, the Kremlin said in a statement.
But is that what Putin and Trump really talked about? Given the inevitably messy transition process, there is an incentive for Russia to use this time to shape the relationship between the two countries.
The Russians are saying in their statements about talks with Trump that they want better relations with the U.S. Yet Russia continues to bomb U.S. allies in the Syrian city of Aleppo on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a man the U.S. declared must go.
The Trump transition team statement did not offer many more details.
During the call, the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the United States and Russia, strategic economic issues, and the historical U.S.-Russia relationship that dates back over 200 years, the Trump transition team said in a statement Monday.
So far, based on Trumps rhetoric during the campaign, national security officials know that the president-elect wants better relations with Russia. He has said he wants to work with Russia to defeat the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria, and he said Putin was a better leader than President Obama. In the hours after the election, Putin said, Trumps first statements give us hope that steps towards improving relations between the USA and Russia are possible, Putin said via spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Associated Press.
In the past, presidents-elect have usually reached out to address a crisis. President-elect Reagan, the last person known to have reached out to foreign leaders in the weeks before taking the oath, spoke to foreign leaders in a bid to secure the release of American hostages in Iran. The remaining hostages were released on Jan. 20, his Inauguration Day.
Throughout, Reagan consulted with the outgoing administration about those discussions.
Officials said that even if they dont know what Trump is saying now, eventually they will. Eventually, he will have to work with the departments to implement policy. And then, as one U.S. official explained, things will become official.
The Machine will eventually start documenting what Trump is telling world leaders, the official explained.
By Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News
Victims of Dr. Death had until this week to submit receipts for unnecessary chemotherapy, medical bills for liver damage, and funeral expenses for their loved ones. By an initial count on Tuesday, 517 former patients and their families had filed claims against Farid Fata, the Detroit-area cancer doctor convicted of raking in more than $17 million by poisoning patients with chemotherapy and other drugs they did not need.
Fata was branded by prosecutors as the most egregious fraudster in U.S. history for scamming Medicare and private insurers by giving at least 553 patients, some of whom did not have cancer, thousands of doses of unnecessary and expensive drugs. Now he insists he did nothing wrong. Breaking his silence in a jailhouse interview, Fata said victims claiming he killed loved ones or ruined their lives are misguided and that those who died were going to die anyhow because of the nature of the diseases.
Fata, nicknamed Dr. Death by his victims, is serving a 45-year sentence in a federal prison in South Carolina after pleading guilty to 13 counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay or receive kickbacks, and two counts of money laundering. He ran one of Michigans largest private cancer practices, with a network of clinics outside Detroit, from 2005 to 2013.
The 51-year-old prisoner told Kaiser Health News he plans to speak in court at a Jan. 17 restitution hearing and declare his innocence. Fata said his guilty plea in 2014 came under duress, and he is preparing to seek freedom through a habeas corpus petition, by which a judge would determine if his detention is lawful.
I am now fighting for my innocence, he said.
Meanwhile, an electronic records company hired by the Department of Justice is sorting through former patients claims for a share of a $11.9 million fund created from assets seized from Fatas bank accounts, his home, and medical practice. The process marks the final chapter in a gut-wrenching federal prosecution that brought scores of victims to tell harrowing tales on the stand, in written testimony, and on national TV. The federal charges, prompted by a whistleblower, not only ended Fatas career but also made him a global poster child for medical horrors.
To be eligible for restitution, patients treated by Fata from 2005 through 2013 had to submit claims postmarked by Tuesday. The number may grow as more stream in by mail, said Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the Eastern Michigan U.S. attorneys office. The restitution fund wont pay for victims pain and emotional trauma, but it covers out-of-pocket medical costs, including treatment repairing damage Fata inflicted, as well as funeral expenses for patients who died. The U.S. attorneys office has no firm count of how many patients died from Fatas mistreatment; court documents allege only that he put patients at risk of death, not that he killed anyone.
Among those seeking repayment is Teddy Howard, 56, a former financial analyst who said Fata destroyed his life. Fata diagnosed him with a rare blood disorder and gave him 44 chemotherapy treatments. After Fatas arrest in 2013, Howard was appalled to learn that he never had cancer in the first place.
The arrest came too late, Howard said: Eighteen months of chemotherapy had already wrecked his liver and teeth. Howard had a liver transplant and plans to undergo surgery to replace all of this teeth. He said he filed a restitution claim for about $100,000 in medical bills.
Howard said that sum doesnt come close to repairing Fatas damages. After Howard began chemotherapy, he lost his job and his house outside Detroit. Now unemployed, he lives on disability income and takes daily medication so that his body doesnt reject his new liver.
I went from being healthy and put on chemo to the condition Im in nowpost-liver transplant and fighting for my life, Howard said.
Other claims came from grieving family members such as Sydney Zaremba, whose 87-year-old mother, Helene, died under Fatas care in 2011. Zaremba said her mother had non-Hodgkin lymphoma and declined swiftly under Fatas treatments; prosecutors concluded Fata overtreated her at the end of her life.
He killed my mom, Zaremba said. She had a very treatable disease. By the time he got done with her, she was taking 16 meds.
Zaremba is seeking reimbursement for a portion of $15,000 in funeral expenses, but theres no amount of money that can replace what we lost.
Ellen Piligian is seeking restitution on behalf of her father, John, who had stage 4 cancer and died in 2012. She said Fata acted as a fearmonger, insisting her father continue to take powerful and toxic chemotherapy drugs.
My dad could have had much better life quality those last couple of years, she said.
Piligian said she has been through voicemail hell trying to track down proof of payment from health insurersa factor that has made filing claims difficult for other victims. She filed a claim for $6,000 for medications and funeral expenses.
Another 43 victims have had success filing civil suits against Fata and are sharing an $8 million settlement. But they are fighting off liens from insurance companies seeking repayment for treatments the patients didnt need.
Patty Hester, a former Fata patient, said the liens may prevent her from seeing a penny of her settlement payment, which is less than $100,000.
Hester, 62, said she suffers from rotting teeth, high blood pressure, and organ damage. She said Fata diagnosed her with myelodysplastic syndrome, also known as preleukemia, and told her she was dying. She endured two and a half years of iron and intravenous immunoglobulin treatments, and gave away her possessionseven her wedding ring. Then she got a letter from federal prosecutors saying her treatments had been unnecessary.
Hester has requested repayment for over $800 in dental bills, but she said the restitution isnt enough. The government is paying for remedial treatment only until Sept. 6, 2016, but her medical problems continue.
Fata, meanwhile, said these patients medical problems are not his fault. He said he treated his patients appropriately, but when the federal government alleged he was mistreating them, it created doubts in their mind.
Fata, who earned a medical degree in his native Lebanon, believes federal prosecutors targeted him for political reasons. He said he pleaded guilty to protect his family, and he couldnt afford to mount a robust defense because the government had seized his assets.
The son of Christian missionaries, Fata said he is working with a group of born-again Christians who plan to publish a book called Convicted Out of Thin Air: The True Story of Dr. Farid Fata.
Geraldine Smith Parkin, whose husband, Tim, was one of Fatas patients, said she is shocked by Fatas claim of innocence.
Just to hear that he still will not say Im guilty extends the suffering for everyone involved, she said. It seems like were being victimized over and over and over.
Former patients like Howard, meanwhile, said Fata has destroyed their faith in the medical system.
I will never trust another doctor again as long as I live, Howard said. I trusted this doctor with my life and he failed me.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with the final settlement.
In the not-too-distant past, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to fight lawsuits against Trump University, the now defunct eponymous real-estate seminar program that former students alleged used aggressive marketing techniques to bilk them out of tens of thousands of dollars but failed to make good on promises to make them rich.
In February, Trump tweeted, Trump University has a 98% approval rating. I could have settled but won't out of principle!
I dont settle lawsuits, Trump later explained to an Arkansas crowd after his primary opponents began using Trump University as evidence that the real estate developer and reality television star was simply a con man. Probably should have settled it, but I just cant do that. Mentally I cant do it. Id rather spend a lot more money and fight it.
He got the spend a lot of money part right, anyway.
Through his lawyers, Trump has negotiated a deal that will cost him $25 million to settle three separate lawsuits against Trump University, according to a statement released by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday. The victimssome 6,000 people in New York, California, and Floridawill each receive restitution while up to $1 million will be paid to New York state as a penalty for violating education laws, according to Schneidermans statement.
We are pleased to announce the complete resolution of all litigation involving Trump University. While we have no doubt that Trump University would have prevailed at trial based on the merits of this case, resolution of these matters allows President-Elect Trump to devote his full attention to the important issues facing our great nation," a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said in an emailed statement.
"In 2013, my office sued Donald Trump for swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars through a scheme known at Trump University. Donald Trump fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university. Today, that all changes," Schneiderman's statement read in part.
Until now, Schneiderman has been relentless in his prosecution of Trump University, calling the business venture that reportedly brought in $40 million, a fraud from beginning to end. This year, Schneiderman also opened an investigation into the Trump foundation, a charity that had been violating state law by accepting donations without the proper registration.
The decision reverses claims made by Trump in dozens of interviews, stump speeches, and tweets that he would never settle.
Do you know that almost everybody in the lawsuit has signed a letter saying how great the school was? Thats why I wont settle because it's an easy case to win in court, Trump said on Morning Joe in February.
Obviously Trump getting elected as president changed his posture on settling, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Daily Beast.
Though an exact figure cannot be known as the president-elect has refused to release his tax returns, Trump reportedly pocketed millions from the school that operated from 2005 to 2010. The school enrolled around 10,000 students in seminars that ranged between a $1,495 three-day seminar to a $35,000 program that promised (but often failed to deliver, according to former students) personal mentoring from hand-picked instructors, most of whom Trump had never even met, according to depositions.
Low v. Trump University, which alleges consumer fraud and elder abuse against Trump, is one of two California federal class action lawsuits against the school and was scheduled to begin on November 28, six years after the initial complaint was filed in 2010. Trumps lawyers recently asked that the trial be delayed so that Trump could concentrate on the White House transition. . The students lawyers accused Trumps counsel of seeking to stay the case indefinitely. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel is set to rule on the delay today.
Curiel, the federal judge presiding over both California cases, was attacked during the campaign when then presidential nominee Trump complained the case against him was unfair, citing Curiel's Mexican heritage (he was born in Indiana) as prejudicial against Trump, who had promised to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Curiel has urged both sides in recent weeks to come to a settlement.
"It would be wise for the plaintiffs, for the defendants, to look closely at trying to resolve this case given all else thats involved, he advised at a hearing last week.
At the same hearing, the lawyers confirmed settlement talks were in progress.
[D]espite how aggressive we are on both sides, we get along well outside of court, the students lawyers told the court. Trump lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, agreed and promised the judge we will both put our best efforts into it.
A third case, brought by New York's attorney general in 2013, will also be settled as a result of the California talks taking place this afternoon.
You lose leverage, a source familiar with the negotiations explained to The Daily Beast, noting an overlap in the victims of the three cases would make it nearly impossible to go ahead with a trial in New York. The source called the multi million-dollar settlement significant in a case where the defendant said he had a 98 percent approval rating.
Trump is a man known for making apologies only in rare instances, like when he said he was sorry if anyone was offended when he bragged of grabbing women by their genitals without consent. Unsurprisingly, he has never expressed regret for the the students who have come forward in the media and through their lawyers to tell of how they were pressured to max out their credit cards, or cash in their 401Ks to pay for seminars that they say imparted no actual value.
It was a con, 32-year-old ex-Marine Ryan Maddings told The Daily Beast in June. Those stupid principles have led me to borrow $700,000 of other peoples money and lose it all. Im still paying off some of that debt to this day.
Maddings and other students says they were coerced into filling out positive evaluations. But for Trump, the glowing reviews, filled out while instructors looked on, prove Trump University was a success. So much so, in fact, that the president-elect has vowed to reopen Trump University after he moves into the White House.
After the litigation is disposed of and the case won, I have instructed my execs to open Trump U(?), so much interest in it! I will be pres, Trump Tweeted in June.
And in May, before a California crowd, Mr. Trump repeated his intention.
But if I don't win, and even if I do win, we want to openmy kids will open it up again, because it was a terrific school. It was great. It was good.
Noah Shachtman contributed reporting.
Jeff Sessions, attorney general of the United States. The man who was too racist to be a federal judge. Thirty years ago. That is, he was too out there for the racial sensitivities of 30 years ago. And now hes going to be the boss of every federal judge in the United States.
I remember the Sessions judicial nomination as it unfolded in real time, remember that he said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was all right until he found out some of them smoked dope, that he said the ACLU and NAACP were commie front groups. His nomination was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, making him the first Reagan federal bench appointee to be so rejected.
Down in Alabama, that counted as a credit, not a blemish. In 1994, he was easily elected the state attorney general and two years later won his Senate seat. If hes changed his views on such matters over the years, hes given little public indication of having done so.
And now hes going to be the attorney general. Or is he? I assume the old Senate practice of going easy on colleagues will obtain and Sessions will be sworn in. Even if the Democrats do decide to dispense with the old courtesy, they dont have the votes, so confirmed he will be.
What will a Sessions-led Justice Department do? We can only imagine. There arent going to be any Voting Rights Act violation prosecutions, we can count on that. Instead were going to see voter fraud prosecutions. (Sessions initiated such criminal prosecutions in Alabama years ago.) Were going to see the department provide whatever leeway and encouragement it can to states that want to do even more voter suppression.
Think also of what this will do to morale and personnel within the department. Divisions within the department will see their missions perverted and turned completely on their heads. The civil-rights division is going to have put a big poster of Orwell on the wall.
The racial issues will get the media attention and will deserve to. But Sessions will be a nightmare in many other respects. The Justice Department defines what constitutes torture. How reassured does an Attorney General Sessions make you feel about that? It also makes loads of decisions about bringing actions against corporations that rip people off, fix prices, collude against fair competition in various ways. These affect so many aspects of daily life.
You want to talk health-care costs? One big but almost-never-discussed reason they keep rising is monopolization within the health-care industry. Think Jeff Sessionss Justice Department is going to do anything about that? Justice is in court right now trying to block health-industry mergers. These suits will presumably be dropped soon. Consumers will suffer.
There are first-tier tragedies in the election resultswhere the country is headed racially is high on that list. And there are a million second-tier tragedies. One of this countrys great needs, one of my private little hopes for a Clinton administration, was for a Justice Department that would be absolutely crusading on antitrust enforcement, as violations are rampant and crippling the economy. The antitrust division is going to be shredded.
Finallyremember that the Justice Department is highly susceptible to corruption if the attorney general isnt sufficiently independent from the president. Think Sessions will be independent? Heres a hypothetical for you. Trump hates the media, right? Said on the campaign trail that some news organizations are in for a very hard time when hes president, right?
Even Trump may not be arrogant enough to take on The Washington Post, say, on direct First Amendment grounds. Nowhat you do is go after Jeff Bezos in some other way. Find some dirt on Amazon, try to break him that way. Im just saying keep an eye out for it.
But lets go back to the lede here: Were going to have Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Muslim-loathing National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. And alt-right propaganda visionary turned top political strategist Steve Bannon.
Threes a pattern, not an accident. And who thinks its going to stop at three? This is as ghastly a start as could have been imagined.
In the days after the election we had the debatewas it racial or economic anxiety? I think it was a mix. I know some Trump voters, believe it or not, friends from back home. Theyre not evil people. In fact theyre good people. They wouldnt be my friends otherwise. They arent racists. They didnt like Hillary, and they wanted to believe Trump on coal. I can understand that.
So I dont blame them. But I do find it interesting that Trumps first announcements do not include his Treasury secretary, or his chief economic adviser, or some kind of special Manufacturing Czar whose job will be to MAGA his way across the Rust Belt til the cows come home. Nothe first flank the president-elect seems to have felt the need to cover is the racial one. I dont think youd be wrong to read into that what you wish.
I never saw her without a smile, recalled Amy Seaver. I believe she had the childrens best intentions [in mind] all the time. She was always looking out for them.
Seaver, then mother to a first grader at Sandy Hook Elementary, was sharing her thoughts on the schools principal, Dawn Hochsprung. On Dec. 14, 2012, Hochsprung sacrificed her life by lunging at gunman Adam Lanza in an attempt to stop his vicious shooting spree. When all was said and done, 20 young children and six adults lay dead.
Enter Alex Jones, the rotund host of the conspiracy-theory program Infowars. His greatest hits include: believing the U.S. government was behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; accusing the Bush administration of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks; and his General Jack D. Ripper-esque theory that the government is poisoning our drinking water via fluoridation in order to turn straight people gay.
Jones also spent much of the election boasting of his advisership role to Donald Trump, who appeared on Joness Infowars program in the early days of his presidential campaign and showered praise on the loon, proclaiming: Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down. And on Saturday, Jones posted a video to YouTube claiming that President-elect Trump had given him a call to thank him for his help, and that hed be on [Infowars] in the next few weeks to thank his audience personally. For those keeping track, yes, Trump called a 9/11 truther before he phoned the Pentagon.
On the Jan. 13, 2015, edition of his show, Jones promoted one of his more disgusting theories: that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged.
Sandy Hook is a synthetic completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured, said Jones. I couldnt believe it at first. I knew they had actors there, clearly, but I thought they killed some real kids. And it just shows how bold they are, that they clearly used actors. (There is absolutely no evidence to support this.)
And on his program Thursday, Jones doubled down on several of his thoroughly debunked Sandy Hook conspiracy theories, including: that CNNs Anderson Cooper was using a green screen to report on the shooting, that Sandy Hook Elementary was closed years before the shooting, and that weird videos exist of parents fake-grieving.
Erica Lafferty, daughter of the late Sandy Hook hero Dawn Hochsprung, has had enough of Joness sick exploitation of the Sandy Hook tragedy.
On Alex Jones, this is a man who for nearly four years now has put great effort into making not only my family and not only the 25 other victims families but the entire town of Newtown miserable, and to degrade and disregard the hurt, anguish, and pain that we have to live with every day by claiming that it was a conspiracy theory and a hoax, she tells The Daily Beast.Honestly, I would love to have him at my house on Thanksgiving. I would love for him to come and sit in the chair where my mother would be sitting and have to look at my nieces and nephews in the eye and explain to them why grandma cant be there. If he actually had to experience something like that, his ideas and conspiracy-theory rhetoric would change significantly.
In an Aug. 25 speech railing against the alt-right, Hillary Clinton criticized Trumps deeply troubling alliance with Jones. And on Oct. 16, her campaign released an anti-Trump ad targeting Trumps cozy relationship with the conspiracy theorist.
Lafferty, who served as a Clinton surrogate during her White House run, is also appalled by Trumps close ties to Jones.
As far as our now president-elect praising Alex Jones, calling his reputation amazing, and telling him hes not going to let him down, it is absolutely unacceptable, she says. This is a man who, in the wake of the next mass shooting, is going to have to address the nation and comfort those families. I cannot imagine what it would be like for mehaving gone through this election and seen all the hateful things Trump has supported, heard all the derogatory things hes said about gun violence, and witnessed all the conspiracy theories hes pushedto walk into that room in the wake of the shooting and see Donald Trump instead of President Obama. I dont know that thats a man I would be able to respect if hes standing on the side of people like Alex Jones.
She continues: I have put great effort into not paying attention to anything that Alex Jones does because its not worth my time, effort, or energy. But I think its imperative that the president-elect does not associate with people like Alex Jones because, as the child of a mother who was murdered in a mass shooting in an elementary school, its disgusting, and its degrading, and I expect a lot more from a president than that.
While President-elect Trump has flip-flopped on nearly every major issue over the years, the one subject hes been remarkably consistent on is guns. According to his campaign website, Trump wants to bring concealed carry to all 50 states as well as abolish any and all gun and magazine restrictions, stating the government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people are allowed to own. He is, unsurprisingly, heavily backed by the National Rifle Association, which spent $30 million on anti-Clinton and pro-Trump ads over the course of the presidential election.
I think a lot of his gun comments are just wiped under the rug, says Lafferty. Specifically, to say that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any votes is absolutely disgusting and degrading to all survivors of gun violence across the country, and that definitely didnt have enough attention paid to it. Like so many of the outrageous things he does and says, people just say, oh, heres a reality star doing what he does, but the fact of the matter is presidents are held to a higher standard than reality-TV stars, and hes going to need to learn that.
This December 14th will mark four years since the Sandy Hook massacre. One of the things thats helped Lafferty cope with her mothers passing is her work on behalf of gun control groups, including Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety.
Id like to say that it has gotten easier, but I dont think thats a fair assessment. You just kind of learn to live with the new reality that has been forced upon you, she offers. Myself and many others in my family have taken on the fight of gun violence prevention and that has been very therapeutic for me. I work with Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety has been my guiding light for the past three and a half years. I dont know where Id be without them. All I can do is wake up every day and try to do the next best thing.
Women in the Defense Intelligence Agency were told to monitor their levels of makeup, avoid flats, and err on the side of skirts and dresses when the organization was run by Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, who was tapped to be Donald Trumps national security adviser Thursday. The January 2013 presentation, entitled Dress for Success, was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by MuckRock in 2013.
Makeup helps women look more attractive, the presentation declared.
Female DIA employees were instructed to straddle the fine line between avoiding a Plain Jane look and the right amount of makeup that would appropriately accentuate their features. Too much makeup was also a potential pitfall, with the presentation saying that it distracts from a professional look.
The DIA also had strict instructions on what to wear.
Determine base color according to skin, hair, and eyes (i.e. brunettes can wear more intense colors than blondes can), the presentation said. Adapt the latest look to figure and personality.
Unlike men, women were warned to avoid looks that stand out as flamboyant, gaudy, attention drawing.
The presentation also instructed adult female employees how to shop. On a scale of professionalism, a single-breasted skirted; long sleeves blouse ranked three points above a pantsuit in terms of professionalism and impact. Women were told what suit colors were appropriate and told to seek out matching sets with the highest % natural fiber.
Nail polish was suggested, and while open-toe shoes are no longer a faux-pas; the agency maintained a policy of no flats.
Consider your body type, the presentation added. Accentuate the positive/disguise the negative.
In contrast, the presentation told men that shirts and ties provide accents to a suit. Two should be plain/one pattern, the presentation said, and informed the employees that a light shirt was required for a dark suit. Another slide provided a sliding scale of male professional dress, starting from dark suits with French-cuffed white shirts all the way down to knit tops, jeans, and sandals. Brown shoes only with brown/tan suits, it added. Black with all other.
And men were told that neck jewelry and earrings = negative impact.
Flynn remained a steadfast supporter of Trumps despite the sexual-assault allegations that plagued the president-elect, and encouraged women to throw their support behind him. Trump has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women, and bragged in a video that surfaced during the campaign that he likes to grab them by the pussy. He also frequently mocked womens appearance, reserving particular ire for Rosie ODonnell and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, whom he called Miss Piggy after she gained weight.
But unlike the president-elect, Flynn quickly backtracked from the controversial presentation on women, according to an email also obtained by MuckRock.
I apologize to the entire workforce for the unnecessary and serious distraction of this Dress for Success briefing, he wrote, claiming that he had only recently learned of its existence. Ive now seen it and I too find it highly offensive.
Neither the agency nor I condone this briefing and I only hope the intention to execute this task was pure of heart and intended to help... but even smart people do dumb things sometimes.
So, what the hell do the Democrats do now? The lead headline in Thursdays New York Times had liberals climbing the walls: Senate Democrats Surprising Strategy: Align With Trump. Since no one can read past a headline anymore in this Twitter age, it provoked a fair amount of outraged reaction in my circles. No, went the cry! The Democrats have to be just as obstructionist as the Republicans were to Barack Obama.
If you read into the body of the Times article, you find Democratic sources telling the paper that there are four areas on which the Democrats might be able to work with President Trump: building infrastructure; punishing companies that move jobs overseas; ending the carried-interest loophole; and mandating paid maternity leave. These are four Democratic goals of long standing.
Ill get to each of those, but first lets look at the Democratic quandary more broadly. There will be three fronts on which they can try to fight Trump: cabinet appointments, controversies and scandals, and legislation.
On cabinet appointments, the Democrats wont have much power to stop Trump from naming whomever he wants. But they can, and should, use the hearings to lay down markersto ask tough and well-designed questions that help define these people, help frame who they are, help provide the context for future actions they will take.
Example: If Rudy Giuliani is really to be the secretary of state, get him on the record on the objectionable things Trump said during the campaign. On Russia and NATO and nuclear proliferation and Iran and blowing ISIS to bits and a whole host of other things, make Giuliani own Trumps positions, so that if and when they blow up in his face, Giuliani is on record as defending these failures. Likewise, press the Energy nominee on coal and the EPA and everything else. Speaking of EPA, who in the world would Trump nominate for that? Whoever it is, make him or her own every extreme position Trump took. Use the hearings to plant the seed that this is the most radical administration weve seen.
Second, controversies and scandals. If this were the Republicans in the minority, I guarantee you theyd be raising all kinds of questions about Jared Kushner, the Rasputin-ish son-in-law; about the Trump kids role in this government and their security clearances; about the refusal to create a blind trust; Steve Bannons history and connections; a bunch of other things. The Democrats have to do all they can to keep these things in the news.
This should also be the work of what we call the progressive infrastructure. As Ive pointed before, almost all the bad stuff you ever learned about the Clintons you learned because of one organization, Judicial Watch, which filed FOIA requests for nearly every piece of paper the Clintons and their people ever created. Wheres the Judicial Watch of the left? There isnt one. Someone ought to start it. One thing you can always count on the press to love: secret documents that they didnt have to do any work to uncover.
This brings us to legislation. Here I think the guiding principle ought to be: When Trump proposes something that is in line with the Democrats positions, fine, go along. But when he doesnt, fight. And when he proposes something thats really reactionary, fight five times harder.
I dont think total obstruction a la the Republicans will work for the Democrats. First, its wrong. The Democrats have just spent eight years denouncing Republicans for being 100 percent obstructionist. They shouldnt turn around and do the same thing.
Second, its harder for the party of government to act like that. When Obama proposed his infrastructure bank, you and I know that Republicans opposed it just because it was Obama proposing it. But your average person doesnt know that, because the Republicans didnt go around saying, Were against this simply because Obama is for it, and we dont want him to have any legislative victories; they went around saying, More government spending is the last thing we need, we need to tighten our belts. Average voters fell for that because it made sense to them that Republicans were against spending.
But if the Democrats do that right out of the chute on infrastructure, itll look weird to your average voter. What, these are the people who like to spend money, and now suddenly they dont want to spend money just because its Trump? Which of course the Republicans will say times a thousand. No one said life is fair.
So there will be some matters on which theyll have to play ball with Trump. You have to keep in mind here the Senate Democrats wholl be facing reelection in 2018. The party will have 10 incumbent senators seeking reelection in what we must now call red states, including Wisconsin, and Florida. In most of those statesMissouri, Montana, West Virginia, IndianaTrump is probably going to be pretty popular, barring a big recession or war.
Total obstruction, a Senate Democratic aide argued to me Thursday, could really hurt those Democrats. Imagine this scenario: The Democrats lose most of those seats and are down to 40 Senate votes. Then the Republicans can do absolutely anythingrepeal Dodd-Frank, start repealing old New Deal stuff, you name it.
That may be. On the other side of all this, though, is the Democratic base. Theyre going to want to see the Democrats fight. And they will, on most thingscertainly on Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and other big items. And even on infrastructure, itll be about the details. Brad Plumer of Vox has a thorough take-out on why Trumps infrastructure proposal is crap (in sum, because as structured it wouldnt finance projects that couldnt pay investors back quickly, so it would mostly finance new projects and do little to nothing to repair aging roads, bridges, rail lines, water lines, and such). If thats the proposal, Democrats should probably oppose it, too, and try their best to explain to voters why.
If, however, Trump actually wants to crack down on off-shoring with no (or acceptably few) strings attached, the Democrats shouldnt oppose it. Therell be plenty to oppose, and as noted above, other ways to play offense. But congressional Democrats are never going to be as unified in opposition as congressional Republicans, because more of them are from swing districts or states. And yes, that can change too, but theres only one waymore blue voters need to vote.
The opening scenes of Elle, the latest provocation from Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven, telegraph the birth of what might become a new kind of razor-edged womans story. In the suburbs of Paris and in broad daylight, video game executive Michele Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert) is raped in her own home by a masked intruder with no one around to witness but her bemused, unhelpful cat.
The attack is quick and brutal. When its over, Michele does the first of many unexpected things to come: She tidies up the scene of the crime, orders sushi, and goes about her day as if nothing extraordinary happened.
As she continues to live her daily lifefantasizing quietly about getting vengeance on her unknown attackershe endures other vicious microaggressions from the people around her: Her slacker son and his insolent girlfriend, her struggling author ex-husband, the married lover she no longer wants, her sexed-up elderly mother, and the aggressive young men who work for the video game company she runs, profiting off misogynistic games that promote sexual violence against women.
Audiences may recoil at the brutality Michele suffers onscreen. But Huppert, who brought a bleak but knowing sense of humor to a role Verhoeven says no American actress would take, waves off the emotional difficulty of filming Micheles rape.
The impact of such violence upon her body sinks in powerfully in a single silent image of the acts quiet aftermath: Having thrown away her ruined dress, she eases into a hot bath and a bloom of crimson blood slowly rises into the soapy bubbles. I watched it and remembered: I was just having a nice little time with some raspberry syrup, Huppert laughed. But the blood coming to the surface, and the colors the red and the white. Thats the power of cinema, and its the power of a great director, you know?
Following in the tradition of Verhoevens sexually weaponized heroines, Elle is a cutting and controversial study of a rape survivor who refuses to see herself as a victim, adapted by David Birke from the novel Oh by Phillippe Dijan. Instead of going to the police, Michele deals with the violation in her own increasingly masochistic waysbut its Huppert, the 63-year-old sizzling dame of French cinema, who takes Elle beyond controversy with her singular alchemy of brazen fearlessness and dark wit.
It really speaks about someone who might not exist in fiction, but its so close to what I think reality is, Huppert told The Daily Beast on a recent afternoon in Los Angeles. This new type of woman, neither a victim nor the classical avenger. Shes something else.
Some critics have described Elle as a thriller with a touch of black comedy, and many viewers will find it challenging to stomach. After it premiered at Cannes, even Verhoeven seemed surprised that more people werent offended on principle. In the tradition of so many rape-revenge films, Elle gives Michele the most brutal inciting incident imaginable to a woman, short of deathand then sits back and watches to see how she transforms her trauma into vengeance. The course she charts for herself, however, is far from the typical avenging angel. Is this empowerment or exploitation?
Thats exactly what Verhoeven wanted to escape, and its of course what the writer Philippe Dijan escaped, Huppert offered. And I understand why, in the first place, that you can be so disturbed that you can mistake it as the opposite of what it ismisogynistic.
On the contrary, she continued, its an acknowledgement of a certain woman empowerment in the best sense of the word. What she does and what she decides to do, the path she takes after shes been rapedits so real in a way. And its interesting because its something you cannot categorize. She gives birth to a new self, a new person. The film is interesting because its as much about men as about women, too, by default. Its also about a certain idea that mens power has fadedand she is the product of the new era.
Hupperts coldly efficient Michele dominates the circle of friends, neighbors, and relatives in her orbit, a steely female force among failed men forged from the ashes of her fathers terrible deeds. Theyre either weak figures or super violent figures like her father, but obviously they havent come to terms with what they should be: normal persons. So shes also the product of something going wrong in a mans world.
Critics adore Hupperts exquisite and surprising reactions, captured in sublime stillness by the camera: a slight upturn of her mouth just when we expect distress, a nearly imperceptible glow in her eyes reacting to another confrontation, insult, or burden.
I dont even think about it, she said. I think its a very personal statement when I do thisor it could bebecause in those moments where it might be the most about myself, Im also thinking about the great humor and the irony. That comes from me.
In most situations I have this little ironical distance to what I see or what I hear, and of course the camera captures that, she added, eyes twinkling. Its the ideal medium. In life nobodys there to capture that in my eyes, so most of the time its a solitary little pleasure. I watch people, I watch situations, and I laugh with myself.
Here because the camera is there to capture all these little moments, I think its more interesting to do so rather than underlining heavily its more funny. And as the movie moves on its a good counterpoint to something very, very dark that runs inside the film. Because we have this irony all the time, and its a pleasure for me to do it
Even Huppert considers her Elle role one of the strongest shes played in recent yearsand in an exceptionally rich and highly decorated four-decade career there have been many. Ive done a lot of complex roles and I was really lucky and privileged for that, she beamed. But this is one of the great roles Ive done recently. I mean, Im spoiled. Her eyes widened with mischief. I often do great rolesotherwise I wouldnt do it.
Huppert, who lives in Paris, says shes never quite felt the brunt of sexism as an actress that women in Hollywood have been fighting. Personally, Ive never really felt concerned by this, she said. From the beginning I was sure that I didnt want to be a supporting actress to a man, thats for sure. I didnt want that for me, for myself. I didnt want tohow do we say it in French?to serve the soup.
I wanted to be the center. That was my way of being feminist, if I can say so: I wanted to be the central part of the film, even if I was playing a victim or playing a weak character, whatever! I wanted to be the center of the focus.
She paused, reflecting on the path that choice sent her down. I have to say, I found myself doing more of a certain type of films, she said. More auteur films, more independent films, rather than big mainstream films. And even now I feel like I still have this position. Im strong, Im established, but I dont feel like Im a major mainstream actress in France.
I dont reject a priori anything! she laughed. I just follow the path that I had to follow. I dont think you decide everything in your life. You make people believe that you control everything but its not always true. You create the conditions of your success. And you create the best possible conditions given certain limitations that life gives you. And upon that you create your own thing.
A new threat of fines of up to $7,500 has so far done little to dissuade New York City Airbnb hosts from illegally renting out their entire apartments on the platform, according to a report from independent Airbnb watchdog and coder Murray Cox.
Cox created Inside Airbnb, a bird's eye map that catalogues public information associated with every single Airbnb listing in the city. According to his November 16th report, listings for entire homes and apartments have decreased 5.9 percentfrom 20,306 to 19,116since Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law making it illegal to advertise entire apartments on home-sharing platforms like Airbnb. And of those 1,190 full-apartment listings that disappeared, 343, or 29 percent, appear to be illegal listings in hiding: full-apartment rentals simply reclassified as "private room" or "shared room" without any "meaningful change" to their price or description.
"A possible explanation could be that someone was renting out an entire apartment and then they decided to rent just one room," Cox told Gothamist on Friday. "But you would see, in my opinion, a drop in the price. And I didn't see any evidence of that."
"It looks pretty obvious to me, when you get such a high number of changing room types," he added. "It seemed pretty obvious that these hosts are trying to avoid the law." However, he cautioned that to be sure, "You'd have to ask [the hosts]."
According to the Mayor's Office, the new law will not be actively enforced until the city has held a public hearing on its implementation: an administrative step necessary to enforce a state law at the city level. The hearing is scheduled for December 19th. While the city will only be able to issue violations once the new law is established, the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement can conduct investigations ahead of that date.
Cox said he thought his early analysis offered a good read on how Airbnb hosts are reacting to the new law, even though it's not technically being enforced yet. "I think that when a law's been signed that suddenly says the activity you are doing is illegal, you'd expect some people would decide they don't want to be fined," he said. "I expected to see a lot more [people drop their illegal listings]."
Renting out an entire apartment for a stay shorter than 30 days was against the law for most New York City hosts well before the advertisement of such units was banned. But the law has done little to dissuade hosts from advertising short term staysa recent data dump from Airbnb revealed that over half of NYC Airbnb users advertise this way.
After Cuomo signed the new advertising restrictions, Airbnb went on the offensive, arguing that working class hosts will bear the brunt of this latest regulation, and accusing the state of conceding to the wishes of hotel industry lobbyists. Lawmakers have countered that the goal of the legislation is to crack down on commercial operators who use Airbnb to convert multiple apartments into rotating short-stay rentals for tourists, and have accused Airbnb of scrambling to protect its bottom line.
"Our focus has and will continue to be operators who take permanent housing off the market and put people in unsafe conditions," said Mayoral Spokeswoman Melissa Grace.
In response to Cox's new report, Airbnb reiterated a longstanding critique of his methods: that Inside Airbnb does not distinguish between hosts who rent in buildings with three or more apartments, and hosts who own single or two-family homes (the former violate state law with entire-unit listings, the latter do not).
"Inside Airbnb is a shill for the hotel industry and uses data scraping to distort the truth," a spokesman said. "Not all entire home listings are illegal as the new law only applies to Class A Multiple Dwelling Units. We support measures to crack down on illegal hotels but this law fails to distinguish between bad actors and responsible New Yorkers who occasionally share their own home."
Because Airbnb does not provide street addresses before a reservation is complete, Cox said that he is unable to check if each full-unit listing is in an apartment building or private home. He references Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's 2014 report, which had access to non-public data and found that 72% of all Airbnb listings were illegal in New York.
(As for the "shill" reference, Cox added, "It seems like they are getting desperate. I'm an activist.")
Marti Weithman, a supervising attorney for Airbnb-critical MFY Legal Services, has argued that it's fair to assume most full-unit listings in NYC are inside apartment buildings with at least three units, and are therefore illegal.
"NYC is overwhelmingly rental housing," Weithman told us over the summer. "While there probably are some homeowners in there, to the extent that there are, it's far less."
New York Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who co-sponsored the illegal advertising legislation, responded to Cox's report on Friday, saying, "This makes the case for robust enforcement of the new and existing laws designed to protect tenants and affordable housing against the spread of illegal hotels."
Early in Manchester by the Sea, there is a long shot of Casey Afflecks character Lee Chandler quietly and dutifully shoveling snow. Lee, working as a janitor for a Boston apartment complex, focuses all his energy on the task at hand. He is a very different man from the one we see in the films opening scene: a gregarious uncle, joking around with his young nephew Patrick on a boat off the coast of Massachusetts.
The tragic event that occurs in the intervening years is not revealed until midway through the film. As writer-director Kenneth Lonergan tells me, he would prefer that audiences not know the details of that tragedy before they see the film. Suffice it to say, it is horrific.
But Lonergan, looking a little out of place in a suite at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, wearing his signature plaid shirt, salt-and-pepper stubble, and thick-framed glasses, bristles at the suggestion that his third feature film is dark.
I dont really like movies that are dark, he says. Even when I hear that word, Im like, I dont want to see that, because the world is not just dark or light, its both. Lonergan can admit that Afflecks character is dark, given that hes been through a terrible ordeal that nobody should have to go through, but at the same time, he is forced to coexist in the world with people who are just trying to live their lives.
I think that the only way to tell a story like this, for me, is to have everything going on at the same time, he says. I love that Caseys character has this terrible weight that hes carrying and that hes right next to Lucass character who is very much engaged and alive and trying to enjoy himself, even though hes been through an ordeal himself.
Lucas is Lucas Hedges, the 19-year-old Brooklyn-born actor who transforms himself into Patrick, a popular teenager with a thick North Shore Massachusetts accent who is thrust back into his uncle Lees life when he experiences a tragedy of his own.
Its easy to imagine a more cliched version of Manchester by the Sea in which Patrick is a loner who gets bullied at school, and its up to his uncle to show him how to be a man and get girls to like him. But thats not the direction Lonergan chose. Instead, Patrick is a good-looking, confident athlete with not one, but two girlfriends. Its a very complicated part, actually, and he makes it even more so, in a good way, Lonergan says.
The idea for Manchester by the Sea began when Matt Damon and John Krasinski approached Lonergan to write the film following the tumultuous experience of his second feature, Margaret. Lonergan began his career as a celebrated playwright with This Is Our Youth and received an Oscar nomination in 2001 for his debut screenplay, You Can Count on Me. His career ascendent, he shot Margaret, starring Anna Paquin, in 2005 but it was not released until six years later, following a lengthy legal dispute with one of the producers.
A lot of his friends were, quite frankly, worried about him, Damon told The New Yorkers Rebecca Mead this year. He needed money, but he couldnt writeit was this horrible limbo. Damon commissioned the script that ended up being Manchester by the Sea with the intention of directing and starring in it. But once he read the first draft, he knew Lonergan had to helm the project. A scheduling conflict led Affleck to take the lead role.
As Lonergan tells it now, the idea that Damon and Krasinski pitched to him was a story about a character who has to leave his hometown because of a family tragedy and returns more or less against his will to assume guardianship of his brothers son.
I liked the idea of someone in that situation who has lost his family, Lonergan says. It seemed very poignant to me, and very moving. And the idea that he still has to take care of his brothers family, and that his brother took care of him when he was in trouble.
Patrick was originally envisioned as a much younger character but Lonergan decided to make him a teenager, Because I liked the idea that the kid had a really full life, a life he wanted to keep going, he says. And that seemed like an interesting contrast to the Casey Affleck character, whos basically trying to keep life at bay as much he can. And doesnt want to get involved and has stripped his life down to this really ascetic, spartan, non-existence, where hes just trying to get through every day as rigorously as he can so the walls dont cave in on him.
The script did not change after Affleck signed on in Damons place, but after watching the film its hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Theyre both great actors, so I dont know what Matt would have brought to it, Lonergan says. Casey just brought his own persona and his own skills and his own emotional life to it. He describes Affleck as being really thoughtful, really emotional, really funny and, perhaps most importantly, really soulful. Affleck embraced the strangeness of the character, he says, the weird out-of-step quality thats a result of the work hes doing to keep everyone away from himself, in a way that Damon may have had more trouble capturing.
Afflecks Lee Chandler is always saying no to opportunities, rejecting the advances of women, refusing to bring new people into his life. He disengages with the world. Its a type of character that could be difficult to make compelling onscreen because, on a fundamental level, he doesnt want to be seen. But Lonergan doesnt see him that way.
Once I was inside his head, it all went perfectly smoothly, Lonergan says. Hes almost leading a Zen existence in a sort of negative and bad way. Because hes trying so hard to not think about anything, because he cant bear the content of his own thoughts. His distress is so over the top that hes got to just reduce the world to a series of small chores. And he tries to make taking care of his nephew into a series of small chores and its impossible, because his nephew is a human being who needs and wants a lot of attention and love and care.
Despite Lees desire to shut down emotionally, Lonergan thinks of him as a very emotional character. Hed love to be unemotional and shut down, but hes not, he says. I always see him holding up this huge boulder or holding up all the walls at the same time without enough hands to do it, he adds, miming the metaphorical action as he speaks. To me, thats a very active man and thats easier to write. Passive doesnt really exist. You can be passive, but youre doing something all the time.
The tragic event that shapes Afflecks performance also precipitates the moment that will likely deliver Michelle Williams her fourth Oscar nomination next year. As Lees wife Randi, Williams makes a huge impression despite appearing in just a handful of short scenes.
Lonergan says Williams worked really hard to perfect her character, who has to be tough and nice and loving and no-nonsense all at the same time. Williams would show up at different points throughout the shoot fully prepared and ready to go, he says. It was really impressive. For me it was like, here comes Michelle, and a switch goes on and shes in this incredibly sweet scene in the bedroom and then shes in this unbelievably nightmarish scene or shes in this incredibly funny scene where shes throwing the guys out of the house for playing ping-pong. She does so much in this part.
For that unbelievably nightmarish scene, Lonergan says Williams just showed up, took off her coat and was in her night shirt and just went insane. With every new take, shed go insane again.
I couldnt believe it, Lonergan says. I dont believe I had to say anything to her that entire scene. I mean, what are you going to say? He adds, I find that scene almost impossible to watch. Im just glad that its over very quickly.
After all of the turmoil that plagued his previous film, Lonergan is grateful for all of the support and attention this one has received. Referring to recent profiles in The New Yorker and elsewhereas complimentary as they arethat paint him as some sort of tragic figure, he says, I want to read one about what a good mood Im in. Because that was a long time ago and Im actually really happy with how that movie came out. It was definitely a big pain in the ass over all those years. But they act like Ive been through some major tragedy and I just havent. I dont quite get that. I guess thats the narrative.
The narrative of digging oneself out of a hopeless situation can be irresistible, as Lonergan has proven with Manchester by the Sea. And it is a theme that may be particularly resonant for more than half of American voters, who are currently experiencing a form of grief. In Casey Afflecks character, we have a model of how to overcome something that feels insurmountable.
Once the worst has happened, theres no hope that its going to be undone, Lonergan says. Ive never thought of the movie in terms of hopelessness, but just in terms of grief and trying to carry around something thats too painful to bear. And trying to function in the face of that, which I find to be the positive side of this story.
Caseys character is an extremely dutiful person, he continues. He doesnt disappear. Its agony for him to stick around and he does because he really wants to do the right thing. To me, thats not hopelessness, thats love.
DALLASWhen the children were released from the privately run immigration detention facility in Karnes City, Texas, they were immediately taken to the emergency room with pneumonia.
Over the past few months, several children who fled from violence in South and Central America with their mothers have been hospitalized after leaving the facility run by GEO Group, a private prison company that saw its stocks jump following Election Day. The childrens health problems were the result of poor medical care inside what is essentially a prison for mothers and their children, according to Amy Fischer of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.
A GEO Group spokesperson denied the claim, saying all children are given chest X-rays upon admission to the facility. The spokesman also said that not everyone is given X-rays when leaving Karnes City unless they seem to be ailing.
With Donald Trump now president-elect, the Karnes City facility and a dozen more like it across the country are preparing to fill even more beds with immigrants and refugees. GEO Group and another private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America, are also preparing for more large, lucrative contracts with the federal government to run the detention centers.
Both companies saw their stock prices soar following Trumps historic and shocking win.
If we see how the stocks skyrocketed, I think they see this as a huge opportunity for profit, Fischer said of the two companies.
Of the 1,000 largest companies in the country, Forbes reported the day after Trumps victory, the biggest winner of the election was Corrections Corporation of America.
CCAs stock shot up 49 percent that day thanks to Trumps promise to enact mass deportations as president. GEOs stock rose 21 percent the same day.
But it isnt just the two companies who have an interest in detaining more immigrants. A report released Thursday shows that some of the countrys largest banks profit off fees and interest payments from the two companiesboth of which rely on such debt financing for their daily operations.
The report (PDF), compiled by In the Public Interest, which describes itself as a comprehensive research and policy center, shows the two companies have nearly $2 billion in debt each from lenders including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Without them, GEO Group and CCA would have difficulty operating, according to the report.
In the Public Interest calls for the banks to immediately halt debt financing to GEO Group and CCA. If the banks did so, the companies will be forced to find other sources of funds, which would significantly reduce their operations and growth.
Some of those operations include significant donations to Republican lawmakers in Congress, many of whom have harsh stances on crime and immigration, according to Fischer.
You can trace their campaign contributions to some of the most aggressive anti-immigrant politicians both at the state and federal level, Fischer said.
Those contributions are in addition to the millions both companies spent on lobbying politicians between 2004 and 2014, according to a 2015 report from the liberal Center for American Progress. For its part, CCA says it makes a point not to lobby for specific criminal justice laws.
It is CoreCivic [CCA]s longstanding policy not to draft, lobby for, promote or in any way take a position on proposals, policies or legislation that determine the basis or duration of an individuals incarceration or detention, spokesman Jonathan Burns told International Business Times this week.
On top of helping to fund its daily operations, large loans from banks have helped GEO Group and CCA to purchase smaller corrections companies, the report notes, allowing them to become the two largest private prison companies in the country.
Under Trump, they may have the opportunity to grow even larger. In June the president-elect told MSNBCs Chris Matthews that privatization of prisons seems to work a lot better. The comment came two months before the Department of Justice, citing security problems and poor conditions at private prisons nationwide, said it would phase out the use of private companies to run federal penal institutions.
Whether Trump still believes private prisons are superior to those run by the government is unknown, but GEO Group and CCA have the president-elects comments on immigration to lift their spiritsand, possibly, their bottom line.
In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Trump pledged to deport between 2 and 3 million immigrants, making it a priority to remove those with criminal records. Whether there even are that many who fall into that category is a matter of debate, to put it charitably. If there are that many criminal illegal aliens, Trump would have to make good on his campaign promise of creating a deportation force to remove thema promise House Speaker Paul Ryan assured the American public last week was only lip service.
Illegal immigrants with criminal records are an easy target for deportation, but the immigration plan on Trumps website makes no distinction for men, women, and children fleeing violent countries like El Salvador, where some 4,000 people had been murdered by October, according to The Washington Post.
Anyone who crosses the border illegally will be detained until they are removed out of our country, Trumps official immigration policy statement reads. Whether Trump intends to kick out the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing South and Central American violence remains to be seen, but what is clear is that GEO Group and CCA see Trumps win as a boon for business.
As you know, the need for new infrastructure has been frequently discussed during this election season, CCA CEO Damion Hininger said in a November call with investors just before the election. And (CCA) is positioned to assist government organizations in making investments to modernize their mission-critical criminal justice infrastructure, while allowing them to maintain their borrowing capacity to address other capital needs.
In laymans terms, were about to get paid.
The call came after U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement renewed a contract with CCA in October to operate the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, a $1 billion dollar deal that runs through 2020.
Prior to the contract renewal, the companys future was grimstock prices dove following the August Justice Department decree that called for the end of private companies running federal prisons. Partly in response, CCA changed its name to CoreCivic and, in the November call with investors, Hininger said the rebranding was part of an effort to change the company into a diversified government solutions provider.
The name change had nothing to do with problems at CCA-run facilities, like the deadly 2015 gang fight at an Oklahoma prison that left four men dead, Hininger said.
Despite poorly sourced claims from industry critics and activists to the contrary, our continued focus on operational excellence, flexibility, and our compelling value proposition have continued to create opportunities for the company to grow where our partners need and want solutions that we can deliver, Hininger said during the call.
Except Trumps pledge may be difficult to meet, a brief look at federal data shows.
It has taken President Obama six years to deport 2.5 million people, according to a 2015 Department of Homeland Security report. Last year, DHS, ICE, and Customs and Border Patrol deported less than 1 million people combined.
More than 30,000 of those men, women, and children were from South and Central America, according to the report, and at least 40,000 more such refugees are currently being held in private detention centers like the ones in Karnes City and Dilley, Fischer said. That number is expected to increase, as the renewed contract for the Dilley facility indicates.
Along with an expected increase in detentions will come a greater burden on an already overworked system in which credible fear interviews are held. There, DHS hears arguments from refugees who say a return to their home country would put them at risk of injury or death.
Unfortunately, theres no right to counsel in these proceedings, so what we do is prep the mothers as much as we can ahead of these interviews, Fischer said.
In Karnes City, a family facility that holds mostly mothers and their children, Fischer and other advocates have a high success rateroughly 90 percent of refugees there are granted the right to stay in the United States and eventually seek citizenship.
In official terms, their fear is credible. Now, they have a new fear: President Trump.
I think the immigrant community is right to be very scared, Fischer said. At the same time, its an expansive system and I dont think Trump has really thought through the intricacies of what it would take to deport the amount of people he has mentioned.
If Trumps words are to be trusted, no one currently in a detention facility or caught crossing the border illegally after Jan. 20 will have the opportunity to prove they have a credible fear of returning to their home country.
As we look forward to a Trump presidency we expect this to only be more aggressive, Fischer said.
The Brooklyn Cocktail is a second-string, but by no means second-rate, pre-Prohibition classic and was largely forgotten until the recent cocktail renaissance. Now it is frequently found on drinks lists worldwide, both in its original formfirst published in 1908 in Jacks Manual by Jacob A. Grohuskoand in a host of other creative variations.
THE AUTHOR & THE DRINK
Jacob A. Jack Grohusko (1876-1943) was born in England to a Russian Jewish family and brought to New York as an infant. He worked in hotel bars in New York until around 1900, when he found a long-term gig at Baraccas restaurant, on Stone Street in Lower Manhattan. Under his direction, Baraccas bar was a popular one. In 1908, Grohusko published the first edition of his Jacks Manual (there would be four more, from 1910 to 1933). In 1910, he opened his own place, also on Stone Street (the space is now occupied by Ulysses, one of New Yorks best Irish bars).
We dont know if Grohuskos Brooklyn Cocktail, one of many drinks over the years to bear that name, was his own creation. He lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, not Brooklyn. Victor Baracca, however, the proprietor of the restaurant, lived in Brooklyn, so its at possible that he asked Grohusko to come up with something to match the venerable Manhattan and the newly-popular Bronx.
Grohuskos version of the Brooklyn, with some tweaking, would outlast all the other similarly-named cocktails, largely though its inclusion in the canonical Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930.
THE ORIGINAL RECIPE
Brooklyn Cocktail
1 dash Amer. Picon bitters1 dash Maraschino50% rye whiskey50% Ballor Vermouth
Fill glass with ice.Stir and strain. Serve.
NOTES ON INGREDIENTS
Amer Picon, a French aperitif bitter, is not available in the U.S., and even if it were, it has been reformulated and lowered drastically in proof from what it was in 1908. Fortunately, in the small quantities called for here it is easy to substitute. The leading, but not dominant, note in Amer Picon is bitter orange, so any Italian amaro heavy on that, such as CioCiaro, will work well. (You can even, if necessary, use a less-orangey, but more available, amaro such as Montenegro, with a dash of orange bitters to boost the orange quotient.) Even better, I find, is the French Bigallet China-China Amer, a French digestif with a strong orange note. I generally use half a teaspoon, and the same amount for the maraschino liqueur.
For the rye whiskey, something bonded is in order. Rittenhouse is my go-to, but Wild Turkey Rye also works well. You dont want anything less than 90-proof, since it has to stand up to a pretty strong cargo of vermouth. Grohusko would have used an ounce, but I prefer an ounce and a half.
As for that vermouth. Ballor, Grohuskos preferred brand (its importer was around the corner from Baraccas), was a classic Italian vermouth di Torino, dark and sweet. I like the Cocchi Vermouth di Torino here, but Martini & Rossi will also work fine if thats what youve got. I would not use Carpano Antica, since its vanilla note tends to drive out all else before it.
Note that when Grohuskos recipe was reprinted in Jacques Straubs 1914 vest-pocket bartenders compendium, Drinks, Straub inexplicably changed the Italian vermouth to a dry French vermouth (perhaps he didnt know where Ballor was from). Thats the version taken up by the Savoy book, and it is, to my palate, distinctly inferior: thin and awkward. This is, however, the version most often encountered.
NOTES ON EXECUTION
Like the man says. Stir well with plenty of cracked ice and strain it into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. I like a lemon twist with this.
The Annotated Cocktail presents a recipe for a classic drink exactly as it appeared for the first time in print and walks you through how to make it today so that it will be both historically accurate and delicious.
Let's get the mea culpas out of the way.
I said Donald Trump could never be elected, confidently fueled by the empirical data of professional polling, a certainty in the vital necessity of field operations, and the knowledge his own campaign team (even on the night of the election) was ratting out the shambolic train wreck his campaign had been. I was wrong.
I believed that the numbers and processes of modern campaigning that revolve around the meticulous use of data would matter in 2016. I believed Trump was merely a spectacle, a political sideshow who would be dispatched by the well-funded and the well-staffed major campaigns.
I believed the media would find the courage to cover the seamier opposition research hits on Trump, which were as compelling as they were revolting. I believed that people of faith, particularly the professional evangelical class, would find Trump's lifelong behavior, his prior embrace of abortion, his professed serial abuse of women, his proven adultery, the scuzzy low-rent casinos that made his fortune, and only notional Christian faith to be disqualifying.
I believed the kompromat tapes, thoroughly known and discussed in the U.S. and European intelligence communities, would emerge, and Trump's deep, long-denied ties to Russian interests would convince national security voters that the Bewigged Manchurian would present Putin with the greatest intelligence coup in history, and put our nation at risk.
As Trump mainstreamed racial animus, shrugged at David Duke, embraced the alt-Reich's support, attacked Muslims with unbridled ferocity, and promised mass roundups and deportations of Latinos, I also believed Americans of all races and creeds would be repulsed by his behavior.
I believed conservatism's future was driven by principle, not by celebrity. I believed that a majority of the conservative movement and the conservative media would recognize the authoritarian, statist and anti-Constitutional nature of both Trump's beliefs and his stated policies. I foolishly believed that conservative media figures with the deepest reach, the biggest audiences and the loudest voices would use their power responsibly. Wow, was I wrong.
Donald Trump has been elected by the American people. Democratswho from pure incompetence richly deserve their fateare facing a tough electoral road in 2018, have a thin field for 2020, and a future where the federal courts will be reshaped in ways that mitigate their strategy of achieving through litigation what they cannot through persuasion. As a conservative, I find this to be a thin reed to grasp in the era of Trump, but reeds are pretty rare right now.
The Democratic coalition, too long reliant on the dynamics of stunt casting, just didn't love Hillary Clinton passionately enough for a win. Her field and turnout operations couldn't replicate Obama's, and she never could grow out of being, well...Hillary. James Comey halted her progress in the closing two weeks of the campaign, but she was easily the worst possible Democratic candidate since Mike Dukakis. On Earth 2 right now, Joe Biden is out doing donuts on Mar-a-Lago's meticulously manicured lawn in a rented Corvette.
Trump fans convinced of his strategic genius are welcome to their view, but they're wrong. His own campaign team was utterly convinced that they would lose, and were blame-storming with reporters so until the numbers rolled in. The revisionism of this week (We knew it all along!) is just thatrevisionism. At the Electoral College level, the historic collapse of Democratic turnout was more consequential than Republican turnout, and no onenot the pros, not the media, not the Clinton campaign, and not the Trump campaign, saw it coming.
Rather, Trump's team proves the old terrorist adage, You have to be lucky every time. We only have to be lucky once. For all that, lucky he was, and he's the President-elect of the United States and in January of next year will take the oath of office.
It no longer matters if Trump is corrupt, mentally unstable, or lacks the moral character and intellect to hold the office. The voters have spoken. Like many, I hope for the best but am obliged to plan for the worst, not only for the nation but for the conservative movement.
The delta between party and principle has never been wider than in 2016. A large plurality of the Trump electorate believed the definition of conservative was simply Not Hillary. The monetized right's media cheerleaders gave Trump every ideological pass in the book, and for those of us who care about free markets, free speech, and the constitutional principles of liberty, equality, and opportunity now view the Trump Republican Party warily, if not fearfully. His shoddy intellect, child's temperament, and judgment are all on constant and horrifying display. The ugliness and internal bickering of transition are just a preview.
If he allows nationalist populism to outweigh American values, and for the Bannon/Spencer/Duke wing of the Trump party to thrive and grow with his tacit approval, he'll bend the long arc of history toward something dark and shameful. If Trump keeps his promises mass deportations, the wall, national-stop-and-frisk, broad new economic regulation, shredding trade deals, bans on religious minorities, the abrogation of the free speech rights and the rest the country faces economic, political, and moral hazards driven by the Oval Office like no administration in memory.
Trump is prepared to push not only a trillion-dollar stimulus, a massive tax cut and a military buildup, but promises to do so without touching entitlements. And he'll do this while wrecking international trade agreements that power millions of American jobs. He continues to hold a set of economic principles and a view of international relations that will terrify markets and allies alike when he takes the reins of power.
If he appoints the rogues' gallery of characters who are touted as his Cabinet picks, prepare for four years of dark comedy, Carteresque incompetence and an eventual wave of special prosecutors as Scamalot unfolds. Past a few marquee names at the top, Washington's panic is rising that Trump will sweep in a wave of business associates and family members into key government positions.
Many of the men named as potential Cabinet picks to date have, to put it mildly, less impulse control than one might hope. The mere possibility of a Newt Gingrich or a Sarah Palin in the Trump Cabinet is already peaking lulz detectors worldwide.
His dynastic aspirations are becoming clearer by the day as Trump has pushed to have his family embedded in the core of government. In the minds of his fanatics, the Trumps are a royal family with everything but titles of nobility, and I imagine he'll have the White House Counsel looking hard at Article I, Section 9, once he's sworn in. Last time I checked, Clause 8, which bars titles of nobility, doesn't have a Trump exception.
While a Trump who keeps his promises is dangerous, a Trump breaking some of themparticularly the ones that stoked his baseis inevitable. If Trump does as he has with literally every other major relationship and transaction in his personal and business life, he'll happily abandon the promises he made to the people he successfully conned. When he fails to build a big, beautiful wall from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, leaves huge chucks of Obamacare intact, or when his hokey, half-assed economic nostrums fail, and America doesn't turn into a coal-extractin' steel-makin' manufacturin' lily-white 1950s economic superpower, the monster he raised will bite back. I expect that while many of the Trump cult will never, ever abandon the Dear Leader, there is a vast, economically-terrified percentage of his electorate who will lose it when his con is revealed.
They'll find Trump's walk-backs on his key promises, the friction of Washington, and the realities of governing less glamorous than big rallies, inchoate anger and red hats. They voted for Trump because he stoked their fervid revanchism, and was the furthest person from a politician. The purity of their belief that he was telling the truth is going to make the crash harder than the Monday after a weekend oxy-and-tequila binge.
Nonetheless, he's President-elect. The fight to stop him was worth every effort and every moment but it was a fight that failed at the ballot box. The fight to save center-right conservatism is the new battlefield, and one worth even more effort.
Conservatives will be tested severely and constantly in the coming years. It's up to us to hold Republicans to account when they deviate into the comfortable "but he's a Republican, so it's okay" mindset. During the Bush Administration, that led us to the ideological and electoral disasters of 2006 and 2008: vast expansions for federal power, new entitlements, wild spending, and bank bailouts which led to disheartened and defeated Republicans in the House and the Senate.
It's up to a new conservative movement to provide stronger voices for the better values that have defined this nation's long journey and to offer a smarter, more human, and more modern path than the grubby, racially-inflected nationalism that too many of Trump's supporters have embraced. Center-right conservatism is on fire with ideas; it's incumbent on a new conservative movement to fight for them.
Good and bad leaders all pass, with either great consequence or great danger to the fabric of the Republic. Trump is not the end of America, just as Obama wasn't. Those of us who revere the Constitution are obliged to respect the decision of the electorate, and we will pray President Trump will be granted more wisdom and probity than Citizen Trump has ever displayed.
As my friend Ben Howe noted, a core premise of the Never Trump movement wasn't simply that he'd lose; it was that he'd be a bad and dangerous President, not only for conservatives but for the nation. We're about to test the latter part of that theory.
Buckle up.
On Friday afternoon, The Hollywood Reporter published an uncritical, largely fawning profile of Stephen K. Bannon , the incoming chief strategist in the Donald Trump administration and former chairman of the far-right website Breitbart News.
Darkness is good, Bannon said during the recent interview at Trump Tower. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power. It only helps us when they get it wrong. When theyre blind to who we are and what were doing.
When asked about renewed criticism surrounding his websites promotion of alt-right, racist, and anti-Semitic content, Bannon simply laughed off the notion that this makes him a racist.
Im not a white nationalist, Im a nationalist, Bannon said. Im an economic nationalist. The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get fucked over.
In emails obtained by The Daily Beast last month, Bannon had written in 2015 that one of the main reasons he liked and was supporting Trump was because Trump is a nationalist who embraces [Sen. Jeff Sessionss] immigration plan.
Before Bannon joined the Trump campaign in August, and before he was appointed as President-elect Trumps chief White House strategist, the former Breitbart chairman was coasting through liberal Hollywood as an unabashedly right-wing filmmaker and documentarianone openly influenced by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl . His artistic endeavors were at times idiosyncratic, like when he yearned to adapt William Shakespeares brutal and bloody tragedy Titus Andronicus to on the moon with creatures from outer space, according to his former Hollywood writing partner Julia Jones. (She also co-wrote with Bannon a Shakespearean hip-hop musical about the 1992 L.A. riots.)
These days, however, hes less interested in producing and directing propaganda films and is far more keen on, say, forging international alliances with ultra-right-wing, nationalist, populist political parties in western Europe.
He has long wanted to work with all of those parties, but that was only in promoting them with Breitbart, a source close to Bannon told The Daily Beast earlier this month. Now he has the power of the White House to do it.
With that in mind, its on to the executive branch for Bannonwhere he is set to serve as one of the most powerful voices and operators working in the Trump era.
Like [Andrew] Jacksons populism, were going to build an entirely new political movement, Bannon continued, in The Hollywood Reporters borderline-loving profile of the nationalist, alt-right ringleader. Bannon concluded by saying, I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors.
KIEVLieutenant General Nikolai Ryabets never thought of himself as a businessman. His world has always been missiles and anti-aircraft systems. What he knew well was how to operate, maintain, and modernize them. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan the general provided missile defenses for Kabul and Kandahar for three years. On his return to Ukraine, still part of the Soviet Union in those days, he served in all echelons of the air defense forces in Lviv and in Kiev, slowly moving all the way up to the position of deputy commander.
Now retired from active duty, the general works in a sleek office in a freshly refurbished two-floor building in Kiev as chairman of the state-funded company Nebo Ukrainy, or The Sky of Ukraine. His job is to sell old Soviet air defense systems, good enough for the third world countries. He has not had much luck.
Its a pretty cynical business, and probably Ryabets should not have been surprised when Hollywood star George Clooney and human rights activist John Prendergast of the Enough Project named Riyabets and the company he heads in a damning document they presented in September about corruption and civil war in the benighted new nation of South Sudan.
Some unscrupulous profiteers proactively look for ways to profit from instability and continued violenceeither through the sale of weapons or by penning deals with armed groups that aspire to take power by force, reads the report titled War Crimes Shouldnt Pay under the heading, War Profiteers.
The document then goes on to detail the activities in South Sudan of one Mark Goldmann, acting as an agent for Nebo Ukrainy with a letter signed by Ryabets.
As the aging general tells the story, the day he first heard of Goldmann is a day he hates to remember.
Ryabets says that about four years ago a neighbor of his named Sayid, a refugee from Chechnyas first war with Russia, came up with a business idea. Sayid said his brother Magomed lived in Geneva and had very good connections all over the world, and that he might help us find a reliable buyer in Africa or in China, Ryabets told The Daily Beast.
Lt. Gen. Ryabets described the role of the Chechen partner as go-between connecting the Nebo Ukrainy corporation founded and owned by the state and whoever wants to buy Ukraines rusting rocket systems, some of them more than 30 years old.
Back in 2013, Russian citizen Magomed Erzanukaev, who also goes by the name Mark Goldmann, visited our company, said Ryabets. He did not look like any rich businessman, rather like an immature loser, but we still issued him a document authorizing him to be the official representative of our corporation, Nebo Ukrainy, until August last year.
Looking back, Ryabets says he regrets the day he ever let Erzanukaev-Goldmann walk into his office, as in fact, instead of helping to find a good business deal for Nebo Ukrainy and make money, the Chechen brother of his neighbor caused both Ryabets and his corporation a huge headache.
The report released by Sentry, one of the groups sponsored by Clooney and Prendergast, says that in 2014, in the middle of Ukraines war with pro-Russian rebels in the Donbas region, Mark Goldmann acted as a broker between South Sudans vice president at the time, Riek Machar, and the defense firm Nebo Ukrainy. The documents obtained by Sentry indicated that Goldmann was importing military equipment for the improvement of its military defense in return for crude oil from South Sudan.
This Russian broker identified himself as Mark Goldmann and claimed to head a company called MGA Capital, offering to negotiate the sale of military equipment in return for the countrys most lucrative asset: oil, the report said.
Ryabets confirmed in our interview that together with the official letter authorizing Goldmann to be Nebo Ukrainys broker, he also equipped Erzanukaev-Goldmann with a catalogue of potential goods that included multiple air defense systems, including the vaunted S-300 and the BUK, the rocket launcher tragically famous for bringing down Malaysian flight MH-17 in July, 2014, over eastern Ukraine.
The catalogue also offered the self-propelled Shilka, the portable air defense complex Igla and several other expensive items of military equipment.
But according to Ryabets, Goldmann never actually sealed any deals. There were miles to go between the day Magomed or Mark was to find us a reliable buyer and the day of actual delivery, since we sell everything through a state agency, UkrSpecExport, Ryabets told The Daily Beast.
Goldmann declined to comment on the case.
Did Ryabets have bad feelings about looking for business deals in long-suffering, violence-plagued African countries?
The export of weapons is just business for the senior officer.
Look, we have to sell the old defense systems, otherwise all our BUKs and other air defense systems will just rot in storage, said Ryabets. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, warehouses at our military bases were full of weapons. Ukraine shoveled tons of them to Africa, packed those countries with all sorts of tanks, artillery, and air defense systems made in USSR.
All this was big business. In 2012, for instance, Ukraine shipped major conventional arms worth $1.344 billion, becoming the fourth largest arms exporter in the world after United States, Russia, and China, according to the data published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
And the rot of corruption is not limited to South Sudan or Africa.
In the three years since Ukraines Maidan uprising and he Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has become a bazaar of both legal and illegal weapons with numerous high profile corruption cases.
In fact, Ukrainian prosecutors are currently calling in senior defense ministry officers for questioning. The press service for Ukraines prosecutor general has published info-graphics of all weapons illegally exported by corrupt military commanders in the period from 2005 to 2014, worth a total of two billion Ukrainian hryvnia or $77 million dollars.
A big chunk of money from these sales goes into the pockets of the same [ex] Soviet generals who commanded our forces before the Maidan revolution, says Yuriy Kolesnikov, leader of a volunteer group providing aid for battalions fighting in Donbas. They continue to fill up their pockets with corrupt dollars, instead of supporting the forces on the front lines.
The situation in the eastern regions of Ukraine meanwhile continues to be shaky. On Thursday morning the press service of the Anti-Terrorist (ATO) Headquarters reported 37 attacks on Ukrainian army positions by pro-Russian rebel forces in one single day.
Shortly before the third anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, the countrys capital of Kiev was once again shaken by anti-government street protests as both civilians and military personnel called for a change of power. On Nov. 14, hundreds of Ukrainians came out to protest against increasing prices. Many said they had lost their deposits at Ukrainian banks. About 300 people blocked the street in front of the National Bank of Ukraine.
The new generation of political elites pushed for reforms and anti-corruption measures in the defense ministry and law enforcement agencies, but to little avail. Corruption is once again everywhere you look, in the government, in the defense ministry, in the bank system, Kolesnikov told The Daily Beast.
His volunteer group put together their own technology, a drone that is capable of transporting up to 50 kilos of cargo. The drone could apparently also fire and liquidate enemy targets, Kolesnikov said with pride.
Last month the Committee on Preventing and Combating Corruption looked into 68 cases of violations committed last year and 116 appeals to law enforcement agencies identified during internal checks in 2016.
Ukroboronprom officials admitted that the war in Donbas did not stop corruption within state agencies.
Our army commanders and Ukroboronprom, the group responsible for import and export of weapons, is a total disgrace even as our soldiers are righting an artillery war in Donbas, says Kolesnikov. This year alone, Ukraine has exported 12 units of the weapon most demanded on the front, the 122-mm howitzer D-30, as well as Mi-24 and Mi-29 helicopters; and then Ukraine was begging for newer weapons from the West.
Back in his office, Lt. Gen. Ryabets was angry as he discussed the ingnominy of his ordeal in South Sudan.
That Magomed did not do anything good for our country, did not help us sell a single piece of scrap, the officer said with frustration and then stared at The Daily Beast reporter with a light of hope in his eyes: Maybe you could help us sell our goods? Ryabets asked. Please publish the highlights of our catalogue, maybe there is somebody on the West who would be interested in purchasing our newer, modernized air defense systems.
TROY, New York Joel Abeloves gleaming black police interceptor sits in a newly minted district attorneys parking spot, decked out with emergency lights on the dashboard and rear window. Its a new purchasewith asset forfeiture fundsmade by the embattled Rensselaer County District Attorney, who ran on a tough-on-crime platform and declared his support for his employees Second Amendment right to pack heat in the office.
But Abelove, who made headlines this year when he reportedly gave immunity to a cop who shot an unarmed black man, has not lived up to his reformist promise. A month-long investigation by The Daily Beast uncovered a pattern of alleged political favors and personal grudges, and a talent drain in Abeloves workforce.
The apparent rot in the DAs office, and the shooting of Edson Thevenin, has led to scathing criticism of Abelove. The bad press came to a head on Sunday, when the Albany Times Union published an editorial calling on the 47-year-old Republican prosecutor to resign after three violent felony cases were dismissed under speedy trial rules.
If it is found Mr. Abelove mishandled the [Thevenin shooting] case, it could be cause for his removal from office by Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo, the critique read. Mr. Abeloves continued demonstration of incompetence and partisanship should make that unnecessary. He should resign
Abelove was elected in 2014, owing in large part to his opposition to the 2013 New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, a landmark gun-control law widely denounced in the towns and villages of upstate New York. Known as the SAFE Act, it expanded the definition of assault weapons under New York law and made it harder for individuals with certain mental illnesses to obtain weapons.
I mean, issues like the SAFE Act, displeasure with certain policies of the governor, I gotta believe that certainly played a role [in the election], Abelove told WAMC radio at the time.
Its difficult to overstate the animus against the SAFE Act in Abelove country. At the time, the Rensselaer County legislature even passed a resolution prohibiting the use of the countys seal in support or enforcement of the law championed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Three years later, yard signs condemning the law still speckle the countys yards and roadways.
Abelove, whom the New York Post once touted as a potential GOP candidate for state attorney general, told the newspaper that tougher mandatory minimum sentences would be a better idea than the SAFE Act.
Once he took office, Abelove encouraged his staffers to start carrying pistols, even offering to pick up the tab of the application and safety courses. Im not suggesting my staff has to arm themselves. I just wanted them to know I support them if they want to carry a gun, he told the Times Union.
Once in office, Abeloves feuds with Gov. Cuomo went beyond the SAFE Act. In August 2015, he railed against Cuomos Executive Order No. 147, which allows the attorney generals office to investigate and to act as special prosecutor in officer-involved killings of unarmed civilians.
Abelove would seemingly disobey this order eight months later when a Troy cop shot and killed Edson Thevenin, a 38-year-old father of two who was unarmed and allegedly led police on a brief chase after a DWI stop. Five days after Thevenins death, Abelove reportedly granted the police officer immunity instead of turning over the case to the attorney general. The grand jury did not return an indictment.
In an email, Abelove said his office does not discuss grand jury matters.
As The Daily Beast reported yesterday, two witnesses to the incidentincluding one who believed the fatal use of force wasnt justifiedsaid they gave statements to police but werent called to testify before the panel. One of the witnesses later recanted, and told The Daily Beast he hoped to join the Troy police force.
Legal experts were puzzled by Abeloves reported decision to give Sgt. French immunity before he testified to the grand jury that was investigating him.
I have never seen a case where a defendant is testifying at a grand jury, and gets immunity [for the crime the grand jury is reviewing], Florina Altshiler, a Buffalo-based defense attorney and former prosecutor in Alaska, told The Daily Beast.
If a prosecutor gives the target defendant immunity, then essentially that defendant can go into a grand jury, testify to all sorts of wrongdoing, and be exempt from prosecution for that wrongdoing.
Allegations of mismanagement have plagued Abelove well before the Thevenin shooting, and in one case, prior to his taking office.
In December 2014, he eliminated a political opponents position as an investigator for the district attorney. Gary Gordon had run for sheriff on the Democratic ticket against Abeloves ally just three years before, and had vocally opposed Abelove at a Police Benevolent Association endorsement meeting during Abeloves first run for DA. Gordon said his opposition cost Abelove the PBA endorsement.
He was naming a bunch of cases he said were mishandled by the current DA, Gordon told The Daily Beast. After his presentation, I questioned him publicly at the meeting.
Four years later, Abelove won the election. Gordon was out.
Theres only so much money in the budget, and with some of the things I was looking to do coming in, it was necessary for me to cut that budget item, Abelove told WAMC Radio at the time. We still have four investigators in the office, so well be able to make do with that and at the same time it allows me to increase some different positions from less than full time to full time.
Abelove told The Daily Beast that he was not able to comment on Gordons allegations because of an unrelated criminal indictment against Gordon.
Around the same time, Abelove asked chief ADA Carmelo Laquidara to drop charges against Martin Reid, chairman of the Rensselaer County legislature and a political ally of Abelove, court papers allege. New York Department of Labor investigators found that Reid had taken home $15,335 in unemployment benefitsall while collecting a $30,000-a-year government salary for his part-time county job.
LaquidaraAbeloves opponent in the 2014 district attorney race, and who was aiding Abeloves transition into officerefused to drop charges, according to an affidavit.
When Abelove took over in January, he denied receiving a referral for prosecution from the Department of Labor and said he would not prosecute Reid without direction from police or the state attorney general.
There has been no referral to my office for a prosecution, Abelove told the Times Union. Ive gotten nothing from the police, nothing from the attorney general. Ive gotten no letter. The materials existed in the office in whatever form they were with the previous administration who chose not to do anything.
Abelove echoed this statement to The Daily Beast. No request was made by me or my office to Mr. Laquidara or anyone else to drop charges against Mr. Reid before I took office, the DA added in an email this week.
The attorney generals office took over, and Reid was arrested in August 2015 on a 41-count felony indictment. He was charged with one count of grand larceny and 40 counts of offering a false instrument for filing, and resigned his leadership position in the county legislature that same day.
Theres two systems of justice: one for Joel and his friends, and one for everybody else, one local insider told The Daily Beast. Thats really what it boils down to.
Reid pleaded guilty to one felony count of offering a false instrument for filing in September 2016. He lost his county legislature seat, and was sentenced to three days in jail and three years of conditional discharge. He was also required to pay a $5,000 fine, according to the Times Union.
Meanwhile, court papers show that Reid appeared to help Abelove in other ways. During a December 2014 legislature meeting, he introduced an amendment to the county budget to eliminate one $52,519 special investigator jobthe position belonging to political rival Gary Gordon.
Richard Crist, another Abelove ally and a spokesman for the Rensselaer County legislatures Republicans, was outraged at the Reid case outcome. Martin was an effective legislator for years, including work on important job creation projects, providing needed county services, and budgets that stayed within the tax cap, Crist told the Times Union. It is sad that an individual act unrelated to his work in the legislature resulted in the court action today.
The Reid allegations have been a thorn in Abeloves side ever since, and are mentioned in the Times Unions recent call for the district attorneys resignation and a former employees affidavit alleging political malfeasance.
Yet the Reid case wasnt the only one under scrutiny. Crist was himself arrested on child endangerment charges after a physical altercation with his 17-year-old son in July 2014, the Times Union reported.
Abelove, who inherited the case after the election, told The Daily Beast that Child Protective Services and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services cleared Crist of wrongdoing. But his predecessor, Arthur Glass, said Abelove shouldve appointed a special prosecutor to keep matters involving his political allies above board. In fact, multiple judges had recused themselves from the case because of Crists political connections. You dont even want to give the impression of any impropriety, Glass told the Times Union, after Abelove dropped charges in January 2015.
Abelove disagreed. When Crists attorney moved to dismiss the charges, he didnt fight him. He was not directly involved in heading my campaign, Abelove said at the time. The DA recently told The Daily Beast, To suggest that I allowed the case to be dismissed for political reasons is clearly false; there simply was no proof to sustain the charges.
But sources in Rensselaer County told The Daily Beast that in the 2014 election, Crist gathered designating petitions for Abelove that helped him to appear on the Independence Party linea move that got Abelove 1,596 votes.
The district attorney won the election by a narrow margin of just 492 votes.
[Crist] was an active participant that helped [Abelove] gather petitions to qualify for the Wilson Pakula, CB Smith, a local Democratic activist and government watchdog, told The Daily Beast. (The waiver allows a candidate who is not registered with a particular political party to appear on that partys ballot line.)
Im not sure what you mean by the term campaign for me, Abelove told The Daily Beast. I had many people who supported my candidacy.
Once in office, Abelove has relied on a little help from his friends in order to run it.
One notable hire was Jessica Hall, an old friend who supported Abeloves campaign and worked with him under former DA Patricia DeAngelis. She became Abeloves chief assistant, a right-hand woman who runs the office alongside him.
Abelove also brought in Jonathan Desso, the 34-year-old son of a major campaign supporter. Desso handles public relations, among other things, in his role as a confidential assistant. His father, Louis Desso, is well known in Rensselaer County Republican politics as the town supervisor of North Greenbush.
Before joining Abeloves staff, Desso worked as a distribution group leader at Target, according to his LinkedIn page. He will take home $78,120 this year, according to public records. In contrast, early-career assistant district attorneys make $45,000 at the office.
Abelove created Jonathan Dessos full-time appointed position after eliminating Gordons, according to court filings.
Christine Labbate, the niece of Martin Reidthe Rensselaer County legislatures Republican chairman whom Abelove had declined to prosecutewas hired as an assistant district attorney handling major crimes. Cindy Bugbee Mattison, the sister of Republican County Elections Commissioner Larry Bugbee, was hired as a secretary. And sources said that a girlfriend of a former Conservative party chairman was hired as an executive assistant. (The Wilson Pakula waiver the party granted Abelove to appear on the Conservative Party line helped secure his victory.)
The Republicans in Rensselaer County have rigged the process by controlling the significant minor party lines: the Conservative Party and the Independence Party, Smith, the government watchdog, said. I submit that if there was an office of dog catcher, the Republican candidate would win the Conservative and Independence Party lines, even if he or she could not tell the difference between a cat and a dog.
Abelove said he could not comment on personnel matters in regards to staffing.
Meanwhile, experienced long-time employees didnt always fare so well under Abeloves administration. He fired two assistant district attorneys when he took office, and five others quit. The turnover would continue throughout his term, from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Then, days before Christmas in 2015, Abelove fired assistant district attorney Shane Hug without a stated reason. Hug, a holdover from past administrations, was one of the offices most experienced assistant district attorneys and handled major cases. He had also campaigned for Carmelo Laquidara, Abeloves Democratic challenger, in the district attorneys race.
In October 2016, Hug, retired Troy police detective Ronald Fountain, and Gary Gordonthe district attorneys investigator whose job Abelove had eliminated before taking officewere charged with 15 misdemeanor counts relating to the leak of a 911 call made by a Republican mayoral candidates wife. Abelove took the rare step of bringing misdemeanor charges to a grand jury in a case involving at least two political opponents and a complainant who had campaigned for him in the district attorneys race.
The trio is accused of conspiring to obtain a 911 audio tape from July 2015, when the wife of a Republican mayoral candidate, Jim Gordon, called cops saying her hubby held her down during an argument. A Troy police officer who had campaigned for Abelove and had possession of the tape was given immunity by Abelove in this case.
Gordon lost the election after the recording was leaked to the Times-Union and Democrats used it in robo-calls.
This is a petty prosecution brought for personal and political reasons by the most ethically challenged district attorney in Rensselaer County in my lifetime, Trey Smith, Hugs attorney, told the Times Union when they were charged in October 2016.
In late October, Smith filed a motion requesting Abelove be removed from the case over a very strong appearance of impropriety. Gordon and Abelove supported each other politically, with Abelove donating to Gordons campaigns from 2011 to 2015, the court filing alleges.
Abelove has financially supported the complainants political campaigns, and the complainant has carried at least one designating petition for Abeloves campaign for the office he holds, Smith wrote.
Abeloves response denied the allegations and said that one part reeks of an unsubstantiated smear intended to confuse the Court.
Abelove personally presented the case to the grand jury, while granting immunity to the cop who initially provided access to the 911 call, court papers say. That officer, Troy Sgt. Tim Colaneri, donated to Abeloves unsuccessful 2011 run for DA and also asked the Police Benevolent Association to publicly endorse him, records show.
Multiple members of Rensselaer Countys legal communitywho spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity over fear of reprisal from Abelove, whom they described as vindictivesay that while the DA is busy playing lawman, his office is suffering from high turnover and undertrained and overworked staff.
Justice isnt being served in Rensselaer County, one lawyer told The Daily Beast. People are quitting right and left. Now you have all these cases that arent being properly handled. Its frustrating to watch.
The turnover has been swift and continuous. Abelove fired some holdovers from the previous administration, and kept only a handfulamong them, Shane Hug, whom he would later fire. He hired a slate of new prosecutors.
In May of 2015, five months after Abelove took office, the Times Union reported that five of his nine hires had already quit. Abelove declined to provide turnover numbers to The Daily Beast for his assistant district attorneys.
The pay in Rensselaer County has historically lagged behind nearby areas, sources said, and assistant district attorneys had high case loads due to Troys crime rates. The office also historically had fewer prosecutors than other counties nearby.
But sources also said that Abeloves leadership style contributed to increased turnover.
People familiar with the department say Abelove runs it in a hierarchical manner modeled after his experiences in the U.S. military. (He is a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard.) Assistant DAs are expected to run decisions by Hall, the first assistant, who would in turn run things by Abelove.
In his election campaign, Abelove said he hoped that successfully prosecuting low-level offenses would lead to an overall drop in crime through deterrenceessentially a rebranding of the widely disputed Broken Windows theory. If you address the heroin epidemic, if you address welfare fraud, if you address DWI, if you start addressing all these other offenses that affect the quality of life in our neighborhoods, if you address the burglaries, smaller assaults, robberies, everything maybe you dont get a homicide down the road, he told the Troy Record during his campaign.
But members of the Rensselaer County legal community told The Daily Beast that Abeloves approach has resulted in more dead felonies than substantive changes. Multiple sources told The Daily Beast that the inexperienced office is a boon for the defense bar, who can wait for cases that would have ordinarily been prosecuted to expire under speedy trial rules.
Cases have languished when they werent strong enoughor not high-priority enoughto take before a grand jury. If six months pass without a speedy trial waiver from the defense, they become what lawyers call 30-30 dead under state law. Those crimes are then sent to a lower court, from where they are typically dismissed.
Most recently, an assault on a police officer, a home invasion, and a threat to burn a church died under speedy trial rules, according to the Albany Times-Union.
Lucas Mihuta, the defense attorney in the three cases, said that cases occasionally get dismissed under speedy trial rules, but such dismissals have gotten more common under the Abelove administration.
[Most often] its because maybe a case was not ripe to be prosecuted as a felony in the first place, Mihuta said. Its a lot more rare for a serious case, that should reasonably be treated as a felony, to be dismissed as a 30-30 violation.
Abelove told The Daily Beast earlier this week that he was not aware of dozens more expired felonies. But just days later, the Times Union reported that another four such cases were dismissed in Troy City Court.
Speaking to the paper, Abelove blamed the dismissals on former prosecutors who let their caseloads go and promised to create more accountability going forward. But these steps may be coming a little too late.
On Sunday, the Times Union published an editorial saying it was time for the district attorney to go.
When three people accused of violent felonies go free without having to face a trial because of error by the district attorneys office, something is gravely wrong, it said. The blame for this blunder, a failure to comply with the states speedy trial statute, lies ultimately with the person who heads the office, Mr. Abelove himself. And its just the latest example of his unfitness for a post he was elected to in 2014.
He once reportedly called a black attorney boy and advised him to be careful what you say to white folks. He deemed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the legendary civil-rights group co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, communist-inspired. Yet, Friday morning, some 30 years after his nomination to the federal bench was rejected, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions will likely become the next U.S. attorney general.
Sessions, who once even suggested a white lawyer working for black clients was a race traitor and joked that the only issue he had with the Ku Klux Klan was their drug use, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and now serves on the Judiciary Committeethe very same body that spurned him in 1986.
Nominated by then President Ronald Reagan, the 39-year-old went on to earn a F for his Senate voting record by the NAACPan organization Sessions calls un-American.
Those things should disqualify him from public servicewhether serving in the Senate, leading the Justice Department or running the county animal shelter.
But Sessionsonce deemed the most racist man in the Senatehas been among Donald Trumps most fervent loyalists. A Confederate flag devotee, he was on the campaign, early and hard, when others flat out refused to be caught in the same room with the former real-estate developer. Where others had shame, Sessions beamed with pride.
That now President-elect Trump would make such a high-level nomination should come as no surprise. The announcement comes mere days after Steve Bannona man who trades in ethno-centric nationalism, anti-Semitism, and racial animuswas named White House chief strategist. A self-described Leninist who until recently was chairman of Breitbart News, Bannon was once accused of choking his now ex-wife over groceries.
Sessions, who is staunchly anti-immigration, can be counted on to help Trump build that wall, institute a ban on Muslim immigration altogether or create the legal perimeters for a federal registry. We can expect Sessions to find legal justification for any and all of Trumps bigoted schemes.
There isnt much daylight to speak of between Bannon and Sessions, who once complained that human-rights advocates were trying to force civil rights down the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them. But, if confirmedand theres every reason to believe he will bein no small irony, Sessions will succeed the first black man and woman to ever hold that office.
Its a fine place to start if you are intent on erasing the legacy of the nations first black president. While critics (and I am one of them) dont believe President Obama went far enough, there were meaningful reforms in critical areas. Those criminal-justice reforms, instituted by Eric Holder and extended by Loretta Lynch, will almost certainly be halted or reversed.
This likely includes rescinding a plan to halt federal private-prison contracts and, perhaps more dangerously, a federalization of stop-and-frisk laws. It means less accountability for local law-enforcement agencies that police non-white communities, and less scrutiny of an officer who shoots an unarmed suspect.
If Sessions had been attorney general, there would have been no Ferguson investigation. Those police departments operating under a consent decree, negotiated with this administration, can expect the Justice Department to stand down.
In the era of Holder and Lynch, people of color were able to look to Washington when their local municipalities failed them. Even if they did not always get the brand of justice they wanted, activists routinely found an open door at the Justice Department. The days of inviting community activists in for a sit-down with top level staffers are over. With Sessions at the helm, those doors will be shut and Katy-barred.
When the American people went to the polls Nov. 8, we were not only electing a presidentwe were elected his Cabinet-level appointees as well as 4,000 other federal agency employees who make policy every day. By electing Trump, we also elected the likes of Bannon, Sessions, and Ret. General Michael Flynn, who said fear of Muslims was rational.
Republicans control the Senate, which is unlikely to reject one of its own no matter how contentious the confirmation hearing becomes.
What do you have to lose? Donald Trump boomed on the campaign trail, saying black people lived in crime-ridden, impoverished neighborhoods with broken schools. If the answer was not clear before, it is abundantly so now: Everything.
You may think you love NYC's mass transit system, but you don't love it the way Darius McCollum does. McCollum, 51, is a NYC legend because he's been arrested nearly three dozen times for stealing subways and buses since 1980, which was when, at age 15, he took an E train downtown from 34th Street to World Trade Center. Today, Off the Rails, a documentary offering a window into his obsessive love and whether authorities overreacted to it, opens at the Metrograph.
Director Adam Irving portrays McCollum as a non-violent man with autism who gets locked up (for over half his life) instead of getting treatment. "The Asperger's [syndrome] added this childlike innocence to his crimes," Irving told the NY Post. "Why would someone pretend to drive a bus? You've got to make the stops, make all the announcements. It's not, like, a pleasurable thing. Who would do that for free?"
McCollum's ability to break in and gain access to equipment and even take them for a ride has embarrassed transit agencies too many times. He's been arrested in LIRR yards while carrying various transit keys (engineer, universal, and switch), transit worker's clothes, and a hard hat. But McCollum's legal team has suggested that the MTA use him as a consultant, to help the agency better secure its equipment.
Since he was a child, McCollum was interested in subways and buses. When he was 12, he befriended subway motormen in Queens, who showed him a new world. McCollum's mother, who now lives in North Carolina, has previously said she has warned him from going back to NYC and its tempting mass transit system, but, "He's a lover of New York and can't get over it."
McCollum is currently being held at Rikers for stealing a Greyhound bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal last year. He told the Post from jail that he's asked for therapy but can't get that there. "I just hope people ride the MTA in the safest manner possible. The main thing I want people to understand is that even though I'm here, I have never given up my love for the MTA," he said.
Off the Rails premieres at the Metrograph today. Director Adam Irving will be at a Q&A after tonight's 7:30 p.m. screening, with NBC New York's Sarah Wallace moderating; Wallace interviewed McCollum in jail last year.
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It's official: Truth is dead. Facts are passe.
And this sentiment - smiley face - is so last year.
Oxford Dictionaries has selected "post-truth" as 2016's international word of the year, after the contentious "Brexit" referendum and an equally divisive U.S. presidential election caused usage of the adjective to skyrocket, according to the Oxford University Press.
The dictionary defines "post-truth" as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."
In this case, the "post-" prefix doesn't mean "after" so much as it implies an atmosphere in which a notion is irrelevant - but then again, who says you have to take our word for it anymore?
Throughout a grueling presidential campaign in which accusations of lies and alternate realities flowed freely, in every direction, hundreds of fact checks were published about statements from both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Dozens of media outlets found that Trump's relationship with the truth was, well, complicated.
"We concede all politicians lie," conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote in September. "Nevertheless, Donald Trump is in a class by himself."
She cited The Atlantic's David Frum, who described Trump's dishonesty in May as "qualitatively different than anything before seen from a major-party nominee."
None of this seemed to matter significantly to those who supported him.
"There is no doubt that even in the quadrennial truth-stretching that happens in presidential campaigns, Trump has set records for fabrication," The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza wrote days before the election.
And yet, Cillizza noted, Trump was seen as more honest than Clinton by an eight-point margin, according to a Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll released on Nov. 2.
"Post-truth" was selected after Oxford's dictionary editors noted a roughly 2,000 percent increase in its usage over 2015 - it was appearing with far more frequency in news articles and on social media in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
The first spike came in June, driven by the rhetoric leading up to Britain's European Union referendum, Oxford Dictionaries President Casper Grathwohl said in a statement.
"Post-truth" usage spiked again in July after Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination.
"It's not surprising that our choice reflects a year dominated by highly-charged political and social discourse," Grathwohl said. "Fueled by the rise of social media as a news source and a growing distrust of facts offered up by the establishment, post-truth as a concept has been finding its linguistic footing for some time."
"Post-truth" was selected as the 2016 word of the year even before results of the election were known, said Katherine Martin, the head of U.S. dictionaries for Oxford University Press.
"We choose words that are going to highlight the interplay between our words and our culture," Martin said. The final word of the year is meant to be one that captures the "ethos, mood or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance."
No matter how you measure it, a mass extinction has arrived. A 2015 study that one of us (Ehrlich) coauthored used conservative assumptions to estimate the natural, or background rate of species extinctions for various groups of vertebrates. The study then compared these background rates to the pace of species losses since the beginning of the 20th century.
Even assuming conservatively high background rates, species have been disappearing far faster than before. Since 1900, reptiles are vanishing 24 times faster, birds 34 times faster, mammals and fishes about 55 times faster, and amphibians 100 times faster than they have in the past.
For all vertebrate groups together, the average rate of species loss is 53 times higher than the background rate.
Extinction filters
To make matters worse, these modern extinctions ignore the many human-caused species losses before 1900. It has been estimated, for instance, that Polynesians wiped out around 1,800 species of endemic island birds as they colonised the Pacific over the past two millennia.
And long before then, early human hunter-gatherers drove a blitzkrieg of species extinctions - especially of megafauna such as mastodons, moas, elephant birds and giant ground sloths - as they migrated from Africa to the other continents.
In Australia, for instance, the arrival of humans at least 50,000 years ago was soon followed by the disappearance of massive goannas and pythons, predatory kangaroos, the marsupial 'lion', and the hippo-sized Diprotodon among others.
Changes in climate could have contributed, but humans with their hunting and fires were almost certainly the death knell for many of these species.
As a result of these pre-1900 extinctions, most ecosystems worldwide went through an extinction filter: the most vulnerable species vanished, leaving relatively more resilient or less conspicuous species behind.
And it's the loss of these survivors that we are seeing now. The tally of all species driven to extinction by humans from prehistory to today would be far greater than many people realise.
Vanishing populations
The sixth great extinction is playing out in other ways too, especially in the widespread annihilation of millions (perhaps billions) of animal and plant populations. Just as species can go extinct, so can their individual populations, reducing both the genetic diversity and long-term survival prospects of the species.
For example, the Asian two-horned rhinoceros once ranged widely across Southeast Asia and Indochina. Today it survives only in tiny pockets comprising perhaps 3% of its original geographic range.
Three quarters of the world's largest carnivores, including big cats, bears, otters and wolves, are declining in number. Half of these species have lost at least 50% of their former range.
Likewise, except in certain wilderness areas, populations of large, long-lived trees are falling dramatically in abundance.
WWF's 2016 Living Planet Report summarises long-term trends in over 14,000 populations of more than 3,700 vertebrate species. Its conclusion: in just the last four decades, the population sizes of monitored mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have shrunk by an average of 58% worldwide.
And as populations of many species collapse, their crucial ecological functions decline with them, potentially creating ripple effects that can alter entire ecosystems. Hence disappearing species can cease to play an ecological role long before they actually go extinct.
Paying the extinction debt
Everything we know about conservation biology tells us that species whose populations are in freefall are increasingly vulnerable to extinction.
Extinctions rarely happen instantly, but the conspiracy of declining numbers, population fragmentation, inbreeding and reduced genetic variation can lead to a fatal 'extinction vortex'. In this sense, our planet is currently accumulating a large extinction debt that must eventually be paid.
And we're not just talking about losing cute animals: human civilisation relies on biodiversity for its very existence. The plants, animals and microorganisms with which we share the Earth supply us with vital ecosystem services.
These include regulating the climate, supplying clean water, limiting floods, running nutrient cycles essential to agriculture and forestry, controlling serious crop pests and carriers of diseases, and providing beauty, spiritual and recreational benefits.
Are we preaching doom? Far from it. What we're saying, however, is that life on Earth is ultimately a zero-sum game. Humans cannot keep growing in number and consuming ever more land, water and natural resources and expect all to be well.
Limiting harmful climate change has become a catchphrase for battling such maladies. But solutions to the modern extinction crisis must go well beyond this.
We also have to move urgently to slow human population growth, reduce overconsumption and overhunting, save remaining wilderness areas, expand and better protect our nature reserves, invest in conserving critically endangered species, and vote for leaders who make these issues a priority.
Without decisive action, we are likely to hack off vital limbs of the tree of life that could take millions of years to recover.
Bill Laurance is Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University.
Paul Ehrlich is President, Center for Conservation Biology, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
A group of 89 MEPs have tabled a motion that the proposed Investor Court System (ICS) in CETA, the EU Canada trade deal, should be subjected to full and proper legal scrutiny by the European Court of Justice before coming into force.
The ICS would enable corporations to sue participating governments for passing laws or regulations that could harm their profits, for example by imposing new restrictions on pesticides, or raising labour standards.
The 89 'rebel' MEPs say the controversial provisions need to be scrutinised to ensure that they are compatible with existing EU treaties and laws. But parliamentary leaders are attempting to block their initiative.
In their latest move, the European Parliament's Committee of Presidents have pushed forward the vote on the motion to Wednesday 23rd November, and are refusing to allow any debate about it to take place in parliament.
It's also been reported that the some of the MEPs who tabled the motion have been ordered by party leaders to remove their names from it.
'A chilling effect on governments seeking to improve social and environmental standards'
However the 89 MEPs who tabled the motion say that unless MEPs are allowed time to debate the proposal and articulate their concerns about the legality of ICS, the proposal is much less likely to succeed. A previous report on the proposed Investor Court System also warned that it "could dangerously thwart government efforts to protect citizens and the environment."
"The system of secret, corporate courts proposed within the CETA trade treaty represents a massive power grab and it is particularly shocking that our democratic representatives at Westminster are being prevented from debating or voting on this trade treaty", said Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, one of those who tabled the motion.
"The courts are likely to have a chilling effect on governments seeking to improve social and environmental standards, whether this is about controlling the use of antibiotic use on farms or ensuring that we have worker representatives on boards. The slogan 'Take back control' is still ringing in our ears but we need to pay close attention to the question of who is taking back control from whom?"
Specific criticisms of the proposed system include:
Under a comparable treaty, Canada has been sued 26 times, mostly for trying to introducing better environmental regulation. Billions of dollars are currently sought from Canada. In many ways, CETA gives corporations even clearer powers to sue.
Canadian corporations have launched 42 cases against other governments, primarily by extractive firms, and currently have $20 billion in outstanding claims against governments including the US.
Financial regulation is particularly under threat under CETA which hands big banks more power to challenge financial regulation they don't like
European states also risk being sued by thousands of the biggest US multinationals through their subsidiaries in Canada.
Nothing Green about CETA!
Several initiatives related to development of Franklin Countys 550-acre business park were pushed forward during Tuesdays board of supervisors meeting.
The supervisors gave their approval to submit grant applications for $650,000 to build the main entrance road into the park and up to $75,000 to abate any hazardous materials, such as asbestos on an existing property in the park that the county wishes to refurbish.
The board also awarded two contracts to Timmons Group, which worked with the county to create the master plan for the business park.
One was a $54,000 contract for topographical surveying, environmental remediation and a cultural resources review.
The other was a contract for up to $81,400 for design of the business parks event center, which includes space for a produce auction, an amphitheater and a midway area for the countys agricultural fair, among other things, said Michael Burnette, the countys economic development director.
That contract is for partial plans to give the county enough information to go after additional grants before incurring the cost of full design plans, Burnette said.
On Tuesday, Sen. Bill Stanley also gave the board an update on Interstate 73, an interstate highway project many years in the making that would run through Franklin County.
Stanley said the project would be expected to take about nine years to complete, create more than 10,000 jobs during the construction phase and bring 53,000 permanent jobs to the region.
The interstate highway is expected to have a significant economic impact on the region, but funding it Stanley said the section that runs through Virginia is estimated to cost $4 billion still poses a problem.
In recent years, the senator said, far more transportation funds have been going to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads than Southwest Virginia.
Where the roads have gone, so have the jobs, he said.
The answer to the funding conundrum may be a partnership between members of the regional transportation district in which the state sales tax is increased by 0.7 percent and the additional money collected goes toward funding transportation projects in that region, Stanley said.
Stanley said such a proposal would be out of character for him, as he typically doesnt advocate for tax increases, but this one is different.
There are many taxes that the state levies against us, very few that come right back here, 100 percent, dollar for dollar, he said.
Stanleys presentation was informational and the supervisors did not take any action.
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 ...
I'm not even sure what I'm typing anymore, but here goes: Steve Bannon, the guy who'll spend the next four-to-eight years whispering sweet hate-mongering nothings into President-elect Donald Trump's ear, is apparently pretty aware he's becoming the villain in our history books, but no matter! "Darkness is good," he told the Hollywood Reporter in a profile published today. "Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power." GREAT.
There are a lot of deeply frightening takeaways from the Hollywood Reporter piece. He doesn't consider himself a "white nationalist," for instance, even if other white nationalists do, but rather an "economic nationalist," which, sure. He also considers Trump "probably the greatest orator since William Jennings Bryan," because of how well he connects to the audiences at his rallies. Bannon himself is "Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors," which is at least comforting, since Thomas Cromwell was beheaded and eventually the Tudors produced Queen Elizabeth I. She was was a dope ruler. Maybe there's hope for Arabella Rose.
Then, of course, there's this:
Darkness is good, says Bannon, who amid the suits surrounding him at Trump Tower, looks like a graduate student in his T-shirt, open button-down and tatty blue blazer albeit a 62-year-old graduate student. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power. It only helps us when they I believe by they he means liberals and the media, already promoting calls for his ouster get it wrong. When theyre blind to who we are and what were doing.
It is nice to see Dick Cheney's name appropriately located next to Darth Vader's and Satan's, but it appears Bannon actually wants to be the bad guy. It makes sense, considering Bannon's past statements and his history of running what the Times describes as "a hate site steeped in misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, white nationalism and anti-Semitism."
The profile also digs into Trump's massive $1 trillion infrastructure plan that, in Bannon's words, "will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution conservatives, plus populists, in an economic nationalist movement." The vast proposal has been flaunted before and Democrats have already agreed to work with his administration in it, but there are some who believe Trump's plan is naught but a cover to boost his own fiscal interests.
Freshman U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego from Arizona has begged Democrats in Congress to block the infrastructure plan, calling it "a privatization scheme, rife with graft and corruption, whose real purpose is to enrich the Trump family and his supporters." As Gallego testified:
Under ordinary circumstances, we would welcome a plan to invest in infrastructure even if that plan came from the other side of the aisle. Especially if it came from the other side of the aisle! But Donald Trump is not an ordinary politician. He is a con-artist. He has refused to give the American people reason to believe that he is not in this to enrich himself. In fact, he has bucked tradition by maintaining his familys interest in a private corporation.
So, we've got both Darth Vader and Bernie Madoff in the White House, and if that's not a dynamic duo ripe for walking us into the wilderness and starting a brush fire, who is? Everyone in the bunker with Michael Shannon.
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For the second time in as many days on a major cable news outlet, a Connecticut surrogate for Donald Trump called for a national registry of Muslim immigrants and compared it to Japanese internment camps during World War II.
Carl Higbie, a retired Navy SEAL from Greenwich and spokesman pro-Trump Great America PAC, told CNNs Erin Burnett Thursday night theres a national security precedent for tracking individuals based on their ethnicity or religion.
He cited the forced relocation and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. A national registry, he said, would stand up to constitutional challenges.
Its in the best interest to protect America, Higbie said.
Higbies advocacy for the controversial measure sparked a wildfire within Connecticuts Muslim community and among Trumps critics, who are organizing a protest for Saturday outside the luxury Trump Parc condominium high-rise in Stamford. They characterized the registry proposal as the beginning of a slippery slope that could replicate atrocities against immigrants.
It is one of the most shameful things that ever happened in history, said Farhan Memon, of Norwalk, chairperson of the Connecticut chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations. To think in 2016 there are people living in our country who would register and eventually intern individuals because of their race, religion and ethnicity is completely shocking.
A request for comment was left Thursday night for Trumps transition team. Trump does not hold an equity stake on the condo tower, which is the tallest building in Stamford. He received a seven-figure sum for the use of his name in the building, which Trumps critics said last year should be renamed when he proposed stopping Muslims from entering the U.S. after the terrorist attack in Paris.
Higbies appearance on Erin Burnett OutFront set off a breaking news alert on the CNN ticker Thursday night. It echoed comments Higbie made Wednesday night to Megyn Kelly on Fox News Channel.
Higbie, who served two tours of duty in Iraq and briefly ran for Congress in 2014, has been a vocal critic of resettling Syrian refugees in the U.S. During an April rally for Trump in Bridgeport, he met the real estate mogul backstage with other VIPs.
Connecticut is among a minority of states to accept refugees from Syria under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, which has earned the Democrat both the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award and the scorn of GOP hawks like Higbie.
Creating national registries based on a single religion is completely counter to some of the most fundamental freedoms that define our nation, said Kelly Donnelly, a Malloy spokeswoman. And if we are to truly protect our nation, we must protect these freedoms. Mr. Higbies comments are an echo of one of our nations darkest chapters one that we seek to never relive again.
State GOP Chairman J.R. Romano said Thursday night that Higbie does not speak for Republicans.
Obviously, were against internment camps, Romano said. Are we talking about a proposed piece of legislation or are we talking about a guy who goes on cable? I think youre fishing. Thats ridiculous. This is a country thats based on freedom of religion.
Higbie told CNN Trump is not discriminatory.
Hes not anti-Muslim, Higbie said.
On Wednesday night, Higbie told Foxs Kelly most Muslims are peaceful.
Being part of the Muslim faith is not a bad thing, Higbie said. Most of them are perfectly good people. The fact is theres a small percentage of people that have chosen to align with an extreme ideology in the faith and theyre doing harm. So we would like to keep tabs on it until we can figure out whats going on. Look, the president needs to protect America first.
But Kelly, who has had her run-ins with Trump, questioned the comparisons to internment camps.
Thats the kind of stuff that gets people scared, Carl, Kelly said.
neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
NORWALK Leave the lollipops. Take the money.
A second New York man has been extradited to Connecticut to face charges in the Aug. 5 robbery of Webster Bank on Connecticut Avenue, and court records show they were tracked down by DNA evidence from two discarded bank lollipops one of the men munched on before approaching the teller.
Rodney Rush, 51, of Bronx, N.Y., was picked up by Norwalk police Thursday morning at Rikers Island in New York City, where he was being held for extradition after his Sept. 30 arrest in New York. A warrant for Rushs arrest was obtained by Norwalk police on Sept. 22.
He was charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, fourth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny. His bond was set at $250,000 and he was arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court on Thursday.
Kevin Credle, 45, also of the Bronx, already was being held in Connecticut on the same charges.
According to court records, Rush demanded that Credle rob the bank because Credle owed him money for drugs.
According to court records, Credle said that he met a drug dealer named Ronnie (Rush) and Rush had fronted him heroin over a period of days. When Credle was unable to pay Rush back, Rush told him I got a bank job for you.
Creadle entered the bank and first told staff there that he was waiting for his daughter. After about five minutes, he ate two lollipops, approached a tellers station and handed the teller a note. I know where you live, empty the drawer, dont push any buttons for two minutes, you dont want to die, it read.
He indicated that he had a weapon, although none was shown, police said.
As the teller was filling a bag with money, she was able to place a dye pack bundle into it. Credle took the bag and walked across Connecticut Avenue to Stop & Shop, where he got into a waiting car, court records state, driven by Rush.
When the dye bag exploded, Rush became angry, records state. The bag was left in the parking lot. The pair then drove to South Carolina, before Credle returned to New York and was arrested at his home.
Upon police investigation of the scene, the lollipop sticks discarded by Credle were tested and came back with a positive DNA hit for him.
Court records showed that Credle picked Rush out of a photo lineup and along with other evidence, police applied for a warrant for Rushs arrest.
Lt. Thomas Mattera, commander of Norwalk police detective bureau, credited detective Daniel Fitzmaurice with tracking down Rush and his suspected partner in the robbery.
Based on forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, Detective Fitzmaurice was able to piece this together, Mattera said.He did an excellent job.
Mattera also credited information provided by the public in helping to connect Rush to the robbery.
Contributed photo
NORWALK Eight members of the Norwalk Department of Police Service were recognized this week at the AFSCME Council 4 Courage of Connecticut Law Enforcement Dinner for displays of bravery in the line of duty.
Officers Brendan Collins and Daniel Vazquez received recognition for their actions at the scene of a vehicle that had crashed, landing on its roof in the Norwalk River on March 6. Both officers entered the water and along with members of the Norwalk Fire Department removed the injured driver to safety.
CAIRO People were born to talk. They were not born to write. Fortunately, the first communication skill can help with the second.
That was one of the lessons that childrens author Julia Cook of Fremont gave to Centura upper elementary students on Thursday afternoon. Cook asked students to imagine that their teachers have assigned a two-page story. Then she asked them what makes that assignment difficult. Students said coming up with a topic can be difficult; it is hard to write about a topic that they are not interested in; and writing about any subject for two full pages can take a lot of effort.
Cook said other writing challenges include questions such as How do I start? How do I end? What if what I write is not interesting? What if my teacher doesnt like this? What if my brain goes faster than my hand? What if I spell stuff wrong? But, she said, everything you struggle with when you write, I struggle with that, too.
Cook noted that she has written 84 books, but I dont like to write honest. I love to read what Ive written, but the writing part is hard. Its hard for you; its hard for me.
She asked students ages and found out that the kids in the room were ages 9, 10 and 11. She said students who are 9 years old have been talking for eight years, but they likely have been writing for only three or four years. In other words, most students have been talking for about twice as many years as they have been writing.
You dont get up in the morning to write, you get up in the morning to talk, Cook said.
She pointed out that most people are great at speaking and telling other people how they feel or what is happening in their lives. They find it easy to talk to their friends with emotion and feeling. Cook again came up with a hypothetical assignment of a two-page story about their favorite place. She then began asking the kids a series of questions about what things should be included in that paper.
The student answers started coming: Where is it? What do you do at your favorite place?
Cook then asked students about their senses, with the kids saying they could describe the look of their favorite space, the way it smells, its sounds and even the way their favorite place feels.
Under further questioning, students said they also could write about who goes with them to their favorite place, when they usually visit that favorite spot and explain why that location became their favorite place. Cook noted that the students are providing answers to the five Ws in their story, with the kids themselves saying they might even include how they get to their favorite place as part of their story.
Cook asked the students if they would be happy with a story that included all that information and they answered, yes.
Teachers, I want you to try this strategy with your kids. Next time you have them write a story as a classroom, generate a list of everything you want to make sure is in that story. Cook said. Once that list is created, all the students in the class should get a copy. She said the next step is for the students to use that list as an interview sheet.
Cook said kids then will take turns interviewing each other about their favorite place or whatever the assigned topic may be.
Cook said the word in students heads are great ideas. Those great ideas are so connected to words, she said, that students can easily express them when they talk to each other.
But from you to go from here, said Cook, pointing at her head, to writing its not going to happen, because these words are asleep. They are sleeping in your head, so youve got to wake them up. How you do that is you talk about what youre going to write about.
She said that it is not just the talking that wakes up the words. She said those words also are awakened by the brains auditory processes when students hear the words theyre saying. Then those words are ready to use, she said.
Many of Cooks stories for young people deal with real-life situations, with titles such as The Anti-Test Anxiety Society, A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue and Baditude and Grief is Like a Snowflake. Her latest book tells students about the technology tail they create whenever they post something online, whether it be on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or other social media. She said when students become adults and they apply for a job, their potential employer will do a Digital Citizen Background Check.
Because the technology tail lasts forever, any cyber-bullying or any other bad online behavior can be discovered by a potential employer. It just lights you up like a Christmas tree online, said Cook, who said any light shone on bad online behavior means a person will not even get an interview.
Cook read her technology tail story, which suggested that students put on their THINK gloves before they touch their keyboard and post something online: T, is it true? H, is it helpful? I, is it inspiring? N, is it necessary? and K, is it kind?
Cook said students should put their THINK glove on and ask themselves those five questions and if you can honestly answer yes, then they can post on Facebook or tweet away. But if the answer to any of those questions is a no, then students should perhaps not post anything. Students are in charge, and are the ones responsible for their technology tails.
CENTRAL CITY Looking at all the other Nebraska cities along the Union Pacific tracks, Central City feels left out.
The city is the last Nebraska community of more than 1,000 people on the U.P. tracks without a viaduct, says City Administrator Chris Anderson. Thats why a bridge over the tracks has been discussed since the 1950s, Anderson said.
The public was invited to a public information open house meeting Thursday to inspect alternatives for a Central City viaduct. Four of the options involve building a viaduct. The fifth option is to do nothing.
A good crowd turned out for the meeting, which ran from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Central City Elementary School cafeteria. Close to 40 people were inspecting the plans at 4:15 p.m.
Regardless of which viaduct is built, it would eventually connect with Highway 14 north and south of the main U.P. tracks.
How much would the viaduct cost? Right now a very rough estimate is $10 to $15 million, said District 4 Engineer Wes Wahlgren of the Nebraska Department of Roads.
The open house was held to gather input from the public. In addition to the plans displayed, Department of Roads officials wanted to hear if the public has other ideas, Wahlgren said. Its not known when the bridge would be built. The project would be funded by federal and state money, a contribution from Union Pacific and local funds.
According to figures from a year ago, 60 U.P. trains pass through Central City each day, says Todd Palmer of the Department of Roads. Information presented at the hearing said the average traffic delay in Central City is 110 minutes per day.
Building the viaduct is an important public safety issue, Anderson said. When a train stops, all of the crossings in town are blocked, he said. So if theres a fire truck or an ambulance that needs to get across the tracks, then theyre just stuck until that train decides to move.
Anderson hopes the viaduct is built. It needs to be done at some point. Our traffic counts only increase over time, he said. The city has about 3,000 people and is growing. Its a slow growth, but were moving, he said.
When trains stop, there are times when traffic backs up for blocks at a time, Anderson said.
Of the people interviewed at the meeting, most feel theres a need for a viaduct, but they werent sure which option they prefer.
Gordon Deichmann, who hauls corn with a gravity wagon, doesnt see a big need for a viaduct. Such a project would create traffic bottlenecks that dont exist now, said Deichmann, who lives 2 miles west of Central City. In hauling corn to the Green Plains ethanol plant, he doesnt cross the railroad tracks on some routes. When he does, hes used to waiting. Plus, he doesnt like the cost of the project.
Dan Poppe, who is president of Archer Credit Union, strongly favors a viaduct. Hes also president of the Merrick County Development Corp.
One of the routes, called the East option, travels farther north than the rest. But Central City residents dont seem to think its a bridge too far.
Several people spoke favorably of that path, which would cross the tracks between 13th and 14th and connect with 10th Street.
Don Placke says he has mixed feelings about the viaduct. He planned to acquaint himself with the options at Thursdays gathering.
Nora Lindner said she is very much in favor of the viaduct, noting safety concerns.
Reg and Barb Hain would like to see a viaduct built. Theyre not satisfied with the current situation, especially when a train stops, she said.
After looking at the plans, they said they prefer the east and east close options.
They dont like the on-alignment plan, which follows Highway 14, because it would disrupt downtown business. They dont approve of the west alternative because it includes a sharp angle. Under that plan, the bridge would go over the tracks on C Avenue. The route would include a turn onto 13th Street.
Larry Lewandowski feels a viaduct is needed, especially because of fire and emergency needs.
Adele Maynard pointed out that Highways 14 and 30 meet at a funny angle in Central City. The intersection of those two highways is dangerous enough on a good day, when only locals are around, she said. When visitors are abundant, the danger is greater.
Some of the plans would call for homes to be leveled.
Many vehicles travel through Central City. Using figures from 2014, Wahlgren said Highway 14 is traveled each day by 3,560 vehicles south of Central City and 2,155 north of town. Highway 30 counts were 5,968 vehicles west of town and 4,335 vehicles east of town.
The Department of Roads feels a Central City viaduct is a viable project, Palmer said.
The department does many traffic studies throughout the state. Those studies weigh many factors not just traffic, Palmer said.
Several articles have been printed by the main news media saying that its impractical to build a wall along the Mexican border. I would make the wall a major part of my program to secure the United States-Mexican border.
I assume the news media writers are familiar with the engineering issues. They are suggesting that Donald Trump change the height of the wall, route and different building materials. Trump with his experience in the construction business, can produce a company of engineers who can do the job correctly. The U.S. Congress continues to appropriate money to build the wall with bipartisan support.
Prof. Michael Dear, professor at the University of California at Berkley, specializes in the border with Mexico and is author of Why Walls Wont Work. To be sure, a second opinion is needed and what better source than Israel.
Another solution would be to double 20 feet to 30 feet height barbed wire parallel fences. On the ground between the two fences, six feet apart, partially unrolled rolls of barbed wire. Signs on the Mexican side in Spanish printed large to be seen 20 feet away: Anyone attempting to cross and cutting fence wires will be shot. National Guard and U.S. Army troops are to be deployed along the U.S. side of the fence to shoot border crossers. They might shoot a few border crossers, then crossing attempts will stop.
A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not a Christian, said Pope Francis. Nowhere does the Bible command the building of bridges to facilitate the blending and demise of nations. The Bible affirms that walls and nations will continue to exist. (Rev. 21:12 and 24) (Rev. 22:15)
I support the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, however, when the mob starts to destroy private and government property, its time for the police to use deadly force. Remember, if you are not satisfied with the election of Nov. 8, pack your bag and all your money and leave my country.
Phillies make history: Five homers off Astros starter in Game 3 win
McCullers, pitching in his first World Series game since 2017, became the first pitcher in postseason history to give up five home runs in a game.
Tune in to this weeks episode of Segue on WSIE-FM 88.7 as Greg Budzban, PhD, dean of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville College of Arts and Sciences, hosts Eric Voss, PhD, professor in the Department of Chemistry. Their discussion primarily explores the Southern Illinois Regional Science Network (SIRSN) program, established by SIUE in the late 1980s to improve the pedagogical techniques of regional high school science teachers to provide enhanced college preparation and heighten student interest in laboratory sciences.
As a project director for this Illinois Board of Higher Education-funded program, Voss discusses his involvement with SIRSN, as well as recent developments made in the program to increase preparation and interest in the sciences for regional students at the elementary and secondary levels.
Attributing much of his career aspiration to the presence of passionate and engaged science teachers throughout his education, Voss completed his undergraduate work at Northern Illinois University before receiving his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Northwestern University. Following his education, Voss completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Brookhaven National Lab in New York, doing research for the U.S. Department of Energy for two years before joining the SIUE faculty in 1994.
What was so appealing to me about coming here was the heavy focus we have on students, Voss shares. I can do my scholarship working with students, and my teaching is valued. Its truly been a good experience for me to do that.
Because of the impact science teachers had on Voss, his career has been dedicated to working with teachers in the region to pay it forward to the young minds of today through the SIRSN program. The program began by serving primarily high school chemistry teachers using content-based learning. The program has since evolved to include development opportunities in middle school sciences, high school chemistry, high school biology, high school physics, geology, earth science and other laboratory science disciplines. Because such workshops were less common in the state during the programs infancy, teachers would often travel from as far as Rockford and other northern Illinois areas to attend SIUEs SIRSN programming.
Today, the program is able to more intimately serve science teachers from all levels of education and across scientific breadths within a 60-mile radius, better preparing teachers on practical subject matter that is directly applicable to enhancing student preparation and scientific interests. Through this core group of more than 150 teachers, SIUE scientists and the SIRSN program have impacted the scientific and pedagogical techniques of more than 60 regional school districts, creating broad impact for the future of science education in the state.
This program speaks to the many strengths of SIUE in regards to experiential learning and applied research, Budzban notes. As opposed to canned science experiments were everyone knows what the outcomes are going to be, these types of programs actually do research. There are standards now embedded in the program.
As the SIRSN program continues to evolve, so do the standards and methodologies of science education. In 2013, a national change for Next Generation Science Standards was implemented. The initiative allowed science education to descend to the middle school ranks through diversified laboratory science experiences, creating a cross-pollination of science disciplines to allow more in-depth science interests and preparation for students. Now focused upon the practices of science and engineering , disciplinary core topics, and cross-cutting concepts such as measurement and energy, the purpose of such pedagogical evolutions is to provide students with more creative and advanced cognitive thinking mechanisms for developing intellectual maturity.
Among the greatest challenges of these pedagogical innovations are the discomfort of experienced teachers toward the change, as well as student preparation for higher education through a more broad-based science education.
For many teachers who have been teaching for 20 years or more, these Next Generation Science Standards are a big change, Voss explains. You talk to teachers who are just graduating university and they are prepared, because its a great part of how we train them in their pre-service time. However, if you have a teacher whos already out in service and has been educating for several years, these new standards are quite a bit of change.
Voss continues by sharing, A big challenge is if youre preparing students for university through an advanced placement class. Those courses are highly focused on discipline-specific knowledge, whereas these new standards have a much broader look. Because most students will not go on to become science majors, it makes sense to have this interdisciplinary look. However, that results in having a differentiated curriculum, where two often conflicting agendas are having to be dealt with. So the challenge right now is, How do we integrate the standards, yet still ensure students are well-prepared?
To ensure students are engaged with science and possess a continued interest and preparation for its subject matter throughout the duration of their education, Voss believes laboratory science should descend even further in grade levels toward elementary education.
Budzban agrees by adding, When I was growing up, I typically loved science and math. But I must admit, sometimes I would sit in a lab and the results of a particular experiment were obvious! It was like, Okay, Im going to take this block and slide it down this inclined plain and yeah, I know whats going to happen.
Now, part of the requirement and the demand in education is coming up with complex ideas to complex problems where the solution isnt necessarily obvious. We lose so many students along the educational track by not keeping them engaged in the subject matter. These new methods and standards are keeping those students more engaged, which is great.
The discussion concludes with Voss discussing the SIRSN programs next phase. Called the Every Student Succeeds Act, it encourages independent school districts to take professional development initiatives upon themselves rather than receiving them from the University. To support this initiative, four SIUE research teams are currently conducting case studies and pilot studies in regional high schools and middle schools to provide individualized recommendations and consultation on how participating school districts should develop their pedagogies under the Next Generation Science Standards.
Tune in to WSIE 88.7 FM every Sunday at 9 a.m. as weekly guests discuss issues on SIUEs campus.
By Logan Cameron, SIUE Marketing & Communications
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Linkedin Tobias Basuki (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The polices decision to name incumbent governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in the alleged blasphemy case may have come as a surprise and disappointment to his supporters and the more progressive-minded public. It may have set a bad precedent in the enforcement of our laws but more importantly the trajectory of our social political culture.
On the other hand, it may have been a tactically sound move by the police as representatives of the state, which was confronted with seemingly immense public pressure following the Nov. 4 demonstration and a likely follow-up on Nov. 25.
By declaring Ahok a suspect the police appear to have capitulated to the protesters demands against such a controversial, flimsy and highly politicized case. Declaring Ahok as a suspect has countered accusations of the governments preferential treatment towards the Jakarta governor and taken away the rallying point of the varied interests for the upcoming Nov. 25 protest.
Meanwhile, as the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has affirmed, this declaration as suspect does not disqualify the incumbent governor to run for his second term. The 2016 Regional Elections Law states that a candidacy can be revoked only when a candidate is found guilty by a legally-binding verdict of a crime that carries a five-year or more sentence.
Hence, in the short term, Ahoks prosecution seems to be a tactically ingenious move by the police. It has eased tensions and seized the momentum from the social political forces behind the protests. And it does allow the gubernatorial campaigns to continue on with all three candidates.
This compromise however, begs a bigger question toward Indonesias long-term trajectory in shaping its democracy as the country with the largest Muslim majority often lauded for being open, tolerant and progressive.
Indonesias political Islam with its various hues and streams after the 1998 reforms has often been looked upon as a potential alternative/different face to political Islam in the Middle East. Rightly so because Islam grew in Indonesia in a different environment and status quo. In practice, its social environment diversity and pluralism is the default albeit peppered with intermittent problems.
Exclusivity, homogeneity and superiority of the majority was something that had to be steered and dictated rather than being the default. Take for example, a fatwa by the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) that prohibits Muslims from congratulating Christians during Christmas. While in cultural and historical practice, it is quite common for Muslims and Christians to celebrate together and even help build each others worship houses.
The point is that Indonesian Muslims practice within diversity has been longstanding. Its renewed rise of political Islam is open to be shaped within Indonesias context. It is precisely this process of molding of Indonesias political Islam that is in jeopardy with this blasphemy case.
It is hard to say how controversial and explosive Ahoks statement regarding the interpretations of Surah Al Maidah 51 would have been had it not been this close to election or been said by someone else.
At least we know in practice Indonesia has a list of non-Muslim regional heads (Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi) in Muslim-majority areas some even with the support of Islamist political parties like the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
Aside from the immediate political interests and complications regarding the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections, it is really hard to say how much the feeling of offense caused by Ahoks statement is undergirded by genuine spontaneous feeling by the wider Muslim community.
At this point it has become too complicated to untangle the motives, perceptions and feelings of the masses amid the various political interests and conflict entrepreneurs working behind the scenes.
But as in many other religiopolitical issues we can infer some things. The majority Muslim populace has not etched attitudes on various issues in concept and practice as exemplified in the votes for non-Muslim leaders and greetings on certain nonIslamic holidays. In practice, Indonesian society can be said to be much more open and nuanced compared to many Middle Eastern societies.
Hence, while there is some sense in why the police decided to declare Ahok as a suspect in this blasphemy case, we need to cautiously look at the long-term implications and potentially unintended consequences.
What signal and message does it send to the masses, especially the moderate-Muslim majority who rely on the authorities (both government and religious) in deciphering contentions between different interpretations of religious teachings and the political system?
This small tactical act in declaring Ahok a suspect may have undermined views of more objective Muslim leaders like Ahmad Syafii Maarif and Ahmad Gus Mus Mustofa Bisri, from Muhammadiyah and Nadlatul Ulama, respectively.
In a way, it has legitimized the narrower and highly conservative interpretations of the scriptures espoused by people and groups with various motives.
All in all, it is hard to judge whether this decision by the police was faulty or not given the complex circumstances. But what is most important is anticipating the potential long-term unintended consequences of this decision. At the very least it certainly has given a very problematic legal and political precedence.
Beyond that, the government should start planning long term how it should work with religious and community leaders in setting the tone for the discourse on religion and state that is conducive to Indonesias diversity in line with the Constitution.
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We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Bhayu Purnomo (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The typical long-run demographic scenario for an emerging economy like Indonesia is an increase in the number of working-age people that leads to an increase in the labor force, thereby boosting economic growth.
This is apparent in the lowering of the dependency ratio, a measure that compares the size of the dependent population (citizens aged zero to 14 plus those aged 65 and older) to the size of the so-called working-age population (those aged 15 to 64).
The United Nations describes the declining profile of the dependency ratio as the window of opportunity when a demographic dividend may be reaped by a country. The potential opportunities within the demographic dividend can include an increase in labour supply, an increase in personal savings, higher levels of tax revenue, lower health and social costs as a result of less population dependence and higher domestic demand brought about by increasing gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Conversely, a rising dependency ratio entails increasing risks for the economy, as more of the population becomes reliant on others, be it their family members or the government.
A falling dependency ratio is not a permanent situation. Indonesia is still in the declining period of the dependency ratio with its population projected to pass 300 million in the next 20 years. Despite the expectation of strong population growth into the near future, a lower projected fertility rate and a higher life expectancy will lead to citizens 65 years and older making up a larger share of the population.
Indeed, by 2040, it is projected that more than 30 million Indonesians will be aged 65 years and older, close to 10 percent of the population. This is a big increase as people aged 65 and older were only estimated to account for 5 percent of the population in 2014. Recognising that Indonesias demographics are moving toward an aging phase, there is a limited opportunity for Indonesia to capitalize on its demographic dividend window.
There are a number of substantial challenges associated with a rising share of the dependent population. These challenges include slowing economic development as there are potentially fewer labor force participants and potentially higher budget expenditure.
Using health policy as an example of budget expenditure pressures, older individuals are more likely to utilize health services than those aged 15 to 64. The current low exposure of the Indonesian population to private health insurance could see increased government expenditure on health services.
Capitalizing on the demographic dividend opportunity has challenges. Aside from the need for sustainable economic and government spending policies, demographic and social policies such as education and health are also important. Unfortunately, efforts to manage these demographic challenges, including preparing necessary budget plans, are more prevalent in advanced economies compared to emerging.
Australia, as an example, has assessed the economic and fiscal risks of an aging population, including raising public awareness of the issue, through the creation and publication of the Australian Intergenerational Report (IGR).
The Australian IGR was first published in 2002 and an update must be published at least once every five years. It assesses the long-term sustainability of current government policies against Australias projected demographic changes.
One important section in the IGR involves analysing population, labour force participation and productivity projections for Australia over the next 40 years. The IGR starts with a premise that these 3Ps (population, labor participation and productivity) will affect the size of the economy. The size of the economy affects the overall budget position as projected revenues and expenditure pressures are impacted.
Understanding Indonesias current and projected demographic profile can help policymakers better prepare for the future. In the absence of such long-term analysis, it is a challenging and high-risk task for Indonesian policymakers to prescribe policies now that will optimise responses to risks and opportunities in the future.
By highlighting the fact that policy decisions with an eye to the longer term can provide positive impacts for the whole economy, it is hoped that this article will create more awareness in public and academic settings about Indonesias demographic development.
***
The writer is an analyst at the Finance Ministrys Fiscal Policy Agency. The views expressed are his own.
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We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com. For more information click here.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The Japan Foundation will be holding its annual Japanese Film Festival (JFF) on Nov. 24 to 27, screening 14 drama and animated films of the past two years at Cinemaxx in fX Sudirman mall in Central Jakarta.
The foundation's general director, Norihisa Tsukamoto, told a press conference on Thursday, I hope that this agenda of events can become the bridge for cultural exchange among the audience and fans of Japanese films in Indonesia.
With a targeted audience of 6,000 to 7,000 people, the JFF aims to become a platform for the Japanese film industry to create greater interest towards its films, as well as draw a wider audience from Southeast Asian countries.
(Read also: 6 Indonesian movies screened at South Korean film festival)
The festival was held for the first time last year by the Cultural Affairs Agency of Japan in cooperation with the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia.
Similar to Tsukamoto, the embassy's information and cultural director, Ryo Nakamura, also hopes that the upcoming film festival will enhance the publics understanding of Japanese past and present culture. Aside from that, we also hope that this event will further tighten Japanese and Indonesian relations, Nakamura adds. (mra/kes)
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Linkedin Mark Stevenson (Associated Press) Mexico City Fri, November 18, 2016
Archaeologists have discovered what may be the original structure built at the pyramid of Kukulkan at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, experts said Wednesday.
Last year, archaeologists using electrical imagining techniques found that the pyramid, which is also known as El Castillo, was built atop a subterranean river, or a cenote.
Archaeologists have long known that a smaller pyramid is encapsulated underneath the visible temple.
Researchers said Wednesday that they had detected an even smaller structure inside the other two structures. Using what is called tri-dimensional electric resistivity tomography, or "ERT-3D," they found a 10-meter (yard) tall structure within the 20-meter (yard) tall 'intermediate' pyramid that was covered over by the last construction stage, perhaps around 900 A.D.
Archaeologist Denisse Lorenia Argote said "if we can research this structure in the future it could be important, because it could tell us about the first-period inhabitants" of the site.
Argote, of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, said the first structure may be in the "pure Maya" style from between 500 and 800 A.D.
University of California, San Diego anthropology professor Geoffrey Braswell, who was not involved in the latest project but who has conducted research at Chichen Itza, said the discovery may be new, or may be a structure detected in the 1940s.
(Read also: Particles could reveal clues to how Egypt pyramid was built)
Braswell said that while digging into the intermediate-layer pyramid in the 1940s, one archaeologist found a third platform buried within it.
"The tunnel was unstable, so we know very little about this platform," Braswell wrote. "It appears to be much smaller than the outer two pyramids, and is not perfectly aligned within them."
The computer image distributed by the researchers also showed un underlying structure not quite aligned with the subsequent layers.
Braswell compared the Kukulkan pyramid to a Russian nesting doll, with each layer encapsulating another. But at the bottom, there may be more than one platform encapsulated.
"To make matters more complicated, " Braswell wrote, "the third Russian doll moving in may actually be one of a set of several small dolls rattling around inside the same shell. We just do not know. "
Rene Chavez, a researcher at the National Autonomous University's Institute of Geophysics, said the early structure appeared to have a staircase and perhaps an altar at the top that may have just been filled in and preserved. The structure has been mapped, but it is not clear whether it will be excavated.
"Given that no one has excavated this structure ... it is difficult to say with certitude if it is one of the oldest buildings at the site," Braswell said. "But this is quite possible."
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) New York, United States Fri, November 18, 2016
A single drop of milk. A newborn baby. The ravages of war and terrorism. The defiance of those who protest and the fear of those entrapped.
All are included in a multimedia project featuring Time magazine's most influential images of all time, released Thursday through a new book, videos and a website.
Many of the photos or frames from films are familiar, engrained in the collective conscious, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Falling Man," taken on 9/11 by Richard Drew of The Associated Press.
Others, and their stories, are little known, such as the tiny snap by California software engineer Philippe Kahn of his new baby, the first cell-phone picture, after he rigged a flip phone with a digital camera in 1997.
The magazine's editors consulted historians and photo editors and curators around the world, while Time staff interviewed the photographers, picture subjects, friends and family to write essays on each image.
Matthew Brady's Abraham Lincoln, Dorothea Lange's migrant mother, the flag raising at Iwo Jima by the AP's Joe Rosenthal also a Pulitzer Prize winner and that famous kiss in Times Square on V-J Day, captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt, are among the 100 chosen.
(Read also: Caitlyn Jenner gets spot in Time 100 most influential list)
TIME's new cover: The most influential photos of all time. Animation by @brobeldesign A video posted by TIME (@time) on Nov 17, 2016 at 4:48am PST
So is Frame 313 of the amateur, 8-millimeter film shot by Abraham Zapruder of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Life magazine withheld that frame at the time, notorious in its absence for showing the bullet on impact with Kennedy's head.
Some were chosen for their content, others for their innovation.
Harold Edgerton, for instance, while tinkering in his lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laid the foundation for the modern electronic photo flash with his 1957 "Milk Drop Coronet."
He froze the drop as it landed on a table using strobe lights with camera shutter motors to refine moments otherwise imperceptible to the human eye, according to the project's book companion, "100 Photographs: The Most Influential Images of All Time."
There is a NASA image of Earth from the far side of the moon, a fetus still in the sac, revealing what pre-birth development looks like. There's also the famous, fuzzy Loch Ness Monster, from 1934, Robert Mapplethorpe's 1979 "Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter," in full sadomasochist regalia and the famous Oscars selfie initiated by Ellen DeGeneres in 2014.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The International Program Dance Club (IPDC) of the Indonesia Islamic University (UII) in Yogyakarta has won numerous awards at the 9th International Folklore Festival (Interfolk) in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The competition was held at the city's Concert Hall and Kaskad Cultural Center from Nov. 11 to 15.
During the five-day competition, the group showcased three Acehnese dances, namely Rapai Geleng, Tarek Pukat and Ratoh Jaroe.
(Read also: Eko Supriyanto's 'Cry Jailolo' dazzles in Paris festival)
Antara news agency reported that the IPDC had brought home a total of six trophies and six prizes, including First Prize for Folk Dance in the 18 to 45-year-old category, Star of Interfolk 2016, Jury Prize for Best Accompaniment Music, Jury Prize for Best Artistry, Jury Prize for Performance Mastery and Gold Diploma for Music Accompaniment, Performance Mastery and Best Artistry.
These achievements have given the dance group the opportunity to participate in next year's international cultural festival in Armenia.
Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Republic of Belarus, Wahid Supriyadi, congratulated the team. Were proud to see UII Yogyakartas achievement in the competition, particularly seeing Indonesia represented by students who come from different backgrounds. Hopefully, this achievement will motivate UIIs students to compete in other international festivals, as well as become a role model for other Indonesian dance groups, said Wahid. (jes/kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Fire gutted 231 houses near the Harapan Indah housing complex in Kapuk Muara, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, Thursday, affecting 277 families living there.
The North Jakarta administration deployed 21 fire trucks and 100 firefighters to extinguish the fire.
The fire started at about 9:15 a.m. It was difficult to extinguish because the wind was strong and the fire spread quickly to other houses, Satriadi Billy Gunawan, the head of the North Jakarta Firefighting Agency, said as quoted by Warta Kota.
Satriadi said the 277 families consisted of about 1,000 people who were now homeless.
He said the fire started from an explosion from a gas cylinder in a house that also served as a canteen. (evi)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Aldwin Rahadian, the lawyer of Buni Yani, who uploaded video footage containing an alleged blasphemous remark made by Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, said on Friday that the accusations against his client, who was said to have edited the footage, were unproven as the National Police had named the governor a blasphemy suspect.
As a lawyer, Im of the opinion that when the police named Ahok a suspect, all accusations against Buni became no longer relevant. Ahok has been named a suspect, which means there was criminal intent in him making the speech, Aldwin said Friday. He accompanied Buni for questioning on the latters defamation suit filed by Muanas Alaidin and Guntur Romli.
The lawyer reiterated that Buni had not edited nor transcribed Ahoks speech, in which he cited Surah Al Maidah 51, in September. He said Buni only wrote a caption on Ahoks speech to start discourse with netizens.
On Oct.8, Muanas, the leader of the Community of Young Advocates for Ahok-Djarot (Kotak Adja), reported Buni to the police over alleged provocation against Ahok by editing the footage of his speech from one hour and 48 minutes to 31 seconds.
Guntur Romli, another Ahok supporter, accused Buni of attacking Ahok through matters pertaining to ethnicity, religion, race and societal group (SARA).
Ahok has also accused Buni of falsely transcribing his speech, resulting in widespread misinterpretation that led to a large-scale rally organized by Islamic organizations on Nov. 4.
On Wednesday, National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar announced that investigators had named Ahok a suspect after they examined a full version of his speech. (ebf)
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Linkedin Tobias Basuki (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
The polices decision to name incumbent governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in the alleged blasphemy case may have come as a surprise and disappointment to his supporters and the more progressive-minded public. It may have set a bad precedent in the enforcement of our laws but more importantly the trajectory of our social political culture.
On the other hand, it may have been a tactically sound move by the police as representatives of the state, which was confronted with seemingly immense public pressure following the Nov. 4 demonstration and a likely follow-up on Nov. 25.
By declaring Ahok a suspect the police appear to have capitulated to the protesters demands against such a controversial, flimsy and highly politicized case. Declaring Ahok as a suspect has countered accusations of the governments preferential treatment towards the Jakarta governor and taken away the rallying point of the varied interests for the upcoming Nov. 25 protest.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The Jakarta Polices Special Crimes Investigation Department (Reskrimsus) has questioned Buni Yani, the uploader of the video footage containing alleged blasphemous remarks made by Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, regarding his accusations of defamation against two supporters of the non-active governor, Guntur Romli and Muanas Alaidin.
Buni has been questioned today as the person who reported Guntur and Muanas. I appreciate the police and their law enforcement efforts in this country, Bunis lawyer, Aldwin Rahadian, said at the police office on Friday. He said he believed the police would soon name Guntur and Muanas as suspects.
In his questioning, Aldwin said, Buni completed the police interrogation report and submitted several pieces of evidence of alleged defamation committed by Guntur and Muanas. They comprised screen shots of accusations written by Guntur and Muanas against his client on social media, he added.
From now on, people shall be careful before they release information or accuse Buni of being a provocateur because such a thing has serious legal consequences, Aldwin said.
Muanas, the leader of the Community of Young Advocates for Ahok-Djarot (Kotak Adja), reported Buni to the police for alleged provocation on Oct. 8, accusing him of editing the video footage of Ahok's speech, in which he cited a Quranic verse, before he uploaded it onto Facebook.
Guntur, another Ahok supporter, accused Buni of using ethnic, religious and racial sentiment (SARA) to attack Ahok.
Responding the accusations, Buni reported Guntur and Muanas for alleged defamation to the police on Oct.10. He claimed he did not edit Ahoks footage but only wrote a caption and his personal opinion about the governors speech. (ebf)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama's legal team is preparing to hand over material to the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) on Tuesday, a lawyer has said.
Ahok's lawyer Josefina Syukur said that the team had prepared some videos and written statements to be submitted to the police.
She said the team would also call up more experts and eyewitnesses to defend Ahok, who was named a suspect in a blasphemy case on Wednesday.
"We have prepared more experts, comprising religious, linguistic and criminal law experts to defend Ahok. We also plan to add more eyewitness to be questioned by the police as they investigate further, she told The Jakarta Post on Friday, refusing to reveal the names of the experts.
Police are scheduled to question Ahok for the first time as a suspect in the case on Tuesday.
(Read also: Ahok named suspect in blasphemy case)
Earlier, the team presented 14 experts and seven eyewitness for Ahok, including Jisman Samosir, a legal expert from Parahyangan University; Nur Azis, also a legal expert; Umar Muslim, a linguist from the University of Indonesia; and Sadullah Affandy from the countrys largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.
There were also three eyewitnesses from Bangka Belitung who made a statement to the police about how people had tried to attack Ahok with the Quranic verse since 2007, when he ran for the position of East Belitung regent, Josefina said. (jun)
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The campaign team for Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama is not planning any major changes to its strategy after the National Police charged the incumbent gubernatorial candidate with blasphemy.
The team, however, said it would step up efforts to clarify Ahoks legal case in the hope that voters would believe the governor was innocent and nothing but a victim of a flawed criminal justice system.
With the election day less than three months away, the team acknowledged the case would take a toll on his approval rating but was upbeat about rebuilding public trust. We estimate that there could be a 5 to 10 percent drop in[ A ho k s] electability, but we still have time before the voting day to show people that he is being persecuted, Ahok campaign team member Merry Hotma said on Thursday.
She added that the current campaign strategy visiting residents or inviting them to the pairs headquarters in Rumah Lembang in Menteng, Central Jakarta would still prove effective in garnering support.
Ahok has been forced to make changes after facing continual disruptions on his campaign trail. Several people claiming to be local residents have rejected campaign stops by Ahok in certain areas in protest over religious blasphemy he allegedly committed.
On Thursday, Ahok made his routine appearance in Rumah Lembang. In front of an audience of hundreds, the governor said he had told his children they should be proud, because he had not been named a suspect in a graft case. The legal case against Ahok and the fact that he has was facing difficulties in carrying out his campaign would likely earn him sympathy from voters, NasDem Party executive Irma Suryani Chaniago said.
She argued that Indonesians were compassionate people and would easily empathize with Ahok.
[Such a strategy] can actually turn the situation around. That is why a lot of state officials try to gain pity from the public [by presenting themselves as victims], she continued.
Ahoks supporters believe the criminal investigation into their candidate is politically motivated. Weeks before the police named Ahok a blasphemy suspect, social media users had been engaged in a heated argument on whether Ahoks remarks in Thousand Islands regency in September were blasphemous.
The debate revolved around the word pakai or using in Ahoks statement that some people had been deceived [by other people] using Al-Maidah 51 of the Quran. Ahoks supporters argue that the word using made all the difference, as it meant Ahok had been referring to the people misusing the Quran and not to the holy book itself.
Ahoks campaign team leader Prasetyo Edi Marsudi concurred with Merry, saying what the party could do now was to convince the public of Ahoks innocence. In this case, Ahok is being victimized. We are hoping the people can see through this, he said.
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Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The naming of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama as a suspect in a blasphemy case could seriously damage his popularity rating in that the majority of his supporters could desert him, a recent survey reveals.
The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) released the results of its survey on Friday, which revealed that 60 percent of the people who favored Ahok were likely to withdraw their support were he to be named a blasphemy suspect.
The survey revealed that Ahoks electability rating could decline to 10.6 percent from the 24.6 percent before a Nov. 4 rally to demand the police declare him a suspect.
LSI conducted the survey from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5, before Ahok was named a suspect but it asked the 440 respondents whether they would continue to support him if named a suspect.
Being a suspect gives one a bad public image. Of course, being declared a suspect doesnt mean a person is guilty, but in public [that person] is [perceived as being] guilty, LSI researcher Ardian Sopa told reporters when releasing the results of the survey on Friday.
The National Police named Ahok a suspect on Wednesday, after conducting a case screening and questioning scores of experts, including Islamic scholars and linguists. (jun)
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Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Marrakesh, Morocco Fri, November 18, 2016
In the wake of a landmark verdict that saw a plantation company fined Rp 16 trillion for illegal logging, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar on Thursday demanded that law enforcement institutions enforce the sentence.
The Supreme Court has found PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari guilty of unlawful logging on about 7,000 hectares of land outside of its concession in Riau.
The fine is the largest to date in an illegal logging case.
Read also: Landmark court ruling expected to serve as deterrent
"I will find a way to push related authorities to enforce the verdict," said Siti, whose ministry is a plaintiff in the case.
She lamented that sentences in other environmental cases the ministry had won in the Supreme Court had not been enforced.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered oil palm plantation PT Kallista Alam to pay Rp 366 billion after being convicted of starting fires in the Leuser conservation area in Aceh. (evi)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The legal team of former state enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan has denied that one of its members had been arrested for bribing police officers.
We dont have a member with the initials HR, Dahlans lawyer Riri Purbasari Dewi said on Friday in Surabaya as reported by kompas.com.
Riri said that in addition to herself the team consisted of Imam and Mursid Budiantoro.
Police personnel arrested HR for allegedly bribing National Police Corruption Crime Unit head Adj. Sr. Comr. Brotoseno in a sting operation on Sunday, seizing Rp 3 billion (US$230,000) from the lawyer. Earlier, the police apprehended an officer from the unit, identified only as D, in relation to the case.
(Read also: Dahlan Iskan named suspect of graft)
Police said that the lawyer had allegedly bribed the officers as the police were investigating a corruption case related to a paddy development project in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.
The East Java Police questioned Dahlan, a media mogul who owns the Jawa Pos Group, on Friday as a witness in the paddy development project graft case.
Earlier, the East Java Prosecutors Office named Dahlan a graft suspect over the sale of assets from a company owned by the province.
Dahlan has denied the accusation, saying he just signed a document provided by his subordinates during his term as president director of the company from 2000 to 2010. (jun)
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Fri, November 18, 2016
Farmers in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, can now harvest good yields of shallots in the rainy season, thanks to Sanren, a weather-resistant shallot variety. With the prime seeds, harvest productivity has increased to 30 tons per hectare.
Usually, we get 12 tons [of shallots] per hectare but this time, our harvest has reached 30 tons per hectare. Were happy we can harvest during the rainy season, with quite a good selling price, which reaches Rp 18,000 [US$1.35] per kilogram of fresh shallots and Rp 32,000 per kilogram for dried ones, said Muhammad Usman, 42, a farmer from Tirtanadi village in Labuhan Haji district, East Lombok, on Thursday.
Usman said the Sanren shallot variety was resistant to drought and rain and was much cheaper than local or Vietnamese shallots.
For 1 ha of land, Usman said, he needed only 5 kg of Sanren seeds, worth Rp 12 million. If he used local shallot varieties, he would need 4 tons of seeds worth Rp 40 million.
Sanren shallots are also resistant to pests so our crop treatment costs will be not too high. We can get more profits, Usman said.
Jointly held by the East Lombok Agriculture Agency and seed producer PT East West Seed Indonesia (Ewindo) that invented the Sanren variety, the harvest was attended by around 200 shallot farmers from across the regency.
East Lombok Agriculture Agency head Zaini said the use of Sanren seeds could become a long-term solution for shallot farmers often challenged by uncertain weather. (ebf)
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Linkedin Youkyung Lee (Associated Press) Seoul Fri, November 18, 2016
South Korea rejected a request by Google to use local mapping data in the company's global maps service in a long-awaited ruling Friday that had divided the country for months.
The company said it was disappointed by the decision, which the land ministry said was based on concerns over national security.
"We're disappointed by this decision. We've always taken security concerns very seriously and will continue to provide useful map services in compliance with Korea's current map data export regulation," Taj Meadows, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement.
The South Korean government said the risks outweighed benefits from exporting the country's mapping data to Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc.
South Korea, facing the overt threat of rival North Korea, bars exporting local mapping data to foreign companies that do not operate domestic data servers.
Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., handles its maps service at data centers outside South Korea. The restrictions have limited the usefulness of Google Maps within South Korea, since the app cannot offer driving or walking directions.
The government had proposed granting permission to Google to use local mapping data for Google Maps if the company would blur sensitive information on South Korean military facilities on its satellite map.
"Our position from the start was that if it deletes security facilities, we would allow exporting [the local mapping data]," said Kim Tong-il, an official at the land ministry. "Google's position is that it won't delete those. The question was whether we would allow that regardless."
South Korea has been divided over the issue since Google filed its request in June. The government extended an August deadline to this month, highlighting disagreements between government ministries.
The long-time deliberation reflects growing support for Google within some government ministries that are trying to promote tourism and local firms' overseas businesses. One of the biggest inconveniences that foreign tourists run into in South Korea, which has some of the fastest and cheapest internet access in the world, is the lack of an online mapping service with navigation and directions in foreign languages.
Some local businesses and consumers opposed giving Google full access to the local mapping data, saying it would be unfair to local companies that operate local data servers to support their map services. They said Google should build data centers in South Korea instead of seeking an exemption from the rules.
Google said earlier that restricting Google Maps in South Korea would be an inconvenience for foreigners visiting the host country of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.
It also argued that restrictions on exporting the local mapping data could hinder efforts of companies to roll out global services using locations data and will deprive local consumers of cutting-edge services.
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Private companies may now grab their own piece of the oil refinery cake as a new regulation allows them to build refineries without cooperating with state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina.
Indonesia is in dire need of more oil refineries to minimize refined fuel imports in the next decade, which are set to skyrocket in order to accommodate rising demand.
At present, the countrys refineries are only capable of processing around 830,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), a little over half of the current refined fuel demand.
Although Pertamina has already set the ball rolling with plans to build two new refineries and upgrade three others in the next decade, progress has been slower than expected, increasing concern that the fuel supply deficit will remain large in the coming years.
To offset a possible shortfall, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry last Friday issued Ministerial Regulation No. 35/2016, which allows private companies to build refineries of their own as long as they use technology approved by the government and prioritize meeting domestic demand over exporting the final products.
Based on existing regulations, private companies that decide to build oil refineries may be offered fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, including the ability to integrate petrochemical production in the refineries built.
The regulation also allows companies to directly import crude for production and decide freely on the fuel they wish to produce.
The ministrys oil and gas director general, IGN Wiratmadja Puja, emphasized that the private refineries would be allowed to sell their fuel to off-takers other than Pertamina.
They can decide who to sell it to, it will mostly be based on competitiveness, he said on Thursday.
BMI Research, a subsidiary of Fitch Group, expects national fuel demand to increase by an average annual rate of 2.7 percent from 1.78 million bopd to 2.28 million in 2025. However, this estimate does not take into account any proposed greenfield refineries, due to the lack of a concrete time line and the risk of delays.
BMI Research also expects imports of refined fuels to skyrocket to 1.4 million bopd in 2025 from the current 941,000 bopd.
Unlike BMI Research, however, Pertamina projects that demand will only reach 1.8 million bopd by 2030. To accommodate that projected increase, Pertamina is set to upgrade refineries in Cilacap in Central Java, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Dumai in Riau and Balongan in West Java.
13refinery(-/-)
It will also build several new refineries, including one in Bontang, East Kalimantan, and Tuban, East Java.
Even though these measures are set to increase production to 2.6 bopd, Pertamina still expects to see a small deficit of 231,000 bopd in 2030 comprising only of gasoline if the projects complete on time.
Wiratmaja said the ministry had not set a total capacity target for private refineries, as that would depend largely on national demand at the time. Moreover, the ministry did not set a minimum capacity for each refinery.
There have already been a lot of requests to invest in private refineries. Some have asked to build refineries with a capacity of 100 or 200 bopd, he said, declining to disclose the companies that had shown an interest in private refineries.
Meanwhile, ReforMiner Institute executive director Komaidi Notonegoro applauded the new regulation, saying it would expedite refinery development and support Pertaminas efforts to increase domestic production.
Pertaminas refinery segment is more of an obligation, because as a business its not that profitable, he said, adding that the private refineries could fill the production gap Pertamina projects for 2030.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Koalisi Obat Murah (KOM), a non-government group concerned with peoples right to access quality and affordable medicines, has welcomed the Health Ministrys plan to offer a tender for the procurement of Sofosbuvir, a combined medication used to treat Hepatitis C, for 6,000 patients with the virus.
The tender for the procurement of Sofosbuvir shows the Health Ministry is really serious about saving Indonesian people from Hepatitis C. This epidemic has become a silent killer for tens of thousands of people in Indonesia and millions of others in countries across the world, said Indonesia AIDS Coalition (IAC) director Aditya Wardhana, who is also a KOM spokesperson, on Friday.
He said providing greater access to Sofosbuvir was an initial government step that had been long awaited by millions of people with Hepatitis C in Indonesia.
The Hepatitis C virus can cause cirrhosis, which can eventually lead to death. It is estimated that 3 million Indonesian people suffer from Hepatitis C, which results in the deaths of more than 15,000 patients every year in the country.
Sofosbuvir is a direct acting antiviral (DAA) that has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an essential medicine for Hepatitis C with more than 95 percent effectiveness. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) issued a license for the distribution of Sofosbuvir in Indonesia on July 1.
We hope the government will buy generic versions of the medicine instead of the patented one because generic Sofosbuvir costs only 0.5 percent of the patented drug price. By procuring generic versions, the government can buy more Sofosbuvir to cure more Hepatitis C patients, said Aditya. (ebf)
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
Paying taxes in Indonesia is becoming easier thanks to digital technology and legal reforms. According to a joint study by financial consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Bank, Indonesia has improved to the 104th rank among 190 economies assessed.
The study, entitled Paying Taxes 2017, was released on Thursday, showing that Indonesias rank in 2016 increased by 44 places from the 148th place last year. In 2014, Indonesia was ranked 160th.
Indonesias significant improvement of 44 places in the Paying Taxes 2017 study reflects the use of electronic social security systems and on-going positive tax reforms. The governments focus on improving the ease of paying taxes is the right step in encouraging tax compliance, Ay Tjhing Phan, PwC Indonesias head of tax and legal services, said in a statement.
Even though it has a massive potential tax base given the population of 255 million people, Indonesias current tax-to-GDP ratio stands at less than 12 percent, below the typical Southeast Asian rate of 13 to 15 percent.
Moreover, Paying Taxes 2017, which is based on calendar year 2015, also found 43 different payments required of each Indonesian taxpayer annually, taking 221 hours to complete.
Its just too long and complicated. Hence, the government really needs to develop an integrated digital platform to ease the payment scheme further, said Yose Rizal Damuri, who heads the department of economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The government, through the tax office, has been pushing for reforms in recent years, including by launching an electronic system for submitting tax reports, in a bid to eventually increase tax compliance.
We need to keep disseminating this scheme, so that people will be encouraged to submit their tax forms online, said Suryo Utomo, an expert on tax compliance at the Finance Ministry.
The government has also launched a tax amnesty, which is aimed to help plug the widening state budget deficit and increase the countrys tax base. The first phase of the program saw Rp 3.6 quadrillion (US$277.18 billion) in assets declared by the end of Sept. 30, around 90 percent of the targeted Rp 4 quadrillion.
However, those funds were declared by fewer than 400,000 taxpayers, a tiny fraction of the countrys 30 million taxpayers, according to data from the Finance Ministrys Directorate General of Taxation.
The majority of participants in the first phase were those who already had a taxpayer number and had previously submitted tax forms, meaning the program only attracted a small number of new taxpayers, recorded at 15,856.
Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo said the recent political turmoil in the country might hamper the implementation of the second phase of the tax amnesty, which will end on Dec. 31.
Political certainty is one of the main factors for people to invest in a country, Yustinus said. Looking at current conditions, those who need to repatriate their assets before Dec. 31 might think twice. Moreover, the volume of repatriated assets may only increase by Rp 50 trillion to Rp 75 trillion in the second phase, far below the Rp 143 trillion in the first phase.
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Indonesia has conveyed its protest following the launch of a ballistic missile allegedly aimed at the Islamic holy city of Mecca, asserting that the act violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia, a minister has said.
Indonesia condemns and cannot tolerate any action or attack targeting any holy site," Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi stated on Thursday evening. The minister was speaking in response to a missile attack launched in late October by Yemen's insurgent Houthi militia. The missile was intercepted by Riyadh.
Retno conveyed Indonesias stance on the incident during an emergency ministerial-level meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca on Thursday. The meeting endorsed a resolution on the ballistic missile launched by the Houthi group.
At the meeting, Retno stressed the importance of OIC member states reinforcing their commitment to improving cooperation and solidarity to maintain peace, security and stability, especially in the Islamic world.
Despite the geographical distance between Indonesia and Yemen, Retno expressed the countrys concerns over the Yemeni civil war that has impacted Indonesia's interests in the region. In the conflict, she said, an Indonesian diplomat was injured while thousands of Indonesians had been evacuated from the country.
Retno said Indonesia continued to encourage a peaceful and inclusive political settlement to the conflict in Yemen as attempted by the UN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The OIC meeting led by Uzbekistan, which heads the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, appointed Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen as the new OIC secretary-general, replacing Iyad Madani who resigned at the end of October. (ebf)
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
Thousands of farmers under East Kalimantan farmers group Gapoktan find it unfortunate that people outside Indonesia are missing out on their home-grown fresh and juicy mini papayas, bananas and dragon fruits.
So far, most of their fresh fruit products are only consumed by locals buying from nearby markets due to a lack of infrastructure, making it expensive to deliver fruit across the country, let alone export them.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Thousands of farmers under East Kalimantan farmers group Gapoktan find it unfortunate that people outside Indonesia are missing out on their home-grown fresh and juicy mini papayas, bananas and dragon fruits.
So far, most of their fresh fruit products are only consumed by locals buying from nearby markets due to a lack of infrastructure, making it expensive to deliver fruit across the country, let alone export them.
Indonesian fruit exporter EK Prima Ekspor Indonesia, a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates retail giant LuLu Group International, knows firsthand how selling prices at the consumer level end up depending more on transportation costs than on production costs.
Transportation from farmers to warehouses to airports and finally to the destination country is very expensive. If our unique fruit doesnt appeal to consumers, we could lose out to other countries, especially if they can produce similar fruit for cheaper prices, said Irawan Santoso, head of the fruit and vegetable division of EK Prima.
Indonesia also has mangosteens, rambutans, snake fruits, jackfruits, soursops, breadfruits, guavas and starfruits that grow in the tropical country, but they are not frequently consumed globally or even domestically.
The government aims to boost tropical fruit production by expanding land for fruit plantations while also improving infrastructure and transportation systems to decrease high distribution costs, as part of efforts to be the biggest tropical fruit producer in Southeast Asia by 2025 and in the world by 2045.
President Joko Jokowi Widodo acknowledges that this is no easy task, especially with farmers preferences to use land for high-yielding commodities, such as palm oil, rather than fruit, which takes time to return on investment. Poor infrastructure has also driven up logistics costs for years.
If we can have 14 million hectares of oil palm plantations, we should also be able to have that much land for fruit, Jokowi said during the opening ceremony of the four-day Fruit Indonesia Festival 2016 in the Jakarta Convention Center parking lot on Thursday. The President handed out various tropical fruits to children to remind people of the love local fruit movement.
If you see a lack of supporting infrastructure that could hamper distribution, please let us know, he told the audience consisting of scientists, fruit planters as well as local and international trade delegates.
To expand plantations, provincial administrations have been instructed to provide local farmers with 5 to 50 ha of land for fruit planting per business unit, as part of the bigger goal to provide 400,000 ha of land in Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra.
The program started with 100,000 ha in cooperation with state-owned companies. State plantation firms under PTPN also asked to start cultivating their under-utilized land for fruit production.
The state firms have been very enthusiastic to give sections of land for fruit plantations. They are used to producing palm oil, rubber, tea and other commodities but not fruit. So, a new management specializing in horticulture needs to be formed, Bogor Agriculture Institute (IPB) rector Herry Suhardiyanto said.
IPB is now studying a possibility to form another state company to develop horticulture based on the State-Owned Enterprises Ministrys request.
The business community is hopeful that the vision of becoming the worlds largest tropical fruit producer will be honored over time.
Let us not change the policy and vision every time we change presidents, said Karen Tambayong, head of horticulture development with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).
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Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The government introduced on Friday a coordinated national strategy to promote financial inclusion in an effort to open up access to banking services for more people.
The so-called National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (SNKI) will focus on six pillars: financial education, public financing facilities, financial information mapping, supportive regulations, distribution networks and intermediation facilities and consumer protection.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said he expects the strategy would help Indonesia, home to more than 250 million people, increase the proportion of its citizens who have bank accounts from the current 36 percent to 75 percent by 2019.
There are many citizens who have no bank accounts. This make it difficult for them to get access to loans from banks or financial institutions, the President said at the State Palace during the ceremony to launch the SNKI.
The success of the implementation of SNKI, which was jointly prepared by Bank Indonesia, the Finance Ministry and the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation (TNP2K), will also help the government to channel the money from its social assistance programs to the public more effectively, President Jokowi said.
I have instructed all ministers not to distribute the assistance funds in cash. They must be channeled through our banking system, the President said. (hwa)
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Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Marrakech, Morocco Fri, November 18, 2016
The United Nations climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, concluded on Friday in more subdued tones than its Paris edition last year.
As delegates questioned United States commitments under the incoming administration led by president-elect Donald Trump, donor and recipient countries have yet to agree on guidelines for how international climate funding will be channeled and how the progress of emission cuts will be reported.
Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said she would focus on bilateral talks, instead of multilateral forums, to secure support for the country.
"Delegates from donor countries were excited about Indonesia and expressed intentions to initiate cooperation. This is something that we can achieve while waiting for results from the climate forum," she said on Friday.
Siti said while strengthening cooperation with Indonesia's committed donors such as Norway, Germany and the US, she had also begun talks with Canada and Japan about carbon trading and possible environmental projects.
Under the Paris agreement, nations pledged to make collective efforts to cut emissions to mitigate the catastrophic impacts of global warming on the planet.
Indonesia, in aiming to cut emissions by 29 percent by 2030 or 41 percent with international support, has submitted its first nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which elaborate on strategies to reach the goals.
Despite being heavily reliant on coal for energy, the government has also set a target to reduce the use of coal to a maximum of 30 percent by 2025 and 25 percent by 2050. More than half of the countrys energy is currently powered by coal.
The NDCs also include targets to increase renewable energy use to at least 23 percent by 2025 and 31 percent by 2050, from the current 9.9 percent.
The next climate talk in 2017 will be held in Bonn, Germany, under Fijis presidency. (hwa)
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Paying taxes in Indonesia is becoming easier thanks to digital technology and legal reforms. According to a joint study by financial consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Bank, Indonesia has improved to the 104th rank among 190 economies assessed.
The study, entitled Paying Taxes 2017, was released on Thursday, showing that Indonesias rank in 2016 increased by 44 places from the 148th place last year. In 2014, Indonesia was ranked 160th.
Indonesias significant improvement of 44 places in the Paying Taxes 2017 study reflects the use of electronic social security systems and on-going positive tax reforms. The governments focus on improving the ease of paying taxes is the right step in encouraging tax compliance, Ay Tjhing Phan, PwC Indonesias head of tax and legal services, said in a statement.
Even though it has a massive potential tax base given the population of 255 million people, Indonesias current tax-to-GDP ratio stands at less than 12 percent, below the typical Southeast Asian rate of 13 to 15 percent.
Moreover, Paying Taxes 2017, which is based on calendar year 2015, also found 43 different payments required of each Indonesian taxpayer annually, taking 221 hours to complete.
Its just too long and complicated. Hence, the government really needs to develop an integrated digital platform to ease the payment scheme further, said Yose Rizal Damuri, who heads the department of economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The government, through the tax office, has been pushing for reforms in recent years, including by launching an electronic system for submitting tax reports, in a bid to eventually increase tax compliance.
We need to keep disseminating this scheme, so that people will be encouraged to submit their tax forms online, said Suryo Utomo, an expert on tax compliance at the Finance Ministry.
The government has also launched a tax amnesty, which is aimed to help plug the widening state budget deficit and increase the countrys tax base. The first phase of the program saw Rp 3.6 quadrillion (US$277.18 billion) in assets declared by the end of Sept. 30, around 90 percent of the targeted Rp 4 quadrillion.
However, those funds were declared by fewer than 400,000 taxpayers, a tiny fraction of the countrys 30 million taxpayers, according to data from the Finance Ministrys Directorate General of Taxation.
The majority of participants in the first phase were those who already had a taxpayer number and had previously submitted tax forms, meaning the program only attracted a small number of new taxpayers, recorded at 15,856.
Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo said the recent political turmoil in the country might hamper the implementation of the second phase of the tax amnesty, which will end on Dec. 31.
Political certainty is one of the main factors for people to invest in a country, Yustinus said. Looking at current conditions, those who need to repatriate their assets before Dec. 31 might think twice. Moreover, the volume of repatriated assets may only increase by Rp 50 trillion to Rp 75 trillion in the second phase, far below the Rp 143 trillion in the first phase.
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Linkedin Ina Parlina and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
His gestures said it all. Welcoming two high-profile guests at the Presidential Palace, Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto, President Joko Jokowi Widodo appeared much calmer than he had been several days ago.
Over an afternoon cup of tea on Thursday, the former Jakarta governor and Prabowo, his former rival in the 2014 presidential race, discussed the state of the country on the veranda of the Presidential Palace.
The two had tea after a lunch at the palace. This time, it was Jokowis treat.
It was fried rice in Hambalang; here, it was grilled fish, Prabowo said to the media, drawing a giggle from Jokowi.
Prabowo was referring to a meeting between the two at his residence in Sentul, West Java, on Oct. 31.
Given the series of recent events making national headlines, the meeting of the two high-profile politicians triggered speculation over a possible connection with massive public pressure on the authorities to charge Jakartas incumbent gubernatorial candidate Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama.
A large-scale rally, staged on Nov. 4 by conservative Muslim groups, pushed for Ahoks prosecution over alleged blasphemy. Jokowi said he suspected political actors behind the rally, with some observers believing the protests were also aimed at undermining Jokowis administration.
The National Police eventually acted in line with the demands by naming Ahok a suspect on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Jokowi continued a tour of meetings with some of the nations most influential figures that began last month. Jokowi visited the headquarters of the countrys armed forces as well as Islamic organizations and political parties.
I believe visiting each other and engaging in friendly gatherings is an excellent tradition, Jokowi said in his opening remarks before the media. And I do hope this tradition will also be seen at the middle and lower levels [of various elements in the country].
During the lunch, the two shared their commitment to put the interests of the nation first and respect the principles laid out in the state ideology of Pancasila and the motto of unity in diversity, Jokowi said.
It was the fourth meeting between the two after Jokowi won the 2014 election.
Pak Prabowo and I shared our commitment to maintaining the diversity of Indonesia, Jokowi said.
We both do not want to see us [the nation] fall apart due to political differences. No, because that would do great harm to the country, Jokowi told the media after the tea talk on the veranda, which Jokowi often uses to talk with state guests or with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
The meeting, Prabowo added, was aimed at showing the young generation a culture that respected differences and that every leader in the country had a duty to maintain unity and peace. He once was my rival, but we maintain our friendship, Prabowo said.
Earlier on Thursday, Jokowi met Setya at the Presidential Palace in which Jokowi, according to Setya, had asked Golkar to play a part in maintaining peace in the country. Unlike the meeting with Prabowo, the talk with Setya was held behind closed doors, with no arranged photo session for the media.
However, the two meetings that day raise questions about whether Jokowi, who has met a total of five party leaders, will also have a meeting with his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been throwing a salvo of accusations at Jokowi recently.
Relations between the two became visibly tense earlier this month when Yudhoyono launched a tirade against the government, accusing it of producing a false intelligence report about him masterminding the Nov. 4 rally. Only hours after the rally, Jokowi firmly said he suspected political actors behind the rally, but, to date, he has not divulged their identity.
Presidential spokesman Johan Budi said he had yet to receive any information on whether Jokowi was planning to meet Yudhoyono in the near future.
Contacted separately, Democratic Party deputy chairman Roy Suryo suggested that the President would meet with Yudhoyono too.
I guess it is just a matter of time, Jokowi will meet Yudhoyono, Roy told The Jakarta Post.
Senior Democratic Party politician and also a deputy chairman, Syariefuddin Hasan, said, Its only about inviting and being invited. As an opposition party, we just provide our input on governance. If they invite us [to the Palace], it means they respect us and are willing to take our advice, Syarief said.
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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
A landmark Supreme Court ruling ordering a plantation company to pay a high fine for illegal forest clearing is expected to serve as a deterrent for companies that seek to engage in deforestation.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari (MPL) was guilty of illegally clearing forests in Pelalawan Regency, Riau, from 2004 to 2006.
The pulp and paper company was ordered to pay Rp 16 trillion (US$1.19 billion) in fines, the highest of any case of environmental destruction in the nations history.
The ministry appreciates the Supreme Courts decision on illegal clearing carried out by PT MPL. Hopefully this ruling will have a deterrent effect on others, the ministrys law enforcement director-general, Rasio Ridho Sani, said.
In 2002, then-Pelalawan regent Tengku Azmun Jaafar authorized PT MPL to exploit 5,590 hectares of forest in his regency.
However, the court found that the company had cleared a total of 7,466 ha of forest in the area, meaning that it had illegally cleared 1,873 ha of forest outside of its concession. For this, the company was ordered to pay Rp 4 trillion in damages.
PT MPLs permit was also problematic, as Azmun was sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Corruption Court in 2008 for taking bribes from MPL.
He was convicted of illegally authorizing 15 companies, including PT MPL, to exploit 120,000 ha of forest in Pelalawan between 2002 and 2003, resulting in Rp 1.2 trillion in state losses.
Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) lecturer Bambang Hero Saharjo, who calculated the damages, said the Supreme Courts ruling was in accordance with his calculations.
We appreciate the ruling because it matches our damage calculations based on the facts in the field, he told The Jakarta Post.
The damage includes a loss of forest functions, such as water catchment and erosion mitigation, as well as a loss of biodiversity.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry has been on a winning streak recently in environmental cases against companies responsible for deforestation and land and forest fires. Earlier this year, plantation company PT National Sago Prima (NSP) was found guilty of forest fires in its concession in Meranti Islands regency, Riau, and thus had to pay Rp 1.07 trillion in fines.
In August, the Palembang High Court in South Sumatra found pulpwood firm Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH) guilty of illegally lighting fires in its concession in 2014.
The High Court ordered BMH, which supplies products to Indonesias Sinar Mas Group, to pay Rp 78.5 billion in damages, a small fraction of the Rp 7.8 trillion in damages sought by the Environment and Forestry Ministry when it first filed the civil suit against BMH last year.
However, none of the fines match the total of those slapped on PT MPL. This is the biggest fine in our history, the ministrys environmental dispute settlement director, Jasmin Ragil Utomo, told the Post.
He said that PT MPL could still file for a case review at the Supreme Court. But it wont halt the execution [of the ruling], Jasmin said.
He added that the court would follow up on the ruling by allowing the company to make a proposal on how it would like to pay the fines.
We have to study the proposal first, whether the company can pay in installments or not. We have to get input from other ministries because this is non-tax state income, said Jasmin.
PT MPL used to be a supplier to Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), Indonesias second-largest pulp and paper producer.
However, we have not sourced fiber from MPL since February 2015, APRIL spokesperson Agung Laksamana told the Post, adding that PT MPL was not affiliated with APRIL or with Royal Golden Eagle Group.
With the recent Supreme Court decision, Agung said APRIL would immediately terminate its supplier contract with PT MPL and would not work with the company in the future.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Life insurance firms expect to maintain double-digit revenue growth next year amid confidence about the countrys gradual economic recovery.
The Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) predicted on Friday that revenue would grow by at least 10 percent next year to a minimum of Rp 175.2 trillion (US$13 billion) from the projected Rp 159.28 trillion this year.
The association said the industrys outlook was still positive, assuming the nations economy would grow by 5.1 percent next year.
The governments projection of 5.1 percent growth means the life insurance industry can grow by more than that, AAJI chairman Hendrisman Rahim told a press conference on Friday.
Over the past 10 years, the industry has seen annual revenue growth of between 10 and 30 percent, according to the AAJI.
As of the third quarter of this year, life insurers investment portfolios were dominated by mutual funds, followed by stocks, government bonds and time deposits, AAJI executive communication and inter-institution division head Christine Setyabudhi said. (win/hwa)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
A renowned hydrologist has urged regional administrations in flood-prone areas to create more absorption wells to anticipate possible future floods, as the rainy season is unlikely to end soon.
Water and hydrology expert Fatchy Muhammad said creating more artificial aquifers was imperative to restore the balance of nature, as a lot of catchment areas have been sacrificed to accommodate public and business interests.
Many catchment areas have now been transformed into something else. If transforming a forest to a farm greatly affects water absorption capacity, imagine when it is transformed into a housing complex, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Fatchy said urban development was inevitable but with good and well-planned government regulations, such as requiring developers to create more water retention facilities like absorption wells, the situation would improve.
Floods have hit areas across the country recently, with data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) showing that 659 floods have affected the archipelago, while simultaneous floods and landslides had occurred 53 times as of mid-November.
On Monday, water from overflowing rivers flooded thousands of houses in the West Java municipalities of Tangerang, Bekasi and Karawang following heavy rain. In Telukbuyung village, Karawang regency, 678 houses, two mosques, two schools and seven prayer rooms were inundated, while at the Bintang Alam housing complex, 650 houses had been flooded, affecting 997 people.
On Tuesday, flooding in Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province, inundated almost 2,000 houses in five districts. The province is notorious for illegal forest fires.
Last month, a major flood in Gorontalo regency, Gorontalo province, hit more than a thousand houses, including Dunda Limboto Hospital, forcing the hospital's management to move 80 patients to emergency shelters.
BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Thursday that the agency had yet to calculate the potential losses inflicted by the recent disasters. We have only calculated the losses caused by flood in Garut, West Java, which amounted to Rp 288 billion [US$ 21.58 million], he said, referring to a flood in the regency that reportedly killed 15 people.
Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) spokesperson Harry Tirto said on Thursday that more flooding could occur, as the rainy season was predicted to continue until May next year.
This needs to be anticipated; water management and the use of land should be reviewed. Rivers might need to be revitalized and more biospheres need to be planted, he said. (fac)
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Linkedin David Rising and Josh Lederman (Associated Press) Berlin Fri, November 18, 2016
President Barack Obama joined the leaders of key European countries in Germany on Friday to discuss an array of security and economic challenges facing the trans-Atlantic partners as the US prepares for President-elect Donald Trump to take office in January.
Obama's meeting with the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain was likely his last in such a setting before he leaves office. The session expands on lengthy talks he held the day before with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Gathered around a circular table in Merkel's Chancellery, the leaders exchanged pleasantries but made no substantive remarks as reporters were allowed in briefly for the start of the meeting. A number of the leaders planned to deliver statements or take questions from reporters following the meeting.
Since Obama's arrival on Wednesday on his sixth and last trip to Germany as president, he and Merkel have focused several meetings on issues of globalization and trans-Atlantic cooperation. The talks come largely in the context of what the election of Donald Trump will mean to efforts to seek peace in Ukraine and Syria, the strength of the NATO alliance, trade agreements, efforts to fight climate change, and other pressing matters.
At a news conference with Obama on Thursday, Merkel diplomatically said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration "with an open mind."
Around the world, many are looking to Merkel one of the longest serving leaders of a major world power, leader of Europe's largest economy and one of the biggest US trade partners with the US for leadership as Obama leaves office.
Obama seemed to underscore that reality as he effusively thanked Merkel for her "deep friendship." He said he couldn't "ask for a steadier or more reliable partner on the world stage," while adding that if she chooses to run again for a fourth term next year, he'd vote for her if he could.
Joining the two leaders Friday are the heads of countries at the center of many of the European Union's coming challenges.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing her country for negotiations to leave the trade bloc. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces economic woes in his country that have contributed to financial instability in the EU. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's already shaky economy has been rocked by tens of thousands of refugees. And French President Francois Hollande's socialist government faces a major challenge from the far-right in elections next year.
Trump has applauded the British decision to exit the EU, or "Brexit," and has had meetings with Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party and a key player in the British decision to leave. For his part, Obama said Thursday his hope was that the Brexit negotiations be "conducted in a smooth and orderly and transparent fashion and preserve as closely as possible the economic and political and security relationships between the UK and EU."
Still, he noted that he considered the EU "one of the world's great political and economic achievements."
Germany has emphasized that it respects the British decision to leave, but that the United Kingdom won't be able to cherry-pick what parts of the EU it wants to keep, and what not.
On other issues, Obama said he hoped for continuity of US-European relations under Trump, saying "how important it is that we work together."
Obama said that "continued global leadership on climate in addition to increasing private investment and clean energy is going to be critical." He added that the US would "continue to stand united with Germany and our NATO allies" in Afghanistan, and that on the refugee crisis he had put in place more robust support from Washington and that he was "hoping that continues beyond my administration."
Following his meetings in Berlin, Obama heads to Peru, the final leg of his last foreign tour, for an Asia economic summit.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
Publicly listed garment manufacturer Pan Brothers (PBRX) plans to conduct its first global bond issuance worth US$200 million to refinance its debt and fund its expansion.
The five-year global bonds will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). The company, however, has not yet made a final decision on the debt papers coupon rate or issuance schedule.
Pan Brothers is upbeat that the debt paper sale will receive a warm welcome, even though the coupon rate will not exceed 10 percent.
Weve agreed that the coupon will not be higher than 10 percent. At the moment, the market already absorbs [a coupon rate of] 7 percent, Pan Brothers corporate secretary Iswar Deni said on the sidelines of an extraordinary general shareholders meeting on Thursday.
Around 80 percent of the proceeds from the sale will be used to refinance part of the companys debt, which amounts to $270 million.
The debt consists of $40 million-worth of term loans that will mature in October 2018 and $230 million-worth of revolving loans that will be due in October 2019.
As of June, Pan Brothers has used more than $206 million of the loans to refinance its 2013 debt and to strengthen its capital structure.
Meanwhile, the other 20 percent of the proceeds from the bond issuance will be used for capital expenditure and working capital.
Iswar said it would build two more factories through subsidiary Eco Smart Garment Indonesia in Central Java next year. Eco Smart Garment already has four factories in Boyolali, Central Java, and in Bandung, West Java.
The new factories are expected to begin operations in the last quarter of 2017 and help increase Pan Brothers annual production volume to at least 100 million clothing articles. Pan Brothers annual production volume currently stands at 90 million clothing articles.
We also target sales to increase 10 to 20 percent by 2017, Iswar said.
The company manufactures garments under several popular brands, including Adidas, Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Macys. In addition to apparel, it also produces sewing thread, embroidery thread and knitted fabric.
Most of its products are exported, such as to the US, Europe and other Asian countries. Asia is its largest market, accounting for almost half of its sales, followed by the US, Europe and other markets.
It announced plans to set up factories in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2014 as part of its global expansion, but has not realized them as it has yet to find the right local partners to run the factories.
Its latest financial report shows that Pan Brothers booked a 17.7 percent annual rise in sales to $372.36 million in the first nine months of this year. Its net profit almost doubled to $12.81 million from the January-September 2015 period.
The company had $490.8 million-worth of assets at the end of September. Its shares ended at Rp 446 (3 US cents) apiece on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) on Thursday, down 1.3 percent from the previous day. (wnd)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
The National Police are preparing for possible terror attacks ahead of Christmas and New Year by holding an operation called Indonesia Prevents.
Religious celebrations tend to be used as moments to carry out attacks. We have anticipated this. The National Police are implementing a system called Indonesia Prevents, said National Police policy analyst Sr. Comr. Rikwanto as quoted by Antara news agency.
He said the police had taken preventive measures by arresting suspicious people before they acted. We realize there will be protests because they will ask 'why are you arresting innocent people, because the crime hasnt happened yet. But trust us, every time [antiterror squad] Densus 88 arrests someone, it is based on a long investigation.
The police, he said, would release those who were not proven to be involved in potential terror acts.
For example, we might target one person who is hanging out at a coffee stall. There are five of them there, so we would arrest all five, but would release the rest if they were not involved, he said. (evi)
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Linkedin Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama may lose his reelection bid in the first round after being named a suspect in a blasphemy case, while former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan could be in a leading position, a pollster has predicted.
The Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) released the results of a survey on Friday, which was carried out from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5, before Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect. In the survey the LSI asked 440 respondents who they would vote for if the National Police named Ahok a suspect.
According to the survey, Ahoks electability rating would slump to 10.60 percent if he were named a suspect. Meanwhile, support for Anies would increase to 31.90 percent, followed by former mid-ranking military officer Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono in second place, with 30.90 percent.
Ahok and Djarot [Djarot Sjaiful HidayatAhoks running mate] have the possibility of losing in the first round of the election [if the election goes into two cycles] because the pair now has a lower [rating] than the other two pairs of candidates, LSI said in a statement.
(Read also:Two-round Jakarta election looms)
Before the question was asked, Ahok was favored by 24.60 percent of respondents, which put him as the frontrunner, leaving Agus and Anies in the second and third place, with 20.90 and 20 percent of votes, respectively.
The police named Ahok a suspect in a blasphemy case on Wednesday. (jun)
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Linkedin Bhayu Purnomo (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18 2016
The typical long-run demographic scenario for an emerging economy like Indonesia is an increase in the number of working-age people that leads to an increase in the labor force, thereby boosting economic growth.
This is apparent in the lowering of the dependency ratio, a measure that compares the size of the dependent population (citizens aged zero to 14 plus those aged 65 and older) to the size of the so-called working-age population (those aged 15 to 64).
The United Nations describes the declining profile of the dependency ratio as the window of opportunity when a demographic dividend may be reaped by a country. The potential opportunities within the demographic dividend can include an increase in labour supply, an increase in personal savings, higher levels of tax revenue, lower health and social costs as a result of less population dependence and higher domestic demand brought about by increasing gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Conversely, a rising dependency ratio entails increasing risks for the economy, as more of the population becomes reliant on others, be it their family members or the government.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Former president and chairman of the Democratic Party Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is willing to visit the Presidential Palace if President Joko Jokowi Widodo invites him, the partys spokesman has said.
SBYs position is currently wait and see. [He is] waiting for a signal or good news. There is no obstruction from SBY, the partys spokesman Roy Suryo said on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
(Read also: Prabowo visits Jokowi, offers help after Ahok named suspect)
On Thursday, Jokowi invited Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto to have lunch at the palace, one day after the police named Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case.
On Nov. 4, hundreds of thousands of people led by Muslim conservatives, staged a rally in front of the State Palace, demanding that the government prosecute Ahok for blasphemy.
The rally ended in chaos with two police cars set on fire. Jokowi later accused political actors of being behind the chaotic rally.
Responding to the suggestion that Jokowi should invite SBY for a meeting, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said a meeting between Jokowi and SBY could be held anytime.
A political meeting could be conducted anytime, Wiranto said at the palace complex on Friday.
Jokowis party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has endorsed Ahok for the gubernatorial election next year.
Gerindra has endorsed former education and culture minister Anies Baswedan while the Democrats are backing SBYs son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono. (jun)
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam Fri, November 18 2016
The Batam Immigration Office in Riau Islands province finally moved 104 illegal immigrants living in a park into two separate shelters in the city on Thursday.
The illegal immigrants come from Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq and some had been living in makeshift tents in the Aspirasi Park for almost a year, Batam Immigration Office head Teguh Prayitno said.
The office decided to move the immigrants after securing approval from Law and Human Rights Ministry Immigration Director General Ronny Franky Sompie.
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Linkedin Sun Hsin Hsuan (The China Post/ANN) Taipei Fri, November 18, 2016
A bill that would make Taiwan the first Asian county to legalize same-sex marriage was stuck in committee Thursday, while thousands protested outside the Legislative Yuan demanding a referendum on the issue.
"How the law defines marriage should be decided by the entire population," demonstrators said, accusing the committee of planning a "black box vote" to pass the bill.
Opinion polling over the past several years has shown majority support for same-sex marriage.
The rally was organised by Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for the Protection of Family, a hard-line conservative group known for fighting to stop the legalisation of gay marriage.
The demonstrators, numbering in their thousands, were dressed in white and stuck large stickers reading "Marriage and family, let the people decide" to their clothes.
Protest leaders speaking to the crowd on a temporary stage said "All children have the right to a mother and a father" as the rally congested the main road outside the Legislative Yuan for over six hours.
In a petition letter, the group said that individual clauses could be amended to protect the rights of people who are LGBT, including emergency room visitation and inheritance rights.
However, they added, "the fundamental concept of what marriage is the combination of a man and a woman should not be changed," saying that doing so would be "very confusing for children."
If no referendum were held, public hearings should be conducted instead before the bill moves forward, the demonstrators said. However, around noon, the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee voted five-four not to hold hearings.
A small, peaceful counter-protest was staged near the main demonstration, with advocates of marriage equality waving rainbow flags and banners reading "We support gay people."
Marriage of 'two parties'
Meanwhile, the bill committee was reviewing several amendments proposed by various parties. All would legalise same-sex marriage, with only slight differences in the details.
LGBT rights groups, couples and supporters have urged lawmakers to pass the bill this legislative session, which ends in December but could be extended if necessary.
In several press conferences organised by social media celebrity and senior Taiwan LBGT Hotline Association researcher Jennifer Lu, gay rights groups have strongly supported the amendment drafted by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu.
Yu's draft removes the use of "male and female parties" in the marriage chapter of the Civil Code, replacing the term with "two parties."
Article 972, a key Civil Code clause governing spousal rights, would be amended accordingly to state that "an agreement to marry shall be made by the two parties in their own (con)cord."
Taiwan was praised by international media and rights groups last month after the draft passed its first reading.
This article appeared on The China Post newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
Buni Yani, the uploader of the video footage containing allegedly blasphemous remarks made by Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, hopes to not face punishment for uploading the governors speech as he did it just to open a discourse with his friends on Facebook.
We don't want our right to freedom of speech silenced because it is guaranteed in Article 28 of our Constitution. It is not right that I should be criminalized because of opening a discussion on Facebook, he said at the Jakarta Police office on Friday.
Buni's lawyer, Aldwin Rahadian, said his client uploaded the video to make it an object of discussion with his friends on Facebook considering that Ahoks speech contained a sensitive religious matter.
As a citizen, Buni has the right to express his opinion. Why should he stay silent to see a public official discuss a sensitive issue?" he said.
Aldwin deplored the people who had bullied Buni as a provocateur. This was what led his client to ask for protection from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), he went on.
Buni was at the Jakarta Police office on Friday to give more information on his defamation claims against two Ahok supporters, Guntur Romli and Muanas Alaidin.
On Oct. 10, Buni reported Muanas and Guntur, who had accused him of provoking people by uploading the edited version of Ahok's speech. (ebf)
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Linkedin Rachell Zoll (Associated Press) New York, United States Fri, November 18, 2016
American Jews gathered Thursday to wrestle with how they should confront an election-year surge in anti-Semitism, a level of bias not seen in the US for decades.
At a national meeting of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group, about 1,000 people listened to talks expressing shock at the hatred expressed during the presidential campaign and questioned what they thought was a high-level of acceptance by other Americans.
"I'm struggling right now in this American moment," said Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, an education and research organization, in his talk at the event. "I wonder whether I have been and I think the answer is probably yes a little bit naive."
During this past year, anti-Semitic imagery proliferated on social media, Jewish journalists were targeted and longstanding anti-Jewish conspiracy theories got a fresh airing. Much of the bias originated with the alt-right, or alternative right, a loose group espousing a provocative and reactionary strain of conservatism. It's often associated with far right efforts to preserve "white identity," oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values."
In addition to the online intimidation, reports of anti-Semitic vandalism and other attacks have risen. Last week, the day after the election, a Philadelphia storefront was sprayed with a swastika and the words "Sieg Heil 2016," which means "Hail Victory," a common Nazi chant, and the word "Trump," with a swastika replacing the "T."
These developments have stunned US Jewish leaders, who in recent years had been more focused on anti-Semitism in Europe and on addressing complaints of anti-Jewish bias on college campuses amid the debate over the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
In a sign of the depth of American Jewish anxiety about anti-Semitism, ADL officials said donations to their organization increased 50-fold in the days immediately after the election and a large majority of the money came from first-time donors. Every one of their regional offices reported an uptick in calls from people wanting to donate or volunteer, the ADL said.
"We must not be silent, we must raise our voices, we must act, and to act we must understand what we are up against," said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of ADL, opening the meeting in Manhattan.
As the presidential race intensified, Jews started seeing their names bracketed with a series of parentheses in harassing tweets, signaling that the person had been identified as a Jew. The image became known as the Jewish cowbell and its source was traced to neo-Nazis and white nationalists.
The ADL investigated the harassment and found more than 800 journalists had suffered anti-Semitic attacks on Twitter during the election, mostly from anonymous Twitter accounts, although some belonged to white supremacists. In a common example of the reporters' experiences, Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, an influential Jewish newspaper that extensively covered the election, said she received an email the morning after the second presidential debate with an image of a Nazi solder pointing a gun at her head, which was Photoshopped onto a concentration camp uniform.
Donald Trump's campaign came under scrutiny since much of the harassment came from accounts tied to his supporters.
Trump drew direct criticism last July when he tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton's face with a six-pointed star, a pile of hundred dollar bills and the words "most corrupt candidate ever." The star was in the shape of the Jewish Star of David and was widely condemned as anti-Semitic. Trump's campaign said it was a sheriff's badge.
Last month, Trump gave a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, in which he accused Clinton of holding secret meetings with bankers in a conspiracy to undermine US sovereignty. The ADL said that whether intentional or not, Trump had reflected a classic anti-Semitic theme of Jewish control of banks.
The president-elect's daughter Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who is now one of his top advisers, are Orthodox Jews. Kushner has defended Trump against allegations of bias.
The issue erupted anew when Trump announced far-right publishing executive Stephen Bannon as his top White House Strategist. Bannon led the Breitbart website, considered by many to be the alt-right's platform that has been widely condemned as racist, sexist and anti-Semitic. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway called the accusations against Bannon "very unfair."
Some Jewish groups have defended Bannon, including the hawkish Zionist Organization of America. Bernie Marcus, a founder of The Home Depot Inc. and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said in a statement that Bannon was "a passionate Zionist and supporter of Israel." Marcus called the condemnations of Bannon an attempt to undermine the incoming administration. Seventy-one percent of Jews voted for Hillary Clinton, according to exit polls. Greenblatt worked in the Obama administration.
Still, Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University professor and historian of American Judaism, said it would be wrong to attribute the criticisms of Trump appointments or his supporters to partisanship. "I don't know anybody who is looking at this in a serious way who says nothing has changed," in regard to the level of anti-Semitism, Sarna said.
"American Jews assumed that anti-Semitism had largely been overcome," he said. "And then all of a sudden, unexpectedly, anti-Semitism of a virulent kind came roaring back."
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Linkedin Justin Lynch (Associated Press) Yei, South Sudan Fri, November 18, 2016
Infants hacked with machetes. Charred bodies with their arms bound. Women who were gang-raped. Men who were spared death but arbitrarily detained.
These are the tales of horror told in Yei, a formerly peaceful town surrounded by farms in southern South Sudan near its border with Uganda and Congo.
Once a beacon of coexistence, Yei is now a center of the country's renewed civil war, gripped by a wave of killings among South Sudan's dozens of different ethnic groups.
And things could get worse.
"The signs are all there for the spread of this ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians that could evolve into genocide, if something is not done now to stop it," said Adama Dieng, the UN's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, after visiting Yei last week.
Civilians and local government officials in Yei told The Associated Press of army troops and, to a lesser extent, the rebels terrorizing the population and killing people based on their ethnicity.
"Some leaders will not hide their [loyalty] to their ethnic groups. They cannot hide it. Genocide is not an event that one day comes. It builds and it builds up. The indicators are there," said Jacob Aligo, a minister in the Yei state government.
At night, gunshots echo through the town and soldiers prowl the streets, looting and raping, according to more than a dozen residents and government officials interviewed by the AP.
A woman who identified herself only by her first name of Betty for fear of reprisal said government soldiers knocked on her door one night in mid-October.
"My husband pushed me and my two children under the bed and he opened the door. They demanded money, and he had none, and then they shot my husband," she recalled, saying he bled to death. She said she later visited a friend who had been gang-raped by armed men.
When civil war spread across South Sudan in December 2013 more than two years after the country gained its independence from Sudan the town of Yei was spared the violence that arose elsewhere.
The civil war, which killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million people, grew out of a political split between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Rick Machar. The conflict often pitted Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer community and other minority groups.
In New York, the United States urged the UN Security Council on Thursday to impose an arms embargo and new sanctions on South Sudan, a proposal immediately rejected by Russia as premature and irresponsible.
US Ambassador Samantha Power told the council that an arms embargo can't prevent weapons getting into the conflict-wracked country, but it would be an important step toward curbing the violence.
Russia's deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev countered that an arms embargo "would hardly be helpful in settling the conflict."
Yei became a refuge for all of the country's 64 tribes who wanted to avoid the fighting, and crime was almost nonexistent, residents said. The surrounding area produced food for the entire country and a nearby coffee plantation received support from actor and longtime South Sudan activist George Clooney.
When a peace deal was signed in 2015, it seemed that Yei had avoided bloodshed.
But last summer, after fresh fighting erupted in South Sudan's capital, Juba, between Kiir's army and the rebels under Machar, the renewed civil war came to Yei.
Civilians in Yei began to suffer in August when the army came in to fight nearby rebels, said Gista, a resident who also refused to give her last name out of fear for her safety.
She said government soldiers swarmed a village on Yei's outskirts, where her daughter and son-in-law lived. He apparently didn't hear the soldiers coming, and "when he tried to run, the killers were already there," Gista said. They killed him and her daughter, as well as her 4-year-old granddaughter, and hacked a 4-month-old granddaughter with a machete, she said. The infant survived after being hospitalized, she added.
The military, which residents and local government officials say are from the Dinka tribe, attacked other tribes who are natives of Yei and surrounding Equatoria state on suspicion they supported the rebels, the locals said.
A militia called Mathiang Anyoor, which is allied to Kiir and Army Chief of Staff Paul Malong and is Dinka, also terrorized civilians, according to residents, local officials and UN officials.
Residents are restricted from moving 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the center of town in all but one direction. Surrounding areas have been declared off limits by the military. When the AP traveled in a government convoy in those "no-go" areas, they were deserted, with fields lying fallow and empty houses and shops boarded up.
Santo Domic Chol, a spokesman for the South Sudan army, or SPLA, said the allegations of soldiers targeting civilians were "baseless," and part of a propaganda campaign influenced by the rebels.
In early November, 11 people traveling from Yei were rounded up by unidentified individuals, placed in a thatched hut, and burned alive, local government officials said. Their charred corpses were still there in mid-November when AP counted seven bodies, some with their arms bound behind their backs.
"We are living in crazy times," said Athanasio Yongule, minister for Local Government and Law Enforcement. Like other local officials, Yongule said South Sudan's army does not answer to them.
Since July, hate speech has been on the rise in the region on social media, according to Stephen Ladu, the acting governor of Yei River State.
"We can see that the boys in the bushes will be writing on the social media that they will come and attack this community," Ladu said.
Letters sent to humanitarian groups and seen by the AP have threatened to kill civilians from Equatoria state who live elsewhere in South Sudan. Ladu and other local officials want UN to send peacekeepers to Yei to protect civilians.
Nearly 150,000 people have fled to Uganda from the Yei region since July, and 120,000 have moved elsewhere in South Sudan, according to estimates from the South Sudan Protection Cluster.
The UN refugee agency said in September that about 100,000 people are "trapped" in Yei by "military operations," and it is distributing items like soap and blankets.
Many civilians are gripped by hunger in a region that once was South Sudan's breadbasket. About 40 percent of the area's population faces food insecurity, according to internal UN estimates obtained by the AP.
Because of the conflict, they don't have access to their farms, said Richard Ruati an assistant external relations officer for UN refugee agency in Yei.
"Sometimes when they go to their farms, they are either accused by the government soldiers of harboring the rebels or the rebels and the armed groups accuse them of harboring government soldiers," he said.
Civilians "are bearing the brunt of both sides, and they don't know where to turn to," he said.
Dieng, the UN adviser on genocide, painted a harrowing picture of his visit to Yei as he left South Sudan last week, recounting stories of "targeted killings, assault, maiming, mutilation, rape, and the barbarous use of machetes to hack families to death." He said: "Yei is one urgent example among many."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a stark warning about South Sudan this week.
"There is a very real risk of mass atrocities being committed in South Sudan, in particular following the sharp rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement in recent weeks," Ban said in a report to the Security Council. But he added that UN peacekeeping operations don't have the "appropriate reach, manpower or capabilities to stop mass atrocities."
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, November 18, 2016
As several Islamic organizations work to recruit more participants, the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) is set to join the next planned rally.
Scheduled for Dec. 2, the rally aims to call for the arrest of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who had been named a suspect in an alleged blasphemy case.
KSPI chairman Said Iqbal said workers planned to go on strike and join the Dec. 2 rally in protest of the Jakarta administrations minimum wage policy recently imposed in the city.
Just imagine, the minimum wage for Jakarta is set at Rp 3.3 million [US$246.82] next year, equal to this year's minimum wage in a small city, namely Karawang [in West Java]," he said on Friday.
Iqbal further said that in the rally, the workers wanted to express their disappointment over Ahok's allegedly blasphemous remarks and the forced evictions conducted under his leadership.
Around 500,000 workers in Greater Jakarta areas will join the peaceful rally," he claimed.
Ahok triggered anger among Muslims in Indonesia when he cited a Quranic verse in his speech in front of local residents in Thousand Islands regency last September. The National Police subsequently named Ahok a suspect for his remarks and issued a travel ban that prevented him from going overseas.
The Movement of Indonesian Council Edict Supporters (GNPF MUI) announced on Friday that it would carry out a peaceful rally demanding that the police arrest Ahok, who is currently seeking his second term of office in next years Jakarta gubernatorial election. (fac/ebf)
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Manila Fri, November 18, 2016
A suspected Filipino drug lord, whose father was killed in an alleged gun fight in prison, has been repatriated from the United Arab Emirates to the Philippines, where officials say they hope he can provide information to bolster President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
Rolando "Kerwin" Espinosa Jr. arrived in handcuffs and a flak jacket at Manila's airport early Friday with a police team from Abu Dhabi. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa, who has assured Espinosa's safety, escorted him to a maximum-security facility at police headquarters.
Espinosa's father, town mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., was arrested last month. He had agreed to cooperate with officials but was killed Nov. 5 in an alleged gun fight with police inside his jail cell. Opponents of Duterte believe it was an intentional killing.
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Linkedin Joe Freeman (Associated Press) Mandalay, Myanmar Fri, November 18, 2016
Shunned by Myanmar's new government and its Buddhist hierarchy, a nationalist monk blamed for whipping up at times bloody anti-Muslim fervor said he feels vindicated by US voters who elected Donald Trump to be president.
Ashin Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, drew parallels between his views on Islam and those of the Republican president-elect. Trump's campaign was rife with anti-Muslim rhetoric and proposals that included banning Muslims from entering the country and heightening surveillance of mosques. The form his actual policies will take remains unclear.
"We were blamed by the world, but we are just protecting our people and country," Wirathu said. "... The world singled us out as narrow-minded. But as people from the country that is the grandfather of democracy and human rights elected Donald Trump, who is similar to me in prioritizing nationalism, there will be less finger-pointing from the international community."
He even floated the idea of cooperating with nationalist groups in the US
"In America, there can be organizations like us who are protecting against the dangers of Islamization. Those organizations can come to organizations in Myanmar to get suggestions or discuss," he said in an interview at his monastery in Mandalay on Nov. 12.
"Myanmar doesn't really need to get suggestions from other countries. But they can get ideas from Myanmar."
Wirathu has been accused of inciting violence with hate-filled, anti-Islamic rhetoric in this Southeast Asian, Buddhist-majority country of about 55 million. Buddhist-led riots left more than 200 people dead in 2012 and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, most of them Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine state.
Anti-Rohingya sentiment remains high in Myanmar. Members of the ethnic group are widely considered to have immigrated illegally from nearby Bangladesh, though many Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for generations.
At the same time, Wirathu's influence has weakened in the past year. He threw his support behind the military-backed government ahead of elections in November 2015, only to see the former ruling party fall to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in a landslide.
In July, a senior NLD official in Yangon said that Ma Ba Tha, also known as the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, was not needed. Calls for the official to be disciplined went unanswered. In the same month, the country's official Buddhist clergy publicly distanced itself from the group.
"Ma Ba Tha fades with barely a whimper," read a headline in the English-language Myanmar Times in August.
Wirathu said he has no plans of fading into obscurity.
"This government doesn't want our Ma Ba Tha," he said, seated behind a desk in a saffron robe as several aides took photos and video of his pronouncements. But the NLD's attempt to thwart the group will be "hard for them," he added, as Ma Ba Tha is not breaking any laws.
"Currently, we are waiting and looking at the situation as this government has only been here a short time and they don't know how to manage," he said. "So we are not doing anything like campaigning or protesting to impact the government. But we will hold meetings, issue statements, help in our role."
For example, he said, his members have been distributing food in northern Rakhine state.
Scores of Rohingya and some Myanmar troops have been killed in northern Rakhine since suspected militants attacked border posts last month, killing nine police officers. Rohingya activists say innocent villagers are being killed, but the government says it is only fighting "violent attackers." International media and aid groups have been kept away.
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Linkedin Esther Htusan (Associated Press) Twante, Myanmar Fri, November 18, 2016
A Burmese exorcist on Friday pleaded guilty to murder charges in the deaths of three children he is accused of beating and injuring another after telling their parents they were possessed by evil spir
"I lost control of my mind and I killed them," Tun Naing told the court in Twante, south of Yangon.
After telling the parents that their children were possessed, Naing punched and kicked two girls aged 8 months and 2 years and a 3-year-old boy during an exorcism ritual Oct. 18, police said, adding that he also hid the bodies.
Two days later, Naing severely injured a 4-year-old girl in a nearby village in another ritual that prompted residents to call authorities to arrest him.
Superstition and belief in sprits is common in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Naing could face death sentence if found guilty on all counts. It wasn't immediately clear when his trial will resume.
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Manila Fri, November 18, 2016
Fierce clashes erupted Friday between government troops and Muslim extremists in southern Philippines, leaving at least 14 combatants dead, the military said.
The dead included 10 Abu Sayyaf rebels, although troops recovered only three bodies, said military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan.
Four were killed and nine wounded on the government side, he said.
The fighting began when army units encountered some 150 militants in Patikul township in Sulu province and exchanged fire until the extremists withdrew, Tan said. Soldiers then pounded the rebels' position with artillery fire and put up checkpoints as they pursued the militants.
The Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the US and the Philippines as a terrorist organization, holds more than a dozen foreign and local hostages.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office in June, has ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, known for its brutality and ties to foreign militants. He has ruled out the possibility of any peace talks with them as he pursues negotiations with two other larger Muslim insurgent groups.
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Linkedin Todd Pitman and Natnicha Chuwiruch (Associated Press) Bangkok Fri, November 18, 2016
Just weeks after Thailand's military government imposed an unprecedented US$1 billion fine against an ousted prime minister for her handling of an ill-fated rice subsidy program that racked up huge losses, the junta did something else extraordinary: It announced a major assistance plan of its own.
The $1.5 billion effort, which helps struggling rice farmers in part by guaranteeing prices well above market rates, is ironic given its similarities to the larger subsidy program for which the junta has castigated ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra.
But the current government may have had little choice but to act. Global prices for the grain have plummeted to their lowest in nearly a decade, severely weakening an industry crucial to Thailand's economic well-being.
Some analysts say the about-face is also intended to stave off potential unrest during the sensitive, year-long mourning period following the death last month of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and to win over some of the politically powerful farmers who make up 40 percent of the population. The rice-growing north is a traditional stronghold of Yingluck and her allies.
The junta has begun to realize "they simply cannot ignore the plight of the farmers anymore, especially [if] they wish to be in power for the long term," said Puangthong R. Pawakapan, an associate professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who spearheaded the coup two years ago, has vowed to restore civilian rule through elections in late 2017. There is speculation he could stay on as premier, and in any case, the nation's new constitution guarantees the military a strong hand in politics for years to come.
The putsch was the culmination of a decade of political turmoil that boiled over after the army ousted Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in a 2006 coup. The conflict, in broad terms, is part of a societal schism that pits the majority rural poor against an urban-based elite establishment supported by the army and staunch royalists who see Yingluck's family as a corrupt threat to the traditional structures of power.
In 2011, Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party won elections in part by promising to pay farmers nearly double the price that rice then fetched on the world market, a move critics equated to vote-buying.
The hope was that by stockpiling rice, the government could drive up world prices. But producers such as Vietnam took up the slack, bumping Thailand from its spot as the world's leading rice exporter. The government lost billions of dollars and about 8 million tons of the rice it purchased sits unsold in warehouses.
Yingluck told The Associated Press that "in principle, there is no difference" between the junta's effort and that of her government, an assessment some analysts agree with.
The junta's plan is similar to Yingluck's in that it is offering artificially high prices for rice, dispersing large sums to farmers and encouraging them to keep the grain off market in hopes of stimulating prices. But Jitti Mongkolnchaiarunya, dean of Thammasat University's School of Development Studies, said the latest plan is less risky because its scope is smaller, its price ceilings lower, and rice farmers not the government will be responsible for storage.
Yingluck's administration, for example, offered 15,000 to 20,000 baht ($421 to $561) per ton of rice, compared to 10,500 to 13,000 ($294 to $365) offered by Prayuth's government.
None of that, though, guarantees the effort will be a success, Jitti said, because global supply and demand cannot be controlled. Prayuth has said he wants to wean farmers off populist policies and has warned government aid is "not limitless."
"The government must have ... the courage to deal with these issues," Jitti said, "because it's all related to politics. Everything is politics."
Indeed, shortly after Prayuth's government announced its plans, Yingluck bought 10 tons of rice from farmers and made a public show of helping to sell it at cost outside a Bangkok mall. Last week, she did it again at another mall just southeast of Bangkok in Samut Prakan.
It was a brazen move for Yingluck, who could be sentenced to 10 years in prison if convicted of criminal negligence charges related to her government's rice subsidy. But in a country where free speech is suppressed and bans on large political gatherings have almost completely silenced the opposition, helping farmers sell rice offered a rare means of speaking out.
"I think she intended to challenge the junta," Puangthong said.
Prayuth and his supporters have condemned such moves as publicity stunts, though Yingluck claims she was only doing it to help farmers.
One person who showed up to buy rice in Samut Prakan, Samruey Thappan, said she was doing it not only "to help farmers, but to help Yingluck because she's a good person who is being harassed."
Farmers say they need assistance, no matter who's offering it.
Political fights "have no relevance to us," said Weerachai Wongbut, a 59-year-old who traveled to Bangkok from the northern province of Uttaradit to sell rice at a market stall this month. "We just need help."
It will soon be up to the citys Department of Transportation to decide whether Yep Tours will get its way on the Lower East Side.
Weve been telling you about this Massachusetts-based intercity bus operator for a few years now. The company illegally uses spaces on both sides of Pike Street at East Broadway to load and unload passengers. Earlier this week, Yep went before Community Board 3s transportation committee, which rejected an application for a permit on the west side of Pike Street. The full board is expected to back the committees decision this coming Tuesday evening.
We reached out to State Sen. Daniel Squadron, who pushed through legislation a few years ago meant to regulate the Chinatown bus industry. Heres what he had to say:
Unfortunately, after thumbing its nose at the community for years, Yep Tours showed up with a presentation that was long on obfuscation, and short on commitments to protect the community. Yep is another example of the need for stronger enforcement of my law that mandates permits for intercity buses, passed in 2012, with the support of CB3, the City, and colleagues. Thats why I formed a working group with CB3, the NYPD including the 5th and 7th Precincts, the Department of Finance and Sheriffs Office, and Department of Transportation to solve enforcement issues. I thank the agencies for their ongoing commitment.
The draft resolution to be considered by CB3 next week notes that Yep was denied for a license last year, for reasons including but not limited to operating contrary to New York City regulations for at least two years. It also states that Yep has collected $300,000 in fines, which it has not paid. The resolution adds, The Fifth Precinct has communicated to CB3 that it is concerned the authorization of the Pike Street stop for Yep Tours, Inc. would create additional issues for the communitys quality of life.
The SPaCE Block Association has been campaigning against Yep Tours. More than 200 people have signed a petition urging the denial of a bus permit on Pike Street.
The community board will issue a recommendation next week. It is up to the NYC Transportation Department to approve or deny the permit.
I am always excited to get new pots for my growing collection of rare and exotic plants - especially when they are from master potter, Guy Wolff.
I first met Guy years ago during one of my many trips through Litchfield County, Connecticut, searching for antiques, plants, and ideas for my magazine, Living. I was so impressed by Guy's pottery, I became a regular customer.
Some time ago, I asked Guy to make me another batch of pots in various sizes. And last week, he personally delivered the vessels to my Bedford, New York farm - each and every one of them is so very beautifully handcrafted. Take a look, and enjoy these photos.
1.
Much reading of personal history whether its a memoir, a history, even poetry evokes an awkward mixture of feeling: good writing affords pleasure, yet when it records real pain and despair we may feel guilt at our own pale, vicarious suffering. No human experience has produced such a rich literature of commingled aesthetic gratification and sympathetic misery as the Great War.
Up and down Britain in August 1914, thousands upon thousands of literarily inclined young men volunteered, their heads filled with rousing warlike poetry and dreams of leading a heroic charge, only to be mowed down by machine guns, or else survive years hunkered in the mud, shells bursting overhead, to produce the first great anti-war poetry. Or so the traditional narrative, bemoaned by historians but enduringly popular, goes.
Yet the soldiers responses to their experiences were diverse, complex, and for the first time profusely and skillfully recorded. History is in constant danger of being smothered under its own weight, the known course of future events squeezing the life from earlier moments that had been lived with possibility, the familiar story retold until we only remember the parts that fit its conclusion. But how did those idealistic fools become those bitterly wise poets? And did they all, really? With the centennial of the war almost upon us, wouldnt it be interesting to re-read the war from the beginning, rather than looking back down upon it from the height of all of our learned interpretations?
What if one were to read heaps of personal histories all together, following perhaps a few dozen of the most rewarding writers from the beginning of the war to the end, at a distance of exactly a century? It could be a chorus of many different voices, a symphonic literary history. This idle thought became a big project, acenturyback.com, a blog that will slowly build into a new way of reading or re-experiencing, in real time the Great War: every day a piece of writing produced a century ago, or a description of events befalling one of the writers on that day.
Hard on the heels of the idea came a dirty little ambition: I wanted to discover a previously unrecognized coincidence. If I was going to read a hundred memoirs, I should find two poets passing in the night on some doomed trench raid, and no scholars yet the wiser. Perhaps I still will. But it turns out although its only June and Franz Ferdinand is still safe and soundthat the centennial of a poetic overlapping is already upon us.
A century ago tonight, June 23rd 1914, was the London premiere of the Ballets Russes La Legende de Josephe at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Amongst the throng of aristocrats, Gilded Age millionaires, and society hangers-on were unbeknownst to each other and, apparently, to historians three men with poetic aspirations. Each had some idea that they needed to make a change, but none knew that this was one of the last gorgeous, oblivious nights before old Europe tore itself apart.
All coincidences are mere coincidences, but this one can be put to good use. Read together, the three stories become a sort of prologue in a minor key to the guns of August, a rare composite view of that Last Summer and of how it was remembered, and written.
Portrait of the poet Siegfried Sassoon by Glyn Warren Philpot (1917)
2.
As a matter of good history history as it really was the summer of 1914 was a time like most others. People went about their pleasure and their business, and most believed that common sense and the profit motive would keep a lid on international tensions.
Siegfried Sassoon, who had recently rented a flat in London, was preoccupied with nothing more momentous than his stalled personal progress. He was twenty-seven, had left Cambridge without a degree, and never held a job, and he had lost money on each new volume of flowery and outdated verses a gentleman flaneur, or, in plainer contemporary idiom, a slacker. He now planned to live off of family money while working hard on his poetry, yet he was so unproductive and so short on funds that he would give up the flat in July and return home to Kent. Poetry remained a calling, but, until Sassoons muse awakened under fire, literature was far from a career.
Strangely, the war would transform Sassoon first into an aggressive fighter he won the military cross for conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemys trenches and then into the author of now-canonical protest poems. But it was his public refusal to return to action motivated by his belief that soldiers were needlessly suffering for unworthy and ill-defined political goals that would bring him an unusual fame. Instead of being punished, Sassoon was treated for shell-shock and eventually chose to return to combat.
In June 1914, however, none of this had yet come to pass. Sassoon was adrift, but he had found his way under the wing of Eddie Marsh, private secretary to Winston Churchill and ubiquitous fixer-and-connector of Londons young painters and poets. Marsh bought or published their work, fed them, even put them up in his spare room come August, his day job would make him all too useful for poets in search of a military commission.
By day, then, Siegfried mooned about London, pretending to work or taking aimless strolls (he was mortified to run into a lonely, elderly friend at the zootwo days in a row). As for the evenings, he had scant acquaintance with opera and none with the ballet, but he could follow directions. On the afternoon of June 23rd, as Sassoon later wrote:
I had now reached what appeared to be the zenith of my London season. For I was hurrying home to boil myself a couple of eggs and thereafter to emerge in full evening dress to attend a Gala Performance of the Russian Ballet
What the Russian Ballet would be like I had no notion [I had said to Eddie Marsh] that I wasnt particularly keen about ballets because nothing much ever seemed to happen in themHis pained and reproachful retort But its simply the most divine thing in the world! had given me the needed stimulus, and Id made a start by securing a central stall for the London premiere of The Legend of Joseph. This I obtained by luck the box-office chancing to have a returned ticket when all the seats had been sold. Richard Strauss, who had written the music, was to conduct, and a youthful dancer named Leonide Massine would be making his debut.
This is impressive ignorance, given that the Ballet Russes, under Diaghilev, were scarcely a year removed from that quintessential succes de scandale, Le Sacre du Printemps. Although Sassoon was soon hooked on ballet, his account of the evening focuses (as much of his memoirs do) on his inexperience and his anxiety about his social position.
It was rather as if I had arrived uninvited at an enormous but exclusive party. Borne along by the ingoing tide of ticket-holders, I seemed to be surrounded by large smiling ladies with bejewelled bosoms who looked like retired prima-donnas and whose ample presences were cavaliered by suave grey-haired men who might possibly be successful impresarios. They all seemed to know one another
Sassoon goes on to describe the post-performance posing of Londons glitterati:
Eddie Marsh being the only person among the scintillating audience whom I had any likelihood of knowing, I now set out on a self-conscious cruise in quest of him. Before long I caught sight of him standing at the top of a flight of steps. He was in monocled conversation with a couple of brainy-looking young men in dowdy dinner jackets, to whom I was introduced without quite grasping their names.
One of these young men, in that see-saw intonation which has since become known as the Bloomsbury voice snarkily opined that the decor was surely Berlin-Veronese at its most meretricious.
Poor Sassoon! Out of his depth among such cognoscenti, he duly assimilated the word daycore and went home feeling a bit lonely.
The funny thing is that one of those names he couldnt quite grasp may have been Osbert Sitwell.
Osbert Sitwell as Apollo in Boris Anreps The Awakening of the Muses (1933)
3.
Osbert Sitwell was then only twenty-one, another aimless scion of moneyed country gentry with a troubled family history. This family was both much grander Osbert would eventually succeed his father as the fifth baronet Sitwell and more comprehensively screwed-up: Lady Ida had recently been imprisoned for fraud, and Sir George, was so thoroughly eccentric that he exceeded even the standards of the English aristocracy in off-hand cruelty toward his children.
Yet privilege has its privileges, and Osbert knew many of the best and richest people in society, who provided him with a smooth entree into the world of high art. For Sitwell, 1914 marked his personal discovery of avant-garde art. By the time June rolled around he had spent his allowance and gone deeply into debt, but he was no longer aimless he knew that he wanted to make a career in Modern art.
The one thing he didnt want to be was a soldier which, of course, he was. His father had decided, several years before, that Osbert needed what we might now call more structure. So, naturally, he arranged an army commission, without in Osberts telling his son knowing a thing about it. Which is very hard to believe. In any event, the younger Sitwell was now an officer in the Grenadier Guards, a position that did indeed provide structure, just not quite enough: his occasional changing-of-the-guard duties before Buckingham Palace left plenty of time for artistic exploration and social mountaineering.
When the war begins, then, Lieutenant Sitwell will see combat much sooner than most. He, too, was moved to verse by his months on the Western Front, although his war poems are few and relatively slight. Still, as uniformed literary gadflies, it was natural that he and Sassoon would (again) cross paths, and they did indeed became friends. In the summer of 1918, Osbert will even host a lavish lunch for Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. Sitwell and Sassoon worked together on anthologies and journals after the war, but Osbert and his siblings (the future Dame Edith and their younger brother Sacheverell) soon fashioned themselves into central figures of the Modernist movement. This all became too outre for Sassoon, who broke off the friendship.
But all this, again, lay in the future. Right now a hundred years ago Osbert was playing the Misfit Subaltern by day and gorging on high culture by night.
Sitwell was, both naturally and deliberately, a huge snob. He was also a self-mythologizer and a name-dropper. His memoirs are, therefore, very amusing to read, although as an entertainment rather than as capital-L Literature they provide nothing like the carefully composed ruminations on memory and loss that make Sassoon worth lingering over. When Sitwell writes of 1914 he is seeking not to rediscover his callow younger self but rather to portray the young artist and all of his famous artist friends on the first rungs of their climb to greatness:
On June 23rd, I was present at the initial appearance of a great new dancer Massinein after years a valued friend of my brother and myself. La Legende de Josephe, in which he first danced, had been designed as a spectacle, rather than a ballet, to the music of Richard Strauss. In it, figures costumed by Leon Bakst, and such as might have been portrayed by the brush of Paolo Veronese, feasted in an enormous scene, pitched, at a hazard, halfway between Babylon and Venice
That very same comparison to Veronese! Could Sitwell, then, have been the languid blueblood that overawed Sassoon with his description of the daycore? It certainly sounds like him.
Or could this be a clue to a literary conspiracy? Is Sassoon referring to Sitwell without using his name, twitting his pretensions with a memory dating from before their friendship? It would be tempting to think so if it were not so completely out of character for Sassoon or, rather, so against the grain of the polite, fervently inward personality of the narrator of his memoirs.
Did Sitwell, then, remember meeting Sassoon? He should have: Sassoon came from a disinherited branch of a famously wealthy family. He considered himself more a Kentish Thornycroft than an exotic Jewish Sassoon, but new acquaintances often assumed that he was one of those high society Sassoons. How could Sitwell fail to mark a man with such a noteworthy name? Yet, by the same token, if he had remembered it he surely would have dropped it for us. So, alas, they were probably not introduced that night.
And yet they may have come very close indeed. Bear with me for a moment.
Sitwell is at pains to tell us that, while he immediately recognized these new geniuses, most of the true artists in London were not yet clued in to the ballet. (This is a silly claim, since we can now put two other poets there that night, and it is likely that Rupert Brooke came to the next performance.) Nor did the nodding tiaras and the white kid gloves who did attend and pay for the spectacle understand what they were seeing. But, since the rich do throw great parties, Osbert Sitwell, who spans both worlds like a foppish colossus, will now jauntily slide from lecturing us on Important Art to gossiping about the biggest after-parties of the season, affairs hosted by the likes of Lady Ripon, Lady Cunard, and Lady Speyer, at which Debussy and Diaghilev rubbed shoulders with Londons elite.
It was to Lady Speyers vulgar nouveau riche mansion (oh yes indeed the description is Sitwells; he also calls Lady Speyer lackingin the power of self-criticism and fails to mention that she had been an accomplished professional violinist) that Strauss brought a Tyrolean band, to the annoyance of her neighbors. Lets return now to Sassoon, lonely and headed home:
On my way out of the theatre it had seemed as if everyone except me must be going on somewhere else. In the foyer there had been a conspicuous group of young people one of them had rapturously exclaimed that the party was sure to be marvelous fun and food. Handsome and high-spirited, they had made me wish that I were going with them, even though they were behaving as if theyd bought the whole place. If I were a real rich Sassoon I should probably have been one of them, and should have talked to titled ladies in tiaras and bowed to ambassadors in boxes.
Even the tiaras! And why wouldnt the ambassador attend a premiere conducted by a famous German composer? And what could be more natural than that Lady Speyer titled, surely tiarad, and, though American by birth, the daughter of a German officer and the wife of a financier of German-Jewish ancestrywould later play host to both?
When Siegfried, then, is home alone, reflecting that somewhere in that London summer night a grand party was being given in honor of the famous German composer to whose applause I had contributed my clapping, its likely that Osbert is hanging about that very party.
If he was, the coincidence is so sharp that it seems like a new sort of historical irony, an actual historical accident that out-writes the best writers. Instead of two separate stories of a young man and the ballet, we now have a stereoscopic image of two poets nearly colliding, then going on their way, one borne off with the society swells, the other headed home to wallow in loneliness and think of poetry. This is even better Last Summer spin than Sassoons song of his own innocence or Sitwells clever invocation of Venice and Babylon cities famous, respectively, for over-decorated decline and ruinous fall as he segues from disappointing ballet to uproarious party.
And yet: the very end of Sassoons chapter pulls us back to this moment. What is his younger self thinking, lying in bed that night?
Better for youth to be falling asleep with a snatch of Papillons still dancing in his head than to be acquiring disillusionment in that dazzling limbo of the coldly clever, the self-seeking, and the faithless.
Was this thought thought in 1914, or placed in an innocent 1914 mind by the experienced, memoir-writing man more than a quarter-century later? By then Sassoon had long been committed to writing in a backward-looking pastoral style that can be read as an extended rear-guard action against the onslaught led by the Sitwells, a fighting retreat in defense of the traditional decencies of English poetry. Damn those cold, self-seeking Sitwells: and perhaps the pendulum should begin to swing back from skepticism and coincidence toward credence and conspiracy
Edward Thomas, circa 1905
4.
This return to good English nature poetry can carry us to Edward Thomas, whose life was then so different from either Sassoons or Sitwells that the roles of social butterfly and melancholy poet seem suddenly like childs play. Thomas was thirty-six, living in a country cottage with his three children and his heroically supportive wife Helen, whom he no longer loved. They had married young and pregnant and though each came from the educated middle class, they had been legitimately poor, their lives hard. Thomas struggled for years to support his family with his writing, and although he survived bouts of crippling depression to produce dozens of books of criticism and nonfiction much of it written in swift, striking prose he saw this as hack work that had prevented him from writing something lasting.
Thomas felt like a failure. Yet when he was reasonably healthy he realized he was lucky not only in his wife but in his friends. These included several of the Georgian Poets their work recently anthologized by Eddie Marsh who had settled near the village of Dymock, Gloucestershire. Thomas at times participated in their unique version of ad hoc communal living, which seems to have been something like a half-realized William Morris tract: long walks and arguments, spurts of agricultural labor, children and guests running freely through various houses, and many perplexed stares from the locals.
Thomas believed that the poetry of the Edwardian age was tired and in need of a new direction, and he found confirmation of this in the poetry of Robert Frost, who had brought his family to England in 1912 and later rented a house in the same area. Frost and Thomas soon became fast friends, not least because of the hand-in-glove match between Frosts new work and Thomass theories about the need for a more natural poetic idiomlater this summer Thomas will be giving Frosts North of Boston several rave reviews.
A few weeks before the night of the premiere, though, he had done something courageous, considering his personal demons: he had confessed, in a letter to Frost, that he, too, wanted to be a poet. Thomas had only dabbled in verse before, but he too was close, now, to turning away from a disdained career and rededicating himself to poetry. It took a few months, but by early 1915, even as he began to feel crippling pressure to enlist, poetry was flowing freely from Thomass pen.
And then he did enlist, and went to war, and was killed by a heavy caliber shell on Easter Monday, 1917. There are scarcely two years between the first poem and the last, but this was enough time for Thomas to emerge as a major poet.
Thomas based several of his first poems on observations jotted down in notebooks during the summer of 1914. In fact, the trip to London to see the ballet (though not the ballet itself) ended up providing the kernel of his most beloved poem.
Another friend of Thomass now enters the story Eleanor Farjeon, a poet and a quiet sort of free spirit who later became a prolific author, largely of childrens literature. She had met Thomas not long before and fallen in love with him. He, it would seem, valued not just her friendship and critical faculties but something in that love itself. This should be the beginning of a bad story. But its not only a strange one. Eleanor frequently stayed with the Thomases, and her feelings were obvious. But Helen Thomas seemed to believe that, since Edward showed no sexual interest in Eleanor, the disproportionate attraction would strengthen the family bond rather than strain it. Eleanor became a valued reader and editor of Edwards work, and the two women remained friends long after the death of the man they had both loved, each writing memoirs. In Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years, Farjeon includes several of the letters Thomas wrote to her:
My dear Eleanor
We are just starting for Ledbury and are in a real hurry. Last night by the way we were at the ballet and one of the nicest things in that hot air was Joan Thorneycroft [sic] who transpired. Also Thamar, Papillons and Joseph which I liked in that order
Helen and I are
Yours ever
Edward Thomas
So Edward and Helen Thomas, too, were in the audience at the Theatre Royal that night.
And what did he make of it? Well, not muchat least not directly. Who knows if he would have, like Sitwell and Sassoon, re-written a night at a spectacle, rather than a ballet, (the words are Sitwells) into a prime example of the artistic indulgences of the belle epoque. It would have been hard to resist:
It included a magnificent banquet which was the most sumptuous spectacle I had ever seen; and altogether I felt that Id got rather more than a guineas-worth of gorgeousness it is possible that I unconsciously realized that The Legend of Josephas was generally admitted afterwardshad been rather a heavy affaira grandiose failure, in fact. The date of its production subsequently suggested that Belshazzars Feast would have been a more appropriate subject for everyone concerned. Many people must have looked back on that evening as epitomizing the end of an epoch.
This is Sassoon, who, when not focusing on his own experience, inevitably places the performance in the larger context of the Last Summer, alongside the heat, the parties, the preoccupation with Ireland and the Suffragettes, and the indifference, five days later, to news of the assassination of some Archduke somewhere.
5.
This is why a forgettable ballet can be so memorable: like any collective memory, it can be put to different personal uses. For Sassoon, it was at once an initiation and a confirmation of a wan sort of outsider status; for Sitwell, only one star-studded night among many; for Thomas, the gift of a trip to Londona night out, but also a day away.
And yet the ballet caused at least one ripple that did not subside into anecdote Thomas did look back on that trip to London. They had to get back to the country afterwards, and the letter to Eleanor Farjeon, written from his parents house the next morning is perhaps the last thing he wrote before catching the train home. Later that day, stopped at an obscure village station, Thomas scrawled a few lines in his notebook:
Then we stopped at Adlestrop, thro the willows cd be heard a chain of blackbirds songs looking out on grey dry stones between metals & shiny metals & over it all the elms willows & long grassone man clears his throatand a great rustic silence.
In January, Thomas returned to this notebook and wrote Adlestrop, one of the great poems of the English countryside. But its a poem of sense-memory, not immediate impressions, a look back from the wars first winter at a vanished summer. Its four stanzas are the transmutation, by time, of simple observation into elegy.
Beginning Yes, I remember Adlestrop, the poet recalls that view:
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
Thomas might not have loved his night at the ballet, and he did not live to write a memoir of those last days of peacebut he remembered Adlestrop.
6.
There is one final footnote to tack onto the historical record: Sassoon was wrong in thinking that Eddie Marsh was the only person he had any likelihood of knowing that night. The Joan Thornycroft mentioned in Thomass letter was engaged to Eleanor Farjeons brotherand she was Sassoons first cousin. Did she go along with Helen and Edward, or is it just possible that she attended with her cousin, transpired to say hello, and was later churlishly forgotten or mercilessly written out of Sassoons lonely-boy memory-story?
Notheres no real reason to imagine such an odd omission. Besides, its much nicer to believe in the complete coincidence of Marsh, Thornycroft, Sitwell, Sassoon, and the Thomases coming altogether for an evening at the balletand in my being the first to notice.
A small world, and a salutary coincidence, a reminder, here at the centennial-season starting line, of the difference between the uncertain angularity of history as it is lived and the voluptuous story-shape of history as it was written up afterward. Looking back on June, what they wrote about was not a mediocre ballet but a last banquet of the doomed, not an ordinary London summer, but rather a lovely, sun-dappled paradise headed all-unknowing for total eclipse.
Notes for Further Reading:
The first thing to read would be the poetry: all three poets are represented together in many anthologies of First World War Poetry, including the newer Penguin and the Everyman, while both Sassoon and Thomas are published in manageable Collected Works (Sitwells verse is not worth sustained reading).
As for the memoirs, Sitwell may be a minor poet, but his five volumes of autobiography, beginning with Left Hand! Right Hand!, are certainly lively, if out of print. The third volume, Great Morning!, is quoted from above, while Laughter in the Next Room has several friendly anecdotes, from the post-war years, involving Sassoon. Thomas left no memoirs, but there are Helen Thomass, collected in Under Storms Wing, and Eleanor Farjeons Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years, from which the Adlestrop-day letter is quoted. The quotation from Thomass notebook is found in Matthew Holliss excellent Now All Roads Lead to France. All in all, Sassoons six volumes of memoirs, which appeared between 1928 and 1945, are the most interesting sustained literary wrestling match with the war. The first three are fictionalized in a very odd way (they can be found as The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston, and have recently been individually republished), while the next three go back to the beginning in a more open and literary way. The middle volume of this second trilogy, The Weald of Youth, contains the descriptions of the unfateful night at the ballet. For more on Sassoons unusual memoirs, see herethere are also short introductions to Thomas, Sitwell, Brooke, and Marsh.
While I havent found anyone remarking upon the double coincidence of the three poets (Kirsty McLeods The Last Summer records both Sitwell and Sassoons comments on the ballet, but does not mention the fact that they seem to have gone the same night; I dont think anyone has noticed that Thomas was there too) the obsession with poets crossing each others paths is harbored by many otherstheres even an odd book all about it (Harry Rickettss Strange Meetings). The most famous convergence of the poets is that of Sassoonnow playing the grizzled, urbane, and experienced hero/protester/poetand the shell-shocked and as-yet-unpublished Owen at Craiglockhart War Hospital. This became the starting point for Pat Barkers Regeneration trilogy, an unusually powerful intertwining of history and fiction.
For a more careful consideration of the possibility that Sassoon remembers Sitwells presence and is covertly mocking him, or for notes on my far-from-exhaustive efforts to find previous references to this coincidence, see todays entry on the A Century Back blog.
In our lifetimes, NASA could be sending astronauts to Mars. Maybe even setting up a colony there. But first, NASA needs better space suits and landing gear.
Where to turn for help?
The next generation of NASA scientists could be in our local schools.
Perhaps among the students is someone like Helenas own Dava Newman, who designed NASAs BioSuit.
Shes now deputy administrator at NASA.
In her blog, Newman wrote in April, We are closer than ever before to sending American astronauts to Mars than anyone, anywhere, at anytime has ever been.
This week -- NASA educators were in town working with a dozen teachers from seven communities in 21st Century Learning Center after-school enrichment programs from across the state.
Spread out on a table Tuesday morning were such odds and ends as aluminum foil tins, balloons, bubble wrap, cotton balls and straws.
The teachers mission -- to design a prototype space suit to protect their astronaut -- a smiling marshmallow -- when it would be placed in a vacuum chamber that morning.
Oh, poor guy! lamented one teacher, after that groups marshmallow shriveled and shrunk in the chamber.
If its not an airtight cover, it will not protect the astronaut, said Maurice Reynolds, one of the educators contracted by the NASA Glenn Research Center to lead the workshop.
Once the teachers from Boulder, Frenchtown, Centerville, Bigfork, Superior, Alberton and Conrad are trained, their students will be able to talk via video conferencing with NASA scientists.
Hot Springs teachers traveled to Langley Research Center in Virginia in October to work on a global research project, said Mary Ellen Earnhardt, Montanas 21st CLC coordinator for the Office of Public Instruction.
So we have four engineering design challenges, said Rochelle Hesford, who runs the Boulder Elementary 21st CLC program. We can choose which ones we want to do.
We did parachuting onto Mars, she said of an exercise the teachers had done Monday, flipping through her workbook to show the sketches shed created.
Then she, Earnhardt and two teachers from Centerville worked as a team on a collaborative design.
These were the same steps they used in creating their prototype space suit.
The biggest thing that comes out of this training is how to work through the engineering and design process, Hesford said, from identifying the need or problem to researching it and developing something. She will be taking the same workshop exercises back to Boulder to do with her students.
The big thing is scientists fail all the time, and kids need to learn that your first try doesnt always work, so you then go back to the drawing board, she said. Working as a team is really important in this.
I apply it to other things. What I see is the ability of students to think outside the box, where the adults are set in how they are thinking, the students are so malleable. And their ideas are so creative.
Although this project is geared to fifth- through eighth-graders, Hesford has found kindergartners are often the most creative and the quickest problem solvers. Kindergartners will beat the older kids.
Even though future astronauts may not be wearing tin foil or plastic wrap space suits to Mars, the design principles the teachers and students use to protect their marshmallow space man will be the same ones used by NASA, said training coordinator Tracey A. Canale.
Both she and Reynolds are former classroom teachers hired by Paragon Tec and contracted to work with the NASA Glenn Research Center Office of Education to run these training workshops.
People come up with the right answers, she said.
And thats what they want the students to do as well -- problem solve to find the right answers on their own.
The intent of this project, said Robert F. LaSalvia, the division chief of NASAs Office of Education at the Glenn Research Center, is to work with after-school programs across the country to improve science and engineering skills and knowledge. Its to help get kids excited about careers of the future.
We are desperately looking for scientists and engineers to help get us to Mars in the next 20 to 25 years, he said.
Those scientists and engineers are in middle school right now.
Weve taken the research thats most important to us -- protecting astronauts, landing robots on Mars and growing plants in outer space -- things that are really going to matter in our journey, and weve turned them into design challenges for middle school students.
Its the fresh perspective, the innovation, he said of the students that expand the scientists creative thinking. The passion, the creativity, the innovation of the students definitely recharges their batteries.
Were one of 15 states that are doing this, said Earnhardt. Im just so proud of Montana.
In our care
PENDING
WARD, Allie Mae, daughter of Kyler Ward and Lyndsie Route, of Helena, passed away on November 13th. Services are pending at this time and will be announced when arrangements are complete. Memorials in Allies name are suggested to The Ramsey Keller Memorial, 4382 Laredo Pl, Billings, MT 59106. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer her family a condolence.
TODAY
LINDSEY, Ona, age 79, of Helena passed away November 10, 2016. A funeral service will be held at 6:00 p.m. today, November 18th at Kingdom Hall-Jehovahs Witness, 21 Colonial Drive, Clancy. A memorial service will be at 3:00 p.m. Saturday November 19th at Hoots Cafe & Motel, 1 mile south of White Bird, Hwy 95, White Bird, Idaho 83554. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Ona.
MCCAULEY, George R. age 85, of Helena passed away November 15, 2016. A Funeral Service will be 11:00 a.m. today, November 18th at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Avenue. Burial with military honors will follow the service at Montana State Veterans Cemetery. A reception will follow burial in the social center of Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials in George's name may be sent to God's love, 533 N. Last Chance Gulch or Helena Food Share, 1616 Lewis Street. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of George.
TUESDAY
SCHENCK, Donald W. Don age 99 of Helena passed away November 11, 2016. A Memorial service celebrating Dons life will be held on Tuesday, November 22, at 11:00 a.m. at Our Redeemers Lutheran Church, 3580 North Benton Ave. in Helena. A lunch reception will follow at the church, followed by interment of both Don and his wife Ethel at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Fort Harrison. In lieu of flowers, Memorials are suggested to the Our Redeemers Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 3580 N Benton Avenue, Helena, Mt 59602. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Don.
Connecting two artists that are 4,000 miles apart, The Distinct Sound of Laughter in the Distance is an abstract art exhibition that projects the creativity of a distinct pen pal collaborative from London to Chicago.
London-based artist Edwin and Chicago-native Dont Fret (the latter whose work is currently featured in Netflixs short-film anthology Easy, starring Dave Franco and Orlando Bloom) have been consistently sending each other words, quotes and personal ideologies via social media over the course of a year. The texts explore a catalogue of private, social and political contexts, which are then projected onto the walls in each of the artists' own city.
The exhibition is an intangible encounter. Around the warehouse there are various paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, and thrilling interactive installations, all portraying a different social theme, and current affairs in a creative, satirical fashion. There is a model of Donald Trump hiding behind a brick wall watching the announcement of the Presidential Elections on the television, and within the News and Booze section of the exhibition, there are various sculptured front-page newspapers with comically abstruse headlines, including a painting of a man and baby with the headline, This Kid is a Fucking Idiot Dad at 13. The irony!
The works of Edwin and Dont Fret are abstract ideas and representations of cultures from across the Atlantic, evolved into social interpretations. As 2016 has been significant in terms of political agendas, including Brexit and the US Presidential Election, this has influenced the carving of some of the items on show giving the audience a peculiar point of view on these themes.
Overall the artists both prioritise the conveyance of contemporary social topics through art, which aims to expose messages and ideas, rather than constructing pieces of street art for any sort of status, The Distinct Sound of Laughter in the Distance is a genuine movement containing important modern issues that is also very entertaining to see.
The Unit 5 Gallery in Hackney is a creative-led contemporary and urban art gallery and event space in Londons East End, and for sure worth keeping a look out for up and coming events.
The exhibition runs until 2nd December 2016.
Whether youre heading out or staying in this weekend, its fair to say alcohol will probably feature somewhere.
And while you may wake up wishing you hadnt had that fifth glass of wine, thats not important. Were all about cure rather than prevention when it comes to hangovers, so is there a better way to cure it than with a fry up, coffee and, if things get really bad, hair of the dog?
We spoke to some experts to find out.
1. Hydrate with electrolytes
Alkalife TEN Spring Water: Balanced with a High pH and Rich with Electrolytes #Review https://t.co/WNXWFiSQhJ pic.twitter.com/NDUzdcbiDj April Stephens (@thisladyblogs) November 16, 2016
Lets start with the obvious. Youre very dehydrated. Alcohol is a diuretic so your body puts its water supplies into your blood to dilute it. Cells then lack the water they need and as the brain is 70% water, it shrinks when dehydrated, causing a headache. Basically, you need to re-hydrate. Although water is great, there might be an even more effective way
Shona Wilkinson, nutritionist at Superfooduk.com, says: Not all water is equal. The control of hydration is in the hands of electrolytes, which are minerals found in water. For your best chance of beating that hangover, choose mineral-rich water or add in some extra electrolytes. Theyre designed for athletes. The water will also help to flush out the toxins, speeding up the detoxification process. Drink a large glass of mineral rich water before bed, take a glass to bed and be sure to drink plenty in the morning.
2. Avoid sugar
If a hangover has you reaching for chocolate or bags of sweets you might want to listen to Dr Marilyn Glenville, author of Natural Alternatives To Sugar, who says to avoid sugar before, during and after drinking.
Alcohol consumption tends to play havoc with energy and blood sugar control. Its better to focus on protein and unrefined carbohydrates, which release glucose slowly, she says. Say no to caffeine and spicy food that cannot only worsen the dehydration, but also irritate your stomach.
3. Eat before bed
Ah, the munchies. A classic symptom of a good night out. It turns out that might not be a bad thing though (as long as its not a donor kebab).
Wilkinson says: Having something nourishing to eat before going to bed will help give you the nutrition that your body needs to detoxify. Getting drunk is taxing so something healthy will go a long way to support your recovery.
Nutritionist Cassandra Barns adds: Stay away from foods that contain high levels of unhealthy fats, including hydrogenated fats found in margarines and processed food, as well as poor quality cheap cooking oils. The liver has to work extra hard to process these types of fats, when it is already under strain dealing with the alcohol and its breakdown products. Unhealthy fats can also worsen any inflammation in the body, which can contribute to hangover symptoms.
4. Go for a run
We appreciate this is probably the LAST thing you want to do on a hangover, but apparently it will make you feel better more quickly that wallowing in your own misery with the curtains closed and Netflix on.
The movement will get your blood circulating and will help speed up detoxification, while the sweating will help you excrete the toxins, Wilkinson says. It will however add to your dehydration. So ensure that you drink plenty of hydrating fluids before, during and after your run.
5. Do yoga
As long as hanging your head upside down doesnt make you feel more sick, yoga can be a great way to shake off a hangover.
Wilkinson says: The movement from the likes of yoga and pilates will help to increase blood flow to all parts of your body, but importantly, your liver. The more blood that passes through, the quicker your liver can detoxify the alcohol. The sweating will help to eliminate the toxins through your skin.
Again though, drink lots of water afterwards. The bonus of yoga is that you can easily find a YouTube video and do the downward dog in your own living room. You know, if the idea of getting out and going to a class is too much for your poor little hungover head.
Whether you have been bullied, witnessed bullying, or been a bully yourself, experts tend to agree on at least one thing: its bad for everyone concerned.
The NSPCC says that bullying is one of the most common reasons for calls received from children, and the charity delivered 25,700 counselling sessions as a result of bullying last year.
The complex and myriad reasons behind why bullying occurs can make identifying it and tackling it a challenge at whatever age. To mark the end of Anti-Bullying Week, we spoke to Helge Hoel, a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the University of Manchester, who has spent more than two decades looking at the causes and impact of bulling in the workplace.
The Duke of Cambridge has been a strong supporter of anti-bullying campaigns in UK schools (Matt Dunham/PA)
He said: The majority of what we know is about the targets of bullying. We know very little of what is going on inside the heads of those doing it. What we have clearly found is there isnt a victim personality.
Professor Hoel is keen to point out that bullying is all too often associated with psychopathy and wilful harm.
Of course its possible that these people will have those issues, and unfortunately sometimes they will, but its not true that that is commonly the reason.
The issue of trying to get inside the mind of a bully is therefore fraught with difficulty. Here are a few of the possible causes that academic studies have identified over the years:
Stress at home
A stressful or abusive home environment is thought to be the cause of some bullying (OcusFocus/Thinkstock)
A host of familial difficulties are shown to have an impact on the creation of bullies, who are themselves often victims of some wider circumstances beyond their control.
Studies showing a lack of parental supervision, emotional support, domestic violence or conflict, poor parental communication, inappropriate discipline, and a family members involvement in a gang can all play a part in a childs propensity to pick on others.
However, the certainty of these links is unclear. Genetic factors have been shown to account for up to 61% of the variation in bullying behaviour demonstrating the important link that individual personalities play in explaining the causes of bullying.
Peer support
Studies showed that witnesses to bullying are unlikely to step in to help (Wavebreakmedia/Thinkstock)
Most bullying doesnt happen in isolation. Several observational studies have suggested that two to four peers are present in at least 85% of bullying incidents, and that most examples of bullying behaviour are reinforced by the group, rather than stopped or discouraged.
1997 study by Wendy Craig and Debra Pepler at Queens University in Canada showed that bystanders actively joined in with bullying 21% of the time, and only stepped in to help the victim in 25% of all incidents.
As such, the rewarding nature of bullying from ones peers can lead to reinforcement of the behaviour and an ingrained tendency to pick on others.
Negative environment
Children have been shown to be less likely to report bullying in a negative school environment (bowdenimages/Thinkstock)
Studies in schools have suggested that children are less likely to report bulling if they feel their school carries a negative environment.
The same is true for the workplace, where Professor Hoel said many people fear the consequences of reporting instances of bullying, particularly where the bully holds a managerial position.
He said: I really think theres still a lot of unwillingness to address behaviour. For schools, I do know there are very good anti-bullying programmes, but in terms of the workplace there is an understanding that it is costly.
There is a disagreement on what it looks like: Human Resources and some organisations are unwilling to address it properly.
Individual traits
Children and parents follow actions to a song at an anti-bullying Bootcamp in Tennessee (Doug Strickland AP/PA)
Bullying does not manifest itself from any one personality trait. It has been variably linked to lack of emotion, psychopathic tendencies, conduct problems, endorsement of masculine traits and susceptibility to peer pressure but no one theme has emerged, and these traits tend to feature in the minority of subjects.
Understanding The Psychology Of Bullying Susan M Swearer and Shelly Hymel said in their 2015 essay,, that our understanding of the psychology of bullying/victimization is much like the chicken or egg conundrum referring to the complexities of identifying whether or not some behavioural traits in victims provoke bullies into acting negatively towards them.
However, Professor Hoel is more unequivocal in his appraisal: There is absolutely no excuse for bullying. Ever.
Its a bit like when people blame rape victims for wearing short skirts. The truth is were only responsible for our own actions, and we can never condone bullying or say that it is a victims fault.
Community and culture
British rapper Tinie Tempah has been an anti-bullying advocate in the UK (Joe Giddens/PA)
NSPCC report The 2015/16, What Children Are Telling Us About Bullying, showed that racially-motivated bullying incidences spiked after major world events, such as the 2015 Paris attacks, or the Orlando shootings in Florida.
The report said: In many cases, the constant abuse and negative stereotyping resulted in low self-worth and young people frequently blamed themselves, wishing to change who they were.
Other studies have found bullying to be a more prominent part of societies where violence is tolerated or condoned, unsafe neighbourhoods and even violent video games.
Unfortunately bullying today is as prevalent and complicated as ever, but Professor Hoel does at least feel companies are starting to acknowledge that it is a problem. There may be some way to go before we truly understand how to solve it for good.
For those unfamiliar, the adaptation of Philip Dick's novel explores an alternative history - one where the Allied forces lost the Second World War. The show is set in 1962 America, split between the rule of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, with a small buffer of neutral ground between the two.Despite the fascist takeover, there are still Americans who believe in democracy and freedom. Cue the resistance movement. Lead actress Alexa Davalo finds herself accidentally caught up in this after the death of her freedom fighter sister.She's tasked with finishing her sister's work - namely, transporting an illegal newsreel. The film shows the Allied forces winning the war. But where does this come from and what does it mean? Judging by the trailer, it looks like season two will be able to give us these answers. Based on last season, we can safely assume that it is the eponymous Man in the High Castle who is distributing the newsreels that the resistance are so focussed on. And it looks like we'll finally meet him - Juliana Crane (Davalo) is shown in a mystery location with a mystery man: "You're him aren't you? This is your castle." Looks like some metaphors at work. In case we'd forgotten, we also get a real taste of fascist America in the new trailer. Rufus Sewell's icy Nazi commander makes an appearance - he's also after the films - assuring his doubting operative Luke Kleintank that they are working in the interests of the Fuhrer. His character, Joe Blake, appears in a lot of the quick clips of the trailer and in some pretty dramatic situations, suggesting he'll have an even more important role to play... And finally, we get a glimpse of Tagomi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). The Japanese politician is shown mulling over his ambigious morality once more: "If they die, it's because I have failed to prevent it". Who is he talking about? The trailer doesn't give it away - it shows most of the series' old and new characters in pretty dicey situations and if there's one thing we do know from the first season, its that this America is a cruel new world...
The Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) represents a broad range of companies operating in the oil and gas industry, including pipeline companies and surveyors, environmental consultants, and subcontractors that work on pipelines. In advocating for a competitive business climate for our members, much of our time is spent working to promote a regulatory environment that ensures some semblance of certainty to those looking to make meaningful investments in Montana.
In North Dakota, construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline has been delayed in spite of receiving approval from the Army Corps of Engineers in July, as well as every operational permit required by law, following an extensive public comment period, wherein current protesters were nowhere to be found. Additionally, 100 percent of voluntary easement agreements have been secured with the properties along the route in North Dakota, where recent protests have stopped progress of the pipeline which had been projected to be operational by the end of the year.
Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, alleging they had not engaged in meaningful consultation with the tribe as required by law, and that federal regulations governing environmental standards and historic preservation had been ignored. The Corps confirmed, however, that the pipeline did not cross tribal lands, and on Sept. 9, Judge James Boasberg of the D.C. District Court, who denied the Tribes lawsuit, stated that the Corps had sufficiently followed federal law in approving the pipeline, and that because the majority of the pipeline sites were on private land, claims of harm to tribal archaeological sites were unsubstantiated.
The same day as the federal judge denied the Tribes lawsuit, however, three federal administrative agencies, including the Army Corps, stepped in to halt construction of the pipeline by requesting Energy Transfer Partners, the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, to voluntarily pause all construction activity within the contested area near Lake Oahe. Now, the Army Corps will move to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding whether the pipeline respects federal law.
Bear in mind that the pipeline operator has already undergone a rigorous permitting process, including consultation with a subcontractor, GeoEngineers, which assessed impacts of the project to natural features, cultural resource features or above ground structures, and found none. The crossing at Lake Oahe would be placed approximately 92 feet below the bottom of Lake Oahe.
MPA understands the threat of a federal administration swayed by lawsuits and unlawful protests. Obstruction and delays of projects, i.e. the Keystone XL pipeline, has been the cornerstone of the Obama Administrations mismanagement of public lands.
Pipelines are lifelines to the American economy and modern way of life. They are the safest means of transporting petroleum products, and are an indispensable economic engine across the country.
As the U.S. Chambers Institute for 21st Century Energy reported from a recent study, banning energy development on federal lands would cost the United States $11.3 billion in annual royalties, 380,000 jobs, and $70 billion in annual GDP. Nearly 25 percent of Americas oil, natural gas, and coal production would come to a grinding halt.
Businesses which follow the letter of the law should be granted the right to operate. We cannot afford the uncertainty created by lawsuits, delays, and last minute reconsideration of permitted activities, and we certainly cannot afford decisions made to support a Keep it in the Ground agenda.
Alan Olson is the executive director of the Montana Petroleum Association.
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MISSOULA -- Sue and Tim Furey looked back as they drove away from the refugee camp and saw a young boy standing in the road, crying.
The boy, Aman, was one of hundreds of people at the Diavata refugee camp outside Thessaloniki, Greece. He had taken to the Furey family, and especially their service dog, a yellow Lab named Rosie.
Sue Furey, a Sentinel High special education teacher, took a sabbatical last school year. From August 2015 to March 2016, she and her husband were in Belgrade, Serbia. She volunteered at an agency that works with adults with disabilities.
Afterward, they headed for Greece to help at the refugee camps.
It wasn't their original plan. They wanted to help at an orphanage in Romania Furey had two students in Missoula who were adopted from Romanian orphanages but found it was going to be too expensive. They would have paid about $2,000 to help for two weeks.
So they took off for Lesbos, the Greek island that's become the main entry point for refugees into Europe. Then in March, the borders closed and refugees were stranded in Greece. Many went to inland refugee camps.
"It was really an eye-opener," Furey said. "They're coming from their countries with nothing. They're escaping terror."
***
More than 1 million refugees have come through Greece since 2015, according to the International Rescue Committee.
The refugee population there currently tops 61,000, stranded in Greece due to border closures and the European Union-Turkey migrant agreement.
Diavata is one of 52 refugee camps in Greece, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with a capacity of 2,500 people. Greek refugee camps' capacity ranges from 120 to 4,200, according to UNHCR's October report.
Diavata is a converted Greek army base, now with tents and housing units. As of October, there were 672 refugees at Diavata.
The Fureys' service dog became "Rosie the ambassador." While she wasn't allowed in the camp, the Fureys brought her to the gate at noon every day and the kids swarmed. She brought a lot of comfort and helped bridge the language barrier between many refugees and the volunteers, Furey said.
"The kids were super happy," she said. "They just figured out how to play and be joyful. But the parents were terrified."
At the camp, the Fureys gave out food, diapers, toiletries, clothes and infant formula. According to the UNHCR, in October half of the refugees at Diavata were women and children. The majority were Syrian.
"We felt bad because we couldn't give them everything," she said. "There was a limit."
***
One family they met had fled Iraq, and spoke English.
The father had a Ph.D. in archaeology and knew all there was to know about the mosques in Mosul. The majority were destroyed by the Islamic State, and because this man had extensive knowledge of the mosques, his life was threatened.
The family fled.
They went to Turkey first and thought they would go to Austria so the man could become a visiting professor at a university. Then the borders closed and they, along with their four children, were stranded at Diavata.
The mother, who has an advanced degree in physics, was in tears, Furey said.
"I don't know what is going to happen to my family," she told Furey.
In April, a line of tents burned to the ground after a cooking fire.
"You're living in a tent with nothing, and then that tent burns down," Furey said Wednesday morning in her classroom. "But by the next morning, the Army had cleared it all away and the (UNHCR) had put up new tents."
Furey attended Soft Landing Missoula's presentation two weeks ago on refugee resettlement in Missoula. Since August, five Congolese families, four Iraqis and two Eritreans have come here. As many as 150 refugees could be resettled in Missoula in the next year.
"I think everyone should see that," she said of information on who refugees are, where they're coming from and why they're fleeing. "These people aren't criminals. The rhetoric that they're all going to come here and rape our women is so discouraging.
"There are people out there running for their lives."
Rather than letting her anger consume her, Furey took action. In all, Furey said volunteering at the refugee camp was a good experience, one she wishes she could do again.
"I don't get dysfunctional when I'm emotional," she said. "I mostly get pissed off and fired up. It makes you want to help, and tell people about it. This is 2016. This shouldn't be happening."
***
The best part, she said, was the children including Aman.
"Those kids we met, their whole life has been war," she said.
Aman became somewhat of a "dog handler," Furey said. He would rally the other kids when he knew Rosie was coming and they would all go to the gate to play with her.
On their last day at the camp in June, they brought Rosie around one last time to play with the kids.
Then they loaded up the car and drove away.
They saw Aman standing in the road crying, and it brought Furey's husband, Tim, to tears.
29 illegal businesses removed from Phukets Nai Thon Beach
PHUKET: More than 20 business set up along along Nai Thon Beach were removed or demolished by officials this morning (Nov 18).
constructionmilitary
By Tanyaluk Sakoot
Friday 18 November 2016, 02:36PM
Officials removed 29 illegal businesses from Nai Tho Beach this morning (Nov 18). Photo: Royal Thai Navy
The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command reported to press this afternoon that Sirinath National Park officials together with Thalang District Deputy Chief Danai Jaikeng, Sakoo Tambon Administration Office (OrBorTor) officials and members of the Royal Thai Navy together demolished 29 business set up along Nai Thon Beach.
Kittipat Tharapiban, Chief of Sirinath National Park, told The Phuket News, More than 60 officials have been involved in an operation this morning to remove illegal businesses set up along Nai Thon beach road.
Vendors gave us no problems when we removed their businesses and nobody complained, he said.
Some of the owners of the businesses even removed their structures themselves. Now there are no more businesses in operation in the area, he added.
When asked why the businesses had been removed, Mr Kitiphat said, I dont know the reason, I was just asked to join the Royal Thai Navy in the operation.
39 Phuket motorists arrested or fined at Kathu checkpoint
PHUKET: Traffic Police from Kathu Police Station arrested or fined 39 people for various offences after carry out routine checks on motorists passing through at the Kathu Police Station checkpoint this morning (Nov 18).
crimepolicetransport
By Yutthawat Lekmak
Friday 18 November 2016, 05:48PM
Police check vehicles passing through the Kathu Police Station Checkpoint. Photo: Kathu Traffic Police
Lt Col Sarawul Choprasit of the Kathu Traffic Police told The Phuket News today, We carried out a big check on motorists passing through the Kathu Police Station Checkpoint this morning and the checks resulted in 39 motorist being either arrested or fined.
The charges were as follows:
Not wearing a helmet - 7
Carrying illegal weapons - 3
3. No drivers licence - 15
4. No Compulsory Insurance - 14
Lt Col Sarawul added, If you dont want to be arrested or fined then simply follow the law.
Phuket airport officials investigate incident resulting in damaged plane
PHUKET: Investigations are still ongoing into how much damage was caused to an Aeroflot plane involved in an incident prior to take-off from Phuket International Airport on Monday night (Nov 14). The incident resulted in the Moscow-bound flight being cancelled.
accidentstransport
By The Phuket News
Friday 18 November 2016, 04:27PM
The damage was caused by passengers stairs attached to the plane. Photo: Boris Suhanov
Phuket International Airport told The Phuket News today (Nov 18) that an incident involving Aeroflot flight SU274/275 happened at 9:30pm on Monday night and that the plane had been damaged by airplane passenger stairs attached to the plane.
At 9:30 pm on Monday an airport engineer was called to look into an incident and check damage caused to an Aeroflot planes door, which was said to have been damaged by airplane passenger stairs.
As a quick-fix solution the engineer forced closed the door so that it would stay shut.
Following this, the Aeroflot Maintenance Control Center (MCC) was called in to move the Boeing 777 to the aircraft stand so that the damage could be assessed.
We can confirm that nobody was injured in the incident and that all 284 passengers were provided with accommodation until an alternative flight was arranged.
An investigation into the damage caused to the plane is continuing.
When asked by a The Phuket News reporter about Mondays incident, Director of Phuket International Airport, Monrudee Gettupan, said, We know about this incident and understand that it was not serious.
As per our standard procedures, investigations into the incident are ongoing, she said.
Police arrest Australian fugitive
BANGKOK: A 69-year-old Australian man wanted by Interpol for alleged abduction and extortion was arrested by Thai police yesterday (Nov 17) at a hotel on Sukhumvit Rd.
crimeimmigrationpolice
By Bangkok Post
Friday 18 November 2016, 09:19AM
Eglitis: Served term for extortion
Guido Eglitis was detained in the lobby of the Marvel Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22, Lt Col Anak Prasongsuk, Deputy Duperintendent of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), said.
The arrest came after police received a tip-off from an intelligence source, saying a suspicious Australian man wanted by Interpol had entered into the country.
Following the tip-off, Lt Col Anak said he contacted the Royal Thai Polices International Affairs Division for more information and learned Eglitis had entered Thailand after leaving Siem Reap in Cambodia.
He said he also discovered Eglitis was wanted by Australian police and Interpol for abducting a compatriot and extorting money from the victim.
Lt Col Anak said police also found B50,000 had been transferred from France to the suspects bank account. A police search of the suspects hotel room found nothing illegal, he added.
Eglitis said he did not realise he was still wanted by Australian police, claiming he had already served a sentence for the offence.
Lt Col Anak said the suspect also told police he had served a one-year jail term in Cambodia after being convicted of extorting local people and had come to Thailand as a tourist.
However, according to police, Eglitis abducted a 58-year-old Australian man and held him in a house in Queensland to extort money from him in May 2009. His victim later managed to escape from the house and lodged a police complaint against the suspect.
Eglitis and his accomplices were arrested by police and later released on bail. This prompted Eglitis to flee from his home country and hide in Cambodia, Lt Col Anak said.
While in Cambodia, the suspect extorted money from residents and was caught by local police. When he was freed by Cambodian authorities, he flew to Thailand, he added.
Thai officials are working with Australian authorities to speed up the extradition process so the suspect can be repatriated back to his home country, Lt Col Anak said. Police say Eglitis has a 30-year history of crime and featured in a 1998 Australian book Scams and Swindlers.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda has also ordered the Immigration Bureau to blacklist Eglitis because of his reported extensive criminal record, he said.
Read original story here.
Projects underway to restore Phukets eroded beaches
PHUKET: Officials from Sirinath National Park have confirmed that conservation projects are now underway to restore Phuket beaches damaged by erosion over the past two months.
landnatural-resourcesweather
By Yutthawat Lekmak
Friday 18 November 2016, 05:06PM
Chief of the Phuket Lifeguard Service says beaches are getting back to normal now the storms have passed. Photo: Phuket Lifeguard Service
Sirinath National Park Chief, Kitipas Tharapibal, told The Phuket News today (Nov 18), As people know, weather over the past two months has caused erosion to some of Phukets west coast beaches. Damage at some beaches has resulted in trees along the beach falling down. (See story here.)
Our office now has an ongoing project to restore these beaches. We believe affected areas include about 100 metres of beach at Nai Yang and around 25 metres at Mai Khao. The first step will be to remove remains of the fallen trees, he said.
When asked whether Phuket will see a similar project to that announced on Wednesday (Nov 16) that will see beaches in Pattaya be restored (see story here), Mr Kitipas said, We will start a project the same as they are doing in Pattaya. And Phuket will receive a budget of B70 million to restore damaged beaches.
The project will help restore 2,500 metres at Sai Kaew Beach and 1,000 metres at Nai Yang Beach. We hope to receive the budget for this project soon, he said.
Meanwhile, Prathaiyut Chuayuan, President of Phuket Lifeguard Service (PLGS) told The Phuket News today (Nov 18) that following the storms Phukets beaches are now getting back to normal.
Both Nai Yang Beach and Mai Khao Beach are back to looking beautiful and there are many people returning to the beaches now that the storms have passed.
It is nice to once again see a blue sky together with the emerald ocean, I hope we will preserve our natural environment for the next generation, Mr Prathaiyu said.
BUTTE -- A woman injured in a fire at the Silver Bow Homes housing complex on Sunday has died in the burn center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Butte-Silver Bow Coroner Lori Durkin on Thursday confirmed that Betty Jean Zitting, 69, was the victim in the fire. Zitting died Wednesday.
Her clothes had caught fire while she tried to put out the fire, and as a result, she was burned on a large portion of her body, authorities said.
City firefighters responded to a report of a woman injured by fire in the 600 row of Silver Bow Homes near Uptown Butte just before 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Upon arrival, firefighters observed light smoke showing from the front door of the residence. Upon entering the apartment, crews encountered a fire that had been started by a candle and consumed a seat cushion. At that point, the fire was mostly extinguished by the lone resident, Zitting.
Crews focused their attention on Zitting, who had sustained severe burns in her efforts to douse the fire, according to the fire department's report.
Crews quickly helped the victim with assistance from A-1 ambulance, who transported her to St. James Healthcare. From there, she was taken to the burn unit in Salt Lake City.
The apartment sustained minimal smoke and zero fire damage, the release said. The Butte-Silver Bow Fire Investigation Team determined the cause to be accidental when a candle spilled. Fire crews cleared the scene just after 6 p.m.
Funeral services for Betty Zitting will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Chapel of Duggan Dolan Mortuary.
South Dakota State football determined to avoid letdown loss
Top-ranked Jackrabbits can clinch home field playoff advantage by winning last two games
By Nora Coghlan
coghlann17@grinnell.edu
On Feb. 11, 1986 Sara Croft 87, a third year at the time, returned to her art exhibition in the Forum to find that her work had been vandalized. The human figures Croft had crafted with wire were bent into sexually explicit positions and newspaper clippings on the AIDS epidemic were stripped down from their original positions and placed on top of the smashed sculptures.
In an article in The S&B the following week, Croft stated that she believed the vandalism was an act of homophobic violence. Among several reports of homophobic graffiti in Burling and the defacement of posters for queer groups on campus, the vandalism of Crofts work incited protests in support of the gay community. Nearly 100 students rallied outside the office of the then Dean of Student Affairs, Jim Tederman, calling the administration to open a resource center as a safe meeting and educational space for Grinnells queer community.
In October of that same year, Grinnell opened its first Human/Gay Resource Center. Now 30 years later, the space known as the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC) still proudly offers Grinnellians support groups, activities, educational tools and a strong sense of community.
Last week, the SRC celebrated its third decade of hard work through Queer Cultures Week, hosting Pub Quiz, an ice cream social, a clothing swap, a performance by the Des Moines Gay Mens Chorus and Fall Drag Show.
SRC Outreach Coordinator Takshil Sachdev 19 dubbed the events a success.
I think overall the thirtieth was pretty good We did our best in making sure that it was memorable, said Sachdev. [It] was a really important week in my life. It definitely defined some of my experiences here and Im just glad that I got this opportunity.
The SRC also partnered with the Department of Alumni Relations to invite several SRC Alumni, ranging from the class of 1988 all the way up to the class of 2015.
SRC Library and Space Coordinator Magyar 17 said that the opportunity to meet with alumni not only provided opportunities for community building, but also important information about SRC history.
I have so much respect for the queer alumni, they said. It was so great, getting to talk to them and hear what the SRC was like when they were here, especially because there is so little institutional memory Its nice to know that life as a queer person keeps going on after Grinnell and they have stories that are hilarious and that are interesting about their time at the SRC and it was so nice to have that opportunity that you usually dont get because theres no real archive.
While the SRC has served the Grinnell community for many years, the visiting alumni provided new perspectives on how the SRCs mission has changed and adapted to better meet the needs of students today.
The SRC used to be much more focused on fighting homophobia on campus back in the 80s when you would have people postering homophobic messages openly across campus to an extent that you maybe dont see now, Magyar said. [Even] though homophobia is still very much a problem that we deal with on campus today I think the shape of that has changed as the climate in Grinnell and in the US has changed over time.
Given the results of the recent election, Sachdev and Magyar expect to see the SRCs focus continue to shift. Specifically, they intend to continue adapting their services to combat the increase in homophobia and homophobic violence in the days after Donald Trumps election.
In order for the SRC to accomplish its mission and to do that well, it needs to be a space that can serve not just the College, but the community as well especially now, after the election, Sachdev said. It could be so much more than it is now if it had a more welcoming and a more accessible and a more central space.
According to Magyar, plans are underway to make the space more accessible.
Making the SRC an accessible space is a big concern for us. Weve been fighting for this for a long time but those [plans] always seem to fall apart, they said. So we definitely want to continue fighting for that, especially this spring.
Queer Cultures Week provided a space for students to keep their spirits high, even in times when national politics are not in line with the SRC. Sachdev said that he and many other students were not happy with the results of Nov. 8s election.
Obviously the election not turning out how [I] wanted it to on Wednesday dampened my spirits a little bit, but Queer Cultures Week kept me going, Sachdev said. Having that support from returning alumni, from our current students and so much queer programming in one week definitely kept me grounded and kept me happy.
Three decades after the destruction of Sara Crofts exhibition, Grinnell still faces challenges to the safety and comfort of its students. But the SRC continues to fight for equality and community for all Grinnellians. Trans Advocacy Group (TAG) is hosting a candlelight vigil for Trans Day of Remembrance on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. in the JRC courtyard
I think its important, even if things look pretty blue, to keep fighting, Magyar said. And having a space for that is more important than ever.
By Louise Carhart
carhartl17@grinnell.edu
As the country continues to reel from the election of President-Elect Donald Trump, the results of his election have been all too tangible for those targeted by racist ideology. In the City of Grinnell, this has manifested in harassment cases involving college students but also reaching farther into the daily lives of residents. Incidents at Grinnell-Newburg Community High School (GHS) have increased with the results of Election Day, preventing many students from feeling secure in their place at the school.
A young man was running down the hall and he told someone to get shipped back to Mexico and thats when the principal said a Hispanic student had a panic attack, said Anita DeWitt 17, SGA president. [The principal] also had to give a suspension because someone said ship that n- back to Africa.
Incidents like these have caused some students to feel threatened in their place as community members. Students have formed a Diversity Alliance that has met with DeWitt to facilitate conversations about what they can do to protect themselves as well as confront the reality of their situation. As Trump takes office, it will likely become increasingly hard for already marginalized groups to feel normal.
DeWitt, along with Cassidy Hilburn 20, visited GHS and plan to continue reaching out and encouraging dialogue between the College and GHS.
[We are thinking of] having peoples reaction to the election [in a public place] but without names or anonymously, and this will be students, it will be faculty, it will be community members, itll be high schoolers and college students and youll be able to reflect and take it in and no ones talking at you or to you, DeWitt said. We havent been able to have that yet.
This idea is meant to bridge the gap between GHS and the College and provide the resources available at the College to those in need of them. More immediately, DeWitt hopes to meet with the principal and the Diversity Alliance again to help establish their next steps.
Town Incidents
In regards to incidents within the City of Grinnell, there has not been an increase in the number of hate crimes in the days following the election. Grinnell Police Chief Dennis Reilly said that although reports have been made regarding harassment based on identity, these events cannot be classified as hate crimes under the Iowa Legal Code.
Harassment is conduct with the intent of annoying or alarming someone. Harassment is usually verbal usually in terms of calling at late or inconvenient hours or repetitive contact despite the person saying I dont want to talk to you, Reilly said. If acts of ignorance could be channeled into harassment charges, we would be locking up a lot of people.
While Reilly has encountered many cases over his five years of service regarding harassment of students based on what would normally fit under a hate crime criteria, the Iowa Legal Code prevents filing any type of harassment as a hate crime. Without this legal backing, it is difficult to pursue harassment charges.
[When I worked in] New Jersey there must have been 15 offenses that could be classified as a bias incident. In Iowa theres only a couple. For example, harassment is not one of them, Reilly said. Quite frankly when I got here and got to know the Iowa code a little bit, I went I wonder why?
Reilly brought up the importance of reporting harassment directly to the police as soon as possible. Instead of calling Campus Safety first and giving the perpetrator more time to distance themselves from the scene, immediately calling 911 and informing the dispatcher of the direction the perpetrator is headed in often results in a higher chance of catching them.
Three or four years ago when I met with student government and this topic came up and I said you guys have got to be calling 911, the College administrations heads went 360 because thats not what ingrained in the College, Reilly said.
By Lily Bohlke
bohlkeli@grinnell.edu
This week marks Grinnells first Social Class Awareness Week. Questbridge liaison Tim Burnette 19 collaborated with the Questbridge team and Intercultural Affairs to plan a slew of events, including talks by professors, a student panel and a film screening.
The week began on Monday, Nov. 14 with a first generation student talk by Professor Liz Queathem, biology. On Wednesday, Professor Kesho Scott, sociology, delivered a talk called Low Income and First-Gen in Higher Ed. On Thursday, Professor Fredo Rivera 06, art history, spoke about Social Class and Academia. Later that evening, there was a Low Income Student Panel. The week will finish off tonight at 7 p.m. in ARH 302, with a showing of Low Income @Grinnell by Kara Jones 00.
Beyond this designated week, however, Burnette hopes discussions about social class will continue on campus. In the film Low Income @Grinnell, Jones emphasizes dress down culture, in which affluence is often not visible through appearance and clothing. Burnette said that although it may be less applicable now than it was in 2000, the culture behind affluence still exists at Grinnell.
There are people here who arent middle class, who arent rich. There are people here who dont have family members who have ever been to college. Social class comes up in conversations but it usually doesnt come up in a Grinnell context, Burnette said.
Burnettes goal for the week is both to raise awareness about the presence of class differences at Grinnell and to reassure students who are low income or first generation that there are support systems and resources in place, as well as other students and faculty who can relate.
I hope students know that there are resources among faculty and staff for thinking about issues of class on Grinnells campus, but more broadly throughout the town, Rivera said. I hope it comes up more broadly throughout this week, particularly given the recent election, that we think about the politics of class and what it means from within our bubble on campus and then outside of that.
Supportive resources on financial politics are especially important during a transition period, such as the current transition into Donald Trumps presidency. Rivera explained that Grinnellians who rely on federal financial aid need to be aware of changing educational and financial policies. When Rivera was a Grinnell student in the early 2000s and President George W. Bush was elected, Pell Grant funding structures were transformed.
One of my colleagues was impacted. She was eligible for the Pell Grant her freshman year; she was not eligible the following year. The threshold had changed, he said. How we qualify low income students [is based] on certain criteria that are in flux and dependent on certain political contexts.
To encourage discussions about socioeconomic diversity on campus, Rivera helped found a group called Grinnellians for Economic and Social Diversity when he was a student. According to Rivera, there was less socioeconomic diversity at Grinnell in the early 2000s than there is now, particularly in regards to racial and ethnic diversity.
We wanted to discuss diversity in an intersectional manner and also deal with things the campus wasnt dealing with back then. [In my talk,] I wanted to give that history of student activism and think about the significance of class diversity and issues around diversity [over the course of] the past two decades on campus, Rivera said.
Grinnellians for Economic and Social Diversity initiated a textbook lending library, from which low income students could borrow textbooks and course materials for a semester, donated by past students who had taken the course. After the group members graduated, the lending library died out.
Its a matter of resources, investment and student interest, Rivera explained.
Last year, however, Burnette started a new textbook lending library on campus. He plans to continue discussions about social class to make sure all Grinnellians are aware of the socioeconomic diversity of students, and how that applies to everyday life.
Burnette emphasized the importance of realizing that not everyone is able to go out to eat or go to the movie theater. He said he is lucky to have found a group of friends who understand his situation, but not all low-income students do.
All the events [in Social Class Awareness Week] are intended for everyone. My goal with the whole week is to have professors and students talk about their experiences so that everyone can hear it, Burnette said. Its just as much to raise awareness as to say youre not alone. For the students who are low-income, first-gen, there are people like you, there are professors like you. I want people to acknowledge and realize that [social class] is present.
Caroline Heldman, a professor at Occidental College, has spent years fighting against the injustices of sexual assault on college campuses. This week, Heldman came to campus to give a talk entitled The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement. Prior to their talk, The S&B met with Heldman to discuss their expertise.
The S&B: In recent years, theres been a major focus on sexual assault on campus. What has been the role of both grassroots activism and the Obama Administration?
Caroline Heldman: Even though activists have been pushing for this for decades, its really student activism using social media. Social media allows students to hold institutions directly accountable using essentially consciousness raising and shaming through social media. The Obama Administration has been key to all of this. The big thing that they did policy-wise was to issue whats called a Dear Colleague letter, which is a directive from the top of the Department of Education to the rest of the department saying we are now going to consider sexual violence on college campuses a Title IX issue.
The S&B: What affect has this focus had on reducing rape and sexual assault?
CH: We have seen the rates of reported rape and sexual assault go up dramatically. I think we are many years away from having the best practices for addressing campus rape, and I would go a step further to say that most college administrations are more focused on risk reduction than they are on sexual violence reduction.
The S&B: Are college administrators, rather than the courts, the best people to deal with sexual assault?
CH: Yes, for two reasons. One is that college campuses are required to provide an equitable learning environment, which means that they have an obligation that is distinct from the criminal code. The second reason is that the only place that is worse than colleges and universities at adjudicating sexual violence is law enforcement. We know that out of every 100 rapes that occur in civil society, just over two rapists will ever see a day in jail.
The S&B: Once the 2016 Republicans control the Presidency and Congress, how will the Department of Educations approach change?
CH: I think a lot will change, but it wont change formally. I dont think a Trump administration would have the audacity to issue a Dear Colleague letter that overturns the Dear Colleague letter from 2011, because that would just be such an egregious violation of how we understand justice for survivors on college campuses. But I do think the Trump administration will slow down the process in terms of implementation. So all Trump has to do is tell any department or administration, I dont want to focus on this set of policies anymore, and if thats the case, the 200 plus Title IX and Clery cases that are open right now, they would essentially be delayed or not investigated.
The S&B: According to the Washington Post in 2012 Grinnell had the second highest rate of sex offenses among colleges analyzed, at 10.75 cases per 1000 students. How should this be interpreted?
CH: Campuses that have high reporting rates of sexual violence tend to be doing a much better job of creating a comfortable environment for survivors to report. So Grinnells numbers are likely well below what the real numbers are, but my guess is that theyre just closer to the real numbers because you must have some mechanisms on campus that facilitate reporting.
Contributing reporting by Philip Kiely, Zane Silk and Michael Cummings
By the time this letter to the editor is published, you will probably have read many think-pieces about a Trump presidency, about Republican control of the legislative and judicial branch, and what that means for the next four years and beyond. There is no doubt that it is a tumultuous time, but Grinnell has rallied as a community, provided spaces for discussion and is ultimately poised to move forward.
There are a seemingly infinite number of issues that can and should be discussed, but we want to focus on the local level, and what we can do today and tomorrow at Grinnell. First, we feel that resolutions for student safety must be adopted immediately. The financial and administrative resources are there, and Grinnell students must hold the administration accountable for the power that they have to help students in a time that is fearful and anxiety-ridden for many.
For some of our student body, it can feel like the first time that we were worried as a community about the safety of our students, and of the safety of these underrepresented identities in particular. But it is vital to remember that this harassment didnt start today. People have been dealing with these realities every single day of their lives.
Small steps forward can be taken immediately. We hope that Grinnell students will take a chance to learn about the Hate Crimes and Bias-Motivated Incidents Policy, and then report and document bias-motivated incidents. If you have seen a truck waving a Confederate flag around campus, for example, there are options available for targeted individuals and groups to report these incidents, so Grinnell can build a case against the perpetrators.
Secondly, the men on the presidential-elect ticket have insulted and attacked a huge number of identities that we hold dear. We hope that faculty and administration members will accommodate and assist students worried about their status on our campus, at home and in any space they are part of. The College must commit (through the Office of International Students) to helping undocumented students, educating international students about the citations they can receive for protesting and other factors of their status in the US that may soon change drastically.
We must also hold our College administration accountable for reflecting on national issues. Minimum wage, Title IX policy and birth control are all pressing subjects that affect students on a daily basis, and averting our attention is irresponsible and dangerous. As fourth-years, we have seen numerous iterations of student groups dedicated to fighting these battles. These efforts must never cease.
In terms of immediate support, we encourage anyone who wishes to talk about these issues to reach out to Rabbi Rob, Deanna Shorb, and other members of Grinnells Care Team. Reassuringly, steps are already being taken to improve community involvement. A mandatory orientation is in discussion by the Residential Learning Task Force, which will cover sexual assault, diversity and wellness. By changing and adapting institutionalized structures, Grinnell students can help insure that the community and College are more accepting and inclusive. Along the same lines, we encourage students to critique implicit bias trainings for faculty and staff, so that their identities are better understood and appreciated.
On a different note, voices are often left out at Grinnell when these opinions may not fit snugly into the mainstream Grinnell values. For example, after a previous Town Hall about unpopular identities, we are still struggling to understand why cant we talk about unpopular identities at Grinnell. Why, for example, did a pro-life student group only come into the SGA offices after Trump won? It is important to start locally: both SGA and The Scarlet and Black have a responsibility to serve as campus voices, and to foster education and conversations around Grinnell. In this vein, there are fellow students on campus who care about something different, and have different priorities that influence their vote. We want to ensure that their voices will also be heard, that these ideologies are not left out of the perceived homogeneity at Grinnell, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of other students.
It is unhealthy for students to harbor paranoias about the beliefs of people around them, and we want to do what we can to make open discussion more possible in the coming days. As we continue to move forward, the amount of healing and mobilization that we have seen has been incredibly inspiring, and it should be channeled into something very real. We want to advocate that this energy does not only go into getting votes for the party, or candidate, in which you believe, but in also talking to the silent group of people. They probably dedicated a lot of thought to their vote. Although we often take pride in calling others out for their attacks on our identities, we must also listen as students. It needs to be a conversation.
Anita DeWitt 17 and Steve Yang 17
The night of Nov. 8 was a surreal experience for many Grinnellians. Gathered around campus to celebrate Clintons victory, a slow-moving shock seemed to take hold of the student body as states on the map were slowly shaded red. While students at other schools gathered to protest and yell their frustrations, Grinnell remained strangely silent; the quiet being broken only intermittently by shouts of Trump! Trump! that echoed from a few cars circling campus.
The silence wasnt flashy, and it certainly didnt earn us any airtime or headlines in the local news, but theres no doubt that it was necessary. Grieving is a slow process, and as the cold reality of a Trump presidency sank in for all of us, it may have felt profane to shout over our sadness.
For the next couple of days, campus continued to be possessed by this somber tone. Proactive students and the administration organized spaces for reflection, meditation and expression, and I believe their efforts helped to further our communal dialogue in both an effective and healing way. Setting the tone like this has hopefully shaped the way all of us have engaged with each other afterwards. Although I am only going off my own anecdotal observations, I have been truly heartened by the amount of true listening and empathy that Grinnellians have extended to each other in the wake of Trumps victory.
Moreover, this meditation, reflection, listening and honest expression that Grinnellians have been practicing isnt just a healthy exercise, its the building blocks of an effective resistance. A common mistake of many protest and revolutionary movements around the world is to organize around anger. The fury, fear and disgust that people feel in response to injustice is natural, informative and even beneficial, but it can also be easily exploited. We cant even attempt to count the number of peoples movements around the world that have righteously sprung up, only to fade into failure or face the realization that the people who rode the movement to power didnt share the core values and principles of their followers. In light of these examples, its important for us to remember that anger flares up quickly, but it burns out even faster.
Thats why I think the honest reflection that Grinnellians and many progressives have been engaging in is an encouraging sign. I may be an optimist, but I believe that a movement that values the diversity, dignity and humanity of everyone will ultimately triumph over one that was hastily melded together from anger, confusion and hate. That we would construct this campaign through deep listening, respect and empathy is fitting considering that Trumps presidency was born in the chaotic and violent atmosphere of his rallies.
But reflection must not be mistaken for inaction. Going forward we now know that progress necessitates action, and that our civic duties do not start and end in the ballot box. In the coming four years, let us all find ways in which to effectively help and affirm the dignity of everyone in this country. Whether that is protesting with the Student Action Committee, marching with fellow Grinnellians at the Million Womens March (Jan. 21 in Washington D.C), volunteering at a Planned Parenthood or simply donating canned goods to a local food bank, we can, and must, actively work to ensure that the least possible amount of harm comes from these four years.
And yes, sometimes even anger can be useful in fueling this fight. But we need to be careful with this fire, and not let it consume our movement like it did Trumps campaign. In this sense, the reflective moment that we all took after the election was both necessary for our sanity and hopefully an integral step in building a coalition that is more sustainable and just than anything a demagogue can put together.
-Jon Sundby 17
DECATUR Renitta Lippert was working part time as a certified nurse assistant, her husband was temporarily off work with a back injury, and they were expected to have three children in college this fall.
Luckily for the family, the 39-year-old Decatur woman is one of 12 new employees hired four months ago by mri, also known as Macon Resources Inc., to help manufacture the 1 million new license plates needed by the Illinois Secretary of State's Office next month as part of a replacement program starting next year.
It's a blessing, Lippert said. I'm very happy to be here.
The new jobs are but one way Decatur is benefiting from Secretary of State Jesse White's plan to replace the oldest license plates every year, starting next year with those originally issued in 2000 and 2001, until starting over in 2027 by replacing those issued in 2017.
This is a great opportunity for us to continue the strong relationship we've had with that office since 1983, said Dreux Lewandowski, executive director of mri. It's good for us, good for Decatur and good for Illinois.
Macon County Rehabilitation Facilities began producing all of the state's license plates in 1983, work that was continued by Macon Resources starting in 1988, the year it was created by a merger of the former agency and Progress Resources Center.
The exclusive arrangement continued until the last replating project in 2004, when the secretary of state gave 43 percent of the work to Waldale Mfg. in Nova Scotia.
Lewandowski said mri has a contract for 100 percent of the project this time around and began producing plates earlier this year according to a new design featuring images of Abraham Lincoln, the Chicago skyline, a farm and the State Capitol.
He said he's been discussing the forthcoming replating and new plate design with the state for about a year.
White announced the project at a Chicago news conference earlier this week, saying the plan allows license plates to be replaced gradually and within the agency's current budget.
The program is mindful of Illinois' state budget challenges, while also seeking to remove the oldest plates from our roads, White said.
Vehicle owners will receive mail notification if they qualify for new plates at no charge. Those with newer plates that are difficult to read may also apply at www.cyberdriveillinois.com.
Motorists who don't qualify but still want new plates can pay $29 and request them starting in January.
In addition to hiring 12 new technicians to the 14 already working on the embossing line, Lewandowski said the crew has been working overtime to meet project deadlines, a situation he expects to continue through next June 30.
He also said many more of the 170 adults in developmental training with mri are getting chances to add the sleeves affixed to the back of the plates to hold the car's registration, learn some jobs skills and earn some money, too.
All those paychecks are being spent here, Lewandowski said. This is good for the community in so many ways.
DECATUR Three years and eight months after shooting 20-year-old James "Nate" Johnson to death in an apartment, James J. Chatman was sentenced to spend 87 years in prison.
It is effectively a life sentence, with 85 of those years to be served at 100 percent.
Before pronouncing his sentence, Associate Judge James Coryell read from a statutory list of possible circumstances which could possibly shave some time from his sentence.
He found that there were no mitigating circumstances, but plenty of aggravating ones, including the 10 prior felony convictions of Chatman, 49, with his most recent conviction in 2009.
When he was arrested, his defense was an alibi, then it became self-defense, Coryell said, addressing the issue of Chatman's character.
According to sentencing guidelines for first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement, Chatman's minimum sentence would have been 45 years, served at 100 percent, plus two years for possession of a firearm by a felon.
Nate Johnson was shot to death about 11:15 p.m. on a Sunday night in the bedroom of a second-floor apartment where he often resided, in the 1100 block of North College Street. Chatman was let into the apartment by one of the permanent residents. Chatman discovered that Johnson was in a bedroom. He tried to push his way into the room as Johnson pushed back from inside.
Chatman fired multiple rounds through the door, including a fatal shot that pierced the victim's heart. He died with his head in the lap of a woman who lived in the apartment.
The state asserted that Chatman went to the apartment to execute Nate Johnson in response to a dispute between Johnson and Chatman's teenage son.
The courtroom was charged with emotion as both of Nate Johnson's parents and his sister read aloud their victim impact statements.
Sitting on the witness stand, Carlee Johnson's hands were trembling as she held the pages she used to express her grief.
March 10, 2013 will forever be burned into my memory as the worst day of my life, Carlee Johnson said. The night I woke up to find my brother was killed. The pain is unbearable, and the effects are unending.
Carlee Johnson said she thinks of Nate Johnson the first thing every morning and wonders what he would be doing if he were there with her.
Some nights are sleepless, some nights I have terrible violent nightmares, she said.
Chatman, who was convicted of first-degree murder by Coryell at a bench trial Sept. 29, stared downward at the table in front of him during Carlee Johnson's statement. Occasionally, he looked up in her direction, as he sat next to his two attorneys, dressed in a black-and-gray striped jail jumpsuit.
Carlee Johnson said she descended into a mental state so dark I didn't even know it existed. She has cried for hours on end and wondered if there is even any way to be happy. When someone you love is taken from you so suddenly in such a violent way, it rocks your world.
Her family will never again be whole, Carlee Johnson said.
I will never hear his voice, or laugh. I will never see his contagious smile again, she said. His personality was so amazing. Anyone who knew him fell in love with his great sense of humor.
She used to enjoy the holidays, especially because he made everything enjoyable.
Now I dread them. I don't want Christmas without him here, Carlee Johnson said. It's not fair that I celebrated my 21st birthday and he wasn't with me. It's not fair that he didn't make it to his 21st birthday.
Nate Johnson's mother, Laura Johnson, said the loss of a child would always be devastating, but to lose her son at the hands of a grown adult was incomprehensible.
She said her son was the strongest kid, fiercely protective of his family and loyal to his friends, who loved dogs and playing football.
He was one of the funniest people I know, Laura Johnson said. He had a sharp, quick wit and would have us laughing at every family function. He was the life of the party.
Nate Johnson was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a child and struggled with his disability, she said. He was smart but did not care for school, nor did he try to succeed academically.
He was making some poor life choices and hanging around with bad people, Laura Johnson said. I spent many hours talking, pleading and praying that he would stay away from that lifestyle and get back on track.
She asked the judge to set a sentence that would lock James Chatman away for the rest of his life.
I don't want him to ever be able to take another life and put another family through the pain and anguish that we have endured, she said. Nate did not get a chance to live his life. James Chatman should not be allowed to live any more of his life free from prison.
Laura Johnson said Chatman seemed to have no remorse for what he did, nor did he learn from his past mistakes.
Speaking in his own behalf, Chatman stood up and said he apologized to the Johnson family, his own family and the court. He said it was sorry it happened but blamed Nate Johnson for his own death.
If Nathan had never raised that gun and pointed it at me and fired at me they wouldn't be here, Chatman said. My life was in danger.
Several witnesses at the trial testified that the victim did not have a gun. There was no evidence that gunshots were fired from within the bedroom where Nate Johnson died.
Arguing for the maximum life sentence, First Assistant Macon County State's Attorney Nichole Kroncke said Chatman's criminal history began in 1987, with 10 felony and 12 misdemeanor convictions since then, including several violent offenses. He served six terms in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The family members are serving a life sentence because of the defendant's actions, Kroncke said.
Scott Johnson, Nate's father, said he was devastated, crushed, flattened and changed forever by his son's death. It takes an effort to get through each day, as he is constantly reminded of his son everywhere he goes.
It saddens me to think that one man who has spent his life tending to his own 'hustle,' being a burden to this state many times over, can choose to carry out a self-imposed conviction, sentence and execution with no authority other than his own volition, Scott Johnson said.
After the verdict was handed down, he said that there were no winners in this case, but the verdict was a just one.
As long as he can't make anyone else a victim, I think justice is done, Nate Johnson's father said.
In this 2007 file photo, an oil transit pipeline runs across the tundra to flow station at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope.The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm marine mammals and exacerbate global warming. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)
DECATUR After Keantre Milan allegedly shot at a 25-year-old man sitting in a vehicle at a westside gas station parking lot, he dropped his ID card at the scene.
After police arrived in response to a call that about 20 shots were fired about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 29, they located his ID card.
On the ground, they found three spent .380-caliber shell casings and 11 9 mm casings, at the southeast corner of Eldorado Street and Oakland Avenue, said a probable cause affidavit by Decatur patrol officer Brad Saul.
When patrol officer Andrew Wittmer viewed surveillance video, he saw a black SUV enter the parking lot and park. The front seat passenger of the vehicle then engages in an argument with four subjects on the lot, during which two of the subjects fire pistols at the vehicle.
The video shows a male dropping a cellphone and ID card, which the police found at that spot a short time later.
About 5:15 a.m. Milan is captured on the store surveillance camera returning and searching the lot for his misplaced items, Saul wrote in his statement.
Milan of Decatur was arrested Nov. 9 and booked into the Macon County Jail, where he is being held on $200,000 bond. He was arraigned Monday on one Class 1 felony count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, punishable by four to 15 years in prison if convicted.
There were no reported injuries in this incident.
At the time of his arrest Milan was on probation for an Aug. 12 conviction on one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
In that case, he was arrested March 14 after police found a fully loaded, stolen .357 magnum pistol in a vehicle in which he was a passenger. While he was at the police station, he became ill and admitted to officers that he swallowed heroin, according to a court document.
He was originally charged with armed violence, a Class X felony, for possessing a firearm while committing the felony of heroin possession, as well as possession of a weapon by a felon and possession of a controlled substance with a prior conviction of that offense.
After almost five months in jail, he pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to the weapons charge in exchange for a 24-month probation term. He was then released.
In his most recent case, Milan is due in court Nov. 23 for his preliminary hearing.
Taking cognizance of media sting reports after the demonetisation move, the Delhi Police and Income Tax Department jointly conducted raids on Thursday and searched various places across the national capital to unearth black money, police said.
"The raids were conducted following the direction of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, which sent CDs of actual broadcast to Delhi Police on Wednesday for taking necessary action in the matter on account of demonetisation of higher currency notes," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said.
The sting operations carried out by several news channels show how some persons were involved in getting rid of their unaccounted cash in the demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in gold jewellery, real estate among others and also promising conversion of the notes into legal tender by charging commission, said Yadav.
The Crime Branch in association with Directorate of Investigations IT department conducted raids and searches at several places all over Delhi, he said.
"The places we raided today were Chandni Chowk, Pahar Ganj, Connaught place, Hauz Khas and Shakurpur," he said.
Appropriate legal action will be taken in consultation with the IT department.
Failure to impose sanctions on leaders of terrorist organisations is eroding the UN's authority, India has warned.
If the Security Council and its agencies did not come up with a "cohesive response to global terrorism they run the risk of becoming marginalised from the most fundamental security priorities of member states whose fabric is being torn asunder by terrorists," India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday during a General Assembly debate on Afghanistan.
He reiterated a demand India made in June for designating Taliban chief Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as a terrorist and making him face the penalties of UN sanctions.
"The international community is impatient for action," Akbaruddin said.
"Earlier this week, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan himself asked a delegation of the UNSC (Security Council) Sanctions Committee to include this person, and such others, in the list of terrorists," he said.
The working of the Sanctions committee has been a sore point for India. China has used its veto to provide cover for Jaish-e-Mohammad's Pakistan-based head, Masood Azhar, from sanctions.
India says he is the mastermind of the January terrorist attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot.
Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal also raised the problem of the Taliban and other terrorist organisations based in Pakistan.
Without directly naming it, he accused Pakistan of waging a "thinly disguised declared war" against his country by using the Taliban and other terrorist orgnisations, including the Haqqani network and the Islamic State.
He warned Islamabad, "Those who seek solace from the intention of keeping Afghanistan bleeding must remember that such actions would bleed them, too, and warrant international isolation."
DECATUR As you launch yourself outside today, put a proud extra spring in your step: Nov.18 is now officially Mary Katey Hays Day.
It's also the day that Navy Cmdr. Mary Katey Hays takes over the captaincy of Decatur's namesake warship, the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73). When it steams out of its home port of San Diego on patrol, Hays will be in charge of the 280-strong crew, of which about 20 percent is female.
This is just so neat, said Decatur City Mayor, Julie Moore Wolfe, who signed the city proclamation naming the day for Hays. And how often does something like this happen? I'm not an expert by any stretch, but I've never heard of a woman destroyer captain. I'm especially excited about that.
Hays, 39, grew up in Florida where her parents, Ross and Sue Hays, still live. But she has bloodlines running through the Decatur area that include several cousins. One of them is banker David Weber, who has gotten to know his illustrious relative well over the years when the close-knit family gathers for regular reunions and shared vacations.
She is about 5-foot-3, fit and on the thin side, said Weber, 68, vice-president in charge of business development at Busey Bank in Decatur. She is just very, very unassuming and yet the thing is, if you knew her, you would want her commanding the USS Decatur. She is a leader.
Hays has proven that at the sharp end of some tough assignments. A fluent Arabic speaker, she was working as an interpreter after the invasion of Iraq and, while visiting a school in the volatile Anbar Province, came under fire from an insurgent attack. Hays and her fellow soldiers secured the children and defeated the attackers after a shootout; she was later awarded the Bronze Star.
The captain had graduated the Naval Academy in 1999 and went on to serve as engineering officer, navigator and damage control officer on guided missile destroyers and cruisers. She's visited more than 40 countries and has recently been serving as second in command, or executive officer, on the USS Decatur.
Rounding out her resume, she has served in leading land-based jobs such as Congressional Liaison in the Surface Warfare Division of the Naval staff and even as civil affairs team officer in charge with the special operations forces of Seal Team ONE. Hays holds a master's degree in national security affairs with a Middle East specialty from the Naval Postgraduate School and also graduated from the Defense Language Institute with a certification in modern standard Arabic.
Even with a background like that, its hard to imagine the original Commodore Stephen Decatur, 1779 to 1820, would have found it easy to accept the idea of Navy ships commanded by women.
But Decatur, who won his own captaincy at the tender age of 25 in 1804 after raiding the pirate stronghold of Tripoli and burning the captured American frigate USS Philadelphia, would no doubt respect the mixture of professionalism and daring of Hays, who, 200 years later, has spent part of her career chasing Somali pirates off the coast of Africa.
And persistent piracy is far from the only danger awaiting the newly minted captain and the ship that bears such a proud name. A prime example is the mission the USS Decatur recently completed which saw it cruising the South China Sea close to tiny islands China is attempting to claim as its sovereign territory. The U.S warship, constantly shadowed by three Chinese ships, was there to uphold freedom of navigation under international law.
One slight miscalculation on either side, however, and this brewing cold war could grow heated in a hurry. Weber said that kind of worry always lurks below the surface when he thinks of his courageous cousin out there on the deep blue sea, safeguarding her nation and going eyeball to eyeball with its rivals and potential foes.
But, like I said, she is a very strong individual with the qualities of command about her, Weber added. I have a lot of confidence that, if there ever was a need, she would step up to the plate and deliver.
[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]
Dr. Armand James Quick: It is not a coincidence that the religion of Moses sets its ceremony for circumcision on the eighth day. In other words, only on the eighth day of life do blood clotting substances reach their all-time high well beyond the amount that will accompany a normal human being for the rest of his life.
Perhaps the most famous of all of the Torahs commandments, an act that the Talmud (Shabbat 130a) states will be joyfully observed by the Jewish people forever even during times of persecution is that of circumcision, or brit milah. Of this, the Torah states: And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Leviticus 12:2-3).
Notice that the Torah does not command us to circumcise a baby in the first days after his birth, nor does it command us to perform circumcision after the eighth day. Rather, it says: On the eighth day you shall circumcise his flesh. We are commanded to perform this act specifically on the eighth day.
Although we can never truly understand the reasons for the Torahs commandments, it is nevertheless appropriate here to examine some of the incredible scientific findings concerning changes in the body that take place on the eighth day of life.
We begin with the words of Ayala Abrahamov, M.D., Senior Professor of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in her article Problems with Blood Clotting and Bleeding in Newborns:
The system of blood clotting or coagulation depends on certain types of proteins, called platelets, which are produced by the liver. These materials, known by the Roman numerals I-XIII (1-13), work in sequence [together with various enzymes] until a stable clot called a fibrin is formed. In the first days after birth the liver is not yet developed enough to survive any surgical operations, which could cause massive bleeding and lead to the death of the newborn, whose body simply does not have the ability to stop the blood flow on its own. Physiologically, until the eighth day, the liver slowly develops, until on the eighth day itself, it is mature enough to fulfill its role to create the clots necessary to stop bleeding.
It is important to note that non-Jewish medical researchers, such as Dr. Armand James Quick (1894-1978), were astounded at the uncanny correlation between the development of the bodys ability to stop bleeding and the timing of brit milah.
Dr. Armand James Quick, who served for years as the head of the Department of Biochemistry at Marquette University in Wisconsin, specialized in blood research. As part of his work he made a number of significant discoveries, and developed an important blood diagnosis test known as Quicks Tests I, II, III. His procedure for determining blood-clotting time and the amount of the hormone prothrombin in the blood were considered pioneering discoveries in the field. He notes in his writings that during the first days of a newborns life, the amount of blood clotting material is limited, so that even a small cut is liable to cause serious danger for a newborn, to the point of threatening its life. By the eighth day after birth, the ability of the newborns blood to clot grows dramatically. Quick notes: It is not a coincidence that the religion of Moses sets its ceremony for circumcision on the eighth day.
There is yet more.
In June 2000, a new edition of the best seller None of These Diseases, by Dr. S. I. McMillen was released. McMillen notes enthusiastically that in the first days of life the newborn faces a serious dearth of blood clotting substances; whereas, after the eighth day, the level of clotting material prothrombin in the blood reaches its lifetime average of 100%. However, just before the eighth day, the amount of blood clotting material increases rapidly, until on the eighth day itself, it is 110% of the norm!
In other words, only on the eighth day of life do blood clotting substances reach their all-time high well beyond the amount that will accompany a normal human being for the rest of his life.
This scientist, Dr. McMillen, does not hide his excitement about such a discovery: We should certainly praise the scientists who worked so hard for so many years to discover that the safest time to perform circumcision is the eighth day. Yet, at the same time we applaud this new discovery, we can hear a resounding echo of these findings from the pages of the Bible.
These pages remind us that 4,000 years ago, God commanded Abraham to circumcise his son specifically on the eighth day not because of years of scientific research, but because of the decree of the One who created the bloods ability to clot.
In addition to this amazing fact about the day of circumcision, there are other important health benefits, that removing the foreskin has been found to accrue.
The explanation is as follows: In every part of the body the skin is flush with the layers below it, thus shielding against the intrusion of various types of bacteria. Only with regards to the foreskin, however, does the opposite apply it actually engenders a significant increase in disease causing bacteria, spores, and fungus.
The skin of the foreskin is not securely flush with the corona, and the small gap near the head of the male member allows various infectious agents to enter the empty space. This warm, dark and moist area is highly susceptible to the cultivation of germs and infectious disease. Removal of the foreskin allows the area to be maintained in a hygienic and safe manner. (As a result, every male in the British royal family undergoes circumcision performed by a Jewish mohel. Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the British throne, was circumcised by Rabbi Jacob Snowman, the official mohel of Londons Jewish community.) Furthermore, it has recently been discovered that the chances of being infected by HIV are six times greater among men with a foreskin.
Still, anyone can see that the real reason for circumcision is not to be found in its health benefits, but in its spiritual and exalted rational. However, every spiritual commandment mandated by God also has a physical benefit.
Incidentally, of all of the worlds creatures, the foreskin exists only among human beings.
This is a something to think about.
Here, we can clearly see Gods hand at work, who controls and guides the creation and gave the Torah; for He linked the day of highest blood clotting levels to the day upon which circumcision is commanded.
Here we must stress that it is not because the eighth day is the most propitious that we were commanded to circumcise on it, but precisely the opposite God chose the eighth day for circumcision for reasons known to Him, and therefore arranged for a sufficient level of blood clotting material to be available on that day in order to make fulfillment of the commandment possible. As the Sages have said: The Holy One looked into the Torah and created the world. In other words, the world is created according to the demands of the Torah, and not the opposite.
Adapted from The Revolution by Rabbi Zamir Cohen
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
This week Russian Jewry merited to celebrate another important milestone. The entire six tractates of Mishna have been translated into Russian along with many different commentaries and explanations, which will make it easier to learn for Russian speaking Jews all over the world.
This has come after many months of intense work by a group of scholars and professionals in translation, headed by Rabbi Boruch Gorin, Editor-in-Chief of LeChaim Publications in Moscow.
This milestone was celebrated with great joy at a special event that took place in the Jewish Museum in the Marina Roscha neighborhood.
In attendance were the initiator of this special project, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, as well as its sponsor, philanthropist Reb Yekusiel Yehuda Rohr, who has always been at the helm of restoring yiddishkeit to its former glory in the entire Russia.
At the Melava Malka event a special film made in honor of this occasion was shown. A siyum was made on all six tractates of Mishna which were learned by anash, shluchim and members of communities throughout Russia. Many students of the Jewish Moscow Educational Institutions attended this event as well. In fact, the siyum was said by a student of the Mesivta who had a bris just two years ago, with Mr. Rohr as his sandek! Today he is one of many students learning Torah at the Mesivta in Moscow.
The MosKapela Chior, formed by a group of young shluchim, enhanced the evening with their beautiful songs and chassidishe niggunim, thanking Hashem for this momentous occasion and for the hundreds of books of Torah and Chassidus that have already been translated for the benefit of so many Russian speaking Jews.
Photos: Levi Nazarov JDN
Lithuanias media watchdog says a Russian state-run television station will be temporarily suspended after a Russian politician made harsh anti-U.S. comments deemed as incitement to war, discord and hatred.
Edmundas Vaitiekunas, chairman of Lithuanias radio and TV commission, said Wednesday the RTR Planeta channel, the international service of Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK, would be off the air for a three-month period from Monday to Feb. 21.
The decision came after Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of Russias nationalist Liberal Democratic party, said on the air that if U.S. troops get near Russias borders they will burn down with the crew.
Vaitiekunas said it wasnt the first time the channel had been banned for similar violations, adding that it tends to tone down its rhetoric after sanctions.
Latvia has taken similar action against Russian media channels.
(AP)
Two Supreme Court justices and nine judges on President-elect Donald Trumps list of potential high court picks are among more than 1,000 people expected at a gathering of conservative lawyers that has suddenly turned into an impromptu job fair for spots in the new administration.
The Federalist Societys national lawyers convention begins Thursday in Washington as a tribute to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, an early supporter of the group and a hero to many of its 40,000 members.
But since Trumps surprising victory in last weeks presidential race, the meeting has turned into a public audition of sorts for nearly half of the list of 21 people that Trump put forward earlier in the year as prospective Supreme Court nominees.
The mood has changed. Everyone is going to be thinking, Maybe someone here is going to be filling Justice Scalias shoes, said Abbe Gluck, a Yale Law professor who is not a member of the group but who will take part in the conference.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, familiar figures at these annual meetings, also will speak on Thursday.
The Federalist Society got its start on college campuses when Ronald Reagan was in the White House as a way to counter what its members saw as liberal domination of the nations law-school faculties. Its influence was pronounced during the presidency of George W. Bush, when its leaders helped rally support for Senate confirmation of Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. The group was so successful that it spawned copycat liberal organizations.
Speaking at a Federalist Society event in the Bush years was akin to an out-of-town preview of a Broadway show for conservative lawyers who were looking for administration jobs or judgeships, author Mark Tushnet has written.
Over the past eight years, the group provided a forum for opponents of President Barack Obamas court choices and policies, although the Federalist Society itself does not endorse candidates or take policy positions. Some of its leaders backed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells refusal to act on Obamas nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill Scalias seat. That political strategy paid unexpected and huge dividends for conservatives with Trumps election.
The societys star again appears to be on the rise. Anytime theres a major shift in the power of government, its an enormous opportunity for what is probably the collection of the smartest, most talented and most publicly minded lawyers in the country to roll up their sleeves and help advance the cause of constitutional government, said Leonard Leo, the Federalist Societys executive vice president.
Leo met with Trump in New York on Wednesday and said afterward that Trump has yet to pare down his long list of names of Supreme Court hopefuls.
Among those candidates are nine who will take part in panel discussions in the next few days: state supreme court justices Allison Eid of Colorado, Joan Larsen of Michigan, David Stras of Minnesota and Don Willett of Texas, and federal appellate judges Steven Colloton, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge, William Pryor and Diane Sykes.
The group says 90 percent of its money comes from individuals and foundations, the rest from corporations. Charles and David Koch, Google and Microsoft are among donors who gave $100,000 or more, according to the societys annual report for 2015. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and her husband, George, gave between $50,000 and $100,000. George Conway is a New York lawyer and Federalist Society member.
When Scalia and Thomas were criticized for speaking at private dinners hosted by Charles Koch, the court said that travel and lodging expenses were paid not by Koch but by the Federalist Society.
The close ties between the group and federal judges have frustrated Democratic officials and liberal interest groups. During the Bush years, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois complained that membership in the Federalist Society was the secret handshake of Bush court nominees.
Nan Aron, the president of Alliance for Justice, said the Federalist Society promotes a way of looking at the law which upholds the rights of the powerful and the wealthy. Aron said it is regrettable that so many nominees on Trumps list are going to attend Federalist Society events.
Yet a conservative legal scholar who has been critical of Trump said the groups involvement in identifying candidates for judgeships and other jobs in the new administration is not something to fear.
In fact, if the Federalist Society does play a role in identifying the president-elects nominees, that could be comforting to some who have reservations about Donald Trumps administration, because such a role would suggest, at least in this area, continuity with longstanding, mainstream Republican practice, University of Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett said in an email.
(AP)
In what is being described as an unprecedented move since the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, Av Beis Din Rishon LTzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Shlita has convened the entire Supreme Beis Din to rule on a get given by the Tzfat Beis Din. Only recently, with the appointment of new dayanim, can the entire forum convene.
According to a Kikar News report, the bill of divorce in question was given by the Tzfat Beis Din headed by Av Beis Din Rav Uriel Lavie, who heard the case of a wife who husband remains comatose. The beis din ruled she is permitted to remarry after the get was served by the beis din.
The ruling was perceived as controversial in the eyes of dayanim in Israel and the Diaspora and in response, the entire Supreme Beis Din was convened to discuss the matter. There was also an outcry against the ruling from Gedolei Yisrael Shlita.
Since the number of dayanim serving on the Supreme Beis Din is even, Rav Yosef instructed the junior dayan not to take part to permit an odd number of dayanim to rule on the case.
It now appears the members of the Tzfat Beis Din, Rav Lavie, Rav Bazak and Rav Viguda will be summoned to explain to the Supreme Beis Din how they arrived at their ruling. It is pointed out that in the original psak from the Tzfat Beis Din the dayan added that if the Supreme Beis Din does not accept their position then they will accept the decision of the majority.
Most feel the Supreme Beis Din will overturn the ruling of the Tzfat Beis Din and invalidate the get.
It is pointed out that there is a 10-page teshuvah from HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZTL in which he writes about a similar case and Maran ruled there is no place for a get for a wife whose husband is in a comatose state.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The following information was released by the IDF, painting a picture that may have many surprised as chareidim who declare limud Torah as their fulltime profession are far from the only draft-eligible individuals not entering the military.
We begin the report with the knowledge of the fact the IDF is short over 1,000 soldiers for this Novembers induction, a major annual induction into the military. This is because last year the mandatory service time was cut and this has left a gap, which the military does not know how to fill at present.
According to the information released by the IDF, back in 2004, over 77% of draft eligible persons entered the military. That number has dropped to fewer than 72% in 2016. Over one half of the eligible men declare limud torah their fulltime occupation and a quarter of this group does not serve due to medical reasons.
The percentage of inductees interested in combat units has dropped from 70.3% in 2013 to 69.8% in 2016. The most popular units among those seeking combat positions are the Paratroop and Golani Brigades.
There has been a decline in the number of inductees seeking a combat position as more are looking at a cyber unit or the like as a viable service option. One of the ways the military is responding to the drop in motivation among male inductees to serve in combat units is to turn to females as an alternative in different positons in combat units. Thought is also being given to lowering the eligibility for a combat unit to a profile of 64. At present, anyone with a profile under 72 is not combat worthy. There is also discussion about increasing the presence of women in border police to 35%.
Among women, 83% of those not serving declare they lead a religious lifestyle. About 40% of draft age females never enter but among those who do, there is an increase in the number of women from the dati leumi community. Only 935 dati leumi women entered the IDF in 2010 and that number has increased to 2,159 today.
The desire to serve in a combat unit is going down as seen below, and this too has senior commanders concerned, seeking to understand the trend.
Desire to Serve in a Combat Unit
70.3% in November 2013
70.8% in November 2014
71.9% in November 2015
69.8% in November 2016
Percentage of Induction among draft-eligible men
75.5% in 2007
75.3% in 2010
73.7% in 2013
71.9% in 2016
Percentage of draft-eligible men who dont serve
22.8% in 2004
25.1% in 2006
25.7% in 2008
25.2% in 2010
25.4% in 2012
27.3% in 2014
27.6% in 2015
28.4% in 2016
Increase in the number of religious girls entering the IDF
More and more girls graduating dati leumi high schools are making the decision to enter the IDF and often, they are encouraged to do so.
2010 935 religious girls entered military service
2011 1062
2012 1503
2013 1616
2014 1853
2015 2156
Numbers of those not entering the IDF
As reported, in 2016 the percentage of draft-eligible men entering the IDF was 71.9%. the following is a breakdown of those among the 28.1% who were released from service.
14.7% declare limud torah is their fulltime profession
7.1% received a medical discharge
3.4% represent persons with criminal records or not needed by the IDF
2.9% represents persons out of the country
Numbers of those not entering the IDF among women
58.1% of draft-eligible women entered the IDF while 41.9% were released from service. The following refers to those women released from service.
34.7% declare they are religious and cannot service
3.2% received a medical discharge
2.6% represents persons out of the country
0.8% the military already has sufficient number of personnel
0.6% represent women who are married
Reserve duty Colonel Yonatan Branski is a former Nachal Chareidi commander and he spoke with Kol Chai Radio on Thursday morning 16 Cheshvan explaining, the IDF has to come to certain realities amid an awareness that 30% of all first graders nationwide today are chareidi and in another 15 years, over fifty percent of all eligible inductees will be religious. Branski currently stands at the helm of the Nachal Chareidi Foundation and is constantly meeting with and dealing with issues pertaining to chareidim in the IDF.
Branski feels it was an error to create chareidi companies within regular brigades including Givati and now Paratroops, explaining that for as long as all the frum soldiers served in Nachal Chareidi they were in a closed framework and it was doable. The military succeeded in seeing to the needs of each company but today, with chareidi companies being a part of a non-chareidi brigade, there is a growing list of issues, adding he spoke with the IDF Chief of Staff before the idea was launched to expand to other brigades, speaking out against it.
As far as people saying many or most of the chareidim in Nachal Chareidi are not really chareidi, he explains even in his time, some 15 years ago, some 30% of the members of the unit were dati leumi by their own definition. Branski clarifies that when the IDF classifies one as being chareidi that means he comes from a chareidi home and/or was educated in a chareidi school. He points out that does not mean the individual is still leading a chareidi lifestyle and this varies from person to person.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Jerusalem District Court Justice Moshe HaKohen on Thursday, 16 Cheshvan, rejected a request filed by lawyers filed on behalf of former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yona Metzger to dismiss the case against him, claiming discrimination. Allegations against Rabbi Metzger include fraud, bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.
Citing selective enforcement Rabbi Metzgers attorney tried to have the case against him dismissed but the court was not having any part of it. The defense counsel argued that an indictment was handed down against the rabbi alone and not against anyone else involved in the case but the court was not persuaded.
The court explained a public official such as Rabbi Metzger is held to a higher standard and the case will not be dropped. The court added that the rabbi appears to be key player in all counts of the indictment while others seem to play minor roles.
The prosecution announced it plans to file indictments against some of the others involved in the case.
Rabbi Metzgers driver and personal aide remained silent under questioning until such time the rabbi, who feared imprisonment, tried throwing the entire case on his driver. When this became evident to him, the driver became the star state witness against the rav in the case.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Amona was evacuated in 2006 and the approximately 40 families living there today and their supporters vow Amona will not fall again. That said, it remains unclear if supporters of the Regulation Bill will succeed in passing it in Knesset nor is it clear if the bill will save Amona. Rabbi Yair Frank, rav of the community, has already announced resistance would be passive, not violent and this is the position of the action committee too. however, there are thousands who announced they plan the join the battle and no one can know what will take place and it is unlikely anyone will have control over all of those who come to save Amona.
Things being what they appear at present, Amona will be cleared out by December 25, 2016, as per the High Court of Justice ruling.
Walla News quoting a former head of the Jewish Division in the Shin Bet, Dvir Kariv, explains that that last eviction from Amona was the bloodiest event in the country since the shooting at the Altalenu. He points out that over one hundred settlers and security personnel were injured in the Amona eviction in 2006, a process that was accompanied by bloody confrontations.
While much of the eviction would mimic the expulsion from Gush Katif, involving various security agencies and perimeter circles, the supporters of Amona are equally aware and they are planning for the closure of the entire area ahead of the closure, a standard move to prevent supporters from reaching the area.
The committee organizing the resistance estimates there will be at least 13,000 people taking part in the fight for Amona. This is the number of people registered in advance and in actuality, organizers believe more people will show up if an eviction occurs. They are planning different ways to interfere with the eviction, including using apparatus that will interfere with radio signals and cellular telephones. They will use the experience gathered in previous evictions, primarily Amona in 2006, doing everything possible to interfere with security forces.
Organizers insist they remain opposed to violence, but they plan to resist like a fortified wall against police and other security forces. They stress they will only use passive resistance as planned in previous evictions.
However, they admit they will not have control over the thousands of persons who join the fight and they cannot predict the actions of many, some already vowing to use any tactics necessary to stop the eviction.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A Jerusalem City Hall initiative to offer bicycle rentals as is done in Tel Aviv is placed on hold due to objections to the plan from chareidim. The plan is based on the Tel Aviv model known as Tel-O-Fun, permitting visitors and residents in the capital to rent a bike for a number of hours and return it to one of the citys bike stations. However, chareidi city councilmen objected, placing the plan on hold despite the fact hundreds of thousands of shekels have already been invested. The chareidi opposition stems from fears the bicycles will be rented on and used on Shabbos.
The plan entails parking 500 bicycles in the fifty stations set up around the city to permit persons to rent them and drop them off at any station. The project costs NIS 10 million a year and a portion of the funding has already been enlisted and hundreds of thousands of shekels have already been invested as reported above.
City officials report the plan is in the early stages, stating it is an important plan along with the expansion of the light rail. Councilman Yitzhak Pindrus of Degel Hatorah told Haaretz the facts are incorrect as he or his colleagues did not oppose the plan.
(YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says hell seek re-election in 2018 but is ruling out a presidential bid in 2020.
The former Democratic vice presidential nominee said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that his decision is final.
Period. Full stop, Kaine said.
The 58-year-old said he wants to serve in the upper chamber for as long as hes healthy and the voters of Virginia, and his wife, allow him.
Kaine said that as a member of the Senates Democratic minority he will work as a key check on President-elect Donald Trump. Kaine says he will continue his work to expand Congress role in voting for and declaring war.
(AP)
WASHINGTON -- The people chose Hillary Clinton. But it's the electoral vote that counts, not the popular vote, so Donald Trump will be president. And no, I'm not over it.
No one should be over it. No one should pretend that Trump will be a normal president. No one should forget the bigotry and racism of his campaign, the naked appeals to white grievance, the stigmatizing of Mexicans and Muslims. No one should forget the jaw-dropping ignorance he showed about government policy both foreign and domestic. No one should forget the vile misogyny. No one should forget the mendacity, the vulgarity, the ugliness, the insanity. None of this must ever be normalized in our politics.
The big protests that have followed Trump's election should be no surprise. You can't spend all those months trashing our nation's values and then expect everyone to join you in a group hug. Trump made the bed in which he now must lie.
How did the unthinkable happen? Is Trump, like Brexit, part of some world-sweeping populist wave? Are the Rust Belt hinterlands in open rebellion? Was Clinton just a spectacularly flawed candidate? Did FBI Director James Comey boost Trump over the top? Did too many anti-Trump voters stay home out of complacency?
There is evidence to support all of those theories. But the urgent question isn't why, it's what now.
If a normal Republican had been elected, I could say the polite and socially acceptable thing, something like, "I didn't support So-and-So but he will be my president, too, and I wish him success." But I cannot wish Trump success in rounding up and deporting millions of people or banning Muslims from entering the country or reinstituting torture as an instrument of U.S. policy. In these and other divisive or cruel or unwise initiatives, I wish him failure.
I do hope he succeeds in avoiding some kind of amateurish foreign policy blunder that puts American lives or vital national interests at risk. And let me be clear that I am not questioning his legitimacy as president. When the results are certified and the Electoral College casts its votes, Trump will be the nation's duly chosen leader, ridiculous though that may be.
But he has not earned our trust or hope. Rather, he has earned the demonstrations that erupted in cities across the country. He has earned relentless scrutiny by journalists, whom he shamelessly made into scapegoats during the campaign, and he has earned the constant vigilance of the public he now must serve.
There have been more than 200 reports since the election of harassment and hate crimes, mostly directed at minorities, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. During an interview broadcast Sunday on "60 Minutes," Trump addressed his supporters: "I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it."
That would have been a better start had he not also sought to minimize the incidents, saying there had been a "very small amount" of them; and had he not also claimed the media were somehow applying a double standard in reporting on the protests.
The most troubling post-election development thus far was Trump's appointment of campaign chief executive Steve Bannon -- a prominent figure in the racist, xenophobic "alt-right" movement -- as chief strategist and senior adviser. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the move "signals that white supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House."
On "60 Minutes," Trump hinted that he might moonwalk away from some of his most radical promises on immigration, the issue that made him stand out from the crowd of Republican contenders. He still says he will build a wall on the Mexican border, but there "could be some fencing" instead of an actual wall in places. And he said that "we're going to make a determination" about the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes -- sounding as if he knows his pledge to carry out mass deportation cannot be fulfilled.
He also backed away from the idea of having a special prosecutor reinvestigate Clinton over her emails. "They're good people, I don't want to hurt them," he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
If Trump is beginning to confront reality on some fronts, that's a first step -- in a thousand-mile journey toward credibility and respect. But appointing Bannon is a big step backward. We must watch Trump, and judge him, every single inch of the way.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says a letter by FBI Director James Comey announcing a probe into additional emails related to the bureaus investigation of Hillary Clinton was a foul deed that cost Democrats the election.
The California Democrat told reporters that Comeys letter really just changed everything and was dispositive of the election.
Pelosi noted that Comey declined to talk about the hacking by the Russians of the emails of Clinton Campaign chair John Podesta and other Democrats because of a bureau policy of avoiding statements that could affect the election.
(AP)
The Republican-led House has voted convincingly to approve legislation that would bar the sale of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran.
By a 243-174 vote on Thursday, lawmakers passed a bill to prohibit the Treasury Department from issuing the licenses American banks would need to complete the transactions.
The House action seeks to counter the Obama administrations decision to grant aviation giants Boeing and Airbus permission to sell the planes to Tehran. The proposed deals, which may involve more than 190 aircraft, could be worth billions of dollars.
Republicans decried the sale of aircraft to a country they say is the leading state sponsor of terrorism and has flouted U.N. resolutions by testing ballistic missiles.
Irans nuclear deal with world powers specifically allowed for the purchase of aircraft and parts.
(AP)
On November 17, 2016 over 160 Orthodox rabbis, members of the Rabbinical Council of America, published a full-page statement in New York Times addressed to President-elect Donald J. Trump. The statement came in response to the UNESCO resolution of October 26, 2016 which denied the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, and included Mr. Trumps own words condemning that resolution.
After congratulating President-elect Trump and expressing appreciation to President Obama, the statement asked Mr. Trump to fulfill his promise, In a Trump Administration, the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel. The United Nations attempt to disconnect the State of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israels 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the UN. Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish People and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognize Jerusalem as just that.
Rabbi Shalom Baum, president of the RCA, emphasized the urgency felt by the signers of this statement. He said, It is the responsibility of all lovers of truth and supporters of Israel to speak strongly against these nefarious attempts to rewrite history and to deny the 3300-year biblical and historical link of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and the Temple Mount.
The rabbis statement also addressed the question of U.S. policy in the United nations. Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky, Honorary President of the RCA, stressed the statements request that both the President and the President-Elect not pivot from longstanding U.S. policy that a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties.
In addition to our grave concern about Jerusalem and Israel Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander, one of the statements organizers, stated, This is the time to heal our divided country of the United States and work together with our President-elect. As religious leaders, we wish to make a statement protecting the rights of all and restoring unity and civil discourse in the United States.
The Rabbinical Council of America is the largest rabbinical organization representing the Orthodox rabbinate. Founded in 1942, the RCA is the leading voice of the American Orthodox rabbinate.
Text of the statement:
We, the undersigned Orthodox rabbis, congratulate President-elect Donald J. Trump.
We wish President-elect Trump the greatest success in making every effort to heal a divided country, our blessed United States of America. Every Shabbat, in synagogues across America, we will continue to pray, as we have for generations, that God grant the president, the vice president, and the officers of this land the strength to lead all Americans to a prosperous and terror-free future.
On October 26, 2016, UNESCO passed a shameful resolution which denied a Jewish connection to Jerusalem, about which Mr. Trump stated: In a Trump Administration, the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel. The United Nations attempt to disconnect the State of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israels 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the U.N. Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish People and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognize Jerusalem as just that. Indeed, Biblical sources, irrefutable archaeological findings, and historical landmarks verify the ageless connection between Judaism, the Temple Mount, and other holy sites across Jerusalem and Israel.
As Mr. Trump is about to assume the presidency of the United States of America, we ask him to act on these articulated principles by recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital and by standing firmly against the hateful and discriminatory rhetoric that is the underpinning of such anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations.
Furthermore, with the transition in Washington beginning, we ask both the President and the President-elect not to pivot from longstanding U.S. policy that a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties. We appreciate that President Obama has always protected Israels interest in the U.N. The U.S. should neither propose nor allow passage of any U.N. Security Council resolutions seeking to dictate unilateral terms upon Israel, nor should the U.S. attempt in any other way to impose a solution to the conflict or predetermine the status of disputed territories.
We appreciate President-elect Trumps commitment to uniting our country and strong support for the security of the State of Israel as he becomes our next President and leader of the free world.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Hundreds of OHare International Airport workers have voted to go on strike ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Service Employees International Union Local 1 officials said Thursday that about 500 workers have committed to strike. Union spokeswoman Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich said the strike will definitely take place in the coming days, though she didnt specify which day it will start.
The workers involved have been trying to organize with the unions help. They largely work for private contractors at the airport.
They dont expect to shut the airport down, SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Thats not what theyre trying to do. Oh, there will be disruption.
Balanoff said a walk out could slow but not shut down airport operations. He said what workers are trying to do is get the powers that be to hear their voice.
It wasnt immediately clear how such a strike would affect operations at OHare, which is one of the nations busiest airports. Auto club AAA predicts it will be an especially busy Thanksgiving weekend of traveling.
The workers who plan to strike include baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, janitors and wheelchair attendants. They are seeking a $15 per hour wage. hour.
(AP)
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, for secretary of state, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
In March, the former Massachusetts governor called Trump a phony and a fraud when discussing the then-candidate. Trump, who endorsed Romney in 2012, has called him a loser, adding that Romney begged for his endorsement and wouldve dropped to his knees for it. He has also said that he choked like a dog during his 2012 presidential campaign against President Barack Obama.
Others reportedly under consideration for the secretary of state position include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Another possibility is Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who told CNBC on Wednesday hes in the mix for the job.
READ MORE: CNBC
In Donald Trumps world, most roads, it seems, lead back to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., President-elect Trumps pick for attorney general.
After Sessions became one of the first members of Congress to endorse Trump this February, he became an adviser on almost every major decision and policy proposal Trump made during the campaign:
A top Sessions aide helped Trump communicate his immigration policy.
Sessions chaired Trump national security advisory committee.
Sessions advised Trump on who to choose for vice president. (Sessions was also in the running himself for the No. 2 job.)
The president-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabamas attorney general and U.S. attorney, a Trump transition statement released Thursday read. It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition.
Heres a crash course in a politician likely to be a pivotal figure in Trumps administration:
The basics: Sessions has served as a senator from Alabama for two decades. But Alabama is such a loyal state to its top lawmakers that Sessions is actually the junior senator from the state; Republican Sen. Richard Shelby has been in office three decades.
Sessions is popular back home: Aside from his first election in 1996, Sessions has never won with less than 59 percent of the vote. In 2014, he ran unopposed.
His middle name is: Beauregard. (Fun trivia fact.)
Hes amnestys worst enemy: The conservative National Review crowned Sessions with that title in 2014, with good reason. Sessions has opposed nearly every immigration bill that has come before the Senate the past two decades that has included a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.
Hes also fought legal immigration, including guest worker programs for illegal immigrants and visa programs for foreign workers in science, math and high-tech. In 2007, Sessions got a bill passed essentially banning for 10 years federal contractors who hire illegal immigrants.
Legal immigration is the primary source of low-wage immigration into the United States, Sessions argued in a 2015 Washington Post op-ed. What we need now is immigration moderation: slowing the pace of new arrivals so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together.
Hes a debt hawk and a military hawk: Sessions, a lawyer before he became a politician, is known for touring Alabama with charts warning of the United States crippling debt. On foreign policy, Sessions has advocated a get-tough approach, once voting against an amendment banning cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners.
These are two positions that could put him at odd with the president hell serve: Trump has expensive plans that involve significant spending, like $1 trillion on an infrastructure program and he campaigned on a strong non-interventionist worldview (often claiming, inaccurately, that he opposed the Iraq War before it started).
Hes a climate change skeptic: Heres Sessions in a 2015 hearing questioning Environmental Protection Agencys Gina McCarthy: Carbon pollution is CO2, and thats really not a pollutant; thats a plant food, and it doesnt harm anybody except that it might include temperature increases.
Accusations of racism have dogged Sessionss career: Actually, they almost derailed it. In 1986, a Senate committee denied Sessions, then a 39-year-old U.S. attorney in Alabama, a federal judgeship. His former colleagues testified Sessions used the n-word and joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought they were OK, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.
By the time the testimony was finished, Sessionss reputation was in tatters, wrote Isaac Stanley-Becker in The Post this July, on the eve of Sessions delivering a prime time speech at the Republican National Convention for Trump.
In 1986, Sessions defended himself against accusations of racism. I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create, he told the very same Senate Judiciary Committee he now sits on. I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks.
And he told Stanley-Becker this summer: Racism is totally unacceptable in America. Everybody needs to be treated fairly and objectively.
But the Southern Poverty Law Centers Heidi Beirich, who tracks hate speech, said Sessions is guilty of it, and that his mere presence in Trumps inner circle is a tragedy for American politics.
Hes got a populist streak: Heres one area where he and Trump likely get along swell. Wall Street and corporate executives are often the antagonists in the Alabama senators speeches. A small group of CEOs dont get to set immigration policy for the country, he said in a 2014 speech opposing a multi-billion-dollar bill to help control the stem of influx of Central American refugees on the border.
As hard-line as Sessions can be, hes worked with Democrats before: Say what you will about him, former longtime Senate Democratic communications aide Jim Manley told the Almanac of American Politics. He was always nice to [the late Ted] Kennedy and other Democrats as well.
Even people who have run against him have nice things to say about him. Stanley-Becker talked to Susan Parker, a Democrat who tried to unseat Sessions in 2002. During a debate, she asked for a tissue and Sessions handed her one. She joked she would use it to dry her eyes when Sessions made her cry, and he responded: Please dont say that. Thats my nightmare. I promise Ill be nice.
Sessions has joined with Democrats to support criminal justice reform legislation, and in 2010 he teamed up with Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on a proposal to put strict limits on non-military federal spending. It fell one vote short of passing.
In 2016, hes gone from fringe to mainstream: Aside from immigration battles, Sessions mostly operated in the background on Capitol Hill. Until 2016. His mix of hard-line immigration position and a populist streak had made him a tea party star and thus and a coveted endorsement catch for Republican presidential candidates catering to the tea party. In presidential primary debates, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would even brag about his ties to Sessions.
In the end, Sessions chose Trump, surprising the political establishment by jumping on stage with him at a rally in February in Madison, Ala. two days before Super Tuesday and donning a Make America Great Again hat.
I told Donald Trump this isnt a campaign, this is a movement, Sessions said at the time.
Nine months later, Sessions will be a central figure in transitioning that movement into a working government.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post Amber Phillips
Editorial Comment
HIV and Aids has ravaged nations, Zimbabwe included, killing millions of mostly the productive age groups. Over the years, researchers have been working on a vaccine which would halt the rampant infections.
And now finally some good news: A promising African-led clinical trial PreVacc is underway and if successful, many lives will be saved with just a few shots. Zimbabwe will be one of the countries where the trial will be conducted.
A vaccine that can prevent infection would condition the immune system to respond to HIV by making antibodies that can arrest the virus and stop it from infecting cells, or by promoting other immune responses that kill the virus altogether.
Although no vaccine is 100% effective, finding an effective one is critical for the HIV response.
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The magnitude of the disease cannot be underestimated with statistics showing that 1,8 million people became infected with HIV in 2017, while 36,9 million people were living with HIV and 21,7 million receiving anti-retroviral therapy.
Even with the scale-up of highly-effective prevention and treatment tools, the decline rate of new infections is not adequate to bring the HIV epidemic to an end.
For countries like Zimbabwe, despite dramatic improvements in access to anti-retroviral therapy this is still an expensive option, given the many challenges in providing affordable medication to those that are in need. There are perennial shortages of anti-retroviral drugs as well as supportive mechanisms and equipment. Viral load machines in public hospitals are not working and given the current price hikes of basic food commodities, many people living with Aids may not get the appropriate nutritional needs.
Good nutrition is a key component for a successful treatment plan. Nutritional status and the progression of HIV are strongly interrelated. HIV infection increases the bodys energy needs while it diminishes appetite and decreases the bodys ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. This leads to malnutrition, which in turn accelerates the HIV infection.
This scenario is an indication that a vaccine is needed, especially for the adolescents.
A model developed by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative has estimated that a vaccine that can stop 70% of infections would reduce new infections by 44% in the first 10 years after the projected introduction in 2027. By 2070, a vaccine that was 70% effective would reduce new infections by 78%.
The cost of administering a vaccine is substantially lower than providing PrEP or HIV treatment. By preventing new infections and reducing the cost of prevention, an HIV vaccine would improve the sustainability of the HIV response.
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Next week is officially Road Safety Week in the UK.
Campaign group Brake is using the seven days to ask drivers to make a six-point pledge to slow down, remain sober behind the wheel, secure seatbelts, turn phones to silent, keep vision sharp with eye tests, and minimise the amount we drive to help the environment.
But there are plenty of safety-related measures employed around the globe that haven't been introduced in Britain, and probably never will be. With the help of Aviva, here are 10 of the oddest from different nations.
Oh deer: Knock over a reindeer or elk in Finland and by law you have to notify the police about the incident
FINLAND: 'Hello, is that the police? I've hit a reindeer'
There are a number of road safety requirements that are different in Finland to to the UK - headlights must be used at all times, regardless of season or time of day, and winter tyres also compulsory between the 1st December and the end of February.
But the oddest one of all concerns a collision with wildlife. Should a driver have an accident involving a reindeer, elk or any other large animal its illegal not to report it to the police.
CYPRUS: Put down the halloumi
Eating or drinking in the UK can be classed as careless driving, but in Cyprus theres an out-and-out ban.
Whatever the temperature, and however hot and thirsty, drink (or eat) behind the wheel and motorists could face a fine.
GERMANY: Go as fast as you like... but don't you dare run out of fuel
German autobahns are famous for their unrestricted speed limits on certain routes, but motorists should make sure they top up at a petrol station before joining one.
Its illegal to stop unnecessarily on an autobahn, and because running out of fuel is preventable, anyone who comes to a standstill with an empty tank is breaking the law.
SWITZERLAND: Always have a triangle at hand
Drivers need a first aid kit, fire extinguisher and a warning triangle in their vehicle.
The triangle is compulsory and has to be at hand, not in the back of the vehicle. And like Finland, headlights must also be switched on all of the time.
One last check: Just starting the engine with someone under a car in Denmark is an offence
DENMARK: Mirror, signal, check for someone under car, manoeuvre
It may seem like common sense, but in Denmark theres actually a law in place to stop you running people over who are already under the car.
If a motorist doesnt check whether someones beneath the car before starting it, theyre breaking the law.
SARK: No cars, period
The small Channel Island of Sark is one of the few places around the world which has a no cars rule.
Home to around 600 people, they are able to get around by horse-drawn carriages and the occasional tractor.
You don't need to carry a spare pair of glasses when driving in the UK, but it's an offence not to do so in Spain if you wear spectacles as the Queen does
SPAIN: Spare specs are essential
Drivers who usually wear glasses or contact lenses to drive should always have a spare pair when driving in Spain.
If you're stopped by the police and are found to not have a second set, you could face a fine for your troubles.
FRANCE: Switch off the sat-nav speed camera alerts
Devices capable of detecting speed cameras and warning drivers of their locations are illegal in France. You might think you don't have one of these systems, but many sat-navs have a feature that identifies when you're approaching a camera. Some new Fords have this and say 'caution' when approaching cameras in the UK.
If you are caught with a working device, the French police can confiscate your drivers license and impound your vehicle. Its also compulsory to carry a breathalyser kit while driving in France.
Japan is strict on splashing - if you're caught soaking a pedestrian you will receive a fine
JAPAN: Splish, splash... fine
Earlier this year, Aviva research showed that 63 UK drivers were reported to the police for driving through puddles and splashing people in the five year period from 2009.
However, Japan goes a step further - it's illegal to splash mud or water onto a pedestrian and, if caught, is met with a fine.
SWEDEN: Pay attention where two [roads] become one
Intended to help reduce accidents caused by overtaking, 2+1 roads consist of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few miles, and separated usually with a steel barrier.
Emerging from the aftermath of the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal, the VW Group has signed a new internal pact to secure its future - which includes laying off 30,000 members of its global workforce.
In a statement released on Friday, the carmaker said it was taking measures to return the Volkswagen brand to 'a path of profitable growth' after suffering 14 months of crippling costs associated to steps it took to deceive emissions tests.
In the pipeline since June, the manufacturer and its trade union's agreement will save the VW Group a projected 3.7 billion (3.2bn) a year, the release said.
Job losses in Germany: Some 23,000 workers in VW's home land face losing their jobs over the next five years
The car brand hopes the agreed tactic will double profit margins from two per cent to four per cent.
However, it will come at the cost of jobs for five per cent of the entire workforce worldwide, with 23,000 members of staff being made redundant in Germany alone as a result.
Some of this will be offset by the creation of around 9,000 new jobs, the statement read, which are linked to 'future-orientated areas', which essentially refers to its Strategy 2025 plans revealed last year that committed to building 30 electric cars over the next decade.
Currently, the carmaker employs around 610,000 people in 31 countries, 120,000 of those in its home land.
While it appears to be an extreme move, Volkswagen is enduring a battle to contain its escalating legal bills as part of the extending dieselgate hangover.
The carmaker is taking steps to repair the battered brand image in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal
Volkswagen employs some 610,000 people worldwide
Just last month, the vehicle maker agreed a $14.7 billion (11.8 billion) class action settlement in the US.
Elsewhere, individual law suits are tallying up at avalanche-like proportions, which potentially includes hundreds of thousands of cases in the UK.
The Transport Select Committee said in October that it would take the fight to the under-fire carmaker to compensate UK owners.
It said: 'T he government would make clear that the Department of Transport has engaged, and will continue to engage, with consumer groups and legal firms and stands ready to provide any reasonable assistance to consumers who seek compensation directly from Volkswagen.'
Volkswagen's steps to recoup some of the enormous financial loss in the last year were described by chairman of the board of management, Dr Herbert Diess, as 'taking our future into our hands'.
Dr Herbert Diess said Volkswagen will take its future into its hands as part of the new plans, which includes producing 30 new electric cars be 2025
In the statement he said: 'The pact represents a fundamental transformation of the value stream, the development of new competences and strategic investment.
'We will be strengthening the companys economic viability and competitiveness and will be safeguarding the future of our plants.
'The socially compatible loss of jobs will be offset by the creation of jobs in other units.
Money for old rope? Lord Mandelson
Lord Mandelson has relinquished his role as Chairman of Lazard's international arm, which he's held since 2012.
A Lazard spokesman says Mandelson, 63, will remain a paid adviser to the bank, remarking: 'He provides advice and assistance to the leadership team and our clients in London as demonstrated to great effect by the insights that he was in a position to share with us and our clients in the aftermath of the EU referendum.'
Money for old rope, isn't it?
Boris Johnson's younger brother Max is named among Asia's 50 most eligible bachelors by Hong Kong Tatler, describing him as a 'Hong Kong-based Goldman Sachs mover and shaker.'
Two minor quibbles. Firstly, Max, 31, a Bojo doppelganger, is squiring a serious girlfriend. Secondly, he and Goldman have just parted company. So what's next for Johnson (mi)? 'Watch this space,' he replies bashfully.
Wily City PR man and Remain campaigner Roland Rudd, 55, hosted his annual party at Tate Britain this week.
Among those supping The Rat's excellent Champagne were devoted Brexiteers, Lords Marland and Robathan.
Judging by the looks of quiet satisfaction on these two Tory grandees' well-flushed faces, even flat spumante would have tasted like premier cru.
Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary? Wall Street pundits insist the 18million-a-year JP Morgan honcho remains in contention.
After ten years as JP boss, it would allow the Teflon-coated Dimon, 60, to depart on a high.
Plus it would deliver an upturned digit to out-going President Barack Obama, who's snubbed him since the bank announced a 1.6billion trading loss in 2012.
I've had a small(ish) wager with Betway at 6/4 to keep things interesting.
Tesco bank's much-travelled boss Benny Higgins, 56 under pressure after 40,000 of his customers' accounts were recently hacked was present at a press junket yesterday in Hertfordshire hosted by the bullish Tesco chief Dave Lewis.
Says a source: 'It was a bit peculiar. He wasn't there as a speaker, just loitering on his own in the front row.
Former Rio Tinto energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies is to take legal action over his dismissal
A row has broken out at one of the world's largest mining companies after it fired two top bosses during a major corruption investigation.
Rio Tinto sacked its energy and minerals chief executive Alan Davies and legal and regulatory group executive Debra Valentine amid a probe over an alleged 8.4million payment to a middleman.
The company said it had reviewed the findings of an ongoing internal investigation and found the pair had breached its conduct code.
But Davies hit back, accusing his bosses of giving him no chance to answer any allegations and warned he would take the 'strongest possible' legal action.
'This treatment of me and my past and recent colleagues is totally at variance with the values and behaviours of the company to which I have devoted my professional life,' he said.
The scandal engulfed Rio earlier this month when it said it had become aware of emails from 2011 that referred to a payment of 8.4million to a consultant advising on an iron ore project in Guinea.
It has since been alleged the company's lawyers were aware of the correspondence more than a year earlier.
While much of the travel industry struggles amid terrorism fears and Brexit uncertainty, the firm behind Jet2holidays reported a strong summer season.
Dart Group, which owns the holiday operator as well as its logistics arm Fowler Welch, said revenue was up 21 per cent to 1.2billion.
Pre-tax profit climbed 12 per cent to 163.7million in the half year to September 30.
Dart said leisure travel had underpinned progress, with the number of package holiday customers rising 36 per cent to 1.3million. It also carried 2.5million flight-only passengers over the period.
Taking off: Dart Group, which owns holiday operator Jet2holidays, as well as its logistics arm Fowler Welch,reported a strong summer season
Jet2 will start flying from Birmingham and Stansted in March, and said while there are pricing pressures with a weaker pound, it had increased seat capacity by 13 per cent.
Dart said there was no post-Brexit slowdown in bookings and full-year performance was likely to be slightly ahead of expectation. Shares darted up 8.4 per cent, or 34p to 437.5p.
The FTSE 100 finished the day 0.7 per cent higher, or 44.99 points at 6794.71. Property firms staged a comeback after a few days in the doldrums, as figures revealed prices rose in September.
Barratt Developments climbed 3.5 per cent, or 16.5p to 486p to recover some of the previous day's losses. British Land edged up 3 per cent, or 17.5p to 610p as BNP Paribas upped its target price for the stock.
Building services group TClarke shrugged off Brexit concerns and reassured investors it had a strong order book and had seen no cancellations.
STOCK WATCH - TRACSIS Tracsis, which provides software to the transport industry such as rostering and data analysis, reported that revenues rose 29 per cent to 32.6million in the year to July 31. The company said business had been boosted by the purchase of SEP, which provides traffic management at events. It delivered a record year of trading, bolstered by a busy summer. Tracsis said adjusted pre-tax profit climbed 18 per cent to 6.9million in the year and the full-year dividend was increased by 20 per cent to 1.2p a share. Shares inched up 0.2 per cent, or 1p to 526p.
In a trading update the firm said it had signed contracts for London's newest skyscraper development at 22 Bishopgate.
TClarke has secured a 56million deal to assist with electricals and fire alarm systems in the tower, being developed by Axa Investment Managers. Construction starts next year and is set to complete in 2019.
Last month the business had uncovered financial irregularities at one of its subsidiaries. It said initial inquiries suggested that in excess of 2.8million had been misappropriated by an employee over a number of years.
Yesterday TClarke said it had started legal proceedings to recover the funds and investigations are continuing. Shares advanced 4.8 per cent, or 2.8p to 60.8p.
Safestore surged as it reported full-year revenue was up 10.1 per cent at 115.4million.
The self-storage company, which operates in the UK and Paris, said that new acquisitions, extensions and openings in Wandsworth, Altrincham and Birmingham meant it now had 1.6m sq ft of space available to let.
Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli said earnings should be at the top end of expectations. Investec, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock, said it was a good finish to a strong year for the firm.
Shares gained 3.2 per cent, or 11.2p to 358.5p. Premier Oil slipped as it said a refinancing agreement was in the final stages of negotiation with banks and bondholders.
The oil producer, which has interests in Pakistan and the Falkland Islands, said production was beating estimates and its Catcher well in the North Sea is on target to start producing next year.
Chief executive Tony Durrant said the business had reduced costs and was delivering against a challenging backdrop for commodities.
He said: 'Refinancing has taken longer than anticipated, but will, once completed, put Premier in good stead to reinvest in the business while paying down debt [which is 2.25billion].' Shares stumbled 0.9 per cent, or 0.5p to 54p.
The largest shareholder of Conroy Gold and Natural Resources took advantage of a share price dip to top up his stake in the business.
Patrick O'Sullivan bought 105,000 shares in the Irish firm, increasing his stake in the company to 23.04 per cent with 2.54million shares to his name.
The AIM-listed miner said in its full-year results that it had discovered new gold zones at its Clay Lake project.
Summons? Ex-boss Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin could be forced to testify in court
The Royal Bank of Scotland was warned about its high-risk investments by advisers in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to court documents.
In a volley of late-night emails, adviser Goldman Sachs, auditor Deloitte and an RBS lawyer discussed whether the bank might mislead investors, it is claimed.
The alleged conversation about the lender's financial health came just hours before it launched a huge 12billion fundraising drive.
It is the latest twist in a High Court drama, which could eventually see top executives forced to testify about the bank's collapse including ex-boss Fred Goodwin.
'Building up RBS's balance sheet before the crash was just about as dangerous a thing as anyone has done in finance anywhere,' said veteran market commentator David Buik.
'Shareholders were suitably massaged and told the cash call was the right thing to do.
'When the share price halved within weeks, people felt like they had been kneecapped.'
RBS was one of the world's biggest dealers in toxic bundles of US mortgage debt before its collapse.
They were packaged up into complex financial instruments few understood. The bottom fell out of America's housing market when it became clear that this multi-billion pound industry was almost worthless.
As the financial sector fell apart in 2008, NatWest owner RBS raised the 12billion from shareholders in a bid to stay afloat.
But it did nothing to save the lender and six months later it was rescued by taxpayers in an unprecedented 46billion bailout.
Some of the City's biggest investors lost vast sums of money as a result and they are now suing the bank for 4billion.
In documents seen by Reuters, they claim that Deloitte accountants raised doubts about figures disclosed in the fundraising exercise. And Goldman Sachs also said it was worried in an email exchange the night before details were released.
RBS denies its figures were misleading and says the concerns of its advisors were taken on board. It says it complied with accounting rules.
November 17 marks the launch of ONEArmenias second annual Santas Wanted! campaign, through which people from around the world will have the opportunity to donate made-in-Armenia gifts to Syrian-Armenian children, while simultaneously helping to stimulate the economy in Armenia by supporting local businesses.
ONEArmenia is committed to seeing an Armenia which not only survives, but thrives, as a nation. Since 2011, Armenia has welcomed approximately 18,000 refugees from Syria, some of whom have succeeded in establishing homes and businesses here. Other families are struggling to find employment and housing. They are, collectively, an integral part of the population in Armenia and as such, contribute to the development of the nation as a whole.
ONEArmenia is partnering with Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable Organization-NGO to provide practical, fun and educational gifts for 200 Syrian-Armenian children who have recently moved to Armenia. The material and practical benefit of these gifts is just one aspect of the campaign. There is also a positive psychological impact which receiving new gifts will have on the children. After having left their friends and homes behind, moving to a new country and experiencing from the uncertainty of having their families displaced, the simple act of receiving gifts that are crafted, in Armenia, with them in mind, can make a significant impact in their lives.
These gifts are produced by seven local businesses: AVA Shoes, Huys, #Sport, Zangak Books, Honey.am, Ayl Kerp and Goghovit Knits. Those who wish to contribute can donate towards a $100 package which will include:
A water resistant jacket sewn by Huys, so that the children will be able to play outside in the winter months. The children which Aleppo NGO are working with dont have adequate winter wear, as they have never needed it before, and it is important that they are prepared for the upcoming season.
A warm hoodie sewn by #Sport, a local business which creates comfortable, casual wear in Armenia.
A hand knitted scarf made by Goghovit Knits, a one woman show in Shirak who will employ other local women to help her fill this large order.
A sturdy pair of boots handmade by AVA Shoes which are guaranteed to keep the kids feet warm and dry, no matter how much snow falls.
1-3 books published by Zangak Books which the children will be able to pick out for themselves. Being included in the decision making process is important for them to get excited about reading. These books will also help supplement their education when it comes to transitioning from studying in Western Armenian to Eastern Armenian.
An educational and fun board game called Ayl Kerpik which is the kids iteration of the extremely popular game, Ayl Kerp, which is similar to the English language game Taboo. This is another supplemental tool for their education which will make practicing Eastern Armenian fun.
A jar of locally sourced honey from honey.am which will help strengthen their immune systems, fight against seasonal allergies and promote a healthier lifestyle of choosing natural sweeteners of processed ones.
This Christmas, you can make a difference in the lives of 200 Syrian-Armenian children. These gift packages will help make the transition for them a little warmer, a little more fun and a lot more welcoming. Donate to Santas Wanted! at www.onearmenia.org/campaign
According to a July 2016 opinion poll commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and conducted by the Institute for Political and Sociological Consulting (IPSC), a local research firm from Armenia, more people in Karabakh now prefer independence as opposed to unification with Armenia.
1,081 people in Stepanakert and the 7 regions of Nagorno-Karabakh were polled and the results cross-referenced with a similar survey conducted in March 2015.
46.2% of respondents believe that the NKR should become a part of Armenia, down from 56.6% from the March 2015 poll.
48.9% now believe that the NKR should be independent, up from 35.1% from March 2015.
51.1% of respondents believe that Armenia should recognize the NKR under any circumstances. 11% believe that Armenia should never recognize NKRs independence as it will impede the negotiation process.
In the July 2016 poll, 73.5% of respondents opposed the return of refugees and IDPs to their previous communities to guarantee peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Another interesting finding is that 81.2% of respondents believe the people of the NKR should launch armed resistance if regional and global powers impose a handover of territories to Azerbaijan.
95.3% opposed the return of the five regions (Qubadli. Jabrayil, Zangilan, Agdam and Fuzuli) even if it meant a negotiated settlement of the conflict.
One more, somewhat disturbing finding, is that 38% of respondents said they were either absolutely unaware or unaware as to the negotiation process.
Finally, how do people in Artsakh see the future?
Pollsters asked the following: Taking into consideration recent developments, how do you think the general situation in NKR will develop in the upcoming years?
24.3% answered will deteriorate (up from 10.3% in the 2015 poll)
34% - will remain the same (no change from 2015 poll)
41.7 % - will improve (down from 55.8% in 2015 poll)
See poll results HERE
Photo: Stepanakert, Renaissance Square
The tea kettle is boiling. Above the stove, theres a photo of an old woman selling gata.
Welcome to the art studio of Tigran Asatryan in Yerevan.
Kindness and sadness, everyday concerns, combine as one in the old womans gaze. Its hard to understand what she is thinking. Theres a photo of a woman from Tatev selling pears affixed to the fridge.
Asatryans paintings run the gamut early renaissance, baroque, Russian avant-garde, etc. The latter has had a great influence on his works. Asatryan has no idols, but, he confesses that he adores Botticelli. Asatryan says, When you see Michelangelos David, youll understand how great the man is.
At the beginning of our conversation, Asatryan takes the guitar from the chair and places it on the couch. He says he plays it well. When I ask what line of work he would have gotten into other than painting, the artist says he would have become a guitarist.
Now, I cant say I should give up painting and start playing the guitar. It would be treasonous. You must dedicate yourself to something. Painting relaxes me. Ill probably die with a paint brush in my hand. Its a blissful thing, like a soldier on the battlefield, he says with a smile.
Is your art studio a place where you escape from reality?
Its perhaps a desire to be alone. Its something we loved as kids, right? To be alone, to do something on the sly, so that mom or grandma dont see.
What did you like to do as a child?
I liked to paint when I was alone. I would try to come up with excuses not to go to school in the first and second grades. I wanted to stay home and paint. Sure, coming to the studio is a bit of an escape when youre with your paintings. In addition, its where I work. Every day, on the way back home, I must know what I did during the day; that the day just didnt pass eventless. Im not even talking about the healthy timesI had no time to sit. When I did, Id smoke and say wow, this is great. When I left the hospital, they told me not to work, to climb so many stairs. But I came to the studio after the third or fourth day and painted a large canvas. You create in the studio; like it or not. You are with your thoughts and you talk to your god. Its convenient. Were on a high floor, Asatryan jokes and we laugh.
You said you started painting as a child. Why did you decide to express yourself via color?
First, color is an attitude. See how agreeable the colors ofautumn are. I love to walk the streets of Yerevan. I love our city.
In my childhood, I tried to paint things as they were. For example, children paint with their fingers houses, the sun, etc. Thats not how I painted. As a kid, I loved to paint horses. I pleaded with my mother to help. She was from Tiflis, a Russian language teacher.
Was there a time when you thought that you wouldnt make it as a painter? Did you meet difficulties along the way?
There was no such period. Speaking about my childhood, I would jump out of bed in the mornings, without getting dressed, to see what I painted the evening before. My aunt would call me to breakfast, but Id say, no. Then, I went to the Shahumyan Pioneer Palace. My first teacher was Sergei Stepanyan. They called him circus Serozh because hed paint the large posters for the circus during the Soviet era. Many painters had nicknames.
Did you have a nickname?
I could I not have one? When I studied at the Yerevan Panos Terlemezyan Art School, theyd call me tchuto because I was kind of short. (Tchutik in Armenian means pinky).
Even though Im about to turn fifty, there might be some still around who remember. By the way, I was studying sculpture at the Pioneer Palace.
But you didnt chose sculpture
No, painting was more attractive.
Youve done many portraits. Is reading a person easy?
You can read a person from the first glance. For me, I dont have to sit down and break bread with somebody to understand them. A human is a powerful thing. Just look at the statue of David and youll be convinced.
There is sadness and grief in almost all your portraits. Are humans generally sad?
Thats how I am. For isnt it true that a painter transfers certain personal qualities to the canvas? An artist cant see this world, not particularly happy or rose-colored, as something superficial. Sometimes, there is something beautiful even in longing.
Why is it sad? Why does it grieve?
It probably grieves for many things. Look at this painting, the conversation between a man and a chicken. One hears doleful music. Its a semi-sorrowful place, no? So is nature, and the colors have an effect. Longing, for example, is a character for me and not a color than can appear before me. It intensifies when living in foreign lands. Imagine that Bachs music is heard at that moment. It all melds and becomes a painting. This is what makes life beautiful; the happiness and the sorrow. For doesnt spring follow winter?
An artist must come out onto the street and struggle. How do you explain this approach of yours?
An artist is also a citizen, and very sincere. The grandma selling pears in Tatev or the old woman selling gata in Geghard. This is my vision. There is a very vulnerable social class in the country. I cant remain indifferent. Via my art, I try to raise certain issues with the higher-ups. Im preparing a such a series when I finish my work. Sadly, I dont work as fast as I used to. But Ill get the series read; slowly but surely.
How do you know when your art has gotten those issues heard at the top?
The series I will be working on must be more extensive. Then, Ill know the extent to which it has reached where it must. Nevertheless, I believe it will speak to someone. Im talking about the officials. The satiated person cannot understand the hungry person. I want to show the underdog. I cant stand it when a person who has everything looks down on others.
Dont you think people dont see all this?
Of course they see it. They are just indifferent. Its human nature. People with a warm home and food to eat arent interested in those that go without. Their advice is that they should work and make a living. We all know the problems facing this country.
I go to work twice a week and receive a monthly salary of 24,000 AMD ($50 MM). That isnt important. Its kind of like my good deed. I pay to take students for art sketches since the government doesnt.
What do you say when someone starts complaining about life in Armenia, advising you to leave the country?
Where should I go? This is my homeland.
I was in Qatar for six weeks, working on a large canvas for the local museum. I got homesick for Armenia. I cant stay away for long. Anywhere you go, youre a stranger. Isnt it better to live at home? I know its difficult for all of us, but we must overcome the difficulties and not flee. You must endure the best you can and not get up and leave.
Photos: Narek Aleksanyan
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Queens welcomes people from all over the world, but there is no room for anyone spewing hate in the nations most ethnically diverse borough. Half of Queens residents were born outside the United States and many came heresome at great riskto find the freedom and equality they were denied at home.
Life in the borough has been an experiment in tolerance, with immigrants of every stripe raising families next door to one another and finding common ground in the workplace.
But with last weeks election of Donald Trump, who vowed on the campaign trail to ban Muslims and deport immigrants, the landscape has suddenly changed in Queens.
Elected officials have begun to speak out against hate and organize rallies, the Queens DA has pledged to prosecute hate crimes and many residents born abroad are living in fear.
Days after the election City Councilman Danny Dromm and state Assemblyman Ron Kim held a unity rally in Jackson Heights to support immigrants and send the message that diversity trumps hate.
State Sen. James Sanders, who called Trump a danger to the black community, met with southeast Queens leaders to plan strategy on preserving hard-won gains.
The FBI reported hate crimes jumped 7 percent across the country in 2015 fueled by a 67 percent rise in attacks against Muslims. Three Muslims were killed on Queens streets during the summer.
The citys five district attorneys released a statement saying over the past week their offices had been notified of multiple incidents in which New Yorkers had been threatened because of their race or religion and they were closely monitoring the reports.
Lawmakers David Weprin and Barry Grodenchik said Queens would not stand for hate after a 19-year-old Muslim woman from Bellerose riding the Q43 bus was harassed by a couple who demanded she take off her hijab. The day before a group of St. Francis Prep girls made a racial comment about black and Hispanic people sitting on a city bus.
Whether Trump follows up on his campaign rhetoric is to be seen, but his warnings prompted City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer to organize a walk from Queens to Trump Tower this weekend.
Well march over the Queensborough Bridge from the place Trump once called home to remind him that diversity makes us stronger, he said.
The Worlds Borough is gearing up for a long fight to protect the rights of all our neighbors regardless of race, religion or gender. What better place to defeat hate than right here in Queens.
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By Bill Parry
The 29th annual Long Island City Partnership business-to-business Trade Show and Luncheon drew more than 1,000 visitors to the Astoria Manor last week where more than 100 businesses took part. The event showcases businesses ranging from services and real estate, to hotels, health care and catering.
Exhibitors included a cross-section of Long Island Citys diverse community, including Bartleby & Sage, which has transitioned from a brick and mortar restaurant to an online catering company; Green Mountain Graphics; MoMA PS 1; Rosenwach Tank; RCN and the Z Hotel.
LICs diverse business landscape industrial, commercial, tech, cultural, tourism and residential sectors is a microcosm of New York City, LIC Partnership President Elizabeth Lusskin said. The partnership is also excited to honor Werwaiss & Co. and Mount Sinai Queens for their pivotal roles in LICs renaissance and the health of our community.
During the luncheon, which was attended by more than 350 guests, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Daniel Huttenlocher, the founding dean of Cornell Tech. The first phase of the Cornell Tech campus will be completed next summer and a new ferry stop will open on Roosevelt Island and provide a direct connection between the campus and LIC.
Long Island City and western Queens are integral to the NYC tech ecosystem and we cant wait for our new campus to help bolster and accelerate that community when it opens next year, Huttenlocher said. To be successful we need to be surrounded by a community of not only startups, but diverse business and local groups across sectors, and with the partnerships leadership that community is blossoming here in Long Island City.
Werwaiss & Co., a fourth-generation family-owned real estate concern based in Manhattan with commercial, industrial and retail properties in LIC, was also honored during the luncheon. Its redevelopment of the Lion Match Building has attracted marquee office tenants, while the repositioning of a former factory adjacent to Kaufman Astoria Studios has grown retail options in the neighborhood.
The recent changes in Long Island City demonstrate what our family has long known: Long Island City is an ideally located, transportation-rich, mixed-use neighborhood and community, Gretchen Werwaiss, a partner in the firm said. We are excited to be a part of its successes and we are grateful to the LIC Partnerships staff and members for all of their efforts in achieving them.
The William D. Modell Community Service Award was presented to Mount Sinai Queens. The hospitals recent multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion allows it to better serve the growing communities of Astoria and Long Island City and significantly expand its medical and surgical capacity.
Having access to first-class health care is our commitment to helping make Long Island City and the Borough of Queens the best it can be, Mount Sinai Queens Executive Director Caryn Schwab said. With our new facilities, talented physicians, nurses and other staff, the residents of Queens can get great care right here in Queens.
By Patrick Donachie
Many members of the Queens Muslim community remain anxious in the aftermath of the presidential election due to policy proposals made by Donald Trump during his campaign. Elected officials and community organizations are pledging to fight if Trump, who won an upset victory, tries to make his campaign rhetoric a reality.
City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest), whose district consists of a diverse population including a significant Bangladeshi Muslim community, called Trumps election an unmitigated disaster.
Its a horrible tragedy for the country, and for Queens in particular, which is so diverse and home to so many immigrants, Lancman said. The Bangladeshi Muslims in my community are afraid theyre going to be targeted for harassment, and for where people are not yet citizens, deportation.
At one point during his successful election run, Trump advocated for a a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on, according to his campaign website. In a series of statements last November, the president-elect seemed to flirt with the idea of a registry for either all Muslims or Muslim refugees.
Muslim critics of Trump have also expressed fears about increased surveillance and a curtailing of their rights. Nayim Islam, the immigrant rights organizer for the Jackson Heights-based organization Desis Rising Up and Moving, which advocates for South Asian immigrants, said he was concerned that the infrastructure of surveillance and deportation already in place during President Barack Obamas tenure would now be controlled by Trump.
Many of us feel at a loss for our rights and the victories that will be taken from us, so we are mourning, we are healing and we are preparing to fight, he said, because we know that our rights are only protected to the extent to which we are willing to fight for them.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Fariha Nizam, a 19-year-old Muslim woman in Bellerose, posted on Facebook last week that she was harassed because she was wearing a hijab by a couple riding the bus, with a woman attempting to tear Nizams hijab off of her head. Nizams account comes as other stories have appeared on social media in the week since the election, detailing alleged incidents of harassment, racism and mistreatment of Muslims, immigrants and other people of color. Trump told any supporters who might be acting out in his name to stop it during a 60 Minutes interview that aired this past Sunday.
The FBI reported Monday that hate crimes surged by 7 percent during 2015, with a 67 percent increase in hate crimes reported against Muslims from the year before. The spike in incidents marks the highest level of reported hate crimes against Muslims since the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Albert Fox Cahn, the director of strategic legislation for the Center for American-Islamic Relations in New York, posted on the organizations site the story of a conversation he held in the elections aftermath with a young Muslim student who fearfully asked him if policies akin to the Japanese internment camps of World War II could possibly happen to Muslims today. Cahn responded in the negative.
In the wake of Pearl Harbor there were no protests, there was no dissent, there was no solidarity with our Japanese neighbors. Today, there is an army of lawyers and activists primed to fight this presidency every step of the way, he told the student, and reminded him of Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who criticized Trump during the election. Khizr Khan famously asked Donald Trump if he had ever read the Constitution. I promise you, we and other civil libertarians will teach him what it means.
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By Mark Hallum
Elected officials and community activists gathered at the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Saturday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the reclamation of the pauper cemetery which was once turned into a playground known as Martins Field. Primarily, It is estimated 1,000 people were laid to rest on the plot of land containing the remains of African Americans and American Indians, as well as those people who had died of highly infectious diseases between 1840 and 1914 when it was turned over to the city Parks Department.
According to community activist and Bayside resident Mandingo Tshaka, stories of construction workers discovering bones, some of which were taken home as souvenirs, when the cemetery was renovated into a playground began to circulate. The headstones were removed and lost to history, making every burial an unmarked grave. For many years the site was used as a playground.
Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing), state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), former Councilman John Liu and Tshaka, the founder of the Olde Towne of FlushingBurial Ground Conservancy, led the ceremonies to pay homage to the dead.
The burial ground is located on 46th Avenue between 164th and 165th streets, across from Flushing Cemetery.
Dating back to the 1880s, and possibly earlier, this location in the heart of Flushing was used as an African-American and native-American burial ground that only recently was recognized by the city of New York. It was thanks in large part to the efforts of people in the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy, particularly Mandingo Tshaka, that a memorial was placed at the site, Koo said. Much progress has been made to recognize this site as a burial ground, but more needs to be done Koo said.
There have been complaints about children playing on the sacred ground and nearby residents walking their dogs on the site.
With todays ceremony, we let the bones beneath our feet know that times have changed and that we are here to offer respect to those who have been deprived of it in the past, Koo said.
Members of the conservancy said no effort was made to relocate bodies during an August cleanup of the burial ground.
Seventy years ago in 1935, the city of New York, in an act of indifference, intolerance and disrespect, paved over 1,000 souls here in this 19th century African and native American cemetery. That is the history of all 18th and 19th century African American cemeteries in New York City, said Conservancy Co-Chair Robbie Garrison. With the help of city officials, the site was reclaimed and renamed to reflect all who are still interred here at the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground.
She pointed out that the goal of the conservancy is to have burial ground fully recognized as a cemetery and also gain city, state and federal registration as a historical burial site for native Americans, protecting the site into perpetuity.
Avella said he was honored to be involved in the effort to recognize the land as a burial ground.
It is more of an honor, however, to be able to acknowledge and recognize the lives of those who were buried here over 100 years ago and the impact they had on the city of New York, he said.
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By Bill Parry
After denigrating one another during the year-long presidential campaign, Mayor Bill de Blasio and President-elect Donald Trump met face-to-face alone for 62 minutes Wednesday morning.
De Blasio said he arrived at Trump Tower to assert to him the concerns and the needs of all New Yorkers, and help him to understand what is being said in the streets and subways of our city and why people are do deeply concerned.
The two leaders spoke by phone Monday and arranged for the meeting to take place in Trumps office. Afterward, the mayor refused to discuss any of Trumps positions or responses, but he said he left the substantive and very candid meeting with the door open for more dialogue.
Its well known we have very, very substantial differences in beliefs and ideology, but at the end of the meeting, we agreed that this was a conversation that would continue, de Blasio said. I reiterated to the president-elect that I would be open-minded as we continue substantive discussions, but I would be vigilant. And I would be swift to react anytime an action is taken that will undermine the people of New York City. I also know New Yorkers will stand together. Were going to stand up for anyone who because of any policy is excluded or affronted, be they members of the Muslim community, or the Jewish community, members of the LGBT community, womenanyone who feels policies are being undertaken that undermine them.
Trumps former campaign manager described the meeting as very productive to rporters waiting outside Trump Tower.
De Blasio also spoke about Stephen Bannon, who Trump named as his chief strategist and senior counselor. Bannon ran the right-wing Breitbart News and his ties to the White Nationalist movement has been well documented.
I made my views clear and my deep concerns about Mr. Bannon and the fact that I had thought many people were afraid because of the things they had seen in Breitbart News and the fear that suggested divisive policies, de Blasio said.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo acted swiftly Tuesday to set up a toll-free hotline for people to report incidents of bias and discrimination across the state. The move came one day after the Anti-Defamation League expressed deep concern over a wave of anti-Semitic vandalism that has occurred in New York since Election Day.
There has been an explosion recently in the number of hate crime incidents. They are being investigated and its not a crime until we have evidence of it being a crime, Cuomo said. But circumstantially, they were very, very troubling and we want to make a very clear statement in this state: that there is no place for racism, there is no place for hate, there is no place for swastikas, there is no place for racially inflammatory and divisive rhetoric or acts. This is New York. This is America.
Anyone who thinks they may have been the victim of a bias crime can call (888) 392-3644 and report it.
We have very a strict hate crime law that we take seriously and I want the people of New York to know that were going to enforce it, Cuomo said. I understand the political environment out there, and I understand the sentiments that have been raised, but the law is the law. The hate crimes legislation and the hate crimes laws will be enforced.
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By Greater Astoria Historical Society
In conjunction with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, the Times/Ledger newspaper presents noteworthy events in the boroughs history
Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan, Jr. was a United States Marine posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for selfless gallantry while serving in the Vietnam War.
Born in Brooklyn on Nov. 18, 1943, Corporal Noonan also lived in Maspeth and graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in 1961. Following graduation from Hunter College in 1966, he voluntarily enlisted in the Marines and was sent to Vietnam. The Marine was killed in action on Feb. 5, 1969 at age 25 while bravely attempting to rescue wounded comrades pinned down by enemy fire.
Then Private Noonan completed recruit training at Parris Island in April 1968 and was soon promoted to Private First Class. Ordered to Vietnam in July 1968, the young Marine from New York first served on a mortar crew in the 1st Marine Division and later saw combat as a rifleman with the 3rd Marine Division. Noonan was promoted to lance corporal on Jan. 1, 1969. He was killed in action during Operation Dewey Canyon in Vietnams Quang Tri Province. His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Fire Team Leader with Company G, Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, in operations against the enemy in Quang Tri Province in the Republic of Vietnam. On February 5, 1969, Company G was directed to move from a position which they had been holding southeast of the Vandergrift Combat Base in A Shau Valley to an alternate location.
As the Marines commenced a slow and difficult descent down the side of the hill, made extremely slippery by the heavy rains, the leading element came under a heavy fire from a North Vietnamese Army unit occupying well-concealed positions in the rocky terrain. Four men were wounded, and repeated attempts to recover them failed because of the intense hostile fire.
Lance Corporal Noonan moved from his position of relative security and, maneuvering down the treacherous slope to a location near the injured men, took cover behind some rocks. Shouting words of encouragement to the wounded men to restore their confidence, he dashed across the hazardous terrain and commenced dragging the most seriously wounded man away from the fire-swept area. Although wounded and knocked to the ground by an enemy round, Lance Corporal Noonan recovered rapidly and resumed dragging the man toward the marginal security of a rock.
He was, however, mortally wounded before he could reach his destination. His heroic actions inspired his fellow Marines to such aggressiveness that they initiated a spirited assault which forced the enemy soldiers to withdraw. Lance Corporal Noonans indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
The L/CPL Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground and the Thomas P. Noonan Jr. VA Community Clinic, both in Sunnyside, commemorate his supreme sacrifice and his roots in Queens. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery and his name is inscribed on Panel 33W, Line 067 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
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By Mark Hallum
The black community in Jamaica engaged in a meeting Saturday with elected officials and activists to discuss their feelings after the presidential election, which dismayed many who expressed not only apprehension toward the prospect of a Donald Trump administration, but also disillusionment toward the Democratic Party.
State Sen. James Sanders (D-South Ozone Park) hosted the meeting at the Black Spectrum Theatre at 177 Baisley Blvd. with fellow state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), Rev. Johnnie Green and Oster Bryan, vice president of CommUnity 1st, as panelists. They addressed the concerns raised by the Trump victory and the next step toward protecting the black community against possible disadvantages they might face.
Many agreed that whatever ensues the responsibility is in the hands of the community and their elected officials to organize and look out for the best interests of the black community as opposed to depending on the system at large for support and representation.
I think a vote for Trump is a fundamental misunderstanding of who Trump is and what he represents, Sanders said. Trump is such a danger to America as a whole and to black people, in particular. If you were going to cast a protest vote, you could have gone with Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, but when you are voting for a person who says he has a noose for you, then youre voting for the noose.
Bryan explained that when he went to the polls Nov. 8, he had watched as reader machines malfunctioned and expressed doubts as to whether neighborhoods of Little Neck and Douglaston experienced the same issues, which he viewed as direct negligence of black communities. At the critical moment, he decided he would cast a protest vote for Trump.
Weve been voting Democrat for over 50 years, but our voting machines dont work on Election Day. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, said Bryan. I just had a moment of clarity as I was filling out that sheet, and I decided, let me make a protest at this point, and so I voted for Trump.
Bryan was not alone in the meeting to admit to having voted for the Republican nominee, and several others at the meeting of about 80 spoke up about casting a ballot for Trump because of disillusionment with the Democratic Party.
According to Bryan, racism is more than antagonizing behavior, it is a system of oppression, which he sees defined more by the Democratic Partys neglect of minorities rather than the rhetoric adopted by Trump during his campaign.
Green thought the success of Trump was largely the result of dysfunction within the Democratic Party, which was put on display during the primary election when Clinton was nominated over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
There was a lot of backlash from the black community, Green said. She did not get the black support she hoped to get. How could she even desire the black support when this is the same woman who called us superpredators?
This is the same woman who supported the laws that her husband had passed that incarcerated an unprecedented number of African-American men and women, and many of them are still incarcerated today. So Im sorry, we have to live with Donald Trump for at least the next four years because the chickens have come home to roost in our own backyard.
In 1996, Clinton spoke in support of Bill Clintons Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement bill that took aimed at youth who are recruited into gangs at an early age and the conditions that promote gang violence. The controversial bill stepped up law enforcement and discouraged gang violence through community policing. She referred to youths who are conditioned for gang life early on as superpredators.
Regardless of disagreements from the attendees, the consensus of the meeting settled on the view that community action is the first response to the uncertainty of a Trump presidency.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Armenia have signed a grant agreement under the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) to support the completion of the North-South Road Corridor,a strategic part of Armenias transport infrastructure.
The NIF budget made available a grant of EUR 12 million to the Republic of Armenia for the North-South Road Corridor Investment Programme. The NIF grant is made available by the EIB on behalf of the European Commission to the Republic of Armenia. It consists of two components: a EUR 6 million investment grant and a EUR 6 million technical assistance component. The purpose of the agreement signed today is to set the terms and conditions for the EUR 6 million investment grant component to finance works and supplies necessary for the Armenia North-South Road Corridor Investment Programme. The agreement for making available the EUR 6 million technical assistance component was already signed last year.
EIB Vice-President Jan Vapaavuori, commented: I very much appreciate that the European Investment Bank together with the European Commission are joining forces with the Republic of Armenia to develop adequate, efficient and safe road infrastructure improving peoples quality of everydaylife and fostering economic growth and regional cooperation.
Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Mr VardanAramyan highlighted the importance of infrastructure projects in Armenia, expressed gratitude to the EU for its continuous support through NIF funding and especially stressed the fruitful cooperation with the EIB aimed at infrastructural development and its efforts for mobilising grant resources.
H.E. Piotr Antoni Switalski, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia added:"For a country like Armenia, connectivity is a necessity" and continued by underlining that "the EU is delighted to be able to contribute to the efforts made by the EIB to ensure that Armenian citizens and businesses can circulate more freely and safely in Armenia and access more easily other neighbouring territories and markets."
In 2013 the EIB signed a EUR 60 millionloan to finance the upgrading of the North-South Road Corridor the key transport corridor in Armenia. This project promotes economic and social development in Armenia and improves regional integration, with significant benefits for the whole region. This project is part of an ambitious programme aimed at improving the 556 km North-South Road Corridor running from the border with Georgia at Bavra to the border with Iran at Meghri via the cities of Bavra, Gyumri, Ashtarak, Yerevan, Goris, Comer, Kapan and Meghri.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Armenia have signed a grant agreement under the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) to support the completion of the North-South Road Corridor,a strategic part of Armenias transport infrastructure.
The NIF budget made available a grant of EUR 12 million to the Republic of Armenia for the North-South Road Corridor Investment Programme. The NIF grant is made available by the EIB on behalf of the European Commission to the Republic of Armenia. It consists of two components: a EUR 6 million investment grant and a EUR 6 million technical assistance component. The purpose of the agreement signed today is to set the terms and conditions for the EUR 6 million investment grant component to finance works and supplies necessary for the Armenia North-South Road Corridor Investment Programme. The agreement for making available the EUR 6 million technical assistance component was already signed last year
EIB Vice-President Jan Vapaavuori, commented: I very much appreciate that the European Investment Bank together with the European Commission are joining forces with the Republic of Armenia to develop adequate, efficient and safe road infrastructure improving peoples quality of everydaylife and fostering economic growth and regional cooperation.
Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia VardanAramyan highlighted the importance of infrastructure projects in Armenia, expressed gratitude to the EU for its continuous support through NIF funding and especially stressed the fruitful cooperation with the EIB aimed at infrastructural development and its efforts for mobilising grant resources.
H.E. Piotr Antoni Switalski, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia added:"For a country like Armenia, connectivity is a necessity" and continued by underlining that "the EU is delighted to be able to contribute to the efforts made by the EIB to ensure that Armenian citizens and businesses can circulate more freely and safely in Armenia and access more easily other neighbouring territories and markets."
In 2013 the EIB signed a EUR 60 millionloan to finance the upgrading of the North-South Road Corridor the key transport corridor in Armenia. This project promoteseconomic and social development in Armenia and improves regional integration, with significant benefits for the whole region. This project is part of an ambitious programme aimed at improving the 556 km North-South Road Corridor running from the border with Georgia at Bavra to the border with Iran at Meghri via the cities of Bavra, Gyumri, Ashtarak, Yerevan, Goris, Comer, Kapan and Meghri.
Background information:
The EIB the European Unions bank finances projects in Armenia on the basis of an EU Council and European Parliament mandate for the countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood. The 2014-2020 mandate allows the EIB to provide financing of up to EUR 4.8 billion under an EU guarantee to support projects of significant interest to boththe EU and its Eastern Neighbours in the areas of local private sector development, social and economic infrastructure and climate change. In addition, the Bank has set up a EUR 3 billion own-risk Neighbourhood Finance Facility to enhance its support for the Neighbourhood Countries.
International donors promised 2.06 billion euros ($2.2 billion)for the Central African Republic on Thursday, seeking to cement a recovery from three years of sectarian strife that has left the country dependent on United Nations peacekeepers.
At a conference in Brussels, 80 countries and international agencies pledged the money for the next four years, including more than 700 million euros from the European Union.
"We need to aid the most vulnerable, the many displaced, those who sought refuge in neighboring countries and to help them go home," said Andre Vallini, France\s junior minister for development, of the former French colony.
Despite a respite in violence after a new president was elected in February, clashes between militias are rising in one of the world\s most chronically unstable countries.
The departure of French troops this month puts the onus on U.N. peacekeepers and an EU military training mission, as well as an International Monetary Fund program, to try to rebuild the country in sub-Saharan Africa.
"We\re here to help the country back on its feet," Vallini said, adding France would give 85 million euros for the 2017-2019 period, having pledged 75 million euros in 2014.
The country has been plagued by inter-religious and inter-communal conflict since 2013 when the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, prompting reprisals from the anti-Balaka militia, many of whose fighters are nominally Christian.
Elections in February that brought President Faustin-Archange Touadera to power were seen as a success, but with no army and few basic services, the government in the capital Bangui does not have control over the whole country.
Violence has displaced about 400,000 people, with only some beginning to return home.
"Our priority is to help bring back and integrate the displaced and the refugees," Touadera told donors.
Donors hope funds can provide housing and establish land and property rights to allow refugees to return. They hope to support the economy, which is relying on a $115.8 million International Monetary Fund program agreed in July.
SOURCE: AFP
Q&A with PA-16 candidates Robert Matzie and Rico Elmore
Both Beaver County natives, Matzie and Elmore have expressed their interest in making Beaver County a better place in their own unique ways.
Malta
GlobalFoundries has been active in the Portland, Ore., area trying to hire former Intel workers who were laid off by the computer chip giant last spring, according to the Oregonian newspaper.
The new workers are for GlobalFoundries' Fab 8 computer chip factory in Saratoga County.
The idea would have been inconceivable 10 years ago when the Capital Region looked to the Portland area as a model for what it wanted to achieve with its dreams to build its own semiconductor manufacturing hub.
Intel, which is based in Silicon Valley, has 19,500 employees in Hillsboro outside of Portland. The company laid off 784 in April, according to the newspaper, as part of a massive layoff of 12,000 workers worldwide announced around the same time.
GlobalFoundries has 3,000 employees at Fab 8 and has another 5,000 people between two former IBM chip fabs in Vermont and in Dutchess County.
GlobalFoundries doesn't compete directly with Intel because it makes chips for other companies like Advanced Micro Devices, which created GlobalFoundries as a spin-off in 2009.
Experienced semiconductor engineers are difficult to find in upstate New York because there is no history of semiconductor manufacturing, forcing GlobalFoundries to search across the U.S. and the world for people.
A GlobalFoundries spokesman told the Oregonian that it hired 15 development engineers from the Portland area in July and is holding more job fairs in December to try to hire 80 technicians.
Lately, Fab 8 has been able to produce chips for AMD that have out-performed Intel's best chip, an indication that the manufacturing operation at Fab 8 may be the best in the world.
lrulison@timesunion.com 518-454-5504 @larryrulison
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Calling all "Jaws" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" fans.
The 2017 Tanglewood music festival is the place for you.
Next summer's slate of concerts kicks off June 18 and will feature the usual heavy-hitters the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops and other classical artists along with some new acts.
Keith Lockhart will lead the Boston Pops in popular film scores to "Jaws" on June 18 and "E.T." on Aug. 25. The orchestra will perform live while the films are projected onto screens for shed and lawn patrons.
This season, Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Andris Nelsons has expanded his commitment to Tanglewood, offering 10 programs over four weeks.
The orchestra has made its summer home on the lawns of Lenox, Mass., since 1937.
Many familiar faces (violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma) will perform along with Tanglewood newcomers (Thomas Ades as Boston Symphony Orchestra artistic partner, Garrick Ohlsson as the 2017 Koussevitzky Artist and "Tanglewood Takes Flight," a celebration of birds and music with Mass Audubon).
Tickets are priced from $12 to $124 for the regular season and will go on sale on Jan. 29, at (888) 266-1200 and http://www.tanglewood.org.
In keeping with tradition, the Tanglewood season also includes an assortment of panels, talks, open rehearsals and other programming.
For a full list of events, go to http://www.tanglewood.org.
Albany
New York school districts are being instructed to crack down on instances of hate speech, bullying and discrimination among students and staff, as reports of such behavior have multiplied in the days following last week's presidential election.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday called on the
state Education Department to instruct schools to immediately hold trainings for staff and students addressing discriminatory behaviors that violate state law or school codes of conduct. The same day, state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged districts to review and publicize the systems they have in place to protect students against bullying, harassment and violence.
Each cited concern over the increasing number of incidents being reported at schools across the state, often directed at individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religion or immigration status, the letters said.
"I am greatly disturbed by these events and saddened by the tone that our electoral process has set for our youth," Cuomo said in a letter to Elia. "Our children are watching what we do, and how we react to discord. New York will continue to be the example that we are all one nation, not divided but united. We will not stand for hate, discrimination or intolerance."
Since Republican Donald Trump's stunning defeat of Democrat Hillary Clinton last week, schools, universities and other organizations have reported a rise in racial and anti-Muslim harassment.
In some cases, the race-based speech has taken the form of graffiti such as a swastika spray-painted on a street in Saratoga Springs or at a residence hall at SUNY Geneseo. In other cases, the speech has been directed at specific individuals. In Clifton Park, Shenendehowa school officials said students have been overheard telling others that Trump is going to deport them. Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson wrote a letter to parents urging them to talk to their kids about the impact of such language.
In the letter from Elia and Schneiderman, schools were reminded to report bullying and other incidents through the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) and Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting (VADIR) systems. They also reminded districts that their respective agencies would be available to assist schools in providing supports and resources for staff, students, parents and community members.
"We must focus our efforts to ensure that our schools are safe havens where students can learn without fear of discrimination, harassment or intimidation directed towards students or faculty on the basis of their race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or for any other reason," they wrote.
bbump@timesunion.com 518-454-5387 @bethanybump
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ALBANY An extradition hearing for a woman accused of killing her twin sister when their SUV plunged off a cliff in Hawaii is scheduled for Dec. 16.
Alexandria Duval, 37, appeared Friday in Albany County Court for a hearing before acting County Court Judge William Carter. She was arrested Nov. 11 in Albany by city and State Police.
She was wanted for murder in the death of her identical twin sister, Anastasia.
"She is profoundly distraught," her attorney Terry Kindlon said, calling the sisters "soul mates."
Duval, charged as a fugitive from justice, has entered the courtroom. Watch the video: pic.twitter.com/BT4CwfN9HS Emily Masters (@emilysmasters) November 18, 2016
Duval's case, and the crash that killed her twin sister, made national headlines. Duval was injured in the crash.
Kindlon, from the Public Defender's Office, said she will not waive her right to an extradition hearing. The paperwork prosecutors in New York and Hawaii have amassed "is not sufficient to force extradition so far," he said.
An extradition hearing determines if a defendant is the person wanted by law enforcement and if a defendant was at the crime scene, Kindlon said.
On May 29, the women's SUV plunged off a 200-foot cliff on Maui's rocky shore during what was described as a hair-pulling fight over the steering wheel, the Associated Press reports.
Alexandria, the driver, was arrested and jailed on a second-degree murder charge, accused of deliberately causing her sister's death, the AP reports. The twins were previously known as Alison and Ann Dadow.
Kindlon described the crash as an accident. Duval "left Hawaii to come back to grieve, not to escape from justice," he said. The sisters were originally from the Utica area, according to the Star Advertiser of Honolulu.
Duval was taken into custody by Maui police after being discharged from the hospital days after the accident. A judge later ordered her release after determining there was no probable cause for a murder charge, the AP reported. Duval was eager to return to upstate New York after the crash to attend her sister's funeral, the AP reported.
In late October, a grand jury indicted Duval on a second-degree murder charge and the Maui Police Department issued a warrant for her arrest, CBS News reports
A State Police investigator from the New York State Intelligence Center located a possible address for Duval in Albany and Troop G members were notified. On Nov. 11, Duval was seen standing outside the home and tried to flee, but was taken into custody and brought to the Latham barracks, troopers said.
Duval was returned to the Albany County Jail.
Read more from the Associated Press:
Sister charged with murder after crash that killed twin
Twin sisters' bickering relationship ends in deadly crash
"Subway Therapy" at the Union Square subway station in New York started after the presidential election. The piece allows people to express their thoughts with the public.
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Jay Maynor was sentenced to 40 years in prison after fatally shooting a man who sexually abused his daughter, Julia Maynor, 24.
Between the ages of 4 and 9, Julia Maynor was abused by her maternal grandfather, Raymond Brooks. Brooks pleaded guilty and served 27 months of a five-year sentence.
"Raymond molested me for either four or five years," Julia Maynor told Alabama News. "I don't remember when it started happening but I know it was for a very long time. It was long enough for me to think it was completely normal and made me to feel that he actually loves me in a different kind of way than my mother and father loves me."
Now Playing: Trending News Around The Nation Video: Houston Chronicle
In 2014, Julia Maynor said something to her father which prompted him to drive to Brooks' house and murder him. She says she can't remember what she said that spurred Jay Maynor to drive to Brooks' house that day, but that it had something to do with the abuse she sustained as a child.
On his way to Brooks' home, Jay Maynor also fired shots into a convenience store where he saw a man who'd reportedly been abusive to his stepdaughter.
Monday, Jay Maynor accepted a plea deal at a Cullman County, Alabama court in which he would plead guilty and his daughter would not have to testify in court.
GREENSPOINT MURDER: Mother learns her little girl killed in robbery
"Basically he took it so that I didn't have to relive the molestation and also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of the molestation," Julia Maynor told WVTM. "My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father actually the best. He loves us so much."
Julia Maynor waived her right to anonymity following her father's sentencing. She says that the sentence is unfair.
"I'm going through hell," Julia Maynor told Alabama News. "Everything comes back to me as to why this has happened. I feel like it's my fault. I'm sad but yet mad."
She is currently considering a divorce from her husband.
"Me and my husband are now going through a divorce because of it. I have completely pushed him out of my life," she told the outlet. "I am back in the same mindstate that it is wrong, even though we are married and have three kids, it's wrong. I keep making him miserable with my miserable life."
Julia says that the current circumstances have made her revisit her tormented childhood.
"I can still remember his smell, which is awful to me. I overcame my PTSD, but now I have had to relive it all over again," she said.
Traveling to hear music is a practice that began for me during my college days. Catching a special piece or a favorite artist in a new venue sometimes just requires airfare. Last weekend, it required a drive to Shaftsbury, Vt.
On Saturday night in a high school auditorium two community orchestras of the Green Mountain State the Sage City Symphony and the Windham Orchestra joined forces to tackle a demanding and unusual program. Their music directors, Michael Finckel and Hugh Keelan, shared conducting duties.
What drew my attention was a piece by Carl Ruggles. He was a flinty modernist in the vein of Charles Ives and his music doesn't get much attention these days. That's a shame, since the man only wrote 18 pieces. Or at least that's all that he signed off on. He was a perfectionist known for endlessly revising and jiggering with his works
What I wasn't aware of is that Ruggles spent the last 50 years of his long life as a resident of Arlington, Vt. He died in 1977 at age 95. So a performance of Ruggles' music by these Vermont orchestras was an honoring of one of their own. But it was also a monumental undertaking.
Ruggles' "Sun-treader" is scored for massive forces. On this occasion there were 94 players assembled. (That was almost twice the size of the audience.) Being where we were, I couldn't help but compare the character of the music to the mountain ranges and rocky landscape of Vermont. But that would suggest that the piece is more pastoral and lush than it is. It opens pounding and raw, in the vein of a Bernard Herrmann score for a Hitchcock movie, and it only gets more craggy, twisted and dissonant from there. There's a world of detail within the broad gestures and the orchestra did an admirable job with it. That being said, I probably won't go too far out of my way to hear Ruggles again.
The balance of the program was inspiring and invigorating. It opened with a world premiere by Phillip Thomas Bloch, who is a member of the violin section in the Windham Orchestra. His "for Nick and Alex" was a memorial to two young people from the community and featured the composer as viola soloist. The writing had the feeling of a quest for understanding, and the scoring was gentle and transparent, almost fragile. I thought I caught a fragment of Puccini in the final bars, his "Nessum Dorma" (None Shall Sleep).
After intermission came a lusty performance of Strauss' "Don Quixote" Op. 35 with Michael Finckel as soloist. He's a cousin, by the way, of David Finckel, co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. This was another big undertaking for the players and at one point the conductor had to become a kind of traffic cop keeping the players in proper order. But the woodwinds and brass were often radiant. And as an audience member, it was a thrill to sit so close to the soloist and ensemble and feel in the midst of the action.
Out on the street
Speaking of music and travel, caroling season is just around the corner. The Hudson Opera House is organizing a different take on that old tradition with the first local performance of Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night."
The piece is a mobile sound sculpture that debuted in Manhattan's East Village in December 1992. Kline composed four different 45 minute tracks of music, which he distributed on cassettes to friends and anyone else who showed up with a boombox. After a cue to hit "play," the party set to walking the city streets and letting the collage of sounds reverberate off buildings and envelope unknowing pedestrians.
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I participated one year after the route switched from Washington Square Park to Tompkins Square, an easy 1-mile walk. There was a sharp contrast between the beautiful music and the cold urban setting. The piece opens and closes with ringing chimes and midway through comes the sound of distant chanting voices, something like vespers in a monastery. There's a delightful randomness to who is playing which track and how people mingle about. I remember lots of smiles on people's faces as the music crescendos during the final minutes.
Over the years "Unsilent Night" has become a phenomenon, with at least 19 cities hosting performances this year. Also, the technology has been updated. You can download a track and play it on your phone or any other device. Or participate in the old fashioned way, just bring a boombox of your own and borrow a cassette or CD from the organizers.
The Hudson event is part of this year's Winter Walk. The gathering starts at 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, at Basilica Hudson, 110 S. Front St. The walk begins at 5 p.m. and will end at the Seventh Street park. More information at: http://www.hudsonoperahouse.org and http://www.unsilentnight.com
Meanwhile in the gallery of the Opera House, there's an exhibit titled "The Boombox Project." It features Lyle Owerko's luminous and pristine photos of the musical equipment that served as an engine of hip-hop culture in its early days. An opening reception takes place 5-7 p.m. Saturday and the show runs through Dec. 23. More information: http://www.hudsonoperahouse.org
Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy.
Ride-hailing has become a multibillion-dollar business during the last several years. The traditional taxi industry has been upended and is now forced to compete with drivers using their own automobiles, sometimes as a side job, summoned by the tap of a smartphone.
Millions of travelers now use these apps regularly, but some still have questions. One thing is certain: These apps are popular because the rides are usually considerably cheaper than a taxi (when prices aren't surging, that is). Here are a few ride-share tips for the uninitiated, and some pointers for the casual user.
With its $62.5 billion valuation, Uber remains the 800-pound gorilla of the ride-hail apps with a presence on every continent except Antarctica. But there are other options. Lyft, the service founded in 2012, is in most major American cities as well as a handful in Southeast Asia. It has billed itself as "your friend with a car," encouraging passengers to sit in the front seat in a spirit of community and friendliness.
Gett, an Israeli-based startup, is available in only one American city (New York), but has a solid presence in Russia, Britain and Israel. (I used the service in Russia and found it reliable.) Juno is another service new to New York; it hopes to attract drivers with incentives and lower commissions. In China, the popular Didi Chuxing app is jockeying with Uber for dominance in a highly prized market.
Zipcar works as something of a bridge between ride-hailing and the traditional car rental. It functions as a car club where, for a fee, drivers can use vehicles strategically placed around a city. In Los Angeles, for example, drivers can buy a yearlong membership for $35. In return, they are able to reserve and use cars (gas, insurance and up to 180 miles are included) at rates from $10 an hour to $78 a day, depending on the car. Rates are slightly higher on weekends.
Carpooling's challenges
Both Uber and Lyft offer carpooling options, called UberPOOL and Lyft Line. (The navigation system Waze is also testing a carpool service in the Bay Area.) The idea that riders going in the same direction are matched together, resulting in a cheaper fare is great in theory, but while selecting a carpool option can save you money, I wouldn't recommend it if you're on a tight schedule.
While I've had many seamless, efficient pooling experiences, I've had some horrendous ones as well: the time I called an UberPOOL from Manhattan to Kennedy Airport and was routed through LaGuardia, for example. If you're only saving a few dollars, I would recommend getting a car for yourself. Compare the carpool pricing, which is presented upfront, with what you might pay for a regular car (Uber and Lyft provide estimates). If you're taking advantage of UberPOOL's $5 promotion for commuter rides below 125th Street, well, it's hard to pass that up.
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Speak up
Between Uber, Lyft, Gett and Sidecar (now defunct), I've taken hundreds of trips via ride-share service. I've never had an accident or an aggressively bad experience, but there have been occasional problems. The most common is a driver who accepts rides seemingly without any intention of picking up the passenger. This can happen with drivers who operate both Uber and Lyft simultaneously; they will accept rides on both platforms to keep their acceptance rate high (necessary to get incentive bonuses) but complete only one of them. The stranded passenger, they hope, will simply give up and cancel the ride.
One of the many appealing things about ride-hailing apps is that they provide a cashless experience. When you arrive at your destination, you simply get out. But many riders wonder if it's actually that simple. Some drivers have decried the lack of tips openly on online driver's forum. Lyft and Gett allow tipping within the app and advertise that drivers keep 100 percent of their tips. Uber does not offer in-app tipping, and has recently adopted a policy of "you can, but you don't have to."
THE ISSUE:
Gov. Cuomo says it's time for action now, and not just words, about ethics reform.
THE STAKES:
It's unlikely the Legislature will support his measures, including outside income limits.
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As lawmakers' hopes for a long-sought pay raise were dashed by a state commission this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was unveiling yet another list of steps intended to clean up state government perhaps giving legislators one final shot at their first salary hike since 1999.
The flurry of activity, typical for those aboard New York's political merry-go-round, came in rapid sequence. On Monday, the governor's appointees to a special legislative pay commission blocked any increase, allowing the panel's Nov. 15 deadline to pass. It came after legislators failed to respond to Mr. Cuomo's demand that any pay hike be linked to a deal to toughen ethics laws.
This has to be viewed in the context of federal corruption charges filed in September against two former aides who had been in the governor's inner circle and six other people, all relating to Mr. Cuomo's billion-dollar upstate economic development programs. Mr. Cuomo now must respond to the call for tougher ethics enforcement.
On Wednesday, the governor proposed steps aimed at reducing the corrupting influence of campaign contributions and adding oversight to state contracts. Mr. Cuomo also vowed to decline campaign gifts from companies involved in pre-bidding on state contracts and accept no contributions from winning bidders for six months. Mr. Cuomo said he would appoint a "chief procurement officer" to examine all payments made through the state Budget Division.
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These measures don't need the Legislature's approval, but a more contentious proposal would: limiting lawmakers' outside income to 15 percent of their base legislative pay. That's where Mr. Cuomo has placed legislators in a box.
The state Senate and Assembly could return to Albany for a special session in the next few weeks and approve the governor's income limit proposal, presumably in exchange for his support of pay raises of perhaps $37,400 annually, atop the current base pay of $79,500. Since most lawmakers hope to avoid saying they want a raise, the pay commission was a way to avoid the politically awkward act of raising their own salaries. Under the state constitution, however, if legislators don't act before year's end, they can't get any pay increase until 2019, at the earliest.
Credit Mr. Cuomo with focusing legislators on the need for reform, even if some of his steps are dubious and some key reforms missing. For example, why create a procurement officer answering to the governor, seemingly duplicating the work of the elected state comptroller? And notably missing from Mr. Cuomo's plan is a shutdown of the LLC loophole, which allows individuals to give unlimited funds to candidates by setting up limited liability companies.
Legislators seem unlikely to rise to Mr. Cuomo's bait. But if they want a raise, they should vote now and embrace the reform agenda. And if they don't, the governor should make it, plus the LLC loophole closure, part of his 2017 budget plan in January, and stand firm. Anything else is just posturing on both sides.
[November 17, 2016] Ventas CEO to Participate in Harvard Business Review's Top 100 CEOs Panel Discussion at EY Strategic Growth Forum
Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) ("Ventas" or the "Company") today announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Debra A. Cafaro will participate in the Harvard Business Review's Top 100 CEOs panel discussion at the EY Strategic Growth Forum on November 18th in Palm Springs, California. The panel discussion is scheduled for 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The panel will be moderated by Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group. The panelists include: Doug Baker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ecolab; and Leonard Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Debra A. Cafaro was recognized by the Harvard Business Review as one of "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World." She is one of 30 CEOs named to the Harvard Business Review list for three consecutive years and one of only two women on this year's list. The panel discussion will be webcast and may be accessed through the Company's website at www.ventasreit.com/investor-relations. The webcast will be archived at www.ventasreit.com/investor-relations for a limited period following the event.
Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of approximately 1,300 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, skilled nursing facilities, specialty hospitals and general acute care hospitals. Through its Lillibridge subsidiary, Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. More information about Ventas and Lillibridge can be found at www.ventasreit.com and www.lillibridge.com. Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for Ventas, Inc.
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[November 17, 2016] Robertson Stephens Names Ron Resnick as Chief Operating Officer of Robertson Stephens Asset Management
Robertson Stephens, a global investment advisory firm for high net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and corporations, announced today that Ron Resnick (News - Alert) is joining as Chief Operating Officer of Robertson Stephens Asset Management LLC ("RSAM"), a subsidiary of Robertson Stephens. He is also a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Mr. Resnick will be responsible for the oversight of administration, operations and legal activities for RSAM. Mr. Resnick is a 25-year veteran in managing alternative assets platforms. He co-founded CounselWorks LLC, a consulting company providing business strategy and regulatory advice to hedge funds, private equity firms, investment advisors and broker-dealers, which was sold to Duff & Phelps. Prior to starting CounselWorks he was a Managing Partner and the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Highbridge Capital Management, where he launched over twenty hedge funds and was instrumental in building Highbridge into a $16 billion private global alternative before negotiating its sale to JP Morgan Asset Management Holdings for $1.4 billion. Previously, Mr. Resnick co-founded Harmonic (News - Alert) Fund Services, an offshore hedge fund administration company, and he was a Partner at Corbin Capital Partners, a fund of hedge funds business. "Ronhas an impressive history - not just at managing a multi-billion dollar alternative asset firm, but also as a successful entrepreneur," said Joe Piazza, Chairman and CEO of Robertson Stephens. "He will be instrumental in helping us launch the Robertson Stephens Venture Opportunities Fund, as well as other funds in the planning stages. His wealth of business and legal experience in alternatives investment management will be a tremendously valuable asset to our clients. I could not be more pleased about his appointment."
Mr. Resnick has authored numerous articles for The New York Times and has been a guest lecturer on hedge fund strategies, options trading and the 2008 financial crisis at the Economics Department at University of California - Los Angeles. He received a BA from the University of Rochester and earned a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. "Over nearly three decades, Ron has built an impressive track record of strategic, operational and commercial accomplishments," said Ren Riley, President of Robertson Stephens Asset Management. "He has proven to be an effective, trusted leader and brings a strong reputation for developing people and inspiring teams."
"I am honored to continue Robertson Stephens' legacy of supporting Silicon Valley's innovators; I look forward to partnering with Joe, Ren and our talented senior leadership team to execute our vision for helping accelerate today's brightest companies, their leaders and key employees," said Mr. Resnick. About Robertson Stephens LLC Robertson Stephens LLC, through our subsidiaries Robertson Stephens Advisors, Robertson Stephens Asset Management and Robertson Stephens Securities, offers investment services and advice to high net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and corporations. Our seasoned professionals have access to distinctive, global investment opportunities across traditional and alternative asset classes. Partnership, trust and transparency drive our business and client relationships. Through A Culture of Exceptionalism, Robertson Stephens delivers business acumen, investment insight and the highest level of personal service. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117006461/en/
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[November 17, 2016] AIG Global Real Estate Completes Sale of International Finance Centre Seoul
AIG Global Real Estate announced today the completed sale of the International Finance Centre Seoul (IFC Seoul) to Brookfield. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. International Finance Centre Seoul (IFC Seoul), the first international, Class A development in the heart of Seoul's financial district, Yeouido, is a large-scale, mixed-use commercial complex. The complex includes three high-rise office towers, a three-level retail mall, and a five-star Conrad Seoul hotel - all of which is connected to the Yeouido subway station. The complex provides modern space for tenants, workers, shoppers, and visitors to Yeouido, and is a destination for international finance and business. AIG Global Real Estate and the Seoul Metropolitan Government joined together to make the IFC Seoul project a success. The project is owned by an AIG Global Real Estate sponsored fund. Douglas Tymins, President and CEO of AIG Global Real Estate said, "We are grateful to the investors and partners, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, who contributed to the creation of IFC Seoul over the past 13 years. We firmly believe that Brookfield, with a successful diversified international portfolio, will further enhance the value of IFC Seoul, and serve as an invaluable partner to the Seoul Metropolitan Government." About AIG Global Real Estate AIG Global Real Estate, founded in 1987, comprises a group of international companies within AIG that invests in and actively manages approximately $18.8 billion of real estate for clients and AIG member companies in various countries. The business includes AIG Affordable Housing (representing over 102,000 multi-family units across the United States), and the investment management of Stowe Mountain Resort. More information can be found at http://www.aig.com/aig-global-real-estate.
About American International Group, Inc. American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. Founded in 1919, today AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement products, mortgage insurance and other financial services to customers in more than 100 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com and www.aig.com/strategyupdate | YouTube (News - Alert): www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGinsurance | LinkedIn (News - Alert): http://www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries, and coverage is subject to actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161117005433/en/
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[November 17, 2016] Large Format Printer Market by Ink Type, Printing Technology, Print Width, Application and Geography - Global Trends & Forecast to 2022
NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "Large format printer market expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.0% between 2016 and 2022"
The global large format printer market is expected to reach USD 8.42 billion which includes both hardware and after-sales services, and the market is expected to witness a shipment of 398.3 thousand units by 2022, at a CAGR of 3.0% and 4.4%, respectively, between 2016 and 2022. The growing demand for wide page width printing in textile, advertising is the major driver for the growth of the market. "Signage application to remain the leading segment in terms of value of the large format printer market during the forecast period"
Signage applications such as indoor signs, shop branding, indicators, and large corporate emblems are the major adopters of large format printing as large format printing provides very high visibility. Although digital signage is expected to penetrate into the print market, a large portion of the market is still likely to rely on print-based wide format printing; hence, the signage is expected to remain the leading application in terms of value during the forecast period.
"Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period"
The market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest rate in the overall market by 2022. The combination of multiple factors make Asia-Pacific the most dynamic region in the large format printer market. Asia-Pacific has some of the fastest-growing emerging economies, namely, India and China; it also has technologically and economically advanced economies such as Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, there are many countries within Asia-acific which are witnessing rapid urbanization and high growth in organized retail and advertising; hence, the overall growth and demand for large format printing is higher in APAC compared to Europe and North America. One of the major factors in favor of the Asia-Pacific region is that many developing economies are yet to take to digital signage and other forms of digital outdoor advertising in place of print-based signage and advertising.
In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments of the large format printer market gathered through the secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with key people. The breakup of the profiles of primary participants is shown below: - By Company Type: Tier 1 20%, Tier 2 45%, and Tier 3 35%
- By Designation: C-Level Executives 35%, Directors 25%, and Others 40%
- By Region: Americas 45%, Europe 20%, APAC 30%, and RoW 5%
The geographic segmentation in the report covers the four major regions of the world, namely, Americas, Europe, APAC, and RoW. The report also profiles major players in the large format printer market. Some of the major players in this market are HP Inc. (U.S.), Canon Inc. (Japan), Epson (Japan), Ricoh (Japan), Mimaki (Japan), Roland DG Corp. (Japan), Xerox (U.S.), Konica Minolta (Japan), Agfa-Gevaert (Belgium), and EFI Inc. (U.S.)
Reasons to Buy the Report:
This report caters to the needs of leading companies, industries, component manufacturers, and other related stakeholders in this market. Other parties that could benefit from the report include government bodies, environmental agencies, consulting firms, business development executives, C-level employees, and VPs. Our report would help analyze new opportunities and potential revenue sources and enhance the decision-making process for new business strategies. The quantitative and qualitative information in the report, along with our comprehensive analysis, would help a player to gain a competitive edge in the market.
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[November 18, 2016] Fitch Assigns First-Time 'BB-' Rating to MedImpact; Outlook Positive
Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BB-' Issuer Default Rating to MedImpact Holdings, Inc. and its issuing subsidiary, MI OpCo Holdings, Inc. The Rating Outlook is Positive. A full list of rating actions follows at the end of this release. KEY RATING DRIVERS Smaller Scale in Consolidated Industry: MedImpact is a top-5 pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) but is significantly smaller than its three largest competitors. Significant size differences are less pronounced than revenues imply (due to differing accounting policies and varied business mixes), but is nevertheless meaningful in a largely consolidated industry where scale is very important. Differentiated, Independent Business Model: Unlike nearly all its peers, MedImpact does not own its own fulfilment/dispensing capabilities (i.e. mail-order or specialty pharmacies). The firm's differentiated approach to avoiding conflicts of interest is the most radical among major PBMs and could position the firm to win new business in the midst of possible disruptive industry shifts in the 2017-2019 timeframe. The strategy could also disadvantage MedImpact, however, to the extent potential new customers continue to demand mail-order and/or specialty pharmacy offerings from their PBMs. Stable Operations, Cash Flows: Because of their long-dated contracts and often diverse customer bases, PBMs usually have good insight into future business wins/losses and associated cash flows. Although stable and more than sufficient to cover term loan amortization, absolute cash flow dollars are somewhat light compared with peers, with FCF as a percentage of EBITDA expected to approximate 35% (>60% for its largest peer, Express Scripts). Moderate Leverage to Decline: Term loan amortization and decent EBITDA growth are expected to contribute to de-leveraging over the ratings horizon. Gross debt/EBITDA and adjusted debt/FFO are expected to decline to 1.7x and 2.9x, respectively, by year-end 2018, from 2.4x and 3.7x at year-end 2016. Debt leverage metrics are roughly in line with those at 'BBB' rated competitor Express Scripts. Private Ownership: MedImpact is 100% owned by its founder/CEO and a small number of other management employees. However, Fitch does not foresee adverse effects to operations or capital deployment as a result, as the CEO is well-respected as a thought-leader in the industry and as capital deployed for share repurchases and ultimate parent dividends has been relatively modest. RATING SENSITIVITIES MedImpact's 'BB-' IDR considers the company's smaller scale, somewhat light absolute cash flows, and lack of very large customers, offset by relatively low debt leverage, stable cash flows, and the expectation that growth will outpace the overall PBM industry. The Positive Outlook represents Fitch's expectation for de-leveraging in 2017-2018 and for possible industry developments that lead to new customer wins for MedImpact. Future developments that could, individually or collectively, contribute to the consideration of an upgrade to 'BB' include: --An expectation for gross debt/EBITDA and adjusted debt/FFO to be sustained around or below 2x and 3x, respectively; --Successful renewal of top customer contracts in 2017 (excluding two known lost contracts), with support for growth expectations from those existing customers; --The addition of new customers of size validating MedImpact's differentiated business strategy. Future developments that could, individually or collectively, contribute to the consideration of a rating downgrade to 'B+' include: --An expectation for gross debt/EBITDA and adjusted debt/FFO to be sustained above 3x and 4x, respectively; --The loss of top PBM customers suggesting an invalidation of MedImpact's differentiated business strategy; --Margin deterioration or a shift in capital allocation that pressures cash flows and/or liquidity in light of increasing term loan amortization payments. KEY ASSUMPTIONS --Soft revenue growth in 2016-2017 due to the loss of two key customers, improving in 2018-2019 under the assumption of client retention and new client wins; --Stable margins, incrementally lower than 2015, with modest margin improvement possible in 2017-2018 due to the termination of lower-margin clients, with upside potential as the company more deeply penetrates its current customers with higher-margin services; --Debt leverage reduction to 1.7x at YE2018 from EBITDA growth ($16 million in both 2017 and 2018) and term loan amortization ($20 million in both 2017 and 2018); --No material M&A; --Modest cash deployed for dividends ($2 million annually) and net share repurchases ($5 million) at MedImpact Holdings. LIQUIDITY & DEBT MATURITIES Ample Liquidity, Stable Cash Flows: Cash on hand routinely outpaces annual debt maturities, though lower cash balances have been held since 4Q15. Liquidity is supported by stable cash generation and negative working capital, both characteristic of the PBM industry, and decently strong capital market access. Reduced Interest Costs: The new $400 million term loan borrowed in July 2016 carries an applicable margin of 225 bps, compared to 475 bps under the previously negotiated term loan. The previous term loan refinanced 10.5% unsecured notes. Manageable Debt Maturities: MedImpact's only material debt maturities over the next four years are term loan amortization payments, approximately as follows: $20 million in 2017 and 2018, $25 million in 2019, and $35 million in 2020. The company has not maintained a revolving credit facility since 2014. All unrestricted cash is considered 'readily available'. TWO LOST CUSTOMERS TO STALL ORGANIC GROWTH IN 2016-2017 MedImpact's revenues have nearly doubled and margins improved more than 500 bps from 2012 to 2015. Such strong performance is the result of new business and growth from existing customers. According to MedImpact, it processed 229 million claims for its top-20 customers in 2015 compared to 107 million in 2012, leading to an increase in revenues of $139 million. However, two of MedImpacts top-10 customers by revenue have decided not to renew their contracts with the firm. Contract losses will affect 2016 and 2017 results, reducing top-line growth but with a less pronounced EBITDA impact. Notably, only two of MedImpact's current top-10 PBM customers have more than two years remaining on their current contracts. Average PBM contract are three-five years in length. Current customer renewals will be vital to maintaining growth and profit margins in the near- to medium-term. INDUSTRY EVOLUTIONS MAY FAVOR MEDIMPACT; SMALLER SCALE, BUSINESS MODEL COULD DISADVANTAGE MedImpact's "conflict-free" business model (i.e. does not own fulfilment/dispensing) could position the firm well to benefit from underlying pressures and trends within the U.S. drug channel. MedImpact asserts that a PBM busness that does not operate its own pharmacies - particularly in specialty - can better address issues related to a recently heightened focus on pharmaceutical pricing, with continued calls for increased overall transparency, and rising cost trend associated with expensive specialty therapies. Overall weak satisfaction with major PBMs, pending large-scale health insurance mergers, and the upcoming expiration of many of the largest PBM contracts could provide opportunities for significant shifts in the industry.
As the largest managed care organizations (MCOs) continue to merge, Fitch expects regional MCOs to increasingly seek to provide more customized programs for their members in order to retain and win new business. MedImpact's flexible approach to formulary management and "conflict-free" model make the firm an attractive partner for the 425 regional MCOs that provide coverage to fewer than one million lives (per CMS). While we expect the firm to continue to add smaller regional MCOs, the addition of a major managed care customer would provide a strong validation of MedImpact's business strategy. Fitch does not expect the firm to dramatically give up on price just to win such a contract and, in fact, winning large contracts is not a part of MedImpact's outlined growth strategy. At this time, we are unsure if MedImpact's smaller scale and lack of in-house mail-order capabilities might prevent such business wins. We view the ability to leverage scale in negotiating drug pricing and to provide efficient mail-order services as cornerstones of today's PBM offerings.
NASCENT SPECIALTY OFFERING COULD STRENGTHEN VALUE PROPOSITION MedImpact is marketing its relatively new MedDirect specialty program offering for current clients in an attempt to win new ones. The program is run in partnership with specialty pharmacies run by four firms: US Bioservices (owned by AmerisourceBergen, a pharma distributor), Walgreens, Humana, and Commcare (owned by Premier). Walgreens is by far the largest of the four partners but still much smaller than the specialty pharmacy networks run by CVS Health and Express Scripts. Interestingly, Walgreens recently struck a deal with Prime Therapeutics, one of MedImpact's peers, to combine their mail-order and specialty pharmacy businesses under a new, jointly-owned company. The "hub" offerings in MedDirect seem similar to those offered by other major PBMs, except without the potential or apparent conflict of interest inherent in those PBMs owning their own specialty pharmacies. Mail-order services are offered either through the above mentioned partners or through smaller independent mail-order providers. A robust specialty solution at least keeps MedImpact in-step with its major competitors, opening the doors to possible new customers who may have been kept from joining MedImpact because they required a more robust specialty pharmaceutical dispensing platform. FULL LIST OF RATING ACTIONS Fitch has assigned the following ratings: MedImpact Holdings, Inc. --Long-Term IDR 'BB-'; MI OpCo Holdings, Inc. --Long-Term IDR 'BB-'; --Senior secured term loan 'BB+/RR1'. Date of Relevant Rating Committee: Nov. 3, 2016 Summary of Financial Statement Adjustments - Financial statement adjustments that depart materially from those contained in the published financial statements of the relevant rated entity or obligor include: --Fitch excludes expenses related to stock-based compensation from EBITDA calculations. --Cash paid for interest for the 2015 year-end period at MedImpact Holdings, Inc. was adjusted for amounts Fitch does not deem as cash interest, including early redemption premiums and (re)finance fees. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com. Applicable Criteria Criteria for Rating Non-Financial Corporates (pub. 27 Sep 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/885629 Recovery Ratings and Notching Criteria for Non-Financial Corporate Issuers (pub. 05 Apr 2016) https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/879564 Additional Disclosures Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1015030 Solicitation Status https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1015030 Endorsement Policy https://www.fitchratings.com/regulatory 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/20161118005575/en/
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[November 18, 2016] $462K in Grant Funds Renovate Two Mississippi River Apartments
Central Crossing and Convent Trace, two apartment communities in Convent, Louisiana, will receive significant upgrades, thanks in part to grant funds totaling $462,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Home Federal Bank. The St. James Parish Housing Authority (Housing Authority) received a $252,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant for Central Crossing and $210,000 for Convent Trace from the banks this year. The grants will be used for renovations to the two apartment complexes, including upgrades to finishes, new cabinets, appliances, doors, hardware, plumbing and electrical fixtures, heating and cooling systems, windows, and resident amenities. Central Crossing will also receive a new sewer treatment plant and repairs to two buildings that were damaged by a tornado in 2015. Renovations will begin in March 2017 and are expected to be completed in February 2018. "The grants will greatly enhance not only the livability but the marketability of the apartments," said Dana Groover, executive director of the Housing Authority. "Improving the housing conditions for the families living in these complexes will also help restore community pride." The Housing Authority is a public housing agency that helps provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, elderly residents, and individuals with disabilities. They have worked alongside organizations such as Housing Solutions Alliance and National Development of America to implement an overall strategy to rehabilitate all of its public housing portfolio. "With a $25 billion backlog in rehabilitation needs for public housing across the country, St. James Parish HousingAuthority is no exception. Both AHP grants provide much needed leverage to develop quality housing for its residents," said Art Schuldt, president of Housing Solutions Alliance.
Home Federal Bank was brought into the project by its customer, Housing Solutions Alliance, partly due to Home Federal Bank's FHLB Dallas membership, according to Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking Matt Sawrie. "The AHP is fantastic because it helps projects like these overcome the increasing costs of construction and rehabilitation," Mr. Sawrie said. "Any additional source of funding from banks like FHLB Dallas helps to make these projects possible."
FHLB Dallas annually returns 10 percent of its profits in the form of AHP grants to the communities served by its member institutions, like Home Federal Bank. AHP grants fund a variety of projects, including home rehabilitation and modifications for low-income, elderly, and special-needs residents; down payment and closing cost assistance for qualified first-time homebuyers; and the construction of low-income, multifamily rental communities and single-family homes. "The AHP grant can create a positive domino effect in communities," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "By awarding the AHP grants to the Housing Authority through Home Federal Bank, not only will the residents benefit from the renovations, but Home Federal Bank reinforces their bond with the community." Ms. Groover said that without the grant St. James Housing Authority would have had to reallocate resources. "Without the grant, closing the funding gap would have been very difficult," said Ms. Groover. "We would have had to pull resources committed to our other public housing units, putting those residents at a disadvantage. This grant is going to help us tremendously." About Home Federal Bank Locally managed and headquartered in Shreveport since 1924, Home Federal Bank is a full-service bank, offering a large range of financial options to local families and businesses. For more information, visit hfbla.com. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $58.4 billion as of September 30, 2016, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community investment by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005578/en/
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[November 18, 2016] Influenza Vaccination Keeps Dialysis Patients Out of the Hospital
Hemodialysis patients who skipped the influenza vaccine were significantly more likely to be hospitalized than those who were vaccinated, suggests a three-year study of more than 150,000 kidney dialysis patients being presented today in Chicago at 2016 Kidney Week, the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). The study is one of 66 abstracts authored by Fresenius Medical Care researchers, clinicians, and caregivers to be presented at the meeting and published in the Abstract Supplement of Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005580/en/ FMCNA Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP, Dr. Frank Maddux, receives his annual flu shot from Clinic Manager, Margot Nelson, RN. (Credit: Fresenius Medical Care North America) The study tracked kidney failure patients who were vaccinated against the flu, including at U.S. Fresenius Kidney Care dialysis centers where they received their hemodialysis therapy. The percentage of Fresenius Kidney Care patients who opted for yearly vaccination against the flu increased from 60 percent the first year of the study to 80 percent the third year. Fresenius Medical Care North America is the premier health care company focused on providing the highest quality care to people with renal and other chronic conditions. "While almost everyone should be vaccinated against influenza, people with kidney failure who are on dialysis are at high risk for complications if they et sick, which is why it is vital they get the flu vaccine every year," said Nien Chen Li, MPH, MS, MA, lead author of the study and biostatistician for Fresenius Medical Care. "We're gratified to see that our patients are increasingly choosing to be vaccinated."
Like others with chronic illnesses, people with kidney failure are at higher risk for getting the flu. They also become sicker if they do get the infection and may get dehydrated or develop pneumonia, leading to hospitalization. Additionally, many of them have other risk factors, including diabetes and heart disease. Over a 30-year period, deaths from the flu ranged from 3,000 to 49,000 a year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates. Fresenius Medical Care strongly encourages patients to receive flu vaccination and offers these vaccinations at its dialysis centers. In the study, researchers tracked flu vaccination and hospitalization rates among 158,326 patients in 2013-2014; 202,793 in 2014-2015; and 220,203 in 2015-2016. Patients who skipped vaccination were 53 percent more likely to be hospitalized during the flu season the first year, 87 percent more likely the second year and 158 percent more likely to be hospitalized the third year.
"The results of this research suggest that aggressive programs to promote flu vaccination makes a significant difference in keeping kidney patients healthy and out of the hospital," said Dr. Frank Maddux, Fresenius Medical Care Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President for Clinical and Scientific Affairs. "We make it easy for patients by offering the flu vaccine at the clinic where they receive their care and explaining to them why the flu shot is important to their health. More and more patients are taking advantage of these crisis-preventing vaccinations." More than 661,000 Americans have kidney failure, meaning their kidneys can no longer effectively filter their blood to get rid of wastes and excess fluid. Of those with kidney failure, 468,000 are receiving dialysis, in which an artificial kidney (dialyzer) filters blood and returns it to the body. Recently, Fresenius Medical Care announced that its dialysis services business, Fresenius Kidney Care, achieved the country's largest number of top-rated Five-Star dialysis centers, based on the annual Dialysis Facility Compare Five-Star Quality Rating System issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The company has helped its patients live longer and spend less time in the hospital, improving mortality rates and lowering the average time spent in a hospital setting by two-and-a-half days. The flu vaccination program is part of this endeavor. Fresenius Medical Care presents the results of its research at the ASN Kidney Week meeting each year to further the advancement of the quality of renal care and improve patient outcomes. The general meeting is scheduled from Nov. 17-20 in Chicago and is expected to attract more than 13,000 leading kidney professionals from around the world. About Fresenius Medical Care North America Fresenius Medical Care North America is the premier health care company focused on providing the highest quality care to people with renal and other chronic conditions. Through its industry-leading network of dialysis centers, outpatient cardiac and vascular labs, and urgent care centers, as well as the continent's largest practice of hospitalist and post-acute providers, Fresenius Medical Care North America provides coordinated health care services at pivotal care points for hundreds of thousands of chronically ill customers. As the world's largest fully vertically integrated renal company, it offers specialty pharmacy and laboratory services, and manufactures and distributes the most comprehensive line of dialysis equipment, disposable products, and renal pharmaceuticals. For more information, visit http://www.FMCNA.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005580/en/
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[November 18, 2016] $250K Grant from FHLB Dallas and The First, A National Banking Association Supports Camille Court Apartments
Camille Court Apartments, a 30-unit complex for low-income families, recently celebrated its grand opening. The project was helped by a $250,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant in 2014 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and The First, A National Banking Association, which was used for construction costs. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005623/en/ Representatives from The First, A National Banking Association (The First) join the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Bay Waveland Housing Authority at the grand opening of Camille Court in Waveland, Mississippi. The 15-building complex was awarded a $250,000 Affordable Housing Program grant in 2014 by The First and FHLB Dallas that was used for construction costs. (Photo: Business Wire) Developed by the Bay Waveland Housing Authority and its nonprofit affiliate, the Flagship United Community Development Corporation (Flagship UCDC), the 15-builing complex replaces affordable housing destroyed 11 years ago by Hurricane Katrina.
"This community endures," said Janine Lee, executive director at Flagship UCDC. "We have seen hard times and persevered to arrive at this new day for Waveland and Hancock County. These apartments bring hope and stability, so families are able to better focus on their lives. We are appreciative of FHLB Dallas and The First for backing this critical project." The 20 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom units feature high-efficiency heating and air conditioning, washers and dryers, fully equipped kitchens with dishwasher, microwave, range, oven, and refrigerator. The complex also includes a community building with a business and training center.
FHLB Dallas annually returns 10 percent of its profits in the form of AHP grants to the communities served by its member institutions, like The First, A National Banking Association. AHP grants fund a variety of projects, including home rehabilitation and modifications for low-income, elderly, and special-needs residents; down payment and closing cost assistance for qualified first-time homebuyers; and the construction of low-income, multifamily rental communities and single-family homes. "The AHP provides important gap funding for developments like Camille Court," said Bruce Hatton, vice president and Affordable Housing Program manager at FHLB Dallas. "Undertakings of this size and scope often require the cooperation of many organizations. Working with dedicated individuals on this project has brought it to fruition. It's a new day in Waveland, and FHLB Dallas appreciates this opportunity to invest in the future through our member, The First." About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $58.4 billion as of September 30, 2016, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005623/en/
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[November 18, 2016] Impartner Tackles 'PRHD' (Partner Relationship Hyperactivity Disorder) in New Webinar
SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) SaaS leader Impartner today tackled PRHD (Partner Relationship Hyperactivity Disorder) to help companies address partner loyalty in a new era of distraction and temptation. In a new webinar titled Curing PRHD, Global Channel Strategist and Loyalty Expert Ian Hutchieson, who heads the global channel practice for loyalty consultancy ICLP, and Impartner CMO Dave R Taylor outline the five top strategies channel chiefs must take to continue to remain irresistible to top industry partners and maintain their competitive advantage. Watch the webinar at this link: http://bit.ly/2g3YdHT In this webinar, which was originally presented in London as part of the Channel Chief University Series co-sponsored with Impartner's strategic partner, Gorilla Corporation, Hutchieson and Taylor address the near death of partner loyalty in the market today, which has vendors scrambling to find ways to attract and retain the industry's best, most profitable and most contemporary partners. "Leading analysts paint a grim picture of the distraction today's partners face, with most working with an average of 12 vendors in their portfolio," said Hutchieson, who provided insights into the following five key strategies companies can employ to ensure their partner programs continue to be irresistible, partnerships become stronger and channel performance improves: 1. Make sure your partner experience is BETTER than your competition's: Leading analyst data shows 86 percent of partners chose their vendor based on the Partner Portal. And today, the experience partners have is rooted in the experience they have as consumers, so the experience companies provide needs to be "consumer grade." This is especially true when it comes to the Partner Portal, which is the bedrock of the experience for partners. Experience was certainly a key competitive differentiator for FitBit, who cleverly taped into users' psychology and motivators to create engagement and communication programs and win the market in just a few years all while massively under spending key market players like Nike. 2. Make partners successful FAST: There is a limited window to make a first impression. Recruitment is easy, but keeping partners is hard work, so nurturing early allows companies to recognize partners for early positive behaviors and sales successes right from the start, keeping them from getting distracted and losing interest. Amazon Prime is a great example of a company rewarding customers who originally signed on for a shipping benefit, with a host of other benefits that keep them loyal, including streaming video and music. This quickly made Prime an industry beacon of success. 3. Make it easy for partners to be PROFITABLE: While a lot of loyalty programs are built around emotion, it ultimately comes down to profitability. No solution is going to make partners feel good if they aren't making a profit. Helping partners be self-sufficient and find the right tools to self-manage their profitability so hey are in control and can manage their business at their desired rate is key deal registration, MDF funds, leads, etc. A leading UK-based grocery chain, Waitrose, won customers with easy-to-use, personalized and "irresistible" offers and promotions that kept consumers coming back and saving money at industry-leading events for the company.
Fundamentally, a company's Partner Portal starts to tap into the emotional side of things. Communications aside, companies need to ask themselves what they are doing to make sure they are creating a Partner Portal experience that helps partners prospect, sell and service products and solutions, and an emotional connection with each partner contact to entice them to visit the portal regularly. Don't undervalue the role of emotion brand, advocacy and emotional connections in B2B marketing. AirBnB is the perfect example of a consumer brand that created a beautiful, aspirational experience that allows both renters and those renting properties to get engaged and bring an emotive experience to their properties, quickly emerging as a critical force in the hospitality industry. 5. Make sure you EVOLVE your channel program and manage churn:
At the end of the day, channel management means not just recruiting but also churning to stay agile and invest in partners who deliver the most value. Instead of asking which partners to keep and which to cut out, though, companies should be asking "which partners should I really be investing in?" Starbucks' recent re-do of its loyalty program to focus on those customers who spend more, and not just "regularly," caused a major stir in the industry, but ultimately helped the company focus on those customers who were truly driving their most valuable sales. To watch the full webinar summarizing Hutchieson and Taylor's strategies for curing PRHD, click here. For more on how Impartner, Gorilla and PRM can help companies increase their partner loyalty and accelerate their indirect sales, click here. About ICLP As a worldwide leader in loyalty marketing and CRM, ICLP builds loyalty and creates devotion. From acquiring customers and understanding them as individuals, to creating relationships that engage, reward and inspire loyalty, we turn customers into advocates and relationships into profit - and have done for over 25 years. We have global experience in B2B and B2C loyalty marketing in multiple industry sectors including retail, travel, financial services and technology. ICLP is a Collinson Group company. Collinson Group is a global leader in influencing customer behavior to drive revenue and add value for our clients. With a unique blend of industry and sector specialists, the group develops and delivers market-leading products and services to help build, manage and optimize customer relationships across four core capabilities: Loyalty, Lifestyle Benefits, Insurance and Assistance. For further information please contact: Carolina Mandich, Business Development Director [email protected] or iclployalty.com About Gorilla Corporation Gorilla Corporation delivers game changing revenue growth for technology companies. Gorilla has been central to Channel Expansion and Optimization globally for over 20 years. Constantly innovating, developing best in class strategy and tactics, Gorilla deploys Channel Teams to recruit and manage partners to decrease the vendor cost of sales, time to revenue and increase market and channel coverage. Gorilla also conducts global channel marketing including Concierge solutions. With Gorilla, Vendor Partners anywhere in the world are supported in co-marketing by a local Gorilla expert. Proven methodology, solid technology, leadership and customer satisfaction are at the core of Gorilla's practice. Based in Downtown San Francisco, Dallas Texas, Palo Alto California, Mexico City, Nairobi Kenya, Sofia, Bulgaria, Brussels, Belgium, Barcelona Spain and Singapore. Contact +1 415 829-4245 (Americas Main), +34 93 344 32 61 (EMEA Main). www.gorillaict.com. About Impartner With nearly two decades of experience in accelerating indirect sales, Impartner delivers the industry's most advanced SaaS-based Partner Relationship Management solution, helping companies worldwide manage their partner relationships and accelerate revenue and profitability through indirect sales channels. The largest pure-play PRM vendor in the world, Impartner provides the industry's only out-of-the-box solution that can deploy an enterprise-class Partner Portal in as few as 30 days, using the company's highly engineered, multi-award winning, three-step Velocity onboarding process. For more information on Impartner, which is based in Utah's tech hotbed, the Silicon Slopes, visit www.impartner.com, or in the United States call +1 801 501 7000, for EMEA general call +33 1 40 90 31 20, for London call +44 0 20 3283 4465, and for LATAM call +1 954 364 7883. Follow Impartner on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Contact:
Kerry Desberg
Impartner
425-231-9529
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[November 18, 2016]
Dynamic Communities Announces Dynamics 365 Tech Conference
TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynamic Communities, the supporting organization behind the official user group for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Dyn365) announces Dynamics 365 Tech Conference to be held March 12-15 at the Washington State Convention Center, in Seattle, WA.
The Dynamics 365 Tech Conference will provide a deep dive into Dynamics 365 for Operations and will help Dynamics 365 for Operations Partners understand the common data model, discover Power BI and Cortana, and explore the deep integration with Office 365. Targeted sessions led by Microsoft Engineering will povide attendees with the knowledge needed to build and deploy Dynamics 365 for Operations successfully. The conference will also provide the opportunity to network with peers and interact directly with Microsoft Engineering representatives, providing unprecedented access to information and expertise.
"We are excited to be offering deep developer-based education exclusive to Dynamics 365 for Operations Partners. The Tech Conference will provide the opportunity learn recommended best practices and dive deeper into Dynamics 365," said Janet Lampert, President and COO of Dynamic Communities. "Our goal is to equip the growing base of Dynamics Partners with the education and networking opportunities so they can be successful."
Registration is open and Dynamics partners can save $300 by registering before December 20th. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.d365tech.com/pricing.
Dynamic Communities is the business management organization that supports technology-centric user groups and associations providing necessary resources and business operations such as staff, systems and event production. Dynamic Communities is independent from Microsoft; however, the two organizations maintain an intentional close working relationship so that our members can provide a collective voice to Microsoft on user concerns, needs, and requests.
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SOURCE Dynamic Communities
Three seek NLCS Board District 1 seat in upcoming election
Three candidates are seeking election to the district one seat on the NLCS board: Incumbent Kirsten Collier, Craig Godsey and Jason Johnson.
The PS5 is a true generational leap, offering incredibly fast load times and an innovative new controller that can change the way games feel.
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .
PS5 Specs Price: $499 (standard), $399 (Digital Edition)
CPU: 3.5GHz, 8-core AMD Zen 2
GPU: 10.3 teraflop RDNA 2 GPU
RAM: 16GB GDDR6
Storage: Custom 825GB SSD
Expansion: NVMe M.2 SSD slot
Disc drive: 4K Blu-ray player
Size: 15.4 x 10.2 x 4.1 inches
Weight: 9.9 pounds
The PS5 is coming up to its two-year birthday, and is proving as popular as ever. And that's no surprise as it's a fantastic gaming machine, offering a true generational leap over the PS4.
Not only does the PS5 offer 4K gaming, it has seriously advanced haptics, a speedy SSD and immersive 3D audio . All of these and more combine to delver a console that's truly equipped for next-generation, or now current generation, gaming. There is a slight caveat in that the console is so big with a divisive design that it may not appeal to everyone. But it's nevertheless a compelling console that's well worth tracking down a PS5 restock for.
So read on for our full PS5 review.
Sony PlayStation 5 at Adorama for $499.99 (opens in new tab)
PS5 review: Price and where to buy
The PS5 launched on November 12, 2020 in the U.S., and came to the U.K. and most other parts of the world on November 19. The standard PS5, which includes a 4K-Blu-ray drive, costs $499, while the PS5 Digital Edition goes for a cheaper $399, if you dont mind going discless.
Its worth noting the PS5 has been extremely hard to buy. Retail stock has been going in and out rapidly, so be sure to bookmark our PS5 restock guide and check out the retailer links below.
We know we're still several years off, but here's eight things we want in the PS6.
PS5 review: Design
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
Its been discussed to death, but the PS5 is a truly gargantuan piece of machinery. Sonys 15.4 x 10.2 x 4.1-inch console dwarfs pretty much any gaming system thats come out in the past decade, including the PS4 Slim and the PS4 Pro. Its also far bigger than its new next-gen rival in the Xbox Series X, and makes the Xbox Series S look like a childrens toy.
That massive chassis allows the PS5 to pump out some serious performance while staying mostly cool and quiet (which well talk more about later), but the sheer size of the new PlayStation could be an issue for those with small entertainment areas.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
Unless you plan on putting your PS5 on the floor, youll likely need a dedicated small table if you plan on standing it vertically. I was able to fit the PS5 in my entertainment center in a horizontal orientation, but just barely. As such, youll want to measure your available space before you set up a PS5 at home.
Speaking of orientation, the PS5 includes a detachable stand that allows you to position the massive console vertically or horizontally. The stand screws into the bottom of the console in vertical mode (the PS5 includes a screw, but no tool to screw it in), and clamps on to the PS5s rear port area in horizontal mode.
Itd be nice if the PS5 included a tool for unscrewing the base, but I had an easy enough time using a coin to attach and remove it. The system stands up securely in vertical mode with the base attached, but I found the base to be far more finicky in horizontal orientation. It took me a few tries before I could get it to lay flat securely on the base. I eventually got the PS5 to sit still horizontally in my entertainment center, but the fact that the console slid off the base quite easily unless it was positioned just right gives me some pause.
Still, Ill likely be keeping the PS5 in horizontal orientation for most of my time with it, simply because Im worried about accidentally tipping over the insanely tall chassis while it sits on my table (especially when my hyperactive nephews are over).
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
The PS5s eye-catching, futuristic aesthetic has been the subject of much debate ever since it was unveiled, and I still have mixed feelings about it. I find that the console looks like an unsightly, oversized cable modem when standing vertically, due to its pointy white side panels and the asymmetrical bulk added on by the Blu-ray drive.
But I've grown somewhat fond of how it looks sitting horizontally under my TV, where its curves and edges seem to shine more (even if it looks like a miniature Barclays Center). I also like the attractive LED status lights on each side of the interior, which is both slicker and more pronounced than the status light on the PS4. And the tiny, hidden PlayStation controller icons within the inner panels are a great extra touch. Love it or hate it, the PS5 is a system packed with attention to detail, and looks unlike any console weve seen before.
As of Dec. 13, 2021, you can also invest in official PS5 covers, which will change the color of the console's faceplates. They won't alter the system's overall design, but at least you won't be stuck with a plain white color scheme.
Furthermore, one person has made an unofficial PS5 Slim that looks pretty good, albeit with some heavy caveats.
PS5 review: Ports and expansion
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
The PS5 has a fairly standard array of ports, complete with some welcome modern conveniences. You get a Hi-Speed USB Type-A port up front, as well as a USB Type-C SuperSpeed port. Its nice to see a console finally feature USB-C connectivity out of the box, especially for connecting modern accessories and storage drives.
In the back, youll find two SuperSpeed USB-A ports, an Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.1 port and an AC adapter. (See the best gaming TVs for recommendations of TVs with HDMI 2.1.) The PS5 has ditched the PS4s optical audio port, which may be a bummer for folks with high-end audio devices with optical connections. However, some companies are already offering optical-to-HDMI splitters, such as Astro with its Astro A20 headset.
If you want to expand on the PS5s built-in 825GB of SSD storage, theres PCle 4.0 M.2 expansion slot that you can access by opening up the console. Note that not all SSDs are supported, you will need one that hits Sonys fairly strict requirements (opens in new tab), such as the Western Digital SN850, Samsung 980 Pro, or the upcoming Sony-produced Nextorage M.2 NVMe SSD.
At launch, the expansion slot was locked but the latest PS5 software update has unlocked it which enables users to add an additional SSD for more storage. We tested out the process ourselves while the feature was still in beta, and enjoyed some excellent results.
The consoles SSD expansion slot gives the PS5 another arrow in its quiver against the Xbox Series X. Adding additional internal storage to Microsofts console requires the purchase of a pricey proprietary SSD card, whereas Sonys SSD expansion solution allows you to select between various third-party models that range in price. The PS5 also works with standard external hard drives, but only for carrying over your digital PS4 games or save files.
PS5 review: Interface
(Image credit: Sony)
The PS5 interface is a clean, attractive and snappy evolution of the PS4 software. Hopping in and out of games and navigating menus feels instantaneous, to the point where the PS4 menu now feels sluggish and cluttered by comparison. And while there are some features Id like to see added to the PS5 interface, it introduces some exciting new ways to get to what youre playing even faster. Still, there are plenty of PS5 hidden features you need to try.
The home screen will look familiar to PS4 owners, with a horizontal row of tiles that showcases your most recent games. When you highlight a game, that titles art will take over the entire home screen while its music plays in the background, which is a neat aesthetic touch. Theres a handy Explore tab that shows news and updates, as well as a Game Library tab that allowed me to instantly start downloading my collection of PS4 titles. Much like on PS4, the PS5 lets you capture videos and screenshots, or stream to YouTube or Twitch with a quick tap of the Create button.
I like that the PS5 software looks clean overall, but I do wish there were an option for organizing your games into folders, like there is on PS4. And while its cool seeing the background adapt to whichever game you have highlighted, Im surprised theres no option to set custom wallpapers instead. (At least there's a simple trick to give your PS5 a retro look that turns the logo into the iconic red, yellow, green and blue logo found on earlier versions of the console.)
Longtime PS4 users will have to shake some muscle memory, as a tap of the PlayStation button now brings up a control center that lets you switch apps, view your friends, check notifications, monitor your controllers battery life and more from the bottom of your screen.
Better yet, you can customize the control center to have quick access to features such as network settings, accessibility options and broadcast controls. Its a big improvement from the PS4s quick menu, which took up a far bigger chunk of the screen and wasnt as snappy or customizable.
(Image credit: Sony)
Snappy and clean software is great, but the PS5 interface really comes alive when you start playing a game. Tapping the PlayStation button while playing a PS5 game brings up the Activities menu, which shows information such as the current progress of your mission, a set of trophies you can go after, or a list of in-game activities that you can jump right into.
For example, I was able to dive into a series of side missions and challenges right from the Activities menu in Spider-Man: Miles Morales without having to actually find them in-game, saving me time Id have to otherwise spend swinging around Manhattan. You can also access the Activities menu right from your Game Library before you even boot up a game, meaning I was able to hop right into a specific level in Astros Playroom without having to deal with any menus.
As someone who doesnt always have a ton of free time, the ability to jump to a specific chunk of a game at a system level isnt just appreciated its downright revolutionary. While it may seem like a minor concession to some, the Activities menu could end up changing the way we play games, and Im really eager to see how developers take advantage of it in the coming years.
(Image credit: Sony)
My biggest gripe with the PS5 on a software level is that, unlike the Xbox Series X and S, Sonys console doesnt seem to be able to suspend multiple titles at once. While Xboxs Quick Resume feature lets you seamlessly jump between half-a-dozen games while picking up right where you left off in each one, the PS5 requires you to boot up each game from scratch.
Whats more frustrating is that the console doesnt warn you when your existing game will close in favor of a new one, which could lead to you losing unsaved progress. While the PS5s load times are so fast that the lack of Quick Resume isnt a huge issue, its a bummer that Sonys console doesnt have an answer to one of the Series Xs most convenient features.
As of February 2022, users can try the new PS5 beta software, which should improve chat, navigation and voice command features.
PS5 review: DualSense controller
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
The PS5 DualSense controller just might be the most next-gen thing about Sonys new console. The gamepads haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and built-in speaker work together brilliantly, creating a level of tactile immersion Ive simply never experienced while playing a game before.
The DualSense especially shines in Astros Playroom, a free, pre-installed title built specifically to showcase what Sonys new controller can do. In this colorful 3D platformer, you can feel and hear the subtle impact of grains of sand while walking through a storm, or experience a smooth gliding sensation when skating over ice, just to name a few examples. Everything from pulling on a rope to gliding around in a jetpack generates an extremely detailed level of force feedback. Its the kind of thing you truly need to feel to believe.
If you're already pondering the PS5 DualSense vs DualShock 4 battle, the new controller comes out on top for sheer innovation alone.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
The adaptive triggers are especially impressive, as they can become harder to actuate based on whats happening in-game. For example, the triggers gave much more resistance when I was controlling my character in a spring-loaded jumpsuit, accurately replicating the feeling of pushing down on a spring and releasing it. Games can even take advantage of the DualSenses built-in microphone, as I had to blow on the controller to move a platform of ice in Astros Playroom.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure also makes impressive use of Sonys controller, as I could feel a sudden sense of resistance when walking through tall grass thanks to some steady haptic patterns. I felt vibrations moving through specific parts of the controller during cutscenes, and enjoyed the soft taps that accompanied Sackboy flailing his feet around while floating in the air. And in the sword-based combat of Godfall, I felt the triggers tense up to add extra weight to the feeling of slicing up enemies of heavy attacks.
When playing Spider-Man: Miles Morales, I felt subtle, but extremely nuanced, vibrations during cutscenes, as the controller would perfectly match the clinking of glasses or the distant stomps of Rhinos feet with tactile feedback. I also appreciated the slight feeling of resistance when using the triggers to web-swing through Manhattan, as well as the soft buzz of electricity that played out of the speaker every time I charged up Miles Venom attacks.
Sonys new controller packs a built-in microphone, which allows you to chat with friends when you dont have a gaming headset handy. And it totally works in a pinch. I had an entire voice chat with my colleague Marshall who was also on his DualSense, and we were able to hear each other just fine through the controllers built-in speaker. Youll still probably want to use a dedicated headset to hear your game and chat audio during a competitive Call of Duty match, but the fact that you can talk to friends on PS5 without needing a headset is a great touch.
The DualSense already shows some incredible potential, but its only as good as the games that take advantage of it. While games like Astro's Playroom, Spider-Man, Godfall and Sackboy do some exciting things with Sonys gamepad, Im curious to see how many developers fully tap into the DualSenses unique features as more PS5 games show up.
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
Beyond its advanced haptics, the DualSense fares pretty well as a standard controller. Its significantly bigger than the DualShock 4 gamepad, with a hefty feel, and a design that seems to take a page out of the Xbox Wireless Controller in terms of ergonomics. While the DualSenses meatier grip feels satisfying to hold, I wish it were just a bit more compact, and found my hands getting cramped when playing more intense action games like Godfall and Devil May Cry 5.
The good news is that the DualSenses buttons and triggers feel great during everyday gameplay. I had no issues doing my usual Mortal Kombat 11 combos thanks to the controllers smooth D-pad and snappy face buttons. The thumbsticks and triggers felt responsive and accurate when I gunned down Rebels in Battlefront II. The touchpad is much bigger this time around, and I like that the built-in lightbar wraps around the center rather than being hidden at the top, as on the DualShock 4.
PS5 review: Performance and load times
(Image credit: Sony)
With a powerful 8-core AMD Zen 2 processor, 10.3 teraflops of graphics power and a ridiculously fast custom SSD, the PS5 promises some of the best performance to ever come out of a games console. And while Ive only played a handful of titles that are designed to harness the PS5s power, Im already impressed by what Sonys console is able to pump out in terms of fidelity, framerate and, most importantly, load speeds.
This shouldnt come as a shock, but games look fantastic running on Sonys new console. Spider-Man: Miles Morales looked more akin to a high-end PC game than a PlayStation title, as I gawked at the gorgeous reds and purples of Spider-Man and his enemies popping off the screen in 4K. Thanks to the consoles ray-tracing support, Manhattans skyscrapers reflected off one another realistically, as did a series of lifelike puddles in a busy Times Square.
The PS5 version of Miles Morales has a special Performance mode, which turns off effects such as ray tracing and uses upscaled 4K in favor of a higher framerate. When I switched to this mode and zipped through the city at a silky 60 frames per second while still enjoying beautiful visuals, I felt like I was experiencing something that simply couldnt be done on previous-gen consoles. This made it extremely hard to go back to the PS4 version of Miles Morales, which often chugged below 30 frames per second.
This experience is likely to improve in future, with Sony confirming variable refresh rate support (VRR) will hit the PS5 sometime in 2022.
But while ray-traced visuals and 60 fps performance modes are great, its the PS5s lightning fast SSD that truly makes Sonys console feel next-gen. When booting up a game like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, theres almost zero downtime between selecting the title from your home screen and being out on the street, beating up bad guys. The same process took around 20 seconds before I could start playing the PS4 version.
Astros Playroom is just as instantaneous, as I was able to jump from the games main hub area to its myriad vibrant levels without a single loading screen in sight. The PS5s blazing SSD is also what allows you to skip to certain portions of a game via the Activities menu, and upcoming titles such as the dimension-hopping Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart look theyll do some truly inventive things with it. Well have to see how more titles utilize the SSD, but it already feels like one of the biggest leaps forward in console gaming in quite a while.
PS5 vs PS4 load times PS5 PS4 (2013 model) Boot time 22 seconds 30 seconds Spider-Man: Miles Morales (startup) 12 seconds 12 seconds Spider-Man: Miles Morales (menu to gameplay) 2 seconds 20 seconds The Last of Us 2 (startup) 15 seconds 33 seconds The Last of Us 2 (menu to gameplay) 1 minute 1 minute, 28 seconds Mortal Kombat 11 (startup) 8 seconds 11 seconds Mortal Kombat 11 (menu to gameplay) 10 seconds 18 seconds Star Wars Battlefront II (startup) 33 seconds 1 minute, 5 seconds Star Wars Battlefront II (menu to gameplay) 12 seconds 22 seconds
When it comes to load time improvements for PS4 games, I saw the most dramatic gains when playing The Last of Us Part II. Naughty Dogs acclaimed action-adventure game started up more than twice as quickly on PS5 than it did on PS4, and took nearly 30 seconds less to get into a playable encounter from the main menu. I noticed similarly significant improvements for Star Wars Battlefront II, which took about 33 seconds to boot up on PS5, compared to over a minute on PS4.
The differences in load times were less stark when testing titles such as God of War and Mortal Kombat 11, but every single game I tested loaded fastest on PS5.
PS5 review: Backwards compatibility
(Image credit: Sony)
The PS5 works with nearly all PS4 games, which is a huge step up from Sonys complete lack of backwards compatibility last generation. I tested close to a dozen PS4 games on PS5, including The Last of Us Part II, God of War, Mortal Kombat 11, Tetris Effect and Resident Evil 2, and almost all of them loaded faster and ran better than they did on my launch PS4. Both digital and disc-based PS4 games worked without a hitch on my PS5, and my physical movies worked just fine on the systems 4K Blu-ray drive.
The PS5 allows you to take advantage of any PS4 Pro enhancements a game offers, so games that have higher resolution or frame rate modes benefit the most from Sonys new console. As someone coming from a launch PS4, the ability to finally enjoy God of Wars high-frame rate mode or play Tetris Effect in 4K felt almost worth the price of admission on its own (the aforementioned load time boosts certainly dont hurt, either).
The PS5 is designed to work with most first-party and officially licensed PS4 accessories, and I had no issues bringing my existing last-gen gear over. Pairing my DualShock 4 to the PS5 was as simple as plugging it in via USB cable, and my existing headsets worked just fine with the DualSenses 3.5 mm audio jack.
Third-party wired controllers, such as my Hori Fightpad and Victrix Pro FS Fight Stick, also worked perfectly as I mashed buttons in Mortal Kombat. Just keep in mind that the DualShock 4 only works with backwards compatible PS4 games, so you wont be able to use it for PS5-only titles.
More recently, a new patent application filed by PlayStation designers hints that the PS5 will someday be able to run PS1, PS2 and PS3 games giving you even more reason to pick up a PS5.
PS5 review: Game lineup
(Image credit: Sony)
The PS5s launch lineup is off to a solid start. The console's big marquee launch game is Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a gorgeous and fun follow up to 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man complete with ray-traced graphics and an optional 60 fps performance mode.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a simple but charming 3D platformer with lots of character customization, but Astro's Playroom, the free pack-in game that shows off the DualSense controller, might be even better. Not since 2007's Nintendo Wii has a console launched with a notable game included out of the gate, and Sony's new platformer is oozing with fun collectibles and easter eggs for hardcore PlayStation fans.
If mature action's more your thing, Godfall is a fun and beautiful action-RPG that feels like a marriage of the weighty combat of God of War 2018 and the deep loot system of Destiny. Want something more stylish? Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition is an enhanced version of the stellar 2019 slash-em-up complete with both ray-tracing and 120 fps performance modes.
One of the PS5s biggest true launch exclusives is Demons Souls, a visually stunning remake of the beloved 2009 action/RPG of the same name. We've just started testing out Bluepoint's new take on the cult favorite, so stay tuned for more impressions.
(Image credit: Sony)
The problem is, you don't need a PS5 to play many of these games. Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure are also available on PS4, as are many of the big third-party games that arrived at launch.
Those include Assassins Creed Valhalla, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, The Pathless, Dirt 5 and NBA 2K21. All of these games will be available on PS4, but youll need a PS5 to enjoy features such as true 4K gameplay and 60 fps frame rate options. Its also worth noting that Fortnite was PS5-optimized at launch, and titles such as Madden NFL 21 and Watch Dogs Legion will offer free PS5 upgrades for folks who own the PS4 versions.
Looking forward, you can expect major PS5 exclusives such as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West (the latter of which will have a PS4 version) to start hitting in 2021 and beyond.
While you dont necessarily need a PS5 to play some of the biggest new games from both Sony and third parties, you will enjoy much better versions of them on the new system. And dont forget that most of your PS4 library will come with you complete with major visual and performance enhancements for select titles.
PS5 review: Apps
The PS5 has access to pretty much every entertainment app youll need, including Disney Plus, Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and, new to the PlayStation ecosystem, Apple TV Plus. These apps all worked identically to their PS4 counterparts in my testing, which isnt a bad thing.
Every app I tested loaded quickly and streamed reliably, whether I was binging Chappelle's Show on Netflix or catching up on wrestling news on YouTube. But more importantly, the PS5s streaming apps are easier to access than before thanks to a handy Media tab thats just a button press away on the home screen. Thats a nice upgrade from the PS4, which buried all of its streaming apps in a slow-loading TV & Video menu.
As a cautions and caveated FYI: PS4 jailbreaks could supposedly work with the PS5, which theoretically would open it up for all manner of homebrew software and apps. But we'd suggest you avoid this as it can cause problems, something you don't want to do when the PS5 is still very difficult to find in stock.
You can also check our PS5 exclusives vs. Xbox exclusives story to see how the two libraries stack up.
PS5 review: Heat and noise
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
Thanks to its massive internal fan and large vents along the inside of the chassis, the PS5 stayed cool and mostly quiet during my time with it. I rarely noticed any noise coming out of the console, even as I spent hours exploring Astros Playroom or webbing up crooks in Spider-Man. I did notice some rare moments of audible noise when running Star Wars Battlefront II, and could hear discs spinning pretty loudly when I first put Blu-rays in the machine. But compared to the jet-engine-like noises that come out of my PS4 when simply downloading a game, the PS5 is blissfully quiet.
PS5 review: 3D audio
The PS5s Tempest Engine enables it to deliver 3D audio for supported games, allowing you to hear game sounds with greater directionality than standard stereo can offer. The PS5s 3D audio is designed to work with most existing headphones and headsets, though Sonys new Pulse 3D Wireless Headset is optimized for the technology. So far weve tested 3D audio on an Astro A20 headset, and while the effects have been mostly subtle, they show lots of promise.
The PS5s audio tricks were most pronounced in Astros Playroom, as I could hear the rain clearly coming from above me, and could pinpoint the sound of a tornado whirring between my left and right ears as it shot my character upwards. It was also easy to pick out where cars, planes and enemies were coming from when swinging around in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but I didnt notice a huge difference between when the effect was on or off.
Like many of the PS5s features, itll ultimately be up to developers to make the most of the consoles 3D audio tech. Were eager to try more games with 3D audio support, as well as get our hands on the Pulse 3D headset for the full experience.
PS5 review: Verdict
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)
The PS5 is a genuine leap forward for console gaming, offering gorgeous 4K performance, stunningly fast load times and a truly game-changing controller that makes playing games more immersive and tactile than ever. It plays nearly all PS4 games, and, in many cases, allows them to run and load better than ever before.
However, there are a few reasons to wait before hitting that buy button if you can even find Sonys new console, that is. The PS5s launch lineup contains very few must-have exclusives, as PS4 owners can still enjoy major releases such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Assassins Creed Valhalla. The consoles massive size may also be a concern for those with limited space, and the DualSense controller itself could be a little big for folks with smaller hands.
As with most console launches, the PS5 is only going to get better over time with new exclusive games and features for those who choose to wait. Its also worth considering Microsofts $499 Xbox Series X , which offers slightly more power and works with four generations of Xbox games. But if you manage to pick a PS5 up now, know that youll be treated to a true next-gen experience complete with advanced haptics, beautiful graphics and almost zero friction between you and the games you want to play.
The PS5 will soon lose its little-used Accolades feature.
Now this is what triple j Like A Version is all about. We really hope you tuned in to Like A Version this morning because if you didnt, you missed out on a cover that was fun, bouncy, inventive, and paid homage to two of Australias best artists of right now.
To celebrate Ausmusic Month, triple j have been delighting us all this month with a string of Like A Version covers from Australian artists covering their fellow homegrown artists. Weve already witnessed The Jezabels laying down a haunting cover of Sticky Fingers and last week Amy Shark reminded us of why Silverchair are one of the greatest Aussie bands ever to do it.
This morning, Elk Road hit the triple j studios and laid down a cover of Crave You by Flight Facilities, although it wasnt your straight-up faithful ode to the smouldering summer anthem. He got a little help from the one and only Lisa Mitchell and mixed the whole thing up with a sample from Tame Impalas The Less I Know The Better. The result is absolutely electric.
Not too long ago we ran through a few of our favourite Like A Version covers of the year so far, including Sarah Blaskos incredible David Bowie cover, Guy Sebastian linking up with Paces, and Hey Geronimo mashing up Courtney Barnett and Regurgitator.
Check out our list of 10 triple j Like A Version covers that deserve to be remembered!
Last years ARIA Awards made headlines after several winners used their acceptance speeches to make important socio-political statements. The 2016 ARIA Awards are set to air next week, but this years ceremony honouring the standout stars of Australian music has already caused its share of controversy.
You may recall that last month Australias classical community was up in arms over the fact that Flight Facilities, the electronic duo hailing from Sydney and best known for dance floor fillers like Down To Earth and Sunshine, received the ARIA Award for Best Classical recording.
Flight Facilities were nominated for their collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Were stoked to be nominated for best classical album a year after being nominated for best dance we dont know how but thanks very much, said Hugo Gruzman, one half of the Sydney duo, at the time.
The pairs collaboration with the MSO was widely regarded as one of the best live events of the year and saw Flight Facilities and a string of guest stars meshing their classy electronic dance stylings with the grand classical instrumentation of one of Australias finest orchestras.
But as great as it was, it wasnt classical music.
The album consists of Flight Facilities original electronic music with the accompaniment of an orchestra, Toby Chadd, manager of ABC Classics, told The Australian. It feels like something is potentially wrong with the ARIA system to allow an album whose credentials are clearly in no way classical to win the classical award.
It has the potential to damage the integrity of that award, he added. Indeed, whats perhaps most curious is the fact that Flight Facilities alone were nominated for the Best Classical ARIA Award. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who actually contributed the classical elements to the recording, were not included in the nom.
An ARIA representative told The Australian at the time that the creative collaboration between Flight Fac and the MSO met the eligibility criteria for the award and the winner was determined by a specialist classic music ARIA judging panel.
However, that did little to console those in the classical community who felt that handing the Best Classical award to an album that is essentially an electronic dance music album with orchestral elements undermined the Best Classical Album category and robbed a genuine classical artist of a prestigious accolade.
So how does an EDM album get to win a Best Classic Album ARIA Award? Well, its important and perhaps surprising to note that its the artists and labels who get to decide which category they submit their releases to. In other words, if a label feels like their rock artist has a better chance of winning in the blues category than the rock category, thats where theyll submit the album.
Speaking to Fairfax, ARIA CEO Dan Rosen was unapologetic about the Flight Fac win. According to Rosen, the ARIA Awards are self-policing, with each category left to its own devices in deciding whats eligible for their own category. If a judging school, because theyre experts, dont feel that [an album] is worthy of that genre then they dont vote for it, he said.
A release similar to Flight Facs, Josh Pykes collaboration with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, technically wouldve been eligible for Best Classical Album, but it was instead submitted to, and won, in the category of Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album award.
Very simply, we didnt put it in Best Classical because it isnt a classical album, so we didnt feel it was the right fit for that category. Im sure we could have done that if we chose to, but out of respect to the classical community it didnt feel right, Pykes manager told Fairfax.
And therein lies the rub. See, Flight Fac-gate wasnt the first time that the ARIA Awards have experienced such a controversy. You may recall that there were quite a few raised eyebrows in the room when Melbourne psychedelic collective King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard picked up the ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
As the Sydney Morning Herald recently noted, managers who believe they may be up against stiff competition in one category can simpy slip their artist into a category where the other nominees are not as well-known. You could say this undermines the very idea behind the award, but its simply smart management.
So the next time you wonder why a rock band is accepting the award for Best Country Album or an album that had a steel drum on one track is being nominated in the Best World Music category, you can assume they just have a very switched-on manager.
Melbourne event organisers have the most skilful knack of curating fantastic, varied lineups showcasing incredible musical talent, and then finding unique and quirky venues to host these events in. Hush: An Evening of Quiet Music did more than just tick both of these boxes, offering a wonderful night of local music in a building that is familiar to Melbournians, but has an air of mystery.
A part of Melbourne Music Weeks Self Made series, this gig had an extra special requirement everyone must remain silent during the performances. That means no heckling, no chatting through songs to friends, and certainly no singing along. But how does a gig like this turn out? And is it the audience who might have trouble with this rule, or the performers themselves?
Grand Salvo stands inside the Parliament Library, his gentle nature and wild appearance powerful in this quiet, sombre setting. He softly plucks his guitar, held high up on his chest, and tells the audience wistful tales in his beautiful, gripping way. His songs take the listener on a journey to faraway places and deep into his heart. The books that surround the audience add to the magical feel in the room. All eyes are glued on him, and not a single murmur is heard. This performance works perfectly with the silence, and the cosy intimacy of the library cements the rule.
Grand Salvo proved to be the perfect act for the quiet surrounds of the library
Dan Kelly, on the other hand, could take on the role of part-time comedian as well as musician, and has the audience in quiet fits and giggles through most of his show. To him, it seems difficult to work within the limitations of the dead quiet rule. He invites the audience to sing along to his songs, and even teaches backup vocals so theyre active participants in the performance. The crowd seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief as the rigidity of Parliament House is relaxed, and Dan Kelly amuses them with his clever lyrics and visualisations of politicians hang-gliding over the Grand Canyon.
Finally, Teeth and Tongue follow Dan up with a great, stripped back set the Nirvana Unplugged set, jokes frontwoman Jess Cornelius. While they sound brilliant as an acoustic band, they are also somewhat uncomfortable with the quiet sitting down, and Cornelius refers to her discomfort on several occasions. This is a band who are used to loud, gritty rock performances, in loud, gritty venues and festivals. Its great to hear Cornelius husky voice without any of the usual background noise, however, and she is still pitch perfect.
Its a brilliant concept to be able to listen to musicians minus the usual interruptions or annoying chatter, and Parliament House is the ideal venue for this concept especially the dimly lit, cosy library. What this gig taught us though is that, while some crowds can certainly be intrusive at times, perhaps the usual noise we hear at a gig is welcomed and comforting for both punters and musicians alike.
"Mike Shanin interviews Wendell Cox, principal at Demographia, about an essay he prepared which details the strengths and weaknesses of the Kansas City metro. Then Annie Presley, Jason Grill, Mike Sanders and Crosby Kemper III discuss the future of the Democratic Party, the budget shortfall in Kansas and the recent protests across the country in the wake of Donald Trump being elected president."
There might be a few Kansas City dweebs who complain about this all-white political panel but the fact is that more people among ourwatch the public tv talking head show on this blog than any other place in this cowtown . . . Therefore, ourkinda even things out.Anyhoo, here's the description for tonight's show . . .Take a look:You decide . . .
Police say a 12-year-old girl was punched in the face at school by another student Monday at the Frontier School of Excellence off 56th Street and Troost in Kansas City.
This is the second time in two weeks her daughter was attacked, and she said its because of her race.
About two weeks ago she reported being called racial names, the mom said.
She said thats about the time her 12-year-old daughter Blessyed was first attacked by two girls.
One pushed her and the other one pushed her and she tried to fight back, that was the end of that. They called her racial names that day, she said.
The school confirmed an incident happened and said it was quickly rectified and resolved.
Monday, her daughter was attacked again.
Here's a quick point that will probably be lost on so many people scouring the Internet in search of someone, somewhere or something to direct the rage over their wasted lives.Despite demographic differences - Broke-ass students have more in common with each other than denizens of more affluent schools. And while racial deets of any altercation make for captivating content, they rarely prove productive.Accordingly . . . Here's the local news reporting the racial angle of a school fight wherein (just like most voters) combatants, parents and possibly administrators might be a bit more concerned about cultural differences than overall student safety.Checkit . . .Deets:You decide . . .
The Greek government on Friday further loosened capital controls on bank deposits held in Greek banks
The Greek government on Friday further loosened capital controls on bank deposits held in Greek banks, a measure imposed by the same ruling party, SYRIZA, in the wake of the announcement of a controversial referendum in late June 2015.
The decision, signed by FinMin Euclid Tsakalotos has already been published in the government gazette, and allows legal entities that field double entry accounting books to open new bank accounts unconditionally.
Among others, a number of international agencies active in Greece, such as Frontex and the IMF, will no longer face any capital controls.
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
The negotiations scheduled to take place over the weekend will be critical for the second bailout program review, as the Greek government and institutions will attempt to draft a policy agreement, the so-called staff level agreement that will be presented at the upcoming Euro Working Group, before being submitted at the 5 December Eurogroup.
According to a report in Ta Nea a number of technical issues have yet to be resolved. As such, certain areas of the policy agreement will feature alternatives, to later be negotiated between Greece and its partners.
The 3.5% of GDP primary surplus target for 2018 is one of the unresolved issues, as the source of 750 million euros for the social solidarity benefit has not yet been determined. Part of these funds may come from cuts in defense spending, funds earmarked for the refugee crisis and the restructuring of welfare benefits.
The second major issue yet to be addressed revolves around labor matters, where the International Monetary Fund appears adamant on collective dismissals. The Greek governments positions are mostly in line with the recommendations of the Expert Group.
Finally, the out-of-court settlement for businesses has yet to be fully resolved, however sources suggest that it is going well. The sources noted though that there are many technical issues in the matter than need to be closely addressed. The government want s find a balance between supporting sustainable businesses, consolidating bank portfolios and ensure State interests in relation to taxes and contributions owed by businesses.
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
The 2017 state budget will be tabled in Greek parliament next week and is expected to be voted in the plenum by December 10
The 2017 state budget will be tabled in Greek parliament next week and is expected to be voted in the plenum by December 10.
According to parliament sources, the first package of the second review's prior actions is scheduled to be voted by December 3. In the next days two omnibus bills will be tabled with the prior actions.
The draft law on alternative fuel and a bill on workers' mobility will be discussed next week.
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
On the historic occasion of President Barack Obamas visit to Greece as part of his last European tour, three violations of Greek airspace sovereignty rules were recorded by Athens FIR
On the historic occasion of President Barack Obamas visit to Greece as part of his last European tour, three violations of Greek airspace sovereignty rules were recorded by Athens FIR (Flight Information Region), and the Turkish fighter aircraft were recognized and intercepted by corresponding fighter planes on the Greek side.
Two Turkish aircraft and naval aircraft today entered Athens FIR without submitting flight plans, as required.
Three violations by the Turkish fighter planes were recorded, resulting in two violations of Greeces national airspace in the northeast and southeast Aegean.
In each instance the Turkish aircraft were recognized and intercepted by their Greek counterparts, causing virtual dogfights.
The two Turkish aircraft were fully armed. No casualties were reported.
Furthermore, a Turkish CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft violated Greek air space, flying at an altitude of 3,300 feet over the islet of Panagia, an isle of the Oinousses complex, Tuesday night. The air vessel had not provided flight information to the Greek control tower infringing on the Athens FIR. The General Staff of Defence said the Turkish aircraft was recognised by the Hellenic Airforce.
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
The European Commission has disbursed a 730,000 grant to Cyprus for drought and wildfires, both of which affected the island in June 2016
The European Commission has disbursed a 730,000 grant to Cyprus for drought and wildfires, both of which affected the island in June 2016, reports said on Friday.
Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu has said: In the wake of natural disasters, the EU Solidarity Fund is a concrete expression of European solidarity. Cyprus is set to receive a first EUSF payment following the terrible drought and forest fires of June in order to support reconstruction efforts and regenerate economic activity. This first disbursement of aid shows that we are standing side by side with Cyprus.
The amount of this advance was calculated based on a preliminary assessment of the application received from Cyprus on September 5, which found that the financial contribution from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was likely to amount to almost 7.3 million.
In accordance with EUSF rules, the advance payment amounts to 10% of this sum.
Once it has completed the assessment of the application, the Commission will propose a definitive amount of aid, to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council.
Source: CNA
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
A 28-year-old Greek man confessed to Austrian authorities that he is the murderer of another Greek man, Antonis Christofakis, 32, who was found dead on the German-Austrian border
A 28-year-old Greek man confessed to Austrian authorities that he is the murderer of another Greek man, Antonis Christofakis, 32, who was found dead on the German-Austrian border.
According to the lawyer of the 28-year-old suspect, Giorgos Vlachopoulos, who spoke to Crete TV since Christofakis is from Crete it was a crime of passion, as his client had an affair with the victims wife, who is a German citizen. The suspect was an acquaintance of Christofakis.
He confessed to the police on Wednesday evening that he planned the murder along with the victims wife, Alexandra, because of sexual jealousy, and that he committed the murder himself.
Both suspects face charges of premeditated murder and are in custody. As Vlachopoulos said, the adulterous couple had planned to kill the unfortunate Cretan to get him out of the way so they could live together.
Christofakis was an economic migrant who had left his home in Siva, Crete, along with his wife and six-year-old daughter, to work in Munich, Germany. His body was found by a truck driver in a ditch on the German Austrian border, riddled by 11 bullets.
The 28-year-old suspect was arrested in Munich, but was extradited to Austria as the body was found on the Austrian side of the border.
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
As the winter holiday season gets underway, winter holiday bookings are up 16% year on year according to the latest industry figures*. ABTA research** also shows that three in ten people (29%) are planning to take a winter break, with winter sun the most popular holiday type.
Table 1.1 Will you take a winter holiday or break this year?
Yes 29% No 45% Dont know 27%
People aged 25-34 are most likely to be taking a winter holiday, with over a third (36%) planning to do so, followed closely by people aged over 65 (33%). The younger 18-24 year olds are the age group most likely to be undecided about taking a winter holiday, with a third (33%) stating this.
Of those planning a winter holiday, winter sun is the most popular holiday option, with almost a third (31%) choosing this type of trip, followed by city breaks and UK breaks.
Table 1.2 What type of winter holiday will you take? (People planning a winter holiday)
Winter sun 31% City break 22% UK break 14% Ski holiday 9% Cruise 5% Christmas market break 4% Northern lights 4%
Winter bookings appear to be following a broadly similar pattern to the summer, when a drop in business to traditionally popular destinations like Tunisia and Egypt, following high profile terrorist incidents and changes to Foreign Office travel advice, drove a growth in popularity to the Western Mediterranean in particular. According to GfKs Travel Leisure Monitor, bookings to the most popular winter holiday destination, Spain, are up 33% year-on-year, Portugal is looking very strong with bookings up 41%, and Cyprus is up 34%.
Away from Europe, long haul sunseekers are driving growth in the winter market with bookings to the Caribbean up 21% and Asia 17%. ABTA Members have also reported strong sales to Cape Verde.
Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, commented: It is very encouraging that bookings for the winter season are looking strong. With such a wide range of holiday options available in the winter months, from winter sun to city and ski breaks, it is not surprising that so many people are planning a winter break.
About ABTA
ABTA has been a trusted travel brand for over 65 years. Our purpose is to help our Members to grow their businesses successfully and sustainably, and to help their customers travel with confidence.
The ABTA brand stands for support, protection and expertise. This means consumers have confidence in ABTA and a strong trust in ABTA Members. These qualities are core to us as they ensure that holidaymakers remain confident in the holiday products that they buy from our Members.
We help our Members and their customers navigate through today's changing travel landscape by raising standards in the industry; offering schemes of financial protection; providing an independent complaints resolution service should something go wrong; giving guidance on issues from sustainability to health and safety and by presenting a united voice to government to ensure the industry and the public get a fair deal.
ABTA currently has around 1,200 Members, with a combined annual UK turnover of 33.07 billion. For more details about what we do, what being an ABTA Member or Partner means, and how we help the British public travel with confidence visit www.abta.com.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
"Greece has turned page; we managed to be in the top five of the most popular destinations in the world," Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura said on Friday
"Greece has turned page; we managed to be in the top five of the most popular destinations in the world," Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura on Friday said at the conference {Re}-Branding Destinations held within the framework of Philoxenia-Hotelia in Thessaloniki.
"Tourism contributes to 20 pct of Greece's GDP, 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs are in tourism sector and this revenue is a breath to the economy," the minister noted.
"We overcame the obstacles of an exceptionally difficult year ... and we managed to change the negative climate," she added.
Kountoura underlined that the ministry's strategy brought historic records for two consecutive years. "We had 26 mln tourists in 2015 and 14 bln euros revenues while the country made a strong start in 2016 and targets are expected to be surpassed."
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
Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten, , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei, , holidays in Turkey, , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas,
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Kuwaits projects market has maintained its relatively healthy momentum in the third quarter with the government awarding infrastructure contracts worth KD1 billion ($3.4 billion), up 15 per cent over the previous quarter, said a report ahead of a industry event.
Meeds12th Kuwait Projects forum will be held on November 28 at Regency Hotel in Kuwait City with support from Kuwaits Ministry of Electricity and Water.
The one-day forum is set to host key government decision makers, industry leaders, major project developers and owners.
Delivering fast and efficient development and procurement of public private partnerships will be under spotlight at the upcoming conference, said the organisers.
With projects worth $136 billion being planned projects in Kuwait, most seeking to involve the private sector, streamlining and improving the PPP process in order to deliver vital projects on time and within budget has become more crucial and imperative than ever, they stated.
With government budgets being challenged in the current economic environment, alternative project financing methods is increasingly being adopted to ensure timely delivery, said experts.
Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) is playing a critical role in the countrys diversification plan by bringing the private and public players together, they stated.
During the event, Mutlaq Al Sanei, the general manager of KAPP will announce upcoming PPP projects and explain what these partnerships mean for the private sector and how they can be a part of key projects in pipeline.
The total value of contracts awarded so far this year has risen to KD3.6 billion ($12 billion).
A total of $27 billion worth of utility projects are currently in the pre-execution stage in partnership with the private sector.
Last month, Kuwait invited two private sector bidders into talks for the second phase of its Az Zour North power generation and desalination project, which covers design, build, finance, operations, and transfer.
Alexander Bencini, the conference director of Meed, said: "This year, we have tailored a programme that will examine the private sector financing model, stabilising project delivery timelines, optimising entity co-ordination and presenting key opportunities cross the Kuwait projects market."
The conference will encourage successful project delivery practices to attract key international funding to the Kuwait projects sector through focused keynote presentations and panel discussions, he added.
Dr Khaled Mahdi, the secretary general, Supreme Council for Planning and Development, will deliver a keynote address on the countrys projects market role in the economic diversification strategy followed by insights on key economic opportunities and challenges.-TradeArabia News Service
Saudi government has approved plans and studies to build service tunnels linking Arafat and Jamarat in Mina via Muzdalifah, and tunnels linking Jamarat with the courtyards of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said a report.
Makkah Region Development Authority will present plans and studies to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for final approval and execution on a time-bound basis, reported the Saudi Gazette.
The plans also include construction of residential towers on the mountain slope of Mina in a way not violating the sanctity of the holy site, it stated.
A total of six towers have already been constructed in Mina and these have the capacity to accommodate around 12,000 pilgrims.
The studies also recommended developing the tents in Arafat and making more facilities and arrangements for the stay of pilgrims in Muzdalifah, it added.
At least 56 people have been killed and 108 injured in a fuel tanker explosion in western Mozambique, said a report, citing officials.
The circumstances of the blast on Thursday afternoon in the village of Caphirizanje in Tete province, near the border with Malawi, remain unclear, according to BBC.
Some reports say the driver of the tanker was trying to sell fuel to villagers, others that he was ambushed.
The blast itself may have been caused by a lightning strike or a fire nearby, reports say.
The government says it will provide coffins for identified victims who will be buried on Friday.
Those burned beyond recognition have been buried in a common grave, government sources told the BBC.
Officials initially said 73 people had died in the explosion.
Dozens of charred bodies lay around the blast site. Some of the badly burned victims had tried to run into the local river, Radio Mozambique said.
Another report said the vehicle had crashed on Wednesday afternoon and that villagers were siphoning off fuel when it exploded on Thursday.
The government, meanwhile, has declared three days of national mourning after an emergency cabinet meeting convened by President Filipe Nyusi on Friday morning.
Saudi Arabia is optimistic that the Opecs (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) deal to curb oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) will speed up the (market) recovery and benefit producers and consumers, said a report.
Limiting it to the lower end of a previously agreed production target will help spur a rally in the price of crude, reported Reuters, citing the Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih.
The Opec, at a meeting in Algeria in September, had made a preliminary deal to limit oil output to between 32.5 million and 33 million bpd, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars or sanctions.
More decisions will be taken on this deal when the Opec ministers gather in Vienna on November 30.
Al Falih told Al Arabiya TV that following the Opec announcement, the oil market was on a path toward 'becoming balanced.'
Im still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, into caps on states levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries, he added.
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If people think that the tourism industry is pretty much at its peak at the moment, with travel already in such a boom, it seems as though that things will only continue to get better. Come 2025, middle income families or those that are in the middle class will take the most number of international holidays according to global financial company, Visa.
Richard Lung, an international economist and Visa's senior director spoke recently for the company's Travel & Payment Trends Seminar which was held in Dubai. There he pinpointed three key global trends which will greatly influence the travel industry in the coming decade. Namely: one, a new breed of "travelling class"; two, rising digital connectivity and third, a population that is reaching its maturity.
According to a report by Khaleej Times, "By 2025, annual spending on global cross-border travel will reach $1.5 trillion from $1.1 trillion currently, with growth driven by an increasing number of middle income families, according to Visa's 'Mapping the Future of Global Travel and Tourism' study." Therefore, it means that those households which earn $20,000 and above every year are responsible for almost 90 percent of all international travel. More than 37 million households found in the Mena Region will likely fall under this classification by the time 2025 rolls in and about 40 percent of this new class of travelers will end up taking a minimum of one international trip annually, according to an estimate by Visa.
The global financial company also estimated that the Mena region will also garner an increase of annual outbound trips from only 42 million this year to a whopping 65 million in 2026. In turn, this may also cause an increase in the regional outbound travel spent annually by 3.6 percent; from only $77 billion to $110 billion by 2025, two thirds of its rate increase can be attributed to the middle class.
Aside from paying more, travelers will also be better informed with their travels because they will be digitally connected entirely. With so much information available about where to go and what flights to book as well as various options for accommodations, this will promote spontaneity in tourists from the Mena region, as well as show a variety in personalized travel along with other options for tourism.
The young population in Mena region will also counteract the impact of a global population that is on its way to maturity which is the third key trend. According to Visa, places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi which are famous for medical tourism and healthcare infrastructure could benefit greatly from this since the demographic is much focused on obtaining health and comfort as opposed to saving money. Also, Visa believes that "medical tourism is primed for accelerated growth as older travelers seek new treatments, as well as lower-cost or higher-quality care not available in their home country."
Lung also said that, "Global tourism finds itself at a crossroads, with three key mega trends all pointing towards an era of transformation. The Mena region is not isolated from these forces, and is set to gain more than most, given the extent of its growing middle class. The next decade will be one of significant change for the travel and tourism industry and all participants need to start planning for an exciting new future now."
from Indian Chor Bazaar: Top 21 Foreign Trips, Middle Class Indian Can Afford
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Anchorage is known for its cultural heritages. As one of the largest city in the United States, its spectacular natural wonders and sights are truly beautiful. It is also the largest city in Alaska where it is cold.
There are many activities available in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage is not only great at activities but there are also great restaurants in the city. The Culture Trip and Paste Magazine cited some of these great restaurants.
1. Orso- Orso is a restaurant that offers delicious seafood dishes along with tons of choices for cocktails and drinks from Glacier BrewHouse. Because it is located across the Anchorage's performing arts center, many people even tourists get to visit the restaurant. Some of its best sellers are the halibut, cod, king crab and the salmon.
2. Ginger- Chef Guy Conley is the chef of Ginger. With great experimental cuisines of Asian, Alaskan and the Pacific Rim, Ginger offers delicious and unique dishes. Some of its best sellers are the spicy ahi tuna tower and chicken and waffles served with a pan Asia-twist.
3. Spenard Roadhouse- This is an all Alaskan restaurant. It has wonderful interior designs that complement its dishes. Spenard is quite famous among tourists and it offers the best selections of bourbons and whiskies in Alaska. Some of its best sellers are the Tater Tots and the Alaskan reindeer Polish sausage.
4. Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria- Moose's restaurant is one of the most popular restaurants in town. Its food offerings have a combination of Portland and Alaskan cuisines. However, what makes this restaurant so famous is their delicious pizza made from scratch using fresh ingredients.
5. Snow City Cafe- Snow City Cafe serves an all day breakfast menu. With dishes made from scratch using fresh ingredients from local farmers, it is also one of the most popular restaurants in the city. It also gained popularity as the former US President Barack Obama ate when he was in town. Its place also has wonderful decorations perfect for having breakfast. Some of their best sellers are the stuffed French toast, heart attack on a plate and the Kodiak benedict.
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
November signals the start of the holiday season, which means there are more presents to buy, feasts to prepare and also, a lot of travel opportunities right around the corner. Studies show that during the month of November is the best month to use credit cards. There are sign up bonuses that usually occur in November, perfect to use while going on a vacation during that particular month to acquire extra travel points or redeem miles. Credit card users can even acquire an average of 177 dollars during this month.
According to Travel and Leisure, prices of airlines are lower than usual during the month of November and it's also a good time to visit Paris, France for a few days to unwind. Unlike during the Christmas season, famous places like the Louvre or the Musee Rodin will be less crowded. The heat lamps are turned on during this time of the year, so visitors can enjoy a nice warm cup of tea or a glass of wine on terraces across the city. "I think it's also the weather and the mood of being in the city that's hard to describe: you have that beautiful Parisian light set against the Belle Epoque architecture," said travel agency Atout France's spokesperson, Mimi Chloe Park.
Champs Elysees is also a good place to go to during this time of the year, with all the yellow, red and orange colors of the falling leaves gives off a better view for travelers to see. There are also free merry-go-rounds and ice-skating rinks in Champs Elysees and in the Hotel de Ville, according to Aberdeen News. The region of Paris also offered the "CityPass" that will also count as subway tickets and entry for many popular sites, so that tourists will not be carrying huge amounts of money while touring the city.
Ever since the terrorist attack that recently occurred, security is even tighter than ever. During the month of November, a sight to see also in France is the "marches de Noel" or Christmas markets, along with the autumn festival. This is also a good place to buy presents for loved ones and friends. Also during every third Thursday of November, the arrival of Beaujolais nouveau is celebrated with everyone in the city having a free taste of fresh red wine.
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Known for mythology, olympics, white houses, great islands, Greece has been a home to some of these places we've all learned to love. But in the past years, Greece has also been a home to people aside from its residents and travellers. Greece has also been a home to refugees from the war.
The communities in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan seeks asylum in the West to the European countries which have been asked to accommodate the waves of humanity breaking on their doorsteps, seeking a life away from the howl of war. As the most south-easterly corner of the European Union, Greece has found itself cast as the gateway to a humanitarian disaster, witnessing the regular arrival of boats of desperate passengers, each risking everything on the short but dangerous passage across the Aegean Sea - from the Turkish shore to the supposedly safe havens which lie within visible range.
It is almost a year now since the refugee crisis became a fixture on newspaper front pages, though such is the scale of the situation. So far this year nearly 450 refugees have died or been registered missing in and around islands such as Lesvos, Samos and Kos in the Aegean Sea, according to the UN. The numbers have fallen heavily since the peak of the crisis in 2015. According to The Telegraph, The Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) describes the Dodecanese as "a haven of crystal clear waters, sandy or pebbly beaches, important archaeological finds, imposing Byzantine and medieval monuments and traditional settlements", and stresses that the situation will not affect tourists seeking for a Greek holiday.
The Telegraph also says that the popularity of the Greek islands among British holidaymakers has survived the migrant crisis unscathed, according to the country's tourism minister, who says 2017 will be a bumper year for Greece. But Elena Kountoura, Greece's tourism minister, said the islands' popularity among holidaymakers had been unaffected by an ongoing crisis that affects the south-easterly corners of Europe most.
"The truth is everyday life on the islands has been normal as per usual," she said. "These islands are a paradise for holidaymakers. Visitors have faced absolutely no problems and had an excellent holiday experience." Ms Kountoura also added: "Tourism is a very sensitive product and changes can occur sharply, [but it] unites people and nations, and can be a bridge for cooperation, economic growth, peace and prosperity."
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New Zealand's South Island was struck by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday (11.02 GMT, Sunday), which has left two dead and some communities without power. The New Zealand Ministry of Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) issued a tsunami warning for the eastern coast of North and South Island including the Chatham Islands and advised those in affected coastal areas to move inland or to higher ground.
The quake struck just outside the town of Kaikoura, a popular tourist resort some 110 miles north of Christchurch. Local authorities claim the main road into Kaikoura has been cut off by landslides, adding that telecommunications, water and power supplies have also been severed. People are currently being airlifted to safety from the town according to The Telegraph.
The New Zealand government is working to evacuate all tourists from Kaikoura, and the British government is encouraging British nationals in that area to follow any instructions given to them. "People in coastal areas should one, stay out of the water, two, stay off beaches and shore area, three, do not go sightseeing, four, share this information with family, neighbours and friends, five, listen to the radio and/or TV for updates, six, follow instructions of local civil defense authorities," according to Express.
None of New Zealand's airports have been affected by the quake, but many roads and railways have been ripped up or blocked by landslides. New Zealand authorities are still warning of the risk of aftershocks in the area. And while the tsunami warning has been lifted, people staying near the coast are advised to exercise extreme care, especially given that bad weather is predicted.
There are thousands of earthquakes in New Zealand every year, but most of them are not felt because they are either small, or very deep within the earth. If your trip has been affected by the earthquakes, then your tour operator will be contractually obliged to provide suitable alternative arrangements or offer a refund. If you simply want to cancel your trip out of choice, it is unlikely you will be entitled to a refund.
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Google has streamlined travel enquiries so much, by being able to plan your flight, accommodation, tour packages, itineraries, and even your packing list. Because of this, countries Americans don't regularly travel to are gaining even more popularity, with the ease it takes in booking and reading about the destination and its nuances.
For 2016, the most searched for country on Google is Croatia, with its seaside cliffs and Romanesque cities. According to Lonely Planet, search engine data analyzed by teflSeach revealed that other top destinations included Greece, Turkey, Thailand and Spain. It should be noted that all these countries feature great beaches, rich culture and affordable price ranges. Rounding down the Top 10 list are Italy, Cuba, Portugal, Malta and the United States.
For Americans in particular, the most searched for travel destinations on Google included the United Kingdom, Mexico and Cuba. Interestingly, Croatians, who topped the list, searched for Maldives, Thailand, Malta, Greece and Cuba. Already a Mediterranean favorite and known as the crown jewel of the Adriatic, Travel and Leisure believes that the success of HBO's "Game of Thrones" series drew people to Croatia and its marvelous landscapes. The popular series featured many scenes filmed in Croatia, particularly those for Meereen and King's Landing. (READ: Best Places to Visit in Croatia for "Game of Thrones" fans)
Besides being a popular backdrop to period dramas, Zagreb, its capital is rife with history and 19th century architecture and has the Marticeva, a hip new design district in the artistic European capital. In addition, Istria, along its beautiful Dalmatian Coast, has spiked with visitors in recent years thanks to its efforts in agritourism and producing award-winning fine wines. (READ: The Top Five Wine Regions in America)
Besides its amazing cities, Croatia also has two large national parks with exquisite waterfalls among its limestone and chalk cliffs, as well as turquoise lakes and vast underground caves. Plitvice Lakes National Park, officially a UNESCO Heritage Site features a stunning wooden boardwalk with views of the entire park. On the other hand, Krka National Park is just as beautiful and is only two hours away by car from Zagreb.
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In the United States, travelers have plenty of options when it comes to choosing which airline will fly them to your destination. One of those options is American Airlines, which is already a household name when it comes to the aviation business. Recently, the airline company sent out an email blast to the members of its frequent-fliers program, named AAdvantage.
This is with regards to the upcoming modifications that will happen to the said airline's frequent-flyer program by the time 2017 chimes in. American Airlines also disclosed a brand new bonus for its branded credit cards which can aid its fliers to achieve a new elite-status spending requirement which will launched in the coming year. Ben Mutzabaugh of USA Today reported that: "Most of the changes outlined in the e-mail had already been announced this past summer. Perhaps the most notable change is that American is adding a spending requirement to earn elite status. Previously, customers could earn status simply by flying a set number of miles or flight "segments" within a calendar year."
Although the spending requirement is planned for the duration of 2017, the customers must now splurge on airfares an amount of at least $3,000 in "elite qualifying dollars" or EQDs in order to qualify for American Airlines' "Gold" status which is on the lowest-tier. The EQDs are usually also similar to the price of the airfare, with taxes and government imposed fees deducted.
This particular status can be gained when a traveler accumulates 25,000 qualifying miles, or about 30 flight segments in a span of one year. On the other hand, the "Platinum" status requires 50,000 miles or about 60 flight segments and $6,000 in EQDs; while the "Executive Platinum" status needs a whopping 100,000 miles or 120 flight segments and a total amount of $12,000 in EQDs.
American Airlines is also instituting "Platinum Pro", a new type of elite status which makes the number of status levels offered by the airline similar with that of Delta and United. The start of the year 2017 also marks the start of earning for Platinum Pro; members of AAdvantage can qualify for this rank by garnering 75,000 miles or about 90 flight segments within a year and will have a spending threshold of $9,000 in EQDs.
According to Mutzabaugh's report, "Members of American's branded frequent-flier credits will have receive a credit of $3,000 in EQDs for spending at least $25,000 on their cards in a calendar year. Customers with American's higher-end frequent-flier credits will get credited with an additional $3,000 in EQDs ($6,000 in total) if they spend an additional $25,000 in a calendar year ($50,000 total)."
from American Airlines: American Airlines AAdvantage Mileage Multiplier
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Three Trump-named resident apartment buildings in the upper west side of Manhattan have had the monikers removed from their facades. The buildings, formerly named "Trump Place," are now being marked under a neutral building name that will appeal to residents.
According to a report by the BBC, construction crews were compelled to remove the gold letters on Wednesday after over six hundred residents signed a petition requesting for the building's re-branding. Interviewed residents state that it should be done as a security measure for residents who do not wish to be associated with the president-elect.
Manhattan residents have also voiced their appreciation for the removal of the moniker. When interviewed, locals simply state that the neighborhood seems cleaner and safer without the presence of the golden letters.
The luxury high rise buildings, located at Manhattan's Riverside Boulevard, are composed of over one thousand residential apartments. Following the presidential election of Donald Trump, the buildings were insultingly named "The Trump Dump" by New York residents.
The three buildings were developed by Trump in the year 1990. However, following a string of financial issues and bankruptcy filings, the president-elect was forced to sell much of his company's assets in order to pay off debts.
The buildings are now owned by Equity Residential and have longer been associated with the president-elect's company since the properties' purchase in 2007. The re-branding of the residential buildings is set to go into effect later this week.
The former Trump property has also begun other re-branding processes such as the replacement of Trump-branded uniforms for staff members. The building has also begun replacing the building's branded doormats and other items bearing the Trump name.
According to Travel and Leisure, Mary Pawlisa, senior regional manager for Equity Residential informed tenants that several other properties associated with the president-elect are undergoing re-branding processes. Since his election, Trump's new properties have planned to operate under the neutral brand name "Scion".
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The hustling and bustling city of Hong Kong has been known for its vibrant nightlife and world-renowned bars. This trendy city is full of thrillingly hip cocktail concoctions that are sure to make a great start to every night. To get the full Hong Kong experience, here are five of the best cocktail bars in Hong Kong you have to check out.
First, you're going to want to check out The Chinnery. This Mandarin Oriental establishment features traditional interiors with a definitive British collection of malt whiskeys. This elegant cocktail bar offers a wide array of breathtaking medleys featuring everything from club favorites to whiskey-enriched jewels.
Next, you might want to travel back in time to visit America in the 1950's. No, we're not talking about time travel. We're talking about the nostalgic 50's themed cocktail bar, Varga Lounge. With crooners serenading you to classic Broadway show tunes and deliciously themed cocktails, you'll be absolutely charmed by this old saloon.
Deemed as one of the best new bars in Hong Kong 2016 by The Culture Trip, Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge should be a forerunner in your barhopping schedule. The Polynesian bar serves tangy, spiced cocktails that will transport your taste buds to a more tropical location. The earthy timber and bamboo decor will be sure to heat you up almost as quickly as their strong drinks.
Grabbing a drink made by an award-winning mixologist can never do you wrong. At Quinary, all trademark cocktails have been painstakingly made by Antonio Lai with the use of cutting edge techniques and equipment. According to The Drinks Business, these strange yet satisfying libations are perfect for adventurous drinkers who are looking to try something new. Wasabi vodka, anyone?
Of course, you can't go to Hong Kong without embracing their rich Chinese culture, and on your cocktail journey, there's one place that will give you just that. Dragon-i offers its customers with eccentric food and beverage concoctions made with traditional flavors that are sure to remind you exactly where you are.
Do you have other recommendations on where to drink in Hong Kong? Share them below!
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Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : VIETNAMESE HERITAGE DAY IN HANOI OLD QUARTER Industry: Events
Staying in Hanoi Capital in Vietnam these days, visitors will have opportunities to join the Art Festival with various activities and values.
(TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - November 18th, 2016 - A series of attractive activities of which the Management Board of Hanoi Old Quarter and coordinate with other units, artisans, artists held from 18/11 to 27/11 to keep visitors coming here.
In occasion of 12 year anniversary of Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day (11.23.2005 - 23.11.2016), with the aim of introducing, honoring and promoting the traditional cultural values and diversity, richer cultural activities in expanded pedestrian streets, the Hanoi Old Quarter management in collaboration with other units, artisans, and artists organized a series of cultural activities and attractive seminar attract tourists.
"Old time" in the heart of the old town
According to Tran Thi Thuy Lan, Deputy Management Board of Hanoi Old Quarter, a special highlight of a series of events celebrating the Cultural Heritage Day of Vietnam will take place on 11/18/2016 at 19:30 on Delivery Center Cultural ancient Hanoi, 50 Dao Duy Tu with the theme "Focus Past".
Accordingly, the content of the program include: Fashion show ethnic tunic: Apparel tunic style palace reconstruction - People's Artist Vu Gioi; the combination of calligraphy on camisole designers Lan Anh and Quoc Khanh Kieu graphics processing; fashion designer La Hang long coat, designer Minh Minh, Duyen Huong Designer and Peony Designer; Performances of ethnic music excerpts: Cheo, Tuong, Quan.
Unit coordinated implementation: Cultural Exchange Centre Traditional and Contemporary Art (ThontArt), Painter Nguyen Manh Duc, Nguyen Huy An artist, People's Artist Vu Gioi, NAG Le Bich, Vi21 .. ...
Royal costumes and the worship costumes of Artisan Vu Gioi
According to artist Nguyen Manh Duc, in the period from 18-27 / 11/2016, at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Hanoi old quarter, a 50-Hang Dao Duy Tu Hoan Kiem Sail-operation will take place arrangements not conventional exhibition style palace hosted by this artist.
Specifically, in the conventional exhibition space will introduce nine outfits and perform 5 worship outfits. To introduce the embroidery of Vietnam, the exhibition space will be decorated stylized with 1000 dresses to make it to resemble the production space, there will be statues of women dressed in the ancient imperial palace with silk fabric to reconstruct space ancient imperial palace. In particular, the organizers chose the key color of the space is yellow...
Introduction of Vietnamese Tea Culture
If visitors want to learn about the culture of the Vietnamese tea in the period from 18-20 / 11/2016, please visit Heritage House, 87 Ma May to listen to the introduction of Vietnamese Tea Art in the space of House Heritage.
Introducing traditional embroidery craft
In the period from 18-20 / 11/2016, visitors to Dinh Kim Ngan, 42-44 Hang Bac will be eyed to see and hear traditional embroidery craft introduced by Artisan Vu Hai, Toan Thang Commune, Thuong Tin District, Hanoi.
Exhibition space here by artist Nguyen Huy An groups perform installations.
Photo exhibition "Vietnam Cultural Heritage"
Time: From 18/11 -31/12/2016
Location: Sidewalk pedestrian streets Hoan Kiem Lake, Le Thai To Street (opposite the Monument of King Le)
Coordination units: Group photography love Hanoi Nguyen Phu Duc -KTS Team Leader
An exhibition of costumes Most copper & culture Religion Discussion Form
Time: From 18/11 until 27/11/2016
Location: Level 3, Centre for Cultural Exchange in Hanoi's Old Quarter.
Guests will eye the arranged exhibition of ritual ceremony chaired by artist Nguyen Manh Duc introducing the costume created by the People's Artist Vu Gioi.
Want to learn about the culture and costumes direct form in copper prices, travelers can go to the Center for Cultural Exchange in Hanoi's Old Quarter at 50 Dao Duy Tu in 11.26.2016 afternoon to hear the talk about cultural introduction director and costume patterns in copper prices by Prof. Dr. Ngo Duc Thinh - Former director of the Institute of Folklore chaired by Vu Gioi Artisan and members of the Centre for Research and Conservation of Cultural Beliefs spirituality implementation; Introducing the text excerpts Adoration typical repertoire by members of the research center and cultural preservation perform spiritual beliefs; Introducing the document image representing typical Adoration by Journalist, photographer Le Bich implementation; Spatial arrangements talk by painter Nguyen Manh Duc.
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Legend has it that honey was Cleopatras preferred weapon in her beauty arsenal, and now science is catching up to what many women have known for years. Honey, especially raw or unpasteurized, is a fabulously versatile and all-natural ingredient to use on skin. Its full of antioxidants, which are good for wrinkles and aging skin. It is antibacterial, which helps with acne treatments and prevention. It clarifies skin by opening up and unclogging pores. Its also a great moisturizer that soothes irritation and blemishes, and it leaves a lovely afterglow. Try the following recipes for an effective, at-home spa treatment.
1. Moisturizing Honey Masks
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
Make sure your hair is pulled back from your face before starting one of these recipes. Your face will feel clean and soft afterwards.
1) Scoop a generous spoonful of honey into your hand and spread all over your face. Rub it into your skin and let sit for 5-30 minutes. Rinse with warm water.
2) Combine 1 tbsp buttermilk, 1 tsp honey, and 1 egg yolk. Apply to clean skin and let sit 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water.
2. Honey Facial Cleanser
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
Honey is good at dissolving makeup residue, especially when mixed with a gentle oil. Combine honey and jojoba OR coconut oil to create an easily spreadable texture. Rub it into your skin, avoiding eye area, to loosen makeup and unclog pores. Rinse with warm water.
3. Honey Almond Body Scrub
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
This homemade body scrub is finger-licking good. The texture from the ground almonds exfoliates the skin, while both the almonds and honey moisturize. Combine 2 tsp. ground almonds and 2 tsp. honey to form a paste. Rub into your face with a circular motion. Rinse with warm water. You could easily increase the quantities to treat your whole body.
4. Honey Skin Lotion
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
If youre feeling that dry winter skin coming on, mix a spoonful of honey with a teaspoon of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice (a natural skin brightener). Apply this lotion to dry areas and let sit for 20 minutes. Wipe off with a warm washcloth.
5. Lemon-Honey Facial Treatment
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
Lemons are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. They also contain alpha hydroxy acids that exfoliate. Cut a lemon in half and remove the seeds. Add 1 tsp honey to one of the lemon halves. Rub the cut side all over your face. Let it sit 5 minutes, then rinse with warm water.
6. Honey Hair Shine-Boosting Rinse
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
There are two options. 1) Combine a spoonful of honey with a quart of warm water. Rinse through hair after shampooing. Let it condition for an hour, then rinse. 2) Mix 1-1/2 tsp honey with 5 cups warm water. Rinse through hair and leave on. Dry and style as usual.
7. Cleopatras Milk-and-Honey Bath Soak
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
Combine 14 cup honey with 2 cups milk and a few drops of essential oil. Add to a hot bath, sit back, and relax.
8. Honey Exfoliant
Treehugger / Kasia Surowiecka
Use this scrub once a week to soften and clarify your skin. Mix 2 parts honey with 1 part baking soda and rub into your face. This is also good for a full body scrub.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 17
The Chandigarh unit of the BJP has planned a show of strength for partys national president Amit Shahs programme on November 20 here.
To boost the morale of party workers for the upcoming MC poll, BJP national president Amit Shah will address around 5,000 party workers (booth samiti members of all polling booths) on November 20 in Sector 27 here.
At the programme, all senior party leaders will try to show unity in the local BJP unit. The party high command had already conveyed to all senior party leaders, including Chandigarh unit president Sanjay Tandon, MP Kirron Kher, former MP Satya Pal Jain and former union minister Harmohan Dhawan, to work as a team to ensure the partys victory in the upcoming MC poll, scheduled to held on December 18.
Besides, ticket probable will also try to showcase their strength on the occasion.
At the programme, partys Chandigarh in-charge and National General Secretary Dr Saroj Pandey will also brief the national president about the partys preparedness for the MC poll.
BJP president Sanjay Tandon said with this programme, the party would kick off its election campaign and would win maximum number of seats in the MC poll.
Amit Shah to address party workers on Nov 20
To boost the morale of party workers for the upcoming MC poll, BJP national president Amit Shah will address around 5,000 party workers (booth samiti members of all polling booths) on November 20 in Sector 27 here.
S Nihal Singh
THERE are two aspects to the currency swap for high denomination notes, one economic pertaining to ferret out black money and get more people to use digital transfers and the other political, particularly in its timing.
On the economic side, it is a bold move of PM Narendra Modi, a task first tried by the short-lived Janata Party government of which the BJPs parent Jana Sangh was part. It was unable to follow through, given its own convulsions. With a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the present administration can take the risks. But even given the need for secrecy in such an undertaking, the move could have been better prepared, given the peoples daily needs.
Politically, it has given the Opposition parties the opportunity to unite on an issue that cuts across party lines. But coming as the new measures do on the eve of crucial Assembly elections in UP and Punjab, it can have devastating effect on all parties. It is no secret that each party collected piles of cash for persuading voters to press the right button. Now they have to start the process all over again, with inevitable shortfalls.
For waning parties such as the Congress, the money swapping issue leading to long queues at ATMs, many of them not calibrated to new currency, and the inevitable tribulations of small undertakings, the measure was a godsend. Mr Rahul Gandhi in particular was vocal.
How far the political aspects influenced the move has yet to be discovered, but the administration's suggestion for state funding of elections is a moot point. And in a sense, after the turmoil is over, it will be a topic for debate.
The Modi government has also announced that other measures to reduce, if not stop, corruption are being readied or are in offing. While the country will wish the government well, it is a universal experience that such a task to tackle an endemic problem is a lifetime undertaking. As if to mock the new measures, the big fat Reddy wedding was a reminder of the ability of the rich to raise mountains of cash, with the demonetisation of high currency notes presenting few problems.
Despite the inevitable sob stories and personal hardships caused by demonetisation TV channels have been feasting on, my questioning of poor and humble folk has revealed surprising support for Mr Modis move. Many of them seem to be convinced by the argument that this will help bring down the use of black money.
The Modi move has obvious wider political considerations. The PM is not short of ambitions for himself and the country in that order. If he has shown boldness in pursuing the countrys interest despite missteps, he has an equally radical agenda for domestic policy where it counts the most.
The BJPs short-term objective is to capture UP in the forthcoming Assembly elections. With an open war being enacted in the Yadav family empire, the political barometer was pointing in the direction of Ms Mayawatis BSP, but the new problems in distributing largesse will affect it as it will the states ruling Samajwadi Party. The Congress is a small player in UP as it is being marginalised in the rest of the country.
The BJPs strategy in UP prior to the currency move was to emphasise its surgical strike on Pakistani targets after the Uri attack to wear the colour of nationalism even as it heightened its move for Hindutva to divide voters along communal lines by raising the Ram janmabhoomi issue. It was betting on the possibility that with the disillusionment of Muslim voters with the Samajwadi Party, their tendency would be to go to the BSP even while the Congress was seeking Brahmin votes.
If the BJPs new calculations are right, the UP elections will be on a less extravagant scale this time round. But the fine tuning of the partys strategy has yet to evolve in the light of the new political dynamics released by the currency issue. While the Opposition parties will harp on the sufferings of the common man and the lack of adequate preparation for such a bold measure, the common man may be more in sympathy with the official line that it is more for the benefit of the poor.
Among the opposition parties, Ms Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress and her counterpart in Delhi, Mr Arvind Kejriwal, chose to take over the leadership of opposing the measure for different reasons. The TMC is on the lookout for a wider national role after having vanquished the Marxist Communist Party. And Mr Kejriwal will espouse any issue to beat the Modi government with, apart from his search for a wider setting to fulfil his personal ambitions.
The success of the new monetary measure will depend upon how quickly it will relieve the genuine sufferings of the small trader, labour working in the field and the farmers planting regime. A wider dispensation of Rs 500 notes would help. The fact that such a major move will cause disruption is a foregone conclusion.
Mr Modi is good at fixing targets for himself and the nation. He has asked for 50 days to fix the currency problem in emotional appeals he made two days running. As usual, he mixed his appeals with his known political themes and even made time for a UP election rally.
Much rests on the overall success of the currency measure in determining the immediate fate of the Modi government. It will depend principally on how fast the administration can act to bring the situation back to normal. Government machinery is revving up, but whether it will prove equal to the task remains to be seen.
In a sense, Mr Modi has given the warning that his aspiration is to become a memorable Prime Minister although he shuns the maker of modern democratic India, Jawaharlal Nehru. He could however aspire to equal Indira Gandhi, who won her spurs by defeating Pakistan in the Bangladesh war.
If demonetisation is such a diabolical, economically flawed and poorly executed scheme, resulting in hardships to people across the country, as politicians in opposition would like everyone to believe, should they not happily wait for a voter backlash against the BJP in the coming UP and Punjab polls? Apparently, Prime Minister Modi has hit their war chests ahead of crucial state elections, giving the BJP an unfair advantage. While the newly formed political jugalbandi of AAP and TMC seeks demonetisation rollback in three days, warning of consequences in case of non-compliance, the Congress supports as well as opposes note change supports the idea but opposes the shoddy implementation.
The queues outside banks and loss of farm perishables, earnings of daily wagers and traders' cash transactions have energised the Opposition and unnerved the BJP at the possible negative political fallout. The echo of the nationwide unrest in Parliament was but natural. It has rather been an overkill. Few are occasions when one gets to hear an even-headed, informed discussion in Parliament. Opposition noises do not shed any fresh light on the issue. Some insist on a debate with voting, others agitate for the Prime Ministers response. In the heat of non-discussion Ghulam Nabi Azad, a man who measures his words before uttering them, made an unseemly comparison of deaths caused by demonetisation and the Uri terror attack, prompting a spurious insult to the jawans' martyrdom.
The manufactured outrage threw few suggestions on how to ease the pain of the common man or improve on the scheme. The Opposition has not warmed up to the Prime Ministers call for a debate on state funding of polls to combat corruption. The parliamentarians may be reminded of what Vajpayee had once said with an uncanny insight, Every legislator starts his career with the lie of the false election return he files. Political parties acknowledge the baneful influence of big money on elections but refuse to right the wrong. It is also time to remind the parliamentarians that the winter session has been advanced to meet the GST rollout deadline and that their primary job is law-making, not causing disruptions.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has released its first list of candidates for the forthcoming Assembly elections and it comes as no surprise that it includes the names of all SAD Cabinet ministers, with the exception of the Chief Minster and the Deputy CM. A close look at the list shows how the party, like many other such entities, keeps a close eye on succession planning. Thus, a number of candidates have followed in the footsteps of their forefathers and other close relatives. Kairon, Majithia, Rakhra, Atwal, Dhindsa, Bhunder...these are old political families which are well represented. An exception this time is the six-time MLA and two-time Cabinet minister, Sarwan Singh Phillaur. A pending inquiry against him and his son in a drug case evidently went against him. But why only him, critics ask and are entitled to an answer.
In the quasi-feudal arrangement that has flourished under the SAD dispensation, loyalty to the party leadership is the most important qualification, and the list reflects that. Punjabs Agriculture Minister Tota Singh finds a place there, even though he has been convicted and sentenced to one years imprisonment. Despite a conviction and a three-year sentence Sucha Singh Langah has been fielded from Dera Baba Nanak. Anyone sentenced for more than two years is barred from contesting elections under the Representation of the People Act.
Now, were the voters to seek to elect individual candidates on the basis of their performance, they may not have much to go by, even for those who are said to have performed as ministers, since the decision-making process has long been centralised and thus ministers have merely supportive roles. An unusually large number of lawmakers have remained quiet during their term, except when they need to outshout the Opposition. Thus there is not much to judge them about. The SAD evidently hopes that the candidates winnability trumps other considerations. Whether this notion has any substance will only be decided once the voters look at the other choices available and make their selection for the 117 Assembly seats in the state.
Our Correspondent
Kaithal, November 18
There were signs of great relief on the faces of Hukam Chand (80) and his wife Ved Kumari (75), who were able to get Rs 5,000 each from the Ambala road branch of Union Bank here today.
While some had experiences similar to the couple, others had to face inconvenience. Huge rush was noticed outside all banks. Cash crunch was also reported at many ATMs. TK Rana, district lead bank manager, said about Rs 80 crore had been deposited in 156 branches all over the district today and Rs 8 crore had been distributed among customers through ATMs and withdrawals.
Kisan body for withdrawal of RBI circular
Sonepat: Members of the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha today handed over a memorandum, addressed to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, to Deputy Commissioner KM Pandurang for withdrawal of the circular preventing exchange of old banknotes. SN Solanki, state vice president of the sabha, said the RBI direction that there would be no exchange or deposit of old banknotes by the coop banks was against the interest of 90 per cent of the rural population. OC
Manager found dead at bank
Rohtak: Rajesh Chander, manager of Rohtak Central Cooperative Bank, who was found dead in his office here on October 16, had not died due to overwork as suggested by news reports in a section of the press, said RP Singh, General Manager of the bank. In a statement issued here today, RP Singh maintained that Rajesh Chander stayed on the bank branch premises and used to take leave to visit his home in Gurugram. Rajesh Chander had been under treatment for a heart ailment for the past several years and circumstances indicate that he has died due to heart failure and not because of overwork, the GM stated. TNS
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Gharaunda (Karnal), Nov 18
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin today emphasised B to B (business to business) and G to G (government to government) relationships between India and Israel.
He said India could learn from the Israeli experience and knowledge in agriculture, water conservation and water cleaning techniques.
He hoped that Indo-Israel cooperation would be continued with the same pace and extended to other areas of mutual interest.
Rivlin reiterated that cooperation between both nations was now being expanded in the fields of agriculture, water and security.
I see the future of the relationship between India and Israel as something going on not only between the government and administration, but between the people as well. I believe in the connection between the people of India and Israel and the understanding, the Israeli President said.
We have to take care of each other that will bring about a lot of cooperation, started 25 years ago. It is now being expanded to a level where no one can even foresee in all fields of agriculture and water, he said.
We are cooperating and not hiding any kind of business from each other as we are very open, he stated. Rivlin is on a state visit to India, the first by an Israeli President in around 20 years.
India and Israel had signed agreements for an agricultural partnership in 2006, under which Israel had been sharing its best practices and knowledge, especially through drip irrigation and protected cultivation.
Haryana had undertaken six Indo-Israeli projects as centres of excellence for vegetables in Gharaunda, fruits in Mangiana, Sirsa, sub-tropical fruits in Ladwa, Kurukshetra, bee-keeping in Ram Nagar, Kurukshetra, floriculture in Sondhi, Jhajjar, and dairy farming in Hisar.
The centres for floriculture and model dairy are to be established as land for them had been identified.
The President, along with Nechama Rivlin, First Lady, reached the Centre of Excellence for Vegetables in Gharaunda under tight security.
He visited the nursery at hi-tech greenhouses, and saw the demonstration of different varieties of vegetables, including tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber and chillies, grown by using polyhouse technique. He saw the muskmelon crop cultivated in a walk-in tunnel.
Rivlin inaugurated a signpost set up as a gesture of thanks to Israel and its President for their cooperation in establishing of centres of excellence in Haryana.
Reviewing the hi-tech greenhouses, the Israeli President praised the quality of seedling produced and mentioned that the quality of seedling produced here was better than in Israel.
During interaction, Rivlin appreciated the work of Indo-Israeli projects in the state and lauded the people of Haryana for the successful use of technologies of Israel.
You are doing a miracle. We appreciate you for using Israeli knowledge and experience to become much better. We salute you for the ability and efficiency and using our knowledge to be better. I feel the same as I am in Israel, he said.
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 18
Cashing in on the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, arhtiyas are offering farmers the banned currency to clear their dues.
Commission agents said they were helpless as they had to clear the backlog and cash crunch had brought a slump in the market.
The demonetisation has not only hit small farmers or roadside vendors, but also those who have the habit of stacking cash at home. Now, they have no idea how to deposit the hefty sum in banks. We do not maintain bank accounts, but now disposing of the banned currency is a big problem, they confided. The commission agents in Shimla, Solan, Rohru, Parwanoo, Kullu, Mandi, Chandigarh and Delhi are offering Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. They say they do not have the new currency to make the payment, rued a farmer from Maroag, Chopal.
If I accept Rs 15 lakh, it will not be easy for me to deposit it in bank as income tax officials will catch hold of me and that too when I am not at fault. This way, I will be tortured, he said.
The problem for apple farmers from Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir has aggravated as about 15 per cent of farmers still await the payment of dues.
The farmers selling seasonal fruits face the same mental torture. Though the Ministry of Finance has asked the people to deposit their hard-earned money in banks, they fear that they would come under the scanner of the income tax officials if they do so.
The farmers take advance payment on interest from arhityas to meet the expenses. The banks give such money in advance only to farmers who have big land holdings. Small farmers depend on commission agents, said the farmers. Wholesalers who buy fruit in bulk come from Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Gujarat, Delhi and other places. They are bulk buyers and pay the farmers through cheques or credit money in their accounts, but a majority of small farmers take cash, said Dr Kuldip Tanwar, president, Kisan Sabha.
They have asked the registered commission agents to deposit money (the new currency) in the accounts, said Suresh Chauhan, former president, Arhtiyas Association, Shimla. The apple season is over and most payments have been made, he added.
President of the Azadpur Mandi Agents Association Pawan Kumar said the demonetisation had resulted in cash crunch in the markets as the new currency was not available. The apple season is over in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir, but 10-15 per cent payments are to be cleared, he added.
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 18
Trading and retail business has been hit due to shortage of currency after the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by the government of India.
The business in vegetable and fruit market of Dharamsala was down by about 50 per cent. The wholesale traders here told The Tribune that there might be shortage of fruits in the market as they have not been getting supplies for the past few days.
Gian Chand, a wholesale merchant of vegetables and fruits in Dharamsala, said that they used to get their supplies of vegetables and fruits from Punjab. Most of the trade was in cash. However, since now there was shortage of cash the supplies have been hit. We are not getting enough cash from the banks to pay. Therefore, the supplies have been curtailed, he said.
Tejpal, another wholesale merchant, said that the retailers take supply of vegetable and fruit from them in cash. They used to take supplies ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 daily. There has been drop in their purchase by about 30 per cent. Many of retailers and street vendors were coming to them with old currency to buy vegetables and fruits. We are either forced to take banned currency from them or offer them credit. In both cases our investment was at risk due to which we have curtailed business, he said.
Mohinder, another wholesale dealer in vegetables, said that they have offered to pay for vegetables and fruit supplies to traders in Punjab through cheque but they are refusing to accept cheques. So there is no option but to curtail the supplies.
However, despite the shortage of supplies of essential commodities, as vegetable and fruits, their prices have remained stagnant in Dharamsala and many other parts of Kangra district. The retailers of other commodities are also alleging drop in business. Manjit Bawa, who runs a gift shop, alleges that his business had almost come to a total halt after the demonetization move. He said that since people in the region are short of currency they are spending just on necessities and sales of all other items have dropped abysmally.
In Dharamsala there was acute shortage of currency. The banks that are short of currency are allowing withdrawal of just about Rs 2,000 per day. The new Rs 2,000 notes have started arriving in Dharamsala but the shopkeepers are not accepting them as there were short of change.
Meanwhile, about 80 per cent of the ATMs in Dharamsala and its surrounding areas remained without cash. Long queues are being witnessed in banks with the people queuing up to either change their currency or withdrawals. The business at the Kangra Cooperative Bank, one of the major banks of the district, has come to a total halt.
About 5,000 taxi operators who make a living on tourists visiting Dharamsala are also alleging loss of business. They said that most of their business is in cash and non availability of cash and drop in tourist inflow has hit their business hard.
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 18
To ensure that there is no shortage of currency following demonitisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in the tribal areas, a sum of Rs 9 crore will be airlifted to the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti tomorrow.
Keeping in mind the fact that during winters, the cash supply to the tribal areas might be hampered on account of snow, the state government today decided to airlift sufficient amounts of currency to meet the needs of the people. The helicopter of the state government will carry the cash chests to these places tomorrow morning.
A sum of Rs 5.50 crore will be flown to Pooh in district Kinnaur and Rs 3.50 crore to Kaza in Spiti area. A sum of Rs 12 crore has already been sent by road to Keylong to meet the needs of the people in difficult areas. Though there was sufficient amount of currency notes in these areas right now keeping in view the possible inaccessibility of these areas by road, the decision to airlift the money has been taken.
Chief Secretary VC Pharka today held detailed talks with the bank officials to ensure regular supply of currency to the tribal areas. I have discussed the situation arising out of the demonitisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes with banks. There is sufficient cash reserve in the chests in these areas already but keeping in mind the winter season, more cash is being sent there, confirmed Chief Secretary VC Pharka. He added that as and when there is need for more currency in the future, it will be met immediately.
CM Virbhadra Singh had also directed the officials to ensure that the currency requirement of the people residing in tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and Pangi (Killar) is met. The people in the tribal areas stock up ration, oil, fuel and their other needs at home for almost four months before the winters set in and it snows heavily. State Bank of India and State Bank of Patiala have taken up the responsibility of ensuring sufficient supply of currency to the tribal areas, well in advance.
Tribune News Service
Jammu, November 18
Led by Mahila Morcha state president Purnima Sharma, BJP activists today protested against Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for his remarks on Thursday.
A similar protest was organised by the Jammu BJP under district president Baldev Singh Billawaria. A large number of party activists took out a protest march, raising slogans against the Congress and Azad for his statement.
Azad had reportedly said more persons had died following the governments decision on demonetisation as against those killed in the Uri attack.
Purnima Sharma said it was most unfortunate that a leader like Azad had committed a blunder by equating the people dying in ordinary situation with those sacrificing their lives for the nation while defending the sovereignty of the country. Whatever the Congress leader has said is highly condemnable and Azad should openly seek apology and also assure the nation that he wont repeat such remarks in future, she said.
Addressing the activists at Gangyal Chowk, Billawaria said the Congress leaders were making statements which were very dangerous and had the potential of creating trouble in the public.
Meanwhile, in Srinagar, the BJP said Azads comparison of the impact of the demonetised notes with militant attacks was unfortunate.
A senior leader, like Azad, comparing strike on black money with terrorism is unfortunate and it was not expected of him. By doing so he has undermined the threat from Pakistan, BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir said in a statement.
The surgical strike on black money carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has frustrated the Congress leaders. Since the day Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were scrapped, Congress leaders have been left dumbstruck and they dont know what to say. The black money which they had stocked in cupboards and trunks has been turned into useless pieces of paper, Jehangir added.
Asserting that the Prime Minister had broken the back of hawala dealers and the enemies who were pumping in fake currency notes into India, Jehangir said: Congress leaders have seen the writing on the wall and they know it very well that their party is all set to become a history.
After arresting two California men Friday morning suspected of placing credit card skimming devices on local gasoline pumps, Madison police urged business owners to be on the lookout for more of the devices hidden in their equipment.
We believe that they have skimmers out there yet that we need to find, and the only way we can do that is through the owners of the gas pumps, said Madison police Detective Pat Green, one of the investigators working on the case.
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said Friday that police arrested Arsen Piloyan, 46, of Van Nuys, California, and Wafig M. Jebarah, 49, of Los Angeles, both on tentative charges of identity theft.
In this instance, though it is a property crime, this is the sort of property crime that cuts across each and every demographic, Koval said. This is the kind of crime that Jill and Joe Lunchbucket can all relate to because we all have identities that we have to preserve and protect and in these instances were all gassing up our vehicles and doing the things we normally do day to day. We need to know with some confidence that those transactions are secure.
Koval said that one of the men was tentatively identified after being seen on surveillance videos in the area last month, at locations where fraudulent cards containing skimmed data were used. He was seen again in Madison on Friday, and he and the other man were arrested.
Green said that police believe the two men had intended to stay here longer and may have skimmers still inside gas pumps around the city.
Searches of the mens hotel room and a rental van they were driving turned up a bevy of discoverable and evidentiary information, Koval said, such as soldering equipment, wires and tools that would be needed to place skimmers; a keychain with keys of the type used to open gas pumps; 30 to 40 prepaid credit cards, altered by the men to hold credit card information from victims, including pin numbers.
Detectives also found prepaid Visa cards loaded with money stolen from victims accounts, Koval said.
Green said police also found the device used to encode those cards with victims credit card information.
Receipts from hotels in other places outside the area were also found, Koval said, indicating the scope of the operation went far beyond Madison.
To date, Koval said, 11 skimmers have been found on Madison gas pumps, most recently on Thursday at a BP station at 4102 Commercial Ave., on Madisons East Side.
Koval said its not known how many of the skimmers belong to the two men arrested Friday, but Koval called it quite probable that other people are involved in the scheme.
Green said that skimmers installed in pumps generally use two types of technology wireless Bluetooth, which allows information from the skimmer to be uploaded to a nearby computer or other device, or a type that stores the information directly onto the device, which is then later collected by thieves.
Detective Nick Ryan said Madison police are working with federal authorities, sending the skimmers to the FBI once police here have processed them for evidence such as DNA.
The FBI examines them for card data left on the devices, Ryan said. He said some devices, in addition to collecting card information, have also been set up to capture PIN numbers as theyre being used at gas pumps.
Gas pumps are made by few manufacturers and open using a few standard keys, said Kyle Bunnow, supervisor of Weights and Measures for the city Building Inspection Unit. Those keys can easily be purchased on the internet, he said.
But under a new city ordinance, local gas pump owners and operators have until Jan. 1 to change the locks on their pumps so they require more unique keys to open them.
About 70 percent of stations in Madison have changed their locks so far, Bunnow said.
Bunnow said its been more than three months since the first skimmer was found in Madison. Since then, inspectors have swept across the city three or four times, checking pumps for devices, and will continue to look for them.
Ryan said the best thing for consumers to do is to regularly check their credit card accounts for fraudulent activity, then contact their bank and police if any is seen.
He said police are trying to partner with banks to look for patterns in the appearance of fraudulent charges.
Samaan Lateef
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, November 18
With the cancellation of the winter and summer secretariats, region-centric politics and rift between the PDP and BJP ministers have adversely affected the work culture of J&K in the past nearly two years.
Most of the senior BJP ministers of the PDP-BJP coalition government were absent from their duties when the civil secretariat the highest seat of governance was in the summer capital, Srinagar, this year. Deputy Chief Minister and Power Minister Nirmal Singh and Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Sham Lal Chaudhary were mostly absent while Health Minister Bali Bhagat took 88 days to visit Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar, which received the highest number of injured during the four-month long unrest.
Similarly, the PDP ministers had skipped their duties when the Darbar offices opened in the winter capital, Jammu.
The civil secretariat closes here as part of the 144-year-old-tradition of the biannual shuttling of government offices for six months between the twin capitals Srinagar and Jammu.
Why should we be here when the BJP ministers dont attend secretariat in Srinagar, a senior PDP Cabinet minister told this reporter at Jammu in January. He left the Jammu office and didnt return for the next 20 days. They (BJP ministers) prefer to visit their constituencies rather than attend the civil secretariat in Srinagar, he said.
The trend continued when the Darbar moved to Srinagar in April and people had to face huge inconvenience due to the absence of BJP ministers, who are holding important portfolios like power, health, irrigation and industries. The BJP ministers skipped their offices and spent most of their time in Jammu when the Valley was hit by a major unrest.
While the Darbar has moved to Jammu again for this winter and the civil secretariat opened there on November 7 for six months, the people have been complaining about the absence of the PDP ministers. It is surprising to see that none of the PDP ministers is here, said a Kashmiri resident, Syed Zahoor, who had gone to Jammu for grievance redressal. Zahoor returned home disappointed on last Friday.
Former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had introduced the concept of summer and winter secretariats in 2006 to keep the ministers available for the redressal of public grievances on rotation basis in both capitals. However, late former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed abandoned it last year.
Residents say the abandoning of the winter and summer secretariats had caused inconvenience to them because ministers were absent both in Jammu and Srinagar.
We know the internal rift between the PDP and BJP wont end soon. It has persisted for the past two years. The winter secretariat in Srinagar would have been helpful in addressing our grievances in harsh winter months ahead, Zahoor added. The ministers of both the ruling parties have fought tough verbal duels, after the Central government announced establishment of AIIMS in Kashmir. To placate the BJP leaders in Jammu, the Centre announced establishment of AIIMS in Jammu also.
The PDP-BJP government had to face a tough time with divergent views of its ministers on the NIT crisis, the ban on beef eating and treating of the state flag at par with the National Flag.
As the Darbar moves out of the capital cities, the administrative powers are vested in the divisional commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
Meanwhile, huge rush of people was seen outside the office of Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan in Srinagar on Friday. However, a majority of the people returned home disappointed with the complaint that their grievances were not addressed.
New Delhi, November 17
Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen SK Sinha passed away at a local hospital this morning after a brief illness. He was 92.
He was admitted to the base hospital on November 1 with a fracture in the femur bone and ribs and was shifted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital.
He is survived by his wife, son and IFS officer YK Sinha, current Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and three daughters. His funeral will take place tomorrow noon at the Brar Square crematorium here.
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Sinha led the first batch of Indian troops that entered Jammu and Kashmir when Pakistan raiders invaded in 1947. He later served as the Governor of the state.
He quit service after the government superseded him and appointed General AS Vaidya as the Army Chief. Lt Gen Sinha also served as Indias Ambassador to Nepal and Governor of Assam.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Twitter wrote: Lt Gen Sinha will be always remembered for his distinguished service to the nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: Had the opportunity of meeting Lt Gen (retd) Srinivas K Sinha just a few days ago. His service to our nation will always be remembered.
NC leader Farooq Abdullah and son Omar Abdullah also mourned his death. PTI
Johnson Thomas
Remember Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who was mentioned as author of a book that Harry Potter kept referring to for most of his answers to questions about charmed creatures? Well, thats the track brought alive in movie, the first of the five planned prequels that are expected to take the Pottermania to an all-new height.
Directed by David Yates- who helmed four potter movies, this mythical meandering is drawn into a script by series creator Rowling herself.
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) was once at Hogwarts, impressed Dumbledore, yet got kicked out for reasons not quite clear. He has since earned a name as a Magizoologist- known to save, heal and collect magical creatures while shifting them to a time-space portal that is fitted into an ordinary looking suitcase. So on his journey to New York, circa 1926, he has that suitcase with him, ostensibly to relocate some of the rare breeds of magical beasts he hopes to corral. But why does he have to bring some of those breed with him to New York? That is anybodys guess. If he didnt though, there wouldnt be much story to tell I guess!
You dont have to know Potter trivia to get involved here. And there are enough hooks, links, and call-backs to get the Potter fans to believe they are in the same universe - only slightly displaced.
New Delhi, November 18
Scoffing at rumours, the Finance Ministry on Friday said there was no move to seal bank lockers nor was it true that the ink of the new Rs 2,000 notes had been bleeding in some cases.
Myth: Next move is to seal bank lockers and confiscate gold, diamonds and jewellery. Reality: This is baseless. There is no proposal to seal bank lockers and confiscate the jewellery, the ministry tweeted in its official Twitter account.
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The ministry also said that the Rs 2,000 notes had a safety feature, which was called intaglio (a design that is incised or engraved into a material).
To identify a genuine note when you rub it against a cloth, a turbo-electric effect is generated and it is due to this that the notes ink gets transferred on to the cloth, the ministry said. IANS
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 18
The Supreme Court Collegium has brushed aside the Centres objections to 43 candidates recommended for appointment as high court judges.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Anil R Dave gave this information to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi while hearing PILs on the delay in filling the vacancies of HC judges.
It directed the government to complete the appointment process in three weeks.
At the last hearing on November 11, the AG had told the apex court that the Centre had rejected 43 of the 77 names suggested by the Collegium for appointment as HC judges and accepted the remaining 34 proposals.
Forty-three recommendations have been returned to the Collegium for reconsideration as the government noticed shortcomings in the proposals, the AG had said. With this, not a single recommendation was pending with the government, the AG said in response to a courts query as to why the Centre was sitting over the proposals at a time when the HC vacancies had mounted to 40 per cent.
When the case came up for hearing today, CJI Thakur told the AG that the three-member Collegium, meant for considering names for HC judges, had reiterated the recommendations after considering the governments objections and sent back the proposals. The CJI did not go into the details.
Now, the Centre is bound to accept the Collegiums recommendations as it can return the proposals only once for reconsideration in the light of adverse Intelligence inputs. The Collegium is free to accept or reject the governments objections.
Besides the CJI, the other members of the Collegium are Justice Dave, who retired today, and Justice JS Khehar. Justice Dipak Misra would replace Justice Dave in the Collegium on Saturday.
The appointment of SC judges is dealt with by a larger Collegium of five seniormost judges, including the CJI.
The Bench, however, did not specify the status of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which was under revision to infuse greater transparency and accountability in the process of appointing HC and SC judges.
At the last hearing, Rohatgi informed the Bench that the government was awaiting the response of the five-member SC Collegium to the draft MoP sent on August 2. CJI Thakur had said the Collegium was to meet on November 15.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 18
The situation arising out of the demonetisation decision in the country today continued to rock Parliament with the Opposition sticking to its demands for Prime Minister Narendra Modis presence in the Rajya Sabha and an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha.
With the ruling coalition and the Opposition remaining firm in their trenches, the political battle continued both within and outside Parliament even as the government warned of strict action against tax evaders using other peoples bank account to convert the unaccounted money.
Queues outside banks and post offices continued to remain long amid reassurances on the availability of enough cash. The State Bank of Indias scheme allowing fuel stations to dispense Rs 2,000 cash through debit cards got under way with reports of over 700 stations with point-of-sale option offering the facility.
For the second day in a row, both Houses witnessed tumultuous scenes with the Opposition adopting different tactics in either House. In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition insisted the Prime Minister attend the debate, which began on Wednesday, while in the Lok Sabha, the Congress and others wanted a discussion under a rule that entails voting.
An adjournment motion is one of it but the ruling coalition is not prepared to concede a debate other than under Rule 193 that does not entail voting. By pressing for a division, the Opposition hopes to bring into open the divisions within the ruling coalition and its allies on the issue of hardships being endured by the people in this currency exchange/withdrawal limits imposed on account of the move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 as legal tender on November 8.
The BJP opened another front attacking Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, for referring to the Uri terror attack in the context of demonetisation of currency notes.
Outside Parliament, both Congress and CPM kept up the attack as also other parties elsewhere. Addressing an Indian Youth Congress rally, senior party leader Anand Shrama questioned the absence of the Prime Minister from Parliament, while CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury in Thiruvananthapuram said Modi could not decide the way people lived. He said the existing currency should be allowed till adequate new currency was available and cautioned of widespread protests.
On reports of certain individuals using bank accounts of others to convert their black money into new denomination notes by offering rewards to the account holders, especially of zero-balance Jandhan accounts, the Ministry of Finance clarified that such activities could invite income tax and penalty. The account holder could also be acted against, it added.
Ahmedabad, November 17
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Gujarat has been postponed as he will be addressing a joint rally in Delhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today, Aam Aadmi Party said here.
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The AAP had yesterday announced that Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today to inaugurate a special ward and operation theatre of a hospital run by a local party leader in Mahuva town of Bhavnagar district.
"As it was decided that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address a joint rally in Delhi, his Gujarat visit has been postponed," AAP's media coordinator Harshil Nayak said.
"Instead of Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain will be coming to Mahuva to inaugurate the new facilities at Sadbhavna Trust Hospital run by AAP leader Kanu Kalsaria," he added. PTI
New Delhi, November 18
With rallies in Meerut, Lucknow and Prime Minister Narendra Modis home turf Varanasi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to intensify his fight against demonetisation, which he termed anti-national on Friday.
The Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener also plans to hold similar public meetings in poll bound Punjab and many other parts of the country.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief will address the rallies in Meerut, Varanasi and Lucknow on December 1, 8 and 18 respectively, party spokesperson Deepak Bajpai said.
Kejriwal, who had given a three-day ultimatum to the Centre to roll back demonetisation yesterday, said he would decide his next course of action after consulting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
It is anti-national to support demonetisation in the present form, which is the biggest scam, worth Rs 8 lakh crore, in independent Indias history, Kejriwal said.
He will also be live on social media site Facebook at 7 pm tomorrow, to apprise the people on the currency crisis and will also produce documents against the Prime Minister.
Between November 20 and November 30, he will address 21 rallies in Punjab, starting from Sukhbir Singh Badals constituency Jalalabad.
AAP is locked in a triangular contest with the Congress and incumbent BJP-SAD alliance in the state which goes to polls early next year.
Although the exact number of public meetings is yet to be ascertained, about 90 such meetings are being planned across the country where he will garner support against demonetisation of high value currency, party sources said.
Kejriwal had pitted himself against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, which he had lost by over 3 lakh votes.
Asked about BJPs criticism that he was siding with scam-tainted Trinamool Congress, Kejriwal said he would like the Centre to probe everyone including myself and Mamata Banerjee, but who is stopping it from doing so despite having all the agencies at its disposal.
Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted that the decision taken by a government that has lost connect with people smacked of insensitivity.
I am very sad that FM has plainly refused to even review and consider rollback. Modi govt has lost connect wid people n has become very insensitive, Kejriwal tweeted. PTI
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 18
Indian Navy on Friday dismissed reports that its submarines were chased away by Pakistan warships, as some reports by the neighbours media had claimed.
Indian Navy spokesperson Capt DK Sharma said that none of its submarines was in Pakistans waters and, therefore, there was no question of being driven out.
A Pakistan Navy spokesman said the Indian submarines were detected near Pakistan's territorial waters but had been pushed back.
"The Indian Navy, in order to fulfil its nefarious designs, was deploying submarines. The Pakistan Navy, alert and using its extreme skill, prevented Indian submarines from entering Pakistani waters," the Pakistan Navy spokesman said in a statement. "Pakistan Navy fleet units detected the presence of Indian submarines in the southern parts of Pakistani waters...and restricted their activity."
Territorial waters are defined as 12 nautical miles (22.2kms) from shore. (With inputs from PTI)
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 18
The Supreme Court today rejected the Centres plea for restraining high courts from hearing cases pertaining to demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. A Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that going by the long queues outside banks it was clear the problem was serious.
People are affected, frantic and have the right to approach courts. The fact that they are going to different courts shows the magnitude of the problem, the Bench remarked.
It was hearing the governments application in a case of four PILs on the problems faced by people in meeting day-to-day expenses since November 9 when the two high-denomination currents ceased to be legal tender.
As the Bench was not inclined to make the HCs out of bounds, the AG said he would file a petition pleading for consolidation of all demonetisation-related cases pending in various HCs and their transfer to any particular HC to avoid confusion arising from several courts passing conflicting orders.
The Bench also questioned the logic behind reducing the limit for exchanging old currency with new notes from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000, particularly after it had asked the government to ease the withdrawal norms. The AG said decisions were being taken on an hourly basis after reviewing the situation.
Appearing for one of the petitioners, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the government had no right to cap the cash withdrawals at Rs 25,000 a week.
The Bench would hear the PILs on November 25.
The newest member of the Madison Police Department weighs 1,700 pounds, loves carrots and wears metal shoes.
Cooper, a four-year-old Percheron horse, made his first appearance as a member of the mounted unit on Friday.
Cooper joins four other horses in the mounted unit, and will serve on neighborhood patrol as well as in crowd management, search and rescue and in demonstrations.
The John Sheehan family was the major donor to fund Cooper's position on the police force. Sheehan is president of UW Health at the American Center and senior vice president of UW Health.
New Delhi, November 18
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Indian Railways should transform with changing times and that it should focus on "new speeds, progress and new capacity", along bolstering its finances.
Modi, whose government has decided to scrap the 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Railway Budget, said that the annual ritual was never a "political agenda" for him and that he had taken the "courageous" decision of keeping himself "free from the love for political gains (from railways)".
The Prime Minister, who is stated to have sold tea at railway stations in his childhood, said he had special affection for the railways considering that he had spent so much of his early days at railway platforms and had seen the largest public transporter from close quarters.
"The century has changed, so the railways should also change. There should be new speed, progress and new capacity," he said addressing railway employees via video conferencing at the 'Rail Vikas Shivir' (rail development camp) being held in Surajkund on the outskirts of Delhi. He will be visiting the camp on Sunday, the concluding day of the event.
Noting that the current century is technology driven, Modi pitched for innovation to make the railways strong.
His comments came against the backdrop of efforts to introduce high-speed trains in the country, for which technology and monetary assistance is being taken from Japan whose bullet train is world class. The first high-speed corridor is to be built between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, construction for which will begin in 2018.
Modi underlined the need for making the railways financially strong, which he said would bring benefits for the country and particularly those working for the transporter.
He expressed confidence in the railway workforce but emphasised that they should work together and think about the railways can be strengthened.
Referring to the Railway Budget whose separate presentation has been scrapped now, the Prime Minister said it used to be an exercise focussed on ensuring that MP got which train and who got stoppages.
"There used to clapping on such announcements (in Parliament). When I took over, I noticed that 1500 announcements (regarding railways) had been made previously that had remained confined only to clapping," he said.
"I could have done the same thing and collected claps and praise. But I remained "free from the love for political gains. I showed courage," Modi said, while asserting that he has "no political agenda" to pursue through the railways.
Departing from the earlier practice, the Modi government in the last two Railway Budgets has not announced launch of any new train. PTI
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 18
The Congress today blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation move for the death of 55 persons across the country seeking his apology for the same.
Attacking the PM for taking a dictatorial decision, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, The dictatorial decision of PM Modi has led to these deaths. Who will take responsibility? The PM must apologise. The whole country is suffering because of the eccentricity of one man. People are standing in queues and have died trying to withdraw money for their wards weddings.
The Congress also asked for old currency to be permitted for agricultural purchases besides permission to cooperative banks in rural areas to exchange old currency.
Noting that the government had changed its rules on the decision 18 times since its announcement on November 8, Surjewala said it would take many months to replenish the cash in the economy.
He argued that firms printing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes in India do not have adequate capacity to print new currency in a short period. Surjewala asked the government whether or not it would take months to replace 86 per cent currency that stands withdrawn after demonetisation.
Countrys agricultural economy has been shattered. All cooperative, land development banks, land cooperative societies have been left out of the ambit of banks allowed to exchange currency. The Agriculture Minister asked for old notes to be allowed for farm purchases, but a tuglaqi PM trashed this suggestion, Surjewala added.
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, November 18
The Supreme Court Collegium has brushed aside the Centres objection to 43 candidates recommended for appointment as high court judges.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Anil R Dave gave this information to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi while hearing PILs over the delay in filling up the vacancies of HC judges.
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It directed the government to complete the appointment process in three weeks.
At the last hearing on November 11, the AG had told the apex court that the Centre had rejected 43 of the 77 names suggested by the Collegium for appointment as HC judges and accepted the remaining 34 proposals.
43 recommendations have been returned to the Collegium for reconsideration as the government noticed shortcomings in the proposals, the AG had said.
"With this, not a single recommendation was pending with the government, the AG said in response to a courts query as to why the Centre was sitting over the proposals at a time when the HC vacancies had mounted to 40 per cent.
When the case came up for hearing today, CJI Thakur told the AG that the three-member SC Collegium, meant for considering names for HC judges, had reiterated the recommendations after considering the governments objections and sent back the proposals. The CJI did not go into the details.
Now, the Centre is bound to accept the Collegiums recommendations as it can return the proposals only once for reconsideration in the light of adverse intelligence inputs. The Collegium is free to accept or reject the governments objections.
Besides the CJI, the other members of the Collegium are Justice Dave, who retired today, and Justice JS Khehar. Justice Dipak Misra would replace Justice Dave tomorrow in the Collegium.
The appointment of apex court judges are dealt with by a larger SC Collegium of five senior most judges, including the CJI.
The Bench, however, did not specify the status of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) which was under revision to infuse greater transparency and accountability in the process of appointing HC and SC judges.
At the last hearing, Rohatgi had informed the Bench that the government was awaiting the response of the five-member SC Collegium to the draft MoP sent to it on August 2. CJI Thakur had said the Collegium was slated to meet on November 15 to consider the MoP.
Kolkata, November 18
Amid a cash crunch in the city after the demonetisation of high-value currency notes, a youth lost his life in a Kolkata hospital on Friday as a medical store refused to accept the scrapped notes for the critically needed medical tape.
Siba Das (16) was admitted to the emergency department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here with high fever on Thursday morning.
A local medical store allegedly refused to sell duct tape for the patient as his family members had only Rs 500 currency notes.
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I wanted to buy for the patient a duct tape, which costs Rs 180. But the store refused to accept the Rs 500 note despite the patients critical condition, complained Sambhu Das, a relative of the teenager.
Though the government has demonetised the high denomination bills of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, it has asked the public sector hospitals and medical facilities to accept the old bills for helping the patients.
The owner of the medical store, however, denied the allegation saying they asked the patients family to take away the medicines on loan as they did not have change of Rs 500 at that point.
We did not have change for Rs 500. So we asked the patient party to take the necessary apparatus on loan. But they did not agree, Tushar Kanti Ghosh, owner of Kamala Medical Store, said.
The family members of the teenager staged a protest in front of the emergency ward of RG Kar hospital on Thursday evening.
We will lodge a police complaint against the store, a family member said. IANS
Two men with a gun robbed a store in Janesville Thursday, police said.
The two young men displayed a handgun and demanded money from Denney's Grain and Grape on Racine Street around 5:45 p.m., Sgt. Mark Ratzlaff said.
The men left with an undisclosed amount of cash, Ratzlaff said.
The robbers are described as young males between 5 feet 6 inches and 6 feet tall, Ratzlaff said. He said one of the men is thin and the other has a medium build.
GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, November 18
A local court on Friday formally framed charges against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Ashish Khetan and Sanjay Singh in a defamation case in which the leaders had accused Punjabs Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia of running a drug trade.
While Majithia a leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal made a personal appearance in court, AAPs lawyers represented the three leaders after the court exempted Kejriwal AAPs national convenor from personal appearance on October 15.
The SAD leader claimed Kejriwal would try to employ delaying tactics to avoid conviction, just as he was doing in some defamation cases in Delhi.
I dare him to come for day-to-day hearing. I will ensure that the sarkari gaadi takes him to jail within a month, he said.
The court will hear the case on December 4.
This is the second case Majithia has filed against AAPs think-tank member Khetan and the partys Punjab affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh, but the first against Kejriwal. He had previously sued Sanjay Singh for criminal defamation in a Ludhiana court on January 12, 2015, also over the same allegations. Singh was granted bail in the case.
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 18
The Punjab Government went ahead with its October 25 decision to regularise 27,059 ad hoc, contractual and temporary employees despite a stiff opposition by the Personnel Department during the finalisation of the Bill for the purpose.
The legislation The Punjab (Group B and Group C) Employees Welfare Bill, 2016, and The Punjab (Group D) Employees Welfare Bill, 2016 cleared by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in form of an ordinance awaits a formal clearance by the Governor.
The beneficiaries are employed in zila parishads, block samitis, municipal committees, municipal corporations, boards, corporations, undertakings, apex cooperative societies, education and health departments.
The Personnel Department, in its first reply to the proposal in September, said these employees were recruited under certain schemes of the Centre for specific projects. Since these projects were no longer running, the staff served no purpose. These employees were paid through funds received from the Centre, and the state government would find it hard to manage funds for them.
The communication said the proposal did not specify if Home Guards, volunteers and Special Protection Group (SPG) staff would be regularised. There was also no clarity on the regularisation of staff working under the midday meal scheme. No other state had regularised workers under the midday meal scheme, it said.
The communication said no steps had been taken to ensure cost-effectiveness of the exercise or during restructuring and rationalisation of human resources. Certain posts were redundant or belonged to a dying cadre that would add to the losses in public sector undertakings, it said.
Such "sweeping laws" should not be introduced without discussion with the departments concerned, it suggested.
Replying to the proposal sent for a legal opinion before its clearance by a sub-committee comprising Industry and Commerce Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, Finance Minister Parminder Dhindsa, Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, Minister for Local Government and Education Daljit Cheema, in October, the Accountant General (Punjab) said: The matter does not fall in the domain of legal issue on which any opinion is required. The file is thus being returned for want of any legal issues.
Welfare state has to sometimes make arrangements for social welfare of the needy, a senior officer said.
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 18
Three days after announcing to return the land acquired for the SYL canal project over three decades ago, the Punjab Government has managed to change the mutation of almost 3,500 acres back in the names of the original landowners.
The largest chunk 1,500 acres is in Patiala district. While 70 percent of this land in Patiala has been returned to the owners through a change in mutation, the entire land acquired for the disputed canal in other districts has been returned to the farmers from who it was acquired between 1984 and 1987.
As many as 1,249 acres spread across 64 villages in Ropar, 735 acres (15 villages) in Mohali and 552.58 acres (36 villages) in Fatehgarh Sahib have been returned.
Any agency that is assigned the task of building the canal will now have to re-acquire the land. The revenue staff in these districts was working overtime and had been given the target to finish all mutations tonight. Sources in the Revenue Department told The Tribune that the staff in Patiala had been asked to complete the land mutation for the entire 1,500 acres, spread over 46 villages, by midnight.
Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia wrote letters to the deputy commissioners, subdivisional magistrates, tehsildars, naib tehsildars, kanungos and patwaris in these districts to help the state government implement the Cabinet decision of vesting land in the owners.
In case the original landowners have passed away, the mutation automatically gets transferred in the name of his or her direct descendants, he said.
The land mutation was changed after the Department of Irrigation first issued a notification de-notifying all land acquired for the SYL canal, free from all encumbrances. This notification was issued on November 16, a day after the Council of Ministers decided to de-notify the land.
Capt asks Harsimrat, SAD MPs to resign
Chandigarh: Accusing the Akalis of politicising the SYL issue, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday asked Harsimrat Kaur Badal and other SAD MPs to resign to prove their sincerity to the people of the state on the matter. Why hasnt Harsimrat resigned from Parliament and the Union Cabinet? Why are the other Akali MPs not willing to give up their membership? Amarinder asked, adding, Do they have no pain for Punjab? Like her husband, brother and father-in-law, who are all trying to save their positions in the Punjab Government by hook or by crook, Harsimrat is only interested in keeping her Parliament membership secure, said Amarinder. TNS
Amarinder asked to meet Speaker over resignation
New Delhi: Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh, who quit the Lok Sabha over the SYL issue, has been asked to meet the LS Speaker and put in his papers in the prescribed format. A communication was sent to the PPCC chief after his resignation letter was examined by the Secretariat. As per Rule 240 (under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha), a member who desires to resign his seat in the House shall intimate in writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker, his intention to resign his seat in the House in the following form and shall not give any reason for his resignation. TNS
Rudrabhishek Infosystem Pvt Ltd (RIPL) in collaboration with Graphisoft Budapest, Hungary will be organising a conference on Building Information Modeling (BIM) in New Delhi on November 22. The conference will focus on honing industry professionals skills and aims to bring together the government officials, educationalists and BIM Industry experts around the region to present and discuss on the latest development in BIM Technology and its dynamic impact on Designing Architectural Engineering and Construction Industry. It will provide an opportunity to all delegates, professionals, studentsand young investigators to attend and learn new practices. The event will be inaugurated by the Chief Guest Shri S C Gaur, CAP Agra Development Authority (Ex CAP Noida Development Authority).
Cushman & Wakefield India appoints new MD
Cushman & Wakefield has appointment of Saurabh Shatdal as Managing Director for Developer & Investor services. Based in Mumbai, Saurabh will spearhead the firms focus and commitment in providing asset owners with an integrated and strategic approach to better manage and optimise their real estate assets across the entire development lifecycle.
Experience Center
Real estate portal Magicbricks recently launched an experience Centre in Mumbai. This centre is located at concourse 3 at the recently inaugurated Magicbricks Western Express Highway Metro station at Andheri. The experience center bridges gap between a buyer and a seller by using technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, on-demand video-call etc. The centre has 6 distinct components which allow a buyer to perform a wide range of tasks ranging from browsing property listings, to using various financial calculators, to property comparisons, virtually speaking to an advisor, immersive walkthroughs, and touchscreen based map searches.
Hollywood Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has been bestowed GQ magazines highest honour in its December issue.
The proud Aussie, talented surfer, doting dad and charitable, grounded, funny and successful actor has been announced as GQ Man Of The Year at the Australian award ceremony in Sydney.
His colleagues also find it hard to say a bad word about the Ghosbusters star, who was once named People magazines Sexiest Man Alive.
In the issue, Hemsworths Thor co-star Tom Hiddleston sums up the actor appeal.
One morning on the set of Thor: Ragnarok, I watch Chris zero in on an important scene between Thor and Loki with razor-sharp focus and commitment. The scene required a lot of nuance, but he wanted to shoot it quickly, because he had to be off-set by lunchtime in order to make it to father-daughter day at school in the afternoon, Hiddleston shared.
Thats a Man Of The Year if ever I saw one, the British heartthrob told the magazine.
While receiving the award, Hemsworth thanked his wife, Elsa Pataky and all the great women of the world, saying, You cant have a great man without a great woman.
Other honorees include Dylan Alcott for Sportsman of the Year, Iggy Azalea as Woman of the Year, Shannon Bennett as Chef of the Year, Kyle Chalmers for Breakthrough Sportsman of the Year and many more. ANI
THE Senate of Punjab University on Friday considered the new regulations for the Medical Compartment examinations and adopted them with an amendment moved by Lala Durga Das. The result of the new regulation will be that in the First and Second Professional examinations a candidate who fails in one subject only but has obtained 33 per cent of the aggregate marks and not less than 25 per cent in the subject in which he has failed may be permitted to appear in that subject only at a special supplementary examination to be held in September of the same year, on payment of the same fee as for the whole examination, and if he obtains 33 per cent he shall be deemed to have passed the whole examination.
ACCORDING to the recent change that was made in the allotment of Rhodes scholarships, the value of 12 scholarships have been reduced. Mr. King objecting to the Bill in the House of Commons, stated that in place of the 15 German scholarships, the Bill proposed to set up 12 scholarships of 300 a year which was 150 less than the original amount. And no definite date was given when the scholarships would be re-allotted. Col. Yate suggested that India should share in the benefit of the scholarships. It was explained that the Trustees themselves could apply the Rhodes scheme of scholarships to portions of the Empire not included in his original plan, and there was nothing to prevent them from including India. Mr. Rhodes view was that an understanding between the three great powers of England, America and Germany would render was impossible.
Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, November 18
President of social organisation Friends of Uttarakhand Vinod Prakash Thapliyal today alleged that the clock tower at Landour Bazaar was being reconstructed in violation of the orders of the Uttarakhand High Court. He warned he would approach the high court if its orders were not followed.
Thapliyal, while speaking with mediapersons here, said the clock tower was demolished to pave the way for a new one at a cost of Rs 19 lakh during the term of previous Municipal Council president OP Uniyal. He had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against the Mussoorie Municipal Council in the Uttarakhand High Court to highlight corruption in the matter, besides other issues. The high court ordered a CBI investigation into the issue. The CBI found the charges of financial embezzlement to be true.
The court following the submission of the probe report directed the present Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall to reconstruct the clock tower at the same cost and at the same plinth level. It had directed the council that Sanjay Narang, the businessman who was involved in the construction of the clock tower during Uniyals tenure, should reconstruct it. The court on the failure of the council directed it to respond within 15 days on the issue but it did not follow the order.
Thapliyal said the high court had levied a fine on the ropeway contractors for financial embezzlement. It directed the council to levy a fine on the contractors at Rs 10 per ticket but the council did not follow the order. He asked public representatives to tell what relaxation had been given to people under the freeze zone clause as being publicised by various leaders.
He said any government order on the freeze zone that was introduced by undivided Uttar Pradesh had become null and void. He added that the relaxation under the freeze zone clause should be extended to all and not a select few who had the money and muscle to twist the law.
He said people would not get justice if the Urban Development Secretary held the post of the vice-chairman of the MDDA also. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard who responded within three hours and directed the officials concerned to investigate the matter. But the CM and Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal ignored the matter. He appealed to the people of town to join in the drive against corruption in the MC and the MDDA for speedy justice. Mussoorie Traders Association president Rajat Agarwal and local Congress president Satish Dhaundiyal were present on the occasion.
Tribune News Service
Dehradun/Gopeshwar, Nov 18
The Uttarakhand Assembly today passed a resolution, making it imperative for the next government to hold the Budget session of 2017-18 in Gairsain. The Assembly sought Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development of Bhararisain in Gairsain.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat, in his 40-minute address at the Assembly, underlined his governments commitment in granting the remote hill town the status of a permanent capital. Gairsain is not just a political slogan for us. We are trying to develop suitable infrastructure in Gairsain in keeping with the sentiments associated with the place. We are trying to build a consensus over the vexed issue of granting it the status of permanent capital, Rawat said, addressing the state assembly on the second day of its ongoing session in Gairsain.
He flayed the Opposition for boycotting the Assembly session . The state government has set up Gairsain Vikas Parishad for the development of the hill town. The Centre is already providing assistance to Andhra Pradesh for developing a capital, so Uttarakhand should also be given assistance on the similar lines, he said.
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, which spearheaded the statehood agitation in the 1990s, is in favour of the hill town in Chamoli district to be declared permanent capital. With the BJP staging a walkout in the House to mount pressure on the ruling dispensation to shed its ambivalence over the permanent capital status to Gairsain, Rawat said the government wanted the overall development of the town with maximum connectivity, besides availability of power and water.
He said if steps were taken immediately after the formation of the state towards making a permanent capital in accordance with the aspirations of statehood agitators, things would have been easier.
At the time when the state was created, locating the capital anywhere with far shabbier infrastructure would not have raised eyebrows. So much has changed since then. Now, we need suitable infrastructure. We are working on a plan to develop a better township in Gairsain, the Chief Minister said.
He added that road connectivity is being improved and the airstrip in Gauchar is also being upgraded to make it suitable for large-bodied airplanes.
There is also a proposal for a new airport at Ramdeval in Chaukhutia, he said.
As many as 21 legislations, including those related to the creation of five universities, an amendment Bill pertaining to the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Council and creation of a special river valley authority were also passed amid a walkout by BJP members.
Meanwhile, Cooperative Minister Yashpal Arya put forth a resolution, expressing concern over adverse impact on cooperative banks in the state due to the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs1,000 currency notes.
The Assembly asked the Centre to allow exchange of demonetised high value currency notes at cooperative banks.
(With inputs from PTI)
Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, November 18
The rush of customers to get banned old currency notes exchanged from banks in Mussoorie has decreased due to the fear of indelible ink, easing pressure on bank employees.
Reports that black marketeers were hiring people to stand in queues and get their black money exchanged for new currency notes using different identification papers forced the Central government to resort to the use of indelible ink that is used during voting in the elections. Banks and ATM booths witnessed less crowds today and people found it easy to get their old currency notes exchanged at the State Bank of India, Kulri branch. Ramesh Bisht, an advocate from Dehradun, said he thought it would be difficult to get old currency notes totalling Rs 2,000 exchanged in Mussoorie but it was a pleasant surprise as there were fewer customers in the bank.
Neeraj, a local resident, said earlier his relative found it difficult to withdraw money from bank due to long queues but surprisingly the crowd was thin today. Vivek Sinha, branch Manager of State Bank of India, said things eased out today, much to the relief of all. The number of customers wanting to exchange currency notes has come down considerably since the introduction of indelible ink clause. This has brought relief to the bank staff who have been working tirelessly, he added.
There were less customers at Syndicate Bank. Its branch manager Govind Prasad Dobhal said the number of people visiting the branch for exchanging currency notes has reduced and they cater to regular customers. Deposits and the number of new bank accounts increased due to demonitisation.
Upendar, a local resident, demanded an investigation into the charge that some people allegedly in connivance with bank employees got large amounts of old currency exchanged. Bank officials, however, refuted the charges as baseless.
Manmohan Singh, a senior citizen, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the demonitisation decision to cleanse the economy of black money.
A member of the Russian feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot joined the Solidarity Singalong outside the state Capitol on Friday.
Maria Alyokhina briefly joined in the singing but mostly posed for photos and signed autographs during the ongoing noontime protest against Gov. Scott Walker, which has gathered at the Capitol almost every weekday since March 2011.
This protest is really great, Alyokhina told the crowd. I hope we will have something like that in Russia.
Alyokhina was one of the groups members who was sentenced to prison for hooliganism after a performance inside a Moscow cathedral in 2012 and later released in response to an international outcry.
In early 2014 she and another member recorded a video asking Wisconsin officials to drop charges against hundreds of Solidarity Singalong members who had been arrested and ticketed for demonstrating without a permit in the Capitol rotunda. The state decided not to appeal a Wisconsin appeals court determination that the rules used to issue tickets were unconstitutional.
Alyokhina spoke at a UW-Madison event Thursday evening, where, according to a YouTube video of the event, she told the crowd you have a good culture of rioting here and Scott Walker should somehow be sent away.
Singalong regular Greg Gordon gave Alyokhina a bag of Solidarity Singalong T-shirts, CDs and books at the UW-Madison event and asked her to join the group for their Friday singalong.
It was a thrill, Gordon said afterward. It validates everything that weve been doing here. As she said, its up to us to decide what kind of society we really want to have.
BD Kasniyal
Pithoragarh, November 18
Nepalese traders are demanding facilities to exchange old Indian currency notes in banks at border towns of Jhoolaghat, Jauljibi, Dharchula, Tanakpur and Banbasa that their Indian clients have paid them to purchase goods from them.
Shopkeepers in border towns of Nepal import cement, ready-made clothes, food items and cosmetics from Indian traders and sell goods manufactured in countries such as China and Korea to Indian clients. Traders from India and Nepal can easily enter either country without visa due to the friendship treaty of 1950. The problem arose after the banks in Nepal refused to accept and exchange Indian currency notes after the Indian government decided to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8, said Suresh Thapa, a trader at Darchula town in Nepal bordering Dharchula in Pithoragarh district.
Thapa said the free trade between the two nations was suffering as neither Indian banks were allowing Nepalese traders to exchange old Indian currency notes nor banks in Nepal were accepting them. Besides businessmen, labourers and farmers in Nepal have been affected with the demonetisation decision of the Indian Government, as most of them use Indian currency at least in towns and villages situated along the Indian border, said Pushakar Raj Joshi, another businessman in Darchula town.
Joshi added they were planning to meet with Indian officers soon to find a solution to the problem.
Shopkeepers in Mahendra Nagar town of Kanchanur district of Nepal bordering Banbasa town in Champawat district are witnessing a fall in business up to 70 per cent, as most of their clients come from India to purchase goods. Besides the problem of exchanging a huge amount of Indian currency lying with us, we are getting fewer customers for our woollen clothes due to the cash crunch following demonetisation in India, said Indradev, a shopkeeper in Mahendra Nagar town of Nepal.
In Pithoragarh town, a delegation of Congress workers met the district administration authorities today and requested them to write a letter to the Central Government to send new currency notes by helicopters as soon as possible. As Pithoragarh town is situated along the borders with China and Nepal, the Central government should send new currency notes by helicopters as it did in case of Jharkhand recently, said Shankar Kharayat, a Congress leader, who led the delegation.
MOSUL (Iraq), November 17
A vehicle shielded with metal plates and driven by a suicide attacker turned onto a main road filled with soldiers in eastern Mosul and burst into a ball of fire, causing several casualties.
As it careered down the road it was riddled with gunfire as Iraqi forces responded to the latest Islamic State counterattack against their push to reclaim the northern city.
This and what followed on Thursday were indicative of the challenges Iraq's US-backed military faces in fighting enemies who are willing to kill themselves to defend their last major stronghold in the country while surrounded by well over a million civilians.
Elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) forces posted at intersections along the road pounded targets a few hundred metres away with heavy machine gun fire. Sharpshooters honed in on black-clad figures scurrying across rooftops or popping out of houses with AK-47s to take a few pot shots.
An hour later, a US-led coalition airstrike pounded an Islamic State mortar position before soldiers launched a dozen mortars of their own in a bid to eliminate a gunman who had been spotted and only seemed to get closer.
A commercial drone circling overhead drew gunfire from troops unsure if it belonged to Islamic State or the Iraqi military.
All the while, scores of residents carrying backpacks, shopping bags and even pots and pans were fleeing across the frontlines as hundreds more crouched inside their homes in areas retaken by the military a day earlier.
The offensive to take the largest city under Islamic State control in Iraq or Syria is turning into the biggest battle in Iraq's turbulent history since the US-led invasion in 2003.
The advance entered a second month on Thursday.
The heavy presence of civilians in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, has forced the government to slow its campaign that has nearly surrounded the metropolis but so far only breached the jihadists' defences from the eastern side.
The military regularly diverts resources to feed, transport and provide medical care to civilians caught in the crossfire, and soldiers are constantly making tough calls about whether to risk their own lives by giving residents the benefit of the doubt or to open fire on potentially innocent civilians.
"No car is allowed here," said a CTS soldier standing on the main road in Tahrir district where the car bomb had gone off moments earlier. "We shoot any car we see moving, even if there is a family inside because there is a good chance they are wearing suicide vests."
The soldiers, who have rooftop lookouts across the front, say they have learned to identify potential assailants from afar through clues like dress and gait.
"They have destroyed the neighbourhood," said a young boy collecting unused machine gun rounds from the road amid clashes, though it was unclear which side he was blaming.
Informants
The mixing of Islamic State fighters with residents is slowing but not stopping the military's drive to defeat a ruthless enemy while protecting civilians, said Captain Hussam al-Aboudi, who was commanding soldiers in Tahrir district on Thursday.
"We have sources, we have the names of Daesh fighters, we know them," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. "Residents also give us information like they say, 'Daesh posted a sniper on top of my house.'" Earlier in the day, a man in the adjacent Zahra neighbourhood, which the military recaptured earlier this week from the jihadists, approached a black military Humvee to share a tip.
"Last night around 11 o'clock I heard a commotion in that house ... yes, the red one. It's a Daesh house. You guys need to search it," he told the driver through the driver-side window.
It was not clear if that lead produced any results, but a CTS major told Reuters that a day earlier his men had detained four Islamic State fighters holed up in a house in Zahra on the advice of another tipster.
The Iraqis rely on informants inside the city both in Islamic State-held areas and those recaptured from the militants for intelligence on everything from the location of foot soldiers to the habits and thinking of top leaders.
Zahra resident Alaa Youssef, 47, said civilians in Mosul had an obligation to inform the military about Islamic State fighters who had hidden inside houses or shaved their beards and changed their clothing to blend in with civilians.
"It is (the civilians') last chance to have a role, not just in Tahrir but in all of Mosul," he said outside his home, which had been hit by an Islamic State mortar two days earlier.
"If they do not cooperate and work together, we will go back to the same situation." Reuters
Mosul, November 18
US-backed Iraqi troops expanded their foothold on the eastern side of Islamic State's stronghold of Mosul on Friday, as the group pledged to mount more suicide attacks on their offensive to take the city.
The elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) stormed the Tahrir district on the northeastern edge of Mosul, the last major city under control of the Sunni hard-line group in Iraq.
A Reuters correspondent reporting from the CTS-held line in Tahrir saw civilians streaming out of the nearby Aden district where fighting blazed, pushing trolleys containing their belongings and carrying home-made white flags.
The women were still shrouded in black robes imposed by the militants but most had uncovered their faces as they fled intense fighting.
Militants have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the battle started on October 17, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition.
"The advance is slow due to the civilians," said CTS Lt.
General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi, adding that the US-trained unit aims to clear the rest of the neighborhood during the day.
A Friday prayer sermon referring to "mujahideen", or holy warriors, could be heard coming from a mosque under control of the jihadis in the vicinity. An armed man, possibly a sniper, was in the minaret of the mosque.
As the offensive entered its second month, Iraqi government forces are still fighting in a dozen of about 50 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River that runs through its centre.
Militants are dug in among the civilians as a defence tactic to hamper air strikes, moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire.
Ready for martyrdom
A loud explosion was heard several streets away from the CTS lines. An officer said it was a suicide bomber who blew himself up after being surrounded in a house. The CTS unit was using a drone to try to detect insurgents.
The number of fighters who are ready to blow themselves up is increasing, an insurgent commander told Islamic State's weekly magazine, al-Nabaa, published online on Thursday.
"We're giving you the good news that the number of brothers ready for martyrdom is very large and, with God's grace, the brothers who are demanding martyr operations are increasing," said the commander, who was not named.
The offensive to take Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control in either Iraq or Syria, is turning into the biggest battle in Iraq's turbulent history since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The CTS became the only unit to have breached the city limits from the eastern side two weeks ago. Other army units have yet to breach the northern and the southern sides.
Iranian-backed militias earlier this week announced the capture of the Tal Afar air base, west of Mosul part of their campaign to choke off the route between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the caliphate Islamic State declared in 2014.
The base is located just south of Tal Afar, a mostly ethnic Turkmen town that Turkey would not want to fall under the control of the mostly pro-Iranian militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi.
The Hashid plans to besiege the town for now, a spokesman of Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main paramilitary groups making up the coalition, said on Friday.
Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units.
Drawn-out battle
Iraqi authorities have declined to give a timeline for recapture of the whole city, but the battle is likely to last for months. Militants have launched waves of counter-attacks against advancing forces, tying them down in lethal urban combat in narrow streets still full of residents.
The Islamic State commander cited in al-Nabaa said the battles with the Shi'ite paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilisation west of Mosul will continue "in long episodes".
Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the Mosul campaign overall either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted thousands of casualties in enemy ranks.
A resident said a mother and her three children were killed in Instissar, one of the eastern neighborhood already taken by the CTS, when a mortar shell hit their home, probably fired by Islamic State.
Nearly 59,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to UN estimates.
The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city as human shields.
In some cases, men of fighting age were separated from those groups and summarily killed, according to residents and rights groups. Human Rights Watch said on Thursday more than 300 former police officers were likely killed last month and buried in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul.
Mosul's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat. Reuters
Berlin, November 18
Angela Merkel says she feels a duty to serve her country and Europe, adding further fuel to rampant speculation she'll seek a fourth term as German chancellor.
Merkel spoke today after meeting with the leaders of the United States, Spain, Italy, France and Britain.
Asked how she sees her short- and long-term responsibilities, Merkel downplayed descriptions of herself as the last great defender of Western values following Donald Trump's election.
"One person alone can never solve everything," Merkel told reporters. Instead, she vowed to "perform my task as German chancellor, which on the one hand is to serve the people of Germany but it also includes working for the cohesion and success of Europe." Merkel is scheduled to hold a news conference late Sunday after meeting senior members of her party. AP
YANGON, November 15
Sixty-nine members of what Myanmar's government has described as a Rohingya Muslim militant group and 17 members of the security forces have been killed since the start of fighting in western Rakhine State, the army said on Tuesday.
The death toll, announced in the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar daily, demonstrates the scale of the escalation of the conflict since violence erupted a month ago.
Diplomats and observers have held out hope that the military will swiftly conclude its "clearance operation" in the troubled north of Rakhine, but the recent wave of killings has cast a doubt over such prospects.
The violence is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in Rakhine in 2012.
It has sharpened the tension between Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's six-month-old civilian administration and the army, which ruled for decades and retains key powers, including control of ministries responsible for security.
Soldiers have moved into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers.
They have locked down the area, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya Muslims, shutting out aid workers and independent observers, and conducted sweeps of villages.
A series of recent skirmishes and attacks had increased to 69 the tally of suspected Rohingya Muslim attackers killed since October 9, while the security forces' toll stands at 17, according to state-owned media.
Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are the majority in northern Rakhine but are denied citizenship, with many of the country's Buddhists regarding them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They face severe travel restrictions.
Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes in the recent violence.
The government and army reject the accusations, blaming the "violent attackers" for setting fires to homes.
Rohingya rights advocates have distributed online video images of what they said were civilian casualties of the attacks, urging the international community to investigate.
Authorities have denied independent journalists access to the area, so Reuters has been unable to independently verify either the military accounts or the video clips. Reuters
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 18
The India-Pakistan tension today shifted from Jammu and Kashmir to Arabian Sea where Islamabad and Beijing have been conducting a naval exercise.
Pakistan claimed to have detected an Indian submarine, which had violated the sea limits and said it was driven back", a claim New Delhi vehemently denied.
The Indian Navy refused to accept that its submarine had entered the territorial waters of Pakistan-that is 12 nautical miles (some 22 km) from the shore.
Pakistans Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) realised a video and pictures of a diesel-electric powered submarine while breathing or snorting (showing its periscope and masts above sea level even when the vessel is submerged and charging its batteries). The pictures and video indicate that the shots were from an infra-red camera or sensor, signifying these were captured at night from either a warship or a low-flying drone.
This, Pakistan claimed, was an Indian submarine, which had entered Pakistan's waters. India operates two varieties of the diesel-electric submarine-Russian-origin Kilo class and German-origin HDW. Indias nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra would not need to snort as a nuclear vessel need not charge its batteries at sea.
ISPR said, (Indian) submarine was deployed within Pakistani waters to secretly sneak into Pakistani limits; however, it was successfully traced. Meanwhile, the Pakistan-China navy exercise would enter its marine drill phase tomorrow.
"None of the Indian submarines was in Pakistan's waters and, therefore, there is no question of being driven out."- Capt DK Sharma, Navy spokesperson.
Washington, November 18
US President-elect Donald Trump today announced the names of three conservative loyalists and Army veterans to lead his national security and law enforcement teams, including Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Representative Mike Pompeo as CIA director.
Trump has chosen Lieutenant General Mike Flynn (retd) as the national security adviser, a position that does not require US Senate confirmation. All three men have accepted Trumps offer.
Pompeo, 52, a third-term congressman from Kansas, was a surprise pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. He was on the House of Representatives intelligence and energy and commerce committees, as well as the committee investigating the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Pompeo has echoed Trumps criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. In a tweet on Thursday, Pompeo wrote: I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism.
Flynn, a retired US Army three-star general and one of Trumps closest advisers, was fired from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, a move he has attributed to his telling hard truths about the war on Islamist extremism. Other officials who worked with Flynn cited his lack of management skills and leadership style as reasons for his firing.
In his latest book in August, Flynn had advocated cutting off aid to Pakistan, if it continued to help the jihadis. Countries like Pakistan need to be told that we will not tolerate the existence of training camps and safe havens for Taliban, Haqqani, and Al-Qaida forces on their territory, nor will we permit their banks and other financial institutions to move illicit funds for the terror network, Flynn had said in his latest book How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies that hit the book stands in August.
An Army intelligence veteran of three decades, Flynn was assistant director of national intelligence under Democratic President Barack Obama. He was director of intelligence for Joint Special Operations Command from July 2004 to June 2007, In choosing Sessions as the nations chief law enforcement officer, Trump awarded a loyalist whose hard-line and at times inflammatory statements on immigration were similar to his own.
Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Trumps promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
An Army veteran, Sessions is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of its Strategic Forces Subcommittee. Despite those qualifications, the 20-year congressional veteran could face resistance as he seeks Senate confirmation.
In 1986, Sessions became only the second nominee in 50 years to be denied confirmation as a federal judge after allegations that he had made racist remarks. Those included testimony that in 1986 he had called an African-American prosecutor boy, an allegation Sessions denied. Agencies
Man behind bringing Trump closer to Putin
Lt Gen Michael Flynn (retd), the NSA pick, has been a powerful influence on Trump, convincing him that the US is in a world war with Islamist militants and must work with any willing allies in the fight, including Russian President Vladimir Putin
He has served as Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, Pentagons top spy agency, and commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
A retired three-star General, Flynn also helped dismantle insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq
Anti-Iran Pompeo to lead CIA
Mike Pompeo, 52, a third-term congressman from Kansas, has been picked to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. He was on the House of Representatives intelligence, energy and commerce committees, as well as the committee investigating the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya
Pompeo has echoed Trumps criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. In a tweet recently, he wrote: I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism
Hes also a strong opponent of Obamacare
Mexico wall-backer to head law dept
Marrakesh, November 18
Nearly 200 countries, including India, have called for highest political commitment to combat the irreversible impact of climate change at a key UN summit here overshadowed by Donald Trumps threats to withdraw the US from the historic Paris agreement.
The Marrakesh Action Proclamation agreed by all the parties196 nations and the EU bloctaking part in the summit was read out at the Conference of Parties plenary session.
The declarationone of the main outcomes of the summitsaid the world has an urgent duty to respond to global warming. Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond. We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority. We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability, it said.
The call came on the penultimate day of the summit tasked with drafting a blueprint for enacting the Paris Agreement adopted last December, and since ratified by 111 countries.
According to the Paris pact, the goal of limiting average global warming is set at 2 degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, by cutting greenhouse gases.
The US, India, China and other countriescollectively the three biggest emittershave pledged to curb emissions under the deal by moving to renewable energy sources.
But US president-elect Trump has vowed to boost oil, gas and coal and cancel the Paris Agreement. Trump has termed climate change a hoax propagated by China, the second biggest emitter after the US.
The proclamation today noted extraordinary momentum underway on climate change, which it said was irreversible.
The 197 nations said they issue this declaration to signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development. PTI
Denise Rondini
For years there has been confusion around the term remanufacturing, making it difficult for fleets to make decisions about buying reman parts. Recently, however, six leading associations with members in the automotive sector reached agreement on both the term remanufacturing and core.
Heres what they agreed to:
Remanufacturing is a standard industrial process by which cores are returned to same-as-new, or better, condition and performance. The process is in line with specific technical specifications, including engineering, quality and testing standards. The process yields fully warranted products.
A core is a previously sold, worn or non-functional product or part, intended for the remanufacturing process. During reverse logistics, a core is protected, handled and identified for manufacturing to avoid damage and to preserve its value. A core is not waste or scrap and is not intended to be reused before remanufacturing.
Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems director of remanufacturing, Henry Foxx, sees the agreement as the first step in providing the fleet owner or manager a criteria to distinguish between various supplier offerings of replacement products. This terminology gives fleet owners or managers the insight they need to ask the right questions of potential suppliers to ensure their products have gone through rigorous remanufacturing processes. With this knowledge, fleet owners can have confidence in the performance of the remanufactured product they select.
He adds that without a common definition of remanufactured products, products with different quality levels could be grouped together, causing confusion in the marketplace. There has long been concern around rebuilders offering products locally or sourcing products globally that do not provide the same performance and durability, of a remanufactured product, but still being perceived as a remanufactured product by the marketplace.
John Chalifoux, president and COO of Motor & Equipment Remanufacturers Association, says, In three words, the parties agree that [remanufacturing] is a standardized industrial process. By extension, remanufacturing occurs in a factory setting, just like new manufacturing, and it has more in common with new manufacturing than it does with any other process.
Historically, there have been two problems plaguing the remanufacturing industry, explains Matthew Colwell, business development and marketing strategy manager, Eaton Vehicle Group, Global Aftermarket. The first is how a reman product differs from a repaired product. At first glance, a customer cannot see the condition of the inside of the service unit. Did the rebuilder only replace the failed components, or was every component inspected to ensure the product meets the latest OE specifications? By linking the remanufacturing definition to a standard process with a same-as-new requirement, we can provide the customer with a sense of the quality of the service unit they are purchasing.
The second problem is the fact that some governments restrict the free movement of reman product and cores across international borders for fear that waste dumping may occur. He says this is far from true and adds that a reman product and core both have value when a remanufacturing process is employed. By standardizing definitions, we can move one step closer to true global distribution of remanufactured product. The recognition of the benefits of reman and the value of a core can lead to future discussions around the free movement of cores in and out of markets. When the industry and governments agree that a core has value, we can begin to change the discussion to how we can leverage the value in the core globally.
In addition to MERA, other parties to the agreement are Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers European Organization of Engine Remanufacture, Automotive Parts Remanufacturers National Association, and Remanufacture Committee of China.
OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma City man was arrested Thursday, accused of throwing several large rocks at the Devon Tower at 333 W Sheridan Ave. and causing about $70,000 worth of damage.
About 10:05 a.m. Thursday, security guards at the building notified Oklahoma City police that Thomas Russell, 27, was seen throwing rocks at the building and attempted to flee after being confronted.
Russell is accused of attempting to hit one of the security guards with a large rock, and was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed by security officers before Oklahoma City police arrived.
Several windows of the building were damaged.
Hundreds of members of First United Methodist Church marked the churchs 130th anniversary last Sunday, marching from the site of its previous red brick building at Fifth Street and Boulder Avenue to its present site at 1115 S. Boulder Ave.
The event recreated a walk 95 years ago by then-members of the church.
First United Methodist is Tulsas second-oldest church, one year younger than First Presbyterian Church.
In her message Sunday, the Rev. Jessica Moffatt, lead pastor, took the opportunity to acknowledge that we stand upon the tireless work of the First Methodist Christians who have gone before us.
Without those church members and pastors, saints and missionaries, we would not be here today.
We give thanks to God for their sacrifices and generosity, for their leadership and hard work.
She told the story of a time, in 1932 during the Great Depression, when the church was in a financial crisis.
Members had given all the money they could afford. And that is when they decided to offer their gold.
A chest was set up, into which people gave wedding rings, gold watches, gold chains, womens gold broaches and solid gold bracelets.
We stand on their sacrifices and on their generosity, she said.
Moffatt urged the congregation to be the kind of church that does whatever it takes to bring people to Jesus Christ.
We have a unique posturing at this time in history.
We are at a turning point.
We cannot have business as usual.
We cannot do what we have always done and get the results we long for.
It is a new day and it requires a new way.
We have gone from teepees to territories to trade to technology, she said.
Updated at noon Friday: State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister and other state education leaders from across the U.S. gathered at an annual policy forum were informed Friday morning that their planned meeting with a representative of President-elect Donald Trump has been cancelled.
The agenda for the three-day, annual gathering of the Council of Chief State School Officers in Baltimore, Maryland, originally included a Saturday morning session on the transition to a new presidential administration.
The event agenda stated that the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump is sending a senior representative to discuss and answer questions about the education priorities of the incoming Administration.
Steffie Corcoran, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said shortly after Council officials informed Hofmeister and the other state chiefs that the Trump camp meeting was off, the organization issued an official statement.
"The Council of Chief State School Officers has been in discussions with President-Elect Trumps transition team on the priorities state leaders in education have set to ensure every child regardless of background graduates prepared for college, careers, and life. At this time, we understand the new administration is working on its transition in a number of areas as they prepare to take office. We look forward to continuing to work with the transition team and new Secretary of Education and to facilitate a conversation with state education chiefs in the near future," said Melissa McGrath, communications director at the CCSSO, in the written press statement.
Questions abound in public education about what Trumps advocacy for major new investments in school choice will look like, as well as implications on their ongoing implementation of the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.
There are definitely questions that we all have and were in the middle of implementing ESSA while awaiting guidance from the (U.S. Department of Education), Hofmeister told the Tulsa World.
I dont know if Trump will have a new secretary (of education) announced by then, but every state is wondering what this means.
ESSA, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, offers little wiggle room on the school accountability systems every state must maintain.
It specifies five required indicators of school performance, Hofmeister said: academic achievement as measured by the annual state assessments, a valid and reliable statewide academic indicator for elementary and middle or junior high schools, high school graduation rate, progress in English-learners achieving English language proficiency, and, finally, at least one indicator of school quality and success with greater weight placed on the first four indicators.
States are still waiting on the U.S. Department of Education to adopt final regulations for how they are to implement ESSA.
Rumors are swirling about whether Trump will select a non-traditional individual as U.S. secretary of education or whether he will forgo having a cabinet member over education altogether.
That move could signal his campaign vow to greatly reduce or even eliminate the federal governments role in public education.
The implications of what happens next could quickly trickle down to the local school level.
With the (ESSA) law being fairly new and the regulations just now under development, it certainly makes it uncertain for those of us in school districts and states, said Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist, who previously served as the state education leader for Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.
As far as accountability systems and assessments, I dont think there will be shifts that will be noticeable to the public because theyre much more technical, but were just standing by to see will there be a shift in philosophy in the way in which those are implemented.
As for other opportunities for the president-elects philosophies on education to affect students and families relying on public schools across the U.S., Gist said all indications point to one particular area.
The only real education policy that President-elect Trump talked regularly about during the campaign is school choice, so we are standing by to see what exactly that will mean to him and for the rest of our programming, she said.
This was a big week for First United Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa.
Under the leadership of the congregations first female lead pastor the Rev. Jessica Moffatt members celebrated their 130th anniversary on Sunday and then voted unanimously Monday to approve a plan to demolish the Trinity church building in Brookside to make way for a park and eventually an open-concept church.
Trinity United Methodist Church at 3737 S. Peoria Ave., once a thriving congregation with nearly 2,000 members, closed in May 2015, because of an aging, declining membership.
The Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church charged First United Methodist with developing a plan for the Trinity property, which is located in the heart of one of Tulsas most popular areas, boosted recently by a Trader Joes and the Gathering Place park complex under development nearby.
Moffatt said the architects who were hired to come up with a plan to renovate the old Trinity building said the structure had multiple problems and the renovation would cost $1.8 million.
The architects were not in favor of it, she said.
If youre going to put that much into it, why not tear it down and put up a new building that you love, and that will meet the needs of the ministry and the mission? was their advice, she said.
Moffatt said the congregation went through a lengthy discernment process through the summer with multiple meetings for prayer and discussion before Mondays vote.
The church will first build a park on the property, with benches, a playground and possibly some type of temporary pavilion-like structure. It will be a place for concerts and community events, a place where people can eat, hang out, develop friendships, she said.
It will be open to the public. We want to be good neighbors, she said.
That could happen as early as the coming spring, she said.
In another two years, the church plans to build a church on the property, but not a traditional church, she said.
Weve collected over 150 very creative ideas, she said, including an open-air concept that is popular with Brookside restaurants, an amazing commercial kitchen for providing community meals, or even a climbing wall behind the pulpit that would offer recreation for young people, and opportunities for teaching moments.
One suggestion was a church without walls; another was a lot of glass, creating an indoor/outdoor feel.
People love to be outside, she said.
The typical definition of a satellite church does not fit us, she said. The site will have a full-time campus pastor, and will not show sermons by video from the downtown church. Worship services wont even necessarily be on Sundays.
She said efforts are being made to preserve the legacy of Trinity.
Memorial bricks engraved with the names of loved ones are being saved for possible use. Stained glass windows will be saved.
Hymnals and Bibles from the old church line the bookshelves of her downtown office, where the pulpit Bible is prominently displayed. The baptistry is stored in the downtown church.
I spoke to them, she said of the books and hymnals with a twinkle in her eye.
I said, there will be a day when you are back on this site.
Developing the Brookside location will not diminish any of the other multiple ministries of the church, she said.
I love Brookside, said Moffatt, who bought a house in Brookside since moving to Tulsa in the spring.
Although Moffatt has been the lead pastor at First United Methodist for just six months, she has a long history with the church.
In 1969, when she was 10 years old, her mother, a member of Boston Avenue United Methodist Church nearby, brought her to revival services at First United Methodist that were part of the United Methodist Churchs Lay Witness Mission program at that time.
That revival proved to be a turning point for the church, which had been declining, she said.
Years later, after her ordination, Moffatt came back to First United Methodist, serving from 1985 to 1997 in several positions, including executive pastor. She went from there to Bixby First Methodist Church for 12 years, and then to Ardmore for seven years before returning to Tulsa.
Residents in Valsayn South are said to be marooned in their homes. Councillor for the area S
Next week Seven News Melbourne presenter Peter Mitchell presents a special 10 To 1: Countdown Our Greatest News Events.
This one is airing nationally.
We countdown the Top 10 world-shattering news events of the past six decades both at home and across the globe.
The arrival of colour television, the moon landing, the Beatles in Australia.
Who can forget the death of Diana or the assassination of President Kennedy?
The Sydney Olympics or our famous Americas Cup victory?
What will be Number One? Everyone will have an opinion.
A panel of Australias leading academics will deliberate and present their final list of the most defining moments on television.
Featuring never-before-seen archive footage, Seven News presenters and reporters who were there when it happened give their unique and compelling accounts of being in the front seat as they witnessed history in the making.
Wednesday at 8.40pm on Seven.
The BBC has revealed some limited news about Episodes 5 and 9 of Doctor Who shooting in Cardiff during November.
The writer for Episode 5 is Jamie Mathieson, who has previously written three episodes, Mummy on the Orient Express (2014), Flatline (2014) and (with Steven Moffat) The Girl Who Died (2015).
Im back baby, and beyond stoked to be once again putting words in the mouths of the TARDIS crew, he said. So what can I tell you? Well, my episode this year is very, very scary. Like, seriously so. Lets go behind the sofa and just stay there until its over scary. Its got more shocks and tense scenes than anything Ive ever written. And thats coming from a man who once wrote an episode of My Parents Are Aliens. Its also a taut thrill ride, a gag fest, a pitch black satire and, for the first time [notices Steven Moffat approaching with cosh marked no spoilers] Im writing for Bill and Nardole!
The guest cast includes Kieran Bew, Justin Salinger, Peter Caulfield, Mimi Ndiweni and Karen Brayben.
Episode 9 is written by Rona Munro, author of the very last story of the shows original 26-year run the highly acclaimed 1989 Seventh Doctor adventure Survival.
Writing Survival was my dream job, but it was a mournful time in the shows history, she explained. This has been a very different experience. Theres more of everything; people, resources, confidence, success but the same constantly renewing and indefinable wonder that is Doctor Who. When I was very small and watching the First Doctor, I had a special cushion known as Ronas Doctor Whocushion. I would hide my face in it when the Daleks or other monsters appeared on screen! The Eaters of Light is my version of other stories that have haunted me for almost as long.
The cast includes Rebecca Benson, Daniel Kerr, Juwon Adedokun, Brian Vernel, Ben Hunter, Aaron Phagura, Sam Adewunmi and Billy Matthews.
Once these episodes are in the can, the series reaches the mid-point of shooting, with Episodes 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 still to go before the cameras.
A sneak peek of this years Doctor Who Christmas special will drop on Saturday, Australian time, during the UKs Children in Need charity event.
Ray Martin will present a documentary for regional broadcaster, Prime7.
Ice: The Scourge of Regional Australia will expose the dramatic public consequences of an increasing ice epidemic in regional and rural Australia.
Prime7s Head of News Paul Patrick said, Ice use in regional Australia has soared a staggering 150% since 2007, in comparison to 16% in metro centres*, so we have a responsibility to highlight the devastating impact this addiction is having on families in regional communities.
Telling a story of this magnitude needs the very best people, and we are delighted that Ray Martin accepted our offer to join the team to bring this story to the people of regional Australia.
The Prime7 News production will air in December at a date yet to be announced.
*Source: Flinders Universitys National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction Research Report by Ann Roche, November 2016.
More details have been released on Filthy Rich and Homeless, coming to SBS next year.
The UK format by Love Productions distributed by BBC Worldwide, will be produced in Australia by Blackfella Films (Redfern Now, First Contact, Deep Water) as three hour-long episodes. It has previously been licensed to Holland. Another format, Famous, Rich and Homeless, has been licensed to Germany, Holland and Spain with celebrities experiencing life on the streets.
SBS Director of TV and Online Content, Marshall Heald, said: SBS is pleased to welcome back celebrated journalistic talent Indira Naidoo to present this challenging documentary series that shines a light on the issue of homelessness in Australia, something new migrants, refugees and Indigneous Australians are particularly vulnerable to. With the purpose of shaking off misconceptions of poverty and provoking a national debate, this series aims to encourage conversation and ultimately bringing about much-needed change for a part of our society often overlooked or ignored.
Jacob Hickey, Head of Factual at Blackfella Films said: At Blackfella Films we wanted to build on the successful factual series that weve made in recent years and tackle another of the big social issues this country faces. There are more than 100,000 homeless people in Australia and we hope that this series provokes a discussion about an issue that affects so many and yet often fails to register in the public discourse.
Format Sales Manager at BBC Worldwide, Sam Stacey, said of the programme: With compelling content and an aim to challenge prejudices and shift perceptions, SBS is the perfect channel for this programme. Were excited to see this format come to life in Australia.
With the gap between the haves and the have-nots ever widening, and attitudes hardening, the programme will take five wealthy Australians and swap their privileged lives for 10 days and nights immersed in the confronting world of homelessness. Presenter Indira Naidoo and expert Dr Catherine Robinson will be their guides as they discover what life is like for the nations growing homeless population.
The Government of Ukraine has approved a draft regulation on signing of the protocol between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on cooperation in the field of geographic information.
Spokeswoman for the Ukraines Defence Ministry Oksana Havryliuk said this at todays press conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"We continue working on the legal support for defence planning pursuant to the road map of the Defence Ministry reform. As part of this reform, the Government of Ukraine has approved a draft regulation on signing of the protocol between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on cooperation in the field of geographic information," Havryliuk said.
She added that the draft document was developed within the framework of agreements between the governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey on cooperation in the areas of military training, science and protection of classified information and materials.
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Restoration of Ukrainian Navys capabilities is one of the priorities of the comprehensive package of assistance to Ukraine, which was endorsed at the Warsaw NATO Summit.
Spokeswoman for the Ukraines Defence Ministry Oksana Havryliuk said this at todays press conference, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"Foreign partners provide comprehensive assistance in the restoration of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. The comprehensive package of assistance to Ukraine, which was endorsed at the Warsaw NATO Summit, defines Restoration of Ukrainian Navys capabilities as one of the priorities, especially the restoration of the fleet, monitoring surface and underwater situation," Havryliuk said.
She added that the Ukrainian Navy had already received high-speed boats and communication equipment from the US.
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Canada's stance on support for Ukraine and condemnation of the illegal actions of Russia remains unchanged.
This was stated by representative of the Canadian Foreign Ministry in the Parliament Pamela Goldsmith-Jones while commenting on talks between Ottawa and Moscow on Ukraine.
"I can assure you that the current government strongly supports Ukraine and condemns Russian aggression," Goldsmith-Jones said.
She recalled that Canada had already expanded the list of sanctions against Russian physical and legal entities this year and provided 8.1 million dollars to support the National Police of Ukraine.
"Canada has supported and will always support Ukraine and will continue to hold Russia accountable," the representative of the Canadian Foreign Ministry summed up.
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Canadas MPs from Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development will visit Ukraine at the beginning of the next year, according to Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
During a meeting with Committees Chairman Robert Nault it was agreed that a group of MPs from this committee will pay a visit [to Ukraine] at the beginning of the next year. This is a very important agreement, as we need direct connections with foreign MPs, Klympush-Tsintsadze told Ukrinform correspondent.
As a reminder, Vice PM Klympush-Tsintsadze currently is on an official visit to Canada.
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The conflict in Ukraine will remain one of priority issues on the agenda of US Secretary of State John Kerry within the next two months.
State Department spokesman John Kirby stated this during a daily briefing in Washington on Thursday, own Ukrinform correspondent reports.
Obviously, the situation in Ukraine and in Europe will continue to be, I think, dominant on his [John Kerrys] agenda, Kirby said.
He also noted that among other main priorities on the State Departments agenda are the conflict in Syria, the situation in Yemen and attempts to find possible resolution to the conflict in this country.
In addition, the U.S. State Department will continue to focus on the Paris Agreement and climate change, international trade and economic development, Kirby noted.
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Switzerland has enlarged a list of individuals subject to international sanctions connected with Russia's actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity, adding six persons.
In particular, six persons, who had been recently elected to Russias Duma in Crimea and Sevastopol, were added to the list, reads a report posted on the website of Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
On 17 November 2016 the Federal Department of Economic Affairs EAER modified the list of persons annexed to the ordinance on measures to prevent the circumvention of international sanctions connected with the situation in Ukraine, reads a report.
The measures came into effect from the moment of documents publication.
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481 people, including 54 citizens of the Russian Federation, have asked for asylum in Ukraine since the beginning of 2016.
Deputy Director of the Department for Foreigners and Stateless Persons of the State Migration Service of Ukraine Petro Syniavsky said this during a meeting of the Ukrainian Parliaments Committee for Human Rights, National Minorities, and Interethnic Relations, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"481 people applied to the Migration Service with the request for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of additional protection for the first 9 months of 2016," he said.
According to him, 16 persons were granted refugee status, another 39 people were recognized as the people in need of additional protection, a number of applications are pending.
Syniavsky noted that 54 citizens of the Russian Federation have asked for asylum in Ukraine since the beginning of 2016. Five of them were recognized as refugees.
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Published November 17, 2016
MONROE, La. The University of Louisiana Monroe welcomes the community to the grand opening ceremony for its completely renovated Sandel Hall and Barnes & Noble bookstore on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 10 a.m.
The $17.4 million, 88,000-square-foot building is a one-stop shop for students, representing a major step forward in the revitalization of ULMs facilities. The building houses the university bookstore, the office of recruitment and admissions, the university registrar, financial aid, the scholarship office, campus radio stations, an innovation center, and other core administrative departments.
Although primarily an office building, Sandel Hall now also provides several multimedia classrooms and conference rooms with cutting-edge interactive features as well as a state-of-the art biology laboratory.
Opened in 1963, Sandel Hall first served as the university library. It was named after Monroe resident Percy M. Sandel, a judge of the fourth judicial court. Initially built as a two-story building, Sandel Hall received a third floor addition in 1977. The building served as the university library until 1999 when the current library opened. Since the librarys departure from the building, the facility has housed the universitys natural history museum, its herbarium, testing center, bookstore, and the office of recruitment and admissions.
The renovation of Sandel Hall began in 2014. The remodeling was designed by Bill Land of Land 3 Architect, whose family was also very influential in the development of ULMs campus infrastructure. Lands father was the original architect on Sandel Hall in 1961, and his grandfather was the original architect on the first building on ULM campus, Brown Hall, built in 1931.
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, attendees will be invited to tour Sandel Hall and the Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Barnes & Noble is the largest retail bookseller in the U.S. and a leading retailer of content, digital media, and educational products in the country. ULM partnered with the company earlier this year to serve the campus and community as the official bookstore.
The bookstore opened its doors to ULM students on Feb. 29 and has enjoyed record sales during its brief tenure on campus. Their plan is to be more involved with the students and community by hosting events at the bookstore.
Speakers on the agenda include ULM President Dr. Nick J. Bruno, ULM Chief Communications Officer Lisa Miller, ULM Executive Vice President Dr. Stephen Richters, Senator Neil Riser and Bill Land of Land 3 Architect.
Refreshments will be provided.
Parking will be available in the lot adjacent to the Liew Family International Student Center, located on Northeast Drive just past the main campus entrance.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today appointed prominent Indonesian businessman and philanthropist, Dato Sri Prof. Dr Tahir, as its third Eminent Advocate in recognition of his valuable and selfless work on behalf of millions of refugees.
At a special ceremony in Abu Dhabi, Dr Tahir said he was delighted and honoured to be named as UNHCRs first Eminent Advocate from Asia, before announcing that he and his family were donating US$10 million to support the education of refugee children around the world. This was in addition to the US$2 million that he donated earlier this year to UNHCRs Nobody Left Outside campaign to provide shelter for 2 million refugees by 2018.
After visiting Syrian refugees recently in Jordan, which hosts more than 650,000, Dr Tahir donated another US$1 million to UNHCRs cash assistance programme for Syrian refugees in the country and funded the cost of 10,000 jackets to protect them in the coming winter.
To give is to gain; and it is my belief, as it is in all religions, that we do not own our wealth we only manage it, and it is up to us to be good managers, Dr Tahir, one of Indonesias wealthiest and most generous businessmen, said in a statement.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi thanked Dr Tahir for his generosity. I am very pleased to welcome Dato Sri Tahir as an Eminent Advocate for UNHCR, he said, hailing his real commitment to ensure the well-being of refugees around the world. Grandi handed over a certificate at the ceremony to mark the Indonesians appointment.
Dr Tahir is the founder and chairman of Indonesias Mayapada Group and the Tahir Foundation. He has gained a name for helping humanitarian causes with vital funding and through his commitment to raise public awareness about global refugee issues and engaging other business leaders to support refugees.
In Asia, no other individual has donated so much to UNHCR. As a key donor to the Nobody Left Outside, he has been named a Champion of the campaigns Global Shelter Coalition. This calls on private sector leaders to work with UNHCR to provide and improve shelter solutions for refugees around the world.
Eminent Advocate is one of UNHCRs most prestigious honorary titles. It is given to influential and valued supporters. The two other Eminent Advocates are Hamdi Ulukaya of the United States and Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qassimi of Sharjah.
Forced displacement has risen sharply in the past decade, largely a result of the Syria crisis, but also due to a proliferation of new conflicts and unresolved old ones. Without a major increase in funding, millions of people face life without adequate and safe shelter.
The private sector is an increasingly important donor source for UNHCR, contributing more than eight per cent of the organizations funding in 2015. Individuals and companies in the private sector are increasingly prominent and visible partners, bringing funding, technical expertise, creativity, and innovation, and are often well-positioned to drive policy change and influence public opinion.
To support Nobody Left Outside, please go to www.nobodyleftoutside.org
Click here to download photos
Photos from the ceremony will be available later at Refugees Media ( http://media.unhcr.org/)
Media contacts:
As Americas top attorney, Senator [Jeff] Sessions would put an end to the flagrant violation of federal immigration law by the more than 300 sanctuary cities and jurisdictions across the nation," said Dan Stein , president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
NEW YORK - President-Elect Donald Trump's pick for U.S. Attorney General signals that enforcing federal immigration laws will be a top priority for the next administration, a conservative immigration group said Friday.
"For too long now, sanctuary cities have been all but ignored by the federal government, despite the undisputed fact that they serve as a beacon to illegal immigration. Their continued presence is a clear threat to national security, public safety, and the rule of law.
Earlier this week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel declared his defiance to the administration if it attempts to undermine his city's commitment to illegal immigrants. Twenty other mayors nationwide agreed with Emanuel's proclamation to defy federal laws concerning deportation.
The Alabama senator has decades of experience in the Senate, was instrumental in defeating mass amnesty bills, and is the leading voice for immigration policies that serve the national interest, Stein said.
Having served as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, Senator Sessions expertise in the area of immigration is unmatched. Its hard to imagine a better pick for the Attorney General position than Senator Jeff Sessions."
Trump announced picking Sessions on Friday, and Sessions indicated he would accept the position.
In Iraq, and just over a month since the start of the Mosul offensive, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners have been intensifying life-saving, emergency help for tens of thousands of displaced people.
There has been a marked increase over the past week in the number of people fleeing after fighting intensified in the more densely-populated urban areas of Mosul. Of the 60,000 people who have fled their homes since the start of the campaign on October 17, around 40,000 have done so since the start of November. Close to half are children, according to UN data and UNHCR surveys. Women, girls and female headed households, some of whom are survivors of abuse, account for much of the rest.
The need for sustained funding support as winter approaches, and a redoubling of efforts to reach those displaced by the fighting, many of whom now live in rudimentary conditions in camps, is crucial. UNHCR is also calling again on all parties in the fighting to respect the rights and lives of civilians, and we emphasize the importance of freedom of movement for residents of Mosul. Civilians should not be prevented from leaving the city and should have access to safe areas. Equally, civilians must not be forced to return to unsafe areas.
In some areas, civilian infrastructure like water, power, schools and hospitals is damaged and medical services are often unavailable. Many people are going hungry due to lost livelihoods, curtailed food production and increased prices. Supplies of water for drinking and agriculture have been disrupted.
UNHCR currently has six camps open, hosting well over 14,000 people and with a capacity for 54,600. Three more are under construction and one is in planning. All told, the 10 camps will have capacity for 17,000 plots. Additional land is required for UNHCRs total planned 20,000 plots (with six people on average per family tent/plot), in order to provide shelter for 120,000 people in camps. If needed, UNHCR and its partners, including the Government of Iraq, can potentially host 700,000 people, including a number of shelter solutions outside of camps. But funding for this is crucial.
With partners, UNHCR is providing life-saving protection and assistance to newly-displaced families, making sure they have adequate shelter, and basic household items including mattresses, stoves, kitchen and hygiene sets and jerry cans. So far, more than 5,705 emergency relief packages have been distributed by UNHCR. And with temperatures declining, the focus is on protecting people against the weather and keeping them safe and warm. We plan to reach 1.2 million people in Iraq with special winterized kits including blankets, heating stoves, plastic tarpaulins and water and kerosene jerry cans. UNHCR is also providing cash assistance and plans to winter-proof 53,000 tents.
UNHCR is also bolstering protection monitoring and psychosocial and legal assistance through mobile teams to ensure timely interventions when problems are identified. Among the main concerns are family reunifications, supporting female-headed households, a lack of documentation and supporting victims of abuse.
In the camps, families who have spent more than two years under the control of armed groups, have spoken of tight restrictions and curtailed freedoms, as well as a lack of access to impartial information. To help fill this vacuum, UNHCR is supporting an initiative with BBC Media Action and Radio Nawa to initiate a programme to help newly-displaced families access timely information. This week, 2,000 small transistor radios were distributed in UNHCRs Hasansham camp. Radio Nawa has installed a new transmitter to reach the camp. Residents will be able to listen to an unbiased, non-partisan information service, take part in radio phone-ins, raise questions or comments, and engage on-air with local and central government officials and the Iraqi security forces. Further distributions are planned in other camps in coming weeks.
UNHCR would like to thank donors for the support that they have given to date. Still, we urgently need additional resources to support the tens of thousands living in miserable conditions. We remain deeply concerned about the plight of civilians and -- at the end of the first month of the campaign -- call for international humanitarian law to be upheld.
For more information on this topic, please contact:
UNHCR is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians in the northern part of Rakhine state, Myanmar. We are urging the government of Myanmar to ensure the protection and dignity of all civilians on its territory in accordance with the rule of law and its international obligations.
We appeal for calm and for humanitarian access to assess and meet the needs of thousands of people who have reportedly been displaced from their homes by the ongoing security operation. The affected population is believed to be in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care.
UNHCR urges the government of Myanmar to immediately allow humanitarian actors to resume the life-saving activities they had been carrying out for some 160,000 civilians in northern Rakhine State until such activities were suspended on 9 October.
We are also appealing to the government of Bangladesh to keep its border with Myanmar open and allow safe passage to any civilians from Myanmar fleeing violence.
For more information on this topic, please contact:
WASHINGTON - Emboldened last week by Illinois voters when they chose her to move from the U.S. House to represent them in the U.S. Senate, Friday disabled veteran Tammy Duckworth became the first Illinois elected official to endorse Congressman Keith Ellison to head the Democratic National Committee.
Duckworth's name was released along with several others Friday afternoon via tweet by NBC reporter Alex Seitz-Walz.
Ellison is one of the Democrats most radically Left members of Congress. He hails from Minnesota's 5th District, and was the first Muslim elected to federal office. When he was sworn into office in 2007, Ellison placed his hand on what is reported to have been Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
The number of international students in America has now reached over one million for the very first time for the academic year 2015 to 2016. It almost doubled the number during the last highest record some ten years ago. The 7% increase compared to the last school term added up to the bulk.
However, there are reasons for U.S. schools to be concerned after the victory of Donald trump in the presidency. It would be harder to dominate the educational market place in the global arena with issues like tightening border entries, racism attacks and migrant indifference as observed during the election campaign.
It must be considered also that China is dedicated to compete with the U.S. in the educational front. They have invested heavily to attract students contrary to Donal Trump's flat rate policy to divert spending into his favored systems like charter schools and voucher colleges, as per the Wall Street Journal's report.
Jason Lane, chairman of the Department of News Corp which is a network of leading companies among the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services compared the possible decline during the 9/11 incident. It might has surpassed the one million mark at this point but cancellations are expected following Trump's win.
The act of terrorism 9/11 tragedy might differ from the current threat of Donald Trump against foreigners but the reported instability and chaos in universities as soon as he assumes office are enough to scare prospective interbational students away - and perhaps opt for China instead.
The fear of some U.S. schools is then very real. It might be temporary during the transition period as Donald Trump has changed his tone of speaking. Sad to say, if there are changes in the educational policies that involves these students, still remain to be seen, according to True Viral News.
For those wondering if getting college degrees really pay off in time with higher salary brackets, a new study conducted in Arizona has found that the higher the degree a person has, the higher the salary he or she receives.
The study, conducted among three universities governed by the Board of Regents, looked into the pay records of students who graduated from the Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University, and found that those who achieved degrees earned higher than other Arizonan workers with only a high school diploma, The Arizona Republic reported.
"At a point in time when so many are questioning the value of college degrees, this study shows the value not just to students but to the state," Eileen Klein, president of the Board of Regents, told the paper. "A college degree beats no degree."
The study looked into the pay records of 271,000 people who graduated from those schools between the school years 1989-1990 and 2014-2015 and have never left the state. Self-employed individuals as well as federal employees were exempted.
The results showed the obvious difference in salaries corresponding to degrees. High school graduates earned a median average of $27,947 a year. Those who had undergraduate degrees earned more than $10,000 higher than that, with exact ranges varying depending on the major.
Those who had the most lucrative degrees earned higher. Engineering majors had a median wage of $86,443, followed by computer/information sciences ($83,227), engineering technologies ($77,204), business/marketing/management ($66,438) and health professions ($61,112).
Other less lucrative degrees still brought in more income to its holders: English language/literature ($42,834), communications technologies ($41,730), family/consumer services ($41,119), visual/performing arts ($40,474), and area/ethnic/cultural/gender studies ($40,281).
Graduate degree-holders even earned substantially higher incomes. The researchers found that over the 25-year period, more than 74,000 graduate degree holders earned a median average of $70,357. Details about the degrees and corresponding degrees are not stated.
This new report supports data released by Achieve60AZ, a community-based coalition, Arizona Education News reported in September. The data presented indicates that those with a High School diploma alone earned an average weekly salary of $651 (about $33,852 a year minus days/weeks without work), those with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $1,108 weekly (about $57,616 a year minus days/weeks without work), and master's degree holders earn an average of $1,329 a week ($69,108 a year minus days/weeks without work)
Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro has been known to have some connectivity issues with certain 4K televisions. Here are some quick guides on how to make sure that the UHD HDR TV you are planning to buy is compatible with the PS4 Pro.
TV Size And User's Purpose
Interestingly, Sony reportedly encourages PS4 Pro users to get the 60 inch TV set size or bigger; however, the size best suited for the living room will depend on its size and buyer's budget as well. 4K TV prices are certainly going down but they are not cheap. 4K TV that will mainly be used for game or for streaming video can also make a difference on the specs that best suits the buyer's need, according to videogamerplus.
4K TV Should Have the HDR10 Standard
It is important to note that 4K Television sets either support HDR 10, Dolby or both, but Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro only supports the HDR10. To add to the confusion, TV manufacturers have their own name for the HDR 10 as LG TV use the term HDR Pro, Sony terms it 4K HDR while Samsung refers to it as SUHD. However, make sure that the "HDR" TV uses the 10-bit panel and not the 8-bit. The most common resolution for a UHD 4K TV is at least 3840p x 2160p.
Choose The 4K TV With The Lowest Input Lag
It's natural to have some input lags, particularly when the HDR and 4K mode is switched on. Make sure that 4k TV input lag does not exceed 40ms or at least get the one that has a Game mode option.
A Word On 8-Bit Panel
8-Bit Panel TV owners can still play the PS4 Pro with it. Unfortunately, players will not get the full HDR viewing quality but a much cutback version of it. However, the AFRC 8-bit panel TV does a good a job of imitating HDR10 quality. It's also much cheaper alternative for those who don't want to spend a fortune in getting the real HDR 10 TV.
Cleveland State University officials have reminded all staff and faculty not to use any school resource to air their political opinions following an incident at the school, news reports say.
CSU general counsel Sonali Wilson sent an email Tuesday in response to an instructor who directed students to join a rally against President-elect Donald Trump, Cleveland.com reported.
'I am writing to remind everyone that because the University is an instrumentality of the state of Ohio, the use of university resources (e.g., email, letterhead, computers, websites, logos, etc.) to express personal opinions is not permissible," Wilson wrote.
The instructor, a part-time teacher in CSU's women studies program, posted the instructions on her personal Twitter account. CSU spokesperson Will Dube said that through her tweet she told students to "dress warmly" on Nov. 9 because they will march against the President-elect.
Dube said they only discovered the matter after several people responded to the instructor's tweets, tagging the university. School officials contacted the instructor, and the march did not push through.
"They could observe a march as part of a class project but specifically asking the class to protest is not allowed," he said.
Wilson reminded her and all CSU faculty and staff that they must never use the school as an avenue to air their political choices, as the school is non-partisan.
"In keeping with our tax-free status as a public educational institution, and in compliance with applicable law," Wilson wrote, "University faculty and staff should not express partisan positions in an official capacity using university resources or in any way to suggest or give the appearance that the University is sponsoring or supporting such positions."
Despite the email, Wilson explained that faculty and staff are entitled to their personal political opinions, but should only express them through personal accounts, and not through the university's resources.
Elsewhere, it is reported that a college did not just tell its students to join a rally against the President-elect. Rather, it actually sponsored some students to join a rally over the weekend.
Pomona College in Claremont, California, sponsored up to 70 students to join an anti-Trump rally, the Independent Journal Review reported. Specifically, Pomona College's Draper Center for Community Partnerships funded the transportation and accrued expenses of the students who officially joined.
Word has it that the IRS might come and investigate the matter, especially as Pomona College has a 501(c)(3) non-profit status.
The deed has been done. The plebiscite is in favor of those who want to leave the European Union (EU) and while the Conservative government has yet to reveal how Brexit will happen, people are already anticipating the impact it will have in business and society in the near future.
This includes UK's world class universities.
Life's work dedicated to science is being compromised
John Martin is an advanced medicine professor that teaches at the University College London (UCL) and Yale University, who considers the Brexit polls a self-inflicted wound.
Prof. Martin leads medical research at the UCL. His team is composed of the best researchers from all across Europe and some of their projects are funded by EU grants. Brexit not only makes the funding uncertain but also puts into question the ability to have the brightest minds in Europe on board.
One such project is the "small babies project" that has a 6 million budget. The research investigates fetal growth restriction which affects 300 infants per year. This is a disease of pregnant women where there is little blood flow in the womb which in turn affects babies, hindering their development. Some are born too small while others suffer from blindness, motor and learning disabilities and in some cases, death.
Given the risks involved in the research process, big pharmaceutical companies have shunned researching this disease. This is why Prof. Martin took on the difficult task and has successfully done animal trials of the treatment they have developed.
The team is preparing to test the treatment on humans next year but with the current turn of events he is doubtful this will happen.
He emphasizes the importance not just of funding but the ability to work collaboratively with a team of experts sharing not just resources but knowledge and insights that brings the benefits of these medical discoveries to a greater number of people. After Brexit, he knows it will be hard to work and collaborate with his current team researchers from Germany, Italy and France respectively.
It's saddening that years of biomedical work will get stalled or entirely scrapped all for what Dr. Martin calls an imagined notion of sovereignty.
A smaller college in Warwick faces the same dilemma. Prof. Nicholas Dale runs a biomedical company that investigates life-saving in vitro diagnostics, like Prof. Martin, he also heads an international team. His company, Sarissa is a small company that relies on critical supplies from Spain.
Prof. Dale is worried Brexit will add burden to companies like Sarissa with tariffs and possible additional bureaucratic processes. He is also anxious that UK will lose its voice in the industry's regulation after Brexit.
Brain drain all over again?
The case studies of Prof. Dale and Prof. Martin illustrates the intellectual impact of Brexit to universities. The lack of funding will mean researchers and students will look for better opportunities outside the UK.
Severing ties with the EU would also mean losing valuable access to talent within Europe. It will be harder to get foreign researchers and students on board.
The bleak situation of UK's universities reminded Nicholas Dale of the 1980s brain drain during the Thatcher government when the times were so hard there was literally "no jobs in British universities for research scientists". Noting that 4 of last month's Nobel Prize winners, Duncan Haldane, David Thouless, Michael Kosterlitz and Sir Fraser Stoddart are only a few of the British professors who sought opportunities in the US some 30 years ago.
A political perspective
Cambridge historian, Prof. Brendan Simms has a different opinion on Brexit. To him, this is a time for UK to renew itself. Noting that historically, Britain never "fitted in", Prof. Simms likened Brexit to the Reformation. He said it was time to embrace that Brexit will happen and that the more important question is the outcome: how Theresa May's government will execute Brexit and where these ensuing steps take the country and its relationship with the EU.
These sentiments of Prof. Simms echo a valid point that resonates with other academics, an entirely different discipline from science and medicine. The context of sovereignty is far more important than economics in politics.
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of Cambridge wants to make sure the university makes the most out of Brexit. In order to do so, he points the question back to the government and asked they make clarifications so that institutions like Cambridge can assess their situation.
Brexit has been anticipated but until the plebiscite, perhaps only a few have considered the unexpected and now that it is here, it will test UK's government and society and perhaps the academe can be the voice of reason in laying down the next steps.
STONE PARK - When the property lining up next door to the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo was purchased to build a strip club, the sisters were understandably upset. But this week their prayers were answered after the Stone Park Liquor Commission revoked Club Allure strip club's liquor license.
For the sisters, as well as local residents, village officials finding that Club Allure violated an ordinance forbidding a liquor license within 100 feet of a church was a major victory. The Village of Stone Park Code of Ordinances (Village Code) says that No license shall be issued for the sale of any alcoholic liquor within 100 feet of any church or school.
Bath College students were required to prepare and cook a full four course meal for eighty people. And they are not doing it alone. Under the guidance of Bath's own top chefs, these college trainees work under pressure. The kitchen is not only the hot thing in the networking event.
The heat was on. All the college and trainee chefs were being monitored by eagle eye professionals. And they have a good reason. It is all for a good cause.
The event has top chefs from all over the area. Executive Head Chef David Campbell (The Royal Crescent) attended, as well as head chef Daniel Moon (The Gainsborough Hotel), and Michael Topp and Martin Black from The Manor House Hotel, cites Bath Chronicle. These top chefs guided eighty hopeful chefs to the world of cooking. The students needed to serve dinner for hospitality and catering professionals at the Bath College Shrubbery Restaurant.
The event was organized by the Chef's forum and the proceeds from the event is going to their charity "Hospital Action." The students do not only get the feel of working in the kitchen but also the pressure of making an event perfect and successful.
Laurel Penrose, the principal at Bath College, says that The Chef's forum has always supported the college when it comes to the student's learning experiences and resources.
The resources for the kitchen all came from participating chefs and sponsors who donated ingredients. They are all trying to minimize the food cost in order to raise funds for those who need it most. The whole event did not just enable students to gain experience, the event also gives the students to network with the industry's top chefs and suppliers.
On top of that, the attendees at the event said that the meal was delicious. Feel free to visit the Bath College Shrubbery Restaurant in Avon Street if you'd like to sample their work.
Several female students at Ohio University revealed that they have experienced sexual assault in campus. This comes as part of the school's efforts to assess and reduce sexual misconduct.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that a female student at Ohio University has a 13 percent chance of being raped. The institution asked about 1,000 women to answer a sexual-assault survey and found that 13 percent, or about 132, female students admitted that they had been raped during their time in the school.
The survey is one of the ways that Ohio University is taking to assess the culture in campus. It is also expected to help reduce sexual misconduct.
The survey was emailed to all 19,459 students. However, only 2,200 clicked on the link to take it. Moreover, only 1,350, or 6.9 percent, were able to complete the survey.
Officials and sexual assault experts in Ohio University admitted that most respondents were white, female and straight. They also acknowledged that the participants' narrow demographic may limit the survey's accuracy but believe that it's a good place to start.
"It's a baseline, and hopefully they'll have higher response rates in the future," Katie Hanna, executive director of the Cleveland-based Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said.
Several Ohio colleges and universities have conducted "campus climate" surveys. This is part of the state Department of Higher Education's "Changing Campus Culture" initiative.
According to NBC4i.com, the female students reported experiencing some kind of sexual misconduct while at Ohio University. The misconduct ranges from unwelcome comments that contain inappropriate sexual content to rape.
74 percent reported that they experienced sexual harassment by other students. 280 graduate students responded to the survey and 8.2 percent reported that they were victimized by unwanted sexual advances by faculty and staff.
"Sexual misconduct does occur on our campus," Sara Trower, executive director of Ohio University's Office for Equity and Civil Rights Compliance said in the release. "This is a serious problem, and we are committed to finding the best ways to solve this problem for our community."
The British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, is not only known for its plays and Shakespearean concepts. Recently, in partnership with Intel and in collaboration with The Imaginarium Studios, they were able to create a digital avatar of Ariel for the first time.
Using cutting edge and advanced technology, Intel was able to render a character digitally and in real-time format. They were then able to project the image on stage during a live performance, cites Business Wire.
They no longer need actors and aspiring performers to float around on stage for Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Ariel, the spirit in the play that serves the magician Prospero, is now a digital enhancement for the performance.
This eliminates the need of floating with wires and smoke screens during a live performance. Plus, it is a much safer option. The concept came aobut when RSC director Gregory Doran was inspired by the lighting effects in the Jacobean masques. He wanted to do something for the theater and also thought that Shakespeare would have wanted to do something similar.
This is the first time that The Royal Shakespeare Company is joining forces with a Tech company like Intel and The Imaginarium Studios. By capturing the actor's movements and expressions, they were able to transfer it to the stage. Although this kind of technology is not new as it is always used in movies and games, this is entirely new for performances on stage.
Using The Imaginarium's digital inventiveness and the technological prowess of Intel, the Company was able to create a production that would excite the audience. It is described as a human digital interaction that gives the feeling of Ariel being alive but at the same time retains the feel of a theater performance.
The company's work using live theater reaches over half a million people every year through their education work and class room work shops.
For information only - not an official document
UNIS/MA/155
17 November 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY
Media representatives are invited to the
Designation of United Nations Champion for Space
10.45am, 20 November 2016
Grand Hyatt Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
VIENNA/DUBAI, 17 November (UN Information Service) - On Sunday 20 November, the formal designation of the first ever United Nations Champion for Space will take place.
Media representatives are invited to attend the signing of the letter of designation at 10.45am at the Grand Hyatt Dubai with the Champion for Space and the Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Simonetta Di Pippo.
The United Nations Champion for Space will help UNOOSA promote space as a tool for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, as well as raise awareness of UNOOSA's activities.
The signing of the letter of designation will take place during the first United Nations/United Arab Emirates High Level Forum on Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Development, organized by UNOOSA in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. The Forum will bring together stakeholders from across the broader space community to identify ways to harness space technology and applications for socio-economic development.
***
A media advisory containing further details of the High Level Forum is available here:
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/hlf/first-hlf-meeting.html
***
Follow @UNOOSA on Twitter for updates.
* *** *
Media representatives who would like to attend or request interviews should contact:
Daria Brankin
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Telephone: +43 699 1459 8718
Email: daria.brankin[at]unoosa.org
Oct. 26, 2022
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. Cadets got the unique experience of interacting with and learning from the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2022 at the U.S. Air Force Academy Sept. 27-29. The National Character and Leadership Symposium sponsored the visit and three days of activities.The 12
On the Occasion of Latvia's National Day
Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate Latvia on the 98th anniversary of your independence on November 18.
"Latvia is a strong partner and ally of the United States. The strength of our relationship was underscored by Vice President Bidens participation in the Baltic Summit hosted by Latvia in August. Together with the leaders of Estonia and Lithuania, we reaffirmed our friendship and strong commitment to our mutual security. The United States stands firmly with Latvia and all our NATO Allies to promote peace, freedom, and unity in Europe and around the world.
"The United States and Latvia will also continue to deepen our economic ties. I congratulate the Latvian people on joining the OECD this year. It is an important recognition of Latvias progress and heralds your place among advanced economies in the world.
"We look forward to partnering with Latvia to advance growth, prosperity, and leadership on the world stage in the years to come. The United States wishes you and your citizens all the best on this important and special day."
Published: November 18, 2016
UTs Sykes College of Business Named One of the Best Graduate Business Schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
The University of Tampas Sykes College of Business has been named for the first time as a best graduate business school by Bloomberg Businessweek in its annual ranking of 87 full-time U.S. MBA programs.
The ranking was based on data compiled from more than 1,000 recruiters, 15,000 alumni and 9,000 recent graduates.
Ranked 78th, the Sykes College of Business did particularly well in surveys of alumni and current students. Only two other Florida business schools the Hough Graduate School of Business at the University of Florida (46) and the University of Miami School of Business Administration (57) were included in the ranking.
The full ranking can be accessed at www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-best-business-schools/.
The Sykes College of Business offers both undergraduate and graduate coursework. Graduate students can pursue an MBA, as well as Master of Science degrees in accounting, entrepreneurship, finance and marketing. There are joint M.S./MBA degrees, as well as part-time, full-time and executive MBA programs.
Frank Ghannadian, dean of the Sykes College of Business, said the college attracts students from around the globe and is renowned for graduating students who make immediate impact in the business community and within their countries.
This is a big deal to be ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, Ghannadian said. Im proud of all the business students who work extremely hard to reach their goals, faculty who are outstanding teachers and scholars, and the vibrant business community that supports the College of Business every day, Ghannadian said.
He added that numerous businesses recruit annually at The University of Tampa, including T. Rowe Price, Citigroup, Syniverse Technologies, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Franklin Templeton Investments.
Within an 80,000 sq.-ft. facility, the College of Business offers state-of-the-art resources such as the Huizenga Family Foundation Trading Center and more than 1,300 data ports and Wi-Fi for high-speed access. It is also home to the Center for Ethics, TECO Energy Center for Leadership, Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy and the John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center.
The Sykes College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is one of the few business schools in the Southeast accredited at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Prime Minister Yemen has reaffirmed his government's decision to reject a ceasefire offer by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, a day after heavy fighting between government troops and opposition forces in various parts of Yemen left 51 dead.
The Arab coalition and Houthi fighters agreed to a temporary cessation of hostilities starting on November 17.
Fighting in Taiz and its surroundings on Tuesday killed 39 people, including five civilians, 20 soldiers and 14 fighters, military officials also said.
The UN says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Hadi government against the Houthis.
Millions are in need of food aid, and another 21 million people urgently need health services, according to the UN.
Six attempts to clinch a ceasefire in Yemen have failed so far, including a three-day October truce that fell apart as soon as it went into force.
Against this backdrop of continued conflict, Human Rights Watch says the Houthis and other authorities in Sanaa have "arbitrarily detained, tortured and forcibly disappeared" opponents.
The New York-based rights watchdog cited on Thursday two recent deaths in custody and 11 cases of torture, calling on authorities to take action.
It also said that a local rights organisation, Mwatana, was working on over 2,500 cases of detained and disappeared people.
Shortly after the announcement, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, the foreign minister, said his government was not interested in the latest ceasefire plan involving the Houthis.
He repeated the government's stance on Thursday, saying there was no agreement but just "a declaration which means nothing".
"We have rejected the agreement because there is no agreement in principle," Mekhlafi told Al Jazeera.
"We have only a declaration that means nothing. It's an agreement between Kerry and the Houthis.
"We have our own reasons to refuse it because it doesn't commit to the international agreement and gives a lot of power to the Houthis, more than what the Yemeni people accept. Houthis are a minority in the country."
On Wednesday, forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi engaged in combat with the Iran-allied Houthis and their allies in the Arabian Peninsula nation's northwest, near the border with Saudi Arabia.
The fighting came as loyalists launched an attack on three fronts to recapture the coastal town of Midi and nearby Haradh, the officials quoted by the AFP news agency said.
Fifteen loyalists and 23 fighters were killed in the clashes, they said.
"Our military operations will continue until we push them out," said army Colonel Abdul Ghani al-Shubaili, whose forces had air support from an Arab coalition assembled by Saudi Arabia that is backing Hadi.
Elsewhere, nine fighters and four soldiers were killed in fighting on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Taiz, in southwest Yemen, military officials said.
Pro-Hadi forces have advanced towards the city's presidential residence and police headquarters, both under opposition control, witnesses said, reporting heavy fighting and loud explosions that shook the city.
Twenty-five years ago today, the first euphoric and historic Blue Man Group performance took place at the Astor Place Theatre in New York (Pictured: Blue Man Group get Keys to the Las Vegas Strip).
Todays celebrations include:
Blue Man Group Day:
Iconic locations around the country home to Blue Man Groups permanent theatrical productions have all declared Nov. 17, 2016 as Blue Man Group Day:
The State of New York (Certificate of Recognition)
New York City
Clark County, Nevada
The City of Las Vegas
The State of Nevada (Certificate of Recognition)
Orange County, Florida
The City of Orlando
The City of Boston
The State of Illinois
The City of Chicago
Special Displays:
Earlier today, Blue Man Group Co-Founders and original Blue Men Chris Wink, Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman, along with the Blue Men, flipped a switch on the iconic Empire State Building, turning the 72nd floor and above blue.
In Orlando, Universal Orlando Resort has illuminated its iconic entryway arches blue.
Various MGM Resorts International marquees all over the famed Las Vegas Strip are displaying special celebratory messaging.
Earlier this week on Monday (Nov. 14), Blue Man Group at Luxor Hotel and Casino received a Key to the Las Vegas Strip from Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak in a presentation at the Blue Man Theater at Luxor Hotel and Casino. Blue Man Group has performed its award-winning production on the famed Las Vegas Strip for more than 10,000 shows.
Last night (Nov. 16) Blue Man Groups wax figures made their Times Square debut at Madame Tussauds New York. The figures, never before featured at the attractions New York location, will remain for fans to interact with through December 24, 2016.
Street Renaming:
The New York City Mayors Office temporarily renamed Astor Place, the location in which the group held their very first performance 25 years ago, to Blue Man Way for the day.
Blue Man Vegas Getaway:
Fans looking to celebrate with Blue Man Group are encouraged to enter a special Blue Man Vegas Getaway*. Take a photo of your best party face and share it on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #BlueManPartyFace, #Contest and @bluemangroup for a chance to win a three-day, two-night trip for two to Las Vegas including airfare, hotel, two tickets to Blue Man Group with a VIP experience and copies of Blue Man World and album THREE.
*No Purchase Necessary. Enter contest between 11/17/16 at 10:00 a.m. ET and 12/4/16 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C. 21 years of age or older at time of entry. Limit 1 entry per person. Visit www.blueman.com/partyface for full details on how to enter, eligibility requirements, prize description and limitations. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Blue Man Productions, LLC, 599 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
The Hanoi Opera House is an iconic landmark Last week, Viettel Corporation, Hoa Phat Corporation, Asia Commercial Bank and Hoa Phat-A Chau Real Estate Company sent a proposal to the Hanoi Peoples Committee to invest between VND3 and 5 trillion ($158 to $263 million) in the Thang Long Theatre in the Tay Ho Tay urban area.
In exchange, these companies wanted the right to use 600 hectares in Dong Anh district, north of the Red River, for an urban development, to recover their investment costs. A source from Hanoi Peoples Committees Urban Department told VIR that it had received the proposal, however, it faced many difficulties.
The source said the projects final investment had not been fixed because the architecture was still being studied and the amount of capital under the build-transfer model was unclear. Also, Hanois master plan had not been approved by the prime minister, so no decisions could be made over the Dong Anh area.
The proposal from investors to take the project in the form of build-transfer is good, because it will save the citys budget. However, we cant consider anything right now, because the project is already on track and it will take time to change it away from its current plan, she added.
VIR learned that the committee had planned to set up the Thang Long Theatre using the citys budget, at an estimated cost of around VND2.4 trillion ($126 million).
As of last week, land clearance and compensation for the project were underway and a groundbreaking ceremony would happen before October, to celebrate the 1,000-year anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.
The Thang Long Theatre location has been changed three times since the idea originated three years ago.
In 2007 the theatre was set to be built in Tu Liem districts Me Tri commune, near the National Convention Centre and Hanoi Museum. However, one year later the committee decided to move the theatre to Quang An commune, Tay Ho district, and the former site was earmarked for a hotel project.
Last year, the developers of Tay Ho Tay township project committed to hand over a piece of land to the committee for public construction, and the theatre was once again moved to the 25ha site in the Tay Ho Tay urban area. The theatre is designed to have different functions, with an area for classical concerts, traditional music and traditional arts, with open air arts and room for large-scale public events.
Currently, the nations biggest theatre is the Hanoi Opera House, which is a single building set up during the French colonial, with only 900 seats.
Boeing 737 belonging to Batik Air at Ngurah Rai International Airport. Indonesias Lion Air expects to operate in Viet Nam under its Batik Air brand name in 2017. -Photo thejakartapost.com
According to the memorandum, the joint venture will be called Batik Air in Viet Nam.
Additionally, Lion Air will hold 49 per cent of the shares, while their Vietnamese partner will retain the remaining 51 per cent. Plans for the joint operation are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.
In 2014, Lion Air initially sought to establish a new airline in Australia, in which the company would hold 100 per cent of the shares. However, Lion Airs co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, stated that this plan was delayed because the airline decided to expand their operation in the ASEAN market.
Lion Air is based in Jakarta, Indonesia and is the countrys largest private airline, operating as a low-cost carrier and the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia, after AirAsia.
On November 15, the ninister answered questions of National Assembly deputies regarding various problems, including the five ailing multimillion dollar projects invested in by companies where the state ownership is handled by the ministry.
Anh said that the projects failed because of market conditions. For example, the price of oil has fluctuated greatly in recent years, causing the plants producing fiber, urea, and ethanol to become uncompetitive.
Anh added that other reasons contributing to the current state of these five companies included the lack of capacity on the side of the developers and the project management units when they carry out the project and supervise the contractors.
He said that the MoIT is trying to point out who exactly is responsible for the failure. The Government Inspectorate, the State Audit of Vietnam, and the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance have started investigation. The ministry will report the results to the National Assembly in the next plenum, he said.
Regarding the future of these projects, the minister said that any solution will have to prioritise protecting the state capital as well as be appropriate to the market economy and current international commitments.
We may sell or declare bankruptcy if needed. The government has asked relevant ministries and government agencies for a report. The ministry already submitted a report on the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel project, Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre and Yarn and Dung Quat Bio-Ethanol Plant, so the government will make a decision soon, he said.
He also said whoever is responsible may be sued and prosecuted.
The five failing multi-million dollar projects where the Ministry of Industry and Trade handles the states stakes are:
1. The VND7 trillion ($314 million) Dinh Vu Polyester Fibre and Yarn Plant invested by Vietnams state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam;
2. The VND2.2 trillion ($99 million) Dung Quat Bio-Ethanol Plant invested by Binh Son Refinery-Biofuel;
3. The VND8 trillion ($360 million) expansion of Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel plant Phase II, invested by Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC;
4. The VND3 trillion ($134.5 million) Phuong Nam Pulp Mill invested by Transport & Industry Development Invesment JSC (Tracodi). In 2009, the management of the project was taken over by state-run Vietnam Paper Corporation.
5. The $667 million Ninh Binh nitrogenous fertiliser plant invested by Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem)
Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge poses with an activist dressed as a white rhinoceros after delivering a speech at the Hanoi conference on illegal wildlife trade being held in Hanoi on November 17, 2016. (Photo: AFP/STR)
With its growing class of wealthy elites, Vietnam has become a main market for rhino horn and ivory and a key transit route for the smuggling of illegal wildlife products from Africa to other Asian countries, notably China.
William, a conservation champion, urged governments around the world to act to save vulnerable species before it is too late.
"We know that we aren't moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis. Rhinos, elephants, pangolins, lions, they are still being killed in horrifying numbers," he said at the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade.
"While we've made progress, the truth is we are still falling behind. A betting man would still bet on extinction."
The prince cautioned that poachers and trafficking syndicates are becoming more sophisticated and said appetites for wildlife products such as ivory and rhino horn need to be stamped out.
The global illegal wildlife industry, worth an estimated $20 billion, is driven chiefly by demand in Vietnam and China for decorations or traditional medicines with little or no proven benefit.
Stricter law enforcement in China in recent years has driven many buyers to Vietnam, which conservation groups have said is failing to punish criminals and enforce the law.
'TIME BOMB'
Pressure on Vietnam has seen much of the trade move to the web, led by China's popular social media platform WeChat.
"Online they're still operating unimpeded, Facebook, WeChat, there's still a tremendous amount of wildlife being offered for sale," said Wildlife Justice Commission director Olivia Swaak-Goldman.
"We are at a time bomb... if we keep going this way we won't have any more of these iconic species."
In an illustration of the challenges, a WJC investigation Nhi Khe village just 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Hanoi found a major black market for illegal wildlife products such as tiger skins, rhino horns, ivory and pangolins.
Their year-long probe also uncovered hollowed out rhino feet and baby tiger cub wine for sale, mostly for Chinese tourists.
There were no illegal wildlife products to be found in the village Thursday, with one shopowner telling AFP it has become increasingly difficult to find such items.
"There used to be shops selling ivory, now I don't hear of them anymore. If there are, they must be doing it secretly. It's not easy to buy, you need to be introduced by someone who trusts you," said the man, who runs a trinket shop, declining to provide his name.
Vietnam's vice president earlier echoed Prince William's urgent appeal.
"The illegal wildlife trade on a global scale has increased and become more complicated," said Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
"This is a global issue and no single industry, sector or country can effectively combat the problem of illegal wildlife trafficking," she added, urging international cooperation to combat the scourge.
More than 40 countries are represented at the two-day meeting, alongside NGOs and conservation groups, the third held since Britain hosted it in 2014 and Botswana last year.
The Trump team has said it will invest US$550 billion to boost lagging US growth and renovate infrastructure. (Photo: AFP/Mark Wallheiser)
But while the promised big works program has momentum, the details are fuzzy.
Trump mentioned the infrastructure plan in his first speech after his election victory Nov 8.
"We are going to ... rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals," he said, describing a major works project with Keynesian appeal and very unusual for a Republican.
The Trump team has since said it will invest US$550 billion to boost lagging US growth and renovate infrastructure that has been neglected for too long.
There is little debate on that last point in the United States where the highways are congested, the railway network is aging, and bridges are collapsing.
Several rail disasters - in Philadelphia and Hoboken, New Jersey - the scandal over contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, and the repeated failures of the Metro system in the nation's capital, have highlighted an implacable reality.
Since 1959, infrastructure spending has decreased to 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product from 3 per cent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
"There's a lot of needs out there and we've deferred maintenance on a lot of these systems for too long," Ed Mortimer, executive director for Transportation Infrastructure at the US Chamber of Commerce, told AFP.
He explained that the saturation of the US road network was hampering trade and complicating the lives of workers.
The American Society of Civil Engineers said the infrastructure "deficit" will cost every household $3,400 a year by 2025, and estimates the total investment needed by 2020 at $3.6 trillion.
Air transport also is a concern. Bemoaning the state of US airports during the campaign, Trump said "we've become a third world country."
FUZZY DETAILS
President Barack Obama for years tried to get approval for spending to improve public transport - also as a means of spurring jobs and economic growth - but he was consistently blocked by congressional Republicans, particularly in the run-up to the elections.
The changing of the guard at the White House could unlock the budget, to the great satisfaction of institutions that insist just such a fiscal stimulus program is needed to make up for the lost potency of monetary policy.
The International Monetary Fund already has labeled Trump's plan as "necessary."
The Democratic leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, pledged to "work together to quickly pass a robust infrastructure jobs bill" with the Trump administration.
Even business groups, traditionally averse to public spending, look favorably on the proposal.
"This is one of those areas where it's appropriate for the federal government to invest," Matt Sonnesyn, vice president of the Business Roundtable, told AFP. "This is the kind of investment that pays dividends to the economy, that does pay for itself over time."
The question, however, remains: how will Donald Trump finance these major projects?
There are several avenues ranging from public-private partnerships to taxing the profits of multinationals held abroad.
Other politically dangerous solutions would include using toll roads or increasing the federal fuel tax, which has not been altered since 1993.
One thing is certain: federal spending for this program will be more than symbolic, and runs the risk of alienating some Republicans and burdening public finances already jeopardised by the massive tax cuts that Trump also has promised.
"If you have big tax cuts and big increases in military and infrastructure spending then the benefits (to the economy) could evaporate rapidly and the overall effects could turn negative in the longer run," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics told AFP.
Project selection also will be crucial and must avoid the past practice of funding pet projects to satisfy political allies who want a new road or bridge in their district for their constituents.
"It's hard to get legislation passed that doesn't allocate money broadly, so that everybody gets some regardless of whether it's justified," said Clifford Winston of the Brookings Institute.
"We have to take a much more careful look at the cost and benefits of what we're doing instead of saying that we need to spend more."
Workers at a shrimp processing factory in Tra Vinh. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh
Truong inh Hoe, secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), made the statement at a round table on improving the competitiveness of Viet Nams shrimp industry. The meeting was held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments General Department of Fisheries, VASEP and GIZs Integrated Coastal Management Programme in Can Tho on Tuesday.
The dialogue attracted 100 participants from central and local state offices, businesses and farmers in Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta.
The General Department of Fisheries said Viet Nam had 700,000ha shrimp rearing land in 30 provinces and cities. The total area of rearing shrimp was expected to increase to bring millions of jobs and develop a supply chain for medicine, feed, services and processing activities.
Hoe said in 2015, Viet Nam was the second largest shrimp producer in the world, accounting for 14 per cent of global market share. Viet Nams shrimp exporters exported large amounts of giant tiger prawns to the US and Australia.
Local shrimp enterprises have expanded their market shares while the shrimp industries in Thailand and China have been hit by diseases, he said.
Viet Nam would face difficulties in exports when Thailand and Chinas shrimp industries recover if local enterprises dont reduce production costs and improve the quality of export shrimp, Hoe said.
Vo Van Phuc, director of Viet Nam Clean Fishery JSC, said at the dialogue that the shrimp industry has had low output and high production costs and was dependant on the demand of Chinese traders.
In addition, farmers and processing enterprises have not created production and business chains, he said. The local supply industry has not met demand of the processing sector while the state has not paid much attention to developing the processing sector.
Hoe said domestic production costs had risen, including feed, varieties, electricity and water costs. The shrimp industry lacks strong links between farmers and processors and has few value-added products. Some state policies for industry have been insufficient. Meanwhile, markets such as Japan and Australia have enhanced regulations controlling food safety for imported shrimp.
Hoe said to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese shrimp on the world market, the local shrimp industry must reduce production costs and improve food safety.
The enterprises should make use of preferential tariffs under free trade agreements and follow export markets closely to create reasonable business plans, he said.
Phuc said the State should only give operation licences for enterprises meeting conditions about food safety and operation environment. It should also enhance management for quality of material, chemical products and animal medicines.
Many participants said the local shrimp industry should have transparency of input production and increase the quality of varieties and feed.
However, the deals value has yet to be disclosed due to the continuous loss.
Established in 2008, VNPT Epay is one of Vietnam's leading providers of electronic payment services. VNPT Epay was founded by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), holding of 35 per cent, and VMG, with 62.25 per cent.
Apart from its holdings-to-be-divested in VNPT Epay, VMG owns 50.5 per cent of OCG Technology JSC and 51 per cent of Imedia Services and Technology JSC.
Earlier, in late 2015, VMG bought a 68.65 per cent stake, equalling 6.6 million shares, in Lingo.vn, a Vietnamese e-commerce website from Singapore-based Yellow Star Investment Fund. However, in late August 2016, the e-commerce website was closed.
UTC is a private equity and venture capital firm specialising in buying out and investing in start-ups. It also engages in corporate restructuring.
In addition, the firm seeks to invest in the information services, petro-chemistry, and energy sectors. It prefers to invest in South Korea with a focus on Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The firm makes cross-border investments, primarily in China and Japan.
The $300-million joint venture is expected to become Vietnams pre-eminent hotel platform and looking to expand into other leading hospitality markets in Southeast Asia. The long-term goal is to capture the fast growth in tourist arrivals, especially from China, to the region over the next 5-10 years.
The joint venture seeks to grow its assets through acquiring, repositioning, and enhancing well-situated city hotels in key first-tier cities and developing luxury resorts in leading resort destinations across Southeast Asia.
Besides, it plans to acquire and partner with other hotel management companies and platforms to further enhance its management capabilities, brand, and asset coverage.
With tourist arrivals expected to more than triple over the next ten years in the region, hospitality and tourism will be at the forefront of driving the regions fast growth. We look forward to expanding the footprint of the joint venture across the region with the goal of an eventual IPO, said Jeffrey Perlman, managing director and head of Southeast Asia at Warburg Pincus.
Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm that focuses on growth investment. It manages more than $40 billion in private equity assets and has raised 15 private equity funds that have invested in excess of $58 billion in more than 760 companies and 40 countries.
The firm has a proven investment track record in the consumer and retail sectors globally and in Asia, building successful businesses and leading brands, such as CAR Inc., Kidswant, Intime Department Store, and Red Star Macalline, as well as Franshion Properties and 7 Days Inn.
Earlier in June 2015, Warburg Pincus completed a follow-on minority investment of approximately $100 million in Vincom Retail, a subsidiary of Vingroup. This brings Warburg Pincus total investment in Vincom Retail to $300 million, making it one of the largest investments by a private equity firm ever in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, VinaCapital is a leading investment management and real estate development firm in Vietnam, with a diversified portfolio of $1.4 billion in assets under management.
VinaCapital has disbursed its investments in Vietnamese private companies through its closed-end investment fund, Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF). The latest VOF investment was an investment partnership with German KfW Group's DEG Fund, to pump $30 million into Vietnamese wood product manufacturer An Cuong Wood-Working Materials.
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For almost 30 years, Pennsylvania's electoral college votes have gone to Democratic presidential candidates. But on election night, this battleground state went for Donald Trump. VOA's Katherine Gypson talked to Trump supporters from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who were still surprised the day after his historic win. VOA Khmer's Cheoung Pochin narrates.
When he takes office as president, Donald Trump will work shoulder to shoulder with leaders of NATO's top member states, who are women. During the campaign, Trump was accused of having a disrespectful attitude toward women. The concern adds to questions of whether he will sustain the U.S. commitment to defend members of the world's most powerful alliance. VOA Europe Correspondent Luis Ramirez reports. VOA Khmer's Sou Pichchinda narrates.
An activist who was detained on violence charges for taking part in a protest outside the residence of Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for security camera footage of the incident to be released.
A court in Phnom Penh on Thursday held a hearing in the case against Tep Vanny, a prominent housing activist from the Boeung Kak Lake area. The court denied her request for bail.
The incident was alleged to have taken place in March 2013.
Touch Thavarith, Appeals Court spokesman, said Judge Nguon Ratana had refused the bail request on the grounds that her release could endanger public security.
If she was granted bail, she would violate the law and commit crimes again, he said. The investigation is not complete yet.
As she was leaving the courtroom, Vanny, visibly upset, said she was not a criminal and had no hope after being denied bail.
She said if the security camera footage of the alleged incident was released it would prove her innocence.
Those culprits who committed real crimes are still living freely outside jail, he said. They are people in positions of authority.
They violate the citizens land rights and make them suffer.
Thavarith declined to comment further on the verdict or the possibility that security camera footage could be released.
Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator at Licadho, a local rights group, said Vanny had been targeted because she was a popular land rights activist who challenged the authoritys narrative.
She will be released when the political situation has improved, he said.
Along with Vanny, on August 22, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced fellow activist Bov Sophea to six days in jail and a fine for taking part in a banned demonstration.
However, while Sophea was released, Vanny was held because over two separate cases, the violence case and another related to alleged insults levied at officials.
Human Rights Watch, among dozens of other rights groups, has called on the court to drop all charges against Vanny and other activists they say have been jailed on spurious charges.
A court in Cambodia has sentenced an opposition senator to a year and six months behind bars and a fine for reportedly making comments linking Prime Minister Hun Sen to the killing of prominent political commentator Kem Ley.
Thak Lany, a senator for the Sam Rainsy Party, was sued by Hun Sen in early August after a video emerged, posted on pro-ruling party website Freshnews, that purported to show Lany blaming Hun Sen for the July 10 killing.
Touch Thavrak, Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge, added that Lany would be required to pay a 100 riel (about 2 cents) compensation payment to Hun Sen as a symbolic gesture.
Sam Sokong, Lanys lawyer, said the decision was unfair and the court had not reviewed key evidence in the case.
If we look at the seriousness of the case, it was minimal, but the court decided to detain my client. This was so inappropriate, he said.
Thavrak, the spokesman, said the decision of the court was final, but Lanys legal team could file an appeal if they wished.
Since the charges was laid, Lany has left the country to avoid legal proceedings.
Chhun Bun San, Lanys husband, claimed that the video published by Freshnews had been doctored.
All Khmer people around the country, nobody would dare do something like that, and Thank Lany didnt dare to say that either.
Ki Tech, Hun Sens lawyer, said he was satisfied with the verdict.
What can we do with 100 riel? I think we all know we cannot do anything with 100 riel, but it shows the people that this is the law, he said.
Sok Sam Oeun, an leading human rights lawyer, said the courts interpretation of the case was vague and could restrict freedom of speech and expression.
For example, if we incited someone to kill people, it would count as incitement. But inciting a crime without knowing what you are inciting...I think the interpretation of the court is incorrect, he said.
A case like this can be used for political gain, and incitement can affect freedom of expression.
Street vendors on Monday were left feeling disappointed after sales were down as the water festival returned to Phnom Penh but with far fewer showing up for the event.
The government has suspended the festival, which runs over three days, for four of the past five years since a deadly stampede in 2010 killed more than 350 people in the capital.
The festival returned in 2014 but was canceled again last year ostensibly due to low rainfall, but also amid political tensions that many say were the real reason behind the decision.
The suspensions and fear since the stampede kept people away this year, with vendors reporting up to 40 percent decreases in trade.
Touch Srey Oun, 23, who sells organic health products outside Botum Vatey Pagoda near the Royal Palace, said she had failed to sell much of the produce which she would normally easily offload over the festival period.
I dont think people knew about this years festival, she said.
Khouy Rayuth, a clothes seller, said he also saw a large drop in sales.
The people have started to not be excited by this festival, he said.
Sman Chanthou, a tire seller, said she had only managed to sell half of her stock, adding that she thought the recent cancellations of the festival had changed peoples behavior.
Some people now go to the provinces, and others stay in town, she said.
Sous Oudom, another trader, said numerous road blocks set up across town had deterred people from going to Koh Pich, where many street sellers set up shop and where the stampede occurred in 2010.
This year, too many roads were blocked, he said.
Not enough young Cambodians are interested in science, technology, engineering and math.
That is the view of Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron, who attended last week an event where four young Cambodians showed off the results of their research: innovations in water distillation; video game creation and the health impact of processed drinks.
Only 3 percent of students choose to study the so-called STEM subjects at university, according to the ministry, while almost half choose management degrees.
However, Naron says there are signs that this imbalance is changing.
At the event, which launched the STEM HUB and a magazine aimed at young people interested in gaining technical skills, Young Scientists, he said he hoped it would encourage our youth to study science subjects.
He said that more students are opting for the sciences, which provided essential skills needed for development in the modern world, adding that universities had seen a 40 to 50 percent increase in students applying for STEM subjects compared with three years ago.
The STEM HUB will serve as a center for events where Cambodians can share successful projects they have worked on with their peers.
It will also be accompanied by an educational program supported by the UK Embassy.
Bill Longhurst, UK ambassador, said he hoped more Cambodians would be encouraged to take up science subjects.
[O]ur aim is to try to inspire the next generation of Cambodians to consider taking STEM education subjects. To do that we've done a number of things. We introduced a new maths teaching method to teaching in Cambodia, he said.
He added that the embassy had also put in place STEM ambassadors who would travel the nation and meet with students at high schools.
Li Nilroth, 14, a science student, said the work was difficult but he had good teachers, which made it easier.
For me, personally, it's not that difficult. It's just that at first I don't know English. Hence, I just need to try harder, he said.
Research shows that countries that have a high number of STEM graduates have a knock-on effect on the economy, boosting investment and modernization.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was outspoken on immigration, saying he would deport millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States, build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, and ban Muslims or those trying to enter the United States from countries that pose terror threats.
Just over a week after Trump's election, VOA's Latin America division interviewed Luis Quinonez, a member of the Hispanic Advisory Council to the president-elect, about potential immigration policies.
This transcript from the Nov. 17 interview has been edited for clarity and length.
VOA: Has Trump maintained his campaign position that there would be a ban on people coming from Muslim countries unless the U.S. sorts out how to stop terrorists from entering?
Quinonez: It is not a ban. We will slow down the process so we can verify who they are. We've had instances of individuals trained by ISIS (an acronym for the Islamic State group) trying to penetrate the U.S. using tourist visas. We want to make sure we verify who they are.
VOA: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an adviser to Trump, has suggested there are plans for Muslim immigrants having to register with the government. Is this racial profiling? Will Trump do this?
Quinonez: No. In reality, everyone who visits the United States is registering to verify who they are. We want to avoid people coming with tourist visas and overstaying.
VOA: How does that differ from current laws?
Quinonez: It is the same law but [in the] last eight years it was not enforced. We are dusting off what has been in place to make it successful again.
VOA: What about people coming from Syria and Iraq as refugees, will that change?
Quinonez: No, we want to make sure they are true refugees and they are not Trojan horses people coming disguised as refugees. That can be tricky and may slow down the process to verify who they are.
VOA: Does it mean the government will play closer attention to people coming from those countries?
Quinonez: All countries, including Syria, worry about potential ISIS infiltrators, some of them paying corrupt officials in El Salvador and entering the U.S. through the border or airports. We will ensure they are not a threat to the United States.
VOA: Regarding sanctuary cities, mayors say their cities will remain sanctuaries for immigrants. Trump has said in the past these are bad policies and are bad for the cities' security. Do you think the federal government will push for giving the police the right to check people's status?
Quinonez: This country will abide by the rule of law. ... We can (with)hold money to help (sanctuary cities) from the federal government side. ... We will withhold that money if they want to continue with that nonsense. Secondly, under the criminal statute of the United States, Title 18, there is a specific crime where if a government official does not take action in the face of a criminal offense, they become guilty of a felony it is called misprision of a felony. So, basically, if they want to push us against a corner, what will happen is some of the mayors and chiefs of police and governors could be charged criminally with failure to report a felony misprision of a felony.
VOA: Some people argue ... some police officers can go up to anyone based on how they look and can request proof of their immigration status? Do you think what Donald Trump is suggesting will incentivize racial profiling?
Quinonez: No, absolutely not. Profiling is actually more than just race. There is a lot of things that are telling when someone enters the United States. Recently, investigators can tell by the way you dress, the shoes you wear, your conduct, whether you are potentially a threat to the United States. We're not going to be asking every policeman and every law enforcement officer to stop people just because they look different. What we are saying is, officials in sanctuary cities need to notify the federal government, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), if someone is arrested. ... We can check that against a database to find out if this person is a legal resident or a citizen. ... If they are already in jail. It just takes 15 minutes to verify if these people are criminals or not. That is not profiling, it is not asking anything special from the cities to do for us. ... If there is something that comes back, and this person has no record in immigration files, then notify the federal officials to go forward and investigate further. If we are going to be stopping people just because they are wearing a hat, no, that's nonsense.
VOA: Will Trump's immigration policies effect the asylum application system?
Quinonez: The person seeking asylum has to show they are persecuted and pursued by a government because of their views, and (the current administration has) not done that effectively. Someone says, I am afraid to live in my country. OK, there are some dangerous places to live. Here in the U.S. that should not be the sole reason to let someone in. We must verify why this person should be awarded asylum.
VOA: Will Obama's political changes in Cuba remain the same or will Trump's government ask for more concessions from Cuba?
Quinonez: We will ask for more. There will be a change in attitude. We expect liberty and people to be free the way they should be free.
VOA: For Muslims here legally, is there a reason for them to be concerned about Trump?
Quinonez: No. ... We will target extreme Muslims. Anyone who wants to do harm, we will pursue, and anyone who wants to contribute, we won't profile. If you know someone who may be a threat to the United States, help us out. We have had many Muslims report on people with extreme views, and we have stopped potential attacks on our citizens.
VOA: Some Trump supporters are going after Muslims based on what they are wearing. How do you send a message that this is not right?
Quinonez: We don't tolerate ill treatment toward anyone no matter where they come from. They should be respected. If we know someone targeting immigrants, we will have them arrested. They can call the Justice Department, describe the problem and we will take care of it. People attacking immigrants is wrong. We have discovered operatives who hire homeless people and ask them to commit violence against people. ...
VOA: There are rumors of mass deportations, kids are scared, mothers are scared.
Quinonez: They are lies. The president-elect asked us to be in a conference call he said, Tell them there won't be mass deportations. The criminals will be deported. We will also deport those who abuse their tourist visa. If you stay here and pay taxes and Social Security and you are building a retirement, we will smooth the process to allow them to be part of the labor force. If you commit a crime, you will be in a database and we will find you.
VOA: How will that happen?
Quinonez: On the 21st [of each month], we will check databases and find criminals where they are located. We are hiring 7,500 new border patrol agents.
Accused New York bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he set off an explosive device in September on a crowded city street, injuring 30 people.
Wearing a dark blue jump suit, Rahimi, 28, shuffled slowly into federal court in Manhattan and had several coughing fits during the brief hearing. He suffered serious injuries in a shootout with police two days after the bombing.
He spoke only once, when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman asked him to confirm that he intended to plead not guilty to an eight-count indictment filed on Wednesday.
"Yes, sir," Rahimi said.
Prosecutors have accused the Afghan-born U.S. citizen of setting off an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17. It did not kill anyone but hurt 30 people.
The attack came hours after authorities say another pipe bomb planted by Rahimi went off along the course of a charity road race in New Jersey, although that detonation did not injure anyone.
Federal prosecutors also say Rahimi left another bomb in Chelsea that did not go off and several explosive devices in a bag at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
In addition to the New York indictment, Rahimi faces charges from federal and state prosecutors in New Jersey.
He was captured after a manhunt that ended when police officers discovered him sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The confrontation left him with several gunshot wounds, delaying the filing of federal charges and forcing him to make his first court appearance in New Jersey from a hospital bed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewin told Berman that prosecutors had compiled video clips showing Rahimi's movements on the day of the bombings, including leaving his house carrying bags, walking on West 23rd Street where the device went off and planting the second bomb on West 27th Street.
He also said the government has records showing Rahimi purchased bomb components online and DNA evidence tying him to the bombs.
Lewin asked Berman to consider a trial date in the "late winter" or "early spring," saying the amount of evidence in the case is relatively limited. Berman scheduled court dates for Dec. 19 and Jan. 31 but has not set a trial date.
Rahimi's court-appointed defense lawyers declined to comment after the hearing.
A state court judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Bill Walker had the authority to reduce this years Alaska Permanent Fund dividend, siding with the state in the politically charged case.
Superior Court Judge William Morses decision followed arguments presented by both sides in Anchorage on Thursday morning.
Morse said he expected the issue ultimately to be decided by the Alaska Supreme Court. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said he planned to appeal.
State takes half
The lawsuit, brought by the Anchorage Democrat and two former lawmakers, argued the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. was obligated by law to make available nearly $1.4 billion from the funds earnings reserve for dividends, in spite of a Walker veto reducing that amount.
The veto reduced the dividend to $1,022, roughly half of what it otherwise would have been. The plaintiffs wanted the rest restored.
Attorneys for the state had pushed back on the argument that dividend payments are supposed to be automatic, saying that would remove control of spending state money from lawmakers and eliminate the governors ability to limit spending. They said Walker properly exercised his veto authority.
Morse frequently interrupted and picked at Wielechowskis arguments, at one point, incredulously stating: I mean, come on. You cant seriously say that.
In a ruling issued from the bench, Morse said the governor has tremendous power over spending in Alaska, noting it takes three-fourths of the Legislature to override a veto on a spending item. If there was any intent to eliminate or change a governors role in spending permanent fund earnings that would have been expressed, he said. But it wasnt, he said.
Oil wealth
Dividends come from the earnings of the permanent fund, Alaskas oil wealth nest egg and are annually paid to most Alaskans. The funds principal is constitutionally protected.
Walker has defended his decision to cut this years dividend as necessary as the state struggles with a multibillion-dollar deficit spurred by chronically low oil prices. He sees use of permanent fund earnings as critical to helping fill the gap.
But the use of permanent fund earnings and any talk of capping the dividend remains a politically thorny issue.
One Republican senator, Mike Dunleavy, said last month that he intended to introduce legislation to restore the portion of the dividend vetoed by Walker.
After the court hearing, Wielechowski said the case was always expected to go to the Supreme Court.
We think the legislative history is clear, that it was the intent to allow for dedication of funds to do a dividend, he said.
Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth said the state was confident in the advice it had given the governor and was pleased with Morses decision.
We look forward to seeing what the Supreme Court does with this case, she said.
After U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed the Islamic State from Nimrud earlier this week, they found the archaeological site of an ancient Assyrian city reduced to rubble.
Months before the Iraqi advance, IS destroyed statues, bulldozed palaces that date back some 3,000 years, and destroyed much of the remains of the ziggurat once one of the tallest buildings remaining from the 9th century B.C.
The level of destruction to Nimrud is of such a magnitude that "it is hard to believe that this is recoverable," Sermed Alwan, an Iraqi archaeologist, told VOA.
Located about 19 miles southeast of Mosul, Nimrud is the biblical name given in modern times to Kalhu, the capital of the Assyrian Empire from 1350 to 610 B.C. The nearly 3,000-year-old city was a forgotten treasure buried underground for centuries until 1849, when archaeologists first began excavating it.
"It is the most important city in Mesopotamian history after Babylon, the capital of the Babylonian civilization," Alwan said.
The city has a "special importance to human civilization, for it was the capital of one of the most ancient and powerful empires in human history," he said. And it has "biblical importance, being mentioned as the capital of the Assyrian captivity or Assyrian exile, the period in the history of ancient Israel and Judah during which several thousands of ancient Samarians were resettled as captives by Assyria."
Destruction called war crime
The site stood undisturbed for decades until last year, when IS destroyed it, citing its "un-Islamic" nature.
IS released a video in April 2015 showing men blowing up the site; breaking ancient walls with electric drills; and destroying relics, images and other artifacts. Satellite pictures taken by U.S. coalition partners have shown Nimrud's steady destruction since September.
UNESCO, the cultural heritage arm of the United Nations, called the destruction a war crime and urged political and religious leaders in the region to stand up against the demolition of Nimrud.
The city ziggurat a tiered temple has been reduced to a pile of dirt. The destruction also included the library of Ashurbanipal, which is believed to be the world's first library.
"There were about 200 ancient panels. [Islamic State] stole some of them and destroyed the rest," Iraqi Major General Dhiya Kadhim al-Saidi told Reuters on a visit to the site Wednesday.
Saidi said IS had been driven about two miles northwest of Nimrud, but the area had not yet been cleared of possible bombs and booby traps.
Destruction elsewhere
The Iraqi operation is part of an offensive to drive IS from Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul and its neighboring areas.
Since mid-2014, IS has destroyed dozens of historic sites in Iraq and Syria including mosques, churches and Shi'ite religious halls known as hussainiyas. IS remains in control of some historical landmarks, including the 2,000-year-old desert city of Hatra in Iraq, famed for its pillared Assyrian temple that blended Greco-Roman and eastern architecture.
Iraqi archaeologist Alwan said that, because of continued fighting in the Nimrud region, a team of experts would not be able to visit the site soon, leaving it vulnerable to more damage.
"Iraqi forces fighting IS in Nimrud and other ancient sites that surround Mosul do not have enough knowledge and experience to deal with such an important archaeological site or to keep it safe from vandalizing or further destruction," Alwan said.
Shunned by Myanmar's new government and its Buddhist hierarchy, a nationalist monk blamed for whipping up at times bloody anti-Muslim fervor said he feels vindicated by U.S. voters who elected Donald Trump to be president.
Ashin Wirathu, a high-profile leader of the Myanmar Buddhist organization known as Ma Ba Tha, drew parallels between his views on Islam and those of the Republican president-elect. Trump's campaign was rife with anti-Muslim rhetoric and proposals that included banning Muslims from entering the country and heightening surveillance of mosques. The form his actual policies will take remains unclear.
We were blamed by the world, but we are just protecting our people and country, Wirathu said. ... The world singled us out as narrow-minded. But as people from the country that is the grandfather of democracy and human rights elected Donald Trump, who is similar to me in prioritizing nationalism, there will be less finger-pointing from the international community.
He even floated the idea of cooperating with nationalist groups in the U.S.
In America, there can be organizations like us who are protecting against the dangers of Islamization. Those organizations can come to organizations in Myanmar to get suggestions or discuss, he said in an interview at his monastery in Mandalay on Nov. 12. Myanmar doesn't really need to get suggestions from other countries. But they can get ideas from Myanmar.
Wirathu has been accused of inciting violence with hate-filled, anti-Islamic rhetoric in this Southeast Asian, Buddhist-majority country of about 55 million. Buddhist-led riots left more than 200 people dead in 2012 and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, most of them Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine state.
Anti-Rohingya sentiment remains high in Myanmar. Members of the ethnic group are widely considered to have immigrated illegally from nearby Bangladesh, though many Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for generations.
At the same time, Wirathu's influence has weakened in the past year. He threw his support behind the military-backed government ahead of elections in November 2015, only to see the former ruling party fall to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in a landslide.
In July, a senior NLD official in Yangon said that Ma Ba Tha, also known as the Committee to Protect Race and Religion, was not needed. Calls for the official to be disciplined went unanswered. In the same month, the country's official Buddhist clergy publicly distanced itself from the group.
Ma Ba Tha fades with barely a whimper, read a headline in the English-language Myanmar Times in August.
Wirathu said he has no plans of fading into obscurity.
This government doesn't want our Ma Ba Tha, he said, seated behind a desk in a saffron robe as several aides took photos and video of his pronouncements. But the NLD's attempt to thwart the group will be hard for them, he added, as Ma Ba Tha is not breaking any laws.
Currently, we are waiting and looking at the situation as this government has only been here a short time and they don't know how to manage, he said. So we are not doing anything like campaigning or protesting to impact the government. But we will hold meetings, issue statements, help in our role.
For example, he said, his members have been distributing food in northern Rakhine state.
Scores of Rohingya and some Myanmar troops have been killed in northern Rakhine since suspected militants attacked border posts last month, killing nine police officers. Rohingya activists say innocent villagers are being killed, but the government says it is only fighting violent attackers. International media and aid groups have been kept away.
Since its beginnings in the 1980s, the world wide web has promised to revolutionize communications. But even its inventor recognized the potential downsides.
The amount of control you have over somebody if you can monitor internet activity is amazing, Sir Tim Berners-Lee famously warned in a 2012 interview.
Few understand both the importance of the internet and the dangers of digital advocacy as well as the six international participants in the Digital Integrity Fellowship.
Funded by the Open Technology Fund*, the fellowship now in its inaugural year provides months-long intensive training, education, and guidance to six individuals around the world already working to increase internet freedoms and protect individuals and organizations from government punishment.
"This comes out of demand for access to an open internet, particularly in environments where journalists, activists, and open access workers often face threats in their ability to do that work, says Lindsay Beck, a senior program manager at OTF who oversees the fellowship.
Its really important to understand that were aiming to help individuals [learn] how theyre able to access technology, what types of software they use, and what specific threats theyre facing, Beck said.
The fellows some of whom are not at liberty to use their real names continue living and working in country while participating. VOA recently had the chance to speak via secure channels with three of the six fellows to hear about the challenges they face, and the opportunities they hope to achieve.
Dangers and risks lurk online
Natasha Msonza is the co-founder of the Digital Society of Zimbabwe, a volunteer network that helps individuals and groups strengthen their online security. Minorities, LGBT advocates and political opponents to President Robert Mugabe are under particular threat for their online activities and organizing. While a fellow, Natasha will work to create a digital security road map for at-risk populations online.
VOA: What do you see as the needs for the people of Zimbabwe when it comes to the internet and online activities?
There is especially a need for digital security awareness. In my experience, ordinary technology users are not fully appreciative of the dangers and risks lurking online, and therefore unwittingly share personal information or become victims of cyber-crime simply because they are not very aware. This is our challenge: how to get information to everyday technology users who are not part of organized groups of activists.
This lack of awareness is even starker when you look at Internet governance and steps being taken by the state to construct the countrys cyber laws. While its understandable that in a country with massive economic problems people are pre-occupied with keeping body and soul together, its unfortunate that there is that lack of appreciation of how digital rights are also linked to the realization of socio-economic empowerment.
VOA: What are some of the successes youve been involved with, and what are you still hoping to accomplish?
I believe that we have made a difference in the work and operations of some human rights defender organizations. Over the past two years, we have trained over 120 at-risk individual activists and at least 15 whole organizations in digital security. Currently were undertaking a fellowship supporting five organizations in implementing a digital security road map ahead of the 2018 presidential elections.
My work with DFIP entails first undertaking some information security audits to establish some sort of baseline in terms of where they are at, security-wise, then coming up with short and long term recommendations. Were hoping the raids or harassment will not be as bad as it has been in previous years.
VOA: What are the challenges of your work in Zimbabwe? Do you or your colleagues feel pressure, threat, or worse from either the government or other organizations?
During periods of volatile political activity, there tends to be increased surveillance, and physical intimidation remains the biggest concern for human rights groups. Sometimes they have strange people lurking or parked mysteriously around their offices. There are also frequently office raids leading to confiscation of equipment and possible losses of important data, or access by state and unknown agents, to private membership databases.
I feel very inspired when I make a difference in the life of at-risk activists who are doing such good work but face numerous digital threats. Its also heartening to see when generally technophobic individuals start to feel at ease using some of the tools we impart in the trainings, and then actively use them in their work. With the DIPF fellowship, I hope to make a difference that is distinct. We can anticipate that the forthcoming elections will as usual see at-risk groups undergo increased surveillance and harassment, with usual raids and confiscation of their work and equipment.
So much work to do
Daniel, who declined to use his true name, lives in Venezuela where he works in computer science. A self-described techie, he began working in social activism with friends who had been doing similar work for several years. He hopes to use his knowledge of computer architecture to help at-risk groups conduct organizational audits to improve their online security and defend against government surveillance.
VOA: Why do you do this kind of work?
I feel my work has impact. Im not doing it for financial or commercial reasons; they of course have value, but not the sort of value and kind of impact that Im having.
VOA: How did you come to digital activism?
Its hard not to be political in Venezuela I started in the times of Chavez. Some young people said they hate politics I was never one of those. I disagreed with the Chavez regime, but wasnt extremely active. I loved the 2012 election with Enrique Capriles. It was great to see how he presented a challenge to the regime regarding the issues of the election it didnt change anything in that election because the Supreme Court just ignored everything, but he had something to show and to say.
VOA: Is this kind of work risky for you or your colleagues?
We havent been in direct threat, but we work in a space where theres a lot of risk. Were working directly with people who have been jailed or forced into exile in the past. We hope the government sees us as just the tech guys, not the political guys, who are the ones really leading the campaigns. But still, we have to keep a low profile. Im not the kind of person to be really worried about it, but suspect highly that our names are on lists somewhere.
VOA: What are you hoping to accomplish in Venezuela?
My specific fellowship proposal is to offer longer-term assistance to organizations who need it. Audits by themselves usually fix nothing, and single day trainings are good, but the organizations are too hard to change. So after doing an audit, I want to follow up with trainings, spending weeks implementing policies, tools and security policies. Theres so much work to do and so little time and money.
VOA: Are you hopeful you can do that?
Im not a pessimist or an optimist. The situation is depressing, it certainly is you need optimism to remain in this country, you really do. I feel you need that to stay here and make this country a place worthy of living and returning. It hits home when so many friends and family have to leave, so part of the reason Im doing what Im doing is that I hope someday our country is in a much better place and people will return.
Thats what pushes our work- thats the impact. People really need to take care of their own digital security here. There arent many people working in this area, but in my case I have a lot of work to do.
The government sees us as a threat
Nighat Dad is the founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, based in Lahore, Pakistan. A lawyer by education, she and the foundation focus on bolstering the online freedoms and rights of vulnerable populations, such as religious minorities, the LBGT community, and women. She hopes to use the fellowship to provide greater legal access and counsel to at-risk communities online.
VOA: Why is this digital activism important in Pakistan?
I feel countries like Pakistan who are still grappling with issues around internet rights and human rights, theres a lot of focus around regulating the internet through draconian legislation legislation that allows them to hinder the exercise of fundamental human rights. Raising awareness of online security and digital rights is a critical place to share their ideas.
"Its so sad that Pakistan has not seen a good space for minorities and vulnerable groups. These online spaces are so important; the internet is the only place where these groups feel they can talk about their issues, their beliefs, and share their opinions. Unfortunately, this space has been shrinking for them.
VOA: Does this work put you at risk?
The government sees us as a threat. During the debate around recent cybersecurity legislation, they labeled as anti-state, as CIA agents, as people getting funding from other states and hurting national security. Its also important to tell them that in a democratic state, they cant just make decisions themselves and oppress the rights of people which are enshrined in the constitution. We need to remind them again and again when what theyre doing is wrong.
VOA: You say youre working to protect minority communities, but there are more women than men in Pakistan. Do you also include women as a vulnerable minority?
Of course! Were 52 percent of the population but clearly a minority in Pakistan in terms of rights. Theyre being attacked online: when they exercise their right to free expression, theyre attacked by the patriarchy who are not ready to allow them to express their minds. Women are using the internet to enjoy all the freedoms theyre not allowed in the off-line space; the more they speak, the more they are attacked. Thats not the case for men.
My activism is very political in a personal sense. I feel personal is political. My personal experiences forced me to do something for women broadly in Pakistan. There are a lot of groups addressing the violence and harassment off-line, but those experiences online werent being acknowledged, and this is something I felt I could do. Thats where I started my work back in 2009.
VOA: What are your aspirations; what do you want to accomplish that you havent?
Working for digital rights in a country where this hasnt been done before is a bit of a challenge. I feel a lot of responsibility, because I feel Im setting a precedent for young people who will be doing this work in the future. One success weve had so far is mainstreaming this debate and issue. Now there are journalists, activists, media and others talking about these issues.
The internet is for women; despite the harassment, young women can reclaim the Internet. Were helping them to fight back, providing the legal recourses and strategies that work. Weve been across the nation specifically to talk to young women and girls. In these areas we teach them the tools to prevent harassment and fight back when it happens.
*The Open Technology Fund is a program Radio Free Asia (RFA) supported through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Office of Internet Freedom. The BBG is VOAs parent agency, and RFA is a sister media organization to VOA.
A judge in Britain has granted the wish of a 14-year-old girl who suffered from terminal cancer but wanted to be cryogenically preserved, in what the judge called the first case of its kind in England and possibly the world.
The girl, who was not identified, told High Court Judge Peter Jackson she hoped to be brought back to life in the future, when her cancer could be cured. She died a month ago and the case was made public Friday.
The girl's lawyer, Zoe Fleetwood, said her wishes were carried out; the teenager's frozen body is now in the United States at a cryopreservation facility.
The 14-year-old learned of the judge's ruling 11 days before her death, and her lawyer said the decision gave great comfort in the last days of her life.
Judge Jackson said he was persuaded by a letter the girl wrote, stating clearly that she wanted to try cryopreservation. He called her a bright, intelligent young person who is able to articulate strongly held views on her current situation. He said his ruling was based on what was best for the girl, and was not a ruling on the validity of cryopreservation.
Some believe that cryopreservation may allow frozen bodies to be brought back to life in the future when science has advanced. Biological material preserved in this manner usually is frozen to the temperature of liquid nitrogen, nearly 200 degrees Celsius below zero, the temperature at which water freezes.
The girl's divorced parents had disagreed about the procedure. He mother favored cryopreservation once it became clear her cancer was terminal; her father initially opposed the procedure.
The world of toys is a heaven for children, but may be a world of misery for toy factory workers.
That's how a team of researchers from New York-based China Labor Watch (CLW) summarized findings of a recently released report that outlines working conditions at four toy factories in China's Guangdong Province.
Faced with long shifts and monthly wages of about $300 for 174 hours of work, the Chinese laborers, investigators say, assemble popular brand name products such as Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, Hot Wheels and other toys for Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, McDonald's, Wal-Mart and other American companies, often in dangerous working conditions and without workplace training.
We found that the average working hours in these four factories are 11 hours a day, with more than 50 overtime hours a month, and at half of the factories, overtime hours had reached 100 hours, with the highest at above 130 hours, the report said, based on accounts of investigators who worked undercover on assembly lines in "relatively well managed" factories.
According to Chinese labor law, laborers may not work more than 8 hours a day, although hours may be extended under certain circumstances with provisions for the workers' physical well-being.
During the 11 hours that workers put in within a day, all they had was a 40-to-60-minutes lunch break, it said. This is an obvious violation of the right of workers to have adequate rest.
Toy factory managers described in the report routinely asked workers to sign voluntary overtime agreements, which allowed the factory to violate labor laws and regulations with relative impunity.
Wages too low to live on
However, the vast majority of workers request overtime in order to supplement their basic earnings.
The wages are too low, 27-year-old worker Li Jintao told VOA. My monthly salary is 2,500 RMB ($360), but after deductions for social security, I make only a little more than 2,000 RMB ($292) per month.
Although Chinese laws require foreign-invested enterprises to pay social security for workers, the CLW report said one of the factories followed the provisions strictly.
"One factory did not pay the social insurance or the housing fund for the workers," the report said. "Another paid only a portion to some workers; some factories even forced the workers to sign papers saying that they were willing to give up their right to receive social insurance and housing funds."
Li, who left his home village at 14 to work in the city, says his monthly salary of $292 includes payment for two to three hours of overtime per day. The 2016 minimum wage standard for Dongguan and Foshan, the cities where three of the toy factories are located, is $223 per month. The minimum wage standard for Shenzhen, home to the fourth factory, is $300.
While workers at all four factories earned roughly 5 percent more than the local standard minimum wage, Li said it's still not enough to maintain a reasonable standard of living. He plans to quit his job and return home.
No safety training
The report accused the four factories of negligence in pre-job safety training, and for failure to provide workers with masks, gloves and other safety products.
In the packaging plant of Mattel's Chang'an manufacturing facility, a commonly used toxic solvent thought to be isoamyl acetate because of its distinctive bananalike odor was distributed in unlabeled plastic drinking bottles. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says isoamyl acetate is considered dangerous to life after five hours of exposure at certain concentration levels.
The CLW report said the vast majority of workers live and eat in the factories where they work. Some workers complained about poor-quality canteen food and that their dormitories, which are old and dirty, commonly have hazardous exposed electrical wires.
Like most China-based toy-exporters, all four of the factories investigated were accredited by the International Toy Association (ICTI) and have received certificates from ICTI Care, a decade-old program that aims to raise ethical standards and protect laborers in the global toy manufacturing industry.
Employers: 'conditions better than ever'
"Our project focuses on China," Mark Robertson, a London-based ICTI Care spokesperson, said. "We provide certification for more than 1,200 toy factories. We also work in Vietnam, India and other countries, representing 650,000 workers."
Robertson says the industry's current conditions, from shift duration to workers' pay to health and safety, are better than they have ever been, and that China's ICTI-Care-certified factories are stabilizing hours and increasing wages.
CLW, however, said ICTI standards violate China's own labor provisions.
(ICTI) is an association backed by Mattel, Disney and Hasbro, which allows factory workers to work 72 hours a week, and even 78 hours while the factory has to fill an order, Li Qiang, CLW's executive director, told VOA.
CLW sees no improvement
It's not that there's no improvement at all. Some details may have been adjusted, but the overall environment for the toy industry has not improved, added Li, who began investigating southern China's toy factories as an undercover laborer in 1999.
At that time, we worked more than 10 hours a day, and it was like a prison, he said. Now workers still work more than 10 hours a day.
CLW researchers say companies that operate the factories are fully capable of raising wages and improving work conditions, but that most companies choose not to address the issues.
At time of publication, Disney, Mattel and Wal-Mart had not responded to VOA's request for comments. However, Disney issued a statement in response to a June survey by CLW.
These issues have been investigated and resolved, it said. Disney will continue to encourage and rely on factory owners, business associates and governments to promote safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces where Disney-brand products are made.
An earlier version of this report misspelled the name of ICTI Care spokesperson Mark Robertson, and misstated the number of workers the group represents. VOA regrets the errors.
Last Sundays lone wolf terror attack at a church in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, seemed like another random act of Islamic State-endorsed violence. A 32-year-old perpetrator killed a toddler and injured three others with homemade bombs at Oikumene Christian Church. Although the attack seems arbitrarily violent, it was actually premeditated. And the perpetrator is linked to a homegrown extremist network and the prison system, both major factors in his radicalization.
Those involved in the Samarinda church attack come from an IS-linked group called Jamaah Anshorud Daulah (JAD), said Muh Taufiqurrohman, of the Center for Radicalism and Deradicalization Studies. JAD is linked to IS through an Indonesian, Salim Mubarok Attamimi, (a.k.a Abu Jandal) who has close ties with IS central leadership and who leads an Indonesian splinter unit called Katibah Masyaari, or Forces of the East.
The prime suspect in the Samarinda attack is Jo Joh Bin Muhammad Aceng Kurnia, a man who spent three years in jail from 2012 to July 2014 for his involvement in a plot to blow up a research center and church in Banten, Java, according to the Jakarta Post. He was released on parole before serving his full 42 month sentence.
Taufiqurrohman said JAD members were claiming retroactive responsibility for the Samarinda attack on Telegram message channels. They even encouraged IS supporters outside Samarinda to attack [Jakarta governor] Ahok, [Indonesian president] Jokowi and the head of Indonesian National Police, he said.
It is an indication of how the current sectarian tension in Indonesia around Jakartas ethnic Chinese governor is linked to general Islamic terrorism.
The two hard-line Islamist movements of IS sympathizers and the reactionaries calling for Ahoks imprisonment are feeding off each other, said Achmad Sukarsono, an analyst with the U.S.-based political-risk advisory firm Eurasia Group.
I think theres a heightened threat of terror attacks until the gubernatorial elections are over, either in February or, if theres a runoff, in May, he said. It seems random, but once the election concludes, theres no strong political motivation for hard-line Islamists of all stripes.
Pre-IS roots
The roots of JADs network go even further than IS. Between 1999 and 2009, Jemaah Islamiyah [the Southeast Asian terrorist group] was highly active, but they were broken down by Indonesian security forces and splintered, said Sukarsono. Now several splinter groups of JI want to resurrect their clout, and they see IS as an opportunity to reinvigorate their movements. This guy is a foot soldier of one of those splinter groups.
The bridge between the JI era and the current generation of terrorists was, in this and many other cases, prison time.
Terrorists inmates have a certain position in jail, said Sukarsono. Theyre venerated, in a way; theyre not punished, and their ideas get reinforced. When radicalized prisoners like Joh leave prison, he said, they dont immediately find jobs and become disillusioned.
This guy had to become a construction worker again just to make ends meet, said Sukarsono. Hes exactly the type of disillusioned person who found new motivation in IS.
In a chilling parallel, IS declared its so-called caliphate during Ramadan 2014, and Joh was released from prison on parole on Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of that same Ramadan.
Sectarian tensions
But why East Kalimantan, a region with scant extremist links? That too is not as arbitrary as it first seems. Samarinda has a sizable Christian minority of about 75,000 people, or eight percent of its population. Targeting a church would create sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians in the region, University of Indonesia terrorism expert Ridwan Habib told the Jakarta Post.
Its worth noting that the family members of bomb victims have resolutely avoided falling for this bait, endorsing forgiveness and due process of law to prosecute the attacker.
The Samarinda attack happened just days after IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released a rare audio message rallying jihadists around the world to action, as Iraqi troops closed in on Mosul. While the message seems to have come straight from the top, there is no central pro-IS leadership within Indonesia, as Nava Nuraniyah of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict has written.
As it becomes more difficult to get to Syria, many IS supporters are frustrated and impatient for action and may be more motivated than ever to revert to a do-it-yourself jihad, writes Nuraniyah.
Monitoring
While attacks like the one in Samarinda can seem hopelessly random, that doesnt posit blind resignation. One reasonable line of defense would be a clear database of terrorists, including low-level ones like Joh was until recently, suggested Sukarsono.
The BNPT has something in place, but its not updated regularly, he said. Unfortunately, monitoring is not exactly sexy. It doesnt involve showing off new weapons or gear, or doing press conferences. And, of course, the burden of proof is negative; the measure of success would be no incident.
Still, when lone wolf attackers have such salient risk factors as did the Samarinda attacker, it would be well worth the unexciting effort to improve the tracking of likely perpetrators.
Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried with military honors Friday, 30 years after he was ousted in a People Power revolution.
The ceremony began with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in Manila.
Despite growing opposition from a coalition composed of Philippine human rights victims of the Marcos dictatorship, the Philippines Supreme Court ruled last week that Marcos could be buried at the cemetery.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte approved the burial of the former dictator, disregarding the oppositions rejection. Marcos body was flown secretly to Manila in an apparent effort to avoid protests.
Thousands of riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery and there were no protesters.
The Marcos family fled the Philippines at the height of the army-backed People Power Revolution, which inspired other democracy movements in Asia.
Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and his body was returned to his northern Philippine hometown of Batac in 1993. Since then, it has been displayed in a glass coffin and became a tourist attraction.
As a presidential candidate in 1976, Jimmy Carter promised to withdraw all U.S. ground forces from South Korea, arguing the troops were inflammatory and risked drawing Washington into war. After he was elected, Carter attempted a troop pullout, but was never able to completely follow through on his promise. Four decades later, nearly 30,000 U.S. troops remain stationed on the peninsula.
During his own run for the presidency, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan made big promises about restoring formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a move that would have angered Communist China, the island's powerful rival on the mainland. Reagan, too, never followed through, instead preserving Washington's unofficial relationship with Taiwan, a state of informal ties that still exists to this day.
Both are examples of eyebrow-raising proposals, made during the heat of the presidential campaign, that would have significantly altered U.S. policy in Asia. That they were never carried out suggests President-elect Donald Trump may also face serious challenges should he choose to follow through with his own bold Asia proposals, says Ralph Cossa with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"In any presidential campaign, about half of anything the candidates say is not going to happen. The challenge is figuring out which half," Cossa told VOA. "I think we're doing a candidate a disservice when we focus too much on the exaggerated version of what they said. My assumption is that things are going to be the same until someone really convinces me they're intent on changing it and are capable of changing it."
Exaggerated rhetoric?
But Trump's statements on Asia seem to go well beyond the kind of exaggerated rhetoric and outsized promises sometimes used by U.S. presidential candidates. And many of those statements were like on the mind of both Trump and and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, when both leaders met at Trump's residence in New York late Thursday afternoon during the president-elect's first meeting with a foreign leader since being elected.
Here is a sample of some of the controversial comments the billionaire businessman has made on Asia:
- Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. could withdraw troops from Japan and South Korea unless both countries pay their "fair share" of the cost of the deployments (Seoul and Tokyo currently pay about half the cost of U.S. forces). He's said both countries should instead protect themselves, without U.S. help and possibly with the help of nuclear weapons. If the U.S. troop pullout resulted in a war between Japan and North Korea, Trump responded glibly in April: "Good luck. Enjoy yourself, folks."
- Trump has also talked big on China. He's promised to place a 45 percent tariff on all Chinese exports to the U.S., a move many worry could spark a trade war. He vowed to label China a currency manipulator. And he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the free-trade deal at the heart of the White House's effort to focus U.S. military and economic policy toward Asia.
- On North Korea, one of the region's most intractable problems, Trump has put out an inconsistent message, saying he is both open to negotiating with the country's unpredictable young leader, Kim Jong Un, and that he is also open to having China assassinate him.
Trump unique
It's those kinds of comments that have many longtime Asia watchers concerned that Trump's views represent a fundamental change in the direction of U.S. policies in Asia, which for decades have been backed by bipartisan support.
"What I'm hearing this time from Trump is that it's very zero-sum, very divorced from an apparent appreciation for these wider benefits of the alliance relationship" with various countries, says James Schoff, a senior associate in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Whereas many presidential candidates have proposed major changes in Asia strategy, most have done so while reassuring U.S. allies that Washington "doesn't want to tip over the whole apple cart of the post-World War Two global international order," Schoff says.
"Putting these proposals in the context of 'America First' is very different," he adds, referring to Trump's self-described foreign policy approach.
Katsuyuki Kawai, an adviser to Abe who was sent to set up the Abe-Trump meeting, said several advisers to the president-elect told him "we dont have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally."
Asia leaders waiting
Many leaders in Asia appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to Trump.
At an event Wednesday in Washington, Vietnam's ambassador to the U.S., Pham Quang Vinh, was reluctant to comment on the policies of the incoming Trump administration. "I'm not assumed to judge on something that is not in place yet," he said at an event held at the Center for National Interest.
But he was optimistic that the U.S. relationship with Vietnam and the region would continue largely unchanged.
"Asia continues to be important for the U.S., and Asia wants the U.S. to be in the region. And the next administration should continue to sustain its engagement with the region," Vinh said.
That's a positivity shared by Cossa, the Hawaii-based analyst. In his estimation, U.S. policy in Asia will "most likely continue to go in the same direction," he says, before stopping himself and adding: "I think. And I hope."
A suspected Filipino drug lord, whose father was killed in an alleged gunfight in prison, was repatriated Friday from the United Arab Emirates to the Philippines, promising to tell all he knows about the narcotics trade in a move seen to bolster President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs.
Rolando Kerwin Espinosa Jr. arrived in handcuffs and flak jacket at Manilas airport with a police team that brought him from Abu Dhabi. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa, who has assured Espinosas safety, escorted him from the airport to a maximum-security facility at the police headquarters.
Espinosas father, town mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., was arrested last month. He had agreed to cooperate with officials but was killed November 5 in an alleged gunfight with police inside his jail cell. Senators investigating the case suspect it was an intentional killing.
At a news conference at the police headquarters, the younger Espinosa apologized to Duterte and asked for a chance to turn over a new leaf.
I ask forgiveness from President Duterte, he said. Whatever I have done in the past, I hope he can give me a chance to lead a new life.
He assured Duterte that all that I know about the drug trade will be revealed, all the names.
Human rights groups and Western governments have criticized Dutertes anti-drug campaign that has left more than 4,000 suspected addicts and pushers dead since July.
Lieutenant General Michael Flynn was the single military figure of his rank and stature to publicly support President-elect Donald Trump throughout the election. That loyalty now appears to be paying off, as Trump has reportedly asked Flynn to serve as his national security adviser.
Flynn held a similar role as Trumps go-to national security adviser during the campaign, and Flynn will likely play a big role in Trumps foreign policy decisions moving forward, since Trump has no practical military experience.
A 57-year-old registered Democrat, Flynn is a decorated combat veteran who retired as a three star general.
Flynn began his military career in 1981 after graduating from the University of Rhode Island as a distinguished member of the schools Reserve Officers Training Corps. He spent his military career as an intelligence officer in the Army, mostly at bases within the United States, but also was involved in missions in Grenada and Haiti.
Later, Flynn served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and held the top intelligence officer spot for the Joint Special Operations Command between 2004 and 2007.
Retired in 2014
After several years of successive promotions within Army intelligence operations, Flynn was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to be director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He held the position for two years before retiring in 2014 after reportedly being forced out for his poor management style.
Since retiring, Flynn has become a fierce opponent of Obamas policy on Muslim extremists, particularly his handling of the spreading Islamic State group. Flynn has accused Obama of willfully allowing it to happen.
Under fire for comments about Muslims
Flynn has been criticized for some of his statements about Muslims in general, including a February tweet in which Flynn called the fear of Muslims rational.
The tweet further implored Flynns more than 75,000 Twitter followers to share an attached five-minute YouTube video that listed terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims and claimed the Islamic religion wants to enslave or exterminate 80 percent of the population.
Violent clashes between supporters of rival political parties have raised concern about security as Ghanaians prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7.
Ghana's Center for Democratic Governance released a survey this week that said 54 percent of Ghanaians thought political parties or candidates were "very likely" to use violence in the upcoming elections.
There have been several incidents during campaigning this month. The Odododiodio parliamentary constituency in Accra has seen three violent episodes between supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
"There is this uncertainty amongst a lot of people," said Nii Ahinakwa Nunoo, an Accra resident. "For the fear of the unknown."
Nunoo received a blow to the eye during a November 9 altercation between the NDC and NPP parliamentary candidates that turned into fisticuffs as youth groups came to defend their political candidates, including NPP candidate Nii Lante Bannerman.
Man 'punched me'
"There was this other guy who was on a motorbike, pulled a machete and strikes it on the ground, so Bannerman had to run into that house," Nunoo said. "Another also pulled a gun [and] fired shots, so I went back into the car out of fear. After firing the shots, the man just finished, put the gun down and then punched me in the face. The [local] guys started throwing bottles at them. The young guys that were just [nearby] started to scare them away and also get the situation under control."
The police recently foiled a similar incident at the home of the main opposition leader and presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, at Nima.
Both sides have traded accusations about who is to blame for the altercations.
The United States, European Union and Britain issued statements condemning the violence. The ruling NDC responded Thursday, accusing the international community of "malicious propaganda" in favor of the opposition. The U.S. Embassy in Accra rejected that accusation, saying it had not taken sides.
In Accra, professor Michael Tagoe says frustration over the poor economy and a lack of understanding of the democratic process fuel tensions.
"If you have growing unemployment among the youth and they can only find work around election time, where party officials go around mobilizing them to campaign for them, it is likely that there will be violence," Tagoe said.
Weapons amnesty
Ahead of the election, police announced a one-month amnesty for people wishing to turn in illegal weapons. The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra released a survey estimating there were about 1 million unregistered firearms in Ghana.
But police said they were up to the task of securing the vote.
Superintendent Cephas Arthur, director of public affairs for the Ghana Police Service, said, "We're going to have about four-tier security arrangement. The first one is going to be security officers who'll be posted to the polling stations to provide security for the exercise, and it could range from one to three depending on the nature, the characteristics of that particular polling station. The second tier will be patrols.
"And then after these patrol teams we will have officers standing by at vantage positions across the country in the constituencies. We will have a fourth tier, which will be our friends from the military. They will be about the remotest ring. And that is when things are getting out of hand and pandemonium is almost breaking lose."
Arthur said security would be tightened in potential flashpoint areas.
A new survey conducted by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) shows that a majority of Ghanaians believe the Electoral Commission of Ghana can administer free, peaceful and credible elections December 7.
Ghanaians will go to the polls that day to vote in presidential, parliamentary and local elections.
In an interview with VOA, Kojo Asante, senior research fellow at the CDD and part of the group that administered the survey, said more Ghanaians now have a positive perception of the electoral body and those who organize the elections than in the past.
However, the survey also found that some respondents in the country's northern region are concerned that violence could break out between the political parties after the electoral commission counts the votes.
Both the police and the electoral commission have outlined hot spots where they say violence is possible and where measures to ensure peaceful elections may be needed.
"We found that about close to a third of our respondents indicated a certain apprehension about the breakout of violence after the results are announced, Asante said. The CDD took a closer look at where that apprehension was coming from and found that in the northern region, 53 percent of the responses feared violence, he added.
Fear 'in every region'
"What our findings show is that, yes, in every region, there are some people who express certain fear of postelection violence, Asante said. But they were not able to determine whether those responses lined up with the hot spots that the commission and the national security task force on elections identified, he added.
Ghanaians, Asante said, expect the parties and the candidates who lose will use the courts to seek redress and dispute the outcome with evidence.
The findings, he added, show that a majority of respondents reject violence and support peaceful demonstrations to protest election results. He says the respondents, however, are concerned that supporters of the parties could resort to violence.
Asante said prospective voters appear to have confidence in the electoral commission, a sharp improvement from the last nationwide survey.
The researchers measured "the EC's level of preparedness, which is basically not just the EC but also other national stakeholders, like the police, the army, the national peace council and so on, he said.
The EC story is one of good news, because when we did the Afrobarometer survey in 2014, the EC trust ratings were very low. They were in the 40s, Asante said.
That was shortly after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged massive voting irregularities in the December 2012 election and took the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to court to challenge the election results. Eight months later, in August 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed the case and upheld the results of the election.
Now, that was a low point," Asante said.
"When we did the first round of polling in July [2016], the EC rating had moved to 63 percent. And in the current survey that we just did, it's moved to 73 percent, he said. So that's very positive, I think, in terms of the confidence reposed in the electoral commission.
Vote manipulation
However, there are still concerns about vote manipulation, he said, and the EC could do more to educate the people about the electoral process.
Ghanaians do expect a peaceful election, he said, despite a clash this week between supporters of the opposition NPP and the ruling NDC. Supporters of the NPP had accused the NDC partisans of throwing stones and bottles at the house of their leader and presidential candidate. The NDC, for its part, accused the NPP of starting the trouble by attacking them during a peaceful walk. The police stepped in to prevent further violence.
"For us, one of the things that came out of the survey is that the trust rating for the army and the police has remained consistent and very high in both surveys, Asante said. That means, he said, the army and the police would have the legitimacy to deal with violence or to prevent violence.
After years of fighting in the shadow of Syrian regime forces and elite Iranian troops, the Lebanese Hezbollah has stirred controversy by publicly touting its involvement in Syria's civil war with a military display in a Syrian town.
Hezbollah staged a parade in Qusair, Syria, featuring Russian- and U.S.-made military hardware including armored personnel carriers and tanks.
After photos of the event, held on Sunday, circulated on social media this week, it brought concern from inside Syria and out.
U.S. officials are investigating how Hezbollah, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, acquired the U.S.-made equipment and where it came from.
'Gravely concerned'
A U.S. Department of State spokeswoman said the U.S. is "gravely concerned if equipment ended up in the hands of Hezbollah." And a U.S. defense delegation reportedly visited Lebanon this week to discuss the matter with Lebanese defense officials.
"Our embassy in Beirut is working with the Lebanese armed forces to investigate the images circulating on social media purporting to show Hezbollah displaying U.S. military equipment in Syria," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said.
The Lebanese military, which is largely dependent on the U.S. for arms and military supplies, said in a statement that "the weapons shown in the photos are not from [our] stockpiles and don't belong to us."
This summer, the Pentagon provided the Lebanese military with artillery and armored vehicles worth nearly $50 million as part of U.S. efforts to strengthen Lebanon's capacity to fight extremist groups.
The U.S. government last month imposed additional sanctions on Hezbollah commanders and fundraisers. The new sanctions include preventing U.S. citizens from conducting business with individuals and organizations that have ties with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has not said how it came in possession of the U.S. equipment.
But "these weapons were not taken from the [Lebanese] army," Salem Zahran, head of Media Focal Center, a pro-Hezbollah group in Beirut, told VOA.
In Syria
Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops since Syria's civil war broke out in 2012.
Many of the Hezbollah fighters are concentrated in Damascus and Homs, with smaller numbers in Aleppo and Hama provinces. It fights as a proxy army, mostly under the supervision of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said this week that Sunday's parade was designed to show Hezbollah's backing of the Syrian regime.
"There is a high level of coordination between us and the Syrian leadership," Qassem said, adding that the military parade "was part of our field training."
Syrian state-run media did not comment on the Hezbollah military display.
But Syrian government supporters took to social media to express their anger, saying the parade was "provoking Syria's sovereignty."
Analysts say it is likely Damascus was not pleased by the Hezbollah show.
"This would make some in the [Syrian] regime uncomfortable," said Phillip Smyth, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
U.S. Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio said on Thursday he was challenging House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who has led the party in the chamber for 14 years, as Democrats question their strategy and leadership after a stinging general election defeat.
Ryan, 43, who has been in Congress since 2003, said in a statement that Democrats had only been in the House of Representatives majority for four of the past 18 years, "and last week's election results set us back even further."
"Vote for me and I will dedicate all of my energy to lead us back into the majority," said Ryan, who is from an old working-class, steel area of northeastern Ohio, the type of region the Democrats want to wrest back from Republicans.
"At this time of fear and disillusionment, we owe it to our constituencies to listen and bring a new voice into leadership."
Lost in elections
Democrats had expected to do much better in the Nov. 8 election, when Republican Donald Trump, a New York businessman with no experience in public office, won the White House on the back of working-class voters.
Republicans kept their majorities in both Senate and House after some Democrats had predicted double-digit wins in the House and a chance to win the Senate.
Ryan announced his long-shot challenge after several days of publicly weighing it. Pelosi, 76, of California, claims she has support of two-thirds of Democrats before they vote Nov. 30.
"I'm respectful what people are saying. There's a lot of unease," Pelosi said when asked about the potential challenge.
"And as members in there said, we cannot be taking in the full responsibility for what happened in the election ... a lot of it was beyond our control," she added.
Called a 'publicity stunt'
A senior House Democratic aide called Ryan's bid a "publicity stunt." He said Ryan had shortchanged party coffers, paying only half of his dues owed since 2014 to the party's campaign committee. Ryan's office declined comment.
At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats Thursday, about half the roughly two dozen lawmakers who spoke "said we need new leadership," Representative John Yarmuth of Louisville, Kentucky, said in an interview. He declined to say who he would support.
Representative Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas City, Missouri, was also noncommittal but said the caucus should "take his (Ryan's) candidacy seriously and contemplate where the caucus is, and where it could go under his leadership."
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has been rocked by a series of withdrawals by African countries that were original signatories to the Rome Statute that established the court.
This week, Russia also pulled its signature from the ICC treaty, and the Philippines could follow.
Three African states Burundi, South Africa and Gambia signaled their intention to quit the court this year, claiming it disproportionately targets African leaders.
"There's a real concern right across Africa about the meddling of international actors in African affairs," said Phil Clark, from the London University School of Oriental and African Studies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin removed his country's signature from the founding treaty this week, though it had never ratified its membership.
His Philippine counterpart, President Rodrigo Duterte, said Thursday that he might follow Moscow's lead, claiming that "only the small ones like us are battered."
However, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda defended the court's actions.
"As an international community, we should be more concerned about ensuring accountability and justice for these very serious atrocity crimes," Bensouda said this week.
While some African countries plan to quit, others have engaged more directly with the ICC.
"Countries like Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have, in fact, seen the ICC as a tool that they can use against their military and political opponents, said analyst Phil Clark. Nigeria is also engaging in discussions with the ICC prosecutor at the moment about potentially opening investigations into crimes committed by Boko Haram."
The ICC is opening its first major investigations outside Africa looking into potential war crimes in the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict, as well as torture allegations against U.S. and British forces in Afghanistan.
"Those I think are very important cases, Clark said, because it would enable the court to say, Look we're not just picking on African states. We're also willing to tackle the biggest powers in the world."
But as the United States is not a signatory to the court, any successful prosecution appears unlikely.
And analysts say the series of member state withdrawals raises the prospect the ICC will no longer be seen as an institution of global justice.
Free trade, the notion of international trade with few restrictions and low tariffs, is likely to be among the losers in a Donald Trump administration.
The billionaire businessman won the presidency after a tumultuous and divisive election, partly by blaming what he called bad trade deals for massive job losses in U.S. manufacturing.
As a result, the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation free-trade zone that, combined, accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world's economic output, is essentially dead in Congress.
Scrapping TPP may be a missed opportunity for the United States, says Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University in Japan.
"There are already concerns around Asia about the reliability of the United States as an ally," Kingston said. "Clearly, Trump's election will amplify those concerns and anxieties. And I think that this means that there's going to be a significant decline in American influence in Asia."
"If we don't take the lead in writing the rules for the economy of East Asia, the Chinese will, and we are not going to like the outcome," said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, referring to President Barack Obama's argument for creating a level playing field for Pacific trade.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is already capitalizing on the U.S. Congress' failure to vote on a Trans-Pacific trade deal. It has announced plans to propose a rival trade pact at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Peru that would create a Beijing-led regional trade zone in Southeast Asia excluding the United States.
Trade war potential
Trump, who once called China "a cheat" and a currency manipulator, has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese-made goods by 45 percent to correct the trade deficit between the two countries. Beijing responded quickly with its own threats, raising the possibility of an all-out trade war. Galston said the possibility of a damaging trade war has never been higher, and he outlined a number of options China could take.
"To start, they could cancel the orders they placed with Boeing and redirect those orders to Airbus, and that would have a large effect on the economy of the Pacific Northwest," he said.
Beijing could also impose tougher regulations on companies that do business in China, or severely limit iPhone sales, for example, to Chinese customers.
"The idea that this is a one-way street, that we can threaten China and China can't threaten us back, I think, is too simple," Galston said.
If a trade war were to break out, Galston said, there would be no winners. However, given the asymmetry between Chinese exports to the U.S. and American exports to China, Galston said Trump might be gambling that both sides would have enough to lose to come to the table to work things out.
Other trade agreements
Trump has also signaled his intention to renegotiate what he called "the worst trade deal ever," NAFTA, the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Analysts say such a move is unlikely to create new jobs. Despite its flaws, Galston credits NAFTA for helping to create a continental supply chain that has made the U.S. auto industry among the most competitive in the world.
"If that relationship were to be disrupted, then it could have serious consequences. And it's not clear to me that it would have the effect of bringing auto jobs back to the United States," he said.
Given Trump's protectionist rhetoric, European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom thinks a pending U.S. free-trade deal with Europe TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is probably not moving forward anytime soon.
"There is strong reason to believe that there would be a pause in TTIP, that this might not be the biggest priority for the new administration," Malmstrom said.
Labor unions have been among the most vocal critics of free trade. The AFL-CIO blames NAFTA for the loss of nearly a million jobs and claims those who manage to find new jobs earn on average about 23 percent less than they used to. Labor groups insist any future free-trade agreements must include protections and a larger retraining budget for laid-off American workers.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would block the sale of commercial aircraft to Iran, a bid to stop sales by Boeing and Airbus that have already been approved by President Barack Obama's administration.
The bill passed the Republican-led House 243-174, largely along party lines. Eight Democrats joined Republicans in favor. All 174 "no" votes were from Democrats.
The measure would bar U.S. Treasury Department from issuing licenses that U.S. banks would need to finance sales of commercial aircraft, the latest in a series of efforts by congressional Republicans to counteract the international nuclear deal between Iran, the United States and other world powers.
Over 200 jets involved
The deals by Airbus and Boeing to sell or lease over 200 jets to IranAir would help modernize and expand the country's elderly fleet, held together by smuggled or improvised parts after years of sanctions.
Although Airbus is based in France, it must have the U.S. Treasury Department's approval for the sale because at least 10 percent of the aircraft's components are American-made.
Some members of Congress have raised concerns that killing the sale could cost jobs. But opponents, particularly Republicans who unanimously opposed the nuclear agreement, argue that the passenger aircraft could be used for military purposes such as transporting fighters to battle U.S. troops or allies in Syria.
Senate vote is next
The measure is unlikely to become law during the current Congress. It would need to pass the Senate, where it would face stiff opposition from Democrats.
And the White House said Obama would veto the measure even if it did pass the Senate. The administration believes the legislation would be a violation of the nuclear pact, in which Iran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, the climate for the nuclear pact could change once Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump was harshly critical of the nuclear agreement during his campaign.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called on civilians to continue to report hate crimes and incidents of harassment and intimidation Friday.
"We need you to continue to report these incidents to local law enforcement, as well as the Justice Department, so that our career investigators and prosecutors can take action to defend your rights," she said in a video statement on hate crimes in the United States.
The video spoke to the FBI's hate crime statistics from 2015, released earlier this week, which documented a 7% rise in hate crimes last year, with incidents targeting Muslims jumping 67 percent.
Hate crimes escalated to 5,850 from 5,479 last year, according to the bureau's latest data. And anti-Muslim hate crime was at its highest level since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
Reports of hate crimes and harassment also spiked in the week since Donald Trump's election as president of the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, says many included references to Trump or his campaign. Some reports have also been discredited or proven false.
"Beyond these 2015 statistics, I know that many Americans are concerned by a spate of recent news reports about alleged hate crimes and harassment," Lynch said, also noting that the numbers are likely much higher, as many people do not report these crimes out of shame or fear.
She praised both local law enforcement and the Department of Justice for ensuring that hate crimes are reported and accurately prosecuted as well as an anti-hate crime law passed seven years ago. Lynch also looked forward to how much more work must be done.
That work is not just about enforcing the law," Lynch said. "Its about staying true to our highest ideals and most cherished principles. Its about making sure that all Americans receive the protection of the law. And its about giving real meaning to our shared belief that all people are created equal."
The Laos government is pressing ahead with a new dam on the Lower Mekong River, leading scientists and activists to warn of growing threats to regional food security.
Laos informed the four-nation inter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) earlier this month that preparatory work was under way on the 912-megawatt Pak Beng Dam in the northern province of Oudomxay.
Pak Beng would be the third dam on the lower Mekong mainstream under Lao control. The $3.5 billion Xayaburi Dam and the Don Sahong Dam near the border with Cambodia are part of 11 dams planned on the Lower Mekong river system.
Laos says construction of the dams is key to its long-term economic development, promoting the country as a battery of Asia, although regional sales of hydroelectricity are largely destined for neighboring Thailand.
Maureen Harris, Southeast Asia program director at non-government group International Rivers, says construction of the Pak Beng Dam increases the risk of damaging a critical river ecosystem that feeds 60 million people in the region.
[The dam] will have significant impacts on the lower stretches of the river as the northernmost project on the cascade. It will have particular impacts on blocking sediment flows, but also impacts on fisheries. And our concerns are also around additional projects going ahead, Harris told VOA.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says the fisheries alone are worth an estimated $17 billion a year. All economic activity in the region is directly or indirectly linked to the river and therefore vulnerable to changes to the river, WWF said in a recent report.
On the upper reaches of the 4,300-kilometer Mekong River, China has built half a dozen dams with increasing concerns over the impact on vital nutrient-rich sediment flows downstream.
Robert Mather, a consultant and former Southeast Asia director for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), says China plans to carry out major river navigation changes above the Lao township of Luang Prabang to allow for navigation of vessels of 500 deadweight tons (DWT).
The work would include destruction of dozens of rapids, rocks and shoals as well as dredging and construction of new ports at the same time the Pak Beng Dam construction is expected to be under way on the same stretch of river.
It just illustrates the fact even at the level of these big projects theres no coordination going on between them. And its just different agencies pushing their own agenda, Mather told VOA.
Studies have predicted regional rice production falling due to the planned dams in Laos, trapping sediments, reducing nutrients and fish stocks by disrupting migratory breeding.
The people of the region are among the poorest in Southeast Asia - their lives dependent on fresh fish for food security.
Chris Barlow, a fisheries expert with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) says once the dams are in place, the impact on fish stocks will be immediate.
As soon as these mainstream dams are built in Laos, they will start to have an immediate impact on fisheries recruitment and therefore the size of fish populations, Barlow said.
He warned the situation was leading to a regional food crisis.
The time of governments responding is over. Its over in terms of maintaining the fisheries stocks - the only response is what else you do to try and replace that food supply, Barlow added.
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has come under criticism over its handling of debates over the river's planned extensive dam building.
MRC chief executive Pham Tuan Phan, in comments, said the commissions role was a "platform" for cooperation, not a regulatory body. The MRC is imperfect but its indispensable, Phan told local media.
Activists say the MRC lacks influence over individual members, undermining its authority.
Robert Edis, ACIAR research program manager on soil and crop nutrition, says water flow reaching major agriculture producing regions, such as the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, would be hard hit.
If the tap was turned off there would be insufficient water to grow non-rice crops in many areas, Edis said.
And theres a lot of people who depend on that and theres a lot of people for whom the buffer between adequacy and inadequacy is very small. So were not talking about people on abundant incomes or abundant food reserves, he said.
International Rivers has called on the MRC to delay the consultation process for the Pak Beng Dam and suspend all construction activities to ensure transparency and public consultations.
The Mozambican government has declared a three-day national mourning period following a tragic explosion that killed at least 60 people.
A fuel tanker exploded in the Moatize district of central Mozambique after the driver left it on the side of the road. Dozens of people were attempting to remove the fuel from the tanker when the explosion occurred, according to the government.
Radio Mozambique reported that at least 60 people had been killed and 108 were injured.
The period runs from Saturday through November 21, said the spokesman for the Mozambican cabinet, Mouzinho Saide, after the cabinet met Friday in Maputo.
"During the period of national mourning, the national flag will fly at half-staff across the whole country and at the diplomatic and consular mission of Mozambique, Saide told journalists.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation, but local witnesses told a reporter for VOA's Portuguese to Africa service that a police officer fired a gun while people were surrounding the truck to disperse them. Others say a short circuit in the truck electric system may have caused the explosion.
This is the second time in two years the government has declared a period of official mourning after tragedies. In January, 2015 75 people died in the Chitima region from poisoning after drinking a traditional drink after a funeral.
The head of the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline said Friday that it won't be rerouted but that he'd like to meet with the head of an American Indian tribe to try to ease the tribe's concerns about the project.
Kelcy Warren, the CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, told The Associated Press that the company has no alternative than to stick to its plan for the $3.8 billion pipeline, which would ship oil from North Dakota to Illinois and which is nearly completed.
"There's not another way. We're building at that location," Warren said.
Tribe's concerns
Warren said he would welcome the chance to meet with Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, to address the tribe's concerns that the pipeline skirting its reservation would endanger drinking water and cultural sites.
Archambault, who was with celebrity sympathizers who toured the tribe's protest encampment Friday, including the actors Shailene Woodley and Ezra Miller, said he'd be willing to meet with Warren but that he doesn't think it would make a difference.
"We already know what he's going to say -- that this is the cleanest, safest pipeline ever," the chairman said."What he doesn't know is that this is still an issue for Standing Rock and all indigenous people."
The 1,200-mile, four-state pipeline is largely complete except for a section that would pump oil under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota. The Standing Rock tribe fears that a leak could contaminate the drinking water on its nearby reservation and says the project also threatens sacred sites, which Warren disputes.
Possible changes
President Barack Obama earlier this month raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline, and Archambault has told the AP that would be acceptable to the tribe as long as the new route wouldn't take it near the reservation.
Warren noted that the Dakota Access route parallels the existing Northern Border Pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas as it carries natural gas from Canada and the U.S. to the Chicago area.
"We're going to cross the river at that location," he said, calling it the "least impactful" site.
The Army Corps of Engineers in July granted ETP the permits needed for the crossing, but the agency decided in September that further analysis was warranted given the tribe's concerns. On Monday, the Corps called for even more study and tribal input.
ETP responded the next day by asking U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to declare that it has the right to lay pipe under Lake Oahe. The judge isn't likely to issue a decision until January, at the earliest.
The matter might linger until after President-Elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump, who owns stock in ETP, has said he wants to rebuild energy infrastructure.
"Do I think it's going to get easier? Of course," Warren said of the incoming administration. "If you're in the infrastructure business ... you need consistency, and you need rules and (regulations). And we need to follow those -- everybody needs to follow them, including our own government. That's where this process has gotten off track."
Protests continue
In the meantime, the months of protests against the pipeline continue.
There have been demonstrations at the protest encampment near the site of the proposed reservoir crossing and elsewhere, including at the state Capitol and state-owned Bank of North Dakota. About 500 people have been arrested, in total.
Warren called protests that became violent "repulsive," but he also said the company could have done some things differently.
"I think we could have had communication with state government before we did," he said. "That dialogue wasn't started until after we had a problem."
President Barack Obama joined the leaders of major European countries in Germany Friday to discuss security and economic challenges facing the trans-Atlantic partners.
The session with the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain expands on lengthy talks he held a day earlier with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In what is likely the last such gathering before he leaves office in January and President-elect Donald Trump moves into the White House, Obama brought his message of Americas enduring unity and cooperation to the heart of Europe Thursday, stressing to Germans and all Europeans that the United States will continue to engage with the world.
Obama called on his successor, Donald Trump, to stand up to Russia, saying his hope is that the president-elect takes a similarly constructive approach as he did, finding areas where we can co-operate with Russia where our values and interests collide. "I don't expect the president-elect will follow exactly our approach, but my hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or leaves long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we do what's convenient at the time," Obama said during a news conference with Merkel in Berlin.
The U.S. leader chose Germany as the main stop of his final overseas tour as president. The country is Europes top economy and U.S. trading partner, an important member of NATO and host to thousands of U.S. troops.
Observers have also suggested Merkel could be emerging as the most prominent liberal voice in a region where nationalist movements are gaining strength.
This last trip marks President Obamas sixth visit to Germany.
There will be no return to a world before globalization, Obama and Merkel wrote in a joint editorial published in the German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, before the U.S. leaders arrival.
Obamas message was meant to reassure European leaders who are nervous about what some perceive as Americas turn toward isolationism as reflected in remarks made by President-elect Trump during his campaign.
Trump called into question the relevance of NATO, praised Britains decision to quit the European Union, and criticized Merkels policy of admitting hundreds of thousands of migrants, most of them Muslims, into Europe. During his campaign, Trump referred to Merkel as a great world leader, but said her decisions on immigration issues were tragic and a catastrophe.
Analysts say Merkels calls for migrant quotas among EU nations have fueled nationalist movements across Europe, including Germany, and were a key factor in British voters June decision to leave the European Union.
Far-right populist movements have also made gains in Germany following the migrant crisis, and Merkels party has suffered losses, including in her home state.
She is now weighing whether to run for a fourth term as chancellor.
The outgoing U.S. president will be heading to Peru for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later Friday.
Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama has bid farewell to European allies, capping his final trip to Europe as president with reassurances of Americas enduring support and calls for allies to stand up to Russia.
The U.S. leader left Berlin Friday after a four-day tour of the region that started with Greece, the cradle of western-style democracy, where he reflected on the importance of fighting for democratic values, and ended in Germany, Europes top economy whose Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is regarded as Europes most influential leader.
The top item on Obamas agenda was reassuring nervous European allies about the future of Transatlantic relations under the presidency of Donald Trump, whose campaign remarks raised uncertainty, especially about Americas commitment to NATO, the EU, and other multilateral institutions.
Before departing Berlin, President Obama met with leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and repeated those reassurances. A White House statement says Obama expressed confidence that, even at a moment of great change, democratic values have done more to advance human freedom and progress than any other system in history, and will continue to do so going forward.
He thanked his European counterparts for their close cooperation and urged them to work with the Trump administration on the basis of the core values that define the United States and Europe as open democracies.
Obama and the other leaders agreed on Friday to maintain sanctions on Russia over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. They called on Moscow to abide by the Minsk agreements and allow for a security environment that is conducive to elections.
They agreed Europe should keep working toward de-escalation and a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria, and they called on Russia to stop its bombing of Aleppo, where they said the humanitarian situation is of grave concern.
Obama headed to the last stop of his last foreign tour, Peru, to attend the Asia Pacific Cooperation summit (APEC).
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo to serve as the leader of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to a release on the Trump transition website.
Pompeo is a veteran congressman and former Army officer who has served on the House Intelligence Committee and is known as a prominent member of the House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi, Libya, which has been tasked with investigating the attack on the American diplomatic compound there.
Army experience
Pompeo graduated first in his class from the West Point Military Academy and served as an active duty cavalry officer in the Army, according to the Trump transition team release. Pompeos congressional website says he served as an officer patrolling the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
He has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens, Trump said in a statement. He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies.
Harvard Law
After leaving the Army, Pompeo earned a law degree from Harvard where he worked as the editor of the Harvard Law Review. After working briefly as a private lawyer, Pompeo founded Thayer Aerospace, which built components for military aircraft.
He later became the president of an oil field supplies company called Sentry International before being elected to Congress in 2010.
Ibrahim Hassan, 49, was delighted to have a home after living more than 20 years in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp.
All my life I never slept in a house of my own," he said. "Half of my life I spent in a refugee camp dependent on aid agencies. February this year, I bought a [piece of] land and built it.
But Hassans dream was short-lived. This past October, a year after he returned to Somalia from the largest refugee camp in the world, he was told to tear his home down.
I was told to move out of my house. The reason authorities gave me was that the land is a disputed one and the person who sold it to me was not the genuine owner, he said while collecting structural remnants to build a new home.
I was compensated with another piece of land," he said. "But its disheartening for a refugee and a poor man like me to be evicted from his original home. Its still a difficult move."
Rough return
Hassan was among the first occupants of Dadaab, which was opened in 1991 to accommodate refugees from Somalia's civil war. At one point, the camp population swelled to more than 400,000.
Earlier this year, Kenyan officials said that the camp would close on November 30, only to renege on the deadline. Just this week they said the camp would remain open until May, to allow Somali authorities extra time to improve security and services for returning refugees.
UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, has been helping Somalis return to their former homes. To start a new life, Hassan, a father of nine, used all of his savings and stipends he received from UNHCR in Dadaab and local authorities in Kismayo.
Land disputes
Most returnees, however, have found it difficult to secure reliable food, health care and shelter, and Hassan, like 75 other families, are affected by ongoing land disputes in Kismayo.
Mohamed Noor, vice chairman in the Jubaland Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons agency, says its up to the government to sort out the land disputes and issue titled deeds to minimize violence.
In the last 20 years, there are many people who claim to own land and conflict has risen from this," Noor said. "Its the duty of the government to look into this conflict arising from land ownership in the country to make sure people get what is rightfully theirs, and accommodate others who do not own land.
No place to call home
Sokorey Guhad returned in October 2015. She and her mother were the first people to register for the repatriation process that began that same year.
We fled from Kismayo during drought and conflict" in 2011, she said. "I fled with my mother and older sister. For the last five years, we were used to free shelter, food and clean water. When I was coming back to my home, I was afraid I might be caught with the same problem that made me flee."
"After two days and two nights, I left the transit center and moved to the city to a relative's house," she added. "We dont have a home here. I still live with relatives."
When Guhad fled with her family, the Somali militant group al-Shabab was in control of Kismayo. Humanitarian assistance was beyond reach as the group banned aid agencies in the areas it controlled.
Limited services
In October 2012, the militant group lost the city to African Union troops and Somali government forces but it still controls villages surrounding the city.
Kismayo is largely perceived as a safe place for Somali refugees to return to, but authorities admit the city lacks essential services to support them.
The returnees had a good life, good health services, and their children were in school getting an education [in Dadaab]," said Noor of Jubaland Refugee Agency. "In Kismayo, their destination, there was nothing.
Others, however, see the port city as a place to rebuild their lives.
Ibrahim Bundid, another victim of the 2011 famine which was described as the worst to hit the Horn of Africa region in over a century returned to Kismayo this past October.
I left Afmadow, my home town, [135 kilomeers outside Kismayo] for Dadaab. I lost all my animals and my livelihood," he said. "Now I do not want to go back to my town; it's a very small town compared to Kismayo. There is a lot you can do here. You have the sea and all the organizations are here."
According to the U.N. refugee agency, about 18,000 Somalis repatriated from Kenyas Dadaab refugee camp this year have returned to the Somali port town of Kismayo. Many, however, are finding it hard to pick up the pieces of their old lives. Mohammed Yusuf reports from Kismayo.
Senate Republicans are eager to flex their party's newfound political muscle next year, but say they have no plans to weaken rules enabling Democrats to block major legislation and, potentially, any Supreme Court nomination put forth by soon-to-be President Donald Trump.
Whether Republicans adhere to their promise of restraint will determine the fate of the filibuster, which checks the power of the majority by making some degree of minority support necessary for most bills to pass the Senate and for high court nominees to be confirmed.
For now, Republicans are defending the filibuster as they plan a busy legislative agenda for the first 100 days of the Trump administration an agenda they know will prompt fierce Democratic resistance on some items.
"We have not changed the rules in the Senate, should not change the rules in the Senate," Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told VOA. "There's a reason why we're a distinct institution."
"I would not like to turn this Senate into the House any more than we have done," said South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, referring to the fact that, in the House of Representatives, all legislation is passed by simple majority votes.
Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said the filibuster "is what makes the Senate the Senate. And I know a number of my [fellow Republican] colleagues feel the same way."
Last legislative check
The filibuster requires at least 60 of the Senate's 100 members to vote affirmatively for the chamber to take up a bill or nomination, and similar three-fifths backing to end debate and hold a final vote. It can be sidestepped if senators grant unanimous consent to advance a bill, or if a party has at least a 60-vote majority in the chamber a rarity in modern times.
Senators of both parties have long understood the filibuster's importance in America's system of checks and balances on political power.
"If the right of free and open debate is taken away from the minority party, then the millions of Americans who ask us to be their voice [will be silenced]," said Barack Obama in 2005, when he represented Illinois in the Senate.
In 2012, then-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, described the filibuster as "the last legislative check against the kind of raw exercise of power majority parties always have been tempted to wield."
Filibusters were never used more than 10 times a year prior to the 1970s. They regularly have exceeded 100 per year during the Obama administration, sometimes to block legislation with significant public support, like stiffer gun laws, but most often to block presidential nominations of judges and members of his administration.
New Senate rules
In 2013, frustrated by persistent Republican filibustering of Obama's nominees, then-majority Democrats changed Senate rules so that only Supreme Court nominations could be blocked. Republicans were outraged.
John Cornyn of Texas warned of setting "a new precedent in the Senate one that says it's permissible to break the rules of the Senate at any point to get your own way if the majority has the gumption to do it."
Democrats made a similar point years earlier, when then-majority Republicans threatened to rein in the filibuster during the George W. Bush administration.
"They [Republicans] want their way every single time, and they will change the rules, break the rules, misread the Constitution so that they will get their way," said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York in 2005. "The checks and balances say that if you get 51 percent of the vote, you don't get your way 100 percent of the time."
"Majorities are fleeting," Cornyn warned Democrats in 2013. "The shoe will be on the other foot."
Indeed, Senate control flipped to Republicans in elections the following year. It is in the context of more than a decade of partisan warfare over the filibuster that Republicans must decide how to proceed next year, mindful that Democrats could pursue all-out obstruction against Trump's agenda much the way they frustrated Obama's agenda at nearly every turn.
Fury over Supreme Court seat
The fury could be fiercest when Trump makes a Supreme Court nomination to fill the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. The filibuster remains in order for high court picks, and Democrats continue to seethe over the Republicans' refusal to consider Obama's choice, Judge Merrick Garland.
"They [Republicans] stole that Supreme Court seat," Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown told VOA. "They owe an up-or-down vote on Merrick Garland. To me, it's first about that."
Brown and other Democrats refuse to say whether they intend to retaliate against Trump's eventual pick for the high court vacancy. Republicans who fiercely defend the filibuster, however, say all bets are off if Democrats block a qualified nominee next year.
"They [Democrats] set the standard [for limiting the filibuster]," said Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. "They really screwed up the rules, frankly, for purely political purposes. Republicans are not limited now. They can do whatever they think is in the best interests of the country."
Hatch added that he hopes a filibuster showdown can be avoided.
"I suspect Republicans will show more reverence for the rules than the Democrats [did when they were in the majority]," the senator said.
Delaware Democrat Chris Coons told VOA that the 2013 rules change on the filibuster "was a pretty drastic step," but one necessitated by "years of repeated refusal to allow the Obama administration to nominate and confirm qualified judges, senior members of the administration."
For months, Coons consistently rejected any suggestion that Democrats adopt a scorched-earth policy in the Senate to protest Republican inaction over Garland. His moderation continues now. At a time when Democrats are in the minority and bracing for one-party Republican rule of Washington, the senator is urging restraint across the political spectrum and respect for the filibuster.
When it comes to the whims of the majority, Coons said, "there is some need for a speed bump or even, on occasion, an emergency brake."
Thirty-eight years ago, the bodies of more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple, led by cult leader Jim Jones, were found in a compound in a town knowns as Jonestown in the southern American nation of Guyana.
The mass suicide followed the murder of U.S. Representative Leo Ryan and four members of his delegation on November 18, 1978, who had gone to Jonestown to investigate claims of abuse.
Later that day, members were directed by Jones to commit an act of revolutionary suicide by drinking fruit punch laced with cyanide and sedatives as armed guards stood by.
The next day, Guyanese authorities discovered the gruesome scene: dozens of bloated bodies of men, women and children, many with their arms around one another, strewn around the compounds pavilion.
Jones, age 47, was discovered at the compound, dead from a single bullet wound to the head, believed to be self-inflicted. Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Jonestown massacre was the single largest loss of American civilians in a non-natural disaster.
A compelling, charismatic cult leader
Accounts by many former followers of Jim Jones describe his church as a home and a place of great joy and happiness.
During a time a strained race relations in America of churches that were largely segregated, Jones actively recruited both blacks and whites into his church. He broke new ground, attracting college educated professionals, young and old African-Americans and whites from a range of socio-economic backgrounds.
Some white church leaders distanced themselves from Jones, criticizing him for opening his doors to black Americans.
He had a dark side that became more evident as his church moved from Indiana to California and, ultimately, Guyana.
Jones had grown up poor and struggled in a deeply dysfunctional family. His message of racial equality and a socialist society was unusual and drew poor and disenfranchised converts.
Of the 918 members who drank the poison under orders that night in Guyana, 276 were children.
A group of news media advocacy organizations is calling on President-elect Donald Trump to "preserve long-standing traditions" to ensure the press is free to inform the public of his presidential activities.
In an open letter Wednesday to Trump, 18 organizations asked him to maintain a pool of reporters that covers all of the president's activities and movements and to have regular briefings with the news media.
The role of the press pool is critically important to our country, whose citizens depend on and deserve to know what the president is doing, the letter said.
Concerns about news media access to Trump during his presidency were raised Tuesday night when he departed his Trump Tower residence in New York City for a dinner without his press pool.
Frosty relationship with media
During his campaign, it was not uncommon for Trump to hurl angry remarks at journalists or to ban news outlets from his campaign appearances.
Trump's frosty relationship with the news media should not be a barrier to pool access to the media, according to Columbia University journalism professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Coll.
I don't prejudge how he's going to handle this, Coll said in an interview with VOA. I imagine he will continue to be hostile to the press as an institution, but I also imagine he will want to make himself accessible since that's been his [mode of operating] that got him to the White House.
Reminded of Reagan
Even if Trump bucked tradition by banning the White House press pool or curtailing its access to presidential activities, Coll said it would not violate the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects freedom of the press, including the right to criticize the government.
It seems to me that would be a stretch to make that claim, because the First Amendment protects the press against coercion by the government. It doesn't guarantee the press a seat on the president's plane, he said.
Coll noted that the administration of Ronald Reagan, a former movie actor who served as president from 1981 to 1989, was very successful in reducing the influence of the working press by expertly utilizing staged televised events.
Every president since Reagan has found ways to work around the news media, Coll said. President Barack Obama, for example, has a Twitter account and his White House communicates directly with the public on a variety of other social media channels.
Trump, too, has used Twitter, having built a following of more than 15 million people.
Bannon considered "worrisome"
Of more concern to the American public than Trump's obsessive use of Twitter, said Coll, is the appointment of Stephen Bannon as Trump's chief White House strategist. Bannon is also former executive chairman of far-right Breitbart News.
Coll said Breitbart News served as the de facto communications arm of the Trump campaign, and an alignment with the White House would be a departure from presidential tradition.
The fact he has brought Stephen Bannon into the White House suggests he intends to encourage that kind of communication. And I find that much more worrisome than Donald Trump tweeting, he said.
President-elect Donald Trump, in filling the first of many top positions in his administration, has chosen three staunchly conservative Republicans to fill vital roles: Senator Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, Congressman Mike Pompeo as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn as his national security adviser.
All three candidates, who have been loyal to Trump throughout his unconventional campaign, are hard-liners who will head up his national security and law enforcement teams.
Sessions strongly backed and advised Trump since the beginning of his presidential campaign.
Pompeo, from the Midwestern state of Kansas, was among the first group of conservative tea party congressional members to be elected in 2010.
Flynn, a decorated combat veteran, served as Trump's go-to national security adviser during the campaign. Flynn's selection would not require U.S. Senate confirmation, unlike those of Sessions and Pompeo.
Sessions could face tough questions during hearings, even with Republicans in control of the chamber. When Sessions was nominated for a federal judicial position 30 years ago, he was sharply criticized for racist remarks he allegedly made while serving as U.S. attorney in his home state of Alabama.
During the 1986 Senate hearing, former assistant U.S. attorney Thomas Figures, an African-American, testified that Sessions referred to him as "boy" and warned Figures to be careful about what he said to "white folks."
Sessions denied he ever called Figures "boy," but the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy produced a letter from a group of African-American attorneys that said Figures made the allegations about Sessions to the group at least twice.
Former colleagues also testified that Sessions joked that the Ku Klux Klan, a white extremist group, was "OK until he learned they smoked marijuana."
Sessions eventually withdrew from consideration for the judicial post and went on to become state attorney general before winning election to the Senate in 1996.
Sessions is also known for his anti-immigration position. He has opposed most immigration bills the Senate has considered over the past two decades, including those supporting legal immigration. And a Sessions aide helped the president-elect articulate his immigration policy.
If Sessions is confirmed as attorney general by the Senate, he would be the country's top prosecutor and law enforcement official.
CIA director
In a statement, Trump said Pompeo will be a "brilliant and unrelenting leader" of the CIA.
After graduating first in his class at West Point in 1986, the 52-year-old congressman served as a U.S. Army Calvary officer.
Pompeo is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and founded and subsequently sold Thayer Aerospace, which makes components for commercial and military aircraft.
A close ally of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Pompeo is a staunch opponent of President Barack Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran.
Pompeo "is a serious guy who studies issues carefully," former National Security Agency and CIA director Michael Hayden told Reuters on Friday.
National security adviser
Flynn will most likely play a big role in Trump's foreign policy decisions moving forward, because Trump has no practical military experience.
The 57-year-old Democrat is a decorated combat veteran who retired as a three-star general, one of the highest ranks possible. He is also the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
After several years of successive promotions within Army intelligence operations, Flynn was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to be director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He held the position for two years before retiring in 2014 after reportedly being forced out for his poor management style.
Flynn was criticized by former colleagues last year when he traveled to Moscow and appeared next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a posh event for the state-run propaganda television channel Russia Today (RT). Flynn said he was paid to attend the event and defended the trip by saying he believed RT was no different than some American all-news channels.
WATCH: Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Trump's new hires
Meanwhile, Trump and his transition team traveled about 75 kilometers (47 miles) Friday from Trump Tower to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
They planned to work through the weekend to fill other key positions in the administration.
Also Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the increased security and police presence around Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan would continue until Trump's inauguration on January 20. The city said it was considering asking for federal help to cover the increased costs.
"We're being asked to do something on a scale that's never been done before," de Blasio said at a news conference with New York Police Department and Secret Service officials.
The mayor said security would be reassessed after the inauguration, if Trump decided to split time between the White House and Trump Tower.
An official with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team says he will meet Saturday with Mitt Romney, who has been mentioned in recent days as a potential candidate for secretary of state.
The relationship between Trump and Romney, the unsuccessful 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has been contentious; but transition team vice chairman and newly-named attorney general candidate Jeff Sessions has urged Trump to consider Romney for a position in the incoming administration.
Details have not been disclosed but campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said transition officials are still "working on" the meeting, which could be perceived by many as a gesture of reconciliation with the Republican establishment.
In a speech last March, Romney blasted Trump as a "con man" and a "fraud." The president-elect responded by saying Romney "choked like a dog" and repeatedly calling Romney a "loser." Their relationship began to thaw after Romney called Trump to congratulate him on his surprising presidential victory.
Trump is considering multiple people for the nation's top diplomatic post, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Senator Bob Corker and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was also mentioned as a candidate for secretary of state but withdrew his name from consideration Thursday after deciding to support Trump as an outside adviser.
If Trump selects Romney for secretary of state, they will have to overcome their differences over Russia. In 2012, Romney described Russia as America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe."
The president-elect has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed the desire to collaborate with Russia in a campaign to destroy Islamic State. After a telephone conversation Monday between Trump and Putin, Trump issued a statement saying he anticipated having a "strong and enduring relationship with Russia."
Trump's overtures toward Russia have raised concern in Washington. President Barack Obama said in Berlin Thursday that Trump should stand up to Russia if it does not conform with America's "values and international norms."
Republican Senator John McCain, a leading voice on national security matters, said any attempt by the Trump administration to reset ties with Russia would be "unacceptable."
New York's attorney general says that President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve several fraud lawsuits involving his former Trump University.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday that the deal would settle a civil suit he filed against the New York school that taught real estate investing as well as two class-action lawsuits in California filed by former students at Trump University.
The lawsuits claimed that Trump University misled students who paid up to $35,000 each to learn Trump's real estate investing techniques from his "hand-picked" instructors. The suits said Trump was not involved in choosing the instructors and said the school called itself a university when it wasn't an accredited school.
Judge set to rule Friday
Trump has always denied any wrongdoing involving the university, which has since closed. The settlement deal does not require Trump to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
A federal judge in the two California cases had been set Friday to consider arguments on Trump's request to delay a trial until after his inauguration on January 20. Trump's attorneys said that Trump's preparations for his White House administration were "critical and all-consuming."
Schneiderman said the deal is a "stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university." Trump had previously said he would not settle the case.
Settlement had been suggested
Neither Trump's attorneys nor a spokeswoman returned telephone calls on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the two California cases, had urged both sides to settle. The judge was at the center of one of Trump's controversial statements during the presidential campaign, when the candidate said the judge was biased against him because of the judge's Mexican ancestry. The judge was born in the Midwestern state of Indiana.
Around the Mahjong table on the edge of "Little Saigon" in Orange County, California, the players have been closely following the election process. Many of them can be described as reluctant Trump supporters.
I voted for him not because I admire him, not because I accept him as a very capable candidate for presidency, but I don't like Hillary Clinton, said Colonel Leslie Le Khac Ly, former chief of staff, II Corps, Pleiku of the South Vietnamese armed forces.
According to the 2016 National Asian American Election Eve Poll, more Asian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump in the recent U.S. election. Those who voted for Trump did so for a variety of reasons.
Staff key for Trump
Aichau Caoxuan is relying on the people Trump will appoint to advise him. "His staffers and advisers will be there to help," she says as she takes a break from playing Mahjong. "Therefore, at last minute, I ended up with voting for him."
Other Vietnamese voted for Republicans because of their faith.
"I maintain Republican because I don't believe in abortion," said Long Pham, who is Catholic, like many Vietnamese Americans.
Unlike some of the reluctant Trump supporters, Mike Nguyen, who is also Catholic, believes in Trump's proposed agenda, including the selection of a conservative Supreme Court justice whom Nguyen hopes will change certain social issues.
"For example, the family, marriage," said Nguyen. "Since a long time ago, the definition is marriage between men and women. I'm not discriminating against gay people, but they have another form like (civil) union."
Improved economy
He also expects the U.S. economy to improve under Trump's leadership.
"Like any voter, I expect a lot," he said. "I would like to get some jobs back here for the American people."
On Trump's foreign policy, Colonel Le says he likes the president-elect's tough stance on China, saying it can also benefit Vietnam.
"I like the idea that Donald Trump sees China as an enemy," said Le. "Try to draw Vietnam back to the position as a United States ally, and I would like to see Donald Trump continue that policy. That's the only way you can stop Chinese ambition."
U.S. compared to battleship
No matter what Trump promised in the campaign, many Vietnamese Americans know there are limitations to what a president can do, and he may have to compromise.
"We have Congress, we have the Supreme Court. It's not like a third-world country where we have a new king and the king [can] change the whole thing," Pham said.
"I would give him at least one or two years. A hundred days would be a little bit too quick. The U.S. is more like a big battleship. When you turn it around, it takes a little bit of time."
A United Nations Special Rapporteur said Friday the Turkish government is imposing draconian measures that limit freedom of expression and called on the country's leaders to release those held in prison for exercising their rights.
Envoy David Kaye acknowledged that Turkey had a duty to its citizens to keep them safe after the failed July coup attempt, but said the government had gone too far in jailing journalists and others, and the action will generate polarization and long-term instability.
The measures are not only drastic and disproportionate, but they lack any form of transparency," he said in a statement. "As with media professionals, the government accuses people of serious crimes, but without presenting evidence, without due process and without any form of transparency.
Thousands removed from jobs
Kaye said he hopes to work with the Turkish government to help protect the rights of Turkish citizens and improve legal procedures in the country.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has engaged in a crackdown on journalists, academics, military and civilian government employees, accusing them of participating in the coup attempt.
More than 100,000 people have been removed from their jobs since government forces blocked the coup attempt. More than 35,000 others, including military officers and opposition politicians, have been arrested for suspected collusion with the coup plotters.
Turkey has maintained a good and open dialogue with various human rights mechanisms, said Kaye. I thank the authorities for their openness to engage in frank discussions and I look forward to exchanging information on my concerns."
Purges to continue
Erdogan has said that purges will continue until infiltrators seeking to topple his government have been removed from all state institutions.
The Turkish leader has accused U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen of plotting the coup, and vowed to bring Gulen to justice.
We are in the process of taking necessary steps so this evil network and the band of murderers actually face justice and take the necessary punishments, Erdogan said.
Gulen, a former Erdogan ally in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, has repeatedly denied involvement in the coup attempt.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps reported aversion to the United Nations has come under fire by U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, who expressed concern that a Trump administration could undermine the Paris Climate Change Agreement and U.N. efforts to restrain the growth of xenophobia around the world.
Nevertheless, the Swedish diplomat, who will be leaving his post at the end of the year, said he hoped that negative comments made by Trump proved to be exaggerations.
I have personally met Mr. Trump earlier in my roles both at the U.N. and as ambassador to Washington and at that time I did not discover such a hostile attitude to the United Nations.
Eliasson noted that the United States was a founding member of the United Nations and has been a pillar and main contributor to all areas of its work, including peacekeeping, humanitarian action and standing up for human rights and the rule of law.
At the same time, he said the U.S. has been a beneficiary of the world bodys ability to act as an arbiter in many critical issues.
Peacekeeping is an institution, an element that can often help to make sure that there is a neutral party that can deal with a situation rather than immediate military involvement by major powers, he said.
I am sure that the American side, whatever political color, would like to see a comprehensive work on dealing with terrorism in all its aspects. There, we have the machinery also in its broader sense.
While saying it was in the self-interest of the United States to remain engaged with the U.N., Eliasson told VOA he was concerned about the ramifications of the U.S. opting out of the climate change agreement, which he called an existential threat.
The Paris agreement has entered into force on the fourth of November, so the agreement is not in danger, he said. But, of course, if member states do not live up to the intentions and commitments of that agreement, we will have trouble, especially if it is a country of the size of the United States.
Eliasson also expressed concern that the burgeoning refugee and migration crisis was increasing antipathy toward foreigners around the world. He noted that there were 244 million international migrants, 40 million internally displaced people and 25 million refugees in the world.
I think one of the most dangerous trends in the world right now is to divide the world people into us and them and putting lower quality on the them and higher quality on the us, he said. That goes completely counter to the basic values and principles of the United Nations.
Under Secretary-General Eliasson said he hoped the United States would remain committed to the United Nations' campaign to combat xenophobia.
Syria
Touching on another global issue, Eliasson said he was very worried about the escalating conflict in Syria and saw no signs that political negotiations to end the war were imminent.
In response to a question from VOA regarding the often-clashing views of the United States and Russia on how the war in Syria should be waged, Eliasson acknowledged the tensions between the two military powers and said improving the dialogue between them would be good for everyone.
We know very well that both the United States and Russia are interested in fighting or dealing with terrorists," he said. "But on the other hand, it is important that nobody, including the United States and Russia, lose the perspective that we need to have a fair solution through a political process and that that goal should not be deserted or left behind.
Sudan, South Sudan
From 2007 to 2008, Eliasson was a special U.N. envoy to Darfur in Sudan. He said he was hopeful when South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, a hope that was dashed when he saw how that situation has developed.
Eliasson said he was concerned that Russia and China would probably veto a Security Council resolution proposed by the United States to impose an arms embargo on the African country.
I certainly believe that arms flowing into any country in conflict is a negative factor. And, I would hope that the discussions are not finalized, he said. From the side of the United Nations, we have been truly in favor, of course, in closing the arms trade. It is a very negative and damaging element in the already troubled situation.
Since civil war broke out in December 2013 in South Sudan, the United Nations reports tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 3 million have become internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries.
A United Nations expert on migrants rights says a U.S. agreement to resettle an unspecified number of refugees would be a great achievement if it emptied Australia-run Pacific island camps where asylum seekers have been treated badly.
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Francois Crepeau said Friday that the bilateral deal announced last weekend was a good start to finding a solution that should involve closing asylum-seeker camps on the island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
The United States has agreed to resettle refugees among 1,300 asylum seekers held on Nauru and on Papua New Guineas Manus Island for up to four years.
It is not clear if the change of U.S. administrations January 20 will impact the agreement.
The United States said Thursday that it would press for a U.N. arms embargo against those responsible for the violence in South Sudan, which has dramatically escalated along ethnic lines.
"In the coming days, the United States will put forward a proposal to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, and targeted sanctions on the individuals who have been the biggest spoilers to achieve lasting peace in South Sudan," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told Security Council members.
She said such a move would be an important step to help halt the violence by government and opposition forces against civilians that has devastated the country for three years.
Not a blockade
Although an embargo would not completely stop weapons flowing into the country or remove those already on the ground, Power said it could still make a difference, especially in preventing the acquisition of more heavy weapons, aircraft and military vehicles.
South Sudan has been mired in a political conflict since December 2013 that has ignited violence among ethnic groups, caused the economy to tank, killed and displaced thousands, and created a dire humanitarian situation, with nearly 5 million people believed to be severely food insecure.
But getting the council to agree to an arms embargo and targeted sanctions may be difficult. When the idea of an embargo was first raised many months ago, some council members expressed reluctance, fearing that such a measure would be difficult to enforce, and that it would hurt the Juba government and favor the opposition.
Russia, for one, does not appear to have softened its opposition.
"Our position hasn't changed," Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev told the council. "We think implementing such a recommendation would hardly be helpful in settling the conflict."
South Sudan envoy Joseph Malok told council members that denying his government the means to protect and defend its citizens and its borders would unacceptably undermine its sovereignty.
Genocide warning
The call for the embargo came amid intensifying warnings that the violence is getting more dangerous in nature.
"I was dismayed that what I saw and heard in South Sudan confirmed my concerns, that there is a strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines, with the potential for genocide," Adama Dieng told council members. He is the U.N. special adviser for the prevention of genocide.
In a trip to South Sudan last week, Dieng said he saw a number of risk factors, enough to lead him to warn that conditions are "ripe for the commission of mass atrocities."
"Inflammatory rhetoric, stereotyping and name-calling have been accompanied by threats, targeted killings and rape of members of particular ethnic groups, and by violent attacks against individuals or communities on the basis of their perceived political affiliation," Dieng said.
He went on to warn that what began as a political conflict has transformed into "what could become an outright ethnic war." He said that with the stalled implementation of the peace agreement, the worsening economic and humanitarian situations and the proliferation of arms, "all of the ingredients exist for a dangerous escalation of violence; there is both motivation and means."
Dieng said there is an urgent need for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo. "It is a serious and grave time in South Sudan, and it is time to act," he said.
A dramatic upsurge has taken place in the number of migrant deaths, mainly from West Africa, on the perilous Mediterranean sea crossing between Libya and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The International Organization for Migration reports at least 365 people have disappeared and are presumed dead after at least six incidents in the Mediterranean in the past three days. It says that brings the number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean this year to a record 4,636.
IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle calls this a calamity in plain sight.
In November, we have 365 deaths that we have counted. So, this is six times higher than the deaths last year in that month ," said Doyle. " Overall, we are counting 1,000 more migrant deaths in the Mediterranean compared to the same period last year. So, over the stretch of the year from January to November, 1000 extra deaths and six times more in November alone.
Doyle says deaths on the Mediterranean are surging because the migrants are making the dangerous sea crossing in poor weather and rough conditions. Survivors say smugglers are forcing migrants to get on board unsafe rubber dinghies, which take on water and gradually sink.
Migrants assuming and paying in the hope and expectation that they will get a decent passage across the Mediterranean, coming down to the beach and being confronted with a rubber raft and not having any options sometimes, physical restraints and then even going back," said Doyle. "So, the situation is clearly alarming.
Doyle says there are few happy endings for migrants who survive the arduous journey and arrive safely in Italy. He tells VOA their expectations of having a good life in Europe and sending money home to their families is rarely realized.
He says most of the requests for asylum from migrants who come from Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and elsewhere in West Africa are rejected. Doyle says they are regarded as economic migrants and are either deported or forced to live underground in the European Union.
A surge in border crossings and a lack of immigration jail space have prompted the federal government to start releasing Haitian immigrants who have been entering the country in large numbers in recent months, backtracking on a pledge to jail the migrants.
A U.S. government official told The Associated Press that the decision to free Haitians arriving in Arizona and California is in response to a lack of jail space. The official said releasing immigrants with orders to report later to immigration court is a tactic used when detention space is scarce, under certain humanitarian conditions or as part of efforts to keep families together.
Before the Haitians are released, they are subjected to a criminal background and national security check. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on speaking on condition of anonymity.
Too many to jail
The influx of migrants and lack of jail space on the border will be one of the most immediate immigration challenges for President-elect Donald Trump, whose hard-line rhetoric on the issue won over conservatives and contributed to his historic upset last week. Trump vowed to build a wall on the border and carry out mass deportations.
Thousands of Haitians have arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months, many after traveling 7,000 miles by foot, taxi and bus from Brazil through eight nations. They present themselves to border U.S. border inspectors, often at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry, the nation's busiest crossing.
About 5,000 Haitians had showed up at San Ysidro from October 2015 through late September, overwhelming border inspectors. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana said at a recent congressional hearing that officials told her on a trip to Central America that 40,000 more were on their way.
The Department of Homeland Security last week said there were about 41,000 people in immigration detention facilities, compared to a typical population of 31,000 to 34,000. Secretary Jeh Johnson authorized the acquisition of more bed space for single adults.
Pledge reversed
The move reverses Johnson's recently announced plans to detain Haitians during deportation proceedings. In late September, Homeland Security began putting Haitians in detention before sending them back to the homeland they fled.
It was unclear how many Haitians have been released since the change. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The large numbers of Haitians arriving in California and Arizona and Central Americans coming across in Texas have put a tremendous strain on the system.
The decision will likely add to the growing backlog of more than half-a-million cases pending in immigration court. That backlog has effectively meant that immigrants routinely wait years for a judge to decide if they should be kicked out of the country.
At a bus station Thursday in Phoenix, several Central American women said authorities released them on condition that they promise to appear in immigration court. Yarely Cobon of Guatemala was wearing an ankle monitor and was with her 4-year-old daughter.
Cobon, 22, said she left Guatemala more than three weeks ago and crossed the border in Texas. She turned herself in to the Border Patrol and was detained for about six days. Her family paid for a bus ticket to join them in Los Angeles, where she has a court hearing next week.
Cobon said the Border Patrol holding cell where she was held with her daughter was packed with women in children. She called it a hielero a Spanish term for freezer that migrants use to describe the extremely cold holding cells.
I was just standing, sitting, desperate. There's children crying. It was dirty, Cobon said.
Ana Lidia Dubon Martinez is nearly eight months pregnant with twins and left Honduras with her 11-year-old brother almost a month ago. The pair swam across the river in Matamoros, Mexico, and turned themselves in to border agents in the U.S.
Dubon Martinez is headed to Los Angeles via bus until her hearing.
No deportations to Haiti
The U.S. policy shift announced in September lifted special protections that Haitians got after their country's 2010 earthquake and treats them like immigrants from other countries and regions, including Mexico and Central America. Central Americans, particularly adult men, are often detained until they can be flown home. Mexicans are typically turned around immediately, made possible by their country's shared border with the U.S.
Women with children like Cobon and Martinez are often released and given a court date similar to how the government is handling the Haitians.
The new posture hit hurdles when a powerful hurricane struck Haiti, raising more questions about the ability of the Caribbean nation to accept large numbers of its people. The U.S. temporarily suspended deportation flights to Haiti October 4 but Johnson vowed that Haitians would continue to be detained.
The United States proposed on Friday that the United Nations Security Council blacklist South Sudan opposition figure Riek Machar, South Sudan army chief Paul Malong and South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei.
The United States circulated the three names to the 15-member council in an annex, seen by Reuters, to a draft resolution that would place an arms embargo on the world's newest nation amid warnings by a senior U.N. official of possible genocide.
If designated by the council, the men would be subjected to a global asset freeze and travel ban.
However, Russia and China, members with council veto powers, have both voiced opposition to an arms embargo and further targeted sanctions. Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said on Thursday that sanctions against South Sudanese leaders would "be the height of irresponsibility now."
Political rivalry between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Machar, a Nuer, led to civil war in 2013 that has often followed ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued and Machar fled the country in July.
Machar was in Democratic Republic of Congo, then Sudan and was most recently in South Africa for medical treatment.
The annex to the draft text accused Machar of entering "into alliances with Equatorian rebel groups to work to overthrow the South Sudanese Government" and said "forces allied with Machar have raided villages and abducted civilians and aid workers."
The Security Council set up a targeted sanctions regime for South Sudan in March 2015 and has so far blacklisted six generals three from each side of the conflict by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban.
In September last year, the United States proposed that the Security Council sanction Malong, but Russia, Angola and Venezuela objected.
The annex to the draft resolution on Friday accused Malong of being responsible for efforts to kill Machar and said that the army chief had expanded or extended the conflict in the country by breaching a cessation of hostilities agreement.
It accused Information Minister Makuei of being "involved in planning and coordinating an April 17, 2014, attack on the U.N. compound in the Jonglei State capital of Bor, which killed three U.N. guards and 140 civilians, mostly women and children."
U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed in South Sudan since 2011, when it gained independence from Sudan. There are some 13,000 U.N. troops and police on the ground.
While many think of refugees as a drag on a nation's economy, a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) report out of Uganda says that giving cash and land assistance to refugees actually boosts the local economy. However, development economists warn that without including a financial education, the program's successes could be temporary.
In Uganda there's been a surge in South Sudanese refugees since violence broke out in Juba last July. With over half a million South Sudanese refugees in settlements and more crossing the border every day, relief agencies are looking for innovative ways to care for their refugees. And one method, cash assistance, has gotten a recent boost.
A study conducted jointly by the University of California, Davis, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the WFP found that not only did cash assistance reduce the overhead expenses of buying and shipping goods it also had a multiplying effect on the national economy.
The theory is that once a refugee household is given food or cash they will go to the local markets and buy goods or sometimes even services," explains WFP's Jaakko Valli . "So these goods and services are provided by additional households who receive then the cash and the cash starts moving around and multiplying because the demand is triggered in the local market."
Valli points out that Uganda's generous land policy towards refugees under which refugee families get a small plot of cultivatable land also stimulates the local market.
"But in Ugandan context, government also enables the refugees to partake in the agriculture sector by giving them a plot of land and enabling refugees to cultivate and harvest crops," said Valli. "And these crops, they are not only utilizing to feed themselves, they also use it to sell outside. Which again, contributes to trade and contributes into this so called multiplying effect of the assistance.
The cash assistance program currently enrolls 100,000 refugees and is set to double that amount by next March. However, it is a move that development economist Anzetse Were says must come with a solid financial education. Otherwise they risk creating dependency.
They should encourage refugees to develop some sort of trading plan or plan to use some of the money that they've been given to create a means of making a living," said Were. "If those are not there it's just going to create a cycle of dependency. If they're just giving cash with no stipulations, if they're not doing any of that, they're just making thousands of people dependent on that, who still will be worse off because they're getting that money. There is no reason for them to develop their own system of income.
The World Food Program says that while there are no restrictions on cash assistance, they do give basic financial advice and find refugees overwhelmingly spend their money buying food for their families. Representatives say that although the program must be monitored and adaptable to a changing landscape, they have high hopes that it will show success in the coming years.
As the Iraqi Army pushed towards Mosul, a growing brigade of Yazidi women fighters in the west gears up to defend their traditional cities and towns from Islamic State militants that destroyed their homeland, lashing through the region kidnapping, murdering and raping. VOAs Heather Murdock has more from Snuny, Iraq.
Bill Clinton with Saroo Brierley, Sunny Pawar, Priyanka Bose, and Dev Patel. Photo: Sunshine Sachs
If youre wondering how the Clintons post-election life is going to look, last night was a perfect indicator. While Hillary gave an emotional speech at the Childrens Defense Funds gala in Washington, D.C., telling the crowd that shed felt a strong pull to never leave the house again, Bill went to a movie! On Wednesday night, the ex-president attended the MOMA premiere of the Oscar-contender sobfest Lion, which tells the true story of Saroo Brierley, a young boy in India who gets separated from his family, adopted by Nicole Kidman in Australia, grows up to be hot Dev Patel, and 25 years later, tracks down his birth mother through the wonders of Google Earth. It sounds cheesy, but seriously, I cried for two hours straight. (No word if Bill was similarly affected.)
The thwarted first First Gentleman was at the premiere as a guest of Harvey Weinstein, who called him an inspiration for the fight against hate crimes, anti-Semitism [and] prejudice. Bill got a standing ovation, then after the screening, met and posed for pictures with the real-life Saroo and his Australian parents, as well as the films stars Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Priyanka Bose, and 8-year old Sunny Pawar, who plays little Saroo. (Pawar was initially denied a visa to attend the premiere, which the Weinstein Company told Variety was probably because of immigration paranoia.) At least the Clintons are staying consistent: Bill the gadfly, Hillary the busy bee. And if she decides to hole up Thanksgiving weekend with a tub of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy, binge-watching The Gilmore Girls Netflix revival, really, who could blame her?
Debra Messing, Twitter Beefer Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Accessories Council
Way back in the innocent days of spring, two actresses got in a fight on Twitter. In one corner: longtime activist, progressive voice, and Bernie Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon. In the other, longtime activist, progressive voice, and with-her-er Debra Messing. Sarandon was under fire for implying in an interview that she would rather see a Trump presidency than a Hillary one; Messing was ready to throw a couple of (albeit fairly reasonable) 140-character uppercuts in response. All in all, the level of enmity never rose above terse parents at a PTA meeting, albeit on a national-interest scale.
Fast forward to the present day, and things are getting testy again. This time, its because Ms. Sarandon recently tweeted that the left needs to reach out in dialogue to those who voted 4 him. We cant afford a blanket judgement of them. We need allies in that camp. Possible. And so it began again:
JESUS CHRIST. NOW she wants to give racist, islamophobic, homophobic, sexist,mysogynists a chance!"Pure" 4 Bernie. FUCK everyone else. https://t.co/i4oenS2lgb Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) November 15, 2016
For her part, Sarandon has stayed pretty cool especially considering that there has been a veritable social media blame-storm headed her way since Trumps victory. Messing, on the other hand, has been slightly more voracious (an ear-biter, if you will). And like any good Twitter fight, its officially past the initial messy punctuation stages and the subsequent back-and-forth, and is on to full cause-baiting passive-aggression in this case, Sarandons plea for Messing to join the #NODAPL fight:
I know Debra cares about a lot and hope she will care about #NoDAPL as well since Standing Rock needs her voice now more than ever. https://t.co/k9KcKdSyvi Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) November 16, 2016
Interesting tactic. Classy or distracting? Your move, Messing. This one aint going to be over until America is done blaming someone for this mess were in.
Lupe Fiasco Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images for Hennessy V.S
Its been a minute since we heard new music from Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco, but thankfully that problem is no more, as Billboard reports. He returned today with Made in the USA, a trap-inflected track that pays credence to the many national origins of his belongings (including a Glock and an F15, from Georgia and California respectively), and then later organizations like the KKK (Indiana) and people like his mother (Mississippi). It comes together as a fierce and timely reminder that much of what were forced to confront right now good and bad is all from somewhere within this nations borders. Take a listen below, and prepare yourself for Lupes new album, Drogas Light, set to drop early next year. Its reportedly arriving right around the same time that we inaugurate a new president, also made in these United States.
The frame of Michael Chabons new novel Moonglow is a deathbed confession. The narrator, a young writer named Mike Chabon, has come to Oakland to help his mother care for her father, whos dying of untreated bone cancer. The old man has never liked to talk about himself, but a regimen of opiates has loosened his tongue. Many stories flow from his mouth, dutifully recorded, reconstructed, and embellished by his grandson. Three historical figures play small but decisive roles in his life story: Wild Bill Donovan, founder of the OSS (precursor to the CIA); the Nazi and NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun; and the accused spy and convicted perjurer Alger Hiss. In the parts of the grandfathers tale that intersect with these men, he emerges as a tortured hero, a hard man animated by a spark of boyish wonder preserved from his hardscrabble Philadelphia youth.
Chabon began his career as a straight realist. With the slim and charming coming-of-age debut The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988) he was also a best seller with a loyal audience. During the 2000s, he led a charge of literary writers into the colorful trenches of genre fiction in books like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000) and in editorial collaborations with McSweeneys. The debate about lit-genre hybrids launched a thousand tedious essays, but the trend produced some good writing, much of it by Chabon himself. With Telegraph Avenue, a social novel set in the Bush-era Bay Area, he came back down to realist Earth but left himself the option of comic-book touches (a superhero named Barack Obama makes a cameo).
Moonglow is a further stage in Chabons project of mixing realism, history, and genre elements. Science fiction and the Gothic inflect the plot, but the novels faux-memoir style is so thoroughly executed that it often lacks the shape of realism as Chabon goes for the shapelessness of the real. Throughout, Mike refers to his hero as my grandfather. Ill call him Rico, the nickname a war buddy gave him after Edward G. Robinsons character in Little Caesar. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rico, having put himself through Drexel Tech with his earnings as a piano mover (Chabon likes to give even his characters menial jobs a taste of romance), enlists in the Army Corps of Engineers. A misbegotten prank he pulls with a friend during officer training placing explosives on a bridge on the Potomac with the aim of exposing the capitals vulnerability lands them in trouble. Donovan, an old pal of Ricos friends father, bails them out and recruits Rico for the nascent intelligence service. After D-Day, Ricos task is to enter Germany and apprehend its military scientists before they fall into Soviet hands.
Wernher von Braun is at the top of Ricos perp list. Hes the evil genius behind the Nazi V-2 rocket, the phallic weapon central to Chabons idol Thomas Pynchons masterpiece Gravitys Rainbow. Chabon is one of those writers for whom the fight against the Nazis never ends. In Germany, after a lively archery shoot-out with a village holdout, he comes upon a German priest who shares his passion for astronomy as well as his dream of rocketing to the moon and guides him to an unused V-2 hidden in the woods, a spectacular score for an American intelligence officer. Rico is tipped off to von Brauns whereabouts, and pulls a Nazi corpse off a motorcycle to hasten the chase.
These tales of Ricos wartime derring-do are the novels strongest material. After the war, Rico moves to Baltimore, where his brother Ray is a rabbi. At a casino-themed congregation gathering Ray the rabbi would evolve into Ray the dissolute pool shark over the years Rico meets his future wife, a French Holocaust survivor and mother of the 4-year-old girl who will grow up to be Mikes mother.
The survivor always my grandmother in Mikes telling is beautiful and for years works as a local television personality in Baltimore, appearing on Friday nights as Nevermore, the Night Witch, emerging from the Usher family crypt to evoke the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe over the airwaves by reading ghost stories. Shes also traumatized by the war in ways she cant share with Rico when she marries him, haunted by visions of a skinless horse with a menacing penis. One night these hallucinations drive her to set fire to a tree in front of the farmhouse she and Rico are renting in Bergen County, New Jersey. The next day Rico is fired from his job as a salesman at a company in Manhattan that makes fancy barrettes from piano wire to make room for Alger Hiss, who has a friend inside the company and has just been released from prison. Ricos firing sends him into a rage, and he tries to strangle the owner of the firm with a telephone cord before the mans secretary brings him to his senses. Hes sentenced to a low-security, rather comfortable prison (his wife is institutionalized), where his talents for making model rockets are recognized by a toy merchant named Chabon, and after his release they go into business together, completing the narrators origin story.
In summary all of this sounds obviously fictional. The story as a whole is too fanciful and the connections are too neat for it to be otherwise. Yet for much of the time I was reading Moonglow, Chabon had me convinced I was reading a lightly embellished memoir. The rigor of his mimicking memoir is impressive but the metafiction is misbegotten. Part of the trouble has to do with the stiflingly nostalgic tone Chabon strikes by referring to his two main characters as my grandfather and my grandmother. It also stems from his heaping on of realistic and no doubt largely real quotidian detail in his scene setting. The cataloguing of smells, clothing, food, furniture, and obsolete brand names makes one suspect Chabon has fallen under the spell of Knausgaard. But in place of the Norwegians signature acid, the American has substituted schmaltz, a pot of which at one point meaningfully appears on a table.
Chabon has some fun winking about the books reality quotient. In an Authors Note he writes: In preparing this memoir, I have stuck to the facts except when facts refused to conform with memory, narrative purpose, or the truth as I prefer to understand it. Wherever liberties have been taken with names, dates, places, events, and conversations, or with the identities, motivations, and interrelationships of family members and historical personages, the reader is assured that they have been taken with due abandon. Thats cute, as is the convincing but perhaps fake circa 1960s Chabon Scientific Co. model rocket ad that appears below it. In the Acknowledgments Chabon jokes about thanking characters who help Mike learn the truth about his grandparents if they existed. He also cites my mothers maternal uncle, Stanley Webrow, a professor of medieval German and a wartime intelligence officer who recorded his memories of growing up in Philadelphia and Washington in the 1920s and 30s before he died in 2005.
The paradoxical result of all this is an intermittently brilliant work of fiction buried under what reads like a bloated and often turgidly written memoir. (The worst passages are gratuitous sex scenes from Ricos last days at a retirement community in Florida.) Moonglow has pushed Chabons project of fusion to a breaking point. He invented a rocket of a story, but the book he put it in never achieves escape velocity.
*A version of this article appears in the November 28, 2016, issue of New York Magazine.
Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images
Michael Shannon may be on a press tour promoting his new movie Nocturnal Animals, but hes also on the warpath, spewing harsh words at President-elect Donald Trump and any of the 60.9 million Americans who voted for him in the presidential election. And his feedback is getting pretty intense. Earlier this week he suggested that people supporting the Orange Man form their own country called the United States of Moronic Fucking Assholes, and in a new interview with Metro News, hes sounding off again.
After suggesting that a civil war would be the only way to prevent Trump from assuming the highest office in the land, Shannon asserts that if you feel okay about supporting his presidency, its probably time for you to just die already. Theres a lot of old people who need to realize theyve had a nice life, and its time for them to move on, Shannon said. Because theyre the ones who go out and vote for these assholes. If you look at the young people, between 18 and 25, if it was up to them, Hillary would have been president. No offense to the seniors out there. My moms a senior citizen. But if youre voting for Trump, its time for the urn. And if your parents voted for Trump? Fuck em. Youre an orphan now. Dont go home. Dont go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Dont talk to them at all. Silence speaks volumes. Despite being from the red state of Kentucky, Shannon says that no one in his immediate family would ever remotely consider voting for Trump. So, it sounds like no one around his holiday hearth will have to sit frozen in terror as he stares them down with his severely threatening gaze.
Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
A judge in Atlanta has ordered Nick Gordon, former partner of Bobbi Kristina Brown, to pay $36 million in a wrongful-death case against him, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brown was found face-down and unresponsive in the bathtub of her home in January 2015, and was in a coma for six months before her death. Witnesses in the case claim that Gordon gave Brown a toxic cocktail that rendered her unconscious. The medical examiners office was unable to determine how exactly Brown had died. Gordon has not been charged with a crime, though he was found legally responsible for Browns death in September after he repeatedly failed to meet court deadlines in the civil suit.
The face of an America thats been left behind. Photo: Victor Chavez/WireImage/Getty Images
Donald Trumps rise has been attributed, in many cases, to the economic anxieties of the white working class (or maybe just racism), but what do we make of his support from fellow rich people like Paris Hilton? In an interview on Australian TV to promote her new fragrance Gold Rush, Paris Hilton revealed that she voted for President-elect Donald Trump. Ive known him since [I was] a little girl, she said. So, yes. Hilton refused to reveal her voting preferences in the run-up to the election, but her history with Trump had made headlines earlier this year when reporters dug up a 2003 Howard Stern interview in which Trump said that he had found Hilton attractive when she was 12. Does Hiltons now-public Trump support signal that shes angling for a position in the understaffed Trump administration? If so, we suggest that someone put her in charge of NASA.
Photo: Desiree Navarro/WireImage/Getty Images
While Paul Verhoevens 1995 film Showgirls starring Jessie Spano sorry Elizabeth Berkley as the stripper Nomi Malone put him, as he says, in Hollywood prison, its not the film that he cant defend. Ive never done a movie that in retrospect I cannot defend, the 78-year-old director tells The Hollywood Reporter. I can defend Showgirls, but not Hollow Man. That is, the adaptation of H.G. Wellss Invisible Man starring Kevin Bacon from 2000 that the reporter says Verhoeven clearly abhors. It was after all, the last Hollywood film the director has made. I felt like I was doing the bidding of the studio. I couldnt even put a personal touch to it. I fell into that trap, he told IndieWire last year. I decided I wasnt going to do that anymore. If there is a good science-fiction story, Ill do it, if its original. But in this case, I felt that I did Hollow Man without making it personal. The studio wanted it this way. The freedom was gone. It sounds like Verhoeven had a come-to-Nomi-Malone moment.
Colson Whitehead.
The hellhole wasteland of Trumpland, as novelist Colson Whitehead referred to it, hung heavy Wednesday night at the National Book Awards. The top fiction and nonfiction prizes were taken by books about race by authors of color Whiteheads The Underground Railroad for fiction and Ibram X. Kendis Stamped From the Beginning for nonfiction. Rep. John Lewis won an award for young peoples literature for his graphic memoir trilogy, March. In their acceptance speeches, the authors spoke about race in the shadow of the 2016 presidential election, showing signs of both concern and hope. Heres what they had to say.
IBRAM KENDI:
I of course would like to thank the newest addition to my family some of you have seen her tonight. Its my 6-month-old daughter. And she truly is the best award that Ive received all year. No offense to the National Book Foundation. And her name, we named her Imani. And Imani in Swahili means faith. Faith, her name of course has a new meaning for us as the first black president is set to leave the White House and as a man who was emphatically endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan is about to enter. Faith, I just want to let everyone know, that I spent years looking at the absolute worst of America: its horrific history of racism. But in the end, I never lost faith. The terror of racism, I never lost faith that the terror of racism would one day end. I never lost faith because for every racist idea, there was an anti-racist idea. For every killer of the mind, for every killer of the mind there was a life saver of the mind. And in the midst of the human ugliness of racism, there was the human beauty, there is the human beauty in the resistance to racism. That is why I have faith. And Ill never lose my faith that you and I can create an anti-racist America where racial disparities are non-existent, where Americans are no longer manipulated by racist ideas, where black lives matter. And so I want to thank Imani, faith, for that. I want to thank all of those in history, all those people across the nation who are learning to be anti-racist, who have dedicated their lives to anti-racist work. You are my rock of faith. You are the nations rock of faith, and I dedicate my award to all of you.
JOHN LEWIS:
Some of you know I grew up in rural Alabama, very, very poor. Very few books in our home. And I remember in 1956 when I was 16 years old with some of my brothers and sisters and cousins going down to the public library, trying to get library cards. And we were told that the library was for whites only and not for coloreds. And to come here and receive this award, this honor, with these, its too much. But I had a wonderful teacher in elementary school who told me, Read my child, read. And I tried to read everything.
COLSON WHITEHEAD:
Photo: Christopher Polk/MTV1415/Getty Images
It may have seemed like a joke last year when Kanye West announced at the 2015 VMAs that he wanted to run for president in 2020. And while, like many things Kanye does, it was likely at least in part a troll, if theres anything the 2016 election has taught us, its that a celebrity with no political experience can, in fact, assume the nations highest office. On a particularly eventful stop on his Saint Pablo tour Thursday, Kanye reaffirmed his intention to run for president in 2020, and also enraged plenty of fans when he said he didnt vote, but if he had, he would have voted for now-president-elect Donald Trump.
That declaration may come as a little bit of a surprise, since it seemed safe to assume Kanyes a Democrat: He donated $1,000 to President Obama in 2012, gave $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee before the last midterm election, and donated $2,700 to Hillary Clinton in 2015, meaning his comments on supporting Trump make us even more confused about his political leanings. Now, it will still probably be some time before Kanye begins releasing policy papers, but he has shed some light on his ideology through his lyrics and interviews. Heres a guide to the artists political views, beyond his feelings on George Bush and black people, and a look at what we might expect if he really were to run against Trump in 2020.
Racism
Obviously, Kanyes music and performances deal heavily with issues of racism, but in several interviews, hes said his view of Americas core problem has evolved. Its about class and it was a classist move that even when you get invited to certain dinner parties, or even when youre in certain magazines, its still a Dinner With Schmucks situation, he said in a 2013 Wild 94.9 interview. Are they inviting you to be a part of what youre doing or are they inviting you to laugh at your teeth? And ask you a million questions like, Oh, those are cool teeth. Whats that? Its not about racism anymore. Its classism. Like Paula Deen, she was old school with it. They like, We dont do it like that anymore, thats racist. We classist now.
In an interview on the radio show The Breakfast Club February of last year, host Charlamagne Tha God noted that while Kanye once challenged President Bush, it seems like you were just fighting for the civil rights of rich people lately. Kanye offered an interesting theory on the future of racism:
I think its the rights of everyone. And another thing that I used to get really caught up on was with race. You know, with race its like, okay we know its racist people, we know that a lot of white men over the age of 60 are racist, we embrace that. We know that a lot of people that are in power dont really theyre like Donald Sterling. We understand that. We know that, but the world is moving. Ten years from now, 20 years from now, every person of color or female or any minority that comes into power will eventually shift it. You got the ozone layer, you got all this stuff, you see 100 years from now the entire world might be black. Just to even survive on the earth, period.
During Thursday nights bombastic concert interlude, Kanye made sure to say his support of Trump dont mean I dont think Black Lives Matter. He previously showed his support to the group in a 2014 tweet applauding a weekend of protesting police brutality.
600,000 people rallied for justice on Dec. 13th #blacklivesmatter KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 16, 2014
The Confederate Flag
Kanye believes that the Confederate flag is a symbol of slavery and racism, not merely Southern pride. However, he may want to reclaim the flag rather than removing it from state capitols. Hes worn the flag and featured it on his tour merchandise, explaining, I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. Its my flag now, now whatchu gonna do?
Tax Reform
In the midst of the 2012 election, Kanye rapped, I be all up in Goldman Sachs like these n trying to hold me back, these n trying to hold me back, Im just trying to protect my stacks, Mitt Romney dont pay no tax, Mitt Romney dont pay no tax. On the one hand, this supported Harry Reids now-debunked claim that Romney evaded paying taxes for years, but on the other hand, Ye seemed to sympathize with the billionaire candidates financial troubles.
LGBTQ Rights
Back in 2005, Kanye spoke out about homophobia in hip-hop in an MTV News interview. He said that everybody in hip-hop discriminates against gay people and he wanted to just come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, Yo, stop it, fam. It was a bold and uncommon move for a rapper ten years ago, long before Macklemore released Same Love and ten years before the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
Its not just gay rights, either. Kanye was a proud supporter of Caitlyn Jenner when she came out as transgender and began her transition. In the premiere of I Am Cait, Jenners short-lived reality show, Kanye told her not to care what anyone else may think of her and tell them, Fuck everybody. This is who I am.
Kanye assured his fans his support of Donald Trump did not mean he had become any less of an ally. At Thursday nights concert, he told the crowd that it dont mean I dont believe in gay marriage.
Education
On The College Dropout, Kanye detailed his complex feelings about leaving school at 20 to pursue his musical career. He founded the Dr. Donda West Foundation, which is named after his late mother, to combat illiteracy and low graduation rates, and to provide access to music education programs (it ceased operations in 2011). However, education advocates would likely take issue with Ye repeatedly making anti-literacy declarations, such as I am not a fan of books. I would never want a books autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books.
Marijuana Legalization
He hasnt addressed the issue specifically, but considering that his announcement speech included the line, Yall might be thinking right now, Did he smoke something before he came out here? The answer is yes, I rolled up a little something. I knocked the edge off! well assume hes pro-legalization.
Public Health
Kanye has done his part to raise awareness about AIDS, but other advocates were not thrilled when he declared at the 2005 Live 8 concert tour that AIDS is a manmade disease that was placed in Africa just like crack was placed in the black community to break up the Black Panthers. He reiterated this point in the 2005 track Heard Em Say with the line, And I know the government administered AIDS / So I guess we just pray like the minister say. In 2010s Gorgeous he added, I treat the cash the way the government treat AIDS / I wont be satisfied til all my niggas get it, get it?
Foreign Policy
As we learned in 2005s Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix), Yeezy is very concerned about West African children forced to mine blood diamonds. He has yet to weigh in on the Iran deal.
Income Inequality
In 2011, Kanye visited Occupy Wall Street with Russell Simmons, which many found ironic since hes made it rather clear that hes part of the one percent. As Yeezy remained uncharacteristically quiet, Simmons explained his thoughts on the matter: Kanyes been a big supporter, spiritually for this movement. Hes just here to stand with the people. Hes not the politics of it, he doesnt want to make a statement, didnt want to do any media at all, actually. Hes here, and I guess theres no way around it, Simmons said. Hes here and he understands this idea about getting the money out of the government and letting the people govern. He wants to give power back to the people. Thats why were here.
During a lecture at Oxford University earlier this year, Kanye also shared some deep thoughts on the discrimination inherent in $5,000 sweaters:
Its illegal to not wear clothes, and also possibly too cold. That means someone is imposing an idea on you that should legally have to do! Clothing should be like food. There should never be a $5,000 sweater. You know what should cost $5,000? A car should be $5,000. And you know who should work on the car? The people that work on the $500,000 cars. All the best talent in the world needs to work for the people. And I am so fucking serious about this concept that I will stand in front of anyone and fight for it. Because I was 14 and middle class. I know what it felt like to not get what I have.
Prison Reform
Kanye earned praise from the likes of Michael Moore for criticizing the private prison system in New Slaves. He raps: Meanwhile the DEA / Teamed up with the CCA [Correction Corporation of America] / They tryna lock niggas up / They tryna make new slaves / See thats that private owned prison / Get your piece today.
Commentators said his basic analysis of the prison-industrial complex was correct, but Think Progress Alyssa Rosenberg felt his conclusion was less eloquent:
Instead of targeting, say, Corrections Corporation of America founders Tom Beasley, T. Don Hutto and Doctor Robert Crants, or the private prison companys current board chairman, John Ferguson, or its president and CEO Damon Hininger for their corporate decision-making, or Drug Enforcement Administrator Michele Leonhart for her policy-making, New Slaves ends with a cheap, nasty fantasy of sexual revenge. They prolly all in the Hamptons / Braggin bout they maid, West reflects of the DEA and CCA. Fuck you and your Hampton house / Ill fuck your Hampton spouse / Came on her Hampton blouse / And in her Hampton mouth.
First Ladies
Kanye is against First Ladies being awarded Vogue covers for unadventurous fashion choices. In 2013 he argued that his wife, Kim Kardashian, was more deserving of a cover than the current First Lady, saying, No one is looking at what Obama is wearing. Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a bikini pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day. A year later, Kimye got that Vogue cover. Expect more sunbathing on the South Lawn of the White House.
Political Parties
Kanye isnt really one for political labels, choosing to focus more on unifying ideas and concepts. And a Yeezy presidency could have one of the most diverse cabinets in history. During his concert Thursday night when he expressed support for Donald Trump, Kanye also emphasized the importance of bipartisan cooperation, something that the government has been sorely lacking recently:
Ill just say I got some ideas about the way that we should connect our ideas. And we should use opposite parties that the Republicans, that the Democrats, that everyone that ran that had an idea that people agreed with should be the collective ideas that are used to run the country. And that should mean more. So it stinks that Benjamin Carson that I believe in that Benjamin Carson should still be a consultant. I think that Hillary Clinton should still be a consultant. I think that Bill Clinton should still be a consultant. Obama said I think Obama should still be a consultant. Its that, Oh, I dont fuck with your principles so now Im not gonna give you no information that could help you help all of us.
Why He Should Be President
Back in 2013, Kanye explained on Bret Easton Elliss podcast, Were currently led by the least noble, least talented, least respected, least respectful people politicians. Period. But the world could be saved through art and design. Art is something that in definition I think is a really close thing to love, and love is really close to God, and God is the master creator. If youre creative, therefore, you are God, a god of something. Politicians have had their chance; why not switch things up with a president who literally is a god?
This post has been updated throughout.
Two top Waco ISD officials said the board of trustees left a state-mandated training session with a new appreciation for the districts relationship with the Texas Education Agency.
Despite some miscommunication on the front end or folks entering the room Saturday morning with a sense of resentment, frustration and anger, it turned out to be a powerful training, Waco ISD board president Pat Atkins said. Deputy commissioner (A.J.) Crabill clearly presented a continuous improvement framework for governance actions focused solely on student outcomes.
All board members attended the training from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday despite a few being previously outspoken against the idea. The sessions focused primarily on the importance of hiring people during certain times of the year to get stronger candidates, board members understanding others expectations and on encouraging each other to show integrity, Atkins and Superintendent Bonny Cain said.
The ordered training is directly related to statements Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath made in August about cutting the number of failing Texas schools in half by using more and stronger interventions for districts with failing schools, TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said in October.
I think the bigger takeaway just in terms of relationships between this district and the Texas Education Agency, everybody left that training and for the first time in several years, felt like the TEA is truly on our side in addressing these challenges, Atkins said. The TEA truly wants to be our partner and help us implement these strategies to get better student outcomes. At times that has been perceived, whether intentionally or not, as an adversarial relationship.
Cain said Crabill started by talking about integrity.
Everybody thinks they know what integrity is, so the question was when have you acted without integrity? Its hard to raise your hand and say, Cain said.
That discussion was part of the process of getting board members to be more introspective and take personal ownership of the student outcomes in their community, Atkins said. Its easy to say the district needs more parent involvement or community support, but Crabill said school board members overall have to push away from the blame game, Atkins said.
If trustees had decided not to agree to the training and the turnaround plans were denied, the state would have had the option to implement alternative management of the campuses, close them or go as far as appointing a board of managers to take over the district, according to a letter the TEA sent to inform the district it was not immediately approving the turnaround plans.
In the letter, received by the district Oct. 10, the TEAs deputy commissioner of governance wrote he could not approve the proposed turnaround plans for Brook Avenue Elementary School, Alta Vista Elementary School and G.W. Carver Middle School. The deputy commissioner said he could reconsider the plans after the board went through the training. The campuses have had failing academic performance ratings for multiple years, and district officials were required to develop turnaround plans in 2015 to be implemented during the 2016-17 school year, according to the letter.
While the training didnt specifically address where turnaround plans fell short, the deputy commissioner put Waco ISD staff in touch with TEA officials who could help identify those areas. The district is sorting through that, Cain said.
In the meantime, the board walked away with homework to identify one to five specific, measurable goals for the entire district to focus on in the next three to five years, along with several measurable progress checkpoints, Atkins said.
The process he described is very similar to the process I and others went through in setting up Prosper Waco, Atkins said. It was the idea of you need these overarching goals. You need these very specific metrics to evaluate the progress toward those goals, and then you turn it over to the administration or collective impact model in the community to help us reach those goals.
Prosper Waco is a collective impact initiative that works closely with community leaders and nonprofits to bridge gaps in financial security, education and health care issues in the city.
The board also may re-evaluate its strategic plan and work with a facilitator from the Region 12 Education Service Center to help identify those goals and narrow the goals down from the 14 already in the strategic plan, Atkins said. The board also may adjust how it handles public meetings, by posting part of the agenda a week in advance and restructuring how board meetings unfold to put more emphasis on those identified goals, they said.
It plans to offer a chance for public input on its long-term goals.
Crabill asked us all to use a word at the end to describe the training, and the words that came up were hopeful, exciting, Cain said. Every one of them were positive, forward-looking words.
After serving six years with Waco Independent School District, Superintendent Bonny Cain is stepping down.
Her last day hasnt been officially decided yet because she wants to give the school board plenty of time to find a replacement and help with the districts leadership transition. She expects her last day to come sometime after graduation, she said.
Cain announced her retirement at the end of Thursday nights school board meeting, days before the district heads into a weeklong Thanksgiving break.
The decision comes after state-mandated governance training from the Texas Education Agency on three of the districts seven struggling schools, an external investigation that found academic wrongdoing at University High School and the questionable hire of a former teacher fired from a different school district because of a racist social media post.
None of those issues, all of which have happened since June, influenced her decision to leave, Cain said.
Cain started discussing her retirement with trustees in the spring, Waco ISD board President Pat Atkins said Wednesday.
Weve wrestled with that, and we started having these discussions in the spring before we even knew what was happening at University. Once that was brought to our attention in June, there was no good time to make the announcement, Atkins said. It was important to let the external investigators issue their report, and if you look at that report, theres nothing that rises to the level of the superintendents office. It was very campus-specific.
At 66, Cain has been thinking about leaving since March, shortly before she became aware of academic issues at University High, she said.
I was looking at what we needed to do about facilities. Do we need to update our strategic plan? We have a whole new teaching testing system coming up. There were all these things I could see that needed someone to stick with it, Cain said. But then this University High thing came up. At first, all we had were fatal (computerized grading) errors from a person who was new in that particular job. Then as it got bigger and bigger and bigger, I had to stay for the investigation.
Then the district was hit with the state-mandated training, and she decided to stay through the training as well.
The change agent cant be the stabilizer. Ive been in (education) for 40 years. Theres always something you want to work on, Cain said. I can think of all these things I would really like to see through . . . There will never be a time as far as Waco ISD that Im thinking, this will be a good time to leave, because theres always great things that are going to happen. It was a hard decision.
Cain was hired in 2011 from Pearland ISD, a larger school district with an exemplary academic accountability rating where she served for more than 20 years, 11 of which were as a superintendent.
Tumultuous start
She came during a tumultuous time when the district faced the decision of closing nine of its struggling campuses and consolidating. She said working closely with the board during that time showed the commitment of the board to its community, but a lot has happened during her tenure to take note of, including getting teachers all on the same page and addressing the fact that more than 80 percent of Waco ISD students are economically disadvantaged.
The closures had to happen, and I actually knew that before I came here. I could tell that from the data and the finances. Closing those schools and getting more money going to instructional programs and teacher salaries was one of the best things, Cain said. I think the transition from the TAKS to the STAAR test its such a more difficult test, and making that shift when you dont have to deal with these poverty issues isnt as much of an effort. But when youve got kids who may not have that background, its a big effort.
Atkins said Cains work with the board through that process helped build trust, despite their differences.
When you think back to 2011, when we had to close all those schools, Dr. Cain comes in and has one speed and its, Go. We need to get this done, Atkins said. We talked almost daily during that entire process, kind of tweaking boundaries and looking at campuses that could be closed or consolidated . . . really looking at it from a lot of different angles. That developed a very deep, trusting relationship, and we have two very different styles. She tends to be go and do it now, and I want to be a little more deliberate, thoughtful and strategic. Its turned into a nice balance.
State ratings
Waco ISD was ranked academically acceptable at the time of Cains hire and has retained that rating through the transition to the STAAR test, according to TEA documents.
Though Waco ISD didnt receive the exemplary rating during her tenure with the district, Cain helped lead the work of turning struggling schools around through the efforts of transformation committees, turnaround plans, district and campus improvement plans and more.
When she started, 10 Waco ISD schools were on the states academically unacceptable list. When schools transitioned from TAKS to STAAR in 2013, nine schools were on the list.
The number bumped back up to 10 in 2014 and has dropped since, to seven campuses.
Both University High School and Waco High School were rated academically unacceptable when Cain started but have since passed state academic standards.
As Atkins looks back on his time with Cain, he said Cains greatest impact to the district isnt necessarily the numerous programs shes helped curate or the strides in academic accountability. Its not necessarily the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing or Greater Waco Advanced Healthcare academies and their partnerships with local businesses and healthcare providers, or the ATLAS academy that meets the needs of the districts gifted and talented students, he said. And it isnt the fact that Waco ISD started producing high school musicals under her leadership, he said.
The two things that really changed was a sense of urgency and the entire rhythm of this district from six years ago, Atkins said. And it comes at a price. There are folks who will tell you out of that sense of urgency folks were moved around too often at the campus level. The other thing that happened, and its something thats taken place over this entire community, is having folks in key positions that had a sincere level of trust among one another so we could begin to collaborate.
What came about initially was some pretty large institutions where individual leaders felt comfortable dropping those barriers and some of those silos and saying, lets work together to fix some of those issues. Lets quit saying this is my territory. Leave me alone, Ill take care of it. It became much more about what we could do as a community to move the needle, and she was a big part of that.
Looking forward
Cain said shes not necessarily quitting education altogether. She wants to eventually move back to East Texas, where she may decide to help adults learn to read, hold another administrative position or help the homeless community, she said.
She has two pieces of advice for whoever takes her place: Dont be afraid to ask questions, and hire the right people for the right positions.
My suggestion to the next person coming in or to anybody in this situation, when you have a struggling district, be so careful who you hire. There is no substitute for leadership and getting the right people in those positions, Cain said. Theres an old saying in education that if youve got a weak staff and a strong principal and you have the choice of a strong staff and a weak principal, you choose the weak staff and strong principal because a strong principal will turn that staff around.
The board of trustees will most likely use a Texas Association of School Boards executive search service to find the next leader for Waco ISD, but that decision has not been made yet, Atkins said.
I wish there was something about Dr. Cain (people) knew, and I dont think its fully appreciated, Atkins said. That is the level of energy and time and commitment that shes brought to this job and the tireless effort shes put forth for the children in this community for the last six years.
Three more bikers arrested in the Twin Peaks shootout got trial settings Friday after a judge relaxed their bond conditions to allow them to travel anywhere in Texas.
Jerry Edward Pierson, Christopher Julian Carrizal and his son, Christopher Jacob Carrizal, all Bandidos from Dallas, have a priority trial setting for April 25 in 19th State District Court.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told Judge Ralph Strother the trial date five months away should allow time for the completion of DNA and cellphone analysis and for the DAs office to provide the information to defense attorneys by February or March.
Not all three defendants will be tried on April 25, but Reyna said he and defense attorney Landon Northcutt, of Stephenville, will get together to decide who will stand trial first. The other two would go to trial in the weeks to follow, Reyna said.
Northcutt, who represents all three, said his clients are eager to go to trial and put the incident behind them.
Also during the brief hearing, Strother agreed to lift Texas travel restrictions for the trio. Previously, they were restricted to an area around their residences and places of business.
Strother denied a request from Northcutt to allow the three to associate with other members of biker groups, also a condition of their bonds.
The judge did, however, say they could meet with potential witnesses in their cases as long as Northcutt is present.
Northcutt told the judge the father-son Carrizals were indicted under the wrong names and asked the court to correct their names in court records. They were indicted as Carrizal Sr. and Carrizal Jr., but they told the judge Friday that is incorrect.
The three were among 154 indicted on identical engaging in organized criminal activity charges after their arrests in the March 17, 2015, shootout that left nine dead and about two dozen injured.
Judge Matt Johnson of Wacos 54th State District Court set the first Twin Peaks biker trial for Jan. 23 earlier this month.
James Rosas, a welder from Selma, is a member of the Valerosos motorcycle group, a support club of the Bandidos. If his trial setting stands, he would be the first biker arrested at Twin Peaks to go to trial.
A Waco Police Department internal investigation to determine if a veteran drug enforcement investigator lied about the use of confidential informants at the behest of his supervisor has concluded with no major disciplinary action against either officer.
Waco Drug Enforcement Unit Cmdr. Clare Crook, a 37-year department veteran, and investigator David Starr, a 26-year department veteran, have been on administrative leave with pay since February after the department and McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna initiated investigations of Starrs cases.
While Reynas office conducted a review of Starrs cases pending in his office, former Police Chief Brent Stroman asked Texas Rangers to investigate whether Starr lied about the use of confidential informants to obtain arrest and search warrants.
Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said Thursday that the internal investigation was completed recently and that Crook and Starr will remain on administrative leave with pay depending on what, if anything, Reynas office does with the results of the Rangers investigation.
Neither Reyna nor his first assistant, Michael Jarrett, returned phone calls Thursday.
In response to an open records request from the Tribune-Herald seeking the results of the citys internal investigation, Assistant City Attorney Judith Benton said no information is available under Civil Service and Texas Government Code regulations.
If one or both officers had been fired or suspended, information could have been made public, Benton said.
Less-severe actions, such as a private reprimand, are personnel matters and not considered public information, she said.
A source with knowledge of both the Ranger and police internal investigations said Crook was totally cleared in both probes.
Crook did not return phone messages Thursday. Starr could not be reached.
While the dual investigations were proceeding, prosecutors in Reynas office either dismissed outright or were forced to offer defendant-friendly plea bargains in about 20 cases investigated by Starr, courthouse sources said.
An employee in the U.S. Attorneys Office declined comment on the matter.
Waco attorney Edward Vallejo said his client, a Mexican national, benefitted from the situation after he was caught with 500 grams of cocaine. Reynas office dismissed the charges.
A dismissal was made by the district attorneys office, and no reason was given other than, generally, that it was in the interest of justice, Vallejo said. When your client has that much dope and he is looking at a first-degree felony and up to life in prison and he gets a dismissal, you dont ask too many questions. At that point, he was happy to be deported back to Mexico. My client was dumbfounded.
Another case involving Starr that was dismissed by prosecutors involved almost 5 pounds of methamphetamine, sources said.
Reyna sent a letter to defense attorneys in February after Starr was placed on administrative leave. Reyna said inconsistencies in reports and affidavits from Starr in two cases led to the investigation.
The report and sworn affidavit reference an interdiction operation conducted by the Waco PD Drug Enforcement Unit, Reynas letter said. After discussion with the detective, it was revealed that there was not an interdiction operation, and the arrest of the defendants was made pursuant to information received from a confidential informant. Detective Starr indicated to prosecutors that he was apprehensive about wording the report and affidavit this way but was ordered to do so.
There is hardly anything in the Constitution harder to explain, or easier to misunderstand, than the Electoral College. And when a presidential election hands the palm to a candidate who comes in second in the popular vote but first in the Electoral College tally, something deep in our democratic viscera balks and asks why the Electoral College shouldnt be dumped as a useless relic of 18th-century white-gentry privilege.
Actually, there have been only five occasions when a closely divided popular vote and the electoral vote have failed to point in the same direction. No matter. After last weeks results, were hearing a litany of complaints: the Electoral College is undemocratic, the Electoral College is unnecessary, the Electoral College was invented to protect slavery and the demand to push it down the memory hole.
All of which is strange because the Electoral College is at the core of our system of federalism. The Founders who sat in the 1787 Constitutional Convention lavished an extraordinary amount of argument on the Electoral College and it was by no means one-sided. The great Pennsylvania jurist James Wilson believed that if we are to establish a national government, the president should be chosen by a direct, national vote of the people. But wise old Roger Sherman of Connecticut replied that the president ought to be elected by Congress, since he feared that direct election of presidents by the people would lead to the creation of a monarchy. Sherman was not trying to undermine the popular will but to keep it from being distorted by a president who mistook popular election as a mandate for dictatorship.
Quarrels like this flared all through the convention till, at almost the last minute, James Madison took out a Pen and Paper, and sketched out a mode of Electing the President by a college of Electors . . . chosen by those of the people in each State, who shall have the Qualifications requisite.
The Founders also designed the operation of the Electoral College with unusual care. The portion of Article 2, Section 1, describing the Electoral College is longer and descends to more detail than any other single issue the Constitution addresses. More than the federal judiciary, more than the war powers, more than taxation and representation. It prescribes in precise detail how Each State shall appoint . . . a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; how these electors shall vote by Ballot for a president and vice president; how they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate the results of their balloting; how a tie vote must be resolved; what schedule the balloting should follow; and on and on.
Above all, the Electoral College had nothing to do with slavery. Some historians have branded the Electoral College this way because each states electoral votes are based on that whole Number of Senators and Representatives from each State, and in 1787 the number of those representatives was calculated on the basis of the infamous three-fifths clause. But the Electoral College merely reflected the numbers, not any bias about slavery (and in any case, the three-fifths clause was not quite as proslavery a compromise as it seems, since Southern slaveholders wanted their slaves counted as five-fifths for determining representation in Congress and had to settle for a whittled-down fraction). As much as the abolitionists before the Civil War liked to talk about the proslavery Constitution, this was more of a rhetorical posture than a serious historical argument. And the simple fact remains, from the record of the Constitutional Conventions proceedings (James Madisons famous Notes), that the discussions of the Electoral College and the method of electing a president never occur in the context of any of the conventions two climactic debates over slavery.
If anything, it was the Electoral College that made it possible to end slavery since Abraham Lincoln earned only 39 percent of the popular vote in the election of 1860 but won a crushing victory in the electoral college. This, in large measure, was why Southern slaveholders stampeded to secession in 1860-61. They could do the numbers as well as anyone and realized that the Electoral College would only produce more anti-slavery Northern presidents.
Yet, even on those terms, it is hard for Americans to escape the uncomfortable sense that, by inserting an extra layer of electors between the people and the president, the Electoral College is something less than democratic. But even if we are a democratic nation, that is not all we are. The Constitution also makes us a federal union and the Electoral College is pre-eminently both the symbol and a practical implementation of that federalism.
The states of the union existed before the Constitution and, in a practical sense, existed long before the revolution. Nothing guaranteed that, in 1776, the states would all act together and nothing guaranteed that after the Revolution they might not go their separate and quarrelsome ways, much like the German states of the 18th century or South American republics in the 19th century. The genius of the Constitutional Convention was its ability to entice the American states into a more perfect union. But it was still a union of states, and we probably wouldnt have had a constitution or a country at all unless the route we took was federalism.
The Electoral College was an integral part of that federal plan. It made a place for the states as well as the people in electing the president by giving them a say at different points in a federal process and preventing big-city populations from dominating the election of a president.
Abolishing the Electoral College now might satisfy an irritated yearning for direct democracy, but it would also mean dismantling federalism. After that, there would be no sense in having a Senate (which, after all, represents the interests of the states) and, further along, no sense even in having states, except as administrative departments of the central government. Those who wish to abolish the Electoral College ought to go the distance and do away with the entire federal system and perhaps even retire the Constitution since the federalism it was designed to embody would have disappeared.
None of that, ironically, is liable to produce a more democratic election system. There are plenty of democracies, like Great Britain, where no one ever votes directly for a head of the government. But more important, the Electoral College actually keeps presidential elections from going undemocratically awry because it makes unlikely the possibility that third-party candidates will garner enough votes to make it onto the electoral scoreboard.
Without the Electoral College, there would be no effective brake on the number of viable presidential candidates. Abolish it, and it would not be difficult to imagine a scenario where, in a field of a dozen micro-candidates, the winner only needs 10 percent of the vote and represents less than 5 percent of the electorate. And presidents elected with smaller and smaller pluralities will only aggravate the sense that an elected president is governing without a real electoral mandate.
The Electoral College has been a major, even if poorly comprehended, mechanism for stability in a democracy, something which democracies are sometimes too flighty to appreciate. It may appear inefficient. But the Founders were not interested in efficiency; they were interested in securing the blessings of liberty. The Electoral College is, in the end, not a bad device for securing that.
Allen Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and director of the Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College. His most recent book is Gettysburg: The Last Invasion.
There are two truths about the Electoral College: It ought to be abolished and it never will be.
Calls for changing the constitutional election system abound now that Hillary Clinton has won the popular vote and lost the electoral vote, as Al Gore did in 2000. But it turns out that the same Constitution that enshrines the Electoral College effectively protects the small states from an amendment they dont want. The problem goes back to the nations founding and short of abolishing the states as effective sovereigns, it basically cant be fixed.
The small states, which benefit from candidates attention, would never consent to being marginalized through a proportional system that favors the interests of densely populated states. But replacing the Electoral College would take a constitutional amendment approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of the state legislatures. Even if the first bar could be cleared which is wildly unlikely overcoming the second is unimaginable.
The Catch-22 is no accident. It goes back to the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention and the summer of 1787. The most enlightened Founders, including James Madison, pressed hard for a proportional Senate alongside the proportional House. The small states blocked it. And along the way, the small states also entrenched an amendment process that makes it essentially impossible to overcome their will.
The story of the small states stand is fascinating and deeply consequential, but let me clarify that the Electoral College itself was not primarily a concession to the small states. Rather, the Electoral College was a compromise between selection of the president by state legislatures or election by popular vote.
Madison and other centralizers, such as James Wilson of Pennsylvania, didnt want the state legislatures to have too much power. They feared the states would pull the country apart, as seemed to be happening under the Articles of Confederation. But direct election, which Wilson strongly favored, had its own risks, including a splintered election if the populace hadnt heard of the candidates or the election of an (ahem) unsuitable candidate by the untutored people.
The Electoral College is, however, almost proportional to population unlike the Senate, which was the small states main accomplishment.
Madison went into the convention calling for proportional representation in both legislative chambers. His so-called Virginia plan was partly an effect of his republican ideology, which required majority rule. It was also convenient for Virginia, which had the largest population at the time. Majoritarianism would, then as now, favor the regional interests of concentrated population centers.
Of course, Madison knew that small states wouldnt like his proposal. But he privately told his allies that the small states would have no choice but to go along with the big states. If the union fell apart, he figured, the large states would swallow the small states, so the small states had more to lose. Madison actually said as much on the floor of the convention: What would be the consequence to the small states of the dissolution of the union? he asked rhetorically. Would the small ones be more secure when all control of a general government was withdrawn?
Unfortunately for Madison, his prediction was spectacularly wrong. As the summer progressed, the small states flatly refused to give up equal representation in the Senate. They introduced the New Jersey plan, which all knew was a stalking horse to force compromise on the Senate. Eventually (and famously), the big states folded and the Great Compromise prevailed. As an effect of that compromise, Article V made amendments depend on the agreement of the states, too. It also made equal representation in the Senate unamendable except with a states consent.
How did the small states get away with it? Heres the kicker: The small states prevailed on equal Senate representation because they had equal votes in the Constitutional Convention itself and would have an equal say in ratification. Madison had failed to realize that, given this equality, the small states could hold the large states hostage, gambling correctly that the big states would fold on the Senate.
It didnt escape notice that the reason for the small states power was the voting system of the convention. Madison and others were horrified at the illogic that the convention was itself following voting rules that made no sense as a matter of republican theory. But the big states couldnt change the conventions voting rules, which themselves followed the model of the Articles of Confederation, without getting the small states to agree.
So why did the Articles of Confederation give all states an equal say in Congress? Because on July 4, 1776, the United States came together in part as a union of 13 states that had been British colonies until that day. Acting as separate states, the new states gave each other equal weight like nations in the general assembly of the United Nations.
In other words, the accident of British colonial charters gave rise to the system we now have and the great difficulty of amending it. This made no sense in 1787 and it makes no sense now. But short of abolishing the states as sovereign entities which plenty of reasonable people (from big states) preferred at the founding there was no choice but to let the small states get away with it.
The upshot? When it comes to the difficulty of amending the Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College, you can blame it on the British Empire.
Noah Feldman, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard.
WAHOO A fire that brought five are fire departments to downtown Wahoo Friday morning was finally under control by about 1:30 p.m.
However, the fire in the Wahoo State Bank building at the corner of Fifth and Linden street was still burning, according to Wahoo Fire Chief Mark Meyer, and firefighters will remain on scene.
Meyer reported at a 2 p.m. press conference that the fire department was dispatched to the bank around 9 a.m. for a rooftop fire.
Upon arrival, there was no visible smoke or fire. Upon further investigation, fire was underneath the roof, which is covered with a rubber membrane, Meyer said.
The building had three roofs underneath the exterior membrane, where the fire was burning freely, Meyer said.
Firefighters could not get to the fire underneath the exterior membrane. Meyer said that with 15 minutes of arrival, he deemed the roof unsafe and pulled all firefighters off the roof and out of the building.
Meyer said the effort then shifted to keeping the fire contained to the one building and letting the rubber membrane burn off to get to the seed of the fire.
Firefighters from Wahoo, Cedar Bluffs and David City sprayed water from their three aerial trucks.
Meyer said the problem spots of containment came at the edges of the roof and the northeast corner. But, the fire was under control at approximately 1:30 p.m., with the help of the Yutan and Mead fire departments as well.
Meyer said the three main problems they encountered were the rubber membrane, the three roofs and a gusty wind.
It was very frustrating we couldnt get to the fire, Meyer said.
If they had been able to get to the fire, Meyer said he thought some of the building could have been saved. The roof of the Wahoo State building did collapse, Meyer said.
With the blaze still burning during the 2 p.m. press conference, Meyer said they would stay until the fire was completely out.
Nearby business were also evacuated and the street was shut down to traffic.
The neighboring Wigwam Cafe did experience water damage.
Wigwam Owner Silvia Wade, pushing water out of her front door with a mop, said that water had come through the roof, drained down through to the restaurant and also into her basement.
Wade said she had customers in the restaurant when she was asked to evacuate in the morning.
Ive never seen anything like this, Wade said.
She and her husband, Clayton, have owned the long-time downtown mainstay for the past 22 years.
Meyer said he was unable to comment about the potential cause of the fire. The Nebraska Fire Marshal will be investigating the cause.
According to the bank's website, the Wahoo State Bank drive-in location remains open at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets.
Waverly City Council Minutes
The Waverly City Council met on Tuesday, November 8th, 2016 in the Community Meeting Hall. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Mike Werner, Council Members Joe Dalton, John Hestermann, Chad Neuhalfen, and Greg Rickers. Other City Officials present were City Attorney Mark Fahleson, Chad Lyon Building Inspector/Zoning Administrator, and Interim Administrator/City Clerk/Treasurer Ginger Neuhart. Also present were Christy Eichorn, and The News Reporter Michael Wunder.
Agenda items the Council took action on:
1. Approved the Minutes of the October 25th, 2016 City Council Meeting.
2. Approved Claims for Payment in the amount of $ 73,737.23.
3. Approved the October 2016 Budget and Treasurers Reports.
4. Introduced and passed Resolution No.16-35 approving an additional Volunteer Fire/Rescue Department Member Kimberly Riggert.
5. Introduced and passed Resolution No.16-36 authorizing the placing of stop signs, yield signs and other signs in streets within the Citys Jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating traffic.
6. Waived the three reading requirement, introduced and passed the third and final reading of Ordinance No. 16-17 to rezone a portion of Outlot A, Day Commercial Park Second Addition, in the Southeast Quarter of Section 20, Township-11-North, Range-8-East of the Sixth Principle Meridian of Lancaster County, Nebraska from Limited Industrial District (LI) to General Commercial District (GC).
7. Waived the three reading requirement, introduced and passed the third and final reading of Ordinance No. 16-18 to vacate certain Alleys and Streets (Vacation of that part of Dovers Street, located in the Southeast Quarter of Section 20, Township-11-North, Range-8-East of the 6th Principal Meridian in the City of Waverly, Lancaster County, Nebraska).
8. Introduced and passed Resolution No. 16-33 approving the Day Commercial Park 4th Addition Final Plat.
9. Motioned to postpone Agenda Item Consideration of entering into an Agreement with Mobilitie, LLC for the use of public right-of-way to erect a telecommunications pole and antenna until the November 22nd, 2016 City Council Meeting.
10. Motioned to assess the eleven (11) days of liquidated damages for the 2016 Paving Improvements, provided that Amberly Road is open to traffic by November 9th, 2016 and to authorize Council Member John Hestermann and Utility Superintendent Tracey Whyman to negotiate with TCW Construction to have concrete work done in-lieu of the payment of the liquidated damages.
11. Motioned to postpone Agenda Item Consideration of purchasing new door locks for the City Office and Shop Building until the November 22nd, 2016 City Council Meeting.
12. Motioned to accept the LES Resolution, Quitclaim Deed and to authorize the payment of $16,100.00 to Lincoln Electric System for the purchase of property for the North 134th Street Acquisition.
13. Motioned to enter into an Agreement with Midlands Contracting for the 2016 Sanitary Sewer Improvements C.I.P.P., issue the Notice to Proceed and authorize the Mayor to sign the necessary documents.
14. Motioned to postpone Agenda Item Consideration of a quote for updating the City of Waverly Website submitted by Nebraska Interactive until the November 22nd, 2016 City Council Meeting.
15. Received committee reports
Meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.
A copy of the entire minutes is available at the City Clerks Office, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Ginger R. Neuhart
Interim Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer
Aspen Builders-ex 940.00; A T and T-ex52.17; Black Hills-ex 103.06; Blue Cross/Blue Sh 6,013.20; Charter-ex 7.21; CS Concrete-ex 1,043.28; Custom Cool-ex 147.50; Colonial Life-ex 128.08; Delta Dental-ex 634.30; EMS Billing-ex 856.25; Fireguard-ex 327.59; Firespring-ex 379.36; Harris Decals-ex 686.85; Hawkins-ex 4,640.56; Industrial Serv-ex 362.88; IRS-ex 4,396.81; J.R. Waller-ex 101.00; JEO Consulting-ex 3,749.00; Legacy Homes-ex 660.00; LES-ex 6,861.92; Menards-ex 284.67; Millard Lumber-ex 13.30; Nadia Koval-ex 700.00; NPHE Labs-ex 729.00; NMCA-ex 25.00; NE Dept of Rev.-ex 16,529.00; NE Dept of Rev.-ex 1,588.59; Northwestern-ex 3,076.07; Pavers-ex 741.87; Printworks-ex 185.00; NE Child Support-ex 234.50; Quick Connect-ex 88.00; Quik Dump Refuse 329.00; Ray Estes-ex 41.94; Shaffer Comm-ex 25.00; US Bank-ex 134.25; US Post Office-ex 580.00; Verizon-ex 133.14; Wells Fargo-ex 2,870.46; Windstream-ex 102.54; Payroll 13,234.88. Total 73,737.23.
Dude, wasnt it just Labor Day? And now I am shivering in my house in socks and a fleece refusing to turn on the heat and admit its October. But Halloween is upon us and that is the beginning of
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Amid the despair at Trump's victory among feminists and Clinton supporters, there is a danger that another woman is being dragged down in defence of their heroine: the next First Lady, Melania Trump. From her childhood in Yugoslavia, to learning five languages as she worked around Europe as a model, to moving to New York, until now, as she prepares to take up residence in the White House, hers is an extraordinary story.
As a woman and an immigrant, she should find support among Clinton's supporters and the liberal-minded. Yet, during the campaign there was an undercurrent of sexism and xenophobia towards her that has only intensified since her husband's victory. This hypocrisy, where it is suddenly OK to poke fun at a Slovenian for the way she speaks, at an ex-glamour model for the way she looks, is staggering.
Melania Trump and Michelle Obama met at the White House on Thursday. Credit:Getty Images
On social media and chat shows there has been sneering about her posing topless, an assumption that she is an unintelligent bimbo afraid to challenge her domineering husband. On The Graham Norton Show last Friday, Andrew Lloyd Webber said the name Melania "sounds like a disease".
There are the unfair comparisons to the Harvard-educated Michelle Obama, as though Melania Trump is academically unqualified to be First Lady. Mrs Obama became a role model for girls and young women not because she married a future president but for what she did as First Lady of the United States. So let's give Mrs Trump the chance to do the same.
Delhi: Driver Rahul Sharma, 25, remembers the exact day when his employer turned from a wolf into a lamb. It was November 9 when his employer called him beta - Hindi for "dear" - for the first time. The maid was asked to give him a cup of tea, for the first time.
"I was shocked at his sudden niceness. It went on for two days," said Sharma. For the past three years, his New Delhi-based employer has been abusive, bad-tempered, and imperious, often demanding that he turn up for work at 6am after finishing work at midnight.
"He didn't even bother to remember my name. When he wanted to summon me, he'd call out 'driver!'," Sharma said.
"On the third day, the penny dropped. He asked me to deposit 250,000 rupees ($4900) in my bank account on his behalf so that he could get rid of his black money."
President-elect Donald Trump has offered retired Lieutenant Gen Michael Flynn the role of national security adviser. Credit:AP But Flynn has also shown an erratic streak since leaving government that is likely to make his elevation disconcerting even to the flag officers and senior intelligence officials who once considered him a peer. Flynn stunned former colleagues when he travelled to Moscow last year to appear alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a lavish gala for the Kremlin-run propaganda channel RT, a trip Flynn admitted he was paid to make and defended by saying he saw no distinction between RT and US news channels such as CNN. President-elect Donald Trump says he doesn't plan on setting up a blind trust. Credit:Matt Rourke Flynn said he used the trip to press Putin's government to behave more responsibly in international affairs. Former US officials said Flynn, seen dining next to Putin in photos published by Russian propaganda outlets, was used as a prop by the autocratic leader.
Flynn was forced out of his job as director of the Defenve Intelligence Agency in 2014 over concerns about his leadership style. After the ouster, he frequently lashed out in public against President Barack Obama and blamed his removal on the administration's discomfort with his hard-line views on radical Islam. Spurning the decorum traditionally expected of retired US flag officers, Flynn became a fervent campaigner for Trump and was given a high-profile role speaking before the GOP convention, an appearance in which he led the crowd in "lock her up" chants against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Flynn's behaviour drew the ire of former colleagues and superiors, including retired General Stanley McChrystal, who made Flynn his top intelligence officer during critical stretches of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. McChrystal and retired admiral Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contacted Flynn and urged him to show more restraint, with Mullen warning that Flynn's behaviour could jeopardise White House trust in the military. Flynn dismissed those concerns in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this year, saying efforts to quiet him impinged on his free speech rights. "When someone says, 'You're a general, so you have to shut up,' " he said, "I say, 'Do I have to stop being an American?' "
Flynn continued to campaign for Trump and has said he has admired the mogul since their initial meeting. "I was very impressed," Flynn said in the interview with the Post. "Very serious guy. Good listener. Asked really good questions . . . I found him to be very attuned to what was going on around the world." A longtime Democrat and native of Rhode Island who grew up in a military family, Flynn has articulated an increasingly dark vision of the direction of the United States, saying that it has fallen into a struggle between "centrist nationalists" and "socialists." He has also warned that the United States is failing to adequately address the threat posed by what he calls a "diseased component" of Islam. "There's something going on in the Muslim world," he said. "Why do we have heightened security at our airports? It's not because the Catholic Church is falling apart." That view, and his willingness to voice it publicly, put him in close alignment with Trump, who has called for Muslims in the United States to be registered, subjected to loyalty tests and in some cases deported. As national security adviser, Flynn would be a White House insider in a unique position to influence Trump on almost all aspects of foreign policy. Trump has shown scant respect for the intelligence and institutions that shaped Flynn, dismissing an intelligence community assessment that Russia was interfering in the presidential election as "public relations."
Trump has also said he probably knows more than American generals about how to succeed in conflict zones such as Syria, encouraged Russia to hack Clinton's email accounts, and called for the CIA to resume its use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation methods widely condemned as torture. Flynn publicly opposed such ideas before his association with Trump, and it is not clear whether he would help the president-elect advance an agenda built around such positions and policies. Flynn most recently raised eyebrows in Washington with the publication of an opinion article in which he called for wholesale changes in US policy toward Turkey and the extradition of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who resides in Pennsylvania and has been accused by the Turkish government of fomenting a failed coup earlier this year. Loading Gulen's "vast global network has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network", Flynn wrote in the piece, which was published in The Hill. Officials with ties to the Trump transition team said that Flynn did not clear that article with the campaign before it was published or disclose that his consulting firm had been hired for lobbying work by a group with ties to the Turkish government.
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Dr. Chad Thibodeaux, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern State University, is spearheading efforts to revitalize the universitys astronomy observatory, which is located on the roof of Fournet Hall. The observatory could be used by students and the public for stargazing and astrophotography.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Nov. 18, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 18, 2016 | 12:03 PM | PADUCAH, KY
As holiday shopping ramps up, so does the traffic around Paducah's retail centers. With that in mind, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has installed traffic posts and stripes at the US 60 shopping area between I-24 and Olivet Church Road.
The stripes and posts were put in place Friday along the eastbound turn lane at the Wal Mart entrance, and at the shopping center entrance next to TGI Fridays.
In recent months the Paducah Police Department has reported several crashes caused by drivers in the right turn lane veering into the driving lanes at traffic signals. Police met with KYTC traffic engineers and developed a plan to reduce crashes, which included installing the posts and stripes.
The new setup is expected to reduce crashes by forcing vehicles in the right turn lane to continue to the right, instead of cutting across travel lanes at the intersections.
About 24,000 vehicles per day travel this section of US 60 between the Interstate 24 Exit 4 Interchange and KY 998/Olivet Church Road, with even higher numbers during holiday shopping.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Nov. 18, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 18, 2016 | 06:21 AM | PADUCAH, KY
A West Paducah man has been arrested after an apparent fight on Paducah's Southside.
According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, 30-year-old Brandon Bell of West Paducah was at a home along the 3700 block of Clarks River Road allegedly assaulting someone there.
As deputies were on their way to the home, they say they met a vehicle with Bell inside leaving the home. Deputies tried to pull him over, but Bell instead led them on a chase toward the Southside area of Paducah. Bell's vehicle jumped a concrete curb and went into a parking lot of a local business. Deputies say Bell got out of his vehicle while it was still moving and tried to get away on foot. After fighting with deputies, he was arrested.
Deputies say Bell was intoxicated at the time of arrest. A search of his vehicle produced both alcohol and over three ounces of marijuana believed to be packaged for sale.
Bell was booked in to the McCracken County Regional Jail.
A separate investigation is ongoing into the initial assault that deputies were originally dispatched to. Bell is facing multiple charges for the chase, drugs, and resisting arrest.
RIBBON CUT & DOORS OPENED AT NEW HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER TUESDAY MORNING
IT WAS SUNSHINE AND BLUE SKY FOR THE RIBBON CUTTING AND GRAND OPENING OF THE NEW 100 THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER LATE TUESDAY MORNING
The Grand Opening of this new facility is the culmination of many long hours and hard work. We hope that the community will join us to celebrate this great day for HendersonCounty. This partnership of health care and education is an asset that will pay dividends for generations to come, said Steve Wyatt, Henderson County Manager.
"We invite you to join us for the much-anticipated grand opening of the new Health Sciences Center on the campus of PardeeHospital," said James M. Kirby, II, president and CEO of Pardee Hospital. "This building represents our community's commitment to excellent health care and educational programs for Western North Carolina residents. Our new CancerCenter is a testament to the quality, personalized patient care we strive to achieve at Pardee. Every detail has been designed with our patients in mind. We hope the community will stop by to see how the CancerCenter and Pardee Surgical Associates will create a truly seamless experience for those who need care within our facility."
WingateUniversity is tremendously excited to be a part of HendersonCounty and this HealthSciencesCenter, said Kurt Wargo, PharmD, associate professor and regional dean of WingateUniversityHendersonvilleHealthSciencesCenter. Through the Doctor of Pharmacy and the Master in Physician Assistant Studies degrees, we are helping to shape future health care leaders. Our students are held to high ethical standards and use the very best judgment in all aspects of their lives. They are honest, trustworthy and have a work ethic second to none. We help instill in our students the belief that it takes a collaborative team of experts to care for patients. In addition, community engagement and civic-mindedness are core values of the students of WingateUniversity. Our students understand the importance of assisting the communities of Western N.C., and give back often. We hope you take the time to stop by our floor and learn more about our current programs of study, tour some of our state-of- the-art classrooms, and partake in free wellness checks."
The HealthSciencesCenter is truly an investment in our future and in future generations of students," said Blue Ridge Community College President Molly A. Parkhill. "It brings a tremendous opportunity for our students to learn in a state-of-the-art health education facility with modern technologies and access to a quality, world-class workforce for employers -- both locally and regionally."
The 100,000+ square foot building is located adjacent to PardeeHospitals campus and will house a new CancerCenter, including medical oncology, radiation oncology, cancer research and surgical office space. The building will also carry the existing student programs in allied health care for both Blue RidgeCommunity College and WingateUniversity, as well as the Wingate Pharmacy and PA programs. Once the building is completed, students taking nursing and a full array of allied health professions can have access to PardeeHospital for training through its programs.
PardeeHospitalis a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1953 and is managed by UNC Health Care. The hospital is licensed for 222 acute care beds. PardeeHospital has several locations separate from the main campus, including a comprehensive physician practice network, two urgent care locations and five orthopedic clinics. For more information or tofind a physician, visitwww.pardeehospital.org.
Blue RidgeCommunity Collegeis a two-year, comprehensive post-secondary institution serving Henderson and Transylvania counties in North Carolina. The College offers more than 100 programs of study, a wide range of college transfer courses, and one of the largest continuing education programs in the state. Its mission is to provide quality education and training opportunities that support student learning, enhance student advancement and success, and meet the workforce needs of the community. To learn more about Blue RidgeCommunity College, visitwww.blueridge.edu.
Wingate University, consistently ranked as a top-10 best value in the South byU.S. News & World Report, serves nearly 3,200 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 35 minors, 12 career concentrations and nine pre-professional programs; masters degrees in accounting, business, education, sport management and physician assistant studies; and doctorates in education, pharmacy and physical therapy. With a 14-to-1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news
The most convoluted non-story to emerge from the international break has moved into its sixth day by taking an unsurprising turn for the slapstick.
With the national press steadfastly refusing to let it die, the latest from The Sun is that Wayne Rooney is to be stripped of the England captaincy for drinking on his night off specifically for defying Gareth Southgates orders to call it quits .
Rooney had been drinking at the wedding reception when Southgate ordered the captain along with two members of the backroom staff to finish up for the night. According to sources at the Grove [Hotel], Rooney disappeared before returning to the party. Rooney has already apologised to Southgate for his 5am finish, but Southgate has plans to replace him as captain.
Riiiight.
The Times also have a little snippet pertaining to the knee injury that ruled Rooney out of Tuesday nights friendly against Spain.
Indeed, it would appear that an errant bottle of Lucozade was enough to take the skipper out of action entirely
It is understood that Rooney banged his knee after tripping over a bottle containing an energy drink in the home changing room. He has not been blamed for the accident and his conduct in the dressing room is not open to question.
Farce. The whole thing is a total farce.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Saskatchewans Golden Opportunities Fund Inc. is the buyer of Fort Garry Brewing Company Ltd., the oldest local brewery in the province.
The sale of Fort Garry by current owners Russell Breweries Inc. was announced a month ago, but the buyers identity had been kept under wraps.
The Saskatoon-based labour-sponsored venture capital fund is paying $7.7 million for the brewer of such local beers as Fort Garry Pale Ale and Frontier Pilsner.
JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Fort Garry Brewing Company was sold to Saskatchewans Golden Opportunities Fund Inc.
Its teamed up with local Winnipeg investors, including Winnipeg lawyer David Filmon and Charlie Spiring, founder and former CEO of Wellington West Capital.
Wanda Hunchak, vice-president of Westcap Mgt. Ltd., the entity that manages Golden Opportunities, said, Were very excited to bring Fort Garry back to 100 per cent Manitoba ownership.
Although the fund is based in Saskatchewan, Golden Opportunities raises about $1 million per year from Manitoba investors and has a mandate to invest in Manitoba companies.
We know Golden Opportunities well, and they are great partners, said Filmon, who is a member of the investment advisory committee of another fund Westcap manages. They are patient capital and very supportive of investee companies.
It will be the largest investment by far the fund has made in Manitoba. Golden Opportunities was launched in Saskatchewan in 1999, where it raises about $40 million per year, and it began raising money in Manitoba in 2008.
To date, the only other investment it has made in Manitoba was $500,000 in Librestream as well as a few small oil and gas companies that have operations in this province.
Golden Opportunities is structured similarly to the defunct Crocus and Ensis funds in Manitoba. It has invested almost $341 million in 127 companies since its inception 18 years ago and has more than 28,000 shareholders across the two provinces.
The 2016 federal budget restored the 15 per cent federal tax credit the former Conservative government had gradually cut back. Investments in the fund also include a 20 per cent provincial tax credit.
Fort Garry was originally founded in 1930, acquired by Molson in 1960 and closed in 1990 after the merger of Molson and Carling OKeefe.
The brand was revived in the mid-90s by the late Richard Hoeschen, great-grandson of the founder, and then acquired by Russell in 2007.
The deal to acquire Fort Garry is being done simultaneously with another transaction that will see the rest of Russells B.C. brewing operations acquired by another company owned by Yong Lin and Xiaomin Wang for $1.8 million. The two deals will effectively wind down Russell.
The craft brewery industry in Canada is in a growth mode that has impacted Manitoba breweries well with the industry seeing 12 per cent growth in the past year.
Fort Garry may be the largest and oldest microbrewer in the province, but it will soon face competition from a host of startups such as Torque, Peg Beer, Barn Hammer and soon-to-open Brazen Hall Kitchen & Brewery and One Great City Brewing Co., along with Half Pints, which already has a solid niche.
But Filmon said he believes there is plenty of room in the market.
Sure, the local craft beer market is growing, but its nowhere near where it is in the rest of the country. he said. I think its a good thing there is other competition. I believe the pie is going to grow, and were extremely well-positioned.
The deal still requires approval from a two-thirds majority of Russell shareholders who will vote at shareholder meeting in Vancouver Nov. 28. A company management information circular issued Oct. 31 said directors and other shareholders who collectively own 40 per cent of Russells shares are in support of the sale to Golden Opportunities.
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THE Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) has formed a new committee to help co-ordinate efforts to improve safety in the downtown.
The new safety committee will include two downtown business owners and representatives from four community partners the Winnipeg Police Service, Manitoba Justice, the Winnipeg Transit Authority and the Manitoba Liquor and Gaming Commission.
The committees goal will be to further enhance some of the BIZs existing safety programs, such as the Downtown Security Network, Downtown Watch and Community Homeless Assistance Team. It will also be formulating new safety strategies for the future.
TREVOR HAGAN / FREE PRESS FILES The Downtown BIZ hopes to improve existing programs, including the Downtown Watch.
The BIZ said one of the key messages its been getting from members of the downtown community is that the most effective way of improving safety is by addressing ongoing social challenges within the community things such as homelessness and substance abuse.
These are issues that have emerged as a result of an abandoned downtown and inner city 40 years ago, said BIZ chairwoman Deborah OBray. The efforts of revitalization, both in our downtown and inner city, are not complete until poverty is tackled through homes and jobs, the fundamental cornerstone of a healthy city. It takes time to regain what was lost. It takes patience, sustained policy and commitment.
Sachit Mehra, chairman of the new safety committee and owner of East India Company, said downtown safety remains a priority for both downtown businesses and the public.
While public perceptions are improving and downtown crime stats continue to decline over the last several years, the growth of our downtown needs a proactive approach to managing safety in the future, he added.
Downtown BIZ CEO Stefano Grande said the creation of the new safety committee is timely.
Downtowns nighttime economy is growing. An increase in tourists, convention-goers, students and more residents means more people are living, working and experiencing downtown, so it will take collaborative and collective impact towards taking downtown safety to the next level. Thankfully, many partners in our downtown are committed to improving downtown safety for everyone.
The BIZ has also developed a new three-year safety strategic plan for the downtown. Some of the highlights include maintaining and enhancing a strong Watch presence in the downtown with 25 full- and part-time staff; continuing to focus Watch resources on evening shifts and major events where the public perceives safety as a concern; maintaining year-round mobile patrols of downtown parkades and surface parking lots; and maintaining downtown bike patrols during the summer months.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Go west, Manitoba.
Premier Brian Pallister has made good on one of his most ardent campaign pledges with the announcement Thursday Manitoba has joined the New West Partnership Trade Agreement.
Manitoba joins Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in an agreement designed to enhance trade, investment and labour mobility between Western provinces.
Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun Michael Leech
With the inclusion of Manitoba, the partnership creates a common market of more than 11 million people, with a combined GDP of more than $750 billion.
Business owners, community leaders and chambers of commerce from across Manitoba have long called for our province to pursue new opportunities for growth and reduced trade barriers, Pallister stated in a news release.
Joining the New West Partnership will bring these advantages. We look forward to working with British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to expand opportunities and support stronger economies right across Western Canada.
The agreement also removes barriers to the movement of goods and services, investments and people within and between the provinces.
The original New West Partnership Trade Agreement came into effect July 1, 2010 and has been fully implemented since July 1, 2013.
On the outside looking in, the New West agreement has been a thorn in Michael Leechs side for the past few years.
Reflecting on one missed opportunity in particular, the Brandon-based Leech Printing Ltd. owner lamented the preferential treatment the agreement has provided its member provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The government of Saskatchewan wouldnt allow our work to be produced back in Manitoba through our (Brandon-based) plant, so that was an inhibitor and, in my opinion, that was the primary problem, he said.
These concerns became a thing of the past Thursday, when Manitoba joined the agreement.
Its a move that will put Manitoban companies on an even footing with their competitors in provinces to the west, Leech said after Pallister made the announcement.
I like open-market competitiveness, he added. Id rather have an expanded market than one thats protected.
Earlier this year, Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Terry Burgess joined his colleagues in applauding the Tory pledge to sign the trade agreement. He hasnt changed his tune and, on Thursday, Burgess reflected on the days big announcement as a positive for not only Westman, but also the entire province.
Its something the chamber was advocating for, us signing onto that particular agreement to ensure that any of our businesses who wanted to compete for business in other provinces, that we had a fair shot, he said, adding it will have a particularly strong impact on those in the construction sector.
Most affected locally will be the larger companies that compete in broader markets for business, Burgess said the Crane Steel Structures and Behlen Industries of the area.
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister has delivered on one of his key campaign promises by having Manitoba join the New West Partnership Trade Agreement.
While the New West trade deal might have sounded more attractive several months ago before oil took a nosedive and forced companies in Alberta to look elsewhere for work Burgess remains confident it will serve the area well in the long term.
It opens up our local markets to competitors from the other provinces, but I know our local businesses here feel very comfortable that they can compete with anyone coming into our marketplace, he said.
Reflecting on Manitobas last few years outside of the New West trade deal as a time of lost opportunity, Brandon West PC MLA Reg Helwer said Thursday hes relieved to see those days of disadvantage come to a close.
We need to be part of this trade agreement, and we should be talking with and trading with our neighbours, he said, a sentiment his peer in Brandon East shares.
It certainly allows, now, for a lot more trade back and forth, Brandon East PC MLA Len Isleifson said.
Its just a great opportunity, and were just starting.
This idea of just starting is a point that would likely enthuse Farmery Estate Brewery owner Chris Warwaruk.
Based in Neepawa, Manitobas exclusion from the New West trade deal initially made it fiscally impossible for the brewery to sell their product in Alberta.
It would have helped us last year, but in the end Alberta changed their promotion of it, Warwaruk explained, adding that, for his company anyway, New West has become a moot point.
Now, Farmery Estate Brewery wants to see Manitobas provincial government introduce a grant program similar to the ones in Alberta and other provinces, which bolster their local craft brewers in the marketplace.
kristin.annable@freepress.mb.catclarke@brandonsun.com
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OTTAWA The buildings at Kapyong Barracks in Winnipeg would have been torn down years ago if there hadnt been an extended lawsuit keeping the Department of National Defence from doing anything to the property, an official with DND said Thursday.
Lyse Langevin, director general of infrastructure and environment, said until the lawsuits between Treaty One First Nations in Manitoba and the federal government were settled, DND had to leave everything as is. In September 2015, when the former Conservative government chose not to appeal the latest ruling requiring proper consultation with First Nations, DND was free to pursue its usual process for declaring land as surplus. That is to demolish the site and return it to its original condition.
This is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, said Langevin in an interview with the Free Press Thursday.
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The federal government's plan to raze buildings at Kapyong Barracks 'is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary,' a government spokesperson said.
In a letter to area residents sent this week, the department noted it intends to destroy all 41 buildings, internal roadways, surface parking lots and underground utilities including electrical, gas, water and sewer lines starting in 2017. It is seeking public input as part of the environmental-assessment requirements of federal law.
She couldnt say how much the demolition would cost or when exactly it will begin because the project will be tendered. The public-input period is from today to Dec. 16.
Langevin confirmed DND has spent nearly $20 million maintaining the 160-acre Kapyong site at Kenaston Boulevard and Grant Avenue since the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry unit left Kapyong for CFB Shilo in June 2004. The current annual upkeep budget is $1.5 million. Most of that is property taxes, which in 2016 were nearly $900,000. The rest is for grass cutting and snow shovelling, security and other basic maintenance.
Langevin said the buildings are structurally safe, but they have been vacant for so long, mould has grown inside and they can no longer be entered safely.
The negotiations for the redevelopment underway with First Nations are an entirely separate process and have nothing to do with the decision to gut the property, said Langevin.
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, the Liberal MP for the riding where the barracks are located, said the former government allowed the property to fester for more than a decade while it fought First Nations in court over their attempt to claim the property for treaty land entitlement. He said the government is negotiating with the First Nations, and the property will no longer be an eyesore.
I think its a very positive development. It will help the neighbourhood while negotiations continue.
No representatives from the seven First Nations involved in the negotiations will speak publicly about the situation. Sources say there is a dispute about whether all seven would receive an equal partnership in the land or whether larger bands should get a bigger share.
Carr said Thursday the First Nations are happy to see the buildings demolished.
Im glad the First Nations communities who are involved in the conversation also think its a good idea. Thats our understanding.
NDP MP Daniel Blaikie, who learned of the plan from the media, said the lack of information coming from DND about the demolition is frustrating.
Did they think they were going to do something that big and nobody was going to notice? he asked.
He said DND should be explaining exactly why they want to demolish the buildings, what it does for the process to redevelop the site and whether it will affect the value of the land going forward. He said removing buildings that are a hazard is one thing, but tearing out utilities that could be used by future occupants doesnt make sense until its determined what is going to go in there.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 17/11/2016 (2176 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg gang member who was the director of a street justice-style shooting but didnt fire the gun has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Aaron Chartrand was 19 when he and two others approached a home on Dufferin Street around 1 a.m. one day last February. In a video of the shooting played in court Thursday, Chartrand is seen pointing, encouraging the shooter to fire bullets through the door of the home where a rival gang member lived.
Chartrand said Do it, do it, Crown attorney Libby Standil told the court, as another person pulled the trigger and all three people ran away. The victim of the shooting, an Indian Posse member, suffered lung damage as a result of the shooting, and the bullet remains lodged in his body, court heard.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Harpreet Kanda pleaded guilty Monday to impersonating a peace officer, uttering threats and conveying false messages as his trial was set to resume.
The shooter was never arrested in this case, and the gun was never found. A youth who was also arrested has, like Chartrand, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent. Both were initially charged with attempted murder.
The shooting was apparently retaliation on behalf of the B-Side gang for the death of Chartrands friend, 16-year-old Paris Bruce, who was beaten to death during an attempted takeover of an Indian Posse-controlled North End crack house in 2012, court heard.
Both Crown and defence lawyers agreed on the seriousness of the crime, which carried a mandatory minimum four-year sentence. The Crown asked for six years; defence sought five.
Court of Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin said while the shooting was a purported form of street justice, This really isnt justice in any way, shape or form. He said the casualness with which Chartrand could carry out such brutality is absolutely breathtaking, especially since the shooting was in a residential area where a bystander could have been hurt.
This has to stop, the judge said, adding he wouldnt be surprised to see more bodies on the street before all is said and done.
katie.may@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @thatkatiemay
Opinion
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The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president has some people ecstatic, others stunned and grieving. His opponents have urged patience and hope he might somehow moderate some of his policies, having been elected. His appointment of Steve Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, dealt a blow to those hopes: Bannon, who has white supremacist connections, has said he wants to destroy the U.S. establishment Republican and Democrat entirely.
On the day after the election Mark Blyth, political scientist at Brown University, wrote, The era of neoliberalism is over. The era of neonationalism has just begun.
Blyth predicted Brexit, and he predicted Trump as well. Now he says to look to Europe, where the far-right National Front party is polling in France at 40 per cent. Italy is about to have a constitutional referendum the prime minister will probably lose. This will shake the European Union.
FRANCOIS LENOIR / POOL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, with European Council President Donald Tusk after signing CETA. Upheaval in the EU could make it harder to ratify the trade agreement.
Elsewhere in Europe, aside from the slow-burning tragedy in Ukraine, some members of NATO are abandoning liberal democracy. Hungarys Viktor Orban publicly declared that liberal democracy was a thing of the past and outlawed opposition parties. Turkeys Recep Tayyip Ergodan faced a coup earlier this year it failed in part because he had already thrown tens of thousands of potential political opponents in jail.
Indias Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi is a strongman who was once banned from the United States as a security threat for failing to quell riots in his home province where more than 1,000 Muslims and Hindus died. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines ran a war on drugs that has seen 3,000 people killed, including addicts, not just pushers, and he has said he would kill three million if he could. That was before he declared he would shift his allegiance from the U.S. to China.
In Russia, Vladimir Putin changed the constitution so he could run for office again and all media is now controlled by the state. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been remilitarizing and has banned the humanities from all universities.
Post-U.S. election, there have been plenty of recriminations as supporters of the losing side rip into one another blaming the Clintons, Bernie Sanders and the media. But Trump won by the skin of his teeth in an election where Clinton will carry the popular vote by several million votes. The tipping point, 10 days out, was an astonishing decision by the FBI director to release a statement about Hillary Clintons emails, which, the day before the election, he revoked.
Whats been driving all this? Prejudice is one ingredient, but 30 years of stagnant incomes in Europe and North America, followed by a massive financial crisis and a dose of terrible austerity, has radicalized people. In the EU, austerity increased unemployment by 25 million compared to the U.S. Many countries still have 25 per cent unemployment. In 17 states in the U.S., the tipped minimum wage is $2.13 what it was in 1991.
All of this is happening just as The Economist ran a cover story on Canada as being the last liberal place on Earth committed to diversity, tolerance, trade. But global instability threatens to burst our Canadian bubble. Upheaval in the EU will make it harder to ratify CETA. Under President Trump the TPP is considered dead and NAFTA is up for negotiation.
Why has Canada been spared? Unlike other countries, we have not had a major terrorist attack. Our borders are not as open as those of the U.S., EU or the United Kingdom: the U.S. has millions of undocumented immigrants, the EU has 1.3 million refugees. None of our banks failed in 2008-09. For a while, the high price of oil kept our economy afloat. And this is very important Canada and the U.S. avoided the harsh austerity and cuts that, in the U.K. and Europe, were brutal. The Harper Conservatives stabilized banks, and the Economic Action Plan, matched by provinces, made a difference.
Canadas economy is very trade-dependent and there are some worrying economic signs domestically, including high private debt, an overheated housing market and sluggish growth. This, combined with international instability, could deliver serious shocks to our economy and we could see the same kind of divisive nationalism growing here. Canada must respond by doing what it can to shield itself from shocks that could range from new tariffs and disrupted international supply lines to financial downturns. This might seem daunting, but we have the capacity to handle it so long as we recognize that extraordinary circumstances may require extraordinary investments. Providing safe harbour in an unstable world is an opportunity that could pay off in the long run.
Dougald Lamont is a lecturer in government-business relations in Canada at the University of Winnipeg and ran for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberal Party in 2013.
Opinion
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OTTAWA On Nov. 8, the same day Hillary Clintons bid to become the first female president in the United States fell off the rails, the only two female candidates looking to run for the leadership of the Alberta PC Party leadership withdrew their names just two days before nominations closed.
While some of the criticism Calgary MLAs Sandra Jansen and Donna Kennedy-Glans received was because of where the two reside on the political spectrum, it was an endless slinging of hateful, anti-woman crap that drove them both from the race.
My social media has been filled with filth, my domain name purchased to direct people to smear pieces on me and finally, this past weekend in Red Deer, the final straw, Jansen said. Insults were scrawled on my nomination forms. Volunteers from another campaign chased me up and down the hall, attacking me for protecting womens reproductive rights and my team was jeered for supporting childrens rights to a safe school environment.
DEAN BENNETT / THE CANADIAN PRESS Jason Kenney and Sandra Jansen at an Alberta Progressive Conservative party leadership forum in Red Deer, Alta. The only two female candidates in the race are calling it quits.
Jansens team was tearing down posters with the word c**t plastered across it. Her Twitter feed was, and still is, filled with the kind of language and hatred one hoped might have disappeared along with the cave men. Accusations about her providing sexual acts to a former premier, posts calling all female politicians whores, even one man who suggested because she is a woman she should be stoned to death.
Disgusting feminists and pansies that keep voting in inexperienced women, wrote one Brent Waddell on Twitter. Women period should not run an oil rich province. As Alison Redford, Danielle Smith or Rachel Notley (sic). All garbage.
Not quite finished, Waddell went on to write they should never allowed women to vote in the 70s.
Bad writing aside, this dude needs a fast history lesson because women got the vote long before that. And probably to Waddells chagrin, getting the vote did make a difference, because after women started voting women gained a whole bunch of other rights such as child custody rights, divorce and property rights and wage rights. And that was all in the first decade.
When Jansen backed out many of her critics accused of her of playing a victim card and said if she was that weak she had no business in the race to begin with. I would love to know how many of those people have been threatened with stoning, accused of offering sexual favours and chased down hallways at a convention with filth being spewed at them. On Thursday, Jansen crossed the floor to sit with the governing NDP, while the Tories promised an independent review of the bullying allegations.
The fact is politics is a tough world but the fire is monstrously hotter and more damaging when youre female. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi acknowledged as much when a supporter suggested he was the most racially and religiously targeted public official out there.
What I get is nothing compared to how many women in public life are treated, he said on Twitter this week.
A male colleague and friend said something similar on Facebook, noting the only time in his life he had received intense online hate from readers was when they mistook his name for that of a woman.
While Jansen isnt running for the Tory leadership in Alberta anymore she isnt running for the hills either. She is a constant presence on Twitter, continuing to shine a light on the abuse she receives, and promising she isnt done yet with politics.
Unfortunately, for many young women who would like to consider a career in public office, this kind of thing is enough to rethink that plan.
A group of Manitoba women next week hope to start a plan to keep that from happening. Led by three former Manitoba MPs from the three main national parties, a Manitoba chapter of Equal Voice will hold its inaugural event Nov. 22.
Liberal Anita Neville, Tory Dorothy Dobbie and the NDPs Judy Wasylycia-Leis are behind the plan, hoping to provide a forum for women and a place to offer mentorship, support and information, as well as to draw attention to the lack of progress of women in politics.
In 2015, that 88 women were elected to the House of Commons was a cause for celebration. It was more than ever before, and women now account for 26 per cent of MPs. Still 26 per cent is far from equal.
Provincial legislatures ranges from a low of 13 per cent to a high of 35 per cent. Only 16 per cent of Canadas mayors are women and about a quarter of city councillors are female.
Neville said the next election in Manitoba will be the civic election so the Equal Voice Manitoba chapter will focus on that initially.
She said the hope is to create a non-partisan effort to provide advice and support to women who want to make a run for politics.
Her advice to a woman who is considering it but isnt quite sure.
I would say do it but just make sure you have certain things in place, both personally and politically, she said. You have to know what you want to accomplish.
Mia Rabson is the Free Press parliamentary bureau chief.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mrabson
Opinion
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Its a public-health concern. Data collection has been highlighted as an important strategy in dealing with it. Yet the provincial government remains stymied in getting an accurate understanding of just how big the problem is.
Welcome to the opioid crisis in 2016.
Today, a two-day opioid conference opens in Ottawa to discuss the growing number of overdoses and deaths as a result of these drugs. Premiers are asking the federal health minister to institute a national strategy to fight the rise of opioid abuse and the influx of fentanyl from places such as China.
Earlier this week, three bodies were pulled out of a home in Inkster, dead from a suspected fentanyl overdose. The United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg have started an ad campaign designed to educate the public about fentanyl as paramedics and police deal with the crisis on a daily basis.
In the face of this mounting public-health issue, Manitobas Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has provided little information about the number of deaths this year from opioid overdoses, including fentanyl information, by the way, other provinces seem capable of providing.
At a news conference earlier this week, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen complained about his inability to get real-time data about opioid overdoses. The latest figures provided by the medical examiner were from 2015, nearly one year too late. Furthermore, the information provided doesnt contain details of where deaths are occurring. For example, is the opioid crisis a problem only in urban centres, or has it started to affect rural areas including First Nations reserves as well?
In Alberta, information regarding opioid overdoses is provided quarterly. Included is an overview of where the most deaths are occurring as well as insight into the effect its having on First Nations.
Just recently, Albertas Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had included on an individuals death certificate the list of drugs that caused the death, which allows for faster collection of data and easier access to information. In Saskatchewan, the Office of the Chief Coroner began compiling data in May that is expected to help health authorities understand the extent of the opioid crisis in that province. It would be wise for Manitobas health minister to push this provinces medical examiners office to step up its reporting as well. The province cannot be left twisting in the wind.
Unfortunately a lack of health statistics is nothing new in Manitoba. In 2009, when the Free Press was attempting to understand the tuberculosis epidemic that was plaguing First Nations reserves in northern Manitoba, provincial officials refused to disclose the number of cases on reserve, saying to do so would harm relations with the federal government.
Manitoba currently has an acting chief medical examiner. Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra retired earlier this year after two decades in the position. Dr. John Younes, a pathologist who had been the deputy chief medical examiner since 2013, is now temporarily filling the role. Perhaps improving the data-collection system for public-health issues should be among the criteria considered when hiring Dr. Balachandras replacement.
The more information, the better public-health officials and policy-makers can determine where resources should be focused and how to best approach the situation. Year-old statistics arent enough.
Vegetarians seldom to never get the star treatment at a Thanksgiving meal. They are the second-class feasters, pushed to a side, while the talk about turkey carries on endlessly.
Every now and then they would be asked if the buttery mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts or pecan-studded sweet potato casserole is to their liking, and then the conversation would return to the preparation of the bird like thats the only thing man has accomplished since inventing the wheel.
Before anyone starts justifying that the spuds and verdant-hued vegetables should appease the non-meat eaters, think about it: They are sides, and nothing more than delicious sides, people.
So how about switching things up this year? Make the growing number of vegetarians in your family and on your guest list feel special by serving a vegetarian main dish and keep the bland butterball of a bird to the side by tossing it in a wild rice-cranberry salad.
By main dish, I am not talking about Tofurkey that terrible faux meat play on turkey with a rubbery texture and insipid taste but instead a stellar vegetarian one that will have everyone going gaga. Something that is a treat to look at and to eat, a conversation starter and immensely satisfying but wont leave anyone groaning in pain.
Granted, the Native Americans didnt greet the Pilgrims with kale or pomegranates, but I can guarantee that both camps will approve of the rustic and comforting kale slab pie.
Packed with plenty of kale and perfumed with dill and mint, its earthy in flavor and style and sits on a layer of cornmeal. Creamy feta and grated mozzarella cheeses soften the kales rough textures while red pepper flakes cut the greens bitterness by lending some heat. Pomegranate seeds not only brighten the slab pies appearance for a photo-op but also add a slight sweetness.
Even the health freaks will have a good word about the pie, as kale after all is the king of nutrient greens and is loaded with antioxidants. If kale isnt your green of preference, you can always make a spinach or Swiss chard version.
Because its a slab pie, it can feed many more hungry mouths than the average round pie, and you dont have to deal with the mess or fuss of trying to crimp the edges or weave a lattice on top. Slab pies usually call for a jellyroll pan, but you dont even need that here; just go with any large rectangular baking pan you have in your kitchen.
The pie is the perfect team player and can be made hours before serving, so it wont have to compete for space with the sweet potato casserole in the oven. All it needs is to be warmed at a low temperature in the oven along with the other sides about a half-hour before the meal.
After the grand meal, not only will you have the vegetarians saying thanks earnestly but also the kitchen cleanup crew for there wont be anything left to put away.
Kale slab pie
2 pounds kale leaves with short stems
Salt to taste, divided
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 bunch scallion, chopped
cup fresh dill, chopped
cup fresh mint, chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground pepper to taste, divided
3 cups skim milk
2 cups fine cornmeal
2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup pomegranate seeds, for garnish
Blanch kale leaves and stems in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes. Transfer wilted greens along with stems to a bowl of cold water, then drain and squeeze out moisture. Chop whatever longish stems attached to the leaves to small slices; set kale aside in a bowl.
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet; add onions. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 8 minutes.
Add scallions and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in kale, dill and mint. Add red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste, and combine well. Remove from heat and let kale mixture cool.
Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 13-by-9-inch rectangular pan with remaining oil (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon).
In a medium saucepan, bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. Add salt to taste and slowly stream in cornmeal (so it doesnt lump up) while stirring with a wooden spoon.
Stir until mixture is thick, like polenta. Remove from heat and spread the mixture in oiled baking dish with wooden spoon or spatula.
Add feta and mozzarella cheeses to kale mixture; lightly combine well. Spread kale mixture evenly over cornmeal crust in an even layer.
Cover slab pie with foil loosely and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until top is slightly brown.
Remove from oven and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds on top before cutting.
Makes 12 servings.
Note: The slab pie can also be made with Swiss chard or spinach. Let the slab pie sit at least for 30 minutes after baking so that the cornmeal crust can set and the flavors of the greens and herbs combine.
A forum Thursday night for a diverse gathering of Winona State University students to speak to local law enforcement revealed fear and anxiety, while providing an opportunity to learn about local resources.
Some of the atmosphere of the event focused on the results of the presidential election combined with vote totals that showed Winona County, among nearly every other in Minnesota, voting in the majority for Donald Trump.
There is a sense among minority communities, participants said, that many residents do not want them here. The anxiety ranged from Muslim students who fear being targeted for wearing hijabs, to young women who feel powerless against sexual assault, to African-American students who dont want to be a victim of unconscious police bias.
Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude led the forum along with Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman, and both spent time educating the young attendees about resources the broader city and county communities have to offer.
Ganrude talked about ongoing training and education programs for law enforcement to better equip them for various challenges. Many of the programs are encouraged and not mandated, and departments are constrained by tight budgets and unaccommodating schedules. However, Ganrude said, he hopes there will be legislation to support mandated training.
Many members of Winona States KEAP (Knowledge, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Pluralism) Diversity Center, were present.
KEAP center liason Chuck Ripley, who helped organize the event and also serves as the chair of the Winona Human Rights Commission, said he created the event with hopes that students would be able to convey their concerns and communicate directly with local law enforcement.
Attendees acknowledged that the inflammatory presidential race has strained public unity, and that many students have reported feeling unsafe in extremely divided atmospheres. Ganrude stressed that everyone has a right to a safe environment, while balancing respect for the right to free speech. Its almost always, he said, decided on a case-by-case basis.
Disorderly conduct, as Sonneman explained, is defined by causing fear and apprehension. The rights of the First Amendment do not protect speech if it infringes on another persons rights.
Ganrude emphasized calling the police in any unsafe situation. Even if a police response doesnt produce an arrest, the departments awareness of the incident can be useful going forward, he said.
WSU student Timothy said he was pleased to have a direct connection to local officials at the event. I see that the attorney and the sheriff have genuine interest in whats going on in our campus, he said. As a student here, and especially as a student of color, it makes me feel a lot safer.
Sonnerman also took the opportunity to open a channel for members of Winona State to express themselves, offering contact info to all attendees.
Were the community, too, she said.
An invasive snail is being blamed for killing hundreds of waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River this fall.
Field workers have found almost 1,000 dead coot and lesser scaup washed up on the shores near Genoa since early October, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The birds are believed to be the victims of an intestinal parasite found in faucet snails, which the birds eat during stopovers on their fall migration.
Die-offs have become an annual event during the past 15 years, since the arrival of the faucet snail. Native to Europe, the snails were introduced to the Great Lakes in the late 1900s and have since made their way into inland waterways. Faucet snails were first discovered in Lake Onalaska in the early 2000s and are now prevalent on the river between La Crescent and McGregor, Iowa.
They basically came in and basically out-competed native snails, said Roger Haro, associate dean for the College of Science and Health at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Theyve been around for a while but they never caused a detectable problem with waterfowl.
While the snails provide a food source for waterfowl, they carry a parasite known as trematodes that can infect the birds and cause them to die within three to eight days, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Though trematodes can affect up to 19 species of waterfowl, Haro said they are most harmful to coot and scaup.
The outbreaks are a concern because about 40 percent of all North American waterfowl follow the Mississippi River flyway during their annual migration, stopping to feed as they make their way south each fall and back north in the spring.
Haro and other scientists at UW-L have been studying the snails to better understand their behaviors and the effects of temperature variations on their growth.
There are no reported health risks from handling or consuming waterfowl infected by trematodes, according to the National Wildlife Health Center, but sick birds can have secondary infections that cause their intestines to leak into the body cavity. Hunters are advised to wear gloves if handling sick birds.
Haro said the infected birds do not appear to be a threat to other species, instead providing an abundant food source for bald eagles and vultures.
In some years the Fish and Wildlife Service collects carcasses, but with cold temperatures forecast in the coming days officials decided the birds would not create a significant nuisance this year, said Hallie Rasmussen, visitors services director for the Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.
Its kind of a jolting thing for people to see all these dead birds, Haro said.
Faucet snails were first discovered in Lake Onalaska in the early 2000s and are now prevalent on the river between La Crescent and McGregor, Iowa.
With great power comes great responsibility and pizza.
High-schoolers and middle-schoolers packed the Tau Center at Winona State University on Thursday for the 54th annual Model Legislature, a two-day event where young people from area schools create and run their own version of Minnesotas state government.
Shrugging off their backpacks and tossing them into the corner, students got to work Thursday morning by first electing their peers to the states most coveted offices.
A vote for Stensgard and Quimby is a vote for experience, leadership and a greater Minnesota, said Logan Quimby, a senior from Rushford-Peterson Senior High School, who ran alongside one of his classmates and ultimately won after a refreshingly short election.
Promising the power would not go to their heads, Gov. Hayden Stensgard and Lt. Gov. Quimby took their seats in a private office as the 100 or so senators and representatives broke into their respective committees.
I may or may not be chair of the Commerce Committee, said one young man trying to find his table.
Students carried around hulking books of real bills that have been introduced before the state Legislature. Each had picked a particular bill to research and to pitch to their fellow legislators.
Rep. Noah Lund, who goes to Austin High School, introduced a bill that would automatically allocate disaster relief funds to counties in southeast Minnesota because its inevitable those areas will flood and this allows us to react faster and not hold a long meeting.
Rep. Sarah Mensing, who goes to Rushford-Peterson, introduced a bill that would lengthen prison sentences for people who conceal or tamper with evidence relating to a homicide so families will get a sense of justice.
And Sen. Zoey Aune, who goes to Cotter High School, introduced a bill that would increase state funding for organizations working to prevent human trafficking.
Its a big problem, she said. They need our support.
In the governors office, Stensgard and Quimby were enjoying the perks of power.
We just ordered a pizza, Stensgard said.
Sausage and pepperoni, said Quimby, ever a man of the details.
From their office, they could hear a hum of activity coming from the giant room down the hall, where senators and representatives debated which bills should pass and which ones should die which ones would make up the mountain of papers that would soon hit the governors desk.
It feels like the calm before the storm, Quimby said.
Gene Pelowski, an actual state representative whose district includes Winona County, even loaned Stensgard a stamp with the official seal of Minnesota, so he would look the part when approving the bills.
Pelowski has been an adviser at Model Legislatures for 41 years, and said it is impressive to see how students come together for the common good.
It takes them two days to balance a budget, he said. We cant do it in two sessions.
By the time they graduate, some students will have attended four or five Model Legislatures.
They begin in middle school as humble pages, running documents back and forth between different committees, and finish their careers in high school as legislators or governors.
Rep. Precious Pritchett, who goes to Winona Senior High School, waited until this year, her senior year, to attend her first Model Legislature.
She was having a good time, she said, fighting for a bill that would put those convicted of cruelty to animals on an online registry.
I wanted to go before, but other things were stressing me out, Pritchett said. This year, I told myself to forget about the stress.
Bryce Tienter, a seventh-grader at Cotter, is a page this year the best one here, according to members of his committee.
They do not mind that he sometimes gets distracted by his friends, who are also pages, or that he sometimes sneaks away to sit in the windowsill.
There might even come a day when Bryce joins them on one of these committees. He says he would like to make this an annual stop of his.
You get two days off school, he said.
Sauk County inmates will receive treatment over the next two years from a jail health care company that has come under intense scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the Sauk County Board accepted a $353,000 bid to provide health care services in the Sauk County jail from Peoria, Illinois-based Advanced Correctional Healthcare.
A CBS News segment that aired in April reported that ACH settled at least six lawsuits with families whose relatives died from preventable causes. In a statement, the companys CEO said CBS misrepresented (ACH)s mission to provide quality health care to our clients at correctional facilities across the nation.
One of the cases highlighted in the CBS segment occurred at the nearby Rock County jail, where 39-year-old inmate Dante Wilson died in August 2015.
The nurse who attended to Wilson was an ACH employee. She gave him antacid tablets after he complained of chest pains. And when he asked for help less than an hour later, the nurse told him to relax. Wilson died of a heart attack.
A video included in the CBS report shows the nurse wrapping up an interview with a detective who was investigating the death. She says, Oh yeah, we dont want to drag it out. St happens.
Like the other inmates featured in the CBS report, Wilson was incarcerated for a non-violent offense. The nurse was later fired.
Provider drops out
ACH has contracts in 17 states, providing health care services at 298 facilities, according to its website. That includes 24 Wisconsin locations.
Sauk County jail officials were forced to begin the search for a new health care provider after the facilitys current contractor, a Nashville firm called Correctional Care Solutions, sent a letter in September that terminated its contract without cause.
Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said he is aware of the concerns about the countys new contractor, but that lawsuits are not unusual in the medical field. Oh sure, I find stories like this concerning, but there are many health care providers that are sued, Meister said in an email.
Indeed, the other firms that submitted bids have also been subjected to lawsuits.
ACHs $353,000 bid was the lowest of three. Other firms that submitted proposals included the countys current contractor, Correctional Care Solutions, with a bid of $414,000, and MEnD Correctional Care of Minnesota, with a bid of $519,000.
The board voted 29-1 in favor of the new contract with ACH. Supervisor Tom Kriegl of Baraboo cast the only no vote, saying he had read bad things about each of the contractors online.
I hadnt seen this particular story, Kriegl said about the CBS report. However I had seen many like it which is why I commented and voted as I did.
In-house solution
Meister told board members Tuesday night that the sheriffs department and its oversight committee investigated the possibility of contracting with a local doctor. But he said health care professionals are concerned about the financial impact that jail medical work might have on themselves and their colleagues.
They are not interested because their malpractice insurance (cost) not only rises for them, but it rises for the other ones that work in that same facility, Meister said.
ACH will provide 24/7 consultation regarding inmate medical needs, 104 hours per week of nursing services, expertise regarding specialized inmate populations, and malpractice insurance coverage, according to the resolution approved Tuesday. Meister said the company also will provide four hours of access to a doctor per week.
Company responds
CBS noted that six weeks before the death of a Kentucky inmate featured in its report, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to the local jail that warned unqualified staff are serving as gatekeepers to medical care.
ACH responded to CBS that staffing decisions are dictated by local jail administration.
When asked for comment about its bid and history, ACH provided the Baraboo News Republic with a letter its CEO sent to clients after the CBS report aired. The letter took issue with CBSs portrayal of ACH.
In the rare event our team has made a mistake in patient care, we do the right thing by taking ownership of the error and settling the case because its the right thing to do for the patient and their family, ACH founder and CEO Dr. Norman R. Johnson stated in the letter.
Johnson used data collected by federal agencies to draw comparisons between his companys own internal numbers. He claimed the company has experienced fewer lawsuits than the national average for inmate litigation, has won the majority of the lawsuits filed, and settles one in 10.
But some of the conclusions he reached were based on comparisons between unspecified company data for one time period and national data from a different period.
For example, Johnson claimed ACH has experienced fewer lawsuits over the last 10 years than should be expected based on federal inmate litigation data. But he based that assertion on a National Institute of Corrections survey conducted 15 years ago.
The letter also claimed 11 fewer inmates died under ACHs care in 2015 than should have been expected based the national jail mortality rate for 2013. This implies that our health care program saved over 11 lives last year, Johnson concluded in his letter.
ACH declined to provide access to reports that would allow the newspaper to draw its own conclusions.
I hope you understand that we prefer not to release internal company documents, ACH Senior Counsel Jessica Young wrote in an email.
The letter also said federal healthcare privacy laws prevent the company from defending itself against certain allegations made in the CBS report.
On election night, I gave up at midnight and went to bed. At 3:30 in the morning I got up and checked the results. Since then, my emotions have gone from disappointment in the American people, to anger against liberals who voted third-party to assuage their conscience, to grief, and now to a slight understanding of why it happened.
Im sure most voters who supported Trump are good people who heard only parts of his message. Its not because theyre racists or because they hate Muslims, Mexicans or other immigrants. Its because theyre a lot like I used to be when we were farming and raising children.
Back then, there was no time to do research on candidates or issues. We worked over 12 hours a day and had no time or energy to be involved in local or national politics. We voted based on gut feelings and skimpy, incomplete information, not because we were ignorant, but because thats all we had time for. When you have to wonder how youre going to buy socks for your kids, youre probably not going to spend time reading the about politics or looking into how your lawmaker voted on important issues.
Its even harder today to make wise decisions, with non-stop campaign ads filled with misinformation and hate-filled talk radio shows that spew lies and incite fear about imaginary dangers. Its much easier and quicker to believe those lies than it is to actually search for facts. Anyway, most research shows that people vote based on emotions, not facts.
Even so, the fact that the KKK supported Trump should have been a wake-up call, but most voters were unaware of it. All they heard was that hed bring back jobs. They didnt question how hed do that or even if it were possible in this age of new technology that replaces people with robotics.
They didnt consider that if he deports all undocumented workers the costs of meat, fruits and vegetables will go through the roof while produce rots in the fields. Because most Americans are not going to work for minimum wage as they harvest crops 10 hours a day under the hot sun or are covered with blood and guts as they process meats.
They may not have noticed that Trump changes his stance on issues almost hourly, so we have no idea what hell do. For one thing, his right-wing supporters may be astounded if he reverts to his more liberal social ideologies.
When he sees how much we spend on defense, he may cut its budget and halt production of military weapons and other supplies. Or he may become an extreme war-monger who orders the bombing of large areas of the Middle East, calls up hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and incites even more hatred and terrorism against the United States.
As Speaker of the House Paul Ryan wants, he may push to privatize Social Security and Medicare, making them vulnerable to the whims of the stock market and therefore threatening the retirement income of millions of seniors. Or he may decide thats not a good idea. Who knows?
Hes declared climate change a hoax, so hell most likely eliminate important protections for our air and water. His friends who profit from dirty energy deemed it a hoax because they make their billions by selling products made from dirty coal and oil. Its much cheaper, after all, for big agricultural operations and manufacturers to dump their toxic wastes into our water supplies than it is for them to dispose of them responsibly. We do know Trump never will be against higher corporate profits, so we can guess whatll happen to the quality of our air and water.
As for jobs, a man whos profited from sending them overseas isnt likely to change that practice, no matter what he says. And since hes also profited immensely from a skewed tax code that allows companies like his to pay nothing while the rest of us make up the difference, I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for legislation that requires fair taxation. Hes also said wages are too high, so his supporters may get some nasty surprises before long.
Like it or not, it looks like hell be the next president of the United States. And one things for certain: Not only will they have the White House, Republicans will have the majority in both houses of Congress and also on the Supreme Court. Because theyll be totally in charge, theyll no longer be able to blame President Barack Obama or the Democrats for anything that goes wrong.
Now thatll be interesting.
Beaver Dam: Where all the men are strong, all the women are good looking and all the children are above average.
That may be true considering that four Beaver Dam schools and a pair of elementary charter schools reached the gold level of the state school district report card assessment system.
Prairie View, South Beaver Dam, Washington and Wilson elementary schools were listed as significantly exceeding state expectations. Discover Grade School in Columbus and SAGES in Fox Lake also were listed in the top category on the list.
As part of the Wisconsin public school accountability system, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released report cards for every public school in Wisconsin Thursday.
Schools are evaluated on four priority areas;
student achievement in reading and mathematics on statewide assessments,
student growth in those assessed areas,
closing gaps for reading and mathematics achievement and graduation based on student subgroups, and
post-secondary readiness, which uses several measures as predictors of college and career readiness.
Accountability is calculated on a score of zero to 100 and schools are placed in one of five overall accountability rating categories ranging from fails to meet expectation to the highest category, significantly exceeds expectations. A complete list of area schools can be found at wiscnews.com/bdc.
The other schools in Beaver Dam were listed in the exceeds state expectations and meet state expectation list.
Beaver Dam High School, Lincoln Elementary School and Jefferson Elementary Schools were listed as exceeding state expectations. Beaver Dam Middle School and Don Smith Learning Academy met state standards.
Beaver Dam Unified School District Superintendent Steve Vessey said these are the highest scores Beaver Dam Schools have seen since the state of Wisconsin implemented a school report card system.
We could not be more proud of the way our students have performed academically and the support our parents and community have demonstrated for our school system, Vessey said. We have a world-class staff that works tirelessly for our students every day.
Vessey said the report card scores are appreciated but is not the focus of the educational endeavors in Beaver Dam.
Beaver Dam Schools are so much more than a set of report card scores, Vessey said. The breadth and depth of learning experiences in Beaver Dam are unmatched. Our students learn in the classroom, on the field, in the auditorium, on Saturdays and travel around the world. No report card system can quantify these experiences.
The Mauston Police Department reported the release of registered sex offender T.J. Nels Steinmetz during an informational session Wednesday at city hall.
Police Chief Mike Zilisch said Steinmetz, 41, will be released next week under supervision. He will live within the city of Mauston. Steinmetz served his sentence and is not wanted by law enforcement. Zilisch said the notification is not intended to increase fear, but to inform the public of Steinmetzs release.
Steinmetz is a white male with brown hair and hazel eyes. He stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds. Zilisch said abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders will not be tolerated.
The essence of this meeting is to notify people he is going to be in our community, Zilisch said. Its no different than if there was a raging river behind your house, everyone would know there is a raging river and would act appropriately.
Steinmetz will be under the supervision of the New Lisbon Office of Probation/Parole. Under court stipulations, Steinmetz is not allowed at taverns, bars or liquor stores; should have no contact with the victim, and is not to consume alcohol or drugs, and have no contact with minors. He must also comply with standard sex offender rules, cooperate with electronic monitoring, have face-to-face contact with law enforcement, and comply with all requirements of the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry Program.
He will be at our transitional living home, which is on Wisconsin Street, Zilisch said. That is not uncommon. People will go there when they get released because they may not have anywhere else to go. If he has family in the area that is willing to take him in, the stay there could be fairly short.
While the facility isnt as supervised as a prison, Steinmetz will have some rules to follow.
People will check in to see he is there when he is supposed to be there and doesnt have any big wild parties or anything, Zilisch said. Quite frankly, its a big change for them to go from being incarcerated to being released out into the public.
Wednesdays session also provided information for parents on how to protect children from sex offenders. Valerie Santana, Sex Offender Registry Specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, provided a detailed presentation with facts about sexual assault and the perpetrators who commit these crimes.
Sex offenders are nothing new. Theyve always been in our community, its just that now we all have laws so you can see who they are, where they live and what they look like, Santana said.
Santana said 85-90 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. She said there are many sex offenders in communities who have yet to be charged or convicted. The perpetrators that have been convicted are listed on the state Sex Offender Registry website at www.widocoffenders.org.
Most people think sex offenders are the creepy guy hiding in the bushes, Santana said. But they are often normal-looking people who you could pass while walking on the sidewalk.
A federal law was passed in the early 1990s to make sure every state has a registered sex offender database. In 2006, the Adam Walsh Law closed gaps between states so sex offenders could move from state to state to avoid conviction. There are 24,420 sex offenders in custody in Wisconsin and 5,803 on supervision, along with more than 11,000 sex offenders no longer on supervision.
Santana said some municipalities have set up pedophile free communities, but it hasnt worked to keep sex offenders away. She said sex offenders are often lured to these communities because they believe they can float under law enforcements radar.
Santana also squashed another myth that child sexual assaults are often committed by strangers. In most cases, someone close to the childs family, such as a relative or neighbor, commits the assault.
For more information, contact the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry at 608-240-5830.
Conservative media critic Brian Sikma has left Media Trackers and is headed to the state Capitol.
Sikma is set to become a policy adviser in Republican Sen. Duey Stroebel's office sometime later this month, Sikma said Friday.
"It's been great to be a part of the conservative alternative media in Wisconsin," he said. "Weve worked hard to hold both Republicans and Democrats accountable. The good news is Media Trackers will be sticking around, I just decided I wanted to do something else for awhile."
Sikma has been the communications director at Media Trackers for over five years. He was an early hire and helped develop the conservative group founded in 2011 to examine and call out media bias in the state. Jerry Bader, host of a conservative talk radio show in the Green Bay area, has already taken his place, Sikma said.
Sikma said he hopes the Bader hire will further expand the organization's reach statewide.
"(Bader) will be continuing the organization's efforts. Im very confident hell be able to do a great job." Sikma said.
Bader said in an email Friday that he will continue his radio show, but is now a part-time employee of the company that owns the station. He will be a full-time employee of Media Trackers, he said.
He said he sees his roles as communications director at Media Trackers and a conservative radio talk show host as promoting the same mission.
"Two employers, now a single mission," he said.
According to its website, Media Trackers "examines stories published in the mainstream media, explores claims made by some of the more partisan political groups, and provides the facts on the issues." It also has a presence in Ohio, Florida, Montana and Pennsylvania, according to its website. The group is funded in part by American Majority, a conservative advocacy and training group based in Virginia.
Sikma is a frequent guest on conservative talk radio in Madison and Milwaukee and has become known among journalists for calling out reporters on Twitter with grievances about their stories, often willing to get into extended public quarrels.
"Ill needle reporters from time-to time if I feel the full context of the story isnt being told," he said. He said he'll occasionally deal with reporters and encourage them to broaden their focus.
But Sikma himself was the subject of criticism in 2012, when he published a story on Media Trackers' website alleging U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan's husband had threatened the supporter of a political opponent. The story proved false and Media Trackers retracted it.
Once he becomes a state employee, Sikma said he will likely stop the social media jabs.
"Im not quite sure Ill continue doing that. I probably wont be doing that," he said.
Stroebel, a Republican from Saukville, is considered one of the Legislature's most conservative lawmakers. He ran unopposed earlier this month to keep his seat, comprised of parts of Ozaukee, Washington, Fond du Lac and and Sheboygan counties.
Sikma said he will be commuting to Madison from "crucial Waukesha County" where he lives. He has also served in the Wisconsin Army National Guard since 2014 and recently became a commissioned officer as a Second Lieutenant.
This story has been updated to include details on Jerry Bader's employment at Media Trackers and his radio show.
When a person commits suicide, the trauma extends beyond one person. People who want to offer support to the survivors who carry the burden of loss received insight Thursday night at St. John's Lutheran Church on how to navigate that difficult terrain.
St. Johns hosted psychologist Amy Cole to help volunteers better understand the counseling required and, when it is beyond their own abilities, the professional resources available in Portage and Columbia County.
St. John's volunteer Grief Ministry Group, which meets every-other month to develop outreach in grief counseling, works on the premise that not all cases are the same. That led to the invitation for Cole, a Portage Public School psychologist and member of Prevent Suicide Columbia County, to speak to the group.
Im one of the people that tries to keep the group together and provide meaningful support to our volunteers so they can have confidence in their work with people who are grieving," said event organizer Danielle Pollex-Rabl, who is also a psychotherapist with Compass Counseling in Portage.
Cole, who lost a brother to suicide in 2002, said grief counseling is not for everybody, "but Ive been through the process myself and found it beneficial.
Cole attended group grief counseling for family and friends of suicide victims and took part in another group after losing her mother to cancer in 2009.
I went to a general grief counseling group, for my profession, and I thought, its good to be with people who are in your same boat, Cole said. So I realized the need for a group for suicide loss because it is so much different.
Its hard to grasp what all these people go through that nobody can help, said Cole. "When your loved one takes their own life it is kind of hard and can follow you around.
In October 2015 Cole began hosting group counseling sessions for those affected by the suicide of someone close to them. The group meets at Divine Savior Healthcare the first and third Wednesday of the month.
Right now it is three women who have lost their sons. One was in April and one was in July, so they havent even been through the first year of loss, which is the hardest, said Cole. So Im glad that I can provide support for them because were all in the same boat. So we talk to each other and feel a tiny bit better for the hour that were there.
The meetings are based on an eight-week program to work through different aspects of the grieving process, although Cole has yet to go straight from beginning to end, as new attendees arrive with questions about the initial stage of shock.
So Ive found that it isnt real long, you go through them all one time and then youve heard everything, said Cole.
If you want to stay for a year, Ill be there. But Ive found that that usually it is a few months. And a lot of them are in other general grief groups and then this one on top of it. They learn to cope, which is basically what Im trying to teach them. Different ones work for different people and I just want them to find something that will work and help them move on with their life without their loved one.
Based on input from her group, on Thursday Cole offered suggestions about what to say and what not to say to someone sorting through the grief of a suicide.
Simplifying the situation for any friend wanting to offer support, a unanimous suggestion was "there are no words."
Following her presentation, there was no rush to questions, but once the group of 15 were talking, they went into one of the most difficult points with suicide in a religious setting.
I think there needs to be less of the law and more of the Gospel, one man suggested.
A woman asked Cole if, as a school employee, she has ever had to deal with a student feeling betrayed after her intervening on their behalf or because of the concern of a friend.
They might be angry for a very short amount of time, she said, but went on to explain that has never been a problem, telling the of a student who after graduation gave Cole a three-page letter to say, If it werent for you I wouldnt be here.
In Columbia County, 12 deaths have been reported so far in 2016 attributed to suicide. That is about average for the county, with 12 reported in 2015, nine in 2014, and 12 in each year of 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The suicide rate in Columbia County was ranked 25th of 72 Wisconsin counties between 2007 and 2011, according to the 2014 report The Burden of Suicide in Wisconsin, produced by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Injury Research center at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Mental Health America of Wisconsin.
PARDEEVILLE The village of Pardeevilles Public Utilities Commission will reconsider a proposed increase in sanitary sewer rates, after some trustees on Tuesday raised questions as to whether homeowners on fixed incomes could afford a rate hike.
The proposal on the table: To raise user rates from $5.47 to $6.75 per gallon of wastewater generated, and to raise the monthly fee for the size of meter used by most Pardeeville residents from $9.65 to $12.64.
Village Administrator David Tracey said the rates last went up in 2012, and they need to increase again to cover the costs of operating the villages wastewater treatment system.
This affects the water that goes down drains or is used to flush toilets.
At the Village Boards meeting on Tuesday, however, Trustee Barry Pufahls motion to raise the rates, as recommended by the Public Utilities Commission, died for lack of a second.
If trustees have a problem with the proposed increase, Pufahl said, they need to give the commission clearer direction as to why they disagree with the increase.
Trustee James Buckley said his problem with the rate hike was twofold.
First, he said, its a steep increase that property owners on fixed incomes might have difficulty affording.
Second, he said, there should have been gradual annual increases instead of a big increase after four years of no change.
Trustee Phil Blader said working residents, not just retired people, might struggle with the increase as proposed.
Its not just people on fixed incomes, he said. Its averages Joes who havent had a raise in years.
Village President Robert Becker said he wanted a clearer indication of how the rate hike might affect the typical homeowner.
Thats hard to say, Tracey said, because it depends on how many gallons of wastewater a household generates per month and sometimes people, faced with a rate increase, will respond by generating less wastewater.
Even with the proposed increase, Pardeevilles sewer rates would still be on the low end for comparably sized Wisconsin communities.
Trustee Brian Hepler said hed like to see a list of some other communities rates, for comparison.
Pufahl said the Public Utilities Commission considered the financial impact of the rate hike on homeowners very carefully before proposing the increase.
They werent trying to stick it to retired people or people on fixed incomes at all, he said.
A Reedsburg food pantry received a surprise boost just in time for Thanksgiving.
United HealthCare donated around 300 turkey breasts to Catholic Charities Mobile Food Pantry. Employees from the health insurer were on site to hand out turkeys to those in need on Nov. 15.
The company has a new plan in Sauk County so it wanted to do something special as a gesture of goodwill, said Rhonda Grabko, community and provider engagement specialist with the Wisconsin Health Plan, part of United HealthCare. She said United HealthCare partnered with Second Harvest to determine regional necessities and found that theres a gap in offering holiday turkeys.
She said United HealthCare chose 8-pound turkey breasts because they are healthier and easier to prepare than a whole turkey. Many pantry users are elderly, single or couples who dont need a large bird.
Reedsburg was an ideal location, she noted, because its centralized in Sauk County. The pantry, organized locally through Sacred Heart Church, serves people from numerous areas so it made sense to work with the organization.
Expansion
The pantry normally provides food once a month January through October, said co-coordinator Mary Williams. This year they are trying something new, holding the pantry in November and December.
The pantry saw a need so decided to expand, said other co-coordinator Sue Kaczmarowski. The Reedsburg VFW has offered space for volunteers to distribute food.
She said the pantry is supported financially through Catholic Charities, which works with Second Harvest. It serves around 230 families each month and gives around 13,000 pounds of food on average.
Williams said the pantry doesnt set any income requirements so it attracts people from as far away as Mauston and Hill Point. Anyone whos struggling to buy groceries is welcome.
She added that the pantry wouldnt be possible without volunteers who come not only from Sacred Heart but also the broader community. The pantry has between 40 and 45 volunteers per month.
Anyone whod like to help the pantry should donate through Catholic Charities. For more information, visit www.catholiccharitiesofmadison.org.
A team of Reedsburg residents and entrepreneurs seeks to gather input for the possibility of bringing in design experts.
A meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Community room of the Reedsburg Public Library. Those who are interested in the future of Reedsburgs downtown are encouraged to attend.
The meeting will discuss the Design Wisconsin program where University of Wisconsin-Extension professionals visit a community to provide an evaluation and offer suggestions.
Depending on what happens on Dec. 13 the local group may move forward with Design Wisconsin.
Brian Duvalle, the City of Reedsburgs building inspector, planner and zoning administrator, talked about the program during the Community Development Authority meeting on Nov. 15. He said professionals through the UW visit small towns and stay for a weekend to collect and present their findings.
The program requires commitment from local officials, residents and businesses, he said. If the plan meets community approval the UW team likely wouldnt stop in Reedsburg until spring 2017.
The visit would cost $5,000, he said.
As far as what you get for what you pay for it, its a really good deal, Duvalle said.
Kristine Koenecke, executive director of the Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed that its an affordable price. She said consultations of this sort tend to run anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000.
Around 300 invitations have been sent out for the Dec. 13 meeting, she said. The group had hoped to hold a meeting in October but interested parties were too busy that month.
She said she hopes to see at least 50 people at the meeting with a mix of business owners, local elected officials, educators, health care providers, artists and general residents.
If we dont get a good turnout on the 13th we probably wont move forward, she said.
Koenecke said the consultation would only be a starting point. The next obstacle is funding. She said Reedsburg may gather useful data during the UW visit but it also needs to figure out how to enact the possibilities.
Its not that we can have dreams beyond our budget, she said.
The presentation is a joint effort between Placemaking 53959, Sauk County UW-Extension, the City of Reedsburg and the Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
An RSVP is encouraged for those whod like to attend; call 608-524-2850 to sign up.
More details can be found at www.sauk.uwex.edu.
Ruth Voll
Ruth S. Voll, 94, of Stevens Point, passed away peacefully Nov. 13, 2016, while visiting her daughter in North Carolina and while under the care of hospice.
She was born May 18, 1922, to the late Donald and Lilian Shaw in Southeast, New York. She grew up there, attended the local grade schools, and graduated high school. Ruth attended Mt. Vernon School of Nursing and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1941.
Ruth enlisted in the Navy immediately after graduation and was honorably discharged in 1944.
On March 27, 1944, she married Dr. Jack Voll. They settled in Reedsburg, where she worked as a nurse until devoting the majority of her life to raising a family. After retirement, Ruth and Jack settled in the Pharr/McAllen, Texas area. Jack preceded her in death in 1988 and Ruth settled in Stevens Point, in 1998.
Ruth will be remembered for her high spirited, adventurous nature and loving persona. Family was extremely important to her and Ruth took pride in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In her earlier years, she was active within the Girl Scouts of America. Ruth enjoyed the administrative duties of the Girl Scouts and was a member of the Black Hawk Counsel serving as secretary/treasurer.
Following her marriage, Ruth obtained her pilots license and enjoyed the spoils of aviation. Ruth also enjoyed spending time vacationing on the familys cabin cruiser, boating up and down the Mississippi River.
Faith was also important to Ruth and she was a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church in Reedsburg, First Presbyterian Church in Mission, Texas, and Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church in Stevens Point.
Survivors include her loving daughters, Sandra Voll, Sue (John) Swansby, and Sally Voll; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband Jack; and brother, William Voll.
Boston Funeral Home is assisting the family. Online condolences may be made at www.bostonfuneralhome.net.
The school science curriculum needs input from real, working scientists
School science education is important for those who want to pursue a career in the sciences and for those who dont.
Sadly, the first category seems to have been the main target for those designing science curricula. Their aim has been quite narrow: to lay a foundation for pupils so that they keep studying with the goal of becoming professional scientists.
But increasingly the second category of students who arent interested in becoming professional scientists has become more important in the eyes of curriculum designers. This shift has been encouraged by the recognition of sciences increasing influence on everyones lives. Many jobs now require science as a knowledge area. For example, technicians who monitor the quality of a towns water supply may be trained in routine chemical analysis but they also need an understanding of chemistry when the instruments show readings that are not in the manual.
The trend towards educating science-literate citizens is well illustrated by the recommendation in a 2006 report on science education in Europe which stated:
The primary goal of science education across the EU should be to educate students both about the major explanations of the material world that science offers and about the way science works. Science courses whose basic aim is to provide a foundational education for future scientists and engineers should be optional.
The distinction thats being made here is between normal science education and science education for all. This is the difference between preparing a minority of pupils for tertiary-level science and educating all pupils to deal confidently with a society that runs on applications of science knowledge and the steady flow of science information in the media.
Normal science education
Normal science education characterises normal science as puzzle-solving within a framework of established paradigms. This leads to school science curricula that support normal science and which, according to Dutch university chemistry teacher Bernard van Berkel tend to be isolated from common sense, everyday life and society.
These curricula are also removed from the history and philosophy of science, other sciences, technology and contemporary research.
This suboptimal state of affairs is reflected in surveys of learners views about the relevance of science education. In one, the Relevance of Science Education project, theres a general recognition among participants that science has great benefits for society. This view is held particularly strongly among learners in developing countries. Six countries in the survey were from Africa: Ghana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland.
In response to the statement I would like to become a scientist less than 40% of learners in developed countries agreed, while 70% of those from developing countries did.
The survey report notes that in poor countries everybody wants to become a scientist or to work with technology. But very few get the opportunity.
Science education for all
The idea of science education for all is linked to the concept of scientific literacy and public understanding of science. The aim is to prepare future citizens to function more effectively in an increasingly science-driven future.
Examples of how several countries are moving in this direction can be found in their science curriculum documents, even though some of their existing science curricula remain firmly normal.
The challenge is to develop curricula that are suited to the goal of scientific literacy. One way of expressing this is:
The capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identify questions and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity.
School curricula have been developed for this purpose in the US and Germany, for example. Science that students learn in context rather than science as isolated knowledge items can deliver both scientific literacy and positive learner interest.
It is evident that the contexts must have relevance to national circumstances. They cannot be taken thoughtlessly from Europe or the US. But some contexts water and the hydrosphere, or mining and mineral processing can suit many countries.
Challenges and opportunities in Africa
Berhanu Abegaz, the executive director of the African Academy of Sciences, has highlighted the lack of relevance of most teaching materials, the need to encourage critical thinking and to equip learners to tackle complex issues such as environmental, energy-based and economic questions.
Abegaz has focused on the challenging character of chemistry education and research in Africa. But his insights can be applied to other sciences too.
There is clearly a case for school science curricula that provide science education for all and recognise that scientific awareness in rapidly developing societies depends on being practically involved with science.
Abegaz remains optimistic despite the challenges. He notes that Africa has youth on its side. This makes investment crucial: to provide good-quality, relevant education which will lead to employment opportunities.
Many scientists in Africa are interested in improving school science. They may not have pedagogical expertise. But this is input that educators can provide. Scientists have something different to contribute up-to-date school science for budding professionals. They can also get involved by encouraging and advising on science curricula for a wider range of pupils.
This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Science Policy Africa, the newsletter of the African Academy of Sciences.
John D Bradley, Honorary Professor, University of the Witwatersrand and Peter Moodie, Visiting Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through two segments, Corrugated Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services and custom, and proprietary and standard automated packaging machines, as well as turn-key installation, automation, line integration, and packaging solutions; distributes corrugated packaging materials and other specialty packaging products, including stretch films, void fills, carton sealing tapes, and other specialty tapes; operates recycling facilities that collect, sort, grade, and bale recovered paper; and provides lithographic laminated packaging products, as well as contract packing services. The Consumer Packaging segment manufactures and sells folding cartons that are used to package food, paper, beverages, dairy products, tobacco, confectionery, health and beauty, other household consumer, and commercial and industrial products; and express mail packages for the overnight courier industry. It also offers inserts and labels, as well as rigid packaging and other printed packaging products, such as transaction cards, brochures, product literature, marketing materials, and grower tags and plant stakes for the horticultural market; and secondary packages and paperboard packaging for over-the-counter and prescription drugs. In addition, this segment manufactures and sells solid fiber and corrugated partitions, and die-cut paperboard components principally to glass container manufacturers and the automotive industry, as well as producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. WestRock Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial.
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RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. provides reinsurance and insurance products around the world. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Bermuda with offices in Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, and the US.
The company operates through two segments that include multiple underlying businesses and investment vehicles. The two main segments are Property and Casualty & Specialty. The company operates through intermediaries that include DaVinci Resinsurance Inc, Top Layer Reinsurance LTD, and RennaisanceRe Syndicate 1458 among others.
Top Layer Re is the first major venture and was started in 1999. It is a joint venture with State Farm targeting high layers of the US reinsurance business. DaVinci Re was formed in the wake of 9/11 to assist with capacity and it was given added capacity in the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Medici was formed in 2009 and is an open-ended fund intended to spur investment in the catastrophe bond market.
The Property segment writes catastrophic insurance policies to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes. These include but are not limited to hurricanes, floods, freezes, and terrorism.
The Casualty & Specialty segment provides a wide range of consumer products including business insurance, malpractice insurance, liability insurance, workers' compensation, mortgage insurance, and health insurance among others.
Among RenaissanceRes Specialty businesses is capital management. The firm offers 6 investment vehicles and has more than $11 billion under management making it the #1 ILS or insurance-linked asset manager in the US. In regards to its credit ratings, the firm and all of its vehicles carry an A or better rating from every credit rating agency.
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.
W&M announces new, multimillion-dollar Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts
Center will be future home of the Muscarelle Museum
William & Marys Muscarelle Museum of Art will soon expand significantly as it becomes part of a new, multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art Center for the Visual Arts.
The Board of Visitors today unanimously approved a measure that will name the center in honor of one of the museums greatest benefactors: Martha Wren Briggs 55, a William & Mary alumna who has spent most of her life dedicating her time, talent and treasure advancing the arts on and off campus.
The center will be known as The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts.
Martha is a passionate patron of the arts and a philanthropist who has given back to her alma mater in countless ways, said William & Mary President Taylor Reveley. By naming the new center for the visual arts after Martha, we ensure that her remarkable legacy will live on for all time coming.
The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts will be established with the central mission of advancing art and artists, building a dynamic and vibrant community, promoting thought-provoking dialogue and encouraging diverse and creative thinking. Its expansive space will house world-class exhibitions featuring interactive technologies, a teaching center for research and engaged learning, including the study of tangible works of art. It will have a modern auditorium and gathering spaces to bring the William & Mary community together. The center will also be home to the Muscarelle Museum of Art and the new Kaplan wing.
We are deeply heartened by Marthas extraordinary dedication to transforming the arts on campus. Her gift will be invaluable to so many faculty and students and the public alike who are just as passionate about the arts as Martha has been her entire life, said Director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art Aaron DeGroft 88. It is not often that you come across someone who has the perfect blend of wit, humor, compassion and strength that Martha embodies. She continues to inspire the entire Tribe community and we will be forever grateful to Martha for her generosity.
Martha Wren Briggs is an accomplished writer and art historian who has published several award winning articles and books on internationally acclaimed artists such as Louis Comfort Tiffany. After earning a bachelor of arts at William & Mary, Martha completed her masters in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Martha previously made a gift for the restoration of the campus amphitheatre also named in her honor and has supported need-based scholarships for students studying the arts.
The study of art history reflects visually the physical, religious, social and philosophical thinking of a particular era. With so much knowledge needing to be absorbed, students who study art and its history must be well educated in many subjects to give a work of art its proper interpretation, said Martha Wren Briggs. I would like to see the Briggs Center used to its full advantage in giving William & Mary students the edge to have this perspective in their academic and everyday life.
The Muscarelle Museum outlined funding for the center as one of its top priorities in the For the Bold campaign. Martha's commitment allows the museum to move forward with the establishment of the new visual arts center. To learn more about the museums campaign priorities, visit here.
"Whether it is a coincidence or not, Martha had lived close by the museum in Williamsburg over many decades. Her heart has always been close to the museum literally and figuratively," added DeGroft. It is befitting in so many ways that the center is named after Martha."
William & Mary was the first university in the nation to collect art and the first to include the arts as part of its curriculum. In the last two years alone, the museum has featured world-renowned exhibitions on Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio. Most recently, the museum announced it will be one of only two venues in the U.S. to showcase an exhibit on Sandro Botticelli. The exhibit, titled Botticelli and the Search for the Divine: Florentine Painting between the Medici and the Bonfires of the Vanities, will be on display from Feb. 11 to April 5, 2017.
Martha has enriched the entire William & Mary community through her unceasing commitment to the arts. The dedication of this center in Marthas honor is a testament to her lifes work and will serve as a reminder to us all of her enduring spirit and devotion to her Tribe family, said Vice President for University Advancement Matthew T. Lambert 99. We are all excited to witness firsthand the expansion of the museum and the groundbreaking Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts."
In the coming weeks, William & Mary plans to announce the architect for the new visual arts center.
W&M sets guaranteed rate for new in-state students
Continuing in-state undergraduates will see no increase in tuition
Previously planned increase for new students cut nearly in half
The Board of Visitors on Friday unanimously approved in-state tuition for next years incoming class at William & Mary. The rate of $16,370 will be the same for all four years that new in-state students spend at William & Mary under the guaranteed tuition plan that is part of the William & Mary Promise. As part of the Promises guarantee plan, in-state students already enrolled will continue to see no increase next year in their tuition bill.
The Board passed the William & Mary Promise in 2013. A key element of the Promise is providing full transparency to Virginia families on the four-year cost of tuition. The Board sets in-state tuition at its November meeting to allow Virginia families to have tuition information ahead of the application deadline. Historically, in-state tuition was set later in the academic year, usually during the Boards April meetings.
Predictability is a key element of the William & Mary Promise, and that is reflected in both the comfort of a four-year guarantee that the rate wont rise and in the timing of todays vote by the Board, said W&M Rector Todd Stottlemyer 85. By setting tuition earlier before the end of the calendar year William & Mary provides families of incoming Virginia students with the financial information and time they need in order to make an informed decision.
For incoming Virginia students, the new guaranteed rate for fall 2017 is 4.4 percent higher from the tuition charged to last years incoming class. By virtue of the guarantee, freshmen who enter W&M next fall will pay the equivalent of an annual increase of just over 1 percent per year. Sam Jones, senior vice president for finance and administration, said next years rate represents a reduction from the universitys original six-year plan, which called for the in-state class entering in fall 2017 to pay a rate 7.5 percent higher than students who began at W&M in the fall 2016. He noted that the Board approved the lower tuition rate for new students despite recent state budget reductions of about $5 million the university will have to absorb next year.
We decided to lower the previously planned tuition rate despite having to absorb serious budget cuts in state funding this fiscal year and next, said President Taylor Reveley. Absorbing the cuts wont be easy but we understand the need. Its vital that the William & Mary undergraduate experience remain among the very best in the world.
When considering that quality, William & Mary has a long list of examples that affirms its place as the nations distinctive Public Ivy. For example, William & Mary has the lowest student-to-faculty ratio (12/1) of any top-ranked public university. It also has the second-highest four-year graduation rate of any public university in the country, as well as the second-highest percentage among national public universities for alumni who go on to earn Ph.D.s. The institutions commitment to teaching and career preparation is consistently recognized, and more faculty at W&M have earned Virginias highest teaching honor than any other university in the commonwealth. In addition, William & Mary was the only university in the state selected among the Princeton Reviews 50 Colleges That Create Futures.
In 2013, the Board adopted the Promise, a comprehensive and campus-wide approach to sustaining the universitys excellence, creating predictability for all students and improving affordability for students who qualify for financial aid. Key pieces of the operating model include increased financial aid and lower student debt for middle-income Virginia families; more seats for Virginia undergraduates; productivity gains through innovation and greater efficiency of campus operations; and a greater investment of resources to recruit and retain superb faculty.
Coupled with William & Marys initiatives to sustain and advance academic excellence has been a university-wide commitment to ensure the institution remains a great value. Fridays resolution continues an ongoing investment to providing significantly more need-based financial aid. Increased aid as part of the Promise has allowed the university to reduce student loan debt for in-state students from low- and middle-income families. For example, the net price for families who earn less than $110,000 is less today at W&M than it was in 2012 before the Promise was implemented and reflects universitys commitment to make a William & Mary education affordable for Virginia families.
William & Marys strong value is also apparent when compared to other public universities. According to the latest information available on the U.S. Department of Educations College Navigator website, William & Marys net price for in-state students who qualify for grant or scholarship aid is the fourth-lowest among all public universities in Virginia. Only Radford, Norfolk State and UVA-Wise are lower. Virginia State is fifth and the University of Virginia is sixth. Raising money for scholarships both increasing aid for in-state students and providing more assistance to out-of-state students is also the top priority of William & Marys For the Bold campaign.
As part of the Promise, the Board previously established guaranteed in-state tuition rates for undergraduate classes arriving in fall 2013, fall 2014, fall 2015 and this current academic year. The guaranteed tuition rate increases each year for the entering class and does not change for that class during its four years at William & Mary. Out-of-state tuition and fees for 2017-18 will be set in April as part of the university budget.
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By India Today Web Desk: The Bollywood support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surgical strike against black money continues. Once again, a B-Town actor has come forward in support of Modi's demonetisation policy.
Speaking to the Times of India, Alia Bhatt, who will soon be seen in Dear Zindagi, called Modi's surprising financial policy a "big change" and that it will inevitably "have some repercussions."
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Before Alia, a large number of Bollywood celebrities like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan have spoken in favour of Modi's denomitisation policy. The policy which became effective from November 9 makes Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes invalid as currency. As such, people would be required to deposit these notes in the bank as well as account for them. Any instance of unaccounted cash would be dealt with strictly.
Consequently, where many have lauded the move as an effective attack on black money since many Indians are known to hoard unaccounted cash in bundles of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, a significant number of Indians have also criticised Modi for not being able to implement his policy smoothly.
Alia Bhatt was supportive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial decision and was quoted as saying, "It's easier said than done. The people who have had that kind of loose cash, (for them) it's not available any more or it's lesser available."
She also insisted that people should wait and watch whether the demonetisation policy works out for the greater good. "We have to be patient," she said.
The 23-year-old actor will be seen alongside Shah Rukh Khan, soon, in English Vinglish director Gauri Shinde's Dear Zindagi. The slice-of-life film releases in theatres on November 23 this year.
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Oscar Hancock, of American Beauty Signworks in Woonsocket, adjusts the Polar Express Train Station sign after putting it up this week. It signals the start of the annual Polar Express Train rides, which begin today, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., with tickets still available. Train rides will also be held this Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Going nuclear in South Australia?
18 November 2016
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The South Australian government supports continued investigation as to whether a used nuclear fuel disposal facility should be established. The only path forward they say is the restoration of bipartisanship and broad social consent, secured through a state-wide referendum. Edward de la Billiere looks at the latest developments in the debate.
In reaction to a declining economy, in 2015 the Labour government of South Australia (SA) set up a Royal Commission to examine the feasibility of expanding its nuclear fuel cycle activities from the existing uranium mining and export endeavours to something much more. After extensive consultations, the Royal Commission reported in May 2016 focussing on four areas of potential development: further radioactive minerals mining, nuclear energy implementation, uranium enrichment and fuel leasing, and offering the world a high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel disposal solution. Of these, the multi-national disposal facility was seen as the most promising option and so the government set about testing public reaction to the idea through establishing a Citizens' Jury - not an uncommon feature in SA.
The Jury gave the government its opinion on 6 November with a resounding two-thirds rejection of the proposal. The other third wanted further dialogue. At first sight, that may seem to be the end of the proposed development, but in the government's official response to the Commission's recommendations published on Monday this week, SA Premier Jay Weatherill appears to have left the door ajar for further discussion.
So, what lay behind the Jury's negative response? Proposing such an idea in the first place was a risk for the government to take, but originally they had opposition support and established a cross-party parliamentary committee to consider the recommendations. Some feel that the question asked of the 300 Jurors was poorly framed and invited a negative response: "Under what circumstances, if any, could South Australia pursue the opportunity to store and dispose of nuclear waste from other countries?"
Against this background, a two-day conference - ANFC16 - held in Adelaide this week brought together the Chairman of the Royal Commission, politicians from both sides in the SA parliament, representatives from Aboriginal communities, nuclear specialists, nuclear regulators, activists, academics, the nuclear industry, lawyers, ecomodernists, professional associations and the international waste management community, to discuss the situation. Several protesters also demonstrated outside the conference on occasion.
The conference was opened with a traditional welcome to the country by a representative of the Kaurna people. In turn, many of the Australian speakers acknowledged that the meeting was taking place on the traditional land of the Kaurna people and paid their respect to Elders past and present.
So, let's take a look at some of the issues discussed.
The Royal Commission Process - It was thought by some that the Royal Commission was the wrong vehicle in any case to look at the issues and that in it was biased in favour of nuclear at the outset.
The Citizens' Jury - Several commentators thought that if the question to the Jury had been along the lines of "do you think that South Australia should do its bit to help world poverty in considering allowing the introduction of nuclear power in many countries through offering waste disposal facilities?", might have elicited a less negative response. One of the main concerns of the Jury was the underlying economic case presented, saying the authors were biased; the counter was that the report was peer reviewed and was only intended as a scoping study in any case, not a definitive answer. The legitimacy of the make-up of the Jury was also called into question, with some feeling that the more vociferous members opposed to nuclear had gained an unfair advantage. It was also asserted that misinformation had been presented to the Jury relating to domestic and international legal matters. The time they had to consider the evidence was also questioned with the six days taken being thought to be too little time.
The Politics - It was apparent in discussions that party politics has now come into the mix. Not only was it the local SA state politics, but also Federal government and opposition stances were also relevant. NIMTO (Not In My Term of Office) was an underlying factor also. The opposition SA Liberal Party had "drawn a line in the sand" with its rejection of further debate and the thought of a referendum down the road. Politicians were also criticised for not being able to take tough, long-term decisions on controversial projects, although they had done so in the past such as with the Olympic Dam mine. It was recognised that the federal government's assent would be required for SA to move ahead with the idea.
The Economics - As well as questioning the underlying assumptions of the economic case, there were concerns about whether there would be a market for the repository and whether also there could be competition and how this could be managed. SA would have the advantage of being the "first mover" to capture potential customers. However, it was felt that the risks associated with the upfront costs for a small state budget were too high and equated to the cost of a new hospital for example. This, it was thought by others, could be managed through contractual arrangements.
The Aboriginal situation - Given that it would be Aboriginal communities most likely to be affected by the development, the conference heard from several of their representatives. Under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, and as also promised by Premier Weatherill, they would have to give their consent for any project to go ahead. It was clear that they were opposed to the idea and that they could never be convinced it would be a good idea. At the heart of their opposition were the memories of the British weapons tests at Maralinga where many communities had been displaced and indeed many individuals had suffered directly from the side effects of the blasts. They clearly felt they had not received full reparation for this and were looking for more. The question was raised as to whether if they did receive full recompense for the damage suffered, would this ease the way for a repository. A further issue arose in discussion which related to the contamination remaining on the land. The common understanding was that there were areas of significant contamination still present, but this was challenged. A clean-up exercise had taken place which aimed to achieve a level of residual contamination which could deliver a dose rate of 5 millisievert per year, but in many cases accomplished 1 millisievert per year, in line with the range of natural background radiation in Australia. However, this fact seems to have been lost within the communities and the conference heard that this will be looked into further.
Safety - Safety wasn't a major factor in discussions, with the possible exception for the Aboriginal representatives and some others. The conference heard that nuclear operations and transport continue safely around the world, and for the long term, that SA had about as good a geology and hydrogeology as you could want for a repository. There would still be some challenges to investigate further but there would be a very high chance of finding a good site. SA was also politically stable and had a good economy.
Continued public debate is important and a matter that the people should decide and not political parties. If there was broad social consent the local Aboriginal community would be given a final right of veto. From now the government will facilitate continued discussion and work to restore a bipartisan position.
Edward de la Billiere
Comments? Please send them to editor@world-nuclear-news.org
Edward de la Billiere is a solicitor and co-founder of Prospect Law. On qualification, Edward moved to Magnox Electric, which was taken over by the nuclear operator BNFL. He has retained a strong interest in energy related projects and has advised recently in respect of energy and waste projects for corporate, local authority and private clients across the UK and internationally. He works as a key part of Prospect Law's nuclear team, which advises the nuclear industry at an international level on operational, technical, financial, environmental and decommissioning nuclear issues, including advising on legislation for states that are new to nuclear power.
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Spain is a country in the southwestern edge of Europe, sharing the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. The country covers an area of 195,363 square miles (505,990 square kilometers). The nation has an abundance of rivers that flow across its landscape. The rivers are useful in the generation of hydroelectric power, irrigation of land, and for promoting the fishing industry, among other uses. Some of the major rivers that flow across Spain are the Tagus, Ebro, Douro, Guadiana, Guadalquivir, Garonne, Jucar, Genil, Minh, and Segura.
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. The river originates from Sierra de Albarracin in eastern Spain and flows westward through narrow valleys and deep canyons toward Portugal. It covers a total length of 645 miles and drains an area of 31,500 square miles. The Tagus forms part of the border between Spain and Portugal. It passes through several cities including the city of Lisbon in Portugal. River Tagus was useful in the development of Spain and Portugal. Cities such as Aranjuez, Toledo, and Talavera de la Reina developed on the banks of the Tagus. It is the primary source of water supply for the populations that live near the river. Additionally, dozens of hydro-power stations use its water to generate electricity. The river basin has an abundance of plants and animals. Trout, royal carp, black bass, and luce are some of the species found in the river. The Tagus basin supports Spanish vineyards. Coniferous trees used in the timber industry are also found on the Tagus basin.
Ebro
The Ebro is the longest river that is wholly in Spain, and the second longest in the Iberian Peninsula, covering 578 miles. Its source is the Fontibre springs in northern Spain. The rivers drainage basin covers an area of 33,000 square miles which is approximately a sixth of Spains land area. The Ebro flows towards the East and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. Over 200 tributaries pour into the Ebro. Some of the main tributaries are Gallego and Aragon Rivers. The Ebro supports Hydro-electric power stations that supply electricity to Spain. The river is also used in irrigating vineyards. Ebro basin is home to 95 bird species, 69 animal species, and nine plant species. The Fish in the Ebro have high mercury levels, and the European Union prohibits commercial fishing on the river. The eco-system of Ebro is threatened by construction of dams, chemical pollutants from factories, the introduction of invasive plants and animals, and agricultural dumping. The Ebro Delta National Park was created in 1986 as an effort to conserve the unique eco-system of Ebro.
Douro
The Douro is one of the major rivers in Spain, and is the third longest in the Iberian Peninsula. It covers a length of 557 miles as it flows across Spain and Portugal. Its origin is in the Sierra de Urbion in central Spain. It flows through the Numantian Plateau and continues westward through northern Portugal before draining into the Atlantic Ocean. Douros main tributaries are the Elsa, Arlanzon, and Pisuerga. The river has been used in hydro-electric power generation since 1930. Cultivation of olives and almonds occurs in the river basin. The Douro valley, famous for its vineyards, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the past, wine from the vineyards was transported through the river. Upstream, the river passes through gorges and rapids which make it hard to navigate but downstream in Portugal, and it is navigable. Many Spanish and Portuguese towns are built along the banks of Douro.
Guadiana
Guadiana is the fourth longest river in the Iberian Peninsula with a length of 508 miles. It originates in Castile-La Mancha in Spain and flows westwards to Portugal. Guadiana forms the border between Spain and Portugal in two sections. In Portugal, it flows south and drains into the Gulf of Cadiz. The river has over 30 dams constructed on the river basin. The dams are used for irrigation and hydro-electric power generation. The wetlands along the river are protected zones. Tourists frequently visit the areas of Ayamonte and Vila Real de Santo Antonio where the river passes.
The Rivers that Shape the Spanish Nation
The landscape in Spain is marked by the major rivers that flow across the country. The rivers accommodate a wealth of plants and animals. They also offer scenic views to visitors. The rivers are of immense importance to the economy. Spanish authorities have established protected zones along the rivers to preserve the natural resources on the rivers.
Anita Hassanandani is ready to embrace motherhood. But what about husband Rohit Reddy? Is he ready for fatherhood?
By India Today Web Desk: Beloved television and film actress Anita Hassanandani is quite happy these days. And it is not because of her show, Yeh Hai Mohabbatein's success.
Also read:Mush alert! These pics of Anita Hassanandani and Rohit Reddy romancing in Shimla will make you jealous
Confused? Well, the pretty actress recently was in Australia with her Yeh Hai Mohabbatein cast to shoot for an important sequence, and while she was there, she had a ball with her nephew Lil Jayden. In fact, the talented actress had so much fun that she just couldn't help but post a picture on her personal Instagram account with THIS caption:
Pure Happiness! ?????????????????? Baby I'm reddy ????????? @rohitreddygoa A photo posted by Anita H Reddy (@anitahassanandani) on Nov 16, 2016 at 2:23am PST
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"Baby, I am reddy @rohitreddygoa."
Her husband, Rohit, immediately responded with the statement, "Oh my god! Main toh khud baccha hoon abhi."
Now, isn't that cute?
Already missing this little one ????????? #LilJayden Thank you so much @rahulreddy84 @tacitaj for showing me a lovely time.... plan Bombay soon! Love you ?????? A photo posted by Anita H Reddy (@anitahassanandani) on Nov 17, 2016 at 1:04am PST
Anita was quite upset to leave her nephew behind. She posted another picture with the little one with the caption, "Already missing this little one #LilJayden Thank you so much @rahulreddy84 @tacitaj for showing me a lovely time...plan Bombay soon! Love you."
Well, Anita and Rohit will make cute babies for sure, but maybe not anytime soon.
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Young boy (illustration)
By: Tanya Malhotra
Police launched an investigation after dozens of people beat up a young boy and then set him on fire for stealing from a shop, police in Nigeria said.
Lagos police said that the incident unfolded in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The 7-year-old boy was caught by the shopas owner stealing food and alerted his neighbors. They dragged the boy out on the street, where he was beaten with sticks.
They then put tires on his body and set it on fire. So far, no arrests have been made.
In May, a teenager died in a horrific act of violence with the permission of her family.
Police in Pakistan, arrested 15 members of a tribal council who were accused of ordering the death of the woman by burning her alive.
The 16-year-old girl was burned in an honor killing in Donga Gali, near Islamabad, after she was accused of helping a neighbor elope with her lover.
Janice Acquista
By: Chan Yuan
(Scroll down for video) The mother of an actress who played Michelle Obama, was arrested after she wrote a bad check to cover a fine from a library, according to police in North Carolina.
The Johnston County Sheriffas Office said that an arrest warrant was issued against 65-year-old Janice Acquista, whose daughter Tika Sumpter played Michelle Obama in aSouthside With You,a after ignoring warnings from the Claytonas Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library that her checked bounced.
Acquista was booked into jail, and her bail was set at $500.
According to the criminal complaint, Acquista was issued a fine of $10 for not returning a book on time. She eventually paid the fine with a check, but it bounced.
The library sent her a notice, but it was ignored.
The library then turned the matter over to the billings department, and the case eventually went to the district attorney.
On Monday, Acquista was traveling with her 10-year-old granddaughter when she noticed a Johnston County sheriffs patrol car.
Acquista slowed down to make sure she was not driving over the speed limit.
When the deputy noticed that Acquista was slowing down to well below the speed limit, he pulled her over to make sure that she was not in any danger.
The deputy asked for her drivers license, and went to the patrol car to check the womans history. He then came back to her and arrested for the outstanding warrant.
Sumpter slammed the arrest of her mother and tied it to the recent presidential election in which Donald Trump was elected.
aPresidential elections matter, but your local elections matter just as much,a Sumpter wrote on Twitter.
Leonard Rinaldi
By: Feng Qian
A man was arrested on a charge of larceny after allegedly stealing valuable coins from his father and using them to purchase cocaine, according to police in Connecticut.
Torrington police said that they have arrested 53-year-old Leonard Rinaldi, after being accused of stealing $8,000 worth of coins from his father and changing them for just $60.
In court, Rinaldi pleaded not guilty to one count of larceny. He was booked into jail, and his bail has been set at $10,000.
According to the criminal complaint, the suspectas father called police that his coins were missing. During questioning, Rinaldi told police that he stole the coins.
He then took them to a Coinstar machine at a Stop and Shop and received about $60 dollars. He then used the money to buy crack cocaine.
Police went to the Coinstar machine and managed to recover the coins that were not rejected.
Some coins were rejected by the machine because of its silver content. Police do not know where those coins are. The suspect lives in the same home as his father.
Kejriwal was booed when he went to RBI on Parliament street to enquire about the fallout of demonetisation. At Azadpur Mandi, where he held a joint rally with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, people started shouting "Modi, Modi".
By Mail Today Bureau: In a day of trouble, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal faced public anger at Azadpur Mandi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for opposing the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation move against black money.
HEAVY CRITICISM
Ridicule flowed online after extremely personal allegations levelled against him by ex-colleague Kapil Bajaj in a blog post. And media baron and Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra sued him for defamation. On Thursday, mysteriously, the hashtags #AlooKejriwal & #AlooMaloo started trending on Twitter. Unknown to many, these are in reference to charges by former business journalist Kapil Bajaj in his blog that Kejriwal was having an affair in 2008-09 with a colleague 16 years younger to him.
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This was during his days as an RTI campaigner. AAP leader Alka Lamba told Mail Today, "I don't want to even comment on this. It is the lowest level of politics that BJP is doing. Nothing can be below this. It is only an attempt to take attention away from the real issue that is the cash crisis and we will keep struggling for the common man."
KAPIL BAJAJ'S ALLEGATIONS
On October 5, 2016, Bajaj wrote a blog titled, 'My Stint with Kejriwal: Wising up to Democracy and Social Activism', which created an uproar in political circles. He alleged that Kejriwal had an affair with a colleague 16 years younger. He shadow-named this character 'Shilpa'. Bajaj claimed he came to know of this while working with Kejriwal in Thiruvananthapuram during a study of local gram sabhas.
He wrote that this woman had now been appointed the chief of a "powerful statutory body in Delhi". In-charge of the BJP's information and technology cell Amit Malviya also tweeted: "Kapil Bajaj, who wrote about Arvind Kejriwal's sexual escapades, stands by his blog. Will media wake up? #AlooMaloo" BJP's Vijender Gupta raised this issue in the Delhi Assembly a few days back and was promptly marshaled out, he claimed. He tweeted: "AAP MLAs raised hue and cry aftr I raised issue of Kejriwal's sex escapades in House. CM left & the House was adjourned." This attracted over 2,000 retweets. Many used them to counter the sarcastic meme on demonetisation, 'Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai', referring to a anonymous scribble on a brand new Rs 2,000 note.
HECKLED
One said "Forget #sonamguptabewafahai, who is Shilpa? #demonetisation #Aloo-Maloo #arvindkejriwal" Meanwhile, Kejriwal was booed when he went to RBI on Parliament street to enquire about the fallout of demonetisation. At Azadpur Mandi, where he held a joint rally with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, people started shouting "Modi, Modi".
They heckled him before the police escorted him out of the scene. Also, Subhash Chandra moved a city court on Thursday seeking prosecution of Kejriwal for defaming him by levelling "false allegations" in the wake of demonitisation. Chandra, chairman Essel group, alleged Kejriwal, while addressing a conference on Nov 11, made "false, fabricated and defamatory allegations" against him. The complaint, likely to come up for hearing on Friday, sought his prosecution under Section 500 (defamation) of IPC. The complaint claimed that Kejriwal defamed Chandra by making inherently defamatory statements. In all, a forgettable day for the Delhi CM.
ALSO READ:
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Mamata, Kejriwal lash out at Modi on note ban: Stop giving alms to people, withdraw order in 3 days
Delhi Assembly denounces demonetisation, Kejriwal tables resolution
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Petition To Save Our Local Water Company With Further Concerns Raised Over Dee Valley Sale
This article is old - Published: Friday, Nov 18th, 2016
A petition has been started to save Dee Valley Water, with more concerns raised over the future of the staff and service provided.
Yesterday we reported on the proposed 78.m sale, and then later the major concerns reaction from local MPs over the announcement.
The petition (viewable and signable here) has been launched yesterday entitled Save our local water company, with a statement matching what a Unite The Union representative who works at Dee Valley told us today.
We are deeply concerned over the potential takeover of Dee Valley Water by Severn Trent Water due to the impact on our local staff and customers.
We pride ourselves on our Welsh identity and the high quality of personal service we can offer to our local customers. Our team of dedicated staff are all from the local area and have worked incredibly hard to provide a high quality essential service to the people of North East Wales.
Our concerns with the potential Severn Trent takeover are that there will be significant job losses in an area with relatively high unemployment.
The benefit of the local service that we give to our customers will be lost with any centralisation by Severn Trent, we are the leading water company for billing customer service and leakage. These are important issues for our customers and will be jeopardised from any centralisation and loss of local jobs.
We feel that this takeover is being driven by Ofwat to benefit their regulatory model due to the complexity of our cross border issues relative to our size and their opinion that we are not a good performer. We feel this view is incredibly unfair as we have made significant improvements in service to be one of the leading service providers.
We are a great believer in the benefits of the Dwr Cymru not for profit model for water supply, with it being an essential service and not a commodity. We feel that as Severn Trent are a huge English corporation that the people of North East Wales will be disadvantaged from the profit seeking nature of the supplier.
We would like to ask the Welsh Government if they can use their powers to safeguard the jobs of the local employees and the quality of service to our local customers.
He added, Some potential suggestions we have for doing so are:
Seek guarantees from Severn Trent on job security for our staff.
Facilitate a purchase of Dee Valley Water by Dwr Cymru to operate as a North East Wales and Chester division under the not for profit model.
Facilitate a purchase of Dee Valley Waters Welsh supply area by Dwr Cymru to operate as a North East Wales division under the not for profit model
Severn Valleys takeover documents are public (here) including a glossy presentation that notes the takeover deal would represent an opportunity for Severn Trent to deliver attractive returns to shareholders through applying its successful operating model across an enlarged asset base, in a contiguous geographic area.
As part of the documents Severn Trent say they attach great importance to the skills, operational experience and technical expertise of the existing employees of Dee Valley. Severn Trent intends to maintain front line field force operations at Dee Valleys current locations in Wrexham and Chester.
Severn Trent confirms that, following implementation of the Acquisition, the existing contractual and statutory employment rights of all Dee Valley Group employees will be honoured. Dee Valley employees will also have access to job opportunities across the wider Severn Trent group, including at its nearby Shrewsbury office.
Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd said: Dee Valley Water covers parts of Wrexham, Denbighshire and Flintshire as well as Chester and its vital that the good customer service for which its renowned is not lost.
The takeover document makes it clear that local suppliers will lose out under Severn-Trents procurement policy and its unclear what the future holds for existing staff. Water services in Wales are best delivered here in Wales not from Coventry.
Dee Valley PLCs company documents are here on Companies House for the PLC, and here for the Group PLC.
The official Dee Valley Water site has been updated with details of the Severn Trent offer here, which just points to this legalise style offer documents, which have an agreement that points to talks starting back in July.
We are told local AM and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure Ken Skates will be meeting regarding this matter later today.
Perennial local Conservative candidate Andrew Atkinson has also said: Ive contacted the Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns whos assured me of his assistance.
An EGM is due in December where the final proposals will be likely voted on by shareholders.
By PTI: Borsongaon (Assam), Nov 18 (PTI) With valid currency notes in short supply following the Centres demonetisation move, people in Assams Borsongaon bordering Bhutans Gelephu have turned to the Himalayan Kingdoms currency for their day to day needs.
The locals told media that they decided to go for the currency of the neighbouring country as their efforts to exchange the now defunct 500 and 1000 rupee notes proved futile even after standing in queue every day for nine days since the demonetisation measure was announced.
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The people said they were desperate for money to carry on with their purchases of grocery, milk, vegetables and other daily needs.
They had no problem in accepting Ngultrum, the currency of the kingdom, in exchange for Rupees, as Indian and Bhutanese money is used on both sides of the border towns for trading between people of the two countries.
A district official said there had been no official intimation about such transactions but added that they were enquiring into such reports.
Similar reports have also emerged from parts of neighbouring West Bengals Jalpaiguri district near the Bhutan-border, which district officials have said they would look into. PTI ESB SUS BSA LNS
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We are publishing here the opening report to the Socialist Equality Party (UK) Third National Congress, given October 28, 2016 by SEP National Chairman Chris Marsden.
Comrades, the task before this party Congress is to lay down the strategic political axis of our work for the coming periodthe building of the ICFI as the revolutionary centre of opposition to imperialist war through the overthrow of capitalism.
The elaboration of perspective does not mean predicting precisely what will happen over the next months. That is impossible under any circumstances and particularly now, when world events are moving at such an accelerated pace. As we found while drafting the resolution, the more you try and do this the more quickly what you have written becomes redundant. Perspective, as was discussed at the recent congress of the SEP in the United States, means determining where we are in the unfolding revolutionary crisis of capitalism and ensuring that our practices as a party meet the requirements of that objective crisis.
We must reveal the central tendencies of development, what is essential in the political situation and base ourselves on that rather than an impressionistic response to this or that event. Or, it must be stressed, on how the world situation is presently understood by the working class. Indeed, in David Norths lecture in Frankfurt, he notes the vast chasm between the advanced preparations for military conflict, which could involve the use of nuclear weapons, and public consciousness of the extent of the danger.
North stresses, The great challenge that confronts Marxists is the political preparation of a vanguard of advanced workers that can direct the coming mass movement of the working class toward the conquest of political power, asking, Of what does this preparation consist?
He responds by drawing attention to Lenins explanation in Materialism and Empirio-Criticism that Marxism had discovered the objective logic of the economic laws that determine the evolution of social being. Therefore, he wrote: The highest task of humanity is to comprehend this objective logic of economic evolution (the evolution of social life) in its general and fundamental features, so that it may be possible to adapt to it ones social consciousness and the consciousness of the advanced classes of all capitalist countries in as definite, clear and critical a fashion as possible.
That was written just five years before the nationalist betrayal of the German Social Democracy and the Second International as World War I began.
Lenin, Dave states, responded by rallying the revolutionary internationalists in Europe and throughout the world and did so in a political and theoretical struggle against Kautsky, who sought to conceal the objective causes of the war. His theoretical work between 1914 and 1917 uncovered the objective causes of the imperialist war and of the growth of opportunism within the Second International so as to establish the possibility of aligning the consciousness and practice of the Russian and international working class with the objective processes that were leading to revolution. The correct alignment of objective reality and the social consciousness of the working class was realized in the conquest of power by the Russian working class in October 1917.
Now Dave states that the world has become more complicated than it was a century ago, but the essential task remains the same: social thought must be aligned with reality.
More complicated things most certainly are. But we have stressed that the objective situation confronting the worlds peoplesof worsening social and economic catastrophe and the rising threat of waris a reminder of why the Russia Revolution occurred and why the perspective of Lenin and Trotsky, of world socialist revolution, must once again become the basis for the independent political mobilisation of the working class.
An extended period of intense political struggle
The two resolutions before youFor a new socialist movement against militarism, austerity and war, and Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party: The strategic lessonsseek to appraise political developments within the UK from an understanding of their relationship to world events. Our aim is to ensure that the struggles we face in building the Socialist Equality Party are firmly grounded in an internationalist orientation and grounded in the struggle to develop the ICFI as a world movement. They are, moreover, an attempt to draw the strategic lessons of the key events in the two years that have elapsed since our last congress in 2014of Brexit and the political convulsions in the Labour Party.
This was no small task. The party has gone through an extended period of intense political struggle, during which intensive reflection on events was, I know, sometimes the luxury and preserve of full-time cadre. And even so, this was the first time we had an extended opportunity to consider these strategic experiences in the round, from the standpoint of their interconnectedness and, I hope, their full historic significance. This congress provides us all with that opportunity.
My opening remarks and our initial discussion are focused on the first of our two resolutions. In line with the responsibility set out in the ICFI statement, Socialism and the Fight Against War--Build an International Movement of the Working Class and Youth Against Imperialism! the World Socialist Web Site reports every day on Syria, NATO manoeuvres on the borders of Russia, the Asian pivot and resurgent militarism in Britain, Germany and throughout Europe. It is a catalogue of an impending catastrophe.
It is worth recalling that the warnings we made of the danger of the situation now unfolding were condemned by Alex Steiner in September 2014 in the following terms:
The SEP sees imperialism in 2014 as a return to 1914 and are convinced that history is repeating itself complete with a tense summer of international incidents reprising the tension of the summer of 1914. But imperialism while it continues to plague the planet is very different today than it was 100 years ago. For one thing, the use of military power to back up economic interests, while certainly still in play, is embarked upon with much greater reluctance today, as witnessed by the obvious paralysis of the Obama Administration toward the events in Syria, Iraq and now Ukraine... Even the Republican hawks opposing Obama have not yet dared to advocate the use of American ground forces in Syria or the Ukraine. This could change of course, especially if the Republicans regain the White House, or for that matter a Democratic hawk like Hillary Clinton, but for now the SEP's outcry over the preparations of the U.S. for a new World War strikes one as manufactured hysteria rather than rational analysis. [Steiner, A comment on the resolution of the SEP on the fight against war]
Steiner was and is a political charlatan. The hawks no longer limit themselves to advocating the use of no-fly zones or of ground forces in Syria, which are tactical questions fraught with complications. They talk openly of launching World War III. Our resolution notes in point three how, At a Future of the Army panel in Washington, Army Chief of Staff General Mark A. Milley declared that war between nation states is almost guaranteed... Our army and our nation must be ready.
The readiness of a major section of the political and military elite to actively contemplate not only war, but nuclear war is both a stark expression of the maturity of the present crisis and a dangerous accelerant in preparing the way for a conflagration. We have in the resolution underscored this with reference to Theresa Mays sickening boast that she will press the nuclear button. Moreover, as we state clearly, it is not a question of the subjective intentions of this or that political or even military figure: The drive to war emerges as a result of the intractable crisis of capitalism as a world system. The fundamental contradiction between the globalisation of production and the capitalist nation state system, based on private ownership of the means of production and class exploitation, is fuelling social and political discontent, destabilising traditional mechanisms of rule, throwing bourgeois politics into a state of upheaval and flux, and preparing a global catastrophe. This danger is made all the more immediate by the deepening crisis of the capitalist profit system, which is the source of war.
There is a growing recognition of how close we now are to the precipice. This week, the media was filled with articles such as that in the Daily Mirror Tuesday, Vladimir Putin sparks WWIII fears with chilling threat to US: 'Stop criticising Russia or there will be problems'
Putins reported remarks were an indication of the Kremlins own conclusions as to where the world now stands and its possible response. He said, Mrs Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia... It's not funny anymore. If somebody out there wants confrontation. This is not our choice but this means that there will be problems.
On Wednesday, NATO states met to pledge troops to an anti-Russia force in the Baltics. NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said that defence ministers from Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US would set out their plans for the battalions they will lead and that other allies would confirm their contributions. A larger force of 40,000 NATO soldiers is to be deployed in the event of Russian aggression. Stoltenberg said of these developments, This is concrete proof that NATO can and will deploy thousands of forces to support our Allies... NATO has implemented the strongest or the biggest reinforcement of collected offence since the end of the Cold War."
We expect a sustained challenge from the east, from Russia, by way of its military activities, added Douglas Lute, the US ambassador to NATO.
In an extraordinary turn of events, Donald Trump has baldly declared that Clintons plan for Syria would "lead to World War Three," because of the potential for conflict with military forces from nuclear-armed Russia, as well as Iran.
One day earlier, the Independents Sean O'Grady wrote a substantial comment asking: Could Hillary Clinton start a world war? Sure as hell she could and heres how.
His conclusion? Like Donald Trump or not--and I like him no more than, well, Hillary Clinton--there is one thing he might be good for. Peace. A small matter, I know, when set against his serial (alleged) philandering and worse, but worth pondering for a moment... Something like the Cuba crisis could happen again under President Hilary Clinton; one can see her issuing unenforceable ultimatums on Putin because his proxies have grabbed some bit of territory in the Caucasus most of us havent heard of. That is much, much less likely to occur under President Trump.
Now that is a truly desperate responseto place the fate of the world in the hands of Trump. Yet here we are, and on Clinton, the favoured candidate of Wall Street, the Pentagon and the bourgeois and petty bourgeois left crowd, OGrady is giving voice to conclusions that others within ruling circles will have drawn.
The ICFIs analysis of the last 25 years
The ICFI alone predicted events as they have unfolded over the past quarter century and could do so because it correctly appraised what took place in 1991. As it states in the introduction to A quarter century of war:
First, and most important, the International Committee interpreted the collapse of the Stalinist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989-90, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, as an existential crisis of the entire global nation-state system, as it emerged from the ashes of World War II. Second, the ICFI anticipated that the breakdown of the established post-war equilibrium would lead rapidly to a resurgence of imperialist militarism... The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, combined with the restoration of capitalism in China following the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 1989, was seen by the American ruling class as an opportunity to repudiate the compromises of the post-World War II era, and to carry out a restructuring of global geopolitics, with the aim of establishing the hegemony of the United States... The last quarter century of US-instigated wars must be studied as a chain of interconnected events. The strategic logic of the US drive for global hegemony extends beyond the neo-colonial operations in the Middle East and Africa. The ongoing regional wars are component elements of the rapidly escalating confrontation of the United States with Russia and China. [David North, Introduction, A Quarter Century of War]
The Brexit crisis
In our resolution, we stress that Brexit is an existential crisis for the British bourgeoisie. But crucially we cite in part the fundamental appraisal we made in our referendum statement:
The post-1945 project of European unification was an attempt by the ruling elites to resolve the fundamental contradiction that had twice in the 20th century plunged the continent into warbetween the integrated character of European and global production and the division of the continent into antagonistic nation states. Economic integration came to be considered as essential to enable Europe to compete effectively in the global marketplace against the United States, with the ultimate aim of an accompanying move towards political union. At the same time, US imperialism promoted the integration of capitalist Europe as a bulwark against the Soviet Union and the threat of socialist revolution by a militant and radicalized European working class. But unity within the framework of capitalism could never mean anything other than the domination of the most powerful nations and corporations over the continent and its peoples. Rather than national and social antagonisms being alleviated, they have taken on malignant forms. The EU is breaking apart and cannot be revived. It is only through the creation of the United Socialist States of Europe, established as an integral component of a world federation of socialist states, that the vast productive forces of the continent can be utilised for the benefit of all. [For an active boycott of the Brexit referendum!29 February 2016]
As to the crisis provoked by Brexit for Britains ruling elite, frankly it is hard to know where to start. For everyone but the speculators in the City of London and the bigger FTSE companies who trade overseas and in dollars and euros, Brexit looks set to become an economic nightmare.
Here are the immediate winners:
Companies in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 who mostly get their earnings abroad. The mid-cap 250 index, is, says the FT, enjoying sterlings pain, since it is populated by commodities companies.
HSBC shares have surged by around 27 percent. It is the UKs second biggest company and earns about three quarters of its profits in Asia. Burberry, which generates about 85 percent of its sales abroad has seen its share prices go up 24 percent.
Mexican gold and silver miner Fresnillo's shares have risen 46 percent. Swiss mining trader Glencore is up 39 percent. British miner Anglo American has also gained 39 percent.
This is not a vote of confidence in the UK economy, but the opposite. The less tied to its fortunes the better you do.
As to the losers:
Shares in more UK-focused banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland have dropped 24 percent and 29 percent.
Easyjet is down more than 34 percent, British Airways owner IAG is down 23 percent.
Construction companies Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Persimmon, are down 20 percent, 14 percent and 13 percent.
All companies importing anything including raw material, imported parts and equipmentall already up 7.2 percent in September.
Finally and most importantly, British workers who have seen their wages and pensions devalued and prices begin to rise boosting inflation to 2.2 percent on average next year. This is on top of falls of between 10 and 20 percent in real incomes.
What is posed for working people is a deeper descent into austerity. Manufacturing activity has posted its strongest reading since June 2014, thanks to an exchange-rate driven fillip to exports. But this will not last. Brexit is a policy decision which is benefitting some of the most parasiticand little wonder. The top 10 donors to the Tory Party are all hedge fund managersincluding the Tories biggest donor at over 6 million, Michael Farmer, who said that Brexit would be a bright new beginning and number two Sir Michael Hintze, who heavily funded the leave campaign and gave over 3 million to the Tories.
Number four, Chris Rokos, is head of Brevan Howard, which raised $3.5 billion earlier this year, and made 3 percent in just the day after Brexit on June 24 speculating on the dramatic movement in share pricesthat is I assume 105 million.
These are the financial supporters of the pro-Brexit line of the Tory Party, alongside sections of manufacturing and the retail sector that is dependent on low wages and market deregulation such as Wetherspoons.
However, the fact remains that most of the big City firms and institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Lloyds of London and the City of London Corporation, were opposed to Brexit and will become more vocal in their opposition in the period ahead. HSBC strategist David Bloom said of the fall in the value of sterling, The currency is now the de facto official opposition to the governments policies.
Grant Lewis, head of research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe, has stated, Even over a longer time period, sterling now sits among a sorry band of currencies in terms of performance--since the start of the year only the currencies of Angola, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mozambique and Suriname have fallen by more.
Anthony Browne, head of the British Bankers Association, has warned that Britains biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs, are preparing to relocate out of the UK in the first few months of 2017 in the event of a hard Brexit involving the UK leaving both the single market and the customs union. The implications for London are clear, but it should also be noted that banks based in the UK are currently lending 1.1tn to the EU, and, in Brownes words, are keeping the continent afloat financially.
Already the swing against Brexit is so sharp that Allister Heath wrote in the Telegraph October 19: Why it's time for a new campaign for Brexit.
The Battle for Brexit must begin again now, he demands. Interestingly as an indication of the broader concerns of the Tory right, his appeal began with the declaration, There is no such thing as permanent victory in politics. History never ends: triumphs are fleeting; majorities can turn into minorities; and orthodoxies are inevitably built on foundations of sand. Communism was supposed to be discredited forever after the collapse of the Berlin Wall; yet many young people in Britain and America now call themselves socialists.
We are in the midst of an unfolding political crisis of rule for British imperialism that heralds major social convulsions. For the past months we have been focused on one key strategic element of that crisisthe attempted coup in the Labour Party. But post-Brexit, it is difficult to envision the present political order surviving unscathed.
The Tory government is deeply split, has an unstable and small majority and is becoming a political liability for British imperialism due to its being beholden to the hard Brexit clique in its leadership.
I have mentioned Goldman Sachs repeatedly because it was in their august presence that, prior to the referendum, Theresa Brexit means Brexit May declared her support for Remain explaining: I think the economic arguments are clear. I think being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us. I think, as I was saying to you a little earlier, that one of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe.
If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms.... There are definitely things we can do as members of the European Union that I think keep us more safe.
This is what a politician losing all credibility sounds like.
A survey in the Independent last week found that a hypothetical Stop Brexit party could win 25.9 per cent of the vote if an election was held tomorrow, pushing Labour into third place on 18.9 percent. This is not simply noting public opinion but an attempt to shape itto popularise and legitimise a desired outcome. It was followed by a direct appeal from no less than Tony Blair for a new movement of the 48 percent, in which he declared, We are the insurgents now!
You could not make this stuff up. It underscores our appraisal of the motives behind the attempted coup against Corbynthough how he responds is an open question. Even he is now challenging the Tories on their lack of a plan for Brexit and getting more sympathetic coverage for having done so.
The Brexit referendum has done nothing to mend the divisions over strategic orientation within the British bourgeoisie. Rather, as we state in our resolution, Opposition to Brexit continues to enjoy the support of powerful sections of Britains ruling class, as well as the US. A minority position within the Tories, the desire to ameliorate or if possible overturn the referendum result unites the majority of the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) and the Greens.
A new anti-working class political realignment
We must carefully explain the motivating factors for what is a political realignment aimed at rescuing British imperialism and suppressing any independent political intervention by the working class through the promotion of nationalism and class collaboration.
Our resolution indicts the advocates of Left Leave over their responsibility for the carnival of reactionConnollys memorable warning regarding partition--that has followed Brexit in both Britain and Europe. But we must also be clear that the advocates of Remain, such as the Pabloites of Thornetts Socialist Resistance, will now be called on to play a deeply reactionary role in any political realignment around a pro-EU position.
It is not for us to predict whether or not Brexit means Brexit. What is certain is that the forces now being mobilised replicate and reinforce the basic political alignment on bourgeois, anti-working class lines we appraised during the referendum campaign and which underscores the significance of the position we took on an active boycott.
The resolution also makes clear that political success for a pro-EU faction would do nothing to lessen the dangers posed to the working class by nationalist reaction and militarism. As we state, There can be no turning back the clock to a supposed golden age of European unity. Deep conflicts are emerging between the European powers over austerity, and who pays for it, over the military direction of the continent, migration and a host of other issues.
In the aftermath of Brexit, George Soros famously warned:
"The catastrophic scenario that many feared has materialised, making the disintegration of the EU practically irreversible. The consequences for the real economy will be comparable to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 but the implications for Europe could be far worse. Tensions among member states have reached breaking point, not only over refugees but also as a result of exceptional strains between creditor and debtor countries within the eurozone.
Have the efforts of Germany and France to re-unite the continent in the basis of moves towards an EU armyliberally mixed with threats to punish the UK--disproved such an apocalyptic secenario? Hardly. There is very little on which the EU 27 can agree.
The last EU summit, it ended without agreement on the war in Syria, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, or Britain's exit from the EU. Economically, Europe is tearing itself apart and that must ultimately find political expression.
With the Italian banking system on the verge of collapse and a constitutional referendum scheduled for December 4, the EU is presently demanding that Italy explains why it is breaking its deficit targets, as the banking crisis there rapidly morphs into a crisis of state finance. It has now sent letters to seven state capitals complaining about their budgets.
The question is posed point blank as to how much longer Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and now Italy can fulfil the demands of the EU without economic collapse and the total destabilisation of their societies and an eruption of class struggle that would see many governments fall. Italys finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan himself warned that Europe must bend or it would be the beginning of the end for the bloc.
We have a particular responsibility to oppose the UKs efforts to ingratiate itself with Washington and stake its claim to a leading role in Europe on the basis of military braggadocio. This is directed above all against Germany and centres on opposing the formation of an EU army. There has even been the threat made by unnamed military top brass that they would not participate in EU missions under the banner of an EU army and would rather quit.
The fight for the United Socialist States of Europe
We must work with our European comrades to concretise the perspective of the United Socialist States of Europeby which I mean to develop the most comprehensive picture of the political situation facing the European working class. This is one of the most important undertakings we must make in the aftermath of this congress.
Among the issues to be addressed are: the drive to war against Russia and the inter-state and inter-imperialist conflicts this is creating; US/European relations; the impact of Brexit on Franco-German relations; Italys economic crisis and the state of the European economy; the political crisis in Spain and the implications of the coup in the PSOE; the lessons of Syriza, the Left Bloc in Portugal and Podemos; their role in facilitating the growth of right-wing and far right parties such as the national Front in France and the general crisis of rule facing regimes of all stripes.
We have tried in our resolution to make more explicit the link between the programme of the USSE and the struggle against imperialist war. This will be central to the work of all our European sections in the next months.
And when I speak of European sections, I want to take this opportunity to welcome on behalf of the entire section the formation of the French Section of the ICFI. There will be further discussion on this issue, but let me state here that the re-establishing of Trotskyism and the reconnection of the French working class with the Fourth International is a tremendous accomplishmenta victory over Pabloism, the OCI and a decisive conquest of the movement since the split with the Workers Revolutionary Party. It will change the relationship of the ICFI to the entire European working classbeginning I am sure with the joint work we will now undertake in the weeks leading up to the congress of the PSG.
The final issue I want to address is the theoretical and political struggle against the pseudo-left. Later in our proceedings, comrade Julie Hyland will speak to the headlong rush of most of them back into the Labour Party, on the basis of their uncritical embrace of Corbyn. And we have written extensively on their role in the Brexit campaign. Both are markers of their integration into bourgeois politics. But, as we state in the resolution, ...the most degenerate expression of the integration of the pseudo-left into the mechanisms of capitalist rule is their support for militarism and war.
The perspective of the Stop the War Coalition
As comrades know, the last few weeks have seen a major political campaign waged against Corbyn over his continued relations with the Stop the War Coalition. This is in line with the essential thrust since day one of the coup in the Labour Party that he cannot be leader or prime minister because he does not agree with Trident, is not sufficiently committed to NATO and has stated a desire for a negotiated settlement with Russia over Ukraine and in Syria. The Guardians Jonathan Freedland is typical when he writes:
Despite what Stop the War says, opposing the west wont bring any of that horror to an end. For it is Russia that is up to its neck in the blood of Aleppo... Still, we mustnt get hysterical. Perhaps we ought instead to be even-handed, as suggested by a spokesman for the Labour leader this week, when he expressed his worry that all this focus on Russia diverts attention from the atrocities committed by the other outside powers, such as the US and that it would be just as sensible to protest outside the US embassy as outside Russias. Nor is it good enough simply to call for the strongest possible push for negotiations and a diplomatic solution, as Stop the War do. What do they think John Kerry and his fellow foreign ministers have been doing round the clock for months if not years?
But significantly Freedland also makes clear that the Stop the War Coalition is not yet considered to be a lost cause. He adds, And here is where Stop the War can be useful. They insist they can only influence western nations, that a protest outside the Russian embassy wouldnt make a blind bit of difference. But how can they be so sure?
Useful in the past and potentially useful in the future--provided that the social forces it constitutes can be placed on message.
What is behind all this? What does the STWC position express and why is it being castigated in one breath and cultivated in the nextwith no less than Boris Johnson urging an STWC picket of the Russian Embassy and this demand then being adopted by a significant section of the pseudo-left?
We must clarify workers and young people that the STWC does not offer an alternative to war. In the first instance, their alliance with Corbyn shows that we are dealing with tactical differences within the sphere of bourgeois politics.
Corbyns position on Syria, or on Russia is framed as his loyal advice on how British imperialism can best advance its global interestsstressing not relying too heavily on the US, working with the UN, etc. In this, he represents the last dregs of the Bennite left and a political fellow traveller of the Communist Party. Most important of all he loyally heads a pro-NATO, pro war party.
The latest exposure of the bankruptcy of Corbyns protestations are the comments of his latest appointment as Shadow Defence Secretary, Nia Griffith, who has called on Britain to unilaterally impose additional sanctions on Russia, which she described as certainly a very major strategic threat to us. Labour would go into the 2020 election backing the renewal of Trident, she added. Jeremy is very much in favour of democracy in our party. He understands the situation we are in...
As with Freedland, a layer of Corbyns supporters are now urging him to join in the demands for anti-Russian measures over Syria. They declare in a letter signed thus far by over 200 people, many in Momentum, we are concerned by your silence--thus far--on the ongoing slaughter of civilians by Russian and Assad-regime forces in Syria... in the face of the horrors being perpetrated across Syria, with impunity, and above all by Russian and Assad-regime forces, we believe socialists and anti-war activists cannot simply look on in silence.
Signatories include the official endorsement of the Alliance for Workers Liberty and the RS21 split from the SWP.
The STWC coalition is a much reduced political creature. In 2003, it was able to come to the head of a demonstration of over one million in London and was backed by many Labour MPs and even Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats. But the intervening years have seen the majority of the anti-Iraq war pseudo-left and liberal milieu transformed into a howling pro-war mobfirst in Libya, then Ukraine and now in Syria.
The STWC is today essentially reduced to an alliance of Counterfire, the split from the SWP, and the Stalinist Communist Party of Britain.
The SWPs own position has for some time essentially been indistinguishable from that of Achcar. Indeed it was Alex Callinicos who in Libya took the slogan of the pro-interventionist Euston manifesto crowdrailing against knee-jerk anti-imperialism--and gave it a leftist gloss. In Syria, the SWP do not formally support direct Western interventionofficially taking a plague on both your houses position. What they do is to sow the same lethal complacency as Steiner. The latest pronouncement on Syria from Callinicos states:
As long as Barack Obama remains US president, there is very little likelihood of serious Western military intervention in the Syrian war. Obama has made his extreme reluctance to return to the Middle East quagmire so clear it has weakened secretary of state John Kerrys bargaining hand with Russia. Hillary Clinton, who now looks set to succeed him, will almost certainly pursue a more belligerent global policy. But both the US and Russia will still operate according to the same strategic calculus that governed the Cold War. In other words, they will try to avoid a direct clash that unleashes a nuclear war that would end civilisation.
Callinicos clearly does not want to be that type of Marxist who sounds the tocsin on the danger of war any more than he wanted to proclaim a crisis of capitalism in 2008.
What then of the remnants of STWC? We explain in the resolution:
The Stop the War Coalition does not represent an alternative to the militarist politics of the pseudo-left. An alliance of Counterfire (a break-off from the SWP) with the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), it is driven by an anti-American rather than an anti-imperialist perspective. Its convenor, Lindsey German, has declared, Weve said for some years that one of our aims as a movement should be to break Britain from following the US in every step of its foreign policy. In 2003, the STWC subordinated the mass protests against the invasion of Iraq to appeals to the United Nations and France and Germany to oppose Washington. Today, the CPB distinguishes itself in being openly pro-Assad and in portraying Russia as a bulwark against both US imperialism and ISIS-inspired terrorism.
I am stressing at some length the unprincipled and bankrupt politics of the STWC because the right-wing attacks on it, like the attacks on Corbyn, can be the source of dangerous political confusion. It encourages an uncritical sentiment for solidarity among forces that we must win to our perspective.
The CPB is represented in its leadership by Andrew Murray, a leading Unite union official, and by vice-president Kamal Majid, one of the founders of the Stalin Society. Murray too is a vicious opponent of Trotskyism and a Stalin apologist. His last major literary endeavour was a review of Trotskys biography of Stalin in the October 17 Morning Star which he declared:
In fact, Stalin was both greater and more terrible than Trotsky knew. He is long since indicted with vast crimes but they no longer seriously include that of being the grey mediocrity presented in this book... Trotskys murder on Stalins orders, one of those crimes, prevented him living to see the confounding of all his anticipations regarding the imminent collapse of Stalins regime, the rickety Thermidorian reaction which Trotsky imagined it to be. The USSR won the war and Stalin emerged stronger than ever, with socialism spreading to half of Europe and much of Asia, perhaps the most significant of the many circumstances which left Trotskyism without Trotsky stillborn as a major political movement.
Counterfire makes a positive principle of its readiness to work with such political reactionaries--and of allowing their pro-Putin/pro-Assad line full rein. It explains its own split from the SWP as one over a conflict between those who believed the United Front (i.e. unprincipled political alliances) was a tactic and those who understood it to be a strategy under conditions where the working class was a sleeping giant that showed no sign of waking from its slumbers.
This, they wrote, meant continuous, long-term work with others to the right of the SWP (indeed perhaps even somewhat hostile to it)...
We state clearly in point 27 and 28:
The SEP rejects the designation by the pseudo-left groups of Russia and China as imperialist states. This false characterisation, torn out of all historical context, is a key means through which they seek to legitimise US and European aggression aimed at subordinating these regions to their direct control. However, this implies no support for the right-wing capitalist regimes in Moscow and Beijing... Both their diplomatic manoeuvres and military interventions are aimed at securing an accommodation with imperialism that safeguards their own ability to continue the brutal exploitation of the working class that is the defining feature of these societies. The admirers of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, their armed forces and nuclear arsenals only disorient the working class, prevent its independent mobilisation and prepare the way for a catastrophic war.
The tasks of the Socialist Equality Party
Comrades, the past period has been one of intense political struggle. As a party we have turned energetically into the working classin the general election, the Brexit referendum, over the coup directed against Corbynand before that in the European elections and in the Scottish referendum. But this work has taken the form of an extended polemic against the pseudo-left groups.
We have written dozens upon dozens of articles, statements and lectures clarifying our essential differences with our political opponents because we know that only in this way can the working class be freed from the influence of hostile social forces and the party cut a path to leadership. We must deepen this work, confident that the political tide is with us and that the pseudo-left is being discredited by its own actions in the eyes of millions.
I hope that from my report, and on the basis of the resolutions before you, comrades understand that we are on the eve of major social, economic and political convulsions that will provide us with fertile ground for building the ICFI. And I am confident that we have a membership that also understands that the spontaneous eruption of the class struggle does not allow us to somehow bypass the complex theoretical and political tasks associated with the construction of the revolutionary party of the working class. Rather, it better enables workers and young people to understand the full significance of our differences with the pseudo left and to accept the necessity of our perspective.
As we will discuss this weekend, we must seize the opportunity offered to us to deepen our political offensive for Trotskyism as the centenary of 1917 approaches. The ICFI is the sole political tendency on the face of the planet that sets as its aim the revolutionary mobilisation of the working class against war and for socialism. This is the essential thrust of the congress resolution, For a new socialist movement against militarism, austerity and war. I recommend it for discussion, amendment and ratification.
Europe
Walkout by Swedish dockers
Dockers in Swedens largest port, Gothenburg, walked out on strike Tuesday. They are in dispute with their employer, APM terminals over pay, collective bargaining issues and improved facilities at the port.
The strikers were due to return back to work at 11am this morning. They are members of the Swedish Dockworkers Union, which represents 85 percent of the ports dockers.
Further strike at UK technology company
Staff at the technology company, Fujitsu, in Manchester began a 48-hour strike on Wednesday. It was the third such round of industrial action by the members of the Unite union.
The dispute is over pay, pensions and job security. Fujitsu had already announced plans to cut its workforce in the UK by around 20 percent, but has now written to 2,500 more staff saying their jobs are at risk. Female Fujitsu staff are also seeking pay parity with male colleagues. On average, they earn 16 percent less.
Ritzy cinema staff strike in London
Cinema staff working for the Ritzy cinema in Brixton and the Hackney Picturehouse in London held a strike on Thursday with a further strike to be held on Monday. The workers are currently paid 9.10 an hour and are demanding the London living wage rate currently set at 9.75.
They have already taken five days of strike action. In 2014, they held a series of strikes over the same issue but their union, BECTU, finally settled the dispute, accepting a 26 percent staged pay rise. This equated to less than the then London living wage. Many of the staff are on zero-hour contracts. Staff are only entitled to paid sick leave after working for a year but then only after the eight day of sickness.
Further strike by confectionary workers in York, England
Confectionary workers employed in York by sweet manufacturer Tangerine held a further 24-hour strike Monday. The GMB union members are seeking a pay rise. Tangerine insists any pay rise must be financed through productivity gains.
UK atomic weapons staff hold strike
Staff working for the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at its sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire, England held a one-day strike Monday. This was in response to AWEs move to end the defined pension scheme, and replace it with an inferior scheme. The Unite union represents the majority of the staff who took part in the strike, which was also supported by members of the Prospect union, representing professional staff. Further days of action are planned.
Strike threat by German pilots
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, representing pilots at the German national airline, Lufthansa, announced on Monday their intention to strike. The union said pilots working for the Lufthansa brand and its cargo section would walk out giving 24-hour notice. VC did not give any dates.
VC made the announcement after talks between itself and airline management broke down. The talks on behalf of over 5,000 pilots have been taking place for over four years and to date there has been more than a dozen strikes.
Pilots are demanding an average pay increase of 3.66 percent, as they have had no increase over the last four years.
German property management staff strike threat
Around 600 staff employed by Vonovia, Germanys largest housing association, are preparing to strike in protest at deteriorating working conditions and in pursuit of a pay increase.
The staff are represented by the Ver.di trade union, which has protested Vonovias refusal to enter into talks. No date has been given for a strike, with Ver.di stating only that it will take place before the end of the year.
Vonovia manages around a third of a million properties.
Icelandic fishermen end strike
A strike of Icelandic fishermen was called off last weekend. The members of the Fishermens Union of Iceland voted by a 90 percent majority to take action against the fishing vessel owners association.
The fishermen were seeking a bigger share of the money at the auction of fish caught, leave entitlement and were protesting owners plans to reduce manning levels.
The fishermen returned to work following the intervention of the Icelandic government conciliation service. The proposed agreement will be voted on by the fishermen. The strike led to a shortage of fish in Iceland and threatened to lead to the laying off of fish processing workers.
Two smaller unions were not part of the agreement and remain on strike.
Irish health staff confront government
This week, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) representing Irish junior doctors, announced its intention to ballot its members to demand the restoration of a 3,000 living-out allowance.
Talks between the IMO and Department of Health broke down after the government announced the recently formed public sector pay commission would now handle the talks.
Dr John Duddy, IMO president told the Irish Examiner, No doctor wants to strike and indeed it would be with great reluctance that we would embark on such an action but in the face of a government that behaves in such a manner we will have no choice.
Last week the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) announced it would be balloting its members over bad working conditions. The union is calling for the government to recruit more nurses and take action to retain current nursing staff.
Nurses are concerned current understaffing is leading to excessive, unpaid working hours and creating dangerous situations for staff and patients.
Ukrainian miners end hunger strike
Fifty coal miners at the number 10 mine in Novovolynska ended their week-long hunger strike on Monday. They were demanding the payment of several months of wage arrears owed to several hundred mines at the pit. They ended the strike after being promised they would receive a portion of their back pay.
Irish public sector workers seek pay rise
Irish public sector workers in health, local authority and education could be balloted over action to demand a pay increase unless the government agrees to start new talks by next February. They are members of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), which has around 60,000 members in the public sector.
Irish pilots vote for strike
Pilots working for Dublin-based CityJet voted to strike unless the employer agrees to their dispute, over a pay claim, being referred to the Workplace Relations Commission.
Pilots have been taking limited industrial action since September. Around half the 80 pilots employed by CityJet are represented by the Unite union. More than 80 percent of members voted to escalate action to a strike to be held before Christmas.
Turkish suburban rail workers strike
Over 300 staff employed on the Izban commuter rail network in the western province of Izmir, Turkey, held a one-day strike last week. They walked out after talks over an agreement on collective bargaining broke down.
The Izban employees are seeking pay parity with rail workers on the Izmir Metro AS system who are paid around a third more.
Middle East
Israeli airline staff may strike
Staff working for the Israeli state airline El Al are voting this week as to whether they are prepared to declare a labour dispute. The dispute, which could lead to industrial action, is over El Als practice of cancelling flights and rescheduling them using other airlines. By doing this El Al avoids having to pay its staff overtime.
Israeli workers poised to strike over care insurance
This week the Histadrut labour federation met with workers committees and will declare a labour dispute. If a strike goes ahead, it would encompass most public sector workers along with many private sector staff.
The dispute is over the cancellation last year by the government of the payment of insurance for workers to fund their stay in nursing homes should it be required in their old age.
Palestinian UN staff strike
Staff employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) held a one-day strike Monday.
They also held a protest outside the UNWRA headquarters in Gaza City to push their demands. The workers are protesting wage arrears, unfilled job vacancies and are pushing for a wage increase in line with the high cost of living.
Africa
Doctors increase strike in the Sudan
Sudanese doctors have resumed and escalated strike action to demand a wage increase, and an end to poor working conditions. A previous strike was suspended, but has now been resurrected after an agreement by the government to end the strike was not honoured.
Doctors in 138 hospitals throughout Sudan held a two-day strike at the beginning of November but after the government failed to meet their demands, they began a three-day strike on Tuesday. They are providing emergency cover. The doctors also demand protection against security forces that regularly brutalise hospital medical staff. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have been detaining striking doctors and some of those doctors cannot be accounted for.
Protesting teachers also face confrontation as a result of police state measures. A head teacher was detained by NISS forces in South Darfur after organising demonstrations on November 10 against militia attacks. Other protesting teachers have also been incarcerated and are being held in detention camps in Nyala state.
South African wine workers continue twelve-week strike
A strike by 220 workers at Robertsons Winery in South Africa has entered its 12th week. The Commercial, Stevedoring, Agriculture and Allied Workers (CSAAWU) is demanding a wage of N8.500 ($628), with the company offering N4000 ($295) and refusing to negotiate.
The strike was referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The CCMA pulled out after it failed to resolve the dispute, although the union is reported to have parked its N8500 wage demand.
The company is the subject of a Danish TV documentary titled, Bitter GrapesSlavery in the Vineyards, resulting in Robertsons products being taken off the shelves in Danish stores.
Nigerian academic staff protest
Academic staff at the Federal University of Technology (FUT) in Abeokuta, Nigeria came out on strike Monday demanding the reinstatement of 23 colleagues who were sacked last week. The walkout and protest was organised by the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities.
The protest was to demand an investigation into the sacking of the 23 staff and management activities over the last four years. The union claims the sackings were carried out after staff members called for transparency into how the institution was being managed.
Three workers that furnished information to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corrupt activity of management were included in the sackings. The union accused the EFCC of passing their names to the university vice chancellor.
Members of the Non Academic Staff Union, who have been on strike for six weeks over corruption allegations, were threatened with losing their jobs at FUT if they did not return to work Monday. The university claims both academic and non-academic staff were back at work Monday.
Kenyan civil servants oppose pay cuts
Kenyan civil servants, along with doctors and nurses, are protesting wage restructuring. The Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC) intends to harmonize the remuneration of 600,000 public sector employees on the basis of equality, in a cost cutting exercise. The SRC has not entered into discussion with any of the relevant unions.
Doctors are demanding a 300 percent pay rise and threaten to strike if they do not get it within 21 days. Nurses have issued a separate 21-day strike notice, in pursuit of a pay increase of between 25-40 percent.
Nearly 100 students attended a meeting held Wednesday by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at Humboldt University in Berlin. The title of the meeting was The election of Trump: Political causes and lessons. The IYSSE organised the meeting on short notice and advertised it over just three days with flyers and posters on the campus. Nevertheless, every chair in the meeting room was filled and additional chairs had to be brought.
The large turnout and intense discussion at the meeting, which we will summarize in a subsequent article, indicate an important political change. A new generation of young workers and students is becoming politicized and commencing a serious discussion on a revolutionary perspective to fight social reaction and war.
The meeting was chaired by Sven Wurm, spokesman for the IYSSE university chapter and a representative in the student parliament at Humboldt. To address the meeting, the IYSSE invited Johannes Stern, also a member of the IYSSE and an editorial board member of the World Socialist Web Site.
Stern began his contribution by stating that the election of Trump represented a historic turning point. With his election, an extreme right-wing representative of the American ruling class had moved into the White Housesomeone who would escalate US military violence abroad and attack social and democratic rights at home.
Above all in Germany, nobody should underestimate what it means when a semi-fascist commands the worlds strongest military power with the largest nuclear arsenal, Stern said.
A glimpse at Trumps staff leaves no doubt about the nature of his administration, Stern continued. With Steve Bannon, the former head of the far-right, anti-Semitic Internet platform Breitbart News, Trump has appointed a fascist to be his chief adviser in the White House. Under consideration as possible ministers are, among others, Rudolph Giuliani, the former law-and-order mayor of New York, and John Bolton, one of the architects of the illegal attack on Iraq during the term of George W. Bush.
On the basis of statistics, Stern rebuffed the notion spread by liberals and the pseudo-left to the effect that the white working class was responsible for Trumps victory. In fact, Trump received fewer votes than his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and fewer votes than the losing Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Over the past eight years, however, support for the Democrats had collapsed due the partys anti-social and militarist policies. This slump in support included millions of women, youth and minorities. The largest group in the election, around 100 million, were non-voters and supporters of third parties.
Stern identified those principally responsible for Trumps election victory: Hillary Clinton, representing Wall Street, the military and identity politics, who attacked Trump essentially from the right, accusing him of being an agent of Putin. Secondly, Barack Obama, who had been elected by many workers eight years ago as the candidate of hope and change, but then continued the hated war policy of the Bush administration and passed the entire burden of the international financial crisis onto the population.
And then there are Bernie Sanders and the pseudo-left organizations who supported him, Stern said. Sanders won support in the primaries because he called himself a socialist and called for a political revolution against the billionaire class. But then he cowardly called for a vote for Clinton and thus enabled Trump to channel all opposition to the established parties.
Under conditions of growing class tensions, the ruling elite was now closing ranks. Within a few hours of the election, they all lined up behind Trump, from Obama to Sanders and the unions, declaring their readiness to work with him.
In order to understand the deeper causes of Trumps ascendency and the turn to the right by the entire ruling establishment in the US, Stern continued, one had to examine major political and historical developments. He referred in detail to US war policy, the decline of American democracy, and the deep social divisions that have developed over the 25 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Amongst other issues, he addressed the stolen election of 2000, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, extralegal killings and the massive build-up of the police in the US.
In summing up, Stern quoted from a Perspective commentary published by the World Socialist Web Site titled Mass student protests against Trump election: The way forward:
Decades of war, austerity and social reaction have fatally undermined democratic processes and produced a society dominated by financial parasitism and political corruption. These are the conditions that have vomited up Donald Trump, the fascistic personification of the collapse of American democracy.
The Perspective went on to state that The fight against Trump must therefore be based on the fight against capitalism. It required uniting the working population and youth across all racial, ethnic and gender divisions in the United States and internationally on the basis of a socialist program.
It is not a question of opposing one individual, the statement continued, but an entire social and economic system that is based on private ownership of the levers of production and the ever-greater accumulation of wealth by the corporate and financial aristocracy.
Stern stressed that it was precisely in Europe and Germany that the construction of a revolutionary socialist movement assumed great urgency. The elites here are also reacting to the break-up of the post-war order and growing transatlantic tensions with a return to militarism and nationalism, he said. In Germany, a doubling of the military budget is already being demanded and the need for German nuclear weapons is being discussed.
Stern ended his lecture with a quotation from David Norths lecture Philosophy and Politics in an Age of War and Revolution, delivered to some 250 students at Goethe University in Frankfurt:
We are living in revolutionary times. The contradictions that give rise to war also prepare the ground for social revolution. Contradicting the claims of the subjectivists and irrationalists, who proclaim the disappearance of the subjective agency of socialist revolution as conceived by Marx, the global development of capitalism during the past half-century has vastly expanded the ranks of the working class. This is the basic force to which Marxists turn. The great challenge that confronts Marxists is the political preparation of a vanguard of advanced workers that can direct the coming mass movement of the working class toward the conquest of political power.
Rohan Mehra is the new captain of the house, but he is clearly misusing his powers.
By India Today Web Desk: After being called the puppet of former captain Bani Judge, Rohan Mehra has got a brand new tag-dictator. The Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai actor has even declared that he'd do things according to his whims and fancies in his tenure as captain.
Bigg Boss will call the new captain to confession room and ask him to punish two contestants and put them in jail. Rohan will come out of the room and announce that he wants to jail Manveer and Manu. When they will ask the reason for the same, Rohan will refuse to give one, saying he is not required to state the same.
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Also read: Bigg Boss 10: Om Swami reveals how "his soul had left his body once"
Manu and Manveer will put their foot down and refuse to go to the jail. Especially, because in the jail, they will be required to stand inside a box till Bigg Boss' further notice. They will not be even allowed to use the washroom without captain Rohan's permission.
Bigg Boss will intervene saying that it is the responsibility of the captain to play fair game and take the right decisions. Bigg Boss will also say that it is also the responsibility of the contestants to obey captain's orders and if they don't do that, they are breaking the rules of the house, which will have consequences.
Also read: Bigg Boss 10 Day 30: Contestants give up essentials for task; Om Swami plays his own game
Will Manu and Manveer finally go to the jail? Will Rohan Mehra pay the price for misusing his authority?
Stay tuned to this space for more.
Bigg Boss 10 airs Mon-Fri at 10:30pm and Sat-Sun at 9pm on Colors TV
--- ENDS ---
A contract truck driver was killed at the ArcelorMittal plant in Burns Harbor, Indiana on Friday, November 4. Kevin Campbell, 69, was struck by another contract semi truck driver while he was securing a load of steel to his own truck.
Burns Harbor police have begun their investigation of the accident, which, according to Police Chief Mike Heckman, is expected to take six to eight weeks. Police have ruled out the possibility of drugs or alcohol as causes of the accident, and said they expected no arrests to be made, calling the tragedy a freak accident.
The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will not investigate the incident, because the agency does not cover independent contract workers like Mr. Campbell. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will also not investigate the accident because it occurred on private property. The United Steelworkers union (USW) said it wants to be involved in the investigation, supposedly to assess whether new safety measures should be implemented, according to Pete Trinidad, USW Local 6787 president.
Despite its declarations of concern, the USWs role in the investigation will bear no benefit to workers. After decades of colluding with the steel bosses in cutting costs, imposing speed-up and longer hours, blocking any resistance by workers, the USWs role will be to protect ArcelorMittal by foisting the blame on workers themselves.
There were many workers present at the scene of Campbells death, which was reportedly very gruesome, though the exact details are not yet known. The USW plans to provide counseling to workers who were present when the accident occurred. Trinidad told local news that steel mills are a dangerous place to work.
Through the proliferation of various labor-management safety committeeswhich largely absolve federal, state and local agencies of oversightthe USW has protected corporations from any responsibility for wrongdoing in the deaths of workers. These cover-up operations come at the expense of workers, who, despite union investigations, continue to die on the job.
Four workers died over the course of a year from August 2015 to 2016 at the Goodyear plant in Danville, Virginia. Goodyear workers are members of the USW. Another worker, steelworker Jonathan Arrizola, was killed in September while working on a maintenance job at the US Steel mill in Gary, Indiana, near Burns Harbor. A union official suggested his death was due to the failure of workers to look after each other while working overtime and undermanned. The responsibility for Arrizolas death, as in Campbells, lay in the hands of the corporation and the USW, which aided in cutting back staff and pay and facilitating the replacement of full-time employees with contract laborers.
After Arrizolas death, the USW promised to investigate the cause, projecting that the so-called investigation could take months. After nearly two months, no conclusions have been released to the public.
Any new safety measures implemented by the union following an investigation would largely not be for the benefit of independent contract workers like Kevin Campbell and the truck driver who struck him. Though they may work for a specific contracting company, these workers are not considered employees of any company, but self-employed independent contractors, leaving them legally deprived of many protections and benefits of full-time employees. These include proper job and safety training, health care and retirement benefits, unemployment benefits, minimum wage guarantees, and overtime pay.
The USW forced 14,000 ArcelorMittal workers to labor without a new contract for 10 months in order to isolate them from 18,000 US Steel workers whose contracts also expired in August 2015, and another 2,200 steelworkers locked out by Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies. It then rammed through a sellout deal at ArcelorMittal in June 2016, which has given the steel giant a free pass to hire independent contractors in the name of improving competitiveness and profits. The terms of the contract allow the company to hire one non-union worker for every four union workers hired. This means that a large portion of the future workforce will be made up of casualized workers, like Kevin Campbell, with few if any rights.
The contract also freezes wages for three years, amounting to a cut in real wages, and in place of a raise gives employees the option to take part in profit sharing program that is largely pegged to the price of steel. Having pushed through the deal, USW President Leo Gerard said he would join the steelmakers in demanding tariffs on steel from China, South Korea and other countries. The USW has long used such nationalist campaigns to divide US workers from their class brothers and sisters around the world and to cover up the unions collaboration in the endless attacks on the jobs and living standards of US workers.
Campbell is far from the first contract worker to die at Burns Harbor. In April 2015, 53-year-old Gregory Sebahar, a contract worker for KONE Elevators & Escalators, was found dead after he was crushed working on an elevator at the mill. In another incident at US Steel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contract worker Parrish Sewell, 44, died after he fell over 40 feet while performing maintenance operations.
Following Campbells death in Indiana, a utility worker was killed in Canton, Illinois on Wednesday. Arturo Silva, Jr. was killed by an explosion while working on a gas line that was reportedly damaged by a contract worker earlier. The cause of the blast remains to be found.
Workers must break free from the suffocating grasp of the pro-company unions and form rank-and-file committees to investigate the deaths of Kevin Campbell, Jonathan Arrizola, Arturo Silva, Jr. and others, and to guarantee safe working conditions. These committees must reject the corporatist program of labor-management partnership, which subordinates the lives and limbs of workers for corporate profit.
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Worker killed at US Steel mill in Indiana
[3 October 2016]
Contract worker killed at US Steel mill in Pittsburgh
[19 September 2015]
Amid a slowdown of the economy and growing social inequality, indicators of distress and hardship are mounting, belying the claims of media pundits that Australian workers and young people are fortunate to live in the lucky country.
A report released by the Community Council for Australia (CCA) late last month showed that suicide rates and incarceration levels have risen starkly, hitting the most oppressed sections of the working class hardest.
The report, titled The Australia We Want, underscores the punitive character of the prison system, with imprisonment and lengthy sentences serving as the official reaction to a host of social problems.
Over the past decade, Australias prison population has increased by a staggering 42 percent, from 25,400 in 2005 to 36,134 last year.
The report noted that from 2014 to 2015, the number of prisoners increased by 7 percent. The rise takes the national average to 196 prisoners per 100,000 people, up from 186 prisoners per 100,000 in 2014. This is higher than every country in Western Europe, along with Canada, and is more than double the rate in a number of Scandinavian countries.
The Northern Territory has the highest incarceration rate, with 885.1 prisoners per 100,000, or four times the national average. The figure exceeds the rate across the United Statesa world leader in mass imprisonmentof 700 prisoners per 100,000. The second highest levels of incarceration are in Western Australia, with 278.2 people imprisoned per 100,000. The number of prisoners has grown in other states, including South Australia, which now has 204.4 people behind bars per 100,000.
According to the report, the number of prisoners who have not been sentenced, but are in custody is almost 10,000, up by 21 percent from 2014. Many prisoners wait months for a sentence to be delivered.
Less than 25 percent of inmates have committed a violent crimethe majority are found guilty of property offences, often a result of poverty. Only 20 percent of imprisoned adults have completed high school education. One third of adult prisoners have a disability or long-term chronic health condition. Among Aboriginal people, the most oppressed section of the working class, the incarceration rate is 2,253 per 100,000.
The rise in incarceration is a direct result of the policies imposed by successive governments. In the late 1990s, state governments in the Northern Territory and Western Australia introduced mandatory sentencing laws for petty property offences, leading to young people being locked-up for stealing bottles of water, packets of biscuits, stationery and alcohol.
The policy was the sharpest expression of a broader turn to law and order measures by Labor and Liberal governments at the state and federal level, which has continued unabated. Last year, the Western Australian Liberal government and Labor opposition came together to push through an expansion of mandatory sentencing, including for children aged 16 to 18 involved in burglaries. In 2014, the New South Wales Liberal government and Labor opposition introduced mandatory sentences for assaults associated with alcohol.
The report also draws attention to a high incidence of suicide, which is a leading cause of death, outnumbering fatalities in car accidents. Suicide rates have risen by 20 percent in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
In 2014, approximately 7.8 people committed suicide every day. In 2016, the figure stood at over 8 suicides per day. Incidences are highest in the most poverty-stricken areas, with workers, young people and the unemployed confronting a myriad of social and health issues.
The Northern Territory, which has served as a testing ground for punitive policies targeting welfare and expanding juvenile detention, has the highest rate of suicides20.8 per 100,000 in 2014, up from 14.3 in 2013. The report notes that the current suicide rate for indigenous youth is four times higher than that of non-indigenous youth.
The official response to the social disaster was underscored by the recent announcement by Lifeline, which provides emergency assistance to people suffering depression and experiencing suicidal crises, that it is ending operations in the Territory. The charity organisation cited a persistent lack of government funding over the past 10 years.
Underlying the growth of social distress is the dramatic increase in social inequality over the past three decades. The report notes that the average income of the wealthiest 20 percent of households is five times that of the poorest 20 percent.
Australias GINI coefficient, which measures social inequality, has also grown. The higher the coefficient, the greater the wealth inequality. In 2012, Australias coefficient stood at 32.6, higher than more than half of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD.) In 2014, it increased to 33.73.
The report notes the rising cost of living, which is compounding the social crisis. It points, in particular to housing costs, and notes that those in the lowest quintile spend the highest proportion of their income on rent and mortgage payments.
House prices across the country have soared. Median house prices in Sydney hit a record $1.06 million last month and in Melbourne, the figure stands at over $773,000. These figures have risen by 65 percent and 45 percent respectively, over the past four years. The increases have seen rates of home ownership among young people drop by 50 percent over the past three decades, and have led to widespread financial stress and growing homelessness.
The social divide revealed in the CCA document contrasts sharply with the political complacency of its authors, including Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, and other charity organisations. The reportwritten in the form of a note of advice to the very governments responsible for the mounting social crisisis a warning to the ruling elite that growing inequality will fuel social opposition and anger. To that end, the report issues a series of pathetic calls for greater inclusivity, a united community and a more optimistic, kind and compassionate society.
In reality, the corporate elite, and the major parties, including Labor, the Liberals and the Greens, are all committed to imposing the burden of the deepest crisis of the capitalist system since the 1930s, onto the backs of the working class and young people. In September, for instance, Labor and the federal Liberal-National government agreed to impose $6.3 billion in cuts to social spending, particularly targeting education, healthcare and welfare.
The election of Donald Trump has been greeted enthusiastically by the right wing and far-right in Italy. At the same time, prospects for the constitutional referendum due on December 4 are worsening. The head of government Matteo Renzi (Democratic Party, PD) has linked his own political future to a positive outcome of the referendum.
Trumps election victory has been celebrated by Beppe Grillo, the initiator of the Five-Star Movement (M5S). In a video on his blog Grillo saluted Trumps victory obscenely, writing: This is a general f**k-off (un Vaffanculo generale).
It is those who dare, the obstinate, the barbarians who will take the world forward, Grillo wrote. We are the barbarians! The real idiots, populists and demagogues are the journalists and the establishment intellectuals. Corncob [Trump] has told everyone to piss off: Masons, banking conglomerates, the Chinese.
Grillo, who three years ago presented himself as a spokesman for the environmental and protest movement, claiming he would mobilize the population against the corruption of the ruling elite, has shown his real coloursas a right-wing populist.
Grillo joins a long chain of right-wing and far-right politicians who have welcomed the election of Donald Trump.
Eighty-year-old Silvio Berlusconi (Forza Italia, FI) expressed his enthusiasm for the comparisons made in the media between Trump and himself, a billion-dollar entrepreneur who was four times prime minister in Italy. Trump had been elected, Berlusconi said, because Americans were sick and tired of politics that commits the typical mistake of the left all over the world: i.e., to believe that what is politically correct corresponds to the needs of the people.
Referring to Renzis constitutional referendum, Berlusconi said that the same spirit that led the Americans to choose Trump would now lead Italians to say: No to a referendum, which restricts their freedom of choice.
Renato Brunetta, a spokesperson for FI, called on the head of government to resign and said: From this day forward Matteo Renzi is politically finished, he is a dead man walking. He justified his remark by saying that Renzi was a recent guest of Obama who had expressed his support for Renzis constitutional reform.
The reform, which is due to be voted on December 4, is a reactionary undertaking. The Renzi government wants to abolish the current parliamentary two-chamber system in order to speed up the decision-making process in parliament. The government is responding to the requirements of finance capital and is preparing for war and violent class struggles.
In his almost three years in office, Matteo Renzi has introduced reactionary policies such as his Jobs Act and pension reform, attacking the rights of the working population and youth. Renzi, who came to power as a modernizer and pulveriser of vested party interests, confronts growing popular resistance. Polls on the result of the referendum have put the no camp in the lead for weeks.
Renzi has repeatedly linked the referendum to his own political fate. In a television broadcast last Sunday he declared: You remain in power as long as you can change something. If you have to leave things as they are, others should take over. ... Politics is not the only thing in life.
Italy is in deep economic crisis. The third largest economy of the European currency union has still not recovered from the global financial crisis in 2008. Government debt, at almost 133 percent of GDP, is the second largest in Europe behind Greece and the countrys banking crisis remains unresolved. Bank balance sheets reveal bad loans amounting to 136 billion. Many small and medium-sized companies cannot pay their loans and are going bankrupt.
Many commentators fear that Italy could be the next country to leave the European Union (EU), following the UK. The Trump effect is immensely dangerous for Italy, wrote the German newspaper Die Welt, and ARD television reported on November 14: Investors currently consider Italy leaving the euro as more likely than a Greek exit.
Poverty and unemployment are rising, and the government has become less and less popular. Tens of thousands of young Italians are voting with their feet and are leaving the country in search of better conditions.
Meanwhile strikes and protests are increasing. Car workers, teachers, railway workers, bus, train and flight personnel, parcel carriers and transport and logistics workers are preparing to take up the fight against the governments austerity measures. Strikes in the middle of November against the governments budget are due to be followed by a general strike throughout Italy on November 24-25.
The strikes, however, are designed to merely let off steam and strengthen the influence of the official trade union federations. The major trade unions support the economic program of the Renzi government, while so called rank-and-file unions share basically the same bourgeois program as their bigger counterparts.
Under conditions where a progressive socialist alternative is lacking, opposition to Renzis referendum has been dominated by the right wing. The Northern League (Lega Nord) and fascists are not only mobilizing impoverished shopkeepers, artisans and small entrepreneurs, but also desperate workers eager to fight against Renzi, the establishment and the EU in Brussels.
Last Saturday, the right-wing camp called for a rally at Piazza Croce in Florence, the city where Renzi was formerly mayor, and which is traditionally governed by the centre-left. On December 4 we will dispatch with Renzi home, cried Matteo Salvini, head of the Northern League. The city of Florence was not a communist city, but rather an occupied city, he said, but the people would expel the liars. Salvini said he was ready to take over the government: If required, I am ready to run.
On the same day, Giorgia Meloni, president of the fascistic Fratelli dItalia, also made an appearance. She called for an insurrection in Florence if, after a defeat in the referendum, President Sergio Mattarella refused to hold elections. Then we will mobilize the people, Meloni said.
The referendum reveals the urgent need to construct a revolutionary leadership in the working class. As the constant stream of strikes and workers protests show, workers are ready to fight and very angry. But they lack a revolutionary party and an international socialist perspective to defeat the ruling elites program of social devastation, dictatorship and war.
The election of Donald Trump as US president has produced something of a panic reaction in Japanese ruling circles, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe organising a meeting with the president-elect in New York yesterday.
The meeting, held at Trump Tower in Manhattan, lasted 90 minutes, with virtually no details emerging because Abe said the talks were unofficial. He said the discussion was candid and was held in a warm atmosphere, describing Trump as a trustworthy leader, and stated that the two had agreed to meet again to hold wider and deeper discussions.
The tone of his remarks belied the deep concerns of the Abe government over the Trump victory. The haste with which the meeting was convened, on the initiative of Abe with a phone call to Trump the day after the election, was exemplified by the fact that one day before it was due to take place, basic logistics such as the time, place and who would be present, were described as being up in the air.
The major concern of the Japanese prime minister and the political establishment as a whole is that, in the words of the Asahi Shimbun, one of the countrys major daily newspapers, Trumps victory amounts to a huge political earthquake that will shake the post-war order to its core.
The issues involve economic relations, the future of the Japan-US security pact, the cost of stationing US troops in Japan and whether the US will continue to back Japan in its conflicts with China over disputed territories in the East China Sea as well as ensuring that China is pushed back in the South China Sea.
Abes visit to New York was organised as part of his trip to the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting to be held in Lima, Peru, over the weekend where the scuttling of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be one of the key items on the agenda.
The TPP, which excluded China, was the economic cornerstone of the Obama administrations anti-China pivot to Asia. It is now dead in the water. Trump has said he will not go ahead with it after his inauguration on January 20 and Obama has scrapped earlier commitments to try to push it through a lame duck session of Congress before Trump takes power, leaving Japan and other TPP partners that signed on in the lurch.
At the urging of the Obama administration, Abe made a considerable commitment to the TPP, securing support for it this week in the lower house of the Japanese parliament against some internal opposition. But the strategy of his government has been ripped apart, creating opportunities for its chief regional rival, China.
Speaking to an Upper House committee on TPP ratification on Tuesday, Abe said attention could now shift to a China-backed free trade agreement that excludes the United States.
Theres no doubt that there would be a pivot to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) if the TPP doesnt go forward, he said. RCEP doesnt include the United States, leaving China the economy with the largest gross domestic product.
Japan is concerned that the failure of the TPP will lead other countries throughout the region to consider strengthening their economic ties with China. The number two Malaysian trade minister, Ong Ka Chuan, said the country would be looking to complete the RCEP after Trumps election.
Now with the situation of the TPP, the focus will be on RCEP. We hope RCEPs conclusion will offset a lot of the negative impact of the TPP, Ong said, expressing the hope that the deal could be rapidly concluded.
In the negotiations on the TPP, the Singapore government made several warnings that failure to secure the trade deals passage in the US would force the island trading nation to seek other options.
The Australian government, which together with Japan forms the base of US alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, has indicated that with the failure of the TPP, it could also be looking elsewhere.
In an interview with the Financial Times this week, trade minister Steve Ciobo said Australia would support pushing ahead with a proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) because any move that increased trade and economic growth was a step in the right direction.
The FTAAP, which has been under discussion within APEC since 2010, formally includes the US. However, given the opposition of the Trump administration to trade agreements, it is highly unlikely that the US would sign up. This means that China would play a leading role. In a comment published in the Australian Financial Review, Ciobo said Australia would work cooperatively with its partners on the RCEP.
Trade and economic relations are only part of the overall concerns of the Abe government and the Japanese ruling class. As part of the post-war settlement, Japan pursued its regional and global economic and strategic interests within the framework of the US alliance. In the recent period, the Abe government has been more assertively promoting Japans global and regional role, in particular in response to the economic and military rise of China, which it regards as the greatest threat to its interests.
But the whole framework, based on the US-Japan alliance, within which the Japanese ruling elite has conducted its economic and foreign policy, has been called into question by the Trump presidency.
During the election campaign, Trump at various times denounced Japan as a trade rival and demanded that Tokyo pay the entire cost of stationing US troops in the countryestimated to be more than $5.7 billion per annumon top of the expenses it already incurs of about $6.6 billion. Trump said the bilateral security treaty was lopsided and warned that Japan should pay us or consider providing its own defences.
Much more than dollars are involved. In words that would have sparked concern in Japanese ruling circles, Trump told a rally in Des Moines in August: You know we have a treaty with Japan, where if Japan is attacked, we have to use the full force and might of the United States? If were attacked, Japan doesnt have to do anything. They can sit home and watch Sony television, OK? he declared, insisting that the alliances had to be a two-way street.
The Abe administration, along with other governments around the world, did not seriously entertain the prospect of a Trump victory. During a September visit to the US, Abe met with Clinton, the key promoter of the pivot to Asia as secretary of the state in the Obama administration, and not with Trump. This miscalculation prompted the frantic push for yesterdays meeting.
Speaking to reporters as he was about to depart Tokyo, Abe said the US-Japan alliance was the cornerstone of Japans diplomacy and security and that only when there is trust does an alliance come alive, adding that he wanted to build that trust with Trump.
While the immediate issues in the US-Japan relationship differ in their particulars, there are resonances with the situation in the 1920s.
At the conclusion of World War I, Japan, which had aligned itself with Britain and the US against Germany, sought to advance its growing economic and strategic interests within a post-war framework increasingly marked by the rise of the US to economic and military pre-eminence. But this strategy broke apart with the Wall Street collapse of 1929, the turn of the US towards economic nationalism and protectionism and the collapse of world trade.
After a bitter struggle within the ruling political and military elites, Japan moved to advance its interests through military means, starting with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and then the full-scale invasion of China in 1937 that led to the outbreak of war with the US in 1941.
Today, all the contradictions that led in an earlier period to heightened geo-political tensions and eventually war are re-emerging as Japan faces the prospect of a rift in its key strategic alliance, the rise of economic nationalism and the growth of a rival in the form of China.
The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are holding meetings throughout the country on the origins and implications of the US elections. An initial list of meetings is listed below. We encourage WSWS readers to contact us to set up a meeting in your area.
Protests have erupted throughout the country against the election of Donald Trump. These demonstrations of high school youth, college students and other sections of young people express a deep hostility to the right-wing and xenophobic policies of a future Trump administration and all efforts to divide the population along racial lines.
The sentiments animating the protesters stand in sharp contrast to the response of leading Democratic Party officials who have lined up to wish Trump success and pledge their readiness to collaborate with him.
This cowardice of the Democrats before Trump and the far right is a continuation of their role in the election campaign. Clinton ran a right-wing campaign based on scandals and warmongering, directed particularly against Russia. She ran as the continuation of the Obama administration, which has presided over eight years of military violence, growing social inequality and escalating attacks on democratic rights.
Opposition to Trump cannot be carried forward through or in association with the Democratic Party or any of its factions. This longtime party of American imperialism cannot be changed, reformed or taken back.
In these meetings, we will discuss the significance and implications of the US presidential election and the way forward for workers and youth.
Meeting details:
Monday, November 21, 7:00 p.m.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Pierpoint Commons, Boulevard Room
2102 Bonisteel Blvd.
Tuesday, November 22, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago, Illinois
University of Illinois, Chicago
Taft Hall Room 207
826 South Halsted Street
Tuesday, November 22, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit, Michigan
Wayne State University
State Hall, Room 101
5182 Cass Avenue, Detroit
Tuesday, November 22, 3:00 p.m.
Annandale, Virginia
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus
Building CC Room 234
Thursday, December 1, 7:00 p.m.
Nacogdoches, Texas
Stephen F. Austin State University
Liberal Arts North 142
1936 North Street
Thursday, December 1, 5:30 p.m.
Geneseo, New York
SUNY Geneseo
Bailey Room 101
Thursday, December 1, 7:30 p.m.
Berkeley, California
University of California, Berkeley
Evans Hall, Room 61
Thursday, December 1, 5:30 p.m.
Syracuse, New York
Beauchamp Library
2111 S. Salina Street
Saturday, December 3, 3:30 p.m.
New York, New York
Houston Street Center
273 Bowery
Wednesday, December 7, 6:30 p.m.
Los Angeles, California
LA City College
Student Union - Multi-purpose Room (3rd floor)
888 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles
Thursday, December 8, 7:00 p.m.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tulane University
Lavin Bernick Center, Room 202
Thursday, December 8, 7:00 p.m.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge Public Library
Central Square Branch, Lewis Room
45 Pearl Street
The final European trip by US President Barack Obama has been characterised by attempts at political placation and damage control. The outgoing US president is seeking to calm fears over his successor Donald Trump, to encourage close collaboration with him and on this basis retain a NATO dominated by the US as the most important military alliance.
In this, he is relying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he hopes to secure as a leader of a strong Europe under German leadership. Obamas promotion of his designated successor is so obvious that the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung described him as Donald Trumps press spokesman.
After a brief stay in Greece, where he gave his backing to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is deeply despised for his austerity policies, and held a speech in a cultural centre belonging to the billionaire ship owner Stavros Niarchos, Obama arrived in Berlin Wednesday evening for a three-hour dinner with Merkel.
Thursday was also given over entirely by Obama to his German host. An official meeting at the Chancellors Office was followed by a joint press conference as well as interviews with Der Spiegel and public broadcaster ARD. French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy were only invited to join the meeting early Friday, before Obama leaves early Friday afternoon.
An article authored jointly by Obama and Merkel appeared in the Wirtschaftswoche journal on Thursday titled On the future of Transatlantic relations. The close relationship between Germany and the United States was praised. That friendship is based on our shared commitment to personal freedom and dignity, which only a vibrant democracy under the rule of law can guarantee.
The article invoked the global recognition of international law as a prerequisite for stability and prosperity, as well as our deep respect for human dignity, protecting our planet and other common values. It then proclaimed, It is our treatment of those most vulnerable that determines the true strength of our values.
These unctuous and hypocritical phrases are aimed at defending NATO and the wars in the Middle East. Our countries are committed to collective defence within the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) because we want to preserve the security of the Euro-Atlantic area as a whole. We cooperate closely in the fight against terror, including in the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, because we must protect our citizens and because we will not sacrifice our way of life to the enemies of freedom, the article stated.
In Berlin, Obama tirelessly noted that his successor also supported this line. Asked at the press conference if Trumps appointment of right-wing extremist Stephen Bannon to the position of chief strategist and his decision to make a meeting with UKIP leader Nigel Farage his first with a European politician did not prove the exact opposite, Obama responded, I am always optimistic. This was what his life had taught him. The solemn responsibility of the office would result in Trump changing. Obama said he would do everything to assist him in this.
Obama showered Chancellor Merkel with praise and compliments. He lauded her strong leadership and noted that she had cooperated closely with the US during the Ukraine crisis and over Syria. Asked if he supported a fourth term in office for Merkel, Obama answered that he would not intervene in the politics of another countrybut if Merkel chose to stand, she would have his vote, if he could vote.
But Obama found it difficult to convince even US-friendly media outlets that Trump does in fact support such a course. The Suddeutsche Zeitung dismissed Obamas Athens speech, writing Thursday, That was someone speaking who does not seem to have understood what has happened over recent days. The paper described it as a nice touch that the US president, who proved incapable of preventing Trumps rise, finds himself during his farewell European tour next to Europes biggest deceiver, [Greek] Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
The same newspaper published an opinion piece by James W. Davis, who teaches international politics in St. Gallen in Switzerland and was a member of Hillary Clintons advisory team. He described the fear rampant in Europe that something fundamental from the already weakened trusted world order is breaking apart. In the past, all American governments, whether led by the Democrats or Republicans, recognised the basic principles of open markets and collective defence. A president in the White House had never openly questioned the fundamental pillars of the American-led order Donald Trump, who has been elected president, does so.
At their joint press conference, Obama and Merkel also affirmed the significance of the European Union, whose dissolution will be accelerated by Trumps victory. The right-wing nationalist forces that celebrated victory with the Brexit referendum in Britain are on the rise throughout Europe.
In Italy, the government of Matteo Renzi is currently in a battle for survival ahead of a constitutional referendum in early December. If new elections are called, opponents of the EU have a good chance of winning. In Austria, the presidential election will take place at the same time, in which Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the far-right FPO, has strong prospects of winning. And in France, Marine Le Pen of the National Front is being heavily tipped in presidential elections in early spring next year.
As in the United States, the rise of these right-wing populist forces is a result of growing anger with the establishment parties on the one hand, and the lack of a progressive alternative on the other. The ruling elites are much more fearful of the social opposition developing in an independent, anti-capitalist direction than they are of the far-right parties, which will direct the social anger into a reactionary blind alley. They merely have tactical differences with them. This is the reason why Obama is advocating cooperation with Trump in Europe.
In the week and a half since Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, leading Democrats have moved with extraordinary speed to embrace the president-elect. The same individuals who before November 8 were denouncing Trump as an existential threat to the country and the world are now pledging to work and collaborate with him.
What has happened in the ten days since the election? First, there were the conciliatory statements from President Barack Obama and Trumps rival in the election, Hillary Clinton. Obama declared the day after the vote that his number one priority was to ensure that Trump was successful. This was followed by an apology from the New York Times, the leading national newspaper in the US and a fervent promoter of the Clinton campaign, for its coverage of the election.
Nominally left Democrats, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, jumped in to say that they would work with Trump on basic elements of his agenda, as have top trade union executives like AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and UAW President Dennis Williams. This week, Vice-President Joseph Biden put in his praise after a meeting with Vice-President elect Mike Pence, saying that the office would be in good hands from Day One of the new administration.
Throughout this process, the ultra-right agenda of the incoming administrationepitomized in Trumps selection of Stephen Bannon, a racist and fascist, as chief strategisthas been ignored or downplayed. So too has the fact that Trump likely lost the popular vote by as many as two million, treated by Democrats and the media as an inconvenient fact in the effort to assure the stability of the new government.
Aside from the spinelessness that has long characterized the Democratic Party, a definite political logic is at work. While the election campaign gave expression to bitter factional conflicts within the ruling class, its outcome has paved the way for a reorientation of class policyin a ferociously nationalist direction.
Most revealing is the response of congressional Democrats to the new power in Washington. This turn is spearheaded by Senate Democrats, who elected a new leader Wednesday, Charles Schumer, to replace the retiring Harry Reid of Nevada.
As a senator from New York state, Schumer is a fervent defender of Wall Street interests. But he is also identified with a more aggressive anti-China stance in economic and trade policy. Year after year, he has co-sponsored legislation with Republican war hawk Lindsey Graham of South Carolina demanding that the US government force China to revalue its currency upwards with the threat of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.
The most vehement advocate of such a policy is President-elect Trump, who has declared he will issue an executive order branding China a currency manipulator, and impose tariffs of up to 45 percent to force Beijing to revalue. Trump and Schumer have known each other for decades, and Trump has contributed to Schumers House and Senate campaigns.
The New York Times, which largely supports the pro-Trump campaign by the Democrats, headlined its Thursday lead, Senate Democrats Surprising Strategy: Trying to Align With Trump. The article reported that congressional Democrats are constructing an agenda to align with many proposals of President-elect Donald J. Trump that put him at odds with his own party.
Given Trumps lack of ties to the Republican congressional leadership, the Democrats hope to win him to their side on certain issues if they embrace his trade war program, on which they largely agree. The Times report continues: Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, elected Wednesday as the new Democratic minority leader, has spoken with Mr. Trump several times, and Democrats in coming weeks plan to announce populist economic and ethics initiatives they think Mr. Trump might like.
The effort to present the Democrats alliance with Trump as a populist turn to the white working class is a fraud. The nationalist agenda is aimed at aggressively asserting the interests of American corporations in relation to their rivals. The corollary of this policy is ever more violent military intervention all over the world.
Sanders now elevated role in the Democratic Party (he was appointed to the Senate leadership this week) is particularly significant. Sanders based much of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on opposition to trade agreements. The other addition to the Senate leadership is West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a rabid protectionist who has discussed switching to the Republican Party.
The claim by Democrats that they will work with Trump on certain issues while opposing him on others is a political fiction. A nationalist economic policy will inevitably be accompanied by the aggressive use of military force abroad. This was signaled Thursday night by the announcement that Trump will be appointing retired general Michael Flynn, an arch warmonger, as his national security advisor.
Moreover, to the extent that the ruling class attempts to stimulate economic growth through nationalist measures, this will be based on an intensification of the exploitation of the working class within the United States. The turn to Trump signals that the ruling elite is preparing to use more authoritarian methods of rule and police-state violence to deal with the growth of social opposition.
While the election of Trump marks a significant shift in the political methods of the ruling class, his policies are in line with a general trajectory going back decades.
There is no constituency in the American ruling elite or its two political parties for a genuine struggle against the ultra-right, authoritarian, militaristic regime that is taking shape in Washington. The incoming Trump administration is one of enormous crisiselected with the votes of less than a quarter of the population, without a popular mandate for the ferociously reactionary policies it will unleash.
The struggle against Trump cannot be waged through any faction of the discredited Democratic Party or any of the institutions of the capitalist state. It requires the independent political mobilization of the working class through the building of its own party, based on a socialist and internationalist program.
On Thursday, Vermont Senator and former Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders appeared before a crowd of several hundred workers, young people and trade union members on the north lawn of the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The event, billed as a Rally for Social and Economic Justice and Equality, was organized by the trade unions and various organizations tied to the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party.
Despite organizers claim that the rally was intended to promote a peoples agenda stepping up grassroots mobilizations for economic and social justice and equality as the incoming Trump administration takes office, the event offered no way forward for workers seeking to defend themselves against the attack on democratic rights and living standards being prepared by a Trump administration.
In the wake of the US presidential elections, tens of thousands of youth, professionals and working class people have taken to the streets protesting the election of Trump. High school students have staged mass walkouts throughout the country in recent days.
Speakers at the event made few direct references to Trump, instead seeking desperately to bolster illusions in the Democratic Party. In various trade union functionaries speeches, Trumps election victory was portrayed as something potentially beneficial. Numerous speakers touted the president-elects right-wing nationalist opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, a view that is shared by the trade unions.
In the social media description of the event, the organizers declare months of protests by labor and progressive organizations culminated in the opposition to the trade deal by all three leading Presidential candidates.
This perspective was captured most grotesquely by former-Communications Workers of America president and representative of Sanderss Our Revolution organization, Larry Cohen. Jumping up and down hysterically, Cohen declared, we need to celebrate in dark times. This is a victory!
Several trade union representatives declared that progressives and the labor movement needed to stick together going forward. This was stated without a hint of irony under conditions where the trade union apparatus in multiple industries has organized the isolation and sellout of strikes by sections of the working class throughout the US.
Sanders began his speech by reminding audience members not to forget that Trump had lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Trump won for a number of reasons, Sanders said, noting the various aspects of the economic and social crisis in America.
The future of the Democratic Party must be rectified [and] it is time for a new direction, said Sanders. He said he supported the nomination of Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison as the new chair of the Democratic National Committee. Sanders himself has been recently elevated to the leadership of the Democratic caucus in the US Senate.
The claim that the Democratic Party is capable of being moved to the left is disproven by the results of Sanderss own failed presidential run. After gaining the support of millions with his calls for political revolution against the billionaire class, Sanders pivoted to backing Clinton, the chosen candidate of Wall Street and the military-intelligence agencies.
Sanders said nothing of his attempts to present the Wall Street servant Clinton as the continuation of his political revolution against the billionaire class in his speech.
Sanders sought to stoke illusions in the new administration, declaring demagogically people thought Trump would stand up to the establishment He wont, but we will. Sanders stated that Trump had been dangerously wrong on issues such as climate change, before urging the president-elect to pay more attention to the scientific community and less to the fossil fuel industry.
The notion that a Trump administration can be pressured to adopt progressive policy positions is to sow fatal illusions about the real character of a Trump presidency. A hint of what Trump is preparing to do was given just days before, when Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, an avid Trump supporter and prospect for a top position in his cabinet, accused anti-Trump protesters of causing riots and advocated for the use of ALL non lethal force against them.
Despite the events claim to promote an agenda for stepping up grassroots mobilizations, not a single speaker bothered to make a reference to the mass anti-Trump protests occurring in cities throughout the US. The refusal of the Democratic Party and trade union establishment to support the protests is of a piece with efforts to legitimize the Trump transition to power while containing popular hostility to the elections outcome.
Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke to Jessica, who had attended the event. I was a Sanders supporter during the primaries. I honestly think if he had won [the election] America would not be in the situation we are in right now, she said.
Speaking of the anti-Trump protests sweeping the country, Jessica said I think people should be protesting. I think we have a duty to [protest]. When asked why she thought the Democratic Party was attempting to play down the significance of Trumps election, Jessica said, Trump always complained during the election that the system was rigged, but it turned out to be rigged for him.
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As anti-Trump protests spread, Democrats scramble to contain opposition
[17 November 2016]
By PTI: Bhubaneswar, Nov 18 (PTI) BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today sought explanation from party MP Bhartruhari Mahatab for his recent statement on the partys possible ties with opposition Congress.
Mahatab, the leader of BJD Parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha, has also been accused of issuing "harmful" statements to media without prior permission of the party president, a release by BJD secretary Ananta Narayan Jena claimed.
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"Party president Naveen Patnaik has today sought explanation from the Cuttack MP over his anti-party statements," he said.
Mahatab said, "He (Patnaik) is my leader. He has every right to seek explanation from me. I will give reply after receiving the letter."
On November 2, Mahatab, in a statement to a local news channel, had said, "As Congress has been weakened now, the party (BJD) should reconsider its policy of maintaining distance from that party."
He had also said since Congress is "not strong enough",there is "no danger" in tying up with it to fight BJP.
"The Uttar Pradesh polls will determine BJDs strategy. As Congress has looked after the general welfare of the people of Odisha, BJD can be a part of the grand alliance against BJP," Mahatab had said.
Reacting immediately to Mahatabs statement, Patnaik had said, "There is no question of any kind of alliance with Congress as it has always neglected the people of Odisha."
The developments took a new turn when a section of the local media quoting Mahatab, said the Cuttack MP spoke about the possible alliance with Congress as per the direction of the Chief Minister.
Mahtab, however, immediately claimed that he had never made such statements. PTI AAM SKN SUS NSD SNP
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By Siddhartha Rai: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an Obama-style town hall to reach out to the people directly in August this year, it is now BJP president Amit Shah's turn. The party chief is all set to hold a massive 'Yuva Town Hall' in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) on November 19 to establish a direct connect with the young college-going voters of the state.
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REACH OUT TO YOUNG VOTERS
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had found much resonance with the young voters of the state in the last general elections in 2014, when riding on the Modi wave the party had bagged 71 of the 80 parliamentary seats. "The young men and women of Uttar Pradesh have a stake in the state's development and BJP recognising their aspiration wants to establish a direct dialogue. Yuva Town Hall is the first step towards participative governance," said Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP's national information and technology.
In this massive town hall, to be held at the Babu were to come to power. The party calls this crowd-sourcing its manifesto by leveraging technology as students from across UP's colleges would be connected to the party president via online modes such as WhatsApp and online telephony along with the regular phone calls.
STUDENTS' INVOLVEMENT
The BJP has already appointed its student representatives in the major colleges of the state -the party has christened them as 'Campus Saarthi' of 'Campus Ambassadors'- who have been pressed into service to take the party's message, especially underline what the party claims to be Modi's connect with the youth, to the common students. Meanwhile, the party is making grand preparations to make the town hall a success. "The BJP is the only alternative in front of the people of the state, especially the youth and students, as the past regimes have neglected all the avenues for their betterment. UP needs a major refurbishing of the educational system. The state needs more colleges and more schools but the Samajwadi Party as well as BSP have had just no focus in this field as they have been busy perpetrating corruption and making parks," said UP BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan
"Ask anyone when did Akhilesh Yadav or for that matter Mayawati before him ever talked to the students?" the spokesperson asked. Banarasi Das University in Lucknow, over a lakh students from across 200 locations in the state are expected to get in touch with Shah apart from the ones in which the BJP chief would be getting face-toface on the varsity campus. At this town hall the party would ask the youth of the state what they want from it and the government if the BJP.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man in Leon County Sheriff's custody has been charged with 34 counts of child porn possession.
Benjamin Jones was arrested in Alabama in July and was extradited to Leon County.
He's facing additional charges as well, with 4 more counts of "obscene communication" in the electronic transfer of child porn being added on Wednesday.
A probable cause document related to the case, showed that Jones was arrested after LSCO and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were able to track his IP address through his multiple email accounts.
Jones is still in the Leon County Jail.
THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - Thomasville police are warning parents and students about the serious nature of bomb threats.
In the past two weeks, they've responded to four threats at schools.
Police are cracking down on finding students responsible for the threats.
So far, three people have been charged with making terroristic threats and that's a felony.
Police have to treat every threat seriously but they say students are acting up and wasting the department's time and resources.
The most recent threat was Wednesday at Thomasville High School. Threats pull in different resources from the city and county, including police, EMS, and fire crews.
Another incident was reported at Macintyre Park School. Officials were forced to dismiss students early to investigate empty threats.
Police are fed up with the pranks and warn that students will be in big trouble if it happens again.
Captain Maurice Holmes with the Thomasville Police Department said, "It really waters down the seriousness of it, when in essence, someone might just be in danger and you're pulling resources away or you have watered the resources down to the point where we're not responding as effectively as we should."
Police say one threat was on a day where they were responding to a bank robbery and a shooting at the same time.
The department says it's an unnecessary stretching of resources.
Police say they'll hold guilty parties accountable. If students are caught, they'll be expelled from their school.
Ralph Raines Jr. led a fantasy life.
At 66, the heir to a third-generation Washington County logging company had once faced the prospect of a lonely existence. He was without close family and, as prosecutors now say, he was a bit socially awkward.
But he had found a beautiful young wifeor she had seemed to find him, actually. Mary Marks was thin and blond and preferred heavy makeup. She had presented Raines with a baby boy she said was their son, a child who sat on his lap and called him "Daddy."
What's more, a devoted caregiver named Rachel Lee, who had looked after Raines' father, was now helping Raines handle the millions of dollars that came from the family's timber company.
Raines' life had gone on like this for nearly a decadeuntil March, when police told him the life around him was a hoax.
Mary wasn't really his wife, and the boy wasn't his son. And Rachel, the caregiver? She was, in reality, Mary's mother and the architect of a yearslong scam that, authorities say, drained Raines of at least $12 million and as much as $20 million. Prosecutors say Raines is left with $200,000.
It's a classic con called the "sweetheart swindle"a younger woman ingratiates herself with an older, vulnerable man so she can get access to his money.
Investigators say these scams are on the rise as the population ages. "Once you get your hooks in, it's easy money," says Jay Pentheny, the elder-abuse detective for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, who has investigated many "sweetheart" cases. "This is very prevalent, and it's getting worse. I guarantee there are so many more cases going on in Portland that we don't know about."
Prosecutors say they've never seen a "sweetheart" fraud as large or as egregious as the one waged against Raines. The scammers allegedly bought luxury cars and financed trips to Las Vegas by liquidating Raines' bank accounts and selling off his propertiesall while keeping Raines isolated and confused.
Rachel Lee, 43, and her daughter, Porsha Lee, 24, who played the wife "Mary" in the alleged scam, were arraigned May 9 in U.S. District Court in Portland on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.
Rachel Lee's boyfriend, Blancey Lee, and another daughter, Samantha Lee, are also named in the 13-count indictment.
"The defendants, their family and their friends lived a lavish lifestyle on the back of this victim," Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Maddux told a federal judge at the Lees' arraignment. "In terms of sweetheart scams, it was like winning the Powerball."
Raines declined to be interviewed for this story. His attorney, Brett Hall, says investigators are still trying to understand what happened, and that includes helping Raines figure it out himself.
"This is devastating," Hall tells WW. "He believed that Rachel [Lee] was helping him. She created a dream state and kept him there."
An only child, Ralph Raines Jr. grew up logging with his father, Ralph Sr., and his mother, Helen, on their 1,300-acre tree farm overlooking Gaston. Ralph Sr., a World War II veteran, had inherited the former Carnation Logging Co. from his father.
The family lived modestly, rarely giving hints of how rich the timber business had made them. When Helen died in 2001, she left tens of thousands of dollars to local libraries in Gaston and Forest Grove, news reports say, and $375,000 for a library at Pacific University. The family also gave $400,000 to Tuality Forest Grove Hospital for the Raines Dialysis Center.
Raines served a tour as a sailor in Vietnam, and then earned an associate's degree in forestry from Clatsop Community College. He never married, and he had no children.
In 2004, Raines traveled to Bend for a conference of tree-farm owners, where he met Rachel Lee, then 32, a slender dark-haired woman with large, vulnerable eyes. Raines confided to her that his mother had died a few years earlier. Lee said she could relateshe too had lost her mother recently. The two quickly bonded. (Prosecutors say Rachel Lee's mother was actually alive and living in California at the time.)
Over the next two years, prosecutors say, Lee gained the trust of Raines and his father. "It was his understanding that [Lee] was there to help them, to guide them through their finances," Maddux told a federal judge last week at Lee's arraignment.
Lee was hired as caretaker for Ralph Sr., then 86, after he suffered a stroke in 2006. Prosecutors say Lee didn't let on that her only work experience was as a psychic. Before long, court records say, Rachel Lee was controlling the Raines family finances. In 2006, Ralph Jr. bought a new $915,000 home in Portland's Northwest hills, and public records show Rachel and her family moved in.
In 2008, the indictment says, Rachel Lee brought her daughter, Porsha, then 17, into the scam.
Porsha Lee put on a blond wig, large glasses and plenty of makeup. Feigning an English accent, she introduced herself to Ralph Jr. as Mary Marks, a British citizen in the U.S. illegally who needed a green card.
Raines told investigators he fell in love with Mary. Porsha Lee, disguised as Mary, told Raines she wanted to have his child, but only through artificial insemination. She convinced him to give her a sperm donation, and then told him she was going to California to have the baby.
She later returned with a little boy and told Raines this was his son. Court records obtained by WW confirm the child was born not to Porsha Lee but to her sister, Samantha, who, prosecutors say, goes by the aliases "Bubbles" and "Pebbles." The boy's birth certificate doesn't list a father.
Porsha Lee then managed to convince Raines they were actually married, court records say. That was also a lie. It's still not clear how or why Raines could have been fooled into believing this. His attorney, Hall, will only say Raines was convinced of her story by his desire for a family of his own, and by the extremes the Lees took to make the story seem real.
Meanwhile, Rachel Lee, mother of the young woman portraying Raines' wife, had opened joint bank accounts with Raines and was funneling money to her personal accounts. Raines' father, Ralph Sr., died in 2011.
That's when the money really started to fly.
Ralph Sr.'s probate file, obtained by WW, shows that Rachel and Porsha Lee, posing as Raines' wife, inserted themselves into the handling of the estate, which was valued at $5 million.
According to court documents, Rachel Lee convinced Raines to sell the Northwest Portland home, where she lived, for $640,000. She also got him to sell his family's tree farm for $12.3 million, telling him he needed the money to cover inheritance taxes, the indictment says.
The day after the tree farm sold, court records say, Lee and her boyfriend, Blancey Lee, went on a buying spree. Blancey bought a $200,000 Ferrari convertible and a $300,000 Bentley Mulsanne, according to the indictment and Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles records reviewed by WW. The vanity plates he put on the cars: aMRBIGa and aMRBIG1.a
The indictment says Rachel Lee and Blancey Lee took Raines' money to Las Vegas, where they stayed and gambled at the Wynn, the Venetian and the Bellagio hotels. They bought rental properties and opened psychic businesses in Bend, Canby, St. Helens and Portland.
Last fall, court records say, Rachel Lee told Raines he was broke and would have to file for bankruptcy.
Porsha Lee, still posing as his wife, Mary Marks, called a real-estate agent and put Raines' last two properties on the market: a 1930s family homestead and a dilapidated A-frame cabin near Gaston where Raines continued to live. The cabin had once been surrounded by woods his family owned. After the sale of the tree farm, the house stood isolated and exposed in the middle of a clear-cut.
Investigators say the scam unraveled when someoneauthorities won't say whotipped the Canby police, who joined with the Internal Revenue Service to build the case against the Lees.
When agents told Raines he had been scammed, he was skeptical. After checking back with Rachel Lee, Raines explained to agents he had given her $4 million as a gift. Agents told him she had taken much more than that.
Federal agents arrested Rachel Lee and Porsha Lee at their psychic shop in Bend last week. According to prosecutors, the Lees had traded their iPhones for disposables and had suitcases packed next to the door. When she was arrested, Porsha Lee had $40,000 in cash hidden in her underwear.
Investigators say Raines tried to cover for Rachel and Porsha Lee, something that Pentheny, the Multnomah County detective, says is common in such scams.
"The men who have been victimized do not want us involved," he adds. "They don't want friends or family to know about what happened to them.a
Prosecutors say Porsha Lee told authorities after her arrest that she made only $500 a month as a psychicwhich didn't explain why she was driving a new Mercedes.
Neighbors of the Lees' psychic business in Canby tell WW that Rachel Lee had recently met an older man who owns lots of land. The man has since told investigators he plans to marry Rachel Lee and, as a sign of affection, recently bought her a Mercedes of her own.
WWeek 2015
The Bombay High Court asked the FTII head to meet the student who has been rusticated. The bench said the reform of the student was ultimate, adding 'Jo bhoola shaam ko laut aye use bhoola nahi kehte'.
By Vidya : A dramatic, straight out of a film, scene played out at the Bombay High Court on Thursday when Justice VM Kanade asked the head of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to at least meet a student who has been rusticated.
"Jo bhoola shaam ko laut aye use bhoola nahi kehte" Justice V M Kanade said.
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Justice Kanade and Justice Nutan Sardesai asked Tom Alter, the head of FTII, to meet the student once.
The division bench said, "We don't want to compel him" but ultimately, it is the reform of a student that is important.
"The bad blood that is created will also go," the justices said.
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THE CASE
The student in point was rusticated in October this year on the inquiry committee's recommendation, which had found him guilty of misconduct.
The student, who had enrolled in 2013 for a diploma in acting, was a part of numerous protests that happened in FTII after the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairman.
This student, in particular, had written an email with expletives to the head of department Tom Alter.
Dressed in a 'hippy' attire (red tie and formal clothes), the student came to court on Thursday and stood in front of the bench with his head bowed.
His lawyer Mihir Desai said that "he must be allowed to complete the film in the final year".
For a student to get his diploma, he has to shoot a film. This student's team is shooting a film with only two days left for the shooting to complete.
The lawyer argued that he should be at least allowed to join the team to complete the shooting." If, even after the film, they don't want to give him a diploma- it is fine. But at least let him join the team."
Advocate Priyanka Telang, representing FTII, however said that the student has been rusticated due to his actions, and it doesn't seem that he is interested in the diploma.
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'GIVE THE STUDENT A CHANCE'
Justice Kanade, however, seemed persistent.
He said, "It will set an example. Many talented people have come out of the premier institute. Ultimately, the reform of a person is more important than anything else. We have seen number of cases where people have reformed even in criminal cases."
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On the other hand, advocate representing the FTII told the court that the student in question was already given an opportunity by Tom Alter, but the student never apologised.
The lawyer said "there were many times that the student passed by Alter but did not even acknowledge his presence. There is no respect."
"There are two apology letters but if you look at the wording, it hardly seems like one," she said.
Justice Kanade, however, did not go into the merits of the case and allowed the student to shoot the film on humanitarian grounds.
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Bombay High Court refuses to entertain plea filed by lawyers over demonetisation
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File report in a week's time on the amount of money pending against people who have been given security, Bombay High Court asks Maharashtra government.
By Vidya : Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to file a report in one week on the amount of money that is pending against people who have been given security by the government.
Public prosecutor Abhinandan Vaigyani said, "Security is provided only when there is a threat perception." In response to this, Chief Justice Mridula Chellur said, "If you keep on giving security without collecting money, who will bother to pay? Who will pay the charges? Have you collected the pending amount?"
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Also read | Bombay High Court refuses to entertain plea filed by lawyers over demonetisation
PETITION MENTIONS COPS' PAY IS PALTRY
A petition was filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar last year that talked about policemen not getting pension, their salaries being paltry even as their working hours were not fixed and about the miserable condition in which they lived.
In the petition, a point pertained to the state government coming out with an affidavit "containing details on the strength of the police force posted on guard duty at the residences of bureaucrats, judges and ministers."
Advocate Sadhna Kumar told the court that the issue also pertained to a police reform to which Vaigyani replied that Maharashtra had already undertaken the reform as set by the Supreme Court.
Also read | No stay on Coldplay concert in Mumbai on Nov 19, rules Bombay High Court
However, Justice Chellur wanted all that to be said in the affidavit, along with the names of people who had been given security and had not paid their dues. Chellur said, "How much you are charging and how much is pending, we need all details, especially about the extension of courtesy to private parties. The details have to be given by the state within a week."
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Youth and adult volunteers work together, fostering hope through rescue horses on the Kidznhorses Outreach ranch in Selah, Wash. on Saturday,
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By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) CBI is probing cases of ponzi schemes in which over Rs 85,000 crore of over six crore investors are involved and it is assisting the Centre in framing a legislation to put a ban on such deposit-taking activities, agency Chief Anil Sinha said here today.
"CBI alone is investigating cases in which more than six crore investors/victims spread across 26 states involving Rs 85,000 crores of public money. There are hundreds of criminal cases with state police and EOWs," he said at the valedictory session of 22nd Conference of CBI and Anti-Corruption Bureaux of states.
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He also said the scope and reach of these fraudulent entities coming out with nefarious schemes to induce gullible public to invest in their dubious schemes is bewildering.
Earlier, during a conference in Mumbai in March, Sinha had said that the agency was investigating Ponzi schemes involving funds of over Rs 1.20 lakh crore.
Officials in CBI claimed that figures often change because of allegations and later its cross verifications during the investigations.
Sinha said CBI was part of the sub-group of an Inter- Ministerial Group for identifying gaps in the existing legal and regulatory framework for "deposit-taking" activities and to suggest administrative/legislative measures including formulation of a new law, to cover all relevant aspects of deposit-taking.
"As we are all aware, a comprehensive central law titled the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Depositors Interests Bill, 2016 is on the anvil," he said.
The CBI chief said the government has announced in the 2016-17 budget that it proposes to bring in a comprehensive central legislation to deal with the menace of unauthorised deposit-taking scheme.
Sinha said the conference resolved that early enactment of the proposed central law which bans and criminalises all unregulated deposits with provisions for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime to refund the depositors will go a long way in curbing the menace. PTI ABS NES SMJ
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It may not have been the Defense Minister Avigdor Liebermans intention, but his proposal to restrict construction to the settlement blocs is in line not only with the policy which will likely be adopted by the new American administration, and he knows what hes talking about, but also with one of the most important court rulings on settlers rights compared to the rights of property owners. The ruling was issued by the European Court of Human Rights, one of the most important courts in the world.
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It began in 1974, after Turkey invaded Cyprus. About 200,000 Christian Cypriots were expelled or forced to leave the northern part of the island, where a new diplomatic entity was established (the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus TRNC), sponsored by Ankara, recognized by no other country apart from Turkey. The lands and homes of the residents who left were captured by tens of thousands of settlers, encouraged by Turkey.
Illegal outpost of Amona. The radical right wants to adopt the regulation idea and reject the principle it is based on (Photo: AP)
The property owners began claiming their property. In response, Turkey initiated a sort of regulation law, allowing the property owners to receive compensation. They didnt settle for what was offered. Some of them, led by Takis Demopoulos, petitioned the European court in 1999, claiming their property. Following discussions of more than a decade, the judges reached a dramatic decision: There is no precedent in the Courts case-law to support the proposition that a Contracting State must pursue a blanket policy of restoring property to owners without taking into account the current use or occupation of the property in question. The judges directed the petitioners to the compensation system established by the Turkish entity, despite the fact that the entity is unrecognized and the compensation is limited.
The ruling is in line with the solution adopted by the international community regarding Cyprus, which included a reunification of the island, while separating between the Turkish entity and the Greek entity. The initiative was launched in 2004 and named after then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The initiative, by the way, limits, and basically denies, the right of return, and establishes a complicated system of property issues.
The legal precedent allows the right to argue that the Regulation Bill is enforced by international law, but thats just part of the story. Because the ruling has another part: It essentially adopts the principle of separating between populations. Many conflicts have created huge waves of population swaps. For example, tens of millions in Europe. Property of enormous value, which cannot be assessed, remained behind. International law usually adopted the international and state decisions against the return of property. The ruling in the Demopoulos case goes in the same direction and is based on the principle of not restoring the situation, both concerning the residents and concerning the property.
There is an Israeli precedent as well: The lands of Kibbutz Lehavot Haviva were owned by an Israeli Arab citizen who claimed his property. The issue was discussed by the Knesset in January 1954. Then-Finance Minister Levi Eshkol spoke about the hypocrisy of the Mapam party, which demanded that Lehavot Haviva return the property while its own kibbutzim were located on Arab lands too. The farms buildings stand on the land of an Arab who lives in Israel. He is claiming the land, and there is no doubt that he should be compensated, but there is also no doubt that the buildings cannot be destroyed, Eshkol said. Lehavot Havivas members dont want to leave the land rightfully, justifiably and legally.
Amona is not Lehavot Haviva, because the communities established after the War of Independence were based on the principle of separating populations. Amona, on the other hand, was established on the opposite principle of mixing populations. The Regulation Bill could be amended so that it is restricted to the settlement blocs, which will remain under Israeli sovereignty even after an agreement or arrangement. That is the direction which was rightfully raised by Lieberman this week.
This is not a dispute between the Left and the Right, its a dispute between the Israeli majority and the radical right, which is refusing to settle for the blocs. It wants to adopt the regulation idea and reject the principle it is based on. Thats sort of like constructing a building while skipping its ground floor. That wont work. the building will collapse.
BERLIN- A Munich court on Thursday rejected a U.S. soldier's asylum application in Germany, arguing that he hasn't exhausted all avenues to leave the military.
Army Spc. Andre Shepherd deserted from his military base in southern Germany in 2007, claiming he wanted to avoid returning to Iraq where he feared being involved in war crimes.
The 39-year-old, who has permanent residency in Germany because he is married to a German woman, took his case to court after German authorities rejected the asylum bid.
The Munich administrative court noted in its ruling that the Apache helicopter mechanic had repeatedly re-enlisted with the U.S. military.
BEIRUT -- Airstrikes pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday, killing more than 20 people and hitting a water pumping station on the third day of a renewed air campaign on the besieged territory, Syrian activists and rescue workers said.
The Russian military meanwhile said airstrikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al-Qaida-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched earlier this week on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people.
In one area, volunteer first responders dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a six-year-old child who was still alive. The child's mother was killed in the strikes, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the rescuers, known as the Syrian Civil Defense.
The activist-run Public Services Authority said the Bab al-Nairab water plant was struck with a barrel bomb. Spokesman Ahmad al-Shami said the plant was damaged but is still operating.
"This regime uses any means to add pressure to civilians. It has bombed bakeries and hospitals and has not made an exception for water and electricity," he told The Associated Press.
The United States and Iran clashed Thursday openly at the UN atomic watchdog for the first time since they signed a landmark nuclear deal last year, differing over Tehran's repeated testing of one of the deal's less strictly defined limits.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is policing the deal, said Iran's overstepping of the limit on its stock of heavy water for the second time this year risked undermining countries' support for the agreement.
Arak heavy water reactor (Photo: Getty Images)
The victory of Donald Trumpa vocal critic of the dealin the US presidential election also raised the question of whether his country would continue to support the accord, which restricts Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
"Iran must strictly adhere to all commitments and technical measures for their duration," US ambassador to the IAEA Laura Holgate said in a statement to the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting.
The dispute centers on the part of the deal between Tehran and six major powers that limits Iran's stock of heavy water, a material used as a moderator in reactors like the unfinished facility in Arak, which has been put out of use.
In contrast to strict limits elsewhere in the deal on materials including enriched uranium, the text says Iran should not have more heavy water than it needs, adding that those needs are estimated to be 130 tons. Western countries see it as a hard limit, and Iran argues it is not.
Iranian nuclear agreement (Photo: AP)
"We note with concern Iran's accumulation of heavy water in excess of the limit set forth in the JCPOA of 130 metric tons," Holgate said, using the abbreviation for the deal's full name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The IAEA said Iran was preparing to ship some heavy water out of the country to come back under the 130-ton limit, but Holgate said Iran would not be in compliance until it had been delivered to a foreign buyer as the deal requires.
"Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfill this JCPOA commitment," she said.
Iran said the issue was not that clear-cut.
"Where is (the) limit?" Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters on the sidelines of the board meeting, adding that the country was preparing to export more than the 5 tons of heavy water it originally informed the IAEA of.
"The JCPOA is very clear," he added. "It says that the needs of Iran are estimated (to be) 130 tons. Who is the native English speaker to tell me what estimated means?"
Israel's Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer met with US President-elect Donald Trump's transition team at Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, bringing with him a message of support from Jerusalem.
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It is unclear whether Dermer met with the president-elect himself, while the Israeli Embassy in Washington would not confirm or deny it.
"Israel has no doubt that President-elect Trump is a true friend of Israel. We have no doubt that Vice President-elect Mike Pence is a true friend of Israel, he was one of Israels greatest friends in the Congress, one of the most pro-Israel governors in the country," Dermer, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the surprised reporters who met him at the lobby of Trump Tower.
Ron Dermer after his meeting at Trump Tower (Photo: AP)
"We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the US-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Dermer added.
Trump's appointment of Bannon has been criticized by Democrats, civil rights organizations and some Republicans, who denounce the former Breitbart News chief as having made the website a forum for the "alt-right," a loose grouping of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites.
Pnina Grynszpan-Frymer, one of the last fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, died at the age of 95 on Thursday at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. She will be buried beside her husband in Holon.
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"She was a wonderful mother, a courageous woman and very special," her daughter Neta said. "It was very important to her in recent years to work with children of other ghetto fighters to establish a special fund for Holocaust Studies at Haifa University. She wanted students from around the world to internalize and learn about the Holocaust and she has achieved her dream."
Pnina Grynszpan-Frymer (Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Grynszpan-Frymer was born in Nowy Dwor, Poland near Warsaw. With the outbreak of World War II, she and her family were moved to the ghetto and eventually found their way to the Jewish Combat Organization.
During the ghetto uprising, Pnina fought the Germans and escaped through the sewers into the Wyszkow forest, where she joined the partisans.
Pnina with her grandson (Photo: Elad Gershgorn)
After her family perished, Grynszpan-Frymer, together with her husband Chaim who was also a resistance fighter, immigrated to Israel in 1945 and made Tel Aviv their home.
In 2011, Pnina was one of 25 fighters who received a medal of honor from then-Speaker of the Knesset and current President, Reuven Rivlin.
She is survived by one daughter, one son and four grandchildren.
Bentzi Gopstein, the head of radical right-wing anti-assimilation organization Lehava, slammed Israeli Arab journalist Lucy Aharish and the rest of the Israeli media on Thursday evening.
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Gopstein waved a rag with Aharish's photo printed on it during a Jerusalem event in memory of Rabbi Meir Kahane, which was attended by hundreds of people and included speeches from other prominent right-wing figures such as Rabbi Dov Lior , attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir and former MK Michael Ben-Ari
"All these media rags, when we are in the government, we'll make them wash the floors," Gopstein told Ynet afterwards.
Gopstein waves his Lucy Aharish rag (Photo: Eliran Aharon, Channel 7)
"The media needs to understand that just like they fought (US President-elect Donald) Trump, the more they fight me the more it'll strengthen me," he added.
On Aharish, Gopstein said, "she can't forget what I told her and keeps crying. She compared me to Hamas. So we'll make her nightmare come true."
Gopstein is referring to an incident in July 2014, when Aharish interviewed Gopstein on her morning show. "This isn't your country. You shouldn't be here," he told her.
The moment he left, I pushed my chair backwards, turned around and burst into tears, Aharish told Ynet's print-publication Yedioth Ahronoth in an interview last month . Why should I feel that someone hates me because of who I am? Its like ISIS. Gopstein is like the garbage can of Islam.
She went on to explain: "You know what shattered me, that day with Bentzi Gopstein? It wasnt the first time I had heard that kind of talk. What shattered me was the hatred in his eyes, because of one thing only: Because I am an Arab. His hatred reminded me of the terrorist who threw a Molotov cocktail at me and looked at me. I was the only one who saw him, a five and a half-year-old girl. Gopsteins gaze had the same hatred.
In response to Gopstein's rag with her photo on it, Aharish told Ynet: "He can do whatever he likes. He's not worthy of a response."
Twelve Iranian officials have been arrested on suspicion of espionage, an Iranian parliament member was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying on Friday.
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According to the report and MP Hussein Ali Haji Degana, all 12 of them had key negotiating positions on the nuclear deal signed last year.
Degana, a parliament member in the opposition, demanded that the judiciary deliver rulings with transparency, and inform the public of the identities of those detained, some of whom apparently possess dual citizenship.
Photo: Reuters
Iran's Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi and other officials previously denied the existence of dual nationals in the Iranian decision-making apparatus. According to previous reports however, Abdol Rasul Dori Esfahani, one of the chief nuclear negotiators, was arrested following allegations of dual citizenship following his family moving to Canada.
Photo: AP
Earlier this month, the Swiss Attorney General announced the freezing of a criminal investigation into allegations of espionage at the nuclear talks hosted in Switzerland in April of last year. The investigation was launched one month after talks were held at the Woodrow Wilson hotel in Geneva following the discovery of malware on computers.
By PTI: exchanging notes
Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) An assistant police inspector was today suspended for his alleged involvement in a case of duping a real estate developer on the pretext of exchanging his old notes, a senior police official said.
Sanjay Mali, attached to Santacruz police station, has been suspended and his involvement in the alleged duping of Sanjay Naik, on the pretext of exchanging Rs three crore from a bank in Santacruz, is being probed, the official said.
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"An inquiry is going on against Mali in this connection," a senior police officer told PTI.
Police had yesterday arrested three persons for cheating Naik on the pretext of exchanging his money from a bank in Santacruz on Tuesday.
The accused had asked Naik to come to a place near the bank two days ago, where they took his money and fled.
The accused, whose names have not been disclosed, were arrested and a case under section 420 (cheating) of IPC was slapped on them, police had earlier said, adding more arrests were likely in connection with the incident. PTI AVI/DC GK DIP
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MANILA -- The Philippine military says fierce clashes between government troops and Muslim extremists in the country's south have left at least 14 combatans dead.
Military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan says 10 Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in Friday in Sulu province, but troops retrieved only three bodies.
Four were killed and nine wounded on the government side.
Tan says army units encountered some 150 militants in Patikul township and exchanged fire for 45 minutes until the extremists withdrew. Soldiers then pounded the rebels' position with artillery fire and put up checkpoints as they pursued the militants.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected on Sunday to pass David Ben-Gurion as the prime minister who served the longest consecutive term in Israel's history.
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Like Netanyahu, Ben-Gurion also served as prime minister in two non-consecutive periods. Ben-Gurion's first term lasted for five years and nine months until January 1954, when he resigned following a series of political clashes inside the coalition. He then retired to Kibbutz Sde Boker, only to return a year and nine months later for a longer second term that lasted 2,790 days.
As of Friday, Netanyahu has served 2,788 days consecutively spanning over three terms after having been re-elected three times in 2009, 2013 and 2015.
Netanyahu holding a cabinet meeting marking 40 years to Ben-Gurion's passing (Photo: Koby Gideon, GPO)
To break Ben-Gurion's overall record, which includes both of his terms, Netanyahu would need to serve as prime minister for 972 more daysabout two and a half years.
Ben-Gurion served a total of 4,872 days in office. Netanyahu, whose first term in office was from 1996 to 1999, has served a total of 3,900 days.
The next elections are scheduled for November 5, 20191,082 days from now. If early elections are not called before July 2019, Netanyahu will have broken that record.
Even on a world scale, that's impressive. Data collected by Dr. Ofer Kenig of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) shows Netanyahu is ranked at 62 in length of consecutive time in office among hundreds of leaders of democratic nationsboth past and present. If he completes his current term, he will leap to the 21st spot.
David Ben-Gurion in a photo from 1968.
Zionist Union MK Merav Michaeli has submitted a bill proposal in the previous Knesset's term to limit the prime minister to two terms in office, but the legislation wasn't put to a vote.
A year ago, Michaeli tabled the same bill, which was put to a vote in a preliminary reading after the heads of the opposition's parties added their names to the proposal. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who at the time was still in the opposition and a staunch critic of Netanyahu, gave his full backing to the proposal, as did Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog. Joint List leader Ayman Odeh and Meretz leader Zehava Galon chose to miss the vote, however, and the bill failed to pass.
The six months cooling period required before Michaeli can raise the proposal again have since passed, but Michaeli is waiting before putting it to a vote again.
"It's a complex proposal and we need to wait for a very specific political situation to pass it," she said.
Netanyahu visits Ben-Gurion's Hut in Sde Boker (Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)
Lieberman, who supported the proposal in the past, would not vote for it now when he's the defense minister in Netanyahu's government.
To stop Netanyahu from claiming that the bill proposal targets him specifically, Michaeli set a provision according to which the legislation would only come into effect during the election for the 22nd Knessettwo terms from now. This would allow Netanyahu to continue serving for four additional terms, but despite this he continues opposing the legislation.
IDI researchers believe the solution is not in limiting the prime minister's time in office, but in passing legislation that would determine that the head of the biggest party would be the prime minister.
"The political system does need a structural change to increase government stability and the ability to implement long-term plans, but limiting the prime minister's term will not provide the answer for that," said IDI President Yohanan Plesner, a former MK. "It is no coincidence that there is no mechanism to limit the term of the state's leader in all other parliamentarian regimes."
BERLIN -- Federal German prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old with supporting a terrorist organization by translating Islamic State propaganda and correcting errors in texts the group posted online.
Prosecutors said Friday Mikail S., a German citizen whose last name wasn't disclosed in line with privacy laws, faces nine counts of supporting the Islamic State group on allegations he'd been in contact with the extremist organization's propaganda operations since mid-2016.
S. is alleged to have contacted the group, offering to translate English, German and Turkish texts and correct linguistic errors.
After being taken up on his offer, he delivered over the period of about a month beginning at the start of June one translation and eight corrected texts which ended up on the internet.
The suspect has been in custody since July 14.
Yigal Bar-Lev, a 43-year-old Ramat Gan resident, was arrested Wednesday for aggravated assault after security cameras captured the suspect viciously assaulting 82-year-old Yosef Lavi. The assault occurred in a bike shop following a dispute about money after the man tried to return a mobility scooter he had purchased a few weeks earlier.
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The district attorney decided to file charges against Bar-Lev in the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court following a review of the assault. The indictment read: "The plaintiff came to the store of the accused with the aid of a cane and demanded that he return the money paid for the mobility scooter." It was further reported that an argument ensued and a store employee "shoved the plaintiff backward toward the entrance of the store, where he continued his claims against the accused."
While Yosef stood at the doorway and continued to argue with the storeownerwho was repairing a bike tirehe called the defendant "a cheat." This prompted Bar-Lev to come from behind the counter and strike the senior citizen in the face with an open hand, causing the man to collapse to the ground.
The indictment against Bar-Lev continued, "Upon seeing the plaintiff lying on the floor in agony, he returned to his work repairing the bike wheel as if nothing had happened." The indictment went on to detail how Bar-Lev demanded that his employee remove Yosef from the store. Finally, both lifted the man and carried him onto the sidewalk, where they left him alone and bruised.
Video of the assault (Video: Israel Police) (: )
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MDA paramedics arrived on the scene and took the man to Tel Hashomer Hospital. Ramat Gan police also arrived at the scene and detained Bar-Lev.
Lavi described the situation, saying, "I bought a mobility scooter from him and I returned it after a day or two. I told him, 'It's not for me, I can't use it.' He told me would try to sell it to someone else and later told me that he succeeded and the other person would pay for it in installments. He didn't give me my refund and then called me a thief. I told him I'm owed NIS 4,000, but he told me he would give me 1,000. This was all over NIS 3,000."
According to Lavi, after Bar-Lev assaulted him, "He didn't even call an ambulance. He dragged me into the street and his assistant helped him. His assistant was all right though; he at least brought me water."
Findings from a Knesset research project demonstrated that most attacks against the elderly are committed by the young. In addition, the study showed that in recent years, there was a 14% rise in violent crime in the general population, while the elderly population experienced an increase of 24%.
New details have emerged from the investigation into Brig. Gen. (res.) Avriel Bar-Yosef, who was slated to become the new head of Israel's National Security Council (NSC).
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Bar-Yosef, 61, was arrested for the alleged offenses of bribery, money laundering, fraud, and breach of trust, while working to promote the interests of a German business associate.
Police investigators suspect that German businessman Michael Herzog invested 700,000 euros (roughly NIS 3 million) in a startup company founded by Bar-Yosef's daughter, Dr. Hila Fogel, in an effort to butter up Bar-Yosef himselfthe deputy head of the NSC at the timeso he would promote Herzog's business interests in Israel's gas market.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Avriel Bar-Yosef
Bar-Yosef denies the allegations against him.
It has now come to light that Bar-Yosef's daughter was also arrested and questioned over suspicions of conspiring to commit a crime, receiving bribes and laundering money.
Investigative journalists from Ynet's print-publication Yedioth Ahronoth found that Herzog had Bar-Yosef's daughter, Dr. Hila Fogel, fly to Berlin on his private plane three months ago, but it now seems that the VIP treatment was only a small perk compared to the hefty sums she allegedly received from Herzog's investment fund.
Dr. Fogel, a neurophysiology researcher who researches Alzheimer's among other things, founded a company called NIBS two years ago with a fellow researcher from Tel Aviv University. The company deals with electrical brain stimulation.
In early 2015, Fogel traveled to France to meet with potential investors. A month later, Herzog's investment fund decided to invest 700,000 euros in the project in return for control of 30 percent of the company's stocks.
Police investigators claim this investment in Fogel's company was actually a bribe meant for her father Bar-Yosef.
Dr. Hila Fogel (Photo: Michal Kadron)
Fogel denied the allegations against her, claiming it was a "legitimate investment," which was accepted after she sought legal counsel on the matter. She confirmed to police investigators that her father was indeed the one who introduced Herzog to the company, but claimed there was no obligation made on Herzog's part. In support of her claims, Fogel noted that Herzog is a physicist and that's why his investment in her startup made sense.
After being questioned, Bar-Yosef and Fogel were both put on a five-day house arrest.
Bar-Yosef's lawyer, Jacques Chen, said the police investigation "is looking into matters that have been made public in the past by interest groups. Mr. Bar-Yosef answered all of the investigators' questions and clarified the situation to them. I'm confident that at the end of the investigation, allegations will be proven baseless and no faults will have been found in his conduct."
Yaron London, who represents Fogel, said: "My client acted innocently. She had legal counsel the entire time, and is certainly not connected to the accusations the investigators made against her."
Bar-Yosef is also suspected of involvement in Israel's deal with Germany to buy three new submarines and on Thursday it was revealed his German business associate Herzog was involved as well.
According to information obtained by Yedioth Ahronoth, Herzog, who heads the private equity and investment fund IFC, sought to buy an abandoned shipyard in Portugal several years ago for 250 million euros. He explained to his board that this would allow him to own a naval company that could be used to acquire the manufacturers of technological equipment for submarines, and later secure a financial return on the investment from the Israeli government. The board, however, did not approve the deal.
Herzog declined to comment.
Tova Tzimuki and Shahar Ginosar controbited to this report.
PARIS - French presidential hopefuls are showing off their patriotism by sampling sausages, fashions, and concept cars -- all made in France.
Far right leader Marine Le Pen, capitalizing on frustration with globalized trade and the status quo, reveled in her visit Friday to the "Made in France" exhibit in southern Paris.
Socialist Arnaud Montebourg -- who once posed on a magazine cover wearing a striped French sailor's jersey and holding a French-made blender -- also toured the expo.
Montebourg, who as economy minister tried to reinvigorate French manufacturing, is seeking the left-wing nomination for president.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, running in a conservative primary Sunday, visited the exhibit, too.
Some 2,000 protested on Friday against the "Muezzin Bill" in Kafr Qasim, Tayibe, Kabul, Kafr Kanna and Rahat.
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They called to end the legislative process that aims to prevent mosques from using loudspeakers to announce prayer times after leaving Friday prayers. They waved banners that read, "Silence the voice of racists, not the voice of the muezzin" and "A racist law," and cried, "The voice of the muezzin will not be stopped; such a law will not be followed."
Kafr Qasim's mayor, Adel Badir, joined those protesting in his city. He said, "Here, at this place where we're demonstrating, 49 martyrs were murdered in a massacre carried out by soldiers." Referencing the words contained in the call to worship that mean "God is (the) greatest," the mayor continued, "We were born with 'Allahu akbar,' and we'll continue saying, 'Allahu akbar.'"
Protestors in Kafr Qasim (Photo: Ido Erez)
At the beginning of the week, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill Sunday evening to ban mosque muezzins from announcing prayer times via loudspeakers in the streets. The bill was submitted by MK Motti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi) and Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beytenu) after numerous complaints from residents of various cities. The first call to prayer occurs at approximately four or five in the morning every day, disturbing the sleep of local residents.
"We are not opposed to religious observance, and certainly not to the call of the muezzin that 'God is greatest,'' Yogev told Channel 1s education program. "(Religious Jews have been) reciting a similar phrase for thousands of years, long before the emergence of Islam.
Muezzin schedule in Lod mosque (Photo: Asaf Magal)
"But with all the technological advances of today, there is no justification for waking people up at 4 oclock in the morning who dont want (to attend prayer services). There are cell phone applications, alarm clocks, and other technologies to use. There is no need to wake up the whole neighborhood."
The bill passed an initial reading in the Knesset and then was passed on to the committee stage for further rounds of voting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself voiced his broad agreement with the legislation, commenting, "Muslims, Jews and Christians all suffer from this. I cannot count the number of times that civilians have approached me from all strands of Israeli society who complain about the choice and the suffering which is caused by the excessive noise from houses of worship."
(Photo: Ido Erez)
The bill's explanatory notes elaborate, Hundreds of thousands of citizens in Israel in the regions of the Galilee, the Negev, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and other locations in the center of the country regularly and daily suffer from noise caused by the muezzin's call in mosques."
Minaret in Kafr Qasim (Photo: Gil Lerner)
It also detailed, "This noise is created as the result of using a loudspeaker, which disturbs the rest of citizens multiple times a day, including during the early morning hours and at night."
Protest in Tayibe
Yogev added that the bill "brings a worldview according to which freedom of religion doesn't require harming quality of life and suggests that houses of prayer be prohibited from using loudspeakers to call the congregation or to transmit religious or national messages, and sometimes even incitement."
The bill infuriated many Arab Israelis. One Kafr Qasim resident who came to the protest said, "If this racist law passes, quiet will not come. We'll continue to fight with all (our) strength, and it doesn't matter to us what the results may be. Arrests, indictments and investigations won't deter us. The Israeli government must understand that harming the Muslim religion is a red line."
(Photo: Ido Erez)
Speaking of the prime minister, he added, "A man who's going in this direction is destroying relations and causing an explosion. He'll be responsible for the outcome. A man like this cannot remain in a position as leader, and he must resign."
Tayibe Mayor Shuaa Mansur also warned about the effects of the legislation: "These extreme measure of the Israeli government is a challenge to the Arab populations, which believes in shared life and freedom of worship. We believe that Jews and Christians too must be given freedom of worship everywhere in the world. I hope that the voice of sanity in this country, including that of the attorney general, will triumph." He said that Netanyahu should "not be dragged over by the extreme right. At the end of the day, you're everyone's prime minister."
A Tayibe resident at the protest said, "The muezzin is an inseparable part of the prayer, which is required of every believing Muslim. Therefore, a proper democratic country should defend its existence and certainly not prevent it, as this is part of the freedom of religion and faith."
Responding to Yogev's call to use different, less intrusive technologies to call the faithful to prayer, another Tayibe resident said, "The voice of the muezzin has become part of the tradition and day-to-day life. In addition, there's tons of people and principally elderly who don't know how to read and write, and certainly not how to use a smartphone. I recommend that the prime minister of Israel deal with other noises, like the noises of planes above populated areas, marriages in illegal locations."
ATHENS - The United Nations refugee agency is expressing concern over attacks on a migrant camp on the Aegean island of Chios, and wants Greek authorities to increase security at the site.
The UNHCR said Friday petrol bombs and stones damaged tents and shelters at the camp holding 2,300 people, in the island capital of Chios. Thursday's attacks followed overnight clashes between camp residents, police and islanders.
Police are investigating the attacks.
MINSK A comprehensive reform of the Jewish religious conversion system in Europe means that from now on, continental religious Orthodox courts will have uniform procedures for the process, the Conference of European Rabbis announced at their Biannual Standing Committee in the Belarusian capital.
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This measure is intended to the trend of what rabbis have termed "the conversion industry" (i.e., conversion for money) that they assess as granting thousands of bought conversions each year.
CER in Minsk (Photo: Eli Itkin)
According to the CER's decision, only rabbinical courts that have received the conference's approval will be permitted to perform conversions. For the first time, a uniform process for conversion across the continent is to be assembled. Applications for conversion from persons outside the area of the Jewish community in which they are seeking to carry out the process will not be received in an attempt to keep out those with insincere intentions. Fundamental principles are also to be set regarding religious observance, such as keeping Shabbat and kashrut that will be necessary prerequisites for conversion eligibility.
The CER describes itself as "the primary rabbinical alliance in Europe. It unites more than 700 religious leaders of the mainstream synagogue communities in Europe," and it is headed by its president and Moscow's chief rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt.
The CER will determine the composition of those who sit on conversion courts and will be able to disqualify rabbis from dealing with the subject. The State of Israel, for its part, will not recognize conversions carried out by parties that it has not authorized, but it will regularly accept and approve without delay the supervised conversions performed in Europe.
"Very unfortunately, we're talking in Europe about dozens of percent of intermarriage," Rabbi Moshe Lebel, the CER's rabbinical director, explained regarding the circumstances that led to the decision. "The father can be a synagogue's gabbai, but have a son with a non-Jewish girlfriend. Unfortunately, here pirate courts come into the picture that in exchange for money out of a weird ideology, convert anybody who asks.
The new measures that are to bind European Jewish communities will be decided on in complete collaboration with the administration of Israeli religious Jewish courts. For the planned reform, a joint conference is planned with European religious judges and the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel David Lau, intending to improve the collaboration between the two sides.
Advisory: Graphic content
Gaza's health ministry said that a 26-year-old Palestinian, Mohammad Abu Seada, was killed by soldiers in clashes along the border between the territory ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas and Israel.
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Another three Gazans taking part in the protests were also injured.
Abu Seada viewed in morgue (: )
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The IDF said dozens of Palestinians breached the buffer zone, damaged the fence, threw rocks at soldiers, burned tires and "attempted to infiltrate Israel."
A relative mourns over the body of Mohammed Abu Saada (Photo: AFP)
Relatives react after seeing the body of Mohammed Abu Saada (Photo: AFP)
Dozens of protesters hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers every Friday along the border with Gaza.
The Associated Press, Elior Levy, Reuters and Yoav Zitun contributed to this report.
By PTI: exchanging notes
Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) An assistant police inspector was today suspended for his alleged involvement in a case of duping a real estate developer on the pretext of exchanging his old notes, a senior police official said.
Sanjay Mali, attached to Santacruz police station, has been suspended and his involvement in the alleged duping of Sanjay Naik, on the pretext of exchanging Rs three crore from a bank in Santacruz, is being probed, the official said.
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"An inquiry is going on against Mali in this connection," a senior police officer told PTI.
Police had yesterday arrested three persons for cheating Naik on the pretext of exchanging his money from a bank in Santacruz on Tuesday.
The accused had asked Naik to come to a place near the bank two days ago, where they took his money and fled.
The accused, whose names have not been disclosed, were arrested and a case under section 420 (cheating) of IPC was slapped on them, police had earlier said, adding more arrests were likely in connection with the incident. PTI AVI/DC GK DIP RDS
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WASHINGTON - Three former top Soviet officials are marking the signing of a treaty 25 years ago that formally dissolved the Soviet Union and are urging dialogue on the deadly separatist conflict in Ukraine.
In December 1991, the leaders of the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed a pact that broke up the USSR and defeated the efforts of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to keep the country together.
One of the signatories, Stanislav Shushkevich, then head of the Belarusian parliament, said Friday the deal helped avoid civil wars and many other calamities and required "a touch of heroism." He spoke at a think tank event in Washington.
Gennady Burbulis, an aide of the late Russian President Boris Yeltsin, said the Soviet Union was "an inviable entity" from the very beginning.
Master Sgt. Joe Poltor, lead recruiter at Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS), Ohio, won three awards during the annual Air Force Reserve Command recruiting conference held in Orlando, Florida in late October.
Poltor was named Top Get 1 recruiter in the north, Top Non-Prior Service (NPS) Recruiter in the North and Top NPS Recruiter in the command. The last is the highest award a recruiter can earn.
It is a great honor to win any awards in recruiting, but being maned the Top Non-Prior Service recruiter was an honor, Poltor said.
According to Senior Master Sgt. John Wood, senior recruiter at YARS, Poltor set a goal for this year to be the top NPS Recruiter in the Command, and he achieved that goal.
Hard work, dedication and commitment best define the Airman and the recruiter. That is Master Sgt. Poltor, Wood said. Joe is one of the best recruiters I have worked with. He is driven to provide world-class customer service, and that is validated by his accomplishments.
Poltor is a Brookfield, Ohio native and knows what its like to grow up in a small town.
I joined the Air Force at 17 and left for basic training right after high school graduation, he said. I know what its like to want to want to get away from home.
The master sergeant was a C-17 loadmaster from 2002 to 2008 as an active duty Airman and transferred to the reserve in 2008. He joined the recruiting team in 2014 to help people and add more stability to his life.
Poltor spent his first year recruiting in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area before transferring closer to family.
Im from this area of Ohio. I know the struggles of being from a small town, Poltor said when asked about coming to Youngstown Air Reserve Station. I can show people the path to something more than they may have if they dont join the reserve.
Poltor said the hours in recruiting can be very long, but it is rewarding and beautiful to see the change in the people he recruits from the time they are enlisted, though their time in the Development and Training Flight to basic training and tech school and back here at the unit.
The best thing about this job is being able to help kids become productive adults, Poltor said.
He had one recruit who hadnt made the best decisions in his young life. Poltor said he seemed to have no real focus, he didnt have a plan, then his girlfriend got pregnant and he knew he needed to make a change. Poltor was able to recruit him into the 910th Civil Engineer Squadron where he will learn to be an electrician. That skill will help will help him find a job when hes not on Reserve orders and be able to support his family.
He listened to what I had to tell him and was able to get basic training and tech school scheduled so he will be home before the baby is born, Poltor said. Thats the kind of recruit who makes my job worth all of the long hours.
Poltor recruited 47 NPS Airmen and a total of 62 Airmen for the year. A NPS recruit has never served in any capacity in any branch of the military. The other 15 recruits either came from active duty Air Force or other branches of the military.
One of the 47 NPS recruits Poltor enlisted is Airman 1st Class Sarah Gruber, 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs broadcast journalist.
Master Sgt. Poltor is ambitious and determined. He worked very hard to ensure I would like the job that I was interested in, Gruber said. He cares about the people he puts in the Air Force. He checked up on me after basic training to see if I was doing well in training and having a good time.
Poltor got into recruiting to help people. The hours are long, the pay doesnt change because you recruit more or less people, so you have to do it because you want to help someone, said Poltor.
He advises all potential recruits to do their homework and not fall for the pressure that some recruiters use to get people in their branch of service.
Each branch has benefits and drawbacks depending on what someone is looking for so people need to research the information they are given. Everything is available on the web, Poltor said.
Not everyone who has tried to enlist in the Air Force Reserve has been a success story. Unfortunately medical issues like severe asthma and concussions have kept people from being able to join.
I had one kid who wanted to come in, but was disqualified because he had suffered two concussions playing sports. It broke his heart to be told he didnt qualify, Poltor said.
Poltor said he is very happy with the recruiting team at YARS. They have a positive attitude and make the job more fun. He plans to continue to strive for the best in his job, but also wants to find a better balance to spend more time with his family.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming an Air Force Reserve recruiter or about joining the Reserve, please call 330-609-1394 to speak with a member of YARS' recruiting team.
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.
As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.
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This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.
Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.
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By PTI: From K J M Varma
Beijing, Nov 18 (PTI) China today warned Mongolia of "serious repurcussions" to bilateral ties if it allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the country and allow the monk to engage in "separatist activities".
The 81-year-old monk is due to start a four-day visit to predominantly Buddhist Mongolia this evening as the resource rich Mongolia invited him defying Chinas strong objections to any country holding the Tibetan Buddhist monk.
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The Dalai Lama is in a "political exile who has long been engaging in splitting China activities in the name of religion with the aim of alienating Tibet from China," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media briefing here.
"We strongly urge Mongolia to act by keeping in mind the big picture of maintaining the stable development of bilateral relations and to keep their promises made on this issue," Geng said.
"Do not allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Do not support or facilitate the separatist activities of the Dalai clique," Geng said adding that Mongolia should stick to commitment given on Tibet related issues.
China regards Dalai Lama as separatist and routinely objects his visit to any country. Recently Beijing objected to Indias permission to him to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which regards as southern Tibet.
However, the invitation to the Dalai Lamaby Mongolia whose source-centred economy is heavily dependent on China came a surprise as it is currently in negotiations for a USD 4.2 billion loan from Beijing to help pull it out of a deep recession.
Mongolian Buddhism is closely tied to Tibets version of Mahayana Buddhism.
The Tibetan monk made the first of his eight visits to Mongolia in 1979. PTI KJV AJR AKJ AJR
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As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
Dobra, k. Szczecina 900 m2
40 miejsc parkingowych
Atut: Dodatkowe dochody z paczkomatow InPostu, a juz niedugo i z myjni samoobsugowej.
Tradycyjny zakup nieruchomosci, mozliwosc wykupienia uzytkowania wieczystego.
The Delhi Police today arrested two in connection with theft in Delhi and NCR. They recovered 401 mobile phones, four flashers and one laptop from them.
By Tanseem Haider: The Delhi Police today arrested two in connection with theft and recovered 401 mobile phones which were stolen from Delhi and NCR.
The two accused, Mohammad Shafi and Waseem, residents of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh were nabbed today by the Central District Police.
In addition to 401 mobiles, four flashers and one laptop has also been recovered.
The mobiles recovered by the police.
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Due to increasing incidents of snatching and pick-pocketing of mobile phones in the area, patrolling was strengthened. The special staff of the police made the people aware and asked them to be alert and keep a close watch on suspicious people.
Sources were also deployed to get clues about the accused.
The police received information on September 8 that two persons, who used to boy stolen mobiles, would come at Old Iron Bridge in Darya Gang. A police team was deployed around the area and the accused were apprehended.
Also Read:
India Today Impact: Centre asks Delhi Police to act against cash mafia
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At a meeting convened by BJP president Amit Shah, some party MPs expressed concerns fearing backlash of people over demonetisation decision ahead of UP polls.
By India Today Web Desk: While publicly they are heaping lavish praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's step to fight corruption and black money through demonetisation, a section of the ruling BJP leaders, including MPs, are unhappy with the government's move.
A meeting of party MPs called by Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah to discuss ways of promoting and endorsing demonetisation in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) and the adjoining states, was cancelled at the eleventh hour, following apprehensions that a section of the MPs may express their displeasure over the move.
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READ| Demonetisation Day 10: Election Commission asks Finance Ministry to stop using indelible ink at banks
According to sources, the meeting that was to be held on Wednesday was called off after apprehensions were raised that certain MPs may express their displeasure in front of Shah.
MPs FEAR BACKLASH
At least three of the MPs, admitted privately to IANS, that they were not happy with demonetisation and said they had to face the backlash of people in their respective constituencies.
They said people were even coming to their houses to complain about the lack of availability of cash and the pains they had to undergo to get their money exchanged in banks.
READ| Demonetisation: Government promises action after India Today exposed misuse of Jan Dhan accounts
While Shah proposed that banners and posters endorsing demonetisation and hailing Prime Minister Modi for the "bold move" be put up in Uttar Pradesh, the MPs got cold feet fearing it may backfire.
WATCH:
READ| Exposed: Crooks turning kala dhan into Jan Dhan
PARLIAMENT HOUSE ATMs GO DRY
The ripple effects of demonetisation have not spared the high-security Parliament House complex too. On Thursday, the second day of the Winter Session, ATMs went dry at Parliament House, causing intense disappointment among those lined up in the queue.
Hoping to get hold of much-needed cash, many people, mostly Parliament staff, security officials and some journalists, queued up at the two ATMs in Parliament House in the afternoon. But their wait turned futile as the cash vending machines were not refilled during the day.
READ| India Today Impact: Centre asks Delhi Police to act against cash mafia
'ONLY WHEN THE GOVT HAS MONEY?'
Hoping the ATMs would be replenished in the evening, people again queued up but yet again they were left dejected.
"The RBI and the office of the Prime Minister are situated just a few yards from here, but even then they couldn't provide cash. Imagine the situation in ATMs outside Parliament," said a man frustrated over his wait going in vain.
Later at the Central Hall, a union minister talking to reporters, quipped "Only when the government has money will it fill the ATMs."
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(Inputs from IANS)
WATCH:
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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Suicide bombers in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the heart of a seven-year-old insurgency by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, killed two people, the state police commissioner said on Friday.
"We had a number of explosions today in Maiduguri," said Damian Chukwu, Borno state police commissioner. He said a total of six people died - two members of a government-approved militia and four suicide bombers.)
District of Columbia: US President-elect Donald Trump`s choice to be his powerful national security advisor, Michael Flynn, is a former military intelligence chief who sees militant Islam as the biggest threat to global stability.
The retired three-star general, a veteran of America`s recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has courted controversy with extreme statements that critics say border on Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, he has taken a more flexible line on Russia and China -- countries the outgoing administration of Barack Obama regards as the country`s principal strategic opponents.
Flynn`s paid appearance at a dinner in Russia last year sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised eyebrows, as have his accommodating statements toward Moscow that suggest, along with Trump`s, a readiness to accept Russia`s seizure of Crimea and its support for embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
"We beat Hitler because of our relationship with the Russians, so anybody that looks on it as anything but a relationship that`s required for mutual supporting interests, including ISIS, ... that`s really where I`m at with Russia," he told the Washington Post in August.
"We have a problem with radical Islamism and I actually think that we could work together with them against this enemy. They have a worse problem than we do."
Son of a Rhode Island banker, Flynn had a professional army career mainly in intelligence units. In the 2000s he served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he became director of intelligence for coalition forces.
In 2012 he was named by Obama to lead the 16,500-strong Defense Intelligence Agency, but he was forced out in less than two years amid a turbulent restructuring effort and clashes with his superiors.
Since then he has repeatedly criticized the Obama government as inadequately focused on the Islamist threat, publishing a book this year entitled: "The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies."In it he argues that Muslim countries must be forced to recognize and stamp out radical Islamic beliefs, which he says are "metastasizing" around the world.
"We`re in a global war, facing an enemy alliance that runs from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Havana, Cuba, and Caracas, Venezuela," he wrote in the New York Post in July.
"Along the way, the alliance picks up radical Muslim countries and organizations such as Iran, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State."
Like Trump, Flynn has also criticized US allies in NATO for not putting enough of their own effort and funding into the crucial western defense treaty.
Critics in the national security community see his views as one-dimensional and warn they could upset well-established relationships that benefit the United States.
They also question his willingness to take money from Russian government-backed groups, and his support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s harsh crackdown on dissent.
In a statement Friday Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was "deeply concerned" over Flynn`s view on Russia.
"The incoming president would be better served by someone with a healthy skepticism about Russian intentions, and willing to be guided by the unequivocal intelligence we have of Russian`s malignant policies towards the US and our allies," he said.
Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has tapped his trusted military advisor Lt Gen (rtd) Michael Flynn, who helped dismantle insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq, as his National Security Advisor, media reports have said.
A shrewd intelligence professional and a straight talker, Flynn, 56, was one of the top military leaders to have endorsed Trump and has been his closest military advisor for more than a year now.
"The most influential national security job in the still-forming Trump administration will likely go to a retired three-star general who helped dismantle insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq but then surprised ? and sometimes dismayed colleagues by joining the political insurgency led by Donald Trump," The Washington Post reported.
If selected, he would succeed Susan Rice as the NSA.
In his latest book in August, Flynn had advocated cutting off aid to Pakistan, if it continued to help the jihadis.
"We need to have some tough love conversations with the leaders of countries who pretend to be our friends, but who also collaborate with our enemies," Flynn had said in his latest book
"How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies," that hit the book stands in August.
"Countries like Pakistan need to be told that we will not tolerate the existence of training camps and safe havens for Taliban, Haqqani, and Al-Qaeda forces on their territory, nor will we permit their banks and other financial institutions to move illicit funds for the terror network," said Flynn.
As an adviser, Flynn has already proved to be a powerful influence on Trump, convincing the president-elect that the US is in a "world war" with Islamist militants and must work with any willing allies in the fight, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia, The New York Times reported.
They both believe that the US needs to start working with Putin to defeat Islamist militants and stop worrying about his suppression of critics at home, it said.
He served as the director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's top spy agency, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board.
Flynn was forced out of his job as director of the agency in 2014 over concerns about his leadership style. After the ouster, he frequently lashed out in public against President Barack Obama and blamed his removal on the administration's discomfort with his hard-line views on radical Islam, the Post reported.
Fox News said Flynn was in line for the NSA position, which does not require confirmation by the Senate.
The Election Commission has been apprehensive that the indelible ink will be misused during the elections, if the banks in rural areas are allowed to use it now.
By Ajay Kumar: Even as the finance ministry wants indelible ink be used for those who are exchanging demonetised currency notes, the Election Commission of India has directed district magistrates across the country not to supply the ink to the banks to avoid any possible misuse during elections.
EC APPREHENSIVE ABOUT INDELIBLE INK
Mail Today has accessed the letter issued by RK Srivastava, senior principal secretary to ECI, to the district magistrates on November 16. The district magistrates are the officials under whose authority the electronic voting machines, indelible ink and other voting items are stored. "Following the finance ministry's announcement regarding use of indelible ink, we had approached the district administration of Gurugram. But they cited the ECI order, and refused to give us any indelible ink," said RK Nayak, lead district manager of Gurugram, who monitors bank operations.
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The Election Commission has been apprehensive that the indelible ink will be misused during the elections, if the banks in rural areas are allowed to use it now. Sources said fraudsters may get access to the stocks of indelible ink from the banks once the cash crisis gets over and it would be misused during the elections. The finance ministry has asked the Indian Bankers Association in Mumbai to distribute indelible ink to the banks. But the banks can use indelible ink only in the metropolitan areas where people are visiting banks and post offices multiple times to exchange demonetised currency notes. For such areas the poll panel has also directed the banks to avoid putting ink on the first finger of any individual, citing polling in some of the constituencies.
ALSO READ:
Demonetisation Day 10: Supreme Court refuses to stay petitions against note ban in lower courts
Indelible ink at banks to stop people from hoarding cash, creating panic
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New York: US President Barack Obama on Friday crticised Facebook for spreading fake news that favoured Donald Trump.
"In an age where there`s so much active misinformation and it`s packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television," Obama was quoted by The Verge as saying.
"If everything seems to be the same and no distinctions are made, then we won`t know what to protect," he further said.
Buzzfeed found that top-performing fake stories performed better on Facebook than accurate stories shared by traditional media sites during the US presidential election campaign.
Critics have blamed the social networking giant Facebook for influencing the US-elections in favour of President-elect Donald Trump by circulating a "host of fake news stories about political topics.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg had declined that Facebook played a role in spreading fake news and termed this idea "crazy". To mitigate the criticism, Facebook decided to ban sites that post fake news from using its advertising network to make money.
"The capacity to disseminate misinformation, wild conspiracy theories, to paint the opposition in wildly negative light without any rebuttal, that has accelerated in ways that much more sharply polarise the electorate and make it very difficult to have a common conversation," Obama told New York editor David Remnick.
Anantapur: In a shocking incident, a 40-year-old woman was forced to drag her ailing husband on the ramp of a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh after hospital staff allegedly expressed their inability to provide her a stretcher.
The incident took place in Guntakal city in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh.
Sree Vani had taken her 45-year-old husband Srinivasa Chary, having symptoms of gastroenteritis, to the hospital.
However, the staff "bluntly" told her that they did not have a stretcher.
This left Vani with no other option but to drag her husband to the first floor of the hospital even as other patients and attendants watched her.
(With ANI inputs)
Karachi: With focus on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Navies of both sides are presently engaged in a joint exercise aimed at promoting maritime security and stability in the region.
The fourth joint exercise, which began on Thursday, will continue till November 21, reports the Dawn.Commodore Mirza Foad Amin Baig, Commander 18th Destroyer Squadron, told the media that the fourth exercise carried far more importance in the context of the CPEC project. He said that the drill was aimed at enhancing security in the strategic region including port areas and the sea where ships would sail out.
"The [fourth] exercise will help improve the naval capability of both countries to protect Gwadar port activities while providing a safe and conducive environment for the movement of merchant ships from there," said Chi Qingtao, Senior Captain Flotilla Commander Chinese Naval Force.The Chinese Naval Commander said that in addition to enjoying "solid friendship", both sides share waters and mountains, "which we will protect together".
Chinese naval ships Changxingdao and Handan reached Karachi earlier on Wednesday to participate in the exercise.Providing details of the exercise, Commodore Baig said that it would have harbour and sea phases.
He said that this exercise was aimed at exchanging and making use of combined maritime operations to ensure a stable maritime environment, which was vital for economic stability, growth, peace and security of the region."The exercise is reflective of a strong mutual desire to improve the level of coordination and interoperability at operational and tactical levels," he said.
"The navies of both China and Pakistan enjoy an all-weather relationship with joint maritime collaboration, including regular exchange visits of senior naval leadership and fleet units, joint construction of naval ships and submarines, PLA(N)`s regular participation in Aman series of exercises, and annual joint SOF exercises. The current visit of PLA (N) ships to Karachi and... this bilateral exercise is a testimony of the same," he added.The Chinese Naval Commander said that this exercise would further refine the operational capabilities of both navies.
Chennai: At a time when people are queuing to banks to get new currency notes, a fire broke out at a State Bank of India's Parry's Corner branch in Chennai.
As per officials of the fire department, the blaze has been brought under control and there are no casualties. However, the extent of loss to property is yet to be ascertained.
Earlier in the week, a fire had broken out at an ATM of Central Bank of India in north Delhis Kashmere Gate area.
The ATM was damaged but there was no currency in the ATM. A short-circuit was said to be the cause of the fire.
Paris: Right-wing candidates for the French presidential election face off in the first round of a US-style primary on Sunday with former president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-prime minister Alain Juppe fighting to avoid being knocked out by an outsider.
In a contest overshadowed by the election of Donald Trump in the United States, support for the early favourite Juppe has slipped and Francois Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy, has risen fast.
The right-wing nominating contest is crucial because with the French left divided, the winner is expected to go on to take the presidency in May, beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff.
Juppe, 71, entered the two-month-long contest with polls showing him to be France`s most popular politician, but his approach of playing the moderate against the fiery Sarkozy and the conservative Fillon appears to be backfiring.
Most polls now show Juppe and Sarkozy are neck-and-neck at around 30 percent, with Fillon close behind after making striking progress in recent weeks.
The two winners on Sunday will go through to the second round run-off a week later."We were expecting a duel but in the end a three-way contest has emerged," political scientist Jerome Jaffre said in Le Figaro newspaper on Thursday.
Many have noted that 62-year-old Fillon`s rise had coincided with the publication of his latest book entitled "Beating Islamic totalitarianism".
An often confused final TV debate of the seven candidates on Thursday offered few clues about the possible outcome, although viewers polled afterwards said Fillon had performed the strongest.
Sparks flew when Sarkozy was asked about fresh claims that he received millions in funding from the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi towards his 2007 campaign.
Sarkozy called the question "disgraceful" and refused to answer.
Turning to the Trump effect, the former president said a more isolationist America created "a fantastic opportunity for France and Europe to re-establish a leadership role" on issues including border security and the reform of the UN Security Council.
"The next five years will mark the return of France and Europe to the international scene. America won`t be there to put us in the shade," he said.
Juppe meanwhile said the Trump-era heralded a triple "shock" -- in the areas of trade, defence and the environment.
A return to protectionism would be "a tremendous regression", Juppe said, while warning Europe against being "naive" in its dealings with the United States.
The three leading candidates have similar programmes, underpinned by pledges to reinforce domestic security in a country still under a state of emergency following a series of jihadist attacks.
They also share a desire to reinforce European borders and reduce immigration, while tax cuts also loom large.
The choice will come down to style.
Sarkozy has emphasised his tough-guy credentials, saying it makes him a better choice to handle Trump than the mild-mannered Juppe.
Fillon, who is popular in the business world, has promised "radical" economic measures but is the most conservative of the three on social issues.
Another unknown factor in Sunday`s first round is the number of left-wing voters prepared to pay two euros and sign a declaration that they subscribe to "the values of the centre and the right" to vote in the right-wing primary.
Those who do are expected to vote against 61-year-old Sarkozy, who remains a highly divisive figure in France four years after he left office.
When the right-wing candidate is chosen on November 27, it is expected to trigger an announcement from deeply unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande on whether he intends to bid for re-election.
On Wednesday, Hollande`s former economy minister Emmanuel Macron announced he would stand as an independent.
Hyderabad: Three members of a gang were on Friday arrested for allegedly robbing a man of Rs three lakh cash on the pretext of getting his scrapped higher denomination notes exchanged, police said.
The accused Venkata Srinivas Pilla, P Ashwin and B Shivudu committed the crime on the night of November 13 after they lured the victim of getting his old currency notes exchanged with the new ones in Seethpalmandi area, Osmania University police station Inspector, V Ashok said.
Two more members of the gang, Pavan and Krishna, are still at large, he said.
Venkata contacted the victim through an acquaintance and went to his place along with Ashwin. He then introduced him as cashier of a state-run bank and assured of getting the old notes exchanged, the inspector said.
"Later, Ashwin asked the victim to accompany him to the bank, while the four members followed them," he said.
While on the way, Shivudu along with Pavan and Krishna, impersonating as policemen, intercepted their bike and started quizzing the victim, who was carrying a bag loaded with cash.
They beat up the victim and threatened him with dire consequences and then forcibly took away the cash, other valuables from him and fled, the officer said.
Venkata and Ashwin, who kept quiet during the entire incident, then made the victim board an auto-rickshaw and asked him to go home. Later, the victim lodged a complaint and a case of dacoity was registered.
During the course of an investigation, police today arrested Venkata, Ashwin, and Shivudu and recovered stolen booty of Rs 2.5 lakh from them. A hunt has been launched to nab the remaining two members, the officer added.
New Delhi: While the Centre has taken a number of calibrated measures aimed at easing the pressure on the common man, its decision to ban the old currency notes of Rs 500 and 1000 has still affected some families organising weddings this season.
The Narendra Modi government has been assessing the situation on a daily basis and announced a number of new measures to improve the situation and end cash crunch in banks and ATMs.
Interestingly, noted yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Baba Ramdev, who has strongly backed the Centre's decision to ban the old currency to curb black money, has a humorous take on prevailing economic situation in the country.
In an interview to a leading TV news channel, Ramdev admitted that a little delay in implementing the demonetisation decision would not have affected several families.
There are many bachelors in BJP who did not realise that it was wedding season, that was the mistake, Ramdev said.
Baba Ramdev further said If the government had done this around 15 days or one month later, then the weddings wouldnt have been affected.
Ramdev's response left the audience in splits. However, he was quick to say that it is a bold decision and aimed at curbing the menace of black money.
Listing out other benefits of the demonetisation decision, the yoga guru said that it has stopped the practice of dowry.
One good thing that has come out of all thispeople cannot demand dowry now, the Yoga guru said amid thunderous applause from the audience.
On November 8, the Narendra Modi government announced its decision to withdraw currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in an unprecedented move aimed at weeding out a huge amount of black money circulating in the country.
Within first 10 days of its implementation, the demonetisation move evoked a mixed response from the countrymen, with the majority supporting it and a small section including a few opposition parties voicing serious concerns over it.
However, the central government, Finance Ministry and the RBI has since taken several corrective measures to help the common man and tweaked the cash deposit and withdrawal rules.
New Delhi: While the Union Ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party MPs are demanding his apology for comparing the impact of the ban of notes with terrorist attacks, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabon Friday said there is no question of apologising for his remark.
Talking to the media, Azad said, "BJP should ask apology for pushing the country to edge. The kind of situation that is presently created it is all because of the BJP government."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers of his government, meanwhile, met in the former`s chamber in Parliament this morning.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today raised Azad`s controversial remark in the Upper House and said, "Congress is trying to destroy the fight against corruption."
"The Leader of Opposition in the House should apologise to the nation for his comments against the prime minister, who is fighting for the poor and the weak," he added.
On Day 2 of the Winter Session, both Houses were adjourned yesterday as a united Opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation, including voting, which was rejected by the government. Opposition parties attacked the Centre, saying the demonetisation move has hit the poor and the marginalised.
The main opposition Congress Party on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made demonetisation announcement on November 8, and thus, until the former comes to the Rajya Sabha, there will be no discussion on the issue.
"We raised this issue in the Rajya Sabha yesterday that the demonetisation announcement was made by the Prime Minister, therefore, he should have been present in the House, and should have listened to the opposition, and answered too.
We wanted his presence in the House yesterday, but he did not turn up. We have been demanding since morning, and had also made it clear to the leader of the House yesterday, that until the Prime Minister comes to the Upper House, there will be no discussion on the issue," the leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told ANI.Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati also sought a reply from the Prime Minister on the ongoing discussion on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Mayawati said the issue is sensitive and a Joint Parliamentary CommitteeJ (JPC) should be set up to probe the alleged leakage of the decision on demonetisation.
New Delhi: Congress and its allies do not want Parliament to function and were shying away from a debate on demonetisation as the poor look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "messiah" after the decision, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.
Attacking the Opposition as both the Houses faced adjournment due to their noisy protests, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said Congress was "rattled" by smooth functioning of the Rajya Sabha yesterday as it was not interested in a fruitful discussion.
Calling the demonetisation measure a "national project" and massive social mobilisation, he said people's lives will be impacted for a "better tomorrow". The government is concerned over the hardship being faced by masses and taking measures based to ease it.
"Modi ji is very popular in the country and after this step he has become further... Immensely popular. The poor of the country are looking at Modi as their messiah... We cannot understand why the Congress and its friends are raising a ruckus (in Parliament)."
"Congress is now saying that the PM should come only then the debate will go on, demanding JPC probe. There is an attempt to divert from the issue. It does not have facts and public opinion is turning against it. They do not want Parliament to function and seem to be moving in that direction," he told reporters.
He accused the opposition party of taking a U-turn after initially agreeing to a debate.
Congress leaders are discussing the issue outside Parliament just for the sake of it and are not willing to take part in a debate and give meaningful feedback to the government to resolve issues, he said.
While BJP members protested in the House against Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks yesterday in which he compared deaths following demonetisation with those killed in Uri terrorist attack, Naidu asked Congress to clarify if it was his personal remark or the party's official line.
Azad justified Pakistan-aided terrorism attack and he might have got carried away in the heat of the moment, Naidu claimed while appealing Opposition parties to resume the debate in Parliament.
Naidu also attacked TMC President Mamata Banerjee and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal over their protests yesterday, saying they went to the RBI's office for a photo opportunity. If both chief ministers have any query they can always meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he said.
During their protests, people also chanted "Modi, Modi" at many places, he said.
Naidu accused the opposition parties of "abusing" the Prime Minister, saying they compared him with the likes of Hitler and Mussolini.
Modi has intervened during various debates in Parliament earlier, Naidu said on the demand by some opposition leaders that the PM speak on the issue. But it cannot be a practice as the precedence is of ministers concerned replying on the behalf of government, he added.
The minister said that people want Parliament to debate demonetisation but the opposition has disappointed them as well as the government by disrupting it.
"Are you against cleaning up of the economy? Are you against black money, hoarders... Or you are against the problems faced by the people," he asked, urging the rival parties to start a discussion and offer their suggestions to the government.
"It indicates the magnitude of the problem is serious. People are going to the High Courts for relief. This is a serious issue. Let them go," said the apex court.
By Anusha Soni: The Supreme Court today refused to stay, for now, the petitions against demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes pending before different High Courts and subordinate courts.
The apex court expressed its reservation on the Centre's plea for direction that no other court should hear pleas on the demonetisation notification, allowing the lower courts to admit petitions against the November 8 order.
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"It indicates the magnitude of the problem is serious. People are going to the High Courts for relief. This is a serious issue. Let them go," said a bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Anil R Dave as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged the apex court to stay all such proceeding in High Courts and subordinate courts.
The Supreme Court, however, asked Rohatgi to file a transfer petition appeal if they want a stay. The next date of hearing is November 25.
Here are the other developments so far:
Meanwhile, the Election Commission today wrote to the Finance Ministry asking it to use the indelible ink keeping in view the panel's rules for usage during elections. The poll panel raised the concern as several states are set to go to polls. Indelible ink is primarily used to mark citizens who have already voted. Lok Sabha was adjourned today till Monday following uproar over banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. There was pandemonium in Rajya Sabha for a third straight today over the demonetisation issue, with the Opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply in the House. Despite Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad's controversial remarks on Uri martyrs being expunged in Rajya Sabha, the BJP said it will raise the issue in Rajya Sabha today. Azad on Thursday said more Indians have died following the November 8 note ban order than in the terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in September this year. The Congress said there is nothing wrong in Azad's remarks and there is no question of any apology by Azad, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. The government today allowed dispensing cash of up to Rs 2000 through debit or credit cards at select petrol pumps across India. The drive to purge black money from the economy has, at a stroke, wiped out 86 per cent of the money in circulation. Delays in printing new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes mean that money could be tight for weeks to come, resulting in more chaos in the streets.
ALSO READ | Demonetisation: Govt promises action after India Today exposed misuse of Jan Dhan accounts
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New Delhi: Amid scathing attack from the Opposition over its sudden decision to ban old currency, the Narendra Modi government has now warned people against fraudulent cash deposit and withdrawal to convert black money into legal tender.
The Ministry of Finance today warned that tax evasion activities by some people using other persons bank a/cs to convert their black money can be subjected to income tax and severe penalty.
Tax evasion activities by some people using other persons Bank A/Cs to convert their black money can be subjected to income tax & penalty. Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) November 18, 2016
The person who allows his or her bank account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under Income Tax Act, it said in another tweet.
Also the person who allows his or her bank account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under Income Tax Act. Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) November 18, 2016
However, the Ministry of Finance assured that those with genuine money need not worry.
However, the genuine persons having their own household savings in cash and depositing the same in the bank would not be questioned. Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) November 18, 2016
It also requested the common public not to fall in the trap of black money hoarders.
Among other measures, the Income-Tax (IT) department has made it mandatory to link the permanent account number (PAN) to cash deposits of a certain value and lowered the threshold for reporting of such transactions by banks.
It has also introduced reporting requirements for cash deposits into current accounts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 said all existing Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes will cease to be legal tender from midnight in a crackdown on black money untaxed and unaccounted-for incomeand terror and drug financing using fake currency.
The government set a December 30 deadline for people to deposit their old high-value notes in banks and post offices.
To keep track of such deposits and to ensure that tax evaders do not use the poor to legalise their illicit wealth, the IT department has notified fresh reporting requirements.
All cash deposits above Rs 50,000 in a day and those that aggregate to more than Rs2.5 lakh during November 9-December 30 will be required to quote PAN.
This means that tax evaders cannot get away by making multiple deposits of less than Rs50,000 without providing their PANa common practice at present.
Also, banks and post offices will be required to report all deposits exceeding Rs2.5 lakh in the annual information return (AIR) sent to investigative agencies, as against the current ceiling of Rs10 lakh. These are part of the changes that have been notified by the I-T department after demonetisation.
A new clause on deposits in current accounts has also been introduced, wherein cash deposits of more than Rs12.5 lakh will have to be reported by a bank.
The government has taken a number of measures to ensure tax evaders do not go scot-free. From conducting surveys on jewellers and money launderers to using indelible ink to prevent the same people from lining up multiple times to exchange old currency, the government is looking to clamp down on tax evaders.
New Delhi: Taking a dig at Aam Aadmi Party for protesting against the government's decision to demonetise Rs 500/1000 currency notes, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said the AAP might be upset with the move, but not the common man.
Justifying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision of demonetisation, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, this type of a surgery was required for the country.
Naidu asserted the bold decision will benefit people in the long run, adding that the dishonest will fall in line.
Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has been viciously attacking the Modi regime over the demonetisation move.
Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday jointly tore into PM Modi's demonetisation move and warned of a public revolt if the decision that has caused cash chaos was not reversed in three days.
Besides AAP and Trinamool Congress, Opposition parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Indian national Congress have been continuously attacking the Centre over the implementation of the big decision.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had categorically stated that there was "no question of rolling back" the demonetisation move and accused Kejriwal and Banerjee of "spreading panic".
The Central government on November 8 has demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a bid to curb black money and counterfeit currency.
New Delhi: An Ethiopian woman has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold worth Rs 89 lakh at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.
The accused was yesterday intercepted by the customs officials after her arrival from Addis Ababa.
"On detailed examination of her baggage and personal search, five gold bars and gold jewellery total weighing 3.1 kg having market value of Rs 89 lakh were recovered from her hand bag, which was found concealed in a small pouch," a press release issued today by the customs said.
The woman has been arrested and the recovered gold seized, it said.
Ahmednagar: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Friday described Prime Minister Modi's bold decision to demonetise currency notes as "bold and revolutionary" and said it will stamp corruption and terrorism to a large extent.
"This revolutionary step will curb black money, corruption and terrorism (funding) to a large extent," Hazare told PTI.
"The previous governments never showed the will to crackdown on black money. The present dispensation has taken a bold step and this will strengthen the democracy," he said.
Pointing out "discrepancies" in funding of political parties, the veteran social activist said the next course of action for the government should be to "clean up" the election process.
"Now the government should accept the challenge to eliminate black money from the poll process and politics as well by bringing in large electoral reforms," he said, ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in some states next year.
Hazare alleged that almost all political parties accept huge cash donations for elections but furnish receipts (for amounts below Rs 20,000) against donors to avoid coming under the scanner of Income Tax officials and RTI.
"Hence, it is time the government ensures transparency in the poll process to make it more credible," he said.
However, he cautioned that adequate safeguards need to be taken before ushering in the new currency regime.
After the Narendra Modi government came to power, the Gandhian was often seen attacking it for its "failure" to bring back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.
(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Indian Navy on Friday rejected Pakistan's claim that its military has stopped one of India's submarines from entering its territory.
Categorically deny Pak media report that (an) Indian submarine was detected by Pak Navy and blocked from entering Pakistani waters, ANI quoted the navy as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Navy had claimed that it detected an Indian submarine near its waters and "chased it out" in time.
Citing a Pakistan Navy spokesperson, Geo TV reported that their fleet units "chased" the Indian submarine until it left Pakistani territory.
The official further said that the Pakistani Navy's ability to "push back" the submarine was a testament to its anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
The development comes even as the Indian Navy on Friday inducted four types of indigenously developed sonars that will boost its underwater surveillance.
The systems included Abhay compact hull mounted sonar for shallow water crafts, Humsa UG upgrade for Humsa sonar system, Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System and Advanced Indigenous Distress sonar system.
The systems were designed and developed by NPOL, a Kochi based laboratory of DRDO.
With the induction of these four systems, the underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy will get a boost.
New Delhi: In a setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to accept rejection of 43 names by the NDA government that were recommended by its collegium in connection with appointment of judges in various high courts.
The Supreme Court also sent back all 43 names for reconsideration by the Union government, reported ANI.
The apex court made this observation on the plea of Lt. Col. Anil Kabotra seeking the highest courts intervention in the appointment of judges in various high courts.
The Centre had on November 11 informed the apex court that it has returned over half the names recommended to it for appointment as high court judges by the Collegium of judges headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur.
Out of the 77 names recommended to the government, 34 judges have been cleared for appointment. The remaining 43 names have been returned.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the top court that the Collegium is yet to respond to the draft Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) that the Centre had submitted to it on August 7 this year.
New Delhi: Kidney has no religious labels, this is what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, undergoing treatment for renal failure, tweeted while thanking a Muslim man who offered her his kidney.
64-year-old Swaraj has been offered kidneys by scores of people since Wednesday when she said on Twitter that she was in hospital due to kidney failure and was undergoing tests for a transplant.
"Thank you very much brothers. I am sure, kidney has no religious labels," she tweeted.
Her remark came in response to a tweet by Mujib Ansari who offered his kidney to her while adding that he is a Muslim and a supporters of BSP in Uttar Pradesh.
"@SushmaSwaraj mam I am a BSP supporter and a Muslim,bt I want 2 donate my kidney 4 u,4 me u r like my mother figure, May allah bless u," he said on twitter.
Another Muslim Nyamath Ali Shaik also offered his kidney to Swaraj saying he was ready to donate his kidney, if need be.
Another Twitter follower Jaan Shah also said he was ready to offer his kidney to her.
Swaraj has been flooded with wishes from politicians cutting across party lines as well as from a cross-section of society.
She has been undergoing treatment for renal failure at AIIMS.
Swaraj also exuded confidence of being able to come out of the health condition with good wishes of people and blessings of God.
New Delhi: Navy on Friday formally inducted four types of indigenously developed sonars that will boost its underwater surveillance capability.
The systems included Abhay ? compact hull mounted sonar for shallow water crafts, Humsa UG ? upgrade for the Humsa sonar system, NACS ? Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System, and AIDSS ? Advanced Indigenous Distress sonar system for submarines.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who today handed over the sonars to the Navy, praised the force along with DRDO and said he expects more synergy in the coming days.
The systems have been designed and developed by NPOL, a Kochi based laboratory of DRDO.
With the induction of these four systems, the underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy will get a boost, besides providing a fillip to the quest for self-reliance in this critical area of technology.
Abhay is an advanced active-cum-passive integrated sonar system designed and developed for the smaller platforms such as shallow water crafts and coastal surveillance/patrol vessels.
It is capable of detecting, localizing, classifying and tracking sub-surface and surface targets in both its active and passive modes of operation.
The prototype of this compact sonar installed onboard a nominated naval platform has successfully completed all user evaluation trials to demonstrate the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements.
Indian Navy has proposed to induct this SONAR on three of the Abhay class ships.
Intensifying the command over the high seas is the Humsa -UG that is designed for upgrading the existing Humsa sonar system.
This system is proposed to be installed on seven ships of three different classes of ships.
AIDSS is a distress sonar is an Emergency Sound Signaling Device which is used to indicate that a submarine is in distress and enable quick rescue and salvage.
It is a life-saving alarm system designed to transmit sonar signals of a pre-designated frequency and pulse shape in an emergency situation from a submarine for long period, so as to attract the attention of passive sonars of ships or submarines in the vicinity and all types of standard rescue vessels in operation.
It is also provided with a transponder capability.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday address the inaugural session of the Rail Vikas Shivir at Surajkund near New Delhi.
The PM is likely to speak on the role of the railways sector for the country's economic growth, setting the agenda for the mega event.
During the three-day Rail Vikas Shivir beginning today, making train journeys a pleasant experience and achieving near-zero fatalities on tracks are among a number of critical issues that will be up for discussion.
The PM will deliver the address through video conferencing from here.
The programme will seek to generate innovative yet practical ideas in the most crucial areas of rail operations and chart out a roadmap for the substantial progress of the sector.
Making Indian Railways the preferred freight carrier in India, reducing the operational cost, improving non-tariff revenue and increasing the investment in rail infrastructure substantially are among the other issues to be taken up during the event.
Such brainstorming and large-scale planning involving all railway employees are taking place for the first time in the 163-year-long history of the Indian Railways.
More than one lakh new crowdsourced ideas for improving railways were generated and examined by various teams, and all those selected ideas will be discussed in the event.
The venue at Surajkund has been divided into various areas named after iconic trains services like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Humsafar, Tejas, Gatimaan, Uday, Antyodaya and Jan Shatabdi.
The Prime Minister will be present personally again to have a detailed interaction with the participants on the concluding day of the Shivir and will give away prize money to the top three teams and top 15 crowdsourced ideas.
(With Agency inputs)
By Mail Today Bureau: Jewellers are under the scanner of income tax department as 'credible intelligence' inputs point out that there has been a sudden surge in transactions that show black money is being converted into gold at inflated prices.
RAIDS BASED ON INTELLIGENCE
A senior I-T official, however, told Mail Today that the raids are only being carried out at specific establishments and are not generalized in nature, as is being made out. The raids have taken place nationwide, including in metros such as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and big cities like Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Pune. The official also said that in some cases it has been found that the jewellers' stocks were far below what was shown in their books, which meant that there had been outright black money transactions.
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TOO EARLY FOR ESTIMATES ON BLACK MONEY RECOUPED
There were also instances of gold being found in excess of what was reflected in the books which are suspected to be cases of smuggled gold coming into the system, he added. He, however, said it was "too early to arrive at an estimate on the amount of black money that may have been converted in all these transactions as the 'stock taking was still going on." The official also pointed out that the IT raids also covered builders as there was credible intelligence to show that they had been selling homes to black money holders with back-dated receipts.
Foreign exchange dealers were another section that has been raided in connection with black money transactions. Similarly, those dealing in other commodities such as copper and aluminum are also being tracked to see whether any black money is being laundered though stocks of these goods. According to sources, operations were planned after CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra asked all the investigation units in the country to keep a check on suspicious movement of huge cash and other illegal transactions leading to tax evasion. Senior IT officials say of the `14 lakh crore that was in circulation through in 500 and 1000 rupee notes, anywhere between `2 to `4 lakh crore will not come back into the banking system.
ALSO READ:
Income Tax raids in Delhi, Mumbai to find banned 500 and 1000 rupee notes
Income Tax raids to continue crackdown on black money hoarders
--- ENDS ---
Mumbai/Osmanabad: The Opposition parties in Maharashtra have attacked the BJP after Rs 91 lakh from a vehicle allegedly belonging to state cooperative minister Subhash Deshmukh.
According to reports, Rs 91 lakh cash - in now-invalid tender of Rs 1000 - belonging to Lokmangal Group of Deshmukh was seized by the squad of Osmanabad municipality yesterday. The cash reportedly comprised of the.
A PTI report said that the minister was not available for comment. His assistant claimed that Mr Deshmukh was not in town.
The Opposition Congress and NCP have demanded the sacking of Deshmukh. They have also sought an enquiry by Income Tax department into bank transactions of state BJP leaders to "unearth black money".
"(Recovery of cash) proves that BJP leaders are in the possession of black money. Since the government has launched a campaign against black money and corruption, properties of the BJP leaders should be searched to unearth black money.
"He (the minister) should be sacked from the ministry and arrested," NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said in a press conference.
Meanwhile, state unit Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant has demanded a probe by I-T department into the bank accounts of prominent BJP leaders in the state and the transactions made into them in the last six months.
He also sought ouster of Mr Deshmukh from cabinet. Mr Sawant alleged that certain BJP leaders were aware of the demonetisation move in advance.
"There is a possibility that BJP leaders and ministers in Maharashtra and Mumbai might also be aware of the decision in advance. So there is a need to probe their bank accounts," Sawant said in a statement.
A few days ago after the demonetisation, old currency notes worth more than Rs 6 crore were seized from the brother of a BJP MLA in western Maharashtra while Rs. 91 lakh has been seized from Subhash Deshmukh's Lokmangal Bank in Umerga town, Sawant stated.
With PTI inputs
New Delhi: A massive fire reportedly broke out at the Mundka scrap market in Delhi on Friday morning.
According to news agency ANI, 33 fire tenders are on the spot to minimize the damage.
The situation is now under control as the fire has now been doused.
Further details are awaited.
New Delhi: Fake Indian currency notes (FICN) worth around Rs 400 crore are in circulation in the country at any given point of time and smuggling of such notes from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal has completely stopped after the demonetisation announcement, Union minister Kiren Rijiju today said.
"Smuggling of FICN from three international borders - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal has completely halted after the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he told reporters here.
The Minister of State for Home said at any given point of time, fake notes valued around Rs 400 crore are in circulation in the country. He said annually counterfeit notes worth Rs 70 crore are infused in the country.
Proceeds of illegal sale of drugs, opium, arms etc have also been completely stopped, Rijiju said, adding hawala transaction is also badly hit. Fake notes worth Rs 12.35 crore were seized by the security agencies till June.
In 2015, counterfeit notes worth Rs 34.99 crore were seized while in 2014, the value was Rs 36.11 crore and in 2013 it was Rs 42.90 crore.
An estimated Rs 700-Rs 800 crore terror funding is done in India out of which Rs 300-Rs 400 crore are being used by Naxals annually, Rs 20-Rs 30 crore by Kashmiri separatists and Rs 350-Rs 400 crore by insurgents in the northeast.
Meanwhile, official sources said there are around Rs 40,000 crore black money in circulation in the country and these funds were also badly hit by the demonetisation of old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes.
The total currency in circulation in the country as on September was Rs 17,00,000 crore, sources said.
Chennai: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) spokesperson CR Saraswathi on Friday called for the formation of Cauvery Management Board (CMB) at the earliest to resolve a water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
"All our MPs want the Cauvery Management Board to be constituted immediately. Some people say that it is a disturbance, it is not a disturbance, it is our right," said AIADMK leader CR Saraswathi.
She further said that since the court has given the order to share the waters of the River Cauvery, the need for forming the CMB has become a priority.
Expressing grief about fishermen being shot at by the Sri Lankan Navy, Saraswathi said the matter will be looked into and action would be taken at the earliest.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had reserved its order on maintainability on an appeal of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala against the Cauvery Tribunal`s order of 2007.
The Cauvery dispute dates back to 1892 when an agreement was filed between Madras Presidency and Mysore for arbitration but led to a fresh set of disputes.
Later, attempts were renewed to arbitrate between the two states under the supervision of Government of India and the second agreement was signed in 1924.
With Kerala and Puducherry also staking claims to a share of Cauvery water after India attained independence, a fact-finding committee was set up in 1970 to figure out the situation on ground.
The committee submitted its report in 1972 and further studies were done by an expert committee and the states reached an agreement in 1976.
However, after a new government came to power in Tamil Nadu, it refused to give consent to terms of the agreement paving way for further dispute.
Kolkata: By-elections will be held in two Lok Sabha constituencies and one Assembly constituency in West Bengal tomorrow under the shadow of the Centre's demonetisation decision.
The by-elections will be held in Cooch Behar and Tamluk Lok Sabha constituencies and in Monteswar Assembly constituency. Ruling Trinamool Congress, BJP, Left Front and Congress have fielded their candidates in all three seats.
Although the Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front had contested the Assembly polls held earlier this year, the two decided to part company in this round of by-elections.
Demonetisation has become a key issue in the last lap of campaign for the by-polls. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not campaign for the by-polls and left it to the other leaders of her party.
Apart from state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, Union minister Babul Supriyo canvassed for his party.
WBPCC chief Adhir Chowdhury and CPIM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra spearheaded campaign for their party candidates.
TMC MLA and party candidate from Tamluk seat Dibyendu Adhikari told PTI, "Demonetisation move has affected every citizen of this country. The common man is suffering. Demonetisation has also impacted our campaign as we are unable to pay the decorators, sound organisers. In Tamluk, most of the rural areas still don't have proper banking facilities, what will the poor farmers do?" he asked.
According CPI(M) and Congress leaders, demonetisation has all of a sudden come up as an issue for the polls as they are receiving feedback that people are inconvenienced due to the new decision.
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said demonetisation became a prominent issue as the people faced huge problems and added that the situation was much worse in rural areas.
The BJP, on the other hand, said that by-elections would be a litmus test for political parties.
"What TMC, Congress and CPI(M) are saying is not right. People of Bengal are happy with the decision and will give a hands down victory to our candidates," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.
"It's not a question of black money or white money. All of a sudden if you scrap high value notes how will you meet various expenditures for the campaign," Congress candidate from Monteswar Bulbul Ahmed Sheikh said.
By-election in Cooch Behar was necessitated by the death of TMC MP Renuka Sinha while the by-election in Tamluk in East Medinipur district was caused by the resignation of TMC MP Suvendu Adhikari who also won the Assembly poll and joined the state cabinet as transport minister.
The bypoll to Monteswar Assembly seat in Burdwan district is due to death of TMC MLA Sajal Panja.
Ottawa: The Canadian army's recruiting website was hacked and briefly redirected to a Chinese central government portal, a spokesman said.
Spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier told AFP yesterday the website www.Forces.Ca contained no sensitive information.
It was taken down by the military after the hack was discovered.
Users had been redirected to China's State Council website, www.Gov.Cn. It showed photos of Premier Li Keqiang and contained links to information about jobs, tourism and investment in China, as well as government news.
Ottawa is investigating, Le Bouthillier said.
Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first meeting with a foreign leader after winning the presidential elections last week.
The meeting, after which Abe said the two leaders can have "a relationship of trust", lasted for about 90 minutes at the Trump Towers in New York yesterday.
Presidential transition team has described the meeting as private.
"I am very honoured to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders. The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japan's diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us," Abe told reporters after the meeting, which was closed for the press.
This was Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader after he was voted to power in one of the most surprising results of a US presidential election held on November 8.
He has spoken with as many as 32 world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Colombo: Sri Lanka`s former ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, was arrested on Friday for suspected misuse of state funds under the previous government.
Wickramasuriya, a relative of former President Mahinda Rajapakse, was arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigations Division for allegedly accepting a $245,000 commission while serving as the envoy in Washington, Xinhua news agency reported.
He is also suspected to have defrauded more than $33,000 in purchasing a building for the Sri Lankan embassy in the US. The former diplomat is expected appear in a court later on Friday.
BEIJING: China told Mongolia to forbid the Dalai Lama`s planned arrival there on Friday, suggesting the Tibetan spiritual leader`s trip could harm Beijing`s relations with its northern neighbour.
China regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, though he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland Tibet, which Communist Chinese troops "peacefully liberated" in 1950.
"We strongly urge Mongolia to act by keeping in mind the big picture of maintaining the stable development of bilateral relations and to keep their promises made on this issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
"Do not allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Do not support or facilitate the separatist activities of the Dalai clique," Geng said at a regular press briefing.
Mongolian media have said the Dalai Lama is expected to arrive Friday afternoon.
After the Dalai Lama`s visit to Mongolia in 2006, China cancelled flights between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar. Flights later resumed.
Beijing frequently expresses its anger with countries that host the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese.
Rights groups and exiles accuse China of trampling on the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people, charges strongly denied by Beijing, which says its rule has brought prosperity to a once backward region.
Port Louis: Mauritius is threatening to take Britain to the international court of justice in a dispute over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
In the wake of the Foreign Office`s announcement this week that none of the Chagossians expelled in the 1960s to make way for military bases would be allowed to return to live on the Indian Ocean archipelago, Mauritius, which claims the territory, has accused Britain of "outrageously" undermining human rights, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth criticised the British government`s refusal to let the Chagossian community return to the island, which he said "always formed and continues to form an integral part of the territory of Mauritius".
He added: "In view of the purported unilateral actions of Britain, Mauritius would be fully justified in taking forward the completion of the process of decolonisation, which is now on the agenda of the current session of the UN general assembly, with a view to putting the matter before the international court of justice."
A United Nations vote in favour of referring the case to the court in The Hague would have to be obtained. The Mauritian government said Britain`s "unilateral" decision to ban the right of return and to renew the lease for the US base on Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands, for another 20 years breached international law.
Mauritius said Britain had "acted in blatant breach of the letter and spirit" of a judgment under the UN convention on the law of the sea last year.
"The denial of the right of Mauritians in general, and those of Chagossian origin in particular, to settle in the Chagos archipelago is a manifest breach of international law and outrageously flouts their human rights," the statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be addressing a rally in Agra on Sunday, might have to face public outrage over demonetisation.
By Siraj Qureshi: PM Modi will address a rally in Agra on November 20 after a gap of three years, but if a report filed by Agra's bank managers to Reserve Bank of India is to be believed, Modi is likely to face strong opposition and public outrage following demonetisation.
A confidential report filed by the nationalised bank managers of Agra to the RBI Governor said that people were very angry with the demonetisation, and this might have an affect on Modi's rally.
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According to the report, there is an acute shortage of small denomination cash in the banks in Agra and some branches are even resorting to distributing coins to their customers in the absence of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes.
ALSO READ | Note ban deaths: SBI cashier dies of heart attack while at work in Nagpur
PEOPLE ARE ANGRY, BANKS ARE RUNNING DRY
It is becoming difficult to satisfy hundreds of people waiting outside banks. There are regular reports of verbal and sometimes, even physical clashes between customers and bank staff.
The bank managers have intimated the district administration about these problems.
A senior bank officer told India Today that RBI is prioritizing the delivery of new currency notes, and most of it is being delivered to the metropolitan cities.
On Friday, many bank branches refused to exchange old currency from non-clients claiming that they did not have enough cash to support both withdrawals and exchanges.
The police had to resort to lathis at several places to control the crowd.
Social media was also rife with posts complaining about unavailability of cash in the banks.
On the other hand, the opposition parties are leaving no stone unturned to use the present situation to their advantage. Some are even inciting anger against PM Modi using social media.
Many political leaders could be seen distributing food, water and tea to the people standing in queues outside banks and ATMs, fuelling the simmering anger amongst people.
MUSLIMS URGED TO BOYCOTT MODI'S RALLY
A meeting of Rashtriya Sarvdaliy Muslim Action Committee was held near the district magistrate's office in Agra today after the namaz.
Chairing the meeting, Muslim leader Haji Jamiluddin said the Muslims will oppose PM Modi's Agra visit on November 20 and will even show him black flags, demanding that he rolls back the demonetisation scheme.
Jama Mosque Manager Aslam Qureshi, Corporator Haji Bilal Ahmed, Adnan Qureshi also raised his voice against Modi and asked all Muslims in Agra to oppose his visit.
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Also Read:
Demonetisation Day 10: Supreme Court refuses to stay petitions against note ban in lower courts
Demonetisation: Govt promises action after India Today exposed misuse of Jan Dhan accounts
--- ENDS ---
Aden: More than 30 people have been killed in intense fighting between rebels and loyalists on the outskirts of Yemen's third city Taez, military and medical sources said on Friday.
The clashes have eliminated hope of the warring parties abiding by a truce announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry that was to have taken effect yesterday.
Loyalist military sources told AFP that 24 rebels and 14 pro-government forces were killed over the past 24 hours, while the rebels reported dozens of casualties in shelling of a local market.
Two civilians were also killed and 16 wounded when rebels fired Katyusha rockets into a residential area of Taez, they said.
A photographer identified as Awab al-Zubairi with the pro-government Taiz News Network, which posts on Facebook and Twitter, was also killed when a landmine planted by the rebels exploded in Taez, a government official said.
For its part, rebel-controlled sabanews.Net website reported that pro-government forces fired artillery rounds into areas east of the city.
A rocket hit a market selling the popular mild narcotic leaf qat, killing 24 people and wounding 27 yesterday, according to sabanews.Net.
It cited the Taez province health chief, Watheq Faqih, as saying the toll could rise as rescue workers had not been able to gather the body parts of all the dead because of artillery fire today.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said emergency rooms it supports or manages in Taez province had received a total of 21 dead and 76 wounded.
Among those killed was a watchman who worked at the MSF trauma centre in Taez.
He was killed while "off-duty when a blast hit a local market in the neighbourhood", said Djoen Besselink, who heads the MSF mission in Yemen, apparently referring to the qat market.
"Fighting has been intensive in Taez during recent days, and hospitals on both sides of the frontline have received a continuous influx of war-wounded civilians and fighters," MSF said.
Pro-government forces are pressing on with a four-day-old offensive to recapture the presidential residence and police headquarters in the southwestern city, while the Shiite Huthi rebels have brought in reinforcements.
The fighting has continued despite Kerry's announcement of a new ceasefire.
They are armed with wrenches instead of rifles and are rarely found on the front lines, but Mosul`s mechanics say they are indispensable to the fight against the Islamic State group.
"If the Humvees break down and the weapons stop working without anyone to repair them, how could we advance against IS?" says Lieutenant Colonel Anwar Rajdi, who heads the mechanics unit of the elite Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS).
The tall commander proudly says his unit is "the most important part" of the month-long fight for Iraq`s second city, the last one in the country still held by IS.
As they advance farther into the city`s easy, CTS forces are facing a daily barrage of sniper fire, mortar attacks, and car bombs from the jihadists who still hold much of Mosul.
Between 15 and 20 damaged Humvee armoured vehicles are brought to the repair unit on the edge of the city each day, dragged by massive white tow trucks, CTS mechanic Mustafa Muin says.
Most have had their windows cracked into a spiderweb of glass by repeated shots from IS sniper rifles, and some need a quick tune-up for their radiators or engines.
Others need their tyres changed after driving over the long metal spikes IS fighters place in Mosul`s narrow alleyways to slow down advancing units.
An infographic distributed by the jihadist-linked Amaq news agency on Tuesday said that IS destroyed nearly 50 Humvees and four tanks during the battle for Mosul.
"Fixing the radiator takes us half an hour, but an engine takes us half a day," says Muin. He is overseeing two grease-covered colleagues struggling to dislodge a damaged radiator.
"We try to get the machines back up and running so we can finish work by nighttime and relax," he tells AFP.
On days where fighting is intense, technicians are dispatched to the front lines to do on-site repairs.
They crawl under damaged vehicles to swap out parts, their feet sticking out dangerously while bullets ping off nearby houses.
But when CTS units are reinforcing their forward positions, the pace is more relaxed with repairmen passing the time pumping iron in a shaded courtyard.
"We repair about 20 weapons per day if there`s an advance, but if there`s no advance, you can clearly see I don`t have much work," says Atheel Shaalan, who is responsible for servicing arms including "all types of American weapons."
American-made equipment that Iraqi special operations forces use include assault rifles and armoured vehicles.
Large vehicle parts, such as engines and radiators, are regularly trucked up from Baghdad to the edge of Mosul.
Mechanics also try to salvage whatever parts they can from the charred remains of vehicles that were damaged beyond repair by IS car bombs.
"We`re helping the fight against Daesh back here at the factory," says mechanic Qusay Adnan, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
"I`m not a soldier fighting on the front lines, but I`m just like them."
Brussels: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday voiced confidence that Donald Trump was committed to the transatlantic alliance, which has stood the test of time for both the United States and Europe.
"I am absolutely confident President-elect Trump will maintain America's strong commitment to European security and to NATO," Stoltenberg told AFP in an interview in Brussels.
"That is in the interests of both Europe and the United States," he said, with the disasters of two World Wars and the Cold War showing how inter-connected both sides' security was.
The only time NATO's Article 5 "all for one, one for all," collective defence guarantee had been invoked was after the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, he recalled.
Stoltenberg said he expected Trump to continue to press NATO allies to increase defence spending, just as previous US presidents had, and this was fully justified.
Washington accounts for nearly 70 percent of the NATO allies combined defence outlays and has long demanded they do more.
Trump caused consternation on the campaign trail when he suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the defence of an ally if it had not paid its NATO dues.
NATO announced later today that Stoltenberg had had a "good talk" with Trump on the alliance's future.
He had thanked him in particular for raising the issue of defence spending, a "top priority" for the secretary general since he took office in 2014, it said in a statement.
"The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing but that there is more to do," it added.
Trump's more positive approach to President Vladimir Putin also rattled allies who at a July Warsaw summit had endorsed NATO's biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War to counter a more assertive Russia.
Stoltenberg said he did not see an issue.
"What I have heard is that he has conveyed a message about also talking to the Russians. At our Warsaw summit, we made decisions on strong defence but also on political dialogue" with Moscow, he said.
"Russia is our biggest neighbour, Russia is here to stay; there is no way we can isolate Russia so we have to continue to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia."
Pundits in Europe largely took Trump's campaign comments at face value, wondering if the new president was about to ditch Washington's 70-year security guarantee for Europe in favour of a more isolationist, "America First," policy.
BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, he was certain that Donald Trump as U.S. president will lead the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and he is hoping to speak to the president-elect soon.
"I am absolutely confident that President Trump will maintain U.S leadership in the alliance," Stoltenberg told a conference in Brussels, saying his team was seeking to set up a telephone call with the president-elect.
Seoul: North Korea lashed out on Friday at a new South Korea-Japan intelligence-sharing accord, accusing Seoul of a gross act of betrayal with the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people.
The deal to share defence intelligence -- largely driven by the growing threat of the North`s nuclear and missile programmes -- was reached and provisionally signed in Tokyo on Monday.
It was a controversial move in South Korea, where the legacy of Japan`s harsh 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula is a deep well of anti-Japanese sentiment and a belief that Tokyo has never properly atoned for the abuses of that era.
Tensions between South Korea and Japan are welcomed and even encouraged by North Korea, which seizes any opportunity to drive a wedge between the two key US military allies in the region.
A spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee in Pyongyang called the intelligence agreement a "hideous act of treachery aimed to stifle fellow countrymen in the north in league with the sworn enemy of the nation".
In a statement carried by the North`s official KCNA news, the spokesman said it was a "dangerous act" that would further raise already-elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula and open a door to Japanese "re-invasion."
The amplified rhetoric will strike a chord in the South, where the main opposition party called Monday`s agreement "unpatriotic and humiliating".
Manila: Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried at the national heroes` cemetery in a secretive ceremony Friday, outraging opponents who said it whitewashed his brutal rule and tainted the famous 1986 "People Power" revolution that toppled him.
The burial at the "Cemetery of Heroes" was another stunning development in the remarkable political comeback of the Marcos family, a phenomenon given fresh energy this year by the clan`s strong alliance with new President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Supreme Court last week endorsed a decision by Duterte to allow Marcos to be laid to rest at the heroes` cemetery, rejecting petitioners` complaints that the dictator did not deserve such an honour because of his many crimes.
The Marcos family and government then moved quickly, secretly flying the embalmed body to the cemetery on Friday and interring him despite appeals still pending with the Supreme Court urging it to reconsider.
"Like a thief in the night, the Marcos family deliberately hid the information of burying former president Marcos today from the Filipino people," said Vice President Leni Robredo, who was elected separately to Duterte and belongs to another party.
"This is nothing new to the Marcoses -- they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses, and now, a hidden burial -- with complete disregard for the law."
Marcos`s 87-year-old wife Imelda -- infamous for an extravagant lifestyle during her husband`s two-decade rule -- attended Friday`s ceremony, along with her children and grandchildren, according to footage released by the family on Facebook.
The military honoured Marcos at the ceremony with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention.
Two thousand riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery, blocking entry by journalists and protesters who rushed there after police confirmed minutes before that the burial was about to take place.
"I am very angry and disappointed. I am disgusted. Marcos is no hero," university student Antonio Navarro told AFP outside the cemetery.Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades until forced into US exile by the "People Power" revolution, a largely peaceful event that inspired democracy movements throughout Asia and around the world.
Marcos, his wife and their cronies plundered up to $10 billion from state coffers during his rule, according to government investigators and historians.
The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian dictator Suharto.
The Philippines` foreign debt went from $2.67 billion in 1972, when Marcos declared martial law, to $28.2 billion in 1986, according to the World Bank.
After Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989, his family was allowed to return and began its political comeback.
Imelda became a congresswoman and fended off all corruption charges against her.
Two of her children established themselves as influential politicians. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jnr, was the more successful, becoming a senator before almost winning the vice presidency this year.
However, previous presidents had refused to allow the dictator to be buried in the heroes` cemetery because of Marcos`s crimes, so the family kept the preserved body in a glass casket at his home in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.
The family`s fortunes changed with the election of Duterte, a long-time ally of the Marcos family, as president in May this year.
He said Marcos deserved to be buried at the heroes` cemetery based on the fact he had been a president and a veteran of World War II.
Duterte also said he owed loyalty to the family because his father had served in the Marcos government and the family had helped fund his election campaign.
One of the Marcoses` two daughters, Imee, made a short statement after the ceremony thanking Duterte and all of the family`s supporters.
"At last our beloved father Ferdinand Edralin Marcos`s final instruction to be buried alongside his fellow soldiers was carried out today," she said.
Opponents said they would hold protests on Friday afternoon.
Manila: Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was given a hero's burial with military honours today, a deeply controversial move three decades after he was ousted in a "People Power" revolution.
The ceremony began with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in Manila, after his body was secretly flown to the venue in an apparent effort to avoid protests.
The Supreme Court said last week that Marcos, who ruled the nation for two decades until millions of people took to the streets in the 1986 military-backed uprising, could be buried at the heroes' cemetery.
The decision, endorsing a recommendation from controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, outraged many opponents of the Marcos regime who said it would whitewash the dictator's many crimes.
The surprise move by the Marcos family and the government to bury him so quickly after the Supreme Court verdict, with appeals still to be heard, caused further outrage.
Barry Gutierrez, counsel for the anti-Marcos court petitioners, said the burial was illegal because of the outstanding appeals. "It's not really surprising that this is happening. Marcos flouted the law when he was still alive, and even at his burial, he is still breaking the law," Gutierrez told AFP.
Police only announced that Marcos's body had been flown to the cemetery shortly before the ceremony began, leaving opponents who had been planning rallies flat-footed.
"We are shocked and angered," Gutierrez said.
Thousands of riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery, but there were no protesters.
Journalists who rushed to the cemetery were barred from entering. However reporters were able to view the ceremony with long camera lenses from outside.
Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades until forced into US exile by the "People Power" revolution, a largely peaceful event that inspired democracy movements throughout Asia and around the world.
Marcos, his infamously flamboyant wife Imelda, and their cronies plundered up to USD 10 billion from state coffers during his rule, according to government investigators and historians.
The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian dictator Suharto.
Manila: Few leaders began their presidency with such promise and ended in such ignominy as the Philippines` Ferdinand Marcos.
Born in 1917 to a prominent political family in the rural north of the country, Marcos easily won the 1965 presidential elections -- widely regarded as a fair contest -- with an abundance of charisma and superb oratory skills.
He could also credit his wife, beauty queen Imelda Marcos, who he married in 1954 and whose glamour and singing voice helped attract crowds to his campaign rallies.
The magnetic couple also proved irresistible to the United States, which during the time of the Vietnam War saw Marcos as an important ally in its efforts to quash the communist threat in Southeast Asia.
Marcos was re-elected to a second four-year term in a landslide in 1969 but allegations of corruption and authoritarianism had already begun to cloud his presidency.
Then in 1972, to the shock of the nation, Marcos declared martial law, saying it was needed to save the country from communist insurgents.
By doing so he could stay in power longer than the constitutionally mandated limit of eight years.
With the continued backing of the United States, the Philippines` former colonial ruler, Marcos ruthlessly moved to stamp out dissent.
Television, radio stations and newspapers were only allowed to promote his "New Society", so the public was fed a constant stream of praise for Marcos and his jet-setting wife, whose extravagance was a sharp contrast to the poverty of most Filipinos.
Opposition politicians, including Marcos` arch-critic, Senator Benigno Aquino, as well as student leaders and other dissidents, were thrown behind bars, as the Philippines descended into a climate of fear.
"The Marcos government appears, by any standard, exceptional for both the quantity and quality of its violence," wrote American academic Alfred McCoy, one of the pre-eminent historians on the Philippines.
McCoy said the regime`s security forces killed 3,257 people -- many of the victims first abducted, then abused and finally murdered and dumped on a roadside in a warning to others.
An additional 35,000 were tortured and 70,000 were unfairly imprisoned under Marcos, according to McCoy.
Behind closed doors, Filipinos whispered about how Marcos, his relatives and cronies had seized control of the economy, monopolised key industries, skimmed off money from foreign debt-funded infrastructure projects and stashed the wealth abroad.
The end for Marcos began when Aquino, who had been allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment, returned to the Philippines in 1983, seeking to convince his old rival to step down peacefully.
Marcos troops gunned him down as he was descending from the plane at Manila airport in an act that enraged the public. Slowly, more and more Filipinos found their voice, denouncing Marcos.
This culminated in a popular revolt in 1986 led by Aquino`s widow, Corazon, that sent the ailing Marcos and his family fleeing to Hawaii, finally restoring democracy to the Philippines.
In the wake of the peaceful "People Power" uprising, the carefully manufactured image of a courageous war hero-turned-leader concerned only for his people quickly fell apart, and his wife became a figure of ridicule.
The crowds that surged into the presidential palace found a trove of 3,000 shoes belonging to Imelda, which became enduring symbols of extravagance as more evidence of corruption was uncovered.
Government investigators subsequently found that, while the country wallowed in poverty, the Marcos family had plundered about $10 billion from state coffers.
Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989 as one of the most despised rulers of the Philippines, although his family returned after his death and were able to start rehabilitating his reputation.
The astonishing comeback was sealed Friday when the dictator was finally buried at the national heroes` cemetery, after the Supreme Court endorsed a decision by President Rodrigo Duterte, a friend of the Marcos family, to allow the burial.
Marrakesh: Fiji urged the United States on Friday to "save" the world from climate change as it had helped to win World War II.
"We in the Pacific, in common with the whole world, look to America for its leadership and for its engagement and assistance on climate change," Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told a UN conference in Marrakesh overshadowed by president-elect Donald Trump's threats to withdraw the US from a climate rescue pact.
"Just as we looked at America during the dark days of World War II... I say to the American people 'you came to save us then, it is time for you to help to save us now'," he said.
Bainimarama invited Trump to Fiji "to see the effects of climate change for himself and to meet Pacific island leaders face to face in Fiji to discuss the crisis we are all facing along with other low-lying areas of the world, including parts of America."
The United States had a responsibility, he argued, to contribute to the global response to climate change.
The first gathering of the UN's climate forum since last year's adoption of the Paris Agreement to curtail global warming, is tasked with drafting a roadmap for its execution.
It has been overshadowed by uncertainty about Trump's vow to "cancel" the pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions blamed for planet warming.
Seoul: South Korea said on Friday it has rejected Google`s latest request for permission to take government mapping data for use in servers outside the country, citing security issues with North Korea.
Google, an Alphabet Inc company, has said it needs to use the data on servers worldwide to enable services that would give walking and driving directions in South Korea.
But South Korea, whose 1950-53 war with North Korea ended without a peace treaty, argues that if it allowed such data to leave the country, the locations of military facilities and other sensitive sites could be revealed.
The government could grant permission if Google removes images of sensitive sites on its satellite imaging services, an official at the body in charge of mapping data has previously said.
But Google has rejected that condition, saying the information is widely available through satellite images that can be purchased freely.
The land ministry said it would reconsider if Google changes its position. A Seoul-based spokeswoman for Google did not have immediate comment on Friday`s decision.
Separately, Google is under scrutiny in South Korea, with the antitrust regulator examining whether the U.S. firm`s agreements with handset manufacturers on the Android mobile operating system limits market competition.
The information and broadcasting minister has asked the Delhi Police to probe in detail the corrupt practices aimed to puncture demonetisaiton scheme after India Today exposed them.
By India Today Web Desk: Union minister of state for finance Santosh Gangwar has promised strict action against those trying to circumvent the demonetisation scheme of the government.
Santosh Gangwar's response came after India Today's investigation exposed how some crooks were misusing the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor.
"Whenever a new scheme is launched, some people try to find loopholes in it and try to get advantage of that to serve their own selfish purpose. I thank Aaj Tak to expose such people and urge media to help identify such unscrupulous people," Santosh Gangwar said.
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READ| Exposed: Crooks turning kala dhan into Jan Dhan
The MoS Finance promised strict action against those indulging in corrupt practices. He said, "Whosoever is indulging in wrong practices will be acted against. The (demonetization) scheme is being implemented properly."
VENKAIAH NAIDU WRITES TO POLICE
A day earlier, union minister Venkaiah Naidu had also praised the series of investigative reports done by the India Today saying that the "sting operations helped government to identify those trying to derail the demonetisation scheme launched by the government."
"Such people are doing a world of bad to the economy and the nation," Naidu had said.
Naidu also told India today that he had forwarded a letter to Delhi Police commissioner asking to take strict action against those indulging in wrongful acts.
WATCH:
READ| India Today Impact: Centre asks Delhi Police to act against cash mafia
INDIA TODAY STING OPERATION
India Today and Aaj Tak showed a series of sting operations done on people, who tried to short circuit the demonetisation scheme by finding ways to change unaccounted money.
In the latest report, the India Today showed how crooks involved in the black market trade of banned bank notes maniputed some Jan Dhan accounts for parking unaccounted wealth of tax cheats.
READ| India Today Impact: Govt cracks down on cash jugaad mechanics
The Jan Dhan scheme was launched by the government in 2014 to bring the vast majority among the poor in the formal banking system to provide targeted benefit to them. More than 22 crore bank accounts were opened under the Jan Dhan scheme.
India Today investigation found that unscrupulous elements were out to bribe Jan Dhan account holders to convert black money into white. The government has now promised action against such people.ALSO READ:
Demonetisation Day 10: Election Commission asks Finance Ministry to stop using indelible ink at banks
--- ENDS ---
Aleppo: Air strikes and ferocious artillery bombardment pounded rebel-held east Aleppo on Friday as an escalating military offensive underscored the Syrian regime`s determination to take full control of the divided city.
Streets were deserted and residents took refuge indoors as the government unleashed a fourth straight day of bombardment on opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo, Syria`s second city.
The artillery fire was the most intense in east Aleppo in around two years, according to AFP`s correspondent there, while rescue workers said it was too dangerous to move around bomb-scarred neighbourhoods.
"I have never heard such intense artillery bombardments," said Najib Fakhoury, head of the White Helmets volunteer rescue group in the rebel-held Ansari district.
"Earlier, we received a call for help to extinguish a fire," he said. "But we cannot go because the shells are falling on the streets".
Aleppo has been ravaged by some of the worst violence of the five-year-old war, which has displaced more than half the population and killed over 300,000 people.
President Bashar al-Assad`s Russian-backed government has carried out several bombing campaigns this year but has failed to dislodge the rebels from east Aleppo, where more than 250,000 civilians are living under siege by the army.
Barrel bombs and other ordnance rained down until midnight only to resume in the early hours, an AFP correspondent reported.
Dozens of shells and rockets were heard falling on several east Aleppo districts, causing the ground to shake.
Regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs -- crude unguided explosive devices whose use has been denounced by international rights groups because they kill indiscriminately.The bombardment came as government troops pressed an assault on the southern neighbourhood of Sheikh Said, which they briefly entered before being pushed back by rebel fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The rebels riposted by firing more than a dozen rockets into government-held areas of the city, the Britain-based monitoring group added.
At least 65 civilians have been killed since the offensive resumed on Tuesday, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information.
The bombardment ended a period of relative respite, particularly in east Aleppo, where Moscow halted air strikes on October 18 ahead of a series of brief ceasefires.
The ceasefires were intended to encourage residents and surrendering rebels to leave the east, but few did so, fearing moving into government-held territory.
Once the country`s main commercial and industrial hub, Aleppo has been devastated by fighting since the rebels overran the east of the city in 2012.
The rebels have been besieged by the army since July and aid agencies say food stocks in the sector are virtually exhausted.
The 1.2 million civilians living in government-held areas have come under repeated rocket fire by the rebels that has killed dozens.
Russia, which intervened in Syria in September 2015 in support of Assad`s regime, said on Wednesday that it had not carried out any raids on Aleppo since October 18.
Instead it has concentrated its strikes in the northern province of Idlib, controlled by an alliance of rebels and jihadists.
Russian and Syrian aircraft continued to bomb several cities and towns in Idlib on Friday, according to the AFP correspondent in the province.
Regime artillery fire also hit the besieged rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus.
In New York, meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously decided to extend for another year the mandate of a panel tasked with investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying those responsible.
Backed by Russia, the council adopted a US-drafted resolution to prolong the joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) until November 2017.
Bangkok: The royal palace of Thailand says Queen Sirikit has been hospitalised with fever and lung infection, a month after her husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died.
Today's statement says the 84-year-old Sirikit had high fever on Wednesday. She was admitted to Chulalongkorn Hospital and doctors succeeded in bringing down the fever on Thursday, when she was able to "breathe well and eat."
It says an X-ray revealed a lung infection for which she is being treated with antibiotics. The queen has been in poor health for years and is known to have suffered a stroke.
Bhumibol, the world's longest-serving monarch, died on October 13 after battling several illnesses for years. The country is observing a one-year mourning period.
ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained 73 academics in dawn raids on Friday targeting followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating an attempted coup in July, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
Some 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the civil service, army and judiciary and 36,000 people jailed pending trial in the investigation of the failed putsch, in which over 240 people were killed. Gulen denies involvement.
Istanbul prosecutors issued detention warrants for 103 teaching staff accused of "membership of an armed terror group" in the investigation targeting the city`s Yildiz Technical University, the agency said.
Police searched the academics` homes and offices and the suspects were taken to hospital for routine health checks and then to Istanbul police headquarters, the agency reported.
Some were said to have been users of a smart-phone messaging app called ByLock, which Ankara says Gulen`s followers began using in 2014.
Judicial authorities on Thursday dismissed 203 judges and prosecutors over links to what Ankara terms the "Gulenist Terror Group".
Human rights groups and some Western allies have voiced concern at the scope of the purges, fearing President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to curtail dissent.
Melbourne: More than 20 people were hurt today, some seriously, after a man apparently set fire to a branch of the Commonwealth Bank in Australia, police said.
Paramedics treated 21 people at the scene, an ambulance spokesman said. Most suffered breathing problems but five have serious burns.
"Police responded to reports that a man had allegedly set fire to a Springvale Road bank," Victoria state police said of the incident in the Melbourne suburb.
"The man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition under police guard."
Eric Sleuriot, who was nearby, told the Melbourne Age newspaper: "It's bloody awful. I just can't believe it."
The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest, said the branch would remain shut for the rest of the day, with its response team on site.
"We are working closely with local authorities and emergency services," it said in a statement.
United Nations: The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously decided to extend for another year the mandate of a panel tasked with investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying those responsible.
Backed by Russia, the council adopted a US-drafted resolution to prolong the joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) until November 2017.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said the work of the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), was "far from finished" and pointed to reports of alleged chlorine gas attacks in east Aleppo.
The JIM has already established during its year-long investigation that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
It was the first time that an international probe pointed the finger of blame at President Bashar al-Assad`s forces, after years of denial from Damascus.
Despite the findings, Russia has dismissed the conclusions as unconvincing and said no sanctions should be imposed on Syria.
Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said "Russia`s skeptical position is well-known regarding the conclusions" but he added that Moscow`s backing was a recognition that chemical weapons use remained a threat in Syria and in Iraq.
The JIM also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.France and Britain have repeatedly called for UN sanctions against Syria for its use of chemical weapons but there has been no action at the Security Council.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "today`s adoption is an important step but we will need to go further" by ensuring that those responsible for the attacks face sanctions.
Power said the council must work to "make sure those who use these gruesome weapons face consequences."
The resolution tasks the JIM with identifying the "perpetrators, organizers, sponsors" of attacks including among groups associated with the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda.
It states that all "individuals, entities, groups or governments responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable."
In its last report, the JIM found that government helicopters flying from two Assad regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, in rebel-held Idlib province.
The panel identified three helicopter squadrons as the perpetrators.
Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 and agreed to give up its chemical stockpile under pressure from close ally Russia.
At a meeting in The Hague last week, the OPCW`s executive body condemned Syria for its use of chemical weapons, the first-ever condemnation of a state-party to the CWC.
"With the extension of the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism for another year, all those thinking of using chemical weapons in Syria will know that they may be exposed. But accountability is also crucial," said Louis Charbonneau, the UN director for Human Rights Watch.
"The Security Council should quickly impose sanctions on senior leaders in the Syrian chain of command who have allowed the use of chemical weapons on their watch."
Set up by the council in August 2015, the JIM was due to shut down on Friday unless its mandate was renewed.
LIVE-2 Inning |02-6
INDIA VS BANGLADESH
IND 184/6 VS 35/0 BAN
Bangladesh need 150 runs in 95 balls at 9.47 rpo
In June, Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar had vowed not to speak to the media for six months as his statements always seemed to draw him into controversies. However, within four months, at a book release function on November 10, in answer to an innocuous question from a journalist in the audience, Parrikar raised a storm when he went on to question the fundamentals of India's nuclear doctrine, particularly its policy on unleashing its atomic arsenal against an enemy country.
Ever since India's second test in 1998, ordered by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, there has been heated debate over what red lines have to be crossed for India to launch a nuclear attack. In January 2003, the Vajpayee government released the deliberations of a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting on the nuclear doctrine that made it clear what India's threshold was. The CCS explicitly stated that India would have "a posture of No-First Use" and that "nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or Indian forces anywhere". It then went on to add, "Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage (to the aggressor)." Since then, there has been no official revision of the doctrine outlined in the statement, including the moratorium on conducting further nuclear tests.
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In 2014, when the BJP swept to power at the Centre with a clear majority, nuclear experts expressed concern over the party's election manifesto promise to revise India's nuclear doctrine. The manifesto had stated that if the BJP came to power, it would "revise and update" India's nuclear doctrine and "make it relevant to [the] challenges of current times". Many interpreted the statement to be primarily a demand to alter the No-First Use (NFU) posture so as to send a strong message to an aggressive Pakistan.
However, even before he took charge as prime minister, Narendra Modi made it clear that the policy was "a great initiative of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and there is no compromise on that". Months later, on his first visit to Japan as prime minister, when questioned about India's nuclear posture, Modi was even more emphatic: "There is a tradition of national consensus and continuity on such issues. Currently, we are not taking any initiative for a review of our nuclear doctrine."
It was important for Modi to make that clarification because our government had been negotiating with Tokyo since 2010 to sign an agreement to enable Japanese manufacturers to supply nuclear equipment to India. Under the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal that fructified in 2008, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) made an exception for India and waived the clause that prohibited member-countries from entering into nuclear trade with nations that had not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). (India is not an NPT signatory.) While Japan, which is an NSG member, had no issues with other countries conducting nuclear trade with India, it was unwilling to relax its own stringent rules that prevented its companies from trading with non-signatory countries.
Modi was acutely aware that it was critical to get Japan to relax its rules, otherwise India's ambitious nuclear energy programme would be grounded. Three major manufacturers of nuclear power reactors - Areva of France and GE and Westinghouse of the US-were either partly Japanese owned or dependent on manufacturers from there for supplies of critical parts. Between these companies and their Japanese counterparts, 18 large nuclear power plant deals worth over 100 billion dollars were pending.
Nuclear energy was critical to Modi's much-lauded proactive counter to the threat of climate change, including signing the Paris Climate Change pact in November 2015. Under that, India was committed to achieving a target of sourcing 40 per cent of its energy mix from clean energy sources, including nuclear power by 2030. That meant India's current nuclear power generation had to increase tenfold, from around 6,000 MW to 63,000 MW. Foreign collaboration was critical for the great leap forward and without Japan onboard there was no way India could meet the target.
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Ever since he came to power, Modi had assiduously wooed his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe to sign an agreement to permit nuclear trade with India. For Japan, it would be a major exception-it had so far never permitted trade with a country that hadn't signed the NPT. Its reservations were understandable because it is the only country in the world to have grievously suffered a nuclear attack. Critical to the agreement was India's assurance that it would not go back on the nuclear doctrine it had articulated in 2003 and reiterated in 2008 while signing the Indo-US nuclear agreement.
That included a voluntary moratorium against conducting another test and maintaining its NFU posture and also committing to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on all its designated civilian reactors, including the ones it planned to import. To assuage Japanese concerns, India also agreed to append a separate note to the agreement that clarified actions that Japan would take if India were to conduct another nuclear test. While there was some criticism that India was bartering away its nuclear sovereignty, Indian negotiators took pains to clarify that there was no deviation from the reassurances the UPA government had given the US on the question of India conducting nuclear tests.
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On the eve of signing the historic nuclear pact with Japan, Parrikar committed the indiscretion of reopening what everyone regarded as a settled debate. He told the audience, "India has a no-first use policy. Why should I bind myself to it? I should say I am a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it [weapons] irresponsibly. This is my thinking. It has not changed in any government policy but it is my concept. As an individual, I get a feeling sometimes why do I say that I am not going to use it first."
Parrikar was possibly responding to a provocative remark made by his Pakistan counterpart Khawaja Asif who, fearing retaliation after the Uri attack, threatened, "Tactical nuclear weapons have been developed for our protection. We haven't kept the devices that we have just as showpieces. If our safety is threatened, we will annihilate them [India]." Unlike India, Pakistan has maintained a first-use policy and has stated it would resort to nuclear weapons if it was in danger of losing territory, if its armed forces were being routed or if an economic blockade threatened the survival of its citizens. The Modi government was quick to clarify that Parrikar had expressed his personal views and that there was no change in the government doctrine. While the deal with Japan was signed without a hitch, Parrikar's loose remarks went viral in the capitals that matter and are likely to be a subject of debate for months to come.
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Parrikar may have been echoing arguments by retired senior Indian armed forces personnel that by changing its NFU posture, India could deter even a potential conventional attack from China or Pakistan. Another point being made is that if India suspected that Pakistan was going to launch a nuclear attack, why should it put its citizens in peril? Why not launch a nuclear strike to disable Pakistan's capability? There is the added danger that if another country is allowed to strike first, India's nuclear arsenal may be depleted and its capability to retaliate may be rendered ineffective.
Yet the idea that India should be using its weapons if it is threatened by another country is not just crazy but abhorrent to the very ethos of the country. India is a firm believer that the world should move quickly to a nuclear zero - a scenario where all such weapons are eliminated. The only reason it developed nuclear weapons was as a deterrent, particularly against China and later Pakistan, so as not to be blackmailed into submission. Our nuclear weapons have long been regarded as a 'political' weapon, rather than just another part of the military arsenal. Not a weapon to pre-empt a strike but one of retaliation.
That is why, unlike Pakistan, India didn't develop tactical or short-range weapons designed to be employed in battlefields rather than against civilian populations. For India, even a tactical attack on its troops is sufficient for it to respond with massive nuclear force that would annihilate Pakistan as it can never be sure that the next attack from it would be confined to the battlefield.
If India changes its NFU posture, it brings in ambiguity and uncertainty in Pakistan's decision-making and lowers the nuclear threshold. A first-use posture would mean that India would not only have to develop far more nuclear weapons than it now has to enable it to not just strike first but also to conduct repeated strikes if the enemy retaliates. And from its current relaxed nuclear posture, India would move to a taut and stressful situation and have to develop an elaborate command-and-control structure.
Moreover, India has always wanted to 'demonetise' nuclear weapons as a currency of power. As the first step towards reducing the salience of nuclear weapons, India has called for all nuclear weapon powers to adopt an NFU posture. (China has an NFU, but the US doesn't). India hopes that this would push nations to an agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons. That is a laudable goal for a nation that was born on the principle of non-violence and one we should continue to strive for. For in a nuclear war, there are no winners, only survivors.
Follow the writer on Twitter @rajchengappa
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With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Democratic Party looks set to rely more heavily on top law officials in states they run to help keep a check on Trump's exercise of power.
By Reuters: Democratic attorneys general in at least five US states have vowed to fight President-elect Donald Trump in the courts if he rolls back Obama-era regulations or adopts policies they view as infringing upon civil liberties.
DEMOCRATS RELYING ON LAW OFFICIALS
With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Democratic Party looks set to rely more heavily on top law officials in states they run to help keep a check on Trump's exercise of power.
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Any efforts by a Trump administration to weaken consumer protection or climate change policies, for example, could lead to conflict between the states and the federal government, attorney general offices in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Massachusetts, and New York told Reuters. In some instances, that could see them asking a federal judge to block federal action nationwide.
"I view my role as being on the first line of defense against a Trump administration if it chooses to act in an unconstitutional fashion," said Bob Ferguson, the Democratic attorney general of Washington state.
When George W. Bush was president, Democratic states forced his administration to take the first step toward regulating carbon emissions for the first time.
Michael Kelly, a spokesman for Virginia's attorney general, Mark Herring, said that if a Trump administration "crosses the line and pursues actions that are illegal or violate the Constitution, Attorney General Herring will be ready to stand up and defend the rights of Virginians."
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Attorneys general are the top legal officials in the 50 states and are typically elected. After this year's elections, 21 will be Democrats, in addition to the attorney general for the District of Columbia.
Acting on behalf of their states, they generally have legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging federal regulations or executive actions, including those that may infringe upon civil rights.
"The President-elect has made a number of promises that, if implemented, would violate the Constitution or Massachusetts law," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.
"If the incoming administration chooses to try to act in ways that are unconstitutional, my office will take action to protect the rights and liberties of our residents and our state," she said.
SYMPATHETIC HEARING
A dozen attorney general offices contacted by Reuters declined to discuss potential legal strategies before Trump takes office.
Democratic states that sue might initially get a sympathetic hearing, as many federal courts are staffed with judges appointed by President Barack Obama during his eight years in office.
But challengers face one major obstacle, a Supreme Court likely soon to regain its conservative majority once Trump makes an appointment to fill a vacant seat. The court is currently divided 4-4 between conservatives and liberals.
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Republican-controlled Texas, which took a leading role in challenging Obama's executive actions, provides a model for the Democratic attorneys general.
Climate change is likely to be area of friction between Trump, who has vowed to roll back regulations aimed at cutting greenhouse gases, and Democratic states, which have supported such efforts at the federal level or enacted their own measures.
The top target for Trump is Obama's Clean Power Plan, which seeks to limit carbon emissions from power plants.
Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office "will continue to fight to protect New Yorkers' public health, property, and environment, and to lead the coalition of states defending the Clean Power Plan."
Immigration policy is another potential flashpoint. Trump has said he will rescind an Obama executive order giving deportation relief to up to 4 million people and end federal funding for cities like New York and Los Angeles that give sanctuary to undocumented immigrants.
A federal court blocked the Obama executive order in February 2015 after Texas and 25 other Republican states challenged it. The Supreme Court split 4-4 on the issue in June, leaving the lower court's ruling in place.
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On consumer protection, states can both challenge any Trump efforts to loosen regulations and ramp up their own enforcement efforts, said Doug Gansler, a Democrat who served as Maryland's attorney general from 2007 to 2015.
"If the federal government abdicates that responsibility, the more aggressive and progressive state attorneys general will fill that vacuum," he said.
ALSO READ:
Is Donald Trump a nice person? Does he deserve a chance as the President?
NATO says 'absolutely confident' of Trump leadership in alliance
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BHP Billiton and Vale are also facing billions of dollars in legal claims for clean-up costs after the 2015 environmental disaster
A Brazilian federal judge has accepted homicide and environmental criminal charges against 22 people and four mining companies involved in last year's deadly Samarco dam burst.
Judge Jacques de Queiroz Ferreira gave the green light to indictments accusing Samarco and its co-owners Vale and BHP Billiton, as well as the VogBR consultancy, of culpability in the November 5 collapse of an iron ore tailings dam in the Minas Gerais region. Nineteen people were killed.
The ruling, seen by AFP, was signed Wednesday but only made public on Friday.
The companies, which have all rejected the accusations, are charged with crimes against the environment.
Twenty one people, including senior executives, face charges of "qualified homicide" and environmental crimes. A VogBR engineer is charged with having falsely certified the dam as stable prior to its collapse.
The defendants have 30 days to respond. A judge will then consider the evidence and decide whether to bring the defendants to a jury trial.
Reacting to this week's ruling, the Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it had not yet been officially notified about the acceptance of the indictment.
But "BHP Billiton Brasil strongly repudiates the accusations made by the Federal Public Prosecutors against the company and individuals and will defend itself in the course of the proceeding," the company said.
The Samarco dam burst unleashed a torrent of mud down the River Doce, a major waterway.
It was branded Brazil's worst environmental disaster, drawing comparisons with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion which killed 11 workers and triggered a devastating spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Prosecutors denounced the mining companies for reckless policies "to boost profits and dividends."
Samarco says that the accident was impossible to foresee, and that it is compensating victims' families and helping to restore environmental damage.
The mining companies have agreed to pay billions of dollars in compensation but in May prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Vale, BHP and Samarco seeking 155 billion reais ($49 billion).
A UN climate summit in Marrakesh tasked with implementing the hard-won Paris Agreement moved toward its scheduled close Friday, dogged by Donald Trump's promise to abandon the landmark pact.
The 196-nation forum was stunned to see an avowed climate change denier capture the White House, and has been left to ponder the impact that could have on their collective effort to beat back the threat of global warming.
On Thursday, the conference sought to shore up their commitment with a rare united appeal.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond," the 196 nations, including the outgoing US administration, said in the "Marrakesh Action Proclamation".
"We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority."
Many fear that US president-elect Trump -- who has described climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by China -- will act on his threat to withdraw from the Paris accord or its framework convention, which could roll back years of painstakingly negotiated political goodwill.
It would also deprive poor countries of billions of dollars in promised finance aid, to help them shift to clean energy and shore up defences against climate change impacts that can no longer be avoided.
"We have to work on facilitating access to finance," Moroccan foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar, who has taken over stewardship of the UN talks from France, said on Friday.
"There's no doubt that if Mr. Trump makes sharp cuts to the federal government support of developing countries, that will be noticed and have an impact," veteran climate negotiations analyst Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists told AFP.
The Paris pact sets the goal of limiting average global warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
- No backtracking -
That can only be achieved by rapidly slashing greenhouse gas emissions generated by the burning of fossil fuels, scientists say.
Story continues
Countries -- including the United States -- have pledged to do so under the deal by shifting to renewable energy sources.
But Trump has vowed to boost oil and gas production, and to revive the sagging US coal industry, battered mainly by the rise of natural gas from fracking.
Experts say global warming over 2C will result in land-gobbling sea level rise, worsening storms and droughts, disease spread and conflict over ever-scarcer resources.
Highlighting the stakes, US government scientists said Thursday that the first 10 months of the year were the hottest in modern times -- and 2016 will likely surpass 2015 as the warmest year on record.
On current trends, the world is headed for warming of 3C or more, a recipe for human misery on a global scale, they warn.
Without the US, delegates and analysts say, the goal will be even harder to reach.
"The chances of the rest of the world contributing the emissions reductions commitments that the US is required to undertake, or covering the shortfall in climate finance that the US is required to contribute, is unlikely to happen," said Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid, which monitors the climate negotiations on behalf of poor countries.
"That is scary."
While waiting for the in-coming US president to make his climate position clear, many now look to the rest of the world to bolster the Paris Agreement.
The BASIC group of Brazil, South Africa, India and China, stressed they would "continue and strengthen" their own actions, while stressing "there can be no backtracking on commitments from developed countries and no attempt to renegotiate the terms of the agreement reached in Paris".
Mezouar announced Friday that the next high-level climate meet would take place at the end of next year in Bonn, Germany, but be presided by Fiji.
"It is the first time that a small island state, and one from the Pacific, will organise a COP," he told journalists.
It's been over a week since Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. Are people beginning to warm up to him now?
By Shreya Biswas: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently met President-elect Donald Trump, and here's what he had to say: "I am convinced Mr Trump is a leader in whom I can have great confidence."
Blink. Blink. Blink.
Yes, he said that.
After their 90-minute meeting in New York yesterday, a Japanese government spokesman said Abe and Trump had hit it off with an "extremely good start". Abe also said Trump has "renewed my conviction that together with Mr Trump I will be able to establish a relationship of trust."
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Read more: Trump meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
All this comes after Trump spent much of his energy during the presidential campaign critisising Japan's contribution to bilateral security ties. He even suggested the US pulling troops out of Japan and South Korea.
Why did Abe vote in confidence of Trump? He has a point. He said, "without confidence between the two nations, our alliance would never function in the future." And considering Japan is one of Washington's closest allies in the Asia-Pacific, a lot depends on this alliance.
But what about others? Is the rest of the world slowly warming up to Trump too?
It's been over a week since Trump won the US presidential elections. We've had our time to stomach the news and process it. Meanwhile, many politicians who were against Trump during the campaign began playing a different tune.
Also read: What does Donald Trump's HISTORIC win say about Americans?
BORIS JOHNSON
Last year, Britain's Foreign secretary Boris Johnson lashed out at Trump for calling London "radicalised". Johnson retorted by saying he wouldn't go into some parts of New York for the "real risk of meeting Donald Trump." Now, he insists that Trump is a "dealmaker".
"Donald Trump is a dealmaker and I think that could be a good thing for Britain, but it could also be a good thing for Europe and that I think is what we need to focus on today," Johnson said earlier this week.
Also read: Trump effect? Canada immigration site crashes, shows internal server error
REPUBLICAN MITT ROMNEY
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney switched sides quickly. Romney once labelled Trump as "phony," "fraud" and called upon his traits like, "the bullying, the greed, the showing off the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics."
After Trump's win, Romney congratulated Trump by referring to him as "our duly elected president".
Best wishes for our duly elected president: May his victory speech be his guide and preserving the Republic his aim.
Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 9, 2016
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SENATOR JEFF FLAKE
Arizona senator Jeff Flake was one of those Republicans who did not side with Trump. He even called Trump "very weak and ineffective". But when the election results came out, Flake took to Twitter to congratulate Trump, and hinted at someday working with him. Some, 'crow eating' that is.
Congrats to Pres. Elect Trump on a big win and a gracious and healing speech. I look forward to working with him. Now, back to eating crow.. Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) November 9, 2016
Also read: Hello President Trump, here's what Twitter feels about your win
NEW YORK POST
The best of all reactions to Trump's win was that of the New York Post. The daily, which once ran Melania Trump's nude photos all over its cover, responded to Trump's victory by calling him the "little guy" who beat the "elite".
Ahem.
Donald Trump's victory is a win for the little guy over the elite https://t.co/QZb96gvry8 pic.twitter.com/MNw6Bs8J4B New York Post (@nypost) November 9, 2016
Also read: This South Indian astrologer predicted Trump will win
Is it all part of politics? Is it for the sake of healthy alliances and truce?
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THERE'S A THIRD REASON: DEALING WITH THE REALITY.
Donald Trump is going to swear in as the next US president soon, whether you like it or not. The call that many are making now is to swallow their pride and make the best of what they have.
Well-known senior journalist Nicholas Kristof writes in his opinion piece:
"Americans have a new president-elect, and it's time to buck up. I've seen past elections that were regarded as the end of the world - including, in many Democratic circles, the Reagan triumph of 1980 - and the republic survived. This time as well, our institutions are stronger than any one man. We are not Weimar Germany."
He's not alone. Quite a few TV news anchors and guests looked straight into the camera after the election results came out, and repeated the same thing: "Give Trump a chance."
Also read: Oh my God! America will have a president who said such things
IS TRUMP BECOMING MORE SENSIBLE?
Seriously, what's with the mellowed voice?
Since the elections, Trump seems to be backing out of the "promises" he made during the campaign, the ones which probably won him the election in the first place.
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He promised to consider retaining some features of President Obama's healthcare reforms, which he promised to "repeal and replace" during campaign. Hillary Clinton, whom he once swore to imprison and called "nasty", has now become a "very strong and very smart" woman for him.
The most shocking switch in his stance has been the disappearance of the Muslim-ban propaganda from his campaign page.
Read more: Post election results, Donald Trump removes 'ban all Muslims from the US' page from his website
As for the Iran nuclear deal, Trump adviser Walid Phares said, "'Ripping up' is maybe a too strong of word. He [Trump] is gonna take that agreement, it's been done before in international context, and then review it."
In a recent interview with CBS, Trump appeared as more subdued, more serious??. When asked about the wall he promised to build along Mexico border, he said he would but "for certain areas." Go figure.
He also left the reporters shocked when he said he was in favour of Libya, and was not in support of killing Gaddafi and Saddam Husain.
Also read: Americans protest against Donald Trump big time, president-elect calls it unfair
BUT SHOULD WE GIVE TRUMP A CHANCE?
John Oliver has another plan for dealing with the reality of Trump's presidency, which he shared with the world in the latest episode of Last Week Tonight.
"Optimism is nice if you can swing it, but you got to be careful," Oliver points out. "Because it can feed into the normalisation of Donald Trump."
Whether warming up to Trump will help or not, we don't know. But there are something one should not forget: This is the man who called for a ban on a community, who waved off sexism as "locker room talk".
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German business leaders caught off guard by the election of Donald Trump are facing the prospect of a new U.S-German trade relationship.
As uncertainty looms over President-elect Trump's White House priorities, German companies are holding out hope free trade will win over protectionist policies in the West Wing. Businesses expressed skepticism over Trump's anti-globalization rhetoric on the campaign trail, saying the future president is more likely to take a balanced approach to trade relations with Germany, its crucial economic and political ally. But some worried Trump's "America-first" promise could infiltrate the alliance.
"Everybody hopes that we will see better decisions from now on from Trump than in the election campaign," said Thilo Brodtmann, executive director of VDMA, Germany's engineering federation representing more than 3,000 companies. "If you believe in what has been said during the campaignthat would be of very harmful."
Germany shipped more goods to the U.S. than any other country in 2015 with exports increasing 73 percent since 2010, according to the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research. Top exports include automobiles, machinery, and electrical goods. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced the necessity of a strong U.S.-German trade relationship in a joint press conference with President Barack Obama Thursday in Berlin.
"Our bilateral relations are very good, they are very close in the areas of business, of the economy," Merkel said. "The European Union and the United States of America are the big important economic areas for us, which is why I always have come up strongly in favor of concluding a trade agreement with the United States of America."
Multinationals like Germany-based chain saw maker Andreas Stihl AG & Co. have exported more than their products to the United States. The company brought German-style workforce training and advanced manufacturing to its U.S. headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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"We're very proud of the fact that our products are German engineered but also built in America and the fact that we add so much value over here," said Bjoern Fischer, president of the company's U.S. subsidiary Stihl Inc.
Fischer said he was optimistic about Stihl's growth prospects in the U.S., citing the company's long-term business strategy. He said operations in both the U.S. and Germany will continue to take advantage of a global manufacturing environment under president-elect Trump.
"Both countries are obviously very strong countries with very large markets," he said. "That cooperation will continue and I'm sure we'll find solutions."
Fischer pointed to possible benefits for business under a Trump administration, including lower corporate tax rates and reduced business regulations. He said there were "two sides of a coin" from a stronger dollar in the U.S., which has appreciated since the election.
"All the components that we buy overseas are benefiting from a stronger dollar so that helps us, but a strong dollar overseas makes our product more expensive to other parts of the world," he said.
Increased trade barriers would likely pose problems for German industrial companies with large footprints in the U.S., said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He said German multinationals might not be able to produce or sell their goods in the U.S. as easily as before.
"The irony is that deteriorating U.S.-German relations might actually jeopardize German manufacturing investments in the U.S. and thereby pose a threat to the very jobs Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to boost," Kirkegaard said.
He added disagreements between Trump and Merkel over climate change could further deteriorate the U.S.-German business relationship. Kirkegaard said efforts to fight climate change within Germany are "completely uncontested," and Merkel does not want to defend her country's position to the United States as she gears up for the 2017 German elections.
"If Donald Trump goes ahead and does what he said he would do during the campaign and takes the United States out of the international climate agreement, then I would predict that the political and economic response from Germany would be very negative," he said.
German industry leaders insist they will continue to push business initiatives like TTIP, a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the U.S. The proposed legislation has met opposition on both sides of the Atlantic.
"German industry will continue to work towards a fair TTIP with good regulations for both sides," said Ulrich Grillo, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in a statement.
Grillo pointed to more than 5,000 German companies represented in the U.S., saying the country must continue to honor its responsibilities as a global leader. An estimated 1.5 million jobs in Germany depend on trade with the U.S., according to the Ifo Institute.
"The United States must continue to support open markets," Grillo said in the statement. "Everything else would be poison for the economy."
Other industry leaders were skeptical Trump would follow through on trade restrictions, dismissing his anti-trade language as fiery campaign rhetoric.
"We hope that there will be some learning curve when answering the question of free trade and the necessity for trade," VDMA's Brodtmann said. "It will show quite quickly that any kind of protectionism will harm the macroeconomic data of the U.S. as well as elsewhere."
Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski speaks at the opening of the APEC CEO Summit in Lima on November 18, 2016
A summit of top world leaders was urged to fight rising protectionism after Donald Trump's election victory stoked fears that free trade is under threat, and the global economy along with it.
Trump, who triumphed in last week's US presidential vote, successfully tapped the anger of working-class voters who feel left behind by years of globalization, vowing to protect American jobs against cheap labor in countries like China and Mexico.
As a summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group got under way, host President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru urged the region's leaders to robustly defend free trade, while the US sought to reassure worried allies.
"In the US and Britain, protectionist tendencies are taking over," Kuczynski told APEC leaders.
"It is fundamental that world trade grow again and that protectionism be defeated."
Trump's victory came after Britain's surprise "Brexit" vote in June to leave the European Union, adding to deep uncertainty about the post-war world order and the future of free trade.
The sentiment also exists on a far smaller scale in Peru, where several dozen protesters -- including Amazon natives in indigenous headdress -- gathered Friday in Lima to condemn free trade agreements and the "capitalist beast."
Trump has notably vowed to scuttle US President Barack Obama's key trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), leaving a vacuum that China -- which was excluded from the deal -- is keen to fill.
A delegate at ministerial meetings held on Thursday and Friday said APEC ministers had expressed concern over growing protectionism in the United States, and that the mood had been somber.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman sought to reassure leaders that US policy would not change radically from one administration to the next.
He urged those fearing the worst to give Trump time.
"It's only been 10 days since the election," he said.
"Any new administration needs time to go through the transition process."
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Citing a recent study suggesting failure to ratify TPP would cost the US around $94 billion in the first year alone, he said Trump had major incentives to see the deal through in some form.
"Inaction poses serious costs," he said.
- 'Unequivocal message' -
Trump is not at the summit but he looms large over the meeting of APEC, a free-trade club founded in 1989 that represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population and nearly 60 percent of the global economy.
In a clear jab at the billionaire mogul's anti-trade stance, Kuczynski said that "anyone who wants to promote protectionism (should) read an economic history of the 1930s."
The center-right economist urged his fellow leaders to deliver an "unequivocal message" in support of free trade.
The US election has left China, a country the United States once considered a threat to free-market capitalism, as the unlikely leader of the movement for open trade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is holding a strong hand as he meets Obama and other APEC leaders this week.
"There is no doubt that if the TPP fails it will be a huge win for China, politically and economically," said Brian Jackson, a China economist at consultancy IHS Global Insight.
Even longtime US allies in the Asia-Pacific region now say they are keen to get on board with Chinese-backed alternatives to TPP.
Beijing is pushing an APEC-wide Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes India but not the United States.
World business leaders gathered on the sidelines of the summit bemoaned TPP's "grim prospects" and urged governments to pour resources into FTAAP and set a concrete timeline, said Sun Xiao, an official with the China Chamber of International Commerce.
And amid mounting criticism that globalization has benefitted only the wealthiest, IMF chief Christine Lagarde defended trade as a major engine of growth.
"We hope it continues to be -- but it has to be inclusive growth," she said.
Volkswagen on Friday announced the biggest revamp in its history, cutting 30,000 jobs in a huge savings plan to help the German auto giant recover from the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal.
The deal, agreed with workers' representatives after months of tortuous negotiations, will lead to annual savings of 3.7 billion euros ($3.9 billion) by 2020 and will allow the group to ramp up its investment in electric vehicles, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said.
"It's a major step forward, and undoubtedly one of the biggest in the history of the company," Diess told a press conference at the group's Wolfsburg headquarters in northern Germany.
The job reductions will be at VW's own-brand unit and will not affect the group's other brands such as Porsche, Audi and Skoda.
Some 23,000 of the job cuts will be in Germany alone, Diess said, adding that these would be mostly through measures such as attrition and temp job losses and not through forced lay-offs.
Jobs will also be lost in Brazil and Argentina, two markets where the VW brand is struggling.
"I am very sorry for those affected, but the situation of the brand at the moment gives us little room for manoeuvre," Diess added.
The so-called "Future Pact" agreed with labour leaders will also see VW create 9,000 positions in areas of new technology, as part of the group's shift to electric vehicles in the wake of dieselgate.
- 'VW can change' -
"We are tackling the problems at the root, even if it's painful. Many didn't think we could do it," Diess said. "Today, we have shown that Volkswagen can and will change."
VW's own-brand unit, which employs 215,000 people worldwide, had already been struggling with profitability, weighed down by high costs and low productivity.
But the VW group, which owns 12 brands, was plunged into the biggest crisis in its history last year after it admitted to installing emissions cheating software in some 11 million diesel vehicles.
The so-called defeat devices could detect when a vehicle was undergoing regulatory tests and lowered emissions accordingly to make the cars seem less polluting than they were.
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The crisis hurt sales and damaged the image of the proud German company, pushing it to its first loss in over two decades last year.
In response to the controversy and to burnish its environmental credentials, VW has revved up its focus on clean energy cars, announcing plans to develop and manufacture more than 30 new electric vehicles by 2025.
As part of the shift to new technologies, Diess said VW would invest some 3.5 billion euros in Germany over the next four years in projects focussed on e-mobility, digitalisation and automation -- including self-driving cars.
- Costly legal woes -
Top worker representative Bernd Osterloh said the radical shake-up had "positive and negative aspects", but he welcomed that German plants would be at the forefront of manufacturing VW's electric vehicles.
"These future-oriented vehicles will be made in Germany and not in other countries," he said in a statement.
Analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, an expert on the German auto industry, told n-tv rolling news channel that VW was on the right track with its massive restructuring plan.
"It's painful but it's the right decision," he said.
The VW group has set aside some 18 billion euros to cover the fallout of the dieselgate scandal, but experts believe the final bill for the buy-backs, fixes and legal costs will be far higher.
Last month the carmaker agreed a $14.7 billion settlement with authorities in the United States that includes compensation for nearly half a million owners of the affected cars.
But VW still faces a web of investigations and legal claims around the world.
The group's shares gained 0.64 percent to 118.30 euros in afternoon trading in Frankfurt, outperforming the overall market, which was up by 0.30 percent.
In a country where tourism is the 5th growth driver, local Philippine companies are scrambling to take advantage
The Philippines has been enjoying an accelerated pace of growth in its tourism industry. With over 4 million arrivals in the first eight months of 2016 alone, a 12 per cent increase from the same period in 2015, coupled with its Its More Fun in the Philippines international campaign, there is room in the market for various travel companies to disrupt the tourism industry.
In this list, we put the focus on five Filipino travel startups that are changing the way people travel around the Philippines.
Trail adventours
Tagline: Share. Life. Outdoors.
Hiking since 1997, the decision to start Trail Adventours seems to have come naturally to brothers Coby and Guido Sarreal. Launched in October 2010 with three adventure guides and two hiking destinations, the company now offers hikes to over 50 mountains in the Philippines alone, including newly opened trails in unique destinations in the country.
Also read: Why establishing a strong social presence is vital for any startup
With a network stemming from 58 adventure guides and a strong online presence in adventure groups, Trail Adventours have serviced all sorts of hikers from new hikers to seasoned mountain climbers just as long as they share the passion for the great outdoors. The company works with seasoned adventure guides and local communities to ensure safe hikes that are neither intrusive or destructive to the environment and the local culture.
Trail Adventours has also expanded its hikes to various mountains outside of the country. Travelers can join their hikes through their website.
Experience Philippines
Tagline: Dont think. Be random.
True to its tagline, any trip that Experience Philippines offers seem random. Any trip posted in the website only includes what travellers should prepare to bring and not the destination. Destinations are announced upon meet-up on the day of the trip and only upon arriving will the travellers know what activities they can join.
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The company offers five types: random road trips, singles road trips, retro road trips, quick getaways, and random OUTings. Travellers can take part in any of the surprise destinations and activities that the group organises.
Founder Giancarlo Gallegos credits collaboration with local tourism offices, other travel groups, and local communities in the success of their trips. The companys strong online presence and online customer relationship has also helped Experience Philippines expand its network of avid travellers and local service providers.
Experience Philippines also organises special trips for individuals and groups. It is also the only company in the Philippines that organises roadtrips exclusively for the LGBTQ community (random OUTings). Travellers can sign up to join trips through the Experience Philippines website.
MAD Travel
Tagline: Adventures that matter.
Standing for Make A Difference, MAD Travel was launched in partnership with Gawad Kalinga, a global movement building homes and communities for the less fortunate. The companys tailor-made travel experiences aims to bring travellers to different destinations for activities that would help them gain an awareness of the social problems that various social groups in the country are trying to solve.
Also read: 7 Filipino social entrepreneurs who are making a difference in the community
A social enterprise, MAD Travel partners with other local social enterprises, as well as development groups in the local communities, to provide an alternative travel experience. The activities that MAD organises involve interaction between the travellers and locals, such as volunteering in an organic farm, learning to surf from the locals, and visiting transformed communities.
MAD Travel also customises trips for individuals and organisations, and the team also offers experiences made especially for kids. Travellers can join their scheduled activities through the website.
Zigzag Travelers
Tagline: A global gateway for Philippines culture.
What started as a group to organise tours in the El Nido islands of Palawan in 2015, Zigzag travellers has expanded to become an online booking platform for experiences all over the Philippines.
With a mission to empower local communities, Zigzag Travelers work closely with its travel partners all over the country to promote the services of the local enterprises. Founder Karl Murphy stresses the importance of the startups collaborative relationship with partners in providing new and exciting tour packages that travellers can avail. It is the goal of the company to reacquaint Filipinos and introduce visitors to true colourful Filipino heritage and culture.
Also read: What will be the impact of Philippine-US split on the countrys startup community?
Zigzag Travellers offer trips to some of the most popular destinations in the country which involve activities such as rock climbing, culture tour, and food crawl. Travellers can book trips using the website.
Tripkada
Tagline: Trips by travelers like you.
When April Cuenca and Ragde Falcis started FlipTrip back in 2014, the idea was to give travellers a platform where they can customise their own trips to off-the-beaten-path destinations in the Philippines. A couple of years in, though, they noticed that travellers dont create their own trips; they join the trips already organised by the company.
Realising that trip joining is a growing trend in the adventure travel market, FlipTrip pivoted their model, and Tripkada was born.
Launched in August 2016, Tripkada offers trips created, organised, and led by their curated community of travelers. The trips feature smaller and lesser-known destinations where their travel groups can interact with the locals, creating livelihood opportunities and promoting sustainable tourism development in local communities.
Tripkada collaborates with various organisations to create its trips. They also encourage individuals to become part of their community of trip organisers. Travellers can join their trips through the website or by downloading their app.
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Featured Image Credit: supertrader / 123RF Stock Photo
The post 5 Filipino startups that showcase a different Philippines appeared first on e27.
By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leaders of Mexico and Canada will hold talks this weekend on the potential impact that a Donald Trump presidency could have on the NAFTA trade pact, a source close to the matter said on Thursday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will meet on the sidelines of an Asian regional summit in Lima, Peru. They intend to speak to each other more frequently about their NAFTA strategy in the months to come, said the source, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue. Trump, who takes office in January, says he will either tear up or push to renegotiate the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement, under which Canada and Mexico both send the vast majority of their exports to the United States. "The two men will run through a number of scenarios in Lima and talk about how to address them," said the source. "They will hold more frequent talks on NAFTA in the coming months as the president-elect's plans become clearer." The Mexican government later said in a statement that Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will meet Canada's International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland in Lima on Friday to discuss "issues of regional interest" in preparation for a meeting between Pena Nieto and Trudeau at the summit. It did not provide further details on the leaders' meeting. Trump is working with close aides to decide who should get key jobs. His key transition officials do not yet have access to detailed briefing documents on national security and economic policy. The source said it was too soon to say what, if any, common front Canada and Mexico would take to defend NAFTA, given neither country had any idea what Trump's intentions were. Canadian officials say that if Trump walks away from NAFTA, Canada could fall back on an earlier 1984 free trade deal with the United States. There are no such options for Mexico, which Trump has also singled out over what he says is the problem of illegal immigration. Trump made building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue of his campaign. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Kim Coghill)
By Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel has warned of an "alarming" rise in China's interference in Hong Kong, noting fears over the former British colony's continued role as a global financial hub. In its annual report to Congress on Wednesday, the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlights the "chilling" abduction and detention of five booksellers based in Hong Kong as well as pressure on media and academic freedoms. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement that ensures its freedoms, independent legal system and wide-ranging autonomy remain intact. The commission, in a detailed 33-page section, urges a fresh probe from the State Department into Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms, as well as continued congressional oversight. "Hong Kong's traditional standing as a global financial hub has significant economic implications for the United States, as U.S. trade and investment ties with Hong Kong are substantial," the report notes. It says the booksellers' detentions - including two foreign nationals and one who was abducted inside Hong Kong - broadened domestic fears of mainland encroachment and sparked a record turnout in September's legislative election. "This incident has threatened the maintenance of the 'one country, two systems' framework and led some observers to question Hong Kong's status as a leading global financial hub," the report warns. "The election took place against the backdrop of an alarming rise in mainland interference in Hong Kong." U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton also introduced a bill that would freeze U.S.-based assets and ban U.S. entry of those responsible for the "surveillance, abduction, detention, or forced confessions of certain booksellers and journalists in Hong Kong", according to a statement on Rubio's senate website. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Hong Kong was an internal matter for China and no foreign country had the right to interfere. "In order to try to split the country, some forces have openly sought foreign support," Geng told a daily news briefing. "Those who attempt to use foreign forces to achieve their own political goals will not succeed." The report comes amid deepening concerns in Beijing over a fledgling independence movement in the city. The High Court this week backed a government demand to bar two recently elected lawmakers, who insulted China when taking their oath of office, from the legislature. In a statement after the report's release, the Hong Kong government said the "one country, two systems" principle was being implemented successfully, as was the city's role as a global commercial hub. It also urged foreign parties not to interfere. The booksellers were involved in the production and sale of gossipy political titles banned in mainland China but freely available in Hong Kong. Their plight fueled Western governments' concerns and sparked formal diplomatic protests. One of the five men, Swedish passport holder Gui Minhai, who disappeared from the Thai resort of Pattaya last October, is the only one still in detention in China. Another, Lam Wing-kee, returned to Hong Kong in June, saying he had been held captive by Chinese agents for eight months. The report places the worsening climate in the city in the context of China's broader disregard for international legal agreements and norms on issues such as the South China Sea and Taiwan. (Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)
Ryan Norris has studied gray jays for many years in Algonquin Park. Photo by Brett Forsyth.
It doesnt just survive but thrives in the cold Canadian winter. Its friendly and smart.
The gray jay has surprised some as the choice for the countrys national bird but not Ryan Norris, an associate professor and research chair in the department of integrative biology at the University of Guelph.
I think its a fantastic choice, Norris, who has studied the gray jay for many years, told Yahoo Canada News.
I like the gray jay because it toughs it out in Canada and we tough it out in a lot of places, too. What better bird to pick as our national bird?
Norris is an ecologist who studies the behaviour, population dynamics, conservation, and evolution of animals in seasonal environments, with an emphasis on migratory birds and butterflies. He and his graduate students have been working with former Algonquin Park chief naturalist Dan Strickland to study the gray jay population there.
In recent decades, the population in Algonquin Park, some of the gray jays southernmost range, has declined by more than half.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has recommended the gray jay as the national bird, to join the beaver and the maple tree as official symbols of the nation. The society hopes the federal government will table a bill recognizing the gray jay in time for the countrys 150th anniversary next year.
The gray jay is truly Canadas bird with traits that symbolize the Canadian spirit, the society said in a statement announcing the choice.
In true Canadian fashion, the year-and-a-half long national bird project involved a poll of the public and an official debate by ornithologists. There was consultation with cultural experts and Indigenous peoples.
More than 50,000 Canadians weighed in.
Canadians overwhelming interest in choosing a national bird really impressed us, Aaron Kylie, Canadian Geographics editor, said in a statement.
The list of feathered contenders was narrowed to five: the common loon, the black-capped chickadee, the snowy owl, the Canada goose and the gray jay.
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Some have called foul, pointing out that the loon and the snowy owl both polled higher than the diminutive, some might say dowdy, jay.
But the hard-working hoser of the bird world came out the winner, not for flashy feathers or a sexy song but due to its hardiness. The gray jay, also known as the Canada jay or the whiskey jack, is found in every province and territory.
The common loon, snowy owl and black-capped chickadee are also already official provincial symbols.
In terms of representing the qualities we like to think of in ourselves as Canadians, the gray jay is highly intelligent; its able to endure harsh winters; its extremely friendly. Its one of the few birds that will come to your hand and feed from your hand, Norris said.
They are resident in Canada year-round. Unlike loons and seniors, they do not flock to Florida when the snow starts to fly.
They cache food beginning in August and September that they rely on to get them through the winter, recalling six or even seven months later where theyve stashed the cache.
Perhaps their most amazing feat, is that like Canadians, they breed in winter.
They start building nests in the deep snow, in February, Norris said.
Females lay eggs in early March.
Theyre often sitting on nests during snowstorms. Thats not unusual, he said. Theyre very hardy birds. Theyre not just surviving the Canadian winter.
The gray jay, or whiskey jack, is the Royal Canadian Geographical Societys choice for Canadas national bird. Photo by Dan Strickland.
Gray jays are found in the boreal forest across the country and, like many species, are subject to a changing climate, Norris said.
They dont cache seeds, they cache meat and berries and insects and to properly preserve that food, they need the trees to act as a freezer, he said.
A warming climate means a greater risk that food will spoil before the winter freeze.
When that food goes rotten, that means theres less food not only to survive the winter but for breeding.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) Media firm Eros International today said it has partnered with leading Russian company Central Partnership to promote and distribute Indian and Russian content across multiple platforms in both countries.
The two companies will jointly explore distribution of content across platforms in India and Russia, Eros International said in a statement.
Central Partnership (CP), an affiliate of Gazprom Media Holding, will dub films from Eros extensive film library in Russian language, which will enable the company to cater to a much larger audience in Russia and CIS.
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Eros can further utilise the dubbed content on its digital platform, Eros Now, to reach out to a wider audience in Russia.
"With the rapid growth of satellite pay TV in Russia, there is an increased demand for premium digital and television content. This alliance will pave the way for CP to showcase extensive repository of Bollywood films from the Eros library on pay TV," it said.
"Furthermore, CP will also approach free TV channels to explore showcasing of Indian titles," it added.
Eros too, will endeavour to distribute CPs media assets on Indian television, the statement said.
"With our entry into the Russian market, we continue to build strong global position. The market potential is promising, and with the rise in digital consumption by local audiences, we see huge opportunity in exploiting high-quality content together to reach audiences across the two diasporas," said Eros International group CEO & MD Jyoti Deshpande.
"Our strategic partnership with Eros is a big step for both companies in their international expansion, since content from India is now under-represented in Russia and vice-versa. Our plan is to benefit from both companies leading positions in domestic markets to change this layout," CP CEO Pavel Stepanov said. PTI DS ARS BAL RDS
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By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and European leaders on Friday underscored the importance of working together in NATO and chided Russia for its bombing of Syria and failure to implement a Ukrainian peace accord. The White House statement followed a meeting at which Obama sought to reassure his counterparts from Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and France that his successor Donald Trump would not break up the transatlantic alliance. Trump raised concerns during the campaign when he said he could withhold military aid from NATO allies if they had not met their defence commitments and said he would forge closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "President Obama expressed confidence that, even at a moment of great change, democratic values have done more to advance human freedom and progress than any other system in history, and will continue to do so going forward," the White House said. The leaders agreed on the need to work together to stabilise the Middle East and North Africa, as well as securing diplomatic resolutions for the conflicts in Syria and eastern Ukraine. European leaders had sought Obama's support as they prepare to extend sanctions imposed on Russia by Washington and Brussels in 2014 following its intervention in eastern Ukraine, and consider fresh sanctions over Russia's actions in Syria, where it backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that no decisions had been made about extending the Ukraine sanctions, but actions to implement the Minsk peace accord were not sufficient. Merkel said the leaders discussed their concerns about Syria during their meeting on Friday, but did not talk about imposing Syria-related sanctions against Russia that have been sought by the Syrian opposition. Obama and the EU leaders called for an immediate end to attacks on rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo by Syrian government forces and their allies Russia and Iran that monitoring groups say have killed dozens this week alone. Syrian opposition officials on Friday met EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and other officials and urged them to focus on protecting civilians and lifting the siege, said Anas al-Abdah, who heads the Syrian National Coalition. He said he had hoped for stronger words from Obama and the EU leaders, and called for Washington and Brussels to put more "real pressure" on Russia and Iran. U.S. and EU officials have stressed the need for a political solution, including the departure of Assad, but Trump has said he views the fight against Islamic State as a bigger priority. EU leaders are expected to extend sanctions related to Ukraine in December or January. Obama and the European leaders "unanimously agreed on the continued need for Russia to fully meet its commitments under the Minsk agreements and that Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia must remain in place until it does so," the White House said. They said a durable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was needed to move forward with free and fair local elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. (Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
LOS ANGELES and CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kay Properties and Investments has completed another 1031 exchange DST offering in Charlotte, NC.
The Charlotte Corporate Center DST was a Regulation D, 506(c), 1031 exchange DST offering available to 1031 exchange and direct cash investors.
Dwight Kay, the founder and CEO of Kay Properties and Investments commented: The Charlotte Corporate Center DST is a 100% occupied, Absolute Triple Net Leased (NNN) property occupied by a global tenant and located in Charlotte, NC. The property has immediate access to I-77, is just 7 miles from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and is located in very close proximity to Costco and other national retailers.
Mr. Kay continued, The DST was particularly attractive to investors due to the DST being an all-cash/debt-free DST with no long term financing encumbering the property.
For more information on Kay Properties and Investments, LLC please visit www.kpi1031.com
ABOUT KAY PROPERTIES AND INVESTMENTS, LLC
Kay Properties and Investments, LLC was founded by Dwight Kay to offer solutions to 1031 Exchange clients throughout the country.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with offices in New York, NY and Washington, D.C.
Specialists in the Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) 1031 Exchange Marketplace.
Offering DST Advisory Services to 1031 Exchange Clients and working with many major DST sponsor companies throughout the country.
Offering client exclusive DST properties solely available to Kay Properties clients.
Offering both leveraged DST properties as well as all-cash/debt-free DST properties.
Over $127,000,000 of DST properties purchased by our clients in 2015.
Licensed in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands.
Always Available to Help Our Clients - Weekends, Holidays and Whenever You Need Us.
Better Business Bureau A+ Accredited Business.
Dwight Kay - Founder
Office: (855) 466-5927
Cell: (310) 404-7297
Email: Dwight@kpi1031.com
Chay Lapin - Vice President
Office: (855) 466-5927
Cell: (562) 882-7617
Email: Chay@kpi1031.com
Jason Salmon - Senior Vice
President and Managing Director
of Real Estate Analytics
Office: (855) 466-5927
Cell: (917)-837-1492
Email: Jason@kpi1031.com
Betty Friant, CCIM Senior
Vice President
Office: (202)-552-6627
Cell: (540)-550-1784
Email: Betty@kpi1031.com
This material does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Such offers can be made only by the confidential Private Placement Memorandum (the "Memorandum"). Please be aware that this material cannot and does not replace the Memorandum and is qualified in its entirety by the Memorandum.
This material is not intended as tax or legal advice so please do speak with your attorney and CPA prior to considering an investment.
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Top sources in the government said the notification is likely to be issued soon, a decision that may trigger more chaos as the scramble to banks and ATMs refuses to dissipate.
By India Today Web Desk: In the latest bid to contain the cash crunch, the government is likely to allow the exchange of old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 only at the branch where a person holds her account.
Top sources in the government said the notification is likely to be issued soon, a decision that may trigger more chaos as the scramble to banks and ATMs refuses to dissipate.
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Sources said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to issue fresh guidelines tonight on depositing the old currency. As per information, the new rules RBI would allow people to deposit the old currency in their own bank branches only.
Until now, it was permitted to deposit the old currency in any bank by submitting a proforma with a copy of their identity proof.
The decision was taken following reports that people were using their IDs to deposit money in different bank branches.
ALSO READ | Demonetisation Day 10: Supreme Court refuses to stay petitions against note ban in lower courts
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There have been multiple revisions by the government following the November 8 decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, a decision announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself in a televised address.
With long queues continuing at banks and ATMs, petrol pumps were allowed on Friday to dispense Rs 2000 cash per person per day.
That came a day after the government announced a set of seven decisions pertaining to demonetisation, mainly aimed at smooth sowing season ahead, including permission to farmers to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per week and registered agri-traders Rs 50,00 per week from their bank accounts.
This apart, for families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 250,000 one-time, subject to furnishing an undertaking that no other individual will be availing such a concession for the purpose and also upon giving the PAN card details.
Also Read:Exposed: Crooks turning kala dhan into Jan Dhan
Demonetisation Day 10: Election Commission asks Finance Ministry to stop using indelible ink at banks
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Md Islammuddin (46) had been camping outside the SBI branch in Rajabagan area of Metiaburj since Thursday night to exchange his old currency notes.
By Indrajit Kundu: A middle aged person has died in Kolkata's Metiaburj area on Friday following a heart attack after allegedly being stranded in queue outside his local bank branch for two consecutive days.
Sheikh Islammuddin (46) had been camping outside the SBI branch in Rajabagan area of Metiaburj since Thursday night to exchange his old currency notes. After spending the whole night waiting outside the bank, he reportedly complained of chest pain this morning and went back home.
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But soon after reaching home he collapsed following a massive cardiac arrest. According to his fanmily, Islammuddin who wored as a tailor in Metiaburj had made two unsuccessful attempts to exchange old currency notes at the bank due to massive crowds.
"He had been camping outside the bank for two days. Last night he went and stood in line since 2AM. This morning there was heavy crowd and a lot of commotion due to which he feel unwell this morning," said his brother Md Israel.
Local Trinamool Congress MLA Abdul Khaleque Molla visited Islamuddin's residence and assured full support to his family. Speaking to India Today Molla said if the family sought governments help, he will try and provide necessary assistance .
This comes on a day when West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee continued her tirade against the Modi government over the demonetization issue. Banerjee has set a three day deadline for the centre completely rollback of the decision.
"Three day deadline to withdraw this demonetisation financial emergency, people suffering. Dying. Enough is enough," Banerjee had written on Twitter on Thursday.
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them starring Eddie Redmayne is a spin-off of the Harry Potter film series. Here's our Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie review.
Katherine Waterson and Eddie Redmayne in a still from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
By Devarsi Ghosh: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them stars Eddie Redmayne as a wizard trying to protect some really fantastic beasts. Here's our Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie review.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Alison Sudol, Jon Voight
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Director: David Yates
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Rating: (4/5)
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the latest addition to the Harry Potter film series and it works. Fantastic Beasts brings a lot of new to the table and retains a bit of the old from the Harry Potter series to appeal to loyal fans as well as charm some new ones. If the remaining Fantastic Beasts films continue to be at least as good as this one, then there is no stopping the RCU (Rowling Cinematic Universe) from being the most successful film franchise of all time, a position currently held by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
MOVIE REVIEW: FORCE 2
ALSO READ: Potterheads unhappy with Fantastic Beasts makers casting Johnny Depp
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ALSO READ: Working in Fantastic Beasts... interesting adventure, says Colin Farrell
The protagonist Newt Scamander is a wizard who studies, collects and protects magical creatures. Newt is played by Eddie Redmayne at his awkward, autistic best - a caricature he cannot seem to let go off from the sets of The Theory of Everything and The Danish Girl. But somehow, Redmayne makes it all work thanks to the excellent supporting performances, imaginative CGI and a great screenplay.
Anyway, Scamander lands in New York for research purposes with regard to fantastic beasts. However, his suitcase gets exchanged with a muggle, Jacob Kowalski's (a fantastic performance by Dan Fogler). Kowalski opens Newt's suitcase and lets loose a number of magical creatures who escape into big, bad New York.
Meanwhile, tensions are rising between wizards and the human world. Strange occurrences have been witnessed in the city and a dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is on the run after causing some terrorist attacks across Europe.
Fantastic Beasts has just the right amount of sameness with the Harry Potter universe to get dedicated Potterheads nostalgic. And at the same time, there is a different story, a different set of characters with a whole new world to explore and much different but equally urgent stakes at hand for newer audiences to care.
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Eddie Redmayne exudes a kind of noble sincerity in his portrayal of Scamander. While Scamander has a sense of purpose, trying to protect the fantastic beasts, he is also vulnerable to greater, more wicked powers. Redmayne's performance makes it easy to root for him and his ragtag team.
The supporting performances are excellent; Samantha Morton is adequately creepy as the cult leader of wizard/witch haters. Colin Farrell is stern and brute as the enigmatic Percival Graves. Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) is mighty impressive as a troubled wizard. In particular, a surprising cameo by a very popular actor cast as the main villain at the end of the film's climax is sure to win many a heart at the theatre - the reveal is just too fantastic!
Full of Spielbergian wonder and spectacle, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a well-written, well-directed and well-acted family film. It is rare that a spin-off of a highly popular franchise genuinely works as a film and not just exists as a cash cow (The Hobbit, Puss in Boots).
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(The writer tweets as @devarsighosh .)
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By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) A massive fire broke out in a plastic scrap market in west Delhis Mundka area in the wee hours today which damaged scrap worth lakhs of rupees but there was no report of any casualty.
"We received a call about a fire breaking out in the Tikri scrap market that houses PVC scrap around 12.55 AM today. Thirty fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire that spread through the three acre area. The fire was doused by 7.40 AM," said a senior official from Delhi Fire Services, adding that the cooling operations ended around 5pm.
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Police said that they are currently investigating the cause of the fire.
"It is suspected that the fire could have been triggered off by sparking but we are investigating as to what could have triggered the fire. Its an open area and the fire spread within minutes and ravaged scrap worth lakhs of rupees," said a senior police officer, adding that no casualties or injuries were reported due to the fire incident.
A case against unknown persons has been registered under the relevant sections of law at the Mundka police station. PTI SLB RG
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By Suhani Singh: Direction: Abhinay Deo
Cast: John Abraham, Sonakshi Sinha, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Narendra Jha, Adil Hussain
Rating: (2/5)
The good news: Force 2 makes for a remotely better viewing than John Abraham's other 2016 action flick Rocky Handsome. The bad news: John Abraham isn't the reason for this brief compliment. This despite him appearing shirtless with the veins in his neck popping out at one point, and even fighting in a white towel. The actor who makes this film a remotely interesting watch is Tahir Raj Bhasin (of Mardaani fame), who may not have Abraham's fighting skills but certainly has a body which he isn't afraid to show off entirely. At least the CBFC's blurred portion suggests so.
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FORCE 2 REVIEW: John-Sonakshi put country above all else in this thriller
PHOTOS: John and Sonakshi pay tribute to Indian Army and unsung heroes at Amar Jawan Jyoti
Tahir plays Shiv Sharma, a spy gone rogue, who has police officer Yashvardhan (Abraham) and RAW agent KK (Sonakshi Sinha) chasing him on streets and rooftops or otherwise driving him around Budapest with the heroic duo trying to dodge cars and bullets. (P.S. At least once they tried to pass off One Indiabulls Centre in Lower Parel, Mumbai for Budapest). Every antagonist has to have a quirk and with Shiv it is his penchant for the mouth organ which he likes to play when he has the upper hand which is for most part of the film. While Yashvardhan is hungry to avenge his spy-bestie's death in Hungary, KK aka Kamaljit Kaur is trying to overcome her own fears. It's a clash of ideologies: she is more bookish and analytical, while he has a more rough and instinctual approach. The banter between KK and Yashvardhan is limited and hardly fun.
Force 2 has a storyline which highlights the sacrifice of Indian spies working in hostile conditions abroad but it also adopts a very rote, and later mawkish, approach for its tribute. It doesn't help that it is a Mumbai police officer who puts all the dots together, not entirely presenting the R&AW as an institution of smart, reliable fellows. Shiv has emotional baggage which has compelled him to tie up with China to kill Indian secret agents. (Credit to Force 2 for going beyond Bollywood's favourite worst enemy Pakistan to focus on China, the bigger and more powerful and dangerous nation.) Shiv has a bigger target and Yashvardhan and KK often seem ill-equipped with little help from Indian authorities. They both have secrets of their own - him being unable to rescue his wife (Genelia D'Souza in a cameo) in Force (2011) and she repentant for her actions in an earlier mission - but their love for the motherland is bigger than personal anxieties.
WATCH | FORCE 2 REVIEW: What works and what doesn't in this John-Sonakshi film
The multiple chase sequences involving cars, bikes and one on foot unfolding on the rooftops of Budapest, which is on the lines of the parkour scene in Morocco in Bourne Ultimatum, does keep the film moving but most often Force 2 always feels like it is headed for a destination that is already known. There is a code to crack, an alias, snipers, a hacker, and innumerable goons to keep the hero and heroine always on their feet. But the trouble is most often you end up rooting for the baddie because at least he is a more colourful personality, the predominant being grey, clever and also a better actor.
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With the body counting rising, bullets firing from all directions and kicks and punches galore, this game of cat and mouse soon runs short on ideas. Abraham flexes his biceps, gives choke slams and shows off his physique but his action hero act is beginning to wane. Sonakshi, who had more stunts in Akira, starts off as the woman admonishing the hero and then eventually partnering with him but she barely comes across as one of the best RAW operatives in the country because for most part Yashvardhan has to be the man of the two hours and six minutes running time. Thankfully there is only one song albeit it is a ghastly remix of "Kaante Nahi Kat Te", and KK and Yashvardhan always have work and not sightseeing on their mind. There are brief sparks of an action thriller with taut fight and chase scenes but with its contrived plot it's not enough to pack a hefty punch.
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In the poll-bound Goa, the BJP government has decided to implement the Seventh Pay Commission for the state government employees by December this year.
By PTI: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today said the Seventh Pay Commission would be implemented for the state government employees by December this year.
"All the procedures for the implementation of seventh pay commission for the state government workers have been completed. We will place the file before Cabinet during ensuing week or week after that. After that the notification would be issued," Parsekar told PTI today.
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"Efforts are in place to ensure that the implementation of seventh pay commission would start from December this year. Accordingly directions are issued to the officials," he added.
Parsekar said the implementation would be ordered much before the Code of Conduct for the upcoming State Legislative Assembly election.
"Goa will be going for polls soon and the question of hurting or upsetting any section of society does not arise. We have assured to implement and we will do it," said the CM.
"Before the election code of conduct comes into force, the notification would be out. There is no need to be panic or agitate," he said referring to the strike call given by the Goa Government employees Association (GGEA).
GGEA had served 21 days strike notice to the state government last week.
The association had threatened to plan a massive march on the secretariat on December 7 to force state government to implement the Seventh Pay Commission.
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By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Faced with a lukewarm response, entry ticket prices for the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) have been slashed for visitors from November 19 and free entry allowed for children aged upto 12.
Adults visiting on working days will now have pay Rs 50, from Rs 60 earlier, whereas entry for children aged below 12 is free against Rs 40 earlier.
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On weekends and holidays, adult visitors will have to spend Rs 100 to visit the fair from Rs 120 earlier. Free entry has been permitted for children, whereas earlier the entry fee was Rs 60.
Senior citizens and differently-abled persons will continue to enjoy free entry at the fair.
The fair began on November 14, with the first five days reserved for business visitors.
"India Trade Promotion Organisation announces reduction in India International Trade Fair 2016 entry ticket charges and free entry for children up to 12 years for all days starting from November 19 to 27," ITPO said. "This is considered necessary to facilitate adequate footfall and thereby enhance trading activity during IITF 2016, ITPOs basic mandate being trade promotion," it added. The fair has been witnessing much lower crowds this year due to cash crunch as it comes close on the heels of the Governments demonetisation move on November 8, entailing withdrawal of legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes. PTI RSN JM
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Speaking at Japan's oldest university, Keio, in 1916, Rabindranath Tagore said the "whole of eastern Asia, from Burma to Japan, was united with India in the closest ties that can exist between nations". Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recently concluded visit to Japan is to be seen in this historical context and in the wake of a series of prime ministerial visits which, since 2005, have become an annual feature. The close economic cooperation between the two countries, especially the strategic and military dimension, dates to the historic visit of then Japanese PM Yoshiro Mori to India in August 2000, at the invitation of his counterpart here, A.B. Vajpayee. A 'Global partnership for India and Japan for the 21st century' was announced. Joint naval and coast guard exercises and annual meetings between the defence and foreign ministries and uniformed military officers of the two countries became a regular affair after this date. The partnership was elevated to a 'strategic and global partnership' in December 2006, when then PM Manmohan Singh signed an agreement to this effect in Tokyo with PM Shinzo Abe.
For the last five or more years, India and Japan have been in talks about civil nuclear cooperation. During Abe's visit to India in December 2015, the outlines of a civil nuclear agreement were finally agreed to, as also an agreement for the protection of classified military information and defence-related technologies. The agreement, signed by Abe and Modi in Tokyo on November 11, is a landmark for Japan, even though it has similar treaties for civil nuclear cooperation with 13 other countries. The significant point is this-it is the first such agreement Japan has signed with a country which is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombing. So there are deep concerns about nuclear matters and cooperation with a country which is not a signatory to the NPT. There is, in addition, a strong anti-nuclear movement in Japan comprising influential and vocal voices. The Abe government has overcome the domestic opposition with considerable effort by following the example of eight other nations, including France, the US and Russia, which have similar civil-nuclear agreements with India.
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India's pledge to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008, to maintain its moratorium on further testing, provides Japan the domestic legitimacy it seeks in working with India. In the event of a breach, Japan has the right to sever the agreement with a year's notice. India is also committed to refraining from enriching uranium to 20 per cent or higher without Japan's written consent. Owing to supply chains with companies in Japan, France and the US, such as Toshiba, Hitachi, GE, Areva and Westinghouse, the recently-concluded agreement with Japan is most essential for the practical transfer of technology to India. The pact with India comes in the context of a recent decision by Vietnam to submit a resolution to cancel its proposed nuclear power station with Japan, owing to continuing safety concerns with the stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima, which was struck by a triple tragedy on March 11, 2011. In any event, the agreement that Abe has pushed through with India represents a recognition of the reliability of India as a partner; it is also an expression of confidence and trust in India by Japan. This makes the pact truly unique. Japan has promised to continue its efforts to get India into the NSG and other related organisations, underlining its commitment to India's development of nuclear power. Business circles in Japan are optimistic that the agreement will lead to enhanced exports of equipment and machinery to India.
Other features of the Modi visit also bear mention. The first is the manner in which Pakistan has been singled out, in the paragraph on terrorism and cross-border support to terrorist activities. There is a clear reference to the need for Pakistan to pursue the culprits sheltering there who are responsible for the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. India, it will be recalled, had been unable to get such an endorsement at the BRICS summit in Goa last month. The endorsement is symbolic of the distance Japan is willing to go in expressing its support to India unequivocally, on a matter which is of critical importance to India's security.
The India and Japan Vision 2025 statement, announced on December 12, 2015, was mentioned again. This is significant because it underlines the commitment of both countries to democracy, an open society and firm opposition to all forms of terrorism. As was the case during Abe's 2015 visit, this time again there is a mention of the dangers posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile policies and its abduction of Japanese nationals. This is a most emotive issue in Japan and India's support on an issue of vital strategic importance to Japan is much appreciated here. In both 2015 and 2016, there is a clear reference to the South China Sea and the need for all countries to respect the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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Like so much else in the Japan-India strategic equation, the aggressive postures of China in the South China Sea, the Senkaku islands and in the Indian Ocean region, lie at the centre of much of the dialogue and indeed the conclusions of the two countries. The sale of US-2 (utility seaplane) amphibian aircraft was mentioned in the joint statement as a vital aspect of defence cooperation and it appears that further discussions on this will happen between the two defence establishments. An agreement, had it taken place, would have represented the first major export of defence material by Japan, after the changes made in Japanese laws governing such exports in the summer of 2015. Japanese assistance for Skill India and Make in India finds a place again in the 2016 document. Japan will continue to assist with the development of Japan industrial townships, promotion of tourism and in encouraging Indian students to spend time there.
During his 2007 visit to India, Prime Minister Abe outlined his vision of a 'Confluence of Two Seas' in Parliament. He stressed the indivisibility of the security of the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions. Earlier, in July 2005, then PM Manmohan Singh had reached a far-reaching defence agreement with then US president George W. Bush. This agreement, in the context of the 50-year security agreement that already existed between Japan and the US, provided the necessary legal framework for defence cooperation. It enabled trilateral naval exercises between Japan, India and the US off Okinawa, in April 2007. In September that year, the three countries were joined by the navies of Australia and Singapore. For a few years after these trilateral manifestations of cooperation, there was a gap in such activities (some analysts say this diffidence was caused by concern about China's views on Japan-India cooperation). With the advent to power of PM Modi in 2014, however, bilateral and trilateral exercises were resumed; in October 2015, Japan, the US and India held the Malabar naval exercises in the Indian Ocean. It may be noted that this enhanced level of strategic cooperation was specified in September 2014 during Modi's visit to Japan, when he and PM Abe raised the global and strategic partnership to a 'special' global and strategic partnership.
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In December 2015, when they met in Delhi, the two leaders also agreed to cooperate in the development of connectivity between India and the ASEAN regions, where both India and Japan have important economic and strategic interests. Similarly, Japanese ODA (official development assistance) for the development of the Andaman Islands assumes strategic importance since the most remote of our islands is only 90 km from Sumatra, Indonesia. Progress on both the development of our Northeast region with road and rail links to Myanmar and beyond and the development of the Andaman islands was reviewed by the two sides at the November 11 meet in Tokyo. This cooperation in the Northeast with Myanmar as a focal point of entry to ASEAN needs to be viewed in the context of Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Japan last week and the pledge given by Abe to grant $7.73 billion over five years to develop the country's infrastructure. PM Modi and Abe, in their recent talks in Tokyo on November 11 and 12, would doubtless have compared notes on Myanmar and ASEAN, a region where both Japan and India have deep strategic and economic interests and where both countries are seen as a counterweight to China's preponderance.
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The successfully concluded Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train link assumes added significance in this Indo-Pacific partnership. These are modern manifestations of a history of shared values going back 15 centuries. They augur a bright future for our friendship.
The author, a former Indian ambassador to Tokyo, is chairman of the Japan-India Partnership Forum
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INS Nashak was moving in the harbour when its GT engines failed midway and it collided in the flow with the jetty and the front portion of the boat was damaged.
By Ajit Kumar Dubey: An Indian Navy missile warship met with a freak accident inside a naval harbour, causing damage to its front portion and making it operationally unworthy for next few weeks. "The missile boat INS Nashak was moving in the harbour when its GT engines failed midway and it collided in the flow with the jetty and the front portion of the boat was damaged," sources in the Naval dockyard Mumbai told Mail today.
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PROBE EXPECTED
Navy officials confirmed the incident saying the accident was a minor one and the warship was standing aside the jetty. INS Nashak is a Veer Class missile boat and dockyard officials said the vessel would be under repairs for three weeks at least as the damage will take some time for repairs. The Navy has also informed the Defence Ministry about the incident and it is expected that the maritime force would form a board of inquiry to probe the incident. The Veer class corvettes of the Indian Navy are a customised Indian variant of the Soviet Tarantul Class vessels. They form the 22nd Killer Missile Vessel Squadron in Mumbai.
PAST MISHAPS
INS Nashak was built by the Goa Shipyard Limited in 1996 and has been taking part in almost all the important operations and exercises in the force. Almost couple of years ago, the Navy was badly hit by a spate of accidents which started with a minor fire incident on decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Virat and continued till the death of two officers on a Kilo Class submarine leading to the then Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi taking voluntary retirement. With intervention from the top brass and application of standard operating procedures, the Navy has managed to cut down on accidents in the recent times. But two people lost their lives onboard the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya a few months back when toxic gas leaked from the sewage compartment of the vessel apparently due to non-complaince of safety measures.
In yet another freak mishap, the periscope of the submarine INS Sindhughosh had also suffered damage during an exercise when it rammed into fishing boats operating close to the coastal area. During the spate of mishaps, the Navy had been warned by the Ministry against frittering away expensive national assets. The incidents had also created a feeling where officers and sailors had become over-cautious while operating warships.
ALSO READ:
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Samsung sold more smartphones in the third quarter of 2016 than any other company, according to a new report from Gartner. But that doesnt mean it was a good quarter for Samsung: sales to consumers were down more than 14 percent from the same period in 2015.
Gartner says thats the worst year-over-year decline in Samsungs history.
One obvious reason for the decline? Samsungs Galaxy Note 7 launch was a pretty big failure. While the phone received strong reviews at first, a number of reports started coming in that phones were spontaneously catching fire.
Samsung issued a recall, promised that the problem had been fixed, started shipping the Note 7 again and then recalled the phone again and cancelled its production when it became clear that the problem had not been resolved.
Before you start feeling too sorry for Samsung, Gartners report suggests the company still has a 19.2 percent share of the smartphone market and sold nearly 72 million phones in the third quarter.
Thats almost as much as the number two and three companies (Apple and Huawei) combined.
But its also interesting to note that Gartner also sees increasing competition from Chinese smartphone makers: three of the top five vendors in the third quarter were Huawei, Oppo, and BBK, and they all saw growth in sales and market share, while Samsung and Apple saw declines.
via 9to5Google
The Karnataka Chief Minister today said that he was not a judge, while commenting on the Tanveer Sait watching porn controversy.
By Rohini Swamy: "I am not a judge, I have asked the cyber crime department to investigate", said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the action taken against the primary and secondary Education minister Tanveer Sait.
The Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, earlier came to the rescue of the Karnataka Primary education minister Tanveer Sait saying 'he was only scrolling through his messages."
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Sait had met the Chief Minister to apprise him about what happened on the day he was allegedly caught watching objectionable pictures.
Tanveer Sait has maintained that he is innocent and said that he would not resign.
Based on a complaint filed by Tanveer Sait, the Raichur police filed a case against the local channel team who recorded and aired the alleged clip.
Also Read:
Siddaramaiah defends minister who was caught watching porn, says he was only scrolling through messages
Former Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa courts arrest to protest against Tipu Jayanti celebration
Porn access blocked on free Wi-Fi at Patna railway station
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Investigation of the criminal case, which was launched into the murder of an Armenian family in Georgias Vachiani village on July 10, is still in progress after the suicide of the defendant of this case.
Vachiani prefect Fedya Torosyan told about the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
But, we still dont have anything new [regarding this investigation], he added.
Nodar Akopov, who was charged with these murders, had committed suicide in prison, on August 27.
Four members of the Kachotyan familythe 37-year-old mother as well as her 5-, 13-, and 18-year-old childrenwere found dead in their home in the aforesaid village in Javakhetia predominantly-Armenian-populated part of Georgias southeastern Samtskhe-Javakheti Province, by their relatives, on July 10.
According to preliminary information, the assailant had killed the mother and her daughters with a blunt instrument, whereas strangled the boy to death.
The table and chairs of the house were lying on the floor, and the house was sooty with smoke.
The father of the family, Vaghinak Kachotyan, was in Russia as a migrant worker.
To note, a recently opened Turkish-Georgian border checkpoint is nearby the said primarily-Armenian-populated village.
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U.S. concerned about Iran's 'threats' against Saudi Arabia
Lebanon is facing a power vacuum, left without a president
Gas exports from Iran to Armenia to double
In first 9 months about $1.7 billion is transferred to Armenia
Baerbock and Scholz disagree on China
Delegations of Ukraine, Turkey and UN temporarily suspend movement of ships in framework of Black Sea grain deal
Qatar Energy Minister calls EU proposal to limit gas prices hypocritical
Jamshidi: Any capturing of further territories is occupation
Putin: Kiev must give real guarantees of strict compliance with the Istanbul agreements
Putin and Erdogan discuss results of meeting of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Sochi
Blinken goes to Germany to meet with G-7 colleagues
Iranist: Cooperation between Yerevan and Tehran will prevent further Turkish activism
U.S. military conducts field weapons inspections in Ukraine
Defense Ministers of Russia and Turkey once again discuss suspension of 'grain deal'
Armenian President and ICRC representatives discuss Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan
Aliyev's aide visits Nakhchivan
Berlin urges Serbia to choose between EU and Russia
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister and USAID representatives discuss bilateral cooperation
Erdogan: Turkey continues to make necessary initiatives on grain deal
Macron promises Ukraine to survive winter and strengthen air defense
The Collins British Dictionary chooses main word of 2022
Medvedev: Western countries are pushing the world into a global war
Deputy Minister: 50,5 bln AMD will be allocated to North-South transport corridor construction in 2023
Georgia begins preparations for multinational exercise Agile Spirit 2023
Armenia and Iran discuss bilateral energy cooperation
Paruyr Hovhannisyan receives Erin Elizabeth McKee
Dollar, euro drop in Armenia
Erdogan plans talks with Putin and Zelenskyy in coming days
Head of Armenian State Revenue Committee: In 2022, the state budget will lack about AMD 84.8 billion
Russia's richest billionaires will become $83.4 billion richer in 2022
Expert: expansion of relations between Tehran, Yerevan may prevent corridor creation
Governor of Armenias Gegharkunik briefs EU mission on condition of settlements affected by Azerbaijan shelling (PHOTOS)
Russia and Iran to sign deal on free trade zone with EEU
Armenia National Assembly opposition factions representatives meet with visiting European Parliament members
Hearings on South Caucasus to be held in US Senate
Central Bank chief: High activity in Armenia economy is maintained in third quarter of 2022
OPEC Secretary General: Europe and U.S. are heading for economic recession
Pashinyan briefs Raisi about talks in Sochi and their results
Ardshinbank and Mastercard offer to pay with Apple Pay and get cashback
Nine people arrested in India after mass deaths in bridge collapse
CSTO meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan border situation to be held on November 23 in Yerevan
Zas: CSTO working towards proposals regarding situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border
Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector
Clinton sues Trump to recover $1 million from him
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Raisi: Iran-Armenia trade can be increased to $3bn
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Raisi: Foreigners interference will deepen problems of Caucasus
State Security Service conducts operation in Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture
Iran expands sanctions on U.S.
Cavusoglu discusses relations with Azerbaijan with his Iranian counterpart
European gas price falls to $1,246 per 1,000 cubic meters in October
Legislature vice-speaker thanks visiting European Parliament lawmakers for supporting Armenia
Armenia revenue committee chief: No initiative to ban import of Turkish goods
Economy minister: Authorities plan to increase number of tourists in Armenia to 2.5mn annually by 2026
Armenia official: Our border checkpoints are ready to receive Azerbaijanis
Flight restrictions extended at 11 airports in south and center of Russia until November 9
Sergey Kopirkin: Unblocking of communications must be based on respect for countries sovereignty
Storm Nalgae in the Philippines leaves 110 people killed
Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: Why did they engage EU? Why are they engaging CSTO there?
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Israel holds fifth parliamentary elections since 2019
Lavrov: Over past decades we managed to lay solid foundations for strategic partnership, alliance with Armenia
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Valery Permyakova serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, Armenia, who was found guilty in the murder of the Avetisyan family of this cityconfirmed that he is foregoing his appeal, Permyakovs attorney, Eduard Aghajanyan, stated at Fridays Court of Appeal hearing.
The attorney said he visited his client on Wednesday.
He confirmed that he is withdrawing his appeal, he agrees with the decision of the court, [and] said that he did this voluntarily, informed Aghajanyan. But he does not object to the attorney attending the hearing of the appeal of the [legal] representatives of the legal next of kin of the victim. He informed that he does not want to participate in the [respective] court session, regardless of its place. He admitted to his guilt, and said that he committed the crime alone.
Valery Permyakov was found guilty of the brutal murder of Avetisyan family of Gyumri. The murder took place on January 12, 2015. According to the indictment, Valery Permyakov entered the Avetisyan family home on that day, and he killed home residents Aida Avetisyan, Hasmik Avetisyan, Seryozha Avetisyan, Armen Avetisyan, Araksya Poghosyan, and little girl Hasmik Avetisyan. Subsequently, he stabbed 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisyan five times. The baby boy died in the hospital one week later.
Armenia and Russia instituted criminal cases on charges of murder and military desertion, respectively. On August 12, 2015, the Russian court sentenced Permyakov to ten years in prison. And on October 16 of the same year, Armenia formally brought criminal charges against the Russian soldier.
And on August 23, 2016, the court found Valery Permyakov guilty of all chargesmurder, robbery, and attempt to cross the Armenian state borderthat were brought against him. And he was sentenced to life in prison.
With no respite in sight to the clashes between advocates and journalists in Kerala, the Ernakulam district collector has imposed Section 144 within the Kerala High Court premises in Ernakulam.
By Revathi Rajeevan: With no respite in sight to the clashes between advocates and journalists in Kerala, the Ernakulam district collector has imposed Section 144 within the Kerala High Court premises in Ernakulam. Collector Mohammed Y Safirulla, in his order, said that prompt action to restore peace was desirable to prevent such acts of violence.
The prohibition order dated November 17, 2016 is effective within a 200-metre radius around the high court for two months from the date of the order. The order directs people to abstain from all types of processions, meetings, assemblies, demonstrations or collective expression of opinion in these areas.Also read | Bar bribery case should be investigated by another agency says Kerala High Court
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The order is made public a day after the high court published norms for journalists willing to report court proceedings.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR REPORTING ON COURTS
On Thursday, the high court said that those journalists who wished to acquire permanent accreditation for court reporting must have a law degree and five years of experience reporting court proceedings, among other qualifications.
The prohibition order comes after the collector took note of the ongoing clashes between the advocates and journalists that have led to serious law and order issues in the area.
Also read | Kerala High Court stays FIR against CM Oommen Chandy in solar scam
HOW IT BEGAN
It was in July this year that advocates of the Kerala High Court and journalists clashed within the court premises following a dispute over a news report on government pleader Danesh Mathew, who was arrested on charges of molesting a woman. Since then, there have been repeated clashes between the two groups in court premises across the state.
The journalists were banned from the courts and lawyers resorted to "public shaming" of mediapersons by displaying their pictures on flexes demanding action against them.
On November 1, most newspapers in Kerala published an open letter to the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, requesting to put an end to the "media ban" in courts. However, the dispute has seen no end.
Also read | Kollam temple tragedy: Kerala High Court bans fireworks at night in all places of worship
--- ENDS ---
Shoigu: The NATO grouping near Russia's borders has grown 2.5 times since February
New Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad hopes to continue talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan to take part in rally on November 5
Canada to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025
Armenia PM: Communication difficulties, challenges in relations with Turkey have been overcome
Pashinyan: Armenian side suggests extending mandate of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh
MFA: Armenia has no misunderstandings with Iran
Russia position on Karabakh status corresponds to Armenia government approach, PM says
Pashinyan: Armenia attaches great importance to further development, deepening of relations with Brazil
Premier: Armenia defense spending will increase by 113% in 2023 compared to 2018
Deputy PM Grigoryan to attend Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation, security commissions 3rd meeting
Israir Airlines launches flights between Tel Aviv, Yerevan
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Seoul, Pyongyang launch missiles
Newspaper: Armenia ruling political team is in favor of western version of peace treaty with Azerbaijan
State Department: US will contribute to Armenia-Azerbaijan talks
Turkey parliament approves extending mandate of countrys military in occupied Aghdam of Karabakh
Sweden to reach NATO's defense spending goal of 2% of GDP by 2026
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Lavrov and Cavusoglu discuss situation over 'grain deal'
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Azerbaijan claims to have 'exposed' Azerbaijanis who acted 'under control of Iranian secret service'
Taliban sets up female Interior Ministry unit in Afghanistan to disperse protests
U.S. concerned about Iran's 'threats' against Saudi Arabia
Lebanon is facing a power vacuum, left without a president
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In first 9 months about $1.7 billion is transferred to Armenia
Baerbock and Scholz disagree on China
Delegations of Ukraine, Turkey and UN temporarily suspend movement of ships in framework of Black Sea grain deal
Qatar Energy Minister calls EU proposal to limit gas prices hypocritical
Jamshidi: Any capturing of further territories is occupation
Putin: Kiev must give real guarantees of strict compliance with the Istanbul agreements
Putin and Erdogan discuss results of meeting of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Sochi
Blinken goes to Germany to meet with G-7 colleagues
Iranist: Cooperation between Yerevan and Tehran will prevent further Turkish activism
U.S. military conducts field weapons inspections in Ukraine
Defense Ministers of Russia and Turkey once again discuss suspension of 'grain deal'
Armenian President and ICRC representatives discuss Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan
Aliyev's aide visits Nakhchivan
Berlin urges Serbia to choose between EU and Russia
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister and USAID representatives discuss bilateral cooperation
Erdogan: Turkey continues to make necessary initiatives on grain deal
Macron promises Ukraine to survive winter and strengthen air defense
The Collins British Dictionary chooses main word of 2022
Medvedev: Western countries are pushing the world into a global war
Deputy Minister: 50,5 bln AMD will be allocated to North-South transport corridor construction in 2023
Georgia begins preparations for multinational exercise Agile Spirit 2023
Armenia and Iran discuss bilateral energy cooperation
Paruyr Hovhannisyan receives Erin Elizabeth McKee
Dollar, euro drop in Armenia
Erdogan plans talks with Putin and Zelenskyy in coming days
Head of Armenian State Revenue Committee: In 2022, the state budget will lack about AMD 84.8 billion
Russia's richest billionaires will become $83.4 billion richer in 2022
Expert: expansion of relations between Tehran, Yerevan may prevent corridor creation
Governor of Armenias Gegharkunik briefs EU mission on condition of settlements affected by Azerbaijan shelling (PHOTOS)
Russia and Iran to sign deal on free trade zone with EEU
Armenia National Assembly opposition factions representatives meet with visiting European Parliament members
Hearings on South Caucasus to be held in US Senate
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OPEC Secretary General: Europe and U.S. are heading for economic recession
Pashinyan briefs Raisi about talks in Sochi and their results
Ardshinbank and Mastercard offer to pay with Apple Pay and get cashback
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CSTO meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan border situation to be held on November 23 in Yerevan
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Clinton sues Trump to recover $1 million from him
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Iran expands sanctions on U.S.
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European gas price falls to $1,246 per 1,000 cubic meters in October
Legislature vice-speaker thanks visiting European Parliament lawmakers for supporting Armenia
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Economy minister: Authorities plan to increase number of tourists in Armenia to 2.5mn annually by 2026
Armenia official: Our border checkpoints are ready to receive Azerbaijanis
Flight restrictions extended at 11 airports in south and center of Russia until November 9
Sergey Kopirkin: Unblocking of communications must be based on respect for countries sovereignty
Storm Nalgae in the Philippines leaves 110 people killed
Lukashenko on Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: Why did they engage EU? Why are they engaging CSTO there?
Ambassador: Russia justifies itself as Armenias ally
Kopirkin: September battles between Armenia, Azerbaijan were stopped by Russia militarys efforts
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Turkish and Ukraine defense ministers discuss situation with grain deal
Copper prices are rising
Russia envoy to Armenia: Many common paradigms being broken in South Caucasus
Israel holds fifth parliamentary elections since 2019
Lavrov: Over past decades we managed to lay solid foundations for strategic partnership, alliance with Armenia
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Primakov Readings international forum kicks off in Yerevan
YEREVAN. Prime Minister of Armenia, Karen Karapetyan, on Friday received a delegation, led by Vice-President Jan Vapaavuori of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The PM lauded Armenias cooperation with this bank, and underscored the past and present EIB co-funded projects in the country.
Karapetyan also thanked this bank for its technical assistance to Armenia within the framework of loan programs. The Premier added that the Government of Armenia will continue to be more scrupulous toward the spending of loans.
The PM noted that the government is willing to further develop cooperation with EIB. He also informed that new sectoral funds will be founded in Armenia toward promoting business.
Vapaavuori, for his part, said he is aware of the Armenian governments steps aimed at improving the business climate, and stressed that the EIB stands ready to contribute in this regard, as well.
At the same time, he expressed satisfaction with the level of EIB cooperation with the Armenian government. He noted that this bank has directed considerable measures toward the implementation of programs of strategic importance for Armenia.
At the ensuing talk, Karen Karapetyan and Jan Vapaavuori conferred on several other matters of mutual interest.
YEREVAN. Prime Minister of Armenia, Karen Karapetyan, on Friday met with Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, and head of Customs Administration of Iran, Massoud Karbassian.
The political discourse between us [i.e. Armenia and Iran] is at a high level, noted Karapetyan, Armenian News-NEWS.am learned from the Press Office of the Government of Armenia. But we have potential to further expand and develop our economic relations.
In this connection, the PM informed that he instructedat Fridays Cabinet meetingto work toward promoting Armenian product exports to Iran, and to discuss the prospects for establishing a free economic zone in the area bordering Iran.
Karbassian, for his part, noted that several arrangements were made as a result of his negotiations with chairman Vardan Harutyunyan of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia.
By way of the free economic zone, we can collaborate toward the Eurasian Economic Union [i.e. EAEU, which comprises Armenia Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan] market, added the Iranian official. Armenia, as a linking bridge, can assume a decisive role in this domain.
In response, PM Karapetyan stressed that Armenia stands ready to set up a respective platform toward the EAEU market, for Iran.
The interlocutors also conferred on some other matters of mutual interest.
The fourth annual Business Innovation Forum Armenia 20.18 Armenia among 20 most innovative countries by 2018 took place in Armenias Dilijan town on Friday.
According to the Deputy Director of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), Hayk Chobanyan, Armenia currently ranks 60th among the innovative countries of the world.
Everything should be done so that in 2018 Armenia appears in the list of top 10 countries, he said.
UITE President Alexander Yesayan noted that the Business Innovation Forum is an important platform, where the work carried out in Armenia and abroad is discussed.
Currently, traditional business is also subjected to changes: the business models are changing. Thus, the need for innovations in business is evident. And a country with close borders like Armenia must use technologies and achieve noticeable results in short period, he said.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Communication and IT, Gagik Tadevosyan, read out PM Karen Karapetyans opening speech, noting that the event is of great significance in terms of bringing together the beneficiaries of the innovation area, jointly discussing the existing issues and developing cooperation formats.
Development of national innovation system is one of the priorities of the Armenian Government.
The aim of the Innovation forum is to define the key priorities of Armenias innovation strategy and formulate solutions. In the framework of the forum, the Armenian Government representatives, as well as local and international experts will present the leading development practice, hold discussions and form an agenda on Armenias ranking in list of top 20 most innovative countries.
The Business Innovation Forum is attended by about 150 representatives of technological, educational and entrepreneurship areas, as well as Armenian Government and international organizations, including international speakers from six countries (U.S., Russia, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Israel and Georgia).
The two-day forum is held in the framework of the EU4Business and EU4Innovation initiatives.
By India Today Web Desk: As the lady superstar celebrates her birthday today, the makers of Nayanthara's Kolaiyuthir Kaalam have revealed the first look poster of the film, which is now trending online.
To be helmed by Chakri Toleti of Billa 2 fame, the Tamil Telugu bilingual will be produced by music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, which will also mark his first production venture. However, there are no information regarding the cast and crew.
ALSO READ: Rajinikanth's 2.0- Kamal Haasan, Shah Rukh Khan invited for first look launch
SEE PICS: Happy Birthday Nayanthara: Five best performances of the birthday girl
Meanwhile, the title of Nayanthara's forthcoming film has been locked. Titled Aramm, the makers unveiled the first look poster as a surprise for Nayan fans.
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In the film, Nayanthara plays a District Collector, who delves into the water problems of her jurisdiction.
The film also stars Vignesh and Ramesh of the National Award-winning Tamil film Kaaka Muttai, the film's principal shooting has been wrapped up and it's gearing up for release soon.
Nayanthara is currently busy shooting for Tamil thriller Imaikaa Nodigal, which also stars Atharvaa, Raashi Khanna and Anurag Kashyap, who is being introduced as the antagonist.
Earlier, filmmaker Gautham Menon was approached to play the baddie. However, the Varanam Aayiram director turned down the offer.
--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Friday received Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Jan Vapaavuori.
Serzh Sargsyan highly appreciated the cooperation with the bank, which, according to him, stands out for its growing activity and productivity. The bank funds the programs of strategic significance in the area of infrastructures and small and medium enterprises, the President noted. He also underscored the importance of holding periodic meetings with the bank leadership, which, in his words, helps develop new programs and implement them effectively.
The bank Vice-President thanked the Armenian President for the active cooperation, adding that despite the short period, the first agreement and loan program were signed in 2007 and 2010 respectively, huge work having been carried out.
Sargsyan thanked the guest for the cooperation in implementing the modernization program of Bagratashen, Bavra and Gogavan border crossing points, which is important for the republic.
The interlocutors also discussed issues of further cooperation.
YEREVAN. - Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Friday received the delegation led by Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev.
At the meeting, reference was made to the ArmenianRussian strategic ally relations based on centuries-old friendship between the two peoples, as well as the implementation of the agreements reached between the supreme leadership of Armenia and Russia.
The Armenian FM and Russian parliamentarians discussed in detail a large scope of issues related to the close cooperation between the two parliaments. They also exchanged views on the parliamentary format cooperation in international organizations.
Apart from this, the interlocutors touched on the situation in the Middle East and especially Syria, as well as possible ways to come out of the crisis. Special attention was attached to the Syrian Armenians and efforts exerted by Armenia towards supporting them.
FM Nalbandian briefed the guests on the situation emerged as a result of the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Karabakh in April, underscoring the need for implementing the agreements reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg.
At the request of the guests, Nalbandian touched on the Armenia-Diaspora cooperation and priorities of Armenias foreign policy, also responding to their various questions.
There are relations which it is impossible to speak about without warmth, one of them being the Armenian-Arabic relations and also our relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said the aforementioned in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
Armenians and Arabs know each other; they have cooperated for many years, and it is no coincidence that we oftentimes find historical information about the Armenian people in the works of Arab authors and vice versa. The interstate relations established after the independence of Armenia are very stable, developing the way we wish,Sargsyan said. He also added: Thus, I think it will be very correct to distinguish between these two platforms, namely public and interstate ones. It should be noted that our interstate relations are built on the basis of the strong friendship of our peoples.
According to Sargsyan, in this context, many examples can be cited from history. But I would like to cite only one example: during the Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 - one of the most tragic pages of the Armenian people - and generally before and after that, our Arab sisters and brothers manifested themselves from many positive sides, every time seeking to save Armenians lives. Apart form this, they gave an opportunity to Armenians to settle in their country, at the same time encouraging their development. We will always be grateful for this. Our relations are developing very well now too.
The President also noted that the Arab world and first of all the Emirates have huge investment potential. We have a potential for absorbing investments. And the result of uniting these potentials and linking them closely with each other can be very positive.
We already have the first results. I am very glad about the agreements reached today on holding a large investment meeting in the United Emirates in near future so that the Arab investors can see the investment privileges of Armenia. We have also reached a number of various other agreements today on working for our peoples friendship,Sargsyan noted.
Azerbaijan is trying to involve other countries and structures in the Karabakh conflict.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said the aforementioned in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
Azerbaijan and we conduct different policies. It is apparent that our problem, our conflict is related to Nagorno-Karabakhs right to self-determination, since we are sure that this right is entirely in conformity with the international law, Sargsyan stated.
He also stressed that the Armenian side is not trying to involve friends and partners in the conflict or attract them to its side.
We are sure, simply sure that justice is on our side, and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue will finally be resolved exactly the way the Nagorno-Karabakh people and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, mediators, want. Azerbaijan is trying to involve other countries and other structure, since it feels that it is wrong in this issue. Thus, regardless of how warm and strong the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are, they do not harm the Armenian-Iranian relations, Sargsyan noted.
The best times for Armenia are those without contradictions and confrontations between the West and the East, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said the aforementioned in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
More precisely, [contradictions and confrontations] between Russia and the United States, Russia and Europe, as well as Russia and NATO, since we think that looking for interests in contradictions is very dangerous, the President said.
We see our interests in cooperation, always striving to do so that this situation dominate. But nevertheless, from time to time tensions rise in life, and in this case Russia is apparently our strategic ally: we are EAEU and CSTO members. As I said, we are allies, but this circumstance doesnt prevent us from having normal relations with the EU and the United States, Sargsyan noted.
Currently we are continuing the talks with the European Union on forming a new document on our relations. I am sure that this document will be ready in near future and we will sign it.
By PTI: Bengaluru, Nov 18 (PTI) Karnataka government today announced a slew of allowances to police personnel covering 90 per cent of the force and scrapping of the orderly system, but said their long-standing wage anomaly issue can be addressed only next year.
"At this point of time, it is difficult to decide on wage anomaly, because next year we are constituting a state wage revision commission, which has to discuss about the revision and send a recommendation to the government," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
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The government had constituted a committee headed by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Raghavendra Auradkar to look into wage anomaly faced by Karnataka police in comparison to other government employees and police from other states. The committee submitted its report in September according to which the anomaly exists.
In June, the constabulary had threatened to go on leave protesting alleged "harassment" by senior officials, lesser pay and no proper leave, but government had thwarted it by warning strict action and by bringing police and related services under Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
The state government has, meanwhile, decided to give some new allowances to police personnel, effective from December 1, which increases their salary by Rs 2,000 per month.
Siddaramaiah said Uniform allowance had been increased from Rs 100 per month to Rs 500 per month. Earlier there was no conveyance allowance and now government had decided to give Rs 600 per month for it.
"Likewise there was no hardship allowance, now we will give Rs 1,000 per month towards this," he added.
He said this would be applicable to those from constable to Sub Inspector rank and cover about 90 per cent of the police force, approximately 80,000 people.
The Chief Minister also said government has decided to make changes to promotion rules to facilitate promotions of constables after 10 years of service, instead of 20 odd years earlier.
"If someone joins as a constable, they dont get promotion till about 20-23 years. At the most, he/she may retire as head constable or ASI. So we have decided to make changes to the rules to see to (it) that they get promotion in 10 years," he said.
Claiming that this measure would motivate the constabulary, Siddaramaiah said "now at least they may wish to wear two stars at the time of their retirement".
He also announced that the government had decided to end the orderly system in police and find an alternative to it.
According to reports, there are about 3,000 people trained to be constables, but are doing menial jobs at homes of senior police officers as orderlies. PTI KSU RA APR SAI
--- ENDS ---
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Updated with comments from Chipotle.
Outspoken activist investor Bill Ackman may be about to take a bigger bite out of beaten-up Chipotle (CMG) .
Chipotle and Ackman are nearing a settlement that would give the activist a voice in the boardroom, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal today. A spokesman for Ackman's Pershing Square declined to comment on the report.
Said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold: "We often meet with or speak with our investors, but we do not comment on the nature of those conversations. I'll also note that we are already on record indicating that we are interviewing potential board candidates as we work to refresh our board."
So far, the relationship between Ackman -- an admitted fan of Chipotle's food -- and the beleaguered burrito giant has been cordial. Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a 9.9% stake in Chipotle on Sept. 6 after the close of trading, immediately sending the shares 7% higher. In a filing, Pershing said it intended to engage in discussions with Chipotle's board and management. It added that it believes Chipotle shares are undervalued and attractive. Since the filing, Chipotle shares have shed about 3% following a challenging third quarter for the company as it continued to struggle to regain consumers after food safety issues in 2015.
Chipotle has certainly extended an olive branch to Ackman.
The company uncorked a dizzying array of new initiatives on a conference call in October targeted at igniting growth, ranging from possibly doing national TV ads in spring 2017 to hiring a person in Europe to explore faster international development to installing tablet ordering systems in its restaurants. But as is often said on TV: Wait there's more!
Chipotle executivess showed a rare desire to introduce new food to its menu (such as two unnamed desserts that are now being tested somewhere) and a commitment to aggressively establish mobile ordering, an area in which the company has fallen woefully behind other major fast food chains such as Starbucks (SBUX) and Panera Bread (PNRA) . The company even promised a return to brighter days, projecting a high-single digit percentage same-store sales increase and earnings of $10 a share for 2017. As icing on the cake: The company said it would look to exit its unsuccessful Asian fare concept Shophouse.
Starbucks and Panera Bread are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells SBUX or PNRA? Learn more now.
Bangkok, 17 November 2016 The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is supporting Thai Airways International (TG) in inaugurating the first direct TG Frankfurt-Phuket route by hosting a familiarisation trip. The trip will be for 20 travel agents, tour operators and 7 members of the media who were among the first passengers to fly on the new route TG-926, which departed from Frankfurt on 16 November, 2016. The fam trip will take place from 17 to 23 November and will give journalists and tour operators a taste of Phuket and the surrounding areas.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor said, This new TG route shows how popular the island of Phuket is as a holiday destination for long-haul visitors and confirms that confidence in Thailand is high among European travellers. There is so much to visit in Phuket and in nearby provinces. Supporting the campaign Discover Amazing Stories in Amazing Thailand, we want this fam trip to show case some of the unique Thai activities people can enjoy here, not to mention the welcoming hospitality to be found on the Pearl of the Andaman.
They will visit the lovely region of Khao Lak in Phang-nga province and explore the old town of Takua Pa with its Chinese business and markets. The fam trip will also make a real connection with the local people by experiencing community-based tourism at Tha Din Daeng in Phang-nga and learn about how the local fishermen live and work. There will also be a trip to the Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre in Thai Muang district where turtles will be released into the sea.
Besides, they are going to explore four islands of Krabi by long-tail boat and experience community-based tourism in Ko Yao by visiting rice and coconut farms; learn about rubber tapping, and see displays of local craftsmen. The fam trip has been designed to give a taste of the luxury experiences in and around Phuket as well as eco-friendly and community based activities, all of which are increasingly popular with European tourists.
The Frankfurt-Phuket route will offer three flights a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on a Boeing 777 flight to the island meaning travellers can fly direct to their holiday destination without having to make connections in Bangkok. This will help boost tourism in Phuket and enhance its reputation as the perfect place to seek the winter sun. Last year, we welcomed 760,604 German visitors to Thailand, up by 6.34 percent, generating tourism revenue to the country around 47 billion Baht or 1.4 billion USD. During January to August of 2016, Thailand has welcomed 536,422 German visitors, up by 10.18 percent over the same period of last year.
There was pandemonium in Rajya Sabha for a third straight today over the demonetisation issue, with the Opposition demanding Modi's reply in the House.
By India Today Web Desk: The political firestorm over PM Modi's demonetisation move continues to resonate in the House on the third day of the Winter session of Parliament.
Here are the LIVE updates:
Rajya Sabha adjourned till Monday after uproar over demonetisation issue.
Action less, whimsical announcements, nothing else: WB CM Mamata Banerjee #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/LQmzwT26D7&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
Congress is trying to divert the issue, says Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu.
-I want to know from Congress that what is their view on Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement, says Naidu.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2.30 pm as protests continue demonetisation.
Delhi: TMC protest at Gandhi statue in Parliament premises over Govt's demonetisation move pic.twitter.com/KyTkB5QNXA&; ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
Amid uproar, Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon.
BJP issues 3 line whip to Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his senior ministers in his chamber in Parliament. Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar attended the meeting.
Both Houses of Parliament witness uproar, BJP demands apology from Ghulam Nabi Azad for his controversial remarks
In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues stage protest in front of RBI office.
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Watch video here
Despite Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad's controversial remarks on Uri martyrs being expunged in Rajya Sabha, the BJP said it will raise the issue in Rajya Sabha today.
Azad on Thursday said more Indians have died following the November 8 note ban order than in the terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in September this year.
Watch video here
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China's president was set Friday to monitor the opening of a Chinese-built hydroelectric plant in Ecuador on the second day of his visit to the South American country.
President Xi Jinping arrived Thursday and met with leftist President Rafael Correa, who has prioritized closer relations with Beijing since coming to power in 2007.
Since then Ecuador has attracted some $10 billion in investment from the Asian giant.
Xi announced on Thursday a $150 million donation to build two hospitals and 400 homes in a region devastated by a powerful earthquake in April.
The visit serves to improve ties and "formalize an integral strategic association," Correa said in a statement after welcoming Xi to the government headquarters in Quito.
This is the first time that a Chinese leader has visited Ecuador, an oil-rich country braving the global slump in crude prices.
One major project is the $2.2 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, built by the Chinese state-owned engineering and construction company Sinohydro.
The plant, located in the Amazon region, is set to generate 1,500 MW of electricity.
It was unclear, however, if Correa obtained $13 billion he is seeking to finance the construction of a new oil refinery that would process 300,000 barrels of crude a day.
Senior Chinese and Ecuadoran officials however did sign 11 agreements on issues ranging from finance and culture to extraditions.
China is one of Ecuador's top three trading partners, with some $4.1 billion of trade between the two in 2015.
Once the visit is wrapped up Xi will fly to Peru to participate in the summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Lima -- where he will meet with outgoing US President Barack Obama -- and then head south to visit Chile.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) Mauritius will waive 40 per cent shooting tax for Indian film-makers for shooting on the island nation.
The decision was taken by Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, who is on a three-day visit to the city, during a meeting with Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar today.
"A number of issues were discussed in the meeting, including tourism, logistics, education, sugarcane industry and construction," Mungantiwar told PTI.
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"One of the sectors that was discussed was films. The Mauritius Prime Minister has agreed to waive 40 per cent of the tax paid by film-makers who shoot there," he said.
An official who was present at the meeting said 60 industrialists and 20 Bollywood personalities were among those who were present in the meeting.
He said both sides discussed ways to make exporters and manufacturers work together in both the countries and the Maharashtra government highlighted its ease of doing business initiative.
The state government also discussed how it could adopt the Mauritius model of tourism to beautify the beaches in Maharashtra. PTI MM KRK AAR
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Authorities in Mozambique started investigations on Friday into whether locals were illegally taking petrol from a tanker that exploded killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100. Officials had originally put the death toll at 73 following the massive blast on Thursday in Tete province in the country's remote western region near Malawi. By Friday, officials had counted 60 bodies in mortuaries as recovery efforts continued. "In the accident, 108 people were injured, 96 of whom are still being kept in for treatment at Tete Provincial Hospital," government spokesman Mouzinho Saide said at a press conference in Maputo. "The cabinet has created a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances, causes and responsibilities for this accident." According to authorities' initial accounts, the truck was carrying petrol from Mozambique's port city of Beira to neighbouring landlocked Malawi. The driver took a detour and stopped close to the Malawi border in the village of Caphiridzange to sell petrol to local people, a common practice in Mozambique. "The truck drivers were transferring petrol into a smaller truck and they fled when they noticed there was an (electrical) short circuit," Emilia Moiane, an information ministry director, told AFP. "Seeing the truck had been abandoned, locals came to syphon petrol off, not knowing that the truck was already burning inside." One of the truck drivers was from Mozambique and the other from Malawi, officials said. - Horrific burns - President Filipe Nyusi told reporters that "tragedy has knocked on our door" with the high loss of life. "What is important now is to take action and help the affected," he said. Photographs and video footage from the hospital in Tete showed badly burned children arriving for emergency care and adults lying on hospital beds. "We still have a lot of cases in a critical condition, including children and two pregnant women, out of 38 cases in total," Tete hospital director Veronica de Deus said. "The vast majority of patients have severe burns. Some have 80 to 90 percent of their bodies burnt," she said on public broadcaster TVM. Authorities said many of the dead would be buried in a mass grave, and announced that three days of national mourning would start on Saturday. A plastic surgeon and other emergency health staff have been sent from Maputo, 1,500 km (930 miles) by road, to help deal with the large numbers of injured, including 17 children. The government in Mozambique, one of the world's poorest countries, recently increased the price of fuel after the value of the local currency -- the metical -- fell sharply. The metical has collapsed by 70 percent against the US dollar this year after falling 36 percent in 2015. The Tete provincial government has appealed for emergency food aid and transport assistance for affected families.
Top world leaders meet from Thursday to try to save their cherished free trade accords from feared extinction under US President-elect Donald Trump. Here are three big factors looming over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit from Thursday to Sunday in Lima, Peru. - Trump effect - Trump has cast uncertainty on the postwar world order with his vows to tear up or renegotiate international free trade agreements in order to protect US jobs. This particularly concerns the 21 members of APEC, which account for nearly 60 percent of the global economy and 40 percent of the world's population. The world will look to the summit for "a strong statement" to counter Trump's anti-trade arguments, said Eduardo Pedrosa, secretary general of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Economists expect Trump to make protectionist moves that they say may strengthen his country's economy in the near term but could threaten global growth. "If such measures materialize, trade tensions would certainly increase, with trade war a possible worst case scenario," the Institute of International Finance said in a report. Outgoing US President Barack Obama sought to "rebalance" trade towards deals with Asia and the Pacific. But Trump has rejected Obama's signature trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as a "terrible deal." - Asia-Pacific security - As well as taking aim at free trade, Trump has questioned the US role as the "policeman of the world." Allies such as Japan and South Korea are worried Trump will cut back the US military, economic and diplomatic presence in the region. They fear that could leave them exposed to a dominant China and belligerent North Korea. Trump has caused concern in the region by suggesting Japan and South Korea get nuclear weapons to defend themselves. He has embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin, widely mistrusted by Obama and his allies. US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to send reassuring signals in a series of meetings with regional counterparts Thursday, including with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. Kerry underlined "the continued strength of our partnership and alliance with Japan, the cornerstone of US engagement with the Asia-Pacific region," said Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner. The summit officially opens Thursday evening. Obama, Putin and China's President Xi Jinping are each scheduled to give addresses on Saturday. The leaders hold their key meeting on Sunday. The Latin American leaders in the room, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, will also be looking nervously to the new US administration. On the campaign trail, Trump insulted Mexican immigrants as "criminals" and "rapists." He vowed to build a border wall with Mexico to keep out illegal migrants and threatened mass deportations. - China - China will meanwhile be pushing its own proposed trade deals to gain an edge over the United States in the battle for regional influence. "The economic landscape in the Asia Pacific is changing rapidly, with China increasingly taking a regional leadership role," wrote Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at research group IHS Global Insight. China was pointedly excluded from the 12-member TPP. But due to Trump's refusal to endorse the deal, Biswas said, "the TPP agreement has shifted from being a lame duck to a dead duck." Instead, China proposes an APEC-wide Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes India but not the United States. In Asia, where an industrial boom fueled by globalization has lifted millions of people from poverty, strong appetite for such deals means they will likely move ahead with or without the US. Australias trade minister, Steven Ciobo, told the Financial Times on Wednesday his country is keen to get on board with the Chinese-backed proposals now that TPP looks doomed. "Any move that reduces barriers to trade and helps us facilitate trade, facilitate exports and drive economic growth and employment is a step in the right direction," he said.
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's foreign minister said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should receive guarantees that he will not be extradited if he faces justice in Sweden after four years of living in the South American nation's embassy in London. Assange, who enraged Washington by publishing a flood of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, fled to the embassy fearing that Sweden could end up sending him on to the United States where he could face prison for leaking U.S. secrets. "If we can obtain guarantees that Mr. Assange will not face extradition to the third country, I think it's fine for him to face Swedish justice - if there are charges, because there are still no charges," Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said in an interview on Wednesday with an Ecuadorean radio station. But a Swedish government official said on Thursday it would not be possible to offer Assange or Ecuador a guarantee, as Sweden has not been asked by the United States to extradite him. "It would actually breach the constitution if the government would give such a guarantee in advance," Cecilia Riddselius of the Swedish Ministry of Justice's Division for Criminal Cases and International Judicial Co-operation said. Swedish Chief Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren posed questions through an Ecuadorian prosecutor at the embassy earlier this week, but did not give any comment on the case. Assange, who has repeatedly denied the rape allegation, sought refuge in Ecuador's embassy in August 2012. He is wanted in Britain for breaching bail. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Additional reporting by Daniel Dickson in Stockholm; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday pardoned 82 "youths" including a prominent advocate of Islamic reform, following calls to free prisoners swept up in a crackdown, his spokesman said. Sisi, a former army chief who won elections after toppling his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013, had promised to look into pardoning prisoners at a youths' conference last month. The pardoned include Islam al-Behairy, a television show host and Islamic reform advocate sentenced to a year in prison for criticising canonical religious works, presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef told AFP. Nashwa el-Hofy, a member of a panel that recommended prisoners for the pardons, said the focus was on "university youths". "We focused on those who have a final ruling against them," she said. Sisi has also pledged that the government would look into revising a protest law that bans all but police sanctioned demonstrations. Morsi's overthrow in July 2013 unleashed a crackdown on his supporters that killed hundreds of protesters and jailed thousands. The crackdown extended to liberal and leftwing activists who had supported Morsi's ouster but turned against the government after rights abuses mounted. Sisi pardoned 100 people in September 2015, including two journalists and several prominent dissidents.
A retired general acquitted of war crimes was on Thursday given a key post in Croatia's defence ministry, the HINA news agency reported. Ante Gotovina, 61, was acquitted of war crimes on appeal in 2012 before the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) alongside another former general, Mladen Markac. On Thursday, the Croatian government named Gotovina as a "special adviser to the ministry of defence" during a meeting in the town of Vukovar in the east of the country, HINA said. The meeting was held on the eve of the 25th anniversary of when Vukovar fell to Serbian separatists during the 1991-95 Croatian War of Independence. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Gotovina's "advice will be precious given the challenges facing the country and the region". According to newspaper reports in France and Croatia, the former general, who has acquired French nationality, has had a chequered history. French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique and Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List claimed he once served in the French Foreign Legion, worked for French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen's security detail, spent time in a French jail, trained paramilitary groups in Latin America and was once involved in kidnapping and extortion. Gotovina and Markac were initially sentenced to 24 and 18 years in jail respectively when they were found guilty of the murder of 324 ethnic Serbs and the forced displacement of some 90,000 others during an operation led by the former. That Operation Storm practically ended the war sparked by Croatia's proclamation of independence from the Serb-dominated former Yugoslavia. It is the first political posting assigned to Gotovina since his acquittal, although both he and Markac were given positions on an advisory security body 18 months ago. Gotovina will link up again with a former brother in arms, Defence Minister Damir Kristicevic, another former general. Krsticevic welcomed his former colleague and said he was "convinced" that Gotovina will "make a significant contribution to maintaining national security".
I was perched on a plastic stool on Cau Go Street, a short stretch of road in Hanois Old Quarter with an amazing concentration of food stalls, eating a delicious plate of bun cha: grilled pork, rice noodles, sliced papaya, shredded carrots, a heaping pile of herbs. Locals rushed past me on motorbikes that buzzed like leaf blowers. The next day I would set out on a two-wheeler of my own to explore Vietnams inland north, a place of breathtaking topography that is home to many of the countrys more than 50 ethnic minorities.
Many visitors to the country, seeking a more intimate connection with the landscape, follow the example of the locals and travel on lightweight motorbikes. A Brit Id met in Central America had told me about the phenomenon, explaining that some travelers were inspired by an episode of Top Gear in which the hosts rode from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. On Vietnamese Craigslist, there is an active trade in used motorcycles among visitors. I decided to rent instead, scoring a simple Honda Wave from Viet Nam Motorcycle Tour in the Old Quarter.
Of course, I could have gone by car, but Id come looking for adventure. I hoped to recapture some of the backpackers spirit of my youth, and maybe even get a little muddy.
Day 1: Uneasy Rider
After loading upon breakfast pho, I left Hanoi by way of narrow streets crowded with buses and other careening, honking bikes, then followed a route along the Red River. On the sides of the road, strips of eucalyptus had been set out to dry before being made into veneer for furniture. When I saw my first rice paddies, I couldnt believe how much the scenery looked like every Vietnam flick Id ever seen. Like many Americans reared on baby-boomer cinema, I have a distinct idea of how the country is supposed to look (even though many of those movies, such as Apocalypse Now and Platoon, were actually shot in the Philippines). So there was something oddly familiar about the glistening green grid spread before me.
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The landscape grew only more magnificent as I approached the La Vie Vu Linh eco-resort, riding along a narrow mud path flanked by paddies and rolling hills. It was tough going on the Honda, and there were few signs pointing the way. I kept pulling up at houses whose inhabitants would wave me onward. Finally, I arrived at my destination, a thatched-roof lodge on the shores of Thac Ba Lake. I sat by a fire on which a giant pot boiled, before sitting down to eat with the employees. We dined in the traditional style of the Dao people, one of the regions ethnic groups, snatching individual bites from steaming communal plates of pork, broccoli, cabbage, and rice. After dinner, I met some business people who had traveled from Hanoi that morning to volunteer on a nearby farm. We spent the evening swapping stories and downing shots of rice wine brewed on the property.
North Vietnam Road Trip
Lef: Beef pho in Hanois Old Quarter. Right: Rice paddies near La Vie Vu Linh eco-resort. Christopher Wise
Day 2: Climb Every Mountain
My next stop was Sapa, a French colonial city on a hill overlooking misty terraced farms, but the resort staff suggested I go instead to the market town of Bac Hajust as beautiful but less touristy. I checked the forecast: heavy rain in Sapa, clear skies in Bac Ha. When riding a motorbike, it is always advisable to avoid rain.
As I motored along the rural roads toward Lao Cai province, children chased after me shouting joyous hellos. I love the freedom of solo travel, but after a few days alone, nothing makes the endorphins kick in like a chorus of little kids cheering you on. At a roadside store, the shopkeeper smiled at me and pointed to a stool made from a tree stump. We sat down for green tea and tobacco from his bamboo water pipe. A single hit left me reeling. As I woozily regarded the man, I pondered our countries shared history. Was he doing the same? He poured more tea.
The world glistened on the switch backs up to Bac Ha. Lush farms, blanketed in clouds, appeared beyond the guardrail. I had to share the road with water buffalo and chickens. When I arrived in late afternoon, I called the owner of Sa House, the no-frills homestay Id booked for the night. He arrived, smiling, on his own motorbike and led me up a winding road. The cool, wet air wrapped around me like a cloak.
North Vietnam Road Trip
Left: Na Hang, a rural district in Tuyen Quang province, northwest of Hanoi. Right: Women in traditional Flower Hmong dress at the market in Bac Ha. Christopher Wise
Day 3: When the Going Gets Tough
As I motored along the rural roads, children chased after me shouting joyous hellos.
Early the next morning, I found Bac Has market. Men in puffy jackets and women in the colorful dresses of the Flower Hmong ethnic group hawked vegetables, meat, coffee, textiles, plastics, electronics, and livestock. Shoppers carried bags with squirming creatures inside. I bought a pair of leather gloves before embarking on the most difficult leg of my trip.
The early part of my days journey had hairpin turns and the occasional wayward water buffalo, but at least it had fresh asphalt. Then, at a sign for Ha Giang province, the road turned to dirt and I fell off the bike. Id gotten my wishI was covered with mud. I was elated to emerge, several hours later, onto a real road again.
A few days earlier, at a museum in Hanoi, Id snapped a photo of a photo of Ho Chi Minh and set it as my phones wallpaper image. When I was checking in to Nha Nghi Hoan Nuong, a hotel in the rural town of Na Hang, the owner noticed it and pointed to an older man sitting on a couch. He in turn directed my attention to a picture of himself on the lobby wall, taken when he was much younger and dressed in uniform. He laughed and held up an imaginary machine gun, then said, Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
It was a quiet Sunday night. There were several restaurants on the main drag, but only one with people inside. With its plastic tables and chairs it felt like it could have been anywhere in the world. As I waited for my beef pho, a young man dropped an elbow on my table, wanting to arm wrestle. I shook my head, but he insisted. We locked hands. His friends were drunk on rice wine, and soon they all wanted a turn, too. They urged me to take shots. I ordered a beer instead.
North Vietnam Road Trip
Left: The bar at La Vie Vu Linh. Right: Ba Be Lake, in Ba Be National Park, part of Bac Kan province. Christopher Wise
Day 4: The Water Cure
The next day, I pulled my helmet over my aching head and plunged into Na Hang, which looked like a mountain version of Vietnams iconic Halong Bay. Sheer peaks reached toward the sky, as if subterranean giants had poked their fingers through the surface of the earth. I was so distracted by the terrain that I almost ran out of gas. At the last possible moment, I bought half a gallon from a young woman in a roadside shack.
Within a few hours I had coasted all the way down into the verdant valley of Ba Be National Park. In Ba Be Lake, I saw reflections of the same mountains Id ridden through that morning. The narrow road curved past waterfalls and caves beneath a canopy of trees. I could have spent an entire day there watching the monkeys, bears, and butterflies, but the highway beckoned.
Near the town of Tuyen Quang, I stopped at My Lam Hot Springs to soak my battered bones. Inside an unassuming blue building surrounded by gentle hills and lush trees, I began my path to rejuvenation. I lay in a porcelain bathtub filled with lukewarm mineral water, appreciating the stillness after four bumpy days on the road. The next morning, I planned to sleep late, then ride back into Hanoi, straight into the Old Quarter for another fragrant plate of bun cha.
Road Trip Cheat Sheet
Day 1
Vietnam Motorbike Tour Expert: Intrepid travelers can buy used bikes on Craigslist Vietnamor rent from Viet Nam Motorcycle Tour (84- 973-812-789). But the safest option is this operator, which organizes guided trips throughout northern Vietnam.
La Vie Vu Linh: This eco-lodge in Yen Binh district is a sustainable-tourism initiative to empower the areas Dao people. $30 per person.
Day 2
Sa House: A clean, under- stated lodging option near Bac Ha. 84-984-827-537; doubles from $13.
Day 3
Bac Ha Market: Flower Hmong women sell goods here on Sundays. Nha Nghi Hoan Nuong Simple digs in Ha Giang province. 84-273-864-302; doubles from $15.
Day 4
Ba Be National Park: Established in 1992, this stunning reserve in Bac Kan province contains limestone peaks, evergreen forests, and a glittering freshwater lake.
My Lam Hot Springs Spa & Resort: Renowned among medical tourists for its healing mineral waters. 84-273-774-418; doubles from $25.
Photo of a pair of handcuffs (Getty Images)
A Nigerian drug trafficker was executed on Friday (18 November) after his eleventh-hour appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal a day earlier.
According to a report by Today newspaper, Chijoke Stephen Obioha, 38, was convicted of trafficking in 2.6kg of cannabis and sentenced to death on 30 December 2008.
The Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA ) provides for the death penalty if the amount of cannabis trafficked is 500g or more.
Obiohas lawyers filed a criminal motion in court for a stay of execution and to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment. The criminal motion was heard and dismissed on Thursday.
The Nigerian, along with Malaysian Davendran Supramaniam, were sent to the gallows on Friday. The 31-year-old Malaysian was convicted of importing 83.36g of diamorphine into Singapore and sentenced to death in July 2014.
Davendran appealed against his conviction and sentence in May last year but his appeal was dismissed. His counsel had filed two criminal motions in court for a stay of execution and to re-open his appeal, both of which were dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China's President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama's White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office in January. Contributing to the tensions as the United States undergoes a transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump, is the possibility that North Korea will see it as a prime opportunity to test an inexperienced new US commander in chief. In an interview ahead of Obama's last foreign trip, his National Security Advisor Susan Rice told AFP that the United States would work with allies and at the UN to "put increased and maximum pressure on North Korea." "We don't view their progressive development of their capabilities as being anything other than a significant threat to our interests and that of our allies." This pressure, she said, "has been building and will continue to build, certainly through the duration of this administration." A second US official said the issue would be high on the agenda when Obama and Xi meet on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit in Lima, Peru. The US intelligence estimate of North Korea's nuclear-missile program is classified. But military officials have said its "prudent" to assume North Korea could already have some capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States atop an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests this year and test-fired a series of missiles. Sanctions are already in the works at the United Nations to target North Korea's coal exports to China, diplomats said -- a vital source of revenue for the regime. - Screw tightening - Pyongyang has used loopholes in previous sanctions to increase coal exports by as much as 60 percent, netting more than 100 million dollars a month in much needed income. North Korea's reclusive leaders are estimated to have spent billions of dollars on weapons programs, while as many as 18 million of North Korea's 25 million people face food shortages, according to the Japanese government. Washington is advocating "robust new sanctions measures designed to curtail the North Korean regime's ability to fund its nuclear and missile programs," a senior US administration official said. "The goal is not pressure for pressure's sake. We are trying to compel North Korea to make the right choice." While many sanctions have been in place for years, the last two years have seen the screw tighten considerably. Beijing has long dragged its heels on sanctioning its allies in Pyongyang, fearing a flood of refugees if North Korea's economy collapses. But earlier this year Beijing moved to sanction a conglomerate based in China's frontier city of Dandong that did an estimated $530 million in trade with North Korea between 2011 and 2015. "You can make a compelling argument that China has taken unprecedented steps to increase pressure on North Korea so as to compel North Korea's leadership to make the right choice," said the US official. In parallel with UN sanctions, American officials are looking at other unilateral and multilateral measures, including possible sanctions targeting Chinese and other financial institutions that do business with the north. "The object is to take all necessary steps to constrain North Korea's ability to fund its nuclear missile programs and I would say we are open to any and all measures to get that done." "Given the urgency of the challenge and the fact that North Korea continues to carry out these unlawful provocative acts, our shared responsibility is to continue to increase the pressure," the senior administration official told AFP. Also on the agenda for this final meeting will be the treatment of US companies, including IT companies, in China.
When it comes to real estate investment in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is hard to beat. Despite the oversupply in Phnom Penh, foreign property investors are seeing more opportunities in other areas of the country.
Parts of Cambodias southern coast, such as Sihanoukville, are lucrative for foreign property investors.
When it comes to real estate investment in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is hard to beat. The oversupply situation in Phnom Penh might cast doubt over that notion, but in other areas of the country, foreign property investors are seeing more opportunities.
This is especially true in parts of the countrys southern coast, such as Sihanoukville. Cambodia is also particularly lucrative for American investors, since the US dollar is widely circulated there.
The most straightforward way in which foreign investors can gain access to property and land ownership in Cambodia is to become citizens, after which they have the same rights as native Cambodians.
A foreign investor can do so by donating a minimum of KHR1 billion (S$349,565) to the Royal Government of Cambodias national budget, or investing at least KHR1.25 billion (S$435,962) in a project or business venture authorised by the Cambodian Development Council.
Investors who prefer to be more prudent with their expenditure can become naturalised citizens, a lengthier process than the aforementioned routes to citizenship. They must live and work in Cambodia for at least seven years, learn Khmer and sit for a Khmer proficiency exam. Alternatively, a foreign investor can marry a local and live with his / her spouse in Cambodia for a minimum of three years.
A foreign investor who does not want to obtain Cambodian citizenship (such as a Singaporean investor, as Singapore does not recognise dual citizenship) can become eligible to buy and own land and property in the country via a landholding company.
Although 100 percent foreign ownership is legal in Cambodia, this does not apply to land. Setting up a landholding company allows a foreigner to own land, but only partially: at least 51 percent of equity must be in a Cambodian citizens name, and a foreign investors share in any plot of land cannot exceed 49 percent.
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Furthermore, local and foreign shareholders have different rights of control over a landholding company, so a foreign investor can boost his control of the plot by registering a mortgage on it via the company. This is to ensure land ownership cannot be transferred without authorisation from the foreign investor.
Another method of land ownership for a foreign investor who does not want Cambodian citizenship is to own land via a local nominee. The local nominee is prevented from selling or transferring the property without the investors permission through a series of legally binding documents signed by both parties, and the land is leased or mortgaged to the foreigner.
However, such a partnership is risky, as a high level of trust is needed between both parties. With enough money and the right connections, the local nominee could cause the land to be expropriated or the state to force its sale, and the foreign investor would lose ownership.
Whichever route a foreign investor chooses, the most indispensable aspect is legal assistance. Investors would do well to hire a lawyer with expert knowledge of Cambodian property and land laws, especially due to the lack of transparency surrounding the countrys land ownership schemes.
An earlier version of this article was first published on Property Report.
Cheryl Marie Tay, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg
Union minister for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said that merely ten days after demonetisation, the smuggling of fake currency notes from three international borders - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal - has completely stopped.
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Ten days after demonetisation, Narendra Modi government claims that the circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) worth around Rs 400 crore has been stopped.
"Smuggling of FICN from three international borders - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal - has completely halted after the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Union minister of home Kiren Rijiju said.
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The minister said that at any given point of time, fake notes worth Rs 400 crore, are in circulation in the country. He said annually, counterfeit notes worth Rs 70 crore are pumped in.
ALSO READ | Demonetisation: PM Modi likely to face people's wrath at his Agra rally
'ILLEGAL SALE OF DRUGS AND ARMS, HAWALA TRANSACTIONS STOPPED'
Rijiju said the illegal sale of drugs, opium and arms had also been completely stopped. He said hawala transactions were also badly hit.
Fake notes worth Rs 12.35 crore were seized by the security agencies till June.
In 2015, counterfeit notes worth Rs 34.99 crore were seized, while in 2014, the value was Rs 36.11 crore and in 2013 it was Rs 42.90 crore.
The government is likely to share this information in Parliament when the discussion on demonetisation takes place.
ALSO READ | Note ban deaths: SBI cashier dies of heart attack while at work in Nagpur
HAS TERROR FUNDING COME TO A HALT?
According to the Home ministry, demonetisation has brought terror-funding to a halt.
Sources said it will take more than a year for Pakistan-based terror planners to make new notes.
An estimated Rs 700-Rs 800 crore terror funding is done in India out of which Rs 300-Rs 400 crore are being used by Naxals annually, Rs 20-Rs 30 crore by Kashmiri separatists and Rs 350-Rs 400 crore by insurgents in the northeast.
Meanwhile, official sources said there are around Rs 40,000 crore black money in circulation in the country and these funds were also badly hit by the demonetisation of old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes.
The total currency in circulation in the country as on September was Rs 17,00,000 crore, sources said.
Also Read:
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By Francois Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States and Iran on Thursday clashed openly at the U.N. atomic watchdog for the first time since they signed a landmark nuclear deal last year, differing over Tehran's repeated testing of one of the deal's less strictly defined limits. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is policing the deal, said Iran's overstepping of the limit on its stock of a sensitive material for the second time this year risked undermining countries' support for the agreement. The victory of Donald Trump - a vocal critic of the deal - in the U.S. presidential election also raised the question of whether his country would continue to support the accord, which restricts Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. "Iran must strictly adhere to all commitments and technical measures for their duration," U.S. ambassador to the IAEA Laura Holgate said in a statement to the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting. The dispute centres on the part of the deal between Tehran and six major powers that limits Iran's stock of heavy water, a material used as a moderator in reactors like the unfinished one it has at Arak that has been put out of use. In contrast to strict limits elsewhere in the deal on materials including enriched uranium, the text says Iran should not have more heavy water than it needs, adding that those needs are estimated to be 130 tonnes. Western countries see it as a hard limit, and Iran argues it is not. "We note with concern Iran's accumulation of heavy water in excess of the limit set forth in the JCPOA of 130 metric tonnes," Holgate said, using the abbreviation for the deal's full name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The IAEA said Iran was preparing to ship some heavy water out of the country to come back under the 130-tonne limit, but Holgate said Iran would not be in compliance until it had been delivered to a foreign buyer as the deal requires. "Simply notifying states that this heavy water is for sale without removing it from Iran does not fulfil this JCPOA commitment," she said. Iran said the issue was not that clear-cut. "Where is (the) limit?" Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters on the sidelines of the board meeting, adding that the country was preparing to export more than the 5 tonnes of heavy water it originally informed the IAEA of. "The JCPOA is very clear," he added. "It says that the needs of Iran are estimated (to be) 130 tonnes. Who is the native English speaker to tell me what estimated means?" (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Todays businesses need an online marketing strategy to succeed. While every businesss strategy may look a bit different, there are some common threads that hold most of those successful strategies together.
Members of the small business community have plenty of tips to share when it comes to successfully marketing businesses online. Check out their top tips below.
Make Your Way with Social Media
Social media isnt a one-size-fits-all solution. You have to determine the strategy that is going to work best for your business, as Rachel Strella of Strella Social Media discusses here. And Strella elaborated on these suggestions in a conversation in BizSugar community here.
Super Charge Your Local Search Results
Even for local businesses, online marketing can make a huge difference. Local search, for example, can help to bring new faces to your store, restaurant or other local business. To make the most of your local search marketing, check out this Inc article by Small Business Trends CEO Anita Campbell.
Think About These Things for Your Websites Social Sharing Features
Letting customers or followers do some of your online marketing for you can really help out and save you time. But you need to make sharing your content easy for them. So in this article at the Social Media Week, Larry Alton suggests some things you should think about when incorporating social sharing buttons into your website.
Keep Up with Marketing Technology Trends
Thanks to technology, online marketing is constantly changing. That means that you need to keep up with the new trends in order to stay relevant to tech savvy consumers. This article at Docurated by Angela Stringfellow includes some marketing technology trends that are poised to re-shape the world of marketing.
Grow Your Website Traffic
Content creation can be a key part of your online marketing strategy. But you need to build traffic in order for your content to be effective. This post on the official dlvr.it blog by Bill Flitter includes a playbook for growing traffic to your content.
Expect These Things When Joining Social Media
As a small business owner, the idea of joining various social media sites and regularly using them as part of your online marketing plan can seem daunting. But if you know what to expect, the process can be a bit easier. Here on NutsPR, Corina Manea shares some things you should expect when joining social media as a small business owner.
Use These Best Practices for Twitter Polls
Twitters polling feature can help you to gain insights and interaction from your followers on the platform. And the microblogging site has now revealed some of the best practices that people should use when running polls, which Matt Southern covers in this Search Engine Journal article. BizSugar members also chime in with their own thoughts here.
Consider Starting Your Own Podcast
Lots of businesses have websites and social media accounts. But starting your own podcast can really help you to stand out in todays business world. Here, Ileane Smith shares some of the benefits that businesses could realize through starting a podcast.
Create a Content Anchor
When creating content for an online audience, the length and quality of your content can make a big difference in how many people see and interact with it. In this post on Blogger Sidekick, Will Blunt discusses the concept of a content anchor and how it could help your online marketing strategy.
Use Influencer Marketing That Works
Influencer marketing is a relatively new concept to a lot of businesses. But it can really jumpstart your online marketing efforts if used correctly. Here, Ann Smarty discusses how small businesses can use influencer marketing in a way that should work both now and in the future.
If youd like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com.
Samsung (KRX:005935) has filed a patent for a foldable smartphone, which according to several reports may be available sometime in 2017. Both Bloomberg and Mashable reported in June of this year the phone might see light of day in the coming year.
Considering the unfortunate turn of events with the Galaxy Note 7, which was discontinued after some of the devices caught fire, any distraction is good news for Samsung. The new products and services being introduced show the companys efforts to put its Galaxy Note 7 troubles behind by highlighting the innovations it is developing.
The patent for the foldable phone is a sure fire way of getting the right attention, especially in light of the lackluster developments in the smartphone segment. The iPhone 7 didnt do much, and other vendors are essentially in the same boat.
In terms of applications, the integration of Viv, a new generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the upcoming Galaxy S8 phone to be released in Spring 2017 is also a step in this direction.
The technology exist to create foldable displays, as demonstrated by YouTube personality Meghan McCarthy at Lenovo Tech World 2016 in June. But the phone and tablet Lenovo showcased were limited in their functionality and there wasnt a firm date on availability.
The patent for the Samsung phone, called the Galaxy X or Project Valley, almost looks like an old flip phone when it is folded. Once fully extended, it resembles todays smartphones. As for specs, there is no information, but it does seem to have a camera of good quality. However, the design shown in the patent doesnt guarantee what the final product will look like. The filing of the patent doesnt even guarantee that the phone will ever go into production.
The question is, what is the point of a foldable phone, and are there any practical uses for it? The first iteration of these phones will probably be nothing more than a novelty until the technology matures. This could mean you will have to wait several years to see foldable phones that are truly functional.
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
Monica Liu might have started out as an immigrant, but today she's known as the 'Don of Tangra' who owns four restaurants.
By Shreya Goswami: It's now common knowledge that there's a thriving Chinese community in Kolkata. This community has been around for centuries, and are a part of the fabric of the city. They're also a community of restaurateurs, giving Kolkata a taste of what authentic Chinese cuisine tastes like.
And if you go looking for a stalwart in this community, you need to look no further than Monica Liu.
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All those who come across her today might assume the grandmother of nine to be a softie, like most grannies. But nothing could be further from the truth, because Liu actually holds a title that can make your heart tremble--Don of Tangra.
No, she's not somebody with underground connections with bhais, or even a criminal mastermind in Kolkata. Her title, in fact, is a mark of respect; it was given to her by the community for her bravery in the face of the real goondas who tried to intimidate her.
Monica Liu's restaurants give Kolkata a taste of Chinese food cooked by the Chinese. Picture courtesy: Facebook/Mandarin
According to 101 India, the story dates back to 1991, when Liu opened her family's first restaurant, Kim Ling in Tangra. The local goons tried to coerce the family into serving them free meals, but Monica stood up to them. She made it clear that they were here to do business, and would not be serving free meals. So if the locals behave like goondas, she would return their behaviour in kind.
Also read: 10 lip-smacking street foods of Kolkata that you'll regret missing out on
If you're wondering where this woman of steel got such strength from, here's a glimpse into her past: During the 1962 Indo-China War, Liu's whole family was arrested (along with hundreds of other Chinese living in India), and shifted to Deoli Camp in Rajasthan. Even after the war got over, the government seemed to have forgotten about these arrested families for five years.
Finally, it was Liu and a few others who wrote a petition to the Home Minister, which led to their release. But by then, the family had lost all their connections in Kolkata, and had to start all over again. The young Monica and her sister would help their mother make momos to sell. That's whereMonica Liu's food journey began.
Tung Fong in Park Street is one of the restaurants run by Monica Liu. Picture courtesy: Kolkatacurry.blogspot.com
Today, she owns five extremely popular Chinese restaurants in Kolkata--Kim Ling and Beijing in Tangra, Tung Fong in Park Street, Mandarin on Sarat Bose Road, and Mandarin on Lake Avenue. Liu has been quite a success as an entrepreneur, and was awarded the title of Best Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.
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Of course, we prefer the name 'Don of Tangra' much better, because here's one super-woman to holds the power and respect worthy of that title.
Take a look at Monica Liu's journey in her own words, here:
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Free Workshops
Free Hour of Code at All Apple Stores Dec. 5 Through 11
Kids enjoying a Free Hour of Code workshop. Photo courtesy of Business Wire.
Apple is offering free Hour of Code workshops at all of its 487 retail stores worldwide from Dec. 5-11, in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Registration opened today.
The Hour of Code workshops teach the basics of computer science with Code.orgs programming tutorials. Apple and Code.org share the goal of giving every student the opportunity to learn computer science, according to a news release.
Hour of Code embodies our vision for Apple stores as a place for the community to gather, learn and be entertained, said Angela Ahrendts, Apples senior vice president of Retail, in a statement.
This year, Hour of Code programs at many Apple locations will include an introduction to Swift Playgrounds, the free new app for iPad that intends to bring coding to life. The interactive interface of Swift Playgrounds encourages beginners to explore working with Swift, the easy-to-learn programming language from Apple, used by professional developers to create real-world apps.
Coding is just like any language the earlier youre exposed, the more successful youll be, said Craig Federighi, Apples senior vice president of software engineering, in a statement. Swift Playgrounds brings real coding concepts to life and empowers the next generation with the skills they need to express their creativity.
A new Hour of Code challenge in Swift Playgrounds makes it easy for anyone to set up their own one-hour coding event, and for those continuing to build their coding skills on iPad, Swift Playgrounds adds a new Learn to Code 3 set of lessons and a companion teacher guide.
In addition to in-store workshops, Apple has developed a series of tools to extend Hour of Code into schools and community centers, including a free facilitator guide offering lesson ideas, group activities and more. Apple Teacher, a free, professional, self-paced learning program supporting and celebrating teachers in the United States, has added resources, badging and recognition for learning and teaching code with Swift Playgrounds on iPad.
Staying true to its $100 million commitment and ongoing partnership to provide 114 underserved schools with technology, services and support, Apple will provide materials and resources to assist ConnectED schools around the country to host their own Hour of Code workshops, according to the news release.
For more information about the Hour of Code, visit Apples website.
People
Polymath Physicist, First Lady of Software Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Obama yesterday named 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award that honors individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interest of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors, according to the White House announcement.
Richard Garwin previously won the National Medal of Science, the United States' highest honor in science and engineering fields
Among the winners is physicist Richard Garwin, who is often credited as the author of the first hydrogen bomb design. According to the White House, Garwin is receiving the award for pioneering contributions to U.S. defense and intelligence technologies, low temperature and nuclear physics, detection of gravitational radiation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer systems, laser imprinting and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. In 2002, Garwin won the National Medal of Science, which is the United States highest honor in science and engineering fields. He has held adjunct professorships in physics at Columbia University, Cornell University and Harvard University, and he taught at IBMs Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York.
Grace Hopper joined the United States Navy during World War II.
Another pioneer in science and technology fields was posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. Known as the first lady of software, Hopper was at the forefront of computers and programming development from the 1940s through the 1980s, and her work made programming languages more practical and accessible, according to the White House statement. She taught mathematics as an associate professor at Vassar College in New York before joining the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. Hopper became one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer.
A full list of winners is available on the White House site.
Mobile App
Seattle Elementary Teacher Uses Bloomz App to Encourage Good Behavior
Before she started using the Bloomz app, Seattle elementary teacher Jude Miqueli would hand-color a gumball chart on the wall.
The better a class behaved, the more gumballs would be colored in. If students were acting out, no gumballs would receive color. Overall, the results were satisfactory.
But once she started using Bloomz a year and a half ago, she noticed that her kids were responding better, and were even improving their behavior in class.
The Bloomz award system has helped our classroom. Its given us a structure for what behaviors they want to achieve, Miqueli said in an interview. It has helped us think about our behavior throughout the day. Its given us the opportunity for peer reflection and self-reflection, and helped students give compliments to each other and receive compliments.
Miqueli teaches first through third graders at West Seattle Montessori School and Academy, a private school in Washington state. She has been teaching professionally for three years.
Last year, the assistant director at her school introduced Bloomz to the staff. Since then, Miqueli has become the Bloomz ambassador an example of how to use the app with kids and with their parents.
Its just been great to share the information, she said. It feels like theres so much more being shared between me and the parents. It doesnt feel like an overwhelming amount of information I need to share with them at parent-teacher conferences this Friday.
Bloomz is an app designed to improve communication and coordination between teachers and parents. Teachers can send notifications, emails, photos, text messages or badges through the app. They can schedule appointments, send reminders and ask for project volunteers. Parents can receive the messages and notifications on their phones and respond with likes, comments or their own text messages.
But the app, based in Redmond, WA and founded by Chaks Appalabattula in 2014, also has features that can be used directly in the classroom. Students may have a hand in using it too.
Jude Miqueli posts whats going on in her classroom and also takes advantage of a section called members which are her students. Each student has a flower pot, and a flower grows out of it if the teacher rewards the student for good behavior.
Its been working out really well, because the students are able to reflect on their behavior throughout the day, she said.
The teacher can share and encourage different values, such as teamwork, courage and listening to others. When I reward them with a behavior, theres a timeline for them and their parents to see. When a students flower finally blooms in Ms. Miquelis class, she gives the student a real flower as a reward.
It works out really well IRL in real life, she said. Theyre really excited about doing this activity at the end of the day, when we look at the flowers and their progress. And theyre keeping their behavior in check throughout the day.
Miqueli, 35, said the app works well with special needs kids as well. I do have one special needs student whos on the autism spectrum. He has an aide, and we reinforce the exact same behaviors receive a compliment from a friend, give a compliment. The class is very accommodating and welcoming of differences.
Bloomz is available for free, and is accessible online through Chrome, Explorer and Safari browsers. Chrome is generally preferred, according to the official website.
Bloomz is also available on Apple and Android devices. Users should have iOS 7 or above, with an iPhone 5 or above, or an Android 4.1 and above.
According to the companys site, Bloomz does not currently generate revenue from its site or app. The company is funded by seed capital from current and past senior leaders at Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and other successful companies.
For more information on Bloomz, visit the companys website or email [email protected].
"A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist.
Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution.
The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred.
By Reuters: At least 73 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in Mozambique on Thursday as they tried to siphon fuel from an overturned truck which exploded, the government said.
The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred, the government said in a statement.
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INJURED RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
The injured had been rushed to the hospital and a government team was due to travel to the area in Tete province, some 2,000 km (1,242 miles) from the capital Maputo on Friday.
Media in Mozambique say 73 people killed and more than 100 wounded in fuel tanker explosion. ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries and struggles constantly with food shortages caused by drought.
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Boris Johnson has become embroiled in a row with an Italian minister after threatening that Brexit would hit prosecco sales.
A Brexit discussion between Mr Johnson and Italian economic development minister Carlo Calenda degenerated into a scrap over who would be able to sell more prosecco and fish and chips when the UK left the EU.
Mr Calenda accused the Foreign Secretary, who has recently returned from a five-country tour to "strengthen relations with European partners", of making "insulting" comments.
He said Mr Johnson claimed that if the UK didn't get a good Brexit trade deal then prosecco sales would suffer.
In an account of their conversation given to Bloomberg, Mr Calenda said: "He basically said: 'I don't want free movement of people but I want the single market.
"I said: 'No way'. He said: 'You'll sell less prosecco'. I said: 'OK, you'll sell less fish and chips, but I'll sell less prosecco to one country and you'll sell less to 27 countries.'
"Putting things on this level is a bit insulting."
Mr Johnson has also come under fire for claiming that it was "b*******" to suggest that freedom of movement was a fundamental right of the EU.
:: Jaguar Land Rover admits hard Brexit could threaten its UK future
During an interview with a Czech newspaper, the Foreign Secretary said: "It's a total myth, nonsense. It is stupid to stay that freedom of movement is a fundamental right.
"It's something that has been acquired by a series of decisions by the courts.
"And everyone now has in his head that every human being has a fundamental, God-given right to go and move wherever he wants. But it is not."
He added: "The idea that freedom of movement is a fundamental right of the EU is just b*******."
Mr Johnson was also criticised for suggesting that the UK would leave the customs union - but retain a "dynamic trade relationship".
:: Corbyn uses Boris Brexit claims to attack May
Downing Street was quick to say that no decision had been taken on membership of the customs union, which allows trade free of customs levies but with agreed tariffs on imports outside the union.
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At Prime Minister's Questions, Jeremy Corbyn suggested Mr Johnson's claims, also made in the newspaper interview and which seemed to differ from those coming from Downing Street, showed a Government whose Brexit plans were a "total shambles".
Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron said: "It's outrageous that Boris Johnson seems to think it's OK for foreign newspaper readers to know more about our economic future than British businesses."
Mr Johnson's incendiary comments come in a week where two reports were highly critical of the Government's approach to Brexit.
And in a new poll by Ipsos Mori, almost half of voters said they believed Theresa May and her team were handling the exit from the EU well.
Some 48% of those questioned said the Government was doing a bad job of handling Brexit, compared to 37% who felt it had been successful so far.
By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The dominant armed force in the east Libyan city of Benghazi said on Thursday it had taken control of one the last holdouts of Islamist-led militias, amid clashes in which at least 18 troops were killed, according to medical officials. The self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), whose commander, Khalifa Haftar, is a figurehead for factions aligned with an eastern-based government, has been fighting Islamist militants and other militias in Benghazi for more than two years. Fighting resumed this week in the southwestern district of Ganfouda, and in nearby Guwarsha, the area in which the LNA said it had now flushed out the opposing forces. "The forces of LNA have liberated Guwarsha and our forces found 15 bodies belonging to terrorist groups," military spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari told Reuters. A video circulating on social media showed LNA special forces field commander Wanis Boukhamada shouting into a radio: "Repeat, repeat, the main road of Guwarsha district Shajar Street has fallen! ... God is great." Libya slid into political turmoil and conflict after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising five years ago. In 2014, rival parliaments and governments were set up in Tripoli and eastern Libya, both backed by loose alliances of armed groups. The eastern government, supported by the LNA, is opposed to a U.N.-backed government that arrived in Tripoli in March. Clashes were continuing on Thursday around Ganfouda, where the LNA has besieged fighters from the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC), the main group fighting it. The LNA also conducted air strikes in Ganfouda and another district, Sabri, a military official said. At least 18 LNA soldiers were killed and 54 wounded in the fighting, medical officials said. Four of the dead were killed in a mine explosion in Guwarsha, they said. A car bomb exploded near a building captured by the LNA in Ganfouda, though the number of casualties was not immediately clear, security and medical officials said. The BRSC claimed responsibility for the bombing, according to a statement posted from a Twitter account close to the group. The LNA also has a presence in parts of southern Libya. (Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Simon Johnson and Johan Sennero STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Loosening euro zone budget rules and spending more to boost growth and jobs would put the bloc's recovery at risk, Sweden's finance minister said on Thursday. On Wednesday, the European Commission effectively urged Berlin to spend more, moving further away from its mantra of austerity. Magdalena Andersson, finance minister of Sweden, which is not in the euro zone, said growth in the 19-country bloc was beginning to pick up after years of stagnation, made worse by high levels of government debt and large budget deficits. "Now we are moving toward better growth in Europe. To start being careless again, I think, is completely the wrong way to go," she told Reuters. "I think it would put at risk the growth we have got." Germany, the economy with the most room for extra spending, has rejected the Commission's call. Sweden's finances are in rude shape with the government estimating a deficit of 0.2 percent of GDP this year and a surplus in 2019. Government debt is around 40 percent of GDP, well below the EU's ceiling of 60 percent. But Andersson ruled out opening the spending taps to take advantage of record-low borrowing costs to meet structural challenges such as integrating record numbers of asylum seekers and turning around a fall in school results. "Given the uncertainty we have today with Brexit and Trump, I think it is very pleasant to have such low government debt," she said. "We know it will be a bit of a bumpy ride ahead, so we have a safety margin." Britain is Sweden's fourth biggest trading partner and Andersson said that the Nordic country wanted to have "as soft a Brexit as possible". "From our point of view, the softer Brexit is, the better. But at the same time there cannot be any 'cherry picking'," she said. With negotiations yet to start Andersson said it was tough to say what Britain's eventual exit from the European Union would look like. It is still unknown whether Britain will be able to maintain anything like the free trading position it currently enjoys with the bloc. "A soft or hard Brexit sounds very black or white," she said. "But there is a big grey area in between and it is clear that's where we will end up." (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johan Sennero; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Reem Shamseddine, Tom Finn and Rania El Gamal
RIYADH/DOHA (Reuters) - The energy minister for top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia said on Thursday he was optimistic about OPEC's deal to limit oil output and mentioned the lower end of a previously agreed production target, helping spur a rally in the price of crude.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, at a meeting in Algeria in September, made a preliminary deal to limit oil output. The details are meant to be finalised when OPEC ministers gather in Vienna on Nov. 30.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, speaking to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, said the oil market was on a path towards becoming balanced and that "reaching (a decision) to activate that ceiling of 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) will speed up the (market) recovery and will benefit producers and consumers".
OPEC agreed on Sept. 28 to limit supply to between 32.5 million and 33 million bpd, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars or sanctions.
Falih and other ministers have said previously that OPEC would reduce output to that range, without specifying the higher or lower end.
Oil prices climbed above $47 a barrel on Thursday as comments from Falih and other ministers boosted expectations that OPEC would complete the deal.
"I'm still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, God willing, into caps on states' levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries," Falih said.
A number of OPEC energy ministers, including Falih, are expected to meet informally in Doha on the sidelines of a gas exporters' conference to try to build consensus.
Algeria's Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa said the issue of Iran's production would not undermine a deal.
"There is strong consensus among OPEC producers for a freeze," he told Reuters.
"Iran is not a problem. Iran is a particular situation and needs particular treatment. They will not have the same rule for the reduction. We will study what the best solution is for Iran."
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Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada said Iran and Iraq - which has also sought special treatment in any supply cut - were being asked to freeze output at current levels.
"We are discussing with both countries on that and we are looking at various ways and means of coming to a mutual understanding," Sada told reporters.
Non-OPEC exporter Russia is ready to support OPEC's decision on an output freeze and sees a good chance that it can agree terms by Nov. 30, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.
Falih told Al-Arabiya that he hoped an agreement with Russia to cooperate on market stability would correspond with OPEC's meeting on Nov. 30.
(Addiitonal reporting by Katie Paul and Ekaterina Golubkova; Writing by Alex Lawler; Editing by Dale Hudson)
A terminally ill girl won a historic legal fight to have her body cryogenically frozen in the hope of being brought back to life.
The 14-year-old, described as a "bright, intelligent young person", had her wish granted shortly before she died.
The schoolgirl, who had a rare form of cancer and was too young to make a will, asked the High Court to intervene because her divorced parents were divided over her request.
They had become embroiled in a dispute relating to whether her remains should be taken to a specialist facility in the United States.
Mr Justice Peter Jackson made the ruling in October after a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
:: How cryonics works: Process of freezing bodies explained
He had visited the girl in hospital and agreed her mother, who supported her decision, could have sole control over decisions about the disposal of her body.
He said he had been moved by the "valiant way" in which she had faced her "predicament" and there was no doubt she had the mental capacity to launch legal action.
He added she had spent months researching how she could be frozen and "she died peacefully in the knowledge her body would be preserved in the way she wished".
The teenager, from the London area, had written to Mr Justice Jackson explaining she wanted a chance to "live longer".
He recorded what she had said in his ruling on the case.
The girl had written: "I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual thing done.
"I am only 14-years-old and I don't want to die but I know I am going to die.
"I think being cryo-preserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up - even in hundreds of years' time.
"I don't want to be buried underground. I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up.
"I want to have this chance. This is my wish."
Her remains have now been taken to the Cryonics Institute in Michigan and frozen at around -193C (-315F). The facility houses more than 100 people.
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Mr Justice Jackson had said nothing about the case could be reported while she was alive because the media coverage would distress her.
He also ruled no-one involved could be identified - again in line with the girl's wishes.
He said the girl had lived with her mother for most of her life and had not had "face-to-face" contact with her father for eight years when she died.
Her father had been concerned about the consequences of his daughter being cryogenically preserved, and the costs involved.
He told Mr Justice Jackson: "Even if the treatment is successful and she is brought back to life in, let's say, 200 years, she may not find any relative and she might not remember things.
"She may be left in a desperate situation, given that she is still only 14-years-old, and will be in the United States of America."
But during the legal battle his position changed and he later added: "I respect the decisions she is making.
"This is the last and only thing she has asked from me."
Mr Justice Jackson said the girl's arrangement cost around 37,000, and while the family are not well-off, the mother's parents had raised the money.
He said there had been problems on the day she died and hospital bosses had expressed misgivings.
"On (her) last day, her mother is said to have been pre-occupied with the post-mortem arrangements at the expense of being fully available to (her)," he said.
He added: "The voluntary organisation is said to have been under-equipped and disorganised, resulting in pressure being placed on the hospital to allow procedures that had not been agreed.
"Although the preparation of (her) body for cryogenic preservation was completed, the way in which the process was handled caused real concern to the medical and mortuary staff."
He admitted the technology is controversial but he made decisions relating to a dispute between parents, not about the rights and wrongs of cryogenic preservation.
He also said this case is an example of new questions science posed to lawyers and ministers might consider "proper regulation" of cryonic preservation.
The girl's application is said to be the only one of its kind to have come before a court in England and Wales, and probably anywhere else.
Cryonic preservation was introduced in the 1960s and there are three commercial organisations, one in Russia and two in the US, that perform the process.
SWNS
The average American begins to notice the signs of aging at the age of 42, but 15% noticed themselves getting older before age 35.
Thats according to a new poll of 2,000 Americans with representative samples for Gen Z, millennials, Gen-X and baby boomer respondents, where respondents believe they were at the peak of their health at the age of 34.
On top of that, 46% of Gen X were unaware they couldnt engage in the same fitness or diet regimens as they could when they were younger until they were over 40.
While respondents start noticing they need to make changes to their health and wellness routines around the age of 39, 21% admit theyre currently in denial about their body aging.
Another 30% of respondents admit they used to be in denial, but theyve since accepted it.
Of those respondents, 61% put off making necessary routine changes for three to six years, while 29% put it off for up to two years.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of evidence-based weight care program, Found, the survey found that things like joint pain (39%), the onset of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes (37%), slower metabolism (35%), or where respondents carry their weight (30%) are some of the top indicators that respondents believe are signs of aging.
Because of these changes, respondents are making adjustments to their health and wellness routines.
Overall, 36% are making adjustments to the types of vitamins and supplements they take, with baby boomers (41%) being the most likely generation to do so.
Two in five (40%) baby boomers are changing the types of food they eat, with 34% of Gen X doing the same.
Even 30% of Gen Z are doing so, despite their relatively young age.
Thirty-one percent of all respondents are fine-tuning what types of exercises they do as they get older.
And millennials might be getting ahead of aging more than others, with that generation being more likely to do so than any others (36%), including Gen X (31%) and baby boomers (30%).
Millennials were also the most likely generation to practice meditation or mindfulness, especially when compared to baby boomers (30% vs 21%).
And while about one-quarter (24%) found making those adjustments difficult, 46% found it to be an easy process.
But that doesnt mean respondents arent looking for guidance, as 35% tend to lean on their primary care physician and specialty doctors (30%).
While aging is inevitable, making healthy changes to your lifestyle are preventative care measures that can help mitigate age-related issues like weight gain and chronic conditions. Over the past 100 years we have nearly doubled our life expectancy, so its crucial to be proactive about extending our health span as well as our lifespan, said Dr. Rekha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at Found. Programs that incorporate guidance to not only help people manage their weight, but also improve overall lifestyle habits, such as improved sleep, daily movement or taking care of their mental health, can help people maintain their health as they age.
While aging may be inevitable, respondents outlined mixed feelings about it. Almost three in 10 (29%) admit theyre either stressed or anxious about aging, while some are confident (25%) about the inevitability.
In fact, 41% of respondents have experienced shame or embarrassment when discussing their changing health and wellness with their primary care physician, with 47% of millennial respondents experiencing this.
Even so, 31% also say they trust their PCP the most when it comes to advice about maintaining a healthy weight as they age.
Almost two-thirds (64%) agree that they struggle with their body not only not looking like it used to, but also not feeling the same either. .
Although 39% are happy with their current weight, one in five were happiest between the ages of 20 and 30.
Research has found that the stories we tell ourselves about our weight and our motivations to make lifestyle changes dramatically affect how successful and satisfied we are with those changes, said Laura Garcia, Director of Clinical Design at Found. We are so used to focusing on what we want to get rid of, and not what we want to gain. Positive lifestyle changes give us the opportunity to feel better about our bodies now and, most importantly, allow us to continue doing what we care about in the long-term. If we are motivated by extending our health and preventing the negative effects of our lifestyle on our bodies, we will be more likely to maintain these changes over the years--which is key for sustainable weight loss and overall health.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) Mumbai lad Aryan Goveas could not sustain the winning run in the USD 10,000 ITF Kuwait Futures tournament and lost in straight sets in the semi-finals today.
The 18-year-old, who shocked No. 2 seed Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia in the quarter-finals of the singles event yesterday, did not serve well and went down 4-6 2-6 to German No. 3 seed Daniel Altmaier.
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Thanks to his good show in the outdoor hard court tournament held in Meshref, Kuwait, Goveas earned six points and his ranking, currently 1,076, would get a significant boost and is set to dip well under 1,000 to around 925. PTI SSR RSY BS BS PTP
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BERLIN President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday issued a joint defense of strong American leadership in global security, free trade and combating global warming while cautioning against cozying up to Russia, in what appeared to serve as a message to President-elect Donald Trump.
Eight years after his massive rally in Berlin turned Obama into a global phenomenon, he wrapped up his final official visit to Europe on Thursday with a plaintive warning to Western democracies at a time of rising populism. Do not, he said, take for granted our system of government and our way of life.
He conceded things left undone saying it would be naive to envision a breakthrough in Syrias raging civil war before he relinquishes the White House. But, speaking to reporters beside a woman described as his closest European ally, Obama said he remained optimistic about Trumps presidency, despite having sharply criticized him during the long, bitter election campaign.
Yet Obama also drew a stark picture of a world without even-handed U.S. leadership a world in which a divided United States would lose its way and disengage.
The United States is the voice that insists on rules and norms governing international affairs, the voice that helps to steer the world away from war wherever possible; thats our voice more often than not, Obama said. And were not always successful, but if that voice is absent or divided, we will live in a meaner, harsher and more troubled world.
Asked to weigh in on U.S. protesters turning out in cities across the nation, he said, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldnt advise them to be silent.
In a sign of their close ties, Obama met both Wednesday and Thursday with Merkel, a centrist leader whom observers see as heir apparent to his legacy as the leading global advocate of liberal democracy. On Friday, the pair are set to convene with a broader group of leaders, including the heads of France, Britain, Italy and Spain at a time when the continent is unsettled by the U.S. transition of power.
One of the thorniest issues: Trumps overtures toward a newly belligerent Russia. Obama challenged Trump to stand up to Russia at the right times.
My hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in countries like Syria, that we just do what is convenient at the time, he said.
Obama said he was heartened by Trumps recent recognition of the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Merkel, for her part, said she recognized that Germany could contribute more toward security an apparent response to Trumps calls for allies to shoulder more of their own defense.
Yet ahead of their encounter with the media, the pair also delivered what appeared to be a joint rebuttal to Trumps most populist foreign policy pledges. They never mentioned Trump by name, but called in a joint op-ed article published in the German weekly WirtschaftsWoche for more transatlantic cooperation on a range of issues including free trade, security, climate change and fighting inequity and intolerance.
Merkels Germany may have a big bridge to build to meet Trump halfway. On the campaign trail, Trump derided her open-door policy on refugees, saying it was ruining Germany. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier poised to win the German presidency next year has described Trump as a hate preacher. And while global leaders appear to be rushing to congratulate Trump, Merkel, considered the European Unions most influential leader, is taking a cooler approach.
She reiterated on Thursday her belief that the U.S. relationship is the cornerstone of Germanys strategic future. But as she did in an earlier note to Trump, she cautioned that cooperation should be based on a common platform of democracy, freedom, advocacy for human rights all over the world and championing the open and liberal world order.
Obama and Merkel said Thursday that globalization and rapid advances in technology have left voters behind in both their nations, but they argued that there is no going back to pre-globalization times. They condemned the march of populism on both sides of the Atlantic, with Merkel defining it as people looking for simple or negative answers.
Obama also took aim at the spread of false news, a subject of increasing scrutiny in the United States and overseas.
Theres so much active misinformation, Obama said, adding, Its packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television.
For Obama, Merkel is something of a political soul mate. No other world leader so closely matches Obamas ideology of tireless diplomacy with an emphasis on human rights, tolerance and equality. Sharing similar temperaments, Merkel and Obama forged a friendship that helped broker several major agreements including a deal to curb Irans nuclear program and sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine.
Merkel has not yet said whether she will seek reelection in national elections next year, but the RND newspaper network, citing unnamed party sources, reported Thursday that she would announce her decision Sunday. Some of her close allies have suggested she will run.
Describing their ties as a friendship, Obama joked that if he were German, he might vote for Merkel, whom he flatteringly described as tough. When he suggested he might come back as a private citizen to attend Oktoberfest, Merkel replied, deadpan, Well, we have freedom of movement.
It is perhaps fitting that Obama bids farewell to Europe in Germany, the nation where his outdoor rally as a candidate in 2008 inspired millions. Although he has had ups and downs with the public here, Germans appeared to turn nostalgic during his last trip.
Looking back, it now slowly sinks in that we fared very well with Obama, the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper said in an editorial Thursday.
Yes, he got the Nobel Peace Prize far too early. He didnt shut Guantanamo. He couldnt pacify Syria. But still this president had an important impact on the relationship with Europe. . . . He actually practiced the common leadership that his predecessors only spoke about in abstract terms.
Nakamura reported from Washington. The Washington Posts Stephanie Kirchner contributed to this report.
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MOSCOW Russias most recognizable landmark has been set ablaze during Napoleons occupation, bombed by Germans and completely destroyed by Hollywood courtesy of Tom Cruise.
The Kremlins occupants, security-conscious to the point of paranoia, are now giving the forces at their disposal a refresher course in protection.
On Thursday, entire swaths of downtown Moscow, including Red Square and the Kremlin, were blocked off for a massive security drill involving police, emergency workers and the federal guard service to practice preventing anything from getting through.
Coming at a time of poor relations with the United States during which Russia has conducted nationwide emergency drills amid warnings about the possibility of nuclear war the latest exercise at least raised the question in some Russian minds: Do President Vladimir Putin and company know something we dont know?
No, according to the federal guard service, which termed the exercises part of regular security practices.
Phew.
So what were they practicing for? According to the federal guard service, the drills included countermeasures against illegal break-ins and various and unspecified extremist activities, detection and elimination of equipment and gear meant for acts of terrorism and sabotage, and fire-safety precautions. All reasonable. The United States has the same sort of precautions at the White House, where fence jumpers and drones have punctured security.
The federal guard service also said certain measures were practiced to make sure that roads are safe. That is a good idea. Since 1998, at least six people have tried to illegally breach Kremlin defenses by car, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Back to the list. Of particular interest are unauthorized flyovers by drones.
Drones today represent an objective security threat, the state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta commented this week, and so Russia understandably makes it illegal to fly one over the Kremlin.
Lured by the incredible view, people sometimes do anyway. And they get caught. Russia has some of the most sophisticated air defenses in the world, though ordinary Russian people have proven very resourceful at downing drones by any means available.
The Kremlin, incidentally, uses modern means to confound potential aerial aggressors, as a programmer found recently when his research revealed that Putins heavily guarded residence had a system for blocking GPS signals and repositioning people to an airport 18 miles away.
More inconveniences awaited anyone who tried to get around central Moscow while the drills were underway. Entire sections of road were blocked off for the exercises, further snarling what is already one of the worlds most impassable downtowns.
One commuter who wasnt inconvenienced is the Kremlins main occupant.
Putin is in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi this week, huddling with his military and security top brass about the countrys defenses.
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TUCSON, Ariz. Police in Tucson say theyre searching for five suspects in connection with an armed robbery at a church.
They say five young males wearing masks entered a church on the citys south side where up to 50 women of various ages were attending a faith-based meeting about 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The suspects ordered the women to get on the floor before taking their purses at gunpoint and fleeing the scene in at least two vehicles.
Police Department spokesman Sgt. Pete Dugan says investigators interviewed witnesses who say the five suspects are either teenagers or in their early 20s and some spoke only Spanish during the robbery.
Dugan says some of the older female victims suffered minor injuries when they were forced to the ground by the robbers.
IRBIL, Iraq The listeners who call in to Radio Alghad are typical of talk radio audiences around the world. Its complain, complain. Except the callers to Radio Tomorrow are in the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul, and they dont want to yak about traffic or sports.
They want to unload on suicide bombers and errant airstrikes, on the lack of food and medicine. They have questions about when to wave white flags and what to do with bodies in the rubble.
Shrapnel hit the tanks on the rooftop, a caller named Hasan told FM-95.5 the other day. We have lost all water we have saved.
On calls made from the front lines in Mosul, listeners to Radio Alghad can hear mortar rounds falling as the government battles to retake the city. They can hear windows rattle, bursts of gunfire, children crying in a backroom.
There is a difference between hearing about the crimes and seeing them with your eyes, another caller told one of the stations hosts.
She begged Iraqi forces to hurry to recapture the city. Many of her neighbors still support the Islamic State, she said. So its hard to tell who is a friend and who is an enemy.
The callers often speak in rushed whispers.
A cellphone, even a SIM card hidden in a pocket or purse, can be a death sentence in Mosul, where Islamic State militants have ordered collaborators and spies to be summarily executed.
The stations founder is a 30-something tech entrepreneur who calls himself Mohammad of Mosul in interviews because he does not want to be targeted by the Islamic State or its supporters. He also insists on keeping the location of his station and most of the names of its hosts secret. He is concerned about car bombs. He will allow a reporter only to say the operation is in the Kurdish area of Iraq.
On a recent evening, during one of four call-in shows hosted each day, a dozen people from Mosul and the surrounding towns and villages telephoned the station and went live on-air.
Callers are told to use an alias. So instead of Sleepless in Seattle, the callers identify themselves as with monikers like Tear of an Oppressed, Prisoner of Memories and others such as Mother of Ali or Son of Mosul.
The guests are also warned not to mention their exact location, both for their own protection and to foil intelligence-gathering by Islamic State militants, who monitor the radio station.
The first call of the evening went like this:
CALLER: As-salamu alaykum!
HOST: Peace to you, Son of Mosul! Where are you calling from?
CALLER: From the left side (meaning the east side of the Tigris River in Mosul), from the liberated areas.
HOST: Inshallah, the whole of Mosul gets liberated, we want to hear soon that Mosul has completely been liberated.
CALLER: It will be liberated by the help of God. What is left for Daesh? [The Arabic acronym used instead of the Islamic State.] Only to hide behind women? They protect themselves by women!
HOST: Inshallah, God will give revenge for you, Son of Mosul, and for all the oppressed people in Mosul. Go ahead, tell me about the situation on the left side.
CALLER: I only want to say one thing, do you know what? In Hay Al-Samah the people are still under the destroyed houses, the houses have collapsed on top of them. . . .
Radio Alghad went on the air in March 2015. Mohammad said he decided Mosul needed an alternative radio station after watching how the Islamic State operated.
Their social media skills are high. Their psychologists are impressive, he said. They get a lot of hits. Their videos such as the infamous Clash of Swords series instilled fear among Iraqi defenders and diminished their will to fight.
In 2014, the Islamic State took Mosul, then a city of about 2 million, in a couple of days as the Iraqi security forces retreated.
Then I realized this is a media war, the Alghad director said.
The Islamic State has its own radio station operating in Mosul, Radio al-Bayan 92.5 FM.
They use their transmitters to jam us and we now use our transmitters to jam them, Mohammad said. Were both on each others frequencies all the time.
In the frequency wars, the anti-Islamic State station now operates seven transmitters.
Before the governments offensive to recapture Mosul began in early October, hot topics on the call-in shows were the Islamic States bans on smoking, cellphones and satellite dishes. Men complained about being forced to grow beards, and the women, about full-face veils.
They also complained about taxes, arrests and street executions.
Now Radio Alghad includes public-service messages, warning listeners to shelter inside interior rooms during bombardment and to open windows to relieve the pressure so the glass doesnt implode.
On a normal day, about 80 callers go live on-air, most of them from Mosul. In recent days, many callers say they are being pounded both by Islamic State mortars and shelling from Iraqi forces. They are pleading for the Iraqi army to be careful.
A caller, Mother of Ali said, Honestly, we cant stand the bombings anymore, but we have no choice but to thank God and be more patient.
Another caller complained that Daesh launches one or two rockets, but the Iraqi army bombing is very intense, the area is full of civilian families and they get hurt, so through your station I would like to ask them to decrease the bombings and to be more accurate.
The host thanks his callers but when they begin to criticize the Iraqi army more than the Islamic State, he brings the conversation to a polite close.
On occasion, Radio Alghad has allowed suspected Islamic State supporters to speak on-air. They complain of distortions and lies.
Mohammad, the station director, recalled that one ISIS fan said, The people can leave Mosul at any time, and the host said, Okay, let them go. If you live in Mosul, you know this is not true. You know if the gates to the city were open for an hour, Mosul would be empty.
Listen to a radio station helping Iraqis trapped in Mosul:
http://wapo.st/2g1kkB3
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Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus said after Donald Trump won the presidential election that he was not necessarily opposed to serving in the new administration, according to one U.S. military official who speaks with him often.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday, said that he asked Petraeus if hed be interested in serving as national security adviser, defense secretary or secretary of state. Petraeus responded that he would wait and see how the situation developed. The general is one of the most influential military officers of his generation, but ended his government career as director of the Central Intelligence Agency in November 2012 amid revelations that he had an affair with his biographer.
Petraeus pleaded guilty in April 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information in connection with the scandal namely sharing information with biographer Paula Broadwell and was sentenced to probation and paying a $100,000 fine. Since resigning, he has worked as a college professor at a few schools and in international development with the firm KKR.
The Guardian, citing diplomatic sources, reported Thursday that Petraeus was a contender for secretary of state, while naming Sen. Jeff Sessions, R.-Ala., as the frontrunner for the job. Sessions, an early Trump supporter, also is seen as a potential secretary of defense or attorney general.
Petraeus could face a tough confirmation process if nominated to serve as secretary of state or defense considering his recent criminal history, but has testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee as a foreign policy expert since pleading guilty.
Four years ago, I made a serious mistake, one that brought discredit on me and pain . . . to those closest to me, Petraeus testified in September 2015. It was a violation of the trust placed in me and a breach of the values to which Id been committed throughout my life.
No Senate confirmation process is required to become national security adviser at the White House, but retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is seen as the frontrunner for that job. The office of Sen. Jack Reed, D.-R.I., released a statement regarding the announcement that Flynn had been selected for national security adviser, before issuing an apology and saying that they issued the statement in response to non-official information.
If selected for secretary of defense, Petraeus would require a congressional waiver because he has not been out of uniform at least seven years. He retired from the Army in 2011.
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By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) CPI(M) today took on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley alleging he "misled" the Parliament and whole country on FCRA and NPAs and accused the government of practising "crony capitalism". CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the party will also move a resolution for constitution of JPC on demonetisation crisis as "prior information was with some people" before the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. Describing the NPAs as "big scam", he said "It has risen two times in the last two years and conviction of wilful defaulters have come down. The government is involved in crony capitalism." Referring to yesterdays reply of Jaitley in the House, Yechury said "What Finance Minister said on NPAs was wrong. Finance Minister said that writing off debt is not writing off the loan as it still remains in the book and banks can make attempts to recover it."
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He quoted "RBI guidelines" to prove Jaitleys observation on NPAs wrong and said there is a clear RBI guidelines on performing assets becoming NPAs.
Since there will be no incentives the banks will not go after loan recovery after writing off debts, Yechury said.
Yesterday, the CPI(M) leader said in the Rajya Sabha that SBI waived off Rs 7000 crore from their Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), of loans which are not being returned. Intervening, Jaitley had said, "Written off does not mean waiver.... It does not mean that the loan ceases to be a loan. We will still chase the loan, the entry in the book changes that is from being performing assets, it become a non-performing."
Attacking the government, Yechury said "In the last two years Rs 1,12,078 cr debt has been written off and they are saying they will still recover and pursue it."
He said the CPI(M) will move a resolution when the time will come for JPC. On FCRA, he said "It was amended through Finance Bill in the 2016 budget which was wrong. Finance Minister misled Parliament and the whole country." CPM leader Mohd Salim said,"There was a selective leak of demonetisation move and prior information was available with some people.This is a serious charge and we want formation of JPC to go into this," PTI ARU RCJ
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Marion Christopher Barry, Jr., son of the late D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, died as a result of an overdose of PCP, the D.C. medical examiners office ruled Thursday.
Barry, 36, died Aug. 14, minutes after stepping outside a residence on Pomeroy Road SE and smoked K2 a type of synthetic drug mixed the hallucinogen PCP, according to a D.C. police report issued at the time. Barry was rushed to George Washington University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:11 a.m.
The medical examiner ruled Barry died of acute phencyclidine toxicity and the manner of death was accidental.
The younger Barry had a long often public struggle with drug use, friends said. In 2011, he was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation for felony PCP possession. Last year, Barry ran an unsuccessful bid for a Ward 8 City Council seat, which was held by his father before he died in 2014. His mother, Effi, died of cancer in 2007.
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A police officer in Arizona was placed on administrative leave this week after a video that shows him punching a woman in the face was posted online.
The Flagstaff Police Department learned of the footage Wednesday evening and launched an internal investigation into the incident, which occurred earlier in the day, according to the department.
During the arrest the female, who appears somewhat uncooperative, was struck in the face by the officer, police said in a news release. Our agency is very concerned by what is depicted in this video.
The officer was identified as Jeff Bonar.
According to the Arizona Daily Sun, the woman has been identified as 30-year-old Marissa Morris.
The video shows Bonar and Morris in a tense exchange, apparently about whether she can be taken into custody. Morris insists that she cannot be arrested until she knows that there is a warrant for her arrest.
Thats when Bonar punches Morris in the face.
Hey! You cant hit a girl like that! a man protests after Morriss head snaps back.
The struggle between the woman and the officer continues, as off-camera, people can be heard yelling in outrage. Another law enforcement officer helps restrain Morris, who cries out.
Off-camera, those watching the violent interaction plead with Morris, saying: Just let him arrest you, just let him arrest you, and, Just let him.
I didnt do anything! Morris screams as the officers struggle to put her on the ground and handcuff her. I didnt do anything!
Morris is eventually led off, shouting: I dont have a warrant! I dont have a warrant! Screaming, she continues to struggle as she is loaded in the back of a cruiser.
The video, which is about seven minutes long, had been viewed on Facebook more than 60,000 times by Thursday afternoon.
The incident occurred at a time of heightened tensions between members of law enforcement and the communities they serve, as many have found themselves questioning some tactics used by officers.
I am as concerned with what is depicted in the video as I know many others are, Flagstaff Police Chief Kevin Treadway told reporters at a news conference Thursday. I have heard your concerns, and the department is taking this incident very seriously.
Bonar was placed on administrative leave, Treadway said. Additionally, the chief said that he has asked another department to conduct a criminal investigation into Bonars actions. He said there are police reports on the incident, as well as body-camera video.
So often in cases like these, there is a rush to judgment and a call for immediate action, he said. We owe Marissa, her family, the Flagstaff community, the officer and the department a full and complete investigation.
A police report completed by Bonar indicated that he was kicked and kneed in the groin by Morris before the punch occurred, Treadway said. That doesnt appear to be a detail that can be verified or disproved from the Facebook video, which doesnt show the lower portion of Morriss body.
Bonar, who has been with the department for just under three years, was at the scene Wednesday after he responded to a request from the Coconino County Sheriffs Office, which was in the process of serving an eviction, Treadway said. According to his report, he recognized Morris and thought that she had some warrants.
After Morris had been detained, Treadway said, it was determined that the warrants were no longer valid. She was arrested and booked on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest, according to a police spokesman. Morris was arraigned Thursday morning and later released.
As your police chief, I would call to my community to have a little patience, Treadway said. We are taking this, again, very, very seriously. It will be a very in-depth investigation, but that takes just a little bit of time.
Video: Officer on leave after punching woman during arrest
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska Nancy McGuire, the longtime publisher of Alaskas oldest newspaper, said goodbye to her subscribers in an editorial published Thursday, the day she died after battling cancer for years. She was 72.
McGuire was publisher of the weekly Nome Nugget for 34 years in the western Alaska town of Nome. Her friend and former Nome mayor, John Handeland, said McGuire died at a local long-term care facility.
Even as her health waned, McGuire was determined to remain in Nome instead of seeking medical treatment elsewhere.
Nome was her home and this is where she wanted to stay, Handeland said.
The Nugget was established in 1897, thriving in the rough-and-tumble Gold Rush town.
In an editorial published in the newspaper Thursday, McGuire said goodbye, telling readers she hoped her editorials had stimulated thought about what was happening in the community over the years.
I have loved Nome and the folks in our community and our village neighbors since the day I took over in 1982, she wrote. I must depart soon. I will bid an affectionate farewell to all.
McGuire was born in Pennsylvania December 15, 1943, and grew up on a farm according to Handeland, who did not know what part of the state.
Before moving to Nome in 1973, McGuire taught secondary school science, according to Larry Campbell, a former Alaska bureau chief for The Associated Press. Handeland said McGuire taught in secondary and university settings before she moved to Nome in 1973, initially for a position at the University of Alaskas northwest campus.
Among other endeavors, she also was a part-time reporter for the Nugget, which she purchased in 1982, launching her decades-long career as editor and publisher. Handeland said arrangements have been made to keep the newspaper running under private ownership as McGuire had. He did not provide details on the ownership.
She was very proud of the newspaper and wanted to continue it as an independent newspaper, he said.
In 2012, the Alaska Press Club presented McGuire with its First Amendment Award, saying she worked tirelessly to advocate on behalf of her communitys right to know.
The club called her a fearless, unapologetic journalist who was unafraid to use press freedoms to tackle controversial issues in the frontier town of 3,800.
Campbell noted the Nome area is a hard, hard place to cover. But McGuire was up to the task.
She was an absolute journalist, he said. She didnt practice small town or big town. She just practiced journalism.
Handeland said survivors include McGuires brother Robert McGuire in Pennsylvania.
A funeral mass is set for Saturday afternoon at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Nome, with a celebration of life tentatively planned for July.
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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage contributed to this report.
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Follow Rachel DOro at https://twitter.com/rdoro
While its pretty much a given that the Affordable Care Act wont survive a Trump presidency and Republican Congress in its current form, there are sweeping implications of reversing a law that has reached in so many ways into our health care system. The government has never undone a major benefits program after it has taken effect and neither the incoming administration nor GOP lawmakers know exactly how theyll replace it.
If your head is spinning because of the politics and lingo thats being thrown around, heres a primer on what we know about the president-elects plans so far and what they might mean for the ACA marketplaces and for you personally.
Lets start at the beginning. What did Donald Trump promise on the campaign trail?
As a candidate, Trump released a plan, Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again, which called for a full repeal of Obamas signature domestic achievement on day one of the new administration. You can read the original text here. He later said he would call Congress into special session to repeal the law. Now that he has been elected president, Trumps timeline is unclear. Most of what he wants to do requires an act of Congress.
GOP leaders on Capitol Hill say that ending the ACA is a priority for them, too. But lawmakers aides have not yet begun to compare notes with the president-elect and his transition team on substance or strategy.
What has he said on the subject since the election?
Last week Trump created a stir by saying he might amend the ACA instead of repealing and replacing it. But his views on the substance of the law didnt change. As hed said during his campaign, he mentioned keeping the provision that forbids insurers to deny coverage to people with preexisting medical problems. He also said hed like to continue letting young adults stay on their parents insurance policies until they are 26 an idea that has been part of House Republicans health-care plan.
On Sunday, Trump talked about the ACA during an interview on CBSs 60 Minutes with reporter Lesley Stahl. Repealing and replacing the law would be done simultaneously, he explained, so that people would not face a limbo period with no insurance.
Itll be better health care, much better, for less money, he promised. Not a bad combination.
Trump has revised other health-care positions to conform more closely to the heart of Republican thinking in recent decades. On his presidential transition site, GreatAgain.gov, he has added antiabortion statements and several policy positions that were not part of his campaigns platform as well as deleted a few proposals. A Washington Post story that ran several days after the election detailed some of the changes.
If Congress and the Trump White House repeal the ACA, how soon would my marketplace health plan go away?
Its hard to know, but there are some clues. Early this year, when lawmakers sent Obama an ACA-repeal bill, which they knew he wouldnt sign, they included in the legislation a two-year period before the marketplaces and other parts of the law ceased.
Right now, the fourth years open enrollment for marketplace health plans is underway. The plans that consumers can buy until Jan. 31 have pledged to participate through 2017. More than eight in 10 ACA customers receive federal subsidies to help pay for their premiums, and it is unlikely that those will go away as soon as Trump takes office. According to the Health and Human Services Department, just over 1 million people chose ACA health plans during the first 12 days of this month, about 50,000 more than the same period a year ago. That puts enrollment roughly on pace to match the 1.6 million who signed up during the first three weeks of the last enrollment period. HHS officials said that sign-ups increased during the three days after the election.
I have a 23-year-old son without a full-time job. Will he lose his coverage through my insurance plan?
This is unclear but might not change. After the election, Trump began to say that he likes the ACA provision that lets young adults stay on their parents policy until they are 26. House Republicans support this idea, too.
Im being bombarded with messages on social media urging me to get an IUD before coverage for birth control disappears. How seriously should I take this? Will I lose really lose that benefit?
In the 24 to 48 hours following the election, it was hard to ignore panic about birth control. Cosmo magazine reported that Women Are Urging Each Other to Get IUDs Now Before Its Too Late, and Quartz warned that a Trump presidency will threaten womens reproductive rights. Many commentators raised the idea of women getting an IUD, a intrauterine device type of birth control that is reversible but long-lasting, noting that it could get them through an entire presidential term.
For the past six years under the ACA, women have had access to free birth control through their insurance plans because of a provision requiring coverage for preventive health benefits. Trump hasnt addressed this issue, but fears have been stoked because he became more clearly opposed to abortion as the campaign went on. And Vice President-elect Mike Pence is a strong social conservative who opposes abortion in almost all circumstances.
Trump might not even have to rely on Congress to get rid of these benefits. HHS could redefine what types of services must be included among the preventive care the law requires insurers to provide.
Thats not very reassuring. What about coverage for other benefits we have now? Should I stock up on the medicine I have to take regularly for diabetes, arthritis or other chronic diseases or conditions?
Feeling anxious about the upcoming changes is understandable because they will likely be pretty big. But doctors recommend against hoarding prescription drugs. Even if the law or federal rules change, it may take a little time to figure out exactly what has happened. When the ACA was passed, patient groups months combed through the documentation for months before figuring out that HIV drugs, for example, werent covered adequately in some cases.
Will the ACA insurance exchanges go away? If so, where would people who dont get insurance through an employer obtain coverage?
Trump has not provided a lot of details. Again, Congresss last attempt to repeal the ACA would have had a two-year transition period. And remember, for all the attention they get, marketplace health plans are covering about 11 million people a small fraction of the approximately 214 million people with any kind of private health insurance at last count by the U.S. Census.
What will happen to health insurance prices?
This is a big debate among economists. To understand why this question is so difficult to answer, you have to look at the recent history of health plan prices before and after the ACA. Before, premiums purchased by individuals were rising about 10 percent per year but because insurers were able to deny coverage to sick people, they were able to keep overall costs down. That changed when the law required companies to insure everyone.
In 2014, the first year of the insurance exchanges, analyses showed that prices for certain benchmark plans were 10 to 20 percent cheaper than before the law took effect. Prices have climbed since then, but liberal and conservative economists have argued over whether the increases were more or less than what would have happened without the ACA. An important point to keep in mind is that most people who buy in an ACA market get subsidies. Trump has not detailed whether he would offer similar assistance or whether his tax proposals would end up saving people more than under Obamacare.
Im getting a monthly subsidy that lowers the premium of my ACA plan. What will happen to this subsidy?
The laws subsidies might go away. Under some Republican thinking, you and other consumers might be able to make up part of the money by deducting the premiums from your taxes. But critics say that would not help lower-income people, who do not pay much, if any, in taxes.
Im finishing college and deciding where to move. Which states are most likely to have affordable health care for people with low-paying jobs in the next few years and which are least likely?
This is a tough one as were still in the early stages of postelection discussion on what will replace the ACA. If you need to make an immediate decision, its worth looking at how certain states have historically dealt with the issue of health insurance. Massachusetts has been at the forefront of offering universal access to health care for years and would probably still be a good bet. The state implemented its own version of the ACA several years before the federal law took effect nationally; that will remain in place even if the ACA goes away. It might also be helpful to look at states that set up their own insurance exchanges and expanded their Medicaid programs under the ACA. While your low-paying job may or may not meet the Medicaid threshold, the overall trend in these states is toward more people being covered (though it is uncertain if those states would continue to get extra federal money for their Medicaid beneficiaries).
Below is a map of the 19 states that opted against Medicaid expansion. The list, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, was current as of October.
What are Trumps main ideas and where do they come from? Have they ever been tried before?
Taking away health insurance from about 20 million people which would happen if the ACA were repealed with no replacement would be wildly unpopular, and Trump has outlined several parts of a possible successor plan. Some of the ideas come from legislation that was introduced in recent years by congressional Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, but has never become law. The major changes Trump has endorsed, often without details, include:
Changing the tax code to allow individuals to fully deduct all health insurance premiums;
Allowing insurance plans to be sold across state lines, presumably increasing competition;
Ensuring price transparency for medical procedures and other health care costs;
Expanding access to health savings accounts that are tax free;
Turning Medicaid into block grants to states;
Allowing medications to be imported, creating more competition in drug pricing. (This shows up on Trumps campaign page but not on his transition page.)
What would be the impact of Trumps positions on insurance marketplaces and the economy?
Most analyses agree that many more people would be uninsured but differ on how the federal deficit would be affected. According to Rand Corp., in the first full year of the new administration, Trumps proposals would result in about 20 million previously insured Americans going without health coverage and would add nearly $6 billion to the deficit.
In contrast, the Center for Health and Economy, which is nonpartisan and includes both liberal and conservative experts, estimates that 18 million people mostly low-income adults would become uninsured in the first year and that Trumps changes would decrease the deficit by $583 billion between 2017 and 2026.
Previously, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which promotes fiscal constraint and is anti-deficit, calculated that repealing the ACA would double the number of uninsured, leading to more than 21 million people losing coverage, and would cost $550 billion over a decade.
The Congressional Budget Office in 2015 estimated 22 million fewer people would have coverage in 2017 if a repeal bill were enacted.
Tell me more about making Medicaid a block-grant program for states. What does that mean, and what difference would that probably make?
Since it began in the mid-1960s, Medicaid has been an entitlement program, which means that it is an open-ended commitment to cover everyone who qualifies for it. In return, states must cover certain groups of people and certain benefits, though they have some freedom to include or exclude some discretionary benefits and to set eligibility rules. The result is that federal spending on Medicaid varies from year to year, depending on how many people are in the program and how much care they use. In contrast, under a block grant, the government would give states a lump sum of money. Kaiser Health News has a good explanation of how this would work.
Critics say that, over time, a lot of money would be cut from Medicaid if the federal grants fail to keep pace with the programs costs, inevitably eroding eligibility and benefits.
Yet supporters say block grants would encourage states to reduce waste, save the federal government billions of dollars and give states more freedom to choose how to implement the program. Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, block grants can be done in a way that would satisfy both sides. Speaking to Politico, Cass said that savings from implementing the grants could then be used for other anti-poverty programs.
Another looming question is what will happen with the part of the ACA intended to expand Medicaid eligibility to people with slightly higher incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which this year is about $16,000 for an individual and $33,000 for a family of four. Thirty-one states and the District did expansion. It is unclear whether, in making other changes to Medicaid, Trump would let them keep the extra federal money they received for enrolling newly eligible people.
Lena H. Sun and Lenny Bernstein contributed to this report.
aca-qanda
In each of their allotted 140 seconds, Dilara Akay might tell about her fascination with La Llorona, Jason Baerg might discuss a range from water ceremonies to laser-cut paintings, and Lisa Hirmer very well may explore social connections that form when water flows as a gift between people.
Thats just a small sampling of what could be on tap at tonights Water Rights SFAI 140, an evening that features 20 talks and performances of only 140 seconds each, where members of the community from scientists to activists to teachers coalesce around art and social consciousness.
The rapid-fire talks, held three times a year at the Santa Fe Art Institute, connect its artists in residence working on a particular theme with people in the community who have an interest or expertise in the topic or simply an interest in art projects. And that includes audience members. About 230 people show up each time, said Robert Gomez Hernandez, SFAIs design strategy manager.
The program features a dozen SFAI artists in residence and another three from the Institute of American Indian Arts, along with Beata Tsosie Pena of Tewa Women United and others from the University of New Mexico, the Office of the State Engineer and more.
The residents spend one to three months at SFAI, and their projects are completely self-directed with a lot of cross-pollination of ideas as their work spaces cluster together and no particular outcome is required at the end of their stay, according to Gomez Hernandez. Many times, they form collaborations and pursue projects that result from their stay here, but SFAI officials know nothing about it, he added. Its all about giving artists the time and space to create works that have some relationship to social issues. The previous theme, for example, was immigration and the upcoming one is equal justice.
The artists come from as far away as Turkey Akay and as near as next door. You may have already seen the mural Santa Fe resident Joerael Elliott has been painting on the wall facing Lena Street at Second Street as his SFAI residency project.
Both Baerg and Hirmer came to SFAI courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, but through different programs under it.
Baerg (Cree/Metis) said he is teaching two credits at IAIA while hes in Santa Fe and working on a Digital Dome project on water, as well as working on laser-cut paintings (hes been getting instruction on the laser cutter at the Meow Wolf Arts Complex) for three exhibitions he has coming up in January and February in Canada and Mexico.
His workspace at SFAI is adorned with cutout designs incorporating two totems he has settled on: rabbits and ravens. Both are tricksters and shape-shifters, he said. His designs merging the two reflect what is happening on the earth plane and the spirit world, he said.
His abstract paintings stretched across three sides of his workspace are done in traditional indigenous pigments of red, yellow and white ochre, he said. Ive done a number of residencies in Australia. Its something their indigenous people use, he said of the ochre.
Hirmer had only been in Santa Fe for a little over a week when she talked to the Journal and said she was concentrating on doing research for her project. Her work, she said, generally centers on social practices that link communities and people. Her past projects have included building a water condenser in Australia and gifting the 10 liters of water produced to the local community, and wrapping materials around portions of tree branches in Saskatchewan and capturing the moisture they exude in their respiration.
Shes interested in the gifting economy, Hirmer said, and is exploring the idea of how currency and water both need to circulate.
For her part, Akay said she made a water and spice installation, some portion of which was taken to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which opponents say endanger tribal water sources. That controversy has been a seminal influence on the residents discussions and activities, she noted, and four of the residents who traveled there likely will report on the activities at tonights event.
Meanwhile, she also has been working with the Nuestra Jornada project at Gerards House, using art activities to help children express their losses, not only in the death of a family member, but in the loss of a country as they have immigrated to the United States. Im hoping to use the experience and information back home, Natay said, explaining that Turkey has 2.7 million Syrian refugees.
And shes exploring the Southwests story of La Llorona, the weeping woman whose children were drowned, some say by her, others say through her neglect of them. Natay showed some sketches she has made of her reactions to the story and explorations of why a mother would kill her own children, as well as snake symbolism of death and restoration. Eventually, an art installation may result, she said.
Officers responding to a report that shots were fired in a southeast Albuquerque neighborhood Thursday afternoon found a dead man inside a home, according to an Albuquerque police spokesman.
Officer Daren DeAguero said the man was possibly shot and violent crimes detectives were investigating the death.
But a friend of the man who lived in the house was more definitive.
Ricky Medina, a neighbor, told the Journal he talked to a couple of maintenance workers at a house on the 500 block of Valencia SE, near Zuni and San Mateo, who said they heard gunshots from across the street. Medina and the workers walked through the backyard of the single-story house to investigate the situation.
The door was really heavily bolted. I grabbed a sledgehammer and took the door off, Medina said. I went in and he was lying on the floor. He was hunched over because they shot him sitting in the chair.
Medina said it looked as though the man had been beaten up and was shot twice in the chest. He was already dead when Medina arrived.
He said the man who lived in the house had lived there alone for years and was friendly with everyone on the block.
Medina said he believes it was a robbery, but DeAguero couldnt confirm that. DeAguero said Thursday evening that no one had been arrested.
Medina said hes still in shock from what he saw.
It just kind of sucks, he said You dont expect to see your friend shot two times and see him dead on the floor.
WASHINGTON California lawmakers in the House and Senate offered legislative proposals Thursday that would allow nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers to keep improper enlistment bonuses they were paid during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago.
In a rare sign of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans argued that congressional action is needed to make sure the Pentagon forgives the soldiers debts and closes out an episode that has hurt thousands of veterans, roiled the Pentagon and embarrassed members of Congress.
A version of the bill could be approved as part of a defense authorization package as early as next week, when Congress leaves on Thanksgiving recess, congressional leaders said.
If approved, the legislation would make it likely that most or all of the roughly 9,700 California Guard soldiers who received inflated enlistment bonuses and student loan payments between 2004 and 2010 would have those debts waived, lawmakers said.
Under the Democrats version of the bill, the approximately 1,700 California Guard soldiers who already have repaid all or part of their bonuses to the Pentagon would be given the money back with interest.
The proposed legislation also orders the Pentagon to inform credit agencies that the debt was never valid, meeting a key complaint from soldiers unable to get mortgages or car loans because of poor credit scores. Credit agencies would be barred from including references to the soldiers debts in credit reports.
The Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau reported last month that the Pentagon was demanding repayment of enlistment bonuses that were given to about 9,700 California Guard soldiers to help fill enlistment quotas for the wars. Many of the soldiers served in combat and some returned with severe injuries.
Many of the soldiers were told to repay bonuses of more than $15,000 years after they had completed their military service.
In response to a public outcry, and at the urging of the White House, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter ordered a suspension of the repayment program on Oct. 26 and set up an internal appeals process to review the debts by next July.
But Pentagon officials emphasized that they could not fully forgive all the soldiers debts, which totaled in the tens of millions of dollars.
Some of the bonuses were awarded as part of an illegal scheme that saw several recruiters convicted of fraud and other crimes in 2011, they noted. Pentagon officials also warned that forgiving all the debts could hurt future efforts to stem waste, fraud and abuse in the military.
Congress appears likely to sweep away those concerns, however, arguing that soldiers who agreed to enlist or re-enlist in return for a financial bonus should not be forced to repay the money years after they had gone to war.
On the Democrats side, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Adam Schiff introduced a bill Thursday that would require the Pentagon to waive repayments even for soldiers who were ineligible for the bonuses as long as the individual did not knowingly commit fraud.
Its still not clear to me that even those who accepted the bonuses in good faith will have their debts forgiven under the plan Carter announced, Schiff, D-Calif., said in an interview. We dont want there to be any doubts.
Schiff said he expected the proposal would be added to the defense authorization bill expected to pass Congress this year. And if not, well push to pass it early next year, he said.
Feinstein said she was concerned that the effort by Congress to forgive the soldiers debt wont lapse after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president in January and a new administration is in place.
We want to reassure the affected service members that our government stands by its commitments and they will not be punished for the actions of others, she said.
The Democrats bill has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate and 27 in the House.
On the Republican side, Rep. Jeff Denham of California, who was involved in an abortive effort to provide debt relief to the affected soldiers in 2014, and Rep. Ken Calvert of California introduced legislation similar to the Feinstein-Schiff proposal.
While the (Defense Department) has stopped the harassment, much more needs to be done, and it is important that we resolve this issue under the current administration where it all started, Denham said in a statement. Our veterans deserve a secure financial future.
The bills would bar the Pentagon from ordering soldiers to repay their bonuses because the military had lost their enlistment contracts or because other paperwork errors had occurred, a problem for many California Guard veterans.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, respectively, both have vowed to address the repayment issue in their committees.
If Congress approves a waiver measure, it may be attached to a bill authorizing Pentagon programs that has passed the House and Senate. The final version of the bill is being decided in a House-Senate conference.
McCain told reporters Wednesday that he hopes to have the bill finished before Congress leaves for its Thanksgiving recess next week.
Another option would be for the House and Senate to pass a separate bill, aides said, though several said that doing so in the lame-duck session is not a certainty. The Pentagon has said it doesnt need Congress to intervene.
The authorization bill already contains a provision that would establish a 10-year statute of limitations on the militarys ability to recover overpayments. That offers little immediate help to California Guard members, however, since it would not take effect until 2027.
The Pentagon began ordering California Guard soldiers to repay enlistment bonuses after The Sacramento Bee reported in 2010 that a federal investigation had found that thousands of ineligible soldiers were given enlistment bonuses and student loan payments, or were approved despite incomplete paperwork.
Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guards incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.
Recoupment of the bonuses has been underway ever since, with little attention until recently.
Soldiers identified by California Guard audits as having received improper payments were told to repay the money and threatened with wage garnishments, tax liens and interest payments if they did not. An appeals process that allowed them to contest the debts was lengthy and difficult, officials acknowledged.
The proposed legislative fix in Congress comes at least two years after the California Guard first warned members that thousands of soldiers have inadvertently incurred debt, through no fault of their own because of faulty Army recruiting or accounting practices.
But lawmakers in Washington said the notice, part of a list of legislative priorities the California Guard sent to Capitol Hill, did not alert them to the scale of the problem.
Soldiers involved in the dispute responded warily Thursday to news of a potential solution in Washington. One of them was retired California Guard Master Sgt. Bill McClain, who served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and was wounded in the jaw.
In 2013, McLain was ordered to repay $30,000 in reenlistment bonuses because the California Guard determined he already had served too many years in the Army to qualify.
The Pentagon has not contacted him or withdrawn its repayment demands despite Carters announcement of a suspension last month. So McClain sent a $100 check this month, the token amount he sends each month on a debt he denies owing.
I would be more than pleased if they would do the honorable thing and say anybody who didnt knowingly commit fraud can keep their bonus, he said. But when it comes to our government, you never know.
Last weeks general election results in Senate District 39 maybe should be called Stefanics Revenge.
Democrat Liz Stefanics, a two-term member of Santa Fe County Commission, narrowly won a tough race over incumbent Republican Ted Barela in this monster of a district, which spreads over parts of no fewer than six counties.
Stefanics was elected once before to the District 39 seat, in 1992, when the districts boundaries were just as bizarre, but different. The district back then was the shape of a large, messy doughnut, with Santa Fe as the missing part in the center, the doughnut hole.
She was knocked off in the Democratic primary when she ran for re-election in 1996 by Phil Griego, at the time best known as a former Santa Fe City Councilor, by a mere 54-vote margin. Stefanics, after losing another close race for a Public Regulation Commission seat two years later, staged a District 39 rematch with Griego in 2000, but Griego prevailed in the all-important primary again, this time by a relatively wide margin.
That second Griego-Stefanics contest was also a tough one Stefanics brought up Griegos infamous DWI during a legislative session, while someone spread anti-gay fliers at churches targeting Stefanics. Griego held the Senate seat until last year, when he resigned amid a scandal over his role in a state government real estate transaction that has led to pending criminal charges against him. Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Barela, a former Estancia mayor, to fill the vacancy.
With her win on Nov. 8, Stefanics is back in the Senate, in the seat that Griego took from her 20 years ago, while Griego awaits trial on corruption charges.
And it must be noted here that she won in a district that was, by all appearances, designed specifically for Griego, considered a conservative Democrat who got some help in his last re-election race in 2012 from a group with ties to Gov. Martinez. The district is largely rural, stretching from the southern reaches of Santa Fe, east into San Miguel County, then south over mostly open country before it manages to reach parts of both the Belen and Ruidoso areas.
It is Democratic by voter registration 50 percent Democratic compared to 31 percent Republican. But District 39 is also considered a battleground where a GOP candidate has a chance. Democratic registrants in the district are seen as potentially more cowboy Democrat, in the tradition of the late governor and rancher Bruce King, than your rad-lib, deep blue Santa Fe-style Democrat.
Hey, Barela is rarely seen in photos without a cowboy hat. Griego also favored that kind of haberdashery.
Heres a county-by-county look at how Stefanics, who also has run social service nonprofits and held high-ranking jobs in state government, won the District 39 race by taking just under 51 percent of the 18,859 votes that were cast.
Big vote came in from Santa Fe County
Despite the districts vastness, more than a third of the votes, roughly 6,800, came from Santa Fe County, where 64 percent of voters are registered Democrats. Stefanics won a whopping 74 percent of the Santa Fe County vote. Along with wide open spaces in the south part of the county, District 39 takes in more heavily populated spots around the airport and south of town (but not Eldorado).
Lincoln County down south also has a lot of District 39 votes about 4,000 in this election and Lincoln is Republican country, with the GOP having 55 percent of registered voters. Barela won that county with 76 percent of the vote.
In Torrance County where Republicans also hold the voter registration advantage and Barela served as mayor of Estancia the incumbent got 73 percent of the about 3,000 votes cast. He also mopped up among the small number of district voters in Valencia and Bernalillo counties. So Barela won in four of the districts six counties.
But District 39s county number six San Miguel, where Democratic voter registration is at 72 percent sealed the deal for Stefanics.
There were nearly 3,400 San Miguel votes, including from the Pecos area and, yes, San Jose just off Interstate 25, where Phil Griego established his District 39 residency at a family ranch. Cowboy or not, San Miguels voters went 61 percent for Stefanics. Her margin of about 770 votes in San Miguel combined with a whopping 3,250 votes on the upside for her in Santa Fe County to make her the victor.
Overall, she won by 367 votes in unofficial totals.
Landslide in House run for Garcia Richard
District 39 will probably remain a battleground district going forward, since it includes territory that mixes both Republican and Democratic strongholds. But maybe its time to give House District 43, centered around Los Alamos, to Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard for the foreseeable future, despite the lingering conventional wisdom that her seat should be up for grabs.
Los Alamos in the past was considered GOP turf, much to the chagrin of Democratic legislative leaders of the past, like former Sen. Manny Aragon, who never missed a chance to take a shot at the Atomic City (and the fact that the state couldnt tax its national lab when it was run for decades by the public University of California).
Garcia squeaked out a victory four years ago in the first election after the death of longtime Republican District 43 Rep. Jeannette Wallace. Since then, she has crushed two GOP challengers who were serious candidates, including County Clerk Sharon Stover last week.
Garcia Richard won in a landslide over Stover, garnering nearly 59 percent of the vote, including 56 percent in Los Alamos County. Parts of Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties are also in the district, but only the tiny vote in Rio Arriba (273 total) favored Stover.
The House districts voter registration trends blue 43 percent Democratic to 32 percent Republican. In voter registration in Los Alamos County, Dems also have the edge, but its slim 38 percent Democratic, 35 percent Republican.
Last Tuesdays voting results reflect that purplish tinge.
Los Alamos went for Hillary Clinton for president, favored Democrats for Congress and New Mexico Secretary of State, and chose Dems for all three County Council spots up for election.
But, in the district attorneys race, Los Alamos voters, by a 51 percent margin, favored Republican Yvonne Chicoine over Democrat Marco Serna, who swamped Chicoine in the judicial districts other counties, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba.
They also went for winning Republican Judith Nakamura for state Supreme Court, and for GOP candidates for the state Court of Appeals and county clerk.
So there seems to be a fair amount of residual GOP strength on the hill. Just maybe not enough to go after Garcia Richard.
HERNANDEZ A proposed 33-mile, high-voltage power line through parts of southern Rio Arriba County and northern Santa Fe County is the latest issue to create a split between the areas Indian pueblos and non-pueblo residents.
Texas Hunt Power says its planned 345-kilovolt Verde Transmission Line will plug a gap in the existing regional transmission system, increase capacity and improve reliability. It would run from a PNM substation near the Rio Arriba community of Chili, close to where U.S. 84/285 splits into two highways, south to an existing substation roughly 12 miles west of Tesuque.
About one-third of the route is on federal Bureau of Land Management land and most of the rest goes through three area pueblos.
At a BLM hearing in Hernandez north of Espanola on Wednesday night, many non-pueblo speakers expressed sadness or anger over Pojoaque, Santa Clara and Ohkay Owingeh taking unspecified payments from Hunt to allow the line to cross their lands.
Keith King of nearby La Mesilla, who signed, as well as spoke, to the crowd of about 125, drew loud applause when he asked his Indian neighbors to learn from your brothers and sisters who are fighting for Mother Earth at Standing Rock, North Dakota, referring to ongoing Indian protests against an oil pipeline, and to reject Hunts proposal.
He said the transmission line and its towers 90 to 120 feet tall there would be five to seven per mile through a 150-foot right of way would destroy views and landscapes that attract tourists and film crews to northern New Mexico.
Jan Brooks of Santa Fe said, Im dismayed that the pueblo community would capitulate to something so obscene in return for money for rights of way or leases from Hunt. This is a corridor to Bandelier (National Monument) and the route runs near San Ildefonso Pueblos landmark and sacred Black Mesa, she said, although it would not cross San Ildefonso land.
Santa Clara Pueblo Gov. J. Michael Chavarria, speaking late in the evening, noted what he called the negative energy in the room at Hernandez Community Center.
He said the Santa Clara tribal council has supported the project for five years and that it was important for his pueblo to engage in economic development to benefit social services, education for its children and elder programs.
We understand that there will be visual consequences, he said, to some gasps among the crowd. But he asked, How much have we (the pueblo) lost? Who has been here first? What have we given up? Talk about fences we only have 55,000 acres that we can call home.
We respect the land, he said. He said the pueblo has had a good working relationship with Hunt Power and were very satisfied with the project, adding, This is an important opportunity to help all of us, its not just the tribes and pueblos.
I want to work together on this, he told the crowd. Nows your chance.
People shouted back, Bury the line and Bury it, meaning to put the wires underground.
Thats what I mean, negative energy, Chavarria responded.
Gabriel Montoya, speaking for Pojoaque Pueblo, said the project would bring economic development and provide a power source to help ensure the future growth of all of our communities.
Proposed in May
Hunt filed its application to cross BLM land a few short sections of the route cross non-pueblo private property, as well in May and there were two prior public hearings. But it was only this week that residents opposed to the project sent out alerts to news organizations and others. They say they have gathered 2,000 signatures on a petition against the transmission line.
Hunts Gabriela Canales said the 33-mile stretch of proposed 345kV line is the last uncompleted section of a high-capacity transmission loop running roughly from the Four Corners area to Albuquerque, and back through north-central and northwest New Mexico.
When the loop hits a smaller 115kV line that already exists along much of the proposed route, its like a four-lane highway going down to two lanes, creating congestion, said the companys Paul Schulze.
He said that when you improve the system, the whole region benefits from increased capacity and reliability.
Canales told the crowd Wednesday night that new section could help avoid outages like one caused by a brush fire in 2000 that affected 1 million power customers and provide infrastructure for economic development by users such as data centers. Hunt would recover its investment estimated at between $60 million and $90 million from power wholesalers.
Canales responded to questions about health impacts from high voltage lines by saying Hunt would be required to follow government guidelines on height and right of way width, and that studies have found no significant impact from electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in residential areas, but opponents said experts have found EMFs from high-voltage lines are a carcinogen.
A green project?
Hunt is also touting the line as a boost for renewable energy by providing more capacity for moving around power from solar or wind farms in New Mexico.
Opponents, though, lambasted the idea that the Verde Transmission Line is ecologically green. Seven-year-old Mazie Kostrubala, to huge applause, read a statement that said: Verde means green in Spanish. Green projects are supposed to help the Earth, not hurt it. Green projects are not supposed to harm animals, birds, water, plants or people. Green projects should not harm sacred land. But this project would do all of that harm and more. If Hunt Power was green, you would put the wires underground (beneath) roads already built. Mazie said the proposed line should be called The Very Bad Project That Will Hurt Everyone.
On the other side, Margaret Campos asked the crowd to remember when opposition blocked plans for a regional landfill in the area 20 years ago. She said the lack of waste disposal capacity has blocked industry. Educate yourself, she said.
Elena Guardincerri, a Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist who lives in Jacona west of Pojoaque, said the new power lines would be 200 feet from her house. She was among those who questioned any direct benefit for area residents from a line used to move power around the grid.
Guardincerri said the high-voltage line being so close to her home is a health concern, would ruin the landscape and drive down property values, making the house impossible to sell.
San Ildefonso off path
The line route appears to run through the populated Jacona section of northern Santa Fe County where Guardincerri lives because Hunt doesnt have an agreement for using the most direct path between the two existing PNM substations, through San Ildefonso Pueblo.
South from Chili in Rio Arriba County, the line would parallel an existing 115kV line that, according to Hunts application to cross BLM land, has 55-foot towers. That path takes the proposed route through Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara land north and west of Espanola, and then to the Santa Clara Pueblo-San Ildefonso Pueblo line.
To avoid crossing San Ildefonso, the route takes a sharp jag east instead of continuing due south and, when it turns back south and west, it crosses through the Jacona-Jaconita area. Efforts to reach San Ildefonso officials for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.
The BLM will continue taking public comment on the project through Jan. 5. Officials said it will probably be two years before a final decision is made to approve any version of the transmission lines sections on public land or to go with a no build option, in effect rejecting Hunts application.
Homelessness in New Mexico continues to decline, according to the 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That report shows homelessness in New Mexico declined by 13.9 percent from 2015 to 2016, and by 24.9 percent from 2007 through 2016.
HUD estimates that from 2015 on, New Mexico experienced a 26.5 percent reduction among homeless families, a 61 percent decrease in veteran homelessness, and a 9.3 percent decline in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home, said HUD Secretary Julian Castro in a news release that accompanied the release of the report. The Obama Administration has made unprecedented progress toward ending homelessness and today marks the seventh straight year of measurable progress.
The homelessness estimates are based on the last Point-in-Time count, or PIT, done in January 2016. During these nationwide counts, volunteers in communities across the country identify and count individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, on the streets, under bridges and in cars, abandoned buildings, parks and other places not meant for human habitation.
While the upbeat HUD study shows year-to-year declines in the numbers of homeless, some Albuquerque homeless providers arent buying it.
The PIT places the number of homeless in Albuquerque at about 1,300.
I certainly dont agree with HUD, said pastor Danny Whatley, director of The Rock at Noon Day. The numbers were seeing are increasing at our location. Were seeing a lot of faces weve never seen before and were seeing younger people and millennials.
Based on the number of homeless people Noon Day and other shelters and service providers see day in and day out, the homeless total in Albuquerque is probably in the range of 4,500 to 5,000, Whatley said. In addition, the number of homeless Title 1 kids in the Albuquerque Public Schools also exceeds the HUD estimate, he said.
APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta said Thursday that the number of homeless kids enrolled in APS in the last five years has ranged from 4,000 to 6,500, depending on changing definitions of who is homeless and how to count them.
Based on the number of people seen at Joy Junction, the states largest homeless shelter, HUD estimates are clearly an undercount, said shelter founder Jeremy Reynalds. He believes the PIT count is false, misleading, disingenuous and should be scrapped because it makes people think homelessness is going down, and it may be the way HUD counts, but their count does not reflect reality.
Since 2007, there has been an increase in permanent supportive housing in Albuquerque, which no doubt factors into the decline tracked by HUD, said Lisa Huval, associate director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. However, the count does not include people who sleep on friends couches, find temporary shelter in cheap motels and other unsheltered people who simply cannot be located.
The PIT survey is a mere snapshot of one night and is certainly an undercount, Huval said, but its probably not a vast undercount.
"What makes me cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance is there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office ... that it forces you to focus," Obama said.
US President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel smile during their press conference at the German Chancellery in Berlin, Germany (Image: Reuters)
By Reuters: US President Barack Obama gave a strong endorsement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday and used a visit to Berlin to warn Russia about consequences for intervening in the US election and prod Donald Trump to hold firm against Moscow.
OBAMA HOPEFUL ABOUT TRUMP REIGN
On a sentimental final trip to Germany as president, Obama expressed hope that the New York businessman who has never previously held public office would jettison controversial campaign rhetoric when he entered the White House and keep democratic values in mind as he chose his staff.
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"What makes me cautiously optimistic about my successor and the shift from campaign mode to governance is there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office ... that it forces you to focus," Obama said.
"If you are not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems."
Republican Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, in an upset election after criticizing his opponents in sharply-worded blasts on Twitter, promising to build a wall on the US border with Mexico, and pledging to ban Muslims temporarily from entering the United States.
He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose annexation of Crimea from Ukraine led to western sanctions.
CRITICAL OF RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
Obama, who along with Merkel called for those sanctions to be renewed until Russia complied with international agreements, said he hoped Trump would be pragmatic in dealing with Washington's former Cold War foe.
"My hope is that he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that we just cut some deals with Russia even if it hurts people, even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long term problems in countries like Syria," Obama said.
Obama said he had spoken to Putin before the US election about cyber attacks that US officials said were an attempt to influence the presidential race and told him Washington would respond appropriately. Moscow has dismissed the allegation.
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
Merkel, a Russian speaker who grew up in the former East Germany, has helped lead European efforts to sanction Russia.
She and Obama forged a particularly close relationship, and his stop in Berlin on his farewell tour reflected that.
"The parting is hard for me," Merkel acknowledged, adding she had to accept that the US constitution limited a president's time in office to eight years, drawing a wink and a smile from Obama.
No such limits exist in Germany, and Merkel has declined to say whether she will run in a general election next year in which her conservatives are expected to remain the largest bloc in parliament.
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MERKEL'S POLITICAL FUTURE
Obama indicated he hoped she would. "Chancellor Merkel has been an outstanding partner," he said.
Many in Germany expect Merkel to run, adding to what would be 12 years in power. The chancellor said on Thursday it was not the time to announce such a decision.
"If she chooses to continue, she will have big burdens. I wish I could be there to lighten her load," he said, declaring Merkel "tough."
The two leaders dined together at Obama's hotel on Wednesday and did the same at the chancellery on Thursday night. On Friday, they will meet with other European leaders before Obama heads to Peru the final stop on his trip.ALSO READ:
Trump will get wake-up call when he takes office, says Obama
President Obama calls meeting with Trump at White House 'excellent'
--- ENDS ---
No matter whom we supported for president, at least we were spared the sight of Donald Trump marching down Fifth Avenue, chanting and waving a scrawled #NotMyPresident cardboard sign.
Oh, wed get something like that, just without Trump or his deplorables.
He had horrified a lot of folks in the final debate when he refused to say he would accept the results of his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton. A chilling pronouncement, some said. Unprecedented, others intoned. Dangerous, evidence of his unfitness, on and on.
His surprisingly decisive victory in the Electoral College tally, despite narrowly losing the popular vote, negated all that. As Trump later promised, he accepted the win and gave a sober, even humbled, address in promising to be a president for all Americans and reaching out for unity. Clinton, to her credit, gave her best, most human speech in years, pledging to accept a Trump presidency with an open mind.
Even President Barack Obama, a bitter Trump political enemy, graciously received him at the White House and said he was rooting for him to succeed because that would mean America succeeded.
This was classy leadership all around. Really, the best of our political system, especially welcome after the worst of campaigns.
The word must not have reached the streets.
Anti-Trump protests sprouted across the country. A few popped up on election night in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. They also spread to Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Philadelphia; Oakland, Calif.; Richmond, Va.; Atlanta; Omaha, Neb.; and Kansas City, Mo. (Protests also occurred in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.)
In Oakland and Portland business windows were bashed in, law enforcement vehicles were trashed, small fires burned in the streets and police officers were injured trying to rein in the self-absorbed spasms of sour grapes.
Trump would tweet that professional protesters, incited by the media were involved. A Portland activist, speaking to The Washington Post, did not entirely disagree.
Theyre not coming to show solidarity, theyre coming because they know theres going to be a big crowd, said Teressa Raiford, a community organizer in Portland. They dont respect our movement.
All of this had the effect of persuading roughly no one to the protesters point of view, in the grand tradition of Occupy This or Black Lives That. Whatever legitimate point one has usually gets buried under all the stuff you tore up.
Or, as noted law professor Jonathan Turley put it, Were raising a generation of emotional hemophiliacs. If legal or political things dont go your way, if something upsets you, you have a modern version of the vapors.
These protesters were well within their rights to be sad, angry, frustrated or even terrified at the thought of a Trump presidency, although that last bit seems an overreaction. Speaking out publicly is an American tradition.
Obviously, that right stops at the point of public destruction.
Shouldnt it concern us that some Americans refuse to accept the results of a free and fair election? Trump was wrong to say he wouldnt; arent the #NotMyPresident protesters equally guilty?
Reputable news sources were full of high-minded admonitions of Trump, portrayed as some banana-republic autocrat for refusing to accept the peoples will.
Of course, that was when those news sources, like so many of these protesters, assumed the peoples will would point in a different direction. Protesters now say their faith in democracy is shaken, that they fear for themselves in Trumps America. Anyone have a safe space to offer them?
Yet they had to know didnt they? that tens of millions of Americans would vote for Trump, win or lose. His total of nearly 60 million votes came in just short of Mitt Romneys 61 million in 2012. Clinton, too, underperformed to her partys previous nominee. Obama had about 66 million votes in 2012, or nearly 7 million more than Clinton.
All told, of about 231.5 million eligible voters, only 131.7 million bothered to show up. Thats a lot of potential votes left on the table, votes Clinton could have used in states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Michigan.
Or those no-shows just as easily could have broken for Trump, since we dont know who they might have been.
Thats the thing about democracy or our democratic republic, to be precise. You are promised a level-playing-field chance but are not guaranteed an outcome. As in a criminal trial, a verdict that doesnt go your way is not unfair, just the side of democracy that you must accept like an adult.
Mike Hashimoto is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The mother of a man fatally shot by a deputy U.S. marshal who was searching for a suspect demanded $10 million in compensation and then filed a federal civil rights lawsuit when the Marshals Service didnt respond.
Deputy Marshal Paul Hernandez shot and killed Edgar Camacho-Alvarado, 23, on Feb. 20 at the Loon Creek Mobile Home Park in west Albuquerque. The lawsuit alleges Camacho-Alvarado was working on his vehicle around 3:30 a.m., in preparation for a job interview later that morning, when shots were fired.
A spokesman for New Mexico State Police, which investigated the shooting, previously said Hernandez entered the mobile home park to try to pinpoint the location of George Bond, who was wanted on a murder charge from Valencia County.
Hernandez told investigators that as he searched the trailer park for Bond, a man later identified as Camacho-Alvarado started following him. Hernandez said the man was armed so Hernandez gave chase and identified himself as a law enforcement officer.
Camacho-Alvarado was shot as he was running up the steps of the home where he lived in with his family. A bullet entered near his right armpit and traveled downward and lodged in the left side of his chest. He died at the scene.
State Police said their investigation determined that Camacho-Alvarado was raising his weapon when he was shot.
The lawsuit, however, said Camacho-Alvarado was unarmed and said the arrest warrant for Bond only allowed for execution during daytime hours.
Camacho-Alvarado and his family lived in space No. 26 at the park. Bond, the homicide suspect, was arrested later that day in space No. 29.
Hermelinda Alvarado-Escobedo, Camacho-Alvarados mother, brought the lawsuit against the United States and unnamed deputy marshals. She sent a claim to the U.S. Marshals Service for the District of New Mexico for $10 million for her sons death, and she filed a lawsuit after not getting a response from the agency, according to the suit.
Robert Gorence, an attorney for Camacho-Alvarados family, said in the lawsuit that the defendants conduct was unreasonable and reckless and led to Camacho-Alvarados wrongful death.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, is seeking punitive damages against the defendants that are an amount sufficient to punish them and to deter future misconduct.
Officials from State Police, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Mexico and the Marshals Service couldnt be reached for comment.
National Adoption Day, an annual event celebrated the third Saturday in November, is a coordinated national effort to raise awareness of more than 100,000 foster children awaiting permanent and loving families.
In 2015, approximately 4,000 children in foster care were adopted in ceremonies across the country during the 16th annual National Adoption Day. Albuquerque was one of 400 cities hosting an adoption event in 2015.
Tomorrow, children and families will again fill Bernalillo Countys Childrens Court as part of the ongoing effort to make dreams come true. A myriad of volunteers, including court-appointed special advocates, law students, social work interns, CYFD employees and court staff will make the joyful event a reality.
Festivities will include extended family, teddy bears, photographs, face painting, snacks and an abundance of smiling faces.
A majority of youngsters who will officially become members of forever families were removed from their biological families due to maltreatment. They have spent time in foster care, sometimes in multiple homes and different schools.
Children in foster care who cannot be safely reunified with their biological families become available for adoption after the parents rights are voluntarily or involuntarily terminated. Adoptees who have not been involved in the child protection system are being adopted by a step-parent or by a substitute family carefully selected by birth parents prior to a voluntary adoptive placement.
Regardless of the type of adoption, the result is the creation of a legal relationship between the new parent and the child identical to that of a parent and biological child.
New Mexico law pertaining to children has as one of its purposes to preserve the unity of the family whenever possible. Further, it is the Legislatures intent that to the maximum extent possible, children in New Mexico shall be reared as members of a family unit. Consequently, when a child is removed from her family due to maltreatment and corrective efforts are unsuccessful, permanency through adoption by another family becomes an alternative.
Nationally, the number of children in foster care has increased from 397,000 in 2012 to 428,000 in 2015. Similarly, the number of New Mexicos children in foster care has been steadily increasing.
The average number of New Mexico children in foster care in July 2011 was just less than 1,700. In July 2015, the average number of our children in foster care was just over 2,200, but by June 2016 had increased to 2,300.
Unfortunately, for children available for adoption, the number of finalized adoptions in New Mexico has been declining. During the 12 month period ending June 2009, the number of finalized adoptions of New Mexico children in foster care was 466. For the reporting period ending June 2016, the number of finalized adoptions of our children in foster care was 312.
The first choice for forever families should be the childs biological parents, if the childs safety and well-being are not compromised. Recent studies show child abuse is preventable when resources are utilized early in a childs life to assist parents develop skills and protective capacities that enhance safety, health and positive development. Yet, our approach has been to expend scarce and diminishing resources to address the problem through corrective services and litigation.
Our children are our most valuable resource. Prevention of child maltreatment is every New Mexicans business, not just the work of law enforcement, child protection agencies and the courts.
Judge John J. Romero Jr. is a judge of the 2nd Judicial District Court (Bernalillo County). He is presiding judge of the Childrens Court Division. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the judge individually and not those of the court.
WASHINGTON More than a week later, America is still struggling to understand what produced last Tuesdays election stunner, but heres one factor thats too little discussed: Hillary Clintons relentless (and in my view, accurate) attacks on Donald Trumps character may actually have made his supporters more entrenched.
One of my closest high school friends drove home this point in a message two days after the vote. As a traditional Christian, I felt attacked, myself not implicitly, but explicitly during the entire election cycle, he emailed me. The attacks on Trump by Clinton and the media backfired, he argued.
Ill come back to my friends comments in a moment, but first some background.
This backfire effect was something I explored in a column in August. I cited behavioral science research by Christopher Graves, global chairman of Ogilvy Public Relations, and others showing that attempts to refute false information could actually reinforce peoples misperceptions.
Arguing the facts doesnt help in fact, it makes the situation worse, Graves had written in February 2015 in the Harvard Business Review. Because of a behavioral trait known as confirmation bias, people discount arguments that challenge their beliefs.
Instead of changing their minds, most will dig in their heels and cling even more firmly to their originally held views, Graves wrote.
If this psychological research is accurate, then the Clinton campaigns focus on Trumps racist and sexist statements may have had the perverse effect of making his supporters feel defensive, and more supportive. That was especially true after Clinton called some holding these views a basket of deplorables (and again, I thought she was right to admonish them).
Graves noted in an October interview with the Harvard Business Review: Clintons categorization of Trumps supporters as deplorable is an example of what behavioral scientists call outgroup derogation. It can be a powerful mobilizing and polarizing force.
People who feel attacked retreat to which tribe we hope to be identified with, and which we would not want to be caught dead with.
Now, back to my high school classmate, the Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl. He was the top student at my school, graduated from Harvard University and took a doctorate in theology from the University of Tubingen (in German). Hes not the stereotypical undereducated Trump voter, in other words. He has been dean of an Episcopal cathedral, head of a seminary and rector of local parish churches. My friends email continues:
I told some friends, 18 months ago, that I believed Trump would win, even though I did not expect to vote for him for the simple reason that what you resist, persists.
Zahl cited a passage from Scripture to support his argument: The Law increaseth the trespass' which is to say, the more one interdicts a phenomenon, the more reaction among those who identify with the phenomenon.
Zahl went further, taking me and my colleagues to task: The media, in my opinion, helped make this happen albeit, unwittingly. I felt personally attacked by the Democratic Partys current ethos, as a Bible Christian. I wondered whether, if Clinton won, I and others who believe as I do would be considered legitimate Americans anymore.
I wrote back to my friend (with whom I have been having political arguments for 55 years):
Dear Paul: In friendship and respect: This notion that the media made me do it baffles me, frankly. Each human brain (and heart) must weigh these choices, yes, prayerfully, in terms of what is best for the country. Sixty-three percent of those voting thought Trump was unqualified, 61 percent thought he was temperamentally unsuited to be president, according to exit polls. Yet people voted for him anyway, out of what? Spite? Anger at the media? I see what has happened, and it makes me very sad, but each voter is responsible for making a wise decision, no?
And Zahl responded: No, David. Many people dont make decisions rationally or even consciously. When people are told, across the board, that they are xenophobes, racists, misogynists, and Islamophobes for holding the views they do whatever they are they become hardened in those views.
Condemnation (of people or groups of people and this goes for all ideologies, right and left) always has the opposite effect: The Law (i.e., judgment/condemnation) increases sin (i.e., the very thing that the judgment is supposed to correct or educate),' Zahl admonished.
Were all working through the meaning of this election with our family and friends. Zahl urged me to share his thoughts with readers. Amen to that.
Lets keep talking.
Daniel Arushanov told police he simply wanted to judge the response time of law enforcement last week when he carried a holstered handgun, which had one round in the chamber and eight more in the magazine, onto the University of New Mexico campus.
He got his wish when someone called UNM police.
Officers arrived nine minutes later to take him into custody, according to Lt. Tim Stump, a spokesman for the UNM Police Department.
Around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 9, officers were called to the Student Union Building food court because a man had a handgun on his hip, according to a police report. Although New Mexico allows people to openly carry a firearm, they are prohibited on college campuses.
When officers arrived, they found 24-year-old Arushanov, with bows in his hair and wearing a tie and an I voted sticker, according to the report. A university spokeswoman said he is not a student.
Arushanov was sitting in the food court and not creating a disturbance, Stump said.
Officers handcuffed Arushanov and checked his semiautomatic .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, which was loaded, according to the report. Officers also found that a protection order issued last year in California prohibits Arushanov from possessing a firearm. The order expires in 2020, but its unclear why it was issued.
When officers checked Arushanovs car which was parked the wrong way in a space for the handicapped they found a loaded shotgun and a large quantity of ammunition, according to the report. Stump said the large amount of ammunition raised some concerns for police.
Weve had incidents where someone has had a firearm on campus before, but this was of a higher magnitude, Stump said.
Arushanov was charged with unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on university premises and violation of a restraining order and booked into the county jail. He was released Tuesday. Jail records identify him as Danil Arushanova.
After the incident, university officials emailed a notice to students and staffers to notify them of the incident and tell them that Arushanov has been banned from campus, said Dianne Anderson, a UNM spokeswoman.
She said that although the nature of the incident didnt fall under federal guidelines mandating that an alert be sent to all students, UNM officials decided they should send out a notification about it.
There was still some concern, Anderson said. We wanted to show a picture (of him) and let campus know what happened without raising too much alarm.
SANTA FE The New Mexico insurance superintendent faced a contingent from the Office of the State Auditor, top legislative finance staff and Gov. Susana Martinezs state budget division director in a tense public showdown Thursday over a decision to scrap an audit that showed more than 50 health care companies owed about $193 million in back state taxes.
The move potentially reduced one top unidentified health insurers tab by some $85 million, from the audits estimated liability of $118 million to $33 million.
Weve got our agencies at each others throats, state Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, said at one point during a legislative meeting Thursday. We have enough of this kind of stuff at the national level.
The fireworks came during a meeting before the state Legislative Finance Committee in which Superintendent John Franchini defended his agency against accusations that it had sent mixed messages about whether, amid the recent controversy, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance already had issued invoices to some health insurers to pay reduced amounts.
Initially, Franchini told legislators no invoices were sent, but one member of his staff later said that two invoices were already in the works before this process began. Further testimony revealed the invoices were issued as recently as Oct. 21.
That revelation prompted the LFC vice chairman, Rep. Jimmie Hall, R-Albuquerque, to tell Franchini, Now your credibility with me is in the negative.
Franchini then apologized.
Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, echoed Halls concerns.
It seems like you need a third party to look at the methodology, he said.
The audit, which was commissioned through a $100,000 legislative appropriation, concluded that the insurance department had under-collected $193 million over a five-year period from April 2010 to April 2015.
That conclusion, and a legal analysis by a law firm hired by Franchinis department, have since been put aside, and a different computation method is in the works, according to testimony from the hearing.
Its very notable that we have three oversight agencies working together, and we are concerned because we are all counting pennies these days and there are too many inconsistencies for me to feel comfortable about the process, state Budget Director A.J. Forte told the committee.
Franchini told the committee his agency was getting steamrolled by the criticism over the decision to replace staff originally involved in the outside audit with two temporary employees who are now in charge of the assessments.
Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, told the committee that the audit company, CliftonLarsonAllen LLC has a stellar reputation in New Mexico and to discredit them is not going to help us, either.
Theres so much money at stake, state Auditor Tim Keller told the committee. Were in a situation where everyone wants a high degree of confidence in the process.
By the end of the meeting, Franchini promised to refrain from making any new assessments on back taxes while the state agencies try to reach a consensus as to how the taxes should be computed.
WASHINGTON In December, after presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the country, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., introduced a sense of the Senate resolution affirming that the United States must not bar people from the country because of their religion.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. a member of the Judiciary Committee, along with Leahy voted against the resolution, but not before delivering a 30-minute oration urging fellow senators to reject the measure. The resolution, he warned, would make global migration to the United States a human right.
It would mean, he said, that the United States could not favor for entry the moderate Muslim cleric over the radical Muslim cleric. Or that a foreign cleric overseas could demand a tourist visa to deliver a sermon denouncing the U.S. Constitution and claim religious discrimination if it is not approved.
I think, he said, it is a dangerous step.
Although the measure passed the committee, it failed in the full Senate. And President-elect Trump has chosen Sessions, who has served in the Senate for 20 years, to be the next attorney general a position that will give him the platform to shape civil rights policy and to defend the constitutionality of policies that effectively restrict Muslim immigration, legal and civil liberties experts warn.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, lauded Sessions as a respected member and former ranking member of the committee who has worked with Democrats on major legislation. He predicted that the committee will approve his nomination for consideration by the full Senate. He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position, Grassley said.
A person close to Sessions said that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, spoke directly to his colleague and said he would give his strong and full support for his confirmation as attorney general.
The appointment of Sessions is expected to bring sweeping change to the Justice Department as it operated under Loretta E. Lynch and her predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., who, when he was nominated to be the first black attorney general, pledged to make rebuilding the civil rights division his top priority.
Several former Justice officials predicted that Sessions would reverse the emphasis on civil rights and criminal-justice reform that Holder put in place.
From his time as U.S. attorney through his service on the Judiciary Committee, he has left serious doubts about whether he would faithfully enforce civil rights laws as attorney general, said former Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller. The civil rights division was gutted during the last Republican administration, and the burden of proof is on Senator Sessions to show that he would not follow that same path.
Sessions voted against confirming Lynch as attorney general, citing her statements that President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration passed legal and constitutional muster. Sessions and other Republicans considered those measures to be presidential overreach.
Ms. Lynch has said flat-out that she supports those policies and is committed to defending them in court, Sessions said at the time. We do not have to confirm someone to the highest law enforcement position in America if that someone is publicly committed to denigrating Congress.
Obamas Justice Department stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act and successfully argued the historic same-sex-marriage case last year before the Supreme Court. Sessions has opposed same-sex marriage and has a zero rating from the nations largest LGBT advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign.
Senator Sessions brings experience, intelligence and passion to Justice, said Robert Raben, an assistant attorney general under President Bill Clinton and now president of the lobbying and consulting firm the Raben Group. Regrettably, it is likely to be exercised toward the attempted elimination of civil rights, environmental and antitrust enforcement.
A former aide to Sessions said that, as attorney general, he will make national security and fighting terrorism a top priority.
Sessions is of the mind that the most essential duty of government is to protect its citizens, the aide said. Sessions opposed closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and bringing terrorist detainees to the United States for trial in federal courts. He felt it would needlessly eliminate an important tool in fighting terrorism and would needlessly put our citizens at risk.
The aide said that Sessions is strongly in favor of an extremely tough stance on terrorists and believes that theres also a place for military commissions for unlawful foreign enemy combatants a nonuniformed illegal terrorist without a nation whos killing women and children overseas.
One of the first things he would do is emphasize finding and disrupting, in cooperation with the FBI and Homeland Security Department, terrorist cells in the United States, the former aide said. Theres a thousand open investigations right now. That will be a very high priority for him.
Jefferson Beauregard Jeff Sessions, 69, who was born in Selma, Alabama, began his career as a prosecutor in 1975 in the U.S. attorneys office in the Southern District of Alabama. In 1981, President Reagan nominated him to be the U.S. attorney for that district, where he served there for 12 years.
In 1986, Reagan nominated him to be a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, but at his Senate confirmation hearing, Justice Department lawyers who had worked with him testified that he had made racist statements. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert now the director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center said that Sessions had called the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union un-American and Communist-inspired.
Thomas Figures testified that Sessions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was okay until I found out they smoked pot. Sessions later apologized for the comment, saying he was not serious when he said it. He also denied that he made racist statements, but he was not confirmed.
In 1994, he was elected attorney general of Alabama and in 1996 was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Sessions, who was the first senator to endorse Trump, in February, first met him in 2005 when Trump was criticizing the United Nations plan for a $1.2 billion renovation of its New York City headquarters. Sessions invited him to testify about it before a Senate subcommittee hearing. After the hearing, they were out of touch until last year, when they had a phone call about immigration policy and Trump tried to get Sessionss endorsement. Sessions defended Trump when he called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants.
During Trumps campaign, Sessions was an adviser and his chief resource on policy issues. He was also the liaison with groups such as the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, and he courted other GOP officials. Trump considered him as a possible running mate.
Not only would Jeff bring integrity and immense expertise to the role of attorney general due to his decades of experience in the legal field and an impressive tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Jeff has also gained the deep respect of his Senate colleagues for his commitment to upholding the rule of law, said Sen. Richard C. Shelby, the senior senator from Alabama and a fellow Republican.
The Washington Posts Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.
sessions-doj
WASHINGTON In Donald Trumps world, most roads, it seems, lead back to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., President-elect Trumps pick for attorney general.
After Sessions became one of the first members of Congress to endorse Trump this February, he became an adviser on almost every major decision and policy proposal Trump made during the campaign:
A top Sessions aide helped Trump communicate his immigration policy.
Sessions chaired Trump national security advisory committee.
Sessions advised Trump on who to choose for vice president. (Sessions was also in the running himself for the No. 2 job.)
The president-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabamas attorney general and U.S. attorney, a Trump transition statement released Thursday read. It is no wonder the people of Alabama re-elected him without opposition.
Heres a crash course in a politician likely to be a pivotal figure in Trumps administration:
The basics: Sessions has served as a senator from Alabama for two decades. But Alabama is such a loyal state to its top lawmakers that Sessions is actually the junior senator from the state; Republican Sen. Richard Shelby has been in office three decades.
Sessions is popular back home: Aside from his first election in 1996, Sessions has never won with less than 59 percent of the vote. In 2014, he ran unopposed.
His middle name is: Beauregard. (Fun trivia fact.)
Hes amnestys worst enemy: The conservative National Review crowned Sessions with that title in 2014, with good reason. Sessions has opposed nearly every immigration bill that has come before the Senate the past two decades that has included a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.
Hes also fought legal immigration, including guest worker programs for illegal immigrants and visa programs for foreign workers in science, math and high-tech. In 2007, Sessions got a bill passed essentially banning for 10 years federal contractors who hire illegal immigrants.
Legal immigration is the primary source of low-wage immigration into the United States, Sessions argued in a 2015 Washington Post op-ed. What we need now is immigration moderation: slowing the pace of new arrivals so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together.
Hes a debt hawk and a military hawk: Sessions, a lawyer before he became a politician, is known for touring Alabama with charts warning of the United States crippling debt. On foreign policy, Sessions has advocated a get-tough approach, once voting against an amendment banning cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners.
These are two positions that could put him at odd with the president hell serve: Trump has expensive plans that involve significant spending, like $1 trillion on an infrastructure program and he campaigned on a strong non-interventionist worldview (often claiming, inaccurately, that he opposed the Iraq War before it started).
Hes a climate change skeptic: Heres Sessions in a 2015 hearing questioning Environmental Protection Agencys Gina McCarthy: Carbon pollution is CO2, and thats really not a pollutant; thats a plant food, and it doesnt harm anybody except that it might include temperature increases.
Accusations of racism have dogged Sessionss career: Actually, they almost derailed it. In 1986, a Senate committee denied Sessions, then a 39-year-old U.S. attorney in Alabama, a federal judgeship. His former colleagues testified Sessions used the n-word and joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought they were OK, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.
By the time the testimony was finished, Sessionss reputation was in tatters, wrote Isaac Stanley-Becker in The Post this July, on the eve of Sessions delivering a prime time speech at the Republican National Convention for Trump.
In 1986, Sessions defended himself against accusations of racism. I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create, he told the very same Senate Judiciary Committee he now sits on. I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks.
And he told Stanley-Becker this summer: Racism is totally unacceptable in America. Everybody needs to be treated fairly and objectively.
But the Southern Poverty Law Centers Heidi Beirich, who tracks hate speech, said Sessions is guilty of it, and that his mere presence in Trumps inner circle is a tragedy for American politics.
Hes got a populist streak: Heres one area where he and Trump likely get along swell. Wall Street and corporate executives are often the antagonists in the Alabama senators speeches. A small group of CEOs dont get to set immigration policy for the country, he said in a 2014 speech opposing a multi-billion-dollar bill to help control the stem of influx of Central American refugees on the border.
As hard-line as Sessions can be, hes worked with Democrats before: Say what you will about him, former longtime Senate Democratic communications aide Jim Manley told the Almanac of American Politics. He was always nice to [the late Ted] Kennedy and other Democrats as well.
Even people who have run against him have nice things to say about him. Stanley-Becker talked to Susan Parker, a Democrat who tried to unseat Sessions in 2002. During a debate, she asked for a tissue and Sessions handed her one. She joked she would use it to dry her eyes when Sessions made her cry, and he responded: Please dont say that. Thats my nightmare. I promise Ill be nice.
Sessions has joined with Democrats to support criminal justice reform legislation, and in 2010 he teamed up with Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on a proposal to put strict limits on non-military federal spending. It fell one vote short of passing.
In 2016, hes gone from fringe to mainstream: Aside from immigration battles, Sessions mostly operated in the background on Capitol Hill. Until 2016. His mix of hard-line immigration position and a populist streak had made him a tea party star and thus and a coveted endorsement catch for Republican presidential candidates catering to the tea party. In presidential primary debates, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would even brag about his ties to Sessions.
In the end, Sessions chose Trump, surprising the political establishment by jumping on stage with him at a rally in February in Madison, Ala. two days before Super Tuesday and donning a Make America Great Again hat.
I told Donald Trump this isnt a campaign, this is a movement, Sessions said at the time.
Nine months later, Sessions will be a central figure in transitioning that movement into a working government.
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SEOUL
Around the world, our allies are worried. Here in South Korea, President-elect Donald Trumps unexpected election victory has fueled a deep sense of uncertainty about the future of American leadership in Asia and the world. Government officials and foreign policy experts are scrutinizing every Trump utterance about South Korea, trade and security made during the campaign, and they dont like what they find. As I have been asked repeatedly during my stay here, does he really believe that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement kills American jobs, that South Korea does not contribute substantially to the costs of basing our soldiers here, or that South Korea and Japan should defend themselves against the maniac of North Korea, including by acquiring their own nuclear weapons?
A similar frightened discussion about the credibility of the United States commitments is occurring in Japan, Australia and most countries in the NATO alliance. In conversations, emails and public statements I get from foreign policy officials from Estonia to Canada, the question is always the same: Does Trump really believe all the crazy things he said on the campaign trail about our allies?
Historically, uncertainty never enhances alliances. As a candidate, Trump suggested that his unpredictability could increase his negotiating leverage, keeping those on the other side of the table guessing as to what he might do next. That strategy might work when negotiating construction contracts and may even be effective in deliberations with foes, but it does not work with allies. Above all else, uncertainty about our security commitments to our allies tempts our competitors. We dont want Russia challenging our commitments to our NATO allies, North Korea poking at our fortitude to defend the Republic of Korea or China testing the waters about our staying power in Asia.
As his first order of business regarding foreign policy, President Trump should reset relations with all U.S. allies before thinking about a reset with Russia or anyone else. Reassuring allies in Europe and Asia is actually low-hanging fruit: Three signals could change the negative dynamics in our alliance relationships overnight.
First, President Trump could state clearly that our resolve to defend our allies is not conditioned by what our allies pay us for security. Alliances are not protection rackets. Early in his administration, President Trump could add credibility to his statements by expressing support for recently announced but not yet implemented enhancements of our defense commitments to our allies, such as the deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea or the $3.4 billion increase in defense spending planned for Europe to enhance our contributions to NATO deterrence against Russia.
In the second paragraph of such reassurance statements, Trump could then affirm his desire to pursue new burden-sharing arrangements with our allies. Regarding our Asian allies, he could start that conversation by acknowledging the facts about the serious expenditures that Japan and South Korea already provide to underwrite the costs of U.S. troop deployments in these two countries. Doing so would create the permissive conditions for renegotiations about upping their share. Regarding NATO, Trump could simply reaffirm existing policy; every ally should spend 2 percent of its budget on defense. No one would balk, incremental change would begin to happen, and Trump could declare victory.
Second, to further reset relations with our allies, President Trump should moderate his hostile campaign pronouncements about free trade. Here in Seoul, business and government leaders fear the negative consequences for the South Korean economy of 45 percent tariffs on all Chinese goods, since Korean companies provide many of the parts for products assembled in China that are then sold to the United States. More generally, all of our allies in Europe and Asia would suffer from global economic declines triggered by a trade war between the two largest economies in the world. Trump needs to back away from these extreme ideas, which are gross violationsof our own World Trade Organization obligations, and instead take a more pragmatic, evolutionary and cooperative approach.
Trump also could reassure allies in Europe and Asia by continuing, not stopping, negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with our European partners and agreeing to explore amendment not complete abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Asia. Prematurely walking away from the TPP full stop would be particularly insulting and destabilizing to our Asian partners who have already signed the agreement. President Trump must understand that our retreat from the TPP would create a vacuum for China to fill with its own Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Third, President Trump could utter the words democracy, freedom or liberty when describing what makes our alliances special. As one senior Korean official told me this week, Trump only talks about money, and never about values. It might be too much to hope that President Trump might commit to promoting democracy abroad, but at least he could pledge to defend democracy abroad.
Unlike some other foreign policy rethinks, signaling support for our alliances would not alienate Trumps core electoral constituencies. On the contrary, public opinion polls show deep support for our alliances among the American people. And a reset with our allies would be cheap, requiring mostly rhetorical statements, confirming existing commitments and adding very few new resources. So, for an easy and early win in his new administration, President Trump should focus first on resetting relations with our allies; Russia can wait.
McFaul is director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Hoover fellow at Stanford University, and a contributing columnist to The Post.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. Authorities have freed a South Carolina man who served 39 years in prison for a murder that they now say he didnt commit.
I am free, The Herald of Rock Hill (http://bit.ly/2g35TKh) quoted James Robert McClurkin as saying. The air. It smells different. Like freedom.
McClurkin, 61, left Broad River Prison on Thursday as a parolee after police and prosecutors said he did not kill 74-year-old Claude Killian of Chester in August 1973.
I have been trying for 39 years to try and get someone, anybody, to believe me, McClurkin said. I am out now, paroled. I am a free man. But that is not the end. I am still convicted. I want to be exonerated. I did not kill Claude Killian.
McClurkin and Ray Charles Degraffenreid were convicted of Killians murder in 1977. The evidence against them was the word of a co-defendant, Melvin Harris. The three had been friends since childhood. Last month, Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood told the South Carolina parole board that McClurkin was innocent. McClurkin was paroled Oct. 11 but was not released until Thursday.
His attorney, Jerry Bloom, said he is going to ask a judge to overturn the conviction.
He deserves to have his name cleared, Bloom said.
The newspaper reported that Degraffenreid is in a prison mental wing. McClurkin says Degraffenreid also should be released.
McClurkin said Degraffenreid was helping somebody fix a car in Bascomville when Killian was killed in 1973 and that he was in Great Falls with two other people, including Harris uncle.
They investigated us and cleared us, he said. But then Melvin Harris lied and said we did it. And we been in prison ever since. And Ray Charles he broke down because of it. He deserves to get out of prison, too. We both are innocent.
McClurkin, Degraffenreid and Harris were all convicted in late 1973 of an armed robbery that happened two weeks after Killian was killed at a car wash. All pleaded guilty.
Harris also was charged with Killians murder but never prosecuted, the newspaper reported. He became the star witness against his friends. Harris later admitted that he lied before he died in prison for another 1992 murder, the newspaper reported.
Harris told McClurkins lawyer at the time in 1992 that he was the one who killed Killian in 1973. But a judge ruled that Harris was not believable, and McClurkin and Degraffenreid stayed in prison.
Sheriff Underwood agreed in 2015 at the request of McClurkins family to re-open the case. A detective found what police describe as huge discrepancies in the evidence.
We found that these two men McClurkin and Degraffenreid were not there at the time of the crime, Underwood said. They had alibis and witnesses that had them in other places.
McClurkin said he blames race hes black and the victim was white for the conviction. The jury, prosecutor and judge were white.
What happened in 1977? he asked. I was black and I got life, thats what happened.
___
Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com
The Pakistan Navy had said it detected an Indian submarine near its waters and "chased it out" in time, Geo News reported.
By Indo-Asian News Service: The Indian Navy today denied Pakistan's claim of detecting and chasing away an Indian submarine in its waters, amid heightening of bilateral tensions.
The Pakistan Navy had said it detected an Indian submarine near its waters and "chased it out" in time, Geo News reported.
"Indian Navy categorically denies the report as blatant lies," Indian Navy Spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said.
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According to a Pakistan Navy spokesperson, their fleet units "chased" the Indian submarine until it left Pakistani territory, Geo reported.
The spokesperson further said that the Pakistani Navy's ability to "push back" the submarine was a testament to the country's anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Pakistan was "capable of giving a fitting response to any sort of aggression (by India)", the spokesperson added. He alleged that India is "trying to station its submarines in Pakistani waters".
Also Read: Indian Army rubbishes Pakistan's claim of killing of its 11 soldiers on Nov 14 in cross-border firing
Also Read: IM operative Andul Wahid channelised funds for outfit via Dubai from Pak: NIA
--- ENDS ---
Five local startups won free passage to next years South by Southwest conference in Texas at the Scrappy Startup Challenge Thursday night at Sister Bar Downtown.
The pitch competition featured nine new Albuquerque businesses seeking free SXSW tickets, valued at about $1,500 each, and other prizes.
The pitch event, sponsored by the New Mexico Technology Council and other local entrepreneurial groups, is one of about two dozen activities taking place in Albuquerque during this years Global Entrepreneurship Week, which began Nov. 11 and continues through Sunday.
The SXSW ticket winners include:
n DermaTec, which has a wearable patch for alcohol detection to prevent DWI
n Dovetail Community Workshop, which offers a makers space and classes for woodcrafters
n InnoBright, which is marketing technology to speed up the rendering process for video animation
n Teeniors, which pairs tech-savvy teens with seniors to help them navigate new technology
n MetaPipe, which offers cloud-based software for computer-generated imagery
The competitions three-judge panel named MetaPipe as the top-place winner, awarding it free vendor space at SXSW, automatic acceptance into ABQids Ski-lift pitch competition next February in Taos and a $500 cash prize.
DermaTec and Teeniors also won three months free rent at the FatPipe ABQ business incubator Downtown. And IndieBeats, which developed an app to promote local musicians, won a $50 peoples choice award.
SXSW co-sponsors the Scrappy Startup Challenge. Conference programming associate Dhinuka Perera served as a pitch-event judge.
Theres a groundswell of really creative, passionate people here working to create opportunities and develop resources to help startups make their dreams a reality, Perera told the Journal. SXSW is about helping people to be successful. Our goals align very well.
The Austin conference has become one of the nations premier annual gatherings for new businesses to network with investors and entrepreneurs, attend workshops and promote their ventures.
Austin has a huge makers movement, said Dovetail founder Erin ODonnell. The conference is a great place to meet people and share new technologies.
Albuquerque native Joshua Rupley is one of four finalists in the Inaugural Olga Kern International Piano Competition.
The only American in a pool of 11 semifinalists from across the globe, Rupley will perform Beethovens Concerto No. 3 with the New Mexico Philharmonic at Popejoy Hall when the eight judges, along with Kern, choose a winner Saturday. The stakes include $30,000 in prize money, a professional recording on the Steinway & Sons label and concert engagements throughout the U.S. and Europe.
I was a little dizzy; a little shocked, the 23-year-old Rupley said of the moment he learned he had made the final cut Thursday night.
If you go
WHAT: Inaugural Olga Kern International Piano Competition
WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19
WHERE: Popejoy Hall, University of New Mexico
HOW MUCH: $22-$75; $10 students with ID. Call 925-5858 or see WHAT: Inaugural Olga Kern International Piano CompetitionWHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19WHERE: Popejoy Hall, University of New MexicoHOW MUCH: $22-$75; $10 students with ID. Call 925-5858 or see nmphil.org
In the second round, I was very pleased with the performance, he said. It felt great and everything worked.
The pianist plowed through a suite by Debussy, eight improvised Hungarian folk songs by Bartok, two Christmas pieces by Messien, Bachs Corelli variations and the competitions commissioned work by Scottish composer Rory Boyle.
Rupley has been practicing the pieces for his 60-minute performance since May.
I was totally exhausted after the performance, he said. It was like running as fast as you can for an hour.
His father John sat in the audience texting all his friends.
Rupley renewed himself by downing half a bag of trail mix.
Then I headed straight home and slept for an hour and a half, he said. He spent the rest of the afternoon practicing the Beethoven concerto for Saturdays finals as he waited for the judges decision.
His semifinal performance was scheduled early about 11 a.m. so he waited 12 hours before learning how hed done.
Rupley once battled nerves during performances. A recurring voice taunted him with, You dont know what comes next. Hes since learned how to silence the beast.
My goal is just to be so interested in my own playing that I dont notice the other things, he said. I can kind of tune it out.
He says he feels confident about the finals.
All I really wanted to do was get through round two, he said. Whatever happens next doesnt matter. I played a good program.
Rupley will compete against Anna Dmytrenko, 24, of the Ukraine; Chen Guang, 22, of China and Anastasiya Naplekova, 32, of the Ukraine. The initial outreach drew more than 100 applicants through blind auditions. A combination of donors and sponsorships provided funding.
In the second round, I was very pleased with the performance, he said. It felt great and everything worked.
The pianist plowed through a suite by Debussy, eight improvised Hungarian folk songs by Bartok, two Christmas pieces by Messien, Bachs Corelli variations and the competitions commissioned work by Scottish composer Rory Boyle.
Rupley has been practicing the pieces for his 60-minute performance since May.
I was totally exhausted after the performance, he said. It was like running as fast as you can for an hour.
His father John sat in the audience texting all his friends.
Rupley renewed himself by downing half a bag of trail mix.
Then I headed straight home and slept for an hour and a half, he said. He spent the rest of the afternoon practicing the Beethoven concerto for Saturdays finals as he waited for the judges decision.
His semifinal performance was scheduled early about 11 a.m. so he waited 12 hours before learning how hed done.
Rupley once battled nerves during performances. A recurring voice taunted him with, You dont know what comes next. Hes since learned how to silence the beast.
My goal is just to be so interested in my own playing that I dont notice the other things, he said. I can kind of tune it out.
He says he feels confident about the finals.
All I really wanted to do was get through round two, he said. Whatever happens next doesnt matter. I played a good program.
Rupley will compete against Anna Dmytrenko, 24, of the Ukraine; Chen Guang, 22, of China and Anastasiya Naplekova, 32, of the Ukraine. The initial outreach drew more than 100 applicants through blind auditions. A combination of donors and sponsorships provided funding.
President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the CIA is a Kansas congressman who is widely respected for his intelligence but also seen as a fierce partisan on polarizing issues including the deaths of U.S. personnel in Benghazi, the leaks of Edward Snowden and the email controversy that engulfed Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., has used his perch on the House Intelligence Committee to attack major pillars of President Barack Obamas foreign policy agenda including the nuclear deal with Iran. Just hours before his name surfaced as Trumps CIA nominee, Pompeo tweeted that he looked forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism.
In closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill, Pompeo has been an intense critic of a covert CIA program to train and arm moderate rebel forces in Syria, according to U.S. officials who said that dismantling the program or at least subjecting it to a major reevaluation would likely be at the top of his agenda if he is confirmed.
Pompeo, 52, has no meaningful experience in espionage issues beyond his relatively brief stint as a member of the House Intelligence Committee. But he has earned a reputation as a serious student of national security issues who finished first in his class at the U.S. military academy at West Point, served as a cavalry officer in the Army and earned a law degree from Harvard.
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said that Pompeo is not widely known among the CIA rank-and-file but that his nomination was greeted at least initially as a reassuring development at a spy agency that has been treated largely with disdain by Trump.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who has sparred with Pompeo on Benghazi and other issues, gave the selection tempered praise in a statement released on Friday.
Mike is very bright and hard-working and will devote himself to helping the agency develop the best possible intelligence for policy makers, Schiff said. While we have had our share of strong differences principally on the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi I know that he is someone who is willing to listen and engage, both key qualities in a CIA Director.
Pompeos congressional background raised early comparisons to that of Porter Goss, who was plucked from the House Intelligence Committee by then-President George W. Bush to lead the CIA and was forced to resign two years later after a turbulent tenure that saw one of his principal executives convicted of corruption charges.
Pompeos ties to the arch-conservative Tea Party movement and scant background on intelligence issues were also cited as a cause for concern among some CIA veterans.
The Tea Party owns the drones now, one official said, referring to the agencys involvement in lethal drone strikes against terrorist groups in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.
But former senior CIA officials expressed guarded optimism that Pompeos ideological bent can be tempered by the analytic approach he has brought to difficult security subjects.
Im heartened by the choice, said former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, who has been a staunch critic of Trump on security matters. I would recommend that when he goes to Langley he get out of the car by himself and embrace the workforce, Hayden said, alluding to the rocky tenure of previous directors who arrived with entourages and agendas that put them at odds with the agencys powerful and entrenched directorate of spies.
In some ways Pompeo is already part of the intelligence inner-circle in Washington. He attended a dinner this week with CIA Director John Brennan at the home of former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, who had previously been seen as a leading candidate for the CIA job under Trump. The gathering included cast and producers of the CIA-themed show Homeland, according to a person familiar with the event.
Brennan has led a major bureaucratic overhaul of the agency over the past year, a re-organization designed to replicate the structure of the agencys Counterterrorism Center. Pompeo would face decisions on whether to preserve those changes.
Pompeo emerged as a surprise pick for Trump. His name had not surfaced in the flurry of post-election rumors that had largely focused on other potential nominees, including Rogers, who was ousted from the Trump transition team this week, and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who reportedly turned down a chance at the CIA job.
Pompeo reportedly has close ties to the Koch family, Kansas billionaires who have devoted a considerable part of their wealth to advancing a deeply conservative agenda and driving Democrats out of office. Articles in Kansas papers indicate that Pompeo built much of his wealth with investment funds from Koch industries and that his campaigns for Congress have been backed by Koch money.
In just five years in Congress, he has built a political following by staking extreme positions in polarizing debates. He has called for Snowden to face the death penalty and for Clinton to be barred from receiving classified information.
Pompeo was one of the more outspoken Republican members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, saying that the Obama administration was guilty of a scandal worse than Watergate. When the committee concluded its final report in July, Pompeo and fellow member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, released a 48-page annex charging failure at the most senior levels of government and calling for additional information on what he said was the administrations intentional misrepresentation and concealment of facts.
During hearings, his questions to administration witnesses were often among the most accusatory. In October 2015, when Clinton testified for the second time, Pompeo grilled her on her relationship with slain U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, included a series of rapid-fire questions about why Stevens did not have her personal telephone number, did not know her personal home address and had never stopped by your house.
Separately, in remarks that drew sharp criticism from U.S. Muslim organizations, Pompeo said that Muslim leaders who fail to denounce acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam were potentially complicit in the attacks.
Pompeo led congressional attacks on the nuclear accord Obama reached with Iran last year, accusing the administration of hiding a series of secret side deals from the public, allegations rejected by the White House.
At the same time, it is not clear whether Pompeo will be in agreement with the most extreme positions taken by his new bosses, Trump and his designated national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
Trump has called for the CIA to resume the use of waterboarding and other interrogation measures widely condemned as torture. Trump has derided the quality of the intelligence from the nations spy community, publicly belittling a multi-agency conclusion that Russia used cyberespionage methods to interfere in the U.S. election.
Pompeo is not known to have publicly backed those positions and in some cases has articulated views that would seem at odds with the Trump team. In a speech delivered in Kansas last year after returning from a trip to the Middle East, Pompeo cautioned against equating all Muslims with terrorism, saying that a line needs to be drawn between those who are on the side of extremism and those who are fighting against them.
The Washington Posts Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. A Wyoming man pleaded guilty Friday to involuntary manslaughter in the death of an infant whose disappearance prompted an unsuccessful search of a northern Colorado landfill this month for his remains.
Authorities still havent found the body of 13-month-old Silas Ojeda, who was reported missing late last month by his grandfather. Divers searched a pond on Wednesday on the outskirts of Cheyenne but found nothing.
Logan Rogers, 23, entered his plea Friday in district court in Cheyenne. He faces up to 20 years in prison at a later sentencing.
Prosecutors have agreed to drop a second charge alleging Rogers endangered Silas by exposing him to methamphetamine before his death on Oct. 20.
Rogers was the boyfriend of Ojedas mother, Rhiannon Ojeda, according to law enforcement statements filed in court.
Rogers told Judge Thomas Campbell that Rhiannon Ojeda was present at their Cheyenne home when Silas fell off a counter. Rogers said he bathed Silas after he fell but said the boy had a seizure.
Under questioning of his defense lawyer, Brandon Booth, Rogers responded yes when asked whether he or anyone else in the home was using methamphetamine at the time Silas fell.
Rogers said he performed CPR on Silas for an hour but said it wasnt successful. Campbell didnt question Rogers about what he did with Silas body.
According to a detectives statement filed in court, Rogers has told investigators that he had put Silas body in a trash container at a local community college.
Trash from the container goes to a landfill near Ault, Colorado. Authorities searched for Ojedas body at the landfill for more than a week before halting the effort late last week.
Booth told Campbell that prosecutors have been keeping him informed about developments in the investigation. Booth said he believes there are two or three other people who will have an interest in saving their skin as the case unfolds. Even though a body has not been found, Booth said evidence could develop that would pre-empt Rogers ability to argue that he was guilty only of manslaughter.
Campbell told Rogers that Booth was describing the trade-off that Rogers was making by pleading guilty without going to trial. Theyre not going to, now or later, charge you with murder or some other, greater offense, the judge said of prosecutors.
Silas grandfather, Richard Ojeda of Cheyenne, called authorities on Oct. 26 to report his grandson missing. He declined comment after Fridays court hearing. Booth also declined comment.
Jeremiah Sandburg, Laramie County district attorney, said after the hearing, I cannot comment on the case. Its still a very active investigation.
RIGA, Latvia Amid surging fears about what the Trump presidency will mean for nations lining Russias border, the employees of Latvias Defense Ministry already have a worst-case plan: They will defend their imposing headquarters in central Riga to the last.
They formed a 20-person-strong unit of a volunteer militia over the summer. They are armed. And they have been training.
Baltic leaders, scarred by the Soviet takeover in 1940 that lasted for more than half a century, are worried that they could be cut out of any deal that Trump makes with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president-elect repeatedly praised Putin on the campaign trail as a stronger leader than President Obama and has vowed to prioritize cooperation with the Kremlin on anti-terrorism efforts. Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Monday in a conversation that made no mention of Russias annexation of Crimea or support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
Here in Latvia, a nation of 2 million where the annual government budget is one-sixtieth what the United States spends on its military alone, security officials are responding to the U.S. push to bolster their military capabilities in big and small ways. That includes the scrappy effort to protect the Defense Ministry, a fallback plan that employees were preparing even before Trumps victory.
We will have weapons in the ministry and we will be ready to defend ourselves, said Defense Ministry State Secretary Janis Garisons, a mild-mannered former diplomat who is the senior civil servant in the ministry and who has been drilling with his colleagues since summertime.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004 and received commitments of thousands of allied troops just this summer. But they were spooked by Trumps campaign-time view that NATO was obsolete and his vow that he would not automatically come to the aid of U.S. allies if they were attacked by Russia and instead would review if they fulfill their obligations to us.
Now Baltic leaders are waiting to see how Trump actually shapes his evolving relationship toward Putin and NATO. Mindful that Baltic states have little ability to shape U.S. policy, many here say that they have no choice but to continue with their current plans, which include bolstering defense spending above their NATO commitments. But Latvian officials also say they are ramping up planning for the last-ditch scenario if they need to fend off Russia on their own.
Though the countries would be vastly outmatched if the Kremlin invaded using its conventional forces, they say they have the will to mount a fierce insurgency. Latvia is expanding its part-time volunteer force, the National Guard, to 8,000 people and in the wake of Trumps election hopes to push the numbers higher. Estonia has enrolled more than 25,000 volunteers in its similar Defense League. Lithuania has published guides about what to do in case of Russian invasion.
The dreams that Americans or God will save us, its somehow over, said Artis Pabriks, a former Latvia defense minister who is now a lawmaker in the European Parliament. We simply have to stick to the view that if something should happen, we will fight like the Finns in 1939, so the West will have to help us.
Angst about Trump suffused Latvian Independence Day celebrations Friday, even making its way into the official benediction at the 13th-century Riga Cathedral as leaders and military officials prayed for Latvias continued freedom. The service ended with Latvias national anthem, which was a crime to sing during the half-century of Russian domination that ended in 1991.
For the first time were worried about our future, our kids, said Ivars Aboltins, 41, a civil engineer who brought his family to the banks of the Daugava River on Friday to watch a military parade marking the holiday. A handful of U.S., British and Canadian troops stationed in the country also took part.
At home, we dont talk about politics, but he can tell were worried, Aboltins said of his 8-year-old son.
But amid the concerns, Latvians also take comfort that despite the countrys size, they believe it has pulled its weight in recent years. Latvian forces fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and seven soldiers were killed.
We are not going to panic, said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics. We really dont see the end of the world as we know it.
He noted that presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also tried to reset relations with Putin before abandoning those efforts when the Kremlin proved more obstreperous than they expected.
Despite the concerns from national leaders, voices in Latvias ethnic Russian minority, which is about a third of the population, welcome the prospect of reconciliation between the United States and Russia.
If we can get back to the relations we had in 2013, before the Crimean annexation, wed welcome that, said Nils Usakovs, the mayor of Riga and the leader of the Harmony Center party, which draws most of its support from Russian speakers. It was very relaxed. There was trade, tourism.
Over the summer, the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany committed to lead battalions of about a thousand troops each in Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia. Despite Trumps questioning of NATO, the U.S. troops who will be deploying to Poland early next year have already begun the complex logistical arrangements to transit across the ocean. And it is unclear whether the new president would be willing to accept the international opprobrium that would come from backing down on the plans.
People who go to Moscow and think we can offer peace in our time, they dont understand that from every encounter like that, Putin takes something very substantial, said Juri Luik, the head of the International Center for Defense and Security, based in Tallinn, Estonia . If you are ready to give it to him, you have to be ready to look like a real loser, someone who rolls over and plays dead.
Still, some leaders here say they fear the Trump administration may abandon long-term commitments to NATO or the U.S. advocacy of sanctions against Russia and they say that if the United States backs out, European nations may be quick to follow. On a tour of Europe this week, Obama said that Trump was committed to NATO. But many U.S. allies would prefer to hear that from Trump.
Most officials here doubt that their security is immediately on the line. Trumps apparent unpredictability may lead Putin to be cautious about making mischief inside NATO countries and Trump even said before the election that under his command, the U.S. military would shoot down Russian jets if they showed disrespect by buzzing U.S. ships and planes. Unlike in Ukraine, which the Kremlin appears to covet because of its historical ties to Russia, Baltic officials say they feel they are targets only because attacking them would challenge NATO and the European Union as a whole.
If President Trump could work a deal with President Putin that would reverse the annexation of Crimea, remove all Russian troops from Ukraine and remove the buildup of troops on the Baltic border, then we say more power to him, said Ojars Kalnins, the chairman of the foreign-affairs committee in Latvias parliament. But if a good relationship is at the expense of the Ukrainian people or security on our borders, that does trouble us.
Kalnins and other Baltic lawmakers are planning a trip to Washington in early December to meet with Republicans in Congress in a bid to appeal to their traditionally hawkish position on Russia.
It remains unclear how much influence the Republican establishment will have on Trumps foreign policy. Trump is expected to award his most influential national security position to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who astonished his former colleagues by traveling to Moscow last year and sitting next to Putin at a gala dinner sponsored by Russia Today, the state-owned Russian television network. Flynn has called for tighter ties with Putin to battle the Islamic State in Syria.
Its a present, current security threat for us. We do not need to be told that it is. We know it, said Lolita Cigane, who is the head of the European-affairs committee in the Latvian parliament and said she is counting on Trump to hold to U.S. commitments.
But her family has a fallback, she said: Her husband recently signed up for the National Guard.
baltics
Federal Statistical Office
Neuchatel, 18.11.2016 - Neuchatel, 18.11.2016 (FSO) In Switzerland one in 20 children was affected by income poverty in 2014 and one in six was at risk of poverty. Children growing up in households without an employed person or with a single parent are particularly affected. They are also more likely to be confronted with material deprivation and poor housing conditions. In many households that have to cope with material deprivation, parents put the children's needs before their own. These are some of the findings from the new report by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on child poverty and material deprivation.
This press release and further information on this topic can be found on the FSO website (see link below)
Address for enquiries
Martina Guggisberg, FSO, Social Analyses Section, tel.: +41 58 463 62 38,
e-mail: martina.guggisberg@bfs.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Statistical Office
http://www.statistics.admin.ch
Federal Department of Finance
Bern, 18.11.2016 - On 18 November 2016, Switzerland and Uruguay signed a joint declaration on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters on a reciprocal basis. Both countries intend to start collecting data in accordance with the global AEOI standard in 2018 and to exchange it from 2019 onwards.
The signing of the joint declaration with Uruguay by Switzerland's ambassador in Montevideo confirms Switzerland's international commitment to implementing the AEOI standard. Switzerland is thus strengthening its network of AEOI partner states. Uruguay meets in particular the high demands in terms of adherence to the principle of speciality and the safeguarding of confidentiality for the data delivered, which are prerequisites for the introduction of the AEOI.
From a legal viewpoint, the automatic exchange of information with Uruguay will be implemented based on the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA). The MCAA is based on the international standard for the exchange of information developed by the OECD.
The Federal Council has authorised the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to conduct a consultation for the introduction of the AEOI with Uruguay and other countries. It will be initiated soon. Thereafter, the corresponding federal decrees will be submitted to Parliament for approval.
Address for enquiries
Beat Werder, Head of Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF
Tel. +41 58 469 79 47, beat.werder@sif.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Department of Finance
https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html
Federal Department of Finance
Bern, 18.11.2016 - On 18 November 2016, Switzerland and Brazil signed a joint declaration on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters on a reciprocal basis. Like in the declaration with Argentina, both countries intend to start collecting data in accordance with the global AEOI standard in 2018 and to exchange it from 2019 onwards. State Secretary Jorg Gasser from the State Secretariat for international Finance Matters (SIF) met with representatives of the Brazilian authorities in Brasilia. Here issues to do with market access for financial service providers were also discussed.
The signing of the joint declaration with Brazil confirms Switzerland's international commitment to implementing the AEOI standard. Switzerland is thus strengthening its network of AEOI partner states. Brazil meets in particular the high demands in terms of adherence to the principle of speciality and the safeguarding of confidentiality for the data delivered, which are prerequisites for the introduction of the AEOI.
From a legal viewpoint, the automatic exchange of information with Brazil will be implemented based on the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA). The MCAA is based on the international standard for the exchange of information developed by the OECD.
The Federal Council has authorised the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to conduct a consultation for the introduction of the AEOI with Brazil and other countries. It will be initiated soon. Thereafter, the corresponding federal decrees will be submitted to Parliament for approval.
State Secretary Jorg Gasser from the State Secretariat for international Finance Matters (SIF) ended his working visit to South America with a visit to Brazil. Switzerland's financial market policy, market access for financial service providers, the positions of partners in international financial bodies and the possibility of structural reforms were the main topics during the visit.
Address for enquiries
Beat Werder, Head of Communications, State Secretariat for International Financial Matters SIF
Tel. +41 58 469 79 47, beat.werder@sif.admin.ch
Publisher
Federal Department of Finance
https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html
We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
The Pakistani Navy chased an Indian submarine in Pakistan's territorial waters and forced it to retreat from there, news channel in Pakistan claims.
By Sandeep Unnithan : A Pakistani TV channel today uploaded footage of what it claimed were the images of an "Indian submarine" in Pakistani territorial waters.
Samaa TV claimed the submarine was "detected and expelled" by the Pakistan Navy.
"Pakistan Navy chased and later warned the submarine, forcing it to retreat," the TV channel quoted a Pakistan naval spokesman.
An Indian Navy spokesperson, however, dismissed the claim and the footage broadcast by the channel. "We have no assets operating in the north Arabian Sea."
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Indian veteran submariners who viewed the video say it appears to be a type 209 diesel-electric submarine of the kind operated by the Indian Navy.
ALO READ | India denies Pakistan navy claim of submarine straying into territorial waters
'NOTHING TO SUGGEST THAT IT WAS AN INDIAN SUBMARINE'
The German-designed type 209 submarine is operated by a dozen navies, including the Turkish, South African and South Korea. The footage appears to have been captured using an infra red sensor and shows a submarine snorting or sucking in air to run its diesel engines." (A diesel-electric submarine has to periodically surface or run a snort mast close to the surface from which it takes in air. The diesel engines are used to charge the submarine's batteries).
In the footage, three parts of the submarine's mast can be spotted sticking out of the water-a snort mast, an electro-optical periscope mast and a radio communication mast.
"There is however nothing on the footage- no coordinates, latitude or longitude position or anything at all to suggest it is an Indian submarine," they said.
Also Read:
Indian Navy warship INS Nashak out of action for weeks after freak accident
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The rampant inflation currently tearing through world economies has had little to no effect on venture capital investing according to a new survey from PitchBook.
Arun Kumar Chowdhary, resident of Raxaul in Bihar today faced a harrowing time to withdraw Rs 40000 from his account for the marriage of his daughter which is scheduled for November 24.
By Rohit Kumar Singh: After the Centre granted immediate relief of withdrawing Rs 2.5 lacs to families where a marriage is scheduled to be held in next few days, banks are not complying with the guidelines. Arun Kumar Chowdhary, resident of Raxaul in Bihar today faced a harrowing time to withdraw Rs 40000 from his account for the marriage of his daughter which is scheduled for November 24.
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A small time grocer, Chowdhary had gone to withdraw money from HDFC bank where he has an account but was refused to withdraw the money for marriage as the bank manager cited lack of any official communication regarding the Centre's guidelines.
The wedding card
"We have also heard about the Centre's guidelines where a person can withdraw Rs 2.5 lacs from bank for the purpose of marriage but we have no official circular from the bank head office in this regard", said Nilesh Kumar, Bank Manager, HDFC Bank.
Chowdhary who had Rs 46,000 in his account wanted to withdraw Rs 40000 but he could manage to withdraw only Rs 10,000 Chowdhary, out of the withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 per week set by the Centre had had already withdrawn Rs 14,000 earlier this week and therefore he could only withdraw Rs 10,000, which according to Chowdhary was insufficient.
"The bank is informing that they have not received any official communication from their seniors and therefore they have refused me to withdraw Rs 40,000. I have distributed wedding cards for my daughter's marriage and I don't know what to do now", said Arun Chowdhary, father of the girl.
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These new Rs 2000 notes had been kept to help people get their now-demonetised notes exchanged. Thieves could not open the steel vault containing the cash.
By Rohini Swamy: Thieves attempted to rob a post office in Mandya that had Rs 42 lakh in cash in denomination of 2000 rupee notes. These Rs 2000 notes had been kept to help people get their now-demonetised notes exchanged.
The notes were kept in a steel vault after post office officials had no choice but to store them there as banks had refused to accept the money, saying they had no space in their security vaults.
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POST OFFICES LACK SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS
Since post offices lack proper security arrangements, thieves had planned to rob this one at Mandya but failed to do so as they were unable to open the steel vault. While they broke open the door, they couldn't open the vault despite using gas cutters.
Also read | Motorists now vulnerable to robbery attempts on DND flyway after removal of guards
Sensing that they could be caught by the locals in the vicinity as the post office was located in a residential area, they fled in a hurry. But the incident has raised questions on the safety of the new denominations in post offices, which lack proper security to store huge amounts of money.
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Seventh seed PV Sindhu moved past Chinese He Bingjiao 22-20, 21-10 in 39 minutes to reach the semis.
PV Sindhu will play the winner of Akane Yamaguchi and Sung ji Hyun (Reuters Photo)
By Indo-Asian News Service: Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu advanced to the semi-finals, while Ajay Jayaram exited in the last eight stage of the China Superseries Premier badminton tournament here on Friday.
Seventh seed Sindhu moved past Chinese He Bingjiao 22-20, 21-10 in 39 minutes. The Indian will meet the winner between Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and Sung ji Hyun of South Korea. (Also read: Indian badminton team manager cancelled visa application : China)
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Jayaram, meanwhile, found it tough against Olympic champion Chen Long of China, who won 21-15, 21-14 in 40 minutes.
Long will meet Olympic bronze medallist Viktor Axelsen, who smashed past Japanese Takuma Ueda 21-11, 21-6 in just 30 minutes.
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Serious threats abound for small businesses according to the Chairman of the Small Firms Association (SFA), AJ Noonan, who was today addressing over 500 small businesses at the SFA Annual Lunch.
Brexit is one factor in this shift according to the SFA Chairman. Forty one per cent of SFA members report that Brexit has already had a negative impact on their business, rising to 68% expecting a negative impact in the next 6 months.
In May, 66% of small businesses thought the business environment was improving, this has dropped to 50%. The number that feels it is disimproving has jumped from 3% to 18%. In the SFA quarterly sentiment survey conducted just this week, managing wage expectations has emerged as the most important issue facing small businesses.
The Government has already committed to effectively a 2.5% pay increase per public sector worker with 150mn in increments and 317mn under existing commitments under Lansdowne Road. In contrast, just 60% of SFA members are able to give pay increases this year with the average being 2%.
SFA Chairman, AJ Noonan today commented, "We need immediate Government intervention to help sustainable businesses maintain their businesses and the jobs they employ in every part of the country to survive this crisis, with direct stabilisation funding and with new low interest and specialised export credit insurance and trade finance. We need Government to become obsessive about our cost-competitiveness and tax-competitiveness vis-a-vis the UK."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
About us
The charity sectors relationship with government has gone horribly wrong, the chief executive of Social Enterprise UK told charity leaders yesterday.
Speaking in London at the annual conference of charity leaders body Acevo, Peter Holbrook said that government needed to make a number of changes to reform that relationship, but also warned that the sector itself had to take the blame for some of its reputational problems.
Holbrook told delegates that government had made a series of promises in opposition to empower charities, in a 2008 document entitled A stronger society: Voluntary action in the 21st century.
In that document David Cameron, then the leader of the opposition, wrote:
Our aim is not to change the voluntary sector, which is more than capable of changing itself as it sees fit. Rather, our aim is to change government: from being an object that gets in the way of civil society to being a force that gets behind civil society, open to, and supportive of, the energy and initiative of a free and civilised nation.
Holbrook said this vision had not been met.
I think its fair to say that relationship with government has been more strained in recent years, he said.
He said government promises had gone unmet, including a powerful Office for Civil Society, a select committee on civil society and a new, more powerful version of the Compact the agreement governing good practice in governments relationship with charity.
The Compact promises long-term funding, freedom of voice for civil society, and consideration for the needs of charity when drafting new policy. While it is still official government policy that the Compact should be followed, it has little force.
Holbrook questioned whether it was possible for the sector to feel trusted by government, and asked why so few promises had been met.
This is a consequence of cock-up rather than conspiracy, he said. We have to find an opportunity to restore this relationship because just about everyone would recognise that this has gone horribly wrong.
There is part of the current government that wants charities to just be quiet and deliver services. There is another group that feel we should just stick to our knitting.
Only when we consider our current range of influence within the context of events in the United States is it possible to draw any comfort at all.
Sector also to blame
Holbrook said the sector had some honesty to undertake about its own role in its reduced reputation.
He said charities had not communicated clearly enough with the public and with government about the reality of how they operated.
We have been complicit in allowing the public and our other stakeholders to continue in an unreconstructed view of what we do, he said. The sector is far more diverse than we allow our stakeholders to understand.
He said charities were economic units which had paid staff, and that the voluntary and community sector was on the periphery in financial terms. And he said that social enterprises were starting up at three times the rate of traditional charities and were increasingly a large part of the solution.
Theres a growing view that charities have failed to tackle some of the big challenges weve faced, he said. Charity alone cant be our solution to social problems.
Challenges to charities and government
Holbrook outlined five challenges for the sector
Create better collaboration between infrastructure organisations.
Increase transparency in reporting.
Make better use of the evidence of the impact of what we do.
Be much more honest with the public about what happens within charities.
Invest more in an infrastructure to support front line services.
And four for government:
Implement the recommendation of the 2012 Hodgson review of charity regulation in full
Enforce the Compact
End uncertainty around anti-advocacy
Reform the governance of the Charity Commission
More needs to be done to protect the consumer, the agency says
Consumers who think that Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) loans are a perfect way to buy something on time should perhaps think a little more. After seeing BNPL grow tenfold over the past three years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) went on a mission to find out if those type loans have anything that could harm the consumer in any way.
On top of issues like the risk of fraud and the impact on credit scores, the agency concluded in its new report that while the ma...
Low-price alternatives can be good, but the features can be slim pickins
Just like nearly everything else, customer satisfaction with wireless services is trending down. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Wireless Phone Service and Cell Phone Study 2021-2022, that segment retreated 1.4% to a score of 73 (out of 100).
But there is a silver lining to that cloud. Satisfaction with value mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) like Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, and Mint, which buy minutes from the mobile big boys like...
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday released his plan to end too-big-to-fail banks, advocating for much higher capital levels for large banks and a tax on leverage for shadow banks.
Kashkari released his four-step plan in comments before the Economic Club of New York.
A former assistant secretary of the Treasury who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that was part of the governments response to the 2008 financial crisis, Kashkari said that while he supported Congress moving quickly to institute the Dodd-Frank financial reform act in 2010, and that significant progress has been made to strengthen the U.S. financial system under the act, the biggest banks are still too-big-to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy.
Many experts agree, he said, that TBTF still exists today because current plans to address it have not been fully implemented. More importantly, we believe that the current plan, even when fully implemented, will not sufficiently minimize the threat of TBTF.
Credit unions are fully aware that there is a new kid in town and he isnt playing by the traditional rules. His name is fintech. In the last five years, the global investment community has been ramping up investments in technology start-ups that are targeting the financial services industry with extremely disruptive offerings.
There are many different forms of fintech innovation aimed at a number of traditional banking functions, including payments, lending and personal financial management. Regardless of the service targeted, there are two key weapons fintech start-ups typically have in common in their arsenalsimplicity and agility.
Simplicity. Many fintechs focus on democratizing complex services by offering an extremely easy-to-use online service at market-beating rates. Unlike traditional financial institutions, fintechs tend to focus on one specific product or service.
Agility. Another differentiator for fintechs is speed. These start-ups look for opportunities to dramatically streamline business processes through innovation, digitization and cutting out human involvement wherever possible.
A good example of how fintech leverages simplicity and agility is QuickenLoans Rocket Mortgage. This service enables customers to upload all of their mortgage application data directly to QuickenLoans system, eliminating the need to talk to a loan officer. The system then automatically analyzes the application as an underwriter would do and, if accepted, offers real-time rates for the customer to lock in. Rocket Mortgage reduces the mortgage application process from weeks or months, traditionally, to 10 minutes or less.
Taking stock of mobile capabilities is key
Fintech players like these are forcing financial institutions to rethink how they do business. One area in particular that requires intense focus is mobile services, a favorite delivery channel for fintech services.
In comparison with other industries that send high volumes of customer communications, financial services organizations have been leading adopters of mobile technology. Despite this, financial institutions are under pressure to continue to review their mobile operations and business models, checking them against new market realities and building future-proof platforms that are agile enough to keep up with evolving technology and competition.
Mobile technologies are also shaping consumer expectations about how organizations should engage with them. E-commerce and technology companies such as Amazon, Apple and Google are leading the way in streamlining the customer experience, realizing it results in better engagement, more up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, higher brand advocacy and lower customer attrition rates. Costs are typically reduced as well, which means fewer complaints, lower service needs and reduced acquisition costs.
Credit unions and other financial services organizations should give careful consideration to the many different ways in which mobile engagement is taking place. Popular options include mobile banking (whether as a native app or as a mobile-optimized web page), mobile payments, the use of mobile as a security device and using mobile push messages through an app. There is particularly high interest in mobile push messages, and most major financial institutions are expected to implement this technology in the next five years. Mobile push messages drive higher engagement and can be interactive when, for example, suspicious transactions require a quick response from the customer.
Consider the benefits of a CCM strategy
When developing mobile customer communications as part of a transformed business process, it is important to ensure it is developed in the most agile way possible. This will not be the result if an organization digitizes its business processes and then hard codes its customer communications in the app itself or develops additional, proprietary database-driven platforms that involve costly IT resources to adapt or maintain.
A better approach is to leverage a customer communications management (CCM) platform that marries messaging templates with data from a system-of-record such as a CRM or ERP and pushes personalized messaging out to any delivery format required. This strategy drives agility by enabling the easy repurposing of content for virtually any channel, including integrating directly into a mobile or web app, and it supports tracking and archiving customer interactions. It also enables business users to take full control of message development and management, eliminating the need to involve IT resources.
Other benefits of a CCM strategy include the ability to accommodate customer channel preferences, meet compliance requirements and enhance brand awareness. Moreover, for enterprises that use a corporate-wide communications infrastructure to centralize all of their communications, it will be easier for customer service representatives and front-line business users to gain a full understanding of what has been communicated with a specific customer. Marketers and customer insights professionals can leverage this data as well for better up-sell/cross-sell promotions and more relevant communications in general.
Fintech is pushing the envelope when it comes to relevant customer communications. However, implementing a flexible and agile customer communications management strategy, credit unions and other financial organizations can meet the fintech challenge and achieve enhanced internal processes and improved customer experience along the way.
There are so many apps for our smartphones that sometimes its hard to know which ones are worth downloading. There is literally an app out there for everything, from communication and messaging, to gaming, health, and travel. With Turkey Day right around the corner, we thought wed give you some ideas for food and cooking apps, to make your Thanksgiving just a little less stressful.
BigOven: This app allows you to easily search and organize recipes, create shared grocery lists, and follow your friends and favorite bloggers for cooking inspiration. Downloaded over 11 million times, BigOven is one of the only apps available that will synchronize your recipes, grocery lists, and meal plans across the web and your various mobile devices.
Appetites: If youre like me, even if youve gathered all the ingredients and have all the proper cooking utensils, sometimes you still have trouble getting it together in the kitchen. The Appetites app provides you with hundreds of step-by-step cooking videos and tutorials. If you need even more assistance, you can actually order all your ingredients directly from the app and have them delivered directly to your door that same-day.
GrubHub: Sometimes if youre not planning a large family affair, you dont feel like cooking at all on Thanksgiving Day. If thats the case, GrubHub is for you. This app provides free online ordering at thousands of different restaurants for both delivery and pickup. So kick back and relax and have the food brought directly to you.
Escoffier Cooks Companion: This free app is the perfect companion to any cook, whether its your first time in the kitchen or youre an expert chef. It includes conversions (how many tablespoons are actually in one cup?), timers, and various references to help make things easier during meal prep.
Dont get stressed or frustrated thinking about meal planning this Thanksgiving holiday. Utilize that smartphone and use technology to your advantage so you can truly enjoy your time with family and friends.
In a suspected case of ragging death, a 17-year-old girl ended her life in Andhra Pradesh by consuming pesticide.
Usha Rani, who committed suicide by consuming pesticide in her hostel room.
By India Today Web Desk: Failing to cope up with an alleged ragging at an engineering college in Andhra Pradesh, a first-year student has committed suicide. Usha Rani consumed pesticides after allegedly being harassed by a senior of the RGM Nandyal Engineering College.
The 17-year-old girl reportedly ended her life in her hostel room Thursday night. The incident took place at Nandyal in Kunool district of Andhra Pradesh.
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READ| Committing suicide not easy, Amity student wrote to his parents
Usha Rani was a native of Budwel in neighboring Kadapa district and pursuing B Tech Information Technology course at the college.
Usha Rani was a native of Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh.
Usha's parents and friends have lodged a complaint with the police alleging that she was ragged by her senior forcing her to take the extreme step.
The college management, however, denied the ragging allegation. The college administration said that an anti-ragging regulation was in place on the campus for past seven years. Strict monitoring is done to prevent any kind of ragging, the college said.
Usha Rani was a B Tech first-year student. Usha Rani was a B Tech first-year student.
READ| Another Hyderabad University student commits suicide
Meanwhile, the Kadappa Police have registered a case under section 306 of the IPC and various sections of anti-ragging Act of 1997. Probe is on to ascertain the chain of events that led to the alleged suicide.
WATCH:
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Dalhousie had a big night at the 14th annual Discovery Awards on Thursday evening.
The Discovery Awards, hosted by Halifaxs Discovery Centre, are an annual event that recognizes talented individuals and outstanding companies for their national and international work in the science and technology fields. Before a capacity crowd at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, the evening celebrated innovative and groundbreaking research happening right here in Nova Scotia.
By the end of the event, Dalhousie researchers from the Faculties of Science and Medicine walked away with awards in three of the four major categories.
Professional of Distinction Award: James Robar
James Robar, a professor in Dals Faculty of Medicine, was the winner of this years Professional of Distinction Award.
Dr. Robars career has been devoted to helping improve the lives of cancer patients who receive radiation therapy. His research and development efforts have led to more than 80 publications, 10 patent applications, and two spin-off companies. He has a passion for translating his fundamental work into practical solutions that can be and are used in the clinic. He is also director of Dal's Medical Physics programs.
Graduate students are the engines, really, who bring our ideas to fruition. And frankly, they make us look really good, says Dr. Robar. I truly appreciate receiving this award. its really easy to shine when youre surrounded by stars.
Emerging Professional: Alec Falkenham
A PhD graduate from the Department of Pathology and now first-year Medicine student, Alec Falkenham hit the headlines after he came up with a new tattoo removal technology. The story went global and generated hundreds of inquiries, indicating he had hit a sweet spot in public need.
Dr. Falkenhams tattoo removal technology (the rights to which were acquired by Cipher Pharmaceuticals in May 2016) speeds up the bodys natural process that causes ink to fade. It does this by targeting white blood cells called macrophages, which remove foreign material from the body. What his team did was develop a cream carrying a lipid-vesicle, or liposome. When the cream is applied to a tattoo, ink-containing macrophages die off and new macrophages enter the skin. Some of the new macrophages depart for the lymph nodes with a cargo of ink, thus fading the tattoo.
I'm so honoured to have won a discovery award, says Dr. Falkenham. Just being a finalist for category of Emerging Professional was a great accomplishment. That said, there is a lot of credit due to those who supported, inspired and mentored me, including my supervisor, Dr. Jean Francois Legare, my partner in Dal's ILI office, Andrea McCormick, my good friend and colleague Roberto de Antueno, and my fiancee Kerry McInnes. I also can't forget to thank my brother Tom for getting me interested in tattoos in the first place.
Dr. Falkenham is also an up-and-coming name in cardiovascular research. As a graduate student, he presented nationally on how the immune system heals the heart and has been awarded multiple provincial and national scholarships.
Science Champion: Boris Worm
Boris Worm has long felt compelled to share knowledge on the state of our global ocean. Dr. Worm, a professor in the Department of Biology, is fast-becoming a household name. Between publishing his headline-making research on marine biodiversity and conservation, Dr. Worm is the Oceans Guy for CBC Radio 1, covering ocean issues every second Tuesday afternoon in his own radio column. The marine biologists passionate voice has been captured in documentaries like Sharkwater, Racing Extinction and Bluefin.
Dr. Worm took home the Science Champion Discovery Award, and during his acceptance remarks spoke of how he started out as a basic scientist, and through his work, learned how much trouble the oceans were in.
It created this sensation that I needed to get this [message] out, because I felt that most people werent really aware of this, said Dr. Worm. And to this day, we know less about the ocean than we really could including us scientists.
Now, Dr. Worm is taking science education and outreach to a new level with Ocean School, a groundbreaking new educational initiative done in partnership with the Ocean Frontier Institute and the National Film Board. Ocean School will bring ocean education for 11-15 year olds into classrooms using cutting-edge technologies, powerful storytelling techniques and audiovisual teaching platforms. The Ocean School pilot project will launch early next year in some grade seven classes in Nova Scotia.
Science Hall of Fame Inductee: Jeff Dahn
Jeff Dahn, NSERC/Tesla Canada Inc. Industrial Research Chair, Canada Research Chair in Materials for Advanced Batteries and Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Dal, was inducted into the Discovery Awards Science Hall of Fame.
Dr. Dahn was recognized for his front-line battery research as well as his contribution to teaching. A pioneering developer of the lithium-ion battery, his research has led to cells being produced in a more cost effective manner. His material combination is now used in batteries to power everything from electric cars to smart-grid power-storage devices that could eventually support the widespread use of renewable energy.
Im very honoured to be inducted into the Discovery Centre Hall of Fame for work done by my research team over the last 35 years, said Dr. Dahn.
This is not the first time Dr. Dahns work has been honoured. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001 and has won more than 20 major awards since he began with work with lithium batteries in 1978, most recently the augural Governor Generals Innovation Award.
In my experience, success in research doesnt always mean the ability to do complex mathematics and rocket science, says Dr. Dahn. Instead its about passion for ones work, mental engagement, and a personal commitment to the highest standards. Its about biting the bullet, investing the resources, whatever they may be, and maybe figuring something out.
Dr. Dahn was inducted alongside the late Dr. Henry Marshall Tory, a leader in establishing world-renowned universities and research labs across Canada. Dalhousie has had more than a dozen inductees to the Hall of Fame since it was created in 2002, most recently Chemist Axel Becke, Microbiologist Leo Vining, Neurologist Jock Murray and Engineer George Meyerhof.
Other honourees
In addition to the winners, five finalists who were up for Discovery Awards also had Dal connections:
Professional of Distinction
Fred Whoriskey is executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network. His research focuses on fish biology and ecology, and the impacts of exotic species on native ecosystems. He has been heavily involved in public policy issues, especially with environmental impact assessments, and has worked extensively in public education. He received a Gulf of Maine Visionary Award in 2008.
Emerging Professional
Brett Dickey is a recent PhD graduate from the School of Biomedical Engineering and the co-founder and chief technical officer for Covina Biomedical Incorporated. Dr. Dickey is developing an injectable glass-based cement to stabilize broken bones. This discovery has potential to impact a wide range of clinical needs, from use in third-world dental clinics, to material used in total joint replacement.
Devin Horsman was an undergraduate and graduate student in Dals Computer Science program, and is currently the technical director for Twisted Oak, a worker-owned co-operative offering technical services and consulting in the areas of game development, security and augmented and virtual reality. He has been involved in over 45 projects spanning a range of applications including VR technology, 3D rendering technology, camera capture systems, motion control technology, and digital music effects.
Innovation Award
Chris Burns is a recent graduate of Dalhousie and the CEO of Novonix, a spin-off of Jeff Dahns lab. Novonixs ultra-high precision charger system enables accurate and precise measurements of a Lithium-ion batterys efficiency, which can be used to estimate their lifetime on the scale of decades. The company has sold equipment to key battery companies all over the world with customers in more than ten countries.
Jordan Kyriakidis is the CEO and president of Quantum Research Analytics and an associate professor in Dals Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science. His company is focused on solving one of the greatest hurdles for innovation: verification of complex systems. QRAs main product is called QVTrace, an advanced platform that discovers design faults in complex, embedded systems. Within the past year, QRA has celebrated multi-million dollar partnerships with Lockheed Martin, Innovacorp, and Dalhousie University, and received 2.9-million-dollars of funding under the Atlantic Innovation Fund.
Dalhousie's Faculties of Science and Medicine also sponsored the Youth Award, which was presented to King's-Edgehill Grade 10 student Sophie Fraser. Read all about the Discovery Award winners and finalists at the Discovery Centres website.
Washington, November 18, 2016 -The American College of Physicians (ACP) has outlined its plans to address the implications of the 2016 U.S. presidential and congressional elections.
In a letter sent to ACP's 148,000 domestic and international members, ACP President Nitin S. Damle, MD, MS, MACP, reaffirmed ACP's continued commitment to equal access to care and non-discrimination against persons based on their gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, including support for our international ACP members and immigrants to the U.S. who are concerned about potential changes in U.S. immigration policies.
Damle said ACP, as a non-partisan organization, will strive to engage in a constructive and bipartisan way with President-elect Trump and his administration, and with Congress, to achieve progress on the College's policy objectives. Damle also reiterated that ACP supports the critical role played by internists and other primary care physicians in providing high-value, team-based, patient and family-centered care.
In seeking common-ground, Damle laid out several areas where ACP hopes to make bipartisan progress including addressing the cost of prescription drugs, working to stem the opioid epidemic, increasing access to mental health services, strengthening graduate medical education, and supporting the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the transition to quality based payments and new models for physicians.
In the letter, ACP acknowledges that there may be more challenging issues, and remains committed to working to sustain the gains that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made, as well as continue to sustain and pursue progress on addressing the health impacts of climate change and seek to advocate for evidence-based policies to reduce injuries and deaths from firearms.
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The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States. ACP members include 148,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness.
In November, the Paris Climate Agreement goes into effect to reduce global carbon emissions. To achieve the set targets, experts say capturing and storing carbon must be part of the solution. Several projects throughout the world are trying to make that happen. Now, a study on one of those endeavors, reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, has found that within two years, carbon dioxide (CO2) injected into basalt transformed into solid rock.
Lab studies on basalt have shown that the rock, which formed from lava millions of years ago and is found throughout the world, can rapidly convert CO2 into stable carbonate minerals. This evidence suggests that if CO2 could be locked into this solid form, it would be stowed away for good, unable to escape into the atmosphere. But what happens in the lab doesn't always reflect what happens in the field. One field project in Iceland injected CO2 pre-dissolved in water into a basalt formation, where it was successfully stored. And starting in 2009, researchers with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Montana-based Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership undertook a pilot project in eastern Washington to inject 1,000 tons of pressurized liquid CO2 into a basalt formation.
After drilling a well in the Columbia River Basalt formation and testing its properties, the team injected CO2 into it in 2013. Core samples were extracted from the well two years later, and Pete McGrail and colleagues confirmed that the CO2 had indeed converted into the carbonate mineral ankerite, as the lab experiments had predicted. And because basalts are widely found in North America and throughout the world, the researchers suggest that the formations could help permanently sequester carbon on a large scale.
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The authors acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Energy; the National Energy Technology Laboratory; the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership; Shell Exploration & Production Company; Portland General Electric; and Schlumberger Inc.
The paper's abstract will be available on Nov. 18 here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00387
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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Up until now, little has been known about how helping care for grandchildren might affect the well-being of older adults who are Chinese-Americans. Researchers recently considered that question in a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The researchers looked at information from the "Population Study of Chinese Elderly (PINE)," which examined more than 3,000 Chicago-area Chinese-Americans aged 60 and older between 2011 and 2013. The participants answered questions to screen for depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and other factors affecting their health and well-being.
In the study, 35 percent (818) of the participants said they were caregivers for children and spent an average of about 12 hours a week on childcare.
To measure the level of caregiving pressure they experienced, participants were asked "How often do you feel pressured...to take care of [your grandchildren]?" The participants answered questions about caregiving burdens, and whether they felt their own health was at risk due to caregiving. Researchers also determined how much positive or negative social support the grandparents received from family and friends.
The researchers discovered that 80 percent of the participants believed that caring for grandchildren was not a burden. Most participants reported never feeling pressured by their adult children and didn't experience any negative effects from caregiving. These grandparents were generally happier, and felt much less depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness compared to older adults who didn't care for grandchildren.
Specifically, people who didn't care for grandchildren compared to those who did were:
40 percent more likely to have symptoms of depression
20 percent more likely to feel anxious
10 percent more likely to have stress
60 percent more likely to feel lonely
However, grandparents who felt pressure from their adult children and who believed that they had no choice about providing care for grandchildren reported having higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than people who didn't feel pressured. The grandparents who had negative feelings about caregiving reported a 50 percent increased rate of depression symptoms, 30 percent higher stress rates, and a 70 percent increase in loneliness.
"Caring for grandchildren can be a burden, a blessing, or both. Enjoy the time with your family and grandchildren--just be in control of how much time you spend caregiving," said study co-author Fengyan Tang, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh.
Caregivers' feelings partly depend on their perception of the experience, as well as on how they are treated by their family and by the community. Both formal and informal support systems and healthcare services are key to helping older grandparents maintain their psychological well-being, the researchers noted.
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This summary is from "Psychological Well-being of Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren among Older Chinese Americans: Burden or Blessing?" It appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Fengyan Tang, PhD; Ling Xu, PhD; Iris Chi, DSW; and XinQi Dong, MD.
About the Health in Aging Foundation
This research summary was developed as a public education tool by the Health in Aging Foundation. The Foundation is a national non-profit established in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society to bring the knowledge and expertise of geriatrics healthcare professionals to the public. We are committed to ensuring that people are empowered to advocate for high-quality care by providing them with trustworthy information and reliable resources. Last year, we reached nearly 1 million people with our resources through HealthinAging.org. We also help nurture current and future geriatrics leaders by supporting opportunities to attend educational events and increase exposure to principles of excellence on caring for older adults. For more information or to support the Foundation's work, visit http://www.HealthinAgingFoundation.org.
The ability to perform the simple activities of daily living--dressing, bathing, toileting, preparing simple meals, and doing light housekeeping, for example--is crucial to an older adult's independence and quality of life. When older adults begin having trouble managing these activities by themselves, their risks for falls, hospitalization, and even death can increase. Recently, a group of researchers from the Nara Medical University in Japan examined whether or not participation in social activities could affect an older adult's ability to function. Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The research team studied 2,774 men and 3,586 women between the ages of 65 and 96. At the beginning of the study, all the participants (who lived in Nara, Japan) were able to manage their daily activities. Before the study began, participants answered questions about their participation in various kinds of social activities.
During the study's three follow-up periods, nearly 14 percent of the men and 9 percent of the women began having problems handling their daily activities.
People who experienced a decline in their ability to perform daily activities tended to be older and more likely to use medications, describe their health status as poor, experience depression, and have trouble with memory or making decisions compared to those who maintained their ability to function well. These people also were less likely to participate in hobby clubs or volunteer groups versus those who could still perform simple activities of daily living.
The researchers discovered that women who participated in social activities such as hobby or senior citizen clubs and volunteer groups were less likely to experience a decline in their ability to perform daily functions. Men who participated in hobby clubs were able to maintain their ability to function.
The researchers suggested four reasons for the link between social activities and maintaining the ability to perform one's daily activities:
1. Participating in social activities means that an older adult is engaging in life--using public transportation or managing money, for example. 2. Social activities can provide support and networking, which could delay the decline in an older adult's ability to function. 3. Losing a spouse is considered a stressful experience that may speed up an older adult's functional decline. But participating in social activities may help relieve the stress of loneliness--and that might help an older adult maintain his or her ability to function. 4. Participating in social activities allows older adults to have a meaningful role in society, giving them a sense of value and belonging. This sense of value may motivate older adults to maintain their ability to function.
The researchers suggested that healthcare professionals should be aware of older adults' social activity participation--or lack of it--to help lessen the likelihood of functional decline.
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This summary is from "Association between Social Participation and a 3-year Change in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living among Community-Dwelling Elderly Adults." It appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study authors are Kimiko Tomioka, MD, PhD; Norio Kurumatani, MD, PhD; and Hiroshi Hosoi, MD, PhD, from the Nara Prefectural Health Research Center, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan.
About the Health in Aging Foundation
This research summary was developed as a public education tool by the Health in Aging Foundation. The Foundation is a national non-profit established in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society to bring the knowledge and expertise of geriatrics healthcare professionals to the public. We are committed to ensuring that people are empowered to advocate for high-quality care by providing them with trustworthy information and reliable resources. Last year, we reached nearly 1 million people with our resources through HealthinAging.org. We also help nurture current and future geriatrics leaders by supporting opportunities to attend educational events and increase exposure to principles of excellence on caring for older adults. For more information or to support the Foundation's work, visit http://www.HealthinAgingFoundation.org.
Andras Vasy of Stanford University will receive the 2017 AMS Bocher Prize "for his fundamental paper `Microlocal analysis of asymptotically hyperbolic and Kerr-de Sitter spaces,' Inventiones Mathematicae, 194 (2013), 381513."
Vasy's main area of research is in partial differential equations, which are equations representing systems that change over time. For example, various kinds of waves including sound waves can be represented by partial differential equations. Studying how waves scatter when encountering objects or other waves---for example, sound waves bouncing off walls and other objects in a concert hall---is the goal of scattering theory. Within mathematics, scattering theory examines similar issues in more-abstract settings, by examining how solutions to partial differential equations interact over time.
The prize-winning paper of Andras Vasy resolves a 35-year-old conundrum in geometric scattering theory and develops a systematic framework for analyzing certain partial differential equations. Although it appeared only in 2013, the paper has had a major impact and stimulated much subsequent research, some of it by Vasy and his co-authors. The prize citation also recognizes "Vasy's outstanding contributions to multi-body scattering and to propagation of singularities for solutions to wave equations on regions with singular boundaries."
Andras Vasy received his PhD in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997. He was on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, and of MIT before taking his present position of professor of mathematics at Stanford University. He was a Clay Research Fellow (2002-2004) and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2002-2004).
In 2015, the AMS published Vasy's book Partial Differential Equations: An Accessible Route through Theory and Applications. Keeping the technical demands as low as possible in this highly technical area, the book aims to introduce advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students to some of the basic tools needed to solve partial differential equations.
The AMS Bocher Prize is awarded every three years for a notable paper in analysis published during the preceding six years. The prize will be awarded Thursday, January 5, 2017, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta.
Find out more about AMS prizes and awards at http://www.ams.org/profession/prizes-awards/prizes.
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Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, today the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.
Water is vital for our survival. However, water quality is always a concern for public health authorities as it may contain diverse environmental pollutants, including endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Endocrine disrupting chemicals are one group of potentially hazardous substances that comprise natural and synthetic chemicals, with the ability to mimic endogenous hormones or interfere with their biosynthesis, metabolism, and normal functions. Common examples are bisphenol A, triclosan, phthalates, lead, mercury, nickel and polychlorinated biphenyls, among others.
Fish are known to be quite sensitive to the effects of EDCs and therefore, are employed as research models to study the possible impacts of these chemicals in humans. In a review led by Purdue University (USA) and the University of Cartagena (Colombia), a team of researchers has proposed the zebrafish as a model to predict the effects of EDCs on humans using toxicogenomic tools, such as microarrays or whole-genome sequencing. This is possible due to the fact that zebrafish genes that have significantly altered expression after exposure to EDCs are very similar to those found in humans. In addition, many of the glandular system found in zebrafish have similarities with those in humans, making this fish model suitable to study alterations on the endocrine system.
According to the authors, vitellogenin and aromatase cytochrome P450 are key genes that can be monitored in zebrafish to detect the presence of EDCs in water samples, especially at environmentally relevant concentrations.
Toxicogenomic tools also offer the possibility to find new mechanisms by which EDCs alter the reproductive status of zebrafish, allowing its use to test the safety of new products entering the market. The possibilities are immense and the goal is to continue finding new markers of toxicity, and therefore alternative bridges to link EDC exposure to common diseases in humans.
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Co-authors of the paper include Karina Caballero-Gallardo, Jesus Olivero-Verbel (University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia) and Jennifer L. Freeman (Purdue University, USA).
For more information about the article, please visit http://benthamscience.com/journals/current-genomics/volume/17/issue/6/page/515/
Reference: Caballero-Gallardo, K.; et al (2016). Toxicogenomics to Evaluate Endocrine Disrupting Effects of Environmental Chemicals Using the Zebrafish Model., DOI: 10.2174/1389202917666160513105959
CINCINNATI -- One of every four children admitted to pediatric intensive care units around the world develops acute kidney injury (AKI), which increases the risk of death as well as longer and more intensive hospitalizations, according to a study published online in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Moreover, the nearly 12 percent who develop more severe AKI have a further increased risk of death within 28 days, according to lead author Stuart L. Goldstein, MD, director of the Center for Acute Care Nephrology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
"The common and early occurrence of acute kidney injury reinforces the need for systematic surveillance for AKI at the time patients are admitted to intensive care," says Dr. Goldstein. "Severe AKI was associated with an increased need for mechanical ventilation to assist breathing, and with renal replacement therapy (acute dialysis). Since children who survive AKI are at risk for developing chronic kidney disease, long-term follow up of these survivors is warranted."
Dr. Goldstein and his colleagues collected data from 5,297 patients admitted to 32 pediatric intensive care units in nine countries around the world. To determine AKI, the researchers measured both urine output volumes and levels of creatinine in the blood. Creatinine is a chemical waste molecule transported through the bloodstream to the kidneys, which filter most of the waste and deposit it in the urine.
The researchers discovered that severe AKI based on decreased urine output increases the risk of death compared to AKI based on creatinine levels. Assessment using blood creatinine levels alone missed AKI in two thirds of patients with oliguria (a particular measured volume of decreased urine output), and oliguria alone conferred increased mortality risk, according to Dr. Goldstein. This reinforces the importance of using both measures to detect AKI, which he says is not commonly done.
The AWARE (Assessment of Worldwide AKI, Renal angina and Epidemiology in children) study was coordinated by the Center for Acute Care Nephrology at Cincinnati Children's. Working closely with other divisions within Cincinnati Children's, the center monitors, detects and treats kidney injury before it causes irreparable damage.
The study is being published in conjunction with presentation of the data at Kidney Week 2016, the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting, in Chicago.
The study was supported, in part, by funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH P50 DK096418). Rajit Basu, MD, a physician in the division of Critical Care Medicine at Cincinnati Children's, was co-lead author of the study.
Fourteen subsequent manuscripts are planned for the AWARE dataset. These will include the assessment of novel AKI biomarkers and an early AKI risk scoring system to improve early detection and prediction of severe AKI.
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Anyone who has tried to lead a group of tourists through a busy city knows the problem. How do you keep the group together when they are constantly jostled, held up and distracted by the hubbub around them?
It's a problem the designers of quantum computers have to tackle. In some future quantum computers, information will be encoded in the delicate quantum states of groups of particles. These face jostling by noise and disorder within the materials of the processor. Now, an international team has proposed a scheme that could help protect groups of particles and enable them to move together without any getting lost or held up.
The proposal, published 17 November in Physical Review Letters, comes from researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Technical University of Crete, University of Oxford and Google. Their paper puts forward a scheme that can reliably transport quantum states of a few photons along a line of miniature quantum circuits. Simulations show that it should efficiently move a three-photon state from one circuit site to the next over dozens of sites: the particles jump together throughout and finally appear at the other end undisturbed, with no spreading out.
The scheme is based on the ideas of physicist David J. Thouless, who won half the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on topological effects in materials. Topological effects are to do with geometry, and their use in quantum computing can help protect fragile quantum states during processing.
One of Thouless' major contributions was the invention of 'topological pumping'. This works something like Archimedes' screw pump for water. The Ancient Greek's screw spins around, but the water within it travels in a straight line up a hill. "Even though the motion of the machine is cyclical, the motion of the particles is not, they move in a line," explains Jirawat Tangpanitanon, first author on the paper and a PhD student in the group of Dimitris Angelakis at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at NUS.
In the quantum scheme, the screw thread is not a physical structure but an oscillating external field imposed on the particles by electronic control over the device that contains them.
Angelakis started his group looking into topological pumping after others in 2015 demonstrated the effect for individual, non-interacting, particles. Angelakis, Tangpanitanon and Research Fellow Victor Bastidas wanted to find out if it would be possible to move groups of particles coherently too.
The answer is yes. What's more, unlike Archimedes' pump, which can only move water one way, the quantum particles can even be sent into reverse by changing the initial conditions. "It's like a moonwalk," jokes Tangpanitanon. It looks like everything should be moving forward, but instead the particles go backwards due to quantum effects.
Co-author Pedram Roushan - part of the Google group in Santa Barbara, California building superconducting circuits for quantum computing - and the team hopes to see the idea implemented in similar hardware. "This paper is almost a blueprint. We developed the proposal to match existing devices," says Angelakis, who is a Principal Investigator at CQT and a faculty member at the Technical University of Crete.
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Reference: Jirawat Tangpanitanon et al, 'Topological Pumping of Photons in Nonlinear Resonator Arrays', Physical Review Letters 117, 213603 (2016) https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.213603 Preprint available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.04050
This research is supported by Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 3 (Grant No. MOE2012-T3-1-009), National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore and the Ministry of Education, Singapore under the Research Centres of Excellence programme. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) Grant Agreement No. 319286 Q-MAC and UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding EP/K038311/1.
Researcher Contact:
Dimitris Angelakis
Principal Investigator, Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore
Assistant Professor, Technical University of Crete, Greece
dimitris.angelakis@gmail.com
+65 6601 1468
WASHINGTON, DC - A Children's National Health System research team has uncovered a novel process by which the gene APOL1 contributes to renal disease, according to a paper published November 18 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Mutated versions of the APOL1 gene render people of African descent at heightened risk of developing chronic kidney disease. Employing powerful genetic approaches, Children's National researchers were able to mimic APOL1 renal cell pathology in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. This opens the door to pinpointing other proteins that interact with APOL1, a vital first step toward identifying medicines to treat renal diseases that currently have no drug therapy.
"This is one of the hottest research topics in the kidney field. We are the first group to generate this result in fruit flies," says Zhe Han, PhD, a senior Drosophila specialist and associate professor in the Center for Cancer & Immunology Research at Children's. Han, senior author of the paper, will present the study results this week during Kidney Week 2016, the American Society of Nephrology's annual gathering in Chicago that is expected to draw more than 13,000 kidney professionals from around the world.
The advantages of Drosophila for biomedical research include its rapid generation time and an unparalleled wealth of sophisticated genetic tools to probe deeply into fundamental biological processes underlying human diseases. People of African descent frequently inherit a mutant version of the APOL1 gene that affords protection from African sleeping sickness, but is associated with a 17- to 30-fold greater chance of developing certain types of kidney disease. That risk is even higher for individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Drosophila renal cells, called nephrocytes, accurately mimic pathological features of human kidney cells during APOL1-associated renal disease.
"Nephrocytes share striking structural and functional similarities with mammalian podocytes and renal proximal tubule cells, and therefore provide us a simple model system for kidney diseases," says Han, who has studied the fruit fly for 20 years and established the fly nephrocyte as a glomerular kidney disease model in 2013 with two research papers in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
In this most recent study, Han's team cloned a mutated APOL1 gene from podocyte cells cultured from a patient with HIV-associated nephropathy. They created transgenic flies making human APOL1 in nephrocytes and observed that initially the transgene caused increased cellular functional activity. As flies aged, however, APOL1 led to reduced cellular function, increased cell size, abnormal vesicle acidification, and accelerated cell death.
"The main functions of nephrocytes are to filter proteins and remove toxins from the fly's blood, to reabsorb protein components, and to sequester harmful toxins. It was surprising to see that these cells first became more active and temporarily functioned at higher levels," says Han. "The cells got bigger and stronger but, ultimately, could not sustain that enhancement. After swelling to almost twice their normal size, the cells died. Hypertrophy is the way that the human heart responds to stress overload. We think kidney cells may use the same coping mechanism."
The Children's research team is a multidisciplinary group with members from the Center for Cancer & Immunology Research, the Center for Genetic Medicine Research, and the Division of Nephrology.The team also characterized fly phenotypes associated with APOL1 expression that will facilitate the design and execution of powerful Drosophila genetic screening approaches to identify proteins that interact with APOL1 and contribute to disease mechanisms. Such proteins represent potential therapeutic targets. Currently, transplantation is the only option for patients with kidney disease linked to APOL1.
"This is only the beginning," Han says. "Now, we have an ideal pre-clinical model. We plan to start testing off-the-shelf therapeutic compounds, for example different kinase inhibitors, to determine whether they block any of the steps leading to renal cell disease."
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By PTI: Colombo, Nov 18 (PTI) A cousin of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as the countrys ambassador in the US and Canada, has been arrested here for alleged misappropriation of Rs 3 million.
Jaliya Wickremasuriya was arrested by polices Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) last night from the Colombo international airport for alleged misappropriation of 3 million rupees.
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He was remandedin to police custody till December 2.
Wickremasuriya is a cousin of Rajapaksa. His arrest comes as many of Rajapaksas family members have faced prosecution since the strongman was defeated by Maithripala Sirisena in the presidential election last year.
Rajapaksas have slammed the action against them as a political witch hunt.
They have alleged that polices FCID is working to fulfil the political agenda of the current government. PTI CORR ASK AKJ ASK
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On the occasion of the 9th European Antibiotic Awareness Day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is releasing its latest EU-wide data on antibiotic resistance and antibiotic consumption. In 2015, antibiotic resistance continued to increase for most bacteria and antibiotics under surveillance. In particular, the EU average percentage of carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae increased from 6.2% in 2012 to 8.1% in 2015, and combined resistance to carbapenems and polymyxins (e.g. colistin) was sometimes reported. These two groups of antibiotics are considered last-line antibiotics as they usually are the last treatment options for patients infected with bacteria resistant to other available antibiotics. While antibiotic consumption in hospitals significantly increased in several EU Member States, antibiotic consumption in the community decreased in six EU Member States.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: "Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. If we don't tackle it, we can go back to a time when even the simplest medical operations were not possible, and organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy or intensive care even less so". He added: "The European Commission will launch a new Action Plan next year so that we can, together with our partners in the EU Member States and internationally, continue to ensure that the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance is strengthened within a one-health approach".
ECDC Acting Director, Dr Andrea Ammon, said: "Antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae is of increasing concern in Europe. More than one third of the isolates reported to ECDC for 2015 were resistant to at least one of the antibiotic groups under surveillance, and combined resistance to multiple antibiotic groups was common. Moreover, the emergence of K. pneumoniae infections with combined resistance to carbapenems and colistin is worrisome and an important warning that options for treatment are now even more limited than in the past". Dr Ammon added: "However, the decrease of antibiotic consumption in the community in six countries is a positive sign and shows that we are starting to use antibiotics more prudently. Prudent use of antibiotics is pivotal, both in the community and in hospitals, to ensure that these drugs remain effective".
ECDC's data also show that antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli, one of the most frequent causes of bloodstream infections and community- and healthcare-associated urinary tract infections, requires close attention as the percentages of isolates resistant to commonly used antibiotics continues to increase throughout Europe. In contrast, the percentage of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) showed a significantly decreasing trend at EU/EEA level between 2012 and 2015. Despite this positive development, MRSA remains a public health priority as eight out of thirty countries reported percentages above 25%.
Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe said: "Surveillance of antibiotic resistance is the backbone of our work in defence of antibiotics' effectiveness. Until we know where resistance is, we cannot prioritize action. This is why we focus on expanding the map of antibiotic resistance beyond the European Union countries through the Central Asian and Eastern European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR) network. What the report indicates is of concern: our patients are exposed to resistant bacteria in hospitals due to overuse and misuse of antibiotics and poor infection prevention and control. We urge our leaders to use this evidence and accelerate their response to a major global health threat of our time".
Activities promoting prudent use of antibiotics are organised in more than 40 countries across the European Region during the week of 18 November to mark European Antibiotic Awareness Day. ECDC works jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, and partners World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
ECDC, in cooperation with the European Commission, will host an EU-level launch event entitled "European Antibiotic Awareness Day: the future is now". The planned interventions will not only present the current situation and future steps at EU level, but will also aim at highlighting how resistance to antibiotics is affecting our lives today and what can be done by different sectors to ensure that they remain effective. It will take place on 18 November 2016, from 9:30 to 13:00 CET, and will be web streamed here: http://bit.ly/2f7IgiQ. ECDC and partner organisations will be live tweeting from the event using #EAAD2016.
Following the success of last year's 24-hour Global Twitter conversation on antibiotic resistance and prudent use of antibiotics around the world, ECDC is again coordinating a Global Twitter conversation on 18 November, hosted jointly by participating organisations from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and WHO Headquarters and the WHO Regional Offices. The hashtags that will be used are #AntibioticResistance and #EAAD2016.
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About European Antibiotic Awareness Day
European Antibiotic Awareness Day is a European health initiative coordinated by ECDC which aims to provide a platform and support for national campaigns on the prudent use of antibiotics. Each year across Europe, the European Antibiotic Awareness Day is marked by national campaigns on the prudent use of antibiotics during the week of 18 November. Prudent use means only using antibiotics when they are needed, with the correct dose, dosage intervals and duration of the course. Follow #EAAD2016. http://antibiotic.ecdc.europa.eu
About World Antibiotic Awareness Week
The World Health Organization is leading the World Antibiotic Awareness Week with the slogan "Antibiotics: Handle with Care". The campaign calls on individuals, governments and health and agriculture professionals to take action to address this urgent health problem. The second World Antibiotic Awareness Week will take place on 14-20 November. Follow #AntibioticResistance.
http://www.who.int/antimicrobial-resistance/events/world-antibiotic-awareness-week-2016/en/
More information:
ECDC Surveillance Atlas of Infectious Diseases http://atlas.ecdc.europa.eu/public/index.aspx?Instance=GeneralAtlas
European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/activities/surveillance/EARS-Net/Pages/index.aspx
European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net) http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/antimicrobial_resistance/esac-net-database/Pages/database.aspx
ECDC news release http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eaad/antibiotics-news/news-release/Pages/news-release.aspx
ECDC Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-associated Infections Programme http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/antimicrobial-resistance-and-consumption/antimicrobial-resistance-healthcare-associated-infections-programme/Pages/ARHAI.aspx
Further information:
WHO Headquarters: http://www.who.int/drugresistance
WHO Regional Office for Europe: http://www.euro.who.int/amr
CEASAR Annual Report 2016 http://www.euro.who.int/en/2016/CAESAR-annual-report-2016
United States - Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work: http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/week/index.html
Canada: http://www.canada.ca/antibiotics and http://www.canada.ca/antibiotiques
Australia - Antibiotic Awareness Week: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/healthcare-associated-infection/antimicrobial-stewardship/antibiotic-awareness-week/ and http://www.nps.org.au/bemedicinewise/antibiotic_resistance/antibiotic_awareness_week
New Zealand: http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/antimicrobial-resistance
Media contact:
ECDC press office
Tel: +46 (0)8 586 01 678
Email: press@ecdc.europa.eu
Social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eaad_eu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EAAD.EU
A new study conducted by researchers at Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine helps put to rest a longstanding controversy and question about children with autism spectrum disorder.
Eye-tracking measures developed by the group demonstrate that young children with autism do not avoid eye contact on purpose; instead, they miss the significance of social information in others' eyes.
While reduced eye contact is a well-known symptom of autism used in early screeners and diagnostic instruments, why children with autism look less at other people's eyes has not been known. New research, reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, helps answer that question.
"This is important because we're disentangling very different understandings of autism," said Jennifer Moriuchi, a graduate student at Emory University. "Depending on why you think children with autism are making less eye contact, you might have different approaches to treatment and different ideas about the brain basis of autism. Drug treatments and behavioral interventions are already being developed and tested on the basis of these different explanations. By clarifying which explanation is correct, we can make sure that we're addressing the correct underlying concern."
Two explanations for reduced eye contact have been proposed. One explanation holds that children with autism avoid eye contact because they find it stressful and negative. The other explanation holds that children with autism look less at other people's eyes because the social cues from the eyes are not perceived as particularly meaningful or important.
The new research, conducted on the day when children were first diagnosed, shows that young children with autism do not actively avoid eye contact, and it confirms that other people's eyes are not aversive to young children with autism. Instead, young children with autism look less at the eyes because they appear to miss the social significance of eye contact.
Together with Drs. Ami Klin and Warren Jones, Moriuchi studied how 86 two-year-old children with and without autism paid attention to other people's eyes. Children with autism watched a series of carefully made videos. "Before each video, we flashed a small picture to capture the child's attention, and when they looked to where the picture had been, they found that they were either looking directly at another person's eyes or looking away from the eyes," said Moriuchi. "When we did this repeatedly, we found that young children with autism continued to look straight at the eyes. Like their peers without autism, they didn't look away from the eyes or try to avoid the eyes in any way."
However, when varying levels of socially meaningful eye contact were presented, children with autism looked less at other people's eyes than their peers without autism. "These results go against the idea that young children with autism actively avoid eye contact," said Warren Jones. "They're looking less at the eyes not because of an aversion to making eye contact, but because they don't appear to understand the social significance of eye contact."
The researchers studied eye gaze responses in young children with autism at the time of their initial diagnosis in order to have clearer evidence about the initial underlying reasons for reduced eye contact. Some adults and older children with autism have reported feeling anxious in response to eye contact. "Our results aren't meant to contradict these personal experiences," emphasized Jones. "For children with autism, social signals can be confusing. And as children grow up to be adults, those signals can become even more challenging to understand. This research highlights the opportunity to target the right underlying concerns as early as possible."
"Studies like this one help advance our understanding of autism and improve the way scientists and clinicians develop new treatments," said Lisa Gilotty, Chief of the Research Program on Autism Spectrum Disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the agencies that funded the study. Additional support was given by the Autism Science Foundation, the Marcus Foundation, the Whitehead Foundation, and the Georgia Research Alliance.
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Jennifer Moriuchi is a graduate student in the Psychology Department at Emory University. Ami Klin, PhD, is director of Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and is Chief of the Division of Autism & Related Disorders in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Warren Jones, PhD, is Director of Research at the Marcus Autism Center and faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.
Marcus Autism Center
The Marcus Autism Center is a not-for-profit organization and an affiliate of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta that works with than 5,000 children and families affected by autism each year. As one of the largest autism centers in the U.S. and one of three National Institutes of Health Autism Centers of Excellence, Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive evaluations and intensive behavior treatments. With the help of research grants, community support and government funding, Marcus Autism Center aims to maximize the potential of children with autism today and transform the very nature of autism for future generations. Visit marcus.org for more information.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has been 100 percent dedicated to kids for more than 100 years. A not-for-profit organization, Children's is dedicated to making kids better today and healthier tomorrow. Our specialized care helps children get better faster and live healthier lives. Managing more than 920,000 patient visits annually at three hospitals and 27 neighborhood locations, Children's is the largest healthcare provider for children in Georgia and one of the largest pediatric clinical care providers in the country. Children's offers access to more than 60 pediatric specialties and programs and is ranked among the top children's hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report. With generous philanthropic and volunteer support since 1915, Children's has impacted the lives of children in Georgia, the United States and throughout the world. Visit http://www.choa.org for more information.
Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
Faculty-physicians in the Emory Department of Pediatrics provide the highest quality state-of-the-art clinical care, with a commitment to improving treatment for children through scientific research as well as training the next generation of leaders in pediatrics.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State University researcher Joseph Franklin made a startling discovery during an exhaustive examination of hundreds of suicide prediction studies conducted over the past 50 years:
Science is still not very good at predicting who will kill themselves.
In a new study published today in the journal Psychological Bulletin, Franklin and his colleagues found traditional risk factors -- such as depression, substance abuse, stress or previous suicide attempts -- were not good predictors of suicide.
"Nothing was better than chance," said Franklin, assistant professor of psychology at Florida State. "It's like you guessing, or flipping a coin, is as good as the best suicide expert in the world who has all the information about a person's life. That was pretty sobering for us and sobering for the field because it says all the stuff we've been doing for the past 50 years hasn't produced any real progress in terms of prediction."
That lack of progress is highlighted by the facts: Suicide rates in the United States are at their highest levels in 30 years. More than 40,000 Americans will kill themselves this year. Every day, 117 people take their own lives.
If you compare historical rates for suicide, homicide and car deaths, you find a disturbing truth: In the 1970s, you were more likely to be killed by someone else or in a car crash than to kill yourself. Today, with tougher crime laws and better car safety features, the opposite is true. You are far more likely to die by your own hand.
Franklin's project -- a meta-analysis of 365 suicide studies -- found past research was flawed because it typically focused on a single risk factor, such as depression or low serotonin in the brain, and then followed patients over a decade. That type of long-term approach produced incomplete risk factors that did not accurately identify who needed mental health assistance.
Franklin completed the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. He and his colleagues -- Jessica Ribeiro, faculty researcher in FSU's department of psychology and Colin Walsh, assistant professor at Vanderbilt University -- want to change the way someone is determined to be at risk for suicide. They think a shorter-term method, using artificial intelligence, will produce more accurate risk factors.
That's why they are testing a "machine-learning" method employing algorithms to identify risk factors for suicidal behavior.
Franklin compared it to the Google search algorithm that combines hundreds of factors based on personal search history, and more, to find accurate results. The machine-learning method combines hundreds of factors from a person's health history to improve the accuracy of suicide prediction. This method can easily be implemented across large hospital networks with millions of patients.
"This work is still in progress, but it represents a huge advance in a short amount of time," Franklin said. "We believe this line of work will take us from 'I have no idea' to 'I can tell you pretty strongly that this is going to happen.'"
Then, once more accurate risk factors are identified, Franklin hopes to expand the use of new technology to battle suicide and mental illness on a large scale.
The team of researchers has already developed a free web app that's proven effective in trials at reducing suicidal behaviors. The app, called "Tec-Tec," is available on iTunes and Amazon right now. Franklin hopes millions of people will eventually use it.
"Our studies so far have shown that the app alone reduced suicidal behaviors by about 50 percent over the course of a month in hundreds of people," Franklin said. "And it's free, so anyone can have access to this treatment that can work pretty well at no cost. It's an example of something you can create that may be effective and could be available to anyone with internet access."
Franklin brings a can-do attitude to these goals: Better understand the causes of suicide and predict who will develop suicidal behaviors with an accuracy rate near 100 percent.
"If you can do that with millions of people, then you can make population-level impacts on these things," he said.
As for current suicide risk factors, Franklin warned against discarding them. He recommended therapists continue using the guidelines but said there's an urgent need to re-evaluate them.
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The study published today, "Risk Factors for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis of 50 Years of Research," included contributions from Ribeiro; Kathryn R. Fox, Evan M. Kleiman, Adam C. Jaroszewski, and Matthew K. Nock, all of Harvard University; Xieyining Huang and Katherine M. Musacchio of Vanderbilt University; Bernard P. Chang of Columbia University Medical Center; and Kate H. Bentley of Boston University.
It was funded in part by the Military Suicide Research Consortium. Additional funding was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
FRANKFURT. The first Research Training Group ever with a focus on film studies will be established in the course of the coming year at Goethe University Frankfurt. This was announced by the German Research Foundation on the 14th of November. In the framework of the RTG with the title "Configurations of Film", twelve doctoral researchers and two post-docs will examine from 2017 onwards how film culture is changing in the context of advancing digitalisation in various areas.
Contemporary film culture is often referred to as the "post-cinematographic era". Professor Vinzenz Hediger, scholar and film expert at the University who will also be the RTG's speaker, remarks: "Film has expanded its reach more and more beyond public screenings in the cinema. With the proliferation of digital platforms, new forms are developing and new patterns of cinematic experience emerge." At the same time, film serves increasingly as a creative template in theatre, fine arts and music. Hediger says: "As films circulate ever more widely, they affect other art forms and have a growing impact on other areas of life, including interpersonal communication. This increasing presence of filmic images and formats in all areas of life also constitutes a growing societal challenge."
The "Configurations of Film" RTG of the German Research Foundation wants to take on this challenge by investigating the current transformations of film and their impact on other art forms and areas of life from an interdisciplinary perspective. The RTG combines an emphasis on historical research with systematic and comparative perspectives; in addition, the programme will use digital methods for film analysis and data mining on the internet, with which, for example, the proliferation of new film formats via platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo can be tracked.
The Research Training Group will build on successful cooperation between Goethe University Frankfurt and the German Film Institute (Deutsches Filminstitut), which together run the Masters degree programme in "Film Culture: Archiving, Programming, Presentation", and profit from links to other cultural institutions in the Rhine-Main region. The RTG also builds on the interdisciplinary Masters degree programme in "Aesthetics", which is unique to Frankfurt and in which all the disciplines participating in the RTG are also involved.
Twelve doctoral researchers and two post-docs, who can apply for a German Research Foundation scholarship in the framework of the Research Training Group, will start with their research in 2017. They will be supervised and mentored by 15 researchers from six universities: Goethe University Frankfurt, Offenbach University of Art and Design, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the University of Mannheim and Philipps University Marburg. Alongside film studies and media studies, the disciplines involved include theatre studies, philosophy, musicology, literary studies and sociology. The RTG has an international focus and cooperates with the film studies programmes at Yale University (New Haven, USA) and Concordia University (Montreal, Canada). Funding amounts to about 3.3 million for the first phase from 2017 to 2022.
In the spirit of the "citizen's university", the study programme will include a series of public lectures and events, for example at b3, the Biennale of the Moving Image, and at the cinema of the German Film Museum (Deutsches Filmmuseum), in the framework of which the RTG's themes and research questions will be discussed in public and address a broader audience.
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HOUSTON -- (Nov. 18, 2016) -- Scientists from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions are using synthetic biology to capture elusive, short-lived snippets of DNA that healthy cells produce on their way to becoming cancerous.
Researchers said the work could lead to the development of new drugs that could prevent cancer by neutralizing "DNA intermediates," key pieces of genetic code that are produced when healthy cells become cancerous. The research is described in a new paper in the open-access journal Science Advances.
"In my lab we study how the genome -- the genes in an organism -- changes, in particular, how the genome of normal cells changes to transform the cells into cancerous cells," said project lead scientist Susan Rosenberg, Baylor's Ben F. Love Chair in Cancer Research and the leader of the Cancer Evolvability Program at Baylor's Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
When cells divide and make copies of the instructions encoded in their DNA, the DNA unwinds and becomes vulnerable to damage that must be repaired. Sometimes the process of repairing the DNA can also cause mutations and errors. When these errors accumulate, the cells may acquire characteristics of cancer.
"The process of editing the DNA is carried out by specific enzymes -- proteins that work on DNA to fix the mistakes," said Rosenberg, who is also an adjunct professor in Rice's Department of BioSciences.
She said DNA repair usually takes several steps to complete. Between the original DNA and the final product, cells produce DNA reaction intermediates, which are crucial to the reaction but are difficult to study because they are present for just a fraction of a second as an enzyme catalyzes the changing of one molecule into another.
"The intermediate molecules are the most important parts of biochemical reactions," said Rosenberg, who holds appointments in Baylor's departments of Molecular and Human Genetics, Molecular Virology and Microbiology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. "They define what the reaction is and how it will proceed. But because they are transient and elusive, it's really difficult to study them, especially in living cells. We wanted to do that. We decided to invent synthetic proteins that would trap DNA reaction intermediates in living cells."
Qian Mei, a graduate student in Rice's Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology program and a research assistant in the Rosenberg lab, took on the task of applying the synthetic protein that could capture the short-lived intermediates. Using the tools of synthetic biology, Rosenberg and colleagues created and added packages of genes to Escherichia coli, an organism that Rosenberg's group and others have shown to be a reliable model of the genetic changes that occur in animal cells.
Rosenberg said other investigators also have attempted to trap intermediates, but they have only succeeded in a few biochemical reactions.
"We want to use synthetic proteins to study mechanisms that change DNA sequence," she said. "We do that now with genetics and genomics in my lab. But genomics, which allows us to compare the genes of normal cells with those of cancerous cells, is like reading the fossil record of these processes. We want to see how the real-time processes that change DNA happen, including all the intermediate steps, which our synthetic proteins allow us to freeze in time and isolate."
In their tests on , Mei, Rosenberg and colleagues from Baylor, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found they could discover molecular mechanisms underlying genome instability, a hallmark of cancer. In one instance, they discovered a new role for an protein that is related to five human cancer proteins. They then analyzed gene-expression data from human cancers and were able to implicate two of the five -related human cancer proteins in potentially promoting cancer by a similar mechanism -- one not previously implicated.
"The most exciting part in this paper for me is that we can learn something new about the mechanisms of cancer from the model," said Mei, co-first author of the new paper. "Even though bacteria and human cells are very different, many DNA repair proteins are highly conserved through evolution; this makes a good model to study how cells repair DNA or accumulate mutations."
Rosenberg and colleagues think that their approach offers significant advantages. For instance, with the synthetic proteins, they have been able to identify specific DNA-repair intermediate molecules, their numbers in cells, rates of formation and locations in the genome and the molecular reactions in which they participate.
"It is most exciting that we are now able to trap, map and quantify transient DNA reaction intermediates in single living cells," said co-first author Jun Xia, graduate student in the Rosenberg lab and in the Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences program at Baylor. "This new technology helps us reveal the origins of genome instability."
"When you know these reactions and the role each intermediate plays in the mechanisms that change DNA, you can think about making drugs that will stop them," Rosenberg said. "In the future, we hope we will be able to design drugs that target specific types of cancers -- drugs that block the cells' ability to evolve into cancer cells, instead of, or in addition to, traditional chemotherapies that kill or stop cancer cells from growing."
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Other contributors to the work include Li-Tzu Chen, Chien-Hui Ma, Jennifer Halliday, Hsin-Yu Lin, David Magnan, John Pribis, Devon Fitzgerald, Holly Hamilton, Megan Richters, Ralf Nehring, Xi Shen, Lei Li, David Bates, P.J. Hastings, Christophe Herman and Makkuni Jayaram.
The research was supported by the WM Keck Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the National Science Foundation, the Welch Foundation, Baylor College of Medicine, the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the John S. Dunn Gulf Coast Consortium for Chemical Genomics.
VIDEO is available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOpkEhHzjA&feature=youtu.be
High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at:
http://news.rice.edu/files/2016/11/161118-PROTEINS-lab-lg-w6sy5r.jpg
CAPTION: (From left) Baylor College of Medicine's Susan Rosenberg discusses research aimed at capturing elusive, short-lived "DNA intermediates," key pieces of genetic code that are produced when healthy cells become cancerous, with Baylor graduate student Jun Xia and Rice University graduate student Qian Mei, who are co-first authors on a new paper about the work in Science Advances. (Photo courtesy of Baylor College of Medicine)
http://news.rice.edu/files/2016/11/161118-PROTEINS-img-lg-1bjffna.jpg
CAPTION: The orange wheel shows the circular chromosome or genome of bacteria. The spikes indicate where a molecular intermediate in DNA repair -- four-way DNA junctions -- accumulate near a reparable double strand break in the genome. (Image courtesy of Jun Xia and Qian Mei)
The DOI of the Science Advances paper is: 10.1126/sciadv.1601605
A copy of the paper is available at: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/11/e1601605
This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,910 undergraduates and 2,809 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.
The length of time donor lungs could be preserved prior to transplant could be safely extended to more than 12 hours--more than double the average 5-6 hour standard time [1]--without jeopardising recipient outcomes, by using a combination of cold preservation and a new technique called ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP), whereby the lung is kept alive outside the body and supported by a supply of oxygen and nutrients.
The new study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, found that patients who received a donor lung preserved for more than 12 hours had similar survival at 1 year post transplant to those who received lungs preserved for less than 12 hours. The findings suggest that this new approach could increase the availability of donor organs by reducing geographical limitations on donors and recipients, and enabling organs to be transported over longer distances to recipients further away than previously viable.
Currently, about 200 adults are waiting for a lung transplant in Canada, and over 1500 in the USA [1]. About a quarter of those on the waiting list will die before they receive a transplant. Lung transplantation requires the donor organ to be stored and transported from the donor to the recipient. Traditionally, donor lungs have been flushed and preserved at cold temperatures to reduce tissue decomposition during transport. But the generally accepted maximum time from when an organ is removed from the donor, cooled, and then transplanted into the recipient is 6 to 8 hours.
The recent development and use of EVLP around the world has completely altered the basic theory of lung preservation from slowing tissue death to preserving life, in order to allow and enhance recovery. This new technique involves continuously perfusing or pumping a bloodless solution containing oxygen, proteins, and nutrients into donor lungs to give doctors the opportunity to protect, assess and treat the lungs while they are outside the body and make them suitable for transplantation.
"We have been using EVLP as standard practice to assess high-risk donor lungs for the last decade and almost 300 patients have benefited from this technology at our centre to date", explains lead author Dr Marcelo Cypel, Thoracic Surgeon at Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. "Donor lungs are transported cold to the hospital where they are warmed, evaluated and then cooled again until they are transplanted into the recipient. Because assessing the lungs using EVLP takes at least 4 hours, total preservation times have regularly exceeded 8 hours."[2]
Intrigued by the technique's possibilities for extending overall preservation times, Cypel and his team retrospectively examined data on the outcomes of 906 patients (aged 18 or older) who received a lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital between 2006 and 2015. They compared patients who had received a lung that had been preserved (i.e. the sum of cold preservation and normal temperature EVLP) for more than 12 hours (97 patients; 95% donor organs underwent EVLP) with those who were given lungs preserved for less than 12 hours (809; 5% underwent EVLP).
They found that despite the use of higher-risk lungs in the more than 12-hour group, the average length of time recipients spent in the intensive care unit and in hospital post-transplant were similar in both groups (table 2). Additionally, the life-threatening complication of immediate graft dysfunction and survival at 1 year did not differ between the two groups (figure 2). Further analysis also showed that cold preservation and EVLP time did not affect survival (table 4). Older recipient age was the only factor that was linked with reduced survival.
"It is important to remember that the lungs preserved for more than 12 hours using EVLP started out as more injured lungs. In fact, many of them might have been turned down for transplantation in the past. That they performed similar to conventional lungs with shorter preservation times suggests EVLP provides additional benefit over cold preservation", says first author Dr Jonathan Yeung, also from Toronto General Hospital [2].
The authors point to several limitations including the study's retrospective nature and the fact that it was conducted at a single institution. Additionally, the maximum safe preservation time for human lung transplantation remains unknown. They say that clinical trials are now needed to understand the optimum combination of cold and normal temperature EVLP lung preservation methods.
According to Dr Cypel, "At a time when there is a critical shortage of lungs available for transplantation, combining cold preservation and EVLP will hopefully make a lot more donor lungs available for successful transplantation. This approach has allowed our Toronto-based programme to essentially abolish any geographical boundaries to donor lung retrieval in North America. The safe extension of preservation time not only has the potential to give clinicians extra time to evaluate, but also to treat and recondition donated organs that would otherwise not be used. Extra preservation time also allows additional flexibility in planning recipient surgery and gives more time to transport the donor lung from the EVLP site to the recipients' operating room."[2]
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
Jonathan C Yeung (JCY), Thorsten Krueger (TK), Shaf Keshavjee (SK), and Marcelo Cypel (MC) conceived the study and contributed to its design. All authors participated in the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data. JCY, Thomas K Waddell (TKW), and MC contributed to the statistical analysis. JCY, SK, and MC contributed to drafting the paper. MC, TKW, and SK are co-founders of Perfusix Canada, XOR Labs Toronto, and consultants for Lung Bioengineering, United Therapeutics.
[1] Data from United Network for Organ Sharing, USA https://www.unos.org/
[2] Quotes direct from authors and cannot be found in text of Article.
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A new research, affiliated with UNIST has presented a novel strategy for non-precious metal catalyst that can replace rare and expensive platinum(Pt)-based catalyst, currently used in hydrogen fuel cell.
In their study, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Professor Sang Hoon Joo of Energy and Chemical Engineering and his team have devised a new synthetic strategy to boost the activity of iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon (Fe-N/C) catalyst that can realize low-cost hydrogen fuel cell.
Hydrogen fuel cell generates electricity with hydrogen and oxygen, producing water as a byproduct. Precious platinum(Pt) has been used in commercialized fuel cell. However, the high cost of Pt (>40$ per g) hampers widespread application of the fuel cell.
The research team has attempted to develop high-performance non-precious metal catalyst which can substitute for state-of-the-art Pt-based catalysts. In this research, they focused on carbon-based catalyst with iron and nitrogen due to low cost and high activity (Fe-N/C catalyst). During the preparation of the Fe-N/C catalysts, high-temperature heat-treatment at over 700 ? is commonly required to endow high catalystic activity, but unfortunately this treatment also diminishes the number of active site. The active site refers to the place where rate-determining catalytic reaction occurs.
To solve the problem, they have introduced 'silica-protective-layer' approach. The silica layer effectively preserved the active site at high-temperature, preventing the destruction of the active site.
The novel Fe-N/C catalyst prepared by 'silica-protective-layer' approach showed very high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity which is comparable to Pt catalyst. ORR is an electrochemical reaction at the cathode of hydrogen fuel cell. Due to 1-million-times slower reaction kinetics of ORR at the cathode compared with hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode, ORR is a major factor for a large drop of the efficiency of fuel cell. Up to date, expensive Pt has been used primarily as an efficient ORR catalyst.
The research team realized a record high activity by employing their catalyst as the cathode catalyst of alkaline membrane fuel cell (one type of hydrogen fuel cell). The team also demonstrated very high performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), in which the developed catalyst showed the activity of 320 A cm-3, exceeding 2020 US Department of Energy (DOE) activity target for non-precious metal catalyst (300 A cm-3).
"Our novel strategy for high-performance catalyst is expected to hasten the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell, and the catalyst design can be also applied to other energy storage and conversion devices." says Prof. Joo.
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This research has been published on November 2nd in JACS (Journal of the American Chemical Society), a world renowned journal in the field of chemistry.
This work has been supported by the Korea Evaluation Institute Of Industrial Technology (KEIT) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
Journal Reference
Young Jin Sa and Sang Hoon Joo et al. "A General Approach to Preferential Formation of Active Fe-Nx Sites in Fe-N/C Electrocatalysts for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction", JACS, (2016).
Two UNIST professors have distinguished themselves with inclusion in the 2016 list of Highly Cited Researchers, a yearly distinction released by Clarivate Analytics, formerly the Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters. The report revealed that UNIST also recorded the most number of highly cited researchers in the field of materials science among research institutions in South Korea.
The latest Highly Cited Researcher listing by Thomson Reuters recognizes leading researchers in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences from around the world. The new Thomson-Reuters list evaluated close to 130,000 highly cited papers in science and social sciences journals, indexed in the Web of Science Collection over an 11-year period from January 2004 to December 2014. Highly Cited Papers are defined as those that ranked among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, earning them the mark of exceptional impact.
In 2016 edition, about 3,000 researchers who represent some of world's leading scientific minds earned the distinction. Twenty-eight scientists from South Korea made it on to the list, including Professor Rodney S. Ruoff of Natural Science and Professor Jaephil Cho of Energy and Chemical Engineering.
Professor Jaephil Cho, the world leading expert on secondary batteries, is the only South Korean researcher to be recognized as one of the world's top 1% researchers in materials science. Besides, this is the first time he has been included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers.
Professor Rodney S. Ruoff has been recognized by Thomson Reuters as one of the ten most cited researchers worldwide in all three fields of materials science, chemistry, as well as physics. Professor Ruoff made this list for the third time in a row.
"It is precisely this type of peer recognition, in the form of citations given and rooted in the collective and objective opinions of scientific field experts that makes achieving highly cited researcher status meaningful," said Jessica Turner, global head of government and academia at Clarivate Analytics.
Professor Rodney S. Ruoff, Director of the Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM) at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Distinguished Professor in the School of Natural Science at UNIST has made pioneering discoveries in carbon science for more than 20 years. In addition to being a world-leading pioneer in graphene and other carbon materials, in 2007, he has been ranked as the world's 16th top materials scientists by Thomson Reuters. Moreover, on July 14th, he has been also selected to receive the SGL Carbon (Skakel) Award for his outstanding and many contributions to the field of carbon materials.
Professor Jaephil Cho, professor and director of Research Center for Innovative Battery Technologies, is known as the world leading expert on secondary batteries. He is in possession of ultra-fast charging battery technology and is working hard in the lab to commercialize the technology. Dr. Cho is also the recipient of many honors, including Dong-A Inchon Award (Natural Science, Inchon Memorial Foundation, 2013), Knowledge Creation Award in Material Science (MSIP, 2013), Best ITRC Center Award (Minister of Science, ICT & FP, 2014), and ICT Innovation Prize (Prime Minster Award, MSIP, 2015).
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Pioneering new insights into why high concentrations of some of the most rare and desirable natural elements - vital for the production of vital environmental, digital and security technologies - have been revealed.
Pivotal new collaborative research, led by the world-famous Camborne School of Mines, based at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, provides a ground-breaking explanation of why remarkably high levels of these crucial earth elements are found at the Songwe Hill Rare Earth Project in Malawi, Southeast Africa.
The research team insisted that the new findings could pave the way for mining companies to significantly increase the likelihood of enhancing the global security of the supply of critical, yet rare, earth elements.
The innovative findings are published in the respected journal Ore Geology Reviews.
At present, many of the 15 naturally occurring rare earth elements are essential components in the vast majority of green and digital technology production and advances.
These include neodymium, a 'light rare earth' element vital for the production of permanent magnets in electric cars, wind turbines and smartphones; and 'heavy rare earth' elements such as dysprosium, europium and terbium which are used in lighting, anti-fraud and safety technologies.
However, all 15 are considered as "critical raw materials" by the European Union, due to risks of disruption to the supply by the dominant global producer, China.
The new research reveals that the Songwe Hill carbonatite - an igneous rock containing at least 50 per cent carbonate minerals - is composed not just of the relatively common rare earth mineral synchysite, but also the heavy rare earth-enriched variety of the mineral apatite.
This apatite is the key to why Songwe has a higher content of heavy rare earths than most other similar types of carbonatite host rock.
Dr Sam Broom-Fendley, lead author of the study said: "The occurrence of heavy rare earth rich apatite is particularly uncommon in carbonatites. Our work indicates that you need to 'simmer' these rocks in hot fluids to cause heavy rare earth enrichment. This is particularly useful as combined extraction of both light rare earth minerals and the heavy rare earth rich apatite creates a well-balanced deposit potentially suitable to support the growing magnetics industry."
The research team employed a variety of techniques including cathodoluminescence, laser ablation and electron microprobe analysis, to unravel the sequence of events that formed the rare mineral apatite. It was conducted in collaboration with the UK / Canadian exploration company Mkango Resources, who are working predominantly in Malawi.
William Dawes, CEO of Mkango Resources and co-author of the paper adds: "Mkango is very pleased to have collaborated on this pioneering research into heavy rare earth enrichment at Songwe. Our focus is on developing a new sustainable source of light and heavy rare earths outside China. Pushing the boundaries of research into rare earths through collaborations with leaders in the field is a core theme of the company's strategy."
Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy at Camborne School of Mines said, 'A better understanding how and where heavy rare earths can be concentrated helps exploration companies improve their deposit models and increases the chances of a new rare earth deposit coming into production."
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The research was funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council, including its Security of Supply of Minerals programme.
A newly discovered giant valley on the planet Mercury makes the Grand Canyon look tiny by comparison. Located by scientists at the University of Maryland, the Smithsonian Institution, the German Institute of Planetary Research and Moscow State University, the expansive valley holds an important key to the geologic history of the innermost planet in our solar system.
Discovered using stereo images from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, the "great valley" lies in the planet's southern hemisphere and overlaps the Rembrandt Basin--a large crater formed by a relatively recent impact from an asteroid or other such body. But the "great valley" formed in a much different way, according to a research paper published online November 16, 2016 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Unlike Earth, which has a crust and upper mantle (collectively known as the lithosphere) divided into multiple tectonic plates, Mercury has a single, solid lithosphere that covers the entire planet. As the planet cooled and shrank early in its history, roughly 3-4 billion years ago, Mercury's lithosphere buckled and folded to form the valley, much like the skin of a grape folds as it dries to become a raisin.
"This is a huge valley. There is no evidence of any geological formation on Earth that matches this scale," said Laurent Montesi, an assistant professor of geology at UMD and a co-author of the research paper. "Mercury experienced a very different type of deformation than anything we have seen on Earth. This is the first evidence of large-scale buckling of a planet."
The valley is about 250 miles wide and 600 miles long, with steep sides that dip as much as 2 miles below the surrounding terrain. To put this in perspective: if Mercury's "great valley" existed on Earth, it would be almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and reach from Washington, D.C. to New York City, and as far west as Detroit.
More notable than its size, according to Montesi, is how the valley most likely formed and what that reveals about Mercury's geologic history.
The valley's walls appear to be two large, parallel fault scarps--step-like structures where one side of a fault moved vertically with respect to the other. Both scarps plunge steeply to the flat valley floor below. According to Montesi and his co-authors, the best explanation is that Mercury's interior cooled rapidly, forming a strong, thick lithosphere. The entire floor of the newly discovered valley is one giant piece of this lithosphere that dropped between the two faults on either side.
This would make sense if, like most planets, Mercury has been steadily cooling since its formation. But Montesi notes that there are several clues to suggest that Mercury went through a more recent period of warming. This analysis, if true, would upend some time-tested assumptions about Mercury's geologic past.
"Most features on Mercury's surface are truly ancient, but there is evidence for recent volcanism and an active magnetic field. This evidence implies that the planet is warm inside," Montesi said. "Everyone thought Mercury was a very cold planet--myself included. But it looks like Mercury might have heated significantly in recent planetary history."
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The research paper, "Fault-bound Valley Associated with the Rembrandt Basin on Mercury," Thomas Watters, Laurent Montesi, Ju?rgen Oberst, and Frank Preusker, was first published online November 16, 2016 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
This work was supported by NASA (Award No. NNX07AR60G) and the Russian Science Foundation (Award No. 14-22-00197). The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.
Media Relations Contact: Matthew Wright, 301-405-9267, mewright@umd.edu
University of Maryland
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
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College Park, MD 20742
http://www.cmns.umd.edu
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About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.
Called the 'Declaration of States as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill, 2016', Chandrashekhar, an independent MP, had moved it after the Uri terror attack which had killed 19 soldiers.
By India Today Web Desk: Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar today introduced his Private Member's Bill in the Upper House to declare Pakistan as a terror country.
Called the 'Declaration of States as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill, 2016', Chandrashekhar, an independent MP, had moved it after the Uri terror attack which had killed 19 soldiers. He hoped the government would take note of the Bill.
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"I know that Private Member's Bill can hardly become law, but we have introduced this only to bring it to the government's notice," he said after the Bill was introduced.
He also thanked Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson PJ Kurien for allowing him to introduce the Bill.
After the Uri attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists, he had said that not just the US, even India should declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terror. The MP had also written to Prime Minster Narendra Modi asking the government to withdraw Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, which Pakistan has never reciprocated.
--- ENDS ---
DALLAS - November 18, 2016 - Proactive outreach to cirrhosis patients in a safety net health system successfully doubled their screening rates for liver cancer, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found.
Cirrhosis (liver disease) patients are at high risk to develop liver cancer, which is increasing in frequency an average of 3 percent annually and has a five-year overall survival rate of just 17.5 percent.
"Finding ways to reach patients at high risk of liver cancer is critical. Liver cancer has the fastest increasing mortality rate among solid tumors in the U.S.," said first author Dr. Amit G. Singal, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences, and a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This high mortality is primarily due to low rates of liver cancer screening and high rates of late-stage diagnosis."
The study randomly divided 1,800 cirrhosis patients at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas into three groups. The first group received mailed outreach invitations for screening ultrasound. The second group received similar outreach plus patient navigation, and the third received their usual care. Researchers learned that the group receiving mailed outreach invitations were most likely to schedule an ultrasound, which doubled the overall rate of screening.
The study appears in the journal Gastroenterology.
"Our study is one of the first interventions to improve liver cancer screening and early detection among at-risk patients. The vulnerable patient population we studied in our safety net health system are those who are at highest risk of dying from liver cancer, so this intervention helped those who might benefit the most," said Dr. Singal.
Only one-fourth of patients with cirrhosis in routine care are currently screened every six months for liver cancer with an ultrasound as recommended by national guidelines. Symptoms are not usually present when the cancer is in its early stages.
"Our research previously demonstrated that liver cancer screening is underused in clinical practice, with lower rates of screening among racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients," said senior author Dr. Ethan Halm, Director of the Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Chief of the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences. "Our new study presents a model of a proactive, population health outreach strategy that can improve liver cancer screening and early detection among those at highest risk of adverse outcomes." Dr. Halm holds the Walter Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine in Honor of Albert D. Roberts, M.D.
According to the National Cancer Institute, liver cancer is diagnosed in an estimated 39,230 people annually. In 2013, there were an estimated 54,954 people living with this cancer in the U.S. Risk factors include a diagnosis of fatty liver disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cirrhosis, or a combination of these diseases.
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Additional UT Southwestern faculty who contributed to the study include: Dr. Jasmin A. Tiro, Associate Professor of Clinical Science and member of the Simmons Cancer Center; and Dr. Jorge A. Marrero, Medical Director of Liver Transplantation, Associate Vice President, Clinical Transformation Officer, and Professor of Internal Medicine. Dr. Tiro, Dr. Marrero, Dr. Halm, and Dr. Singal are all members of the Simmons Cancer Center. Dr. Noel O. Santini from Parkland Health & Hospital System also contributed to the study.
This study was conducted as part of UT Southwestern's Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research with support from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Singal reported being on the speaker bureau for Bayer Pharmaceutical and receiving grant funding from Gilead Pharmaceuticals.
The Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Texas and one of just 47 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation. Simmons Cancer Center includes 13 major cancer care programs. In addition, the Center's education and training programs support and develop the next generation of cancer researchers and clinicians. Simmons Cancer Center is among only 30 U.S. cancer research centers to be designated by the NCI as a National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site.
Cancer that starts in the liver is called primary liver cancer. There are often no symptoms for early-stage liver cancer. Liver cancer can also develop in the bile ducts within the liver.
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
Cirrhosis
Fatty liver disease
Treatment Options
For primary liver cancer, treatment may include:
Surgery
Stereotactic radiation
Chemotherapy
Liver transplantation
Local ablative therapies
Clinical trials
Source: National Cancer Institute
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty includes many distinguished members, including six who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. The faculty of almost 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in about 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients and oversee approximately 2.2 million outpatient visits a year.
This news release is available on our website at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/news.
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Haiti - Politics : D-4, US statement about the Haitian elections
Four days before the elections scheduled for Sunday, November 20, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince declared :
"On November 20 Haitians will go to the polls to vote for their next president and members of parliament. We applaud the significant steps taken by the Government of Haiti and the Provisional Electoral Council following Hurricane Matthew to ensure that credible elections will occur as scheduled. We are encouraged by the improvements in the process made by the Provisional Electoral Council and urge all actors to participate fully and peacefully in the democratic process. We encourage all Haitian registered voters to exercise their civic rights and to vote for the candidates of their choice.
The United States notes with concern inflammatory rhetoric and incidents of violence that have occurred during the campaign. As the CEP noted in its press releases of 17 September, October 31, and November 14, all political parties have the obligation to ensure that their campaigns are carried out peacefully and in accordance with the law. We applaud the CEP's statement that it will not tolerate violence as part of the electoral process.
Electoral intimidation and violence are unacceptable and have negative impacts on citizen participation in elections. In these final days before the November 20 election, we continue to reiterate the importance of all governmental actors, including judicial, maintaining strict neutrality in the electoral process. We urge the CEP, Haitian National Police, and Government of Haiti to ensure that those who organize, finance, or participate in electoral intimidation and violence are held accountable under Haitian law. The United States is taking note of parties involved in electoral violence.
The United States reiterates its support for the completion of the electoral process as scheduled in order to allow an elected president to be seated in early 2017, as a result of fair and peaceful elections. We look forward to working with whomever the people of Haiti elect as we strengthen our longstanding partnership with Haiti. "
Haiti - Economy : Laurent Lamothe winner of the ABICC 2016 Award
This Thursday, November 17 in Florida, former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe will receive from the Association of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce in Florida, the ABICC 2016 Award for leadership in world trade before a crowd of important personalities of politics and business.
He will receive this prestigious distinction for his outstanding work as an entrepreneur in assisting developing country governments in the regulation and globalization of their innovative financing sectors for development, which have greatly helped to improve the competitiveness and economic sovereignty of these countries.
"I am proud to receive this prestigious award on behalf of my children, my family and every Haitian. This distinction is the culmination of the actions I have undertaken throughout my life to improve the living conditions of my fellow citizens and enable developing countries to find their way in an increasingly constraining world. My experience as former Prime Minister of Haiti has also allowed me to put my know-how to the benefit of the most needy. So it is with humility and gratitude that I receive this ABICC 2016 Award," declared Laurent Lamothe.
Recall that several major political and business figures have already received this award. These include Lech Walesa, former President of Poland (1999), Violeta Chamorro, former President of Nicaragua (2001), Enrique Iglesias, former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (2002), Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada Former President of Bolivia (2003), Cesar Gaviria, Former President of Colombia and Former Secretary General of the Organization of American States (2004), Oscar Arias, Former President of Costa Rica (2005), Luis Alberto MorenoPresident of the Inter-American Development Bank (2006), Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize and President of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh (2007) and Michelle Bachelet, current President of Chile (2010).
Learn more about Laurent Lamothe:
Laurent Lamothe held the post of Prime Minister of Haiti (May 2012 - December 2014). He received in November 2014 the Award of the "the most innovative leader in Latin America" https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12087-haiti-politic-laurent-lamothe-innovative-leader-of-the-year.html . Founder of the Louis G. Lamothe Foundation and LSL World Initiative (2015), Laurent Lamothe holds a BA in political science from Barry University in Miami and an MBA obtained in 1996 with honors from the University of St. Thomas . In 1998, Lamothe founded Global Voice Group SA (GVG), which is now considered as a global provider of ICT solutions for telecom and tax authorities.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - News : Zapping politics...
National Simulation of the Election Day
Friday will take place a simulation, linked to the running of the election day, throughout the territory. This day will mobilize all the Departmental Electoral Offices (BED) and Communals (BEC), as well as the great trainers, the main and deputy supervisors, the Members of the Voting Offices (MBV), the reservists (members in reserve, capable of supplementing failing members of polling stations...) and Electoral Security Officers (ESA)...
Privert's wife prays for elections
On Thursday morning, First Lady de facto, Dr. Ginette Michaud Privert attended a prayer meeting at the Kinam Hotel, invited by "Christian Businessperson Fellowship" and "Christian Ministry Leaders" who jointly interceded in favor of Haiti at the approach of elections.
Important publications in Le Moniteur
Wednesday in Le Moniteur special issue #17 have been published: the Regulations of the CEP on the processing of the Minutes; The Rules Governing the Operation of Electoral Materials Receiving Centers, the Provisional Electoral Council Rules on Voting Calculation Method and the CEP Rules on the Operation of the Voting Tabulation Centre.
4,251 CIN reprinted
The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) informs that the National Office of Identification (ONI) has reprinted 4,251 National Identification Cards (CIN), the CEP invites persons, having communicated the loss of their CIN to the ONI, to pass to the premises of the institution and to the other distribution points available https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19205-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html
D-4 Privert calls for collaboration
Wednesday, at the National Palace, as part of the elections scheduled for this Sunday, de facto President Jocelerme Privert met with the various actors of civil society including ADIH, ANMH, ISC / OCID, RNDDH , POHDH, AMIH and Digicel. During this important meeting, the Head of State show determination to facilitate the success of this electoral day and called in this sense to the collaboration of all the sectors of the national life.
PetroCaribe projects, high-level meeting
Wednesday, de facto President Jocelerme Privert, accompanied by Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles, had an important meeting around projects funded by the Petrocaribe funds. Participants included: Avion Fleurant (Planning), Yves Romain Bastien (Economy), Jacques Evelt Eveillard (Public Works) and Patrick Norame, Director General of the Monetization Bureau of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD)
HL/ HaitiLibre
Despite the chilling brutality of the Islamic State (ISIS), the harsh laws of Sunni Saudi Arabia and the hate speeches of mullahs from Tehran to Islamabad, the more extremist strains of radical Islam receive less criticism than they deserve.
Few want to meet the fate of the journalists and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo, murdered by Islamist terrorists, or Kamlesh Tiwari, still languishing in jail nearly a year after his allegedly derogatory comments on the Prophet.
Islamaphobia is rightly condemned. Hinduphobia though is acceptable in living rooms across upper middle-class urban India where secular poseurs are many in number.
In India its kosher, even fashionable among the nouveau elite, to be anti-Hindu.
Pathology
Well come to the pathology of this curious phenomenon in a bit but first a look at The Economists story on Muslims in India whom it calls An Uncertain Community.
The magazine grudgingly concedes that Indias Muslims have not, it is true, been officially persecuted, hounded into exile or systematically targeted by terrorists, as have minorities in other parts of the subcontinent, such as the Ahmadi sect in Pakistan.
The Economist has displayed poor editorial judgement so often (it backed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003) that its insight on secularism in India is predictably myopic.
And yet, the patronising, all-knowing tone it adopts towards Indias secular ethos echoes the position of Indias Hinduphobes.
Most Indian Hinduphobes are, strangely, Hindus.
They call themselves secular but are often not. Secularism requires religion-neutrality. They lack that. Bias colours their views.
So why are sophisticated, educated Hindus who aspire to be secular so Hinduphobic?
Because they completely misunderstand what real secularism means.
As I wrote in my book The New Clash of Civilizations, Influential sections of especially the electronic media, suffused with hearts bleeding from the wrong ventricle, are part of this great fraud played on Indias poverty-stricken Muslims communalism with an engaging secular mask.
The token Muslim is lionised from business to literature but the common Muslim languishes in his 69-year-old ghetto.
It is from such ghettos that raw recruits to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujaheedin (IM) are most easily found.
Indias religious diversity though is deeply embedded. Six of Indias highest constitutional functionaries have recently been Sikh (prime minister), Christian (UPA chairperson), Muslim (chief election commissioner), Parsi (chief justice of India), Dalit (speaker of the Lok Sabha) and Hindu (president).
There is no other country in the world with such breathtaking plurality at the highest level of leadership.
Consider Britain: only Protestant (not Catholic) Christians can be monarch.
In Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, minorities (including Muslim Ahmadis) have severely restricted rights.
Unlike burqa-banning Western democracies such as France and Belgium, Indian secularism does not separate church from state.
It allows them to swim together in a common, if sometimes, chaotic pool.
Atrocities
Politicians are the worst offenders. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee turns a blind eye to atrocities by Muslims against Hindus.
In a brazen exhibition of communal politics, she does so in order to secure Bengals 27 per cent Muslim electorate that, along with a small slice of the Hindu majority, can guarantee her over 40 per cent of the vote-share and a near-landslide in a four-cornered contest with the Left, BJP and fr-enemy Congress.
This sort of communal polarisation suits the BJP. The rise of majoritarianism has underpinned its success in states like Assam.
The biggest loser has been the Congress, the original communal polariser in the 1985 Shah Bano case. It is now reaping the ill wind.
The rise of Hindu extremist fringe elements is a direct consequence of decades of political parties pandering to minorities in the name of a fraudulent secularism.
Meanwhile, the mild, everyday Hindu, inured to caste stratification, fatalism, karma and centuries of Islamic and Christian-British subjugation, is an easy target for Hinduphobes.
Uncertain
The Economists piece on Indian Muslims An Uncertain Community ends with a quote by a veteran Muslim voice: They called it a secular state, which is why many who had a choice at Partition wanted to stay here, says Saeed Naqvi, a journalist whose recent book, Being The Other, chronicles the growing alienation of Indias Muslims.
But what really happened was that we seamlessly glided from British Raj to Hindu Raj.
This is misleading for two reasons. First, it is of course a misnomer to call the British occupation of India the British Raj.
That connotes a benign presence which the occupation was not.
Second, India is hardly a Hindu Raj given the fact that Muslims, Christians, Parsis and others have their own personal laws and, bar isolated incidents, are safer in India than virtually anywhere else in the world.
While Hinduphobia is a psychological affliction, countering it with Hinduphilia is hardly the answer.
The RSS is wrong to call for a Hindu Rashtra. It should instead work for a Bharat Rashtra. Confine religion to your home. It has no place in public discourse. (Hindu Janajagruti Samiti is also striving for establishment of Hindu Rashtra i.e. Sanatan Dharmarajya which will be a Rashtra of sattvik people run by sattvik people. Such Hindu Rashtra will strive for Vishwakalyana, which means welfare of all humans ! Editor, Hindujagruti)
Secularism is not top-down but bottom-up. No number of laws can guarantee religious tolerance as the examples of France, Belgium and the United States demonstrate.
It is the inborn secularism of Hindus that makes India secular.
Source : Daily Mail
How such outcome of overseas political struggle affects Lithuania's future.
How such outcome of overseas political struggle affects Lithuania's future.
On the eve of the US presidential election, Lithuanian website 'LDiena' published a curious material about how the outcome of overseas political struggle would affect Lithuania's future.
Today, only a very naive person can think that Lithuania's strategic future does not depend on the outcome of the US presidential election. If Clinton wins, further militaristic blast is planned for Lithuania, with a clear perspective to become the theatre of war, which will have predictable results. If Trump wins, the 'bargaining by Russia over Lithuania' is to be expected. And it is to be supposed that the overseas influence on the republic (as well as, on Poland and the Baltics as a whole) will be reduced during the 'Great Game' with the Kremlin.
What does Lithuania's exclusion, albeit partial, from the sphere of US influence mean? First of all, it is a blow against interests of the country's pro-American elite, whose inclusive leader is current Lithuanian President. So, it is Dalia Grybauskaite we are going to talk about.
I was always wondering why Moscow does not want publicly to nail Grybauskaite to the barn-door for her close links with the Committee for State Security of the Soviet Union. I know that in the last 2 years, everybody has liked to write about it, but everything is still kept on the qt. For instance, more than once they have carried the story that at Soviet times, Leningrad militia detained a foreign diplomat in company with the student of Leningrad State University (LSU) Grybauskaite, and nevertheless, this 'female athlete, Komsomol member and really beautiful girl' did not lose face at all and continued to study.
But when Lithuanian and Russian public men filed a request with relevant Russian organs to get admission to the personal record of Grybauskaite, they received the strangest answers.
In particular, Russia's Ambassador in Vilnius Alexander Udaltsov responded to the request of Signatory of the Independence Act Zigmas Vaisvila. The diplomat only made a helpless gesture, saying that the Russian law does not grant the right to disclose and disseminate personal information to third parties without the consent of the personal data subject.
"Thus, information containing personal data of Grybauskaite can be requested only by Ms. Grybauskaite herself", Udaltsov summed it up.
Then, similar trick has been made by Saint Petersburg State University (formerly LSU) where current Lithuanian President studied. The administration of the University publicly appealed to Grybauskaite with request to give 'the consent to the publication of her personal file's materials'. "We refuse to give the consent...", instead of her answered Chancellor of the Office of Lithuanian Republic's President, Giedrius Krasauskas.
What on earth is this circus act about? Why would Moscow play the role of 'a center of democracy' while this very 'subject of the personal data' names Russia 'a terrorist state' and compares ordinary Lithuanians, who call to be friends with the eastern neighbors, with certain 'jet fighters flying over our heads'?
There can be, in fact, only one answer the Kremlin, keeping Dalia on the fishing hook, is engaged in trivial (according to fisherman's vocabulary) playing with fish. It is when a fisherman passes from stretching the line to releasing it, from time to time. After such manipulations the fish, even if it is a power predaceous organism, loses its grip, goes limp and gets easily beached.
University's snide response is just a gag. Look at the letter from the St. Petersburg State University: it's signed by the Vice-Rector of the St. Petersburg State University A. A. Zavarzin. But just imagine for a minute, this very Zavarzin is only Press Secretary at the St. Petersburg State University. In brief, this letter is nothing but the outright trolling Dalia Grybauskaite, to which her Chancellor responded very seriously.
But the pity laughter will be died pretty soon, I think. Moscow will not release some numbers on Grybauskaite yet because so far there has been no prospect for it. Well, if you say "A", who says "B"?
Obviously, public disclosure of the full 'package of deeds' of the hot blonde from Lithuanian SSR, who was the KGB secret agent, spells an end to her career of the President. Besides, it would greatly damage the reputation of all the pro-American elite of Lithuania. And right after it, somebody is going to ask the question, what then?
While Lithuania is coordinated by the U.S., the "Red Dalia's scandal" will have positive repercussions on newsboys' fees only. Complete shift in power is not yet at hand in the republic. That will happen only when active forces of Lithuanian National Redemption, oriented to mutually-beneficial dialogue with their neighbors, lift up their head, while weakening the US positions in the Baltics.
And in this case, Grybauskaite's Personal Record would benefit the society.
Update 6.54pm: Pat Hickey is to pay the bond and accept the terms laid down by a Brazilian judge in order to have his passport returned to him.
A judge ruled earlier this week that he could return to Ireland for medical treatment.
His lawyer has said this evening that the money will be deposited but it is still not clear who will be paying the money.
Earlier: The International Olympic Committee has revealed that it will not pay the bond that the former President of Olympic Council of Ireland Pat Hickey is required to produce as a condition of being allowed leave Brazil, writes Joe Leogue.
While the OCI yesterday ruled out paying the BRZ$1.5m bond (410,000), the IOC had referred media queries to Mr Hickeys representatives.
As a member of its Executive Board, the IOC had covered the cost of Mr Hickeys flights to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
This morning however, the IOCs Media Relations team confirmed its position to the Irish Examiner.
No, the IOC will not pay for Mr Hickey's bond, the Media Relations Team said.
It did not elaborate as to whether or not it was contributing to Mr Hickeys legal fees or other associated costs.
On Wednesday, Mr Hickey, who is facing charges relating to alleged ticket touting during the Rio games, was given permission to return to Ireland on health grounds by Brazils special court for supporters and large events.
Denying all allegations against him, he had been released from custody in August, however Brazilian authorities retained his passport.
The 71-year-old has stepped aside from his Olympic duties until the conclusion into the investigation.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she feels a duty to serve her country and Europe, adding fuel to speculation she will seek a fourth term.
After she hosted a meeting of outgoing US president Barack Obama and the leaders of Spain, Italy, France and Britain, Mrs Merkel was asked how she sees her short and long-term responsibilities.
"I want to perform my task as German chancellor, which on the one hand is to serve the people of Germany, but it also includes working for the cohesion and success of Europe," she replied.
Mrs Merkel, 62, is scheduled to hold a news conference late on Sunday after meeting with senior members of her Christian Democratic Union party.
So far, she has refused to say if she plans to run again when Germany holds a general election.
But with Europe facing an unresolved conflict in Ukraine, tough talks over Britain's exit from the European Union and a politically sensitive influx of migrants, whether Mrs Merkel will remain as leader of Europe's biggest economy has generated interest.
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, who recently won his country's Parliament's backing to head a minority government after 10 months of political deadlock, said Germany's stability was important for Europe as a whole.
"It's fundamental for Europe that things go well in Germany, as fortunately they are at this moment," he said.
Mr Rajoy noted the headway that populist political groups on both the left and the right have made in Europe lately.
Striking visual reminder of how many foreign leaders Angela Merkel has seen come and go pic.twitter.com/7NXZ3HzIc7 BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 18, 2016
In Germany, Mrs Merkel faces fierce opposition over her decision to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees last year.
"I'm confident, although next year will be a difficult one from an election point of view in Europe, that things will begin returning to normal," Mr Rajoy said.
After the meeting in Berlin, Mrs Merkel appeared keen to downplay recent descriptions of her as the last great defender of Western values following Donald Trump's election.
"One person alone can never solve everything," she said. "We are only strong together."
AP
Insurance companies are heavily criticised by the report, which says their closed mentality and unwillingness to share data is a contributory factor in recent motor insurance hikes.
Tougher laws forcing insurance companies to reveal details of claims, awarding greater powers to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) and tougher penalties for drivers caught speeding or on their mobile phone while driving are among some of 76 key recommendations in the report.
The findings are contained in a joint Oireachtas committee on finances report on the rising costs of motor insurance, which is due for publication next week, and was seen by the Irish Examiner.
The committee has held a series of hearings into the crisis since the summer.
The cross-party committee, which is chaired by Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness, expresses serious concerns about the bona fides of the insurance sector in promising to provide such details in the future of its own accord.
The draft report concludes that on average, premiums have increased by 37%, but in some cases premium hikes have been in the order of 200%-300%.
It is apparent that insurance companies in many cases are refusing even to quote insurance, it states. In other instances, insurance companies quote but the amounts sought are so large that the net effect is to prevent people from getting insurance.
It says it is unacceptable that the insurance industry publicly states that certain variables are behind steep increases in motor insurance, yet fail to publicly furnish the supporting evidence.
The committee is conscious of the roles of both the Competition and Consumer Commission and the Central Bank of Ireland in their failures to protect consumers and citizens.
The insurance industry has insisted that the substantial premium hikes are the result of an increase in legal costs and compensation awards, but will not supply supporting evidence for verification.
However, it is the consumer and policyholder who has suffered the most in this debacle, the report states.
The committee concludes that the Central Bank has abrogated responsibility for protecting consumers by claiming European Law prevents it from getting involved in pricing and risk.
Thus, it is the opinion of the committee, that the consumer has been thrown to the wolves, the report states.
The committee report concludes that 70% of claims are settled privately by insurers outside of both the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and the Courts Service.
As a result, there is no visibility or transparency whatsoever about these claims.
It is as if they have disappeared into a black hole to remain ring-fenced from interrogation and wider public scrutiny, Mr McGuinness states in his introduction.
The committee has proposed the powers of the PIAB be modernised and strengthened,
History has proved that the PIAB made a significant impact in the personal injuries environment following its inception, the report states. The facts speak for themselves: awards were reduced by 40% and waiting times to process cases were reduced from three years to seven months.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Insurance Ireland Kevin Thompson said there has been a 36% increase in Injuries Board claims since 2008, with whiplash accounting for 80% of all motor injury claims.
Chief executive of Insurance Ireland Kevin Thompson
Insurance Ireland has been calling for the level of personal injury awards to be benchmarked internationally, as such awards in Ireland are about three time those in the UK.
In 1729, when Maharaja Jai Singh II was building the main palace in Jaipur, he was made to build the Rajmahal Palace 10 km away on the whims of one his queens, Chandra Kanwar Ranawat. She, it is said, wouldn't agree to living near the main palace. Close to three centuries later, the Rs 5,000 crore property has become a source of dispute once again, now between two former queens of Rajasthan - Padmini Devi of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
The battle lines were drawn on August 24, when then Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) commissioner Shikhar Aggarwal led some 600 personnel, mostly policemen, on a dawn swoop of the palace, encircling the land around its main entrance, sealing the gate and pulling down a heritage building in the media's presence. This, despite Padmini Devi and Raje being old friends and having had two dinners together the week before. Even on the evening of August 22, Raje, who was on her way to Bhutan, had returned her call and assured Padmini Devi that just the road in front of the property was planned for widening. The latter's daughter, Diya Kumari, a BJP MLA from Sawai Madhopur, too, had checked with Aggarwal, who reportedly said nothing would be done before the family was heard across the table.
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JDA demolition at the Rajmahal palace hotel (Photograph by Purushottam Diwakar)
The assurances were not kept, and the JDA's bulldozers moved in. A video and photographs of Diya Kumari pleading with Aggarwal to be shown the necessary documents also went viral. After repeated pleas, the JDA put the demolition of another building on hold, but locked the gates serving as the main entrance to the palace.
Rajmahal Palace is now a heritage hotel, operated since 2014 by Delhi-based Jaisal Singh's Sujan group on a 10-year lease. The JDA wants to take over 2,700 square yards of land, including the entrance to the palace, that has been with Padmini Devi's family. When clubbed with the 34,000 square yards already acquired by it in the area, the piece of realty becomes a premium square, corner plot commanding a Rs 1,000 crore price tag. Padmini Devi's family says that while they accept the JDA's ownership of the 34,000 square yards, the remaining land belongs to them, as per a covenant signed by the Indian government with the princely states after Independence and a 2011 court order against takeover of the property by the government. "If this could happen to a BJP MLA from a royal family, you can imagine what would be happening to the common man," Diya Kumari had said on the day the palace entrance was sealed. Her husband, Narendra Singh, later said: "It was the worst humiliation the Jaipur royals could have been subjected to."
In the days that followed, the family took its battle to the people. Padmini Devi led a show of strength through the streets of Jaipur, demonstrating the support they enjoyed, especially among the Rajputs. She declared her faith in the family's long association with the RSS and refused to speak to Raje again. The family then approached BJP president Amit Shah, and while denying any encroachment of land, conveyed, that they were willing to negotiate the sub judice case. Shah, in turn, reportedly called up Raje to question how her officials could treat a royal family as land mafia. He sent BJP national joint general secretary (organisation) Saudan Singh to negotiate a peace deal. A meeting was arranged between Raje and Padmini Devi, following which the sealed entrance to the palace was reopened around midnight on September 4. Two days later, a local court ruled against the JDA, ordering status quo and directing the authority to rebuild the demolished structures at its own cost. When the JDA appealed against the verdict, the Rajasthan High Court ruled in favour of reopening the entrance gate, but stayed the lower court's order on the rebuild.
As the conflict looked settled for a prolonged court battle, Aggarwal, on the night of October 28, sent his deputy to demarcate the land the JDA lays claim on. As his team got down to work, Narendra Singh locked the main entrance. JDA officials found themselves stuck inside and their vehicle tyres were deflated. Finding no support from the police, the JDA team returned the morning after even as senior BJP leaders worked on the sidelines to end the stalemate. Singh eventually cooperated, but-in an apparent counter-offensive to the JDA's move-Padmini Devi extended support to a shutdown announced in Jaipur's walled city area on November 15 against the demolition of old temples to make way for a metro rail line. Pulling down temples for the metro project has, in the past, not been taken to kindly by even the RSS. The latter is said to be annoyed with Raje for not reining in the officials behind these demolitions and has even held protests in Jaipur.
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In the ongoing tug of war, the axe eventually fell on Aggarwal and JDA secretary Pawan Arora. Both were removed on November 3. The JDA and the Vasundhara Raje government suffered another setback when a magistrate took cognisance of a complaint filed by Padmini Devi's family and issued bailable warrants against Aggarwal, Arora and three other top JDA officials for the August 24 demolition. They are to appear in court on November 25. On November 9, Aggarwal and Mukesh Sharma, Rajasthan principal secretary for urban development and housing, appeared before the Rajasthan HC and filed affidavits explaining why the main entrance of Rajmahal Palace was first sealed and then reopened. The court has adjourned this case for two weeks.
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What prompted the JDA to take on the erstwhile royals? Aggarwal says Padmini Devi's family had moved an application in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) for subdivision of the land title that the JDA was disputing and to get approval for constructing residential flats next to Rajmahal Palace, on a plot in Diya Kumari's name. Aggarwal maintains the entire land belongs to the JDA and that the family had "fraudulently" tried to get the municipality's approval. He says the JDA was alerted by a letter received from the Jaipur Municipal Corporation on August 22, seeking clarification on the matter, but insiders say the authority had already begun looking for loopholes against the family a week before. Rajasthan urban development and housing minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat backs the JDA. Shekhawat says that while he holds the royal family in high esteem, it was wrong on their part to create such a big issue out of the August 24 incident. "We treated them like anybody else. Had we not, we would have been accused of siding with them," he says.
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With Aggarwal gone, some JDA officials now say he could have explored legal options or held negotiations with Padmini Devi's family before moving in the demolition squad. One view is that Aggarwal was merely following Raje's orders. But going by what Raje told Padmini Devi and Shah, she had been misled by officials about the scale of the action planned by the JDA.
Diya Kumari argues that the JDA cannot take away her right of way by sealing the entrance to Rajmahal Palace. "We would have handed over the land without compensation had she (Raje) asked for it," claims her husband. For now, nobody's winning this battle. As Diya Kumari puts it, "Everyone has been left embarrassed."
Follow the writer on Twitter @rohitO
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GMV Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: GMV) (the "Company" or "GMV") is pleased to announce that its drill program is underway at its Mexican Hat gold property in S.E. Arizona. The Company's 14-hole reverse circulation drilling program is specifically designed to expand mineral resources to the west, east and south of the existing Mexican Hat gold resource. The drill program will test along strike of the known mineralization and to the southeast where a previous operator identified significant gold mineralization. The program will also test down to a depth of 300m per hole to explore mineralization below historical drilling of 200m from surface.
Column Leach Testing Update
In addition, the Company reports that its run of mine (ROM) testing in a large column leach is still recovering economically significant gold after 119 days under leach. At the recommendation of John Fox, P.Eng., our consulting metallurgist, and in discussion with the Dr. Alice Shi at Bureau Veritas, GMV will continue to leach this material until no further significant gold values are recovered. Ian Klassen, GMV's CEO commented, "Upon concluding the bulk sample leach test, the remaining rock in the test will be assayed to confirm the reconciled head grades and subsequently the exact percentage of recovery. We eagerly await those results."
The Company will issue updates on its geochemical and geophysical surveys when they are complete.
About GMV Minerals Inc.
GMV Minerals Inc. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing precious metal assets in Arizona. GMV, through its 100% owned subsidiary, has a 100% interest in a Mining Property Lease commonly referred to as the Mexican Hat project, located in Cochise County, Arizona, USA. The Mexican Hat property contains an inferred mineral resource of 23,452,000 tonnes grading 0.70 grams of gold per tonne hosting 531,400 troy ounces of gold. The project was initially explored by Placer Dome (USA) in the late 1980's to early 1990's. GMV is focused on developing the asset and realizing the full mineral potential of the property through near term gold production.
Source: GMV Minerals
Anaconda Mining Inc. (TSX: ANX) ("Anaconda" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the nominees listed in the management proxy circular for the 2016 Annual General Meeting were elected as directors of Anaconda. Detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at the Annual General Meeting on November 17, 2016 in Toronto are set out below.
Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld Dustin Angelo 38,125,829 98.91% 419,581 1.09% Kevin Bullock 38,025,548 98.65% 519,862 1.35% Michael Byron 38,025,748 98.65% 519,662 1.35% Tim Casgrain 38,101,599 98.85% 443,811 1.15% Glenn Dobby 38,126,029 98.91% 419,381 1.09% Lewis Lawrick 38,125,329 98.91% 420,081 1.09% Maruf Raza 38,338,318 99.46% 207,092 0.54%
ABOUT ANACONDA MINING
Anaconda Mining is a growth-oriented, gold mining and exploration company with a producing project called the Point Rousse Project and two exploration/development projects called the Viking and Great Northern Projects in Newfoundland.
The Point Rousse Project is approximately 6,300 hectares of property on the Ming's Bight Peninsula located in the Baie Verte Mining District in Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, Anaconda has increased its property control by ten-fold on the peninsula and gold production to nearly 16,000 ounces per year. In an effort to expand production, it is currently exploring three primary, prospective gold trends, which have approximately 20 km of cumulative strike length and include five deposits and numerous prospects and showings, all within 8 km of the Pine Cove Mill. A second property called the Tilt Cove Property, consisting of 350 hectares, is located approximately 60 kilometres by road from the Pine Cove Mill but is also within the Baie Verte Mining District and underlain by similar geology to the Point Rousse Project.
Anaconda also controls the Viking and Great Northern Projects, which have approximately 6,225 and 6,375 hectares of property (respectively) in White Bay, Newfoundland, approximately 100 kilometres by water (180 kilometres via road) from the Pine Cove Mill. The Viking Project contains the Thor Deposit and other gold prospects and showings and the Great Northern Project includes numerous prospects and showings within a similar geological setting as the Viking Project. The Company's plan is to discover and develop more resources within these project areas and substantially increase annual production at the Pine Cove Mill from its current rate of nearly 16,000 ounces.
As the only pure play gold producer in Atlantic Canada, Anaconda Mining is turning the rock we live on into a growing and profitable resource. With a young and motivated workforce, innovative technology and the support of local suppliers, Anaconda is investing in the people of Newfoundland & Labrador and giving back to the communities in which we operate building a better future for all our stakeholders, from the ground up.
SOURCE Anaconda Mining
A group of students hold a rally calling for President Park Geun-hye to step down at a district office in Jongno-Gu, Seoul, Friday, a day ahead of the fourth candlelit rally which is expected to draw more than 500,000 protesters in central Seoul. / Yonhap
By Choi Ha-young
Tension is heightening over the fourth candlelit protests on Saturday against President Park Geun-hye in Seoul and other major cities across the nation amid growing concerns over possible clash with Park's supporters.
The rally comes after Cheong Wa Dae made it clear that it will stand firm against people's mounting calls for her resignation over the scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
Park's determination to stay in power has fueled the public anger further. Police also said they will block the march near the presidential office citing traffic inconveniences and concerns over clash in disregard of repeated rulings from the Seoul Administrative Court in favor of the march.
"It appears that the police has changed their stance and decided to block the march near Cheong Wa Dae because of Park's determination to fight against people's call for resignation," said Han Seon-beom, a spokesperson for the rally's organizers.
A civic group filed an injunction with a court to dismiss the police's decision. If the court accepts the request again, the police cannot impose a ban on the march.
About 5,000 members of President Park's longtime fan club "Park Sa Mo" plan to turn out on central Seoul to advocate her and protect the presidency, which may lead to physical conflicts.
The police will try to separate the two groups as they are supposed to take different routes for the march. Still, the two groups might clash.
For the fourth candlelit protest, about 500,000 people are expected to flock to Gwanghwamun Square, with high school seniors who finished their College Scholastic Ability Test on Thursday vowing to join the rally.
From 2 p.m., participants will walk toward the square, from Dongdaemun History and Culture Park, Hongik Univ. Station, Samgakji Station and Marronnier Park, according to the organizers.
This time, citizens will scatter across the nation to demand Park to step down. People will flock to over 100 places including Jeonju, Yeosu, Pohang, Gangneung and Geoje, unlike last Saturday when people came by bus from provinces. The organizer keeps updating the nationwide protests' schedule on its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, youth groups are preparing anti-Park festivals in Sinchon, the commercial zone for young people, western Seoul. From 2 p.m. social media-based group "Do it do it again" will do a flash mob, with a song "Do you hear the people sing?" from the movie "Les Miserables."
"At mass rallies, participants don't have enough chances to talk to each other," the organizer of the event Park Hye-min told The Korea Times. "We aim to expand the political activities into daily space out of large square, by playing together," she said.
From 4 p.m. in the middle of Sinchon's main street, youth will express their anger against Choi Soon-sil's daughter Chung Yoo-ra, who entered a prestigious university by illicit admission. The event will feature rapper's performance and free speeches under the title, "Show me the Yoo-ra."
"Besides Park's resignation, we should make a society without privilege and foul," the organizer Jeong Woo-ryeong told The Korea Times.
Meanwhile, Park's approval rate has no sign of rebound, standing at five percent for three consecutive weeks, according to Gallup Korea, Friday.
Rannvijay Singha's wife Prianka Vohra was thrown the most amazing baby shower by her friends.
By India Today Web Desk: Popular television personality and film actor Rannvijay Singha and wife Prianka Vohra are expecting their first child together. Prianka recently celebrated her baby shower in London with close friends and family in attendance.
The gorgeous mother-to-be was thrown a surprise baby shower by her relatives and friends in the United Kingdom.
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Also read:Congratulations! Rannvijay Singha and wife Prianka Singha will soon become parents
Prianka took to social media to express her gratitude and happiness at having received such a grand party. She even posted a picture of herself on her personal Instagram account. Prianka was surrounded by a lot of goodies and colourful balloons as she posed for the picture.
She captioned the picture as "Blessed to have the best of friends that are more like sisters who threw the most stunning baby shower! Thank you girls. You know who you are! #promisetonotexpose #untilmynextpost #loveyougirls #lovethecolors #neutraltheme #funtimes @maxmara love the jumpsuit! #maxmara @harveynichols- thank you team Harvey for the most comfortable and delightful experience! #harveynichols satnamwaheguru#blessed."
Prianka looked stunning in a white jumpsuit as she posed for the camera.
Rannvijay and Prianka had tied the knot on April 14, 2014 in Kenya.
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Soon after the death of late veteran actor Ebenezer Donkor, aka Katawere, was announced on Monday, November 13, 2016, his daughter Diana Donkor was said to have indicated in an interview with myjoyonline.com that his late dad has six children.
The late Katawere's first daughter, Helena Donkor, also confirmed to razzonline.com that her late dad has six children. She explained that they are five females and a male who happens to be the third child.
My late dad had six children five females and a male the male is the third born.All my siblings are in Accra, Helena stated.
But, speaking in an interview with razzonline.com, the second wife of the departed veteran actor, Maame Beatrice Boatema, refuted her step daughter's claim by indicating that her late husband had seven children.
The widow explained that she met the late Katawere on September 9, 1985, and had two children a boy and a girl with him but unfortunately the girl died. She explained that the first wife had two daughters with Katawere and the late Katawere also had children by two extra women somewhere, amassing to seven children.
The late veteran actor died at the age of 78 and was known for the popular 'Efiewura' television series and has starred in several local movies.
Lawyer Poku Adusei and Kojo Antwi. INSET: Nana Yaa Attufuah, Bandex and Nana Tuffour
The Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) has cut ties with the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) after talks between the two groups on royalty payment ended in a deadlock.
GHAMRO reached the decision on Thursday after the collection rights organisation accused GIBA of deliberately showing bad faith after an agreement had been reached on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding how members of GIBA should pay music royalties.
It said after three months of negotiations, GIBA called for a formal MoU, but after the terms were amicably reached, GIBA refused to attend the signing ceremony and did not give any reason for the refusal or even bothered to propose a new date.
Ahmed Banda, Vice President of the GHAMRO, explained the drama, saying, The laws of Ghana mandate GHAMRO to collect royalties from radio and television networks that use music for public and commercial purposes. Many of them have defaulted in paying so we took a number of them to court and we won and they paid hugely for it. Many more are still in court when GIBA approached GHAMRO and requested for an out of court negotiation on behalf of the radio and television stations who are members of GIBA.
GHAMRO showed GIBA the due respect and we started talks and negotiations for close to three months until GIBA itself came to us with a MoU which would solve the challenge of radio and television stations which fail to pay the due music royalties. We went through the terms of the MoU and both parties agreed it would be mutually beneficial. We agreed on a date to sign and GIBA came to us with a full team made up of its leaders and lawyers. Just when we were about o sign, GIBA suggested the date should be postponed to Thursday November 17 so we invite the media and make it a subject of news. We agreed to the suggestion.
He continuedHere we are today, Thursday, November 17 the invited media houses are here, GHAMRO is here with its leadership and team of lawyers but GIBA is nowhere to be found, we have waited for several hours they have not showed up, they are not picking their calls, and they have just ignored us completely in a very disrespectful way.
After the invited media houses had waited for hours, lawyer for GHAMRO, Dr Poku Adusei, addressed the journalists and said he had also tried without success to get an explanation for the absence of GIBA at the event.
I have called the GIBA president and what he told me on phone was that he was outside Accra. This is bad faith and disrespectful when GIBA knows we have an agreement to sign and they themselves scheduled the date, invited the media, gave the time and everything but failed to turn up without the courtesy of even calling to explain their absence or sending a message.
We have no choice than t return to court with radio and television stations who have defaulted in the payment of music royalty and this time the courts would even make them pay more because they would pay the legal cost, cost of defaulting because it is an infringement and also pay the arrears all because GIBA does not want the easy way out, Lawyer Poku Adusei stated.
One of the vice chairs of GHAMRO, Nana Tuffour, had travelled all the way from the Ashanti Region to join the chairman, Kojo Antwi, and the other vice chair for the event.
The Copyright Administrator, Nana Yaa Attuafuah, and a team from her office were also at the event, but they all left in disappointment after several hours of waiting.
Some of Ghana's best known music stars will mount the stage tomorrow at the famous Efua Sutherland Park in Accra for the 'Ghana + Peace Concert'.
The peace concert, organised by Obiba Foundation, is aimed at promoting peace and unity among Ghanaians, as well as educate Ghanaians about the importance of peace before, after and during the December 7 elections.
The mission of the Obiba Foundation is to build peace in Ghana through music, youth development and peace education.
The foundation also seeks to champion public awareness that would enable people to make peaceful and healthy decisions for themselves, their families, nations and the continent.
The event will bring together dignitaries, the clergy and representatives from the various political parties and music fans from all walks of life who will dance their hearts out to music from all the artistes on the bill.
Representatives from the various political parties who will attend the event will also be given the opportunity to address their various supporters and music fans.
The organisers stressed that peace is vital to the development of every nation, therefore, the need for this peace campaign.
They urged all Ghanaians to be peace ambassadors and imbibe peace at all levels, adding, Peace has to be comprehensive. We all need to join the crusade of preaching peace wherever we find ourselves.
The free concert which kicks off from 3:00pm will witness performances from stars such as Obiba Sly Collins, Amandzeba, SP Kofi Sarpong, Karmelyon, Agbeshie and a host of others.
The event will also be used to climax the 'Ghana + Peace' nationwide campaign.
By George Clifford Owusu
Multiple award-winning music group VVIP has reunited with Kennis Music Group in Nigeria through a new contract with the music label.
The partnership is to further strengthen the group to become one of Africa's best as well as promote it on the international market.
Kennis music was responsible for making the group formerly known as VIP a household name in Nigeria.
VVIP member, Reggie Rockstone, explained that Kennis music was doing well on the Ghanaian and Nigerian music market, hence VVIP's decision to work with the leading music label.
The music label has worked with some of the biggest music icons in Nigeria, including 2 Face, Tony Tetuila, among others.
Kennis Music some years back managed the promotion of VIP's hit album, 'Ahum Ka Womu' in Nigeria, produced by Ghana-based Goodies Music Productions.
VVIP recently won the awards for Best African Group and Best Music Video at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA 2016). This has brought a lot of attention to the group from the new generation and those who already know 'VIP'.
VVIP has launched its new music project dubbed 'VVIP Awards' featuring Stonebwoy, directed by Pascal AKA.
Ghanaian Musician and NPP supporter, Kwame A-Plus has just accused the NDC's National Organizer Kofi Adams of sleeping with different women in his car at Legon.
The loud-mouth musician who has neglected his musical career for politics is doing everything possible to secure a position in the NPP.
In a Facebook post, Kwame A-Plus revealed that, the NDC National Organizer has been sleeping with different women in his car under a tree on the University of Ghana, Legon campus.
From the musician's post, it appears that this evil act by Kofi Adams has been going on for a long time and he does not understand why a married man should be sleeping around.
A-Plus also dared Kofi Adams to take him to court for dafamation and he will release all the evidence.
This is what A- Plus wrote,
So why does Kofi Adams like chopping women in his car at Legon like that? I mean Kofi Adams the NDC national organiser. Everyday he's chopping a woman in his car under a tree on Legon campus. I thought he's married? I made it very clear who I'm talking about. Those who will come here to defend Kofi Adams ask him why he can't take me to court for defamation. Because he knows it's true and if he tries I'll post evidence on social media. Kwasia you went and sat on radio that me I do drugs. If you like say fi.. anka wo b hu wo nakedness. Siaaa!!!!
Source: konkonsagh.biz
Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram Islamists staged three suicide attacks in Nigeria's restive northeast on Friday, leaving four attackers and two civilian vigilantes dead, police said.
"Aside from the explosion near a mobile police location in Jiddari, we had two other suicide bombings along Maiduguri-Gamboru road," Borno state police commissioner Damian Chukwu told reporters in Maiduguri, epicentre of Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency.
The Islamist group have multiplied their attacks in recent days, Chukwu said, without detailing the incidents.
"This is about the sixth or seventh suspected suicide attack in the last couple of days. The police and other security agents are working hard to stop the ugly trend," he said.
The first attack took place before dawn when a female suicide bomber blew herself and another bomber up near a police checkpoint at Jiddari, Borno state police spokesman Victor Isuku earlier said,
A third suspected bomber survived and was being questioned.
"At 3:50am today, mobile police personnel on guard duty opposite the federal high court in Jiddari sighted three suspected suicide bombers comprising two females and a male running towards their sandbag," Isuku said.
"They ordered them to a halt for questioning but they refused," he said. "One of the females detonated the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strapped to her body, killing herself and one other male accomplice," he said.
Later in the morning a male suicide bomber detonated his explosives after being stopped at the entrance of a garage on the Maiduguri-Gamboru road where traders had gathered to travel under military escort.
The bomber died instantly, police said.
Another male suicide bomber detonated his explosives on the same road a few meters away a little later, killing himself and two local vigilantes, assisting the military to fight the jihadists.
Ahmed Satomi of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said five villages in Monguno had been attacked by Boko Haram insurgents early in the week, leaving eight dead and dozens injured.
"Boko Haram gunmen attacked the five villages late Monday and continued until Tuesday. They killed eight people and injured dozens," he said.
He said the victims had been evacuated by soldiers who deployed to the area.
Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic sharia law in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed at least 20,000 people and left more than 2.6 million homeless in its six-year insurgency.
A counter-offensive backed by a regional force has seen the Nigerian military retake swathes of territory from the insurgents, but the jihadist group still poses a security threat to civilians.
On November 1, a truck carrying eight suspected Boko Haram extremists exploded near a military checkpoint in Maiduguri, killing all the occupants.
Journalists billed to cover this year's elections for various media house are being advised to work as a team for their own safety.
Media Consultant Michelle Betz made the call at a Workshop organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa for News Editors and Senior Journalists on safety for journalists during the elections.
She said the elections are bigger than any individual media house's competitive interest and the need to get the facts right and ensure the safety of reporters should take preeminence over other interests.
"Getting it right goes a long way to ensuring your safety because politicians will find it difficult to single you out for criticism and attack," she said.
Michelle Betz noted that media owners are usually preoccupied with getting audience they can sell to advertisers for revenue, but the journalist must think of his or her safety in covering the election.
"No story is worth more than your life - no breaking story is worth dying for so you as journalists must work together at the individual level while you are in the field because your media owners will never agree to work together at their level," she said.
Michelle Betz thinks the two weeks to the elections media houses must work together in order to get it right and be safe instead of being preoccupied with competition.
She observed that journalists working for international organizations like BBC, CNN, Sky News, Aljazeera and others, usually collaborate with each other in fact checking issues before publishing during the coverage of sensitive events like elections.
Violation of press freedom
Head of Media Studies at Wisconson University, Prof. Kwame Karikari noted that a study by the MFWA on violation of press freedom in West Africa shows that Ghana tops as the worst offender of journalists rights this year.
He said between January and now, 25 cases of attacks on journalists have been recorded in all West African countries, out of which Ghana tops with seven cases, representing 28% of the total.
Police
Prof. Karikari noted that the most worrying part is that out of the seven cases recorded in Ghana, six are violation committed by members of the security services, mainly the police.
He said this is an indication that journalists cannot even count on the police for safety in the course of their duty and that is a worrying trend.
Prof. Karikari, therefore, emphasized the need for journalists and journalist associations to work together and find a way of using their numbers to create a safe haven for themselves while covering the elections.
He also urged the police and other security agencies to rid itself of the bad record and assure journalists and the public of their commitment to protecting democracy, including press freedom.
(Marrakech, Morocco, 17 November 2016) The United Nations Climate Change secretariat today launched a new initiative that will showcase efforts by individuals, companies and governments that are achieving real results in transitioning to climate neutrality.
Momentum for Change: Climate Neutral Now brings together two of the secretariats flagship activities that recognize leadership in tackling climate change by non-Party stakeholders.
In December 2011, the secretariat launched its Momentum for Change initiative to shine a light on the enormous groundswell of activities underway across the globe that are moving the world toward a highly resilient, low-carbon future.
In September 2015, the secretariat launched its Climate Neutral Now initiative to urge individuals, companies and governments to measure their climate footprint, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible, and offset what they cannot reduce using UN-certified emissions reductions.
Speaking Thursday morning at a special event at the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech,
Morocco, senior government officials and influential corporate leaders highlighted the importance of climate neutrality, especially as national governments prepare to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
There is no reason today not to measure, reduce and offset your emissions and become climate neutral now especially if you are living in a developed country, said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa. Over time the need for offsets is going to decline as energy systems become ever more low carbon, healthy ecosystems like forests expand and we arrive at a climate neutral world in the second half of the century. Climate change will affect everyone, yet everyone can effect positive change starting today and beginning now.
Harry Verhaar, Head of Global Public & Government Affairs with Philips Lighting, also spoke at the event. Philips has publically pledged to cut its carbon footprint to zero by 2020.
We will become carbon neutral from a combination of efficiency gains and business process re-engineering. By 2020, our carbon footprint will shrink to zero from reducing energy consumption, close monitoring of our supply chain and logistics, plus strict conditions for business travel, said Mr. Verhaar. We are committed to achieve 80% of our business revenues from sustainable operations by 2020. By sharing lessons from our experience, we can work collaboratively to meet the needs of our customers and the planet.
Philips isnt the only company taking strong action on climate change, Microsoft has also been a corporate leader when it comes to putting innovations to work to minimize its environmental impact.
We believe that our responsibility as a leading cloud services provider require that our business practices have a positive impact on the communities we serve. And that is why we are working towards new solutions to realize a low-carbon future and address climate change, said Tamara (TJ) DiCaprio, Microsofts Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability. To that end, weve operated 100% carbon neutral for our datacentres, offices, labs, manufacturing plants, and business air travel since 2012 by establishing an internal carbon fee model that holds our business groups accountable for their carbon impact of their operations.
Microsoft has also been actively involved in the secretariats Climate Neutral Now initiative, not only by pledging to go carbon neutral but also by providing its Azure cloud computing platform on which the secretariats online platform for voluntary cancellation of certified emission reductions is built.
According to the UNFCCC secretariats Climate Neutral Now initiative, climate neutrality is a three step process, which requires individuals, companies and governments to:
Measure their climate footprint; Reduce their emissions as much as possible; Offset what they cannot reduce with UN certified emission reductions.
The new partnership between Climate Neutral Now and Momentum for Change is part of a larger initiative that showcases successful climate action around the world. In 2017, Momentum for Change will have five focus areas: Women for Results, Financing for Climate Friendly Investment, ICT Solutions, Planetary Health and, now, Climate Neutral Now.
Beginning next year, people, institutions and companies can submit examples of how they are transitioning to climate neutrality. The most inspiring, innovative and successful activities will be selected as Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities, which will be recognized and celebrated during the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 23).
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Marrakech, 16 November UNDP has formally launched the 2nd edition of its flagship report on climate change, this time focusing on the impact of climate change on development gains.
Specifically, the report, UNDP and Climate Change: Scaling up Climate Action to Achieve the SDGs looks at how local efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change empowers communities across a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including education, healthcare, food security and gender empowerment.
We have long known that climate change and sustainable development are inextricably linked, notes Magdy Martinez-Soliman, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Assistant Administrator. What this report does, possibly for the first time, is really showcase how each of the actions taken to address climate change has profound and concrete results that benefit human, social and economic development.
Showcasing UNDPs rich climate portfolio and country examples, the report provides a compelling narrative on how action on climate change positively contributes to the achievement of the SDGs. Through vivid infographics, the report illustrates how UNDPs nearly 800 climate change programmes covering a $2.8 billion portfolio across 140+ countries in five regions are contributing to achievement of each and every one of the 17 SDGs.
Since 2008, UNDP has assisted more than 140 countries, including all the 48 LDCs and 39 SIDs, to access climate grant finance. Nearly 40% of the portfolio is contributing to adaptation efforts - the largest portfolio with around US$ 1billion.
Mitigation action, including both sustainable energy and aforests, amount to 30% and 22% respectively; while cross-cutting issues such as finance, capacity building, policy and institutional strengthening, and support to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement the so-called NDCs amount to around 11% of the portfolio.
Thanks to the Paris Agreement, we now have a path for the world to work together on an integrated solution to climate change, notes Martinez-Soliman. It is now our responsibility to work with our partners to follow this path and to help achieve climate and development priorities.
Launched on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Paries (COP22) in Marrakech, the report reiterates UNDPs key message going into the conference the deal is done; the time to act is now.
His Majesty King Mohammed VI delivers Royal Speech during the "Africa Action Summit", held on the side lines of COP22
Here follows the full text of the Royal speech:
Distinguished Heads of State and Government of African sister nations,
Your Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby Itno, current Chairman of the African Union,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Kingdom of Morocco, and the city of Marrakesh in particular, are delighted to welcome you to the "Africa Action Summit", which is being held on the sidelines of the COP22.
We are honored to have you here with us today. Your presence is a testament to your commitment to an African continent that is looking to the future and shaping its own destiny.
I have taken the initiative to invite you to this Summit so that our Continent may agree on a common approach to fighting climate change as well as on actionable measures for sustainable development.
Bringing large-scale regional and transnational projects to fruition is the challenge I am inviting you to take up.
I suggest that we build an African continent that is resilient to climate change and that commits resolutely to sustainable development;
an African continent that will use its resources in an optimal way, while respecting environmental and social balances;
a continent that will seek to promote inclusive development, in line with the specific features of its identity, particularly the culture of sharing, of fairness and of solidarity.
Before going any further, I would like to raise a fundamental question.
It goes without saying that the concern about the future of our planet and the interest taken in the issue by active civil society organizations are real.
But are there really any common, action-oriented objectives? There are two basic elements I would like to consider with you in this regard.
First, there is a disparity between the North and the South when it comes to culture and the environment. That disparity concerns priorities as well as means.
For this reason, it is important to harmonize, even unify, environmental education efforts. The Moroccan Presidency will seek to achieve that objective during its term.
Do we need to point out that the colonial era is over, and that imposed decisions cannot be productive? Do we need to point out that stakeholders lack neither the commitment nor the goodwill required, though they sometimes lack the necessary means?
We are all aware that what is at stake is the preservation of life, and that we need to work together to protect the Earth. It is precisely for this reason that I would like to see a convergence of views regarding our actions on the ground.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Africa is paying a heavy price in the climate equation. It is, undoubtedly, the continent that is suffering the most.
Rising temperatures, shifting seasons and successive droughts are depleting the biodiversity of our continent, destroying ecosystems and jeopardizing Africas progress, security and stability.
And yet, our continent is responsible for only 4% of greenhouse gas emissions.
However, climate change on a global scale is significantly hampering Africa's development and poses a serious threat to the basic rights of tens of millions of Africans.
As a result, all types of vulnerabilities are concentrated in our continent.
There are already 10 million climate refugees in Africa. By 2020, nearly 60 million people will be displaced because of water scarcity if no measures are taken in this regard.
The immense freshwater reservoir that Lake Chad used to be has already lost 94% of its surface area and is facing the risk of drying up once and for all.
4 million hectares of forest that is to say, twice the global average are lost each year.
African agriculture which consists predominantly of subsistence farming employs 60% of the African workforce; yet our crops suffer from severe disruptions, and our food security is seriously jeopardized.
Agricultural output in Africa could therefore drop by 20% by the year 2050, at a time when our population will have doubled.
Entire sections of the coastline and almost a third of coastal infrastructure would be submerged.
Water-borne diseases, which kill thousands of people each year, would be eradicated if wastewater treatment plants were created.
Finally, the degradation of land and of natural resources could continue to be the main driver of most transnational conflicts in Africa.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Paris Climate Agreement, which was adopted to the satisfaction of all, enshrines the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
It is important that our continent speak with one voice, demand climate justice as well as the mobilization of the necessary resources and submit concerted proposals in connection with the fight against climate change.
There are four things that need to be done:
identify measures to gain access to funding in order to organize the continents adaptation efforts;
identify the mechanisms needed to support the implementation of flagship programs;
ensure institutional capacity building in our continent;
and finally, seize opportunities and study the implications of low-carbon development in the fields of energy, technological innovation and "green" jobs.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
African stakeholders showed remarkable dynamism during the thematic days of COP22.
In addition to being project promoters, they have joined many Coalitions, Alliances and Networks of the Global Climate Action Agenda.
It is gratifying to see these continental and regional actions. Not only do they increase our continents resilience in the face of climate change threats, but they also allow for the common, sustainable emergence of our continent.
My brothers the Heads of State will have the opportunity today to tell us about the projects they are spearheading and championing.
We are duty-bound to lend political support to these initiatives, to mobilize the means and competences required for their implementation, to put them into perspective and to ensure their coherence.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Kingdom of Morocco is a committed actor in the task of consolidating regional security and stability.
In this regard, it is determined to enhance its contribution to defending the vital interests of the continent, alongside sister nations and, soon, within the African Union.
As it implements its ambitious program in the field of renewable energy, Morocco is making its expertise available to its partners.
By being actively involved in projects centered on Africa, the Kingdom of Morocco is, today, contributing to bringing new partners on board, both public and private, as well as structuring governance mechanisms.
My country will also lead an African climate expertise network, through the Climate Change Competence Center based in Morocco.
Aware of the vulnerability of the agricultural sector and of its vital importance, Morocco is actively preparing for the implementation of the "Adaptation of African Agriculture" (Triple A) initiative.
This innovative system promotes the adoption and financing of solutions to increase productivity and ensure food security.
Finally, given the share allocated to Africa in terms of resources to combat climate change, Morocco has made financing a priority issue of the COP22.
In addition to the funding provided for in the Paris Agreement as of 2020, the Moroccan Presidency is keen to see public funding mobilized, financial arrangements diversified and access to climate funds facilitated.
Moreover, Morocco encourages the involvement of Sovereign Funds in order to develop green infrastructure in Africa.
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our partners in the South and the North, as well as the international and regional institutions operating in the field of development financing, have a crucial role to play in shoring up Africas collective effort.
Doing things ourselves and for ourselves is imperative. And involving our strategic partners has now become a necessity.
By pooling efforts and consolidating cooperation with our strategic partners, I am convinced we can redress the climate injustice affecting our continent.
This twofold action will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, knowing that twelve of the seventeen SDGs are directly or indirectly linked to climate change.
To conclude, I should like to assure you that my country will undertake all necessary actions and spare no effort to make sure Africas voice is heard, both in the formal negotiations and in the implementation of the Global Climate Action Agenda.
I hope today's meeting will not only be a decisive step and a worthwhile exercise, but will also reflect our commitment, before history, towards future generations.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone will be seen together in Padmavati. And the Udta Punjab actor can't stop praising his co-star.
By India Today Web Desk: If one has upped his game in Bollywood, the other is making the right noises in firang-land too. Meet Bollywood's new on-screen jodi - Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. After being offered many projects and unavailability of dates, Deepika and Shahid have finally come on board for the first time for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much-talked-about period drama Padmavati.
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PHOTOS: When Shah Rukh, Alia paid a surprise visit to Bhansali on the sets of Padmavati
ALSO READ: Shahid Kapoor agreed to Bhansali's Padmavati after a long list of terms and conditions
And before shooting for the film, Sasha is all praise for his co-actor. Keeping a close eye on her career graph and achievements, Shahid is happy to share screen space with Deepika. In fact, the 35-year-old actor, who will essay the role of Deepika's husband in the film, is looking forward to work with her.
In an interview to DNA, Shahid has revealed that Deepika is doing much better work than many actresses in B-Town. "I am really looking forward to working with her. I have been seeing her do some great work, especially in the last few years. She has really upped her game and she's at her best right now. She's probably doing better work than many today. So that's awesome," said Shahid.
He added, "It's great that we are working together in a film like Padmavati because it's a great opportunity for anybody who's a part of this film. I really feel that Padmavati is going to be a special film."
It isn't just Shahid who is smitten by his Padmavati co-actor, here are other stars who had an awesome experience working with their co-actors.
Working with SRK was magical: Alia Bhatt
Gauri Shinde pulled off the perfect casting coup when she got Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt together for her film Dear Zindagi. More than anything, it was a fangirl moment for Alia. The 23-year-old actor hasn't just referred to working with King Khan as "magical", but has also called it a dream come true for her.
Ranveer Singh makes you feel comfortable: Vaani Kapoor
Befikre is Ranveer's 10th film and Vaani's second film, but Kapoor didn't feel intimidated while working with the electrifying actor. Vaani has revealed that Ranveer did not make her feel any less; in fact, he was quite friendly and made her very comfortable on the sets of the film.
Hrithik Roshan is inspiring: Yami Gautam
Yami Gautam, who plays Hrithik Roshan's love interest in Kaabil, calls her co-actor inspiring. After working with the 42-year-old, Yami has become aware of the reason behind his stardom. She has revealed that Hrithik never takes his work for granted and that's what makes him a superstar.
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ALSO WATCH: Ranveer Singh wants to do more films like Befikre
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As Ghana gears up to vote on December 7th 2016, the Member of Parliament for Bantama Constituency of the Ashanti region, who is also a Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, Hon. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has thrown a critical challenge to the Ghanaian media to tackle and probe political parties on their commitments to the Climate Change agenda.
According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) legislator, it was very necessary, for Ghanaian political leadership to accept that Climate Change is a phenomenon and its a reality.
"I am with the people who think this time around, climate change and for that matter environmental issues should be one of the electoral campaign messages and I believe that will inform how we go about our general governance issues to get our people on board and be able to make awareness creation a major factor through education within our 2nd cycle institutions, tertiary institutions, within our set up particularly, the legislature."
He further decried the low level of climate issues in Ghana, adding that "we as a people are not much abreast of all these things; we will not appreciate the dynamics of all these, especially the problems, concerns and challenges. And if there were to be advantages and benefits, we will not be able to take due advantages of them. So it is very important."
He stated that principally as a legislature, as an environmentalist and being a lawyer in Oil and Gas sub sector, with particular interest on the impact of climate change, he was very much concerned.
The MP was speaking in an interview with selected Ghanaian media organisations currently at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference COP22 in Marrackech Morocco.
"I am part of the Ghana delegation here in Morocco and this is about my third time coming to the COP. My first was Lima COP20 in Peru 2014 and second was last year in France COP21 2015 and now am here in Marrakech, Morocco.
...Basically, we are here to consolidate on the Paris Agreement of COP21 and to make sure how regional blocs are doing, I mean the parties and then at the national level," he said.
He went on to add that Ghana has a lot to do as a nation, in protecting the bio physical environment by taking advantage of the climate change as part of our mitigation and adapation efforts.
"As you saw me at the stands of ISSER, they mounted a stand showcasing a research they conducted in Ghana and Kenya in sourcing for financing for some of these adaptations and mitigation strategies of Climate change. The vulnerable in our society particularly, women and children, the rural folks and farmers are major victims and when you talk about Agriculture and climate change, sanitation too is a major issue. I am very confident we will be able to get back home and try to fashion out our way of accelerating the climate change awareness and of course education to be able to do better."
Touching on accessing climate funds, Ghana has cost it's our way up to USD $22Billion and the government of Ghana is prepared to cough out up to 6billion dollars.
"That is what we can locally mobilize as per financing but the gap of 16billion dollars will surely need to come from the international community and that is why we are here and Africa as a group, is trying to make a case out of that. So basically, we havent reached that far but hopefully we may," the MP disclosed.
He said though he was not part of the negotiations per se but had been out there behind the scenes providing the necessary impetus to the negotiating team.
"I also think we havent gotten that far with the issue of financing. The developed countries that have pledged so much we need to see real commitment, in relation to that cause and what needs to be done in individual national contexts, so we will be able to access these financing to be able to accelerate it better in our various countries. Adaptations and mitigations in itself present another set of cost.
The MP indicated that Ghana needed to do more on Climate Change.
"We had the EPA, the Climate Educational sector, about few weeks ago, trying to bring political parties to this pedestal and political parties were asked about their commitment to climate change and all that and now if you look at the whole scenario, we are looking at social ecological aspects of Climate Change and it is human scented and all developmental programmes being it infrastructure, Agriculture, economy, oil and gas whatever has to do with human activities.
From left: Martin Amidu, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Alfred Agbesi Woyome
I say with all the strength at my disposal that a cheque drawn by Woyome in favour of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, which was not a party to the action or the judgment creditor, cannot be a cheque in part payment of the unconstitutional monies ordered by the Court to be refunded to the Republic, says former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu.
This latest bombshell comes in the wake of claims by government that Alfred Agbesi Woyome, a self-acclaimed financier of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), who the Supreme Court found guilty of defrauding the nation to the tune of GH51.2million, has paid GH4 million out of the said amount.
Amidu said from the look of things, the Mahama administration has no intention of retrieving the money, saying that the best way out is to kick it out.
Although the Supreme Court ruled against Woyome over the infamous GH51.2 million judgment debt scandal which it described as a 'create, loot and share' scheme and ordered him to refund the money to the state, the man has been dragging his feet while the Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, has also adopted a somewhat lukewarm attitude in retrieving the money until the recent announcement of a supposed payment of GH4 million.
But even that, Mr Amidu, whose fight against corruption in government has earned him the nickname 'Citizen Vigilante,' insists it was a facade as it appears more as a cover-up.
Doubts
In a statement released to the media yesterday, Mr Amidu said he was contesting the genuineness of the payment while providing details of the supposed cheque Woyome issued and the acknowledgment of receipt by the Ministry of Justice which was signed by one Dorothy Afriyie-Ansah.
For him, The acceptance of the Economic and Organized Crime Office cheque by the Attorney General and the deception of the public by the Attorney General that it is part payment for the refund ordered by the Court brings into question the competence of the Attorney General and the government in pursuit of the interest of the Republic and that the whole scheme appears to have been cooked to defeat my application for leave to examine Woyome orally on oath.
That, he said, was evident in fact that In the hurry of the government and Woyome to defeat my application, they could not even cover their tracks with a cheque drawn on the Ministry of Finance or the Accountant General as custodian of the Consolidated Fund.
He noted, The cheque could also have been drawn on the Registrar of the Supreme Court and paid into court for the Republic.
Suspicion
He therefore believes, The foregoing is evidence, if evidence be needed, that the Attorney General and the government are determined to kill the non-refund of the judgment debt as an election issue by cooking up the deceptive cheque and receipt to allow the status quo to continue.
They are purposefully deceiving the electorate that efforts are being made to retrieve the unconstitutional loot by Woyome jointly with Austro-Invest, the client of Lithur-Brew and Co, a law firm in which the Attorney General was a partner. The law firm is also the president's personal lawyer's, he emphasized.
Change Govt
Mr Amidu is pained because, I fought for two long years for justice for the Constitution and for all of us, and the Supreme Court eventually vindicated the public's interest by ordering the refund of the unconstitutional loot to the Republic of Ghana. Unfortunately, the government as the leading looter, has put obstacles in our way in enforcing the orders of the Court.
In spite of being a senior and founding member of the NDC, Mr Amidu said, I am compelled to put Ghana first and to defend the 1992 Constitution by saying that the only way Ghanaians can have the Woyome/Austro-Invest joint loot refunded is to change the government that created, looted and shared the loot with them during the presidential election this year.
Confidence
He is confident a new government will prosecute Woyome under Article 2(3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution for High Crime, should he delay any further in refunding the unconstitutional loot. The new government will also enforce the Waterville judgment debt of over 47 million loot or prosecute it for High Crime.
The Citizen Vigilante is convinced, This is the only way out for Ghanaians to stand up for their constitutional rights and to retrieve the unconstitutional monies created, looted and shared by this government with its political party supporters who are now unconstitutional judgment debtors to the Republic.
Resolve
As a loyal NDC member, he vowed, I will support most of my political party's parliamentary candidates who have shown honesty and integrity to the Constitution. But I cannot in good conscience and in defence of the Constitution, support its presidential candidate to continue leading the looting of the public purse.
He therefore, made a passionate appeal to all well-meaning Ghanaians to as it were, help me in the name of the Constitution to retrieve your money that was looted by voting for a new president. Let us protect our Constitutional rights and not be hoodwinked by electioneering ploys.
Let us get our GH51,283,483.59 back. Defend the 1992 Constitution by voting for a new president on 7th December, 2016, to get our money back.
AG Blasted
In a related remark, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Victus Adaboo Azeem, says he supports the efforts of Martin Amidu, stressing that he believes Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong has not done enough to recover the GH51.2 million judgment debt paid to Woyome.
I don't think the Attorney General has done enough and that's why I think the Attorney General should welcome the support of other Ghanaians to help her retrieve the money, Mr Azeem told Accra 100.5FM yesterday. Is it not two years now since the Supreme Court ruled that the money should be recovered? Is it not true that the Attorney General has not been able to recover those monies? Why would the Supreme Court be prosecuting Alfred Woyome? They did not initiate the case in the first place
In Mr Azeem's view, Mr Amidu probably has some other information that in examining the guy [Mr Woyome], he'll be able to uncover, or as a former Attorney General, he may have other capabilities, skills that the current AG probably does not have and he thinks if he uses those skills, he'll be able to solicit something that is very important in helping to recover the monies.
Before filing his application, Mr Amidu said, I have examined the circumstances surrounding the government's reluctance to enforce the judgment and orders of the Court with the seriousness the matter deserves. I share the view expressed by objective and reasonable members of the public that because the government was the 1st defendant/respondent against whom the Supreme Court made declarations of unconstitutional conduct in paying the judgment debt to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the government has been pretending for purely political reasons, at each turn, to take steps to enforce the judgment and orders of the court only to deliberately abort them.
I agree that the government's objective has always been to create the appearance and impression in the minds of the unsuspecting public that it is complying with the enforcement orders. The Attorney General's latest application to discontinue the government's application to examine its financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, is one more such trick to deceive the public and obstruct the course of justice, according to Citizen Vigilante.
Mr Amidu had said that when the AG served its application on Mr Woyome, he (Woyome) went to the Attorney General and the president personally, that should the order applied for by the government for his examination not be discontinued, he [Woyome] will have no option than to disclose truthfully and faithfully to the Court on oath, the names of all NDC and government beneficiaries of the judgment debt.
However, President Mahama told GBC's Presidential Encounters on Wednesday that he had nothing to do with the discontinuation, saying: I mean, that is a practice in law, and then somebody says: 'Hey it is the president who asked her to discontinue!' We have people who are just willing to publish any allegation in the papers against the person of the president
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Martin Amidu
18.11.2016 LISTEN
Let us extol Mr Martin Amidu, the former Attorney General, in the late Mills administration, for his patriotism, vigilantism and unparalleled intrepidity.
As a matter of fact, Mr Amidu has evidenced his patriotic qualities over the years through his actions. That is, he has shown beyond conscionable doubt of his affection, solicitude and strong predilection towards his beloved Ghana.
If we go down memory lane, Mr Amidu was relieved of his duties by the late Mills for rightly exposing the gargantuan corruptions in the NDC government.
Mr Amidu, however, pledged wholeheartedly to retrieve all the undeserving monies that had been doled out to people and organisations like Wayome, Waterville and Isofoton.
Despite his unfortunate dismissal from his high profile position by the late Mills, Mr Amidu did not buckle under enormous pressure. He somehow persisted, and single handedly pursued the case in the Supreme Court of Ghana.
Ironically, however, it was revealed in the Supreme Court in 2014 that Mr Wayome was undeservingly paid a judgement debt in an excess of GH51 Million by his conspiratorial plotters.
As JSC Dotse aptly put it, it was create loot and share. In other words, Wayomes judgement debt payment was a conspiratorial plot to dupe the nation. The Supreme Court thus ordered Mr Wayome to cough all the money in full.
Contrary to our expectations, however, the Attorney General, who has the sole responsibility as Ghanas debt collector, showed lackadaisical approach in retrieving the money from Wayome.
It has been two years since the Supreme Court directed Mr Wayome to pay the money back into the coffers of Ghana. Nevertheless, Ghanas sole debt collector, the Attorney General, has not shown any seriousness in taking the money from Wayome.
Consequently, the citizen vigilante, Mr Amidu, headed back to the Supreme Court with a view to assisting the laid-back Attorney General to retrieve the money back from Wayome. Subsequently, Mr Amidu filed with the Supreme Court with a view to interrogating Mr Wayome about his assets and how he expended our gargantuan GH51.2 million.
The citizen vigilante anticipates that by doing this, it will help to ascertain the whereabouts of Wayomes assets and thereby facilitating the retrieval of the money. However, the Attorney General puzzlingly filed with the Supreme Court to discontinue the case.
Nevertheless, the Attorney Generals weird action did not dissuade Mr Amidu from proceeding to the Supreme Court for hearing. The Court however set the hearing date to Wednesday 16th November 2016.
To the delight of Mr Amidu and the well-meaning Ghanaians, the Court agreed that Mr Amidu can question Mr Wayome on 24th November 2016.
Truly, it is because of courageous and reflective thinkers like Mr Amidu that I do not want to assent to President Obamas assertion that Africa needs strong institutions, not strong men.
For me, Obamas observation is sophistic. Yes, Africa needs strong institutions, but then again, Africa needs strong men like Mr Amidu to fortify the redundant institutions. Indeed, without courageous and strong men like Amidu, Africa cannot build strong institutions.
In fact, if you were to find out from me who is a serious corruption crusader between President Mahama and Mr Amidu, I will dare state that it is rather the latter. Absolutely, Mr Amidu has honourably upheld the relevant provisions of the United Nations 2005 Convention against Corruption.
Apparently, all that we keep hearing from President Mahama in his attempt to fighting corruption is the paradox of exposure. For in so far as detection is recognised in the fight against corruption, it is not an isolated tool in combating the menace of corruption; it goes hand in hand with prevention and deterrence.
Besides, the prevention and eradication of corruption is a responsibility of all and sundry, and with a view to cooperating with one another with the support and involvement of groups outside the government such as civil society, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations.
If, indeed, the prevention and eradication of corruption is a synergistic venture, why is it then that President Mahama and his Attorney General are not willing to cooperate with Mr Amidu to retrieve the money from Wayome?
Corruption is indeed a global phenomenon and it therefore requires a collaborative effort to prevent and eradicate. It is against that background that in its resolution 55/61 of 4 December 2000, the UN General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (resolution 55/25, annex I) was desirable and decided to establish an ad hoc committee for the negotiation of such an instrument in Vienna at the headquarters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Subsequently, the international community adopted the UN Convention against Corruption in 2003 and it came into force in 2005.
The UN Convention against Corruption is the first meaningful universal instrument enacted to prevent and combat corruption with a view to networking and building on a broad international consensus.
More importantly, Ghana signed the UN Convention against Corruption on 9th December 2004 and ratified on 27th June 2007.
In the great scheme of things, the Corruption Convention requires States to take measures to ensuring that public services are subject to safeguards that promote transparency, efficiency and merit-based recruitment. More so public servants should be subject to codes of conduct, financial disclosures and disciplinary measures.
Furthermore, the UN Convention against Corruption requires public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials.
So, the all-important question we should ask President Mahama is: why did you receive a clandestine gift of a Ford Expedition Vehicle from a Burkinabe Contractor without informing your employers-Ghanaians?
Whats more, the Corruption Convention stresses that transparency and accountability in public finance must be promoted, and specific anti-corruption requirements, especially in the judiciary and in public procurement, must be established.
Apparently, former President Kufuor transposed one of the most relevant provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption -the procurement clause into our national laws.
Nevertheless, the crucial question the discerning Ghanaians should ask is: has President Mahama been able to fulfil Ghanas obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption following the ratification?
Regrettably, however, Ghanas ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption has not helped in our fight against the existential corruption under President Mahama and his NDC government.
Take, for instance, in recent years, President Mahama and his NDC government have been under the radar for numerous bribery and corruption allegations, inter alia, the furtive gift (the Ford Expedition)by the Burkinabe Contractor Djabril Kanazoe; the Embraer 190 scandal; Armajaro; SADA; GYEEDA; SUBA Info Solutions scandal and many others.
Unfortunately, President Mahama and his NDC apparatchiks are bent on embezzling Ghanas resources to the detriment of the poor. How bizarre?
Apparently, President Mahama and his NDC government corrupt practices have resulted in excessive public spending, less efficient tax system , needless high public deficit and destabilization of national budgets, heightened capital flight and the creation of perverse incentives that stimulate income-seeking rather than productive activities (create, loot and share-apologies to JSC Dotse).
K. Badu, UK.
18.11.2016 LISTEN
I believe in culture and tradition. I believe that any action that needs to be taken in our traditional homes the elder must first be consulted for wisdom and direction. I always promise never to allow that to elude me.
News making rounds showed that 200 Mamprugu Youth Chiefs endorsed NPP. It is important to indicate that such never happened in real life. A few of the Chiefs sat and concocted such a wicked and sad lies to represent the opinion of all youth chiefs in Mamprugu.
As I write this article, I want to wish President John Dramani Mahama that we are solidly behind him and Mamprugu will never let him down.
The supposed press release was meant to destroy the image of Mamprugu. God will never allow that to happen. Mamprugu is a civilized society and our behaviour will reflect that.
The information we are hearing has it that those who did it were paid to give a bad name to Mamprugu and its youth chiefs. The idea that everyone enjoys freedom of speech does not mean that they should go to that extend to make the political image of Mamprugu bad before the President of the Republic of Ghana.
Chief Na-achinaba Bugdow Abdulai and Chief Nayiri Za-achi Adam Tia who were enskined by the Paramount Chief of Mamprugu vehemently disagreed with the content of the press release and disassociated the rest of the chiefs from it. Mamprugu has over thousand youth Chiefs and the opinion of the few cannot reflect the opinion of all the Youth Chiefs of Mamprugu.
The pictures we saw on the news making headlines last week were NPP supporters and not the totality of the Mamprugu Youth Chiefs.
The rest of the Youth Chiefs are sending a warning signal to the one who claimed to be their PRO that he should stay away from Youth Chieftaincy matters since he is not a chief and that he should leave traditional matters to the youth chiefs.
It is disheartening to note that people are trying to create fertile grounds to forment troubles in Mamprugu. The gods of the land are wiser and would not allow such thing to happen. We love Mamprugu and we will continue to respect the culture and tradition of Mamprugu particularly Nayiri. Nayiri is the spiritual home of Mamprugu and it will be continuously observed as such. The rest of the Youth Chiefs led by Chief Na-achinaba Bugdow Abdulai and Chief Nayiri Zaachi Adam Tia would see to it that no Youth Chief uses politics to dent the image of Mamprugu.
Now to address the substantive matters of the press release, the idea that the president promised to construct road from Gambaga to Walewale has not been fulfilled is a blatant lie and greviciously I have answered them. The first question I always ask relative to the Gambaga-Walewale Road is whether when npp was in power the road wasn't in existence. Or whether they constructed the road and NDC came to power and destroy it, why all these vilifications?
While Nayiri is praying day-in-day-out and giving sacrifices to the gods to help keep peace, some miscreants who called themselves chiefs try to forment trouble. Oh my God, "chief who is chief"! That reminds me of the literature book," The Marriage of Ananesewa ".
His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama has raised the image of Mamprugu very high in the political Map of the world. John Mahama has never disobeyed the culture and tradition of Mamprugu. That alone makes me fall for John Mahama. Arrogance, insults and lies never win elections in Mamprugu and the country at large.
The NDC government has chalked a lot of success stories in Mamprugu. I will concentrate the success stories in Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency since my good friend, Abdul Majeed Ali has digested that of Walewale Constituency.
The first teacher training college at Gambaga was set up by the NDC government. The positive impact of the college is unmeasurable. Nalerigu College of Nurses and Mid-wifery is gotten to its present stage because of the NDC government. NDC government from 2009 to date has connected 17 communities to the national grid as seven more are in the pipeline. The NPP from 2001 to 2008 connected 5 communities to the national grid. Insofar as electricity is concerned, the NDC is far ahead of NPP.
In terms of infrastructure, President John Mahama has provided two gigantic dining halls, one for Gambaga Girls Senior High and Nalerigu Senior High Schools. Roads in the principal streets of Nalerigu are 80% complete. So far, the road from Bongbini to Langbinsi is completed. The stretch from Langbinsi to Walewale is almost done. So the question I ask is, why the need for such wicked and malicious press release by the "ghost chiefs".
The NDC government has the greatest economic, educational, social and traditional impact on the lives of the people of Mamprugu than any government that had ever ruled the country.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu and John Mahama are our favourite candidates for the 7th December, 2016 general elections. There is no turning back.
In the field of health and agriculture, the people of Mamprugu are content with the Mahama Government.
I will leave the rest of the success stories for another day.
Long Live Nayiri!
Long Live Mamprugu!
Long Live Ghana!
Author: Atindow Musah
Tel: 0245953869 /0208532470
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18.11.2016 LISTEN
I have keenly apprised myself with all the promises and manifestos of the various political parties contesting the up and coming general elections even though not all of them have good message for students but some do. Political parties try as much as possible to convince students by the inclusion of student-friendly policies in their manifestos. This is because they know the value of students votes. They know students have the numbers that can make or unmake their dream of winning power.
It therefore appears strange to me and so many other students that a scheme is being mounted by tertiary institution heads to prevent us from voting. What is strikingly amazing is the deliberate silence by the ministry of education on this unholy development. If students are critical to decision making in this country, then why these schemes to deny us our inalienable right guaranteed us in the constitution? Could this be a perfunctory decision to prevent students from sailing along the obvious tides in our country?
I have come to the firm conclusion above because the examination timetables of many tertiary institutions have been planned in manner that endangers the franchise of students. Even though no examination would be conducted on 7th December but still majority of students cannot vote.
For instance how is a student expected to write a paper from 2:30pm - 5pm on 6th December and travel to far a distance to vote. What makes the situation puzzling is that, such a student is also expected to return on 8th Dec to write another exam. Incredible!
Given the trajectory of events and coming from the history where most Technical Universities which hither to were known as polytechnics have always written exams after Christmas break, this swift change in the status quo particularly in an election year is suspicious and only lends credence to the perception of many that, some unseen hands are manipulating the system to disenfranchise students. Students are at a crossroad to choose between examination and exercising their franchise.
All issues aside, I want to make a passionate appeal to the Heads to take a second look at this issue and not become agents of disenfranchisement for a 'certain effect'. Students should rather be encouraged to vote since they form the academic class who understand the real issues in our country and can as such make good decisions for the benefit of our country.
I also want to join the many voices calling for elections day to be declared as statutory holiday in order to enhance our elections.
Elvis Osei Amponsah
Former Public Relations Officer
Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students.
0545431600
The urge of wariness against the campaign message of Vote against President Mahama and the NDC by NPP faithful and all those clamouring for a change of government from NDC to NPP descended upon me like a possessed person on Thursday, 17 November 2016 while I was in the middle of enjoying my breakfast. I had to put away the food to cogitate about why that message had come to bear heavily upon my mind.
Not long into cogitation about it when the answer was revealed to me. It was all about avoiding the repeat of the tricks NDC people played on the minds of people, especially on the elderly, the village folks and the unlettered.
In some years back when the NDC went into the rural areas, thus, the hinterlands, on their campaign trails, they would trick all those determined to vote NPP how to do it. By their tricks, they were rather getting them to vote for the candidate(s) of the NDC.
In the electioneering era of Rawlings as the presidential-candidate of NDC who was being challenged by then NPP presidential-candidate Kufuor, the NDC urged the illiterate folks or the elderly who despised Rawlings and wanted him off the presidency how to vote to get rid of him. They told them that on the ballot they would see the pictures of all the aspiring presidential candidates and the logos of their parties. As we want President Rawlings out, by trying to bring in Mr Kufuor, where you see the picture of Rawlings, thumbprint it while saying, the devil get away from us (obusueni firi ye so k3), they would advise the uneducated rural folks.
They kept doing the same trick on them during candidate Mills time.
The NDC campaigners make their targets believe that by thumb printing the column where the candidate they dont want to be in power is, they are actually voting to get rid of such candidates without knowing that they are rather voting for such candidates as against those they had wished to vote for.
This is why NPP campaigners with myself inclusive, should desist from saying, vote against President Mahama and NDC on 7 December 2016 (mo nto nntia Oman panin Mahama ne NDC) but rather, Vote for Nana Akufo Addo and NPP (Mo nto ma Nana Akufo Addo ne NPP). Then explain to the audience that where you thumb print is the person or party you are voting to bring in as your future president or MP but not as the NDC have tricked them to believe in the previous years.
Who knows if NDC is again not fooling the illiterates in the villages with the same tricks as explained above?
God reveals to redeem so please, we must explain to our audience and supporters how to vote for Nana Akufo Addo and NPP parliamentary candidates.
The wind for change is blowing and turning into a hurricane as it moves along. This is frightening the NDC hence their desperation to grease their propaganda machines with more lies but as long as God lives, it will not wash.
Is my point taken on board, oh dear Ghanaian masses who are eagerly aspiring to vote to bring about the change of government from NDC to NPP for our common good?
Please, let us tell our listeners and the electorates when we are on our campaign trails that they are to vote for Nana Akufo Addo. We are also to tell them how their vote is to be effected.
The battle is still the Lords with the third time lucky proverbial factor playing in favour of Nana Akufo Addo, the reminiscent of Joseph, Moses and David of our time. As Joseph outlived all odds to bring his people out of hunger into Egypt; Moses liberating his people from slavery under the hands of the Egyptian Pharaoh, and David liberating the Israelites from the domination of the oppressive Philistines by killing Goliath, so shall Nana Akufo Addo be and do for Ghanaians.
Therefore, we have the obligatory duty as wise citizens of Ghana to vote for him en mass without falling for the trickeries by President Mahama and the NDC.
This message comes to you from a member of the Mahama Must Go movement.
Rockson Adofo
Parliamentary candidates in the Bimbilla constituency of the Northern Region, have pledged to engage in issue-based campaign ahead of the polls.
Bimbilla is a volatile area which has seen several curfews in recent years.
The candidates made the pledge during a parliamentary debate organized by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) with support from the European Union.
Four candidates are contesting for the parliamentary seat in the Bimbilla constituency; but only three candidates turned up for the debate: National Democratic Congress' (NDC) Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour-Rockson, the Convention Peoples Party's (CPP) Alhassan Samed, and the Progressive Peoples Party's (PPP) Iddisah Zehara.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, who is the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Bimbilla constituency, Dominic Nitiwul, did not participate in the debate.
Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour- Rockson, pledged to consolidate the peace and stop the inter-tribal conflict between Nanumbas and Konkombas. He says he has set aside cash reward for any inter-tribal marriages between Nanumbas and Konkombas.
He believes such marriages could help to end the protracted ethnic conflict between the two tribes.
Peace is very important in Nanung, and I believe strongly that peace is holding in Nanung. When we talk about peace, we should thank the security forces such as the police and the army for the excellent work they are doing. We are very thankful to them.
Iddisah Zehara (R)
Iddisah Zehara (R)
As a parliamentary hopeful, one of things I should do is to listen, when you listen and communicate you are able to prevent conflicts, because there are tensions before conflicts. If I am elected to parliament, I will put my ears on the ground in this constituency to make sure that tensions do not overblow into open warfare or conflicts. I think we have failed in that aspect and we need a different face to be able to bring peace into the communities.
I have a campaign message that I have promised to provide money for a Nanumba or Konkomba who will marry from either tribe. I pledge this openly, we need to integrate to create peace and to live peacefully in Nanung. We need to bridge this bridge so that Nanumbas, Konkombas, Chekosis, Ashantis and any other tribe will live as brothers and sisters in Nanung.
The CPP candidate, Samed, is however worried about the situation in Bimbilla, and urged the people to give peace a chance. According to him, without peace, there cannot be development in the area.
He thus called on the people to prove that they are peace loving people.
The PPP candidate, Iddisah Zehara, who is the only woman in the race, said women and children are most affected when there is conflict, and called on women in the constituency to stand up tell the men that enough is enough.
Some of the participants shared their views about the commitment of the candidates.
I have seen that the things the aspirants are saying is good, politics is good. If you want to campaign, do that on issues, tell the electorates what you have done and will do if elected and not personal attacks. This will not bring about the peace that we all call for.
The organization is good, the moderator demonstrated high level of intelligence, the aspirants too handled themselves very well. I like their responses to the questions especially the NDCs candidate, Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour-Rockson, actually I was impressed.
By: Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira citifmonline.com
Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 November 2016 Sage, the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems, today announced the winners of its Sage CEO circle for the Africa and Middle East region. An award program designed to reward and recognise outstanding performance of the top partners that serve our customers, recommend and advocate for Sage.
Partners competed against each other under criteria such as: highest product revenue, customer migration units, license sales and referrals. As well as being the recipient of this illustrious accolade, the winning business partners will also join Stephen Kelly, Sage Group CEO, on an all-expenses paid winners trip to Costa Rica, taking place in February 2017, which includes an FY17 business planning session and awards reception.
Alan Laing, EVP of Partners and Alliances at Sage said Our business partners at Sage are integral to helping us serve business builders across the world. The CEO Circle event will recognise their achievements, give us chance to celebrate with them and collaborate on how we will achieve further growth and revenue together.
Added Anton van Heerden, Executive Vice-President, Africa & Middle East at Sage: Our business partner ecosystem in Africa and Middle East does an excellent job of supporting our customers by enabling them to unleash the full benefit of our solutions. Congratulations to the winners. Through your excellence, Sage customers across the region are empowered to use our solutions to simplify their business processes and build their businesses.
The Sage CEO Circle is a global programme, and the winners in the region are:
Africa:
Top Sage X3 Business Partner (X3 and X3 people): Warren Williams , Parity Software
, Parity Software Top African Business Partner (Sage X3 and Sage X3 People): Ashley Regenass , Synergy
, Synergy Top African Business Partner (Sage Evolution Accounting, Sage 300, Sage Premier Payroll & HR, Sage VIP People): Walter Muwandi, Camelsa Consulting Group
Camelsa Consulting Group Top African Business Partner (Sage One Accounting & Payroll, Sage Pastel Accounting, Sage Pastel Payroll): Rob Watson, Chips Enterprise Solutions
Middle East:
Desperation has set in, government machinery is virtually shut down as the Chief of Staff who is supposed to be running the government systems is on the campaign trail, Kwmena Ahwoi has his team, Asiedu Nketia is on the other side. The otherwise neglected and abandoned Amissah-Arthur who is a 'constitutional Vice-President' with no active role in government has been offered a role in the campaign. By the way, Asiedu Nketia seems to be emaciating in the midst of plenty. What is happening to him, suffering from cancer or moneymalities? When poverty is killing our people, Asiedu Nketia seems to be dying of 'good living'.
One of the things that amaze me in all these desperate campaigns is Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi's epistle against the NPP; the NPP (sic) and what they did to Nkrumah. He goes on to talk about jobs the NDC intends to create when given another four years to govern this country. It is such a long time, but not too long to erase the actions of Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, then Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi in confiscating and virtually collapsing the businesses of Ghanaians, mainly Akans, in this country. Do I name them? He helped collapse Ghanaian initiatives, their foibles notwithstanding, he under the PNDC threw the baby of Ghanaian industry with the bathwater. Almost 30 years down the line, he is preaching job creation. May the souls of the B.A. Mensahs, Appentengs, Kowus, Boakye Mattress and the host of other unsung business heroes who fell under the gavel of Ato Ahwoi's Citizen's Vetting Committees, rest in perfect peace.
It is also strange when the NDC campaigners attempt to resurrect the bones of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and blame the NPP on anything bad about that great man. Just as it is very convenient but disingenuous for them to interchange the United Party (UP) with the NPP, have they forgotten that the successor of the CPP, ideologically and in terms of leadership and personality, the CPP minus Nkrumah, was the People's National Party (PNP) led then by Dr. Hilla Limman, which was brutally ousted from office by the very people who today are praising Nkrumah political tradition instead of their own Rawlings and the Ahwois tradition? Are they ashamed of their past?
I listened briefly to President Mahama on Wednesday evening when he was answering questions on GTV, mundane as some of the questions were, he simply rattled without answering those questions. On the creation of sustainable job opportunities for the teeming youth of this country, he threw figures here and there, 1000 jobs here, 5000 jobs there, 2000 jobs being created in other places and on and on and on. When asked about the sustainability of those jobs by the discredited GYEEDAs and the YEAs, he then turns round to blame the youth for being unemployed because they do not have the skills to have sustainable jobs. 'Employers are not looking for fresh graduates,' he said and urged the youth to look out for skills that industry requires. Great, the question is what other skills do trained nurses who have not been employed three years after training and graduation, require to be employed?
He tells them they cannot have money in their pockets when they sit at home without doing anything: are we requiring trained nurses, teachers and other professionals to go to Kokompe to further train to be able to be given jobs? If there are modules for unskilled and informally educated Kaya Yei to create jobs for themselves, what modules do you have for trained nurses and teachers without jobs so that they will not be staying at home and expect to have monies in their pockets.
Mahama gives an example of welders not properly trained to be gainfully employed by the burgeoning oil industry. The NPP through vision and effective targeting, found oil in commercial quantities, it did not live to see the drilling of the commodity. The NDC inherited it, but did not have the common sense that welders, as artisans, are so much crucial to the oil industry to make conscious efforts to train our numerous youth to be able to contribute significantly to that sector. A government bereft of vision and forward planning, populist in its outlook believes that converting Polytechnics into Universities is more important than effectively resourcing the institutions to offer artisanal training to the youth to empower them to work on their own and where necessary, be employed in sectors that require their skills and training.
It is the responsibility of a government to shape the educational programme in a manner that will produce skills and training that are relevant to the needs of the labour market at any given time. Government fails to do that and turns round to blame the youth for taking what is available to them. He says the youth are not taking advantage to make money, where are the opportunities? Barren minds at work. It is heartwarming, if it is true that many young people are acquiring lands to cultivate cocoa to increase our production and export. That crop remains the single largest exportable commodity which brings in substantial foreign exchange.
The next question to President Mahama is, what is he doing to stop the destruction of existing and matured cocoa farms by the Chinese who invade the cocoa farms to illegally mine gold? Cocoa farms have been unwilling hosts to bulldozers and caterpillars, clearing the farms with glee and impunity, indeed, they are armed to the teeth while the owners of the farms gnash their teeth with no help from anywhere. What guarantee do those young ones you claim are rushing to acquire lands to produce the cocoa have against the predating mechanical claws of the Chinese and their principals in government? The young ones are not going to plant cocoa for the sake of it; it is their life and future. As a grandson of cocoa farmers in the Upper Denkyira District in the 1970s, I know what it takes to produce cocoa.
President Mahama never ceases to amaze the world that Komenda Sugar Factory is in operation? That edifice is simply a white elephant since the monies for the production of the basic raw materials are now being sought for. No single sugar cane is being produced for the purposes of producing sugar from the factory, so how is the factory operating? Reviving the Aboso Glass Factory? This factory was functioning until the P/NDC took power and presided over its total collapse under the 19 year rule of the same group of people. In the late 1990s, the factory was virtually given to Gilchrist Olympio of Togo for free. It operated for a while, not much investments were put in, and it collapsed again, leaving behind a light bill of about two billion old Ghana cedis at that time. I personally as a journalist visited the factory in or around 1999 to talk to the management of the company then, to find out how it was performing. It happened under the NDC.
Reviving the STC, according to President Mahama? Once again, this Company which had almost 95 percent ownership by SSNIT was in 1999 offered to a relation of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings who had just 5% shares to manage. It was the Kufuor administration which reversed the situation else we would have lost it. The P/NDC sold off over 200 State Owned Enterprises whose existence cannot be located, save about five in the hospitality industry. Kufuor did one major divestiture of the Ghana Telecom which then was 70% owned by the state. The efficient performance of Vodafone out of Ghana Telecom is unparalleled among all divestitures we have done in this country. Old staff were paid handsome compensations, young people have been employed and trained and are working to help build the country.
The economic policies of the Mahama administration which hinge on taxing the blood out of industry, crowding out industry from credit from the financial institutions are not enabling enough to help the private sector. He does not believe in the philosophy of the private sector being the engine of growth so he can't do it. Don't trust him.
Daavi, some three tots.
[email protected]
The prices of Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto trains might witness might see a considerable fall in the "lean season."
By India Today Web Desk: The Railway Ministry might just slash fares of several premium trains including Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto owing to the berths going "unreserved."
According to an Economics Times report, the railway ministry has been facing "a fall in passenger traffic as it has been losing long distance passenger to airlines and short distance to roadways."
Reportedly, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is keen on the current situation being tackled in the upcoming weeks and is in fact taking measures to ensure berths on the above mentioned trains do not go empty.
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Also Read: Currency crackdown: With nowhere to go, black money is now buying railway tickets
As per a recent policy by Prabhu's ministry, the prices of train tickets see a surge in sync with their demand.
Also Read: Bijwasan to be Delhi's largest transportation hub
"We can have a mechanism where we reduce the fares before a day or two so that all unreserved seats could be filled. We are yet to figure out the contours of this proposal," a railway official was quoted as telling Economic Times.
Also Read: Indian Railways names trains after personalities to woo voters in UP elections
The surge pricing scheme has also managed to bridge the gap between air and rail tickets--bringing it down to almost Rs 500--which is probably why passengers are opting for airplanes instead of trains.
Prabhu--who neither denied, nor confirmed the news--was quoted as saying, "It's a possibility. Why only increase the fare. You can decrease it as well when there's no demand. Fixed cost will be incurred on that train anyway even when the berths are going empty."
Other important railway-related issues will be taken up in the three-day Rail Chintan Shivir, starting today, November 18, 2016 that apart from top railway officials will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .
--- ENDS ---
Ever since IGP John Kudalor suggested the possibility of a social media ban on Election Day and justifiably incurred the wrath of civilised Ghanaians, the subject appears to have refused to leave the public domain.
Even President John Mahama was in opposition to the suggestion as was Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, who was in town for an activity when the subject was in the air, his position obviously mirroring the United Nations' which flag he bears as a representative of the international organization.
Ironically, though President Mahama is now vacillating on the subject, his position not too clear for comfort. His recent remark that social media constitutes a threat to the forthcoming elections is disturbing. For those who have known the president since he assumed the highest office of Ghana, he has presented himself as a public official who hardly keeps his word.
When his seeming reassuring word that social media would not be shut down earlier on Election Day was released, there were as many who heaved a sigh of relief as were those who doubted the reassurance. Then the vacillation happened a few days ago when he said social media constitutes a threat to the forthcoming election. Those who could not vouch for his word are laughing last and best because by the president's altered stance on social media, he has left most Ghanaians in doubt about the status of social media on Election Day.
Social media, as Dr. Chambas noted when he spoke about his abhorrence for its ban, is an aspect of freedom of expression. This position therefore, is a suggestion that any attempt at scuttling social media on Election Day or subjecting it to the arbitrariness of government under the flimsy guise of protecting the integrity of the polls, is nothing but a ruse.
We have a democracy to protect. It behooves us therefore as citizens obsessed with ensuring the sanctity of our democracy, to resist such infantile excuses to curb this critical segment of the freedom of expression.
Being a critical segment of democracy, it plays an important role in protecting the sanctity and integrity of the electoral process.
While we do not doubt the possibility of the abuse of social media, we advance the argument nonetheless that same can be said of radio and the other channels of mass communication. The excessiveness of radio in the hands of irresponsible persons was in full flight recently when the Montie 3 rocked the foundation of our democracy: they spewed outrageous remarks on the airwaves. In spite of the anomaly, the thought of a shutdown of the specific radio station was never an option. Indeed, the culprits after judicial process were jailed only to be pardoned by the president.
The status of social media, as in radio and the newspaper, is akin to fire or electricity both bearing positive and negative attributes.
It stands to reason therefore, that the president should be the last person to start triggering another discussion about whether to shut down social media on Election Day or not.
On Election Day, social media has a critical role to play in ensuring the integrity of the polls.
When Nana Akufo-Addo's residence was attacked by NDC hoodlums in the face of a momentary but costly apathy by the police, it took the social media to prick the attention of the nation about the nauseating development. But for the social media intervention, the worst could have happened. Let them not dare lest our democracy is reduced to a laughing stock in the comity of civilized nations.
What saddens me is the issue of feeding grants for our schools. Today feeding grants for the Northern schools have been in arrears for over 14 months. The children are being fed on maggot-infested food. How can we sit and watch this situation continue? We have a so-called Northern president who is in-charge of the whole Ghana but Northern students in schools are suffering and starving.
These were the words of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate to Nana Akufo-Addo, presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), in Zuarungu Moshie in the Bolgatanga East Constituency of the Upper East Region on Wednesday.
Dr. Bawumia, who before visiting the constituency had toured the Talensi Constituency earlier in the day, criticised President John Mahama for merely paying lip service regarding the plight of Northerners in particular and Ghanaians in general.
Touching on the plight of Northern senior high school students currently, Dr Bawumia said that the situation was one thing that particularly made him sad and wondered how someone who doesn't fail to remind people of his Northern roots, could preside over such an unfortunate situation a situation that has lasted for over three academic terms.
Many headmasters are dodging suppliers because they cannot pay the feeding grants; and we have a Northern president who says we should vote for him but who presides over this sad situation, Dr. Bawumia noted.
The Mahama administration has failed to pay feeding grants to schools in the three regions of the north since the first term of the last academic year, despite several appeals by the school authorities, parents, students and the inhabitants of the North, including chiefs. The situation has given rise to students feeding on small rations of meals which are mostly said to be of poor quality as suppliers have refused to supply the schools with their food needs until the debts that have been accumulated are cleared.
The crisis has gotten so bad that many suppliers are now threatening to drag authorities in the various Northern schools to court to retrieve their monies, while some of them (authorities) have been left with no other choice than to find food for their students, rather than watch them starve.
In addition, the government has failed to pay subsidies to the schools for two terms, and this has worsened an already bad situation.
Touching on other issues which had worked against the progress and development of the North in the last eight years, Dr. Bawumia mentioned the infamous SADA loot, where officials of John Mahama's government reportedly pilfered the resources meant for development in the North, through various shady schemes.
Aside this situation, we have a president who presides over SADA, where our monies supposed to be used to develop the North, was stolen.
Should we vote for John Mahama again? he asked, a question which received a thunderous 'No!' from the residents gathered.
Dr. Bawumia urged the people of the North to reject the NDC and its presidential candidate as their record over the last eight years is one of corruption, incompetence and suffering.
When John Mahama comes and he will be here soon. When he comes and says we should vote for him because he is our brother, we should say 'No.' We are not going to vote for him because he is piling suffering on our people. He is bringing disgrace to the people of the North. We were never known for corruption; and he is destroying our brand, he stated.
Dr. Bawumia also visited the Bolgatanga Central Constituency on Wednesday.
See pictures below
Dr. Charles Dwamena receiving the petition from Cynthia Sunu, Greater Accra Deputy Youth Coordinator of WSR-Ghana
WOMEN ACROSS Ghana have petitioned the two main political parties the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) asking them to promote peace before, during and after the December 7 elections.
The petitions were presented separately at the national headquarters of the two parties in Accra on Thursday by Women's Situation Room Ghana (WSR-Ghana), a non-partisan group representing the voices of women and children in the country.
As women, we are gathered here today to call on your executives and supporters to do all in their power to remain calm and resolute as the Election Day unfolds, the petitions read.
The women argued that they and their children are likely to be worst affected should there be any political conflict in the country emanating from the elections.
As women, we suffer most with our children when there is violence and will not look on as the security of our beloved country is compromised in the name of politics, they stated in the petitions.
They admonished the two parties to desist from any acts that are likely to undermine the peace of the country before, during and after the polls.
They also advised the parties to be conscious of the fact that no meaningful socio-economic development can take place when there is war.
Development cannot take place in the midst of conflict and violence. The situation in some of our conflict-afflicted sister African countries is an example for us as a country to choose the path of peace, part of the petition read.
Attacks
Already there had been reports of violent confrontations between supporters of the NDC and the NPP, with the most recent one being the reported attacks by supporters of President Mahama and the NDC on the Nima private residence of the leader of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The attack on Mr. Akufo-Addo's residence received an international condemnation, with the US and the United Kingdom embassies in Ghana threatening to revoke and embargo visas to politicians who will incite violence in this year's elections.
Justice
Dr. Charles Dwamena, Director of Finance and Administration, NPP, who received the petition on behalf of his party, thanked the women for the path they had chosen, but urged them to extend it to other stakeholders like the Police Service and the Electoral Commission.
He said the women should do everything in their capacity to ensure that justice is done to all, as he argued that there could not be 'true' peace without justice.
According to him, the willingness of Nana Akufo-Addo to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court in the 2012 Election Petition case points to the fact that the NPP as a party is committed to peace. Mr Dwamena expressed disgust that supporters of the party continue to be attacked by those of the NDC while the police and the National Peace Council look on unconcerned.
Director of Administration, NDC, Zumakpeh, who received the petition from WSR-Ghana on behalf of his party, said the NDC and President John Mahama are committed to ensuring peace.
He said anything that will tamper with the peace of the country will be condemned by the NDC and its leadership.
Peace March
The presentations of the petitions were preceded by a special peace march by about a 1,000 women and youth in Accra.
The Women's Situation Room was formed in Liberia in 2011 and currently operating in seven African countries, according to the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Christine Evans-Klock. It aims at ensuring that the elections are peaceful.
BY Melvin Tarlue
The disqualified presidential aspirant of the Independent People's Party (PPP), Kofi Akpaloo, and his party have thrown their weight behind the flag bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, in the run-up to the December 7 polls.
Mr Akpaloo told Adom FM yesterday that the IPP is supporting Akufo-Addo because the NPP has agreed to implement some polices in the IPP's manifesto, should it (NPP) win the polls.
Though we are a new party, if you give us the opportunity we will be able to transform Ghana; but [for this year's elections] we don't want to shelve those ideas. As a party, when it comes to job creation we believe we have fantastic ideas and also putting money into people's pocket with child benefits and unemployment benefits. So we decided to speak to the political parties and one party gave us the opportunity to help them and [and in return] they will implement this idea, Mr Akpaloo stated.
According to him, the NPPs agenda for employment and education are in line with the dream IPP had for the country before his disqualification.
He said even though he approached other parties, NPP gave him the respect and a listening ear.
Mr Akpaloo said after careful analysis, he believes the NPP will transform Ghana and has the country at heart.
He said once NPP wins, he will concentrate on his party and promised to come back stronger.
We are just helping the NPP capture power. But that doesnt mean that will be the end of IPP. I promise you that IPP will come out stronger, Akpaloo said.
The standard bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has asked residents in the Afram Plains South and North Constituencies of the Eastern Region to change their voting pattern and vote massively for the NPP to win the December 7 poll.
Nana Akufo-Addo, who addressed residents at the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) stronghold at Donkorkrom, Tease, Mame Krobo and Ekye-Amanfrom, said if elected, he would work hard to build a nation that would work for everybody.
He said his government would make good every single campaign promise made and implement policies that would boost the agricultural sector and build a college of education for the residents at Donkorkrom.
Nana Akufo-Addo said that his government would introduce the Adult Education System and also establish businesses that would create jobs for the teeming youth.
The NPP flag bearer, who is currently on a four-day campaign tour of the region, urged the electorate to go to the polling stations and cast their votes for the party on 7th December to ensure a resounding victory for the party.
He was emphatic that the NPP is not divided and that nobody has left the NPP to form his or her own political party.
At Tease, the community chief, Nana Mireku aka Olandor, appealed to Nana Addo to rehabilitate the deplorable roads in the Afram Plains if he wins the polls.
Mr.Yaw Osafo-Maafo, a leading member of the party, said it would build a more robust and strong economy, to create jobs and wealth for the people if the NPP wins power.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Tease
The United States is deeply concerned by the deaths of dozens of Nigerians during clashes between individuals participating in a Shia procession and the Nigerian Police Force in Kano State on November 14. While the matter is still under investigation, we are troubled by the apparent disproportionate response by the police. This is the latest in a series of violent incidents between security forces and members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), some of which have resulted in deaths, destruction of property, and the arbitrary detention of IMN members. The United States calls for calm and restraint on all sides, a reduction of tensions, and greater communication between Shia citizens and government authorities.
Members of the Shia community, like other religious communities, have the right to assemble, peacefully express their religious beliefs, and mark their celebrations. We call on the Nigerian government to protect and defend these rights. It is also incumbent on members of the IMN and all Nigerian citizens to respect the rule of law and cooperate with the police as they attempt to maintain public order.
We continue to urge the government to ensure accountability for the deaths of more than 300 IMN members during December 15, 2015 clashes between the IMN and security forces in Zaria, Kaduna State. We also call on the Nigerian government to conduct a transparent investigation of the latest incidents and bring to account anyone responsible for violating the law.
Accra, Ghana - 18th November, 2016 - JumiaTravel, Africas leading online hotel booking website has awarded its partners at a ceremony in Accra.
The awards ceremony, which was held at the Accra City Hotel served as a form of appreciation for the immense contributions of these partners in the development and success of the company. The company recently took giant strides by reaching a landmark of 1000 hotels on its website thus giving its customers more options to select from when they want to book a hotel anywhere in Ghana.
These amazing partners are the focus of all our operations. We keep succeeding because they are always there to support us. Without them, we will not be in business. It is great to have partners who are always on hand to receive our guests, offer them the best hotel experience and give us the best rates in order to better serve our ever growing customer base said Claire Staal, MD of Jumia Travel ( Ghana ).
Jumia Travel has over the past 3 years made a name for itself as the one stop destination for top hotel deals, amazing discounts and best hotel rates. The company has also made giant strides in technological services by providing hotels with an extranet application that allows hotel managers to confirm bookings, change rates and change availability of their hotel rooms.
As part of the activities of the night was an extranet application training and other great performances by the Ghana Kizomba family,Jay Hunton and Tijani Pepe.
Speaking at the #JumiaTravelAwards celebration organized by the company in Accra , Bennet Otoo, Marketing & Public Relations Manager (Ghana) said, We have come a long way in serving our guests with amazing deals and exquisite customer service. This is only possible because we are fortunate to work with such energetic and cooperative hotels. They are always on hand to support our ideas and meet us at a point where the guest is the major beneficiary. In the end, we can boldly say that we have been successful because of their immense support and corporation. Besides, the role of the media in promoting tourism and hospitality in Ghana cannot be overemphasized. We appreciate all the support and hardwork they put in. They put us on the map and that is what every growing business needs.
The company continues to enhance efforts to better serve and satisfy its customers by providing quick and easy ways of hotel reservation, as well as helping customers with all travel related needs.
About Jumia Travel
Jumia Travel ( travel.jumia.com ) is Africa's No.1 hotel booking website, allowing you to get the best prices for more than 25,000 hotels in Africa and more than 200,000 hotels around the world.
Our ambition is to bring every bit of available accommodation online, and to create the easiest and cheapest way for customers to book it.
At Jumia Travel, we have hundreds of travel specialists constantly in touch with our customers. Our offices are located in Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Algiers (Algeria), Douala (Cameroon), Kampala (Uganda), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Nairobi (Kenya) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).
Before June 2016, Jumia Travel was known as Jovago.
Jumia Travel was founded in 2013 by Jumia and is backed by MTN, Rocket Internet, Millicom, Orange, Axa and financial partners.
Ecobank Ghana has unveiled a widespread digital offering showcasing its products and services across its unparalleled Pan-African network.
Ecobank Group CEO, Ade Ayeyemi presented the digital array at the World Trade Centre in Accra, Ghana.
As part of the unveiling, Mr. Ayeyemi also revealed the Ecobank Mobile App to a Ghanaian audience.
Ecobank Digital leverages the power of technology to deliver instant, convenient and cost-effective solutions to customers around Africa.
Ecobank Mobile App, Ecobank Xpress Account, internet banking, Pan African Card, Automated Teller Machines, Points of Sale terminals, are just some of the digital solutions created to make banking easier, more accessible and affordable than before.
Mr. Ayeyemi said: Ecobank digital platforms offer an opportunity to develop new, previously unimagined services for our customers to help use money more effectively. The power of digital banking has the potential to unlock enormous lifestyle, business and other financial opportunities across Africa. Ecobank's digital offerings are opening up financial services to the unbanked, while serving existing customers at a whole new level. This will help transform our continent and leapfrog economic development.
Dan Sackey, Ecobank Ghana's Managing Director and Regional Executive Anglophone West Africa, said: By leveraging the power of digital, Ecobank is freeing up customers, including merchants, in Ghana and West Africa, to grow their businesses and live their lives more easily. Ecobank Ghana Ghana's biggest bank is here to support the country's already strong economy to grow further.
Ecobank's flagship Ecobank Mobile App was first launched in Lagos, Nigeria on 20th October 2016. Ecobank Mobile App boosts the spread of Ecobank Digital products, allowing wherever, whenever banking, bill payments and receipts, all online.
Owureku Asare, Regional Head, Cards & e-Banking, Ecobank Anglophone West Africa, said: The Ecobank Mobile App enables customers to open a free digital account Ecobank Xpress Account. The beauty of this account is that you can open it instantly with no references or paperwork.
The Ecobank Mobile App enables customers to send and receive money instantly across 32 other African countries other than Ghana.
Ecobank Ghana has grown over the years to become the biggest bank in Ghana. With the app, Ghanaians now have the opportunity to carry out transactions on their phones no matter where they are in the country.
A newly constructed world-class multi-storey commercial building with retail ground floor has been opened at Airport City Accra.
One Airport Square has premium office space unmatched in Ghana, including an atrium with high ceiling, a ground floor lobby and a landscaped public piazza with cafes, restaurants, gym, shops and other services for the office occupiers and the general public.
Serviced offices available on the 8th floor has state-of-the-art architecture, fully furnished and ready-to-use.
It has many offices and meeting spaces, offering flexible lease options, including hourly rates for space usage.
The team at One Airport Square offers administrative and technical and operational support which allows clients to focus on their core businesses.
The serviced offices also come well equipped shower facilities, massage and reflexology services to help ease the tension of a hectic day work.
One Airport Square also has an on-site events centre that can be used for corporate events, cocktails, seminars, weddings etc.
There are vacant office spaces on the 1st, 4th and 6th floors, totaling more than 3000 sqm.
The square has two level basement parking space, piazza, four standby generators (800kv each), parking ratio of 1.5 per 100sqm, energy saving lights which are motion censored, two large male & female washrooms on each floor, three passenger lifts with one goods lift, 24-hour security and cleaning services.
One Airport Square is a joint venture between Actis and Myma Belo Osagie of Boston Investments Limited, developed by Laurus Development Partners.
President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the rapid decline of the agricultural sector in favour of the services sector is normal.
According to him, the contribution of the agriculture sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) must decline as the country develops.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting with the Ghanaian business community organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) recently, President Mahama said, The services sector has overtaken agriculture as the highest contributor to GDP which is what it should be when a country is developing.
The contribution of agriculture to the country's GDP has declined since 2009 from 31.8 percent to about 12.8 percent in September 2015.
Many have attributed the decline to governments refusal to invest in the sector, which has imposed untold hardship on farmers and denied many jobs.
Government, in its 2016 budget, allocated GH501.5 million to the agric sector, a mere 1.2 percent of governments total expenditure.
Agriculture will continue to decline and the services sector will continue to increase, as well as manufacturing, construction and mining and quarry. And so that is the way it should go, President Mahama said.
For all the developed countries, contribution of agriculture to GDP is the smallest. But of course, it does not mean that you are not producing enough to feed yourself, he said.
The President said government was looking at other ways to support the private sector apart from borrowing, saying that is why the Ghana Export and Import Bank has been established to support businesses and create import substitution which has begun with the pharmaceutical and poultry companies.
We will continue to look at how we can improve lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). We will continue to ensure that we attain micro economic stability because it is the most dangerous threat to the private sector, he said.
By Cephas Larbi
[email protected]
By PTI: Priyanka to attend
Allahabad, Nov 18 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by daughter Priyanka Vadra and a number of top party leaders, will visit the city on Monday to inaugurate a photo exhibition commemorating the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"Sonia and Priyanka will be in the ancestral town of Nehru-Gandhi family on November 21 to attend the inauguration of Indira: A Life of Courage, a photo exhibition providing a glimpse into the life of the late Prime Minister and her contribution towards building a modern India," Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesman Kishore Varshney said here.
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Varshney also said "there are reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi may also be present to attend the function held in the memory of his grandmother. However, we are yet to receive an official confirmation."
He said the photo exhibition will be held at the historic Swaraj Bhavan -- the house where Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1936 -- and will remain open to the public till January 5 next year.
"Besides Sonia and Priyanka, senior party leaders Sheila Dikshit, Raj Babbar and Rajiv Shukla will be present on the occasion", Varshney said.
"To spread awareness about Indira Gandhis contribution to the nation, the exhibition will be held at various places across the country after Allahabad.
"In February, the exhibition will be held at Mumbai, followed by Kolkata in April and Bengaluru in August," Varshney added. PTI NAC BSA
--- ENDS ---
Flagbearer of the People's National Convention (PNC) Dr. Edward Nasigri Mahama, says all Ghanaians must work hard to tackle corruption which hampers the effective development of the country.
According to him, some Ghanaians, including people in government, condone institutional corruption, adding that the country needs a selfless president who would not encourage corrupt practices, especially in government.
Corruption in Ghana has permeated all sectors, especially in governance. Corruption has become strong and dangerous like the biblical 'Goliath' and we need a 'David' to tackle corruption and make it less attractive. I will be that 'David' if I become the President of Ghana.
Dr. Mahama made the disclosure while addressing supporters and members of the party in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital, where the PNC recently launched its manifesto for the forthcoming general elections.
Corruption has been prevalent in our national life; resources that are supposed to be invested in productive areas of the economy to generate sustainable jobs and better livelihoods for majority are redirected into individual pockets. This practice has a negative effect on the nation's development. This is why at this point in our life as a nation we need a leader who will have the political will to really fight corruption.
Dr. Edward Mahama noted that records from the Auditor General's Office estimate that the country loses over $3 billion annually through corruption, adding that there is lack of strict compliance with the Public Procurement Act.
Although these corrupt issues are so glaring, previous governments and current government, led by President John Mahama, lack the political will to prosecute culprits, according to him.
He mentioned that a PNC government shall amend the Public Procurement Act to plug the existing loopholes that some corrupt people in government are taking advantage of, stressing that he would ensure strict compliance with the Public Procurement Act.
Dr. Mahama indicated that a PNC government would not interfere in the prosecution of public officials found to have engaged in corrupt practices, saying the capacity of institutions would be strengthened to independently investigate and prosecute offenders.
He called on supporters of the PNC to campaign vigorously for him to become the next President of Ghana in the December polls.
Unlike other political party leaders, I represent peace and my position on the ballot paper means that I have been ordained by the Big six of the country.
National Chairman of the party, Bernard Mornah reminded supporters about the need to go all out to campaign for both parliamentary and presidential candidates of the PNC.
He disclosed that the productive activities of the PNC have sent shivers down the spines of members of the NDC and NPP, especially after the Electoral Commission (EC) allowed Dr. Mahama to contest in this year's presidential race.
From: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga
As British High Commissioner to Ghana, I am pleased to be here this afternoon and very pleased that the UK is supporting the preparations for Ghana's 2016 election.
The UK, one way or another, has supported each of the last six elections in Ghana, and we have all seen how the process has strengthened with each election. It is something of which Ghana is rightly proud.
Of course, there is always room for improvement in the UK as well as in Ghana. And the UK government, as well as other development partners, sees providing support for this year's election and democratic processes more broadly as an important part of our work here.
DFID has been working with a wide range of Ghanaian partners over the last eight months to develop a programme aimed at supporting a successful election in December 2016, including for example with the Electoral Commission, Ghana Police Service and civil society. One key part of this includes over one million Ghana Cedi worth of support to the Judicial Service.
There are three strands to this support;
The first strand is to provide a standardised manual on the resolution of election-related disputes by the Judicial Service of Ghana. We are paying for
6,000 copies of the manual called 'the 3rd edition of the Manual on Election Adjudication in Ghana' to be printed and distributed to all election stakeholders;
The second strand is to provide some specific, tailored training so that electoral disputes can be resolved expeditiously. About 250 supreme, appeal, high, circuit and district court judges will be trained in election adjudication, and another 60 registrars, private bailiffs and court staff will be trained in their own supporting roles too;
The third strand will look at reforms for Election Adjudication. The Supreme Court Bench will have a high level retreat to discuss the lessons learnt from the adjudication of the 2012 Presidential Election Petition. This will afford the other Members of the Court who were not empaneled during the 2013 petition, as well as other stakeholders, to discuss the Supreme Court Rules, administrative lapses and other reforms that are required to make the Judicial Service better prepared for any such petition should it occur during the 2016 Presidential Elections.
Ghanaian citizens know that free and fair elections require the rule of law to prevail if the intent of the voters is to be accurately reflected. They look to the Judiciary to take action when there is an interference with this basic principle. When the fairness of elections is called into question, we need an effective process of complaints adjudication to sift the facts and determine whether proper election procedures were followed, as prescribed in laws and regulations. Respect for the law and the constitutional process is vital. Likewise, the Electoral Commission must be independent, unfaltering in its administration of the process, swift and resolute in dealing with political intimidation, and open to listening and responding to legitimate concerns voiced by political parties, the media and the public.
The whole purpose of this support is to help you, the Judiciary, to do this critically important job effectively to equip and enable you to serve as an impartial last arbiter in election disputes. Ghana's Judiciary already has an enviable reputation and I note that the 2nd edition of the Manual on Election Adjudication in Ghana that was produced in 2012 has received a lot of commendations, and was proposed as a model for Kenya and Togo. As I understand it, the manual aims to set out in plain English the various regulations and processes on election adjudication in one place and will be accessible to everyone, especially all election stakeholders. So we are pleased to be able to work with the Judicial Service to build on the success to date, to deliver what will I am sure be Ghana's seventh free and fair and peaceful election.
The UK is a great supporter of Ghanas democracy and its electoral record. But Ghana's enviable reputation for free and fair elections must not be taken for granted. Whilst we admire the open and energetic nature of its campaigns, we also believe that violence has absolutely no place in the electoral process. Nor do provocation, intimidation and incitement, including through hate speech we condemn all manifestations of those practices.
We therefore call on all of Ghanas political actors to promote peace and to respect Ghanas electoral and constitutional processes. All political parties should strongly urge their activists and supporters to refrain from, and, indeed, actively to condemn, any violence, incitement or intimidation which only serves to undermine democracy. Similarly, political parties should hold their own members, who undertake in such activities, to account.
Aside from our support to Ghana's Judicial Service, we are providing assistance to the Electoral Commission, Civil Society, the Ghana Police and the media. All of this support is designed to ensure a strong process that provides a level playing field where all candidates have a fair chance to make their case for election, and those who the majority of voters choose are the ones that end up in office.
And the UK always absolutely impartial and neutral between all of Ghana's political parties will always work happily with whatever government the people of Ghana vote for in free and fair elections.
Congratulations once again on the launch of the 3rd edition of the manual and I wish you all well up to and through the elections and during the months ahead.
Thank you.
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Richard Kofi Attenkah.
Martin Amidu, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in the late President John Evans Atta-Mills' administration, has hinted that the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) would never compel businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome to refund the GH51 million wrongfully paid to him by government officials.
This is because, according to him, the Mahama-led government created, looted and shared the GH51 million loot with the businessman.
He has, therefore, charged Ghanaians to vote out President John Dramani Mahama and his NDC in the December 7 elections, saying that is the only way Ghana can retrieve the GH51 million from Mr. Woyome.
This is the only way out for Ghanaians to stand up for their constitutional rights, and to retrieve the unconstitutional monies created, looted and shared by this government with its political party supporters, who are now unconstitutional judgment debtors to the Republic, Mr. Amidu said.
According to him, even though he is a senior and founding member of the NDC, he is compelled to put Ghana first and to defend the 1992 Constitution, saying the only way Ghanaians can have the Woyome/Austro-Invest joint loot refunded is to change the government during the presidential election this year.
Mr. Amidu, also known as Citizen Vigilante, believes that: A new government will prosecute Woyome under Article 2(3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution for high crime, should he delay any further in refunding the unconstitutional loot.
In a statement he released in Accra yesterday, the former Attorney General continued: The new government will also enforce the Waterville judgment debt of over Euro 47 million loot or prosecute it for high crime.
Insisting that he is still loyal to the NDC, Mr. Amidu posited that he would support most of the party's parliamentary candidates who have shown honesty and integrity to the Constitution.
He, however, pointed out that he cannot, as a matter of good conscience and in defense of the 1992 Constitution, support President Mahama to continue to loot the state purse.
Fellow patriotic citizens, he continued, I fought for two long years for justice for the Constitution, and for all of us, and the Supreme Court eventually vindicated the public's interest by ordering the refund of the unconstitutional loot to the Republic of Ghana.
Unfortunately, the government, as the leading looter, has put obstacles in our way in enforcing the orders of the court. Fellow citizens, help me, in the name of the Constitution, to retrieve your money that was looted by voting for a new President. Let us protect our constitutional rights and not be hoodwinked by electioneering ploys. Let us get our GH51,283,483. 59 back, he maintained.
Mr. Amidu said the GH4 million cheque Mr. Woyome issued to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), as part payment of the monies ordered by the Supreme Court to be refunded, is only a ploy, as smoke and mirrors for their election campaign.
He called on the people of Ghana to demand from the government how its Attorney General can in enforcing the order of the Supreme Court for Woyome to refund the unconstitutional payments made to Woyome to the Republic of Ghana accept a cheque of GH4,000,000 drawn by Woyome, dated 4th November 2016, in favour of the Economic and Organised Crime Office, as part payment of the monies ordered by the court to be refunded.
Continuing, he emphasised: I say with all the strength at my disposal that a cheque drawn by Woyome in favour of the Economic and Organised Crime Office, which was not a party to the action or the judgment creditor, cannot be a cheque in part payment of the unconstitutional monies ordered by the court to be refunded to the Republic.
The acceptance of the Economic and Organised Crime Office cheque by the Attorney General, and the deception of the public by the Attorney General that it is part payment for the refund ordered by the court, brings into question the competence of the Attorney General and the government in pursuit of the interest of the Republic, he noted.
He explained that whatever is going on is a scheme designed to defeat my application for leave to examine Woyome orally on oath.
In the hurry of the government and Woyome to defeat my application, they could not even cover their tracks with a cheque drawn on the Ministry of Finance or the Accountant-General as custodian of the consolidated fund.
The cheque could also have been drawn on the Registrar of the Supreme Court and paid into court for the Republic.
The foregoing is evidence, if evidence be needed, that the Attorney General and the government are determined to kill the non-refund of the judgment debt as an election issue, by cooking up the deceptive cheque and receipt to allow the status quo to continue, he stressed.
He said the NDC is tenaciously deceiving the electorate that efforts are being made to retrieve the unconstitutional loot by Mr. Alfred Woyome.
In the run up to the 2008 Presidential and Legislative elections, with most social commentators rooting for the then ruling New Patriotic Party on the basis that it was delivering on infrastructure, then Vice-Presidential Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama made a profound statement.
If you vote for someone because of schools, hospitals and interchanges, you have a weak mind because it is government's responsibility.
Evidence abound that many Ghanaians bought into his assertion and sent the NPP tumbling out of Government House. The interesting development is that with him now in in power and with elections barely three weeks away, President Mahama is going to the polls on the basis of what he claims his government has done in infrastructure development.
When the President opened the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, he unashamedly told Ghanaians that he has brought Dubai to Ghana and that Ghanaians should reward him with another term at the Jubilee House.
Not too long ago, the Head of State toured the country with all expenses paid for by the state, armed with what state officials and party apparatchiks fondly refer to as the Green Book, a pictorial presentation of spurious projects the government claims to have undertaken in cities, towns and villages.
The snag is that, most Ghanaians believe a number of those construction projects were inflated in terms of cost.
On Wednesday, the opposition New Patriotic Party called a news conference and alleged that the government had specialized in inflating the cost of projects and creaming off the excesses for party and private use.
In other words, President John Dramani Mahama and his administrators have enriched themselves at the expense of the poor Ghanaians, by initiating projects which cost bear no relationship with the reality on the ground.
And that the administration has resorted to borrowing for projects as a result of what state officials could pocket from such loans.
It has been a contentious issue since the then Vice-President was heavily involved in the purchase of aircrafts for use by the military from Brazil. The prices kept changing until the delivery period when this nation paid nearly two times the advertised rate.
We were told that late President John Evans Atta Mills set up a committee to investigate his deputy and that only his demise curtailed the enquiry.
Be it as it may, The Chronicle is unable to applaud an administration which has extended this nation's indebtedness to external and internal creditors by over 1,500 percent.
In January 2009, when the NDC returned to the centre stage of this nation's administration, Ghana owed GHc9.5 billion to creditors. Now, we owe nearly GHc150 billion.
Most of these strange deals are clothed in sole sourcing formula under which contracts are awarded without competitive bidding.
One naked example of how sole sourcing has raped this nation is the deal under which a Burkinabe contractor was paid an outrageous amount of US$ 650,000 to construct a wall around a state property in Ouagadougou.
The bribery allegation against the President was dismissed by officials of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
But the damage to the reputation of the man seeking a second term at the Jubilee House will follow President Mahama for a long time to come.
A political commentator once observed: Truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other. No one, as far as I know, has ever counted truth among political virtues. Seen from the viewpoint of politics, truth has a despotic character and is, therefore, hated by tyrants and enjoys a rather precarious relationship with governments that rest on consent and abhor coercion, our apologies to Hannah Arendt, an American political commentator.
The Mahama administration has stretched this assertion too far. Unfortunately in this country, truth has taken flight. In its place, cronyism and the crooked way of doing things have completely taken over.
If you want to know why this nation is deeply in debt, The Chronicle would answer you by pointing to sole sourcing means of awarding contracts with virtually half the contract sums ending in officials' pockets.
Unfortunately, President Mahama would struggle to plead innocent to the charge of corrupting the system.
Tete (Mozambique) (AFP) - Authorities in Mozambique started investigations on Friday into whether locals were illegally taking petrol from a tanker that exploded killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100.
Officials had originally put the death toll at 73 following the massive blast on Thursday in Tete province in the country's remote western region near Malawi.
By Friday, officials had counted 60 bodies in mortuaries as recovery efforts continued.
"In the accident, 108 people were injured, 96 of whom are still being kept in for treatment at Tete Provincial Hospital," government spokesman Mouzinho Saide said at a press conference in Maputo.
"The cabinet has created a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances, causes and responsibilities for this accident."
According to authorities' initial accounts, the truck was carrying petrol from Mozambique's port city of Beira to neighbouring landlocked Malawi.
The driver took a detour and stopped close to the Malawi border in the village of Caphiridzange to sell petrol to local people, a common practice in Mozambique.
"The truck drivers were transferring petrol into a smaller truck and they fled when they noticed there was an (electrical) short circuit," Emilia Moiane, an information ministry director, told AFP.
Mozambique is one of the world's poorest nations, according to the International Monetary Fund, and since its 16-year civil war ended in 1992 its population has suffered the consequences of a terrible economic crisis
"Seeing the truck had been abandoned, locals came to syphon petrol off, not knowing that the truck was already burning inside."
One of the truck drivers was from Mozambique and the other from Malawi, officials said.
Horrific burns
President Filipe Nyusi told reporters that "tragedy has knocked on our door" with the high loss of life.
"What is important now is to take action and help the affected," he said.
Photographs and video footage from the hospital in Tete showed badly burned children arriving for emergency care and adults lying on hospital beds.
"We still have a lot of cases in a critical condition, including children and two pregnant women, out of 38 cases in total," Tete hospital director Veronica de Deus said.
"The vast majority of patients have severe burns. Some have 80 to 90 percent of their bodies burnt," she said on public broadcaster TVM.
Authorities said many of the dead would be buried in a mass grave, and announced that three days of national mourning would start on Saturday.
A plastic surgeon and other emergency health staff have been sent from Maputo, 1,500 km (930 miles) by road, to help deal with the large numbers of injured, including 17 children.
The government in Mozambique, one of the world's poorest countries, recently increased the price of fuel after the value of the local currency -- the metical -- fell sharply.
The metical has collapsed by 70 percent against the US dollar this year after falling 36 percent in 2015.
The Tete provincial government has appealed for emergency food aid and transport assistance for affected families.
Accra, GHANA This week, the U.S. Embassy in Ghana is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week from November 14 through November 20. During this annual week, U.S. Embassies around the world are emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurship, and celebrating visionary entrepreneurs.
The U.S. government supports Ghanaian entrepreneurs through a number of channels. The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is a signature U.S. government initiative to invest in the next generation of African leaders. Through YALI, the United States helps to enhance leadership skills, bolster entrepreneurship, and connect young leaders from throughout Africaincluding Ghanawith one another, the United States, and leaders in the private, civic, and public sectors.
In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has a number of programs that support entrepreneurs in Ghana. Through the Feed the Future AfricaLead Project, USAID trains, mentors, and provides networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. Various USAID programs, such as the Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement Project (ADVANCE) and the Supply Chain Development Project, help Ghanaian entrepreneurs access finance and international and domestic markets, and to obtain international certifications. In the recent past, USAID held the Road to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in cities around the world including Accra, bringing together startup entrepreneurs, investors and innovators to lead up to President Obamas Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley.
USAID is also partnering with Geeks on a Plane, a worldwide tour for startups, investors, and executives to learn about high-growth technology markets, which is taking place in Accra in March. USAID also holds regular contests open to the global public called Grand Challenges for Development, in which entrepreneurs and other innovators are invited to submit proposals for funding to address a variety of development challenges.
Ghana is filled with talented entrepreneurs, said U.S. Ambassador Robert Jackson. The people of the United States salute these committed men and women, who have the potential to spur economic growth and transform the country for the long term, he said.
Global Entrepreneurship Week was launched in 2007 by the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation, and in the years since then, millions of people have participated in thousands of events held in more than a hundred countries around the world.
Elections in Africa have mostly been characterized by tension, violent clashes, allegations and counter allegations of rigging, intimidation, among others. Ghana has had its fair share of this unfortunate development before, during and after elections in Ghana. The 2012 General Elections for instance witnessed a similar fate which led to the opposition New Patriotic Party filing a suit at the Supreme Court culminating in an eight months long legal gymnastics at the Supreme Court which was aired live on television for citizens of Ghana to view.
During the period, some phrases and terms became popular in the Lexicon of Ghanaians including; amicus curae pink sheets You and I were not there contempt over voting among many others. The Supreme Court ruling went in favour of the Respondents but with a call on the Electoral Commission to undertake several reforms in the way they conducted elections.
This years general election is very crucial and unique in many respects and it requires every possible attention from all stake holders in order for it to be hitch free. The stakes are much higher and this years general election may probably be the most competitive and acrimonious of all elections since 1992 for a number of reasons. However, I believe we can get it right if we all play our cards well and we will come out of the elections with our heads up and once again hoist our flag as the beacon of democracy in Africa.
The referee for the election (The Electoral Commission) has a new Commissioner. Some may see her as inexperienced because she is new and this election will be her first major election. Some may even see her through the lenses of gender, thinking that because she is female, she may not be strong enough or firm, thus some may explore the chance of pushing her to a breaking point in order to prosecute their agenda because political parties have interests which they will want to advance at all costs. But so far, the Electoral Commissioner has proven that she is up to the task. Perhaps more tougher than many thought resulting in some calling her all kinds of unprintable names especially after some presidential aspirants were disqualified.
The disqualification and the many law suits brought against the EC created some uncertainty on whether the elections will be held on December 7. Thankfully, the Supreme Court ruling culminating in the window of opportunity for the disqualified aspirants to alter and re-submit their nomination forms has cleared that uncertainty. With many of the legal hurdles cleared and in order to make the 2016 general election credible, free and fair, devoid of any minuscule of violence, all stakeholders must work very hard and prepare adequately for December 7. Indeed, all hands must be on deck.
This years general election may be Honorable Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addos last shot at becoming president considering the fact that he is advanced in age. Thus, the NPP will put in all the resources and energy they can marshal in order to seal a victory. If they dont win the elections, it will mean that they will be in opposition for more than eight years and this may not be an easy pill for the NPP to swallow considering the fact that since we ushered in the 1992 Constitution, NDC 1 governed for eight years, after which NPP took over for eight years. NDC 2 is about to complete eight years although their first term was headed by Professor John Evans Atta Mills who met his untimely demise and the then Vice President, H. E. John Mahama had to take over. He won the 2012 General Election and after almost serving his first term is seeking re-election for his second and final term. He will not want be a one term president so together with the NDC, they will also do everything possible within their means to win the elections.
The other smaller parties on the other hand will also do their utmost best to make their presence felt in this election. It is to be expected that, they will put up a strong fight that may send the election into a run-off so that they can become an ally to any of the two leading parties that may give them an offer they cannot reject.
With the election close-by, the campaigns have become more intense and the political temperature is rising very fast. We have seen and heard of pockets of violence in various constituencies. Debates for parliamentary candidates have turned into fist fights, health walks have turned violent, there are allegations of rigging mechanisms being hatched to give some candidates unfair advantage over others, among others.
The campaign trail of the two major political parties, have also witnessed many royal and celebrity endorsements. But I dare say that, endorsements alone are not enough to win elections. Parties must move beyond their party members who make all the noise and get down to the people who really decide the winner. They are called The Silent Majority. They normally do not make much noise or announce avowedly what bothers them or who they will vote for. They express their concerns through the ballot box. Those are the real king makers. So any party that is very keen on winning the election must knock on those doors, go on a house-to-house, door-to-door campaign, have a one-on-one time with these people, appeal to them and make their policy proposals known to them and be very honest about it. Dont make phantom promises which you know, just as these people also know you cant fulfil when given the nod.
The EC must be very fair and firm at this crucial time in all its dealings and it must purge itself of any iota of doubt and suspicion. Electoral officers must be well trained and must be seen to be on top of their game. Their posture and utterances must not be seen to favour one party over the other.
The media, a very key partner in the election must also be very circumspect in all their reportage. The truth, fairness, balance, must be the driving forces behind any reportage. The airwaves must be sanitized to prevent it from use by some selfish persons to incite violence. People with the tendency of making wild unsubstantiated allegations that have the tendency of causing fear and panic must not be given the platform by any media house to spew words which will not unite and build but tear down.
All political parties must call all their supporters to order and conduct themselves in a manner not to breach the peace the country is currently enjoying. The message of peace, love, tolerance, and respect for one another must be trumpeted in all Churches, Mosques, and at all gatherings.
The political party that is likely to win the election is that party that has prepared itself adequately. It is that party whose message resonates well with the people. It is that party that majority of the people can trust or lend their power to, to govern them for the next four years. It is that party that is working very hard and has the blueprint to turn Ghanas economy around. It is that party which is not complacent and depends on opinion polls because, if opinion polls were an accurate way of predicting, elections, Hillary Clinton would have won the just ended American elections. Nobody including myself, really thought that Donald Trump would win the election. Many influential Republicans even denounced him but it looks to me, he knew exactly what he was doing and a statement he made during his victory speech makes me think so:
As I have said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign, but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hardworking men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their families. Its a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religion, backgrounds and beliefs who want and expect our government to serve the people and serve the people well
So for the parties that may be depending on opinion polls, expert predictions and political prophecies, it may be wise for you all to have a rethink because Donald Trumps win defied opinion polls, endorsements, prophecies and other expert predictions and this for me must be a lesson for all politicians.
It is worth mentioning that, some people may use this election as a smoke screen to settle old scores so the Security Agencies must be very alert and more visible, strengthen their intelligence gathering mechanisms in order to prevent crime before, during and after the elections. Crime does not wear a political vest, so anybody caught to have breached the law irrespective of his political affiliation must be dealt with in accordance with the law without fear or favour.
To the political prophets, I wish to entreat you to be very circumspect in the kind of prophecies you churn out. Predicting or prophesying the outcome of a crucial election such as this one can have some negative effects. Such prophets must remember that members of their churches belong to different political parties. When a so called electoral prophecy does not come to pass, some members may think, there was rigging which can spark agitations considering the fact that many of our people are religiously gullible.
To the people who have decided not to vote in this election, I entreat you to reconsider your decision. One out of every three persons I have spoken to so far about this years election tells me they will not vote. But we must all understand that every single vote counts. Remember our system is first past the post (50% + 1) and one persons vote may be that special vote to decide the winner in this election. Your vote is a loud declaration for maintenance of the status quo or a change and you cannot blame anybody for the outcome of the election if you dont vote. The NCCE, EC, media and other civil society organizations must step up their voter sensitization and education campaigns to reduce the incidence of rejected or spoilt ballots as we still have many of our people who are illiterates or uneducated.
Finally, it is important for all stakeholders in this years general elections to understand that, violence has never proven to be the best solution to any problem. Violence always leaves in its wake devastating consequences. We must all seek peace and pursue it. In all our dealings before, during and after the election, we must remember that we have one Ghana and we must strive to put Ghana first. All utterances, comments and actions that will provoke violence or threaten the peace must be eschewed. Whatever we do must be to strengthen our democracy and not to derail it. In that respect, everybody must think twice about anything before he does it. Any action which is fueled by gbeshie kpokpogbligbli or the like will only jeopardize the peace we enjoy. Peace is a priceless gift and we must guard it jealously. May God Bless Our Homeland Ghana and Make Our Nation Greater and Stronger.
The writer is an international award winning Author, Founder/Executive Director of Human Rights Education Africa (an NGO committed to human rights education, advocacy, research, counseling)
[email protected]
Strategic Communications Africa Ltd. (Stratcomm Africa) has won the United Nations Award for Public Relations and Sustainable Development at this year's International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards for Excellence in Public Relations. The ceremony took place on 5th November, 2016 in Doha, Qatar.
The prestigious UN Award, one of the two top Golden World Awards, is for outstanding achievement in Public Relations, giving recognition to PR programmes that address priority issues of the UN. It was awarded to Stratcomm Africa for a PR campaign, Colour me W, that promotes the UN Goal of Gender Equality (UN Sustainable Development Goal 5). Mr. Bart de Vries, President of the IPRA, presented the award.
The Colour Me W communication campaign was developed by Stratcomm Africa in support of Access Bank Ghana's goal to promote economic empowerment among Ghanaian women through the introduction of banking products that meet their needs.
Other awards, under various categories of public relations practice, were won by various PR agencies from different parts of the world, including Japan, Korea, Angola, Nigeria, Netherlands, UK, Turkey, China, France, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Spain, Bulgaria and Russia. The event was hosted by the IPRA Chapter in the Gulf Region and was attended by IPRA members from all over the world. The Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar, His Excellency. Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, was the Special Guest of Honour at the event.
Stratcomm Africa's Chief Executive Officer, Esther A. N. Cobbah, who, along with some members of staff of the company, received the award said: We are encouraged by this recognition from the UN and the International Public Relations Association. At Stratcomm Africa we see public relations as an important tool for Africa's development. We are, therefore, delighted that this is an award related to the objectives of the UN for development. We are grateful to Access Bank Ghana for the opportunity to develop this campaign.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stratcomm Africa, Rev. Professor Samuel K. Adjepong, also noted: This UN IPRA award to Stratcomm Africa, a Ghanaian company with world class professional capabilities, not only shines the light on Ghana, but on Africa in general. It reinforces the fact that Ghana has a strong human resource base that is able to attain the heights of the international public relations industry as well as other fields of endeavour. We congratulate management and staff of Stratcomm Africa on the hard work that has earned this prestigious award.
This is the second time an African company has won the UN IPRA award since it was established in 1990.
By: citifmonline.com/Ghana
A Ghanaian, Richard Asante Yeboah has petitioned the Chief Justice to allow live cameras in the Supreme Court during the oral examination of businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome by former Attorney General, Martin Amidu.
In his petition, Mr. Yeboah insisted that the live telecast would bolster confidence in the legal system especially in the apex court of the land in ensuring that due processes are followed and whatever is owed Ghanaians is paid promptly.
He also explained that the move will also ensure transparency in the process and further update the good people of Ghana on how our Tax-cedi was expended in this Woyome debacle.
Mr. Yeboah is also of the view that allowing live cameras in the court room would equally end the usual media spin that characterizes court room reporting and throw more light on the matter especially the incessant tantrums and accusations of Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome to the effect that the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court has sidestepped the constitution and has rather chosen to persecute him.
Amidu to orally examine Woyome
Martin Amidu, also known as Citizen Vigilante has been granted permission by the Supreme Court to orally examine Mr. Woyome.
Mr. Amidu prayed the Supreme Court to allow him examine Woyome because the Attorney General who had early applied to take up the issue backtracked at the eleventh hour.
Brouhaha over GHc51 million booty
Alfred Woyome was paid 51 million after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup.
However an Auditor General's report released in 2010, said the amount was paid illegally him and subsequently a Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money after Mr. Martin Amidu challenged the legality of the payments in court.
Meanwhile several efforts by the Attorney General to retrieve the GHc51 million including selling his property to defray the debt has proved futile.
Camera in Supreme Court
The only time Ghana's Chief Justice allowed cameras in the court room was during the Election Petition case in which the New Patriotic Party and its flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo challenged the 2012 presidential election results at the Supreme Court.
-Citifmonline
7 bags of human hair worth Rs 25 lakh have been stolen from the Srisailam Temple in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.
By Ashish Pandey: In the wake of the government's demonetisation decision, burglars too are coming up with their own strange ways to loot money.
In an incident reported to the police early today, 7 bags of human hair were stolen from the Srisailam Temple in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.
The temple, which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva known as Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy, is famous among tourists and devotees across India.
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WHAT HAPPENED
On Wednesday night, 3 masked miscreants broke into the store room of the Srisailam temple and stole 7 bags of human hair kept there. The hair stocked in bags is an offering devotees make at the time of worship. Authorities say that the cost of hair in the market is estimated to be worth Rs 25 lakh.
Also read | Siddhivinayak temple's cash donation shot up by 70 per cent
The entire incident has been captured by the CCTV cameras.
Speaking to India Today, Kurnool SP AKE Ravi Krishan said, "We received the information and are verifying the facts. Some insider's role is suspected. We are questioning the temple staff and will soon crack the case."
FIR LODGED, PROBE ON
A FIR has been lodged into the case and further investigation is on.
Also read | Sabarimala temple opens to pilgrims but it is still a long wait for women
Only recently, a thief in Telangana's Warangal district had stolen small value currency leaving behind 500 and 1000 rupee notes.
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The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin has said that the United Kingdom has no favoured political party and candidate in Ghana's elections.
Benjamin said what UK wants to see is a peaceful, credible, free and fair election and they will work with whoever is voted into power.
But he reiterated that they will consider visa bans on anyone behind violence, or otherwise heightens tensions unnecessarily through intimidation, incitement or hate speech.
Jon Benjamin made these remarks while addressing police officers at the police headquarters at the launch of educational material for the elections 2016.
Some of the materials included public order management manuals, election booklet on the roles and responsibilities of a security officer at the polling station, aide memoire, posters, flyers, duty armlets, maps and others.
He told the police hierarchy represented by the Inspector General of Police and police management board members, to strive to work professionally in the discharge of their duties during the elections period.
Adding, he posited that United Kingdom believe that public security is the job of the police and theirs alone.
There should be no role for so-called party vigilante groups. Indeed, we think that such groups are wholly incompatible with democracy in the 21st Century.
Jon Benjamin continued that the UK has supported each of Ghana's six elections and have all seen how the process has strengthened the country's democracy.
He noted that UKAID, Department for International Development (DFID) has been working with a wide range of Ghanaian partners over the last eight months to develop a programme aimed at supporting a successful election in December 2016.
He entreated the public to behave properly during the election period.
The Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor in his address said the maps given will be distributed to all the 275 constituencies within the country.
The duty armlet is to be worn by all security personnel on duty at the 29,000 polling stations countrywide and the use is to ensure easy identification of security personnel on lawful duty at the polling stations.
The Minister of the Interior, Prosper Bani, for his part, urged members of the national election security task force to work as a team and strive to share information and intelligence for a peaceful election.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
([email protected])
Administrator of the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital in the Afram Plains, Kwaku Fianko Gyan, has lamented the persistent delays in the payment of claims owed them by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
According to Mr Fianko Gyan, in the case of the Donkorkrom Prebyterian Hospital, the NHIA has, for the last eight months, been unable to pay claims submitted to them for persons who accessed healthcare at the facility using the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The administrator indicated that as we speak, we have submitted all our claims till September, but, the NHIA has reimbursed this facility only for January 2016.
He made this revelation on Wednesday when the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, paid a visit to the hospital as part of his tour of the Afram Plains North Constituency of the Eastern Region.
With the government of President John Mahama and his assigns vehemently denying suggestions that the National Health Insurance Scheme is facing a major crisis and on the verge of collapse, Mr Fianko Gyan stated that the Health Insurance has been a major challenge (across the country), and Donkorkorom is part.
This situation, in the view Mr Fianko Gyan, means that managing the facility has become extremely difficult. You know, working in this area, we have a lot of non-mechanised staff we have to pay. At the end of the month it is difficult. Your staff are looking up to you for their meagre salary.
In addition to this, Mr Gyan mentioned that the indebtedness of the NHIA to the hospital has resulted in the inability of the hospital to procure medicines and other supplies needed to aid the hospital in delivering quality healthcare to residents of Donkorkrom.
Drug issues, consumables, our suppliers are all over the place, and this time if you call them they don't even respond to your calls. It is a very big challenge that we are dealing with, he added.
Mr Fianko Gyan hoped that sooner than later, the NHIA will do something about the situation, because we are prepared to provide healthcare to the people. It is up to them to honour their part of their obligation so that the people of Afram Plains will enjoy quality care.
The importance of making the NHIS work, according to Kwaku Fianko Gyan, is borne out of the fact that 98 percent of people who attend the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital use the NHIS card.
Mary Aboagye, Principal of Health Concern Ghana, a health training institution in Accra, has urged nursing assistants to exhibit the spirit of excellence in their work.
Speaking at the school's graduation ceremony for 358 students who had successfully completed their two-year study in Nursing Assistant Clinical programme, Mrs Aboagye said excellence was a critical component to the success of the noble profession.
Nurses who deliver excellent nursing care implement nursing in a professional and competent manner demonstrate a holistic approach to caring, possess certain personal qualities which enhance practice and relate to patients in a competent manner, she stated.
She further encouraged the graduates to practise the skills they had acquired through demonstrating an excellent spirit in the assistance they give their patients who are mostly at their most vulnerable state.
We need to care for our patients with love and compassion, we need to empathise with them and put ourselves in their shoes and to give out our best because life is very important, she told the graduates.
She was optimistic the training the students received at Health Concern Ghana has laid the firm foundation for them to progress in their nursing career.
Dr Mary Ani-Amponsah, special guest of honour in her speech, called on the students to move out of their comfort zone and have a personal drive to achieve something great in life.
She mentioned that one cannot claim excellence without making reference to their breadth of knowledge in an area of clinical practice, development of creative approaches that contribute to quality care, improvement of patient health outcomes, and promotion of standards of practice.
To achieve excellence, we need to master our skills, develop our knowledge and improve our attitude in clinical practice, leadership positions, care and outlook in life, she stated.
Florence Hutchful, Managing Consultant, 2MB Consulting Services Limited, addressing the gathering, advised the management of Health Concern Ghana not to rest on their achievements but strive to be the standard for excellent healthcare training in the country.
Deserving students and teaching staff were recognised for their contribution to quality healthcare training at the ceremony which also coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Nursing Assistant Clinical programme of the school.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
Accra, GHANA The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), through their joint Scaling Seeds and Technology Partnership (SSTP) held a national dialogue on November 17 to 18 in Accra, to discuss the challenges facing the development of Ghanas seed sector. USAID/Ghana Mission Director Andrew Karas delivered remarks on the importance of the production and distribution of high-quality certified seeds in Ghana.
The dialogue brought together representatives from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, crop breeders, and the private sector to examine recommendations from the recent USAID-AGRA funded independent Early Generation Seed Study, and to further develop an action plan for the seed sector. The group reviewed supply and demand constraints facing publicly developed, released, and registered seed varieties of seven crops: maize, rice, cowpea, soybean, sorghum, groundnut and yam. Participants discussed steps to creating a policy environment to boost and sustain seed development, as well as methods to include the private sector throughout the seed production process.
USAID recognizes that developing Ghanas seed system is critical to enhancing the productivity of key values chains and increasing incomes of smallholder farmers, remarked Mr. Karas. Through Feed the Future, the U. S. government's global hunger and food security initiative, USAID works alongside the Ghana Government, research organizations, the private sector, and development partners to increase agricultural productivity and build opportunities for economic growth in Ghana.
Through Feed the Future, the U.S. governments global hunger and food security initiative, USAID works to strengthen the Ghanaian seed sector to increase the quality and quantity of certified seeds available to smallholder farmers. USAID supports institutions like the Savanna Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) and the West Africa Center for Crop Improvement to develop and release new higher yielding and more climate-resilient varieties of maize, rice, and soybean.
To guarantee a consistent and increasing supply of certified seed, USAID has leveraged $10 million towards the seed sector, to grow and enhance the quality of seeds available in Ghana. USAID also trained 65 private seed companies on the production of certified seed, post-harvest best practices and business management. These companies then successfully produced over 1,300 metric tons of certified seed for release into the market for the 2017 growing season.
By January next year, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced it will begin rolling out a new policy which will see Ghanaian tax evaders denied access to passports, drivers licenses and visas.
The introduction of the new policy follows the implementation of the revised tax law 2015 tax Act.
Ghanaians are therefore advised to get a tax-payer identification number (TIN) so as to be able to renew or acquire new passports, drivers licenses or even secure visas.
The announcement of this new tax policy has angered many citizens. Some taxpayers have described the move as a misplaced one.
The introduction of the new tax policy is in a quest to widen the tax bracket as a way of raking in more revenues for infrastructure development, several Ghanaians have expressed mixed reactions over a number of these new policies in the country.
The Taxpayer Identification Numbering System (TIN) under the (TIN ACT) is described as a unique Identification Number issued to taxpayers for official transactions with the under listed public institutions. These are: the Domestic Tax Revenue Division, the Customs Division the Controller and Accountant General's Department of the Ghana Revenue Authority; the Registrar General's Department; District Assemblies and any Public Institution which the Minister may by legislative Instrument prescribe.
All persons liable to pay tax, or from whom taxes are withheld at source by employers or agents through payroll deductions and /or other business transactions under any enactment are required to register for a TIN.
All person transacting a business with any of the listed public institutions specified above are obliged to quote their taxpayers identification number for purposes of identification on all official documents.
According to TIN Act, a person shall not be permitted to undertake the under listed activities without use of a TIN. They include: to clear any goods in commercial quantities from any port or factory; to register any title to land, interest in land or any document affecting land; and to obtain any Tax Clearance Certificate from the internal Revenue Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Service or the Value Added Tax Service.
The rest are: to obtain a Certificate to commence business or a business permit issued by the Registrar-General or a District Assembly; and to receive payment from the Controller and Accountant General or a District Assembly in respect of a contract for the supply of any goods or provision of any services.
One of the following documents are as well needed to be able to register for a TIN: Certificate or Letter of Business Registration; Copy of Valid Drivers License; Copy of Valid Passport; Copy of Valid Voters ID; and Copy of Valid National ID. Meanwhile, the pending law enforce that without the TIN, a person cannot obtain the above stated documents.
The soon to be rolled tax policy makes every tax payer identified and captured on the GRA database and as well for ensuring effective and universal tax compliance in the country.
A 22.82 million euros soft loan (approximately GHC 98 million) have been secured to be used to build a 12 megawatts of solar power plant in Kalio in the Upper West Region.
This was part of a three loan agreement signed by the Ministry of Finance with the German government for 40.82 million euros (approximately GHC176 million) last week.
The Volta River Authority (VRA) is the beneficiary of the amount secured for the solar plant. The project involves the establishment of 12MW solar power plant at Kalio for 8MW and Lawra for 4MW in the Upper West Region.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mona Quartey during the signing ceremony said the solar power plant project is in line with the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (Act 832) which envisages the attainment of 10 percent of electricity generation mix from renewable energy sources by 2020.
She added that currently Ghana has about 3 percent electricity generation mix from renewable sources.
According to her, the financing terms of the 40.82 million euro loan facility includes a grant element of up to 54.5 percent.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Christopher Retzlaff in his remarks said Ghana is a strategic and key partner for the Republic of Germany in West Africa and the whole of Africa.
He added that the progress we have seen in democracy and market economy and economic development within the last 25 years is indeed remarkable.
They have four priority areas for investment that which includes the Economic Development, Good Governance, Agriculture and lastly Renewable Energy which was added lately.
The loan amount included, a 13 million euros (approximately GHC56 million) is to help increase the performance of the Ghana Audit Service (GAS) to ensure that all financial resources are fully spent for the purpose of planned programs and development activities.
The third loan agreement of 5 million euros (GHC21.5 million) is earmarked for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the construction of an IT training institute.
Mona Quartey expressed that the Ghana Audit Service is expected to support the construction of 22 district offices, 3 regional Ghana Audit Service regional offices in Cape Coast, Koforidua and Ho.
This is expected to enhance the work of the GAS to reduce office accommodation problems and helping to better position the service to carry out its mandate as the supreme audit service of Ghana.
With regard to the GRA project, she added that it involve the construction of an IT training institute in Tema and forms part of the modernization of the GRA which is expected to support sustained improvement in the IT literacy within the Authority, she said.
The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), President John Mahama has strongly defended his administrations record of tackling unemployment when he took his turn at the Ghana Presidential Encounters 2016 organised by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in Accra last week.
The president in his presentation said, his administration had taken steps to improve vocational and technical education, which he said had created thousands of jobs for Ghanaians.
He said the government had also created an atmosphere that supports entrepreneurs, undertaken several infrastructural projects and revived defunct factories.
Among some of the initiatives he enumerated are that, he said, the government had invested US$1 billion to expand the Tema Port. This is expected create 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and 5,000 jobs when the project is completed.
The current administration, under President Mahamas had also built the Accra Digital Centre, which he said had the potential to create 12,000 jobs.
The president urged unemployment members of the public to take advantage of the economic opportunities available to them.
He gave the assurance that the governments efforts to grow the economy would create more opportunities for Ghanaians.
The current management of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) have over the few years worked tirelessly to restore confidence in the Authority after it was hit with financial malfeasance in 2012.
SADA management under the leadership of Dr. Charles A. Abugre, has really transformed the face of administration and operation of the Authority.
A number of contracts for projects have been signed in line with the objectives and goals of the Authority.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Charles A. Abugre recently observed that, the authority has regained the trust and confidence of the Ghanaian populace after attracting bad publicity for engaging in activities that were deemed unprofitable to the country.
Dr. Abugre, who took office in June 2014, has since worked successfully with the board and management of the authority to stabilise SADA from its internal challenges and refocus the institution on its core mandate, which is the long term development of the zone.
This effort of him has really attracted a lot admiration for him and his team.
The President John Dramani Mahama has expressed delight at moves by SADA to partner with the China National Textiles and Apparel Council (CNTAC) to establish a textile factory in the Northern Savanna Ecological Zone (NSEZ) of the country.
He has, therefore, pledged government's support for the project, explaining that it would help exploit the huge potential that the country has in the textile business.
The president threw his support behind the project in Kumasi, when a 10-member delegation from CNTAC, accompanied by the incoming Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Ghana, Chai Zhijing, paid a courtesy call on him at the residence of the Ashanti Regional Minister.
The delegation visited the president after the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between SADA and CNTAC at Flagstaff House in Accra. The MoU was to establish a framework for the establishment of a cotton and textiles project in the NSEZ, which SADA has working to exploit its economic potential.
Using Ghana's vast potential in cotton production as basis, President Mahama said the SADA-CNTAC cotton and textiles project would be the beginning of bigger things to happen in that industry.
He noted that Ghana had all the conditions necessary to be a leader in cotton and textiles on the continent and was, therefore hopeful that the agreement would help to unlock that potential.
He assured the delegation of governments full support for the project, emphasising that the decision to partner with SADA was the right decision, given that the authority has been mandated by law to lead the comprehensive development of the savannah zone of the country, and to represent government in joint ventures.
Meanwhile, the CEO of SADA had noted that, the staff strength of the authority had also been beefed up and internal controls strengthened as part of efforts aimed at building a resilient institution that can respond to challenges while facilitating the long term development of the zone.
These structures, he said had placed SADA on a solid foundation to be able to smoothly facilitate the transformation of the Northern Savanna Ecological Zone (NSEZ) from a poverty-stricken area into an investment hub for local and foreign businesses to thrive.
"The first milestone is stabilizing the institution and building it for the purpose for which it was set up. The institution is now much more stronger, we have a lot more staff and we are present in all our regions and systems are also working," he said, when asked about the key milestones of SADA in recent times.
As a result of these milestones, the CEO said SADA had now "won back the trust and support of Ghanaians and its partners" as it works towards creating the enabling environment that will help attract investments into the bigger half of the country.
He bemoaned the current situation where despite the enormous potential of the NSEZ, which comprises 63 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in five administrative regions, the area is still the least developed in the country.
He attributed this abnormality to the inability of the nation as a whole to recognise and harness the vast potential of the zone into investment opportunities that can help lift millions out of poverty.
Dr. Abugre said a recent survey showed that the NSEZ could easily become an economic growth pole of the country should its resources be properly harnessed. "Part of the experience of poverty [in the SADA zone] lies in the inability to recognise these resources and assets that lie there," he said.
This, he said, had been the concern of the revitalised SADA, which has been working at laying a solid foundation for commercial agriculture to thrive in the zone.
With about 54percent of the country's landmass being in the SADA zone, the CEO said the availability of proper irrigation facilities in the area could help turn it into the country's food basket and that will help reduce food imports while stemming the rising unemployment.
He added that an assessment of crop viabilities in the zone showed that 5million hectares of land in the area is suitable for rise should it be properly irrigated.
"Well over 2.5 million hectares of land is suitable for sugar cane. Also, the southern part of the SADA -- the Brong Ahafo, Volta and part of Salaga and Yendi in the Northern regions -- is suitable for bananas and even for cocoa, if we irrigate it well. So, the area lies vast and untapped and with the right mechanisms, it can become an economic hub," he said.
Interventions
Although SADA is busy working on implementing its Master Plan -- a 25-year medium term development plan for the zone Dr. Abugre said the authority had successfully implemented a series of interventions that were already yielding results.
He mentioned a joint venture irrigation scheme that is irrigating about 40,000 hectares of farmland in Yagaba in the Northern Region as one of the best schemes in the country. Another, he said was the millennium project, which has ensured that maternal mortality is eliminated completed.
Others, he said included a series of solar power companies that the authority is investing, the establishing of a shopping mall in Tamale, which will kick off this year, and the construction of a 10,000 hectare-irrigation facility at Nasia-Nabogre area.
Local cement producers in the country have in the past months complained bitterly to government over unfair competition by importers of cement from other countries as well as the operation of Dangote Cement.
This has brought untold operational difficulties on local cement producers since the market does not favour their operational cost.
Direct effect of the situation is that, Diamond Cement, one of the older local cement producers in the country has threatened to lay off a significant number workers.
The Diamond Cement Company served notice that, it will lay off 50 percent of its staff due to the inability of the company to sustain its operations.
According to the company, it is utilizing only 43% of its production capacity despite the 1000 direct and indirect staff strength.
Just last month, I was compelled to sack 10 people from the marketing department in Tema because I couldnt sustain the companys operations. Since I am running at a loss, I cannot continue to keep the marketing staff in the company. Whatever decision that we decided to take has been and that is exactly what we will be doing, General Manager for Diamond Cement, Tati Ramarao threatened.
He added, Actually we are so sorry with the decision to sack people home but we have no other option.
Mr. Ramarao also chastised the Trade Ministry and government for what he described as their lack of commitment to solve the issue of unfair competition in the manufacturing space.
We are suffering a lot even though we have written several letters to the Ministry of Trade. There have been promises but we have seen nothing from the state. There is neither implementation nor action at all; the situation is the same and the competition keeps getting worse, he stressed.
The concerns by the local cement manufacturers have been intensified within the past few months as they fear the imminent collapse of their businesses.
A recent decision by the Trade Ministry to allow Korean cement company, Fujian, to export 500 thousand tonnes of cement to Ghana was also met with stiff opposition by the local manufacturers.
The Ministry has since defended its decision citing the insufficient supply to meet demand.
Some consumer interest groups and the importers association have however insisted that the country allows the importation of foreign cement to control pricing and avoid monopoly in the sector.
However, President John Mahama has said his government will ensure Dangote Cement competes fairly in the Ghanaian market if investigations by the Ghana International Trade Commission find that the Nigerian cement company is enjoying certain subsidies and tax holidays in Africas most populous country, which give it certain advantages over local cement manufacturers in Ghana.
Local manufacturers GHACEM and Diamond Cement have made complaints to cabinet about unfair competition by Dangote in Ghana. They say Dangote is selling below competitive prices.
The president gave the assurance when he took his turn on the GBCs Encounters with presidential candidates last week.
Mr Mahama said Dangote brings bagged cement into Ghana under the Ecowas Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) which allows members states to export finished products into each others country.
Weve received a complaint from the local cement producers saying that the entrance of Dangote Cement is affecting them and that Dangote is selling at prices that are below competition. Now weve passed the Ghana International Trade Commission [bill] which is the body responsible for such complaints and so the matter came to cabinet, weve discussed it and then weve asked the trade minister to put it before the Ghana International Trade Commission so Im sure the first complaint theyll get is on cement and what theyll have to do is to find out what makes Dangote able to sell below competition. Is it that they are getting some subsidies in Nigeria, which is the accusation our cement manufacturers are making? Or they are being given some tax waivers that our producers here dont have?
I dont have that information and so the right body to investigate is the Ghana International Trade Commission and if it is found that Dangote is being subsidised by the Nigerian government or they are being given some waivers that make them more competitive and able to sell lower, then we might have to adjust the tariffs on their cement to reflect that and improve the competition between us. We cannot stop the competition because of the ETLS but we must make sure they are playing by the rules so that they dont have an unfair advantage over our people, Mr Mahama added.
Acting General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has served notice that the party will reject all faulty Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs), meant for the forthcoming December 7 polls.
According to John Boadu, the NPP has uncovered an agenda by the Electoral Commission, to send faulty Biometric Verification Devices to their strongholds.
He further raised alarm over what he called the slow pace at which the EC is transporting election materials to the NPPs strongholds.
He has therefore challenged the EC to ensure that all the BVDs are functioning.
He called for an IPAC meeting to discuss some pertinent issues ahead of the polls.
John Boadu, said this during an interaction with the media in Tamale, after a day's capacity building workshop for all NPP Parliamentary candidates in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
He said the workshop offered the Parliamentary candidates the opportunity to religiously study the CI 94. The NPPs acting General Secretary hinted that, the party was well-prepared for the December 7 polls, and that the NDC cannot undo their mapped out strategies.
He described the party's 2016 manifesto as comprehensive and a problems solving one. John Boadu appealed to the electorate to give the NPP a one-touch victory with Parliamentary majority to assuage their plight.
He tasked the nation's security operatives particularly the police administration to be neutral. The Member of Parliament for Okre, Hon. Dan Kweku Botwe, said all NPP operatives were adequately prepared for the December 7 polls.
He encouraged the police to impartially deal with hooligans who might attempt to disrupt the upcoming elections.
In a related development, the NPPs Northern Regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu, reminded the Parliamentary candidates of the Supreme Court's ruling on the land mark election petition, that elections are won at the polling stations.
He urged them to carefully select and train incorruptible party agents to police the ballots as means of deflating any rigging machinery.
Daniel Bugri Naabu said the NPP remained the best alternative to the Mahama-led NDC administration.
We are resolved and are ready to take over power from the governing NDC government under President John Dramani Mahama, who by all measures is incompetent, irresponsible and insensitive to the plight of majority of our people.
He charged all party loyalists to be vigilante on December 7, to prevent the NDC from subverting the will of the people after the polls.
They have always subverted the will of the people and that is why this time round, we all should be very vigilante especially at the polling stations on the D-Day.
He called for enough campaign logistics to help the party achieve its goal of winning the December 7 polls one-touch.
By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon's relationship is a hot topic, in spite of both actors denying that they are dating.
By India Today Web Desk: Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon's relationship has been Bollywood's hot topic for a while now. The actors, who will be seen together in Dinesh Vijan's film Raabta, reportedly even holidayed together in Thailand.
ALSO READ: Did Sushant Singh Rajput pay a midnight visit to Kriti Sanon's home on her birthday?
ALSO READ: Kriti Sanon opens up on dating rumours with Sushant Singh Rajput
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If a report in MissMalini attributed to Filmfare is to be believed, Kriti, who just wrapped the shoot for Bareilly Ki Barfi in Lucknow, keeps a check on Sushant's life, from his meals to his meetings. Apparently, rumoured beau Sushant is quite happy being showered with attention.
On their alleged romance, Sushant had said, "These stories are entertaining, but they are fictional. I am not dating anyone right now." Kriti, meanwhile, had taken to Twitter to write, "As much as we like and respect each other as co-stars, there is absolutely no truth to these baseless manufactured stories."
Sushant and Kriti have repeatedly denied that they are dating, but stories of their romance continue to do the rounds. Recently, the two chilled together at a plush Mumbai hotel, but avoided being clicked in the same frame and even exited separately.
--- ENDS ---
The National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said that former Attorney General. Martin Amidu's recent legal challenges and utterances regarding the GH51m Woyome judgement debt are borne out of jealousy.
Kofi Adams described Martin Amidu's action as deliberately seeking to discredit the efforts of the current Attorney General, Marrietta Brew Appiah-Oppong.
Martin Amidu, a former Attorney General, was recently granted a request at the Supreme Court to orally examine businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome who is currently facing legal actions to repay some GH51 million wrongfully paid to him by the state in 2010.
Martin Amidu who welcomed the Supreme Court ruling in a statement suggested that the money cannot be retrieved from Woyome if Ghanaians do not vote out President John Mahama.
But according to the party's organizer, Kofi Adams, such comments were mere out of jealousy of the hard work of the current AG who has achieved more than Martin Amidu did during his tenure as AG during the erstwhile President Attah-Mills administration.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, November 17, Kofi Adams said: We are talking about an Attorney General today who has saved this country millions of cedis or dollars that we would have paid as judgement debt. What did he [Martin Amidu] do as an Attorney General? There was nothing much to his credit as an Attorney General.
For someone who has been a Deputy Attorney General before, maybe we would have expected much more, [but] we say nothing, so what he is doing is that; 'this woman is doing so well and I [Amidu] was a disaster as an Attorney General so let me attempt to discredit her.
Kofi Adams accused Martin Amidu of fabricating lies against the current Attorney General to create public disaffection towards her and her office.
You should clearly see that Martin Amidu is up to an agenda. He is not speaking based on truth, he is speaking based on lies. The current AG has done so well that Martin cannot match [up to] her, Kofi Adams said.
NDC wont waste time on Amidu
The 2016 NDC campaign Coordinator, Kofi Adams has also said the party would remain focused on its bid to win power as the election day draws closer and would not waste time in focusing attention on Amidu.
At this moment, we don't want to spend time on Martin Amidu. We are very focused. We will tell our stories. Our story is out there. The great job of President Mahama and his government is out there; and that is what the people will be looking at to vote, he said on Eyewitness News.
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Police in the Eastern Region have arrested twenty two people at Asamanma, after clashes there on Thursday left two people dead. Some illegal miners reportedly attacked the Police who were on operation to stop them from mining in the Birim River. The Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Nketsia Yeboah, told Citi News that the incident occurred around 11:00am on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Police Command was directed to go to Asamanma to arrest those who are mining in the River Birim with some equipment imported from China. So our officers and men went there around 11:00am; but when they got to the River bank, the galamsey operators mobilized and blocked their access back to town.
In the violent exchanges, two police officers were seriously wounded, two of the galamsey operators were killed, and eight of them were wounded. One of the air-conditioned buses the Police used for the operation was smashed, and ten people including two Police officers were wounded. ASP Yeboah also hinted that, although the Police were outnumbered by the galamsey operators, they were still able to make some arrests.
They outnumbered the Police that is why the Police team decided to retreat; but unfortunately they also prevented them from retreating and they started pelting them with stones. We've retrieved two catapults, one single barrel gun and 22 of them including the one in POP are now in Police custody, he added.
Birim River severely polluted by 'galamsey'
Residents of the Eastern Region risk losing the Birim River to illegal mining. The River is their main source of water treated by the Ghana Water Company for onward distribution. The Kyebi Water Treatment Plant, which takes its source from the River, has been earmarked for shut down following such activities.
-Citifmonline
Ghana has come a long way and cannot afford to go backward, by voting any party other than the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming polls, says President John Mahama.
He said the government is taking the upcoming polls very seriously because it wants to protect the destiny of the country by ensuring its development gains are sustained.
The President, who is currently on a campaign tour of the Upper West Region, said the government has commenced a lot of developmental projects that require that it stays in power for a second 4-year term to complete them.
Addressing the chiefs and people of Waala in the Region, Mahama said: I'm taking this election very seriously, and I'm taking the campaign seriously. We are campaigning as if we are rather the opposition looking for political power because the destiny of the country is at stake. We cannot afford to send this country backward, and that is why I will cover every blade on grass, I will go to every nook and cranny of this country to ensure that we achieve victory.
According to him, this years election is the most important in the countrys development agenda, and any decision that must be made, must inure to the development of the country.
The President said there is the need to retain the NDC to allow his administration to complete its unfinished development projects across the country.
'Vote out NDC'
Meanwhile, the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, has called on Ghanaians to vote out the governing NDC over what it describes as gross mismanagement of the country's resources.
The party has among other things, accused the government of absurd corruption levels that has resulted in untold hardship on many citizens.
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
President John Mahama says Ghanaians will not be fooled into voting for the New Patriotic Party because of the many promises being made by its presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to the president, the promise by the NPP presidential candidate to build factories in each district is already being implemented by his administration.
There are districts where we have metal fabrications taking place, producing steel chairs and iron gates for houses. What kind of factory? Is it a block making factory, we have block making factories already and so until you define what a factory is we dont know what you are talking about, Mr Mahama said.
President Mahamas comment is in reference to a promise made by Akufo-Addo in June during his campaign tour of the Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam, Mfantseman and Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese constituencies in the Central Region, that he will build a factory in every district if voted for during the December polls.
The only way to free ourselves from the shackles of poverty is by fixing our monetary system. If we are to do this, our monetary system must be stable and strong. This is the only way we can empower Ghanaians. We want to help the private sector to flourish, and we will help establish factories in every district to help create jobs for the people, Akufo-Addo said.
But President Mahama said the presidential candidate should not be flattered into believing that these promises will help him win power.
Just empty sloganeering and throwing things about [wont work], Ghanaians are discerning now, he said when he paid a courtesy call on the Wa Naa in the Upper West region.
Thousands of NDC supporters welcome Mahama as he arrives in Upper West
He recounted similar promises made by the NPP during the 2000 elections, only for them to turn around and say the previous government had left too many debts, therefore they were unable to carry their promises through.
That trick has been played on us before, you make the promises and then when you win the elections you say you didnt realize that was the state of the economy, you know John Mahama has left so much debt that we have to pay the debt before we can fulfil the promises'.
It has happened to us before, in 2000, so we wont be fooled this time. We know that this country is moving forward, she is not going backwards, he added.
President Mahama says his party has built up momentum and it is in the interest of this generation and those unborn for that momentum to be maintained.
In response to criticisms by the opposition party on why he is campaigning if he claims he has transformed the country, President Mahama said the destiny of the country is at stake.
We cannot afford to send this country backwards and that is why I will cover every blade of grass, I will go to every nook and cranny of this country to make sure that the momentum we have gained as a country moving forward is not set back and that is the purpose for the campaign that I have embarked on.
He said the NPP cannot deny the fact that the country has seen a drastic improvement in infrastructure during his administration.
"And so you cannot say you have not seen the roads unless youre sleeping. You cannot say water is not flowing better in many parts of this country and that youre getting water to drink because of the massive infrastructure that we have embarked on, he said.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
President John Mahama was in the Volta region last October for the Krachi State Yam Festival. He took time to interact with some everyday people at the event.
That's where he shook hands with a nurse and left her awe-struck.
Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com
Ghana and Namibia have held the second session of their Permanent Joint Commission of Cooperation (PJCC) in Accra.
The First Session was held 12 years ago in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was Ghana's turn to hold the Second Session, which took place at the Obed Yao Asamoah Conference Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration from 9th to 11th November, 2016. The technical experts session was officially opened by Mr. Edwin Agyei the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry on behalf of Ghana's Foreign Minister, the Hon. Hannah S. Tetteh, MP.
The First Session was held in 1992 during the visit of the Founding President of Namibia, Dr. Sam Nujoma to Ghana. Within that context Ghana and Namibia signed two bilateral agreements on Mutual Exemptions of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic/Official/Service Passports and for the Holding of Political and Diplomatic Consultations
The Ministerial Meeting took place on the last day of the Session where the Agreed Minutes and an MOU on Fisheries were signed. Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFA&RI) led the Ghanaian side which included the Deputy Foreign Minister, the Acting Chief Director, the High Commissioner of Ghana to Namibia and officials of MFA&RI. The Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of the Republic of Namibia, led the Namibian side which also included the Minister of Fisheries, Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, the Permanent Secretary, Namibia's High Commissioner to Ghana and officials from the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCO) of the Republic of Namibia.
The two Ministers underscored the importance of the relations between their two countries and called for more interaction to advance their economies. They spoke of the need for more trade and commerce between their countries and cooperation in other crucial areas like education, culture, air transport and exchange of best practices in other fields.
The Agreed Minutes identified among others, the following areas for cooperation: Industrialization, Trade and SME Development; Lands and Natural Resources; Tourism; Environment; Poverty Eradication; Narcotics Control; Natural Resources and Children and Gender Issues.
Jointly closing the Session, the Namibian Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, and Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister, Hon Mr. Emmanuel Bambande appealed to the MMDA's involved to be more assertive and ensure that the aspirations of the PJCC are met. The two Foreign Ministers had earlier agreed during their meeting that officials of both countries will meet regularly annually to monitor and evaluate progress while a full PJCC would be held every two years.
The Namibian delegation has since left for home.
-Starrfmonline
Acting General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has served notice that the party will reject all faulty Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs), meant for the forthcoming December 7 polls.
According to John Boadu, the NPP has uncovered an agenda by the Electoral Commission, to send faulty Biometric Verification Devices to their strongholds.
He further raised alarm over what he called the slow pace at which the EC is transporting election materials to the NPP's strongholds.
He has therefore challenged the EC to ensure that all the BVDs are functioning. He called for an IPAC meeting to discuss some pertinent issues ahead of the polls.
John Boadu, said this during an interaction with the media in Tamale, after a day's capacity building workshop for all NPP Parliamentary candidates in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
He said the workshop offered the Parliamentary candidates the opportunity to religiously study the CI 94.
The NPP's acting General Secretary hinted that, the party was well-prepared for the December 7 polls, and that the NDC cannot undo their mapped out strategies.
He described the party's 2016 manifesto as comprehensive and a problems solving one.
John Boadu appealed to the electorate to give the NPP a one-touch victory with Parliamentary majority to assuage their plight. He tasked the nation's security operatives particularly the police administration to be neutral.
The Member of Parliament for Okre, Hon. Dan Kweku Botwe, said all NPP operatives were adequately prepared for the December 7 polls.
He encouraged the police to impartially deal with hooligans who might attempt to disrupt the upcoming elections. In a related development, the NPP's Northern Regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu, reminded the Parliamentary candidates of the Supreme Court's ruling on the land mark election petition, that elections are won at the polling stations.
He urged them to carefully select and train incorruptible party agents to police the ballots as means of deflating any rigging machinery.
Daniel Bugri Naabu said the NPP remained the best alternative to the Mahama-led NDC administration.
We are resolved and are ready to take over power from the governing NDC government under President John Dramani Mahama, who by all measures is incompetent, irresponsible and insensitive to the plight of majority of our people.
He charged all party loyalists to be vigilante on December 7, to prevent the NDC from subverting the will of the people after the polls.
They have always subverted the will of the people and that is why this time round, we all should be very vigilante especially at the polling stations on the D-Day.
He called for enough campaign logistics to help the party achieve its goal of winning the December 7 polls one-touch.
-Citifmonline
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged fresh dialogue between the police and political party executives in the Ayawaso East Constituency to ensure that last Sundays clash is not repeated.
NPP parliamentary candidate for the Constituency, Peter Mireku said even though calm has returned to the area after police intervention, another round of talks with the political actors would help.
He said as a party, the NPP has shown its commitment to the maintenance of the peace in the country and brought that to bear during the clash.
"We will continue to do so, we will continue to speak to our members as well and we keep telling them the importance of keeping calm and peace," he said.
Mr Mireku made these remarks during an exclusive interview with Joy News on Thursday.
Supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and NPP clashed last week Sunday at Nima close to the residence of NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The cause of the incident is not known since functionaries of the two parties are blaming supporters of the other for the clash.
President John Mahama has said the Nima police were not in the position to properly arrest the issue because they were not briefed with the right information.
He promised that as the Commander-in-chief, he would do his best to ensure that the peace in the country is maintained before, during and after the polls.
Ayawaso East Constituency executives of the two dominating parties were invited by the police for briefing and urged to keep the peace of the area.
Mr Mireku said the NPP is doing its best to desist from violence, adding the police has to find out if the other political parties are ready to do same.
"They [police] have spoken to us, but they need to invite us again to hammer on the importance of whatever they put before us when we met them," he said.
"On my side I will do my best to speak to my people," he promised.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor has admitted the police failed to adequately contain the clash between the NDC and NPP supporters.
He said the police could have averted the incident had his men been properly briefed.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) Presidential candidate, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, continues with his Northern Regional campaign tour with a call for positive change of government on December 7.
According to him, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have nothing new to offer Ghanaians.
Ivor Kobina Greenstreet at a massive rally in Gushiegu, promised to revamp the agric sector when elected.
He said the next CPP administration under his watch, would build on Dr. Kwame Nkrumahs legacy. He cautioned the electorate against subscribing to the NDC and the NPPs political gimmicks in the run up to the December 7 polls.
We are desperate, and we are kneeling before you pleading with you to tell your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to vote the CPP this year.
Ivor Kobina Greenstreet told the electorate that they would not regret voting for the CPP.
He pledged the partys commitment to solve the nations problems of education, health, water and youth unemployment.
The CPP Presidential Candidate, who is on a weeks campaign tour of the Northern Region, has so far visited Mion, Tatale, Saboba, Gushiegu, Tolon, Nantong and Savelugu.
By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
They are rejected, stigmatised, abandoned and left to fend for themselves but very hardworking and full of life. They represent a bustling community of predominantly deaf and dumb farmers in the remote village of Adamorobe in the eastern region.
Farmers for Peace, an initiative of Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, General Manager of the the National Food and Agric Show Secretariat FAGRO , has in line with the mood of the nation, taken its peace campaign for the upcoming elections to farming communities to engage tillers of the earth and their allied dealers in constructive dialogue aimed at staying the nations peace as citizens ready themselves to elect national leaders in December.
The Adamorobe community their first port of call is 40 kilometres from Accra. The village is located in a bowl-shaped valley at the foot of the Akuapem hills in the eastern region of Ghana. Unfortunately, Adamorobe, has an unusually high incidence of hereditary deafness and hence appear neglected. But residents there have given meaning to their lives by engaging in the noblest profession on earth agriculture to survive.
Alberta and her team from the FAGRO secretariat together with members of the University of Ghana sign language club who provided sign language services - visited Adamorobe to interact with residents and it turned out to be a mind blower. Though the residents can neither hear nor speak, they were over themselves with joy at the special attention they were receiving from the FAGRO secretariat through the peace campaign.
.She had this to tell the farmers; You are the most important in every country so dont allow your challenges and stigmatization to bring you down. Without you, we cannot have three square meals on our tables everyday. You are the developers of every nation and we are proud of you and will continue to find means to support you, after this event.
Sarah Dede Agor, a 4th year sign language student of the university of Ghana, who has volunteered to be the lead interpreter for the Farmers for Peace campaign in all the deaf and dumb communities the team will visit, expressed her excitement on meeting the residents, and said they are important in nation building so they should exercise their right peacefully at the polling station on the day of voting and go back home.
Ghana goes to the polls on December 7 in a crucial national exercise that has upped the ante for peace promotion by well-meaning individuals and identifiable bodies to calm nerves as the jostling for positions gathers heat. Tension among competing political groupings is building and sending worrying signals across the country. The FAGRO secretariat chose to focus its peace campaign on their core stakeholders Farmers.
Alberta admonished the residents to go about their activities in peace and called on them to exercise their franchise on Election Day as it is their civic responsibility as Ghanaians. Vote in peace, come back home as one people so that our country will continue to prosper and lead as an example of a maturing democracy in Africa. Ghana is all we have, lets work together as one people for our own benefit.
Producer of Accra-based Class FMs morning show, Kojo Appiah, who is one of the volunteers shared his excitement that even though they are deaf and dumb, they are not sitting idle but working hard to feed a whole nation. He encouraged them to live in peace and vote peacefully on election day.
Farmers for Peace campaign is touring selected deaf and dumb - farming communities in remote areas across the country. We chose to deal with farmers in the rural areas because most of them spend a great deal of their time on their farms and may miss similar outreaches while they are away. We have chosen to take the message of peace to them on their farms so that the whole Ghana will be on the same page. Peace is priceless, we cant afford to toy with it at this crucial time, Alberta explained.
With support from Keness Ventures, a company engaged in protective gears and agri-inputs, the team rounded off the eventful visit with donations of 30 Wellington boots, T-shirts and Caps to the Farmers, who demonstrated visible excitement and thanked the secretariat through their interpreter for the show of kindness and for remembering them.
Other deaf and dumb farmer communities in the Ashanti and Western regions will be visited by the Alberta and her team to talk about peace and donate various farming equipment to them. Our focus is to preach the message of peace to the farmers and support them with agri-input materials, where we can
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For months Sushma Swaraj made arrangements to rescue Indian nationals stuck or troubled in foreign lands. Now, countless Indians are looking to return the favour.
By India Today Web Desk: For months now Sushma Swaraj has been making arrangements to rescue Indian nationals stuck or troubled in foreign lands. So, it seems only legit that now, in time of her need, people respond with equal fervour to rush to her rescue.
Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been flooded with offers to donate a kidney to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, according to a report in Indian Express.
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Swaraj is on dialysis at the hospital, and undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. She had tweeted earlier this week that she was suffering from kidney failure.
Read: Sushma admitted to AIIMS even last year
Express quoted a hospital official as saying, "I cannot remember the exact number of calls that I have received. But I remember receiving around forty calls... The first call was from Tamil Nadu. It was very evident from the accent. Later, I got calls from different states, but majority of them came from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana."
I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will blessSushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 16, 2016
A traffic constable from Madhya Pradesh also offered to donate one of his kidneys to Swaraj yesterday.
"I wish to donate one of my kidneys to Sushmaji... I am impressed by her work. She is our External Affairs Minister and a good leader. Therefore, I have decided to donate my kidney to her and also made an offer through Twitter," the 26-year-old constable Gaurav Singh Dangi told PTI.
Read: MP traffic cop offers kidney to Sushma Swaraj
The overwhelming support, however, is bested by rules that dictate that the donor has to be an immediate family member. It is only in rare cases that unrelated people get green-lit to donate kidneys. Even in cases of cadaver transplants, family consent of the donor is necessary. In some cases hospitals also allow family members of two patients swap donations, if compatibility can be established.
Swaraj, meanwhile, took to Twitter last evening to acknowledge for the many donation offers. "Some friends have also offered their kidneys for my transplant. I have no words to express my deep sense of gratitude towards them," she wrote.
The hospital is yet to finalise a donor for Swaraj, who has emerged as one of the most revered ministers in the Modi cabinet, and prayers and best wishes continue to pour for her on social media.
With your good wishes and Lord Krishna's blessings, I will be able to come out of this situation.Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 17, 2016
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Read: Farooq, Omar wish speedy recovery to Sushma Swaraj
--- ENDS ---
Today, I left office as the President of the National Union Of Ghana Students, NUGS, at the time the Union celebrated its Golden Jubilee.
To me, it's an honour to have served as the President of NUGS at such a moment.
It is not a matter of contention that the best of our days lie ahead and we must reinvent our approaches to suit the times we find ourselves and we must, going forward seek a new beginning. Putting our 50 years behind us, this is another beginning, to make things right and give students more reason to rally around the vision that founded NUGS.
Though it has been full of turbulent moments, I deem it prudent to say, it has been well, and there is the need to salute all who played key roles.
My joy stems from the fact that God has been faithful.
It all begun ten years ago, when I was elected SRC President of Jasikan College of Education. I served as SRC President, then proceeded to be a sector TTAG Organizer, President, Coordinator II, Coordinator I, to National Coordinator II, Coordinator I and Chairman for the Board of Trustees for the Teacher Trainees Provident Fund. I recall chairing the committee that led to review the TTAG Constitution and equally served on the committee that drafted the Colleges of Education Bill. It was a beginning of a long learning process.
From the circles of TTAG, I served colleague students again in the capacity of the National President for GUPS, I afterwards proceeded to the peak of the offices of students leadership in Ghana, serving as the President heralding the Golden Jubilee of the National Union Of Ghana Students, NUGS.
I certainly couldn't have made it alone without the support, advice, criticisms and even fierce opposition from the good people I engaged throughout.
If I have been able to come this far, paying my dues to students activism for almost a decade, then it is because I stood on the shoulders of others. I look forward to doing same for others.
I wish to render my appreciation to God for His Grace and Divine Enablement; to all and sundry who contributed in this journey of service to the Students of Ghana and in shaping and sharpening our leadership potentials as well.
Secondly, I would like to thank my family, especially, MY WIFE, Mrs. Sedinam Adu and my son Nana Yaw Adom Adu who came to me at a time I was neck-deep in tough Utility Bills negotiation with government; all students of Ghana, all friends and comrades especially YOU for your unflinching support, pieces of advice and encouragement as well.
Some of you sacrificed a lot for me before I came to office and even while in office. Your toil and sacrifices are worth appreciating. You have been part of my story and the story of NUGS- a story of revolutionary solidarity, consciousness and love for God, Country and Students.
You may not see the volume of your touch in my leadership life, but, I must say, your name is already cast in stone and your story is immortalized somewhere special.
I'm grateful to all former students leaders who supported me and equally advised me on several issues.
I'm equally grateful to those who stood with me from my leadership days in college through TTAG, to GUPS and to my days in NUGS.
I'm particularly grateful to those who helped and contributed in making sure the Dream of establishing NUGS SCHOLARSHIP FUND became a reality.
I wish I could mention names, but given the sky as a book and the sea as ink, I will still need more space and more ink to write these names.
I will keep the names in my heart, and count the blessings of our communion as I look forward to saying thank you to you all in action, and not just in words. But, as you read this, bear in mind, that I'm very grateful.
While serving, there were decisions and steps I took which might not have been neither Right nor Wrong but NECESSARY, but like Rev Jesse Jackson said to the 1984 DNC, "count it to my head, and not my heart".
If in the course of these periods of my leadership, I have consciously or unconsciously stepped on your toes, please do find a place in your heart to forgive me.
I wish the new Administration success and I am convinced, given our past, that we couldn't have started the next 50 years life of NUGS on any better note.
This however should not make us blind to what challenges there is which must be addressed in a most timely, tactful and pragmatic manner.
To end, I want you to know I AM GRATEFUL for the privilege to serve YOU and the students of Ghana at the highest level.
ALUTA CONTINUA!
TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
SIGNED
PAA-QUECY ADU
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT OF NUGS
(50TH NUGS PRESIDENT)
Dated: Thursday 10th November, 2016.
By Stephen Asante/Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
Kumasi, Nov 18, GNA - Woodworkers have been asked to show business ingenuity - find new ways of doing things to add more value to their products, to stay competitive.
Dr. Abukari Nantogmah Attah, Head of Business Development and Consultancy Services, Forestry Commission Training Centre (FCTC), said they needed to drift towards increasing use of technology.
He was speaking at the end of a two-week training programme organized for more than 500 carpenters in Kumasi.
This was put together by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) with funding from the Skills Development Fund (SDF).
Held under the theme 'Capacity building in modern furniture making and entrepreneurship', it exposed the participants to skills in kiln drying and quality management, knock-down technology and modern panel doors production.
They were also taught the techniques of furniture glazing and quality finishing.
Dr. Nantogmah Attah reminded them that it could not be business as usual if they were to survive the emerging stiff competition in the wood industry, saying, they had no option but to embrace new ideas.
It was therefore important they availed themselves of training programmes run by the FCTC to bring efficiency into their work.
He described as troubling the situation where many of them lacked the capacity and technology that would make their products to meet international standards.
That, he noted, was not healthy to the growth of the wood industry, given the influx of value-added foreign products.
Dr. Nantogmah Attah said the programme was part of the effort to aid local furniture producers to bring professionalism into their work.
He advised the participants to put into practice, what they had been taught to enhance their operation.
Mr. Yaw Logah, Chairman of the Anloga Small Scale Carpenters Union, said it would continue to collaborate with COTVET to train its members on modern furniture making techniques.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Ken Sackey/ Benjamin Mensah, GNA
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) who are not contesting this year's parliamentary elections have formed a group to ensure victory for President John Dramani Mahama and NDC parliamentary candidates at the December 7.
Known as the 2016 NDC MPs Exit Group, the 47-member group said its priority was to ensure a one-touch victory for President Mahama.
It would also ensure the party maintains a majority in parliament after the polls.
The groups, made a strong case for the re-election of President Mahama, based on the 'impressive and unprecedented development of infrastructure across the country.'
Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, Deputy Majority Leader and MP for Ashaiman, addressing a press conference in Accra, urged Ghanaians to retain Mr Mahama for another four-year term.
'Ghana stands to gain a lot from Mr Mahama's leadership in a second term, 'Mr Agbesi said.
He said: 'We have formed the group to add up in the campaign efforts of our and visionary President John Dramani Mahama as he seeks his constitutional second term mandate.
'As MPs, we have a vast experience in the campaign process, so we believe that when this is applied we would be able to help the NDC party secure the one touch victory needed to enable the president continue with his unprecedented infrastructural development drive in his second term, God, willing.'
The Group is of the firm belief that 'whether in or out of parliament, the interest of the great NDC party remains supreme,' and reiterated the commitment and loyalty of the group to the NDC and the 'abled and distinguished leadership' of the NDC Government.
Since its formation, the Group has been to and campaigned, with material support, in Volta, Central and Greater Accra regions and hopes to cover the entire country before the December 7 polls.
Mr Agbesi said the group would split into regional groups to visit the regions and constituencies to campaign for one touch victory.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Patience A. Gbeze, GNA
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, Minister of the Interior, said he has hope in the Ghana Police Service to ensure peace during the December 7 elections.
He said Ghana had gone through six elections successfully and ensuring peace during the seventh one was not a new terrain for the Service.
The Minister, who was speaking at the National Police Regional Command Conference in Accra, urged the Police to ensure that the country remained unified, strong and stable after the elections.
The conference was to reaffirm the Command's commitment to ensure peaceful elections. It was on the theme: 'Reaffirming our commitment to ensuring a peaceful General Election in December, 2016.'
Mr Bani said: 'I am confident in the Ghana Police Service that they will operate within the Constitutional provisions to deliver on security needs of the country.
'You must perform your duties creditably without any doubts on your ability to ensure peace.'
He urged the public to believe in all institutions mandated to ensure peace and transparent elections and accord them the necessary respect and support.
The Minister announced that the Ghana Police service would be beefed up with other security agencies and urged them to have uniform command to enhance cohesion on the election's day.
'You must be prepared at all times, plan, analyse and gather intelligence and respond appropriately to any threat to national security to retain the trust of the civilians,' he added.
He, therefore, warned groups or individuals preparing to disturb the peace of the country to desist because the men and women were prepared to combat their actions appropriately.
The Inspector- General of Police, Dr John Kudalor, said the determination and efforts of the political parties were undoubtedly going to pose a lot of challenges to them, as stakeholders, as had happened in the past in similar situations.
He said that nonetheless, the Police had always surmounted their tasks to ensure peace before, during and after elections with utmost admiration, thereby making Ghana the envy of all and had distinguished the country as glowing example on the African continent.
'As key stakeholders in this election there is the need also for us to work together as a team to ensure a safe and secure environment before, during and after elections.
'We all have to take note that, different environmental situations and prevailing circumstances in your areas of responsibilities may dictate different and appropriate responses on the operational ground,' he added.
'Our role as law enforcement organisation is to provide the requisite security coverage so as to create an enabling and conducive atmosphere for the electorates to go to the polls and exercise their constitutional rights as voters without any sense of insecurity, fear or hindrance.
Dr Kudalor, therefore, implored all Regional, Divisional, District and Unit Commanders to be proactive and innovative in the field to achieve their common mission of ensuring an accident free election.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Samuel Osei-Frempong
Kpeyibor (V/R), Nov.18, GNA - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has encouraged Ghanaians to give children the protection, time and space to fully develop their potentials.
Speaking at the launch of the Anti-Human Trafficking Booklet at Kpeyibor School Park, Ms Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, IOM Ghana Chief of Mission, said by passing anti human trafficking laws, Ghana had boldly stated her abhorrence of the canker before the community of nations.
According to her, although adults fall prey to perpetuators of the inhuman activity, children suffer most because their entire idea of life is limited to servitude and abuse.
She denounced child slavery, hardship and neglect adding that 'against their will, little boys forcibly sent or sold to fishermen will be diving into the cold waters of the Volta before sunset to do their masters' will.'
She called for the total appreciation of the law 'because the law is powerful and it gives you the strength to prevent the trafficking of children and right and strength to rescue even those in servitude.'
The booklet raises awareness on issues of child trafficking, child slavery and existing anti human trafficking laws amongst the general public.
The French ambassador to Ghana, Mr Francois Pujolas, said the French government contributed 800,000 Euros to the project and called for global, regional and local concerted efforts to combat child trafficking and slavery.
According to him, child trafficking and slavery were exploitative and a violation of children's rights.
He asked parents, families, opinion leaders, the Police, social workers, media Immigration and Customs Officers to cooperate and be vigilant as Ghana wages war against those who perpetuate 'this terrible crime'.
Mr Joseph Amenowode, Chairman of West African Parliamentarians Against Child Labour, said Ghana had more than forty laws on child protection adding 'we have many beautiful laws but the implementation and enforcement are always the problem.'
He said people did not understand the law and called on District Chief Executives to see to the proper functioning of Community Child Protection Committees, which were a critical part of local intelligence and vigilance.
Mr Amenowode called for international and local support to enable Ghana eradicate child trafficking by 2025 and child labour 2030. GNA
By Josephine Naaeke, GNA, Marrakech, Morocco, courtesy UNFCCC
Marrakech (Morocco), Nov. 17, GNA - Mr John Kerry, US Secretary of State has acknowledged that the recent election in his country has left many people feeling uncertain about the future.
He said: 'While I can't stand here and speculate about what policies our president-elect, Donald Trump will pursue, I will tell you this. In the time that I have spent in public life, one of the things I have learned is that some issues look a little bit different when you're actually in office compared to when you're on the campaign trail.'
Mr Kerry said this when he attended the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties in Marrakech, Morocco.
He added that the truth was that climate change should not be a partisan issue in the first place, for the military, the intelligence community, mayors from New Zealand to Miami, liberal and conservative business leaders alike who are investing unprecedented amounts of money into renewables, voluntarily committing to reduce their own emissions, and even holding their supply chains accountable to their overall carbon footprint.
'There is nothing partisan about climate change for the world scientists who are near unanimous in their conclusion that climate change is real, it is happening, human beings for most parts are causing it, and we will have increasing catastrophic impacts on our way of life if we don't take the dramatic steps necessary to reduce the carbon footprint of our civilisation.
'Now, whether we are able to meet this moment is a big test - probably as big a test of courage and vision as you'll ever find. Every nation has a responsibility to do its part if we are going to pass that test - and only those nations who step up and respond to this threat can legitimately lay claim to a mantle of global leadership. That's a fact,' he added.
Mr Kerry said: 'We know today what is required, and with all of the real-world evidence, with all of the peer-reviewed science, with all of the plain just old common sense, there isn't anyone who can credibly argue otherwise.
'So we have to continue this fight, my friends. We have to continue to defy expectations. We have to continue to accelerate the global transition to a clean energy economy. And we have to continue to hold one another accountable for the choices that our nations make.'
'Earlier this year, on Earth Day, I had the great privilege of signing the Paris Agreement on behalf of President Obama and the United States.
'Let us make clear to the world that we will always remember the stakes. Let us stand firm in support of the goals that we set in Paris and recommit ourselves to double our efforts to meet them. Let us say that when it comes to climate change, we will commit not just to doing our best, but as Winston Churchill admonished, 'we will do what is required'.'
He said: 'I look forward to working with you in this important work for whatever number of years ahead I have a chance to.
Mr Kerry said the last time that Morocco hosted the COP was in 2001, and the intervening 15 years have been among the 16 hottest years in recorded history.
He said 2016 was going to be the warmest year of all. 'Every month so far has broken a record. And this year will contribute its record-breaking heat to the hottest decade in recorded history, which was, by the way, preceded by the second-hottest decade, which was preceded by the third hottest decade'.
'At some point, even the strongest skeptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening.'
He said the world had seen record-breaking droughts everywhere - from India to Brazil to the west coast of the United States, storms that used to happen once every 500 years were becoming relatively normal, 'we never saw that in the 20th Century'.
He said communities in island states like Fiji have already been forced to take steps to relocate permanently, because the places they have called home for generations were now uninhabitable, 'and there are many, many more who know it's only a matter of time before rising oceans begin to inundate their cities'.
GNA
Tema, Nov.18, GNA - The Tema Development Corporation (TDC) made gross income of 40.4 million Ghana cedis posting a profit before tax of 8.78 million Ghana cedis in 2015 against 25 million Ghana cedis recorded as profit in 2014.
Addressing the sixth Annual General Meeting of the Corporation in Tema, Mr E D Adjetey, Chairman of TDC's Board of Directors, said :'The major reason for the dip in the Corporation's performance in 2015 was that a court injunction was placed against it restraining it from carrying out activities in Community 24.'
According to him, the injunction and other commitments created serious liquidity challenges resulting in its inability to declare dividend for the 2015.
'As a result of the liquidity challenges that rose out of the court injunction and also for the fact that the Corporation continued with the construction of Site 3 residential apartments and the Community 2 Offices and Shops Complex which were all financed solely from internally generated funds', he said.
Fifty million Ghana cedis was however transferred from its income Surplus Account to Stated Capital as a way of restructuring the capital mix of the Corporation.
Mr Joe Abbey, Managing Director, TDC, said the injunction halted the construction of 1,400 fully serviced residential and commercial plots including 13 kilometres of internal road network, 27 km drainage system and 6 kilometre storm water drain infrastructure services adding that' the court case has indeed been a major setback to the Corporation's operations.'
According to him, the first phase of TDC's four blocks of eight storey flats at the in-filling site at Community One, Site 3, offering 64 two bedroom apartments, have been completed.
'TDC made significant progress on the Kpone Affordable Housing project. Overall works progressed to 98.5 per cent on eight of the twenty four blocks handed over to the Corporation.'
Mr Abbey said TDC is deploying the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to effectively map out and demarcate the Tema Acquisition Area.
He appealed to government to hasten the process of turning the Corporation into a Limited Liability Company for it to expand its operation beyond Tema.
GNA
Agona Swedru, Nov. 17, GNA - The Agona West Election Security Taskforce has vowed to work extra hard to protect ballot boxes in all polling stations in the constituency on December 7.
The taskforce, made up of security chiefs in the municipality, pledged to give maximum protection to all eligible voters to cast their ballots.
This came to light after a five-hour peace march through the principal streets of Agona Swedru by parliamentary candidates of three political parties.
The parties represented are the New Patriotic Party, National Democratic Congress and Convention Peoples Party.
Security agencies comprising the Ghana Police Service, Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Bureau of National Investigation and Ghana Prison Service.
The peace march was organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to create awareness and also educate the people especially party supporters on the need to ensure violence-free elections.
The political parties complained about the poor publicity by the NCCE officials which resulted in the poor attendance.
They promised to maintain their neutrality and work without fear or favour to ensure peace and tranquility.
The security chiefs cautioned the political party supporters to comport themselves before, during and after the elections.
Mrs Cynthia Morrison, the NPP candidate, called on the police and other security agencies to discharge their duties devoid of bias and ensure that they prevented any mayhem.
It was all joy to see Mr Charles Obeng-Inkoom, the NDC parliamentary candidate, Mrs Cynthia Morrison, NPP parliamentary candidate, and Mr Idan Coffie, CPP parliamentary candidate holding their hands and dancing as one people signifying that election is not war.
They pledged to ensure that their supporters did not misconduct themselves and urged them to take a cue from other countries which had been destroyed as a result of elections.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Racheal Dwamena Akenteng, GNA
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) has warns voters who obstruct the work of an election officer would they would be fined or imprisoned not less than two years.
The EC also cautioned voters not to wear any political party dress or take anything whatsoever to the polling station on Election Day that identifies one's candidate or party.
This was stated in the Election 2016 presidential and parliamentary manual tagged: 'A Guide to Voters,' made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
'It is also an offence: to impede or prevent a voter from freely exercising his/her right to vote; to use or threaten to use force or violence against a group of persons or a person; and to inflict or threaten to inflict physical or spiritual injury or harm on a person.
'It is also an offence to force somebody to vote in a particular way,' the manual said.
The EC said was an offence: to tamper, or attempt to tamper in any way with the contents of a ballot box; to compel or induce a candidate to withdraw his or her candidature; and to organise or train a group of persons in the use of force or violence for election purposes.
It is also punishable to excite enmity against a person, group of persons, or political party on the grounds of religious, ethnics, professional, regional, or political affiliation and also to canvass for votes to seek find out how a person intends to vote within 500 meters of a polling station.
To sell alcohol within 500 meters of any of the polling station, to take a polling station anything that reveals the candidate or party you intend to vote for.
The EC noted that it was a crime to give or receive money or something of value as a means of inducing a person to vote, or not to vote in a certain way.
The publication of the EC Elections Guide is captured under the 'GNA Tracks Election 2016 Project', being funded by GOIL, the foremost indigenous oil marketing company and CIMG 2015 Petroleum Company of the year.
The project seeks to sensitise the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions.
It aims at ensuring gender and social inclusion in national politics and to provide voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society, and to contribute to the achievement of peaceful polls.
Another objective of the project is to create a platform to dissect the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgment.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA
Wechiau (U/W), Nov.18, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has promised to focus on building the poor road network in the Upper West Region if given another four-year mandate.
He said it was unfortunate that the region had the least quota of tarred roads in the country despite its potential and contribution to the development of the nation, and gave the assurance that he was determined to reverse that trend if voted to continue the work.
President Mahama made the promise while addressing a rally at Wechiau in the Wa West District on the first day of his three-day campaign tour of the Upper West Region.
The President noted that even though his government had done more roads than any other government in the history of the region, it was still lacking in terms of good road network adding that he would give special attention to that if his mandate was renewed.
He said his first term witnessed massive infrastructure expansion in the area of health, education, electricity and the provision of good drinking water.
'We have extended electricity to so many communities and indeed, Ghana is estimated to have access to more than 80 per cent in electric power,' he said.
President Mahama said the Government had taken Ghana from 58 per cent access to clean drinking water in 2008 to 76 per cent access in 2016.
He touted his government for achieving 97 per cent in school enrolment including a gender parity ratio of 1:1 for boys and girls.
He said the Government had reduced maternal mortality rate in the country and now more children were surviving beyond their fifth birthday resulting in a reduction in infant mortality.
The President said Ghana had the highest life expectancy of 63 years among its peers in Africa but admitted that there was still a lot more to be done to improve on the quality of life of the people.
President Mahama said he had gone round the country and the level of enthusiasm in appreciation of government's effort at providing development infrastructure gave him confidence that the NDC was going to win the December polls.
He, therefore, called on supporters of the party to be calm and not give in to provocations by anybody to contribute to Ghana achieving another successful and peaceful election.
Earlier President Mahama paid a courtesy call on Naa Sohimwininye Danaa Gori II and Naa Imoro Nandon Goma, the Paramount chiefs of Dorimon and Wechiau Traditional Areas, respectively.
Naa Gori appealed to the President for a separate district for the Dorimon Traditional Area to facilitate the fast development of the area.
The President also visited Funsi in the Wa East District, Issah and Bussie in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District and Kaleo in the Nadowli Kaleo District where he addressed enthusiastic party supporters who stayed throughout the night waiting for his arrival.
He took the opportunity to introduce the party's parliamentary candidates including Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh for Wa West, Dr Henry Seidu Danaa for Wa East and Dr Sebastian Sandaare for the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa Constituency.
GNA
By PTI: New York, Nov 18 (PTI) President-elect Donald Trump and his deputy Mike Pence are true friends of Israel in the US, the top Israeli diplomat in America has said.
"Israel has no doubt that President-elect Trump is a true friend of Israel. We have no doubt that vice-president-elect Mike Pence is a true friend of Israel, he was one of Israels greatest friends in the Congress, one of the most pro-Israel governors in the country," Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer told reporters yesterday at the Trump Towers here.
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"We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the US-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Dermer said in response to a question with the Trump Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway standing on his side.
It was not clear if Dermer met the president-elect.
Meanwhile, Trump in a series of tweets said Ford Motor company has informed him that it would not be moving its plant to Mexico.
"Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico," Trump said in his first tweet.
"I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" he said in his second tweet.
It was one of the major election issue for Trump. PTI LKJ ABH
--- ENDS ---
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Francis Ameyibor, GNA
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection on Thursday affirmed that Government was committed to ensuring gender equality and women empowerment in all sectors of the economy.
She said in view of the commitment, government initiated series of strategies for reducing poverty levels, social injustices among women and men, improving health standards and enhancing efficiency of public and private sector investments and domestic finance.
Nana Oye Lithur noted that the government sought to ensure that Ghana achieved gender equality for the attainment of human rights, which serve as a pre-requisite for sustainable national development.
The Gender Minister in an interview with the Ghana News Agency explained that the country's aims towards achieving gender equality targets were guided by its commitment to international instruments, its Constitution and national development frameworks.
She said article 17(1) and (2) particularly of the 1992 Constitution guarantees gender equality and freedom of women and men, girls and boys from discrimination on the basis of social or economic status among others.
Nana Oye Lithur said Ghana's efforts for gender equity are evident in the nation's recent achievements as shown by international indices.
She explained that the overarching goal of the National Gender Policy is to mainstream gender equality concerns into the national development processes by improving the social, legal, civic, political, economic and socio-cultural conditions of the people of Ghana.
She noted that President John Dramani Mahama has demonstrated commitment to address bottlenecks and barriers, and critical issues existing alongside the successes.
Nana Oye Lithur noted in an attempt to address the challenges posed by these inequities, President Mahama has been assertive by promoting girl-child education, social development and protection initiative.
The initiatives includes the distribution of free school uniforms, free exercise books, skilled training for young women, free ante-natal services for pregnant women, access to credit in the form of programmes such as the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty among others.
The Gender Minister said the Government has also improved the legislative environment through the enactment of statutes including the Domestic Violence Act 2007, Act (Act 732) to aggressively tackle gender inequality and the promotion of the welfare of women and girls.
Nana Oye Lithur stressed that it was evident that male involvement in removing systemic socio cultural practices that slow down women's empowerment especially stopping violence against women and girls and improving gender relationships in homes and public places was affirmed as an important policy issue.
She said the government has placed the marginalized and vulnerable groupings such as people with disability, the homeless and the displaced and other sub groups such as Kayayei and persons with disability on the agenda.
She said within the context of Ghana's Constitutional requirements, its development frameworks as well as international instruments, government has demonstrated commitment to women empowerment and social protection concerns.
She said government has set five policy commitments: Women Empowerment and Livelihood; Women's Rights and Access to Justice; Women's Leadership and Accountable Governance; Macroeconomics, Trade and Industries; and Gender Roles and Relations.
She said the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, skill development, advocacy, lobbying, negotiation, mobilization, transformational leadership, research, monitoring and evaluation were key strategies listed for action towards achieving government's commitments.
Nana Oye Lithur said government has also set out clear policy level roles and responsibilities to be played by identified state and non-state actors, including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the media, the private sector, Traditional Authorities, and Local Communities for efficiency and effectiveness in achieving results.
She said the Ministry of Gender will be the main machinery to drive all the policy actions using a Strategic Implementation Plan to actualise the policy objectives.
Nana Oye Lithur said based on the track record of achievement by President Mahama, 'the electorates should vote massively for him and NDC Parliamentary candidates for another term to continue the progressive work'. GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - The Delta Airlines is celebrating five years of providing internship programme for four African countries, including Ghana as it also celebrates 10 years of flying to Africa in December.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Delta introducing internship scheme for Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya to help in curbing the graduate unemployment situation in Africa.
A statement issued by the Delta Airlines and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday said the scheme provided 12-month contract to post-graduate students from the four countries to gain hands-on knowledge and experience of working for a multi-national company.
The programme forms part of Delta's commitment to Africa, by helping young people from underprivileged backgrounds acquire the skills they need to get ahead in business.
Nineteen people have completed the scheme and two are currently employed at Delta. The rest have gone on to find managerial positions in a range of industries, becoming teachers or furthering their studies.
Mr Bobby Bryan, Delta's Sales Manager for East and West Africa said: 'It's often difficult for graduates to get a break in the corporate world so offering opportunities like our intern programme can give them a real step up the ladder as well as learn about the complex nature of working for a global company.'
Mr Bryan said: 'Some of our past interns have gone on to gain executive jobs in the public and private sectors. I'm very proud of their achievements and am pleased Delta has been able to play a part in their success.'
Mumbe Muthama, a former intern and now Sales Executive in Nairobi, had said: 'When I started as an intern, I never thought I would have the opportunity to work for Delta after my contract ended'.
The airline flies daily to four points in Africa; Accra, Ghana, Dakar, Senegal, Johannesburg, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria.
It also has sales offices in a number of additional markets, including Kenya and Uganda.
Delta Airlines serves nearly 180 million customers each year across six continents of the world and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft.
It is headquartered in Atlanta and employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide.
GNA
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development is currently using Geographic Information System (GIS) data for the management and development of the fisheries sector.
The Ministry, through the use of GIS in the aquaculture sector, had achieved the mapping out of suitable areas for aquaculture development and all existing aquaculture facilities in the country.
Mrs Shirley Ayittey, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, disclosed this at the 2016 celebration of Geographic Information System (GIS) Day at Legon.
It was on the theme 'GIS -An Essential Tool for Ghana's Development.'
Mrs Ayittey said the Ministry had also used the GIS to map out support facilities for aquaculture development as roads, markets and cold stores, adding that the data had helped the ministry to monitor the expansion of existing aquaculture facilities and facilitated data collection.
'GIS data has been used for the management of the marine fisheries through the tracking of the movement and location of fishing vessel using Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Automatic Identifier System (AIS), she said, adding that the use of the VMS and IAS was a cost effect way of ensuring that vessels were compliant to fisheries laws and regulations.
The minister said the GIS data had helped to map out areas of high potential yield and distribution of fisheries resources and environmental parameters likely to have positive impact on the sector.
Mrs Ayittey said though efforts by various public, private and inter-governmental agencies, the number of organisations using GIS data worldwide had grown considerably over the last decade.
However, she said the human and organisational capacity needed to support the effective use of GIS in the country and many other African countries had remained structurally weak.
'As a nation, we need to ensure the full deployment of GIS and other relevant technologies to promote and sustain critical areas of national development including finding solutions to the annual devastating floods which are linked directly to climate change issues, traffic congestion, and land use planning.
She said the Ministry would also ensure functioning street address systems to assist the law enforcement agencies to fight crime and maintain law and order.
Mrs Ayittey expressed the hope that the celebration of the day would further constitute a significant springboard to implement clearly defined collaboration among stake holder institutions at the university level.
She said this would enable the university to provide the GIS the expertise needed in the short, medium and long term in the various sectors of Ghana's economy especially in the areas of environment, public health, agriculture, education and local government.
Professor P.W.K. Yankson, the Director of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory (RSGISLAB) said the Department of Geography and Resource Development had been spearheading the development of GIS in the country through teaching, research and extension activities centred on remote sensing and GIS laboratories since 1990.
He enumerated some of the challenges facing the institution as lack of a research centre and called on the Government and other corporate bodies to come to the aid of the institute.
Dr Tony Aubyn, the Chief Executive Officer of Minerals Commission, who chaired the function, commended the institute for its hard work and pledged the support of his outfit to towards its improvement.
GIS Day is celebrated annually on the third Wednesday of every November across the globe to bring together practitioners, businesses and policy makers to demonstrate real world geospatial applications that are making positive difference in our society.
GNA
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has launched the start of major expansion works at Tema Port.
The ambitious project, a Public Private Partnership between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), representing Government and Meridian Ports Services (MPS), involves an upgrade and significant expansion of Ghana's main seaport.
MPS is a partnership between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Meridian Port Holdings (MPH), which is in turn a joint venture between APM Terminals of the Netherlands and BollorA Transport & Logistics of France.
The launch of marine engineering works marks the material start of the execution of a deed, signed between GPHA and MPS in June 2015 to substantially expand Tema Port, as a key component of GPHA's master plan for the development of port infrastructure.
The successful completion of this initiative is set to fundamentally change Ghana's position in West Africa's maritime industry by effecting an increase in trade flow and improvement in transport links across West Africa.
The expanded port will have a 1.4 km quay with four deep berths, equipped with sophisticated container handling gantry cranes and Terminal Operating Systems.
Its capacity to accommodate cargo ships will consequently be four times greater than its current capacity.
Tema Port will then be able to handle some of the world's biggest container ships, carrying up to 18,000 containers.
In his inaugural speech, President Mahama said government's decision had been to position the ports of Ghana as a trade and investment gateway to the West African sub-region.
'The overall economic impact of this project will translate into 400, 000 jobs along the logistics chain. The investment being made would change the dynamics of the country's maritime industry over the next 100 years,' he said.
The first phase of this project will involve the construction of a breakwater, dredging the entrance channel to accommodate larger ships, building a quay wall and reclaiming the terminal area behind the quay wall.
Mr Richard Anamoo, Director General of the Tema Port, spoke about the authority's commitment to contribute relevant and tangible resources to improve the economic status of Ghana.
'GPHA appreciates the harbour expansion project as an important step in achieving the dream of being a regional leader in the maritime industry. We recognise the collaboration of our partners and are grateful for their support,' he stated.
Mr Mohamed Samara, Chief Executive Officer of MPS said: 'We have selected top contractors and consultants for this project and will be placing a strong emphasis on local content. By the time it is finished, this sea port will be a world class port that could match the capacity of world renowned ports and compete most favourably with the largest ports on this continent.'
The Tema Port expansion is in response to increasing trade volumes of export goods and imports into the country as well as the growth in global economic activity.
'This project will save Ghana's trade & industries an estimated $ 400 million a year in sea freight and logistics charges. Ghana will then become a much more cost-effective trade destination and make shippers in Ghana internationally recognised as being much more competitive, on a global scale,' Chairman of the MPS Board, Alhaji Banda said.
The project is also earmarked to bring the benefit of 5,000 more direct jobs, substantial capacity building, new equipment and the requisite technology transfer to the people of Ghana.
'Over the years, Ghana has become the centre of attraction for many investors even in the wake of the current global economic meltdown.
'We believe Ghana is a viable and promising place to do business and this is evident in the amount of the foreign direct investment that the country's economy has been injected with over the period,' said Philippe Labonne, President of BollorA Transport & Logistics.
Mr Peder Sondergaard, Vice President of APM Terminals adding: 'Ghana has looked forward to maximising its potential and making use of its abundant natural resources to boost economic growth and development. This is in line with the ideals of the APM Terminals'
The newly expanded Tema Port is projected to be fully operational in the 4th quarter of 2019, on completion of the construction works and is one of the largest public private collaborations in Ghana's history.
GNA
Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has suggested that Former Attorney General Martin Amidu be made the next Electoral Commission Chairperson for Ghana.
According to him, the request granted by the Supreme Court to orally examine businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome from whom the state is trying to retrieve 51.2 million cedis wrongfully paid to him shows how transparent he is.
Martin Amidu is an honest and transparent man. When Afari Gyan was about to retire as the EC boss, I said that I want Martin Amidu to become the EC boss because he is one person who is very true to his words and will never allow any dubious acts come his way he stated on Accra based Neat fm.
Chairman Wontumi as he is popularly known was reacting to a ruling by the apex court of the land granting permission to Mr Amidu to question Mr Woyome in court on the GHS51.2million judgment debt saga.
The apex court said both parties should reappear in court on 24 November. Mr Amidu filed an application to examine Mr Woyome about two weeks ago. He said in a statement: I have this morning, 4th November, 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court for leave to examine the judgment debtor as the citizen public interest plaintiff in favour of whom the case was decided for the Republic of Ghana.
Mr Amidu's action followed a move by the Attorney General to discontinue oral examination of Mr Woyome.
The AG's notice said: Please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agbesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply.
But Chairman Wontumi is of the firm conviction that the present Attorney General may have benefited from Mr Woyome, which he believes is the reason for discontinuing the case and therefore lauded Mr Amidu for his bold decision to cross examine Mr Woyome.
He indicated that though Martin Amidu is a member of the ruling NDC, his ideologies are different from some elements in the Mahama-led administration.
This notwithstanding, Mr Antwi Boasiako pointed out that no matter what the EC and its Chairperson, Madam Charlotte Osei, tries to do, there is no way President Mahama and the NDC can retain power.
He therefore asked the NPP and its leadership to remain resolute in their quest to win the December 7 elections.
Adomonline
18.11.2016 LISTEN
Dear Sirs,
The cock has not yet crowed, and so before I wet the floor with tears, it's only fair I render a thick apology for knocking on your door with a hard copy of "The Cockrow", a literary book approved by Ghana Education Service to be used for the teaching and learning of Junior High School literature in Ghana. Sleeping motionlessly in the heart of the book is a paper, flooded with 170 questions, not from Dr. Bawumia to our Vice President, Amissah Arthur, but from a concerned teacher who has used The Cockrow for close to three years now. Let it be made clear that this article is not intended to unleash any criticism on Mr. Darmani.
He has been tagged here because he, together with John A. Sackey, compiled the book in question and I'm pretty sure he will have a fair understanding of the issues at hand. I'm, myself, one of the biggest fans of Mr. Darmani, with his poem, 'Scribbler's Dream', topping my list of favourite poems. I also have no beef with "The Cockrow" per se. Its content is apt and I have no doubt the book will ultimately live up to literature's core mandate of educating, informing and entertaining. That notwithstanding, I think there are a few puzzles that need to be unlocked here.
Since the introduction of the book in 2013, the G.E.S has organised quite a handsome number of workshops on it for English Language teachers, and on each occasion, teachers are resourced and charged to adequately prepare their children for the year's B.E.C.E, as the eight questions on literature will come from the book. Whether or not this is misinformation, teachers prepare their candidates each year using this book, only to be informed just a few weeks to the final examination that there will be no questions on it. This has continued for some years now and it's tempting some of us to believe this is a mere business strategy aimed at getting the books sold in large quantities to schools. We have again, been assured to expect questions on the book in the 2017 B.E.C.E but whether or not another excuse won't be given is another story on its own.
What's more disheartening is the manner some directorates of the Ghana Education Service are chancing on the 'Christmas' to 'chew' helpless chicken. Just within a spate of eleven months, the Sekondi Takoradi Metro Directorate of the Ghana Education Service has organised two of such workshops for private school teachers, besides the earlier two separate workshops organised by Mr. Darmani himself and the Ghana National Association of Private Schools respectively. The worrying part of the situation is not the participation fee of thirty Ghana cedis or more paid on each occasion, it has to do with how teachers, under the guns of their proprietors, have to sacrifice lessons or periods meant for the other aspects of the English Language in the name of a two-day literature workshop which only offers a repetition of the same old and tired knowledge and method of approaching the subject.
While we make conscious efforts at selling literature to our children, let us not forget there are other equally-important aspects of the English Language that need serious attention. The English Language paper is not comprised of only metaphor, simile, alliteration and other figures of speech which dominate our discussions at the workshops. Judging from the faces and body language of teachers who attended the just-ended two-day workshop at the Teachers' Resources Centre in Sekondi-Takoradi , it's crystal -clear most of us are not interested in these incessant workshops again, except the few teachers who have fallen deeply for the fried rice and chicken thighs served for lunch.
For teachers to attend a workshop on the same book over and over again is sickening and until there is repacking somewhere, our interest will never be restored. If Ghana Education Service and Mr. Darmani himself have copies of The Cockrow, they should read the last two lines of "Desert Rivers" and know that, the fact that they cannot see our tears does not mean we do not cry.
Till I hear favourably from G.E.S and Mr. Darmani, this has been yours truly..........
Jet Alan.
The role of the nurse in health delivery cannot be overemphasized and so a government that does not attach importance to the training of young people to become nurses is not a serious one.
Over the years, many leaders have recognized and appreciated the relevance of nursing training and have thus supported young people to be able to take up the challenge of health care in the country. It was therefore very shocking to many well meaning Ghanaians when a decree of the government scrapped the allowances these young people who are training to take up the daunting task of caring for the people of Ghana.
This made it difficult for many qualified people who have the job of care giving to undergo training. Nursing training has now become the preserve of the economically lucky ones.
To curb this unfortunate situation, many people under training and concerned citizens have been agitating for the restoration of the trainee allowances to enable young Ghanaians passionate about our health to under go nursing training.
This message has been said loud and clear but the John Mahama's NDC government refused to listen to good reason.
It was only when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party and his running mate, Dr Mahamadu Bawumiah decided to make it an issue of concern and promised to restore the allowanced when voted into power did the NDC start to take an unconcerned look at the situation.
Today, John Mahama in a last ditch desperate attempt to win votes of trainee nurses have began a face saving payment of pittance to insult the intelligence of nurses. the government has seen the need pay us our allowances. They are grateful to Nana Addo and the NPP for making this possible.
Their continuous advocacy to bring back the nursing trainee allowances and their promise to reinstate the allowances if they are given the nod to lead the country resulted in the governments paying the trainee nurses allowances today.
We are indeed grateful and we trust that the future government of the NPP will make the healthcare needs of Ghanaians a priority.
Thank you Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamadu Bawumiah.
Signed
18th November 2016
Josephine Kwarteng
+233243363437
Suraka Zainah
+233264609559
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Friday proposed that South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar as well as the army chief and information minister face UN sanctions for their role fueling violence in the war-torn country.
The names of Machar, President Salva Kiir's army chief Paul Malong and his information minister Michael Makuei were on a sanctions blacklist circulated to the Security Council, diplomats said.
The proposed sanctions were presented after the United States late Thursday presented a draft resolution on imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan, where a civil war has raged since December 2013.
Russia however made clear it opposed the measure, arguing that it would further sour relations between South Sudan's leadership and the international community.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rejected the Electoral Commissions parliamentary ballot printed for the Savelugu Constituency in the Northern Region.
NPP Northern Regional Secretary, Sule Salifu explained that the portion of governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate has been thumb printed which invalidates the ballot.
He disclosed that upon seeing the anomaly, the NPP agents approached the EC's Regional Director to ask for the withdrawal of the ballot.
Mr Salifu who spoke to Joy News' Nothern Regional Correspondent, Martina Bugri said, as a result of the party's protest, the EC Director took a sample to examine it.
According to him, a consultation was held between the Regional EC directorate and the Deputy EC boss, Amadu Sulley who was in the Region for a visit.
At the end it was resolved that the ballot be withdrawn for a new one to be re-printed in the coming days, Mr Salifu said.
But NDC Regional Secretary, Halid Abdul Rauf said even though the NPP has a genuine case it should not approach it as though it was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the election.
He said similar incident had taken place at the Wulensi Constituency in which the column of the NPP parliamentary candidate was thumb-printed, adding all the political parties called for the anomalies to be corrected.
"That the incident that occurred there shouldn't be used by somebody to cry wolf," he said.
Meanwhile, the Northern Regional Director has urged political party representatives to cooperate with the Commission as it works to replace the ballot for the two constituencies.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers
Naidu waved a copy of Mail Today citing how ban on Rs 1000/500 notes had dried up the funds for the Naxals.
By Mail Today Bureau: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Friday hit out at detractors of demonetization of big currency notes saying the move will clean up the economy.
NAXAL FUNDING DRIES UP
Naidu waved a copy of Mail Today citing how ban on Rs 1000/500 notes had dried up the funds for the Naxals. Mail Today had on November 16 published a report "Red Funds in a Black Hole" that detailed on how currency ban had crippled Naxal activities more severely than any security operation had in the recent past.
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He termed the move a "surgery" which was being done in the country for a better India. "Aam Aadmi Party naraz ho sakti hai, par aam aadmi naraz nahi hai (The move may displease Aam Aadmi Party but not the common men)," Naidu said.
ALSO READ:
Demonetisation: Government promises action after India Today exposed misuse of Jan Dhan accounts
Congress does not want Parliament to function: Naidu
--- ENDS ---
Residents of Asamama, a community in the Atiwa District of the Eastern region have embarked on a demonstration to express their displeasure over the police shooting which led to the death of two persons with several others sustaining severe injuries.
The residents, mostly illegal miners, poured on the street, wearing red arm bands and chanting war songs. They accused the security personnel deployed to carry out the operation in the community on Thursday of unprofessional conducts.
According to them, even though tempers were high leading to the clashes, they were harmless hence the Police had no justification to open fire on them.
The residents claim landguards wielding weapons accompanied the security operatives to attack the illegal miners.
The miners accused their Traditional rulers for conniving with one Yaw Ayebiahwe, a concessioner, to orchestrate the attack .
The miners say they have reorganized themselves and are battle ready to crash any security personnel who steps on the land to face them.
Speaking to Starr News' Eastern regional Correspondent, Kojo Ansah, who visited the community on Friday, the leader of the demonstrators, Kelvin Siameh Kobena, discounted claims by the Police that, only two persons were gunned down.
According to him, about five of the miners attacked on site cannot be found and suspect they were shot into the Birim River.
He said, the youth in the area are unemployed hence small scale mining is the only source of livelihood to take care of their families.
Asamama, is the only community in the enclave that has consistently rejected illegal mining activities citing its devastating effect on the environment.
Meanwhile, the wife of Kwadwo Osei, a 40-year-old leader of the miners gunned down on Thursday, is seeking for justice.
-Starrfmonline
Bamako (AFP) - Campaigning ended on Friday ahead of Mali's first elections since 2013, the year international forces came in to tackle a rebel surge which threatened to split the country in two.
On Sunday, voters will elect 12,000 councillors in communes throughout the country, two years later than originally scheduled, as the government wrestles with implementing a peace deal and warding off the stubborn jihadist threat in the north.
The election campaigning has been marked by bitter opposition criticism of the government and calls for a voter boycott.
Despite the presence of numerous candidate posters in Bamako, and the organisation of campaign rallies, there has been little enthusiasm in the capital for the first elections since August 2013, when President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was voted in.
Islamic rebels have prevented campaigning and posters in some parts of the north.
Opposition head Soumaila Cisse has called for a further delay to the voting, citing the "serious concerns of populations in the north and centre of the country faced with growing insecurity which has seriously hampered the smooth running of the campaign".
In January 2013, French troops were deployed to repel Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who had overrun several northern towns, joining forces with Tuareg-led rebels.
Some 11,000 UN military and police followed, but the jihadists were never defeated -- merely displaced.
Last year, Mali's rebel alliance signed a peace deal along with government and loyalist militias.
It was hoped that the deal would bring stability to the northern desert, cradle of several Tuareg uprisings and a sanctuary for Islamist fighters.
But since then, rival armed groups have repeatedly violated the ceasefire, threatening attempts to give the north a measure of autonomy that might help prevent separatist uprisings.
Tribal rivalries and banditry have also deteriorated the security situation in the north, where many children are at risk of malnutrition.
President John Mahama has dismissed claims that the Electoral Commission (EC) has plans to manipulate the December 7 polls for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said the Commission has an enviable reputation across the African continent and would not engage in acts that would denigrate its works so far.
Some of them [political opponents] have gone to the extent of saying the Electoral Commission is preparing to rig the elections for John Mahama. What absurd nonsense? Ghanas Electoral system is one of the best in the world," he said.
President Mahama made these remarks when he addressed a rally of NDC supporters at Funsi in the Wa East Constituency of the Upper West Region.
The EC has repeatedly come under pressure for acts that have been construed as a deliberate attempt to rig the presidential election for the NDC.
The disqualification of some 12 presidential candidates by the EC on October 10 which resulted in series of lawsuits was described as a ploy to divert the attention of Ghanaians from the machinations of the Commission.
Progressive People's Party (PPP) Policy Advisor, Kofi Asamoah Siaw had said the EC was using the party's flagbearer, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom as a pawn to influence the electoral process.
When the Commission headed to the Supreme Court to challenge a ruling in which it was asked to allow disqualified presidential candidates to make corrections on their nomination forms, Mr Asamoah said the EC boss, Charlotte Osei was doing the work of those who appointed her.
"What is happening is a deliberate scheme design by some people with the help of the EC to make sure we have limited time run this election rush things through to declare somebody who is not deserving of the people of Ghanas vote and declare him president of Ghana," he had said.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has also been suspicious of EC's actions and this explains the party's outcries over the electoral process.
The NPP had issues with the Commission's decision to print supplementary ballot without serial numbers. It was later revealed that the EC has plans to provide a space for the Constituency codes to be entered on them.
But President Mahama said the kind of scathing criticisms and allegations leveled against the Commission does not augur well for the nation's democracy.
He said most of these claims are meant to prepare the minds of party supporters in the event they are defeated in the polls.
"Indeed they have said the most unspeakable things about the Chairman of the Electoral Commission...so when they lose, they can blame the Electoral Commission as not being neutral," he said.
He urged Ghanaians to be mindful and reject people who would want to run-down the EC in the bid to win the upcoming election.
Funsi in the Wa East Constituency of the Upper West Region - See more at: http://citifmonline.com/2016/11/18/election-rigging-allegations-absurd-nonsense-mahama/#sthash.2pa3Dmyl.dpuf
Funsi in the Wa East Constituency of the Upper West Region - See more at: http://citifmonline.com/2016/11/18/election-rigging-allegations-absurd-nonsense-mahama/#sthash.2pa3Dmyl.dpuf
If you notice, in the run up to the election, there has been a consistent criticism of the Electoral Commission. Indeed they have said the most unspeakable things about the Chairman of the Electoral Commission and that is all preparing the minds of their supporters for when they lose, so when they lose, they can blame the Electoral Commission as not being neutral.Note my words, not in Africa, in the world because it has inherent instruments for guaranteeing its integrity.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
18.11.2016 LISTEN
Embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, is claiming the actions by Martin Amidu is nothing more than sour grapes.
He claims Mr. Amidus crusade is not in defence of the Constitution as he would want Ghanaians to believe but in furtherance to his own anger against the NDC and the government.
Martin Amidu was called by then President (John Atta Mills) because there was an issue concerning his health. In that meeting Martin Amidu tried to be the president of Ghana so he had to be sacked, Mr. Alfred Woyome alleged.
The self-styled financier of the governing National Democratic Congress has been in and out of court for the past four years.
The state is pursuing him for 51.2 million cedis wrongfully paid to him as settlement debt.
A criminal case of defrauding by false pretences and causing financial loss to the state brought against him failed.
But former A-G, Martin Amidu obtained a favourable judgment in 2014 at the Supreme Court which declared that the payment was unconstitutional.
The Court ordered the businessman to return the money to the state.
Two years after the judgment, the state has not been able to retrieve the money.
There appeared to be a lull in this controversy until a couple of weeks ago when Attorney-General Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong sought to discontinue a process she initiated in relation to retrieving the amount.
She had sought permission from the court to orally examine Woyome because "In circumstances such as these where it has become difficult for the Republic of Ghana as the judgment creditor to execute the judgment of this court as a result of lack of information with which the Republic of Ghana could deploy any of the methods of execution to satisfy the judgment debt, it is appropriate to apply to this Court for an order that 3rd Defendant be orally examined regarding whether any debts are owing to [him] and whether [he] has any property or means of satisfying the judgment of this Court dated 29th July 2014."
On October 31, 2016, however, Mrs Appiah-Opong went back to court seeking to discontinue this process.
Convinced that government is not committed to retrieve the amount because of Mr. Woyomes ties with the governing party, Mr. Amidu applied to the court to allow him to do the oral examination.
The Supreme Court granted this application to the chagrin of Mr. Woyome who stormed out of the court after the judgment shoving off journalists and warning some of unfair reportage.
He took his case to the media Friday evening levelling a litany of allegations against the man whose individual effort has brought him so much pain and anguish.
He said the so called Citizen Vigilante was a bitter man who couldnt accept that he is neither the president nor the vice-president.
Martin Amidu was Vice-Presidential candidate of the NDC in 2000 but the party lost the election.
Woyome claims that he was not selected again for the slot in the subsequent elections.
Im challenging Martin Amidu to tell Ghanaians what happened between him and the late president [Mills] he stated.
He also took issues with Martin Amidus call on Ghanaians to vote out president John Mahama if they want the 51.2 million cedis returned to the state.
The former A-G, he alleged, is being used by some unseen hands against President Mahama.
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The Progressive People's Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate has said the economic challenges bedeviling the country are culminating results of bad leadership.
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom said Ghanaians made a grave mistake when they voted for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the last election.
"We are a people made poor by bad governance and leadership. Ghanaians have wasted their votes on leadership that has not utilized all our hopes and aspirations," he said.
The celebrated businessman said Ghanaians deserve a better life than what they have been provided by the NDC.
The PPP's leader made these comments when he took his turn at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)'s Presidential Encounter Friday.
NDC flagbearer, President John Mahama was the first presidential candidate to appear on the platform to tell Ghanaians the policies he intends to implement if he is given a second term in the December polls. He also delved into his government's achievements.
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Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Stephen Asante/Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
Kumasi, Nov 18, GNA - The government has been urged to increase the budgetary allocation to the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry for child rights advocacy programmes.
Mrs. Aba Oppong, Ashanti Regional President of the Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations on the Rights of the Child, a civil-society organization, said this was vital to the effort to provide more protection for children.
She indicated that inadequate funding was undermining the fight to comprehensively tackle child rights abuse to aid their growth and development.
Addressing a general meeting of the Coalition in Kumasi, she said issues concerning children - education, health, physical and mental development must be made an urgent national priority.
It provided the platform to discuss the United Nations' (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child and the role of civil society groups in its effective implementation.
The Convention seeks to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians or family members.
Mrs. Oppong pointed out that children, by reason of their physical immaturity, needed special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection.
She called for proper training of groups working for and with children, including the law enforcement agencies, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, health personnel and social workers.
She expressed worry about the continued exposure of children to harmful information - profanity on radio, violent scenes and pornography on the television and internet.
Pastor Stephen Ofosu Darfour, Regional Director of the Department of Children, announced of plans to establish District Child Protection Committees across the nation.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Susana Dery of the Regional Police Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), advised the public to have the courage to report child abuse cases to the police.
GNA
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Cape Coast, Nov. 18, GNA - The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has called for effective collaboration between education stakeholders and the Ministry to ensure that the country achieved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education.
She said in as much as the country tried to fit into global standards of education, it had to craft and determine its own standards so that it did not misdirect the indications of its own development.
Prof Opoku -Agyemang was speaking at the 140th anniversary speech and prize giving day of the Mfantsipim Senior High School in Cape Coast at the weekend.
The celebration was on the theme, 'Mfantsipim at 140th milestone: Contributing to professionalism and meritocracy for national and global development'.
She said the SDGs gave countries space to craft their own standards and as such the Ministry had prepared a draft but was engaging stakeholders on discussions to solicit their views.
The idea was to ensure that effective strategies, policies and programmers were put forward to achieve the SDG four, she noted, and called on all stakeholders to endeavour to make inputs into it.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang said education in Ghana was rated high in Africa because it continued to perform very well in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but indicated that it was time it was taken to another milestone for it to be counted among the best in the World.
She said the Government looked forward to having more Grade 'A' schools in the country, and indicated that it was ready to partner stakeholders to make it a reality.
The Headmaster, Mr. Manfred Barton Odro in his annual report, said the school had undergone tremendous development since its establishment in 1876 and commended the sponsoring year groups for their benevolence.
He said the School produced outstanding results in the 2016 WASSCE with one of its students, Master John Owusu being adjudged the best General Arts student.
He said 28 students who sat for the examination had 8As, 56 had 7As while 51 also had 6As and expressed optimism that the current batch would do more.
He appealed to the Government and old students to assist the School with a new school bus as the existing two buses were too old.
He also appealed for a new assembly hall with a larger capacity to accommodate the over 2,000 students as the old one had compelled students to go for meals in batches, distracting academic work on campus.
Mr. Barton Odro said as part of efforts to ensure that the School had a manageable enrolment of not more than 1,800 students within the next three years; it admitted only 600 fresh students this year.
He explained that the exercise was to ensure that students receive quality training at the School.
Awards were giving to deserving students, teachers and non-teaching staff.
GNA
Goaso (B/A), Nov.18, GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has called on Ghanaians to renew the mandate of President John Dramani Mahama to continue with his developmental agenda for the country.
'President Mahama is somebody who is passionate about the development of the country and does not discriminate in the distribution of projects,' he said.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur made the call when he paid a courtesy call on the Traditional Council and addressed National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at Goaso in the Brong-Ahafo Region as part of his three-day campaign tour.
The Vice President called on the chiefs and elders to inform them of his mission and to seek their permission to campaign in the area.
Enthusiastic NDC supporters besieged the Goaso Traditional Council amid drumming and dancing.
Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said the NDC was not only campaigning on its manifesto promises but also gathering views of the chiefs on their pressing needs.
He said President Mahama deserved a second term as it was done for two other former presidents - Rawlings and Kufuor.
Nana Akwasi Bosomprah I, Omanhene of the Goaso Traditional Area, said he was confident that the President John Mahama led Government would get a second term to enable it to continue with the unprecedented development taking place in the country.
He said Goaso and the Asunafo North municipalities and the entire Ahafo area had had their fair share of development.
He urged his fellow chiefs to collaborate and support every government in order to attract development to their communities.
Nana Bosomprah mentioned the construction and rehabilitation of road networks, educational and health facilities, a fire station and a fire tender, and the DVLA office as some of the projects that had come to improve the lives of his people.
He said he would continue to proclaim the good works of the Government bearing in mind the insults that would be hurled at him.
He said he would not lie about the visible transformation taking place in the Ahafo area adding that the gods and ancestors of Goaso would not forgive him if he failed to publicly proclaim the good things happening in the Asunafo North Municipality.
Nana Akwasi Bosomprah wondered why a chief would not co-operate with government in order to get development to their areas.
He said governments would come and go but the chieftaincy institution would remain.
Nana Bosomprah, therefore, asked the chiefs to begin to show interest in the development of their communities and support whichever government was in power to attract development to their areas.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur introduced the NDC's parliamentary candidate for Asunafo North, Alhaji Mohammed Kwaku Doku, who is also the Municipal Chief Executive of the area.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur was accompanied by Mr Eric Opoku, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Barbara Serwah Asamoah, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the National Vice Chairman of the NDC and Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan, a former National Organiser of the NDC.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
Akyem-Ofoase E/R), Nov. 18, GNA - Mr Kenneth Budu, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Ofoase/Ayirebi, in the Eastern Region, had a field day, when he was the only person who appeared at a parliamentary debate.
The debate organised by the National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE) in collaboration with the European Commission, was to be attended by Mr Kwadwo Oppong-Nkrumah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mr John Obiri Yeboah of the Progressive People's Party (PPP).
Mr Daniel Chartey, Akyemmansa District Director of the NCCE expressed regret about the absence of the duo because according to him all the parliamentary candidates prior to the programme agreed to participate.
He said the debate was a platform offered to all the candidates to share their ideas and visions to their constituents to make informed choices and therefore felt it was a missed opportunity for the two who refused to attend.
Mr Chartey said the debate was based on research findings dubbed: 'Election 2016: Matters of Concern to the Ghanaian Voter,' which was undertaken by the NCCE in July.
He said apart from enabling the NCCE to undertake effective civic/voter education towards the December 7 polls and beyond.
Answering questions on education, Mr Budu, who also doubles as the District Chief Executive, said for effective supervision of education in the area, one of the things he did on assumption of office was ensuring the decoupling of the District Education Directorate from the Brim North District.
Apart from that he made sure the government's policy of removing schools under trees was fully implemented.
He said when given the mandate to represent his people in Parliament, he would lobby for more schools to be constructed in the constituency.
Mr Budu said another vision was to implement a programme dubbed: ' One family, one graduate,' by ensuring that at least each family in the community got one graduate by using part of his Member of Parliament's Common Fund to offer scholarships to students to the tertiary level.
Akyemmansa he said had neither a district hospital nor a resident medical officer to take care of the serious medical needs of the people and would lobby as a member of parliament to reverse the situation.
On employment Mr Budu said he would encourage more investors to set up businesses in the constituency to create job opportunities for the people apart from the oil palm extraction factory set up by Indian entrepreneurs at Brenase.
He said he facilitated the project which created employment for a lot of people in the area.
He said he would encourage the youth to form cooperatives and establish oil palm plantations, which he believed would offer them sustainable employment.
GNA
By Joyce Danso, GNA
Accra Nov. 18, GNA - David Geh Mensah, the man who introduced himself as a security personnel from Flag staff House during the commissioning of a community school at Frafraha has been remanded into custody.
Appearing before an Accra Circuit Court on Friday, Mensah charged with possession of firearm without authority and impersonation has pleaded not guilty.
His Counsel Mr Xavier Sosu prayed the court for bail, saying the facts as presented are not of admission.
Mensah is expected to reappear on November 28 for the Court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh to rule on his bail application.
Prosecuting Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Duuti Tuaruka argued that on November 11 this year, the President of Ghana, John Dramani inaugurated a Community Senior High School at Frafraha, Adenta in Accra.
The state security apparatus were all gathered at the ceremony grounds with party functionaries, school children and members from civil societies to welcome the President.
Chief Supt. Duuti said Mensah was dressed in civilian clothes and desert boot with a foreign pistol and a pair of handcuff also arrived at the scene.
According to the Prosecution, Mensah introduced himself as security personnel of the Flagstaff house. The Police who were not convinced apprehended him and took him to Lakeside Estate Police Station for further questioning.
During the questioning it came to light that Mensah was not a security officer hence was escorted to his home.
In his room prosecution said four set of military camouflage uniforms, two digital cameras and one (BB) ammunition were found.
Mensah told the Police that he was a soldier in 2006 to 2008 but was dismissed for misconduct, however he could not mention his Military number and where exactly he worked for the two year period in the Ghana Armed Force.
According to Prosecution, Mensah said the uniform belonged to a friend by name David Datsumor of the Ear, Nose and Throat Unit of the 37 Military Hospital.
The Prosecutor said efforts were being made to contact the said Soldier for further investigations.
GNA
By PTI: Los Angeles, Nov 18 (PTI) Women who choose to become first-time mothers at 25 years of age or later may increase their chances of living into their 90s, a new study has claimed.
The study by researchers at University of California San Diego in the US is the first to look at age at first child-birth in relation to longevity.
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The researchers found an association between a womans age at child-birth and parity (the number of times a woman has been pregnant) with survival to age 90.
"We found that women who had their first child at age 25 or older were more likely to live to age 90," said lead author Aladdin Shadya from UC San Diego School of Medicine.
"The findings indicate that women with two to four term pregnancies compared with a single term pregnancy were also more likely to live at least nine decades," he said.
Out of about 20,000 participants in the study, 54 per cent of women survived to 90 years old.
The participants were part of the Womens Health Initiative (WHI), a national longitudinal investigation of women that began in 1991 in the US. The women were followed for up to 21 years.
The study also found that women who lived to age 90 were more likely to be college graduates, married, have a higher income and less likely to be obese or have a history of chronic disease.
"Our findings do not suggest that women should delay having a child, as the risk of obstetric complications, including gestational diabetes and hypertension, is higher with older maternal ages," Shadya said.
"It is possible that surviving a pregnancy at an older age may be an indicator of good overall health, and as a result, a higher likelihood of longevity," he said.
"It is also possible that women who were older when they had their first child were of a higher social and economic status, and therefore, were more likely to live longer," he added.
The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health. PTI NKS SAR SAR
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18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Priscilla S. Djentuh, GNA
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - The next NDC government will ensure that it eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV and meet the health needs of adolescents and youth by 2017.
In the NDC 2016 Manifesto made available to the Ghana News Agency, the party also outlines plans to prioritise and implement the National Strategic Plan 2016-2020 on HIV/AIDS and work towards achieving the 90-90-90 fast-track targets which will ensure that 90 per cent of People Living with HIV know their status, 90 per cent of People Living with HIV are on Antiretroviral treatment and 90 per cent on immune suppression.
'The priorities shall include strengthening of strategic information and health systems, community empowerment to scale up HIV testing, treatment and targeted behaviour change among others,'' it said.
The next NDC government also promises to reduce the incidence of malaria by 50 per cent including reduction cases of maternal and neonatal deaths by further 50 per cent and creation of more spaces for maternal and neonatal care in existing health facilities.
The publication of the manifesto is captured under the 'GNA Tracks Election 2016 Project,' being funded by GOIL, the foremost indigenous oil marketing company and CIMG 2015 Petroleum Company of the year.
The project seeks to sensitise the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions.
It aims at ensuring gender and social inclusion in national politics and provide voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society as well as contribute to the achievement of peaceful polls.
Another objective of the project is to create a platform to dissect the manifestos of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgment.
The manifesto among others also gave assurance to diversifying the sources of funding for the National Health Insurance Scheme by allocating an approved percentage of the ABFA from Ghana's Petroleum Revenue.
It also promises to motivate health workers by rewarding conditions of service that respond to changing trends in healthcare and increment of supply and fair distribution of health personnel across the country.
According to the Manifesto, the next NDC government would: ''Complete ongoing regional hospitals in the Ashanti and Upper West regions as well as complete construction of regional hospitals in Upper East, Eastern and Western regions and undertake a comprehensive upgrade of the Tema General Hospital''.
Putting citizens first, it said it would establish a National Infectious Disease Centre which would mainstream mental healthcare into the health delivery system and ensure adequate resourcing and infrastructural development.
'Continue to implement policies on the integration of Traditional Medicine into the mainstream healthcare delivery system in compliance with the provisions of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000, Act 575'', it added.
It also assures to establish the School of Traditional Medicine at Keta in addition to the School of Pharmacy as a satellite campus of the University of Health and Allied Sciences.
The Manifesto also promises to upgrade existing health facilities located in Sogakope, Anomabo, Half-Assini, Nkawkaw, Kintampo and Techiman into Accident and Trauma Centres.
Other towns targeted for the upgrading health facilities include Wa, Hohoe, Gambia No. 2 and Buipe.
It said: 'It will scale up the implementation of e-Health systems piloted in Korle-bu, Wa and Zebila hospitals to all secondary and tertiary hospitals,'' adding that it would protect patient privacy by ensuring strict compliance with data protection laws of the country of medical records.
GNA
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Winneba (C/R), Nov. 18, GNA - Many Ghanaian students are still unable to complete secondary education in spite of efforts to make education accessible and progressive, the 2016 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report has said.
The first of a new series of post-2015 reports says 53 per cent of students in Ghana are able to complete Junior High School (JHS) education while only 39 per cent are able to complete Senior High School (SHS) education.
This, according to the report entitled 'Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All' meant that a significant portion of Ghanaian youth are not able to progress from secondary school to the tertiary level.
The (GEM) Report is a new series of reports used by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to monitor the state of education in the new framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It examined the complex interrelationships and links between education and key development sectors and also highlighted education strategies, policies and programmes which were most effectively linked to the economic, social, environmental and political priorities of the new sustainable development agenda.
Launched at a ceremony at Winneba in the Central Region on Thursday, the report stated that education needed a major transformation to fulfill its purpose so as to propel progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who launched the report, said a national action plan for the implementation of the 2030 agenda was already in place and implored stakeholders to make inputs to it.
She called for effective collaboration between education stakeholders and the ministry to ensure that the country achieved the SDGs on education.
Prof Opoku-Agyenabg said the government had put in place policies and programmes which included Inclusive Education Policy, Complimentary Basic Education Policy and the implementation of the Free Tertiary Teacher Performance and Management Programme to help improve the quality of education in the country.
She appealed to graduate and under graduate students at the universities to conduct research into challenges in the education sector such that their findings spoke to specific issues and provided recommendations to specific challenges.
Professor Yaw Ankomah, a former Director of the Institute for Education Planning and Administration (IEPA), University of Cape Coast (UCC), who read excerpts of the report, said for education to be transformative in support of the new sustainable development agenda, it required a more rigorous approach.
Prof Ankomah said though Ghana had made significant strides with 92 per cent primary school enrolment rate, 319,000 children between six and eleven years were still out of school.
According to the report, while youth literacy rate in the country was 86 per cent, 699,000 youth of which 59 per cent were women remained illiterate while 633,000 SHS youth, with a larger proportion of them being females and 121,000 JHS aged adolescent were respectively out of school.
It said female enrolment at both secondary and tertiary levels as well as the inclusion of gender equality issues in education curriculum was still low, with 63 per cent of female adults in Ghana being illiterate while only three per cent had tertiary education.
That notwithstanding, the report commended Ghana for showing strong commitment towards funding education with six per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Professor George Kankam, Dean of the Faculty of Education Studies at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), who chaired the ceremony, said as much as societies in the World were undergoing deep transformations, education needed a new approach to meet the aspirations of the changing world.
GNA
By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Tamale, Nov. 18, GNA - The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has launched the 2016/2017 National Bushfire Prevention Campaign and the Regional Home Fire Safety Certification Project to create public awareness on fire safety standards.
The GNFS, under the project, would create awareness on fire safety and prevention including encouraging the citizenry to obtain fire certificates for their premises and homes to indicate compliance with fire regulations.
Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Chief Fire Officer of GNFS, during the launch of the campaign in Tamale, emphasised the need for all to avoid unnecessary acts that caused fires which put stress on the national kitty.
Statistics from the GNFS showed that from 2011 to 2015, a total of 24,500 fires were recorded in the country and about 10,051 of them emanated from private homes.
Dr Gaisie complained about the rampant bush fires, especially in the food producing zones of the country causing destruction to large acres of farm produce, a situation which affected the incomes of farmers and food security situation of the country.
He said GNFS would form volunteer and fire prevention cadets at schools to complement efforts at creating awareness on fire safety and prevention.
He called on all to support efforts at preventing and fighting fires in the country.
Mr Abdallah Abubakari, the Northern Regional Minister, whose speech was read on his behalf, lauded the bushfire prevention and home fire safety project saying it would help traders on how to prevent fires at the various markets in the region.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Linda Baah, GNA
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) says it will ensure strict implementation of the Mental Health Act 2012 (Act 846).
The CPP captured this in its 2016 Election Manifesto that promised to implement the Policy by working with local and international partners to galvanise support.
The Party said it would encourage the training of more psychiatric specialists (doctors and nurses), train more psychologists and allied professionals to specialise in mental health care and ensure the mainstreaming of mental healthcare in hospitals.
''We will move the Accra Psychiatric Hospital to Pantang and develop the Pantang Mental Hospital into a first class mental health facility and we will build two additional psychiatric hospitals in Ashanti and the Northern Regions.''
The manifesto available to GNA in Accra says Ghana continues to be affected by the double burden of communicable and non-communicable disease, due to this, CPP will establish a National Infectious Disease Centre, step up campaigns and undertake activities to improve personal hygiene and sanitation to deal with communicable diseases.
'We shall also vigorously create national awareness on the need to combat lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and stroke,'' CPP stated.
The Party says, in addition to Physical Education Exercises in schools: ''We shall promote the establishment of Community Residence Health Teams to encourage regular communal physical exercise, regular drills in Basic Life Support and Health Talks, with the view to inculcating healthy lifestyles in the citizenry''.
The publication of the manifesto is captured under the 'GNA Tracks Election 2016 Project', being funded by GOIL, the foremost indigenous oil marketing company and CIMG 2015 Petroleum Company of the year.
The project seeks to sensitise the electorate on the various issues raised by political parties, the elections management body and other governance institutions.
It aims at ensuring gender and social inclusion in national politics and to provide voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society.
Another objective of the project is to create a platform to dissect the manifestoes of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgment.
GNA
By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA
Wechiau (U/W), Nov. 18, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has said when given the nod, he would continue in his effort to improve the road network in the Upper West Region.
He said it was unfortunate that the region had the least quota of tarred roads in the country despite its potential and contribution to the development of the nation.
President Mahama said this during a rally at Wechiau in the Wa West District on the first day of his three-day campaign tour of the Upper West Region.
He said even though his government has done more roads than any other government in the history of the region, it was still lacking in terms of good road network, adding that he would give special attention to that if his mandate is renewed.
He said his first term witnessed massive infrastructure expansion in the area of health, education, electricity and the provision of good drinking water.
'We have extended electricity to so many communities and indeed, Ghana is estimated to have access to more than 80 per cent in electric power', he said.
President Mahama said the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had taken Ghana from 58 per cent access to clean drinking water in 2008 to 76 per cent access in 2016.
He said his government also attained 97 per cent in school enrolment including a gender parity ratio of 1:1 for boys and girls.
He said his government has also reduced maternal mortality rate in the country and now more children were surviving beyond their fifth birthday resulting in a reduction in infant mortality.
The President said Ghana had the highest life expectancy of 63 years among its peers in Africa, but admitted that there was still a lot more to be done to improve on the quality of life of the people.
President Mahama said he had gone round the country and the level of enthusiasm in appreciation of government's effort at providing development infrastructure, gave him confidence that the NDC was going to win the December polls.
He called on supporters of the party to be calm and not give in to provocations by anybody and contribute to ensuring another successful and peaceful election.
Earlier, President Mahama paid a courtesy call on Naa Sohimwininye Danaa Gori II and Naa Imoro Nandon Goma, the Paramount Chiefs of Dorimon and Wechiau Traditional Areas, respectively.
Naa Gori appealed to the President for the creation of a separate District for the Dorimon Traditional Area to accelerate the development of the area.
The President also visited Funsi in the Wa East District, Issah and Bussie in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District and Kaleo in the Nadowli Kaleo District where he addressed enthusiastic party supporters who stayed throughout the night waiting for the President.
President Mahama took the opportunity to introduce the party's Parliamentary candidates including Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh for Wa West, Dr Henry Seidu Danaa for Wa East and Dr Sebastian Sandaare for Daffiama-Bussie-Issa Constituency.
GNA
18.11.2016 LISTEN
By Paul Achonga Kwode, GNA
Tamale, Nov. 18, GNA - Mr John Boadu, Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has assured Ghanaians of the party's commitment to ensure a violence-free election.
He said the NPP was ahead of the National Democratic Congress in campaign strategies noting that the party does not want to engage in any violent act that could mar the peace of the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Tamale, Mr Boadu called on the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Ghana Police Service to be fair, transparent and objective in their duties.
Mr Boadu and Mr Dan Botwe, Member of the NPP Campaign team are in the Northern Region to train and educate parliamentary members of the party and its executives on regulations of this year's election.
He said the NPP has better ideas than its opponents stressing that it was in the lead in winning this year's crucial general elections saying 'our party has been crisscrossing the country preparing our members and educating them on the new constitutional instrument (CI 94).
Mr Boadu called on the EC to be very diligent in their responsibilities saying the situation where electoral materials were sent late to the strongholds of the NPP would not be acceptable.
'NPP will not accept faulty biometric materials in its strongholds', he said explaining that it was not fully satisfied with some activities the EC had undertaken towards the December polls.
Mr Daniel Bugre Naabu, Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, appealed to the party hierarchy to consider the large landmarks of the region and provide it with means of transport to ensure efficient campaigning.
He said though the party had little resources going into this year's elections, it still believed that the battle was the Lord's adding, 'we still need support from all those who love the party .any pesewa in this cause is welcome'.
Mr Naabu urged supporters of the party to be very vigilant especially on the Election Day to prevent any act of manipulation of the ballot.
GNA
Bolgatanga (U/E) Nov. 18, GNA - Dr Edward Nasigiri Mahama, Presidential candidate of the People's National Convention (PNC), has paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga Traditional Area, Naba Alafia Abilba IV.
Addressing the traditional council, Dr Mahama said he was in the region to launch his party's manifesto and called on the people of the area to rally round the PNC to win power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said the people of Bolgatanga showed courage and stood up for the late President Dr Hilla Limann in the third Republic in the face of military intervention, hence his choice for Bolgatanga for his manifesto launch.
Dr Mahama said when the Electoral Commission (EC) 'supposedly' disqualified him, it was a blow to him and the party.
'The disqualification was a blow to my party and me, whilst I was injured personally, Ghana as a nation benefited because we had the opportunity to test two of the institutions of Ghana; the EC and the Judiciary. So far as the nation is benefitting from this wrongful disqualification,' he said.
Dr Mahama said, 'God in His wisdom in 1996 selected three men on whom he would balance the cooking pot of Ghana. Those three men were ex-Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and me'.
He said the two have had their share and it was his time to win the forthcoming December 7 elections.
He said he is the sixth person on the presidential ballot adding that the number six in creation was the day of completion, and God rested on the seventh day.
Ghana, he said, gained her independence on March 6 and so 'I am getting the number six to bring economic independence to the people of Ghana to rest and to be happy.'
The PNC leader in the company of his running mate, Mr Emmanuel Anyidoho and some party executives, presented copies of the party's manifesto to the traditional council.
Naba Alafia Abilba IV, Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga Traditional Area, expressed gratitude to Dr Mahama for the call and thanked him for making Bolgatanga his choice.
Naba Abilba IV used the opportunity to implore all political parties to exercise decorum in their campaigns and eschew violence in all their activities to ensure that the elections were conducted peacefully.
GNA
By Samira Larbie/William Fiabu, GNA
Accra, Nov.18, GNA - Air Vice Marshal MM-T Nagai, the Chief of Air Staff, has admonished the youth to abstain from any act of violence before, during and after the December 7 general election.
'Use the opportunity you have to promote and propagate the message for peace and remain true ambassadors of peace to make Ghana a better place to live in.'
Air Vice Marshal Nagai said this at the recommissioning of the renovated Junior Rank's Mess Base in Accra.
The renovated edifice for the junior officers is to enable them have a comfortable relaxation after the day's work
The edifice, which is also a social recreational centre, has been expanded and can now boast of an anteroom with an adjoining stocked bar, rooms for personnel on transit, storerooms, summer huts, a water sachet producing plant and a wide all-purpose area to host events.
The event was also used to outdoor the new musical instruments for the Silver Wings Dance Band of the Base to boost their performance.
The new set of musical instruments would as well enhance the performance of the Band during the festive season.
Air Vice Marshal noted that the refurbishment would create a conducive environment to imbibe into the troops military traditions to help shape their etiquettes in all phases of their lives.
Air Commodore Abdul Rahim Abbas (Rtd), said the Junior Ranks Mess called for proper maintenance.
He advised the personnel to: 'Promptly repair minor damages to allow it serve its purpose.'
Group Captain Fredrick Asare Kwesi Bekoe, the Base Commander, expressed gratitude to Air Commodore for his support to the Base in the provision of facilities as well as the renovation of dilapidated facilities.
The Base has witnessed the renovation and construction of Air [email protected] airmen accommodation block, a canteen for the students, an ultra-modern kitchen and dining facility to replace the dilapidated cookhouse and the construction of barracks drainage to solve the long existing sewage problem.
He urged them to see the mess and the new instruments as their personal property and take good care of them.
He advised that both the Mess and the instruments should be well managed to generate enough funds to help the Base's activities.
GNA
By Julius K. Satsi, GNA
Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - Mr Joshua Mensah, the team leader for Foundation for Financial Inclusion (FFI), says the time has come for vocational schools to take their positions by venturing into entrepreneurship.
Mr Mensah said it would be beneficial for the youth, especially those in the vocational schools, to think outside the box to create more employment to help close the graduate unemployment gap.
He was speaking at the sixth edition of the Entrepreneurship Development Workshop organised by the FFI in Accra on Thursday.
The workshop dubbed: 'Time with the Entrepreneur,' has students from the New Century Career Institute, National Community Development Vocation Institute, South Labone Girls Vocation and Kanda Career Training Institute as well as some workers as participants.
Mr Mensah said the skills of an entrepreneur were highly needed for the success of any business venture.
He asked the participants not to look down on themselves but rather believe in their endowed potentials and exploit them to transform lives.
Mr Mensah explained that entrepreneurs were people who solved problems and 'there are more problems in Ghana that needs people who can solve them to make wealth'.
'Your ability to identify a need and provide solution will make you rich or poor,' he added.
Mr Paul Appiah-Konadu, a training coordinator with the FFI said, for a person to start a business 'financial discipline is highly required.'
He said being an entrepreneur came with a number of challenges as well as benefits such as financial independence, reduction of unemployment and enjoyment of high societal status among others.
Mr Wisdom Akuffo, Head of National Dress Makers Association, Tesano branch and the Chairman of the board of FFI told participants to 'know that your business is your future', and that there is no need to give up on a set goal during troubling moments.
In an interaction with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Oliver Ampofo, a level 400 student of the New Century Career Institute said: 'I have highly benefited from this programme and set to implement the knowledge acquired.'
Ms Esther Konu, a student of National Community Development Vocation Institute told the GNA that she had learnt that 'as an entrepreneur, I need to focus in my goal'.
Foundation for Financial Inclusion is a group seeking to help students and people in the informal sector to refine their ideas, start or grow their businesses and locate the resources needed to succeed.
GNA
By PTI: Kohima, Nov 17 (PTI) Governor of Nagaland P B Acharya today said the Naga people need to realise that the worst enemy for development are insurgency and corruption.
"Corruption has diluted the Naga culture and it is high time to change our mindset, for to bring about a change in the Naga society, only Nagas can do it," Acharya said at a civic reception given to him at the Town Hall in Mokokchung district.
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Talking about the Naga political issue, the Governor said at present the Nagas were going through a crucial hour where peace was the pre-requisite for any solution.
Acharya said the political dialogue between the Centre and NSCN (IM) was going in the right direction.
The Governor while reiterating on the development issues in the state, said central funds should be well monitored so that the beneficiaries get their benefits.
Lamenting on the poor infrastructure in the state, he said in most of the district hospitals there were less patients as compared to the capacity and those who have to move to other hospitals experience immense hardships due to pathetic road connectivity.
The Governor said the basic foundation for a society is education, as education empowers the society.
The Governor further emphasising on the need to explore the natural resources and set up industries to solve the unemployment problem in the state. PTI NBS DKB
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Nigerians have condemned the country's military over the demise of another top soldier who was killed by Boko Haram terrorists in Bita on their way to Yola in Adamawa state.
The soldier, identified as Lieutenant Colonel BU Umar, had about three weeks ago, taken over the 114 battalion which he was leading until he met his end.
The Army has already denied knowledge of the occurrence through its spokesperson Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, who said he was unaware of Lt Col Umars death.
But Nigerians are livid as the demise of the young Colonel is coming only weeks after the exit of Abu Ali, another top army commander who was killed in an ambush by the terrorists.
President Buhari has been blamed for paying ransom to Boko Haram terrorists to secure the release of Chibok girls.
Some Nigerians are of the opinion that the Nigerian army are the ones killing their soldiers, while some believe that the lives of the soldiers are not as valuable to the Nigerian government following the reports that the Islamist sect bought more sophisticated weapons with money they got from Chibok girls ransom.
Idris Yusuf Idris, one of those who commented on the story after it was published on the social media, wrote: "Hhhhhhmmmm pls naij news,point of correction,don't say boko haram killed another top army commander,instead,just say,army kill another commander,i don't know wot kind of dirty politics is being played in nigeria."
Political science graduate, Philip Chinedu Onwuegbule, was also livid when he saw the report, claimed that it is only in Nigeria that politics is being played with human lives as he cited the US elections where there was no report of a life being lost even when the person whom many expected to win, lost the polls.
"Is only in Nigeria I discover that they can play politics with human life, look at the election in USA no single life was lost. I thought buhari said he will end bokoharam yet boko is killing them. Thank God Biafra is here, we are different from them," he wrote.
Junior Chukwuka believes that Nigeria is not worth dying for as he expressed his sympathy for the soldiers who were recently killed by the insurgents.
Abuja-based Alfred Joshua said: "It is all because buhari gave them $150m in exchange for 29 fake chibok girls that they, boko haram, were able to purchase sophisticated weapons. Now they giving the output of buhari's input. Let them KILL more... na their father dey throne" while Iyke Henry who lives in Ghana blasted: "A reasonable president doesn't negotiate with terrorists but this old man swap #3.8 billion naira and 4 boko haram bomb makers in prison with 21 girls so what do you expect, he has reduce no of soldiers fighting boko haram sending them to Niger Delta, buhari doesn't have sense of reason."
Self employed Oyeleke Oyeniyi Idris affirmed that the federal government has been telling lies to Nigeria about her many victories against the insurgents.
Some soldiers clashed with the insurgents in the north-eastern part of the country
He wrote: "Wot Is D Essence Of D Nuisance Noise Dat Govt Is Making Dat They Ar Winning War Against Boko Haram While D Terrorist Ar Killing Nigeria Army One By One. Dis Govt Is Full Of Lies Like Lie Muhammed."
Alfa Abdullahi, a senior registrar at the Aminu Kano teaching hospital, Kano state, was quite different with his comment as he believes that the Nigerian army should look inward and change tactics so as to be able to win the war against the die-hard terror group.
According to him: "This is a very big set back on this war. There is need to look inward and change tactics."
Recently, Ibrahim Usman, one of the wounded Nigerian soldiers during the battle against Boko Haram terrorists, urged Nigerians to treat them the same way they are treating Chibok girls.
Usman was admitted to military hospital, Maimalari Cantonment, about three weeks ago after he was badly wounded in fight against Boko Haram terrorists.
The man said his both legs were broken after a vehicle conveying him and 9 fellow soldiers to Monguno in Borno north hit a mine planted by the terrorists.
He said: We need Nigerians to take care of us. Like this my injury, broken legs, they suppose to take me to a specialist hospital or abroad for a good treatment."
Source: Legit.ng
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan received a heros welcome when he visited Sokoto state to pay a condolence visit to the family of Ibrahim Dasuki.
The former president visited the family of the late Sultan on Thursday, November 17.
The former Sultan who is also the father to former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, died on Monday, November 14, evening at the National Hospital in Abuja.
Jonathan had earlier sent a condolence message and followed it up with a visit.
In what might be considered an unexpected reception, Sokoto youths carried placards hailing Jonathan and asking him to come back as president.
READ ALSO: 12 surprising facts about Ibrahim Dasuki
Although they were kept at bay by security details, the youths kept on chanting songs in honour of the former president.
See photos of the former president and how he was received by Sokoto youths below:
Source: Legit.ng
By PTI: Tirunelveli (TN), Nov 18 (PTI) Zoho today announced launch of Zoho Desk, the industrys maiden context-aware helpdesk software and first such product developed in rural India by a team in Tenkasi of southern Tamil Nadu.
Zoho Desk uses customer data from past interactions and from other Zoho products like Zoho CRM to organise tickets and intelligently present information to agents so that they can better understand a customers problem and resolve it effectively, a top company official said. "Zoho has challenged the conventional wisdom... We built the first software product from India when IT services were the rage and established them in the global market. We are now showcasing something that has never been done before: the first software product created in rural India, world-class in its refinement, competing with the best," said Zoho Corp Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Vembu. What started out five years ago as a small team of three engineers has developed into a team of over 150 people in rural surroundings near Tenkasi, added Vembu. "In an industry where companies have come to believe that the only location that matters in the cloud is a few square miles of downtown San Francisco, we are proving that a determined and sincere group of people can build path-breaking products anywhere," Vembu said. "We believe that rural talent should not have to leave home to find opportunity. Our broken urbanisation model creates severely overcrowded and polluted mega-cities and denudes rural areas of talent. That is why what Zoha Tenkasi is doing matters." Zoho Desk, the sixth product launched by the company this year, helps companies deliver the right solution at the right time. Its clean user interface packs innovations like Work Modes that helps agents send context-aware response, the Headquarters dashboard enabling visibility managers to make better decisions and the Team Feed to help the entire company participate in customer service. Vembu said Zoho Desk is available immediately and free up to 10 users. The company said Zoho was the only cloud platform that runs entire business and offers a comprehensive suite of business applications, specifically suited for small and medium businesses. It has 4,000 people working across six global locations to serve more than 20 million users across the world. Zoho is headquartered in Pleasanton, CA, with international headquarters in Chennai and has offices in Austin, London, Yokohama and Beijing. PTI COR VS ARD
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Three suicide bombers suspected to be Boko Haram members have attempted to hit the Federal High Court in Jidari Polo area of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital on November 18, Friday.
Police operatives on the scene of the attack on November 18, Friday.
According to Sahara Reporters, the bombers could not do much harm as Nigerian police contingent stationed in a Catholic church nearby killed the attackers made up of a male and two females before they could impose damage to anybody.
The sources noted that one of the bombers, a female took off her suicide vest and ran towards the security operatives with her hands raised and was caught alive.
The attacker then set off her bomb which killed her male partner.
Police officers in the state told journalists that only the suicide bombers died in the attack.
READ ALSO: Heavy gun battle between army and Boko Haram in Maiduguri
The female bomber on the team who surrendered has been arrested and taken into custody by the Nigerian army.
Damian Chukwu, the commissioner of police, has confirmed to newsmen in Maiduguri that six people have been declared dead following the incident.
He said: "Side from the explosion near a mobile Police location in Jiddari, we had two other suicide bombings along Maiduguri-Gamboru road.
In the first case, a suspected male suicide bomber detonated his explosives after he was stopped at the entrance of the Muna Garage, killing himself instantly, Chukwu said.
He said that another suspected male suicide bomber detonated his explosives on the same road a few meters away, killing himself and two local vigilantes called Civilian JTF.
In all, we recorded six deaths, comprising four suspected bombers and two vigilantes.
This is the sixth or seventh suspected suicide attack in the last couple of days. The Police and other security agents are working hard to stop the ugly trend.
READ ALSO: Boko Haram ambushes Nigerian army
Before the Nigerian troops recapture Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state was epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency,
Boko Haram has frequently used female and child suicide bombers to mount their attacks, particularly in the past year, as a Nigerian and regional military crackdown has stripped the group of the territory it once held.
Source: Legit.ng
Atlantic Shrimpers Limited (ASL), a leader in the Seafood segment in Sub-Saharan Africa, and number one in the Nigerian Fishery sub-sector, has unveiled its latest state-of-the-art shrimp farm located in a community in Badagry, Lagos state.
The facility that was commissioned on Wednesday, November 16 also holds the record of being the largest shrimp farm in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 160 hectares Shrimp Farm is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and will help to boost Nigerias production capacity in the seafood market. The Shrimp Farm will hatch, nurture and process shrimps on the Farm that will serve both Nigeria and the export market. The latest technological procedures and newly installed ultramodern equipment will ensure fresh top quality shrimps are readily available locally. This will contribute to Nigerias food security, improve Nigerias trade balance in international markets and create employment opportunities for thousands of Nigerians.
Arial View of the 160 hectares Atlantic Shrimp Farm
Conducting the commissioning exercise, His Excellency the Governor of Lagos Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin Suarau, was pleased to note that the clarion call for investments in the agriculture sector has been answered by Atlantic Shrimpers Limited.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Suara Isiaka Oluwatoyin Commissioning the Atlantic Shrimp farm, in Badagry, Lagos.
Suarau in his speech said: The Nigerian Government is keen to support local investments in agriculture. We must start looking inward and encourage development in areas where Nigeria has a competitive advantage. ASL has led the way by building this impressive facility. This farm will employ many Nigerians and will help the Nigerian economy generate foreign exchange when the products are exported. It will also go a long way to address food security in Nigeria.
The Commissioner further thanked ASL for siting the facility in Lagos and also taking the investment to Badagry as this will help in boosting the economic activities of the local community.
As the Commissioner for Agriculture in Lagos State I am happy when people bring such investments to the Centre of Excellence, but I am even happier when such investment is not just what people want but what they actually need. ASL has addressed several needs in Nigeria through this state of the art facility and Lagos State is proud to play host to it. Suarau said.
L-R: Managing Director, Atlantic Shrimpers Limited, Kamlesh Kabra; Officer, Notary Public, Bankole Animashaun; Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo and The Commissioner for Agriculture, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Suara Isiaka Oluwatoyin during the inauguration of Atlantic Shrimp farm, in Badagry, Lagos.
ASL has been active in shrimp trawling since the 1990s when they commenced with just 15 trawlers. Since then they have continuously invested in the Nigerian economy, growing the fleet to over 70 trawlers and investing in their own Dry Dock to facilitate in-house maintenance of the fleet. ASL also developed a value added processing factory, in-house lab, workshops and modern cold storage facilities.
On his part the Managing Director, Atlantic Shrimpers Limited, Kamlesh Kabra said: This new Shrimp Farm is proof of the companys continued dedication to investing in Nigeria. We are proud of the fact that we are developing products in which Nigeria has a competitive advantage, all of which are locally sourced and where Nigerians do the value addition in Nigeria. The companys tropical shrimps are distributed worldwide to over 20 countries, including all the European countries and the USA, bringing much-needed foreign exchange into the Nigerian economy. This Farm will substantially increase our export volumes and foreign exchange generation.
Atlantic Shrimpers Limited is the producer and exporter of top quality Prim7Stars brand of frozen seafood products from Nigeria. Atlantic Shrimpers Limited also produces and supplies frozen shrimp, fish and value added products to the Nigerian market through their own The Fish Shop retail outlets that ensures the products gets to the consumer at the best preserved quality.
The company has several outlets of The Fish Shop" located strategically across Lagos and Abuja, with more outlets being planned to ensure consumers are guaranteed fresh frozen and nutritious products.
Commending this massive investment, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo in his remark said that the opening of the largest shrimp farm in sub-Saharan Africa by Atlantic shrimpers could not have come at a better time than this in view of the global fall in oil price, and even as the Shrimp Farm initiative falls under the One-State-One-Product (OSOP) program, in which Lagos as a state is focusing on fisheries.
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has the statutory role to champion the campaign of diversifying the nations non-oil export, and Atlantic Shrimpers Limited which is the number one company in the Fishery sub-sector, has also ranked amongst the top twenty non-oil exporting companies in Nigeria for the past six years. We are therefore proud to be associated with Atlantic Shrimpers limited in view of its commitment to non-oil export said Awolowo.
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Source: Legit.ng
A source close to the Babangida family has revealed that Rahama Ndimi, the estranged wife of Mohammed Babangida lied in her petition to top Nigerians over a planned abduction.
Ndimi has written a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto alleging that her former husband who is the son of the former head of state was going to kidnap her children while also claiming threat to her life.
A source close to the Babagida family who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the case was still in court and that Rahama was only trying to fool the people she was writing to.
READ ALSO: Rahama Indimi confirms split from Mohammed Babangida
The source said the estranged wife of Babangida was insincere in her allegation as she actually prevented the children from returning to school.
Read the statement below:
After failing in her bid to force the court to do her bidding, Rahama Ndimi is not done yet. She has through her lawyer petitioned the President Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto, the Chief Justice of the Federation as well as the Inspector General of Police alleging harassment by Mohammed son to former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida. This is in spite of the fact that she has also decided not to obey a simple court order concerning her children's custody.
If the truth be told, Rahama is all out to drag her former husband and his family's name in the mud. She had through various text messages threatened to do this ever before the issue of. Custody of the kids went to court and this is exactly what she is doing now. To buttress this point, we can easily refer to the way in which she shouts that assassins and killer policemen are after her each time the court bailiff comes around to execute the court order or even when relations whom she knows visit to discuss issues relating to the kids.
The kids have been with their father even since she moved out of the family home in Minna about four years ago. She moved out on her own volition and left her kids. Despite all these, Mohammed still ensured that the family came together during vacation through holiday trips abroad. After the last one, she refused to allow the kids come back to Minna. Mohammed had allowed the kids to wait with her after the trip. She had to be cajoled into coming to Minna before the kids were returned to school.
At that point, efforts were made to ensure that she was placated with gifts and money. Unknown to Mohammed, she only took a break. When during the long vacation, the kids went to her again for another holiday, she refused to release them for school, for the second time.
Even when the Sharia Court that is presently hearing the custody suit decided that the children should be returned to their father so that the status quo be maintained, she refused it. She appealed against the decision of the Sharia Court and lost. Yet, she has refused to obey the Court order. Rather, she decided to put the kids in another school in Abuja. Meanwhile, each time court bailiff and policemen attempted to enforce the court order, she would take to Instagram claiming that her rights are being trampled upon.
READ ALSO: Mohammed Banbangida drags ex-wife to Sharia court
The latest effort, which involved a petition being sent to President Buhari and other top Nigerians is another step aimed at scandalising Mohammed and his family. What would a reasonable woman be looking for sending petitions to public figures when she has a case in court over the same issue?
Obviously, after she had failed to secure what she want through the court and social media, she has decided to try public figures hoping they will come to her rescue in a bid to perpetuate illegality. We also reliably gathered that her father had never at any point supported her moves as he had ab initio told her to take the kids back to their father.
READ ALSO: Hamisa Mobeto responds to Zari Hassan's rant on snapchat
Source: Legit.ng
Scientific cooperation to address concerns about the environment helped to foster detente between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, NYUs Rachel Rothschild concludes in a newly published paper. Her research, which appears in the journal Technology and Culture, underscores the role scientific cooperation can play in easing tense relations between governments.
Scientific partnerships, spearheaded by Norway, with Eastern Europes Communist bloc in the 1970s served as a foundation for international cooperation on environmental pollution despite ongoing Cold War frictions, says Rothschild, an assistant professor at NYUs Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Her analysis centers on the European-wide monitoring programme (EMEP), which was designed to investigate the pollutants causing acid rain and began operations under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in 1977.
In her work, Rothschild finds that the impetus for cooperating across the Iron Curtain on air pollution monitoring came not from Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, as other historians have argued, but from a group of scientists and environmental officials in Norway working on acid rain in the early-to-mid-1970s.
Despite security concerns over disclosing power plant locations and resistance on placing pollution monitoring stations within the Soviet Union, the Scandinavian scientists were eventually able to secure the commitment of the Communist bloc to a European-wide environmental research programa breakthrough that resulted in limited technological cooperation.
This development, Rothschild observes, helped foster subsequent political relationships, which took hold, in part, at the United Nations.
Norway capitalized on the openings in the Iron Curtain provided by technological cooperation with the Eastern Bloc to begin earning their support for UN negotiations on acid rain, she writes. Norway was then able to generate enough political capital to bring Western polluters to the negotiating table in the late 1970s, culminating in the 1979 UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.
Rothschild notes that the creation of the EMEP is evidence of how addressing global environmental concerns can pave the way for easing geopolitical conflicts.
EMEPs formation illuminates the importance of developing technological networks and international research projects on acid rain in furthering both detente among European countries as well as international research and policies for environmental protection, she concludes.
Brooklyn Brewery expands upstate, Pennsylvanians case out six-packs, Canadian retirees lose out on free beer and scientists Frankenstein a 220-year-old beer. Read on for this and more craft beer news.
Brooklyn Brewery has outgrown its borough. The esteemed Big Apple brewery will construct an $80 million brewery and warehouse in upstate New Yorks Orange County. Formative plans anticipate a 250,000 square foot facility. The brewery had been exploring sites on Staten Island and elsewhere in metro New York, but settled on the Orange County location as it offered the best option, to develop a facility that can handle our volume growth for decades to come, that gives us the flexibility and efficiency to produce the variety of craft beer styles that our global craft beer fans demand, and to be able to deliver those efficiently to all of our domestic and global markets, according to a blog post by Brooklyn Co-owner and CEO, Eric Ottaway. The missive went on to assure fans that they were still brewing in Brooklyn and efforts to build a new brewery in the Brooklyn Navy Yard were moving forward.
While quirks in Pennsylvanias blue laws allowed tipplers to buy six-packs to go at bars and convenience stores, they had to purchase by the case at any of the states 1,000+ beer distributors. That will all change in less than 60 days when new legislation passed by Governor Tom Wolf goes into effect. The legislation paves the way for patrons to purchase beer in any quantity at distributors. It will also allow the sale of alcohol at bars beginning at 9 a.m. even if the establishment does not serve food, and lift the ban on beer-of-the-month clubs that deliver directly to private residences.
For workers at Labatt, life after 60 just got a whole lot dryer. The Canadian brewery recently announced that it would do away with an employee perk that offered retirees free beer for life. Labattowned by AB In-Bevsays the cost of providing beer to retirees was prohibitive and the program would be phased out completely starting January 1, 2019. The reason for the change relates to the rising overall cost of maintaining a full benefits package, including health care coverage for retirees, said Labatt vice-president Lindsay King in a letter to employees published by CBC News. The brewery opened shop in Edmonton in 1962 and as part of the local union contract employees could look forward to kicking back with the equivalent of one case of Labatt a week for life once they punched their last time card. Not since Bob & Doug Mackenzie ran out of beer money have there been such disappointed Canadian beer drinkers.
In 1797 the Sydney Cove wrecked on Preservation Island off Tasmania en route to Port Jackson from Calcutta. 220 years later, yeast microbes from a recovered bottle of beer are being used to recreate the 18th century beer, dubbed Preservation Ale. The microbes are similar to those associated with Trappist ales and tasters have said the brew has a sweet, cider-like flavor. A scientist at the Queen Victoria Museumwhere an unopened bottle residesbelieves the beer was a high quality ale most likely destined for military officers in Port Jackson. The wreck also contained wine and various spirits along with lower quality beer for mass consumption. It is hoped that proceeds from the beer will help secure funding for the museum to maintain its collection of Sydney Cove artifacts.
Winners of the 13th annual European Beer Star competition were announced last week and American breweries received their fair share of decoration. The competition featured 2,103 beersa 7% increase from 2015from 44 countries in 57 different categories ranging from sourbier to ultra strong beer. 22 countries received medals including 27 American breweries. Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits led the pack with four total medals including three golds (Double IPA, Black Marlin and Barometer Drop). Firestone Walker Brewing Co. and Pelican Brewing Co. received three medals while Deschutes Brewery, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Reubens Brews and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. picked up two a piece.
Researchers in Arctic Russia are anticipating another mass starvation among Arctic reindeer this winter, making it the third such famine in the last ten years. Thanks, climate change.
Since 2006, 80,000 reindeer20,000 in 2006 and another 61,000 in 2013have starved to death due to unusual weather patterns caused by global warming, and, judging by weather patterns from this fall, scientists at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland are projecting another mass starvation this winter.
Arctic sea ice retreats and unseasonally warm temperatures topple the region with heavy rains. This rain then freezes over the old snow, creating a thick layer of ice, often up to several tens of centimeters thick, completely cutting off the reindeers food supply of lichen and other vegetation.
This September saw the second-lowest level of sea ice over on record in the region, and scientists fear another famine is on its way.
If we see such events again this year, it could mean that theyre becoming more frequent, says Bruce Forbes, a researcher at the the University of Lapland. Now is the risk window, and if it happens again, it will be a major problem for traditional reindeer herders still suffering from losses in 2013, Forbes told the New Scientist.
And if traditional reindeer herders continue suffering, whos gonna pull Santas sleigh? Whos gonna appear alongside Tim Allen in the 30th installment of The Santa Clause? A moose sure as hell wont do.
Tom is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and hes currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.
This column, Escape Artist, is a series about folks who have escaped. More importantly, this biweekly column is for those thinking about trading in their 9-to-5, leg-shackled-to-the-desk existences to forge their own way. The brave outliers featured in this collection of interviews are the digital nomads, online entrepreneurs and lifestyle trendsetters who decided it was time to say to hell with the humdrum and grab life by the roots.
Travel bloggers Howard Blount and Jerry Woods run Backroad Planet, a road trip and fly-drive travel site that focuses on scenic routes, offbeat sites and roadside attractions. Run by two men from Central Florida, the blog features destination guides to plan trips, as well as inside tips to travel their home state.
Paste Travel The escape the 9-to-5 mentality seems to be popular now. What are your impressions?
Howard Blount Its gaining popularity from increased exposure to the work of travel bloggers and their interactions on social media. Before I retired last year, I was always planning my next getaway. As a public school teacher, due to summer vacations and school holidays, I had more opportunities to travel than the average American worker. But it was never enough, and I was rapidly tiring of the educational deforms that tied my hands as a teacher at every turn. The stress was killing me, and I knew my days were numbered. So, I bit the bullet and retired! But lets be perfectly clear. Jerry and I will never become digital nomads. As much as we love to travel, we still need a place to call home.
Paste Travel What was the aha moment that sparked travel and the Backroad Planet site for you guys?
Howard: Backroad Planet came about as a plan to supplement my pension after retirement. I had published several educational books with major houses in the 1990s, so it only made sense to merge my two loves of travel and writing. Even though the anticipated date was still two years away, we launched the web site in September 2013.
Paste Travel Why did you decide to focus on the backroads and scenic routes?
Jerry: Soon after we met, we started taking day trips to local destinations I had discovered while riding my Harley around Central Florida. Howard was a bit disenchanted with Florida after spending time at his property in North Georgia. I wanted to remind him that the real Florida had some beautiful scenic drives and cool off-the-beaten-path destinations. Some of our earliest drives were to Solomons Castle in Ona, the ghost town of Brewster, and Cherry Pockets fish camp in Lake Wales.
Paste Travel Why is it important to you guys to focus on road trips in particular?
Howard: We enjoy air and rail travel, and we really love small ship cruises. But there is nothing better than packing a cooler, throwing it in the back of the Mountaineer, and hitting the road. We feature road travel at Backroad Planet because that is our favorite mode of travel, hands down. On a road trip you can take the roads-less-traveled, stop whenever you like, and you never know what adventures await around the bend.
Paste Travel The dream job and travel blogging mentality is also becoming more popular. Does the market seem saturated?
Howard: The travel blogging market is definitely saturated, but there is always room for people who love to travel and write, especially within specialized niches. We have colleagues who specialize in certain countries, specific styles of travel, and communities such as LGBT, solo travelers, or Boomers.
Paste Travel Whats one tip you have for readers who want to live a life like yours?
Howard: Many people think travel blogging is a way to score free trips. Sponsored travel opportunities are never free. They are always in exchange for articles, social media promotion, and other deliverables to our targeted audiences. I work longer hours now than I did when I was a classroom teacher. But Im not complaining. I love what I do. If you enjoy travel, have excellent writing skills, and are willing to invest time in the many diverse aspects of travel blogging, go for it.
Paste Travel What are you most excited to focus on in 2017?
Howard: One thing I love about being a full-time travel blogger is the anticipation of the next day. You never know what opportunities will present themselves by way of your inbox, social media, or an unexpected phone call. In September, for example, I booked an impact cruise to the Dominican Republic. Impact cruising is a new category of tourism, where passengers do onboard training during days at sea in preparation to work with social and environmental organizations at the destination. I believe this is a great way to invest in our planet, and I look forward to doing more of it.
Carolyn Crist is a freelance journalist based in Georgia. She writes about travel, health and business for regional and national publications.
Food isnt without its trends, and Asian cuisine appears to be dominating the conversation. We saw it last year with Filipino food, and this year Singaporean food has received serious hype. It also helps when you have iconic organizations backing you up. Last Friday (November 11), the James Beard Foundation (JBF) held its annual Fall Gala and Fundraiser with the nights theme called Singapores Culinary Crossroads, raising almost $250,000 for programming and scholarships. A spotlight from the countrys premier culinary organization is a big deal, and its another milestone win for Singapore.
Singapore has been very much in the news this year with President Obama welcoming Prime Minister Lee [Hsien Loong] in the White House for a State Dinner, said JBF President Susan Ungaro, also noting when Michelin Guide awarded stars to Singapores local food venues over the summer. The time was right for us to do an East and West combination dinner, and its wonderful when we can celebrate countries that are little a bit more unexplored by people who really love food.
Inside the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Plaza, Singaporean and American chefs worked together to elevate their respective culinary heritage. We figured we wanted a few U.S.-based chefs cooking with Singapores best chefs and thats how we did it, explained Ungaro, who had helped from Singapore Tourism Board in selecting their countrys finest chefs. Those chefs are: LG Han of Restaurant Labyrinth, Yew Eng Tong of Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora and Cheryl Koh of Tarte by Cheryl Koh and two Michelin-starred Les Amis. The US-based host chefs were Rainbow Rooms very own Robert Aikens and Pastry Chef Kyung Kim as well as JBF Award Winner chef Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill and chef, restaurateur and television personality Cat Cora.
As the host pastry chef, Kim assisted Koh and her team in creating a savory Dessert Lounge that featured Kohs Singapore Sling Chocolate Egg Shooters and Kims Matcha Cakes with Yuzu Curd. Koh, who was named one of Asias Best Pastry Chefs this year, uses tropical fruits in her tartes to bring out the local flavors. I havent been here long enough to see the Singaporean food scene here, said Koh. But then I think this gala dinner would be a nice way to highlight what we have to offer in Singapore and taste the cuisine and the different spices and tropical fruits and flavors that we have.
And the nights main menu was just as spectacular. The four-course dinner featured a main dish each from Cora, Tong, Han and Portale (Aikens was in charge of creating the tasting menu during the VIP reception prior to the dinner). Cora prepared the Langoustine-Daikon Ravioli with Langoustine Emulsion as the first course; Tong did the second course with Compressed Rougie Duck Foie Gras with Sauternes Jelly; meanwhile, Miso Blue Lobster with Burnt Chile Cream and Black Pepper Tuile was the third course by Han; and lastly Singaporean Braised Beef Short Rib with Coconut Jasmine Rice was made by Portalle as the final course.
Ungaro called Singapore a food lovers paradise citing influences from Malaysia, China, India and more, but it is also the kind of food in which you cant follow its recipe so easily. Just ask Han. The banker-turned-chef explained that one has to grow up eating and tasting Singaporean food to know not only the recipes but the flavors. In his Restaurant Labyrinth, Han said that he is representing Singaporean food through his own eyes while showcasing innovative interpretations of Singaporean cuisines. He calls his approach Neo-Singapore cuisine which represents post-modern cuisine but also respecting the food of his country. Its about re-exploring and researching the traditions and at the same time pushing the envelope, Han further explained. He also hopes that Singaporean cuisine can follow suit in fame with other Asian cuisines like Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai or Indian. It is a bit of a journey, he added. Were not just a restaurant. Were here to entertain people and challenge people as well.
Last month, I asked Are We Having an International Singaporean Food Moment? and I got my answer that night at the Gala Dinner. But the great thing about certain food or an entire cuisine ascending to the food world is that it isnt just about what makes it so enticing; its also about, as Han puts it, the journey. Who knows if Singaporean cuisine can eventually be up there with the other Asian cuisines, but right now, Singaporean food is getting talked about as well as garnering recognition abroad and domestically. On the same name as the gala, Singaporean-born chef Simpson Wongs Chomp Chomp was included in Michelins 2017 list of New York restaurants that earned the Bib Gourmand distinction. And maybe thats where the journey is at this moment for Singaporean food.
Kristina Bustos is a Midwestern-bred writer who likes her food as much as her pop culture. She now calls New York City home. You can find her other work on The Riveter, Digital Spy and Essence. Holla at your girl at @krisbustos.
Lagunitas was originally founded in 1993 on the kitchen stove of its founder, Tony Magee. Tony was quickly evicted from his wifes kitchen and forced to relocate to a building down the road in Forest Knolls, California. However, since Lagunitas was already on all his licensing paperwork, and because its fun to say, Magee decided to keep the name.
Lagunitas was in Forest Knolls for eight months before a septic issue forced relocation again, and Magee found a spot in Petaluma where the brewery has remained ever since.
Today, Lagunitas is a massive operation, where much of its beer is available year round around the country. While the brewery is definitely best known for its iconic IPA, it also makes a number of other equally tasty brews that are worthy of a spot in your fridge.
We recently took a tour of Lagunitas Petaluma facilitysomething we definitely recommend you do as well if youre ever in the area. Take a look at the gallery for a taste of what we saw.
1 of 17 Lagunitas' Petaluma facility is massive.
2 of 17 The original bar at Laguintas is now its employee break room.
3 of 17 This beauty is Lagunitas' original bottling line. It's now on display in the employee break room.
4 of 17 This was the draft list the day we visited
5 of 17 Everyone who does the tour at Lagunitas also gets to try some of its brews. While you can get Lagunitas all over the country, there are often one-off beers at its Petaluma facility you won't be able to find anywhere else.
6 of 17 The Lagunitas gift shop even has something for the smallest fans.
7 of 17 Take your growler game up a notch with one of these beauties.
8 of 17 Who says books have to be boring?
9 of 17
10 of 17 As you might imagine by the dog on the label, Lagunitas is very dog friendly.
Photo by Brian Colson CC BY-NC-ND
Spain has a lot to offer the intrepid culinary explorer, and nowhere more so than in the coastal city of San Sebastian, in the countrys northern Basque Country. The coastal city is home to three of Spains five Michelin-star restaurants and also the birthplace of its thriving txokos traditiontxokos being the exclusive experimental gastronomy societies that have been meeting to cook and dine together since the 19th century.
Easily the best way for a visitor to get a taste for the citys love affair with food is by partaking in its lively and unique pintxos tradition.
As the sun begins to set in San Sebastian, locals and visitors emerge to explore the streets, stopping into 50-plus bars and eateries that offer a diverse array of small dishes, which are meant to be enjoyed standing up. Think tapas, in the perambulatory mode of a pub crawl, crossed with window shopping. Local cooks clearly relish the task of making a strong impression on your palate with their miniature concoctions, and theres a blissful community spirit to the tradition, with plenty of well-tanned San Sebastian natives out and about.
Put on sensible walking shoes for the ideal evening of pintxos crawling at these five essential San Sebastian destinations.
With a terrace space overlooking the River Urumea, Kata 4 is a perfect post-siesta spot to rouse the taste buds and enjoy the fresh coastal air. Its also one of the best spots around for delicious seafood and vegetarian pintxos. The mussels and head-on shrimp are divine, but for something truly exotic, seek out the oak-smoked percebesthat is, Galician goose barnacles. The popular Spanish delicacy doesnt look exceptionally edible until you coax off its leathery sleeve, revealing a delicious fleshy finger underneath. Fortunately, the gracious servers at Kata 4 will be only too happy to advise on proper barnacle-handling technique.
On the stroll from Kata 4, you might stop at the Plaza de la Constitucion, a square originally designed for bullfights. Happily, the dishes at Casa Urola offer an antidote from any bloodthirsty imaginings. This establishment, and its chef Paco Loureiro Rodil, are renowned for pintxos offerings that are both tasty and stylish. Esparragos frescos con mahonesa (white asparagus with mayo) and cazuelita de ajoarriero (mule drivers casserole made with cod and garlic) are big hits, but the spring salad is nothing short of ingenious: langostino and mesclun, zizas (St. Georges mushrooms), breadcrumbs, foie and shrimp, with a surprising coffee vinaigrette as an eccentrically delicious final touch. Look out for the ensalada de primavera con vinagreta de cafe on the handy chalkboard menu.
When it comes to pintxos offerings, Calle 31 de Agosto is probably the most vibrant thoroughfare in San Sebastian, spanning the comfortingly traditional (Bar La Vina at number three, more of which later) to the ultramodern (A Fuego Nero at number 31). It was the only street in San Sebastian not burned down in the 1813 war of independence against Napoleons troops. Youll spot number seventhe historic La Cepa, which opened in 1948by its alluring preponderance of dangling meats. This is the stop to indulge in heartier, more carnivorous pintxos fare, along the lines of deviled eggs, steak, potatoes and some truly mouth-watering jamon. Try the hongos a la plancha (grilled wild mushrooms with confit egg yolk) or bocadillo de jamon (paper-thin slices of Iberico ham and melted Manchego on baguette). Back when Jamon Iberico was unavailable in the U.S., it even got a shoutout in a Spanish-language action film, Perdita Durango: Illegal, but delicious.)
Hopefully youve still left room for meat, because the griddled foie gras on toast and solomillo (tender sirloin cuts) at Casa Gandarias are a must. As if to confirm its status as a must-visit on any travelers pintxos route, its one of the few San Sebastian pintxos locations with an English menu online. As youll see, the light bites on offer are plentiful: keep an eye out for the barbecue duck skewers, grilled baby squids (drizzled with their own squid ink) and creamy Idiazabel (sheeps milk cheese) served with sweet quince paste. Its the perfect late-night, penultimate pintxos destinationstill abuzz as others are beginning to shut up shop around midnight.
Among the pintxos offerings piled on the counter at this family-owned bar are boquerones (pickled anchovies with diced garlic) and an octopus salad, but lets be honest: by now, youre ready for dessert. No evening spent sampling the tastes of San Sebastian would be complete without experiencing La Vinas signature baked cheesecake, a light and golden concoction that locals speak about in hushed tones. Same time tomorrow?
Darryn King is an arts writer and critic based in New York.
Playground Poker Fall Classic Comes to an End; Pascal Lefrancois Wins High Roller for $128,000
November 18, 2016 Anthony Charter
The final three events of the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic concluded early Friday morning, closing out the festival with a bang. Event #14: $1,650 NL Holdem Second Chance, Event #15: $10,400 NL Holdem High Roller, and Event #17: $330 NL Holdem Bounty each crowned a winner as the last champions trophies found their home.
Event #14: $1,650 NL Holdem Second Chance:
Day 2 began with the bubble looming as 21 hopefuls returned, but only the top 17 left with a prize. With several notables in the mix, Christopher Fisher navigated the field best and walked away with a cool $37,295 and the champions trophy.
Samuel Tsehai and David Jeanneau-Cyr were among the first to exit followed by bubble buster Farzad Zare, leaving the remaining players in the money. Thomas Lefort would soon fall in 15th before the elimination ofHarley S in 11th paved the way for the final table.
Fisher found himself in the middle of the pack as play at the final table resumed. Erik Lemarquand was crippled by Francois Bergeron and moments later became the first casualty. A very short-stackedOlivier Boyer departed next in ninth. Fisher picked up a big pot while busting Marton Szlavy, his ace-king outdrawing Szlavys pocket queens.
Jordan Saccucci had Terry Flood all in and dominated to bring the event to six-handed. Bergeron was the next player at risk, needing to win a race holding ace-queen to Saccuccis two fives. Bergeron hit an ace on the flop but a five came as well and Bergeron bowed out in sixth. Paul Petten got it in bad against Theodore Doukas and wasnt able to improve, falling in fifth. Start of day chip leader Kenneth Lindgren couldnt get much going at the final table and fell victim to Fisher, hitting the rail in fourth place.
The final three players paused the clock to discuss numbers and came to terms on a deal splitting the prize pool based on ICM, leaving $4,000 aside for the eventual champ. With almost all the money already locked up, play loosened up and soon after, Saccucci was eliminated, setting up a heads-up battle for $4,000 and the trophy.
With Fisher in the lead, Doukas found a couple double ups and was looking good to score a third straight when he got his chips in the middle, having the best of it with king-six. Fisher had two live cards holding ten-seven of spades, and as the flop spread out revealing two sevens, Fisher took the lead and faded the turn and river to capture the title.
Final table results:
Place Name Prize 1 Christopher Fisher $37,295.00 2 Theodore Doukas $31,000.00 3 Jordan Saccucci $43,150.00 4 Kenneth Lindgren $12,760.00 5 Paul Petten $9,720.00 6 Francois Bergeron $8,240.00 7 Terry Flood $7,160.00 8 Marton Szlavy $6,280.00 9 Olivier Boyer $5,550.00 10 Erik Lemarquand $4,910.00
Event #15: $10,400 NL Holdem High Roller:
Pascal Lefrancois
After the field was narrowed from 44 to 21 during Day 1, the remaining players returned for Day 2 with big money on the line. Just six of them would leave with a prize. The first few to depart on Thursday included Jack Gong, defending High Roller champ Marc-Etienne McLaughlin, Darren Elias and Keven Stammen.
A final table was soon formed but not before Dylan Wilkerson, Senthuran Vijayaratnam and final table bubble buster Dean Murphy said their goodbyes. The final table of nine was set but there was still a lot of work to do with only six of them getting paid. Manig Loeser hit the rail first, getting coolered by Cate Halls pocket aces. A short-stacked Martin Raus fell to Lefrancois in eighth when his queen-six got crushed by Lefrancois ace-nine.
The bubble lasted for almost a full level before Anthony Zinno ran into Lefrancois. Zinno put himself at risk with ace-deuce, but Lefrancois woke up with two tens and Zinno popped the bubble, busting in seventh. Peter Chien earned a min-cash for a sixth-place effort, finding himself dominated against Radoja. A nasty cooler spelled the end for Cate Hall. Calling a five-bet shove from Lefrancois, Halls ace-king was crushed by Lefrancois two aces and she took her leave in fifth.
Ari Engel chose the wrong time to three-bet shove on Radoja and looked down to see Radoja table pocket-kings. Engel had a chance holding ace-ten but no help came and he dropped out in fourth. An ill-timed blind-versus-blind shove ended Lucas Greenwoods run. Greenwood had open-shoved on Lefrancois big blind with queen-nine and Lefrancois made the call turning over king-jack. Both hit a pair on the flop but Lefrancois was best and Greenwood was eliminated in third place.
With a deal already in place, Radoja and Lefrancois played back at each other for a few hands before all the chips ended up in the middle. On the final hand, Radoja limped from the small blind and Lefrancois shoved. Radoja had been trapping with ace-queen, making the call, and was ahead of Lefrancois king-three. After fading the flop, Lefrancois paired his three on the turn and faded the river to claim the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic High Roller.
Final table results:
Place Name Prize 1 Pascal Lefrancois $128,000.00 2 Mark Radoja $120,000.00 3 Lucas Greenwood $56,000.00 4 Ari Engel $40,000.00 5 Caitlin Hall $32,000.00 6 Peter Chien $24,000.00 7 Anthony Zinno $0.00 8 Martin Raus $0.00 9 Manig Loeser $0.00
Event #17: $330 NL Holdem Bounty:
The final event of the 2016 Fall Classic always has the most fun atmosphere. Staff at Playground, if lucky enough to have the night off, are able to enter and its the last chance players have to make a big score. Jason Trottier made the most of the opportunity, reaching a deal with heads-up opponent Mike Saragossi that saw both men leave with over $8,000.
The $330 Bounty has long been the closing event of festivals at Playground. The structure is simple: $200 to the prize pool, $100 bounty for every elimination. When registration closed, a total of 234 entries had been received, surpassing the $30,000 guarantee.
Jason Mann, Ruben Perceval, Shawn Daigle, Pierre Paulin, Yan Nadeau, Jason Conforti, Paul Sokoloff
Recent WPT National Montreal winner Tommy Coulombe was the first to depart in the money, earning a min-cash of $440 for 24th. The eliminations flowed quickly until the final table was reached. A time went by without an elimination and then fittingly so, Gianfranco Giordano scored a double knockout. Having the best hand preflop with pocket eights, Giordano flopped a set to beat Ian Tangs pocket threes and Paul Dalrymples ace-queen.
Malawai Hoyer and Bob T would soon join them on the rail, as did Nectarios Lazaris and Giordano soon after. Martin Dyotte would be the last to fall before a deal was made. The final three players agreed to chop the remaining prize pool evenly, leaving $950 to play for. Jean-Luc Joseph was eliminated in third place when his ace-eight was bested by Trottiers pocket tens, setting up a heads-up battle.
Trottier began heads-up play with the chip lead but Saragossi soon closed the gap. The two asked the tournament staff to make an exception and allow the them to split the remainder and close the event. Trottier expressed interest in the trophy and an agreement was reached that Trottier would take the win and the bonus cash in exchange for his nine bounties.
Final table results:
Place Name Prize 1 Jason Trottier $8,196.00 2 Mike Saragossi $7,245.00 3 Jean Luc Joseph $7,245.00 4 Martin Dyotte $4,160.00 5 Gianfranco Giordano $3,140.00 6 Nectarios Lazaris $2,360.00 7 Bob T $1,780.00 8 Malawai Hoyer $1,340.00 9 Ian Tang $1,010.00 10 Paul Dalrymple $760.00
Sharelines Christopher Fisher took Playground Poker Fall Classic's Event #14: $1,650 NL Holdem Second Chance.
Pascal Lefrancois won Playground Poker Fall Classic's Event #15: $10,400 NL Holdem High Roller.
Jason Trottier nabbed the champion title of Playground Poker Fall Classic's Event #17.
Contact
Andrea Kovac, Marketing Manager at GIS Cloud
***@giscloud.com Andrea Kovac, Marketing Manager at GIS Cloud
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-- GIS Cloud solution for the Police of Chile was presented at the IBERPOL, 3rd Summit of Police Chiefs on November 16th, 2016, in front of the President of Chile - Michelle Bachelet, 13 Chiefs of Police from different countries and 40 majors of Chile municipalities.The meeting also included representatives of police forces from 22 countries: Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, and Chile.The presentation, which took place in the capital of Chile, Santiago, was held by the National Police of Chile (Carabineros)Director, Victor Herrera Pintor.The technical team that implemented "Community Police Managment Analysis" system, built on the GIS Cloud customized API, Map Editor,and Map Portal apps, consisted of 2 software developers, 4 cartographers and 2 members of the police. Patricio Llanos from Teramaps ( http://teramaps.cl/ ) GIS Cloud partners for Chile, responsible for introducing the system to Chilean police, stated that the system was implemented very successfully, with more than 1. 200 map views in the first day of use.On the occasion of releasing the new GIS system for the police of Chile, the President of Chile Michelle Bachelet noted:Public safety must be confronted with a global, transversal approach, involving our entire society, facing new criminal challenges with all our professional and technological skills.-- About GIS Cloud:GIS Cloud, launched in 2010, is one of the leading cloud GIS providers in the market. Offering a range of mobile and web-based applications, GIS Cloud provides solutions for many different industries, focusing on the development of an intuitive platform with unmatched collaboration and sharing capabilities. Learn more at www.giscloud.com
Contact
Jon Agustin
jon@healthy- wiser.com Jon Agustin
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-- In a study conducted by conservation scientists as published on the website Cool Green Science, climate change will reportedly affect irrigation in many farmlands in South and Southwest United States. The study has shown that states such as Idaho, Montana and Colorado are required to increase water levels that are needed for irrigation.Drought brought by climate change has affected the Southern and the Western regions in the U.S., making farmers worry about the quality of water for the crops planted on those fields."While the use of wetting agents and soil surfactants can help to stretch shrinking water supplies, the story does not end there," an article on Aquatrols Blog stated. "With an increasing reliance on recycled or effluent water, there should be equal concern over water quality."Experts have advised on regularly testing your irrigation water to ensure their safety for the crops. Aquatrols Blog noted that unsafe water will seep through the soil which might affect the health and growth of your plants. One of the efficient ways known to determine the safety of irrigation water is to perform some tests. Testing your irrigation water will get information on salinity and sodium problems on your land.The blog advised that you determine the perfect testing procedure for your irrigation water before starting the actual test. Make sure that you have a "baseline for making management recommendations and tracking improvements."HealthyWiser is a known brand when it comes to testing the quality of water systems. It offers a TDS EC meter that has professional-grade water testing kit for drinking water, aquarium, hydroponics, water purifier systems and even irrigation water. The product has been known for its quality three-in-one meter that provides accurate results for your water testing needs. Among its other uses are for waste waters, laboratories, water spas, water treatments and more.The company is a trusted brand in providing health solutions that concerns wellness and beauty. Aside from the TDS EC meter, it also has products such as Vitamin C serum, eye roll-ons, pH test strips, nail care system, ketone test strips and digital pH meter.If you want to know more about their TDS EC meter, visit the Amazon page to read details and features of the product. Feel free to leave reviews and comments if you have used the product.Sources:
By: Cigno Family Dental
Tony Cigno
Contact
CelebritySites
***@celebritysites.com CelebritySites
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-- Wisconsin Dentist Tony Cigno recently published an article titled, "Proper Brushing with Braces It's Not Necessarily Easy but It's Oh So Important!"As Dr. Cigno explains, if you have braces, there are likely few other times in your life when proper tooth brushing and dental care is so important. Although, he adds, it definitely isn't easy. "The key," he adds, "is knowing the right way to brush when you have braces on your teeth and knowing what to avoid too!"Dr. Tony Cigno then goes on to give three key tips for brushing with braces and two bonus tips for braces care.First, he instructs, be sure to use the right toothbrush for brushing with braces. There are manual and electric toothbrushes specifically made for people who are wearing braces.Then, he discusses how to actually brush in the right way, cautioning that brushing harder is not always better. Primarily, because hard brushing puts the wearer at risk of knocking braces out of alignment or damaging brackets. Furthermore, brushing the teeth too hard while wearing braces can destroy cementum-the natural substance produced in the mouth and key to the effectiveness of braces.Additionally, Dr. Cigno gives tips for flossing while wearing braces and advice for proper braces dental care.The entire article can be found here: http://www.cignodental.com/ proper-brushing- with-braces/ Dr. Antonio (Tony) Cigno has been practicing dentistry for 25 years. Dr. Cigno received a DMD from the Washington University School of Dental Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Cigno is also finishing a Fellowship and Mastership at the Academy of General Dentistry and has written several published articles. He is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry, American Association of Functional Orthodontics, and the International Association of Orthodontics. Dr. Cigno was Wisconsin's very 1st and Premiere Provider of Fastbraces and one of 10 senior master affiliates in the world.Committed to continuing education, Dr. Cigno has completed over 600 hours of additional courses in implant dentistry, orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, fixed prosthodontics, myofascial pain/occlusion and operative dentistry. He also has another 400 hours in interpersonal communication training.
Florida's Rapidly Growing Business Phone Company, VoiceOnyx, Celebrates Its 10 Year Anniversary by Announcing an Industry Changing Business Listing Service
By: VoiceOnyx
1 2 3 4 5 Business - Phone - Florida Polycom Business Meeting VoiceOnyx On-Site Installations Polycom VVX 400 Polycom VVX D60
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-- VoiceOnyx Business Phone Service & Systems is now offering a complimentary business listing service that brings back the idea behind the once very successful Yellow Pages Phone Book. In years past, obtaining a Yellow Pages listing was vital for business marketing as it allowed companies to be found by their potential customers.Eventually, the Internet evolved and ultimately changed the way we search for products and services from local businesses. Although most companies hope for incoming traffic over the phone, it takes a wealth of marketing knowledge and effort to make their phones ring."History shows us that once the incumbent telephone companies found the phone book business unprofitable, they divested their interests or stopped publishing their business listings altogether. They forgot about the importance of the customer relationship and how important it was for some small businesses that relied on this simple but effective form of marketing," says Edward Warren, operations manager at the Orlando headquarters.VoiceOnyx is bringing back to life the abandoned responsibility of the telephone company by providing a groundbreaking internet listing platform, VoiceOnyx Presence . For those customers who opt-in, business listing information will be syndicated to over 300 online business directories and local listing websites. For VoiceOnyx customers, the resulting effect will yield greater search engine rankings, accurate business information, and enhanced credibility."We are very excited to be offering this service to our customers. We have a vested interest in their success and ability to be found by their prospective customers," says Elizabeth Allen.According to a recent study conducted by Invoca, the ratio of people who would rather call a business than fill out a form online is more than double. "In a world of emails and text messages, some businesses have forgotten about how important a good old fashioned phone conversation is for their customer service and reputation,"continues Elizabeth. The study also shares that 46% of customers want to call a business to get a quick answer when they are in need of expert advice. "We don't want our customers to miss out on any opportunities!"The VoiceOnyx Presence platform will complement their free Business Listing service with additional value added services such as Social Media Marketing and Reputation Management. "We want our customers to have all the tools not only to drive customers to their websites but also to their phone numbers. It is a win-win for everyone, and we look forward to reinventing what the Yellow Pages did for businesses a decade ago," concludes Edward Warren.
By: Doobert.com
Contact
Maddie Fiello
***@doobert.com Maddie Fiello
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-- Recently, media across the nation featured an innovative animal rescue transport system based out of Pewaukee, WI.WNEM of Midland, WI and The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, VA both recently featured volunteers from Doobert.com in news stories. Doobert.com volunteers are dedicated to transporting rescue animals to safety across the country.Volunteers use the custom-built software on Doobert.com to save animals by volunteering, fostering, and/or transporting animals. This software helps solve the most difficult aspect of coordinating animal rescues: transportation. With Doobert.com, animal lovers around the country come together to bring animals to their forever homes.Doobert's recent updates bring the software to the forefront of animal rescue. Now, drivers and transport coordinators involved in an animal rescue transport can give each other feedback on the transports and earn acknowledgment for their work. Doobert also now has a feature for volunteers to track charitable milesVolunteers and organizations can sign up for free to rescue more animals at http://www.Doobert.com
Hesburger is coming to Bulgarian market. Its first owned premises, acquired with the help of the real estate consultant Colliers International, is located in Lovech and is expected to start operations at the beginning of 2017.The total number of restaurants, planned by the chain for the next year, is at
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Pandox has entered into an agreement with Invesco Real Estate to acquire seven hotel properties in Europe four in Germany, two in Austria and one in the Netherlands with a total of 1,744 rooms. The acquisition price amounts to 415 million, corresponding to approximately SEK 4,100 million, on
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Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that high doses of vitamin D reduce the incidence of acute respiratory illness (ARI) in older, long-term care residents.
The findings of the clinical trial, published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, could help reduce one of the leading causes of serious illness, debilitation and death among patients in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
"After studying these patients for a year, we found a 40 percent reduction in acute respiratory illness among those who took higher doses of vitamin D," said the study's lead author, Adit Ginde, MD, MPH, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Vitamin D can improve the immune system's ability to fight infections because it bolsters the first line of defense of the immune system."
Ginde said in older people that first line of defense is often impaired. But vitamin D can reinforce it and prevent illnesses like pneumonia, influenza and bronchitis.
It may also prevent infections and exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) like emphysema.
At the same time, Ginde found that those who received higher doses of vitamin D also saw an increase in falls. The falls were lower in those given smaller doses rather than higher monthly doses of vitamin D.
The clinical trial, the first to examine vitamin D's impact on respiratory infections in nursing home residents, looked at 107 patients with an average age of 84 over a 12 month period. Of those, 55 received high doses of vitamin D or 100,000 units monthly (averaging 3,300-4,300 units daily). And 52 received lower doses averaging between 400-1,000 units daily. Those with higher doses saw ARIs cut nearly in half. They also had over double the incidence of falls, the study said.
"This finding requires a confirmatory trial, including whether high daily doses of vitamin D, rather than high monthly doses, makes patients less likely to fall," Ginde said.
But Ginde said the primary finding that vitamin D can reduce ARI is a major step forward in treating these dangerous infections.
"This is a potentially life-saving discovery," Ginde said. "There is very little in a doctor's arsenal to battle ARI, especially since most are viral infections where antibiotics don't work. But vitamin D seems able to potentially prevent these infections."
He cautioned that the study is not definitive proof that vitamin D can prevent ARI but it suggests that it can and at little risk to the patient.
"If our results are confirmed by a larger trial, high dose vitamin D, ideally using daily dosing to minimize fall risk, has the potential for substantial public health benefit through ARI prevention for the large and growing population of long term care residents," Ginde said.
A new study in rats could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are linked to higher risks for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism in children.
Researchers at The Ohio State University found significant changes in the brain makeup of fetuses and newborn rats exposed to allergens during pregnancy.
Animals that lived to adulthood after allergen exposure before birth showed signs of hyperactivity and antisocial behavior and decreased anxiety, found a research team led by Kathryn Lenz, an Ohio State assistant professor of psychology.
"This is evidence that prenatal exposure to allergens alters brain development and function and that could be an underappreciated factor in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders," said Lenz, who presented her research Nov. 16 in San Diego at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Though there are established links between allergies and ADHD and autism -- as well as between inflammation and risk of autism, schizophrenia and ADHD -- the cellular-level changes that could contribute to those connections largely remain a mystery.
Autism and ADHD are both three to four times as common in boys than in girls, Lenz said. And so she and her collaborators set out to look for sex differences in the rats as well.
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"We're really interested in figuring out unknown factors in psychological disorders and in differences between male and female brain development as it relates to autism, ADHD and other disorders," Lenz said.
To study the effects of allergies on offspring, researchers sensitized female rats to ovalbumin (found in egg whites) before pregnancy. Then, 15 days into their pregnancies, they exposed them to the allergen, prompting an immune response in the animals.
They analyzed whether prenatal allergen exposure changed the number and behavior of immune cells in the developing brain of offspring. They explored possible changes in young rats' physical activity, anxiety-like behavior, ability to learn and sociability. And they examined the density of dendritic spines in the juvenile animals' brains. The spines protrude from neurons and are vital to cellular-level communication in the brain.
Rats exposed to allergens before birth had higher levels of immune cells called mast cells in the brain and lower numbers of immune cells called microglia, regardless of the animals' gender.
Animals with allergic mothers were hyperactive, but had lower levels of anxiety-like behavior. When they interacted with other juvenile rats, the males in the allergen group were less likely to roughhouse with their peers.
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"Young rats engage in social play and males are more rough and tumble and usually play much more than females," Lenz said.
"The males born to the allergen-exposed mothers looked more like females. They were more socially reserved. They were really hyperactive, but socially disengaged. That looks a bit like ADHD."
And when the researchers looked at the animals' ability to be mentally flexible, the rats born to allergic mothers had a tougher time, Lenz said.
"They have to use rules to find a reward -- a Cheerio in a terracotta pot -- and the rules we give them keep shifting," Lenz said, explaining that in one test the treat might be in a pot covered in sandpaper and in another test it might be in a pot covered in velvet.
The rats in the allergen group weren't as capable of adapting to the changing parameters of the test, and the males had deficits that were more significant than the females.
Early data from the study shows that the dendritic spines -- the points of synaptic connection between cells in the frontal cortex of the animals' brains -- were decreased in males with allergy exposure and increased in their female counterparts.
Finally, psychologists have discovered a type of face that men are better at identifying than women: the faces on Transformer toys.
It's a first. All previous scientific studies have found that either women are better than men at identifying faces or there is no gender difference.
"One of the suggestions of this prior work is that that women are inherently better than men at recognizing faces," said Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University, who conducted the new study with graduate student Kaitlin Ryan. "But we believe that experience plays a major role in facial recognition so we tried to come up with some way to test our hypothesis regarding this gender difference."
The approach they hit upon was testing people's ability to identify the faces of the toys they played with as children. The researchers' intuition was that men may have played more with Transformers then Barbies when they were younger, and vice versa for women, and they confirmed this by surveying people about their experience playing with these toys.
"So women had much more experience studying Barbie faces and men had much more experience studying Transformer faces. That difference in experience was just what we needed," said Gauthier.
To take advantage of this difference, the researchers designed a study that compared men's and women's ability to recognize male faces, female faces, Barbie doll faces, Transformer faces and, as a control category, different kinds of cars. The results are described in the article "Gender Differences in Recognition of Toy Faces Suggest a Contribution of Experience" published online by the journal Vision Research on Nov. 3.
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The test consisted of giving participants a group of six images to study, and then presenting them with a series of trials that showed them three images -- one from the initial set and two that they hadn't seen before -- and asking them to identify the familiar image. They did this with male faces, female faces, Barbie doll faces, Transformer faces and different automobiles.
(There is a popular misconception that all Barbie dolls have the same face. "Different models have distinctly different faces," said Gauthier. "They appear to be modeled on different women.")
The researchers administered the test to 295 people: 161 men and 134 women. Some took the test in a laboratory and some took it online through the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowd-sourcing website that psychologists have begun using to conduct large studies. One advantage of the online platform is that the researchers can sample a more diverse population in terms of age, ethnicity and socio-economic status, relative to laboratory studies that generally test undergraduate students.
Replicating prior work, men slightly outperformed women when recognizing cars and, in this study, men and women performed equally well with human faces. "We also found that women had a small but statistically significant advantage at identifying Barbie faces while men had a small but statistically significant advantage in identifying Transformer faces," said Gauthier. "This is the first category of faces where men do better than women."
The psychologists considered the possibility that the male advantage was because the participants treated the Transformers as objects rather than faces. Previous studies have shown that men are sometimes better than women recognizing vehicles like cars, planes or motorcycles. That is why the researchers included the automobile recognition task.
The researchers addressed this question by looking at individual differences. They found that those people who were best at recognizing human faces were generally those who were best at recognizing Transformer faces and Barbie faces. In contrast, there was a weaker relation between performance with toy faces and cars, leading them to conclude that the participants were reacting to the toy faces as faces, not as objects. Gauthier's other research has shown that just a few hours of experience with a new type of face, such as a new alien race from a Star Trek episode, can change how the brain processes these faces. The new research suggests that the experience is long lasting.
"Clearly, the faces you experience as a child leave a trace in your adult memory," Gauthier said. "It is unlikely that this effect is limited to these particular toys."
Scientists have established comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, shedding light on how the body regulates which genes are active in which cells. Over the last five years, a worldwide consortium of scientists has established epigenetic maps of 2,100 cell types. Within this coordinated effort, the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine contributed detailed DNA methylation maps of the developing blood, opening up new perspectives for the understanding and treatment of leukemia and immune diseases.
One of the great mysteries in biology is how the many different cell types that make up our bodies are derived from a single cell and from one DNA sequence, or genome. We have learned a lot from studying the human genome, but have only partially unveiled the processes underlying cell determination. The identity of each cell type is largely defined by an instructive layer of molecular annotations on top of the genome -- the epigenome -- which acts as a blueprint unique to each cell type and developmental stage.
Unlike the genome the epigenome changes as cells develop and in response to changes in the environment. Defects in the factors that read, write, and erase the epigenetic blueprint are involved in many diseases. The comprehensive analysis of the epigenomes of healthy and abnormal cells will facilitate new ways to diagnose and treat various diseases, and ultimately lead to improved health outcomes.
A collection of 41 coordinated papers now published by scientists from across the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) sheds light on these processes, taking global research in the field of epigenomics a major step forward. These papers represent the most recent work of IHEC member projects from Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. Three of these papers have been coordinated by Christoph Bock at CeMM.
The latest study from Christoph Bock's team, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, charts the epigenetic landscape of DNA methylation in human blood. Led by CeMM scientists Matthias Farlik and Florian Halbritter together with Fabian Muller from Max Plank Institute for Informatics, this study highlights the dynamic nature of the epigenome in the development of human blood.
Our body produces billions of blood cells every day, which develop from a few thousand stem cells at the top of a complex hierarchy of blood cells. Using the latest sequencing and epigenome mapping technology, Bock's team now unraveled a blueprint of blood development that is encoded in the DNA methylation patterns of blood stem cells and their differentiating progeny.
This success was made possible by close international cooperation of European scientists: Blood donations of British volunteers were sorted by cell type by the team of Mattia Frontini at the University of Cambridge. These samples were shipped to Austria, where CeMM scientists performed the epigenome mapping. All data were then processed in Germany at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics and jointly analyzed by scientists at CeMM and at the Max Plank Institute for Informatics.
The result of the combined effort of Bock's team and many other members of IHEC is a detailed map of the human epigenome, similar to a three-dimensional mountain landscape: The stem cells reside on the mountain top, with valleys of cellular differentiation descending in many directions. As the cells differentiate, they pick one of several epigenetically defined routes and follow it downhill, eventually arriving at one specific valley, corresponding to a specialized cell type. Cells cannot easily escape these valleys, which provides robustness and protection against diseases such cancer.
Two other studies by Christoph Bock's team were published earlier this year and showcase how researchers are seeking to utilize epigenetic information for medicine. For instance, certain routes of differentiation are jammed in leukemia, such that cells can no longer reach their destination and take wrong turns instead. Surveillance of those cells by epigenetic tests can contribute to a more precise diagnosis of leukemia -- clinical tests of this approach are ongoing.
"The epigenetic map of the human blood helps us understand how leukemia develops and which cells drive the disease," says Christoph Bock. This is relevant to cancer diagnostics and personalized medicine, and it provides a compass for future efforts aiming to reprogram the epigenome of individual cells, for example by erasing critical epigenetic alterations from leukemia cells.
A newly discovered giant valley on the planet Mercury makes the Grand Canyon look tiny by comparison. Located by scientists at the University of Maryland, the Smithsonian Institution, the German Institute of Planetary Research and Moscow State University, the expansive valley holds an important key to the geologic history of the innermost planet in our solar system.
Discovered using stereo images from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, the "great valley" lies in the planet's southern hemisphere and overlaps the Rembrandt Basin -- a large crater formed by a relatively recent impact from an asteroid or other such body. But the "great valley" formed in a much different way, according to a research paper published online November 16, 2016 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Unlike Earth, which has a crust and upper mantle (collectively known as the lithosphere) divided into multiple tectonic plates, Mercury has a single, solid lithosphere that covers the entire planet. As the planet cooled and shrank early in its history, roughly 3-4 billion years ago, Mercury's lithosphere buckled and folded to form the valley, much like the skin of a grape folds as it dries to become a raisin.
"This is a huge valley. There is no evidence of any geological formation on Earth that matches this scale," said Laurent Montesi, an assistant professor of geology at UMD and a co-author of the research paper. "Mercury experienced a very different type of deformation than anything we have seen on Earth. This is the first evidence of large-scale buckling of a planet."
The valley is about 250 miles wide and 600 miles long, with steep sides that dip as much as 2 miles below the surrounding terrain. To put this in perspective: if Mercury's "great valley" existed on Earth, it would be almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and reach from Washington, D.C. to New York City, and as far west as Detroit.
More notable than its size, according to Montesi, is how the valley most likely formed and what that reveals about Mercury's geologic history.
The valley's walls appear to be two large, parallel fault scarps -- step-like structures where one side of a fault moved vertically with respect to the other. Both scarps plunge steeply to the flat valley floor below. According to Montesi and his co-authors, the best explanation is that Mercury's interior cooled rapidly, forming a strong, thick lithosphere. The entire floor of the newly discovered valley is one giant piece of this lithosphere that dropped between the two faults on either side.
This would make sense if, like most planets, Mercury has been steadily cooling since its formation. But Montesi notes that there are several clues to suggest that Mercury went through a more recent period of warming. This analysis, if true, would upend some time-tested assumptions about Mercury's geologic past.
"Most features on Mercury's surface are truly ancient, but there is evidence for recent volcanism and an active magnetic field. This evidence implies that the planet is warm inside," Montesi said. "Everyone thought Mercury was a very cold planet -- myself included. But it looks like Mercury might have heated significantly in recent planetary history."
New research suggests that Lake Champlain may be more susceptible to damage from climate change than was previously understood -- and that, therefore, the rules created by the EPA to protect the lake may be inadequate to prevent algae blooms and water quality problems as the region gets hotter and wetter.
"This paper provides very clear evidence that the lake could be far more sensitive to climate change than is captured by the current approach of the EPA," said University of Vermont professor Asim Zia, the lead author of the new study. "We may need more interventions -- and this may have national significance for how the agency creates regulations."
The research was published November 17 in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
More than modest
The study, led by a team of ten scientists from UVM and one from Dartmouth College, used a powerful set of computer models that link the behavior of social and ecological systems. Their results show that accelerating climate change could easily outpace the EPA's land-use management policies aimed at reducing the inflow of pollution from agricultural runoff, parking lots, deforestation, cow manure, lawn fertilizer, pet waste, streambank erosion -- and other sources of excess phosphorus that cause toxic algae and lake health problems.
The EPA's modeling to prepare its rules under what's called the TMDL, for "total maximum daily load," concluded that "any increases in the phosphorus loads to the lake due to the climate change are likely to be modest (i.e. 15%)," the agency writes. But the eleven scientists, within the Vermont EPSCoR program at UVM, who led the new modeling were concerned that this approach might underestimate the range of likely outcomes in a warmer future.
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UVM professor Chris Koliba, a co-author and social scientist on the new study observed that, "there have been extensive efforts by federal regulators, the State of Vermont, and many other stakeholders to try to remediate and improve water quality in our watersheds. These should be honored. The message of our research is not to demean that work, but to say that in the long run protecting the lake is going to take a lot more than what's being proposed right now."
Limited options
The new lake model, with support from the National Science Foundation, integrates a much larger assembly of possible global climate change models and greenhouse gas pathways than the current TMDL approach used in its modeling. And the Vermont scientists delved deeply into the indirect and interactive effects of land use changes, "legacy phosphorus" that's been piling up for decades in the sediment at the bottom of the lake, and other factors. From this, they created a set of forecasts for what might happen to Lake Champlain over the next few decades out to 2040 -- including changes in water quality, temperature, and the severity of algae blooms. Their result: a much more dramatic range of possible outcomes -- and greater uncertainty -- than those assumed in the EPA's approach.
In several of the plausible hotter and wetter scenarios that the model considers, a cascading set of problems could lead to phosphorus pollution levels in segments of Lake Champlain that "drastically limit land management options to maintain water quality," the team wrote -- especially in shallow bays like Missisquoi Bay that was the focus of the new study. In the long run, the risk of underestimating the impacts of climate change could lead to what the scientists call "intractable eutrophic conditions" -- a permanent change in the lake that leads to self-perpetuating algae blooms, lost fisheries, and poor water quality.
New tool
The new integrated assessment model created by the NSF-funded team under the science leadership of Asim Zia provides a powerful tool that goes far beyond understanding Lake Champlain.
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By connecting sub-models -- of human behavior and land use, watershed dynamics, global climate models "downscaled" to the local region, and the hydrology of the lake itself -- the overall model links together "the behavior of the watershed, lake, people and climate," said Judith Van Houten, UVM professor of biology, director of Vermont EPSCoR, and co-author on the new study. This provides "a way forward to pull back the veil that often surrounds effects of climate change," she says.
"Integrating these models is an enormous achievement that will be exportable across the US and be of practical use to many states and countries as they try to develop policies in the face of climate change," she said. It can allow lake and land managers to test scenarios that draw in a huge range of time scales and types of interactions, ranging from water chemistry to air temperature to land use policies.
Only by solving this kind of model-of-many-models problem, "as we have done," Van Houten said, could a tool be created that has predictive power for decades ahead, "allowing stakeholders to test their ideas," she says, and even "describing the health of the lake out to the turn of the century."
UVM hydrologist Arne Bomblies, a co-author on the study, noted that, "We show through this modeling work the importance of a more comprehensive consideration of climate change impact mechanisms to achieve water quality goals, and the need to adequately address climate change uncertainty."
"Lake Champlain's future is sensitive to climate change," Bomblies said, "and similar challenges are faced by other impaired waters throughout the United States."
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Someone at a puppy mill in Taiwan decided that this little dog barked too much. So her owner cut her vocal cords and eventually, when she could no longer produce puppies to sell, he dumped her at a high-kill shelter. That's where the voiceless dog, beaten down by years of breeding, would get the closest thing she may have ever gotten to a name: a stark steel tag that read 143.
Kimberley Ann Barley
But sometimes, even a dog with no voice can be heard. Johanna Quinn, who works with a local rescue called Heart of Taiwan Animal Care, found the dog there. She arranged to have a contingent of death row dogs transported to Canada through Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue. Among them? Number 143. Only this time her rescuers gave her a real name - Akiko, which means "sparkle, bright." And soon, Akiko would shine a light in a Canadian woman's heart. Kimberley Ann Barley was already on a list to foster shelter dogs. She heard a Chihuahua from Taiwan needed a lift from the airport - and a temporary home. Barley didn't hesitate, bringing the exhausted dog home, where Akiko would sleep for days on end, only stirring to go to the bathroom.
Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades
Kimberley Ann Barley
"She had kind eyes that bulged from her little head," Barley tells The Dodo. "She was skin and bones and was missing a lot of fur." Akiko was also heartworm positive and several rotting teeth had to be removed. "She was not afraid of me. She wanted to be close to me and we bonded instantly," she says.
Kimberley Ann Barley
From the start, this dog knew she was home. It just took Barley a little longer to get the memo. While the woman wanted to give Akiko a forever home, she had just changed careers and wasn't sure if her schedule would work for a dog.
Kimberley Ann Barley
"I took her to a meet-and-greet where potential adopters got to spend time with her," Barley recalls. "I held back my tears every time someone filled out the adoption papers that day." By the end of that day, Barley had made her decision. "I knew I couldn't let my friend be adopted by anyone other than myself," she says. And so Akiko, who now goes simply by Kiko, began living up to her name in earnest and brightened every corner of Barley's life.
Kimberley Ann Barley
Part of Barley's decision stemmed from the grim steel tag Akiko wore when she was living at the shelter. #143. "Just like farmed animals are given," Barley says. "I made the connection."
Kimberley Ann Barley
And that's how a death row dog without vocal cords found her voice. And became an advocate not only for "no-hope" shelter dogs, but animals everywhere.
Kimberley Ann Barley
The vigils for Harambe - a 17-year-old Western lowland gorilla who was shot and killed by Cincinnati Zoo officials in May after a young boy climbed into his enclosure - are largely over, but a federal investigation is still trying to understand what happened on that day and how it could have been prevented.
Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs
In a report issued on Thursday, USDA inspectors said that the barrier meant to separate visitors from the gorillas wasn't in compliance with federal standards. However, the USDA had never before cited the zoo for the reportedly insufficient fence over the exhibit's 38-year history, including at a recent inspection in April.
"It became apparent on May 28 that the barrier was no longer effective," Tanya Espinosa, USDA spokeswoman, told the Associated Press.
USDA inspectors just reported that during an inspection on June 6, there was "some slack" in wire cables in the barrier and that a visitor could have "manipulated [the cables] to an 8-inch gap."
That the enclosure was substandard wasn't surprising to Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, who said the finding "shows the deficiencies in both the modern American zoo and the regulatory scheme used to assess wild animal facilities."
"The USDA is expected only to enforce minimum standards and with a limited number of inspectors and [considering] the might of the zoo industry it's no surprise that things slip - with potentially deadly consequences for zoo animals and human visitors," Roberts told The Dodo. "What's needed is a complete overhaul of the rules for licensed animal exhibitors, full dedication to the government's inspection program and the immediate closure of any facilities that cannot pass muster."
SAN FRANCISCONot content with just renting out spare rooms and vacant homes, Airbnb is adding local tours and activities like surfing lessons and pub crawls to its travel services in major cities around the world.
With the new features announced Thursday, the fast-growing online rental company is hoping to tap into leisure travellers' desire for distinctive experiences that make them feel more connected with the places they visit, travel industry analysts say.
The move also shows the ambitions of a company that's already one of the world's fastest-growing privately held firms. Airbnb, which boasts millions of rental listings around the world, has been valued at $30 billion (U.S.) though it's run into growing pains in some cities where local officials complain the boom in short-term rentals is reducing long-term housing for residents.
Airbnb's new guided activities include things like surfing lessons or cooking class led by a local chef, a pub crawl through a trendy nightclub district or even a truffle hunt in Tuscany. The company has been testing the services in a few cities over the last year, enlisting local hosts as guides. It's expanding to 12 cities, while promising 50 by next year.
They want to be viewed as more of a travel company and not just an alternative lodging firm, said Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Atmosphere Research. Our research shows travellers spend as much as 60 per cent of their travel budget at their destination. So they want to tap into that very large revenue stream.
The new services add to a set of online guides that Airbnb introduced earlier this year that list restaurants, outings and other attractions recommended by Airbnb hosts. Airbnb says it will also recommend meet-ups, or impromptu gatherings, and other activities keyed to travellers' interest in topics like food, history, music or local crafts.
Travellers can already get similar recommendations from a variety of online services, including popular sites like Google and Facebook. But Airbnb hopes travellers will find it easier to use the new services within its own mobile app or website.
Similarly, the company is partnering with online booking app Resy to let travellers make restaurant reservations through Airbnb in competition with services like OpenTable and Yelp.
In an interview, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he hopes to add more services, including the ability to book airline flights.
Since the company launched in 2008, when the co-founders invited travellers to sleep on an air mattress in their San Francisco loft, Airbnb has grown to be one of the world's most valuable private startups by collecting fees when private hosts rent out accommodations listed on the site. It's raised $3.9 billion from investors, according to CB Insights, which tracks venture funding.
Chesky declined to say if the company is profitable, although the Wall Street Journal reported last year that Airbnb was spending heavily to expand in more cities. The newspaper cited internal projections that forecast Airbnb to have nearly $1 billion in revenue last year and to become profitable by 2020.
Airbnb has run into regulatory battles in some cities, including New York and San Francisco, but Chesky said he's hopeful to resolve those issues.
The company also recently faced criticism after researchers reported some hosts appeared to reject rental applications from travellers whose names or photos indicated they were African-American. In response, Chesky has apologized and said the company would institute new policies, including sensitivity training and an anti-discrimination pledge for hosts, developed with input from advocacy groups and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Chesky said Thursday that he's committed to addressing discrimination, while adding: I think this is something that we're not going to be able to fix overnight.
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Volkswagen AG reached a landmark agreement with workers to cut as many as 30,000 jobs globally and save 3.7 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in expenses as the company tries to claw back from the emissions-cheating scandal and invest in electric vehicles.
Reducing headcount by nearly 5 per cent will come through attrition as the automaker agreed to refrain from forced layoffs until 2025, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said Friday.
After months of intense talks, labour and management agreed on a package to balance cost-cutting with investment as the auto industry shifts away from traditional combustion engines and adapts to car-sharing services and self-driving technologies.
This is a big step forward, maybe the biggest in the companys history, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said at a press conference in Wolfsburg. All manufacturers must rebuild themselves because of the imminent changes for the industry. We need to brace for the storm.
The labour agreement is critical to Volkswagens efforts to accelerate restructuring at its biggest unit and emerge from the worst crisis in its history.
It also allows the carmaker to create more jobs in future-oriented technologies by retraining workers at traditional factories and hiring software engineers and battery specialists.
The moves highlight the changes sweeping the auto industry as old-school metal stamping and mechanical expertise make way for electronics and digital technology.
The VW brand is at the centre of Volkswagens changes. The unit accounts for almost half of the groups sales and was struggling even before the emissions crisis erupted last year, tarnishing the marques reputation and burdening the 12-brand group with at least 18.2 billion euros ($26 billion) in costs for fines and repairs.
The deal was a prerequisite for Volkswagens plans to push ahead with investment in new models and upgrading factories.
The labour talks, which started in June, went down to the wire, with the supervisory board meeting on Friday to approve the companys budget for the coming years as it pushes to sell as many as 3 million electric vehicles a year by 2025 and expand in services like ride-sharing.
Volkswagen is under pressure to reduce annual capital expenditures, which currently stand at 12 billion euros ($17 billion), making the company one of the biggest corporate spenders in the world.
In a concession to workers, the manufacturer agreed to build two electric cars at German sites, one in Wolfsburg and one in Zwickau.
The company, which employs 624,000 people globally, will add as many as 9,000 positions for future-oriented projects such as electric vehicles and digital features. The state of Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is based, will become a technology hub for the manufacturer, and many of the 1,000 jobs to be created there will be for software engineers and cloud-technology experts.
The job cuts will come through early retirement and not replacing workers that leave. The savings comprise 3 billion euros at its German factories and another 700 million euros abroad. Argentina and Brazil will be hit hardest by the staff reduction outside Germany, with Volkswagens personnel chief Karlheinz Blessing describing the Brazil cuts as brutal.
Weighed down by unwieldy labour contracts, a bloated lineup of vehicles and a convoluted structure, the VW brand has struggled with weak profitability. In the first nine months, the units operating profit margin narrowed to 1.6 per cent from 2.8 per cent a year earlier. The goal of the labour agreement is to reach a 4 per cent profit margin by 2020.
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After kicking off something of a one-way Canadian literary feud, comedian Norm Macdonald has deleted a series of Twitter rants in which he called author Margaret Atwood a no-talent mountebank bent on fooling fools and other insults.
Some of the tirade from Macdonald, a former Saturday Night Live star, came late Tuesday night and Thursday morning of this week, after Atwood tried to console Americans after the election of Donald Trump.
Atwood: Just like the Wizard of Oz, Donald Trump has no magical power
Macdonald: You make a very good, if utterly obvious, point. So, youre saying he DOESNT have magical powers. Thanks.
And then Atwood, a Toronto resident, tries again to console American readers with: Dear Americans. It will be all right in the long run. (How long? We will see.) Youve been through worse, remember.
Macdonald replies: Gee, thanks, lady.
Atwood, winner of the prestigious Booker Prize for Literature, urges readers to take practical measures to help them cope with life under Trump, to which Macdonald adds: How to SURVIVE in the era of Trump, lady? How about staying in your house with your money?
Earlier, the 57-year-old Quebec City native observed, Canadians have frauds and imposters (sic) just like everyone else. Most people in the arts are charlatans. One is @MargaretAtwood. Macdonald later deleted the Atwood run of tweets (though they remain on his Facebook page), as he has done in the past with stories about meeting Bob Dylan, helping to write the SNL 40th anniversary special and more.
The comedian has a well-received book of his own currently out, Based on a True Story: A Memoir. Despite the title, Macdonald has described it, on Twitter and elsewhere, as a novel.
The shots he took online at Atwood went beyond her advice on life in a Trump America.
When Atwood sends a reader a handwritten quote from her novel, The Handmaids Tale, Macdonald jumps in and posts: Oh, bad writing scribbled on a piece of paper. Well, who wouldnt want that?
Atwood has 1.32 million Twitter followers while Macdonald has 768,000.
Several of her fans jumped in to defend her. One posts: as if I dont have enough to deal with Norm hates Margret (sic) Atwood??
Macdonald replies: I dont hate @MargaretAtwood. I hate bad writing.
He then adds: It isnt her fault and Id never have anything but pity for the talentless. But the Canadian school system makes you read her.
One Atwood defender tries for some sort of anti-Trump solidarity but Macdonald has none of that.
@normmacdonald In an authoritarian regime, the most important thing is whether you are one of them or one of us, he tweets.
no, Macdonald replies.
Macdonald accuses Atwood of chasing celebrity and promoting anything for a buck and compares her unfavourably to Canadas Nobel Prize-winning Alice Munro.
It is nauseating to consider that through shameless self-promotion someone like @MargaretAtwood could care consider herself Munros peer, Macdonalds writes.
Unlike Munro, @MargaretAtwood is incapable of writing a novel, yet churns out chum at an alarming rate, Macdonald continues.
Munro is the greatest writer Canada has ever produced but feels herself incapable of writing a novel. On the flip side sits @MargaretAtwood, Macdonald continues.
Atwood, 77, did not respond to the Stars request for comment.
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ECUADOR-You dont have to travel far from Quito for these five experiences. Theyre just a half-hour to two-hour drive away from the city, depending on traffic, and doable on day trips.
Otavalo Market: Ecuadors largest indigenous market runs daily but Saturday and Wednesdays apparently have the most vendors. Take at least several hours to explore and admire textiles, painted wood trays, ponchos, blankets, scarves, worry dolls, knitted Diablo Umo masks and toy llamas made with real wool. Bargain politely, not ruthlessly. Guide Alejandro Segura took me to his favourite snack spot, Los Choclitos, for a takeout cup of potatoes, boiled white corn and fresh cheese drizzled with herb and fresh cheese sauces. Otavalo is about 90 kilometres from Quito.
Rose plantation tour: They say its cheap to be romantic in Ecuador, where a bouquet of roses costs about $2 (U.S.) and 200 farms make them the countrys fourth largest export. In Cayambe, the capital of the roses, I toured Rosadex rose farm, where 45 varieties are grown. Twelve hours of sunlight, volcanic soil and consistent weather produce ideal roses. Martin Perujo manages Hacienda La Companias tourist business. By appointment only, he shows the greenhouses, packing building, Jesuit chapel, rose showroom and familys hacienda. We snacked on warm bizcochos (hard biscuits) and fresh cheese. Cayambe is about 70 kilometers from Quito.
Middle of the World: The centerpiece of Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) is a monument and the chance to put your feet on either side of the equator in the northern and southern hemispheres and take silly selfies. Thanks to GPS, people realized this government-owned park isnt actually home to 0 degrees latitude, 0 minutes, 0 seconds. There is lots to do here, though, with a mini Quito of folklore shops, a chocolate shop, restaurants, a solar culture museum, llamas, huts and houses, and a demonstration tourist train. San Antonio de Pichincha is about 28 kilometres from Quito.
Museo de Sitio Intinan: Near Middle of the World is Museo de Sitio Intinan, which claims to be the real site of Latitude 0. Carolina Vera shows us around the living museum, displaying tombs, totem poles, shrunken heads, and candiru (vampire fish) that swim into your urethra if you pee in the Amazon River. Walk in two hemispheres and do science experiments along the equator. Theres an indigenous house with cuy (guinea pigs raised for food) and a cacao house where you can sample the fleshy seed in a cacao pod.
Craft beer: Craft beer is a global craze and in Pomasqui, on the highway to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth Monument), lies the low-profile (there isnt even a proper sign outside) Quitena Craft Beer Co. Owner Andres Erazo has been using local ingredients to make batches of La Quitena pale ale, abbey ale, stout and more for the past five years. The brewery/tasting room serves chorizo and bratwurst sausages and ice cream. In Quito, his Gourmet brewpub is in La Floresta. Pomasqui is about 21 kilometres from Quito.
Jennifer Bain was hosted by Quito Tourism, which didnt review or approve this story.
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QUITO, ECUADOR-Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport is jammed with a ragtag bunch of adventurers excitedly spilling out of evening flights from the U.S. and Europe.
Those with coin are heading to the Galapagos Islands for once-in-a-lifetime journeys. Those on lesser budgets are going outdoor adventuring in Banos, birdwatching in Mindo or volcano gawking in Cotapaxi.
Almost everyone will spend a day exploring Quito while acclimatizing to the high altitude. Quito, the gateway to Ecuador, wants everyone to stay a little longer.
If you like to wander, eat, admire churches, check out food and craft markets, take in views and eat again, then Quito is an excellent home base.
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At Mercado San Francisco, look for the row of limpias (ancient healing stalls) where Mercedes Correa will cleanse your worries and bad energy by brushing a bundle of herbs over your body, splashing you with alcohol and cologne, and showering you with Ecuadorean rose petals.
Eat in the food court for a couple of bucks and admire the markets tree tomatoes and array of potatoes.
A few blocks away, look for Colaciones Cruz Verde, where Luis Banda cheerfully makes sugar-coated peanut candies in a copper pot over coals. Buy a bag and help Banda continue his familys 101-year-old tradition in the face of so much cheap commercial candy.
Ecuador, still smarting from an April earthquake that devastated its Pacific coast, wants people to know the quake didnt affect most of the rest of the country.
Barely bigger than Colorado, Ecuador doesnt have Perus promotional budget or Colombias edgy allure, but it is now asserting bragging rights to the Galapagos Islands and three other bio-diverse regions: the coast, Amazon and Highlands (or Andes).
Quito is 2,850 metres above sea level in the Highlands. Take it easy when you arrive. Drink lots of water and coca tea and avoid alcohol just for a day. If you get a headache, feel short of breath, dizzy or nauseous, slow down.
The boutique hotel Patio Andaluz where I stayed has an oxygen tank at the ready for people suffering from soroche (altitude sickness). The Teleferiqo cable car, which whisks you up the slopes of the Pichincha volcano to 4,100 metres in 18 minutes, has a medical station.
You probably wont experience anything but mild, fleeting discomfort, but its good to know this country has your back. Quito is a big city of 2.1-million people and pickpockets are a concern, and so tourist zones have a strong police presence.
Just about everyone who visits Quito, founded on the ruins of an Incan city and declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, gravitates to the Old Town.
Fanning out from Plaza de la Independecia, which is flanked by three palaces and a church, there are vendors everywhere, dragging plastic crates of oranges, selling colourful shoelaces, hawking empanadas and lupine bean ceviche. Many vendors have babies strapped to their backs or toddlers playing at their feet.
You will be spoiled for choice when it comes to colonial churches. The Cathedral with Gothic, Moorish and Baroque influences has a museum and a South American painting of the Last Supper featuring cuy (guinea pig) on a platter. Pay extra to climb a dark, narrow, winding stone-and-brick staircase to the roof with a docent for sweeping city views.
Quito is all about the view. Orient yourself by looking for the Winged Virgin that watches over the city. She stands alone, just as La Capilla Del Hombre is set apart from other hot spots in the city.
La Capilla del Hombre (Chapel of Man) art museum showcases the home and work of Ecuadors most famous artist, the late painter and sculptor Oswaldo Guayasamin, an atheist transfixed by human suffering and violence in Latin America.
Laid-back Quito is only now putting together a tourist map that will pinpoint not just its main attractions but its trendy neighbourhoods.
La Marsical, and Plaza Foch, is the nightlife zone. Its home to the Casa Quebecua poutine shop and Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal, a maze of vendors, and where I spent a small fortune on Pacaris rose-scented artisan chocolate bars.
Roses are one of Ecuadors top exports. The country also produces the worlds best cacao arriba, and at Republica del Cacao near Plaza Foch you can learn how cacao beans become chocolate. Theres a Republica del Cacao shop in the airport, but the Plaza Foch location has a cafe.
Eventually you will make your way to La Ronda, preferably later in the day when everything is open. This pedestrian-only street is just a few blocks long and puts traditional jobs on display so you can meet people making Panama hats (which are actually from Ecuador), wooden toys, honey products and paletas (popsicles).
Quito has a lot of things to show to the world, says Quito Tourisms social media specialist Soledad Cevallos over lunch at Casa Los Geranios in La Ronda. We are trying to invite people to taste Quito, experience Quito, feel Quito.
Do all this in La Florestas Parque Navarro, where kids play in the oversized letters that make up the Quito sign while people line up for tripe and other cheap meals at a daily night market.
La Floresta, known as Quitos Soho, is also home to Misquilla, a cantina and bar created by musician Juan Fernando Velasco to turn the younger generation and tourists on to traditional pasillo music. The house band plays Friday and Saturday and Ecuadors favourite foods and drinks are served. Try canelazo, a warm drink made from cinnamon and sugar cane schnapps.
People know Quito because its the centre of the world, right? muses Misquillas operations manager Alejandro Chaves, a 20-something musician and chef who incidentally spent a few years cooking in Canada (Lethbridge) until coming home to nurse a broken heart and falling in love with his country all over again.
Quito, he declares, is a place where you can find things if you search for them.
Jennifer Bain was hosted by Quito Tourism, which didnt review or approve this story.
When you go:
Get there: There are no direct flights to Quito from Toronto. I flew American Airlines via Dallas/Fort Worth one way and via Miami the way back (the Miami route is shorter by several hours).
Get around: Quitos Mariscal Sucre International Airport is about a 45-minute drive from the Old Town. You can get around by walking and taking buses and taxis. To do tours, hire a guide, who doubles as a driver and translator, for about $180 (U.S.) a day. My guide was Alejandro Segura from Geo Reisen (georeisen-ecuador.com). Companies such as the double-decker Quito Tour Bus (quitotourbus.com) offer day trips.
Be prepared: The time in Quito is just one hour earlier than Toronto so jet lag is not an issue. English is widely spoken, the U.S. dollar is used and the voltage is the same. Quito is up high, and elevation sickness does affect some people. Take it easy the first day, drink lots of water and let your body acclimatize to the altitude.
Stay: I stayed at Patio Andaluz (hotelpatioandaluz.com), a renovated Colonial home in the Old Town that offers a buffet breakfast, free Wi-Fi and a charming restaurant. There are chain and independent hotels, plus hostels, for every budget in Quito.
Eat: Food is inexpensive here so you could spend anywhere from a few dollars at a street vendor, food court or casual eatery, to $20 to $30 at a restaurant with table service.
Do your research: quito.com.ec/en
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VANCOUVERMargaret Atwood says the University of British Columbias investigation of fellow author Steven Galloway was flawed and failed both sides, comparing it to the Salem witchcraft trials.
Galloway was fired from his position as creative writing chairman in June after a months-long probe into what the university would only describe as serious allegations.
Atwood, who has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize, faced a social media backlash this week after she joined dozens of prominent authors in signing an open letter calling for an independent inquiry into the universitys handling of the case.
She defended her decision on Thursday, writing in an emailed statement that the model of the witchcraft trials, which took place in colonial Massachusetts in the late 1600s, is not a good one.
Those accused would almost certainly be found guilty because of the way the rules of evidence were set up, and if you objected to the proceedings you would be accused yourself, she wrote.
Obviously the university was trying to shield students from something we are still not clear as to what, exactly, and if its a matter of rape then it should be a matter of jail but their methods appear to have resulted in a big foggy mess.
The university has said that it reached its decision after a thorough, deliberative process and that it is legally barred from disclosing the allegations against Galloway without his consent.
Galloway has not spoken publicly about the allegations and hasnt responded to several requests for comment including on Thursday. The open letter signed by his supporters said he has been prevented from speaking publicly while the faculty association grieves his firing.
But a police report filed in Ohio provides some insight into what he was being accused of.
Galloway was there to speak with students at Wright State University on Nov. 16, 2015, the day he was suspended, when, the report says, his co-workers in Canada called police to report the author was having suicidal thoughts.
The officer who responded filed a report saying Galloway told him that he had received an email from his employer putting him on notice that he is at the centre of a sexual assault investigation between him and one of his students.
He explained that he has never felt this low in his life, and is very upset at these false allegations as they are likely to lead to him losing his job, the officer wrote.
The report says Galloway indicated he would never actually kill himself and the officer took him to hospital for a mental-health evaluation.
The Canadian Press has spoken with five people who say they filed complaints based on behaviour they witnessed or experienced. They say the allegations included sexual harassment, bullying, threats and one incident where Galloway is alleged to have slapped a student.
The faculty association has said all but one of the allegations, including the most serious, was not substantiated by the universitys investigation.
Several female writers have accused Atwood on Twitter of silencing and intimidating women who might come forward in the future with allegations against powerful men.
In her statement, Atwood questioned whether it is an endorsement of rape culture or a silencing of anyone to want the university to take a hard look at how it handled the case. She references Steven Truscott, who was wrongfully convicted as a teenager for the rape and murder of a classmate in 1959.
To take the position that the members of a group called women are always right and never lie demonstrably not true and that members of a group called accused men are always guilty (Steven) Truscott, anyone? would do a great disservice to accusing women and abuse survivors, since it discredits any accusations immediately, she wrote.
Atwood asks several questions of the university, including: Does it need a clear code of conduct that everyone teaching there should adhere to? (Dont socialize and drink with students, for beginners? No bets that involve slapping?)
But Andrea Bennett, a student who says she saw Galloway slap her friend at a bar, said it was not the result of a bet. She said her friend explained that it came about because shed badmouthed Galloways writing, and he jokingly told her he would slap her as soon as she graduated.
The slap was shocking, it was loud, it did not come across as a joke to me, and I saw an aspect of Galloways personality I hadnt seen before, Bennett said in an email.
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OTTAWAA Canadian soldier who was looking at ways to train the Jordanian military as part of Canadas fight against Daesh has died, the Department of National Defence said Thursday.
Maj. Scott Foote, 50, of Carbonear, N.L., was found unconscious in a military gym in Jordans capital city of Amman, officials said. Foote was pronounced dead after attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
His death has been labelled non-combat related. National Defence has launched an investigation, but officials said there were no indications of foul play.
A veteran of Afghanistan, Foote arrived in Jordan at the beginning of September as part of a small team tasked with examining ways in which the Canadian Forces could train Jordanian counterparts.
This mission is not a combat mission, said Maj.-Gen. Omer Lavoie, commander of 1 Canadian Division in Kingston, Ont., where Foote was most recently serving as a logistics officer.
Its a mission where were there to enhance the capabilities of the Jordanian Armed Forces in areas such as resources, planning, organization and equipment.
A similar team is currently working in Lebanon. Lavoie said both missions fall under the umbrella of Canadas broader effort to fight Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Foote was to return to Canada just before Christmas, Lavoie said. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Maj. Foote was a good Newfoundlander and always maintained his eastern roots, Lavoie said.
Scott was level-headed, jovial and a good mentor for his peers. He was an outstanding officer and a great member of my team here at 1st Canadian Division.
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OTTAWAA member of the Canadian Forces has been charged with sexual assault.
The Canadian Forces Investigation Service says the alleged crime took place in July at a cadet training centre at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta.
The service says the alleged crime did not involve any youth attending the training camp.
Charged is officer cadet Oscar Morgado, who is also a student at the Royal Military College of Canada.
The college is in Kingston, Ont.
The next step is a possible court martial, but no date has yet been set.
The Canadian Armed Forces takes all reports of sexual misconduct by its members very seriously and, in all cases, action is taken to determine facts, conduct applicable investigations, analyze available evidence and, if warranted, lay the appropriate charges, Lt.-Col. Francis Bolduc, commanding officer for the investigation service, said in a news release.
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I grew up in the margins of Little Italy. Earlier and still somewhat in the 60s it had been a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. These days the businesses, if not the households in that area around Christie Pits, skew to ethnic Greek, Portuguese and Korean.
Immigrants gravitate to urban districts where they feel less alien, most often following paths smoothed down by relatives and acquaintances whod settled earlier, sometimes entire Old Country villages transplanted to New Country environs. They can speak to each other in the language of home. Grocery stores sell the food they cook and eat. Haberdasheries carry the style of clothing they prefer. Places of specific worship are close to hand and serve as community beacons.
Dare one say they also share values ?
Nabil Warda tried to say that and put it badly in a one-and-a-half page letter he circulated to prospective buyers for a housing development with halal financing he envisions being built in Brossard, south of Montreal.
It has been my baptism of fire, the 68-year-old tax accountant admits to the Star. The choice of words was not the best.
And then he said it worse when interviewed by journalists following up after Radio-Canada broke the story early this week, attempting to delineate the values Muslim home-buyers might be seeking in a community which at the moment exists only in Wardas imagination.
You dont drive drunk on the street, he told the National Post. If you want to drink alcohol, you drink it in your house.
Which hardly applies only to Muslims since driving inebriated is contrary to the law of the land.
He added, however, that while Muslim women might choose to wear a hijab or not, they would be expected to dress demurely, avoid walking around publicly in revealing clothing. As many do, whether you or I like it. Or not. Whether you or I see a misogynist subtext there. Or not.
There must be some modesty in the way you dress, Warda was quoted in the Post story. We dont want women living there going half-naked down the streets. We dont like that. If they want to do that, let them go and live in downtown Montreal.
Warda, a personable fellow clearly overwhelmed by the backlash, was born a Christian in Egypt, immigrated to Canada in 1970 and converted to Islam in 1992. He regrets overtly associating conservative attitudes with a faith practiced by some 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, although thats certainly a quality whether religiously or culturally adhered to by many.
I presented my document to the Muslim community. Had I presented it to the non-Muslim community I would have said human values instead of Muslim values.
Yet that would have defeated the purpose since the buyer pitch expressly references Islamic halal financing. To many Muslims, interpretation of Sharia laws forbids engaging in usury which prevents them from securing mortgages and loans that charge interest, known in Arabic as Riba .
In fact, there are Islamic financing cooperatives in Canada now that have partnered with traditional brokerages, fully compliant with both Sharia and the regulatory framework, so that Muslims can obtain loans to purchase a home or start a business. Basically, the prospective home owner and financier agree to co-own a property or undertaking. As an example, the buyer would provide a 20 per cent down payment and pay a monthly amount for use of that property, similar to rent. Those payments would be put towards acquiring the financiers share of the property, eventually taking over the financiers entire share. The premium for those payments what goes to the bank or brokerage firm is considered a profit rather than interest.
Yes, Warda agrees, its really a matter of semantics. But eschewing Riba is crucial to many observant Muslims. Its what has prevented them from buying homes in Canada, rendering them life-long tenants.
Im an accountant. I see very clearly there is no difference. But not everybody does. In Islam, were talking about tradition. When you borrow money you have to give back the money and nothing more. So we have a lot of people in Canada that are not having conventional bank loans and buying houses and leaving something to their children. They give all their money to a landlord.
Of course its not the Islamic funding part that has so outraged critics, including Premier Philippe Couillard, who said from a climate conference in Morocco he would be worried about non-Muslims facing discrimination. Discrimination works in both directions, and so does inclusion. We are in favour of mixed housing for cultural communities and religious groups.
Sure, a diverse mish-mash would be best. Historically, though, thats not how putting down roots has worked; not in Montreal, not in Toronto, not in New York City or any other large metropolis where immigrants have settled by the masses.
In Canada, in truth, diversity is promoted at the expense of integration. Weve made a virtue of it. A pre-designed Muslim enclave, as long as its not an exclave, seems hardly an assault on commonweal senses.
Little Italy, Little India, Little Somalia, Chinatown, Greektown, Koreatown: Thriving cities are made up of vibrant ethnic neighborhoods, even if the original inhabitants have moved on, migrated outwards, leaving behind the essence of their presence, if only as a tourist flavouring. A second generation, more comfortable and confident as Canadians, pushes beyond the limits of a benign ghetto. Upward mobility has always been a strong motivating factor. And the cycle of renewal gentrifies districts so that what was once, say, blue-collar Cabbagetown, with its narrow row-houses and apron-sized front yards, is transformed into prime real estate for double-income professionals.
So why not a Muslim enclave, where the homes are yet to be built?
The answer, obviously, is that a common denominator based on faith and the broader spectrum of culture feels contrary to Canadian values, even more so in the distinct culture of Quebec which hammers francophone identity into its residents and which has flirted with the idea of banning religious symbols in the public work sphere.
In the letter of the law, segregation is verboten. Exclusivity of domicile cant be delineated along lines of religion or race, gender or sexual orientation. Yet gated communities and condo boards tacitly seal themselves off from encroachment of the un-welcome. So lets not pretend that realty segregation is non-existent in Canada.
I never intended to have a Muslim community, Warda claims, though this sounds disingenuous because it was Muslims who were clearly being addressed by the document. Upwards of 40 respondents have expressed interest, says Warda, who was scheduled to hold a meeting Friday evening at a Brossard mosque to see if his plan is viable. (The mosque is not involved in the endeavor.)
Whats wrong with Wardas proposal, really? Hes simply applying a different common denominator. That makes a lot of us queasy.
I should have said, listen, we want to have people with whom we can live in harmony. Then again, what is harmony? He laughs ruefully. When I decided who to approach, the hanging fruit was these people (Muslims).
Warda would be one of the property-buyers himself.
I figured if we were to buy as a group, a nice piece of land, and get pre-fabricated houses, I would be able to live somewhere where there are people that are my neighbors, that I have some kind of link to them. I know them for decades, I know their kids. People I can get old with. At least I would have people that know me; if I have a problem theyre there. If I stay where Im living now, I could die in my house and nobody would even know.
Its not a radical idea. Just more blunt than many can apparently tolerate while professing platitudes of multicultural virtue.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITICanada will give $54 million to Haiti over the next five years, including more than $2 million in immediate aid, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Friday.
The funding announcement came on the final day of Bibeaus three-day trip to the country, where she is seeing first-hand how Canadian aid money is being used in areas decimated last month by hurricane Matthew.
Most of the money will go toward long-term agricultural initiatives, but Bibeau says $2.65 million will be invested immediately to help those impacted by the disaster.
Part of that will go to the United Nations World Food Program, which is currently providing food to those left homeless.
And $1.4 million has also been earmarked for Haitian elections, which begin on Sunday after numerous disputes and delays.
Canada will help with voting logistics and provide independent observers.
Most of the money about $50 million has been set aside for developing long-term projects in the agriculture sector.
Its resilient agriculture: the idea is to get the best projects to face climate change, natural disasters, draught and floods, Bibeau said in an interview.
Bibeau told humanitarian organizations at a roundtable meeting on Thursday that the government will show preference to projects that put an emphasis on women and girls.
One representative at the table suggested adding disabled people to that list, but Bibeau said shes starting from the premise that empowering women including financially will help to better serve other groups as a result.
The federal government is in the process of completing the review of its international aid policy, which will be presented early next year.
I can already tell you that women and girls will be at the heart of all our priorities, Bibeau said.
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A reliable Canadian reflex ensures that whenever something big and surprising happens in the United States, somebody here will decide its the fault of Canadas political leaders.
The most extraordinary demonstration of this reflex happened in the days after 9/11. Nine days after the attacks, Tony Blair sat next to Laura Bush as then-president George W. Bush spoke to a joint session of Congress. The National Post, where I then worked, moved immediately to DEFCON 1. Why was their guy sitting next to the presidents wife? Where was our guy? What had he good God, what had we done wrong?
Articles of indictment were drawn up. Jean Chretien had taken too long to speak to reporters after the attacks. He had waited until Monday, six full days, to convene Parliament; Blair had convened his in three. Chretien took too long to visit Ground Zero, preferring to leave the site to rescue workers until a public backlash forced him to visit the rubble pile.
When Canadian soldiers arrived in Afghanistan wearing forest camouflage designed for European theatres of operation where Canadians had been stationed for two generations, there was more outrage. And when, a year and a half later, Chretien declined to participate in the Iraq invasion, even some Liberals were terrified that hed made the wrong call.
Even Stephen Harper got some of the same guff whenever surprises gusted up from the south. The Wall Street banking collapse endangered his re-election in 2008, and nearly finished him off five weeks after that election, when the opposition parties decided he was not reacting nimbly enough to events none of them had foreseen either.
And when Americans elected Barack Obama, Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson wrote Open And Shut, a quick book lamenting the contrast between their leader and ours. Ottawa is in the midst of a crisis of competence, he wrote. The political class is a wraith of its former self.
Somehow in all this garment-rending, the answer that would be obvious to an observer in, say, Dublin or Buenos Aires that these events have nothing to do with Canada and cast no judgment on its leaders worth never gets aired in Toronto or Ottawa.
And now its happening again. Donald Trump won, so Justin Trudeau is too weak, inexperienced, naive or wrong-headed to be trusted with government. This is hardly the majority view, but then its still early days yet. Here at the vanguard is Kevin OLeary: My imagery of that, Donald Trump versus Trudeau, is Godzilla versus Bambi, the reality-show businessman told BNN.
Derek Burney, who used to be Brian Mulroneys chief of staff, said naive would be a polite word for Trudeaus decision to say, immediately after Trumps election, that he would be willing to discuss changes to NAFTA with a President Trump.
Well, in that case, heres to naive leaders. Trumps fallback plan is to abrogate NAFTA, which would be a short road to chaos in Canada-U.S. relations. Discussing changes might be the best way to keep the pin in that particular grenade, which may explain why Susan Schwab, who was Bushs trade representative, told a Washington audience this week that Trudeaus remark on NAFTA was a very, very clever response.
Before deciding Trump will fleece Trudeau in bilateral talks, prognosticators would do well to wait until everyone knows what Trump plans to ask, or demand, or threaten. For greater certainty, they should then wait a little longer to ascertain whether Trump will contradict himself a day later.
The president-elect has proven himself more than capable of debating every side of most major questions. Waiting for his foreign policy is like waiting for a flipped coin to land. And talking to him which is to say, putting ideas into his head may be the best way to influence his decisions. It is, notoriously, the tactic employed by those members of his campaign team who survived until election day and are spending the week holed up with him at Trump Tower.
It is true that Trump is more predictable on some issues than others. He is likely to cut corporate taxes, reducing or eliminating a Canadian tax advantage in that field. But corporate taxation isnt the only basis for investment decisions. Ability to attract talent matters, too, and on that score Trump is perfectly capable of balancing one move that helps his economy with 20 that hurt it.
While we wait for the Trump coin to land, a little sang-froid would be in order, if out of character. The Americans have made their decision. They will be years finding out what it means. It doesnt always have to be about us.
Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
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MONTREALThe developer behind a controversial proposal to build a Muslim housing community on Montreals south shore has temporarily put his plans on hold.
Nabil Warda said hes not giving up on the idea, but decided to postpone a presentation to the local Islamic community centre in Brossard scheduled for Friday evening.
He said he put off the meeting because of the backlash hes faced this week over his plan to build dozens of homes near the community.
My plan is to make a project that is acceptable, legally and socially, when the people are ready to accept it, he said.
He said his proposal was misinterpreted as a Muslim ghetto although he had never intended to limit membership to any one group.
Right now, we are just letting things calm down and waiting for the time people will use their brains more than their emotions, he said.
The plan drew widespread criticism this week, with Premier Philippe Couillard weighing in that the concept of segregated neighbourhoods runs counter to Quebec values of diversity and inclusiveness.
A spokesman for the Islamic Community Centre based in Brossard, Que., said it wasnt associated with Wardas project.
The centre published a statement on its website saying it did not wish to be linked to development projects that are not initiated or approved by ICC or its management.
We promote full integration within Quebec society and we are proud Quebecers and Canadians, the statement read.
Warda, an accountant, said his proposed development would be open to all qualified buyers, regardless of colour, race and religion.
His primary goal with the project is to help Muslim families who couldnt otherwise buy homes because their beliefs prevent them from paying interest.
We are second-class citizens money-wise, he said. It is unfair that because people have religious beliefs, they cannot have access to real estate.
Hes hoping to show theres enough demand to convince banks to offer what he calls Islamic financing, where the principal and interest are presented as one lump sum.
More on thestar.com:
Montreals proposed Muslim community not so different from other ethnic enclaves: DiManno
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Police are investigating after a man was found with multiple gunshot wounds at a Toronto gas station.
Police responded to the call at around 8:30 p.m. near Jane St. and Falstaff Ave. on Thursday night. The victim was transported to hospital in serious condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, paramedics said.
It is not yet clear where the shooting took place, or how the victim ended up at the gas station, police said.
There is no suspect information at this time.
Its the second shooting in the area tonight. Police rushed a shooting victim to hospital at 6:20 p.m. near the intersection of Weston Rd. and Lawrence Ave. W. He was in serious but non-life threatening condition according to police.
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Toronto police have issued a warrant for a third suspect in the killing of Julian Jones, a Baltimore man beaten to death in Little Italy.
Andrew Christopher OBrien, 28, of Toronto, is wanted for second-degree murder, said homicide Det. Rob North at a press conference Friday.
If you are watching this, I urge you to contact a lawyer and or turn yourself in to the nearest police station wherever that may be, said North, addressing OBrien.
The detective added that anyone helping OBrien evade police could face legal trouble as well.
Jones was in Toronto for a friends bachelor party when, in the early hours of Nov. 5, he was punched, kicked and stomped on outside Blnd Tger bar on College St. near Bathurst St.
Officers say there was already an altercation going on outside Blnd Tgr when Jones and his friends left the bar around 2:20 a.m.
Jones got separated from his group in the fray. Then, police say, seven to nine men approached him. Two of those men attacked Jones, who then died en route to hospital.
North said the attack was unprovoked.
On Nov. 9, Toronto police charged Toronto men Kamari Folkes, 24, and Kenneth Omorogbe, 25, with second-degree murder.
North did not release a photo or a description of OBrien, and urged media not to publish any photos they find of the suspect, as they might compromise some investigative avenues.
North said he and another officer are scheduled to fly to Baltimore next week to interview Joness friends who witnessed the attack and meet with his family.
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A stolen van with 16 dogs inside was found Friday night with all of the canines still inside, nine hours after it was stolen, Toronto police said.
All dogs are accounted for and in good health, said Const. Craig Brister of the Toronto Police Service. The van was found in a parking lot at 200 Queens Quay E.
The animals were in a van owned by Soulmutts, a local dog daycare company. The dog walker had left it briefly outside a condo building at 215 Fort York Blvd. at around 11 a.m. to run upstairs and pick up a dog; during that time a man broke into the vehicle, climbed in and took off.
He was in there for a minute, minute and a half, and when he came back the van was gone, said Soulmutts co-owner Alison Fodero. It happened in a flash.
Dogs reunited with owners after missing van found
Joe Farrugia, a railway worker whos employed nearby, said he saw the van and heard dogs barking on his way in to the office, but didnt initially think anything of it. Then, a co-worker told him about the theft as they chatted before starting their shifts.
We came over and had a look, and the next thing you know, the dogs are in there, Farrugia said.
And so it was a happy scene on Queens Quay as owners came to pick up their beloved pets, with an abundance of wagging tails and smiling humans crowding the area around the van.
Amy Morse, who owns a six-year-old rescue dog named Lily, said she was relieved that the long, terrifying day was over.
She does smell really bad, but I would take that over never smelling her again, Morse said.
Lindsey Peacock said she was overjoyed to have her 18-month-old husky, Charlie, back in her arms.
You better believe were going to spoil him rotten, even more so than we do already, she said.
The other owner of Soulmutt, Jake Steinman, said he was grateful that whoever stole the van appeared to have listened to pleas to leave it running, ensuring that its climate-control functions would keep the animals warm.
At the end of the day, were angry at this person, but the most important thing is that the dogs are safe right now, Steinman said.
Earlier in the day, owners had been frantic as the people across Toronto joined the search for the missing dogs.
Camilla De Cesare said she was hysterical when she found out her two dogs, Lupo and Panda, were among the 16 missing dogs.
I just really want them to be OK, she said, breaking into tears. I mean my one dog, hes such a princess. He cant survive anything. My other dog is a tank, like he can survive for a couple days.
Dog parents were gathered at the condo Friday to comfort each other as they waited for their dogs to be found.
Were all pretty panicked and shocked so we came down to try and help out, said Adam Woodhouse, Charlies co-owner.
I am devastated, just devastated, Sheila OToole. She was returning from her lunch break Friday when she received the news that Agnes, her 8-year-old Jatzu (half Japanese Chin, half Shih Tzu), was one of the pets taken.
I had to read the email five times. I broke down, she said. Shes a family member. Shes my soulmate.
Among the dogs taken in the van was Simba the Shiba Inu, popular on Instagram with more than 17,500 followers. His owner Stas Dimos, who had just signed his dog up for the service two weeks ago, drove around the area all afternoon hoping to find his companion.
I just want him back, he said.
On Friday night Brister said there was no new information on the suspect who stole the van; he was earlier described the suspect as a blond male, white, six feet tall and around 200 pounds, carrying a pink bag. Fodero said she was told that police dont believe that the van was targeted.
In the end, many dog owners were simply overjoyed that they could go to bed with their beloved pets back at home. Emily Johnston, whose pug, Charlotte, was among the missing pups, said she was grateful to everyone who helped with the search.
This is a testament to how great the human spirit is, said Johnston, bursting into tears. It just warms my heart hearing that so many people care that dont know each other.
Meanwhile, Fodero said Soulmutt plans to place iPads in their vehicles starting Monday, so that staff can use Find my iPhone to track them, should a similar situation ever arise again.
Soulmutts vans, the owners say, have two keys one for the driver to keep at all times and another to leave in the ignition, so the climate-control systems are running at all times. Though the vehicles are always locked, Fodero said Soulmutt and other similar companies are now rethinking their security measures.
Something like this happens and it really makes you think, she said.
We really, really just want our dogs to be safe. Thats happened now, so we can exhale. I really hope they find who did this, because this was a really terrible thing.
With files from Azzura Lalani and Evelyn Kwong
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Mayor John Tory is not surprised by a rash of racist and xenophobic incidents but says it shows city hall and Torontonians must step up efforts to confront hate.
Im not surprised because I see such (racist) comments on the internet, Tory said from Jerusalem where he is on a weeklong technology trade trip to Israel and the West Bank.
We pride ourselves on the fact that that sort of thing doesnt go on, and wont go, on but it does.
Its aberrant behavior, its totally out of place in Toronto, and theres virtually no one who accepts it having any place at all. But weve got to make sure people know its partly their responsibility, not just a government responsibility, to show there is no place for that.
On Monday signs targeting white people sick of being blamed for all the worlds problems were discovered in East York. Later that day video emerged of a man using violent and racially-charged language on a streetcar, prompting other riders to challenge him and move between him and a dark-skinned passenger.
A surge of racial incidents has been reported in the U.S. since voters chose Donald Trump to be their next president.
Tory pointed, as one anti-racism tool, to the recent launch of an ad campaign by the City of Toronto and Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, challenging viewers assumptions based on skin colour.
The mayor said the recent incidents have him thinking of other ways the city and its residents can redouble their efforts. He called TTC riders confronting racist behaviour commendable but added you have to be careful how you do that.
Were doing well but we have a lot of work to do on anti-black racism and other kinds of hate, Tory said.
Thats what the poster campaign has been about. We cannot put down our guards for one minute because the minute you do, those lonely people sitting in basements drawing up those posters, they start to win.
They are not going to win in our city because there are too many people determined to make sure they dont, starting with the mayor.
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A Justice who claimed to have suffered sleepless nights while considering a York Regional Police officers evidence, finally decided to reject it entirely, finding him guilty of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old student in the back of his cruiser.
Police Const. Young Min von Seefried was convicted Thursday at the Newmarket courthouse, a judgment that could carry a sentence of 18 months in jail.
The 34-year-old married father-of-two listened quietly as Justice Marquis Felix read out a lengthy judgment calling into question practically every portion of Const. von Seefrieds defence, calling parts flimsy, truly bizarre and nonsensical.
The January 2015 incident began after Const. von Seefried was patrolling Markham streets near Woodbine Avenue and Yorktech Drive.
At about 4:30 a.m., after noticing a Mercedes Benz that was a different colour than the one listed on the vehicles registration Const. von Seefried said he pulled the car over. He said after approaching the car and questioning both the driver and the passenger, he grew concerned over what he perceived to be prostitution, alcohol and domestic issues. In light of this, he claimed to escort the passenger to his cruiser to ensure she was in the mans car of her own free will.
Once there, the complainant said Const. von Seefried began kissing the Chinese foreign exchange student. She further noted that he placed his hand up her top grabbing her breast, before placing his hand down her shorts fondling her and then placing her hand on his erect penis, asking her to taste it. Const. von Seefried denied all of this, but did admit to writing her phone number down in his notebook before calling her twice, thirty minutes later and leaving a voicemail.
Justice Felix rejected Const. von Seefrieds explanation that he called the girl later that morning to make sure she was OK, claiming his defence smacks of after-the-fact justification.
Justice Felix also criticized the Toronto Police Sgt. who took the complainants statement, explaining he was extremely concerned that the officer not only interviewed the complainant in the same room as her boyfriend, but also suggested he showed serious neglect of basic fundamental procedures by failing to video or audio tape the interview. Felix called the failures unconscionable considering the complaint was about one of his fellow officers.
In summing up, Justice Felix said he was resolute in believing little of what Const. von Seefried said on the stand.
I reject almost all of the defences evidence, he said. Other than he was working Im hard pressed to give any credence to the remainder of the evidence."
Const. von Seefried will remain suspended with pay until the end of proceedings, according to police.
York Regional Police Chief Eric Jolliffe released a statement following the conviction, stating von Seefrieds actions do not reflect the other members of the service.
It is extremely disappointing to have one of our officers charged and convicted criminally, Jolliffe said. Let me be clear York Regional Police will not tolerate any behaviour that victimizes anyone in our community.
Correction- Nov. 18, 2016: This article was updated from a previous version that mistakenly said a York police officer had taken the complainants statement. In fact, it was a Toronto Police officer.
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Inflammatory speakers on university campuses in the past have prompted a protester to hurl a ceremonial mace at a presenter, have provoked mass protests and violence and have required mounted police to step in, even forced a presenter to don a bulletproof vest.
On Saturday, a forum featuring a controversial University of Toronto professor will join the grand tradition of debate-style showdowns the country has seen in the last few decades.
A university is supposed to be a place where there can be civil and respectful discussion of even the most highly controversial issues, said the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at U of T, David Cameron, to U of T News.
The university is hosting the forum to discuss Bill C-16 and the gender provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The event will pit Jordan Peterson, the U of T psychology professor who gained national attention for his refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns, against two other professors.
Its not the first time Canadian universities have considered the question of whether they should limit free speech, especially when the speech is hateful or controversial.
In 1985, during apartheid, Glen Babb, the South African ambassador to Canada, was invited by the University of Torontos law school to participate in a debate on whether international law applies to South Africas racial segregation policies.
Many people were outraged Babb was being given a platform to advocate for apartheid.
The debate pitted free-speech advocates against anti-hate speech advocates.
Four professors at the University of Toronto went to court to try to stop Babb from speaking, but the debate ultimately took place.
It ended abruptly after a teacher threw a ceremonial mace at Babb.
In 1986, Babb finally spoke at the university, but, as the Star reported at the time, he wore a bullet proof vest.
Mounted police were called to control the crowd of protesters outside.
In 1989, Philippe Rushton, a Western University professor took on Canadian environmentalist and geneticist David Suzuki in a televised debate, amid public outcry. Rushton was known for his controversial theories on race, intelligence and sexuality after publishing Race, Evolution and Behavior: A Life History Perspective.
The university defended him, giving him a platform to express his views even though many people called his work racist and unscientific.
In the debate, Suzuki discussed the necessity for academic freedom, but said research should justify this privilege.
I did not want to be here. I do not believe that we should dignify this man and his ideas in public debate, he said.
The academic community has a great role to ensure that all ideas, but especially those with enormous social ramifications, can withstand critical scrutiny.
Rushtons do not in a fundamental way.
Just last year, the controversial psychologist Mark Yarhouse, who believes sexual orientation may be changeable, spoke at Trinity Western Universitys Langley and Richmond campuses in British Columbia.
Trinity Western is a Christian university that requires students and staff members to pledge to abstain from sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.
Some students at the university expressed concerns, Guy Saffold, the special assistant to the president at Trinity Western told the Globe and Mail, but the talk went ahead as planned.
We want our university campuses to be safe places, but we dont want to sanitize the intellectual environment so that theres only one view, Saffold said.
On some occasions, debates involving controversial figures have been cancelled.
In 2006, Jared Taylor, an American who believes races have real differences, who edited a magazine preaching race realism, called American Renaissance, was to debate on racial diversity at Dalhousie University against the James R. Johnston chair of Black Canadian studies at the university, David Divine.
But Divine did some research on Taylor and ultimately reversed his decision.
We are a responsible institution, and, therefore, we have to decide very carefully when we put on presentations that we do not unnecessarily cause offence and compound the difficulties of individuals and communities who have been systematically discriminated against over centuries, Divine said to The Canadian Press.
Therefore, we will not provide a platform to individuals or organizations who espouse hate against particular groups.
A planned speech at the University of Ottawa by Ann Coulter, a right wing American pundit, was cancelled over safety concerns in 2010.
Angry demonstrations by about 2,000 people against Coulter, known for her abrasive and provocative statements, made ensuring security too difficult.
Prior to her planned speech, the provost of the University of Ottawa wrote her a letter advising her that promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges.
Coulter had spoken the day before at Western University.
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Its a given. Some people scorn libraries, presumably because they can buy their own books, thank you very much. Or they think reading is effete, or dull, or that they themselves cannot be improved upon.
When people cut library budgets as is being attempted by Mayor John Tory they crush the life chances of children with careless or unknowing parents, of students sneaking into libraries after being bullied for bookishness at school, of people who need the librarys computers to look for work, of new Canadians trying to learn English.
A library offers everything to everybody. As Star columnist Edward Keenan recently wrote of the Toronto public library boards refusal to give Tory the 2.6 per cent cut he wanted though he wants it from every department and may still get it it was a unanimous statement of defiance.
Some things can be cut. But transit needs a great deal more money. So do libraries. Not all city functions are equally necessary or similarly structured, despite what Tory says. Some are apples, some are oranges. Some are glass and laminate, some are cotton.
Yes, there are ways to cut library costs. The Stars Sara Mojtehedzadeh has described the same bloat of highly paid administrators in libraries that is seen in universities, where precarious adjunct professors teach on the cheap. In 1999 there were six library managers making $100,000 or more. By 2014, there were 63.
I dont want layoffs but certainly dont want branches across the city closed on weeknights, as had been proposed, or less work for an army of precarious part-time library workers.
And then I read a peculiar column by Matthew Lau in the Financial Post calling Torontos entire public library system by a Rob Ford name, gravy train.
Wheres the gravy? It claimed Torontos libraries were less efficient than those in other smaller cities and that in fact, libraries are totally unnecessary. Surely if they wished, anybody with an Internet connection can access an endless supply of virtually costless words.
How writers demean themselves.
The columnist himself had free library access at university but doesnt want it for the rest of us. He earned a commerce degree but wants lower taxes, which will cut higher education. He does not understand city planning, architecture, soft power, self-teaching, the publishing industry, encouraging student graduation or the existence of ethnic enclaves that would welcome more Canada via beautiful libraries.
Christopher Bird of Torontoist.com got wonderfully irate about this. He crunched Laus numbers and found they didnt make enough corn flakes to crust a tartlet. He said numbers were combined wrongly, that Toronto workers are paid more because it costs more to live here than, say, in London, Ont., and that Torontonians in fact use their libraries at a higher rate than do citizens in other cities and towns.
But this doesnt interest me as much as how anti-tax, anti-library, anti-union people like Lau end up sounding like the Ford brothers. Maybe Lau shouldnt have mentioned gravy.
I see status anxiety bubbling in the pot. Well-read people seem a threat, and the dread word elite always pops up, though thats weird in the case of Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch, who is highly educated and inarguably elitist. She must hate herself but appears not to.
Torontos libraries give power to the people. I have never understood why populists like the Fords wanted regular folks not to have a multiplicity of libraries, in the same way I wondered why they disliked even basic rules of public decorum. They sensed books and courtesy were considered desirable but had been raised to sneer at both. It is an uncomfortable position for an adult to be in.
But an adult has freedom to decide what he wants to be. Children do not.
The association between books for children and autonomy for children is very strong, wrote Francis Spufford in The Child that Books Built: A Memoir of Childhood and Reading.
Books are an escape for children who have difficult lives, as Spufford did. His sister was very ill; his parents were frantic, and for years it was distressing to see. He survived by immersing himself in reading so deeply that it became druglike.
The comedian Stephen Colbert endured the plane-crash death of his father and two of his 10 siblings by immersing himself in Dungeons and Dragons, in Tolkien, one place to distract him, another to hone his good brain.
British feminist Caitlin Moran, the eldest of eight children growing up poor in Wolverhampton its dire there was saved by libraries, but theyre now being closed across the nation.
A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life-raft and a festival, she has written. They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination. On a cold rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead.
I want more libraries, more hours open, computers and books, softer chairs, more childrens corners, more security guards and librarians. Any cut at all will be a kick in the teeth to the ambitious people of Toronto.
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If you live in one of Torontos priority neighbourhoods, you probably pay more for auto insurance.
At least, thats what the list of 10 most expensive and cheapest areas for car insurance in Toronto looks like at first blush.
Seven of the 10 neighbourhoods are Neighourbood Improvement Areas.
Meanwhile, more wealthy neighbourhoods like Casa Loma, Rosedale and Bridle Path have some of the cheapest premiums in town.
The list, which was published on Nov. 15 by Kanetix Ltd., found that, if you live in the north end of the city, whether its the east end or west end, chances are youre paying more for your insurance then those living in the citys centre and midtown.
Its the second annual list thats been published, based on data from the companys online InsuraMap tool, which compares premiums by postal code.
What are interesting are the differences between neighbourhoods, said Kanetix VP Janine White. Neighbourhoods with less-expensive premiums have good proximity to public transit, fewer drivers and fewer cars, which means there are fewer accidents and claims.
When you look at the most expensive areas, its the opposite.
Malvern, Rouge and Glenfeld-Jane Heights snagged the top three most-expensive spots on the list ($2,595), while Palmerson-Little Italy, Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-Junction and Forest Hill North, have the least expensive premiums ($1,640).
White also confirmed that, on average, the top five most expensive neighbourhoods have rates that increased by $110 since last year.
The data also found that Toronto insurance rates as a whole are about 30 per cent higher than the provincial average ($1,448), with Toronto drivers paying approximately $448 more for their premiums.
Its a numbers game, explained Pete Karageorgos, director of consumer and industry relations of Ontario with the Insurance Bureau of Canada.
If those postal codes are reporting more claims, and the claims are more expensive than average, the payout will be higher, he said.
Generally, insurers measure claims per 100 vehicles, Karageorgos said. The provincial average is 9.3 claims for 100 vehicles, but a couple of those postal codes had 12 or 13 claims per 100 vehicles, said Karageorgos.
And you have to look not just at frequency but also severity: how expensive are the claims people are having? The provincial average is $11,500, while the city average is $14,000. So claims in the City of Toronto are more expensive.
Kanetix noted that two of Torontos most expensive neighbourhoods for car insurance happen to contain intersections with some of the highest collision rates in the city.
The number of incidents on Islington Ave. at Albion Road, and Sheppard Ave. at Morningside Road may contribute to higher insurance rates in these specific neighbourhoods.
But is it problematic that so many of Torontos Neighbourhood Improvement Areas are getting dinged by higher insurance rates?
John Furr, a housing consultant, knows all about the insurance rate yo-yo. He used to live in M1B, the most expensive neighbourhood for car insurance, and said his premium went up by almost $1,000 when he moved there from Ajax.
We were shortening our commute significantly, but the rates still shot up, he said. When he checked his current rate against his previous rate, he said it was 30 per cent more. It was disturbing.
Furr contends that people in these areas are also really getting hammered by rates because transit is undermined deliberately. So there is no choice but to drive on high-risk roads to get to work, and then be hit with insurance.
Malvern, at the north east end of Toronto, has already been stigmatized by high crime rates and social segregation, earning its Priority Neighbourhood Area status in 2005. The city found that 21 per cent of its 45,096 residents are low-income, and 11.3 per cent are on social assistance.
The Kanetix snapshot doesnt paint the entire picture, Karageorgos cautioned: Its not only about how often your neighbours are crashing. The type of vehicle you drive and your driving record can also contribute to higher insurance rates.
People often ask how they can find ways to pay for the risk they present, rather than paying into the pool, he said. At the end of the day, shop around. Its a competitive market out there.
Take 10 minutes once a year to make sure youve got the best insurance policy, White agreed. Its always good to see whats happening around you 50 per cent of us auto-renew our policies without changing anything.
Kanetix also recommended a few other ways to try and save: Bundling auto insurance with home insurance, checking with your employer for discounts, or paying for premiums annually in one lump sum to avoid administration costs each month.
Furr says he also has concerns about insurance fraud falsely inflating prices, and doesnt understand why the provincial government cant step in to help. Ive reached the point where Im ready to (get) rid of my car and drive a little moped.
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GRIMSBY, ONT.Sam Oosterhoff just became one of Ontarios highest paid teenagers, winning a Niagara byelection and an MPPs salary of $116,500 plus a taxpayer-funded pad in Toronto.
The 19-year-old Progressive Conservative kept the wine-country riding in Tory hands while civil rights lawyer Nathalie Des Rosiers held Ottawa-Vanier for Premier Kathleen Wynnes Liberals in Thursdays other byelection.
To the relief of the Liberals, Des Rosiers easily defeated outspoken former Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin, a star candidate for the Conservatives.
Marin who was ombudsman for 11 years and is currently suing the legislature because his contract ended is the first Tory candidate to lose a byelection since Patrick Brown took the leaders job last year.
I am absolutely thrilled that Nathalie Des Rosiers is going to be joining us at Queens Park, an elated Wynne told more than 250 cheering Liberals at a packed Knights of Columbus hall.
The premiers political future might have been imperiled if the Grits had lost a riding they have held since 1971.
With Liberals gathering in Ottawa Friday for their annual general meeting, there would have been questions about her leadership this weekend. But Des Rosiers win means Wynne has dodged a bullet.
Oosterhoff, a home-schooled social conservative on hiatus from first-year political science studies at Brock University, will become the youngest MPP in Ontario history. He lives with his parents.
Brown hailed him for an impressive victory in a fight against soaring hydro rates and downplayed the loss in Ottawa-Vanier, which he dismissed as a Liberal fortress.
Oosterhoff said it was a humbling experience.
Its a great responsibility thats been placed on me, said Oosterhoff, who increased his partys share of the vote in the race that saw the Liberals fall to third place and the NDP vaulting to second.
The young MPP evaded questions on whether he believes homosexuality is a sin and whether he will support Bill 28, which will make it easier for lesbian and gay parents to have children and which Brown has said the Tories support.
I believe we need to treat everyone with dignity and respect, the teen said. I reach out to all communities.
The results do not change the standings in the 107-seat legislature, where Wynne enjoys a slim majority with 58 seats including Speaker Dave Levac to 29 Conservatives and 20 New Democrats.
Thursdays byelections came with the Liberals struggling in recent polls behind the Conservatives and a province-wide election looming in June 2018.
The Tories and Andrea Horwaths NDP used the races to hammer the government over skyrocketing hydro bills and scandals, including recent Elections Act charges against former Wynne deputy chief of staff Patricia Sorbara in last years Sudbury byelection.
Wynne insisted she is paying closer attention to pocketbook issues, waiving the 8 per cent provincial portion of the HST on electricity bills starting in January, among other measures.
Oosterhoff replaces former PC leader Tim Hudak in a riding that stretches from Hamilton to St. Catharines. Des Rosiers inherits a suburban Ottawa seat previously held by cabinet minister Madeleine Meilleur.
Both Hudak and Meilleur left politics earlier this year.
I know I have huge, big red shoes to fill, Des Rosiers said of her predecessor, a beloved figure in Vanier.
Oosterhoffs surprise nomination as the Tory candidate facing Liberal family lawyer Vicky Ringuette, 37 and retired policeman Mike Thomas, 61, of the NDP created challenges for Brown on two fronts.
With support from parishioners at his church, the teen beat Browns close friend, PC party president and former St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, for the job.
The third-place NDP candidate in Ottawa-Vanier was retired civil servant Claude Bisson, brother of New Democrat House leader Gilles Bisson at Queens Park.
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WASHINGTONOne of the first big fights of Donald Trumps presidency will be about what to do with people like Oliverio Cortes, whose future he could crush in a single second.
One little signature, Cortes said Wednesday. One little signature could just destroy me.
Cortes wakes up at five a.m., six days a week, to drive his parents to the life he thought until last Tuesday he had managed to avoid: picking tomatoes under the hot Florida sun. They are illegal immigrants.
Through no fault of his own he is one, too. But he has opportunities. At least for another couple of months.
Cortes, 20, was brought to America from Mexico as a one-year-old child. As a DREAMer, someone who arrived illegally before his 16th birthday, he was able to enrol in a Barack Obama program that protects him from deportation and gives him a renewable two-year work permit.
Seeing possibility, he became the first person in his family to graduate high school. He was able to obtain a drivers licence and a good casino job. He bought a car. And he enrolled in cosmetology school, a first step toward his goal of a career as a beauty products entrepreneur.
Trump has vowed to immediately scrap the Obama program, a unilateral executive action he and other conservatives say is both unconstitutional and an inappropriate reward for bad behaviour. He can do so, if he wants to, on his first day in office.
As with any law enforcement activity, we will set priorities. But, unlike this administration, no one will be immune or exempt from enforcement, Trump said in August. Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country.
A cancellation of the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), would please the anti-illegal-immigration voters who helped propel Trumps unlikely rise. But it would pose a real risk to Trump as well, testing the extent to which he can sell a zero-tolerance stand against sympathetic people whom polls suggest most voters think should be put on a path to citizenship.
Of Americas 11 million illegal immigrants, DREAMers are easiest for white citizens to feel bad for: young, morally innocent, fluent in English, often well-educated. And they are savvy and aggressive, having honed their persuasion skills in relentlessly lobbying Obama.
We pressured someone that was in the White House that called himself an ally. Imagine what were going to do with someone that has said so many things about our community, said Liz Magallanes, 22, a legal assistant and activist in Texas.
Were not just going to let anybody take our privilege, what we have achieved, away from us. Its that simple. Of course there will be a fight. And Im down for a fight. Down to protect me and all of us, said Carlos Esteban Arellano, 30, a nursing student in Virginia.
Frank Sharry, a leading pro-immigrant reform advocate, believes it is a fight they will probably lose.
The early signs, Sharry said, are unpromising. Among the names being floated for top positions in the Trump administration are two of the countrys most unyielding immigration hard-liners, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
I dont think our chances are very good of winning it, Sharry said. He added: I think most of us would expect him to throw red meat to his nativist base, and this is going to be one of those ways to do it.
Sharry, executive director of Americas Voice, said the coming battle might involve everything up to widespread civil disobedience and, if need be, law-breaking. He said he expects citizens to literally put themselves in between DREAMers and federal agents trying to apprehend them, some companies to declare they will continue to employ DREAMers, some cities to declare themselves no-apprehension zones.
I think the opposition is going to be increasingly militant, Sharry said. The idea of taking 750,000 kids who are American in all but paperwork and putting them at risk of deportation and taking them out of jobs is just so radical, and if he does it, itll be incredibly unpopular. And I think it will stir a kind of resistance that you dont normally see in American politics.
Obama urged Trump on Monday to think long and hard before they (endanger) the status of what for all practical purposes are American kids. He dismissed a Thursday request from a group of House Democrats from California to grant pardons to DREAMers; only Congress can create legal status for undocumented individuals, a White House official said.
The DREAMers, named for the unsuccessful DREAM Act, say they still think they can change the mind of a president-elect prone to policy waffling. Magallanes said they might have success focusing on the economic harm of a reversal. But they will spend much of their energy on securing protection from the local and university leaders who appear more inclined to help.
We will be calling on local elected officials, including mayors and governors, to support us in building sanctuaries and safe spaces for undocumented immigrants and refugees, said Karla Perez, 24, a DREAMer, law student and activist in Houston.
It is a bitter irony that their participation in an initiative meant to keep them safe may now make it easier for Trump to deport them. To sign up for DACA, the DREAMers had to provide their fingerprints and addresses to the Obama administration. No law prevents Trump from using the information to track them down.
The end of the program would not necessarily mean deportation. Even if DREAMers were allowed to stay, though, they would be forced back into a fearful existence of under-the-table cash labour, professional paths closed again.
If everything goes away, its just heartbreaking, honestly, Cortes said, becoming emotional. Its just so confusing. I worked super hard for everything I have. I hope and I pray that everything is not going to be taken away from me.
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As he watched the news of the presidential election in the last week, Kory Duquette became increasingly agitated. Pundits were blaming a whitelash for Donald Trumps win and called it a massive exercise of angry white ballot power.
Civil rights groups said the president-elects victory has inspired dozens of attacks on black people, Latinos and Muslims by people who shared Trumps suspicions about immigrants. Commentators said that in his quest for a win, Trump pandered to Americas darkest racist impulses.
Duquette, a 37-year-old Trump supporter from Alabama, was ready to fight back.
#Whiteshaming doesnt work anymore! you label me? you wonder why Trump won? Duquette, who is white, posted this week on Twitter. Tired of being classified with untruths.
Duquette voted for President Barack Obama eight years ago and would never call himself a racist. Like many Americans, he was sold on Trumps promises to create jobs and fight terrorism. But there was also something else that attracted him.
Trump has eliminated that uncomfortable feeling of being afraid to speak your mind as a white man, said the 37-year-old prison guard. There is nothing wrong with being white.
Much has been said about the rise of white nationalists who have felt emboldened by Trump and his association with people and groups known to espouse anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic views.
One of the more widespread effects of the Nov. 8 election may be the emergence of a broad array of everyday Americans who insist theyre not white nationalists but say the president-elect has made them more comfortable in their white skin.
In an era of duelling black lives matter and all lives matter campaigns and regular debates over free speech and political correctness, Duquette, who says he has heard the phrase white privilege one too many times, said he now feels vindicated.
We were, I felt, backed into a corner and . . . told, You white people had your day, its our turn now, he said this week from his home in Arab, Ala. I feel Trump broke that P.C. barrier . . . made me feel comfortable again to speak out.
Trumps election has thrust race even more squarely into the simmering national debate over justice and American identity.
Protesters have blocked streets in dozens of cities over a vote they see as affirming racism and xenophobia.
There has been widespread alarm over a wave of hate incidents directed at minorities across the country, the largest number seen since the period after Obamas election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some Trump supporters have been beaten in public as well.
This week, the mayor of Clay, W.Va., resigned after praising a friends Facebook comment that called first lady Michelle Obama an ape in heels and celebrated her imminent departure from the White House.
In Wells, N.Y., graffiti was painted on a dugout wall featuring a swastika and the words, Make America White Again.
At a Starbucks in Miami, a white customer began yelling, Trump! Trump at a black barista, declaring he was the victim of white discrimination.
At New York University, students found Trumps name written on the door to a Muslim prayer room on campus.
The Ku Klux Klan announced it would hold a Trump victory parade in North Carolina next month.
One of the catalysts for controversy has been Trumps naming of Breitbart News executive chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, as a senior adviser. Bannon once called his website the platform of the alt-right, a movement broadly associated with white nationalism.
He has been accused of making anti-Asian and anti-Semitic remarks, and both critics and supporters say his influence will allow his self-described virulently anti-establishment ideas about women, gays and others to permeate the next U.S. administration.
Since the election, Bannon has said he doesnt agree with ethno-nationalist parts of the alt-right, though critics say that such views are a central part of the movement.
Already, there are signs that many of those on the fringes of U.S. conservatism are angling to position themselves closer to the centres of power.
Richard Spencer, the chairman of a small alt-right policy institute in Montana who has spoken about peaceful ethnic cleansing and a proxy war on immigration, is now scouting for office space in Washington.
Trumps win was white Americans of all classes revolting against political correctness, said Spencer, whose National Policy Institute has been described by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group.
Whites are expressing a desire for identity politics, or at least the beginning of it, he said.
Spencer has long argued that politicians and the media have falsely convinced whites they should feel guilty while encouraging racial pride among blacks, Asians and Latinos.
Few listened. Then Donald Trump began to rise.
There is no way he doesnt know of us, said Spencer, whose group, now housed in home offices, plans to host a conference Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
Already, there is pushback. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended five accounts that Spencer used with about 100,000 followers in total as well as those of dozens of other alt-right handles.
Sociologists and hate speech experts say white nationalism and white identity politics are vastly different and dont necessarily bleed into each other; instead, they fall on a spectrum.
Some of todays debates hark back to lawsuits and protests in previous years over such issues as university affirmative action admissions policies. Even then, many Americans were arguing that whites had suffered under policies meant to correct long-standing racial disparities.
No one in those cases was advocating a return to segregation, said Thomas Maine, a professor at the City University of New York who is writing a book on the alt-right movement.
The alt-right has a hardcore, and then it has a population manifestation, said Maine. People have embraced the idea that Americans need to take hold of their racial identity. If we do that, if we are more radical about it than we have been before, this will bring us out of our funk.
Duquette, the Alabama corrections officer, said he could support that idea.
I should be out and be able to say Im a proud white man, he said. But those low-lifes that have taken a hold of that phrase like the Klan have it so we have to walk on eggshells.
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WASHINGTONThe Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming.
A five-year offshore drilling plan announced on Friday blocks the planned sale of new oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. The plan allows drilling to go forward in Alaskas Cook Inlet southwest of Anchorage.
The blueprint for drilling from 2017 to 2022 can be rewritten by President-elect Donald Trump, in a process that could take months or years.
Besides Cook Inlet, the plan also allows drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, long the centre of U.S. offshore oil production. Ten of the 11 lease sales proposed in the five-year plan are in the Gulf, mostly off the coasts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.
Confirming a decision announced this spring, the five-year plan also bars drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
The plan focuses lease sales in the best placesthose with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict and established infrastructureand removes regions that are simply not right to lease, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industrys declining interest in the area, forgoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward, Jewell said.
Industry representatives reacted bitterly, calling the decision political and not supported by the facts.
The arrogance of the decision is unfathomable, but unfortunately not surprising, said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group.
Once again, we see the attitude that Washington knows best an attitude that contributed to last weeks election results, Luthi said, referring to Trumps victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
More than 70 per cent of Alaskans, including a majority of Alaska Natives, support offshore drilling, Luthi said.
The states three Republican members of Congress also blasted the decision.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was infuriated that Obama has once again ignored our voices to side with the factions who oppose offshore drilling in Alaska.
Arctic development is one of the best ways to create jobs, generate revenues and refill the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, said Murkowski, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Why the president is willing to send all of those benefits overseas is beyond explanation.
Fellow Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan said the Obama administration was once again capitulating to the demands of extreme environmental groups over Alaskans and their fellow Americans who want good-paying jobs, energy independence and a strong economy.
For nearly eight years this administration has given lip service to an all of the above energy strategy, when their actions say the opposite, Sullivan said.
Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice-president of Oceana, an environmental group, hailed the announcement and praised Obama and Jewell for protecting our coasts from dirty and dangerous offshore drilling.
The announcement demonstrates a commitment to prioritizing common sense, economics and science ahead of industry favouritism and politics as usual, Savitz said.
Nearly 400 scientists signed a letter this summer urging Obama to eliminate the possibility of Arctic offshore drilling.
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MANILA, PHILIPPINESFormer Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried Friday at the countrys Heroes Cemetery in a secrecy-shrouded ceremony, a move approved by President Rodrigo Duterte that infuriated supporters of the people power revolt that ousted Marcos three decades ago.
Marcoss daughter, Imee, expressed relief after her fathers interment at the heavily guarded cemetery in metropolitan Manila, which she said fulfilled his last wish. Enraged pro-democracy activists, however, stressed the decades-long debate over the ex-presidents final resting place was far from over and protested across the metropolis.
Bonifacio Ilagan, a left-wing activist who was detained and tortured during Marcoss rule, said the dictator was buried like a thief in the night in a stealthy fashion similar to when he suddenly placed the country under martial rule. A lawmaker considered asking the Supreme Court to exhume the newly buried Marcos.
Its very much like when he declared martial law in 1972, Ilagan told The Associated Press. This is so Marcos style. I want to rush to the cemetery to protest this. I feel so enraged.
Marie Hilao Enriquez, a former political detainee whose sister, a fellow activist, was raped and killed by policemen, wept upon learning the news.
Marcos died in the arms of his family but many Marcos-era activists remain missing after being allegedly abducted by state forces, Enriquez said at a protest. We are still searching for the victims bodies, trying to find out where they buried the bodies.
Imee Marcos thanked those who were with us in hoping and praying for nearly three decades to see this day.
President Duterte, who gave the go-ahead for the burial, called for calm.
Hopefully, both sides will exercise maximum tolerance and come to terms with the burial, Dutertes spokesman, Ernesto Abella, quoted him as saying after the president landed in Peru, where he is attending a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Marcoss remains were flown by air force helicopter from his northern Ilocos Norte hometown for burial at the military-run cemetery in Manila.
Marcoss widow, Imelda, who was clad in black, and her children attended the simple ceremony along with dozens of relatives and friends.
After landing at an airbase, Marcoss remains were brought by a black limousine to the cemetery, where his flag-draped wooden coffin was placed on a caisson and later carried by military pallbearers to the gravesite, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said.
A 21-gun salute by military honour troops rang out during the burial ceremony.
We rendered the simplest of honours befitting the former president in compliance to the desire of the family, Padilla said.
Asked why the burial was kept from the public, Padilla said it was the Marcos familys desire to keep it private.
Still, the burial shocked many democracy advocates and human rights victims who had planned protests nationwide Friday against Marcoss interment at the cemetery, where former presidents, soldiers and national artists have been buried, unaware that funeral plans were already underway.
Burying someone accused of massive rights violations and plunder at the heroes cemetery has long been an emotional and divisive issue in the Philippines, where Marcos was ousted by a largely nonviolent army-backed uprising in 1986. At the height of the political turbulence, Marcos flew to Hawaii, where he lived with his wife and children until he died in 1989.
The powerful family has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Imelda Marcos and two of her children eventually ran for public office and won stunning political comebacks. One son, Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr., ran for vice-president earlier this year and lost by a slim margin.
In 1993, Marcoss body was taken to his hometown in Ilocos Norte, where it was displayed in a glass coffin and became a tourist attraction. But his family fought for his remains to be transferred to the heroes cemetery.
Duterte, who took over the presidency in June, backed Marcoss burial at the cemetery, saying it was his right as a president and soldier. It was a political risk in a country where democracy advocates celebrate Marcoss ouster each year.
About 2,000 protesters gathered late Friday at the site of the 1986 revolt that toppled Marcos. Some yelled, Marcos dictator, dig him up, dig him up.
Michaela Gotangco, a Catholic nun who stood in front of tanks with others to stop Marcoss forces from crushing that uprising, said the burial may herald a new era of political restiveness.
This is the start of many protests ... its a very painful event, Gotangco said.
Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed seven petitions, including from former torture victims, which argued that an honourable burial for the dictator was illegal and contrary to law, public policy, morals and justice.
Opponents planned to appeal the court decision within a 15-day period but were pre-empted by Fridays surprise burial. They said the Marcos family should be cited by the court for contempt.
The court ruled that Marcos was never convicted by final judgment of any offence involving moral turpitude, adding that the convictions cited by anti-Marcos petitioners were civil in nature.
While critics may reject Marcos as president due to his human rights abuses, the court said he cannot be denied the right to be acknowledged as a former legislator, a defence secretary, a military member, a war veteran and a Medal of Valour awardee.
While he was not all good, the 15-member court said, he was not pure evil either.
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Heres the scenario: Police believe there is evidence on your cellphone or computer that could assist them in a criminal investigation.
They ask that you provide your password or encryption key so they can search for clues.
Currently, there is no law compelling you to comply with that request.
But police in Canada, frustrated by evidence trails that lead to digital dead ends, are calling for a law that would make it a criminal offence to say no to a police officer carrying a judicial warrant.
Its an idea designed to accomplish through a legal order what police are increasingly unable to accomplish technologically getting inside digital devices containing what they believe is crucial evidence in criminal investigations.
Its a very radical proposal in Canadian law, said Micheal Vonn, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. It changes the basic nature of how we go about achieving the ends of criminal investigation, by compelling the person who is under investigation to participate in the investigation.
Many privacy advocates and even some in law enforcement call the idea an abuse of both privacy protections and the rights of Canadians against self-incrimination.
Police supporters counter that public safety and the ability of police to respond to serious crimes is already being dramatically eroded by disappearing evidence.
A Toronto Star/CBC investigation into police powers and privacy in the digital age has provided specific examples of police hitting digital brick walls.
Among 10 high priority RCMP case files reviewed by the Star and the CBC through unique access provided by the national police force is a current case involving a child alleging sexual assault by their father who recorded the abuse on his iPhone.
While charges have been laid based on the childs complaint, police have been unable to access the alleged video evidence that would be crucial to the prosecution, said RCMP Chief Superintendent Jeff Adam.
The phone, when we looked at it under lawful authority, is encrypted. And we cannot get the video recorded evidence of that assault . . . . There is no compulsion we can provide to that person to unlock that phone so we can get the evidence.
In this case, Adam says the public has an interest in giving police the option of going to a judge for an order to unlock the phone.
The penalty for that would be something that would have to be decided by the legislators and the people in the courts. However, it would have to be relatively significant . . . to compel somebody to unlock their phone for a serious offence.
Compelling that suspect or any Canadian to co-operate with police would breach protections in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms against self-incrimination and the right to remain silent, said Brenda McPhail, a director with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Do we undermine the fundamental structure of our justice system because its inconvenient to get information from someones device? she said.
Adam countered that Canada already has laws that compel Canadians to provide potentially self-incriminating information to police who have reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed.
The roadside breath sample test is one example in which Canadians have decided that the scourge of impaired driving is serious enough to empower police with extraordinary tools to compel evidence, he said.
Another example is DNA samples which can be demanded when an investigator has reasonable grounds to believe a crime was committed.
There are checks and balances on these, said Adam. It is scrutinized heavily by the courts. Every single time. This would be no different.
The CCLAs McPhail said legal decisions in the U.S. have drawn a distinction between evidence that is a product of the body such as a breath test and DNA and evidence that is a product of the mind.
The argument, which has also been used to a lesser extent in Canada, is if its a product of your body, compelling disclosure is not self-incrimination but if its a product of your mind, it is, said McPhail.
As a further complication, a growing number of digital devices can now be unlocked with fingerprints a product of the body.
Its complicated in that regard, said McPhail. But if we accept that products of the mind such as passwords should not be compelled because of protections against self-incrimination, then individuals would have the ability to choose between a password and a fingerprint when setting up their device.
The proposal of compelling passwords is contentious even within policing itself.
While RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is calling for and lobbying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for several police powers in the digital realm, he parts company with many of his law enforcement colleagues when it comes to compelling suspects to hand over their passwords.
I do know . . . the dangers of conscripted evidence, and the idea that the state is forcing one of its citizens to say or do anything. Thats at odds with how I understand what we do.
Canadians, meanwhile, are surprisingly open to the idea, based on a Toronto Star/CBC poll by Abacus Data that solicited the view of 2,500 people in October and November.
Nearly half agreed to the idea of police should have the ability to access personal devices. With the addition of a judges authorization, support jumped to 77 per cent.
Canadians should be careful what they wish for, said Chris Parsons, a technology and privacy researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto.
I am not a fan of providing encryption keys to any parties. I think we do have a right to privacy and our ability to self-secure our communications is important, he said. Individuals have lots of good reasons both personal and professional to not want to provider that information or strongly resist it.
Scott Tod, deputy chief of police in North Bay, said the technological sophistication of gathering evidence from digital devices is all the more challenging for small forces such as his.
Law enforcement today struggles with finding those tools and finding the resources to be able to get behind those personal firewalls that people put in on their access codes, he said. It is expensive and it is laborious. We dont have that sophistication.
Even those outside of policing say theyve seen suspects cloaked in digital secrecy increasingly outpacing the abilities of police to respond.
Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, and her staff collect a growing number of child exploitation complaints each month currently 4,000 through Cybertip.ca and pass them to police across the country and the world.
While we are providing police more information, they now have increased limitations to acting, she said. We need to strike a balance between respecting privacy rights and responding to specific circumstances where there is concern that children are being exploited and abused. When encryption interferes, we need to address this obstacle.
Political reaction to Police, Power and Privacy:
Liberal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale: (Police) are certainly concerned about the effect of new technology in an age accelerating digitization. Theyre concerned whether or not their legal tools are sufficient to cope with what they now have to deal with . . . . Others in the academic community, in the open media community, have put forward the contrary opinion. And thats what this consultation is intended to solicit, and we will have to weigh all of that carefully to make sure that in our response, we produce a position that is consistent with Canadians expectations.
NDP public safety critic Matthew Dube: I think that the conversation around encryption is far more complicated than just saying it will help us catch terrorists. I think theres very serious debate that needs to happen over that, and I think we have to be mindful that any loophole that we can create for what we feel is good, can also be exploited for the wrong reasons.
Conservative public safety critic Tony Clement: We have to be disciplined, as a society, to make sure that there is oversight . . . on the now huge ability of government security agencies in their ability to collect data and information that has never existed to this extent in the history of human kind. So, is the threat that we face great? Yes, it is. And thats why the security agencies are there, and thats why we need tools. But thats why we also need to have the oversight and to have the judicial sanction to before we start to abridge peoples rights.
How a $450 device cracked an iPhone pass code
A technological arms race is being a cat-and-mouse game featuring high-tech surveillance and countersurveillance tools.
A technological arms race is being quietly waged between tech-savvy criminals and cops.
Its a cat-and-mouse game featuring high-tech surveillance and countersurveillance tools that range from multimillion-dollar machines to consumer devices that sell online for a few hundred.
The Toronto Star/CBC investigation tested a small, $450 device sold online through a U.S. firm that caters to law enforcement.
Marty Musters, director of forensics at Computer Forensics Inc. in Toronto, purchased the made-in-China device on behalf of the news organizations and used it to crack the code on an iPhone 4S running Apples IOS 7 operating system.
Designed to exploit a security vulnerability in that older model phone which has since been fixed by the manufacturer the device is part of a growing marketplace of such technology.
In this case, the IP Box device conducted a brute force attack on the phone, sending a sequential set of four-digit pass codes to the device until stumbling on the right sequence (in this case, 0011).
Theres a vulnerability within it which allows you to continue to send pass codes, even though the phone is telling you it is disabled, says Musters, who has done digital forensics work for both police forces and, now, defence attorneys.
The IP Box he tested would not crack the pass codes of more recent model iPhones part of the constant race between privacy and access, he says.
The latest phone with the latest operating system, no, you cant get in. But generally speaking, 12- to 18-month-(old) phones, you can.
Critics say police have far more technologically advanced tools at their disposal for cracking encryption and pass codes when the stakes are high.
After a locked iPhone impeded an FBI investigation into a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino last December, investigators reportedly spent more than $1 million for a private forensics firm to force it open.
If its a terrorist-related activity, and there are many, many lives at stake, I would love the police to be able to do anything that they can, Musters argues. At the same time, Im not okay with that if its a lesser crime lets say a break and enter or some other lesser crime.
I think its depending on the severity of the crime. Wheres the threshold? And I dont know the answer to that. But thats the debate.
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Two things should be kept in mind about Donald Trump. First, the U.S. president-elect is not going away. Second, his critique of free trade and NATO is not entirely wrong.
If the polls are right, most Canadians find Trump repugnant. So do a majority of Americans. In his campaign for the presidency, he was a big-mouth and bully. He appealed to the worst instincts of the U.S. electorate. At times, his deliberately outrageous xenophobia veered into racism.
For these reasons, Trump critics hope desperately he cant last. They point to the disarray in his transition team. They highlight the significant policy differences between Trump and the Republican legislators who control Congress.
The Internet is chock-a-block with predictions that he will be impeached.
All of this is wishful thinking. Trump may choose at times to act the buffoon but he is not one. Nor is there anything in his history to suggest he will step back from governing and let experts run the shop.
Congressional Republicans may not like everything about him. But they will not lightly impeach the man who won them the White House.
Whats more, deal-maker Trump may be able to count on his political enemies. As the New York Times reported this week, Congressional Democrats plan to help Trump deliver on election promises that his fellow Republicans are likely to resist including spending billions for infrastructure, penalizing companies that move jobs abroad and making paid maternity leave mandatory.
So dont assume Trump wont last. Dont assume he wont be able to do much of what he promised. The White House press corps may be in a snit because Trump went out to dinner this week without telling them. I doubt he much cares.
The second thing to keep in mind about Trump is that parts of his critique are correct. Globalization and free trade including the North American Free Trade Agreement have left too many stranded.
Such deals dont account for everything that has gone wrong. But as the economy shifts increasingly toward precarious part-time work, they havent always helped either.
As intellectual-property expert Michael Geist wrote this week, the era of overarching trade and investment deals may be over. They are too complicated, too opaque and potentially too damaging.
New trade deals, he writes should be less ambitious and, instead of trying to unify disparate national regulatory regimes, focus on tariff reduction alone.
Heres one small example: According to press reports, Trump wants to reintroduce country-of-origin labelling to beef and pork imports from Canada. Ottawa is aghast, saying the move would penalize Canadian farmers.
But why shouldnt Americans (and Canadians, for that matter) know where their food comes from? As this newspaper has reported, many Canadians want to buy ketchup made from Ontario tomatoes. Why shouldnt the same courtesy be extended to those who eat meat?
Indeed, if Canadian beef and pork producers marketed their meat cannily, country-of-origin labelling could be an asset. Americans are willing to pay a premium for what they call Canadian (and we call peameal) bacon. Who knows what they might think about Canadian pork chops?
Finally, NATO. Trump is excoriated for daring to question the usefulness of the Atlantic alliance. But hes not the first. Its not that long since withdrawal from NATO was the official position of Canadas New Democratic Party.
NATO was set up in 1949 to confront the old Soviet Union. After the Cold War ended, it morphed into an organization with no clear purpose. It is now treated as a counterweight to Vladimir Putins Russia.
Is it? The alliance has refused NATO membership to former Soviet republic Ukraine, presumably because it doesnt want the obligation of defending that country in any conflict with Russia. It is already obligated to defend other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union, such as Estonia.
But is it realistic to think the U.S. and its allies (including Canada) would wage nuclear war against Russia over tiny Estonia? Its a question the Estonians ask themselves. It should come as no surprise that Trump is musing along similar lines.
Barack Obama, the current U.S. president, says Trump told him he wouldnt pull the U.S. out of NATO. And maybe he wont.
He may, however, try to rethink its long-term purpose. Thats not necessarily stupid.
Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Before entering politics, Conservative MP and party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch was a surgeon and professor at the University of Western Ontario. I spent some of the most formative years of my life as a medical student at Western where I studied for Leitchs exams and often passed her in the hallways.
Leitchs email following the U.S. presidential election hit me hard. At 3 a.m., just hours after TV networks declared Donald Trump President-elect, Leitch doubled down on his racist and xenophobic campaign in an email to her supporters.
Its an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well, she declared regarding Trumps victory. Its the message Im bringing with my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada ... Its why Im the only candidate who will ensure that every visitor, immigrant, and refugee will be screened for Canadian values.
As her former student, now a physician in Toronto, who also happens to be Muslim, this comes as a deeply personal betrayal.
My medical school classmates were a remarkably diverse collection of individuals. We studied, struggled, and celebrated together. Recalling those days, I wonder if Leitch saw us the same way we saw each other. Some of us were immigrants, others racialized and many spoke accented English. All of us have since embarked on careers of service and compassion.
Surveying the class as she lectured, did she think we all belonged? Did she think we shared her values, presumably the Canadian ones she has in mind? What does her campaign mean for those who think we dont have a place in Canada?
Lest we dismiss her dog-whistle politics as a fringe problem, Trumps exciting message that we need delivered in Canada has already unleashed a torrent of hate and intimidation.
At the University of Michigan, a Crime Alert was issued after a student was told to remove her hijab or be set on fire. In Los Angeles, a teacher taunted his Latino students, telling them their parents were going to be deported. In Indiana, a black women was told Trump is going to deport you back to Africa.
With many other incidents being reported, its amazing that a little more than a week has passed since Trumps victory and Leitchs endorsement.
Instead of using her medical instincts to heal wounds, Leitchs endorsement of Trump and co-option of his language is threatening to inflict fresh trauma.
I most recently crossed paths with Leitch a year ago. It was at an awards gala celebrating the achievements of Muslim Canadians. I was shocked and puzzled to see her amongst the guests. During the federal election just months before, she had proposed a Barbaric Cultural Practices tip-line. The tip-line was widely recognized as a tactic to inflame anti-Muslim sentiment and drive anxious voters to the Conservatives. Leitch was its public face and a designated advocate.
Though I wasnt ready to forgive her, despite a post-campaign apology, I was open to the signal she was sending by attending the awards gala. I was ready to see what she would do next. She didnt take long to demonstrate the insincerity of her apology.
Its been disturbing how little her past actions have dampened support for her in mainstream Canadian politics. Her campaign is managed by Nick Kouvalis, the architect of John Tory and Rob Fords mayoral campaigns in Toronto. With the blessing of his boss, Andy Pringle, the chair of Toronto Police Board, was actively fundraising for Leitch. Pringle has since distanced himself from the campaign. Leitch has even received a donation from Jerry Dias, a prominent leader in the union movement (though Dias has since repudiated his support for her).
Leitchs approach is working. According to a recent Mainstreet Poll, she is leading the race for Conservative leader.
Racism is not new to Canada, and neither is the xenophobic politics of Leitch. What makes her chosen politics so unsettling, is that they come in spite of her relationships with those who will suffer its consequences.
Usually, professors and teachers become invested in the success of their students. For idealists among us, we hope the best political leaders do the same for their country. Leitch has made the choice to do neither.
If Leitchs Trumped up rhetoric succeeds, we will all lose.
Danyaal Raza is a family physician at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
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A Nov. 18 article about York Police Const. Young Min von Seefried being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old student in the back of his cruiser mistakenly said a York Police officer had taken the complainants statement. In fact, a Toronto Police officer took her statement.
A Nov. 18 article about the Royal Canadian Geographical Society selecting the grey Jay as Canada's national bird misattributed a tweet protesting the choice to Kelda Larsen. In fact, Mercedes Serna tweeted, What??!! Really?? Not the Mighty loon??
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Re: We are so close and yet so far, Nov. 14
We are so close and yet so far, Nov. 14
This story reported on child poverty in Toronto, as documented in the Divided City Report. Have our politicians accepted responsibility for this sorry state of affairs?
The report indicated that 133,000 children in Toronto have something in common with each other: they all live in poverty thats 26.8 per cent of children in Toronto. That is more than in Montreal (25 per cent); Winnipeg (24.1 per cent) and Hamilton (20.6 per cent). How is this possible in a city that is both progressive and affluent?
For years we have known about the deep economic and geographic divides that have existed in Toronto and especially here in Scarborough. A map published in the Star on Monday shows that only one small area east of Victoria Park Ave. has a child poverty rate of less than 12 per cent. Only one! The map also shows that vast areas of Scarborough have child poverty rates of between 22 and 40 per cent. Are the councillors from Scarborough outraged?
City hall, we have a problem!
It seems that there are always priorities that rise higher in the minds of the decision and budget makers than taking care of their neighbours, and making life better for families who struggle with insufficient incomes.
The Star quoted Michael Polanyi as saying: Going into the 2017 budget, were seeing talk of up to $600 million in spending reductions on these very programs and services that we found that children dont have good enough access to.
The good news is that the problem of poverty in Toronto can be fixed. An Nov. 29, 2015 article in the Star by Richard Florida, of the Martin Prosperity Institute, talked about how to repair this divided city. As one of our leading thinkers, he described how to increase equity among the citizens of our city. The plan is available. It can be done. Is anyone listening?
My question is: whose responsibility is it to provide the moral and political leadership to reduce this totally unacceptable level of child poverty in Toronto?
Allan Baker, Scarborough
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Re: Food bank usage up across Canada, Nov. 14
Food bank usage up across Canada, Nov. 14
A Nov. 15 a Star article reported that despite a recent study showing Canadian cellphone bills ranking among the highest of the G7, there are ways to cut the cost. Is it reasonable to assume that Internet and cellphone fees are indeed tipping the scale for many households, wherein they are forced to require the use of food banks?
Many readers do remember the days before the cellphone and household Internet. Generally speaking, the middle class could choose to manage household spending, and not rely on food donations. For over 20 years now the big three Internet companies in Canada have been given the opportunity to gouge the consumer, while making it very prohibitive for families to manage financially. It is not even so much a choice today to have Internet access, even if you are trying to obtain employment, due to the necessity for networking.
People around the globe (for example Australia) cannot understand why we Canadians tolerate our huge burden of Internet fees. We Canadians do sit quietly, and stew, and complain, but there is no momentum for challenging the companies to reduce their rates, and improve their service.
If governments are failing to provide adequate supports to people who have fallen on hard times should we not be pressing our government to limit the fees of the Internet provider companies, so that perhaps those excess funds can be re-directed to put food on the consumers plate?
Elizabeth Daw, Georgina
Get use to it! The growth of food banks marches in lockstep with the growth of greed and inequality and I cannot see any reason why that is going to change any time soon, none at all as far as I can see.
I am tired of reading about inequality. It is time to talk about equality: There is enough validated evidence that show that a more equal society is better for everyone from the poorest to the riches, it is time to talk about this.
Once people understand why a more equal society is better for everyone they will want to make it happen.
Keith Parkinson, Cambridge
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Robin Pariagh was one of those students who kept falling off the radar in high school.
The pattern was always the same. Hed start a new school, attend enough classes to scrape by, lose interest and stop going. There would be recorded phone calls to his mother reporting he hadn't shown up for class, followed by warning letters. But beyond that he figured no one noticed or cared. By age 18, Robin had gone to four schools and been suspended.
Then he discovered PEACH Promoting Education and Community Health and its flagship school away from school program, which helps at-risk high school students get back on track and graduate through one-on-one teaching, an intimate setting and lots of emotional support.
When he first arrived at the renovated industrial-commercial space near Jane and Finch, Pariagh figured hed quickly earn all his credits and move on. Then something amazing happened to the teen who couldnt have cared less about school. He started to enjoy learning.
I needed the one-on-one help. After a few months I was thinking I dont want this to end, says Pariagh, 21, who now works in the demolition and construction business and has a job selling window coverings.
This week he was crushed to learn the decade-old program, which has helped about 300 marginalized kids at risk of suspension, will be shut down as of Dec. 23 because of a funding shortage.
The 13 students currently enrolled including Pariaghs 15-year-old brother Lenny wont be returning to its classrooms next semester.
Its a shock, says Pariagh, who urged his parents to get Lenny into the program after he finished Grade 9 last year without a single credit.
At the end of his first semester at PEACH, Lenny will have earned four.
We know that you will find this news distressing, Mary Lafontaine, PEACH interim managing director wrote in a letter to parents this week outlining its severe funding challenges.
At issue is the roughly $30,000 salary of the child and youth worker considered essential to helping the maximum 20 students in the program who may have mental health or behavioural problems, criminal issues or difficult home circumstances.
The youth worker had been funded through a three-year grant from the Rogers Youth Fund, Lafontaine said, but left the position last Friday when that ran out.
The organization is also struggling to meet overhead costs of keeping the building and its range of other programs for vulnerable youth running. Lafontaine said PEACH has a total of about $500,000 in outstanding applications, but mismanaged the timing, leaving it in a financial crunch.
We were not successful in ensuring we had (new) funding in place when the day came up, she said.
The Toronto District School Board, which provides two teachers and educational assistants as well as some monthly funding during the school year, said it is in the process of finding suitable space in the community for the students to complete their credits.
The TDSB has had a longstanding partnership with PEACH and we are saddened that they can no longer provide this great program, the board said in a statement.
The school away from school program, originally aimed at suspended and expelled students who needed a place to land, evolved over the years to take a more proactive approach, intercepting youth and reengaging them in school before their problems escalate and lead to suspension or expulsion.
While most kids are referred by schools, others apply through parents, social workers, police, child welfare or other agencies.
Once enrolled, they typically stay from one to three semesters and are supported in their transition back into high school, which they must make in order to graduate.
The program helps you find your interests and your pathway, says Pariagh.
But what made the biggest difference, he says, was the individual attention from staff who knew him and cared about how he was feeling every day.
Lafontaine says the transformation in the kids is the biggest reward.
In the beginning they dont want to be here, they come in very reserved and their guard is up and theyve got the hard face on, she says. And down the road they come in and its good morning Miss, and they give you a hug.
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After discovering oil off the shores of Guyana, Exxon Mobil (XOM) appears to have hit it big. However, as the integrated oil major works to further develop the Liza discovery, it is also in the midst of significant financial negotiations with foreign governments.
Analysts at Credit Suisse recently highlighted the discussions between Exxon Mobil and the Chadian government as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC), which could both affect the company's balance sheet in the coming years.
On the positive side, Nigerian National Petroleum, the state's oil firm, agreed on Thursday to pay back $5.1 billion in unpaid bills to oil majors including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) , according to Reuters. The firm has accumulated a total of $6.8 billion in unpaid bills up to December 2014, of which it was responsible for paying under joint ventures with the oil majors.
However, there is one critical caveat that could alter the deal: production.
"The agreement calls for the $5.1 billion to be repaid within five years, interest free, in the form of crude oil cargoes, but only if the country's production exceeds 2.2 Mbpd," the Credit Suisse analysts mentioned in a research note on Thursday. The Nigerian oil minister also said that if, for any reason, it did not meet the threshold, it will not pay the $5.1 billion, "so that is fantastic," Kackikwu added.
Even though this deal hinges on the production from a member nation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nigeria, along with Iran and Libya, are currently exempt from the proposed production cuts and will likely be allowed to raise production levels. Still, it could take five years for Exxon Mobil to see some of those bills being paid off.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil is discussing its $74 billion fine over royalties with the Chadian government, an amount that is an astounding five times the country's annual gross domestic product, the Credit Suisse analysts noted. Chad is reportedly wants a 2% royalty fee on crude exports, which is higher that the previously agreed up royalty fee of 0.2%. Exxon has appealed the October court ruling, Bloomberg reported, but due to the ongoing talks, the appeals court hearing has been delayed.
The $74 billion fine is even greater than the $61 billion penalty BP Plc (BP) incurred following the 2010 Macondo disaster, when a well below the Deepwater Horizon oil rig erupted, killing 11 rig workers and contaminating the Gulf of Mexico with crude oil for months.
Even though the world's biggest oil producer, with a $352 billion market cap, is facing these financials deals and negotiations, it has a "commercial find" at its Liza Discovery off Guyana, according to the Credit Suisse analysts, which marks "the first in the 50-year history of the South American nation."
Exxon Mobil has partnered with Hess (HES) and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited, which is a subsidiary of China-based major national oil company CNOOC Limited. "The discovery is estimated to hold between 1.0 to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which was the largest oil discovery in 2015," the Credit Suisse analyst team said. "Guyana officials expect to see a potential [final investment decision] next year," they added.
While the oil major's Liza discovery presents an opportunity for upside, the fine negotiations could weigh on the stock, and it could take five years to see the funds from Nigeria, if Exxon Mobil ever will.
Shares of XOM were holding relatively flat during the trading session on Friday, trading at around $84.95. The Credit Suisse analysts rate XOM shares at Underperform, a rating that has been maintained since it was downgraded in January 2015. The consensus rating among analysts is Hold at 48.3%, according to Bloomberg data.
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Credit Suisse does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, investors should be aware that the Firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should consider this report as only a single factor in making their investment decision.
Mr. Deprez congratulated Mrs. Rajavi on the victory for the Iranian Resistance and the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in the successful relocation of the residents of Camp Liberty to Europe.
The Friends of a Free Iran have the support of over 300 members of the European Parliament across the political groups, and the FOFI has endeavored over many years to ensure safety and security of the Iranian freedom fighters. Mr. Deprez said he is glad that the selfless children of the people of Iran have been relocated to a safe place despite deaths, injuries and considerable deprivations.
Mr. Deprez stated the solidarity of MEPs with the Iranian peoples Justice Seeking Movement, to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the 1988 Massacre of Iranian political prisoners.
He talked about the significant support in the European Parliament for democratic change in Iran.
Maryam Rajavi told the President of the Friends of a Free Iran that she was grateful to him and the groups members. She said that the European Parliament should pay heed to the deteriorating situation of human rights in Iran, as well as the escalation of protests across the country. She said that trade relations should be conditioned at every step, to end to executions. No investment will be productive while the regime faces irremediable political and economic crises, as well as the Iranian peoples profound discontent.
The federal government has reportedly reversed plans to discontinue funding Sounds Australia, the market development initiative aimed at helping young musos spread their music overseas.
As Tone Deaf reported last month, whilst the Australia Council will still proceed with funding Sounds Australia with $300,000 per year between 2017 and 2020, the federal government will no longer do so after 2016.
In a statement, Shadow Minister for the Arts Tony Burke confirmed the Turnbull Government was planning to axe Sounds Australias funding at the end of this year, severely impacting their ability to help export Aussie music.
However, The Music now reports that the federal government has done a 180 and will commit to funding Sounds Australia for another four years.
The news was confirmed by Minister for the Arts Mitch Fifield during a press conference at Face The Music in Melbourne today. The Minsiter has reportedly approved $1.16 million in funding across four years.
We really didnt think that we were going to get to 50% of the international markets, Sounds Australia Executive Producer Millie Millgate told the conference, via The Music.
This news from the Minister just couldnt have come at a better time. I think the testament is seriously what Australian artists are doing around the world and it starts at events like Face The Music, like BIGSOUND.
With all the regional and state and industry body partners and the way that this industry has come together to support our artists and industry and export, has been phenomenal.
The support that weve had globally has been amazing and to have this current government recognise that and commit to four years is just beyond overwhelming.
They applauded the resolution adopted on November 15, by the UN General Assemblys Third Committee, regarding Human Rights in Iran. Ambassador Martin Shearman, of the UK Mission to the United Nations, stated that, It remains crucial that we keep a focus on human rights and continue to hold the Iranian Government to account for its human rights record.
Some 200 MPs and Peers called for an international and independent investigation of massacre of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. The call was made in a statement regarding Iran and an Early Day Motion supported by cross party members of both Houses of Parliament. Those gathered at the conference joined that call.
An estimated 30,000 political prisoners were massacred in the space of a few months, and buried secretly in mass graves during the summer of 1988. This crime against humanity was based on a fatwa decreed by the Islamic Republics founder Ayatollah Khomeini. The officials who facilitated the massacre still hold high positions within the regime.
In a video message, Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), addressed the conference.
She condemned the Iranian regimes restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and religion, as well as its violent crackdown on popular protests, suppression of women and youths, and the institutionalised discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, especially the Christians and Bahais.
Panellists concurred with Mrs. Rajavi.
Mrs Rajavi told the them, The mullahs regime preserves its power [by these atrocities] [as] the anti-government protests spread across the country. She added, referring to the mass executions in Iranian prisons in 1988, which Sir Geoffrey Robertson QC, the former UN tribunal chief judge on Sierra Leone, described as one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II, On the opposite side, our people and Resistance have been advancing in their quest for freedom. A major achievement has been the Justice Seeking Movement launched to demand justice for the 30,000 political prisoners massacred in summer 1988 in Iran.
The mullahs for long tried to conceal this horrific crime. The distribution of an audio recording of the remarks made by Mr. Montazeri, the ousted successor to Khomeini, revealed new dimensions of the massacre If the international community had not remained silent and passive in this regard, letting the criminals evade justice, the wave of executions and repression in Iran could not have continued to date, she continued.
Sir David Amess, MP, the co-chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, presented the two initiatives supported by some 200 MPs and Peers. The signatories urge the government to recognise and condemn this brutal massacre as a crime against humanity and ask the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council to order an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice Sir David Amess went on to say, The statement also recognises the 10-point democratic platform presented by Mrs Maryam Rajavi as the vital road map to abolish death penalty and torture and establish democracy, gender equality and rule of law in a future Iran and urges the government to back the efforts of Iranian people and the NCRI to make this platform a reality in their country.
The Rt. Reverend John Pritchard, said, following the successful relocation of the Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty to safety in Europe, we must now focus on human rights abuses that are taking place in Iran, campaigning to raise awareness and to remind the International Community, and our government, about their responsibility to turn words into action in order to hold the Iranian regime and its senior officials accountable for growing violations. This is particularly important because the Iranian judiciary is today the major obstacle to any improvements of the human rights situation in the country.
Dr Matthew Offord MPs, said, The current UK policy on pursing business opportunities in Iran in the post-nuclear deal era risks empowering the Revolutionary Guards, which is the paramilitary arm of the Supreme Leader and the major force in exporting terror out of Iran and suppressing any popular dissent. It also controls close to 70% of Irans economy.
Lord Clarke of Hampstead CBE joined Dr Matthew Offord MP and other panellists in urging the government to make mending relations with Tehran contingent on concrete and verifiable improvements of human rights, in particular a halt to executions, torture and arbitrary arrests, without which there are no real long term dividends.
According to the UN and International NGOs like Amnesty International, the Iranian authorities carried out over a thousand executions last year.
In a report published on January 26, 2016, Amnesty International listed 73 executions of juvenile offenders since 2005 and stated that at least 160 juvenile offenders are currently on death row in violation of international law and conventions that prohibits the execution of juveniles.
Other participants included, The Bishop of Stepney, The Rt Reverend Adrian Newman; The Bishop of Croydon, The Rt Reverend Jonathan Clark SCP; The Bishop of Salisbury, The Rt Reverend Nick Holtam; Christina Rees CBE, a long-time advocate for womens ordination in the Church of England and a founder member of the Archbishops Council; Bob Blackman MP; Jim Fitzpatrick MP; Lord Judd; Lord Clarke of Hampstead CBE; Prof. Lord Alton of Liverpool; Lord Cotter; Prof. Sara Chandler QC (Hon), Vice President of the European Bars Federation; Linda Lee, former President of the Law Society of England and Wales; Malcolm Fowler, former member of the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales; and Mr Hossein Abedini, from the NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee.
Maryam Rajavis message to the meeting at the House of Commons is reproduced in full, below:
The honorable members of the British Houses of Commons and Lords,
Distinguished Bishops,
Dear friends,
Greetings to everyone. I am grateful for your attention to the issue of Iran and the Iranian peoples human rights, resistance and freedom.
The P5+1 nuclear talks with the clerical regime and its consequences have placed Iran in the center of International attention over the past three years.
Sixteen months have passed since the nuclear agreement was signed. So, there has been enough time to test various policies. The nuclear agreement was an opportunity for the mullahs to change their behavior or at least stop creating crisis and international terrorism. However, they increased their aggression and warmongering in the region, particularly in Syria. The Iranian regime remains the most hostile and significant contributor to instability in the region.
Some thought that human rights would improve in Iran. In the past year, however, nearly 1,000 people were executed. Rouhanis interior minister has admitted that they arrest some 600 thousand people every year. These figures are only part of the reality.
The mullahs regime preserves its power by making arrests, and by torture and executions on a daily basis. These are accompanied by a constant and systematic crackdown on women and youths, arbitrary arrests and harassment of religious minorities: including Christians, even the arrest of British-Iranians, censorship of free access to the internet, and prohibiting concerts.
On the opposite side, our people and Resistance have been advancing in their quest for freedom.
A major achievement has been the Justice Seeking Movement launched to demand justice for the 30,000 political prisoners massacred in summer 1988 in Iran. The mullahs for long tried to conceal this horrific crime. The distribution of an audio recording of the remarks made by Mr. Montazeri, the ousted successor to Khomeini, revealed new dimensions of the massacre.
The Iranian Resistance is working through supporters in Iran to collect the documents and evidence in this regard. Our aim is to have the international community recognize this tragic massacre as a crime against humanity and prosecute the officials who were responsible. If the international community had not remained silent and passive in this regard, letting the criminals evade justice the wave of executions and repression in Iran could not have continued to date.
Another important development has been the spread of anti-government protests across the country. Thousands of people gathered on October 28th staging a protest against the mullahs in Persepolis, at the Tomb of Cyrus who was the founder of ancient Iran and the writer of a human rights charter, 25 centuries ago.
Finally, I would like to point out a great achievement and a major victory of the Iranian Resistance in recent months, namely, the safe and sound relocation of all members of the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran from Camp Liberty to Europe.
The mullahs did everything to stop this relocation. They tried to have some PMOI officials arrested by fake judicial verdicts. They launched rocket attacks to kill all camp residents.
With PMOIs efforts and an international campaign by the Iranian resistance, the mullahs plots failed. The relocation was the greatest blow to the mullahs over the past year.
I would like to sincerely appreciate all the efforts and support given by the British peoples elected representatives in both houses of parliament and also the UK Church leaders for this great relocation.
Honorable friends,
The Iranian resistance strives for a republic based on freedom, equality, and separation of religion and state; a country where the death penalty is abolished. We seek to end the mullahs Sharia law and guarantee freedom and equality for followers of all religions.
I plead for your support, the elected representatives of Britain, the UK Church, and all humanitarian people in the UK to further help and support this struggle.
The Justice seeking movement is a just common cause with roots in human dignity. We need your assistance in this movement. We need your support to encourage western governments to recognize the Iranian peoples struggle for regime change. Once again, I thank you all. And I hope to be able to see you, very soon.
Along with his family, he fled Monguno when ongoing attacks on the town by Boko Haram made it too dangerous to stay. Like many thousands of others, they took refuge in a host community in Maiduguri, the state capital. Modu briefly attended a school there, before the fighting closed that one too.
I used to feel like crying," Modu says, "when I saw other children with uniforms and bags going to school.
Widespread displacement
Modus home of Borno State is the epicentre of the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region since mid-2013. In Borno alone, more than 1.3 million people have been displaced as a result of Boko Haram violence, while an estimated 2.2 million people currently remain inaccessible to humanitarian actors.
Many of the children caught in the conflict have lost years of education. Schools are often targets of Boko Haram attacks, and more than 1,800 schools in the Lake Chad region have been closed, damaged, looted, set on fire or used to shelter displaced persons.
UNICEF aims to reach 586,400 school-aged children, including adolescents, with safe learning environments and learning materials by the end of the year.
>> Donate now to help children affected by the Nigeria and Lake Chad crisis
Schools turned into camps
A tentative security is now in place in Monguno, and along with it thousands of displaced people like Modu have returned home. Families are looking for safe places to stay, and many schools that had been closed because of the violence have become camps for internally displaced people.
World Toilet Day is marked every year on 19 November as a way to raise awareness and break taboos around toilets and sanitation. This year, UNICEF is celebrating Toilet Heroes the children and adults who are making an impact in their communities by demanding toilets and improved sanitation.
In Nigerias rural communities, open defecation is a common problem, creating serious public health risks.
BAKORI, Katsina State, Nigeria, 18 November 2016 They call me the Iron Lady, I dont know why, laughs Zainabu Abubakar. Im not ferocious or anything, Im just doing my job.
Zainabu is a mother of four living in Katsina State in northern Nigeria. Back in 2009, the State Governor appointed her to become the Director of the newly formed Local Government Area (LGA) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Department in Bakori, an unusual move in a region which has very few female decision makers.
I studied nursing back in college because I was always really passionate about improving community health especially for women and children. This was the perfect role for me, she says.
Ending open defecation
Zainabus job is particularly important in a country like Nigeria. According to the 2013 National Demographic Health Survey, 28.7 per cent of Nigerias population practised open defecation, while another 37.3 per cent was using unimproved latrines.
Zainabu works long hours and manages a team of 96 staff among the largest WASH departments in the country. But it hasnt always been this way. We started out as a really small team with not much money, but we fought hard to get both the staff and budget required. It took a lot of work, but luckily our Governor was really supportive. He trusted that once we got the money we would get the results. We made sure that we didnt disappoint him.
Since then, Zainabu and her team have gone on to roll out an extensive Water and Sanitation programme in the district. One of the first initiatives to be introduced was Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS). Back in 2009, it was considered a new and innovative approach, inspiring communities to construct their own latrines and eliminate the practice of open defecation a common problem, particularly in rural areas. The ongoing SHAWN II project (Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria) is being run in collaboration with UNICEF and NGO partners, with funding from UK Aid.
Community engagement
In less than six years, almost 90 per cent of Bakoris communities have now been certified Open Defecation Free (ODF). This also means that residents practise handwashing and have access to safe water through the installation of new water points.
Associate Professor | College of Distance Education
Professor Sexton began teaching at the U.S. Naval War College in 2001 as a military professor in the National Security Decision Making Department. Upon retiring from the military in 2005, she taught as an adjunct professor for the College of Distance Education (CDE) where she taught over 850 students online before returning to campus as a civilian CDE professor in 2014. In 2018, Professor Sexton was named the program manager for online programs and is responsible for the Naval Command and Staff and electives online programs.
This is one of our most exciting volcano tours! Halmahera, North Sulawesi and the Sangihe Islands are not only very scenic and interesting as well as nearly unspoiled by tourism, but also home to some of the country's most active (and often erupting) volcanoes, inclduing Dukono, Ibu, Lokon, Soputan and Karangetang.
Steven Mnuchin arrives at Trump Tower in New York for meetings with President-elect Donald Trump, in New York on Nov. 17, 2016. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
A leading candidate to be President-elect Donald Trumps treasury secretary was deeply involved in running a bank that has received $900 million in federal bailout money and that has been accused of discrimination examples of the potentially thorny conflicts of interest that could plague Trumps nascent administration.
Steven T. Mnuchin was the finance chairman for Trumps campaign, and three people close to the presidential transition team said that at the moment he is among the most likely candidates to helm Treasury. Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs veteran, made his name as a private investor when he led the 2009 purchase of failed subprime mortgage lender IndyMac, the California bank whose long lines of customers waiting to withdraw their money became an enduring image of the financial crisis.
Central to the deal was a promise by federal regulators to cover a significant share of the banks losses a guarantee that lasts through 2019. In addition, the bank later renamed OneWest has repeatedly faced criticism over its attempts to foreclose on homeowners who were in the process of modifying their loans, among other practices.
On Thursday, an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development accusing the bank of locating branches in predominantly white neighborhoods while avoiding minority communities, including two years in which only two black borrowers received home loans across six counties.
1 of 81 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Inside Trump Tower: The epicenter of a presidential transition View Photos The setting for Donald Trumps reality TV show and campaign headquarters now serves as the president-elects base of operations. Caption In Manhattan, the setting for Donald Trumps reality-TV show and campaign headquarters now serves as the president-elects base of operations. Jan. 16, 2017 Martin Luther King III, son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., exits an elevator at Trump Tower in New York with President-elect Donald Trump. Mark Abramson/for The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.
If you look at the story of IndyMac and OneWest, its a story of hardship, foreclosure and pain for working communities, and a story of profit for investors, said Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, the umbrella organization representing more than 300 community groups that filed the complaint.
Mnuchins long involvement with the bank could raise questions about his ability to lead an agency at the forefront of the governments oversight of the financial industry. OneWest was purchased last year by the financial firm CIT, which is partially overseen by Treasury. It has been named a systemically important financial institution often informally called too big to fail worthy of additional scrutiny because of the risk it poses to the economy in a crisis. Mnuchin is on CITs board of directors and owns $100 million in company stock, according to compensation research firm Equilar.
Whenever you have someone coming from the financial sector, youre going to see issues, especially post-bailout, said Jordan Libowitz, communications director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Mnuchin is one of several Cabinet candidates and members of Trumps transition team whose close ties to the industries is drawing criticism from some lawmakers. Oil industry magnate Harold Hamm is under consideration for energy secretary. The list of financiers advising Trump includes Anthony Scaramucci, Steve Feinberg and John Paulson, who was one of Mnuchins partners in the deal to buy IndyMac. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose consulting company has had extensive contracts with foreign governments, could be the next secretary of state.
Other widely discussed candidates for treasury secretary, including JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon and private equity financier Wilbur Ross, might face conflicts of their own.
A spokesman for Mnuchin declined to comment. But a person close to him, speaking on the condition of anonymity because his employer does not allow him to talk on the record, said that while at the bank, Mnuchins entire mission was to save peoples homes.
CIT said in a statement that it is committed to fair-lending and works hard to meet the credit needs of all communities and neighborhoods we serve.
The purchase of IndyMac is just one of the many complex deals that Mnuchin has struck over his decades in the upper echelons of finance. He spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs before leaving to join an investment fund set up by hedge fund investor and prominent Democrat George Soros. Mnuchin helped back the construction of Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and was later sued by Trump in an effort to secure more favorable terms. And after moving to California to take control of IndyMac, Mnuchin reinvented himself as a film producer and financier, putting out blockbusters such as Avatar and Suicide Squad.
Mnuchin would not be the first Wall Street veteran to be recruited for treasury secretary, of course. Robert Rubin spent more than two decades at Goldman Sachs before joining President Bill Clintons administration. Henry M. Paulson Jr. was chief executive of the storied investment bank when he was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush and moved to sell about $500 million in Goldman stock upon his confirmation.
Government ethics experts said Mnuchin could avoid conflicts of interest by severing his ties to the industry. If Mnuchin were nominated, the Office of Government Ethics and the Senate committee overseeing his confirmation would recommend how to proceed. It would almost certainly entail Mnuchins stepping down from executive positions, the experts said, and it could include creating a blind trust for his assets or divesting his holdings in financial firms.
The only way for him to be treasury secretary is to sell all of his holdings in financial services companies, said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush.
Libowitz, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, agreed. That way the public can rest assured that whatever decisions they make are not for their personal profit but for the good of the American citizen.
Still, Mnuchins connection to a bank under criticism over its handling of consumer mortgages and still receiving government aid could complicate his appointment, particularly amid the rising populist sentiment against Wall Street that helped propel Trump to his presidential victory.
Steve Mnuchin is the ultimate Wall Street insider, a wheeler-dealer, said Marcus Stanley, policy director at the nonprofit coalition Americans for Financial Reform. That gives us a lot of concern. We are opposed to having people who are Wall Street insiders being the people who regulate Wall Street.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a question about the steps his Cabinet would take to diminish conflicts of interest.
Mnuchin decided to invest in the banking industry after watching news coverage of the run on IndyMac in 2008, according to an interview he gave four years later to Bloomberg News. It was a major gamble during the collapse of the housing market. IndyMac was ground zero for some of the worst lending abuses, including shoddy documentation and high loan-to-value ratios.
He offered to pay $1.55 billion for the remains of IndyMac: about $13.9 billion in assets covering 57,000 homeowners. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a government agency, had taken over the bank and was desperately seeking buyers at a time when financial markets were cratering and even the nations biggest banks were trembling.
To lure buyers, the agency promised to share in any future losses on the banks outstanding loans. Mnuchin and his partners were responsible for the first $2.5 billion, then the FDIC would cover 80 percent of the losses until they totaled $3.8 billion.
After that, the government would reimburse the bank for 95 percent of its losses. The bank is expected to reach that level and continue receiving government payments by 2019, when the agreement ends, according to documents on the FDICs website.
Steven was the guy who rode in on a horse when nobody else would, the person close to Mnuchin said. He was the guy who showed up to save it.
As an owner and chairman of the bank, Mnuchin was actively involved in steering its direction, according to the Bloomberg News interview. Under his leadership, the bank not only survived but also expanded as he bought other failed lenders across California.
The result was a windfall for Mnuchin and his private equity firm, Dune Capital. CIT acquired the bank last year for $3.4 billion, roughly double the original sale price.
Right from Day One, when you have a venture deal like that, you are thinking of how do I exit? How do we liquefy our profits so we can go on to the next thing? said Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Alexandria, Va. It was a very profitable deal for Mnuchin and company, and I dont fault them for that.
But the bank remained a target for consumer advocates and watchdog groups under Mnuchin. In the complaint filed Thursday with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, advocates alleged that only 11 of the banks 74 branches are in Hispanic neighborhoods. One was in a majority Asian neighborhood, and there were none in predominantly black communities.
The complaint covers the final year of Mnuchins tenure at OneWest; the sale to CIT was completed in August 2015. The California Reinvestment Coalitions analysis of loans made that year alleged that only 8.4 percent of mortgages went to Hispanics, though they accounted for 43 percent of the regions population. It also alleges that the bank did not properly maintain foreclosed homes in minority areas.
The evidence included in this complaint suggests that OneWest Bank has steered clear of people of color in its assessment areas for a number of years, said Sharon Kinlaw, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley. We want to know how many people were harmed and we look forward to learning what HUD finds out.
But the person close to Mnuchin said the bank had sharply curtailed its mortgage lending to focus on working through IndyMacs massive portfolio of distressed loans. Though the bank was part of the federal governments earliest attempts to modify mortgages, the majority of its business was servicing loans owned by others.
OneWest successfully modified many of the hundreds of thousands of loans it managed after purchasing IndyMac and other failed banks. But as the housing crisis deepened, Mnuchins bank came under criticism for the pace of its foreclosures and what customers complained was a hard-line stance.
Their frustration hit a peak in 2011 as homeowner Rose Gudiel led a protest in front of Mnuchins home in the tony Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. Gudiel said she missed her mortgage payments after her younger brother was fatally shot and she was furloughed from her state government job. Gudiel said she was applying for a loan modification when OneWest issued a notice that it would foreclose. Though the bank was servicing the loan, it was owned by Fannie Mae.
About 100 demonstrators gathered outside his home. They brought a mattress, a nightstand and a lamp to illustrate her fear of sleeping on the streets if she lost her house.
After the protest, Gudiel said she qualified for a loan modification and hasnt missed a payment since receiving it. She is still living in her three-bedroom home outside of Los Angeles. In an interview, she reflected on what she would tell the man who could become treasury secretary.
If youre going to hold that type of position, I hope you know how to truly help this country, Gudiel said. The only way this country is going to come ahead is if you help the people that live in it versus taking them out of their homes. They end up being a charge to society versus a contribution.
Philip Rucker and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report.
Sunrise was still almost three hours away. Bob Schmidt rubbed his eyes, straightened his camouflage hat and climbed into the drivers seat of his van. He was about to begin his daily drive through this politically deep-red region, picking up refugees and dropping them off at work.
Blocks away was the auditorium where, during the summer, an anti-Islam activist warned the crowd that radicalism and hatred was rising throughout the world, including in Twin Falls. Nearby was the family restaurant where, one night earlier, a team of self-avowed defenders of freedom had reveled in Donald Trumps victory and talked about being on guard against sharia law.
On the horizon were the countys farms and factories, where employers said they would be lost without the low-wage workforce from Iraq, Afghanistan and sub-Saharan Africa refugees whose best chance in the United States meant a seat in Schmidts van and a shift that started at 6 a.m.
So, is everybody ready? Schmidt said Tuesday morning, once his van was filled.
Yeah, came a groan from the back.
Activist Vicky Davis is working to end refugee resettlement in Twin Falls. (Kim Raff for The Washington Post)
Twin Falls is now a testing ground for whether the bitter cultural divisions intensified by this years presidential campaign can recede in favor of the co-dependency that marks many communities with large white and immigrant populations. In this southern Idaho city of 45,000, the question surrounds a growing Muslim population. Across the country, people in meatpacking towns and agricultural areas are wondering whether their communities will hold on to a supply of Hispanic workers and other foreign laborers crucial to those industries.
We need to take the time to understand one another, said Schmidt, 61, paid $8 an hour by a staffing company. The hate in our country has gotten worse.
The rancor in Twin Falls began to surface only over the past year and a half as concerns about domestic terrorism awakened a fierce and sudden debate about whether the local Muslim population represented a point of pride or a potential danger an anxiety that Trump amplified during his campaign. For decades before, the refugee resettlement program run by a local community college had flourished with little opposition, with refugees filling open jobs on dairy farms and in cheese factories.
Amid the debate, a crime allegedly committed by refugees thrust Twin Falls under the spotlight of hard-line right-wing websites, galvanizing anti-refugee activists and even drawing the attention of one of Trumps sons. Racially loaded and often false accounts about Twin Falls-based Muslim refugees on the website Breitbart reinforced many of Trumps warnings about the threats from immigrants.
There is not going to be any reconciliation, said Vicky Davis, 65, a local retired computer systems analyst who opposes the refugee program. I will never, never give in to people that walk around in burqas.
Opinions about the refugee program in the Magic Valley, as this region is called, do not neatly align with party affiliation or other typical dividing lines. The vast majority of Democrats and Republicans say the refugees deserve a chance in the United States. Trump earned 66 percent of votes in Twin Falls County, slightly less than prior Republican presidential candidates, and local donations to the refugee center have increased in the days since his victory. Still, according to residents and officials, an increasingly vocal minority has been emboldened by Trumps rise, rallied by his message about strict immigration controls to guard against radical Islamic terror.
The fervor in Twin Falls isnt easily explained by other factors. The city has an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent, compared with 4.9 percent nationally, and has recently attracted several new factories, including one run by the Clif Bar snack company. Yet the character of Twin Falls is changing. Its pro-refugee mayor has reported threats to the FBI made against him. Newly hostile city council meetings were guarded for the first time by armed police. A local Fox radio morning host says refugees, rather than helping fill the labor force, are at the grocery store spending the food stamps that you paid for.
Newly resettled students take notes during an English-language class at the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center in Twin Falls. (Kim Raff for The Washington Post)
This is the $24 question, said Chris Talkington, a city council member in favor of the refugee program. Does our economic vitality get put up on the shooting gallery for the sake of folks whod like to ship [refugees and immigrants] away? They are fomenting dissent, and I do not expect them to go away.
Crime energizes movement
In the week after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, 15 members of a group called We the People Magic Valley, formed this year, gathered for their monthly meeting in the wood-paneled back room of Idaho Joes restaurant. One member made a presentation about government overreach, and then local resident Adrian Arp, an agronomist, stood up.
I dont know how you feel, Arp said to applause, but it was a miracle that Trump won.
In the room were young mothers, grandmothers in sweaters, professionals. A few had been laid off. One woman said she hadnt been able to buy a new car in 16 years. Davis, the retiree, said she had once earned $125,000 in the computer industry in Manhattan and lost her job because of outsourcing and a visa program that paved the way for foreigners.
I think God is giving us another chance, Arp said. I mean, seriously. You looked at all the odds. The Republican establishment. The crooked media. Despite it all, he was able to pull it off. And now weve got to hold his feet to the fire.
The anti-immigration sentiment in Twin Falls began to take off in April 2015, when the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Centers director erroneously said Twin Falls was set to receive Syrians, setting off sharp opposition. Opponents of the program proposed local ballot measures calling for a ban on refugee centers, but they didnt gain traction.
Then this June, something seemed to galvanize the movement: A sexual assault took place in a local apartment complex, and rumors spread that the suspects were Syrian teens. Syrian Refugees Rape Little Girl at Knifepoint in Idaho, read a headline on the Drudge Report.
The case was sealed because it involved juveniles, including the victim, a 5-year-old girl. Still, Twin Falls police corrected a few facts, saying the suspects were from Sudan and Iraq. It hardly mattered. (The case is now in court, and all suspects have been charged, Twin Falls Prosecuting Attorney Grant Loebs said.)
A surge of Twin Falls residents appeared at council meetings, castigating city officials and accusing them of endangering the town. Right-wing commentators descended. Breitbart published at least 20 stories from Twin Falls, most of which generated thousands of comments. (Among the headlines: How Muslim Migrants Devastate a Community. Twin Falls Refugee Rape Special Report: Why Are The Refugees Moving In?) Eventually, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out an article written by Michelle Malkin, a right-wing commentator.
Wheres the outrage for this 5 year old girl??? Trump Jr. wrote.
It became this stirring of facts blended in with opinion, Twin Falls Mayor Shawn Barigar said. In this Breitbart phenomena, Id get an email with a link. Id see the article. Id end up in the comments. Youd have 2,000 comments from across the country vile, nasty comments about Muslims. I ended up down the rabbit hole to the point where I had to stop reading this stuff.
(Breitbarts former president, Stephen K. Bannon, recently was named as White House chief strategist under Trump.)
Nobody in Twin Falls is sure whether Trump will follow through with his campaign pledge to curb or end Muslim entry into the United States.
But at Idaho Joes, the group brainstormed smaller ways to change minds. They could closely monitor and raise awareness about what they called unpatriotic activity. They could update the groups website to highlight the ways in which sharia law opposed the Constitution. They could recruit more millennials. They could collaborate with a Breitbart reporter that some in the group know. They could hold a potluck one that served food Muslims wouldnt eat to build camaraderie.
Stefany Clark, sitting in the corner, said her neighborhood was 20 to 22 percent Muslim and suggested she could host.
A pig roast, she said.
Defending the refugees
About 300 refugees arrive in Twin Falls each year, and although they are free to resettle elsewhere in the county, many choose to stay. In nearly all cases, Refugee Center Director Zeze Rwasama said, refugees find jobs within two or three months. Some end up working at Chobani, a yogurt company founded by a Turkish immigrant. Others take jobs at Everton Mattress Factory or Jerome Cheese.
Im tired all the time, said Mohammed Osman, 21, a Sudanese worker who pulls a 12-hour overnight shift at the cheese plant. He said he is fearful of Trump and his influence. We were hoping for a different direction.
As criticism about the refugees bubbled up, an Idaho Dairymens Association representative defended the program in front of the city council. At one dairy farm, 60 of 250 workers are refugees.
The one thing we hear repeatedly from different employers, theyre continually short on employees, said Rick Naerebout, the groups director of operations. Everybody is always looking to fill holes. Were in a situation where weve got this workforce coming to us.
Schmidt, the driver, found himself in the middle of the debate almost by accident. He had been laid off during the depths of the financial crisis by Glanbia, a cheesemaker with a plant in Gooding, Idaho. He went to the areas unemployment office and got linked up with a staffing company. Soon, he was driving a van marked with the CSI refugee programs logo, rows of foreign faces in the back. On the streets of Twin Falls, a few glared at Schmidt at red lights, he said. One person doused his windshield with a milkshake.
Its that old Civil War attitude, Schmidt said.
Schmidt had served in the 82nd Airborne Division, stationed in Fort Bragg, N.C., 772 jumps under his belt, with the hip and lower back pain to prove it. He had $160,000 in medical debt and no insurance. Hed all but abandoned his retirement plans to buy an RV and tour the country because he had $1 in his bank account and no clear way to save more. But he liked his job, and he said he identified a bit with the people he drove. They worked hard. They scraped by.
How many people do you know that would get up every day, on time, for a job where a cow might take a s--t on them? Schmidt said as he drove to the dairy. And then do it again day after day. Never a complaint.
Schmidt had avoided some of the online conversations about the refugees he is dyslexic and does almost no reading.
But Schmidt said one thing bugged him and gave him a window into what was happening all around him in Twin Falls: His brother opposed the refugee program. Schmidt had tried to convince him that it wasnt a danger. He said that all Americans had come here from somewhere else and that if Trump tightened the United States borders for refugees, his own job might be on the line.
It didnt matter.
No, I didnt convince him, Schmidt said. I guess I dont understand a lot of Americans. In many ways it reminds me of a plow horse. Just running with blinders on.
In the heat of the 2008 Democratic primary campaign between Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, Obama responded in writing to questions posed by The Washington Post on a variety of foreign policy topics, laying out much of what he would do if he were elected president. The exchange was first published shortly after the Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries, which Obama won decisively, and before the Texas and Ohio contests, both of which he lost to Clinton.
Beyond the intensity of the campaign, the world seemed particularly chaotic at the time: The war in Iraq ground on, killing 29 Americans in February 2008 and 39 in March; violence in the Gaza Strip killed more than 100 people in less than a week, and Fidel Castro resigned as leader of Cuba after nearly 50 years of authoritarian rule, handing over power to his brother Raul.
As a candidate, Obama was trying hard to stake out a position as a bold pragmatist who would change the way the U.S. did business abroad, particularly with his expressed willingness to engage in negotiation with traditional adversaries in places such as Tehran and Havana, and Rangoon, Burma. It was the beginning of what became Obamas open-hand/clenched-fist approach to dealing with antagonistic regimes.
Here is an edited version of much of the exchange, first published March 2, 2008, with summary analyses of how close President Obama came to living up to some of his campaign promises.
A detainee is escorted at Camp Delta detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on April 19, 2010. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)
The Washington Post: Do you believe democracy promotion should be a primary U.S. goal? If so, how would you achieve it? How would you balance democracy and human rights priorities against other strategic needs in the case of countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China and Russia?
Barack Obama: We benefit from the expansion of democracy: Democracies are our best trading partners, our most valuable allies and the nations with which we share our deepest values.
Our greatest tool in advancing democracy is our own example. Thats why I will end torture, end extraordinary rendition and indefinite detentions; restore habeas corpus; and close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
I recognize that our security interests will sometimes necessitate that we work with regimes with which we have fundamental disagreements; yet, those interests need not and must not prevent us from lending our consistent support to those who are committed to democracy and respect for human rights.
Eight years later: The power of U.S. democracy as an example became a consistent presidential theme. On his second full day in office, Obama signed executive orders ending extraordinary rendition the transfer of captured terrorism suspects to secret prisons; ending the U.S. governments use of torture; mandating that detainees held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had the right to habeas corpus, and committing to closure of the prison itself by the end of 2009. By the end of October 2016, Obama had repatriated or transferred to other countries 178 detainees. The prison remained open with 60 detainees a number of them not eligible for transfer to a third country and prevented by Congress from imprisonment in the United States.
TWP: You have said that you will open talks with countries such as Iran, Cuba and North Korea. Are you willing to reestablish diplomatic relations with Iran and Cuba as the logical extension of that policy, and open an embassy in Pyongyang?
Obama: I have said that we should consider carrots as well as sticks in our negotiations with these and other countries. Reinstatement of normal diplomatic relations is one carrot I might consider, but normalizing relations would require the countries meeting their requirements on key U.S. and international demands, which in the case of Iran, for example, would mean verifiably ending its nuclear program and its support for terrorism. On Cuba, I have made clear that I will authorize unlimited family travel and family cash remittances.
Eight years later: A deal negotiated to contain Irans nuclear development has gone into effect, but there are no formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. Obama acted early in his administration to remove restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba, and diplomatic relations were restored, after more than a half century, in July 2015. There have been no direct talks with North Korea.
President Obama greets military personnel in Baghdad on Aug. 31, 2010. (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)
TWP: You have said that as president you will focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue from the start. . . . How will you succeed where other presidents have failed? What, specifically, can you do to insist that good faith efforts are made? What leverage are you prepared to use?
Obama: The current administration has talked a good game on Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, but until recently it has done very little. The Annapolis conference was a worthy, but late, effort, and already the follow-up has been lacking. As president, I will commit myself personally, and I will assign high-caliber diplomats, to be engaged with both sides on an ongoing basis encouraging communication, helping them develop and implement solutions, holding them accountable to their commitments by carefully monitoring and reporting on their implementation. I will also demand greater support for this process from the Arab world.
Eight years later: A special envoy, former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, made little progress in bringing the two sides together during Obamas first term, and the president himself seemed to tire of their recalcitrance. Second-term Secretary of State John F. Kerry spent much of his tenure on shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians, with no agreement to show for it. In September 2016, the United States signed a 10-year, $38 billion military assistance agreement with Israel.
TWP: You have said that within your first 100 days in office, you would give a major speech in a major Islamic forum in which you will redefine our struggle. What is that redefinition? What would be the substance of that speech?
Obama: As president of the United States, I will directly address the people of the Muslim world to make it clear that the United States is not at war with Islam, that our enemy is al-Qaeda and its tactical and ideological affiliates, and that our struggle is shared. In this speech, I will make it clear that the United States rejects torture without equivocation and will close Guantanamo. I will make it clear that the United States stands ready to support those who reject violence with closer security cooperation; an agenda of hope backed by increased foreign assistance to support justice, development and democracy in the Muslim world; and a new program of outreach to strengthen ties between the American people and people in Muslim countries. I will also make it clear that we will expect greater cooperation from Muslim countries, and that the United States will always stand for basic human rights including the rights of women and reject the scourge of anti-Semitism. Simply put, I will say that we are on the side of the aspirations of all peace-loving Muslims, and together we must build a new spirit of partnership to combat terrorists who threaten our common security.
Eight years later: He didnt quite make the 100 days, but on June 4, 2009, Obama spoke at Cairo University on A New Beginning in U.S. relations with the Muslim world.
Vice President Biden, second from left, and Army officials stand by as soldiers carry the remains of Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Nov. 15, 2016. Iubelt was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. (Steve Ruark/Associated Press)
TWP: Your call to act on actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets appears identical to current [Bush] administration policy. Yet the problem seems to be less a willingness to act than the availability of actionable intelligence. Do you advocate increasing that presence in Pakistan, regardless of whether the Pakistani government agrees? What type of increased U.S. presence would you like to see in both Pakistan and Afghanistan?
Obama: The problem goes beyond developing actionable intelligence. It is acting on it. The failure to focus on Afghanistan and the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan] because our resources were diverted to Iraq has enabled al-Qaeda to develop a sanctuary for its core leadership, likely including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The Bush administration has not acted aggressively enough to go after al-Qaedas leadership. In 2002, their failure to use U.S. troops in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan allowed al-Qaedas leadership to cross the border to Pakistan.
As president, I would send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan. I would focus more Special Operations resources along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, including intelligence-gathering assets. I would condition some military assistance to Pakistan on their action in the FATA. And I would be clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not take out al-Qaeda leadership when we have actionable intelligence about their whereabouts, we will act to protect the American people. There can be no safe haven for al-Qaeda terrorists who killed thousands of Americans and threaten our homeland today.
Eight years later: In 2009, Obama authorized an additional 50,000 troops to Afghanistan. By mid-August 2010, the total U.S. force was 110,000. A drawdown began in 2011, and Obama declared the end of combat operations at the end of 2014. But the goal of a complete withdrawal was not achieved. By his final months in office, about 8,400 troops remained, initially as trainers and advisers but with an increasing combat role as Afghan forces continued battling the Taliban.
In Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas, U.S. drone strikes against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups increased sharply, to about 120 in 2010 (four times the number in Bushs final year in office). The number decreased every year after that, as the administration said it had decimated al-Qaedas leadership, including the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. Special Operations forces raid in Pakistan. In 2016, as the year drew to a close, there had been only a handful of drone strikes there.
TWP: In implementing your plan to immediately begin withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq and to complete the process within 16 months, what weight will you give to the counsel of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command] commander, the combatant commander on the ground in Iraq and current intelligence chiefs on the ground in Iraq regarding an immediate phased withdrawal?
Obama: I will give their counsel great weight. But, as commander in chief, it is my responsibility to make my own assessment of the situation. We must send a clear signal to the Iraqi political leadership that we are leaving Iraq on a timeline. Doing so will put pressure on those leaders to begin to resolve the political impasse at the heart of this civil war.
But I also want to be clear about another thing. I am worried our Army is overstretched and that we have asked an awful lot from our military families. Many in our senior military leadership are worried about a plan that will keep 130,000 troops on the ground in Iraq for the foreseeable future. So, as commander in chief, I will also have to take into consideration the counsel of other senior military leaders who may be concerned that Iraq is undercutting our ability to confront other security challenges.
Eight years later: Obama came into office with a deadline, negotiated by the Bush administration, for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. In August 2010, when about 50,000 troops remained, he declared that the American combat mission has ended. Those remaining would serve as trainers and advisers to the Iraqi military, he said, and all but a handful stationed at the U.S. Embassy would be gone by December 2011. Over the next year and a half, U.S. military commanders pushed for at least 20,000 to remain. Obama agreed to negotiate the retention of about 3,500 but was unable to reach a deal with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose government and parliament refused to include standard provisions giving U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraq should they commit a crime there.
In June 2014, as Islamic State fighters swept into Iraq from the northwest to the outskirts of Baghdad, Obama authorized sending about 275 military personnel to aid in protecting the capital. By the end of 2016, as U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi forces had pushed the militants back and launched a final offensive against them in the northern city of Mosul, the number had grown to about 5,000.
Two Iraqi girls are helped onto a truck by Iraqi Special Forces soldiers to be taken out of the combat zone in the Samah neighborhood of Mosul on Nov. 15, 2016. (Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
TWP: The military is becoming ever more involved in state to state relations.
You, and many others, speak of the need to increase diplomatic and civilian resources and to integrate them more closely with the military as instruments of foreign policy and have called for mobile development teams for the military to carry out such functions. Some critics believe that the military is already too involved in diplomacy and that the image the United States presents to the world is already too identified with the armed forces. Does this concern you?
Obama: One of the greatest tactical failures in the occupation of Iraq was the inability to marshal the capabilities of American experts in the State Department and elsewhere to aid in the stabilization and rebuilding. Because of inadequate planning by civilian leaders, the military has been asked to carry this burden alone.
I will work with Congress to ensure that the State Department has the authorities and resources it requires to lead U.S. government efforts to prevent and respond to conflict. I will increase the size of the Foreign Service, fully fund the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization and create a new office of conflict prevention and resolution with senior ambassadors to support high-level negotiations and provide the expertise and capacity to seize opportunities or address crises as they arise. I will also build a ready reserve corps of private civilians that can participate in post-conflict, humanitarian and stabilization efforts around the globe.
At the same time, I will modernize our foreign assistance policies, tools and operations into a restructured, empowered and streamlined USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development].
As the U.S. confronts new global challenges, greater cooperation between civilian and military agencies is essential. That is why, in my administration, the National Security Council will assert a powerful coordinating role, and a deputy national security adviser will be empowered to develop integrated strategies to build capable, democratic states and ensure policy coherence in the application of development and democracy programs as key elements of U.S. power.
Eight years later: Military withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011 left the State Department struggling to fill the gaps in military-run programs and to provide its own security, transportation and other functions the Defense Department undertook. Many of States efforts were sharply scaled back or discontinued as it quickly became apparent that working in what the government calls a non-permissive environment a dangerous place required far more protection and logistics, as well as far more resources, than those available to the State Department.
There has been little growth in the State Department, even as its responsibilities have greatly increased. Although the need for cooperation between State and Defense has grown, its execution has ebbed and flowed. As promised, Obamas National Security Council developed a powerful role too powerful, some argued as it doubled in size to about 400 people and exerted ever more White House control over national security issues large and small.
On June 4, 2009, President Obama called for a new beginning between the Islamic world and the U.S. during a speech at Cairo University. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)
When President Obama strode to the podium at Cairo University on June 4, 2009, he faced a Muslim world bursting with optimism about his middle name Hussein! along with his barrier-bashing skin color, and a heart they believed was wide open to their concerns and dreams.
Assalaamu alaykum, Obama said, using the traditional Arabic salutation Muslims use to greet one another. Peace be upon you.
He called for a new beginning between the United States and the worlds billion Muslims. He promised to close the reviled prison at Guantanamo Bay, to personally pursue Palestinian-Israeli peace and to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. Obama said he would invest billions in Afghanistan and Pakistan; seek a nuclear deal with Iran; encourage deeper ties in science, education and business; and promote womens rights.
Its easier to start wars than to end them, he said to applause. Its easier to blame others than to look inward. Its easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. . . . We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning.
Barack Obama, we love you, shouted someone in the audience.
More than seven years later, the romance has withered. Along with some lingering fondness, there are feelings of bitterness and regret, and nagging questions about what might have been.
They will remember him as the first black president; someone like Muhammad Ali. But not like Martin Luther King Jr., said Hisham Kassem, former publisher of Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypts only independent newspaper.
You cant hold Obama responsible for what happened in Egypt. Egyptians do determine their fate. . . . [But] Obama has disappointed people more, and thats what his legacy is. . . . His pledges were for the people to be treated as real human beings with rights and [to] help propel democracy. But if you are still doing deals with corrupt dictators, how does that fulfill your promises? Wael Eskandar, activist, Egypt
Although much of the world still views Obama favorably, the dominant emotion in the Middle East is disappointment. Just under half of those in Israel and Turkey have confidence in him, according to a 40-nation Pew Research Center survey conducted in June 2015. Few expressed favorable views of the U.S. president: about a third of Lebanese, 15 percent of Palestinians and 14 percent of Jordanians.
Saleh Mohammed Saleh, an Afghan legislator from Kunar province, said he and other Afghans were encouraged when Obama reached out just months after his first inauguration. But during the years of Obamas presidency, Saleh said, both the world and the region had become more unstable. He claimed credit for killing [Osama] bin Laden and some Taliban leaders, but are we safer than before? Are the world and the U.S. safer? I dont think so at all. The region is on fire.
Protesters light fireworks in Cairo to celebrate President Hosni Mubaraks resignation on Feb. 11, 2011. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
The reasons Muslims give for their disillusionment are almost too many to count: seven years of drone strikes, deepening chaos in Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State, continued violence in Afghanistan, the collapse of Libya, the lack of Israeli-Palestinian progress, ongoing U.S. support for autocratic governments, the failure to close Guantanamo.
I think it was the right decision in terms of protecting the Libyan civilians. But the follow-up after that decision, leaving Libya alone after the fall of the regime, that was the tragic mistake. . . . You let Libya become a hub for terrorists. Mahmoud Jibril, former opposition leader, Libya
Some see the Iran nuclear deal something the administration considers a signature foreign policy achievement as a positive step to keep the ayatollahs in Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon. The idea of minimizing the risk of a nuclear Iran or multilateral intervention against Iran is definitely a plus for the Middle East, said Amr Adly, a political analyst and researcher with the Carnegie Middle East Center.
But critics in the region echoing naysayers at home call the agreement a naive capitulation that does the opposite, arguing that it simply allows Iran to postpone its nuclear ambitions in exchange for renewed stature in the world and a windfall of billions of dollars that it will use to spread its state-sponsored terror.
Hisham Melhem, Washington bureau chief of Saudi Arabia-owned al-Arabiya News Channel, said that he applauded the deal but that Obama should have used the negotiations to pressure Iran on other fronts.
He was silent on human rights in Iran, Melhem said. He did not check, or try to check, Irans proxy wars in Iraq and Syria.
In the first term of Obama, Iraq wasnt among his priorities. . . . We hope the next American administration will be more serious in supporting Iraq, because now Iraq needs all the support it can get. Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulloum, parliamentarian, Iraq
And then there is Syria, the Rubiks Cube of a civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and more than half the population displaced from their homes or scattered as refugees abroad. In Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, it has created a humanitarian nightmare. In Europe, the flow of more than a million fleeing migrants has led to right-wing nationalism with ominous historical echoes.
Obama has defended his early decision to limit support to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, and the quick erasure of a red line drawn over Assads use of chemical weapons, as wise restraint. But to many in the region, his actions seemed like dithering.
Two Syrian rebels take sniper positions in central Aleppo on Oct. 18, 2012. (Javier Manzano/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
Obama allowed human rights violations committed by the Syrian regime to happen every day, said Melhem Riachi, an analyst who teaches communications at Lebanons Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. This do-nothing policy actually empowered terrorism by aiding the rise of extremist Muslim groups, he said, and actually strengthened the [Assad] regime.
The resulting vacuum in Syria itself allowed the Islamic State to grow from its Iraqi roots. As it has spread its medieval horrors across the region, it has displaced al-Qaeda as the source of inspiration for ultra-violent militants who have struck brutally from Istanbul to Paris to San Bernardino.
Some of the things Obama promised to do, such as the closure of Guantanamo, were blocked by a recalcitrant Congress. He did bring the troops home from Iraq, and billions have been spent in Afghanistan. Yet both those countries remain at war. And despite years of effort, there has been no substantive improvement to the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.
I think it is very clear as far as the Palestinians are concerned, the Obama administration has been a huge disappointment. George Giacaman, university professor, Palestinian territories
The Arab Spring, which brought hope to millions in the Middle East as well as to the Obama administration, limps on in Tunisia, where it began. But it lies in ruins in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and beyond.
Laying the regions manifold problems at Obamas doorstep grossly oversimplifies some of the worlds most complex and confounding dynamics. And the complaints follow a familiar historical pattern: high expectations that the United States can solve a problem, followed by inevitable disappointment when it cannot. Too much intervention. Not enough. Too much emphasis on democracy and human rights. Too little.
A protester wearing a Tunisian flag makes his way past closed shops toward sporadic gunfire in Tunis, Tunisia, in February 2011. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)
You have this element of association with the Obama administration and anarchy in the region, said Adly, the Carnegie researcher. So hes not that popular at all nowadays. . . . You have this mainstream distrust in whatever the U.S. does, and a gross overestimation for what the U.S. can do. . . . There is definitely a disenchantment with Obama.
Embers of hope still glow in the hearts of some: Said Ghorayeb, a writer who lives in Beirut, is one of those who still see Obama as the world leader most capable and inclined to ease Muslim suffering.
President Obama brought only negative changes to Afghanistan. A majority of youths are unemployed, security is bad and every day we hear of attacks. The money sent . . . under his presidency went to corrupt government officials, not ordinary people. Ezmarai Nesari, taxi driver, Afghanistan
Our country has been burdened so much, Ghorayeb said of Lebanon. These refugees this situation is a ticking time bomb, and God only knows when it will explode and destroy what is left of one of the few free and democratic countries in the region.
But Melhem of al-Arabiya said Obama too often is more words than actions. Hes an honorable man. Hes an extremely gifted and smart man. But hes not really a fighter.
He went to Cairo and he introduced himself to a billion-plus Muslims in the world through a speech. He gives all these difficult speeches on terrorism, on drones, on race, on all of these issues, and they are beautifully crafted, Melham said. But you get the impression that he thinks his words are a substitute for actions.
With reporting from Loveday Morris in Baghdad; Sudarsan Raghavan in Cairo; Hugh Naylor and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut; Pam Constable, Mohammad Sharif and Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul; and Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem.
5
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been held in New York City since 1924. It began featuring giant helium balloon characters a few years later, and the colorful balloons have been parading through Manhattan ever since. What was the first giant balloon character to be featured in the parade?
(Jennifer Chase for The Washington Post)
Before the Fall
By Noah Hawley (Grand Central)
One August evening, a private plane awaits passengers on Marthas Vineyard. The plane, chartered by a Republican kingmaker who has founded a wildly profitable (and proudly right-wing) cable news network, crashes. Was it foul play, and if yes, who was behind it?
The English Teacher
By Yiftach Reicher Atir, translated from the Hebrew by Philip Simpson (Penguin)
This story of a Mossad operative written by a former Israeli intelligence officer provides an astonishing look at Middle Eastern spycraft. Operative Rachel Goldschmitt is preparing to vanish, but when she makes a mysterious phone call to her former handler, the Mossad comes after her.
A Great Reckoning" by Louise Penny. (Minotaur)
"A Hero of France" by Alan Furst. (Random House)
A Great Reckoning
By Louise Penny (Minotaur)
In the 12th Chief Inspector Gamache novel, our hero has just stepped into a new post as chief superintendent of the police academy in Three Pines, Quebec, where hes charged with finding the source of corruption within its ranks. When a professor at the academy is murdered, Gamache becomes caught up in a way he never expected.
A Hero of France
By Alan Furst (Random House)
After the Germans invade, a French army captain devotes himself to helping British bomber crews forced to bail out over France make their way back to England to rejoin the desperately short-handed Royal Air Force.
"Under the Harrow" by Flynn Berry. (Penguin)
"Where It Hurts" by Reed Farrel Coleman. (Putnam)
Under the Harrow
By Flynn Berry (Penguin)
A taut psychological thriller with shades of Daphne du Mauriers Rebecca. Nora arrives in the British countryside and walks into the shocking scene of her sisters murder. As she seeks clues to her sisters death and life Nora becomes nearly unhinged, and the reader must decide whether to trust her.
Where It Hurts
By Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam)
Gus Murphy, a middle-aged ex-cop, falls apart after the death of his son and takes a job at a seedy hotel on Long Island. But Gus is roused back into action by a phone call from a drug dealer who may have clues about his son.
"The Whisperer," by John Grisham. (Doubleday)
"The Woman in Cabin 10" by Ruth Ware. (Gallery/Scout Press )
The Whistler
By John Grisham (Doubleday)
Two investigators are approached by a whistleblower with information about a conspiracy involving a casino on a Native American reservation, organized crime and a crooked judge.
The Woman in Cabin 10
By Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout)
On a luxury cruise ship in the North Sea, travel writer Lo Blacklock hears a splash and then sees what she thinks is the body of a woman sinking beneath the waves. Lo swears she met this woman in Cabin 10, but no one believes her.
"The Wrong Side of Goodbye," by Michael Connelly. (Little, Brown)
"You Will Know Me" by Megan Abbott. (Little, Brown)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye
By Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch is summoned by an aging billionaire for an almost impossible task: find someone who might not even exist. Brooding and intricate, suspenseful and sad, this is Connelly at his best.
You Will Know Me
By Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
Abbott takes readers deep into the obsessive world of young female gymnasts and the families that help push these athletes to victory. Might their hopes for glory be powerful enough to cover up a murder?
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Georgetowns Cafe Milano is gearing up for a busy inauguration season. (Joseph Victor Stefanchik/for The Washington Post)
Theres a long list of people who are expected to benefit from a Trump presidency: alt-righters and Rudolph W. Giuliani, to name a few. Add to that list: some bar and restaurant owners in Georgetown.
Of course parts of Georgetown are getting psyched for a Trump presidency. In a city where 93 percent of voters picked Hillary Clinton, Georgetown and Upper Northwest are where most of our Republicans live. Its where the young-staffer social scene was concentrated during the Bush administration. And its where some restaurateurs are hoping and praying theyll return under Trump.
Ive seen Georgetown on a steady decline for the past eight years, said restaurateur Bo Blair. I do think that this change in administration will invigorate Georgetown and hopefully re-energize it.
Blair would know. His Georgetown bar Smith Point became the epicenter of young Republican Washington during George W. Bushs presidency because it was a frequent hangout for first daughters Jenna and Barbara. Ivanka and Eric Trump, both of whom attended Georgetown, went to his club, too, he says. It was also the base of a short-lived conservative social scene called Late Night Shots, which became notorious for its racist and misogynistic online message boards, where members posted about boat shoes, luxury cars and, in the words of one user, Figuring out if girls are sluts.
But Smith Point has struggled during the Obama years, and Blair said he had been trying to sell it. He changed his mind after the election and is now planning renovations to attract newcomers. I think a preppy, conservative place in Georgetown is hopefully what some of them will be looking for, said Blair, who considers himself an independent.
Cafe Milano, a longtime favorite haunt of politicians on both sides of the aisle, is also gearing up for a busy season.
Everybody says Republicans have a tendency to spend more, said Franco Nuschese, the restaurants owner. Hes already booked most of the restaurants private rooms for inauguration weekend.
Jose Andres is moving his America Eats Tavern, now in Tysons Corner, to Georgetown. (Scott Suchman/for The Washington Post)
The neighborhood has ebbed and flowed. From the Reconstruction period through the 1930s, it was a working-class black neighborhood, before being gentrified in the 1940s. In the 60s, it was synonymous with Kennedy-era dinner parties. Elegant restaurants followed, and so did the rowdy, drunken 20-somethings of the early Aughts. But with the closing of several major restaurants, including Citronelle, as well as the attention paid to 14th Street and Shaw, Georgetown hasnt gotten as much attention in recent years.
Even before the election, big-name restaurateurs made plans to branch into the neighborhood. Jose Andres recently announced he would move America Eats Tavern from Tysons Corner to Georgetown. His former Minibar chef, Johnny Spero, is opening Reverie there next year. A longtime liquor license moratorium for the neighborhood expired this year, opening the door to more restaurants and bars.
Lauren Boston, communications director for the Georgetown Business Improvement District, resisted the idea that the neighborhoods fortunes might be tied to Trump. We have a diverse political spectrum here and welcome everyone to dine and shop in Georgetown, she said.
The dining room at BLT Prime, overlooking the lobby of the Trump International Hotel. (Dixie Vereen/for The Washington Post)
The Obama Effect
Trump himself may never even set foot in the neighborhood. His effect on the local restaurant scene certainly wont echo that of the Obamas, who are credited with breathing new life into boring old Washington.
But many changes attributed to the Obama Effect are the result of market forces an improving economy, a nationwide trend of young people moving into urban centers, and the fruition of developments, such as CityCenter, that had been planned during the Bush years. We all love the involvement that the president had in the city, but I would not say that the boom happened because of that alone, Andres said. Washington, its destiny was to have the boom. I was opening restaurants before Obama came here.
Still, the Obamas presence at a restaurant was a boon for business. They were young, they dined out, they wanted to be part of the city, said Ashok Bajaj, owner of the Oval Room, Rasika and other restaurants the Obamas visited. They visited those places and gave their endorsement. Its very good for me.
If theres a Trump Effect, its likely to mostly benefit BLT Prime in the Trump International Hotel, which has the potential to become the center of the Republican social scene. Jane Freundel Levey, a historian for the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., imagines little bursts of Trumpian socializing and excess there. Nuschese, on the other hand, says that because the hotel has gotten so much attention, it will be too public for politicians to dine there often. The people who eat every single day and entertain, I dont think they will want to be around that, he said.
Besides, the hotel has become a center of protest, too. And as with Trumps other businesses, it has raised the hackles of ethics watchdogs, since the Trump family stands to benefit from its elevated stature. ESquared Hospitality, parent company of BLT Prime, declined to comment.
Security staff guard the 21 Club in New York while President-elect Donald Trump dines inside. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Will his children set trends?
Given what we know about Trumps habits, its unlikely he will follow Obamas lead as a man-about-town.
He has a well-known distaste for Washington. In the second presidential debate, he called it a violent place. He has repeatedly referred to the federal government here as a swamp to drain. And the Trumps have hinted they will be only part-time residents of our city, anyway. The New York Times reported that he wants to split his time between the District and New York, with some stints at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Hes also a notorious germaphobe and an unadventurous eater, preferring fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, and steakhouses, such as New Yorks 21 Club, that will cook him a well-done slab of meat. For obvious reasons, its also hard to envision Trump eating immigrant food, as George H.W. Bush did with his penchant for Peking Gourmet Inn, or the Obamas with their love of Rasika. Hell probably just go to his own hotel.
His children are another story. Maybe they will set the trends, and people will follow them, Bajaj said. Hopefully they will go out as much as President Obama.
Bajaj and other restaurateurs from immigrant backgrounds are prepared to welcome Trump and his children. That includes Andres, who is mired in litigation with the president-elect after Andres canceled his plans to put a restaurant in Trumps hotel after Trump called Mexican immigrants rapists.
Im a guy that believes in second and third opportunities, Andres said.
Washingtons 14th Street NW, now home to a slew of popular restaurants, including Le Diplomate, was quite a different scene during the last Republican administration. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
The staffers who move to Washington to work for the administration will probably participate in local culture more than Trump will. Georgetown was the obvious choice for them in 2000 because neighborhoods like the more-diverse 14th Street and Shaw didnt have as many amenities. Now that there are excellent bars and restaurants throughout the city, its likely that Trump staffers will go to those, too.
Tons of people that are coming to town have never been to 14th Street or Barracks Row or tried Roses Luxury, Blair said. Its exciting to have a whole new group of people try all these places that have come alive.
How well those staffers integrate with the citys Democratic population remains to be seen. Still, even though the city probably wont change too drastically, I think theres going to be even more hunkering down than ever, Levey said. In previous administrations, there was more bipartisan socializing, particularly at dinner parties.
That style is gone, and thats a shame, because we need that more than ever, if were going to be able to talk to each other again, she said.
Correction: A previous version of this story said that Georgetown got its start as a working-class black neighborhood. Georgetown was a working-class black neighborhood from the Reconstruction period through the 1930s.
THE DISTRICT
Fueling of generator may have caused fire
A fire that destroyed a food truck Wednesday at George Washington University, leaving three workers injured, started when an employee tried to refuel an electrical generator while the vehicle was running and food was being prepared and served, the D.C. fire department said.
A spokesman for the department said the fire started outside the Falafel Bus and quickly spread to the interior, where fuel feeding hot stoves added to the fires intensity and helped it quickly spread.
Three employees, a man and two women, were taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Fire officials said one patient was in critical condition with severe burns.
Peter Hermann
Autopsy shows Barry died of drug overdose
Marion Christopher Barry Jr., son of the late former D.C. mayor Marion Barry, died of an overdose of PCP, the D.C. medical examiners office said Thursday.
Barry, 36, died Aug. 14, minutes after he stepped outside a residence on Pomeroy Road SE and smoked K2 a type of synthetic drug mixed with the hallucinogen PCP, according to a D.C. police report issued at the time. Barry was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner ruled that the manner of death was accidental.
Keith L. Alexander
Man, 18, is indicted in two slayings
An 18-year-old District resident was indicted Thursday in two slayings.
A D.C. Superior Court grand jury indicted Maurice Bellamy on multiple charges, including first-degree premeditated murder while armed, first-degree felony murder and robbery.
Authorities say that on March 26, Bellamy fatally shot 15-year-old Devonte Washington. Authorities say Washington was targeted because he or a sibling was perceived to have looked at the shooter the wrong way at the Deanwood Metro station.
Bellamy also was charged in the Dec. 15 slaying of Arthur Baldwin Jr., a Secret Service officer who was shot during a robbery in Southwest.
Keith L. Alexander
MARYLAND
Harris will not chair GOP study committee
Rep. Andy Harris on Thursday lost his bid for the chairmanship of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative policy-oriented caucus that will work to push the party and President-elect Donald Trump to the right.
Harris, a three-term congressman whose district is based on the Eastern Shore, was defeated by Rep. Mark Walker, a freshman lawmaker from North Carolina.
Jenna Portnoy
Former police cadet is convicted in crash
A former Maryland State Police cadet was convicted of manslaughter in a 2014 crash that killed a teacher.
Sebastian Reyes, 21, faces up to five years in prison at a sentencing set for January.
Reyes was on the Capital Beltway on Aug. 1, 2014, when he lost control of his police cruiser trying to avoid a crash with a tow truck, according to the Prince Georges County states attorneys office. Prosecutors said Reyes was driving about 74 mph in a 55-mph zone when he hit the car of Karen Holt-Williams, 59, of Temple Hills.
Lynh Bui
VIRGINIA
4 Stafford deaths said to be murder-suicide
Authorities are investigating the deaths of four people in Stafford County as a domestic-related murder-suicide.
The four people a 35-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and two girls, ages 5 and 18 months were found dead in the Windsor Forest subdivision in the northwest part of the county, said a Stafford County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman.
Information about the causes of death was not immediately available.
There is no danger to the public, said Margaret Morris-Moncure, a spokeswoman with the sheriffs office.
Justin Moyer and Victoria St. Martin
Deputy acquitted in assault case
A former Loudoun County sheriffs deputy who was convicted of misdemeanor assault after he threw a handcuffed man to the ground in the Loudoun jail last year appealed his conviction and was found not guilty by a Loudoun circuit court jury Wednesday.
Video footage from surveillance cameras in the jails receiving area showed then-Deputy John W. Gregory arriving with prisoner Lyle Grenoble, who was charged with being drunk in public.
An in-car video showed that Grenoble was not hostile or resistant throughout a long arrest and transportation process but that within seconds of arriving at the jail, he was body-slammed by Gregory.
Gregory, 33, was prosecuted in Loudoun General District Court in 2015, found guilty and fined $500. Gregory appealed to the circuit court, where a seven-person jury found him not guilty, his attorney, Caleb Kershner, said Thursday.
Tom Jackman
Judges in Maryland would not be able to set bail that is too high for a poor defendant to pay unless the defendant is considered a flight risk or a danger to society, under a rule change that a key judiciary committee voted Friday to recommend to the states highest court.
The Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Maryland Court of Appeals voted 18 to 5 to recommend an overhaul of the states money-based bail system, which critics say is unfair to poor and minority defendants.
The public will have 30 days to review the rule change which is opposed by bail bondsmen, most state prosecutors and some state lawmakers before it is considered by the Court of Appeals.
We saw a problem that needed to be fixed, said retired judge Alan M.Wilner, the chair of the rules committee, after the nearly five-hour hearing. The impact of setting bail that a person cannot make is irrational. It is not really setting bail it is putting them in jail, and it has a disparate impact first on poor people, for sure, and on people of color.
Advocates in Maryland and across the country have been fighting for years to change the bail system, which can leave poor people in jail for months awaiting trial while those charged with similar crimes but who can pay go free.
Among those testifying in favor of a change was Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), who asked the rules committee to consider a change after his office issued an opinion that the states system probably was unconstitutional, and Prince Georges County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks (D), who broke from most of her colleagues.
Im almost ashamed to admit that we have a two-tiered system, Alsobrooks said. I have become devastated about the way we have operated our criminal justice system.
Opponents of limiting cash bail said the state is not equipped to handle such a change and would struggle, for example, to find a way to deal with defendants who do not show up for trial.
As part of an effort to lobby against a change, bail bondsmen have begun disseminating data about the growing number of defendants released on recognizance since last month, when District Court Chief Judge John P. Morrissey advised judges and commissioners to impose the least onerous conditions on those awaiting trial.
[Md. attorney generals office raises questions about cash bail system]
Frosh said eliminating cash bail for poor defendants would have a major impact.
People will no longer be sitting in jail waiting for trial because they cant afford to pay for bail, he said. If they are a danger, they should be locked up; if they are not going to show up for trial, they should be locked up. But if they are not a threat to anybody . . . they should not be sitting in jail for weeks or months awaiting trial.
Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince Georges), a member of the rules committee and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was one of five people who voted Friday against recommending the change to the Court of Appeals.
Vallario argued that the issue should be handled by the legislature, not the courts, and accused the committee of a rush to judgment.
Previous attempts to pass laws reforming the bail system have stalled in the General Assembly, including bills sponsored by Frosh when he was a state senator.
In a letter to the rules committee this week, state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), the chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, also tried to discourage the committee from taking action on the rule change.
Zirkin said in an interview that the court system usually makes rule changes after legislation has been enacted, and he noted that the General Assembly could pass legislation that negates any changes the Court of Appeals makes.
Gerard Evans, a lobbyist for the bail bondsmen, accused Frosh of trying to dodge the legislative process. But Frosh said the action was completely within the purview of the courts.
The five Democratic lawmakers who initially sought the attorney generals opinion Dels. Kathleen M. Dumais (Montgomery), Erek L. Barron (Prince Georges), Shelly L. Hettleman (Baltimore County), Marc A. Korman (Montgomery) and Brooke E. Lierman (Baltimore City) say they support a rules change and plan to introduce additional legislation addressing bail and other pretrial issues in the upcoming legislative session.
This has been legislatively debated, and nothing has happened, Robert Zarbin, an attorney and a member of the rules committee, said during the hearing. If we pass this rule, something will happen in Annapolis. This is the best catalyst to get people talking.
An officer takes a photo of a man in a motel room as Prince Georges County police run a sting operation to nab prostitutes and johns in 2012 in College Park, Md. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
New legislation in Prince Georges County aims to hold landlords and property managers accountable for prostitution and human trafficking at their rental properties the latest sign of a growing concern in an immigrant-rich corner of the Washington suburb.
County Council member Deni Taveras (D-Adelphi) proposed the bill after receiving complaints from several Langley Park-area mothers, who said units in their apartment buildings were being used as brothels and the property managers knew about it.
Taveras says police told her that they would like more legal tools to discourage landlords from leasing to individuals involved in sex trafficking, or forcing women and girls, often immigrants in this country illegally, to engage in prostitution.
The bill makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly allow use of an apartment or home for prostitution or trafficking, punishable with a $1,000 fine or six months in jail. It passed the council unanimously last week, and a spokesman for County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) said he will sign it into law.
This can only stop when the property owner feels the pain and curtails this kind of activity, Taveras said. This is a mechanism that holds the entire chain of individuals, not just the pimp, responsible for what happens at these apartments.
[Human trafficking survivors recommend changes to U.S. policies ]
The legislation is tailored to address criminal activity that police, government officials and community activists say is happening in the largely Hispanic immigrant community of Langley Park.
There are men coming in and out of the apartments all night long, said Maria DeLeon, who lives in Langley Park and has sought help from Taveras. Its scary to know your family is only one or two doors away from it all. Im frightened for my children.
Michael Lyles, co-chair of a task force in Prince Georges that develops recommendations for how to fight human trafficking, said gangs such as MS-13 are extorting money from forced prostitution rings, charging them for protection and providing lookouts. Men and women are being trafficked up and down the Interstate 95 corridor, Lyles said, and moved from apartment to apartment to evade authorities.
Different jurisdictions have different tools for targeting human traffickers. In the District, nuisance abatement boards can penalize landlords for harboring illegal activity and benefiting financially. In Montgomery County, lawmakers have imposed strict regulations on businesses, such as massage parlors, that are thought to be fronts for illegal activity including prostitution.
But the Prince Georges law takes those efforts a step further by assigning criminal charges to those who knowingly sublease, assign, transfer possession, or permit use of an apartment or home for prostitution or trafficking.
Its a crime of economics. And so if individuals are profiting from this business thats where we have to tackle cutting the head off the snake, said Jeanne Allert, founder and executive director of the Samaritan Women, a group that tries to help trafficking victims.
[Hunting for sex traffickers abroad by posing as johns]
The Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington said state laws that focus on property owners whose home or building becomes a haven for drug manufacturing or sale should provide enough of a deterrent. States attorneys can also use civil forfeiture laws to seize homes and properties where illegal activity is taking place.
We dont want drug activity or prostitution on or near our premises, said Ronald Wineholt, the associations vice president of government affairs. We support prosecuting these crimes, but its not entirely clear to us how this language will lead to stronger enforcement.
But John Erzen, spokesman for the Prince Georges states attorney office, said there is no state law that attempts to hold property owners or managers criminally liable for human trafficking, he said.
The intention is to provide a tool against those who are committing it or know its being committed, he said.
Critics questioned how prosecutors and investigators will be able to prove landlords or property managers know about trafficking and have done nothing to stop it.
Taveras said she thinks that property owners, when faced with the possibility of charges, will address problems before they become deeply rooted in the community.
The law also formalizes the countys system for reporting sex-trafficking crimes. Complaints phoned into the countys 311 line will be routed to Lyless Human Relations Commission and to police. Landlords can call to find out whether their property has been reported and request training workshops so building employees can better identify the signs of trafficking.
Assistant Prince Georges Police Chief Hector Velez called the law a step in the right direction.
It is effective because it sends a message, he said. Having something like this puts people on notice that you cant turn a blind eye . . . and they are a part of the solution. And if youre not helping, youll be held accountable.
Richard Spencer, a leading promoter of white nationalism, is hosting a major gathering Saturday that is expected to draw protesters. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
A white nationalist organization that has come under fire for promoting racism will host a conference Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in downtown Washington a gathering of more than 250 that will celebrate Donald Trumps presidential victory.
The past 12 months might be remembered as the year of Donald Trump . . . and the year of the Alt Right, according to the website for the National Policy Institute, which is hosting the event. It was a time when more people joined our movement then [sic] ever before and when our ideas began invading the mainstream.
The conference is expected to draw dozens if not hundreds of protesters, who have launched a Facebook page asking that people join them to defeat this hate.
The institutes president, Richard Spencer, who coined the term alt-right, is a leading promoter of white identity. He and his followers oppose immigration and multiculturalism.
Friday night as prospective attendees of the Saturday conference gathered at a restaurant for a private dinner, protesters rushed up a flight of stairs toward them. They were prevented from reaching them, however, and went back outside to continue protesting.
About 200 people protested a gathering of white nationalists sponsored by the National Policy Institute at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Nov. 19 in downtown Washington. (Facebook/Tauhid Chappell)
The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the National Policy Institute as an extreme right-wing group 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.
[Whats the alt-right? A primer]
The movement gained national prominence during the 2016 presidential campaign as supporters crusaded on Twitter and Facebook for Trump, whose blunt talk and immigrant bashing resonated with them.
When the president-elect named as chief White House strategist the former Breitbart News chief Stephen K. Bannon who is closely associated with the movement the alt-rights leadership touted the appointment as another enormous victory for their cause.
Strategist is the best possible position for Steve Bannon in the Trump White House, Spencer wrote on Twitter, just days before the social media platform, without explanation, suspended him and a number of like-minded users.
Saturdays speaker lineup features a number of prominent, and controversial, white nationalists, including Kevin MacDonald, a retired professor of psychology at the California State University at Long Beach, who is considered deeply anti-Semitic by Jewish groups. He is, the SPLC says, the neo-Nazi movements favorite academic.
Peter Brimelow, an author and anti-immigration activist who leads the VDare Foundation, will also address the gathering.
Spencer, a 38-year-old with degrees from the universities of Virginia and Chicago, has worked for months to inject the movements ideology into the mainstream, offering interviews to dozens of major media publications.
Although people have fiercely objected to the Reagan building hosting Saturdays conference, the management has said it cant discriminate because the building is federal.
On its Facebook page, the anti-fascist group Smash Racism DC celebrated that the Hamilton had canceled a Friday-night dinner the institute intended to host at the restaurant.
We didnt really know the nature of the event, said Hamilton spokeswoman Molly Quigley. Once there was a threat of protest and disruption, we canceled it for the safety of our guests and employees and our business.
The restaurant, she said, had been inundated with calls from activists.
However, a group of prospective conference attendees gathered for dinner at another restaurant, Maggianos in the Friendship Heights area, and protesters tried to confront them inside.
Midway through the private dinner, more than 30 demonstrators swarmed into the restaurant and tried to reach the second floor area where the dinner was going on.
Restaurant personnel blocked the protesters from reaching the diners,and police later forced them outside. A protest continued on the Wisconsin Avenue sidewalk for about an hour and a half, with posters and chants.
At one point during the turbulence inside the restaurant, a foul-smelling liquid was sprayed on Spencer.
Theyre total scum he told a reporter later. They attacked me, they attacked the employees of this restaurant.
Among protesters chants was No Nazis, No KKK, No Fascist USA.
A second group of lawsuits has been filed by residents of a Silver Spring apartment complex that exploded into flames in August, litigation that again asserts that blame rests with the company that managed the complex and the utility that supplied it with natural gas.
Kay Apartment Communities and Washington Gas had been warned on several occasions about the smell of gas in apartments in the summer months before the tragedy, according to the lawsuits filed Thursday.
Defendants deliberately disregarded the danger to the propertys residents, and undertook no steps to repair the condition, say the new lawsuits filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
On the night of Aug. 10, natural gas built up in a basement utility room at the Flower Branch Apartments, leading to a huge explosion and a lengthy fire. Seven people died, and many more were injured as they jumped from balconies or made their way down burning, crumbling staircases.
Investigators have not said how the gas leaked or whether it was a rapid buildup from equipment overseen by the utility or by the management company. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the disaster, a process expected to last into next year.
The 14 new lawsuits were filed on behalf of people who lived at 8701 and 8703 Arliss St. They escaped their apartments, but many were injured and lost all of their possessions, including clothing, furniture, important documents and cash, according to the lawsuits.
It was almost unimaginable horror, said one of the residents attorneys, Patrick M. Regan. These folks were all sleeping. They were literally blown out of their beds, sometimes across their rooms.
He said virtually all of his clients are immigrants, with many working two or three jobs and sending money home to relatives. There were often two families, and other relatives, living in the apartment units.
Regan said he does not expect any of the litigation to move quickly through the courts because it is difficult for companies to turn over documents in response to the lawsuits before the NTSB finishes the federal investigation.
Bernie Tylor, a spokesman for Washington Gas, declined to comment on the new lawsuits, saying the utility is constrained by the investigation. Washington Gas continues to work closely with the NTSB to help determine the cause of this tragic event, Tylor said.
A spokeswoman for Kay said the company could not comment on the recent lawsuits because it had not yet been served with formal notification. She said Kay remained deeply saddened by the effects of the natural gas explosion and is committed to working with government agencies as quickly as possible to finish the investigation.
In an interview in August, Clark Melillo, president of Kay Apartment Communities, said company records for Flower Branch Apartments show the company received two complaints from residents about gas smells at 8701 and 8703 Arliss St. in 2016, months before the fire. In both cases in January and May by the time a maintenance worker checked, the smell was not noticeable, and no leak could be found, Melillo said.
On Nov. 2, similar litigation was filed in D.C. Superior Court. According to attorneys from the firm Bailey & Glasser, the lawsuits should be litigated there because Washington Gas is headquartered in the District and Kay, although it is a Maryland company, conducts business in Washington.
In an interview Thursday, Regan said he filed suit in Montgomery County because that is where the explosion and related events occurred.
A former third-grade teacher in Montgomery County, already facing charges of improperly touching two students, has been charged with additional sexual-offense counts involving three more victims, authorities said.
John Vigna, 50, who had worked at Cloverly Elementary School in Silver Spring, turned himself in to county police detectives Thursday and was ordered held without bond. His new charges include three counts of third-degree sexual offense, two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of child abuse exploitation, according to a police spokesman.
Vignas attorney, Thomas C. Morrow, said his client is totally devastated by what he has called false accusations. He has emphatically denied all the allegations, Morrow said. We look forward to our day in court.
The additional victims, according to police, contacted detectives after publicity of Vignas earlier arrest.
Police described the new allegations as:
John Vigna (Montgomery County Police)
A girl who said Vigna sexually abused her during the 2015 to 2016 school year at Cloverly.
A girl who said Vigna sexually abused her during the 2013 to 2014 school year at Cloverly.
A woman in her 20s, who said Vigna sexually abused her while she was a student at Cloverly during the 2000 to 2002 school years.
Vigna was placed on administrative leave after school officials were made aware of the initial allegations.
That case came to light after an 11-year-old who took a body safety class for elementary school students reported the longtime teacher allegedly had been improperly touching her for 18 months, according to court documents. Vigna had taught at Cloverly Elementary School for 24 years, and also helped run an after-school computer club and the schools student safety patrol.
I remain deeply troubled by the allegations regarding Mr. Vigna, Cloverly principal Melissa Brunson said in a letter sent to parents on Thursday. The behavior that he is accused of is reprehensible and does not conform to the values of MCPS [Montgomery County Public Schools].
She said the school will host a community meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, with school and police representatives present.
Montgomery County detectives arrested a Gaithersburg man on charges that he fatally shot a 23-year-old man last month when two masked assailants burst into a Gaithersburg home during a home invasion and attempted robbery of marijuana, police said.
Authorities believe that Mohammed Sirleaf, 20, of the 17700 block of Towne Crest Drive, fatally shot Ronald Michael Lone III on Oct. 24 inside his family home. Police said the home housed a marijuana growing operation and that they believe Sirleaf and a second suspect intended to rob Lone.
Lone was found dead on the back deck of the home with gunshot wounds to the body, officials said. One witness recognized one of the suspects as a former Magruder High School student and later identified Sirleaf through photographs, police said.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant Sirleaf charging him first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, police said. Police arrested him Wednesday and he is currently being held without bond, officials said.
Police have identified a second suspect, but did not charge him in the case.
Metro abruptly pulled all of its 4000-series rail cars from service Thursday after discovering a glitch that poses a collision risk, the transit agency said.
General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld ordered the cars immediately be taken out of service after engineers warned safety officials of the problem, which could leave trains traveling faster than theyre supposed to.
Eighty-two cars were to be removed while Metro investigates the problem, which centers on automatic train control (ATC), a system that is supposed to act as a safeguard against crashes.
ATC assigns speed commands to keep trains at a safe distance from one another, according to Metro. When a train is not authorized to move, the operator receives what is called a zero speed command, which shows up as a double-zero on the trains control panel. Metro said there is a slight risk that 4000-series cars could receive an improper speed command when in the lead position or front of a train posing a crash risk.
Todays action is being taken in an abundance of caution and, while we believe that the risk is small, it is a risk I am unwilling to take, Wiedefeld said in a statement. Everything we do here is going to put safety first, no matter what.
Metro said it does not conduct the manufacturer-recommended annual testing that would eliminate the risk of a false command.
Thursdays action was the latest chapter in the troubled history of the 4000-series, manufactured by Breda in 1991. The series is the systems most problematic and is prone to persistent breakdowns. The 100-car fleet was pulled from service last year following reports that doors were opening mid-ride. Metro was considering retiring the fleet by the end of 2017, following the scrapping of the systems oldest 1000-series rail cars.
[Metros 4000-series rail cars still out of service]
Thursdays discovery will likely speed up that process.
We are looking at ways to potentially accelerate the retirement of 4Ks, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said in an email. But, he said, the retirement of the 1000-series cars, mandated by the National Transportation Safety Board after the 2009 Red Line crash at Fort Totten that killed nine, remains the priority.
By 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Metro had begun taking the 4000-series cars out of service.
Metro plans to eventually replace more than half of its entire fleet with 7000-series cars, the systems newest model, manufactured by Kawasaki.
[For Metros original subway cars, the last stop is just ahead]
While the 4000s are out of commission, the agency said, riders may notice fewer eight-car trains across the system, which could create crowding.
The 82 4000-series cars represent about 7 percent of Metros 1,212-car passenger fleet. Metro said that no specific incident prompted their removal, but the agency has never performed the technical tests needed to mitigate the crash risk, and doesnt have the equipment to do so.
When the 4000s are floated back into service, the agency said it will turn to a solution devised for the 1000-series cars: sandwich them in the middle of newer, more reliable cars to eliminate the risk.
The Metro board chairman, Jack Evans, said the problem, though unfortunate, demonstrates that Metro is doing a better job of quickly diagnosing potential hazards and making decisions to prioritize safety. He said Metros staff rather than federal inspectors or NTSB investigators discovered the problem and brought it to the attention of agency leadership.
[Delivery of Metros new 7000-series rail cars back on track]
The good news is we found it, Evans said. As silly as that sounds, its a big deal that Metro actually found a problem on our own and are correcting it. . . . It shows that the increased emphasis on safety has, in this case, paid off.
And Evans noted that theres no love lost for the perpetually problematic 4000-series cars.
The 4000-series cars are unreliable cars anyway, so maybe getting them all off of the tracks even with fewer cars in the system maybe thats a good thing if we have fewer cars breaking down.
Carol Carmody, chairman of the Metro boards safety committee, lauded Wiedefelds quick thinking.
Pauls actions are right on target, she said. Im sure this is disruptive, and you never like to hear these things, but it sounds like this decision was the right thing to do.
Smoke from wildfires obscures the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Wednesday. There has been a spate of fires in the state, which is gripped by a long drought. The state Department of Health said more than 200 people in Chattanooga had been hospitalized for breathing problems related to the fires. (Dan Henry/ Chattanooga Times Free Press via Associated Press )
FLORIDA
Court removes two men from death row
Two double-murderers were spared execution Thursday after years on death row when the Florida Supreme Court ordered both to be resentenced to life without parole.
In one case, the justices decided that death would amount to unequal punishment; in the other, they said mitigating factors should have ruled out execution.
Robert McCloud, 35, faced capital punishment for the 2009 murders of Tamiqa Taylor, 26, and Dustin Freeman, 23, who were killed while McCloud and three other men tortured and robbed Wilkins Merlin, a drug dealer, according to court documents.
The group ransacked Merlins house, taking about $5,000 in cash, marijuana worth $10,000 and a handgun. Convinced Merlin was hiding more, they tortured him. They also killed Freeman and Taylor with gunshots to the heads at close range.
Prosecutors made plea deals, and the other three defendants received sentences of 10 to 15 years for second-degree murder in exchange for their testimony against McCloud.
The Supreme Court said McClouds double death sentences were unfair because his co-defendants were just as culpable and received far less severe sentences. The court also noted that the jury determined McCloud wasnt the shooter.
Terrance Phillips, 25, had been awaiting execution for the murders of Mateo Hernandez-Perez, 26, and Reynaldo Antunes-Padilla, 30, whom he shot during a botched 2009 robbery.
After two women posing as prostitutes entered the victims apartment, Phillips and a friend burst in. A struggle ensued, and Phillips fired three shots, killing Hernandez-Perez and Antunes-Padilla.
The Supreme Court agreed Phillips was guilty but said he shouldnt have been sentenced to death because he was 18 at the time and is borderline intellectually disabled.
Associated Press
MISSOURI
Suit over drowning in police custody settled
The state of Missouri will pay $9 million to the family of a 20-year-old Iowa man who drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks in 2014 while in the custody of a state trooper, an attorney representing the mans family said Thursday.
The settlement signals the end of a lawsuit filed by the family of Brandon Ellingson over the May 31, 2014, incident.
In terms of the settlement, it is a bit of closure for them, the attorney, Matt Boles, said in a phone interview.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. John Hotz confirmed the settlement in a statement but refused to make any further comment.
Ellingson was piloting his familys boat in May 2014 when Trooper Anthony Piercy stopped the vessel, according to reports. The college student, who was with a group of friends, was taken into custody for boating while intoxicated.
Piercy brought Ellingson onto his patrol boat, handcuffed him and pulled a life jacket over his head. But the life jacket came off when Ellingson fell into the lake. Piercy attempted to rescue him but was unsuccessful.
Ellingsons body was retrieved the next morning, Reuters reported.
According to the Kansas City Star, Piercy, a veteran road trooper, received only two days of field training before being detailed to work on the water patrol alone.
Manslaughter charges are pending against Piercy.
Sarah Larimer
Rep. Conyerss son missing from college: Police in Houston were searching Thursday for the youngest son of Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), who was reported missing this week. Carl Conyers, 21, a student at the University of Houston, was last seen Tuesday by his roommate, police said. His girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, told WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit that she was supposed to meet him on campus Wednesday but that he never appeared. When she and friends checked his apartment, they found some clothes and other items missing.
Associated Press
'Dreamer' Juan Salazar, who came to the U.S. when he was seven, contemplates whats at stake in this election for him and his undocumented family members. (Alice Li/The Washington Post)
'Dreamer' Juan Salazar, who came to the U.S. when he was seven, contemplates whats at stake in this election for him and his undocumented family members. (Alice Li/The Washington Post)
In many immigrant communities across the country, the election of Donald Trump has sparked fear, and in some cases panic, over the prospect that deportations could break up many families if the president-elect follows through on his campaign promises.
According to the Pew Research Center, at least 9 million people live in mixed-status families households in which some members are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants while others are undocumented or have overstayed their visas. In these households, there is a deepening anxiety among children as well as adults that a loved one may soon be deported.
If you have heard a presidential candidate say for months, We will round up and remove 11 million undocumented immigrants, said Eva A. Millona, co-chair of the National Partnership for New Americans, a nationwide immigrant advocacy coalition, it is legitimately and terribly frightening to be where we are right now.
Organizations in 10 states that work closely with immigrants told The Washington Post this week that in the days since the election, they have been beset by frantic phone calls, tear-filled office visits and urgent requests to set up legal plans for the guardianship of children or help with other possible deportation planning.
Immigration advocates say that they have become even more concerned: Trump, in a 60 Minutes interview, promised that his administration would target for swift removal 2 million to 3 million immigrants who entered the country illegally and have since been convicted of crimes.
Its unclear how Trump will define the term criminal alien and, as such, which immigrants will be targeted for removal. In fiscal 2013, a Department of Homeland Security report found that there were about 1.9 million undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents and other legal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes, which under federal law make them subject to deportation.
Many advocates and immigrants are convinced that distinctions legal vs. unauthorized, permanent resident vs. visa holder will not matter. They worry, in particular, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) will detain and deport anyone in the country without authorization, even those without criminal records, especially if they live or work near targeted individuals.
It seems that the 2 to 3 million figure that other people may find comforting includes a lot of collateral damage, said Susan Bowyer, deputy director of the Immigrant Center for Women and Children in the agencys Oakland, Calif., office.
Since Trumps win, the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource Center and many other similar organizations have begun to alter the advice they offer members, clients and other organizations.
Obama issued an executive order in 2012 that allowed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). It offered deportation relief and work permits to young adults brought to the country as children who are in school, have graduated from college or have entered the military.
In the years since, immigrant organizations across the country strongly encouraged young people to complete DACA applications and helped cover the application fees. As of March 2016, 819,512 applications were approved. More than 500,000 have been renewed, according to federal data.
Now, things are sadly very different. For those who are approaching the point of renewal, we are strongly recommending that they request that immediately, before Trump takes office, said Nancy Kelly, co-managing director of the immigration unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, a law lecturer and co-managing director of Harvard University Law Schools Immigrant and Refugee Clinical Program. Their names and addresses are already known. But for those who have never applied, were advising that the risk is probably too high for them to do so now.
Kelly said public support for deporting more than 800,000 young adults and children probably does not exist. But, as resource center staff wrote in a tipsheet posted on the organizations website after the election, Trump is more unpredictable than past presidents, so we do not really know what to expect.
But they know they are worried.
The reality is that millions of people legal and unauthorized immigrants will be driving, walking or going about their daily lives in Trumps America while brown, said law professor Andrea Ramos, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.
There are communities where that makes them more likely to be stopped by the police, and, if they dont have the proper ID, they can be arrested, then detained for ICE, Ramos said. Thats true even if they have done nothing else wrong. You are talking about millions of people who genuinely have reason to fear that they may drop their children off at school or head to work and, if they are detained, never come home again.
Mark Silverman, a senior staff attorney with the San Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resources Center, has been deluged with requests from churches, parent groups, community organizations and other entities seeking expertise in immigration law to speak to groups of immigrants.
Silverman has already given three presentations this week and has five others scheduled in the next few days, up from the usual one or two per month.
His Spanish-language presentation begins with a PowerPoint slide bearing the words, Calmados pero informados. Thats Calm but informed, in English. Silverman has encountered people at events and in his work circles who are spiraling into irrational pools of worry and fear and those who may be too calm to properly prepare for the variety of possibilities. Silverman and several other immigrant rights advocates advise something in between.
The thing is, the Constitution applies to all persons in the United States, Silverman said, not just its citizens. And any administration is still governed by the rule of law. But people have to be prepared and aware of their rights to begin to assert them
MOZAMBIQUE
73 reported killed in fuel truck explosion
At least 73 people were killed and scores were injured in Mozambique on Thursday as they tried to siphon fuel from an overturned truck that exploded, the government said.
The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred, the government said in a statement.
The injured were taken to the hospital, and a government team was to travel to the area in Tete province, about 1,200 miles from the capital, Maputo, on Friday.
Mozambique is one of the worlds poorest countries and struggles constantly with food shortages caused by drought.
Reuters
EGYPT
82 young detainees pardoned by Sissi
Egypt on Thursday pardoned 82 detainees, including many students and a former TV host convicted of defaming religious symbols.
The names of those pardoned by President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi were compiled by a committee he set up to examine the cases of young detainees who had not been involved in violence.
The committee has said that active members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group would not be pardoned. The military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi, who hailed from the Brotherhood, in 2013.
Sissi, who led his ouster, was elected the following year.
Authorities have detained thousands of people in the past three years, mostly Islamists but also secular activists. The government has not said how many detainees are being held, but rights groups estimate the number at 20,000 to 40,000.
Those released Thursday included more than 30 students, as well as a 21-year-old news photographer. A second batch of detainees is expected to be pardoned before years end.
The government maintains that there are no political detainees in Egypt, arguing that everyone in detention is being accorded due process.
Associated Press
SOUTH KOREA
Lawmakers pass bill on Park investigation
South Koreas parliament on Thursday passed legislation that would allow a special prosecutor to investigate a corruption scandal threatening the presidency of Park Geun-hye.
The opposition-controlled National Assembly also voted for a parliamentary investigation into allegations that Park let a secretive confidante manipulate power from the shadows and amass an illicit fortune.
The bill on an independent investigation came as state prosecutors prepared to indict Parks friend by Sunday.
An independent investigation would increase the pressure on Park to resign. Although emboldened by a wave of massive protests, opposition parties have yet to seriously push for her impeachment over fears of triggering a backlash from conservative voters and negatively affecting next years presidential election.
Park has 15 days to sign off on the bill or to reject it, although that is seen as unlikely.
Park has apologized for letting her friend Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a late cult leader who was Parks mentor in the 1970s, edit some of her draft speeches. But she has not commented on accusations that she let Choi manipulate key government decisions on policy and personnel.
Associated Press
Ex-Rio governor snared in Brazilian graft probe: A former governor of Rio de Janeiro state long dogged by corruption allegations was arrested at his home, accused of receiving bribes and laundering money in a graft probe roiling Brazil. Federal police arrested Sergio Cabral in a raid that also snared others connected to his 2007-2014 administration. Cabral received tens of millions of dollars in a scheme that included laundering money via the writing of fake contracts and the buying of luxury goods, according to investigators. Cabral is the latest top politician to be arrested in a massive kickback scheme connected to the state oil company Petrobras.
Indonesia sentences American to life term in drug case: An Indonesian court sentenced an American man to life in prison after finding him guilty of drug smuggling. Philip Russell, 56, was arrested with seven other people after a January raid on a furniture workshop in Central Java province turned up more than 200 pounds of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside 54 electrical generators. Russell, also known as Kamran Muzaffar Malik, was accused of partly financing the import of the generators from China, a court spokesman said.
From news services
Donald Trumps election has created an explosion in my being, and the chaos, like coal dust afloat in the air, has blurred my mind. Yet, I have stumbled across a new hero, almost a modern truth teller, in the form of 78-year-old William Sisk, the man who was interviewed while getting his hair cut in a ramshackle barber shop in Lebanon, Va., in the Nov. 13 front-page article In Va. coal towns, Trump was seen as the only hope.
While Mr. Sisks barber and others were holding forth about how they voted for Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in hopes that he can return coal jobs to their area, Mr. Sisk politely spoke with wisdom: No, he cant. . . . You wont see those people working in the coal industry no more. Natural gas is too cheap. Any kind of market for coal anymore is very weak. This common sense came from a man who worked in the coal industry for 30 years and who was fair enough to accurately state how President Obama got all the blame for the market drying up even though he was not responsible.
Thanks for the momentary clarity, Mr. Sisk.
Michael Hoover, Palmyra, Va.
Andrew Solomons most recent book is Far and Away: Reporting From the Brink of Change: Seven Continents, Twenty-Five Years.
In Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at Americas Most Storied Hospital, David Oshinsky has written a meticulous, if somewhat too narrowly focused, history that lays out the progress of medicine in the United States as well as the contextual history within which it has unfolded.
Bellevue was one of the first public hospitals in North America. From its first incarnation as a small infirmary in the 1660s up to its role in the AIDS crisis and beyond, it has been central to the invention of the American hospital as we know it. Oshinskys narrative reveals how hospitals, once a public service only for desperate people unable to pay a doctor to visit them at home, became the central locus of modern health care.
Bellevue contained an almshouse in its early days, and one of its buildings more recently served as a homeless shelter; no one, sick or otherwise, has ever been too destitute for its charity. Oshinsky delineates the squalor in which impoverished immigrants have lived in New York and the pestilence associated with their misery. He writes of the hospitals function in times of plague: yellow fever, cholera, puerperal fever, tuberculosis, swine flu, AIDS, even Ebola. Unlike many parallel institutions, Bellevue has never turned away incurable patients, offering them whatever mitigating treatment was possible, often risking doctors lives in the process.
Oshinskys book also chronicles the gradual professionalization of medicine, describing the 18th-century grave robbers who enabled early medical students to learn anatomy and how those amateurish operations evolved into the highly competitive, technologically sophisticated medical schools of today. The author traces the invention of the modern American civilian ambulance following the use of medical evacuation vehicles during the Civil War. He describes the infancy of anesthesia in the mid-19th century. He takes us through the gunfire to which Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield succumbed. He reflects on the debates about germ theory, quoting the once-prevalent medical wisdom that the removal of a bullet should always be done with the thumb and fore-finger, usually unwashed, a prejudice that endured even after the advent of sterile procedures.
"Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital," by David Oshinsky (Doubleday)
He reports on how Florence Nightingales visionary practice of nursing in the Crimean War provided a model for the nursing school at Bellevue, where only women who were moral and cultivated were allowed to assist; he also recounts the hospitals flirtation with training male nurses, which was quashed by scandal amid rumors of homosexuality. He reviews the popularization of circumcision, led by a Bellevue physician. He depicts the emergence of a chest service in the 1920s that affiliated cardiology and pulmonology.
Oshinsky writes with particular vigor of Bellevues refusal to subscribe to popular prejudices, noting that the hospital welcomed Jewish doctors as well as Christian ones, female doctors as well as male ones, and African American staff as well as Caucasian. Implicitly, he tells the story of a nation riven with bigotry, where the social advancement of stigmatized groups was contingent on their irrefutable courage, brilliance and ingenuity. He is particularly impassioned about the achievements of early female doctors.
In the public imagination, Bellevue is synonymous with psychiatry, but its psychiatric facility did not achieve real prominence until the late 19th century, though the hospital had long included a small wing for the insane. In the 1840s, the issue of mixing the mentally ill with the physically ill began to attract troubling notice. The invalid, the aged, the infirm, the vagrant, and half lunatic [are] now confined together, and are allowed the most unrestrained intercourse, a grand jury reported, calling such arrangements an affront to every Christian. Journalist Nellie Bly, in a famous 1887 undercover assignment, exposed the appalling conditions in which the mentally ill were being held for supposed treatment. Funding for and attention to their care soon increased by vast multiples.
Doctors at Bellevue have since championed some of what came to be seen as best practices and some of what came to be seen as the worst. Locked wards for the criminally insane engendered their own legal system, allowing people to be tried before a clinically trained judge in a hospital courtroom. Oshinsky narrates Lauretta Benders alarming midcentury experiments using electroconvulsive therapy for children with a broad range of diagnoses, some of whom seem to have been helped and many of whom were certainly traumatized.
All in all, Oshinsky portrays a place where bold, creative, if sometimes bizarre and Frankenstein-like, experimentation prevailed. The gist of the book is that caring for impoverished populations, criminals, the insane and AIDS victims has always been steeply challenging work that all too often goes unacknowledged. It makes you feel better about humanity to learn about people who have chosen this noble work over the centuries; indeed, Oshinskys greatest strength may be his capacity for admiration. But seldom do we really get to know these people; they appear in vignettes largely professional ones until the AIDS chapter, where he expands more liberally on the personalities involved.
If you are already interested in the history of Bellevue, this is the book for you; if you are not thus invested, you may not feel compelled to stick out some of the tough sledding. Oshinsky has done a great deal of homework, and his researchers pride in detail leads him to provide a weight of gratuitous information long sequences about how one building was designed, another built, yet another planned but never built, and who in which office of the city government favored or opposed a particular project. We get a rather too-thorough roster of hospital administrators. Bellevue is curiously lacking in emotional punch, expressing an almost hagiographic veneration for the very real accomplishments of the hospital, its doctors and its programs, but without deeply moving the reader. You find much to respect about medical progress, but your heart does not swell with the advancements. The prose can be academic even when the content has the potential to be electrifying.
Oshinsky also has an irritating habit of overstating the case. He is given to assertions such as The stakes for American medicine could hardly have been higher, or A political tragedy of epic proportion struck the United States, bringing esoteric terms like Germ Theory and antisepsis into the national dialogue in an unimaginable way, or These two men didnt simply revolutionize the field of forensics science, they were the field.
The history of Bellevue is not the story of American medicine. It is a story within the bigger context of American medicine, and Oshinsky does a less-than-adequate job of universalizing from his material. Despite frequent digressions into social history or the larger medical narrative, the book remains more descriptive than insightful; the author seldom looks up from the story he is telling.
Though Oshinsky paints the dire medical circumstances poor people face and contrasts them with the experiences of those with means, we hear little of the long-running public debate about whether health care is a right or a luxury. Though he comments on the hard-pressed staff at an underfunded and crumbling facility, he doesnt pursue the social factors that have enabled such decay. He brings up private hospitals, but he never really unpacks the class privilege that has engendered our tiered system of care. Aside from brief allusions to physicians who immigrated or trained abroad, he makes no parallels between the development of public health care in the United States and its more liberal growth in Europe.
Without this context, his narrative of Bellevue feels admirable but limited, a lively rendition of a hospitals history but not a book relevant, as it might have been, to the ongoing crisis in American health care.
The Republican Party is fractured by ideological divisions, led by an inexperienced and unpredictable president-elect, and quite possibly headed for a fratricidal civil war. The Democratic Party should be so lucky.
There is much unpleasant reality for Democrats to deal with right now, starting with this: The GOP controls virtually everything. The two-party system is, at best, one and a half.
Republicans won the presidency. They retained control of both houses of Congress. Soon, when Donald Trump appoints a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, they will re-establish a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. As far as the federal government is concerned, thats the whole trifecta.
But theres much more: After making significant gains last week, Republicans control both legislative chambers in 32 states and hold the governorships in 33. Some of the nations most diverse and populous states, including Texas and Florida, are living under one-party Republican rule.
Democrats should reject the urge to take comfort in favorable demographic trends. It is true that within a generation, minorities will be in the majority and that minorities tend to vote for Democrats. But what would the country be like after 20 or 30 years of near-total Republican control? Im sure most progressives would join me in not wanting to run that dangerous experiment.
President Obama said during a news conference Monday that it's "healthy" for the Democratic Party to go through reflection. "When your team loses, everyone gets deflated," Obama said. (The Washington Post)
Did Democrats lose the White House because their presidential candidate had baggage and was not perfect in every way? Come on, the Republicans nominated Trump, for heavens sake, a man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals. I dont have nearly enough space to list all the ways in which he disqualified himself. Yet he won.
The Republican Party is so splintered the establishment, the tea party wing, the fiscal tightwads, the defense hawks, the social conservatives, the libertarians and now the Trumpistas that sometimes I think of it as Afghanistan: with each faction having its own warlords and grievances and goals. Many of the demands they make upon Trump, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will be uncompromisingly extreme and mutually exclusive. There will be blood (metaphorically, of course).
Yet if Democrats expect to sit back and watch the GOP self-destruct, I fear they will be disappointed. Consider this fact: The Republican Party not only survived the Trump candidacy, but also prospered. Why would the same not be true of a Trump presidency?
One of the biggest lessons I draw from the election is that the GOP basically came together behind its candidate. Despite all the Never Trump noise, most prominent Republican officials eventually fell in line. Some voiced strong reservations but said they would vote for him anyway, which amounted to an endorsement. Others, such as the Bush family, declined to publicly proclaim their opposition in a way that perhaps might have made a difference. Maybe they thought he was bound to lose anyway; if so, they miscalculated.
Another lesson, perhaps the most important one, is that the Democratic Party cannot hope to succeed by relying solely on its ability to win the popular vote in presidential elections.
Democrats have won the popular vote in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012 and now 2016. Thats six out of the past seven presidential contests. Yet the Republican Party is running the country, or at least most of it.
The Democratic Party cannot just wait for the next Barack Obama to come along. The president is a unique political talent of the kind that appears only once in a great while, when the stars magically align. Instead, Democrats need to do what Republicans did, which is to build from the ground up and start winning state and local elections.
A Democratic rebound has to begin with the basics: getting people who agree with you to vote. Less than 60 percent of those eligible to cast ballots in last weeks election bothered to do so. Conservatives who say this is a center-right nation may be right in terms of who votes, but theyre wrong in terms of who could vote. Polls show that the country favors Democratic over Republican positions on most issues.
The Democratic Party should put its energy and money into connecting with potential voters at the grass-roots level. Trump made a bunch of pie-in-the-sky promises he can never keep. Democrats need a hopeful but realistic message recognizing that while most big cities prosper in todays globalized economy, much of the rest of the country suffers.
Democrats will win when theirs is the big tent party. Right now, though, the GOP circus is in town.
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.
Woodrow and Edith Wilson in 1918. William Hazelgrove argues that the first lady was in control after the president suffered a stroke. (Associated Press)
Manuel Roig-Franzia is a Washington Post reporter and the author of The Rise of Marco Rubio, a biography of the Florida senator and 2016 presidential candidate.
As battleground states trickled, then gushed, into Donald Trumps column and the electoral map turned redder and redder, the New York Times scrapped its Madam President front page.
Later, a photo made the rounds on social media of the papers design editors huddled around a screen, reenvisioning what might have been an iconic A1. Newsweeks prematurely distributed Madam President commemorative cover, sent out by one of the magazines licensees, had to be recalled.
The startling defeat of Hillary Clinton seemingly consigned the notion of a woman running things at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to the realm of prime-time television and movies for now, at least. One woman, however, came about as close as any woman ever has to being a female commander in chief. She was Edith Bolling Wilson, the second wife of the 28th president, Woodrow Wilson. Her legacy is revisited in William Hazelgroves useful and crisply written, yet ultimately unpersuasive history: Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson.
Edith was the first woman to hold a drivers license in Washington, according to Hazelgrove, and she proudly laid claim to being a descendant of Pocahantas. Her life was transformed in late 1919 when her husband suffered a serious stroke, and his attending physician, Francis Dercum, laid out a plan: Have everything come to you. . . . See if it is possible by consultations with the respective heads of the Departments to solve them without the guidance of your husband.
"Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson," by William Hazelgrove (Regnery History)
The president retreated from the public eye for months, and his wife, as Hazelgrove copiously documents, began to filter the deluge of correspondence that came his way from various government agencies. The first ladys control of the flow of information did not go unnoticed by an increasingly skeptical Congress. Sen. Albert Fall (R-N.M.), an ardent antagonist of the Democratic president, declared: We have a petticoat government! Wilson is not acting! Mrs. Wilson is President!
Hazelgrove posits that in the decades since, there has been a cover-up to conceal the first ladys role during her husbands long illness, a deception in which historians have been complicit.
If that is true, one of their best allies in the snow job is Edith herself. To his credit, Hazelgrove cites her memoir, where she writes, I myself never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs.
Still, Hazelgrove isnt buying it, and the evidence he presents is enough to remind us that Edith was, at a minimum, an exceptionally consequential figure in her husbands White House. As the presidents infirmity deepened and the business of the White House stalled, government officials took to addressing their letters about presidential business directly to her. The proposed State of the Union text was sent to her, and her handwriting appeared on important papers. She pitched the agriculture secretary on switching to treasury, though she said she was communicating her husbands wishes.
Ediths primary motivation, in Hazelgroves telling, was a hope that by insulating her husband from stress, she might have been able to save his life. Her guide in this effort was Wilsons confidant and physician, Cary Grayson, who kept the press at bay with vague statements about the presidents health while advising that the ailing leader shouldnt be bothered with any matters of official character. . . . It was to be a complete rest, not partial rest.
The publics expectations about a womans role in the White House came into focus in the hubbub after Woodrow Wilson met with the Queen of Belgium, one of the few people allowed to see him. Mistaken reports that he wore a torn sweater for their chat (it was apparently only a worn garment) prompted many women to send yarn to Edith. She was expected to stitch together her husbands wardrobe not his policies.
Yet, outside the public eye, she was enmeshed in the daily combat of governing, particularly during the ferocious debate over her husbands failed proposal for the United States to join the League of Nations, an alliance that Wilson needed Congress to ratify. The presidents foes on Capitol Hill countered with a list of changes dubbed reservations that would have altered the agreement Wilson had made when he signed the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. But, according to Hazelgrove, Edith blocked the majority of entreaties to compromise. . . . In doing so, she also deprived him of the necessary input to adjust his position.
Eventually, Hazelgrove writes, Edith relented and asked her husband to consider compromise. Her recollection of that moment in her memoir contributes to the impression that the president was still in charge: Little girl, dont you desert me. . . . Better a thousand times to go down fighting than to dip your colors to dishonorable compromise.
A. Scott Berg, a biographer of Woodrow Wilson, wrote that Edith Wilson failed to acknowledge the commanding nature of her role, that in determining the daily agenda and formulating arguments thereon, she executed the physical and most of the mental duties of the office. She did not become, as some have asserted, the first female President of the United States, Berg wrote, but she came close.
What Berg is describing and what Hazelgrove, despite his most fervent efforts, ends up illustrating most convincingly sounds like Edith playing the role of a Madam Chief of Staff more than a Madam President.
A woman has never held that vital position. In this post-Clinton world, its worth pondering whether a headline trumpeting the first female White House chief of staff might make the papers before the one that evaporated on election night. It might be a place to start.
Bill McKibben is the Schumann distinguished scholar in environmental studies at Middlebury College and founder of the global climate group 350.org.
President-elect Donald Trump has already begun to back off some of his promises: Maybe not all of Obamacare has to go. Maybe parts of his wall will actually be a fence. Maybe its okay to have some lobbyists running the government after all.
But I fear he wont shrink from the actions he has promised on climate change: withdrawing the United States from the Paris accord, ending President Obamas Clean Power Plan and okaying every new fossil-fuel plan from the Keystone XL pipeline on down. He wont back down because those are hard-to-hedge choices and because hes surrounded by climate-change deniers and fossil-fuel insiders who will try to ensure that he keeps his word.
So lets be entirely clear about what those actions would represent: the biggest, most against-the-odds and most irrevocable bet any president has ever made about anything.
Its the biggest because of the stakes. This year has been the hottest year recorded in modern history, smashing the record set in 2015, which smashed the record set in 2014. The extra heat has begun to steadily raise sea levels, to the point where some coastal U.S. cities already flood at high tide even in calm weather. Global sea ice levels are at record lows, and the oceans are 30 percent more acidic. And thats just so far. Virtually every scientific forecast says that without swift action in the next few years to cut carbon emissions, this crisis will grow to be catastrophic, with implications for everything from agriculture to national security that dwarf our other problems.
Donald Trump will enter the White House with an environmental policy agenda opposed to that of the Obama administration and many other nations that have pledged support to the Paris climate agreement. The Washington Post's Chris Mooney breaks down what a Donald Trump presidency will mean when it comes to climate change. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)
Its the most against-the-odds bet because at this point theres so little scientific dispute about climate change. Researchers have spent three decades narrowing the error bars and establishing an ever-clearer picture of the future. Theres always the chance that scientists have overlooked something, but its by now so narrow a chance it hardly deserves that description.
And its the most irrevocable bet because the next few years are crucial. This makes global warming unique: If you take away Obamacare, poor people will suffer until something replaces it which would be bad, but that suffering would not make it harder to fix the problem later. Climate change, however, comes with a time limit, which is why senior scientists last week were saying that if Trump carries through with his wager, it might well be game over. If he loses his bet, he will have cost us the last years in which we might have made a real difference.
Against all this, Trump has merely the conviction that climate change is a hoax. Its a conviction more or less shared by the man he has put in charge of his energy and environmental transition team, Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and a handful of other climate-change deniers at websites such as WattsUpWithThat.com . Some, like Ebell, are funded by the fossil-fuel industry, and others are quite sincere freelancers who have involved theories about how some of the thermometers measuring the planets climate have been placed too near to airport runways or believe that sunspots or cosmic rays or natural cycles will soon cool the Earth. They are contemptuous of the consensus science (the product of a lot of third-, fourth- and fifth-rate researchers, says Ebell) and of anyone who takes it seriously. (Pope Francis, in his encyclical on climate change, was scientifically ill informed, economically illiterate, intellectually incoherent and morally obtuse, says Ebell.)
Its easy to see why these kinds of pronouncements might appeal to Trump. Its not just that theyre spoken in the brash language he likes to use, but they made it easy for him to justify, say, his promises to restore the nations coal mines to their glory days. It would indeed be much easier for all concerned if global warming were hogwash.
But as far as anyone knows, he has never tested his beliefs by sitting down with scientists for even a cursory examination of the data. So someone who has his ear needs to tell him that the opinions on which hes relying are marginal at best.
And that friend might remind him, too, of the difference between issues governed by opinion and those governed by fact. If you dont think poor people should get subsidized medical care, thats ugly, but its an opinion youre entitled to hold. Science isnt like that: The heat-trapping properties of the carbon dioxide molecule simply a re. Which is why, even if we fail in our efforts to stop Trump from making his bet, its important for history to note whats going on. One man is preparing to bet the future of the planet in a long-shot wager against physics.
Much of the political commentary over this past week has been bleak and despairing for the future of our fragile republic. It has assumed the worst about Americans true character, our dedication to inclusiveness and diversity, and our ability to rein in our ugliest instincts. America has abandoned its values, we pundits fret in unison.
Iraqi-born immigrant Omar al-Khattab doesnt buy it.
On Tuesday night, with a full heart and an open mind, al-Khattab recited the oath of allegiance to the United States. He became a newly minted U.S. citizen exactly one week to the day after Americans elected a president who said Muslim immigrants like himself dont belong here.
Al-Khattab was joined by 14 other immigrants at a naturalization ceremony at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum . The museum, dedicated to telling the stories of generations of American immigrants, hosts this event every year; this years proceedings, though, took on a new sense of urgency and hopefulness.
As despondent native-born Americans muse about ditching their country for greener, Donald Trump-free pastures in Canada or New Zealand, these 15 immigrants instead pledged their commitment to stay and fight for the nations most fundamental values.
These emigres swore as no native-born American is ever legally required to do as a condition of their own citizenship to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Al-Khattab, 37, may have recited this oath aloud for the first time on Tuesday. But he has been walking the walk for years.
As a child, he was enamored of American culture. He taught himself English by watching Robert De Niro films and listening to Michael Jackson songs.
And as an adult, he repeatedly risked his life for Americans.
Al-Khattab is a surgeon by training. While working in an Iraqi hospital, he began liaising with local American hospitals and eventually became an interpreter for the U.S. Air Force.
Yes, I worked several missions in the field, he says. They were very, very risky, and exposed me to almost assassination.
Six years ago, he came to the United States on a special immigrant visa for Iraqi and Afghan interpreters. (The United States has pledged to help the 50,000 interpreters who heroically aided U.S. forces, but we have actually brought over shamefully small numbers of them.) He says his parents remain in Iraq and have been seeking refugee status.
Today al-Khattab works as a patient coordinator at New York-Presbyterian hospital while he studies for his medical licensure exams. He ultimately plans to redo his residency and practice as a doctor once again.
His new citizenship status offers him some additional legal protections, of course (well, maybe). More generally, though, he mostly shrugged off concerns about recent displays of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. Including those from our new president-elect.
What matters are Americas enduring institutions and legacies, al-Khattab says. The fear we are seeing is basically fear of the unknown, he says, arguing that everyone has been unfairly prejudging Trump. If given the chance, al-Khattab says, he would have voted for Hillary Clinton, but he trusts that the candidate who won instead will take his new responsibilities seriously.
The guy has not even been in the White House yet. He speaks strongly. He has. But remember his job entitles him to be the protector of the U.S. Constitution, no matter what, al-Khattab says.
He notes that the United States has always been a temple of immigrants: Its the Constitution and the values you look at. Its the values of the country as a whole, not what a person says or not.
But what of Trumps proposed Muslim immigrant ban, or the outbreak of anti-Muslim hate crimes?
If you survive Iraq, you will survive anything, he says with a smile.
He believes that journalists have been irresponsible in our portrayals both of Muslims and those who might fear Muslims. (Although a brand-new citizen, al-Khattab has already adopted Americans favorite pastime: media criticism.) Everyone he has come into contact with here in the United States has been kind and good to him, he says.
I come from a country where fear from the other is tearing it apart right now, he says, suggesting that Americans must engage with fellow citizens motivated by fear as well. When somebody tries to impose that on me, I have to please understand where is he coming from. He probably doesnt know who I am as a person, but once he knows who I am, Im sure his attitude will definitely change.
Welcome (more permanently) to the United States of America, Dr. al-Khattab. For your sake, and all of ours, may your countrymen be everything you believe us to be.
Lori Stokes is an independent scholar who studies the founding decades of Puritan New England and Congregational church history.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Americans look back on the first English settlers in what is now New England. Since these Puritans fill the earliest chapters of the American story, they make plenty of appearances in our shared imagination. But debates over who the Puritans were, what they stood for and how they contributed to our sense of national identity are shrouded in misunderstandings. Here are a few.
Myth No. 1
The Puritans established a theocracy.
As the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences puts it, With the Puritan migration to New England during the 1630s, theocratic governments were established. And the Encyclopedia Britannica echoes the claim, stating that the Puritans established a theocratic government.
Its not true. A theocracy is a government run by religious authorities claiming divine sanction for their political leadership. In 1631, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys governor, John Winthrop, expanded the franchise to all free adult males in the colony. These men voted for their representatives to the General Court (their legislature), who then voted for the governor and his council of assistants.
None of these elected officials were clergymen, because no minister was allowed to hold political office. Equally important, anyone holding political office who was censured or excommunicated by his church could not lose his office because of his religious difficulties. While its true that the first generation of men were required to be full church members in order to vote or hold political office, that requirement was modified in 1658 and permanently retired in 1664. The Puritan government in Massachusetts did frequently seek the advice of its ministers, but it was under no obligation to take that advice, and it frequently did not.
Myth No. 2
Puritans had a special hatred of American Indians.
The Puritans supposed white-hot hatred of Indians is often invoked around Thanksgiving, as Americans reflect on the circumstances of our nations founding. Many articles point to the slaughter of Pequot men, women and children at the tribes village, near present-day Mystic, Conn., in 1637, during the Pequot War, as evidence of the special enmity between Puritans and Indians. Capt. John Underhill, a militia leader, described the carnage in that battle: Down fell men, women, and children. . . . Should not Christians have more mercy and compassion? Sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents. . . . We had sufficient light from the word of God for our proceedings. Its true that Puritans mistrusted Indians, deplored their religions as savagery and devil-worship, fought them, and enslaved them.
But this wasnt much different than the approach they had taken to different groups back in Europe, where some of them, like Underhill, fought in the Thirty Years War, and many pressured King James I to send English troops to assist Protestant forces on the continent. The massacre at Mystic was quite similar to the scores of town-burnings in Europe during the Thirty Years War: Twenty thousand were killed in the 1631 razing of Magdeburg, Germany, for instance. In November 1631, a visitor to another sacked village in Germany was appalled to find the vineyards and fields red with blood, with corpses scattered in bizarre positions over a three-mile radius.
If you had to choose a group the Puritans really had a special hatred for, it would be Catholics. (After that came splinter groups like Quakers and Anabaptists, and then anyone else who was not a Puritan.) In one regard, the Puritans cut Indians more slack than Catholics. They preferred to try to convert Indians first, believing that, unlike Catholics who had sworn loyalty to the pope and chosen to resist Protestantism the Indians couldnt be blamed for their heathenism. In parts of New England, Puritans and Indians lived in neighboring towns, did business with each other, sometimes worshipped together and had complex loyalties. This was evident during King Philips War in 1676-1677, when some settlers refused to fight their Indian neighbors.
Myth No. 3
Puritans hated sex.
In the Huffington Post, science writer Dan Agin described Puritans dictatorial repression of daily life, mostly of sexual behavior. Anya Taylor-Joy, star of the 2015 movie The Witch, said she learned from the films script that everything about being a Puritan . . . seems to be going against what it means to be human. Even the word puritanical is usually taken to mean sexless and joyless, as in a New York Times article chalking up American prudishness to Puritan roots.
What, then, are we to make of this letter from Winthrop, many times the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to his fiancee, Margaret Tyndal? Being filled with the joy of thy love, and wanting opportunity of more familiar communion with thee, which my heart fervently desires, I am constrained to ease the burden of my mind by this poor help of my scribbling pen. . . . Love was their banqueting house, love was their wine, love was their ensign; love was his invitings, love was her faintings; love was his apples, love was her comforts, love was his embracings, love was her refreshing.
The Puritans believed that the love between married people was the closest humans could get on Earth to experiencing the joy of being united with Christ in heaven. And love in marriage had no higher expression than sex. The Puritan minister at Cambridge, Mass., Thomas Shepard, often described the passion people felt in marriage in his sermons: In all marriage bonds there is a choice made, and, if love be great, there is little standing on terms let me have him though I beg with him.
Myth No. 4
Puritans came to America to establish freedom of religion.
Its hard to suppress disappointment with the Puritans when one reads that they pulled up the gangplank behind them once they arrived in America, as one author put it, not allowing Quakers and others to worship freely especially because many works of U.S. history, including the PBS documentary First Freedom, locate the origin of American views on freedom of religion with our earliest Puritan founders.
But the Puritans didnt leave England to found a society where all religions would be tolerated. After all, they were granted the pejorative moniker Puritan in England because of their efforts to purge Catholic influences from the Anglican Church. They sought religious freedom only for themselves.
In 17th-century Europe, every kingdom had an official religion, and the monarch was the head of the church. There were a few exceptions, but it was certainly the case in England, where King Charles I led the Anglican Church when the Puritans left for America. Since the Puritans wanted to change Anglican worship by, among other things, ridding priests of expensive robes, putting an end to kneeling for Communion and doing away with the Book of Common Prayer, they were persecuted for treason for challenging the kings authority to dictate forms of worship. So they went to America to create a political entity where their brand of reformed Anglicanism was the only religion.
Myth No. 5
Puritans were relentless witch hunters.
Because of the infamous Salem witch trials, in which 20 people accused of witchcraft were executed, the New England Puritans are often framed as a wildly superstitious and persecutory people with a special hysteria for sniffing out witchcraft. Witchcraft was portentous, Stacy Schiff wrote in her recent book on the Salem trials, a Puritan favorite.
Its true that the Puritans believed in witchcraft, as did every society in Europe at the time. But they were not hysterical about it, and the number of witchcraft cases that made it to court is vanishingly small. From the first witchcraft trial in New England in 1638 to the last in 1697, excluding Salem, 65 people were tried, out of a population of tens of thousands. More than half were acquitted. Only 16 were executed.
The Salem episode was the only time in Puritan New Englands history that an actual panic developed over witchcraft. Thats what makes Salem memorable: It was an anomaly.
outlook@washpost.com
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ISRAELI PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a notoriously difficult relationship with President Obama, so you might expect him to celebrate Donald Trumps election. As it turns out, things are not so simple. To be sure, Mr. Trump is expected to scrap the Obama administrations policy of pressuring Israel to curb Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. But that prospect has emboldened the radical right wing of Mr. Netanyahus coalition, which is moving quickly to adopt measures that would legalize existing settlements, create new ones and foreclose the possibility of Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli Knesset on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a law that would retroactively legalize West Bank outposts that were built on land owned by Palestinians. The bill is aimed at preventing the forced evacuation of a small settlement that the Israeli Supreme Court ordered carried out by Dec. 25, but it would also legalize some 2,000 other illegally constructed homes.
Emboldened rightists are pushing the measure in spite of Mr. Netanyahus initial objections and those of the attorney general, who says it violates both Israeli and international law. They are meanwhile planning to relaunch major settlement construction plans that Mr. Netanyahu has kept on ice for years in order to avoid conflict with the Obama administration. Several of these would fill tracts of land around Jerusalem to seal off the city from Arab areas of the West Bank.
The era of a Palestinian state is over, Naftali Bennett, a member of Mr. Netanyahus cabinet and leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, told reporters after Mr. Trumps victory. The combination of changes in the United States, in Europe and in the region provide Israel with a unique opportunity to reset and rethink everything.
In reality, the reset Mr. Bennett and his allies have in mind would do enormous damage to the interests of Israel and the United States. Mr. Netanyahu has supported Palestinian statehood since 2009, albeit without much enthusiasm, because Israel cannot remain both a democracy and a Jewish state while ruling the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza. If Israel takes steps to foreclose that option, such as legalizing settlements far outside the barrier it has constructed near its border with the West Bank, it will trigger a huge international backlash not just from European governments, but also from Arab Sunni states with which it has recently built a quiet alliance.
The Obama administration will be pressed to allow a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements. And Mr. Trump, who recently spoke of brokering an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, instead would find his administration dragged into yet another Mideast conflict.
No wonder that Mr. Netanyahus defense minister is counseling caution. Avigdor Lieberman is not known internationally for his moderation, but on Wednesday he advised his colleagues to stop the jubilation and public enthusiasm, adding that the government has received messages from Mr. Trumps team ask[ing] us to act modestly. Mr. Lieberman proposed that the government seek a deal on settlements with the Trump administration after it takes office, and in the meantime not legalize existing outposts or take other provocative steps. Those in Israel who really want better relations with the United States will follow that course.
ON SOME points President-elect Donald Trump has been consistent. One of those is opposition to the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation law, which as a candidate he repeatedly blamed for crippling the financial sector and stifling economic growth. Now he and his fellow Republicans, who control Congress, are in a position to make good on his promise to either scrap it or substantially revise it. What would they put in its place?
Any such discussion should begin by acknowledging that the major banks are far more stable today than they were before the panic of 2008, and that tighter regulation under Dodd-Frank is one reason why. Since the crisis, the top 33 institutions have added more than $700 billion in high-quality capital, according to the Federal Reserve. The Feds June 2016 stress test (required by Dodd-Frank) determined that the big banks could withstand a severe global recession that raised U.S. unemployment five percentage points with no taxpayer bailout.
It would be the height of folly, not to mention a contradiction of Mr. Trumps purported concern for working-class Americans, if his administration were to enable the reversal of these achievements. Dodd-Frank is a hideously complex law, and it imposes significant compliance costs on smaller financial institutions not responsible for the 2008 panic, as its critics say. However, if its going to be streamlined and simplified, the paramount goal should be to reinforce, not weaken, strong capital requirements for banks.
There is no shortage of proposals for doing this. Some, such as the Republican platforms odd call for a restoration of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, would enjoy bipartisan support, even if Glass-Steagalls emphasis on separating commercial from investment banking is not entirely relevant to todays financial stability challenges. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, under President Neel Kashkari, has unveiled a plan that would require bank holding companies with more than $250 billion in assets to hold as much as 38 percent equity capital a rule that could constitute a de facto bank breakup.
However, the main Republican legislative plan is House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarlings (Tex.) bill, which would all but dismantle Dodd-Frank. Its least attractive proposal is one that would, in the name of ending bailouts, further constrain the Feds ability to act as a lender of last resort to troubled but salvageable financial firms. Rather than stabilizing the system, this could destabilize it by deterring needed crisis borrowing. More promising is Mr. Hensarlings idea to offer regulatory relief to banks that hold at least 10 percent capital as a buffer against losses, which could be stabilizing, as long as the capital is defined as real equity, and not the risk-weighted variety that regulators too often accepted in the past.
Meanwhile, except for Mr. Kashkari, who wants to put a tax on hedge funds and finance companies, depending on the risk they pose to the wider system, no one is talking much about the shadow banking sector. Yet it must be addressed, lest systemically risky activity simply migrates there from more tightly regulated portions of Wall Street. During the campaign, only Hillary Clinton flagged that important issue.
While the challenges of the GOP its long-term demographic difficulties, its erratic leadership, the bitter struggle for its ideological soul are obscured by victory, the problems of the Democratic Party are on full display. Republicans suffer from heart disease; Democrats have an ugly, gushing head wound.
The losing party would be foolish to minimize the scale of its political failure. Hillary Clinton proved incapable of defeating a reality-television host whom more than 60 percent of Americans viewed as unfit to be president. It is perhaps the most humiliating moment in the long history of Mr. Jeffersons party. But the effect is more than reputational. The Democratic candidate and her team could not protect the United States from a serious risk to its ideals and institutions by an untested and unstable novice who flirted with authoritarianism and made enough gaffes on an average Tuesday to sink a normal presidential campaign.
Donald Trump was riding a modest electoral wave in certain parts of the country, but it was not large enough to overwhelm a reasonably capable Democratic candidate with a decent political strategy. Trumps vote did not burst the levees; it barely lapped over the top of them in the industrial Midwest. The blue wall was too low by just a foot or two.
But why was the election even close enough for bad strategy in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, or utter incompetence by the FBI director, to matter? Trump obviously benefited from extreme polarization. The proposition anyone but Hillary was tested, with Republicans (and others) ultimately rallying to anyone. The Obama coalition including young, minority and college-educated voters did not turn out in sufficient numbers. And an appeal to racial and ethnic resentment remains disturbingly potent in our politics the continuing evidence of Americas original sin.
But here is the largest, long-term Democratic challenge: It has become a provincial party. It is highly concentrated in urban areas and clings to the coasts. But our constitutional system puts emphasis on holding geography, particularly in the House of Representatives and the electoral college. It is difficult for Democrats to prevail from isolated islands of deep blue. In 2012, President Obama won the presidency with fewer than 700 counties out of more than 3,000 in the United States a historical low. Clinton carried a little under 500 about 15 percent of the total.
President Obama said during a news conference Monday that it's "healthy" for the Democratic Party to go through reflection. "When your team loses, everyone gets deflated," Obama said. (The Washington Post)
This is another way of saying that the Democratic candidate for president cant prevail at least at the moment when she receives less than 30 percent of the vote from the white, non-college-educated Americans who live in the spaces between the cities. Most of these voters were not examining public policy and calculating their interests except in the vague sense that they dont like sending American jobs abroad and dont want anyone messing with their Social Security. They were convinced that Trump had their back. Democrats have become symbolically estranged from white, working-class America.
What are the Democratic options moving forward? First, there is the Bernie Sanders option the embrace of a leftist populism that amounts to democratic socialism. This might also be called the Jeremy Corbyn option, after the leftist leader of the British Labour Party who has ideologically purified his party into political irrelevance. Second, there is the Joe Biden option a liberalism that makes a sustained outreach to union members and other blue-collar workers while showing a Catholic religious sensibility on issues of social justice. Third, there is the option of doubling down on the proven Barack Obama option, which requires a candidate who can excite rather than sedate the Obama-era base.
Democrats should not overlearn the lessons of a close election. Option No. 3 is the Democratic future on the presidential level. Clinton was correct to appeal to a slightly modified version of the Obama coalition (fewer African American and millennial voters, but more support from Latinos and college-educated women). She simply could not pull it off. But for the foreseeable future, Democrats will also need a dash of No. 2, including a more accommodating attitude toward religion and associational rights. In this election, evangelical Christians and white Catholics sensed real hostility to their institutions from law school liberalism.
There is a serious prospect, however, that Democrats will choose No. 1. There would be many reverberations for our politics. But chiefly, the United States would cease to have a center-left party and a center-right party. Both radicalized institutions would exaggerate our national differences, becoming the political equivalent of the hard-left and hard-right media. And the cause of national unity would be damaged even further.
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Before President-elect Donald Trump brings in the bulldozers to drain the swamp in Washington, I hope he will consider the career achievements of two people who embody the nations tradition of bipartisan foreign policy leadership, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft.
The two former national security advisers came from vastly different worlds to join in constructing the foreign policy tradition Trump seems ready to demolish. Brzezinski, now 88, is a Polish refugee who served Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Scowcroft, 91, is a Mormon ex-military officer from Utah who worked for Republican Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
Both were Cold War hawks who were honored recently by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter with the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Pentagons highest award for civilians. But both were also outspoken critics of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 not the belated and muffled opposition expressed by Trump, but the kind that cost them friendships and access.
What these two shared was a vision of an outward-leaning United States that led a global network of security alliances and trading partnerships. This system, anchored by NATO and alliances with Japan and South Korea, was often described as the liberal international order.
With Trumps election, this global architecture seems to be cracking. Trump is so inexperienced that its hard to predict just where his foreign policy views will settle out. But many of his supporters (and kindred spirits abroad) are in open revolt against what they see as the menace of globalization.
During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to "drain the swamp" in D.C. and rid the federal government of political elites and lobbyists. But just days into his transition to president, Trump seems to be doing the opposite. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post)
Trump should think carefully about what he would cast aside. This is the structure of enduring American power. It has been built on military strength, yes, but also on the generosity and openness of the American system. Our soft power was expressed in the biblical injunction carved on the gates of the American University of Beirut, founded in 1866: That they may have life and have it more abundantly. Whatever egregious mistakes the United States may have made over the past 150 years, people still thought our country represented that aspiration.
The globalization that Trump supporters oppose is nearly impossible to undo on an economic level: Todays corporations and financial markets are instantly connected and integrated. But on a political level, the global system is already unraveling, and that should worry Trump, not cheer him. As this American-led system weakens, the beneficiaries will be a rising China and a pugnacious Russia. Globalization may need a course correction, as President Obama said Wednesday, but that requires continued American leadership.
Heres where I wish Trump would listen to Brzezinski and Scowcroft and the traditional foreign policy consensus they represent. Eight years ago, I moderated a conversation with the two of them that was published as America and the World. I spoke with them this week about Trump.
Scowcroft spoke at a luncheon in his honor hosted by the Aspen Strategy Group, a bipartisan foreign policy organization that epitomizes the elite that Trump wants to overthrow. Scowcroft, frail and struggling for words to convey the lessons of a lifetime of public service, implored the group to cast aside their misgivings and put the country first. If youre asked to serve, please do, said Scowcroft. This man needs help badly.
Brzezinski was honored a week ago at the Pentagon. Carter described him as one of the finest strategic thinkers and policymakers of our time. He said Brzezinski had understood that America must live in an insecure world with dignity, with idealism, with steadfastness.
I asked Brzezinski what advice he would give Trump. Mr. President, he said, composing the memo in his head, dont assume that strong verbiage conveys strength. It has to be convincing. Be honest and frank, but dont kiss ass. You could do the world a service if you said to President Putin: Dont be an adventurer, especially when youre carrying a loaded weapon.
In Trumps eagerness to show he really means to bring change, he has been signaling disdain for all the traditional centers of power, from environmental scientists to economists, from diplomats to generals. Some Americans who resented these traditional sources of power must enjoy watching the Faculty Club burn to the ground.
But Trump needs to be careful. Unless hes very foolish, he will want to be a good and successful president. He inherited a nation that is still the worlds only superpower. New reports Thursday night said Trump planned to name Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a combative and very political retired Army officer, to the national security adviser post held by Scowcroft and Brzezinski. Is he a person who can sustain the structure of alliances and power built over 70 years? Or is he someone who would undermine that structure? Thats the right question for Flynn and Trump.
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Much of the world has been shocked and dismayed by Donald Trumps electoral success, but there are those who are delighted. This was a victory for the forces which oppose globalization, are fighting illegal migration and are in favor of clean ethnic states, declared a spokesperson for Golden Dawn, Greeces far-right party, which is sometimes characterized as neo-Nazi. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister who has said he wants to build an illiberal state in his country, hailed the results as great news. The deputy leader of Frances right-wing National Front Party, historically seen as ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic, was exultant as well. Their world is collapsing. Ours is being built, he said.
You cannot be judged by those who approve of your actions, but its worth trying to understand what Trumps admirers are celebrating. In some cases, Trumps appeal is that he is against political correctness. Beppe Grillo, the former comedian who now leads Italys Five Star Movement, noted that like Trump, his party had been labeled sexist and populist but that people didnt care. The Guardian, which has compiled many of the favorable responses, reported that Grillo applauded Trump supporters for filtering out the media and giving a big f--k you to the freemasons, major banks and Chinese groups.
For others, it is the sense of kinship among strongmen who are unconcerned with human rights. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad called Trump a natural ally. Rodrigo Duterte, the authoritarian leader of the Philippines, said of him, We both like to swear . . . were the same. Duterte has been hostile to the United States because Washington has criticized the extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses that have marked his tenure. Robert Mugabe, who has clung to power in Zimbabwe for 36 years while destroying that nations economy and liberties, has been similarly hopeful. A full-page editorial in a state-run paper there hailed the election of the mighty Trump, and the 92-year-old dictator has reportedly described Trump as a friend. No doubt Duterte and Mugabe hope that a Trump administration will go easy on them.
What unifies Trumps foreign admirers is the idea that the existing global order is rotten and should be torn down. Many of Trumps domestic supporters would agree. All of the European parties cheering Trumps victory seek the destruction of the European Union and, more generally, the tightly knit Western community centered upon shared values and interests. They are almost all strikingly pro-Russian because they see in Vladimir Putins Russia a country that actively seeks to undermine the current international system. Many of these groups take covert and overt support from Russia and benefit from the Kremlins cyberwarfare. We all need to use [Trumps election] together to reshape the transatlantic relationship, and to end the big conflicts in Ukraine and Syria together with Russia, said Frauke Petry, the leader of Germanys ultra-nationalist party Alternative fur Deutschland, according to the Guardian.
But what is this globalism to which these people are so opposed? After 1945, after the Great Depression and two world wars, Western nations established an international system characterized by rules that honored national sovereignty, allowed for the flourishing of global commerce, and encouraged respect for human rights and liberties. This order resulted in the longest period of peace among the worlds major powers, marked by broad-based economic growth that created large middle classes in the West, the revival of Europe, growth in poor countries that lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and the spread of freedom across the globe.
Around the globe, right-wing leaders reacted to the victory of Republican President-elect Donald Trump with joy, while some expats and politicians expressed dismay and anxiety for international relations. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
The U.S. role in all this was pivotal. It set the agenda and provided security, which was about more than just deterring the Soviet Union and other aggressive powers. Radek Sikorski, Polands former foreign minister, said, Americas influence and its commitments have been our security blanket. They have allowed Europes national rivalries to stay dormant. If you take away those guarantees, Europe could get very unstable. And remember, the European Union is the worlds biggest market and the United States largest trading partner.
For the United States, globalism has produced enormous advantages. With 5 percent of the worlds population, the United States dominates the global economy, in technology, education, finance and clean energy. One in five U.S. jobs is a result of trade, and that number is growing fast. The United States maintains the worlds reserve currency, giving it a huge economic advantage.
The benefits of growth and globalization have not been shared equally, and the pace of change causes anxiety everywhere. But these are reasons to invest in people, upgrade their skills and better integrate communities. They are not reasons to destroy the most peaceful and productive international system ever devised in human history.
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In the days since the election, there have been many calls for anti-Trump forces to remain resolute in their resistance. If the presidency of Donald Trump inspires anything, it should be a fierce spirit of opposition, Leon Wieseltier wrote last weekend in these pages. The proper response is steely resolve to wage the fight of our lives, Jonathan Chait wrote in New York magazine.
But what can anti-Trump liberals and progressives actually do? With his party in control of the White House and Congress, and with Trump about to tip the balance of the Supreme Court, its easy to despair over how little leverage the Democrats seem to have.
One episode from history reveals reasons to hope.
In 1850, like the Democrats and their allies in 2016, the abolitionists took a terrible hit. They had worked for 20 years to bring down the worst institution in American history, chattel slavery. And they thought they might have been on the verge of a breakthrough, with a proposal to ban slavery in all the territories taken in the Mexican War. But in the Compromise of 1850, Congress basically handed those territories to the pro-slavery forces, and, with an updated Fugitive Slave Act, it conscripted every Northern citizen into an army of slave catchers, obliged to aid in sending black people back to the slaveholding South.
And yet, a little over a decade later, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The abolitionists comeback was impressive. And it offers a road map away from the election of 2016.
Indeed, by marching and making street theater, forces of resistance to the Trump and GOP victories have already started emulating the abolitionists.
In 1854, the federal government tried and convicted fugitive Anthony Burns, sending him back to slavery. Unfortunately for the slaveholders, the abolitionists happened to be holding their annual convention in Boston, where the trial was held. After an ax-wielding mob rushed the courthouse, Bostons mayor put the city under martial law. And on the day of Burnss rendition, 50,000 protesters lined the streets, as federal troops marched the hapless fugitive to the ship that would take him back to his master in Virginia. Chronicled at every step, the Via Dolorosa of Burns awakened and intensified opposition to slavery throughout the North. Bostons Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed the feelings of many when he said of the Fugitive Slave Law: I will not obey it, by God.
Todays counterpart to the Burns rendition, of course, would be deportations. Trump has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. His recent remarks have focused on deporting criminals, but hes also threatened to overturn the amnesty that has protected dreamers immigrants brought to the United States as children.
What would the abolitionists do? They would gather in huge numbers every time federal agents came for a Hispanic honors student. They would compel those agents to use force if they wanted to proceed. They would document every moment. And they would use the media back then it was the penny press, the Twitter of its time to spread the images everywhere. Every vulnerable dreamer should be carrying a cellphone with a number to text if the feds come.
But periodic protests are not enough. Resistance movements need the support of permanent infrastructure. And they must be willing to engage in the time-intensive and expensive organizing that actually changes minds and behavior.
In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison and friends he called the Twelve Apostles met in a black church (no white one would have them) and signed the charter of the New England Anti-Slavery Society. Theirs was the first of what would be thousands of such societies formed in the subsequent decades and they were especially important after the 1850 defeat, when the normal channels of politics looked so hopeless. These groups were highly organized. They elected executive committees to run their affairs, dispatched speakers to spread the word and held annual conventions. They also had womens auxiliaries; the gender divide sounds awful today, but the women were the heart of the movement. They held fairs to raise money and sell goods made without slave labor. Then they started going door to door with petitions. The pro-slavery Congress forbade them from delivering those petitions, but that didnt matter. Each time a woman approached a neighbor about signing, she got a chance to publicize slaverys cruelty.
Of course, the Democratic Party is an established network. But too often, it reaches out to people only at election time. In this years presidential campaign, its outreach to key constituencies, such as Hispanics and Rust Belt voters, was overly dependent on television and radio ads.
The party and, just as critically, growing networks of organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Mi Familia Vota should look to the model of the abolitionists. They should engage people in person, with concrete actions such as old-fashioned petition drives. Social media can help energize supporters, but beware of activism that never translates beyond Facebook or Twitter. The Freedom to Marry activists developed a smart approach to same-sex marriage rights: They trained supporters to each have conversations with five of their friends or relatives and to ask people who responded positively to seek out five more.
As a leader of People United for Justice, the Arizona Hispanic outreach group that finally brought down racist sheriff Joe Arpaio, put it succinctly: This is about community organizing rather than electoral campaigning.
Anti-Trump forces should also embrace the potential for states and cities to become bastions of resistance.
Before the Civil War, threats of nullification and secession were not limited to the slave states. Garrison, the Massachusetts abolitionist, advocated disunion from the start. Who wants to be in a club with slave owners, he asked? The Northern states became the abolitionists strongholds in the 1850s. They passed laws ordering their officials not to participate in renditioning slaves. And when federal authorities initiated proceedings under the Fugitive Slave Act, state courts proceeded to nullify them. In Wisconsin, for instance, after abolitionist Sherman Booth was jailed for encouraging protesters who liberated a fugitive slave due to be sent back to Missouri, the state Supreme Court freed him and declared the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional. When the U.S. Supreme Court asked to review the case, Wisconsin simply refused to forward the papers. The last thing President James Buchanan did before handing the White House to Lincoln was to clear Booth.
There are echoes of this strategy in the pledge by Californias legislative leaders that they are not going to allow one election to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, scientific advancement, economic output, and sense of global responsibility. There are echoes, too, in the declarations of Washington, Chicago, New York and Seattle that they will remain sanctuary cities, protecting residents from deportation. And there are echoes in statements like that of the Los Angeles police chief , who said, If the federal government takes a more aggressive role on deportation, then theyll have to do that on their own.
Yes, Democratic power at the state level is limited. Democrats will control the governorship and both branches of the legislature in only six states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon and Rhode Island. But they could be joined in their resistance by some populous and important states that voted against Trump by large margins and that have at least one branch in Democratic hands Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington among them. Together, these states could make for a formidable opposition.
If a Trump-tipped Supreme Court overturns abortion rights or same-sex marriage, these states could offer themselves as havens. If the GOP repeals Obamacare, they could imitate Massachusetts and pass state-based health-care systems. If the Trump administration demands any records they may have of illegal immigrants, states and cities could refuse.
By doing so, they would risk losing federal money. But they would also stand to benefit. They would attract businesses and workers, especially young workers, who tend to be more progressive. As North Carolina recently demonstrated, when its transgender bathroom law prompted the loss of billions of dollars in business, defending progressive positions on social issues can make good economic sense, too.
If Democrats and their allies follow the abolitionist plan for organizing, they stand a good chance of reversing their ill fortune.
It must have seemed like a permanent failure for the abolitionists when they heard about the Compromise of 1850. But the end of slavery wasnt as far off as they feared.
Twitter: @LindaHirshman1
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ABuzzFeed analysis this week concluded that fake news stories about the election generated more engagement on Facebook than the top election stories from 19 major news outlets combined.
And thats not the half of it.
Not only is fake news getting more attention than actual news, but also the leading purveyor of fake news in the United States is now the president-elect.
For 17 months, Donald Trump treated the nation to a series of outlandish promises. Hell eliminate the $19 trillion federal debt in eight years. Hell balance the budget without cutting Social Security, Medicare and other entitlements. Hell bring back lost coal jobs. Hell make Mexico pay for a border wall. Hell deport 12 million illegal immigrants while growing the economy by at least 6 percent.
Consider these points before sharing a news article on Facebook. It could be fake. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
Now Trump is the president-elect, and its time to deliver on the impossible. No wonder his transition is racked with chaos and infighting. Scripture tells us you cant serve both God and mammon. Yet Trump proposes to be served by both Reince Priebus and Stephen K. Bannon a chief of staff who is a paragon of the establishment and a top adviser who is a leading voice for white supremacists. The array of impossible promises and false claims has all the appearances of a Ponzi scheme, with the $18 trillion U.S. economy in the balance. Bernie Madoffs scheme lost only $50 billion.
Early indications are that Trump plans to continue to fake it. On Thursday night, he tweeted that as a result of his work with Ford, the automaker would keep a plant that makes Lincoln SUVs in Kentucky no [sic] Mexico.
But Ford had never planned to close the Kentucky plant. It was merely planning to make more Ford Escapes instead of Lincolns there a change that would have resulted in no job losses. Ford is proceeding with its previously announced plan to build a new factory in Mexico.
We see the Ponzi scheme unraveling in the substance of what Trump is proposing, too. One of Trumps surrogates, Carl Higbie, caused a furor this week by saying the infamous internment of U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II provided a legal precedent for Trumps plan to create a Muslim registry. But for all the outrage Higbie caused, the actual policy being floated reinstatement of a George W. Bush-era policy is far more modest than Trumps proposed ban on Muslim immigration and threat to register American Muslims.
This is the best-case scenario that Trumps fake-news presidential campaign really was all a con. Preposterous promises give way to modest proposals. This would disappoint his supporters, but perhaps save the country.
Trumps vow that Carrier would reverse its plans to move a factory to Mexico and eliminate 1,400 U.S. jobs by 2019? Carrier is continuing with its plans.
Trumps promise to negotiate the release of all American prisoners in Iran before taking office? Hed better hurry: Iran continues to apprehend and imprison American dual nationals.
Trumps bold threats to appoint a killer ambassador to Japan and to force Japan to pay for U.S. military protection? Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after visiting Trump on Thursday, thinks otherwise; he said he has great confidence in Trump.
Many of Trumps absurd promises will come due soon. Trump spoke of abolishing the Education Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, said he would rebuild American roads for one-third the current price, monitor mosques, prosecute Hillary Clinton and never take a vacation. He said he would spend no money on space exploration before infrastructure is repaired, would bomb the s--- out of the Islamic State, kill the relatives of terrorists, shut down parts of the Internet, reinstate waterboarding, dramatically increase tariffs, eliminate Wall Street reforms, cut the budget 20 percent and end birthright citizenship.
No surprise that the transition is chaotic. Lobbyists are in, then out. Chris Christie and Mike Rogers are in, then out. Frank Gaffney is in, or perhaps not. Jared Kushner is settling personal vendettas. Eliot Cohen withdraws his cooperation, predicting ugly things ahead.
And Trump says everything is proceeding so smoothly.
The British are fuming because at least nine foreign leaders, including Egypts, reached Trump before theirs. Trump plays cat-and-mouse with the national press corps and continues to tweet like an Internet troll, complete with bad spelling. His advisers give contradictory accounts about personnel decisions. Qualified candidates are rejected in favor of loyalists. His choice for national security adviser is aligned with Vladimir Putin.
You cant make this stuff up. Or maybe you can. Paul Horner, the leading purveyor of fake news on Facebook, told The Posts Caitlin Dewey he was stunned by Americans gullibility: I mean, thats how Trump got elected. He just said whatever he wanted, and people believed everything.
But surely you cant fool all the people all the time.
Twitter: @Milbank
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Justice Samuel Alito leaves the stage after speaking at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention in Washington on Nov. 17. (Cliff Owen/AP)
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Thursday said free speech and religious liberty hang in the balance at the Supreme Court and warned of other issues along the constitutional fault lines that might confront the divided justices.
A little more than a week ago, it seemed those issues would come before a court with a liberal majority for the first time in nearly half a century. Instead, the election of Donald Trump is likely to mean a restoration of the conservative majority that prevailed before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.
[Trump victory has enormous consequences for Supreme Court]
In a speech before the conservative Federalist Societys National Lawyers Convention, Alito did not mention the election or the vacancy on the court. But he listed the issues that concern him, including gun rights and alleged overreach by government agencies, and said they should be answered with this thought in mind: What would Scalia do?
That is pretty much the theme of the three-day conference that opened Thursday. Scalia was an early supporter of the Federalist Society, which supports a conservative view of the Constitution and has been an active participant in advising Republican presidents on filling the federal judiciary.
The society, along with the Heritage Foundation, helped produce a list of potential nominees from which Trump says he will make his Supreme Court choice. Nine of the 21 people on the list have been participating in the conference.
The mood was jovial. An organization that has been on defense for the past eight years a home to those mounting legal challenges to President Obamas policies is ready to play offense again.
Alito steered clear of any direct mention of that. But he noted that some of the issues that most concerned him were decided by 5-to-4 majorities and said the constitutional fault lines were dangerous places.
Sometimes the earth starts to tremor and people get worried about whats coming, Alito said.
In District of Columbia v. Heller, for instance, the court decided in 2008 that the Second Amendment actually means what it says, Alito said, and protects an individual right to own a firearm for self-defense. But Justice Stephen G. Breyers dissent in the case provides a road map for denaturing Heller without actually overruling it, Alito said.
Likewise, Alito said he was alarmed that more than 40 senators were willing to amend the Constitution to overturn the courts ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which held that restrictions on corporate and union political spending violated free-speech rights.
What would that amendment do? Alito said. It would have the effect of granting greater free-speech rights to an elite group those who control the media than to everybody else.
Religious freedoms, Alito said, are in even greater danger. Quoting the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, Bob Dylan, Alito said, Its not dark yet, but its getting there.
Alito objected to the courts decision in June not to review a requirement in the state of Washington that pharmacies dispense emergency contraceptives to women. It was challenged by pharmacists who said that they considered some of the drugs to be tantamount to abortion and that dispensing them violated their religious beliefs.
[Supreme Court wont hear challenge from pharmacists over contraception]
Alito said he missed Scalia in ways that transcend the courts jurisprudence. In the courts arguments and conferences since February, Alito said, there has been a palpable emptiness in the room. Something vital is obviously missing.
After speaking to the Federalist Society chapter at Columbia University, Alito said, he was given a T-shirt that read WWSD, a play on the popular Christian slogan What would Jesus do?
At the time, it struck me as slightly sacrilegious, Alito said, adding, Now the question is real.
"My job was to sell, sell sell," says former Trump University instructor James Harris, who explains the inner workings of the company, detailing high pressure sales tactics and the battle for profit. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)
"My job was to sell, sell sell," says former Trump University instructor James Harris, who explains the inner workings of the company, detailing high pressure sales tactics and the battle for profit. (Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly bragged that he never settles lawsuits despite a long history of doing so, has agreed to a $25 million settlement to end the fraud cases pending against his defunct real estate seminar program, Trump University.
The settlement eliminates the possibility that Trump will be called to testify in court in the midst of his presidential transition. It ends three separate lawsuits that made claims against Trump University, including a California class action case that was scheduled to go to trial later this month, as well as a second suit in that state and an action filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
In a statement, Trump Organization General Counsel Alan Garten said he thought Trump would have prevailed at trial but settled so Trump could devote his full attention to the important issues facing our great nation during his presidential transition.
Schneiderman, a Democrat who had faced harsh attacks from Trump since filing the 2013 suit, said in a statement that his office had sued Trump for swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars and that the settlement had come despite significant resistance from Trump for years.
Today, that all changes, Schneiderman said. Todays $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university.
Schneiderman said the settlement includes a $1 million penalty paid to New York state for violating the states education laws by calling the program a university despite offering no degrees or traditional education. Trump did not, however, admit fault regarding the claims that customers were cheated.
A lawyer representing former customers in the two California cases also confirmed the settlement at a hearing in San Diego.
[Donald Trump said his university was about education. Actually, it was about sell, sell, sell!]
The Trump University settlement appears to fit a pattern in which lawyers for the president-elect are working to reduce the number of his legal entanglements before he takes office.
On Wednesday, Trumps attorneys dropped an unrelated lawsuit he was pursuing in Florida against Palm Beach County, in which he had complained about commercial air traffic over his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump has fought the county for years over flight patterns from the county airport, which he has complained causes too much noise at his club. New airspace restrictions likely to be imposed with Trumps election could mean that Trump will win the long fight without legal action.
Negotiations over the Trump University deal were handled in part by lawyers for Schneiderman, who had filed suit against Trump University in 2013. Schneiderman has called the real estate program a fraud from beginning to end.
1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Heres what president-elect Donald Trump has been doing after the election View Photos He has been holding interviews and meeting with Congress and the president as he prepares to transition into the White House. Caption He has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to enter the White House. Jan. 19, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, visit the Lincoln Memorial before the Make America Great Again concert. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.
The fates of the New York case and the two California suits were closely linked because they were all brought on behalf of an overlapping pool of former Trump University customers, said a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing negotiations.
Lawyers for customers who sued in California said the settlement must still be approved by the court, but that some customers would see full refunds of the money they spent on Trump University, potentially as much as $35,000 in some cases.
An administrator is expected to be appointed to disburse the funds, but attorney Jason Forge said many could see refunds in three to four months. Forge called the settlement an unprecedented recovery for such a case.
Charles Spada, an attorney for former Trump University president Michael Sexton, said in a statement that the one-time Trump business partner remained proud of the work done at Trump U. and is grateful for the unwavering support he received from Trump.
Trump is known for aggressively pursuing his business interests in court. Still, he has settled lawsuits many times, despite arguing that doing so only invites further litigation.
I dont settle cases. You know what happens? When you start settling lawsuits, everybody sues you, he said on MSNBC in March, responding to a question about Trump University. I dont get sued, because I dont settle cases. I win in court.
The Trump University case emerged as a political issue during the presidential campaign. And even as he rose in the polls, won primaries and emerged as the Republican nominee, Trump at times seemed deeply engrossed in the litigation and repeatedly defended the business from the stump.
At a rally in San Diego in May, Trump dissected the matter at length, insisting that most customers who had spent money on the real estate program had been pleased. He attacked particular plaintiffs by name, including one who later dropped out of the case, citing the publicity.
Trumps San Diego statements included an attack on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was overseeing the California cases, and a promise: If we have a trial, well go all the way, he said then. Watch how we win it.
In subsequent interviews in June, Trump continued to press complaints against Curiel, alleging that the Indiana-born judge was biased because of his Mexican heritage.
Those comments sparked an uproar that swallowed days of Trumps campaign and subsided only when his campaign released a lengthy statement in June claiming his comments had been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage.
The cases against Trump University were based on complaints from customers who described their experiences in programs that could cost more than $30,000.
The former customers said they were taken in by false promises including advertisements in which Trump promised seminar attendees would learn his personal tricks for succeeding in real estate from instructors he had personally hand-picked. In depositions, Trump has acknowledged he did not pick seminar leaders.
Trump argued in a written statement that, with all of the thousands of people who have given the courses such high marks and accolades, we will win this case!
Curiel had strongly urged a settlement in the cases pending in his courtroom, where Trumps lawyers had recently asked for a delay, citing the burdens of the presidential transition. They suggested the trial, which was scheduled to open Nov. 28, would be easier in February or March, after Trump takes office.
Roxana Popescu in San Diego contributed to this report.
First lady Michelle Obama was visiting China with her daughters and mother in 2014 when she remarked to her Chinese counterpart, Peng Liyuan, that it was very rare for her to travel abroad.
The sentiment quickly drew scorn from conservative pundits in the United States who mused about her expensive overseas trips to Africa, Europe and India.
But after nearly eight years, the first lady has been proven correct, at least by comparison to the two women who preceded her, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Although official statistics are hard to come by, figures compiled by the National Taxpayers Union show that Obama has traveled abroad less than half as often as Bush and Clinton.
Obama has made 22 foreign trips and spent 116 days outside the country, according to the NTU analysis, compared to 46 trips and 212 days for Bush and 47 trips and 274 days for Clinton.
Clockwise from bottom left, first lady Michelle Obama; her mother, Marian Robinson; and daughters Malia and Sasha arrive in Beijing on March 20, 2014. (Wang Ye/Xinhua via Reuters)
East Wing aides and outside analysts suggested several reasons to explain the contrast, foremost among them the fact that she and the president have raised their two young daughters in the White House.
Mrs. Obama said she didnt need to race away from home, said Anita McBride, Bushs former chief of staff who now runs a program on first ladies at American University. She was very protective of her schedule from day one.
Yet Obama also took a different approach to her policy work than did her predecessors, focusing more heavily on a domestic agenda. Her chief initiative, Lets Move!, was an effort to combat childhood obesity, and she also worked closely on the Joining Forces program to help military families.
The first ladys office is part of the Executive Office of the President, with a staff and travel budget funded by taxpayers, but the official role of the presidents spouse is not formally defined. Since 1901, when Ida McKinley popped across the U.S. border into Juarez, Mexico, to attend a brunch at a private residence, first ladies have taken trips to other countries for personal reasons but also as extensions of their husbands diplomatic outreach.
Until Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt was the most well-traveled first lady, visiting Europe and the South Pacific during World War II as a representative of the American Red Cross.
Clinton, who also raised a young daughter in the White House, revved up the engines of her Air Force jet for 141 stops around the globe, an itinerary that began in earnest during President Bill Clintons second year in office.
After a failed effort to help lead a health-care reform bill through Congress in the first year, Hillary Clinton turned her focus abroad. One of her first stops was a United Nations conference on social development in Copenhagen, where Clinton substituted for Vice President Al Gore.
She was the superstar of the conference, recalled Lissa Muscatine, a former journalist who became Clintons speechwriter and adviser. At the United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, her declaration that womens rights are human rights made headlines around the world.
She realized she could have an impact, Muscatine said, and use the world stage to not only speak out on behalf of womens rights and human rights but galvanizing people to act on those things.
Hillary Clinton meets U.S. soldiers at Camp Alicia in northern Bosnia on March 25, 1996. (Win McNamee/Reuters)
Laura Bush entered the White House when her twin daughters were in college. Unlike Clinton, she was not intimately involved in her husbands domestic governing agenda. But she took on an active role in foreign affairs in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that scrambled the Bush administrations engagement abroad.
Bush traveled to Afghanistan three times to help promote education initiatives for girls after the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Taliban. She also took a personal interest in promoting social programs in Burma, then run by a repressive military junta.
And she was a frequent companion with President George W. Bush to international summits, something Michelle Obama has shied away from.
Her view was that it was valuable and important for the American first lady to be there, McBride said.
Laura Bush pays respect to Jews and other World War II prisoners who suffered at the Nazi concentration camp in Terezin, near Prague in the Czech Republic in 2002. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)
By contrast, Michelle Obama did not launch a foreign policy initiative until early 2015, when she announced the Let Girls Learn program. Since then, she has made seven trips abroad, many supporting the initiative; it has been her most sustained stretch of international travel since she took five trips overseas during President Obamas first year in office.
The Obamas entered the White House during a global recession and at a time when Barack Obama had campaigned on ending the long U.S. military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. So it made sense that the first lady focused more heavily on domestic issues, said MaryAnne Borrelli, a professor of government at Connecticut College who has studied the role of first ladies.
Her focus is not to be understood as dismissing international affairs, Borrelli said.
First ladies have at times blurred the line between personal and official visits. On several occasions, Obama has brought along her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson, who lives in the White House.
But she learned early on that the scrutiny of her travel would be intensive. In 2010, she was criticized by government watchdog groups over the cost of a vacation to a Mediterranean beach in Spain with her mother, children and two friends. A New York tabloid labeled her a modern-day Marie Antoinette.
Before leaving, Obama made a visit to the king and queen of Spain, transforming the trip into more of a diplomatic visit.
She never made that mistake again, McBride said. It was just not worth it.
President-elect Donald Trump has asked Michael Flynn, a retired lieutenant general with a record of incendiary statements about Muslims, to be his White House national security adviser, a person close to the transition confirmed Thursday night.
At the same time, Trump is soliciting the help of Mitt Romney, a mainstream consensus figure who had been the face of the Republican resistance to Trumps candidacy, in assembling his government.
Trump sought a meeting with Romney, scheduled for this weekend, to broker peace and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a vice chairman of Trumps transition, told reporters that Trump could consider the 2012 GOP presidential nominee for an administration position, perhaps secretary of state.
The presence of Flynn and Romney in Trumps orbit sends mixed signals to already jittery leaders around the globe, as well as officials in Washingtons foreign policy community, about the tone and substance of the Trump administrations posture to the world.
Flynn, who would hold the most powerful national security position, is a retired three-star general and decorated intelligence officer who established a close relationship with Trump while campaigning at his side this year. His behavior and a string of controversial and dark statements about Islam, among other topics, have alarmed many of his former colleagues.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a vice chairman of President-elect Donald Trumps transition team, and Kellyanne Conway, Trumps campaign manager, speak to reporters at Trump Tower on Thursday. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Trumps selection of Flynn, which was first reported by the Associated Press, comes after the president-elect enraged Democrats and civil rights groups by appointing Stephen K. Bannon, former chairman of Breitbart News, an alt-right news site that has become a forum for the white nationalist movement, as his chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House.
Flynn was widely expected to be tapped as national security adviser. A vice chairman of the transition team, Flynn has been a frequent presence at Trump Tower since the election. But the role of Romney was a surprising development, coming as Trump is expanding his outreach to foreign leaders.
[Trumps pick for national security adviser brings experience and controversy]
On Thursday, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been concerned by Trumps negative campaign statements about Japan and his position against free trade. In a 90-minute meeting in Trumps New York apartment attended by Flynn, Trumps oldest daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner Abe sought assurances from the incoming U.S. president that he would maintain the long-standing alliance between the two nations.
The Trump-Romney relationship has been marked by acrimony: Trump has said Romney walks like a penguin and choked like a dog, while Romney labeled Trump a phony, a fraud who threatens national security.
But Romney is said to feel compelled by patriotic duty to answer Trumps call for counsel, and he has long been animated by global affairs and enticed by a return to government service even if he stops short of acquiescing and agreeing to join the Cabinet should Trump extend an offer.
I think its good that the president-elect is meeting with people like Mr. Romney, Sessions said. Hes meeting with a lot of talented people that he needs good relationships with. I think Mr. Romney would be quite capable of doing a number of things, but hell be one of those Im sure thats reviewed, and Mr. Trump will make that decision.
Others close to the transition, however, said they doubted Romney ultimately would be in the mix for a Cabinet post.
[Japans prime minister hopes to build a trusting relationship with Trump]
Romney would be a more conventional choice than two others who are considered to be leading contenders to helm the State Department: former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former ambassador to the United Nations John R. Bolton.
A fourth prospect, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, was thrust into the mix for secretary of state after she met Thursday with the president-elect in his Trump Tower office. Haley, who is close with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, criticized Trump during the primaries but has since said she is encouraged by the promise of his presidency.
Calling Haley unbelievably talented, Trump transition spokesman Sean Spicer said on CNN: Donald Trump right now isnt looking to figure out who supported him and who didnt . . . As long as they are committed to bringing change to Washington and making this country better, then they can be part of this team.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who had been considered a potential pick as secretary of state or another Cabinet position, announced Thursday that he had decided to serve Trump only as an outside adviser.
I want to be free to network across the whole system and look at what we have to do to succeed, Gingrich said Thursday when briefly reached by phone. Holding a Cabinet post, he said, would have been not physically doable.
The developments came on the same day that President Obama stood in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to reassure Western allies about the United States commitment to NATO and other transatlantic partnerships.
Obama sounded notes of confidence that Trump recognizes the seriousness of the job before him, but he also challenged his successor to aggressively confront Russia.
During the campaign, Trump spoke admiringly of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two men spoke by phone on Monday. Obama whose administration has accused Moscow of meddling in the U.S. elections by hacking the email of the Democratic National Committee called on Trump to be willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms.
The U.S. posture with Russia is not only an area of disagreement between the 44th and 45th presidents, but also between Trump and Romney.
Trump has praised Putin as a stronger leader than Obama and vowed to work with Putin to fight Islamic State terrorists in Syria and elsewhere. Romney, meanwhile, has sharply condemned Putin, as have most Republican leaders.
In other respects, however, Romney would be a natural choice to lead Trumps State Department. He has been an unrelenting critic of Obamas foreign policy and of Hillary Clintons tenure as secretary of state. At a June 2015 summit he organized of business and political leaders in Park City, Utah, Romney presented a PowerPoint slide show assessing global hotspots that was titled: The Most Consequential Obama Foreign Policy Mistakes.
[Mitt Romney gives a brutal Power Point critique of Obamas foreign policy]
Romneys meeting with Trump was an outgrowth of a phone call the two men had last Wednesday, the day after the election. Trump later tweeted, Mitt Romney called to congratulate me on the win. Very nice!
Similarly, Abes meeting with Trump came after the Japanese leader placed a congratulatory phone call to him. Abe, who was scheduled to travel through New York on his way to a regional economic summit in Peru, offered to meet with Trump, who quickly agreed.
Trumps session with Abe raised questions among some in Washingtons foreign policy community because Trump apparently was not briefed by the State Department in advance. A former State Department official said such meetings normally would be preceded by numerous briefings for Trump from key diplomats which is considered especially important here because the Japanese are concerned about comments Trump made on the campaign trail.
Tokyo fretted over Trumps vow to kill the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord that includes the United States and Japan, as well as his suggestions that the U.S. military basing agreements in Japan and South Korea are too costly to maintain.
Trump said various things during his campaign, but I will not presuppose what he will do as president, Tomomi Inada, Japans defense minister, said late last week.
Trumps campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, explained that the Trump-Abe meeting was designed to be informal because Trump has yet to assume office. We are very sensitive to the fact that President Obama is still in office for the next two months, Conway said.
Abe entered the meeting intent on emphasizing their common ground, including more robust U.S. defense spending and Japans role as the United States strongest ally in Asia.
Hes going to work on chemistry and rapport and planting the idea that in the chaotic world that Trump is going to discover, Japan will be one of his best friends, said Mike Green, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who served as senior Asia director in the George W. Bush administration. A lot of Asia, and I suspect the Europeans, too, are looking to Abe for signals of how Trump intends to engage the world.
Trump has spoken with or met with several dozen foreign leaders and officials. Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, appeared at Trump Tower on Thursday afternoon, but neither transition officials nor Israeli Embassy officials responded to questions about whether he met with Trump, someone else, or was just visiting.
With Conway by his side, Dermer told reporters that Israel had no doubt that Trump is a true friend of Israel. Pence, he said, was one of Israels greatest friends in the Congress and we look forward to working . . . with all the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever.
Asked why he had specifically mentioned Bannon, whose Breitbart News site has been decried as anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League, Dermer did not respond.
Meanwhile, another ambassador in Washington, the United Arab Emirates Yousef al-Otaiba, noted in a CNN op-ed that Thursday was the United Nations-designated International Day for Tolerance and said that divisiveness and polarization are on the rise across the world and if left unchecked this trend will undermine global stability and peace.
Around the world, there is considerable anxiety about Trumps presidency, and concerned and curious foreign leaders have rushed to establish contact with Trump and Pence.
Unless Trump schedules something earlier, his first international appearance will be at Group of 20 and NATO summits, both scheduled to be held next summer. But many world leaders are pushing for an earlier, up-close and personal sign that the new president wants to be a presence on the global stage.
Clinton had indicated that, if elected president, she would quickly convene NATO leaders for an informal gathering; the two most recent former alliance heads this week called on Trump to do the same.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen and his predecessor, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, also warned the president-elect against undermining U.S.-European policy on Ukraine by making an early deal with Putin.
Having expected, like most U.S. pollsters, a Clinton victory, U.S. allies are shifting gears to ready for what one senior European diplomat called an earthquake, politically speaking, for the transatlantic alliance.
Greg Miller and Jerry Markon contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to nominate Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney general and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as CIA director, a pair of hard-line conservatives who offer early signs of the shape of Trumps Cabinet.
Trump also confirmed the news reported a day earlier that he has selected retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as his national security adviser, a position that, unlike the other two, does not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
The president-elect is a man of action, and weve got a great number of men and women with great qualifications who look forward to serving in this administration, Vice President-elect Mike Pence told reporters in New York. Our agency teams arrived in Washington D.C. this morning, and I am very confident it will be a smooth transition that will serve to lead this country forward.
[Jeff Sessions is Donald Trumps biggest fan. Heres how their relationship began.]
The announcements were greeted with widespread applause from Republicans, but Democrats and civil rights groups denounced Sessions and Flynn for their hard-line views on Muslims and immigrants that have put them in close alignment with Trump. The criticism could portend a messy Senate confirmation process for Sessions, though several of his GOP colleagues, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), lavished praise on him.
And Senate Democrats will not be able to filibuster Trumps nominations to executive branch positions, having eliminated that option in 2013 for all nominations except Supreme Court justices.
Flynn has spoken out frequently against radical Islam and clashed with the Obama administration while serving as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from where he was ousted in 2014. Sessions supported Trumps call last year for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and has called for deporting millions of people who are in the country illegally.
In a statement, Trump called Sessions one of his most trusted campaign advisers and cited his world-class legal mind.
Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him, Trump said.
Trump said he was pleased to have Flynn at his side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad.
Late Friday, Robert L. Woodson Sr., who heads the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise in Washington and advises House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on poverty issues, said he is under consideration to be secretary of housing and urban development in Trumps Cabinet. Woodson is scheduled to meet with Trump in Bedminster, N.J. on Saturday. If selected, Woodson, who is black, would add diversity to Trumps team.
Also Friday, Trump spoke by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and the two men underlined NATOs enduring importance, according to a statement from a NATO spokeswoman. During the campaign, Trump had said he might reconsider the United Statess commitment to the alliance. Stoltenberg invited Trump to Brussels for the NATO Summit next year.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to be CIA director, close allies say. Here's what we know about him. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
GOP officials working with the Trump transition operation said that the president-elect plans to meet Friday with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), amid reports he is being considered to be U.S. ambassador to Israel. Also spotted at Trump Tower on Friday was Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), reportedly a candidate for defense secretary.
Among those Trump will meet with on Saturday are former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who has been cited as a possible candidate for secretary of state, former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts and retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, whose name also has been mentioned as a potential defense secretary nominee.
Meantime, the Trump transition named agency landing teams for the departments of Defense, State and Justice, along with the National Security Council, to help smooth the transfer of power in the weeks leading up to Trumps inauguration Jan. 20.
Sessions, 69, was Trumps first endorser in the Senate and quickly became the then-candidates chief resource on policy, but the fourth-term senator has been dogged by accusations of racism throughout his career.
In 1986, he was denied a federal judgeship after former colleagues testified before a Senate committee that he joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought they were okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.
If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said in a statement. No senator has fought harder against the hopes and aspirations of Latinos, immigrants, and people of color than Sen. Sessions.
The NAACP wrote in a Twitter message that Sessionss nomination is deeply troubling, and supports and old, ugly history where Civil Rights were not regarded as core American values.
Sean Spicer, a Republican National Committee spokesman who has been assisting the Trump transition operation, said on a conference call with reporters that the nominees personal view isnt what matters. You are serving the president-elect of the United States and his views . . . Everybody who serves in a Trump administration will serve Donald Trump and Mike Pence. They will implement their vision and their ideas.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), appearing at a Federalist Society convention in Washington, did not mention Trumps nominees in her remarks. But Haley, whose parents immigrated from India, urged the Republican Party to remind the public that it is the party who will offer opportunities to all citizens, regardless of their race, gender or where they are born and raised.
Sessions served as a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and as Alabamas attorney general. In a statement, he said there was no greater honor than to lead the Justice Department.
I enthusiastically embrace President-elect Trumps vision for one America, and his commitment to equal justice under law, Sessions said in a statement. I look forward to fulfilling my duties with an unwavering dedication to fairness and impartiality.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz), a key Judiciary Committee member who had been wary of Trump during the campaign, intends to support Sessionss nomination, his office said.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), also at the Federalist Society convention in Washington, said that Sessions would make an extraordinary attorney general.
He is a committed and deeply principled conservative, Cruz said.
Several Senate Democrats pledged a rigorous confirmation review.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who will become Minority Leader in January, said Sessionss rhetoric and opposition to a comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 make him very concerned about what he would do with the Civil Rights Division.
But some conservatives suggested it would be politically damaging to Democrats if they attempt to block Trumps nominees.
Mr. Trump has a plane and double-digit victories where Senate Democrats are up for reelection, said Leonard A. Leo, executive vice president of The Federalist Society. Obstructing his nominees will be a political loser.
Pompeo, 52, was elected to the House in 2010 as part of the first wave of so-called tea party lawmakers. A U.S. Military Academy and Harvard Law School graduate, he has a varied background. He served as a U.S. Army cavalry officer before founding an aerospace company, serving as president of an oil-field equipment manufacturing firm and in a brief, little-known chapter of his early career was an attorney with the Washington, D.C. mega-law firm Williams and Connolly.
He currently serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is a close ally of Pence.
He has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens, Trump said of Pompeo in a statement.
Notably, Pompeo backed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) over Trump in the Republican presidential primary. In May, a Pompeo spokesman gave a somewhat tepid endorsement, saying the congressman would support the nominee of the Republican Party because Hillary Clinton cannot be president of the United States.
Pompeo is a vocal critic of President Obamas nuclear accord with Iran. I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism, he tweeted Thursday, before his offer to become CIA director was public.
The choices of Sessions and Pompeo follow Trumps decision to offer the position of national security adviser to Flynn, and confirm the president-elects desire to assemble his Cabinet by naming national security and law enforcement leaders first.
[Trumps pick for national security adviser brings experience and controversy]
At the same time, Trump is soliciting the help of Romney, a mainstream consensus figure who had been the face of the Republican resistance to Trumps candidacy, in assembling his government.
Trump sought a meeting with Romney, who had fiercely criticized him during the campaign, to broker peace and Sessions, a vice chairman of Trumps transition, told reporters that Trump could consider the 2012 GOP presidential nominee for an administration position, perhaps secretary of state.
The presence of Flynn and Romney in Trumps orbit sends mixed signals to already jittery leaders around the globe, as well as officials in Washingtons foreign policy community, about the tone and substance of the Trump administrations posture to the world.
Flynn, who would hold the most powerful national security position, is a retired three-star general and decorated intelligence officer who established a close relationship with Trump while campaigning at his side this year. His behavior and a string of controversial and dark statements about Islam, among other topics, have alarmed many of his former colleagues.
Trumps selection of Flynn comes after the president-elect enraged Democrats and civil rights groups by appointing Stephen K. Bannon, former chairman of Breitbart News, an alt-right news site that has become a forum for the white nationalist movement, as his chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House.
Karen DeYoung, Robert Costa, Mike DeBonis, Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, Phillip Rucker and Katie Zezima contributed to this report.
[November 18, 2016] ShapeBlue contributes native support for Kubernetes and Docker to Apache CloudStack
Seville, Spain, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ShapeBlue, the largest independent integrator of CloudStack technologies worldwide, today announced at ApacheCon Europe that it will be donating its CloudStack Container Service software to the Apache CloudStack project. The technology integrates CloudStack with Kubernetes and Docker to provide a seamless Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) offering within existing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) environments with no disruption to user experience or business process.
"We are really excited to be handing over the code and IP of CloudStack Container Service to the CloudStack project as part of our ongoing commitment to open source," said Giles Sirett, CEO of ShapeBlue. "The CloudStack project is the best environment for others to build on the work weve done to date."
CloudStack Container Service is a plug-in for Apache CloudStack that enables users to create container clusters within an existing multi-tenant environment, provided by CloudStack. The user experience is seamless: users can both manage container clusters and deploy/manage cloud native applications in the same user-interface that they use to manage their existing compute, network, and storage. Service providers running dedicated or custom UIs benefit from a number of simple API calls that have been added to the CloudStack API to allow simple integration.
"We have focused on creating a seamless experience between CloudStack orchestrated infrastructure and Kubernetes orchestrated container environments to meet demand from our customers," explained Sirett.
The project began as a collaboration between ShapeBlue and Skippbox, providers of platforms and tools that ease the deployment and lifecycle management of cloud-native applications. It has been available for download since May 2016 under the Apache 2.0 license and, ultimately, will be oved under the governance of the Apache CloudStack project.
"The Kubernetes CloudStack plug-in has been used by a number of cloud service providers for some time, and we are now confident about its potential to be utilised for a number of other use-cases by the open source community," said Skippbox founder and CEO, Sebastien Goasguen. "Open sourcing it is the right thing to do, to help the community transition to a container world."
The software gives end-users the ability to use multiple container engines such as Docker or rkt from CoreOS, hosted container registries like Docker hub, Quay or Google Container Registry (GCE), as well as their own private registries. It provides this whilst overcoming the biggest challenge for existing IaaS providers: how to quickly offer their users a robust CaaS offering, but with a seamless user experience and no disruption of their existing IaaS business processes and commercial models.
Ian Rae, CEO of Cloudops, said "ShapeBlue's contribution allows service providers to offer 'Containers-as-a-Service' for their customers (similar to AWS ECS) based on Apache CloudStack. Their customers can now provision and manage containers on top of their cloud resources. CloudOps works with many open source cloud computing projects and we believe this contribution represents an important advancement in the capabilities of Apache CloudStack."
"The underlying framework that we have created can be easily used as a basis for integrating Docker swarm, Apache Mesos, Apache Hadoop, or any other cluster orientated platform," explained Sirett. "Adoption can be greatly accelerated by making this part of CloudStack itself, where the community can collaborate on further development."
"Supporting containers is a great step forward for our users given the current cloud computing landscape," said Will Stevens, Vice President of Apache CloudStack. "We appreciate ShapeBlue contributing this integration to the CloudStack community."
Further information on CloudStack Container Service is available at http://www.shapeblue.com/cloudstack-container-service/
About ShapeBlue
ShapeBlue are the largest independent integrator of CloudStack technologies globally and are specialists in the design and implementation of IaaS cloud infrastructures for both private and public cloud implementations. Services include IaaS cloud design, software engineering, CloudStack consulting, and training. The company has a global customer base with offices in London (UK), Mountain View (CA), Bangalore (India), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Cape Town (South Africa). For more information, visit http://www.shapeblue.com/. "Apache", "CloudStack", and "Apache CloudStack" are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. "Kubernetes" is a trademark of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. All other brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: ShapeBlue Media Office [email protected] +44(0) 20 3603 0540
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1 of 15 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Where We Live | Old Dominion in Arlington, Va. View Photos This walkable community has a range of housing styles, from 1940s Colonials to McMansions. Caption This walkable community has a range of housing styles, from 1940s Colonials to McMansions. Old Dominion in Arlington is bounded by 26th Street North to the north, North Wakefield Street to the east, Lee Highway to the south and North Columbus Street to the west. Amanda Voisard/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.
For Jim and Abby Hughey, finding a house in the Old Dominion neighborhood of Arlington was no easy task, but they say it was worth the effort.
The couple placed offers on nine or 10 houses before finally closing on their 1940s brick Colonial house and moving in at the beginning of July 2014. All told, it was a six-month process.
We didnt say we need a brand-new house, Jim Hughey said. We were very interested in a good location with a neighborhood feel.
And for them, Old Dominion filled the bill. Finding a house required discipline, said Jim Hughey, a banker. We looked ourselves. When youre on the house hunt, you keep your eyes peeled. Then they turned to a real estate agent.
The Hugheys, new parents and first-time homeowners, say they like that they can walk to nearby shopping and get to their jobs easily.
[In the Montgomery farm country, Poolesville is a small-town delight]
They had lived in a high-rise close to the Ballston Metro station for almost 10 years and had their eyes on the nearby residential neighborhood just 1 to 1 miles from the station. We always liked it, he said. It had a neighborhood feel and was also walkable. We knew we wanted to stay in Arlington.
Its an easy commute by bus or bike for him, and even closer for his wife, who works as a government contractor in Tysons Corner. Thats why it all makes sense, said Jim Hughey, 36. He tends to bike when the weather is appealing and otherwise relies on an express bus to the McPherson Square Metro station. He can pick up the 3Y Metro bus on Lee Highway, a block from their house.
Plethora of shops and eateries: Old Dominions closest shopping area is just across Lee Highway, where there are banks and insurance businesses as well as locally owned shops that draw neighborhood residents and others.
The Lee Heights Shops, on Lee Highway (Route 29), include restaurants, a bakery, a needlepoint shop, a childrens shoe store and an antiques and home furnishings store, among others. It really checks all of our boxes, Jim Hughey said. Other stores, including a Harris Teeter, are at the Lee Harrison Shopping Center, and there is a Safeway in Cherrydale.
On a recent Monday, midday diners were already seated at Cassatts: A Kiwi Cafe & Gallery, where local art is displayed and a variety of egg dishes, quesadillas, burgers and vegetarian lasagna dot the menu. The marble mousse cake at Pastries by Randolph calls out to customers from a glass case filled with cakes, pastries and cookies.
[Bellevue is a quiet corner of Southwest D.C. that has undergone a transformation ]
Its very neighborhoody, said Jenni Emory, the manager at Random Harvest, Antiques and Home Furnishings. Emory lives in a townhouse in the neighborhood. Her younger son attends Yorktown High School while her older son is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Of the Lee Heights Shops, she says, Its really a sweet little destination. Everybody makes their stops along the way. On the other side of Lee Highway, closer to the residential neighborhood, is the Metro 29 Diner, and farther up the hill, away from the District, is a hardware store.
Living there: Old Dominion is bounded by 26th Street North to the north, North Wakefield Street to the east, Lee Highway to the south and North Columbus Street to the west.
The Old Dominion Citizens Association includes about 450 households, according to Richard Lolich, president of the association, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1983. He worked in the private sector and, more recently, retired from the Transportation Department. Through the years, he has seen a lot of changes in the neighborhood, most notably the increase in families with school-age children.
Houses range from brick Colonials built in the 1940s to newer houses that have replaced older homes, as is common inside the Beltway. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
Houses range from brick Colonials built in the 1940s to newer houses that have replaced older homes, as is common inside the Beltway. In addition, there are townhouses built in the 1970s, condominiums and apartments. The neighborhood association is working with Arlington County to create a new park at North 26th Street and Old Dominion Drive.
According to Jade Yang, principal agent with Metropolitan Premier Living, Signature Home Realty, in Tysons Corner, in the past year, 21 properties sold in the Old Dominion neighborhood, ranging from a three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow for $360,000 to a five-bedroom, seven-bath transitional home for $1.8 million. Two properties are on the market: a three-bedroom, two-bath Cape Cod for $709,000 and a five-bedroom, five-bath Craftsman for $1.6 million, based on data from multiple-listing service MRIS.
Schools: Discovery Elementary, Williamsburg Middle, Yorktown High.
Transit: Ballston Metro on the Orange and Silver lines is the closest Metro stop; there are both Metro and Arlington County Transit (ART) buses. The 3Y Metro bus stops in Lee Heights en route to the McPherson Square Metro station Monday through Friday during the rush hour, suitable for commuters to the District.
Crime: During the past 12 months, according to Arlington County police, one aggravated assault (domestic) was reported in the neighborhood.
Abortion rights advocates and feminist activists (clockwise from top left) Aleksandra Solik, Zofia Marcinek, Bozena Przyluska, Izabela Maksymowicz, Martyna Edyta and Katarzyna Bogusz-Przybylska. Grass-roots feminist groups organized street rallies advocating for abortion rights in Poland in October that halted a government bill to ban all abortions. They expect a protracted fight with Polands nationalist government and the conservative Catholic Church. (Andrew Roth/The Washington Post)
The long-submerged struggle over abortion has abruptly resurfaced in Poland after more than a generation, as the failure of a right-wing initiative to impose an outright ban has revitalized the countrys feminist movement.
The most hopeful now have their sights on overturning the legal restrictions on abortion that date back 23 years, and bringing womens issues in from the margins of Polish society.
Warsaw is for the first time in a generation a small hotbed of abortion rights activism.
The feminist and womens movement even half a year ago was quite small, and because of the protests, it has expanded, said Barbara Nowacka, an opposition politician and activist who held a public discussion in a downtown Warsaw cafe on a recent evening.
Across town, activists were protesting at Parliament. You could say that were in the same place we were a year ago. The abortion law has not changed. But weve managed to build big support for womens issues, not only for abortion but for dignity, the fight against domestic violence and others, Nowacka said.
Some women are going public, sharing their stories. The most famous is Natalia Przybysz, a Polish R&B singer who released a downbeat protest anthem, Through a Dream, a self-inspired ballad about traveling to Slovakia for an abortion. Nobody speaks, she told Gazeta Wyborcza, a liberal Polish daily, last month. And this solitude is terrible. I felt like I was the only woman in Poland who ever did it. The tabloids went on the attack.
But her openness was not in vain. Izabela Maksymowicz, 35, a mother of two and a feminist, heard her and could relate. Maksymowicz was a fellow demonstrator in last months Black Protest movement, in which 30,000 women descended on the capitals Castle Square in a swell of black umbrellas. Some women carried wire clothes hangers that day.
Her story is my story, Maksymowicz said in an interview in her apartment in a bedroom community of the Polish capital, as her son slept on a couch nearby. She has two kids. I have two kids.
She was not ready for a third. When Maksymowicz chose to have an abortion last year, she decided to travel abroad to a clinic in Berlin rather than go underground.
I didnt want this kind of stigma, of doing something illegal, she said. The protests and Przybyszs story inspired her to write a post on Facebook telling friends what had happened, which she called a coming-out. She allowed The Washington Post to use her name, knowing that other women who have spoken openly about abortion have been criticized.
We are human, she said. We cant take any more on our shoulders. There is already so much. To me, this is the language we can use, and we should use, to talk about these very hard issues. Because when we use words like abortion, liberalization, then they imagine things. Not people.
Activist Izabela Maksymowicz, a mother of two, recently revealed via Facebook that she had an abortion in Germany last year in preference to having the procedure done underground in Poland. (Andrew Roth/The Washington Post)
Tens of thousands of women face a similar choice each year in Poland, where abortions are banned except in extreme cases: danger to the mothers life, severe birth defects or pregnancy as a result of rape or incest. They choose to go abroad to find gynecologists who are sympathetic or willing to break the law for money; to order pills on the Internet; or, in extreme cases, to resort to homemade methods.
Their stories are usually shared in whispers, if at all; as speculation increases over whether the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn the landmark case Roe v. Wade, Poland delivers a poignant counterfactual. Abortion was legal here until communism fell, but a resurgent Catholic Church in 1993 struck a deal with the government. Poles tend to call it the compromise, although activists say it is anything but. Just 1,040 legal terminations were carried out in Poland last year. In many cases, activists say, doctors will not perform abortions even when they are permitted to do so under the law.
The street protests last month helped defeat a right-wing legislative initiative to ban abortion outright. But the issue has not been resolved. The activists interviewed for this article repeated one characterization of Polish society: divided. The culture wars are a blood sport.
Ive probably been insulted more in the past month than in my entire life, said Zofia Marcinek, who began attending feminist demonstrations at age 14 and helped organize last months protests. People perceive feminism very negatively in Poland. Its all those jokes about feminist women hating men and burning bras. It is seen as something violent.
Concerned that protesters will begin to tire of public demonstrations, she is focusing on educational initiatives and helping to organize the dozens of scattered new nongovernmental organizations dedicated to womens issues.
If the protests halted the total ban on abortions, legalizing most abortions, a process commonly called liberalization, also seems unlikely. A poll by Newsweek Polska reported that 74 percent of Poles support maintaining the current legislation.
One woman, a government employee, who attended Nowackas discussion said that she had protested the total ban on abortions and wanted to see better sex education. But if a bunch of feminists go out and say they want to get rid of the
law entirely, then I would be against.
The retort is usually that the status quo does not work.
Every week, several women from the provinces come to Warsaw looking for Romuald Debski, the head of gynecology and obstetrics at Bielanski Hospital. Of the approximately 1,000 legal abortions that are carried out each year in Poland, many are linked to Down syndrome. Close to a third of them are performed at Debskis hospital.
Antiabortion demonstrators have picketed him there, carrying banners showing his image next to aborted fetuses.
I have been called a murderer, and there have been protesters outside my hospital, he said. So far, I havent been put to jail for my actions, but we have seen cases of doctors being put to jail for saying what they really think.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of Polands majority, and highly conservative, Law and Justice party, said he opposed the total abortion ban last month after the protests. But he has signaled support for new laws.
Even when the pregnancy is very difficult, when the child is doomed to die or seriously malformed, he told a Polish news agency in an interview, it is important that there is a delivery, so that the child can be christened and buried, so that it has a name.
Since then, the government has authorized cash payments to mothers to carry disabled fetuses to term.
The abortion restrictions are older than many of the protesters.
I was a small child when abortion was banned, said Martyna Edyta, a 23-year-old from a small, conservative town in southern Poland who now heads an abortion rights NGO called Medical Students for Choice. Two of her childhood friends have had abortions: one in Slovakia, the other in the Czech Republic.
I was born into the status quo, Edyta said. This is the first moment when people are discussing abortion or reproductive rights in my lifetime.
An older generation of activists, still here, remembers protesting in 1992 to keep abortion rights. They collected more than 1 million signatures and still lost.
Read more:
Rule No. 1 for Polands new right-wing government: Ignore the critics
New report rekindles questions about 2010 plane crash that killed Polish leader
Polands controversial new media law could get it booted off Eurovision
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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Chinese tourists walk on the broken bridge that extends only halfway to North Korea it was bombed by the United States during the Korean War as trucks go back and forth across the operational bridge that acts as the main commercial artery between the countries. (Anna Fifield/The Washington Post)
Theres a chill in the air in Dandong these days, and not just because winter is coming.
A steady stream of trucks still rumble across the single-lane bridge from China to North Korea from dawn until dusk every day, and North Koreans can still be seen in the streets and in the restaurants of this grimy border city, the commercial gateway to the isolated state.
But trading has become significantly harder in recent weeks, a dozen people involved in doing business with North Korea said in interviews, the result of a double-pronged attempt by Beijing to communicate its anger with the regime in Pyongyang.
Everythings become tougher since September, a Korean Chinese factory owner who employs North Korean workers here told The Washington Post. This crackdown is because of the missile and nuclear tests, and it doesnt look like its going to blow over.
This news might be slightly more encouraging than official Washington has been expecting but only slightly. Although China is annoyed with North Korea, its primary consideration keeping the regime afloat has not changed.
Indeed, the chill here is partly because of the tough international sanctions imposed in March after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. They are aimed at cutting off North Koreas ability to earn hard currency through coal exports and shipping.
But an equal or even bigger influence is the surprise detention of a prominent Dandong business executive, a member of the Communist Party no less, who stands accused of helping North Korea dodge sanctions and obtain materials for its weapons program.
When business people hear this kind of story, of course we feel very constrained and it makes us very cautious, a South Korean businessman trading in this area said on the condition of anonymity. The atmosphere is so tense that none of the business executives interviewed were willing to be publicly identified, even as they insisted that everything was aboveboard.
Business is down, but no one knows how long that will last. Even now, there are plenty of ambiguous signs: The annual trade fair here was canceled yet coal exports from North Korea are breaking records. China holds the lever, and its intentions can be only speculated upon.
For more than a decade, the international community, led by the United States, has tried to inflict economic pain on North Korea in an effort to convince it that the costs of pursuing a nuclear weapons program outweigh any benefits.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has tested nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate since he came into power. Yet, the country is under some of the toughest sanctions ever. This is how the regime is able to funnel billions of dollars into its nuclear program. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)
Increasingly tight rounds of sanctions have, however, clearly failed to change the regimes calculus. North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un, has ordered two nuclear tests and dozens of missile launches this year, apparently aiming to produce a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
[North Korea runs its fifth nuclear test, claims its warheads have extra power]
Sanctions are the only tool that the international community really has, given that there is no appetite for engagement and even less for military action.
In March, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that, among other tough measures, ordered mandatory inspections of all cargo going into North Korea and banned North Korean exports of coal, iron and iron ore unless they are for livelihood purposes.
But with almost all North Korean trade going through China, and Dandong specifically, sanctions are only as effective as Beijing wants them to be. Beijing doesnt want the collapse of its impoverished nuclear-armed neighbor, and it certainly doesnt want the 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea to be able to move right up to the peninsulas border with China.
China has a permanent interest in keeping North Korea afloat no matter what, said Andrei Lankov, a Korea expert who teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You will never be able to persuade China to do something different.
As a result, this frontier long has felt like a border in name only.
There were always officials willing to turn a blind eye, middlemen brokering deals in the shadows, entrepreneurs looking to gain a foothold in what they hoped would become an increasingly open market.
Sanctions were a matter for faraway Beijing, and even farther-away Washington.
[North Koreas growing economy and Americas misconceptions about it]
But theres a shift in the wind. And the question now is: After the nuclear tests and missile launches, including three while China was hosting the Group of 20 summit meeting in September, is President Xi Jinping angry enough to inflict a little more pain on Kim?
At the port in Donggang, just south of Dandong, fishermen on boats flying both Chinese and North Korean flags complain bitterly about the people on the other side of the river. If they intercept you at sea, they force you into port and take everything. If they see you're wearing a watch, they confiscate it, said one fisherman, standing on the deck of the rickety boat. (Anna Fifield/The Washington Post)
Loophole is still open
What was once a black-and-white picture China supported sanctions in principle but not in practice has become a complicated gray one.
There is plenty of activity going on here. Dozens of trucks laden with steel rebar and sacks of cement line up on the road outside the customs house every day, waiting to cross into North Korea.
At the main logistics center, everything from tangerines to a Mercedes-Benz SUV without tags was being prepared for export on a recent day. The customs process has become a little more complicated, said a North Korean driver with a truck full of tiles. But if you pay, its okay.
Solar panels and generators continue to be popular, and there are still tens of thousands of North Korean laborers here. And trade in coal, which makes up about 40 percent of North Koreas exports, hit a record in August.
That is because China has a different interpretation of the livelihood exception, said Western diplomats involved in the process. While the international community has focused on the ban, China is focusing on the exception.
[U.N. adopts sweeping new sanctions on North Korea]
Diplomats in Beijing are highly doubtful that the Chinese government has any intention to seriously punish North Korea, expressing frustration at the coal figures and skepticism about reports of tougher times on the border.
In the wake of Septembers nuclear test, the United States has been pushing the United Nations to close the loophole, but China has resisted.
China still believes it should not hurt ordinary people in North Korea, said Zhang Tuosheng, director of research at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies.
The main problem is that the gap between the U.S. and China on North Korea is so huge, Zhang said. I dont think China would agree to close the livelihood exception. That would damage ordinary people.
But one joint action, even if it was grudging, has had a tangible impact.
Chinese tourists pose next to Chinese and North Korean flags on the riverfront in Dandong, a city that acts as the commercial gateway into North Korea. Across the Yalu river, the North Korean city of Sinuiju is clearly visible. (Anna Fifield/The Washington Post)
In September, the U.S. Justice Department slapped sanctions on the Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development company and its chief executive, Ma Xiaohong, accusing her of using the company as a front to channel American dollars to North Korea, helping it to finance its nuclear weapons program. It was the first time Washington had used secondary sanctions to punish a Chinese entity for helping North Korea.
Chinese provincial authorities, while saying their actions were independent, responded by detaining Ma and launching an investigation of Hongxiang, alleging the company committed serious economic crimes.
That someone who was such a big mover and shaker here could be stopped in her tracks has sent shivers through Dandong.
Ma was a city official and the government doesnt usually mess with people like that. Its had a very serious impact here, the Korean Chinese factory owner said.
The South Korean businessman echoed this sentiment: I personally think that the Hongxiang case has had a bigger impact than sanctions. The vibe I get is that people are being cautious.
In interviews, businessmen detailed an increasingly difficult operating environment.
[A new push to stop North Korea from sending workers abroad]
Last year, I did about 10 big deals construction equipment, automobiles but this year, Ive done none, said a Korean Chinese intermediary who brokers deals for investors on both sides of the border.
The actions, and specifically those against Hongxiang, have riled some locals.
Dandong people are feeling insulted, like the Americans are bullying us, said a man who said his name was Wang and who drives business people around town. This was business approved by the governments in China and North Korea. You can link any material to nuclear development if you want to.
The Chinese city of Dandong has developed significantly in recent years, but the citys economy relies on trade with North Korea. Doing business here has become significantly harder following sanctions and the detention of a prominent businesswoman accused of helping North Korea, local traders say. (Anna Fifield/The Washington Post)
People involved in the Hongxiang case warn against seeing Chinas response as the start of a broader crackdown, with one saying that getting Beijing to act was exceptionally difficult.
But recent evidence shows, Lankov said, that Beijing has decided to enforce and not enforce sanctions in a new, controlled way.
This is all being done at the central-government level, assuming that low-level officials are difficult to control, Lankov said. They need it to be planned and measured.
China will always put its interests first, he said.
They want to have the situation under control. They will keep North Korea afloat, but the central government in Beijing will decide which buttons to push and when.
How long will this chill last?
Business executives here said they hope that it wont continue much longer. Whenever there are specific events, China shows that they have tightened up for a short period. But after some time, it goes back to business as usual, said one of the South Koreans who spoke to The Post.
But the ball is in North Koreas court.
It depends on whether there is a sixth nuclear test or not, the Korean Chinese middleman said. If that happens, things are going to get even harder.
Yoonjung Seo and Congcong Zhang contributed to this report.
Read more
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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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Amid surging fears about what Donald Trumps presidency will mean for nations lining Russias border, the employees of Latvias Defense Ministry have a worst-case plan: They will defend their imposing headquarters in central Riga to the last.
They formed a 20-person-strong unit of a volunteer militia over the summer. They are armed. And they have been training.
Baltic leaders, scarred by the Soviet takeover in 1940 that lasted for more than half a century, are worried that they could be cut out of any deal that Trump makes with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president-elect repeatedly praised Putin on the campaign trail as a stronger leader than President Obama and has vowed to prioritize cooperation with the Kremlin on anti-terrorism efforts. Trump and Putin spoke on the phone Monday in a conversation that made no mention of Russias annexation of Crimea or support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, according to the Kremlin.
[Kremlin: Trump, Putin agree in call to improve U.S.-Russia relations]
Here in Latvia, a nation of 2 million where the annual government budget is one-sixtieth what the United States spends on its military alone, security officials are responding to the U.S. push to bolster their military capabilities in big and small ways. That includes the scrappy effort to protect the Defense Ministry, a fallback plan that employees were preparing even before Trumps victory.
We will have weapons in the ministry and we will be ready to defend ourselves, said Defense Ministry State Secretary Janis Garisons, a mild-mannered former diplomat who is the senior civil servant in the ministry and who has been drilling with his colleagues since summertime.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004 and received commitments of thousands of allied troops just this summer. But they were spooked by Trumps campaign-time view that NATO was obsolete and his vow that he would not automatically come to the aid of U.S. allies if they were attacked by Russia and instead would review if they fulfill their obligations to us.
Now Baltic leaders are waiting to see how Trump actually shapes his evolving relationship toward Putin and NATO. Mindful that Baltic states have little ability to shape U.S. policy, officials say that they will simply hold to current plans, which include bolstering defense spending above NATO guidelines. Many are skeptical that Trumps dreams of detente with Russia will be successful. But Latvian officials also say they are ramping up planning for the last-ditch scenario if they need to fend off Russia on their own.
Though the countries would be vastly outmatched if the Kremlin invaded using its conventional forces, they say they have the will to mount a fierce insurgency. Latvia is expanding its part-time volunteer force, the National Guard, to 8,000 people, and in the wake of Trumps election hopes to push the numbers higher. Estonia has enrolled more than 25,000 volunteers in its similar Defense League. Lithuania has published guides about what to do in case of Russian invasion.
The dreams that Americans or God will save us, its somehow over, said Artis Pabriks, a former Latvia defense minister who is now a lawmaker in the European Parliament. We simply have to stick to the view that if something should happen, we will fight like the Finns in 1939, so the West will have to help us.
Angst about Trump suffused Latvian Independence Day celebrations Friday, even making its way into the official benediction at the 13th-century Riga Cathedral as leaders and military officials prayed for Latvias continued freedom. The service ended with Latvias national anthem, which was a crime to sing during the half-century of Russian domination that ended in 1991.
For the first time were worried about our future, our kids, said Ivars Aboltins, 41, a civil engineer who brought his family to the banks of the Daugava River on Friday to watch a military parade marking the holiday. A handful of U.S., British and Canadian troops stationed in the country also took part.
At home, we dont talk about politics, but he can tell were worried, Aboltins said of his 8-year-old son.
But amid the concerns, Latvians also take comfort that despite the countrys size, they believe it has pulled its weight in recent years. Latvian forces fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and seven soldiers were killed.
We are not going to panic, said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics. We really don't see the end of the world as we know it.
He noted that Obama and President George W. Bush also tried to reset relations with Putin before abandoning those efforts when the Kremlin proved more obstreperous than they expected.
Despite the concerns from national leaders, voices in Latvias ethnic Russian minority, which is about a third of the population, welcome the prospect of reconciliation between the United States and Russia.
If we can get back to the relations we had in 2013, before the Crimean annexation, wed welcome that, said Nils Usakovs, the mayor of Riga and the leader of the Harmony Center party, which draws most of its support from Russian speakers. It was very relaxed. There was trade, tourism.
Over the summer, the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany committed to lead battalions of about a thousand troops each in Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia. Despite Trumps questioning of NATO, the U.S. troops who will be deploying to Poland early next year have already begun the complex logistical arrangements to transit across the ocean. And it is unclear whether the new president would be willing to accept the international opprobrium that would come from backing down on the plans.
People who go to Moscow and think we can offer peace in our time, they dont understand that from every encounter like that, Putin takes something very substantial, said Juri Luik, the head of the International Center for Defense and Security, based in Tallinn, Estonia. If you are ready to give it to him, you have to be ready to look like a real loser, someone who rolls over and plays dead.
Still, some leaders here say they fear the Trump administration may abandon long-term commitments to NATO or the U.S. advocacy of sanctions against Russia and they say that if the United States backs out, European nations may be quick to follow. On a tour of Europe this week, Obama said that Trump was committed to NATO. But many U.S. allies would prefer to hear that from Trump.
Most officials here doubt that their security is immediately on the line. Trumps apparent unpredictability may lead Putin to be cautious about making mischief inside NATO countries and Trump even said before the election that under his command, the U.S. military would shoot down Russian jets if they showed disrespect by buzzing U.S. ships and planes. Unlike in Ukraine, which the Kremlin appears to covet because of its historical ties to Russia, Baltic officials say they feel they are targets only because attacking them would challenge NATO and the European Union as a whole.
If President Trump could work a deal with President Putin that would reverse the annexation of Crimea, remove all Russian troops from Ukraine and remove the buildup of troops on the Baltic border, then we say more power to him, said Ojars Kalnins, the chairman of the foreign-affairs committee in Latvias Parliament. But if a good relationship is at the expense of the Ukrainian people or security on our borders, that does trouble us.
Kalnins and other Baltic lawmakers are planning a trip to Washington in early December to meet with Republicans in Congress in a bid to appeal to their traditionally hawkish position on Russia.
It remains unclear how much influence the Republican establishment will have on Trumps foreign policy. Trump awarded his most influential national security position to retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who astonished his former colleagues by traveling to Moscow last year and sitting next to Putin at a gala dinner sponsored by Russia Today, the state-owned Russian television network. Flynn has called for tighter ties with Putin to battle the Islamic State in Syria.
Its a present, current security threat for us. We do not need to be told that it is. We know it, said Lolita Cigane, who is the head of the European-affairs committee in the Latvian parliament and said she is counting on Trump to hold to U.S. commitments.
But her family has a fallback, she said: Her husband recently signed up for the National Guard.
Read more:
Russian warplanes keep buzzing the Baltics. Heres how NATO scrambles.
European leaders, NATO caution Trump on warming relations with Russia
Russia sends warships toward Syria via English Channel and with a message
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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[November 18, 2016] Easy Solutions Ranked Number 93 Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte's 2016 Technology Fast 500
Easy Solutions, the Total Fraud Protection company, today announced it ranked 93 on Deloitte's (News - Alert) Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America. Easy Solutions grew 1,022 percent during this period. Easy Solutions CEO Ricardo Villadiego credits the company's forward-looking approach to fraud prevention and cybersecurity with the company's 1,022 percent revenue growth. "We know that in order to stay ahead of cybercriminals, financial institutions and enterprises need to have cutting-edge security solutions that not only help them identify and stop attacks, but foresee them. Our Total Fraud Protection platform of solutions includes predictive, machine-learning solutions that allow our customers to head off potential fraud attacks long before any damage is done." "Today, when every organization can be a tech company, the most effective businesses not only foster the courage to explore change, but also encourage creativity in using and applying existing assets in new ways, as resourcefully as possible," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications industry leader. "This ingenious approach to innovation calls for the encouragement of curiosity and collaboration both within and outside theoffice walls."
"This year's Fast 500 winners showcase that when organizations are open to diverse perspectives and insights, they are able to create an environment for their employees and customers to see the possibilities and ingenious solutions that might lie ahead," added Jim Atwell, national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Entrepreneurial environments foster change and innovation within businesses, and we look forward to watching these companies continue to drive change across all sectors." ABOUT DELOITTE'S 2016 TECHNOLOGY FAST (News - Alert) 500
Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies - both public and private - in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2012 to 2015. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. ABOUT EASY SOLUTIONS Easy Solutions is a leading security vendor focused on the comprehensive detection and prevention of electronic fraud across all devices, channels and clouds. Our products range from anti-phishing and secure browsing to multifactor authentication and transaction anomaly detection, offering a one-stop shop for multiple fraud prevention services. The online activities of over 94 million customers 350 leading financial services companies, security firms, retailers, airlines and other entities all over the world are protected by Easy Solutions fraud prevention systems. United States: 8550 N.W. 33 Street, Miami FL 33122. Phone (News - Alert): 1 (866) 524 4782 Latin America: Cra. 13A No. 98 - 21 Of. 401. Bogota, Colombia. Phone: +57 1 - 742 5570 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005108/en/
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Buckingham Palace needs a taxpayer-funded facelift if its to remain fit for the queen.
The London home of Queen Elizabeth II hasnt been upgraded since just after World War II and needs urgent infrastructure work to fix plumbing, electrical cables and heating, palace officials said Friday.
The work will cost some $459 million over 10 years and is considered critical to safeguarding the building from fire or flood damage. If the work goes as planned, the palace wont need another renovation until 2067, when Prince William would be 85, or five years younger than the current monarch.
Palace officials acknowledged that the sum is vast, but said that they hoped the public will accept the expenditure for a building that symbolizes a nation.
We take the responsibility that comes with receiving these public funds extremely seriously indeed, said Tony Johnstone-Burt, the official in charge of administering the royal familys affairs. Equally, we are convinced that by making this investment in Buckingham Palace now we can avert a much more costly and potentially catastrophic building failure in the years to come.
The project will be paid for through a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, a percentage of the profits from the Crown Estate.
The cost of the refurbishing prompted dissent from the anti-royal campaign group Republic.
Royal attitude always the same: its theirs to use and ours to pay for, the group said on its Twitter feed. Time we took the palace back and turned it into world class museum.
The scale of the project is enormous though it deals with the parts of the palace the public would not see in a building that boasts 775 rooms, which includes 78 bathrooms and 19 state rooms. Some 322,000 square feet of floorboards, for example, will need to be lifted to fix cabling.
The queen will be able to remain at home during the work, though she will have to move to another part of the palace when her private apartments are renovated.
The project envisions the improvement of visitor facilities and improved public access, making it more accessible for the disabled, for example.
Associated Press
President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wait for the beginning of their meeting in Berlin on Thursday. (Kay Nietfeld/AFP/Getty Images)
President Obama departed Europe on Friday after a final round of crisis talks with U.S. allies about hot spots including Ukraine and Libya, even as he sought to ease concerns about possible policy shifts under the incoming Trump administration.
The victory of President-elect Donald Trump has startled European allies because of campaign pledges that seem to pull back from the traditional U.S. commitment to transatlantic security.
Obama urged the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain to continue seeking solutions with the incoming administration on the basis of the core values that define the United States and Europe as open democracies, according to a White House statement.
Obama joined with his European counterparts in strongly supporting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the cornerstone of Western security, while backing their calls to uphold sanctions against Vladimir Putins Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and is seen as aiding pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine.
Also on the agenda was the Iraqi-led offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State, as well as the resumption of attacks in Aleppo and other parts of Syria by government forces and their ally Russia.
The president emphasized that de-escalation and a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict are the only viable ways to end the suffering, prevent another migration crisis, and move toward a political transition, according to the White House statement.
[Obama bids bittersweet farewell to closest partner on world stage]
Although Obamas visit here had the usual trappings, including a group photo with the five European leaders who had converged in Berlin to meet with him, it had a more subdued tone than past visits. By midday, he had left the German Chancellery under a drizzle for Air Force One to head to his trips final stop, Peru.
The summit took shape as Europe is awash in its own tensions, over Britains vote to leave the European Union, differences on a defense strategy, and a rise of populist nationalism that is challenging the fortunes of several leaders across the continent.
Maintaining European and U.S. sanctions on Russia in particular remains a top concern amid signs of a possible thaw between Washington and Moscow under Trump.
This week, Trump and Putin agreed in a telephone conversation that U.S.-Russian relations were unsatisfactory, and they vowed to work together to improve them, the Kremlin said.
But Obama has said that the president-elect, in their one-on-one meeting after the election, expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships, including with NATO.
U.S. President Barack Obama boards Air Force One as he departs Berlin. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
During Fridays talks in Berlin, Obama and European leaders unanimously agreed on the need to press Russia to stand by promises to help calm the conflict in Ukraine, and said that Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia must remain in place until it does.
In a joint news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed impatience that peace in Ukraine is still far from reach.
Not enough progress can be seen, she said.
Rajoy described thriving populism as one of the most important issues confronting the European Union, acknowledging that 2017 would be a difficult election year, with nationalist forces vying for power in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Merkel, commenting on her growing influence in the European Union and globally, said: One person alone can never solve everything, were only strong together. . . . I will do what is my duty as the German chancellor, namely on the one hand to serve the people in Germany, but that includes for me to work for European unity and European success.
Even among European powers, positions vary on Russia. Some urge warmer ties, while others are warning against cozying up to Putin because of the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the rebel clashes in Ukraine.
Speaking beside Merkel on Thursday to the media, Obama urged Trump to stand up to Russia at the right times.
My hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we just cut some deals with Russia even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in countries like Syria that we just do what is convenient at the time, he said.
[Europe ponders: How to deal with Trump?]
Obama, in talks with Merkel, conceded Thursday that it would be naive of him to expect a breakthrough in the Syrian conflict before he leaves office. Earlier this week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speaking to Portuguese TV, opened the door to a change under Trump, whom he described as a natural ally. Merkel cautioned against any bargains with Assad.
He has brought untold suffering on his people, if you look at Aleppo and other places, she said. When you talk to the many Syrian refugees who have fled here to Germany, they will be able to tell you their own personal story, and the majority of them the great majority of them fled from Assad, and most of them not even fled the Islamic State. So I dont see him as an ally.
The wild-card nature of Trumps presidency is amplified in Europe by the continents own internal pressures. Nowhere are those tensions more on display than in the talks over Britains departure from the European Union. British Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a one-on-one meeting with Merkel as the Germans call for stiff penalties as the price of Britains exit.
Wolfgang Schauble, Germanys finance minister, laid out a tough bargaining position with Britain in an interview with the Financial Times. He insisted that any deal would mean that London must still pay billions into the E.U. budget beyond its exit date, perhaps stretching to 2030. He also said Britain should be prepared to see financial services industries flee London in favor of cities such as Frankfurt so that they can more easily work with the European Union.
Particularly after Trumps election, European leaders are calling for the region to take more responsibility for its own security. This week, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen singled out Britain for being obstructionist as other member states moved to forge a deeper defense alliance, including forming a possible European army.
The biggest resistance is coming from the British, von der Leyen told the German weekly Die Zeit. The USA will always be our most important and closest partner, but we Europeans cannot derive our strength from Americas. . . . Europe must decide whether it wants to shape events or be a pawn.
Underscoring the heightened concern, European officials are speaking in increasingly stark terms. Manuel Valls, Frances prime minister, issued a dire warning in the German capital on Thursday, calling for Berlin and Paris to quickly forge deals to improve economic growth and generate jobs amid strong challenges from anti-establishment nationalists.
Europe is in danger of falling apart, Valls said. So Germany and France have a huge responsibility.
Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin and Juliet Eilperin in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.
Read more:
How Obama and Merkel formed a special bond
Obama to bid farewell to closest partner on world stage
Merkel seen as key to Obama's success at G-7
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
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In December, after presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the country, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a sense of the Senate resolution affirming that the United States must not bar people from the country because of their religion.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) a member of the Judiciary Committee, along with Leahy voted against the resolution and delivered a 30-minute oration urging fellow senators to join him. The resolution, he warned, would make global migration to the United States a human right.
It would mean, he said, that the United States could not favor for entry the moderate Muslim cleric over the radical Muslim cleric. Or that a foreign cleric overseas could demand a tourist visa to deliver a sermon denouncing the U.S. Constitution and claim religious discrimination if it was not approved.
I think, Sessions said, it is a dangerous step.
Although the measure passed the committee, it failed in the full Senate.
President-elect Trump has chosen Sessions, who has served in the Senate for 20 years, to be the next attorney general a position that will give him the platform to shape civil rights policy and to defend the constitutionality of any policies that effectively restrict Muslim immigration, legal and civil liberties experts warn.
Sessions has also been dogged with accusations of racism, which sank his nomination to become a federal judge after President Ronald Reagan nominated him 30 years ago. At his Senate hearing, Sessions said he was not a racist, but several Justice Department employees testified that he had used racist language.
[Jeff Sessions is Donald Trumps biggest fan. Heres how their relationship began.]
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, lauded Sessions in a statement Friday as a respected member and former ranking member of the committee who has worked with Democrats on major legislation. Grassley predicted that the committee will approve his nomination for consideration by the full Senate.
He knows the Justice Department as a former U.S. attorney, which would serve him very well in this position, Grassley said.
The appointment of Sessions is expected to bring sweeping changes to the way the Justice Department operated under Loretta E. Lynch and her predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., who, when he was nominated to be the first black attorney general, pledged to make rebuilding the Civil Rights Division his top priority.
Several former Justice officials and Democratic lawmakers predicted that Sessions would reverse the emphasis on civil rights and criminal-justice reform that Holder put in place.
The Department of Justice built up an aggressive civil rights division under President Obama, but under President-elect Trump it would likely take a different approach toward police departments alleged to have overused force. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
[10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions]
From his time as U.S. attorney through his service on the Judiciary Committee, he has left serious doubts about whether he would faithfully enforce civil rights laws as attorney general, former Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The Civil Rights Division was gutted during the last Republican administration, and the burden of proof is on Senator Sessions to show that he would not follow that same path.
Sessions voted to confirm Holder as attorney general, but he voted against Lynch, citing her statements that President Obamas executive actions on immigration passed legal and constitutional muster. Sessions and other Republicans considered those measures to be presidential overreach.
Ms. Lynch has said flat-out that she supports those policies and is committed to defending them in court, Sessions said at the time. We do not have to confirm someone to the highest law enforcement position in America if that someone is publicly committed to denigrating Congress.
Obamas Justice Department stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act and successfully argued the historic same-sex marriage case last year before the Supreme Court. Sessions has opposed same-sex marriage and has a zero rating from the nations largest LGBT advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, expressed dismay about Sessions nomination. It only adds to a growing list of nominees with troubling pasts, and troubling histories of bigotry and intolerance, Hooper said.
George J. Terwilliger III, who served as deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush and has known Sessions for nearly three decades, disputed the characterization. I can say unequivocally theres not a racist bone in the guys body, he said.
Democratic lawmakers on Friday promised a tough and thorough vetting and confirmation process.
I know Senator Sessions, and we work out in the gym, but the fact that he is a senator does not absolve him from answering tough questions in the confirmation process, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the incoming minority leader.
Given some of his past statements and his staunch opposition to immigration reform, I am very concerned about what he would do with the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, and I want to hear what he has to say, Schumer said.
A former aide to Sessions said that, as attorney general, he will make national security and fighting terrorism a top priority.
Sessions is of the mind that the most essential duty of government is to protect its citizens, the aide said. Sessions opposed closing the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and bringing terrorist detainees to the United States for trial in federal courts. He felt it would needlessly eliminate an important tool in fighting terrorism and would needlessly put our citizens at risk, the aide said.
[New national security adviser brings experience and controversy]
Jefferson Beauregard Jeff Sessions, 69, who was born in Selma, Ala., began his career as a prosecutor in 1975 in the U.S. attorneys office in the Southern District of Alabama. In 1981, President Reagan nominated him to be the U.S. attorney for that district, where he served for 12 years.
In 1986, Reagan nominated him to be a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. But at his Senate confirmation hearing, Justice Department lawyers who had worked with him testified that he had made racist and other incendiary statements. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert now the director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center said that Sessions had called the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union un-American and Communist-
inspired.
Thomas Figures testified that Sessions said he had thought the Ku Klux Klan was okay until I found out they smoked pot. Sessions later apologized for the comment, saying he was not serious when he said it.
Witnesses also testified that after disagreement between a black and a white member of his staff, Sessions admonished the black staffer to be careful what he said to white folks, and once referred to a black lawyer in the U.S. attorneys office as boy.
Sessions denied the allegations, but he was not confirmed.
Aides to Session said that he was not insensitive to African Americans and pointed out that as a young Republican at Huntingdon College in 1966, Sessions campaigned against segregationist candidates such as Lurleen Wallace, who was running for governor to sustain the policies of her husband, then-governor George Wallace, a staunch opponent of desegregation. George Wallace was banned by state law from serving consecutive terms.
In 1994, Sessions was elected attorney general of Alabama. He was elected to the U.S. Senate two years later.
Sessions, who was the first senator to endorse Trump, in February, first met him in 2005 when Trump was criticizing the United Nations plan for a $1.2 billion renovation of its New York City headquarters. Sessions invited him to testify about it before a Senate subcommittee hearing. After the hearing, they were out of touch until last year, when they had a phone call about immigration policy and Trump tried to get Sessionss endorsement.
Mike DeBonis, Robert Costa, Matt Zapotosky and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
Read more:
President Trumps Justice Dept. could see less scrutiny of police, more surveillance of Muslims
Trump defends pace of transition work as process remains opaque
Key figures purged from Trump transition team
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to be CIA director, close allies say. Here's what we know about him. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to be CIA director, close allies say. Here's what we know about him. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the CIA is a Kansas congressman who is widely respected for his intelligence but also seen as a fierce partisan on polarizing issues including the deaths of U.S. personnel in Benghazi, the leaks of Edward Snowden and the email controversy that engulfed Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) has used his perch on the House Intelligence Committee to attack major pillars of President Obamas foreign policy agenda, including the nuclear deal with Iran. Just hours before his name surfaced as Trumps CIA nominee, Pompeo tweeted that he looked forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism.
[Iran nuclear deal could collapse under Trump]
In closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill, Pompeo has been an intense critic of a covert CIA program to train and arm moderate rebel forces in Syria, according to U.S. officials who said that dismantling the program or at least subjecting it to a major re-evaluation would likely be at the top of his agenda if he is confirmed.
Pompeo, 52, has no meaningful experience in espionage issues beyond his relatively brief stint as a member of the House Intelligence Committee. But he has earned a reputation as a serious student of national security issues who finished first in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served as a cavalry officer in the Army and earned a law degree from Harvard.
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said that Pompeo is not widely known among the CIA rank and file but that his nomination was greeted at least initially as a reassuring development at a spy agency that has been treated largely with disdain by Trump.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), who has sparred with Pompeo on Benghazi and other issues, gave the selection tempered praise in a statement released Friday.
Mike is very bright and hard-working and will devote himself to helping the agency develop the best possible intelligence for policymakers, Schiff said. While we have had our share of strong differences principally on the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi I know that he is someone who is willing to listen and engage, both key qualities in a CIA Director.
Pompeos congressional background raised early comparisons to that of Porter Goss, who was plucked from the House Intelligence Committee by then-President George W. Bush to lead the CIA and was forced to resign two years later after a turbulent tenure during which one of his principal executives was convicted of corruption charges.
Pompeos ties to the arch-conservative tea party movement and scant background on intelligence issues were also cited as a cause for concern among some CIA veterans.
The tea party owns the drones now, one official said, referring to the agencys involvement in lethal drone strikes against terrorist groups in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.
But former senior CIA officials expressed guarded optimism that Pompeos ideological bent can be tempered by the analytic approach he has brought to difficult security subjects.
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), who has been nominated to lead the CIA by Donald Trump, speaks on Capitol Hill in October 2015. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Im heartened by the choice, said former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, who has been a staunch critic of Trump on security matters. I would recommend that when he goes to Langley he get out of the car by himself and embrace the workforce, Hayden said, alluding to the rocky tenure of previous directors who arrived with entourages and agendas that put them at odds with the agencys powerful and entrenched directorate of spies.
In some ways, Pompeo is already part of the intelligence inner circle in Washington. He attended a dinner this week with CIA Director John Brennan at the home of former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, who had previously been seen as a leading candidate for the CIA job under Trump. The gathering included cast and producers of the CIA-themed show Homeland, according to a person familiar with the event.
Brennan has led a major bureaucratic overhaul of the agency over the past year, a reorganization designed to replicate the structure of the agencys Counterterrorism Center. Pompeo would face decisions on whether to preserve those changes.
Pompeo emerged as a surprise pick for Trump. His name had not surfaced in the flurry of postelection rumors that had largely focused on other potential nominees, including Rogers, who was ousted from the Trump transition team this week, and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who reportedly turned down a chance at the CIA job.
Pompeo reportedly has close ties to the Koch family, Kansas billionaires who have devoted a considerable part of their wealth to advancing a deeply conservative agenda and driving Democrats out of office. Articles in Kansas papers indicate that Pompeo built much of his wealth with investment funds from Koch industries and that his campaigns for Congress have been backed by Koch money.
In just five years in Congress, he has built a political following by staking extreme positions in polarizing debates. He has called for Snowden to face the death penalty and for Clinton to be barred from receiving classified information.
Pompeo was one of the more outspoken Republican members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, saying that the Obama administration was guilty of a scandal worse than Watergate. When the committee concluded its final report in July, Pompeo and a fellow member, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), released a 48-page annex charging failure at the most senior levels of government and calling for additional information on what Pompeo said was the administrations intentional misrepresentation and concealment of facts.
During hearings, his questions to administration witnesses were often among the most accusatory. In October 2015, when Clinton testified for the second time, Pompeo grilled her on her relationship with slain U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. He asked a series of rapid-fire questions about why Stevens did not have her personal telephone number, did not know her personal home address and had never stopped by your house.
Separately, in remarks that drew sharp criticism from U.S. Muslim organizations, Pompeo said that Muslim leaders who fail to denounce acts of terrorism done in the name of Islam were potentially complicit in the attacks.
Pompeo led congressional attacks on the nuclear accord Obama reached with Iran last year, accusing the administration of hiding secret side deals from the public, allegations rejected by the White House.
At the same time, it is not clear whether Pompeo will be in agreement with the most extreme positions taken by his new bosses, Trump and his designated national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
Trump has called for the CIA to resume the use of waterboarding and other interrogation measures widely condemned as torture. Trump has derided the quality of the intelligence from the nations spy community, publicly belittling a multiagency conclusion that Russia used cyberespionage methods to interfere in the U.S. election.
Pompeo is not known to have publicly backed those positions and in some cases has articulated views that would seem at odds with those of the Trump team. In a speech delivered in Kansas last year after returning from a trip to the Middle East, Pompeo cautioned against equating all Muslims with terrorism, saying that a line needs to be drawn between those who are on the side of extremism and those who are fighting against them.
Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
Read more:
Intelligence community is already feeling a sense of dread about Trump
Trump defends pace of transition work as process remains opaque
The most influential national security job in the still-forming Trump administration will likely go to a retired three-star general who helped dismantle insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq but then surprised and sometimes dismayed colleagues by joining the political insurgency led by Donald Trump.
As national security adviser to Trump, retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn would be responsible for helping a president with no national security experience navigate complicated global issues including the unfinished campaign against the Islamic State, the expansionist agenda of China and rising aggression from Russia. Flynns selection for the post was confirmed Thursday night by a person close to the Trump transition team who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations.
[How Flynn went from intel officer to leading lock her up chants]
As a decorated military intelligence officer and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Flynn has deep experience to draw upon as he serves as Trumps principal point of contact with the State Department, the Pentagon and a collection of U.S. intelligence agencies that have surged in power and influence since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
This is a guy who has the presidents trust, has credentials with the military, credentials with the intelligence community and credibility with Congress, said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Ca.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the Trump transition team. Hes a very serious person. He takes his job very seriously.
1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Heres what president-elect Donald Trump has been doing after the election View Photos He has been holding interviews and meeting with Congress and the president as he prepares to transition into the White House. Caption He has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to enter the White House. Jan. 19, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, visit the Lincoln Memorial before the Make America Great Again concert. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.
But Flynn has also shown an erratic streak since leaving government that is likely to make his elevation disconcerting even to the flag officers and senior intelligence officials who once considered him a peer.
Flynn stunned former colleagues when he traveled to Moscow last year to appear alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a lavish gala for the Kremlin-run propaganda channel RT, a trip Flynn admitted he was paid to make and defended by saying he saw no distinction between RT and U.S. news channels such as CNN.
Flynn said he used the trip to press Putins government to behave more responsibly in international affairs. Former U.S. officials said Flynn, seen dining next to Putin in photos published by Russian propaganda outlets, was used as a prop by the autocratic leader.
[Transcript: Michael T. Flynn on his dinner with Putin and supporting Trump]
Flynn was forced out of his job as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 over concerns about his leadership style. After the ouster, he frequently lashed out in public against President Obama and blamed his removal on the administrations discomfort with his hard-line views on radical Islam.
Spurning the decorum traditionally expected of retired U.S. flag officers, Flynn became a fervent campaigner for Trump and was given a high-profile role speaking before the GOP convention, an appearance in which he led the crowd in lock her up chants against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Flynns behavior drew the ire of former colleagues and superiors, including retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who made Flynn his top intelligence officer during critical stretches of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn called for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential race during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Republican National Convention)
McChrystal and retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contacted Flynn and urged him to show more restraint, with Mullen warning that Flynns behavior could jeopardize White House trust in the military.
Flynn dismissed those concerns in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this year, saying efforts to quiet him impinged on his free speech rights. When someone says, Youre a general, so you have to shut up, he said, I say, Do I have to stop being an American?
Flynn continued to campaign for Trump and has said he has admired the mogul since their initial meeting. I was very impressed, Flynn said in the interview with The Post. Very serious guy. Good listener. Asked really good questions . . . I found him to be very attuned to what was going on around the world.
Civil rights groups denounced the Flynn selection, saying he has refused to reject Trumps repeated statements supporting the use of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation measures on terrorism suspects. Trump has also advocated killing or capturing innocent relatives of terrorism suspects.
Asked about such proposals, Flynn said in an interview with Al Jazeera this year that he is a believer in leaving as many options on the table right up until the last possible minute.
Michael Flynn has exhibited basic contempt for international law, including the Geneva Conventions and laws prohibiting torture, said John Sifton, deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch. By offering the post to Flynn, President-elect Trump will be cementing a dark return to the illegalities of the Bush administration and further undermining the foundation of the international human rights system.
A longtime Democrat and native of Rhode Island who grew up in a military family, Flynn has articulated an increasingly dark vision of the direction of the United States, saying that it has fallen into a struggle between centrist nationalists and socialists.
He has also warned that the United States is failing to adequately address the threat posed by what he calls a diseased component of Islam. Theres something going on in the Muslim world, he said. Why do we have heightened security at our airports? Its not because the Catholic Church is falling apart.
That view, and his willingness to voice it publicly, put him in close alignment with Trump, who has called for Muslims in the United States to be registered, subjected to loyalty tests and in some cases deported.
In February, Flynn tweeted a link to a YouTube video with the message: Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: Please forward a link to this video so that people may learn the BASICS of Islam.
As national security adviser, Flynn would be a White House insider in a unique position to influence Trump on almost all aspects of foreign policy. Trump has shown scant respect for the intelligence and institutions that shaped Flynn, dismissing an intelligence community assessment that Russia was interfering in the presidential election as public relations.
Trump has also said he probably knows more than American generals about how to succeed in conflict zones such as Syria, encouraged Russia to hack Clintons email accounts and called for the CIA to resume its harsh interrogation methods.
Flynn publicly opposed such ideas before his association with Trump, and it is not clear whether he would help the president-elect advance an agenda built around such positions and policies.
Flynn most recently raised eyebrows in Washington with the publication of an opinion article in which he called for wholesale changes in U.S. policy toward Turkey and the extradition of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who resides in Pennsylvania and has been accused by the Turkish government of fomenting a coup attempt earlier this year.
Gulens vast global network has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper terror network, Flynn wrote in the piece, which was published in the Hill. Officials with ties to the Trump transition team said that Flynn did not clear that article with the campaign before it was published or disclose that his consulting firm had been hired for lobbying work by a group with ties to the Turkish government.
Read more:
A billboard showing President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, on Nov. 16, 2016. The Russian city of Obninsk is planning a rally in support of Trump on Saturday. (Savo Prelevic/AFP/Getty Images)
One Russian city wants to send a message to Americans protesting the election of Donald Trump: Well, we like him.
The city of Obninsk was granted a permit for a rally Saturday in favor of the U.S. president-elect another sign of Trumps embrace in a country whose relations with the Obama administration soured badly over rifts such as Syria and Ukraine.
The demonstration was organized by Artyom Mainas, a 27-year-old blogger in Obninsk, a nuclear-research center some 60 miles south of Moscow. He said he decided to act after seeing news from the United States about demonstrations in the wake of Trumps election.
I thought, well, it would be good if we can organize something here in Russia to demonstrate our support to the newly-elected president, Mainas said by telephone Friday. We think that Trump is a good candidate for Russia.
Russians have greeted the election of Trump as a victory, in part because of the Republicans support for Putin and calls for better ties with Russia during the campaign. On Friday, Sergei Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, said Trump and Putin see eye-to-eye politically, according to the TASS news agency.
Throughout the campaign, Russian officials and state media constantly warned that a Hillary Clinton presidency could erode already poor U.S.-Russia relations . Meanwhile, Moscow has conducted nationwide civil defense drills.
The U.S. administration accused Russia of interfering on Trumps behalf, including hacks of emails from top members of Clintons campaign team. Earlier this week, President Obama warned his successor not to embrace Putin too readily.
[Obama to Trump: Stand up to Putin and Russia]
Putin also sounded a bellicose note Friday, saying Russia is working to develop new weapons to ensure a strategic balance.
The Russian leader, wrapping up a week-long series of talks with his senior commanders on Moscows plans to modernize its military, said that Russia is developing state-of-the art weapons that draw on laser, hypersonic and robotic technologies.
We are giving special attention to the development of weapons based on new physical principles that allow selective, pinpoint impact on critically important elements of enemy weapons and infrastructure, Putin said at the meeting, broadcast on Russian television from the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Russian military officials have recently described developing warheads for ballistic missiles that would be invisible to antimissile defenses, or capable of evading them. Russia has protested NATOs U.S.-led missile defense system, and Putin on Friday appeared to lodge a response to the U.S. development of Prompt Global Strike, a weapons systems that would allow the U.S. to deliver a strike anywhere in the world within an hour.
We will do all necessary to ensure a strategic balance, Putin added. Our task is to efficiently neutralize any military threats to Russia, including those created by strategic missile defenses, the implementation of the concept of global strike, and information wars.
The Kremlin believes that the Obama administration is waging a propaganda war to isolate Russia, and a top Putin aide accused the White House on Thursday of doing everything it can to drive bilateral ties into such a deadlock that it would be difficult for a new team to improve relations.
[Trumps pick for national security adviser brings experience and controversy]
The aide, Yuri Ushakov, said Trump supported Putins call for normalizing ties, and expressed his readiness not only to normalize ties, but also develop them intensively in all areas.
Mainas, the blogger who organized the pro-Trump demonstration scheduled for Saturday, said his idea has attracted more support than he expected when he applied for a permit for a rally of 40 people.
Ive gotten so many calls already and people are coming in from other cities, so I think there might be more, he said. We hope that Russia-U.S. relations will improve under Trump and so we have to express our support.
Natalya Abbakumova contributed to this report.
Read more:
Yes we did: Russian establishment basks in Trumps victory
U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections
Are the Russians really preparing for war?
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
[November 18, 2016] Philips introduces DoseWise Portal 2.2, next generation dose management software solution at RSNA 2016
AMSTERDAM, Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG AEX: PHIA) today introduced DoseWise Portal 2.2 [1], a next generation radiation dose management software platform for healthcare providers to record, track and analyze radiation exposure to patients and clinicians. The latest version of DoseWise Portal includes enhanced connectivity and informatics capabilities to address key challenges faced by radiology departments, such as managing dose exposure to ensure patient and staff wellbeing and improving integrated access to patient information to deliver data-driven decision support. Radiation dose management and safety are growing concerns as clinicians and health systems comply with new Joint Commission standards related to CT imaging protocols and dose optimization. Additionally, the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment program, MACRA, includes dose management-related requirements clinicians must follow for more accurate and complete reimbursement. At this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, Philips will demonstrate DoseWise Portal 2.2, highlighting its new capabilities, including integration with Philips IntelliBridge Enterprise for HL7 functionality and IntelliSpace PACS. Collectively, these new features enable clinicians to access more patient information, helping them to more easily interpret patient radiation dose per exam across modalities and analyze overall cumulative exposure. Philips DoseWise Portal 2.2 integrates with key Philips health IT systems as well as third-party radiology dictation software to provide radiologists with greater patient information access and data capture for more informed decision support about dose management. DoseWise Portal 2.2 is now integrated with: IntelliSpace PACS Users may view the patient's exam radiation exposure directly from the PACS image, or by retrieving the patient's total radiation exposure exam history from the modality worklist.
Users may view the patient's exam radiation exposure directly from the PACS image, or by retrieving the patient's total radiation exposure exam history from the modality worklist. IntelliBridge Enterprise Allows users to query/retrieve crucial updated patient demographics from the hospital's EMR, such as body mass index (BMI) weight and age, for use with the DoseWise Portal.
Allows users to query/retrieve crucial updated patient demographics from the hospital's EMR, such as body mass index (BMI) weight and age, for use with the DoseWise Portal. Leading radiologydictation software Enables patient radiation exposure to be populated into dictation reports, saving time and helping to reduce transcription errors.
Dominic Siewko , clinical marketing leader and former Radiation Safety Officer at Philips. "Philips is committed to providing industry-leading technology and informatics solutions for radiation dose management. The new features in DoseWise Portal promote a culture of safety in the radiology department while allowing clinicians to tap into deep analytics and actionable insights from radiation exposure data." New Integrations Enable Improved Decision-Support and Reporting
DoseWise 2.2 is a multi-vendor and multi-modality solution that collects patient radiation dose data from X-ray modalities and allows for enhanced customer data analysis. In addition to expanded integration with Philips IntelliSpace PACS, IntelliBridge Enterprise and vendor neutral third-party radiology dictation software, DoseWise Portal 2.2 also includes:
Expanded connectivity to Philips DoseAware products Compatibility with DoseAware and DoseAware Xtend combines patient and staff dose information into a single display for deep analytics of radiation exposure. The entire family of DoseAware products are now compatible with DoseWise Portal.
Compatibility with DoseAware and DoseAware Xtend combines patient and staff dose information into a single display for deep analytics of radiation exposure. The entire family of DoseAware products are now compatible with DoseWise Portal. Customized user-friendly Analytics Package Intuitive user interface and enhanced "Chart Builder" charting and graphing functionality simplifies reporting needs and includes a customizable dashboard and popular reporting formats. Philips is showcasing DoseWise Portal 2.2 at RSNA 2016 at booth #6735 in Hall B at McCormick Place. Follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for updates throughout the event, or visit Philips' RSNA event website for more information about Philips' presence at #RSNA16. To learn more about Philips' DoseWise Portal 2.2 and the full suite of Philips' dose management solutions, please visit http://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/product/HC895001. Ahead of RSNA 2016, join the @PhilipsHealth #RadChat16 Twitter Chat on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 2:00PM CET/8:00AM ET to discuss radiation dose management and the imminent EU guidelines requiring hospitals to better track and record staff radiation exposure. Ronald Tabaksblat (SVP, Image Guided Therapy) and Dominic Siewko (Clinical Marketing Leader and former Radiation Safety Officer at Philips) will be available to answer questions and share insights. [1] Product in research phase of development For further information, please contact:
Kathy O'Reilly
Philips Group Communications
Tel.: +1 978-659-2638
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @kathyoreilly Alicia Cafardi
Philips Group Communications
Tel: + 1 412-523-9616
E-mail: [email protected] 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. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161109/437599
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philips-introduces-dosewise-portal-22-next-generation-dose-management-software-solution-at-rsna-2016-300365516.html SOURCE Royal Philips
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The flag-draped coffin of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos is followed by Marco's family during burial rites at the Heroes' Cemetery in Pasay, Philippine. (Reuters)
On a sunny afternoon last week, a crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court in Manila to honor a long-dead dictator.
They were fans of Ferdinand Marcos, the man who ruled the Philippines for two decades before being toppled by the people power revolution of 1986. He fled to the United States with his footwear-obsessed wife, Imelda, and a not insignificant portion of the countrys wealth.
Since his death in 1989, the Philippines has debated what to do with his remains. His embalmed corpse has been displayed since 1993 in a glass casket in his home province. Those assembled outside the court wanted to bury him at Manilas National Heroes Cemetery.
Now, thanks to President Rodrigo Duterte, they got their wish.
On Friday, Marcos was interred in a private ceremony on military land, a striking symbol of the nostalgia for the kind of strongman politics thats fueling the global rise of the populist right.
Activists and civil society groups stage a rally to protest the hero's burial accorded to former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos on November 18, 2016 in Manila, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
The move fulfilled a campaign promise made by Duterte, who has praised the former dictator and said the burial will heal the country. Millions of Filipinos disagree.
[Imelda Marcos lobbied hard to give her late husband a heros burial]
Ferdinand Marcos was a thief, a murderer and a dictator, said Vice President Leni Robredo in a statement issued Friday. He is no hero.
The debate over the ceremony shows a nation divided on the weight of its authoritarian past and what that means for the future.
For many Filipinos, the Marcos era was a horror that cannot and will not be forgotten.
Marcos was elected in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972, during his final term in office. The suspension of democracy brought extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and torture.
Meanwhile, the Marcoses grew ridiculously, ostentatiously rich. They are believed to have made off with billions of dollars.
Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos reads a statement at the Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu in 1986. (Jack Smith/AP)
But in the three decades since Ferdinand and Imelda fled, leaving behind her infamous shoe collection, their clan has largely escaped punishment and, in recent years, has even returned to public life.
Imelda is a member of congress, daughter Imee is a governor, and son Ferdinand Jr., known as Bongbong, is an influential former senator who narrowly lost the race to be vice president in Dutertes government.
Support for the family comes mostly from those young enough not to remember martial law and those who deny or play down what happened during Marcoss rule.
In a Nov. 14 interview, Delfin Lorenzana, Dutertes secretary of national defense, denied that Marcos was directly responsible for human rights violations. During martial law, there were a lot of abuses that were committed, but I dont think they were sanctioned by the president, he said.
Rehabilitating the Marcos legacy serves two political purposes: It helps secure an alliance between the new president and a powerful political clan. It also plays to a longing for a national savior who can restore discipline, a sentiment that has fueled Dutertes rise.
Duterte, once nicknamed the death squad mayor, swept to power last summer on a promise to kill all the countrys drug users and dealers and rid the country of crime.
His bold promises impressed Filipinos fed up with the corruption of the countrys ruling class. Thirty years after the people power revolution, about one quarter of people live in poverty Duterte vowed to help by tackling social ills.
As president, Duterte has delivered the bloodshed he promised. Thousands of people identified as suspects have been killed, often after being named on drug lists compiled by neighborhood officials and the police.
Faced with criticism of his drug war, Duterte has lashed out at critics at home and abroad, using sexist language to shame a senator who challenged him, lecturing President Obama on colonialism, and directing profane gestures and comments toward the European Union.
Blasting American colonialism and calling for an independent foreign policy appeal to a rising nostalgic nationalism in the country that is becoming a potent political force.
The people gathered outside the court in Manila saw Duterte as Marcoss heir and someone who would create an era of pride and stability, they said.
They insisted that Marcos seized power because he had to, that he had no choice. If there were no problems, there would not have been martial law, said Grace Koo, 52.
Koo said todays drug problem justifies a similarly strong response. Its good that theres lots of killing, she said.
There should be due process, but theres millions of people [using drugs]. How long would that take?
That is not far from what the president himself has said. Duterte recently said he may be forced to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to enable arrests without warrants, a plan critics called a precursor to martial law.
Some Marcos-loving supporters said that would be fine. Martial law was the best time that happened in the Philippines, said Artemio Lachica, a 74-year-old retired teacher.
Duterte will follow in Marcoss footsteps, for the good of the nation, because he has no choice, he said.
Duterte wants to duplicate what Marcos has done.
Read more:
How one man survived in Dutertes Philippines when the death squad came
When Duterte was the death squad mayor of Davao
Drug war in Philippines claims at least 2,000 lives
Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Photo: Stocksy
On Tuesday, Georgia state Rep. Jason Spencer proposed a bill to bar women in the state from wearing burqas, hijabs, or other forms of veiling on public property, including roads and highways, and for any public identification cards, such as drivers licenses. By Thursday, however, the legislation had been withdrawn as a result of intense scrutiny and criticism it had received for its discriminatory tone.
Spencers bill did not explicitly mention Muslim women and religious veiling but rather sought to expand upon a law already on the books in Georgia aimed at members of the Ku Klux Klan by preventing them from wearing ceremonial hoods in public places and IDs for the sake of public safety. Yet the Republican politicians bill did seek to revise the existing law by explicitly including women in the mandated ban on the public wearing of masks, hoods, or other devices that in any way cover or obscure the face. The bill, if approved, would have kept Muslim women from wearing religious veils not only while driving but also while walking on sidewalks and in parks or other public recreation areas.
We suspect its motivated by a desire to discriminate against Georgia Muslims, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director for CAIR-Georgia, told the Washington Post. The bill is a bad solution to a nonexistent problem.
Aisha Yaqoob of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project told Atlantas ABC affiliate WSB-TV that she believed the bill was rooted in bigotry and she couldnt understand the need for a state law that specifically targets Muslim women. The practice of veiling is one utilized by some Muslim women as a sign of modesty, in accord with their religious beliefs. (Orthodox Jewish women also often cover their hair by wearing wigs or hats because of religious standards of modesty.) Civil rights experts insist that the ability to veil whether wearing a hijab, burqa, or other form of religious veil is a constitutionally guaranteed right, inherent in the ability of individuals to freely and safely practice their religion.
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Just last year, the Supreme Court ruled against retailer Abercrombie & Fitch after the brand had refused to hire a Muslim American woman who interviewed while wearing a hijab, insisting that the wearing of a hijab was a violation of the companys dress code policy. The court determined that this move constituted religious discrimination.
On Wednesday, Spencer told WSB-TV, This bill is simply a response to constituents that do have concerns of the rise of Islamic terrorism, and we in the state of Georgia do not want our laws used against us.
Then, in a statement released the next day, Spencer adjusted his message: While this bill does not contain language that specifically targets any group, I am mindful of the perception that it has created. My objective was to address radical elements that could pose a threat to public safety. However, further consideration dictates that other solutions will need to be considered. In conclusion, anti-masking statutes have been upheld as constitutional (State v Miller, 1990), and HB 3 would withstand legal scrutiny, but not political scrutiny.
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Prince William Visits Vietnam to Join Fight Against Poaching Endangered Animals Prince WIlliam, the Duke of Cambridge, flew to Vietnam for two days as part of his campaign to end illegal trade of animal parts
Fighting to save wildlife. Prince William has taken his campaign to end illegal trade of animal parts all the way to Vietnam for a two-day visit.
On Wednesday, November 16, the Duke of Cambridge traveled to the world's busiest country for trafficking of wildlife products, including rhino horn used in traditional medicines. William's aim during the short trip is to inform local people about how they can protect endangered animals who are targeted for their ivory.
PHOTOS: Celebrity Activists!
One of the prince's first visits in the capital of Hanoi was to Hong Ha Primary School, where many of the kids have parents who practice traditional medicine.
William, 34, sat down with the school's pupils and read from I'm A Little Rhino, a children's book released by the Vietnamese government to educate about the lack of proven effect rhino horn has as medicine and how much of a threat poaching is to the future of rhinos.
PHOTOS: Princes William and Harry: How They've Grown
Afterward, the father of Prince George and Princess Charlotte was invited to a traditional medicine store on Lang Ong Street, Hanoi's biggest hub for traditional medicine. There, he spoke to a local pharmacist about their work to end the use of rhino horn and other products in medicine.
At night he met with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the presidential palace. A Kensington Palace spokeswoman tells Us Weekly, "[William] said he was looking forward to hearing what Vietnam was doing to tackle the challenges presented by the illegal wildlife trade."
While many of the animals are actually poached in Africa, Vietnam is known as one of the world's main stops for trafficking illegal animal parts. William is patron of the conservation organization Tusk Trust and also a president of United For Wildlife, which works with a number of the world's biggest conservation groups.
Last weekend, ahead of the Third Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade on November 17, Vietnamese authorities crushed and burned more than two tons of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns, urging the public to stop consuming illegal wildlife products. The seized goods worth more than $7 million on the black market came from 23 rhinos and 330 African elephants that were slaughtered by poachers.
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PHOTOS: 15 Charming Throwback Photos of the Royal Family
As well as medicinal use (it has long been believed that rhino horn can cure cancer), ivory is also used to make handcrafts and jewelry, which tourists often buy without knowing the devastating stories behind the products and how they are driving several species toward extinction.
Says a Kensington Palace rep of Prince William, "He knows the people of Vietnam will share his concern that we have less than 25 years to save some of our most iconic species from extinction. He believes Vietnam has a real opportunity to be leaders in wildlife conservation."
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Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Attila Tills Kills on Wheels, Hungarys official submission to the 2017 Academy Awards.
The dark comedy thriller, featuring wheelchair-bound assassins, had its world premiere at this years Karlovy Vary film festival and won the Golden Alexander award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where a shared best actor award was given to actors Zoltan Fenyvesi, Szabolcs Thuroczy, and Adam Fekete.
Kills on Wheels also won the Roger Ebert Award at the 2016 Chicago International Film Festival where the jury commended the film as genre-mashing, highly entertaining, and distinguished by the equanimity with which it treats its protagonists, who are rarely seen on the silver screen.
The film stars non-professional disabled actors in the lead roles and focuses on two twenty-something close friends and roommates at a disabled care facility. When they meet the ex-fireman and wheelchair-user (played by able-bodied star Thuroczy, seen in last years White God), the trio decides to strike a unique partnership and sell their services to the mafia as a gang of hired assassins.
I was inspired after meeting several people in wheelchairs while I was volunteering with the disabled, Till said. It was crucial to me to make a movie about disabled people where they arent played by actors and have the opportunity to act themselves and be the real heroes.
Kino Lorber is planning to open Kills on Wheels in theaters during the spring, before an on-demand and home media release in early fall 2017.
The producer is Judit Stalter, who runs Laokoon Filmgroup with two co-owners Gabor Sipos and Gabor Rajna. The trio is known for holocaust drama Son of Saul, which won the Academy Award for best foreign language film, a Golden Globe, and the Cannes Grand Prix in 2016.
The deal was negotiated between Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber and Wendy Lidell and Laokoon Filmgroups Judit Stalter.
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Plan a carefree postnuptial escape on the high seas.
Cruising isn't just for spring breakers, families or seniors. Honeymooning at sea can be a wonderful escape for newlyweds who want to bask in relaxation, romance and luxury. Colleen McDaniel, senior executive editor at Cruise Critic, advises letting your travel agent or cruise line know you're planning your honeymoon when booking. Once onboard, McDaniel also suggests informing the maitre d' at the main dining room that it's your honeymoon. Also, consider booking a special experience to enjoy while on your cruise, like in-cabin dining with butler service, McDaniel says. For an at-sea honeymoon to remember, book one of these enchanting cruises.
Take a small-ship cruise.
Paul Gauguin Cruises offers the perfect setting for honeymooners with upscale, small-ship voyages in Tahiti, French Polynesia, Fiji and the South Pacific aboard the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin on seven- to 17-night itineraries. What's more, Oceania offers requisite Polynesian hospitality. Couples can take in their surroundings from the privacy of their suite or stateroom, dine al fresco under a starry sky and dance the night away. "In my mind it's a fantastic aspect that sets them apart from so many of the more entry level cruising," says Jim Welch of travel agency Amaze Travel in Michigan. "They also make it an all-around wonderful, relaxing and luxury romantic experience."
Sail to Tahiti with Windstar Cruises.
Tahiti, with its romantic setting and pristine beaches, is certainly on the honeymoon short list. Consider taking a cruise aboard a 148-passenger yacht that island hops across the South Pacific, for a mix of a relaxation and adventure and stops in Moorea, Raiatea, Taha'a and more. Windstar's multiple overnights in different ports allow ample time for exploration, and an optional excursion to spend an evening in an overwater bungalow is a great way to combine the joys of a cruise with the beauty of a Tahitian bungalow. What's more, you can enjoy diving, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking and an array of other water-based activities.
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Embark on an epic honeymoon across Iceland.
For the ultra-adventurous couple, consider a cruise around one of the coolest destinations on the planet: Iceland. Windstar Cruises' 212-passenger Star Legend and Star Pride offer all-suite yachts taking seven-night Around Iceland itineraries, a circumnavigation of Iceland from Reykjavik that takes guests beyond the tourist meccas to isolated fjords and tiny fishing villages. Among other points of interest, cruisers can explore visit Heimaey Island, where a 1973 volcanic eruption left behind a modern-day Pompeii. The itinerary includes an overnight stay in Seyisfjorur, a gateway to some of Iceland's most beautiful waterfalls.
Set sail for the Galapagos.
On Celebrity Cruises, honeymooners can escape to some of the most unique, unspoiled islands in the world. And thanks to Celebrity's all-inclusive pricing, you and your better half won't have to worry about paying extra for beverages, meals, activities or accommodations. The line's Galapagos itineraries, which range from seven to 15 nights, offer passengers intimate onboard atmospheres, particularly on the smaller Celebrity Xploration and Celebrity Xperience ships, as well as luxurious accommodations facing the ocean and the chance to enjoy romantic meals beneath the stars.
Explore iconic cities and cultural events across South America.
Celebrity Cruises' Signature Event Sailings make for bucket-list vacation experiences. For instance, experiencing the Carnival Samba Parade in Rio de Janeiro is an absolute spectacle with ornate floats, costumes, music and spectators. Onboard, honeymooners can enjoy samba classes by day. On Celebrity Infinity's 14-night cruise departing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Feb. 19, 2017, cruisers experience Brazilian locales Sao Paolo, Ilhabela, Buzios and Rio de Janeiro.
Plan a Canadian or New England voyage.
Not all honeymooners have the post-wedding budget to take trip to Europe, but Holland America Line offers scenic cruises to Canada and New England for couples who may not want to incur the cost of a pricey flight. Whether exploring the area during the summer or in the fall when the leaves put on an incredible display of jewel-toned hues, Canada and New England offer a perfect backdrop from May to October. Cruises depart from Boston, New York City, Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Onboard activities might include regional beer and wine tastings, mixology classes, cultural cooking demonstrations and musical performances.
Choose a classic cruise line.
Cunard Line, which is renowned for its long-standing tradition of black tie evenings, ballroom dancing and glamour on the high seas, has many special offerings tailored to newlyweds. The world's only ocean liner offering regularly scheduled Transatlantic Crossings between New York and Southampton, England, gives passengers the gift of time. Cunard also boasts special touches such as performances by members of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and 3-D shows designed by the Royal Astronomical Society on the Queen Mary 2. Other unique services include fencing classes on Queen Victoria and private viewing boxes in The Royal Court Theatre onboard Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.
Plan a quintessential Hawaiian honeymoon.
One of the unique benefits of a honeymoon cruise is the opportunity to visit multiple destinations with no need to unpack, repack and arrange transportation between each stop. Couples can take island hopping to the next level aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America, which offers seven-day inter-island Hawaiian sailings year-round. You and your sweetheart can witness the Kilauea Volcano, take in the dramatic views of the Napali Coast or whale watch from the privacy of your stateroom's balcony. What's more, Pride of America recently underwent an extensive renovation and has been refurbished with ship-wide enhancements, including newly designed public spaces, brand new venues and refreshed stateroom decor.
Be a cruise port trailblazer.
MSC Cruises will be the first mainstream cruise line to stop in Sarande, Albania, in summer 2017. Honeymooners departing from Venice will have the opportunity to discover the beautiful town of Sarande -- an up-and-coming destination and exciting addition to the itinerary now featuring seven destinations in seven days -- as well as visit Bari, Italy, Katakolon and Athens, Greece, and Dubrovnik, Croatia. During your trip, you and your better half can explore ancient ruins, take in striking seaside views and admire natural splendors like the spring of Syri Kalter, a pond that's renowned for its distinctive blue shade from afar and crystal-clear hues up close.
Consider barge cruising in France.
For a special European experience, consider honeymoon cruises on the Hotel Barge Nymphea in the Loire Valley. "What could be more romantic than sedately cruising through France's Loire Valley aboard your own fully crewed luxury hotel barge? Imagine cruising past tranquil vineyards and fairy tale chateaux, enjoying each other's company as you sip Champagne and indulge in gourmet, candlelit dinners prepared by your own master chef," says Derek Banks, managing director of barge cruising company European Waterways. Plus, you can enjoy bespoke experiences, such as a hot air balloon ride or private wine tasting, he adds. European Waterways offers six-night all-inclusive honeymoon charter cruises for two aboard the Nymphea.
Nouakchott (AFP) - Ten Mauritanian anti-slavery activists were on Friday handed their freedom in a partial appeal court victory that left three of their fellow accused in jail, a judicial source said.
An appeals court in the northern town of Zouerate acquitted three of the activists, while seven others were handed jail sentences that they have already served. Three more, however, must still spend time behind bars.
"The court has corrected an error by qualifying the events as an offence, and not a crime. That's very positive," one of the defence lawyers, Bah Ould Mbareck told AFP.
"In the meantime, we're continuing to believe that they're all innocent."
On Wednesday, prosecutors had called for a 20-year sentence against the activists, who were originally handed 15-year jail terms at their trial in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott in August.
The prosecutor accused all 13 activists of launching a "rebellion against the public authority and vandalism".
The public prosecutor did not say whether or not a further appeal would be lodged against the appeal court's decision.
The activists previously claimed to have been tortured in custody, something the prosecution denied.
The 13 were initially convicted of using violence, attacking security forces, gathering while armed and membership of an unrecognised organisation -- the Abolitionist Movement.
All the activists had denied being involved in violence and asked to be acquitted.
Amnesty International welcomed their release but implored Mauritanian authorities to investigate the claims of torture and do more to tackle slavery.
- 'Brutal crackdown' -
Amnesty's West Africa campaigner Kine Fatim Diop said in a statement the anti-slavery activists "had been unfairly sentenced" for "peacefully expressing their opinions".
Diop said their release was "a huge relief" for those "campaigning for an end to the brutal crackdown on human rights defenders in Mauritania".
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However, she said that the fact that three activists remain in jail was a "distressing sign of the shrinking space" afforded to human rights activists in Mauritania.
"It is even more appalling that the court's ruling ignored the serious allegations of torture that were made by the defendants and that no investigation has yet been launched," added Diop.
The government should "recognise the legitimacy" of those fighting to end "slavery and discrimination", including the Abolitionist Movement, she said.
Balla Toure, vice-president of the movement, insisted his group was "pacifist".
"I am a facilitator of development and not a facilitator of destruction. I don't destroy," he said.
French lawyers for the activists lodged a complaint in Paris against unknown persons for "torture and cruel treatment".
They identified 20 high level officials they accuse of being the "architects of torture in Mauritania" and asked for French authorities to arrest them if they set foot in France.
- Slave caste -
Officially, slavery was outlawed in Mauritania in 1981 but the West African country remains a bastion of the practice.
Modern-day slavery under a hereditary system of servitude forces members of the "slave" caste to work without pay as cattle herders and domestic servants, despite an official ban.
Many Mauritanians live below the poverty line while there is huge disparity between the Arabised moorish elites and the country's black population.
Alongside this case, Mauritania has also come under the spotlight for human rights abuses in respect to a blogger on death row, originally accused of apostasy but then a reduced charge of "infidel" behaviour.
Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir was sentenced to death in 2014 in the deeply conservative Islamic country over an article he wrote, allegedly challenging decisions taken by Islam's prophet Mohammad and his companions during holy wars in the seventh century.
Mkheitir's article also attacked the mistreatment of the country's black population, blasting "an iniquitous social order" with an underclass that was "marginalised and discriminated against from birth", and to which he belongs.
The leaders of some of the nation's top private colleges are speaking out against Donald Trump.
In a letter published on Inside Higher Ed, 110 college leaders have called out the president-elect's rhetoric and urged him to "condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across our nation, sometimes in your name, which is now synonymous with our nation's highest office."
[See how the counties where the nation's best colleges are located voted.]
Most of the institutions are liberal arts colleges, including top-ranked Williams College, but others, including two-year school HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, also voiced support.
Six of the letter-signing colleges rank in the top nine of the U.S. News Best National Liberal Arts Colleges. Notably, the president of Hillary Clinton's alma mater Wellesley College did not sign the letter, making Wellesley the only school in the U.S. News top five National Liberal Arts Colleges not included.
The letter goes on to note that the schools' students, employees and many other s are "facing very real threats, and are frightened."
It ends by urging the soon-to-be 45th president of the United States to "protect and empower the most vulnerable," adding the "responsibility rests heavily on you."
See the full letter here.
Darian Somers is an associate social media editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at dsomers@usnews.com.
Retail light-vehicle sales in the United States are expected to reach 14.0 million units in 2016, a decrease of 1.5% from 2015. With that in mind, both vehicle dealers and lenders are focusing on building better long-term relationships with their customers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study.SM
With competition for sales thus increasing, it becomes more important for dealers and lenders to help the customer get financing quickly and at the best rate, establish an automatic payment method with a lender, and provide other services to ease the borrowing process.
2016 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study photo
The small drop in sales is making for a very competitive auto lending market, which means dealers and lenders in many ways need to get back to the basics to satisfy customers, said Jim Houston, senior director of auto finance at J.D. Power. Lenders need to move beyond a transactional relationship and create a customer-centric culture that helps them build a relationship with their customers. The lendersand dealersthat are able to do that are the ones most likely to excel.
Keep Musts in Mind
The study cites five fundamental musts that a dealer or lender should keep in mind as means to improving customer satisfaction:
Understanding the Deal: In the Luxury brand segment, overall satisfaction is 49 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) among customers whose dealer or finance manager explained account features, services, or benefits of their financing than among those whose dealer or finance manager did not (880 vs. 831, respectively).
Reference Guide: A lender welcome package that answers basic loan servicing questions (such as how to make payments and how to sign up for automatic payments) can reduce the number of contacts the customer needs to make. Specifically, among Luxury brand customers who say they completely understand all of the servicing information, problem incidence drops to 8%, compared with the overall Luxury problem incidence of 10%.
Accessible Self-Help Tools: When email customer service is available, satisfaction improves by 42 points among customers of Luxury brand vehicles and 61 points among customers of Mass Market brand vehicles. When online bill pay is available, satisfaction improves by 53 points in the Luxury segment and by 86 points in the Mass Market segment.
One and Done: Satisfaction declines significantly when a customer has to contact their lender more than once to resolve a problem. Overall satisfaction among Luxury brand customers resolving a problem with one call is 875 points but declines to 821 among those whose resolution requires two calls.
Satisfaction Equals Loyalty: Highly satisfied Luxury and Mass Market brand customers (overall satisfaction scores above 900) can have a significant effect on dealers and lenders, as they are nearly twice as likely to return to a particular dealership and are more than twice as likely to lease or purchase the same brand again as those who are less satisfied (scores range between 801 and 900).
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In the seemingly complicated environment of vehicle financing, its the sometimes-overlooked customer handling steps that can bring clarity to the customer and give dealers and lenders a unique competitive advantage, Houston said. Working together on the steps that clearly affect satisfaction levels can enable dealers and lenders to turn first-time customers into repeat customers.
Ford Motor Company Sweeps Brand Rankings
Lincoln Automotive Financial Services has the highest overall satisfaction score among finance providers for Luxury brand vehicle customers, with a score of 879. BMW Financial Services (866) ranks second and Audi Financial Services (864) ranks third.
Ford Credit ranks highest among lenders that specialize in Mass Market vehicle brands, with a score of 856. Bank of America (854) ranks second and Kia Motors Finance (851) ranks third.
Consumer Tips
Based on the study, J.D. Power offers the following consumer tips:
Ask friends and family about their experiences with the lenders associated with the vehicles youre considering: two equally good lenders might offer quite different financing plans.
Some vehicle brands, and some individual dealers, might offer especially attractive financing. Take advantage of special incentives and figure out which plans offer the best overall terms, not just the near-term benefits.
Ask a financial expert about the advantages and disadvantages of various car loans.
About the Study
The 2016 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study measures overall customer satisfaction in four factors: billing and payment process; onboarding process; phone contact; and website. The study is based on responses from more than 19,000 customers who financed a new- or used-car purchase or lease within the past four years, and was fielded in July-August 2016.
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Abstract:
Retail light-vehicle sales in the United States in 2016 are expected to decrease 1.5% from 2015. With that in mind, both vehicle dealers and lenders are focusing on building better long-term relationships with their customers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction Study.
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[November 18, 2016] Changing the Way Labels & Flexible Packaging are Made
ANAHEIM, Calif., Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Adcraft Labels is proud to announce it has taken possession of the first and only digital-flexo hybrid press of its kind. Utilizing Adcraft's JetFlex Technology we can now go beyond features offered in traditional digital and flexo printing. Adcraft's proprietary JetFlex Technology workflow, which is based on the Mark Andy Digital Series platform, allows customers to do more than they could ever afford before. We can produce a label using flexo features like custom colors and tinted foils, then change, on the fly, all of the CMYK+white graphics. Clients will have an improved embellished label tat also eliminates plate and screen costs. Add in digital capabilities, like variable data, and you have a winning combination.
The digital capabilities of JetFlex Technology provide Consumer Packaged Goods companies with the ability to personalize packaging while still maintaining brand consistency across a number of product lines. Most digital label manufacturers recreate Pantone colors using CMYK, which does not always match brand standards. Our JetFlex Technology uses true Pantone colors with the ability to include digital information on each label. The JetFlex Technology ink system is so durable that in many cases varnish and laminates can be eliminated. The inks can also have a texture and thickness that gives a tactile effect without varnish. The digital opaque white ink rivals that produced by screen-printing and provides brand owners the ability to use multiple colors on a clear label. This is a huge improvement over traditional digital and flexo printing.
Other digital label and packaging manufacturers must use offline converting to die cut and add embellishments. This takes additional time and effort adding cost and production time to the job. With JetFlex Technology Adcraft Labels can accomplish this on one press and in one pass. Most digital equipment used by other label and packaging manufacturers use heat-based printing methods which limit printing on certain films and plastics. Adcraft's JetFlex Technology is inkjet based and thus supports a wide range of label materials ranging from 1 mil to 14-point stock, including pressure sensitive papers and films. JetFlex Technology was on display during a recent ribbon cutting ceremony at Adcraft's production facilities. Representatives from the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and the office of California State Senator Bob Huff presented Adcraft's CEO, Keith Mottram, with multiple certificates praising the company's accomplishments. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Q1Zzb-mI8 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/changing-the-way-labels--flexible-packaging-are-made-300365744.html SOURCE Adcraft Labels
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This week, Hyundai Motors new Genesis premium brand took the wraps off its 2018 Genesis G80 3.3T Sport variant at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. The 3.3T Sport adds an energetic, turbocharged, 3.3-liter V-6 engine and sport-tuned suspension for performance plus special exterior and interior sport treatments. The new G80 Sport will reach U.S. dealer showrooms in the spring of 2017, according to company officials. The G80 is the successor to the Hyundai Genesis before being spun off into a premium stand-alone brand.
Genesis brands G80 3.3T Sport is a variant of the G80 midsize premium car with a twin-turbocharged V-6 that produces 365 horsepower and 376 lb.-ft. of torque when partnered with a sport-tuned 8-speed automatic transmission that uses shift-by-wire technology. Performance is enhanced with continuous damping control suspension.
2018 Genesis G80 3.3T Sport front quarter left photo
Sport styling includes dark chrome trim on a cross-hatch design dark grille and Genesis signature copper-colored accents with unique sporty front and rear fascias. This sporty variant rides on special 19-in. dark alloy wheels and is offered in two exclusive colorsPolar Ice and Sevilla Redin addition to three standard exterior hues.
Inside, the G80 3.3T Sport is equipped with black or gray leather sport seats and a leather steering wheel with contrast copper-colored stitching. Carbon fiber interior trim and aluminum sport pedals add to the sporty feel. A black microfiber suede headliner finishes the cabins interior environment.
The 2018 G80 3.3T Sport is equipped with standard advanced safety, connectivity, and infotainment technologies, including a 9.2-in. touch screen navigation system and multimedia and camera technologies. It also features LED lighting systems that bend and a premium sound system with 17 speakers, plus wireless device charging.
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This week, Hyundai Motors new Genesis premium brand took the wraps off its 2018 Genesis G80 3.3T Sport variant at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show.
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Up to 30,000 people have been displaced by violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, half of them over the course of last weekend when dozens of people died in clashes with the military, the UN said Friday.
Troops have poured into a strip of land along the Bangladesh border, an area which is largely home to the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority, since coordinated attacks on police posts last month.
The army this week said troops have killed nearly 70 people as they hunt the attackers, although activists say the number could be much higher.
Violence escalated over the weekend, with state media reporting troops had killed more than 30 people in two days of fighting after the army responded to ambushes by bringing in helicopter gunships.
The UN's special rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, criticised the government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for their handling of the crisis and called for "urgent action".
The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 15,000 people were believed to have fled their homes over the space of 48 hours.
"Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to be displaced and thousands more affected by the 9 October armed attacks and subsequent security operations across the north of Rakhine State," said a spokesman for the UN OCHA.
"This includes as many as 15,000 people who, according to unverified information, may have been displaced after clashes between armed actors and the military on 12-13 November."
Activists have accused troops of killing civilians, raping women and torching homes -- allegations the government has vehemently denied.
Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.
A delegation of UN officials and foreign diplomats made a brief trip to the area in an effort to get aid deliveries reinstated, which state media has hailed as proof no abuses had been carried out.
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The resurgence of violence in western Rakhine state has deepened a crisis that already posed a critical challenge to Suu Kyi's administration seven months after it took power.
More than 100 people died in 2012 in clashes between the majority Buddhist population and the Muslim Rohingya, and tens of thousands of them were driven into displacement camps.
The UN's Lee slammed the government's handling of the crisis, and urged a transparent investigation into accusations of rape and murder by the security forces.
"State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has recently stated that the government is responding to the situation based on the rule of law. Yet I am unaware of any efforts on the part of the government to look into the allegations of human rights violations," Lee said in a statement.
"The security forces must not be given carte blanche to step up their operations under the smokescreen of having allowed access to an international delegation. Urgent action is needed to bring resolution to the situation."
It's good to be in the business of "Star Wars" these days. Hasbro, Inc. (ticker: HAS), which has a license to sell certain toys from the movie franchise found that came out last year. While revenues jumped just 4 percent, its boys division flew up 20 percent, in large part because of its Star Wars toys.
But what's often the case in the toy industry, the hot item one year won't likely remain on the top the next. And as the holidays approach, the original Star Wars isn't necessarily on the tip of everyone's tongue, even as the first franchise spinoff, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" comes out in December.
Yet, despite the potential coals in the holiday sales, HAS stock has jumped nearly 27 percent in 2016. The rise comes after a multi-year effort to shift the company into focusing on its largest brands and greatest stories. Has Hasbro transitioned far enough from a cyclical toy company to make it a buy in non-hit years? Or could the cycle of consumer products rear its head, sending Hasbro downward?
[See: 8 Ways President Donald Trump Will Affect Wall Street.]
Star Wars offers prospects for years. While Star Wars isn't expected to have as robust of an impact on the company's bottom line this year, they're not expected to fall. Finishing flat over the holidays "would be a strong result, if they achieve that," says Trevor Young, an analyst at Jefferies.
It's an encouraging sign, since often in non-movie years a franchise's popularity can drop between 30 percent and 50 percent, Young says. "Rogue One" is outside the Star Wars anthology, which has reduced the hysteria around the film.
And while Hasbro shares the toy production of Star Wars products, it still signals the impact that it can have for years to come. Since the Walt Disney Co. ( DIS) expects to release a Star Wars movie every year for the next several years, Star Wars will remain a valuable franchise.
[See: 8 Stocks to Buy for 'Star Wars' Fans.]
Hasbro will "continue to bring experiences to consumers year after year," says Piper Jaffray managing director Stephanie Wissink.
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HAS is learning from its partnership with Disney. One reason the optimism remains high around Hasbro is that for the first holiday season, the company will be selling Disney dolls, like Elsa from the mega-hit "Frozen." This isn't just a win for Hasbro, but a blow to Mattel ( MAT), which previously handled production.
Hasbro stole the business away from Mattel by offering Disney insight into the experience it will try to sell, Wissink says. Instead of simply producing dolls, it identified why modern girls buy dolls, and targets them based on their personalities. Hasbro "discovered unique attributes that no one had brought back to Disney before," Wissink says.
It's also because Hasbro had moved away from manufacturing its own products, unlike Mattel. In 2015, it sold two of its largest remaining plants, one in Massachusetts and the other in Ireland. This allows Hasbro to focus efforts -- and investments - on the marketing and selling of products, while outsourcing manufacturing.
Hasbro has tried to find stories that have long consumer cycles, like Disney princesses and Star Wars, or Transformers and My Little Pony. These are brands that come back often, as opposed to smaller movies that have a big success but can't be repeated year after year.
Increasing the exposure to their brands. Licensing partners' brands has grown to nearly 30 percent of revenues. It's not something that Hasbro necessarily wants to have taking up a greater percentage of the revenue pie. "That's toward the high end of the range in terms of what they're comfortable with," Young says.
That's because margins on these licenses aren't as strong as Hasbro's owned entities, since the company has to pay royalties back to Disney, for example. That's also why it's important for Hasbro to grow its game business -- like Monopoly and Game of Life -- and its own brands, like Nerf, My Little Pony and Transformers.
For games, it has transitioned the popularity onto digital formats -- Monopoly is on Apple's ( AAPL) app store top 20 most-downloaded paid apps, for example. And Transformers has another movie coming out next year, along with efforts in growing the franchise on television, including the release of a cartoon aimed at grownups earlier this year.
Can Hasbro's stories grow beyond the cycle? The 52 percent jump in stock price over the past two years has left Hasbro pricey compared to its past. With a 2017 price-earnings of 18, it's at a very similar level to Mattel and a slight premium to its historical average.
Whether or not that's expensive depends on the eye of the beholder. For those that believe Hasbro is a toy company, completely at the whim of the cycle toy manufacturers deal with, then there's limited room for upside.
[See: 7 Ways to Tell if a Stock Is a Good Price.]
But if Hasbro has moved beyond just a toy company to one that is developer, marketer and storyteller, then 18 might sound enticing. As long as Star Wars remains fresh, that is.
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Richard Driehaus, a pioneer in momentum investing, came out with a strategy with high return prospects for investors not afraid of taking risks. The philosophy "buying high and selling higher" is the base of this strategy. Driehaus proven high profitability strategy made him popular throughout the investment world. Several well-known organizations including Barron recognized him as one of the top investors.
Separately, famous investing institutions such as the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) found that Driehaus momentum strategy has the potential to offer healthy returns. According to AAII, the strategy generated returns of 13.5% and 18.1% in the five- and 10- year timeframe, respectively, against -1.1% and 4.2% returns registered by the S&P 500.
Driehaus Momentum Strategy
After studying Driehaus strategy thoroughly, AAII came to the conclusion that companies with impressive earnings growth rates and the potential to maintain the positive trend are its main focus. In addition to that, Driehaus gave precedence to those companies that have a solid track of beating expectations. Moreover, the strategy works better for longer time periods.
Driehaus had said in an interview: That means buying stocks that have already had good moves and have high relative strength that is, stocks in demand by other investors. I would much rather invest in a stock thats increasing in price and take the risk that it may begin to decline than invest in a stock thats already in a decline and try to guess when it will turn around.
How to Apply the Strategy
Based on Driehaus approach, we have created a screen for picking solid momentum stocks. In it, we have added positive relative strength as an important criterion. Then, we have followed it up with the percentage 50-day moving average which is calculated by dividing the numerator (month-end price minus 50-day moving average of month-end price by the 50-day moving average of month-end price). Positive percentage 50-day moving average indicates that the stock is trading at a price higher than its 50-day moving average level, indicating an uptrend.
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Screening Parameters
In order to make the strategy more profitable, we have considered only those stocks that have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a momentum score of A or B. Our research shows that stocks with a Style Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.
Zacks Rank equal to #1
(Only Strong Buy rated stocks can get through. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.)
Last 5-year average EPS growth rates above 2%
(Strong EPS growth history ensures improving business.)
Trailing 12 month EPS growth higher than 0 and industry median
(Higher EPS growth compared to the industry average indicates superior stocks.)
Last four-quarter average EPS surprise greater than 5%
(Positive EPS surprise indicates potential.)
Positive % 50-day moving average and relative strength over 4 weeks
(High % 50-day moving average and relative strength signal uptrend.)
Momentum Score equal to or less than B
(Favorable momentum score indicates that it is ideal to take advantage of the momentum with the highest probability of success.)
These few parameters narrowed down the universe of over 7,700 stocks to only 10.
Here are five of the 10 stocks:
MGM Resorts International MGM is a global hospitality company, operating a portfolio of destination resort brands. It has a Momentum Score of A. MGM Resorts has an average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of more than 100%.
Stamps.com Inc. STMP provides easy, convenient and cost-effective Internet -based services. It has a Momentum Score of A. Stamps.com has an average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 66.7%.
Willdan Group, Inc. WLDN is a provider of professional technical and consulting services. It has a Momentum Score of A. Willdan Group has an average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 18.7%.
Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC is a high technology company providing innovative solutions in systems integration, defense electronics and information technology. It has a Momentum Score of A. Northrop Grumman has an average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 8.3%.
Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. SASR is a bank holding company for Sandy Spring National Bank of Maryland. The bank is community oriented, and conducts a full-service commercial banking business. It has a Momentum Score of B. Sandy Spring Bancorp has an average four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 14.4%.
Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.
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Its starting to look like the only thing Gigi Hadid cant do is make us feel better about our unglamorous lives.
The 21-year-old supermodel-designer-social media sensation is set to host Sunday nights 2016 American Music Awards alongside former Saturday Night Live cast member Jay Pharoah. This will be Hadids second time hosting a major awards show, as she made her hosting debut at the Much Music Video Music Awards in Toronto earlier this year.
Here are five reasons we think you will be glued to your TVs to watch her on Sunday night. Aside from, you know, catching the musical performances
1. Shes not afraid to laugh at herself.
Hadid still cant get over being a public figure and how ridiculous her life is.
I think its always funny to find out online that youre going through a breakup or something crazys happening in your life, she told People Style. Its just funny that it comes out of nowhere a lot of the time, but its always entertaining. Theres something every day honestly thats pretty entertaining.
For the record, she is still very much dating Zayn Malik, who is up for artist of the year.
2. Oh, and about that Zayn guy? Shes rooting for him and is #sorrynotsorry about it.
When People Style asked about that dude who is up for new artist of the year, Hadid responded, as coy as ever, I heard about that dude! Handsome! Zayn, right? Yeah, hes cute, adding that Maliks debut solo album Mind of Mine is her favorite of the year.
No one ever said that hosts had to be objective.
I dont know if as a host Im allowed to say who Im voting for but voted for him, Hadid told PEOPLE on Nov. 9 at a press day for the AMAs.
3. Shes going to wear something incredible.
Hadid told PeopleStyle that shes going to pick a look that is different and cool and makes her really excited to put on.
I want it to be really eclectic and fun and kind of surprise people and be colorful and have cool textures, she said of her AMAs wardrobe. Just whatever I think will kind of excite people. Thats what the fun part of being a host is. Im not gonna force like a certain amount of outfits, but I think that just bringing out as many outfits that make me really excited as possible.
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4. Shes a huge music fangirl.
One of the star-studded performances Hadid is most excited for? Lady Gaga.
I love Gaga and I think that she always brings something with so much heart, Hadid told PEOPLE. Im very excited to see what she has for us.
5. Against all odds, shes still down to earth.
Hadid still cant wrap her mind around being called an It Girl, though she appreciates the recognition and support.
Obviously its an honor to be called that, Hadid told the Today show. Something Ive just paid attention to is just being someone people like to work with. If you really touch someone on a personal level, theyll be the ones that are fighting for you the next day at a meeting or pushing for you on a campaign. And thats just something I like to stick too.
Aside from Hadids (and Pharoahs) awesomeness, the AMAs will feature performances by major artists including John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.
The American Music Awards will air live on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m ET on ABC.
(Photo of an e-bike: AFP)
A 62-year-old Chinese man was killed on Friday (18 November) morning after his e-bike collided with a tipper truck in the Central Business District, the second such accident in less than a month.
The tipper truck driver, a 54-year-old man, has been arrested for causing death by negligent act.
Police were alerted to the accident along Cecil Street towards Collyer Quay at 10.29am. The rider was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
Police investigations are ongoing.
A video of the aftermath of the accident was posted on road safety community page Roads.sg.
On 27 October, two men have died following an accident involving a trailer and three e-bikes along West Coast Highway.
The 34-year-old male trailer driver was arrested for causing death by a negligent act, police said.
When it comes to the topic of racism, Kanye West has a varied past. Early in his career, the Life of Pablo rapper never shied away from the topic, rapping about it on songs and delivering his now-famous, George Bush doesnt care about black people line on live TV.
In recent years, Kanyes views on the issue have changed, which has included him saying racism is a dated concept and revealing he would have voted for President-elect Donald Trump if he voted in the U.S. election. Check out these seven times Kanye has spoken about racism:
1. Never Let Me Down
One of the standout tracks from Kanyes discography features one of his most quoted lyrics. On Never Let Me Down from 2004s The College Dropout, Kanye famously rapped, Racisms still alive, they just be concealin it.
2. George Bush Doesnt Care About Black People
Four days after Hurricane Katrina had hit the city of New Orleans, Kanye appeared on the NBC telethon A Concert for Hurricane Relief to help raise money for the devastated city. Kanyes appearance on Sept. 2, 2005 came just a week after his second album, Late Registration, was released and sold 860,000 copies in its first week.
The rapper was becoming a popular figure, and while standing next to actor Mike Myers, West looked straight into the camera and said, George Bush doesnt care about black people. While the statement was controversial at the time, it showed just who Kanye West was: someone who isnt afraid to speak his mind.
Kanye West
Photo: Reuters/Andrew Kelly
3. New Slaves
On 2013s Yeezus, Kanye put out two his most politically charged songs, New Slaves and Black Skinhead. Its the latter that features some of Kanyes most memorable lyrics about racism.
4. There Arent No Black Guys Or Celebrities Making No Louis Vuitton Nothing
During a 2014 performance at Londons Wireless Festival, Kanye went on one of his famous rants, this time, against the fashion industry. According to the rapper, he was discriminated against in meetings with fashion companies. Kanye said while rappers such as him and Pharrell have collaborated with companies before, they didnt want them doing too much.
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They let Pharrell make those glasses, and we liked them, right? They let me make those shoes, and we liked them right? And they say... Not no more. Thats too much. Thats too much... Thats way too much. Thats way too much. Stay in your place. Sit in the front of that show and wear this jacket I made you. Stay in your place. Do what you get paid to do. Stay in your place. Dont embarrass yourself trying to chase your dreams. Save face. Save face, he said.
5. The Human Race
While accepting the Visionary Award at the 2015 BET Honors, West delivered a speech which dealt with humans focusing on different races as opposed to the human race. The micro of it is we focus on the different races as opposed to the macro, which is the human race, he said.
6. Racism Is A Dated Concept
Kanyes most controversial statement came a few months after his BET speech when he called racism a dated concept. While speaking with Clique TV, the rapper said racism was a silly concept that is used to separate, to alienate, to pinpoint anything. West revealed he doesnt like to use the word racism because its not an actual thing that even means anything.
7. I Wouldve Voted For Trump
The Ultralight Beam rapper may have delivered his most controversial statement during a concert on Thursday night when he said, I told yall I didnt vote, right? But if I wouldve voted, I wouldve voted for Trump. The crowd at the San Jose, California, show began booing West after his statement with some even leaving the show.
West also spoke about racism during the show, echoing his previous statements about the topic. Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism, he said. This world is racist, OK? Lets stop being distracted to focus on that as much We are in a racist country. Period.
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Black Friday sales are springing up online and in your local stores. But you still have time to pull together a financial plan for the holidays that will keep your bank account in the black. Carve out some time in the next few days to do the following, and you should be in good financial shape for the festivities to begin.
[See: 10 Classic (and Unique) Retirement Gift Ideas.]
Check your credit score. It may seem like an unlikely place to begin your holiday preparations, but Manisha Thakor, director of wealth strategies for women at financial advisory firm Buckingham and The BAM Alliance, says it's smart to check your financial pulse before wading into the stores where easy credit is readily available. "There's a power that comes from knowing where you are," Thakor says. "That awareness will give you the right level of motivation." Shoppers who are motivated to maintain or improve their score may find they are less likely to charge purchases or open new credit lines while holiday shopping. Although there are several credit scores available, Thakor recommends people check their FICO score, since it is the one most widely used by lenders.
Decide whether to cast a wide net. Next, it's time to create a game plan for holiday spending. "Think about whether you want to go narrow and deep with gifts or wide and shallow," Thakor says. Narrow and deep means limiting the shopping list to only a few people and spending the majority of your budgeted amount on them. Those who decide to go wide and shallow may give inexpensive presents to a large number of people. "What you really want to avoid is wide and deep," Thakor says. When people try that approach, they almost always overspend what they can afford.
Set a per-person shopping budget. It's not enough to simply know how much you plan to spend in total for the holiday season. You also need to break that number down by person, says Zaneilia Harris, author of Finance 'n Stilettos and president of Harris & Harris Wealth Management. "The more organized you are and the more detailed you are, the better," she says. That means naming an exact dollar amount for each person on your shopping list. "Say I'm only going to spend $150 on each kid," Harris says as an example. Then, once you've hit that dollar amount, stop shopping for that person.
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[Read: How to Keep Grandkid Spending in Check This Christmas.]
Scope out purchases in advance. Harris is also a fan of using online shopping carts as a way to avoid impulse purchases. "You can keep things in your basket and then step away to think about it," she says. As a bonus, some retailers will email coupons to those who have left a full cart on the site, making a future purchase less expensive.
For offline shoppers, Harris recommends a similar strategy of scouting out purchases. "Leave your credit cards at home and go look [in the store]," she suggests. Both methods also help consumers avoid the scenario in which they buy one gift and then later find something else they like better.
Pick one day to go shopping with a list. When it does become time to start spending money, try to pick one day to complete all your shopping. Don't venture out without a list of specific purchases for each recipient either. "We're planners, and we know the best way to avoid stress in any type of situation is to have a plan," says Steve Martin, a certified financial planner and director at BKD Wealth Advisors in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. "If you don't have a list, everything is on your list."
Have a plan for credit usage. Michelle Hutchison, money expert at personal finance comparison website Finder.com, says many people may have a budget for the holidays, but don't have access to all that money upfront. "For instance, if you plan to spend $500 on the holidays, you should put away $100 each week towards your holiday budget," she says.
However, that approach means people won't have cash to do all their shopping until the end of December. In that case, they may want to look to credit options including credit cards, personal loans or other lines of credit. "There's nothing wrong with using credit cards during the holidays if you don't go overboard and get yourself into more debt than you can afford to repay in a reasonable amount of time," Hutchison says.
[Read: 4 Reasons to Start Your Holiday Shopping Early.]
Scrap the store-bought gifts. One of the best ways to avoid being financially stressed during the holidays is to skip the expensive store-bought gifts altogether. This approach has benefits beyond simply saving money.
Martin remembers making Christmas gifts with his wife each year early in their marriage when money was tight. They made candles one year and flavored olive oils another. "It was fun," Martin says. "It was time spent together."
The holidays are closing in fast, but there is still time to take these proactive steps to avoid finding yourself in a financially stressful situation. And then for next year, Harris has some other advice: "I think you start planning in the summer, honestly."
Associated Press
Saudi Arabia has shared intelligence with American officials that suggests Iran could be preparing for an imminent attack on the kingdom, three U.S. officials said Tuesday. The heightened concerns about a potential attack on Saudi Arabia come as the Biden administration is criticizing Tehran for its crackdown on widespread protests and condemning it for sending hundreds of drones as well as technical support to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine. We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis, the National Security Council said in a statement.
[November 18, 2016] Casio Has The Perfect Tools For Businesses This Holiday Season
DOVER, N.J., Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The holidays are around the corner and Casio America, Inc., a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, is here to assist small businesses with the hustle and bustle that comes with the holiday shopping season. Large crowds and long lines are unavoidable, especially on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, but with Casio's V-R200 Android point of sale (POS) terminal and the HR-8TMPlus printing calculator, business owners will be able to easily navigate through the holidays and beyond. "At Casio, we know how important it is for business owners to have the most innovative tools at their fingertips so they can focus their full attention on their customers," said Yuji Sasajima, CEO of Casio America, Inc. "The V-R200 POS terminal and HR-8TMPlus calculator are the ideal technologies because they help make planning and processing transactions more efficient." V-R200
The V-R200 is an Andoid-based POS terminal that operates on flash ROM technology and provides the flexibility and security of the Android Platform that is ideal for a variety of businesses. With the V-R200, store owners no longer need to purchase expensive hard drives or deal with loud cooling fans. This advanced POS terminal not only includes a 10.4" operator color touch screen, but also a built-in 80mm thermal printer and a pop-up 2x20 customer display. In addition, the VR-200 features an Ethernet port for high speed communications between terminals and the internet, multiple serial ports for peripheral connectivity, a cash connector, and an SD Card for program backup.
HR-8TMPlus
Casio's HR-8TMPlus is perfect for businesses looking to have an affordable and lightweight printing calculator on hand for Black Friday or Small Business Saturday. It features large input keys and an easy-to-read Large 12 Digit Display, as well as the capability to produce 1.6 lines per second. The HR-8TMPlus also comes equipped with function command signs, including a tax and currency exchange function that will keep the process of customer checkout quick and organized. The HR-8TMPlus, which comes with an adapter, is available for a MSRP of $19.99. For additional information on Casio's POS and desktop calculator solutions for businesses, please visit www.Casio.com
About Casio America, Inc.
Casio America, Inc., Dover, N.J., is the U.S. subsidiary of Casio Computer Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, one of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics and business equipment solutions. Established in 1957, Casio America, Inc. markets calculators, keyboards, digital cameras, mobile presentation devices, disc title and label printers, watches, cash registers and other consumer electronic products. Casio has strived to fulfill its corporate creed of "creativity and contribution" through the introduction of innovative and imaginative products. For more information, visit www.casiousa.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160223/336539LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/casio-has-the-perfect-tools-for-businesses-this-holiday-season-300365772.html SOURCE Casio America, Inc.
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Anmarie Calgaro is suing her own teen. (Photo: Facebook)
A mother of five kids is suing her 17-year-old transgender child along with the teens supportive school district, school principal, and various local health service providers after the teen transitioned from male to female without her moms express permission.
If this had been a child custody case, I wouldve had my day in court, the mom, Anmarie Calgaro of St. Louis, Minn., said in a press conference that was broadcast Wednesday through Facebook Live. Speaking at times through tears, and always referring to her child as my son and he, despite the teens transition to female, Calgaro noted, It was brought to my knowledge that my son began receiving hormone replacement treatments from Park Nicollet Health Services to transition from male to female, with medical assistance paying for this. I was not consulted or informed about this in any way.
Calgaro added that she had been robbed of her rights and responsibilities as a parent and that her teen has been robbed of a key advocate in his life: his mother. The Facebook post adds, Anmarie, her family, and her son have been grievously harmed by this unconstitutional collusion of groups that exclude her from the on-going medical, physical, and emotional care and education of her own child.
But while Calgaro and her lawyers, including one from the anti-abortion Thomas More Society, are representing the case as being strictly about the erosion of parental rights, transgender equality activists view it more symbolically and part of a larger conservative movement that aims to chip away at the rights of transgender youth to access medical care across the country.
The real goal of this suit is for the case to be a lightning rod for conservatives everywhere and it is attached to bans on transgender youth care, Jenn Burleton, executive director of the national TransActive Gender Center, based in Portland, Ore., tells Yahoo Beauty.
Burleton says her organization has been in touch with the youth (referred to as J.D.K. in the lawsuit) to lend support, but would not share any details of the situation in order to protect her privacy. She also believes, along with other advocates, there are other goals at play in Calgaros case: to chip away at the rights of youths, in some states, to attain abortions without parental consent, as well as to make it easier for parents to subject their children to gay conversion therapy.
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The mom, Burleton says, is a pawn.
The lawsuit names not only J.D.K, but also Park Nicollet Health Services, which would not comment on the case, and the St. Louis County School District, where no one was available to comment on Friday because of a snowstorm that sent staff members home early.
At issue in the lawsuit is Minnesota Statute 144.341, which allows minors living away from parents, in many cases, to give their own medical consent. The statute says that any minor who is living separate and apart from parents or legal guardian, whether with or without the consent of a parent or guardian and regardless of the duration of such separate residence, and who is managing personal financial affairs, regardless of the source or extent of the minors income, may give effective consent to personal medical, dental, mental and other health services, and the consent of no other person is required.
The statute exists in the absence of a formal emancipation process for minors in the state of Minnesota, which can make declaring emancipation difficult. In this case, according to the lawsuit, J.D.K. worked with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in 2015 to create an emancipation statement stating that mother has made it known to him that she no longer wishes to have any contact with him, and that she knows where he is and has made no attempts to bring him home and has taken no actions to report him as a runaway or taken legal action to keep him in her home. Calgaro disputes the characterization of her relationship with her teen.
According to Michelle Forcier, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Brown University, whose expertise is in treating transgender youth, [The case] very much sounds political and part of the current social discourse looking to limit rights for minorities gender, sexual, racial. Additionally, she tells Yahoo Beauty, This teen is almost 18 if mom wanted to get involved in this youths life, there were more productive and supportive ways that she might have done so. At face value, Forcier says, the fact that mom and teen have been living apart for some time suggests significant difficulty in their relationship.
Forcier adds, That a parent disagrees with a child or adult transgender person is unfortunately not a unique situation, though it is a tragic situation, as lack of parental support and rejection is harmful, and parental acceptance and support (even if not totally understanding it) is hugely protective against self-harm and many bad health outcomes.
Gender identity, she explains, begins as early as age 2 and sometimes younger, with some children realizing their gender identity does not necessarily match their assigned gender based on chromosomes, body parts in early childhood. For others, that realization could come later, with puberty, and, Forcier says, research and clinical experience shows that most teens around the time of or after puberty do not change their mind or make mistakes about their identified gender.
While the lawsuit mentions a life-changing operation, its not clear what exact treatments have been doled out, as experts say surgery is unlikely for someone so young. But in order to start hormone or other therapies, Forcier adds, this patient would have talked with medical, psychological, and/or surgical specialists who would go through a thorough history, exam, and evaluation to make sure that gender hormones and/or surgery would be in the patients best interest. These decisions are not taken lightly by patients or providers as they make a plan for next steps. A doctors letter dated January 2016, included in the lawsuit, stated that the teen had undergone gender transition treatment.
If Calgaros lawsuit is successful, approximately 6,580 transgender and gender-nonconforming high school students in the state of Minnesota could have trouble accessing the care they need, according to NBC News, which referenced the Minnesota Department of Educations 2016 Minnesota Student Survey, which this year included questions about gender identity for the first time. NBC also quoted David Edwards, a leader with the support group Transforming Families, who said he was disturbed by Calgaro referring to her teen as he, because purposefully mis-gendering a transgender person is an act of violence. To continually do that to your child is not only insensitive but also really harmful.
Still, parental rights advocates see a different picture: that the legal issues raised are independent of the treatment and services this child received. David DeLugas, executive director and general counsel of the nonprofit National Association of Parents (which is not involved in this case), suggests observers consider this case not about gender transition, but a case that raises the issue of due process and that reveals conflict in Minnesotas statutes. He tells Yahoo Beauty that in every state there are duties and obligations that are rightfully placed on parents and, under Minnesota law, there is a legal process by which a court can terminate parental rights. And just as there is a legal process in Minnesota to terminate parental rights, the statute being scrutinized purports to give a minor the power simply to make certain representations about living independently of his or her parents and can then receive medical care or procedures that otherwise the medical provider would not be authorized to provide. Because this statute makes no reference to harm to the child if this process is not allowed and has no due process to protect the parents, the child and third-party medical providers, it may not pass Constitutional scrutiny.
Still, Burleton maintains the importance of the statute regarding medical care, and praises the teens fortitude in this situation.
What weve found is that the resilience and maturity of many of these kids is really exceptional, so its not surprising that she has been able to identify what her needs are, Burleton says. Whats amazing is that she allowed her drive to get her needs met to overcome the anxiety and depression she may be feeling, and the discouragement of whatever made her feel her house was not a safe place to be. She found the right people. And contrary to what the [moms] attorneys are alleging, this is an example of the system actually working.
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Nov 18 (Reuters) - Teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co posted its 15th straight drop in quarterly sales as fewer customers visited its stores.
Abercrombie & Fitch's shares fell 8.4 percent to $15.50 in premarket trading on Friday.
The company, whose brands include Hollister and abercrombie kids, said net sales fell 6.5 percent to $821.73 million in the third quarter ended Oct. 29 from $878.57 million a year earlier.
Sales at established stores fell 6 percent, while analysts on average had expected a 3.9 percent fall, according to research firm Consensus Metrix.
Net income attributable to the company fell to $7.88 million, or 12 cents per share, in the quarter, from $41.89 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan and Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)
By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused New York bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi pleaded not guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he set off an explosive device in September on a crowded city street, injuring 30 people.
Wearing a dark blue jump suit, Rahimi, 28, shuffled slowly into federal court in Manhattan and had several coughing fits during the brief hearing. He suffered serious injuries in a shootout with police two days after the bombing.
He spoke only once, when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman asked him to confirm that he intended to plead not guilty to an eight-count indictment filed on Wednesday.
"Yes, sir," Rahimi said.
Prosecutors have accused the Afghan-born U.S. citizen of setting off an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17. It did not kill anyone but hurt 30 people.
The attack came hours after authorities say another pipe bomb planted by Rahimi went off along the course of a charity road race in New Jersey, although that detonation did not injure anyone.
Federal prosecutors also say Rahimi left another bomb in Chelsea that did not go off and several explosive devices in a bag at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
In addition to the New York indictment, Rahimi faces charges from federal and state prosecutors in New Jersey.
He was captured after a manhunt that ended when police officers discovered him sleeping in the doorway of a bar in Linden, New Jersey. The confrontation left him with several gunshot wounds, delaying the filing of federal charges and forcing him to make his first court appearance in New Jersey from a hospital bed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewin told Berman that prosecutors had compiled video clips showing Rahimi's movements on the day of the bombings, including leaving his house carrying bags, walking on West 23rd Street where the device went off and planting the second bomb on West 27th Street.
He also said the government has records showing Rahimi purchased bomb components online and DNA evidence tying him to the bombs.
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Lewin asked Berman to consider a trial date in the "late winter" or "early spring," saying the amount of evidence in the case is relatively limited. Berman scheduled court dates for Dec. 19 and Jan. 31 but has not set a trial date.
Rahimi's court-appointed defense lawyers declined to comment after the hearing.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Alistair Bell and Dan Grebler)
By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - Africa's giant rats have been trained to sniff out landmines and detect tuberculosis in humans, and soon they could turn their superior noses to protecting other animals by finding illegal wildlife trophies being smuggled out of African ports. The U.S.-financed project is still in its early stages - the rats who will be trained to scuttle over shipping containers in search of pangolin scales were only born in October. But the aim is to prove by late 2017 that their powerful sense of smell can distinguish the illegally traded items even if they are stashed in coffee or other scent-masking substances in containers before they are loaded onto ships for export. "I firmly believe that we are going to be able to prove that they can," said Kirsty Brebner, whose organization Endangered Wildlife Trust had the idea of putting rats to work on the illegal wildlife trade. "They are clearly trainable, they clearly have a strong sense of smell," Brebner told Reuters from South Africa. She said the eventual aim is to train rats to find ivory and rhino horns, too. Pangolins, a mammal hunted close to extinction for the unique scales on its body, which find a ready market in Asia, are the first target because they have a stronger scent than ivory or rhino horn, giving the rats a better chance of success. The rats will be tested and trained by APOPO, a Tanzanian-based group that pioneered using the African Giant Pouched Rat to find landmines. Harnessed to wires, the rats scamper along and are rewarded by a handler if they find a buried device. After that success, the rats have also been trained to detect sufferers of tuberculosis by sniffing sputum. For the wildlife project, APOPO's James Pursey said, the rats would first be trained to sniff out a substance in return for a reward . Then they would be taught to discriminate pangolins from other smells, a process likely to last until mid-July. "We will then be developing the optimal method for how to actually test the shipping containers," Pursey said. If that succeeds, the project could be rolled out from late 2017. The giant rats have been chosen for these projects for their longevity - they live as long as eight years, so there is a better return on the training investment - and they don't bond easily with handlers, so they will adapt to whoever uses them, Brebner said. The Endangered Wildlife Trust has long used dogs to trace wildlife trophies, but rats can scramble into small, dark places and could climb up containers, Brebner said. The authorities in Tanzania, a nation that boasts the sweeping wildlife-filled plains of the Serengeti but is struggling to fight poaching, have supported the project. Dar es Salaam and other East African ports often announce seizures of poached items, but experts say more evade detection and make it to markets mainly in Asia, threatening populations of pangolins, elephants, rhinos and other African species. (Writing by Edmund Blair, editing by Larry King)
President-elect Donald Trump ran for election on a platform built in large part on enforcing lawshowever harshagainst illegal immigrants and a promise to bar refugees and others from Muslim countries from entering the United States. Now, experts say, with his decision to nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General, Trump is giving one of the most ardent anti-illegal immigration voices in the US Congress tremendous power to reshape immigration enforcement in the United States.
Sessions, the first member of the Senate to endorse Trumps candidacy, strenuously opposed bipartisan immigration reform bills that came before the Senate in 2007 and 2013, arguing that they were insufficiently strict and ultimately led to amnesty.
Related: Trump Has Another Job to Fill as Top US Intelligence Chief Resigns
In 2015, as the Republican Party took control of the Senate, he circulated what he called an Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority. In part, it reads, Immigration reform may be the single most abused phrase in the English language. It has become a legislative honorific almost exclusively reserved for proposals which benefit everyone but actual American citizens.
In Congress, he wrote, The GOP should focus on discrete, targeted enforcement measures designed to have an outsize effect on reducing illegality, empowering immigration officers, restoring enforcement, and putting a stop to catch-and-release.
As Attorney General, he would be in a position to actively encourage all of those things by setting policies that guide law enforcement agencies.
While the Justice Department does not directly enforce US immigration policy -- that is the domain of the Department of Homeland Securitys Immigration and Customs Enforcement division -- the attorney general has considerable influence over how the governments power to detain, charge, and deport undocumented immigrants is exercised.
Related: Return of the Neocons: Trumps Surprising Cabinet Candidates
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Decisions by the attorney general about how willing the Department of Justice will be to defend challenges to strict interpretations of immigration law has a direct effect on how likely agencies like ICE are to employ them. During the George W. Bush administration, for example, the Justice Department became frustrated with having to defend the government from charges that immigration enforcement officers were abusing their authority to implement expedited removal of aliens. Use of the practice dropped off dramatically.
Experts like William A. Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, say that under an Attorney General Sessions they would expect to see a revival of the use of expedited removal authority.
The attorney general also exercises control over the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a panel of administrative judges who adjudicate immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.
Im most concerned about the precedent decisions that he would be in place to issue [rules] that would bind immigration judges, said Stock. Based on his history and rhetoric, Stock said he would expect Sessions to take very restrictive interpretations of the current law that could limit the scope of relief available to individuals facing deportation proceedings.
Related: Trump Has Another Job to Fill as Top US Intelligence Chief Resigns
The news of Sessions appointment provoked anger and outrage from many civil rights advocates because of the lawmakers history of making racially charged comments. Indeed, in 1986, after President Ronald Reagan appointed him to a federal judgeship, a Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee refused even to send his nomination to the Senate floor after hearing testimony about his history of racial insensitivity.
Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund, on Friday released a statement opposing Sessions.
Under Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions has been pushed from the fringe into the center of American politics. As a result, women, immigrants, the Black community, the LGBTQ community, and anyone who cares about justice and equality for all are being pushed out. This most recent appointment should send chills down the spines of all Americans.
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By Charlotte Greenfield WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A convoy of 27 military trucks reached the stricken New Zealand town of Kaikoura on Friday, five days after the seaside community was completely cut off by huge landslides caused by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed two people The convoy, which had been delayed by bad weather on Thursday, carried food and medical supplies and a team of civil engineers, officials said. Helicopters have also flown provisions to the town from navy vessels anchored offshore since the quake struck early on Monday. More than 1,000 tourists and residents were evacuated from the small South Island fishing town, a whale-watching base that draws visitors from all over the world. Relief efforts by sea, air and road will continue to supply the town of around 2,000 people as roads remain shut to the public. "Our people are going to be there for a very long time," a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Defence Force said. Not all tourists have left, and New Zealand media reported that a local lawmaker and motel owner had complained that some were staying to get drunk and party through the night for a "cheap holiday" as residents tried to clean up. The quake's cost could add up to almost NZ$12 billion ($8.4 billion), which could push the government budget back into deficit after two years of surpluses, analysts say. "This week's disaster struck in more lightly populated areas but damage to infrastructure has been severe," said Citibank economists in a research note. Prime Minister John Key said earlier this week the damage bill would be about NZ$2 billion($1.40 billion), although he cautioned that was only an early estimate. Finance Minister Bill English told parliament the damage was "relatively localized". Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide said the total for insurance losses - which excludes losses to land, infrastructure or cars - would be between NZ$1.15 billion and NZ$5.3 billion. Most residential damage would be covered by the government-owned insurer, the Earthquake Commission, which is backed by NZ$4.7 billion in reinsurance, AIR Worldwide said in a statement. In 2011, an earthquake in Christchurch, the South Island's largest city, killed almost 200 people and required a NZ$40 billion rebuild. Warships from Australia, Canada and the United States, in New Zealand for the Royal New Zealand Navys 75th anniversary, have been assisting with Kaikoura's recovery. This week's quake damaged as many as 60 buildings in the capital, Wellington, on the North Island some 150 km (95 miles) to the northeast of Kaikoura. That included serious structural damage to three relatively recently constructed multi-storey buildings, one of which engineers said would have to be torn down. The government said on Thursday it would investigate why the newer buildings had been unable to withstand the quake. ($1 = 1.4278 New Zealand dollars) (Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengalaru; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
[November 18, 2016] Zoho Launches Industry's First Context-Aware Help Desk Software
Zoho today launched Zoho (News - Alert) Desk, the industry's first context-aware help desk software. Zoho Desk uses customer data from past interactions and from other Zoho products, like Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects, to organize tickets and intelligently present information to agents so they can better understand a customer's problem and resolve it efficiently. "Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity for a company to grow," said Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist of Zoho. "With Zoho Desk, we aim to provide companies with the context, understanding and tools to focus on improving customer happiness with every interaction. Until now, most help desk products have basically looked and functioned like an email inbox. With Zoho Desk, we have completely rearchitected the help desk product and are providing levels of detail and functionality that are unmatched in the industry." Zoho Desk helps companies deliver the right answer at the right time. Its clean user interface packs innovations like Work Modes that help agents send context-aware responses, the Headquarters dashboard that provides managers greater visibility and enables them to be more impactful, and the Team Feed to help the entire company participate in customer service. Highlights of Zoho Desk include: Context-Aware (News - Alert) Responses Work Modes - Work Modes prioritize customer interactions in real-time based on response due-time, status, and customer type. This helps agents identify the tickets that need their attention right away. Unified Response Editor - Inside a ticket, Zoho Desk provides contextual intelligence like customer information from Zoho CRM, past conversations with the customer, and suggestions on possible solutions for the issue at hand, helping agents respond to customers effectively. Context-Aware Decisions Headquarters - With this feature, customer service managers can monitor broad trends like volumes of interactions and customer happiness ratings, as well as finer details such as long interaction threads and recent negative feedback, all from a single screen. Agent Scorecard - Agent Scorecard is a dashboard that shows each agent their own average response and resolution time, number of open and closed tickets, and happiness ratings earned. I helps create a culture of self-management in customer service teams by allowing agents to monitor their own performance.
Context-Aware Collaboration Team Feed - Users can mention their colleagues from other departments in a social-network-style feed within tickets to provide them the complete context of the issue raised and collaborate with them to resolve it quickly. They can also follow specific tickets or customers to get real-time updates on both the web and their mobile phones.
Pricing and Availability Zoho Desk is available immediately and is free up to 10 users. Paid (News - Alert) plans begin at $12 per user, per month for the Professional Edition and increases to $25 per user, per month for the Enterprise Edition. For more information on Zoho Desk, please visit www.zoho.com/desk. Additional Resources Zoho news coverage: https://www.zoho.com/inthenews.html Zoho press releases: https://www.zoho.com/press.html Zoho videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/zoho Zoho blogs: http://blogs.zoho.com Zoho on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zoho Zoho on Facebook (News - Alert): http://www.facebook.com/zoho About Zoho Zoho is THE operating system for business - a single cloud platform with all the necessary applications to run a business entirely from the cloud. Businesses can acquire and manage customers using Zoho's marketing, sales and customer support applications - Campaigns, CRM and Desk - and can then empower employees to create, store and distribute content on the cloud with Zoho's productivity and collaboration applications - Office, Mail and Docs. Additionally, businesses can run their own operations on Zoho's finance and human resources applications - Books, People and Recruit. More than 20 million users around the world across hundreds of thousands of companies rely on Zoho every day to run their businesses - including Zoho itself. A business can choose to run the entire Zoho suite or just a single application. Zoho applications are available directly through zoho.com, or through an ecosystem of hundreds of worldwide Zoho partners. Zoho is a division of Zoho Corp., a privately-held and consistently profitable company, with more than 4,000 employees. Zoho is headquartered in Pleasanton, CA (News - Alert) with international headquarters in Chennai, India and offices in Austin, London, Yokohama, and Beijing. For more information, please visit http://www.zoho.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005093/en/
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We come here because this is one of the only times you can actually talk to Lorne [Michaels], said Alec Baldwin on Thursday night at the American Museum of Natural History gala in New York. This is one of the only nights of the year that Lorne is not working. If you get anything with Lorne when hes off the clock, its breathtaking.
Michaels, one of the Museum Gala Chairs, was announced a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this week, and was welcomed to a standing ovation at the gala.
The evenings host Seth Meyers congratulated Michaels in his opening and joked that this honor couldnt have come at a better time Lorne is an immigrant. The night was full of political humor.
More than 700 guests ate a swanky dinner in the museums Milstein Hall of Ocean Life under an extravagant whale to raise money for educational and scientific programming.
This annual black tie affair brings out many of the citys A-listers but the majority of notable attendees were current Saturday Night Live cast members, including Kate McKinnon, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, Vanessa Bayer, Sasheer Zamata and Pete Davidson.
Other celebrities included SNL alumnae Tina Fey and Kristen Wiig as well as Matthew Morrison, Jane Krakowski and Ellie Kemper. Mayor Bill de Blasio even made an appearance and spoke to the crowd about the importance of inclusivity.
There is such a commitment here to making sure all kinds of New Yorkers participate and a huge commitment to our public school children, said de Blasio. That inclusivity is a pure New York value; thats one of the things that makes us distinct.
Fey, a fellow Gala chair, has a special feeling for this museum and said, Its a great resource, and its at a time when we have to fight for people to believe science. Its an important institution.
The evening consisted of an energetic auction and a special performance by Steve Martin and Martin Short with Steep Canyon Rangers and Jeff Babko. Martin and Short showcased an act from their nationwide tour, which fuses comedy and music to follows a story of their friendship that goes back more than 30 years.
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One highlight of the night was a nod to Martin and Shorts 1986 film Three Amigos! where they brought Baldwin, Meyers, and SNL vet Kenan Thompson onto the stage for a special recreation of the memorable dance scene wearing sombreros.
Baldwin, whos become known for his impeccable Donald Trump impression on SNL, says hell continue this character every now and then.
Whats interesting is when people said to me, You didnt do it after the election,' Baldwin told Variety. Im not available every Saturday night of my life, you know what I mean? We had other things to do.
Baldwin will be at it again this Saturday (Nov. 19) along with Wiig, who will host.
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Alec Baldwin hasnt mothballed that Donald Trump wig just yet.
The 30 Rock actor will return to impersonate the now President-elect this Saturday, Variety reports. Baldwin, who presented a silly, finger-pointing caricature of the Republican nominee during sketches that tackled the presidential debates and his public apology for a leaked tape featuring his lewd language toward women, says hell continue this character every now and then.
After the surprising election results, Baldwins squinting Trump face was notably absent from the latest Saturday Night Live episode. Instead, the episode opened with Kate McKinnons sobering version of the late Leonard Cohens Hallelujiah, in character as Hillary Clinton without her opponent. Addressing this, Baldwin explained he didnt perform because he was unavailable.
Whats interesting is when people said to me, You didnt do it after the election, Baldwin told Variety. Im not available every Saturday night of my life, you know what I mean? We had other things to do.
Baldwin will be at it again this Saturday with Kristen Wiig, who will host.
[Variety]
Alexis Bledel reveals more about where her character is when the Gilmore Girls reboot picks up
Can you believe that Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is only a week away from its premiere?!
In honor of the revival, Rory Gilmore herself, aka Alexis Bledel, talks getting a do over with Gilmore Girls revival and explains where her iconic character is when the show picks back up and were really excited.
Bledel was just as excited as we were to to return to Stars Hollow after nine years, especially because creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan Palladino were going to be the sole writers on the revival.
When [Amy] went through all the major points of what she wanted to do which she said just kind of spilled out of her, and she really felt that [was] a real indication that this was the right time and the right thing and the right way to tell the story I liked it, Bledel told The Hollywood Reporter. I just thought it was great and I was excited to get started.
The 35-year-old actress explained that this chance to play Rory Gilmore once again was everything she hoped for and felt like it was a do over she didnt know she wanted.
Coming back was an incredible opportunity to approach our work with intention, Bledel said.
Rather than being sort of reactionary to everything around me, I could just focus on the scenes and what I wanted to do and that was just a great thing to get to do. Its almost like getting a do over. It doesnt happen very often, she added.
Of course, Bledel wanted to make sure that Rory was still Rory and therefore she made sure to talk with Sherman-Palladino about what her character would be doing these days.
This is really Amys vision so it really had a lot to do with what she wanted for the characters, the actress told the publication.
I wanted to hear it ahead of time before signing on and it was great to get to do that this time around, to be a part of that process and to voice my opinions and hear all her reasons for why she wanted to craft it the way that she did.
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So what was most important for Bledel when it came to Rorys current life situation? Hint: it has nothing to do with which man is in her life.
I felt really strongly about making sure that all my characters hard work somehow had paid off, Bledel admitted. That she had lived a life that was some indication that we got to see where she went from there, what the reward from all that work was.
In addition to working hard as youd expect, Rory is trying to figure out her place in the journalism world when she returns to Stars Hollow.
She started her career in journalism at a time when the industry was changing quite a bit so newspapers were going away and she has kind of been chasing stories and crashing on peoples couches in the process, the Texas native said. So shes not really rooted anywhere.
The one thing we hoped hadnt changed is Rorys relationship with her mom, Lorelai, but Bledel explained that even their close bond has a few rocky spots. Dont panic they are still very close!
I think anyone who has a bond as close as theirs, a relationship thats that closely knit together and you do have a lot of time apart, coming back together can put you througha roller coaster of emotions, some transitions possibly, depending on how long its been, Bledel said.
Is it Nov. 25 yet? We can barely wait another minute, but alas we have to wait until Nov. 25 for Netflix to give us those final four installments of Gilmore Girls.
The post Alexis Bledel reveals more about where her character is when the Gilmore Girls reboot picks up appeared first on HelloGiggles.
A pro-Donald Trump white supremacist website called the Daily Stormer said it created 1,000 fake Twitter accounts for fictional black people this week to a way to troll the internet and spread racist ideas. The announcement, which came from a blog post from the websites founder Andrew Anglin, is a response to Twitters recent ban on accounts circulating alt-right content, the Guardian reported Thursday.
"Twitter is about to learn what happens when you mess with Republicans," said Anglin in the blog post. Anglin called on his readers to create more fake Twitter profiles, saying that their posts needed to be indistinguishable from actual Twitter accounts belonging to black people.
When you have time, create a fake black person account, Anglin wrote. Just go on black Twitter and see what they look like, copy that model. Start filling it with rap videos and booty-shaking or whatever else these blacks post.
Upon revealing its new "anti-harassment policy" Tuesday, Twitter removed several of the most high profile accounts among right-wing users, including Richard B. Spencer of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank based in Arlington, Virginia, and Pax Dickinson, the former chief technology officer for Business Insider, who was dismissed for offensive and racist Tweets.
Spencer coined the term alt right in 2008, the Independent reported Friday. He referred to Twitters suspension of his account as corporate Stalinism in a YouTube video Wednesday. The alt-right is a largely Internet-based group of people with far-right political beliefs opposing mainstream conservatism in the United States.
Twitters new policy prohibits online attacks or threats on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. The company also created a feature with which a user can block tweets that contain certain words from ever reaching them.
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The Daily Stormer, which claims to be Americas #1 Most-Trusted Republican News Source on the homepage of its website, was named after the infamous Nazi Julius Streichers anti-Semitic weekly newspaper, Der Sturmer, which specialized in pornographic attacks on Jews, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights group based in Birmingham, Alabama.
The number of accounts belonging to self-identified neo-Nazis and white nationalists multiplied by more than 600 percent since 2012, according to a study from the George Washington University Program on Extremism titled Nazis vs. ISIS on Twitter. That rate is higher than social media accounts used by ISIS supporters, the study said.
There were more than 400 incidents of physical harassment and intimidation since Trump's presidential election victory, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported Tuesday.
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Amal Clooney just warned Donald Trump we all need to listen to her words
Amal Clooney knows a thing or two about human rights considering shes an international attorney who specializes in the subject. So when she was the keynote speaker at the Texas Conference for Women on November 15th, Amal Clooney had something to say about Donald Trump. While The Hollywood Reporter noted that she gave a hopeful message about the United States president-elect, she also made sure to comment on his problematic statements about Muslim immigrants.
Although Trumps camp recently denied that he wants to create a Muslim registry, there are plenty of other times he has been outspoken about Muslim immigrants. So its understandable that the public international law, international criminal law, and human rights lawyer dedicated part of her speech to Trumps potential policies:
[Trumps comments] that there should be a religious test imposed on entering the U.S. or the fact that there should be state-sponsored torture or that families of suspected terrorists should all be killed all of those things are violations of international human rights law and the values that underlie that.
17th Annual Texas Conference For Women
While she is married to George Clooney, Amal has made it clear that her human rights career is what shes truly passionate about not her celebrity. And having someone who is as intelligent, and tested in the laws surrounding human rights, as Clooney is speak out against Trumps hateful rhetoric is so important.
However, she also noted that its promising that Trump does want to focus on defeating ISIS. Clooney herself is trying to build up a case against ISIS for the genocide of Iraqs Yazidi community. She spoke at the womens conference about the person who inspired her to take this case, 23-year-old Nadia Murad, who was horrifically sold as a sex slave to an ISIS commander in 2014.
V moving talk from human rights lawyer #AmalClooney on the Yazidi genocide by ISIL #TXConfWomen pic.twitter.com/RCWu75fxJv Amy Hayes (@amymhayes1) November 15, 2016
In their joint pursuit to bring down ISIS, Clooney could find common ground with Trump.
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The president-elect has said that fighting ISIS is actually a priority so it may be that there can be progress, and obviously everyone has to respect the outcome of the democratic process here, and we have to hope for the best.
Clooney is an inspiration to the international community for her pursuit of justice if she can find the potential in President Trump, then we all can. But its good to know that if he does violate human rights, Clooney will be right there to take him on.
The post Amal Clooney just warned Donald Trump we all need to listen to her words appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Saturday Night Live alum Jay Pharoah isnt quick to give away his best material before a big show. This Sunday hes co-hosting the 2016 American Music Awards with model Gigi Hadid, and hes keeping the list of people he will joke about or impersonate under wraps.
Will there be any jokes about the presidential election or specifically, Donald Trumps win? The comedian known for his spot-on impressions of President Obama, Jay Z, and Denzel Washington prefers to keep me guessing.
Hmmm, you never know. You better watch, he teases, laughing. Theres no-holds-barred, thats all Im saying. You got to go in. You gotta talk. You gotta address whatever is the elephant in the room. So you can expect the unexpected.
In November 2015, the Virginia native who left SNL after six seasons collaborated with then-Republican presidential candidate Trump, when the real estate tycoon/reality star-turned-president-elect hosted the show. Pharoah spoofed Drakes silly dance video for Hotline Bling, and Trump made an attention-grabbing cameo.
But Pharoah doesnt have any memorable behind-the-scenes moments with Trump. Uh, lets see. What was it like on that video set? I dont even remember, he says when asked about shooting the clip with Trump. It was fun. It was cool. We were having good fun, especially me and my other cast members. We were cracking each other up and Donald did that crazy dance and it was fun too.
The actor, who has appeared in movies Ride Along, Top Five, and Get A Job, rather not share his reaction to Trumps win. Im not going to give you that. I know thats what youre looking for, he replies. You could smell it in the air. You could see what was happening. You could look around and see peoples faces. Just knowing how heavy the tension is in America right now, what were going to do this weekend is make you forget about that for a few hours. I think thats the most important thing.
Pharoah, however, easily recalls his meeting with President Obama. While Pharoah says his SNL Obama sketches were more politically correct than the Obama act he does in his standup routine, he says Obama has seen some of the bits. I dont know if hes seen the standup, but he said he thinks its pretty good when I met him, he says.
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In his standup act, Pharoah has portrayed Obama in college as a charismatic ladies man. If you see me do Obama on the show and me do it on my standup, its totally different, he explains. I say what I want to say as Obama in my standup. But you cant really get away with doing that on television. They kinda have a box that they want to keep that character in. I just read the lines and said what I was instructed to do.
Though Pharoah is tight-lipped about the specifics of his jokes for the AMAs, theres a chance rapper Desiigner will be the subject of a joke on Sunday. The artist signed to Kanye Wests GOOD Music is up for two awards, Video of the Year and Favorite Song Rap/Hip Hop for his breakout track Panda. Desiigners melodic, mumbling rap style is often the brunt of jokes. Pharoah admits that hes added a Desiigner act to his repertoire. I got a Desiigner, Pharoah says. He sounds like hes constipated and he cant push it out, he continues, before emulating the rapper, rattling off a few seconds of indecipherable lyrics. I cant get it out! he laughs. Hes trying to get it out, but he cant. He needs some Ex-Lax.
Pharoah likely owes his keen ability to mimic rappers to his own music talents. Pharoah has been posting original songs online for years. The song and video for Problems, that portrayed Pharoah as a tough-guy rapper who cant complete a verse without pausing for a sentimental meltdown, incorporated his comedic persona in the song that has reached more than 100,000 views on YouTube.
But hes been working harder to present a more serious side of his music. In 2014, he released The Resurrection EP and he has recently dropped socially conscious freestyles to instrumentals of Beyonces Just Blaze-produced track Freedom and Kendrick Lamars Blacker the Berry.
Miles Williams, who worked with Just Blaze on Freedom and has made tracks for Iggy Azalea, Fetty Wap, Lil Wayne, Drake, T.I., and Rick Ross, is producing Pharoahs forthcoming album slated for a spring release. I got some dope tracks Im already cooking on, Pharoah says. Im already half way through with the project where we actually sift out what exactly can we use and see what we need to record.
In the meantime, Pharoah plans to start working on visuals for the album and to continue releasing freestyles on his SoundCloud page. He wants people know, however, that his raps are legitimate and that he should not be compared to another actor-rapper, Nick Cannon, dismissing the Americas Got Talent host as pop cornball.
Pharoah is quick to give props to another actor-rapper, Shia LaBeouf, who shocked the Internet last week, when he slayed the Sway in the Mornings Five Fingers of Death freestyle rap challenge.
Shia got bars, Pharoah says with excitement. Hes got bars. Pharoah jokes that hes been a fan of LaBeoufs flow since the A-List actor rapped on the song Dig It from the 2003s Walt Disney Pictures film Holes. Listen man, we all saw it. Yall frontin, Pharoah says, campaigning for LaBeouf. People trying to act like he didnt snap on Holes, remember that? Pharoah then recites Shias lyrics: With two suits, two tokens in hand / I got no respect cause Im the new man. He snapped on that.
Like LaBeouf, Pharoah has some new film projects. He voices characters in the Illumination/Universal animated film SING with Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, and Reese Witherspoon. And he has a role The Adventures of Drunky, an independent animated comedy. Other new credits include, voicing roles on Comedy Central series Legends of Chamberlain Heights and the pilot for Jamie Foxxs Showtime/Lionsgate series White Famous.
Whether stand up comedy, acting, or music, Pharoah is working to put all his gifts to good use. I want to let people know I do it all, he says. You can say whatever you want to say about me, at the end of the day, youre going to have to be able to say hes talented as hell.
Pharoah may be a funny man, but that statement is no joke.
The Grand Tour, the new auto show from the former hosts of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, premiered on Amazon Prime Video Friday, and the British press love it.
The Guardians Sam Wollaston acknowledged that the big-budget reported to be 160 million ($197 million) across 36 episodes, or $5.5 million an episode is up on the screen.
He marvels at the opening sequence, in which a Mad Max convoy of cars, trucks and bikes travels across the California desert to a surreal concert. It is, undeniably, a brilliant beautiful spectacle, Wollaston says.
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tours Hollywood-esque opening sequence shows a convoy trekking through the California desert to an auto festival
The spectacle and new format points (such as replacing The Stig with The American as the test driver) aside, the core appeal that made the BBCs Top Gear the most watched reality show in the world, remains. Its all utterly familiar, he says. You can pour something into a different container, but it still tastes the same. And, like it or not, this tastes of Clarkson, Hammond and May.
The same questionable humor and aversion to political correctness that got the three guys into hot water at the BBC is evident here. The new test track is shaped like the Ebola virus, so its called the Eboladrome. Referring to the itinerant nature of show, Clarkson says: Were going to be like Gypsies. Only the cars we drive are going to be insured.
Clarkson is unrepentant. He comments, Its very unlikely Im going to be fired now, because were on the internet, which means I could pleasure a horse.
The Daily Telegraphs Ed Power too focuses on the strange marriage of Hollywood-style production values and British middle-aged male banter. The real question was whether Clarkson, May and Hammond could reprise the chemistry that made Top Gear an international sensation, Power writes. The answer is an emphatic yes. From a Hollywood introduction to three wrinkly blokes trading good-natured insults, The Grand Tour was certainly covering all its bases.
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Power goes on to point out that the hosts have not forgotten that The Grand Tour is at heart a show about motor vehicles, with the first episode including a trip to Portugal for a race between a Porsche 918, a McLaren P1 and a Ferrari LaFerrari.
As with all British papers, the Telegraph refers at length to the rivalry with the BBCs revamped Top Gear, generally considered a failure under new hosts Chris Evans, who quit after one season, and Matt LeBlanc, who remains. Petrolheads can rejoice. The BBC may wonder how Matt LeBlanc and whoever joins him next year can possibly compete, the Telegraph concludes.
The Suns Dan Wootton is awestruck, and again focuses on the twin charms of top-notch production values and boyish banter.
A 160 million investment has made The Grand Tour one of the most exhilarating TV series ever and I dont even like cars, he writes. Wootton reassures the audience that despite the glitz, the grumpy old men remain unreconstructed. If you thought the trademark banter that made Top Gear such a phenomenon was gone for good, there was no need to worry, he says. Within seconds of taking the stage, the put-downs begin flying with Hammond describing Clarkson as a shaved ape in a shirt.
Despite the high-octane elements, guns, explosions, super yachts, madcap stunts . dramatic crashes, a sinking ship and Hammond being dangled from a chopper, Wootton concludes, the one thing that really matters is Clarkson being reunited with his two mates on screen.
Jim Shelley for the Daily Mail questions whether the show is really new, unless you were labeling it the new Top Gear.
It was vintage Top Gear too, a futuristic Top Gear (Top Gear filmed in 4K), the American Top Gear, and more like the Return of Top Gear than Chris Evans recent horrible, hollow, imitation of the original, Shelley writes.
He underscores the similarities with the BBC show, the same juvenile obsession with speed, same outlandish (stupid) stunts, exotic locations, banter with the audience, race-track and test driver
Rather than lambasting the hosts for this, he applauds them. They were canny and confident enough to resist the temptation of being different for the sake of it, contenting themselves with being themselves instead, he writes.
Shelley concludes that the departure from the BBC, and the period of rest that followed has been for the best. After all that time away it was good to see them back not necessarily where they belonged but bigger, better, and more badly behaved than ever.
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Beardless Andrew Cashner pitching for the Miami Marlins. (Getty Images)
It looks like the Texas Rangers have finally gotten their man. The team has reportedly signed right handed starter Andrew Cashner to a one-year deal worth $10 million.
Looks like it's done at one-year and $10 million for CashnerLong been on the Rangers radar screen TR Sullivan (@Sullivan_Ranger) November 18, 2016
Deal is expected to be a one-year deal TR Sullivan (@Sullivan_Ranger) November 18, 2016
Cashner started 2016 pitching for the San Diego Padres, racking up a 4.76 ERA in 79.1 innings. The Rangers had been interested in him at the 2016 trade deadline, but he ended up going to the Miami Marlins instead. Unfortunately, he didnt have the best second-half with the fish. He started 11 games, pitching to a 5.98 ERA in 52.2 innings. With those stats, its not clear whether the Rangers plan to use him in the starting rotation or the bullpen.
So Cashner, a Texas native who went to Texas Christian University, is headed home. And even better? Hell finally be able to grow his beard back. Yes, facial hair was an important issue to him as he considered his options in the offseason. He told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the Marlins no-facial hair policy would be a key factor in where hed go during free agency.
Cashner said I still hate the Marlins no-beard rule and that is a big deal to me in free agency.
Grow that beard back, Andrew. Your facial hair is finally free!
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
Tunis (AFP) - As anger erupted and the tears began to flow, four hours of testimony on live television by abuse victims shone a rare spotlight on the crimes of Tunisia's dark dictatorship years.
In a plain white room inside a night club once owned by a dictator's entourage, victims of torture and abuse joined bereaved relatives to deliver an unprecedented account of the violence and intimidation Tunisians endured over decades of despotic rule.
"We will not be silent," said Ourida Kadoussi, whose son was killed by security forces during the 2011 uprising against the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "We want justice for our martyrs."
Kaddousi's witness statement is one of tens of thousands gathered by the Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD), which has tracked human rights violations spanning five decades.
The complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech.
The televised interviews, which will continue Friday, are part of the panel's attempt to get Tunisians to confront the demons of their past, as well as provide justice to those who endured the worst.
Latifa Matmati's husband Kamel died in police custody after his arrest in October 1991, just one of hundreds of Islamists to be detained and mistreated under Ben Ali's rule.
Latifa told of her frantic attempts to find her husband, who was tortured during his detention. Although he died shortly after being dragged from his office by police, she was instructed to bring him clean clothes and food, teasing her with the hope he may still have been alive.
His death certificate didn't arrive until 18 years later.
"We want his body so we can bury it," Latifa told the panel. "And we want these people to be held accountable."
- 'Why did they do that?' -
Sami Brahem, an Islamist academic, also spoke of his experience of torture by Ben Ali's henchmen.
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After being arrested for a remark that was judged to be provocative, he was severely beaten and had his head forced down a toilet bowl.
"I couldn't get up for a week," Brahem said.
He also described horrific scenes to the panel -- and the television audience -- of prisoners stripped naked, beaten and forced to climb on top of one another.
"This was sexual violence which I cannot understand. I don't want to sully my country, I want to talk about the honourable things it has done... but why did they do that?" Brahem asked.
"When I was asked to testify, I didn't hesitate in spite of my embarrassment," he said.
Some in the room began to cry.
"I am ready to forgive if they provide an explanation. It is society's right to know these things, so that they can be told in history."
Last to speak was writer Gilbert Naccache, well known for his leftist opposition to Habib Bourguiba, who ruled ruthlessly between 1957 and 1987.
"The police, whether they are political or not, only know one method: torture," said Naccache during a testimony sprinkled with dark humour that had audience members chuckling in spite of the seriousness of his allegations.
"I have been to prison three times and three times I was subjected to torture."
Naccache said he did not wish to dwell on the details of what he was forced to undergo during the Bourguiba years, or the hardships suffered by Tunisians since the 2011 uprising.
For him, Thursday's televised testimonies were "one day that makes up for the frustrations of the last five years."
Istanbul (AFP) - Thousands of people, including women and children, marched Saturday in Istanbul against a controversial bill that would overturn men's convictions for child sex assault if they married their victim.
"We will not shut up. We will not obey. Withdraw the bill immediately!" the around 3,000 protesters shouted amid claps and whistles as they marched to Kadikoy square on the city's Asian side.
Others waved banners emblazoned with slogans such as "#Rape cannot be legitimised" and "AKP, take your hands off my body," a reference to the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which introduced the bill.
The opposition, celebrities, and even an association whose deputy chairman is Erdogan's daughter have expressed alarm over the move.
But the government insists the legislation was aimed at dealing with the widespread custom of child marriages and the criticism was a crude distortion of its aim.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Saturday moved to reassure opponents that the bill would not pardon rapists.
"The bill will certainly not bring amnesty to rapists.... This is a step taken to solve a problem in some parts of our country," he told a NATO meeting in Istanbul.
After the controversy, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim late Friday ordered his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to hold talks with the opposition in parliament on the planned measures.
- 'Women will take to streets'-
The measures were approved in an initial parliamentary reading on Thursday and will be voted on again in a second debate in the coming days. Critics have said the government is encouraging the rape of minors.
"We will not allow the AKP to acquit and set free rapists in this country," one of the women protesters who gave her name as Ruya told AFP.
"Women will resist and take to the streets until this law and similar other laws are withdrawn."
Another protester, a middle-aged man named Ugur, was at the protest with his 14-year-old daughter.
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"I am concerned about my daughter's future," Ugur told AFP. "AKP is passing any law they want in the parliament."
The AKP enjoys a comfortable majority in the 550-seat parliament, holding 317 seats.
"That's the maximum we can do. To protest," he said.
If passed, the law would allow the release from prison of men guilty of assaulting a minor if the act was committed without "force, threat, or any other restriction on consent" and if the aggressor "marries the victim".
The legal age of consent in Turkey is 18 but child marriage is widespread, especially in the southeast.
Another protester, Yagmur, called the bill "nonsense".
"In which century are we are living? Forgive me but we are talking about rape while other issues should be up for discussion," he said.
"A country cannot advance with more bridges or roads. We are against the bill and we will not remain silent."
- 'Violence against children a crime' -
The UN children's fund said Saturday it was "deeply concerned" over the bill.
"These abject forms of violence against children are crimes which should be punished as such, and in all cases the best interest of the child should prevail," spokesman Christophe Boulierac told AFP.
The latest controversy comes after Turkey's constitutional court in July annulled a criminal code provision punishing as "sexual abuse" all sexual acts involving children under the age of 15.
Defenders of that law argued it made a distinction between cases of sexual acts involving a young teenager as opposed to a much younger child.
The bill comes amid widespread concern at what the UN rapporteur on freedom of expression on Friday described as a "grim" situation in Turkey following an attempted coup in July.
Since a rogue military faction tried to oust President Erdogan from power, over 100,000 people within the judiciary, media, military and civil service have been arrested, suspended or sacked.
An Ohio shelter pup who discovered a cat stuck in a sewer while on a walk with a volunteer is being hailed a hero and hoping for a home for the holidays.
The pooch, a 6-year-old Chinese shar-pei mix named Leopard, currently resides at the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter and alerted the person walking her after hearing the cats cries.
While Leopard was out on her walk this afternoon, she alerted the volunteer to the sound of crying in the sewer, said a Facebook post shared by the shelter on Monday. Volunteers and deputies were able to retrieve the cat and all is well. The cat has now gone home to stay with one of our volunteers and Leopard (kennel 2) is a hero!!
The dogs heroics will hopefully translate into a forever home before Turkey Day though sadly, health issues have made adoption a challenge so far. Shortly after she arrived at the shelter in May, Leopard had a cancerous tumor removed. The tumor has a low chance of metastasis but needs to monitored for the remainder of her life in the event of regrowth, the shelter said.
Despite all that, this hero deserves a home. Leopardss heroic act of saving another furry friend just reaffirms what a wonderful addition she would be to any family, animal shelter administrator Mindy Naticchioni told PEOPLE. We know she would forever grateful to have a home to call her own, especially for the Thanksgiving the table scraps alone would be worth it!
If youre interested in adopting Leopard, contact the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter at -216-525-7877. To read more about the organizations adoption process, click here.
annie
When Annie Leibovitz perhaps the world's most well-known portrait photographer sat down to shoot Secretary Hillary Clinton in her office in 2009, a paperweight on the wooden desk caught her eye.
It read in capital letters, "Never, Never, Never Give Up."
"This is a powerful moment to be photographing women. I now see, especially in this work, that women are presenting themselves in a way Ive never seen before with a sense of strength and dignity," Leibovitz tells Business Insider.
annie
Leibovitz shot the photo for a 2009 Vogue cover story, but now it appears again in her latest series and most personal project, "Women: New Portraits."
The series, which premiered in New York City on November 18, is an update to her 1999 project "Women," a book collaboration with her partner of 15 years, Susan Sontag, who died in 2004.
For the past year, Leibovitz has been taking powerful photos of new subjects, including Serena and Venus Williams, Adele, Malala Yousafzai, and Caitlyn Jenner. She's also teaming up with Gloria Steinem, a political activist who was a prominent leader in the feminist movement in the '60s and '70s.
Compared to the 1999 project, "New Portraits" features a more diverse representation of women "who are in our collective conscious and who have achieved something," Leibovitz says. One of her favorite portraits in the updated series is of Andrea Medina, a human rights lawyer who defends murdered and missing women in Mexico City.
annie
Unlike the 1999 series and other Leibovitz exhibitions, "New Portraits" is also moving beyond the printed page and museums. Each exhibition takes place in "pop-up" sites, in buildings going through renovations. The audience is also invited to engage in "talking circles" led by Steinem, which have focused on issues that range from women's marginalization in Silicon Valley to rising female incarceration in the US.
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"One of the many problems with museums is that people are atomized," Steinem tells BI. The talking circles are meant to be "communal experiences that elicit people's stories."
annie
A couple hundred people attended the talking circle when the exhibition was in San Francisco, she adds.
Photos are always being added (there are now 41 in the series), and Leibovitz keeps of list of women on her wishlist for the series, like Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, JK Rowling, and an updated portrait of Clinton.
The traveling exhibition is currently at the former Bayview Correctional Facility, a former women's prison that's being transformed into a hub for womens groups and services, called the Women's Building. Pinned to a wall, the photos will be there until December 11, until the exhibition moves to its last stop in Zurich.
Commissioned by the global financial services company UBS, the free exhibition has traveled to eight cities around the world from San Francisco to Tokyo. But New York's exhibition is the first time Leibovitz has included Clinton's 2009 portrait.
"Women: New Portraits" which debuted in London in January is especially poignant now after Election Day, when Clinton, who advocated for women's rights on the campaign trail, lost to Donald Trump, who has bragged about forcibly kissing women and grabbing their genitals.
Leibovitz says the idea behind the series was to show "what women look like now, what roles we play." The photos are meant to concentrate on the spirit of someone and their work rather than just on their appearance.
"I am really interested in what people do, more than what they look like or who they are," she says. "I like to pull back and see the full body, I like to see that person."
annie
Steinem hopes the series serves as a departure from how women have historically been photographed, especially in mainstream media.
In photographs, women "have always been younger than the men being displayed," she says. "We're required to have a more artificiality and be valued for our beauty or potential childbearing years. And after that, so long, because our womb is apparently more important than our brains."
NOW WATCH: A mysterious cloud moving 700,000 mph is going to collide with our galaxy here's what will happen
More From Business Insider
At a gathering in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, the mood among the diplomats, economists and policy-makers was somber. Brought together to discuss the merits of free trade and economic integration, the group confronted an apprehension brought by the U.S. presidential election a week earlier.
The victory of Donald Trump has forced a reset of expectations, both from people at the D.C. event and leaders around the world. Chief among the pillars of the Republican president-elect's campaign is a promise to renegotiate trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the yet-to-be ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
With Trump's inauguration still two months away, speakers at the event acknowledged an uncertain period that may mean re-examined trade relationships. "What is better, a less ambitious agreement, or nothing at all," Sergio Amaral, Brazil's ambassador to the United States, asked the group. "Perhaps it is best to be less ambitious."
Such uncertainty extends into this weekend, when leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meet in Peru.
As international conferences go, APEC is traditionally a ho-hum affair -- trade talks stir up only so much public excitement. But the APEC summit brings heightened interest and a new set of challenges. The conference marks outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama's final trip overseas, and it is the first international meeting to ponder a world with the incoming Trump administration.
This weekend's summit of the 21 economies belonging to APEC, a group born in the early days of globalization, also comes at the end of a year where world currents have questioned assumptions the organization was built upon: that every citizen benefits from a more connected world. Political and economic analysts acknowledge Trump's victory, the British vote to leave the European Union, the unending flow of refugees from war and a rise of populist and far-right political groups in Europe cumulatively challenge the merits of global connectedness. APEC leaders recognized the need to address such issues in a news release published earlier this week.
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[READ: Does China Manipulate its Currency Like Donald Trump Says?]
"It's been a year of big surprises," Carla Hills, the former U.S. Trade Representative and a U.S. negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement, told the gathering in Washington. "Globalization is being blamed for slower economic growth."
Anxiety has in part been fueled by a slowdown in growth in Asia-Pacific economies, notably in China. Growth among the APEC economies softened to 3.1 percent in the second quarter of last year, down from 3.4 percent the previous year, according to the APEC Economic Trends Analysis.
Leaders across the Asia-Pacific had anticipated a period of transition from Washington in an American election year. But Trump's campaign rhetoric has potentially far-reaching ramifications across the region, says Malcolm Cook, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. In the run-up to this weekend's APEC summit, the prime minister of Singapore warned that a U.S. withdrawal from TPP would harm U.S. credibility.
In addition to TPP, leaders of APEC economies -- 20 countries and the Chinese territory of Hong Kong -- will also discuss the implications of a U.S.-China trade relationship that Trump says he wants to re-examine, and the implications of the president-elect's promise to crack down on U.S. firms offshoring jobs across the region. Any move on U.S. firms across the Asia-Pacific has far-reaching implications on supply and production chains stretching across the region, Cook says.
These issues may present an opportunity for Beijing, analysts say. Last week, Reuters and other news organizations reported that, at this weekend's meetings, China will push for a Beijing-led Asia-Pacific free trade area. One of Obama's primary arguments for TPP was that the pact allowed the U.S. to take the lead on dictating trade rules across the region.
"China has announced it wants to make Australia a partner in free trade.
[MORE: The Pacific Alliance's Pivot to Asia]
Regardless of Washington's future short-term position on trade across the Pacific, observers say the region's growing global importance in the world make engagement unavoidable.
"This is a fast-growing, stable region. It's on its way to having the world's biggest middle class," says Scott Miller, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It's part of a world that is integrating on its own. We want to be a part of that."
Such trends, Miller says, means TPP may yet to be revived down the road.
Kevin Drew is assistant managing editor, international, at U.S. News and World Report. You can follow him on Twitter here.
Apollo Nida may be stuck behind bars in a New Jersey prison, but the former Real Housewives of Atlanta star isnt letting that stop him for publicly bashing his fiancees ex-husband. In an Instagram post, Apollo called out Sherien Almuftis ex, Derrick Copes, for supposedly falling behind on child support.
On Thursday, a few days after announcing his engagement, Apollos team posted a letter stating that Copes allegedly owes Almufti child support for their daughter. Do you know the difference between a bucket of KFC chicken & Derrick Copes?? KFC CAN FEED A FAMILY OF 4 while Derrick cant even pay current or back child support from 2013, the caption read. #thenidateam #paperwork dont lie !! this is a high mountain this guy is attempting to climb on. Dont be a groupie be a man take care of your child oh sorry children ??? To be continued!!! #THENIDATEAM!!
Almufti also took to Instagram to bash her ex, posting a text message conversation she had a with a friend about a recent interview Copes did. In one of the messages, Almuftis friend said it was funny that Copes said he had just recently stopped paying child support. Girl wish you were here with me Sipping Martinis and having dinner with the family. Ex is an ex for a reason, Almufti responded to her friend.
On Tuesday, Copes told Radar Online that he wasnt going to give his ex-wife money for their 8-year-old daughter until she stopped taking the child to see Apollo in prison. The former Bravo star is serving an eight-year sentence for fraud at New Jerseys Fort Dix Federal Correctional Facility.
Im not giving her child support right now because shes taking my daughter to prison and I have asked her numerous times to stop doing that, Copes told the outlet. My daughter is eight years old, she is not happy to go into a prison. If you want me to give you money, I will, but at the same time you have a responsibility to our daughter. He added: If Apollo is in my daughters life, thats no problem but dont take her to prison.
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Apollo announced he was engaged to Almufti earlier this week. The pair have been dating for at least two years. The engagement news came weeks after Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks announced that her divorce from Apollo had been finalized.
Apollo Nida fiancee
Photo: Getty Images
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[November 18, 2016] Investment in OpenStack Accelerates as Foundation Welcomes China Telecom, Inspur and ZTE as Gold Members
The Board of Directors of the OpenStack Foundation approved China Telecom, Inspur and ZTE (News - Alert) as the newest Gold Members, supporting strategic opportunities in public cloud, telecom networks and the rapidly growing Chinese market. All three new Gold Members demonstrate the massive scale and opportunity for OpenStack in China, collectively managing millions of servers and contributing code and knowledge to the OpenStack community. The vote was taken during the November 17 Board Meeting and follows the approval of four new Gold Members at the October Board Meeting, all of which will bring new investment and resources to complement the ranks of technology vendors and users in the community. The Board evaluates new potential members based on their strategic commitment to OpenStack, contributions to the community, and diversity of company size, location and industry. China Telecom (News - Alert) is one of the largest mobile carriers in the world with more than 500 million subscribers and 300 datacenters, and the company is currently migrating its CloudStack deployment to OpenStack. Inspur has more than 9.8 billion USD in annual revenue and manages hundreds of thousands of servers. ZTE is aglobal leader in telecommunications and information technology and was a top 15 contributor to the latest OpenStack Newton software release.
"OpenStack is truly a global community, with nearly 650 companies supporting the project in 187 countries," said Jonathan Bryce, executive director of the OpenStack Foundation. "The investment and commitment of these seven new Gold Members underscores the global growth and evolution of OpenStack, with projects of massive scale serving millions of end users in China and other markets worldwide." Foundation membership is limited to eight Platinum Members and 24 Gold Members. In addition to the three new Gold Members elected at the November Board meeting on Thursday, Gold members for 2017 are 99cloud, Aptira, CCAT, China Mobile, Cisco, City Network, Dell EMC, Deutsche Telekom, DreamHost, EasyStack, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Huawei, inwinSTACK, Juniper Networks (News - Alert), Mirantis, NEC, NetApp, Symantec and UnitedStack.
About OpenStack
OpenStack is the most widely deployed open source software for building clouds. In use globally at large and small enterprises, telecoms, public cloud service providers and government/research organizations, OpenStack is a technology integration engine that supports the diverse ecosystem of cloud computing innovation. Current news and alerts signup at: http://www.openstack.org/news/signup. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005653/en/
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From Esquire
OK, so let's get one thing out of the way here: Don't commit arson. Arson is very bad. So don't do it in general. But, like, definitely don't do it using Cheetos as kindling, because on top of being a violent criminal, you'll make yourself look like an asshole.
TheTaunton Daily Gazette reports that 31-year-old Shemroy Williams from Taunton, Massachusetts, attempted to burn down his ex-girlfriend's house while she was still inside. We can all agree that's a pretty bad move on its own. But get this: He tried to light the home on fire in five different locations until he was apprehended and found to possess two lighters and an empty bag of Cheetos, which he had used to accelerate the fire.
Said District Attorney Thomas Quinn in a statement to the Taunton Gazette:
"The defendant engaged in outrageous behavior that jeopardized the safety of the intended victim, her friend and first responders. I want to thank Deputy Fire Chief Scott Dexter for his quick response and removal of the propane tank. I would also like to thank Judge Brennan for imposing the maximum jail sentence, which was well deserved."
Williams was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars.
(H/T Taunton Daily Gazette)
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A woman in San Isidro, Argentina, dragged a traffic inspector on the hood of her car for around 1,300 feet, on November 16, after she pulled away from a traffic stop.
The 61-year-old woman allegedly drove towards the traffic inspector after he tried to detain for her for failing to produce her car documents during a routine stop, according to Argentinas La Nacion newspaper.
The traffic officer reportedly fractured one knee during the incident, which ended with him jumping off the moving car, as seen in this footage.
The women was arrested shortly after and is being held by police for attempted murder over the incident that occurred in San Isidro, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires. Credit: YouTube/Prensa SanIsidro via Storyful
Photo credit: Getty | Krystalina Tom
From Cosmopolitan
Photo credit: Getty
Ariana Grande might be living in a different decade, as evidenced by her spot-on 90s outfit last night. She showed up to a press junket for her upcoming NBC musical, Hairspray Live!, wearing the most throwback duds around: insanely wide-legged denim overalls.
Said onesie, which had Ariana looking like the lost member of TLC, had exposed seams that were distressed, frayed and, in some locations (ahem, the crotch, ahem), literally sporting foot-long undone threads.
Photo credit: Getty
The loose-fitting pants were wide enough to look like a maxi skirt, but Ariana did some ~moves~ on the carpet that proved there were in fact two legs to the garment.
Photo credit: Getty
She paired the flashback ensemble with a cotton bralette, a choker, diamond stud earrings, and sky-high heels. While posing for pictures, Ari goofed off with her castmates, including Kristen Chenoweth, whom she called the love of my life on Instagram that same evening.
Photo credit: Getty
Fine, but can someone just snip off those loose threads?
Get non-boring fashion and beauty news directly in your feed. Follow Facebook.com/CosmoBeauty.
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By David Schwartz
PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona police officer caught on video punching a woman in her face was put on administrative leave and investigations were underway, the Flagstaff police chief said on Thursday.
"I am as concerned with what is depicted in this video as I know others are," Police Chief Kevin Treadway told a news conference. "I have heard your concerns and the department is taking this incident very seriously."
He said separate internal and criminal investigations had been launched into the Wednesday confrontation between Flagstaff Police Officer Jeff Bonar and Marissa Morris.
Police became aware of the incident after the video surfaced on social media on Wednesday, he said.
Bonar, who has been with the Flagstaff Police Department for less than three years, will be on administrative leave until the investigations have been completed, Treadway said.
Police said Bonar was assisting a county sheriffs deputy with an eviction at residence at about 11 a.m. local time when he recognized Morris, whom he believed had outstanding warrants against her.
The situation became heated as Bonar attempted to detain Morris, Treadway said.
He said the warrants for failing to appear in court on charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest had already been served and were no longer valid.
The video posted on Facebook showed Bonar, Morris and a deputy near a house, and Morris arguing that she did not have an active warrant. Bonar is seen punching her in the face.
Hey, hey, you cant hit a girl like that, a man is heard saying in the background.
She was ushered into a police car.
Treadway said Bonar wrote in the incident report that Morris had kicked and kneed him in the groin before he hit her.
Morris could not be reached for comment.
The Arizona Republic reported that the video was recorded by the brother-in-law of Morris boyfriend.
According to the newspaper story, her boyfriend Jimmy Sedillo said the couple had until Wednesday to comply with an eviction order and that they were preparing to do so when Bonar spotted Morris and the argument ensued.
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He said his children, aged 3 and 9, mother, niece and brother-in-law Danny Paredes witnessed Morris being hit and tackled.
It was just shocking," the newspaper quoted Paredes as saying. I pulled out my camera immediately.
Treadway said the family had yet not been in contact with the police department.
(Editing by Sharon Bernstein)
arrival-feature
Paramount
Director Denis Villenueve (Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario) is so brilliant at shooting a beautiful scene and setting a mood that he gets away with a lot, narratively. In Sicario he never questioned the idea that a street drug dealer in Mexico with five sub-machine guns pointed at him would commit certain suicide trying to shoot back. Theyre crazy drug dealers! Plus them dying in a hail of bullets will look really cool! And damned if it didnt look cool. It looked so cool most of the audience probably didnt question it either. The most intense action sequences since Heat will make you overlook little lapses in logic like that. And Sicario was a step forward from Prisoners, a 153-minute movie about vengeance that never really questioned the idea of vengeance.
Villeneuves latest, Arrival, written by Eric Heisserer (based on a story by Ted Chiang), is another film thats more probably more clever than it is creative, but its also another leap forward for Villeneuve, one step closer to exploring concepts rather than simply arranging them. Just as impressive, his fastballs getting faster even as he expands his repertoire. Not only is Arrival his most thoughtful film, its probably his most competently crafted, even for a guy who makes his bones being cinemas most competent craftsman.
Still, on a lot of levels, Arrival is more a smart arrangement of existing alien movie narratives than it is a new one. The aliens arrive in cool ships, which utilize technologies our human brains can scarcely fathom, and when the government needs someone to communicate with them, they tap the unlikely, lonely academic still reeling from the loss of a child, in this case played by Amy Adams. Could this experience with the aliens help heal old wounds from her personal life? To be sure, the dead kid flashbacks eventually come to something more, which is part of why I think Arrival is Villeneuves best to date. But the problem with retroactively defying a trope is that while were watching it, it still feels like the trope. You think Aw jeez, not another dead kid flashback, and the movie says Well what if it wasnt a dead kid flashback? Would that make it better?
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It does, but I also cant go back in time to reexperience it. Mostly though, Arrival serves up the familiar with such a flourish that you dont really mind. The general idea of wise, benevolent aliens who come to Earth bearing gifts that were too fractious and war-like to receive is pretty old and dull at this point, but like virtually all of Villeneuves movies, Arrival is triumph of execution, not of concept. He piles cool trick on top of cool trick, starting with Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams character, the linguist) and Ian Donnellys (Jeremy Renners character, the physicist) entry into the spaceship, which, thanks to an alien gravity control device, turns the scene into a dazzling exercise in shifting perspective. The aliens themselves turn out to be massive, didgeridoo-voiced elephant trunk things, who hang out in smoky rooms and squirt complex ink sentences with their squid hands. Ill be honest, Ive never seen aliens who communicate via inky smoky ring blown from squid hands, thats quite a touch. The beauty of Villeneuve is that hell take a familiar concept like alien first contact and treat it more like a designers white box challenge than a creative crutch.
The most inventive element of the film is that the plot revolves around a linguistic challenge. The aliens communicate in these inky smoke puffs, which are not only cool to look at, but, according Dr. Louise Banks (perfect Amy Adams character name), theyre an example of non-linear orthography. As in, their sentences have no beginning or end, but rather exist as a kind of infinity circle or ouroboros snake. Its a beautiful plot device because it cant entirely be fathomed, so we just have to take the movies word for it, an element of the time travel paradox similar to Doctor Strange. Its also a retroactive explanation of one of Dr. Banks lines at the beginning of the film, There are certain days that define your story beyond your life.
Arrival is a riff on two linguistic concepts. One, which Dr. Banks mentions by name, is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, where language affects (or determines, depending how strongly you interpret the concept) thought. The idea that language influences thought isnt quite the magic trick in real life as it is in the movie, but thats science fictions job to find magic in the mundane and the arcane. And Sapir-Whorf is Arrivals dinosaur DNA encased in amber. The other idea, not mentioned by name, but underpinning the entire plot, is the embodied cognition of time. Thats where different cultures have different spatial perceptions of time. Western cultures think of time as moving from left to right or backwards to forwards (the future in front, the past behind), whereas Mandarin speakers are likely to think of time moving vertically, from top to bottom. It was recently discovered that a tribe in New Guinea thinks of time as flowing uphill, and not in a straight line. With its smoke-enshrouded didgeridoo elephants and their squid hands, Arrival is essentially asking What if time was a circle? Which is fairly novel, with all due respect to Rust Cohle. The aliens are actually kind of McConaughey-esque, now that I think about it, flying through space in a giant vape cloud. Far out, man.
Could Arrival do without the bellicose military industrial complex constantly angling to screw things up? Absolutely. Not to mention, in this case, theyre constantly micromanaging a rather technical linguistics project in ways that dont make much sense. At least, other than hearkening back to the rich tradition of military representatives being the bad guys in everything from E.T. to Alien and beyond. A familiar story element works when its a jumping off point, not when it feels like youre doing something a certain way automatically, because thats the way its been done, without even remembering why. Its vestigial plotting.
Likewise, Arrivals riff on the linguistics of time (and by extension life and mortality) is so smart and so beautiful that I wish it wasnt also grafted to the trope of tragic motherhood. Especially coming so relatively soon after Sandra Bullocks dead daughter flashbacks (and spaceship as womb metaphors) in Gravity. Its a relationship that goes at least as far back as Aliens, which gave Ripley a daughter, then deleted the scene and then added it back again in the extended version. These are all fine in a vacuum, but if you keep seeing the same story element across different films you start to wonder why it has to be there. Like maybe Hollywood feels compelled to explain why the heroine is up there hanging with aliens instead of home taking care of her kids.
Arrival is clever enough to turn this trope on its head a bit, but it does it retroactively, as a twist (without spoiling too much). A good third act twist expands on what came before it, whereas Arrivals mostly just justifies it. For me that makes it not quite a brilliant film, but definitely a hell of a movie.
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - An automatic insulin delivery system that has performed well in type 1 diabetes patients also proved safe and feasible for type 2 diabetes patients on a general hospital ward, according to a U.K. study. The so-called artificial pancreas, or closed-loop insulin delivery system, monitors blood sugar levels and increases or decreases insulin delivery in response - approximating how a healthy pancreas would work, researchers write in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. The system eliminates the skin-pricks and manual insulin injections that many type 2 diabetes patients currently rely on, the authors note. The artificial pancreas allows more responsive insulin delivery and the expectation, so far supported by clinical studies, is that health outcomes can be improved, said senior author Dr. Roman Hovorka of the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories. But it costs more than injections and requires patients to wear a device around the clock, Hovorka told Reuters Health by email. For the study, the researchers enrolled 40 adults with type 2 diabetes who were receiving insulin therapy in general wards at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. Half received closed-loop insulin delivery and half received conventional insulin injections for three days. The artificial pancreas includes a glucose sensor inserted into the skin, which took measurements every 1 to 10 minutes and used the information to determine how much insulin to deliver. Patients with the artificial pancreas spent about 60 percent of the three-day study period in their target blood sugar range, compared to an average 38 percent of the time in the comparison group. There were no incidents of severe high or low blood sugar in either group and no other adverse events related to the devices. We presently use the closed loop system in people with type 2 diabetes staying in hospital, Hovorka said. Glucose control in hospital is often suboptimal and our aim is to improve it while people with type 2 diabetes are staying in hospital for various reasons such as treating diabetes complications. At the moment, Hovorka and his colleagues are not planning to try the system outside the hospital, he said. Before all people with type 2 diabetes can obtain one, the major issue will be demonstrating cost effectiveness, through larger clinical trials, given the continual push on health care expenditure, he said. Development of commercial systems specifically for type 2 diabetes is also a necessity. This was a small study; a larger one may have found that the artificial pancreas helps reduce the risk of dangerously low or high blood sugar, writes Gerry Rayman of Ipswitch Hospital NHS Trust in Suffolk, U.K., in a commentary accompanying the study. He notes that hospitalized patients are generally sicker than average type 2 diabetics outside hospitals, and whether they are hospitalized for diabetes-related reasons or not, controlling their diabetes in the hospital is an important problem to solve. Right now, good blood sugar control is achieved in these patients just 40 percent of the time, Rayman writes. He questions whether this test represents real-world conditions, where 85 percent of hospital admissions of diabetics are emergencies unrelated to diabetes, so these patients are not usually under the care of diabetes specialists while in the hospital. Even for diabetes specialists, learning to insert and calibrate the glucose sensors can be tricky, and sensors sometimes fail, Rayman notes. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2eK7R55 The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, online November 9, 2016.
Pinkafeld (Austria) (AFP) - Ask the people of Pinkafeld what makes them proud of their pastel-coloured town set amid pine-strewn hills and many will reply "Our flowers", followed by "...and our Norbert".
Prosperous, pretty and almost migrant-free -- rural Austria paradoxically offers a happy hunting ground for far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer and his populist Freedom Party.
Like elsewhere in the countryside, the 45-year-old swept most of the votes in Pinkafeld in the first runoff in May, which was annulled over procedural irregularities.
Back then, he lost by a paper-thin margin to the Greens-backed Alexander Van der Bellen.
Now many Pinkafelders hope "Norbert", as he's affectionately known, will finally emerge victorious on December 4 -- and not just because he's a local resident.
"Hofer's a nice guy who walks his dog around town but I think people here would support him even if he wasn't from Pinkafeld," local newsagent Hannes Stecker told AFP.
"There's a lurch to the right in Austria and Van der Bellen is too left-leaning. That scares people off. I'm not keen on either but because some of my opinions are more on the right side, I vote for Hofer," the 21-year-old said.
Other locals say they are also frustrated with the ruling centrist coalition, in power since 2008.
"I'm so tired of the main parties always lining their pockets and forgetting about us normal folk," said a butcher in her forties who refused to be named.
This fatigue of the establishment stretches far beyond Austria's borders all the way to the other side of the Atlantic where Donald Trump won the US election in a shock upset.
While Trump appears "too excessive" for rural Austrians, the FPOe strikes just the right note.
- Life is good -
Yet, life in Pinkafeld is a far cry from the doomed vision pushed by the party, which has been firing up public anger over refugees and spiralling joblessness.
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Thanks to several large manufacturing companies , unemployment is low and the infrastructure excellent.
Of the 130,000 migrants who have arrived in Austria since 2015, only around 100 have been moved to Pinkafeld -- hardly a visible number compared to the 5,500 residents.
Several schools and a university campus mean cafes are thronging with noisy students on any given day of the week.
The town also draws young families from nearby cities because of the affordable housing, good quality of life and easy transport links to Vienna, an hour's drive north.
"The ambience makes this a lovely town to live in," mayor Kurt Maczek told AFP.
In summer, hordes of tourists arrive armed with cameras to capture the town's elaborate floral arrangements, which won a prestigious international prize in 2002.
- 'Tangible fear' -
But all this hasn't stopped a growing sense of unease from bubbling up to Pinkafeld's prim and proper surface.
Last month, unknown perpetrators spray-painted an "SS" symbol and racist slogan on the door of a doctor who is part of a local refugee volunteer group.
The attack prompted a couple of hundred people to organise a flash mob in support of Rainer Oblak outside his surgery.
"I think this was just a stupid action by some idiots. I don't want to excuse or justify it but I think it's a one-off. I don't see this as a sign of people's radicalisation... We're not overburdened with refugees," local FPOe MP Peter Jauschowetz told AFP.
For the doctor, however, the incident cannot be brushed aside so easily.
"There's been a lot of tangible insecurity and even fear because of the populist side stoking jealousy and hatred," Oblak told AFP.
Mayor Maczek also warned that public concerns over refugees were real.
Ignoring these concerns is what has cost his party, the Social Democrats, and their ruling coalition partner voters across the country, he said.
"Migrants are definitely the big issue," said Christian Akanatovic, a German who moved to Pinkafeld five years ago.
"If I was allowed to vote here, I would vote Hofer. I understand that we need to help people from war-torn countries... But to accept one million refugees (in Europe) without checking their identity is just too extreme," the hotel receptionist, 44, told AFP.
For observers, the FPOe's rural success is not just down to Hofer -- seen as the far-right's "friendly face" -- but also to what his 72-year-old rival Van der Bellen stands for.
The ex-Green Party leader and university professor "is simply a no-go for the countryside. He doesn't represent their lifestyle or values," analyst Peter Hajek said.
There are nonetheless some dissenting voices in Pinkafeld, including elderly handyman Karl Janitsch.
"I will always vote Van der Bellen. If we allow the FPOe in, it's the end of democracy as we know it."
Technology has leveled the playing field for small businesses, allowing them to market their offerings, process and ship orders, and manage their accounting processes with minimal staff. But even a one-person operation can sometimes suffer from tech failure, which can disrupt operations and cut into earnings.
While there are many third-party services that can help a business with its IT needs, troubleshooting software and hardware problems are only part of what a corporate IT team does. Its important that small business owners pay close attention to what large companies do in order to remain competitive. Here are a few things you can learn from corporate IT departments.
Security First
Survey any IT department and youll likely find security is a top priority. Protecting the sensitive information housed on a businesss servers and devices is essential. This is equally true for small businesses, which can often be targeted by attackers due to the assumption that they wont have top-notch protection in place. Consider the cost of a security breach and protect your business with malware protection and strong passwords that you change frequently. Many businesses contract with cloud providers for their hosting and applications, but its important to carefully review the security precautions those third-party companies take to protect their customers.
Equipment Replacement
Large IT departments often put an equipment replacement cycle in effect. This avoids unexpected breakdowns by replacing computers, laptops, printers, and other electronics once they reach their fourth or fifth year. Unfortunately, many small businesses wait until a device fails to replace it, leaving them stranded until they can purchase and prepare something new. Not only does this lead to downtime, but it also impacts productivity, since equipment usually slows down as it ages. By simply building computer replacement into your budget every four to five years and mobile device replacement within three years, youll keep your business moving forward. Before you officially replace anything, conduct thorough analysis to ensure youre adequately filling the needs of your business.
Legal Considerations
In addition to security breaches, businesses also must protect themselves against legal troubles. As San Diego attorney Chris Movafagh explains, businesses without IT departments need to realize their legal obligations when it comes to preserving emails and documents. If, for some reason, your company should find itself in legal hot water, your failure to save and back up your crucial files could cost you in court.
As a business, youre responsible for storing both electronic and paper-based data, especially once legal proceedings are underway, says Movafagh. Its important that small businesses realize that they could be asked to explain their electronic data storage procedures in a court of law and put processes in place that theyll be proud to disclose.
Disaster Preparedness
Disasters happen unexpectedly, from fires to earthquakes to floods and beyond. If your building is impacted by one of these events, it could destroy everything youve worked so hard to build. In fact, 40 percent of businesses do not open after a catastrophe, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). Of those that survive, another 25 percent fail within one year. Consider how quickly youd be able to get your business operational after different types of disasters. In addition to ensuring all of your data is backed up to the cloud, you should also be prepared for all of your employees to work remotely should your building become uninhabitable.
Employee Independence
The goal of any successful corporate IT team is to empower its end users to manage the technology they use each day. Its important to first hire employees who possess the basic computer skills necessary to do the work. However, once hired, you can also boost productivity by providing training, whether it relates to your own specialized software or basic applications. There are now so many training opportunities available online, you can give your workers access to classes they can take directly from their computer.
For corporate IT departments, keeping employees productive and safe is a top priority. Small businesses can learn from their much larger counterparts, using the many third-party services available to remain competitive. Its important to always come up with strategies for improving the technology your business uses to keep things moving forward. In doing so, youll be able to see quick growth.
Edited by Alicia Young
BII Drone
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Lockheed Martin, a prominent aerospace developer, recently showed off four unmanned aircraft, including a self-flying helicopter, that are designed to fight forest fires, reports Wired.
These tests highlight the many potential public safety uses for drones and other unmanned aircraft, and could spur increased municipal adoption in the coming years.
The test showcased a drone, known as the Indago, that identifies a fire using infrared technology and directs the K-Max chopper to that location. K-Max was outfitted by Lockheed Martin to fly autonomously, initially for use in war zones such as Afghanistan.
Helicopters could be put to use fighting fires in the next three to five years, according to Lockheeds Business Development Head John McMillan. While the Indago drone is already assisting in fighting fires by itself in Australia, the task of retrofitting a firefighting helicopter to fly autonomously provides a more substantial engineering and programming challenge.
Autonomous aircraft manufacturers could target states and municipalities in the future to fight both crime and natural disasters. In addition to fighting wildfires, autonomous helicopters and drones could help better identify criminals over large areas that uniformed police officers cannot see with their own eyes.
Further, since drones have already been tested to deliver medical supplies in the event of a natural disaster, it would be a relatively easy transition for them to move to fighting natural disasters. These sorts of autonomous aircraft could become highly popular as forest fires and similar natural disasters continue to pose risks to communities.
Drones turned the corner in 2015 to become a popular consumer device, while a framework for regulation that legitimizes drones in the US began to take shape. Technological and regulatory barriers still exist to further drone adoption.
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Drone manufacturers and software providers are quickly developing technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance that will make flying drones safer. The accelerating pace of drone adoption is also pushing governments to create new regulations that balance safety and innovation.
Safer technology and better regulation will open up new applications for drones in the commercial sector, including drone delivery programs like Amazons Prime Air and Googles Project Wing initiatives.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed drones report that forecasts sales revenues for consumer, enterprise, and military drones. It also projects the growth of drone shipments for consumers and enterprises.
The report details several of worlds major drone suppliers and examines trends in drone adoption among several leading industries. Finally, it examines the regulatory landscape in several markets and explains how technologies like obstacle avoidance and drone-to-drone communications will impact drone adoption.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
We project revenues from drones sales to top $12 billion in 2021, up from just over $8 billion last year.
Shipments of consumer drones will more than quadruple over the next five years, fueled by increasing price competition and new technologies that make flying drones easier for beginners.
Growth in the enterprise sector will outpace the consumer sector in both shipments and revenues as regulations open up new use cases in the US and EU, the two biggest potential markets for enterprise drones.
Technologies like geo-fencing and collision avoidance will make flying drones safer and make regulators feel more comfortable with larger numbers of drones taking to the skies.
Right now FAA regulations have limited commercial drones to a select few industries and applications like aerial surveying in the agriculture, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
The military sector will continue to lead all other sectors in drone spending during our forecast period thanks to the high cost of military drones and the growing number of countries seeking to acquire them.
In full, the report:
Compares drone adoption across the consumer, enterprise, and government sectors.
Breaks down drone regulations across several key markets and explains how theyve impacted adoption.
Discusses popular use cases for drones in the enterprise sector, as well as nascent use case that are on the rise.
Analyzes how different drone manufacturers are trying to differentiate their offerings with better hardware and software components.
Explains how drone manufacturers are quickly enabling autonomous flight in their products that will be a major boon for drone adoption.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, youve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the world of drones.
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What could be mistaken for a futuristic water cannon is actually a piece of technology developed more than 50 years ago that is destined to help launch NASA's next megarocket, the Space Launch System.
The RL10, a rocket engine developed in the 1950s by Pratt & Whitney, flew first in 1963. This engine has traveled to each planet in our solar system, powering spacecraft such as Voyager 1 the first to reach interstellar space.
The RL10 rocket engine out-performs all other current engines and has over half a century of performance and documented reliability to its name. With more than 400 flights, over 15,000 hot fires on record and more than 2.3 million seconds of hot fire operation time with a greater than 0.999 demonstrated reliability during its use, the RL10 has earned its place in history. [The World's Tallest Rockets: How They Stack Up]
Because of its stellar record and its technically mature design, this rocket engine will make its way from the history books into the future of human spaceflight.
NASA's new Space Launch System, or SLS for short, will utilize this upper stage engine to launch an Orion spacecraft in the latter part of 2018 as well as eventually sending astronauts beyond the moon. Aerojet Rocketdyne of West Palm Beach, Florida will produce several RL10C-3 engines for NASA, powering its several planned deep space missions, with the ultimate goal being NASA's Journey to Mars.
According to James Burnum, NASA SLS Liquid Engines RL10 manager, "Engines are one of the most complex rocket elements We need a reliable engine with a proven track record that has the performance to power humans to deep space."
Using the RL10 "leverages existing propulsion technology to provide SLS with a robust engine in a timely manner [avoiding] costs associated with a new engine development program," added Steve Wofford, SLS Liquid Engines manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the SLS Program is managed.
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The $174 million, 8-year contract leaves Aerojet Rocketdyne responsible for the management, testing (at NASA's West Palm Beach, Florida test facility), certification and delivery of the engines.
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com .
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When 6-year-old Logan Peon got an ear infection last year, his pediatrician in Chicago gave him antibiotics. That should've been the end to a typical childhood illness.
But Peon had acquired a drug-resistant bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Round after round of antibiotics failed to clear up the boy's painful infection and left him sick from side effects.
"It didn't matter what we did, we couldn't get rid of it," his mother Katie Fearon recalled.
SEE ALSO: Bacteria in our mouths may hold clues about why people get migraines
Her son eventually went to the hospital this fall to receive antibiotics intravenously. Fearon said she hopes this will finally do the trick. "It's just relentless," she told Mashable.
Drug-resistant infections like Peon's are rising among U.S. children, according to a new study in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
A doctor performs a physical exam on a fourth-grader in Cicero, Illinois.
Image: tom boyle/Getty Images
Researchers found increasing rates of antibiotic resistance among samples of P. aeruginosa collected from pediatric patients nationwide. Left on their own, these infections can lead to severe illnesses, longer hospital stays and raise the risk of death.
"It's becoming more complex and difficult to treat," said Latania Logan, a co-author of the study and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Globally, infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis are becoming harder to treat across the board as antibiotics grow less effective. The World Health Organization now lists antibiotic resistance as one of the biggest threats to global health.
Too many prescriptions
The main reason for this scary trend is that we're taking too many antibiotics. Doctors might prescribe the pills as a catch-all cure when no treatment, or a different medication, is more appropriate. Patients similarly expect their doctors to prescribe antibiotics for whatever ails them. Or they might self-medicate or share leftover pills.
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In addition, there has been a shift toward using large amounts of antibiotics in the livestock industry, which is also increasing the incidence of drug resistant bacteria.
By reducing the collective use of antibiotics, we could help reduce the spreading of highly resistant bacteria, doctors say. Until then, children like Peon may be increasingly at risk of hard-to-treat infections.
A pharmacy manager in Miami counts out the correct number of antibiotic pills to fill a prescription.
Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
For the study, Dr. Logan and her co-authors analyzed clinical data from about 300 hospitals nationwide for the years 1999 to 2012.
P. aeruginosa infections are fairly common among people with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disorder, so the researchers did not include those patients. The team studied samples from patients ages 1 to 17 who were in various health care settings at the time, such as an intensive care unit or in outpatient treatment.
While healthy people can acquire the bacteria, P. aeruginosa is more prone to attack patients who already have a compromised immune system. Six-year-old Peon, for instance, has always been prone to infections and is often at the hospital, where he may have picked up the ear infection, his mother said.
The researchers found the proportion of bacterial stains that are resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics rose from 15.4 percent in 1999 to 26 percent in 2012. The proportion of strains resistant to carbapenems a class of antibiotics considered a treatment of last resort for highly resistant infections rose from 9.4 percent to 20 percent.
Electron micrograph of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Image: Cultura/ap images
Drug resistance was most common in teenage patients, ages 13 to 17, and more prevalent in the Midwest, according to the Nov. 17 study.
The research is the first to examine national trends in P. aeruginosa infections.
Roberto Posada, a pediatrics specialist who was not involved in the research, said the findings provide important insight for medical professionals and families trying to understand the rising threat of drug-resistant infections.
Growing resistance to carbapenems in particular "has serious consequences" for infections in children, said Posada, who is a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Logan said she hoped the findings would help get the word out to not only researchers but also nurses, home health care providers and other caregivers of sick children who may be at a higher risk of acquiring these serious infections.
"I don't know that people are as aware of how threatening this problem really is," she told Mashable.
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Donald Trump's impending move to the White House is doing little to dispel concerns from the Baltic states about a revitalized Russia, something NATO's top general is watching closely.
"We have to deal with Russia as a country that is using military power to pursue its political objectives. We are doing our best to deter them from any such intention," Gen. Petr Pavel told Chris Hall in an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House.
This week, Lithuania's Foreign Minister LinasLinkeviciustold the BBC the Russian leader may test NATO in the weeks before Trump becomes president.
"Russia is not a superpower, it's a super problem," Linkevicius told the British news outlet. "I'm very afraid and concerned about this period, not just because of the regions which are close to here, but let's hope that Aleppo [in Syria] is not smashed from the ground by then."
Pavel said he doesn't think Russia would provoke NATO "at this point," but didn't rule out an eventual test of NATO's resolve.
"Given the unpredictability of Russian behaviour, it's difficult to talk about anything 100 per cent," he said.
"From a large point of view, I don't believe Russia would gain anything from testing NATO at this point, because if President [Vladimir] Putin says he wants to have more dialogue with the United States and even NATO, such an action wouldn't support that effort."
Baltic nations fear neighbouring Russia
Roland Paris, the research chair in international security and governance at the University of Ottawa and a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, says a Russian move is unlikely to happen soon, but would likely occur in the Baltics.
"NATO represents both a threat to [Putin's] ambitions and it symbolizes the coherence of the West, which he's seeking to undermine. So to the extent that Putin can weaken NATO's credibility, resolve and integrity, I think that he'll do what he can," he said.
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A test could involve using local proxies and pro-Russian groups to stir unrest and provoke instability, said Paris.
"It's hypothetical, but we've seen a game plan that Putin has used in other places, including in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova," he said.
Trump has spoken favourably about Putin, which has intensified fears in the Baltic countries about how an emboldened Russia will act.
"Their concern is justified. They are living close to Russia. They face on the daily basis the effects of a continuous information and propaganda campaign," said Pavel, the first NATO military chairman from a former Eastern Bloc state, what is now the Czech Republic.
On Friday, Putin met with top military leaders at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where he said Russia is working to develop new weapons to ensure a global strategic balance. He vowed to fend off threats posed by NATO's U.S.-led missile defence system.
Pavel said strong deterrence and defence coupled with dialogue with Russia the approach agreed upon earlier this year at the NATO meeting in Poland is the way forward.
Canada's deterrence role
Canada will play a role in that deterrence next year when it moves about 450 troops into Latvia.
Russia has been building up its presence in Kaliningrad, its province sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, with nuclear-capable missiles.
"Russia has increased its military capabilities significantly over, I'll say, the last decade," Pavel said, adding NATO troops stationed in neighbouring countries will show Russia "such a policy wouldn't be successful."
The general, who is in Canada for the annual Halifax International Security Forum, wouldn't delve into what Trump's win could mean for NATO. During one of the election debates, Trump suggested America wouldn't defend allies who didn't contribute sufficiently to the alliance.
U.S. President Barack Obama expressed hope Thursday that Trump would stand up to Russia when it deviates from U.S. "values and international norms."
Pavel said there's a difference between what is said during an election campaign and what is actually accomplished once in power.
"We believe there is a great deal of continuity and mutual interests on both sides of the Atlantic," he said.
Paris agrees the United States benefits from international stability, but an unconventional president means nothing is guaranteed.
"Nobody knows what Trump is going to do in foreign policy as president," he said.
"If he were to turn into policy everything that he said on the campaign, then we would be in a very uncomfortable position right now."
Thanks to its many qualities, the Catalan capital has been rated Europe's best destination for weekend getaways. The transport reservation platform GoEuro studied various price-based criteria relating to nightlife, accommodation and more to draw up a list of Europe's top cities for weekenders.
For each city, GoEuro studied the nightlife -- the number of bars and clubs open late and the average price of a beer -- as well as activities and shopping, the price of eating out, the average cost of accommodation per person per night, and the price of public transport and taxis, giving each destination a score out of 100. The ranking is based on data from TripAdvisor and recommendations from specialists like Time Out magazine.
The Spanish city of Barcelona tops the list, with a score of 98.3 out of 100. Its buzzing nightlife and the low cost of eating out makes the city a great choice for a fun weekend away that won't break the bank. Barcelona also comes top of the individual ranking for bars and restaurants.
Similarly, Berlin stands out for the quality of its nightlife. Although the German capital comes third (95.8/100) in the general ranking, the city comes top in this particular field. This will come as little surprise to many travelers, since Berlin is a well-known hotspot in Europe for clubbers and partygoers, and specifically for its electronic music scene. As well as Berlin, GoEuro recommends Krakow in Poland (2nd), Kiev in Ukraine (4th) and Madrid in Spain (5th) for weekenders looking to party.
The Czech capital Prague takes second place in the general ranking, scoring 96.1/100. The city stands out from rivals on the podium thank to the wealth of activities it offers to visitors. Although the birthplace of Kafka can't match the British capital London (1st) or France's Paris (2nd) on that front, the combination of Prague's rich and diverse activities, its lively nightlife and its good-value restaurants sees the city take second place overall.
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The 10 best European cities for weekend breaks
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. Berlin, Germany
4. Madrid, Spain
5. London, United Kingdom
6. Paris, France
7. Lisbon, Portugal
8. Krakow, Poland
9. Budapest, Hungary
10. Seville, Spain
In late 2014, Paul Verhoeven began to experience pain - deep, searing migraines that struck him at all times of the day and night. He consulted doctor after doctor, underwent test after test at home in Los Angeles and at his pied-a-terre in The Hague, Netherlands, and yet no cause was found, no explanation given. Then the headaches vanished as mysteriously as they had arrived.
Was it a coincidence that the problems began after Verhoeven, 78, agreed to direct his first feature film in a decade - Sony Pictures Classics' Elle, a provocative drama starring Isabelle Huppert, 63, which opened Nov. 16 in Los Angeles - and after he learned the movie would be shot in French, a language he had not spoken with any frequency for 60 years?
"It was fear," he acknowledges, sitting in the airy living room of his Pacific Palisades home one October afternoon, projecting very little fear at all. "Ultimately, when I started to realize I could do it, [the headaches] disappeared. It was undoubtedly stress."
He bends toward a large, timid golden doodle that has just loped into the room. "It took him a while to feel safe around men - even me," says the director.
It's hard to reconcile this smiling, energetic man with the polarizing figure whose films have pushed the boundaries of sex and violence, who has offended as many people as he has entertained and who has been accused of everything from misogyny to sexual obsession. This is the man producer Irwin Winkler once tossed out of his house, repelled by Verhoeven's erotic plans for 1992's Basic Instinct; the man who was lambasted by The Washington Post for 1997's Starship Troopers, featuring iconography it deemed "Nazi to the core"; and the man who drew protests in his native Holland for a gay rape scene in his early film Spetters.
A filmmaker of relentless intellectual curiosity (his home is filled with thousands of books), who speaks enthusiastically about almost any topic you raise, he's also a man of hidden extremes, whose complexities are kept "secret" even from those who know him well, says his Elle producer Said Ben Said.
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"He's someone who doesn't easily open up, though he's very likable and joyful in life, very human," says Ben Said. "But as an artist, his work speaks for him."
Verhoeven is an atheist who spent years investigating the life of Christ, and even wrote a book about him, 2007's Jesus of Nazareth; a political liberal who borrowed from Leni Riefenstahl in Troopers; and a vibrant presence who acknowledges a more fragile side, an inner fissure that once led to a near crackup.
Photographed by Joe Pugliese
A similar fissure may be present in the heroine of Elle, a successful businesswoman who is raped by a masked intruder and perversely welcomes his return. The $9 million movie played at Cannes, where it was inaccurately described as a "rape comedy"; in fact, it's far more dramatic and nuanced.
When Ben Said bought the rights to Philippe Djian's novel Oh and asked Verhoeven to direct, his intent was to make a Hollywood film. Then one major star after another turned it down. "The result was pretty bad," says Verhoeven, who won't name names (they reportedly included Nicole Kidman). "There was a resolute and very fast response: no."
After two months of rejection, Ben Said proposed making the film in France. "I said yes," says Verhoeven, "and in the [following] weeks started to realize what that meant."
Huppert, a two-time best actress winner at Cannes (Violette Noziere, The Piano Teacher), immediately agreed to star and then met with Verhoeven to discuss the project.
Courtesy of Guy Ferrandis/SBS Productions/Sony Pictures Classiscs
"We didn't talk about her character because it wasn't necessary," says Verhoeven. "There was an intuitive connection we felt, and during the shoot, we discussed many other things - staging, costume - but never the character." As to the nudity and violence in the picture, "She didn't care. If she believes in the character, she will do whatever is necessary."
Huppert found her director to be kind and understanding - rather different from what she might have expected. "There's a misunderstanding about him," she says. "His support was immense."
A start date was set for January 2015, and Verhoeven immersed himself in French. He had lived in France as a student; now he took a crash course in the language, speaking 10 hours a day. When he moved to France, "I said, 'OK, I won't speak English anymore.' "
A 52-day shoot got underway in Paris. Despite the challenges of the material, filming went smoothly. The $9 million picture debuted at Cannes in May of this year, earning the director some of his best reviews. THR's reviewer Jordan Mintzer said it "will finally bring Verhoeven back into the spotlight after a decade-long absence."
Still, the rape sequences make the movie's reception by the Academy a wild card at a time when memories are fresh of a president-elect who was caught on tape discussing sexual assault. And Verhoeven has at times not only pinpointed the zeitgeist but tripped over it.
Verhoeven's first powerful memory is of bombs falling on The Hague during the war, and the sky turning red from all the fires. He was 6 years old and mesmerized.
"I grew up among bombing and deaths and hunger and starving and dead people and blood," recalls the only child of a school principal and a homemaker. "The Hague was bombed because of the rocket launchers there. The whole region was bombed all the time."
Courtesy of Guy Ferrandis/SBS Productions/Sony Pictures Classiscs
Once, he was compelled to walk past a row of cadavers the Nazis had lined up, after executing the victims as payback for the killing of a German officer. "They took 10 political prisoners out of prison, put them against the wall and shot them," he says. "It felt like, 'This is what happens if you are against us.' "
He shrugs off the long-ago experience, but acknowledges its weight. "If you believe in the Freudian explanation for things, you would say that, growing up in a world that's continually in flames, you [develop] the feeling that that's the way the world is," he says.
After studying mathematics at Leiden University, Verhoeven did his military service in the navy, where he developed his interest in film and made an award-winning documentary. That led to work in TV.
But after marrying young (he remains with his wife of almost 50 years, Martine Tours, a psychologist) and returning to civilian life, he felt lost. When a passer-by handed him a religious leaflet, he was drawn to the Pentecostal movement; it was after his initial visits to the church that he had his quasi-breakdown.
"There was an episode when I was in my 20s, that I got myself in what you would probably call a religious psychosis," he says. "That's a big word for starting to see reality in a different way. I was aware that if I [wasn't] careful, it would take over. As they say in Total Recall, the walls of reality would fall apart."
When pushed to explain, he compares his experience to that of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher who had a mental breakdown, after which he spent his life in an asylum. Does Verhoeven mean something that extreme?
"It was really a feeling of threat, that your subconscious would take over the rest of your brain," he says. "I mean, a feeling that you would lose [it]. You feel a force in your brain that will take over. And I think my interest in double realities - in Total Recall and other movies - is [based on] my knowledge that the brain can be brought [to this point]."
Could that mental imbalance strike him again? "Sure," he says. "Sometimes I feel if I let myself go in that direction, it would happen. But when it presents itself, I just block it out."
Verhoeven quickly made his name as a director with such movies as Soldier of Orange (1977), Spetters (1980) and The Fourth Man (1983), all commercial hits in Europe and widely admired in America. But controversy dogged him. Spetters, in particular, stoked outrage in the LGBT community, with a gay gang-rape scene that proved inflammatory.
The controversy didn't rattle Verhoeven, but he acknowledges that "it became more difficult for me, especially with the things I had been doing, which had been criticized left, right and center as being perverted and decadent. Spetters was attacked as being anti-women, anti-gay, anti-people that were paralyzed. It became so difficult to get money [for films]. I felt I had to beg or be on my knees, and I thought that was absurd."
He decided to relocate to Hollywood, even though "I felt very comfortable in Holland, and I feared to go to the U.S. It's different - the language, the culture. It's not your home. But at a certain point, Martine said, 'This flirting with the U.S. should stop. We should just go.' "
In 1985, the couple and their two daughters started their lives anew in Los Angeles (one daughter is now a professor of revolutionary terrorism at Cornell, the other a painter), where the director switched styles, becoming an A-list helmer known for elevating genre movies such as 1987's RoboCop and 1990's Total Recall with a unique visual flair and electric wit. From the late '80s to the mid-'90s, he was among the most successful artists in Hollywood. Then came 1995's Showgirls.
The drama about women trying to make it in Las Vegas was a financial flop and critical bomb ("A film of thunderous oafishness that gives adult subject matter the kind of bad name it does not need or deserve," said Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times). The $45 million movie made less than half of that domestically. "It was difficult for people to accept this movie in any way," says Verhoeven. After that, "I was in Hollywood prison."
He laughs it off, then reaches down for the coffee and cookies his wife has just brought us, and runs his hand through his iron-gray mane of hair. If the Showgirls fallout still bothers him, he doesn't reveal it.
Verhoeven followed that with Starship Troopers, a film about humans fighting killer bugs. "We were using the original story [in Robert Heinlein's novel] and commenting on it, which was subversive," he says. He adds that he has no interest in the remake. "They want to go closer to the novel. We had a discomfort with it. We didn't want to say this military-fascist utopia was good."
Even as Starship was being condemned, Verhoeven's intellectual pursuits were tugging him away from the Hollywood mainstream.
Since the mid-1980s, he had been a member of the Jesus Seminar, a somewhat controversial collection of theologians who wish to place Jesus in his context as a man - a great one, but not the son of God. "They had started to study the historicity of Jesus' actions and words," he explains. "I thought, 'OK, I should join them,' because I wanted to make a movie on what really happened, and not even what the Gospels tell me."
He has yet to make his Life of Jesus, which would portray Christ, warts and all. "[Christ] was drinking a lot and liked to eat," the director notes. "That should be seen. And he was an exorcist, a real one."
Verhoeven spent years researching that subject and continued to do so during the fallow period after his last American film, 2000's The Hollow Man, an Invisible Man update starring Kevin Bacon that Verhoeven clearly abhors. "I've never done a movie that in retrospect I cannot defend," he says. "I can defend Showgirls, but not Hollow Man."
Photographed by Joe Pugliese
His last movie before Elle was 2006's The Black Book, about a Jewish woman who joins the Resistance in Holland and falls in love with an SS officer. It is as troubling as it is entertaining, pushing on the side of its charismatic Nazi, even as we know he has been part of the genocide machine.
Verhoeven seems strangely blinkered to the ethical dilemma his hero poses. "People are good and bad," he says. "You cannot say all Nazis were horrible and all the Resistance good. This was based on a real character who was called 'the Soft One,' because he was a very decent man."
It's late afternoon as we talk about the film, and I ponder what he has just said. Some part of me understands, another part wonders - a good Nazi?
I try to make sense of this brilliant but confounding man, as his dog wanders back, eyes me warily and sniffs my recorder. It strikes me what a gulf there is between the man I'm sitting with and the more turbulent artist inside. Huppert speaks of his "real delicateness. He's the complete opposite of his films."
The comfort of his home seems poles apart from the uncomfortableness of his films - as if the duality we find in his movies has its best embodiment in Verhoeven himself. He has created an outer life that's almost at odds with his inner one. It's a theme he plans to explore further in other pictures, now that he's back behind the camera. And he has no plans to let Hollywood derail him again. "They applaud comebacks here," he says happily. "You can fall as deep as you want. But if you come back, you're OK."
This story first appeared in the Nov. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Near Tal Saman (Syrie) (AFP) - A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance on Friday fought fiercely to drive the Islamic State group from a hilltop north of the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital of Raqa.
The fighting took place as a senior official with the Syrian Democratic Forces told AFP that US-led coalition forces had not only provided weapons to the alliance but was also engaged in combat on the ground.
The SDF -- which on November 5 launched an offensive to retake Raqa city with support from the coalition -- encircled the village of Tal Saman, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Raqa.
Fighting also raged between the SDF and IS inside Tal Saman, an officer said after returning from the front.
"The jihadists have sent three car bombs since Thursday. Our forces managed to blow them up," said Farhad Kurdistan said.
"Our forces are using heavy weapons because Daesh is putting up tough resistance," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
SDF fighters said Tal Saman offers a view of surrounding rocky desert terrain and villages near Raqa, which has been under IS control since 2014.
"Daesh is resisting because Tal Saman is on a hill from which one can see the villages" outside Raqa city, another officer said, asking to remain anonymous.
Nasser Hajj Mansur, an adviser to the SDF general command, said the alliance had received better weaponry from the international coalition against IS.
"The coalition was already supporting us in the Raqa campaign by supplying arms, equipment, troop transport, armour and ammunition," he said.
"But recently, the deliveries have become greater, both in terms of quantity and quality," he told AFP, without going into specifics.
He said "the actions of coalition forces are not confined to advice and air coordination, they are directly involved in operations on the ground".
In neighbouring Iraq, US-backed forces are also pressing an assault to retake the IS bastion of Mosul from the jihadists.
The battle against IS in both countries is taking place against the backdrop of a conflict in Syria that has killed more than 300,000 people since it erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.
It has since escalated into a complex, multi-faceted war.
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Orange County, CA, BJs Restaurants (BJRI) owns and operates a chain of 186 high-end casual dining restaurants in 24 states. Their signature menu items include deep dish pizza, craft beer and pizookie dessert. They call their positioning contemporary, high-quality, casual plus.
Results Disappoint
The company reported lackluster Q3 results, missing both on the top and bottom lines. Adjusted earnings of $0.30 per share fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.32 by 6.3%.
Revenues increased 1.9% year over year to $233.7 million but were below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $239 million by 2.2%.
Did the Presidential Election Impact Results?
According to the management, businesses dependent on consumer discretionary spending were challenged by a variety of macro factors including the timing of the Summer Olympics as well as the current economic uncertainty arising from the political elections.
The CEO Greg Trojan said the election had created "a nearly unprecedented level of negativity and doubt in the minds of everyday American citizens."
Falling Estimates
Analysts have slashed their estimates for the company after disappointing results. Zacks Consensus Estimates for the current and the next fiscal year have fallen to $1.75 per share and $1.95 per share respectively, from $1.82 and $2.10, 30 days ago. Declining estimates sent the stock to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
The Bottom-Line
While the company has taken a number of positive steps in recent years, including introduction of a new menu in February 2014, simplifying kitchen processes under project Q and cost control initiatives, a challenging sales environment continues to pose headwinds.
Further the Zacks Industry Rank of 192 out of 265 (bottom 28%) also indicates chances of underperformance in the short-term.
According to the latest MillerPulse survey, same-store sales fell 0.6% in October in the worst performance for the restaurant industry in more than three years. Traffic at the restaurants continued to decline as investors remained reluctant to spend.
But there are a handful of companies in the industry that have reported strong results despite industry headwinds. Investors should take a look at Dominos Pizza (DPZ), which currently enjoys a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
More Stocks to Sell. Now.
Beyond our Bear Stock of the Day, today's list of 220 Zacks Rank #5 Strong Sells demand even more urgent attention. If any are lurking in your portfolio or Watch List, they should be removed immediately. Many appear to be sound investments but, since 1988, such stocks have actually performed more than 11X worse than the S&P 500.
See today's Zacks ""Strong Sells"" absolutely free >>.
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President-elect Donald Trumps transition team is all in the family. Three of his children Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka are involved in the transition, though the President-elect denied reports that his team requested top-level security clearance for them and his son-in-law, former New York Observer publisher Jared Kushner. When Kushner was spotted taking a walk with President Barack Obamas Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Thursdaythe same day that Trump and Obama met for the first timethe sighting quickly led to rumors that Kushner wants a job in the White House. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is talking to lawyers about possible roles and has reportedly expressed a willingness to stop receiving income from his own real estate company if it proves to be a conflict of interest.
But at least one federal law limits the types of jobs that Trump could give to his children and even Kushner, who all count as relatives under The Federal Anti-Nepotism Statute. According to that law, A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official.
Violators are not entitled to pay.
This provision went into effect six years after John F. Kennedy made his brother Robert F. Kennedy the U.S. Attorney General in 1961, so it has been nicknamed the Bobby Kennedy Law. (JFKs brother-in-law Sergeant Shriver also ran the Peace Corps.) The Nation blasted the appointment as the greatest example of nepotism this land has ever seen, while Newsweek called it a travesty of justice. Irresponsible, said a New York Times editorial: It is simply not good enough to name a bright young political manager, no matter how bright or how young or how personally loyal, to a major post in government. The President would shrug off criticism by joking, I cant see that its wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law.
It is often reported that Robert Kennedys appointment was the reason for the statute and some historians believe it was added to the Postal Revenue and Federal Salary Act of 1967 at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who used to call RFK a snot-nosed son of a bitch.
But the Acts sponsor, Rep. Neal Smith (D-Iowa), later denied that argument in an interview with the Des Moines Register. Smith claimed that his goal was to crack down on nepotism at smaller post offices and Congress, because when he arrived on Capitol hill in the early 60s, there were 50 members who had their wives on the payrolls, as he told the newspaper.
Some were doing a good job, buttwo-thirds of them didnt do any work at all, he said. We cant prohibit someone from getting a job just because they have a certain relative, but you need to make sure its not going too far.
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Twenty years later, in 1987, an investigation published by the news agency United Press International reported that at least 73 relatives of lawmakers had been on the congressional payroll since June 1986 because members of Congress were skirting the 1967 anti-nepotism statute by getting them jobs at other House and Senate offices. For instance, a congressmans wife was a staff assistant on her husbands subcommittee, while two congressman essentially traded their kids. [A]n applicant has to only mention his or her widely recognized surname to get a job, the article said. Though a substantial number of those hired in that category were merely summer interns, others were staff members who went to great lengths to conceal their relationships with representatives.
Legal experts are divided on how to apply this anti-nepotism statute. Some claim U.S. Code Title 3 gives Trump some leeway in tapping people and possibly family members to serve at the pleasure of the president on the White House staff, because the anti-nepotism law applies to federal agencies and not the White House. Others say Kushner could serve in the White House if he is not paid.
The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is well-acquainted with this statute, since many accused her husband, Bill Clinton, of violating it when he made her chair of a health reform task force when he was President. But in March 1993, a federal appeals court ruled that she was a de facto federal official on her own merit, arguing that there was a longstanding tradition of public service by First Ladieswho have acted (albeit in the background) as advisers and personal representatives of their husbands.
[T]he Arkansas Governor casually points to his wife in the easy chair next to him, noted TIMEs 1992 Man of the Year feature on Bill Clinton, when asked who will be the Bobby Kennedy of his Administration.
Cash is crucial to a company and offers strength and vitality. It gives a company the flexibility to make investment decisions and fuel to run its growth engine.
In fact, even a profit-making company can have a dearth of cash flow and fail to meet its obligations. But a companys resiliency can be fairly judged when its efficacy in generating cash flows is assessed. Because cash not only shields a company from market mayhem but also indicates that profits are being channelized in the right direction.
To find out this efficiency, one needs to consider a companys net cash flow. While, in any business, cash moves in and out, it is net cash flow that explains how much money the company is actually generating.
If a company is experiencing a positive cash flow then it denotes an increase in its liquid assets, which gives it the means to meet debt obligations, shell out for expenses, reinvest in business, endure downturns and finally return wealth to shareholders. On the other hand, a negative cash flow indicates a decline in the companys liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.
But positive cash flow alone is not sufficient to predict a companys future growth. A company can competently grow only when this positive cash flow is rising. Increasing cash flow indicates managements efficiency in regulating its cash movements and less dependency on outside financing for running its business.
So, while picking stocks, look beyond profits and select companies with dependable and increasing cash flows.
Screening Parameters:
To find out stocks that have seen increasing cash flow over time, we ran the screen for those whose cash flow in the latest reported quarter was at least equal to or greater than the 5-year average cash flow per common share. This implies a positive trend and increasing cash over a period of time.
In addition to this, we chose:
Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the companys future performance.
Current Price greater than or equal to $5: This sieves out low-priced stocks.
VGM Score of B or better: This score is also of great assistance in selecting stocks. Importantly, this scoring system helps in picking the winning stocks in their individual industry categories.
Here are four out of the seven stocks that made it through the screen:
Stamps.com Inc. STMP, based in El Segundo, CA provides Internet-based services for mailing or shipping letters, packages or parcels anywhere in the U.S. The stock has a VGM score of B. With a decent earnings surprise history, the company remains a solid pick. It exceeded estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 66.7%.
Cambrex Corporation CBM manufactures and markets a broad line of specialty chemicals and commodity chemical intermediates, and manufactures chemicals to customer specifications. The stock has a VGM score of A. It experienced a rise in estimates over the past 30 days.
Gibraltar Industries, Inc. ROCK , with a VGM score of B, is a leading manufacturer, processor and distributor of metals and other engineered materials for building products, vehicular and other industrial markets. The company is headquartered in Buffalo, NY. This company is a solid performer, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 67.3%.
FutureFuel Corp. FF is a manufacturer of diversified chemical products and biobased products comprised of biofuels and biobased specialty chemical products. The company is headquartered in Clayton, MO. Currently, the stock has a VGM score of A. It has a decent earnings surprise history, having exceeded estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 60.6%.
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The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
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Black adults born in the United States and residing in New York City have more health issues than African immigrants, Caribbean immigrants, and other black populations in the city, a new study found. A study released Thursday by the New York City Health Department analyzed the health data of blacks in the city from 2010 to 2014 and found significant differences between various groups.
Black New Yorkers born in the U.S. are more likely to smoke, drink, and have chronic health conditions like high blood pressure and obesity than other black groups, the analysis found. Chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity account for 23 percent of all hospitalizations in the state of New York and six out of every 10 deaths, according to the New York State Health Department.
The study found that 53 percent of U.S. born blacks reported being drinkers, while 44 percent of Caribbean-born blacks and 34 percent of African-born blacks reported drinking. All black groups were less likely to be drinkers than white New Yorkers, 70 percent of whom reported drinking.
Twenty-two percent of U.S. born blacks reported being current smokers, whereas only six percent of Caribbean black adults and nine percent of other black adults did. U.S. born black adults were more likely to have high blood pressure, with 38 percent reporting hypertension compared to 35 percent of Caribbean immigrants and 30 percent of African immigrants.
RTX1NT20
Photo: Reuters
The study was conducted by the NYC Health Departments Center for Health Equity, which aims to eradicate health inequality.
These data are a reminder that communities of color are not monolithic. It is sobering that immigrants of African descent, on average, have better health and fewer risk factors than the native born, said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. The city remains committed to reducing these troubling health inequities and ensuring that every New Yorker has the opportunity to live a longer and healthier life.
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Although Black-ish creator Kenya Barris was disappointed by the 2016 presidential election results, he is encouraging Americans to come together for the sake of the nation.
On Wednesday, Barris, 42, accepted the Rod Serling Award for Advancing Social Justice Through Popular Media at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, which recognizes a modern media professional whose work raises awareness of prejudice, inequality and societys changing social norms.
During his acceptance speech, Barris called the Nov. 8 election which saw GOP nominee Donald Trump take the victory over Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton results a gut punch, but he believes the United States can move forward if citizens are willing to have open minds and engage in challenging conversations.
I think that we can really come together and use whatever experiences we have to make the next 4, 8, 12, 20 years of our lives a more enriched, a more fulfilling and a more honest and open community for all of us and our children, Barris said.
He added, I think that Ive been given a unique opportunity to tell a story and start conversations, and I think thats the most important thing that any artist can do.
The ABC executive producer, whose series has been renewed for a fourth season that will air in 2017, has not strayed from tackling real-life topics on the show, including the Black Lives Matter movement, racism, police-community relations and violent protests.
Black-ish airs Wednesdays (9:30 p.m. ET) on ABC.
By Jake Spring and Catherine Cadell
GUANGZHOU/WUZHEN, China (Reuters) - German automaker BMW and Chinese internet giant Baidu will end their joint research on self-driving cars, executives for the two firms said on Friday, with Baidu now searching for new global research partners.
Wang Jing, the head of autonomous car development at Baidu, told Reuters the company was now using cars from Ford's Lincoln in its U.S. testing, declining to elaborate.
"I'm open for any partners, actually I'm talking to many, Wang said, speaking on the sidelines of China's third World Internet Conference in the eastern Chinese city of Wuzhen.
Tech and automotive leaders contend that cars of the future will be capable of completely driving themselves, revolutionizing the transportation industry, with virtually all carmakers as well as companies such as Alphabet's Google and parts supplier Delphi investing heavily in developing the technology.
The two companies decided to end the cooperation, which involved testing in the United States and China, because they held different opinions on how to proceed with research, BMW's China CEO Olaf Kastner told Reuters at the Guangzhou auto show, which began on Friday.
"We now have found that the development pace and the ideas of the two companies are a little different," Kastner said, without specifying the exact point of disagreement.
At the conference in Wuzhen, Baidu offered test drives of various autonomous driving prototypes developed separately with Chinese automakers Chery [CHERY.UL], BYD Co Ltd and BAIC Motor.
The test cars drove a closed road, automatically avoiding a bicycle and overtaking cars moving at various speeds.
BMW's Kastner said the two made decisions to part ways after jointly developing the automatic overtaking capability, seeing it as a key milestone for the technology.
The German automaker plans to expand its research and development team for autonomous drive in China, Kastner said.
The two companies will continue to be partners on high-definition maps, which are a vital to the navigation of autonomous cars, he added.
Story continues
Baidu aims to commercialize autonomous cars on a small scale by 2018, with wider deployment by 2021. BMW has similarly targeted highly or fully autonomous cars by 2021.
Last month, China issued its roadmap for the development of self-driving cars that can drive in most situations between 2021 and 2025, with nearly every car having some self-driving capability by 2030.
That roadmap did not back a single technology for self-driving cars to communicate with each other, leaving the possibility it could back a different standard from Europe or the United States.
(Reporting by Jake Spring in GUANGZHOU and Cate Cadell in WUZHEN; Editing by Mark Potter)
The judge overseeing the wrongful death case of Bobbi Kristina Brown ordered her partner Nick Gordon to pay her estate $36 million, Brown's estate announced Thursday.
In September, the court found Gordon "legally responsible" for the death of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's daughter after he failed to appear at a pair of wrongful death civil lawsuit hearings.
Brown's estate initially sought $50 million in the civil suit, which claimed that Gordon "gave Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water" in late January 2015; she died six months later on July 26th.
The estate alleged that Gordon did this as "part of a scheme to control Bobbi Kristina and benefit from her wealth." Gordon was never charged with a any crimes related to Brown's death, but a spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney told the Associated Press that the case is still under investigation.
When Gordon failed to appear at the civil lawsuit hearings in September, the judge ruled that anything the Brown's estate alleged against Gordon is "admitted through omission."
"There was an urgent need, in my mind, to get justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown and that's why I took the case. We intend to pursue, with all vigor, the full collection of the judgment," Brown estate attorney David Ware said in the statement. "We hope that in some small way this will allow Krissy's family to continue their quest for peace."
Gordon did not attend Thursday's decision and never hired lawyers to defend him in the civil lawsuit.
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Bobby Brown issued a statement saying he was pleased by a judges ruling yesterday that found Nick Gordon liable for the wrongful death of Bobbi Kristina Brown. As part of the settlement, Gordon has been ordered to pay $36 million to Bobbi Kristinas estate and Brown intends to collect immediately.
Bobby is relieved to have this chapter of the process behind him, but now he intends to actively pursue the collection against Nick Gordon, Browns attorney, Craig Terrett, tells PEOPLE. We will be working with a collection attorney in Florida and we are moving forward quickly. We will be attaching the judgements to all those things in Florida.
Those close to Gordon admit that he does not have sufficient assets or funds to pay the high settlement cost, so instead they will garnish his wages. If he goes on Dr. Phil, they will get that money. If he writes a book, and so on, explains Terrett.
In addition to the money, the judge also ruled to repossess an engagement ring believed to be in Gordons possession that was originally owned by Browns former wife, Bobbi Kristinas late mother Whitney Houston. It was Whitneys ring and Bobby wants it back, says Terrett. That ring is valued as determined by the courts to be $1.5 million.
Glenda Hatchett, the co-counsel for Bobbi Kristinas estate executor Bedelia Hargrove, echoed a familiar sentiment from the Brown family. It is the principle more than the money, she tells PEOPLE. We know does not have that kind of money, but we never want him to profit from this. This judgement over him will make sure of that to make sure people know about his despicable behavior, how he battered her, assaulted her many times.
Despite the heartbreaking ordeal, Terrett says that Brown is eager to move forward with criminal proceedings. Bobby is feeling reinvigorated and wants to get justice through the criminal justice system more than ever. He intends to push Fulton County DA Paul Howard to move forward. He said that since the case is still considered an ongoing investigation by the DA, its hampering everyones ability to get the evidence and the documents that they need for criminal because they are all sealed during an active investigation.
Reporting by ELISSA ROSEN
Photo credit: WireImage
From Cosmopolitan
Photo credit: WireImage
People magazine reports that Bollywood star and model Mallika Sherawat and her boyfriend Cyrille Auxenfans were tear-gassed and attacked by two masked intruders Friday inside the lobby of their Paris apartment building. The incident occurred just a little over a month after Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed at gun point by two armed men in a neighboring Paris apartment during Paris Fashion Week.
Sherawat and Auxenfans had returned home around 9:30 p.m., when two attackers wearing scarves sprayed the couple with tear gas before punching them, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. The attackers ran away, apparently without actually stealing anything, and the shocked couple called emergency services. A criminal investigation has since been launched and police suspect the attack was an attempted robbery.
After the Kardashian robbery made international headlines, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo called the robbery a "rare act" and insisted the capital is still a safe place for celebrities.
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U.S. government debt prices were mostly lower on Friday as investors reacted to comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and eyed a host of Fed speakers on Friday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note (U.S.:US10Y), which moves inversely to its price, was higher at 2.352 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was slightly higher, at 3.03 percent.
On Thursday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen gave testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Yellen, like many other Fed speakers, reaffirmed that a rate hike is coming soon.
Friday morning, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning toward supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed's rate path in 2017.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George said she supports a rate hike "sooner rather than later" at a joint conference of the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Kansas City Friday morning.
New York Fed President Bill Dudley said during a press briefing Friday morning that it was too soon to speculate on new fiscal policies. The post-election market response suggests people expect fiscal policy to move in a more stimulative direction, he said, although he doesn't think the current status of the markets is concerning in terms of the implications for monetary policy. Dudley reaffirmed that free trade is generally good for economic growth, adding that fiscal changes tied to infrastructure spending would presumably increase productive capacity.
CNBC's Patti Domm and Reuters contributed to this report
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We all can learn a lot from Alex, the 6-year-old who melted hearts when he opened his home to a child war victim, said President Barack Obama as he met the boy at the White House.
Alex's letter to Obama was shared over and over again online in September and inspired the president to quote the young New Yorker during a speech at the Leaders Summit on Refugees later that month. Last week, Alex put on a new suit and visited Obama in Washington. The White House released an Instagram video of the meeting Thursday encouraging viewers to support refugee causes.
You being so nice, and kind, hopefully makes other people think the same way. So I was very proud of you. Remember Alex, the six-year-old boy who wrote to President Obama to ask how he could help kids his age in Syria? Last week, the President had a chance to meet Alex and his family at the White House. Watch their visit and learn how you can support refugees at home and abroad at the link in the bio. A video posted by The White House (@whitehouse) on Nov 17, 2016 at 5:34pm PST
I liked what you wrote so much that I ended up reading it to everybody," Obama told Alex. "You being so nice, and kind, hopefully makes other people think the same way. So I was very proud of you."
In the letter, Alex promised to befriend a Syrian boy injured during an airstrike on Aleppo. A photo of the child, Omran Daqneesh, sitting in an ambulance, dazed and bloody, had been shared widely online.
Doctor in #Aleppo just sent this photo of a dazed child who survived an airstrike pic.twitter.com/IHLDc6KPh8 Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) August 17, 2016
Alex asked Obama to bring Omran to his home so he could teach him to ride a bike and introduce him to his friend at school, who is also from Syria.
"We will give him a family and he will be our brother," Alex wrote.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - A Brazilian federal judge has accepted homicide and environmental criminal charges against 22 people and four mining companies involved in last year's deadly Samarco dam burst.
Judge Jacques de Queiroz Ferreira gave the green light to indictments accusing Samarco and its co-owners Vale and BHP Billiton, as well as the VogBR consultancy, of culpability in the November 5 collapse of an iron ore tailings dam in the Minas Gerais region. Nineteen people were killed.
The ruling, seen by AFP, was signed Wednesday but only made public on Friday.
The companies, which have all rejected the accusations, are charged with crimes against the environment.
Twenty one people, including senior executives, face charges of "qualified homicide" and environmental crimes. A VogBR engineer is charged with having falsely certified the dam as stable prior to its collapse.
The defendants have 30 days to respond. A judge will then consider the evidence and decide whether to bring the defendants to a jury trial.
Reacting to this week's ruling, the Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it had not yet been officially notified about the acceptance of the indictment.
But "BHP Billiton Brasil strongly repudiates the accusations made by the Federal Public Prosecutors against the company and individuals and will defend itself in the course of the proceeding," the company said.
The Samarco dam burst unleashed a torrent of mud down the River Doce, a major waterway.
It was branded Brazil's worst environmental disaster, drawing comparisons with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion which killed 11 workers and triggered a devastating spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Prosecutors denounced the mining companies for reckless policies "to boost profits and dividends."
Samarco says that the accident was impossible to foresee, and that it is compensating victims' families and helping to restore environmental damage.
The mining companies have agreed to pay billions of dollars in compensation but in May prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against Vale, BHP and Samarco seeking 155 billion reais ($49 billion).
Sao Paulo (AFP) - The top prosecutor in Brazil's biggest ever corruption investigation called Friday on the public to rally around the operation in the face of attempts to shut it down.
"We will be defeated if society is not at our side," said Deltan Dallagnol, head prosecutor for the probe codenamed Carwash, which is unravelling a massive embezzlement and bribery scheme involving high-ranking politicians and executives who ransacked state oil company Petrobras.
Dallagnol was speaking at a televised event as pressure grew in Congress, where many members have been linked to the scandal, to scupper the Carwash probe.
On Tuesday, a congressional committee will discuss a series of new anti-corruption measures that would toughen existing laws but, critics say, could also result in an unofficial amnesty of existing cases.
Dallagnol warned that "the problem here is that the corrupt have a lot of power. A few have stolen a lot from many."
Operation Carwash has already seen charges or convictions brought against some of Brazil's most powerful figures, ranging from ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the current Senate speaker and leading business executives.
The heat could soon grow even fiercer for Brazil's elite with an expected plea bargain between prosecutors and Odebrecht, the construction company at the heart of the pay-to-play scheme with Petrobras.
The deal means Odebrecht would be expected to cooperate with prosecutors, testifying against alleged participants in the scheme.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A federal judge in Brazil has agreed to hear a criminal case against four companies and 22 employees for a burst tailings dam at the Samarco mine that killed 19 people last November, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday. Prosecutors last month accused Samarco, its joint-venture owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton, and consultant VogBR of environmental crimes, while employees were accused of homicide in the disaster, which also polluted a major river. Prosecutors said there were signs that the dam was unsafe for several years before its collapse but Samarco officials, executives, employees and board members appointed by Vale and BHP failed to take proper action. The court document, signed by federal judge Jacques de Queiroz Ferreira and dated Wednesday, said the defendants had 30 days to present their defense. Vale and Samarco repeated their rejection of the charges. BHP also rejected the charges, saying in a statement that the court decision was only a procedural stage that did not "analyze the merits of the charges." VogBR did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Samarco said investigations into the cause of the spill showed it did not have prior knowledge of any risks to the structure of the dam. The spill is considered the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history. The dam collapse released millions of tonnes of muddy mine waste known as tailings, leaving hundreds homeless and polluting the Rio Doce river. (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Bill Trott)
By Huw Jones and Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - Investors get poor value for money from Britain's 7 trillion pound ($8.7 trillion) asset management industry because there is not enough competition and a lack of transparency on fees, the industry regulator said on Friday.
To remedy this situation the Financial Conduct Authority has proposed a single fee for investors in funds in the world's second largest asset management market but has stopped short of recommending a cap on fees.
It also launched a consultation into whether the investment consultancy market should be referred to Britain's Competition and Markets Authority for a full blown anti-trust probe. This market, which advises funds on asset manager selection and investment products, is outside the FCA's remit.
Just three companies account for 60 percent of the consultancy market, the report said.
"There is a strong culture of gifts and hospitality in the investment consultancy sector which could influence the ratings given to managers," the FCA said.
Analysts said a single fee would allow investors to see upfront for the first time how much they are paying for trading costs.
"The eye-catching headline is the proposed introduction of an all-in fee so that investors can easily see what is being taken from the fund," Paul McGinnis, analyst at Shore Capital, said in a note.
The difference from the existing fee structure "could be that these measures contain certain costs (including transaction costs) that are not known in advance by the investor", McGinnis said.
FCA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey said the watchdog wanted to make sure that asset managers were "pursuing energetically" their duty to act in their customers' best interests so investors got value for money.
"We want to see greater transparency so that investors can be clear about what they are paying and the impact charges have on their returns," Bailey said.
Accounting firm PwC said this would change the way the market operated by referring to direct and legally enforceable rights for investors.
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"The industry will need to work hard to demonstrate how it already best serves investors and how they intend to meet the concerns expressed," Amanda Rowland, a regulation partner at PwC.
The FCA's proposals, which run to 200 pages, are the interim results of a year-long study into the asset management industry which found that "limited" competition in actively managed funds, which account for 77 percent of the total market, offer poor value for money.
"On average, these costs are not justified by higher returns," the FCA said.
Even though a large number of firms operate in the market the asset management industry as a whole has enjoyed sustained, high profits over a number of years, the FCA said.
The watchdog has proposed a "significant package of measures", including a stronger duty on asset managers to act in the best interests of investors.
It has proposed the "all-in" fee so that investors in funds can easily see what is being taken from the fund in charges, stopping short of more radical measures.
"A price cap is a competition measure that is a last resort. That is not a good response from the point of view of encouraging competition," Bailey told reporters.
It has also recommended that Britain's finance ministry should consider bringing the provision of institutional investment advice under the FCA's remit.
The watchdog's final report, along with any proposed rule changes, will be published next summer.
($1 = 0.8072 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Jane Merriman)
LONDON (Reuters) - The number of Britons buying homes abroad has slumped since June's vote to leave the European Union and there are signs that thousands of families will react to the fall in the value of sterling by holidaying at home next summer.
Mark Horgan, chief executive of Moneycorp, which runs airport exchange booths and consumer and corporate money transfer services, said foreign house purchases had fallen by a quarter compared to a year ago.
He said there had also been a surge in sales of houses in Europe due to uncertainty over what rights UK citizens will have there in future and fear that the pound, down roughly 20 percent in the last year, could weaken further.
With more than 40,000 clients, Moneycorp says it has more than 10 percent of the market in transferring funds for British people buying properties abroad, who now number an estimated 380,000 separate investors.
"There has definitely been a big trend back in from euro to sterling," Horgan told Reuters. "For us that is bad news because it probably means its people selling up and exiting the market.
"New completions are off by about a quarter year on year. You can understand why that would be the case. You clearly have hesitancy from Brits who are unsure of their status after Brexit. The question is whether those are lost purchases or delayed purchases."
The volatility in currency markets since the Brexit vote has driven Moneycorp's overall volumes 55 percent higher since July 1. But private client transfers from pounds to euros, are down 30 percent, while transfers from euros back to the UK are up 80 percent.
Horgan, who runs the currency sales desks at two of London's big package-holiday heavy airports, Gatwick and Stansted, said that he had seen signs of possible falls in passenger volumes next year.
Europe's biggest airline, Ryanair, said in the aftermath of June's vote to leave the EU that it would fly 2 million fewer seats from a total planned 23 million from Britain next year, cutting 600,000 seats from a planned 9 million at Stansted this winter.
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Rival airline easyJet, facing the fallout of Brexit both for consumers and its own corporate infrastructure, reported a 28 percent drop this week in annual pretax profit, its first decline since 2009.
Both Gatwick and Stansted say they expect the robust growth of recent years to continue, while admitting that they are watching the impact of Brexit on UK holidaymakers closely.
"We are quite clearly seeing that staycations are likely to be on the rise in 2017," Horgan said. "There has been a slowdown in growth in recent months."
(Writing by Patrick Graham; Editing by Jamie McGeever and Robin Pomeroy)
One's having the builders in! Queen Elizabeth is renovating Buckingham Palace over the next decade at a cost of $455 million, officials announced Friday, November 18.
New floorboards and baseboards (nearly 33,000 square yards worth!), 78 refurbished bathrooms, 100 miles of electrical wiring, 760 new windows and 6,500 electrical sockets are just a few of the essential maintenance works on the repair list for the 17th century building and its 775 rooms.
So Many Royals Attended Queen Elizabeths 90th Birthday Celebration: See the Pics
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirms to Us Weekly that the major works will begin in April, and that the Queen and Prince Philip will remain in residence throughout the project.
And while the work is being done one wing at a time (the palace has four), the 90-year-old monarch will still experience some disruption she and her husband, 95, will have to temporarily leave their his and hers bedrooms.
Thirty-seven of the Queen's staff will also temporarily live in cabins on the palace lawn while during the renovations, but aides say that other members of the royal family who often live there Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Countess Sophie, and Princess Anne wont have to take on temporary accommodation.
PHOTOS: 15 Charming Throwback Photos of the Royal Family
Other essential refurbishments being done during the 10-year project include solar panels to lower electricity bills, 30 miles of new pipework, 1,514 new doors, 2,500 new radiators, 5,000 new light fixtures and even repair works to the to the famous East Front balcony, the site of so many iconic royal moments.
The $455 million (369 million) cost of the project will be funded by a temporary increase to the Sovereign Grant, an allowance funded by British taxpayers. Palace officials defended the costs, saying that if repairs were left any longer there could be "potentially catastrophic building failure" in years to come.
Meghan Markle Thanks Fans for Their Support After Boyfriend Prince Harry Defended Their Relationship
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Buckingham Palace isn't just the home to the Queen; the London landmark houses numerous staff and offices, hosts over 90,000 people (including a wealth of dignitaries and state officials) and receives over 500,000 tourist visitors to its grand State Rooms every summer. It is also home to countless (and priceless) works of art.
Master of The Queen's household Tony Johnstone-Burt said: "Buckingham Palace is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and this programme is designed to extend its working life by a further fifty years."
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Who doesnt want to invest likethe Oracle of Omaha or Warren Buffett? After all, this Wall Street guru has successfully put his money in the right place and continues to reap huge returns. Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B is up about 19% so far this year (as of November 16, 2016) and added over 115% in the last five years compared to the S&P 500s 6.5% gains this year and an 87.9% five-year return.
Following an investor of this aptitude will surely be anybodys dream. Normally, Buffett takes interest in companies trading below what he believes is their intrinsic value. He aims long-term outperformance and apparently ignores short-term downturns.
Probably this is why this investment veteran recently picked up some airlines stocks that are currently overlooked by investors. The sector is in the bottom 39% of the Zacks Industry Rank at the time of this writing (read: If Oil Continues to Soar, These 7 ETFs May Fall).
The stocks that Buffett bought are American Airlines AAL, Delta Airlines DAL and United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL. As per sources, Buffett also bought Southwest Airlines Co. LUV recently.
Why Buffett Catches Airlines?
This shows a tectonic shift in preference as Buffet has stayed away from airline stocks for long. But the latest surge in interest can be credited to a decent level of share buybacks by airlines, as per Market Watch. The industrys profitability and efficiency ratios have also improved in recent times, barring some exceptions.
In the latest reporting cycle too, the beat ratios show that the corporate strength in the airlines industry is not as bleak as the stock trend. Plus, most of the airlines are restraining capacity growth, which should improve unit revenues (read: Brexit or Earnings: What Will Decide the Route Map for Airline ETF?).
Investors should also note that UAL, AAL and DAL carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each with a VGM score of A, which is a combination of value, growth and momentum characteristics. The trio especially has a Value score of A. Though LUV is not in our favored list with a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), it still has a VGM score of B with the same value score. Since Buffet is a fan of value investing, his sudden interest in airline stocks is self-explanatory.
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Below we elucidate how cheap these four stocks are compared to the air transportation industry and the S&P 500 using various valuation metrics:
If these were not enough, airlines expect a 2.5% surge in travelers in the thanksgiving weekend and accordingly beefed up the number of flights and seats. All in all, investors intending to follow Buffetts latest move on airlines stocks and having faith in the industry fundamentals may find U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS an intriguing choice (see all industrial ETFs here).
JETS in Focus
The $49.7 million-fund holds over 34 stocks in its portfolio and is concentrated on a few individual securities. United Continental (13.26%), Delta Airlines (13.11%), Southwest Airlines (12.78%) and American Airlines (12.61%) are the top four elements in the basket. The product charges 60 bps in fees. The fund gained about 5.2% in the last five trading sessions (as of November 17, 2016).
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Learning beyond the classroom is essential for all students -- and a sense of community outside of class is critical for students' growth throughout their learning experience. For online students, extracurricular learning communities create an avenue to engage with other students and share knowledge, regardless of where students are.
For some, thriving in an online learning community may include joining a club; for others, it may be joining a social media group or meeting up in person for a class or with other students nearby. For many, this can be new territory.
Here are a few ways to create community that prospective students should look for and current students should take advantage of.
[Explore how to develop self-motivation skills for online learning.]
-- Join a student organization: Getting involved is easier than many students may think. Even if students are not on campus, they can still be an important part of their university's student organizations.
Whether they want to pursue a leadership position or connect with other students who share their hobbies or passions, joining a student club is a great way to meet others, build connections and make the most of the online learning experience.
ASU Online, for example, offers online membership to several clubs, including the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Graphic Information Technology Club, the Video Game Development Club and Lux Undergraduate Creative Review, to name a few. The goal truly is to connect students and create a meaningful sense of community that allows students to express their interests and passions.
-- Engage with course-specific communities: An online learning experience is what students make it. It helps to have a group to turn to for coursework help and tips as they juggle everyday life.
One way to get involved with others is to join or create a social media group where students in the class can engage in conversation around assignments, challenges with coursework or to schedule study groups. Finding a group of students can provide a great deal of inspiration and support.
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Additionally, online students can get involved by personally meeting up with others nearby who may share common interests, are majoring in the same subject or are just taking classes through the same university. Online learning can be time-consuming , and it's important for students to create connections with others who are experiencing similar opportunities and challenges.
[Learn tips to interact successfully with professors and students in online classes.]
-- Build an online community beyond graduation: Creating relationships beyond graduation is also valuable as students look to embark on their careers and build a network.
Most universities have strong alumni associations and provide numerous ways for people to connect with others who share the common thread of their college degree. At ASU, for example, these groups can be found all over the country and the globe, and many offer various networking opportunities throughout the year.
Getting connected to one of the alumni groups gives students confidence that once they complete their degree, there's a community they can join that shares a similar sense of accomplishment and pride.
The takeaway: Students should feel a sense of community throughout their online learning experience and beyond -- that comes from capitalizing on opportunities outside the classroom and getting involved in a meaningful way.
Joe Chapman, director for online student services at Arizona State University, is responsible for supporting and retaining students at ASU Online. He holds a bachelor's degree in business marketing from Northern Arizona University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and has worked in online student services for more than 12 years.
Chinas largest private education provider delivered another strong quarter. Analysts have been raising their price and earnings estimates after solid results, sending the stock back to a Zacks rank #1 (Strong Buy).
About the Company
Founded in 1993, New Oriental Education & Technology Group (EDU) is the largest provider of private educational services in China with over 26.6 million student enrollments. The company IPOd on the NYSE in September 2006.
Headquartered in Beijing, New Oriental group currently has a network of 771 schools/learning centers and over 19,700 teachers in 56 cities. Additionally, it has a large online network with over 14.2 million users.
They provide a comprehensive range of educational products for students of all ages, including POP kids programs, summer camps, private schools, after school tutoring, adult English as well as domestic and overseas entrance tests preparation.
Excellent Quarterly Results
The company reported its Q1 FY 2017 (ended August 31) results on October 25. Revenue for the quarter increased 16.5% year-over-year to $534.1 million. Net income increased 9.7% year-over-year to $141.1 million.
Strong growth was mainly attributable to 31.2% increase in total enrollments. Their K-12 all-subjects after-school tutoring business continued to perform well, with revenue up 28% year over year and enrollment up 46% year over year.
Strong Guidance
The management expects net revenues in the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 (ending November 31, 2016) to be in the range of $324.6 million to $335.1 million, representing year-over-year growth in the range of 17% to 21%.
Rising Estimates
After strong results, analysts have been raising their estimates for the company. Zacks Consensus Estimates for current and the next fiscal year have gone up to $1.76 per share and $2.29 per share respectively, from $1.75 and $2.18, before the results. Rising estimates sent the stock to a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy).
The Bottom Line
The company has a recognized brand name and a leadership position in areas like overseas test prep, English language tutoring, overseas study consulting and K-12 after school tutoring. Private education industry in China has been growing rapidly thanks mainly to rising incomes of the expanding middle class in the country. Strong brand awareness and pricing power will continue to drive profits going forward.
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New Oriental group is also a pioneer in the online education industry in China. Of late, they have increased their spending on their online education platform, which is expected to boost revenues in the coming years.
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California is trying to make #GreenFriday a thing and we are ON BOARD
California is offering an alternative to the crazy shopping scene that is Black Friday #GreenFriday. And no, thats not green as in money, its green as in the earth. Because the day after Thanksgiving, California state parks are having Green Friday, a day where you can get a free, day-use parking pass to go visit the parks for no cost. Rather than spend your time inside shopping, Green Friday encourages people to go outside and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Regardless of how you feel about holiday shopping, you cant deny that Black Friday has gotten a little out of hand (HUGE understatement). And while we love Small Business Saturday as a counter to Black Friday, Green Friday really is the antithesis to the consumer chaos. Because its not about spending its just about embracing the great outdoors.
#CAStateParks, @calparks & @savetheredwoods plan to help make your Black Friday green. Find out how this Wed! #OptOutside with us in 2016. pic.twitter.com/4q2u5K3yrJ CA State Parks (@CAStateParks) November 15, 2016
This initiative is sponsored by the Save the Redwoods League, California State Parks Foundation, and California State Parks. And the Green Friday website wonderfully explains why they chose Black Friday for this event:
Thanksgiving is about spending time with friends and family, and appreciating our many shared blessings. State parks are uniquely suited for both! Experience joy, renewal, and inspiration among our natural wonders.
As nature lovers ourselves, we couldnt agree more!
You should still be spending time with your friends and family the day after Thanksgiving. While shopping can be a bonding experience in its own right, Green Friday seems like a more peaceful way to hang out with your loved ones.
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Taking in the beautiful sights on a hike rather than being bombarded by crowds in an effort to reach the bargains sounds better to us at least. Plus, the deals on Black Friday really arent all that great anyway.
We also love the focus on connecting to the environment especially when so many products are not green-friendly. And its not like stores are good for the environment.
If you do want to participate in Californias Green Friday and we think you should if you can swing it there are some things you need to do beforehand.
Whats better than spending #GreenFriday outdoors? Getting 1 of the limited free #CAStateParks passes at https://t.co/YnlfNUGsfo pic.twitter.com/5YI2v5CPhF CA State Parks (@CAStateParks) November 16, 2016
Not every state park is participating and there are a limited amount of free parking passes for each park. Still, there are 116 parks with 13,000 passes that were initially made available. Make sure to visit greenfriday.org beforehand to see which parks still have passes, then download and print your pass to spend November 25th, 2016 in nature with some delightful animals.
Not only do we hope Californians will participate in #GreenFriday (its in its second year), but we hope to see other states come up with a similar plan for Black Friday next year. Even if you dont live in California, you could celebrate your own Green Friday by doing some earth-friendly physical activity outside.
So dont sweat the holidays sweat it out in nature on #GreenFriday! Youve got at least another month to do your holiday shopping.
The post California is trying to make #GreenFriday a thing and we are ON BOARD appeared first on HelloGiggles.
The chancellor of the largest four-year public university system in the country said this week that it wont help federal authorities deport undocumented studentsan announcement that came the same day students across the country led walkouts urging schools to shield students from the deportations proposed by President-elect Donald Trump.
We want people to know that they will be welcome here if they lack documentation or not, Timothy White, chancellor of the California State University (CSU) system, told TIME. The concern that has arisen with respect to many of our students and their families is real and has become debilitating, and I want our students to knowand I want our faculty and staff and communities to knowthat we support these students, that we understand the times were in, but were going to be there to support them and help them succeed, whatever comes our way.
Trump said he plans to deport up to three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records, and he has said he will repeal President Obamas executive orders, which could include the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. Its not a secret that the President-elect has indicated that he wants do things differently with respect to immigration, White said.
At a Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, White noted that students on CSU campuses have experienced a lot of uncertainty at best, and a sense of fear and vulnerability at worst, in the wake of the presidential election.
During the meeting, White said the CSU system would not work with state, local or federal law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. He said university police departments would not honor immigration hold requests, nor would they question or arrest anyone simply because they are undocumented or suspected of being undocumented.
Of the more than 470,000 students in the CSU system, White estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 are undocumented. He said many students have reached out to him since Wednesdays remarks, which drew from his personal experience. White, who is from Argentina, immigrated to the California when he was 9 years old.
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I find myself thinking back to those days and understanding what it really means and feels like to be somebody who comes into a new country, he said. I have a special place in my personal history that makes me very attentive when somebody is marginalized or potentially marginalized by a policy of ours at the university or by a state law or by a federal law.
Students across the country this week have called for universities to designate sanctuary campuses, a term that mirrors the classification of sanctuary cities, which have pledged to do what they can to protect residents from deportation.
Maria Blanco, executive director of the Undocumented Student Legal Services Center, said student petitions have focused on three common requests: that universities not share students personal informationincluding address and immigration statuswith U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a subpoena, that they prevent law enforcement agencies from conducting raids on campus without a warrant, and that campus police officers decline to take on the responsibility of enforcing immigration law.
Blanco said privacy laws and Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure should enable schools to accommodate all three requests, which would help ensure that undocumented students can at least complete their degrees. If somebody got sued for what we just talked aboutnot sharing records which are already protected under existing law and not allowing indiscriminate raids on a campus, or because police refused to enforce immigration lawIm positive they would not win their case, she told TIME, suggesting courts would rule in favor of universities.
Blanco said the undocumented students who have sought advice from her office since Election Day have been very, very stressed.
They really feel like the rugs been pulled out from under them, she said, adding that any indication of support from university leaders serves an important purpose. Its more than symbolic because it might retain students, and it might keep students coming to the different colleges if they have these assurances.
But Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports more restrictive immigration policies, thinks universities that decline to cooperate with federal authorities have questionable legal standing and face the loss of federal funding.
Colleges and universities cannot control the movement of law enforcement agencies onto their campuses, she told TIME, dismissing sanctuary campus policies as unnecessary. They cannot prevent ICE, for example, from coming onto a campus to make an arrest.
Obstructing law enforcement and refusing to share information could be very problematic and could be contrary to federal law and rise to the level of harboring, she added.
White is quick to note that his announcement Wednesday did not designate a policy change, and he said the university system will still comply with immigration laws. But he also said CSU will enforce a standard of inclusivity and diversity, and he thinks leaders at other universities will soon need to take a stand on the issue.
Its much more than the politics of the moment, White said. Whats at stake here with respect to educationaccess to education for peopleis really the whole fabric of Americas communities and its economy. To me, politics are politics, and Americas resilient, and theres different people, and things come and go. But theres a bigger thing at stake here.
Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ has begun commercial operation of a 24 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar photovoltaic ("PV") power plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.
Details of the Plant
The Yamaguchi plant, the largest solar power plant built by Canadian Solar in Japan, utilizes 92,064 Canadian Solar CS6P-260P/CS6P-255P modules.
The plant is expected to generate around 28,487 MW-hour ("MWh") of electricity annually. Power generated by the facility will be sold under a 20-year feed-in-tariff contract to Chugoku Electric Power Company at the rate of 38 cents per kWh.
Canadian Solar's Take on the Deal
According to Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, energizing of the 24 MWp solar plant boosted its portfolio of projects in operation in Japan, bringing its total portfolio to 46 MWp.
Apart from these, the company already has 167 MWp of projects under construction and another 66 MWp of projects that are ready to build. This will enable Canadian Solar to deliver more solar projects in Japan in future.
CANADIAN SOLAR Price
CANADIAN SOLAR Price | CANADIAN SOLAR Quote
Scope of Alternate Energy
Regulations pertaining to pollution control are becoming increasingly stringent, making it crucial for utilities to spend more on emission control infrastructure. Meanwhile, because of their clean-burning nature, investment in the alternate energy space could prove to be profitable over the long run. In particular, solar energy, which presently contributes to only 1% of the total electricity generation in the U.S., represents ample scope of improvement in the days to come.
Going forward, rising investments in the U.S. solar industry will benefit domestic solar companies like Canadian Solar, First Solar, Inc. FSLR, SolarCity Corporation SCTY and SunPower Corporation SPWR.
Canadian Solar's Presence in Japan
Canadian Solar caters to a geographically-diverse customer base spread across key markets including Japan. At the end of second-quarter 2016, the companys late-stage utility-scale solar pipeline in Japan was 576 MWp.
The company has a significant presence in Japan and continues to expand its operations in this growing solar energy market. It expects to complete about 56.2 MWp of projects, including construction and grid connection, in Japan in 2016.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Canadian Solar currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU's economic and monetary union (EMU) needs to be completed before another crisis strikes, European Central Bank Governing Council member Jan Smets said on Friday.
"We should take this moment to strengthen the resilience of EMU and to complete its architecture. History teaches us that it would be unwise to wait for a new crisis to do that," Smets, who heads Belgium's central bank, told a conference in Brussels.
Smets said the banking union was still to be complete with a backstop for the single resolution fund and a common deposit insurance system. He also said a capital markets union, which has been proposed by the European Commission, was required.
The four presidents of the EU institutions, including the ECB, and also the president of the Eurogroup, laid out a plan in mid-2015 to deepen EMU in two stages and complete it by 2025.
New proposals will be included in a paper to reform the euro zone to be presented by the Commission by March next year.
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Francesco Guarascio)
We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to find those who have lost their way.
Our prayers each day are for the intentions of our readers, and for all those who visit here this week.
Especially we pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil. We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Cara Delevingnes latest bomber jacket is 100% our favorite one yet
If theres one thing model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne loves, its bomber jackets and we dont blame her. They look amazing on her statuesque frame, and theyre exactly the right garment for her tomboy aesthetic. Its no wonder she wears them on the regular!
Her latest bomber, though, really captivated our attention. Seen on the red carpet at the opening of H&Ms new World Trade Center location in New York this week, Cara was eye-catching in a tiger-print bomber jacket worn over a simple white top and black jeans.
See for yourselves!
H&M And Cara Delevingne Celebrate Opening Of New Location At Westfield World Trade Center
Were gonna need one just like it, ASAP.
In an interview with Vogue, Cara explained why she loves shopping at H&M:
For me, its always about those staple pieces, a pair of black skinny jeans, or these wicked Japanese-style bomber jackets, things that you can wear with everything. They have everything and they cater to everyone.
Stars, theyre just like us!
If you need a refresh on Caras history with bomber jackets, enjoy the trip down memory lane below. She never ceases to wow us!
She recently wore this satin bomber for a night out with her friends.
Ladies unite @imladyleshurr #rimmelxcara A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Nov 10, 2016 at 4:48am PST
Love the ladder-esque details.
And that time she twinned with Margot Robbie?
Twins @margotrobbie #whatababe A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Aug 4, 2016 at 10:28am PDT
#Adorbz.
Were obsessed with this badass bomber she recently wore on a flight from London to L.A.
Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles - November 12, 2016
And were totally into this outfit she wore over the summer in London.
London Celebrity Sightings - August 05, 2016
Consider us inspired!
The post Cara Delevingnes latest bomber jacket is 100% our favorite one yet appeared first on HelloGiggles.
By Daniel Wiessner and Robert Iafolla (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has often boasted about the strict confidentiality pledges he exacts from his employees. Now a legal challenge to one of those agreements is pending before a U.S. agency over which he will soon have influence, potentially posing an early test of concerns about conflicts of interest between Trump's public role and his business empire. In September, a worker-advocacy group filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) claiming a nondisclosure contract used by Trump is unlawfully broad. The contract prohibits employees, independent contractors and even volunteers from ever disclosing any information that Trump deems confidential about his personal, business or political life. The NLRB has said that sweeping or unclear contracts inhibit workers from discussing working conditions or speaking to union organizers. The five-member NLRB currently has two vacancies that Trump is slated to fill early in his term, likely tipping what has been a liberal-leaning agency under President Barack Obama to a more business-friendly posture. If the NLRB rules against Trump, it could free up workers to be more vocal about their concerns and strengthen their bargaining power. In addition to the confidentiality case, there are about 10 other Trump-related cases pending at the NLRB. The cases involve alleged labor violations at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, where management has refused to bargain with the Culinary Workers Union. It was not clear if the confidentiality contract was intended for workers on Trump's election campaign or employees in his businesses, and Reuters could not independently verify its authenticity. Representatives of the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. The case is at a very early stage and could be settled or dismissed before reaching a full hearing before the five-member NLRB. The board's decisions may be appealed in a federal court. The NLRB is comprised of three members from the sitting presidents party and two from the opposing party, a system that typically results in wide policy shifts between administrations. In addition to the current two vacancies, another will arise when a current member's term expires next December. Under the Obama administration, the NLRB has struck down confidentiality agreements and other employment contracts that could discourage workers from organizing at T-Mobile USA Inc, Quicken Loans, DirectTV and a number of other companies. Government ethics experts and labor lawyers said that if Trump's handpicked NLRB members uphold the contract, it could suggest favoritism. There is an appearance of bias and political pressure that could undermine the legitimacy of the agency," said Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who was the chief White House ethics lawyer under Republican President George W. Bush. The NLRB cases represent one of several areas where concerns may arise over potential conflicts of interest raised by Trumps new role and his sprawling business interests. Trump last week said he would allow his children to run his businesses while maintaining his ownership interest via a "blind trust." If the current cases are ruled upon by the NLRB, one possible solution to the potential conflict could be for Trump appointees to recuse themselves from cases involving his business organization, said a former NLRB chairman, William Gould. Gould said that during his tenure at the agency, in the mid-1990s, members recused themselves from cases that raised any chance of a conflict. Gould, who is now a professor at Stanford Law School, said he disqualified himself from cases involving a union of which his son was a member. Several experts, however, said recusal would not be legally required unless Trump's appointees represented him or his companies in the past or were otherwise involved in his business. 'MR. TRUMP INSISTS' The challenge to Trump's confidentiality agreement was filed by David Rosenfeld, a California labor lawyer, on behalf of the Committee to Preserve the Religious Right to Organize, a worker advocacy group that he created. Reuters reviewed a copy of the employment agreement that Rosenfeld filed with his complaint, which targeted both the Trump Organization and the Trump campaign. Rosenfeld said he copied it from the campaign website, but that the agreement was no longer posted there. It was not clear how many employees signed this version of the agreement, and Reuters was unable to find a copy on the website. The agreement prohibits disclosure of details about Trump's "personal life, political affairs and/or business affairs," as well as anything Mr. Trump insists remain private or confidential. It forbids employees from publicly disparaging Trump and his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings and other relatives. Confidentiality agreements are common, but labor law experts said they can be unlawful if they are too broad or don't specify what types of information will be deemed confidential. Trump defended a similar confidentiality agreement in a case earlier this year involving a former campaign aide, whom Trump accused of giving information about other staffers to reporters. In a statement, the Trump campaign said confidentiality agreements were "standard practice" for entities that need to safeguard sensitive information. The case settled for undisclosed terms. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York and Robert Iafolla in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Amy Stevens and Stuart Grudgings)
By Catherine Ngai
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Castleton Commodities International LLC on Friday announced the purchase of more than $1 billion in assets from Anadarko Petroleum Corp, in the commodity trader's latest move to expand its East Texas footprint.
As a result of the acquisition, the Stamford, Connecticut-based trader will own over 160,000 net acres of leasehold, also known as working or operating interest, in East Texas.
Castleton announced more than a year ago that it had acquired working interests in a number of oil and gas wells from EDF Trading Resources LLC in East Texas, as well as acreage in various counties. In 2014, it also acquired a gas processing plant in New Mexico from Anadarko.
The growth in East Texas could be a strategic choice as demand for natural gas is rising given the start of liquefied natural gas exports from the lower 48 U.S. states earlier this year, according to Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research for Morningstar.
East Texas is home to the Haynesville formation, one of the largest U.S. shale gas plays, with gas production of roughly 5.9 billion cubic feet per day.
"It's a giant bet on gas prices improving based on incremental demand," Fielden said.
The acquisition would increase Castleton's daily net production in East Texas to more than 320 million cubic feet equivalent per day.
Craig Jarchow, president of Castleton's oil and gas unit, said in a statement that the company remains focused on growing and diversifying its upstream and midstream assets.
Castleton's expansion comes as its competitors have been selling assets recently. Vitol Group in September sold its crude oil unit in the Permian Basin to Sunoco Logistics Partners for $760 million. That deal includes a crude oil terminal and other pipelines.
Vitol's chief Ian Taylor told Reuters last month that physical oil assets in the United States appear to have become too pricey, as trading houses have been crowded out of potential purchases.
In 2015, Morgan Stanley - a major player in the physical oil markets for nearly three-decades - completed the sale of its physical oil business to Castleton.
(Reporting by Catherine Ngai; Editing by Tom Brown)
(Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said on Friday its global retail sales declined 12 percent for the three months ended October, but the pace of the decline is less steep than in previous months, the data shows.
Three-month rolling retail sales ending in September and August were down 17 percent and 18 percent respectively. A year ago three-month sales ended in October were down 16 percent.
While the retail sales decline rate slowed in both the North American and Europe/Africa/Middle Eastern regions, the Asia/Pacific region saw some growth.
Total retail sales in Caterpillar's Asia/Pacific region were up 12 percent, boosted by construction machinery sales, resulting in the third consecutive month of sales growth in the region.
Overall, the company's retail sales remain weak, but are not getting worse, Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann said in a research note published on Friday.
While Caterpillar shares are up more than 30 percent from a year ago, most recently the shares have jumped nearly 9 percent since November 8, U.S. Election day.
Investors expect President-elect Donald Trump will be pro-U.S. infrastructure spending, though funding details of his proposed $1 trillion plan are not yet clear, analysts have said.
Even so, the company would not likely benefit from any U.S. infrastructure investment until late 2017, Amy Campbell, Caterpillar's director of investor relations, said last week during a conference.
"It's going to take some time for large infrastructure projects, for the funding to come in, for the projects to be planned, and for orders of equipment to be delivered," Campbell said.
(Reporting By Meredith Davis in Chicago; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
From Cosmopolitan
An ex-con turned surrogate son to celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover was arrested Thursday after the body of a missing Connecticut man was discovered buried in a shallow grave in New Jersey.
According to People, James Rackover, 25, has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of Joey Comunale, 26, along with concealment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. His alleged co-conspirator, Lawrence Dilione, 28, was arrested on the same charges, with the added charge of "hindering prosecution in the first degree." (Dilione and Rackover are pictured above, LR.)
The body of Comunale was discovered Wednesday, just a mile from Dilione's former residence. Police report that the victim had been bludgeoned, partially burned, and stabbed in the chest 15 times.
According to the victim's friends, Comunale attended a party at Rackover's apartment in Manhattan on Sunday and was last seen entering the building at approximately 7:30 a.m. Witnesses claim they later saw two men dragging a heavy piece of luggage - presumably containing Comunale's body - out of the building on a luggage cart.
New York Daily News reports that over 30 pieces of evidence were found in Rackover's apartment, and that the duo appeared to have attempted to bleach blood from Comunale's clothing.
"We uncovered a substantial amount of blood evidence inside the building," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. "Plastic bags that were downstairs through the garbage chute, in that room, his clothing with a substantial amount of blood, some sheets, some towels."
While the motive for the murder remains unclear, police believe a fight might have broken out after Comunale rejected the sexual advances of either one or both of the accused killers. The Daily Mail reports that Comunale allegedly first met either Rackover or Dilione at a nightclub and returned to Rackover's apartment along with three women, who left at approximately 6:30 a.m.
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Rackover, who previously went by James Beaudoin before taking his surrogate father's last name, has a lengthy criminal record in Florida, where he has been arrested for burglary, armed robbery, and drug possession. He allegedly first met his benefactor at a gym approximately three years ago, where they instantly clicked. According to the Daily Mail, despite most sources reporting that the two have a father-son relationship, some people familiar with the pair believe they might be dating.
New York Daily News reports that Rackover and Dilione are currently being held on $3 million bond over $300,000 cash bail. It is unclear at this time if they have entered a plea deal.
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For over two years, the streets of Bangkok which had grown accustomed to frequent and massive demonstrations have been uncharacteristically quiet. Thailands raucous last phase of democracy ended in May 2014, when the Royal Thai Armed Forces launched a coup that deposed the government and installed a military junta. Since then, the democratic opposition has remained internally divided and mostly passive on the national stage. But with the adoption of the juntas constitution this August and even more significantly, after the death of the widely revered King Bhumibol several weeks ago a new political landscape has been taking shape. The junta has consolidated its power and gained an electoral mandate, but lost the popular legitimacy it derived from a beloved and revered king. For an opposition that has been all but inert, the new political environment offers an opportunity to form a united front, challenge the junta, and restore democratic rule if they can grasp it.
In the wake of the coup, the military government led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha presented itself as a ship that would guide Thailand to safety in rocky waters. The country had endured months of political gridlock between supporters and opponents of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, founded by populist leader Thaksin Shinawatra. The raging protests, punctuated by violence, had created fear across the capital. The coup, Prayuths deputy foreign minister said, was a revolution to install stability. Since then, Thailand has indeed grown quieter as the military detained and intimidated journalists, banned any assembly of over five people, and issued a stream of endless, often ham-fisted propaganda. Its leaders have regularly promised elections that would return the country to civilian rule but as expected, these have been continuously postponed. Like previous military rulers, Prayuth has leaned heavily on the monarchy, the last symbol of national unity in a deeply polarized society. The kings support for the coup was a powerful legitimizing force. Exploiting this stamp of approval to the fullest, the military has positioned itself as the ultimate defender of the royal institution and has made harsh and broad use of lese-majeste laws to silence dissent.
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Having suppressed any immediate opposition, the junta quickly moved to institutionalize its control over Thai politics for the long haul, engineering a referendum last August that enshrined a new, more favorable constitution. According to the new charter, Thailands senate which holds veto power over the lower house will be appointed entirely by the junta. For the first time, the prime minister will no longer have to be drawn from the parliament, clearing the way for a member of the military to lead the country. Prayuth has even floated the idea that he himself could continue on as prime minister after the junta relinquishes power. The new electoral system, which is strictly proportional, will make it harder for any parties to win strong majorities, leading to weak coalitions and reinforcing the power of the military as the arbiter of the countrys political order.
The junta campaigned vigorously for the referendum, sending as many as 350,000 pro-draft canvassers into the countrys towns and villages. At the same time, the regime denied opponents the chance to campaign on a level playing field, punishing criticism of the proposed constitution by imprisonment, criminalizing assembly, detaining opposition leaders, and intimidating the press. Even as pro-constitution canvassers and media flooded Thailands villages, shop owners who displayed banners in opposition were forced to take them down. Across the country, the junta carefully stacked the deck while parading the referendum as a show of popular participation.
The governments efforts to push through the new constitution were aided by a deeply divided opposition. The countrys two dominant political parties, Pheu Thai and the Democratic Party, expressed their opposition to the charter but refused to actively campaign against it for fear of arrest or harassment. The Red Shirts, who support former prime minister Thaksin and are Thailands largest civil society mobilizing force, also refrained from campaigning against the constitution to avoid reprisals. Instead, it attempted to monitor the referendum to prevent fraud, only for the monitoring to be banned. Labor unions and rural organizers urged their followers to boycott the ballot to avoid legitimizing the junta. In the end, it was the student groups that campaigned most vigorously against the new constitution, despite facing harassment and arbitrary detention. But while these groups representing the countrys democratic opposition were all opposed to the constitution, they failed to create a united front. This led to a predictable victory for the junta, with 61 percent of voters in favor and a turnout of 55 percent, the lowest of any ballot since 1983.
Perhaps the most glaring divide within the opposition is between its two most active elements: The student groups, who are at the forefront of the current fight against the junta, and the Red Shirts, who are officially known as the United Democratic Front Against Dictatorship due to their opposition to the previous military coup in 2006. The student groups, most notably the New Democracy Movement (NDM), like to stage symbolic, high-visibility actions (primarily in Bangkok), using Facebook to spread awareness across the country. The Red Shirts, on the other hand, are influential among farmers and laborers from the countrys rural North and Northeast. Their strong presence in the traditional media and in local community networks enabled them to bring millions into the streets prior to the coup. In todays repressive environment, the students have thrived by using dispersive tactics, such as flash protests, while the Red Shirts have abandoned the streets.
Given their different tactics and constituencies, it would seem that the student groups and the Red Shirts would form a natural united front against the junta. But the Red Shirts are far from an apolitical, pro-democracy movement. They are closely aligned with rural populations and the Pheu Thai party of former Prime Ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who were both ousted by previous coups in 2006 and 2014 respectively. For years, the Red Shirts have faced off in the streets with the Yellow Shirts, a coalition of royalists, nationalists, and members of the political and business establishment. The Red Shirts alliance with Pheu Thai and the Shinawatras make it a polarizing force, and the students fear that any alliance with them would prevent them from being able to form wider coalitions. They believe that their movement is more effective when operating independently, and that the Red Shirt leadership would merely attempt to absorb their following.
Finally, until now, there has been little agreement among student groups, Red Shirts, labor organizers and other democratic forces on when and how to mobilize against the junta. Many saw the adoption of a new constitution as unavoidable and decided to wait it out. Most critical of all, the impending death of king Bhumibol had kept opposition groups indecisive, as they knew it would destabilize the juntas power base if they only waited. In coup after coup Thailand has experienced 19 since 1933 the military has used royal support as a legitimizing force. But in contrast to his father, who had been revered and respected by almost all sections of Thai society, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn is a divisive figure who enjoys far less legitimacy. Already facing growing challenges to its authority, the monarchy and thus the military junta is likely to lose a great deal of its popularity during the royal succession. Seeing the link between the monarchs legitimacy and its own, the junta has launched massive propaganda campaigns to educate the youth on the monarchy, building statues of past kings, running television ads, and organizing seminars in schools. It has also worked to rehabilitate the reputation of the prince. So while the referendum provided the military junta with an electoral mandate and great institutional power, the death of the king was a serious blow.
In sum, the waiting game is now over. In a few months at most following a period of mourning for the beloved king the dust will settle and a new political landscape will come into being. In this new environment, the democratic opposition will be able to organize and mobilize far more effectively for a return to democratic rule. It will be able to capitalize on the unpopularity of the new king, mobilizing populations who were unwilling to challenge the junta and its royal mandate. It will also be able to unite various groups around common strategies and campaigns, now that the uncertainties of the referendum and the kings health have passed. These campaigns might target the new centers of power, or use elections as mobilizing opportunities, or focus on uniting both major parties against the junta.
But of course, this will depend on the ability of civil society groups to bridge their divisions and unite behind a single banner: returning Thailand to democratic governance. Indeed, unity is one of the most critical components of a successful democratic movement. Given the militarys steady consolidation of power and its relentless propaganda, only a robust, unified front will be able to place Thailand back on track towards democracy.
The next elections, planned for November 2017, provide the perfect opportunity for the opposition to challenge the junta. The question is whether democracy activists will seize on this opportunity.
In the photo, Thais sing the Royal anthem in honor of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 22.
Photo credit: PAULA BRONSTEIN/Getty Images
USA TODAY Sports
Chandler Parsons will make his return to Dallas on Friday. Parsons spent two years in Dallas before opting out of his deal this past offseason and signing a four-year max contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
His decision to opt out was kind of controversial, so much so that hes apparently gotten a ton of flack from Mavs fans on social media. Furthermore, Parsons expects that the social media banter will carry over to his return to Dallas in the form of boos. As he told ESPNs Tim MacMahon, he thinks this is ridiculous.
Dallas, I dont understand. Its like getting mad at somebody for getting in a car wreck and breaking their arm. Like, how in the world can you be mad at somebody for getting hurt? It makes no sense. Thats just so wrong to get mad at somebody for getting hurt, like they want to go through the rehab, want to go through the pain, want to go through the misery of not playing. I can never understand that aspect of it. So when it comes to Dallas, youre going to get mad at me because Dirk decided to take less money to bring in a really good player and then unfortunately he gets hurt? Thats why youre mad? Sure, boo.
Parsons is referring to the knee injury that ended his 2015-16 season after only 61 games. His decision to opt out was kind of risky, because he turned down $16 million in the final year of his deal with Dallas. It ended up working out in his favor since he got paid, but considering he said earlier in the year that he was returning to the Mavericks, it obviously ruffled some feathers.
Comments like this wont help Parsons case with Mavericks fans, and this may cause the Dallas faithful to boo him a little more on Friday. He seems like he has thick skin and expects this to happen, though, so at least he wont be blindsided by all this.
(Via ESPN)
As far as crazy villains go, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards) and Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas) of Gotham really take the cake. The two are already wild and wicked on their own, but together, they form quite a formidable duo.
For the next few episodes of Gotham Season 3, Babs and Tabs, as they are known, will have a meatier storyline. Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) is out for revenge since he believes Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell) was responsible for Isabellas death (when in truth, his boss Penguin has his hands all over it).
Tabithas kidnapping was featured in the new Grindhouse trailer for The Sirens. In it, Nygma threatens to chop off Tabithas hands while Barbara wreaks havoc looking for her. But will she save Tabitha on time?
The next episode is titled Mad City: Time Bomb. The synopsis, which was shared by Comic Book, reads: On the eve of their rehearsal dinner, a threat to Mario (guest star James Carpinello) and Lee (Morena Baccarin) is exposed, and Falcone (guest star John Doman) looks to Jim for help. Meanwhile, Nygma seeks revenge and Bruce learns more about The Court of Owls.
Meanwhile, Ben McKenzie, the actor who plays Jim Gordon, was earlier asked if his character could still repair his relationship with Barbara. After all, the two shared a loving relationship at one point in their lives and were even set to get married.
But McKenzie told Blastr that its no longer possible. I dont think the relationship can be healed; I do think theres a chance of personal redemption for all of these characters no matter how villainous they become, he said.
But what McKenzie loves about the show is that theres always a way for audiences to empathize with the villains. I think we really play with the thin line between heroes and villainy on a show like this. Were it not for Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor) being beaten down by Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) all the time, maybe he wouldnt have become the cold-blooded killer he became, he said.
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Gotham airs every Monday at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.
Gotham
Photo: Fox
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Fewer leaders had lower public expectations than Chester Alan Arthur, but fewer people knew the 21st President was dealing with a terminal illness while he pressed for government reforms and tax cuts during his one term in office during the 1880s.
presidentarthur
On November 18, 1886, former President Arthur passed away in New York City, surrounded by his family at the age of 56. Dr. George A. Peters, Arthurs doctor, confirmed publicly the former President had a kidney ailment known as Brights disease, and he had known for about six months that he could die from it at any time.
The New York Times also confirmed from a former Arthur official that at least Arthurs Secretary of State, Frederick Frelinghuysen, knew in 1883 that President Arthur had Brights disease and his condition was likely terminal. In fact, Arthur himself likely knew of his fate about one year after assuming office.
The source told Frelinghuysen because as a matter of presidential succession, there was no Vice President serving under Arthur after President James Garfields assassination.
Arthur was a surprise choice as James Garfields running mate on the Republican ticket at the 1880 Republican national convention. Arthur was a New York attorney who had come to prominence as a skilled public administrator, first during the Civil War and then as the powerful Collector of the Port of New York.
Arthur was also the colleague, friend and protege of Roscoe Conkling, the New York political boss and Senator who ran that states extensive and lucrative patronage machine.
The highly paid Arthur, while not accused directly of wrongdoing, was ousted from his port collector position by President Rutherford B. Hayes, a fellow Republican, in 1880. Hayes used his presidential powers during a congressional recess to remove Arthur, which caused a rift within the Republican Party.
Hayes and others were concerned about a patronage spoils system championed by Conkling and Arthur that required kickbacks from port employees that went directly to Conklings party operations.
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But in a twist of fate, Arthur received the vice presidential nomination, apparently without Conklings prior approval in 1880. Garfields supporters needed votes in the key state of New York, and Arthur proved to be a skilled political campaigner and organizer.
Within six months after going to Washington as the Vice President, Arthur replaced Garfield after Garfield died from wounds received in a July 1881 assassination.
And soon after assuming the presidency, Arthur set his own independent course for his remaining three years in office. The new President fought the spoils patronage system he supported in New York, advocated tariff relief for businesses, and demanded breaks for taxpayers.
One reason for Arthurs independent streak, some historians speculate, is that the President was diagnosed with what was called Brights disease in October 1882, which was known as a terminal condition at the time.
Today, the term isnt used to describe one specific kidney condition, but physicians in Arthurs time knew the President was starting to show signs of kidney failure, and he likely would have heart problems as the disease progressed.
In late 1882, the New York Herald reported Arthur had the disease, but in an example of 19th century spin control, the White House countered with a story that Arthur had contracted malaria years earlier, and he was fatigued from a flare up.
Although he was in pain and ill health for the rest of his presidency, Arthur championed reforms of the patronage system. In 1883, he signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which banned kickbacks in the civil service system and made merit, and not patronage, the basis for promotion and pay.
Arthur also wanted lower tariffs and less patronage because he thought the huge government budget surpluses in the 1880s should be lowered, through lower tax rates and money returned to taxpayers.
Publicly, Arthur had a reputation for dressing well, eating well, and enjoying the finer things in life. He also convinced Congress to pay for well-needed White House renovations.
Knowing of his illness, Arthur made a less-than-enthusiastic bid for his partys renomination in 1884, and his political enemy, James Blaine, gained the GOP nomination.
No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired more generally respected, said newspaper editor and GOP supporter Alexander McClure, after Arthurs death.
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Chinese digital content aggregator ByteDance has signed a licensing deal with Studio 71, a multi channel network that belongs to Germanys ProSieben group.
Studio 71s content will be subtitled into Chinese and carried on ByteDances Top Buzz platform.
Founded in 2012, and now with backing from Silicon Valley investors that include Sequoia Capital and Digital Sky Technology, ByteDance has scored as a news aggregator. It claims some 600 million registered users and over 66 million daily users for its Toutiao (Todays Headlines) app. It has operations in China, New York and Los Angeles.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that terms of a new funding round ascribed the company a valuation of $10 billion. In September ByteDance announced that it would invest $150 million on funding high-quality, short-form content for its global platform.
Studio 71 has over 1,200 YouTube channels. Its roster of creators includes Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (9.2 million subscribers), Epic Meal Time (7 million subscribers), Matthew Santoro (5.6 million subscribers), Tana Mongeau (2 million subscribers), and Logan Paul (13 million Facebook followers).
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From Popular Mechanics
China's state media reports that the country's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, is now "combat ready." The ship's political commissar says the ship is "preparing for actual combat at any time." Despite the tough talk, all evidence indicates that Beijing's sole flat top is likely a mere training vessel that would do very poorly in actual combat.
Liaoning was commissioned into service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2012. Originally built for the Soviet Navy, her unfinished hull languished in a Ukrainian shipyard after the end of the Cold War. Purchased by a PLA front company under the guise of housing a casino, the hull was towed back to China where it spent nearly a decade being refitted. The carrier was modernized in a Dalian shipyard to carry 18-20 J-15B strike fighters and up to a dozen helicopters.
Four years later, is Liaoning ready for combat? Almost certainly not. China may have trained up enough pilots to man the ship's air wing (less than half the size of its American counterpart) and operate the ship, but the world of carrier operations is an extremely complex and dangerous. The ship's crew and the embarked air wing must work seamlessly to provide a ready warship capable of tackling a variety of threats. This alone took the U.S. Navy decades to accomplish, and there is no way China could achieve a similar level of proficiency in just four years.
The Chinese carrier is also something of a homebody, a rarity for aircraft carriers. Liaoning's American counterparts regularly span the globe, traveling from Virginia to the Persian Gulf, or San Diego to the South China Sea. Even the decrepit Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov has traveled from its home base in Arctic waters all the way to the eastern Mediterranean.
By contrast Liaoning has never ventured far from the Chinese coastline, preferring to exercise in nearby locations such as the Yellow Sea-essentially China's Gulf of Mexico. This implies the PLAN is insecure either about the crew's ability to handle the ship or the reliability of the ship's propulsion system. Either reason would be enough to declare the ship unfit for combat.
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Another reason why Liaoning is not combat ready is that according to China's Global Times the ship is home to 1,000 noncommissioned officers and 42 petty officers whose experience in the Navy amounts to 20 years or more. These personnel are a brain trust that will be expected to teach crews manning China's future carriers how to operate the ship. If Liaoning were sunk in combat, the loss of these personnel would hurt even more than the loss of the ship itself.
Despite Beijing's boasting, Liaoning is likely exactly what analysts predicted it would be-a training ship that will never stray far from the Chinese coastline.
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By Ben Blanchard KUNMING, China (Reuters) - China and the United States wrapped up a three-day humanitarian relief military drill on Friday, looking past simmering tensions over the disputed South China Sea and uncertainty at what Donald Trump's presidency will mean for defense ties. The exercises, held in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, come a month after a U.S. navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea, prompting fury in Beijing which called the moved illegal and provocative. That patrol, the latest by Washington to challenge Chinese claims in the strategic waterway, capped a tense year for military-to-military ties between the world's two largest economies, which are also at odds over the U.S. decision to base Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system battery system in South Korea to defend against North Korea. China, neighboring North Korea, worries the system's radar will be able to track its own military capabilities. New concerns loom with Trump's shock election as U.S. president earlier this month, a man who lambasted China on the campaign trail and has suggested Japan and South Korea be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. But it was all smiles and friendship as Chinese and U.S. soldiers simulated digging out bodies from an earthquake-destroyed building and rescuing people from an overturned boat in a reservoir. Liu Xiaowu, army commander of the Chinese southern military region, and General Robert Brown, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, chatted amiably as they oversaw the last day of exercises. Asked if he was worried Trump's administration could cancel next year's drills, Brown said he was confident that would not happen. "I would give my best military advice, if asked at the appropriate time in the transition, that these type of military-to-military exchanges are really critical because of that trust they build." Liu was upbeat too. "No matter who is president, as long as it's aimed at humanitarian relief to help relieve suffering of those in disaster zones, it will win support." This is the fourth time China and the United States have conducted such drills since they began in 2013, as the two try to set aside mutual suspicion from the bottom up, rather than just relying on contacts at a more senior level. "These operations do help to create a mutual understanding between our two militaries," said Jeremy Reynolds, a U.S. army captain based in Hawaii, standing on a pontoon bridge. "The execution of the exchange went very well between the Chinese and the American forces." The exercise involved 134 military personnel from China and 89 from the United States, using helicopters and engineering equipment. They also conducted tabletop exercises focusing on sharing information and joint decision-making, field maneuvers focusing on evacuation of earthquake victims and search and rescue. "We had very happy cooperation with the United States. I was really happy," said Chinese army doctor Zhao Yao. "This was the first time I'd met the U.S. military. The exchange with them has really helped my English." (Editing by Nick Macfie)
HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to invest 2.1 billion yuan ($305 million) in supermarket chain Sanjiang Shopping Club Co Ltd to further expand its retail presence.
Sanjiang said announcements it had made about Alibaba's investment had prompted the Shanghai stock exchange to ask whether Alibaba will ultimately seek control. Sanjiang's shares were suspended on Nov. 8 and will resume trading on Nov. 21.
Under the terms of the deal outlined in the stock exchange filings, Alibaba will subscribe to a private placement in Sanjiang, which will help raise up to 1.5 billion yuan and be equivalent to a 25 percent stake in the supermarket operator.
Sanjiang also plans to issue up to 188 million yuan worth of exchangeable bonds to Alibaba, equivalent to 16.4 million of the supermarket operator's shares.
Alibaba will also acquire another 9.3 percent stake for 438.6 million yuan via a share transfer, Sanjiang said.
Alibaba's stake in Sanjiang will rise to 32 percent after the share transfer and share subscription, Sanjiang said. This is above the 30 percent threshold where a company is required to make a full takeover bid in China. Alibaba will need approval from Sanjiang's shareholders to waive this requirement.
Sanjiang said it aims to use Alibaba's e-commerce platform to make the most of the increasingly competitive bricks-and-mortar retail sector as China's economic growth slows.
In early November, Alibaba posted a 55 percent rise in second-quarter revenue, logging a second straight quarter of robust results, indicating that it could still generate strong growth despite worries about the health of China's economy and its retail sector. ($1 = 6.8810 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Meg Shen in Hong Kong and Lee Chyen Yee in Singapore; Editing by Alexander Smith)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Shenzhou 11 space capsule landed safely in the northern region of Inner Mongolia on Friday with two astronauts aboard, state media said, completing the country's longest manned space mission to date. China Central Television showed images of the craft - whose name translates as "Divine Vessel" - on the ground flanked by Chinese flags and support teams. State news agency Xinhua said the capsule had touched down "successfully" just after 2 p.m. The two astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, spent 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", which China is using to carry out experiments ahead of a longer-range plan to have a permanent manned space station around 2022. They did not immediately emerge from the capsule as CCTV said they were undergoing medical examination, but mission commander Zhang Youxia, who is also a senior military official, said in a televised speech that they were in "good condition". "The Tiangong 2 and Shenzhou 11 flight duties were a complete success," Zhang said. Tiangong 2 will remain in its orbit and next docks with Tianzhou 1, China's first cargo spacecraft, which is set to be launched in April next year, according to state media. In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1. Advancing China's space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power. The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using space-based assets in a crisis. China has been working to develop its space program for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to established space powers the United States and Russia. It insists the program is for peaceful purposes. China's Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties. The rover and the Chang'e 3 probe that carried it there were the first "soft landing" on the moon since 1976. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had accomplished the feat earlier. China will launch a "core module" for its first space station some time around 2018, a senior official said in April, part of a plan for a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. (Reporting by Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Two Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after completing the country's longest manned space mission on board the Tiangong-2 space laboratory. According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft carrying the astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong landed safely in the steppes of Inner Mongolia on Friday afternoon.
Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-11 space mission opened the return capsule's hatch and are reported by the ground team to be in good condition, Xinhua reported.
The astronauts spent 30 days in the space lab, where they carried out medical and scientific experiments, and tested the complexs habitability.
The success of the mission indicates that our manned space program has achieved major new progress and is the latest achievement in building a country of innovation and a world power of science and technology, the ruling Communist Partys Central Committee said in a congratulatory letter cited by the Associated Press. It is the newest achievement of Chinese people in climbing the peak of the world.
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Photo: REUTERS
The next vehicle that docks with Tiangong-2 would be Tianzhou-1 Chinas first cargo spacecraft that is scheduled for launch in April 2017.
Since it sent its first satellite into orbit in 1970, China has been pumping large amounts of cash into its space program. It sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, and in 2011, it launched Tiangong-1 the first operational component of the Tiangong program, which seeks to put a permanently manned space station into service by 2022.
The second component, Tiangong-2, was launched in September.
Tiangong is a precursor testbed of capabilities. Building toward the large space station has always been the culminating goal of the Shenzhou program, Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, told CNN.
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However, the countrys space ambitions extend far beyond sending astronauts to low-Earth orbits. In 2013, as part of its lunar exploration program, China launched the Jade Rabbit its first lunar probe. By 2018, China aims to land its Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the moon, and by 2020, it plans to send an unmanned rover to Mars.
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Chocolate-flavored cheese is a thing, and what a time to be alive!
In the midst of the stress of the last few weeks, its nice to just sit back and remember that great things exist in the world. Many of them cheese-related! Thats right, time to unleash your inner foodie.
Cosmo just let us know that chocolate cheese is the weird new food you never knew you needed, and were TOTALLY on board. Being addicted to cheese, and reconizing that chocolate is the best means that the news of their marriage is literally the most exciting thing ever.
This foodie delight was created by dairy specialist Curds & Whey in Australia, and its an Italian blue cheese with chocolate liqueur, topped with chocolate chips and dusted with cocoa powder. In other words, a heavenly dessert cheese plate.
PREPARE FOR YOUR MOUTH TO WATER UNCONTROLLABLY:
Talking about the flavor, owner Anna Burley told Mashable:
The blue itself is quite mild, and the liqueur added the chocolate flavor without being sweet.
That soundsperfect. Yeah, no wonder these things are sold out!
Choco 21 cheese has arrived! Each wheel of this mild & delicate blue is ripened with Choco 21 Liqueur, rubbed with cocoa and decorated with chocolate chips. A photo posted by Curds & Whey (@curdswhey) on Nov 9, 2016 at 11:29am PST
Choco 21 cheese has arrived! Each wheel of this mild & delicate blue is ripened with Choco 21 Liqueur, rubbed with cocoa and decorated with chocolate chips.
Could the next batch be shipped to American shores, perhaps? We know what were wishing for this holiday season
The post Chocolate-flavored cheese is a thing, and what a time to be alive! appeared first on HelloGiggles.
The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad.
Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons
From Road & Track
You've heard of a car company called Chrysler, right? Well, in the mid-seventies, following the horrible sales disaster that was the Opel Record copy known as the Chrysler 180, they really wanted to create something people would notice as better than mediocre.
While the full-sized Chrysler 180 was born out of two separate projectsthe British Rootes Group's C car and the French Simca's Projcet 929 running parallel under one company's umbrella in true seventies fashion, Chrysler's next flagship sedan code named internally as 'P9' was supposed to be developed by the French and styled by the British. Unfortunately, the Brits wanted to go almost Citroen SM crazy with the exterior, something Chrysler's American half just couldn't let happen. So, they went for three boxes instead, because that has worked before.
By 1976, the Oil Crisis was over, and Chrysler's new big car was set to compete with such success stories as the Ford Granada, the Audi 100 and the V8-powered Rover SD1. After presenting a fiberglass mock-up for approval at Detroit, Chrysler Europe's next task was to figure out where to get a six-cylinder engine for the thing. Off the shelf, they only had gutless four-pots.
Photo credit: Chrysler via rootes-chrysler.co.uk
After ruling out Mitsubishi's straight-six simply because it was rubbish even by seventies standards, Chrysler started to fantasize about the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6, the one that later made it into the DeLorean. And while it seemed highly unlikely that what was now Peugeot-Citroen would approve supplying their engine to a direct competitor, by 1978, that suddenly stopped being a problem.
On the edge of bankruptcy, Chrysler decided to get rid of its European operations, selling the whole lot to PSA for $1. Despite the French having three cars in the segment already, the C9 project was in such an advanced stage that Peugeot had no choice but to go through with it, hoping that Chrysler's dream of a five percent market penetration would somehow become a reality in a world full of Citroen CXs, Peugeot 604s and 505s, plus all the rest Europe had to offer.
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Photo credit: Talbot via John Lloydundefined
Peugeot modified Simca's design heavily in the last seconds in order to use as many of their existing parts as possible (including an awkwardly narrow rear axle), and after rebranding all Chrysler products as Talbots, the first Tagora was ready to leave the plant in Poissy by 1980. Needless to say, the recent end of the second Oil Crisis didn't help them selling V6s, but that seemed to be the least of their problems.
Nobody knew what a Talbot was supposed to be, and even if they managed to lure customers into their dealerships, the product just wasn't convincing enough to turn that rendezvous into the correct amount of French francs. The Tagora wasn't necessary terrible despite PSA's cheapening efforts, but it wasn't special enough to catch the public's imagination either. Chrysler's 5 percent prediction never had a chance of materializing, and so PSA discontinued the car after just three years.
Of the 19,389 Talbot Tagoras made, not many survive to this day.
Photo credit: Arnold.p via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit: Arnold.p via Wikimedia Commons
Hat tip to Roots-Chrysler UK!
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By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - North Carolina's gubernatorial race was undecided 10 days after the Nov. 8 vote and new allegations by the Republican incumbent's campaign about felons and dead people casting ballots could leave the outcome in limbo for weeks. Republican Governor Pat McCrory, trailing Democratic challenger Roy Cooper by about 6,300 votes according to the state elections website Friday afternoon, has not conceded. Under state law, Friday was the deadline for counties to certify their results. But challenges over the validity of hundreds of votes and reviews of provisional ballots were expected to delay the reports from many, if not all, of the state's 100 counties, elections officials said. The uncertainty has been punctuated this week by a war of words, with McCrory's campaign accusing Cooper of being lax on voter fraud and Cooper's campaign calling the incumbent dishonest and desperate. "It is unfortunate to see that rather than accepting the results, Pat McCrory is going to go down by besmirching Republican election officials (and) by impugning voters," Marc Elias, a lawyer for the Cooper campaign, said in a call with reporters on Friday. McCrory's campaign, however, argues it is following the legal process to ensure all legitimate votes are counted. Protests being filed by registered voters in some 50 counties argue that up to 200 ballots should be thrown out because they were cast under the names of dead people or by felons or individuals who voted more than once, according to the campaign. McCrory representatives also said thousands of votes in 12 counties may have been part of an absentee ballot fraud scheme. Several counties rejected election protests on Friday, including Durham County, where Republicans had called into question the tabulation of about 90,000 ballots on election night, local media reported. All of the state's county elections boards are controlled by Republicans. Elias said there are not enough votes at issue to keep Cooper from winning. McCrory campaign spokesman Ricky Diaz called that claim presumptuous with counting incomplete. "There's additional cases of voter fraud being discovered each day," he said in a phone interview. If McCrory trails by 10,000 or fewer votes once counties submit their final tallies, he could demand a recount. A Cooper victory would be the only governorship addition for Democrats. Republicans, who flipped seats in New Hampshire, Missouri and Vermont, will hold at least 33 governor offices next year, the most for the party since 1922. (Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)
Photo credit: Heraa Hashmi/Twitter
From Seventeen
Heraa Hashmi, 19, was sitting in history class at the University of ColoradoBoulder three weeks ago when the conversation turned to violence and Islam. One of Heraa's classmates declared that most violent events today stem from Muslim extremism or terrorism. Heraa corrected him and said he was mistaken.
Another student piped up to disagree with Heraa. "If that's true, then why don't Muslims condemn violence?" he asked.
Heraa politely told her classmate that he could Google many examples of Muslims condemning violence. Nevertheless, she left the class feeling upset and frustrated.
"I felt like I had to do something to answer not just him, but the media and people online whose perceptions of Muslims are wrong," she told Seventeen.com.
Photo credit: Heraa Hashmi
For the next three weeks, Heraa spent a few hours every day filling a spreadsheet with examples backing up her point. "I found peaceful declarations from Muslims all over the world," she said. In the end, Heraa wound up with 5,686 examples of Muslim organizations and individuals speaking out against ills including terrorism, ISIS, al-Qaeda and the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. For good measure she included examples of Muslims condemning climate change, discrimination against women, and more.
A friend told her she should publish the spreadsheet, so she tweeted out the link right before she went to bed on Nov. 12.
classmate: why dont muslims condemn things
me: *goes home makes 712 page long list of Muslims Condemning Things with sources*
me: fight me pic.twitter.com/sDhwUMIAK1 - Heraa Hashmi (@caveheraa) November 12, 2016
When Heraa woke up, the tweet had racked up thousands of approving responses - and is now up to more than 26,000 likes and 13,000 retweets.
not even joking you can organize it by individual/org., location because we condemn worldwide and by Thing Condemnedhttps://t.co/GWEd43pBc4 - Heraa Hashmi (@caveheraa) November 12, 2016
"I knew that even if it helped just one person, my efforts were worth it," she said.
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Obviously, it's helping a lot more than just one person - Heraa has been overwhelmed with a wave of positive tweets.
Music coming from the printer...because the paper is jamming pic.twitter.com/hIAIBgajDo - Heraa Hashmi (@caveheraa) November 17, 2016
Two of Heraa's followers, Ire Aderinokun and Timi Ajiboye, turned the spreadsheet into a searchable website called Muslims Condemn.
Photo credit: Muslims Condemn
"When you're a minority, everything you say and do isn't just a reflection of you; it's a reflection of your entire community," Heraa told Seventeen.com. "The best thing we can do right now is educate people and show them that this is who Muslims are. We're active in the community, and we strive to be good citizens just like anyone else."
Hannah Orenstein is a writer at Seventeen.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
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On Thursday, after Democrats bruising losses on Election Day, members of several powerful labor unions swarmed a Washington, D.C., park a stones throw from Senate offices. They waved signs with slogans such as Stop Corporate Trade Deals, Tax Wall Street and even Bernie 2020.
Most prevalent: signs opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, whose prospects for approval have now been declared null.
TPP, RIP! the crowd shouted at one point.
Strikingly, unions long a cornerstone of the Democratic party were celebrating the death of a trade agreement negotiated by Democrats and that Hillary Clinton praised before changing her tune and advocating against it. Its now clear that Republican Donald Trumps anti-trade deal message resonated with many union members, and Clintons support among them was weaker than expected.
Clintons underperformance among union members came despite union bosses spending tens of millions of dollars supporting Clintons bid. Union-related political action committees, for example, gave more than $17 million to Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC boosting her candidacy, and more than $21 million to For Our Future, another super PAC focused on convincing Americans to vote for Clinton and other Democrats.
The AFL-CIO stressed that Clinton won more union member votes than Trump despite Trumps efforts to appeal to workers. The union released exit poll numbers showing Clinton won union households by 51 percent to 43 percent, and she carried union members by 56 percent to 37 percent.
Nonetheless, Clintons support from union households was 10 points lower than President Barack Obamas support four years ago, according to exit poll data released by Fox News.
In the end, labor supported Trump more than it did 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney 3 percentage points better among union households and 4 percentage points better among union members.
With nearly 15 million union members in the United States, this shift from election to election translated into hundreds of thousands of votes for Trump.
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Trump used our rhetoric on trade and keeping jobs in America, the AFL-CIO said, adding, he forged a personal connection with working people by acknowledging their resentment about the rules being written to marginalize them.
This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Several union leaders in recent days said the signs of many members reluctance to support Clinton were visible before the election, and the Democratic Party must reconsider its approach to working-class voters.
Harold Schaitberger, the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said its politically active union didnt endorse either Clinton or Trump because internal polling showed its members were too divided. It was the first time since 1976 that the union has failed to endorse in a presidential election.
We were going to do significant harm to our union by endorsing a presidential candidate, he told the Center for Public Integrity.
Instead, the International Association of Fire Fighters gave to committees supporting Democratic congressional candidates. Since the election, Schaitberger said hes had candid discussions with other members of the AFL-CIOs executive council.
Im not going to speak for anybody else, but I can tell you this: It wasnt just my members that were part of a number of the votes behind Trump, he said.
Schaitberger also said he found it disturbing that some of the Democratic voices speak about blue-collar workers, white working-class non-college educated whites, almost in a disparaging way.
The reality now, Schaitberger said, is a Democratic party that lost the White House, both houses of Congress, hundreds of state legislative seats and governorships.
There needs to be a lot of soul searching, he said, and discussions about how to maintain a progressive, diverse coalition without ignoring blue-collar white union members who have felt disenfranchised and angry and in many ways left on the sidelines.
The International Longshoremens Association endorsed Clintons bid early, in October 2015.
Nonetheless, James McNamara, a spokesman for the union, said the membership was probably evenly divided between Trump and Clinton.
If we posted something up on Facebook you had comments that were calling our endorsement into question. You had just as many supporting our endorsement, he said.
At the rally in Upper Senate Park Wednesday, other union officials, too, acknowledged some of their members had found Trumps message appealing.
As I traveled around the country campaigning for Hillary Clinton, no doubt, many of our members voted for Donald Trump, said Oscar Owens, the international secretary-treasurer for the Amalgamated Transit Union. Based on what he was saying he is going to do for America, to do for working people.
John Costa, an international vice president for the Amalgamated Transit Union, agreed, and said he had sensed a lack of excitement for Clinton.
The Democratic party needs to do a better job in their process, he said. They have to listen to the people. They have to listen to the young people and the workers, not the lobbyists.
One prominent Democrat who agrees? Vice President Joseph Biden.
In October, he sounded a warning note about working-class voters, saying on MSNBC that we dont associate with their difficulty anymore.
This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
An election recount could be underway soon in Colorado about a ballot initiative seeking to redefine the presence and meaning of the word slavery in that states constitution.
coloradocapitol456
As of Thursday, the Yes-No vote on a referendum seemed too close to call. And some critics were blaming confusion over a one-sentence referendum question as prolonging the vote.
Back in 1876, Colorado voters approved the only constitution in that states history, just months before President Ulysses S. Grant declared the territory as the 38th state. The states constitutions drafters, aware of the pre-Civil War debate in the territory, included a direct reference to the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which banned slavery in the United States.
The first part of the 13th Amendment, as ratified in 1865, reads as follows: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Colorado incorporated similar language in its original constitution, even though slavery was outlawed nationally by the 13th Amendment. Section 26 of the Colorado constitution reads as follows: Slavery prohibited. There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
And so that language has remained in the Colorado constitution since. This year, the troublesome section met its match on several fronts. Organized groups wanted the word slavery in the state constitution redefined so that it wasnt acceptable under any circumstance. Another group wanted the redefinition to clarify that inmates held in privately operated prisons couldnt be forced to work without pay.
The proposed amendment would eliminate the last clause of the current Section 26, to read, There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude.
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The change met with unanimous approval in Colorados state Senate and House, and in the local media. The Denver Post editorial board agreed with state Rep. Jovan Melton, one of the three sponsors of the amendment. We agree with Melton that that kind of exception to slavery sends the wrong message, including how we treat and value the lives of those being held in custody, the Post said. Words matter especially to African-Americans, Melton said, and those words are dehumanizing.
The measure was placed on the November 8 general election ballot in the state, but with the following language: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the removal of the exception to the prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude when used as punishment for persons duly convicted of a crime?
As of November 16, the No votes led the Yes votes, by about 26,000 votes out of 2.5 million votes cast, and a No vote would defeat the proposed amendment.
Richard B. Collins, a University of Colorado law professor, told the Post that is was possible that people were confused about the wording and cast a No vote to indicate their opposition to any pro-slavery language.
The 13th Amendment is still there, and theres no move to change it, Collins said. But whenever people dont understand something, they vote no. Thats a given.
Rep. Joe Salazar, another legislation sponsor, told the Durango Herald that the language was a problem, based on conversations he had with voters.
They said that it was very confusing, he said. When they said they voted no on Amendment T, I explained to them what Amendment T was about They were like, Thats not how it read.
Colorados secretary of state will need to determine by December 8 if a recount is in order for the ballot measure. If not, the amendment could reappear in a future election, in a plain-English form, observers said.
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This Coca-Cola bottle lets you snap selfies while you sip, because why not
Not to sound too judgmental, but you *might* have a certified selfie addiction if you routinely take pictures of yourself drinking soda. No judgment! But come on. Like, were not even kidding: Per Uproxx, theres a Coca-Cola selfie bottle that allows you snap selfies while you sip because apparently, taking selfies at the right moment just became way more crucial.
Well let the world decide whether this bottle should be labeled a serious selfie game changer, but for now, lets take a closer look at how this chug-and-smile contraption works. According to Gefen Team, which designed the bottle for the Coca-Cola Summer Love Campaign, users can snap selfies and immediately share them on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
LATEST: @CocaCola has unveiled a custom-designed selfie bottle camera that lets you casually take snaps as you drink. #Innovation pic.twitter.com/odqgJPWPjw BDTechTalk (@BDTechTalk) November 18, 2016
Users tag themselves and their friends in photos on Coca-Colas social media assets. It really does the trick and makes the partygoers more present and active during the event, knowing they can share their special moments just by drinking, Gefen said in a statement.
Um, OK.
Well, if youre not sure where you stand on this most pressing technological issue, then youll have time to mull it over because the Coca-Cola selfie bottle is only available in Israel for now, with no word on when or if itll be released worldwide.
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Netflix
While comparing the arrival of Irish immigrants in New York City to that of subsequent Jewish and Italian travelers, Colin Quinn: The New York Story delivers a joke about the Statute of Liberty I didnt quite understand. My Brooklyn-born and Queens-raised Italian girlfriend, however, laughed so hard she scared the dog off the couch. We were cynical to begin with, Quinn explains, [because] there was no Statue of Liberty yet. There was never that poetic moment the Italians and Jews had. Because the Italians came theyre already crying and emotional, and they look up and welcoming them is a 100-foot mother.
This ex-Texan eventually got the joke, but the Saturday Night Live alum appreciated the response from a native New Yorker to his Big Apple-based Netflix special, which premieres Friday, November 18th. Tell her Im glad she liked the line because I said it during the whole run of the show and it never got a laugh, Quinn said over the phone. I kept it in because I knew it was true.
The New York Story, which is based on Quinns 2015 The Coloring Book: A Comedian Solves Race Relations in America, marks the stand-up comedians fifth one-man show since his 1998 Broadway debut, An Irish Wake. Its also his second outing with fellow comic turned director Jerry Seinfeld, who previously directed Quinn in his 2010 HBO special, Long Story Short. Both points came up in our discussion, which quickly turned to President-elect Donald Trumps victory a few days prior an appropriate subject given Quinns focus on immigration.
Youve probably been asked about this countless time, but I feel it necessary to bring up Donald Trump, especially since you spend so much time discussing immigration in New York Story.
Nobodys brought that up actually. Yeah, its definitely one of those things to look at it. And believe me, Im not somebody thats just going to be like, Hey you know what? This is a country of immigrants. No, theres another side to it too. You cant just dismiss it. That being said, the fact that nobody even discusses immigration on either side, nobody discusses it is so typical of whats going on with us in general. Theres a lot of screaming on the surface going on, but nobody ever goes, Lets sit down and have a real conversation about it. My new theory is [we should have] publicly held constitutional conventions, only no ones allowed to criticize until after. So you cant just attack people for giving their opinion. Thats the problem. Nobodys going to be honest, because if youre honest youll be in trouble. So thats my new thing. With immigration, I think thats another thing. The truth about immigration in New York City is, it saved it during the past 20 years. It changed New York for the better and no one denies that. Every neighborhood in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and elsewhere is better because immigrants moved in.
You poke fun at the mostly white millennials whove gentrified your native Park Slope, especially for their commitment to racially charged protest movements like Black Lives Matter while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge a persons color for fear of reprisal. Im a liberal straight white male, and I know its a joke at my expense, but I totally get it. Do you worry others wont?
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I dont blame you or them. Like I say in the special, you can lose your job if you do [refer to people by their skin color]. My intention is not mean, but if people want to take clips or take it in a different context, Im sure they can. At this point, people can do that with anything. If you say anything, people can do that. You can do that with my book a lot easier, actually. If people are going after you, theyre going after you and theyre probably going to get you. Its just the way it goes, but I dont care at this point. Your intention is your intention, but if people want to misconstrue what Im saying then theyll do it. Thats just how it is. You want to get me? Go ahead. Anybody can.
Sure, but does that bother you at all?
It bothers me, but its just the way it is. I mean it bothers me, but Im not deluded enough to think you can change the whole national culture and conscience. You can try but you cant be like, Guys stop now! Thats enough! I want everybody online to stop behaving like this. [Laughs.] We need a wave your fist emoticon.
This is your second outing with Jerry Seinfeld, who doesnt direct that much. Why do you think he decided to helm New York Story?
Because he believes in the stuff Im doing. I hope thats what it is. He believes its there for a reason, that its going for the right thing. He loves doing things like this. Its the kind of stuff he loves. And he does it, I think, to help me. Definitely to help me, because when you see his name on it, people are more inclined to be like, Oh Jerrys involved. It definitely helps. But also, he likes doing this kind of stuff. He likes to structure things, and I think it drives him nuts that I dont give a shit.
[Laughs.] Whats it like to be directed by Seinfeld?
Once were filming, he lets it go. Hes very hands-on in the early days with the structural things. Thats when hes really involved. When it comes down to figuring out the beginning, middle, end and things like that. Thats when hell ask questions about what Im saying at certain points and why. Where theyre coming from. Things like that.
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In a 2013 interview with The New Yorker, you discussed a television show about immigration youd written that nobody wanted to make. Whatever happened to it?
Nothing. They never made it. Ive written a bunch of immigration shows and tried to get them all made. A bunch of different types of shows. Everyone was always like, This is a good idea! This is a good time for it! And its never happened. I dont know what to say at this point.
Did anything from it percolate into The Coloring Book or New York Story?
No. Its all stuff about immigration, and all the different aspects of immigration in New York and in the country in general. None of them ever got made.
The cut of New York Story I saw came in at just over an hour, though Im sure the live show was at least an hour and a half. Was there anything you had to cut for time youd wished you hadnt?
I cant remember, to tell you specifically, what we cut at this point. It was more like an hour and 50 minutes instead of an hour and a half in total. But I guarantee whatever we cut, in my mind, I thought How did we cut that? Thats gold. Every time I write something, Im like What? You want to cut that? Thats my masterpiece! But you have to do that. You know how they say in movies that you kill your little darlings? Its like that.
At least with Netflix, you dont have to cut for commercial breaks or broadcast timeslots.
Yeah, but then if Comedy Central or somebody else like that buys it The worse thing is when they cut into the middle of a joke and you have to call them out for leaving a setup without a punchline. People watching at home are going to think, that guys not funny, because they left the setup in but not the punchline. So you have to go in there and watch it because its so arbitrary and theyll just kill it. That combined with political correctness, with which theyll cut things and ruin the whole joke especially a show like this. But if Comedy Central does buy this I dont know Netflix rules, I think they just own it forever, hopefully I dont want it cut up for commercials. Because if they do Im getting in there and saying, You cant make this comfortable for people. Its either they like it or they dont.
They cant keep doing this in comedy. I was talking to somebody the other day about it. Look, you can argue for or against political correctness, but in comedy you cant argue for it. Because whatever the standard is that people want, whatever is considered appropriate, the whole point of comedy is to go a little bit past that. Thats the point of it! Everybody talks about how youre supposed to push the envelope, but then if you push the envelope theyre like, Whoa! Theres standards of decency! What is this, the Catholic League? [Laughs.] Is this 1930s? Stop! Youre speaking like the moral majority back in the fucking 80s, you know? Its so weird. I understand you want to be like that, but not with comedy. Were off limits! Hows that work for everybody? Im calling it now, were off limits. You cant judge us! You can say were not funny, but you cant judge us based on the normal standards of society. Thats it.
Its an appropriate topic for discussion, given who we just put in the White House.
Yeah! [Laughs.] Were in whole new sphere right now. Were in a mindset thats never been explored in society. People say may you live in interesting times. Well guess what? I guarantee you one thing its not going to be boring. Whatever happens, it wont be boring.
What are you working on at the moment?
Ive been working on something. Its about, for the lack of a better word, that one asshole in every situation. When youre at your job or anywhere else you go, theres always the one person who has that sort of toxic personality. You know what I mean? Its about them.
How appropriate.
Yeah!
Are you still writing it, or have you already been trying it out on stage?
Ive been putting it up for a couple of months. The thing about writing stand-up is, the audience has to be a part of it. More than anything else, they have to be in it the whole way. Thats the funny thing about stand-up. The audience is there for the development of the whole thing.
Unlike writing books, like your The Coloring Book. Its much more insular.
[Laughs.] About halfway through the book, I was like, You know what? I hate writing books. Which is horrible, so I figured I should make it into a stand-up show or I would be miserable. Everybody was saying, You should write a book! and now I know I hate it.
Colin Quinn: The New York Story streams Friday, November 18 exclusively on Netflix.
By Keith Coffman
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - Lawyers for the man declared mentally unfit to stand trial for a fatal shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado last year lost their bid on Thursday for a court order to bar him from communicating with the news media.
Robert Lewis Dear's defense team took the unusual step of essentially seeking a gag order for their own client, saying his penchant for giving press interviews could undermine his right to a fair trial if he were found competent to face prosecution in the future.
"Some journalists have demonstrated a willingness to publish and broadcast statements made by Mr. Dear despite his obvious mental illness, his attorneys said in their motion.
As an example, Dear told a Denver television station he intends to plead guilty and expects to be executed. During an earlier court appearance, he proclaimed himself guilty and a warrior for the babies.
But El Paso County District Judge Gilbert Martinez said he would deny the defense request, while also stating that Dear, 58, was still "not competent to proceed" in the criminal case against him.
Following Thursday's proceedings, Dear was to return to a state mental hospital for further "restorative treatment." His status will be reviewed again in another 90 days, at a hearing in February.
Dear has been held without bond since surrendering after a bloody five-hour siege on Nov. 27, 2015, at the Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs, where he opened fire while armed with several guns.
The mother of two small children and a military veteran who happened to be in the clinic's waiting area were killed, along with a police officer. Nine other people were wounded.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Dear told police detectives afterward that he believed the souls of aborted fetuses would thank him for stopping more abortions when he gets to heaven.
Prosecutors have charged the South Carolina native with multiple counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault in the shooting.
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Martinez declared Dear to be mentally incompetent in May after two psychologists testified that the onetime self-employed art dealer suffered from a psychotic delusional disorder. The judge said Dear's mental state rendered him unable to meaningfully assist in his own defense.
Dear, who has insisted he is competent, launched into a verbal tirade as he was led into the courtroom on Thursday. Four-thousand babies are murdered every day by Planned Parenthood, he said in a loud voice. Think about that.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and David Gregorio)
SPRINGFIELD -- Changes are on their way for a program that provides in-home care for more than 80,000 elderly residents after the Illinois House failed to override Gov. Bruce Rauners veto of a bill that would have preserved the existing program.
Despite warnings from advocates that the changes could result in the loss of services such as assistance with household chores for thousands of elderly residents, House Democrats on Wednesday came up four votes short of the 71 they needed to override the Republican governors veto.
The Department on Aging will now move forward with implementing changes to the community care program, which is designed to help keep older residents in their own homes and out of nursing homes. Facing a growing elderly population and rising costs, the Rauner administration is planning an overhaul of services for more than 40,000 people in the program who dont qualify for Medicaid, the joint state and federal insurance program for the poor.
Those people will be shifted into the departments new community reinvestment program, which officials estimate will save the state $200 million annually by providing services more efficiently. One example the administration has offered is having a service pick up and drop off laundry rather than paying an in-home worker to do it.
The Illinois Department on Aging worked diligently to develop a thoughtful, person-centered program that will allow our state to continue serving increasing numbers of older adults across the state in a fiscally sustainable manner, spokeswoman Veronica Vera said in an emailed statement. It is encouraging that members of the General Assembly recognize the value of this program and its primary objective -- to allow seniors to live independently in their homes and communities longer.
But many members of the General Assembly dont see it that way.
State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, the bills sponsor, said rolling out the changes statewide is a risky proposition.
Harris called the departments proposal a pilot program that has not been tested.
It is something that could very well put our homebound seniors at risk, he said.
If the program doesnt work, it could result in more elderly residents moving into nursing homes, which would cost the state more, Harris said.
Vera said the department is working with local agencies that will implement the program to develop the rules that will govern it.
AARP Illinois, which opposed the new program and supported Harriss bill, will now work to shape the rules to make sure that those currently in the program continue to receive services, said Lori Hendren, associate state director.
Were going to continue to have conversations with the governors office and with the Department on Aging as they move forward with their initiative of the community reinvestment program and to discuss improvements and reforms to (the community care program) now which can better sustain in-home and community care services for all those in the program, Hendren said.
One of AARPs concerns is that the state might create a waiting list for the new program if there arent enough resources to go around, but the department has said it doesnt anticipate the need for one.
Did a stand-up comedian alter the outcome of the 2016 presidential election?
Paul Horner, who is behind some of the fake news articles seen on Facebook and Google, is taking credit for Donald Trump's win.
Read: Crowd Boos as Kanye West Says He Didn't Vote But Would've Picked Trump
"I think Trump is in the White House because of me," the 38-year-old told the Washington Post.
He's behind crazy stories including Donald Trump Requiring All Muslims To Wear Badges" and "President Obama Signs Executive Order Banning The National Anthem.
President Obama denounced the fake stories on his final trip overseas as commander-in-chief.
Obama said Thursday in Berlin fake news threatens our democracy, adding: There is so much active misinformation and it is packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television.
Horner lives in Mesa, Arizona and performs stand-up comedy at local clubs around Phoenix.
His major source of income is those fake headlines -- about $10,000 a month, he told Washington Post reporter Caitlin Dewey.
"When a lot of people read those stories he gets a certain amount of money for each person that clicks through and that adds up to a lot of money," she told Inside Edition.
Read: Some Lavish Homes Inside Trump Tower Dropping in Price as It Becomes Base of Operations for Transition
One survey says more people read the fake news stories on Facebook than read real stories from reputable news outlets, a fact that had TV journalists at the 30th annual "Power Lunch For Women" in New York very upset.
Rosanna Scotto of Fox told Inside Edition: "This should be a lesson to people everywhere: Don't believe all the junk you read."
Deborah Roberts of ABC News said: "Just breathe before you read."
Watch: Hillary Clinton Looks Tired at First Post-Election Appearance: 'I Wanted to Curl Up With a Good Book'
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them finally premieres Friday, but unless youre actually J.K. Rowling, its highly possible you know next to nothing about it even if youre a Potterhead from way back. Unlike the rest of the Harry Potter movies, Fantastic Beasts is based on a textbook rather than a novel, so theres not much source material to study before you see it. In case youre a little confused about just what this Newt Scamander guy is up to in New York City, use this cheat sheet as a guide to the newest installment in the Wizarding World. Spoilers ahead!
THE CHARACTERS
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne): British wizard and author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (not yet written in the movie). He is the grandfather-in-law of Luna Lovegood, who married Newts grandson Rolf Scamander.
Porpentina Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston): American witch and former Auror. After botching an investigation, she has been demoted to the wizard equivalent of the DMV - the wand permit office.
Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol): Sister and roommate of Tina. She likes to cook and is so good at Legilimency that she often does it by accident.
Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger): American No-Maj who works in a factory but dreams of becoming a baker.
Seraphina Piquery (Carmen Ejogo): The president of MACUSA (see below). She has a penchant for extravagant headwear.
Percival Graves (Colin Farrell): American Auror investigating a string of mysterious incidents in New York City. Hes not that into Newt and his whimsical English ways.
Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton): No-Maj leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a group devoted to exposing witches and wizards.
Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller): Adopted son of Mary Lou. He keeps to himself and has a very strange haircut.
THE PLOT
Newt Scamander arrives in New York City with a magical suitcase full of magical beasts, which he studies in his career as a magizoologist. While attempting to catch an escaped niffler, Newt encounters Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj who accidentally takes the magical suitcase home. Jacob agrees to help Newt find the rest of the escaped creatures but not before Tina gets involved. Tina, a disgraced Auror, is determined to get back in the good graces of MACUSA, but theyre not really having it because American wizards arent supposed to interact with No-Maj.
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Meanwhile, Percival Graves, MACUSAs Director of Magical Security, is investigating a series of unsolved magical incidents at the behest of President Seraphina Piquery. Are these incidents just wizards messing around, or is something darker at work? This is all in addition to the growing notoriety of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, whove been giving speeches and handing out pamphlets about the dangers of magic.
NEW VOCAB WORDS
No-Maj: Theres a good chance you know this one already, given the amount of ~controversy~ it caused when J.K. Rowling first announced it about a year ago. No-Maj, pronounced no-madge, is the American word for Muggle. Its like how British people call underwear pants, but way worse.
MACUSA: This is an acronym for Magical Congress of the United States of America, pronounced mah-coo-sah. Think of it as the American version of the Ministry of Magic, though even more out of touch with reality - MACUSA law prevents wizards from interacting with No-Maj in any way.
Obscurial: An obscurial is the dark force/creature created when a wizard child suppresses their magic. It kind of looks like the Smoke Monster from Lost.
Occamy: If you have not actually read the Fantastic Beasts textbook and have difficulty understanding Eddie Redmaynes oh-so-British accent, then you might go the entire movie not knowing what any of the major beasts are actually called. The occamy is the peacock-esque bird creature that can shrink or expand to fit its environment.
Erumpent: This is the one that looks like a glowing rhinoceros and goes on a rampage through Central Park.
JOHNNY DEPP
Earlier this month, Deadline reported that Johnny Depp had been cast in the first Fantastic Beasts sequel and would have a cameo in this movie, but didnt say who (or what) hed be playing. If you dont want to know, skip this part, but if you do - big spoiler alert - here you go: Johnny Depp is Gellert Grindelwald. Grindelwald, you may remember, is the Dark wizard who was a friend and colleague of Albus Dumbledores until he went power-mad while looking for the Deathly Hallows. Second only to Voldemort in terms of evilness, Grindelwald ended up in the wizard prison Nurmengard after Dumbledore defeated him and became the new master of the Elder Wand. It would be an even bigger spoiler to explain how exactly Grindelwald fits into the events of Fantastic Beasts, but suffice it to say that you have not seen the last of him or Johnny.
HOW IT RELATES TO HARRY POTTER
Fantastic Beasts takes place about 70 years before the events of the original Harry Potter novels, and while it doesnt totally relate to Harry and the gang right now, its clear that J.K. Rowling is laying the groundwork for a bigger connection in future movies (there will eventually be four more). In addition to the aforementioned appearance of Grindelwald, theres a reference to Dumbledore, who during the events of the movie is a professor at Hogwarts. Theres also a moment where Newt mentions a Hogwarts friend named Leta Lestrange, with whom he used to be close until they drifted apart because in his words, people change. Its not yet clear how shes related to Bellatrix, but that last name definitely isnt a coincidence. Thank Merlin for the sequels!
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BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo Republic has lowered oil and gas royalty rates under a new petroleum code approved by parliament as part of efforts to encourage investment in new exploration, an oil ministry official said on Friday. Under the new law, oil royalties are being reduced to 12 percent from 15 percent previously and gas royalties have been cut to five percent from 15 percent, said Brice Sebastien Poaty, legal advisor at the ministry. "Most of our fields have arrived at maturity. We needed to try to develop them because these fields still contain oil reserves," Poaty said. "We also must explore for oil deep offshore. That requires big investments." The new oil and gas law, which must now be enacted by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, also bans gas flaring, requiring instead that excess gas be channelled into industrial projects. New production sharing agreements must also reserve a 15 percent stake for private Congolese companies. That stake is 25 percent for projects aiming to relaunch production on old fields, Poaty said. Companies operating in Congo Republic include France's Total, Italy's ENI, London-listed Tullow and the U.S. firm Chevron. (Reporting by Christian Elion; writing by Joe Bavier; editing by David Clarke)
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday all but guaranteed a relatively modest lame duck session of Congress with his announcement that lawmakers would approve another short-term extension of spending authority through late March to avoid the possibility of another government shutdown. By kicking the can down the road again, the speaker postponed all the heavy lifting until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office early next year.
Ryans decision, announced to members of Congress the same day that Vice President-elect Mike Pence conferred on Capitol Hill with Republican and Democratic leaders, ends an element of suspense over whether GOP congressional leaders would press to cut one last big spending deal with outgoing President Obama, or leave major decision-making on defense and domestic spending policies for the remainder of the fiscal year to the new Republican power structure in Washington.
Related: Here's What Could Scuttle Trumps Big Spending Plans
In a move to simplify the post-election legislative session while placating arch conservatives unwilling to take the chance of Obama extracting some last minute concessions, Ryan announced a stopgap spending bill through March 31 to keep the government spending roughly at last years levels. Without action now, government spending would run out Dec. 9.
Ryan and his lieutenants said that the short-term extension would allow Trump and his budget advisers to have more input in funding the government through the remainder of the fiscal 2017 year that runs through next Sept. 30. I think the new, incoming government would like to have a say-so on how spending is allocated," Ryan told reporters.
But some, including House Appropriations Committee Chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) fear the leadership is making a big mistake by postponing final action on current year spending levels, instead of clearing the decks for the new Republican Congress and White House.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said that another continuing resolution would perpetuate uncertainty among federal workers and taxpayers about government funding and add to the chaos of the returning Congress. "They're making a big mistake for themselves, she said, according to Reuters. They're going to have a kettle of fish in March that they can't even imagine.
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Related: Five Things Trump Wants to Do That Liberals Would Love
Indeed, while maneuvering over spending issues during the next several weeks will be fairly pro forma, the fiscal chess board will rapidly begin to expand in January when Republicans begin the task of tearing down many of President Obamas most cherished policies and implementing an evolving Trump-GOP agenda.
The Republican takeover of both branches will come at a time of renewed concern about runaway spending, as the national debt steadily inches up towards a record $20 trillion. Many conservative lawmakers, including the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, and government spending watchdogs are clamoring for new approaches to balancing the budget and controlling long-term entitlement growth.
And while the Republicans retained a sizeable majority in the House, 247 to 188, the GOP majority in the Senate shrank slightly. Republicans will now hold a slight edge over the Democrats, 51 to 48, with one more seat to be decided in Louisiana before the end of the year. There are a few major things the Republicans can accomplish on their own without Democratic support, including dismantling many of the key elements of the Affordable Care Act using a byzantine budget process called reconciliation.
But Republicans will ultimately discover that it will be impossible for them to pass many other measures without Democratic support, because of the constant threat of a filibuster in the Senate that would require at least 60 votes to overcome.
Related: Ryan Declares GOP Has a Mandate to Enact Sweeping Changes
Unified Republican control of Congress and the executive branch provides potential for significant changes in fiscal policy, Edward Lorenzen, a senior policy advisor for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, wrote in a memorandum provided to the media Thursday. The budget process provides Republicans in Congress tools to enact parts of their agenda over Democratic opposition. However, there are limits on what can be done through the budget process [in the Senate] with 51 votes.
Enacting their agenda through the budget process will require some difficult choices that they have been able to avoid in the past and ultimately will require bipartisan support to achieve many of their goals, he added.
Heres a brief summary of some of the heavy lifting awaiting the new Congress in January:
New budget resolutions Passing just one budget resolution often can be a nightmare for the party in power because of the many conflicting interests, but passing two in the same calendar year may be unprecedented. Yet that is precisely what the new Republican leadership appears to have in mind heading into the new year.
Related: Despite Differences, President Obama Asks Americans to Unite Behind President Elect Trump
Last December, Republicans used arcane budget reconciliation rules in the Senate to push through legislation dismantling the Affordable Care Act with a simple majority vote instead of a 60-vote super majority typically required. President Obama vetoed that legislation, but it turned out to be a GOP dress rehearsal for another budgetary assault on Obamacare in January. And this time Trump will be in the Oval Office to sign the legislation.
House Republicans will almost certainly resurrect a fiscal 2017 balanced budget resolution to use as the vehicle for dismantling the heart of the Affordable Care Act. But that would be followed by a fiscal 2018 budget resolution with fresh reconciliation instructions in order to push through Trumps major tax cuts or reductions in entitlement spending, to make good on GOP pledges.
Replacing Obamacare Dismantling Obamacare will be the relatively easy part for Republicans and Trump. Figuring out what to replace it with will be infinitely more difficult. Some of the replacement provisions discussed by Republicans include a refundable tax credit, expanded use of Health Savings Accounts and high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions.
However, there is nothing approximating a consensus among House and Senate Republicans and the Trump camp. Ryan and other House Republicans are promoting their Better Way plan, but Senate Republicans and Trump are not on board. As they did before during their practice run last December, Republicans will include a provision in the reconciliation package postponing repeal for two years, to give them time to hammer out a compromise alternative.
Related - Trump Proposes $1 Trillion for Infrastructure Without Raising Taxes
Tax Reform Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are eager to push through major tax cuts and reforms next year, and the drive for that may come sooner rather than later. Most of the tax reforms would be enacted through reconciliation, although there are a number of Senate rules that may make that difficult, especially because they would substantially reduce revenues over the coming decade and likely drive up the deficit.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady (R-TX) has publicly declared that tax reform must be revenue neutral over ten years, but that may be difficult to pull off because both Trumps and Ryans competing tax proposals would substantially reduce government revenues.
One of the key issues in the budget resolution will be what revenue level is assumed in the budget and what target is set in reconciliation instructions for tax reform, Lorenzen explained. That decision will dictate what can and cannot be done in tax reform and the trade-offs that will be necessary.
Lifting spending caps Sooner or later, the two parties will have to make some hard decisions over long-term spending and whether to lift the statutory restriction on defense and discretionary domestic spending or keep them in place. Under current law, the fiscal 2018 spending levels are scheduled to decline in nominal terms from the fiscal 2017 levels, which would make it very difficult to pass appropriations bills at that level.
During the campaign, Trump called for a major boost in defense spending beyond the caps, which experts say would cost $450 billion. He has suggested offsetting the costs with additional reductions in domestic programs, but Democrats arent likely to support such a move unless spending was increased as well for domestic programs.
Related: Dueling Trump and GOP Tax Plans Would both Cause Much Larger Deficits
Debt Ceiling With the national debt currently at $19.84 trillion and rising, Republican leaders and the new president will find themselves stuck with the unpleasant task of raising the legal debt ceiling for borrowing by the Treasury. Raising the debt ceiling is typically one of the most onerous tasks because the party in power inevitably is blamed by the minority for recklessly encouraging more borrowing.
Congress passed legislation suspending the debt limit in 2015, but it will be reinstated on March 15. The Treasury can avoid breaching the debt limit by using extraordinary measures for several months, but Congress will need to pass legislation raising the debt limit by late summer or early fall.
The need to increase debt limit increases pressure for action on a plan to reduce deficits, Lorenzen wrote. While the need to raise debt limit can be blamed on the legacy of Obama, it will be hard to get support for increasing debt limit if the deficit is still projected to grow without action to control it.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
By Laila Kearney
(Reuters) - The youngest son of U.S. Representative John Conyers was found safe on Friday after his disappearance in Texas earlier this week triggered a search that included police, the FBI and Secret Service.
Carl Conyers, 21, a student at the University of Houston, was located by university authorities at his Houston apartment complex at about 1 a.m. CST, a city police spokesman said.
Conyers, who had last been seen on Tuesday, was interviewed by detectives and released to family, the spokesman said.
Investigators still are seeking to determine where Conyers had been and why he abruptly cut off contact with family and friends.
Conyers' mother, Monica Conyers, told KHOU-TV that her son was in need of a shower and had not eaten when he was located but was in otherwise good condition.
Houston police did not immediately return a request for comment.
His mother said Conyers told roommates he "had a bad day" the day he went missing, KHOU reported.
He was last seen on Tuesday afternoon by his roommate at their Houston apartment, police said. On Wednesday, messages were sent from Conyers' social media account to his girlfriend, Daisha Lewis, and several friends asking them to meet him at the university, Lewis told WWJ Newsradio in Detroit. The friends met at the campus, she said, but Conyers did not show up.
Lewis said the friends then went to Conyers' apartment where they found that his identification card, debit card and some clothing were gone, while his car, phone, computer and other items were left behind.
John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Michigan's 13th congressional district and is the longest-serving current member in Congress, had asked for privacy on Thursday while his family worked through what he called "this situation of uncertainty."
Houston police led the investigation into Conyers' disappearance and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service helped in the search.
A private search and rescue group, Texas Equusearch, is also involved in the search.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Bill Trott)
The maker of three pro-style gas range models sold exclusively through Costco is warning owners that the oven racks could fall when pulled out to remove the cooked food, posing a burn hazard.
Duro Corporation, the manufacturer of the pro-style NXR ranges, issued the warning in conjunction with Costco after the safety issue was discovered in Consumer Reports testing labs. We also notified the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Costco, which sells the NXR ranges only online, immediately stopped selling them after being contacted by Consumer Reports. The warehouse club chain will notify owners via email and phone calls today about the problem with details on the fix to come.
The NXR ranges involved are the NXR Pro 3051, the NXR Pro 3651 and NXR Pro 4851, all of which share the same design, and started selling in June 2016.
Unlike most ovens, in which the baking racks slide in and out of metal grooves with stops, the NXR Pro models have metal brackets with gliding supports in two fixed positions on each side. The glides have metal pegs on top that secure the racks.
The problem, as Consumer Reports discovered in its test labs, is that there are also several open grooves with no mechanical stops to prevent the rack from extending too far. So if you use the rack in one of these positions and pull it toward you, it can easily fall down, possibly spilling the cooked food and burning you. (See video.)
What If You Own This Range?
Duro told Consumer Reports that it will replace the brackets on the NXR ranges with the open slots. It plans to begin shipping the replacement brackets directly to consumers by the end of the month. The fix should take a few minutes and does not require tools, the company says.
The fixes wont be made in time for Thanksgiving, when consumers may adjust oven racks to accommodate a large turkey. That means owners of the models involved should only place the racks on the gliding supports and not use the open slots over the holidays.
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"While we have not received any reported cases of injuries from our oven racks, we are choosing to be proactive in sending redesigned oven rack brackets to all our valued customers who own an NXR Pro," said Saban Chang, president of Duro.
About 500 of these ovens have been sold, and no injuries have been reported or complaints posted on saferproducts.gov. It is the only model among the 100-plus ranges in our range ratings to pose this potential safety risk, including two different NXR ranges from previous tests.
The email from Costco warns consumers of the potential burn hazard, advises them to only use the racks in the positions with the gliding supports, and not to move the racks to other positions. It also explains that a fix is on the way and lists a phone number to call for further information.
Duro will also retrofit any unsold ovens so they have three glides. Newly manufactured models will have the three glides already installed and come with two racks.
For its tests, Consumer Reports paid $2,200 for the 30-inch NXR Pro 3051, which is less than half the price of most pro-style models in our ratings. When our secret shopper receives the replacement parts, our experts will evaluate whether the fix solves the safety issue. At that point we'll update the story.
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.
Brasilia (AFP) - As Brazil's biggest ever corruption probe creeps higher up the political food chain, there are signs that Congress could be looking for a way to bring it to an end.
The probe codenamed operation Car Wash has already seen charges or convictions brought against some of Brazil's most powerful figures, ranging from ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the current Senate speaker and leading business executives.
They're accused of participating in a mammoth embezzlement scheme in which businesses bribed politicians or illegally paid into their party campaign funds in order to secure inflated contracts at state companies, especially oil flagship Petrobras.
But for members of Congress, dozens of whom are named in Car Wash inquiries, the operation may be getting too close for comfort.
The heat could soon grow even fiercer for Brazil's elite with an expected plea bargain between prosecutors and Odebrecht, the construction company at the heart of the pay-to-play scheme with Petrobras.
"Without doubt this is worrying and it explains attempts to limit the investigations. There are a lot of people with problems with Car Wash," said Onyx Lorenzoni, a deputy in the lower house with the DEM party.
- Escape route? -
"The closer the investigations get to those in power, the more reactions there'll be. If there's less impunity, those who imagine themselves as untouchable will try to create mechanisms to block the investigations," Roberto Veloso, president of the Association of Brazilian Federal Judges, told AFP.
Ironically, one of these measures could be a proposed law toughening anti-corruption rules.
The measure would stiffen penalties for undeclared donations to political campaigns. However the sting in the tail is that the law would not apply retroactively, effectively giving the parties already suspected of receiving dirty money an amnesty.
But the idea is popular in Congress where fear of operation Car Wash is rampant.
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"If you criminalize all those using (slush funds) you're going to take out this entire political generation," an official with one of the main parties, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.
- Battle with judges -
The Senate president, Renan Calheiros, is one of the highest profile names in the Car Wash crosshairs.
A major scandal blew up in the capital Brasilia last month when federal police arrested four Senate police officers who'd allegedly been sweeping for listening devices planted by prosecutors.
Calheiros was furious and called for pension schemes to be cut for judges who are found guilty of violations during their service. The prosecutor general, Rodrigo Janot, shot back that this could lead to criminalizing judges for their work.
The Senate is also looking into public sector salaries, a move that is widely seen as aimed at hurting the tough judiciary.
"This is aimed at Car Wash," said Veloso, the head of the judges' association.
Meanwhile, the lower house has shelved for now a bill that sought to give amnesty to executives if their businesses admit guilt and aid investigators.
"If this bill is approved in the middle of the night... it will allow amnesty for crimes investigated by Car Wash," prosecutors said in a notably strong statement.
CHARLESTON -- State workers across Illinois put pressure on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to negotiate in demonstrations at 120 worksites.
The demonstrations Thursday were organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents about 38,000 state employees.
A state labor board ruled Tuesday that contract negotiations are stalled. On Wednesday, Rauner's administration said it intends to implement a 40-hour workweek, instead of 37.5 hours, and a merit-pay system as soon as possible.
Rauner estimates his plan will save Illinois $3 billion over four years.
AFSCME says health insurance premiums will double and workers' wages will be frozen for four years.
State employees in the Mattoon and Charleston area sought to voice their frustrations with the recent Illinois Labor Relations Board decision along with the other rallies across the state Thursday.
Rita Haupt, a Department of Human Services caseworker, was one of many who would be feeling the effects of the decision and, in turn, Rauner's terms. She said she rallied with the other state employees in the area at the corner of Douglas Street and Lincoln Avenue in Charleston because she is worried about being able to afford Rauner's terms.
Haupt said the terms will make it that much more difficult to pay health insurance premiums, which some say are expected to double, along with dealing with a four-year wage freeze also detailed in the terms. Haupt and her husband are both state employees who would see the effects of the decision made by the labor board.
Renee Kerz, AFSCME Eastern Illinois University chapter president, said these terms are major hit to state employees like her who to pay these additional health costs with no expectations of a raise in the near future.
"Our premiums go up. Our co-pays go up," Kerz said. "In turn, we will be working to pay for our health insurance a lot."
AFSCME staff representative Michael Wilmore said AFSCME is still wanting to negotiate the terms but Rauner's refusal to do so along with the board decision will jeopardize state employees.
"We are here to say we are not done talking about this," Wilmore said at the local rally.
People from Eastern Illinois University and Department of Human Services along with other local state agencies were out in full force at the corner to voice their frustrations with what has happened recently, garnering support from numerous people in cars honking as they passed by.
In Springfield, workers chanted "2-4-6-8, Rauner should negotiate." In downtown Rockford, about 75 workers picketed.
AFSCME plans to appeal the labor board ruling. If they lose, workers can vote on whether to strike.
LIMA (Reuters) - Countries that signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact have said at the APEC summit in Lima they could focus on the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)if TPP does not move forward, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Friday.
The perception that the United States is pulling back on free trade is creating a void China is willing to fill, Froman said in a briefing with reporters. He said partners in the region have told him they want U.S. leadership on trade but could also consider a pact based on TPP without the United States.
(Reporting by Mitra Taj; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Fans of The CWs Crazy Ex-Girlfriend were crushed when co-star Santino Fontana (Greg) left the show last week, four episodes into Season 2. (RIP, #TeamGreg.) But star/co-creator Rachel Bloom (Rebecca) says Gregs exit or should we call it Gregxit? was planned all along.
We always knew this is how it would go, she tells TVLine. And we wanted to completely demolish the love triangle. Other shows have love triangles where the other person leaves. But in the back of your head, youre always rooting for Ross and Rachel. We wanted to do something else, to say, No, this just ends.'
RELATEDCrazy Ex-Girlfriends Santino Fontana Exits Midway Through Season 2
Crazy Ex Girlfriend Greg Rebecca Josh
For the first season-plus of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Fridays, 9/8c), Greg had competed with his pal Josh Chan for Rebeccas affections. But even Greg realized that his relationship with Rebecca was, as he sang last week, a total stshow. This person has been repeatedly taken advantage of by Rebecca, Bloom says. And he ultimately cant flourish as a person right now, as long as they are both in the same town. Because she will continue to try to seduce him.
Showrunner Aline Brosh McKenna adds that letting the Rebecca-Josh-Greg love triangle drag on any longer wouldnt fit with what we know about Gregs character. In real life, at some point, if you dont learn that this is not a good idea, you become not a smart person, she says. The character would lose respect for himself. It didnt make sense, since hes such a smart guy, that he wouldnt be learning from his lessons.
VIDEOSCrazy Ex-Girlfriends Donna Lynne Champlin Previews Paulas Princess Number
So Greg is gone, and Josh is still keeping his distance from Rebecca. So what does that mean for the show going forward? Bloom hints that we get to spend the next few episodes just focusing on the dynamics between the women, and Rebecca finding out who she is without men. A little Bechdel [Test] going on. And you see the other women grow by leaps and bounds. McKenna says Rebeccas friendship with Paula takes center stage: I would say Rebecca and Paulas love story becomes the preeminent love story in that section.
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Brittany Snow Crazy Ex Girlfriend
But all that girl power doesnt mean Rebecca has given up on Josh. This week, in fact, Brittany Snow will be coming on, Bloom teases. The American Dreams alum plays Joshs new girlfriend, which causes big problems. It tests the Bechdel between Rebecca and Valencia, she adds with a laugh. They become kind of fixated on it.
Plus, fans should know theres another man about to enter Rebeccas life. Scott Michael Foster (Greek) is joining the cast when the show returns from winter break in January, playing a lawyer who upends Rebeccas professional life. And TVLine will have much more on him in the new year so stay tuned.
Will you miss Greg? Are you ready for a new man in Rebeccas life? Hit the comments, Crazy fans, and let us know where you stand.
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Talking Points:
Gold price drop gains momentum after hawkish Yellen comments
Crude oil prices erase OPEC-inspired gains as US Dollar surges
OPEC headline risk, rig count figures in focus into the week-end
Gold prices accelerated downward once again after hawkish comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen inspired another hawkish shift in the priced-in monetary policy outlook (as expected). The priced-in probability of a rate hike in December now stands at a potent 96 percent and the projected 2017 tightening path is at its steepest in eight months. Not surprisingly, this has undermined demand for anti-fiat and non-interest-bearing assets, punishing precious metals.
Crude oil was unable to escape Yellen-inspired volatility. Prices were on the upswing after Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said he was optimistic about finalizing a deal to cut output agreed to by OPEC members in September. Cartel members are trying to iron out implementation details and cajole Russia a pivotal non-OPEC producer into joining the effort before a formal meeting on November 30. The USD-denominated WTI benchmark succumbed to de-facto selling pressure as the greenback soared however, erasing gains to finish the day with a loss.
A lull in high-profile event risk leaves commodities vulnerable as established momentum finds few roadblocks to disrupt continuation. OPEC-related headline risk remains an important consideration however as officials continue to haggle in Doha. An unexpected breakthrough or a decisive breakdown in the negotiations is likely to inspire a response from oil prices and may echo into broader sentiment trends. The Baker Hughes Rig Count measure is also due to cross the wires. The number of active drilling sites fell for the first time since mid-September last week.
See the schedule of upcoming webinars and join us LIVE to follow the financial markets!
GOLD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS Gold prices have dropped to the weakest level in almost six months, challenging the $1200/oz figure. A daily close below the May 30 low at 1199.55 exposes the 123.6% Fibonacci expansion at 1171.83. Alternatively, a turn back above the 76.4% level at 1234.97 paves the way for a retest of the 61.8% Fib at 1254.50.
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Crude Oil Prices Drop as Yellen Comments Outweigh OPEC Optimism
CRUDE OIL TECHNICAL ANALYSIS Crude oil prices are struggling to maintain momentum after launching higher from support near the $43/bbl figure. Near-term resistance remains at 45.90, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, with a daily close above that opening the door for a test of the 50% level at 47.05. Alternatively, a turn below triple bottom support at 43.02 targets the August 11 low at 41.08.
Crude Oil Prices Drop as Yellen Comments Outweigh OPEC Optimism
--- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com
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Starbucks green cup
There's a movement for Trump supporters to get Starbucks baristas to write the president-elect's name on their cups.
On Friday, alt-right Twitter user Baked Alaska challenged his 123,000 followers to go to Starbucks and tell the employees that their names are Trump. The movement was inspired by a video posted on social media of a man apparently being turned away from Starbucks for a similar action.
"We have a culture war to win," Baked Alaska says in a Periscope video, in which he complains about alt-right Twitter suspensions and accuses liberals of making white people and men feel guilty. "If someone is getting so triggered, they can't write Trump on a coffee cup at Starbucks and they're crying liberal tears and they're calling the cops, that's insane."
Operation #TrumpCup
1) Go to Starbucks & tell them your name is Trump
2) If they refuse take video
Pls share & spread the word pic.twitter.com/huPj4g6cqY Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) November 18, 2016
According to Baked Alaska, the purpose of asking baristas to write "Trump" on cups is to "trigger SJW" employees (SJW is an abbreviation for social justice warrior, a derogatory term for feminists and progressives). He says that asking to write Trump on the cups is a way to normalize Trump and the alt-right.
The alt-right is rooted in a fringe movement comprised of groups including white nationalists, men's right activists, and reactionaries, who, in the word of Republican strategist Rick Wilson, promote a "white ethno-state." It emerged as a major support base for Donald Trump during the election, especially on social media.
If baristas refuse to write Trump on the cup, Baked Alaska says his followers should take a video and to share it with others online.
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Starbucks told Business Insider that the coffee chain does not require employees to write or call out names provided by customers.
"Over the years, writing customer names on cups and calling out their names has been a fun ritual in our stores," the coffee giant said in a statement. "Rarely has it been abused or taken advantage of. We hope and trust that our customers will continue to honor that tradition."
The inspiration for the Trump Cup movement stems from a video posted on Twitter on November 7 of a man asking for employees to write "Trump" on a cup. The employees seem to refuse to write "Trump" as the man's name, and are in the process of calling the police.
this is what happens when we go to a store that has liberal employees! @Starbucks this is against y'alls policies! pic.twitter.com/yyH4GCgOJc FLPrincessSJK (@lollicakesFL) November 8, 2016
On Thursday, the video resurfaced on the conspiracy website Infowars, where it was brought to the attention of Baked Alaska.
Baked Alaska's tweet has been favorited more than 5,000 times and retweeted more than 3,500 times since he posted it soon after midnight on Friday morning.
Since Infowars and Baked Alaska's Trump Cup call to arms, #TrumpCup has exploded on social media.
If we want Trump written on our cups don't call the cops! Feel free to boycott Starbucks after this. Even Kanye wants to #MAGA!#TrumpCup pic.twitter.com/YyFv96dhz0 Irma Hinojosa (@latinaafortrump) November 18, 2016
Refuses to write Trump on a cup.
Demands Christians to bake cakes for homosexuals.
Lib Logic.#TrumpCup Deplorable Josh (@JoshNoneYaBiz) November 18, 2016
Some people have pointed out that Trump Cup actually helps Starbucks' business. (Baked Alaska theorized on Periscope that the chain is too large to be impacted by a boycott.)
#TrumpCup Your protesting Starbucks by buying Starbucks? Bobby A Sabbar (@BASabbar) November 18, 2016
Hey Trumpsters...I love your brilliant idea to protest Starbucks by...buying coffee there! Boy, that'll sure show them! #TrumpCup Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) November 18, 2016
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has long been an outspoken figure when it comes to politics. In September he endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.
In part because of Schultz's beliefs, Starbucks' cups have become a surprisingly political symbol.
In the week or so leading up to the election, Starbucks debuted a green cup that featured an illustration showing the faces of more than 100 people, drawn with a single continuous line. The cup was intended to encourage unity during what Schultz called a "divisive time in our country."
Instead, many customers were critical of the cups. While some people were simply confused about the color, others accused the coffee chain of "political brainwashing."
NOW WATCH: How to pick the perfect watch for the office and the weekend
More From Business Insider
On Nov 18, 2016, we issued an updated research report on Rhode Island-based pharmacy retail giant CVS Health Corp. CVS, which provides integrated offerings across the entire spectrum of pharmacy care.
CVS Health posted mixed third-quarter 2016 results, with adjusted EPS beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues missed the mark. The company also anticipates continued margin declines related to both reimbursement pressures and the mix of business. According to management, the recent network changes have made it more difficult to grow share and thereby, offset the ongoing margin pressures in the near term. Hence, 2017 will be a challenging year on the margin front.
It is also disappointing to see the trimmed guidance, which indicates no immediate chance of recovery. The company has lowered its full-year 2016 earnings expectations. It currently expects adjusted EPS in the range of $5.77$5.83 (earlier expectation was $5.81$5.89). The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $5.86 per share for 2016, above the projected range.
Nonetheless, year-over-year growth remained impressive in the third quarter, with the Pharmacy Services segment reaping benefit from growth in the Specialty Pharmacy business while the Retail Pharmacy segment gained from increased same-store sales. CVS Health also expects to benefit from the recently acquired Omnicare and Target in both the near and long term. Additionally, it anticipates market share gain in the specialty pharmacy suite of services with differentiated specialty offerings providing a high level of clinical support to patients.
Meanwhile, according to recent data, 3 million people in the U.S. are currently in need of specialty treatment and the potential cost for this tends to be very high. With management emphasizing that CVS Health's specialty business remains a top priority for customers, we believe it is well positioned to tap this opportunity based on its broad, differentiated offerings, including the likes of Specialty Connect.
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However, given the highly competitive retail pharmacy business, shareholders of CVS Health anticipate severe threat from the $17.2 billion mega merger between Walgreens and Rite Aid, once the deal closes. Also, the sluggish economic conditions in the U.S. might hamper the company's profit margin.
The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Key Picks
Better-ranked medical stocks are Nxstage Medical Inc. NXTM, Baxter International Inc. BAX and Bovie Medical Corporation BVX. Nxstage Medical and Baxter sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Bovie Medical carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Nxstage Medical surged 31.6% over the last one year compared to the S&P 500s 5.1% over the same period. The company has a four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 50.00%.
Baxter International rallied 20.9% in the past one year, much higher than the S&P 500s 5.1%. It has a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 27%.
Bovie Medical recorded a 126.5% gain in the past one year, way better than the S&P 500s 5.1%. The company has a trailing four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 28.7%.
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By Subrat Patnaik REUTERS - Three, the smallest of Britain's four mobile phone networks, said late on Thursday hackers had accessed its customer upgrade database after using employee logins. The cyber security breach could put the private information of two-thirds of Three's 9 million customers at risk, the Telegraph said, citing sources familiar with the incident. http://bit.ly/2g0u0s2 Three said it was investigating how many customers were affected and would be contacting them as soon as possible. "This upgrade system does not include any customer payment, card information or bank account information," Three spokesman Nicholas Carter told Reuters in an email. The company, part of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, said that over the last four weeks Three has seen an increasing level of attempted handset fraud. "To date, we have confirmed approximately 400 high-value handsets have been stolen through burglaries and eight devices have been illegally obtained through the upgrade activity," Carter said. "This has been visible through higher levels of burglaries of retail stores and attempts to unlawfully intercept upgrade devices." Three men have been arrested in connection with the breach at Three, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Friday. A 48-year-old man from Kent, southern England, and a 39-year-old man from Manchester, northern England were arrested on suspicion of computer misuse offences, and a 35-year-old man, also from Manchester, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, the NCA said. All three have been released on bail pending further enquiries, a spokesman said. Britain's data protection regulator fined broadband provider TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc 400,000 pounds ($496,200) in October for security failings that enabled a cyber attack last year, which affected around 4 percent of the company's 4 million customers and cost it around 60 million pounds. ($1 = 0.8061 pounds) (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Richard Chang and Elaine Hardcastle)
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The grieving father of a 26-year-old Connecticut man who was recently stabbed to death at a party in New York City spoke through tears as he remembered the son he called a gentle kid.
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Who does this to a human being? I mean, who would do this to an animal? Pat Comunale said of the death of his son, Joey Comunale, during a Friday appearance on the Today show.
He was a gentle kid, Pat said. When he came over, I always got my kiss. And when he left, I always got my kiss.
Police said Joeys remains were found buried in a shallow grave in Oceanport, New Jersey, on Wednesday days after he was last seen alive heading to a party at the Grand Sutton, a luxury apartment building in New York City.
James Rackover, 25, and 28-year-old Lawrence Dilione, of Jersey City, New Jersey, have been charged with concealment of a human corpse, second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in the mans death, according to the New York Police Department. Dilione faces an additional charge of hindering prosecution in the first degree.
Both men were arraigned early Friday and have not entered pleas. Though they have reportedly both retained attorneys, their counsel could not immediately be reached.
Bail was reportedly set for both men at $3 million bond or $300,000 cash. It was not immediately clear if they remain in custody of posted bail.
That is only the beginning for us. I look forward to what our review of the evidence will reveal, Rackovers attorney, Maurice Sercasz, told ABC7.
Police said Joey was stabbed 15 times in Rackovers fourth-floor apartment in the Grand Sutton early Sunday.
Comunale headed into the city from Connecticut with his friends for the weekend, but parted ways with them and headed to James apartment with three men he had met Saturday night, according to the New York Times.
Joey was last seen on surveillance video entering the building at around 7 a.m. Police allege that he was fatally stabbed in the apartment, and then Rackover and Dilione loaded his body into a car, drove him to the wooded area in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and dug a shallow grave to bury him under a foot of dirt.
Gasoline was found at the grave site, indicating that there was an effort to burn body, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at a recent news conference.
We recovered about 32 pieces of evidence at the location. We have blood on clothing, substantial, we also have bleach. There appeared to be bleach on that clothing as well in order to cover up the blood, Boyce said. There is blood splatter in the apartment as well its visible actually.
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Boyce said no motive has been determined, though investigators have reportedly said they believe there was some kind of altercation at the apartment party.
Pat has often broken down in tears when speaking about his son. On Today, he described how Joey surrounded himself with great people.
He judged people not by their possessions, but by their friends. He had great friends, Pat said.
RELATED VIDEO: Man Linked to Celebrity Jeweler Allegedly Murdered Partygoer
Rackover has been linked in media reports to jeweler-to-the-stars Jeffrey Rackover, who has worked with celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Oprah. The exact nature of their relationship is unclear, but multiple outlets report the men live in the building where Joey attended his party.
Jeffrey could not be reached. The Comunale family has declined to comment.
FBI Errors Cause Courts to Take a Second Look at Convictions
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / You don't have to look far to get concrete evidence that the FBI is far from perfect. In fact, the agency flat-out admits it. In a 2015 press release, the nation's top criminal investigation agency stated that "at least 90 percent of the trial transcripts analyzed in its Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review contained erroneous statements."
The press release goes on to state that "these findings confirm that FBI microscopic hair analysts committed widespread, systematic error, grossly exaggerating the significance of their data under oath with the consequence of unfairly bolstering the prosecutions' case."
The admitted errors have caused many courts across the country to reexamine convictions based on analyses of hair samples. If you have been convicted of a crime in federal court and wish to appeal your case, it's important to act quickly. Contact a Texas federal criminal appeal lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your case.
Arkansas Supreme Court Orders Review of Two Cases
Recently, the Arkansas Supreme Court joined several other courts in referring criminal convictions back to lower courts for further analysis. The state's high court sent two cases back to lower courts after receiving notice that the cases involved evidence containing potentially flawed hair analysis.
If the cases contain errors, the court could order the cases reopened. The cases are just two out of over 250 criminal cases across the country identified as containing possible errors based on FBI mistakes.
In one of the Arkansas cases, the defendant was convicted of sexual assault in 1990 based on FBI testimony regarding a hair sample. In the other case, the defendant was convicted of kidnapping and murder in 1979.
In September 2016, the Justice Department said it has adopted a new code of professional responsibility for all of its forensic science laboratories and will no longer use the phrase "reasonable scientific certainty" in court testimony or official reports.
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Million-Dollar Settlements for the Wrongfully Convicted
However, the change comes too late for numerous innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted based on the flawed hair analysis. In 2016, Santae Tribble received $13.2 million for the wrongful conviction that caused him to serve 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. His conviction, which was based almost entirely on flawed hair analysis, was overturned after DNA testing revealed that none of the hair used in his case belonged to him. In fact, one of the hairs was later identified as dog hair. Tribble, who is now 55, has been told he has just a few years to live due to the HIV and hepatitis he contracted in prison.
Discuss Your Case with a Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer
The hair analysis mistakes made by FBI crime labs continue to send shock waves through the criminal justice system. If you have been charged with a crime, it's important to work with aggressive federal criminal defense lawyers. The lawyers at Broden & Mickelsen are Board Certified in Criminal Law and Criminal Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Get your free case evaluation from a Texas federal criminal defense lawyer today by calling 214-720-9552.
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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - An Uber driver in Denmark was convicted on appeal of violating taxi laws on Wednesday and fined 6,000 Danish crowns ($855.10), the latest blow to the ride-hailing app that has stirred protest and legal action worldwide.
Traditional, professional taxi operators regard U.S.-based Uber, which allows customers to book and pay for a taxi by smartphone, as a threat to their livelihoods.
The Danish Uber driver, a male student, was found guilty of failing to meet legal requirements for driving a taxi, the High Court of Eastern Denmark ruled, upholding a conviction issued in July by the Copenhagen City Court.
The High Court said he lacked a permit to drive as an occupation and his car was not registered or licensed as a taxi.
In July, the driver pleaded innocent and argued he had only taken part in car-pooling. It was not immediately known whether he would appeal Friday's verdict to Denmark's Supreme Court.
"We have great respect the Danish system of justice, but are of course deeply disappointed in the verdict," an Uber spokesman told Reuters. "There is a growing recognition of the positive effects of car-pooling, and it is encouraging that modern legislation is being considered in the (Danish) parliament."
In one of many recent legal rulings against Uber, Finland's court of appeal ordered two Uber drivers on Sept. 21 to give up their earnings to the state for not having a valid taxi license.
Earlier this year a French court fined Uber 800,000 euros ($900,000) for running an illegal taxi service with non-professional drivers and slapped smaller fines on two of its executives in the first such criminal case in Europe.
Despite the various operating challenges, Uber has become a highly successful business since its 2009 launch. It is valued at about $62.5 billion and has investors including Goldman Sachs [GS.N] and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures [GOOGL.O].
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Location: Plan International Inc., Asia Regional Office Bangkok or other country in Region.
Purpose:
The post holder is responsible for the management, coordination, and resource mobilisation for the Increased Accountability of ASEAN and SAARC to the Realization of Childrens Right to Protection project under the supervision and guidance by the Regional Head of Child Protection. Given the distinct focus of the Project on child protection advocacy by CSO coalitions towards regional bodies for collaboration ASEAN and SAARC, daily management, coordination and support throughout all stages of the Project cycle, including planning, budgeting, documenting and reporting, constitute key responsibilities via a robust M&E framework. The post holder is also responsible for ongoing reporting, financial monitoring and coordination and ongoing flow of communication and exchange of information between civil society actors and country offices involved. The Project Manager will communicate directly with the designated focal NO and other NO representatives involved, while remaining directly responsible and accountable to ARO. Analysis and broader dissemination of the Project outcomes and learning include the other key responsibilities.
Dimensions of Role:
Financial measures or statistics relevant to post such as budget; list of direct and indirect reports
Budget and resource mobilization:
The Project Manager is under the supervision, guidance and support of Plans Regional Head of Child Protection, expected to:
Manage and coordinate the currently confirmed budget of $1 million USD for the period of four years (2016-2019) (under the supervision of Regional Adviser, CRP).
Support the mobilization of a further U$ 2 million USD to ensure project continuation beyond the initial four-year cycle.
Monitor and coordinate financial aspects of the Project, including regular spending, financial and narrative reporting of the project.
Staff Numbers:
The position holders have no direct reports. The Project Manager will establish and maintain ongoing communication with Plan Country Office focal points, relevant individuals/groups and partners in the project, (including CSO Coalitions and member organisations, NO focal points etc. The postholder is managed by and works under technical guidance and supervision of the Regional Head of Child Protection.
Area of Responsibility:
Regional (Asia)
Other statistics:
Member of the following networks:
ARO Child Rights/Protection Network
The Project Manager will contribute to the publications which will be produced under specific activities of the Project, training events to be delivered, selection of the consultants and other external experts engaged.
Typical Responsibilities - Key End Results of Position:
What is done and why, but not how; include indicators for success
Responsibilities
Under the guidance and supervision of the regional Head of Child Protection the Project Manager will be responsible for the following (but not limited to):
Project Design:
monitor and make adjustments to the project design as and when required based on learnings, good practices and increased resources, in line with donor conditions.
Indicators for success: Regularly revised and submitted project work plans.
Project Implementation:
overall responsible for coordinating the development of annual work plans in line with approved project documents (narrative, logframe, and budget) together with partners and other relevant stakeholders.
Indicators for success: Implementation on track and according to work plans.
Monitoring:
monitor implementation; identify and analyze for linkages with ongoing complementary advocacy activities at country level. Overall responsible for reporting to the focal NO in line with FAD, including but not limited to review of partner progress reports
Indicators for success:
Periodic updates on implementation, at the regional and country level collected, assembled and analysed.
Good practice and resources are shared among participating CSO coalitions and Plan COs.
Quality reports submitted on time to the focal NO.
Exchange and learning:
facilitate exchange and learnin among CSOs and COs.
Indicators for success:
Reports, materials, publications and other relevant resources regularly shared among CO staff and CSO partners regularly.
These resources are uploaded onto the regional CSO website.
Advocacy:
explore opportunities to galvanize and support sub-regional level advocacy via CSO coalitions joint effort
Indicators for success:
Opportunities for advocacy are identified and shared.
Child Participation:
support to meaningful child participation within the project.
Indicators for success:
Childrens gatherings are effectively organised.
Platforms for regular exchanges between childrens organisations identified and promoted.
Knowledge management:
ensure that achievements and challenges are properly analyzed, documented and when desirable disseminated
Indicators for success:
Quarterly newsletter produced and shared.
Documentation:
ensure documentation, and dissemination of relevant key documents related to implementation.
Indicators for success:
Quality documents are produced and disseminated in a timely manner.
Networking and peer support:
ensure regular updating and promotion of the Civil Society website
Indicators for success:
The website is regularly updated.
Periodic updates to CSOs and COs on the new resources accessible through the website are shared.
Coordinate communication:
as and when required coordinate with external consultants
Indicators for success:
External consultants supported in their tasks.
Resource mobilisation:
support resources mobilization to make sure that the project can continue beyond the initial three- year period
Indicators for success:
Additional funds successfully raised
Donor compliance:
ensure adherence to donor and Plans project management requirements.
Indicators for success:
Regular reporting as per the donor requirements ensured.
Comply with and promote Plans Child Protection Policy and other relevant organisational policies:
ensure adherence to relevant , particularly Programme Quality Plan internal polices Policy
Indicators for success:
Relevant policies and procedures are followed.
Travel:
regional travel as required for workshops and meetings.
Indicators for success:
Travel reports.
Dealing with Problems:
Complexity of problems handled & the degree of investigation, analysis & creative thinking required solving them:
Delays in compiling information related to the Project implementation due to the delayed/non response from partners
Facilitation of smooth communication with the partners , Country Offices, as well as the NO representatives to avoid confusion and misinterpretations
Ensuring that proper measures are taken for the protection of children in their involvement in the Programme activities
Generate or find new ways of working to cope with internal and external changes affecting programme implementation
Manage the dynamic of relationships which range from intra-offices, inter-offices to external networks.
Effective coordination, communication and team work skills are crucial for dealing with difficulties that might arise.
Communications and Working Relationships:
Contacts: CSO Partners to the project (CRC Asia and NACGs)
Purpose: Informing, consulting, collecting information, facilitating exchange and sharing of Project related activities, resources and lessons learned
Frequency: High
Contacts: Plan Asia Country Offices (COs) involved in the Project
Purpose: Informing, consulting, collecting information, facilitating exchange and sharing of Programme related activities, resources and lessons learned
Frequency: High
Contacts: ARO Child Rights Network
Purpose: Consulting, informing, sharing and exchange of Project related activities, resources and lessons learned
Frequency: Medium
Contacts: ARO Programme Support Mangers and Country Directors of the countries involved in the Project
Purpose: Sharing of information and consulting on different initiatives of the Programme
Frequency: Medium
Contacts: ARO administration, finance and other support service departments
Purpose: Organising different events/meetings and activities of the Programme
Frequency: High
Contacts: Consultants involved in the Project
Purpose: Coordinate the activities entrusted by the consultancy for their successful and qualitative completion
Frequency: Medium
Contacts: NO focal points for this regional Project
Purpose: Engages in regular exchange of information and provides periodic updates
Frequency: High
Before going dancing cost hundreds of dollars, it was a ceremony, a mass of sorts, where people of color and the LGBTQ community gathered to release themselves from the memories and pain of their lives. Those on the fringes (black, latin, transgender and beyond) could congregate and dance together in a safe space, which had been previously illegal in pre-Stonewall era NYC.
While walking down 2nd Avenue in the fall of 1966, David Mancuso happened upon the Fillmore East (the same building that would later become legendary nightclub The Saint) where Dr. Timothy Leary was giving one of his "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" speeches. He met Leary that night and the rest was history. After dropping LSD in that environment, he knew he wanted to turn people on and blow people's minds. He initiated experiments with friends where he would gather people together to drop acid. Over time he added music and lights to those adventures. In underground circles, David's counterculture importance couldn't possibly be understated. Many credit him with being the first to put LSD on blotter paper.
David Mancuso was raised in a Children's Home in Utica overseen by an incredibly loving and dedicated nun named Sister Alicia. She would throw birthday parties for all of the children at the home, with balloons, cake and the latest tunes from the local record shop. This was the template that David followed when he began hosting parties in his Soho loft in the late 1960s. His first official private, member-only party was Valentine's Day 1970, and informed by that fateful night with Leary, he was inspired to offer guests an opportunity to experience a unique artistic experience with lights, an ephemeral soundscape, psychedelic accouterments, and a cadre of outsiders who were each a creative force in and of themselves. They joined in a collective experience that offered everyone the revelation and salvation that they were not welcome (based on their outsider status) to receive from their local houses of worship, but which was every bit as soul-fulfilling and spiritual as any church experience could be. That night the dance floor was officially born and the music he cherished and shared became the soundtrack of nightlife. His genre-expansive sets and masterfully designed sound systems remain the gold-standard of DJs and club venues worldwide.
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Having always felt like an outsider himself, David built a safe haven for those disenfranchised by the prejudices and bigotry of their time; a place where one could be themselves without fear of retribution. For the gay and queer culture, for people of color and for the working class, David's parties -- which became known as "The Loft" or "David's Loft" -- were a sanctuary for those who sought salvation and validation through a shared psycho-acoustic experience.
here is David Mancuso in the late Sixties at his home, 647 Broadway, location of the 1st incarnation of The Loft. #LoveSavesTheDay
A photo posted by Tommie Sunshine (@tommiesunshine) on Nov 14, 2016 at 8:41pm PST
Many renowned artists were part of the core of David's guest list, from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Grace Jones and Madonna, yet it was understood that there was no celebrity at The Loft, and that you were welcome if you were invited or came as a guest of an invitee as long as you brought positive energy and were open to whatever experiences the night might bring. It is said that legendary DJs Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, both still in high school at the time, ran into their juvenile parole officer Robert Williams at The Loft. Williams would later go on to create both The Warehouse and the Music Box in Chicago. As resident of The Warehouse, Knuckles honed his DJ skills to become legendary as the Godfather of House Music, while Levan went on to become the most legendary DJ of the 20th century.
For Mancuso, this was a journey of self-discovery as well. Having been deeply affected by his experiences with Sister Alicia at the Children's Home growing up, he offered his guests an opportunity to let go of their egos and embrace a larger, collective consciousness that valued the life energy in the music and the shared musical experience above all. Before The Loft, most people went out dancing to a club with a band and live musicians. David respected the value of genuine musical talent to such a degree that he obsessed about ways to recreate live performance's sonic and spiritual experience and sought out the highest possible fidelity in sound reproduction. Along the way, he helped to create the "art of the DJ" by introducing the first DJ mixer, which he developed with his friend Alex Rosner, and by experimenting with sonic technology in order to fine-tune the aural experience of his guests.
David spent more than 40 years of his life carrying the message and energy of The Loft forward from Soho to the East Village, with thousands of dedicated revelers, many of whom have gone on to illustrious careers in the music industry, being inspired by his selfless approach to spreading "the medicine in the music."
His parties were responsible for the introduction and development of musical styles that reign pop circles today - house, afro-carribean, jazz, soul, techno and gospel music all have serious roots at The Loft. Were it not for his daring approach to presenting music as medicine for so many of us that were seeking healing, our culture would not have dance clubs nor DJs in today's context at all.
I went to my first party at The Loft in 2009. A friend of mine named Jon Groce brought me and without him I would be telling a much different story. There was one moment frozen in my memory of David playing Eddie Grant's 'Living On The Frontline' which is no easy track to dance to. The floor cleared and I looked to my wife to make sure she wouldn't leave the dance floor. We both went into a trance dancing to that track around a spacious dance floor (which almost never happened while the party was in full force) and towards the end I made eye contact with David, who was smiling ear to ear and gave me a nod of approval for staying the course while so many others fell off.
on repeat. forever. I love you, David Mancuso. #LoveSavesTheDay
A photo posted by Tommie Sunshine (@tommiesunshine) on Nov 14, 2016 at 8:15pm PST
The best part of those seven years was having the opportunity to share a dance floor with people in their seventies alongside children; all of whom were dancing and sharing joy. I've been on many dance floors, but none as diverse and emotionally charged as David's. I count myself a very lucky man to have witnessed such beauty in motion.
David was a man who nurtured virtually every person he encountered in his lifetime. One who always chose integrity over potential profit, who refused to commercialize his venture beyond a point at which the integrity of the party would be sacrificed to the money Gods. On one of his many acid trips, David realized that this entire journey was bigger than him, and he encouraged everyone he met to sacrifice their ego for the greater good -- what we all experienced on the dance floor of The Loft.
What made it that much more attainable for all of us, the outsiders who found our home on his dance floor, was that he refused to ever let it be about him. It is now our responsibility to carry his legacy forward. Those of us who were lucky enough to know David understand that all he wanted in his life was for the party to go on.
Just think about it, dance music DJs, underground club culture and the LGBTQ community worldwide owe an eternal debt to his important contributions. Not only was he one of the key progenitors of what would become the art of DJing and DJ culture, but he provided the blueprint for dance clubs as we know it. There would be no rave, no festival, no EDM without David Mancuso.
In this life, I've always recognized and accepted that we will bury everyone that we love until they bury us. It's a sad and sobering reality we all must face. When I heard the news that David Mancuso had died, I was heartbroken but not sad or surprised. For those of us that who were lucky to know him, it was always understood that this day could and would come at any moment. He wasn't the healthiest and had many demons and struggles. However, he was content and uncompromising. He lived his life fully and on his own terms. He packed more in his 72 years than most all people, and he experienced and accomplished far more than he ever imagined or intended. Those close to him note he'd learned all he needed to learn and had taught all he needed to teach. It was time for David to share his teachings with another realm now.
It's always difficult to say goodbye to someone you love - someone that touched your heart and influenced your life immeasurably. However, we can continue to celebrate David's rich life and lasting legacy through his first love -- the music -- and at the house that he built -- The Loft, which continues to this day. See you in paradise, my friend. Be sure to save a space for me on the dance floor right next to Bowie, Prince, Romanthony, Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Loleatta Holloway and Sylvester.
Love Saves the Day <3
I reached out to many people I felt were important for their own unique reasons to say a few words about David. What I received back was extraordinary and I deemed it best left uncut for all to read. Enjoy.
- T.S.
Listen to Tommie Sunshine's "This Is: David Mancuso" Spotify playlist:
Nicky Siano (owner/resident of The Gallery, Studio 54 resident):
"David influenced me more then any other music maker. He didn't play records, he created atmosphere. It was on his dance floor in 1970, when I was 15, that I decided I had to be a DJ. I learned so much from him over our 47-year friendship, his ideas regarding sound and giving a party steered the business at its inception, and they still rule my concepts. I've always considered myself the Mother of dance music, David was the father."
Irvine Welsh (author of Trainspotting):
"Many dance artists are described as the 'godfather' of disco or dance or even acid house. David Mancuso was the godfather of rave. His parties, under the Loft umbrella in New York City, were instrumental in establishing the DIY ethos that pervaded the very best of every subsequent dance music genre. They instilled the idea that the dance party, at its highest expression, was, in an increasingly monolithic commercial world, an essentially political act and its pleasures were best enjoyed illicitly and underground. Mancuso understood that great music both needed -and deserved- a great scene. He was a cultural giant and we owe him loads."
Arthur Baker (producer for New Order & Afrika Bambaataa):
"This AM waking up to the news of maestro David Mancuso's passing at around 5 am immediately threw me right back to another early morning, this one navigating the streets of NYC, following Judy Weinstein and Bobby Shaw (I think) from the Paradise Garage to our final destination; The Loft. I remember entering and being directed through cascading balloons straight to the DJ area. Wasn't really a booth, more like a captains quarters on a handmade sail boat, and David was that captain, a calm before the storm. We exchanged first greetings and I think he was playing "Rock Creek Park" maybe-sounding like it never had before. I hadn't brought any music to give him as most of my tracks of the time were too aggressive for The Loft, which was fine for me, I went there to get away from it all. David will be greatly missed as will the times, the civility and the music he represented."
Dimitri from Paris (Grammy nominated DJ/producer):
"What really strikes me in David Mancuso's life's work is that he was more of a philosopher than a DJ. One that was using records, music, rather than words to get his vision through.
There was always a sense of purpose to what he was doing. He dedicated his life to making the concept of The Loft, a place where people of various life paths, could safely get together, congregating around the music he would orchestrate. It was not solely about entertaining people and sending them home happy. It was also about changing the way they'd feel about themselves, and those around them. It was about, sending love, healing through music. The highest sound fidelity he was striving for was providing a warm cocoon for his people.
The pause he would leave between each piece of music, would leave time for people to reflect, on themselves, on the others around them. I believe he succeeded in his mission. People can let their guard down with music, whereas they'll more likely stay impervious to words. We have a lot to learn from this. He used to say, and think, that "Love Saves The Day", I think this motto is more than ever relevant, in the rougher everyday, times we're going through."
Frankie Bones (Storm Rave founder, creator of PLUR):
"Mancuso's approach of invite only and members only to The Loft was pretty much instrumental, like the music itself, when I first threw raves in New York City. 'Hey, invite all your friends over and listen to loud weird music all night long.' David was the master of doing just that."
Bill Brewster (djhistory.com, co-author of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life):
"David Mancuso was the first. Without his input into how a sound system should work or exquisite taste in dance music that influenced a whole generation of New Yorkers, disco and therefore dance music would not sound the same as it does today. Without him, there would have been dance music, but it would have undoubtedly sounded less rich and more impoverished than it does today."
Danny Rampling (DJ/producer, Shoom founder)
"David Mancuso a perfectionist of sound and great taste in music. Grateful to have danced to David in London at the Loft parties on a couple of occasions. No mixing -- just an individual approach playing records from start to finish with outstanding flow. A risk taker and a hero to so many DJs. The original New York loft party pioneer who has given the world and nightlife so much through his creative vision and passion for the party. A master of the DJ craft. Thank you for the music. RIP"
Greg Wilson (music journalist, Hacienda resident)
"Not a DJ, but the musical host -- an enigmatic selector of esoteric grooves, who, via his Leary connections, links psychedelia and disco. You can't overemphasize his legacy -- he was there at the dawn of club culture as we've come to know it. The fact that the great and the good of New York's DJ community of the 70s and 80s cite The Loft as a crucial influence says it all -- he sent out the ripples that would later become waves. I wrote a piece about The Loft and highlighted those connections between psychedelia and disco. I spoke to David to check out some facts, and it meant a great deal to me for the piece to receive his personal endorsement when it was published on The Loft's website. This connection provided a missing link between two countercultural areas previously regarded by many as polar opposites. Through David's legacy, people learnt, and are still learning, that there was a lot more to disco than had previously met the eye."
Derrick Carter (DJ/producer, Classic Recordings owner):
"I only met him twice. Once Wade Hampton was part of a party being thrown at his space and we went in and had a very good time. I think I played for a little while and was really careful about the sound system. He was super courteous and even sat and spoke with me for a while. The second time he was sitting out on the sidewalk somewhere and he remembered me and we chatted for half-an-hour about life and dreams."
Oscar G (DJ/producer, Murk founder):
"A pioneer in so many ways. I was lucky to hear him play Funky Green Dogs "Reach For Me" at an incarnation of The Loft. One of the most memorable nights of my life."
Wade Randolph Hampton (Hardkiss Music):
"To be quite honest, I damn near had PTSD from working on California parties during New Music Seminar at the Limelight in the years before I met Dave Mancuso. Walking into The Loft in 1993 to throw our first party there was like going to group therapy for all that chaotic time spent working in a bad Batman movie. Dave allowed us to do what we do without the inherent pitfalls of the big megaclub system. It was the caliber of authentic impresario education that I'd always expected to get from New York City. And so, Dave Mancuso will remain the architect and the rest of us will always just be the students. And I'm eternally grateful for this arrangement.
The Loft is the genesis of Rabbit in the Moon and Hardkiss Music. We all met that day and danced at The Loft until sunrise. David Christophere and Steve McClure brought hand stamped test pressings of the original Out of Body Experience EP to my party and our lives pretty much changed forever. I did five nights straight that year and got to know Mancuso well enough to he likely would always shoot me straight. So when he told me it was a great year, but nothing in this room has ever sounded like that Hardkiss night. Well, I can't even imagine how that made me feel about the record we were about to sign to our label. Everything was certainly in it's right place, for sure.
Keoki and I going to The Loft after Robots was always the best. There were times when Dave and Scott Hardkiss reminded me a lot of each other. Right down to the way they loved to play records long as fuck; the beginning, middle and end better be good because I'm playing the whole damn thing. Do you know how few DJs can get away with that? Both of them had this incredible way of layering in the drama. Leveling, over and over. Creating false ceilings so you thought you were there, but then there was really more room somewhere else in those stunningly simply cabinets. For a room that simple to be able to present records with that kind of drama and impact... without all the pomp and circumstance. Now you're boiling this down to the root elements. Yes, his sound being a huge part of that but nobody could top the authenticity of his crowd. Nobody. And that was a palpable reverence for what he had already accomplished long before most of us kids arrived. It verified that everything I had learned at the Starck Club and actually came from a very real school of thought about how to throw a real party. Dave's mantra stitched neatly into Starck's DNA, in part from our own Texan Mancuso type -- Mr. Kerry Jaggers, who was working in New York in the late 70s and early 80s before returning as the first DJ at Starck. Still reeling from those early years myself and trying to make sense of how Dallas came to be, this was a really cool epiphany to see how much of it actually was Mr. Mancuso's vision. And for once, this was not about Studio 54."
Nita Aviance (The Carry Nation):
"Experiencing the Loft in the early stages of my life as a DJ, when I was really learning what the craft was all about, is something I will cherish forever. Love and respect for the music and each other is the ultimate message you walk away with, and David made a place for everyone on that dance floor no matter what age, race, gender or sexual orientation; we were all one under the disco ball. The catharsis of the dance was so powerful and satisfying that upon leaving I often wondered if I ever needed to dance again... knowing full well I could never ever stop. He will be truly missed."
Cosmo Baker (DJ/activist):
"The thing about David is that I knew him before I knew him, all through the records that he championed. So many songs that I love and that are engrained as the soundtrack to my life, he was responsible in bringing them to light for me. And as a DJ, I've always tried to honor his philosophy in letting the strength and purity of the music be what I lead with. I'll miss you David. I hope they're playing War's "City Country City" on the most amazing sound system for you when you get there."
Craig Roseberry (artist manager, KID Recordings):
"To me, David was more than just a seminal, influential and elusive figure in the development of DJing and underground club culture, he was family - a true friend and mentor. I'm incredibly fortunate to have known and spent real time with him. He was a real character, to say the least. He was difficult, stubborn, uncompromising, extremely private and somewhat fragile. He had an unbelievably fascinating, yet difficult, life but remained humble. He could be incredibly warm, especially if you connected with him. He shared so many wonderful stories with me about NYC, the gay underground scene, as well as, the beat movement. He was right at the epicenter of so many revolutionary movements that emerged throughout the late 50's and 80s, it's astonishing. He was truly one of the last of a dying breed - an old New York revolutionary and outsider who would become one of the founding fathers of a movement that continues to reverberate, expand and reinvent itself today."
Jon Martin (member of The Loft family):
"Rest In Power my brother, mentor and friend. You left an indelible mark and made the world a better place, with kindness and humility the likes of which most of us can only aspire to.
To all my Loft brothers and sisters, know that I am here to help however I can. I love you all and you're each in our prayers as we process this incredible loss. Thank you David Mancuso."
Maurizio Morselli:
"I met him in Brooklyn in a discotheque where they didn't want to let me in because I was too young. It was in the mid-70s, maybe '73, and I looked like a little kid. I had no ID so a big to-do erupted and this guy Dave (Mancuso) came out and talked to the guys at the door to let me in. He was very kind and was interested in my Italian roots and we danced and I got very drunk. Probably the one of three times I can remember where I got wacky wacky drunk... then he invited me to a party on Broadway."
Vito Fun (DJ/producer):
"Although I was too young to ever go the The Loft, I spent many hours in my friend's apartment with two of The Loft's remaining speakers and vinyl. On Friday nights, Loft veterans would gather, smoke weed and take turns flipping records on the platter. Our friend Alex Funk hand-built a tube amp to power the speakers and the fidelity was unreal. You could hear every non-quantized drum and every rough vocal with a clarity that is scarce to find in the best modern day sound systems and focus-group dance hits. The Loft was truly shaping the blueprint for modern dance music. The face of angst has always been punk rock, but for me it has always been house music. House music is how people dealt with their stress, they took their problems to the dance floor. Listening to the music of The Loft was a glimpse into problems only my parents understood from a city I've lived in my whole life. Loft people were always happy when I was there, a sponge soaking up their dance floor history as they tried to describe the euphoria they got from a handful of quaaludes."
This Immigrant Doctor Is Reimagining Health in the American City
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.Living with HIV has its own challenges, but advocates say outdated laws mean the illness stigma is putting people living with HIV behind bars.
Thirty-three states have laws that criminalize knowingly exposing or transmitting HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of these laws took effect in the early years of the HIV and AIDS epidemic; advocates say they do not take modern advances in treatment into consideration and that many statutes criminalize actionssuch as spitting, biting, or external exposure to bodily fluidsthat pose almost zero risk of transmitting the disease. For example, in 2008, an HIV-positive homeless man in Texas was sentenced to 35 years in prison after a court ruled that spitting at a police officer meant he used a deadly weapon when harassing a public servant.
We have had these awful laws on the books for almost 30 years. They made no sense then, and they make absolutely no sense in 2017, said John Duran, a West Hollywood city councilmember who is HIV-positive. We have case-by-case conversations where advocates and attorneys have to get in there and work to prevent unjust results from occurring.
Duran spoke at a panel discussion Wednesday that featured members of Californians for HIV Criminalization Reform, a coalition of advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Equality California. West Hollywood is a Los Angeles enclave beloved by the LGBT community, one where rainbow flags fly over many shops and the annual Pride Parade attracts thousands.
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, or the CARE Act, was signed into law in 1990. It provided states with money to fund treatments for the disease if they certified that their criminal laws supported prosecuting HIV-positive people who knowingly exposed another person. Such laws were often proposed with the intent of helping prevent HIV transmission, but advocates point to research that shows the opposite may be true. Criminal laws have not been effective in reducing rates of HIV infection, according to a 2013 national study published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study also found that these laws may provide a disincentive for people to get tested, as most HIV-positive people are subject to prosecution only if they know they have the disease.
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The National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, released by the Obama administration in 2010, recommends state legislatures review their criminal statutes to ensure that they are consistent with promoting public health and current information on the disease.
In many instances, the continued existence and enforcement of these types of laws run counter to scientific evidence about routes of HIV transmission and may undermine the public health goals of promoting HIV screening and treatment, the report says.
From 1988, when the laws were enacted, to 2014, ninety-five percent of all HIV-related criminal incidents in the state of California affected people engaged in or suspected of sex work. California is the only state to have comprehensive state-level data on who is affected by these laws, according to Ayako Miyashita, director of the Los Angeles HIV Law and Policy Project. She says trans women are particularly vulnerable because of the phenomenon known as walking while trans, in which trans women are suspected of prostitution by law enforcement when they are just going about their day.
She may be engaged in everyday activities, meeting a friend, going out to dinner, Miyashita said. These are scenarios Ive heard from women Ive spoken to, and theyre still being picked up by law enforcement on suspected solicitation.
Women and minorities are disproportionately affected by these laws in California, according to a 2015 study by UCLA and the California HIV/AIDS Research Program. Black women and white women make up 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, of the population of people diagnosed with HIV in California, but 21 percent and 15 percent of the population of people who had contact with the criminal justice system related to the disease. In comparison, white men make up 40 percent of the HIV-positive population in California, but only 16 percent had contact with the criminal justice system because of the disease.
As a person who was born HIV-positive, any crimes I commit are that of any other person, not as a person with HIV, Nestor Rogel, a member of Californians for HIV Criminalization Reform, said during the panel. I dont think anyone should be punished further than having the virus.
Take the Pledge: Dont Be Silent: Take the Pledge to Be an Ally for Racial Justice
Related stories on TakePart:
Why Its Time to Dismantle HIV Criminalization Laws
30 Gay Men Face Decade in Prison for Having Sex While HIV-Positive
The Worldwide Fight Against HIV/AIDS Just Scored a Major Win
Original article from TakePart
Six-year-old Joey Flores felt a bit left out when his father, who's deployed overseas with the Navy, was unable to attend his schools annual Lunch with Dad day.
But little did he know, he wasn't going to miss out.
Chief Pablo Flores, a meteorologist and oceanographer, was deployed just months after the family moved into their new home in Corpus Christi, Texas. He had been gone for two months, but to little Joey, it felt like forever.
Hes been very emotional since his dad left, Margaret Flores, Joeys mom, told InsideEdition.com.
Read: Watch 7-Year-Old Boy Break Down inTears When His Navy Officer Dad Returns Home Early
Mrs. Flores considered other male figures in her sons life, such as his grandfather or uncle, to attend the luncheon but what he really needed was his father.
So she decided that FaceTime would be the best idea for the two spend some much needed father-son quality time.
I told my husband to stay up due to the different time zones, said Flores. I didnt want Joseph to feel alone or left out.
As the day arrived, Joey couldnt contain his excitement. According to Mrs. Flores, he asked repeatedly why his mother had arrived to his school.
Once she connected the FaceTime, Joey was completely shocked, a smile never leaving his face.
His older sister, Clarisse Flores, took photos and videos of the luncheon.
Read: How Veterans Are Protecting War Memorial After It Was Vandalized More Than 30 Times
During the call, he was ecstatic; he kept showing all of his friends and making silly faces with his dad, Flores said.
Mrs. Flores said due to the loud noise through the cafeteria, Joey was unable to hear what his dad was saying.
It was as if the two were in a muted conversation just like old black and white movies but it was such a cute interaction, said Flores.
When it was time to end the call, little Joey was said to say goodbye. Joseph misses him so much; its been tough on him, said Flores.
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The adorable pair truly shows there is no greater love than that of a father for his son.
Watch: Military Dad Pretends to Video Chat with Deaf Daughter for Surprise Homecoming
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For designers, dressing the First Lady has long been a surefire way to increase brand visibility. But when Melania Trump enters the White House, Sophie Theallet won't throw her hat in the ring.
Theallet, a French designer who immigrated to the United States in the mid-1990s, pledged never to dress Melania in an open letter posted to her Twitter account on Thursday.
"As someone who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing ... the next First Lady," she wrote.
SEE ALSO: Melania Trump doesn't want your pity for her 'boy-like' husband
Theallet went on to admit that while her vow was not necessarily the best economic decision for her brand, her values and the values of her company took precedence.
"We value our artistic freedom and always humbly seek to contribute to a more humane, conscious and ethical way to create in this world," she explained.
"I encourage my fellow designers to do the same," she added.
Theallet has dressed First Lady Michelle Obama on several occasions, including for the Obamas' Independence Day BBQ in 2011.
U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama deliver remarks at an Independence Day barbeque for members of the armed services and White House staff and their families on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2011 in Washington, D.C.
Image: kevin dietsch-pool/Getty Images
Read her full letter below.
Open letter | Sophie Theallet | November 17th, 2016 pic.twitter.com/g1hIAyBmdF sophie theallet (@sophietheallet) November 17, 2016
[H/T: The Cut]
BONUS: Social media is obsessing over Michelle Obama's state dinner dress
As per Reuters, Germany banking giant Deutsche Bank AG DB is likely to shut down its brokerage business in Poland, operating as DB Securities S.A. The move is in sync with the banks restructuring efforts to fortify its capital position by streamlining operations. In addition, weak performance of Warsaws stock market also led to the probable decision.
The domestic stock market has declined nearly 6% in 2016, succeeding a fall of around 20% in 2015. Further, the market turnover decreased to $39 billion in the first 10 months of 2016 versus $225 billion for full-year 2015.
Reuters cited four banking industry sources familiar with the matter. One of the sources noted that the bank might face difficulties during the process as it has to collaborate with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Deutsche Bank has to seek a buyer, which could over take its existing retail clients in Poland.
Further, another source stated that it was Deutsche Bank that initiated price war in brokerage commissions in Poland many years ago, by slashing the commission to nearly half. Also, the source mentioned that the brokerage unit is one of the smaller players in Poland, currently serving nearly 30,000 accounts.
Deutsche Bank has been undertaking several initiatives under its strategy 2020 to improve the overall business performance. Among such initiatives, the company is streamlining its global footprint by offloading unprofitable businesses and shedding non-core assets to free up capital. The bank has been contemplating to sell the whole of Deutsche Bank Polska to ease available capital. (Read more: Deutsche Bank Contemplates Sale of Business in Poland)
Recently, in Sep 2016, the bank inked a deal to sell its Argentine subsidiary Deutsche Bank S.A to Banco Comafi S.A. Financial, to reorganize global operations. Also, it signed a deal to sell its UK insurance business, Abbey Life, to Phoenix Life Holdings Limited, to boost its capital position.
Deutsche Banks potential exit follows the Katowice-based ING Bank Slaski S.As decision to back out from Poland brokerage business. Similarly, among other foreign banks mulling to exit from the nation, General Electric Company GE entered a deal to sell GE Capitals major stake in Poland-based Bank BPHs Core Bank to state-owned lender, Alior Bank.
Our Viewpoint
We expect Deutsche Banks top-line growth challenges to ease, as the company is expediting Strategy 2020 efforts. The company is making progress in several areas, including building capital strength, reorganizing its investment banking and retail businesses and further investing in controls and resilience. We believe that gradual achievements in the strategy will support bottom-line expansion going forward.
Deutsche Bank currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Other stocks that warrant a look in the foreign bank space, include Bancolombia S.A. CIB sporting a Zacks Rank #1 and Banco de Chile BCH holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Bancolombia and Banco de Chile have long-term expected EPS growth rate of 2.53% and 5.04%, respectively.
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DEUTSCHE BK AG (DB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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* Debt securities trading made Deutsche global heavyweight
* Bank now examining retrenchment from business
* Decision due early 2017, U.S. mortgages first up - sources
By Arno Schuetze, Kathrin Jones and Mariana Ionova
FRANKFURT/LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank is looking to cut its loan securitisation business further starting with repackaged U.S. mortgages, two people familiar with the matter said, as the lender braces for a large fine in the United States for alleged mis-selling of such debt.
A final decision about this core business is set to come early next year, the people said, and securitisation cutbacks could become a central part of an expected strategic overhaul at the bank, once U.S. authorities have settled on a penalty.
As well as rolling back the repackaging and resale of U.S. mortgages, European car loan securitisation and other areas may also be cut, the people said, adding that management were still debating the scale of the reductions.
"We have already shrunk the business over the last two to three years," a person with direct knowledge of the bank's plans said. "It could shrink a lot more. Not only sales and trading, but also in origination."
Such a move would mark a retreat from a core business that helped Deutsche become one of the most dominant investment banks in the world before the financial crash. Now, the International Monetary Fund considers it a big risk to the financial system.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
Germany's flagship lender is among the top six investment banks globally in securitisation, according to research group Coalition. The asset-backed Securities (ABS) market in the United States alone was worth almost $2 trillion in 2015.
But tougher regulation following the financial crash has made it more expensive for banks to trade such complex securities as they tie up more capital.
Compounding Deutsche's difficulties, the U.S. Department of Justice has demanded it pay up to $14 billion to settle claims it misled investors when selling mortgage-backed securities in the United States before the crisis.
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FALLING RETURNS
Despite its insistence the final fine will be less, Deutsche Bank's stock price fell by almost a quarter in the two weeks that followed the U.S. demand, dragging down many of its rivals.
Deutsche Bank is one of the most high profile cases in the United States. It had a 6.4 percent share of the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market before the crash, according to rating agency Moody's.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, which had a slightly larger share of the U.S. mortgage-backed securities market than Deutsche, reached a settlement of roughly $5 billion over similar allegations.
In paring back its presence, Deutsche is responding not only to tighter regulation but also tougher market conditions. Banks are now sometimes required to hold more than a fifth of the value of such securities as capital to guard against losses, making it more expensive than many other forms of banking.
That prompted banks to shift from trading parcels of loans to helping clients create such securities as a way of raising finance. But competition in this sector is stiff and Deutsche Bank has struggled to get a foothold, market players said.
Although it has largely recovered in the United States, the European market for asset-backed securities - securities based on pooled loans such as mortgages, car loans or consumer credit - is only half the size it was before the crash in 2008.
While trading such securities has been a money spinner in the past, one of the people said Deutsche's track record was mixed: "We don't always have the right level of returns."
Paring back securitisation would be in line Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan's pledged to get out of unprofitable businesses.
(Writing by Arno Schuetze and John O'Donnell; editing by David Clarke)
By Arno Schuetze, Kathrin Jones and Mariana Ionova
FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank is looking to cut its loan securitization business further starting with repackaged U.S. mortgages, two people familiar with the matter said, as the lender braces for a large fine in the United States for alleged mis-selling of such debt.
A final decision about this core business is set to come early next year, the people said, and securitization cutbacks could become a central part of an expected strategic overhaul at the bank, once U.S. authorities have settled on a penalty.
As well as rolling back the repackaging and resale of U.S. mortgages, European car loan securitization and other areas may also be cut, the people said, adding that management were still debating the scale of the reductions.
"We have already shrunk the business over the last two to three years," a person with direct knowledge of the bank's plans said. "It could shrink a lot more. Not only sales and trading, but also in origination."
Such a move would mark a retreat from a core business that helped Deutsche become one of the most dominant investment banks in the world before the financial crash. Now, the International Monetary Fund considers it a big risk to the financial system.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
Germany's flagship lender is among the top six investment banks globally in securitization, according to research group Coalition. The asset-backed Securities (ABS) market in the United States alone was worth almost $2 trillion in 2015.
But tougher regulation following the financial crash has made it more expensive for banks to trade such complex securities as they tie up more capital.
Compounding Deutsche's difficulties, the U.S. Department of Justice has demanded it pay up to $14 billion to settle claims it misled investors when selling mortgage-backed securities in the United States before the crisis.
FALLING RETURNS
Despite its insistence the final fine will be less, Deutsche Bank's stock price fell by almost a quarter in the two weeks that followed the U.S. demand, dragging down many of its rivals.
Story continues
Deutsche Bank is one of the most high profile cases in the United States. It had a 6.4 percent share of the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market before the crash, according to rating agency Moody's.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, which had a slightly larger share of the U.S. mortgage-backed securities market than Deutsche, reached a settlement of roughly $5 billion over similar allegations.
In paring back its presence, Deutsche is responding not only to tighter regulation but also tougher market conditions. Banks are now sometimes required to hold more than a fifth of the value of such securities as capital to guard against losses, making it more expensive than many other forms of banking.
That prompted banks to shift from trading parcels of loans to helping clients create such securities as a way of raising finance. But competition in this sector is stiff and Deutsche Bank has struggled to get a foothold, market players said.
Although it has largely recovered in the United States, the European market for asset-backed securities - securities based on pooled loans such as mortgages, car loans or consumer credit - is only half the size it was before the crash in 2008.
While trading such securities has been a money spinner in the past, one of the people said Deutsche's track record was mixed: "We don't always have the right level of returns."
Paring back securitization would be in line Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan's pledged to get out of unprofitable businesses.
(Writing by Arno Schuetze and John O'Donnell; editing by David Clarke)
President-elect Donald Trumps choices for leadership posts threaten national unity and promise to turn back the clock on progress for racial, religious and sexual minorities, civil rights leaders and others said Friday after his nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general.
Comments attributed to Trumps picks, also including alt-right architect Stephen Bannon as senior adviser and chief strategist and former Army Lt. Michael Flynn as national security adviser, serve to embolden everyday Americans to lash out at members of minority groups, they said.
Sessions, of Alabama, was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 after hearings in which he was accused of making racially charged remarks as a U.S. attorney. According to transcripts, Sessions was accused, among other things, of joking that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK until he learned they smoked marijuana, and of calling a black assistant U.S. attorney boy. During the hearing, Sessions denied making some of the comments and said others were jokes taken out of context.
Every American should be concerned about the direction of the U.S. Department of Justice and oppose any nominee who threatens to turn back the clock on civil rights by 50 years, said National Urban League President Marc Morial.
Bannon led the Breitbart website, which has widely condemned as racist, sexist and anti-Semitic. In a 2011 radio interview, he said conservative women infuriated liberals because they would be pro-family, they would have husbands, they would love their children, contrasting that against a slur for lesbians.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has called the accusations against Bannon very unfair.
Lennie Gerber, an 80-year-old resident of High Point, North Carolina, who led the fight against her states ban on same-sex marriage, said she worried Trumps appointments will further incite such sentiments among the public.
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Saying that kind of thing incites the racism and the anti-gay feelings in everybody else and says youre free to express these things, Gerber said. These people whove been suppressed by the positive transformation that has gone on over the last few years are now feeling free to express themselves.
Civil rights leaders are calling on Trump to rescind Sessions nomination or for the Senate to reject him. Sessions requires Senate confirmation as attorney general, as does Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo for CIA director, but Bannon and Flynn do not.
In August, Flynn spoke at an event in Dallas for the anti-Islamist group Act for America, calling Islam, a religion with 1.6 billion adherents, a political ideology and a cancer.
Unfortunately, these very important picks in his administration send a troubling message indicating that the bigotry we saw expressed in the campaign will continue, said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Aside from comments and actions attributed to the nominees, their lack of diversity worries civil rights leaders. Trump has said he planned to reward loyalty, and demonstrated such with his nomination of Sessions, who was the first senator to endorse him.
Washington attorney A. Scott Bolden said Trump is 0 for 4 on diversity. All four of his picks so far are white men.
The scariest part of his potential administration will be how his political debts to the alt-right will manifest itself in his administration and policies, Bolden said. Jeff Sessions is one of those manifestations to be in control not only of justice in America, but really to bring injustice to America.
Daniela Lapidous, a 22-year-old Jewish woman who works to fight climate change, called Bannon a misogynist and anti-Semite and an anti-climate extremist. She said she never before felt the need to fight anti-Semitism, but now thinks that she must.
Ive been somewhat convinced that anti-Semitism isnt a thing in the United States anymore, but this past year, with Trump and Bannon, its made me scared about that for the first time in my life, said Lapidous, who lives in San Francisco.
The Rev. Jeffrey Brown, associate pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston, said he is not happy with Trumps choices so far, particularly Sessions.
I hear people complaining that we should give the Trump administration a chance, Brown said. Its very clear by his appointments that hes not going to give a lot of communities in the United States that same chance.
Elaine Walton, an African-American resident of New Orleans, said she had deep concerns. Her most visceral reaction to Trumps picks? Fear. How is he going to be the top watchdog for the country when hes so biased?
I think those people cannot lead him, advise him on how to lead this country forward, she said. They are going to advise him on how to lead the country backwards.
James Otis, 52, was charged Thursday with a single count of felony vandalism for destroying Donald Trumps star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Otis has admitted attacking the star with a pick-ax and a sledgehammer in the early morning hours of Oct. 26, in protest of Trumps alleged sexual assaults. He also took the brass medallion at the center of the star.
Hes a serial liar and a misogynist, Otis said at a press conference following the incident. I admitted my mistakes, and Im now dealing with my consequences, unlike Mr. Trump who has never admitted what hes done, nor has he gotten his consequences. Thats why I destroyed the star. I broke the law.
People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property, Leron Gubler, president/CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame, said in a statement after Otis was arrested.
Otis is scheduled for arraignment on Friday. The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in county jail, though that is unlikely in this instance.
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Donald Trump has gone on a hiring spree, his team announced Friday morning, after a week of reports his presidential transition was in disarray.
Trump offered Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions the job of attorney general, Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn national security adviser and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo CIA Director. All three have accepted the positions.
Sen. Sessions has been a close ally of Trumps since February, when he became the first sitting senator to endorse the then-candidate. Hes a lawyer known for his hardline stance on immigration, which puts him in harmony with many of Trumps views on the topic. In a press release, Trump called Sessions a world-class legal mind and said he is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him.
Sessions would need to be confirmed by the Senate for the Attorney General post. While sitting senators are generally afforded swift confirmation hearings, Sessions brings unique baggage to the role of Attorney General, which oversees Justice Department efforts to ensure the protection of civil rights. Sessionss nomination by President Ronald Reagan to be a federal district judge in Alabama was rejected on a bipartisan basis by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986 over concerns he made racially-charged statements while a U.S. Attorney. Sessions denied that he made the comments at the time.
With the support of my Senate colleagues, I will give all my strength to advance the Department [of Justice]s highest ideals, Sessions said in the press release, accepting the nomination.
Flynn marks another tap by Trump out of his close circle of loyal campaign advisers. As national security adviser, which is not a Senate-confirmed position, Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama, will have the new presidents ear on the countrys military and foreign policy efforts. Flynn is one of the foremost experts on military and intelligence matters and he will be an invaluable asset to me and my administration, Trump said.
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Flynn had stark disagreements with the current administration and has a history of controversial comments about Muslim world. Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL, he tweeted in February. Flynn has also taken money from Russia Today, a state-backed television network aimed at influencing the West with Russia-friendly spin on the news.
Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas 4th District, is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, and was a member of the House Select Benghazi Committee. He endorsed Trump after first backing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, but his embrace of the President-elect was never enthusiastic. He will also need to be confirmed by the Senate. He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies, Trump said.
Trumps presidential transition has been off to a rocky start, as TIME reports in this weeks magazine.
Read More: Inside Donald Trumps Chaotic Transition
During the 1990s, two amateur historians, Neil Howe and the late William Strauss, developed a new theory of American history in two books, Generations: the History of Americas Future (1991), and The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy (1997). They identified an 80-year cycle in American history, punctuated by great crises that destroyed an old order and created a new one.
Though their theory is not widely taught in colleges or discussed in the media, Strauss and Howe may well play a major role in Donald Trumps administration. Stephen Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News who has been appointed Trumps chief strategist in the White House, is very familiar with Strauss and Howes theory of crisis, and has been thinking about how to use it to achieve particular goals for quite a while. I know this because Bannon interviewed both Neil Howe and myself in 2009 while he was making a documentary film about the ongoing financial crisis. The film, called Generation Zero, discussed those ideas in some detail.
Bannon focused on the key aspect of their theory, the idea that every 80 years American history has been marked by a crisis, or fourth turning, that destroyed an old order and created a new one: The great crises identified by Strauss and Howe included the era of the American Revolution and the Constitution (1774-1794); the Civil War and its immediate aftermath (1860-68); and the Depression and the Second World War (1929-45). Doing the math, they predicted another great crisis sometime in the first 15 years of the 21st century.
Strauss and Howes major prediction has now obviously come true: Few would deny that the U.S. has been in a serious political crisis for some time, marked by intense partisan division, a very severe recession, war abroad and, above all, a breakdown in the ties between the country and its political establishment.
I was one of very few professional historians to become interested in the work of Strauss and Howe, and I incorporated their insights into books on the origins of the Vietnam War and Franklin Roosevelts role in leading the nation into World War II. I have also incorporated their theory into analyses of European history and current events. I must admit that I did not know exactly what I was getting into when Bannon, who was then working at the conservative group Citizens United, contacted me to ask me for an interview, but I appreciated any chance to discuss Strauss and Howes ideas and the crisis that was by then indisputably upon us. Bannon is both intelligent and charismatic, and he clearly enjoyed our interview as much as I did. In the finished film, he used my interview perfectly fairly, without attempting to give it his own extreme right-wing slant.
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The power of Strauss and Howes theory of crises comes from its lack of a specific ideology. My own interpretation of it is that the death of an old political, economic and social order creates an opportunity for any determined movement or leader to put a new vision in place. To use the most striking example, both the United States and Germany were in the midst of a terrible economic and political crisis in 1933. The United States turned to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal; Germany turned to Adolf Hitler and National Socialism.
In 2009, when Bannon and I met, I hoped that Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress would use the economic crisis of our own age to revive the values of the New Deal. Bannon obviously had other ideas about where the crisis would lead.
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As it turned out, Obama failed to embark on a New Deal. He evidently believed that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with our system and that it could be fixed with only marginal adjustments. Late in his term, he told David Remnick of The New Yorker that Presidents could not, in fact, remake American society, and that that was a good thing. That differentiated him from Lincoln and FDRand also from todays Republican Party.
Since at least 2000, in my opinion, the Republican Party has managed to seize and generally keep the initiative during our current crisis precisely because it is the revolutionary party of change, while the Democrats are essentially the party of the status quo. The Republican stance goes back, of course, to the early career of Newt Gingrich in the 1980s. (Gingrich was interviewed at great length in Generation Zero and is evidently destined for a very high position in the new administration. John Bolton, another possible Secretary of State, is also interviewed.) Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan has been dreaming for years of undoing Medicare and Social Security. The opportunity to do so has now come.
Trump, Bannon and the rest of the Trump campaign have already managed to destroy the old political order. Trump wiped out a slate of traditional Republican candidates and has won the White House, despite losing the popular vote. Meanwhile, a ceaseless Republican political offensive at various levels of government has given Trump an entrenched majority in the House of Representatives and a small majority in the Senate. Soon the conservatives will have a majority on the Supreme Court.
What will they do? Their rhetoric and personalities, viewed in the context of Strauss and Howes theory of crisis, suggest that they will not be bound by existing precedents and that they will rely on their own view of the heroes and villains of our time.
Generation Zero slanted the story of the economic crisis rather cleverly. On the one hand, plenty of contributors pointed out that greed and shoddy banking practices had brought about the economic collapse, but the ultimate blame is placed on liberals, bureaucrats and established politicians. And just as Republican politicians and commentators have done for the last seven years, many of the contributorsspeaking at the dawn of the Obama administrationpictured a horrible fate under Barack Obama, featuring economic catastrophe and attempts to impose socialism.
This, however, is one of the terrible things about crisis periods: many people will believe almost anything. The United States faces a terrible crisis right now even though our economy is much improved from eight years ago and we are not involved in a large war. And the Republican Party and Donald Trump are poised to take advantage of it. In my opinion, Trump, Bannon, Gingrich, Ryan and the rest will use their opportunity during the next year or two to undo as much of the Democratic legacy as they cannot only the Obama legacy, but that of FDR and LBJ as well.
Meanwhile, however, two other dangers lurkone of them embodied in my most vivid memory of my own encounter with Bannon.
When I was first exposed to Strauss and Howe I began thinking how their ideas explained the histories of other countries as well, and during our interview, I mentioned that crises in countries like France in the 1790s and Russia after 1917 had led to reigns of terror. Bannon included those remarks in the final cut of Generation Zero.
A second, more alarming, interaction did not show up in the film. Bannon had clearly thought a long time both about the domestic potential and the foreign policy implications of Strauss and Howe. More than once during our interview, he pointed out that each of the three preceding crises had involved a great war, and those conflicts had increased in scope from the American Revolution through the Civil War to the Second World War. He expected a new and even bigger war as part of the current crisis, and he did not seem at all fazed by the prospect.
I did not agree, and said so. But, knowing that the history of international conflict was my own specialty, he repeatedly pressed me to say we could expect a conflict at least as big as the Second World War in the near or medium term. I refused.
Apocalyptic rhetoric and apocalyptic thinking flourish during crisis periods. This represents perhaps the biggest danger of the Trump presidency, and one that will bear watching from all concerned citizens in the months and years ahead.
The Long View
Historians explain how the past informs the present
David Kaiser, a historian, has taught at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Williams College, and the Naval War College. He is the author of seven books, including, most recently, No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War. He lives in Watertown, Mass.
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out at the "hypocrisy" of the West for closing borders to an exodus of refugees he said he would welcome to his country and accept until it was "filled to the brim". In a short documentary broadcast Thursday by Al Jazeera, Duterte lambasted critics for complaining about his deadly war on drugs and railed at the United States for "bullying" that he said someone had to stand up to. He accused Washington of double standards and said where human rights were concerned the Philippines was in the same league as the United States, where "bigotry is very much alive" and where police kill innocent people, not drug pushers. In interviews crammed with expletives, the 71-year-old former mayor spoke warmly of Beijing and Moscow, describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as "a very courteous person" and Vladimir Putin as a man who was sincere. Commenting on the refugee exodus that has plagued Europe, Duterte said Western countries had failed those most in need and the Philippines, a developing country of 100 million, was willing to take them in. "They can always come here, and will be welcome here, until we are filled to the brim," he said. "It's all right. We will survive. I say send them to us. We will accept them. We will accept them. They are human beings." Since he was elected in May, Duterte has been shaking up the Philippines and scoring high approval ratings, despite his hostility towards ally the United States and an anti-drug campaign that has killed more than 2,400 people. Many of the deaths have come during police operations to arrest suspects, but some are believed to be the work of vigilantes. Duterte denied responsibility for unleashing a wave of vigilante killings and denied that gunmen were hired by authorities to carry out hit-and-run killings. But he said he would take the law into his own hands if his own family members were killed, saying, "I will kill you." Asked if that meant he was encouraging vigilantism, he responded: "Yes I am encouraging. So what's wrong now?" Duterte said he was "pissed off" hearing criticism from the West about his drugs crackdown. "If I look like a bad boy to them I really do not give a shit," he said. "Who are they to me? They are nothing." (Reporting by Martin Petty)
Stockholm (AFP) - Music icon Bob Dylan is expected to come to Stockholm next spring, as the winner of this year's Nobel prize in literature will skip the award ceremony in December, a Swedish academy member said on Friday.
Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, told public Swedish radio that she received confirmation from Dylan's manager.
"Then he will have an excellent opportunity to hold his lecture," Danius said. Holding a lecture is the only requirement for the Nobel laureate and must be done within six months starting from December 10.
The Swedish Academy said the American song writer might perform in the Nordic nation next year.
"There is a chance that Bob Dylan will be performing in Stockholm next year, possibly in the spring, in which case he will have a perfect opportunity to deliver his lecture," it said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the academy announced that Dylan would skip the Nobel ceremony because of "pre-existing" commitments.
"He wishes that he could accept the award personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible. He underlined that he feels incredibly honoured by the Nobel prize," it said.
Asked on October 28 by Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper if he would attend the Nobel prize winners' banquet, Dylan said: "Absolutely. If it's at all possible."
But the American song writer's decision not to attend the Nobel ceremony does not come as a surprise.
The 75-year-old didn't say a word about his prize on the day it was announced on October 13 when he was performing in Las Vegas.
Dylan, whose lyrics have influenced generations of fans, is the first songwriter to win the literature prize, although experts bet on writers such as Salman Rushdie, Adonis or Ngugi wa Thiong'o.
Nobel laureates are honoured every year on December 10 -- the anniversary of the death of prize's founder Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist, inventor and philanthropist.
Several other literature prize winners have skipped the Nobel ceremony in the past for various reasons -- Doris Lessing on grounds of ill health, Harold Pinter because he was hospitalised and Elfriede Jelinek due to social phobia.
The value of the prestigious award this year amounts to 8 million kronor ($870,000).
One of the more troubling discoveries during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign was just how casual Republican candidate Donald Trumps attitudes about nuclear weapons really were. His commitment to unpredictability as a strategy, his private statements that nuclear weapons should be used if we have them, and his conviction that nuclear proliferation is inevitable could, if they evolve into actual policies, create a much more dangerous nuclear world. Although Trump agreed with Hillary Clinton that nuclear is the single-greatest threat, his alternative approaches could dramatically expand those threats. In Northeast Asia, which already combines nuclear potential with long-standing enmities, the consequences could be deeply dangerous.
To be fair, Trumps campaign was more notable for bombast than nuance and policy development will await his political appointments over the next few months. But if two of the positions he claimed on the campaign trail turn into actual policy that allies should shoulder more of their defense burden and that nuclear proliferation is inevitable security in Northeast Asia is likely to become much more tenuous. Together these have led Trump to conclude and declare that acquisition of nuclear weapons by Japan and South Korea is a solution to North Koreas nuclear weapons. These outrageous statements are probably what prompted South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be among the first to phone the president-elect for reassurance.
Trump first raised eyebrows last spring when he began suggesting that the United States was spending too much defending its allies. Trump called NATO, a treaty almost as old as he is and one that is widely regarded as the linchpin of European defense, obsolete.
And in a New York Times interview in March, Trump said he would be willing to withdraw U.S. forces from Japan and South Korea if they did not substantially increase their contributions to the costs of housing and feeding those troops. This was accompanied by the suggestion that he would be willing to let both countries develop their own nuclear forces to defend themselves against North Korea.
When pressed on his statements in a town hall meeting in March, Trump responded: Its going to happen anyway. Its only a question of time. Theyre going to start having them, or we have to get rid of them entirely.
Such an approach would reverse more than four decades of hard-won U.S. (and now global) nuclear nonproliferation policy, and ignores the commitments of Japan and South Korea under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty not to acquire nuclear weapons. Holding Asia, with its particular set of threats, to these commitments has not always been easy. The United States spent considerable effort walking back covert nuclear weapons programs in Taiwan and South Korea in the 1970s. South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee father of the current president began his nuclear weapons program in response to U.S. troop withdrawals, exactly what Trump promises today on a grander scale.
In the 1970s, however, South Korea faced only a conventional threat from North Korea albeit one potentially backed by Chinese nuclear weapons. Today, North Koreas nuclear weapons program is unfettered and accelerating at an alarming rate. In 2016 alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and over 22 ballistic missile tests. While North Korean claims of having a hydrogen bomb are greatly exaggerated, there is little question that the North is advancing toward much more powerful, perhaps even boosted, fission weapons.
So far, South Korea has responded by improving conventional missile ranges, continuing exercises with the United States, and installing missile defenses that have aroused Chinese criticism. But a handful of South Korean politicians and journalists in the last few years has called for South Korea to acquire its own nuclear weapons. So far they have stayed on the fringes. But Parks current severe political scandal may topple her government before her term ends in 2017, with uncertain political results. An unpredictable ally in Washington suggesting South Korea go it alone could shift the political calculus in Seoul in favor of nuclear weapons.
A nuclear-armed Seoul would almost certainly provoke a response by Tokyo. Although linked through their separate alliances with the United States, South Korea and Japan labor under historical and political tensions. At a minimum, a shift in Seouls nuclear policy would throw Japanese politics into disarray, but it could also have a domino effect.
Japan abandoned its own World War II nuclear weapons program, and most observers conclude that the atomic bombing by the United States of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 left the Japanese public with a strong conviction that nuclear weapons were an abomination. Still, Japan is the only non-nuclear weapon state that has both sensitive uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities, a fact that its neighbors (China and South Korea) attribute to Japans desire to maintain a latent nuclear weapons capability. These are precisely the capabilities that were the target of limits in the nuclear deal with Iran and that greatly shorten the time it would take to make a nuclear weapon. For this reason, the time it would take for Japan to make its first nuclear weapon would probably be measured in months, compared with the years it would take South Korea to develop a nuclear bomb.
Its hard to assess which would have more severe consequences for Northeast Asian security a withdrawal of U.S. forces or the nuclearization of Japan and South Korea. Beyond Northeast Asia, however, the withdrawal of Japan and South Korea from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty would damage the global nonproliferation regime irrevocably and call into question the United States commitments of extended deterrence to all its other allies.
If there is a silver lining in all this, it is that Trump is likely to learn very quickly that it is in no countrys interest for the United States to walk away from defending Japan and South Korea, including China and Russia. And, that the norm of nonproliferation is stronger than he suspected.
Rather than abandoning its allies in the region, the Trump administration will need to confront the North Korean nuclear threat head-on. U.S. engagement is critical, but it needs to be nuanced. Belligerent rhetorical exchanges with North Korea of the sort the George W. Bush administration engaged in could set in motion a chain of events from which no country would benefit. It would therefore be useful for Trump to adopt two principles of engagement when it comes to Northeast Asia and nuclear weapons: Dont make the situation worse, and combine incentives with patience (a wait-and-bait approach). There may be room in this model for Trumps trademark unpredictability vis-a-vis North Korea, but not for American allies in the region, who need all the assurances they can get.
Photo credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
The latest editions of two indexes that track growth in Nebraska have both declined.
The latest leading economic indicator report from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln fell by 0.14 percent in October.
The indicator, a composite of economic factors that predict economic growth six months into the future, still predicts growth in the first half of next year, but the October reading suggests that growth will be more modest.
The October decrease, while small, reduces optimism for 2017, said economist Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the university. The Nebraska economy, however, should continue to grow next year.
Of the six economic factors tracked by the indicator, two were negative, three were positive and one was neutral.
Airline passenger counts declined and the value of the U.S. dollar rose, both potentially negative signs for the Nebraska economy.
Three components of the indicator rose during October. There were small improvements in manufacturing hours, business expectations and building permits for single-family homes. Initial claims for unemployment insurance were flat during October.
The other index, Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index, painted a more dire picture for the state.
The Nebraska Rural Mainstreet Index for November plummeted to 37.9 from Octobers 51.1.
The index, which tracks conditions in rural areas, showed that job growth in rural areas over the past 12 months was only 0.1 percent, while in urban areas it was 1.2 percent.
The overall score for the 10 states in the index rose in November to 36.6 from Octobers 31.8. But it remained below the growth-neutral level of 50 for the 15th straight month.
Farm commodity prices continue to slam Rural Mainstreet economies. Over the past 12 months, livestock commodity prices have tumbled by 27.2 percent and grain commodity prices have slumped by 16.6 percent. The economic fallout from this price weakness continues to push growth into negative territory for seven of 10 states in the region, Creighton University Economist Ernie Goss said in a news release.
For the first time, the election of Donald Trump as President is having a direct impact on the federal governments operations specifically, on President Obamas sweeping new orders aimed at delaying the deportation of upwards of four million undocumented immigrants.
In a joint motion filed in a federal trial court in Texas Friday morning, lawyers for the government and for 26 states cited the change in administration in asking the judge to put on hold those states case against the policy, until a month after Trumps inauguration. The case was moving slowly toward a trial on the legality and constitutionality of the Obama policy which has not yet gone into effect.
As a candidate, President-elect Trump was strongly critical of government immigration policy in general and of the deferred deportation initiative in particular. At times during the campaign, he vowed to swiftly deport all undocumented immigrants; more recently, he has seemed to modify that position.
Almost as soon as the Obama administration had announced the delayed deportation policy, the 26 states sued to bar its enforcement. That lawsuit soon resulted in court orders blocking the policy temporarily, until a trial could be held. Last June, the Supreme Court split 4-to-4, upholding the enforcement ban but without deciding anything on its validity.
The case then returned to its origin, in a federal District Court in Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexican border, and the two sides had been negotiating on a possible schedule for moving the case along toward a trial. The trial judge, Andrew S. Hanen, ordered the two sides last month to report by today on whether they could agree on a schedule.
Instead, they joined in filing the motion for a stay of any further litigation in this court. Such a delay, the motion said, would serve judicial efficiency and economy so that the parties have a better understanding of how they might choose to move forward. The two sides specifically cited the change in administration as the reason for their motion.
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The filing noted that the preliminary order barring enforcement would remain in effect for the duration of any stay. They asked that the delay, including a postponement of any need to file a schedule for future prodeedings, last until February 20. Since everyone involved supported the motion, it said, the balance of interests weighs heavily in favor of granting the stay.
In practical terms, what the motion means is that the case now depends upon policy choices that the Trump administration will start to make after the inauguration on January 29. The proposal for delay would give the new leaders of the government a month to decide what they want to do about the delayed deportation policy. If more time were needed, they could ask that the case be delayed further.
If the new administration decides to scuttle the Obama policy entirely, it can do so by simply wiping out a series of orders issued by federal agencies, at Obamas direction, on November 14, 2014. Those orders affect undocumented immigrations who came to the U.S. as children and have grown up in the country, as well as their parents.
Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011 and he has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com, where this story first appeared.
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Elon Musk and wife Talulah Riley are officially divorced, reports TMZ.
According to the site, a judge has signed the legal documents necessary to finalize the divorce.
This is not the first time Musk, 45, and Riley, 31, have split: They were married in 2010, only to divorce two years later. They wed for the second time in July 2013. This past March, Riley filed for divorce.
Asked if another reconciliation was still possible in August, Riley said in a U.K. interview, never say never.
Marriage is a social construct, but I still believe in it. Elon and I are best friends. We still see each other all the time and take care of each other, she added.
Musk was also married once before, to Justine Musk, with whom he shares five sons.
TMZ reported that Musk was recently spotted again with Amber Heard, following her own divorce from Johnny Depp.
In July, Musk and Heard were seen at the same Miami hotel, but a source told PEOPLE that the tech guru is not dating Heard.
Amber and Elon are friends and have been for a few years, the source said, explaining that the pairs schedules had overlapped and they hung out at the hotel for privacy.
A few weeks later they were spotted at the same London nightclub.
BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Emirates Airline is having some technical issues with new Rolls-Royce engines for A380 jets that are coming up for delivery, the airline's president said on Friday.
When asked whether Emirates was looking to defer jet deliveries, Tim Clark said no, but there were some technical issues holding up deliveries.
"We want the engines as prescribed," Clark said at a meeting with journalists in Berlin, declining to comment further on the nature of the issue.
"We have made no hard and fast decisions about fleeting draw down. We're hoping to get resolution to this very quickly," he added.
Emirates has $112 billion of aircraft on order, including 55 A380s.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
By Victoria Bryan
BERLIN (Reuters) - Emirates Airline is having some unspecified technical issues with Rolls-Royce engines for A380 jets that are coming up for delivery, but still hopes to take the first one as scheduled in December, the airline's president said on Friday.
When asked whether Emirates was looking to defer A380 jet deliveries given a tough operating environment for airlines, Tim Clark said no, but that there were some technical issues with the Rolls-Royce engines, new for the Emirates fleet, that needed to be ironed out.
"We want the engines as prescribed in the contract," Clark said at a meeting with journalists in Berlin, declining to elaborate.
Emirates is due to receive its first A380 powered by Rolls-Royce engines on Dec 2. The rest of its A380 fleet uses Engine Alliance, a joint venture of General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.
A spokesman for Rolls-Royce said: "We are working with Emirates and Airbus to meet the planned entry into service of the Trent powered A380 within the Emirates fleet."
The $9.2 billion deal for Rolls-Royce to supply engines for 50 Emirates A380 planes, announced in April 2015, was the largest order in the history of the British company.
Shares in Rolls-Royce were down 2.0 percent at 1028 GMT.
Clark said he hoped the airline could still take the first superjumbo with Rolls-Royce engines on Dec 2, as scheduled.
"We have made no hard and fast decisions about fleeting draw down. We're hoping to get a resolution to this very quickly," he said.
Emirates has $112 billion of aircraft on order, including 55 A380s. It is due to receive 5 A380s in December alone, Clark said.
"We are working with our customers, supporting their delivery stream," an Airbus spokesman said.
(Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Elaine Hardcastle)
(Corrects spelling of Patoka, Illinois, in paragraph 8)
WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Energy Transfer Partners LP Chief Executive Officer Kelcy Warren said the company will not consider rerouting its Dakota Access oil pipeline despite concerns voiced by U.S. native groups, according to an Associated Press interview published on Friday.
President Barack Obama said earlier this month that the government was examining ways to reroute the pipeline.
Energy Transfer did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment. Warren did tell the AP that he would like to meet with tribal leaders to ease their concerns about the project.
The Dakota Access Pipeline has been delayed since September, when federal regulators including the Army Corps of Engineers decided to re-review permitting under Lake Oahe, a federally owned parcel of land where the pipeline needs to cross.
The stoppage came after protests from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, whose reservation is adjacent to the federal land where the pipeline runs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers elected to review their permitting again, and this past week deferred a decision, citing concerns about the tribe having been moved off its lands in the past.
On Friday, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple asked the Army to resolve the permitting issues, citing protests that have sometimes turned violent at Cannon Ball, where the Standing Rock Sioux have erected a large camp that they plan to man throughout the winter. He also asked for assistance in law enforcement from federal authorities.
"Further delays simply prolong the risks to public safety, prolong the hardships endured by area residents and increase costs incurred by the state of North Dakota and Morton County," he said in a statement.
The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline is expected to take oil from North Dakota's Bakken shale region to Patoka, Illinois, en route to the Gulf of Mexico.
Production in North Dakota has been declining, however, in part because of low oil prices and the crude there is more expensive to extract than other regions, and also because of the limited transport opportunities by pipeline.
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Production in North Dakota fell to 972,000 barrels daily in September, lowest since February 2014, according to latest state data.
ETP crews have been moving equipment in recent weeks to the edges of Lake Oahe; the company has said it will begin tunneling under the lake once it is finished. It does not yet have the permit to do so, however.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Tenet Healthcare Corporation ("Tenet"or the "Company") (THC). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between February 28, 2012 and October 3, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm prior to the December 6, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
If you purchased shares of Tenet during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member.
The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Tenet made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company illegally paid kickbacks to induce the referral of patients to Tenet's hospitals for labor and delivery; that Tenet defrauded the Georgia Medicaid program through this scheme; and that as a result of the above, statements about Tenet's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. On August 1, 2016, Tenet announced that it reached an agreement in principle with federal and state authorities that the Company would pay nearly $514 million to settle allegations that four Tenet hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina paid kickbacks for obstetric referrals. Under the settlement, two Tenet subsidiaries would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal kickback laws. On October 3, 2016, Tenet issued a press release and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC, announcing that the Company finalized the agreement in principle announced on August 1, 2016. When this information emerged to the public, shares of Tenet dropped in value, causing investors harm.
If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit, at no charge, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions.
Contacts
Joon M. Khang, Esq.
Telephone: 949-419-3834
Facsimile: 949-225-4474
joon@khanglaw.com
SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Xerox Corporation ("Xerox" or the "Company") (XRX). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between April 23, 2012 and October 23, 2015 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm prior to the December 23, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
If you purchased Xerox shares during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or by e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
There has been no class certification in this case. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Xerox repeatedly touted its new software product, Health Enterprise, as an important growth area for the Company, which would operate at low cost and high profit margin. The Company's statements pertaining to the profitability and growth prospects of the Health Enterprise business were materially false and misleading because Xerox failed to disclose: that the Company's existing Health Enterprise projects were experiencing major delays and cost overruns; that Xerox would be unable to deliver Health Enterprise implementations at sustainable profits; and that as a result of the above, the Company's statements about its business, operations, and prospects lacked a reasonable basis. On October 26, 2015, Xerox released its third quarter 2015 financial results which were disappointing due to costs associated with the implementation of Health Enterprise and the termination of Health Enterprise contracts with the state agencies of California and Montana. When this information emerged to the public, shares of Xerox fell in value, causing investors harm.
If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit at no charge to you, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
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This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions.
Contacts
Joon M. Khang, Esq.
Telephone: 949-419-3834
Facsimile: 949-225-4474
joon@khanglaw.com
SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Lundin Law PC , a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Tenet Healthcare Corp. ("Tenet" or the "Company") (THC) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between February 28, 2012 and October 3, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors, who purchased or otherwise acquired Tenet shares during the Class Period, are encouraged to contact the firm in advance of the December 6, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esquire, of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.
No class has been certified in the above action. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also choose to do nothing and be an absent class member.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Tenet made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company illegally paid kickbacks to induce the referral of patients to Tenet's hospitals for labor and delivery; that Tenet defrauded the Georgia Medicaid program through this scheme; and that as a result of the above, statements about Tenet's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
On August 1, 2016, Tenet announced that it reached an agreement in principle with federal and state authorities that the Company would pay nearly $514 million to settle allegations that four Tenet hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina paid kickbacks for obstetric referrals. Under the settlement, two Tenet subsidiaries would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate federal kickback laws. On October 3, 2016, Tenet issued a press release and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announcing that the Company finalized the agreement in principle announced on August 1, 2016. When this news was announced, shares of Tenet fell in value, causing investors harm.
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Lundin Law PC was established by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding the rights of shareholders.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact:
Lundin Law PC
Brian Lundin, Esq.
Telephone: 888-713-1033
Facsimile: 888-713-1125
brian@lundinlawpc.com
http://lundinlawpc.com/
SOURCE: Lundin Law PC
Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. has received an order for at least 60 and possibly as many as 94 more rail cars from the Metro Transit Authority in the New York City Area.
The contract, which was approved by the MTA's board earlier this week, initially calls for 60 additional new M8 rail cars that provide train service on Metro-North Railroads New Haven Line in Connecticut. Of those 60 cars, the contract calls for 10 to be converted to cafe cars that serve beverages.
The new cars will be almost identical to the more than 400 M8 cars Kawasaki has manufactured for the Metro-North line over the past decade.
The cars would be made at the Kawasaki Rail Car manufacturing plant in Lincoln at a cost of $3.83 million per car, for a total cost of almost $230 million. The contract contains an option for an additional 34 cars at a cost of $3.71 million, which could bring the total cost of the contract to about $356 million.
In a news release earlier this week, MTA said the M8 cars have exceeded expectations for both customer service and reliability.
Through September, the cars are averaging 460,277 miles between mechanical breakdowns, 53 percent above the railroads goal for the cars.
Mike Boyle, plant manager of the Lincoln Kawasaki operation, said he could not comment on the order because Kawasaki has yet to receive official notice.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has ended proceedings against Hungary over the award of a contract to Russia's Rosatom to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, although it is still investigating the country's funding for the project. The Commission said in a filing that its infringement proceedings had closed on Nov. 17. EU rules allow public procurement without call for competition if the contract can only reasonably be given to one company. Hungary has said that no supplier other than Rosatom would have met the government's demand of keeping the plant in Hungarian state ownership permanently. Hungary plans to build two Russian VVER 1200 reactors for a total budget of 12.5 billion euros ($13.2 billion), of which 80 percent will be financed by Russia and 20 percent by Hungary. The project, fully owned by the Hungarian state, plans to start building the reactors in 2018 and aims to complete the first one in 2025, and the second in 2026. The Commission is still investigating Hungarian funding for the plan. It has said it was concerned that the Hungarian investment might not be compatible with market pricing and opened an in-depth investigation into the business case for the construction, operation and decommissioning of the two reactors. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday that the European Commission, which has effectively urged Germany to spend more in 2017, did not have the right to decide on how much fiscal room for manoeuvre EU members have.
"We are bound by European law and so is the Commission. The Stability Pact says that budgets are reviewed by the member states. The Commission has instead reviewed fiscal space for the euro zone and it has no mandate for that," Schaeuble said at an event in Berlin organised by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The European Commission on Wednesday called for the 19-country euro zone, in which Germany is the largest economy, to loosen overall budget policy next year.
The Commission did not explicitly name Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives face an election next autumn complicated by the emergence of the fiscally hawkish, eurosceptic AfD, in its recommendation for the whole euro zone.
But because France, Italy and Spain are among those butting up against the currency union's budget deficit limits, only Berlin has the scope and economic weight to make a difference.
Schaeuble said it was necessary to stick to Europe's Stability and Growth Pact to protect the euro currency in a swipe at the Commission which is seen by many northern European countries as not policing budget discipline strongly enough.
Under EU rules, each euro zone country should seek to diminish its structural budget deficit until it reaches its so-called medium term objective.
For various countries this goal, which excludes one-off expenses and revenues and the effects of the business cycle, ranges from a structural deficit of 0.5 percent of GDP to a surplus. For Germany it is a 0.5 percent structural deficit.
Starting from 2012, Germany has been exceeding that goal and has even had surpluses from 2013. The Commission has been recommending therefore that Berlin spend more domestically to make its export-driven economy less dependent on external demand.
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"We are not asking all Member States to spend more, and those that should do more to deliver the appropriate fiscal stance for the euro area as a whole should not be surprised," Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said.
"Our communication reflects what our recommendations have said for a long time," she said.
(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Reporting by Michelle Martin and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Paul Carrel)
Brussels (AFP) - EU interior ministers said Friday they remained far from reaching a compromise on how to share the burden of migrants who have entered Europe en masse.
The European Union has struggled to implement a deal struck in September last year to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece as eastern member states reject quotas and others drag their feet.
"There is still a lot of disagreement on this," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said at talks in Brussels.
"Every member state has to take a certain share of the refugees. Beyond this it can be possible to provide efforts in solidarity in different ways," de Maiziere said.
More talks are needed, he added.
Frontline Italy scoffed at the notion of "flexible solidarity" as eastern member states reject their quota of asylum-seekers but offer financial or other help instead.
"It's more rigid mockery than flexible solidarity," Italian interior minister Angelino Alfano tweeted.
Italy has seen 167,000 migrants arrive on its territory since January, several thousand more than for all of last year.
Hungary and Slovakia have taken their outright opposition to the refugee-sharing plan to the European Court of Justice.
Some 7,500 people have been relocated since last September when the EU agreed to relocate 160,000 mostly Syrian, Iraqi and Eritrean asylum seekers from Greece and Italy.
The plan was to complete the relocations by September 2017.
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone banks could be forced by watchdogs to suspend their payments to some creditors for a maximum of five days if there are risks of bank failure, a draft EU law said, granting regulators power to intervene early to prevent crisis.
The proposal is part of a wider review of EU rules meant to reduce the cost to taxpayers of bank rescues, while imposing losses on lenders' creditors - a so-called bail-in. Under the draft law, seen by Reuters, foreign creditors will also benefit from some minor exemptions from bail-in obligations.
National and European watchdogs can already prevent banks from making payments when lenders are already deemed to be failing, under bail-in rules that came into effect this year.
The draft law, expected to be published by the European Commission next week, gives regulators the extra power to intervene preventively to assess whether there is a risk of failure.
"Such power can be activated when it is necessary to determine whether early intervention measures are necessary or whether the institution is failing or likely to fail," the draft law said.
Under the proposed rules, payments to shareholders and bondholders can be preventively frozen, but covered deposits or payments to central counterparties will not be affected.
The suspension "shall not exceed five working days," the draft law said.
FOREIGN CREDITORS
The draft proposal also introduces exemptions for banks' foreign creditors in the application of the bail-in instrument.
Foreign countries have opposed the recognition of bail-in contracts in Europe, forcing in certain cases EU banks to cease business, such as trade financing, in non-EU countries.
In a bid to eliminate these constraints on European banks, which are already retreating from several foreign activities, the Commission proposed to grant a limited exemption.
The waiver for foreign creditors can be allowed when "it is legally, contractually or economically impracticable for banks to include the bail-in recognition clause for certain liabilities," the Commission proposal said.
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A senior Commission official said this exemption does not apply to liabilities that are used to absorb losses, such as shares or bonds.
For the proposal to become law, a backing of EU states and the European Parliament is required.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio)
Brussels (AFP) - European Council President Donald Tusk stressed the need for transatlantic cooperation on Ukraine during a phone call Friday with US President-elect Donald Trump, an EU source said.
Tusk, the European Union source said, also spoke by phone to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who has asked for Trump's support against "Russian aggression" following Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Trump suggested earlier this year the US could accept Russia's annexation of Crimea if it led to improved relations between the two nations, which are bitterly at odds over Syria.
"Tusk congratulated Trump on his election, invited him for an EU-US summit and emphasised transatlantic cooperation including regarding Ukraine," the EU source said on condition of anonymity, repeating an earlier invitation.
Trump thanked Tusk for the invitation and "invited Tusk to the White House before an EU-US summit, after his inauguration" on January 20, the source added.
The EU source said Tusk and Poroshenko discussed "transatlantic cooperation on the Ukraine/Russia conflict" and preparation for the EU-Ukraine summit next Thursday.
The pair also discussed EU member states approval Thursday of visa-free travel for Ukraine citizens, long sought by Kiev to help cement ties as it combats pro-Russian rebels in the east.
Visa-free travel was part of an EU-Ukraine partnership accord signed in 2014 as the country, a Soviet-era satellite, angered Moscow by casting its lot with the West.
In Berlin on Thursday, US President Barack Obama said he hoped his successor Trump would "stand up" to Russia if it breached international norms, citing the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.
Eva Longoria and Victoria Beckham's "girlie sleepovers" sound a lot more fab than your average pajama party!
"We do have proper sleepovers in our pajamas, and our hairdresser, Kenny Pavis, brushes our hair until we go to sleep," the 41-year-old actress revealed during her debut as a panelist on the British talk show Loose Women on Friday.
EXCLUSIVE: Eva Longoria Reveals That She Cut Her Honeymoon Short to Attend Hillary Clinton Fundraiser
Longoria also dished on a side of her bestie that the world may not realize.
"She's really funny, she makes me laugh," Longoria said of the 42-year-old fashion designer and former Spice Girls member.
"She's very loyal," Longoria added, calling Beckham an "amazing businesswoman" with a "great business mind."
The Devious Maids producer definitely had Beckham on the brain when she flew across the pond. Upon landing in the U.K. on Thursday, Longoria went straight to her friend's Dover St. store location.
"Hello London! Just landed and headed straight over to #VBDoverSt," Longoria captioned a pic of herself decked out in Beckham's designs as Pavis snaps a photo of her look.
Hello London! Just landed and headed straight over to #VBDoverSt A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Nov 17, 2016 at 6:28am PST
RELATED: Eva Longoria and Victoria Beckham Featured on the First Cover of 'HOLA! USA' Magazine
In another adorable post, Pavis and Longoria do a little dance number on the massive stairs inside Beckham's store. "Just missing our third musketeer VB!" she wrote.
Just missing our third musketeer VB! #London A video posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Nov 17, 2016 at 1:30pm PST
MORE: Eva Longoria Says Her Wedding Was a 'Victoria Beckham Weekend': 'She Was the Best, Sweetest Person'
Longoria and Beckham have been friends for a decade, and they don't mind sharing some BFF fun on social media. Watch the video below to see Beckham hilariously fail at Snapchat with Longoria by her side.
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With a couple of brand-new songs in the set of its current fall tour, Evanescence is signaling that it's clearly on the path toward a new album -- its first since 2011's self-titled effort. But it may not be wise for fans to hold their breath waiting.
"The wheels are turning, but we're not on a set schedule yet and a path yet to when that's going to happen," frontwoman and sole remaining founding member Amy Lee tells Billboard. "We have this very beautiful scrap pile [of songs] we've been collecting and hoarding for a few years now. We have the vision but we don't have all the songs. We're going to have to get to work and actually make the album."
The album, whenever it happens, will follow The Ultimate Collection, a six-LP vinyl box set of all of Evanescence`s studio releases coming Dec. 9, which adds a bit of pressure to the eventual project.
"I feel like the bar is definitely high," Lee says. "Every time we make an album, I know if I don't wait until I have a true, inspired idea of how to take it to the next level, I'm not going to do anything 'cause there's no way we're gonna put something out that not only lives up to the last one that we did, but in some way surpasses it. No pressure, right?" she adds with a laugh.
And don't be surprised if there's more than one next thing from Evanescence, either. "We do have plans for something coming up in the near future, but I'm not talking about it yet. It's not going to be a traditional album," Lee teases. "So there's a couple things happening."
Evanescence has been playing one new song, "Take Cover," on its tour, which Lee says "was at the top of the heap [of new songs], so we took it and sort of worked it as a band. We wanted this tour to be about listening to the fans' requests and playing some things we haven't played in a long time, and we knew they wanted to hear some new things too. So that's been really fun." The group is also playing "Even in Death," a track from its previously unreleased Origin demo album that the group made a new recording of for the box set.
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"It really felt like redemption, like that song was truly redeemed because the early recording we have is not an enjoyable recording, but I really love that song," Lee says. "It was a beautiful experience to be able to take that and live in it now and give it the treatment I would give to any one of our songs with the ability I have now. Now I'm in love with that song again." Lee also has a more sympathetic view of Origin, which is included as part of The Ultimate Collection.
"It's something I've always cringed about because ever since we made a real studio album and honed in our sound and became Evanescence and made Fallen, I'm like, 'OK, everything before this we were just practicing,'" Lee explains. "But many fans love Origin and talk about Origin and wish Origin would be released. I've been against it for 13 years, but for the first time I guess I have enough separation from it to look at it and feel like, 'Y'know what? I see why that's cool. As a fan, I want to listen to that too.' So having that whole change of heart was really huge."
Before its return to the stage at OZZFest Japan last November, Evanescence has been on a hiatus of several years. During that time, Lee had a baby, Jack Lion (now 2 years old), wrote and recorded some film music and made the children's album Dream Too Much with members of her family. Now, however, she's feeling rededicated to the band she started more than two decades ago in Little Rock, Arkansas.
"I've always got to put some space in between real life and this amazing and horrifying mega-monster that Evanescence is in my life," Lee says. "If I don't separate myself from it a little bit, I start to go crazy. But now I definitely feel this new inspiration and a sense of, 'OK, it's time.' I always have to wait until I have that feeling, that inspiration, that drive and desire. I just have to want to do it. But it's a huge part of me. It's this beautiful playground where I can go and make badass rock music and I love it and I'm not going to let it die. I've fought for it this long; We're definitely going to keep it alive."
The sky is falling! exclaimed Chicken Little, in the well-known folk tale, after an acorn fell on the poor fowls head, leading to mass hysteria over an imminent apocalypse or at least the End of the World as we know it.
To judge by reactions in Europe, President-elect Donald Trumps victory last week is that acorn. Coming on the heels of the debt crisis, the Russian annexation of Crimea, the migration crisis, and Brexit, the U.S. election result has sent shivers through the continent, leading to a slew of stories about NATO falling apart, the pending Russian invasion of the Baltics, and the spread of anti-EU populism.
True, some of Trumps campaign statements rightfully put Europeans on edge. True, the far-right populists in Europe have exulted. However, lest collective fear lead to paralysis and learned helplessness, where every successive shock is perceived to be beyond Europes control, we should all calm down. European leaders should avoid hyperbole and journalists cliches.
The domestic policy of any president, U.S. or otherwise, is his or her own concern, as long as democratic norms are followed. Europe therefore should for now concern itself only over U.S. foreign policy, in particular toward Europe.
Even when it comes to foreign policy, we need not concern ourselves overly much with pre-election statements. Recall that many thought that Bill its the economy, stupid Clinton would, in the wake of Cold Warriors Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, focus U.S. policy inward; instead, Clinton turned out to be one of the more engaged foreign-policy presidents, intervening in Bosnia, in Serbia, and expanding the NATO alliance to include three members from the Warsaw Pact.
That said, two issues do stand out from Trumps campaign: his statements on the U.S. commitment to NATO the primary treaty upon which U.S.-European relations since 1949 have been anchored and his relationship with Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
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On the first, we simply dont know yet what the president-elect will do. As a candidate, Trump said U.S. support for NATO members would be contingent on allies having paid up; in the event of an attack on an ally, he would first look at whether that country had fulfilled their obligations to us. Then, in the first presidential debate, Trump said he was all for NATO after listing his concerns about burden-sharing. President Barack Obama this week at a press conference put his own view of Trumps views on U.S. foreign policy thus: He expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships, and so one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to NATO and the transatlantic alliance. Amid these varied messages, we now await the president-elects own policy statements.
It also seems wise to await Trumps appointments to senior foreign and security policy positions, before assessing whether the sky will fall. Some of the names already mooted for these posts former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, for example, and former Governor Mitt Romney are known for their strong transatlantic views; some served in George W. Bushs administration, hardly known for its isolationism. These men may not be appointed; the point is that right now we dont know.
What we do know, however, is that there is little new in what Trump said pre-election. The fact that most NATO members dont spend the agreed-upon 2 percent of GDP on defense is a long-standing U.S. concern. In 2011, the first Obama administrations secretary of defense, Robert Gates, on his way out the door harshly rebuked European allies for doing less than their share: The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress, and in the American body politic writ large, to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.
This was Obamas own message at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales. The problem, in other words, is not with Trump. He merely gave the same message in somewhat more robust terms. While waiting for him to take office, Europe should finally take the point to heart. For a continent facing an aggressive, revanchist Russia, it will no longer do to allow the United States to shoulder the bulk of Europes own defense costs and have only four European countries Estonia, Greece, Poland, and the U.K. meet the alliances agreed-upon spending minimum.
However, Trumps statements have, in effect, served as a sort of journalistic Rorschach test. A good amount of ink, for instance, has been used up on scare stories about the fate of the Baltics. But why look to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania when a candidate says he will look at whether NATO countries pay their share? Estonia, as mentioned, is one of the very few that does. Latvia and Lithuania are committed to 2 percent by 2018. To instantly sound the alarm over the Baltic countries in response to Trumps words reflects more about the worldview of various publications than the reality of what was said.
Its true that Trump has made admiring statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin on the campaign trail, and disquieting comments about the United States potentially recognizing Russias annexation of Crimea in Ukraine. The latter, in particular, is problematic. Russias annexation of Crimea threatened the foundations underpinning European security since World War II. The U.N. Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and the Charter of Paris all forbid changing borders through the use of force or threat of the use of force. The United States has also maintained this position since the end of World War II. Should Trump now accept the Crimean annexation, it would mark a fundamental shift in Europes security relationship with the United States. The same would be true if Trump adopted a transactional approach with Putin that is, making a deal with him that encompasses issues like Crimea, Ukraine, and Syria. For Europeans, deals are not made over the heads of those affected. The rules are paramount. Agreements matter.
But a premature post-Trump panic does not help on the Russia question. Up until now, the EU has managed to maintain a fragile united front on the issues of Ukraine, Crimea, and sanctions. Yet various parties Greece and Italy for instance have long felt tempted to break off and cut their own bilateral deals with Russia. A transactional approach toward Russia on the part of the United States would indeed undermine Europes united front but so does the present atmosphere of hysteria, which puts even more pressure on those inclined to cut their own deals with Russia to be the first ones to do so. It is in this arena where the Chicken Littles could end up helping to achieve Putins goal to fracture a relatively united and, hence, relatively strong Europe even before Trump reveals his ultimate intentions.
Sadly, the one productive thing that Europe might do, while it is waiting to see what comes next, is the thing that seems most out of reach: to move toward even greater continental unity. The prospect of a Europe largely sidelined on questions of its own security ought to force it to put aside current differences in order to deal with serious concerns. But greater unity in Europe would need a good deal of political courage, particularly in the face of a populist upheaval that could overturn the current leaderships in a number of countries. It would require member states to move from entrenched positions on issues such as Greek debt, Italian spending, and the migrant crisis. It would require a more adult and flexible approach to Brexit, one that doesnt seek to punish but comes at it with the goal of maintaining European strength. Could the above come about as a result of the shock of a pending Trump presidency? It would be wonderful if it did, but I cant say Im hopeful.
In short: Europe must wait. But it should wait as productively as possible, building up its capacity to defend itself which it should have been doing all along and pushing for strength in unity which ought to have always been the goal. That is the way to prepare as best we can for facing the future, regardless of whether the Chicken Littles are right.
Photo credit: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A former JPMorgan Chase & Co executive who spent eight years on the run in Argentina pleaded guilty on Friday to U.S. charges that he embezzled $5.4 million from clients at the bank and at a prior employer, UBS AG.
Hernan Arbizu, who became involved in a tax-evasion probe involving JPMorgan, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges including wire fraud and embezzlement. He was extradited in June from Argentina.
"I knew what I was doing was wrong," he said in court. "I'm very sorry and am ashamed by my actions."
The 48-year-old citizen of Argentina faces a mandatory-minimum two-year prison sentence and a maximum of 422 years.
But under a plea agreement, Arbizu agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which his lawyer, Guy Lewis, said could help him avoid further prison. What that cooperation entails, Lewis said, "remains to be seen."
JPMorgan declined to comment on Friday.
Arbizu was first indicted in 2008, the same year he was fired by JPMorgan, where he was a vice president in its private banking division. He worked at UBS from 2002 to 2006.
While at JPMorgan, Arbizu oversaw more than $200 million of client assets and was responsible for managing relationships with high-net-worth Argentine customers, according to the bank.
Prosecutors said that from March 2007 to April 2008, Arbizu initiated 12 wire transfers from clients at UBS and JPMorgan totaling nearly $5.38 million, about half of which came from a single JPMorgan account.
In lawsuits JPMorgan filed against Arbizu in 2008 and 2009, the bank said he wired the $2.8 million to an account at UBS to conceal the millions of dollars that he had previously stolen from one of its customers.
JPMorgan said that after it discovered evidence of the wire transfers, Arbizu, then living in Connecticut, fled to Argentina, taking with him confidential data on clients.
That data later became the basis of a tax evasion investigation and raid by Argentina authorities of JPMorgan's office in Buenos Aires in 2008 after Arbizu handed over a list of customers. No case against JPMorgan appears to have resulted.
The case is U.S. v. Arbizu, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-cr-615.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
A 49-year-old Lincoln man walking at midnight one May night at 27th and O with a loaded AR-15 got probation Friday for carrying two knives on his belt.
A jury found Michael Jahn guilty of carrying a concealed weapon for the knives, each with eight-inch blades, in sheaths attached to his belt inside his trench coat.
Jahn wasn't charged in connection to the rifle, which he had legally and hadn't concealed or pointed at anyone.
At his sentencing, Lancaster County Court Judge Matt Acton ordered the knives destroyed and said Jahn would need to surrender any firearms or other weapons immediately as part of his 18-month probation.
At trial in September, a 22-year-old Lincoln man testified that on May 18 he and several friends saw a man with what he thought looked like an AK-47 walking down 27th Street stop in front of a gas station. They weren't sure what to do, so he called 911.
A Lincoln officer drew his gun on Jahn and ordered him to drop the rifle, which he did. Jahn said he wanted to prove a point that he is an American citizen and could walk around with a gun, according to police.
But he ended up charged with carrying a concealed weapon for the knives.
Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender George Dungan argued Jahn hadn't concealed them either. His coat wasn't shut or tied, and an officer 15 feet from him had seen one of them.
But the jury found him guilty.
"I just want to move forward," Jahn said Friday.
Dungan said Jahn understands why people may have been frightened, but asked the judge to consider a fine.
He said Jahn has been doing well since his release from jail on Community Corrections supervision and has gotten treatment for PTSD, mental health and substance abuse issues.
Acton said Jahn had gone through drug court "and then of course this happened." But he said he wasn't going to give him jail for it.
Prosecutors originally cited Jahn with a city ordinance violation for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm because it happened within 10 years of a 2007 conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia, an infraction. But prosecutors never charged him with that.
Disney lovers will need to gear up for another visit to the Happiest Place on Earth after seeing the newest Pandora collection. The latest Disney Parks Autumn/Winter 2016 collection is fit to dazzle any Prince or Princess.
Disney Park pandora disney charms
While there are many jewellery items in the Pandora Disney line, these exclusive charms in the Disney Parks line are not sold in regular Pandora concept stores and are exclusive to Disney Parks locations across the world.
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Chef Mickey Mouse Charm by PANDORA
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
(USD $65)
Img: Disney Store
This unique Chef Mickey Mouse dangling charm is cooked up by Pandora in celebration of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2016. The sterling silver charm is sold only at the culinary spectacular, so those hungry for Chef Mickey will have to make their way down quick! Perfect for those limited-edition charm hunters!
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Mickey/Minnie Mouse Pave Charm by PANDORA
(USD $75 / JPY 10800)
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Mickey / Minnie Mouse Ears Charm by PANDORA
(USD $85)
Img: Disney Store
Adding some sparkle to the latest collection are these dazzling Mickey and Minnie clips which will help keep your bracelet in place. The hinged charm clips are fashioned in sterling silver and encrusted with cubic zirconia.
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Cinderella Castle Magic Kingdom 45th Anniversary Charm by PANDORA
(USD $70)
Img: Disney Store
A Disney lover can never be without the classic Cinderella castle, where all the magic started! This shimmering sterling silver charm is the 45th Anniversary edition, celebrating the years that Magic Kingdom made the dreams come true at Walt Disney World Resort.
Disney Park pandora disney charms
Fantasyland Fireworks Charm by PANDORA (USD $65)
Img: Disney Store
No park-goer would ever leave the Disneyland Park without feeling the magic of their fireworks show, so why not take some fairy dust home with you in the form of this colourful bead? Cubic zirconias and enamel surround the iconic silhouette of the Fantasyland castle.
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Disney Park pandora disney charms
Mickey & Minnie Sparkling Icons Limited Edition Disney Charm
(USD $80)
Img: Pandora.net
This dazzling dual-sided charm is not exclusive to Disney Parks, but we thought you should note that it is a current limited release. This special jewel is cast in sterling silver and embellished with black crystals and shimmering clear and red cubic zirconias with the Mickey Mouse outline on one side and Minnie Mouse on the other.
This sophisticated charm is perfect for those looking to add a subtle bling to their Pandora bracelet, but still want to express their love for Disneys favourite couple. The exclusive charm comes in a square silver hinged box with rose foil stamping.
Shop the full collection on Tokyo Disney Resort here, or Disney Store here.
Not flying to any Disney Parks anytime? Ask a traveller to pick it up for you on Airfrov!
disneypark
The post Exclusive Pandora Charms from the Happiest Place on Earth appeared first on Airfrov Blog.
San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook's board of directors on Friday authorized spending as much as $6 billion to buy back shares in the leading social network.
The stock repurchase program would go into effect at the start of next year, potentially allowing Facebook to take advantage of a price dip triggered early this month by word that revenue growth will slow because the company has hit a limit on how many ads it can pack onto pages.
"The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including price, general business and market conditions, and alternative investment opportunities," Facebook said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The plan is part of Facebook's strategy to focus on long-term business growth, according to the filing.
Facebook shares, which ended the formal trading day down less than a percent, rose slightly to $118.25 in after-market trades.
The share buyback could help soothe the hearts of investors after a tumultuous period for Facebook.
Shares tumbled early this month after the social network delivered a blockbuster quarterly earnings report, but also warned that its stunning growth is set to slow.
The company joined other large tech stocks in another tumble less than a week later because of worries about policy changes and protectionism under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
The social network then found itself at the center of a debate about whether it aided Trump's surprise victory by allowing false news stories to be shared unchecked.
Facebook also accidentally declared its founder Mark Zuckerberg and many other users dead this month, acknowledging -- after fixing the problem -- that it had committed a "terrible error" with a feature designed to memorialize accounts.
Facebook this week also said it is working to fix flaws in its metrics calculations that sometimes caused them to overestimate the social network's audience.
It was the second time in months that the company has acknowledged problems with assessing the reach of its content, a key factor for luring crucial advertising.
While Facebook has become a dominant player in online advertising and especially strong in mobile, it remains unclear whether the company can maintain momentum as it shifts into new areas such as virtual reality.
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May has a reputation for choosing her words carefully on Brexit, using phrases such as "Brexit means Brexit", making "a success of it" and getting "the best deal" to describe preparations for leaving the European Union. But a closer look at her speeches suggests her position on some aspects of Brexit has evolved since she took office in the aftermath of the June referendum when Britain voted to leave the bloc, sending sterling to a 31-year low against the U.S. dollar. Here are some key excerpts from the official government website at www.gov.uk: SINGLE MARKET/TRADE/IMMIGRATION July 20, meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin: "Well, it's very clear to me that one of the messages that the British people gave in their vote that the UK should leave the European Union was that they wanted to see control brought into the movement of people from the European Union into the United Kingdom." "But I'm also clear that we want to get the right deal in trade in goods and services for the UK. I think that's important for us. I think actually it's important for other countries in the European Union who are trading with the UK as well, that we do that." July 21, meeting French President Francois Hollande: "Well, the message that the British people gave in their vote for the UK to leave the EU also had a very clear message that we should introduce some controls to the movement of individuals from the countries in the European Union into the UK. And obviously looking at that issue will be part of the negotiations. "I'm clear that the government should deliver and will deliver on that for the British people, but we also want to get the right deal on the trade in goods and services. And I think this is important economically not just for the United Kingdom, but for other countries within the European Union as well." July 27, meeting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi: "We had a very clear message from the British people in the Brexit vote, that they want us to bring in some control on free movement; they don't want free movement rules for movement of people from the European Union member states into the UK to operate as they have done in the past. And we will deliver on that." "But on the other side, we do of course need to ensure that we get the best possible deal in relation to trade in goods and services. And I'm looking at this with an open mind. I think we should be developing the model that suits the United Kingdom and the European Union; not at opting necessarily a model that's on the shelf already, but saying: what is going to work for the UK and what is going to work best for the European Union; in ensuring that we can maintain that economic relationship which has been of benefit to us in the past, and we want to ensure that we can continue and build on in the future." Sept 4, press conference with U.S. President Barack Obama: "We are both strong supporters of free trade, and today we've discussed how to take forward consultations to ensure that the UK and US have the strongest possible trading relationship. And this reinforces my belief that as we forge a new global role for the UK, we can and will seize the opportunities that Brexit presents and make a success of it." Sept. 27, reported telephone call with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel: "The prime minister explained that as we conducted the negotiations, it would be a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services, but we would also need to ensure we had more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe." Oct. 2, Conservative Party conference: "I know some people ask about the 'trade-off' between controlling immigration and trading with Europe. But that is the wrong way of looking at things. We have voted to leave the European Union and become a fully-independent, sovereign country. We will do what independent, sovereign countries do. We will decide for ourselves how we control immigration. And we will be free to pass our own laws." "But we will seek the best deal possible as we negotiate a new agreement with the European Union ... I want it to involve free trade, in goods and services. I want it to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the Single Market and let European businesses do the same here." Oct. 21, European Council: "No. I haven't said anything that differs at all from what we said previously, because we've got a very clear position on this, which is that we want to have the best possible deal for trading goods and services with and operation within the single European market. "Now, as I have also said, I think we need to look at this in a new way, which is saying what we will be doing is, when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it will be having a different relationship with the EU from the relationship that it has as a member of the European Union. And so what we will be doing is negotiating that new relationship with the EU." Oct. 27, first statement on Nissan investment: "It is a recognition that the government is committed to creating and supporting the right conditions for the automotive industry so it continues to grow -- now and in the future. This vote of confidence shows Britain is open for business and that we remain an outward-looking, world-leading nation." VISION POST-BREXIT: July 13, her first speech as prime minister: "As we leave the European Union, we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us." Sept. 7; statement to the House of Commons after meeting of the G20: "And as I have said this is about getting the kind of deal that is ambitious and bold for Britain. It is not about the Norway model or the Swiss model or any other country's model it is about developing our own British model." Oct. 2, Conservative Party conference: "As ever with international talks, it will be a negotiation, it will require some give and take, and while there will always be pressure to give a running commentary on the state of the talks, it will not be in our best interests as a country to do that. But make no mistake: this is going to be a deal that works for Britain." Oct. 21, European Council: "I recognise the scale of the challenge ahead. I am sure there will be difficult moments. It will require some give and take." BILATERAL RELATIONSHIPS May has focused on boosting bilateral relationships with individual countries; emphasising partnerships and, especially with eastern European countries, stressing security cooperation. July 20; meeting Merkel: "It (May's first international visit) underlines my personal commitment to building a strong and constructive partnership between ourselves, Chancellor. A partnership that works for the benefit of people here in Germany and people back home in Britain too." July 21, meeting Hollande: "I am delighted to have this opportunity, so soon after taking office, to underline my commitment to the profound friendship between our countries and our peoples; a friendship that I believe has never been more important than it is today." July 28, meeting Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo: "I wanted to come here early on to tell you, Beata, and the people of Poland, that Britain attaches a huge importance to the relationship between our two countries ... And it is a partnership that will endure long after the UK has left the European Union." July 28, meeting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico: "So, it matters to both of us that we maintain the closest possible economic relationship once the UK has left the European Union." "And the UK will continue to stand up for our eastern allies. Earlier this month, we agreed to deploy UK troops as part of an increase in the number of NATO troops present along our eastern flank." Sept. 29, call to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka: "They agreed that the UK and the Czech Republic enjoyed excellent bilateral relations and that the relationship would continue to go from strength to strength, particularly in defence and commercial areas." Oct. 11, meeting President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of Croatia: "Finally, they discussed the key regional role that Croatia can play in southeast Europe, and the importance of stabilising NATO's southern flank" - said a statement released by May's office. UNITED KINGDOM May has not deviated from her message that she wants Britain to remain united as it leaves the European Union. July 13, first speech as prime minister: "The full title of my party is the conservative and unionist party, and that word unionist is very important to me." July 15, before meeting Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon: "I believe with all my heart in the United Kingdom the precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland." July 18, before meeting First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones: "In my first statement as Prime Minister I made clear how strongly I believe in the Union. I want to say to the people of Wales that the government I lead will always be on your side - and that means I will stand up for you and your family against injustice and inequality." July 25, meeting First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Northern Ireland: "I stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street and said that my government will be a government for the whole of the UK and Northern Ireland is a valued part." (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper)
(Reuters) - Even for a 2016 election campaign marked by rhetorical invective, the remarks President-elect Donald Trump and Mitt Romney made about each other in the run-up to the Nov. 8 vote were especially harsh. Those exchanges make all the more significant Trump's plan to meet Romney, the unsuccessful 2012 Republican presidential candidate, on Saturday. A source familiar with the meeting said they may discuss whether Romney should be considered for secretary of state in a Trump administration. Here are some of the things, kind and unkind, that Trump and Romney have said about each other. * "Governor Romney, go out and get 'em. You can do it." - Trump endorsing Romney in February 2012 * "Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works ... It means a great deal to me to have the endorsement of Mr. Trump." - Romney accepting the 2012 endorsement * "Dishonesty is Donald Trumps hallmark." - Romney speaking at a political forum in Utah in March * "He was begging for my endorsement. I couldve said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees,' and he wouldve dropped to his knees." - Trump at a March campaign rally responding to the Romney speech and describing how Romney had sought his endorsement in 2012 * "Think of Donald Trumps personal qualities. The bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics. Now, imagine your children and your grandchildren acting the way he does." - Romney's anti-Trump speech in March * "He failed horribly ... Mitt is indeed a choke artist." - Trump in March assessing Romney's presidential run * "Heres what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University." - Romney in March * "Mitt Romney had his chance to beat a failed president but he choked like a dog. Now he calls me racist - but I am least racist person there is." - Trump tweet in June * "I think his comments time and again appeal to the racist tendency that exists in some people and I think that's dangerous." - Romney in a CNN interview in June * "Mitt Romney called to congratulate me on the win. Very nice!" - Trump tweet five days after the Nov. 8 election (Compiled by Bill Trott in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced his selections for his top security posts, including the head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), his national security adviser and attorney general. An official with Trump's transition team told Reuters that Trump had chosen retired General Michael Flynn as national security adviser, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general, and U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA. All three accepted, the official said. Below are details about his selections: U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: U.S. SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS Sessions, 69, was the first U.S. Senator to endorse Trump's presidential bid and has been a close ally since. A conservative from Alabama, he is serving his fourth term in the chamber, where he is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee with oversight of federal courts, immigration, crime and terrorism. The son of a country-store owner, he is a former Army Reserve captain and served as the U.S. Attorney for Alabama's Southern District under former President Ronald Reagan and later as Alabama's Attorney General. Although he was confirmed by the Senate for his U.S. Attorney post in 1981, he was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 when a Senate panel failed to advance his nomination amid allegations he had made racially-charged remarks, which he denied. Sessions must secure confirmation by the U.S. Senate to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, but he would only need to win majority support in the chamber, which is controlled by Republicans. Sessions has long taken a tough stance on immigration, opposing any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. During the Republican George W. Bush administration, he blasted a bipartisan effort to create a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants backed by Bush. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: RETIRED LIEUTENANT GENERAL MICHAEL FLYNN Flynn, 57, was an early supporter of Trump and serves as vice chairman on his transition team. A former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), he began his U.S. Army career in 1981 and served deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. He later worked in the Office of the Director of Intelligence. Once a registered Democrat, Flynn became head of the DIA in 2012 under President Barack Obama and but retired a year earlier than expected according to media reports and became a fierce critic of Obama's foreign policy. He went on to launch his own consulting firm that has come under scrutiny for its ties to a Turkish businessman. He told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he would sever ties with the firm to serve Trump. Flynn has said the United States should work more with Russia on global security issues. In an August interview with the Washington Post, he defended a paid speech for state-run Russian Television. CIA DIRECTOR: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE POMPEO Pompeo, 52, is a third-term congressman from Kansas who serves on the U.S House Select Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, National Security Agency (NSA) and cyber security. Pompeo also was a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi investigating the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Libya. The California native graduated first in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as a platoon leader in the U.S. Army before leaving military as a captain to attend Harvard Law School. In 1996, he moved to Kansas to launch an aircraft parts company. The firm's decision to open a factory in Mexico came under fire when Pompeo later ran for public office. Pompeo defended his work, saying the company had created jobs in the state. His ties to Koch Industries, owned by billionaire conservative donors Charles and David Koch, has also drawn scrutiny. He won re-election in the Nov. 8 election with 61 percent of the vote, according to Kansas's unofficial election results online. Pompeo has been critical of former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden who leaked National Security Agency information, saying in a 2014 letter that his telecast appearance at an event undermined the ideals of "fairness and freedom." (This version of the story was refiled to remove extraneous "to" in headline) (Reporting by Susan Heavey, Emily Stephenson and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by David Alexander)
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes place in J.K Rowlings wizarding world, but its set in an as-yet-undiscovered corner of that world for most Harry Potter fans. That doesnt mean its entirely unfamiliar territory, however. The film, which premieres this weekend and kicks off a proposed pentalogy, is an extension of the authors hit book series, a series that launched a hit movie franchise. Whether youre a fan whos only watched the movies, just read the seven books, or will take your first trip to the wizarding world with Fantastic Beasts, heres a helpful guide to read before going to the theater.
Where Does Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Come From And How Does It Connect To Harry Potter?
Much like the Star Wars universe, which has a massive number of viewers for its films but a smaller percentage who read the novels, comics, and keep up with the animated series, the wizarding world is more than just Warner Bros. eight film adaptations. Theres Pottermore (both the original and post-overhaul versions), the official fan site where Rowling posts additional content; expanded universe books like The Tales of Beedle the Bard; the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play (and script book); and even the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks in Florida and California. All that supplemental material can make for a hard-to-navigate landscape. And even if you were aware of the existence of something called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them before news of the film, you may not be sure how we got to a whole other film franchise from it.
While its true that Fantastic Beasts is based on a book, its not a traditional adaptation. Fantastic Beasts, the textbook, was fictionally published in 1927 by Newt Scamander, famed Magizoologist. Its a standard textbook required at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and mentioned in both the book and film Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Fantastic Beasts, the real book, was written by Rowling back in 2001 to raise money for Comic Relief. (I purchased it in a box set along with another wizarding world book, Quidditch Through the Ages.) Neither are very long and Fantastic Beasts is essentially a fictional encyclopedia. So how did we get what was once three, but now five, films out if it?
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Jill Pantozzi
When Rowling revealed the extent of the new films, many fans worried this was another case of stretching material, much like Peter Jacksons three Hobbit films, which were created from one, not particularly long, novel. Thats not the case. In her first time as a screenwriter, Rowling has written all new material for this prequel spinoff. Its safe to say shes been immersed in the wizarding world since she started Sorcerers Stone and she (and likely she alone) knows an absurd amount of information about that world never included in the novels. Rowling has admitted this film, and the follow-ups were always where I was interested in going. This is what I wanted to do. She also said Fantastic Beasts will connect to the Potter books [in ways] I think people will find surprising. So lets start with what we know.
First, what does the Fantastic Beasts book tell us? One of its chief concerns is helping the audience discern the difference between a being (a creature worthy of legal rights and a voice in the governance of the wizarding world) and a beast, a matter that troubled the authorities attempting to make a determination. Issues around the number of legs, speech, and other attributes were considered and a consensus wasnt found quickly. Much like history itself, it involved countless arguments and a fair amount of bias, including a campaign by extremists to categorize Muggles (non-magical people) as beasts.
Some species, like the centaurs we met in Sorcerers Stone and subsequent stories, prefer to be called beasts and steer clear of humans and their complications. While others, who for all intents and purposes should be classified as beings are not because, to put it quite plainly, they like to eat humans. The giant spiders, a.k.a. Acromantulas, Harry and Ron meet in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are one of the best examples.
Who is Newt Scamander?
The beasts in the book are categorized from most dangerous (known wizard killer) to least dangerous (boring) by its fictional author Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne in the film). In 1897, Newt was born to a mother who bred fancy Hippogriffs which is probably where he caught the beast bug from. He went to Hogwarts, was sorted into Hufflepuff, and subsequently expelled for endangering his fellow students and teachers with you guessed it. A dangerous beast. I wouldnt be surprised if we found out all about that event, which Newt claimed was an accident, in Fantastic Beasts (or its sequels).
Although its not clear how many years Newt had at the school, after his expulsion he found a job at the Ministry of Magic. Although the Office for House-Elf Relocation (remember Dobby and Kreacher?) wasnt the best part of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, he worked his way up to the Beast Division. While there he helped create the Werewolf Register and the Ban on Experimental Breeding.
Have We Seen Any Of These Beasts Before?
Speaking of experimental breeding, well leave the story of Newt there and move on to the Harry Potter character you probably most associate with magical creatures Rubeus Hagrid! Even before he became Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures teacher, he was its groundskeeper and was tasked with taking care of a number of beasts. He also just really, really loved them, no matter how dangerous. While Hagrid wont appear in Fantastic Beasts (he was born two years after it takes place), youll be able to connect some dots through knowing him and his favorite work.
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In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book only) Hagrid introduces the students to nifflers, burrowing creatures that goblins often use for treasure hunting. Ron Perlman is playing a goblin named Gnarlack in Fantastic Beasts and as weve spotted in the trailers, it looks like he may be using one to rob jewelry stores. Nifflers are gentle but can be dangerous to keep in a house as Dolores Umbridge found out when students purposefully put a few in her office during Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book only). You may have also spotted a bowtruckle keeping close to Newt in the trailers. Its a beast that could easily be mistaken for plant life and in fact, they guard wand-wood trees. When Professor Grubbly-Plank takes over the Care of Magical Creatures class from Hagrid in Order of the Phoenix she teaches the students about them. Theyre mentioned just once in passing by Hagrid in the film series but never appeared.
One last beast of note: the Erumpent, a magical beast from Africa, which will also make its (living) debut in the film. You may recall the Erumpent horn being talked about by a concerned Hermione in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Luna Lovegoods father, Xenophilius, believed it to belong to the Crumple-horned Snorkack (which doesnt exist) much to the detriment of his house. You can only imagine what a live Erumpent will do running loose in New York. However, as weve seen from the trailers, theres going to be a lot more beasts in the film than weve ever seen before and many that were only ever mentioned in passing in the novels.
But What About The Humans?
Colin Farrells Percival Graves is an Auror in the film. Aurors are the specially trained wizard officers who report to the Ministry in the UK and who have a specific eye on catching dark wizards and witches. Graves is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which reports to the Ministry equivalent in New York, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). Katherine Waterstons character, Porpentina Goldstein, apparently used to be an Auror but was demoted. Her sister Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) is a skilled Legilimens, thats the mind-reading skill Professor Severus Snape and the Dark Lord himself were so adept at in the novels. Snape tried to teach Harry the opposite, blocking skill, Occlumency, in Order of the Phoenix. Weve yet to see if that will play a large role in the film.
It was recently revealed Johnny Depp would have a cameo in Fantastic Beasts as the famed Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald. In the universe Grindelwald lived from 18821998, went to the Durmstrang Institute (where Triwizard Tournament competitor Viktor Krum went to school), and eventually wound up imprisoned in his own fortress, Nurmengard. He was the first Dark Wizard to rise (before Voldemort came into power), but in his younger days he had a friendship with Albus Dumbledore. In 1945 the two had a famous duel, which Dumbledore won. But as far as we know, Grindelwalds villainy was relegated to Europe. Dumbledores name has also been mentioned in the trailers and we can expect him to be cast for subsequent films.
While wed heard Grindelwalds name in trailers long before Depp was announced, character posters revealed Percival Graves might have a connection to the Deathly Hallows. A key plot point in both the book and film adaptation of Deathly Hallows, they were symbols of both Grindelwald and his followers but also a much older story told in The Tales of Beedle the Bard which involved cheating death itself.
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This is a lot of information, I know. You dont have to memorize it. This is just a helping hand. The important thing to remember when sitting down to watch Fantastic Beasts is that mostly everyone in the audience is on an even playing field. While some may already be familiar with the concepts Ive written about here, even the most dedicated of Harry Potter fans dont know what to expect from the film because so far, its only lived in Rowlings imagination.
Variety is reporting Fantastic Beasts is expected to make between $70 million and $75 million domestically on opening weekend and around $200 million globally which are great numbers but doesnt quite hit what the Harry Potter films themselves made. Will a new generation, possibly devoid of Potter knowledge attach themselves to Fantastic Beasts with the same kind of fever? Without children starring in the film, maybe not. But those who originally grew up with the book and film series are more than likely to turn out and go for seconds. After all, who doesnt need a little magic in their lives?
(Reuters) - FBI agents have joined police in Wichita, Kansas, in the search for a week-old infant girl reported missing by her father when he arrived home to find the mother shot to death in their home and the baby gone, police said on Friday.
The father of the missing newborn, 7-day-old Sofia Gonzales, is not considered a suspect in the slaying of the mother, Laura Abarca-Nogueda, 27, or in the disappearance of the child, said Sergeant Nikki Woodrow, a spokeswoman for the Wichita police.
She said investigators, including a special team specializing in child abductions, have made no arrests and have identified no suspects.
Baby Sofia is "believed to be endangered and as with any newborn, an infant needs medical care and attention," police said in a statement.
The mystery unfolded on Thursday when the father, the boyfriend of Abarca-Nogueda, arrived home from work at about 3:30 p.m., found the mother shot inside the dwelling and immediately called emergency 911 for help. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The boyfriend also informed responding officers that the couple's infant daughter was missing from the home, and police searched the entire premises to no avail. The boyfriend's name was not disclosed.
Investigators have since interviewed numerous family members, friends and co-workers, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist in the case, police said.
Police said no "Amber" alert was issued in the search for the missing child because investigators have no suspect.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Andrew Hay)
The hallway to Fender CEO Andy Mooneys office is lined with his personal collection of rare electric guitars, some dating back to the iconic guitar makers first year of production in the early 1950s.
The guitars are more than artifacts of the storied music brands past for Mooney, who became CEO in June 2015. They are a living history, and he encourages employees at the companys new headquarters in West Hollywood to play his more than 30 guitars, which date back to every decade that Fender has been in business. The tones are instantly identifiable, even for casual music fans. You dont have to know the specific model of the instrument to recognize the sound that has defined youth rebellion for decades.
The wall is a veritable history of rock n rolls great past, but Fender cannot simply rest on its fabled history it needs to compete in todays marketplace. So theres an obligation to respect that history while working to evolve to keep the company vibrant.
Ive worked for three great brands. Nike, Disney and Fender. People have a very deep, emotional connection to those brands. And I think it absolutely is imperative to honor the past, but its equally imperative to really embrace the future, because otherwise you run the risk of embalming the brand in the process, Mooney said in an interview with Yahoo News.
Mooneys strategy is to find ways for Fender to stay true to the spirit of its history without being stifled by it.
Clarence Leo Fender, the companys founder, made an impact because he looked to the future. He was the first to mass produce a solid-body electric guitar with the Telecaster (originally named Broadcaster) in 1950, a model famously played by the Rolling Stones Keith Richards and the Clashs Joe Strummer. Four years later, he unveiled the revolutionary Stratocaster, the favored guitar of Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
He took everything he learned in the creation of the Telecaster, and he radically redesigned the form for the Strat. If we really want to be like Leo, if we really want to be like Walt [Disney], you got to be very forward looking in your desire to meet the needs of contemporary artists, he said.
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Fenders main headquarters are in Scottsdale, Ariz. The new offices on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles were opened on Sept. 22. Setting up shop in Southern California is a homecoming of sorts, considering that Fender was founded in Fullerton, in Orange County, in the 1940s.
Mooney, a native of Whitburn, Scotland, is a lifelong guitarist himself who played semiprofessionally until his late 20s when like so many others with rock n roll dreams he accepted that he would need to earn his livelihood elsewhere.
He had been living in the U.S. for a couple years when he strolled past a pawnshop in Portland, Ore., that had a black, 86 American Standard Stratocaster it called out to him. Growing up, Mooneys musical hero was Deep Purples Ritchie Blackmore, who played a black Stratocaster with a white pickguard, just like the one he wound up buying.
When I played it, this thing was just a work of art, he said.
It was one of the first American standards to come out after former CEO Bill Schultz led an employee buyout from then-owner CBS in 1985 and returned Fender to its former glory, earning him a reputation as the man who saved Fender.
Around this time, Alan Rogan, who was a guitar tech for the Whos Pete Townshend, gave Mooney a beautiful, short book about Fenders history. Flipping through, he decided he would try to collect every guitar in the book, and hes been working on making this a reality for the past 30 years.
His collection boasts a 1952 Blonde Telecaster and a 1954 Sunburst Stratocaster, which are among the first few thousand guitars Fender ever made, and many other first-year models.
Though some musicians salivate over Fenders of yesteryear, Mooney said hes more likely to play his 86 Strat or something more recent. He likened guitarists who gravitate toward vintage guitars to gearheads who prefer retro cars.
What Ive found is that, in terms of what I ended up playing myself, when you drive a vintage car you kind of miss not having power steering, you kind of miss not having air conditioning, all of the niceties that make driving a modern car so pleasant, he said.
One might suspect that the person at the helm of a guitar company might not be thinking about whether or not young people prefer retro guitars or recent models, but whether they want guitars at all. Theres been much ado about the waning cultural relevance of rock music and by proxy guitar. At the very least, rock n roll is not currently the dominant music of youth culture as it was in the past.
Thanks to the rise of EDM with artists like Skrillex and the sustained popularity of hip-hop, plenty of teenagers harbor dreams that involve laptops and turntables rather than guitars and drums.
But Mooney isnt too worried about the instruments prospects. Look at the stages of todays big music festivals, he suggested, and youll see the guitar still going strong.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of the electric guitar has been greatly exaggerated. I think the last time the death of the electric guitar was proclaimed was round about the creation of disco. So we survived disco and were surviving EDM, Mooney said.
People have been sounding the death knell for the guitar for a long, long time. Just think back to the Beatles audition for Decca Records in 1962 when they were rejected because guitar groups are on the way out.
Its worth noting that its harder to track what musical genres young people are listening to now than ever before anyway. MTV and top 40 radio are no longer the overriding tastemakers they once were. The Internet has upended the industrys longstanding business models and given music fans more power to discover new music. Listeners are no longer the passive recipients of what the major labels cook up and are forming their own online communities.
This splintering means its more unlikely than ever for a single band or artist to command the kind of cultural sway that the Beatles, or even Nirvana, once had. Its also less likely that the Billboard charts are an accurate reflection of whats on anyones iPhone.
Back in Mooneys youth, he said, the guitar was considered a virtuoso instrument think Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, etc. but now more people think of it as a compositional instrument, and theres been a tremendous uptick in the sales of acoustic guitars overall.
I call it the Taylor Swift syndrome, he said. Theres been a big influx, which I think is great, of women into the industry.
So if Mooneys correct, the guitar isnt dying but has to stay fresh to retain its new customers. The new Los Angeles office has more than 100 employees dedicated to a team for digital products and services, such as lessons for players at a variety of levels. To Fender, this move to Los Angeles represents a significant investment in the brands future growth.
Roughly 90 percent of players who pick up a guitar for the first time abandon it in their first year and the 10 percent who stick with it often buy several guitars and commit to the instrument for life, according to Mooney.
As an individual business, the lessons segment is actually twice the size of the instrument segment, Mooney said. So as an independent business endeavor, it makes sense to take the brand into that space. If were fortunate enough to reduce the abandonment rate to have more people commit to the instrument for life, we have the potential to grow the size of the entire industry.
Fiji urged the United States Friday to "save" the world from climate change as it had helped to win World War II.
"We in the Pacific, in common with the whole world, look to America for its leadership and for its engagement and assistance on climate change," Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told a UN conference in Marrakesh overshadowed by president-elect Donald Trump's threats to withdraw the US from a climate rescue pact.
"Just as we looked at America during the dark days of World War II... I say to the American people 'you came to save us then, it is time for you to help to save us now'," he said.
Bainimarama invited Trump to Fiji "to see the effects of climate change for himself and to meet Pacific island leaders face to face in Fiji to discuss the crisis we are all facing along with other low-lying areas of the world, including parts of America."
The United States had a responsibility, he argued, to contribute to the global response to climate change.
The first gathering of the UN's climate forum since last year's adoption of the Paris Agreement to curtail global warming, is tasked with drafting a roadmap for its execution.
It has been overshadowed by uncertainty about Trump's vow to "cancel" the pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions blamed for planet warming.
A 33-year-old Lincoln woman got six to 12 years in prison Friday for trying to rob a fast-food manager on the way to the bank in broad daylight, days before going to prison on other charges.
Ashley Wood said she wanted to apologize to the court and her victim and said she wanted to break the cycle for her children.
"I do know I made horrible choices," she said.
Just before 10:45 a.m. Oct. 9, 2015, Lincoln police went to West Cornhusker Highway on a 56-year-old woman's report that she had left the McDonald's near the airport with cash to get change at the bank when a Lincoln Navigator ran into the back of her Jeep.
When she stopped to check for damage, a woman came up with part of her face covered threatening to use a Taser on her, then she felt a shock to her arm. When she yelled for her to stop, she was shocked again, she told police.
A bystander driving by saw the woman being assaulted, stopped and pulled the woman off her.
She got away in the Navigator, which had its front license plate covered. Police tracked it down a short time later and arrested Wood.
On Oct. 29, 2015, she went to the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York for two years and eight months to four years for unrelated felony theft and misdemeanor charges.
Wood later pleaded no contest to attempted robbery.
Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn said he couldn't ignore the serious nature of the crime, which involved violence. And he sentenced her to additional prison time.
The alleged driver, Shonda Curry, has a warrant out for her arrest.
By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic attorneys general in at least five U.S. states have vowed to fight President-elect Donald Trump in the courts if he rolls back Obama-era regulations or adopts policies they view as infringing upon civil liberties. With Republicans controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Democratic Party looks set to rely more heavily on top law officials in states they run to help keep a check on Trump's exercise of power. Any efforts by a Trump administration to weaken consumer protection or climate change policies, for example, could lead to conflict between the states and the federal government, attorney general offices in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Massachusetts, and New York told Reuters. In some instances, that could see them asking a federal judge to block federal action nationwide. "I view my role as being on the first line of defense against a Trump administration if it chooses to act in an unconstitutional fashion," said Bob Ferguson, the Democratic attorney general of Washington state. When George W. Bush was president, Democratic states forced his administration to take the first step toward regulating carbon emissions for the first time. Michael Kelly, a spokesman for Virginia's attorney general, Mark Herring, said that if a Trump administration "crosses the line and pursues actions that are illegal or violate the Constitution, Attorney General Herring will be ready to stand up and defend the rights of Virginians." The Trump transition team did not respond to a request seeking comment. Attorneys general are the top legal officials in the 50 states and are typically elected. After this years elections, 21 will be Democrats, in addition to the attorney general for the District of Columbia. Acting on behalf of their states, they generally have legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging federal regulations or executive actions, including those that may infringe upon civil rights. "The President-elect has made a number of promises that, if implemented, would violate the Constitution or Massachusetts law," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. "If the incoming administration chooses to try to act in ways that are unconstitutional, my office will take action to protect the rights and liberties of our residents and our state," she said. SYMPATHETIC HEARING A dozen attorney general offices contacted by Reuters declined to discuss potential legal strategies before Trump takes office. Democratic states that sue might initially get a sympathetic hearing, as many federal courts are staffed with judges appointed by President Barack Obama during his eight years in office. But challengers face one major obstacle, a Supreme Court likely soon to regain its conservative majority once Trump makes an appointment to fill a vacant seat. The court is currently divided 4-4 between conservatives and liberals. Republican-controlled Texas, which took a leading role in challenging Obama's executive actions, provides a model for the Democratic attorneys general. Climate change is likely to be area of friction between Trump, who has vowed to roll back regulations aimed at cutting greenhouse gases, and Democratic states, which have supported such efforts at the federal level or enacted their own measures. The top target for Trump is Obama's Clean Power Plan, which seeks to limit carbon emissions from power plants. Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office "will continue to fight to protect New Yorkers public health, property, and environment, and to lead the coalition of states defending the Clean Power Plan." Immigration policy is another potential flashpoint. Trump has said he will rescind an Obama executive order giving deportation relief to up to 4 million people and end federal funding for cities like New York and Los Angeles that give sanctuary to undocumented immigrants. A federal court blocked the Obama executive order in February 2015 after Texas and 25 other Republican states challenged it. The Supreme Court split 4-4 on the issue in June, leaving the lower court's ruling in place. On consumer protection, states can both challenge any Trump efforts to loosen regulations and ramp up their own enforcement efforts, said Doug Gansler, a Democrat who served as Maryland's attorney general from 2007 to 2015. "If the federal government abdicates that responsibility, the more aggressive and progressive state attorneys general will fill that vacuum," he said. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; editing by Amy Stevens and Ross Colvin)
As China inches ever closer to surpassing North America as the world's largest box-office territory, its movie budgets are getting bigger, too.
Hollywood studio tentpoles routinely cost $100 million to $200 million to make, but China's biggest titles seldom top $50 million.
Stephen Chow's fantasy romp The Mermaid, which earned $550 million in February to become China's biggest local box-office hit ever, had a reported production budget of just $60 million - and many in the Chinese industry believe it was made for less (it's not uncommon for Chinese productions to exaggerate their budgets to attract attention, insiders say).
Asura, an epic fantasy film loosely based on Buddhist mythology, is perhaps a glimpse of the Chinese industry to come. With a budget of $100 million, it is said to be the country's most expensive fully domestic film ever. And THR got some first-look exclusive photos.
The debut directorial effort of Chinese filmmaker Peng Zhang, whose career as a Hollywood stunt coordinator goes back two decades (Ant-Man, The Twilight Saga, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), the film features an international cast and veteran Hollywood production team, despite being a Chinese-language film intended first and foremost for the Chinese market.
Produced by Zhenjian Yang, who scored big in 2012 with Painted Skin: The Resurrection ($105 million, a big haul at that time), all of Asura's key production roles are held by Hollywood veterans, while the the rest of the crew is made up of Chinese staff - a strategy Yang pursued to both bootstrap the local industry's experience level and to give the film an international polish. The costumes, for example, were designed by Oscar winner Ngila Dickson (The Lord of the Rings franchise), while the sound design is done by Martin Hernandez (The Revenant, Birdman) and visual effects are supervised by Charlie Iturriaga (Deadpool, Furious 7, The Social Network).
Asura is set in the mythical realm of Asura - the dimension of pure desire, according to ancient Buddhist mythology - which is threatened by a coup from a lower heavenly kingdom.
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Sixteen-year-old Chinese rising star Lei Wu plays the film's young hero, alongside Hong Kong veterans Tony Leung and Carina Lau. Eighteen-year-old newcomer Zhang Yi Shang is the female lead and love interest. The international elements of the cast are made up of American actor Matthew Knowles (based part-time in Beijing, Knowles speaks fluent Mandarin and is well-known to the local audience from roles in Chinese TV dramas like Love Me If You Dare, Deng Xiaoping and Red Star Over China), stuntman Damien Walters (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Huntsman: Winter's War) and British contortionist Bonetics Junior.
Still in production, Asura is being shot in seven locations across China, including Ningxia in the country's north and the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau.
The movie is financed and produced by Jack Ma's Alibaba Pictures Group, Ningxia Film Group, Zhenjian Film and others. The first in a planned trilogy, the film is targeting a summer 2018 release.
Chinese actress Zhang Yi Shang is the female lead.
When the leaves startfalling and the air becomes bitter cold throughout theEast Coast,the temperature in Southern California could still be a perfect 72 degrees.When traveling to the sunny coast in the fall or winter seasons, there is no need to pack heavy coats or thick wool pants. While you may not be able to wear shorts, sandals, and a tank top exclusively throughout your trip, you will be able to get away with fewer layers.
Designer Mari Giudicelli, who has a chic shoe brand with the same name, went to Los Angeles recently and perfected the art of fall packing. The result were these fiveeffortlessly cool outfits that are shopable, so you can create them yourself for your next vacation!
Mari Outfits
Redone tee: $78; shopredone.com
Marni pants: $1,730; modaoperandi.com
Maryam Nassir: $379; mnzstore.com
Mari Outfits
Elizabeth and James sweater: $275; net-a-porter.com
Trademark Skirt: Similar style by Vince $455; barneys.com
Celine shoes: Purchase at Madison Ave store 212-535-3703
Proenza Schouler bag: $1,495; nordstrom.com
Mari Outfits
Proenza Schouler blazer: $2,490; farfetch.com
Redone jeans: $286; shopredone.com
M2Malletier bag: $1,735; net-a-porter.com
Everlane silk top: $58; everlane.com
Maryam Nassir: $379; mnzstore.com
Mari Outfits
Simon Miller pants: $335; simonmillerusa.com
Simon Miller sweater: $255; simonmillerusa.com
Celine shoes: Purchase at Madison Ave store 212-535-3703
Proenza Schouler bag: $1,495; nordstrom.com
Celine sunglasses: $410; sunglasshut.com
Mari Outfits
The Row Sweater: $1,950; net-a-porter.com
Rag & Bone slip Dress: $450; net-a-porter.com
Trademark bag: Similar bag $525; barneys.com
Celine shoes: Purchase at Madison Ave store 212-535-3703
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Iceland's WOW Air is once again offering $99 one-way flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Reykjavik for winter and spring travel.
From Los Angeles International Airport, the deal is available on select dates from November 23 to December 14, and from January 10 to April 4. From San Francisco International Airport, the $99 flights are available on select dates from November 25 to December 9, and from January 10 to April 4.
Return flights start at $179.99, making it possible to see one of the top destinations in the world for a very reasonable price.
If Iceland is on your budget-minded bucket list, WOW Air is the airline to watch for cheap deals.
The low-cost airline is also offering one-way flights to cities including Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, and London starting at $199.99.
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(Adds more details, attempt to reach Trump spokeswoman, sales figures)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: "I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!"
"He will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico," the President-elect tweeted.
But Ford has repeatedly said it has no plans to close any U.S. plants and likely could not do so under the terms of the current United Auto Workers contract that expires in 2019.
This is not the first time Trump's comments about Ford production have been called into question. Last year, he took credit for Ford moving work from Mexico to Ohio, while the automaker had already made the decision in 2011 - long before Trump announced a run for president.
Spokeswoman Christin Baker said Ford "confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky".
"We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States," she added, in a statement.
The company builds both the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC SUV at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, which Trump refers to as the "Lincoln plant" and where Ford employs about 4,700 people. It also has a separate truck plant in Louisville, where it builds pickups and larger SUVs.
It is not clear how many jobs would have been impacted if the low-selling MKC had moved to Mexico.
Ford has sold about 20,000 MKC SUVs this year in the United States, compared with 258,000 Escape SUVs.
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Ford said last month it would suspend production of the Escape and MKC at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky for two weeks because of low demand.
In 2015, it told workers at the plant that it planned to phase out MKC production by 2019 and move it elsewhere.
The U.S. No. 2 automaker is planning to move some small-car production south of the border.
SCATHING CRITICISM
Ford has endured scathing criticism from Trump over its Mexican investments for nearly 18 months.
He has said at times incorrectly that Ford planned to fire American workers because of its Mexican investments. During his presidential campaign, the Republican candidate also said that if elected he would not allow Ford to open a new plant in Mexico and would slap hefty tariffs on any Ford vehicles made there.
A Trump spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about whether Ford's decision to keep production of an SUV in the United States would cause him to drop plans to impose tariffs on some Ford vehicles built in Mexico.
In April 2015, Ford said it planned to invest $2.5 billion to build two new plants in Mexico, adding 3,800 jobs in all. Earlier this year, Ford said it will invest a further $1.6 billion in Mexico for small-car production to start in 2018.
In September, Ford confirmed that all of the company's small-car production will leave U.S. plants and head to lower-cost Mexico by 2019, but no plants would be closed as a result.
Ford has repeatedly said no U.S. jobs will be lost because of the move - and it will produce two new vehicles at a Detroit area plant that built the small cars.
In October, Bill Ford said he had met with Trump to talk about his extensive attacks on Ford's investments in Mexico.
Ford said Trump's criticism was "infuriating" and "frustrating" because of the company's extensive investments and employment in the United States.
(Reporting by Eric Beech and David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler, Bill Rigby and Himani Sarkar)
Photo credit: Forever21 + Getty
From Cosmopolitan
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that garment workers at some factories in Southern California were earning as little as $4 an hour making clothes for brands like Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less, and TJ Maxx. That is less than half of the state-mandated hourly minimum wage of $10.
The report was the result of an investigation by the California Department of Labor, which looked into the labor practices of 77 independent factories in Southern California. Labor violations were found in 85 percent of cases and those companies were ordered to pay their workers $1.3 million in lost wages and damages. However, because the Labor Department can only penalize companies that directly employ workers, the retailers themselves, including Macy's and Nordstrom, avoided any repercussions.
This business model [using independent factories to produce their goods] has shielded them from any legal responsibility, said Ruben Rosalez, a regional administrator with the Labor Department. The retailers are setting the prices. Theyre saying, Make this shirt for this amount, but its the workers at the end of the chain that are getting screwed.
In an email to the Los Angeles Times, a Forever 21 representative denied any responsibility for the conditions under which their clothes are made and said the company "takes these issues very seriously, and requires all of its vendors to comply with these laws. What they did not say was whether or not they would continue working with these factories or increase the prices they pay their manufacturers.
Brands like Forever 21 need cheap (even criminally cheap) labor to produce goods they can then turn around and sell at the insanely low prices consumers have come to expect. But it is impossible to ethically produce a dress for $18 without it severely impacting a company's bottom line, which, let's be real, is the only thing any company actually cares about.
While the workers in these Southern California factories may have won a small victory today, there are millions of workers in this country and around the world being exploited in the name of low prices. That is not going to change until consumers start valuing human dignity above cheap clothing.
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In other words, it's up to you. Every time you buy a dirt-cheap piece of clothing, you are propping up the sweatshop-labor industry. If that bothers you, you know what to do: Shop less and spend more on better quality, ethically-produced clothes. Your closet won't be as full, but you probably own more shit than you wear as it is.
Photo credit: Giphy
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Prijepolje (Serbia) (AFP) - Bus driver Adem Alomerovic was returning home to southern Serbia after undergoing medical tests in Belgrade when he was hauled off a train by members of a notorious militia as it crossed through Bosnian territory.
Alomerovic, 57, and another 18 passengers were bundled off to a nearby school gym where they were robbed, stripped naked and brutally tortured before being executed and dumped in a river.
Their crime? They were mostly Muslim men living in Sandzak, a poor mountainous region of Serbia, during the first year of a bloody inter-ethnic war just across the border in Bosnia.
Almost a quarter century on, the relatives of the victims of the 1993 atrocity are still waiting for justice.
"We are all still crushed by this," Alomerovic's 61-year-old daughter Ramiza Mulic told AFP.
"Even the birds know what happened... but nobody wants to tell us anything, to help us to ease our pain, helplessness and humiliation."
The fearful Muslims of Sandzak had been desperately trying not to get caught up in the conflict just across the border that was pitting Croats, Muslims and Serbs against each other.
Nijazim Kajevic, a telecommunications technician, was another passenger on the ill-fated train, returning home from a birthday party for a friend's son in Belgrade when it made an unscheduled stop in the border village of Strpci on February 27, 1993.
- Betrayed by their names -
He and the other men, given away by their Muslim family names, are believed to have been abducted by the feared Serb paramilitary group known as "Osvetnici" (Avengers) headed by convicted war criminal Milan Lukic.
Kajevic's brother Nail told AFP he was certain the massacre was a deliberate plot masterminded in Belgrade to chase away Muslims from Sandzak.
"Their goal, the forcible displacement and intimidation (of Muslims), was eventually achieved," he said.
Serb forces -- who persecuted and exterminated hundreds of thousands of Croats and Muslims during the Bosnian war -- wanted to ethnically "cleanse" the Sandzak area, agreed Mulic.
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Before the war Muslims made up less than three percent of Serbia's mainly Orthodox Christian population.
- Serbia's silence -
Just four months before the Strpci killings, an Avengers unit had intercepted a bus in the area carrying 16 Muslim workers, including one woman, from the village of Sjeverin.
They were never seen again.
Lukic was arrested in 2005 in Argentina and sentenced to life in prison for war crimes -- but he was never charged over the Strpci massacre.
The only person convicted was Nebojsa Ranisavljevic, who was sentenced to 15 years prison in 2002 by a court in nearby Montenegro before being released nine years later.
The identities of the other suspects surfaced in Ranisavljevic's confession read out at his trial.
Sixteen of them, who had become bar owners or shopkeepers after the war, were arrested in 2014 in Bosnia's Serb-run Republika Srpska or Serbia itself.
Eleven have gone on trial in Sarajevo but the others are still being investigated in Belgrade.
Belgrade's failure to bring anyone to justice "proves that Muslims are still not considered equal citizens in Serbia," said Muamer Zukorlic, the former mufti of Sandzak and now a Serbian MP.
In the town of Prijepolje, home to several of the victims, an inscription on a monument in their memory states that "anyone in this country who forgets" the killings "is giving up on the future".
Shortly after the victims disappeared, thousands of people massed every day for weeks outside the town hall seeking answers.
"We were all frightened," recalled Nail Kajevic, saying residents gathered despite fears they could themselves be rounded up by Serb forces.
On March 17, 1993, late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic flew in on a helicopter and promised to find the missing, and later met with victims' families in Belgrade on four occasions.
- Still seeking revenge -
For a while afterwards the relatives believed their loved ones had been abducted to be exchanged for Serb prisoners of war held by Bosnian Muslim forces.
But today, Kajevic said he is convinced that Milosevic, the mastermind of a "Greater Serbia," knew everything about the fate of those who went missing.
Belgrade refuses to "shed a light on the crimes in which its services were involved", he said.
Relatives of the victims want the European Court of Human Rights to order compensation for their families.
At her house in Novi Pazar, Sandzak's main town, Mulic vowed she would never forgive her father's killers.
"I would like to swap roles, that we do to them what they did to us," she said, drawing a finger across her throat.
Washington (AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump and France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen are part of "identical phenomena" that have swept the two countries, the mayor of Paris said Friday.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who was in Washington accepting an environmental award from Foreign Policy magazine, added that Trump "is bad news, because we don't need to restart discussions of last century" -- a reference to his skepticism of climate change.
Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front (FN), has her eye on the French presidency in next year's elections, with polls currently showing her making it past the first round to the May run-off among the top two vote-getters.
"The fact that (Le Pen) is already so high in the polls, it's because there are identical phenomena at work," Hidalgo told a handful of journalists.
She said the presidency of Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax," would not have a decisive impact on the landmark Paris agreement on climate change.
"Even if Mr Trump declares his skepticism every morning... it will not stop the momentum," she said, adding that "countries cannot leave the agreement anyhow."
Trump has threatened to "cancel" the pact, which could roll back years of painstakingly negotiated political goodwill.
University of Nebraska Regent Kent Schroeder has driven more than 129,000 miles and attended 648 meetings over the last 18 years.
Schroeders last meeting after three terms representing District 6 on the NU Board of Regents was Friday.
Amherst farmer and businessman Paul Kenney will replace Schroeder in January. Kenney defeated Kearney attorney Marsha Fangmeyer in the Nov. 8 election.
Schroeder, a Kearney attorney, told the board he was thankful for the opportunity to work with them, joking he appreciated other regents tolerating him for nearly two decades.
It goes without saying, he said, I could not have served without the support of my family, particularly my wife Linda.
When he began as regent, the District 6 seat represented 23 counties in central Nebraska stretching from the South Dakota border in the north to the Platte River.
In 2004, the district comprised 22 counties but extended south to the Kansas border, Schroeder said, and during his last reelection bid, District 6 had once again shifted to represent 20 counties border to border.
Counting other markers of his service, Schroeder said he worked alongside 20 regents, met and forgot the names of 72 student regents, and advised three different university presidents.
NU President Hank Bounds said Schroeder understands the importance of good governance.
His service is marked by unselfishly setting aside personal interests and always placing the best interest of the university, its students and the state of Nebraska first and foremost, Bounds said. He is a regents regent.
Regent Bob Phares of North Platte said Schroeder diligently served Nebraska for 18 years, building a reputation for using common sense and being straightforward in his opinions, but never forgetting to inject humor into his work.
If there was one upside to Schroeder retiring as a regent, Phares joked, it would be the fact that one less lawyer will be on the board.
On Friday, regents approved creating the honorary title of Regent Emeritus before bestowing that award upon Schroeder.
An emotional Schroeder thanked his colleagues one last time before closing the meeting as chairman, repeating the personal mantra he uses to guide his work as well as evaluate the university.
If you dont know how good you are, you will never know how much better you can be.
Paris (AFP) - Seven right-wing presidential hopefuls will compete in the first round of a US-style primary on Sunday that is widely expected to decide France's next leader.
Polls show the winner of the two-round November 20-27 nominating contest meeting -- and beating -- far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of the election in May.
The race is seen as a three-way affair between Alain Juppe, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Fillon, with the four other candidates all polling under 10 percent.
- Alain Juppe, unifier -
Former prime minister Alain Juppe, 71, has campaigned as a moderate and a sage who will unify a country divided by a deep economic malaise and a wave of jihadist attacks.
The man with the longest CV in French politics, including stints as foreign and defence minister under Sarkozy, has attempted to banish the gloom with his vision of a "happy" national identity.
In 1995, the then premier's attempts to push through reforms sparked huge protests that paralysed France. Juppe says he is a "changed" man and now more open to dialogue.
He spent a few years in the political wilderness after a party funding scandal in 2004, in which he was seen as the fall guy for his mentor Jacques Chirac.
Sarkozy has accused him of being "soft" but Juppe insists he "stands his ground".
- Nicolas Sarkozy, comeback kid -
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, 61, promised to blow the competition out of the water as he bids to win back the keys to the Elysee Palace but has so far failed to land a knockout blow on his arch-rival Juppe.
In a strategy that cost him re-election in 2012 he has again lurched to the right on immigration, security and Islam in a bid to woo voters tempted by the National Front.
The son of a Hungarian immigrant, Sarkozy was elected in 2007 on a promise of reforms.
But his taste for the high life -- he is married to former top model Carla Bruni -- and failure to enact many of his promises led voters to cast him out after a single term.
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After telling the French they would never hear from him if vanquished, he returned to lead the Republicans party in 2014 as the champion of the "silent majority".
"How many Brexits, how many American elections, how many lost European referendums do you need to finally hear the anger of the people?" he told a rally this week.
- Francois Fillon, the third man -
Francois Fillon is hoping to cause an upset by winning a place in the November 27 run-off as a compromise choice with more bite than Juppe but less punch than his former boss Sarkozy.
Fillon became the youngest member of the French parliament at age 27 in 1981 and held several ministerial portfolios under Jacques Chirac.
As Sarkozy's prime minister from 2007 to 2012 his unflappable, avuncular style made him an antidote to the hyperactive president.
The 62-year-old is best remembered for having warned before the eurozone debt crisis that France was living beyond its means.
A car-racing fanatic, he has come from behind in the last weeks of the campaign on a pledge to cut half a million civil servant jobs, increase the working week from 35 to 39 hours and reduce immigration to the "strict minimum".
- Bruno Le Maire, the good pupil -
Agriculture minister under Sarkozy from 2009 to 2012, Bruno Le Maire, 47, has struggled to shake off an image of slightly stodgy, over-educated technocrat.
"My intelligence is an obstacle," the clean-cut politician once famously declared.
His programme comes in the form of a 1,012-page "contract" with the French.
- Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, free spirit -
At 43, former environment minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is the youngest candidate, and the only woman.
A maverick who has called for cannabis to be decriminalised, she was sacked by Sarkozy as the Republicans' vice president in December 2015 after she criticised his leadership.
Known in France by her initials NKM, she made an unsuccessful bid to become Paris mayor in 2014.
- Jean-Francois Cope, 'uninhibited' right -
Jean-Francois Cope, 52, was forced to resign as president of the UMP, the forerunner of the Republicans Party, in June 2014 over a campaign finance scandal that has also embroiled Sarkozy.
A former budget minister and advocate of an "uninhibited right" he was led red-faced recently after revealing he had no idea of the price of a pain au chocolat, a French breakfast staple.
"I think it must be around 10 or 15 centimes," he said of the pastry that sells for around 10 times that.
- Jean-Frederic Poisson, Christian choice -
The head of the Christian Democratic Party, 53-year-old Jean-Frederic Poisson has taken a firm stance against gay marriage, legalised in France in 2013.
He courted controversy during the campaign for refusing to rule out voting for Le Pen in the unlikely event she meets current Socialist president Francois Hollande in the election run-off in May.
New York (AFP) - There's no doubt which side the fashion world supported during the US presidential campaign.
For years, First Lady Michelle Obama and Democrats' vanquished presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have been favorites with fashion designers who dressed them in clothes aimed at evoking their values.
But New York-based French designer Sophie Theallet has gone a step further, throwing down the gauntlet by refusing to dress future first lady Melania Trump because of the political views of her husband, President-elect Donald Trump.
Theallet is urging other designers to follow her lead.
"As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next first lady," she wrote in an open letter published Thursday.
"The rhetoric of racism, sexism and xenophobia unleashed by her husband's presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by."
"I am well aware it is not wise to get involved in politics," Theallet added.
"That said, as a family-owned company, our bottom line is not just about money."
The letter has prompted a flood of reaction on social media, much of it negative.
Theallet, 52, who has worked in the United States for more than fifteen years, is a regular fixture at New York's fashion week.
Her feminine designs have appealed to Michelle Obama, who provided welcome publicity by donning several of her dresses since 2009.
"She has contributed to having our name recognized and respected worldwide," Theallet wrote of the current first lady, indicating purpose behind Obama's fashion choices.
"Her values, actions and grace have always resonated deeply within me."
Paris (AFP) - Right-wing French presidential hopefuls faced off Thursday over the repercussions of Donald Trump's election in the last debate ahead of the first round of their US-style primary at the weekend.
All eyes in France are on the right-wing nominating contest, whose winner is expected to go on to take the presidency in May in a duel with far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, ex-premier Alain Juppe and five other candidates will compete in the first round on Sunday, with the two poll toppers going into a run-off on November 27.
Trump's stunning ascent to the White House loomed large over the last of three debates among the seven candidates.
Sarkozy, who is running neck-and-neck with Juppe in polls, said a more isolationist America created "a fantastic opportunity for France and Europe to re-establish a leadership role" on issues including security in the Mediterranean and the reform of the UN Security Council.
"The next five years will mark the return of France and Europe to the international scene. America won't be there to put us in the shade," he said.
Juppe said the Trump era heralded a triple "shock" -- in the areas of trade, defence and the environment.
A return to protectionism would be "a tremendous regression", Juppe said, while warning Europe against being "naive" in its dealings with the United States.
Responding to Trump's campaign threat to help NATO allies only if they paid their way, Juppe said EU members needed to speed up plans for greater defence cooperation -- a proposal backed by most of his rivals.
Trump's win has caused jitters in France, where Le Pen has seized on it as evidence that she could debunk the polls and take the Elysee Palace on a similar anti-establishment platform.
Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls admitted during a visit to Berlin on Thursday that it was "possible" that Le Pen could win the election and warned against ignoring the "danger" of the far right.
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- US-style 'hangover' -
"I don't want us to wake up with a hangover, like the Americans, in six months' time," the sole female candidate in the right-wing primary, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, said during the debate.
Thursday's debate was restrained in tone but sparks flew when Sarkozy was quizzed about fresh claims that he received millions in funding from the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi towards his 2007 campaign.
Sarkozy had no answer for the question, which he termed "disgraceful".
Polls show the allegations having little impact on his campaign, with the ex-president closing in on Juppe, who has led the race for the past two years.
An Ifop survey on Thursday put them both at 31 percent, ahead of the reform-minded Fillon, up seven points in two months to 27 percent.
In the run-off Sarkozy is shown as losing to either Juppe or Fillon. If Juppe and Fillon are the two finalists Ifop predicts a dead heat.
Sarkozy has emphasised his tough-guy credentials, saying it makes him a better choice to handle Trump than the mild-mannered 71-year-old Juppe.
Both he and Fillon welcomed the prospect of a rapprochement between Washington and Moscow under Trump.
- 'Cold war' no more -
"The good news" of the US upset, Sarkozy said, was that it spelt an end to the "totally counter-productive climate of cold war between the United States and Russia."
Both Sarkozy and Fillon have pledged to dramatically curb immigration following a wave of jihadist attacks.
Bordeaux mayor Juppe, accusing Sarkozy of aping Le Pen, has campaigned as a unifier.
"To succeed we have to come together. For that our diversity must be respected," he said Thursday.
As the right prepares to pick its nominee the ruling Socialists are in disarray.
On Wednesday, Hollande's former star economy minister Emmanuel Macron became the latest to repudiate his mentor, announcing a bid to become president even though Hollande himself has yet to say whether he will seek a second term.
Agen (France) (AFP) - A 32-year-old Frenchman was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the brutal rape and murder of an 80-year-old British woman in southwestern France.
Following the murder, Madi Mahaboudi, who has a previous conviction for a 2005 unlawful killing for which he was sentenced to eight years, cut up the body of Violet Price into seven pieces and discarded them in a field.
The criminal court in Agen heard from a medical examiner who said the attack last year on Price had been particularly violent.
"In 15 years of practice, I had never seen such a degree of bruising on the throat and neck," he said after having asked members of the victim's family to leave the court before reading out the long list of physical and sexual injuries suffered by Price.
"He's not someone who really regrets what he's done," said the prosecuting attorney.
Mahaboudi, who was said to be addicted to cannabis and pornography, was the brother of the victim's daughter-in- law.
On April 11, 2015, he went to Price's house hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, who had recently left him.
Price let him in and offered Mahaboudi a cup of coffee, on which his DNA was found.
Mahaboudi also strangled the woman he killed in 2005.
"It was stronger than me," he said of the urge to murder Price. "I took hold of her neck and squeezed."
He said he was at a loss to explain why he committed the attack.
"He's a boy who did not know how to develop as a man because he had a violent father (who was) imposing and very severe," said defence attorney Isabelle Gillet, who claimed Mahaboudi was raped as a child by an acquaintance of his father.
Given an opportunity to speak before jurors retired to deliberate, Mahaboudi said: "I ask to be given a chance. Deep down I know I can be rehabilitated."
(Adds details, share movement, outlook)
Nov 17 (Reuters) - Apparel chain Gap Inc said it would shut more stores than forecast previously and that it expected a further drop in traffic during the crucial holiday shopping season.
The company's shares fell 4.9 percent to $29.21 after the bell on Thursday.
"Given that challenging traffic trends have continued, we are investing meaningfully in marketing across our portfolio brands during the holiday season," outgoing Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Simmons said on an earnings call.
Gap said it now expected to shut about 65 company-operated stores this year, compared with its previous forecast of about 50 stores.
Traditional apparel chains are struggling with the growing popularity of online retailers and fast-fashion chains such as H&M, Forever 21 and Inditex's Zara, which are known for offering trendier clothes at cheaper prices.
Gap reaffirmed its adjusted profit forecast of $1.87 to $1.92 per share for the full year. Analysts on average were expecting $2.02, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company reported its seventh straight quarterly sales decline in the three months ended Oct. 29 as demand for its Gap and Banana Republic brands remained sluggish.
Gap has been trying to replicate the success of its low-end Old Navy brand at its Gap and Banana Republic chains since Art Peck took over as chief executive last year.
The company's net income fell to $204 million, or 51 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 29 from $248 million, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring costs, the company earned 60 cents per share, in line with analysts' estimates.
The company said same-store sales fell 3 percent in the quarter, in line with analysts' estimate, according to Consensus Metrix.
Net sales fell to $3.80 billion from $3.86 billion.
Up to Thursday's close, the San Francisco-based company's stock has risen 24.3 percent this year.
(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot and killed a 26-year-old Palestinian during a rock-throwing protest near the Gaza-Israel border on Friday, a Palestinian health official said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops had fired shots to disperse Palestinians trying to breach the Gaza border fence and authorities were investigating reports that one person had been killed. The Gaza health officials said Mohammad Abu Seada was killed by Israeli gunfire and that two others were wounded. Dozens of protesters hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers every Friday along the border with Gaza. At least 227 Palestinians have been killed in violence in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip since October 2015. Israel says 154 of them were assailants. Others died during clashes and protests. Palestinians, many of them acting alone and with rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion in Israeli-occupied territory that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Palestinians have accused Israeli police and soldiers of using excessive force in many cases, saying the assailants could have been stopped or detained without being shot and killed. Israel has opened investigations into several incidents. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Writing by Ori Lewis)
Fifth-ranked middleweight Gegard Mousasi is riding a three-fight winning streak. He's 5-1 in his last six fights. The lone loss during that stretch was to Uriah Hall in September 2015, but Mousasi has the chance at redemption when he faces Hall for the second time at UFC Fight Night Belfast on Saturday.
For me, its a good fight. I dont have a lot to gain, but to put something straight. Its a risky fight for me, but every fight is risky. Im going to go out and prove that Im the better fighter, Mousasi told MMAWeekly.com.
In their first fight, Mousasi won the opening round, but ducked into a spinning back kick in the opening seconds of the second frame. Hall followed with a flying knee and became the first fighter to knock Mousasi out. The Dreamcatcher doesn't plan on making the same mistake in the rematch.
Im not going to make the same mistakes that I did the first time. Once you fight a guy, you feel his strengths; you feel the way he fights, he said.
In that fight, I wanted to just go to him, just destroy him. Im not going to make the mistake. Its going to be a calm and collected fight. Im going to pick my shots. If it goes five rounds, it goes. If a knockout comes, Ill finish him. Im going to fight smarter this fight.
TRENDING > Tyron Woodley Open to Conor McGregor Bout
Mousasi doesn't take anything away from Hall's win over him, but believes that he's the better fighter and plans on proving that on Saturday.
He won fair-and-square. Im just saying that Im the better fighter, he said. Do I believe that something like that is going to happen again? No, I dont think so. Ive never been knocked out in my career. I have good reaction. I have a good chin. Its time for payback.
The fight with Hall will only be the second rematch in Mousasi's 48-fight career. It's a fight that he wanted, asked for, and received.
This is the fight that I wanted and they gave it to me, said Mousasi. I said that I want to rematch Uriah Hall, or fight Anderson Silva. I said, if those fights dont happen, Id like to fight Chris Weidman or Luke Rockhold.
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Mousasi plans to fight smart in the rematch and possibly take Hall into the deep waters of the fourth and fifth rounds.
Im going to fight smart. If the finish comes, it comes. If not, then it goes five rounds, and I dont believe that hes going to look good after five rounds, he said.
I dont believe that hes going to be able to go five rounds. After four or five, hes going to be fatigued, and Im going to be able to do whatever I want.
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As President-elect Donald Trumps administration takes shape, Star Trek alum George Takei has penned an impassioned essay imploring our countrys incoming leaders to not repeat the mistakes of the past and to use extreme caution when considering the possibility of a national Muslim registry.
In a Washington Post essay published Friday, the 79-year-old recounted his experience of being forced into a Japanese-American internment camp at age 5, and openly worried that the rhetoric hes heard from Trump and his surrogates suggest that they would not rule out a similar measure for Muslim-Americans.
The stigmatization, separation and labeling of our fellow humans based on race or religion has never led to a more secure world, he wrote. But it has too often led to one where the most vulnerable pay the highest price.
Takei expressed concern over the dangerous talk he has heard recently, pointing to Megyn Kellys interview Wednesday with prominent Trump supporter Carl Higbie, co-chair of Great America PAC. While addressing Trump transition team member Kris Kobachs suggestion that the new administration could reinstate a reinstate a national registry for immigrants from countries where terrorist groups were active, Higbie suggested that the Japanese-American internment camps set a precedent for such a measure.
Weve done it based on race, weve done it based on religion, weve done it based on region, Mr. Higbie said. Weve done it with Iran back back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese.
Takei says in his essay that such talk very old and very deep wounds.
The internment was a dark chapter of American history, in which 120,000 people, including me and my family, lost our homes, our livelihoods, and our freedoms because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. Higbie speaks of the internment in the abstract, as a precedent or a policy, ignoring the true human tragedy that occurred.
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(According to The New York Times, Higbie said in a phone call the next morning that there is historical, factual precedent to do things that are not politically popular and sometimes not right, in the interest of national security, he said, adding that he fundamentally disagreed with the internment camp mantra and doing it at all.)
Japanese-Americans in internment camp
The actor and social media darling went on to paint a vivid and grim picture of life at the internment camp, recounting how he and his family were forced out of their home at gunpoint and initially forced to live in a single smelly stall within a horse stable.
Later, a rail car with its blinds drawn for our own protection, they said took the family more than 1,000 miles to the pungent swamps of Arkansas at the Rohwer Relocation Center: really, it was a prison.
Japanese-Americans in internment camp
Armed guards looked down upon us from sentry towers; their guns pointed inward at us; searchlights lit pathways at night. We understood. We were not to leave, he wrote, and pointed out that it was actually a Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt who sanctioned the camps, which shows that demagoguery and race-baiting knows no party.
Related Video: Physically Attacked by Donald Trump a PEOPLE Writers Own Harrowing Story
Now, Takei says he is troubled to hear that Trump himself also declined to fully denounce Americas decision to force families like his into the camps. He pointed to the then-candidates interview with Time last December, in which he said that I would have had to be there at the time to tell you, to give you a proper answer. I certainly hate the concept of it.
Takei makes it clear that statements like that raise deep concerns.
Let us all be clear: National security must never again be permitted to justify wholesale denial of constitutional rights and protections. If it is freedom and our way of life that we fight for, our first obligation is to ensure that our own government adheres to those principles. Without that, we are no better than our enemies.
Oh, the choices.
Students at Trinity Lutheran Elementary took to the gymnasium Friday morning to do some shopping in what's become a school tradition.
Armed with red and green shoeboxes, they went from station to station picking out enough Christmas gifts to fill those boxes for an unknown recipient.
They had an idea. It would be a girl or a boy, probably the same age as themselves.
Someone just like them, said teacher Candace Jurchen.
Except not them, which was the point.
I like to give kids the opportunity to get excited about doing something for someone else, to get excited doing something theyll never (personally) see the benefit of, said Jurchen.
Operation Christmas Child, a program organized by an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization called Samaritan's Purse, seemed the perfect vehicle for that.
So Jurchen, whos taught second grade at Trinity Lutheran since 2004, started doing it with her class about five years ago.
Participants fill shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for children, which Samaritans Purse then delivers to children in need around the globe.
Trinity Lutherans boxes have gone to Mexico and Africa, said Jurchen.
About five years ago, Jurchen had each child in her class fill boxes. Then interest in the project began to spread and last year the giving went schoolwide.
Church members and families donated gifts -- toys and school products and washcloths and handmade items. Those items were set up in the gym and all students -- from 2-year-old preschoolers to fifth-graders -- got a box and went shopping.
Last year, the school made 100 boxes, about the same as this year. Theyll go to a central location, with other boxes put together by other local churches or organizations and then be shipped to children in need.
This year at Trinity Lutheran the Playdough was gone in minutes. Preschoolers nabbed the stuffed animals. Socks were a hot item, like necklaces and bracelets and markers and erasers and toothbrushes.
Jurchen said she likes the project because its a way for students to show their faith through giving.
Actor George Takei attends the Star Trek: The Star Fleet Academy Experience Preview at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, June 30, 2016. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Actor and activist George Takei is speaking out against the notion that internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II established precedent for a potential registry of Muslims in the U.S.
For Takei, who spent his childhood in an internment camp, to tout this dark chapter in American history is to ignore the tragedy that took place when 120,000 people were robbed of their home, livelihood and freedom.
Takei, who rose to prominence on Star Trek and later connected with a new generation as a social media personality, penned an op-ed for the Washington Post on Friday criticizing Carl Higbie, a prominent Donald Trump surrogate, for suggesting that the internment would allow the president-elect to establish a database of Muslims.
Let us all be clear: National security must never again be permitted to justify wholesale denial of constitutional rights and protections, Takei wrote. If it is freedom and our way of life that we fight for, our first obligation is to ensure that our own government adheres to those principles. Without that, we are no better than our enemies.
Trump told Yahoo News last year that he was open to a potential database for Muslim Americans. The real estate mogul distanced himself from the proposal, but this week a Trump policy adviser said the president-elect was mulling a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries.
On Wednesday, Higbie, the co-chair of the Great America PAC, told Fox News Megyn Kelly that Trumps proposed registry would be legal and hold constitutional muster. Video of the striking exchange sparked headlines across the country.
We did it during World War II with Japanese, which you know, call it what you will, he said.
Kelly pushed back against the idea: Come on, youre not proposing we go back to the days of internment camps, I hope.
No, no, no, Im not proposing that at all Megyn, he said. Im just saying there is precedent for it.
You cant be citing Japanese internment camps as precedent for anything the president-elect is going to do, Kelly said.
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Takei agrees with Kelly. In the Washington Post essay, he talks about how his family was forced from their home at gunpoint when he was just 5 years old to live in a horse stable near a racetrack. A few weeks later, they were sent to Arkansas Rohwer War Relocation Center, which was essentially a prison, complete with armed guards and searchlights.
Years later, when Takei studied government and civics at school, he came to view the internment as not just an attack on Americans of Japanese descent but also on the Constitution. Fear and prejudice had trampled over that founding documents guarantees of due process and equal protection, he said.
Slideshow: World War II Japanese internment camps in the U.S. >>>
It had been a Democratic administration at the time, under Franklin D. Roosevelt, that had ordered us to the camps, proving that demagoguery and race-baiting knows no party, he wrote.
Takei also criticized Trump for telling Time magazine that he wasnt sure whether or not he would have supported the internment.
I would have had to be there at the time to tell you, to give you a proper answer, Trump said in December 2015. I certainly hate the concept of it. But I would have had to be there at the time to give you a proper answer.
Around the same time, Trump told ABCs Good Morning America that his proposed ban on Muslims from entering the country is no different than FDRs solution.
In response to Trump and Higbie, Takei said unequivocally that greater security cannot be used to justify ethnic or religious discrimination. He said Americans cannot allow the government to become an instrument of terror and division.
We cannot permit this invidious thinking, discredited by history at the cost of so much misery and suffering by innocents, to take root once again in America, let alone in the White House, he said. The stigmatization, separation and labeling of our fellow humans based on race or religion has never led to a more secure world. But it has too often led to one where the most vulnerable pay the highest price.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan one of Trumps professed political heroes signed legislation apologizing to the victims of the internment camps.
George Takei has condemned any government plans for a Muslim registry, which a Donald Trump surrogate compared to American Japanese internment camps during World War II while speaking to Megyn Kelly on Fox News earlier this week.
The former Star Trek actor wrote a Washington Post op-ed headlined They interned my family. Dont let them do it to Muslims, which criticizes former Navy SEAL Carl Higbies comment to Kelly that there is precedent for such a registry.
Stop and consider these words. The internment was a dark chapter of American history, in which 120,000 people, including me and my family, lost our homes, our livelihoods, and our freedoms because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor, Takei wrote. Higbie speaks of the internment in the abstract, as a precedent or a policy, ignoring the true human tragedy that occurred.
Also Read: Kanye West Would Have Voted for Donald Trump: 'His Approach Was Absolutely Genius' (Video)
Takei was five years old when his family was forced at gunpoint from their Los Angeles home, and relocated to the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas, where Takei said they were prisoners in our own country.
It was normal to stand each day in our makeshift classroom, reciting the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, With liberty and justice for all, as I looked past the U.S. flag out the window, the barbed wire of the camp just visible behind it, Takei wrote. Not until I was older did I understand the irony of those words and the injustice that had been visited on so many of us. As I studied civics and government in school, I came to see the internment as an assault not only upon an entire group of Americans, but upon the Constitution itself how its guarantees of due process and equal protection had been decimated by forces of fear and prejudice unleashed by unscrupulous politicians.
Trumps transition team spokesman released a statement on Thursday denying that the President-elect is considering a Muslim registry.
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President-election Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false, Jason Miller, communications director of Trumps presidential transition team, said. The national registry of foreign visitors from countries with high terrorism activity that was in place during the Bush and Obama administrations gave intelligence and law enforcement communities additional tools to keep our country safe, but the President-elect plans on releasing his own vetting policies after he is sworn in.
Also Read: Alec Baldwin to Return as Trump on 'SNL' Tomorrow, Shares Plan Going Forward
Trump has previously called for extreme vetting of immigrants, in hopes of catching radical Islam terrorists before they enter the country.
Takei points out that the closest Trump has come to commenting on internment camps, specifically, is during a Time interview when asked if he would have supported or opposed the act enforced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat. I would have had to be there at the time to tell you, to give you a proper answer, Trump said.
Instead, Takei took a bigger issue with Trump supporter Higbies additional comment comparing a Muslim registry to internment camps. There is historical, factual precedent to do things [that] are not politically popular and sometimes not right, in the interest of national security, Higbie told the New York Times after his Fox News appearance.
Also Read: Hollywood Latinos 'Devastated' and Even Bedridden as Trump Era Beckons
Let us all be clear: National security must never again be permitted to justify wholesale denial of constitutional rights and protections, Takei wrote. If it is freedom and our way of life that we fight for, our first obligation is to ensure that our own government adheres to those principles. Without that, we are no better than our enemies. Let us also agree that ethnic or religious discrimination cannot be justified by calls for greater security.
He concluded: The Constitution and the government exist in large measure to protect against the excesses of democracies. This is particularly salient when, in an atmosphere of fear or mistrust, one group is singled out and vilified, as Japanese Americans were during World War II and as Muslim Americans are today. How terrible it is to contemplate, once again, that the government itself might once more be the very instrument of terror and division. That cannot happen again. We cannot allow it.
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(Adds Commission comment)
BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday that the European Commission, which has effectively urged Germany to spend more in 2017, did not have the right to decide on how much fiscal room for manoeuvre EU members have.
"We are bound by European law and so is the Commission. The Stability Pact says that budgets are reviewed by the member states. The Commission has instead reviewed fiscal space for the euro zone and it has no mandate for that," Schaeuble said at an event in Berlin organised by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The European Commission on Wednesday called for the 19-country euro zone, in which Germany is the largest economy, to loosen overall budget policy next year.
The Commission did not explicitly name Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives face an election next autumn complicated by the emergence of the fiscally hawkish, eurosceptic AfD, in its recommendation for the whole euro zone.
But because France, Italy and Spain are among those butting up against the currency union's budget deficit limits, only Berlin has the scope and economic weight to make a difference.
Schaeuble said it was necessary to stick to Europe's Stability and Growth Pact to protect the euro currency in a swipe at the Commission which is seen by many northern European countries as not policing budget discipline strongly enough.
Under EU rules, each euro zone country should seek to diminish its structural budget deficit until it reaches its so-called medium term objective.
For various countries this goal, which excludes one-off expenses and revenues and the effects of the business cycle, ranges from a structural deficit of 0.5 percent of GDP to a surplus. For Germany it is a 0.5 percent structural deficit.
Starting from 2012, Germany has been exceeding that goal and has even had surpluses from 2013. The Commission has been recommending therefore that Berlin spend more domestically to make its export-driven economy less dependent on external demand.
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"We are not asking all Member States to spend more, and those that should do more to deliver the appropriate fiscal stance for the euro area as a whole should not be surprised," Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said.
"Our communication reflects what our recommendations have said for a long time," she said.
(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Reporting by Michelle Martin and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Paul Carrel)
(Reuters) - Germany's Aixtron Se said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) informed the company it would recommend that its pending takeover by China's Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) be blocked.
Aixtron said the committee, which reviews deals that may be national security risks, told the chip equipment makers it plans to recommend to the U.S. president that the deal be blocked due to security concerns and advised the companies to drop the deal.
Aixtron said in a statement the companies decided not to follow CFIUS recommendation. Neither company was available for further comment.
Experts say CFIUS, the task force headed by the Treasury Department, rarely kills a deal outright but will inform lawyers handling the deal of its opposition, and the companies usually drop the transaction.
The only deal CFIUS had formally stopped was in 2012, when it obtained a presidential order ordering a small Chinese company, Ralls Corp, to sell a wind farm in Oregon because the farm was near a training site used to test unmanned drones.
German newspaper Handelsblatt had reported last month that U.S. intelligence services had warned Germany on the proposed Chinese takeover of Aixtron, adding that the deal could give Beijing access to technology that could be used for military purposes.
The German government had also withdrawn its approval for the deal following security concerns.
(This story corrects to remove extraneous word from first paragraph.)
(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru and Diane Bartz in Washington and So Young Kim in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
By John Tilak and Allison Lampert TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - German real estate investment firm KanAm Grund Group has put up for sale two office buildings in Montreal that could fetch about C$400 million ($296 million) to C$450 million, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Interest has come from institutional players, including pension funds and real estate-focused investors, the sources said on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to talk with the press. KanAm expects to complete a deal by the end of the year, the sources said. KanAm spokesman Michael Birnbaum did not comment on the sale process. The buildings are expected to be sold at a low capitalization rate for the Montreal market, indicating that demand for high-quality office buildings is spilling over from Toronto and Vancouver. Capitalization rates are calculated by dividing an asset's net operating income by its market price. A lower rate indicates stronger demand. The 1350-1360 Rene-Levesque West properties are a pair of office buildings in downtown Montreal. They have 25 and 17 stories respectively. KanAm, which owns real estate assets in Europe, North America and Australia, acquired the buildings in 2007 and 2008. The nearly 1 million square-foot property is managed by Canderel Inc, a Canadian real estate developer. Tenants include IT services providers CGI Group, Computer Sciences Canada, IBM and TD Bank, according to its website. The appetite for class A office buildings in major Canadian cities has been increasing, driven in part by foreign buyers looking for real estate investments in Canada. Recent Canadian office asset deals include the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in Toronto's Scotia Plaza by private equity firm KingSett Capital and pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corp from real estate investment trusts Dream Office and H&R . (Reporting by John Tilak and Allison Lampert; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Despite the white-washing controversy, criticism about changes in the storyline and a slew of other complaints, the Ghost in the Shell trailer has garnered an overwhelmingly positive response from Japanese fans of the original manga and anime.
The Japanese-subtitled version of the trailer, released at an event party on Sunday in Tokyo, has been viewed more than a quarter of a million times on YouTube, with the "likes" outnumbering the "dislikes" by about ten to one.
While some people have complained about the casting of a white actress in the main role, the majority of comments about star Scarlett Johansson are positive, as are comments about the look of the film. Japanese fans were largely unbothered about Johansson playing the lead role, having expected a white actress to star in the Hollywood film. There were more sarcastic comments about the casting of Takeshi Kitano, whom many said always reminded them of a yakuza gangster because he had played so many in his career.
"Wow! I wasn't expecting anything from this live-action version, but I'll watch this, I really want to see it. Paramount and Dream Works, this is more than enough to convince me! And Scarlett has just the right feel for it! I take back what I said about this turning out to be a piece of crap," wrote Afro na Samurai.
Read more: 'Ghost In The Shell' Trailer Leans Into Its Whitewashing Controversy
Many commenters were full of praise for the striking visuals in the trailer, pointing out that the production values are much higher than they likely would have been for a Japanese film, which are generally made on much lower budgets.
"This looks 100 times better than a Japanese live-action movie would have beenthough I'm not saying it's a good idea to have done a live-action version," commented Takahiro Watanabe
"What a difference it makes if you have money. This is a completely different level to Japanese live-action films," wrote uramasago@K4.
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According to many commenters, expectations were low for the film, but what they have seen so far of Rupert Sanders' reimagining of the story appears to have exceeded them.
"Well, we won't know until we can see the whole thing, but looks like we can have higher hopes for this than Dragon Ball," wrote tutona8, referring to the ill-fated 2009 Dragonball Evolution, an example of a failed Hollywood manga adaptation.
Mamoru Oshii, director of the seminal 1995 anime version of the story, has come out in support of the new film, but the author of the original manga Masamune Shirow has yet to comment, which some are suggesting may be a warning sign for the film. But Shirow, 54, is known to be reclusive and rarely talks to the media, spending most of his time these days drawing erotic manga.
Read more: 'Ghost in the Shell' Trailer Unveiled at Tokyo Launch Party
"It has been a very long project, discussions began nine years ago. I believe Shirow gave his opinion in the early stages of the process," said Sam Yoshiba, head of the international business division at Kodansha, the publisher of the original manga and rights' holder, at the time the remake was finalized.
"He hasn't made any comment recently, but he's not someone who speaks in public these days," Yoshiba told The Hollywood Reporter.
Two Japanese long-time fans of the franchise said they were impressed by the trailer, had no issue with Johansson's casting and will see the film when it is released in Japan in April.
"It looks incredible. They've recreated some of the scenes directly from the anime and really captured it," Koki Kikuchi, 23, told The Hollywood Reporter. "I thought it might end up looking like the kind of crappy version of Tokyo in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but I'm looking forward to seeing this."
"Scarlett Johansson is really good casting, and anyway, I can't think of any Japanese actress who can do action well," said Teppe Machida, 33. "The trailer looks really cool, I'm definitely going to watch it."
The U.S. release is set for March 31.
A 13-year-old who was allegedly groped by a stranger while flying solo from Dallas, Texas to Portland, Oregon, is speaking out about her terrifying ordeal.
I would never think this would happen, the teen, Mackenzie, told Inside Edition.
In June, she flew on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Portland, Oregon by herself. Her family had paid extra for the airlines' Unaccompanied Minor Program, which is designed to protect and help young passengers who are traveling without a parent or adult supervision.
But a passenger sitting next to her allegedly touched her inappropriately.
"From the beginning of the flight to when they found her cryingtears coming down her cheek and the man's hand in her crotch areawas approximately 30 minutes," the family's lawyer, Brent Goodfellow, told Inside Edition. "It was a horrible event for this young girl.
Chad Camp, 26, was arrested upon landing and was charged with abusive sexual contact. He's pleaded not guilty.
Read: Dirty Bathrobe at Trump's New Hotel Not Washed Between Guests, Investigation Finds
He was able to touch her," Mackenzies mom, Rachel Miller, told Inside Edition. "He was basically able to do whatever he wanted.
Goodfellow has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family against the airline.
She was devastated," he said. "And she didn't want to be on an airplane again when I talked to her after the flight. She didn't even want to be touched or hugged by her mom."
Mackenzie knows her parents will never let her fly solo again.
You see this stuff and you think that's crazy and it happens to you and its shocking, she said.
American Airlines says they fully cooperated with law enforcement in Mackenzies case. They say they care deeply about young passengers and are committed to providing a safe travel experience.
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Read: Such Airheads! Mom Demands Answers After JetBlue Puts Son, 5, on Wrong Flight
With her parents cooperation, Inside Edition followed an unaccompanied minor on a flight to see if the child could be at risk. You can read the full investigation here.
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In 2014, Edgar Ramirez experienced what every watch collector fears most: His timepieces were stolen from his apartment in Caracas, Venezuela. "I had just come back from the movies and saw all of my things on the floor. I didn't have a safe, and the watches were in my kitchen because that was the place I would put them on before I left the house. They stole the only valuable thing that I had, which was my watches," says the actor, 39.
It wasn't the loss of the objects that bothered Ramirez so much as the trespassing on the moments in his life that each piece represented. To Ramirez - who was studying to become a diplomat before he decided to pursue acting in 2002 - his growing watch collection was a mirror in many ways of his rise in Hollywood, which has culminated this year in high-profile roles in August's Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone, October's The Girl on the Train and the upcoming crime adventure Gold alongside Matthew McConaughey.
Read more: Men's Watch Guide: 4 Timepiece Trends Hollywood's Top Collectors Are Wearing
Stolen was the Chanel J12 Chromatic titanium ceramic watch (a gift from the brand) that he wore to amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Cannes in 2011, the same year he was nominated for a Golden Globe for playing Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal in the biopic series Carlos. "It was a beautiful gift. It meant something, and it meant a moment," he says. "Every time I would wear that watch, I would remember how fun that event was."
Also gone: a Cartier Santos; a TAG Heuer Aquaracer ("The first rubber band I had") that he bought around the time he landed his first English-language role in Tony Scott's 2005 film Domino; and a Montblanc TimeWalker Chronograph that he wore to Toronto two years later as the star of The Liberator, in which he played Venezuelan revolutionary Simon Bolivar. He'd been drawn to Montblanc for a personal reason - his father, a retired military attache and a watch lover ("He was a Rolex guy"), had collected its fountain pens.
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The Collaborationist
Ramirez, whose grandfather was a tailor, says that growing up in Venezuela and across Europe (as his father changed postings) helped him form a genuine appreciation of style. "Even though Venezuela is going though a very painful crisis right now, it was a very cosmopolitan country, and many Venezuelans from my generation were exposed to a lot of different cultural ideas," says Ramirez, who splits his time among four cities (Caracas, Panama City, New York and Los Angeles).
When it comes to watches, his taste, not unlike his understated acting style, veers toward pieces that don't have a lot of ornament. "I like watches that have a gravitas and a simplicity," he says, "watches that, despite their complexity, you can read very easily."
Ramirez has since rebuilt his collection and it's already becoming just as meaningful to him. It includes a rose-gold Cartier from the new art deco-inspired Drive collection. "For something casual, with a sporty suit, the Cartier is great. I wear it every day," he says.
Read more: Women's Watch Guide: What Constance Zimmer, Martha Stewart Are Sporting on Their Wrists
He also has acquired two elegant Vacheron Constantins. One is a slim dress watch, the Patrimony in platinum, which he wore to the Girl on the Train premiere. "The Patrimony is very aerodynamic and feels very '50s and, like most of my watches, comes on a beautiful strap. It goes great with a tuxedo."
He takes pride in his gold Harmony Monopusher Chronograph (Vacheron Constantin's homage to a vintage doctor's watch from 1928), noting that his is No. 210 in an edition of 260. "There is a beautiful moment attached to the first time I wore it," he says. "It was a photocall at Cannes for Hands of Stone, and I was with [co-star] Robert De Niro. It was a long and beautiful day."
For a fourth piece in his collection, Ramirez is getting a bit more unorthodox than his usual style, with Montblanc's "Homage to Nicolas Rieussec," featuring a non-traditional chronograph layout, plus day/night and date indicators. "There's something about complicated watches that seems to move me now," he says. And, this time around, "I have a safe."
This story first appeared in the Nov. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
By Alister Doyle and Nina Chestney MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's plan to quit a landmark 2015 accord to fight climate change is likely to dent rather than derail the pact, with almost 200 governments defiantly saying this week that a trend towards cleaner energy is irreversible. The 2015 Paris Agreement, more than 20 years in the making, won a renewed vote of confidence from governments from China to Saudi Arabia and companies who foresee a shift from fossil fuels towards solar and wind power as technology prices fall. Trump has called man-made climate change a hoax and says he will pull out of the Paris deal and will instead bolster the domestic coal, oil and shale industries. The battle between the two rival visions will shape how fast the world tackles climate change. "An alliance from California to Germany to China is emerging and they stand for the new economy. Trump, (Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin stand for the old economy," said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. "It's the economy, stupid, but it's the new economy," he said, borrowing a catchphrase of former U.S. president Bill Clinton's successful 1992 election campaign. Almost 200 nations at two-week talks on climate change in Marrakesh, Morocco agreed a statement on Thursday night that the fight against climate change was an "urgent duty" and "irreversible", and reaffirming support for the Paris Agreement. Still, Trump's threats cast a long shadow, with worries ranging from a drying-up of U.S. climate finance for developing nations to a spread of nationalist, populist sentiment that could undermine global action to limit greenhouse gases. Shares in First Solar Inc , the largest U.S. solar equipment maker, have fallen 7 percent since the U.S. election. By contrast, shares in U.S. coal producer Peabody [BTUUQ.PK], in bankruptcy proceedings, have surged 24 percent. RISKS FOR CLIMATE ACTION Many note that Trump has often changed positions - in 2009, he signed a call for U.S. action on climate change to avert "catastrophic and irreversible consequences". "I believe a wise leader will follow the historical trend and we shall have faith in that," China's top climate change negotiator Xie Zhenhua said. Average world temperatures this year are set to be the warmest on record, beating 2015. The Paris Agreement, which entered into force on Nov. 4, aims to phase out net greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century to limit floods, droughts, heat waves, extinctions of animals and plants and a rise in sea levels. Hundreds of businesses including DuPont, Gap, General Mills, Hewlett Packard, Nike, Mars Incorporated, Schneider Electric, Starbucks and Unilever also reaffirmed action on climate change during the Marrakesh talks. "Donald Trump is our peer in the real estate industry," said Wang Shi, the founding chairman of Vanke, one of China's biggest property companies. "We will still rally together with U.S. companies and NGOs to move forward" if Trump drops out. Still, there are risks for climate action. Trump's promises to drop out of all U.N. climate programs could jeopardize a plan by rich nations to provide $100 billion in funds a year by 2020, from public and private sources, to help developing nations cope with global warming. Robert Stavins, director of Harvard University's environmental economics program, likened the impact of Trump's election on climate change to an engine problem for a bus that had been speeding on a freeway from New York to California. "Do we let the bus grind to a halt for four years, maybe eight? Or do we say 'we can keep going in the right direction, but at a much slower speed?'" he said, urging the latter. Delegates say any setback is likely to be less than the near-mortal blow when former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001 decided against joining the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that bound about 40 other developed nations to cut emissions. Badly wounded, Kyoto only entered into force in 2005 and now has the backing of only the European Union and a few allies. The Paris Agreement, built on a looser model proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, lets all nations set their own goals to curb emissions with no penalties for non-compliance. Another problem for climate diplomacy is that governments will have no breakthroughs in 2017. They began work in Marrakesh on a detailed set of rules for the often vaguely-worded Paris Agreement, likely to take two years until 2018. (Additional reporting by Megan Rowling; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
A hotly contested Lancaster County Board of Commissioners election will not require a recount.
The Lancaster County Canvassing Board opened and counted 2,701 provisional ballots Wednesday afternoon. Those votes propelled Democrat Jennifer Brinkman, 45, across the finish line ahead of Republican Jim Ballard, 51, in the District 2 race.
Election results, which remain unofficial until the six-member Canvassing Board certifies them Thursday, show Brinkman with 9,488 votes, or 50.28 percent of ballots cast. That's 143 more than Ballards 9,345 votes, or 49.53 percent. There were 36 write-in votes.
The director of communications for real estate company Tetrad Property Group, Brinkman said she is excited about the prospect of serving Lancaster County and working with fellow commissioners and other local officials.
"The first thing I want to do is meet the colleagues I'm going to work with and get the lay of the land. I've never been an elected official, although I've worked in local government before, and I know that is an awesome responsibility," she said.
Brinkman campaigned on three key issues: economic development, expanding access to health and safety services in the county to counteract health disparities in some areas of Lincoln and bringing together a task force to address aging roads and bridges.
Ballard said he's disappointed in the results and feels badly for those who supported him.
I thought we ran a good campaign and worked hard. We just didnt get enough votes to get us on the other side of the ledger, said Ballard.
Im just going to get back to doing what we do best out here at the winery. Lord knows I have enough to keep me busy.
Ballard co-owns James Arthur Vineyards in Raymond and the From Nebraska Gift Shop in the Haymarket. He campaigned with a focus on public safety, job creation and supporting small business.
Brinkman will replace longtime Commissioner Larry Hudkins, who chose not to run for re-election after nine terms. The four-year term on the five-member County Board comes with a $42,000 annual salary.
Under Nebraska law, recounts are automatically triggered after a race in which more than 500 ballots were cast and a candidate wins by a margin of less than 1 percent of votes received by the apparent winner.
Information overload is a real problem these days. Internet trolling, fake news stories, information echo chambers, and the dark side of social media have headlined discussions on the future of politics and culture, particularly after the U.S. presidential elections. Perhaps no one is better suited to address this challenge than the man behind Google.
We, and I personally, believe very strongly that more information is better, even if its wrong, said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Googles parent company Alphabet, Inc.
Lets start from the premise that more information, more empowerment, is fundamentally the correct answer to the worlds most pressing challenges, Schmidt said Thursday after accepting Foreign Policys Diplomat of the Year award.
Google is facing scrutiny in the aftermath of a presidential election season headlined by hacking, falsified news, trolling, and hateful rhetoric on the net. On Tuesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said fake news sites bankrolled by Google-served ads could have swung the election results in President-elect Donald Trumps favor. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back against similar accusations, saying it was extremely unlikely that his social media platform swayed the election, despite new findings indicating fake news performed better than real news on Facebook during the election.
Pichai said Google has already taken steps to confront the fake news phenomenon. From our perspective, there should just be no situation where fake news gets distributed, so we are all for doing better here.
In a discussion Thursday night with FP CEO and Editor David Rothkopf, Schmidt touted Googles recent tests to combat trolling. Im absolutely convinced that these questions about validity, good information, bad information, will be sorted out, he said. On trolling, Schmidt said theres a straightforward technological solution to an evil behavior. Its easy to do, we did it, it can be replicated. And therell be more such solutions. Google announced a new project to automatically fact-check news in real time earlier Thursday.
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Schmidt also stressed the positive impact of information on the world. Its amazing how powerful the need for information is and how information-starved everyone is. So lets start by celebratingthat we are busy empowering people in a way that is fundamentally different, he said, citing the economic, educational, and security benefits a person in the developing world gains from just a cell phone.
Schmidt joined awardees Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Hafsat Abiola, founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) on stage at FPs awards dinner. Tech talk wasnt the events only agenda item. Climate change also dominated the evenings discussion.
Hidalgo, receiving the Green Diplomat of the Year Award on behalf of C40 Cities, called climate change the most important challenge humankind has ever had to face. In December 2015, a landmark international climate change deal was brokered in Hidalgos city. Now that deal may be under threat as Trump, a vocal skeptic of climate change, steps into the Oval Office.
Climate change is not just a bad movie or a bad reality show, Hidalgo said, a tacit poke at the real estate mogul and reality TV star who just won the U.S. presidency.
Amid talks of cyber war, fake news, and climate change, Abiola gave a message of hope and optimism at FPs dinner when she received the Citizen Diplomat of the Year award.
What we hope depends on who is in our corner, Abiola said, speaking of the optimism she shares for the future of her native Nigeria and the United States, despite the reality of each countrys political challenges. The distance between hope and reality is partnership, collaboration, solidarity, she said.
By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of Greeks vented frustration at their economic lot on Thursday as they marched in Athens to mark the anniversary of the bloody 1973 student uprising that helped topple the then-military junta. Students, workers and pensioners held banners reading: "We won't become a generation of unemployment and fear," reflecting widespread fury at the leftist-led government which signed up to more austerity as part a third international bailout, despite its pre-election promises. Hundreds of police guarded the peaceful march to the Embassy of the United States, which supported the seven-year military dictatorship that collapsed in 1974. At the front of the procession, individuals held a blood-stained Greek flag which belonged to students engaged in the revolt which triggered an army crackdown. Clashes between police and a separate, much smaller group broke out in the streets near the Athens Polytechnic University, where dozens are believed to have been killed when tanks smashed its gates in 1973. Several dozen hooded protesters threw petrol bombs at riot police and TV images showed thick clouds of tear gas rising into the air. The annual march often becomes a focal point for protests against government policies amid rising public anger at pension and wage cuts demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in exchange for loans. "We want the government to do a true redistribution of wealth and, at long last, tax the wealthy. Not just pass the burden of the crisis onto the poor," said Sotiris Vaporidis, 58, a pensioner. A group of self-proclaimed anarchist protesters occupied one of the Polytechnic University's buildings: "We won't forget the fallen of the war waged against society," they said in a statement on the Internet, referring to the financial crisis. Since 2009, the debt crisis has shrunk Greece's economy by about a quarter, putting thousands of Greeks out of work and shutting down businesses. Many Greeks blame governments since the fall of the junta of driving the country to near-bankruptcy. During a commemorative session of parliament earlier, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he was optimistic Greece would emerge from crisis. "Our government received a mandate to pull the country out of the crisis, with society standing upright, smashing this vicious circle of austerity ... to restore the wounded democracy in our country during the era of bailouts," Tsipras said. (Writing by Renee Maltezou, editing by Michele Kambas and Jeremy Gaunt)
Greg Grunberg took to Twitter to confirm his casting on The Flash.
I couldnt be MORE excited! Hey @grantgust, Im a BADASS!!! Grunberg wrote on the social media site just a few hours after Mashable broke the news that he landed a recurring role on the Grant Gustin-led series.
Grunberg, who rose to fame for his role as Matt Parkman on NBCs sci-fi series Heroes, also posted a behind-the-scenes photo with Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays Wally West/Kid Flash on the CW series.
According to Mashable, Grunberg will play Detective Patterson a gruff, stalwart figure at Central City Police Department known for his relentless commitment to protecting the city from all the dangerous metahumans that threaten it. The 50-year-old actor is set to make his series debut in Season 3, episode 7, titled Killer Frost, which happens to be directed by his Geeking Out co-host Kevin Smith.
According to synopsis for the episode, Caitlins (Danielle Panabaker) inner Killer Frost is unleashed after she uses her powers to save Barry (Gustin). When her metahuman self completely takes over her consciousness, Caitlin goes on a rampage looking for Doctor Alchemy and ends up fighting Barry and Cisco (Carlos Valdes).
As seen in the trailer for the episode, Caitlin also kidnaps Julian (Tom Felton) who gets hurt by her icy metahuman powers.
Your friend, shes a meta. [But] not one of the friendly ones, Julian tells Barry in the clip. When Barry seems to defend Caitlin from his fellow CSI, Julian furiously calls her a bloody menace and shows Barry the arm injury he gets from his recent encounter with her. Despite all the troubles that Caitlin brings, Barry refuses to fight her.
Also in the trailer, Caitlin blames Barry for her frosty transformation. You keep messing with everyones lives, Caitlin tells Barry. You did this to me! You make me cold, Barry.
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The Flash Season 3, episode 7 airs on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Greg Grunberg
Photo: REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian
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Warning: This recap of the You Havent Done Nothin episode of Greys Anatomy contains spoilers.
Its the end of the world as Alex Karev knows it.
Hes not the only one whose life is crashing down around him. In this episode, dozens of people literally have their apartment building collapse around them. Theyre all rushed to Grey Sloan, where the doctors juggle the injured with their own personal dramas. Alex believes hell be in prison after his trial the next day. Jo might have to reveal her whereabouts to her husband. Richard learns that hes being replaced by Minnick. Owens very new marriage is still on the rocks. And Meredith grapples with the possibility that yet another loved one will be ripped away from her.
The questions that they all must answer are: What is worth fighting for? And how long do you keep fighting? As usual on Greys Anatomy, there is no easy answer.
Heres a rundown of the fall finale, including our live tweets:
Rubble trouble
Meredith, Alex, and Maggie are heading to work. Alex wants to drink his face off that evening, believing its his last night as a free man since his trial is the next day. Meredith insists that the world isnt ending just as they witness an entire building collapse into rubble right before their eyes.
"Oh, we're drinking tonight." Alex. Yeah, where's Olivia Pope with wine when we need her? #greysanatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
At the hospital, Bailey prepares for the onslaught of victims. Minnick arrives, ready to help, even though her start date isnt for a few days. A clueless Richard wants to take her out for coffee, not realizing that shes there to replace him.
Jo is freaking out on DeLuca because shes been called to testify in the trial. If a lawyer asks about her past, shell have to tell the truth about her real name and her marital status which means her abusive husband could track her down. And if that happens, well, her life as she knows it is over.
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The doctors work on the patients from the collapsed building. Theres Charlie, who vomits all over Aprils shoes. Theres a 12-year-old girl named Winnie whose parents are distraught over her injuries. And then theres the landlord, who asks for a priest. Stephanie brings him Ben, instead, and the landlord ends up confessing that he ignored earthquake damage in the foundation and the collapse is entirely his fault.
Ben isn't just a great doctor, he's apparently a good priest #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
When Ben and Stephanie dish about this later, Winnies parents overhear not good. The parents and other tenants start yelling at the doctors to let them yell some more at the landlord.
Meanwhile, a woman finds Charlies photo on the victims board and introduces herself to Owen as Charlies wife. A minute later, a different woman introduces herself as his girlfriend. Yikes!
Arizona is treating a teen boy when Minnick steps in to help. Shes clearly flirting with Arizona, who pretends like she doesnt even remember Minnick. Oh, Arizonas working it.
That was a cute spark between Arizona and Minnick! Romance ahead? #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Richard gets his first clue that his job might be in jeopardy when he and Maggie run into Minnick again. She alludes to her first day and sidesteps when he says something about working as a team. Talk to Bailey, she urges. Jo is gathering supplies in the storage closet when Alex seeks her out. Before hes possibly imprisoned, he wants her to know that hes sorry for calling her trash. Youre not trash, Jo. With tears in her eyes, she flees.
Do the right thing
As Owen and Riggs treat Charlie, Riggs wonders if they should rat the guy out. When Owen brushes that idea off, noting that Riggs himself is no angel, Riggs points out that he and Megan had problems before the cheating. Of course, Owen would never do such a thing except, wait, he did! He confesses that he cheated on his first wife, Cristina.
Owen finally admits to Riggs he isn't a saint, good for him #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Meanwhile, Winnie is crashing on the OR table as Richard and Stephanie frantically work on her. But they arent able to save her, and a despondent Richard steps outside the OR. Later, they tell her devastated parents in a heartbreaking, wordless scene.
Jo gets onto an elevator to find Alex there too. She stops the elevator and finally blurts out the truth: Shes married, and her name isnt really Jo Wilson. Hes shocked and asks why she never told him. She was worried that he would go nuts and do something that would land him in jail. Well, that happened anyway. Before getting off the elevator, Jo sadly tells him that if shes gone after the trial, it isnt his fault. She just cant let her husband find her. Alex is even more stunned and begs her not to let the SOB ruin her life.
It's a night of confessions! Jo finally comes clean to Alex about her past #hugesighofrelief #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Minnick finds Arizona again and lays her cards on the table: She likes girls and she usually has game. But maybe Arizona isnt into her? Oh, Arizona is totally into her and they are going on a date!
Alex catches Meredith as she comes out of surgery and tells her the basic details of what Jo revealed. And now he has some figuring out to do. Uh-oh
Oh no, Alex is going to do something selfless and heroic like he alway does, isn't he? #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Winnies distraught mom is wandering the halls of the hospital when Ben finds her. She gives him a photo of the landlord and lies that hes her husband. Winnies mom is clearly looking for revenge. Ben leads her straight to the landlord; this cannot be good. Winnies dad and the other tenants are also demanding to know where the landlord is. Security gets called, and they catch Winnies mom trying to kill the landlord. She gets carted off by the police.
A sad Richard watches them take her when Bailey finds him. He asks her, straight up, if hes losing his job as head of the residency program. She admits that Minnick is taking over and feeds him some drivel about being the chairman. He knows exactly what shes doing hes the one who taught her how to fire people, after all! Teary-eyed, Bailey says she tried to make the best decision she could without involving her personal feelings.
But, Richard notes, if she doesnt let her personal feelings guide her judgment, she has no business being chief.
This scene of Bailey demoting Richard is breaking our hearts ???? #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Fight club
Alex visits Bailey to ask her to sign over his pension to his mother. She realizes hes up to something. Well, he explains all to Meredith in the next scene. As she scrubs for surgery, he says that hes going to take a plea deal for two years in prison, and hes doing it so that Jo doesnt have to testify. Meredith is pissed. You think this is noble, what youre doing? Its giving up, she says.
He tells her shell be fine. This makes Mer even angrier. Stop making this about me, she yells. This is about him and if he takes this deal, his life and career will be over.
Don't do this Alex! Meredith's already lost Derek, her mom, her sister isn't that enough?! #GreysAnatomy Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Maggie, angry on Richards behalf, talks to Jackson since hes an Avery and a member of the board. Jackson is mad too. He and April note that they received far better training under Richard than they got at Mercy West. And all the doctors plan to protest Richards demotion.
Riggs and Owen update Charlies significant others, separately, about his condition. When Riggs asks Owen out for a beer, Owen declines, wanting to go home and patch things up with Amelia. But at home, Amelia has left him what seems to be a Dear John note. Dont make this all your fault, she writes.
Meanwhile, Meredith leaves a voicemail for Alex, whos waiting for the district attorney at the courthouse. She pleads with him not to give up. It used to be five of them Mer, Alex, Cristina, Izzy, and George. Now, its just the two of them. And he cant leave her alone.
"It can't just be me." Meredith. And with that, #GreysAnatomy goes on break until Jan. 19 #wahhh Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) November 18, 2016
Alex hangs up as the DAs assistant finds him. Is he going to fight? Well find out in January.
Greys Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes of Greys for free on Yahoo View.
It's a good challenge to have: As life expectancy for people with cystic fibrosis keeps rising, more children are aging out of pediatric clinics, leaving the comfort zone of home, going to college, joining the workplace, starting families and trying to shoehorn hours of essential daily self-treatments into full adult lives.
Taking full ownership of cystic fibrosis was a theme for the yearly family education day hosted by the Johns Hopkins Cystic Fibrosis Center in Baltimore on a Saturday in November. While parents attended in person, young people who have the progressive genetic condition were absent, although invited to participate by webcast. The very nature of CF makes it risky for two or more people who have it to come in close contact, because they're too vulnerable to cross-infection with dangerous respiratory bacteria.
In cystic fibrosis centers throughout the country, young people are moving forward into grown-up health care. "For the first time, a year or two ago, we had more adults than children," said speaker Dr. Natalie West, an assistant professor in the division of pulmonary and critical care at Johns Hopkins University and staff member with the adult CF clinic. "Which means adolescents are living longer with improving therapies and all the research that's been put in."
[See: When Health Treatments Go From Hospital to DIY.]
Jordan Long, 26, of Owings, Maryland, starts his morning by snapping on his airway clearance vest. Attached by a tube to an oscillating machine, the inflatable vest pulses to loosen tenacious mucus from his lungs. "It kind of shakes me to make me cough and clear the mucus," Long says. "That's the main goal of it. I keep clearing the mucus."
Next, Long sets up his aerosol nebulizer and inhales medicine into his more-open airways in misted form. He alternates inhaled antibiotics, either Cayston or vancomycin, from month to month. Hypertonic saline -- a mucus-thinning solution -- is a constant. About 25 minutes later, he's ready to jump in the shower and get ready for work as a financial analyst with Northrop Grumman.
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That night, as he does every night, Long will repeat the routine with a slight variation, inhaling the drug Pulmozyme to "cut" through sticky mucus. He also takes vitamins or antibiotic pills several times a week, drinks mega-calorie shakes to keep up his body weight and strength, and does weightlifting and cardio workouts.
Long's bosses and a few co-workers know he has cystic fibrosis; the majority of his co-workers don't. The condition doesn't disrupt his social life, he says.
Long counts himself fortunate that he hasn't been hospitalized for a respiratory infection in quite a few years. "Luckily, I don't have as bad a case as a lot of people do," he says. "I just try to live as normal a life as possible and keep taking care of myself for as long as I can."
SIgns of CF
Before 1989, when the gene that causes cystic fibrosis was discovered, certain cardinal signs in babies and toddlers -- breathing problems, bowel obstructions and overly salty sweat on the skin -- alerted doctors to a possible CF diagnosis. The sweat test, performed on sweat obtained from a baby's forearm or thigh, is the definitive test for cystic fibrosis. (Newborn screening with a heel stick is now done nationwide to identify children with CF as soon as possible.)
Normally, a thin liquid-and-gel layer covers the airways, trapping bacteria and other foreign objects and allowing mucus to be cleared out of the lungs and toward the mouth. With cystic fibrosis, however, this mucus layer becomes dehydrated. Mucus in the lungs becomes more tenacious, providing a breeding ground for respiratory infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.
Cystic fibrosis also affects the digestive tract. Meconium ileus is a type of bowel obstruction in newborns that almost always indicates the baby has cystic fibrosis. Surgery is required for the most severe cases.
Many CF patients will suffer from pancreatic insufficiency. Enzymes that digest food -- protein, fats and carbohydrates -- come from the pancreas. Pancreatic enzyme replacement is a mainstay of cystic fibrosis treatment.
With cystic fibrosis, avoiding malnutrition is a real struggle. Kids and adults may need to take in twice the daily calories of healthy people to keep up their body weight and receive sufficient nutrition. Otherwise, they can have impaired growth, muscle wasting and other related complications. Nutritional therapy includes vitamin and mineral supplements. Some people have feeding tubes placed to allow easier supplementation with liquid feedings.
[See: What Not to Say When Someone Loses Major Weight.]
Dr. Pamela Zeitlin, professor and director of pediatric pulmonology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center, is enthusiastic about the progress in her field.
"Research has been very important to this story," says Zeitlin, who praises the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and its fundraising focus on research. Breakthroughs ranging from pancreatic enzyme replacement, recombinant DNA treatments to thin mucus, inhaled antibiotics and now personalized medicine geared toward patients' specific CF mutations -- such as ivacaftor or the combination drug lumacaftor/ivacaftor -- continue to improve patients' outlooks.
"As new drugs are introduced to the market that are more specific to the different kinds of CF that exist, there are also guidelines that are being created by physicians and caregivers through the CF Foundation to use them responsibly and correctly," Zeitlin says.
The cost of these drugs is jaw-dropping. The pre-discount list price for Kalydeco, the brand name for Ivacaftor, is roughly $300,000 a year. Even with insurance discounts, patients can pay thousands of dollars in yearly out-of-pocket costs for their combined CF treatments. Heather Chesiyna, a case manager with the CF Foundation Compass program, told conference-goers how the program can help with insurance, financial, legal and other issues.
Survival statistics presented at the conference speak for themselves. For a child born with cystic fibrosis in 1990, the average life expectancy at birth was about 29 years old. A child born with cystic fibrosis today has an average life expectancy of about 40, although that's not the maximum. A person who's survived to 40 today has an average life expectancy in the mid-60s.
Family Support
Jean Kilby, of Savage, Maryland, wouldn't dream of missing the family education day hosted by Johns Hopkins. Her son Michael Riddle, now a young adult, has been coming to Johns Hopkins for treatment since he was 2 months old. Michael spent the entire month of March 1994 in the hospital, undergoing a battery of tests. Co-existing medical conditions, not necessarily related to CF, have also affected his life. He has a shunt in his head to treat hydrocephalus and also suffers from osteoporosis.
Kilby has always spoken up for her son, who she calls Mikey, and helps him stay on top of his treatments. Her advice to parents: "Just take it day by day. Find out everything possible. Don't always believe what the doctors believe. Like they told me my son wouldn't live past 8, but he's 23 years old today."
Promising Future
Lisa and Walter Whitt of Northern Virginia attended the Johns Hopkins event in support of their son Walter, 19, now a freshman at Harvard University. In an interview, they recalled how he was born with a bowel obstruction, necessitating emergency surgery. A sweat test and genetic test confirmed cystic fibrosis.
This was before widespread internet, so educational resources were limited. "Don't look at any books," hospital staff warned them. Nevertheless, Walter Whitt made a beeline to the medical center library and found an outdated medical textbook with chilling survival statistics.
"That's what's been so poignant for me about college," Lisa Whitt says. "When the [Cystic Fibrosis] Foundation was started in 1955, kids didn't live long enough to go to kindergarten. So when our son was born 19 years ago, we wondered, what is his life going to be like? When is he going to start getting really sick, and how is it going to go?"
In middle school, Walter started getting sicker. He went through seven hospitalizations by the time he graduated from high school.
[See: 10 Lessons From Empowered Patients.]
"For us, one of the big things was always being honest from an early age," Lisa Whitt says. "We never hid things; we never sugarcoated things." The openness extended to others. "He was always doing his treatments front and center in front of friends and family," she says.
The dramatic pace of biotechnology as well as drug development and genetic testing, especially in the past five years, has been "night and day" compared to previous decades, the older Walter says. The overriding hope is for a cure, as Lisa Whitt says: "One pill, and you're done."
Lisa Esposito is a Patient Advice reporter at U.S. News. She covers health conditions, drawing on experience as an RN in oncology and other areas and as a research coordinator at the National Institutes of Health. Esposito previously reported on health care with Gannett, and she received her journalism master's degree at Georgetown University. You can follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at lesposito@usnews.com.
AMSTERDAM If Lars Von Trier were to make a documentary about the current immigration crisis in Europe, it might very well turn out like Stranger in Paradise, the debut feature by Guido Hendrikx.
Aged just 29, the ambitious director who believes himself a late-starter, having only taken up filmmaking in his early twenties is already committed to thorny issues, as evidenced by his controversial 2014 short Among Us, which focused on the stories of three adult paedophiles. Developed in his native Netherlands but shot in Italy, Stranger in Paradise offers three takes on immigration, first from an aggressive right-wing tabloid perspective, then from a more humane, liberal stance. Finally, a classroom of real-life migrants are told how their cases may yet be handled.
The film opened IDFA on Wednesday night, affirming outgoing festival director Ally Derks belief that the event has a reputation to maintain for strong, topical, controversial opening films films that generate discussion on both form and content, by young, talented makers. Indeed, Hendrickx is enjoying the discussion his provocative film has caused there.
Most people are a little bit surprised by the first act, because its quite confrontational, he notes. I can understand that, but on the other hand, this is whats going on in real life. But they also find the ending quite interesting they say it holds up a mirror.
How did you always want be a filmmaker?
Guido Hendrikx: First I studied medicine, after I finished secondary school. After I quit I went to university to study Liberal Arts and Science. Actually, it was kind of a coincidence how I got myself into filmmaking. I had a kind of side job I used to get groceries for people who werent able to do it by themselves, and there I met this remarkable man, who hadnt been outside his home for two years. I became friends with him and I made a film about him, called Day Is Done. It was accepted by IDFA. [Laughs] I didnt even know what it was, this festival! And then I went to film school it was also my admission film. So I guess my interest grew from there.
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Have you always been attracted to difficult subjects?
Yeah. As a documentary maker, I think youre always preoccupied with the subject youve chosen for quite a long time, so your world gets very narrow. So for me its important to challenge myself and find a topic thats interesting. Also, I can learn something for myself.
What made you decide to tackle immigration?
When I first went to Lampedusa initially for a different film project, which turned out not to be so interesting I talked to many migrants, and I became intrigued with the power relationship that existed. I first noticed from a distance, and then subsequently during the research, the power relationship between Europeans and migrants. So I tried to take a more detached view of it, making no judgement. I dont really like a lot of activist documentaries I think you should take the audience seriously, and if your message is only one-sided, then it seems very cynical to me. I think you have to let the audience work.
Where did you shoot the film?
The first idea was to shoot in Lampedusa. For many migrants this is the first place where they set foot on European soil. But, practically, we couldnt shoot there, so we had to look for another, similar place. We chose Sicily.
When did you come up with the concept for the film?
My goal was always to make the power relationship. I was looking for a very direct [setting] an arena that you cannot escape from, and also an arena that emphasises this power relationship. The result was a classroom.
Who are the people in that classroom?
They are real migrants. Some of them arrived a few days before, some a few weeks, so they really were fresh, you could say. We did a test shoot a year before the real shoot, in which we learned a lot. We had certain criteria 80% of the migrants had to speak English and they had to come from various countries. We were quite transparent about it, so we explained everything. We said, Were going to represent to you all the things we hear in Europe about the refugee crisis. We want you to interact and react as you try to find your voice in this setting. But whats interesting is that you [as the audience] dont really get to know them, and that was a choice we made on purpose. We didnt want to give the refugees the stage because there are many documentaries on this subject, and what I find sometimes problematic is that filmmakers try to get inside the head of the refugee. For me, thats always a little bit shallow how can we really visualise what theyre going through when we live in such a different world?
How did you gather all the information you needed?
For the first two acts we studied the public debate and various political sentiments. For the third act, for a year or so, we talked a lot with the immigration service in the Netherlands. We also looked at policy papers and records of people who actually do the immigration interviews. In reality, those interviews last four or five hours, but our goal was to catch the essence of it.
The migrants we see in the film whats their status?
All of them have a goal to obtain a residents permit. Thats what they all told us. Most of them will stay in Italy, because of the Dublin regulation, and then they will go into the procedure there that will determine where they come from and what their chances are.
What was their experience of making the film?
Some were shocked, but some were happy that they had some insight into how Europeans were talking and thinking about them, and how E.U. policy works. But whats interesting there is that the power relationship we tried to show and make tangible in the film also exists in the power relationship between us, as filmmakers, and our subjects. Sometimes they say things, and its hard to know if theyre saying what they want to say or if theyre just being polite to us.
Did making this film change your own thoughts on immigration?
I became more sceptical, you could say. If youre researching through Italy and youre seeing the different camps where these people are being held, theyre very isolated from society, and its very difficult for them to integrate. For me its like a new lower class, one that we are deliberately creating. Still, if you compare Europe, for example, to the United States, we have quite an open [attitude]. I mean, we are thinking about our moral [duty] and our relationship to them.
Whats next for you?
Well, this film has been quite an intense process, because there were a lot of deadlines, and we worked hard, without any brakes, to make it to IDFA for the premiere. For the next project? I only have one rule for myself and it is not to repeat myself. So it will be something totally different.
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Port-au-Prince (AFP) - More than six million Haitians are due to vote on Sunday in their latest attempt in an 18-month-long effort to choose a president and parliament.
The poorest country in the Americas, with a history of corrupt and autocratic rule, Haiti has suffered a string of devastating disasters since 2010, including an earthquake, a cholera epidemic and a hurricane.
Recovery efforts have been hampered by corruption and political chaos, with local and national polls variously delayed, marred by fraud or canceled outright.
So a lot is now riding on Sunday's vote. Can Haiti choose new leaders and try to move on?
- An electoral marathon -
Haiti embarked on an electoral process in spring 2015 that would have been a logistical and political challenge for any young democracy.
The plan was to hold three elections, on separate days, to choose every local mayor and lower house lawmaker, two-thirds of the senate and a president.
The parliamentary vote, held in August 2015, was marked by violent street battles and the cancelation of results in a quarter of districts.
Although voting in the presidential poll went ahead on October 25 without violent incident, the opposition immediately challenged the results.
The vote results were canceled after an independent commission that examined the ballots concluded there had been "massive fraud."
Early attempts to revive the process stalled despite pressure from the United States, a major donor, and a new vote was scheduled for October 9.
But less than a week before polling, Hurricane Matthew struck, causing another delay.
Now the first round of voting is set for November 20, with an eventual run-off on January 29.
- Posts in play -
Twenty-seven candidates are competing to become president for a five-year term that -- barring more delay -- will begin on February 7.
Elections are also being held in the 25 parliamentary constituencies for which last year's vote was canceled, with 52 candidates in the running.
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Sixteen senate seats and one mayoralty are also up for grabs.
- Main candidates -
Jovenel Moise, a 48-year-old plantation owner, was chosen by former president Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly to lead the presidential bid of the ruling party, the PHTK.
He "won" last year's first round before opposition protests broke out and poll monitors found evidence of widespread fraud.
Jude Celestin of the LAPEH Party was runner-up in 2015, but refused to recognize the results he called a "ridiculous farce" and is now in the running again.
Moise Jean-Charles, a 49-year-old former senator and fierce Martelly critic, is the only avowed left-winger in the race.
Jean-Charles and his movement -- known as the "Children of Dessalines" after Haiti's independence hero -- are a common sight in street protests.
Maryse Narcisse, one of two women on the ballot, is best known for her role as spokeswoman for former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The 57-year-old candidate for Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party has his backing.
- High security -
Haiti will mobilize 9,400 of its own police, 1,400 international United Nations police and the military arm of the UN mission in Haiti for the vote.
Some 4,200 Haitian and 400 international monitors from the Organization of American States and the CariCom regional bloc will observe the polls.
A handful of international officials and diplomats attached to missions in Haiti will help monitor the voting.
The European Union has declined to send observers, however. It sent 60 monitors in 2015, when it was vexed by the cancelation of the presidential vote's first round.
LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor Philip Hammond is likely to announce a "steady as she goes" budget plan next week without big tax or spending surprises, and he will avoid setting a firm target for turning the budget deficit into a surplus, a lawmaker said. Stephen Hammond, who is a friend of the minister and a member of his Conservative party but is not related to him, told the BBC that Philip Hammond would not announce on Wednesday a big increase in spending to help the economy during the uncertainty caused by June's vote to leave the European Union. "Anyone who thinks Philip Hammond is going to be Keynes I think has probably misunderstood his economic philosophy," Stephen Hammond said, referring to the economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that aggressive public spending was the best way to fight economic downturns. Britain's new government has said it will drop the target of former Chancellor George Osborne of a budget surplus by the 2019/20 financial year, the last of the current five-year parliament, but will still push to eliminate the deficit. "Intellectually the framework remains that same, that we intend to achieve a fiscal surplus within the life of the next parliament," Stephen Hammond said in a television interview broadcast late on Thursday. He said any increase in spending on infrastructure would need to provide value for money and show a proven business case although he said Philip Hammond should not be considered "a boring accountant." While there could be some help for households such as a cut in fuel duty or measures to have savers, there would not be a big focus on what Prime Minister Theresa May has called Britain's "just managing" group of families. "This is the time I think for steady as she goes Autumn Statement," Stephen Hammond said. "No rabbits out of a hat." Hammond's options for his first budget statement since taking over Britain's Treasury in July are limited by the prospect of a slowdown in economic growth over the next few years as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU as well as its already weak public finances. Many economists expect the British government is now on course to borrow 100 billion more pounds than it previously expected over the next five years. (Editing by Larry King)
This Immigrant Doctor Is Reimagining Health in the American City
Now that Donald Trump is the next president and given his rhetoric against traditional public schools, the nations students, parents, and teachers want to know: Will the president-elect take a sledgehammer to public education? Considering the issue largely took a backseat to immigration and the economy during the election, analysts have a better question: Does Trump have a plan for public educationand who will he appoint to oversee it?
What [education] will look like under Trump, I really dont know, Catherine Brown, vice president of education policy at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, told TakePart.
RELATED: As Scandals Plague Charter Schools, Calls for Oversight Grow
Trumpwho has never held office but has run a for-profit college thats being sued for fraudcould delegate decision making instead to Congress, the corporate reform community, or high-profile experts like former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, who is considered a strong candidate for education secretary.
While Brown said Trumps opaque agenda for public schools is cause for concern, its possible that the new presidents seemingly hands-off approachcoupled with the restrictions in the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Actcould constrain the actions of a new secretary and maintain current education policy.
RELATED: No Child Left Behind Is Dead, So What Happens to Standardized Testing?
When he talked about education on the campaign trail, Trump was for school choice and private school vouchers, said far too much money is spent on failing government schools with mediocre results, and was firmly against the Common Core state standards.
Were going to end Common Core, Trump promised in a campaign video released in January. It was a popular rallying cry supported by conservative lawmakers who have come out against the standards and what they consider to be federal overreach, particularly by former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
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Under Duncans leadership, the U.S. Department of Education dangled $4.35 billion in grant funding in front of cash-strapped states after the Great Recession. A states chance of getting much-needed grant money increased if it agreed to adopt the Common Core standards and other federal mandates.
RELATED: Your State Might Be Spending Less on Schools Than Before the Recession
A backlash ensued, and the new law, which replaced No Child Left Behind and goes into effect during the 201718 school year, contains prohibitions that curtail the role of the secretary of education and prevent future arm-twisting grants.
How explicit are the rules? One section of the law states, Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal Government, including through a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, to mandate, direct, or control a State, local educational agency, or schools curriculum, program of instruction, or allocation of State or local resources, or mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act.
Although the Every Student Succeeds Act largely keeps the Education Department from meddling in state standards and testingand its likely that neither Congress nor the new president can completely destroy the cabinet-level postwho Trump picks for the job will matter.
Besides Rhee, who started the controversial education reform group StudentsFirst, other names on Trumps shortlist include Tony Bennett, Indianas former education chief, and Rep. Luke Messer, a pro-reform member of Congress representing suburban Indianapolis.
As for what mandate Trump will assign to his secretary of education, I think you can assume that school choice is imperative, Brown said.
We spend more per student than almost any other major country in the world. Yet our students perform near the bottom of the pack for major large advanced countries, Trump said in September in a speech in Cleveland. He rattled off per-dollar, per-pupil statistics: $20,226 in New York City, $15,287 in Baltimore, and $11,976 in Chicago.
Now, as president-elect, Trump will get his opportunity to expand charters and vouchers, as well as take control of the nations public education system. But experts say his declaration about wasteful school spending, made in a speech arguing for school choice, is about the only concrete education-policy program the next president has proposed.
Brown predicts Trump will attempt to dismantle many of President Obamas initiatives, including restrictions designed to improve and racially balance public schools, as well as his crackdown on for-profit colleges and universitiesan industry that rakes in billions of dollars per year, mostly in government student loans, despite paltry graduation and job-placement rates.
When it comes to higher education, I dont think [Trump] is going to have a strong agenda, and college costs are likely to continue rising, at least in the short term, Brown said.
I think it will be banks, not students that get their needs met, she said.
Take the Pledge: If We Dont Act Now, Who Will Teach Our Kids?
Related stories on TakePart:
Four Things Schools Can Do to Keep Teachers Happy
Schools Are Broke, but Prison Budgets Are Up 89 Percent
Original article from TakePart
A series of sometimes disturbing and sometimes criminal "creepy clown" sightings in the Southeast region of the United States stretched up to the East coast and to places as far west as Arizona and Idaho weeks before Halloween 2016.
Men dressed up as clowns tried to lure children into the woods and alleged sightings led to school closures and official warnings from law enforcement.
Over the last few weeks, the number of creepy clown sightings have come down, with people wondering what happened to them. Several cities reported that there were no sightings of the clowns.
Earlier this month, the spate of creepy clown sightings hit an area nearby Portage, where a man dressed up like a clown villain from comic books spent an afternoon sitting on a park bench.
During the creepy clown phenomenon, social media reports spurred rumors of murderous clowns, which later triggered the transmission of creepy-clown images and hoaxes.
Meanwhile, Miami Patch reported that the threat of eerie killer clowns is still a recurring nightmare, particularly in Miami.
Local police released a video, which has received thousands of views, urging residents that scary clown pranks are being taken seriously by law enforcement.
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Six people in the Schaftlein family now have the same birthday.
A Kentucky woman has delivered a rare set of quintuplets, on the same day and month that she came into the world. They arrived just minutes before the stroke of midnight.
Read: It Takes a Canadian Village to Raise Rare Identical Quadruplets
Katie and Lucas Schaftlein are the proud parents of four girls and one boy Savannah, Sadie, Scarlett, Sofia and Lucas.
Were overjoyed, the mom said Thursday during a press conference at Lexingtons University of Kentucky HealthCare Center, where the infants remain in the neonatal intensive care unit. They are expected to go home in six weeks.
They were born on Nov. 11, just as Lucas was landing in Tokyo on a business trip. Katie had shown no signs of going into labor before he left on his long, overseas flight.
Weve never been happier, Katie said. Anything couldve gone wrong, but theyre so stable and so healthy.
The babies were conceived through fertility treatments and are the couples only children.
Read: Talk About Seeing Double: High School Graduating Class Has 'Unprecedented' 9 Sets of Twins
They were born at 29 weeks and are all healthy. Scarlett is the biggest at 2.4 pounds. Sadie is the smallest at 1.96 pounds.
They have the same personalities as they did in my belly, Katie said.
Sadie would move all the time, and that's exactly how she is right now, she moves all the time, she cannot sit still."
The mother said she hasnt decided how she will tell the four girls apart once they all get home. Maybe fingernail polish, she said. Lucas, of course, is easy to identify among his four siblings.
Watch: Parents Reveal the Biggest Challenge of Having 1-Year-Old All-Girl Quintuplets
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By Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly
LONDON (Reuters) - Tucked into the attic of a Georgian building in London's West End, seven people run a $200 million hedge fund following artificial intelligence formulas. But the supercomputers that process their complex algorithms are nowhere to be seen.
While most established hedge funds keep their trading systems at close quarters, Piquant Technologies outsources all its IT to third parties via the cloud, where multiple computing resources are shared by multiple and often unrelated users.
Moving data off-site to cloud providers may be physically safer than storing servers in an office in Mayfair and may even provide security in anonymity.
Piquant co-founders James Holloway, 32, and Iain Buchanan, 36, say putting their trading and back office systems on external platforms halves hardware costs and means one less person to hire for maintenance.
"Do not burgle Piquant - it's not worth it," said Holloway, the fund's Chief Investment Officer. "In our office we have really no hardware except for a mouse, a keyboard and a screen."
But risks lurk if data is not properly protected. Technology provider RFA, which has 576 hedge fund clients globally, said 20 percent - or 115 - of them funds moved some operations to the cloud last year.
The likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft are winning new customers - asset managers who gain access to the latest supercomputers without having to buy any hardware, helping them cut costs.
Regulators are trying to keep up, raising concerns about how well the risks are monitored.
Britain's Financial Conduct Authority spelled out in guidelines earlier this year that use of the cloud must not "erode, impair or worsen the firms operational risk".
It said "some respondents" wrote in to challenge that prerequisite.
The regulator also asked funds to actively supervise and test arrangements. The Monetary Authority of Singapore added the topic to its guidelines.
Regulators in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United States have put out no guidelines specifically on cloud usage, though many address outsourcing generally. They declined to comment on whether they might provide future guidelines.
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A spokesman at the Swiss regulator said they were "aware of the topic" but had no plans to bring out FCA-style guidelines.
"TOE IN THE WATER"
Piquant's founders set up their fund in 2013 and later outsourced all their IT.
Most other hedge funds - worried by the risks of cyber-attacks and data centres going down - are reluctant to trust third-party providers with their trading systems. They are outsourcing less sensitive areas such as email.
"We are putting our toe in the water, starting to use infrastructure and other services on the private cloud," said Iain Anderson, Chief Technology Officer at $15 billion hedge fund Cheyne Capital.
Cheyne has moved investor relations and marketing applications to an off-site location dedicated solely to their firm. It is not currently using "public" cloud platforms such as Amazon's, where hardware is shared by multiple users who require technological aptitude to use it securely.
Amazon says, for example, that clients should encrypt their own data to keep it totally safe.
Some funds worry the size of public cloud providers makes them a hacking target.
Others say only platforms like Amazon Web Services have the money and expertise to put in place the safest systems. Research firm Gartner says Amazon holds almost double the amount of data held by its seven nearest competitors combined.
"Few firms have the means to stay on top of cyber security," said Alexandru Agachi, the chief operating officer of Empiric Capital, a Knightsbridge-based hedge fund. "The largest clouds in the world do have these resources."
LITTLE DATA Some anticipate a wholesale move.
"This will be the last set of servers we buy," said Andy Flatt, Chief Technology Officer at London-based fund Omni Partners. "My guess is that in three years we will not be buying physical servers".
Others fear that many breaches - beyond well-publicised hacks of celebrities' images stored on Apple's iCloud - may go unreported.
"If you're storing someone else's data, you'd think there'd be hacks on that but that's not something we've seen," Garry Liburn, detective inspector for the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit, said at an event in Mayfair last month.
Under the FCA's new guidelines, which only took effect in July, firms should tell the regulator if they experience a breach. The watchdog declined to comment on whether any had reported incidents.
"I am sure there have been hacks of the cloud ... no one is reporting them," said Viktor Ula, managing partner at investment consultant PivotalPath.
"If a cloud reported a hack, it would halt their growth. The risk that everyone believes exists out there would then be perceived to be even higher and folks would probably revert to having systems internally."
SECURITY FEARS
Such fears explain why some funds, like $10 billion Systematica Investments Services, reject the cloud.
"Systematica does not use any external cloud at this point in time," said Matt Kilsby, chief operating officer at Systematica. "Security is a big risk, with the growing range and complexity of cyber crime in the backdrop."
Ian Massingham, a technical evangelist at Amazon Web Services (AWS), told Reuters AWS hadn't had any hacks, though it was possible to create an insecure system using AWS.
"When we give you the resources, you're creating machines, you're configuring machines on our platform so we give you a set of tools - but it's in your hands," he said.
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly, additonal reporting by Joshua Franklin, Lawrence Delevingne and Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Photo credit: undefined
From Town & Country
A team of counterterrorism officers from the New York Police Department stood guard at the front entrance of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue this morning.
Their presence seemed to run counter to the "Open to the Public" lettering above the front door of the building that houses both the president-elect's residence and office. But as it turns out, those willing to submit to U.S. Secret Service security checks, which are akin to TSA airport screening, are able to enter as long as they know one of a few magic words.
This stretch of Fifth Avenue between 57th Street to 56th Street appears to be closed to foot traffic-police barricades and officers bar the entrance to the block at both ends-but tell one of the officers you'd like to visit the Starbucks in the Trump Tower, as I did this morning, and you'll be waved through (you'll need to dodge the throngs of people taking selfies outside). The security check inside the building is actually less severe than the TSA's-bags are surveyed through an x-ray machine, but there are no full-body scanning machines to pass through (at least not yet).
Photo credit: Sam Dangremond
Next door at Tiffany, a spokesman says it's business as usual.
"Tiffany is in frequent communication with the New York Police Department and U.S. Secret Service regarding safety and security along the perimeter of our Fifth Avenue flagship," says Nathan Strauss, director of corporate communications. "We remain open for business with regular hours and welcome customers to enter the store via our 57t Street entrance while any barricades along Fifth Avenue are in place."
The store's holiday windows and facade will be illuminated as planned, Strauss said.
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On the southern side of Trump Tower, a female shopper at Gucci told the New York Times yesterday that she "had to be questioned by three different police officers just to get into this store." A call to the store today revealed that it now has greeters stationed outside on the corner of 56th Street and Fifth Avenue to encourage shoppers' visits (it's within the barricade). A spokeswoman for Gucci declined to comment on whether the increased security protocol has affected the store's sales, and a spokeswoman for Starbucks said the brand does "not report on individual store performance or traffic." According to Cosmopolitan, the heightened security and protesters outside Trump Tower have already cost Fifth Avenue retailers "millions of dollars."
For his part, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio does not seem to be worried with the luxury retailers. "I will not tell you that Gucci and Tiffany are my central concerns in life, but I will say the traffic situation is a very real problem," de Blasio told reporters outside Trump Tower yesterday after meeting with Trump for an hour.
Photo credit: undefined
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Women who put more importance on physical appearance are more likely to engage in fat talk. (Photo: Stocksy)
Whether its declaring that youre so fat after eating dessert or that you hate your hips after someone compliments your outfit, chances are you or someone youre close to has engaged in fat talk that negative self-talk of putting yourself down in front of others.
To understand why women participate in this common self-degrading banter, researchers at the University of Ottawa applied self-determination theory in other words, what motivates you to 453 female college students. In general, some people are motivated by extrinsic factors, such as physical attractiveness (in particular, thinness) and social status, while others are motivated by intrinsic factors, such as health and personal growth. Not surprisingly, the researchers found that women who participate in fat talk are more likely to be driven by physical appearance, reports Canadas National Post. Theyre also more inclined to have unhealthy eating habits, likely in an effort to reach their internalized body ideal, which is often the thin body perpetuated by media.
The researchers also found that fat talk can be contagious. Women who overhear others engage in fat talk are more likely to fat talk themselves and to experience heightened body dissatisfaction and guilt, noted the researchers, according to the National Post.
The bad habit is also one way women bond albeit in a negative fashion. As Alexandra F. Corning, a research associate professor in psychology at the University of Notre Dame, told the Huffington Post: Its a way to keep us feeling like no one is better, no one is above the mean and were all the same.
Just as when a friend says shes fat and you chime in with Of course youre not fat!, fat talk is often a way for women to receive reassurance when theyre feeling bad about their bodies or eating habits. According to a 2011 study in the Psychology of Women Quarterly: The most common response to fat talk was denial that the friend was fat, most typically leading to a back-and-forth conversation where each of two healthy weight peers denies the other is fat while claiming to be fat themselves.
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Its done with the purpose of fishing, or trying to understand what people think of you, or perceive of you, Luc Pelletier, a co-author of the Ottawa study and a professor and social psychologist at the University of Ottawa, told the National Post.
So how can you stop the fat talk? Break the cycle by catching yourself when you fat talk and not participating in it when others do. If your friend is going down a fat-talk spiral, Corning suggests saying something along the lines of: Are you listening to the way youre demeaning yourself? Youre so much more valuable than that, or You and I are not doing fat talk we are way above it.
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Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Russian art restorers on Friday unveiled a recently discovered portrait of the last Tsar Nicholas II, almost a century after it was hidden behind a giant painting of his Bolshevik foe Lenin.
A team of art restorers led by Tatiana Potseluyeva painstakingly uncovered the tsar's image over the last three years.
The portrait of Nicholas -- shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918 -- was hidden under a layer of water-soluble paint, suggesting it was meant to be preserved and eventually found.
"The ceremonial portrait painted by Ilya Galkin in 1896 was hidden for almost 90 years on the back of another portrait -- depicting Lenin," Potseluyeva told AFP.
Galkin, a little-known artist who painted several portraits of tsars, died in 1915 before the October Revolution of 1917.
The portrait of Lenin wearing a peaked cap and standing in front of Saint Petersburg's Peter and Paul fortress was painted by another artist, Vladislav Izmailovich, in 1924, Potseluyeva said.
Since then, the giant portrait measuring four by three metres (13 by 10 feet) has hung in the assembly hall of a school in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg.
The painting was damaged in the 1970s but restoration experts from the city's Shtiglits Arts and Craft Academy only began restoring it in 2013, leading to the discovery of the hidden portrait.
"We were really surprised!" recalled Potseluyeva, adding that the first detail they discovered was the ornate carpet on which the tsar was standing.
- Taking a risk -
The Lenin portrait painter Izmailovich, who died in 1959, apparently took pains to preserve the work of his predecessor and camouflage it, working in the year when the long-ailing Bolshevik leader died and Stalin cemented his control of the regime.
"Normally you paint over the old canvas, destroying the previous image," Potseluyeva said.
"Here the painter kept it and made it disappear under a coat of water-soluble paint, before painting on the reverse" of the canvas, she said.
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"It seems that he hoped that one day the portrait of Nicholas II would be discovered," she said.
Izmailovich studied in Paris, Rome and Berlin before the Revolution and became known for frescoes and portraits.
After 1917, he was one of the first to paint Lenin from life. He also painted scenes of revolutionary history and taught art.
While his motive for hiding the tsar's portrait may never be known, experts said that he ran a risk by doing so.
"By keeping the tsar's portrait, Vladislav Izmailovich risked a lot at that time," said the acting head of the Shtiglits Academy, Vasily Kichedzhi.
The Bolsheviks pulled down statues and removed the tsars' emblem from buildings after taking power.
The double-sided canvas with both paintings will be put on show to the public at the end of the month at the Academy.
In neighbouring Ukraine, the pro-Western authorities have launched a campaign to topple all the Lenin statues, prompting fury in Moscow, where Lenin's embalmed body is still on display in the Mausoleum on Red Square.
Photo credit: undefined
From Popular Mechanics
A third, hidden structure has been found inside a pyramid at the famed Mayan archaeological complex known as Chichen Itza. The structure was discovered through the use of electrical signals, and offers new insight into how the temple was built.
The Temple of Kukulcan dominates the center of Chichen Itza. The step pyramid is almost 100 feet tall and was built sometime between the 9th and 12th centuries. Its complexities are still being discovered by modern scientists. The second, inner structure of the Kukulcan was discovered in 1935. A 1931 issue of Popular Mechanics described the beginnings of the research efforts which sought to find answers to such questions as how the Mayans could move the immense rocks used to build the structure.
Photo credit: National Autonomous University of Mexico
The third structure was discovered non-invasively. Thirty-three feet tall, the new pyramid fits comfortably inside Kukulcan's outer shell. It was discovered using small currents injected into the building itself, too small to cause any damage. These signals were then measured by a separate computer, and their variations revealed the inner structure. Its discovery led researcher Rene Chavez Seguro, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, to describe the building in a news conference as "a Russian nesting doll."
The new internal structure is believed to been have been created before the other two. The building around it may have either been constructed to fix deterioration or to signify a new political power structure. Just last year, it was discovered that Kukulcan stands above an underground river, possibly giving a hint towards why the structure and location was treated with such prominence by the Mayans.
Source: BBC
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PARIS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received the Legion of Honour from French President Francois Hollande on Thursday for his contributions to tackling climate change. The South Korean diplomat helped push through the 2015 Paris Agreement, a deal aimed at moving away from fossil fuels to cleaner energies that was signed by almost 200 countries after nearly two decades of negotiations. "It was largely because of your contribution, because many years ago you started putting this topic on all the agendas," Holland said at the ceremony of Ban's efforts. The Legion of Honour was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered to be one of France's highest civilian awards. "By doing this you are rewarding our honorable organization and I feel deeply honored and proud," said Ban, who will step down as head of the 193-member world organization after 10 years on Jan. 1. He will be replaced by Antonio Guterres of Portugal. (Reporting by Reuters TV. Editing by Patrick Johnston and Malcolm Foster)
Even Groucho Marx might have joined a home improvement membership club.
The late, great comedian, as you likely know, had that famous quip: "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member." But home improvement services are hardly snobby and exclusive. They'd be glad to have anyone with a pulse -- and a bank account. It's a concept that plumbing, heating and cooling services around the country particularly seem to be gravitating toward.
Just as an example, and mentioning these companies shouldn't be considered an endorsement, some of what's out there includes:
-- Stan's Heating and Cooling, in Austin, Texas, has a Gold Service Club that includes bi-annual AC tune-ups.
-- Jason's Water Systems, another San Antonio company specializing in water treatment appliances, offers a yearly maintenance plan ($120 a year, $12 a month) that includes a full-service cleaning of its water softeners.
-- Gem Plumbing, in Lincoln, Rhode Island, offers a VIP Membership Plumbing & Drain Cleaning for $15.95 a month, according to its website. Along with its maintenance program, members get a 15 percent discount off any plumbing and drain cleaning service and 5 percent discounts off things like buying a new septic or air conditioning system.
-- Service Stars, in Danbury, Connecticut, has a plumbing and electrical membership and a heating and air conditioning club membership. Along with inspections, it offers things like a 20 percent discount on plumbing and electrical repairs.
[See: 9 Easy Ways to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal.]
The concept behind all these types of services is that your air-conditioning, your water pipes and your furnace are parts of your home that really benefit from tune-ups and general preventative maintenance. If you pay your service a monthly fee, it will periodically send out workers to your home for a preventative maintenance inspection, or if you have a problem, like a leaky toilet, you can get reduced plumbers' rates instead of paying full price.
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The homeowner's hope, of course, is that by having regular maintenance, the heating and air-conditioning system will stay around longer than if it had never been serviced, and maybe this will protect against disaster -- say, having your sump pump die without warning one rainy night, and suddenly your basement is flooded.
But are these home improvement membership clubs really worth it? Maybe. As with anything, it depends on your point of view. You really should ask yourself the following four questions before you decide.
Are you handy around the house? John Bodrozi, co-founder of HomeZada.com, a home management website, says he pays a monthly membership to an HVAC service, which comes four times a year to inspect his heating and air-conditioning.
"It's a system that is in regular use every month, and it requires electrical skills and product knowledge we don't have," Bodrozi says. "But other tasks such as draining the hot water heater or changing air filters are things that that we are reminded of with our home maintenance calendar, and have the skills to do the task ourselves."
So in other words, if you're mechanically inclined, and a true DIY-er, you could definitely make the case that you don't really need this.
[See: 12 Home Improvement Shortcuts That Are a Bad Idea.]
Are you organized, especially when it comes to your home? If you've ever hired a heating and cooling guy, only to have him tell you that your heat gave out because you haven't changed your filter in three years, then you're probably a good candidate for one of these services.
Still, in many cases what these service people do isn't a lot of work, says Coleen Pantalone, a professor of finance at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston. "But like paying bills," she adds, "you need to set up a schedule and follow it. If you decide you just don't want to be bothered with any of it, then buy a membership and let the company do the work. But recognize you will still have to set up appointments and wait for someone to come to your house."
Do you really have the money for a membership? That's the key question. It's easy to get sucked into the marketing mission of these companies without crunching the numbers and asking yourself what $15 or $20 a month will do to your finances in the long run.
It is definitely a good deal for the service company, Pantalone says. "It is steady income and generally a nice profit," she says.
But that isn't to say these services don't make sense. Even Pantalone, who isn't a fan, admits that these services may buy peace of mind. But she doesn't think they'll buy you all that much time.
"We know that older water heaters are more likely to leak and older furnaces are more likely to fail, but that is about all we can predict. No matter how many times someone monitors your systems, problems like these will happen and are not all that likely to be caught by an inspection," Pantalone says. "Just like regularly changing the oil in your car, a little diligence and effort by homeowners is probably all that you need."
[Read: Is a Home Warranty Worth the Money?]
Is your house old? If you've bought a new home, you're already spending a small fortune on new furniture, maybe a lawn mower and you're adjusting to paying your mortgage. Your appliances are likely new, and it would be nice to think that they'll last for some time. You probably don't need plumbers and electricians servicing your equipment. It may be harder to make that argument, though, if you have an old home, or you've recently purchased a house that's only new to you but has been around for a few decades.
But whatever you decide, it would be prudent to start putting money aside, in a savings account, for when you need to replace your water heater, air-conditioning system or whatever you have that you fear won't be long for this world. As Pantalone observes, eventually, everything is going to leak and fail.
Tech insiders are cautiously optimistic billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel can help steer President-elect trump in the right direction. Source: Kim Kulish | Corbis | Getty Images
Many questions linger in the wake of President-elect Donald Trumps stunning win, including how his still-hazy tech policies will affect Silicon Valley.
Perhaps its a positive sign that Trump, who reportedly does not use a computer, appointed billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel to his transition team. Thiel, who was Trumps most vocal supporter from the tech industry, certainly knows the ins and outs of tech, with over two decades of tech experience, as co-founder and former CEO of PayPal (PYPL) and early investments in Facebook (FB) and LinkedIn (LNKD).
Several members of the tech community Yahoo Finance reached out to expressed cautious optimism that Thiel would help steer Trump towards forming an administration and tech policy thats fair to the tech industry and enables the kind of innovation Silicon Valley is known for.
Thiel, an immigrant from Germany with vast connections, may be able to help Trump understand the importance of trade and immigration on tech two areas Trump was extremely hostile about during his presidential campaign. Thiel, who is no stranger to controversy himself given his endorsement of Trump earlier this year, is currently the only member with significant tech experience on Trumps transition team, and he may also be able to connect the president-elect with tech insiders who could help him shape his policy.
The transition teams number one priority is to fill all of the other positions in Trumps administration, explains Charlene Li, CEO and founder of the San Francisco-based Altimeter Group. What Thiel has is access to an amazing Rolodex. The question becomes who out in Silicon Valley, the tech circles, would be interested in filling those positions and potentially be guiding the policy that will be set.
Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz Source: AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Walter Hinick
One interested member of the tech elite may be Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz. On Thursday, the Trump transition team offered a detailed update on individuals Trump was scheduled to meet with. Among them was the 54-year-old Catz, an Israeli-born, Wharton School-educated longtime tech executive who was instrumental in the $10.3 billion acquisition of PeopleSoft in 2005. Given her experience also as an investment banker at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, and a stint as CFO for several years at Oracle (ORCL), Catz could be a solid treasury secretary candidate.
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Peter Thiel is the only person on Trumps transition team with strong ties to the Valley, says Kyle Lui, a principal at DCM Ventures, who knows Thiel personally. The two key areas where Washington can truly impact Silicon Valley are both cross-border related: the ability to attract the best talent in the world and the ability to attract capital from the global markets. Having open policies around talent and capital benefits Silicon Valley and private growth companies. Peter, as a VC and immigrant he was born in Germany understands the importance of these two areas intimately.
Aaron Levie, CEO of Box (BOX), echoed the theme of diversity being vital to continued innovation in tech.
What I would hope is that Peter brings that perspective, which is that this community and innovation, in general, thrives on diversity, and it thrives on bringing together people with lots of different backgrounds, religions, races, sexual preferences, and you need to be able to create an environment that can bring people together to be able to do amazing work, Levie tells Yahoo Finance. There needs to be clarity and communication from Trump, in terms of what are going to be the important issues that the new administration is going to care about. Thats something that is very top-of-mind to many in the technology industry.
Levie also cautions that Trumps eventual tech policy wont strictly apply to Silicon Valley, but eventually, the broader economy.
We have a whole bunch of categories that are labeled as tech issues, but over time, are actually going to become national, broad economic issues, Levie adds. Because in 10 or 20 years, its hard to imagine a transportation company, a life sciences company, health care provider or a bank that isnt fully reliant on technology to run their organizations, and to deliver their business models.
In other words, the very issues the tech industry faces today will become issues every industry will one day face, and Donald Trumps administration will play a big role in shaping that future.
JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
More from JP Mangalindan:
Trump victory bursts Silicon Valley bubble
Why Trump might not be a disaster for tech
Obamas chief tech boss explains the shortage of women in tech
Shaquille ONeal explains why he missed the boat on investing in Starbucks
Michael Phelps is trying to be the Michael Jordan of ex-swimmers
(This November 15 story corrects death toll in paragraphs 1 and 14, after official clarification that army figures referred to deaths since October 9) By Serajul Quadir and Wa Lone DHAKA/SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are fleeing a military crackdown in western Myanmar to Bangladesh, trying to escape an upsurge of violence that has brought the total number of dead confirmed by the army to nearly 90. Some of the Rohingya were gunned down as they tried to cross the Naaf river that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, while others arriving by boat were pushed away by Bangladeshi border guards and may be stranded at sea, residents said. The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in 2012. It has exposed the lack of oversight of the military by the seven-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya, shutting out aid workers and independent observers. The army has intensified its operation in the last seven days and has used choppers to reinforce, with dozens reported killed. Aid workers, camp residents and authorities in Bangladesh estimated at least 500 Rohingya had fled Myanmar since the October attacks. The refugees are now staying in four Rohingya camps on the Bangladeshi side of the border, they say. But on Tuesday, Bangladeshi border guards pushed back a large group of Rohingya trying to cross. "Early Tuesday, 86 Rohingya including 40 women and 25 children were pushed back by the BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) from the Teknaf border point," said Lt. Col. Anwarul Azim, commanding officer of the Cox's Bazar sector in eastern Bangladesh. "All of them tried to enter Bangladesh and came by two engine-operated boats. Now we have beefed up our patrolling and additional forces have been engaged to ensure security in the border area," he said. Reuters sources said the Rohingya group was unlikely to have gone back to the villages in Myanmar and might be stranded at sea. The stateless Rohingya are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Col. Htain Lin, Border Affairs Minister of the Rakhine state government, refused to comment on the situation. Police Major Kyaw Mya Win, from the Maungdaw police, said the people were trying to escape because they tried to attack the military. "The villagers have become insurgents, including women in the village," said Kyaw Mya Win. A series of recent skirmishes and attacks had increased to 69 the tally of suspected Rohingya Muslim attackers killed since Oct. 9, while the security forces' toll stands at 17, according to state-owned media. MANY DEAD BODIES Four Rohingya from northern Rakhine contacted by Reuters by telephone on Wednesday confirmed that hundreds were trying to escape and cross the river to Bangladesh. They said some were gunned down. "The residents told me nearly 72 people were killed near the riverbank, that the military shot into the crowd on the river bank," said a Rohingya community leader who declined to be identified. Another man from Maungdaw said women and children from around 10 villages were trying to flee to Bangladesh and some were killed as they were trying to get into the boats. "A lot of dead bodies were floating in the sea," said the man. He added that these people were not traveling together, but that they had separated into groups of 20 or 50 to get on to the boats. Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rape and setting fire to homes in the recent violence. The government and army reject the accusations. Diplomats have also appealed for an independent and credible investigation, but the government has not announced any plans to carry it out, instead cautioning against a "misinformation campaign" by a "violent group based in Rakhine". "They are using our country, our region as a base...with the intention of disrupting the area, causing unrest, chaos in the area, they are doing this to get international attention, to pressure Myanmar," said Aye Aye Soe, director general of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, run by Suu Kyi. She said the group was doing this to get financial support with the intention of "getting their political agenda through". The "extremist group" did not want peace in Rakhine, she said. The suspected Rohingya militants have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online. In a fresh clip, a man who has appeared in previous videos stands in front of several men prostrated on the ground with wounds on their back and bloodied legs. "We are Rohingya and we want to restore our usurped rights," the man shouts to the camera. "We deserve our rights and we are not terrorists." Authorities have denied independent journalists access to the area, so Reuters has been unable to independently verify either the military accounts or the accounts of the residents. (Additional reporting by Yimou Lee in Myanmar and Mohammad Nurul Islam in Bangladesh; Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Nick Macfie and Alex Richardson)
hyperloop one
Hyperloop One has settled a lawsuit filed by four former employees.
Hyperloop One is pleased to announce that it has reached a confidential resolution of litigation with its former employees and looks forward to continuing to execute on its business plan," Hyperloop One wrote in a statement.
Brogan BamBrogan, co-founder and former chief technology officer, and several other employees sued Hyperloop One on claims that the company executives allegedly misused funds, breached their fiduciary duty, violated California labor code, and even assaulted at least one employee by placing a noose on his desk seat.
The defendants in the Hyperloop One case which included Shervin Pishevar, co-founder and chairman, and CEO Robert Lloyd denied those charges and filed a counter lawsuit at the time accusing BamBrogan and the other employees of manufacturing a rebellion in a transparent attempt to seize control of the company.
The litigation has been settled and Hyperloop One's staff has been informed of the news.
Along with BamBrogan, the other three employees that filed the suit were David Pendergast, former assistant general counsel for Hyperloop One; William Mulholland, former vice president for finance of Hyperloop One; and Knut Sauer, former vice president for business development of Hyperloop One.
All four employees wrote in a statement sent to Business Insider: "We are planning to build rad s**t with rad people, starting with our take on hyperloop. More to come in the near future.
Justin Berger, the counsel for the four employees who filed the lawsuit against Hyperloop One, also wrote in a statement: My clients are pleased to announce that they have reached a confidential resolution of litigation with their former employer and look forward to moving on with their future plans."
Hyperloop One
The timing could not be better for Hyperloop One as it has been making headway on building the high-speed transport system for both passengers and cargo.
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In early November, Hyperloop One signed an agreement with Dubai Roads and Transport Authority to evaluate using the Hyperloop to shuttle passengers between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Hyperloop One will conduct the feasibility study with McKinsey & Co. and the Bjarke Ingels Group.
The start-up also secured $50 million in a funding round led by DP World, the third largest port and terminal operator in the world, in early October. As part of the agreement, Hyperloop One and DP World will conduct a feasibility study to see how Hyperloop technology can more efficiently transport cargo to DP World's flagship Jebel Ali port.
Peter Diamandis, a Hyperloop One board member and CEO of the X-Prize Foundation, previously told Business Insider how the Hyperloop would travel underwater to transport cargo to ports.
Hyperloop One said that latest $50 million funding round brought its total funding to $160 million.
Hyperloop One also plans to open a full-scale development test track in Las Vegas in the first quarter of 2017. The Finnish and Dutch governments have also granted the start-up approval to build "proof of operations" facilities.
Here is the full note Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd sent to employees about the settlement:
Team,
I am pleased to inform you that we have resolved the lawsuit that was filed this summer against Hyperloop One by several of its former employees.
Lawsuits can be distracting for companies; they often halt momentum until they can be resolved. That didnt happen here.
The resilience we have shown as a company since June has been nothing short of remarkable. Lets just take a moment to reflect on just some of the accomplishments since.
On construction: We opened Metalworks, the worlds first hyperloop fabrication facility. This week we installed the first tubes on columns, a major step in our development loop. Today we have 65 full time team members working in Nevada at both Metalworks and our Test and Safety. We remain on track to have our Kitty Hawk moment in early 2017.
On partnerships: In Dubai, we announced the Port Jebel Ali feasibility study with DP World and we were selected for Dubai Future Accelerators. We then revealed our designs for the worlds first hyperloop to go from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 12 minutes in coordination with RTA. And in Europe, we established working groups with the Dutch and Finnish governments for project feasibility.
On financing: We announced a $50 million investment led by DP World and hired Brent Callinicos as chief financial advisor.
This is an impressive list and none of this would have been possible without the entire team, from top to bottom. This is an amazing group to be a part of and we are on the cusp doing something extraordinary together.
Now lets keep our focus on achieving our Q1 milestones and show the world the first working Hyperloop One system to the shape the future of transportation. The world is watching!
Regards and thank you,
Rob Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer
NOW WATCH: Heres how the Hyperloop will work
More From Business Insider
Maite Alberdi, Chiles foremost young documentary director, is preparing her third feature The Mole Agent which takes place in a world of private investigators and intelligence operatives. The news comes as Alberdis second feature, the anticipated The Grown-Ups, which has been acquired by Paris-based CAT&Docs for international sales, world premieres on Nov. 9 at Amsterdams IDFA documentary festival and Chiles documentary scene, arguably with Mexico the most active of any Latin America country, is gaining increased recognition abroad.
Directed by Marcia Tambutti, a granddaughter of Salvador Allende, Beyond My Grandfather Allende scooped Cannes first LOeil dOr, awarded in 2015 to its best documentary. In another win for Chilean documentary, Patricio Guzman took a best screenplay Silver Bear for The Pearl Necklace at 2015s Berlin Festival. Chile was the guest of honor at this years Nyon Visions du Reel where I Am Not From Here, which Alberdi co-directed, a study of ageing minds regression to childhood, won best short in its international competition.
Agent will be a genre blender. The aim is to work within the non-fiction boundaries on elements that habitually belong to fiction film noirs, cop movies, thrillers, Alberdi told Variety.
The Mole Agent is set up at the directors outfit, Micromundo, and is backed so far by diverse Chile national funds including the National Fund for Development and Production and the Consejo Nacional de Television fund. It is also supported by IDFA Bertha Fund, which supports documentary filmmakers and festivals in developing countries.
Grown-Ups is produced by Micromundo Producciones in co-production with Netherlands Volya and Frances Mandra Films. Grown-Ups log-line is eloquent: Kids who wanted to grow up and instead grew old. It also homes in on a new reality: People with Down syndrome now enjoy far higher life expectancy and nobody has prepared them to be adults, Alberdi said,
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This has multiple consequences. In Chile, for instance, a law permits people with Down syndrome to be paid less than the minimum salary, although they perform the same productive work as others, Alberdi observed.
Grown-Ups turns on the lives of four classmates, all with Down syndrome, who have been attending the same school for almost 40 years: Their quarrels, misbehaviour, secrets, learning processes, loves and desires. The documentary, an intimate dramedy,creates a strong sense of empathy with the viewer.
One growing trend in Latin American movies is a build in films which portray how the lack of a developed social state pushes individuals to radical act Rodrigo Plas A Thousand-Headed Monster or means that the less-advantaged need to depend for support on family or their neighbours Lucia Carreras Tamara & The Ladybug. Grown-Ups inevitably begs the question of what will happen to its protagonists when their parents die.
Alberdis previous works The Lifeguard and Tea Time garnered a considerable number of prizes not only at specialised documentary festivals. Unusually, Tea Time was nominated at Spains Academy Awards as best Ibero-American Film. In addition, it took an IDFA Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award for best female-directed film at IDFA, plus a best documentary award at the Miami Film Festival, DocsBarcelona, and Guadalajara Festival, among others. Co-directed by Lithuanias Giedre Zickyte, I Am Not From Here is nominated for the 2016 European Film Awards.
The Mole Agent will go into production in August 2017. It will be ready for delivery in 2018.
John Hopewell contributed to this article
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Kiev (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund said Friday its team had ended a visit to Kiev without seeing sufficient economic restructuring progress to release a new loan to Ukraine this year.
The impoverished and war-scarred former Soviet republic had been hoping to receive a $1.3-billion ($1.2-billion-euro) tranche payment in November from a rescue package of $17.5 billion agreed with the Fund in 2015.
But Kiev has only seen $7.6 billion of that money due to foot-dragging by populist lawmakers in parliament over deeply unpopular belt-tightening measures prescribed by the Fund.
The IMF last released a $1-billion tranche payment in September that Kiev had expected to see last year.
A statement from the Fund's mission said the pro-Western government still needed "some time" to adopt all the economic prescriptions mandated under the four-year programme.
"While good progress has been made, the authorities need some more time to implement policies to ensure medium-term fiscal sustainability -- including adoption of the 2017 budget consistent with program targets -- safeguard financial stability, and tackle corruption," the IMF team said.
"Discussions on these policies will continue in the period ahead."
Ukrainian media reported the IMF had outlined five points that Kiev must comply with in order to receive future payments.
The first involves obtaining capital to keep 12 large and systemically important banks afloat.
An earlier central bank stress test found that 28 of 39 lenders checked lacked the required cash at hand to survive another potential economic crisis.
The Fund also wants the government to start gradually raising household bills for gas and central heating to "market levels" starting in March 2017.
Ukraine has already slashed its utility subsidies and saw loud street protests from predominantly pension-age people who cannot afford the new bills.
But economists view Ukraine's subsidisation of its energy sector as one of the largest drains on the state budget.
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The IMF also wants the government to turn its loss-making state gas and oil company into a profitable venture by the end of 2017.
It further would like to see Kiev speed up its privatisation efforts and simplify its outdated tax system.
Ukraine has pulled out of a dire two-year recession by recording nine consecutive months of economic growth.
But the Fund's statement said that Ukraine's gross domestic product "is still very low -- just 20 percent of the EU average, the second lowest level of all central and eastern European countries."
It also noted that "tangible results in prosecuting and convicting corrupt high-level officials and recovering proceeds from corruption have yet to be achieved".
It was gratifying that after Wisconsin voted him into the presidency, the gentleman did not talk about putting Hillary in prison. That was a nice surprise. And when he met with Obama of Kenya, the white sahib was well-behaved, listened to what the African had to say, did not interrupt or call him stupid, and in fact thanked the alien for meeting with him. He did a good impersonation of modesty.
Say what you will, the man is flexible. The wall on the border, his reliable applause line this past year, has been downgraded to a fence in some places and may eventually turn into a line of orange highway cones. The 11 million deportees are down to two or three. Hillary may be let off with an ankle bracelet.
While he's making alterations, he should consider getting a presidential hairdo rather than the hair of a hotel lounge pianist in 1959. It's distracting to watch a man talk about national security, looking like he may suddenly burst into "Volare." A makeover would take about 15 minutes max. And might a speech therapist try to smooth out the Tony Soprano accent and give him a presidential voice like Nixon's or Reagan's and cut out those irritating repetitions for emphasis -- do you know what I mean? Am I right? Am I right? You know I'm right. You better believe I'm right.
He will never be my president because he doesn't read books, can't write more than a sentence or two at a time, has no strong loyalties beyond himself, is more insular than any New Yorker I ever knew, and because I don't see anything admirable or honorable about him. This sets him apart from other politicians. The disaffected white blue-collar workers elected a Fifth Avenue tycoon to rescue them from the elitists -- fine, I get that -- but they could've chosen a better tycoon.
Life goes on. A person has to keep that in mind. The day after the election, my wife and I set out to replace some burnt-out light bulbs in some interesting fixtures chosen by an elderly interior decorator years ago. We are from Minnesota and we hesitate to impose our taste on others, even when we're paying the bill. So we have several truly ugly and impractical light fixtures that use odd rare bulbs not sold at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Ace Hardware, or even at boutiques with names like Let There Be Light Bulbs. Long cylindrical bulbs. Perhaps handmade by Cistercian monks on a mountaintop in Montana.
I voted for Hillary, so I'm an elitist, but still. We use regular old G.E. light bulbs.
My wife is a violinist so she has excellent small motor skills, plus a better sense of logic and smaller hands, so she's the foreman, and my job is to stand by the stepladder, hold her by the hips, hand her the Allen wrench -- yes, these fixtures, unique in the Western hemisphere, require hexagonal wrenches -- receive loose screws and the burnt bulb, hand her the fresh bulb while bracing the loose fixture and not letting it fall, and maintaining an upbeat attitude.
It's interesting to hold a kind, gentle Episcopalian lady by the hips and hear how well she can swear while trying to replace a light bulb in a fixture that -- how many liberals does it take? Three. One to turn the bulb, one to hold the ladder, and one to make sure the manufacturer offers good health care and pension plans to its employees.
This is what pulls a couple together. Every marriage has its bumps but when she stands on a stepladder and I brace my shoulder against her rear end to leave my hands free to hold the big glass shade as she screws the bulb into the socket and takes the Allen wrench from me and the screws and drops one and I bend down, my hand still on her haunch, and reach for the fallen screw, and we both start laughing, this is a sweet moment that momentarily transcends politics.
I hope that Mr. Trump does not make Wisconsin regret having elected him president, but it's still the same old story about love and glory and a case of do or die and lovers must replace their light bulbs as time goes by.
By Rajendra Jadhav and Sethuraman N R
MUMBAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold premiums in India jumped to two-year highs this week as jewellers ramped up purchases on fears that the government might put curbs on imports after withdrawing higher-denomination notes from circulation in its fight against black money.
Retail demand was subdued due to a cash crunch following the government's move on high-value banknotes, but dealers in the world's No.2 consumer of the metal were charging a premium of up to $12 an ounce this week over official domestic prices that include a 10 percent import tax.
The premium was the highest since mid-November 2014, and compared with a premium of up to $6 an ounce last week.
"There was a rumour that after scrapping 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, the government will ban gold imports. It prompted many jewellers to increase buying," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank.
"Jewellers were running businesses with limited stocks after good sales during the Diwali festival. Now they are keen to replenish inventory as prices have fallen."
The government last week withdrew 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes from circulation, in a surprise move designed to bring billions of dollars worth of cash in unaccounted wealth into the mainstream economy.
"We are seeing some jewellery demand due to the ongoing wedding season and crash in prices. But the cash constraint is going to be really tough for the gold industry in the near future, especially from rural areas," said Chirag Thakkar, a director with Amrapali Group.
Two-thirds of gold demand comes from rural areas where jewellery is a traditional store of wealth.
"Our business has nearly stalled due to the cash crunch," said Mangesh Devi, a jeweller based in Satara, Maharashtra, who caters mainly to farmers.
Gold was on track to post a second straight weekly fall on rising expectations of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold has declined 1.5 percent so far this week.
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Meanwhile, premiums in China rose up to $10 an ounce against the international benchmark from $5 last week.
"It (the buying) could be driven by the panic in reaction to the recent depreciation of the yuan," said Zhirui Ji, an analyst with Thomson Reuters-owned metals consultancy GFMS.
The yuan fell to an 8-year low on Friday on resurgent dollar.
In Hong Kong, sellers were offering a premium of up to $1 an ounce compared with 50 to 70 cents last week, while in Singapore premiums were unchanged at 80 cents.
Demand in Japanese markets continued to remain tepid with premiums flat to a discount of 10 cents.
(Reporting By Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
An Indiana mom is hospitalized after allegedly admitting to killing her children and stabbing herself in the neck on Thursday, police confirmed in a press conference.
Brandi Worley, 30, called 911 around 4:35 a.m. EST and allegedly said, I just stabbed myself and killed my two children, Sheriff Mark A. Casteel of Montgomery County Sheriffs Office said.
When officers arrived at Worleys Darlington home, Tyler Worley, 7 and Charlie Worley, 3, were found deceased in their bedroom. Worley again allegedly admitted to killing the children, and was transported to hospital with self-inflicted injuries to the neck, Casteel said.
Worley seemed matter-of-fact, the sheriff said, adding that she did not seem remorseful.
No additional information has been released on how the children died as detectives are still in the process of interviewing witnesses in this case, Casteel said. Autopsies were scheduled for 10 a.m. EST Friday. The Montgomery County Coroners office did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.
Worley remains hospitalized at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and had not yet been processed into jail as of Friday morning, Casteel tells PEOPLE. Our detectives are still waiting for Worleys medical condition to improve in order to interview her in more detail, he says.
I cant imagine the pain and the grief that these families are experiencing this morning, Casteel said during Thursdays press conference, pausing as he got choked up.
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Casteel said that the childrens father, Jason Worley, was home when police arrived but was asleep in the familys basement, unaware of what happened. The couple were still married, Casteel said, but the Montgomery County clerks office confirms to PEOPLE that Jason Worley filed for divorce on Nov. 16.
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There had been no previous calls to police from the residence, the sheriff confirms.
Tyler was a student at Sugar Creek Elementary School, WTTV reported, and Charlie was in preschool.
Lluis Cruanas, one of the most influential and beloved restaurateurs of late twentieth-century and early twenty-first-century Catalonia, died last Sunday at the age of 79 in the Costa Brava town of Palamos, near his home in Sant Feliu de Guixols.
Cruanas was born in Sant Feliu, a fishing town and center for the cork-making trade, in 1937. Five years later, his father opened a tavern called Eldorado in the town. This was a simple place where fishermen and cork-makers came to play cards, drink, and eat cheap seafood like espardenyes, a kind of sea slug, sauteed with garlic and parsley. The younger Cruanas went to work in his father's tavern when he was old enough, and in 1970 opened a small full-service restaurant of his own next door to Eldorado, which he dubbed Eldorado Petit (petit means "small" in Catalan as well as French).
Slideshow: 12 Travel Destinations for Every Food Lovers Bucket List
The menu was mostly traditional, focusing on rice and fideus noodle dishes and on the region's excellent fish and shellfish. The restaurant thrived, drawing travelers off the autoroute between France and Barcelona, and in 1978, with financing from some of his regular customers, Cruanas and his wife, Lola (who died several years ago), opened a second Eldorado Petit in Barcelona.
This became one of the best restaurants not just in Barcelona but in Spain throughout the late 1970s and into the '80s. The dining room was softly lit and warmly furnished, and the food was refined Catalan fare shimmeringly fresh giant shrimp lightly poached in seawater, salt cod salad garnished with angulas (elvers), black rice (made with cuttlefish); whole turbot roasted on a bed of thin-sliced potatoes even espardenyes, no longer the cheap throw-away fare of Costa Brava fishermen, but a newly discovered delicacy among Catalan diners, more expensive per pound in the market than even lobster.
Though Cruanas was a good cook and could run a kitchen, he left the day-to-day cooking to others the early Catalan celebrity chef Jean-Luc Figueras (who died two years ago) was responsible for the cuisine at the Barcelona restaurant for much of its existence, and such other now well-known chefs as Toni Saez, Domingo Garcia, and Pedro Moreno worked for Cruanas while he and his wife oversaw the dining room. He had a genius for it: He was amiable and helpful, the kind of host who made every person walking into the place feel as if they were special, but he also had an eagle eye for details of presentation and service. He got everything right and made it seem effortless.
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In 1990, benefitting from the publicity surrounding the awarding of the 1992 Olympic Games to Barcelona, Cruanas opened a new Eldorado Petit, this one in New York City, overseen mostly by his son, Marc. Though the place got a favorable two-star review from Bryan Miller in The New York Times, it never found the kind of appreciative clientele its predecessors in Catalonia had known, and it closed late in '92.
One effect of the Olympics in Barcelona was a shift of community focus from the inland portion of the city to the coast, and Eldorado Petit, which was in a hilly residential neighborhood in the city's Sarria quarter, gradually lost its customers. In 2002, he closed that restaurant, too, and retreated to Sant Feliu. There, he expanded and modernized the original Eldorado Petit, now called simply Eldorado (or El Dorado) and opened a tapas bar nearby and a seafood restaurant, Eldorado Mar, overlooking the water. Cruanas's daughter, Suita, is in charge of Eldorado Petit now, while Marc runs Eldorado Mar. Their father, though, remained a frequent presence, greeting old friends and keeping an eye on things.
The best thing Cruanas did for American diners was to give early exposure to Jose Andres the greatest champion of Spanish food both traditional and avant-garde in this country today. Andres was brought to New York by the proprietors of another restaurant from the Catalan capital, Paradis Barcelona, part of a chain. He wanted to work for Cruanas, though. As Andres tells it, "Lluis was a gentleman! He was a friend of the owner of Paradis and told me 'I cannot hire you directly from him, but if you are somewhere else first, later on I may.' So I went to Puerto Rico, and then, on the day he got two stars in the New York Times, I called him, and he said 'Come see me in my apartment.' I didn't get there until 11.30 p.m. He was in his pajamas, and he gave me his baby to play with, then said 'You're hired.'"
Andres was in charge of the food at Eldorado Petit for more than two years, until it closed, earning himself a reputation that led to his beginnings as a successful chef-restaurateur in Washington, D.C.
Andres adds, "Nobody taught me more respect for our profession than him. He was always radiating positive energy through his smile. When he arrived at the restaurant in New York, even the flowers that were almost dead seemed to reborn again!"
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
From Cosmopolitan
As Kayla Jones, 28, kisses her 2-year-old daughter, Lola, good-bye this morning, she doesnt know if shell spend the day working with women who are joyfully welcoming or somberly ending their pregnancies. Jones is a licensed practical nurse at Buffalo Womenservices in Buffalo, New York - the only free-standing clinic in the U.S. that offers both childbirth and abortion services.
In 2014, Jones was the first woman to give birth here at Buffalo Womenservices Birthing Center of Buffalo, an out-of-hospital space that encourages mothers to labor at their own pace with minimal medical intervention. It is a homelike place with a birthing tub and childbirth classes full of expectant mothers learning about the technicalities of breastfeeding and chanting, "My body knows just what to do." Jones gave birth without pain medication, and I surprised myself that I could do it! If I could do it, you can do it.
At her grandad's house on Buffalos economically depressed East Side, Lola plays a pink plastic keyboard and sings. I love you, baby, I love you, baby. Jones doesn't see a conflict between her decision to have a baby as a single parent and her patients' decisions to do otherwise. She had four abortions and a miscarriage before having a baby herself, and often tells worried patients that she turned out just fine: I get to tell my story about 20 times a day. Their eyes always get really big and they say, You look so innocent!
I work here because I used this service before and I believe that every woman should have access to an abortion. They know when its the right time for them to have a baby, she says.
Joness reasons for having abortions were clear. I had to finish school. I was young, I hadnt even finished high school yet [when I got pregnant the first time]. I was finding out who I was. Now, Jones comfortably occupies the common overlap between abortion and motherhood. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. women who had abortions in 2014 were mothers. When she decided to keep her last pregnancy, It was different because I felt like I had a career now and a stable home and a car. I felt like I was mature and I had the patience to have a child.
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Jones grew up poor, and her job at the clinic enables her to support her family while doing work that she believes in. With the election of Donald Trump and his appointment of a handful of extremely anti-abortion staff members comes fear that clinics like Buffalo Womenservices will be shut down and the women like Jones who rely on them left in medically dangerous situations. Womenservices is the only local facility that accepts Medicaid for abortions past nine weeks of pregnancy. Dr. Katharine Morrison, the clinic's head doctor, isn't worried about being shut down because New York is a liberal state. "But I'm sickened to death over what our country will look like going forward," she says. "Women will be able to obtain an abortion in only a few states just as prior to Roe v. Wade." Jones and the rest of the staff see the choice to terminate a pregnancy and the choice of a birth approach as inextricably linked by the necessity of female bodily autonomy and respect.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones talks with her mother, Susan Furst, while getting ready to leave with Lola. Jones is the only person working in the household, and she supports her mother, daughter, and two teenage siblings. She also helped care for her mother after a recent operation.
Donald Trump's campaign platforms made Jones worry about more than the future of women's reproductive rights. My mother depends on Section 8 and SNAP benefits," she says. "If these benefits get cut, what's going to happen? How are we going to eat? People think that everybody that receives benefits are lazy or they dont work. I work! I'm not lazy! If a woman finishes high school and she goes to work, she still can't afford to feed her family." Jones and Furst wept together when the election results were announced.
Jones is grateful for her support system though: Furst and her daughters paternal grandfather babysit regularly, and her mother encouraged Jones to apply for the job at Buffalo Womenservices while she was working at fast-food restaurant Tim Hortons.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones and Lola leave the house. The family moved six years ago to a suburb that had better subsidized housing options than Buffalos, but suburban living brings isolation: Jones would like to enroll Lola in Head Start, but public transit isn't easily accessible here and Jones needs the family's only car for work.
It's not an easy life, but Jones has been through worse. She grew up poor in Buffalo, sometimes coming home to a house without electricity on.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
In 1998, Dr. Barnett Slepian, a doctor working at the clinic, was murdered in his home by an anti-abortion extremist. After Dr. Slepian's death, protesters turned their anger toward the clinic's current doctor, Dr. Katharine Morrison, and graffitied "Dr. Morrison is a murderer" on a nearby building. Dr. Morrison moved her family - including her 3-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son - to New York City for safety in 2000, and flew or took an eight-hour Greyhound bus trip to work Thursday through Saturday each week for six years. "I did what I needed to do to protect my family," she says. The building now has tight security, with a metal detector, guard, locked doors, surveillance cameras, and strict requirements about identification and large bags.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones talks with Dr. Morrison, her boss and mentor, in front of a Donald Trump pinata at work. "I got the pinata as a protest," Dr. Morrison says. "I don't use the words 'fascist' or 'Hitler' lightly - my mother was a refugee from Germany - but he is a fascist. One of the first things a fascist does is scapegoat people." Dr. Morrison was present when Jones gave birth to her daughter at the birth center.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones studies for a pediatric nursing final at Trocaire College, the Catholic school where she works toward her associate's degree so she can become a registered nurse. (As a licensed practical nurse, she must be supervised by an RN.) Hydrocephalus, encephalopathy, hepatopathy Shes struggling, and worried that she wont pass this test. School is expensive and time-consuming, but shes determined to become her familys first college graduate.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Dr. Morrison performs a procedure on one of her gynecological patients. In addition to performing abortions and attending births, Dr. Morrison does routine gynecological care.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
An instructional breastfeeding video plays before a Centering Pregnancy meeting in the waiting room at Buffalo Womenservices. The group prenatal class educates patients expecting to deliver at the Birthing Center, one of two free-standing birthing centers in New York State, where women can give birth in a supportive, safe environment outside of a hospital. Dr. Morrison believes that women should be able to choose how to give birth as well as whether to do so.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jiyong Kim Mai has a prenatal visit with midwife LuAnn Conte at the Birthing Center of Buffalo.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Lactation consultant Meghan McCarthy teaches a breastfeeding class during a group prenatal care meeting called Centering Pregnancy as Birthing Center coordinator Mary Badame listens.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jiyong Kim Mai touches her round belly during a Centering Pregnancy meeting. She gave birth to her first son here at the Birthing Center of Buffalo as well.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones pours antiseptic into cups before patients arrive at Buffalo Womenservices. The liquid will be used to cleanse patients' cervixes before their abortions.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones fills a syringe with Versed, a sedative, before patients arrive at Buffalo Womenservices. The medication will be used in combination with a painkiller and anti-nausea medication to provide patients with conscious sedation during their abortions.
Photo credit: ALICE PROUJANSKY
The first step for a patient seeking an abortion here is an ultrasound to confirm how far along her pregnancy is. This patient waits after Jones performed her ultrasound to confirm her gestational weeks. If she is too far into the pregnancy, she will be referred to a clinic in New York City that can perform abortions until the state limit of 24 weeks because they have the necessary anesthesiologist. In 2012, 91.4 percent of abortions took place before the 14th week of pregnancy, and 7.2 percent were between 14 and 20 weeks. Only 1.3 percent of abortions were after 20 weeks gestation.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
A 25-year-old patient watches TV in a waiting room before receiving a first-trimester abortion. This patient was confident in her decision and angry that her own gynecologist had pressured her to continue the pregnancy, and that an emergency room employee revealed her pregnancy to her mother. "If I do have kids," she says, "I want to be more progressed in life. I love my life right now and I don't want to change it."
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Counselor Lyndsey Marsh and Jones hold the 25-year-old patient's hands while Dr. Morrison performs the first-trimester abortion.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Birthing Center coordinator Badame and Dr. Morrison laugh with Jones during a lunch break. Morrison mentors Jones, helping with some school fees. Jones credits her experience there with changing the way she understood birth and newborn care. She continues to breastfeed her 2-year-old daughter.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Counselor Marsh holds a speculum while talking with a 16-year-old patient before her first-trimester abortion. The counselor uses a plastic model reproductive system to explain the procedure: how the cervix will be dilated and the pregnancy terminated, reminding the patient that abortion is a safe procedure - it carries less than a 0.05 percent chance of major complications.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
The 16-year-old patient meets with a counselor. All patients seeking abortions here must meet with a counselor who explains their options: adoption, keeping the baby, or abortion. The counselor confirms that the patient is making her decision without coercion from family or partners, and will cancel the appointment if she seems unsure.
The doctor also reconfirms each patients decision one final time just before the procedure begins.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
The 16-year-old patient touches her belly in a waiting room. In 2014, 3 percent of abortion patients were 15 to 17 years old.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Nurse Karen Pfaffenbach holds the 16-year-old patient's hand while Dr. Morrison performs a first-trimester abortion. Unlike 38 other states, New York permits minors to receive abortions without parental involvement.
Photo credit: ALICE PROUJANSKY
Jones walks a 24-year-old patient to the door after her first-trimester abortion.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
An 18-year-old patient reclines just after her first-trimester abortion.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones takes a patient's blood pressure after her abortion. Almost half of U.S. pregnancies were unintended in 2011. Twenty-one percent of all pregnancies (not including miscarriages) ended in abortion.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
The waiting room at Buffalo Womenservices.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones leaves Buffalo Womenservices after work. The protestors are legally prohibited from stepping outside of the yellow lines on the sidewalk.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Anti-abortion protestors JoAnn Thomasello and Joan Brandon picket outside of Buffalo Womenservices. "I consider myself a feminist but I never burned my bra," says Brandon. "I always encouraged my daughters to do whatever they wanted to whether it was climbing a tree when they were little girls to making careers for themselves before they married because I wanted them to be at home with their children when they did marry. [Abortion] is the most important basic issue in life. Stop murdering our babies."
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones reads to Lola at home as Jones's brother, Noah, gets ready to go for a walk. Jones takes on a lot of responsibility at home: Noah, who has Asperger's, was recently beaten up by a bully, and Jones met with his principal several times and attended the bully's court dates.
Photo credit: Alice Proujansky
Jones bakes cupcakes with Lola at home.
This story was produced with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a nonprofit devoted to journalism about inequality.
Alice Proujansky is a documentary photographer covering women and labor: birth, work, motherhood, and identity. Follow her on Twitter.
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Reportedly, Intel Corporation INTC announced this week that it is on track to invest more than $250 million over the next two years to develop fully autonomous driving technology. The company will collaborate with German carmaker BMW and Mobileye N.V. MBLY, a provider of smart-car visions systems for developing the technology.
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Why This Move?
According to Intels CEO, Brian Krzanich, the most important aspect of smart cars and Internet of Things (IoT) will be data generation that could be utilized in various ways by the marketers.
An estimated 4 terabytes of data will be produced by each smart vehicle per day through its GPS, radar, cameras and sonar. Data such as the number of passengers in the vehicle, music preferences of individual passengers as well as brand or store preferences will help the marketers to advertise their products.
Moreover, with the use of wearables, it will be possible to monitor focus, behavior, biometric and emotional status to enhance safety and security.
According to Krzanich, there are three challenges around data, namely data size, capability to process data intelligently and last but not the least to ascertain its security. Moreover, he thinks that having access to more data will be quintessential to develop and deliver better user experience in the future.
Intensifying Competition
We note that there is fierce competition in the autonomous driving technology market with the presence of heavyweights such as Alphabet Inc.s GOOGL Google and Tesla.
As per an IDC report, worldwide spending on connected vehicles is estimated to reach $29.6 billion by 2017. Given the huge scope that the segment offers, it is no surprise that major players are rushing in to grab a share of the pie.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
At present, Intel has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the broader technology space is Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. AAOI, carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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Notably, the consensus estimate for Applied Optoelectronics current year improved to 81 cents from 51 cents over the last seven days.
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Vice President of IP at Cabeau Demonstrates Excellence & Leadership In Law Community
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 17, 2016 / Troy Grabow, General Counsel and Vice President of IP at Cabeau, a global consumer travel products brand, has been named a Fellow at the American Intellectual Property Law Association. The AIPLA is a worldwide leader in intellectual property through its commitment to education, outreach, member service and advocacy. Grabow was inducted at the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. which took place October 27-29, 2016. A highly respected member of the law community, Grabow has built an outstanding record of protecting intellectual property rights for over twenty years.
Fellows are nominated by their peers and must demonstrate outstanding service to the Association, prominence within the intellectual property profession, learned contributions to the profession through teaching and writing, and observation of the highest standards of ethical conduct. His role as a Fellow will include initiating, taking ownership of, or participating with other leaders and committees in special projects ranging from public service events, leadership training planning, and other projects approved by the AIPLA Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
"Infringements on intellectual property are a major issue for the travel products industry. Troy is focused on the challenges we face, particularly as they impact intellectual property law," said Cabeau Founder & CEO David Sternlight. "He shows a mastery in navigating complex issues while providing strategic planning, guidance and protection of our brand. We're thrilled he's been recognized by the AIPLA and furthers his involvement with the preeminent bar organization for IP law professionals."
While leading Cabeau's robust legal department, Grabow initiated an aggressive and focused effort at increasing the level of IP on Cabeau's innovative products, as well as enforcing Cabeau's IP throughout the world. Since Grabow joined Cabeau in September 2015, he has led dozens of enforcement actions against infringers throughout the world, with a particular emphasis in the U.S. and China.
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Grabow has also held various other positions within the AIPLA including Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee, Chair of the Education Committee, Chair of the IP Law Associations Committee, and Mentor of the Year in 2015.
For more information about Cabeau, please visit www.cabeau.com.
About Cabeau
Cabeau creates exceptional and affordable travel products for all of life's journey's. Our company began with one simple mission: to find a travel pillow that actually works. What started with the Evolution Pillow has now evolved into a smart assortment of solution-driven products. Each one is specifically designed to make travel easier, more manageable and infinitely more comfortable, turning every trip into a first-class experience. Cabeau's award-winning travel pillows, comfort products, and accessories are available in over 110 countries worldwide.
For more information, please visit http://www.cabeau.com
Contact Info:
Name: Amanda Molina
Organization: Konnect Agency
SOURCE: Cabeau
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Impax Laboratories, Inc. ("Impax" or the "Company") (IPXL) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between February 25, 2014 and November 3, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the January 9, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here. You can also call Brian Lundin, Esquire, of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.
No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also choose to do nothing and be an absent class member.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Impax made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company was engaged in conduct that would trigger investigations of possible collusion of generic drug pricing by the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Connecticut Attorney General; that the DOJ investigation and the underlying conduct would likely result in criminal charges against Impax for collusion of generic drug pricing; that the Company lacked effective internal controls over financial reporting; and that as a result of the above, Impax's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Lundin Law PC was founded by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding the rights of shareholders.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
Contact:
Lundin Law PC
Brian Lundin, Esq.
Telephone: 888-713-1033
Facsimile: 888-713-1125
brian@lundinlawpc.com
http://lundinlawpc.com/
SOURCE: Lundin Law PC
By Isabel Coles MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S.-backed Iraqi troops expanded their foothold on the eastern side of Islamic State's stronghold of Mosul on Friday, as the group pledged to mount more suicide attacks on their offensive to take the city. The elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) stormed the Tahrir district on the northeastern edge of Mosul, the last major city under control of the Sunni hard-line group in Iraq. A Reuters correspondent reporting from the CTS-held line in Tahrir saw civilians streaming out of the nearby Aden district where fighting blazed, pushing trolleys containing their belongings and carrying home-made white flags. The women were still shrouded in black robes imposed by the militants but most had uncovered their faces as they fled intense fighting. Militants have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the battle started on Oct. 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition. "The advance is slow due to the civilians," said CTS Lt. General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi, adding that the U.S.-trained unit aims to clear the rest of the neighborhood during the day. A Friday prayer sermon referring to "mujahideen", or holy warriors, could be heard coming from a mosque under control of the jihadis in the vicinity. An armed man, possibly a sniper, was in the minaret of the mosque. As the offensive entered its second month, Iraqi government forces are still fighting in a dozen of about 50 neighborhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River that runs through its center. Militants are dug in among the civilians as a defense tactic to hamper air strikes, moving around the city through tunnels, driving suicide car bombs into advancing troops and hitting them with sniper and mortar fire. "READY FOR MARTYRDOM" A loud explosion was heard several streets away from the CTS lines. An officer said it was a suicide bomber who blew himself up after being surrounded in a house. The CTS unit was using a drone to try to detect insurgents. The number of fighters who are ready to blow themselves up is increasing, an insurgent commander told Islamic State's weekly magazine, al-Nabaa, published online on Thursday. "We're giving you the good news that the number of brothers ready for martyrdom is very large and, with God's grace, the brothers who are demanding martyr operations are increasing," said the commander, who was not named. The offensive to take Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control in either Iraq or Syria, is turning into the biggest battle in Iraq's turbulent history since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The CTS became the only unit to have breached the city limits from the eastern side two weeks ago. Other army units have yet to breach the northern and the southern sides. Iranian-backed militias earlier this week announced the capture of the Tal Afar air base, west of Mosul, part of their campaign to choke off the route between the Syrian and Iraqi parts of the caliphate Islamic State declared in 2014. The base is located just south of Tal Afar, a mostly ethnic Turkmen town that Turkey would not want to fall under the control of the mostly pro-Iranian militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi. The Hashid plans to besiege the town for now, a spokesman of Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main paramilitary groups making up the coalition, told Reuters on Friday. Iraqi military estimates put the number of Islamic State fighters in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000. Facing them is a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government forces, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite paramilitary units. DRAWN OUT BATTLE Iraqi authorities have declined to give a timeline for recapture of the whole city, but the battle is likely to last for months. Militants have launched waves of counter-attacks against advancing forces, tying them down in lethal urban combat in narrow streets still full of residents. The Islamic State commander cited in al-Nabaa said the battles with the Shi'ite paramilitary groups known as Popular Mobilisation west of Mosul will continue "in long episodes". Iraqi authorities have not published a casualty toll for the Mosul campaign overall - either for security forces, civilians or Islamic State fighters. The warring sides claim to have inflicted thousands of casualties in enemy ranks. A resident said a mother and her three children were killed in Instissar, one of the eastern neighborhood already taken by the CTS, when a mortar shell hit their home, probably fired by Islamic State. Nearly 59,000 people have been displaced because of the fighting, moving from villages and towns around the city to government-held areas, according to U.N. estimates. The figure does not include the thousands of people rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany Islamic State fighters to cover their retreat towards the city as human shields. In some cases, men of fighting age were separated from those groups and summarily killed, according to residents and rights groups. Human Rights Watch said on Thursday more than 300 former police officers were likely killed last month and buried in a mass grave near the town of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul. Mosul's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat. (Reporting by Isabel Coles, writing by Maher Chmaytelli, editing by Peter Millership)
WASHINGTON -- Seventeen days before President Donald Trump, his spoken oath of office still lingering in the wintry air, lifts his left hand from Scripture (a leather-bound edition of "The Art of the Deal"), the Republican-controlled Congress will begin working. Fittingly, on Jan. 3 the First Branch of government will go first, flexing its somewhat atrophied Article I muscles.
When Trump reaches his desk on the morning of Jan. 21, he should find there two congressional measures emblematic of how quickly elections can have consequences. One should be the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS). The other should be legislation mandating construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. As president, Trump will have the authority and intent to proceed with construction, but Congress should make the point that this concerns national policy, which Congress should set.
The REINS Act would begin Congress's retrieval from the executive branch of responsibilities the Founders vested in the legislative branch. The act would sharply slow the growth of regulations that are suffocating economic growth. REINS would require Congress to vote on -- to have its fingerprints on -- all "major" regulations, understood as those with an annual economic impact of at least $100 million. Congress would thus take responsibility for, and be held accountable for, the substance that executive agencies' rule making pours into the almost-empty vessels that Congress imprecisely calls "laws."
Opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has illustrated environmentalism's, and the Democratic Party's, descent into the theater of pointless gestures. The nation is crisscrossed with more than 2 million miles of natural gas pipelines and 175,000 miles of pipelines carrying hazardous liquids. Yet our theatrically thoughtful current president wasted seven years pretending to ponder the weighty question of whether Keystone's 1,179 miles -- bringing oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska -- might somehow menace the nation and planet.
Some of the oil would be from Canada's tar sands. Keystone opponents say such oil is especially "dirty," so the pipeline, by enabling the oil to get to market, would injure the climate. But even if the opponents' allegations about the tar sands oil can be trusted, the allegations are irrelevant: The opponents evidently believe that if the pipeline is not built, Canada will simply say "Oh, dang!" and leave the world's third-largest proven crude oil reserve -- larger than Iran's -- locked up in the tar sands. The opponents evidently think that if they block the pipeline, this vast wealth will not find another way into the international oil market.
Furthermore, without Keystone XL, more oil will be transported by trains, which have notable carbon footprints and sometimes spectacular spills. Hence legislation mandating the pipeline's construction will not only create jobs, which once upon a time was a Democratic priority, it should soothe climate anxieties.
So, Congress should call this Keystone XL legislation the "Zach, We Feel Your Pain Act." After the election, someone reportedly named Zach, a Democratic National Committee staffer, suffered a hilarious eruption of hysteria. In the process of blaming DNC interim Chair Donna Brazile for the lost election (wrong woman, Zach), he said, according to The Huffington Post:
"You and your friends will die of old age and I'm going to die from climate change. You and your friends let this happen, which is going to cut 40 years off my life expectancy."
Well. Suppose Zach is 30 and expects that, although he appears to be unhealthily excitable, his life expectancy is 90. If climate change subtracts 40 of Zach's years, it is going to kill him within 20 years. Perhaps Zach can take grim pleasure from the fact that Brazile, a vigorous and cheerful 56, probably will still be spry when the Grim Climate Reaper swings his deadly scythe. Be that as it may, consider that Zach's scary arithmetic probably represents commonplace thinking within the Democratic Party, aka "the party of science."
Jerusalem (AFP) - Hundreds of Muslims in Israel and the Gaza Strip demonstrated on Friday against a bill to limit the volume of calls to prayer at mosques in the Jewish state.
In the southern city of Rahat, 100 Israeli Arabs held a rally against the bill, while more than 500 people took part in various demonstrations in the north, police said.
In the northern city of Jisr a-Zarqa, lawmaker Ahmed Tibi of the Arab Joint List called the legislation "a provocation and act of coercion in the place of dialogue and tolerance", a party spokesperson said.
In Gaza, hundreds of supporters of the Islamist Hamas group that controls the Palestinian territory held a protest march through the Jabalia refugee camp near the enclave's northern border.
Yusef al-Sharafi, a Hamas leader, told the crowd that "this unprecedented Zionist decision is an encroachment on the freedom of Muslims".
"Attempts to ban the Azan (call to prayer) are doomed to fail because of the steadfastness of the Palestinians," he said, reiterating the long-standing Hamas demand that the Palestinian Authority end its security cooperation with Israel.
The bill, which passed the ministerial committee for legislation on Sunday, had been appealed by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who demanded another discussion on it before its first parliamentary reading.
Litzman, a member of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, was concerned that the bill could also outlaw the weekly sirens that indicate the beginning of the Sabbath.
The bill, drafted by Moti Yogev and supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will now be put on hold until a ministerial committee holds a second vote.
It was drafted in response to noise from mosques, but would in theory apply to all religious institutions.
Around 17.5 percent of Israelis are Arab, the vast majority of them Muslim, but they complain of discrimination and are under-represented in high-level jobs.
Israeli Arabs are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land during the war that led to the creation of Israel in 1948.
The draft law would also apply to east Jerusalem, occupied in 1967 and later annexed by Israel and where more than 300,000 Palestinians live.
By Crispian Balmer ROME (Reuters) - If Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi loses his referendum on constitutional reform, the chances of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement winning power will recede rather than grow. Renzi has said he will resign if the Dec. 4 ballot goes against him and markets are worried that this might open the door to the opposition 5-Star, which has denounced the euro. Latest opinion polls show the 'No' camp well ahead, pushing the yield gap between bellwether Italian and German 10-year bonds to two-year highs, partly out of concern over the seemingly unstoppable rise of the 5-Star. However, analysts say Italy is more likely to return to old-style consensus politics after a 'No' vote, with traditional mainstream parties on the left and right sharing a common interest in keeping the maverick 5-Star in opposition. The key to doing that will be a reform of the electoral law, which heavily favors the 5-Star and which Renzi said this week would have to be changed before the next election, which is due in 2018, regardless of what happens in the referendum. "It is clear that as things stand, the present law would have brought the 5-Star to power. By changing it, many different electoral outcomes will open up," said Piero Ignazi, a political science professor at Bologna University. The last three elections in Italy were staged using an electoral law that was so universally disliked it was known as the "pigsty" and was eventually ruled unconstitutional. After many attempts at reform, Renzi finally succeeded last year, introducing the so-called Italicum which gave Italy a two-round voting system, with the leading two parties from the initial ballot heading into a decisive run-off, promising a sizeable parliamentary majority to the victor. The law was originally thought to favor Renzi's Democratic Party (PD), but the 5-Star's standing has since risen and all recent polls say it would easily triumph in a two-round race. COLD WAR POLITICS Alarmed by these surveys, the PD said this month that it was willing to get rid of the run-off ballot and review how seats should be distributed in a simple one-round system. The center-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi supports this stance and is calling for a return to proportional representation. "If no-one wins a clear majority, then the two (political) blocs will have to reach a (coalition) deal, as happens in Germany," Berlusconi told RTL radio on Wednesday. The 5-Star has in the past ruled out any coalition deals to avoid compromising its ideals, meaning a pure proportional representation system could leave it perennially in opposition, like Italy's powerful Communist Party during the Cold War. Despite being favored by the Italicum, the 5-Star is also clamoring for change, saying the current law is undemocratic. "This shows people that we are different and don't do things purely out of self-interest, like the other parties," said 5-Star lawmaker Danilo Toninelli. He has drawn up a draft electoral law that also foresees a return to proportional representation, but with a very high vote threshold for entering parliament which will sweep away smaller parties and reward the bigger ones. This system might initially result in broad left-right coalitions, but Toninelli said voters would eventually realize that such pacts do not work and turn in droves to the 5-Star. "We are thinking in the long term ... but they will never accept our proposal. They will draw up an electoral law that is the most anti-5-Star they can come up with," he told Reuters. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
New York (AFP) - Japan's leader voiced confidence about Donald Trump as he became the first foreign leader to meet the US president-elect, who was narrowing in on cabinet choices.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met for 90 minutes with the president-elect Thursday evening at Trump Tower to sound him out after a campaign that included rhetoric that alarmed many US allies.
"As an outcome of today's discussions, I am convinced Mr Trump is a leader in whom I can have great confidence," Abe told reporters, describing a "very warm atmosphere." He gave no specifics.
Japan is one of Washington's closest allies, but Trump alarmed Tokyo during the campaign by musing about pulling the thousands of US troops from the region, and suggesting that officially pacifist Japan may need nuclear weapons.
Trump also vowed while campaigning to tear up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade pact backed by outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama and which Abe had made a top priority.
Also at the meeting with Abe was Trump's model-turned-business executive daughter Ivanka and her husband, real estate developer and publisher Jared Kushner.
The presence of the couple, who have emerged as key advisors, underscores the family's influence as the president-elect readies to take power.
- Flynn as top security adviser? -
Trump on Friday will head to his exclusive golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, transition officials said, a location that offers more seclusion and comes amid complaints about the congestion in front of Trump Tower on New York's bustling Fifth Avenue.
Trump, who has been interviewing Republican operatives for top cabinet posts, appeared to be zeroing-in on staunch supporters but also considering former rivals.
The president-elect has offered the role of national security adviser to retired general Michael Flynn, a military intelligence officer and staunch campaign loyalist, several US media outlets reported late Thursday, citing transition team sources.
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It was unknown if Flynn has accepted the job, which does not require senate confirmation.
A former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012-2014, Flynn was sharply critical of Obama administration policies.
Flynn however was ousted from that job amid reports of an abrasive management style and clashes with senior officials.
During the campaign his vocal support for Trump gave the businessman credibility with veterans despite the billionaire's lack of military service.
And at the Republican National Convention, Flynn led chants of "Lock her up!" -- calling for Democrat Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned.
Trump also met with Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama and hinted that he would offer him a prime position. Sessions was one of Trump's earliest supporters.
- Victory lap for Trump -
Trump is set to meet over the weekend with one of his harshest Republican critics, Mitt Romney, and may be considering him for secretary of state, MSNBC and CNN reported.
Romney, who lost to Obama in 2012, had described Trump as vulgar, dishonest and out of line with US values, rebuking the tycoon for proposals such as banning the entry of all foreign Muslims.
If chosen Romney would bring a more orthodox Republican worldview to foreign policy. In 2012 Romney described Russia as the top geopolitical threat -- a sharp contrast to Trump, who has exchanged compliments with President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier reports said Trump was considering South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, an Indian-American woman who would inject rare diversity into his team. Haley visited Trump Tower on Thursday but did not speak to reporters.
Another possible State Department pick is former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime Trump supporter who would likely face tough Senate scrutiny over controversial business dealings.
Pentagon and State Department officials said that Trump's team had reached out on the transition, easing concerns of critics who note Trump's lack of governing experience.
Trump also met 93-year-old Henry Kissinger, the apostle of realpolitik who guided foreign policy for presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer.
"Israel has no doubt that president-elect Trump is a true friend of Israel," Dermer said.
- Democrats face internal challenge -
Trump pulled off the biggest upset in modern US political history through support from white working-class voters, defeating Clinton on November 8 in several states that had given Obama comfortable victories.
George Gigicos with the Trump team told reporters that the president-elect would head to some of those states after the November 24 Thanksgiving holiday in a post-election "victory tour."
Trump has drawn outrage by tapping anti-establishment firebrand Stephen Bannon, who pushes white identity politics, as chief strategist. House Democrats urged him to cancel the appointment.
Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi, meeting in Washington with vice president-elect Mike Pence, nevertheless said her party stood ready to work with the incoming US leader on areas such as improving childcare access -- an issue the tycoon embraced during the campaign.
Pelosi, 76, who as House speaker was the highest-ranking woman in US history, has led House Democrats since 2002 with strong internal support.
But 43-year-old Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio on Thursday announced he would challenge Pelosi, saying the election defeat showed that Democrats need to change.
"Keeping our leadership team completely unchanged will simply lead to more disappointment in future elections," Ryan said in a statement.
By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described Donald Trump as a "trustworthy leader" after meeting the U.S. president-elect on Thursday to get clarity on statements Trump had made while campaigning that had caused concern about the alliance. Abe, speaking after the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, reporters: "The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust." But he would not disclose specifics because the conversation was unofficial. Trump, in a brief entry on his Facebook page accompanied by a photo of the two men, said: "It was a pleasure to have Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stop by my home and begin a great friendship." Japan's leadership has been nervous about the future of an alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security. Trump had fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms, demands that allies pay more for keeping U.S. forces on their soil or face their possible withdrawal, and his opposition to the U.S.-led 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact. Abe had worked closely with President Barack Obama on the TPP trade pact, which was part of Obama's push to counter the rising strength of China and a pillar of Abe's economic reforms. "Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader," said Abe, describing the talks as "candid" and held in a "warm atmosphere". Abe gave Trump a golf driver and received golf-wear in return, Japanese officials said. Photographs taken inside the ornate meeting room at Trump Tower showed Abe accompanied only by an interpreter and Trump by his daughter Ivanka, her husband and Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn whom a senior Trump official said on Thursday had been offered the national security adviser position. COMMON GROUND Abe said he had agreed to meet again with Trump "at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth." It was unclear if that would happen before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump official Kellyanne Conway told CBS earlier on Thursday that "any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration." Back in Tokyo, Finance Minister Taro Aso commented: "The meeting ran longer than planned, which means that they were on the same wavelength and it went well." Some of Trump's campaign rhetoric suggested an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defense. A Trump adviser who spoke earlier in the week, however, stressed a more positive view and credited Abe with making changes. "Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japans global posture," he said. Trump, a brash billionaire real estate magnate, and Abe, a political blue blood, share a stated desire to raise their countries' global standing and both have support from right-wing constituencies. Abe has boosted Japan's overall defense spending since taking office in 2012. He has also stretched the limits of its pacifist postwar constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. Japan's defense spending, though, still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP compared with more than 3 percent in the United States. Abe was expected to see Obama at an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru on the weekend. Hours before Abe and Trump met, Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met in Lima to discuss the Paris climate accord - a deal Trump has pledged to exit. Diplomats and analysts say that however good the atmospherics, it will be hard to assess Trump's policies on security issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China's maritime assertiveness and the North Korean nuclear threat until Trump makes key appointments. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland in New York, Linda Sieg, Kaori Kaneko and Tetsushi Kajimoto in Tokyo, and David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney and Simon Cameron-Moore)
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make an official visit to Argentina on Monday hoping to boost investment in the Latin American nation, officials said.
It is the first visit to Argentina by a Japanese prime minister in 57 years -- the last was by Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi in 1959.
Abe's one-day visit provides the latest big international encounter for Argentina's conservative president Mauricio Macri.
He has been working to boost Argentina's trade ties since he took office a year ago after 12 years of protectionist policies under his leftist predecessors.
Heading to Argentina after the APEC trade summit in Peru, Abe will meet businesspeople and members of Argentina's 65,000-strong Japanese community.
The Japanese embassy in Buenos Aires said in a statement it is "a historic visit that will seek to further strengthen bilateral relations."
The Argentine foreign ministry said the visit aims to reinforce ties "in the political and economic spheres and in trade, investment and cooperation in science, technology, culture and sport."
Japan's ambassador in Buenos Aires, Noriteru Fukushima, said in July that he wanted to multiply Japanese investment in Argentina over the next three years.
He said Japan aimed to increase investment to as much as $3.0 billion a year from its current level of $100 million.
Japanese carmakers already have major factories in Argentina and Toyota, for example, is looking to expand, said Belisario de Azevedo, an economist at Argentine consultancy Abeceb.
"Currently bilateral relations between Argentina and Japan are very much focused on investment, above all on the auto sector, with the Honda, Toyota and Nissan factories," he said.
Japan has trading agreements with Brazil, Mexico and Chile, but not with Argentina.
Japanese exports to Argentina were worth about $1.2 billion in 2015, according to the Argentine state statistics institute.
That was twice the amount that Argentina exported to Japan.
* Peach will start using new A320s from 2019
* Peach will use new jets to expand flights
* Order takes Airbus closer to annual target (Adds comments, details)
TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Peach Aviation said it had ordered 10 fuel-efficient Airbus A320neo passenger jets and three older versions of the jet, for a total of $1.3 billion at list prices, as part of its business expansion plans.
The Japanese budget carrier in a press release said it will begin introducing the new planes from 2019. It currently operates 18 older A320s.
The order will help Airbus in its race against Boeing in Japan, where the latter is a bigger player with its strong ties to local aerospace firms such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that build significant portions of its jetliners. The deal is, however, smaller than some had expected.
On Thursday, industry sources told Reuters that Airbus had spent months trying to sell dozens of A320neo passenger jets to Peach Aviation.
Peach Aviation, which is 39 percent owned by ANA Holdings , Japan's biggest airline, began flying in 2012 from Kansai in western Japan.
Last year it started flying to Tokyo's Haneda airport and plans to open services to Sendai in northeast Japan in the business year starting April and to the northern island of Hokkaido in the following twelve-month period.
"The A320neo will be used as a part of the introduction of new aircraft for Peach's business expansion," the company said in the release on Friday.
The order from Peach Aviation will take Airbus nearer to its target to sell 670 planes this year in the global market that is seen as somewhat oversupplied with jets. At the end of October, Airbus was 85 aircraft short of its aim.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Jason Sudeikis has enough mischief in his eyes to make John Keating a credible non-conformist hero in Dead Poets Society. Youve heard of this secret club of pubescent prep-school pishers, who meet in a cave near the finest preparatory school in the United States, according to its headmaster. That was the club and this the fictional setting of the 1989 film starring an atypically sedate Robin Williams as Keating, the prodigal alumnus who has returned to snooty Welton to inflict poetry on lads whose focus is elsewhere.
Keating, whose mantra is carpe diem and whose deity is Walt Whitman, fits squarely (so to speak) in the tradition of Miss Jean Brodie and Mr. Chips, Mr. Holland and Mr. Kotter and all the other convention-busting expanders of young minds in the apparently insatiable maw of teacher-centered pop mythology. Now comes Sudeikis known for his Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live and Horrible Bosses among other comedic high jinks to fill Keatings brogues. And hes just fine.
Adapted for the stage by Tom Schulman from his Oscar-winning screenplay, Dead Poets Society follows this weeks stage adaptation of another 80s film, Terms Of Endearment, both of which deal with the complicated ties binding overbearing parents and their overwrought spawn, and both of which end with an untimely death. Both adaptations also suffer from compression that turns more expansive screenplays into stage shorthand best suited to folks familiar with the films.
This is especially true of Dead Poets Society, even though its the better show. No leafy New England greenery, pseudo-Gothic architecture, cramped dorm rooms, spooky cave or any of the other atmospherics provided in Peter Weirs film. At the Classic Stage Companys tiny East Village theater, the audience faces a wall of books suggesting a well-appointed library (designed by the estimable Scott Pask) for the duration of the plays 90 uninterrupted minutes.
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All the films touchstones are here: The opening, in which the boys recite the four pillars of the school, their rowdy play as Keating enters the classroom whistling the Ode To Joy from Beethovens Ninth (pretty good whistler, Sudeikis is), and his heartfelt, if unlikely, success at instantaneously transforming them from arrogant, privileged, snotty brats into verse-spouting adventurers ready to epater any available bourgeoisie. Norman Lloyds scary-as-hell wooden paddle from the film is downgraded to the leather belt of David Garrison, playing the Headmaster, one of the storys two embodiments of mustache-twirling evil. The other is Stephen Barker Turner as Mr. Perry, tightly wound father of Neil, the thoughtful boy (played in the film by Robert Sean Leonard and here by the effective Thomas Mann) who discovers Shakespeare.
Dead Poets Society is an odd choice for director John Doyle in his first season as CSCs artistic head. Hes not new to the company; his revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapines Passion was exquisite; on Broadway he is responsible for both the brilliant Tony-winning revival of The Color Purple and the flawed but riveting musical The Visit. By comparison, Dead Poets Society seems small beer, coasting. While there are some pleasures to be had in Sudeikis tweedy performance, theyre offset by the blandness of the others and some genuine weirdnesses in the script.
At one point, for example, one of the boys blurts, in response to the carpe diem theme, carpe vagina. As this does not exist in the film, I took it to be Schulmans sly social commentary on a recently uncovered declaration by our President-elect; a CSC spokesman says this is not so. And absent any off-campus settings, the plays climax makes no sense at all. (One change for the better: Mr. Perrys motivation for destroying his sons soul is fleshed out with a line admonishing Neil not to forget his place on a lower social stratum than his trust fund mates.)
Truth to tell, however, the virtue of the film, besides Williams lovely performance, is seeing Leonard, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles giving their youthful all to a heaping helping of hokum. The stage version has Sudeikis displaying his own charms, small-scale though they are. But no matter how many dead poets names are dragged in to class up the act, hokum is still hokum.
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Donald Trumps team announced Friday that the president-elect has offered Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions the job of attorney general.
Sessions, who was one of the first members of Congress to endorse Trump in February, chaired Trumps national security advisory committee and has also advised the now president-elect on some of his biggest campaign decisions and proposals, including his immigration policy and his vice president pick, The Washington Post reports.
Like Trumps other cabinet picks so far Mike Pompeo as CIA director and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as security advisor Sessions is a controversial figure. Here are five key things to know about him:
1. In 1986, the Senate Judiciary Committee denied Sessions a federal judgeship over alleged racist remarks
Sessions former colleagues testified that he had called the N.A.A.C.P. and other civil rights groups un-American and Communist-inspired. They also said Sessions had joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought it was okay, until he learned its members smoked marijuana.
Sessions did not specifically deny any of the allegations at the time, but said he had been quoted out of context, according to The Washington Post. He told the committee (of which he is now a member), I am not the Jeff Sessions my detractors have tried to create. I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks.
2. Sessions once called the Voting Rights Act a piece of intrusive legislation
During the 1986 hearings, Sessions did admit that he had referred to the Voting Rights Act to prohibit racial discrimination in voting as a piece of intrusive legislation.
3. He has fought both illegal and legal immigration
Like Trump, Sessions takes a hard stance on immigration. During his 20 years in the Senate, Sessions has opposed almost every immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, according to the Post.
Hes also spoken out against legal immigration, calling it the primary source of low-wage immigration into the United States in a 2015 Washington Post op-ed. What we need now is immigration moderation, he wrote, slowing the pace of new arrivals so that wages can rise, welfare rolls can shrink and the forces of assimilation can knit us all more closely together.
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4. He opposed the Supreme Courts 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide
He wrote in a news release at the time: When a society begins to strike its shared faith and traditions from every place of respect, a new faith always takes its place. Where the family is not the center of American life, government is. Todays ruling is part of a continuing effort to secularize, by force and intimidation, a society that would not exist but for the faith which inspired people to sail across unknown waters and trek across unknown frontiers.
5. Hes a climate change skeptic
During a 2015 Senate hearing for EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Sessions claimed, Carbon pollution is CO2, and thats really not a pollutant; thats a plant food, and it doesnt harm anybody except that it might include temperature increases.
Marc and J.Lo sealed the Latin Grammys with a kiss.
Superstars Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony surprised everyone, once again, after joining forces for a duet on the Latin Grammy stage on Thursday night (Nov. 17). The performance was Lopez's first time ever on the Latin Grammy stage.
After being honored as person of the year, Anthony kicked off his performance with a medley that included "I Need to Know," "Tu Amor Me Hace Bien" and "Vivir Mi Vida." Then Lopez joined him to perform "Olvidame y Pega la Vuelta," a classic Pimpinela song. Their duet was available for download on iTunes immediately following the performance.
Anthony was honored by the Latin Recording Academy as person of the year in recognition of his decades-long musical career. "Marc is a living legend," Lopez said from the stage. "He is a magical and pure artist giving away classics that will stay forever. He will always be many things in my life."
As requested by the rowdy audience, Marc and Jennifer -- formerly married and parents to twins Max and Emme -- sealed the big moment with a kiss.
Recently, Lopez joined Magnus Media, a company managed by Anthony himself, who is also producing her next studio album in Spanish.
In our history, weve had five times where a candidate won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote. In each case, no doubt, there were calls to eliminate this so-called archaic remnant.
What is often lost in the argument is the Electoral College was conceived to protect the minority. To illustrate this, lets simplify things. Suppose there are only two states, Nebraska with 5 electoral votes and Texas with 38. For our illustration every person, even children, vote. Texas has 27.47 million voters while Nebraska has 1.9 million. There is one question on the ballot: Whether or not to give Texas everybodys money.
Nebraska will never win this election and Texas will get every cent we earn. Now, the people of Nebraska would get mighty sick of this, so they talk to their friends in Michigan and Ohio to join them. The population of the Nebraska-Michigan-Ohio union is 23.43 million, but together they have 39 electoral votes. The three-state compact will never win the popular vote, but together they could win the Electoral College and put the money of the people back into their pockets.
So, next time theres a call to eliminate the Electoral College, stop and think how the unintended consequences may affect Nebraska and Kansas and the Dakotas and so many other smaller states.
Norman W. Schaefer, Lincoln
By David Henry
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is once again facing questions about who will succeed its larger-than-life chief executive after Jamie Dimon was courted by the incoming U.S. president for the role of Treasury secretary.
Dimon, 60, has been running the largest U.S. bank for more than a decade and has faced questions about his longevity in the role before: when potential successors left, when he allowed an embarrassing $6.2 billion derivatives trading loss and, most recently, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014.
Although associates have said Dimon is not interested in the Treasury job, the recent invitation from a member of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team to apply for the job was a reminder to interested parties, including some investors, that his time at the helm is finite.
"He is not going to be CEO forever," said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital Management, which owns JPMorgan shares.
Although a sudden departure would not necessarily lead the investor to sell the stock, it would be "troubling," Todd said. "I would have to gain some comfort with who was taking over that role."
Dimon will not be easy to replace. He has won a higher valuation for JPMorgan stock than rival banks by shepherding it through the financial crisis without any quarterly losses, while earning relatively high returns on equity and explaining the workings of the bank to analysts as though he were a demanding business school professor.
He has been quick to point out that the JPMorgan board has a succession plan in place, whether he departs abruptly due to unforeseen circumstances - known colloquially as a "hit by a truck" scenario - or whether he takes part in a more gradual transition. The board does not publicize those plans. Doing so could prompt executives who are not the favorite to leave.
There are six key members of Dimon's management team who are often mentioned in discussions about succession. They range in age from 46 to 58, with the older executives seen as "hit by a truck" contenders, and younger ones thought to be potential CEOs-in-training.
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Each has some qualities Dimon has identified as necessary for the next CEO - like moving through senior roles in different parts of the company, having experience with the investment bank, or having the temperament to be the public face of JPMorgan - but none clearly has them all.
JPMORGAN'S GOT TALENT
Gordon Smith, a 58-year-old Briton with computer science training, is chief executive of the consumer bank. He runs nearly half of JPMorgan, including Chase branches, credit cards, mortgages and auto loans.
Dimon hired him from American Express Co in 2007. Although Smith has many of the skills needed to be CEO, he is close enough to Dimon's age that insiders see him as an unlikely long-term candidate.
Daniel Pinto, 53, who oversees corporate and investment banking, is also on the succession shortlist.
Dimon has entrusted Pinto with running the most volatile part of JPMorgan and dealing with the biggest corporate clients. A native of Argentina, Pinto spends much of his time working from JPMorgan's London office.
Doug Petno, who runs commercial banking, is another possible contender. With $212 billion in assets, his segment of the company is bigger than all but a handful of competitors. The 51-year-old came up through the ranks as lender and investment banker to the oil and gas industry.
Mary Erdoes, 49, who runs asset management, is also said to be in the running. Erdoes keeps a relatively low public profile as she travels the world to cater to the richest clients.
Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake, who is 47, is also floated as a possibility. Lake already has a high profile, because she handles public presentations of the bank's financial results each quarter and has shown she can be as dextrous with numbers as Dimon.
But while Lake is known internally for grasping the details behind summaries she receives from business heads, she has not run any of JPMorgan's units day to day.
Chief Operating Officer Matt Zames is the youngest contender, at 46. In his role, he has the advantage of learning all segments of the bank from the inside out.
Dimon turned to Zames in early 2012 to clean up the portfolio of the bad "London Whale" derivatives trader that was costly not only in dollars but in reputation. Zames came from fixed-income trading, and has worked through financial crises going back to 1998.
'I DON'T WANT TO RETIRE'
Dimon has said JPMorgan has a "deep bench" of talent, with several people who could take over. But he has been careful not to clearly show favorites.
When all goes right with succession plans, companies tend to announce a few months ahead of time that their leaders will be relinquishing the CEO title to a successor but remain on the board as chairman for a smooth transition. During the interim, other executives in the horse race tend to peel off, letting up-and-comers take over their own roles.
JPMorgan has resolved nearly all of its major legal investigations. Dimon received a clean bill of health after undergoing cancer treatment. And, apparently, he has no plans to join Trump's cabinet. So unless an unexpected event forces his hand, Dimon may not feel compelled to tell investors who is next.
"My retirement date, every time you ask me that, I'm going to say five years," Dimon said in response to a question last year. "I don't want to retire." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Bill Rigby)
With time running out on President Obamas nomination of Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland to be a Supreme Court Justice, a federal trial judge in Washington, D.C., on Thursday threw out a New Mexico lawyers lawsuit seeking to force a vote in the Senate.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, in a five-page opinion, did not rule on the legal merits of the lawyers case, but simply found that the lawsuit had been filed in the capacity of a citizen who claimed his own rights had been violated by Senate inaction, and that was not enough to justify court jurisdiction to decide the case.
Treating the claim by Santa Fe lawyer Steven S. Michel as a request for the court to assume a position of authority over the governmental acts of another and co-equal department, the judge said that a court could act only to protect a uniquely injured individual. The New Mexico lawyer failed to show that, the judge declared.
Judge Garlands nomination to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia has now been pending in the Senate, without any action at all, for eight months, with the Senates Republican leadership insisting on holding the nomination opportunity open for the newly elected president. The GOP leaders made that commitment within hours after Justice Scalia died last February. Garland was nominated on March 16.
While there have been at least two other lawsuits seeking to compel the Senate to consider the Garland nomination, the case of Michel v. McConnell had appeared to be a more serious attempt because it sought to overcome all of the constitutional and procedural obstacles that ordinarily prevent courts from second-guessing how the Senate does its work.
But Michels lawsuit was dismissed based on just one of those obstacles the need to show direct, personal harm from the Senates decision not to move the Garland nomination, even to a hearing, let alone hold a final up-or-down vote. Under the Constitutions Article III, as interpreted for decades by the courts, the federal courts only have authority to decide a live case or controversy, and that means that the individual or group filing the lawsuit must be able to prove a clear injury resulting from government action or inaction.
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Michel had claimed that, under the Seventeenth Amendment, which changed the way members of the U.S. Senate are chosen to the method of direct election, he as a voter was guaranteed an opportunity to cast his vote for an effective member of the Senate. The two senators from New Mexico for whom Michel said he had voted, he had argued, were being deprived of an opportunity to vote on the Garland nomination, and that violated Michels own vote in favor of those senators elections.
The judge concluded that this vote-dilution claim, if it amounted to that, was shared by all of the nations voters, so Michel could not lay claim to an injury personal to himself. Michel, the judge concluded, must turn to the political branches, not the judiciary, to press his claim.
The Senate had opposed the Michel lawsuit, relying on a lengthy list of constitutional arguments, including that he lacked standing under Article III. That is the sole basis on which Judge Contreras based his ruling in dismissing the case.
The Garland nomination remains technically pending in the Senate. If, as is generally expected, the Senate takes no action on the nomination when it meets in a post-election session, the nomination will be sent back to the White House at the end of that session. The nomination thus is expected to be open for President-elect Donald Trump to make after his inauguration on January 20.
There is, as yet, no firm indication of what the new presidents plan is for the Scalia seat on the Court.
Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011 and he has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com, where this story first appeared.
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Julianne Nicholson revealed why she fell in love with USA Networks crime thriller Eyewitness the moment she read the script for its pilot episode.
I loved the story, Nicholson told Variety when asked what drew her to the Adi Hasak-created series, which is based on the Norwegian show yevitne.
I thought Helen Torrance was a really fascinating and fleshed-out character, the actress said of what she liked about her role on the series. I loved digging deep into her life and her marriage.
Helen used to be a hotshot homicide detective in Buffalo, New York until a traumatic event made her move to Tivoli, where she now works as the town sheriff. She is married to Gabe (Gil Bellows), and together they are foster parents to Philip (Tyler Young).
I think that is one of the exciting things about playing Helen. She is not just a sheriff. She also has her home life, Nicholson told Parade in a separate interview.
But Helens multi-layered characterization isnt the only thing that drew Nicholson to the series. [Helens story is] paired with the story of two boys [Philip and Lukas (James Paxton)] falling in love, which I thought was portrayed in a beautiful way that I hadnt seen on television, the actress told Variety.
When asked how the LGBTQ storyline of the show is different from others, Nicholson said: It begins more as a straight-up love story than necessarily a 'gay love story,' and I liked that. It doesnt have to do with sexuality, and I feel like thats important.
An all-new episode of Eyewitness airs on Sunday, Nov 20 at 10 p.m. EST on USA Network. Check out the synopsis for Season 1, episode 6, titled The Yellow Couch, below:
As Helen looks for the murder weapon, Kamilah (Tattiawna Jones) pulls her into a desperate search for Sita (Amanda Brugel). Lukas is on the verge of his dream sponsorship but it requires an act of betrayal to secure the deal.
Julianne Nicholson as Helen Torrance
Photo: Shane Mahood/USA Network
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Please understand it is against my personal code to cause lasting harm to any individual, says Justin Chatwins the Ghost in the BBCs upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special. However, light to moderate injury is fine, he adds, before throwing a bad guy across the room after saving the life of a certain Time Lord and pals.
You can see the whole scene from The Return Of Doctor Mysterio in the video the BBC released today. The peek at the December 25-airing special penned by Steve Moffat first went public in the UK on as part of BBC Ones telethon for Children in Need, the public broadcasters corporate charity.
A look at Orphan Black and Shameless alum Chatwins masked superhero role was first unveiled at New York Comic-Con back in October during BBC Americas takeover event at Madison Square Garden.
Fighting off an alien threat to the Big Apple (cause thats what they do on Doctor Who, you know), the holiday special will of course star Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor. Little Britain star Matt Lucas back on the show in his Nardole role, and Wolf Halls Charity Wakefield joins as a journalist potentially in the right place at the right time.
The new season of Doctor Who set to be the last for executive producer Moffat debuts in America in the spring.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZVEkic89I&w=605&h=340]
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SARASOTA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Kali Inc. (OTC PINK: KALY) today announced the appointment of JR Bott as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mr. Bott joined Kali earlier this year as the CEO and President of Kali's operating subsidiary, Wave Marina & Yacht Services. Mr. Bott continues in his role as the CEO and President of Wave in addition to assuming the new responsibility of Corporate COO.
JR Bott has over 40 years of boating expertise and a wealth of experience in sales, business development, and marketing. He is also the owner/operator of a 100' megayacht and held a Master 200-Ton Captain's License, as well as being a licensed/certified yacht broker in the state of Florida. Prior to joining Wave, Mr. Bott owned and operated a precious metals business where he drove the company's annual gross revenue to $20M. He has also served over 15 years in management with various public utility companies, holding AVP and GM titles.
"JR is an exceptional asset that I expect will contribute substantially to Kali's ability to accelerate our marina services roll-up strategy," said Charles Yawn, Kali CEO. "At Wave he has demonstrated an in-depth industry knowledge and obvious overall management experience that can only come through years of senior management experience. Kali is ready from a management perspective to sail forward into a standout, leadership position within the marina management sector."
KALY entered the $5 billion fragmented and underserved marina management market sector earlier this year when it acquired Wave Marine & Yacht Services as the first acquisition in a comprehensive roll-up strategy. Industry analysis indicates that no dominant player currently exists in the marina management market. KALY's plan is to build upon the $5 billion marina management market opportunity by adding complimentary business lines that will increase the Company's overall revenue opportunity in addition to building an asset rich balance sheet.
Yesterday, KALY published an online presentation providing a progress report on the Company's ongoing execution of its strategic business plan to carve-out a niche in the High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) population anticipated by Capgemini to reach a collective wealth of over $100 trillion by 2025. Specifically, KALY is pursuing the HNWI boating hobby and lifestyle niche.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL ONLINE PRESENTATION
Management plans to update the online strategic progress presentation on a regular basis. Check back frequently for the latest.
Learn more about KALY: wavemarineservices.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and as such, may involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, amongst other things, current expectation of the business environment in which the company operates, potential future performance, projections of future performance and the perceived opportunities in the market. The company's actual performance, results, and achievements may differ materially from the expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements as a result of a wide range of factors.
CONTACT:
Kali, Inc.
941.444.6994
management@wavemarineservices.com
SOURCE: Kali Inc.
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He keeps threatening to run, but what exactly would a Kanye West 2020 presidential campaign look like?
On Thursday night, during a tour stop in San Jose, California, West pulled out a few more surprises in his continuing political saga. First, he announced his support for Trump as president and people were pissed. Then, he went deeper in depth than ever before about what his specific presidential platform might look like.
So based on last night's sporadic, wild remarks, given in between songs or in the middle of them, we've tried to gather exactly where he stands on issues, from immigration to education policy.
SEE ALSO: Kanye West just said he would have voted for Trump and people can't cope
ONLY ONE TO SAVE US ALL #Kanye2020 pic.twitter.com/nezgpAJK4L Fashun Faux Pas (@rafsimonsavedme) November 9, 2016
On education reform
West spoke a bit regarding schools, and while we may have to wait a few years to hear any tangible solutions regarding issues like segregation and funding for arts programs, he did expound upon his belief of, "creating new schools that approach the way we should receive our education post-the internet," rather than a, "1930s idea of how to put everyone in the same factory."
"Schools were designed to put people in certain forms of jobs," he elaborated. "The internet has opened up all other forms of jobs. Education is far behind where it needs to be for us as human beings to be informed enough to not be disappointed in the way that so many people were. We have to ask questions. None of us are experts at everything."
On systematic racism, Black Lives Matter, and women's rights
Westwho famously said in 2005, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" is no stranger to expressing his opinions regarding race relations in the United States, particularly in his music. But during the San Jose show, West called upon folks to talk about something other than racism.
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"Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism," he said. "This world is racist, OK? Let's stop being distracted to focus on that as much. It's just a fucking fact: we are in a racist country, period."
"Not one or the other candidate was going to instantly be able to change that because of their views," he continued.
When he revealed his support for Trump, West quickly followed it with a clarification. "That dont mean that I dont think that Black Lives Matter, that I dont mean that I dont think I believe in womens rights, that don't mean that I don't believe in gay marriage..." he said.
On housing
No, West didn't divulge ways to end homelessness or the affordable housing crisis, but while riffing about bringing different skill-sets together in the political realm, he touched upon what might end up being a very aesthetically pleasing housing platform.
"Education, housing," he said, listing issues he believes he can make people come together over. "Theres so many elements that Ive been out here learning, when I make my rich-guy house and shit. I be learning about elements that everyone should have. Color palettes, proportions."
On immigration
While he didn't outright say anything regarding of how he would help or prevent people from immigrating, tweets from concertgoers reported that West inserted a line in support of Trump's plans to build a wall between the Mexico and United States border.
LMAO kanye just freestyled at his concert and said "I hope they build the wall,I hope they get rid of them all" Jonn. (@JonnGrey) November 18, 2016
So, take that with a grain of salt. Just like his 2020 presidential bid.
On preparedness and future campaign strategy
In his candid remarks, West explained that Trump's campaign style was more interesting to him than the president-elect's actual politics. According to tweets from concertgoers, West revealed he was already gearing up for the race.
Kanye just said he thinks he'll have the experience in 2020 to run for office, I'm dead serious, Kanye just said he's preparing for 2020. Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
Theres nonpolitical methods to speaking that I like, that I feel were very futuristic," West said, explaining what he liked about Trump's campaign. "And that style, and that method of communication, has proven that it can beat a politically correct way of communication. And I fuck with that."
West later rattled on about how he would implement tactics and concepts from previous presidential nominees because, "fuck all the power plays."
"Its the collective idea of Hillary or, if we like Bill Clinton and things that he did for the country, we like things about Obama, things that he did," he elaborated. "Our current president has to take the best of all candidates principles, and combine them right now. If that doesnt happen, Imma run, and Imma say this. And its gonna be more clear."
"I got some ideas about the way we should connect our ideas," West insisted. "And we should use opposite parties that the Republicans, that the Democrats, that everyone that ran that had an idea that people agreed with, should be the collective ideas that are used to run the country."
He said this before explaining that he believed Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton and President Obama should all be consultants to Trump rather than distance themselves because of party politics.
"I dont have all of the answers, but I know that if I work with the best of class, with the idea of empathy for the human race, that idea of a power struggle between whos Republican, whos Democrat, who said this, who said that, [but rather with] more of what is the principles that can collectively come together?," he said. "We can start with America. And bring together the best of all skill sets."
See you on the campaign trail/tour, Mr. West.
BONUS: Kanye West for President 2020 | Kids Lip Dub
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Kanye West opened his mouth and promptly inserted his foot in it once again during one of his rants at a show. As if his remarks about voting for Donald Trump werent enough, he also decided to share his two cents on racism and once again prove what a contradiction he can be at times.
Before I get out of here I want to talk about race and the idea of racism in America and the world, West said. From there, he went into a brief spiel on how the outcome of the presidential election wouldnt affect racism in America. Instead of worrying about discrimination, Ye suggests people just get over it.
Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism, he said. This world is racist, OK? Lets stop being distracted to focus on that as much. Its a f***ing fact. We are in a racist country. He reportedly also told the crowd how, as a black man and a celebrity, he felt persecuted for supporting Trump but now feels vindicated by his victory in the presidential race.
Kanye West tonight speaking on racism in America. Specifically to black people, stop talking about race so much. pic.twitter.com/HTWlJgdq7E Brandon E. Patterson (@myblackmindd) November 18, 2016
Yes, the same Kanye who called out George Bushs lack of concern for Hurricane Katrina victims was due to their skin color. The same Kanye who used the Confederate flag as part of his tour merch in recent years. The same one who once rapped that he might encourage his son to become a Republican So everybody know he love white people. Hes the same man who railed against the fashion industry, citing race as part of the reason why he wasnt be accepted.
Yes, these are all the same Kanye. While hes not reaching Lil Wayne levels of unchecked ignorance, hes running very close. Actually, he was one utterance away of the phrase all lives matter to end up at the top of the list of celebs telling black people to check themselves and not the actions of crooked police, politicians, and other members of society whove made it hard on minorities for centuries.
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People are entitled to their right to grow and change. Its something Ive had to acknowledge privately and publicly regarding Pusha Ts decision to get political. I may not agree with Pushas take, I can at least understand parts of his thought process on why he was pro-Clinton even though she and her husband supported the push that lead to thousands of young black males ending up in prison.
Kanyes just a walking contradiction governed by his own self-interest and a refusal to face reality at certain times.
One Sunday, maybe he should walk into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and tell church members there not to be concerned with race. Or maybe take a trip to Flint and ask citizens there whether they think the lack of clean water in their city has anything to do with race or class. He could also ask Michael Brown or Trayvon Martins families if they feel like race is a non-issue that we shouldnt worry about anymore. Kanye should go back home to the south and west sides of Chicago to tell those people race isnt anything to be concerned with, even though recent acts point toward a different truth.
Right now, Kanyes living in a celebrity world where hes insulated from certain daily headaches the rest of black America may experience. In ways very similar to Lil Wayne, money and media attention blind Kanye from the idea that he might be refused service at a restaurant, albeit subversively, as if we were still living in a Jim Crow world. His reality isnt filled with the same uncertainty many parents of different minority groups have been dealing with as their kids ask them what reality will be like under a new president who hasnt always expressed the most likable thoughts about race. Small wrinkles like those arent visible when youre living your life in a world of flashing lights while youre perched on a flying stage above everyone else.
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Kanyes reality isnt the same as the average black person trying to provide a better life for their family and give them a sense of security as well. I can respect the difference. I just wish he could do the same for me and many others like me. Maybe the backlash and healthy conversation with many of the great, creative minds he has around him will open his eyes to whats inherently wrong with asking black people not to focus on race. If that happens, then maybe he, too, will continue to evolve and change the way he sees things in comparison to the statements he made on Thursday night.
Or, maybe in another 15 years or so, when his son gets pulled over for driving while black, then well see how he feels about how much time, attention and energy should be dedicated to the concept of racism.
He got one thing right: racism isnt going away. But not focusing on it wont help create any of the necessary changes our country needs in order for our kids not to have the same problems when theyre adults.
Rep. Mike Pompeo, Donald Trumps pick to be CIA director, has called for expanding the surveillance powers of U.S. intelligence agencies while strongly defending waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation tactics. Those hard-line views are already drawing criticism from a leading Democrat on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who called Pompeos selection deeply troubling.
Given its recent history of operating a disastrous torture program and then spying on the Senate itself, the Agency demands principled leadership now more than ever, Wyden, a veteran member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Friday. Unfortunately, Representative Pompeos comments in which he asserted that the CIAs torture program was legal and that the American people did not deserve to know about it are deeply troubling.
Wyden was referring to Pompeos blistering comments two years ago when the Senate Intelligence Committee released a landmark report documenting CIA abuses during the interrogation of terror suspects including the use of rectal feeding and mock executions. Pompeo lashed out at the panels then chair, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., for releasing the report, saying she had put American lives at risk by disclosing details about what the CIA had done.
Our men and women who were tasked to keep us safe in the aftermath of 9/11 our military and our intelligence warriors are heroes, not pawns in some liberal game being played by the ACLU and Senator Feinstein, said Pompeo in a statement at the time. These men and women are not torturers, they are patriots. The programs being used were within the law, within the constitution, and conducted with the full knowledge of Senator Feinstein.
His defense of waterboarding is far from Pompeos only view that could make him anathema to liberals and civil libertarians. A tea party conservative who graduated from West Point and Harvard Law School, Pompeo has been a vigorous foe of the agreement to curb Irans nuclear program. He consistently denounced Hillary Clintons role in failing to prevent the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya at one point calling Benghazi worse than Watergate.
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After Congress enacted a new law last year terminating the NSAs bulk collection of phone records a response to the disclosures of former contractor Edward Snowden Pompeo co-authored a newspaper op-ed citing the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., as justification for reinstating the program and even expanding U.S. surveillance powers. He also lamented that the collection of communications of terror suspects had been dumbed down by the Obama administration with overly onerous requirements to obtain warrants.
The intelligence community feels beleaguered and bereft of political support, Pompeo wrote. Whats needed is a fundamental upgrade to Americas surveillance capabilities.
Wyden stopped short of vowing to oppose, much less filibuster, Pompeos nomination. And the soon-to-be nominee got a somewhat warmer reception from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the new vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who praised Pompeo for his firsthand appreciation for Congress responsibility to provide vigilant oversight of our nations intelligence activities. Speaking on CNN, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee, also applauded Pompeos selection. Schiff said that despite their policy differences, his colleague was well qualified for the job. They couldnt have picked a more capable person for the position, he said.
Pompeo also got a positive endorsement from an unlikely source Friday: Evan McMullin, the former CIA officer who ran for president against Trump. McMullin, who worked with Pompeo as a top policy aide to the House Republican Conference, praised the Kansas lawmaker as a strong-willed personality who despite his hard-line policy views is open to new information. Added McMullin: Hes the right kind of personality to come into the agency and take control of it.
When the Constitution was written, information was sent was by a horse and buggy, for crying out loud. The Constitution was made to grow with us, not keep us chained to it but our senators and congressman wont change it. We the people will have to force the issue because they will lose the power to set it. Maybe then it won't just be two parties that don't stand for anything anymore.
The old line that the Electoral College was there to keep one state from having more power is so much crap. Nebraska only votes Republican unless we get lucky and then state legislators want to take that away. The Republican senators of this "nice" state spent so much money and time on trying to get that one electoral vote changed that it is pathetic. While we are trying to get rid of things, we need to get rid of the unicameral and make it a just like all the other states because it is just as broken as the rest.
A group of 21 young Americans has officially won the right to sue the U.S. government over global warming.
In a groundbreaking decision announced Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken denied the governments motion to dismiss the suit that demands increased efforts to curb emissions that cause climate change.
Its clear Judge Aiken gets whats at stake for us, Victoria Barrett, 17, and one of 21 plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement to PEOPLE. Our planet and our generation dont have time to waste. If we continue on our current path, my school in Manhattan will be underwater in 50 years.
Aiken ruled that the suit which was brought against the U.S. government by a group of young people aged 9 to 20, along with climate scientist James E. Hansen, could move forward to trial in federal court as it adequately alleged infringement of a fundamental right.
The suit is based on the argument that the federal government has known for decades that carbon pollution destabilizes the climate in a way that puts future generations in significant danger but has taken no action to curb it. The group alleges this failure to act has endangered their rights to life, liberty, property and vital public trust resources.
I have no doubt that the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society, Aiken wrote in her ruling.
The case, Juliana v. United States, will go to trial in 2017. A ruling in the groups favor would be a landmark decision on climate change and open a path for a court-mandated, science-based plan to reduce emissions in the U.S.
We are moving to trial and Im looking forward to having the world see the incredible power my generation holds, Barrett continued. We are going to put our nation on a science-based path toward climate stabilization.
The Killers will release a Christmas charity album in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of (RED), a charity co-founded by Bono that works to eradicate AIDS in Africa. Don't Waste Your Wishes will feature songs the band previously recorded for the charity alongside a new track.
For the past 10 years, the Killers have crafted an annual holiday single to benefit (RED). The new album compiles those 10 previously released tunes in addition to one new song, "I'll be Home for Christmas." Their new rendition on the classic holiday song features a duet with Brandon Flowers and his fourth grade teacher, Ned Humphrey Hansen. Flowers attributes learning the meaning behind the song to his former teacher.
Don't Waste Your Wishes will be released digitally on November 18th exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music. The 11-track set will also be available as a limited edition CD on December 9th via a new website the band created for the project. The website also houses videos for 10 of the tracks. The band will give 100 percent of the proceeds to The Global Fund via (RED).
Earlier this fall, the Killers marked the 10th anniversary of their sophomore album Sam's Town with a two-day celebration in their Las Vegas hometown, which included concerts and a bus tour. The band also released a vinyl reissue of the album.
Dont Waste Your Wishes Track List
1."A Great Big Sled" featuring Toni Halliday
2. "Dont Shoot Me Santa" featuring Ryan Pardey
3. "Joseph, Better You Than Me" featuring Elton John and Neil Tennant
4. "Happy Birthday Guadalupe!" featuring Wild Light and Mariachi El Bronx
5. "Boots"
6."The Cowboys Christmas Ball"
7. "Feel It In My Bones" featuring Ryan Pardey
8. "Christmas In L.A." featuring Dawes
9. "Joel The Lump Of Coal" featuring Jimmy Kimmel
10. "Dirt Sledding" featuring Ryan Pardey and Richard Dreyfuss
11. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" featuring Ned Humphrey Hansen
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Nov 18 (Reuters) - Kirkland Lake Gold Inc urged shareholders on Friday to vote for its proposed C$1 billion ($764 million) acquisition of Australian miner Newmarket Gold Inc.
Shareholders wanted the Canadian miner to resume talks with Gold Fields Ltd and Silver Standard Resources Inc on Wednesday, arguing that it was too hasty in rejecting their takeover offers.
Kirkland had confirmed last week a Reuters report that the two firms had made three joint bids for the mid-sized gold miner and recently sweetened their offer to about C$1.4 billion.
Shareholders want the company to disclose more details of the offer so they can weigh it against Kirkland's planned acquisition of Newmarket Gold.
The Newmarket Gold transaction is somewhat of an outlier, as gold mining executives say the rising price of bullion has made acquisitions costlier for a sector focused on financial discipline.
Results of the shareholder vote on the Kirkland Lake-Newmarket deal are due Nov. 25.
(Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
(Reuters) - Gold Fields Ltd and Silver Standard Resources Inc withdrew their offer to buy Kirkland Lake Gold Inc after the Canadian miner asked its shareholders to vote in favor of its takeover bid for Australia's Newmarket Gold Inc. Kirkland had confirmed a Reuters report last week that South Africa's Gold Fields and Canada's Silver Standard had made three joint bids for the company and recently sweetened their offer to about C$1.4 billion ($1.04 billion). Gold Fields said on Friday it would pursue negotiations with Kirkland if the miner's shareholders rejected the Newmarket transaction. Some Kirkland shareholders had said on Wednesday that they wanted the company to resume talks with the two entities, arguing that it was too hasty in rejecting their bid. Shareholders also want Kirkland to disclose more details on the joint bid from Gold Fields and Silver Standard so that they can weigh it against the company's proposed C$1 billion takeover offer for Newmarket Gold . The Newmarket Gold transaction is somewhat of an outlier as gold mining executives say the rising price of bullion has made acquisitions costlier for a sector focused on financial discipline. Results of the shareholder vote on Kirkland Lake's potential deal to buy Newmarket are due on Nov. 25. Kirkland Lake's shares were down nearly 4 percent at C$7.65. (Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D'Silva)
Donald Trump tapped Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to be his new head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump said Pompeo will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies, pending the Senate confirmation required for his new post.
Heres what you need to know about Pompeo.
Background
Pompeo is a West Point graduate and served as a cavalry officer in the Army from 1986 to 1991. Hes also a graduate of Harvard Law School where he was an editor at the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he founded a company and worked in the business world in Kansas until he was elected to Congress in 2010.
Time in Congress
Pompeo is a member of the Tea Party movement, and in Congress opposes the Affordable Care Act and supported the federal government shutdown. He serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, and in 2014 joined the House Select Benghazi Committee to investigate the 2012 attack in Libya. He felt the Benghazi committee, which didnt find evidence of wrongdoing by President Obama or then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wasnt harsh enough on Clinton. In an addendum to the committees report, he wrote that the State Department was seemingly more concerned with politics and Secretary Clintons legacy than with protecting its people in Benghazi, according to the New York Times.
Relationship with Trump
Pompeo supported Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the primary and tepidly supported Trump in the general, saying he will support the nominee of the Republican Party because Hillary Clinton cannot be president of the United States. But he became friendly with Trump and his campaign, CNN reports, and the two men have espoused similar views on certain issues. Pompeo strongly denounced Obamas Iran nuclear deal, writing in a 2016 op-ed for Fox News that the U.S. should walk away from this deal. Trump has called the Iran deal the worst deal ever negotiated. In 2013, Pompeo gave a speech on the House floor arguing that American Muslims are potentially complicit in terrorist attacks if they do not speak out against violence in the name of Islam. This foreshadowed a theme Trump carried throughout his campaign: One of the problems we have is the people in the community, the Muslim community are not turning over the sickos, Trump said in June, Buzzfeed reports.
The Santa Barbara Film Festival is honoring La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling with the festivals 2017 Outstanding Performers of the Year award. The honor will be bestowed on Friday, February 3. This is the first time that Stone has been honored by the festival and it marks the return of Gosling, who was the inaugural recipient of the Cinema Vanguard Award in 2008.
Stone and Goslings tribute will take place at Santa Barbaras Arlington Theatre. The 32nd annual fest runs February 1-11.
La La Land, directed and written by Oscar nominee Damien Chazelle, doesnt open until December 9, but the Lionsgate/Summit musical has already generated a significant amount of buzz on the fall festival circuit taking the Oscar bellwether Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, the best narrative feature audience award at The Hamptons, and the Volpi Cup best actress award at Venice for Stone.
Ryan and Emmas luminous performances in La La Land remind us of the transformative and magical role of cinema, said Santa Barbara executive director Roger Durling in anouncing the award. We are so proud to celebrate them and this incredible film and its nod to the classic love stories of Old Hollywood with a contemporary twist.
Stone and Gosling also join other SBIFF honorees whove been announced for this years fest: Warren Beatty (Rules Dont Apply), who is receiving the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film; and honorees Aaron Taylor Johnson (Nocturnal Animals), Dev Patel (Lion), Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures, Moonlight), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Ruth Negga (Loving), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins) and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences).
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LONDON/BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - An investigation is under way after one set of landing gear on an Emirates Airbus A380 failed to deploy properly before landing, forcing the world's largest airliner to touch down on its remaining wheels.
The airliner was arriving in Dubai from London last week when the crew received an error message concerning a system responsible for deploying the gear.
An alternative method of deployment based on lowering the wheels using gravity failed to work properly.
"What happened was that right-hand gear didn't deploy under gravity drop," Emirates President Tim Clark said when asked about the incident.
"So the aircraft landed on the main gear (and) nose gear: it's certified to do that," he said, adding the under-wing gear which contains four wheels had since been fixed.
The cause is being investigated by the United Arab Emirates' air crash investigation agency.
"I will be asking Airbus a few questions as to how this could have happened," Clark told reporters in Berlin.
"We are assisting our customer in the technical investigation into the issue," an Airbus spokesman said.
The A380 weighs up to 391 tonnes on landing. The giant plane has a total of 22 landing wheels, including two sets under the belly of the plane and one set under each wing and the nose.
Emirates is the biggest operator of A380s, using engines powered by Engine Alliance, which is co-owned by General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.
Separately, Clark said Emirates was having technical issues with alternative Rolls-Royce engines for A380s due for future delivery.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Victoria Bryan; editing by Jason Neely)
BEATRICE -- After 27 years on the bench, District Court Judge Daniel Bryan Jr. will retire at the end of the year.
Bryan presides over the District Courts First Judicial District, which includes Clay, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Pawnee, Richardson, Saline and Thayer counties, and will be leaving the position to spend more time with family.
My family doesnt live in Nebraska and my grandkids dont live in Nebraska, which means that at this point in time, after 27 years, I decided I would give somebody else a chance and Id go see my grandkids and kids more, he said.
Based in Auburn, Bryan has presided as a District Court judge since 1999.
Prior to his District Court career, he spent 10 years as a County Court Judge in the 10th Judicial District. He was a private practice lawyer in Geneva from 1981-89, and served in the Fillmore County Attorneys Office in Geneva as both a deputy county attorney from 1974-78 and the County Attorney from 1978-89.
Bryan attended St. Josephs College and the Creighton University School of Law.
One stock that might be an intriguing choice for investors right now is Las Vegas Sands Corporation LVS. This is because this security in the Gaming space is seeing solid earnings estimate revision activity, and is in great company from a Zacks Industry Rank perspective.
This is important because, often times, a rising tide will lift all boats in an industry, as there can be broad trends taking place in a segment that are boosting securities across the board. This is arguably taking place in the Gaming space as it currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 28 out of more than 250 industries, suggesting it is well-positioned from this perspective, especially when compared to other segments out there.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands is actually looking pretty good on its own too. The firm has seen solid earnings estimate revision activity over the past month, suggesting analysts are becoming a bit more bullish on the firms prospects in both the short and long term.
LAS VEGAS SANDS Price and Consensus
LAS VEGAS SANDS Price and Consensus | LAS VEGAS SANDS Quote
In fact, over the past month, current quarter estimates have risen from 59 cents per share to 63 cents per share, while current year estimates have risen from $2.19 per share to $2.23 per share. This has helped LVS to earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) further underscoring the companys solid position. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .
So, if you are looking for a decent pick in a strong industry, consider Las Vegas Sands. Not only is its industry currently in the top third, but it is seeing solid estimate revisions as of late, suggesting it could be a very interesting choice for investors seeking a name in this great industry segment.
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Leslie Jones is feeling herself. (Photo: Mike Pont/WireImage)
Leslie Jones isnt having the best year when it comes to her bod first, she couldnt find a designer to dress her non-stick-thin frame for the Ghostbusters premiere (props to Christian Siriano for coming to the rescue). Then, her website was hacked and nude photos of her were leaked online.
But shes bounced back in a major way. And why shouldnt she? Shes beautiful, talented, and utterly hilarious.
Feeling Beautiful in My Skin ???? Styled BY: @bmcstylez ???? Dress BY: @badgleymischka Shoes BY: @vincecamuto Purse BY: @judithleiberny A photo posted by Leslie Jones (@lesdogggg) on Nov 17, 2016 at 8:16pm PST
Her radiance was on display last night at the 2016 American Museum of Natural History Museum Gala, to which she wore a $440 Badgley Mischka cocktail dress. Oh, and in case she wasnt relatable enough already, her stylist Brian Mcphatter told Yahoo Style this dress was straight off the rack. The tight eggplant frock featured cutouts on her collarbone and down the middle of her chest, showing a hint of cleavage. She paired it with a bedazzling Judith Leiber box clutch and strappy Vince Camuto heels. Her hair, which usually sticks straight up, was styled a little softer for the evening, and her makeup was full-on glam with lipstick that matched her dress and long false eyelashes.
We arent the only ones who noticed how gorgeous she looked last night; she was feeling pretty good about herself as well.
With all her boisterous work on Saturday Night Live, we dont get to see this side of Jones that often, but we love when we do.
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Any mom deals with guilt when theyre away from their children even celeb moms like Rebecca Romijn.
Its hard. A mothers guilt is no joke, the mother of two, 44, says in the current issue of PEOPLE. Its a little bit of a balance. Im not as available to them when Im in production as I am the rest of the year.
But even though her hit TNT drama The Librarians films in Portland, Oregon, and her family is based in Southern California, Romijn who has 7-year-old twin daughters, Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip, with husband Jerry OConnell considers herself lucky that the show shoots during the summer months.
They usually come up with me for half the summer and then go to their grandparents and the camp that Jerry went to as a kid, she says.
But because her work often keeps her from her daughters, Romijn says she chooses her projects carefully.
If its something thats going to take me away from my daughters for a few months, I want them to be able to see what Ive been making, she says.
Romijn says her daughters love The Librarians and shes glad she can play a character that is a role model for them.
RELATED VIDEO: Why is Rebecca Romijn Obsessed With Dolly Parton?!
Its great playing a strong female character who can be a role model for them, says the actress. Thats important to me.
Season 3 of The Librarians premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
For more from Romijn including which former Ugly Betty star joined her magical adventure drama for season 3 pick up the Sexist Man Alive issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.
Miami (AFP) - Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is to undergo surgery for his torn meniscus and could be out for up to six months, multiple reports said Thursday.
Stamkos is to travel to Colorado for the procedure by knee specialist Robert LaPrade, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Although no timetable for the 26-year-old's return has been set, the typical recovery time for the procedure ranges between four to six months.
The Lightning said Wednesday Stamkos faced an indefinite period on the sidelines following the injury, which occurred during the team's win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
The Canadian star's stellar career has been dotted with injuries. He suffered a broken leg during the 2013-14 season.
He underwent surgery for a blood clot on his right collar bone this past April, which forced him to miss the last few regular-season games of last season and all but one of Tampa Bay's final Stanley Cup playoff game.
Little Mix has always been a living example of girl power, but the British gals may have outdone themselves with their fourth LP, Glory Days.
In the year since the group released its previous album, Get Weird, every Little Mix member has been through ups and downs (whether together or individually), experiences that they weren't just able to channel into songs -- they were able to create an album they loved in record time. Billboard got a chance to catch up with the group's Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock ahead of the big release, finding out why this album is so special to them and their hopes going into the Glory Days era.
"With Get Weird, it just didn't seem to be working. Like we couldn't get the right songs, it just wasn't jelling," Pinnock explains. "And this time around, I feel like we just had so much to write about it just happened. It felt natural."
Agreeing with Pinnock, Edwards piggybacked off the "natural" comment, mentioning how honest everyone was in the songwriting sessions, which resulted in a different concept and production process than they've ever had before. There were times when the writing hit a wall, though. Little Mix's solution? Fro-yo.
During one of their last recording sessions, Edwards explained that the writer they were working with suggested a frozen yogurt run when it seemed like everyone was struggling with their creativity. "So we ordered an Uber, jumped in the car, and stayed at the mall for about half an hour just eating frozen yogurt," laughs Edwards. Upon returning with full bellies, "We wrote one of our favorite songs on the album in like 10 minutes after that," Edwards says. "I guess it was the sugar rush."
A few months after Glory Days hits stores (Nov. 18), Little Mix is set for a trek across North America in support of Ariana Grande, an opportunity for which the girls are extremely excited and grateful. They have yet to figure out the set list for their opening gigs, but Edwards hopes it includes "Touch" -- a sexy, danceable track with a bit of a "Hips Don't Lie"-vibe -- while Pinnock is eager to sing heartbreaking ballad "Nobody Like You" because of its powerful vocal moments for each member.
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But whatever the girls choose to perform from Glory Days, power moments are bound to happen no matter what. The album is chock-full of them, particularly in songs like the "boy bye" declaration "F.U.," feisty beat-dropper "Power" and anthemic single "Shout Out to My Ex."
Although there are tinges of heartbreak and struggles on the album, the overall feeling that resonates from Glory Days is that the Little Mix girls have turned the past year's hardships into success -- coming out stronger, both musically and emotionally, because of it.
"The reason that we called the album Glory Days is because we're gonna look back on this time and say that it was the glory days, the best time of our life," Edwards says. "Hopefully our fans can share that with us."
Adds Pinnock, "We've heard a lot of people say that we've changed their lives with our music. That's what we set out to do."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp subsidiary Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co has been awarded a $1.2 billion contract to upgrade F-16 aircraft for South Korea, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 15, 2025, the Pentagon said in a statement.
(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech)
WAHOO -- Wahoo State Bank's main office, a longtime cornerstone of downtown Wahoo, has been gutted by fire.
An employee smelled smoke around 9 a.m. and went to investigate. On the roof, he discovered a worklight had turned over and burned a hole, likely sparking a fire that burned throughout the morning and into the afternoon.
The approximately 16 employees in the building scrambled to secure deposits and documents in the bank vaults, then safely fled the two-story building at East Fifth and North Linden streets in the town about 30 miles north of Lincoln, said Cindy Hohl, the banks executive vice president.
Patching work was done on the building's roof the day before, Hohl said. No official cause of the fire has been determined, but the state fire marshal's office is investigating.
From a store across the street, Hohl watched as smoke billowed from the bank building and water poured from the front and side doors of the structure as firefighters used aerial and platform ladder trucks to battle the blaze.
She and her brother, bank CEO and President Greg Hohl, are the fourth generation to run Wahoo State Bank.
My great-grandfather with other investors opened the bank in 1932, Hohl said.
There has been a bank on that corner even longer, said community historian Joe Vculek.
The very first bank on that corner was 1884 Saunders County National Bank, which, he said, closed at the start of the Great Depression.
Hohl said she has a long personal connection to the building, which went through major remodels and exterior facelifts in 1969 and 1989. When she joined the family business 40 years ago, her father, Robert Hohl, started her at the bottom, cleaning the basement.
Wahoo Fire Chief Mark Meyer said there was no smoke or flames visible when first responders arrived shortly after 9 a.m., but upon investigation they found the fire burning between three layers of the building's roof.
A rubber membrane on the top kept water from reaching the fire, and a northwesterly wind of 35 to 45 mph fanned the flames, helping it spread.
Because they feared a roof collapse, which happened sometime midmorning, firefighters fought the blaze entirely from outside of the structure.
Wahoo Fire and Rescue called in mutual aid from David City, Cedar Bluffs and Yutan. About 50 firefighters worked the scene, no injuries were reported and the fire was contained by 1:30 p.m., Meyer said.
An hour later, Silvia Wade and a friend were mopping brown water from the floor of Wades Wigwam Cafe, which abuts the west wall of the bank.
The Cafe and other neighboring businesses were evacuated, including Mayor Loren Lindahls law office, while the fire raged. Wade, who lives above the cafe with her husband, was stressed but happy firefighter kept the fire from spreading to her building.
My head is about to explode, she said. Im soaked."
Hohl said Wahoo State Bank remains committed to being a cornerstone of the community. Bank customers information is safe and secure in vaults and backed up electronically. Bank employees will do business out of an office in Omaha, if needed, and a drive-up branch remains open in Wahoo.
I cant say for sure when well be up and running, Hohl said. I hope by Monday, but it does take a little while to enact a plan and get going.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnazs daughter is a gorgeous, talented fashionista
Fans of I Love Lucy will be glad to know that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnazs daughter, Lucie Arnaz, is carrying on her parents tradition of great style and a love for music. First acknowledged by Good Housekeeping, not only is Lucie a bandleader, like her Cuban American father, shes also a total style icon just like her mom.
As Lucie gears up for the premiere of her new musical, Lucie Arnaz Latin Roots, set to hit the stage in Miami on November 19th, shes been spotted on many a red carpet. And we couldnt help but notice her impeccable sense of style!
Recently, Lucie attended The Paley Center for Medias Hollywood tribute to Hispanic achievements in television looking chic in head-to-toe black, adding a red clutch for a pop of color.
We also loved this chic take on a tailored tux that Lucie wore to the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala in the spring.
Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala - Backstage
The leather lapels! OMG!
Lucies great style is nothing new, either. Take a look at this sexy one-shoulder frock she wore to perform in New York in 2012.
Lucie Arnaz Performs At Feinstein's At Loew's Regency
And this p-e-r-f-e-c-t ensemble she wore to the Kentucky Derby in 2014.
140th Kentucky Derby - Arrivals
Were going to need that hat stat!
Lucies new show is her latest offering in a long musical career: After her fathers death in 1986, she created a nightclub act based on his unreleased recordings and recorded an album of that work.
Then, in 2010, she recorded an album of her own music called Latin Roots. And that same year she mounted a musical production in Miami called Babalu A Tribute to the Music of Desi Arnaz. Her new show will feature some of her fathers most beloved hits as well as new music.
Lucille And Desi
Shine on, Lucie. Youre doing your parents proud!
The post Lucille Ball and Desi Arnazs daughter is a gorgeous, talented fashionista appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Headquartered in Austin, TX, Luminex Corporation LMNX recently announced that its ARIES System and Flu A/B & RSV Assay has been assessed by the Department of Viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center, a Netherland-based consultation center for the World Health Organization on viral infections. The study has also been published in the Journal of Clinical Virology, an international magazine on human virology and virus-induced clinical conditions.
Meanwhile, the current market sentiments of the stock lack luster as Luminex represents a negative one-year return of 1.64%, compared to the S&P 500s 5.09% over the same time frame. However, Luminex gained almost 0.5% to close at $20.95 following the news.
Coming back to the latest development, the study by Erasmus exclusively highlights the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the ARIES System and Flu A/B & RSV assays. Per management, the study by Erasmus demonstrates the value of the ARIES platform for the molecular diagnostic labs that aims to perform 'out of sync' MDx testing.
Of the recent events, Luminex reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 6 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 12 cents. In fact, earnings slumped 64.7% on a year-over-year basis.
However, the full-year guidance holds promise for the stock, as Luminex expects revenues in the range of $267$270 million, up from the previous range of $261$269 million, reflecting overall growth between 12% and 14% over 2015 levels.
LUMINEX CORP Price
LUMINEX CORP Price | LUMINEX CORP Quote
Our Take
On the Aries platform, Luminex submitted the Group B Strep assay to the U.S. FDA in the last reported quarter. Notably, this will be the third IVD-cleared assay on the Aries system fortifying the companys foothold in the market.
Apart from the lucrative assay portfolio, Luminexs collaboration with Nanosphere in the recent past is a significant growth driver. Particularly, the Verigene System of Nanosphere is likely to enhance Luminexs growth trajectory in the coming quarters, in our view.
Story continues
Key Picks
Luminex currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Favorably-ranked stocks in the broader medical space include Cogentix Medical, Inc. CGNT, CryoLife Inc. CRY and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. IDXX, all of which sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cogentix Medical registered a positive earnings surprise of 100% in the last reported quarter. Notably, the company has a solid one-year return of roughly 76.4%.
CryoLife has a stellar one-year return of roughly 86.9%. In the last reported quarter, the company registered an impressive earnings surprise of 225%.
IDEXX Laboratories represents a solid one-year return of almost 66.8%. The company has a long-term expected growth rate of almost 14.96%.
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In a nod to the burgeoning importance of seniors as a target demographic of technology companies, Lyft and Home Care Assistance announced the ridesharing company will donate a portion of fares booked through the in-home care company.
Under the pilot program, which is currently only available in Palo Alto, California, for every Lyft ride booked by a client of Home Care Assistance one of the largest in-home care providers in the country Lyft will donate 1 percent of the fare to the Village to Village Network, an organization that helps seniors live independently. The announcement also signals a deepening of ties between Lyft and Home Care Assistance, which became partners earlier this year.
Under the partnership, older adults can bypass the app and instead request a Lyft ride by calling Home Care Assistance. Lyft's competitor, Uber, announced a similar partnership with 24Hr HomeCare earlier this year. The emergence of ties between the ridesharing companies and in-home care companies underscores a convergence of interests between the two segments: Ridesharing services can extend the ability of older adults to live independently while the 50-plus demographic provides a lucrative market for tech companies. The AARP estimates adults over the age of 50 account for $7.6 trillion dollars of annual economic activity in the U.S.
Other tech companies are also taking notice of the baby boomer and senior market. At the recent Aging 2.0 conference in San Francisco, Jennifer Haroon, an executive with Google (GOOGL)'s self-driving car program, spoke about the impact of automated car technology on the lives of seniors.
"When you can't drive, it can be very isolating, and everyone wants to be able to go out, run their errands, go to the doctor, see their friends, on their terms," said Haroon. "And that's what a self-driving car can really bring."
Still, there are challenges. A 2015 study by the Pew Research Center found that only 27 percent of 65-plus adults own a smartphone. Home Care Assistance CEO Lily Sarafan says by having access to ridesharing services through a landline, more seniors will be able to tap into the potentially transformative benefits of ride-hailing apps.
The program is currently only available in Palo Alto, but Home Care Assistance officials say they hope to expand it to its clients nationwide.
Our cover features (from left) Centennial Mall renovation fundraising campaign co-leader Mary Arth, Mayor Chris Beutler and Patty Pansing Brooks, another campaign co-leader who is now a state senator.
An Oct. 9 celebration dedicated Nebraskas revitalized Centennial Mall. Originally constructed in 1967 to commemorate Nebraskas statehood centennial, the seven-block mall had fallen into disrepair over the past few decades, did not meet accessibility standards and needed to be rebuilt.
The effort to revitalize the mall gained momentum a decade ago, when the City of Lincoln committed $3 million to the project. Support from Lancaster County and the State of Nebraska followed.
Next, the Lincoln Parks Foundation led a successful $9.6 million fundraising campaign that allowed the revitalization project to begin in 2012. The effort received support from across the state, as 130 donors contributed to the campaign, which included a $1.5 million endowment to maintain the mall. A $2 million gift from Hebron native Glenn Korff finished the campaign in early 2013.
The driving force behind the campaign was a team of tireless volunteer fundraisers led by Arth, Pansing Brooks and the late Roger Larson. The project is an excellent example of how a public-private partnership can work.
See more details, including a block-by-block description of what the new Centennial Mall includes, in our cover story in this website's Features section. John F. Keller contributed this months cover photo.
Getting around town
I love how my job gets me around Lincoln, and this past month was no exception. In addition to the Centennial Mall celebration, my wife ReNae and I attended Okto Beerfest at the Lancaster Event Center, an event that raised $25,000 for the Nebraska State Stroke Association (details and photos in this website's Around Town section). I shot photos at the Fall into Fashion fundraiser at Country Club of Lincoln, an event that supports the Lincoln Community Playhouse (see this website's Around Town section). I witnessed Raising Canes heartwarming distribution of 1,900 donated coats to the homeless and nearly homeless at the Peoples City Missions Homeless Prevention Center (again, please see this website's Around Town section). And son John and I took in the sunshine and outdoor splendor at the Prairie Run, which raised funds to support prairie restoration projects at the Pioneers Park Nature Center (article and photos in the Around Town section).
As always, I received a lot of help covering activities all over Lincoln and the surrounding area. I am always amazed and blessed to receive so much cooperation from incredibly talented people throughout our community.
I appreciate your ideas
Id like to know what kinds of stories you want to see and any other suggestions you have for L Magazine. Please email these to mark.schwaninger@lee.net or call me at 402-473-2644. As always, I appreciate your Likes and comments on the L Magazine Facebook page as well.
Skopje (AFP) - Ten Macedonian intelligence officers, including senior spies, have been charged with wiretapping thousands of people in a scandal that plunged the country into political crisis last year, prosecutors said Friday.
The charges were announced shortly before Macedonia goes to the polls in a snap election on December 11 that was triggered by the resignation of the prime minister over his alleged involvement in the affair.
Conservative former premier Nikola Gruevski was accused in February 2015 by the main opposition Social Democratic party of orchestrating the wiretapping of thousands of people, including politicians, journalists and religious leaders.
The tapes of the conversations appeared to reveal corruption among high-ranking officials, including Gruevski, who was accused of accepting a 20-million-euro ($22-million) bribe from Chinese firms to grant them motorway construction concessions.
"Ten former and current employees of the Security and Counterespionage Agency, holding either managerial or lower positions, were charged with abusing their position in the agency," Fatime Fetai of the special prosecutor's office told reporters.
Prosecutors say 20,000 people were caught in the illegal wiretapping by the agency which monitored nearly 6,000 telephone numbers from 2008 to 2015.
After a wave of demonstrations, Gruevski resigned in January this year following an EU-brokered deal with the opposition, paving the wave for snap elections.
Gruevski's right-wing VMRO-DPMNE has ruled Macedonia in a coalition with the main ethnic Albanian party since 2006.
He plans to run again in December and could form a government again if his party wins, although analysts say he may leave the post of prime minister to another VMRO-DPMNE official.
Macedonia obtained European Union candidate status in 2005, but has yet to begin membership talks.
By Joern Poltz MUNICH (Reuters) - Macedonia's former prime minister, who resigned in January after a wiretap scandal, said he would seek to return to the post at an election on Dec. 11. Nikola Gruevski, who led the country for almost a decade as head of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE, stepped down as part of an EU-brokered deal to end a crisis that began in February 2015 when the opposition accused him of listening in on the phone calls of more than 20,000 people. "We believe that this political crisis will be resolved with the elections of Dec. 11," Gruevski told Reuters in Munich where he was visiting Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer. Confirming he would run as the prime ministerial candidate for his party, which currently is in power, Gruevski said it should be up to the people to chose. "Now it is time to give chance to them to decide who is right, who is wrong," he said. Opinion polls put the VMRO-DPMNE slightly ahead of the opposition Social Democratic Union (SDSM). Gruevski and dozens of his associates are being investigated by the office of a special prosecutor appointed to look into the phone-tapping scandal. His opponents say he and his people interfered in the work of the judiciary and media, intimidated voters and appointed cronies to public sector job. He has denied any wrongdoing. Gruevski said Macedonia would need more help, including financial assistance, from the European Union in tackling flows of migrants crossing the country to get the EU. (Reporting by Joern Poltz; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Netflix
Making A Murderer subject Brendan Dassey wont be going home any time soon. The news came last night as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the Wisconsin Attorney Generals emergency motion to stay his release. The three judge panel granted the stay, and now Brendan Dassey will remain in prison while the Seventh Circuit considers the states full appeal of the earlier ruling that tossed Brendans confession. No reasoning was included in the filing denying Dasseys release.
Its the end of a roller coaster of a week that saw a judge deny the states original appeal and order Brendan Dassey freed by Friday at 8pm. Attorney General Brad Schimel filed another appeal with the Seventh Circuit along with an emergency motion to keep Dassey in prison, but it was a toss up as to whether the court would hear the case in time, or at all. The states original appeal of Brendans overturned conviction was denied in harsh terms, with the judge chastising the attorney general for offering up the same arguments and no new evidence as to why Dassey should remain in jail.
At the heart of Dasseys overturned conviction is the judges opinion that the 16-year -olds confession was coerced, and that the state had no other compelling evidence tying him to the crimes he was found guilty of with the confession thrown out. And while the judge may be right on a common sense level anyone who has watched the confession can see the detectives fabricating Dasseys statements the state argues that much worse confessions have been upheld as legitimate, so why not this one too? Its a messed up argument, but unfortunately terrible precedents often hold tons of sway when it comes to the rulings of judges.
All hope is not lost for Dassey, though. His lawyers Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin are hard at work preparing their arguments for the Seventh Circuit appeal, and Laura Nirider literally wrote the book (the actual book law students read) on wrongful convictions and juvenile justice. Just last week, Drizin stated Niriders appeal was a work of art, so it could lay bear the unjustness of Dasseys conviction and how the state of Wisconsin continues to punish him despite having no real evidence he had anything to do with the death of Teresa Halbach.
Nsanje (Mozambique) (AFP) - A Malawian man accused of sleeping with more than 100 girls and women in a series of traditional cleansing rituals was on Friday convicted by a court of "engaging in harmful practices".
Eric Aniva -- who has said he is infected with the HIV virus -- was prosecuted after publicly speaking about his role as a "hyena" in a BBC documentary.
Custom in some parts of southern Malawi demands that a man, known as a "hyena", is paid to have sex with bereaved widows to exorcise evil spirits and to prevent other deaths occurring.
At the request of a girl's parents, the "hyena" is also paid to have sex with adolescents to mark their passage to womanhood after their first menstruation.
The ritual, which many Malawians says is rarely practised today, is believed to train girls to become good wives and protect them from disease or misfortune that could fall on their families.
After an international outcry, President Peter Mutharika ordered Aniva's arrest in July.
In the first case of its kind, Aniva, 45, was found guilty on two counts by magistrate Innocent Nebi after a one-day trial in a packed courtroom in the district of Nsanje.
"It is clear... that the state has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was engaging in harmful practices," the magistrate said.
"I find you guilty and convict you accordingly," he said, adding that sentencing would be on November 22.
He faces a maximum of five years in jail.
- High HIV infection -
The state produced six witnesses against Aniva, who pleaded not guilty.
The magistrate said the court had concluded that "sexual cleansing violates the dignity of widows".
State prosecutor Chiyembekezo Banda demanded a long prison sentence for Aniva, saying he was probably responsible for the spread of HIV.
Malawi is one of the worst affected countries in the world, with 27,000 deaths from AIDS-related illnesses and nine percent of the adult population infected with HIV.
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Michael Goba Chipeta, Aniva's defence lawyer, told the court his client should not be jailed.
Chipeta appealed for Aniva to not be used as "a sacrificial lamb", saying "the publicity he has attracted is punishment enough".
Before being led by police to his cell, Aniva told AFP: "I am not worried about being convicted. I think I will be given a suspended sentence."
His second wife Sophia, who was in court, was in tears and declined to speak to the press.
Aniva is said to have slept with at least 104 women and girls, some as young as 12, in a ritual that lasts three days.
He said each family paid him a fee of between $4 and $7 (3.78-6.61 euros).
Its difficult to say just how many Malaysians flooded the streets of Kuala Lumpur during the last weekend of August 2015 by some estimates, 200,000, most of them dressed in the shade of canary yellow that has become the de facto hue of the global pro-democracy movement. They were there to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who had allegedly embezzled nearly $700 million in cash from a suffering state-development fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB. (Najib has consistently denied the allegations.)
The protest, organized by a confederation of pro-democracy and anticorruption activists known as Bersih (which in Malay means clean), was one of Malaysias largest public gatherings in recent memory, and certainly the most spirited. Malaysia is literally the perfect country and its been completely spoiled by corruption and money politics, one protester said at the time. Were finally tired of it.
That was 15 months ago. This weekend, Bersih will reconvene, in Kuala Lumpur and in Malaysian communities around the world. But if the demonstration in 2015 was an exemplification of the democratic spirit defiant, outspoken, responsibly optimistic this weekends protests will likely demonstrate the frustration of that spirit when its ambitions are deferred. Najib is still in power, and is in fact more powerful than ever: as public opposition to his leadership has escalated, his government has cracked down on Malaysias civil society, jailing his critics and blocking access to websites that publish controversial information.
Many Malaysians who participated enthusiastically last year will simply stay home: some say they are pessimistic about the prospect of changing a system they see as irrevocably corrupt; others worry about the consequences of publicly airing their political grievances in an increasingly autocratic society. Several individuals who were once eager to discuss the movement have anxiously asked not to be quoted.
There is a bit of lethargy, and people do give up quite easily, says Maria Chin Abdullah, the 60-year-old activist who serves as Bersihs chairperson. Earlier this week, the World Organization for Torture made note of the number of death threats she has received in the weeks leading up to the protests. But weve achieved quite a lot electoral awareness, bringing people together and we have to fight it out.
On Friday night, local media reported that Chin Abdullah was arrested and charged with engaging in activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy.
It was not supposed to be this way. Malaysias emergence on the global economic and industrial stage in the past decades of the 20th century was one of the great Asian miracles, and the democratization of its politics and society was supposed to be the logical next step. Specifically, Najib was supposed to be the one to lead that change. When he took office in 2009, he spoke in lofty terms about things like multiculturalism: a breath of fresh air in Malaysia, where society is fragmented along its ethnic Malay, Indian, and Chinese populations. He promised economic betterment after years of a lull in growth.
But the story of democracy in 21st-century Asia has been a story of broken promises look at Thailand, or Hong Kong and under Najib, Malaysia has become yet another example of this. His party, the increasingly right-wing United Malays National Front (UMNO), has pushed for reinforcements of policies that offer education and employment benefits for the bumiputra, as the Malay majority is called, at the expense of the Chinese and Indian communities reverse affirmative action, as it were. Najib pledged to reverse Malaysias draconian security laws and has done precisely the opposite, imposing regulations that allow his government to effectively suspend constitutional civil liberties.
There is no question whatsoever that Najibs government has become more dictatorial and repressive, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division, tells TIME. Its incredible how far and how fast the human-rights situation in Malaysia has deteriorated. (Najib, meanwhile, has advised the West to stop lecturing countries they once exploited.)
Popular disenchantment escalated into outrage in early July 2015, when the Wall Street Journal and the London-based investigative website Sarawak Report reported that Najibs personal bank accounts held $700 million in dubious cash cash, it was believed, that had been transferred from the fund known as 1MDB, a pet project of Najibs launched in 2009 ostensibly in the interest of economic stimulation. A later report from the Journal later put the sum of the loot at upwards of $1 billion.
It is quantitatively one of the biggest corruption scandals in modern history. In their reporting, the Journal and Sarawak Report have outlined a money trail that spans the globe and implicates a host of parties from Hong Kong to Switzerland to Manhattan to Hollywood. The money is believed to have been used to bankroll Martin Scorseses 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, which Najibs stepson Riza Aziz co-produced. In July, U.S. federal prosecutors announced that they had filed a civil lawsuit to seize assets funded by the money linked to 1MDB in the largest single action ever under the Department of Justices antikleptocracy initiative.
Najib has ardently denied all allegations of malfeasance none of which have cracked his armor anyway. Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition to which Najibs party UMNO belongs, has succeeded in regional elections, despite the public unrest. Najib has manipulated the popular discourse by utterly cracking down on the online media, blocking access to Sarawak Report and the popular publishing platform Medium. The Malaysian Insider, a popular antigovernment news blog, was shuttered in March; on Friday, editors from Malaysiakini, another influential blog that has intensively covered the 1MDB affair, were in court, charged with intent to annoy. The Guardian reports that they face up to a year in prison, where they will join Rafizi Ramli, an opposition parliamentarian sentenced on Monday to 18 months for disclosing confidential information regarding 1MDB.
Najibs latest crackdown on the freedom of the press is all about trying to eliminate views that challenge progovernment narratives in the government-controlled print media, TV, and radio, Robertson of Human Rights Watch says. Evidently, the governments idea is: if we cant stop opposition party members and civil society activists from saying things they dont like, we can make it harder for people to hear them.
This, the organizers of Saturdays protest say, is why popular demonstration is now all the more imperative, despite threats from pro-government groups to disrupt the gathering with violence. Bersihs organizers have spent the past seven weeks traveling to hundreds of locales across Malaysia, encouraging citizens who might otherwise be apathetic to join the fray.
At the end of the day, its the peoples power that will create change, Chin Abdullah says. Were not here to fight the government this is not about a war. This is exerting our fundamental right to speak out.
Laughing, yelling, singing and chanting, a steady stream of humanity moves toward the rivers edge. Waves of vibrant sarees pulse in and out of timeworn temples and shrines, while eager shop owners vie for attention. As predictable as vegetarian curry is for lunch, their products and services include rafting trips, yoga courses and souvenirs.
Hoping to get in on the action, cheeky monkeys launch surprise attacks on tourists, lapping at their ice cream while holy cows do their best to clog main arteries with their lackadaisical, hefty backsides. Above it all, the smell of freshly fried samosas and tandoor naan mingle with aromas of sweet pastries from one of many German bakeries.
Welcome to Rishikesh.
Nestled against the foothills of the Himalayas and situated on the sacred Ganges River, Rishikesh is famous among Hindu pilgrims and Western spiritual seekers alike. The western craze began after 1968, when the Beatles visited the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to learn about meditation and ultimately write many of the lyrics for their famous White Album. This publicized visit created a waterfall effect of Westerners searching for self in the Home of Yoga.
But long before the Wests glamorization of Rishikesh, Hindus have been visiting. Legends of saintly penances performed on the banks of the Ganges, apparitions of beloved deities and the location where the Vedas, sacred Hindu scriptures, were revealed to cave-dwelling monks, are just a few reasons why many Hindus embark on this meaningful pilgrimage at least once in their lives.
Some arrive by plane wealthy urbanites from the big cities of New Delhi or Mumbai. Others, less fiscally inclined, arrive after lengthy train or bus rides a 40-hour transit considered short by many other pilgrims. And then theres the most humble devotee of all. Arriving on their own two feet, the poorer levels of society can be found alongside the road with battered tins of water and lentils balanced atop their heads. They often travel for weeks, even months, to reach this holy location.
Divided into two areas, Rishikesh downtown carries little spiritual significance. But just upstream, the riverside communities around the Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula bridges are where most of the ashrams, temples and tourists reside. These jhulas, suspension bridges, hover high above the Ganges River and provide the only crossing for pedestrians.
Like ants to an anthill, hundreds of people pour onto the bridges. Pushing themselves and family members forward, there is little regard to personal space in this frenzied attempt to reach their respective sides. Designated as foot traffic only, hasty scooters and overloaded motorcycles invariably find entry. Using their magical light saber, a horn, drivers truly believe people will disintegrate with each aggressive honk!
Ding ding! Dozens of bells do their best to rise over the chaos below. With 13 floors devoted to countless gods and goddesses, the iconic Tera Manzil temple heaves with believers. The sweet smell of rose and sandalwood wafts through the corridors, and the recurring sounds of families final rupees clink against the bottom of copper offering dishes.
Below, in the Mother Ganga, other pilgrims bathe. Wading into the cool waters, many for the first and only times in their lives, they splash water thoughtfully over their limbs and pray for nullification of sins. Others pray for enlightenment.
Just down the river a nightly display of devotion, the ganga aarti, is about to begin. Performed on the steps of the famous Parmarth Niketan Ashram, below a towering statue of Lord Shiva, processions of chanting, saffron-robed monks move toward the rivers edge. Seated around a fire, the monks sing and perform rituals to Agni, the fire goddess.
Woo hoo!! Screaming at the top of their lungs, raft after raft of enthusiastic tourists float past. A part of the community since the sport began, now hundreds of rafting companies call Rishikesh home.
Bungee jumping and trekking have further developed the adventure market, calling to another type of tourist; the young, wealthy city slicker. Living on parental credit, their goals hardly parallel anything spiritual. They are more concerned with the perfect Facebook picture and the inflated stories they can share with friends.
The subsequent tourism dichotomy is baffling. Traditionally veiled women of Rajasthan, hidden under yards of bright fabric and ornate bracelets, walk next to 20-something divas from New Delhi in tight jeans and AC-DC tank tops. Just beyond, well-dressed middle-age men disembark chauffeured vehicles, round potbellies boasting wealth and excess, while humble sadhus and swamis (holy men), swathed in bright orange robes, beg for a handout in the dusty streets. Throw a few unwashed, Ali baba pant-wearing Westerners and suave Indian raft guides trying to score alcohol in a dry city, and you have a taste of what makes Rishikesh one of the best places in the world for watching people.
And then there was me a 30-something transient in lycra yoga pants and a thin cotton tunic. I arrived with the hope of filling the spiritual reservoir and discovering the benefits of yoga. Me, and just about every other Westerner.
Its 5 a.m. The first of a series of annoying alarms sounds off. Snoozing the first three or four, I finally surrender to their electronic summons. Peeling my body from the sweaty sheets, I swing my feet onto the slightly cooler concrete ground. Sitting up straight, my back cracks louder than the rickety wooden bed frame and my knees and glutes scream for mercy.
Rubbing my eyes, I clear just enough of their sleepy film to reach the kitchen. Good morning, stovetop coffee maker. What? Not all yogis need to give up caffeine.
At 6:15 a.m., I join my fellow students in the yoga hall. Large and airy, the second-floor yoga hall is flanked on three sides by floor-to-ceiling windows. A light orange drapery filters out the harsh sunlight, while a half dozen oscillating fans do their best to keep the 110-degree heat of Indian summer moving (power outage permitting, of course).
Ekam Dve Treeni (One, two, three).
Bending forward, my toes seem farther away than enlightenment. Trying to suppress the feelings of envy I hold for my flexible neighbors, discomfort and doubt creep in like a slow, debilitating leak.
Closing my eyes, I try to bring awareness to my breath. In and out. In and out. Physical poses are only a piece of ones practice. Yoga is the union of mind and body. It is a discipline. It is an evolution of peace, serenity and bliss that grows with meditation and manifests in action.
Yoga is a lifelong journey, I repeat to myself. And this is only the first chapter.
Om Santi Santi Santi.
* Regina spent three months in Rishikesh and received her 500-hour RYS Yoga Teacher Training Certificate at the Association for Yoga & Meditation (AYM). To read more about her experience, see backpackerswanted.com.
Ten months after its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, Kenneth Lonergans Manchester by the Sea will roll out in theaters this weekend. Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges, the feature, opening via Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions, is up for three Gothams and enjoying strong Oscar contention. It will make its initial run in New York and L.A. Meanwhile, Tom Ford, seven years after making his first film, A Single Man, returns this weekend with Nocturnal Animals starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams. The Focus Features title won the Grand Jury Prize at this years Venice Film Festival. Well Go USA is heading out with Chinas I Am Not Madame Bovary in a few dozen locations, while Abramoramas doc Best Worst Thing That Could Have Happened opens in New York before heading west. And Rough House Pictures will spearhead the roll out of Joshua Locys drama Hunter Gatherer.
Among other titles opening in limited release this weekend are FilmRises Magnus, Cohen Media Groups re-release Daughters of the Dust, Magnolias The Eyes of My Mother and High Top Releasings The Take.
Manchester by the Sea
Director-writer: Kenneth Lonergan
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Liam McNeill, C.J. Wilson, Tate Donovan, Heather Burns, Matthew Broderick, Gretchen Mol, Ben OBrien
Distributor: Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions
Sundance fest debut Manchester by the Sea was born of collaboration between producer Chris Moore and Matt Damon. Damon had been looking to direct his first feature, though his acting gigs ended up pushing that aside. [Actor-producer] John Krasinski pitched the idea for Manchester, Moore explained this week. And Matt, who had worked with Kenny [Lonergan] before thought it would be good for him.
The feature follows the life of a solitary Boston janitor who is transformed when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew. After the death of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked to lear that Joe made him the sole guardian of nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Taking leave of his job, Lee reluctantly returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea to care for Patrick, a spirited 16 year old, and is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and the community where he was born and raised.
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John and Matt pitched the story to Kenny in late summer or early fall of 2010. Kenny thought about it and had a different take on it, which we really liked, said Moore . John didnt have time to work on the script, so we got some money together and hired Kenny to write it. It took [a bit of time] since he was also working on other stuff, but in summer 2014 he gave us the first draft.
In the meantime, the group met with independent financiers and spoke with their friend Casey Affleck, who did have a window of time in the winter of 2015. They loved Kenny, said Moore . Often you have good meetings but then nothing ever happens, but within a week we had some money together. Kenny convinced Michelle [Williams] to begin the film. Talent wants to work with him.
Manchester by the Sea shot over 32 days, which Moore described as pressure packed, though Lonergan had a precise vision. The feature includes scenes aboard a boat and other potentially budget-busting moments, but the production team kept their original vision. Theres stuff that an independent movie would normally have had to cut out, but they were part of what makes this movie great, said Moore. The town is also a great character. Its part of the tension that [influences] the main character.
The made its Sundance debut last January, and the premiere was the center of attention until another title ended up grabbing the headlines.
We had the fantasy experience of a bidding war at Sundance, he said. For ten minutes we were the talk of Sundance until Birth Of a Nation came along and everyone forgot about us, which probably ended up being a good thing. We didnt want to overplay it because we knew wed be waiting until November for the release. When you work on something like this, you want the marketing and planning to be as diligent as the execution.
Amazon Studios picked up the title and tapped Roadside Attractions to handle the theatrical release. The Awards-hopeful will open in 4 locations including Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika in New York as well as the Arclight Hollywood and The Landmark in L.A. Manchester then will head to an additional 8 markets Thanksgiving weekend. More theaters will be added in the following weeks before going to about 800 900 theaters in mid-December.
Nocturnal Animals
Director-writer: Tom Ford
Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Karl Glusman, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen
Distributor: Focus Features
Nocturnal Animals is Tom Fords second directorial, following the 2009 feature A Single Man that starred Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. His latest, with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, won the Grand Jury Prize at this years Venice Film Festival.
Focus touts the feature as a haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension that explores the thin lines between love and cruelty, and revenge and redemption. Gyllenhaal and Adams star as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves.
What attracted us to Nocturnal Animals is Tom Ford, said Lisa Bunnell, president of Distribution at Focus. His last film, A Single Man, was a remarkable first-time effort. What Focus is trying to do is to work with directors that are inspired and to show their vision. He totally fits with what we want to do.
The Weinstein Company opened A Single Man in December 2011 in 9 locations, grossing over $217K its first weekend ($24,148 average). It continued to do well, grossing nearly $9.2 million domestically.
Nocturnal Animals is going to appeal to an upscale, sophisticated audience, said Bunnell. But its still a thriller, so it will go beyond the arthouse crowd. It will have critical acclaim. The vision of the film is heavier [than most thrillers] but in a good way. Theres also an aspect to it that [lends] social commentary.
Focus Features is opening Nocturnal Animals initially in 37 theaters in 14 major cities including New York, L.A., San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Miami and more. Added Bunnell: Were going broader than the usual four theaters in New York and L.A. This has big city appeal with a huge cast. Well expand [over Thanksgiving] and well go wide on December 9. Tom Ford will participate in Q&As on Sunday in LA at select screenings at the Landmark and Arclight.
I Am Not Madame Bovary
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Writer: Liu Zhenyun
Cast: Fan Bingbing, Guo Tao, Da Peng, Zhang Jiayi, Yu Hewei
Distributor: Well Go USA
Well Go USA CEO Doris Pfardrescher had been tracking Feng Xiaogangs I Am Not Madame Bovary for a while, finally grabbing rights to the film ahead of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, picking up a film critics prize there followed by the Grand Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The film centers on Li Xuelian and her husband Qin Yuhe who stage a fake divorce to secure a second apartment reserved by the government for single people. Qin remarries six months later as agreed but to a different woman. Furious, Li files a lawsuit with the county court but loses the case. Refusing to accept the courts findings, Li appeals to the chief justice, the county chief, and even the mayor, but fails at every turn. After Qin publicly accuses Li of being a promiscuous woman because she was not a virgin on their wedding night, Li is driven back to the courts to redeem her reputation. Li makes her way from county to city, enduring one trial after another, until she decides to make her appeal in far-off Beijing, but 10 years go by, and the cases of Lis divorce and her ruined reputation have not been resolved.
We expect the Chinese diaspora audience to come out in droves, and were working our usual magic on that front, but we also expect that the arthouse audience looking for something different will be interested to see what Feng Xiaogang has accomplished here, noted Well Go USAs Dylan Marchetti. So in New York City, for example, while well open venues that are familiar to the diaspora audience like the AMC Empire 25, well also open key arthouse venues known for adventurous programming like the Metrograph.
I Am Not Madame Bovary will open here alongside its roll out in China, which Well Go USA is hoping will help the title stateside as it is being pushed heavily at home.
The internet means there are no borders anymore, and so whenever possible, we like to release these films the same day they release in their home markets, commented Marchetti. That allows the massive campaign being undertaken in China, where the film will play on thousands of screens, to hit the diaspora audience here in North America on one side while we market to both them and to arthouse audiences on the other side. This particular weekend is crowded, but weve got a good track record with counter-programming on these kinds of titles and so we elected to release the same day as China.
Well Go USA will open I Am Not Madame Bovary in 40 theaters in 35 cities in North America this weekend. It will continue to expand into December and January.
Best Worst Thing That Could Have Happened
Director-writer: Lonny Price
Writer: Kitt Lavoie, Ted Schillinger
Subjects: Terry Finn, Ann Morrison, Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Jim Walton
Distributor: Abramorama
Veteran theater director Lonny Price and producer Kitt Lavoie raised some initial money nine years ago to film a group of actors who had performed in Stephen Sondheims Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway decades earlier. They then recruited veteran producer Bruce Klein of Atlas Media Crop., who happens to be a huge Stephen Sondheim.
Best Worst Thing That Could Have Happened is a reunion of sorts for the cast who performed Merrily at the Alvin Theatre back in 1981. The film charts the journey of the original cast in the 30-plus years since the musical debuted and flopped on Broadway.
Im a Sondheim freak, so [this project] was embedded in every bit of my being, said Klein, whose company provided financing. I saw a blurb [about it] in Playbill and I just had to do it. When Lonny came in, it was a marriage made in heaven.
Best Worst Thing is Prices first film as director. He said that although hes had experience in theater and television, the learning curve for a documentary was steep. This was much tricker, he said. Youre discovering the narrative as you go.
Added Klein: Because its his first film, he was willing to take a lot of chancesThe big thing was conceptualizing the story and acknowledging that the story we started with may not be what we end up with. When we brought back the first Merrily cast members to the original stage at what is now the Neil Simon Theater, that moment crystalized to us the spine of the story.
Lonny Price recalled that an ABC-produced show filmed a segment with the original cast in 1981. He hired an archivist to search for the material, though tracking it down became a major endeavor. I knew it existed, Price said, but people told me it had been destroyed We hired [someone to search] and after [much effort] they found that it was sitting in a huge crate in Connecticut. Finding that footage was the holy grail.
Abramoramas Richard Abramowitz saw an early cut of the feature. Though he said it wasnt theatrically ready, he believed in its potential and asked to be kept up to date. We knew there would be a rabid, excited audience out there, said Abramowitz. We expect it to thrive theatrically. This is not an aggressive release in terms of media dollars, but were doing a lot of outreach.
Abramowitz noted that Best Worst Thing was listed by the Los Angeles Times as a top doc pick for the year, which came as a surprise to all involved. The film will open at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFC Center in New York this week, followed by L.A. next week. It will subsequently head to other cities including San Francisco and Chicago afterward. Added Bruce Klein: There is incredible love for this material and we believe it will have an incredible after life.
Hunter Gatherer
Director-writer: Joshua Locy
Cast: Andre Royo, Jeannetta Arnette, Kellee Stewart, Kevin Jackson, Ashley Wilkerson
Distributor: Rough House Pictures
Filmmaker Joshua Locys original idea for what would become Hunter Gatherer came when he met a man in Philadelphia who had been a pimp and had a drug problem. He wrote a script based on the stories but found it didnt work. Later, he removed the violence, cursing and the religious component that it contained, and found that he connected to the characters need for human connection. I wanted to take some part of that story and connect it to my life, he said. So the new story correlates to me.
Hunter Gather revolves around Ashley Douglas who thinks everything should fall into place when hes released after three years in prison. When that doesnt happen, he restarts his life with next to nothing: no friends, no lovers, no connections. All he has is a bedroom in his moms house, a box of treasures buried in his backyard, and a deeply ingrained need to be with Linda his one, true love who has moved on without him. Ashley sees an opportunity in the form of Jeremy, an eccentric loner. They start a two-man business of dumping unwanted refrigerators for cash, which Ashley hopes will get Linda back and Jeremy hopes will help his ailing grandfather. As their partnership takes hold, a friendship flourishes though their fates are very much still up in the air.
Alex Ullman at Rough House Pictures and filmmaker David Gordon Green read the script and connected to it, with both signing on as executive producers. A casting director gave the script to Andre Royo, who also signed on to star. Once I had Andre, Rough House and the [other producers], we took the script to various production companies, said Locy. We then went to Cinetic, which helped us to get financing. Mama Bear Studios in Tennessee then boarded the project.
We had production dates and we hired casting directors to find additional cast, but then Andre was offered a role in Empire, so we thought we were screwed, said Locy. We thought wed have to find a new actor, but he negotiated with Empire and said he needed time to make this movie. Co-creator Danny Strong gave him a window, so we pushed the shoot a little bit.
Hunter Gatherer shot over 18 days in South Central Los Angeles, and edited for two months. Andre Royo won a Best Actor prize at the SXSW Film Festival where it debuted. Rough House is spearheading the features theatrical roll out, while The Orchard will handle the digital release. Theatrically, Hunter Gatherer opened at Cinefamily in L.A. on Wednesday and will have a one-week run at IFP Media Center in New York. It will be available digitally starting in February.
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'Manchester By The Sea' Review: Devastating Film Features Some Of Year's Best Acting
Writer-director Kenneth Lonergans Manchester by the Sea is possibly the saddest movie Ive ever seen. I cant think of any other movie, at any rate, that left me feeling vaguely weepy and in a need of a parish priest for a good 24 hours.
And yet what would a parish priest have accomplished? For that matter, what parish where?
The point is that the movie causes such a persistent trickle of sorrow, you wish you could talk it over with someone whos made a career of offering consolation, even under circumstances in which no true consolation is to be had.
It is not to be had, not really, in Manchester by the Sea.
The movie, easily one of the best releases of the year, takes its place alongside Lonergans two prior movies, You Can Count on Me and Margaret, as some kind of indie-film masterpiece. The writing and the acting stick to an unpretentious, almost just-noodling-along naturalism while slowly, quietly charting out moral and emotional dilemmas chiefly about responsibility, chiefly within the framework of a troubled family so dense they would burst the spine of a proper literary American novel.
The movie should also win Casey Affleck the Oscar for best actor, assuming the world isnt completely silly.
Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a Boston maintenance worker called back to his old town, Manchester by the Sea, after his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler), drops dead of a heart attack. Joes will has named Lee as guardian to Patrick (Lucas Hedges), his teenage son. Yet Lee, who apparently hasnt been exposed to Baby Boom, Annie and other cheering movies about reluctant parental figures who make good, doesnt want the burden of looking after Patrick.
Lee is such a disgruntled little smudge of a man a drinker, a brooder, a loner and a fighter its hard to imagine that his brother would ever conceive of naming him as guardian if there were any other relative capable of taking on the job. (Theres a mother out there, somewhere, who was evidently a troubled woman and skipped out.)
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Or, you wonder, is this Joes posthumous attempt to forge (by force) a reconnection to Lee? To somehow rein him back into Manchester by the Sea and into the family?
Eventually, gradually, Lonergan lets us know why Lee fled town, and the reason is so horrible a terrible, existence-shattering thing a reviewer has no choice but to treat it as spoiler material, in effect to tell people who havent seen the movie: If you prefer to be completely devastated, you wont want to know.
On some level that does a disservice to Lonergans achievement it feels like coddling, this urge to protect a story of such serious, severe dramatic weight, as if Manchester were a satisfyingly weepy melodrama that could be gauged by the amount of tissues dampened and crumpled.
Because Manchester is very much the first thing, and not at all the second.
Still: I wont say anything further, except that once Lonergan has led you to this point, theres nothing to do but be prepared to go further, and deeper, on a difficult journey. Lee, who would rather run back to his lair in Boston and continue bricking up the entrance, is thrust into situations that threaten to overwhelm him with memories.
His ex-wife, Randi (Michelle Williams), sobs and sobs in a heartbreaking attempt at reconciliation, finally unable to articulate her sense of loss as anything more than a suggestion that perhaps she and Lee should have lunch sometime. His nephew also sobs, also heartbreakingly, when looking for food in the freezer. Hes reminded that his fathers body has to remain at the morgue until spring. The New England ground is too cold and too hard for burial.
Writing this is making me sad all over again, so lets end by saying that the acting throughout is exceptional, and that Affleck as a man in permanent retreat from any sign of hope is phenomenal: Its a black hole of a performance, and its pull is overpowering.
In limited release Friday, R.
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Sophisticated design and ecologically responsible housing are mutually important to the Chairman and CEO of Western Rim Property Services, Marcus Hiles. The innovative real estate developer who singlehandedly altered the Texas real estate market with his creation of luxury apartments and townhomes has maintained the highest standards for protecting the environment. With upscale rentals that are seamlessly integrated into the natural landscape, utilizing sustainably minded building practices and featuring state-of-the-art, energy-efficient amenities; Marcus Hiles' Western Rim has made elegance eco-friendly.
In all of the communities built and managed by Marcus Hiles throughout the Lone Star state, residents enjoy resort-style living and upgraded conveniences. From the rich wood and Italian marble flooring to the cooling radiant barrier roofing in the attics of Western Rim's Estates, Towers and Mansions brand properties, lavish interiors and green construction go hand in hand. The striking design of extra-tall, dual pane windows belies their functionality: a layer of argon gas with a solar heat gain coefficient minimum of 0.22 reduces heat loss in colder months by as much as 75 percent, and helps minimize cooling requirements during summer. Energy bills are likewise controlled by highly effectual weather stripping; tight seals regulate the temperatures set by programmable thermostats and HVAC systems, which use substantially less energy than standard thermal comfort units. Homes are also treated with cellulose sound insulation, giving residents protection from outside noise, diminishing volumes between walls and floors by 80 percent. Water-conserving irrigation systems feed opulent baths outfitted with jetted tubs and rainwater showerheads, while ENERGY STAR stainless steel Whirlpool brand appliances provide stylish and sustainable choices for the refined gourmet chef-quality kitchens.
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In addition to the environmentally minded and well-appointed details of the properties themselves, Marcus Hiles also ensures that green space within Western Rim's developments stands as a top priority. Communities center on expansive urban and private parks, often providing on-site walking trails and dog run areas, while preserving existing trees and vegetation on and around the properties; the native greenery removes air pollutants while storing and sequestering carbon dioxide, lowering greenhouse gas emissions overall by reducing energy demand. As Hiles has continues to build upmarket homes in the Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio suburbs, he has added to the natural beauty of those regions by increasing the tree canopy beyond their pre-developed statemore than 3,000 trees were planted last year alone. "We will continue to exhibit leadership in energy conservation and respect for the environment, while engaging our communities in ongoing efforts to safeguard the planet," Hiles confirms.
Marcus Hiles, Fort Worth property development authority and philanthropist, has spent more than three decades creating properties that embody his unique vision of luxury living for working class Texans. While growing his residential communities, Marcus Hiles has personally donated more than 59 acres of parkland to the general public to preserve wildlife habitats and offer residents accessible green spaces. A graduate of Pepperdine and Rice Universities, he is deeply committed to education and has donated over $2.5 million to public and private K-12 initiatives, after school programs, and university career services and job placement programs.
Marcus Hiles - Chairman & CEO of Western Rim Property Services: http://www.MarcusHiles-News.com
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Marcus Hiles (@marcus_hiles) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/marcus_hiles
Marcus Hiles - A Magnanimous and Big Hearted Person - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWgsmiPe7-4
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Colorado continues to be the most progressive state when it comes to marijuana. They were one of the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in 2012, and now Denver has passed a measure that could give a whole new meaning to the Mile High City!
The Doctors weigh in on Denvers just-approved city measure that would allow the drug to be used in bars and restaurants, with some conditions. First, establishments must get neighborhood approval first. Patrons would be required to bring in their own marijuana, and it could only be used inside if it is not smoked. The new law lays out the possibility for smoking it outside in the future, but not yet.
Watch: Fries with a Side of Weed?
Plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon says, A weed oil martini has a certain panache to it, but its a slippery slope, because its mixing things that maybe people have not tried together before. Youre possibly going to get reactions. Youre definitely going to get more high, and thats a whole new issue [with regards to] driving.
ER physician Dr. Travis Stork understands why many bars might have wanted this new law to pass. Marijuana is an appetite stimulant I do not think marijuana should be illegal, having said that, I do not think marijuana should be ubiquitous, he says, explaining he worries about it getting to a point where it appears everywhere.
Watch: Disturbing Video of a Toddler Smoking Marijuana?
The Doctors also worry about the effects of secondhand smoke, especially for minors, that might come from marijuana being more prevalent in public.
Some power plants with smog controls arent using them effectively or at all and are fouling the air hundreds of miles away as a result.
Thats the conclusion reached by the Maryland Department of the Environment, which petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week to make 19 coal-fired plants run their control equipment throughout the summer, when ground-level ozone often known as smog is most likely to form.
Ten of those 19 plants were identified by the Center for Public Integrity in September as super polluters because they were among the top 100 U.S. industrial sites for toxic substances pumped into the air, greenhouse gases released, or both, in 2014.
Marylands petition focused on releases of nitrogen oxides, a key ozone ingredient. Ben Grumbles, Marylands secretary of the environment, said he simply wants the 19 plants to do what his states coal plants must: Run the controls run the controls every day of the ozone season, and downwind states will benefit significantly from that.
Ozone is bad for the lungs, can trigger asthma attacks and, researchers suspect, can harm the heart as well. And the pollutants that turn into it when baked in the sun can travel far afield.
Maryland contends that roughly 70 percent of its ozone problem can be linked to emissions from upwind states. Its petition names power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including three in the southwest Indiana region that the Center featured because of its concentration of big air polluters.
This story is part of Carbon Wars. The fossil-fuel industry is under attack as the world warms and pollution impairs and shortens lives. But industry is fighting back. Click here to read more stories in this series.
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Maryland says in its petition that the power plants inefficient use of their controls put roughly 39,000 tons of nitrogen oxides into the air in the summer of 2015 that otherwise would have been captured. Thats because federal rules capping those emissions are based on averages over the entire summer, rather than on a daily basis.
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As coal plants run less frequently due to competition from natural gas and renewables, they no longer have to use their controls consistently to meet the federal caps. That saves the plants money. But it contributes to ozone, which forms as a result of conditions on a given day not based on summer-wide averages. Its also created tensions between states, some of which have acted to require smog controls be run, and some of which have not.
The EPA said it is reviewing the petition.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokeswoman Courtney Arango called the request deficient because Maryland air wasn't violating ozone requirements as of 2015, the most recent publicly available ozone data from the EPA. Maryland says exceedances in 2016 pushed it over the limit, and an even tighter standard kicks in next year.
Arango said the EPA recently updated nitrogen oxides caps for Indiana in a September rule intended to reduce ozone ingredients pumped out by power plants.
Indiana and its utilities are complying with the rule and have no plans to challenge it, she said in an email.
Maryland officials said the new rule still allows power plants to average their emissions over time, and therefore won't address their concerns.
Marylands effort follows a regional petition in 2013 to make Indiana and eight other states do more to control ozone. The EPA has yet to act on that petition as required; New York and four other states sued in October to force a decision.
Indiana uses coal to make three-quarters of its electricity, and Gov. Mike Pence the vice president-elect has fought federal efforts to cut down on power-plant pollution. Pence casts it as an economic issue, saying coal employs Hoosiers and makes the lower-cost electricity the states manufacturers rely on.
Health and environmental advocates are pushing back, contending that coal is no longer the cheapest option, even without considering the costs to health and the climate. This week, a trade group promoting energy efficiency and other advanced energy industries said the sector coals competition employs nearly 48,000 in Indiana. Thats seven times the number of people directly employed by coal mining there, according to federal figures.
The common misunderstanding is that clean-energy jobs dont matter, theyre not very significant. And they really are, said Advanced Energy Economy CEO Graham Richard, a former Indiana mayor and state senator. These transitions are wrenching for a community, and we certainly understand a coal-country job being lost is a travesty for that family. But weve got to find ways of transitioning to a new kind of economic opportunity in those areas, and we dont help ourselves by promising to retain that which the economic forces are going to wash over anyway.
This story is part of Carbon Wars. The fossil-fuel industry is under attack as the world warms and pollution impairs and shortens lives. But industry is fighting back. Click here to read more stories in this series.
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Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - There is a recognisable repetition in Theresa May's speeches about Britain's decision to leave the European Union: "Brexit means Brexit", making "a success of it" and getting "the best deal" for Britain are some of her stump phrases. But a closer look at her speeches suggests her position on key aspects of Brexit has evolved since she took office in the aftermath of the June 23 vote to leave. Together with public comments by ministers in her Conservative government, the changes appear to suggest May has shifted from favouring a "hard Brexit" - a clean break with the EU's single market of 500 million consumers - to supporting continued membership of that market if possible. May has declined to say whether she wants Britain to remain in the single market. Her aides say she is considering all options. Since July 13, when May made her first speech as prime minister, subtle changes have emerged in the way she describes her priorities for talks with the EU. Those talks will determine Britain's future, and that of the EU. Early on in her tenure, May said little more than that she wanted "the right deal" or "best possible deal" on the trade of goods and services with the rest of the EU. Britain's total trade with the EU - imports and exports - is equivalent in size to more than a quarter of its economy. But at the Conservative Party conference in October, she unveiled a more specific phrase to describe her aims for Brexit. "I want it to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within the single market and let European businesses do the same here," May said. Richard North, a former speech-writer for several eurosceptic lawmakers, says the phrase "operate within" is telling. "She is very, very precise and there is no way that she is saying anything other than she's going after the single market within a negotiated settlement," said North, who wants Britain to remain a member of the broader European Economic Area trading zone after leaving the European Union. A spokeswoman for May said the government was "going for a bespoke deal" and declined to comment on speculation of what that agreement might look like. READ MY LIPS EU officials, investors, companies, opposition lawmakers and leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland often complain about the lack of detail offered by May on Brexit. At her first EU summit as prime minister on Oct. 20-21, some European leaders said they had learnt little more beyond her public statements that she will trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to start divorce talks by the end of March, and that she wants the best deal for Britain. In her Oct. 2 speech to the Conservative Party, she dismissed the choice between a "soft Brexit" and "hard Brexit" as a "false dichotomy" and said Britain could regain control over immigration and its sovereignty while continuing cooperation on security and trade. "Let me be clear," May told the conference. "We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice." Her tough wording on immigration and sovereignty may have pleased the eurosceptics in the party, but it spooked some European leaders who felt she was heading for a "hard Brexit". It contradicts the EU position, which states that the bloc cannot divide its four freedoms - of movement of goods, capital, people and services.But May has also regularly qualified her vision for controlling immigration from the EU. At a meeting with Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, in Bratislava on July 28, she referred to needing to find "a solution that addresses the concerns of the British people about free movement". A week earlier, she told German Chancellor Angela Merkel "it may take some time" to get net levels of immigration down to sustainable levels. And in a phone call with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Sept. 27, May subtly softened the message again, referring to trade first. She said it would be "a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services, but we would also need to ensure we had more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe," a statement read. Since ruling out a points-based system for screening people heading for Britain in September, May has said little new on controlling immigration, something she earlier called the "very clear message" of the British people in the referendum. This week, talking to business leaders in London, immigration did not figure in her speech at all. BUSINESS CONCERNS Instead, May has increasingly focussed on business concerns. That may have been prompted by the big fall in sterling since the referendum, according to sources close to the government. Financial markets seem not to like the idea of a "hard Brexit". Scotiabank economist Alan Clarke said the market was acutely sensitive to any hints from Downing Street. "I guess it's no accident that when her language pointed to a hard Brexit...the pound weakened," he said. Financial and business sectors have begun lobbying May over the divorce. On Oct. 27, three weeks after she said she wanted to "give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market", she said she had assured Japanese carmaker Nissan to help it decide to build two new models in Britain. True to form, she has given little away on what those assurances were. At an EU summit six days earlier, she had called on leaders to look at the single market "in a new way". While May fine tunes her strategy, her reticence to get specific has offered opposition lawmakers an opportunity to poke fun. "I thought for a moment the prime minister was going to say 'Brexit means Brexit' again," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said to roars of laughter in parliament in October. "I am sure she will tell us one day what it actually means." (This eversion of the story has been refiled to correct trade figures in sixth paragraph) (additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Andy Bruce, editing by Angus MacSwan and Janet McBride)
(Adds details from meeting, executive comments)
By Chris Prentice and Lisa Baertlein
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, Nov 17(Reuters) - McDonald's, aiming to become more modern and nimble, is updating U.S. restaurants with self-service kiosk ordering, mobile payments, "smart" menu boards, custom sandwiches and table service, executives said on Thursday.
The 61-year-old fast-food company has been overhauling its food with simpler ingredients and selling breakfast items 24-hours a day, but it is playing catch up in the technology realm to early adopters such as Domino's Pizza, Starbucks Corp and Panera Bread.
About 500 of McDonald's more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants have made the changes with Florida, New York and Southern California the first regions to adopt the new format.
Restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Seattle will start making the switch next year, according to the company, which declined to give a timeline for how long the changes will take to go nationwide.
McDonald's will pilot mobile ordering in the United States in the first half of 2017 and do a national rollout in the second half, Chris Kempczinski, a former Kraft Foods executive who will take over as McDonald's USA president on Jan. 1, told journalists at a press event in New York. Mobile ordering and payment will be added to the McDonald's app, which has been downloaded by 16 million people, he said.
Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said the company was in the early stage of using technology. "There is nothing more powerful than one-on-one customer experience" such as smartphone apps, he said to Reuters.
Still, some of McDonald's U.S. franchisees have chafed at the prospect of making significant investments at a time when labor costs are rising and restaurant sales growth is tepid.
Analysts note that just 50 percent of U.S. McDonald's restaurants have been recently renovated, and the company wants new food and tech elements in addition to the restaurant makeovers.
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The cost of installing kiosks is between $50,000 and $60,000 and the company is willing to help with money or financing, McDonald's executives said. Eastbrook has said that equipment is not expected to reduce the number of workers in restaurants, since traditional order takers would be redeployed to help customers learn to operate kiosks and to deliver food to tables.
Demonstrating returns is key to convincing franchisees to make the switch, executives said. In a video, one UK executive said sales grew 8 percent in downtown London as a result of the initiative.
"People may not always like to change, but people like to make money," Kempczinski told Reuters.
McDonald's USA draws on results from modernization projects in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada as it pushes the effort. "We've worked a lot of the kinks out," Easterbrook told Reuters.
Kempczinski said McDonald's may also pick up the pace of its response to consumer demands for simpler, more natural food.
McDonald's USA already has switched to chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health, replaced margarine with butter in its Egg McMuffins, and swapped sugar for high-fructose corn syrup in its hamburger buns.
Most recently, it said it would fully transition to cage-free eggs in the United States and Canada over the next decade.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr)
The second annual Real Men Wear Pink campaign raised over $55,000 to support the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Lincoln.
Throughout October, 22 area men raised funds and encouraged the women in their lives and in the community to take action in the fight to end breast cancer. The celebration of the fundraising was held Nov. 15 at Rodizio, 737 P St.
Boyd Ober, president of Leadership Resources, was the campaigns chairman, raising nearly $7,000 to support the Society and those impacted by breast cancer. He also challenged the other 21 men to do the same.
We are grateful to Boyd and all our Real Men Wear Pink participants for lending their voices to our cause, said Kate Holman, event manager for the American Cancer Society. Not only did they wear pink throughout the month of October, but they raised awareness about breast cancer issues and made a huge commitment to raise funds to help save more lives."
No one should have to face a breast cancer diagnosis alone, said Ober. Thats why I joined the American Cancer Society in support of their lifesaving work by becoming a candidate in the Real Men Wear Pink campaign. This is a cause I am personally connected to as my wife is a survivor. Im looking forward to raising the stakes for next year.
In addition to Ober, the 2016 Real Men Wear Pink candidates were: Kent Forney - NAMC, Scott Morgan - KZCO, Matt Olson - Stifel, Brad Meyer Peoples Health Center, Ric Stoakes - UNICO, Tim Clare Rembolt Ludtke, Dr. Derrick Anderson Peoples Health Center, Josh Midgett Integrated Life Choices, Joe Armstrong Cowboy Chicken, Ken Koop, Jr. Morgan Stanley, Dr. Royce Mueller ENT Specialities, Derrick Eells - TenDot, Joel Friesen Five Nines, Justin Jones Southern Hospitality Ventures, Jay Wilkinson - Firespring, Brent Friehauf Seim Johnson, Dan Klaus Remboldt Ludtke, Corey Spreeman New York Life, Travis Koenig New York Life, Jeff Eells ClassBundl, and Randall Jantzen American Cancer Society.
An estimated 246,660 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 40,450 will die from the disease this year. In Nebraska, 1,480 women will be diagnosed this year and 210 will die from the disease. Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, and it is the most common cancer diagnosed in women other than skin cancer.
For free breast cancer information and resources or to donate, visit cancer.org or call 1-800-227-2345.
Andrew Bastawrouss entire life was transformed the day he put on his first pair of glasses at age 12.
The whole world came into focus. I saw leaves for the first time, Id never seen the stars and I quickly went from the bottom of my class to doing very well, Bastawrous, 36, tells PEOPLE.
But Bastawrouss feelings of joy soon transformed to guilt when he left his home in London to visit his parents home country of Egypt.
I became very aware that if I had been born somewhere else, something as simple as a pair of glasses wouldnt have been available to me, he says.
Bastawrous resolved to channel that guilt into something positive by working towards a career where he could help others access the same care that had transformed his life. He made good on this promise with the invention of PEEK vision, an app and clip-on device that can transform any smartphone into a mobile eye clinic.
Of the estimated 285 million people who are visually impaired around the world, 90 percent live in low-income settings, while 80 percent of cases could be cured or prevented, according to the World Health Organization.
The majority of people who are permanently visually impaired shouldnt be. We know how to fix it, Bastawrous says.
The Leeds-trained ophthalmologist realized the need for a cheap and efficient way to identify poor vision while doing a research project in Kenya for his PhD.
I set up 100 eye clinics and most were in places where there were no roads, no electricity and no water, he says. And in the remote places wed get the biggest lines with hundreds of people waiting for us.
I realized I could set up clinics every day for the rest of my life and I would barely scratch the surface of the problem, he continues.
Instead of continuing to build clinics, Bastawrous decided to bring the benefit of a clinic to schools and other healthcare facilities. The PEEK examination kit consists of an easy-to-use eye examination app and a 3D-printed hardware adapter that clips onto a smartphone camera and allows screeners to see inside the eye and detect cataracts, glaucoma and other issues.
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Bastawrous and his team have worked with education and health ministries to train a team of examiners who can do their work in schools, clinics and even travel door to door. Once an eye problem is detected, the patient (or their guardian) is notified of the problem via SMS and their contact information and GPS data is stored.
Were able to track all patients who received treatment and those who havent so we can follow up, he explains.
In its first trial, PEEK vision helped to screen 21,000 students in Kenya in nine days. Screening programs are now being organized for 300,000 more children in the same area of Kenya with similar programs beginning in Botswana, Tanzania and India.
The PEEK team also works to make sure that there is funding in place to ensure that everyone who gets screened can be treated.
In a place like sub-Saharan Africa, the cost of eye surgery is between $30-50 its very low, he says. Half the people in the world who are blind are blind from cataracts and weve known how to treat that for decades.
There are millions of people who are minutes away from low-cost basic treatment that would completely change their lives, he continues.
Bastawrous hopes this model can be implemented around the world. And thanks to a grant from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, Bastawrous has the funds necessary to build a center of excellence in Kitale, Kenya where medical professionals can come together to learn how to implement the PEEK model.
The aim is to say if you want to run a national program in Europe or in the U.S., go to remote Kenya to learn best practices, he says. We need to change the thinking that Africa needs help. Theres so much ingenuity and knowhow and knowledge there that we can all learn from.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday assured her German counterpart that preparations for Britain's exit from the European Union were on schedule, and that the legal process would begin by the end of March next year. "Our work is on track, we do stand ready to trigger Article 50 before the end of March, or by the end of March 2017," she told German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint media briefing in Berlin ahead of a bilateral meeting. May's comments follow persistent criticism from opposition lawmakers that the government does not have an exit strategy. There is also the possibility that her plans could be delayed by a legal decision that she must win parliamentary approval before triggering Brexit. The government's appeal against that decision will be heard in early December. "I want to see this as a smooth process, an orderly process, working towards a solution that is in the interests of both the United Kingdom but also in the interests of our European partners too," May said. Merkel said it would not be possible to discuss Brexit in detail during their meeting on Friday as Britain has not yet started the formal process of leaving the bloc. (Writing by William James and Adela Suliman,; editing by Kate Holton)
As Donald Trumps national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will have the Presidents ear on the countrys military and foreign policy affairs, but hes espoused controversial views in the past.
Flynn, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Obama, 7 for months, and his appointment marks another clear example of the President-elect rewarding loyalty in his budding administration.
I am pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad, Trump said in a statement Friday. General Flynn is one of the countrys foremost experts on military and intelligence matters and he will be an invaluable asset to me and my administration.
Heres what we know about Flynns worldview.
On the Middle East
Flynn holds hardline views on Islam and the Middle East. Flynn was fired from his post as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in late 2014, which he says was because he wanted to identify terrorists as radical Islamists and clearly and forcefully attack their crazy doctrines, he wrote in the New York Post this year. (U.S. officials said he was fired due to poor management.) This year, while promoting his new book, Flynn also wrote in TIME about the need to wage ideological war against radical Islam and its supporters. In the book The Field of Fight, Flynn also writes of the need for the U.S. to form more partnerships with nations in the Middle East and help them defeat the violent Islamists within their borders.
Flynn has been criticized for some of his rhetoric surrounding the topic, including a February tweet which said, Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.
Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: please forward this to others: the truth fears no questions https://t.co/NLIfKFD9lU General Flynn (@GenFlynn) February 27, 2016
On Russia
Flynn has come under similar fire as Trump for apparent coziness with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His Russian policy aligns with Trumps oft-stated view, Wouldnt it be nice if we got along with Russia? The Washington Post reports that Flynn acknowledged being paid to give a speech and attend an anniversary party for the Kremlin-backed RT television network in Moscow last year. He was seated next to Putin at the party.
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On Turkey
Flynn wrote an op-ed in The Hill in November arguing the Obama administration isnt doing enough to support Turkey, a U.S. and NATO ally whose relationship with the United States has been worsening. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants the U.S. to hand over Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based religious leader accused of backing the Turkeys failed military coup this year, and Flynn thinks the President should. We need to adjust our foreign policy to recognize Turkey as a priority, Flynn wrote. We need to see the world from Turkeys perspective. What would we have done if right after 9/11 we heard the news that Osama bin Laden lives in a nice villa at a Turkish resort while running 160 charter schools funded by the Turkish taxpayers? We should not provide [Gulen] safe haven.
On abortion
Over the summer when Flynn was being considered for Trumps running mate, he broke with Republican anti-abortion orthodoxy on abortion during a television interview. Abortion, I think its a thing for women, he said on ABC in July. I think women have to be able to choose what they you know, that the sort of the right of choice. But I think that thats a thats a difficult legal decision that and I think that women are so important in that in that decision-making process. They are the ones that have to make the decision because theyre the one thats ones that are going to decide to bring up that child or not.
On same-sex marriage
In the same ABC interview Flynn, a registered Democrat, seemed to support same-sex marriage, or at least agree with settled law on the matter. What people do in their private lives, Im not these are not big issues that our countrys dealing with that are that will cause our country to collapse, he said.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn talks to media as he arrives at Trump Tower, Nov. 17, 2016, in New York. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has reportedly been offered the role of national security adviser in Donald Trumps White House, began receiving classified national security briefings last summer while he was also running a private consulting firm that offered all-source intelligence support to international clients.
Flynns relationship with his overseas clients is coming in for new scrutiny amid recent disclosures that two months ago, during the height of the presidential campaign, his consulting firm, the Flynn Intel Group, registered to lobby for a Dutch company owned by a wealthy Turkish businessman close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
Robert Kelley, the chief counsel to the Flynn Intel Group, read a statement from Flynn to Yahoo News on Thursday, promising that if I return to government service, my relationship with my company will be severed, in accordance with the policy announced by President-elect Trump.
But critics today dismissed Flynns pledge as Too little, too late, given that he began sitting in on U.S. intelligence briefings for Trump in August while working for foreign clients. Classified national security briefings are by tradition provided to the major presidential candidates and their top aides.
This is profoundly troubling and should be disqualifying, said Norm Eisen, who served as President Obamas ethics adviser and later as an ambassador to the Czech Republic. He predicted that if Flynn is named as Trumps national security adviser, there will be wholesale resignations of national security professionals, and I believe some have already drafted their resignation letters.
On Wednesday, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said that President Obama had authorized that the Presidents Daily Brief (PDB) materials also be provided to Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and designated members of Trumps transition team. The PDB comprises some of the most sensitive intelligence in the U.S. government, beyond the national security briefings Trump received as the Republican nominee.
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But White House officials declined to say Thursday whether Flynn an executive member of the Trump transition team and his chief foreign policy adviser during the campaign was among those so designated. Flynn was not in attendance on Tuesday when Trump received his first PDB briefing at Trump Tower, according to a source familiar with the matter. Trump transition officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Donald Trump, left, jokes with retired Gen. Michael Flynn at a rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport on Oct. 18, 2016, in Grand Junction, Colo. (Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)
The criticism of Flynn over his overseas clients came on a day that the Trump transition team announced a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy that will require all members of the transition team to sever their relationships with lobbying clients and, if they join the administration, forswear lobbying for five years after ending their government service. It does not apply to past lobbying contracts. A transition official said that instead of looking backward, the new policy looks forward.
But according to a copy of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on Election Day, and released today by House Democrats, the Trump transition team, as a condition of receiving government briefing materials, was required to provide a statement to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough last week that all designated members of the transition team had disclosed their financial interests and did not have any conflicts of interest.
A Trump transition spokesman did not respond to questions about whether Flynn had made such disclosures. But Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the terms of the memorandum raise questions about whether Flynn is even eligible to continue to receive national security briefings at this point.
The full extent of Flynns overseas business is unclear. In the statement released by his lawyer, Flynn said only that his firm which he described as a private business intelligence company has unnamed international and domestic clients. In a brief telephone interview, Kelley, a former Capitol Hill staffer, declined to specify the issues for which the firm was hired to lobby Congress on behalf of Innova BV, a firm based in Holland and owned by the Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin. The lobbying disclosure statement filed with the secretary of the Senate on Sept. 30 states only that Flynns firm will advise client on U.S. domestic and foreign policy and congressional appropriations bills for the State Department.
Alptekin, according to his LinkedIn profile, serves as chairman of the Turkish American Business Council, is the founder and president of EA Havacilik, an aerospace firm based in Istanbul, and is commercially active in the real estate and defense industries through multiple other companies. He also serves as a member of Turkeys Foreign Economic Relations Board and, in that role, helped coordinate Erdogans visit to the United States earlier this year, according to the Daily Caller, which first reported Flynns lobbying contract.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, with retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, center left, and Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, obscured, second right, attend an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of RT (Russia Today), the 24-hour English-language TV news channel in Moscow, on Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Without disclosing his lobbying relationship with the Turkish-owned firm, Flynn published an op-ed in the newspaper the Hill on Election Day, in which he advanced the No. 1 cause of Erdogans government: advocating the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish exile living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan has blamed for instigating the failed military coup against his government last summer.
In the op-ed, which ran under the headline Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support, Flynn described Gulen as a shady Islamic mullah, who runs a vast global network [that] has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper network. From Turkeys point of view, Washington is harboring Turkeys Osama bin Laden.
This is the not the first time questions have been raised about Flynns overseas ties. Last December, Flynn, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 until 2014, flew to Moscow to participate in the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian government propaganda network. He gave an interview to one of its anchors and attended a gala dinner where he sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a testy exchange with Yahoo News during the Republican Convention in Cleveland in July, Flynn acknowledged that he was paid through his speakers bureau to attend the RT event, but he declined to say how much.
What was striking, according to ethics experts, is that given his overseas consulting business, Flynn began sitting in on classified intelligence briefings with Trump last summer. Flynn was reportedly so assertive during the initial briefing in August, peppering the briefers with rapid-fire questions, that Trumps adviser Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who also attended the briefing, was prompted to try to calm him down by placing a hand on his arm.
Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, an outside watchdog group, said that she finds it deeply disturbing that Flynn attended these briefings at a time that he was representing foreign clients with interests before the U.S. government. Its exactly the kind of foreign entanglements our laws are designed to prevent, she said.
One retired military officer who has advised both Republican and Democratic presidents said of the allegations about Flynn: If this is true, its a disqualifying conflict of interest if not by ethics laws, certainly in the spirit of conflict of interest, not to mention security regulations. We should be deeply concerned about his ethical judgment, but more specifically how can he possibly provide unbiased advice to the POTUS about Turkey and Russia, when hes taken money from both.
Shares of Microsoft Corporation MSFT have been steadily scaling higher grounds over the last one year. The stock generated a return of 9.30% compared with the S&P 500 index's 7.01%.
The upside in the stock price of Microsoft was primarily driven by strong cloud growth. The continuing enterprise strength, benefits from the Office 365 subscription model, strong growth prospects of Azure and promising new products will continue to generate top-line growth in 2016.
Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced that it has made its largest purchase of wind energy to date to power its data centers in the U.S. The company will utilize power from three wind farms. While two farms of Allianz Risk Transfer AG will provide 178 megawatts of wind power, another farm owned by Black Hills Corporation will supply Microsoft with 59 megawatts of clean energy.
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Why this Move?
Cloud computing is gradually gaining traction among the masses, given the convenience and security features it provides to the end user. As per an IDC report, global public cloud services spending is estimated to reach $195 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 20.4%.
To operate a cloud infrastructure, data centers are required that in turn require a steady and unwavering power supply to function properly. Given the growing demand for cloud, demand for datacenters and power is likely to increase in the future. To meet the power requirements many major cloud players are turning to renewable sources of energy and Microsoft is no different.
Microsoft intends to achieve a 44% dependency on renewable energy for its power requirements by the end of 2016. Similarly, Amazon.com, Inc.s AMZN Amazon Web Services has plans to achieve a 40% dependency on renewable energy by the end of 2016. Alphabet Inc. GOOGL owned Google is also working on similar lines and currently uses renewable energy for 35% of its datacenters.
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We note that dependence on renewable resources to cut down on operating costs is just another way to be more competitive and profitable and Microsofts decision to do so augurs well for the company in the long run.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
At present, Microsoft has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the broader technology space is Konami Holdings Corporation KNMCY, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Notably, the consensus estimate for Konami Holdings current year improved to $1.59 from $1.39 over the last 30 days.
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Donald Trump, left, jokes with retired Gen. Michael Flynn at a rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport on Oct. 18, 2016, in Grand Junction, Colo. (Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)
On Friday, President-elect Donald Trumps office announced that retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn had accepted his offer to serve as national security adviser. Flynn served as the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, but was supposedly forced to step down because of his controversial views and a contentious relationship with the White House and other senior officials. Such opinions were not the only contentious aspects of his tenure. As reported by the Daily Beast, a DIA presentation in 2013 urged the agencys female employees to apply makeup to appear more attractive, wear clothes to accentuate ones features, and encouraged high heels.
The documents accompanying the presentation in January 2013, which Susan Strednansky, public affairs officer at the DIA, described as informal, were obtained by MuckRock in 2013 through a Freedom of Information request. While the briefing was addressed to both genders, men were instructed that dark suits appear more authoritative in the workplace and suspenders = elegance, while women were told to straddle the line between the Plain Jane look and items that highlight the positive/disguise the negative and do not stand out as flamboyant, gaudy, attention-drawing.
Slide titles included Dress considerations for women, Body size and shape considerations, and What not to wear. Some suggestions for women included paying attention to trends and adapting the latest look to an individuals figure and personality, avoiding tight-fitting clothing and items that were too big/too small, shunning certain fabrics, and so on. The presentation also noted that open-toe shoes are no longer a faux-pas as long as worn with suit pants or skirt and that low to moderate heels were recommended.
As for makeup tips, the presentation suggested that the Plain Jane look could be avoided by finding a perfect product balance. The line was that coordinated makeup communicates that an individual is moving assertively toward identified goals, but that too much makeup can distract from a professional look. The document noted that makeup helps women look more attractive.
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Im not going to deny that it exists, and it was bad. It was inappropriate for sure, Strednansky, the public affairs officer at the DIA, said at the time. Neither the agency nor the leadership has condoned anything that was in that briefing.
In a memo to employees that was also obtained by MuckRock, which responded to the presentation, Flynn apologized for the unnecessary and serious distraction the highly offensive briefing had caused. He added that the intention was pure of heart and intended to help but even smart people do dumb things sometimes. That said, no one is going to be taken to the wood shed over this. Theyll require some counseling (to be sure) on what it means to think before you act.
Throughout the election, Flynn served as a surrogate for Trump and defended his behavior as evidenced in the leaked Billy Bush tape, and after many women came forward to accuse of Trump of unwanted advances and sexual assault. Flynn also called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton really stupid for introducing into the news cycle former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, whom Trump had called Miss Piggy and Miss Housekeeping.
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Amanda Francis of Lincoln has earned a $2,500 Whitmer Early Childhood Education Scholarship. Francis is a senior in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Education and Human Sciences. Mae Whitmer of Lincoln recently established the Bill and Mae Whitmer Early Childhood Education Scholarship Fund as a permanently endowed fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation. The scholarship was created in memory of her husband, a Nebraska alumnus and the former owner of ABC Electric of Lincoln, who died in 2012.
Trump protests
Thousands of people took to the streets in the weeks after the election, outraged that Donald Trump is the new president-elect.
Over 4 million signed a petition to encourage the Electoral College to make Hillary Clinton president instead, partly because she won the popular vote.
The electors will gather at their state capitols on December 19, and vote to formally make Trump the 45th president.
With so many citizens calling on the Electoral College to choose Clinton, and some electors even saying they will switch their votes, could it happen?
How does the electoral vote stand right now?
Each state has an elector for every congressperson they have, plus D.C. gets three, resulting in 538 people in today's Electoral College.
Trump won the popular vote in 30 states, plus one of Maine's districts (which, along with Nebraska, splits up its electors by district), giving him 306 electoral votes.
While Clinton won over 1.3 million more votes than he did overall because she carried population-heavy states like California and New York, she only won the popular vote in 19 states plus D.C. giving her 232 electoral votes.
final 2016 electoral map
How would electing Clinton work?
Members of the Electoral College who decide to go against their state laws or party rules telling them who to vote for are quite ominously called "faithless electors."
They're pretty rare in modern political history. Thomas H. Neale, an expert in American government and the electoral college for the Congressional Research Service, found that only eight electors have been faithless since 1900.
Only electors from the party that won the popular vote get to cast their ballots in December, so only Republican electors will vote in the states that Trump won, and only Democratic electors in the states Clinton carried.
That means Clinton would need 38 electors to vote for her instead. As Neale told Business Insider: "That would require a lot of electors to change their mind."
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What are the chances of it actually happening?
electoral college
Several barriers are in place preventing electors from turning "faithless."
First, Neale said, 30 states plus D.C. have laws on the books "binding" their electors to vote for the candidate who won the state's popular vote. Punishments for becoming a faithless elector range from paying a fine to being replaced with an elector who will follow the rules.
Trump has 155 unbound electoral votes, so there are technically enough electors who could decide to vote for Clinton and wouldn't get punished legally for it.
Second, electors are usually selected by the political parties in each state, Neale said. Because 306 electors voting in December will be Republicans, the petitioners encouraging them to vote for Clinton instead would have to convince them to abandon their party.
"The important point here to realize is these are all party loyalists, and they are pretty carefully vetted," Neale said. "Part of that is because there have been the occasional faithless electors in the past who have been an embarrassment to the party, and they want to make sure they avoid it."
A few electors have spoken out about voting for someone other than Trump, including Christopher Suprun from Texas. (The state doesn't have a law to punish faithless electors.)
"I am asked to cast a vote on Dec. 19 for someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office," he wrote in a New York Times op-ed December 5. "The election of the next president is not yet a done deal. Electors of conscience can still do the right thing for the good of the country."
But unfortunately for Clinton, Suprun and other faithless electors (some call it being "moral") have said they plan to write in Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, or Sen. Bernie Sanders' name. For his part, Kasich released a statement December 6 urging electors not to vote for him:
Gov. John Kasich statement on the recent news about the upcoming Electoral College meeting: pic.twitter.com/dm9yOfBqwF John Kasich (@JohnKasich) December 6, 2016
Even if they do turn faithless, members of Congress can formally protest elector votes, and have them thrown out, when they officially count the ballots in a joint session on January 6, 2017.
"One of my legal colleagues suggests that the joint session is the 'break glass in case of emergency' it's the last line of defense against an election that may have been corrupted in some way," Neale said.
Finally, history isn't on Clinton's side.
"The argument can always be made that, 'Well, Sec. Clinton won the popular election and therefore she should win the presidency.' This is the core argument of the direct popular election reform movement to eliminate the electoral college," Neale said. "But that argument has been raised time and time again, and Congress hasn't acted on this proposal since 1979."
Plus, the few times faithless electors have gone against their party's nominee, they've never swung an election.
NOW WATCH: Turns out a presidential candidate could win the election with just 22% of the popular vote
More From Business Insider
By Xan Holston ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuters) - A Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of a black motorist that received national attention after part of the incident was broadcast on the internet made his first court appearance on Friday, but did not enter a plea. Jeronimo Yanez, 28, a police officer in St. Anthony, Minnesota, did not enter a plea at the brief hearing and waived the reading of charges, the most serious of which is one count of second-degree manslaughter. Yanez shot and killed Philando Castile, 32, in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb, during a traffic stop in July. Ramsey County Judge Mark Ireland released Yanez on his own recognizance and ordered him to appear back in court for a Dec. 19 hearing, at which he is expected to enter a plea. The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association has said it expects Yanez to plead not guilty. On Wednesday, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced the charges against Yanez, saying his use of deadly force was not justified. The traffic stop turned chaotic after Castile calmly told Yanez he was legally carrying a firearm and that he was not reaching for it, Choi said. Yanez claimed he thought Castile was reaching for the weapon before he fired seven shots into Castile, Choi said. Starting about 40 seconds after the shooting, Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was sitting in the vehicle's passenger seat, streamed images of a bloody Castile on Facebook Live, and the recording went viral on social media. Following the hearing Yanez was whisked from the courtroom, leaving from a back door and avoiding media. Yanez's attorney, Tom Kelly, declined to comment as he left the courthouse. Philando Castile's cousin, Nakia Wilson, said afterward that she was disappointed with his release. "They've put trust in him to come back," she said. "I'm saddened ... I'm still feeling a lot of emotions." "Just looking him in the face - the man who shot my cousin," Wilson said. Yanez is also charged with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm that endangered the safety of Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter, who was in the car at the time of the shooting. Before Yanez, no officer had been charged in more than 150 police-involved deaths in Minnesota since 2000, according to Minnesota House Rep. Raymond Dehn. If found guilty of the manslaughter charge, Yanez could be sentenced to nearly five years in prison. (Writing by Rory Carroll; editing by Dan Whitcomb, G Crosee)
This article originally appeared on EW.
Miranda Lambert may have named her sixth studio album The Weight of These Wings, but shes never been the kind of girl who claimed to wear a halo. Sprung from the unlikely launchpad of a second-tier TV talent show called Nashville Star circa 2003, the Longview, Tex., native offered country music the walking contradiction it didnt know it needed: a six-string rebel capable of writing massive mainstream hits; a dimpled, blond kewpie doll with a gas can in her hand and a fresh box of matches in her back pocket. (Even the titles of her first three releasesKerosene, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Revolutionsounded like fire hazards.)
For more than a decade the hit singles and gold trophies rolled in, and the klieg-light blast that came with her 2011 marriage to Blake Shelton imbued them both with fresh power-couple luster: the Brangelina of down-home Oklahoma. Then came their now-infamous 2015 split, and an ugly tabloid echo chamber to gleefully document the wreckage in real time.
Watch Miranda Lamberts Throwback to Her Nashville Star Audition
But D-I-V-O-R-C-E, of course, is exactly the kind of emotional cannon fodder that immortal country songs are made of. And Weights double-album length is a gold mine for anyone looking to know exactly where the exMrs. Sheltons head is at. I carry them around with me, I dont mind havin scars/Happiness aint prison but theres freedom in a broken heart, she sings plaintively on the thrumming, expansive opener Runnin Just in Case. Taken together, these 24 songsnotably free of slick production and special guestsdo feel like a sort of emotional jailbreak, restless open-road anthems and raw-nerved confessionals written by a woman with her hands on the wheel and no particular desire for a steady plus-one in the passenger seat. There may or may not be bourbon in her Big Gulp cup; if some of those late-night pit stops and detours lead to bad choices, shell own them.
In a lot of ways Weight lines right up with Nashvilles recent small-batch bid for renewed authenticitya bro-country course corrective spearheaded by lauded outlaw revivalists like Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton. But the major players in that movement have mostly been men, beardy and reverent and nowhere near Lamberts level of fame. Though her star power here is undiminished, the album feels looser and more vulnerable than her earlier work, sometimes even surprisingly subdued. But the melodies, once they start to dig their hooks in, sound as if theyve always been thereespecially on early standouts like Pink Sunglasses, a swaggering celebration of the power of plasticpositive plastic; jangly jukebox ramble Highway Vagabond; and sly last-call stomper Ugly Lights. Even as Lamberts stylistic reach swerves from hip-cocked honky-tonk to delicate back-porch balladry, nearly every track has at least one line that should find immortality on a throw pillow or a tombstone.
Double albums often run the risk of offering too much; that 22nd bite of pie never tastes quite as sweet as the first five. And more than a few songs here could probably sneak out the back door without being overly missed. Theres something pleasingly organic, though, in Weights cohesiveness; it asks for patience and rewards it, weaving true tales of regret and resilience into one fiercely honest, gloriously flawed whole. Bless this mess.
GRADE: A-
KEY TRACKS
Vice: The lead singles rueful love letter to wrong turns and misdemeanors
Highway Vagabond: A near-perfect wanderlust anthem
Pushin Time: A lovely heartbreaker of a ballad
Ugly Lights: Every barflys best nightmare
This week at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, Mitsubishi unveiled a futuristic, racy-looking eX Concept compact SUV that features a profile inspired by what the Japanese automaker calls shooting brakes. This new electric vehicle (EV) concept also heralds a more sophisticated and longer-range next-generation EV system from Mitsubishi Motors.
The aerodynamic, sporty pure electric crossover features flowing lines, a low-slung roof with swept-back blackened window treatments combined with a hatchback SUV on big wheels. The Concepts front end reflects Mitsubishis current Dynamic Shield design interpretation and also foreshadows the companys product direction that will focus on electrification and crossovers, according to a Mitsubishi official.
Mitsubishi eX Concept side profile photo
The Mitsubishi eX Concepts electric system includes a new battery with improved energy levels and a better driving range of 400 km (248.5 miles) before needing to be recharged, according to the automaker. A new Twin Motor 4-wheel drive drivetrain delivers 70 kW (94 horsepower) to both front and rear wheels for total output of 140 kW or 188 horsepower.
In addition, advanced autonomous driving systems and safety features will be available in the next-gen eX Concept. For instance, sensors and cameras are set up to automatically select one of three driving modes for various road surface conditions such as gravel, snow, and rain.
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This week at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, Mitsubishi unveiled a futuristic, racy-looking eX Concept compact SUV that features a profile inspired by what the Japanese automaker calls shooting brakes.
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Faced with the possibility that President-elect Donald J. Trump will try to pull the U.S. away from the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, more than 190 countries performed the diplomatic equivalent of subtweeting Trump.
Near the closing of the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco, diplomats agreed to issue a document known as the "Marrakech Action Proclamation." The proclamation makes clear that countries are all in on fighting climate change, regardless of what a Trump administration does.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond," the proclamation states.
SEE ALSO: China may leave the U.S. behind on climate change due to Trump
It goes on to say:
Documents like this must be passed by consensus during U.N. climate talks, which means that any objections can scuttle their adoption.
The fact that this made it through, reportedly to cheers from participants and observers, indicates the solidarity among the international community including representatives of the Obama administration to move forward with the Paris agreement regardless of what the U.S. does.
In other words, if the U.S. backtracks, it will be walking a lonely road.
The Paris Climate Agreement, which entered force on Nov. 4, set a goal of limiting human-caused global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels.
Participants at the COP22 climate conference stage a public show of support for climate negotiations and Paris agreement, on Nov. 18, 2016.
Image: David Keyton/AP
It also sets an aspirational goal that is more stringent, at 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, to more confidently ensure the survival of low-lying island nations vulnerable to sea level rise.
In addition to the proclamation, an alliance of 47 of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, such as Ethiopia and the Marshall Islands, committed to transforming their economies to rely 100 percent on renewable power "as rapidly as possible."
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Negotiators have been meeting in Marrakech to determine how to implement the agreement, but Trump's election has cast a shadow of uncertainty over much of the meeting.
During the campaign, Trump called climate change a "hoax" and vowed to stop spending money on programs that help vulnerable nations adapt to climate impacts. He also pledged to revive the ailing and pollution-intensive coal sector, and maligned wind turbines for killing birds.
While the world signals its resolve for tackling global warming, American environmental groups are signaling that Trump will be in for a major fight if he tries to roll back global warming policies, such as the EPA's Clean Power Plan that limits emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Global surface temperature departures from average for Oct. 2016.
Image: nasa giss
The Paris Agreement represents the bare minimum of what is necessary to preserve a livable planet. We need more action, not less," said Mary Boeve, executive director of 350.org, in a statement.
"Scientists are very clear that we do not have four years to waste waiting for the United States to come back to the table. Its all of our responsibility to make sure we continue to raise the level of ambition rather than let Trump drag us under the rising seas," Boeve said.
The Marrakech talks have been taking place during the planet's hottest year on record, and at a time when greenhouse gas concentrations are at the highest level in all of human history, and increasing quickly.
BONUS: Ship made a voyage that would not have happened without global warming
The current activities of Boko Haram terrorists have given rise to the assumption that 60 percent of them are not Nigerians, Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai said Wednesday.
The comments on the extremist group were made when the lieutenant general was in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State, for receiving the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, at the headquarters of the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole at the Maimalari Cantonment.
Your Excellency, I want to bring to your attention that while the Boko Haram (insurgency) can be said to have started in Nigeria, by and large as at today, I can say that almost 60 percent of the insurgents are from our neighboring countries. You can see that almost all of the recently surrendered insurgents are not Nigerians," Buratai reportedly said.
This is a challenge that impacts more on the Nigerian side than the other countries. But by and large, our military is up to the task and we will continue to do our best to ensure that our country is secured."
Meanwhile, over 1,000 Chadians who are believed to have been fighting for Boko Haram have returned home.
Buratai also said that there was no doubt that the terrorists had been defeated but Nigerian troops would continue with their operations until the insurgents finally surrender.
Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2015, has been active in Nigeria since 2009, and in 2015 upped its activities across Nigerias borders in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Earlier, Chambas said that his visit was an expression of the U.N.s solidarity with Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and efforts to restore peace to the country's northeastern region. He noted that the immediate consequence of the insurgency was the "huge humanitarian crisis" in the northeast and assured that the U.N. had stepped up efforts to address it.
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At the event, children may select their favorite books and meet law enforcement officers from Southeastern Wisconsin and the Racine Fire Department, who will be available to autograph books for children. Books selected as gifts may be gift wrapped at no charge. Children may also have their picture taken with Santa Claus and receive a picture to take home at no charge.
By John Davison NEAR BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - When Kurdish forces began rounding up his relatives and friends, 23-year-old Iraqi Omar Abdallah fled with his pregnant wife and four brothers to Mosul. At the time, life under Islamic State seemed preferable for the Sunni Arab to indefinite detention. That was shortly after the ultra-hardline Sunni group captured large areas of northern Iraq in the summer in 2014, and despite its reputation for brutality, Abdallah says it remained a relatively unknown quantity to his family. Now, Abdallah, Maha and their two infant children have fled again. They huddle in the desert a short distance northeast of Mosul, Iraq's second city, where government forces are fighting to drive out Islamic State in an offensive involving Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite militias. The family is waiting with hundreds of others near the town of Bashiqa to cross a trench dug by Kurdish peshmerga forces who recently drove the jihadists out of the area. "We timed our escape well," Abdallah said, explaining how the family moved from central Mosul to a relative's home on the outskirts after the U.S.-backed campaign to regain Islamic State's stronghold began in earnest last month. [nL8N1DI36C] "When Iraqi forces recaptured the area, we left. Now we just want to go home," he said. But their hometown of Sheikhan is in an area which has been controlled by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government since 2003. It lies on the other side of the trench and a long earth wall that the Kurds erected recently to mark their expanded territory - and could become a permanent new boundary. Abdallah and his family are among thousands of Sunni Arabs struggling to find their place in an Iraq whose boundaries are shifting along ethnic lines, even before the anticipated defeat of Islamic State. With Iraq torn by sectarian strife, many Sunni Arabs fleeing Mosul now fear persecution for being perceived to support their fellow Sunnis of Islamic State. Having experienced Islamic State rule for two years, Abdallah denies sympathizing with the group that he calls by its derogatory Arabic name, Daesh. "Living in Mosul, I kept my head down, grew my beard long and worked as a fruit seller. I tried to avoid any contact with members of Daesh," he said. Nevertheless, Kurdish suspicions mean the family has found its way home blocked, at least for the moment. "The peshmerga have searched people here in case there are Daesh fighters hiding among us. We all arrived this morning. They haven't told us when we'll be allowed to cross," he said. Abdallah said one of his brothers had spent 13 months detained without charge by Kurdish authorities on suspicion of supporting Islamic State. "After Daesh, the peshmerga began a crackdown," he said, holding his six-month-old son Ali in the back of their pickup truck. The vehicle was piled with blankets, clothes and what other belongings they managed to salvage when fleeing Mosul. "It's possible I'll be arrested now, especially having lived under Daesh. But that's a risk I'm willing to take to get home," he said. "My parents have never seen their grandchildren. They call every day asking after Ali and Aboudi." GUARDING THE FRONTIER Dozens of families, mostly Sunni Arabs, sat patiently in their cars or on tarpaulins in the dust waiting to cross into Kurdish-held territory. Aid worker David Eubank, who has helped to ferry hundreds of displaced people to camps every night for several days, said they would probably be allowed to cross after dark, and taken to camps or for further security and background checks. Asked how many people had already crossed the narrow, deep trench in recent days, he said: "We're looking at at least 2,600 people so far." A peshmerga fighter standing on the other side did not know at what time the displaced would be allowed to cross. "We've just been told to guard the frontier. In the afternoon we search the families and take down their details," he said. His comrades provided some medical treatment to children, and distributed boxes of food sent by an international aid group. On the Kurdish side, the peshmerga were digging in for a long stay, ferrying drainage pipes on trucks and tractors and flattening out the dirt road that runs the length of the ditch. Abdallah is relieved to have escaped the harsh rule of Islamic State, but remains apprehensive. "In Europe, if a migrant from Syria or Iraq blows himself up in a terrorist attack there is a backlash against all migrants. Here, with the Kurds and Arab Daesh sympathizers, it's the same," he said. REVENGE ATTACKS FEARED Islamic State has carried out atrocities against numerous ethnic and religious groups including Kurds, Shi'ites and Sunnis. Abdallah said a neighbor and a friend had been expelled by Kurdish authorities on allegations of being Islamic State supporters. "I also know people - Arabs - whose homes or villages have been destroyed," he added. Kurdish fighters were recently accused by a human rights group of unlawfully destroying Arab homes in areas they captured from Islamic State between 2014 and May 2016, a charge the Kurdish regional government denies. [nL8N1DE08B] Abdallah said these actions had in some cases driven Sunni Arabs into the arms of Islamic State, which has claimed to be their protector. With Kurdish leaders vowing to hold onto areas the peshmerga have seized from Islamic State and Shi'ite militias also making gains elsewhere, he worries about the future of Mosul. "We're scared that the Shi'ite militias will come into the city, kill men and rape women," he said, echoing Sunni fears of revenge attacks. Shi'ite militias were accused earlier this year of torturing Sunni civilians in areas they had helped to recapture. [nL3N1AS47U] Iraq's government has tried to ease fears of sectarian bloodshed, saying the army and the police will be the only forces allowed to enter Mosul. As they wait, Abdallah and his family face an uncertain future. "Our home is just behind that hill, but we can't get there," his cousin Mohammed said, pointing in the distance. "Sunni Arabs are stuck now," Abdallah said. With no sign they would be crossing before nightfall, the families began to wrap up in coats and woolly hats as the temperature dropped and the sun set over Mosul. (editing by David Stamp)
UFC Fight Night 99 is set following the early weigh-in on Friday in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall both hit the mark to make their five-round middleweight main event official. That's the good news.
The bad news is that Dublin's Neil Seery, who had been planning to retire following the event, had his bout canceled. His opponent, Ian McCall, fell ill and was removed from the bout.
In addition to the Seery vs. McCall cancellation, Zak Cummings was 1.8 pounds over the limit for his welterweight bout with Alexander Yakovlev.
TRENDING > Gegard Mousasi on Uriah Hall Rematch: Its Time for Payback
Cummings was fined 20-percent of his show money, which goes to Yakovlev. Their bout will go ahead at a 172-pound catch weight.
UFC Fight Night 99: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 Weigh-in Results
Main Card (on UFC Fight Pass)
Gegard Mousasi (184) vs. Uriah Hall (185)
Ross Pearson (156) vs. Steven Ray (155)
Timothy Johnson (264) vs. Alexander Volkov (249)
Artem Lobov (144) vs. Teruto Ishihara (146)
Prelims (on UFC Fight Pass)
Ian McCall (did not weigh)* vs. Neil Seery (126)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) vs. Jack Marshman (184)
Ali Bagautinov (126) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (125)
Kevin Lee (155) vs. Magomed Mustafaev (156)
Amanda Cooper (116) vs. Anna Elmose (116)
Mark Godbeer (238) vs. Justin Ledet (240)
Zak Cummings (172.8)** vs. Alexander Yakovlev (171)
Milana Dudieva (135) vs. Marion Reneau (135)
Brett Johns (136) vs. Kwan Ho Kwak (136)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (170) vs. Charlie Ward (169)
*McCall did not weigh in
**Cummings missed weight
(Weights courtesy of MMAJunkie.com)
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A little girl sends a message to Donald Trump. (Photo: Courtesy of Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids About Kindness/Facebook)
In the aftermath of a vicious election, children are writing letters to President-elect Donald Trump imploring him to adopt the values they learned about in elementary school: kindness and compassion.
Molly Spence Sahebjami, a mother from Seattle, asked other parents of young children to write letters addressed to Trump Tower in New York about the importance of being kind to other people, even if theyre different than you are.
She launched a Facebook called Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids About Kindness, in which she asked if any other kids would like to write letters that are kind in tone and nonpartisan about how the issue affects the children personally. The parents were encouraged to share photos of the letter on social media with #kidsletterstotrump. They came pouring in.
These kids may not have known much about manufacturing jobs, and NAFTA, and wars, and the other reasons being explained as to why Trump won, Sahebjami told Yahoo News. But they did know they heard Trump say really unkind things about many people about people in wheelchairs, about women, about overweight people, about brown-skinned people from other countries.
A little boy named Tommy requested that President-elect Trump be kind please. (Photo: Courtesy of Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids About Kindness/Facebook)
She said she had Republican friends and family who were also disturbed by Trumps remarks that were unkind at a basic, human level.
So the idea sprouted to help these kids deal with concern by doing something very American, and positive and productive: writing letters to the president-elect, she said.
It all started when her 5-year-old son Calvin expressed disappointment that the mean man won. She suggested that he could write Trump a letter to help him be kinder.
Sahebjami said she did not include Calvins letter on the Facebook page because she did not want the focus to be on them her family. She described the project as a nonpartisan, global grassroots campaign.
The campaign quickly went viral and was featured in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and other news sites.
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Jonah says that if you dont have anything nice to say that you shouldnt say anything at all. (Photo: Courtesy of Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids About Kindness/Facebook)
Sahebjami told Yahoo News that she thinks its caught so much attention because it stands in stark contrast to the unkindness and division thats been seen on both sides of the aisle this past week.
Its a call for positive, American action to call on our new president-elect of our great country to be kind and show respect. We all need to be more kind and show more respect, she wrote.
Heres what some of the children are saying to Trump:
Dear Mr. President Trump, I would first like to ask that you be nice to everyone, whatever color, race and creed. I got to a Montessori school, where we learn it is very important to respect and be kind to everyone, wrote Helena, an 8th grader from Chicago. She said that the U.S. would be great if the president is kind to everyone.
Hadley, 13, wrote that she hopes Trump can defy her expectations and prove his critics wrong: I hope you can help everyone of every race, not just white men with the same beliefs. I hope that you will maintain everyones rights, and give more rights equally. The country is counting on you.
A little boy made a special request that Trump be nice to people from other countries and to people who are gay, like his moms.
Mr. Trump please be nice to people who have dark skin and people who are immigrants, wrote one little girl, whose mother said she had nightmares all last week.
Annie, 9, said she thinks blocking people from other races isnt a good decision an apparent reference to Trumps hardline immigration policies and that she goes to a school where at least 65 percent of the students are not white: Some of my best friends are Mexican and African- American, and I am a white girl.
By Irene Klotz (Reuters) - A multinational crew, including a U.S. astronaut who is the oldest and most experienced woman to fly in space, blasted off from Kazakhstan on Thursday for the International Space Station, where it should arrive in two days, a NASA TV broadcast showed. The Russian Soyuz rocket carrying American Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT). Whitson, 56, a biochemist and NASA's former chief astronaut, is making her third trip to the station, a $100 million research laboratory that flies about 250 miles (420 km) above Earth. By the time she returns to Earth in six months, she will have accumulated more time in orbit than any other U.S. astronaut, surpassing the 534-day record set in September by astronaut Jeff Williams. "The most important thing about the station is the friendships and the work we accomplish there," Whitson said during a prelaunch news conference on Wednesday in Kazakhstan. Novitskiy, 45, who is making his second spaceflight, added: "The station is ... a place where we can demonstrate to the entire world that you can have normal relations, where you can work without being distracted by things that don't really matter." Joining the veteran fliers is Pesquet, 38, a rookie astronaut representing the European Space Agency. The crew is due to reach the station at 5:01 p.m. EST (2201 GMT) on Saturday, where it will be greeted by NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian flight engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who arrived on Oct. 21. The combined crew will be one of the last six-member teams to live on the station for a while. Beginning in March, Russia plans to cut the number of cosmonauts serving on the station to two from three, following delays in launching a new science laboratory. The Multipurpose Laboratory Module is now expected to be launched in 2018. (Reporting by Irene Klotz in Houston; Editing by Letitia Stein and Peter Cooney)
(This November 15 story corrects time period in paragraph 1, death toll in paragraph 9 and edits after official clarification that the figures referred to deaths since October 9) By Antoni Slodkowski YANGON (Reuters) - Sixty-nine members of what Myanmar's government has described as a Rohingya Muslim militant group and 17 members of the security forces have been killed since the start of fighting in western Rakhine State, the army said on Tuesday. The death toll, announced in the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar daily, demonstrates the scale of the escalation of the conflict since violence erupted a month ago, and came as former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, who chairs a commission on resolving Rakhine's problems, voiced concern at the upsurge in violence. The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in Rakhine in 2012. It has exposed the tension between Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's seven-month-old civilian administration and the army, which ruled for decades and retains key powers, including control of ministries responsible for security. "I wish to express my deep concern over the recent violence in northern Rakhine State, which is plunging the state into renewed instability and creating new displacement," said former UN Secretary General Annan in a statement. "All communities must renounce violence and I urge the security services to act in full compliance with the rule of law," he said. Members of the commission, set up by Suu Kyi in August, are in Rakhine for consultations with community members this week. Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya Muslims, shutting out aid workers and independent observers, and conducted sweeps of villages. A series of recent skirmishes and attacks had increased to 69 the tally of suspected Rohingya Muslim attackers killed since Oct. 9, while the security forces' toll stands at 17, according to state-owned media. HUMANITARIAN AID Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship, with many of the country's majority Buddhists regarding them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya face severe restrictions on travel and access to healthcare. Many were dependent on regular nutritional and medical aid long before the outbreak of fighting in October. Top diplomats from the UN, Britain, the United States and several other countries traveled to the area in early November and said the government had agreed to the restoration of humanitarian aid. But only 7,200 people from four villages have received food, while regular aid convoys to the area have not been restored, according to the UN's humanitarian agency. "While this limited access is welcome, thousands of people remain in need of humanitarian assistance with up to 15,000 people displaced in the area of security operations," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. "Humanitarian services for more than 150,000 people have now been suspended for more than a month," it said. Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes in the recent violence. The government and army reject the accusations, blaming the "violent attackers" for razing houses. Rohingya rights advocates have distributed online video images of what they said were civilian casualties of the attacks, urging the international community to investigate. Authorities have denied independent journalists access to the area, so Reuters has been unable to independently verify either the military accounts or the video clips. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Alex Richardson)
By Antoni Slodkowski YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's government on Friday rejected accusations by minority Rohingya Muslims that the military has killed residents fleeing the conflict in the northwest of the country, in which at least 86 people have been killed so far and up to 30,000 displaced. Hundreds of Rohingya are trying to escape the military crackdown after a recent escalation in violence in Rakhine State, residents have told Reuters, adding that some of them have been gunned down while attempting to cross the river that marks the frontier with Bangladesh. The information taskforce on Rakhine, formed this week by the office of de facto Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the allegations against the military, known as the "Tatmadaw" in the Burmese language. "Regarding those incidents, after asking the Tatmadaw and border guard troops in those regions, it is known that the information is absolutely not true," said the State Counsellor Office Information Committee in a Facebook post. The office added that the military and the border guard troops had not conducted operations near the border and were only engaged in an "area clearance operation" in the "inner part" of the state. Soldiers have poured into the north of Rakhine along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to attacks by alleged Muslim militants on border posts on Oct. 9. They have locked down the district, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya, shutting out aid workers and independent observers. A senior Bangladeshi official said its border guard force on Friday turned back 82 Rohingya Muslims, including women and children, attempting to leave Myanmar. This came after two boats with 86 people were pushed back on Tuesday. Lieutenant Colonel Anwarul Azim, commanding officer of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the Cox's Bazar sector said those turned away had been provided with food and medicines. The United Nations stressed the border should be kept open. "It is essential that the border is kept open for people fleeing violence at the moment," said the U.N. refugee agency spokesman, Adrian Edwards, at a briefing in Geneva on Friday. CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION Sixty-nine suspected insurgents and 17 members of the security forces have been killed, according to official reports, since the violence began last month. Residents and rights advocates have accused security forces of summary executions, rape and setting fire to homes. The government and army have rejected the accusations. The U.N. envoy on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, criticized Suu Kyi's handling of the crisis and renewed her appeal to investigate the allegations of abuses. "State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has recently stated that the government is responding to the situation based on the principle of the rule of law. Yet I am unaware of any efforts on the part of the government to look into the allegations of human rights violations," Lee said in a statement on Friday. "It would appear, on the contrary, that the government has mostly responded with a blanket denial," said Lee, adding the security forces "must not be given carte blanche to step up their operations". Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to be displaced and thousands more affected by the Oct. 9 attacks and the following security operation, said Pierre Peron, the spokesman of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar. "This includes as many as 15,000 people who, according to unverified information, may have been displaced after clashes between armed actors and the military on 12-13 November," said Peron. He added that humanitarian operations that had been providing food, cash, and nutrition to more than 150,000 vulnerable people have been suspended for 40 days. More than 3,000 children have not received their regular treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM). "Without appropriate treatment and care, many children with SAM are at risk of dying," said Peron. (Story corrects day when Bangladesh turned back 86 Rohingya to Tuesday from Wednesday in paragraph 8; fixes typos in paragraphs 2 & 3) (Additional reporting by Mohammad Nurul Islam in COX'S BAZAR and Stephanie Nebehay in GENEVA; Editing by Alex Richardson)
By Wa Lone and Yimou Lee SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Ever since deadly attacks by alleged Muslim militants in Myanmar's troubled northwestern Rakhine State, Myint Lwin says he has been unable to sleep at night. As rumors spread of fresh violence, even the sound of dogs barking frightened him. "No one in the village has had enough sleep since last month," said Myint Lwin, an ethnic Rakhine Buddhist from a Muslim-majority village in the north of the state. "We were scared when we heard people shouting and dogs barking in the middle of the night." The 18-year-old motorbike taxi driver is one of 116 civilians to sign up for a new auxiliary police force in Rakhine State, part of the response by authorities to the latest spasm of violence that began with attacks on border police posts that killed nine officers on Oct. 9. Human rights monitors say arming and training non-Muslims will lead to further bloodshed in the divided state, but Myint Lwin sees it as necessary for self-defense. "These Muslims are trying to abuse our Buddhist women and people, so I want to protect our country from them," he told Reuters, wearing his new police uniform with a badge bearing a white star on the shoulder. Sixty-nine suspected insurgents and 17 members of the security forces have been killed, according to official reports since a military crackdown began last month along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh. It is the most serious unrest in the state since hundreds were killed in communal clashes between Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012. Residents and rights advocates have also accused security forces of killing and raping civilians and setting fire to homes in the area, where the vast majority of residents are Rohingya Muslims. The government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the army reject the accusations. There have been no reports of insurgent attacks on Buddhist civilians. LOYALTY OATH Chanting an oath of loyalty to the state, the new recruits began an accelerated training program in the state capital Sittwe this week. Mostly Rakhine Buddhists in their early 20s, in 16 weeks they will be deployed guarding border posts in the tense north. The training is two months shorter than the program undertaken by regular police and the recruits did not have to meet the usual entrance criteria such as educational attainment standards and minimum height. Only citizens were eligible, excluding the 1.1 million Rohingyas living in Rakhine State who are denied citizenship in Myanmar, where many regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The recruits, who are from across Rakhine, will be given training courses including martial arts, use of weapons and riot control. "The ethnic Rakhine asked the government to protect them in the Muslim-majority region," said Rakhine State police chief Colonel Sein Lwin. "If we have enough police force, we can give more security to them." He said the recruits would help protect residents from what the government has described as a Rohingya Muslim militant group, estimated to be 400-strong, that has been blamed for the Oct. 9 attacks. "These Muslims never follow the laws," Sein Lwin said. "They are trying to seize land and extend their territory in northern Rakhine and kill Rakhine ethnics." The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported that apart from the special training for new police recruits, "healthy Rakhine women" and wives of members of the security forces had received military training in January. The auxiliary force will come under the control of the border police. After an 18-month stint on the border, the recruits will be deployed to police stations close to their hometowns. They will be paid 150,000 Kyat ($115) monthly, a salary many recruits said was less than they earned as civilians. "I don't care about salary," said Than Lwin Oo, a 24-year-old waiter from the northern Buthidaung township who failed a college entrance exam - a requirement to join the regular police. "I dislike the Muslim who try to intimidate our country. That is one of the reasons why I want to become a policeman." "RECIPE FOR ABUSES" While officials have said the auxiliary police recruits are not a new "people's militia", like those that fight ethnic insurgencies elsewhere in Myanmar, some observers fear the move will sharpen tensions between the two communities. "This is a recipe for rights abuses against the Rohingya,"said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division. "The Burmese government is foolhardy to think they will be able to control the local recruits operating on a basis of bias against the Rohingya people." Not all the recruits voiced hostility towards Muslims. Kyaw San Win, 29, said he had always wanted to join the police, but had not achieved the level of education usually required. He said his village of 100 houses in northern Rakhine was close to a Muslim settlement of 500 homes. "I have some Muslim friends, they are not bad people, and we have no problems," he said. But many Muslims say the auxiliary program was likely to worsen the distrust and fear between the two communities. "We don't dare to go out on the street. If they found us, they would accuse us of being insurgents," said a Rohingya teacher from northern Rakhine, who asked not to be named because he was afraid of repercussions. In Buddhist Rakhine communities the fear is just as palpable. Some living in the Muslim-majority north said the auxiliary police recruitment comes too little and too late. "The police training is useless," said Kyaw Win from a village where some 1,200 Rohingya houses outnumber the 40 ethnic Rakhine households. He said some 50 Rakhine villagers have fled since fighting escalated in mid-November. He urged the government to reinforce with militias with weapons rather than police. "We don't know what would happen in the future," he said. "We can get killed any time because we are surrounded by Muslims." ($1 = 1,299.0000 kyat) (Editing by Alex Richardson)
Editors of National Geographic Traveler magazine have released their picks for the best destinations of 2017, giving shout-outs to places like Banff, Chengdu, Seoul, Madrid and Georgia, USA.
For their annual Best of the World list, editors chose a total of 21 destinations they deem to be must-see places to visit next year.
The selections fall into three categories: cities, nature and culture.
In the nature category, the magazine shines the spotlight on Kauai, a paradisiac island in Hawaii which has stood in as blockbuster locations for no less than 60 feature films, including the Jurassic Park franchise.
Nature lovers will find renewal in Kauai's towering sea cliffs, cascading waterfalls, mahogany forests and lush living landscapes.
Finland is also singled out for travelers looking for quiet. The country's 40 national parks, 12 wilderness areas, and six national hiking areas are described as sanctuaries for silence-seekers.
The year 2017 will be a big one for the country, as they will celebrate 100 years of independence marked by four nationwide Finnish Nature Days, one for each season.
Similarly, Canada fetes its 150th birthday next year. To experience the best of the country, editors suggest heading to the jewel of Canada, Banff, renowned for its rugged mountain peaks, meadowed valleys and turquoise-blue lakes.
On the flipside, travelers in search of an exciting, city holiday are advised to check out Seoul, which can make even the most hardened urbanite feel like a country bumpkin.
With a population of 25 million for the Greater Seoul area, the city pulses with humanity, palaces, markets, high-rises, restaurants and fashionistas.
And for its legendary, unparalleled cuisine Sichuan cuisine, Chengdu, China made the cut in the culture category.
A UNESCO-designated City of Gastronomy, the region is known for dishes like tea-smoked duck, ma po tofu, hot pot, twice-cooked pork and kung pao chicken.
The online hub features additional details such as travel tips for each locale and 360 videos.
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Here are Nat Geo Traveler's picks for the best destinations of 2017 in alphabetical order:
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Baja California National Marine Parks, Mexico
Banff, Alberta, Canada
Canton Uri, Switzerland
Cartagena, Colombia
Central India's National Parks
Chengdu, China
Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
Ecuador's Cloud Forests
Finland
Georgia, USA
Guadeloupe Islands
Hamburg, Germany
Kauai, Hawaii, USA
Madrid, Spain
Malta
Marrakech, Morocco
Moscow, Russia
Papua New Guinea
Seoul, Korea
Via Dinarica, Western Balkans
WATERFORD A Waterford man was arrested Wednesday after reportedly attempting to dine and dash at a Waterford restaurant.
Robin J. Grainger, 56, of the 31400 block of Hickory Hollow Road, rang up a $104.11 bill for dinner and drinks at the Cotton Exchange, 345 Hickory Hollow Rd., around 11:04 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.
After the meal, Grainger allegedly left without paying and was located by Waterford Police at Dizzys, 201 1st St. The suspect appeared to be intoxicated.
Grainger reportedly told police that he had a bill at the Cotton Exchange and said he only needed a PIN number though he did not have a credit or debit card on him. The suspect added that he was going to pay the bill but his ride was leaving so he left with his ride, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Grainger told the officer that only the Racine County Sheriffs Office could do anything to him. Soon after, Grainger was arrested by the officer.
Grainger faces two misdemeanor charges for fraud on an innkeeper and disorderly conduct. He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference at 3:15 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.
Grainger remained in custody as of Thursday at the Racine County Jail, online records showed.
Brussels (AFP) - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday voiced confidence that Donald Trump was committed to the transatlantic alliance, which has stood the test of time for both the United States and Europe.
"I am absolutely confident President-elect Trump will maintain America's strong commitment to European security and to NATO," Stoltenberg told AFP in an interview in Brussels.
"That is in the interests of both Europe and the United States," he said, with the disasters of two World Wars and the Cold War showing how inter-connected both sides' security was.
The only time NATO's Article 5 "all for one, one for all," collective defence guarantee had been invoked was after the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, he recalled.
Stoltenberg said he expected Trump to continue to press NATO allies to increase defence spending, just as previous US presidents had, and this was fully justified.
Washington accounts for nearly 70 percent of the NATO allies combined defence outlays and has long demanded they do more.
Trump caused consternation on the campaign trail when he suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the defence of an ally if it had not paid its NATO dues.
NATO announced later Friday that Stoltenberg had had a "good talk" with Trump on the alliance's future.
He had thanked him in particular for raising the issue of defence spending, a "top priority" for the secretary general since he took office in 2014, it said in a statement.
"The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing but that there is more to do," it added.
- 'Russia cannot be isolated' -
Trump's more positive approach to President Vladimir Putin also rattled allies who at a July Warsaw summit had endorsed NATO's biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War to counter a more assertive Russia.
Stoltenberg said he did not see an issue.
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"What I have heard is that he has conveyed a message about also talking to the Russians. At our Warsaw summit, we made decisions on strong defence but also on political dialogue" with Moscow, he said.
"Russia is our biggest neighbour, Russia is here to stay; there is no way we can isolate Russia so we have to continue to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia."
Pundits in Europe largely took Trump's campaign comments at face value, wondering if the new president was about to ditch Washington's 70-year security guarantee for Europe in favour of a more isolationist, "America First," policy.
Since his stunning upset election victory, opinion has veered sharply, with some believing the demands of office will prove a reality wake-up call while others argue Trump meant what he said.
- Turkey a 'key ally' -
Stoltenberg also confirmed that several Turkish officers posted to NATO commands had sought asylum after a bloody failed coup in July sparked a massive crackdown and purge.
NATO and its European allies have stressed Ankara has the right to prosecute the coup plotters but say it must do so while respecting the shared democratic values the alliance is meant to uphold.
Turkish President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chafed at the criticism, saying the allies do not fully appreciate the threat posed by the coup.
"Turkey is a key ally, is a highly valued ally ... and plays an important role in the alliance not least because of its strategic location," Stoltenberg said.
He said he had visited Turkey shortly after the coup and seen the damage inflicted on the parliament building by F16 fighter jets in an assault on democracy.
The Turkish authorities have the right to track down those responsible but "it is important that this is done ... in accordance with the rule of law," he said.
Stoltenberg said he was going back to Turkey on Sunday to attend a meeting of the NATO parliamentary assembly which brings together member state MPs.
"I expect an open debate," he said.
Brussels (AFP) - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he had had a positive talk with US President-elect Donald Trump on the future of the US-led alliance, amid concerns in Europe about Washington's commitment.
"Good talk with US President-elect realDonaldTrump. We both underlined the enduring importance of NATO and increased defence spending," Stoltenberg tweeted.
Trump caused consternation among NATO allies in Europe during the election campaign when he suggested Washington might think twice about coming to the rescue of an ally under threat if it had not paid its NATO dues.
Favourable comments about President Vladimir Putin added to concerns of a major policy switch just as NATO mounted its biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War to counter a more assertive Russia.
A NATO statement said Stoltenberg spoke by phone with Trump, congratulating him on his election victory and looking forward to working with his national security team.
The two men "discussed how NATO is adapting to the new security environment, including to counter the threat of terrorism," it said.
Stoltenberg thanked Trump for "raising the issue of defence spending during the campaign, which has been a top priority for the secretary general since his appointment in 2014".
"The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing but that there is more to do," it added.
President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: CBS via Getty Images)
During his history-making 2016 campaign, Donald Trump took heat for suggesting that he would not automatically enforce Americas longstanding commitment to coming to the aid of NATO allies if they were attacked. Trump warned that his administration might not help countries that had not met an alliance-wide pledge to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. The brash entrepreneur at one point also called NATO obsolete.
Since Election Day, President-elect Trump has not publicly repeated those comments, which had alarmed national security experts and professionals of both parties.
And NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg now says that the new president assured him by telephone Friday of his commitment to the alliance conceived to protect Europe from potential aggression by Moscow.
The president-elect and the secretary-general both underlined NATOs enduring importance, and discussed how NATO is adapting to the new security environment, including to counter the threat of terrorism, according to a NATO summary of their conversation. The Trump transition team did not return an email seeking its version of the back-and-forth.
Stoltenberg congratulated Trump on his victory over Hillary Clinton and said that he was looking forward to working with him and his national security team and even threw in a nod to the new presidents repeated demands that other NATO countries spend more on their militaries.
The secretary-general thanked Trump for raising the issue of defense spending during the campaign, which has been a top priority for the secretary-general since his appointment in 2014. The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing, but that there is more to do.
And Stoltenberg also said he looked forward to welcoming Trump to the annual NATO summit, to be held next year in Brussels.
In the 10 days since the election, President Obama has repeatedly tried to reassure NATO that Trumps America wont walk away from its treaty commitments.
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In a Nov. 14 press conference, on the eve of his ongoing trip to Europe and Peru, Obama even took on the role of de facto Trump spokesman while describing their Nov. 10 meeting in the Oval Office.
He expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships, and so one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to NATO and the Transatlantic Alliance, the president said. I think thats one of the most important functions I can serve at this stage during this trip is to let them know that there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to Americas commitment to maintaining a strong and robust NATO relationship.
Its a message Obama has carried to each stop of his trip. And hes not the only one trying to reassure U.S. allies warily watching what the president-elect, who has vowed better relations with Moscow, will say and do.
The day after the election, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reaffirmed his belief in the U.S. commitment to mutual defense under Article V of the NATO charter.
I will say for myself the NATO alliance is every bit as important today as it ever was, McConnell told reporters at the Capitol. You attack any member of NATO, you have us to deal with. I want the Russians to understand that fully.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on November 18 said he was absolutely confident in President-elect Donald Trumps commitment to NATO. He was speaking at a German Marshall Fund (GMF) event in Brussels.
In answer to a question from Ian Lesser, senior director for Foreign Policy at the GMF, Stoltenberg said that he was looking forward to meeting Trump at the next NATO summit in spring 2017. He said he was certain that Trump would maintain American leadership and a strong US commitment to European security.
He said that US and European cooperation was important in maintaining security, and said NATO staff were in contact with Trumps transition team. Credit: YouTube/German Marshall Fund via Storyful
By David Schwartz
PHOENIX, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe, has settled a trademark suit brought against the apparel retail chain Urban Outfitters Inc over use of the tribe's name in company merchandise, the two sides said on Friday.
The deal resolves any and all claims by the tribe, whose reservation spans three Western states, contesting the Philadelphia company's "Navajo" and "Navaho" brands in a variety of products, including pullovers, feathered earrings and underwear.
Navajo leaders claimed in the 2012 lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, that the retailer had infringed on the tribe's trademark rights by selling more than 20 lines of products under those two brand names.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Court records show that a federal judge formally dismissed the case on Monday.
But a statement by Navajo leaders said the two parties have also signed a "supply and license agreement" and plan to collaborate on authentic American Indian jewelry in future years.
"We believe in protecting our Nation, our artisans, designs, prayers and way of life," Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said. "We expect that any company considering the use of the Navajo name, or our designs or motifs, will ask us for our permission."
Azeez Hayne, the company's general counsel, said in the statement that Urban Outfitters was pleased with the agreement.
"(Urban Outfitters) has long been inspired by the style of Navajo and other American Indian artists and looks forward to the opportunity to work with them on future collaborations," Hayne said.
A Navajo spokesman declined comment on any specifics of the settlement, adding that the agreement was confidential. A company spokesman likewise declined further comment.
The territory of Navajo, a sovereign American Indian nation with some 300,000 enrolled members, occupies 27,425 square miles (71,010 square km) in parts of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah and northwestern New Mexico. The seat of the tribal government is located at Window Rock, Arizona.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler)
Neil deGrasse Tyson cant wait to get his hands on president-elect Donald Trump. Or at least a certain part of Trump.
Celebrity astrophysicist Tyson tweeted Friday that he might grab Trumps crotch when he comes face-to-face with the reality TV host-turned-world leader.
When I meet President Trump, I may first grab his crotch to get his attention then discuss science with him, Tyson wrote.
Its unclear when Tyson plans to meet Trump. However, its evident that Tyson was referring to lewd remarks made by Trump during a 2005 conversation with then-Access Hollywood personality Billy Bush.
Also Read: Neil DeGrasse Tyson, JK Rowling Tag-Team Against Donald Trump on Twitter
When I meet President Trump, I may first grab his crotch to get his attention then discuss Science with him. Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 18, 2016
During the conversation, which was leaked prior to the election, Trump bragged that, when youre famous, women will let you do anything, including grab em by the py.
Also Read: Neil deGrasse Tyson Spanks Conservative Pundit After 'Horse's Astrophysicist' Crack
As for the talking-science part, that seems like a logical topic of conversation for Tyson, if not for Trump the president-elect has in the past claimed that global warming was a concept created by the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive a claim that was disputed by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin this week.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson Stopped 'a Dozen' Times for 'Just Being Black'
In the animal kingdom, sometimes the best survival strategy is to pretend to be something you're not either to ambush unsuspecting prey or to convince predators that you're not very tasty.
And scientists recently discovered a spider that uses a unique masquerade to hide in plain sight. It is the only known spider to have a body that bears an uncanny resemblance to a dangling, partly dried-up leaf.
The find was reported in a new study, though the spider is yet to be described and assigned a species name.
The newfound costumed arachnid is in the Poltys genus in the orb spider family, which contains more than 3,000 species and one spider celebrity from children's fiction a Araneus cavaticus was the barn spider Charlotte from the classic story "Charlotte's Web" (Harper and Brothers, 1952). [In Photos: 13 Animals That Mimic Plants]
A leggy masquerade ball?
Masquerading is far more common in insects than in arachnids. In fact, many types of insects have bodies that mimic plants. For example, the Phasmatodea order contains hundreds of species of so-called stick insects, which look like bare branches or leaves. And brightly colored orchid mantises have petal-shaped legs to complete their disguises as harmless flowers, tricking other insects into flying close enough for the mantises to snatch them out of the air.
But about 100 spider species also sport physical features that make them appear inanimate and unappetizing, like a jumble of twigs, plant debris or a messy glob of bird poo.
This is the first known spider species to be leaf-shaped. And its discovery was accidental, according to the study's lead author, Matjaz Kuntner, a principal investigator with the Evolutionary Zoology Lab at the Biological Institute Jovan Hadzi, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Make like a leaf
The scientists spied and photographed the unusual arachnid in 2011, while looking for other types of spiders in Yunnan, China. They found the individual a female on a twig, surrounded by dead leaves and with no web nearby. The researchers noted that her back looked like a living, green leaf, while the underside of her body was brown, mimicking a dead leaf, and a hairy, stalk-like structure protruded from her abdomen.
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The greenish-yellow underside of the spider resembles a fresh leaf, and the hairy, stalk-like structure curving from its abdomen makes it look even more like a plant. Matjaz Kuntner
Leaves close by the female spider on the branch were attached with silk, which hinted that she had placed them there deliberately to further camouflage herself. However, additional observations would be necessary to confirm this behavior, Kuntner told Live Science.
After searching for two weeks, Kuntner and colleagues were able to find only one more leaf-shaped spider a juvenile male, crouching on a web. Next, they turned to museums to see if they could turn up more specimens, Kuntner said.
"Having first noticed their rarity in nature, we talked to curators and established their overall rarity," he said. One similar specimen eventually emerged from a museum collection a female that had been found in Vietnam. But the scientists suspected the Vietnam spider belonged to a known species in the Poltys genus, whereas the other two spiders likely represented a new species.
There is still much to be learned about this enigmatic leaf imitator and considering how difficult it was to find just the first two representatives, that's easier said than done. The authors concluded their study with the somewhat rueful observation that the mysterious spider's secretive habits and nocturnal lifestyle enabled it to successfully avoid not only predators, but researchers as well.
The findings were published online Nov. 11 in the Journal of Arachnology.
Original article on Live Science.
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Baby number three is on the way for Nick Cannon.
The Americas Got Talent host confirmed during an appearance on Power 105.1s The Breakfast Club, Thursday, that he and former Miss Arizona U.S.A. Brittany Bell are absolutely expecting a child together.
Ive got a baby on the way, he told the radio hosts after calling Bell a special young lady.
While he and Bell are no longer an item, Cannon, 36, would not call her his ex, clarifying that ex Mariah is my last ex. Everybody else is people that Ive known, loved and cared for.
Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.
Cannon and Carey, 46, share two children: 5-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan. The pair split in 2014, but Cannon just confirmed earlier this month that their divorce has been finalized.
Its always been amicable, 100 percent. Despite everything, their focus has always been the kids, a Cannon source tells PEOPLE of the exes. It wouldnt have gone down the way it has if it wasnt amicable. What divorced stars do you know who still celebrate every holiday together? Its all about family for them.
Just last week, Bell shared a photo of her baby bump to Instagram, writing, Children are a gift from God Psalm 127:3.
RELATED VIDEO: Nick Cannon on Co-Parenting With Mariah Carey
She also celebrated a shower with some other former Miss U.S.A.s on Wednesday.
Wrote Bell on Instagram of the sweet celebration: Miss USA /Miss Universe not only puts you in a rare sisterhood no money can buy.. but your child ends up with some of the most naturally beautiful, sweetest, and strongest women from around the country/world to call Aunties!!
Photo credit: Chris O'Neil/National Transportation Safety Boardundefined
From Popular Mechanics
The engineer of a commuter train that slammed into a station going double the 10 mph speed limit, killing a woman, suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnea, his lawyer said Wednesday, and a U.S. official told The Associated Press that investigators are looking at it as a potential cause.
The official, who was briefed on the investigation, spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter.
Engineer Thomas Gallagher, 48, was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea after the Sept. 29 crash in Hoboken, attorney Jack Arsenault said in an email.
Sleep apnea robs its victims of rest because they are repeatedly awakened as their airway closes and their breathing stops, leading to dangerous daytime drowsiness.
"The undisputed facts available to us immediately following this tragic accident led us to find and refer Tom to a specialist," Arsenault said. "The result of this diagnosis is a material fact in this inquiry to be assessed by people far more qualified than me."
Arsenault said the results were forwarded to investigators on Oct. 31. He said Gallagher underwent a physical in July and was cleared for duty.
The same condition went undiagnosed in the engineer of a commuter train that sped into a curve and crashed in New York City in 2013, killing four people.
NJ Transit said federal rules prohibited it from discussing specifics about the crash during the investigation.
The agency has a sleep apnea screening program but said it is not authorized to discuss any employee's medical or personal information. Another official briefed on the investigation said given the screening program, it's "not clear why he wasn't screened or if he was, how he passed."
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency was not in a position to confirm specifics of the engineer's health.
"These are matters that are being looked at as part of the NTSB's comprehensive investigation of the Hoboken accident," said NTSB spokesman Christopher O'Neil.
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The Federal Railroad Administration said it will issue a safety advisory in the coming days to "once again push railroads to address worker fatigue" and accelerate the installation of inward- and outward-facing cameras.
"FRA has long believed it is important for railroads to address worker fatigue more aggressively, and to implement a program that puts cameras in locomotives," said Matthew Lehner, public affairs director for the FRA. "While FRA has regulations in the works to address both of these challenges, railroads should not, and do not, need to wait to take action."
Gallagher, a NJ Transit engineer for about 18 years, told investigators he had no memory of the crash and only remembered waking up on the floor of the engineer's cab. He was pulled from the wreckage, treated at a hospital and released.
The throttle on the train went from idle to the fourth position, about half-power, 38 seconds before impact, and the speed increased to 21 mph, according to investigators. The throttle went back to idle and Gallagher hit the emergency brake about a second before crashing into a bumper at the end of the track.
Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, a 34-year-old lawyer and mother, was standing on a platform when she was killed by falling debris. More than 100 people were injured.
Gallagher told investigators he felt fully rested when reporting to work at 6:46 a.m. that day. He said the trainoperated normally and he remembered it was going 10 mph as he approached the station.
The NTSB recommended sleep apnea testing for engineers, and Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road started requiring it after finding the engineer in the 2013 crash had fallen asleep at the controls because he had a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep apnea.
The engineer in that crash, William Rockefeller, told investigators he felt strangely "dazed" right before the crash, which occurred as he sped through a 30 mph curve at 82 mph.
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RACINE COUNTY A federal judge will decide soon whether a new rule expanding overtime pay which many businesses and local governments are preparing for will go into effect as planned.
A lawsuit filed by 21 states, including Wisconsin, urged Amos Mazzant, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Texas, to block the rule before it takes effect Dec. 1. About 4 million higher-earning workers would become eligible for overtime pay under the measure, which critics say would burden private and public sectors but supporters argue ensures workers are compensated fairly for their work.
Mazzant, an appointee of President Barack Obama, could rule on the lawsuit Tuesday, according to court records. A ruling may also be pushed to Nov. 28, just three days before the Dec. 1 deadline.
Currently, only salaried workers making less than $23,660 per year must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate when they work beyond 40 hours. But come Dec. 1, that amount would more than double to $47,476 per year, under Department of Labor changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act. And the threshold would continue to climb in future years.
In addition to the court ruling, the future of the overtime rule under President-elect Donald Trump is unknown. Trump has not said specifically what he will do about the changes, according to media reports.
Ryan opposes changes
The congressional office of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., a vocal critic of the rule, referred a question about the upcoming ruling to Ryans May 18 statement in which he said the rule hurts the very people it alleges to help.
Ryan, R-Wis., argues that by mandating overtime pay at a higher salary threshold, companies will be unable to afford skilled workers and will eliminate salaried positions altogether.
For the sake of his own political legacy, President Obama is rushing through regulations like the overtime rule that will cause people to lose their livelihoods, said Ryan, who represents Racine County in Congress. We are committed to fighting this rule and the many others that would be an absolute disaster for our economy.
But others have hailed the changes. Citizen Action, a liberal advocacy group, calculated the average annual overtime bonus in Racine at $8,788 per worker.
The new federal overtime rule will mean that more will be rewarded for working longer hours, boosting consumer spending in our local economies as families can afford to go out to dinner, buy necessities, and send their kids to college, Citizen Action Executive Director Robert Kraig said.
BELFAST (Reuters) - An attempt by a Northern Ireland activist to block Britain's exit from the European Union was referred to the Supreme Court on Friday after the case was rejected by Belfast's High Court. Belfast's Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that the contention by rights activist Raymond McCord that the people of Northern Ireland should have sole sovereignty on deciding their future within the EU should be decided by the Supreme Court. The court heard that a parallel case against Brexit by several members of Northern Ireland's regional assembly was referred to the Supreme Court earlier this week by a High Court order after an appeal by Northern Ireland's attorney general. Britain's Supreme Court will be asked to rule on whether any provisions of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal mean that an act of parliament is required before Brexit can be triggered and whether the consent of its regional parliament is required, according to the court order. The Supreme Court is already due to hear an appeal by the British government against a ruling by London's High Court that parliamentary approval is required to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty by the end of March next year, starting a 24-month countdown to departure from the bloc. There are fears that Brexit could undermine the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland and could lead to the reintroduction of unpopular controls on the border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU has stirred political tension among the four nations of the United Kingdom - England and Wales, which voted in a majority to leave the EU, and Northern Ireland and Scotland, which voted to remain. (Story corrects headline to read Northern Ireland.) (Reporting by Alan Erwin and Ian Graham; Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Mark Heinrich)
BELFAST (Reuters) - An attempt by a Northern Ireland activist to block Britain's exit from the European Union was referred to the Supreme Court on Friday after the case was rejected by Belfast's High Court. Belfast's Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that the contention by rights activist Raymond McCord that the people of Northern Ireland should have sole sovereignty on deciding their future within the EU should be decided by the Supreme Court. The court heard that a parallel case against Brexit by several members of Northern Ireland's regional assembly was referred to the Supreme Court earlier this week by a High Court order after an appeal by Northern Ireland's attorney general. Britain's Supreme Court will be asked to rule on whether any provisions of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal mean that an act of parliament is required before Brexit can be triggered and whether the consent of its regional parliament is required, according to the court order. The Supreme Court is already due to hear an appeal by the British government against a ruling by London's High Court that parliamentary approval is required to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty by the end of March next year, starting a 24-month countdown to departure from the bloc. There are fears that Brexit could undermine the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland and could lead to the reintroduction of unpopular controls on the border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member. Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU has stirred political tension among the four nations of the United Kingdom - England and Wales, which voted in a majority to leave the EU, and Northern Ireland and Scotland, which voted to remain. (This version of the story corrects paragraph 2 to say the Court of Appeals ruled on Friday, not last month) (Reporting by Alan Erwin and Ian Graham; Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Photo credit: Mini
From Road & Track
While the Mini Countryman is built by Magna in Austria, the Dakar version is a German product made by X-raid to be the ultimate off-roader. It's powered by BMW's six-cylinder turbodiesel, and while the previous version became a multiple champion throughout the years, it still wasn't good enough to get Jalopnik's Raphael Orlove across some sand. After realizing this, X-raid had to build a better one.
Photo credit: MINI
The 2017 MINI John Cooper Works Rally comes with improved aerodynamics, better thermal management and weight distribution, a lower center of gravity and new engine mapping for improved performance and lower fuel consumption.
Modifications to the tubular steel chassis mean a removable subframe supports the engine, which can be removed as a complete package in just an hour. The dry sump three liter diesel produces 340 horsepower at 3250 rpm, and approximately 590 lb.-ft. of torque at1850 rpm with the regulatory 38mm air restrictor in place. Linked to a six-speed sequential gearbox, this race car has a top speed of 114mph.
The body shell is made from carbon fiber and Kevlar, while the underside housing all three of the allotted three spare wheels and two hydraulic jacks are built from a honeycomb mix. Inside, it's even more carbon fiber on the dashboard, with three displays. The one for the driver shows the selected gear, RPM and shift alert, while the center unit has the speed, oil pressure, fluid temperatures and electronic functions. Finally, all navigational systems are located on the co-driver's side.
Photo credit: MINI
With its 101 gallon fuel cell and 245/80R 16 BF Goodrich tires, the MINI John Cooper Works Rally will climb above 9800 feet in Bolivia during its attempt to master the 2017 Dakar Rally. Only the local goats know how much of its 340 horses will remain in place at that altitude, but its lockable, oil-cooled Xtrac front and rear diffs with a central SADEV transfer case should keep it going just fine either way.
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Photo credit: MINI
Photo credit: MINI
Photo credit: MINI
Photo credit: MINI
Photo credit: MINI
Photo credit: MINI
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You can now pre-order beauty blogger Kathleen Lightss chic new nail polish line
Finally, after weeks of suspense, drooling, and gazing desperately into the abyss whilst dreaming of sexy nail polish, the Kathleen Lights nail polish line is available to pre-order on the KL Polish website! The new Kathleen Lights nail polish line includes six shiny colors that will make your nails look like they were just drenched in a bunch of liquid flowers and spices.
While the premiere line of the Kathleen Lights nail polish isnt officially available for purchase until December 5th, she just made an announcement that you can now pre-order one of her delicious nail colors from the website.
This is a preview of the creamy raspberry color Zoey, which pairs perfectly with all the minimalist gold jewelry on the models arm.
ZOEY. @klpolish - @parishelena Makeup: @gabyteemua A photo posted by kathleenlights (@kathleenlights) on Nov 15, 2016 at 6:04pm PST
You can snag your polish early today, directly from the KL Polish website. Youll definitely have your nail polish shipped out during the lines launch in early December.
Yes please, give us the goodies.
Currently wearing ZOEY @klpolish A photo posted by kathleenlights (@kathleenlights) on Nov 17, 2016 at 11:19am PST
The colors available in the collection include: the rich red Brick Sidewalk, the goth-lite Broccoli and Chocolate, the mustard-colored Caramello, the deep sea Gumption, the sugary Snickerdoodle, and of course Zoey.
They look even better next to each other.
Be sure to take a look at the KL Polish line for yourself, or pre-order now before they get snatched up!
The post You can now pre-order beauty blogger Kathleen Lightss chic new nail polish line appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Friday declared portions of the Arctic off-limits for oil exploration for the next five years, dealing a blow to Republican efforts to expand fossil fuel extraction.
The decision means new oil and gas exploration leasing in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea will not be considered until after 2022.
"Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industry's declining interest in the area, forgoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement.
The US government made a similar announcement in March, when it removed the Atlantic Ocean from the five-year road map.
Environmental groups hailed Friday's decision as historic and coming at a key moment, as President-elect Donald Trump has promised to expand drilling for oil and to revive the American coal industry.
"Today's news couldn't come at a better time," said the Sierra Club.
"President Obama has protected the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from Big Oil."
The decision will protect wildlife migration routes, crucial feeding grounds, seafloor habitats and the larger Arctic marine ecosystem, said the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Oceana's senior vice president for the United States, Jackie Savitz, said she was "hopeful" about charting a new course for protecting the Arctic, rather than trying to exploit it.
"The decades-long push to drill in the Arctic has put this unique and diverse ecosystem at risk, cost tens of billions of dollars and created significant controversy without providing the promised benefits," she said.
"Companies have been given every opportunity to find oil and have failed at every turn because of the extreme conditions and limited window for operations there."
The US plans offered 11 potential lease sales -- 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and one off the coast of Alaska in the Cook Inlet area.
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"The plan focuses lease sales in the best places - those with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict, and established infrastructure - and removes regions that are simply not right to lease," said Jewell.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, said lawmakers would work to overturn the plan.
"In its final days, the Obama administration is throwing up more barriers to American energy development," Ryan said in a statement.
"This plan to exclude the resource-rich Arctic from exploration possibilities squanders our ability to harness the abundant, affordable energy sources that power our economy," he added.
"We will work to overturn this plan, and to open up the Arctic and other offshore areas for development."
By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and European leaders on Friday underscored the importance of working together in NATO and chided Russia for its bombing of Syria and failure to implement a Ukrainian peace accord. The White House statement followed a meeting at which Obama sought to reassure his counterparts from Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and France that his successor Donald Trump would not break up the transatlantic alliance. Trump raised concerns during the campaign when he said he could withhold military aid from NATO allies if they had not met their defense commitments and said he would forge closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "President Obama expressed confidence that, even at a moment of great change, democratic values have done more to advance human freedom and progress than any other system in history, and will continue to do so going forward," the White House said. The leaders agreed on the need to work together to stabilize the Middle East and North Africa, as well as securing diplomatic resolutions for the conflicts in Syria and eastern Ukraine. European leaders had sought Obama's support as they prepare to extend sanctions imposed on Russia by Washington and Brussels in 2014 following its intervention in eastern Ukraine, and consider fresh sanctions over Russia's actions in Syria, where it backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that no decisions had been made about extending the Ukraine sanctions, but actions to implement the Minsk peace accord were not sufficient. Merkel said the leaders discussed their concerns about Syria during their meeting on Friday, but did not talk about imposing Syria-related sanctions against Russia that have been sought by the Syrian opposition. Obama and the EU leaders called for an immediate end to attacks on rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo by Syrian government forces and their allies Russia and Iran that monitoring groups say have killed dozens this week alone. Syrian opposition officials on Friday met EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and other officials and urged them to focus on protecting civilians and lifting the siege, said Anas al-Abdah, who heads the Syrian National Coalition. He said he had hoped for stronger words from Obama and the EU leaders, and called for Washington and Brussels to put more "real pressure" on Russia and Iran. U.S. and EU officials have stressed the need for a political solution, including the departure of Assad, but Trump has said he views the fight against Islamic State as a bigger priority. EU leaders are expected to extend sanctions related to Ukraine in December or January. Obama and the European leaders "unanimously agreed on the continued need for Russia to fully meet its commitments under the Minsk agreements and that Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia must remain in place until it does so," the White House said. They said a durable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was needed to move forward with free and fair local elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. (Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
(Recasts with details on Russia, Ukraine sanctions, adds Merkel)
By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal
BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and European leaders on Friday underscored the importance of working together in NATO and chided Russia for its bombing of Syria and failure to implement a Ukrainian peace accord.
The White House statement followed a meeting at which Obama sought to reassure his counterparts from Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and France that his successor Donald Trump would not break up the transatlantic alliance.
Trump raised concerns during the campaign when he said he could withhold military aid from NATO allies if they had not met their defence commitments and said he would forge closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"President Obama expressed confidence that, even at a moment of great change, democratic values have done more to advance human freedom and progress than any other system in history, and will continue to do so going forward," the White House said.
The leaders agreed on the need to work together to stabilise the Middle East and North Africa, as well as securing diplomatic resolutions for the conflicts in Syria and eastern Ukraine.
European leaders had sought Obama's support as they prepare to extend sanctions imposed on Russia by Washington and Brussels in 2014 following its intervention in eastern Ukraine, and consider fresh sanctions over Russia's actions in Syria, where it backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that no decisions had been made about extending the Ukraine sanctions, but actions to implement the Minsk peace accord were not sufficient.
EU leaders are expected to rollover the sanctions in December or January before they expire at the end of January.
NEW OFFENSIVES
Merkel said the leaders did not discuss imposing Syria-related sanctions against Russia during their meeting on Friday.
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European officials fear Russia will use the time before Trump's inauguration in January to launch new offensives in Syria and Ukraine.
"They unanimously agreed on the continued need for Russia to fully meet its commitments under the Minsk agreements and that Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia must remain in place until it does so," it said.
They said a durable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was needed to move forward with free and fair local elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The leaders also called for an immediate end to attacks on rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo by Syrian government forces and their allies Russia and Iran.
Obama said Washington remained convinced that de-escalating the conflict and finding a political solution were "the only viable ways to end the suffering, prevent another migration crisis and move toward a political transition."
European Union leaders last month signalled that they could introduce new sanctions for Russia's actions in Aleppo if the bombing continued.
The Syrian opposition has been pressing Western countries to expand sanctions to include some Russian firms that are supplying weapons and bank notes to Syria.
Syrian opposition leaders are due to meet with EU leaders, including EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, in Brussels on Friday.
(Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Apparently, yes, you do.
Since Donald Trump won the U.S. election, the number of Americans looking for jobs in Ireland has nearly doubled, according to Indeed, an employment website. It says that the number of Americans looking for jobs there saw a 91 percent increase since Nov. 8. It is unclear why you chose Ireland perhaps you are of Irish descent, or perhaps you yourself are one of the 50,000 undocumented Irish citizens now living stateside but Ireland you chose.
But to those of you planning on sitting out the Trump years over a pint of Guinness in a cozy sweater while pretending that life is just a scene from Once, consider this: The leader of Irelands brand new (and, admittedly, not yet mainstream) National Party supports racial profiling.
Yes, thats right. On Friday, Justin Barrett, formerly of an avidly anti-abortion group, told Corks 96FM radio that there needs to be check of all people coming into this country. Most people, at a quick glance, you can tell they are no threat.
Profiling, he continued, is something that police throughout the world use as an instrument of law and order.
To be fair, though, Barrett did clarify earlier Friday to Radio Kerry that he does not believe Ireland needs a complete ban on Muslims entering the country.
The National Party, which Barrett helpfully says is not a Nazi party, seeks to remind the political elites and the general commentariat . . . of the extent to which the promise presented by the Proclamation of the Republic [the 1916 proclamation through which Ireland declared independence] remains unfulfilled.
To be clear, Barretts leadership for now extends just to the newcomer National Party, not the national government. But if youre now rethinking your Irish goodbye, note that the Emerald Isle was only the third most popular escapist destination for would-be American political exiles.
The second was Canada. Its immigration website crashed on election night, but its now fully functioning; its own populist movement, however, might get up and running soon, too. The most popular place for desperate Americans looking for a lifeboat is New Zealand which, earthquakes apart, simply cannot fit all of you.
Photo credit: David Cannon/Getty Images
MUSCAT (Reuters) - Omani leader Sultan Qaboos made his first public appearance in nearly a year on Friday, attending annual National Day celebrations. Wearing a military uniform, Qaboos appeared in good health as he was welcomed by high-ranking military and civilian officials before presiding over the parade. The 76-year old Western-backed Qaboos had received a number of visitors in recent months, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week, but no visual images had emerged from his last two meetings. Qaboos returned to Oman in April after a trip to Germany where he underwent medical checks. He had previously spent eight months there for medical reasons before returning home in March last year, fueling concern over succession. At the time of his previous trip to Germany between July 2014 and March 2015, some Omanis had expressed concern about reports the sultan was suffering from colon cancer. The authorities have not commented on those reports. The Arabian Peninsula state has been ruled by Qaboos since he took over from his father in a bloodless coup with the help of Oman's former colonial power, Britain, in 1970. Since then, he has helped to transform an impoverished backwater riven by internal conflict into a prosperous state that plays a small but important role in regional diplomacy. (Reporting By Fatma Alarimi; Writing By Maha El Dahan)
OMG McDonalds is making MAJOR changes including nationwide table service
Your favorite spot for fast food will be getting a massive facelift next year, and we cant wait to see the changes. McDonalds announced table service is coming to all US locations, as well as a long list of other tweaks to the restaurant that brought you the Big Mac and the McRib. McDonalds insists that these changes will streamline its system for customers and incorporate new technology. We like that, because we could always use more ways to keep things simple. And since fast food hasnt changed much over the years, maybe it was time for a facelift.
McDonalds announced that the biggest change will be table service in all of its locations.
McDonalds already has table service locations in Southern California, Florida, and New York City. They plan to roll out table service in other major US cities like San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. in 2017.
The table service system will be more efficient, because diners will order from electronic kiosks, rather than cashiers.
McDonalds CEO Steve Easterbrook told Business Insider that theyre trying to make the experience of dining at McDonalds more enjoyable.
Taking your kids to McDonalds should be a fundamentally fun experience. But, the initial stages of it can be quite stressful when youre trying to place the order, youre trying to get it right, youre trying to get the drinks, youre trying to search for a table, and your kids are running around.
We hope that the ordering system streamlines things, because Easterbrook is right ordering is definitely the most stressful part.
McDonalds will also makeover their decor as well as their food.
McDonalds will update the interior decoration to look more modern. They will also be emphasizing food with higher quality ingredients, like their Signature Crafted burgers.
In selected restaurants nationwide, well be freshly preparing each Signature Collection burger! Check out where! https://t.co/KU3ZCIRXtv pic.twitter.com/LqZvFGfTRg McDonald's Ireland (@McDonaldsIRL) November 16, 2016
Easterbrook said, This is not about being a different McDonalds, this is about being a better McDonalds.
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McDonalds is definitely changing things up, but it sounds like its for the better.
A video posted by McDonald's (@mcdonalds) on Sep 2, 2016 at 2:59pm PDT
As long as McDonalds will still occasionally bring some nuggets to our table.
The post OMG McDonalds is making MAJOR changes including nationwide table service appeared first on HelloGiggles.
President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that he had a great talk with Ford Motor Company (F) Chairman Bill Ford and said the automaker had agreed not to move Lincoln production to Mexico and keep it in Kentucky.
Ford representatives we contacted were initially wondering what Trump was talking about since the auto company has never said it plans to move production of the Lincoln MKC (a small SUV) out of the Louisville plant and to Mexico.
What the company has said is that at some point in the future it would likely move the MKC out of Louisville ... when the current model runs out (within the next couple years). Where production of the MKC might go has never been finalized, but Ford's plants in Mexico might have been a possibility. Emphasis on the word "might."
There are also other assembly plants in the U.S. where MKC production could have also been shifted to depending on a number of factors (UAW contracts, assembly line capacity, etc.).
Bottom line: Bill Ford has told the president-elect the Lincoln MKC is not going anywhere.
So yes, Trump can claim a victory in getting Ford to reverse plans to move the MKC out of Louisville at some point in the future.
That is no longer happening.
Questions? Comments? BehindTheWheel@cnbc.com .
By Rania El Gamal, Tom Finn and Katya Golubkova
DOHA (Reuters) - OPEC is moving closer toward finalizing this month its first deal since 2008 to limit oil output, with most members prepared to offer Iran significant flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said on Friday.
Iran has been the main stumbling block for such a deal because Tehran wants exemptions as it tries to regain oil market share after the easing of Western sanctions in January.
Iran's rival Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has argued Iran's output has peaked and it should not be granted major concessions.
On Friday, several OPEC oil ministers including Saudi Arabia's Khalid al-Falih met in Doha on the sidelines of a gas forum. Iranian officials attended the gathering although minister Bijan Zanganeh did not come.
At the meeting, OPEC member countries proposed Iran cap its oil output at 3.92 million barrels per day (bpd), a source familiar with the proposal told Reuters.
Iran has previously said it would accept a freeze at between 4.0 and 4.2 million bpd.
Gulf OPEC sources have said they wanted Iran to cap output at around 3.6-3.7 million bpd - the volume the Islamic Republic is currently producing, according to OPEC estimates.
The source said Tehran had yet to respond to the proposal.
Iran's OPEC governor, who attended Friday's talks, said he was optimistic that the producer group would reach a deal when it gathers formally in Vienna on Nov. 30.
Falih said the Friday meeting went well, but declined further comment.
If OPEC reaches a deal on Nov. 30, it may also draw support from non-OPEC members including Russia, which promised to cooperate but so far has refrained from any firm commitment.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak participated in Friday's meeting and said he thought OPEC was moving closer to a deal. If an agreement were reached, Russia was prepared to join and cap output for six months or longer, Novak said.
He also said more non-OPEC producers could join such a pact. The Azeri Energy Ministry said on Friday it would send a delegation to consultations in Vienna later this month.
(Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Ottawa (AFP) - Deaths from opiate overdoses in Canada have become a "public health crisis" that could prompt the government to declare a national health emergency, the Canadian Health Minister said Friday.
If such a measure is found "appropriate and helpful," then "we will use all the tools available," Jane Philpott said in Ottawa at the opening of a national summit on the crisis.
Others participants reinforced the sense of urgency.
An estimated 2,000 Canadians died from opioid overdoses in 2015, said Don Davies, spokesman for the left-leaning New Democratic Party.
"Many provinces are seeing an even higher number of fatalities in 2016," he added.
"When you have 700-plus deaths occurring in Ontario each year, a similar number in British Columbia, growing numbers in places like Alberta and Manitoba, I think there is a societal understanding that we need to act urgently and effectively," Ontario Health Minister Eric Haskins said.
Experts say the crisis is being fueled by the proliferation of counterfeits of opiates such as fentanyl, a powerful sedative that caused the death of pop icon Prince in April.
In British Columbia, authorities recorded 332 fatal fentanyl overdoses during the first nine months of this year, three more than last year.
The drug is believed to be 100 times more potent than morphine.
"A lethal dose of pure fentanyl for a typical adult can be as little as two milligrams, or the size of a few grains of table salt," the federal police said.
The health care industry also took on some blame for opioid painkiller prescription practices, which often lead to addiction.
"We also recognize that opioid prescribing patterns are one of the many contributing factors to this crisis," the Canadian Medical Association said.
Ottawa resident Donna May said her daughter became hooked after a doctor prescribed the opiate OxyContin following a fall on a staircase.
Her daughter's addiction prompted her to buy fentanyl on the streets after her OxyContin prescription ran out, and she eventually ended up homeless, May told state broadcaster CBC before speaking at the conference.
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"It eventually led to her contracting a flesh-eating disease and taking her life."
Solving the crisis, Philpott said, must involve increasing the number of medically supervised injection centers as well as the use of naloxone -- which counteracts the effects of overdoses -- by first responders in the field.
Vancouver -- the only Canadian city that allows intravenous drug users to inject themselves with illegal substances under medical supervision -- currently has a single injection center.
However, Montreal is set to open three, along with a mobile clinic.
Philpott said she wants to speed up the opening of centers "in communities that need them" by amending Canada's drug law, which is delaying the process.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has already changed the law to make naloxone available over the counter and distribute it to federal police officers for administering to victims.
By Rosalba O'Brien and Teresa Cespedes LIMA (Reuters) - Leaders of Pacific rim nations gathered in Peru on Friday, looking to China to salvage hopes for regional trade as prospects of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact. Discussions between the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit were dominated by fears of rising anti-globalization sentiment in the West, with increasing signs that countries are looking to China to take up the slack in leading global trade. "We have noticed that protectionist tendencies have begun to emerge," Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said in an opening speech. "To anyone who wants to propose protectionism I suggest that you read the history books about the 1930s." U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to attend the summit that brings together leaders whose economies represent 57 percent of global gross domestic product. While campaigning for the presidential election which he won, Trump labeled the TPP "a disaster" and called for curbs on immigration. His isolationist stance echoed sentiments in Britain, which voted in June to quit the European Union. Though Obama championed the TPP, his administration has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal that was signed by 12 economies in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, but excluded China. Without U.S. approval the agreement as currently negotiated cannot come to fruition. But Alan Bollard, the APEC secretariat's executive director, said it was premature to write the TPP off, though he expected it to be "put on the shelf" temporarily. "I think at the minute they will sit on it and wait and see what the new U.S. administration looks like after a year or a couple of years," Bollard said. ROLE OF CHINA China's Xi is expected to sell an alternate vision for regional trade by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which as it stands excludes the Americas. "We see people around the table here right now talking about if the TPP does not move forward then they're going to have to put their eggs in the RCEP basket," U.S. trade representative Michael Froman told Reuters. Sun Xiao from China's Chamber of International Commerce blamed unequal distribution of free trade's benefits for rising protectionism, and suggested it would be different under Chinese leadership. "If there was a bigger role for China we would promote the principle of joint participation and shared benefits to ensure free trade arrangements can benefit all," he said. Summit host Peru, one of the world's most open economies, has already said it would like to join the Beijing-backed trade pact. Others like Japan have expressed interest in moving forward with some sort of regional trade pact without the United States, Peruvian Vice President Mercedes Araoz said. "We probably will have several paths we could take, always with the commitment of having a free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region," Araoz told journalists. Australia's Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said he hoped negotiations on TPP would continue, but in the meantime believed the Chinese-led agreement presented a big opportunity. "If we are able to successfully land it over the coming months or the year ahead it would create again a terrific opportunity for Australian businesses to export through a common set of rules across the region," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. The world would need to wait and see what happened with a Trump presidency and Brexit but customers accustomed to enjoying the fruits of free trade were unlikely to support the effects of increased barriers, said Scott Price, Chief Administrative Officer of Wal-Mart International. "The fact is that moms in Minnesota are still going to want blueberries in January, that your average consumer in England is still going to want the full assortment of products that they've been used to, and I have confidence that it will work out in a way that is practical and pragmatic." (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien, Teresa Cespedes, Caroline Stauffer, Ursula Scollo and Mitra Taj in Lima, Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Writing by Caroline Stauffer and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Alistair Bell)
Australian embassy organises Education for All workshop
Australia Awards Regional Alumni Workshop: Education for All Australian Ambassador Glenn White on Thursday inaugurated the Australia Awards South and West Asia Regional Alumni Workshop in Kathmandu.
KARACHI (Reuters) - The Pakistani navy detected an Indian submarine off the Pakistani coast and prevented it from entering its waters, it said in a statement on Friday, prompting a denial by India as tension between the nuclear-armed rivals simmers. The submarine was detected "south of the Pakistani coast" on Monday, the navy said in a press release. "Thereafter, despite the submarine's desperate efforts to escape detection, it was continuously tracked by Pakistan Navy Fleet units and pushed well clear of our waters," the press release said. The Pakistan navy also released footage and photographs of what it was said was the submarine. "This is all blatant lies," Indian navy spokesman D. K. Sharma told Reuters. Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier. Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Karachi and Tommy Wilkes in New Delhi; Writing by Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Participant Media is scaling back and rebranding its TakePart division in a bid to re-orient its strategy with the changing digital landscape. Several layoffs are expected at the TakePart division as a result.
The revamp will fold TakePart into the Participant Media brand and focus more resources on original video as well as new forms of storytelling, such as virtual reality.
Participant CEO David Linde said, This is a continuation of Participants strategy to focus on content and social impact, based on the belief that a good story well told can change the world. This decision is not a reflection on the work done by the exceptional TakePart team, but rather a strategic move to shift away from running a standalone site. We are incredibly proud of the TakePart team and its body of work over the past seven years, which has inspired significant engagement and countless individual actions on causes ranging from environmental protection to social justice.
TakePart focused on content revolving around the environment, food, and social justice, as well as supporting Participants films and, previously, programs on its Pivot television station.
With so many niche sites jostling for position, TakePart had an uphill battle to make a name for itself as a popular news and advocacy site. But the site did make a mark in the social justice area, winning a Shorty social good award for best Facebook presence as well as Telly, L.A. Press Club, and other awards for coverage of issues such as fracking, food sustainability, Syrian refugees, and more. Its social media sites have close to 4 million members across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others.
The changes continue a reconfiguration of the company that began a year ago when Linde took over as CEO. He has been trying to remake Participant to respond to the quickly-changing media landscape. The company acquired Rainn Wilsons SoulPancake in October to increase video programming.
That meant that in August, Linde shut down the multimedia companys struggling television outlet, Pivot, which failed in three and a half years to gain a substantial profile or audience, despite an investment by owner Jeff Skoll of $200 million-plus.
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TakeParts audience reached as high as 7.8 million unique visitors in February of 2015 and dipped as low as 2.8 million in May of this year, according to ComScore. The site drew more than 4 million visitors last month.
The alterations of the digital venture are less dramatic than the Pivot shutdown. In that case, Participant walked away from an operation that had hosted a full slate of programs, including the Arctic outpost drama Fortitude, the Australian relationship dramedy Please Like Me, and the public affairs program TakePart Live.
The television audience has fragmented so severely, in the multi-channel and streaming universe, that niche channels like Pivot struggle to find and hold audiences. The stations struggle to hold on to their MVPD carriage deals. With no buyer on the horizon, Participant simply let Pivot go dark.
Past social action campaigns on TakePart encouraged the audience to support water conservation on the Colorado River, demand better working conditions for farm workers, and to write Congress on a variety of causes.
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Bangkok (AFP) - A Siamese fighting fish sporting the red, white and blue stripes of the Thai flag has been sold for 53,500 baht ($1,500) -- a massive price tag for the tiny, inch-long pet.
The vibrantly-coloured animals, also known as Betta fish, can go for as little as $5 in Thailand, where the species is native.
But highest bidder Chuchat Lekdeangyu said he could not back down from the online price war after seeing the fish's iridescent, patriotic pattern.
"There have been other fighting fish that resemble the national flag before but none with as clear colours as him," said the 44-year-old freelance photographer and fish enthusiast.
He joined the auction when the fish was priced at 13,000 baht ($365) and fought off rival buyers to take it home for 53,500 baht ($1,500) on November 9.
"It is a lot of money for me but I think it is worth it," he told AFP, adding that he has named the three-month old fish "Tri-colour" in Thai.
He plans to snap photos of the pet and keep it in its own tank to avoid the territorial death-matches the species is famed for.
"I want to show the world that Thailand can breed a beautiful fish. This one belongs to all Thais," said Chuchat.
(Adds details on contract, background)
By Mitra Taj
LIMA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Peru is considering rescinding Odebrecht SA's $5 billion natural gas pipeline contract after the Brazilian company's attempt to sell its majority stake in the project got snagged on corruption concerns, a government source said Friday.
As a condition to buying Odebrecht's stake, a Sempra Energy-led consortium asked to remove a clause in the contract that could hold it liable for any corruption during the awarding of the project, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The government of Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has refused to remove the clause from the contract and is growing impatient as it seeks to untangle billions in stalled infrastructure projects to bolster growth, the source said.
Odebrecht, entangled in a vast corruption investigation in neighboring Brazil, must exit the pipeline project in order for a group of banks to disburse a $4.1 billion loan needed to finance its construction.
If Sempra does not change its mind on the clause and close the deal, the government could rescind the pipeline contract as soon as the end of the month and hold a new auction to find a company to build and operate the pipeline, the source said. Sempra would be welcome to bid on the project, the source added.
It was unclear what rescinding the contract would mean for Odebrecht, which has been trying to sell off assets to cut its bloated debt in the wake of a massive graft scandal in Brazil.
Odebrecht, Sempra Energy and Techint Group, part of the Sempra-led consortium, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 34-year concession to build and operate the pipeline was awarded to Odebrecht in 2014 after its sole competitor - a Sempra-led group - was disqualified the day of the auction for making last-minute changes to the share each company held in the consortium.
Public prosecutors in Peru have been investigating potential wrongdoing in the bidding process, which Odebrecht and public officials have repeatedly denied.
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Prosecutors carrying out a separate investigation in the attorney general's office have accused ex-president Ollanta Humala, whose five-year term ended in July, of taking illicit funds from Odebrecht.
Humala and Odebrecht have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in Peru.
Spanish energy firm Enagas SA controls a 25 percent stake in the pipeline project. Peruvian construction group Grana y Montero has a 20 percent stake.
Work on the pipeline, scheduled to finish in 2019, was 35 percent complete in July.
(Additional reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Bernard Orr)
At an EY forum live streamed by Yahoo Finance on Friday, the CEO of biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) acknowledged that really bad actors have posed a problem for the drug industry.
We have a few bad actors that have raised prices for no reason, just because they could, not because they innovated anything, Regeneron CEO Len Schleifer said at the EY panel. We have to weed those people out without destroying the industry, which I think has to succeed or the health of the nation and the world will suffer.
Schleifer was responding to a question from the moderator, Harvard Business Review Group Editor-in-Chief Adi Ignatius, about how Schleifer succeeds in a challenging industry thats facing increasing pressure to bring prices down.
In asking his question, Ignatius alluded to the public castigation of the drugmaker Mylan (MYL) after it raised the price of the life-saving EpiPen from $100 in 2007 to over $600 this year. The Mylan uproar came a year after pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli became the poster child for corporate greed when his Turing Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of a life-saving drug called Daraprim from $13.50 to $750. That scandal helped shed light on other unnecessarily high drug-price hikes across the industry.
Martin Shrkeli, AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Schleifer whose company has produced treatments for a range of diseases including asthma and rheumatoid arthritis said the drug makers that are gouging consumers inevitably drum up more publicity than the ones that are doing the right thing. However, drug makers have to balance the needs of consumers with other interests, Schleifer noted.
We have to set up a bargain where people feel theyre getting a fair price for a drug today. At the same time, other people shareholder, investors are willing to put several billion dollars down a blind path which frequently needs nowhere, Schleifer said.
Those comments illuminate how tough it can be for drug makers to satisfy shareholders in an often-vilified industry. When addressing Schleifer on Friday, the Harvard Business Reviews Adi Ignatius pointed to another sign of challenging times in big pharma. This year, HBR named Lars Sorensen, CEO of the Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk, as No. 1 on its list of best-performing CEOs, and before the list went to press he ended up stepping down from that role.
In a Sept. 1 article about Sorensens resignation, Reuters noted that the drug makers prices had been squeezed by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMS). PBMs process deals between pharmacies and insurers or employers, and they often negotiate for drug discounts.
Ultimately, PBMs can affect drug makers bottom lines and provide an incentive for them to hike their prices. As Ignatius told Schleifer on Thursday, Youre in a tough industry.
Several companies were present at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) presenting data on approved as well as pipeline candidates. Meanwhile, Bristol-Myers BMY announced an immune-oncology deal and also provided updates on some of its cancer treatments.
Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories
Data Presented at ACR: Quite a few companies presented data at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Sanofi SNY and partner Regeneron presented results on sarilumab from their late-stage SARIL-RA-MONARCH study, which demonstrated sarilumabs superiority versus AbbVies Humira in adults with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Top-line results from this study were previously announced in Mar 2016.
Roche RHHBY was also present at ACR with late-stage data showing that Actemra/RoActemra is superior to steroids alone in maintaining steroid-free remission for people with giant cell arteritis. The company expects to submit these results to regulatory authorities by year end.
Meanwhile, Novartis presented new data on its IL-17A inhibitor, Cosentyx, showing long-lasting efficacy in psoriatic arthritis over 3 years including patient-reported pain. Pfizer PFE also presented new data on Xeljanz from the phase III Oral Psoriatic Arthritis TriaL (OPAL) studies, Broaden and Beyond (Read more: Pfizer Reports Phase III Psoriatic Arthritis Data on Xeljanz). Other companies like Glaxo and Lilly also presented data at ACR.
Bristol-Myers Announces Deal, Provides Pipeline Updates: Bristol-Myers entered into an immune-oncology focused collaboration with Enterome, a company focused on the development of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics based on the gut microbiome. The agreement will see the companies working on the discovery and development of microbiome-derived biomarkers, drug targets and bioactive molecules to be used as potential companion diagnostics and therapeutics for cancer. The companies will also work on identifying novel microbiome-derived biomarkers to improve clinical outcomes for patients treated with Bristol-Myers immuno-oncology portfolio (Read more: Bristol-Myers, Enterome Ink Immuno-Oncology Collaboration). Bristol-Myers also presented data on Opdivo and Yervoy from a study evaluating the combination treatment in previously treated patients with advanced form of bladder cancer. Interim data was also presented on the combination of lirilumab and Opdivo for the treatment of patients with advanced platinum refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and on urelumab plus Opdivo in hematologic and solid tumors (Read more: Bristol-Myers Offers Updates from Opdivo Combination Trials).
Sanofi PCSK9 Cardiovascular Outcomes Study to Continue as Planned: Sanofi and partner Regeneron will be continuing with the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES study on Praluent as planned instead of stopping it early, based on the recommendation of an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) following a second pre-specified interim analysis. Praluent is one of two PCSK9 inhibitors (the other being Repatha) currently available in the market. While both drugs have been touted as having blockbuster potential, sales have disappointed so far and are yet to pick up significantly. Focus remains on cardiovascular outcomes study data, which if positive, are expected to boost sales significantly.
Sanofi also announced that it got a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Suliqua, a once-daily titratable fixed-ratio combination of Lantus (basal insulin glargine 100 Units/mL) and GLP-1 receptor agonist Lyxumia (lixisenatide) for the treatment of type II diabetes.
Allergan Seeks FDA Approval for Avastin Biosimilar: Allergan AGN and partner Amgen have filed a BLA seeking FDA approval for ABP 215, a biosimilar candidate to Roches cancer treatment Avastin (bevacizumab). The companies believe theirs is the first Avastin biosimilar application to be submitted in the U.S. We note that just a few days back, Mylan and partner Biocon had announced the submission of a biosimilar version of Roches Herceptin (trastuzumab) in the U.S.
J&J Provides Regulatory Updates: Johnson & Johnsons JNJ Janssen Biotech has submitted a BLA for guselkumab for the treatment of adults living with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Guselkumab is one of the key candidates in J&Js pipeline. J&J also announced that Stelaras label has been expanded in the EU to include the treatment of moderately to severely active Crohns disease in adult patients who have not responded adequately or have lost response to, or were intolerant to either conventional therapy or a TNF antagonist or have medical contraindications to such therapies (Read More: J&J Stelara Gets Approval in EU for Label Expansion). J&J is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Teva Reports 3Q Results, Sets Aside $520 Million for Settlement of FCPA Investigations: Tevas TEVA third quarter results were disappointing with the company missing on revenues and lowering its outlook for the year. In addition to announcing third quarter results, Teva is setting aside $520 million related to the settlement of U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations into conduct in three countries, Russia, Mexico and Ukraine, from 2007-2013. The company is in advanced discussions with the DoJ and the SEC to settle the investigations (Read more: 6 Things You Need to Know about Teva's Q3 Earningss).
Performance
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Large Cap Pharmaceuticals Industry Price Index
Large Cap Pharmaceuticals Industry Price Index
The NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index was down almost 3% over the last five trading days. Among major pharma stocks, Pfizer was down 5.3% during this period. Over the last six months, Bristol-Myers declined 20.4% while Merck was up 15.4% (See the last pharma stock roundup here: Pharma Stocks Rally on Trump Win, Pfizer to Divest Consumer Unit?).
What's Next in the Pharma World?
With third quarter earnings season drawing to a close, watch out for the usual pipeline and regulatory updates.
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By Manuel Mogato and Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) - Former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried with military honours at a heroes' cemetery in Manila on Friday, almost 30 years after his death in Hawaii, amid scattered protests around the sprawling capital. Many in the Philippines are angered by the way Marcos's family had kept the timing of the burial secret, including Vice President Leni Robredo who likened the ceremony to "a thief in the night". "This is nothing new to the Marcoses - they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses and now hidden burial - with complete disrespect for the rule of law," Robredo, who belongs to an anti-Marcos political party, said in a statement. President Rodrigo Duterte, who is attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, had given orders in August that the burial could go ahead, fulfilling an election campaign promise. But it only took place after a Supreme Court ruling last week that dismissed objections from human rights groups. "I was just being legally strict about it," Duterte said in Lima, defending his decision to allow the burial. "President Marcos was a president for so long and he was a soldier. So, that's about it. Whether or not he performed worse or better, there is no study, there is no movie about it. It's just the challenges and allegations of the other side which is not enough." Marcos's eldest daughter, Imee Marcos, the governor of Ilocos Norte province, thanked Duterte for allowing her father, a former soldier and guerrilla leader during World War Two, to be laid to rest with soldiers. "At last, my beloved father's last will to be buried with fellow soldiers was fulfilled today," she said. She also asked people to understand the family's decision to keep the ceremony "simple, private and solemn". The media was banned from the ceremony and waited outside the cemetery as a 21-gun salute was fired and a Philippine flag was handed to Marcos' widow, Imelda. Thousands of protesters rallied around Manila, some burning pictures of the late ruler. Past governments had blocked the burial, because they were either led by enemies of Marcos or bowed to public opinion, and the body had lain in a refrigerated mausoleum in Marcos's hometown of Paoay since its return to the Philippines in the early 1990s. "At a time like this, it is fitting that we hear the voices of others: learn about their stories, the persons behind the statistics, their loved ones lost to the regime of martial law," said Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, whose father and namesake was assassinated during Marcos's rule. Marcos had imposed martial law in 1972, before the end of his second term as president and ruled by decrees. He ruled the Philippines for 20 years, during which time he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth, a commission found. Tens of thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were killed. He was chased from office in a people's power revolt in 1986 and died in exile in Hawaii three years later. The Marcos family returned to the Philippines in the 1990s and became powerful politicians representing his home province of Ilocos Norte. (Additional Reporting By Roli Ng, Peter Blaza and Romeo Ranoco; Editing by Nick Macfie)
China to let Nepal use Tibet roads
China has agreed to allow Nepal to use its highways in the bordering Tibetan region for transportation of goods.
Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried in a secretive ceremony at the national heroes' cemetery Friday, triggering street protests as opponents denounced what they said was the whitewashing of his brutal and corrupt rule.
The burial at the "Cemetery of Heroes" was another stunning development in the remarkable political comeback of the Marcos family, a phenomenon given fresh energy by the clan's strong alliance with new President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Supreme Court last week endorsed a decision by Duterte to lay the dictator to rest at the heroes' cemetery, three decades after millions of people took to the streets in the famous "People Power" revolution that ended Marcos's reign.
The Marcos family and government moved quickly after the verdict, secretly flying the embalmed body to the cemetery on Friday and interring him despite appeals still pending with the Supreme Court urging it to reconsider.
"Like a thief in the night, the Marcos family deliberately hid the information of burying former president Marcos today from the Filipino people," said Vice President Leni Robredo, who was elected separately to Duterte and belongs to another party.
"This is nothing new to the Marcoses -- they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses, and now, a hidden burial -- with complete disregard for the law."
His wheelchair-bound wife Imelda, 87, and their children and grandchildren followed a horse-drawn carriage with military escort that bore his Philippine flag-draped casket, footage released by the family on Facebook showed.
- 'Marcos thief' -
The military honoured Marcos at the ceremony with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention.
"At last our beloved father Ferdinand Edralin Marcos's final instruction to be buried alongside his fellow soldiers was carried out today," daughter Imee Marcos told reporters afterwards.
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Two thousand riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery during the ceremony, blocking entry by journalists.
Marcos opponents taken by surprise by the burial quickly organised a series of rallies across the Philippine capital of Manila on Friday that attracted thousands of people.
One of the biggest was at a roadside monument commemorating the "People Power" revolution where crowds gathered chanting "Marcos, thief until death", "Duterte, a Marcos lapdog" and "exhume, exhume".
Protesters -- both martial law veterans and young students -- delivered speeches on how they or their relatives were tortured, detained and abducted under the dictatorship.
Motorists passing by honked their horns in solidarity with the demonstrators.
Marcos, his wife and their cronies plundered up to $10 billion from state coffers and plunged the Philippines into crippling debt during his rule, according to government investigators and historians.
The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian dictator Suharto.
- Political resurrection -
After Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989, his family was allowed to return and began its political resurrection.
Imelda became a congresswoman and fended off all corruption charges against her. Imee and Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jnr also became influential politicians.
However previous presidents had refused to allow the dictator to be buried in the heroes' cemetery because of his crimes, so the family kept the preserved body in a glass casket at his home in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.
The family's fortunes changed with the election of Duterte, a long-time ally of the Marcos family, as president in May this year.
He said Marcos deserved to be buried at the heroes' cemetery because he had been a president and a veteran of World War II.
Duterte also said he owed loyalty to the family because his father had served in the Marcos government and the family had helped fund his election campaign.
Duterte, who was in Peru for a global leaders summit on Friday, again sought to justify his decision, as he urged "forgiveness".
"I was just being legally strict about it. President Marcos was a president for so long and he was a soldier. So that's about it," he said.
How this pizza place is combating food waste
Want to help fight Americas huge food waste problem? It could be as simple as eating pizza.
Austin restaurant Bufalina prepared a special meal for the first day of SXSW Eco a pizza topped with food destined for the dumpster.
Its perfectly edible food its just aesthetically, it might not look beautiful, Bufalina owner Steven Dilley told HuffPo. We look at the appearance of a vegetable, but many times that bears very little relationship to taste.
Bufalina hopes to raise awareness about the 40 percent of American produce that goes uneaten. Though the meal was for a one-time event, Chef Tyreece Burton says hes excited to see more and more people cut down on waste and turn to ugly produce and, thankfully, its not the only restaurant to incorporate ugly food into its recipes.
Looking at these supposedly ugly vegetables as potential food the whole movement is going to continue to grow, Burton said.
There are going to be a lot more chefs proud to say theyre serving the kind of stuff that most people would throw away, which I think is really awesome.[/subheader]
We think so, too!
The post How this pizza place is combating food waste appeared first on HelloGiggles.
OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Plaintree Systems Inc. (Plaintree, traded on CSE under the symbol NPT).
Q2 2017 Results
Plaintree announced today that it has released its un-audited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended September 30, 2016.
During the first six months of fiscal 2017, Plaintree realized revenues of $9,095,300 up from $7,382,691 for the same period of fiscal 2016 with net losses of $(476,148) and $(1,522,014) in the respective periods. The notes to the financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis for the period ended September 30, 2016 contain comments from management regarding the ability of Plaintree to continue as a going concern as discussed in Section 2(d) of the notes to the financial statements and the section entitled "Outlook Going Concern" in the Management Discussion and Analysis.
For more information on these results, please refer to Plaintree's annual 2016 financial statements together with the related Management's Discussion and Analysis report, copies of which can be obtained from the Company's website at www.plaintree.com and/or under Plaintree's name at www.sedar.com.
About Plaintree Systems
Plaintree has two diversified product lines consisting of Specialty Structures and Electronics.
The Specialty Structures Division includes the former Triodetic Group with over 40 years of experience, is a design/build manufacturer of steel, aluminum and stainless steel specialty structures such as commercial domes, free form structures, barrel vaults, space frames and industrial dome coverings, Arnprior Fire Trucks Corp., a manufacturer of high end fire and emergency vehicles, Spotton Corporation, a design and manufacturer of high end custom hydraulic and pneumatic valves and cylinders and the recently acquired Madawaska Doors, a design and manufacturer of premium solid wood doors.
The Electronics Division includes the legacy Hypernetics, Summit Aerospace USA Inc. and Plaintree free space optics (FSO) businesses. Plaintree's FSO systems transmit data at high speeds using beams of light instead of traditional radio frequency which can suffer from congestion. Hypernetics was established in 1972 and is a manufacturer of avionic components for various applications including aircraft antiskid braking, aircraft instrument indicators, solenoids, high purity valves and permanent magnet alternators. Summit Aerospace USA Inc. provides high precision machining to the aerospace and defense markets. Our facility includes 5 axis CNC precision machining of complex castings and large ring parts such as turbine and assembly shrouds as well as assembly & pressure seals. Summit will support requirements from concept, prototype and throughout production.
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Plaintree's shares are traded under the symbol "NPT". Shareholders and Investors can access Company information on CSE's website and receive full Company disclosure monthly. For more information on Plaintree or to receive stock quotes, complete with trading summaries, bid size and ask price, brokerage house participation, insider reports, news releases, disclosure information, and CSE and SEDAR filings, visit the CSE website at www.cnsx.ca or the Company's website at www.plaintree.com.
Plaintree is publicly traded in Canada on the CSE (NPT) with 12,925,253 common shares and 18,325 class A preferred shares outstanding.
This press release may include statements that are forward-looking and based on current expectations. The actual results of the company may differ materially from current expectations. The business of the company is subject to many risks and uncertainties, including changes in markets for the company's products, delays in product development and introduction to manufacturing and intense competition. For a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties related to the company's business, please refer to documents filed by the company with the Canadian regulatory authorities, including the annual report of the Company for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 and related management discussion and analysis.
Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
For further information: (613) 623-3434 x2261
SOURCE: Plaintree Systems Inc.
By Justyna Pawlak and Pawel Sobczak WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has expressed the hope that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will run for a fourth term next year, signaling a shift in tone after a series of quarrels between Warsaw and Berlin. A closer partnership between the two countries could play an important role in pushing for continued western sanctions against Russia at a time when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may take a different line, having voiced admiration for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. "Personally, I am rooting for Angela Merkel and I hope she will be chancellor," Szydlo told Reuters in her first interview with a foreign news outlet since becoming prime minister a year ago. "We have very good relations, and there aren't many female heads of state in the European Union. So far, there is (British Prime Minister) Theresa May, Angela Merkel and me... It's important for me also from this perspective." Britain's pending departure from the EU will deprive Poland of a close eurosceptic ally within the bloc, forcing it to adjust its alliances. But mending fences with Germany will be a challenge. Since taking power in an election last year, Szydlo's conservative government has quarrelled with its biggest trade partner over a range of issues, from gas pipelines to the migration crisis. In particular, Poland opposes the imposition of EU quotas specifying how many refugees member states must accept - an idea favored by Merkel, whose country has taken in the majority of the 1.4 million migrants to reach Europe since the start of 2015. Szydlo restated that disagreement, even as she affirmed her backing for Merkel. "The policies of chancellor Merkel are predictable ... and stabilization is something which Europe needs very much," she said. "Although I think the migration policy has been a mistake." Her tone contrasted with politicians of her Law and Justice (PiS) party, including its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who in their criticism of Berlin have alluded to Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland during World War Two. Earlier this year, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski summoned the German ambassador in Warsaw after some German politicians suggested imposing EU sanctions on Poland over media and justice reforms they said were undemocratic. Kaczynski has frequently accused Szydlo's predecessor as prime minister, European Council President Donald Tusk, of forging close relations with Berlin at the expense of Poland's national interest. Merkel, in power since 2005, is expected to announce her decision to run for a fourth term at a news conference on Sunday evening, and opinion polls suggest she will win. (Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Invite-only torrent site What.CD, a favorite destination for audiophiles for its vast trove of hard-to-find releases and high-quality files, has terminated operations immediately. A terse statement found on its website mentions "recent events" as the reason for the piracy site's demise. "We are not likely to return any time soon in our current form," the message reads. "All site and user data has been destroyed. So long, and thanks for all the fish."
According to Zataz Magazine, French authorities seized at least 12 of the site's servers on Thursday during raids at various locations. The Zataz report mentions the raids were the culmination of an investigation that began two years ago. French authoring rights collecting society SACEM is mentioned in the report, though their possible role is lost in translation. SACEM representatives did not immediately respond to requests for clarification.
Launched in 2007 from the ashes of another popular torrent tracker, Oink, What managed to flourish even as its peers were litigated into oblivion as legal streaming services altered how people discover and listen to music. Still, in-the-know fans gravitated to What for its large-and-rare collection (it recently hit 1 million unique releases) and because it offered many files in the lossless FLAC format.
The site was also known for being selective with access, and recently made the blogs when disgraced former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli asked his Twitter followers for a coveted invite.
What.CD let users know about the closure on Twitter:
Due to some recent events, What.CD is shutting down. We are not likely to return any time soon in our current form. 1/2
- What.CD (@whatcd) November 17, 2016
All site and user data has been destroyed. So long, and thanks for all the fish. <3 2/2
- What.CD (@whatcd) November 17, 2016
CJ Karki against appointing judge solely based on proportional representation
Chief Justice Sushila Karki has said that novices should not be appointed as judge in the name of proportional representation. Judiciary is the centre of people's hope, therefore, only the person who have expertise in law and can execute legal matters is worthy to become a judge, she said.
President Obama has publicly denounced the spread of fake news on Facebook and other social-media platforms, which he said could compromise democratic freedoms.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Thursday, Obama said, If we are not serious about facts and whats true and whats not if we cant discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems.
If everything seems to be the same and no distinctions are made, then we wont know what to protect. We wont know what to fight for. And we can lose so much of what weve gained in terms of the kind of democratic freedoms and market-based economies and prosperity that weve come to take for granted, he said.
The Presidents comments come at a time when Facebook and other social-media platforms are under scrutiny for failing to prevent the spread of conspiracy theories and propaganda packaged as news. Fake news on Facebook generated more user engagement than real news in the run up to the U.S. presidential elections according to one analysis.
Last week Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismissed the notion that fake news on the social media had influenced the outcome of the U.S. election as pretty crazy, and asserted that voter decisions were based on their lived experience.
However, earlier this week both Facebook and Google whose algorithms have also proved susceptible to fake news announced plans to choke the ad revenues of fake news sights.
(Gifts: The 100 Most Influential Images of All Time)
In a TV interview, Googles CEO Sundar Pichai said, From our perspective, there should just be no situation where fake news gets distributed.
President-elect Donald Trump has reached a reported $25 million settlement with disgruntled former Trump University students - just 10 days before he was set to face a fraud trial, according to Reuters.
Reports that a settlement was near, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation, began circulating early Friday morning.
The legal fight began in 2010, with thousands of former students claiming they were tricked in to taking on debt to pay for a worthless education, under the guise that Trump had hand-picked instructors and the program would help them have successful real estate careers.
Shortly after Trump won the election, his attorney Daniel Petrocelli asked U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel to delay the trial, which was set to begin Nov. 28, until after the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 - arguing that preparing for the office is "all consuming." The plaintiffs, who have spent six years fighting for a resolution, opposed the motion. A hearing on the issue is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., but it now appears to be moot.
It's not a surprise that Trump would settle the suit to take it off his plate before taking office, especially given his apparently contentious relationship with Curiel. Following a primary debate in which Marco Rubio took a shot at Trump and the lawsuit over his "fake school," the billionaire then pointed the finger at the court, saying he believed he was being unfairly treated by a Hispanic judge because of his stance on immigration. Curiel, of course, will have to approve any proposed settlement before it is official.
Also not surprising, it has been widely reported that in agreeing to the settlement Trump has admitted no wrongdoing. According to Reuters, $4 million of the payout will go to the New York attorney general to settle a parallel suit there and the firms representing the students will not seek attorney's fees, only costs.
Petrocelli has not yet confirmed the settlement.
Read more: Why Donald Trump Turned to This Hollywood Lawyer to Defend Trump University
President-elect Donald Trump has reached a reported $25 million settlement with disgruntled former Trump University students - just 10 days before he was set to face a fraud trial in California federal court.
Reports that a settlement was near, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation, began circulating early Friday morning and New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman later confirmed the speculation by issuing a statement.
The legal fight began in 2010, with thousands of former students claiming they were tricked in to taking on debt to pay for a worthless education, under the guise that Trump had hand-picked instructors and the program would help them have successful real estate careers. A parallel case was filed in New York, which is also resolved by this deal.
"Donald Trump fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university," says Schneiderman in the statement. "Today, that all changes. Today's $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university."
Schneiderman also noted that Trump "will pay up to $1 million in penalties to the State of New York for violating state education laws."
Shortly after Trump won the election, his attorney Daniel Petrocelli asked U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel to delay the trial, which was set to begin Nov. 28, until after the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 - arguing that preparing for the office is "all consuming." The plaintiffs, who have spent six years fighting for a resolution, opposed the motion. A hearing on the issue is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., but it now appears to be moot.
It's not a surprise that Trump would settle the suit to take it off his plate before taking office, especially given his apparently contentious relationship with Curiel. Following a primary debate in which Marco Rubio took a shot at Trump and the lawsuit over his "fake school," the billionaire then pointed the finger at the court, saying he believed he was being unfairly treated by a Hispanic judge because of his stance on immigration. Curiel, of course, will have to approve any proposed settlement before it is official.
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Also not surprising, it has been widely reported that in agreeing to the settlement Trump has admitted no wrongdoing.
Petrocelli has not yet commented on the settlement.
Donald Trump later commented on the settlement tweeting, "I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country."
The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country.
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
Nov. 18, 1:15 p.m. Updated with a comment from NY attorney general Eric Schneiderman.
Nov. 19, 3 p.m, Updated with tweets from Donald Trump.
Read more: Why Donald Trump Turned to This Hollywood Lawyer to Defend Trump University
President Barack Obama said he would support Donald Trump amending the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, if it meant more Americans would be insured and better overall healthcare.
"He says that he can improve on that system," Obama told German television station ARD on Thursday. "My view is if in fact he can provide the same amount of people with health care in a better way than I could, then I would support such efforts."
The comments from Obama came in the midst of his final presidential trip to Germany and other European counties, where members of the media asked him about the possibility of the president elect-undoing many of his signature achievements, Reuters reported Thursday. Congressional Republicans had tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act throughout his presidency.
Trump said the Affordable Care Act was a disaster and called for it to be repealed and replaced during a presidential campaign rally speech in Macon, Georgia Dec. 1, 2015.
One of his first agendas as president would be to move quickly on Obamas sweeping healthcare law. It has become so expensive that the United States cant use it, Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview last week.
However, Trump said he would retain parts of Obamacare, specifically those in which parents are able to keep children on their health insurance plans until they are 26.
I like those very much, Trump told the Wall Street Journal.
More than 100,000 people enrolled in Obamacare across the country since Trumps presidential election victory, Politico reported.
More than 11.3 million people have signed up for Obama's signature health coverage in all 50 states and Washington D.C., the Washington Post reported.
Critics of the healthcare law pointed to the statistic from the Health and Human Services Department that Obamacare premiums were going to rise by more than 20 percent on average in 2017. Premium rates had consistently risen since the law's implementation in 2010, NBC News reported.
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The share of uninsured Americans dropped earlier this year to a historic low of 8.6 percent, which was 1.3 million fewer persons than in 2015 and 21.3 million fewer persons than in 2010, according to the 2016 National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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President Barack Obama invited the little boy, who wrote a letter offering a home to Syrian child, to meet with him at the White House earlier in November.
Alex, 6, of Scarsdale, New York wrote to President Obama to offer a new home to Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh, who became internationally famous after being photographed in the aftermath of an airstrike on Aleppo. Obama read from Alexs note at the UN Leaders Summit on Refugees held in September, urging world leaders to address the global refugee crisis saying, "The humanity that a young child can display, who hasnt learned to by cynical, or suspicious, or how they look, or how they pray, and who just understands the notion of treating somebody that is like him with compassion, with kindness we can all learn from Alex.
This video shows Alex and Obamas meeting in the Oval Office. Credit: Twitter/TheWhiteHouse via Storyful
President Barack Obama had wise words for his teenage daughters following the election of Donald Trump and reports that racist incidents and crimes are on the rise.
In a new interview with The New Yorker, the president said he urged daughters Malia, 18, and Sasha, 15, to face bigotry head-on and constantly affirm and lift up and fight for treating people with kindness and respect and understanding.
People are complicated. Societies and cultures are really complicated, the president recalled telling his daughters. This is not mathematics; this is biology and chemistry. These are living organisms, and its messy. And your job as a citizen and as a decent human being is to constantly affirm and lift up and fight for treating people with kindness and respect and understanding.
RELATED VIDEO: President Obama on Donald Trump: This Office Has a Way of Waking You Up
And you should anticipate that at any given moment theres going to be flare-ups of bigotry that you may have to confront, or may be inside you and you have to vanquish. And it doesnt stop. You dont get into a fetal position about it. You dont start worrying about apocalypse. You say, okay where are the places where I can push to keep it moving forward?
The president has shared a similar message with the American public. After Trumps unexpected victory, he told citizens to stay encouraged. Dont get cynical, dont ever think you cant make a difference.
The path that this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag and sometimes we move in ways that some people think is forward and others think is moving back, and thats okay, he said. The point though is that we all go forward with a presumption of good faith in our fellow citizens, because that presumption of good faith is essential to a vibrant and functioning democracy.
Nov 18 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
* Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls said that the Bank of England has become so powerful since the financial crisis that limits to its independence are now needed. http://bit.ly/2f5Ff1e
* Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc ignored warnings from senior advisers about estimated losses that would be reported in the prospectus for its record 12 billion pounds($14.89 billion) rights issue in order to portray the bank in a falsely healthy light, according to court documents filed by a large group of shareholders. http://bit.ly/2f5DYYc
The Guardian
* Tesco Plc Chief Executive Dave Lewis warned multinational consumer brand owners, such as Marmite's parent company Unilever Plc, asking them not to push currency-related price hikes on to British shoppers. http://bit.ly/2f5IxBY
* The number of care workers on zero-hours contracts has jumped from one in 10 of the sector's workforce to one in seven in the past year, according to an analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics. http://bit.ly/2f5AWTL
The Telegraph
* Britain's mobile phone company Three Mobile said that hackers have successfully accessed its customer upgrade database which could put the personal data of millions of customers at risk. http://bit.ly/2f5zl0n
* Hundreds of jobs may be lost in Somerset after GKN Plc said it would close a plant that makes helicopter components at the end of next year. http://bit.ly/2g3Bf3W
Sky News
* Office stationery brand Staples Inc will disappear from UK high street after its U.S. owner sold its struggling business to restructuring specialists Hilco Capital for a "nominal sum." http://bit.ly/2f5vNuO
* Accountancy firm Deloitte UK Chief Executive David Sproul said it may move some of its business out of UK if the Government's stance on immigration is too strong. http://bit.ly/2f5uzQn
The Independent
* The Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales surged by 1.9 percent in October, far exceeding City analysts' expectations and showing continued strength of household consumption despite the Brexit vote. http://ind.pn/2f5w7Kb ($1 = 0.8061 pounds) (Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Nov 18 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
- Andrew Davenport, the chief executive of the mail-order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services, and Gary Tanner, an executive at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International have been charged with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy. http://nyti.ms/2fBF7uv
- President-elect Donald Trump has offered the post of national security adviser to retired intelligence officer Michael Flynn. http://nyti.ms/2fBFu8n
- In his strongest public comments since the election, President Barack Obama on Thursday sharply criticized the spread of fake news online and said that Trump would not remain in office for long if he failed to take the job seriously. http://nyti.ms/2fBNTZz
- Trump met with the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, in New York on Thursday as the president-elect continued his fitful adjustment to the protocols of high-level diplomacy. http://nyti.ms/2fBTwqy
- Airbnb said on Thursday that it is expanding beyond its core short-term rental business, which faces pushback from local governments around the world, to become a fuller service travel agency. http://nyti.ms/2fBNEOf
- McDonald's said on Thursday it would expand its digital self-serve ordering stations and table service to all of its 14,000 American restaurants. http://nyti.ms/2fBNPZV
- Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Trump, has spoken to a lawyer about the possibility of joining the new administration, a move that could violate federal anti-nepotism law and risk legal challenges and political backlash. http://nyti.ms/2fBLtKx
- With the election now in the rearview mirror, Bloomberg has decided to terminate its daily politics show "With All Due Respect" hosted by the political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin and refocus its Bloomberg Politics team, according to a staff memo on Thursday. http://nyti.ms/2fBOEBY (Compiled by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru)
Prince William got surprisingly candid during an appearance on a Vietnamese talk show earlier this week.
Speaking on the English-language show Talk Vietnam during his two-day visit to the country to fight illegal wildlife trade, the 34-year-old royal dad opened up about his family life.
On fatherhood, theres wonderful highs and wonderful lows, he told host Tran Thuy Duong. Its been quite a change for me personally. Im very lucky in the support I have from Catherine, shes an amazing mother and a fantastic wife.
But he also acknowledged, Ive struggled at times. The alteration from being a single, independent man to going into marriage and then having children is life-changing.
I adore my children very much, and Ive learned a lot about myself and about family just from having my own children.
Calling 3-year-old son Prince George a right little rascal, he said, he keeps me on my toes but hes a sweet boy. As for 18-month-old Princess Charlotte, he said, bearing in mind I havent had a sister, so having a daughter is a very different dynamic. So Im learning about having a daughter, having a girl in the family.
Following a question from a 10-year-old girl in the audience about his advice for protecting wildlife and how to make a difference, he said, I worry about the future more. When you have something or someone in your life to give the future to, I think it focuses the mind more about what youre giving them. Are you happy that youve done all you can to leave it in a good state?
I would like to grow up with more simple aspirations. I think theres a lot of huge aspirations and people living with an enormous amount of stuff that they dont necessarily need.
The materialism of the world I find quite tricky sometimes.
I would like George and Charlotte to grow up being a little bit more simple in their approach and their outlook, and just looking after those around them and treating others as they would like to be treated themselves.
Demonstration in Kalikot against LLRC decision
Residents of Chilkhaya in Kalikot district have staged a protest after the district-level technical committee under the Local Level Restructuring Committee (LLRC) decided to include Chhapre VDC in the area number eight.
Washington (AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump announced three important cabinet appointments Friday, for the posts of CIA director, attorney general and national security advisor.
The following are thumbnail sketches of the three men:
- CIA director -
Mike Pompeo, the Republican legislator nominated to lead the CIA, is a well-known hawk and strident critic of the Iran nuclear deal.
A graduate of the West Point military academy and later Harvard Law School, Pompeo worked in the powerful Republican-oriented law firm Williams and Connolly and ran, then sold, an aerospace components firm, Thayer Aerospace.
With financial support from the influential conservative billionaire Koch brothers, he was elected in Kansas in 2010 to the House of Representatives, where he was a member of the hardline Tea Party faction.
In the House, the 52-year-old made his name as one of the leaders of the controversial Benghazi Committee, which targeted Trump's presidential rival Hillary Clinton in its investigation of the 2012 attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city which left four Americans, including the US ambassador, dead.
Pompeo gained exposure to intelligence matters in 2013 when he was appointed to the House Intelligence Committee.
In that venue he leveled scathing criticism of the Obama administration's deal with Iran to lift sanctions in exchange for halting its program to develop nuclear weapons.
Ahead of his nomination, on Thursday he tweeted: "I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism."
His nomination was hailed on Friday by Republican Devin Nunes, the chairman of the intelligence committee, which will have to approve his appointment.
- Attorney general -
Jeff Sessions, Trump's choice to be US attorney general, is an arch-conservative southerner haunted by racially charged comments he made decades ago.
Now a 69-year-old senator from Alabama, Sessions was once denied a judgeship amid concerns over his past comments about blacks, and over remarks that appeared sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan.
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The allegations came out in 1986 during witness testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee as Sessions sought approval to be a federal district court judge. He was turned down, in an extremely rare step.
During the lengthy testimony, Sessions admitted that, when told that a white lawyer had been called a "disgrace to his race" for defending African-Americans, he responded by saying: "Well, maybe he is."
It also emerged during the hearings that in the 1980s he allegedly addressed a black prosecutor working for him as "boy," and joked about the Ku Klux Klan saying he thought its members were "OK, until I found out they smoked pot," according to The New York Times.
Sessions denied making that first comment, and said he meant the second as a joke.
He could face renewed questioning on race as he goes before the Senate to seek approval of his appointment.
A member of the Senate since 1996, Sessions is an outspoken voice against giving undocumented immigrants a path to US citizenship and in favor of reduced spending and a tough approach to fighting crime.
- National security adviser -
Michael Flynn, Trump's choice to be his powerful national security advisor, is a former military intelligence chief who sees militant Islam as the biggest threat to global stability.
The retired three-star general, a veteran of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has courted controversy with extreme statements that critics say border on Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, the 57-year-old has taken a more flexible line on Russia and China, countries the outgoing administration of Barack Obama regards as the country's principal strategic opponents.
Flynn's paid appearance at a dinner in Russia last year sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised eyebrows. So have his accommodating statements toward Moscow that suggest, along with Trump's, a readiness to accept Russia's seizure of Crimea and its support for embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Son of a Rhode Island banker, Flynn had a professional army career mainly in intelligence units. In the 2000s he served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he became director of intelligence for coalition forces.
A registered Democrat, he was named by Obama in 2012 to lead the 16,500-strong Defense Intelligence Agency, but was forced out in less than two years amid a turbulent restructuring effort and clashes with his superiors.
Since then he has repeatedly criticized the Obama government as inadequately focused on the Islamist threat, publishing a book this year entitled: "The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies."
In it he argues that Muslim countries must be forced to recognize and stamp out radical Islamic beliefs, which he says are "metastasizing" around the world.
"We're in a global war, facing an enemy alliance that runs from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Havana, Cuba, and Caracas, Venezuela," Flynn wrote in the New York Post in July.
Unlike the other two nominees announced Friday, Flynn's appointment does not need approval from the Senate.
A former hairstylist on the reality TV series Project Runway was found dead on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.
Police told the AP that George Ortiz was discovered in his Manhattan apartment by his roommates. He was 45.
Ortizs death is being investigated by police as a suicide.
Also Read: Heidi Klum Defends Her Egomaniacal Halloween Costume That Everyone Hated
NYPD lieutenant Thomas Antonetti said that Ortiz was last seen alive on Sunday.
People reported that a spokeswoman for the New York City chief medical examiners office attributed Ortizs death to asphyxia by covering of head with a fastened plastic bag and displacement of oxygen by nitrogen.
According to Ortizs IMDb profile, he took part in 53 episodes of the series, ranging from 2006 to 2010.
Also Read: Tim Gunn's Celibate Streak: 10 Ways the World Has Changed Since He Last Had Sex
Ortizs other credits include Models of the Runway and Rachael Ray.
Lifetime had no comment for TheWrap on Ortizs reported death.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Project Runway' Co-Host Tim Gunn Slams Season 14 Winner's 'Hideous' Plus-Size Clothes
'Project Runway' Winner Ashley Nell Tipton on Plus-Size Online Attacks: 'It Hurts'
Project Runway executive producer Sara Rea remembers the shows late hairstylist George Ortiz as being a happy, loving, fun, exuberant guy.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the shows former hairstylist was found dead in his New York apartment early Tuesday morning. According to director of public affairs Julie Bolcer of the NYC Chief Medical Examiners office, the cause of death was asphyxia by covering of head with fastened plastic bag and displacement of oxygen by nitrogen; the manner of death was suicide.
I saw it on Facebook this morning and I was shocked. I didnt believe it. He was always such a happy, loving, fun, exuberant guy. He was just one of those people you really enjoy being around. I can speak on behalf of the entire crew that we all just love having him around and the energy he brought to work every day. You never expect anything like this, Rea tells PEOPLE after learning about the loss of the former crew member.
Ortiz, 45, served as a key hairstylist on 53 episodes of the reality competition series from 200610, according to IMDb, and worked with the Project Runway exec. producer for one season.
Although Ortiz reportedly took his own life on Tuesday, Rea recalls always seeing a beaming, happy Ortiz come to work every day.
George always came to work with a big smile, big hugs for everyone. Lots of positive energy, she says. He had fun and made sure the people around him had fun. He would even cut crew members hair! He was part of a big family and he was a very positive part of that family.
She adds, Honestly when I picture him, I picture him just giving someone a hug. He just was that guy. And his big smile! Everyone had a different relationship with him but I think everyone would agree that he was a positive force and someone that everyone enjoyed being around.
A Georgia legislator decided Thursday to withdraw a proposed bill that would bar women from wearing burqas on public property in the state.
State Rep. Jason Spencers measure would have prohibited burqas at drivers license facilities or while driving, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The bill also appears to equate the burqa a garment that envelops a womans body and hides everything except her eyes, hands and feet with the Ku Klux Klans hood.
The government has no business preventing Muslim women from wearing face scarves in public, Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer of Decatur said in a radio interview with WGAU 1340 in Athens, Georgia. Too many people on both sides of the religious freedom debate only want to protect freedom when it comes to their own beliefs.
Freedom is a meaningless concept if it does not apply to all beliefs, even the ones, especially the ones, you do not share.
Spencer said his motivation was to "test the waters" when he prefiled the bill earlier this week and issued a statement saying he was withdrawing the measure because of political opposition.
While this bill does not contain language that specifically targets any group, I am mindful of the perception that it has created, Spencer said. My objective was to address radical elements that could pose a threat to public safety. However, further consideration dictates that other solutions will need to be considered.
Covering ones face has been banned in a number of countries for fear terrorists will use the garments to hide explosives and other weapons. They include France, Belgium, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo.
burqas
Photo: Omar Sobhani/Reuters
Emirateswoman.com reported fines for defying a ban can be onerous, citing a nearly $32,000 fine imposed on an Italian citizen of Albanian descent, who refused to remove her niqab for an identity check at a youth parliament meeting in Italy.
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Ironically, the Islamic State group, which insists on strict adherence to its interpretation of Muslim law, banned the burqa in September in Mosul from security zones after fully veiled women killed a number of ISIS commanders, al Alam News Network reported.
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PRISTINA (Reuters) - A Kosovo opposition activist found dead in his cell this month committed suicide and no one else was involved, a prosecutor said on Friday. Astrit Dehari's death triggered street protests after his nationalist Vetevendosje (VV) party called it murder, accused the government of failing to protect him and demanded an investigation. "All the evidence ... shows that this case was a suicide, prosecutor Syle Hoxha told journalists late on Friday. Dehari, 26, was arrested with five other members of the hardline nationalist party in September on suspicion of being involved in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack on parliament. The attack was launched as lawmakers were preparing to vote on a border deal with neighboring Montenegro, a condition of getting visa-free access to the European Union. No one was injured. VV, the largest opposition party, opposes the deal, saying it hands over about 8,000 hectares of Kosovo territory to Montenegro. Prosecutor Hoxha said authorities had examined all the video footage and questioned 17 people. But they had found no evidence or a crime. (Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
(Adds details, background)
Nov 18 (Reuters) - The federal board overseeing Puerto Rico's financial restructuring on Friday set a target date of Jan. 31, 2017 to certify a fiscal turnaround plan for the U.S. territory, and heard from bondholders and industry leaders about the merits of a draft of the proposal.
The board, created this year under the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, is working on debt restructuring talks with holders of Puerto Rico's $70 billion in bonds in an effort to pull the struggling island out of a crisis marked by a 45 percent poverty rate and shrinking population.
The bipartisan, seven-member board must approve the island's annual budgets and certify a fiscal turnaround plan submitted by its governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
The governor presented a draft plan last month, forecasting a financing gap as high as $59 billion over 10 years. While the plan proposes some revenue-generating measures to close the gap, it relies heavily on cutting repayments to bondholders.
Board Chairman Jose Carrion said at Friday's meeting in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, that the board would aim to certify a turnaround plan by Jan. 31. The target date could be ambitious as Garcia Padilla's term ends on Jan. 1, and his successor, Ricky Rossello of the opposition party who was elected on Nov. 8, may want to submit his own plan.
Rossello opposes debt defaults, particularly on the island's constitutionally backed general obligation debt, whereas Garcia Padilla has supported periodic defaults in favor of ensuring government services.
Among those testifying at Friday's meeting was Jorge Irizarry, who leads a group of local bondholders. Irizarry said Garcia Padilla's draft plan failed to account for local residents who hold Puerto Rican bonds.
The vast majority "depend on these bonds and are just as vulnerable" as any other segment of the population, Irizarry said.
Carrion also said on Friday the board has selected two law firms as legal counsel, and another to serve as a strategic consultant. He said the board hopes to announce the firms next week, when it aims to complete contract negotiations.
Conway MacKenzie, an adviser to the Puerto Rican government, briefed the board on the island's liquidity, reiterating earlier forecasts of a liquidity gap as high as $3 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
(Reporting by Nick Brown in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
(Reuters) - The federal board overseeing Puerto Rico's financial restructuring on Friday set a target date of Jan. 31, 2017 to certify a fiscal turnaround plan for the U.S. territory, and heard from bondholders and industry leaders about the merits of a draft of the proposal.
The board, created this year under the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, is working on debt restructuring talks with holders of Puerto Rico's $70 billion in bonds in an effort to pull the struggling island out of a crisis marked by a 45 percent poverty rate and shrinking population.
The bipartisan, seven-member board must approve the islands annual budgets and certify a fiscal turnaround plan submitted by its governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
The governor presented a draft plan last month, forecasting a financing gap as high as $59 billion over 10 years. While the plan proposes some revenue-generating measures to close the gap, it relies heavily on cutting repayments to bondholders.
Board Chairman Jose Carrion said at Fridays meeting in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, that the board would aim to certify a turnaround plan by Jan. 31. The target date could be ambitious as Garcia Padillas term ends on Jan. 1, and his successor, Ricky Rossello of the opposition party who was elected on Nov. 8, may want to submit his own plan.
Rossello opposes debt defaults, particularly on the islands constitutionally backed general obligation debt, whereas Garcia Padilla has supported periodic defaults in favor of ensuring government services.
Among those testifying at Fridays meeting was Jorge Irizarry, who leads a group of local bondholders. Irizarry said Garcia Padillas draft plan failed to account for local residents who hold Puerto Rican bonds.
The vast majority "depend on these bonds and are just as vulnerable as any other segment of the population, Irizarry said.
Carrion also said on Friday the board has selected two law firms as legal counsel, and another to serve as a strategic consultant. He said the board hopes to announce the firms next week, when it aims to complete contract negotiations.
Conway MacKenzie, an adviser to the Puerto Rican government, briefed the board on the islands liquidity, reiterating earlier forecasts of a liquidity gap as high as $3 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
(Reporting by Nick Brown in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
LONDON (Reuters) - Less than two weeks after pulling out of the Paris Masters semi-finals with a thigh injury, Milos Raonic reached the last four at the ATP World Tour Finals and is close to breaking into the top three of the rankings. His 7-6 (5) 6-3 victory over Austrian Dominic Thiem on Thursday left him second in the Ivan Lendl Group behind Novak Djokovic who won all his three matches. Raonic will next meet world number one Andy Murray, the man he was supposed to play in the last four in Paris, for a place in the final providing the Briton beats Swiss Stan Wawrinka on Friday to seal top spot in the John McEnroe Group. "I've played Andy many times this year," Raonic told reporters. "I haven't gotten the better of him. "The one thing I might have is how much he has on his shoulders right now, a lot of consecutive matches, and what he's playing for," he added in reference to Murray bidding to end the year as world number one. "I have to try to do my best to accentuate that as much as possible in my own favor so I can really get the most out of myself and hopefully be able to get on top of him for once this year." Murray has an 8-3 win-loss record against Raonic who has been beaten in all their five encounters this season. The Canadian also has a target to aim for as he looks to climb from fourth to third in the rankings. "It's very big for me. I had a very big goal of wanting to win my first slam this year. I came up short on that," said Raonic. "That was what I had for myself as the biggest motivator after the U.S. Open." Japan's Kei Nishikori, the world number five, will also be on court Friday when he plays Croatian Marin Cilic. (Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Tony Jimenez)
A parasitic infection that's rare in the United States now appears to be showing up more often in American travelers, thanks in part to the growing trend of ecotourism, experts say.
The infection, called leishmaniasis, occurs in people in more than 90 countries around the world, including Mexico and nations in Central and South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe and is spread by the bite of a tiny sand fly. (Ecotourism means traveling to natural, undisturbed areas of the world in a way that conserves the environment, according to the International Ecotourism Society.)
The disease is uncommon in the United States, but in recent years, doctors have been seeing more cases in American travelers and soldiers, as well as immigrants, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). This rise led to the creation of the first ever U.S. guidelines for diagnosing and treating the illness.
"Leishmaniasis is an increasingly common infection in ecotourists traveling to Central and South America," Dr. Naomi Aronson, an infectious disease specialist at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, said in a statement.
In some cases, the infection affects the skin and can cause serious scarring, while in other cases, the parasite infects deeper parts of the body, and the infection can be deadly. "Timely diagnosis and treatment managed by an infectious diseases physician is vital," said Aronson, who was the lead author of the guidelines. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species]
However, many U.S. doctors aren't very familiar with leishmaniasis in patients, so these physicians may not suspect it when making diagnoses, the IDSA said. And symptoms may not show up until months after a person was infected, which makes the diagnosis even harder.
The three main forms of leishmaniasis are:
Cutaneous leishmaniasis: This form causes skin sores that may start out as bumps or lumps, but turn into ulcers that have a raised edge and central "crater," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the most common form of the disease and occurs in up to 1.2 million people worldwide each year.
Mucosal leishmaniasis: This form occurs when the parasites spread from the skin to the mucous membranes, such as the linings of the mouth, nose and throat. If left untreated, this form of the disease can cause serious scarring, the IDSA said.
Visceral leishmaniasis: This occurs when the parasite infects the body's internal organs, such as the liver and spleen, and can cause fever, weight loss and anemia (a low level of red blood cells). If left untreated, it is fatal in over 95 percent of cases, according to the World Health Organization.
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Doctors who see a patient who has these symptoms should ask if the individual has traveled to areas where leishmaniasis is found, Aronson said. A number of drugs are available to treat the condition.
Although there are no vaccines or medications to prevent leishmaniasis infection, people traveling to areas where the disease is found are advised to wear protective clothing (such as pants and long sleeves), and use insect repellants that contain DEET, as well as bed nets with insecticide.
The new guidelines were published Nov. 14 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Original article on Live Science.
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NBC topped Thursday with the New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers game, when Univision finished fourth thanks to its Latin Grammy Awards.
CBS and ABC tied for second in ratings among the key 18-49 demographic.
NBC was first in ratings with a 2.6 rating/9 share in the main demo and in total viewers with an average of 9.2 million, according to preliminary numbers. That was all pregame and pigskin.
Also Read: Here's How 'Designated Survivor' Dominates Ratings
CBS and ABC tied for second in ratings, both with a 1.5/5. CBS was second in total viewers with 7.8 million, ABC was third with 5.7 million viewers.
For CBS, The Big Bang Theory at 8 p.m. scored a 3.1/12 and 14.2 million viewers. At 8:30, The Great Indoors got a 1.5/5 and 7.5 million viewers. Mom at 9 had a 1.4/5 and 7.6 million viewers. At 9:30, Life in Pieces followed with the same demo numbers and 6.6 million viewers. Pure Genius at 10 closed prime to a 0.9/3 and 5.5 million viewers.
For ABC, Greys Anatomy earned a 2.1/8 and 8 million viewers. At 9, Notorious had a 0.9/3 and 4.1 million viewers. How to Get Away With Murder got a 1.4/5 and 4.9 million viewers.
Also Read: Ratings: ABC's David Blaine Special Disappears Behind CBS and NBC in Viewers
Univision was fourth in ratings with a 1.2/4 and in viewers with 3.1 million.
Fox was fifth in ratings with a 0.7/2 and in viewers with 2.7 million. Rosewood at 8 had a 0.7/2 and 3.1 million viewers. At 9, Pitch matched its lead-in rating/share, but slipped to 2.4 million viewers.
Also Read: Here's the Best- and Worst-Rated TV Show on Each Network After 1 Month (Photos)
The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.6/2. The CW was sixth in viewers with 1.8 million viewers, Telemundo was seventh with 1.6 million.
For CW, DCs Legends of Tomorrow at 8 received a 0.6/2 and 1.9 million viewers. At 9, Supernatural had a 0.7/2 and 1.8 million viewers.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Ratings: Cookie's Nude Selfie Saga Powers 'Empire,' Fox to Wednesday Win
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Kelly Ripa's Guest Co-Hosts Ranked by TV Ratings: From Kimmel to Christian Slater (Photos)
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Deuba working on key nominations
Eight months after his election, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba is working to give the partys central organisation its full shape.
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Well Kanye West done did it now, and unlike all the others times he screwed up, there may be no coming back from this one. During his Saint Pablo tour stop Thursday night, Kanye Omari West told his fans that while he didnt actually vote, if he wouldve cast his ballot, he wouldve voted for president-elect Donald Trump. And as if that wasnt WTF? enough, Kanye jumped completely out the window by pretty much advising black people to sweep racism under the rug and for us to bury our heads in sand because racism will forever be around.
Kanye West tonight speaking on racism in America. Specifically to black people, stop talking about race so much. pic.twitter.com/HTWlJgdq7E Brandon E. Patterson (@myblackmindd) November 18, 2016
Specially black people, stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, okay? Lets stop being distracted to focus on that as much, Kanye told his booing fans. Its just a f*cking fact. Were are in a racist country. Period. Do not allow people to make us talk about that so f*cking long. Lets talk about whatever you wanna talk about it. Just stop talking about that, bro. Its racist, okay. Radio racism. Hollywood racism. Its a racist f*cking country, period. And not one other candidate was going to instantly be able to change that because of their views.
Naturally, Kanye, the same man who once got on national TV and said George Bush doesnt care about black people after Bush failed to quickly send aid to southern states following Hurricane Katrinas devastation in 2005, is also being accused of not caring about black people. Fans are rightfully hammering the misguided star for his comments all over social media.
Let the @kanyewest boycott begin!!!! Eric Andre (@ericandre) November 18, 2016
lord why have u forsaken us @kanyewest Four Pins (@Four_Pins) November 18, 2016
@kanyewest You have no idea what Pablo feels like Pablo S. Torre (@PabloTorre) November 18, 2016
As a committed fan of Kanye West for more than 10 years I can truly say the Kanye I admired years ago is no longer this years Kanye. scottiebeam (@ScottieBeam) November 18, 2016
Kanye West is lost.
Been lost since his mother's death. scottiebeam (@ScottieBeam) November 18, 2016
Kanye West just lost the Black vote Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) November 18, 2016
The Irony that Kanye would state publicly that "he didn't vote" is horrific. What a total disservice to those lying in their tombs. -:( Jamel Dorsett (@Dorsett1) November 18, 2016
Kanye: So many people hate me Kanye to Kanye: But not ALL the people hate youmake all the people hate you pic.twitter.com/qkF0HkKnUe Kozza (@Kozza) November 18, 2016
Kanye West doesnt care about black people. Mike Monteiro (@monteiro) November 18, 2016
He's definitely trolling because real Trump supporters definitely don't skip out on voting. Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) November 18, 2016
2008 Kanye : George Bush Hates Black People
2016 : I support Trump, let's stop making things about race pic.twitter.com/W8TpY5NZTB Princess Trill (@BriiiCarter) November 18, 2016
Can't support Kanye no more. World full of idiots man. Fuck Trump. (@broduxx_) November 18, 2016
I'm just waiting for Trump to tweet: Wow I can't believe I'm getting support from superstar rapper Kanye West I told you guys blacks love me :'( (@Queen_Lauren101) November 18, 2016
Kanye: George Bush doesn't like Black People.
Kanye to Kanye: Nigga you don't either. pic.twitter.com/SxXcxlDexZ LEGEND (@ChriStylezz) November 18, 2016
I'll be donating a ridiculous amount of NBs and Yeezys to struggling immigrants in NYC. BAM BAM (@ActionBronson) November 18, 2016
"Now i ain't saying Kanye is a house nigga, but he ain't fucking with you black niggas" pic.twitter.com/t6HyWb6fWF Zoe (@YourFavoriteZoe) November 18, 2016
Jay-Z is probably somewhere like "Kanye? No, the name isn't familiar. " Awesomely Luvvie (@Luvvie) November 18, 2016
President Obama called Kanye a jackass that one time Kazeem Famuyide (@RealLifeKaz) November 18, 2016
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. REGN and Sanofi SNY announced that an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has recommended the continuation of the phase III ODYSSEY OUTCOMES study on their PCSK9 inhibitor, Praluent. While the DMCs recommendation followed the completion of a second pre-specified interim analysis, the committee will continue to examine the ongoing safety and efficacy of Praluent as planned.
The multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled ODYSSEY OUTCOMES study is being conducted to evaluate the effect of Praluent on cardiovascular (CV) events in high-risk patients. Patients who entered the study experienced a heart attack or unstable angina requiring hospitalization within a year of enrolment, and were unable to control LDL cholesterol despite being treated with maximally tolerated statins and other lipid-lowering therapies.
Had Praluent demonstrated an overwhelming efficacy at the interim stage, the DMC would have recommended early conclusion of the study, giving Regeneron and Sanofi an edge in the PCSK9 sales market, which also has Amgen Inc.s AMGN Repatha. Regeneron and Sanofi will now have to wait until the final data readout in order to get the much needed sales boost, which an early conclusion could have provided. ODYSSEY OUTCOMES is expected to be complete in 2017. Regenerons shares were down 3.7% on the news.
REGENERON PHARM Price
REGENERON PHARM Price | REGENERON PHARM Quote
Prospects of PCSK9 inhibitors, a new class of cholesterol-lowering treatments with blockbuster potential, had gained instant popularity before hitting the market last year. However, sales of both Praluent and Repatha have failed to impress as the drugs are facing significant payer utilization management restrictions in the U.S. and limited market access in Europe.
SANOFI-AVENTIS Price
SANOFI-AVENTIS Price | SANOFI-AVENTIS Quote
All the three companies believe that positive CV outcomes data will help drive sales of this class of treatments. Amgen expects to report top-line data from its outcomes study FOURIER in the first quarter of 2017.
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Earlier this week, Amgen announced detailed results of the phase III GLAGOV coronary intravascular ultrasound imaging study on Repatha. Data showed that Repatha, when added to optimized statin therapy, resulted in a statistically significant regression of atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease. Results were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While Regeneron is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, Sanofi carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A Stock to Consider
Anika Therapeutics Inc. ANIK is a favorably placed stock in the health care sector, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Anikas earnings estimates increased from $1.96 to $2.06 for 2016 and from $2.03 to $2.09 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted a positive surprise in all of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 33.14%. Its share price has gained 18% year to date.
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Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Members of a remote Amazon rainforest indigenous tribe have shot dead six illegal gold miners with arrows, Brazilian officials said Friday.
Brazil's Funai agency, which handles indigenous affairs, said that the killings were carried out by the Yanomami tribe in the Amazonian state of Roraima on the frontier with Venezuela.
"The deaths were reported to us by the Yanomami people's association and a team from Funai is preparing to travel there," a spokesman told AFP.
A police spokesman for Roraima state told AFP that "the causes of the conflict are not known."
The Yanomami are one of the Amazon's largest relatively isolated tribes, with an estimated population of about 35,000, according to advocacy group Survival International.
Their pristine ancestral lands have been steadily encroached upon by illegal gold miners who are blamed for introducing new diseases and polluting the rivers and forest. The Yanomami are also under pressure from cattle ranchers on the fringes of their rainforest territory.
Police said they would accompany Funai to the area, probably next week, and that the killings occurred at the start of the month but had only been confirmed now.
"We don't know the motive for the conflict because the tribespeople from the village where the deaths occurred told us by radio that they will not explain what happened until we personally go there," Junior Hekuari, chairman of the Yanomami association, told G1 news site.
The United States Army may have reasons to be worried, at least according to the 2017 Index of U.S. Military Power.
Released Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, the report ranked the army as weak, while other branches of services the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and the nuclear capability registered a slightly better performance with a marginal rating.
The ratings are based on the militarys capability or modernity, capacity for operations, and readiness to handle assigned missions successfully, according to the report. For a country with annual outlays of more than $600 billion on defense three times more than China and seven times more than Russia, according to figures from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute the U.S. is far from fulfilling the strategic goal of handling two major wars at the same time.
The army assessment has remained the same as last year, possibly stemming from the decision to decrease the size of the force and delayed equipment upgrades. The report showed that only a third of the armys units are prepared for war, adding: In summary, the Army is smaller, older, and weaker, a condition that is unlikely to change in the near future.
The Navys performance was marked as marginally better, with the report stating: While the Navy is maintaining a moderate global presence, it has little ability to surge to meet wartime demands. Deferred maintenance has kept ships at sea but is also beginning to affect the Navys ability to deploy."
The Air Force currently has about 1,600 combat aircraft, but the service is falling short of almost 700 pilots and 4,000 maintenance crew members. The report stated: The lack of ability to fly and maintain [aircraft], especially in a high-tempo/threat combat environment, means that its usable inventory of such aircraft is actually much smaller.
During a stop at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reportedly discussed the shortage of hundreds of aviators, saying it is something we have to be concerned about.
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The document also showed that the Marine Corps had a partially utilized aviation fleet, with less than a third of its F/A-18 Hornets and almost a quarter of its CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters available to fly operational missions.
While the nuclear capability of the country also came under the marginal category, the defense secretary has reportedly called for increased investment over the next five years in the long-term effort to modernize the nation's nuclear capabilities.
Russia has rattled its nuclear saber in a number of recent provocative exercises; China has been more aggressive in militarily pressing its claims to the South and East China Seas; North Korea is heavily investing in a submarine-launched ballistic missile capability; and Iran has achieved a nuclear deal with the West that effectively preserves its nuclear capabilities development program for the foreseeable future," the document stated, outlining the need for the U.S. military to be modernized to meet any possible threat.
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Jeff Sessions
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Sen. Jeff Sessions as his attorney general, his transition team said Friday.
Sessions, the junior senator from Alabama and a staunch opponent to immigration reform, was one of Trump's earliest congressional supporters. He was also thought to be under consideration for secretary of defense.
Before joining the Senate, Sessions was a US attorney and the attorney general of Alabama.
"It is an honor to nominate US Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as Attorney General of the United States," Trump said in a statement. "Jeff has been a highly respected member of the US Senate for 20 years. He is a world-class legal mind and considered a truly great Attorney General and U.S. Attorney in the state of Alabama. Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him."
Trump also announced retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser and Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas as CIA director.
Sessions and Pompeo will face the Senate confirmation process. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he believed he would be reported "favorably" out of the committee. Other prominent Republicans cheered the move.
"Sen. Jeff Sessions nomination as attorney general is great news for all of us who revere the Constitution and the rule of law," said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who was reportedly also considered for the position.
Sessions' consideration for a Cabinet position has renewed scrutiny over allegations of racism that plagued him early in his career. President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions, then a US attorney, to be a federal district court judge in 1986, but his nomination was withdrawn after a prosecutor testified that Sessions called the NAACP and the ACLU "un-American."
An African-American prosecutor testified that Sessions had joked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan "was OK until I found out they smoked pot." That prosecutor also said Sessions referred to him as "boy," a charge Sessions denied.
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J. Gerald Hebert, a Justice Department lawyer who testified that Sessions told him the NAACP and the ACLU were "un-American" and "Communist-inspired," told CNN this week that he stood by his 1986 testimony.
"Things that I had heard firsthand from him were things that demonstrated gross racial insensitivity to black citizens of Alabama and the United States," Hebert said.
More From Business Insider
Newton Artemis Fido Scamander is ready for his close-up. The magizoologist otherwise known as Newt is the central figure of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowlings prequel of sorts to Harry Potter opening on Friday.
While many Muggles might not recognize the name of the character played by Eddie Redmayne, Potterphiles are well acquainted with Mr. Scamander and his history in the Potterverse, which traces back to the very first novel, 1997s Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in America the following year). Scamander is briefly mentioned as the author of the seminal textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, required reading for the Hogwarts-bound Harry Potter.
Related: Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone Turns 15 What Christopher Columbus Got Right
The author and his book became more than a footnote in 2001, when Rowling, under the pseudonym of Newt Scamander, released a real book titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The slim, red-covered volume weighed in at 64 pages, with proceeds from its sale (the paperback originally cost $3.99 or, as the cover noted, 14 sickles, 3 knuts) benefiting the British charity Comic Relief for children in developing countries.
Paired with another Potter-based volume, Quidditch Through the Ages, the books represented Rowlings first expansion of her characters universe, something shed explore later with her Pottermore website. Complete with claw marks, Fantastic Beasts purported to be a reproduction of the actual copy owned by Harry (and shared with Ron), featuring their scrawled notes and doodles (in a nod to Remus Lupin, Harry remarks that not all werewolves are bad), along with a foreword by Albus Dumbledore. (He writes that hed like to reassure Muggle purchasers that the amusing creatures described hereafter are fictional and cannot hurt you.)
Fantastic Beasts was stocked with 85 entries on magical creatures, from Acromantula to Yeti, many of which populated the Potter books and others borrowed from folklore and myth. Did you know the Loch Ness Monster is really a kelpie, a British and Irish water demon [that] can take various shapes? It was like a junior version of the legendary Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. Of the dozen key creatures in the new film Billywig, Bowtruckle, Demiguise, Erumpent, Graphorn, Mooncalf, Murtlap, Niffler, Nundu, Occamy, Swooping Evil, and Thunderbird only the latter two were not included in the original book.
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The big leaping off point was the book, which became our encyclopedia, and we evolved them from there, explains effects supervisor Christian Manz in the films production notes. The main challenge was to create animals that you believe could live in the animal kingdom of the wizarding world.
Related: Harry Potter Red Carpet Flashback! 15 Years of Magic
The book also fleshes out the story of Newt Scamander and the history of Magizoology (the study of magical creatures), offering many details that have been incorporated into the film. We discover Scamander was born in 1897 to a mother who was an enthusiastic breeder of fancy Hippogriffs. In his introduction, Scamander informs us that he was commissioned to write his compendium in 1918 by Augustus Worme of Obscurus Books. Scamander spent his holidays traveling the globe in search of new magical species. The first printing was done in 1927 (the film is set in 1926 and Redmaynes Scamander notes that his bestiary is a work in progress); there have been, as the authors note reminds us, 51 subsequent editions.
The Fantastic Beasts book also establishes some ground rules for the film. Both book and movie are conservation-minded, stressing the importance of saving even savage monsters to ensure that future generations of witches and wizards enjoy their strange beauty and powers as we have been privileged to. The volume also states that wizards are responsible for preventing Muggles from encountering such beasts. Should a Muggle meet a magical creature, there are several steps wizards can take, from a simple Memory Charm to wipe away the memory of a bystander to escalating a major incident to the Office of Misinformation, which will seek a plausible non-magical explanation for an event. The unstinting efforts of this office in persuading Muggles that all photographic evidence of the Loch Ness kelpie is fake have gone some way to salvaging a situation that at one time looked exceedingly dangerous. (We are really holding out for a Nessie sighting in a future film.)
Finally, the book includes some potential spoilers for the Fantastic Beast movie franchise, which will play out over at least five films. We learn that Scamander is happily retired at the time of the Harry Potter books, living in Dorset with his wife Porpentina and their pet Kneazles: Hoppy, Milly, and Mauler. By the conclusion of the film, however, the romance between Newt and Porpentina (played on screen by Katherine Waterston) is barely starting to bloom. There are also some hints about where the film franchise could go, with several pages devoted to kelpies, werewolves, and dragons, as well as to the dangers of breeding magical creatures. And theres a passage about what happens when Muggle-Repealing Charms fail and the fantastic beasties escape the safe zones they live in. Sounds like perfect fodder for a sequel.
Watch Yahoo Superfan: Eddie Redmayne Didnt Know Fantastic Beasts Would Be 5-Film Franchise:
Mitt Romney, who criticized President-elect Donald Trump as singularly unqualified to be the nations chief executive, reportedly is under consideration for secretary of state.
NBC News reported Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, is to meet with Trump during the weekend. Reuters reported the meeting is scheduled for Saturday.
Trump tweeted his congratulations after the election.
In March, Romney delivered a scathing speech in which he described Trump as a phony and a fraud.
He's playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat," he said.
"Think of Donald Trump's personal qualities, the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics."
Trump endorsed Romneys presidential bid but then accused the former Massachusetts governor of screwing up a winnable campaign.
"Mitt Romney was a failed candidate should have beaten Barack Obama easily," Trump complained afterward on ABCs Good Morning America.
Also mentioned as a possible secretary of state candidate is Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor of New York when terrorists took down the World Trade Center towers. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also is on the list of contenders, along with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee.
mitt romney
Photo: Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Romney served as Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007. He was born March 12, 1947, in Detroit to George Romney and his wife Lenore. He spent more than two years in France as a Mormon missionary beginning in 1966 and married Ann Davies in 1969.
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Romney worked as a management consultant at Bain & Co., eventually serving as its CEO. In 1984 he founded and spun off Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became one of the largest in the country.
Romney ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994, unsuccessfully trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy.
He was a member of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and was elected governor of Massachusetts the same year.
As governor he signed legislation establishing near-universal health insurance access, which served as a model for the Affordable Care Act.
Romney became the first Mormon to run for president but has kept a low profile since losing the presidential election.
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- By James Li
Baron Capital Management founder Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) manages several funds, including the Growth and Partners Funds. As discussed in its summary prospectus, the Baron Partners Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through equity investments with significant growth opportunities, sustainable competitive advantages, good management and attractive valuations. The fund invests in company stocks using a bottom-up approach and a value-oriented discipline. During the third quarter, the Partners Fund increased its positions in Robert Half Financial Inc. (RHI), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), Baidu Inc. (BIDU) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA).
Robert Half Financial
Baron's Partners Fund increased its position in Robert Half Financial nearly sevenfold, purchasing 871,840 shares at an average price of $38.11.
The risk consulting services company has strong financial strength and profitability, implying good competitive advantage and high growth potential. Robert Half Financial has solid interest coverage and Altman Z-scores, and the company's operating margin outperforms 84% of competitors. Additionally, the company's margins and returns are near a 10-year high.
Even though the company reported slightly weaker earnings performance in third-quarter 2016 compared to third-quarter 2015, CEO Harold Messmer still acclaimed the company's solid demand for their accounting and financial consulting services. Accountemps and Robert Half Management Resources, two of the company's key staffing divisions, reported the highest year over year revenue gains. Robert Half Financial maintained a 33.48% return on equity as of the third quarter, outperforming 88% of global staffing and outsourcing companies.
Baron discussed his strong views about the financial consulting company in his third-quarter fund report. Robert Half Financial, according to Baron, presents an "attractive entry point" to the fund since the company has several unique competitive advantages, including best-in class management, strong market positioning and well-known brand name. Emphasis on small- and middle-market clients instead of the large institutions contributed to increasing company profit margins.
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As the company exhibits high value potential, Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) increased their Robert Half Financial positions 207.63% and 90.92% respectively. Royce owns the second-largest stake in RHI with 1,458,433 shares while Baron owns the third-largest stake with 1,016,792 shares.
Netflix
Baron increased his Netflix position 388.81% from the prior quarter, purchasing 243,309 shares at an average price of $95.45.
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Unlike Robert Half Financial, Netflix has a modest financial strength rank of 5. The pay TV company has a weak Piotroski F-score of 2 and a poor Beneish M-score of -1.13. Netflix has five severe warning signs, including contracting operating and gross margins. The company's operating margin is near a 10-year low and underperforms 61% of competitors.
Despite poor margins, Netflix reported strong revenue performance in the third-quarter. Quarterly net revenues exceeded $2 billion and increased 36% year over year, likely due to strong content slates from "Stranger Things" and "Narcos." Constant-currency revenue growth year over year accelerated nearly 4% from the past two quarters.
Baron likely initiated a position in Netflix as the company offers leading on-demand media to subscribers in over 100 countries around the globe. Several video programming channels, including Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and DISH Network Corp. (DISH), have began integrating Netflix to their platform. These integrations can increase Netflix subscribers, yielding higher profit margins. As the company offers good growth potential, George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) and John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio) invested in Netflix during the third quarter. The former took a 137,166 share stake while the latter expanded his stake 27.68%.
Alibaba and Baidu
Baron's fund purchased 337,372 shares of Alibaba and 121,662 shares of Baidu. The two Chinese online media sites averaged $92.68 per share and $173.03 per share, respectively.
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As discussed in a previous article, Alibaba maintained sustainable profitability during the third quarter as revenues increased 55%. Even though Baidu reported slightly lower revenues in the quarter, the Chinese online media company produced strong operational performance. Mobile search and Mobile maps monthly active users increased 3% and 7% year over year, respectively, while gross merchandise volumes increased 49% year over year. CEO Robin Li praised the company's improvements to customer quality and increasing popularity of the Baidu news feed.
Both Alibaba and Baidu have a profitability rank of 8, although the former has a slightly stronger financial strength rank. Alibaba has a 28.32% operating margin and a 26.45% net margin, both outperforming over 97% of global specialty retail companies. Despite having a relatively lower operating margin, Baidu has net margin of 45.84%, which outperforms 97% of global Internet content % information companies.
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Baidu has a 41.38% return on equity and a 21.71% return on assets, while Alibaba only has a 15.05% return on equity and an 8.57% return on assets. Additionally, Baidu's returns outperform over 93% of competitors.
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As both companies offer high value potential to shareholders, several gurus invested in Alibaba and Baidu. Based on consensus picks data, Alibaba had 16 guru buys and six guru sells in the past three months. On the other hand, Baidu had 13 guru buys and five guru sells during the respective period. Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) took a 560,148 share stake in Alibaba and an 8,214 share stake in Baidu.
Tesla
Baron increased his position in Tesla 7.70%, purchasing 111,256 shares at an average price of $216.58.
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The electrical vehicle company has a poor financial strength rank of 4, likely due to modest Altman Z-scores and Beneish M-scores. The former suggests mild distress while the latter implies earnings manipulation. The company's margins and returns severely underperform global auto manufacturers, with operating margins and returns on equity ranking lower than 92% and 97% of competitors.
Despite the poor financials, Tesla's third-quarter earnings report suggests strong growth potential. The EV manufacturing company reported $22 million in net income and $176 million in free cash flow based on generally accepted accounting principles. Tesla significantly reduced its long-term debt and increased its GAAP gross profit per car from the second quarter to the third quarter. The latter likely occurred due to increased store efficiency and product enhancements.
On Nov. 17, unaffiliated shareholders of Tesla and SolarCity approved the merger between the two companies, and the merger should close within the next few days. Despite this, Tesla's stock price dropped 1.28% from its previous close of $188.66, continuing its downward trend from the third quarter.
Baron discussed likely reasons for the decline in Tesla's stock price, including market evaluation of the SolarCity merger and product investigation after a fatal incident involving Tesla's autopilot system. However, the Baron Funds manager remains optimistic about the company: Tesla has a strong brand and brings substantial product innovation. The EV company received over 370,000 Model 3 reservations, representing the largest product launch in the company's history.
The Baron funds manager has the largest stake in Tesla as of Sept. 30.
See also
GuruFocus provides two types of guru picks: latest guru picks and real-time picks. Generally, investors must report their quarterly portfolio to the Securities and Exchange Commission within 45 days after the end of the quarter in a Form 13F filing. However, if an investor makes a trade in a company where he owns more than 5% of the total shares outstanding, the SEC requires him to file a Schedule 13D within 10 business days after the transaction takes place. Such guru picks are known as real-time picks, one of several features that we offer to premium members. Additionally, the premium membership gives access to all value screeners, including the All-in-One Guru Screener that offers over 150 filters.
The premium plus membership gives further access, including backtesting for up to 10 years, the Manual of Stocks for all U.S. companies, and over 4000 institutional 13F and 13D filings. Please refer to the membership levels page for all member benefits. If you are not a member, we invite you to a free seven-day trial.
Disclosure: The author has no position in the companies mentioned in this article.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has launched its first attacks on militant targets in Syria using warplanes operating from both Russian and Syrian air bases as well as from a Russian aircraft carrier, the defense ministry said on Thursday quoted by Russian news agencies. Cruise missiles fired from Russian Tu-95MS planes struck Islamic State and Nusra Front targets in a three-pronged approach, the first such since Russia launched its campaign in Syria more than a year ago. The coordinated Russian attacks became possible after a naval group, comprising the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, two anti-submarine warships and four support vessels, arrived off the Syrian coast earlier this month. The naval deployment, a rare sight since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is carrying dozens of fighter bombers and helicopters and is expected to join around 10 other Russian vessels already off the Syrian coast, diplomats said. Apart from the attacks by the strategic Tu-95MS and planes from the Admiral Kuznetsov, warplanes from Hmeimim air base in Syria also took part in the operations, the ministry said according to the report. The cruise missiles were launched from the Mediterranean Sea zone, while some planes were deployed from an airbase in Russia, covering more 11,000 km (6,800 miles) and refueling twice in the air, the reports said. It identified the targets struck as operations centers, warehouses with weapons and ammunition, military hardware and weapon-producing shops. It didn't identify the regions in which the targets were hit. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Richard Balmforth)
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Health condition of senior orthopaedic surgeon at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital Dr Govinda KC has deteriorated further as his hunger strike entered sixth day on Friday.
Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov's air wing will be strengthened and receive new capabilities, Alexey Rakhmanov, president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), said in an interview Wednesday with Rossiya 24 news network.
The interview came after USC Vice President Igor Ponomarev said that the Admiral Kuznetsov will be upgraded in 2018 after returning from service. "The Zvezdochka shipyard will embark on repairs aimed at the modernization of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier," Ponomarev said.
Rakhmanov said during his recent interview that the modernization of the air wing will "unfortunately" not lead to any fundamental or conceptual changes in the vessel.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had earlier said that the carrier had begun taking part in anti-terrorist operations as part of Russia's naval task force in Syria. Russia has been conducting airstrikes in Syria. However, the West thinks that Moscow's participation is more inclined toward helping longtime ally Syrian President Bashar Assad rather than fighting extremists like the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
While commenting on Admiral Kuznetsov releasing black smoke on its way to Syria, Rakhmanov explained that the carrier's boilers run on oil, which in turn "has a tendency to burn with the emission of a very large amount of soot."
This week, Shoigu confirmed that they had begun strikes they claim will wipe out ISIS from Syria.
"Today, we started a major operation to launch massive strikes on Daesh and al-Nusra Front targets in the Idlib and Homs provinces [in Syria]," Shoigu said earlier this week at a meeting with the ministrys leadership and defense enterprises.
He added: "For the first time in the history of participation of the Russian Navy in operations, the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrying cruiser began taking part."
According to Rakhmanov, the Russian Defense Ministry will issue an open tender for the upgrade to the Admiral Kuznetsov, Sputnik News reported.
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The Admiral Kuznetsov, which was constructed at the Mykolaiv South Shipyard (in present-day Ukraine) in the mid-1980s, became fully operational in 1995. The delay in operations was reportedly caused due to severe budget cutbacks to the Russian military following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The ship, designed to engage large surface targets, is capable of carrying between 41-52 fixed and rotary wing aircraft, including Su-25UTG and Su-33 fighter aircraft, as well as Ka-27 and Ka-29 anti-submarine and assault transport helicopters.
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By Lidia Kelly, Katya Golubkova and Sujata Rao
MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - When Russia sought to raise money on Western debt markets this year with a Eurobond, only three people at the state-run investment bank organising the issue were told in advance about the date and details of the launch.
The reason for the clandestine preparations: the Eurobond was a crucial step for Russia's limping economy and Moscow feared its Western adversaries might try to sabotage it by pressuring foreign financial institutions to steer clear.
"I had not experienced such secrecy in my life before," said Andrey Solovyov, head of debt capital markets at the state-run investment bank, VTB Capital, and one of the three people in the know.
Western governments led by Washington have imposed sanctions on certain Russian individuals and entities, over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and its role in the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, aiming to hinder access to Western financing.
The sanctions do not, however, forbid Western firms from taking part in a Russian Eurobond - an international bond denominated in a foreign currency.
Reuters interviews with about a dozen government officials, bankers and investors involved in the deal shows the lengths that Russia was willing to go to secure Western finance. The May 23 launch was shrouded in secrecy, even from managers who were going to handle it.
And it came close to collapsing in the fraught hours that followed.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said the U.S. administration "found a way to pressure its financial institutions" to eschew the placement.
And at the eleventh hour, in a highly unorthodox move, officials had to turn to a local intermediary to handle the technicalities of the issue after two European clearing houses declined to handle it one of them hours into the launch day, according to two banking sources familiar with the placement.
In the end, Russia placed the Eurobond in the market and raised $1.75 billion, as targeted.
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Views differ about whether this was a triumph.
Moscow said it showed it could still access Western credit markets, despite U.S. resistance. Buyers included at least one big U.S. asset manager which declined to be named due to the political sensitivity of the matter.
But some Western financial industry insiders said the issue was a hollow victory, because some of the biggest financial institutions - including the likes of BNP Paribas and JPMorgan - kept away from the primary issue, and they have the capital Russia needs in the long term.
CLEARING CONUNDRUM
The fact Russia was planning a Eurobond was not a secret. This had been announced by Moscow in February and, according to multiple sources in Russian and Western financial institutions, around that time the Obama administration had advised Western players not to participate.
A U.S. Treasury spokesman told Reuters it had not barred U.S. entities from taking part, but "highlighted potential risks that could arise if sanctioned entities were indirectly involved in the issuance".
He did not elaborate, but lawyers said the main risk was that investors' money might end up going to sanctioned entities, which could theoretically breach the sanctions.
Russian officials and bankers say they acted specifically to catch U.S. officials off-guard. From about two months before the launch, they did not tell VTB Capital managers or workers - apart from the select three - about the details of the issue, such as the date and the terms offered.
Once the day of the launch came, it was a rollercoaster.
The bond was launched in the morning Moscow time, so VTB could talk to would-be clients in Europe and Asia at least for a few hours to assure them there was no sanctions risk before they received countervailing calls from the U.S. Treasury, the sources said.
The terms were attractive; the yield was 4.75 percent - a significant premium on the ultra-low yields on offer in European markets, and on existing Russian sovereign bonds.
On May 23, a Monday, the order was given to VTB Capital bankers to start pitching to clients. Would-be investors put in their bids. Business was brisk. The expectation among the organisers, and on the market, was that the order book would be closed quickly.
Yet by lunchtime, the first glitch occurred: the order book was still open.
The problem, according to two banking sources familiar with the discussions around the placement, was with the clearing houses crucial to placing such a bond.
The two big houses, Euroclear and Clearstream, act as intermediaries, taking money from investors and holding the securities on their behalf. Rules at most big banks prevent them taking part in a Eurobond if one of the two is not on board.
Before the bond launch, Clearstream had declined to get involved in the deal, according to a government source who said this was the result of political reasons, without elaborating on this.
Clearstream declined to comment.
That left Euroclear.
The two banking sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity about private discussions, said that shortly before VTB Capital opened the order book for its issue, it reached a loose agreement with Euroclear that it would act as clearing agent.
Yet by midday in Moscow on May 23, Euroclear had still not given a formal, definite answer on whether it would clear the issue or not, according to one of the bankers.
Launching without one of the two houses on board was a highly unusual if not unprecedented move for a country issuing a Eurobond, an indication of Russia's determination to place the bond.
The two banking sources said Euroclear held back because it was worried about the risks stemming from the U.S. government's attitude to the bond.
Euroclear declined to comment.
MAKE-OR-BREAK
By the end of Monday, with the bond still not placed - and no international clearing house to handle the issue - investors were getting anxious.
"Rumours started to spread that 'the goods are sub-standard, rotten, that you should make a run for it'," said the first banking source. "Investors started to gradually take back their orders."
The next morning, VTB staff were fighting a rearguard action, trying to persuade customers not to withdraw orders. Senior executives at the bank kept pressing Euroclear to say if it would take part or not, the source said.
VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin personally called Euroclear executives, said the first banking source. Asked about this, VTB said that as sole arranger, "the bank was in contact with all parties involved in this process".
The issue had reached a make-or-break point by late on Tuesday.
"At the end of the second day, we took the decision that we're going ahead without Euroclear," said Solovyov, the VTB Capital head of debt capital markets.
It is unclear if Euroclear ever came back with an answer - but Moscow anyway had a plan B.
A month earlier, the finance ministry had got in touch with the National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia's domestic clearing house, asking it to handle the Eurobond in case Euroclear did not take part, said NSD head Eddie Astanin.
"It was unexpected," Astanin said of that request to the depository, which had never handled a Eurobond. He had assigned his team to draw up a plan, which was ultimately put into action.
HITTING THE PHONES
It was now evening on day two in Moscow.
VTB bankers knew they were still on thin ice regarding potential clients. While the terms offered better returns than outstanding Russian Eurobonds, the bond would not be "euroclearable" - so buyers would need to take a leap of faith, handing over their money to a Russian settlement system that was untried.
Bankers hit the phones at VTB Capital, where patriotic anthem "Rise up, vast country" was played in the VIP elevator after sanctions were imposed in 2014. Unusually, the bank's senior management also picked up the phones to clients to offer "all sorts of assurances", said the first banking source.
Some investors could not be persuaded. "We were honest and gave them feedback that because of the spirit of the sanctions we would not be taking part," said Bryan Carter, head of emerging markets fixed income at BNP Paribas Investment Partners.
One London-based hedge fund manager, who declined to be identified, said his fund wanted to buy but missed the deadline because the fund's compliance department, worried by U.S. warnings, took a long time to give the green light.
For those who did buy, there were arguments in favour.
Pavel Mamai, portfolio manager at UK hedge fund Promeritum Investment Management, for example believed U.S. investors who did not take part in the initial issue would want to buy the bond later, allowing him to sell at a profit.
"I wasn't sure it would become euroclearable but I still thought it would have upside as it came so cheap," he said. Mamai did later resell the bond, twice, and made money each time, he said.
The order book was closed soon after 8 p.m. Moscow time, 6 p.m. in London, with the primary issue raising $1.75 billion. The finance ministry said around 75 percent of it was bought by foreign investors, though Reuters cannot independently verify that.
The next morning, the bond started selling on the secondary market. Over the following days, Western investment banks included the bond in their indices, making it easier to trade.
On July 28, Euroclear started clearing the bond - meaning every investor in the world could buy it.
(Additional reporting by Kira Zavyalova and Yelena Orekhova in MOSCOW, Karin Strohecker in London, and Joel Schectman in Washington; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Christian Lowe; Editing by Pravin Char)
For UFC light-heavyweight Ryan Bader, not only is his upcoming rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 100 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, important to his standing within the division, its also big in terms of his contractual status with the company.
Bader, in speaking to MMAFighting.com, discussed not re-signing with the UFC prior to his current contract ending after his fight with Nogueira, and what his thought process was going into that decision.
I see myself fighting in the UFC, but its just one of those things where it just made sense for us to just take a fight, and just fight it out, and just go from there, Bader said. You kind of bet on yourself, and theres no real master plan or intent behind it.
Bader states that the UFC did reach out to make an offer, but it wasnt such that he felt he had to sign right away, rather than take his chances after his fight Saturday night.
Yeah, they came and offered us to re-sign, but it was nothing substantially crazy, so we just kind of declined and said were going to fight it out, said Bader. It is what it is.
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Like I said, theres no real intent behind it. Its just kind of like, why not? Its my 18th, 19th fight in the UFC, lets just get to that point and hopefully have a little more leverage, and just kind of go from there.
Baders veteran status with the UFC could be a big asset in contract negotiations, as well as possible interest he could get from other promotions.
Thats the beauty about being a free agent, Bader said. Its on the table. Like I said, I dont necessarily want to leave the UFC I love the UFC, and I believe its where Ill be but you never know. Its on the table.
Im not even concentrating on that right now. Just concentrated on the fight ahead, and well kind of see after.
While Baders focus is on his fight with Nogueira, he acknowledged that what happens within the bout itself could have an impact on what kind of contract hes offered, but doesnt feel its any different than what hes faced in the past.
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Going out there and losing doesnt help you, said Bader. Winning, yeah, itll help somewhat. But like I said, it was one of those things it was my last fight, and I said lets fight it out, why not?
Like I said, theres no master plan behind it, but yeah, every fight going out there and winning is going to boost your stock, and its no different with this one.
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Almost three million tourists visited Cyprus in the first 10 months of 2016, data showed Thursday, ensuring a record year for the island seen as a regional safe haven.
The finance ministry said the number of tourists visiting the eastern Mediterranean country rose 20.3 percent to 2,974,412 in January-October compared with the same period in 2015.
Arrivals in October alone increased 32.6 percent from 2015 to 357,194, it said, meaning Cyprus has already beaten its previous best figures for a full year: 2.69 million posted in 2001.
Cyprus has benefitted from an upsurge in arrivals, especially from its largest markets Britain and Russia along with a revival in those coming from Greece and Israel.
The island is seen a safe haven for tourists, with other traditionally popular destinations in the eastern Mediterranean -- including Egypt and Turkey -- having been hit by upheaval in the past few years.
Its latest figures for October included a 16.9 percent rise in the number of tourists from Britain, the country's largest source of holidaymakers, said the finance ministry.
Those from its second biggest market, Russia, jumped 132.1 percent.
The figures were hailed by the finance ministry and Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO).
"The results indicate that the initial estimate of the CTO for an exceptional year are verified and the strategic target set at more than three million arrivals for 2016 will be achieved," said the state-run tourism body.
The upsurge is a boon for Cyprus, which has returned to growth following a 10-billion-euro rescue package to save its crumbling economy and insolvent banks in March 2013.
Income from tourism accounts for about 12 percent of the eurozone member's gross domestic product and is credited for helping to achieve the relatively quick recovery.
Marc Benioff
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and vice president elect Mike Pence don't always see eye to eye.
Benioff famously went to war with Pence last year when the Indiana governor signed a law that would have potentially allowed business owners to refuse to serve people based on their religious beliefs. Benioff threatened to move Salesforce out of Indiana, where it's the largest tech employer, and eventually got Pence to change the law.
Even as recently as September, Benioff warned people not to vote for Pence, saying he could do "some very bad things to the people that we love."
But now that the election is over and Pence is slated to be vice president of the country, Benioff is taking a step back.
During Salesforce's earnings call on Thursday, Benioff said it's time to put the election in the past and move forward. He said:
"In my view, its in the past, were moving forward. We have a beginners mind and we have a sense of optimism for future, and were going to cultivate that optimism and were going to manifest it into our business because that is how we operate here.
I have met with CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world this week, and in each and every case, all of them are moving forward, OK? And we know what we have to do. We now need to execute."
It's understandable why Benioff wants to make nice with Pence. Salesforce is a $50 billion business that generates 75% of its revenue from the US, and there's no good for him to pick a fight with the second most powerful political figure in the world.
Benioff isn't the only CEO to take a much warmer stance on the Trump administration. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has congratulated the president-elect recently, while GE CEO Jeff Immelt is now saying he "looks forward to working with Trump," after calling his racist comments "unacceptable."
NOW WATCH: Animated map shows where your bottled water actually comes from
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. REGN and Sanofi SNY announced the presentation of results from a phase III monotherapy study (SARIL-RA-MONARCH) on their rheumatoid arthritis (RA) candidate, sarilumab. The results were announced at an oral session during the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Top line results from the study were announced in March this year.
The study included patients suffering from active RA who responded inadequately to, intolerant of, or were inappropriate for methotrexate treatment. The patients were randomized to receive either a subcutaneous sarilumab monotherapy (200 mg every 2 weeks) or AbbVie Inc.s ABBV Humira (adalimumab) monotherapy (40 mg every 2 weeks).
Results revealed that sarilumab is superior to Humira in improving signs and symptoms in patients with active RA at week 24, thereby meeting the primary endpoint of the study. The study also met other important endpoints including an improvement in ACR criteria and other measures assessing improvements in signs and symptoms of RA and physical function.
REGENERON PHARM Price
REGENERON PHARM Price | REGENERON PHARM Quote
Moreover, sarilumab, which is an anti interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, is under FDA review for the treatment of patients suffering from active, moderate-to-severe RA. Regarding this, a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the FDA was given in October, which identified certain deficiencies during a routine good manufacturing practice inspection of the Sanofi Le Trait facility where sarilumab is filled and finished. Those deficiencies must be addressed before the drug can be approved by the FDA.
SANOFI-AVENTIS Price
SANOFI-AVENTIS Price | SANOFI-AVENTIS Quote
While Regeneron is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, Sanofi carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Anika Therapeutics Inc. ANIK is a better-ranked stock in the health care sector, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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Anikas earnings estimates increased from $1.96 to $2.06 for 2016 and from $2.03 to $2.09 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted positive surprises in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 33.14%.Share prices surged 17.1% year to date.
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London (AFP) - The Scottish and Welsh governments will be allowed to intervene in the upcoming Supreme Court case to decide how Britain will begin negotiations to leave the European Union, the court said Friday.
Judges are set to hear the Conservative government's appeal against an earlier ruling that parliament must approve the triggering of Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which begins formal exit talks.
British Prime Minister Theresa May wants to trigger the start of the process by the end of March, but requiring approval by parliament could delay the process.
While Britain as a whole voted to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum, Scotland voted strongly for it to remain in the bloc.
From December 5, 11 judges will hear four days of arguments from the British government and the claimants who brought the case, as well as representatives from the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales.
"The Supreme Court has today confirmed that the following applications to intervene in the above case have been granted: The Lord Advocate, Scottish Government; The Counsel General for Wales," said a statement.
The initial ruling prompted outrage among Brexit supporters, who believe that pro-European lawmakers will seek to water down the break with the EU and derail May's plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier announced that her semi-autonomous government would seek to join the case in a bid to secure a vote not just for the House of Commons but for the Scottish parliament.
"The democratic wishes of the people of Scotland and the national parliament of Scotland cannot be brushed aside as if they do not matter," she said.
"So legislation should be required at Westminster and the consent of the Scottish Parliament should be sought."
Sturgeon's pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) party has threatened a fresh vote on leaving the UK if Scotland cannot keep its ties with the EU.
The court is expected to rule early next year.
Some of Hollywoods biggest stars look so alike that they could pass for siblings.
Read: This Great-Great-Grandfather Looks Like Matthew McConaughey And He's Not The Only Vintage Lookalike
Actress Isla Fisher, who is married to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, told the Today show she regularly gets confused for another actress, Amy Adams.
They look so alike that even her friends and family couldn't tell the difference when she switched their faces for a family holiday card.
I cut and pasted Amy Adams' face over mine. So it was Sacha, Amy and the kids and then we said, 'Season's Greetings From Sacha & Isla' and no one noticed, she said Thursday.
They aren't the only celebrity doppelgangers out there.
Zooey Deschanel resembles Katy Perry and Daniel Radcliffe could pass for Elijah Wood.
Read: Woman Finds Her Look-Alike Living An Hour Away
Bryce Dallas Howard got so tired of people confusing her for Jessica Chastain that she made a hilarious video.
The two even joked about it on Twitter.
Watch: Lookalike Melania Trump Apologizes for Speech Controversy
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Four AIGs assigned roles 7 months after their promotion
Four Additional Inspectors General of Police were finally assigned respective roles on Thursday, seven months after their promotion from the post of deputy inspector general.
New York (AFP) - Donald Trump is close to reaching a $20 million settlement to end two class-action lawsuits accusing his Trump University of having been a fraud, a source close to the case said Friday.
An out-of-court deal with students who enrolled in the training program would spare the president-elect from the opening of a trial in California on November 28, although his team has been pushing for a delay on the grounds that he could not interrupt preparations for his inauguration on January 20.
The settlement would also put an end to legal proceedings brought by the attorney general of New York state, Eric Schneiderman.
The six-year-old lawsuit brought by former students alleges that now-defunct Trump University -- which was not an accredited college or university -- fleeced students by tricking them with aggressive marketing.
Students paid as much as $35,000 to enroll, believing they would make it big in real estate after being taught by experts hand-picked by Trump, the suit says.
Trump's lawyers counter that many students have given the program a thumbs-up and those who failed to succeed have only themselves to blame. The school operated from 2005 to 2011.
Trump has said for some time that he does not fear a trial, insisting it would give him a chance to clear his name.
But at a hearing in Los Angeles last week, Trump's lawyer said he was willing to settle out of court.
A spokesman for the New York attorney general indicated he would also find a settlement acceptable.
"As Attorney General Schneiderman has long said, he has always been open to a settlement that fairly compensates the many victims of Trump University who have been waiting years for a resolution," spokesman Eric Soufer said.
Trump attacked the judge handling the case, Gonzalo Curiel, during his presidential campaign, saying the US-born judge could not be impartial because of his Mexican roots.
Trump cited as reasons his campaign promises to build a wall along the US border with Mexico and deport the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
IRVINE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 18, 2016 / Khang & Khang LLP (the "Firm") announces a class action lawsuit against Pilgrim's Pride Corporation ("Pilgrim's Pride" or the "Company") (PPC). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares between February 21, 2014 and October 6, 2016 inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the Firm in advance of the December 19, 2016 lead plaintiff motion deadline.
If you purchased Pilgrim's Pride shares during the Class Period, please contact Joon M. Khang, Esquire, of Khang & Khang, 18101 Von Karman Avenue, 3rd Floor, Irvine, CA 92612, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
There has been no class certification in this case yet. Until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. You may choose to take no action and remain a passive class member.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Pilgrim's Pride made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company systematically colluded with several of its industry peers to fix prices in the market for broiler chickens; that the foregoing conduct constituted a violation of federal antitrust laws; that Pilgrim's Pride's revenues during the class period were the result of illegal conduct; that as a result of the above, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On October 7, 2016, Pivotal Research downgraded its peer company Tyson Foods, Inc. from "buy" to "sell," due to fears of a class action against Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride and other peers over price collusion in the broiler-chicken market. Allegedly, in 2008, Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, and several other companies conspired by sharing proprietary data and reducing production to support prices. When this information emerged to the public, the stock price of Pilgrim's Pride decreased, thus causing investors harm.
If you wish to learn more about this lawsuit at no charge to you, or if you have questions concerning this notice or your rights, please contact Joon M. Khang, a prominent litigator for almost two decades, by telephone: (949) 419-3834, or via e-mail at joon@khanglaw.com.
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This press release may constitute Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions.
Contacts
Joon M. Khang, Esq.
Telephone: 949-419-3834
Facsimile: 949-225-4474
joon@khanglaw.com
SOURCE: Khang & Khang LLP
Tesla-SolarCity unveiling by Elon Musk
Teslas shareholders overwhelmingly approved a merger with SolarCity today, opening the way for consummating the marriage of the electric-car company and the solar-panel venture within days.
The vote was more than 85 percent in favor, excluding the shares held by billionaire Elon Musk and other executives affiliated with the companies, Tesla said in a statement. Musk is the CEO of Tesla as well as the chairman of SolarCity.
Musk and other executives talked up the deal in advance of the vote, saying that it would take advantage of the synergies offered by each company. In addition to manufacturing electric-powered vehicles, Tesla is ramping up production of its Powerwall storage batteries. Meanwhile, SolarCity has become Americas top solar-panel installation company.
Last month, Musk unveiled a line of integrated solar roof panels for new construction as well as a next-generation Powerwall 2 battery for home installation.
Federal regulators and SolarCitys shareholders previously gave their approval to the merger, leaving todays vote as the last major hurdle.
Musk tweeted his thanks after the votes outcome was announced:
Vote tally shows ~85% of unaffiliated shareholders in favor of the Tesla/SolarCity merger! Thanks for believing. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2016
He also thanked shareholders in person during todays meeting at a Tesla facility in Fremont, Calif..
I think your faith will be rewarded, Musk said. Its really going to be some amazing stuff that comes out.
The deal is expected to be worth more than $2 billion, with the precise terms depending on the value of Teslas stock when the merger transaction takes effect. The transaction will be completed in the coming days, Tesla said.
Neither company has been sustainably profitable, although Tesla posted a profit last quarter. Musk argued that a merger would unlock the potential of both companies and add hundreds of millions of dollars in value. In July, he issued a master plan for a system that he said would empower individuals to become their own electric utilities.
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We cant do this well if Tesla and SolarCity are different companies, which is why we need to combine and break down the barriers inherent to being separate companies, he wrote. That they are separate at all, despite similar origins and pursuit of the same overarching goal of sustainable energy, is largely an accident of history.
Not all shareholders agreed: Some have filed lawsuits, questioning whether Tesla would really benefit from taking on SolarCity.
Teslas shares hit $188.66 at the official close of trading, representing a 2.6 percent gain for the day. SolarCitys stock rose 2.9 percent to close at $20.40. Further gains were made in after-hours trading.
Update for 11:10 a.m. PT Nov. 18: Musk also happens to be the founder and CEO of SpaceX, a rocket venture that has the long-term aim of helping to make humanity a multiplanet species. Although the Tesla-SolarCity deal has no direct impact on SpaceX, there could be indirect effects.
Musk says he intends to use his personal wealth (currently estimated at $11 billion) on efforts to build a sustainable settlement on Mars. Thus, Tesla-SolarCitys success could eventually feed into Mars exploration. And going in the other direction, Musk can leverage his stake in privately held SpaceX as a backstop for Tesla-SolarCity if necessary.
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One of the mysteries about the ongoing offensive in Mosul, where Iraqi security forces are now pressing into the northern, eastern, and southern edges of the city, has been the apparent decision to leave unattended the desert between the battlefield and Syria. Unless this was a baffling oversight, the 20-mile-wide corridor of desert seemed intended to give Islamic State fighters an escape route to the groups strongholds in Syria, perhaps to limit the destruction in Mosul.
All that changed when the Shiite militias fighting under the umbrella of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) opened a new front in the desert to close the gap. They have already reached the outskirts of Tal Afar, a Turkmen-majority city 35 miles west of Mosul.
Shiite PMF units were explicitly excluded from the liberation of Mosul itself in an effort to reassure the citys predominately Sunni population. But Shiite militias side mission in Tal Afar should hardly be a surprise. The city is closely associated with the rise of the Islamic State and its forerunner, al Qaeda in Iraq, and has become infamous as a nest of Sunni terrorists. In 2014, the citys Shiite residents were expelled during the Islamic State takeover of northern Iraq.
Now the Shiite fighters want to take Tal Afar back and, some suspect, to exact revenge. In April, Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization, began staking out the movements claim to dispense justice on the city. At the time, he told one of us: Only the Popular Mobilization Forces can go to Tal Afar.
Tal Afars dark history
Since 2003, Tal Afar has played an outsized role in Iraqs violent politics. The city, which is just six square miles across, grew up around a 100-foot-high citadel. Its pre-2003 population of around 200,000 was mostly ethnically Turkmen and approximately three-quarters Sunni and one-quarter Shiite. In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein rewarded loyal Turkmen officers with property grants in the towns newer northern districts, including Saad, Bouri, and Qadisiyah.
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After Saddams fall, these policies left a legacy of division between the mostly Sunni, ex-Baathist residents of northern Tal Afar and the towns less-developed, poorer, and primarily Shiite southern areas. Shiite militias like the Badr Organization used their newfound power after 2003 to control the police force and local government in Tal Afar, placing the majority Sunni city under control of the Shiite minority and driving local people into the arms of Sunni terrorist groups. The area thus became a powerful beacon for recruitment for al Qaeda in Iraq and a safe haven for terrorists just an hours drive outside Mosul.
Even as Mosul was falling to the Islamic State in June 2014, a new chapter of sectarian strife was being written in Tal Afar. The Sunni neighborhoods of Saad and Qadisiyah rose up against the Iraqi Army, and within days of seizing the town on June 16, Islamic State fighters destroyed seven Shiite mosques and executed 40 men. In the nearby Turkmen villages of Guba and Shireekhan, the Islamic State ordered 950 families to leave, ransacked Shiite homes, burned agricultural land, and dynamited three Shiite places of worship. Displaced residents noted that local boys and men in black masks helped the Islamic State identify Shiite families and property. By June 20, nearly all of Tal Afars Shiite population had been killed or fled after door-to-door searches for Shiite residents.
Return of the Shiite Afaris
The Shiite exodus from Tal Afar has transformed the liberation of the town into a profoundly personal battle for thousands of Iraqis. During June 2014, most of Tal Afars Shiite residents fled west into nearby Sinjar, then under the control of the Kurdish Peshmerga only to be displaced again when the Islamic State overran the Kurdish front lines in Sinjar in early August 2014. The Shiite Turkmens were then either flown from the Kurdistan region to Baghdad or were bused south, finding refuge in camps near the southern Iraqi shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. By the end of 2015, 1,250 Turkmen families (approximately 7,500 people) had found refuge in Karbalas Imam Ali shrine itself.
Many of the Shiite men purged from Tal Afar have found their way back into the liberation struggle. Nearly 12,000 Turkmens from all over northern Iraq have joined the PMF since 2014, many signing up with the militias that receive funding and weapons from Tehran, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah. A large group of Shiite Turkmens from Tal Afar joined the new 92nd brigade of the Iraqi Army, which was recruited directly from former Tal Afar residents living in the southern refugee camps. For Tal Afar emigres, and the broader Badr Organization and PMF that they are often a part of, the desire to wipe out the Islamic State presence in the city is intense and sometimes entirely unrestrained. In October 2014 in Jurf al-Sakhar, a town just south of Baghdad, Shiite militias addressed the persistent problem of the Islamic State by entirely depopulating the area.
Whatever their motivations or intentions, these are the people who could soon be in a position to determine Tal Afars fate. On Oct. 24, Asaib Ahl al-Haq spokesman Jawad al-Tleibawi announced the PMFs intention to liberate Tal Afar. The operation started on Oct. 29, and in the first week, the Shiite units reached the Tal Afar air base just six miles from the town.
The PMFs exact route is significant, as it is aimed directly at the belt of notorious desert villages that provided al Qaeda in Iraq and then the Islamic State with safe houses for suicide bombers and weapons since 2003. The PMF has already captured several desert towns infamous for facilitating the entry of suicide bombers from Syria to Mosul. The Shiite coalition is now fighting for a swath of villages that will send a shiver down the spine of any U.S. soldier who served in Nineveh province in years past Tal Zalat, Sahaji, Muhallabiyah, and Tal Abta, the latter including the Islamic States mass shooting and body-dumping site in the valley of Khafsa.
The fate of Tal Afar
Neither Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis government nor the Iraqi Kurds nor the U.S.-led international coalition is happy that the PMF has struck out toward Tal Afar. Though they are all too overstretched to do much about it, they are concerned that the presence and actions of Shiite PMF near Mosul could sour their plans to pacify the city after its liberation.
On Oct. 30, Amiri, the Badr Organization leader, attempted to assuage such concerns by declaring that the city of Tal Afar would not be immediately assaulted. Instead, he portrayed the military operation there as an exercise to finish the encirclement of Mosul from the west.
Based on our conversations with Mosul residents over the last decade, the Moslawis have no special warmth or pan-Sunni sympathy for Tal Afar. In fact, Mosul has suffered many depredations from Tal Afar-based terrorists. Nevertheless, Moslawis would be deeply unsettled if the PMF were to wreak vengeance on next-door Tal Afar and drive out its Sunni population.
Tensions between Turkey and the PMF also risk breaking into open conflict in Tal Afar. Ankara did nothing whatsoever to help Tal Afars ethnic Turkmens during their exodus in 2014, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has belatedly discovered an urgent interest in the area now that Iranian-backed Shiite militias are streaming toward the city. In the midst of a speech downplaying the risk of a Turkish military intervention in Iraq, Erdogan added: If [the PMF] terrorizes Tal Afar, our response would be different.
Turkey may simply be protecting a strategic zone in the tri-border area where Turkey, Syria, and Iraqi Kurdistan meet, or it may harbor broader fears about a Shiite-controlled corridor between Iran and Syria. Whichever is the case, Erdogan announced on Oct. 29 that he would reinforce the Turkish military presence in the Turkish town of Silopi, near the tri-border area, in anticipation of future developments.
The actions of the PMF will now speak for themselves. PMF leaders like Amiri have plenty of incentive to hold the group to military discipline, treat detainees and civilians with respect, and minimize destruction and displacement. If Amiri hopes to pursue mainstream political ambitions, including in Iraqs national elections scheduled for 2018, it will be important that he now demonstrate his political, and not just military, skills.
One encouraging sign is that more moderate PMF and Shiite Turkmen elements are now heading to Tal Afar to balance out unsavory sectarian militias like Asaib Ahl al-Haq. Around 3,000 PMF fighters loyal to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, paid for by the religious shrines and under the operational control of Iraqs Ministry of Defense, have joined the operation, and the 92nd brigade of the Iraqi Army is preparing to join the fight.
That could bring the operation back under the command and control of Iraqs national political and military system once again. But if the opposite scenario unfolds, with widespread extrajudicial killings and mass displacement of Tal Afars Sunni population, the PMF will damage its own political future at the same time as it complicates the Mosul offensive and risks provoking an overreaction from the increasingly erratic Erdogan government. With Ankaras forces massing just over the border, it may ultimately be the thorny issue of Tal Afar not Mosul that decides whether this effort to evict the Islamic State from Nineveh succeeds or simply lays the seeds for an immediate conflict between the liberating factions.
MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP/Getty Images
Getty Images
Regardless of your opinion of Donald Trump being the next president of the most powerful country on the planet, theres no denying that well be seeing just as much of his model wife, Melania, in fashion pages.
The Slovenia native has a style thats less demure than that of other First Ladies. And if the United States has never seen a president elect quite like the Donald, it has also never had a First Lady who has posed nude.
Personal branding strategist Joanne Blake describes Trumps style as sensuous and sexy.
Shes been consistent about showing off her curvaceous body, which leaves very little to the imagination, says Blake, certified image professional with Edmonton, Alta.s Style for Success.
While the FLOTUS elect has said she wants to follow in the footsteps of style icon Jackie Onassis, its a toss up as to whether shell pull off that classic and classy appearance successfully.
Jackie Onassis (Getty Images)
One on hand, she could get away with borrowing certain elements from Jackie, such as fine tailoring, sophisticated colour combinations and rich fabrics, Blake says: I think she could pull the look off as Ive seen her in a number of outfits where she actually looks quite elegant and smart.
On the other, done right, the way you dress should give clues to who you are on the inside, and thats an area where Trump may be lacking, Blake says.
A personal brand needs to speak to your values and needs to be authentic, Blake says. Based on much that was written about Jackie O. and how she presented herself in public, her brand was classy and sophisticated. She was well educated and well read and had a serious job as a reporter before marrying the president.
So far what weve seen of Melania is that she is an imitator, doesnt yet know herself, she adds. She borrowed Michelle Obamas speech. She is a powerful mans accessory and has dressed like the sexy supermodel that she has been. It will take consistent and significant effort for her to reinvent herself and change her stripes.
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A nod to Jackie Os style? (Getty Images)
Blakes advice to Melania is that she tone it down particularly when it comes to the curves and the cleavage.
When you think of a First Lady, you dont want her bust to be the first thing to come to mind. If shes going to show off an asset like her curvy shape, then I would suggest that she downplay her bust. In other words, [have] one focal point, and everything else should be subdued.
Colours that work well for Trumps complexion are high contrast (black and white) as well as red and jewel tones, which act as a frame around her face.
She should stay away from pastels like beige and peach as they tend to wash her out, Blake says. I would recommend she wear boat style necklines as they show off her great bone structure as long as she doesnt expose too much skin. And now thats shes 45, its time to retire the little girl flared dress; it sends a mixed message.
As for her hairstyle, Blake adds, she looks more sophisticated when her hair is pulled back in a chignon, as Jackie O often did, than when its down.
What do you think about Melania Trumps style? Let us know by tweeting @YahooStyleCA.
Sessions for Attorney General. The New York Times reported Friday that President-elect Donald Trump has selected Sen. Jeff Sessions, a conservative Alabama lawmaker and early Trump supporter, to be the attorney general of the United States. Sessions was also under consideration to be nominated as Defense Secretary, putting that nomination back in the mix. Speculation now turns back to former Republican senator Jim Talent to head the Pentagon.
Its Flynn. President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly offered the job of national security advisor to Michael Flynn, the retired three-star general who stands to become one of the most important voices in government in shaping national security and foreign policy.
Flynn has been Trumps primary national security advisor throughout the campaign, and his views that Islam itself presents an existential threat to the United States will now have a voice in the Oval Office, and in his role of overseeing and guiding policy in the Defense and State Departments.
Earlier this year, Flynn Tweeted that fear of Muslims is RATIONAL, and just last month offered his support for a prominent Alt-Right writer and activist. In his book Field of Fight released earlier this year, Flynn wrote, Im totally convinced that, without a proper sense of urgency, we will be eventually defeated, dominated, and very likely destroyed by Islamic militants, FPs Paul McLeary and Dan De Luce noted in a story about the book.
Intel work. While in the military, Flynn played a key role in dismantling insurgent networks in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning the praise of then-Gen. Stanley McChrystal for his work in building a new intelligence structure to fight the insurgents. His work downrange earned him the job of director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012, a post he was relieved of in 2014 after complaints over his brash management style and clashes with the CIA angered his bosses. His fights with the interagency were outlined in some detail by Foreign Policy last year.
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Flynns outspokenness has also courted controversy. He has claimed that Shariah, or Islamic law, is spreading in the United States, and as the New York Times reminds us this morning, his dubious assertions are so common that when he ran the Defense Intelligence Agency, subordinates came up with a name for the phenomenon: They called them Flynn facts.
Lobbying work. Flynn faces real questions over his overseas consulting work, including reports that he sat in on classified briefings with Donald Trump while continuing to work for foreign clients. After leaving the DIA, he formed the Flynn Intel Group, which has been registered to lobby for a Dutch company owned by a Turkish businessman close to Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News reported Thursday night that Flynn failed to disclose his lobbying relationship with the Turkish-owned firm, when he published an op-ed in a newspaper on Election Day, in which he advanced the No. 1 cause of Erdogans government: advocating the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish exile living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan has blamed for instigating the failed military coup against his government last summer.
In December 2015, Flynn was paid to fly to Moscow to attend a dinner for RT, the Kremlin-funded news outlet, where he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also at the table was U.S. Green Party candidate for president, Jill Stein.
Diplomacy on the fly, and in the dark. The State Department said on Thursday night that it had finally been in touch with the Trump team, after the President-elect had already spoken with 32 world leaders on his private phone line without policy guidance from State officials, which is the custom. Until now, the New York Times tells us, Trumps staff had not requested any briefings, nor had the president-elects calls including with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and other adversaries of the United States been routed through the State Department, as is customary, according to a department official.
On Thursday, Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his gold-walled Manhattan apartment, and photos show he was accompanied only by his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Flynn. The Wall Street Journal reports that a Trump advisor and incoming Vice President Mike Pence joined the group toward the end of the meeting, of which Abe later said renewed my conviction that together with Mr. Trump I will be able to establish a relationship of trust.
Pentagon contact. Late Thursday afternoon, the Pentagon announced that the Trump transition team had also reached out to begin the transition process. The President-elects team is expected at the Pentagon Friday to begin the briefing process.
Budget buster. In more than a year of campaign stops, stump speeches, and debates, President-elect Donald Trump rarely detailed his plans for the U.S. military, other than pledging to use it as a blunt object to hammer the Islamic State and other foreign extremist groups that threaten the United States.
But there is much more to his national security vision, FPs Paul McLeary reports, and it involves tens of thousands of new troops, dozens of ships and hundreds of warplanes. Defense experts said the plans would cost almost $100 billion more than the Pentagon has currently budgeted for Trumps first term, an amount that would require Congress to change laws setting budget caps for the Pentagon.
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
China
What will president-elect Trumps policy towards China be? Chinese officials tell Reuters that they are zeroing in on the U.S. deployment of a missile defense system to South Korea as a key indicator for which way hell lean. Earlier this year, the U.S. and South Korea agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korean territory in order to hedge against the growing threat of North Koreas ballistic missile program much to the annoyance of China, which worries the system could target its equipment. Chinese officials say a delay of the deployment would signal a warmer, more welcome attitude towards Beijing.
North Korea
North Korea would like president-elect Trump to know that its prepared to be pals with the U.S. if hes willing to remove American troops from South Korea. Reuters reports that North Koreas UN ambassador So Se Pyong said pulling out of the South might be an opportunity to discuss the relations as we did in the 1990s. Trump famously said during the campaign that South Korea should develop its own nuclear weapons rather than rely on the U.S. for its security. But during a call with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Trump reportedly told her the U.S. would continue honoring its defense commitment to the South.
NATO
The Baltics are in a state of low-grade panic over the election of the famous NATO-skeptic Trump, and Lithuania is starting to voice its concern about what might happen before he takes office. The BBC reports that Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says he thinks that Russia might try some kind of provocation against the Baltic states in order to test NATO countries before the Trump administration is sworn in. Russia has had a tense relationship with the Baltic states since they gained their
Oh, Canada
Patriotic Canadians looking to sign up for the Canadian military were surprised when their requests for the countrys Department of National Defence website were rerouted to the Chinese governments main landing page. The Guardian reports that the department confirmed that the site was hacked. So far, though, the culprits remain a mystery.
Syria
The U.N. will extend the mandate of chemical weapons inspectors in Syria to investigate who is behind chemical attacks in the country. The AP reports that the Security Council gave investigators from the Joint Investigative Mechanism another year on the job. The move comes as some are pressuring the Council to sanction the perpetrators of the attacks. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has reported that the Assad regime was behind chlorine gas attacks in Syrian cities and that the Islamic State has used sulphur mustard agents.
Islamic State
West Points Combating Terrorism Center followed up on the leaked cache of Islamic State foreign fighter recruitment paperwork in order to flesh out a clearer picture of those who have flocked to the caliphate. The report looked at individuals named in arrival forms from the caliphate and followed up on their lives since the documents leaked by using open source research methods. The center found that the fighters tend not to be as religious as many would expect, often die from causes that dont include suicide attacks, and frequently stay in the theater rather than returning home.
South Sudan
Washington wants to slap an arms embargo on South Sudan and new travel restrictions in the face of mounting risk of further civil conflict in the violence-plagued country. But Russia has other thoughts. The Washington Post reports that Russia is throwing a challenge flag on the proposal put forth by U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, saying that it would hardly be helpful. U.N. envoy for South Sudan Ellen Margrethe Loj says the fighting is creating a dire humanitarian situation thats putting food access in the country at risk.
Budgets
Congress has once again punted on passing a regular appropriations bill to fund the Defense Department, going for a continuing resolution to fund the government until March and annoying defense officials in the process. Defense Tech rounded up the reactions, including Defense Secretary Ash Carters lament that theres nothing good to say about the eighth year in a row without a regular appropriations bill for defense. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also lashed out at the continuing resolution deal hashed out by Congressional leaders, saying it will do great damage to the military.
Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
The days of cashing in miles or trying to sweet-talk your way into an upgrade are mostly behind us. Today the major airlines are looking to sell a ticket in business or first rather than give it away. I dont recommend going to the airport without a premium ticket in hand, says Matthew Bennett, editor of First Class Flyer, a subscription newsletter that publishes advice and premium-fare alerts. Here are the tactics you need to know.
Watch Prices Like a Hawk.
It might actually be easiest, and surprisingly affordable, just to buy a first- or business-class ticket. The prices for premium cabins, especially domestically, are lower than they have been, says Chris Lopinto, the co-founder of expert flyer.com, a site that helps air travelers find award seats. His favorite fare-monitoring tools include Kayak, Hopper, Yapta, and Hipmunk, all of which can easily be set up to notify you when premium fares drop and provide a prediction window for the best possible times to fly at that price.
Look for "EasyUp" Fares.
Little-known last-minute discounts on full-price economy fares, sometimes referred to as EasyUp farestechnically K, Y, and Z farescan come with an automatic upgrade, meaning youll have a confirmed seat up front. These deals are not widely advertised since airlines dont want to irritate passengers who bought premium tickets. First Class Flyer announces EasyUp fares as they become known. You have to be flexible and spontaneous to take advantage of these faresand youll need a travel agent to find them for you.
Wait for It.
Counterintuitively, first-class seats get cheaper in the few days before a flight, whereas economy-class tickets typically get more expensive as you near your departure date. If your schedule and budget are somewhat flexible, sometimes it pays to wait. If youre already holding an economy ticket, American, Delta, and United will occasionally e-mail offers that can be as low as $24. These paying passengers will get the upgrade instead of the elite frequent fliers, who might choose to wait fruitlessly for a free one at the gate.
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Think Outside The U.S.
Some of the cheapest first- and business-class fares can be found for international flights that originate outside the United States. For example, traveling to Asia or Europe via Toronto can score you a premium seat for less than flying from New York Citywhich makes the short hop to Canada worth it. European fliers departing out of Dublin or Milan have access to affordable premium fares because airport taxes are low and theres lots of competition from legacy and low-cost carriers alikeyou can often find transatlantic deals for less than $2,000.
Wing It at The Airport.
asking about paid upgrades at check-in, suggests Chris McGinnis, editor of the frequent-flier blog travel skills.com. When airlines have premium seats left over and theres no upgrade list, theyll try to sell them at a discount. Before a recent United flight from San Francisco to Tokyo, McGinnis asked at check-in how much it would cost to upgrade to business class. Surprisingly, he was offered a seat for $600, bringing his total airfare to around $1,600. Had he paid for the seat in advance, it could have cost him around $5,000.
And if all Else Fails...
Choose an airline that has a hybrid premium-class cabin. Some carriers, like Virgin America and JetBlue, have front cabins that deliver the comforts of first class without the steep cost. JetBlues Mint can cost as little as $599 each way. Cant afford the upgrade? Opt for premium economy, such as the Main Cabin Extra seats on American Airlines, which have a greater seat pitch (though not the premium amenities). Starting in 2017, American will begin premium-economy cabin service on its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
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From Esquire
(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)
Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of govermentin' gets done, and where you do what you must do, and you do it well.
As you can imagine, the ascendancy of El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago has given permission out in the country for a general flying of various freak flags. There is doubling and tripling down, and it's Christmas before Thanksgiving for a number of ambitious pols. Ah, where to begin? Why not Indiana, which has gifted us with our new vice-president-elect, Mike Pence? Thanks, Hoosiers. We'll think of something to send you in return.
As you know, Pence made his bones as a radical fetus monitor and as an extremist with regard to people doing the nasty with other people in arrangements that make Jeebus angry with Mike Pence for allowing it to happen. This has created a generation of state politicians who make Mike Pence sound like William Pitt. Like this guy, whom The Indianapolis Star found gleefully eager to horn in on the healthcare decisions of his fellow Indianans of the feminine sort.
State Rep. Curt Nisly said Wednesday he will file so-called "Protection at Conception" legislation when the General Assembly convenes in January. Under his proposal, all abortions would be a crime and prosecutors could file charges against those who participate in the procedure. "You would treat the death of an unborn child like you would any other human being," the Goshen Republican said. The measure would almost certainly be ruled unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade and subsequent decisions have effectively established a woman's right to an abortion before viability of the fetus. "My position is that the Supreme Court is wrong with Roe v. Wade," Nisly said, "and they don't have jurisdiction in this manner. This is the state of Indiana asserting the powers that are given to them, specifically in the 9th and 10th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution."
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Surely, you recognize that, as a constitutional scholar, Representative Nisly makes a great sheet-metal worker. (According to his official biography, Curt is a graduate of a Christian school, does not hold a college degree, and used to run a sheet-metal company.) If this passes, the state will surely spend a couple of million dollars in defense of it, all the way up to whatever passes for a Supreme Court in a couple of years. After that, it's anybody's guess.
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We move along to the great state of Mississippi Goddamn, where there was no little controversy about a contract let by the state legislature to rewrite the program for the state's public schools to a company from New Jersey. This happened as some legislators were agitating for a review of the contracts entered into by the state generally. So the Mississippi legislature responded by, essentially, classifying all state contracts. Per Mississippi Today:
The House Management Committee, which approves contracts entered into by the House of Representatives, used a voice vote to pass the policy, which states "All contracts entered into by the House Management Committee shall be confidential and shall not be released to any person or entity, except as specifically directed by the House Management Committee only when the committee deems necessary for the execution of the contract." The action comes as a select group of state legislators have been meeting to review spending procedures, including contracting, by a number of state agencies. The policy also states that any House member may "read and/or review" a contract, but "contents of the contract shall remain confidential and the House member shall not copy, duplicate or photograph the contract in any manner."
The operation of the Republican hive mind-from the Congress down to the states-is truly a marvel to behold. Of course, if Mississippi were to put these contracts on a private server, there certainly would be hell to pay.
As proof that American dickheads are everywhere you look, let's go up to Iowa, where a state legislator has decided that the best use of his time is essentially to write his cleverest internet comment into the statute books. Take it away, WaPo:
Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican, plans to introduce a bill that echoes the eye-rolling frustration expressed by many who think colleges are "coddling" their students. He's referring to the piece of legislation as the "suck it up, buttercup" bill and he hopes to introduce it when the legislature resumes in January, The Des Moines Register reported. The bill would take aim at state universities that offer election-related sit-ins and grief counseling beyond the resources normally available to students. Those colleges that use taxpayer dollars to fund these extra programs would be subject to a budget cut for double the amount they spend. Kaufmann said he had heard of four or five schools in other states that were staffing grief counselors in zones where "kids can come cry out their sensitivity." "People have the right to be hysterical," Kaufmann said. "On their own time."
Earlier this year, Bobby needed his own safe space somewhere because, after he launched an "investigation" into a conference for LGBTQ teenagers, things went badly sideways on him. The Advocate kept us up to date.
"I am here to announce that Rep. Heartsill and I are not in a homosexual relationship," Kaufmann told the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee, The Des Moines Register reports. Both legislators are Republicans with antigay records. He objected to other responses to the investigation as well, saying, "I am getting sick of reading all the crap that is on the blogs."
Oh, suck it up, buttercup.
Of course, there were a few people who let their freak flags fly a little too high and wide. These included this leader from West Virginia who, as the Post tells us, lost her job as mayor of some flyspeck because she didn't realize that the Internet was not her internal monologue.
After Donald Trump's election as president, Pamela Ramsey Taylor, who was director of the Clay County Development Corp., took to social media to comment on the upcoming shift from Obama to Melania Trump, writing: "It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House." She added: "I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels." NBC affiliate WSAZ reported that Whaling, the mayor, then replied, "Just made my day Pam."
I continue to be amazed by how varied are the expressions of economic anxiety.
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We slide on up to the Pacific Northwest where, in the Washington state legislature, we find another buttercup that needs to suck it up. Q13 attempts to explain what has triggered this particular tantrum.
"I respect the right to protest, but when it endangers people's lives and property, it goes too far," [State Senator. Doug] Ericksen said in a news release. "Fear, intimidation and vandalism are not a legitimate form of political expression. Those who employ it must be called to account. Ericksen said the bill, which is being prepared for next year's legislative session, would allow felony prosecution "of those who intentionally break the law in an attempt to intimidate or coerce private citizens or the government by obstructing economic activity." He didn't indicate who would determine when protesters become economic terrorists. Ericksen said the penalties would also apply "to those who fund, organize, sponsor or otherwise encourage others to commit acts of economic terrorism. Accomplices may be required to pay restitution up to triple the amount of economic damage."
Doug's official biography makes a great deal of what it says is his commitment to protecting the environment. Which, it should be said, did not exactly convince the League of Conservation Voters back in 2014, when Doug was running for re-election. From The Seattle Times:
Ericksen has sought to turn the environmentalist ire into a plus in his largely rural district, suggesting it's just a bunch of big-city liberals out to get him. At a recent meeting of the Whatcom Cattlemen's Association, Ericksen got laughs when he joked: "That smell in the county, that's not Bob's manure spreader. That's all the crap coming out of San Francisco saying I'm a bad person." The 42nd District includes two oil refineries and a controversial proposed coal-export terminal. Ericksen's re-election campaign has been supported by business interests, including oil and gas companies nervous about Democrats' desire to nix tax breaks and impose new clean fuel regulations and carbon emissions limits.
San Francisco? No, thanks. You can leave the Enigma Machine in the safe. We won't be needing it today.
And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, whence, courtesy of local NewsChannel 4, Blog Official Crow Choirmaster Friedman of the Plains brings us the story of a new peril facing the state's hunters.
Experts say it is a bacterial infection that can be passed from animals to people and pets. It is usually spread through flea and tick bites, contact with an infected animal, inhalation and contaminated water. The disease can be present anytime of the year, and usually affects rabbits, hares, muskrats and beavers. Hunters are urged to stay away from rabbits that are behaving in unusual ways or seem to be lethargic.
Also, shooting lethargic rabbits is not sporting.
This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.
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Supplier of diagnostics systems and software, Snap-on Incorporated SNA, recently announced that it has acquired torque wrench marker, Sturtevant Richmont, for $13 million in cash. This is Snap-Ons second strategic buyout in fourth-quarter 2016, after it entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Car-O-Liner, earlier in October.
Sturtevant Richmont Buyout
Carol Stream, IL-based firm Sturtevant Richmont is engaged in designing, manufacturing and distributing mechanical and electronic torque wrenches. With average annual sales of $10 million, Sturtevant Richmont has earned a solid reputation among clients for providing wireless, torque error proofing systems for a gamut of industrial applications.
Sturtevant Richmont will be integrated into Snap-Ons Commercial & Industrial Group to fortify its product line that uses torque applications. Snap-On believes that this strategic buyout will help it improve critical mechanical performance by addressing critical torque requirements.
Acquisitions to Stoke Growth
Of late, Snap-On has been diligently pursuing acquisitions to bolster its core businesses in key markets. About a month ago, it inked an agreement to buy Sweden-based firm Car-O-Liner for $155 million. This acquisition is expected to be conducive to the growth of the companys Repair Systems & Information Group business, by boosting its stronghold in the auto as well as heavy duty markets. Snap-On perceives that this acquisition will go a long way in improving its relationship with repair shop owners and managers.
SNAP-ON INC Price
SNAP-ON INC Price | SNAP-ON INC Quote
Snap-On has a long-standing winning streak, beating estimates each time over the past five years. The stock had an impressive rally on the bourse in the past three months, gaining 9.2% despite macroeconomic headwinds. Snap-On is committed to its rapid continuous improvement (RCI) program, designed to enhance organizational effectiveness and minimize costs. This program has been instrumental in fuelling sales, margins and savings in the recent quarters. With bullish prospects in most of its business lines, we believe that this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company has strong upside potential in the near future.
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Other Stocks to Consider
Some other favorably placed stocks in the sector include Capella Education Co. CPLA, Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc. SNOW and Harman International Industries, Incorporated HAR, each holding the same Zacks Rank as Snap-On. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Capella Education, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provides online post-secondary education services in the U.S, focused primarily on working adults. The company has an excellent earnings surprise history, beating estimates all through over the trailing four quarters. It boasts an average positive surprise of 10.9%.
Intrawest Resorts Holdings operates as a mountain resort and adventure company which delivers vacation and travel experiences to its customers. The company managed to beat earnings twice in the trailing four quarters and has an average positive surprise of 2.2%.
Harman International is engaged in developing, manufacturing and marketing audio products and electronic systems. The company has topped estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 6.5%.
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By Heather Somerville
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Snap Inc, the red-hot messaging company, is seen by many tech investors as the next Facebook or Google, but its youthful founders are pushing far more aggressively than its predecessors in moving from scrappy startup to public company.
At a time when it is fashionable in Silicon Valley to stay private as long as possible, Snap is planning an initial public offering valuing it at more than $20 billion just two years after it first began to generate revenue, even though it has plenty of cash and ample opportunity to raise more on the private markets. It is expected to be the biggest U.S. tech IPO since Facebook Inc's 2012 debut.
It is also defying convention by declining to bring in "adult supervision" to help 26-year-old co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel and 28-year-old co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Bobby Murphy manage the company.
Imran Khan, a former Credit Suisse banker who played a big role in the Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd IPO in 2014, is emerging as a key figure in his role as chief strategy officer.
Some investors remain concerned, however, that the combination of an inexperienced management team and a sky-high valuation could be problematic.
"It is a very clearly inexperienced team leading a company that's asking for two things: a huge valuation and a very aggressive multiple," said Max Wolff, a market strategist at 55 Capital. "Once you start asking public investors for 30x earnings, the tolerance for mistake, misadventure and learning on the job goes down."
Questions about the management team have lingered after a string of senior executives left following short stints with the company.
High-profile departures include Emily White, who joined as chief operating officer from Instagram at the start of 2014 and quit after just more than a year, according to her LinkedIn profile. Mike Randall, who joined Snap from Facebook, left last year after less than a year as head of business and marketing.
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A spokesman for Snap declined to comment.
The executive ranks have since stabilized, and executives such as finance chief Drew Vollero and hardware guru Steve Horowitz have decades of experience. Still, the departure of Jia Li, one of the highest-ranking women at the company and its head of research, to join Alphabet Inc's Google this month left another high-level opening.
"I think Snapchat struggles with leadership," said Dave Carvajal, an executive recruiter for tech companies. "Just because something is a great idea, it still has the very real challenge of bringing in the right people."
Spiegel, an enigmatic figure who choose to locate the company in the Southern California beach town of Venice rather than Silicon Valley, has not followed the example of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who partnered early on with Sheryl Sandberg, a former Treasury Department official and Google executive. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin initially ceded the CEO role to veteran technology executive Eric Schmidt.
"I think (Spiegel) is a sole dictator type," said Lyon Wong, co-founder and partner at venture firm Spectrum 28, and former partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a firm that made multiple early investments into Snap.
Hemant Taneja, a managing director at the venture capital firm and Snap investor General Catalyst, pointed to Khan as a key figure in the run-up to the IPO.
I think that hire was critical and they work very well together, Taneja said. He has taken a lot of things off of Evans plate so he can focus on what he does best.
Taneja said the turnover may be more indicative of Spiegel constantly upgrading the talent in his ranks.
I think that Snapchat does everything in an unconventional way, Taneja said. Comparing it to Facebook or another company is an incorrect way to think about it.
Wolff also noted that the company may yet bring in more experienced managers and board members ahead of the IPO.
IPO AS MARKETING
Snap, valued at about $18 billion, has raised roughly $2.5 billion from investors including mutual fund Fidelity Investments, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price and Alibaba. It raised $1.81 billion as recently as May, according to regulatory filings.
The windfall of cash just six months ago, however, did not slow Snaps IPO talks, which have been ongoing for at least a year, according to sources familiar with the matter. An IPO early next year may help Snap capture pent-up investor demand after a prolonged IPO drought, while also getting out in front of other hotly anticipated debuts from Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] and Airbnb.
It could be easier to tell your story because everyone will be focused on you and ready for you to make your move, said Hans Tung, managing partner at GGV Capital. There will be a lot of demand for this stock.
Some investors said the marketing boost and visibility that comes with an IPO is crucial to help Snapchat get more users outside the United States - and outside its dominant user base of millennials. Snapchat says it has more than 150 million daily active users.
The goal of the company is to grow as fast as possible, venture capitalist Wong said. And there are no more 16-year-olds for them to get onto the platform.
An IPO will give the company a more mature image that will appeal to advertisers, investors said. Snap has told investors to expect $1 billion in advertising revenue in 2017, according to sources familiar with the matter.
(Additional reporting by Liana Baker in San Francisco and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Writing by Jonathan Weber; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Govt hospitals wont entertain illegal nursing colleges: Thapa
The Ministry of Health (MoH) is planning to write to government hospitals, asking them to stop entertaining any nursing colleges after the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) started preparations to grant affiliations to nursing and other allied health programmes.
DESIGNER CHALLENGES TRUMP: In an e-mail sent Thursday afternoon, Sophie Theallet has said she will not dress the incoming First Lady Melania Trump and she is calling on other designers to do the same.
Theallet, who did not respond immediately available for comment, said in her missive that as an independent fashion brand, we consider our voice an expression of our artistic and philosophical ideas.
As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady. The rhetoric of racism, sexism, and xenophobia unleashed by her husbands presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by. she wrote. I encourage my fellow designers to do the same.
A spokeswoman for Melania Trump did not respond immediately for a request for comment. In the lead up to Election Night, the former model wore Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Michael Kors among other labels all of which she purchased in New York City boutiques or online.
For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS.
Describing herself as an immigrant, the designer said she has been blessed with the opportunity to pursue her dreams in the U.S., and that dressing First Lady Michelle Obama intermittently over the past eight years has been a highlight and an honor. She has contributed to having our name recognized and respected worldwide. Her values, actions, and grace have always resonated deeply within me.
At 18, Theallet moved to Paris to attend the esteemed fashion design school Studio Bercot and graduated early after winning Frances National Young Design Award. She was then hired by Jean Paul Gaultier. Theallet later worked at Azzedine Alaia for 10 years before relocating to New York City, where she continued to work for the French designer on a part-time basis. She launched her own label in 2007 and two years after won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.
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Noting that her brand stands against all discrimination and prejudice, she said, Our runway shows, ad campaigns, and celebrity dressing have always been a celebration of diversity and a reflection of the world we live in.
Her e-mail continued, I am well aware it is not wise to get involved in politics. That said, as a family owned company, our bottom line is not just about money. We value our artistic freedom and always humbly seek to contribute to a more humane, conscious and ethical way to create in this world.
Theallets open letter ended with Integrity is our only true currency.
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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's national oil company PetroSA on Friday posted a narrower full-year loss after posting a record loss a year ago, but warned that weak commodity prices were still a threat to its business. Many of South Africa's 300-odd state-owned companies, including South African Airways are a drain on the government's purse and a team commissioned by President Jacob Zuma to review them has recommended that some companies should be sold. The petroleum, oil and gas company said in a statement it posted a net loss of 449 million rand ($31 million) for the 2015/2016 financial year which ended in March versus a 14.6 billion rand loss previously - the biggest of any state-owned firm since 1994. PetroSA also said it plans to launch a turnaround strategy aimed at securing its long-term financial viability. "We are not out of the woods yet," said Chief Executive Officer Siphamandla Mthethwa, referring to global economic headwinds that could affect the business in the current year. Oil prices have fallen the last three days, but Brent is still up 6 percent from a three-month low hit last Friday. Revenue fell by 13 percent to 15.7 billion rand, while core profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation) declined by 3 percent to 2.1 billion rand, the firm said. PetroSA's huge loss in the last financial year was caused by the sharp drop in oil prices and the weak performance of its gas fields Ikhwezi project, which was expected to deliver 242 Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of commercial gas reserves for PetroSA's Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid refinery. But the project had only delivered 25 BCF of commercial gas reserves from three wells out of five. ($1 = 14.6015 rand) (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by James Macharia)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Park Geun-hye's office on Friday dismissed a claim by the leader of the opposition that she was planning to declare martial law as "irresponsible demagoguery". Park's administration has been rocked by allegations that a friend used her ties to meddle in state affairs and wield improper influence, triggering calls for the president to be impeached or step down. The opposition Democratic Party's leader, Choo Mi-ae, said at a party meeting on Friday that there was intelligence Park planned to declare martial law. Park's spokesman, Jung Youn-kuk, said Choo's comments were "unbecoming of the leader of the main opposition party and are political demagoguery that is exceedingly irresponsible". Park is under pressure from an angry public to step down with hundreds of thousands expected to gather in the capital on Saturday in the fourth straight weekend protest. Park's father, Park Chung-hee, took power in a coup in 1961 declaring martial law and ruled until he was shot dead in 1979. He declared martial law twice more during his time in office. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Joyce Lee and Se Young Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Friday it has rejected Google's latest request for permission to use government mapping data in servers outside the country, citing security issues with North Korea.
Google, an Alphabet Inc company, has said it needs to use the data on servers worldwide to enable services that would give walking and driving directions in South Korea.
"We're disappointed by this decision," Google spokesman Taj Meadows said in a statement, adding that the company remains hopeful it will be able to provide people in Korea with the full suite of Google Maps services in the future.
South Korea, whose 1950-53 war with North Korea ended without a peace treaty, argues that if it allowed such data to leave the country, the locations of military facilities and other sensitive sites could be revealed.
The government could grant permission if Google removes images of sensitive sites on its satellite imaging services, an official at the body in charge of mapping data has previously said.
But Google has rejected that condition, saying the information is widely available through satellite images that can be purchased freely.
The land ministry said it would reconsider if Google changes its position.
Separately, Google is under scrutiny in South Korea, with the antitrust regulator examining whether the U.S. firm's agreements with handset manufacturers on the Android mobile operating system limits market competition.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Se Young Lee; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
From Esquire
It took a while to sink in, and maybe not everyone is there yet, but Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. Last week, the results of the election stunned the country, South Park included, with Trump's victory throwing the show into an uncharacteristic stupor. Now, the show has accepted the reality of our new President-elect, and like Trump himself, South Park has no idea what to do next.
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As I said last week, the absurdity of our country's real-life predicament might have broken South Park. Finding a way to satirize the country embracing racist rhetoric under the leadership of an unqualified buffoon is not only difficult, but it feels almost wrong, like mocking a national tragedy. On top of that, Trey Parker and Matt Stone need to fit daily national embarrassments into their show every week. For example, as if Trump's election wasn't enough, this week they needed to squeeze the appointment of a white supremacist to one of the President-elect's key council positions. They only barely did so in Wednesday's episode, "Members Only," which began with Steve Bannon introducing the new Trump-ized Mr. Garrison, who has his straw mat of hair placed on his head like Darth Vader's helmet inside the Sith lord's meditation chamber from The Empire Strikes Back.
After getting knocked off its feet last week, South Park is crawling again, picking up the pieces of its serialized season and finding a way to deal with the president this country has elected for the next four years. And it's fucking terrifying. As we've seen throughout the last week with Trump's chaotic transition team, the guy has absolutely no idea what's going on. What we do know is this: Trump has a list of enemies, and once he's president he's seeking revenge like a middle school bully.
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And so is Mr. Garrison, who's wandering around South Park, now that he's president, forcing everyone who even mildly annoyed him to, for lack of a better term, give him a blow job. That we have a president who is a petty, temperamental child isn't even the worst part-it's that he has absolutely no clue how to run a country. In the most disturbing scene of the episode, Garrison meets with the heads of the military where they show him around the Pentagon. "Here are all our military secrets and classified information," the general says to Garrison's delight. "Here is the drone program. In there you can kill anyone remotely. Here are the keys." Then most terrifying of all: the Diplomatic Strategy and Negotiation Room. Garrison walks in to find people running around screaming, alarms going off, phones ringing. It's a total goddamn mess. "This doesn't look very fun," Garrison says before an officer runs up and says, "Thank god you're here, sir. We need your guidance."
Oh, shit.
It would be funny if it wasn't so true. Elsewhere, the Danish are preparing to unleash Troll Hunter on the entire world, which has turned international relations into a complete cluster fuck. The Member Berries have invaded the White House and are calling Putin to ask if he 'members the Cold War. And Cartman and Heidi, somehow the only rational people left, are trying to escape to Mars on SpaceX, but Elon Musk is wasting his time giving hundreds of tours.
Things look grim. Really grim. But hopefully South Park and our IRL country can make it through.
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A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts one each from the United States, Russia and France lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:20 p.m. EST Thursday. The astronauts will join the three Expedition 50 crew members already on board the International Space Station (ISS) when the spacecraft docks with it Saturday evening.
The Expedition 50 crew members will spend over four months conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, NASA said in a statement. Upcoming research includes how lighting impacts the overall health and well-being of crew members, and how microgravity affects tissue regeneration in humans and the genetic properties of space-grown plants.
16-108d
Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Thursdays launch is a historic one for both France and the U.S. While Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency will become the first French member of an ISS expedition, American astronaut Peggy Whitson is now the oldest woman to fly in space.
The most important thing about the station is the friendships and the work we accomplish there, Whitson, 56, said during a press conference held before the launch in Kazakhstan.
By the time the mission is over, Whitson, who will take command of the ISS in February, would also become the first woman to command the space station twice the first being in 2007. In addition, she would also have set a new record for the most hours spent in space by a U.S. astronaut, breaking the current record of 534 days set in September by Jeff Williams.
Whitson, Pesquet and the Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy will remain on board the ISS until next spring. The crew members already aboard the station Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko are scheduled to return in late February.
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Humans have been living continuously aboard the ISS for more than 15 years, and so far, over 200 people from 18 countries have visited it. Although the arrival of Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet returns the number of crew on the ISS to six, this may be one of the last missions where this happens, as Russia has announced plans to cut crew size to two beginning next March.
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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, November 17, carrying three new crew members to the International Space Station. The spectacular night launch went off without a hitch.
Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency will arrive at the station and begin docking around 5 pm on Saturday to begin their six-month mission. They join Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who arrived at the station last month. Credit: YouTube/NASA via Storyful
Peggy Whitson
Todays liftoff of a Soyuz spaceship heading for the International Space Station launched NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson into the history books as well.
The three-time spaceflier, who turns 57 in February, is now the oldest woman to go into space. Whitson took the title from NASA teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan, who had held the record since her 2007 space shuttle flight (when she was 55).
In a NASA interview conducted last year, Whitson joked that a documentary film crew was following her around mostly because she was old and experienced.
All right, yes, Im old, she said.
The Iowa-born Whitson made her first trip to space in 2003, when she became the first woman to take command of the space station. She served a second orbital tour of duty in 2008, building up her total time in space to 377 days. Thats the record for a woman astronaut, and the record will be rising on every day she spends in orbit from now on.
This time around, Whitson lifted off with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Their Soyuz craft rose from Russias Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:20 p.m. PT today (2:20 a.m. Friday local time).
The trio is due to dock with the station on Saturday and meet up with the stations three current residents: NASAs Shane Kimbrough, the stations commander; and Russian cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov.
Meanwhile, in a completely different orbit, two Chinese astronauts left the Tiangong 2 space lab, climbed into their Shenzhou 11 capsule and began their homeward journey. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are expected to touch down in Inner Mongolia on Friday.
By the time Whitson, Novitskiy and Pesquet return to Earth, sometime next spring, Whitson will have set a new U.S. record for the most cumulative time spent in space. The previous record (534 days) was set in September by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams.
Whitson still has a long way to go to break the overall records for age and time in space. The oldest man to go into space is John Glenn, who flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 at the age of 77.
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The holders of the records for most time spent in space are both Russian men: Gennady Padalka for cumulative time (879 days over the course of five spaceflights), and Valery Polyakov for continuous time (438 days in 1994-1995).
Update for 10 a.m. PT Nov. 18: As expected, the two Chinese astronauts landed in Inner Mongolia closing out a monthlong mission aboard Tiangong 2 during which they tended silkworms and a crop of lettuce. Sadly, our lettuce is only for experimental purposes, and not to be eaten, Jing and Chen wrote in a journal shared with the Xinhua news service.
Chinese crew returns to Earth with space-grown veggies after record 32-day mission, the nations longest to date. https://t.co/ODcqdj0fWk pic.twitter.com/e3PWWYwse7 Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) November 18, 2016
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Govt preparing to show NRA chief door?
The rift between the prime minister and chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) appears to be growing over perception that the NRA head is defying the government instructions.
MADRID, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A Spanish consortium which is building a high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina has reached a preliminary deal with Saudi Arabia to finalise the works after a series of delays and setbacks, Spain's public works ministry said on Friday.
The Al Shoula consortium - made up of 12 Spanish companies including builder OHL and engineering and defence company Indra as well as two Saudi firms - had become embroiled in a dispute over payments with the Saudi government.
"This preliminary deal resolves the problems that arose on both sides during the process, clearing the way for the works to be finalised," the Spanish government said in a statement.
The consortium's contract to finish and maintain the Haramain high speed railway is worth 6.7 billion euros ($7.11 billion). ($1 = 0.9422 euros) (Reporting by Julien Toyer; Editing by sarah White)
By Yasmeen Abutaleb, Ryan McNeill and Deborah J. Nelson LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With good reason, Dan Greulichs doctors called him the miracle man. In the span of a decade, the insurance company executive engaged not once, but twice, in a race with death as he awaited replacements for failing organs. And twice, just as death was poised to win, he made it to the top of the national transplant list ahead of thousands of other dying people. Donor organs became available, he was rushed into surgery, and he emerged with a new lease on life. After Greulichs second combined liver-and-kidney transplant in early 2012, his wife, Rae, sent a letter to the donors family. You not only saved a man, she wrote, you saved a family. But then, less than three weeks into his recovery at University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center, Greulich contracted an antibiotic-resistant infection a common and often lethal hazard of hospital stays. Over the next five months, according to thousands of pages of medical and billing records reviewed by Reuters, Greulich was attacked by no fewer than half a dozen different superbugs, most of them strains that are encountered almost exclusively in healthcare facilities. Greulichs immune system, suppressed by medications to prevent organ rejection, had no way to fight the bacteria. When the usual antibiotics failed to snuff them, he was pumped full of powerful alternatives, sometimes as many as half a dozen a day. Some had alarming side effects hearing loss, severe pain, nausea. The infections kept coming. Sepsis, a dangerous inflammatory response to infection, set in. Confined to an intensive-care unit (ICU), Greulich was frequently placed on mechanical ventilation, itself a common source of infection. He wavered in and out of consciousness. Doctors cut him open again to seek the source of the problem. At one point, they considered putting him back on the transplant list, but only if they could clear him of infection. They couldnt. On June 30, 2012, Greulich died, age 64. Dan Greulich is one of the uncounted the tens of thousands of people in the United States whose infections and deaths by superbug are not tracked by public health agencies. As revealed in the first article in this series, deaths related to drug-resistant infections often arent recorded as such on death certificates. Greulichs death certificate blames cardiac arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat. Even when superbug deaths are recorded, tens of thousands a year go uncounted because federal and state agencies are doing a poor job of tracking them. Today, the lack of a unified national surveillance system makes it hard to fight a scourge that officials 15 years ago declared to be a grave threat to public health. Deaths like Greulichs speak to the high human toll of superbugs. But Greulichs death and, in particular, the effort to prevent it also speak to the enormous waste caused by the infections: two precious organs in a country where 22 people die every day waiting for one; thousands of hours put in by dozens of doctors, nurses and other medical workers to save a life; and big sums of money spent on drugs, surgery and hospital care, contributing to the billions of dollars superbugs add to the U.S. healthcare bill every year. Two people that could have gotten those organs died waiting for those organs, Rae Greulich said. To see it become a failure is certainly devastating, said Dr David Klassen, chief medical officer of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the Richmond, Virginia, nonprofit group that coordinates all U.S. transplants. It isnt clear how Greulich contracted the superbugs that killed him. UCLA Medical Center declined to make anyone available to discuss his illness and hospitalization. In a statement emailed to Reuters, the hospital said: We treat many severely ill patients who require complex care, and we have detailed procedures and protocols in place to prevent, detect and treat infections. Beyond the loss of viable organs that could have saved other lives, Greulichs infections added to the growing national tab for treating them. Records show that from the time he first entered UCLA Medical Center in December 2011, until he died seven months later, Dan Greulich racked up a total bill of $5.7 million. How much of that went toward treating Greulichs superbug infections and how much went toward his transplant surgery and related treatments is hard to determine precisely. Too many other variables are at play. However, at $5.7 million, the charges for Greulichs seven-month hospitalization were nearly five times what the National Foundation for Transplants says are the average first-year charges for a liver-and-kidney transplant. Charges for antibiotics he was given in a failed attempt to beat his infections were at least $230,000, exceeding the $200,000 in charges for obtaining and transplanting a liver and kidney. Charges for seven months of accommodations at UCLA Medical Center totaled $2 million. AN ELUSIVE NUMBER Lack of reliable data hinders any effort to calculate how much superbugs add to overall U.S. healthcare costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites figures from a 2009 study sponsored by the Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics that put the annual cost of antibiotic-resistant infections at more than $20 billion. But that figure is extrapolated from data from a single hospital. And it uses infection rates from 2000, which were far less than what they are now. Dr Stuart Levy, director of Tufts Universitys Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance in Boston and an author of the 2009 study, acknowledged the limitations of the analysis. The important point was we were supposed to show this was a very costly consequence of doing hospital care, he said. Reuters undertook its own analysis to get an idea of how much superbug infections cost. Using national inpatient data from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for 2013, the analysis of millions of records focused on infections from two superbugs: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile. It found that an infection can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a patients hospital stay. The average MRSA infection added about $11,000 per inpatient stay, while C. difficile added about $5,200. In all, Reuters found that the two infections combined added about $6 billion in charges to hospital stays nationwide in 2013. MRSA infections added about $4.1 billion, and C. difficile added about $1.9 billion. To calculate those numbers, Reuters used a method called propensity score matching to compares costs for patients with and without infection who are otherwise similar in terms of demographic characteristics, other illnesses, hospital setting and so on. While MRSA and C. difficile are two of the most common and well-known drug-resistant pathogens, they are only two of 18 superbugs the CDC considers to be a threat to public health, suggesting a total cost much higher than $6 billion. Some of those other infections, while not as widespread, can be far more costly to treat. Most superbug infections are contracted in hospitals and other medical facilities. The big bills that result are most often covered by health insurers and other third-party payers. This means that ultimately, the costs are passed to consumers in the form of higher insurance premiums, said David Cutler, a Harvard University economist who specializes in healthcare. There is no other way to do it, he said. Private insurers generally do not deny reimbursement for treatment related to superbug infections. Even in cases where hospitals are held legally liable for the infections, they are often shielded from eating the full cost. James Woodard contracted a MRSA infection at age 64 while in the University of New Mexico Hospital for back surgery in 2012. The infection led to a dozen more surgeries over four years and left him wheelchair-bound and with memory loss. But he hasnt forgotten the pain as the infection spread: It felt like someone was hacking my body in half, he said. In a malpractice suit Woodard and his wife brought against the hospital, a jury earlier this year found the hospital at fault and awarded Woodard and his wife $4.25 million for medical costs, Woodards injuries and other damages. But New Mexico caps malpractice awards. Within those limits, the hospital is asking the court to set the award at $700,000, said hospital spokesman Luke Frank. That is less than the $973,000 that Frank said the hospital received in payments from Woodards insurer. Hospitals make money on those complications, said Woodards lawyer, Amalia S. Lucero. And Woodard could end up with even less if his own insurer recovers some of the money it paid to the hospital from whatever award Woodard receives. More than half the states have imposed caps on malpractice awards in response to medical and insurance industry concerns that multi-million-dollar verdicts were driving up the cost of healthcare and premiums. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) penalizes hospitals for high infection rates by reducing payments from the huge Medicare government health-insurance program for the elderly. And the agency does not pay the added costs of some types of preventable infections, such as catheter-associated urinary tract infections, if they are contracted in the hospital. Hospitals have found a way to get around the CMS payment restrictions. Several studies have shown that hospitals sometimes use a strategy called upcoding, whereby they manipulate the codes for submitting reimbursement claims so that they receive payment for infection-related treatments. For instance, a hospital could claim an infection was present when the patient was admitted, rather than acquired in the hospital. Or it could not mention an infection at all. A 2015 study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business estimated that CMS reimbursed for more than 10,000 upcoded claims from 2009 to 2010, costing Medicare a total of $200 million. As for Dan Greulichs $5.7 million bill, his widow, Rae, said the couple paid about $10,000 themselves. Most of the balance was covered by Dans employer-sponsored insurance with Anthem Inc. The insurance company declined to comment. Hospital charges are typically a starting point that insurers end up negotiating down. Payment records for Greulichs seven-month stay at UCLA Medical Center show that Anthem paid at least $2.9 million. LONG ODDS One day in February 2000, Dan Greulich failed to show up for work as a senior vice president of property and casualty insurer Western Mutual at the companys Agoura Hills, California, office. His son, Tim, found him lying unconscious on the floor at home. At the hospital, doctors told Greulich that his liver and kidneys were failing, damaged beyond repair from his years of heavy drinking. He probably wouldnt live more than a couple of months. His alcoholism disqualified him for a life-saving transplant. Greulich began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings while undergoing dialysis four times a week. He completely gave up [alcohol] the second he went to that hospital, Tim said. He never picked up a drink after that. By the end of 2000, he was on the transplant waiting list. The hospital entered his information into a computer system run by UNOS, the transplant coordinator, which uses information from hospitals and organ-procurement groups across the country to match donors with recipients. The odds were against him. In 2001, the 6,080 people who died and became donors didnt come near to covering the 86,000 people waiting for organs. As Greulich waited, his health deteriorated. He struggled to make it through each workday. He spent lunch hours napping in his car. Then, in July 2002, he got his first transplant. Recovery, according to Rae, was complicated by his first encounter with superbugs: He contracted a MRSA infection, which kept him in the hospital until September. A month later, after about two years as a couple, Dan and Rae got married. Tim, Dans son from a previous marriage, lived with them. Dan returned to work, paring down his hours from 60 to 45 a week. He and Rae bought their dream home in Simi Valley, in the mountains 40 miles outside of Los Angeles. They had fruit trees in their backyard lemon, orange, pomegranate and kept horses. For nine years, Dan remained healthy and was very religious about taking his transplant medications, according to medical records. In 2011, he began taking an herbal remedy called St. Johns wort to cope with stress at work. He didnt know the plant could block the effects of anti-rejection drugs. On Dec. 6, nearly a decade after his first double transplant, Dan was back in UCLA Medical Center, his donated liver and kidney failing. He was soon relisted for a transplant. Again, as he waited, his health declined. On Jan. 5, 2012, medical records show, he was vomiting blood, and he was moved to an intensive-care unit. He was charged the next day for his first night in the intensive-care bed: $10,400. His skin grayed. He spent more time sleeping. Every day, it seemed more likely that he would die before he made it to the top of the transplant list. In the early morning hours of Jan. 25, Rae received a call in her hotel room: A 40-year-old woman had died, and she was an organ donor. Dan was at the top of the waiting list. Everythings going to be OK, Rae said she was thinking hours later, as Dan was wheeled into surgery. A second transplant is far more complicated and risky than the first, said Dr Fady Kaldas, an associate professor of surgery at UCLA specializing in liver transplants who was part of Dans medical team. Dan was losing so much blood during the operation that doctors spread the procedure over two days to give his body time to stabilize. At one point, Rae recalled, doctors told her they were losing Dan. He survived one of 462 people to get a double transplant that year. His new liver soon began working on its own. His sister, Pat Herbert, said he told her he would make it to Florida for her birthday in May. His rosy color returned. Even when his new kidney didnt take, meaning he would have to rely on dialysis, he remained optimistic. Then, in early February, as nurses were removing post-surgical drains from Dans abdomen, a nauseating stench filled the ICU room, Rae recalled. Rae suspected something was awry. She was right. Dans medical records show that lab tests of fluid from the drains found two drug-resistant pathogens, Citrobacter freundii and Aeromonas. And they werent Dans first infections. He was already fighting a fungus called Candida albicans, which can be especially dangerous in transplant patients. MODERN DANGERS Modern medical advances complex organ transplants, drug therapies, devices such as ventilators and dialysis machines sustain life for people who would otherwise die. But they come at a cost. They leave many people cancer patients, people with HIV, premature infants, anyone with a suppressed or weakened immune system particularly vulnerable to bacteria. At the same time, many of the bacteria that thrive in the hospitals where these people are concentrated have developed resistance to antibiotics. Dan Greulich was the perfect target. Transplant patients take drugs for the rest of their lives that suppress their immune systems so that their own bodies dont reject the donor organs. That leaves them vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens like the two that showed up in Dans lab tests. Both rarely cause illness in otherwise healthy people; for the immune-compromised, they can be deadly. Hospitals have well-established protocols to contain the threat. At UCLA Medical Center, once Greulich tested positive for drug-resistant infections, everyone doctors, nurses, technicians, Rae, other relatives had to don a gown and gloves before entering his room and discard them when leaving. Rae said she repeatedly asked nurses about Dans post-operative drains. They told her only that he had a fungal infection, she said. No one told her the names of the pathogens, or that they were resistant to multiple drugs, or how dangerous they were. UCLA Medical Center declined to comment. Dan was now battling sepsis life-threatening inflammation that is triggered throughout the body in a haywire response to infection. His blood pressure was abnormally low. His heartbeat was rapid and weak. Breathing was difficult, and he was often placed on mechanical ventilation, inserted through a tracheostomy, a hole surgeons cut into his windpipe. He was receiving dialysis through a port in his groin. He received fluids and drugs including increasing amounts of ineffective antibiotics through multiple tubes inserted into his veins and arteries. He was seldom lucid. Occasionally he would utter an I love you to Rae or ask how his recovery was going. Rae usually lied. Youre doing so much better, she would say, to encourage him to keep fighting. Doctors were desperate to locate the infection behind Dans sepsis. On Feb. 22, they wheeled him into surgery again and opened his abdomen, distended with retained fluid. This was risky in a patient so ill. Its not necessarily the easiest thing to take somebody whos so stressed and sick and take them back to surgery, Kaldas said. The surgery failed to reveal a definitive site of infection. Dans medical bills show at least $20,000 in related charges for the operating room, the procedure, anesthesia and a liver biopsy. In March, Dan tested positive for a drug-resistant strain of Enterococcus. Unrelenting sepsis caused his body to swell. His skin was stretched tight and easily punctured. When Rae tried to clip his fingernails one day, he bled. Doctors had put Dan on drugs called vasopressors, which constrict blood vessels and thus raise the dangerously low blood pressure that sepsis causes. But that same mechanism also decreases essential blood flow to new organs, putting them at risk. Thats what makes sepsis such an evil process It just wreaks havoc on your body, including a delicate transplanted liver, Kaldas said. Its always a game of whats going to happen first. Are these organs just going to fall apart from being on vasopressors for a week, or is the infection going to go away first? Another month, another infection. In early April, it was vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), another common menace to hospital patients with weakened immune systems. A few days later, Rae recalled, two of Dans doctors sat down with her for a talk. Imaging showed that his new liver was a potential site of infection and a probable source of his sepsis. If they could clear Dan of the infections, they would consider him for a third liver-and-kidney transplant. In notes dated April 18, 2012, Dr Leonard Irwin Goldstein wrote that another transplant would provide his best chance for long-term survival. Only now, Rae said, did she realize that Dans struggle was not to recover from transplant surgery, but from a barrage of infections. Nobody said he had a laundry list of infections, she said. She started researching infection control and keeping a close eye on the nurses caring for Dan. In the ensuing weeks, she wrote three letters to the ICUs nurse manager to urge vigilance against further infection and to list lapses she noticed in her husbands care. In a May 7 letter, she described stopping a nurse from starting an intravenous line when she saw that the nurse wasnt going to change gloves after touching cabinet drawers and other potentially contaminated surfaces. UCLA Medical Center declined to comment. Since February, Dan had undergone increasingly aggressive antibiotic therapy. By the end of March, records show, he had been charged about $45,000 for the drugs. Then, for April alone, the amount ballooned to more than $110,000. Of that, $93,000 covered charges for 169 doses of Synercid, a combination of quinupristin and dalfopristin that is one of the few drugs that can beat back VRE. In just one day May 2, 2012 Dan was given six different antimicrobial drugs: amikacin, cefepime, daptomycin and Synercid, all of them commonly used to treat multi-drug-resistant infections; Bactrim; and caspofungin, an anti-fungal. Many of these drugs are hard on the body. The Synercid caused severe bone pain. Dan, who for months hadnt complained about his pain, uttered to his wife, Im in agony, according to Rae. At Raes request, doctors eventually stopped the drug. Antibiotics beat you up, said Kaldas. Imagine somebody on nuclear weapons of antibiotics, and theyre on 10 of them, or five of them, or three of them. Its a lot to ask. By June, the continuing antibiotic therapy had left Dan nearly deaf. His hair had fallen out. On and off a ventilator, he had suffered several bouts of pneumonia. Unrelenting sepsis and the phenomenon known as ICU delirium confusion and cognitive impairment associated with acute-care settings left him incapable of recognizing little around him other than Rae and Tim. Doctors now said Dan would never be well enough for another transplant. He was going to die. They urged him to sign a do not resuscitate order. He refused. Rae posted a sign above his bed: Mr. Greulich very clearly stated NO DNR and wants aggressive treatment. For Dans medical team, giving up on a third transplant was an admission of defeat. What we worry about is putting yet another organ into somebody thats going to go the same way as the last organ, said Kaldas. Youve developed a relationship with this patient Theres nothing you want more than to see them get better. But you have to take a step back and say, well, a third liver will not make this person get better. After months of illness, pain and confinement, Dan began to lose his will to live. He told Rae he felt worthless and that he knew he wasnt ever going to recover. On June 29, Rae walked into his hospital room a little before 9 a.m., as she had nearly every day for the past seven months. He was sitting up in bed, alert and almost perky, she said. I want to die, he told her. The next day, Rae and Dans son, Tim, 24 years old at the time, stood at Dans bedside, holding his hands. They said their goodbyes. Just before 11:30 a.m., doctors turned off Dans dialysis machine. He soon lost consciousness. Rae and Tim watched as the tracing on Dans heart monitor slowed and slowed and then flat-lined. Greulichs death certificate did not mention sepsis or the infections that caused it. His autopsy report, however, lists at least five pathogens present in samples taken from his body, most of them drug-resistant. The report states: The autopsy findings and microbiology studies support the clinical diagnosis of septic shock, which appears to be the immediate cause of death. It was clearer than anything that he died of septic shock, Rae said. When I got the death certificate, I was staggered. (Edited by John Blanton)
Darkness was falling across the pagoda outside Yangon when a military officer walked up to Su Thet Htoo and gave him two choices: go to jail or join the untold ranks of child soldiers in Myanmar's army.
Frightened and alone, the then 16-year-old chose military service, beginning a two-year ordeal that would see him cut off from his family, beaten, sent to the front line and turn into an alcoholic.
No one knows exactly how many children are still among the estimated 500,000 troops that serve in Myanmar's military or the rebel militias waging insurgencies against the state.
The army and seven ethnic armed groups have been listed by the United Nations as using underage fighters -- those below the age of 18 -- as they clash in the country's borderlands.
In major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, recruiters are known to scour parks, pagodas and bus and railway stations for poor and vulnerable boys who they threaten, drug or tempt with promises of well-paying jobs.
Many, like Su Thet Htoo, are taken without a word to their families, who assume they are dead after months without contact.
Now 21, the aspiring mechanic says he is focused on building a new life on his own after years of painful reintegration into society.
"I do not want to remember those experiences. I feel pain whenever I remember what happened," he tells AFP.
"I'm still trying to make amends."
- 'I became an alcoholic' -
Recruitment of underage fighters has slowed since the military stepped down from junta rule in 2011 and started easing its grip after five decades of brutal domination that drove the Southeast Asian country into dire poverty.
The army vowed to end the use of child soldiers the following year and has worked with rights groups to release hundreds of youngsters in sporadic batches.
But experts say children remain at risk as new underage recruits continue to trickle into the military.
"The Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) have to keep up a level of strength, but they have difficulties in recruiting, so they snatch people who are vulnerable," said Piyamal Pichaiwongse, deputy liaison officer for the International Labour Organization (ILO).
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Many are sent to conflict areas such as the northeastern states of Kachin and Shan, where the army is fighting rebel groups, to be put to work as soldiers or in support roles carrying supplies or growing food.
Local children are often swept up in the clashes -- many are forced to join the ethnic insurgents but others volunteer to fight in a bid to protect their communities.
Su Thet Htoo was taken to the Danyinkone recruitment camp outside Yangon where officers told him to lie and say he was 18.
He spent four and a half months in training before he was deployed to work as a patrol guard on the front line in the southern state of Karen, the site of long-running ethnic rebellion.
Staring down at his tattooed hands in the dim light of the mechanics' office, a sparse fringe of hair on his upper lip and a wearied look in his eyes, he describes how regular beatings drove him to drink.
"I was beaten if I did something wrong. Sometimes, if I made a small mistake I was punched. So I started drinking alcohol," he says.
One night of drinking led to a brawl with a senior sergeant.
"Then about three or four soldiers started punching me," he says. "My head was injured by their blows."
- Stigma persists -
Twice Su Thet Htoo ran away to his parents and younger sister. Both times he was caught, beaten and sent back to the army.
It was only when his mother called a hotline set up by the UN for people to report child soldiers and showed the army his birth certificate that he was finally allowed to leave.
Now he is among 800 underage recruits that have been released since 2012, according to UNICEF, which provides counselling and helps the former soldiers return to school or set up businesses.
Pichaiwongse said the ILO also has a backlog of some 200-300 more cases of runaways that it has yet to deal with.
Like many, Su Thet Htoo has found adjusting to life outside the army difficult.
His relationship with his family broke down as his drinking continued and he bounced from job to job before finally going into a Buddhist monastery to kick the habit.
He now lives alone and is training as a mechanic.
UNICEF's Representative for Myanmar, Bertrand Bainvel, said many former child soldiers are also spurned by their neighbours when they return home.
"Many communities also do not want to have among themselves a child who has committed violence, who would have used weapons against other people," he tells AFP.
"This is why it's very important to work with the whole environment around the child."
As Bournemouth make the long trip to the Bet 365 stadium, Stoke City blogger Rory Watts plots his way to victory
Re-Introduce Arnautovic and Shaqiri back into the first team
Despite the impressive performances of Jon Walters and Ramadan Sobhi a couple of weeks ago, it would be a wise move I feel to get Arnautovic and Shaqiri back in the first team. With the quality they possess, it will be needed to break down a Bournemouth side I assume will sit back and try to hit us on the counter.
The two wingers are essential to what we create in terms of chances in home games and provide players such as Bony and Allen with numerous opportunities with their creative flair.
Stoke must bring back Shaqiri and Arnautovic
Also, the ability they possess to create a moment of magic and score a goal from all their own work is admirable, as Shaqiri recently demonstrated against Hull and Arnautovic against Crystal Palace.
Be wary of Bournemouths counter attacks
If theres one thing Stoke have struggled against in recent years its speed. Stoke will have to play players such as Callum Wilson, Josh King and Junior Stanislas very carefully. I believe because of these pacey and direct players Stokes line would be best dropping a few yards deeper when Bournemouth have possession.
Also, continuous help from the wingers will be necessarily as Bournemouth full backs Adam Smith and Charlie Daniels will be up and down for the whole 90 minutes. Whoever it is starting out wide they will have to be constantly switched on, and up to the task of tracking the Bournemouth full back.
Win the midfield battle
The battle in midfield for this game will be a very intriguing one, as both sets of midfielders are skilled in retaining the ball and keeping the attacking flow going. With Glenn Whelan an apparent major doubt according to Mark Hughes it would be interesting to see who replaces him. Will he play out of favour French flair player Giannelli Imbula or put in recent goal scorer Bojan and play Joe Allen in a deeper role?
That remains to be seen but however, I believe the latter would be the most effective and probably the fairest solution based on Bojans recent cameo against West Ham where he rescued a point at the London Stadium for the Potters. Also, Bojan is far more likely to pressurize the Bournemouth midfield trio and force mistakes, something Giannelli isnt known for so far in a Stoke shirt.
If Stoke are going to ensure they win this battle in midfield they must place someone constantly on the dangerous Jack Wilshere. His laudable vision and weight of pass is very dangerous, so Stoke must make sure he doesnt find himself in pockets of Space by himself in between the midfield and back four. If we can neutralize Wilshere then Bournemouth will struggle as seemingly, most of the play has ran through him.
Critics of fracking often cite increased earthquakes as one of the many dangers the natural gas extraction method poses to communities and regions. Its a contentious issue natural gas proponents and oil companies say it just aint true but new research published Thursday finds that clusters of earthquakes in western Canada are indeed caused by fracking.
The study reviewed injection data from a four-month period in Alberta and compared that to actual earthquake events. The study, published in journal Science by scientists at the University of Calgary, found that quakes were induced by the process in two ways. First, by the increased pressure from pumping fluids into the rock layers during the fracking process itself, then from pressure changes from left behind fluids after.
The earthquakes in western Canada differ from trembles in the Midwest United States, which are caused by disposal and burial of wastewater from oil and gas wells rather than fracking itself. In those cases, wastewater is pumped back into the ground under pressure after any sort of drilling. When that water is pushed into sandstone or other permeable rocks, the ensuing pressure changes can rattle nearby fault zones and cause slips.
The key message is that the primary cause of injection-induced seismicity in western Canada is different from the central United States, David Eaton, a co-author of the study and geophysics professor, told the New York Times.
Oil and natural gas extraction methods, and their likelihood to disrupt a fault line, vary. Fracking wells, which produce natural gas and were addressed in the new study, generally operate for a shorter period of time before moving on to new locations and therefore are less likely to cause big disturbances (the high pressure is also significantly reduced once extraction ends). Meanwhile, the wastewater disposal sites for oil production operate for much longer and lead to much higher pressure as more water is pumped into the disposal wells, according to the United States Geological Survey.
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Sedimentary rocks contain small spaces between grains (pores) that almost always contain some type of fluidwater, oil or natural gas, Eaton told Gizmodo. Increasing the pressure of the fluid within the pores can influence the behaviour of a rockmass, especially if there is a fault.
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Reebok Is Offering Sneakers to the New Balance Customers That Burned Their Kicks [Yahoo]
Infuriated New Balance sneaker owners trashed, burned and flushed their sneakers (and shared the images on social media) after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company's vice president of public affairs was excited about what a Donald Trump presidency would mean for his business. (New Balance and Trump are both anti-Trans-Pacific Partnership, which President Barack Obama has championed.) In the wake of the outrage, Reebok is cleverly capitalizing on the situation by offering Twitter users who posted the destruction of their New Balances a new pair of Reebok kicks for free.
@artsy_indy Realer than real.
- Reebok Classic (@ReebokClassics) November 11, 2016
Toms Teams Up With Apple for Apple Watch Band [Tech Crunch]
Move over, Hermes - Toms is the latest brand to team up with Apple on a selection of Apple Watch bands. The Los Angeles-based, one-for-one shoe company has created a nine-piece collection of grosgrain fabric and leather bands finished with stainless steel hardware and the words "Give Time" etched on the inside. In classic Toms form, the brand is working with SolarAid to provide one year of solar energy to persons in need for every band sold. The bands are now available online at Toms.com for $49 each.
Introducing TOMS for Apple Watch bands. More than 1.2 billion people around the world lack access to safe, reliable electricity. This special collection helps provide solar lights to people in Sub-Saharan Africa. View the full collection through the link in our bio. #givetime #TOMS
A photo posted by TOMS (@toms) on Nov 15, 2016 at 10:30am PST
House informed about lifting of suspension of lawmaker Lama
Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar has informed that the suspension of CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Lharkyal Lama has been lifted.
At the age of 14, doctors told Maddie Coleman shed never be able to carry her own baby due to a disorder affecting her uterus and cervix.
My mom was with me at the appointment and we were both crushed. We cried and held each other as we walked to the car. But she stopped me, looked me in the eyes and said, When you get older and want a child, Ill carry your baby, Coleman, 24, tells PEOPLE of her mother, Megan Barker.
A teenager at the time, Coleman thought her moms offer was totally weird. But last year, when a tumor was discovered on her ovary the Californian decided to take her mom up on the promise she had made 10 years ago.
Before Coleman had the tumor removed in June 2016, doctors told her she should consider fertility treatment as the surgery could make her menopausal. So, she had her eggs frozen and approached her mom with the proposition after talking it over with husband, Tyler Coleman.
We looked at surrogacy, but its so expensive, the Orland, California, resident explains. At first, I couldnt wrap my mind around the idea of mom carrying our baby. It was a bit weird, but I was mostly excited and so grateful but it took a minute for me to understand.
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Barker immediately agreed to carry her daughters baby.
I knew how important it was for Maddie to be a mom and I understood there were other options like adoption, but I wanted her to know a biological baby was a viable option, Barker, 48, tells PEOPLE. Im just so fortunate I was able to provide the opportunity and that the IVF worked the first time. Its the greatest gift.
Coleman explains, Mom was healthy and had always said she would do it, if I wanted. I say if you have an opportunity, jump on it. I initially didnt want to have children until like five years from now, but I didnt know where my moms health and viability would be then, so I felt like it was the right time.
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In March of 2016, Barker became pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
We were ecstatic, says Coleman. I am forever grateful for this gift.
Barker gave birth to the couples child, Gus Wyatt Coleman, on October 22, 2016.
The healthy baby boy was delivered naturally and weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz.
Just getting to see Tyler and Maddie hold Gus is the greatest reward, says Barker. Knowing they can be the mommy and daddy they would not have otherwise been able to be is the best prize.
This has been the best experience of my life.
Tal Adh-Dhahab (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces have found another suspected mass grave containing the remains of victims of the Islamic State group in territory recaptured from the jihadists near Mosul, AFP journalists reported Friday.
An AFP team visited the isolated site that was recaptured recently by elite interior ministry forces down a dirt track outside the village of Tall Adh-Dhahab, some 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of Mosul.
Bone fragments were scattered around the location along with scraps of clothing -- including a man's headdress, ripped trousers and a flip-flop.
The stench was overpowering and several bullet casings could be seen.
Earth was piled in metre-high mounds at the entrance to the shallow pit, located behind a small sand-covered hill.
An officer from the interior ministry forces said local residents reported an estimated 40 people could be buried at the site, which IS allegedly used as an execution ground.
"The majority of them were members of the security forces, army and police," Lieutenant Yahya Jumma told AFP at the scene.
"They brought them by pickup trucks -- they were around 40 people according to eyewitnesses who saw them," he said.
Iraqi security forces have discovered several IS mass graves in areas that they have taken back from the group.
Authorities are investigating a mass grave found last week in the town of Hamam al-Alil to the southwest of the newly discovered site.
Human Rights Watch said local residents have said the grave in Hamam al-Alil could contain some 300 bodies.
UPDATE, 9:48 AM: Daniel Petrocelli might want to remind his client Donald Trump that the proposed $25 million settlement in the Trump University fraud case has not actually been approved by the court at least before the President-elect decided to bang off a couple of distinctly not contrite tweets this morning on the deal that was announced on Friday.
With the November 28 trial starting now benched, presiding Judge Gonzalo Curiel said yesterday in San Diego that he would look at the proposed settlement to make sure it is fair, adequate and reasonable. Having been attacked repeatedly as biased because of his Mexican ancestry during the campaign by the ex-Apprentice host over the six-year lawsuit from ex-students of his pricey and unaccredited higher education venture, the Indiana-born U.S. District judge also made a point of noting that the end of the suit could be the beginning of a healing process that this country sorely needs.
Even though the agreement saves Trump from ever having to admit wrongdoing in the apparent scam of students, healing doesnt seem to be how the future POTUS sees it especially after long saying he would never settle:
I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
By the way, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has estimated that the total cost of the defrauding Trump U is accused of comes out to around $40 million so the settlement is actually over half of that.
The tweets from the President-elect early Saturday also included some seething over the boos and words VP-elect Mike Pence received last night while attending a performance of Broadway blockbuster Hamilton in NYC lets just say Trump didnt approve.
PREVIOUSLY, NOV. 18 PM: After all the posturing, delays and motions, the legal saga of Trump University seems to have come to an end with a big payout from President-elect Donald Trump a mere 10 days before a very distracting trial was set to begin.
Trump has agreed to hand over $25 million to settle the six-year-old class-action fraud case against his much-maligned effort in higher education. With most of the plaintiffs seeing a fair chunk of their tuition returned, the former Apprentice host will not have to admit any wrongdoing in the matter, according to sources.
The San Diego-based trial was set to start November 28, despite recent attempts by Trumps lawyer and Hollywood heavyweight Daniel Petrocelli to get a delay until after the Republican took office January 20. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who Trump personally attacked during the campaign, had not yet ruled on the delay issue, but the plaintiffs were strongly opposed to the idea, saying the soon-to-be POTUS was only going to be busier after the inauguration.
A multimillion-dollar portion of todays settlement also will go to the claims against Trump U. that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman first brought forth in 2013.
Donald Trump fought us every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of his phony university, Schneidermans office said Friday, accusing the President-elect of swindling thousands of innocent Americans via Trump U. Today, that all changes. Todays $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university.
Todays settlement will see Trump pay up to $1 million in penalties to the State of New York for violating state education laws, Schneiderman added.
The suit from ex-Trump University students alleged they were misled over the years into the value of what was being offered educationally. They say there were also pushed into piling on big debts to take classes at the freshly minted California-based institution. As the NY AGs statement makes clear, a similar case was filed back East on the same basis.
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By Michael Shields ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland is poised to test one of the European Union's main policies and unilaterally curb immigration flows by giving locals first crack at job vacancies, betting that the EU won't retaliate while it grapples with its own migration woes. But Brussels is unlikely to sit quietly fearing that showing flexibility on the free movement of people - the principle underpinning Swiss access to the single market -- could encourage Britain as it negotiates its EU divorce. The parliament in Bern is set to embrace domestic hiring preferences as the way to implement a 2014 binding Swiss referendum demanding quotas for EU immigration to a country where a quarter of the population is already foreign. The far-right Swiss People's Party charges that politicians are ignoring voters' demand for quotas, but the political consensus is to preserve at nearly all costs bilateral treaties that enhance Swiss exports to the single market. This still puts Bern on a collision course with Brussels. A senior EU diplomat in Brussels suggested the bloc was not going to budge on Switzerland now. "We cannot agree to restrict the free flow of people, especially in some permanent manner. Had they asked for some temporary thing, for a year or two, maybe. But not like that," the diplomat told Reuters. "No matter what someone might have wanted to do before, Brexit has pretty much tied our hands," the diplomat said referring to Britain's vote to leave. Swiss politicians say the 2014 call for quotas must be seen in the context of the six times voters have backed the bilateral accords. They increasingly suggest they are adopting curbs that the EU itself will also embrace in the post-Brexit era. "I think the European Union will change," said Petra Goessi, leader of the pro-business Free Democrats party (FDP) that has helped shape the Swiss approach. "I am convinced that with Brexit -- France is in a dilemma, Italy too -- possible solutions will emerge that we don't know yet today," she told a panel discussion on migration this week. Britain would generally like to remain in the EU's single market, but the vote to leave was in part a reaction to high immigration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled a readiness to discuss the parameters of the free movement of people in the EU, suggesting there may be some room for maneuver. But that could be years off. The Swiss parliament need to act by February, although Swiss voters may well be asked again to choose between close ties with its main trading partner and immigration curbs, the government has said. Tobias Straumann, an economic historian at the universities of Zurich and Basel, said the current pace of immigration was politically untenable, meaning Switzerland will likely have to adopt tougher measures in a year or two because the domestic hiring preference scheme will barely put a dent in immigration. "We are talking about absolute record (immigration) numbers seen nowhere else in Europe other than Luxembourg," he said. "Britain had half of this and had domestic political problems. Germany had around 0.5 percent EU immigration and this led to the first tightening of access to social benefits. There is no choice politically." Nearly 1.4 million EU citizens live in Switzerland and another 365,000 commute. The Swiss think that gives them leverage with neighbours Germany, France and Italy whose leaders may not want to have to explain to voters -- especially those in border regions with strong populist party support -- why they can no longer work in high-wage Swiss jobs. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - On the eve of Donald Trump's election victory, members of a Western-backed Syrian rebel group met U.S. officials to ask about the outlook for arms shipments they have received to fight President Bashar al-Assad. They were told the program would continue until the end of the year, but anything more would depend on the next U.S. administration, a rebel official at the meeting said. When Trump takes office in January, it may stop altogether. The president-elect has signaled opposition to U.S. support for the rebels, and an overhaul of policy on Syria. The military aid program overseen by the Central Intelligence Agency has given arms and training to moderate rebels in coordination with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and others. It helped to support these rebels, fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner, as jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda emerged as a major force in a war approaching its sixth anniversary. U.S. officials declined to comment on any meetings with rebel groups, and previously have not commented on the CIA program given its covert nature. But Trump has indicated he could abandon the rebels to focus on fighting Islamic State which control territory in eastern and central Syria. He might even cooperate against IS with Russia, Assad's most powerful ally, which has been bombing the rebels for over a year in western Syria. Assad, in an interview published on Tuesday, said Trump would be a "natural ally" if he decides to "fight the terrorists". The rebels are looking on the bright side. They say support via the U.S.-backed program has been inadequate and Washington has stopped Saudi Arabia from giving them more powerful weapons. So the rebels hope a more isolationist United States will give regional states a free hand, allowing Saudi Arabia to provide the anti-aircraft missiles President Barack Obama has vetoed. The rebel official said there had been no contact with U.S. officials since Trump's win. But were U.S. support to end and "this veto lifted", that would be a good outcome, he said. "Everybody is analyzing, there are positive expectations, there are negative expectations - but nothing is yet clear," the official said. DARK DAYS FOR REBELLION The prospect of a shift in U.S. policy comes at a dark time for the rebellion. Russia on Tuesday escalated its military campaign in support of Assad, drawing for the first time on an aircraft carrier it has sent to the region. Assad and his allies are tightening their grip on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where heavy air strikes have resumed and insurgents have failed to break the siege. Longstanding tensions among rebels have turned into fighting twice in the Aleppo area this month. But analysts also say it is too early to tell what Trump will do in Syria since his views could be reshaped by establishment thinking in Washington. Republicans in his administration will not want to cooperate with Russia, or bow to the huge influence wielded by Iran in Syria, where thousands of Shi'ite militiamen including Lebanon's Hezbollah are fighting on Assad's side. And to many in Washington, Assad remains anathema. Yet since his election win, Trump has reiterated his misgivings about U.S. policy, telling the Wall Street Journal he "had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria" and "we have no idea" who the rebels are. His comments cheered Damascus and its allies, which view his win as positive for their war effort. "INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENT"? "It is true that he doesn't know us, but the American state knows us and will tell him," said a second rebel leader whose group has been a recipient of military support. "There is an international commitment to us," he said. The rebels' other state backers were seeking to explain this to Trump, he said. Western policy towards Syria has been built around the idea that there can be no sustainable peace with Assad in power. Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, is dependent on military support from Russia, Iran and Shi'ite Islamist militias in the fight with the Sunni Muslim insurgency. Western policymakers believe the nationalist Sunni rebels are needed to build a stable Syria. But their policy has long been hampered by splits in the opposition and the prominent role jihadists have played in the insurgency. A Western diplomat said jihadist influence would increase were Trump to abandon the FSA rebels. In western Syria, FSA rebels have often fought in close proximity to jihadists against the army and its allies. Concerns about weapons ending up in jihadist hands still appear to act as a brake on military support to the rebels. With the collapse of a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in September, U.S. officials considered military options including direct U.S. military action such as air strikes on Syrian military installations. But rebels say there has been no big shift since then. Were the United States to abandon the rebels, their military fortunes would hinge on Saudi, Qatari and Turkish support. Officials from those countries could not immediately be reached for comment on the subject of their backing for the rebels. The rebels believe Turkey for one remains a steadfast backer. But its recent rapprochement with Russia has raised questions over Turkish aims in Syria. Ankara appears more set on rolling back Kurdish influence and Islamic State than getting more deeply involved in the war for Aleppo, for example. The Syria conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people, and divided Syria into areas controlled by the government, insurgent groups, Kurdish militia, and Islamic State. The Kurdish YPG militia is at the center of U.S. strategy for fighting Islamic State in Syria, despite opposition from U.S. ally Turkey, which fears Kurdish influence in northern Syria will fuel separatism among its Kurdish minority. The Pentagon also backs some Syrian Arab rebels fighting Islamic State, despite the failure of a program last year which only trained a few dozen fighters. The spokesman for one such group, the New Syria Army, forecast reduced U.S. support for the rebels as Trump sought to "understand the picture more and to separate the jihadist groups from the moderate groups". But in the end, U.S. policy will be forced to "support the FSA groups that have a nationalist complexion", said the spokesman, Muzahim Saloum. Mohamad Aboud, an ex-rebel commander and a member of the main opposition political body, the High Negotiations Council, said Turkish influence would help shape a more supportive U.S. policy towards the rebels. Unlike with Obama, there would "be clarity in the new Trump administration", he said. (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Giles Elgood)
BEIRUT (AP) Airstrikes pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday, killing more than 20 people and hitting a water pumping station on the third day of a renewed air campaign on the besieged territory, Syrian activists and rescue workers said.
The Russian military meanwhile said airstrikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al-Qaida-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched earlier this week on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people.
In one area, volunteer first responders dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a six-year-old child who was still alive. The childs mother was killed in the strikes, said Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the rescuers, known as the Syrian Civil Defense.
The activist-run Public Services Authority said the Bab al-Nairab water plant was struck with a barrel bomb. Spokesman Ahmad al-Shami said the plant was damaged but is still operating.
This regime uses any means to add pressure to civilians. It has bombed bakeries and hospitals and has not made an exception for water and electricity, he told The Associated Press.
Airstrikes on Wednesday struck the citys central blood bank and a childrens hospital. Medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack during the Syrian conflict, with 126 such incidents this year alone, according to the World Health Organization.
Doctors Without Borders said the childrens hospital and a specialized surgical hospital were hit by Wednesdays strikes.
Hospital staff managed to move children_including prematurely born babies_from cots and incubators to the basement of the building in order to shelter them from the bombing, said the aid group, which sponsors both hospitals.
The Oxfam aid group said the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Aleppo have limited food and clean water as winter approaches, and are at risk of disease outbreaks.
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No U.N. aid has reached eastern Aleppo since July, and the U.N. has warned that supplies will run out this week. Oxfam said it helped move a generator to the besieged area on Wednesday to improve the water supply.
Clean water is vital, but it wont stop starvation, never mind protect people from indiscriminate aerial attacks, said Andy Baker, who is leading Oxfams Syria response.
The Syrian Civil Defense said 28 people were killed in and around Aleppo on Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of local activists, put the death toll at 25.
At least 70 people were killed in northern Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Russia says it is not bombing Aleppo as part of the offensive announced this week, but is instead targeting insurgents in Idlib and the central Homs province.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to reporters at an economic summit in Lima, Peru portrayed Russias airstrikes as limited and only targeting Islamic State fighters fleeing the Iraqi city of Mosul and attempting to cross into Syria.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the strikes targeting al-Qaida took place in Idlib on Tuesday, and were launched from Russias only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which recently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.
He said three leading members of the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front Muhammad Helala, Abu Jaber Harmuja and Abul Baha al-Asfari were among those killed. He said al-Asfari had overseen the groups attempts to break the siege of Aleppo.
Al-Asfari had led a moderate rebel group in 2013, and it was not clear if or when he joined the al-Qaida-linked group.
An opposition media group known as All4Syria reported that the two other named militants were killed Tuesday in an airstrike in the village of Kfar Jalis, in the Idlib countryside, that also killed six civilians. The Observatorys chief Rami Abdurrahman said the airstrike on the jihadi stronghold killed six leading militants, without identifying them.
The same village was struck Thursday, the Observatory said, killing six civilians from the same family.
The Russian Defense Ministry said long-range bombers dispatched from Russia fired cruise missiles at Islamic State and al-Qaida targets in Syria during a 7,000-mile (11,000-kilometer) flight. It said fighter jets from the carrier and an air base in Syria also took part in the strikes. It did not say where the strikes took place, but said they destroyed command facilities, ammunition depots and weapons factories.
Months of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia failed to cement a long-term cease-fire in Aleppo, which has become the focus of the war between Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him.
Al-Qaidas Syrian affiliate is fighting alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo.
___
Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed.
House panel lays out procedure
A month after its formation, the Impeachment Recommendation Committee of Parliament on Thursday endorsed its working procedure with a provision of allowing the committee to search the office and residence of the accused.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Tensions were high on the Greek island of Chios on Friday after unknown individuals hurled rocks and petrol bombs at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants, setting facilities on fire, police sources and aid organizations said. Video footage showed people struggling to put out the flames with blankets. Women and children were evacuated and camped outside a tavern in an incident which erupted overnight Thursday. It was the second night running of incidents at the facility, a makeshift camp run by the local municipality of the Aegean island. There were incidents on Wednesday when individuals let off fireworks from the camp and outsiders threw stones into the camp. "Both incidents together have destroyed the places to sleep for some 100 men women and children. Today there was a third incident where .... stones were thrown and one Syrian man was seriously injured to his head and had to be hospitalized," said Roland Schoenbauer, spokesman for UNHCR Greece. According to police, there are more than 1,000 refugees and migrants in the Souda Camp on Chios. Under a European Union deal with Turkey, migrants and refugees arriving after March 20 are to be held in centers set up on five Aegean islands, including Chios, and sent back if their asylum applications are not accepted. Tensions have boiled over at overcrowded camps on Greece's islands as the slow processing of asylum requests adds to frustration over living conditions. "Tensions are not completely new, but the situation is seriously concerning us, because it has deteriorated seriously. The tensions are linked to the overcrowding of the sites," Schoenbauer said, saying the perpetrators of the incidents should be found and brought to justice. More than 3,000 migrants and refugees are currently in Chios. The state facilities have a capacity for 1,100 people. The situation could be eased if authorities improved security around the camp and stepped up efforts to find refugee and migrants alternative accommodation, Schoenbauer told Reuters. In September, thousands of people fled a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos after fire swept through tents and cabins during violence among residents. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Michele Kambas, writing by Renee Maltezou Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
LONDON (Reuters) - A 14-year old girl who died of cancer has been cryogenically frozen in the hope she could be brought back to life in the future after winning a landmark court case shortly before her death, the BBC reported on Friday. It said the girl was supported in her wish to be preserved by her mother but not by her father. The BBC said a High Court judge ruled that the girl's mother should be allowed to decide what happened to the body. The girl, who lived in the London area, cannot be named for legal reasons. When she died in October her body was taken to the United States and preserved there, the BBC added. Cryonics is the practice or technique of deep-freezing the bodies of those who have died of an incurable disease, in the hope of a future cure. (Writing by James Davey; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
It could shrink for the first time post-Asian financial crisis.
Thailand's banking sector assets are on the verge of a contraction amid a reversal in the consumer lending boom seen over recent years, which has been particularly concentrated in auto loans, said BMI Research.
The research house also said that non-performing loans are already rising and look set to increase further, particularly as property prices face downside risks, which is likely to weigh on banking sector profitability.
Here's more from BMI Research:
Thailand's total banking sector assets are on the verge of shrinking for the first time since the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis.
Total asset growth came in at just 1.4% y-o-y in September, while total loan growth came in at 2.5% y-o-y. Although loan growth contracted following the Global Financial Crisis, total assets continue to grow modestly, but this time around, an outright temporary contraction in assets looks highly likely.
For the whole of 2016, we are forecasting both loans and assets to grow at 3.0%, before falling to 1.0% in 2017. This marks a revision from previous forecasts of 4.0% for both years.
As a share of GDP, we now see total banking sector assets declining gradually over the coming years, from 127.9% at the end of 2015 to 118.2% by end-2020.
More From Singapore Business Review
* Record hog numbers as herd recovers from pig virus
* Turkey sector revives after bird flu outbreak
* Thanksgiving meal costs off 2015's record high
By Theopolis Waters and Heiwon Shin
CHICAGO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. consumers can expect to spend less on their traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys and hams this year as supplies of both have rebounded from outbreaks of avian flu and a pig virus that hit production.
In 2015, an outbreak of avian flu hit poultry flocks and 7.7 million turkeys were culled. Two years earlire, the hog population was hit by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), and roughly 8 million pigs were killed.
Hog farmers have revived herd sizes so successfully that the United States had a record 70.9 million head as of Sept. 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Turkey meat supplies dropped about 2 percent last year to 5.63 billion pounds, according to the USDA, due to one of the worst bird flu outbreaks the country has ever had. This year, turkey meat production is expected to rebound to 6.06 billion pounds - the first year-over-year growth since 2012.
"Supply has come back fully with production up over last year. And from a whole bird stand point, specifically for the holidays, there is sufficient product out there," Jay Jandrain, executive vice-president of sales for Butterball, told Reuters.
Butterball, jointly owned by Seaboard Corporation and Maxwell Farms, is the biggest turkey producer in the United States and accounts for about a third of all the whole birds purchased in the country during the holiday season.
Americans eat their way through some 46 million turkeys at Thanksgiving and 22 million during the Christmas holiday.
This year, cheaper birds should help reduce the cost of a traditional Thanksgiving Day spread for 10 people to $49.87 from last year's $50.11 record, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
A 16-pound turkey this year averages $22.74, a decrease of 30 cents from 2015, AFBF director of market intelligence John Newton told Reuters.
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The AFBF has been conducting its survey of Thanksgiving meal costs for 31 years, asking nearly 150 volunteer bargain hunters in 48 states for a price that tallies up staples such as cranberries, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and all the trimmings.
For ham, the USDA's monthly retail meat data issued on Thursday showed boneless hams at $4.05 per pound in October, down from $4.23 a year ago.
"It is advantageous in pricing thanks to the record hog production this year," Patrick Fleming, director of market intelligence and innovation at the National Pork Board, told Reuters.
(Editing by Jo Winterbottom and David Gregorio)
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) get questioned by Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) at MACUSA HQ (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Warning: This story contains spoilers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Regular visitors to Harry Potters Wizarding World already know that appearances can be deceiving. Remember how Rons trusty rat Scabbers turned out to be Voldermorts sniveling accomplice Peter Pettigrew? Or when Barty Crouch Jr. used Polyjuice Potion to make himself over in Mad-Eye Moodys image? And lets not forget that time when the Order of the Phoenix all became Harry Potters to protect the real deal from Death Eaters.
So it shouldnt come as a huge surprise that wizards were pretending to be other wizards long before Harry was even a gleam in James and Lily Potters eye. At the end of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them the first entry in a planned five-film prequel franchise to the eight-chapter Potter film series that is set in the early 20th century its revealed that Colin Farrells magical security enforcer Percival Graves is actually Johnny Depps Gellert Grindelwald, an expert in the Dark Arts who could give Voldemort a run for his galleons in the being evil department. News of Depps involvement in the Fantastic Beasts franchise broke before the release of the first film, although those initial reports suggested he wouldnt be glimpsed until the second installment. Instead, his appearance serves as the big twist that caps off the inaugural adventure of Eddie Redmaynes magizoologist, Newt Scamander.
Related: Fantastic Beasts 101: A Glossary of Terms, People, and Creatures in Harry Potter Spinoff
Before his true identity is revealed, Percival serves as a high-ranking member of the MACUSA, the governing body of Americas branch of the Wizarding World. For the bulk of the movie, Graves is trying to coerce put-upon teenager Credence (Ezra Miller), the adopted son of fierce anti-witch proponent Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), into helping him with an off-the-books investigation. The agent has reason to suspect that another one of Mary Lous wards, Modesty (Faith Wood-Blagrove), possesses magical powers that shes actively suppressing to avoid her guardians wrath. Doing that, though, can result in the birth of an Obscurus a destructive force that grows within the hosts body. In the climax, its revealed that the Obscurus is actually growing inside of Credence, and the troubled boy unleashes this energy, which wreaks havoc on downtown New York.
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Farrells Percival Graves seeks key information from Ezra Millers Credence (Photo: Warner Bros.)
While Percival attempts to capture Credence, Newt who has encountered an Obscurus in his past travels strives to help the young man. But theyre ultimately both overruled by MACUSAs president, Seraphina Picquery (Carmen Ejogo), who orders her agents to execute Credence. This infuriates Graves, who declares that hes fed up with having to operate in secret from No-Majs the American term for Muggles. His speechifying triggers Newts suspicions, and leads him to cast a revealing Revelio Charm that replaces Farrells visage with Depps, sporting shock-white hair and ultra-pale skin. Grindelwald is summarily hauled away, but not before promising that he and Scamander will be seeing each other again. (Fun fact: this isnt the first time that Depp and Farrell have inhabited the same body. Both actors, along with Jude Law, took turns playing Heath Ledgers role in Terry Gilliams 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when the Brokeback Mountain star died before shooting was completed.)
MACUSA director Percival Graves stands before a map of the most wanted wizards (Photo: Warner Bros.)
It should be noted that Depps casting has been met with some controversy due to domestic violence allegations made by ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this year. (Producer David Heyman has said that the actor filmed his Fantastic Beasts cameo before that news broke.) Narratively, though, the introduction of Grindelwald provides the Fantastic Beasts franchise with a strong central villain, something this first entry arguably lacks. In fact, director David Yates who helmed the final four installments of the Harry Potter series and is currently attached to direct every Fantastic Beasts adventure has already revealed that the second film will feature a more Potter vs. Voldemort-style conflict between Scamander and Grindelwald. Currently the beasts feature slightly less in the second film, and Grindelwald takes more of a foreground, Yates told The Leaky Cauldron.
And where theres more Grindelwald, you can expect to see more of Albus Dumbledore. In 2007, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling confirmed that the dearly departed Hogwarts headmaster was gay and, in fact, that Grindelwald was the love of Dumbledores life before Grindelwald embraced evil. While making the press rounds for Fantastic Beasts, for which she wrote the screenplay, the author has teased that a young or, at least, younger Dumbledore might appear in the sequel. (His name is dropped in passing in the first film, when its mentioned that, while still a teacher at Hogwarts, Dumbledore helped Newt avoid expulsion over a creature-related mishap.)
Related: Revisiting J.K. Rowlings Original Fantastic Beasts Book
Another minor character that will likely have a major role in the next film is Leda Lestrange, played by Zoe Kravitz. Newt carries Letas picture with him on his travels and winces at the mere mention her name, hinting at a close friendship and possibly even a romance that ended poorly. Leda may be a new addition to Harry Potter mythology, but the Lestrange family name is a familiar one: Bellatrix Lestrange (played by Helena Bonham Carter in the Potter films) married into the powerful clan and became a devout acolyte of Lord Voldemort, fighting and dying alongside him during the Battle of Hogwarts. (Meanwhile, the sequel play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, dropped the bombshell that Bellatrix bore He Who Must Not Be Named an illegitimate daughter, Delphi.) And if the Lestranges were champions of Lord Voldemort, its likely that theyd be supporters of his predecessor, Gindlewald, as well, thus explaining the Leta/Newt rift. Expect all to be Reveliod um, revealed in the next chapter.
By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - Former French prime minister Francois Fillon was seen as the winner of a final debate before a vote on who gets the conservatives' candidacy in next year's presidential election, a poll showed, in a fresh upset for favorite Alain Juppe. Juppe, 71, has for months been ahead in polls. But he has been struggling to fire up voters and has this week been losing some ground to his chief rival, former president Nicolas Sarkozy, and Fillon. Whoever wins the two-round primaries on Nov. 20 and Nov. 27 has a strong chance of becoming France's next president. Socialist President Francois Hollande's deep unpopularity and the divisions of the Left mean polls forecast they won't feature in the two-person run-off and that whoever wins the conservative primaries will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen and beat her. Fillon, who has seen his ratings suddenly start rising one week ago, was perceived as the most convincing by 39 percent of conservative and center-right voters who watched the debate on Thursday evening, versus 26 percent for Sarkozy and 25 percent for Juppe. Minutes before the flash survey by Elabe pollsters was published, Fillon, whom polls had seen lagging for months far behind Juppe and Sarkozy, had urged voters to challenge expectations. "The French are proud and don't like to be told what to do," he said. "Don't be afraid to contradict opinion polls and the media that had decided it all for you ... Vote for what you believe in." Fillon was still ahead among all viewers independently of their political stripe but by a much narrower margin of 33 percent versus 32 for Juppe. Sarkozy, a divisive figure hated by many on the Left was seen winning by only 18 percent. The poll was carried out only amid 1,012 voters who watched the debate. A social conservative with economically liberal ideas who admires late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Fillon, 62, was Sarkozy's prime minister during his five years as president in 2007-12. In the overall uneventful and sometimes messy TV debate on France 2 television, Juppe and Sarkozy touted their experience in power and urged voters to rally behind them. "I'm asking you to go vote en masse on Sunday," Juppe said in his concluding remarks. "Together we'll once more be proud to be French!" Two much more comprehensive polls published on Thursday ahead of the debate showed Juppe winning the primaries but with a much narrower margin than in previous surveys. [L8N1DI3IF] Anybody can take part in the primaries, the first such vote to choose a conservative candidate in a French presidential election, making it hard to identify who will vote and who will win. The presidential election takes place on April 23 and May 7. Polls have for months shown Le Pen emerging as one of the top two candidates in the first round but losing the second-round run-off. Following the unexpected victories of Donald Trump in the United States and the UK vote to leave the European Union, polls in France are increasingly being taken with a grain of salt. (Additional reporting by Simon Carraud; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Thousands of New Yorkers have pledged to commute with people who fear harassment after the election, and it is such a powerful example of solidarity
The results of the presidential election have left many citizens feeling some pretty complicated and intense emotions confusion, anger, apprehension, and even sadness and fear for whats in store for them throughout president-elect Donald Trumps four years in office.
In a beautiful and direct stand against hate, thousands of New Yorkers are pledging to commute with people who fear being targeted in acts of violence following the election. And sadly, there has been a significant increase in post-election harassment and targeted violence, specifically towards marginalized communities.
Kayla Santosuosso, who is the deputy director of the New York Arab American Association, was inspired into action after she got a message about a woman on the subway who was harassed.
She had the idea for a buddy system, specifically for the people who are most vulnerable to being targeted in hate crimes. After posting a Google doc on social media, she was met with an outpouring of responses from fellow New Yorkers with more than 7,000 people signing up, just at the time of this publication.
A photo posted by Lucas Valente (@lucasvalente1) on Nov 17, 2016 at 4:55am PST
The power of social media and the desire to channel frustration into direct change is what makes these efforts so successful, and why so many folks are stepping up as allies.
But Santosuosso isnt stopping there shes urging more people to get involved in their own communities as well. Despite all of the hardship that is on the horizon for us under a Trump presidency, its inspiring to see the push for change starting with our own neighbors.
The post Thousands of New Yorkers have pledged to commute with people who fear harassment after the election, and it is such a powerful example of solidarity appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Indian Embassy tells NRB to prepare exchange modality
The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has asked Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to prepare a modality for exchanging recently banned Rs500 and Rs1,000 Indian banknotes held by Nepali citizens, the central bank said.
LONDON (Reuters) - Leading British investor Neil Woodford's fund firm said on Thursday it backed a takeover of Reynolds American (RAI.N) by British American Tobacco (BATS.L), calling the tie-up "inevitable".
The firm's 9.4 billion pound ($11.71 billion) Equity Income Fund, which faced a "challenging October", used a spike in Reynolds' share price to sell out of that firm and reinvested some of the proceeds in its position in BAT.
"Our view is that this deal was inevitable and, although it has happened earlier than we thought, makes a lot of strategic and financial sense. We will be voting in favor of the transaction," the fund said in an update on the firm's website.
The fund was the 7th biggest investor in BAT at the end of July, Thomson Reuters data showed. At the end of October, it had 6.25 percent of its assets invested in the company, Woodford said.
Woodford's view on the deal echoes that of Citi analysts which saw the Reynolds' rejection as a formality and expected the firms to agree on terms next month.
Also in October, Woodford said the fund had sold its position in Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche (ROG.S), to use the money to increase its investments in other companies including Capita (CPI.L) and Paypoint (PAYP.L).
At the end of September, Woodford had been the 30th biggest investor in Roche, Thomson Reuters data showed.
The fund lost 1.44 percent in October, the firm said on its website, but remained up 2.4 percent in the year-to-date, with its largest positions in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Imperial Brands (IMB.L).
(Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Vikram Subhedar)
LONDON (Reuters) - Leading British investor Neil Woodford's fund firm said on Thursday it backed a takeover of Reynolds American by British American Tobacco , calling the tie-up "inevitable".
The firm's 9.4 billion pound ($11.71 billion) Equity Income Fund, which faced a "challenging October", used a spike in Reynolds' share price to sell out of that firm and reinvested some of the proceeds in its position in BAT.
"Our view is that this deal was inevitable and, although it has happened earlier than we thought, makes a lot of strategic and financial sense. We will be voting in favor of the transaction," the fund said in an update on the firm's website.
The fund was the 7th biggest investor in BAT at the end of July, Thomson Reuters data showed. At the end of October, it had 6.25 percent of its assets invested in the company, Woodford said.
Woodford's view on the deal echoes that of Citi analysts which saw the Reynolds' rejection as a formality and expected the firms to agree on terms next month.
Also in October, Woodford said the fund had sold its position in Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche , to use the money to increase its investments in other companies including Capita and Paypoint .
At the end of September, Woodford had been the 30th biggest investor in Roche, Thomson Reuters data showed.
The fund lost 1.44 percent in October, the firm said on its website, but remained up 2.4 percent in the year-to-date, with its largest positions in GlaxoSmithKline and Imperial Brands .
(Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Vikram Subhedar)
After almost two weeks of guessing games, names of the incoming American governments national security leaders are beginning to trickle out of Trump Tower.
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Friday that he has picked three key Cabinet positions: Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security advisor; Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general; and Rep. Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA.
A team Trump statement Friday announced all three men have accepted the President-elects offer.
Flynn is a retired three star general who has tweeted that fear of Muslims is RATIONAL, sat next to President Vladimir Putin at controversial Russian media outlet RTs 10th anniversary dinner in 2015, and reportedly oversees a company (Flynn Intel Group) that received tens of thousands of dollars for lobbying from a Turkish client. His appointment suggests the Trump administration will concentrate major national security decisions within the White House.
Sessions was elected to the Senate from Alabama in 1996. He is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which in 1986 rejected his nomination as a U.S. District Court judge because of Sessions alleged history of making racist comments, including calling the NAACP un-American and a white civil rights attorney a disgrace to his race. He also was accused of calling a black U.S. attorney boy, a charge Sessions denied by saying, I have never used the word boy to describe a black. He now carries the distinction of being the Senates most vocal opponent of immigration reform.
Pompeo is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, and was heavily involved in the congressional investigation into the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya and heavily critical of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated last week in his bid for the presidency. That Pompeo is a three-term congressman, and Flynn is a former general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, suggests intelligence issues will be primarily focused not in the CIA, or Office of the National Intelligence Director, but in the NSC.
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On Friday morning, the Trump transition website posted a list of its first landing team that is, the officials who will meet with sitting Obama administration leaders, agency-by-agency. The first landing team deals with the Pentagon, State Department, Justice Department and the National Security Council. It will be funded by what is described as mix of volunteerism, private funding, and transition entity money.
Here is a list of the people who are included on the national security teams, so far:
PENTAGON: Mira Ricardel of M. Ricardel LLC; Keith Kellogg of Cubic Corporation; Thomas Carter of Elbit Systems of America; Michael Duffey of the Republican Party of Wisconsin; William Hartzog of Burdeshaw Associates, Ltd.; Justin Johnson of the Heritage Foundation; Bert Mizusawa of the U.S. Army; and Sergio de la Pena of de la Pena Consulting LLC.
STATE DEPARTMENT: Erin Walsh, formerly of Goldman Sachs; Alexander Gray of Trump for America, Inc., Jackie Wolcott of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Ashley Bell of the Republican National Committee; and Charles Glazer of Fieldpoint Private.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Brian Benczkowski of Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Zina Bash of Doctors Hospital at Renaissance; Greg Katsas of Jones Day; James Burnham of Jones Day; and William Cleveland of City of Alexandria Public Schools.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Marshall Billingslea of Deloitte; Mark Scraba of 29K Leaders; Thomas Higgins of First Data; Sven Kramer, formerly of the Department of Defense; Tera Dahl of Trump for America, Inc; and Kiron Skinner of Carnegie Mellon University.
Photo credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
What.CD, an invitation-only torrent site that avoided the wrath of the music industry for nearly a decade, shut down suddenly Thursday following a reported raid on their servers in France.
"Due to some recent events, What.CD is shutting down. We are not likely to return anytime soon in our current form. All site and user data has been destroyed. So long, and thanks for all the fish," the site posted Thursday.
That closing line, a quote from A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, echoed the farewell announcement from What's torrent predecessor OiNK when that site shut down on October 27th, 2007. Following OiNK's takedown, the site's founder and six users were arrested and charged with suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the music industry. Days after OiNK's shutdown, What emerged, operating under a similar foundation.
According to TorrentFreak, France's cybercrime division, in association with French music industry group SACEM, raided What's servers Thursday after a reported two-year investigation. Despite the raid, What's Twitter alerted their users, "Reports of our database being seized are not factual."
French magazine Zataz, who first reported on What's shutdown, added that no arrests had been made and that the founder of What is believed to live in the United Kingdom.
What.CD was home to nearly 1 million unique torrents, the site announced in February after hitting the landmark, as well as many impossible-to-find albums that users had uploaded throughout the years.
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(Adds details on investors, Total comment, background)
By Sophie Sassard and Anjuli Davies
London, Nov 18 (Reuters) - French start-up Sigfox has raised 150 million euros ($160 million) to help build networks connecting everything from washing machines to smart meters to the internet, it said on Friday, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
Sigfox said its new investors include France's Total , San Francisco-based Salesforce.com and Henri Seydoux, the founder luxury goods company Christian Louboutin and of drone maker Parrot.
Founded in 2010, Sigfox raised $115 million in February 2015 from investors including include Spain's Telefonica, France's Engie, NTT Docomo Ventures, SK Telecom, Air Liquide and Elliott Management, sources said at the time.
Since it was started by French entrepreneur Ludovic le Moan, Sigfox has built a global wireless network connecting more than 10 million objects to the cloud at minimal cost by relying only on surrounding sources of energy.
The latest round of funding will enable Sigfox, which competes with Cisco's Jasper, to expand its international network from 26 countries to 60 by 2018 and reach financial break-even, the company said.
"We are happy to accompany the development of Sigfox because the technology it offers can be decisive to accelerate the deployment of the Internet of things.", Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total, said in the statement.
"This type of solution will improve the performance and operational safety of industrial activities, reduce operating costs, but also be used to serve customers." ($1 = 0.9428 euros) (Editing by Alexander Smith)
Photo credit: Getty
From Redbook
Staying asleep all night has never been my problem. I struggle with going to sleep. And I'm not talking about the tossing-and-turning-with-your-head-swimming-with-worries kind of wakefulness that we all deal with from time to time. I just don't go to bed as early as I should. There's something magical to me about the stillness of the late-night hours that makes me want to revel in them. It's luxuriously reflective at the time, but a huge, stinking drag when the alarm clock screams at me the next morning.
I didn't really think my sleep issues called for prescription meds, so I decided to see if natural sleep aids might help me feel get to bed at a more reasonable hour. (Yes, I do know that turning off my glowing screens would do this too, but you tell me - how realistic is that?) I went to my local health food store and asked the herbal pharmacist for some basic recommendations, herbal remedies that wouldn't be too expensive or so complicated I wouldn't be able to start taking right away. Here's what I found out after testing out her four suggestions over the course of a month.
Tart Cherry Juice
Photo credit: Getty
The sleep-inducing benefits of this beverage were discovered when researchers studying the effects of tart cherry juice on muscle soreness noticed that their study subjects reported that they were sleeping better, too. Drinking juice before bedtime seemed a simple enough way to start my experiment, so I poured a small glass at 10:00 p.m. and downed it. As far as I could tell, it didn't make me feel drowsy a minute earlier than normal (Although, to be fair, studies don't claim that the magic lies with maximized evening drowsiness. Researchers from Louisiana State University found that those who drank it increased their total sleep time by roughly an hour a night - a huge benefit for those who need it)
The verdict: In my case, this not only didn't make me go to sleep earlier, it proved to be a sleep disrupter when I woke up at 3:30 a.m. needing to pee. But I suspect this would be a smart swap for people who enjoy sipping on a glass of vino before turning in, since it's a red (or white) beverage scientifically shown to enhance sleep rather than disrupt it.
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Valerian
Photo credit: Getty
A plant-based sleep aid that comes in tincture or capsule forms, valerian has been used to treat insomnia for centuries. Its effects have been studied extensively, and a comprehensive meta-analysis found that it may improve sleep quality without producing any side effects. That sounded promising, so I popped two capsules an hour before I wanted to hit the sheets.
The verdict: I didn't notice that this one made me feel tired any sooner either. But when my alarm went off the next morning, it woke me from the deepest slumber I can ever remember experiencing at that hour. I doubt even dead people feel that tired. I shuffled around in a perma-grog state for at least three hours - and through three cups of coffee - before my brain started to sharpen and clarify. So much for no side effects, at least for me. But I could have easily slept for several more glorious hours if I just didn't have a job. I'm keeping this bottle in the medicine cabinet as a secret weapon for extending slumber on weekend nights and sick days.
Melatonin
Photo credit: Getty
A hormone produced naturally in the brain, melatonin is responsible for regulating your body's sleep-wake cycle. Research shows that supplements may be useful for adjusting the time you fall asleep, and it's known for being a jet lag remedy when your circadian rhythms are totally out of whack. So unlike the other aids I tried, this one seemed like the ideal solution to my turning-in-on-time problem.
But here's the rub: The label on my bottle gave me no instructions on what time I should be taking it, and Googling it didn't help much either. Expert recommendations online said to pop it anywhere from a half an hour to three hours before your desired sleep time.
The verdict: When I tried it 30 minutes ahead of the time I wanted to turn in, it made zero difference. And when I took it the next night a couple of hours earlier than bedtime, I just fought through my mild drowsiness to continue scrolling through my Instagram feed. As for the morning grog? Nowhere near as dramatic as with valerian, but I woke up nowhere near as refreshed as when I didn't take the melatonin. I think nailing the dosage time is the key here, but it requires time and patience that I just don't have.
Calendula Tea
Photo credit: Getty
The happy and helpful girl at the health food store swore by this one - even though I couldn't find any published research that supported the idea that this marigold flower has any effect on sleep. But Western medical studies aren't everything, and she claimed that it knocked her out cold for five hours the last time she drank it one afternoon. I was a little horrified by the idea of being completely knocked out, yet still intrigued. She said to let it steep for 45 minutes before drinking it, but - since I wasn't sure that I wanted a sleep aid that works like a club to the head - I decided 15 minutes was long enough to let it brew.
At 10:30 p.m., I tentatively sipped on my mug while reading a bunch of blog posts that recommend using calendula tea topically to treat scrapes and rashes. This revelation made me decide that a half a mug was all I was willing to drink, and I headed for the bedroom - a full hour earlier than I normally would.
The verdict: I headed to bed early not so much because it made me tired, but drinking the tea felt like a head-to-bed ritual. And while I didn't lose consciousness immediately, my head felt peaceful on the pillow. I drifted off and woke up refreshed a half hour before my alarm went off. Maybe, sometimes, the scientifically untested methods are the most effective of all.
Pills and liquids aside, the best lesson of all I learned from my experiment is the power of placebo. If you expect you will sleep better by adopting new nighttime rituals, it just might go down that way. And it never hurts to try.
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Donald Trump and Barack Obama
A new profile on President Barack Obama gives more detail on Donald Trump's apparent lack of familiarity with the scope of the presidency.
The Wall Street Journal previously cited sources saying that during Trump's private meeting with Obama last week, the president-elect was surprised by the wide range of the president's job.
New Yorker editor David Remnick described some of the topics the two covered, as explained to him by some of Obama's staff members:
"Obama told staff members that he had talked Trump through the rudiments of forming a cabinet and policies, including the Iran nuclear deal, counter-terrorism policy, health care and that the President-elect's grasp of such matters was, as the debates had made plain, modest at best. Trump, despite his habitual bluster, seemed awed by what he was being told and about to encounter."
Despite Trump's apparent "loose grasp of policy," Remnick wrote, Obama and his team made sure to respect the traditional etiquette displayed during a presidential transition in part to preserve a shot at influencing Trump in the future, Remnick said.
Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, also painted a less-than-rosy picture of the Trump transition effort. On the day after Election Day, he reportedly chatted with the person Trump sent to learn how to staff and run the White House Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
"Everything's great!" McDonough told The New Yorker, evidently with a struggle:
"He clenched his teeth and grinned harder in self-mockery. McDonough is the picture of rectitude: the ramrod posture, the trimmed white hair, the ashen mien of a bishop who has missed two meals in a row. "I guess if you keep repeating it, it's like a mantra, and it will be O.K. 'Everything will be O.K., everything will be O.K.'"
Read the full New Yorker profile here.
NOW WATCH: Obama gives Trump advice during their first White House meeting
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Although Charles and David Koch are longtime Republican donors, the billionaire brothers declined to back the partys 2016 presidential nominee. But it looks as though the oil and gas tycoons, who run a network of conservative think-tanks and advocacy groups, could still have some influence in the Donald Trump administration: The president-elect has reportedly tapped Kansas Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo, one of the Koch's closest allies in Congress, as CIA director.
I am honored to have been given this opportunity to serve and to work alongside President-elect Donald J. Trump to keep America safe, Pompeo said in a statement Friday. I also look forward to working with Americas intelligence warriors, who do so much to protect Americans each and every day.
Donald Trump, who vowed to drain the Washington DC swamp of lobbyists and monied-interest groups, has bragged about not needing the Koch brothers help.
I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch, he tweeted in July, dismissing Koch-funded politicians as puppets.
A former army officer and corporate lawyer, Pompeo has represented Kansas' 4th District since 2011. His ties to the Kochs date back before his political career. In the late 1990s, Pompeo founded the private aerospace company Thayer Aerospace with seed money from Koch Venture Capital. In 2011, Pompeo told the Washington Post that the Kochs funded less than 2 percent of the venture. (Details of the deal were never made public.) Pompeo also served as president of the fossil fuel equipment company Sentry International, a company which, Think Progress reported in 2010, works closely with the Kochs Brazilian distributor.
When Pompeo left the private sector to run for Congress in 2010, the Kochs bankrolled his campaign. He was endorsed by their Super PAC and received more Koch-related donations than any other candidate that cycle. Pompeo then hired Koch industry lawyer Mark Chenoweth to be his chief of staff. Koch Industries is headquartered in Pompeos district.
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When Pompeo faced a tough primary challenge in 2014, the Koch brothers came to his aid. Koch Industry's Super PAC formally endorsed Pompeo even though his challenger was another longtime Koch ally, former congressman Todd Tiahrt. Pompeo received over $50,00 from the PAC and from Koch industry employees, and went on to defeat Tiahart in the primary.
pompeo
Photo: Getty
In Congress, Pompeo spearheaded a number of initiatives friendly to the oil and gas industry. He signed on to the No Climate Tax Pledge, an initiative pushed by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity to persuade members of Congress to resist any legislation that taxed energy producers for their contributions to climate change. Pompeo introduced the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act in 2013 a bill designed to speed up the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions' approval process.
Pompeo has never been shy about his links to the Kochs. He wrote an op-ed for Politico in 2012 entitled, Stop harassing the Koch brothers, after Democrats suggested a Koch brothers representative should testify before Congress to explain their support for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Pompeo also sits on the House Intelligence Committee, where he pushed for an investigation into the Benghazi attack. He's a vigorous supporter of the NSA's surveillance program, an ardent critic of whistleblower Edward Snowden, and an opponent of the Iran nuclear deal.
Though not an early supporter of Trump, Pompeo endorsed him in May and boosted him during the final leg of the campaign.
"I am not a reluctant supporter," Pompeo told CNN in August.
During the campaign, the Koch brothers distanced themselves from Trump; they skipped the Republican National Convention and refused to spend any of their reported $300 million war chest to directly boost the GOP presidential nominee. Still, the Koch's massive ground-game operations indirectly helped Trump turn out voters in key swing states, as Koch operatives poured into GOP Senate races in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
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By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Most of the U.S. coal industry doubts Donald Trump can fulfill his promise to make the ailing industry great again in a country awash in dirt-cheap natural gas, a competing fuel.
But a small sub-section of the coal sector that mines metallurgical coal - a variety used by steel makers instead of power plants - is gearing up for a Trump-inspired boom.
That's because the Republican president-elect has promised a spending surge for roads, bridges and tunnels after he takes office on Jan. 20, a push to upgrade America's infrastructure with the support of leading Democrats that could jolt demand for metallurgical coal from American steel mills. Prices for met coal, as it is called, have already risen in recent months on lower supply from China.
"This is the best news that Appalachia as a whole has had in about 10 years," said Jason Bostic, a vice president at the West Virginia Coal Association, referring to Trump's infrastructure agenda. "Suddenly there's a little bit of hope here."
Corsa Coal Corp, a producer of met coal based in Pennsylvania, was already encouraged by the China-driven price spike before Trump's victory. Now it believes U.S. politics are going its way too.
"The thing that has got me the most excited is the potential for infrastructure spending," said George Dethlefsen, Corsa's chief executive. "All those things are very energy- and steel-intensive, and that's good for our business."
The company plans to boost its production of met coal by 70 percent in 2017 to around 1.2 million short tons. In the meantime, it is putting mines on a six-day-a-week schedule, up from four days, and it is looking at loading coal on its midnight shift, which it normally reserves for maintenance.
Arch Coal Inc, which produces both met and steam coal used in power plants, said it was also optimistic about Trump, particularly his promise to roll back regulations. But other representatives of the steam coal industry have said regulation reversals may not overcome their main problem: plentiful and cheap natural gas following a decade-long hydraulic fracturing drilling boom.
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National production figures for met coal are unavailable, since the government does not break the data out. But total U.S. coal production has fallen to its lowest level since 1986, costing the industry thousands of jobs, as low natural gas prices and President Barack Obama's emissions and water regulations took their toll.
Met coal prices, however, reflect the coal sector's only major sign of life this year. They have risen to above $270 a metric ton this month from lows of $70 a ton in February, driven in part by China reducing its output.
Corsa and Arch are among a very small number of U.S. met coal producers that are publicly traded, with most of the others small and privately owned. Alpha Natural Resources, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, declined to comment.
INFRASTRUCTURE BANK
Trump's transition team is weighing an "infrastructure bank" to make investments in projects as part of an economic focus that also includes revamping taxes and regulation, a Trump adviser said this week.
Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, have indicated they hope to work quickly with Trump on infrastructure. But whether they will succeed is far from certain, as many Republicans oppose spending bills.
Ramaco, a private company, announced in September it will open two met coal mines in West Virginia and Virginia next year, thanks to $90 million in private equity investments that came in as global met coal prices swung upward.
Randy Atkins, the chairman and chief executive of Ramaco, said adding new mines was possible if Trump's U.S. infrastructure push succeeds but would depend on whether additional investors flock in to fund them.
Banks and financial institutions are sensitive to recent bankruptcies of major coal companies - including Arch and Peabody Energy Corp - and the weak financial conditions of others, Atkins said.
Jim Truman, the director of global metallurgical coal markets at research group Wood Mackenzie, said the specialized workers that would be required, such as underground electricians, could also be hard to find given coal's downturn since 2008.
Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said the other key to the U.S. met coal industry's outlook is whether new infrastructure relies on American-made steel and coal as Trump has promised.
"If we are importing the coal or importing steel made with foreign coal, then it won't make any difference for American miners," Smith said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver and Swetha Gopinath in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of the U.S. coal industry doubts Donald Trump can fulfill his promise to make the ailing industry great again in a country awash in dirt-cheap natural gas, a competing fuel. But a small sub-section of the coal sector that mines metallurgical coal - a variety used by steel makers instead of power plants - is gearing up for a Trump-inspired boom. Thats because the Republican president-elect has promised a spending surge for roads, bridges and tunnels after he takes office on Jan. 20, a push to upgrade America's infrastructure with the support of leading Democrats that could jolt demand for metallurgical coal from American steel mills. Prices for met coal, as it is called, have already risen in recent months on lower supply from China. "This is the best news that Appalachia as a whole has had in about 10 years," said Jason Bostic, a vice president at the West Virginia Coal Association, referring to Trumps infrastructure agenda. "Suddenly theres a little bit of hope here." Corsa Coal Corp, a producer of met coal based in Pennsylvania, was already encouraged by the China-driven price spike before Trumps victory. Now it believes U.S. politics are going its way too. "The thing that has got me the most excited is the potential for infrastructure spending," said George Dethlefsen, Corsa's chief executive. "All those things are very energy- and steel-intensive, and that's good for our business." The company plans to boost its production of met coal by 70 percent in 2017 to around 1.2 million short tons. In the meantime, it is putting mines on a six-day-a-week schedule, up from four days, and it is looking at loading coal on its midnight shift, which it normally reserves for maintenance. Arch Coal Inc, which produces both met and steam coal used in power plants, said it was also optimistic about Trump, particularly his promise to roll back regulations. But other representatives of the steam coal industry have said regulation reversals may not overcome their main problem: plentiful and cheap natural gas following a decade-long hydraulic fracturing drilling boom. National production figures for met coal are unavailable, since the government does not break the data out. But total U.S. coal production has fallen to its lowest level since 1986, costing the industry thousands of jobs, as low natural gas prices and President Barack Obama's emissions and water regulations took their toll. Met coal prices, however, reflect the coal sector's only major sign of life this year. They have risen to above $270 a metric ton this month from lows of $70 a ton in February, driven in part by China reducing its output. Corsa and Arch are among a very small number of U.S. met coal producers that are publicly traded, with most of the others small and privately owned. Alpha Natural Resources, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, declined to comment. INFRASTRUCTURE BANK Trump's transition team is weighing an "infrastructure bank" to make investments in projects as part of an economic focus that also includes revamping taxes and regulation, a Trump adviser said this week. Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, have indicated they hope to work quickly with Trump on infrastructure. But whether they will succeed is far from certain, as many Republicans oppose spending bills. Ramaco, a private company, announced in September it will open two met coal mines in West Virginia and Virginia next year, thanks to $90 million in private equity investments that came in as global met coal prices swung upward. Randy Atkins, the chairman and chief executive of Ramaco, said adding new mines was possible if Trump's U.S. infrastructure push succeeds but would depend on whether additional investors flock in to fund them. Banks and financial institutions are sensitive to recent bankruptcies of major coal companies - including Arch and Peabody Energy Corp - and the weak financial conditions of others, Atkins said. Jim Truman, the director of global metallurgical coal markets at research group Wood Mackenzie, said the specialized workers that would be required, such as underground electricians, could also be hard to find given coal's downturn since 2008. Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said the other key to the U.S. met coal industry's outlook is whether new infrastructure relies on American-made steel and coal as Trump has promised. "If we are importing the coal or importing steel made with foreign coal, then it won't make any difference for American miners," Smith said. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver and Swetha Gopinath in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
From the very beginning of his campaign for president, Donald Trump made it clear that he thought House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was weak and feckless. He even shot a silver bullet through Ryans heart when he called Ryans budget deal stupid.
Thus began the cold war between the billionaire bully and the reluctant Speaker who had enough trouble on his hands trying to tame the feral Freedom Caucus within his own party. But the attacks continued: Ryan denounced Trump over his comments on the KKK last March and Trumps star tweet; Trump fired back four weeks ago, accusing Ryan of making a sinister deal.
Related: Meet the Freedom Caucus, the Group Inflaming Washington
As Trump recovered from the pussy grabbing tape and his numbers started to rise again, Ryan went full throttle, backing Trump and campaigning for him in the last weeks before the election. As it turned out, Trump saved Ryans job.
Ryan was the House Republicans unanimous choice this week for House Speaker, and even the unruly Freedom Caucus of nearly 40 arch conservatives who have repeatedly clashed with the speaker on policy and strategy were on board. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, told Politico, If Trump had not won, then the base would have demanded a scalp, and it probably would have been Pauls.
Ryan is now ebullient, declaring that there is unprecedented unity between the Republican- controlled Congress and the Republican president-elect and that the skys the limit on what the GOP can accomplish after years of political dysfunction under President Obama.
Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government, Ryan told reporters at a news conference earlier this week. This will be a government focused on turning President-elect Trumps victory into real progress for the American people.
Related: Whos Going to Pay for Trumps Huge Infrastructure Plans?
Ryans future was in doubt throughout the general election campaign as he earned the enmity of many of his conservative House colleagues for his on-again, off-again support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Ryans tendency to promote his own policies for tax reform, health care, welfare reform and national security without fully consulting with rank and file members and other leaders also irked many. And any thought that Freedom Caucus members will merrily climb aboard the new Trump-GOP bandwagon and embrace the President-elects agenda wholeheartedly is ludicrous.
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"The Freedom Caucus is definitely going to be pushing against the House Republican leadership whenever possible and will find ways to keep relevant, especially over spending issues on big ticket items, Ron Bonjean, a Washington policy expert and former congressional Republican spokesperson, said in an email today. They arent going anywhere and will make their voices heard soon. One-party rules means you can get a lot done, but there are a lot of headaches for the leadership moving it forward as well.
This, after all, is the same group that eagerly supported a government shutdown in 2013 and hamstrung former Republican House Speaker John Boehner on an array of budget and other policy issues before driving him into an early retirement. Most Freedom Caucus members reluctantly agreed to support Ryan to succeed Boehner, in October 2015, but not before intense negotiations over changes in the way the House conducts business.
Related: Paul Ryan Throws in the Towel on Trump
Despite lingering doubts, Freedom Caucus members re-upped on Tuesday to support Ryans second term as speaker during a closed-door session, although Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert admitted to reporters afterward that Ive got mixed emotions because of Ryans soft stand on border security and his repeated insults of Trump.
Conservative displeasure with both Ryan and Trump came spewing out of a Conversations with Conservatives press conference on Wednesday. In a wide-ranging question and answer session with reporters, a handful of Freedom Caucus members voiced strong differences with Ryan and Trump on how to proceed.
As Dana Milbank of The Washington Post reported, the far right conservatives groused about many of the issues that will confront the new president and the Republican-controlled Congress. For instance:
They support a significant increase in spending on highways, bridges and other infrastructure to stimulate the economy, as Trump has proposed. However, they are incensed that the proposed spending of as much as $1 trillion over the coming decade is not offset by corresponding cuts in other government programs. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) warned that unless Trump came up with a way to legitimately pay for the new infrastructure, then a majority if not all of us will vote against it.
They are far from unanimous on whether to repeal Obamacare as early as January and then consider possible replacements for the federal health insurance program, or whether to preserve portions of the 2010 law. One of the lawmakers lamented that the GOP never got around to agreeing on a compromise replacement plan to have ready to go after repealing President Obamas signature health insurance program.
Pressed by a reporter to explain how the Republicans would avoid a situation in which 20 million or more Americans would lose their coverage because of GOP action, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) quipped that people would be way better off if nothing were passed to replace Obamacare.
They warned Trump and Ryan that they would balk if Congress attempted to increase fiscal 2017 spending during the lame-duck session of Congress before Trump takes office in mid-January. Jordan said that when it comes to budget cutting, everything has to be on the table, although Trump is on record opposing cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
Some staunchly opposed efforts by some of Ryans GOP allies to protect him from procedural vehicles for removing him as speaker if the caucus began to sour on him. One of Ryans conditions for accepting the speakership in the first place was eliminating parliamentary provisions that would leave him vulnerable to a rebellion and ouster. Ryan and Freedom Caucus members intensely negotiated the issue but never reached an agreement.
There were other sharp inter-party divisions on display at the press conference, including whether Republicans should risk civil war with the Democrats by trying to abolish the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations in the Senate, or whether to resurrect earmarks in the appropriations process to give individual lawmakers the opportunity once again to steer pork-barrel spending to their congressional districts or states.
Related: Hold the Pork: Return of Earmarks Is Delayed
These and other issues will become grist for spirited debates in the coming months and could divide the GOP and trigger renewed gridlock.
When the dust settled from last weeks election, the Republicans held a solid 247 to 188 seat majority over the Democrats in the House, suggesting that Ryan and the GOP leadership could pretty much pass new legislation at will.
Yet the Republicans new 59-seat edge is more fragile than it may seem, because of glaring rifts among three factions: Ryans more mainstream, center-right wing of the party that is bent on major changes in the tax code and entitlements; the more populist Trump faction that favors infrastructure spending and dismantling of international trade agreements; and the Freedom Caucus, comprised of conservative ideologues, fiscal conservatives and political bomb-throwers.
The 40 or so loyal members of the Freedom Caucus have the power to stop almost any GOP-promoted proposal in its tracks, according to political experts.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Washington (AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump will meet Saturday with Mitt Romney, one of his top Republican critics, raising speculation that the incoming commander in chief could tap the 2012 presidential nominee for a key cabinet post.
Trump will hold a series of meetings with fellow Republican officials during his weekend getaway to Bedminster, New Jersey, the presidential transition team said Friday.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who is considered a Republican Party elder, was mentioned first on the list of guests who will sit down with the president-elect Saturday.
The meeting could signal a reconciliation of sorts between the two.
Romney, 69, helped lead the charge against Trump's nomination earlier this year by branding the provocative billionaire a "fraud" who was "playing the American public for suckers."
Rumors have swirled that Romney was under consideration to be nominated as Trump's secretary of state, a move that would put an experienced politician and trouble-shooter with a calm, reassuringly diplomatic bearing as the future face of American foreign policy.
But the transition team tamped down speculation that Romney could join the cabinet.
"I think that what that meeting suggests... (is) the president-elect wants the best and the brightest, and the people who can offer ideas and suggestions on how to move this country forward and to implement his vision," Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on a press call.
"He's going to meet with people who supported him, people who didn't support him, Republicans, Democrats, independents." Spicer added.
"The conversation with Mitt Romney is just that, an opportunity to hear his ideas and his thoughts."
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who ran against Trump in the Republican primaries, meets the president-elect Friday, the transition team said.
Scheduled to meet with Trump Saturday are Michelle Rhee, who led the Washington, DC public school system from 2007 to 2010 and who has been floated as a possible education secretary, and James "Mad Dog" Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who headed US Central Command and whose tough talk has endeared him to US troops.
Bedminster (United States) (AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump interviewed potential cabinet members at his New Jersey golf club for a second day Sunday, and signaled he may have found a defense chief in James "Mad Dog" Mattis, praising the retired military commander as a "true general's general."
Trump's recent choices for other key posts -- attorney general, national security adviser and chief White House strategist -- have come under fire on civil rights grounds from Democrats and other critics.
But Trump has also moved to mend fences with moderate Republicans as he goes about building a new administration, interviewing one-time foe Mitt Romney for secretary of state on Saturday, and inviting his ousted transition chief Chris Christie for a sit-down Sunday at his Trump National Golf Club.
"We're going to have a great day. Great people coming. You'll see. Great people," he told reporters tracking the comings and goings. Less than an hour and a half later, Trump added: "Getting very close on a lot."
He and Vice President-elect Mike Pence began their day attending a Sunday service at a Presbyterian church in the New Jersey countryside.
But the early-rising Trump was on Twitter before that, attacking the cast of hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" as rude, and "Saturday Night Live," the late-night satirical show that mercilessly lampoons him, as "nothing funny at all."
Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that Melania Trump and son Barron will remain in New York, rather than live in the White House.
Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, would not confirm the report, but told reporters that "there's obviously sensitivity to pulling their 10-year-old out of school in the middle of the school year. A more formal statement will be coming."
- Cabinet auditions -
The 70-year-old Republican billionaire promised reporters they would "hear some things" after a second marathon day of meetings at his New Jersey golf retreat, a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.
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"General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, who is being considered for Secretary of Defense, was very impressive yesterday. A true General's General!" Trump said on Twitter.
Trump called the 66-year-old "the real deal" after their meeting Saturday. Mattis is a retired Marine Corps general who led the US Central Command from 2010-2013, overseeing the US withdrawal from Iraq and a surge in Afghanistan.
A colorful combat commander and voracious reader, he has been quoted as saying, "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
Christie, who threw his support to Trump after his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination fizzled, appeared back in favor after being pushed out as transition chief.
The New Jersey governor has been under a cloud over a scandal involving the closing of a major bridge linking New York and New Jersey, allegedly to punish a Democratic mayor. Two former Christie aides were recently convicted in the case.
Asked on Saturday if "Bridgegate" disqualified the governor from serving in the cabinet, Trump retorted: "We like Chris a lot."
Others meeting Trump on Sunday include former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani; immigration hardliner Kris Kobach; Wilbur Ross, under consideration for commerce secretary; global investor David McCormick; and real estate investor Jonathan Gray.
Trump will also meet with Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) who has urged African Americans to vote for their best interests rather than be wedded to any political party.
Exit polls showed some 88 percent of African American voters supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton versus just eight percent for Trump.
Trump's interview with Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate who called him a "fraud" during the recent campaign, suggested to some observers that he is looking for a mix of views despite the hard-line cast of his national security team so far.
Pence confirmed that Romney was under consideration for secretary of state, a post also sought by Giuliani and others.
Trump's picks so far include ultra-conservative Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general, hawkish congressman Mike Pompeo as CIA director and retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. His choice of Steve Bannon, seen as an ideologue of the ultra-conservative alt-right movement, as chief strategist has also drawn fire.
- 'Apologize!' -
Trump, who was spending his first weekend outside Manhattan since his November 8 election -- other than a trip to Washington to meet Obama -- had not appeared in public since he gave reporters the slip to take his family to dinner in New York on Tuesday.
He has, however, been active on Twitter, a forum where he has won fans -- and detractors -- with his provocative, off-the-cuff messaging.
He lashed out at the cast of the award-winning Broadway musical "Hamilton" after Pence was booed at a performance on Friday and the lead actor read out an appeal for the new administration to "work on behalf of all of us."
"The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior," Trump wrote early Sunday, in his third tweet on the subject.
Also on Twitter, he said he had settled three class-action lawsuits over his now-defunct Trump University for $25 million so that all his energy could be focused on his new job, dismissing any hint of guilt.
NOC plans to re-enter bitumen business
State-owned oil monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has decided to re-enter the bitumen business in a bid to diversify its product portfolio.
New York (AFP) - Ford announced on Friday it will keep producing an SUV model in Kentucky, rather than move it to Mexico, in a decision overplayed by President-elect Donald Trump who claimed he had saved an entire plant from closure.
Trump repeatedly took aim at Ford and other groups during the White House campaign for moving production overseas in search of cheap labor -- and Thursday night he announced the firm's U-turn as a personal victory.
"Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico," Trump tweeted.
"I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" added the Republican -- who won 62.5 percent of that state's popular vote.
Trump's tweets were initially met with derision since Ford had not made public any plans to shift production from Lincoln to Mexico.
Ford on Friday confirmed there was some substance to the claims.
Under last year's contract agreement with the powerful United Automobile Workers union, Ford indeed made plans to move production of the Lincoln MKC out of Louisville to make room for expanded production of its Escape model. The Kentucky plant produces both small SUVs.
The company said in a statement, "Today, we confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly Plant will stay in Kentucky."
"Cuautitlan plant in Mexico was likely the plant for MKC," Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker told AFP.
But the billionaire appears to have significantly overstated the impact of the decision -- on several accounts.
- No impact on jobs -
While Ford confirmed that it was indeed considering moving the one model to Mexico, it certainly had no intention of shuttering the Louisville, Kentucky plant.
In addition, the decision will have no impact on jobs.
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Baker said that employment at the Louisville plant would have held steady regardless of any production changes, in accordance with the four-year union agreement.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the automaker has been in contact with Trump's transition team since his election, and saw the Lincoln move as a relatively painless way to hand him a victory even before he moves into the White House.
But the reversal has no impact on Ford's wider decision -- confirmed earlier this week -- to move production of the Focus to Mexico from Michigan, a state Trump narrowly won in last week's election.
Ford already produces the Lincoln MKZ sedan in Hermosillo, Mexico, and in early April announced a $1.6 billion investment in a new site in the country.
- Rhetoric swung votes -
One of the main themes of Trump's campaign was to bring back manufacturing jobs that American companies had moved overseas in search of cheap labor. Ford and the IT giant Apple were his favorite targets for criticism for their overseas operations.
Trump even threatened to impose a 35 percent punitive import duty on cars produced in Mexico, and to renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
His rhetoric seems to have resonated since several states where the auto industry is strongly represented and that traditionally voted Democratic, such as Michigan and Wisconsin, voted for Trump, tipping the election in his favor.
Ford said of its decision on Kentucky, "We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve US competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States."
The company also defended its record, saying it employs more US auto workers and produces more American-made vehicles than any other firm, has invested $12 billion in US plants in the past five years and created nearly 28,000 US jobs.
"We continue to engage with President-elect Trump's team -- and the new Congress -- as they shape the policy agenda for 2017. We have shared our commitment to continue investing in the US and creating American jobs," Ford said.
Washington (AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be his powerful national security advisor, Michael Flynn, is a former military intelligence chief who sees militant Islam as the biggest threat to global stability.
The retired three-star general, a veteran of America's recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has courted controversy with extreme statements that critics say border on Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, he has taken a more flexible line on Russia and China -- countries the outgoing administration of Barack Obama regards as the country's principal strategic opponents.
Flynn's paid appearance at a dinner in Russia last year sitting next to Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised eyebrows, as have his accommodating statements toward Moscow that suggest, along with Trump's, a readiness to accept Russia's seizure of Crimea and its support for embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
"We beat Hitler because of our relationship with the Russians, so anybody that looks on it as anything but a relationship that's required for mutual supporting interests, including ISIS, ... that's really where I'm at with Russia," he told the Washington Post in August.
"We have a problem with radical Islamism and I actually think that we could work together with them against this enemy. They have a worse problem than we do."
Son of a Rhode Island banker, Flynn had a professional army career mainly in intelligence units. In the 2000s he served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he became director of intelligence for coalition forces.
In 2012 he was named by Obama to lead the 16,500-strong Defense Intelligence Agency, but he was forced out in less than two years amid a turbulent restructuring effort and clashes with his superiors.
Since then he has repeatedly criticized the Obama government as inadequately focused on the Islamist threat, publishing a book this year entitled: "The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies."
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- 'Malignant policies' -
In it he argues that Muslim countries must be forced to recognize and stamp out radical Islamic beliefs, which he says are "metastasizing" around the world.
"We're in a global war, facing an enemy alliance that runs from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Havana, Cuba, and Caracas, Venezuela," he wrote in the New York Post in July.
"Along the way, the alliance picks up radical Muslim countries and organizations such as Iran, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State."
Like Trump, Flynn has also criticized US allies in NATO for not putting enough of their own effort and funding into the crucial western defense treaty.
Critics in the national security community see his views as one-dimensional and warn they could upset well-established relationships that benefit the United States.
They also question his willingness to take money from Russian government-backed groups, and his support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's harsh crackdown on dissent.
In a statement Friday Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was "deeply concerned" over Flynn's view on Russia.
"The incoming president would be better served by someone with a healthy skepticism about Russian intentions, and willing to be guided by the unequivocal intelligence we have of Russian's malignant policies towards the US and our allies," he said.
Donald Trumps agenda on trade and environmental regulations has raised major questions about the road ahead for car companies.
On the campaign trail, Trump frequently criticized Ford (NYSE:F) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), saying trade deals have cost American jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector. The transition team currently forming the Trump administration has already signaled that reforming U.S. trade deals will be one of the first tasks undertaken by the President-elect next year.
The incoming administration also has its sights on environmental regulations imposed by President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency. For car companies, this means fuel-efficiency rules that some in the industry view as overly burdensome could be up for significant changes.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group that represents top automakers including General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F), sent Trumps transition team a memo that highlighted its positions on issues like the federal governments emissions standards. The organization has pushed for reform amid cheaper gasoline prices and weak sales of electric vehicles.
Federal agencies recently began a midterm review of the 2012 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program, which stated that automakers would have to more than double their fleet-wide fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by model-year 2025.
Mitch Bainwol, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told Congress that federal rules cant ignore a consumer shift from passenger cars to sport-utility vehicles, while electric cars struggle to gain traction. Plug-in electric cars make up less than 1% of sales.
Much has changed in four years most notably, fuel prices and changes in consumer purchasing habits. These changes are important to keep in mind because automakers are ultimately judged not by what they produce but by what consumers buy, Bainwol said in his congressional testimony.
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The CAFE deal allowed for both sides to take a second look at the regulations in 2017, coinciding with Trumps rise to the White House. Final rules are expected in early 2018.
Other potential changes coming next year and beyond may throw a wrench into the auto industrys supply chain.
Trumps attacks on Ford focused on the automakers plan to construct a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico, where it will hire 2,800 additional people. Ford expects to begin assembling small cars at the plant in 2018. Eventually, all of Fords small-car production will be concentrated in Mexico. Ford CEO Mark Fields has argued that new models in the U.S. would replace car production going south of the border, thus preventing any loss of jobs. He confirmed this week that Fords Mexico plans have not changed.
Even before Inauguration Day, Trump is touting progress on the issue. On Thursday evening, Trump posted a message on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) saying he spoke to Ford Chairman Bill Ford, who told the President-elect that Lincoln production would remain at the companys Louisville, Ky., plant.
Under terms of a new labor deal negotiated last year, the United Auto Workers union gave Ford the green light to build the Lincoln MKC compact SUV at a factory in Mexico. The production move would allow Ford to build more Ford Escapes in Louisville. But sales of the Escape have slipped in recent months, and demand since the start of 2016 has been roughly flat compared to last year.
Ford also said it looks forward to working with the Trump administration to support economic growth and jobs, according to a statement provided after Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton.
Trump has argued that NAFTA, a wide-ranging trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, is an unfair deal that hurts American jobs. Cars shipped from Mexico to the U.S. face no taxes, while Mexico imposes a tariff on cars imported into the country. During the campaign, Trump proposed implementing tariffs as high as 35% to encourage automakers to keep production in the U.S.
Shares in Ford and GM slipped in the wake of Trumps win, but the stocks soon recovered as traders plowed into equities in the hope that the incoming administration will be a sparkplug for the economy.
Efraim Levy, an analyst at CFRA Research, believes Trump will back away from his toughest stance on U.S. trade policies.
Even with some potential tariff costs to automakers, we believe GM and Ford will have time to flex production and regional sales to mitigate the impact, Levy wrote in a note to clients.
As for the UAW, which publicly endorsed Clinton, the union suggested it will work with the Trump administration on trade policy. During a press conference following Trumps victory, Williams called Trumps position on trade right on.
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Trump talks with NATO chief as European leaders, Obama vow to hold fast to alliance
President Obama and European leaders on Friday underscored the importance of working together in NATO and chided Russia for its bombing of Syria and failure to implement a Ukrainian peace accord. The White House statement followed a meeting at which Obama sought to reassure his counterparts from Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy and France that his successor, Donald Trump, would not break up the transatlantic alliance. Trump raised concerns during the campaign when he said he would withhold military aid from NATO allies if they had not met their defense commitments and maintained he would forge closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Obama expressed confidence that, even at a moment of great change, democratic values have done more to advance human freedom and progress than any other system in history, and will continue to do so going forward. White House statement
Trumps shocking election win has sparked fears of drastic policy upheavals, as he has challenged a nearly 70-year-old security shield for U.S. allies under NATO and vowed to withdraw from hard-fought deals on the climate and Irans nuclear program. The president-elects admiration for Putin has also raised questions over his attitude toward Moscows backing for Syrian President Bashar Assad as well as Russias role in the Ukraine conflict. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he had had a positive talk with Trump on the future of the alliance. A NATO statement said Stoltenberg spoke by phone with Trump, congratulating him on his election victory and saying he looks forward to working with his national security team.
By Steve Holland NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked three conservative loyalists to lead his national security and law enforcement teams on Friday, underscoring his campaign promise to take a hard line confronting Islamist militancy and curbing illegal immigration. Trump picked U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, rewarding a staunch supporter whose tough and sometimes inflammatory statements on immigration have reflected his own. The choice was applauded by the top Republican in the Senate but drew sharp criticism from civil rights activists. Retired Army Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, who has championed Trump's promises to take a more aggressive approach to terrorism, was chosen as his national security adviser. Trump named Representative Mike Pompeo, a vocal critic of the Obama administration's security policy, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The three choices, announced by Trump's transition team, come as the Republican president-elect works to fill key positions in his administration, which will take over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. The picks could heighten concerns abroad that the Trump administration might carry out campaign promises of banning Muslims from entering the United States or imposing more severe restrictions on migrants from countries or regions with high levels of militant Islamist activity, such as Iraq and Syria. Sessions and Pompeo seem likely to be confirmed by the Senate despite heavy resistance from Democrats. Republicans will control a majority, with at least 51 seats in the 100-seat chamber, when Congress reconvenes in January. Flynn's post does not need Senate confirmation. One of the earliest Republican lawmakers to support Trump's White House candidacy, Sessions opposes any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and was an enthusiastic backer of Trump's campaign promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico. He has also argued for curbs on legal immigration on the grounds that it drives down wages for U.S. workers. A former Alabama attorney general and U.S. attorney, Sessions, 69, has been in the Senate for 19 years. Allegations that he made racist remarks led the Senate to deny his confirmation as a federal judge in 1986. The chamber's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said he would want Sessions to answer "tough questions" about his civil rights positions. The attorney general acts as the country's chief law enforcement officer and head of the Justice Department. Civil rights groups slammed Sessions as a poor choice to head a department charged with protecting voting rights and running immigration courts. "How can we trust someone in that role who has demonstrated he thinks all forms of immigration are bad for America?" said Beth Werlin, head of the American Immigration Council. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he strongly supported Sessions for attorney general, calling him "principled, forthright, and hardworking." Sessions has been one of Trump's most enthusiastic backers on Capitol Hill and the president-elect has hired several of Sessions' staffers, including policy chief Stephen Miller and Rick Dearborn, who has a top job managing the transition. Also on Friday, the first set of transition landing teams were starting work at the departments of State, Justice, Defense and the National Security Council to begin hashing out the details of shifting to a new administration. ISLAMIST MILITANTS Flynn, one of Trump's closest advisers, was fired from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, a move he has attributed to his outspoken views about fighting Islamist militancy. Other officials who worked with Flynn cited his lack of management skills and leadership style as reasons for his firing. An Army intelligence veteran of three decades, Flynn was assistant director of national intelligence under Obama. He views the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a strategic blunder and has refused to condemn Trump's support for the renewed use of waterboarding. This is an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, is widely considered torture and was banned by Obama. Pompeo, 52, a third-term Republican congressman and former U.S. Army officer who founded an aerospace company, was a surprise pick to lead the CIA. A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Pompeo has called for a revival and expansion of a now-defunct domestic spying program to include "financial and lifestyle information" as well as phone records. He has said that Edward Snowden, a former government contractor who uncovered the spying program and who now lives in Russia, should get the death penalty if he is ever tried and convicted. Pompeo has been one of the most aggressive critics of the Obama administration's handling of a 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Nevertheless, Democrats who have worked with him joined Republicans in describing Pompeo as knowledgeable and hard working. "While we have had our share of strong differences - principally on the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi - I know that he is someone who is willing to listen and engage," Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said on Friday. Trump met on Friday with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a possible pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a possible candidate for defense secretary. Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA chief in 2012 after an extra-marital affair, is being considered for the post of defense secretary, the Wall Street Journal said. Trump was expected to spend the weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, the home of the Trump National Golf Club. On Saturday he was scheduled to meet with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. Romney was one of the fiercest Republican critics of Trump during his unorthodox election campaign but is now under possible consideration for secretary of state. Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, is the leading candidate to serve as Trump's director of national intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported. (Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson, Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle, Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)
New Yorkers should avoid the area surrounding Trump Tower, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday -- not exactly the type of advice area businesses want to hear heading into the holiday season.
Donald Trump's neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan has been flooded by cops, Secret Service agents and protesters along with the usual hordes of shoppers, tourists and office workers since his surprise election last week. Six demonstrations took place over the past 10 days, resulting in road closings on three occasions. The Saturday after Trump's victory, more than 20,000 protesters gathered outside. Pedestrians are now subject to bag searches when walking on the east side of Fifth Avenue on certain blocks, and Trump Tower is flanked by bomb-sniffing dogs and armed guards.
"We are devoted to making sure this city will keep moving. This is a big challenge and an unprecedented challenge," de Blasio said at a conference at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan on Friday afternoon.
"We're working in conjunction with retailers and restaurants to make sure they get customers in as easily as possible," said New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill.
The businesses up and down Fifth Avenue, a premier destination for tourists and shoppers, are facing a stark new reality in the weeks ahead. Trump Tower will largely remain the president-elect's base until his inauguration on January 20. That means a chaotic scene over the next 65 days, including the all-important holiday season.
"Our business has been affected. A lot of businesses around here are going to be affected," said a salesman at one of the stores nearby.
The sidewalks outside stores like Armani, Dolce & Gabanna, Ralph Lauren , Gap , Prada, Abercrombie & Fitch , Microsoft and Harry Winston are now lined with metal barricades. The strip commands some of the highest retail rents in the world, with the average annual rent being $3500 per square foot.
"Drama," said a doorman on 54th street, describing the scene.
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Gucci's flagship store flanks Trump Tower. Entrance into it now requires an explanation to police officers and a bag search.
Tiffany TIF sits on the same block as Trump Tower, the next building to the north. The mezzanine floor, which features the watchmaker Patek Philippe, late Thursday morning was completely empty except for two employees. Staff outnumbered shoppers on other floors. More than 10% of sales of total company sales come from the jewelry giant's Fifth Avenue location. Trump purchased the air rights from the story for $5 million years ago.
"I will not tell you that Gucci and Tiffany are my central concerns in life, but I will say the traffic situation is a very real problem," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said while standing outside Trump Tower after meeting with the president-elect on Wednesday.
Gucci and Tiffany did not respond to request for comment on the matter.
The Starbucks inside Trump Tower has seen traffic drop dramatically. The shop's usual customers, deterred by the barricades, armed guards and bomb-sniffing dogs outside, are getting their caffeine fix elsewhere.
"It's been really slow," said a barista.
Some customers still dare to brave the hoopla outside, treating the visit to Trump Tower almost like a tourist activity and staking out in hopes of catching a glimpse of Cabinet picks, family members and other figures entering the building to meet with the president-elect.
"It's better than a Broadway show," said one Long Island woman sipping on coffee at the Trump Tower Starbucks on Thursday morning.
A few tables down sat Denny Cowger, an Ohio native in New York while on layover from Hong Kong. Proudly wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, he insisted he wound up there by happenstance, though he had been hanging around long enough to see both Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani file in.
More than five million tourists are expected to travel to New York City between Thanksgiving and New Year's, according to estimates from the city's tourism-marketing agency, NYC & Company, and Fifth Avenue is a top destination for many. But this year, visitors and New Yorkers alike may be inclined to steer clear. Mayor de Blasio would prefer it.
"To the extent that you can avoid the immediate area around Trump Tower, that will make your own life easier and everybody's life easier," he said on Friday.
Everybody except for the businesses counting on a holiday shopping boom.
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By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - China will position itself as free trade's new champion at an Asia-Pacific summit this weekend, with the Communist government seeking to project economic leadership as a U.S.-led Pacific Rim trade pact languishes under President-elect Donald Trump. Beijing aims to capitalize on the Trump-induced coma of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with President Xi Jinping selling alternate visions for regional trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting this weekend in Peru. "If the U.S. gives up its leadership here, of course China will take the role," said Tu Xinquan, a trade expert at Beijing's University of International Business and Economics, who has advised China's government on trade issues. On the campaign trail, Trump labeled the TPP, championed by President Barack Obama, a "disaster". Obama last week abandoned efforts to win congressional approval for the TPP before Trump takes office, saying its fate was up to the President-elect and Republican lawmakers. The China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a rival pact that excludes the United States, has become the front-runner for new free trade deals in the region. The RCEP and the TPP -- which excludes China -- were viewed as parallel, if competing pathways, to an eventual broader Asia-Pacific free trade zone. But when Beijing hosted the APEC meeting in 2014 and pushed the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as a framework for liberalizing Pacific Rim trade, the United States saw it as a distraction from TPP. Now, the RCEP is likely the main avenue to a future FTAAP, giving China, as the largest economy among the deal's 16 countries, a driving role in the future of Asia-Pacific trade. Obama had argued that the TPP would allow the United States and not China to write the rules of trade for the region. GEOPOLITICAL REALITIES China's efforts to push trade pacts coincide with other soft power initiatives aimed at cementing the country's economic influence, such as Xi's global One Belt, One Road infrastructure plan and the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Claire Reade, senior counsel at U.S. law firm Arnold & Porter and a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Affairs, said China would seek to contrast its commitment to the region with U.S. inconstancy. "The geopolitical realities and China's economic diplomacy make it seem unlikely the smaller countries in the region would spurn China's leadership," she said. In a sign of frustration with the United States among some TPP members, Peru's president has said that Pacific-rim countries can forge a new trade deal to replace TPP that includes China and Russia but not the United States. This week, Peru's trade minister said it was engaging China on ways to get involved with RCEP negotiations. If Lima joined the talks, which is unlikely until existing members come to terms, it would be the only participant from the Americas and could encourage other TPP signatories in Latin America to follow suit. Other TPP members, including staunch U.S. ally Australia, have said they will pursue other free trade options in Asia. Malaysia has said it would shift its focus from TPP to RCEP, and Vietnam, which is also party to both deals, will shelve its ratification of TPP due to political changes in Washington. China's Commerce Ministry did not respond to faxed questions on the trade deals, but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang downplayed Beijing's role. "No matter if it is the RCEP or the FTAAP, neither is being led by China," Geng told a regular press briefing on Friday, adding that China was working together with all parties to advance negotiations. MORE OFF-SHORING Trade experts say that in addition to dealing a blow to U.S. influence, TPP's failure could mean U.S. goods lose out on lower tariffs and market access to RCEP countries, including Japan, China and India. Proposed dates for an agreement have come and gone, but an RCEP deal could be reached as soon as next year. Deborah Elms, who runs the Singapore-based Asian Trade Centre consultancy and advises governments, said the lack of U.S. involvement in future trade deals could spur more off-shoring by U.S. companies. "If you want to take advantage of RCEP, you need to be in Asia to service Asian markets. That means you need to be physically present with at least some part of your operation," Elms said. Governments in the region should take advantage of RCEP momentum, she said. "I would be trumpeting loudly from the rooftops ... Put your whole global operations here to take advantage of the place that is still open for business." The role-reversal on free trade zones and other uncertainties stemming from Trump's election bolsters China's image, Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said at a forum in Beijing on Wednesday. "Withdrawing from trade agreements, talking about shaking up alliances, talking about pulling out of the climate change agreement, talking about pulling out of Iran all of these make China look like the responsible stakeholder," Paal said. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Tony Munroe and Bill Tarrant)
President-elect Donald Trumps pick to lead the U.S. Justice Department was a key crusader against efforts to shorten federal prison sentences for lower-level drug offenders earlier this year, raising concerns among criminal justice reform activists that the momentum of their movement could slow to a stop.
Sen. Jeff Sessions was one of the few Republican senators who bucked the bipartisan effort to reform the criminal justice system this year. The broader plan to reform sentencing was backed by such unlikely allies as the conservative billionaire Koch Brothers, the former head of the NRA, President Obama and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle despite a bitterly divided Congress.
At the time, Sessions argued that an uptick in crime in some major cities was a sign that the federal government should not release drug offenders. (Overall, violent crime is significantly down from its peak in the 1990s.)
My best judgment after many, many years in law enforcement is that bottom on crime rates has been reached and the rise were beginning to see is part of a long-term trend, not an aberration, and the last thing we need to do is a major reduction in penalties, Sessions said in May, according to the Washington Examiner. Sessions joined with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., to kill the bill.
In the grand scheme of things, were just going to have to work harder, said Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, an umbrella group of bipartisan nonprofits pushing for criminal justice reform.
Harris said that while its clear Sessions is not a fan of sentencing reform, the Alabama lawmaker has supported legislation in the past to help people who get out of prison reintegrate into society. Sessions also backed a bill to reduce the vast sentencing disparity between crimes involving crack vs. those involving powder cocaine in 2010. (Crack offenders, most of whom were black, were sentenced 100 times more harshly than people who sold powder cocaine, despite the fact that its essentially the same drug.)
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The opportunity is still there, Harris said. Hope springs eternal.
Sen. Jeff Sessions with Donald Trump at a February rally in Madison, Ala. (Photo: Marvin Gentry/Reuters)
If confirmed by the Senate, Sessions would inherit a Justice Department thats tried to reverse what its current leadership sees as the over-incarceration of Americans due to zealous sentencing of drug crimes beginning in the 1980s and 90s. In 2013, then Attorney General Eric Holder directed federal prosecutors not to charge people with mandatory minimum sentences in lower-level, nonviolent drug cases. That resulted in a 20 percent drop in the use of those mandatory minimums, according to a recent speech by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. Yates argued that the U.S. spends $80 billion a year on its prison system and must find better ways to tackle crime than by locking millions of its citizens up.
Criminal justice reformers think its unlikely Sessions would keep that focus. Inimai M. Chettiar, the director of the Brennan Centers Justice Program, said she believes that Sessions would likely reverse Holders smart on crime reforms, including the drug sentencing one.
Probably the police department investigations and also Holders smart on crime initiative those are the two biggest things that would be in danger, Chettiar said.
Under Obama, the Justice Department has investigated more than two dozen police departments, including the department in Ferguson, Mo., for civil rights violations. The Justice Department sued Ferguson after it refused to pay for its police to be retrained and to install an independent monitor to ensure it was not unfairly targeting black residents.
Trump ran on a law-and-order platform and said he believes that police officers are the most mistreated people in America. This suggests that investigating police departments for abuses would not be a high priority for his Justice Department.
Its also possible that Sessions could object to the current Justice Department policy of largely not interfering with states that have legalized marijuana. In April, Sessions said it was important to send a message that good people dont smoke marijuana so that Americans realize the drug is dangerous. If he changed that policy, it could mean crackdowns on pot dealers who are acting within their states laws.
Prosecution in serious rights violations, says PM
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has assured rights defenders that the transitional justice law would be amended in line with the court verdict, national and international laws and transitional justice norms.
Jeff Sessions
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is about to face a wave of intense scrutiny as he seeks confirmation to become attorney general and head the Justice Department in President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming administration.
Trump said Friday that it was an "honor to nominate" a "world-class legal mind" to the position. Sessions said, should he be confirmed, that he will give "all my strength to advance" its "highest ideals" and will be dedicated to "fairness and impartiality."
But Sessions is likely to face heavy examination over his overall record, as well as decades-old allegations of racism that are now certain to be hashed out in public.
Sessions, prior to his 20-year Senate career, served as a US attorney and as attorney general of Alabama. While serving as a US attorney for the state's southern district, he was nominated to be a federal district court judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
His nomination, however, was rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee a committee on which he now serves because of racially charged comments and actions that he denied. It was only the second time in nearly 50 years the committee stunted a judicial nomination.
J. Gerald Hebert, then working on voting-rights cases for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, spent time in Alabama working with Sessions. He testified in front of the panel that Sessions was "not a very sensitive person when it comes to race relations." Hebert testified that Sessions had said a white lawyer described as a race traitor "probably is," and that the ACLU and NAACP were "communist-inspired."
Thomas Figures, a former assistant US attorney who died last year, provided back up to Hebert's testimony on Sessions regarding organizations such as the NAACP. Sessions testified that he recalled saying that "when" such civil-rights organizations "demand more than is legitimate, it hurts their position," he said.
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Figures, who worked with Sessions, said he was warned by the now-Alabama senator to "be careful what you say to white folks" after Figures, the only black assistant US attorney in the office, told a white secretary that she had made an offensive comment. He also testified that Sessions and two others in the office had called him "boy," which Sessions categorically denied.
"I have never used the word 'boy' to describe a black, nor would I tolerate it in my office," Sessions testified.
Figures also said Sessions remarked that he thought Ku Klux Klan members were "OK," until he found out they smoked marijuana. Sessions later testified that he was joking.
Sessions was also accused of voicing complaints about the Voting Rights Act.
Hebert, who now works as the director of voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider that he was "extremely unhappy to hear" Sessions was selected for the post.
"Because I think that he has a demonstrated record of anti-civil rights [and] anti-equality," Hebert said Friday. "I don't think he has a good grasp on issues about voting rights. I think a lot of his views are just plain wrong in light of facts."
"He has opinions that are based on suspicion rather than facts," he continued. "And to have somebody like that heading up the Justice Department, the chief law enforcement officer in the United States, is of great concern to me."
Jeff Sessions
Sessions, the first senator to come out in support of Trump on the campaign trail, is known for his hardline stance on immigration, his protectionist platform on trade, and his opposition toward bipartisan proposals to cut mandatory minimum prison sentences.
"When Trump on election night came out and said he was going to be kind of a uniter for all people, this sends the opposite message in my view," Hebert said. "And he's got a demonstrated record of making racially insensitive remarks in the 1980s that he's never really apologized for or backed off of. He's claimed that he's not a racist, but anybody can make a claim, it's what your record shows that's important. He has a record of pretty clearly opposing civil rights enforcement and opposing the laws themselves."
Hebert said that with issues "of race and law enforcement" being at the forefront of the US justice discussion, the nomination of Sessions "sends a very bad message." And he said he does not believe Sessions' views have evolved since the 1980s is a "positive" way.
"I think he's done things since the 1980s in the area of race, ethnicity, and he's made statements about nominees that have shown that he remains racially insensitive," Hebert said, pointing to Sessions' support of controversial voter ID laws whose critics say prevents many in minority communities from being able to cast ballots.
While many Democrats have been up in arms about Trump's appointment of Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist, Hebert said the consequences of a Justice Department run by Sessions will be of much greater importance.
"Well, the two positions couldn't be more different," he said. "One is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. You make decisions about who's going to get prosecuted, what laws are going to be enforced, what the priorities are going to be for the thousands of lawyers who work there, and you reach literally every corner of America and the world, for that matter. This is a far more important position and one that has far greater and far-reaching consequences."
Jeff Sessions
Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump's transition, came to Sessions' defense in a conference call with reporters Friday. He said Sessions is "universally respected across party lines."
"When Sen. Sessions was US Attorney, he filed a number of desegregation lawsuits in Alabama and supported a 30-year extension of the Civil Rights Act, voted for [former Attorney General] Eric Holder, and spearheaded [the] effort to give a congressional gold medal to Rosa Parks."
Miller was confident Sessions had the support to be confirmed, adding that former Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania later said his vote against Sessions in the 1980s was a mistake.
Sessions, who is generally well-liked in the Senate, didn't receive the same sort of backlash as Bannon's appointment from Democrats in Congress.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called Sessions a "respected colleague" who "expects the same exacting, serious scrutiny that any other Attorney General nominee would receive." Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said citizens "deserve" to know about Sessions' record "at the public" confirmation hearing.
Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, however, signaled a potential confirmation battle. He said that even though he and Sessions "work out in the gym ... the fact that he is a senator does not absolve him from answering tough questions in the confirmation process."
"Given some of his past statements and his staunch opposition to immigration reform, I am very concerned about what he would do with the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and want to hear what he has to say, Schumer continued in a statement.
The strongest statement against Sessions from congressional Democrats came from Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois.
"If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man," he said, using Sessions' full legal name.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also provided some strong words about Sessions, advising Trump to "reverse his decision."
"30 yrs ago, a GOP Senate rejected @SenatorSessions judicial nomination, affirming no compromise with racism; no negotiation with hate," she posted to Twitter. "Today, a new GOP Senate must decide whether self-interest & political cowardice will prevent them from once again doing what is right."
Elected Republicans presented universal praise for Trump's selection of Sessions as his nomination for attorney general.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called it "great news," while Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called Sessions a "principled and good man" who will "restore honor" to the Justice Department.
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky tried to build the case for why Sessions would be a fair leader for the department, saying he "strongly" supported Trump's decision.
McConnell noted that Sessions worked in a bipartisan fashion to reduce sentencing disparities for "certain drug offenses," in addition to combating sexual assault in prison
"Jeff is principled, forthright, and hardworking," he wrote. "He cares deeply about his country and the Department he will be nominated to lead. ... Jeff has always looked out for the safety, security and freedoms of his constituents and the nation."
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mike pompeo
President-elect Donald Trump on Friday selected hardline Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo to be his CIA director, prompting scrutiny over some of his past comments.
Pompeo, a member of the House Intelligence Committee who has represented Kansas' 4th district since 2011, told Congress in 2013 that Muslim leaders across the US who fail to condemn terror attacks motivated by radical Islamic beliefs are "potentially complicit in these acts, and more importantly still, in those that may well follow."
"When the most devastating terrorist attacks on America in the last 20 years come overwhelmingly from people of a single faith and are performed in the name of that faith, a special obligation falls on those that are the leaders of that faith," Pompeo said on the House floor.
He claimed that Islamic leaders across the country weren't doing enough to stand up to terrorism, and that their silence was "deafening."
"The silence in the face of extremism coming from the best-funded Islamic advocacy organizations and many mosques across America is absolutely deafening," he said. "It casts down upon the commitment to peace by adherents to the Muslim faith."
Watch below:
Many Islamic clerics living in the US have spoken out against, and regularly condemn, Islamic extremism, rejecting the suggestion that they are somehow complicit in such acts.
We are more scared of terrorism than anyone. We suffer in the actual act of terrorism, and then we suffer the backlash, the high-profile Muslim academic Yasir Qadhi said last year.
Muslim-Americans were also quick to condemn least year's deadly attack on a clinic in San Bernardino, and the more recent massacre at an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead.
"I fully condemn the terrorist act in Orlando and the ideology that stands behind it," Muslim imam and community leader Muhammad Mursi wrote after massacre. "That is not ISLAM. Islam teaches peace not violence."
Pompeo's hawkish views on Islamic extremism appear to align with those of Trump and his new national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Flynn has called radical Islam a "cancer" and, like Trump, has blamed political correctness for impeding the fight against ISIS.
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Pompeo played a prominent role on the House Benghazi Committee that was set up to investigate the attacks on a diplomatic compound in Libya that killed four Americans in 2012. He co-wrote a scathing addendum to the committee's decision to clear then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing, claiming that Clinton "failed to lead," "misled the public," and was complicit in the Americans' deaths.
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By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Mike Pompeo, President-elect Donald Trump's surprise choice to head the CIA, supports the U.S. government's sweeping collection of Americans' communications data and wants to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. The retired Army officer, West Point and Harvard Law School graduate also has defended the CIA's use of interrogation techniques that are widely condemned as torture. The Kansas Republican has criticized Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state and her handling of the 2012 attacks on U.S. posts in Benghazi, Libya. A member of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Pompeo, 52, was first elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave from the congressional district centered on his hometown of Wichita. Members of both parties regard him as intelligent, collegial and capable, with a keen grasp of national security issues. "Mike is very bright and hard-working, and will devote himself to helping the agency develop the best possible intelligence for policy makers," said Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. "While we have had our share of strong differences - principally on the politicization of the tragedy in Benghazi - I know that he is someone who is willing to listen and engage." Pompeo "is a serious guy who studies issues carefully," said former National Security Agency and CIA director Michael Hayden. Some civil liberties and human rights advocates, however, expressed concern over Pompeo's selection because he opposes closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center. They also criticized his support for the National Security Agency's now-defunct bulk communications metadata collection and other surveillance programs. "These positions and others merit serious public scrutiny through a confirmation process," said Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. In a January op-ed in the Wall Street Journal he co-authored, Pompeo called for a "fundamental upgrade to America's surveillance capabilities," including resuming bulk collection of domestic phone metadata, the numbers and time stamps of calls, but not their content. The program, which a federal appeals court and two governmental review panels found to be illegal and ineffective, should be expanded to include "publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database", and that "legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed," he wrote. He also called for the death penalty for Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who disclosed the existence of the metadata program and other top-secret surveillance programs. Pompeo stands a good chance of being confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Announcement of his nomination was warmly greeted by Senator Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which will conduct his confirmation hearing. ATTACKING CLINTON Pompeo has been at the forefront of attacks in Congress on Clinton, accusing her of "criminality" for storing emails containing classified information on her private server. He served on the Republican-led House committee that investigated the attacks by Islamist extremists on U.S. diplomatic and CIA posts in Benghazi that killed four Americans. While the panel found no wrongdoing by the administration, Pompeo and another member appended to the final report a commentary accusing Clinton and other officials of failing to protect the posts and to respond appropriately to the attacks. Democrats accused Pompeo of using inaccurate information to exaggerate alleged failures by Clinton on Benghazi.Some of Pompeo's positions also are at odds with the assessments of the intelligence officers and analysts Trump wants him to command. While he has argued that the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, produced useful intelligence, current CIA Director John Brennan has said he would resign if he were ordered to resume the practice. Other CIA and military officers and FBI agents have said so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" do not produce reliable information because prisoners will "say anything" to end their suffering, as one CIA official put it. Pompeo also is at odds with the intelligence community's assessment of the 2015 deal that lifted financial sanctions from Iran in return for limits on its nuclear program. He has vowed to overturn the deal, and suggested in a 2014 roundtable with journalists that the United States should bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, a proposal that U.S. intelligence experts said would only delay Tehran's development of a warhead, not halt it. Pompeo also has opposed the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change, while at the CIA, a recently created Mission Center for Global Issues tracks global warming as a threat to U.S. security. He has taken positions that are at odds with Trump's, notably on Russia's actions in Ukraine and its military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who also is supported by Iran. Russia has established a toehold in the Middle East, and "we now have the Iranian-Russian axis there largely running free," Pompeo told a security forum in 2015. Pompeo, who was born in California, graduated first in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was an artillery officer in the army for five years. He received a degree from the Harvard Law School and was an editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz; Editing by John Walcott and Alistair Bell)
President-elect Donald Trump made another controversial Cabinet appointment on Friday, selecting retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to serve as his national security adviser.
Flynn, a registered Democrat who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014 before he was reportedly forced out by his peers, was one of Trump's earliest and most prominent supporters in the foreign-policy realm. But he has come under scrutiny for some of his business ties, his views toward Russia, and like Trump his Twitter account, where he often promoted conspiracy theories during Trump's campaign.
Among them: a fake news story connecting Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, a story falsely suggesting Democrat Hillary Clinton was implicated in "sex crimes," and a meme making unsubstantiated claims about prominent journalists colluding with Clinton.
Flynn also tweeted in February that "fear of Muslims is RATIONAL," including a link to a YouTube video that claims the religion of Islam wants "80% of people enslaved or exterminated."
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'His vision was seen as disruptive'
By most accounts, Flynn had a successful military career, and President Barack Obama appointed him to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012.
He was reportedly forced out in 2014, however, because "his vision" for the agency "was seen as disruptive," a former Pentagon official who worked closely with Flynn told The Washington Post at the time.
Flynn, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 to 2012, has said he was fired from the DIA because he spoke out against "radical Islam," which he has called "a cancer" and made it his mission to eradicate.
But the former official told The Post at the time that the friction was more because Flynn was too hawkish. The official said Flynn wanted to push agents "up and out of their cubicles into the field to support war fighters or high-intensity operations."
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Michael Flynn
Flynn has also been heavily criticized for attending a gala last year in Moscow celebrating the 10th anniversary of the state-sponsored news agency Russia Today. Flynn has appeared on and been interviewed by Russia Today more than once, and he has said he "absolutely agrees" that the US and Russia need to work together to defeat ISIS.
Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of Syrian president Bashar Assad in September 2015, nearly five years into the country's brutal civil war. Though Russia touted its involvement as an anti-ISIS operation, the vast majority of its airstrikes over the past year have targeted rebels fighting Assad in western Syria who have no association with the jihadist group.
Rep. Adam Schiff, of California, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Friday that he was "deeply concerned" about Flynn's views on Russia, which, he said, "over the last twelve months have demonstrated the same fondness for the autocratic and belligerent Kremlin which animate President-elect Trump's praise of Vladimir Putin."
Flynn Intel Group
A consulting firm Flynn founded with his son after he retired, Flynn Intel Group a registered lobbying organization also has ties to Turkey's increasingly authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, through one of its clients, Kamil Ekim Alptekin.
Alptekin chairs the Turkish-American Business Council, whose members are chosen by Turkish government officials, and helped organize Erdogan's visit to Washington earlier this year.
Alptekin told The Intercept on Thursday that his company, Inovo BV, which is based in the Netherlands, paid Flynn's firm thousands of dollars for analysis beginning in August the same month Flynn began sitting in on classified intelligence briefings with Trump, Yahoo News reported on Thursday.
Alptekin insisted that Flynn Intel Group had not been lobbying for his company, but the firm is registered as a lobbyist for Inovo BV, as The Intercept reported.
erdogan turkey
Flynn wrote an op-ed article last week supporting the extradition of Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has accused of inciting a coup attempt against his government in July. The Obama administration has denied the extradition requests, saying the Turkish government has not presented evidence showing Gulen to be complicit in the failed coup.
Erdogan's harsh crackdown on dissidents and journalists inside Turkey, as well as his renewed war with Kurdish separatists in Turkey's southeast, has also led to chilled relations between Washington and Ankara.
"General Flynn's uncritical acceptance of the Turkish crackdown on dissent, and his call for the extradition of the cleric Gulen without seeing any evidence of complicity in the aborted coup is also worrying," Schiff said in his statement.
"While Turkey is an important NATO ally, we cannot blind ourselves to its increasingly authoritarian character and the bonds it has been forming with Russia and Iran," he added.
In his own statement released Thursday, Flynn said, "If I return to government service, my relationship with my company will be severed in accordance with the policy announced by President-elect Trump."
Trump's transition team announced earlier this week that all registered lobbyists had been purged from its ranks.
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Politics
Trumps natl. security pick sat in on secret briefings and met with foreign clients
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has reportedly been offered the role of national security adviser in Donald Trumps White House, began receiving classified national security briefings last summer while he was also running a private consulting firm that offered all-source intelligence support to international clients. His consulting firm, the Flynn Intel Group, registered to lobby for a Dutch company owned by a wealthy Turkish businessman close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Flynn, in a statement to Yahoo News, said he would sever business ties if he returns to public service. Critics, though, were not satisfied.
This is profoundly troubling and should be disqualifying. Norm Eisen, who served as President Obamas ethics adviser and later as an ambassador to the Czech Republic
Earlier this week, President Obama authorized that the daily brief materials, which include top-secret intelligence details, be provided to Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and designated members of Trumps transition team. The criticism of Flynn over his overseas clients also came on a day that the Trump transition team announced a sweeping new conflict-of-interest policy that will require all members of the transition team to sever their relationships with lobbying clients and, if they join the administration, forswear lobbying for five years after ending their government service.
In the days leading up to the presidential election, the #MannequinChallenge seemed to provide a welcome bit of fun amid national tension. But as President-elect Donald Trump makes his transition toward the White House, trendsetting teens are now ditching the mannequin act and making a run for it.
The #TrumpsComingChallenge has inspired a cascade of videos featuring students screaming, running and, of course, dancing through the halls of high schools and college classrooms around the country.
Some reports have tied the Trump-inspired meme to yet another viral challenge called #AndysComing, in which teens make like the computer-animated toys in Toy Story and freeze when they hear a human coming. But its striking to watch students leap from their desks and race for the door, hop over fences and even play dead all in the name of Trump, who once vowed to use a deportation force to expel the estimated 11 million people who illegally immigrated to the U.S.
Months before the election, parents, teachers and guidance counselors pointed to Trumps presidential campaign as the source of heightened anxiety and conflicts in classrooms nationwide. In the wake of Trumps presidential win last week, college campuses and K-12 schools have been the site of a majority of reported incidents of hate speech, harassment and intimidation related to the election.
According to Texas teen Emi Chavez, who claims to have started the #TrumpsComingChallenge, fear of the president-elects immigration plans is exactly what inspired the now-viral sensation.
Me and my friends are Mexican, but we were born here, and everyone is scared by what Trump said about sending Mexicans back home and all the other racist things as well, the 16-year-old Chavez told BBC News. The whole idea was to have some fun, but Trump is a very scary guy to kids of our age because we dont want our families to get split up. So we were just thinking about how we would just run away from him if he came near.
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See some of the best takes on the #TrumpsComingChallenge below.
#trumpiscomingchallenge by me.show me how you would react if you saw trump????(tag me) #retweet ???? pic.twitter.com/1N3RwxBccX Emi Chavez (@emichavez_) November 9, 2016
Ankara (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to call a referendum on the future of Turkey's EU membership bid, while Brussels accuses Ankara of "backsliding" on key commitments.
After an already exhausting process of over half a century, could this finally be the end for the long-running saga of Turkey's EU membership bid?
The situation reached a turning point after the failed July 15 coup, with Brussels angrily criticising a relentless crackdown and Ankara accusing the bloc of failing to show solidarity.
Turkey formally applied to become a member of the European Union in 1987 and accession talks began in 2005. Its ambition to become part of the bloc dates back to the 1960s.
Analysts say that, despite all the problems. both sides are keen to keep up an illusion of an accession process. Brussels is also acutely aware of the importance of a deal with Turkey to reduce the flow of migrants to Europe.
- Half-century accession bid over? -
The Turkish government said it may now propose bringing back the death penalty, a move the EU has warned would mark the immediate end of its accession bid.
"It's their (the EU's) choice to continue the path with or without Turkey," Erdogan warned in October.
But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visiting Ankara this week, said that the ball was in Turkey's court. "It is not a decision for Europe or the European capitals," he said.
Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said there is "a reluctance in Brussels to suspend Turkey's accession process".
"The continuation of Turkey's membership bid is seen as one of the last tools available to the EU for checking Erdogan's arbitrary rule."
- What is the impact of crackdown? -
Since a rogue military faction tried to oust Erdogan from power, over 100,000 people within the judiciary, media, military and civil service have been arrested, suspended or sacked.
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Among those arrested include secular daily Cumhuriyet columnists and the co-chairs of the second biggest opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
For Roy Karadag, political scientist at the University of Bremen, the crackdowns mean "factually, this is the end of the Turkish accession process".
"This is a tough sell, diplomatically speaking, but no European leader can credibly commit to the Turkish accession, any longer," he told AFP.
Yet on the surface at least, EU leaders have been keen to keep the membership bid going, with only Austria at a meeting of foreign ministers this week suggesting a halt.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said it was "very important that channels remain open between a candidate country and a partner and the EU".
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote in Daily Sabah that membership was a "strategic goal" for Turkey and talks should be accelerated rather than stopped.
- What future for refugee deal? -
Last year the continent experienced its worst refugee crisis since World War II, with more than a million people fleeing war and poverty landing on Europe's shores mostly via Turkey.
In a bid to stem the flow, Brussels and Ankara agreed a 6 billion ($6.4 billion) deal in which Turkey would take back migrants in exchange for money, visa-free travel and the opening of new chapters.
Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkey Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the EU was painfully aware it needs Erdogan's cooperation in the refugee crisis.
Erdogan "could actually bluff and walk away from the EU, knowing that the EU will come to him (almost begging) in the spring when the Aegean warms up and becomes crossable for refugees again, threatening to inundate the continent with refugees." he said.
- How great is economic dependence? -
While the rhetoric now is red hot, a significant reason that cooler heads may prevail is Ankara's economic dependence on the EU, say experts.
Anthony Skinner, head of political risk at Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, said with Turkey's slowing GDP growth an end to talks "would land a heavy and multi-dimensional blow to trade with Europe and inbound European foreign direct investment (FDI)".
Erdemir agreed, saying that the president could "shy away" from suspending talks to protect the Turkish economy.
"The Turkish president might be a firebrand populist but at the same time he is smart enough to know that 85 percent of Turkey's FDI comes from the West."
By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained more than 70 academics at an Istanbul university, NATO said Turkish soldiers had sought asylum and more pro-Kurdish mayors were arrested on Friday as a crackdown after July's failed coup entered its fifth month. Some 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended in the civil service, army, judiciary and other institutions and 36,000 people jailed pending trial in the investigation of the abortive July 15 putsch, in which more than 240 people were killed. Western allies, in particular in Europe, have voiced concern at the breadth of the purges under President Tayyip Erdogan. Some European politicians have called for a freezing of Turkey's EU membership talks, while a senior U.N. official on Friday described the measures as "draconian" and "unjustified". Erdogan has repeatedly rejected such criticism, saying Turkey is determined to root out its enemies at home and abroad, and could reintroduce the death penalty. He has accused Western nations of siding with the coup plotters and harboring terrorists. Istanbul prosecutors issued detention warrants for 103 teaching staff accused of "membership of an armed terror group" under an investigation into the city's Yildiz Technical University, one of the most prestigious education establishments so far affected, the state-run Anadolu agency said. Police detained 73 of them in dawn raids, searching their homes and offices before taking them to hospital for routine health checks and then to the city's police headquarters. Some were said to have been users of a smart-phone messaging app called ByLock, Anadolu said. The Turkish authorities say the app was used by followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for masterminding the failed coup attempt. Gulen denies involvement in the putsch. "DRACONIAN" Thousands of soldiers have been dismissed from the Turkish armed forces since the coup. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday some members of the military who were posted to NATO in Europe had requested asylum. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Stoltenberg stressed that Turkey remained a crucial NATO ally and that he condemned the July 15 putsch, but said Ankara must respect the rule of law. "Some Turkish officers working in NATO command structures... have requested asylum in the countries where they are working," he said. "As always, this is an issue that is going to be assessed and decided by the different NATO allies." Dozens of journalists in Turkey have also been jailed pending trial in the crackdown. U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression David Kaye voiced "deep concern" about widespread measures being used to erode free speech. "Across the board, the government is imposing draconian measures that limit freedom of expression," Kaye said after a one-week official mission to Turkey. He acknowledged the national security concerns faced by the government, but said: "The unjustified attacks on lawyers, judges, journalists, artists, academics and activists undermine security and generate polarization and long-term instability." On Thursday, authorities dismissed 203 prosecutors and judges over links to what the government calls the "Gulenist Terror Group". Parallel to the purges targeting alleged Gulen followers, authorities have been cracking down on politicians they accuse of ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. A court on Friday sent the mayor of the southeastern city of Van, Bekir Kaya, to jail pending trial on a charge of aiding the PKK, a day after he was detained by police at the municipality building, party sources said. Ankara has appointed administrators to run 34 municipalities, including the one in Van, to replace elected mayors from Kaya's pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions' Party (DBP). Police on Friday detained another DBP mayor, Halis Coskun, who ran the council in the Malazgirt district of Mus province in eastern Turkey, the party sources said. (Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Robin Emmott in Brussels; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Janet Lawrence)
Berlin (AFP) - More than 4,400 Turkish citizens have applied for asylum in Germany this year, the government said on Friday, with numbers soaring since a failed coup attempt against Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Among them are several Turkish military officers stationed at Germany's Ramstein NATO air base, national news agency DPA has reported.
Berlin-Ankara relations have been badly strained by concerns over the Erdogan government's stance on civil rights, especially its sweeping crackdown against opposition lawmakers, journalists and other critical voices in the wake of the July coup attempt.
On Friday, Germany's Office for Migration and Refugees said that this year it had received 4,437 political asylum requests to the end of October from Turks, compared to 1,767 during all of last year.
Numbers had steadily climbed from 275 in July to 485 in October, it said, cautioning however that the rise could not be tied directly to the coup attempt, given the long time lags for asylum applications.
German conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, who sits on parliament's interior affairs committee, said: "We must presume that the number of Turks who will request political asylum in Germany will rise further."
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said last week Berlin wants to "help persecuted scientists, cultural workers, journalists, who can no longer work in Turkey, come to Germany to work".
Erdogan, for his part, has accused Germany of harbouring thousands of Kurdish militants and failing to respond to its requests to extradite terror suspects of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK.
"We gave them 4,500 files. Six of them were looked at," Erdogan said before leaving on a foreign trip on Friday. "Germany is not keeping an eye on this well.
"Terror will return like a boomerang tomorrow and hit Germany. Germany is playing this wrong. The West has become a sanctuary for terror. You say the PKK is a terror group and then support them. What kind of friendship and honesty is this?"
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- 'Get rid of opposition' -
Mayer, of the conservative Bavarian CSU party, was critical of the foreign ministry for stating that Germany was open to granting refuge to Turkish citizens who need it.
"We don't solve Turkey's problems by inviting all citizens who are critical of the regime to request asylum here," he told the Funke media group.
"That's not a favour we should do for President Erdogan. Because that's exactly what he wants -- to get rid of the opposition."
Developments in Turkey have a strong resonance in Germany, home to a three-million-strong ethnic Turkish population, the legacy of a massive "guest worker" programme in the 1960s and 70s.
Turkey declared a state of emergency following the July 15 failed coup, arresting tens of thousands in a crackdown which critics say has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone daring to criticise Erdogan.
EU and US officials have expressed concern over the arrests of opposition lawmakers and journalists as fears grow over Turkey's use of emergency laws.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Friday that a number of Turkish officers posted to the alliance had asked for asylum in the member countries where they serve amid the post-coup crackdown at home.
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By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Some Turkish military officers posted to NATO in Europe have requested asylum since the abortive coup in Turkey in July, alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday. Reuters exclusively reported in October that Turkish authorities had dismissed hundreds of senior military staff serving with NATO in Europe and the United States following July's coup attempt as part of a far-flung, post-coup security clampdown that has raised human rights concerns. Stoltenberg stressed that Turkey remains a crucial NATO ally and that he condemned the July 15 putsch, but also that Ankara must respect the rule of law even it seeks to remove suspected coup plotters from its armed forces. "Some Turkish officers working in NATO command structures, some of them have requested asylum in the countries where they are working," Stoltenberg told a conference. "As always, this is an issue that is going to be assessed and decided by the different NATO allies as a national issue." At least two Turkish military officials, who were at NATO until they were fired by Ankara in September, are seeking asylum in Belgium, where the alliance has its headquarters. Others have made requests in Germany, where NATO has an air base. A senior Turkish official said last month that Turkey had recalled some soldiers and diplomats after the coup attempt. Some of them declined to go home. More than 400 military staff and diplomats have been summoned back to Ankara, according to documents seen by Reuters, but some are choosing not to return. They say their colleagues have been imprisoned without charge and have had almost no contact with lawyers or family members. Colleagues of those recalled and arrested suspect they are accused of being part of the military faction that seized bridges and roads and attacked Turkey's parliament on July 15. They deny any wrongdoing. LETTERS OF APPEAL The issue is highly sensitive both for Turkey and for the West, which relies on Ankara in the war against Islamic State militants and in preventing migrants from heading en masse from its territory to the European continent. At least one non-Turkish NATO ally has written to its ministry of defense to defend their purged Turkish colleagues, but have not received a reply. Others plan to do the same, but are reluctant to speak out for fear of alienating the Turkish authorities in Brussels and across the alliance. Stoltenberg is to travel to Istanbul on Sunday for a meeting of lawmakers from across the alliance, joining Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government ministers for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's annual session. Turkey has sacked or suspended over 110,000 people in the military, civil service, judiciary and elsewhere and jailed 36,000 people pending trial as part of inquiries into the coup bid. The scope of the purges has caused alarm among human rights groups and some Western allies of Ankara, who fear that Erdogan is using the putsch as a pretext to curtail dissent. Stoltenberg said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which is designed to protect allies from attack, is based on what he called "core values" of democracy and the rule of law. "I expect all allies to live up to those values," he said. "When I visited Turkey in September, the message from the Turkish leadership was that they would prosecute those responsible and Turkey has the right to prosecute (them)." But he said he had been reassured that "this will also be done in accordance of the rule of law". Turkish officials say the scale of the crackdown, which enjoys broad popular support at home, is justified by the gravity of events on July 15, when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, fighter jets and helicopters, bombing parliament and government buildings in their attempt to seize power. More than 240 people, many of them civilians, were killed. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel and Mark Heinrich)
Former Turkish military officers posted to NATO in Europe are seeking asylum there after a failed coup earlier this year to overthrow the Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. Stoltenberg said Turkey remains a vital NATO ally and would have to respect NATOs verdict about whether the military officials would be granted asylum in the European counties where they were working.
Turkish authorities discharged hundreds of senior military staff members serving with NATO in Europe and the Unites States after the July 15 coup, Reuters reported Friday. At least two Turkish military officials, who were working with NATO before being fired by the Turkish government in September, are seeking asylum in Belgium.
More than 400 military staff members and diplomats had been summoned back to Turkey by the government, but some elected not to return, citing colleagues of theirs that had been imprisoned in the aftermath of the coup without the ability to contact lawyers or family members. Greek authorities said eight Turkish military officers fled to the city of Alexandroupoli after the July coup, the Guardian reported Friday.
U.S. and EU officials expressed human rights concerns over the Turkish governments use of emergency laws aimed at cracking down on potential planners of the July coup, BBC reported Friday. Turkey has discharged, detained or arrested hundreds of thousands of people under these laws, which allowed Erdogan and his cabinet to rule by decree. While the majority of those people were in the military, others included teachers, policemen, judges and journalists.
Free speech in the country had been at risk since the coup, with 3,000 Turks accused of insulting the president and 150 national news outlets closed, the New York Times reported Thursday. There was a recent push by the Turkish government to allow businesses loyal to it to take ownership of the remaining media outlets.
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At least 76 academics were detained at a university in Istanbul Friday as part of the ongoing clampdown, according to another New York Times report. In all, more than 100,000 Turks were fired from the government jobs they originally had before the failed coup, mainly in military, civil service and judiciary positions. Roughly 36,000 of those who were jailed are still awaiting their trials.
Stoltenberg, who was scheduled to visit Istanbul Sunday, said because of these firings there was a great deal of changeovers in the NATO command structure in Turkey. Stoltenberg condemned the July coup and said he expected the Turkish government to fill all of its posts.
More than 240 people, many of who were civilians, died in the coup attempt. The Turkish Armed Forces cited the alleged rise of secularism within Turkish politics and the governments disregard for human rights as reasons for the coup. Erdogan, who issued a 3-month state of emergency in response, said the plotters had tried to assassinate him in a bombing in the Turkish Mediterranean resort town Marmaris.
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Brussels (AFP) - A number of Turkish officers serving in NATO command posts have asked for asylum since a failed military coup in July, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.
Stoltenberg also said he would travel to Istanbul on Sunday, having been there in September when he sought to reassure Ankara of NATO's continued support.
"Some Turkish officers working in NATO command structures ... have requested asylum in the countries where they are working," Stoltenberg told a security conference in Brussels.
"We have seen a number of changeovers in the NATO command structure where Turkish personnel has been changed," the NATO chief said.
Stoltenberg said the NATO countries concerned would make their own asylum decisions rather than the alliance headquarters in Brussels.
"We would be wrong if we started to go into that kind of legal issue; that's for the judicial system" of the countries concerned, he said.
Stoltenberg did not name the countries or say how many Turkish officers were involved.
Jonathan Eyal, an analyst with the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute, told AFP the development could create more tensions with Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused western powers of failing to show enough support and rejected their charges that he is violating human rights with his massive post-coup crackdown.
Turkey declared a state of emergency following the July 15 coup, arresting tens of thousands in a crackdown which critics say has gone well beyond the alleged plotters to include anyone daring to criticise Erdogan.
Eyal warned the NATO chain of command could be undermined in the long term as Turkey may struggle to fill the slots with officers who may be chosen for their loyalty rather than their competence.
On Thursday, German media reported that several Turkish officers from the NATO base in Ramstein had asked for political asylum together with their families.
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"There is more than one person", Paul Junker, chief administrator for the district of Kaiserslautern, told the online website of the weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
On Friday the German office for Migration and Refugees confirmed that in total 4,437 Turkish citizens applied for asylum between January and October, more than double the number for 2015.
Authorities in Greece have said eight Turkish military officers fled to the northern Greek city of Alexandroupoli shortly after the coup, but they did not appear to be serving with NATO.
Stoltenberg said he would be visiting Turkey on Sunday to attend a meeting of parliamentarians from NATO countries.
Turkey joined the US-led military alliance in 1952 shortly after World War II, at the start of the Cold War.
Its membership has traditionally been a cornerstone of Turkish foreign policy.
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LONDON The first episode of Amazon Prime's new series The Grand Tour has garnered rave reviews from critics.
Fronted by the former hosts of the BBC's Top Gear series, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's return has been hotly anticipated following the less-than-successful airing of the revamped Top Gear.
But did Grand Tour pass the true litmus test of watchability in the modern world?
That is, how did Twitter respond?
SEE ALSO: 'The Grand Tour' will stream worldwide as Amazon Prime Video expands
As it turns out, Twitter is a big fan.
The show's opening scenes prompted instant praise
#TheGrandTour almost 5 minutes with nothing said. What an incredible opening sequence!!! Must admit to having a tear in my eye! Lord James (@LordFawlty) November 18, 2016
The first ten minutes of The Grand Tour are everything I wanted them to be. So epic! @JeremyClarkson @RichardHammond @MrJamesMay Adam Pitts (@LawsonAdam) November 18, 2016
Overwhelmingly, The Grand Tour scored high praise from Twitter
I never thought I'd get emotional watching 3 morons driving mustangs in the desert. But here I am... #TheGrandTour Andrew Blanchard (@AndyTheBlanch) November 18, 2016
It's hard to explain to your fiance while as a 32 old man you are kinda tearin up at the sight of 3 British guys in mustangs #TheGrandTour Lreed (@corbinwalters1) November 18, 2016
Yes I have just stayed up to watch The Grand Tour instead of doing any work. Worth it. Luke (@_BFCLuke) November 18, 2016
The Grand Tour looks simply stunning. Utilising my HD to the max while the trio prove why they are the only motor journalists that matter Andy Pilkington (@Peandpi) November 18, 2016
The Grand Tour is excellent fun to watch. Factual(ish) films, cheesy camaraderie in the studio, bit of slapstick also... It's brilliant! Liam Pape (@papermail7) November 18, 2016
Of course, some of the reviews are less reliable than others
Er, there seems to be some sort of car show already on Amazon. And it's not bad. Richard Hammond (@RichardHammond) November 17, 2016
But many people seemed to think it was even better than the show's predecessor, Top Gear
That's the first episode of the grand tour watched. Absolutely love it! Its like old top gear but so much better! @thegrandtour Jake Margalies (@jakemargalies) November 18, 2016
The Grand Tour 9/ ... 4K Cinematography 10/10, banter 8/10, car content 9/10, originality 9/10, verdict: better than Top Gear. *mic drop* pic.twitter.com/Yf2YMmHFP8 Will Carne (@WillCarne) November 18, 2016
Grand Tour Episode 1, the best car show since Top Gear had an elephant in the studio. #grandtour Dilan Patel (@dilanpatel98) November 18, 2016
But of course, every show has its shortcomings
#grandtour is good, but i'm not sure I want to see @JeremyClarkson's teeth in 4k. Thanks @amazon Pete Taylor (@5olly) November 18, 2016
BONUS: Jeremy Clarkson and James May of 'The Grand Tour' on why millennials aren't into cars
By Sharon Bernstein
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court in Chicago on Friday blocked the immediate release from prison of Brendan Dassey, a Wisconsin man whose homicide conviction was overturned in a case chronicled in the popular Netflix television documentary "Making a Murderer."
A U.S. magistrate judge in August ruled that the guilty verdict returned by a trial jury in 2007 against Dassey, now 27, was based on a coerced confession he gave as a 16-year-old with a learning disability.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed the judge's ruling, and prosecutors sought to keep Dassey in prison while the case is under review.
On Thursday, a day before Dassey was scheduled to be freed, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with prosecutors. A three-judge panel ordered him to remain incarcerated "pending the outcome of the appeal," but did not explain its reasoning.
Dassey and his uncle, Steven Avery, were convicted in separate trials of killing freelance photographer Teresa Halbach at Avery's home and scrap yard in 2005. Her charred remains were found in an incineration barrel and a burn pit on Avery's property, about 80 miles (130 km) north of Milwaukee.
The nephew, then 17, was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse. Avery was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon. Both were sentenced to life in prison.
The case was the subject of the 10-part documentary "Making a Murderer," which questioned the handling of the investigation and the motives of Manitowoc County law enforcement officials.
The documentary, which first went into production 10 years ago, recounted how Avery was convicted of an earlier, unrelated rape and sent to prison in 1985, serving 18 years before DNA evidence exonerated him and he was released.
He filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and district attorney in 2004. A year later, he and Dassey were accused of killing Halbach.
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The Emmy-nominated documentary suggested that authorities planted evidence against both defendants, a claim rejected by the current sheriff.
Avery has filed a notice of appeal in his own case.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Will Dunham)
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department notified Congress on Thursday of the possible sale of F-15QA aircraft to Qatar for $21.1 billion and F/A-18E/F aircraft to Kuwait for $10.1 billion, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
Qatar asked to purchase 72 of the fighter aircraft with weapons and related support, the statement said. Kuwait has requested to buy 40 F/A-18E and F/A-18F aircraft and related equipment, it said.
Boeing Co is the prime contractor on the possible sale to Qatar, and Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co and General Electric Co are the prime contractors on the Kuwait deal.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)
(Recasts with White House notice)
By Valerie Volcovici and Patrick Rucker
WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United States plans to gather more input from native people as officials contemplate projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a White House notice posted on Thursday that could delay the controversial plan.
The Army Corps of Engineers plans to "revise its regulations" to ensure its consultations with sovereign tribes are "confirmed by the U.S. Constitution, treaties, statutes, executive orders, judicial decisions and presidential documents and policies."
The proposed change comes in the form of what is known as an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which states an agency's intention to issue a new regulation.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which manages many federal infrastructure projects, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
The pending rule is being contemplated in the final weeks of President Barack Obama's term when the administration is mulling whether or not to allow the Dakota Access crude pipeline.
President-elect Donald Trump is due to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Under federal law, the incoming president has authority to invalidate many last-minute decisions from an outgoing administration.
The notice, which was posted on the website of the U.S. Office Information and Regulatory Affairs, said the public will be able to comment on the proposal until Jan. 1, 2017.
The Obama administration has been in a quandary over whether to issue a permit to allow the completion of the final leg of the pipeline.
Demonstrators fanned out across North America on Tuesday to demand that the U.S. government either halt or reroute the pipeline, while Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the controversial project, asked a federal court for permission to complete it.
(Additional reporting by Ethan Lou in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates)
The Karki case
Suspended chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lokman Singh Karki faces impeachment as proceedings are underway in Parliament.
Russian authorities have blocked access to LinkedIn after a court ruled that the business networking site had broken local data storage laws.
A Moscow district court decision last week, which went into effect on Friday, said that LinkedIn had failed to observe a 2014 federal law stipulating that internet companies that process the personal data of Russian citizens must store that data on servers located in Russia.
The move marks the first time a social media site has been blocked in Russia. It will see LinkedIn users in Russia gradually lose access as of Friday. In the past, Russia has threatened to block such social media sites as Facebook, but has never done so.
The decision on LinkedIn prompted alarm at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, which expressed concern, with some observers wondering if the decision could set a precedent justifying the blocking of other sites in the country. "The United States is deeply concerned," Russian state news agency RIA quoted an embassy representative as saying. "We call on Russia to immediately restore access to LinkedIn."
Although none of the other large international social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, or Facebook's WhatsApp service, keep Russian users' data on Russia servers, observers believe the case, brought by Kremlin media watchdog Roskomnadzor, is designed as a warning that could be used to put pressure on those companies, which are much more popular among Russians than LinkedIn, to fall into line.
LinkedIn has around 400 million registered users worldwide, but only 5 million of those are in Russia. Russian authorities claim the site is vulnerable to hacking, pointing to a massive hack in 2012 when 6.4 million usernames and passwords were stolen.
"They have a bad track record: Every year there's a major scandal about the safety of user data," Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky told The Moscow Times.
In a statement sent out Friday to registered users in Russia, LinkedIn said it would provide refunds for "unused time" for any paid services. Russian users who choose not to close their accounts are also likely to still be able to access them when outside of Russia.
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The move comes at a time when, following Donald Trump's presidential election victory, Russia's relations with the U.S. are looking like they could improve.
Any decision by LinkedIn to comply with the Russian data storage law and restore access to its Russian users is likely to hinge on what Microsoft, which recently agreed to buy the business networking site for $26.2 billion, decides.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday extended for one year an international inquiry to determine blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, paving the way for a showdown between Russia and Western powers over how to punish those responsible. Russia had said it wanted the inquiry to be broadened to look more at the "terrorist chemical threat" within the region and the resolution to renew the mandate included language to reflect that request. The 15-member council unanimously adopted the U.S.-drafted resolution. Launched by the Council a year ago, the inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has already found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas. Syria's government has denied its forces have used chemical weapons during the country's nearly six-year-old civil war, while Islamic State is not known to have commented. The Damascus government and its main Russian ally refer to all rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad as "terrorists". France, Britain, the United States and other Council members have said that after the renewal of the inquiry on Thursday, they hope to start negotiations on a draft resolution to punish those blamed for the attacks, likely with U.N. sanctions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Friday that nobody could deny the Syrian government's culpability and that a resolution needed to be brought to the Security Council. "The first conclusions from investigators were damning. It is impossible to deny that the Syrian government repeatedly used chemical weapons in clear violation of international law and commitments it agreed to. Those responsible must now be held accountable," he said during a news conference alongside U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. But Russia has said the inquiry's findings cannot be used to take action at the Security Council and that the Syrian government should investigate the accusations. Last week, the OPCW's executive body voted to condemn the use of banned toxic agents by the Syrian government and Islamic State jihadists. Chlorine's use as a weapon is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013. If inhaled, chlorine gas turns to hydrochloric acid and can kill by burning lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Moscow and Washington. The Security Council endorsed that deal with a resolution that said in the event of non-compliance, "including unauthorized transfer of chemical weapons, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone" in Syria, it would impose measures under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Chapter 7 deals with sanctions and authorization of military force by the Security Council. It would need to adopt another resolution to impose targeted sanctions - a travel ban and asset freeze - on people or entities linked to the attacks. (Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
The U.N. Special Rapporteur for the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, has described the conditions on the Pacific island of Nauru where Australia runs an offshore immigration detention center as cruel, inhuman and degrading.
His remarks came after the completion of his 18-day visit to Australia and Nauru.
Australia would vehemently protest if its citizens were treated like this by other countries and especially if Australian children were treated like this, the special rapporteur told Australias SBS.
Last month, an Amnesty International report found the conditions at Nauru tantamount to torture, citing severe mental anguish and the intentional nature of the system. (The Australian government rejected Amnestys assessment.)
Earlier this year, the Guardian reported at least two refugees self-immolated on the island and that at least six others had attempted suicide in a matter of days.
The Australian governments policy of detaining undocumented asylum seekers who arrive by boat in offshore processing centers has long been a subject of controversy.
Earlier this month, Australia and the U.S. agreed to resettle many of the refugees held in Australias offshore centers in the U.S.
LAGOS (Reuters) - The United States on Friday said it was concerned by the deaths of Nigerians in clashes between Shi'ite Muslims and police earlier this week and what it called the apparently disproportionate response of the police in the violence. Police said nine people were killed in the clashes during which officers opened fire on members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) taking part in a procession in the northern city of Kano on Monday, but the minority sect said dozens died. Security analysts have drawn some parallels between the IMN and Boko Haram, the Sunni Muslim jihadist group whose insurgency began in 2009. The violence was the latest in a series of incidents involving the sect. A judicial inquiry in August reported that 347 IMN members were killed and buried in mass graves after clashes with the army in December 2015, and two sect members were killed in processions in Kaduna state in October. "The United States is deeply concerned by the deaths of dozens of Nigerians during clashes between individuals participating in a Shia procession and the Nigerian Police Force in Kano State," a statement by the U.S. diplomatic mission in Nigeria said. "While the matter is still under investigation, we are troubled by the apparent disproportionate response by the police," said the statement, issued by spokesman John Kirby, which also called for "calm and restraint on all sides". The U.S. said Nigeria's government should conduct an investigation and "bring to account anyone responsible for violating the law". Last month, the government in Kaduna state, which is next to Kano state, declared IMN as an "unlawful society" on the grounds that its processions were a danger to peace, and said anyone convicted of being a member of the sect could be imprisoned for up to seven years. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of 180 million inhabitants, combines a predominantly Christian south and mainly Sunni Muslim north. Human Rights Watch estimates that IMN, whose 1980s founders were inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Shi'ite Iran, has around 3 million members. The sect's leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, has been held without charge since December following the clashes with the army in Zaria. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Plans by American Airlines Group Inc and Qantas Airways Ltd to expand their alliance for flights between the United States and Australasia were tentatively denied by the U.S. Transportation on Friday, the agency said, citing competition concerns.
The carriers submitted their application in June 2015, several months before American started flights between the United States and Australia. The partners had been marketing flights on routes that the other did not offer, and requested immunity from U.S. antitrust law in order to coordinate prices and schedules.
The Transportation Department said in a statement that air travelers would have few remaining competitive options if the alliance were expanded, "given the scale of the resulting joint business."
The alliance would have the largest share of seats between 200 pairs of cities, and account for nearly 60 percent of all seats between the United States and Australia, the department said.
The airlines started sharing codes on each other's flights in 1989, co-founded the oneworld marketing alliance in 1999 and formed a deeper partnership in 2011 without antitrust immunity, the regulator said.
American said in a statement it would file an objection, noting the department's "significant departure" from its prior decisions.
"Other airlines have the significant competitive advantage of antitrust immunity in the U.S.-Australasia market," American said.
Denials of requests for antitrust immunity are rare, said Henry Harteveldt, founder of the travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group. However, the United States has become increasingly concerned about protecting consumers as the industry has consolidated through mergers and alliances, he said.
"It's made it more difficult for unaffiliated airlines to compete," Harteveldt said.
(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann in Washington and Jeffrey Dastin in San Franscisco; Editing by David Alexander and Richard Chang)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States proposed on Friday that the United Nations Security Council blacklist South Sudan opposition figure Riek Machar, South Sudan army chief Paul Malong and South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei. The United States circulated the three names to the 15-member council in an annex, seen by Reuters, to a draft resolution that would place an arms embargo on the world's newest nation amid warnings by a senior U.N. official of possible genocide. If designated by the council, the men would be subjected to a global asset freeze and travel ban. However, Russia and China, members with council veto powers, have both voiced opposition to an arms embargo and further targeted sanctions. Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said on Thursday that sanctions against South Sudanese leaders would "be the height of irresponsibility now." Political rivalry between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Machar, a Nuer, led to civil war in 2013 that has often followed ethnic lines. The pair signed a shaky peace deal last year, but fighting has continued and Machar fled the country in July. Machar was in Democratic Republic of Congo, then Sudan and was most recently in South Africa for medical treatment. The Security Council set up a targeted sanctions regime for South Sudan in March 2015 and has so far blacklisted six generals - three from each side of the conflict - by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban. In September last year the United States proposed that the Security Council sanction Malong, but Russia, Angola and Venezuela objected. U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed in South Sudan since 2011, when it gained independence from Sudan. There are some 13,000 U.N. troops and police on the ground. (Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
* Uber letter comes after govt plans to have apps pulled
* Uber appealing to Tsai's push for Silicon Valley-like economy
* Latest salvo comes after UberEATS launched in Taiwan
* Tsai's office: Taiwan welcomes foreign capital, tech, including Uber (Adds response from Taiwan Presidential Office in paragraphs 12, 13)
By J.R. Wu
TAIPEI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc urged Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to let the island's people decide whether they want Uber services in Taiwan, the latest salvo in the wrangle between the authorities there and the global ride-hailing service company.
Uber's comments were made in an open letter to the island's president posted on its website on Thursday.
They came after transport authorities said this week they would ask Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to pull Uber's apps available in Taiwan from their app stores, including UberEATS, its newest meal takeaway service.
Late last month, Taiwan's cabinet said policymakers had reached a consensus on raising potential fines that would affect Uber's operations in Taiwan from at most T$150,000 ($4,707.36) now to as much as T$25 million.
"These developments directly threaten the interests of over a million Taiwanese citizens, especially the mothers, fathers, retirees, professionals, and the otherwise unemployed who have come to rely on the economic opportunities Uber has created," Uber said in the letter signed by Mike Brown, regional general manager of Uber Asia Pacific.
Uber operates in Taiwan as an internet-based technology platform rather than as a transportation company, which Taiwanese authorities have said is a mis-representation of its service and ordered it to pay back taxes. However, Uber has said it complies with local regulations, including paying its taxes.
Uber has been facing similar legal scrutiny in markets across Asia. It entered the Taiwan market in 2013, and its growing popularity has triggered anger from domestic taxi drivers, who staged a massive protest against Uber earlier this year.
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Appealing to Tsai's push to turn Taiwan into a Silicon Valley in Asia, Uber said it wanted to bring more services, like tech-powered carpooling and self-driving vehicles, to the island.
Taiwan's existing laws are a "poor fit for new technologies and business models", Uber said in its letter, adding that the actions against Uber also deter entrepreneurs and foreign investment.
"We have submitted multiple proposals and updates in an effort to demonstrate our commitment to working together to recognize, and regulate, ridesharing, which is an entirely new technology and business model for Taiwan," it said.
"So we ask you, President Tsai, to please guide the dialogue on innovation, by convening a public hearing on ridesharing and letting Taiwan decide," Uber said.
In response, Taiwan's Presidential Office said it hopes Uber will continue its consultations with the government.
"(We) also welcome foreign capital and technology to Taiwan, including innovative new economic models like Uber," it said in a statement.
Uber's Taiwan general manager Likai Gu told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday that the company remains optimistic about a "positive resolution" of the issues in Taiwan.
There are over 10,000 driver partners registered on Uber's platform in Taiwan, estimated Gu. He said drivers must register with a Taiwanese ID card, which means the individual is a citizen, and a valid Taiwanese driver's license.
"That doesn't necessarily equate to jobs, but it's people who decide that their current income opportunities are not enough," said Gu.
"They want to convert these cars into something that helps them earn additional income, instead of something that becomes a financial burden." ($1 = 31.8650 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
The UFC Belfast fight between Ian Uncle Creepy McCall and Neil Seery was canceled on Friday. The bout's cancellation, McCall's fourth in four attempts to get in the Octagon, came when McCall fell ill.
The bout was intended to be 37-year-old Seery's retirement bout. It wasn't to be for the Dubliner, who wanted to end his career at the Northern Ireland event.
Following the cancellation, UFC officials issued the following statement:
On the advice of physicians, and with the athletes health and safety in mind, UFC has removed Ian McCall from his bout (Saturday) night against Neil Seery at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, due to illness.
UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 will proceed with 13 bouts. Seery will serve as a back-up in the event a flyweight from the card cannot compete.
TRENDING > Conor McGregor Puts a Price on Floyd Mayweather Boxing Match
Seery weighed 126 pounds at the official early morning weigh-in. He will receive his show money, even if he doesn't fight, which is likely. The only other flyweight bout on the card is a preliminary fight between Ali Bagautinov and Kyoji Horiguchi.
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Two dengue deaths in three days in Chitwan
Two dengue deaths have been reported in Chitwan between three days, the District Public Health Office said on Thursday.
Days after Donald Trump was elected president, a University of Georgia student reported to local police that a man threatened her with the same words that president-elect used to describe how he could get away with assaulting women.
The 22-year-old told Athens-Clarke County police that she was eating at the Waffle House in downtown Athens on Saturday when she overheard a group of men making racist comments about Mexicans.
When she turned around to face the group of men who were all white one of them reportedly stated that he was going to grab (the student) by the p---y, according to a police report cited by the Athens Banner-Herald.
The threat mirrored the president-elects vulgar remarks caught on tape in a 2005 video where he bragged about how he was able to Grab [women] by the p---y, by virtue of his fame. The video was leaked in October, days before the presidential elections, and prompted a number of women to come forward with accusations of sexual abuse against Trump.
Trump, however, has denied all allegations of sexual abuse and dismissed the comments on the tape caught backstage on an Access Hollywood segment as locker room banter.
With Trumps election, many believe that there would be an increase in such incidents as men may consider such acts as being sanctioned by the nations choice for president.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based legal advocacy organization, reported last week that between the day Trump won and the following Monday, the nonprofit collected 437 reports of hateful intimidation and harassment against woman and minorities.
Jackson Katz, co-founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention a program taught in high schools and colleges across the country referred to the construction moguls election as a disaster.
We elected a man who is openly misogynistic, who has a decades-long public life of ridiculing, belittling and sexually objectifying women, Katz told the Huffington Post. The fact that we have lifted him up to be the president makes a powerful statement about our society and what we accept.
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By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - The mental health benefits of participation in childhood scouting activities might last for decades, a new study suggests. In the middle-aged study participants, mood and happiness tended to range in association with childhood social position but not for grown-ups who had been in the Scouts-Guides program when they were young, researchers found. Scout or Guide membership appears to almost completely remove the inequality in mental health (aged 50) associated with early life economic disadvantage, said lead author Chris Dibben of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Given the difficulty governments around the world have in tackling health inequalities, we think any evidence of substantial impact is significant, Dibben told Reuters Health by email. The Scout Association provides active, outdoor, social activities for young people, male and female, age six to 25 in the U.K. Girlguiding is a similar program, and the largest girls only youth program in the U.K. For the new study, the researchers focused on more than 9,000 people born in 1958, 28 percent of whom had been in the Scouts or Guides program. Mental Health Index tests at age 50 assessed nerves, calmness, downheartedness and happiness over the previous four weeks, with answers scored on a scale of one to 100. On average, participants scored about 75. Adults who had been in Scouts-Guides scored about 2.2 points higher than other adults. For those who had not taken part in the programs, mental health scores ranged along the lines of childhood social position, but there was no similar range for adults who had been in Scouts-Guides, as reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Detecting an apparent effect 40 or so years after an activity is always going to be notable, however in many ways existing research on social mobility, resilience and activities that may be protective of mental health, provide many explanations of why the kind of programs used by the scouts and guides and other similar youth organizations might be protective of mental health, Dibben told Reuters Health by email. We know that many of the things being a Scout or Guide enable you to do or learn are useful for protecting mental health: taking exercise, eating well, enjoying the outdoors, having good social skills, having fun and making a contribution, he said. We also know that being a Scout or Guide helps people to encounter new or challenging situations and cope well, with the help of others. Character skills like conscientiousness, perseverance and curiosity may be as important as intelligence for overall life achievement, he said. This then supports the idea that parents might look to activities that might develop these skills in children, Dibben said. The researchers did not account for how caring or supportive peoples childhood homes were, which may have had an impact, said Dr. Oliver Huxhold of the German Center of Gerontology in Berlin, who was not part of the study. Caring or supporting parents would have been more likely to put kids into these Scout or Guide programs, Huxhold told Reuters Health by phone. But there are no real downsides to these types of programs, which exist in many countries, he said. Thats the main reason why I dont think its problematic to recommend something like this, he said. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2fDQcLx Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, online November 10, 2016.
LONDON (Reuters) - Buckingham Palace, one of Britain's best known landmarks and home to Queen Elizabeth, will undergo a decade-long overhaul costing 369 million pounds ($457 million) after the government approved what it said were urgently needed funds. The work will focus on replacing electrical wiring, water pipes and the heating system which were installed after World War Two. "These urgent works have been properly costed and will ensure the palace can continue its centuries-long tradition of being the working house of our monarch," David Gauke, chief secretary to the Treasury, said on Friday. The renovation will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, the government financial mechanism that covers the running costs of Queen Elizabeth's household. The most critical work will begin in April 2017 and the palace will remain occupied and fully operational while the renovation is carried out, the royal press office said. Millions of tourists flock to see the palace each year, especially to see the traditional Changing of the Guard and Summer Opening ceremonies. (Reporting by Adela Suliman; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Matthias Williams and Margaryta Chornokondratenko KIEV (Reuters) - The office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hit back on Thursday at claims by former regional governor Mikheil Saakashvili that Poroshenko had allowed corruption to flourish, saying Saakashvili had failed to deliver change while in office. Speaking to Reuters a week after resigning as a governor, Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who went on to have a second political career in Ukraine, had said Poroshenko either abetted or turned a blind eye to corruption. In the first detailed rebuttal by a representative of Poroshenko since Saakashvili quit, Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, told Reuters Saakashvili was a better politician than a manager. Despite being given more power than any previous governor in Ukraine, and allowed to appoint his own people to key positions, Saakashvili had failed to bring corrupt people to book or deliver tangible reform in the customs service, Kovalchuk said. "We may say that Mikheil Saakashvili did not manage to cope with his powers," Kovalchuk told Reuters in an emailed statement. "Believe me, no one in the presidential administration is happy about it. I regret that Mikheil Saakashvili turned out to be a far better politician than a manager." Saakashvili was appointed governor of the Odessa region in 2015 by Poroshenko - Kiev's pro-Western leader who pledged to transform Ukraine after the Maidan street protests, partly fueled by anger over official corruption, led to the overthrow of the previous administration. But for some in the country, dreams of radical change are fading; a report by Transparency International on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians do not think there has been a reduction in corruption under Poroshenko, compared with under the former president, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich. "Poroshenko wanted until now to appear nice in front of the West, that he is doing something, without really doing anything," Saakashvili said. "Imitating change without really having any real substantial change." Reuters could not independently verify any of Saakashvili's allegations. Poroshenko and others in the government "have lost all taste for reforms", Saakashvili said in an interview. "Real change and reform really means also decreasing the leverage for stealing, for plundering, pillaging Ukrainian wealth and for the cronies of the president and the others to basically increase their wealth," he said. "First they refused to help us when they could, and then they actually started to sabotage us." Kovalchuk countered assertions that Poroshenko didn't help reforms in Odessa. As an example, he said Poroshenko initiated a law change allowing new roads to be built through the revenues collected from customs, with Odessa in mind. But Odessa still lagged other regions in road repairs on Saakashvili's watch, he said. He added Saakashvili had spent 47 percent, or 167 days out of the 357 days he was in charge of Odessa, traveling outside the region. "Mikheil Saakashvili says that the president has lost the appetite for reforms, but in my opinion, Mikheil as the head of the region has failed to cook this meal," he said. POLITICAL FORCE When Saakashvili quit on Nov. 7 he said he planned to create a new Ukrainian political force without links to big business or established political factions, and that he would pressure the government for snap elections. Saakashvili said he had hoped to reform Odessa on the Black Sea, which had a reputation as a hub for smuggling with a corrupt port customs service. But he said his efforts were blocked at every turn. "We see some of the old cronies of Yanukovich, basically racketeer businesses, being replaced by people close to the sitting president," Saakashvili said. Recalling their conversations, Saakashvili said Poroshenko had tried to blame former Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk for blocking reform. But even after Yatseniuk's government fell in April, Saakashvili said corruption was allowed to continue. Yatseniuk resigned and, according to Saakashvili, the price he and his party exacted for supporting Poroshenko's choice of new prime minister was the sacking a reformist prosecutor who was investigating a scam to loot fuel from a state-run refinery. Yatseniuk's People's Front party did not respond to a request for comment. 'LAST OF THE MOHICANS' Saakashvili also said the head of Odessa port customs, Yulia Marushevska, was prevented from implementing reforms to reduce the discretionary powers of officers to set the level of duties and recruit new people who would be less susceptible to bribes. Saakashvili said Marushevska was hounded by official reprimands at the behest of another parliamentary faction leader in exchange for supporting Poroshenko's coalition. Marushevska, a Ukrainian, resigned on Monday, as did police chief Dekanoidze, a former Georgian government minister. Marushevska was not immediately available to comment. She has previously accused vested interests in state agencies of sabotaging her attempts to fire corrupt officials. Her superiors said her leadership had been unsatisfactory and that they had not seen any evidence of her reform plans. Dekanoidze was also unavailable to comment. When she quit she said there was a conflict between "those who want to change, and those who are stuck in the past," warning that politicians should stop meddling in the police force. Earlier official departures in Ukraine included the Economy Minister, a Lithuanian who resigned in February accusing a Poroshenko ally of corruption. "We were almost The Last of the Mohicans trying to keep faith in changing the system from within it," Saakashvili said of reformists who had left their jobs. "So for us, giving up hope was very hard because we invested a lot of time, reputation, effort in trying to change the system." "Keeping the status quo would also destroy Ukraine, so we need some kind of positive change," he said. (Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in KIEV and Marja Novak in LJUBLJANA; editing by Pravin Char and Grant McCool)
Marrakesh (Morocco) (AFP) - The leader of Fiji, whose nation is being resculpted by rising seas, pleaded Friday with Donald Trump to join the fight against global warming.
Invoking World War II, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama urged the United States to play its part in rescuing his Pacific island state -- and the world at large -- from climate change.
"You came to save us then, it is time for you to help to save us now," he said before the 196-nation assembly.
Bainimarama invited the US president-elect -- who has repeatedly called global warming a hoax -- to visit Fiji to see for himself the devastating impact of climate-fuelled cyclones and storm surges.
Moroccan foreign minister and conference president Salaheddine Mezouar made a similar plea on the final day of the high-level UN talks tasked with implementing the landmark Paris Agreement.
"We count on your pragmatism and your spirit of commitment," he said when asked if he had a message for Trump.
The UN climate forum was stunned to see an avowed climate change denier capture the White House, and the shadow of his victory hung over the 12-day meeting, which gavelled through a work plan Friday night for implementing the Paris pact.
Trump's "100-day action plan" includes scrapping the hard-won deal, which entered into force earlier this month, in record time for a treaty.
Ministers and diplomats, however, insist a Trump administration cannot derail the massive momentum of the global transition to a low-carbon economy, already well under way.
"Not one country has said that if Trump pulls the US out of the Paris Agreement they will follow him," said Alden Meyer, a veteran climate analyst at the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
- Trump effect -
The BASIC group of Brazil, South Africa, India and China said in a statement they would "continue and strengthen" their own actions, while stressing "there can be no backtracking on commitments from developed countries and no attempt to renegotiate the terms of the agreement reached in Paris".
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But if Trump acts on his promises, the consequences could still be severe.
"The chances of the rest of the world contributing the emissions reductions commitments that the US is required to undertake, or covering the shortfall in climate finance," are slim, said analyst Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid.
"That is scary," he told AFP.
Highlighting the stakes, US government scientists said this week that the first 10 months of the year were the hottest in modern times -- and 2016 would likely surpass 2015 as the warmest year on record.
The Paris pact seeks to hold nations to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Voluntary national pledges to slash CO2 emissions, a by-product of burning fossil fuels, falls dangerously short of that goal.
On current trends, average global temperatures are set to top 3 C (5.6 F) by the century's end, a recipe for massive human misery, scientists say.
A key aim of the Marrakesh talks was to lay the groundwork for ramping up -- country-by-country -- the pace of the global transition from dirty to clean energy.
- Unfinished business -
The next "political moment" when countries will be under pressure to increase their carbon-cutting ambition is the UN summit in 2018, to be held in Poland, it was announced Friday.
The other key objective was to rally hundreds of billions of dollars to poor countries hit first and hardest by climate impacts, despite having made a negligible contribution to the problem.
"The issue of finance is very much unfinished business from Paris," said Tracy Carty, an expert from Oxfam who tracks the issue.
Rich nations unveiled earlier this month a "roadmap" projecting that financing from public and private sources is on track to meet a pledge of at least $100 billion (94 billion euros) a year from 2020.
But developing nation recipients have contested the roadmap's figures, saying current climate-specific aid is only half to a quarter of the amount claimed.
Of that, only a sliver is for adapting to climate impacts -- drought, heat waves, flooding -- already under way, a high priority for the world's poorest regions, according to Oxfam.
"It looks like the issue is being kicked down the road to the next COP," said Carty, using the acronym for the annual Conference of the Parties to global efforts to stop climate change.
Mezouar announced that the next high-level climate meet would take place next year in Bonn, Germany, with Fiji presiding.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously decided to extend for another year the mandate of a panel tasked with investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying those responsible.
Backed by Russia, the council adopted a US-drafted resolution to prolong the joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) until November 2017.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said the work of the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), was "far from finished" and pointed to reports of alleged chlorine gas attacks in east Aleppo.
The JIM has already established during its year-long investigation that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
It was the first time that an international probe pointed the finger of blame at President Bashar al-Assad's forces, after years of denial from Damascus.
Despite the findings, Russia has dismissed the conclusions as unconvincing and said no sanctions should be imposed on Syria.
Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said "Russia's skeptical position is well-known regarding the conclusions" but he added that Moscow's backing was a recognition that chemical weapons use remained a threat in Syria and in Iraq.
The JIM also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.
- Calls for sanctions -
France and Britain have repeatedly called for UN sanctions against Syria for its use of chemical weapons but there has been no action at the Security Council.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "today's adoption is an important step but we will need to go further" by ensuring that those responsible for the attacks face sanctions.
Power said the council must work to "make sure those who use these gruesome weapons face consequences."
The resolution tasks the JIM with identifying the "perpetrators, organizers, sponsors" of attacks including among groups associated with the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda.
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It states that all "individuals, entities, groups or governments responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable."
In its last report, the JIM found that government helicopters flying from two Assad regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, in rebel-held Idlib province.
The panel identified three helicopter squadrons as the perpetrators.
Syria signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 and agreed to give up its chemical stockpile under pressure from close ally Russia.
At a meeting in The Hague last week, the OPCW's executive body condemned Syria for its use of chemical weapons, the first-ever condemnation of a state-party to the CWC.
"With the extension of the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism for another year, all those thinking of using chemical weapons in Syria will know that they may be exposed. But accountability is also crucial," said Louis Charbonneau, the UN director for Human Rights Watch.
"The Security Council should quickly impose sanctions on senior leaders in the Syrian chain of command who have allowed the use of chemical weapons on their watch."
Set up by the council in August 2015, the JIM was due to shut down on Friday unless its mandate was renewed.
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N), one of Donald Trump's prime corporate targets on the campaign trail, offered the President-elect a chance to claim a victory late on Thursday by informing him it would not shift production of a Lincoln sport utility vehicle to Mexico from Kentucky.
Trump jumped at the chance, claiming in a tweet that he had "worked hard" with Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. to keep the plant in Kentucky, even though Ford had never considered moving the whole factory south of the border.
In letting Trump claim a victory, Ford made what appeared to be a calculated, public appeal to the next president in an attempt to soothe concerns about outsourcing jobs and to gain some leverage with the new administration as the automaker pushes for favorable policy changes in Congress.
"Ford is not going to make a decision on a purely political basis," said Kristin Dziczek, director of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research in Michigan.
"They are going to make a decision that makes business sense, economic sense and if it happens to align with political goals, that's great," she said.
The No. 2 automaker in the United States is not the only company in Trump's crosshairs working out how to deal with the new political reality in Washington.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O), criticized by Trump for not building products in the United States, is studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the United States, Japanese news service Nikkei reported on Thursday.
Apple did not reply to a request for comment on Friday.
JOBS = VOTES
Trump campaigned heavily on bringing jobs to the United States and attacking companies such as Ford that plan to take some production overseas, a message that resonated in the economically ravaged center of the country.
Ford gave Trump plenty of ammunition, confirming in September that all of its remaining small-car production in the United States, at its facility in Wayne, Michigan, would go to lower-cost Mexico by 2019.
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Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields said no plants would be closed as a result, and no U.S. jobs would be lost as capacity at the Wayne plant would be taken up by two new models.
The Mexico plans remain in place, despite the fact that Trump vowed on the campaign trail to stop Ford opening a new plant in that country and promised to slap 35 percent tariffs on any Ford vehicles made there.
Ford went further this month, announcing on Election Day a new $195 million investment in India, where it will add 3,000 new jobs in a facility to build its new EcoSport SUV. Ford said this week it would import cars made there to the United States. Trump has not made any public comment on that plan.
BOTH CLAIM VICTORY
On Thursday, Ford said it had been reviewing where to build the Lincoln MKC, just one vehicle built at the Louisville assembly plant, but had decided to keep it in Kentucky.
As such, nothing changed, but letting Trump announce the decision gave him the opportunity to claim he saved U.S. jobs and cast Ford as a patriotic manufacturer.
"Both sides will claim a certain level of victory because nobody wants a significant negative impact on the industry," said Dave Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research.
It was unclear how many, if any, jobs were actually saved by the decision. Ford decided last year to move MKC production by 2019, on the assumption that production of the Ford Escape, a similar vehicle made in the same plant, would grow. But recently Escape demand has slumped, which may have prompted Ford to reconsider.
According to Cole, Ford's olive branch to Trump was a clear indication that it needs help from the next administration as it faces a host of issues from fuel economy standards and the rise of autonomous vehicles to trade and currency.
Cole said Trump, who boasts about his dealmaking skills, may choose to focus on bargaining with companies he has targeted - even if only for small concessions - rather than pursue more punitive measures such as tariffs, which would take time to implement and potentially damage the economy.
Ford nodded to those wider issues in a statement on Friday, saying it was encouraged that Trump's economic policies "will help improve U.S. competitiveness."
Ford, like other global U.S. corporations, agrees with key aspects of Trump's economic plans. It has called for U.S. tax reform and raised concerns about the costs of federal regulations. Ford also shares Trump's concerns about currency manipulation.
(Editing by Bill Rigby)
Lima (AFP) - US Trade Representative Michael Froman warned of "serious" strategic and economic costs from scrapping a major trans-Pacific trade deal Friday, as proponents lobbied hard to overcome president-elect Donald Trump's opposition.
Acknowledging that the fate of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, or TPP, is now largely out of the Obama administration's hands, Froman indicated he would continue to make the case that the deal is good for America.
"We are obviously at a point in time where this is a legislative process to get TPP through and it's really up to the Congressional leadership to determine if, when and how it's going to move forward," he said. "It's a political decision for them to make."
"Our argument is that inaction poses serious costs" he added, citing a recent study suggesting failure would cost the US economy around $94 billion in the first year alone.
Trade deals such as TPP and the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement featured heavily in the brutal US election campaign and many see Trump's victory as a repudiation of ever-deeper commercial ties.
Neither Trump nor his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton supported TPP during the campaign.
Free-trade supporters say the deals were made a scapegoat for the social and economic disruptions caused by automation and other far more potent trends.
"Globalization is a factor in our life, it's not going away," Froman said.
Some are still holding out a flicker of hope that pragmatism will trump the mogul's tough anti-trade rhetoric when he gets to the Oval Office.
The real estate billionaire's inexperience and seemingly divergent policy positions have led many in Washington to treat the president-elect as a blank canvas for their priorities, hoping he can be persuaded of the benefits.
Allies of the president-elect, including some in Congress and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, have voiced support for the deal.
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"It's only been ten days since the election," Froman said. "Any new administration needs time to go through the transition process, appoint its people, get briefed up on the state of current policy and to make their decisions about where they want to go from here."
Some envisage the reopening of negotiations that would allow Trump to play dealmaker and claim to improve the pact.
Leaders of TPP countries are scheduled to meet in Lima, Peru on Saturday on the margins of an Asia-Pacific summit.
But some signatories are already looking at whether a Chinese-backed trade agreement might be more feasible than the Washington-led deal.
"TPP is obviously not the only game in town," Froman said. "It's a real risk that's playing out in real time."
Many believe a successful Chinese pact would strike major blow to US influence in the fast-rising region.
* Forecasts for higher output in Indonesia weigh on mkt
* Palm down 3.5 pct this week
* Palm looks neutral in 2,823-2,891 rgt/T range - Techs
(Updates latest prices)
By Emily Chow
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
dropped on Friday, their first session of losses in three, as
they tracked weaker rival oils on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.
Also weighing on sentiment were forecasts for higher output
in Indonesia, the world's top producer of palm.
Benchmark palm oil futures for February delivery
on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were down 0.2 percent
at 2,869 ringgit ($649.98) a tonne at the end of the trading
day. They have declined 3.5 percent this week after gaining 8.7
percent in the previous week.
Traded volumes stood at 39,182 lots of 25 tonnes each, below
the 2015 daily average of 44,600 lots.
Palm was tracking weaker rival oils, said one trader from
Kuala Lumpur.
Another based in East Malaysia said the market fell due to
higher production forecasts in Indonesia and "lacklustre
exports" from Malaysia.
Indonesia's crude palm oil output likely rose for a sixth
month in October, increasing by 5.6 percent to 3.06 million
tonnes, according to a Reuters poll of three industry
associations and a state palm research firm.
Malaysian shipments of palm oil declined in the first half
of November by 17-19 percent from the same period a month ago,
according to data from cargo surveyors.
Palm prices track the performance of related vegetable oils
such as oilseed soy, as they compete for a share in the global
edible oils market.
The December soybean oil contract on the CBOT fell
0.2 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on the
Dalian Commodity Exchange declined 0.2 percent.
In related vegetable oils, the January contract for palm
olein on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 0.2
percent.
Palm oil looks neutral in a range of 2,823-2,891 ringgit per
tonne, according to Reuters market analyst for commodities and
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energy technicals Wang Tao.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1034 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL DEC6 2871 -11.00 2850 2880 414
MY PALM OIL JAN7 2870 -11.00 2845 2878 6046
MY PALM OIL FEB7 2869 -7.00 2843 2876 23243
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN7 6110 -14.00 6062 6194 769170
CHINA SOYOIL JAN7 6632 -16.00 6604 6674 316552
CBOT SOY OIL DEC6 33.63 -0.07 33.45 33.75 9977
INDIA PALM OIL NOV6 526.80 -0.40 522.70 527.8 405
INDIA SOYOIL NOV6 688.2 +1.80 686 688.8 2530
NYMEX CRUDE DEC6 45.31 -0.11 44.55 45.40 20675
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 4.4140 ringgit)
($1 = 68.2099 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.8870 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Mark
Potter)
Victoria Beckham used her daughters drawing for this World AIDS Day shirt, and we think its gorgeous
The Beckham household is definitely oozing with talent. This time, its visual art thats being showcased! For World AIDS Day, Victoria Beckham used a drawing that her five-year-old daughter, Harper, drew for an incredible t-shirt thatll hopefully raise some funds and awareness for the important cause.
Taking place on December 1st, World AIDS Day observes the struggle and dedication that those infected with the disease conquer through. Were sure that Harper is thrilled that shes helping to make a difference!
According to her Mom, t-shirts will be available on her website for both children and adults. The proceeds will go towards Born Free Africa, which helps prevent the transmission of AIDS from mother to child through birth.
Thank you @voguemagazine! My #WAD2016 t-shirts available tomorrow at #VBDoverSt and victoriabeckham.com x VB A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Nov 17, 2016 at 5:53am PST
This year, for the first time (and along with a little help from Harper), Ive created an adults T-shirt with a matching mini-version for children too, Beckham said in an interview with Harpers Bazaar.
This isnt the first time that Beckham wanted the world to check out her daughters incredible art. Just by looking at her Instagram account, its obvious that shes genuinely impressed with Harpers talent.
Fun day painting with mummy and Uncle Kenny X Kisses from the sunshine! X @davidbeckham #clevergirl X vb A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Aug 21, 2016 at 7:36pm PDT
Happy Wednesday Kisses from Harper x #proudmummy @davidbeckham XVB A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Oct 5, 2016 at 1:46am PDT
And of course, her Dad the one and only David Beckham is quite proud of Harpers design as well. About a year ago, her famous World AIDS Day design was actually inked on his palm. (It looks like it probably hurt, but David is a tattoo pro he has over 40!)
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Apparently Harper is allowed to scribble on daddy A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Oct 28, 2015 at 8:47pm PDT
If youd like to purchase this amazing shirt and support a great cause, its currently available in UK sizes on Victoria Beckhams website.
The post Victoria Beckham used her daughters drawing for this World AIDS Day shirt, and we think its gorgeous appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Visa Inc. V and MasterCard Inc. MA seem to have no reprieve from legal woes over ATM fees. On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that consumers can proceed with their class action lawsuits that accused the two companies and a number of banks of conspiring to fix inflated ATM fees.
The justices, however, dismissed two similar cases which they had previously approved for hearing. The companies had sought to challenge an Aug 2015 ruling by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals that had reinstated the three lawsuits. According to the court order, the cases were dismissed as the companies had changed their case arguments from previous petition. The court had been scheduled for oral arguments on Dec 7.
Plaintiffs, including several independent operators of ATMs and consumers, alleged that Visa and MasterCard adopted network rules which unlawfully restricted ATM operators from providing lower prices for transactions processed over networks that are not affiliated with Visa or Mastercard. These rules served the defendants as safeguard against competition from ATM networks offering lower charges. Such rules not only reduced the competition for the two companies, but also forced customers to pay artificially inflated ATM access fees.
Plaintiffs also claimed that the rules benefited the major banks Bank of America Corp. BAC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Wells Fargo & Company WFC which held stakes in MasterCard and Visa. The suit claimed that even after MasterCard and Visa went public in 2006 and 2008, respectively, the ATM rules remained unchanged.
Currently, Visa carries a Zacks #3 (Hold), while MasterCard carries Zacks #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
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GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG said on Friday it expects sales of Volkswagen brand vehicles in China to hit 3 million this year, an increase of 340,000 from last year.
Stephan Wollenstein, executive vice president of Volkswagen Group China, made the projection at the Guangzhou auto show.
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by John Ruwitch; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Google Translation of Volkswagen statement:
The Board of Management and the General Works Council of Volkswagen signed a future pact in Wolfsburg after constructive negotiations. He is leading the return of the Volkswagen brand to a profitable growth path. The program for the German locations with around 120,000 employees is intended to significantly improve the competitiveness of the Volkswagen brand and make the company future-proof. It creates the prerequisites for the transition from a pure automobile manufacturer to a successful mobility provider in the age of digitization and increasing electromobility. The focus is on a reorientation across the entire value chain. As early as 2020, the Volkswagen brand wants to be completely relaunched. Operational terminations are excluded. The reduction of jobs is socially acceptable. At the same time, new jobs are being built in the future. In concrete terms, the future pact is expected to lead to a positive earnings effect of 3.7 billion annually by the year 2020; Of which EUR 3.0 billion is attributable to the German sites. The planned investments in future projects in the coming years amount to around 3.5 billion euros. This involves a staff structure of 9,000 positions. In Germany, this represents a socially acceptable reduction of up to 23,000 jobs in conventional areas.
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Kanye West's fans would really like to know how he actually feels about Donald Trump.
The Life of Pablo rapper was booed at his San Jose, California, concert on Thursday night, after he said in a rant, "I told y'all I didn't vote, right? But if I were to vote, I would have voted on Trump."
WATCH: Kanye West Tells Concertgoers He Would Have Voted for Donald Trump, Talks His 2020 Campaign
"I just said that I would have voted for Donald Trump and then I did a song and y'all sang it at the top of your lungs," he noted. "That doesn't mean that you're a Trump supporter. That just means you OK with a celebrity having their own opinion. Or that someone else is OK to have their own opinion. That might not be your opinion but you can still like that person or still like that person's music."
However, some fans have wondered whether the "Famous" rapper really means what he said, or if he was, well... just being Kanye.
MORE: Kanye West Ends Concert Early After Losing His Voice, Apologizes to Star-Studded Crowd
In an extended cut of the rant, the 39-year-old artist explained, "That don't mean that I don't think that Black Lives Matter. That don't mean I don't think that I'm a believer in women's rights. That don't mean I don't believe in gay marriage. That don't mean that I don't believe in these things because that was the guy I would've voted for."
Additionally, according to the Federal Election Commission website (first reported by SPIN), Kanye donated $2700 to "Hillary for America" in July 2015, as well as $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee in October 2014. The rapper also donated to President Barack Obama before both of his two elections.
WATCH: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Meet Alton Sterling's Son in First Photo Since Robbery -- See the Heartwarming Pic!
So, while Yeezy may talk about supporting Trump, in this case, he didn't put his money where his mouth is.
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Many people reacted strongly to one of Kanye's most controversial concert rants yet, including Deray McKesson -- widely seen as a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement -- who encouraged those close to the rapper to reach out.
EXCLUSIVE: Kim Kardashian 'Ready to Start Getting Back to Normal Life,' Robbery Put 'Things in Perspective' for Her
"Besides one of Kanye's close friends sitting down and talking to him, I'm not sure what else can be done to influence his views," the activist tweeted. "We all loved Kanye's music back in the beginning -- the honesty, the bravado, the self-critiques. And he's so different in content now."
Besides one of Kanye's close friends sitting down and talking to him, I'm not sure what else can be done to influence his views. deray mckesson (@deray) November 18, 2016
We all loved Kanye's music back in the beginning -- the honesty, the bravado, the self-critiques. And he's so different in content now. deray mckesson (@deray) November 18, 2016
"But this isn't the first time he's said statements that don't quite make sense to us. If anything I want to know who is calling Kanye today?" Deray added. "I've not given up on Kanye quite yet. I think he's immensely talented. But I am at a loss re: what will change his mind besides a friend."
But this isn't the first time he's said statements that don't quite make sense to us. If anything I want to know who is calling Kanye today? deray mckesson (@deray) November 18, 2016
I've not given up on Kanye quite yet. I think he's immensely talented. But I am at a loss re: what will change his mind besides a friend. deray mckesson (@deray) November 18, 2016
PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton's Famous Friends
Comedian Hannibal Buress took a different approach to addressing Kanye's rant -- poking fun.
"He's definitely trolling because real Trump supporters definitely don't skip out on voting," Hannibal tweeted. "I can see why Kanye likes Trump campaign. Even with all the craziness, it had a smoother rollout than Life of Pablo."
He's definitely trolling because real Trump supporters definitely don't skip out on voting. Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) November 18, 2016
I can see why Kanye likes Trump campaign. Even with all the craziness, it had a smoother rollout than Life of Pablo. Hannibal Buress (@hannibalburess) November 18, 2016
MORE: President Obama Talks to Daughters Sasha and Malia About Trump: 'Fight for Treating People With Kindness'
Also, this is far from the first time the rapper has used his Saint Pablo Tour platform to speak his mind.
Watch the video below to see Kanye's choice words for Jay Z after Kim Kardashian West's Paris robbery incident.
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Students interested in certificate programs that prepare them for a careers are much better off enrolling at public colleges than at private, for-profit schools, according to new data from the Department of Education.
The data finds that students who receive certificates at public colleges go on to make nearly $9,000 more than those who get comparable certificates at for-profit programs.
Related: The Best College for the Money in Every State
Its worth noting that those who attend public schools typically go into higher earning fields, like nursing, but even so, a third of students who graduate from for-profit certificate programs end up making less than minimum wage after graduation.
For-profit colleges have come under fire in recent years, as critics claims that their students take on unreasonable amounts of debt, are less likely to complete their studies, and sometimes receive inadequate training for their careers.
In September ITT Technical Institute was the latest for-profit school to abruptly shut down after the U.S. government ordered it to stop enrolling students who receive federal aid.
Less than a week later, the Consumer Financial Protection Board fined for-profit college Bridgepoint Education $8 million and forced it to discharge outstanding student loans and refund payments, claiming that it misled students about the total cost of the debt they were incurring.
The government crackdown on for-profit schools may be coming to an end, however, if the incoming Trump administration curtails the power of the CFPB or otherwise decides not to take as hard a line with the schools.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
At the end of October, one of the Russian navys main battleships, a guided-missile destroyer called the Smetlivy, set out from its homeport in Crimea and headed west through the Black Sea and into the Aegean. It had two stops to make. The first was in Greecea member of NATO and the European Unionwhere the ship was invited to a maritime festival as part of the Greek-Russian Year of Culture. From there it sailed on toward the Mediterranean to join the Russian naval group involved in the bombardment of Syria.
The journey would, in other times, have caused a scandal in the U.S. and Europe. The Smetlivy is part of the Black Sea Fleet, whose commanders executed the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. Most of them have been under strict Western sanctions ever since. On top of that, the U.S. and E.U. have both accused Russia of committing war crimes in Syria. So Greece was, to put it mildly, not in step with its allies when it hosted a Russian destroyer on its way to the Syrian coast.
Yet none of those allies voiced their objections at the time, and President Obama did not mention it during his visit to Athens this week. The closest he came was a glancing reference on Tuesday to the importance of keeping sanctions in place, including E.U. sanctions, until the conflict in Ukraine is settled.
His caution was understandable. The U.S. and Germany, as the two strongest countries still willing to stand up to Moscow, are not in the best position to foster solidarity among their European partners. Even before Donald Trump won the presidential election last week with a promise to get along with Russia, the E.U. was too dividedover refugees, economic stagnation, Islamist extremism and the rise of the populist rightto go picking internal squabbles over Russia.
Some conservative pundits in Washington did grumble that Greeces behavior was unacceptable and unbecoming of a NATO ally. In a policy paper published on Nov. 9, Luke Coffey and Daniel Kochis urged the President to be crystal clear about the Smetlivy incident during his visit to Athens. But what exactly was Obama supposed to say? With Donald Trump on his way to the White House, it hasnt become any easier for the U.S. to badger Greece about its coziness with Moscow.
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Obamas hope, as he put it in Berlin on Thursday, is that the President-elect also is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms. But that doesnt seem very likely. Trump promised during his campaign that he would look into lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia. He also argued that the Russian annexation of Crimea might make sense, because the people in Crimea would rather be with Russia. In one of his first appointments, Trump on Friday gave the post of National Security Adviser to retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who has called for the U.S. and Russia to align their strategies in Syria and stop playing the bully game against each other.
So Obama could not offer much reassurance to his German counterpart when they met in Berlin to say their goodbyes. The media cliche ahead of the visit was that the departing President would pass the baton to Chancellor Angela Merkel on the last foreign trip of his tenure, leaving her in charge of the West now that the isolationists have taken Washington. The reality is much more complicated. Though Germany is Europes largest economic power, it cannot come close to matching the political or military clout of the U.S. in trying to keep the West united, especially after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in June.
Europe has been in survival mode ever since that referendum. Its Russia policy over the past three years has rested almost entirely on the coordination between Merkel and Obama, who have moved in lock step and with strong British support. During their meeting in Berlin on Friday with the leaders of France, Italy and Spain, they agreed unanimously to keep the sanctions against Russia in place. But with the U.K. on its way out of the E.U. and Obama on his way out of the White House, Merkel will have to fight much harder to keep her hesitant allies in line going forward.
Under E.U. rules, all member states have the right to veto sanctions policies, which usually come up for review every six months. Numerous European countriesnotably Greece, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Cyprushave pushed to ease the sanctions on Russia, arguing that they have hurt Europes economy and failed to change Russian behavior.
The Greek government has been perhaps the weakest link in E.U. resolve on this issue, and Russia has attempted to play on those divisions. Apart from the Smetlivys visit earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to Greece in May, offering energy deals and undying friendship based on what he called a rock-solid base of common civilizational values, the Orthodox culture and a genuine mutual affection. It was his first trip to the E.U. since the annexation of Crimea, and the Greeks gave him a lavish reception.
But they have not gone so far as to block the sanctions. They know that such a move could jeopardize the E.U. loans and aid that have kept the Greek economy afloat, and for all of Putins talk of mutual affection, the Russian economy cannot afford to take the place of Greeces European creditors.
I think this is an illusion, says Gikas Hardouvelis, a former Greek finance minister who now teaches at the University of Piraeus. Obviously if you are in need, you try to get support from Russia in terms of money. But in the end, the Greeks are closer to America and Western Europe.
When it comes to their finances, definitely. And that may be enough for Merkel to keep the wayward members of the E.U. in line for a while. But it will not resolve the deeper crisis of solidarity in Europe. In fact it may only serve as proof that E.U. decisions are not made on the basis of principles but on the basis of horse-trading, says Joerg Forbrig, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. Theres always somebody who needs something, and theres always something that you can give to buy their consent on the issue at hand.
But that does not seem like a healthy way to run the European family. Whether its Greek debt payments or the resettlement of refugees in Hungary and Slovakia, E.U. members will always have a reason to use Russia as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with Brussels and Berlin. What these countries are doing is trying to blackmail their primary sponsors with outreach to alleged alternatives, says Forbrig. And in that approach to European politics, the visit from the Smetlivy starts to make a lot of sense.
It doesnt mean that Russia has found a reliable ally in Greece. But it may mean the E.U. has lost one.
One of the first orders of business for any newly chosen American president is to figure out his or her cabinet, the group of high-level officials who direct policy in major areas of the government. Much like the run-up to the election, President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet selection has been widely covered and dominated by rumors.
Nearly every famous Republican's name has come up in connection with a cabinet position in the past week. To help you keep it all straight, here's a list of what we know for sure about the Trump White House.
This story will be continually updated as news of the cabinet nominees breaks.
Chief of Staff: Officially chosen. The appointment of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was confirmed by Trump's transition team Sunday.
National Security Adviser: Officially chosen. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn has been offered the post, the Trump transition team confirmed Friday.
Secretary of State: Not chosen. Candidates include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former ambassador John Bolton and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, Reuters reported Friday.
Secretary of the Treasury: Not chosen. Applicants include ex-Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon the last of whom reportedly rejected the job, according to CNN.
Secretary of Defense: Not chosen. Candidates include Arkansas Rep. Tom Cotton, former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Politico reported.
Attorney General: Officially chosen. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions will be nominated for the position, Trump's transition team confirmed Friday.
Secretary of the Interior: Not chosen. Applicants include Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm, the Washington Post reported.
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Secretary of Agriculture: Not chosen. Contenders include Texas Agriculture Secretary Sid Miller, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and National Council of Farmer Cooperatives head Chuck Connor, according to Politico.
Secretary of Commerce: Not chosen. Candidates include investor Wilbur Ross, Paypal cofounder Peter Thiel and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, CNN reported.
Secretary of Labor: Not chosen. Possibilities include Equal Employment Opportunity Commission leader Victoria Lipnic, Politico reported.
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Not chosen. Candidates include former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Georgia Rep. Tom Price, Politico reported. But it won't be former GOP candidate Ben Carson, who recently said he doesn't want to join Trump's cabinet because he has no experience.
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development: Not chosen. Possible choices include Pamela Patenaude, the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission, and Rob Astorino, who ran for New York governor in 2014, according to the National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
Secretary of Transportation: Not chosen. Possibilities include Florida Rep. John Mica, former National Transportation Safety Board chairman Mark Rosenker, according to Politico.
Secretary of Energy: Not chosen. Candidates include Perry and Hamm, according to NJ.com.
Secretary of Education: Not chosen. People being considered include Indiana Rep. Luke Messer, Hoover Institution research fellow William Evers and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Politico reported.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Not chosen. The leading choice is House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Jeff Miller, according to the New York Times.
Secretary of Homeland Security: Not chosen. Candidates include Giuliani and Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, according to CNN.
CIA Director: Probably chosen. Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo was offered and accepted the job, the Washington Post reported Friday.
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From Esquire
It's been less than two weeks since Donald Trump was elected into office, and already, his first foreign diplomacy meeting is turning heads.
Ivanka Trump sat in on her father's meeting today with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, per handout photo pic.twitter.com/tEbfYYeJFA - Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) November 18, 2016
A handout photo shows Trump meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Manhattan's Trump Tower...along with Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump. CNN correspondent Ivan Watson deleted his tweet of the picture, but not before various reporters, political commentators, and other users quoted it pointing out the inappropriateness of Ivanka's presence.
The reason why so many people are peeved? Allegedly, Ivanka will be running Trump's businesses in a blind trust, which means that her presence in diplomatic meetings is mixing Trump's presidency with his business. Just fantastic.
Photo credit: Twitter / Matt Pearce
Photo credit: Twitter / Matt Ortega
Photo credit: Twitter / Chris Sacca
Let's think about this for a second. What reason could there possibly be for Ivanka Trump sitting in on her father's presidential diplomacy meetings? Is there even a reason other than the Trump family's financial benefit?
"Conflict of interest" seems like it may be a theme of the next four years.
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Mitt Romney leaves his campaign plane and passes Donald Trumps, after landing at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, May 29, 2012. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Mitt Romney already knew he couldnt trust Donald Trump, but to him and his staff, the events of late spring 2012 seemed like the final blow, when Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, found himself caught up in a wave of controversy over Trumps renewed birtherism.
Trumps questioning of Barack Obamas birthplace was an annoyance to Romney, who had repeatedly reaffirmed his view that Obama was a citizen. But though he considered the conspiracy talk gutter politics, the former Massachusetts governor trod carefully around Trump, worried that a public challenge to the unpredictable real estate tycoon turned reality television star would damage his White House prospects.
Just months earlier, Romney had finally reached an understanding with Trump, who had publicly mused about mounting his own bid for the presidency. Along the way, Trump had raised what many perceived as the ex-governors chief liabilities, describing Romney as a stiff who wasnt telling the truth about his record of creating jobs while he was head of Bain Capital. And in true Trumpian fashion, he attacked Romney for not being as rich as he was.
But after months of overtures, Trump had finally thrown his support to Romney that February, endorsing the ex-governor in a bizarre, freewheeling news conference at his Las Vegas hotel, where Trump did most of the talking as Romney and the candidates wife, Ann, stood awkwardly at his side. The event, in which Trump strolled by reporters repeatedly to talk up his tremendous hotel, would foreshadow the moguls unusual campaign for the presidency four years later. But at the time, it was criticized as a circus by some of Romneys closest allies, who told the ex-governor it was beneath him to align himself with the publicity-hungry mogul.
Returning to Las Vegas that May for a fundraiser with Trump, Romney was determined not to make that mistake again, pointedly refusing to appear publicly with the businessman, who had revived his birther talk just days before the event. But Trump still got the publicity he wanted. As Romney stepped off his campaign plane on the tarmac in Vegas, he noticed that Trumps corporate jet was parked nearby, jutting out in an unusual way from its usual spot next to a private hangar. What Romney and his staff didnt realize until a few minutes later was that the moguls plane had been positioned so that the word TRUMP appeared prominently in the candidates arrival shot.
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Romney and his team never figured out whether the move had been deliberate, but the incident forever cemented their view that Trumps hunger for attention made it necessary to treat his motives with suspicion. And four years later, that feeling hasnt changed although the circumstances have.
Trump greets Romney after endorsing his candidacy for president at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Feb. 2, 2012. (Photo: Steve Marcus/Reuters)
Trump, now the president-elect, is looking to sit down with Romney as early as this weekend to discuss a possible role in his administration. Though the meeting hasnt been confirmed Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told reporters Thursday they are working on it Team Trump has described the move as a conciliatory gesture toward an establishment Republican who was one of Trumps most vocal critics during the 2016 campaign and one that proves the president-elect is more pragmatic than his critics believe.
While Romney hasnt commented on the invitation, people close to him say he still regards Trump with deep suspicion, even after congratulating him on his election and wishing him success. Amid reports from NBC and CNN that Romney is on the long list of names Trump is considering for secretary of state something Team Trump would not confirm to Yahoo News allies of the former Massachusetts governor said they would be surprised if Trump really made the offer and even more surprised if Romney took it, or any job in the administration at all.
Mitt is a statesman who loves his country, said a longtime Romney adviser who asked not to be named as discussing the ex-governor. [But] he knows Trump. He knows how Trump is. Who knows if this [outreach] is genuine or just another publicity stunt?
Trumps overtures to Romney would mark a surprising turn in what has been become a bitter relationship. Back in 2015, in the early days of Trumps candidacy, Romney was one of the few Republicans willing to take him on, publicly lambasting him for his suggestion that Sen. John McCain, a former rival who had become Romneys close friend, was not a war hero.
While Romney returned to the sidelines later in the campaign, as Trump soared to the top of the polls, the former Massachusetts governor emerged again to challenge Trump. Speaking in Salt Lake City in March, just before Super Tuesday, Romney blasted Trump in unsparing terms, calling him a con man and a fake who had played on anger among voters and was leading the country into an abyss.
Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University, Romney declared. Hes playing the members of the American public for suckers. He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.
Romney speaks at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on March 3, 2016. (Rick Bowmer/AP)
In response, Trump trashed Romney as a loser and a failure who had begged for his endorsement four years ago. I dont know what happened to him, Trump said during a rally in Portland, Maine. You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, Mitt, drop to your knees. He would have dropped to his knees.
After Romney said he would never vote for him as the GOP nominee he said he planned to write in his wife, Ann, on the ballot Trump raged against Romney as a failed candidate who should have won the race against Obama four years ago.
But the tide began to change last week, when Romney sent a public Twitter message congratulating Trump on his victory. The former governor also called Trump, offering his congratulations as well as any assistance he might need in the future. Trump, on Twitter, described the call as very nice!
The overture led to Trumps overtures to Romney this week an uncharacteristic shift for a man who has been known to reward loyalty above all and to be slow to forgive slights. But Trump has been breaking with that reputation in recent days, meeting with a string of former rivals and enemies as he puts together an administration. Among them: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who refused to endorse him for months, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, an Indian-American who has criticized Trump for his rhetoric toward immigrants.
From Esquire
Brendan Dassey has been in prison for nearly a decade. In 2005, the then 16-year-old confessed to taking part in the murderer of Teresa Halbach with his uncle Steven Avery. Last year the popular Netflix documentary Making a Murderer examined in great depth the lives of Dassey and Avery and the murder trials that have come to define their lives. Dassey eventually recanted his confession, claiming it had been coerced by investigators, an argument examined at length in the documentary.
In August, a judge overturned the conviction in a court order that cited Dassey's age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of supportive adult as to what rendered his confession involuntary. Dassey would be released in 90 days if the overturned conviction wasn't challenged by an appeals court. On September 9, the Wisconsin attorney general chose to appeal Dassey's conviction, condemning the 27-year-old to more time behind bars.
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Earlier this week, it seemed like justice had finally been served, when a judge ordered Dassey freed from Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin no later than 8 p.m. on Friday.
Today, local Wisconsin news outlets are reporting that the state's emergency motion to keep Dassey in prison while his case is appealed has been granted.
"It is ordered that the appellant's motion to stay is granted. The district court's order releasing appellee Brendan Dassey is stayed pending resolution of this appeal," according to the decision.
The state of Wisconsin is still working to appeal Dassey's overturned conviction, and will not grant the man freedom during this process. Instead, the Wisconsin attorney general claims the state could win the appeal and his release would harm the public interest.
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World War II Japanese internment camps in the U.S. United States Defense Aliens Japanese Internment Camp Upton in New York, November 3, 1941. (AP Photo)
During World War II, more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry were relocated and incarcerated for years following Japans attack on Pearl Harbor.
Largely considered one of the most egregious civil-liberties violations in American history, thousands of American citizens, many of them children, were forced to sleep in overcrowded, converted barracks and even horse stalls with no running water. Families assets were seized, and while many returned after the war to find their homes defaced and destroyed, others found their small businesses and industries co-opted by permanent residents and were forced to find less appealing work.
Japanese-American lawmakers lobbied for years for a formal apology, and in 1991 President George H.W. Bush issued one in conjunction with the federal governments reparations payments to Japanese-Americans, saying the US should recognize that serious injustices were done.
A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories neither can they fully convey our nations resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals, Bush said. We can never fully right the wrongs of the past, but we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Donald Trump has expressed support for a Muslim registry during his campaign for president.
Last year, Trump said that while he did not necessarily support Japanese internment camps, he would have had to be there at the time to decide whether it was justified for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to violate the US Constitution by quarantining more than 100,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans without cause. (Business Insider)
Heres a look back at Japanese internment camps in the U.S.
See RELATED STORY by Michael Walsh/Yahoo News
See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr.
Throughout election year, we asked dozens of actors which of their colleagues theyd like to see run for the president of the United States. One of the only names to come up multiple times was no, not Snoop Dogg; sorry, Russell Crowe Moana star Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
Now that Donald Trump, a man as famous for his stint on reality TV as he is for his business endeavors, is going to be the nations 45th president, we figured we should check in with Johnson to see if hed accept the nomination he received from actors like Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Scott Eastwood.
Related: Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda Freestyle Rap About Disney Animated Classics
Of course, I would consider [running], Johnson told Yahoo Movies at Moanas Los Angeles press day. Im very patriotic about our country, and I care deeply about it So I think if I felt like I could become a real impactful, tremendous leader, and surround myself with good people, then Id consider it.
So whod be his running mate? Matt Damon, Johnson joked. Kevin Harts going to be pissed.
Moana opens Nov. 23.
- "Deafening" vibrations on his boat have forced Vendee Globe skipper Bertrand de Broc of France to divert towards a volcanic Brazilian archipelago in the South Atlantic. Welshman Alex Thomson held the race lead after day 12 on Friday with French rivals Armel Le Cleac'h and Sebastien Josse in his slipstream off Brazil. De Broc, currently 14th in the solo, non-stop around the world race, said that he had been bothered by the incessant noise for several days after a collision off the coast of Portugal. "The noise got gradually louder until it became unbearable when the boat exceeds 14 knots," he said. As a precautionary measure the MACSF skipper took the decision to head towards Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago of islands and islets.
AFP
For Immediate Release
Chicago, ILNovember 18, 2016Zacks.com looks back on the hottest stories of the week featured in the Stocks in the News blog, where analysts and writers discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks, the financial markets, and the greater investing world.
Here are highlights from this weeks Stocks in the News blog:
Heres Why Bank Stocks (JPM, BAC, PNC, GS) are Still Gaining Today
On Monday, shares of many major bank and financial stocks were gaining, still on the rise almost a week after Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States. The banking industry stands to be a winner under a Trump administration, as regulation rollbacks for Wall Street and overall uncertainty surrounding his presidency stand to boost big banks and other financial companies.
Here's Why Shipping Stocks are Todays Biggest Movers (DRYS, GSL, DCIX)
A quick glance at Thursdays biggest gainers and losers reveals that the shipping industry is a complete mess right now. Several notable stocks in this sector, including DryShips (DRYS), Global Ship Lease (GSL), and Diana Containerships (DCIX) are either soaring or plummeting, as many investors feel a recently-formed bubble is bursting.
So what the heck is going on with shipping companies this week? A recent note from Wells Fargo analyst Michael Webber suggests that this industry is being affected by a bubble created by algorithm-based trading.
Target Soars 8% on Strong Q3 Earnings, E-Commerce Growth
On Wednesday, shares of everyones favorite store, Target Corp. (TGT), soared up around 8% in morning trading after the company posted impressive third quarter financial results. Adjusted earnings per share came in $1.04, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents per share and increasing 22.1% year-over-year. Target reported revenues of $16.441 billion, beating our consensus estimate of $16.3 billion but declining 6.7% year-over-year.
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For the holiday quarter, Target projects both GAAP and adjusted EPS to be in the range of $1.55-$1.75 per share, while comparable sales should fall in the range of down 1% to up 1%, up from previous guidance of negative 2% to flat.
Gap (GPS) Meets Q3 Earnings, Comparable Sales Decline 3%
Gap Inc. (GPS) released its third quarter fiscal 2016 financial results after the bell on Thursday, posting adjusted diluted earnings of 60 cents per share and revenues of $3.8 billion. Gaps total comparable sales fell 3% in the quarter. For Gap Global, comps were down 8%. For Banana Republic Global, comps were also down 8%. For Old Navy, comps increased by 3%.
Looking ahead to full year 2016, Gap expects its diluted EPS to be in the range of $1.41 to $1.50. The company reaffirmed its adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.87 to $1.92, excluding the negative impact of restructuring costs.
USGS Just Discovered the Biggest Shale Oil Field in America
On Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced that it has discovered the biggest deposit of untapped oil in the United States, located in the Wolfcamp shale formation in the Midland Basin portion of Texas Permian Basin. Wolfcamp has an estimated average of 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids there for the taking.
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The magnitude-7.8 quake that rattled New Zealand, killing at least two people and stranding thousands of people, completely transformed the underlying faults in the region.
Six major faults ruptured as a result of the New Zealand quake, a new map reveals.
The Kaikoura earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand early in the morning on Nov. 14 local time, triggering landslides, tsunamis and hundreds of aftershocks. And thousands of people were stranded when earthquake detritus dammed a river. During the quake, bystanders captured images of mysterious earthquake lights painting the sky in eerie blue and green.
To see how the massive temblor reshaped the landscape, Nicola Litchfield, a geologist with the geoscience consultancy group GNS Science in New Zealand, and colleagues flew over the South Island in a helicopter to take video footage of the region. [The 10 Biggest Earthquakes in History]
The team compared before-and-after images of the faults in the area.
It turned out the temblor had dramatically changed the earth beneath.
Four faults along the coastline ruptured and extended out into the sea, while another two faults ruptured inland, closer to the epicenter of the quake, Litchfield said. Ground-based GPS stations also reveal major motion at these faults, she added.
"The whole coast appears to have been uplifted from Cape Campbell all the way south to Kaikoura," Litchfield told Live Science. "The ones right on the coast appear to have very large movements, almost 1 meter [3.3 feet] up and almost 3 m [10 feet] by the looks of things sideways as well."
Now geologists are scrambling to figure out what this means for earthquake risk in the region.
"It's a really complicated area and there are a lot of faults here, so the earthquake will have relieved the stress in some places, but unfortunately will have increased the stress in others. That's what we are desperately trying to figure out now what might have been loaded up."
Story continues
New Zealand sits atop the incredibly complicated Marlborough Fault System, a set of four strike-slip faults (where two plates slide past each other rather than crashing into one another) that lie at the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates. Farther East in the subduction zone, the Pacific plate is diving beneath the Australian plate, but almost all the locked stress there gets translated into motion along the Marlborough Fault System, Litchfield said.
The next step is to take ships out to send sound waves beneath the water to map the seafloor. By comparing before-and-after seafloor maps, geologists can determine how far offshore the ruptures extend, Litchfield said. That, in turn, will help reveal where faults are newly locked and loaded.
Because the quake is so new, the findings have not yet been published or submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, Litchfield said.
Original article on Live Science.
Editor's Recommendations
If youre living in Europe and youre unhappy with the fact that Facebook-owned WhatsApp started sharing data with its parent company in spite of saying it would never do it, then youre in luck. It looks like Facebook can be stopped from gathering even more data about you through WhatsApp.
DONT MISS: Best Buys pre-Black Friday 2016 sale is live right now here are the 20 best deals
Sure, you can always argue that WhatsApp was only sharing your phone number with Facebook. And you could have opted out of it if you hurried, so it wasnt that bad. But local governments in Europe thought otherwise and pressured Facebook into stopping WhatsApp data collection.
Germany authorities ordered Facebook to stop WhatsApp collection, finding the practice to be an infringement of national data protection law. Regulators there also demanded that Facebook delete all the data collected from 35 million German WhatsApp users. Other EU countries are also investigating Facebooks practices regarding WhatsApp data, including the UK, France and Italy. 28 of Europes data collection authorities signed an open letter to WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum urging him to suspend data collection until the legal aspects of the matter are worked out.
The Irish Data Protection Commissioners office told The Financial Times that Facebook did stop collecting WhatsApp data last week in Europe.
Even with Facebook stopping its WhatsApp data collection practice in Europe, its likely the company got what it wanted out of the deal. Being able to connect WhatsApp and Facebook profiles with the help of a phone number is definitely a valuable resource, and could further help Facebook map out your likes, desires, usage patterns and personal connections. Forgetting that link established by a simple phone number, whether its temporary or permanent, might not even matter.
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See the original version of this article on BGR.com
How do aliens sound in an emotional, psychological, science fiction universe? This was one of many questions faced by French-Canadian sound editor Sylvain Bellemare in overseeing the development of a soundscape for Denis Villeneuves out-of-the-box alien invasion picture, Arrival. In working with Villeneuve, a director Bellemare describes as demanding, and specific in his vision, the reference points for the film were films like Interstellar and the Jodie Foster-starring Contact, and although those films are indeed suggestive of what one can expect of Arrival, they dont tell the full story. Below, Bellemare discusses his long collaboration with Villeneuve, the craft of sound editing, and his first experience editing sound for a sci-fi blockbuster.
What initially attracted you to Arrival, and how did you get involved?
I was really fascinated with the script, when I read it, and I was really interested in [the way in which the script used] the past and future. Of course, its not really good in an interview to share that concept; of course, you saw the film. But for the viewers, I would just say its interesting how it plays with time. That will be a better answer. [Laughs] Ive known Denis for a long, long timeIve been doing films with him here in Montreal forthe first time was like 20 years ago. Weve done different projects over the yearswe have a long-term partnership in movies, so it was a bit natural for me to do the film, even if Denis does all his films in California, for the last few ones. I was involved for that reason.
Sound editing is one of the lesser-understood crafts in filmmaking. What would you say about your artistic process, and your collaborative relationship with Denis, having worked together on a number of films?
First of all, I really approach sound as a charactersound is, in a way, really a part of the cinematographic language. Its always my approach that the sound can define the narration, and define the emotion that you want to share. Also, the first idea is to bring ideas, basically, from the director, and even abstract ideassound really remains kind of a subconscious view of the world; sometimes, its really difficult to put words on it. Its something basically where if you hear the sound, you understand what I mean, but if we just talkedwe need to hear it. Its like if our level of comprehension cannot come by words, but its really by soundswhich is really close to the film, in a way, because [the scientists] try to connect with those E.T. sounds, but sounds cannot connect them. Their language is difficult to understand; communication cannot be sensitive only with words and sounds. She has to go through another level, and that level will be reached through kind of a weird connection.
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Its a thin line. Theres a lot of things that [Denis] doesnt like, theres a lot of things that he likes, but you really need exactly what he wants. If he does not get that, he will throw away all your work. Its a very thin line with him, and at any moment, something cannot be what he wants. Hes always afraid, which is very important, that sound does not overwhelm the image, which has happened sometimes in some films, so we have to be very clever with him to bring the sound at the top level of what the film needs if the sound is too obvious, or too in your face. Its a challenge.
How did Denis express his idea of this films soundscape to you? Did you find cues or ideas within the script itself?
He really wanted a different sound than other filmsits cliche to say that, but he really wanted another sort of sensation with this film, another type of sensation. Some people would relate the film with something like Interstellar, or even like Contact, with Jodie Foster, but its emotional, psychological science fiction, so the sound in the film was really related to memories, and how memories can bring you to a level of presence. And of course, how do you bring that, how do you try to not be too cliche with that? It was a challenge, basically, and sometimes we played with it in the filmthat sometimes, the memory or the image, and the sound was in the present, and sometimes it was in the opposite.
The sound was in the memoryin the pastand the image was in the present. It was something to play with. I think you just want to make sure that the sound was a strong enough character to live by itself, and maybe to cover holes that sometimes we had hard times with in editingthat there was some link to the story that sound had to do in the rhythm, in the narration.
Have you taken on a science-fiction narrative, or a film of this scope in the past? What are the unique challenges and opportunities presented in working on a film of this sort?
My experience came a lot more from the experimental movies. Science fiction wasnt something that I really had the chance to touch because science fiction films, most of the time, are only made basically in Hollywood. There are only so many places in the world where you can afford to do science fiction. Ive done some stuff, but it was closer to experimental kinds of films, so you explore sound in a very abstract way, where sound is really close to music sometimes. In that type of field, we didnt have the time that probably they had on Star Wars, or something. [Arrival] was a film that the schedule was really tight for different matters, and we had to have all the ideas and the design in a short period of time. Fortunately, we were a big, wonderful team that worked very hard on the front lines, for everybody.
One of the basic things that was a success on the sound of Arrival was the voice part [of the alien species], which was made a lot from living animals and creatures, and on the other side, a lot of the radio communication also was really made from real devices, so we had the chance to work the devices instead of going to plug-ins. But on many levels, we used our big sound memory to do the soundscape on other projects, I would have had time to record more sound, but because it was so tight, we had to dig a lot in our huge sound library. It would be like that for the vessels, for instancethe rock sounds of the vessel, made out of real, actual rock sounds that we had to change for the film.
Were most sounds for the film newly recorded, or did you source a great deal from your sound libraries?
Beside the animal voices and the radio communication, we of course did recordings for some things, but basically a lot of it came from our sound library. Unfortunately with the schedule he had, we had to face that, but we found rock sounds that we wanted for the vessel, when it moves. I would also add the fact that one of the things Denis really wanted, maybe going back to one of your first questions, is that Denis really wanted a non-electronic sound for the film. He really wanted a sort of organic and naturalistic soundthats why the vessel sounds really like a natural mountain moving, instead of a very sci-fi, electronic sound. You dont see an engine, for instancewhen you see the vessel, there is no engine. When you see the little vessel that goes to pick up Amy, its the same. Whered that come from? There is no smoke, no nothing. At the end of the film, its really obvious when you see the vessel disappearing, like dust into the clouds. The same for the voices of the Heptopodsthey had to come from naturalistic sounds.
One recurring sound, seemingly coming from the alien ship, has the feeling of blaring trumpets, or other horns. Was that reflective of your intent?
It sounds like that. [laughs] Certain sounds we really tried to make them sound like organic sounds. Some sounds were a bit like whales, or something like that. I dont know if you felt thatit was basically [akin to] subaquatic creatures. They look like thateven though sometimes theyre not a recording based on whale sounds, I would say that they sound sometimes a bit like that, like a subaquatic creature. That was a goal, to make them as a living beast, and also at a very low frequency. We [needed] a sound that was terrifying, on one side, and smooth on the other side. Those creatures are basically not our friends, on the first steps, and we had to make it clear about thatits a very wild beast, in fact, that the character of Louise will [encounter]. We kept the ideal that to be monsters, [the sound] has to be something terrifying.
How would you describe your process in working with Dave Whitehead, the sound designer who was another major contributor to the final product?
Its really important to name Dave. Dave was on the project before mehe really worked specifically on the Heptopod vocal design. He really worked specifically on the vocal soundsI was supervising him, but basically, Daves is the masterpiece of the vocals.
My role as the supervising sound editor was to make sure that we created specific sound ideas and designs for the film. Dave started before me on the project, so he did something with [editor] Joe Walker, and then I came and supervised the entire sound. In film, the Supervising Sound Editor is like a conductor. We have different instruments, and some of them are leading instrumentsDave is definitely like first violin. Id like to have a word also about the crowd: One of the subtle sounds in the film is the crowd at the [military] base camp, trying to have natural crowdskind of a walla sound. And as I said before, one of the big issues was all the communication, the devices, walkie talkies that we hadwe really did a recording of every single word through these devicesreal devicesinstead of using plug-ins, so it was an exciting process, but very hard. It was something special to do.
Where do you look to get access to the sort of specialized equipment involved in a film like this, for purposes of sound recording?
Basically, we did a lot of research into military devices and what the U.S. Army would use. And sometimes wed discover that the U.S. military would use devices that we cannot get. [Laughs] We have access to many things, but wed have to re-create that. Theres a small helicopter scene in the filmits the same. We really get the devices.
The realistic recordings of military devices serve also to ground the film, in relation to the surreal, heightened events taking place within the alien vessel.
One of the things was always to be with Louises emotionsto follow what Louise is going through. As a viewer, we know shes not thereshes between life and death, basically. Shes always between a world that she does not understand, and another world that she doesnt really understandthe military. Shes not really comfortable there. The sound in Arrival was really based in creating a vibration or mood between real and unreal worlds.
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After record-breaking sales of I-bonds in October, the U.S. Treasury is dangling another good deal in front of savers for the next six months. Starting Nov. 2, when I-bonds will be available again after site maintenance at TreasuryDirect.gov, the inflation-adjusted annualized rate will be 6.89%, down from 9.62%. The fixed rate at the time of purchase will stay with the bond as long as you hold it up to 30 years but the inflation adjustment resets every six months in November and May.
Footloose friends and family members will appreciate these grown-up toys to help them document their travelsand stay entertained along the way.
Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the December 2016 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
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1MORE E1001 Triple Driver
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Hunter QLS-03
Hermetically sealed hotel rooms can have notoriously dry air. The petite, packable Hunter QLS-03 humidifier is small enough to stash in your suitcase and sit on your night stand, quietly adding much-needed water vapor to the air. It mists in any direction you want, and because the tank is an inverted water bottle, all you have to take along is the base.
Canon EOS Rebel T5i
If youre looking for very good video capability combined with the versatility of a digital SLR at an affordable price, the Canon Eos Rebel T5i should top your list. Its automatic features will please novices, and its manual controls let savvier sorts get creative. Image quality is very good, and it comes with a swiveling touch-screen LCD, which makes shooting and playback a breeze.
Nikon Coolpix P900
This full-featured cameras 83x optical zoom lens can capture craters on the moon. The Nikon P900 is pricey but versatile enough to capture distant wildlife on safari as well as sweeping landscapeswithout the hassle of having to change lenses.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV
This point-and-shoot packs an impressive number of features into a surprisingly petite and easy-to-use package. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV comes with a Zeiss lens, is excellent in low-light settings, and records 4K video as well as most any camera weve tested. Its also nicely designed, with an electronic viewfinder that saves space by hiding until needed, then popping up like an onboard flash.
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Michelin Defender
For climates where snow is an infrequent annoyance rather than a daily challenge, a set of all-season tires is the way to go. In our tests of 16 models, the Michelin Defender was the best overall, with solid four-season performance, grip in wintry and rainy conditions, crisp handling, and a quiet ride (size tested, 215/60R16). Plus, based on our treadwear test, you could expect tread life up to 90,000 miles.
Sony FDR-AX33
Whether documenting a walk atop the Great Wall or someone walking down the aisle, this Sony Handycamis up to the job. It shoots excellent 4K (Ultra High Definition) video, and it has very good audio quality and an image stabilizer to smooth out any shake or jitter. It also has a large LCD as well as an electronic viewfinderand even takes excellent still images.
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"Thinner and lighter than any other Kindle, the Oasis e-reader is the ideal indulgence for literary travelers. Its nonglare screen makes for easy reading on the brightest beach, and the eight-week battery life means you could get through 'War and Peace' and 'Ulysses' on a desert island with juice to spare. Though the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is slightly heavier and has a shorter charge, it's a solid second choice at less than half the price."Kevin Doyle, Executive Editor
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Apparently its not just tech CEOs that think they can tweet assassination threats and get away with it. A 24-year-old man from Ohio was arrested and faces possible jail time after posting that hed like to see Donald Trump dead, along with a vague plot to blow up the entire United States.
Zachary Benson says he was watching the election results on television when he went too far and posted a pair of inflammatory threats on Twitter.
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The tweets, posted just after 1 a.m. on November 9th, are exactly as pointless as youd expect:
Diplomacy. Fucking Fools. I hate you all. I want to bomb every one of your voting booths and your general areas.
Its not entirely clear why Benson who goes by ZeeAyeKeyKay on Twitter started his tweet with Diplomacy when he clearly meant Democracy, or how broad general areas really is, but suffice it to say that the man is not of sound mind. His second tweet, which arrived about 15 minutes after the first, is equally misguided:
My life goal is to assassinate Trump. Dont care if I serve infinite sentences. That man deserves to decease existing.
It seems that Mr. Benson could use an English lesson and a grammar course before posting his next assassination threat. Basic communication skills aside, bomb threats and assassination vows arent taken lightly these days, and Benson rapidly found himself in police custody. He later claimed that he didnt mean what he said, and that he was very apologetic.
Benson insisted he never intended any harm to anyone and would not want anything to happen to Trump or the general public despite his threat about bombing general areas,' according the court documents. Benson will now need to hope that a judge sees his point of view.
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A day after Russia began blocking professional networking platform LinkedIn, the United States expressed concern over the move Friday, saying the decision set a troubling precedent.
Maria Olson, spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow, said in a statement to Reuters: The United States is deeply concerned by Russias decision to block access to the website LinkedIn. This decision is the first of its kind and sets a troubling precedent that could be used to justify shutting down any website that contains Russian user data.
LinkedIn is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and its data servers are located in various states around the U.S. California, Oregon, Texas and Virginia as well as in Singapore. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a law that made it mandatory for social networking companies to store data of their Russian users on servers located within Russia. The law came into effect September 2015.
However, it was enforced only on Thursday, when following a court order, the countrys communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to start blocking access to LinkedIn, which has over 6 million registered users in Russia.
A spokeswoman for the company said: Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses.
According to reports, the company wants to meet with Roskomnadzor to sort out the data localization requirement, so it can keep operating in Russia. But the development could mean other social media platforms could soon be facing the same problem.
LinkedInHQ
Photo: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
The law has been criticized as being internet censorship in disguise, a charge Russia denies by saying it only wants to properly protect data of and on Russian consumers, which it says it can only do if the data servers were located within its jurisdiction.
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And that could spell trouble for popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter. If they dont move their data servers that contain information about their Russian users to Russia, ISPs in the country could be forced to block access to those services as well.
There are currently 21.44 million Facebook users and 8.95 million Twitter users, according to data compiled by statista.com.
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By Narottam Medhora and Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Salesforce.com Inc on Thursday forecast current-quarter revenue above analysts' estimates as it closed deals for its cloud-based sales and marketing software with a number of major customers, sending its shares 5 percent higher in extended trade. The San Francisco-based company has consistently reported double-digit growth in recent quarters as companies shift to cheaper and easier cloud-based products, but it is facing growing competition from Oracle Corp and Microsoft Corp. "Our checks indicate that Salesforce still has a number of very good secular growth drivers, including selling some of their newer cloud offerings and upselling activity into large customers is robust," said Wedbush Securities analyst Steve Koenig. The results marked a sharp reversal from the previous quarter, when a lighter-than-expected revenue forecast prompted concerns about slowing growth. But this quarter the company closed large deals with customers including Citigroup Inc and Amazon.com Inc to help it get back on track. Deferred revenue, a key metric for subscription-based software businesses, rose 23 percent to $3.50 billion in the third quarter. Analysts on average had expected deferred revenue of $3.42 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. "We expect to deliver our first $10 billion-year during our fiscal year 2018," Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said in a statement. Salesforce stock rose 4.8 percent in extended trade to $78.74. Benioff is looking to broaden the company's cloud offerings through new features, especially focusing on artificial intelligence. The company, which launched its artificial intelligence platform Einstein in October, has made a number of acquisitions to build up its machine learning and big data analysis capabilities. Benioff, who has grown increasingly active in politics and civic affairs in San Francisco, is also eager to make Salesforce a more prominent brand in the minds of consumer. The company considered buying Twitter Inc earlier this year, but abandoned the pursuit last month amid investor concerns over the strategic merits and valuation of the deal. Salesforce also lost out to Microsoft in a bid to buy LinkedIn Corp. The competition between Microsoft and Salesforce is now intensifying on several fronts, with Microsoft's Dynamics product taking business from Salesforce among mid-sized customers. Microsoft also this summer launched a direct competitor to Salesforce's AppExchange for business software. For the current quarter, Salesforce said it expected revenue of $2.27 billion to $2.28 billion, above analysts' average estimate of $2.24 billion. Excluding items, the company earned 24 cents per share in the third quarter on a non-GAAP basis, beating the average analyst estimate of 21 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 25.3 percent to $2.14 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $2.12 billion. However, on traditional GAAP measures of earnings, the company's net loss widened to $37.3 million, or 5 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 31 from $25.2 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Up to Thursday's close, Salesforce's shares had fallen 4.1 percent this year, underperforming the 7 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 index. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker)
Apple was the first company to integrate a voice-controlled virtual assistant into a smartphones operating system, although its main competitors such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft have since come up with similar solutions. Apple hasnt stopped evolving Siri, however. In fact, a new discovery reveals that Apple is interested in bringing Siri to one of its best mobile products, iMessage, and further increasing the assistants capabilities.
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A patent application titled Virtual assistant in a communication session describes a Siri assistant of the future that would be able to respond to queries performed directly inside an iMessage chat, and then act accordingly.
apple-siri-imessage-patent-1
If that sounds familiar, its because Google is already doing it in its Google Assistant, which is now available on its Pixel phones and the Google Home accessory.
Some may say that Google surpassed Apple in this regard, but others will argue that Apple is falling behind simply because it wants to protect user privacy above all else. Products like Google Assistant need to tap into user data to be able to respond to commands and perform appropriate actions. To do so, Google decided against encrypting its newly released Allo messaging app by default, since the Assistant needs to communicate with Googles servers.
apple-siri-imessage-patent-2
On the other hand, iMessage is end-to-end encrypted by default, and it would be surprising to see Apple change the security setting all for the sake of bringing Siri to iMessage.
The patent does offer several clues that suggest user privacy and safety are still a top priority for Apple. For example, members of an iMessage chat would be notified that at least one party is using the Siri assistant, and it would offer to activate AI on their device. Users would also be able to approve or deny what personal data Siri can access during chats.
Heres a cool example of the direction Apple may be headed: Siri would ask permission to access location data in order to offer nearby restaurant suggestions to a group of people, and then it could make a reservation for them.
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apple-siri-imessage-patent-3
One other interesting feature that Apple is working on is support for payments inside iMessage. And yes, Siri would be able to handle these peer-to-peer payments. This isnt the rumored Apple Pay peer-to-peer payment feature, although it wouldnt be surprising to see Apple Pay evolve. IN the case of this patent, Siri would detect what payment apps users have installed on their devices and then complete a financial transaction using a selected method. Touch ID would still be used to authenticate and secure payments.
You can already send PayPal payments to friends using Siri right now, but the feature isnt integrated into Apples popular messaging platform.
apple-siri-imessage-patent-4
As with all patents, its possible that these technologies may never see the light of day. But given Apples interest in both expanding Siris functionality and enriching the iMessage experience, we may see this type of integration hit iPhones, iPads and Macs very soon.
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SpaceX has big plans for bringing internet to locations around the world, and it all starts in space.
The Elon Musk-founded company just filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission that lays out its vision for using thousands of satellites in orbit to beam internet down to the world.
"The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide," SpaceX wrote in a supplement to the filing.
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In total, the constellation would be composed of 4,425 satellites in varying orbits, and would cost about $10 billion, according to estimates made by Musk in 2015.
The constellation would begin with 800 satellites initially, the filing states, though it is unclear when they will launch.
"Once fully deployed, the SpaceX System will pass over virtually all parts of the Earths surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service," SpaceX said in the filing.
This isn't the first time SpaceX has made its internet plan clear.
Elon Musk in 2015.
Image: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu
Musk has spoken about the satellite system multiple times, even saying that he would want to use it to help fund a city on Mars, according to the Seattle Times.
SpaceX also isn't alone in its ambitions for space-delivered internet. The company OneWeb hopes to launch a constellation of 648 satellites to deliver internet globally.
Boeing also hopes to create a satellite internet system at some point.
Facebook aspires to the same goal, but the social network experienced a setback due to a SpaceX rocket explosion. The mishap destroyed a satellite Facebook was going to use to deliver internet to parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Since that explosion in September, SpaceX launches have been on hold. Engineers working with the company are still hunting for the exact root cause of the rocket failure, but the company is getting closer to figuring it out.
SpaceX estimates that they should be flying to space again before the end of the year.
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The ticker symbol and trading information for LinkedIn Corp. is displayed on a screen at the post where it is traded, before the start of trading, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo (Reuters)
By Christian Lowe and Maria Kiselyova
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday it was deeply concerned over Russia's decision to block public access to networking site LinkedIn, saying it created a precedent that could be used to justify blocking other sites operating in Russia.
LinkedIn , which has its headquarters in the United States, is the first major social network to be blocked under a new law that requires firms holding Russian citizens' data to store it on servers on Russian soil.
Internet services analysts say other tech firms, including Facebook and Twitter , could also find access blocked unless they move data onto Russian-based servers.
Maria Olson, spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said Washington urged the Russian authorities to restore access immediately to LinkedIn, and said the restrictions harmed competition and the Russian people.
"The United States is deeply concerned by Russias decision to block access to the website LinkedIn," Olson said in a statement sent to Reuters.
"This decision is the first of its kind and sets a troubling precedent that could be used to justify shutting down any website that contains Russian user data."
Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said the decision to block LinkedIn had been made by two courts but suggested the company's problems in Russia could still be resolved.
"We hope a constructive dialogue can solve this situation," he told reporters on a visit to Ljubljana. "All foreign companies have to act in line with the law and there are many that have no problems with respecting the legislation."
On Friday, anyone attempting to access the LinkedIn website via Russian telecoms operator MTS saw a message in Russian saying: "Access to the resource you requested is restricted." Attempts to access the site via Vimpelcom, another major telecoms operator, were also unsuccessful.
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Russia's government says the new requirements are designed to ensure personal data on Russian consumers is properly protected, something it says can only be done if the servers are inside Russian jurisdiction.
Critics say the new law is part of an attack on social networks in a country which has increasingly tightened control over the Internet. The Kremlin has denied it is practising online censorship.
In a message sent via email to its Russian users, LinkedIn said it regretted the decision to block access, and was seeking meetings with the telecoms regulator. "We are considering all possible ways to resolve this situation," said the message.
The firm has over 6 million registered users in Russia. Russian authorities started taking action after a court this month rejected an appeal lodged by LinkedIn against an earlier ruling that its site should be blocked.
Matthew Hammond, chief financial officer of London-listed Mail.ru , which runs some of Russia's most popular Internet services, said there are likely to be further actions against non-compliant firms. "Will the Russia government enforce it more widely? I don't know. It seems a reasonable assumption that it probably will," Hammond told investors at the Morgan Stanley European Tech, Media and Telecom conference in Barcelona on Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in BARCELONA and Marja Novak-Vogric in LJUBLJANA; Editing by Janet Lawrence/Ruth Pitchford)
According to a recent Reuters report, U.S. telecom behemoth Verizon Communications Inc. VZ received regulatory clearance from the U.S. telecom regulator, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the $1.8 billion deal to purchase XO Communications Inc.s fiber-optic network. Notably, the FCC had allowed Verizon to enter a lease to use XO Communications wireless spectrum licenses for 5G deployment.
This deal is expected to expand the telco's metro and on-net fiber as well as millimeter wave wireless spectrum holdings in several major markets. The deal was announced in Feb 2016 and is expected to close by the first half of 2017.
Meanwhile, Verizon awaits approval from state regulators in Pennsylvania and New York.
XO Communications Buyout Prospects
Verizon has a nationwide wireless network for 4G LTE and plans to launch the faster 5G technology in 2017. Hence the XO Communications acquisition will help the company offer cable TV and Internet services with 5G connection, at 2050 times higher speeds of 25 Gbps (gigabits per second).
XO Communications operates as a fiber-based IP and Ethernet network consisting of 20,000 route mile intercity network in the U.S. and Canada. The network covers 85 major metropolitan markets in these countries offering data transfer speeds of up to 100 Gbps. The company also operates metro fiber networks in 40 major cities, and a 13,000-route mile metro network with more than 4,000 on-net business buildings and 1.2 million fiber miles. XO Communications network of 26,000 miles of fiber-optic cable stretches from Seattle to Miami and New York to Los Angeles.
The XO Communications acquisition will help Verizon serve three of its main domains: Business services, consumer FiOS and as a backhaul for its upcoming 5G wireless services. The takeover will also help Verizon fortify its foothold in the data center interconnection market. Additionally, it will bolster Verizons cell network density and in turn mobile backhaul network. The acquisition of an expanded fiber-based network will help the company compete with major Ethernet service providers such as Level 3 Communications Inc. LVLT and Comcast Corp. CMCSA
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Recently, U.S. telecom operator CenturyLink Inc. CTL decided to acquire Level 3 Communications in a cash-and-stock transaction. Total deal size is approximately $34 billion, including debt. The equity value of this deal stands at roughly $25 billion. The combined entity is expected to be major threat to other telecom operators. Hence, the buyout of XO Communications will likely help Verizon gain a competitive edge and maintain its business momentum.
In addition, XO Communications fiber assets will allow the company to enhance its dark fiber-based solutions for its small cell network. The densification of cell network will significantly help the company install and build its upcoming 5G network. Sprint Corp. S is also strengthening its dark fiber-network for small cell wireless backhaul. Verizon has estimated that the XO Communications takeover will result in operational synergy of over $1.5 billion in terms of net present value.
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Buganda road court is today expected to decide on whether or not former Old Kampala DPC Joram Mwesigye has a case to answer on assault case against him.
Mwesigye is said to have assaulted a WBS TV journalist Andrew Lwanga while covering demonstration by unemployed youths in Kampala.
DPC Mwesigye charged with assault causing bodily harm and malicious damage to property.
Mwesigye is accused of seriously assaulting Andrew Lwanga and damaging his video camera in January 2015.
The officer is also accused of damaging a khaki trouser belonging to Joseph Ssettimba a journalist working with Bukedde TV, thereby leaving him half naked with his inner closes exposed to the public.
The fracas happened near Florino Bar and Guest House along Namirembe Road in Kampala while covering unemployed youth group that was matching to Naguru police headquarters to seek permission from IGP Kale Kayihura for the different rallies in January 2015.
Uganda will this year host the 17th East African Community Jua Kali, Nguvu Kazi exhibition that promotes locally produced products and transfer of technology as they enhance the integration process.
Speaking to journalists, trades minister, Amelia Kyambadde says the exhibition is an opportunity to build capacity for value addition as producers show case and share knowledge about the locally made products.
Kyambadde says the event will also sit a symposium to discuss issues affecting the Jua kali sector with emphasis to sustainability and how they can access markets for their products.
The minister says over the years the Jua kali community has always found it difficult to find markets where they can sell their products due to the presence of manufactures who retail and wholesale products at the same time.
The exhibition will take place on 5th to 11th December this year at KKCA open show grounds, Lugogo.
The theme of the show will be Buy East African Products build East Africa.
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ANGOLA Angola area businesses were hit by a team of presumably out-of-town counterfeiters on Wednesday, passing out bogus $100 bills at local businesses, police say.
There were 10 bills turned over to Angola Police as Thursday morning, said Detective Tim Crooks.
I expect more as people make their (bank) deposits, Crooks said.
A wide variety of stores were hit, but particularly convenience stores. At least one big box store was hit.
The perpetrators would go to a business and purchase inexpensive items, say $4 or $5, then pay with the $100 bills so they would receive a sizable sum of change, Crooks said. Store clerks reported marking the bills with their special pens used to authenticate paper money and the bills appeared OK. Apparently store personnel who were taken by the money didnt look for other security features such as water marks and security strips.
The are marking. Look for the security strips and the water marks, Crooks said. Just a heads up on that. We want people to be vigilant.
Those two features can be seen by holding up the bill to light.
The bills passed locally had the feel of real money and the counterfeiters used a substance to fool the security pens.
The bills all contained the same serial number. Each was a 1985 series note.
Crooks said the frequency of passing bogus money tends to increase around the holidays.
We just want people to pay attention at this time of the year, he said.
Only three of the 13 school districts in the four counties of northeast Indiana beat the state average in 2016 ISTEP+ tests, according to scores released Thursday.
Westview, DeKalb Central and the Metropolitan School District of Steuben County topped the state average of 51.6 percent of students passing both the English and math portions of ISTEP+.
The state average itself declined from 53.5 percent in 2015, the Indiana Department of Education said.
Only three area school districts improved their passing percentages from 2015 to 2016, the report showed. The Garrett-Keyser-Butler, DeKalb Central and Hamilton Community school districts raised their scores.
The state also released results of a new ISTEP+ exam for high school sophomores. Once again, only three of 13 area high schools topped the state average of 32.2 percent passing: Prairie Heights, Westview and Fremont.
The state said the 2016 ISTEP+ test marked the second year of a new state assessment for grades 3-8 based on Indianas more rigorous college and career ready standards. It said multiple years are required for educators and students to fully transition to more rigorous standards and assessments.
This was the first year of a new state assessment for Grade 10 on the more rigorous college- and career-ready standards. The state said for the first time, the high school results show the percentage of students meeting the new college- and career-ready benchmarks.
For the first time in more than 20 years, Indiana had a new state assessment vendor for the ISTEP+ test in 2016. The state said this change had additional impacts on students and educators.
Transitions are never easy, but I want to applaud the students, educators and families across the state who have worked tirelessly to shift to more rigorous college- and career-ready standards over the past two years, said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz in a news release.
Todays results reflect Indianas focus on student progress towards more rigorous benchmarks for college and career readiness. However, it is important to remember that our students, schools and teachers are more than just a test score, Ritz said.
East Noble School Corp. Superintendent Ann Linson said Thursday she had not had time to closely look at the ISTEP+ results. But whether she reviewed the data or not, she would have same comment.
East Noble School Corp. teachers and staff focus daily on what is best and right for our students to ensure they are successful upon graduation, she said.
Linson said teachers and staff use other, more immediate assessments to tailor instruction to meet the needs of students.
There is limited value to the one-size-fits-all ISTEP+ system that continues to support an annually moving target along with a process that produces unreliable data, Linson said.
She added regardless of East Nobles ISTEP+ results, the school corporation will continue to provide instruction and educational experiences that support the skills students need to be successful in a career and in college.
Central Noble Community School Corp. Assistant Superintendent Troy Gaff, who will take over leading the district Jan. 3, echoed several of Linsons comments about the annual assessment.
He said Central Nobles results are further proof that ISTEP+ isnt a good measure of student ability. While less than 20 percent of 10th-grade students passed ISTEP+, he said that cohort of students performed very well on end-of-course assessments.
I think to start we question the validity of the test itself, how its administered, how its assessed, Gaff said.
Since ISTEP+ results are released so late students took the test last spring and results werent delivered until now the test is more or less useless to educators to help guide instruction.
Central Noble uses a quarterly Northwest Evaluation Assessment test to gauge where students are at academically. Those results are delivered days not months after the test so teachers can adapt their lesson plans.
The districts 1-to-1 technology initiative, which put laptops in the hands of all middle and high school students, also has helped teachers get more immediate feedback on student achievement, Gaff said.
The La Crosse County Board approved its 2017 budget Tuesday morning but voted overwhelmingly against pulling $1 million from the fund balance to expand county highway work next year.
Board member Ray Ebert offered an amendment to the proposed budget that would have added $1 million in road funding to the budget, which already included a $375,000 increase in the tax levy for roads, and borrowing of $2.7 million for highways, $300,000 more than county administrator Steve OMalleys original proposal.
The need for more highway funding has been a hot topic the past few months, and its a statewide issue. In La Crosse County, almost $90 million in needed road projects have been identified.
County Highway Commissioner Ron Chamberlain has noted that it would take $5 million a year for at least five years to avoid falling further behind on replacement and maintenance.
Ebert has been an opponent of borrowing for highway work, but he views the situation as so dire that he supported the $2.7 million in borrowing for next year (up to $2.8 million with bond issuance costs) and wanted to draw another $1 million from the fund balance to start to get caught up on road work.
Its a cycle I dont know how were going to break, Ebert said.
OMalleys proposed budget already pulls almost $2.8 million from the fund balance, about 2.5 times what is normally used. The county board has a policy of keeping the fund balance between 25 and 50 percent of operating expenses. At the end of 2015, the fund balance was at 57 percent, so OMalley suggested the board use some of that instead of borrowing for capital spending, including $682,000 for upgrades to the 911 telephone and radio system and $500,000 to purchase parking spaces in the Belle Square ramp.
OMalley recommended against drawing further from the fund balance, noting that Eberts amendment would take the fund balance down to 44 percent, possibly having a negative impact on the countys bond rating (Aa1, the second highest rating available).
Board member Maureen Freedland argued against Eberts amendment, suggesting it was a Band-Aid when what is needed is more funding from the state.
Eberts amendment was voted down 23-4, with only Ebert, Dan Ferries, Jerome Gundersen and Dan Hesse voting for it. Board members Laurence Berg and Tina Hundt Wehrs were absent.
An alternative proposal from board member Ralph Geary that would have drawn $300,000 from the fund balance for additional road work in 2017 also was voted down, 21-6, with Geary, Gundersen, Patrick Barlow, Keyla Rosa, Patrick Scheller and Tina Tryggestad voting for the Geary amendment.
Geary also proposed an amendment to the budget that would have pulled three new custodial positions from the budget.
For 15 years, the county has contracted for cleaning services for the administrative center and the Health and Human Services Building.
With this budget, building cleaning would become a staff responsibility again, with the custodians also doing tasks not performed by the cleaning contractors, such as changing light bulbs, shoveling snow and doing minor repairs.
Changing from contracted to staff cleaning will cost about $65,000 more, but facilities director Jim Speropulos said the buildings will be better maintained with the in-house custodians.
Gearys move to go with the contractual cleaning and put the $65,000 savings into road work was voted down by a 21-5 vote, with Geary, Ferries, Gundersen, Hesse and Leon Pfaff voting in the minority.
Ebert also proposed pulling the $27,618 budgeted for the countys share of a part-time staff position that would coordinate a new regional blufflands protection program designed to expand and enhance recreational opportunities and preserve the scenic assets of La Crosse County as well as those in Minnesotas Houston and Winona counties.
According to county planner Charlie Handy, about 3,000 acres of bluffland has been protected so far, and the program aims to double that.
The part-time position would transition into a non-county staffer once the regional coalition of government and nonprofit groups is up and running.
Board member Mike Giese argued that investment in bluffland protection will bring a tremendous payback in bringing more tourism dollars to the area as well as helping to attract and retain young people vital to the countys workforce.
After Gieses comments, Ebert said he was swayed and voted against his own amendment. So did the rest of the board.
The approved county budget keeps the tax rate flat at $3.89 per $1,000 in equalized property value, with the overall levy set at just under $33.7 million, rising by a little less than 3 percent.
The tax levy actually only accounts for about 21 percent of the total 2017 spending of just under $162 million, which is down about 4.3 percent from the 2016 budget.
Its a large budget affecting a lot of peoples lives throughout our community, OMalley said. Yet, he added, its probably one of the smaller items on most peoples property tax bills.
Lange salute
Dave Lange, La Crosse Countys corporation counsel since 2012 and a part of the countys legal team since 1988, took part in his last county board meeting Tuesday.
The countys legal department is involved in a wide array of issues, from child protection cases and negotiating contracts to drafting ordinances and advising the county board on all things legal.
I never sign a document unless it has been reviewed by Dave Lange, Tara Johnson, county board chairwoman, said Monday evening in a salute to the retiring Lange. You have kept me out of jail, and for that I am very grateful.
Lange said the county is in capable hands with his successor as corporation counsel, Megan DeVore. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you and the county all this time.
In La Crosse County it would take $5 million a year for at least five years to avoid falling further behind on road replacement and maintenance.
Treehouse Gift and Home was closed until Thursday, then reopened for a store-closing sale that will last until Dec. 24.
Treehouse has been in business on East Frontage Road in Onalaska for 18 years. Its current owners, Jill and Chip Weisbrod, announced that inventory, fixtures and the building itself are for sale.
The Weisbrods have hired retail marketing consulting firm G.A. Wright Inc. to help them liquidate the inventory as quickly as possible. Chip Weisbrod said prices will be discounted 10 to 75 percent.
Prizes will be awarded, Jill Weisbrod said. It is our way of thanking our customers for their business and friendship.
Treehouse Gift and Homes hours will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Thank you, America. Thank you, Wisconsin. After 28 years, you finally got it right, and you did not fall for the lies of our corrupt mainstream media and had the common sense to return Ron Johnson to the U.S. Senate. But now the hard work begins.
Let me remind you of Benjamin Franklins famous quote when asked what form of government the founders created at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. He said, "A republic, if you can keep it." It is now up to you to keep Mr. Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress focused on why they are there. I ask that all of you put on your computers and punch into your Smartphones the names of your U.S. Senators and Representatives, their phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses, and when you read or hear something you like or dislike from them, you contact them and let them know your view.
A republic is where you elect representatives to speak on your behalf, but they must know what you think, otherwise they will resort to doing what is best for them, making sure they get re-elected and campaign instead of legislate.
For Wisconsin, you need contact information on Ron Johnson (R), Tammy Baldwin (D), Ron Kind (D), Gwen Moore (D), Mark Pocan (D), Paul Ryan (R), Sean Duffy (R), James Sensenbrenner (R), Glenn Grothman (R) and Reid Ribble (R). President-elect Donald J. Trumps success or failure lies in your hand. Do your job. He did his.
Minnesota will release a new critical habitat license plate early next year with a design that will feature pollinators in native habitat, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The new design will be selected from a public contest among Minnesota artists and their original artwork.
Wildlife artists can submit entries for the critical habitat pollinator plate from Monday, Dec. 5 through 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12. Contest rules, application and artist agreement forms will be available online next week at www.mndnr.gov/plates.
Pollinators such as butterflies and bees have been of concern in recent years due to many of the challenges that affect our native insects, said Crystal Boyd, DNR bee specialist. These challenges include pesticide use, habitat loss, pathogens, parasites, climate change, invasive species, and other factors. A pollinator license plate is a great way for Minnesota motorists to express their concern and appreciation for our native insects.
To learn more about pollinators, go to www.dnr.state.mn.us/pollinator_resources/index.html.
The Minnesota Legislature created the critical habitat license plate program in 1995 to provide additional opportunity for Minnesotans to contribute toward conservation. Motorists who purchase a critical habitat plate pay a $10 initial fee, plus a minimum annual contribution of $30 to the Reinvest in Minnesota program. Every dollar generated through the sale of the license plate is matched with private donations of cash or land. The annual $30 contribution is not tax deductible.
Critical habitat license plate revenue has generated more than $59 million to acquire or improve 22,000 acres of critical habitat and helped fund nongame wildlife research and surveys, habitat enhancement and educational programs. Information about the program and details about how to order existing plates is available on the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/plates.
BOSCOBEL Dr. William P. Schultz, O.D. died Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, at the Boscobel Care and Rehab, Boscobel. Services with military honors will be 11 a.m. Monday at the First Congregational United Church of Christ. Burial in the Boscobel Cemetery. Visitation will be 10 a.m. until time of service Monday at the church.
I love Thanksgiving. Thinking about the time that Ill spend with my family, planning the meal the sounds, the smells, the good vibes, and even the relatives that I dont always agree with its a time of tradition.
Its also a wonderful time that I get to write my Thanksgiving column. To sit down at my typewriter (just kidding. I am a non-speller so having spellcheck changed my life) to compose my thoughts.
So lets start with giving. We could all give more than we have. All of us. It may be a smile, a thank you card, a telephone call. It may mean helping that neighbor down the street that isnt as well as they could be. It may mean writing a check to support the causes that youre passionate about. Americans give an enormous amount to charity more than $300 billion a year. I reckon that makes us one of the worlds most generous nations.
But what jumps out to me now is food scarcity. Most of us are going to a feast where we eat way too much. What about those who dont have much? Its not a pretty picture.
At our grocery store in Oregon there are bags, about $10 each, stocked with items that our local food pantry say they need. Putting one of those in my cart when I shop gives me a good feeling. I feel like $10 by $10 Im helping some family eat.
With the problems that we face today and have always faced, a $10 food donation may seem like a drop in a bucket. But for the family that gets that package its not a drop its a meal.
If you want to help more, then look at the HungerCare Coalition, a program of Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin www.hungercare.org. Their mission is simple to end hunger through community partnerships. Easy to say, harder to do. But theyre taking a crack at it and succeeding.
A while ago HungerCares leaders came to my medical group to talk about this problem. I was taught about the signs and symptoms of all sorts of diseases, but no one ever schooled me on how to search for hunger, for food shortages. Which do you think is more common, syphilis or hunger? You can guess the answer.
The risk of hunger is present in any age group, but the young and the old can be hit the hardest. HungerCare told us that we can screen for hunger with two simple questions:
1. Within the last year, were you ever worried that you would run out of food before you got money to buy more?
2. Within the last year, did the food you bought not last until you got money to buy more?
Before you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner, celebrate the successes of the year, think about those who arent around now, and count your blessings. Before you dig into that turkey and eat more than you should, why not think about your community those around you? Make a plan to help and do it.
I am a very hopeful person. I am Mr. Optimist. But as my good friend Judy told me, Hope is not a plan. Dig in and help hunger here and now.
WINONA, Minn. Lonnie Hudson is on his way to prison for killing Adam Fort.
Today we close an ugly chapter in Winona history, Winona County District Court Judge Mary Leahy said Thursday afternoon, before she imposed a 30-year prison sentence on the man who confessed to pulling the trigger 13 months ago.
Hudson is the last of several people convicted for playing different roles in the crime. Most recently his key accomplice, Reginald Alexander Burnett, was sentenced to a 28-year prison sentence in October for his role in the killing.
Hudson pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to a single count of second-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree assault, avoiding trial on a first-degree murder indictment that could have put him behind bars for life.
Hudson sat with head bowed as Forts mother and the mother of his children read victim impact statements to the court.
My life is changed forever, Forts mother said. For 13 months the man sitting here in this courtroom has dominated my thoughts.
Since Adams murder, she said, thoughts of him are sometimes angry; sometimes sorrowful. Sometimes they make me smile, but they are always painful.
Adam was a man with a big heart, she said. His life was cut short by the actions of Lonnie Hudson.
Choking back tears, Hudson offered apologies to his family, my family, the children, the public.
I ask for forgiveness, he said, I ask for another chance to prove I am a good man... My mother raised me to be a good man. I apologize to my mother the most. She really wanted me to avoid a thing like this.
Leahy observed that the gun Hudson brought with him into Forts apartment couldnt be ignored. Guns got you in a lot of trouble, she said. Gun violence is never going to be a solution.
She said his action caused a loss to a lot of people, and a huge amount of loss to the community.
Lets get through the sentencing and on to the healing phase, she said.
In the early afternoon of Oct. 18, 2015, Hudson and three others went to Forts west-end Winona apartment on Gilmore Avenue, supposedly to buy marijuana in a deal set up by Hudsons uncle.
After they arrived, the drug buy turned into an armed robbery when Hudson produced a handgun and demanded all the money youve got. When Fort and his girlfriend did not immediately comply, Hudson fired a single shot that pierced Forts arm, traveled through his chest, and through and out his other arm, hitting a major artery as it passed through his body, resulting in his death at the scene.
Hudson and an accomplice, Reginald Alexander Burnett, Jr., 19, filled bags with money and belongings, and then fled. Hudson and the driver of the getaway car would be arrested four days later. Burnett was arrested in Rockdale, Ill., on Oct. 24.
Hudsons cases is the last of the seven resulting from Forts murder to be settled.
Burnett pleaded guilty July 14 to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree assault. He is serving his sentence at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility.
Kayla Mae Clay, 19, driver of the getaway car, pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact. She was sentenced to five years of probation.
Richard Gordon Deppe, 24, the man who arranged the drug deal and gained admittance to Forts apartment for Hudson and Burnett, pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact. He was sentenced to 20 years of probation.
Cornelius Dunnigan, 22, the uncle who was behind the planned marijuana purchase, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell marijuana and was sentenced to two years, six months probation.
Ashleigh Ann Bye, 22, pleaded guilty to perjury for giving false testimony to the grand jury. She is on probation for five years, with a stay of adjudication.
Tyesha L. Williams, 24, was indicted on three counts of aiding an offender, accomplice after the fact, but all charges were dismissed since the alleged offenses all occurred in Wisconsin, outside the jurisdiction of Minnesota courts.
Dan Kapanke has yet to decide whether to request a recount in his bid to unseat state Sen. Jennifer Shilling, who says she is again hoping to lead the weakened minority caucus.
Shilling, D-La Crosse, won by just 56 votes out of more than 89,150 cast in the 32nd District in a race that pitted the Senate minority leader against the Republican she unseated in a 2011 recall.
The final county canvass was filed with the Wisconsin Election Commission Friday, which means the deadline to request a recount is 5 p.m. Wednesday. Because the margin was less than 0.25 points, Kapanke would not have to pay for a recount.
Dan will be taking the weekend to decide whether or not to request a recount, his campaign manager wrote in an email Friday.
County clerks are hoping no recount is ordered before the Thanksgiving holiday, as officials are only allowed one day off once the recount begins. They estimate a recount could take five to 10 days.
Crawford, La Crosse, Monroe and Vernon counties would all have to hold recounts, although about 70 percent of the votes were cast in La Crosse County.
Shilling declared victory as the final precincts reported numbers early Nov. 9, but Senate Democrats postponed their leadership vote last week under the shadow of uncertainty surrounding that race and the loss of the 24th District seat held by Julie Lassa of Stevens Point.
That leadership vote is now scheduled to take place Tuesday, and Shilling wrote to her colleagues Thursday asking for their support in her bid for the minority leadership spot, saying she is confident the party can overcome political headwinds to rebuild a majority.
While I firmly believe that we, as Democrats, have better ideas and policies, we must improve our efforts to connect with Wisconsin residents and offer a hopeful vision to overcome the challenges facing our state, Shilling wrote. With your help, we will improve our messaging and outreach efforts while remaining true to our Democratic principles and core values.
The West Salem School District is celebrating its report card from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, while La Crosse is the only one of 21 Coulee Region schools districts rated as meeting few expectations.
Area school districts in general fared well under the new rating system.
Twenty of 21 school districts in the region met or exceeded expectations, and West Salem was the only district rated as significantly exceeding expectations. Statewide, 91 percent of public school districts met or exceeded expectations.
The state rated La Crosse as meeting few expectations after scoring the district in four categories, including student achievement, student growth, ability to close achievement gaps, and metrics related to graduation and post-secondary readiness.
Each school in the district received a rating as well, with seven of the districts schools meeting few expectations, eight meeting or exceeding expectations, North Woods International and Emerson elementary schools significantly exceeding expectations, and Hamilton Early Learning Center failing to meet expectations.
The system for calculating report card scores is new this year, and La Crosses director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, Mike Lichucki, cautions people not to read too much into the numbers.
In addition to examining performance on a new state assessment, the report weighs districts' demographic characteristics, such as the number of economically disadvantaged students at a school.
The state didnt release report cards last year, and this years report cards use a new rating and weighting system. The system, whose methodology the DPI described as value-added, was developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lichucki said that weighing student growth more heavily than other categories put La Crosse at a disadvantage. He said its was difficult for La Crosses high-achieving schools to show the growth needed to score well.
This is an example of well-intentioned legislation with unintended consequences, Lichucki said. I caution you to look in more detail than what some of these category ratings are.
According to the districts report card, La Crosse scored 63.7 points out of 100 for student achievement. The district scored lower in both student growth (43.3) and closing achievement gaps (61.8) but ranked high for being on track for post-secondary readiness (88.1).
According to 2015-16 enrollment data from the DPI, 48.7 percent of La Crosse students are economically disadvantaged. That puts the district in the middle of the pack among the 21 area school districts. A third of the districts reported a higher proportion of poverty, as high as 61 percent in Arcadia. All of those districts received better report card ratings, including Prairie du Chien and Independence, which exceeded expectations.
Lichucki said he hopes the state tweaks the formula in the future to make the report cards more accurate and valuable to districts and the public. Districts get access to more data and are able to use that to find areas to focus on.
Its like taking the temperature of the district, he said of the public ratings. If you have a fever you can diagnose different solutions or pathways. Thats what it is: a temperature check.
On the other end of the spectrum, Viroqua, Holmen, Onalaska and Bangor were among 12 area school districts rated as exceeding expectations. Onalaska Superintendent Fran Finco said his district, which rated 79.6 points out of 100, takes its commitment to student growth seriously, with efforts to individualize instruction and provide extra resources to struggling students paying off in the districts report card.
Our teachers try to focus on learning outcomes, he said. Not trying to reach the end of the chapter.
Holmens director of instructional services, Wendy Savaske, said the report cards provide valuable insights into district achievement. The report card data highlighted how well Holmen did in English Language Arts test scores and closing the gap for English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.
Even with the high ratings, West Salem Director of Instruction and Technology Michael St. Pierre said the report cards highlighted areas his district could improve. The data showed the district could do more to improve its math scores in grades six through 12, as well as focusing on improving student achievement in general at the district.
The district batted nearly 1.000 on the ranking for student growth, which St. Pierre said was a testament to a commitment to help all students.
We are hitting a home run on growth, he said. Both for our kids that are proficient and those below proficiency.
Revamped report cards provide snapshot
MADISON (AP) Five school districts and 99 schools in Wisconsin have been slapped with failing grades, according to report cards released Thursday by the state Department of Public Instruction.
The vast majority 82 percent of schools and 91 percent of districts scored three or more stars, meaning they met or exceeded expectations. The five that failed to meet expectations the lowest score were Racine, Bayfield, Cambria-Friesland, Cassville and Menominee Indian.
Schools have to be in the lowest category for two consecutive years before they face any sanctions.
The vastly overhauled rating system and performance measurements for 2,341 individual schools and 424 districts are back after a one-year absence. There were no report cards last year while the state transitioned from the Badger Exam to the Forward Exam and the Legislature made a host of other changes to how performance data is interpreted and reported.
As a result, the Department of Public Instruction advises it would be "inaccurate and inadvisable" to compare the latest data to that of previous years.
The state's largest district, Milwaukee Public Schools, has struggled with student achievement for years and this year received a two-star ranking, which means it met few expectations. It was one of 33 districts in that ranking.
Concerns have grown about the spread of a deadly disease through Wisconsins deer herd, but most hunters have remained unfazed about eating tainted venison.
Chronic Wasting Disease is related to incurable illnesses that cause dementia and death in humans, but CWD itself hasnt crossed the species line, so most hunters dont take advantage of free testing offered by the state.
In the months leading up to Saturdays start of the nine-day season for hunting deer with guns, more hunters have expressed concerns about how CWD will affect the herd, but only a few thousand of the 300,000 or more deer harvested each year are tested.
Attitudes about testing vary widely among hunters, but theres been no indication that testing will become radically more popular this year, said Larry Bonde, a Manitowoc farmer who serves as chair of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, which advises the state Department of Natural Resources.
There are people who know the deer they shot have CWD and they dont care, and others who arent anywhere near the CWD areas and they test everything, Bonde said.
About 40,000 samples were tested in 2002, the year the disease was detected in Wisconsin a few miles west of Madison, but the numbers dropped off in 2006 as testing became less convenient amid budget cuts and shifting policies.
Samples submitted for testing hit an all-time low last year when the state switched to an electronic system for registering harvested deer and reduced in-person registration at sites where DNR personnel encouraged hunters to provide samples for testing.
Scientists lament that they have less data than ever about CWD as its prevalence reaches new heights in the core outbreaks in southern Wisconsin and appears in more and more counties miles away.
Bonde said he would consider testing if he hunted where CWD had been found, but it hasnt been detected in the wild near his usual spots in Manitowoc County and Calumet County.
The state Department of Health Services recommends against eating venison from deer that test positive for CWD or show signs of illness such as emaciation or abnormal behavior.
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention havent found CWD in humans, but the disease has similarities to others linked to proteins called prions that create incapacitating microscopic holes in mammals brains.
The unpredictable prions can mutate, often incubate in an animal for years before symptoms appear, and be spread by animals genetically resistant to symptoms. In the mad cow disease outbreak that swept through cattle herds in the 1980s, prions in beef led to dozens of people dying of another prion illness a variant of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.
No one can predict with absolute certainty that CWD will never cause human disease, said Jennifer Miller, a DHS spokeswoman. It is because of this uncertainty that DHS, WHO, and CDC recommend that people should not consume any part of a deer or elk with evidence of CWD.
DHS tracks cases of human prion diseases like Creutzfeldt Jakob and compares them to a registry of people who eat venison, but hasnt found any matches, Miller said.
Whitetails Unlimited president Jeff Schinkten of Algoma said the organization encourages hunters to test venison from counties affected by CWD.
The risk is low, but with more testing maybe we can learn more about it, Schinkten said. He said hell hunt with his granddaughter on Saturday in Door County where the disease hasnt been found.
Were living in the good old days, Schinkten said. If they tell me theres CWD prevalent in my county, I would get it tested.
In southern Iowa County, Miles Narveson lives and hunts a short distance from the center of the Wisconsin outbreak where 30 percent to 40 percent of the herd is believed infected, but he doesnt test the venison he eats.
The risk is very small, said Narveson, who serves on the Conservation Congress in the county. Its probably riskier me walking down the hill and slipping on the snow.
Narveson said he suspects most hunters he knows would test a deer if it looked sick.
To the southeast in central Green County, Kenneth Risley said he tests as a precaution even though there have been no cases in his area, away from the Iowa County and Dane County borders.
Risley said he is aware of research showing that prions can linger indefinitely in soil, animal scat or urine, and in plants. A crow could pick at the carcass of an infected deer, and then fly miles before depositing the disease in a new place, Risley said.
Risley is chairman of the County Deer Advisory Council in Green County, but he said he wasnt speaking on behalf of the group. The councils were set up to advise the DNR on deer hunting.
Most people dont get it tested because testing isnt always so handy to do, Risley said. You have to drive a ways.
The DNR allows hunters to drop off deer tissue for testing at sites determined each year by budget limitations and changing surveillance goals.
Mike Samuel, a UW-Madison scientist who specializes in CWD research, hunts on land he owns in the southwest corner of Dane County. He said he tests every adult deer he shoots, even though it has meant having to dispose of three that were found to be infected in recent years.
Instances of human prion diseases are rare, so people arent accustomed with them, but they are frightening, Samuel said.
Prions cant be reliably cleaned or washed away, and the incurable diseases involve people losing their minds before death, he said.
We dont know very much about what the future can hold, Samuel said.
Lee Fahrney, who lives and hunts on land he owns in southeastern Iowa County, said he almost always tests for CWD. He said he and his family and friends have shot five infected deer on his property in recent years. Two were obviously sick, but the others looked fine.
One dressed out at 200 pounds, he said.
Personally I wouldnt eat a deer if it comes back positive for CWD, Fahrney said. But I know there are a lot of people who arent that worried about it.
COLLECTIVE MADNESS
Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
With Christmas music playing in the background, nearly 30 Fellowship of Christian Athletes members from Onalaska High School gathered on Nov. 11 before their classes to spread Christmas blessings to children in other countries.
The students packed almost 20 shoebox-sized containers with items such as puzzles, coloring books, hair bands, toy cars, crayons, small balls, colorful beads, school supplies and health care items like toothbrushes, soaps and deodorants.
The boxes will go to Operation Christmas Child, a program coordinated through Samaritans Purse that transports holiday boxes across borders and into the hands of children who otherwise might receive nothing for Christmas.
As you are filling your boxes, take time to think about the child who will be getting this, club advisor and teacher Josh Lichty told the students.
Its meaningful because we are giving to kids who are less fortunate and making their Christmas a day to remember, said junior Laura Munson.
With the packing complete, students placed a label on each box that stated the gender and the age range of the child for which it was intended. They also quietly prayed over each box and for the children receiving them. Some students laid their hands on the boxes as they bowed their heads in quiet prayer.
I think it gives our students the opportunity to share their faith through the simple act of giving to other children in need. Its really neat to see how excited the students get when they fill the boxes with toys and little trinkets and to think how that one little box can be such a blessing to someone else, said Amanda Steele, another club advisor and OHS teacher.
Its cool to give kids who are less fortunate something for Christmas and to give them something to be happy about, said Jaclyn Thomas, a sophomore who packed a box.
It is mostly unknown where the groups boxes will end up. Steele said it is likely that they will go to a country in South America, but they could go anywhere in the world. They must go through customs before coordinators of Operation Christmas Child transport them to areas with needy children.
The boxes could be transported by ship, airplane, truck, horse, mule, foot or even by elephant to reach their final destinations. Steele said they may pay to have one of their boxes tracked to get a better idea of where their generosity lands.
Operation Christmas Child started in 1990 in the United Kingdom. Since partnering with Samaritans Purse in 1993, the project has reached more than 135 million children in 150 countries and territories. The boxes go to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine or disease.
Howard M. Sherpe, 72, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, at his home in Westby. Howard fought a courageous battle with brain cancer.
Howard was born May 4, 1944, in Viroqua. He graduated from Westby High School in 1962 and went on to earn a degree in commercial art. He lived and worked in Madison, Wis. for 37 years and owned his own business, Sherpe Advertising Art. He then moved to Westby and was marketing manager for Vernon Communications Coop. Howard and Linda built a house on the back forty of his home farm.
Howard served in the U.S. Army and was a combat medic with the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He was an original board member of the Highground Veterans Memorial Park, Neillsville, Wis. He was founder of the Nam Ki Do Karate Club for veteran martial arts and meditation. Howard and his son, Erik earned their black belts together in 1987.
Howard was a member of the writing group, the Deadly Writers Patrol, and went on to write a weekly newspaper column entitled Across the Fence. It was published in twelve newspapers in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. He compiled these columns into eight books.
Howard was known for his wonderful Norwegian Folk Art Wood Carvings, which have been sold both in the U.S. and abroad. Howard enjoyed reading, walking and running, cross country ski racing, music, theatre and genealogy.
Howard is survived by his loving wife, Linda, of 49 years; his children, Erik Sherpe of Madison, and Amy (Tim) Davis of Ixonia, Wis.; with his two grandchildren, Sean and Anna Davis. Howard is lovingly remembered by his brothers, David (Barbara) Sherpe of Sauk City, Wis., Arden (Janice) of Westby; and his sister, Janet (Frank) Servais of Mondovi, Wis. He has a number of nieces and nephews.
Howard was preceded in death by his parents, Hans and Anna Sherpe; his in-laws, Dale and Virginia Bartling; and a sister-in-law, Lori Bartling.
Funeral services were held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, at Vosseteig Funeral Home, Westby. Pastor Dan Wollman officiated. Burial with military honors followed in the Coon Prairie Cemetery. Friends called from 11 a.m. til time of service at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
In lieu of plants or flowers, memorials may be directed to the American Cancer Society or the Westby Norse Fund.
Online Condolences may be offered at www.VossFH.com. Vosseteig Funeral Home, Westby, is serving the family.
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Bill AB 60, which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license, was hotly debated before it was signed into law. Advocates said that, among the various benefits that would come from the bill, it would get undocumented drivers to go through the Department of Motor Vehicles, where they'd be vetted before they're allowed onto the road. LAPD Police Chief Beck echoed this sentiment in 2012: he said that roads would become safer after undocumented drivers have been ushered through the "rigorous testing process" of obtaining a license, and surmised that hit-and-runs would be less common if drivers weren't afraid of being caught without a license.
One of the other benefits, apparently, is that it may have led to more vehicles being insured. The California Department of Insurance released a statement today saying that, in 2015 (the first year that AB 60 went into effect), "the number of insured vehicles increased by 200,000 more vehicles than would have been expected." The statement adds that, in the three previous years, the percentage of insured vehicles had risen at the same rate as the number of registered vehicles, which suggests that the recent bump is an aberration (e.g. possibly a result of AB 60).
So undocumented immigrants can get car insurance? Yes, as the only thing you really need to get car insurance (aside from the dough) is a driver's license.
A CDI spokesperson wrote to LAist to say that this spike in insured vehicles is a good thing, because "It means that your chances of being in a collision with an uninsured motorists are reducedthat's good for all of us." Seems straight-forward enough! But how, exactly, do we benefit in real-life terms? As explained by The Zebra, a website that compares insurance quotes, dealing with an uninsured driver can be a massive pain:
If you get into a crash with an uninsured driver, it's likely that you'll be dealing with someone who lacks (or is unwilling to disclose) financial means or proper identification, or is reluctant to undertake a task legally required by U.S. residents. In this case, uninsured motorist coverage is your best protection. If you don't have uninsured motorist coverage, your only other form of possible compensation is the courts, but if the other party didn't have the means to purchase auto insurance, the likelihood that they will be able to pay judgments (if you win) isn't great.
Which is to say that, if everyone had car insurance, this mess would be a whole lot simpler.
The CDI treads carefully, however, saying that the connection between AB 60 and the spike in insured vehicles is one that "needs more study." There are different variables that complicate the matter. For instance, a single insured vehicle may be driven by multiple drivers, so it's inaccurate to make a strict correlation between the number of driver's licenses and the number of insured vehicles. The CDI also noted that lower gas prices and an improving economy may have led more citizens to buy car insurance.
About 605,000 driver licenses were issued under AB 60 in its first year of existence. These licenses have special designations; they indicate on the front that "federal limits apply", and state on the back that they're not to be used for "official federal purposes."
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The man who smashed Donald Trump's star, much to the chagrin/delight of people, is now having to deal with the fallout for his destructive act of protest.James Lambert Otis, a Dr. Seuss fanatic and presumptive heir to the Otis Elevator fortune, has been charged with felony vandalism. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced the charge on Thursday and said Otis faces a possible three years in jail.
Otis smashed the star, which sits in front of the Hollywood and Highland Center, early on the morning of October 26 with a pickaxe and sledgehammer. Despite doing it during the wee hours, Otis said he was not afraid of the consequences he would face, saying, "I'm not frightened of jail and I'm certainly not frightened of Mr. Trump." He turned himself in to police later that day.
Removing the entire star, as he originally planned, ended up being too much trouble, so he hacked away at it and removed the brass emblem and nameplate. Otis said he planned on selling the pieces to raise money for the legal fees of the women who have accused Trump of sexual assault. Last week, he said he planned on suing Donald Trump over the star because it's presence attracted undue attention to the area and was a strain on public resources.
The star, which has previously been defaced and had a wall built around it, is in the process of being replaced by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, but isn't yet ready for Inauguration Day:
Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was buried Friday with military honors at a cemetery for national heroes.
His wife Imelda and their children attended the burial at Cemetery of Heroes in Manila.
A police official told the Associated Press that Marcoss body was flown to the capital Thursday from his home province of Ilocos Norte.
The official described the burial service as a simple, family ceremony. Family members and military officials followed the body as it was taken in a horse-drawn carriage to its final resting place.
The ceremony included a 21-gun military salute. Imelda Marcos was given the Philippine flag that covered the coffin.
The burial was kept secret from the public. Groups representing victims of Marcoss rule opposed having his remains moved to the cemetery. Other former presidents, military leaders and artists are buried there.
No protests were reported at the cemetery, where thousands of riot police and soldiers stood guard. But protesters gathered in other parts of Manila. Some burned pictures of Marcos.
The Philippine Supreme Court approved the burial, which President Rodrigo Duterte also supported. Several groups had gone to court seeking to stop it.
Marcos ruled the country for more than 20 years. His administration was accused of widespread corruption and human rights abuses. Family members have denied wrongdoing during his rule.
Marcos was removed from office in 1986 when the army supported what was called a people power rebellion. He later fled the country.
Marcos died in 1989 while living in exile with his family in the American state of Hawaii. In 1993, his body was flown back to the Philippines.
Marcoss oldest daughter Imee is the governor of Ilocos Norte province. She thanked President Duterte for supporting the burial in Manila.
My beloved father's last will to be buried with fellow soldiers was fulfilled today," she said.
Duterte had said it was right for the former president to be buried at the Manila cemetery not because he was a hero, but because he was a Filipino soldier.
Marcos served in the Philippine army and was a guerrilla leader against Japanese occupation forces during World War II.
Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo opposed the burial and criticized the secrecy of the ceremony. She compared the process to a thief in the night.
This is nothing new to the Marcoses - they who had hidden wealth, hidden human rights abuses and now hidden burial - with complete disrespect for the rule of law, she said.
Im Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and Reuters. 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
cemetery n. place where dead people are buried
salute n. sign of respect given to high-ranking military officials
coffin n. box used to bury the body of a dead person
fellow - adj. used to describe people who belong to the same group or who have shared experiences
thief - n. person who steals things
Although Hillary Clinton did not become the first woman to be elected president of the United States, there are now more female state legislators than ever before.
Beginning in January 2017, about 1,824 women will serve in the legislatures of the 50 states -- the highest number in American history. That is 24.7 percent of the more than 7,380 state house and senate seats.
In 1992, 20 percent of state legislators were women. By 2015, 24.4 percent of them were.
A record number of women were candidates this year for state legislative seats.
The legislatures of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Vermont have the highest percentage of women. Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming have the lowest percentage.
About 20 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are women. Women make up a little more than half of the U.S. population.
However, the 2016 election did not bring the big change in the number of women in politics that some people expected, says Debbie Walsh. She is the director of the nonpartisan Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. She recently spoke with the Washington Post newspaper.
For all of the talk of this being a change election, it was not a change election for women in politics. We just arent seeing enough of them, she said.
The elections did bring some firsts for female lawmakers.
Starting in January 2017, 38 non-white women will serve in Congress. That is a record number. Thirty-five of them are Democrats and three are Republicans.
Democrat Catherine Cortez Mastro of Nevada will be the first Latina to serve in the U.S. Senate. And Stephanie Murphy, a Democrat from Florida, will be the first Vietnamese-American woman in Congress.
All of the members of the U.S. House and Senate from the state of New Hampshire will be women.
Voters in Minnesota elected the first Somali-American state lawmaker. Voters in Kentucky elected its first black female legislator in 20 years. Forty Native American Democratic state legislators were also elected in states throughout the country.
Only two of the 50 American states have never elected a woman to serve in the U.S. House or Senate: Mississippi and Vermont.
The new Congress will be the most diverse group of American lawmakers ever. However, about 80 percent of its members will be white males. White men are about 31 percent of the U.S. population.
Im Marsha James.
VOA's Christopher Jones-Cruise wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
diverse adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other
We present the short story "Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen," by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State.
There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all Americans go back to the old home and eat a big dinner. Bless the day. The President gives it to us every year.
Sometimes he talks about the people who had the first Thanksgiving. They were the Puritans. They were some people who landed on our Atlantic shore. We dont really remember much about them.
But those people ate a large bird called turkey on the first Thanksgiving Day. So we have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, if we have enough money to buy turkey. That is a tradition.
Yes. Thanksgiving Day is the one day of the year that is purely American. And now here is the story to prove to you that we have old traditions in this new country. They are growing older more quickly than traditions in old countries. That is because we are so young and full of life. We do everything quickly.
Stuffy Pete sat down on a seat in the New York City park named Union Square. It was the third seat to the right as you enter Union Square from the east.
Every Thanksgiving for nine years he had sat down there at one in the afternoon. Every time, things had happened to him. They were wonderful things. They made his heart feel full of joyand they filled another part of him, too. They filled the part below his heart.
On those other Thanksgiving Days he had been hungry. (It is a strange thing. There are rich people who wish to help the poor. But many of them seem to think that the poor are hungry only on Thanksgiving Day.)
But today Pete was not hungry. He had come from a dinner so big that he had almost no power to move. His light green eyes looked out from a gray face on which there was still a little food. His breath was short. His body had suddenly become too big for his clothes; it seemed ready to break out of them. They were torn. You could see his skin through a hole in the front of his shirt. But the cold wind, with snow in it, felt pleasantly cool to him.
For Stuffy Pete was overheated with the warmth of all he had had to eat. The dinner had been much too big. It seemed to him that his dinner had included all the turkey and all the other food in the whole world.
So he sat, very, very full. He looked out at the world without interest, as if it could never offer him anything more.
The dinner had not been expected.
He had been passing a large house near the beginning of that great broad street called Fifth Avenue. It was the home of two old ladies of an old family. These two old ladies had a deep love of traditions. There were certain things they always did. On Thanksgiving Day at noon they always sent a servant to stand at the door. There he waited for the first hungry person who walked by. The servant had orders to bring that person into the house and feed him until he could eat no more. Stuffy Pete happened to pass by on his way to the park. The servant had gathered him in. Tradition had been followed.
Stuffy Pete sat in the park looking straight before him for ten minutes. Then he felt a desire to look in another direction. With a very great effort, he moved his head slowly to the left.
Then his eyes grew wider and his breath stopped. His feet in their torn shoes at the ends of his short legs moved about on the ground.
For the Old Gentleman was coming across Fourth Avenue toward Stuffys seat.
Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years the Old Gentleman had come there to find Stuffy Pete on his seat. That was a thing that the Old Gentleman was trying to make into a tradition. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years he had found Stuffy there. Then he had led Stuffy to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner.
They do these things more easily in old countries like England. They do them without thinking about them.
But in this young country, we must think about them. In order to build a tradition, we must do the same thing again and again for a long time. The Old Gentleman loved his country. He believed he was helping to build a great American tradition. And he had been doing very well. Nine years is a long time here.
The Old Gentleman moved, straight and proud, toward the tradition that he was building. Truly feeding Stuffy Pete once a year was not a very important tradition. There are greater and more important traditions in England. But it was a beginning. It proved that a tradition was at least possible in America.
The Old Gentleman was thin and tall and sixty. He was dressed all in black. He wore eye-glasses. His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been last year. His legs did not seem as strong as they had seemed the year before.
As this kind Old Gentleman came toward him, Stuffy began to shake and his breath was shorter. He wished he could fly away. But he could not move from his seat.
Good morning, said the Old Gentleman. I am glad to see that the troubles of another year have not hurt you. You continue to move in health about the beautiful world. For that blessing you and I can give thanks on this day of thanksgiving. If you will come with me, my man, I will give you a dinner that will surely make your body feel as thankful as your mind.
That is what the Old Gentleman said every time. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years. The words themselves were almost a tradition. Always before, they had been music in Stuffys ear. But now he looked up at the Old Gentlemans face with tears of suffering in his eyes. The snow turned quickly to water when it fell upon his hot face. But the Old Gentleman was shaking with the cold. He turned away, with his back to the wind, and he did not see Stuffys eyes.
Stuffy had always wondered why the Old Gentleman seemed sad as he spoke. He did not know that it was because the Old Gentleman was wishing that he had a son. A son would come there after he himself was gone. A son would stand proud and strong before Stuffy, and say: In remembrance of my father. Then it would really be a tradition.
But the Old Gentleman had no family. He lived in a room in one of the old houses near the park. In the winter he grew a few flowers there. In the spring he walked on Fifth Avenue. In the summer he lived in a farmhouse in the hills outside New York, and he talked of a strange bug he hoped some day to find. In the fall season he gave Stuffy a dinner. These were the things that filled the Old Gentlemans life.
Stuffy Pete looked up at him for a half minute, helpless and very sorry for himself. The Old Gentlemans eyes were bright with the giving pleasure. His face was getting older every year, but his clothes were very clean and fresh.
And then Stuffy made a strange noise. He was trying to speak. As the Old Gentleman had heard the noise nine times before, he understood it. He knew that Stuffy was accepting.
Thank you. Im very hungry.
Stuffy was very full, but he understood that he was part of a tradition. His desire for food on Thanksgiving Day was not his own. It belonged to this kind Old Gentleman. True, America is free. But there are some things that must be done.
The Old Gentleman led Stuffy to the restaurant and to the same table where they had always gone. They were known here.
Here comes that old man, said a waiter, that buys that old no-good fellow a dinner every Thanksgiving.
The Old Gentleman sat at the table, watching. The waiters brought food, and more food. And Stuffy began to eat.
No great and famous soldier ever battled more strongly against an enemy. The turkey and all the other food were gone almost as quickly as they appeared. Stuffy saw the look of happiness on the Old Gentlemans face. He continued to eat in order to keep it there.
In an hour the battle was finished.
Thank you, Stuffy said. Thank you for my Thanksgiving dinner. Then he stood up heavily and started to go to the wrong door. A waiter turned him in the right direction.
The Old Gentleman carefully counted out $1.30, and left fifteen cents more for the waiter.
They said goodbye, as they did each year, at the door. The Old Gentleman went south, and Stuffy went north.
Stuffy went around the first corner, and stood for one minute. Then he fell.
There he was found. He was picked up and taken to a hospital. They put him on a bed, and began to try to discover what strange sickness had made him fall.
And an hour later the Old Gentleman was brought to the same hospital. And they put him on another bed, and began to try to discover what his sickness could be.
After a little time one of the doctors met another doctor, and they talked.
That nice old gentleman over there, he said. Do you know whats wrong with him? Hes almost dead for the need of food. A very proud old man, I think. He told me he has had nothing to eat for three days.
Download activities to help you understand this story here.
Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. What is your favorite holiday? What kinds of holiday traditions do they have in your country? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.
______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
Puritan(s) n. a member of a Protestant group in England and New England in the 16th and 17th centuries that opposed many customs of the Church of England
servant n. a person who is hired to do household or personal duties such as cleaning and cooking
eye-glasses n. a pair of lenses set into a frame and worn over your eyes to help you see
tear(s) n. a drop of liquid that comes from your eyes especially when you cry
remembrance n. something that is done or made to honor the memory of a person, thing, or event
bug n. a usually small insect
waiter n. a man who serves food or drinks to people in a restaurant
cent(s) n. a unit of money that is equal to / of the basic unit of money in many countries
Cabelas will hold its annual meeting Dec. 13 at 8 a.m. at the companys headquarters in Sidney.
Not on the agenda: details of the $5.5 billion acquisition by Bass Pro Shops, which was announced in October. The company said in a government filing that a separate meeting and shareholder vote will be held at a later date.
Shareholders and community members may still use the meeting as a chance to bring up the merger and how it will affect Sidney, a town of 6,800 in which 2,000 people work at Cabelas. The company, when the deal closes, will be a subsidiary of Bass Pro and will be headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.
My guess is that the elephant in the room is gonna be the Bass Pro deal, and thats not on the agenda, said Rob Berick, senior vice president and managing director of Falls Communications, a public and investor relations company in Cleveland.
That to me will be the whats interesting about this upcoming annual meeting, is what types of rules and protocols they put in place to manage the conversation, should investors or community members try to take the conversation off of the agenda.
That may be one reason the company is hosting the meeting in the middle of December, in the companys headquarters rather than in the public Sidney High School. Cabelas traditionally held its annual meetings in the spring, but this year it was delayed, probably because of the ongoing negotiations with Bass Pro and the involvement of activist investor Elliott Management, which bought up 11 percent of the company last year and agitated for changes like a sale of the company.
Cabelas didnt comment for this story.
On the agenda in December: re-electing 10 directors to the board; ratifying an appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the companys registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2016; holding an advisory vote on executive compensation; and any other business shareholders might wish to bring up at the meeting.
Washington, D.C. Constituents of Third District Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) who need assistance dealing with a federal agency are invited to attend the Caseworker in Your Community events on Wednesday, November 30, in Lexington and Trenton.
Caseworker in Your Community is an opportunity for constituents to meet directly with one of Smiths congressional caseworkers. Caseworkers may be able to assist constituents who are having problems dealing with a federal agency such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security, Medicare, passports and visas through the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or the Internal Revenue Service.
The tutu wearing thief that broke into a Tampa farmer's market earlier this month has been caught.
Farmers Market on Fletcher Ave in Tampa broken into Nov. 1
Surveillance video showed one suspect wearing a tutu
Jevon Ryner Jamison, 22, arrested and charged
According to Tampa police, Jevon Ryner Jamison, 22, has been arrested and charged, along with another person, of breaking into the Farmers Market located at 1718 East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa Nov. 1.
Police said they entered by breaking out the glass door to the market. Once inside, the suspects consumed fruit and soda.
Police said Jamison is the suspect in the surveillance video wearing a tutu inside the store.
Jamison, of Tampa, has been charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure, criminal mischief and petit theft of $100 or less.
Police said the suspects entered by breaking out the glass door to the market. Once inside, the suspects consumed fruit and soda. Police said Jamison is the suspect in the surveillance video wearing a tutu inside the store. (TPD image)
MARRAKESH, Morocco - African leaders met in Morocco on Wednesday on the sidelines of UN climate talks to agree a joint stance to fight global warming on the continent.
Image by 123RF
"Africa is paying a heavy price over the climate issue and is without doubt the continent worst affected," Morocco's King Mohammed VI told the summit attended by 20 African leaders. "These disruptions... greatly hamper Africa's development and gravely threaten the basic rights of tens of millions of Africans," he said.
He said the continent needed to "speak in a single voice, demand climate justice".
France's President Francois Hollande and UN chief Ban Ki-moon also attended the summit which took place alongside the COP22 climate change conference in Marrakesh.
Ban said Africa was at the forefront of the fight against climate change, and that 36 of the 50 countries most affected by global warming were African.
Senegal's President Macky Sall said African countries would wait until 2020 for promised aid from developed countries to fight global warming. An agreement after last year's climate talks in Paris provides for a green fund of $100 billion (90 billion euros) per year from 2020 to help poorer nations make the shift to clean energy.
Hollande said Wednesday's summit would "lay the foundations" for the plan to help Africa from 2020. "France has made its commitments and will keep them, I will see to it," he said.
African leaders have called for more funding from developed nations to cut fossil fuel emissions and take contingency measures. "Developed countries must shoulder their historical responsibility for emissions," Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh said on Tuesday.
The UN, too, has called for more money, especially for "adaptation" -- shoring up defences against the effects of global warming.
This could mean building dykes or elevating homes as protection against rising seas, improving weather warning systems and growing climate change-resistant crops.
President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide during the 13-year-old conflict in Darfur, also attended. He has always denied the charges.
The summit comes amid growing opposition to the ICC among African leaders, who accuse the court of prosecuting alleged crimes in Africa while ignoring those elsewhere in the world.
Burundi, South Africa and the Gambia have all pulled out of the court's founding treaty, the Rome statute, in recent weeks. Kenya, Namibia and Uganda have indicated they may follow suit.
On Wednesday, Russia dealt the ICC a new blow by saying it would formally withdraw its signature from the Rome statute.
Hosting the summit is a diplomatic coup for Morocco as it seeks to reassert its influence in Africa. In July, the kingdom announced it wanted to rejoin the African Union after a three-decade hiatus, and in September it lodged a formal application.
The king has since toured East Africa in a bid to woo support. After the Marrakesh talks he is due to visit Addis Ababa, where the AU is based.
Morocco pulled out of what was then called the Organisation of African Unity in 1984 in protest at the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic declared by the pro-independence Polisario Front in the Western Sahara.
The move came at the height of the armed conflict between the Polisario and Morocco over the former Spanish colony.
A UN-supervised ceasefire has been in effect since 1991 but a quarter of a century of efforts for a lasting peace have yielded few results. Morocco controls all the territory's main towns, with the Polisario confined to a narrow strip in the desert interior. Tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees still live in camps in neighbouring Algeria.Algeria has long backed the Polisario and Morocco's bid for AU membership has set off what is likely to be dogged diplomatic battle for influence between the North African rivals.
Source: AFP.
As a huge fan of the Harry Potter books I remember the exact moment I lost all interest in the movie adaptations.
It was the scene in the fourth film The Goblet of Fire, when Dumbledore angrily assaults Harry for putting his name in the goblet. Coming from Prisoner of Azkaban, one of the best films Id ever seen, Goblet put an irredeemable dent in my expectations from the film versions of the Potter universe.
The subsequent films were predictably more and more forgettable, and the final film had a painfully underwhelming fight scene between Harry and Voldemort considering Id waited for almost ten years to see it on screen.
So when an adaptation for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was announced, I naturally didnt have big expectations. Now, whether its the low bar or the fact that it was written by JK Rowling herself isn't entirely clear, but Fantastic Beasts... is a nice expansion of the Potter universe, and definitely the best since the third film, Prisoner of Azkaban.
This time were taken back to the 1920s when a young Englishman named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in New York with a strange suitcase that seems to contain something dangerous. But also on the prowl is a dark wizard named Grindlewald who is responsible for many terrorist attacks.
Adding a far more dangerous layer is an unknown monstrous entity thats been let loose in the city and is causing significant damage. Scamander gets embroiled in a race against time to stop the menace and also secure the contents of his increasingly weird suitcase.
What makes the film far more interesting than the previous Potter movies is that the filmmakers are not bogged down by the childrens film genre. The themes in this film are far darker and more adult than anything seen previously, and while some scenes might be too scary for kids the young adults are going to find it quite entertaining. Its also nice to see the Potter universe expand away from the confines of Hogwarts, and the amazing VFX laden production design brings out some eye popping detailing of 1920s NYC.
The titular beasts themselves are imaginative and fascinating, and how Scamander is connected to the beasts is an interesting commentary on how humans treat something they are not aware of in a negative manner. When the film isnt dark and scary its also quite funny which is a breath of fresh air from the persistent gloom and doom of the previous four films.
On the negative side the film is directed by David Yates, who, to be honest, is a very bland filmmaker. Just like in the previous four Potter films, he had very high quality written material, top of the line visual effects and interesting characters at his disposal, yet his direction has a synthetic, un-energetic feel.
It somehow offsets the high bar set by the other technicians working on the film. The fact that hes going to direct all five Fantastic Beasts films is a worrisome aspect because the franchise could use a fresh filmmaking style, of someone like Alfonso Cuaron, who made the third film. The other let down is the music by James Newton Howard, which is quite a far cry from the all time classic theme by John Williams, and is merely a standard issue generic blockbuster movie score.
The finale of Fantastic Beasts poses some interesting new revelations, and it would be interesting to see where Warner Brothers takes the franchise from here. Theres quite a bit of lore left to explore in fact its already been announced that Grindlewald will make an appearance in the next films lets hope his inclusion is an original take and not just another soft reboot of Voldemort.
This time on First Lady, host Meghna Pant got to interview Nimrat Kaur, an up and coming actor whos already making waves in India and abroad.
Kaur is best known for her work in The Lunchbox and Airlift, but she also made quite a name for herself as Homelands Tasneem Qureshi.
Director Raja Sen describes Kaur as disarmingly natural; its as apt a description of her interview as youll find anywhere.
In the course of the interview, Kaur discussed the definition of success and said that its ever changing. What I thought of success two years ago, isnt the same today, said Kaur.
When asked about the changing perception of Indian culture, particularly in Hollywood, Kaur had some very interesting insights to give. She believes that art always reflects the society of the time and the changing perception of Indians in Hollywood is just an extension of the changing perceptions of people the world over.
Kaur loves being an actor and loves her work, and thats very apparent in the interview. I love meeting new people, new energies. Thats what my core is, Kaur added.
She also has a very down-to-earth stance on feminism.
In her own words, The idea of a modern woman is to have a sense of self-worth and identity. She strongly believes that women, by nature, love their families. Were the reason families are together. Were born this way, said Kaur, adding, But what else? Thats what women need to ask themselves.
Catch the full interview above to learn more about Nimrat Kaur and her passion for life as well as her work.
On Thursday (November 17), a lot of stars and their PR crew announced fresh projects and titles for their new films. There was an avalanche of tweets from Kollywood stars or their production houses to announce new films and tie-ups.
Kollywood is currently going through a major crisis due to demonetisation. In an industry where black money plays a key role, shooting of new films have come to a standstill and release dates have been reshuffled due to currency crunch. There is no money in the market as financiers are left with scrapped notes and general public is off movies.
Gautham Menons AYM took an opening only in Chennai city and suburbs in Chennai and Coimbatore where theatres have online booking. However actors in Kollywood wanted to show that demonetisation has not in any way affected their box-office standing.
Vikram has set the ball rolling. After the success of Iru Mugan, reports claim that he was planning to do another film with its director Anand Shankar. Also, director Hari had officially announced he is going to do a Saamy sequel with Vikram. Later, news came out that Vikram will do the remake of the Hollywood horror thriller Dont Breathe, playing the role of the blind army man, enacted by Stephen Lang. The director of the film Frede Alvarez replied to a fan that the film is going to be remade in India.
More recently Gautham Menon announced his next film after AYM will be with Vikram. However yesterday morning news was out officially that Vikram has been signed up to do a film for SFF with the little known director Vijay Chander, who had earlier directed Simbus Vaalu. It took the entire industry by surprise.
A few hours later JiivaKajal Aggarwal's Kavalai Vendam teaser was released along with its 24th November release date announcement. Jiiva also tweeted about.
At sharp 6 pm in the evening, popular music composer and youth icon Anirudh, who has over 2 million followers on Twittter, tweeted
#RumTeaser is here - https://t.co/jwbo3ZhGtb .. Please support this new team Anirudh Ravichander (@anirudhofficial) November 17, 2016
The teaser was first released through the Twitter handle of actor Suriya. Rum, a horror thriller, is Anirudhs 13 th film as a music director and he is introducing his cousin Hrishikesh, who debuts as hero in the film.
Two hours later, music director-turned-actor Vijay Antony's new horror thriller film Saithan's opening 8 minutes was made live via social media handles. It is a bold and daring decision by Vijay Antony to create a hype around the film, which was to release on 17 November, but now has been pushed to 2 December. Vijay Antony is riding a wave as his last release Pichaikkaran is one of 2016s super hits.
Half an hour later, Vijay fans were in for a treat when leading production house Sri Thenandal Films officially announced that they would be making Vijay 61 with Atlee as the director. Vijays earlier combo with Atlee had resulted in Theri, the 2016 summer blockbuster.
However the biggest news of the day was when Suriya announced that his next film will be directed by the maverick Selvaraghavan.
Late in the night, the Lady Superstar of Tamil cinema Nayanthara announced her next film, Aramm.
What an evening it turned out to be in Twitter, as all the latest star updates trended!
For farmer Buddha Singh, who works a small plot of land in the village of Bajna south of New Delhi, the government's decision to abolish Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes to crush the shadow economy could hardly have come at a worse time.
He and millions of other farmers cannot get enough cash to buy the seeds and fertilisers they need for their winter crops, threatening production of key commodities and hurting rural communities only just recovering after two years of drought.
"We can't buy our full requirements of seeds, fertiliser and pesticides on credit. There is a limit," said Singh, a turbaned man in his 50s, who tills a two-acre field near the highway running from the capital to the holy city of Mathura.
"We're running out of time as we've only 10-15 days more to plant crops like wheat, mustard and chickpeas," he added, to murmurs of assent from around 30 fellow farmers sitting under a neem tree and discussing their predicament.
India's 26.3 crore farmers mostly live in the cash economy, exposing them to the full impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shocking 8-November announcement that larger denomination bank notes would immediately cease to be legal tender.
Modi's drive to purge "black cash" from the economy has, at a stroke, wiped out 86 percent of the money in circulation. Delays in printing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes mean that money could be tight for weeks to come.
While city dwellers are still queuing up to exchange or deposit old money at the bank, and to draw new funds, many villagers live miles from the nearest branch and have yet to see the new notes being rushed into circulation.
Dragged down
Delays to the planting season that began last month threaten to dent agricultural and overall economic growth, wiping out gains for farmers who this year cashed in on decent monsoon rains after being hit by drought in 2014 and 2015.
Farmers who have already spent money on ploughing and irrigation to keep the soil moist can ill afford to leave their land fallow. Late sowing typically reduces yields and increases the risk that inclement spring weather could damage crops.
"In all likelihood, we'll not be able to recover our cost of cultivation as the prime sowing time has nearly lapsed," said Prakash Chandra Sharma, another local farmer.
The farmers said they spent an average of Rs 58,000 per hectare to grow wheat, only to eke out an income of Rs 70,000. That assumes a crop yield of about 3.2 tonnes per hectare.
A drop in wheat output would boost local prices that are already near record highs. Stocks are at their lowest level for nearly a decade, and even before the latest cash crunch, private traders were expected to import around 3 million tonnes this year.
Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst, said rural communities in particular would suffer from the demonetisation move.
"It's a little early to hazard a guess about the extent of crop loss," said Sharma. "But both rural income and demand will take a big hit before things start improving from April next year."
Thanks, but no thanks
In the latest in a series of ad hoc steps, the government on Thursday allowed farmers to withdraw up to Rs 25,000 a week against their crop loans to ensure that sowing of winter crops "takes place properly".
Shaktikanta Das, a top finance ministry official, also said a time limit for farmers to pay crop insurance premiums had been extended by 15 days.
But that cuts little ice with farmers, who often rely for their cash not on banks but on money lenders charging annual interest of up to 40 percent.
Most farmers have already availed of their farm loan for the previous summer season and, for the handful who can still withdraw, the ceiling is too low," said Tejinder Narang, a New Delhi-based farm expert
After selling their rice crop last month, many are stuck with old 500 and 1,000 bills they can no longer spend.
They are only allowed to exchange Rs 2,000 into new money, and the rest must be deposited before the notes cease to be accepted by banks after 30 December.
"Four banks cater to 200 villages of about 2,000 people each. It's not easy to get your old currency notes converted," said Harbir Singh, another local farmer.
Markets idled
The breakdown in the cash economy is causing major disruptions to the supply of produce to the cities, with payment alternatives such as plastic cards or digital wallet apps on smartphones yet to gain widespread acceptance.
At Delhi's Azadpur Mandi, Asia's largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market, traders said business was at a virtual standstill, and labourers who usually earn between Rs 300 and Rs 500 a day sat idle.
"The bosses are giving us Rs 500 bills, but we are refusing to take those notes," said porter Raju Kumar Rathore. "Then they are telling us to collect our money after a week or 10 days. For us that is a big problem."
Berlin: Software service group Infosys is bracing for pressure on its US business from anti-immigrant policies by US President-elect Donald Trump, who has identified clamping down on immigration as one of his three top priorities.
"Margins might be impacted in the near-term," Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said, adding the company had not yet done any simulations on how large the impact may turn out to be.
Infosys' contingency plan for the case that the group would not be able to send low-cost developers to work with temporary work visas on big tech projects in the United States would be to hire staff locally, he said.
Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive, adding that he saw no shortage in potential applicants.
"There are enough universities, enough ability to hire, enough ability to teach," Sikka said, adding he did not expect to lose market share to US peers such as Cognizant.
Infosys last month cut its annual revenue growth target for the second time in three months as India's software service exporters feel the pinch of major Western clients holding back on spending.
In a major setback to India's regional cooperation strategy, Bhutan's Upper House has rejected a move to have the country join the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA), citing environmental concerns.
The four South Asian nations signed the BBIN agreement in June last year in Thimphu, Bhutan, in what was seen as a significant symbol of sub-regional unity. The agreement allowed for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic among the four countries.
However, there have been reservations among some sections within Bhutan about the viability of this agreement given that it was a small country.
After the National Assembly or the lower house of the Bhutanese parliament endorsed the agreement earlier this year, it forwarded it to the National Council for consideration. But, on Tuesday, the National Council voted against Bhutan joining the agreement.
According to Sonam Kinga, Chairman of the National Council, there were two votes for joining the agreement, 13 against, while five members abstained from voting.
The sub-regional pact was being seen as an important milestone in Prime Minister Modi's much touted diplomatic agenda to 'Look East' and forge a regional cooperation boosting trade ties in the region. It was India, under the Prime Minister Modi. that introduced and pitched for the pact in the 2014 Saarc Summit in Kathmandu, urging the South Asian neighbours to fortify regional economic ties.
""Our relations become stronger when we connect the lives of the ordinary citizens of our countries. That is why connectivity and services by rail and road are so important. We should also connect ourselves more by air," Modi had said at the summit according to The Times of India.
But with Bhutan's refusal to ratify the agreement, Modi's dream to establish a seamless cargo and vehicular passageway in the region has hit a roadblock.
What is the BBIN MVA pact?
To boost trade relations, India had proposed a regional cooperation pact in the 2014 Saarc Summit, which entailed building a freight corridor connecting the south Asian nations with each other.
The MVA was proposed to reduce transport costs drastically and and foster development of multi-modal transport facilities for a better connectivity between the four countries. It allowed the member states to ply their vehicles in each other's territory for transportation of cargo and passengers , including third country transport and passenger vehicles or personal vehicles.
All vehicles would however be required to obtain permits to enter another nation's territory and bilateral border security arrangements will also remain in place.
A very optimistic deadline of October 2015 was slated for the implementation of the agreement after a six-month work plan was worked out in accordance with the protocols, according to Business Standard.
However, the pact can only become operational when all nations ratify it.
India, Nepal and Bangladesh have already ratified the pact but Bhutan's refusal is likely to delay the implementation of the key trade cooperation agreement further.
Although, India already holds bilateral motor vehicular pacts with Bangladesh and Nepal, a multilateral agreement could have bolstered regional cooperation manifolds.
The view from Bhutan
India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan had inked the agreement in June 2015 in Thimphu, the capital of the land-locked Himalayan nation. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had visited Thimphu to ink the deal sealing India's commitment to the agreement, according to The Economic Times.
In Bhutan, those in favour of the agreement argued that the protocols for the terms and conditions of agreement were yet to be formulated and the country could negotiate to tilt the scales in its favour.
However, reservations from certain sections of Bhutan had been evident ever since the start of the ratification process. Senior government officials in the Union road transport and highways ministry had revealed that a "large cross-section of people in Bhutan, including lawmakers, had expressed concerns over the environmental impact of allowing large number of vehicles enter the country after it ratifies the pact," according to a report in Hindustan Times.
Another report in The Wire said, that although Bhutan's lower house, called the National Assembly, passed the bill, it could only do so on the second attempt, indicating the Bhutanese discomfort with forging a multilateral pact with nations that have better infrastructural assets at their disposal.
Reports in local media too pointed out that Bhutan is a much smaller nation and a huge amount of traffic from its larger neighbours would strain the countries limited infrastructure and impact the environment.
An article from Bhutan News Network states, "Environment protection is one of the four pillars of Bhutans gross national happiness, with sustainable development, promotion of cultural values and good governance being the others," adding that the Opposition parties have been raising concern over the environmental impact of the increased vehicular traffic.
However, Bhutan's reservation on damaging its environment is not unfounded. Tourism is Bhutan's single largest revenue generating industry, and the small Himalayan nation has carefully guarded its pristine natural habitat. It has even worked out a "low-volume, high-value" tourism strategy and maintained its status of an elite tourist destination. It touts itself to be the "untouched Himalayan Paradise" charging tourists $250 a day as a minimum fee (a charge not applicable to Indian and Bangladeshi nationals) to witness the natural wealth abound, according to The Wire.
However, threat to environment is not the only loophole in Bhutan's eyes. The land-locked nation finds itself gaining little from the agreement amid a long list of demerits.
Another article in Business Bhutan, states that there is more to the agreement than meets the eye. The article states that Bhutanese truckers have raised concerns that large number of foriegn transporters plying into Bhutan could eat into the local businesses. The article also states that the local transporters are also "unsure of the ramifications of chartering out into unexplored neighboring territories."
Another article, in Kuensel Online, reported that the Bhutanese upper house, the National Council, was of the view that the merits of the agreement outweighed by the repercussions the tiny Himalayan nation would have to face. Some law makers were of the view that unrestrained influx of vehicles and people could dilute Bhutan's culture and religion and possibly give rise to the crime rate in the region. The committee also found that the pact was in conflict with Bhutan's immigration act. Member's of the committee also observed that Bhutan severely lacks the basic infrastructure of roads, bridges, checkpoints etc to implement the agreement.
Another major objection the committe took was to the principle of reciprocity in the agreement. "The committee could not be convinced that Bhutan would be able to ask other members to stop their vehicles at the border or take in fewer vehicles than what it would be allowed to send in their territory due to the principle of reciprocity spelt in the agreement," the article quoted the National Council's objection.
Another prominent lawmaker in the upper house, Dasho Tashi Wangyal flagged anothe concern, stating that the agreement could impact India-Bhutan relations negatively. He said that India faces multiple security threats and is battling infiltration from its neighbous. A free flow of people could give militants an opportunity to sneak into Bhutan, or use its territory to infiltrate into India, which may compromise the healthy relationship Thimpu enjoys with New Delhi.
A setback to India's strategic interests?
India is keenly invested into the successful implementation of the BBIN MVA agrrement. What was originally mooted as a pan-south Asian initiative, was later downsized to a sub-regional cooperation pact after Pakistan's last minute intransigence, which also snuffed out landlocked Afghanistan's chances to be a part of the deal.
This was being seen as another diplomatic victory for India to isolate Pakistan and undertake a sub-regional cooperation without it's rival neighbour. It was also contrived to be another jewel in Modi's much touted neighbourhood-first policy, making it especially important to the ruling BJP.
With the MVA stuck in another bottleneck, it will be another blow to the Modi government's agenda.
Add to this the fact that India traditionally enjoys close ties and considerable influence in the neighbouring nation. After Pakistan, Bhutan's refusal to be a part of India's ambitious scheme would only add insult to injury.
However, India has stayed wary of pushing Bhutan too hard on the issue as it is aware of the diplomatic repercussions of it. Bhutan lies in between India's largest border dispute that with China. Beijing has time and again expressed its willingness to establish and improve diplomatic ties with Bhutan. But Thimphu has not pursued ties with China, at least with any visible zeal, to avoid creating any misunderstanding in its close ties with India.
However, this time around, Bhutan seems to be resolved to assert itself wherever it feels its interests are sacrificed.
With inputs from agencies
Mumbai: Refusing to pass any order on a PIL regarding demonetisation, the Bombay High Court on Thursday said the Union government's efforts to act against black money need to be supported.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur made the remarks while hearing a PIL filed by Akhil Chitre seeking directions to the Centre and the state government to ease the inconvenience caused to the common people following the demonetisation of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
"The government's intention to act against parallel economy in black money cannot be said to be mala fide. Though there are problems faced by the citizens, it should be supported," Justice Chellur said.
Refusing to pass any direction, the bench said the Supreme Court was already hearing petitions pertaining to the issue and hence it would not be correct for the high court to interfere.
New Delh: Congress and BJP members on Friday clashed in Rajya Sabha over Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks during demonetisation debate yesterday, forcing adjournment of the House thrice in quick succession.
Slogans and counter slogans forced the adjournment of the House first till 1130 hours, then till noon and again till 1233 hours as similar scenes continued.
Soon after listed papers were laid on the table of the House, BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad for his remarks comparing the deaths after demonetisation with those killed in terrorist attacks. The remarks were expunged by the Chair yesterday itself.
Congress members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding an apology from the Prime Minister and government for the hardship caused to the common man due to withdrawal of 86 percent of the currency in circulation in the form of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes.
AIADMK members were also in the Well raising slogans over the Cauvery water issue.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked all members to leave the Well and return to their seats, assuring them that he would hear their submissions.
Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Azad's statement had given a message to the country that Congress was sympathetic to terrorism and asked why was it so agitated when the demonetisation drive was only to hurt blackmoney hoarders.
The Chair persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues. But with BJP members continuing to stand in the aisles and raise slogans, Congress members too were back in the well shouting slogans.
Kurien said treasury benches should not create problems for the Chair. "If you do this, what do I do? You should cooperate with me in running the House. Treasury benches should not disrupt," he said.
But the din continued, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1130 hours.
There was no change in the scenario when the House reassembled as both BJP and Congress members again started raising slogans.
While Congress members trooped into the Well, several AIADMK members were seen standing along their seats.
As the slogans and counter slogans continued, the Chair adjourned the House till noon.
Following the 8 November announcement by the Modi government of demonetising the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the banks were faced with an almost insurmountable challenge: How to manage the disbursal of new currency in a timely manner, in spite of the high demand.
Under such circumstances, the role played by automated teller machines (ATMs) in dispensing cash was hugely important and their success in disbursing the cash effectively was, to a great extent, going to decide the fate of the demonetisation scheme.
Following the note ban, long queues outside ATMs across the country became a common sight. In most cases, the ATMs ran out of cash almost instantaneously, leaving people hassled because of the sudden cash crunch. It was the biggest challenge ever faced by the banking sector in India.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated in a press release that all ATMs and other cash machines will remain shut on 9 November (and 10 November) to facilitate the re-calibration of the machines (as the new notes had different dimensions from what the machine accepted). It stated that when ready, they will be reactivated and that cash withdrawals from ATMs will be restricted to Rs 2,000 per day per card up to 18 November, with the limits being raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from 19 November.
Facing impossible odds, it was left to the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to plan and execute the re-calibration on a short time-frame, proving yet again that they are still the backbone of the economy in spite of all the criticism heaped upon them for the mounting bad loans and their mode of functioning.
According to a high ranking bank official, a meeting of all the bank chiefs was called upon on 8 November to deliberate upon how the re-calibration of the ATMs would be managed. The official claimed that most of the private sector banks expressed their inability to carry out the re-calibration work in such a short span of time given the logistical constraints.
It was under these circumstances that Indias largest public sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), rose to the occasion and took charge of the situation. With a host of private banks bowing out, it was the SBI that assured the government of effective management of its ATMs. The assurance was a big risk given the enormity of the task at hand.
According to RBI data, as on July 2016, out of a total of 1,03,282 onsite and 98,579 offsite ATMs in the country, SBI has 20,419 (onsite) and 29,496 (offsite) ATMs close to a quarter of all ATMs. In this context, SBI's role in implementing the demonetisation scheme was of immense importance.
When the ATMs reopened on 11 November, 27,000 machines were up and running on the very first day. Out of these, 17,000 were replenished by SBI.
However, since these machines could hold only up to 2500 notes of Rs 100, it was hard to maintain the flow of currency.
We could maintain continuous cash flow for the onsite ATMs and replenish it on regular intervals but for the offsite ATMs, it was a difficult proposition. So, we took various other steps," said a high ranking SBI official.
It was at this point that the role of banking correspondents in the rural and semi-urban areas, mobile banking, online banking and point of sale (PoS) cash disbursal became important.
SBI has PoS facility at 3,40,000 merchant locations in total, out of which 2,33,000 POS machines were re-calibrated so that the merchants could provide cash against a debit card swipe. Such merchants could provide cash up to Rs 2,000 in rural and semi-urban areas, while the limit was Rs 1000 for urban areas. These merchants conducted over 10,470 transactions worth Rs 40 lakh during the time the ATMs were closed in country.
SBI is also helping big corporates for salary and other services with its PoS machines. Around 470 vans are running to help such customers with 100-150 more vans to be added to the fleet soon.
On 14 November, RBI announced the constitution of a task force under the chairmanship of the RBI deputy governor SS Mundra, for the re-calibration and reactivation of ATMs
Stressing the fact that ATMs play a vital role in meeting the currency requirements of the public and have become a major channel for disbursement of cash, RBI said, Re-activation of ATMs extends the availability and disbursal of notes for the customers of banks at convenient time and location in judicious mix of higher and lower denominations.
According to the RBI press release, re-calibration of ATMs involves multiple agencies banks, ATM manufacturers, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), Switch Operators, etc, and multiple activities making it a complex operation requiring immense coordination among these players.
According to current data, 9,187 ATMs of SBI have been re-calibrated for the new Rs 2,000 note. There are currently 7,725 SBI ATMs dispensing Rs 100 notes as well as the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.
The re-calibration process is going on full flow. With more than 2,000 ATMs being currently re-calibrated (till Thursday, the number of functional ATMs touched 13000), said the SBI official. SBI ATMs have conducted 2.46 crore transactions worth 4,551 crore rupees in the last one week.
In yet another move to ease the pressure on ATMs and bank branches, SBI has reached an understanding with public sector oil companies to provide nearly 3,043 petrol pumps with SBI PoS machines to start dispensing cash against debit card swipes. They will get Rs five per transaction. SBI will replenish the cash to the merchants.
Currently, the average number of transactions conducted through SBI debit cards has increased to 35 lakh daily as compared to 22 lakh before the announcement. It seems that the success or failure of the demonetisation move is currently hinged on the efforts of the public sector bank and its innovative methods of restoring some liquidity to the economy.
New Delhi: Government today cautioned Jan Dhan account holders, housewives and artisans that they will be prosecuted under the I-T Act for allowing misuse of their bank accounts through deposit of black money in Rs 500/1,000 notes during the 50-day window till 30 December.
The directive comes against the backdrop of reports that some are using other persons' bank accounts to convert their black money into new denomination notes. In some cases, even rewards are being given to account holders for allowing such misuse.
The government had earlier said deposits up to Rs 2.50 lakh in bank accounts would not come under tax scrutiny as it is within the tax exemption limit. In the case of Jan Dhan account, the holder can deposit up to Rs 50,000.
However, the income tax department has noted that people are under impression that no action will be taken for deposits up to Rs 2.50 lakh during 9 November- 30 December. The ministry said "such tax evasion activities can be made subject to income tax and penalty if it is established that the amount deposited in the account was not of the account holder but of somebody else. Also, the person who allows his or her account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under the Income Tax Act".
The government has earlier said black money deposited in bank accounts during the 50-day period will be subject to tax, interest and 200 percent penalty. It asked people not to be lured into conversion of black money and become a partner in the crime of converting black money into white through this method. "Unless all citizens of the country help the government in curbing black money, this mission of black money will not succeed," the official statement said.
It also asked people to provide information of such illegal activities to the I-T department so that immediate action can be taken and such illegal transfer of cash can be stopped and seized. "Black money is a crime against humanity. We urge every conscientious citizen to help join the government in eradicating it," it added.
Following the demonetisation announcement of 8 November, people have been cup in front of banks to convert and deposit the now- defunct 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. The tax department has already made quoting of PAN mandatory if cash deposits during the 50-day period aggregate Rs 2.5 lakh or more in bank accounts.
'I promise to pay the bearer of this note...' vows the RBI governor on every Indian currency note.
Every currency note is a contract between the bearer and the state, something that has been signed in good faith and ratified by the extant law of the land.
The question then is this: Can the contract be repudiated unilaterally by the state? Can the bearer of the note be shooed away when he demands its execution even when there is no expiry date or conditions on the contract?
Is the citizen-sovereign contract at the mercy of to executive's fiat taken without consulting the legislature?
Now, that the Supreme Court has refused to interfere in legal challenges filed against the Narendra Modi government's decision to outlaw Rs 500 and 1,000 notes, it is quite likely that some of the pertinent questions could finally be answered and the decision examined under the Indian Constitution.
On Friday, the Supreme Court came down hard on the government and refused to entertain its request to put on hold petitions pending in various high courts challenging the decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes. The apex court is right. A decision that affects every Indian's life without going through the necessary legislative process debate, deliberation and vote ought to be seriously examined. The other two pillars of a democracy the legislature and the judiciary must be given an opportunity to scrutinise an executive decision with huge ramifications.
Two days ago, while at a conclave, former RBI governor D Subbarao had argued that he was not sure about the legal position of the government move.
He said all currency notes carry a legal obligation, as the RBI has guaranteed that it will pay the bearer the sum or the value of the denomination that is printed on that note.
The government has not used the word demonetisation. All that the government has said is that it is withdrawing these notes as being legal tender. But it still leaves us with the question: does the RBI have the obligation to pay the bearer, or is that obligation over, after the government announcement, he added.
To be fair to the Modi government, notes of higher denomination have been outlawed in the past too. In 1978, the Janata government had scrapped notes of higher denomination without facing legal hurdles.
Interestingly, as Subbarao points out, the government and the RBI have not used the term demonetisation.
"The press release issued by the government talks only about cancelling the legal tender character of the high denomination notes, raising questions about whether they are drawing a fine distinction between delegalisation and demonetisation.
To the extent the de-legalised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 rupee notes are destroyed (i.e. not returned to the banking system), the liability of the RBI should come down by that amount," the former RBI governor pointed out.
So, we need satisfactory answer to the relevant questions:
1) Can the state end its contract with citizens ex-parte?
2) On what legal grounds can the RBI write off notes it had promised to honour? Can banks just throw out people who go with these notes to banks after the deadline set by the government?
So far, several explanations have given for this 'delegalisation.' It has been sold as a panacea for black money, corruption, counterfeit currency, Naxalism and cross-border terrorism. We have been told that Kashmir will become quiet now becomes the youth there have no money to buy stones to throw at security forces.
But, not much has been put out in the public domain by figure of data and hard numbers. Most of the answers have come in the form of high-decibel rhetoric and through speeches where the Prime Minister has displayed an entire range of emotions.
But, somebody needs to separate the rhetoric from facts.
The government can, of course, ignore the Court's warning of there being a possibility of riots if things do not improve, the suffering of people is not mitigated and money is not pumped back into circulation. The queues are getting longer, people are dying outside banks and ATMs. In the rural areas, away from the echo chambers of TV studios and social media, there is panic and anarchy.
The court has given the government a warning, a wakeup call. It can, of course, continue to remain in denial and commit suicide.
Arun Shourie would feel vindicated.
On the evening of 8 November, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation, announced the demonetisation of Rs 500, and Rs 1,000 notes, it gave a sense of hope that we finally have a government which was taking decisive action against black money and corruption. A slew of steps were announced as well to ease the transition.
The prime minister presented a passionate case:
"To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is 8th November 2016...This step will strengthen the hands of the common man in the fight against corruption, black money and fake currency."
Within minutes, the Modi government's sudden but big move was extolled, debated, dissected and analysed, however, the good feeling soon ebbed away leading to panic and anxiety: How to get rid of the old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes?
Since 8 November, the lines in front of banks and ATMs have only grown and so has the frustration and helplessness of citizens. While representatives of the government have repeatedly assured that the situation will normalise soon, people are not buying it anymore. Despite the prime minister various members of his Cabinet appealing to the country to focus on the big picture, life for the majority of Indians has been reduced to an endless queue.
Gauging the mood of the nation, Modi made an emotional appeal in Goa: "Dear countrymen, please give me these 50 days. I am not demanding anything else. If you face any difficulty after that, if you find me dishonest in my efforts, you can punish me in whatever way you would wish to at any crossroad of the country."
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that move to demonetise the high-value notes was "very well-planned", and added that the rush in bank branches is "significantly" coming down and 22,000 ATMs are getting recalibrated daily in order to dispense Rs 100, and new Rs 500 and 2,000 notes.
But the ground reality is completely different. People are camping overnight outside ATMs and banks. The urban salaried class of India might have moved to a cashless way of life. Thanks to the cab aggregators, payment gateways and mobile apps, surviving without hard cash may not seem to be so daunting. With the persisting cash crunch, it is the good old jugaad that has come to the rescue of many Indians. Mobile recharges in exchange of vegetables, online transfers instead of cash payments are the new norm. But what about thousands others who have never heard of payment gateways and net banking? India is far away from being a cashless society, forget online banking, there are many who don't have debit cards or even banks accounts. There are senior citizens, who prefer to keep emergency funds at home, instead of making multiple trips to the ATM. Did the government take the plight of these people into account before plunging into this scheme?
You will only have to stand in a queue outside an ATM to realise the extent of Indian resilience, or may be it is desperation. People come stocked with food and juice as if its a prized picnic spot, there is free exchange of information, friends and family drop by or take turns to stand in queue, flared tempers turn into friendly banter the Indian masses' stoic acceptance of their lot is worth admiring. But it is not happy tales everywhere. There are reports of people collapsing while standing in queues, some have resulted in deaths. Office-goers have been forced to skip work to get hold of their hard-earned cash.
The situation in small towns and villages is worse.
It is the sowing season; no diesel in our tractor; have been standing in queue outside banks for 3 days in row but couldn't withdraw: Farmer pic.twitter.com/8fMlRwwTkO ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2016
Finding it difficult to buy seeds, cut crops; whole day goes to waste if we need cash: Farmer in Siliguri #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/tMBG7qDjV1 ANI (@ANI_news) November 17, 2016
TS Sudhir writes for Firstpost: Srinivas, a farmer in Siddipet town of Telangana, says "This is Rs 10,000, all in denominations of 2,000. This is of no use. I can neither buy a cup of tea for myself or a meal for Rs 5 nor buy a bus ticket." While Aijaz Nazir interviewed Ghulam Ali from Anantnag in Kashmir, who said, I need money to book a ticket for my daughter who studies outside Kashmir. Her exams are approaching and I am worried whether she will be able to attend those. Ali used to book her tickets from home when internet services were functional in the Kashmir Valley.
Adding to the cash crisis, are the constant change in policies that many are finding difficult to track. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das' Thursday's announcement that families that have an upcoming wedding, one member of the household can withdraw up to Rs 2,50,000 at one time came as good news, lowering the maximum sum that could be exchanged from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 drew a lot of criticism.
Harry Stevens and Suchetana Ray wrote in the Hindustan Times, that to print new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes and replace the Rs 14 trillion taken out of circulation, will take around six months. "Printing 17.5 billion notes at a rate of three billion notes per month will take almost six months," says the report. The problems don't end there. The notes have to distributed across the country and the ATMs have to recaliberated.
It's day nine of demonetisation. Parliament is in uproar over the issue, protests are breaking out, politicians are fighting it out to earn some brownie points, but the line outside ATMs and banks are not moving. The situation has not improved since day one. Banks are overburdened, ATMs are running dry, government is busy is facing Opposition onslaught, while the masses wait in queues to get what is rightfully theirs.
And things show little sign of improving.
(With inputs from agencies)
On 14 November, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in a statement, told her well-wishers and supporters, "I have taken rebirth because of your prayers and worship. I would like to share this happy news with you in the first place."
Three days after that, chairman of Apollo Hospitals, Dr Prathap C Reddy told ANI that the Chief Minister has recovered completely and her mental and physical faculties are working just fine.
ANI quoted Reddy as saying, "Jayalalithaas recovered completely. Right now other systems of her body are being pepped up. Her mental functions are fine."
Jayalalithaas recovered completely. Right now other systems of her body are being pepped up; her mental functions are fine: PC Reddy pic.twitter.com/Bz5FSqWxWX ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaas fine; She's in the ICU so that she doesn't get cross infection: Apollo Hospitals chairman Dr Prathap C Reddy pic.twitter.com/HPD5vOzlpQ ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
Her(Jayalalithaa's) responsibility is to guide&direct;can do so even now.Her mental conditions are normal:Apollo Hospitals Chairman,PC Reddy pic.twitter.com/HHBkA39iAc ANI (@ANI_news) November 18, 2016
However, reports also quoted Reddy as saying that doctors wanted keep her infection-free, in view of her very low resistance. "Though she can live beautifully without ventilator support, we still put her on and off the ventilator to ensure that her lungs won't collapse," Reddy said. "I can confidently say our efforts and people's prayers have produced good results. She can leave hospital any time she wants. We keep her in hospital because her other systems needs to be pepped up," he was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Reddy, in a media briefing, said that Jayalalithaa has still been kept in the ICU to avoid any chances cross-infection. He added that while "other systems of her body are being pepped up", her mental condition is completely fine.
Jayalalithaa, who has been in hospital since 22 September, said she has been slogging for the growth of the people of Tamil Nadu and her party from day one of her public life on the advice of her mentor and AIADMK founder chief MG Ramachandran.
The 68-year-old AIADMK supremo was admitted to the hospital on 22 September after she complained of fever and dehydration. Later, the hospital had said she was being treated for infection with respiratory support, among others.
Specialists from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and from London, among others, have treated her during the period.
In her first direct communication since being hospitalised in September, Jayalalithaa on 14 November said she has taken rebirth because of people's prayers and urged them to vote for the AIADMK in the 19 November elections.
Stating that she does not have any grievances in view of people's "great love" for her, she said, "by God's grace, very soon, by recovering fully, I am waiting to resume work."
Exhorting party workers, she asked them to work in full swing for the victory of AIADMK in the 19 November polls for Aravakkurichi, Thanjavur and Thirupparankundram constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Nellithope Assembly segment in Puducherry.
Though she could not directly meet cadres and functionaries working in these constituencies and the general public, "my heart and thoughts are with you always," she told them.
Without elaborating much, she asked party workers to "understand the nature of this statement and work with a sense of duty for making MGR's winning symbol two leaves bag a huge victory."
Soon after Jayalalithaa released the statement, political rival DMK raised doubts whether the statement was indeed released by the chief minister herself. DMK treasurer and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly MK Stalin said "we are happy" if Jayalalithaa had recovered as mentioned by herself yesterday.
However, "It is regrettable that there was no mention of the sufferings of the people," he said, referring to the problems encountered by the citizens following the Centre's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes which has resulted in serpentine queues at banks and ATMs.
"So, what I suspect is, whether she herself had released the statement or if it was someone else from behind the screen," Stalin told reporters.
With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Kidney has no religious labels, this is what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,
undergoing treatment for renal failure, tweeted while thanking a Muslim man who offered her his kidney.
The 64-year-old Swaraj has been offered kidneys by scores of people since Wednesday when she said on Twitter that she was in hospital due to kidney failure and was undergoing tests for a transplant.
"Thank you very much brothers. I am sure, kidney has no religious labels," she tweeted.
Her remark came in response to a tweet by Mujib Ansari who offered his kidney to her while adding that he is a Muslim and a supporter of BSP in Uttar Pradesh.
"@SushmaSwaraj mam I am a BSP supporter and a Muslim,bt I want 2 donate my kidney 4 u,4 me u r like my mother figure, May allah bless u," he said on Twitter.
Another Muslim Nyamath Ali Shaik also offered his kidney to Swaraj saying he was ready to donate his kidney if need be.
Another Twitter follower Jaan Shah also said he was ready to offer his kidney to her.
Swaraj has been flooded with wishes from politicians cutting across party lines as well as from a cross-section of society.
She has been undergoing treatment for renal failure at AIIMS.
Swaraj also exuded confidence of being able to come out of the health condition with good wishes of people and blessings of God.
The Indian Meteorological Department has told us all to prepare for a 'kadak' winter in Bhopal, according to a Times of India report.
The minimum temperature might hit a new record, breaking the 50-year-low mark of -3.1 degrees Celsius. Apart from this, spells of winter rain is also expected in January and December, says the same report.
Bhopal that recorded 3.1C as the lowest minimum temperature on 11 December, 1966, may see a dip below the 3C mark this year.
The IMD website shows a cold wave setting in by 23 November which might even result in ground frost. The cumulative rainfall during post-monsoon in Central India shows a two percent departure from the LPA (long period average), the only increase recorded in the entire country.
Another Times of India report claims that in the absence of the El Nino effect, in which the warming of the sea-surface temperature in the Pacific causes warmer weather in parts of Asia and east Africa, the director of the IMD, Anupam Kashyapi says that after 15 Novemberm western disturbances will allegedly bring winter rain in Central India.
There has been an unusual shift in the pattern of western disturbances that bring winter snow over Western Himalayas, in recent times, according to Skymetweather.com. They usually travel downwards, towards lower latitudes, affecting India and Pakistan in the winters.
IMD officials have also said that other factors such as early notherly winds, anticyclones over North West India from the end of October to the start of November could also be contributing factors.
New Delhi: Parliament was stalled for the second consecutive day due to ruckus by Congress-led opposition parties which were demanding a debate on demonetisation in Lok Sabha under a rule that entails voting and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha for resumption of discussion on the issue. No business could be transacted in either the Upper House or the Lower House due to the pandemonium.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress and some other opposition parties pressed for a discussion on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting, that too through an Adjournment motion which means suspension of all business. Several notices were given by various opposition leaders for discussion under the Adjournment Motion but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected these, saying a debate could take place otherwise.
Ruckus started soon after the House met for the day, with leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge demanding that the issue of scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes be discussed through an adjournment motion and not the rule being proposed by the government. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was willing to discuss the issue and there was no need to press for an adjournment motion.
As the din continued, the House was adjourned for nearly one hour till noon, minutes after it assembled. When the House assembled again for Zero Hour, the opposition again pressed for moving an adjournment motion. But the Speaker rejected all the notices. Both Kharge and TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay insisted that the debate be taken up through an adjournment motion.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister once again urged the opposition to take up the debate under Rule 193 which does not entail voting and a formal motion.
Kumar said the opposition should not "run away" from a debate and maintained that it was up to the Chair to decide under which rule the discussion will take place. As part of their Zero Hour references, Meenakshi Lekhi and Gajendra Singh Chauhan (both BJP) raised the issue of remarks made by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday linking deaths due to demonetisation crisis to the killings in the Uri terror attack. The remarks were expunged last night itself.
The two BJP members slammed Azad for the statement and demanded that a resolution be passed against him and he should be asked to apologise in writing. As differences persisted and opposition continued to raise slogans like "Pradhan Mantri sadan mein aao" and "Vijay Mallya kahan gaya", the House was adjourned for the day. In the Rajya Sabha where debate took place on demonetisation for six-hours on Wednesday, the discussion could not be resumed even today as Congress and some other opposition parties insisted on presence of the Prime Minister.
The House also saw a clash between Congress and BJP members as the ruling side raked up Azad's controversial comments and demanded apology from Congress. Slogans and counter slogans in the Upper House forced its adjournment, first till 1130 hours, then till noon, then till 1233 hours, after that till 1430 hours and finally for the day. Soon after listed papers were laid on the table of the House, BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad for his remarks.
Congress members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding presence of the Prime Minister and an apology from him as well as the government for the hardship caused to the common man due to withdrawal of 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in the form of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. AIADMK members were also in the Well raising slogans over the Cauvery water issue. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked all members to leave the Well and return to their seats, assuring them that he would hear their submissions.
Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Azad's statement had given a message to the country that Congress was sympathetic to terrorism and asked why it was so agitated when the demonetisation drive was only to hurt black money hoarders. Kurien persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues.
But with BJP members continuing to stand in the aisles and raising slogans, Congress members too were back in the Well, shouting slogans. Kurien said treasury benches should not create problems for the Chair. "If you do this, what do I do? You should cooperate with me in running the House. Treasury benches should not disrupt," he said. But the din continued, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1130 hours. There was no change in the scenario when the House reassembled as both BJP and Congress members again started raising slogans.
While Congress members trooped into the Well, several AIADMK members were seen standing along their seats. As the slogans and counter slogans continued, the Chair adjourned the House till noon. After repeated adjournments, when the House met again at 1430 hours, opposition members continued to create ruckus. Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the government of not wanting the House to run and for "destroying the poor" with his policies.
In the melee, the Deputy Chairman asked the MPs to introduce the Private Member's Bill amid continuous sloganeering by the opposition and treasury benches. Prior to this, he read out a decision by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on a private member's bill for special package to Andhra Pradesh after its reorganisation, moved in the last session Congress member KVP Ramachandra Rao.
The Bill was referred to the Speaker to ascertain whether it was a money bill and whether it can be introduced in the Upper House. However, Kurien's statement could not be heard in the din.
Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar moved his Bill to declare any country as state sponsor of terrorism and withdraw economic and trade relations with such country and to create legal, economic and travel sanctions for citizens of that country. Following continuous uproarious scenes, Kurien adjourned the House till Monday.
New Delhi: Congress on Friday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a debate with the Opposition on demonetisation while accusing him of shying away from Parliament to avoid "facing the truth" when it was deliberating on the issue.
On a day the demonetisation issue rocked Parliament, scores of Youth Congress workers held a march, alleging withdrawal of high-value notes is part of a "big scam" and aimed at loot of public money. Speaking to the protesters, senior party leader Anand Sharma charged Modi of committing "injustice" to the country and "spoiling" India's image globally by taking such a huge decision without any preparation to implement it.
He said a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) must be appointed to probe the entire issue. "A debate is on in Parliament and there is a deadlock. Opposition has demanded that Prime Minister listen to us and explain his move. They (ruling party) say Narendra Modi is in Parliament premises but will not come to the House. What is this? He is avoiding Parliament to avoid facing the truth," Sharma said.
He also challenged the Prime Minister for a debate with the Opposition on demonetisation.
"We will not allow him to pile up miseries on the common citizens. It is such a big scam and loot of public money. We have demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe it. Our fight will continue till the government relents and demand of probe is met.
"People including farmers, small traders and workers are worst hit by the undeclared financial emergency by the Modi government as 86 per cent of currencies has been withdrawn in a blow to the economy." He also slammed government's use of indelible ink by banks to mark people who withdraw money and charged Modi government with "insulting" not only people of the country.
"No government can stoop to such level where people withdrawing their own money are being marked with ink. They are withdrawing their own money and not black money. Foreign tourists are also being similarly insulted if they go to banks," he said.
He called upon Youth Congress activists to create awareness among the masses against demonetisation by Modi government and struggle against it.
Hundreds of activists marched towards Parliament from All India Youth Congress office on Raisina Road. However, they were stopped and around 450 protesters were detained and taken to Parliament Street police station. They were later released.
Lucknow: Criticising the Centre for "foisting crisis" on farmers, who have been at the receiving end of nature's wrath for consecutive years, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the "ill-planned" demonetisation could have an adverse impact on the economy.
He said the state's farmers, who hoped that this time round they will make up for the losses of past years, have been forced to face not a natural calamity but a "government-made crisis".
"This has been forced by the government knowingly," he said, adding, "They (BJP) have the most knowledgeable persons and if such intelligent people force hardships on people what more can be said," he wondered.
Talking to reporters after presiding over a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said, "The meeting was of the opinion that farmers should get relaxation in use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes...cooperative banks to which farmers are directly linked should get relaxation as money is not promptly reaching bank branches."
On the Centre's stand that demonetisation will check corruption, Akhilesh said cases of graft involving new currency notes are already making news in some parts of the country.
"We have also come to know that corruption through new notes has already started. Such reports are surfacing in newspapers and especially on the social media," he said, claiming the goal of unearthing black money and weeding out fake currency notes will not be achieved.
Attacking the Central government over "lack" of preparations before demonetising high-value notes, he said, "Even ATM machines were not equipped for the new notes...the currency exchange can take as long as six months or a year."
"People will get relief only when markets start functioning properly but till then if farmers and labourers suffer huge losses all the economic statistics will lag behind and so will the country," Akhilesh said, adding it will impact employment, factory workers and daily wagers the most.
"The entire country is today saying that preparations were not made and everything was changed suddenly. If we believe in them (the Centre) and something emerges from a neighbouring country then they will put the country into problems...if there are no proper preparations, it can spell danger to the country," he said.
Mandis have come to a "standstill" and soon reports will come how the daily wagers are facing problems, Akhilesh said.
Relaxation is being sought in hospitals and also for farmers because the government will be at a loss if any business comes to a halt, he said.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Chandrababu Naidu, an important ally for the BJP in the south, is known for his penchant to look for ways to maximise his political clout.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from 8 November, Naidu has been on a gloat mission he had written to Modi barely a week earlier demanding a ban on these denominations in an effort to curb black money.
As the Opposition gears up for a strident battle over the issue, Naidu too is gearing up not to fight, but to defend the idea. Naidu has geared his administration to face the challenge posed by the cash crunch, particularly in Andhra, a state that serves as a junction to three states with the Bay of Bengal on one side.
A helping hand
As is done during times of natural calamities, the AP government set up a help desk at Vijayawada to help citizens sort out difficulties in exchanging demonetised notes at banks and post offices. A call centre and a toll free number (1800-599-1111) too was made available for information. A notification issued by Chief Secretary SP Tucker also put the state government administration on standby, cancelling all leave for cadres of essential services including the police and treasury departments, in anticipation of enormous confusion and rumour-mongering. We put a five-member team on a 24/7 basis to answer calls and also guide callers to the nearest banks and ATMs, and also advised them to be prepared for a long wait, said a spokesperson in the chief secretarys office.
Besides organising IT-based feedback services from all 10 districts, Naidu also held teleconferences with district collectors on a daily basis to address the crisis. The public relations attempt worked well. Although Telugu news channels beamed the travails of the common man waiting at banks and ATMs through the day, they also telecast Naidus video conferences showcasing him as a working chief minister.
A past master in crowd management, Naidu directed officials to provide shelter, drinking water and also butter milk for the milling crowds at banks and post offices. His office also issued advisories on setting up counters for women, the elderly and handicapped to banks.
In fact, Naidus office knew about the arrival of truckloads of new currencies ahead of us, said a banker after the CMO advised them on where to send the fresh currency in view of the huge crowds and need for marketing agricultural produce.
Officials were also directed to source small change Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes from wherever possible, including hundis at places of worships and also toll gates, milk vendors etc to meet the shortfall of smaller denomination notes until the RBI delivered the new notes.
Naidu also wrote to the Ministry of Finance to focus on the ways and means to address the problems faced by people in the wake of demonetisation, particularly the hardest-hit communities of street vendors, transporters and petty traders.
Guidelines for the Centre
Naidu set the ball rolling for the Union government and Ministry of Finance by issuing guidelines and advisories to state administration and bankers within the state on what to do and how to tide over the crisis. All late payments for power, water, property taxes, excise, toll gates, school fees etc were deferred and advisories issued to provide non-stop services in spite of non-payments as per schedule. It appeared as if Naidu was in charge rather than the bankers and the RBI at least in Andhra Pradesh, said a senior official at the stock market at Visakhapatnam.
The Chief Minister's Office issued press releases daily on what he wanted banks and the RBI to do, without bothering with whether he had the authority to advise or direct them. The CMO and the chief minister often advised banks to introduce multi-purpose counters instead of separate counters for withdrawals and deposits. He also wrote to the RBI to send more currency to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and also Vijayawada in view of the ongoing infrastructure projects and taking into account the significance of the sea port of Visakhapatnam and religious tourism in Tirupati. We dont need Rs 2,000 notes, but only Rs 100 notes, he said, in a request to RBI.
The AP government also threatened traders with the PD Act (Preventive Detention Act) if they resorted to hoarding or denial of essential commodities.
Government employees were roped in to help out people at banks, ATMs and also at bus stands, railway stations and airports along with the regular staff.
We want the Centre to send us the new Rs 500 notes as it had already sent them to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Only Rs 6,700 crore was deposited in the banks in Andhra Pradesh since demonetisation, Naidu told the media on Tuesday evening.
Digital money focus
The TDP supremo also shifted focus on the use of digital money to tide over the crisis. Presently, only 18 percent of transactions in Andhra Pradesh are on digital mode and the governments target is to increase this to a minimum of 30 percent by the end of the year. As part of this task, e-pass instruments (POS) were being installed at all PDS outlets.
Naidu lauded the efforts of West Godavari District Collector in issuing tokens at rythu bazaars (farmer markets) for small change which were redeemable at banks. This practice was replicated in four more districts during the weekly markets to facilitate farmers who brought their produce from across the state.
Addressing the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, Naidu also urged his MPs to build pressure on the Centre to provide swipe machines to traders and abolish transaction cost for online banking in toto. Countries with lower education levels and less development are ahead of India in using mobile banking services, he said, urging TDP MPs to press for policy framework for the popularisation of digital currency in villages and towns.
Politics of the opportune
Naidu is not openly all praise for Modi though, perhaps conscious that it might rebound on him. Precautionary measures should have been taken to minimise difficulties to the public, said Naidu speaking to reporters, adding, To curtail the flow of black money, public must be encouraged towards electronic currency. The Centre must have taken adequate steps to increase online transactions.
Naidu has a good reason to join the Har Har Modi club. He needs money for his state and its brand new capital city Amaravati. The Centre has promised over Rs 1.5 lakh crore in grants and investments in over 115 projects and schemes. But unless they are done before 2017-18, the purpose will not be served, said state finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on the sidelines of a CII meet at Vijayawada while interacting with industrialists.
The TDP and the BJP are old friends allies since 1996, except for a decade in between from 2004 to 2014 when the TDP was out of power in united Andhra Pradesh.
Opposition YSRC leaders therefore alleged that the TDP supremo and his son Nara Lokesh had converted their black money into white thanks to the advance information given to them by BJP leaders. Lokeshs benamis have converted almost Rs 13,000 crore into white a few days ahead, said YSRC leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy.
But TDP leaders insist that the campaign against black money was not new to the party. Way back in 2013, TDP invited Artha Kranti Pratisthan Chairman Anil Bokhale and extended support for his campaign against black money. They had also brought out booklets against former Congress chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddys alleged corruption and impleaded themselves in the CBI case against corruption in EMAAR Groups real estate activities in Hyderabad city, a case in which YSRs son and YSRC party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy was named.
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"Most of the people eat food in dhabas when they eat outside. Can the government inform us about a dhaba in which a person carries card-swiping machine in his dhoti?" he said.
"Many labourers became unemployed today...there are very long lines and crores of people in those lines. But it is not just that," he said.
"Does the farmer own black money when he engages in transactions for seeds, fertilisers?" he said.
"It is a reality that the farmer is an important part of the economy. That is why India does not have to beg," said a dramatic Anand Sharma in the Rajya Sabha.
"What authority do the prime minister and finance minister have so that we have to beg you for our very own money?" thundered Anand Sharma.
"You have created a condition in which you told a person that he can exchange Rs 4000...I marvel at your generosity," Anand Sharma said sarcastically in the Rajya Sabha.
"After the Uri attack and surgical strikes, we posed various questions about the army....You said we cannot ask questions about the army," said Anand Sharma.
"If you are the government, that doesn't mean India belongs to you. You have created such an environment that we cannot ask questions," he said. "If we ask questions, you start asking questions about our nationality," he added.
"Who got the benefits of your decisions?" he said. "Your government is only for those people who are your friends. You hurt those people who question you."
"If you are trying to give this impression to the country that India started fighting money laundering now, then the prime minister is living on a different planet," said Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha.
After this statement, the Congress MPs began shouting again. Note that Anand Sharma was not interrupted even once when he was talking in the Rajya Sabha.
"But I think Anand Sharma does not know much about economics," he said. "If his claim of fight against black money is true, he would not have ignored the fact the entire country has welcomed this move by the Narendra Modi government," he added.
"In the future, inflation will be controlled when more people pay taxes," he said. "The central government will also get more resources for the welfare of farmers, labourers, youth, women in the country."
"Some people had suggested that this move should have been made public seven days before implementing it. But secrecy is most important in such issues," he said.
"The government has taken many steps against corruption. Demonetisation was a historic step against corruption. This was also a warning to the corrupt that the black money they had was useless now," he said.
"Finance Minister had informed the House only about the counterfeit money in the economy, not the money which some people have got through corruption," Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha.
"Some people just seem to be unhappy that Prime Minister Modi has taken an important step against corruption and black money," he said.
"When the government had just come to power in 2014, there was an atmosphere against corruption," Piyush Goyal said in Rajya Sabha.
"This is a step after which a person will think twice before engaging in corruption," he said. "The poor labourers will benefit the most," he added.
"Please do not hold views which the corrupt can use to free themselves," Goyal added.
"You (Congress) talked about surgical strike. We did not mention it. This is good. You have given us a certificate that we conducted precise strikes against corruption," he said.
"The country is ready to tolerate a few days of inconvenience," he said. "The entire country is with us," he added.
"And even the Election Commission won't be able to notice when someone is carrying the Rs 2000 note in one's pocket," he said.
"Several crore vegetables were just thrown away per day from markets," he said. "Who gave you the advice to come up with the Rs 2000 note? Go outside Delhi to the villages of India. Nobody will accept that note," he said.
"The farmer is unable to buy fertiliser and seeds," said SP's Ram Gopal Yadav in Rajya Sabha. "Farmers are not able to sell potatoes now. Were these potatoes made using black money?" he said.
Who gave you the advice to come up with the Rs 2000 note? SP asks govt in Rajya Sabha
"Our party will move adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha," she said, adding that demonetisation was a dictatorial and draconian step by the government.
"We told the President that he is the custodian of the Constitution. We told him to talk to the government," Mamata Banerjee said.
"Today, people are not getting access to vegetables in the markets. Children are not getting milk. People are dying," she said.
"Today, how did the non-performing assets increase in the last six months?" the Bengal chief minister said.
"After cancelling notes, there were a lot of notes needed in banks for the huge demand," Mamata Banerjee said after meeting the President.
"90 percent of blak money is in tax havens abroad," Yechury further said. "It's like the prime minister is killing the pond to kill the crocodiles, forgetting that the crocodiles can survive on land too."
"But where is this black money? All estimates say 6 percent of this black money is in cash," he said. "Black money is in circulation, in real estate...gold imports have surged in the last few days."
"We want black money controlled. We want it eliminated. The World Bank says that nearly 21 percent of the Indian economy is in the black economy," Yechury said.
"If you stop these Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, you think corruption will stop? Now, corruption will double with the Rs 2000 notes," Yechury said.
"After 26/11, we went on debating over a new law to combat terrorism. On many issues, we had agreed over how terror funding needed to stop," Yechury said.
"We want to stop counterfeit money. Locate where this is happening. Punish them. We will all support this. But this is not the way to stop it," he said.
"By this way, you are killing the poor," he said. "As Anand Sharma said, 0.02 percent of the cash is counterfeit. To take care of that, you needed to do this?" he added.
"The point is that black money is not going to go away with this. Black money is not stock, it is a flow," Yechury said in the Rajya Sabha.
"For the rest of India, it is Tarasta Bharat," he said. "People can't get their children treated at hospitals."
"In our rural population, 80.8 percent of the rural population is not covered by the banks," he said. "What banking does the prime minister want us to go to? There is Shining India with e-wallets for them," he said.
"Why are you agonising the Indian people?" Yechury said. "Agonising people is a way to tell people: I control your personal lives," he said, adding that this was a fascist move.
"People will say this Tughlaqshahi," he said. "This does not meet the objectives of what the prime minister set out to do."
"You have allowed banks to exchange notes. Bulk of Indians today are dealing with rural cooperative banks. You don't allow them to change notes...86 percent of the rural population is dependent on transactions from these banks," Yechury said.
"Don't give this exemption to political parties to spend whatever they want," Yechury said. "If you're serious about stopping corruption, stop the supply side of corruption," he added.
Laughing at Das, Patel said, "Are you kidding me? How can you allow your EAS to issue such statements. You are making a fool of yourself."
Slamming the Narendra Modi government's handling of the issue, Patel gave example of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, who during a press conference on Wednesday said: "The new currency notes, just as the old ones, will lose colour if rubbed with a piece of cloth wet because that's the nature of the dye used. If your note does not lose colour, it's one of the signs that it may be fake."
"Abolishing black money is a move we all support, and BJP government's intention is great but you are asking people to be hungry for 50 days for a feast on the 51st day. Vo aadmi toh mar ayega, bhoj kya khayega (The person will die on the 51st day, what will he do with the feast)," says Patel.
Rajya Sabha erupted after the comment. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad interrupted Tiwari's speech and said that the statement, which was "atrocious", should not go in record. "No one speaks about the country's prime minister in such an atrocious way. It should not go in record,"Prasad urged the Chair.
In a dramatised speech, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh compared prime minister to former dictators like Gaddafi, Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. "The seat that you (Narendra Modi) occupy, has been occupied by Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shastri ji, Charan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But the way you are working, I am forced to say that it reminds me of dictators like Gaddafi, Hitler and Mussolini."
"Modi government marched to victory in 2014 because the country was tired of scams and scandals. That was our poll promise. I request Congress to come out of the dilemma - are you in favour of the people who are hoarders and scamsters or you are in favour of a bold step that eradicates black money from the country. Narendra Modi is capable of taking very strong steps. Temporary pain for long term gain - is the buzz across India. One thing I want to assure - if your money is valid, nothing will happen to it."
"You have got a chance to discuss important things on this platform so do not waste it by mud-slinging. When it comes to people and their hatred towards our PM (the way you claim), we saw their hatred in 2014 and we will see it in 2019," Naidu says to a thundering applause.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu addresses Rajya Sabha and says that people across the nation are watching this Session and they are not interested in a history lesson.
As expected, the Opposition targetted the Narendra Modi governmemnt over its "ill-preparedness" and "lack of empathy" for the general public. Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad at the end of day one requested the prime minister to appear in the House tomorrow and discuss the issue of demonetisation.
While the Lok Sabha was adjourned earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha argued and debated on topics till 6 pm on Wednesday. Chairman of Upper House PJ Kurien announced that the House will resume the same discussion (on demonetisation) from 2 pm on Thursday.
The first day of Winter Session went as expected, in fact it went better than expected.
While the Union ministers and BJP MPs are demanding an apology from Leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad for his Uri remark, Congress MPs are demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation scheme.
"The nation wants to know today," he added, reminding of a news anchor famous for shouting at the panellists on his show.
"The Opposition has disappointed us and the country," he said. "I want the Congress to clarify on Azad's remark," he said.
"Those who ruled over the country for 50 years and ruined the situation of the aam aadmi and those who did not let the Parliament function are now also on the same path," said Naidu. "The prime minister will respond if needed," he said.
"They are not strong...they are not on the side of the truth, the people are not with them," Naidu further said.
"The government is ready for a discussion. We don't know what has happened with the Congress. Suddenly, they took a U-turn," said Venkaiah Naidu.
"There is a need to fix the railway infrastructure. Modiji talked about the bullet train. But there is no focus. How will the aam aadmi benefit and get safety?" said Rahul on the Patna-Indore Express tragedy.
"This is one of the biggest economic decisions in India. But the prime minister had not thought about the impact," he said. "This is some other form of the prime minister," he added.
"We are ready for a discussion. These days, why does the prime minister need to come to the Parliament? He is on a different level. He does not need to interact with his ministers," said Rahul sarcastically.
"People are complaining of deals at the back of long lines to banks. So people are suffering huge losses," he said. "Only 15 or 20 friends of the prime minister will benefit from this move," he added.
"People have told me that they are suffering a lot," said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi outside the Parliament on the issue of demonetisation.
The Opposition members raised slogans, even as deputy chairman PJ Kurien threatened to adjourn the House. And... he did. The Rajya Sabha is adjourned till 12 pm.
Rajya Sabh and Lok Sabha will resume in a while. Meanwhile, asking his countrymen to tell their views on demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted saying, "I want your first-hand view on the decision taken regarding currency notes. Take part in the survey on the NM App."
Speaker of Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan, quite hassled by the way the MPs were behaving, threatened to adjourn the House. "Kyun kar rahe ho?" asks Mahajan very politely as Opposition MPs raised slogans and asked for debate over demonetisation. The protesting MPs also demanded that Modi should come to the House and make a speech.
The Lok Sabha is heading for another adjournment as the Opposition escalated their attack on the BJP government over the same issue of demonetisation. By the look of it, the Winter Session of Parliament till now has been a total washout with no constructive debate happening on the floor.
After the ruckus got out of hand, a very calm Hamid Ansari stood up and adjourned the Upper House till 2 pm.
Members could not keep it together even as the Rajya Sabha resumed proceedings at 12.32 pm.
However, an unrelenting opposition continued to raise slogans. The Speaker again appealed to the opposition to participate in the debate saying that the disruption of proceedings would not resolve the problem. "I am really pained. If you are people's representatives, you should stand by them," she said. As pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon after 20 minutes of proceedings.
Ignoring the slogan shouting opposition members, Speaker allowed the Question Hour to continue amidst noise. When some opposition members tried to bring a placard, denouncing the demonetisation move, infront of Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, who was replying a question related to his Ministry, the Speaker tried to intervene and asked the MPs not to disturb the Minister. "This is not good. Everyone will be shown on TV, but don't disturb the Minister. If you want to discuss something, raise it before the government. People are in pain, tell the government. But this is not the way to highlight people's grievances," Mahajan said asking them to return to their seats.
Samjawadi Party, NCP and RJD stood in the aisles in solidarity with the other opposition members. While AIADMK members were also on the aisles raising the issue of Tamil fishermen injured allegedly in firing by Sri Lankan Navy, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was seen busy in his seat in an intimate discussion with AAP MP from Punjab Harinder Singh Khalsa.
Opposition disrupted the proceedings of the Lok Sabha for the fourth consecutive day demanding discussion on demonetisation on a rule which entails voting forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the House for about 50 minutes soon after it assembled. As soon as the House met, members of Congress, TMC, Left parties and AAP rushed to the Well of the House demanding discussions on the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 under Rule 56, that entails.
As BJP members also created a ruckus, an angry Kurien snapped at them. "Why should treasury benches do this? Mr Minister, why should treasury benches to this," he asked Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
He told Azad that he was ready to accept his notice under rule 267 seeking suspension of business. "Mr Azad, I am ready to admit your notice under 267 if only there is order in the House."
As they shouted slogans from the Well, Kurien said, "You cannot speak in the Well. Shouting in the Well is of no use. If you go back to your seats, I will give you time (to speak)."
At this point, TMC members carrying placards of "Financial Emergency" trooped into the Well, with Congress members following suit.
"He should come and listen to the pain people have faced because of his decision," Mayawati said. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the opposition is ready for discussion on the issue but Prime Minister should come to the Rajya Sabha first. As he spoke, members of the BJP moved into the aisles raising slogans.
No sooner were the listed papers laid on the table in Rajya Sabha, Sharad Yadav of JD(U) said the government should pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to kin of the 70 persons who lost their lives due to hardships caused by withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. Naresh Agarwal (SP) and Mayawati (BSP) said Modi should be called before starting discussion on the demonetisation.
"Today they want PM Modi to address Parliament, tomorrow they will be demand a JPC on the demonetisation issue. Trust me, the opposition is just shifting the goalpost. Why are they running away from a debate? Why do they just want prime minister to speak, is the finance minister not competent enough to reply to their questions," asks Prasad.
Speaking to CNN-News18, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked the Opposition on their demand of asking Prime Minister Modi to address the House of Parliament and in turn asked, "Why is the Opposition running away from debate?"
"Government wants that there should be a long and elaborate discussion so that we can explain to this country the enormous benefits of this move," Singh said. "Congress and other opposition parties are on a self-destructing course."
On the other hand, Jitendra Singh said that the Opposition was on a self-destruct course.
"Let's keep Opposition and government out of this. Let's think of the people," he further said.
"Almost 70 people have died. He must be crying for them. And I respect that," Congress leader Kapil Sibal told Times Now, clearly taking a dig at the prime minister and implying that he could not come to the Parliament because he was crying.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Rahul alleged that the government and the prime minister are not allowing a debate in the House. "We have filed an adjournment motion in the House and we want Modi to discuss the issue with us," says Rahul Gandhi
"Main poochna chahti hoon prime minister se ki agar unhone itna acha kaam kiya hai to vo ghabra kyu rahe hain? (I want to ask PM Modi that if he has taken a decision which is so good why is he scared?) I urge President to summon Modi and ask him to take measures to solve the problems faced by people post demonetisation move," Mayawati told the media after Lok Sabha got its first adjournment of the day.
Alleging that it sends a wrong message if prime minister keeps shying away from a debate, BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday that a debate is a must because otherwise the BJP government looks like it has done something wrong. "Puri daal kali lag rahi hai."
Proceedings was continuously disrupted as Opposition leaders raised loud slogans against the BJP government. Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu urges Speaker Sumitra Mahajan not to adjourn the Lower House. "The debate has begun, madam Speaker. Please let the debate happen. The world is watching what Congress and the Oppostion is doing inside the House," Naidu said.
The protesting MPs, for the past half an hour, have continously made noise and tried to disrupt the Lok Sabha proceedings. Speaker Mahajan still holding solid ground.
Opposition members are trying their best to disrupt the proceedings, but BJP MPs (MJ Akbar, Jitendra Singh) are holding their ground and not giving in to the awful noise that the protesting MPs are making.
Samajwadi Party's Akshay Yadav tore paper and threw it at Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in the Lok Sabha. This is definitely a new low for Opposition parties in the Parliament.
"I am very sorry that the RBI has been exposed to this kind of criticism which is fully justified," he added.
"It is not good that every day, the banking system comes up with some modifications. That reflects very poorly on the prime minister's office," he said.
"The national income can decline by about 2 percentage points...I feel that the prime minister must come up with some constructive proposal," said the former prime minister.
"In my opinion, the way demonetisation has been implemented will hurt agriculture, small industries and the people in the informal sector," he said.
"I want to know from the prime minister the names of countries where people have deposited their money in banks but are not allowed to withdraw it," he said.
"What has been done can weaken and erode our people's confidence in the currency and banking system," said Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha.
"I say so with all responsibility that we do not know what will be the full outcome," he said. "50 days is a short period but for those who are poor, even 50 days can bring about disastrous effects. About 60-65 people have lost their lives," he said.
"Today, there are no two opinions in the country. It is important to take note of the grievances of the common people who have suffered," said Manmohan Singh.
"I do not disagree with the objectives of taking steps against terroism and black money," said former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House.
"By the day, the damage to the economy is increasing. Today, reports have come which have said that in three sectors that are biggest in exports, 4 lakh people have lost their jobs in the last one week or so," Sitaram Yechury said.
Addressing the Upper House, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said how can the prime minister say something like this? "How can the prime minister allege that Opposition parties are in favour of black money? This is wrong."
Within minutes after the Rajya Sabha began today, the opposition members were up in arms protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that those cirticising the government are not angry with the government's preparedness but the fact that they did not get time to prepare.
Slamming the prime minister for his statements on black money hoarders and his veiled attack against the Opposition, the leaders of Congress and SP and BSP created ruckus in the Upper House and demanded that Modi should address the MPs and apologise for his remarks.
"I'm sure many of us have read analysis of noted economist Lawrence Summers, former chief economist of the World Bank and advisor to Obama government who concludes that this exercise has "resulted in chaos and loss of trust" and "without new measures, is unlikely to have lasting benefits. Don't you think it is high time and right time to form a committee of our real experts and intellectuals like Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Subramanian Swamy and other top economists and intellectuals of our party and veteran Murli Manohar Joshi to help the government in this hour?"
In a series of tweets on Friday, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha, reiterating his faith in PM Modi's intention, said, "However, I have serious concerns about the outcome, fallout and responses of the people of India and the almost united opposition in particular."
Seventh day of Winter Session and looks like this week business will take a massive hit due to ongoing protests by the Opposition
As Opposition din did not die down even after many requests by the Speaker, Mahajan adjourned the Lok Sabha till Monday (28 November) 11 am.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that a man Rakesh Singh tried to jump in the Lok Sabha off the audience gallery on Friday after the House was adjourned. "Security officials overpowered him and took him under custody and he has been let off with warning," Mahajan added.
Taking the nation by surprise, the Prime Minister had on November 8 announced demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes with effect from midnight.
Latching on to media reports, Yechury sought to pick holes in the November 8 decision as he noted that 29 crore out of the 30 crore Rupay card holders have never used their cards in a swipe machine. Referring to a report on surfacing of two variants of Rs 500 currency notes, the Marxist leader also took a dig at Modi, saying it was the "Prime Minister's way" of stopping circulation of fake currency.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, dubbing him as 'Tughlaq' who had "gone missing" after issuing a farman (order). "Barely 20-25 percent of cash demand being met in Metros. Rural areas even worse. While Tughlaq goes missing after his firman," Yechury tweeted.
Will government's wait-and-watch technique, as far as Opposition's protests are concerned, work out in their favour? Most political observers say no because the government does not have the luxury of time. Meanwhile, Opposition leaders are still not relenting with their demand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in Parliament.
Opposition leaders met before Parliament session commences for the tenth day. However, the worry again is will the Opposition let the Parliament function? Winter Session will go on for 22 sittings - 50 percent of the sittings are already over - the Upper House and the Lok Sabha have still not been able to table crucial bills.
"Why is the BJP government so stubborn? Why is the prime minister not coming to debate?" Mayawati asks.
In Samba, security forces killed two militants early on Tuesday when a group of militants tried to sneak in from Pakistan through the International Border near a border outpost in this Jammu district. According to reports, the two militants were killed following a "heavy firing exchange" with the BSF.
Even as terrorists infiltrated the International Border and attacked two - Nagrota and Samba - districts of Jammu and Kashmir, there was no talk of that in Parliament. The attack in Nagrota reportedly started around 5.30 am with militants firing at a field regiment camp located in the garrison town of Nagrota near the headquarter's of army's 16 corps in the state.
Demonetisation has been the reason for Parliament washouts over ten days now since Winter Session began on 16 November. Interestingly, Parliament has not discussed anything else except note ban imposed by the Narendra Modi government since the Winter Session began.
TMC leader slammed the BJP government for deploying Army in West Bengal. Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien that the deployment was a routine exercise and casting aspersions on the prime minister is not acceptable.
Opposition: Modiji says he wants the poor to build their own homes, but what about those homes which are being broken?
If one had to compare, Rajya Sabha gets adjourned way faster and sooner than the Lower House.
Unrelenting Speaker Sumitra Mahajan continues to let MPs speak on different issues while a group of MPs continue to try to disrupt Lok Sabha. But since Winter Session has begun (16 November) members who are against the demonetisation drive have tried, and sometimes successfully, to stall Parliament.
"These photos on the walls of the Rajya Sabha, from where emanates the power of democracy, often haunt me. It has been particularly difficult these last few days to get past those photos.Till 1 December (15th day since the commencement of the Winter Session) no business has been allowed to occur in the House except on the first day when a good debate took place in the Rajya Sabha over demonetisation. Regular disruptions, chaos and high-pitched slogan shouting have resulted in complete pandemonium in the House. The continuous ruckus usually leads to the suspension of the House proceedings and, sadly, it has become a regular feature. I ask myself: is this the only alternative left to us to address the genuine grievances of the public, the states and the nation?"
"Today, the situation is that the withdrawals of the foreigners who come to India are being rationed," he said. "This has globally affected India's image," he added.
"Demonetisation created a situation that 86 percent of the currency was invalidated. Now, after one month, tens of millions of Indians are standing in queues...It is wrong to give an impression that the Opposition is opposing the prime minister's crusade against black money," Sharma said.
"The government has collective responsibility but the prime minister is the first among the equals," said Congress leader Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha.
"In the 2G debates, we have insisted that the prime minister participates in this discussions but there is no such practice in this House that the prime minister must be here to listen to each and every member," Jaitley said.
"What is the stage we are in? Halfway through the debate, you interrupted the debate and are now raising concerns which have never been raised in the House," he told the Opposition.
"In this case, we've repeatedly said that the prime minister is going to participate in the debate," Jaitley said.
"It's obviously an important issue. The questions have to be answered," he said. "The government and the council of ministers fucntions on a collective responsibility. There is no such principle that a specific person has to answer."
"We've gone through this exercise of having a major debate which is incomplete. We have spent seven hours on the debate under rule 167," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha.
When asked what does the Opposition want, Rahul said, "He should come and debate in Parliament and explain his decision," he said.
Targetting the Prime Minister over the issue of note ban, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP government saying that the decision to scrap high denomination currency was the biggest mistake ever. "It was a bold decision - that's what Modi ji says - but bold decisions are also foolish decisions. Demonetisation was a foolish decision. Our farmers, fishermen and the poor of the society are dying, our Prime Minister does not care for any of that. He (PM Modi) is laughing and having a nice time while the people of the country are suffering. The idea behind cashless economy is that a few people and corporates will get maximum benefits from these transactions. This has damaged the nation."
Today, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched a full frontal attack on the prime minister and an united Opposition on Thursday observed Black Day to mark one month since the demonetisation scheme kicked in.
8 November was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. It's been a month since then and the Opposition protests have gone on unabated - both in and outside Parliament.
"It is a matter of shame that the government refused to pay tributes to the martyrs," Azad thundered, provoking the ruling party ministers and MPs, who began shouting as if Azad had just thrown something at them.
He also said that by protesting in front of the Gandhi statue, the Opposition was the one which paid tributes to the deceased.
"We have been saying for a long time that over 100 people have died because of demonetisation," said Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha. "But the government refused to pay tribute to the deceased," he added.
President Pranab Mukherjee has accused the Opposition of "gagging majority" in both Houses of Parliament. "Debate, dissension and decision are necessary," Times Now quoted the President as saying. "The Parliament must not be disrupted...this is unacceptable."
The Winter Session of Parliament began on 16 November. On 8 December, both the Houses Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha met for the 14th day but within minutes of commencing, both the Houses were adjourned. The deadlock over demonetisation has led to wastage of the Winter Session so far and considering that just one more week is left for the session to wrap up, there is little hope that the Houses will be able to pass, introduce or even debate the Bills that have been listed for consideration.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Venakaiah Naidu also termed the 'dharna' by opposition leaders near the Gandhi statue in Parliament premises as a big 'tamasha' and an insult to the Father of the Nation. "Our opponents particularly the Congress I am told are observing a Black Day. I say what they are observing is a 'Black Money Support Day'," Naidu said.
Hitting out at the Congress-led Opposition for observing a 'Black Day' against demonetisation decision, government on Thursday said they are actually observing a "Black Money Support Day".
According to Times Now, the parliamentary panel has found Mann guilty of security breach after he filmed a video entering Parliament by crossing several security layers and posted it on social media.
As if the logjam in Parliament for which President Pranab Mukherjee admonished both Houses was not embarrassing enough for the country, there is now a delegation of parliamentarians from Vietnam who are going to witness what happens in an Indian Parliament.
"Govt running from debate, if they allow me to speak then you will see what an earthquake will come," says Rahul Gandhi.
Keep in mind that Vietnamese Parliamentarians are in both the Houses to witness this scene.
It's hard to decide at this point who is trying to stall Parliament. During zero hour in Lok Sabha, MPs in Lok Sabha kept raising ruckus while Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tries her best to keep the House in session.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 14 December On Friday as the count of members in the Upper House remained 21 despite calls from the Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, the house was adjourned till Monday. The benches remained empty while BJP and Congress leaders sparred with each other blaming each other for the non-functioning government.
According to an NDTV report Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that Prime Minister Modi will be present in Parliament for the three remaining days of the Session and can participate in proceedings for either of the House depending on the need.
Congress is going to raise the issue of corruption charges against Kiren Rijiju. Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader, Anand Sharma has given notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha for discussion on corruption charges against Rijiju.
"This is the first time that the government is scheming to make sure Parliament does not function. It usually is the job of Opposition to stand up and protest. However, this government is doing a pretty job of that and making sure that Parliament does not work and no one questions the ruling party's decision. Demonetisation has hurt a lot of people, but Modi government's arrogance is not allowing us to debate it in the House," a TMC member said.
BJP was reacting to Congress vice-president's claim that he has information of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged involvement in "personal corruption." Rahul was speaking a joint press briefing of the Opposition after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid din created by Opposition.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said that if Rahul Gandhi had any information, he could have revealed them twenty days ago, ""but till today he wasn't ready to make any earth-shattering revelations."
Soon after Rajya Sabha passed the amended The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2014) and Kurien congratulated the members over a productive day, Anand Sharma raised the issue of Rijiju and his alleged involvement in the Rs 450-crore scam. Kurien tried to maintain calm in the House by saying, "Allegation without informing the Chair cannot be allowed."
As Opposition members raised slogans and ruckus, Kurien said, "What can I do except adjourning. Both sides are indisciplined. The House is adourned till tomorrow (15 December) 11 am."
It seemed like the members in the Upper House were just waiting to pass one single Bill this Winter Session. Soon after Kurien praised the members of the Upper House for being disciplined, ruckus over alleged corruption allegations on Kiren Rijiju took the House by storm again.
Kurien: "I have given the floor to Leader of Opposition. That's the tradition. Let's follow it. Please sit down."
Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi object to leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad speaking in the Upper House. Kurien asks BJP members to sit down. Amid slogans of "Agusta Agusta" , BJP leaders demanded to know what is the topic of discussion?
"I have to adjourn.. what should I do?" asks Kurien. "This is for the first time in history of India that it's the ruling party that's not letting the House to function," says Azad.
Sources said that it was also decided in the meeting to raise the plight of farmers and common people in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and demand a loan waiver for farmers. Representatives of Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP, SP, JD-U, CPI, CPI-M, NCP, DMK and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) were present in today's meeting.
Leaders of various parties said the entire opposition has decided to approach the President to "complain" against the ruling party for not allowing them to speak in Parliament. The leaders said they were elected representatives of the country and had every right to speak in Parliament and it was "unconstitutional" not to allow them to speak in both Houses. Sources said time is being sought from the President till Friday and all opposition parties were ready to raise the issue unitedly before him.
Taking their protest on demonetisation to President Pranab Mukherjee's doorsteps, Opposition parties sought a meeting with the president to convey the problems caused by the measure to the common man and "over not being" allowed to speak in Parliament. At a meeting of the opposition held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, representatives of various parties decided to raise with the President the problems of the common people, including the poor and farmers arising out of demonetisation.
Advani also added that "had Atal ji been in Parliament today, he would have been upset."
Senior BJP leader LK Advani told Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene and stop disruptions in both Houses of Parliament. Expressing his unhappiness, Advani allegedly said that he "feels like resigning".
Opposition leaders are scheduled to meet the President and PM Modi to push for a way to break the deadlock.
The BJPs Parliamentary Party meeting to discuss the strategy to counter the Oppositions charges against the government is currently underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the gathering.
The last day of the Winter Session of Parliament is setup for a big tussle between the government and the Opposition as both try to break the deadlock.
"Regular and continuous disruptions signify this session... The rules about displaying placards and shouting slogans were ignored by all sections of the house," Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said in his closing statement before adjourning the house.
The Rajya Sabha on Friday concluded its winter session after an emotional speech by the Chairman as the house was adjourned sine die.
On the eve of Winter Session, two all-party meetings were convened, first by the ruling NDA and the other by Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan. At the all-party meeting Modi requested all parties for cooperation in order to make Parliament session a fruitful one.
"I hope that Winter Session will be fruitful. I expect that Winter Session will proceed in a positive way. I hope that Winter Session debate will strengthen democracy. I believe that to take the country ahead this Winter Session debate will be useful, " said Modi as Winter Session sets to begin.
"If you will put their husbands in jail, who will provide for them, who will pay for their children," Azad asked as he reiterated that Congress leader Anad Sharma's suggestion to send it to Standing Committee should be taken into consideration.
Ghulam Nabi Azad stood up as the bill was taken up for discussion and said that none of the parties are in opposition of the bill in essence. However, he said that the government's bill will "finish Muslim women" instead of saving them.
He said that a committee should reflect the nature of the House, which the list of suggestions given by Sharma does not. Sharma's suggestion did not include names from the BJP.
Jaitley said that the previous precedents show that any amendments or motions should be introduced with prior notice. He said that the Opposition's demand to send the bill to Select Committee was invalid. He also raised objection on the suggestion on members of Select Committee made by Anand Sharma.
Kurien said that the Leader of the House is a very learned advocate himself and all points raised by him are of relevance. The rule he quotes that a prior notice should be given is also correct, he said. "However, the same rule adds that the Chairman has the power to admit such a motion and which is why I cannot overrule it. It is now admitted and hence is the property of the House, only members can amend it," Kurien said on Jaitley's objection over the Opposition motion seeking triple talaq bill be sent to Standing Committee.
Roy, responding to Jaitley's objection that the Select Committee suggested by him did not reflect the nature of the House, Roy said that he had included members from all parties who were willing to send the bill to the Standing Committee. However, BJP members were not included because the government was not willing to send the bill to the committee. Roy added that if the BJP is interested in sending the Bill for further scrutiny, he has no objection to ammend the list to include its members too.
Govt requests to take up GST bill first as Dy Chairman ruled Triple Talaq bill can't be taken for passage without first building consensus in House
"If you will put their husbands in jail, who will provide for them, who will pay for their children," Azad asked as he reiterated that Congress leader Anad Sharma's suggestion to send it to Standing Committee should be taken into consideration.
Ghulam Nabi Azad stood up as the bill was taken up for discussion and said that none of the parties are in opposition of the bill in essence. However, he said that the government's bill will "finish Muslim women" instead of saving them.
He said that a committee should reflect the nature of the House, which the list of suggestions given by Sharma does not. Sharma's suggestion did not include names from the BJP.
Jaitley said that the previous precedents show that any amendments or motions should be introduced with prior notice. He said that the Opposition's demand to send the bill to Select Committee was invalid. He also raised objection on the suggestion on members of Select Committee made by Anand Sharma.
Kurien said that the Leader of the House is a very learned advocate himself and all points raised by him are of relevance. The rule he quotes that a prior notice should be given is also correct, he said. "However, the same rule adds that the Chairman has the power to admit such a motion and which is why I cannot overrule it. It is now admitted and hence is the property of the House, only members can amend it," Kurien said on Jaitley's objection over the Opposition motion seeking triple talaq bill be sent to Standing Committee.
Roy, responding to Jaitley's objection that the Select Committee suggested by him did not reflect the nature of the House, Roy said that he had included members from all parties who were willing to send the bill to the Standing Committee. However, BJP members were not included because the government was not willing to send the bill to the committee. Roy added that if the BJP is interested in sending the Bill for further scrutiny, he has no objection to ammend the list to include its members too.
Govt requests to take up GST bill first as Dy Chairman ruled Triple Talaq bill can't be taken for passage without first building consensus in House
The Winter Session of Parliament opened on Wednesday with a united Opposition mounting an assault on the government over demonetisation, saying it had led to "economic anarchy" in the country. The opposition parties also demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the alleged selective leak of information before the official announcement.
While Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after paying tributes to nine leaders, including sitting TMC MP Renuka Sinha, the seven-hour-long debate in Rajya Sabha, however, remained inconclusive. The debate in Rajya Sabha continued till 6 pm on Wednesday before Deputy Chairman of the House PJ Kurien adjourned it till 11 am tomorrow. Kurien said that the discussion on demonetisation will be resumed on Thursday at 2 pm. "From 11am to 12 pm will be the Zero Hour and Question Hour will be from 12-1 pm," said Kurien. There were repeated demands by the opposition members that the Prime Minister should be present in the House to listen to the members.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said Modi, who did not come to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, should at least be present tomorrow and possibly intervene. The government rejected as baseless the opposition charge that there was "leakage" of the 8 November decision and said everyone was taken by surprise which is why there are "initial" problems.
Joining ranks over the raging issue, parties like Congress, JD(U), RJD, SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress, Left and AIADMK slammed the government, particularly targeting PM Modi, for making Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes invalid and said the "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived" step had severely hit the common people, the farmers and the poor.
During a discussion on demonetisation, which was taken up after suspension of all business in response to notices given by a host of opposition members, a scathing attack was made on the government which strongly defended the step as one taken in national interest and to end corruption and black money, which it linked to terror activities in the country.
Here's a quick recap of what happened today
Anand Sharma uses wit and humour to attack Modi
Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma on Wednesday demanded a probe into "selective leakage" of the demonetisation move, which he termed a "Nadirshahi farman" (autocratic order). Initiating a debate after listed business was suspended to take up a discussion on the 8 November decision to withdraw old higher denomination currency, Sharma used wit and humour to attack Modi for being insensitive to problems caused to the common man.
He asked Modi to state where he got Rs 23,000-24,000 crore, estimated by the International Money Watch Group, for his Lok Sabha elections. He also asked if cheque or credit card payments were made to organise his rally at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh a few days ago. Alleging that the information on demonetisation was selectively leaked, he said, "Your BJP units have deposited crores (just before the 8 November decision)."
Sharma also sought to know from the Prime Minister as to "who wants to kill him", referring to the Prime Minister's speech in Goa where he had said that with demonetisation resulting in "Looting of their 70 year corrupt earnings, they will destroy me, they can kill me". "There should have been an ordinance for demonetization. But no ordinance was brought. This is a Nadirshahi farman (autocratic order)," Sharma said.
"The decision to demonetise high currency notes was leaked to a select few. Secrecy was not maintained on this issue. It was published in a Gujarati newspaper long back and even other newspapers wrote about it," said Sharma. "There should be a probe into the selective leakage of information," he said, asking: "What did the government do to prepare for effective implementation of the policy."
He also sought to know from the government which law gave it the right to impose limits on withdrawing money from peoples' own accounts. "I condemn Prime Minister's statement in Goa for mocking the people who are standing in queues. He must apologise. Please explain who wants to kill you," said Sharma posing a question to Modi. Congress will not tolerate anyone planning to harm the Prime Minister of the country, he said. "An atmosphere has been created by the government where questioning them has become a parameter to decide one's nationalism," said Sharma.
He sought to know from the Prime Minister as to from where the "15 thousand crore rupees spent on your mega election campaign come from". "Did you pay for your recent Ghazipur rally through credit card," Sharma said mocking the government for asking people to use plastic money for day-to-day expenses.
Sharma also demanded that Modi must disclose the list of those names, who are holding black money in Swiss banks. "Government has a list of those holding black money in Swiss banks. We demand that the Prime Minister must tell who all are there in the list," said Sharma. He said the government should disclose how much money left India between March and September this year and how many people invested in bullion, bought gold or forex during this period.
Sharma took a dig at the government for using the term "surgical strike" in the context of demonetization and the unplanned consequences of the move, saying, "Bina doctori padhe sab surgeon ban gaye (You became a surgeon without training or education)."
Quoting media reports, Sharma said State Bank of India the country's largest lender knew of the decision way back in March and a Gujarati newspaper had in April published a report of the move to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. He demanded a probe into "how many people bought more than Rs 1 crore of foreign currency and bullion" since April. "This is a serious issue... you never kept secrecy (about the decision)," Sharma said. The "ill-timed" and "ill-conceived" move had unleashed "economic anarchy" in the country and benefited a few, he said, adding that to fight black money created by higher denomination currency, a bigger Rs 2,000 note has been brought which is similar to the paper on which 'churan' is sold and "shed colour" was brought.
"Your government is insensitive," he said adding Modi was riding a bullet train in Japan when old, women and common man were queueing up at banks at 3 am in the morning to get currency to buy their daily needs. Sharma said Modi had in his Goa speech had stated that those standing in line at banks were those involved in 2G spectrum and coal scam as well as holding black money. "I condemn the Prime Minister for calling the poor standing in the queue for his Rs 4,000-4,500, black money holders and scamster," he said.
Taking a dig at the Modi, he said someone who "changes clothes five times a day", has become Prime Minister and travels around the globe was "calling himself a sanyasi and tapasvi".
Sharma demanded that the names of persons holding accounts in Swiss bank and those revealed in the Leichtenstein and HSBC lists should be made public. The names of bank loan defaulters above Rs 5,000 crore should also be made public. While the decision had put the common man to immense hardship by way of having to stand in long queues to lay hands on valid currency to meet daily needs, the information about demonetisation was selectively leaked to the "friends of BJP," Sharma alleged. The move had branded 86 percent of the currency in circulation black money and "everyone a criminal," he said adding when Modi announced the plan it was expected that adequate arrangements would be made for dispensing new notes.
"The magnanimous prime minister allowed Rs 4,000 of old currency to be changed... what right does the Constitution give the government to place restrictions on withdrawal of ones hard-earned money," he asked, adding one has to "beg to be allowed to withdraw his own money." He said former RBI Governor IG Patel had written about the government's decision to demonetise currency in 1978 and it would be absurd to think that all ill-gotten money is kept in cash and not invested in real estate, billion, equities or foreign exchange.
Moving towards cashless economy was fine but even the most developed economies of US or Europe have not achieved that objective yet. If they had, the US central bank would have stopped printing dollars, European Central Bank won't be printing Euros and UK central banks would have stopped printing pound sterling, he said.
Stating that the government had in one stroke declared everyone a criminal, he said the government and the finance minister have stated that terrorists would have benefited if advance information on the decision was given. "Which terrorist goes to RBI with sack full of counterfeit currency to change."
After withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, restrictions were placed even on foreign tourists who could not get their currency changed.
The Congress leader said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had informed Parliament in August that fake currency was 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation. "If 0.02 percent by government admission is counterfeit currency, how can that be made the base to remove 86 percent of currency in circulation," he said.
An undeclared emergency has put common people in grave inconvenience, he said while crime money, ill-gotten wealth and that accrued through corruption or tax evasion is blackmoney, Prime Minister should answer if he considered money in the market, or in households, or with farmers, workers and employees was also blackmoney.
"This question arises because a message has gone that Indian economy was run on blackmoney... you decide but don't brand the whole country," he said, adding whether the cash the farmers gets for his crop or the one he uses to buy seeds or fertilizer was blackmoney. He said the move had rendered millions of agriculture workers and labourers unemployed.
Mayawati calls demonetisation ill-timed
As the debate was in progress, BSP chief Mayawati demanded the presence of the Prime Minister in the House to hear out the Opposition parties and address their concerns.
Mayawati questioned the government's preparedness for the demonetisation of high-value bank notes, accusing it of spending the last ten months on settling the black money of its people. Participating in a debate in Rajya Sabha on the demonetisation of high-denomination currency notes, she said: "The government has said that they spent ten months preparing for this decision. Ten months was a long time to prepare. If they were serious about it, they would have prepared well for all the problems that people are facing today."
"What we are witnessing in India today would not have happened had they prepared," she added. Accusing the government of supporting those close to it in settling their ill-gotten wealth, Mayawati said: "In the last ten months, the BJP government has worked to help the party supporters and big businessmen to settle their black money.
"If the government had spent ten months preparing for it, then why do they need another 50 days? There is something fishy."
"Masses are in pain. The Prime Minister must be sleeping after taking pills. The move is without preparedness and people will punish BJP in 2019 during general elections. People of five states going for elections including Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab will punish BJP," she said, adding that the poor and the middle classes were the worst sufferers. "It is an immature decision taken in haste and the whole country feels that is an 'economic emergency'," she said adding that it was like a "Bharatbandi situation."
Opposition demands Modi's presence in Rajya Sabha
Mayawati said the House should request the Prime Minister to be present and answer the members' concerns. It is "a very serious issue", she said, adding she has been observing Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, appears "sad".
Her demand was supported by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said the PM must be present in the House to hear out the concerns of various parties.
Earlier, Kurien said he had received as many as 13 notices under rule 267 for suspension of business to take up discussion on inconvience and hardships caused by demonetisation of currency. He said there was a general consensus for discussion and the government too was agreeable, so the list of business as notified stands completely suspended.
Azad demanded that the prime minister should at least "hear out the feelings of six-seven main parties, otherwise there is a mismatch. The feelings of opposition members should be heard by PM. I demand that at least he hears them out and sit in the House at least today. We can wait for him to come."
This was objected to by DP Tripathi (NCP), who said that as Leader of the Opposition he should not distinguish between the big and small parties. Ram Gopal Yadav (who was expelled from Samajwadi Party) joined Anand Sharma to allege that information on demonetisation was "leaked" and termed it as a scam while demanding a thorough probe into it.
"A BJP leader in Punjab had tweeted on 5 November about the new Rs 2,000 note. How did this happen? This is an issue of concern. There is a scam in this. This should definitely be probed," he said, alleging further that 10 percent of the people have 90 per cent of wealth of the country and the remaining 90 per cent do not have anything.
The common people, especially the poor and the housewives were put to great hardship through this move and if elections are held today they will teach this government a lesson, he said, adding that majority of women who saved money through household savings were upset with the move.
"Elections are not fought with money power. You cannot win elections through money power. No one can win elections like that. Elections are won only by winning the hearts of people," he said.
Demonetisation of high denomination currency has created big problems to common people and and law and order situation is being created with police being deployed outside banks to control the queue.
"Do not hold elections now. If you meet and ask for votes from housewives in villages, they will beat you up with 'belan' and you will have to embalm your back with turmeric," he said, adding that you might lose elections if you hold early polls. Yadav said the entire House was against corrupt and drug money, but lamented that an impression is being created that those opposing this are against curbing black money which is erroneous.
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who also sought a JPC probe into the suspected leak, said the sudden move was akin to "jumping out of a moving train". He said unlike the rich, who the PM said were standing in queue, it was the poor, handicapped and old people who were doing so to get their hands on their hard earned money. He alleged that while loans worth Rs 7,000 crore was written off today by banks including Rs 1,200 crore of Vijay Mallya and said that the prime minister has made the honesty of the country to stand in queues.
Yadav also took a dig at Jaitley saying he was sure that the Finance Minister was not part of the decision making on demonetisation, because had he been, Jaitley would have tipped him off. This remark left most members including Jaitley laughing.
Yechury renames PM as "Modi Antoinette"
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that of the 130 crore population in the country, only 2.6 crore have credit cards.
He took a dig at Modi and narrated the infamous quote of Queen Marie Antoinette during the French revolution who had said that people can eat cakes when they don't have bread. "We have Modi Antoinette who says 'If you don't have paper, use plastic'".
Yechury compared the Prime Minister with a Roman ruler. He said a Senator had remarked about this ruler that: "I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it's the sand of the Coliseum. He'll bring them death - and they will love him for it."
Alleging that a BJP unit in Kolkata deposited Rs 1 crore in Indian's Bank Account on 8 November, he said "prove me if I am wrong." He added that Prime Minister was advertising for Paytm while talking about cashless economy.
The CPM leader said 1/5th of the economy is black economy and people who kept black money invested it in real estate, gold etc. That is why the imports surged and stated that it was this PM only who had stated that 95 percent of the black money is stashed offshore and is in safe havens.
"PM is cleaning a pond to kill crocodiles but big crocodiles have survived and only small fishes are dying."
He also demanded that corporate funding of all political parties should stop and there should be a stystem of state funding for elections to which Kurien said "why don't you move a private members bill in this regard."
Terming the demonetisation move as "Tughlaq shahi", he said the length of queues before banks and ATMs was ever increasing and asked why the government was agonising the people. He sought an investigation into the move, saying "let there be a joint parliamentary committee" for a proper probe. "We need to know the motive behind the move" as before every parliamentary session there is some gimmick which diverts attention from other major issues.
With inputs from agencies
New York: Setting aside their campaign feuds, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley had a "good meeting" in New York on Thursday amid speculation that she is being considered for the job of secretary of state or other cabinet positions.
"They had a good discussion, and she is very encouraged about the coming administration and the new direction it will bring to Washington," her spokesperson Rob Godfrey said after the meeting.
Trump's former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was noncommittal about a position for Haley in the Trump administration. "We're just happy to have her here for her advice and counsel and to hear about the great success story of South Carolina," she told reporters.
If Republican Haley gets a cabinet job, she would be the first Indian American to ascend to that level marking a historic milestone for the community in a year that saw a political breakthrough.
Democrat California Attorney General Kamala Harris became the first Indian American elected to the Senate. Three Indian Americans, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, and Ro Khanna of California won seats on the House of Representatives, where they will join fellow-Democrat Ami Bera of California, who was re-elected.
However, a late development cast a shadow on Haley's hopes for America's top diplomatic job. The Republican presidential candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney, was scheduled to meet Trump over the weekend. He has said that the only job he would be interested in was secretary of state, leading to new intense media speculation that he may be up for the job.
Like Haley, Romney has been a vehement critic of Trump during the campaign - and in turn was hammered by Trump. While Haley said towards the end of the campaign that she would vote for Trump, although she had reservations, Romney did not take back his assertion that he would never vote for the Republican nominee.
Trump, who ran a scorch earth campaign, is now reaching out to his critics in an attempt douse the flames discord he had flamed.
Speculations about Trump's cabinet choices have been rapidly changing. First reports said that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former UN Permanent Representative John Bolton were the front runners for secretary of state. Both came under criticism for their advocacy of aggressive foreign intervensions in contrast to Trump's own cautious policy.
On Wednesday, when Haley's meeting with Trump was scheduled, CNN and MSNBC independently quoted unnamed sources in the Trump transition team as saying that she was being considered for the foreign policy job.
Now there is mention in the media that she may be also considered for commerce secretary given her strong track record in getting foreign investment into her state.
Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar district and her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. She is married to Michael Haley.
In an interview with US President Barack Obama, Full Frontal host Samantha Bee very rightly posed a question on his achievements: "What would you like your legacy to be other than not having everything being overturned the day after inauguration?" This question is even more relevant in the wake of a Donald Trump presidency be it the Paris climate change deal, the Iran nuclear deal, or Obamacare, his merits are all on the line.
According to his official website, DonaldJTrump.com, Trump describes a health care overhaul to "Make America Great Again", writing that "since March of 2010, the American people have had to suffer under the incredible economic burden of the Affordable Care Act Obamacare". It's no surprise that Obamacare has found no favour with the Trump campaign; in fact, the website goes on to detail that "none of these positive reforms can be accomplished without Obamacare repeal. On day one of the Trump administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare." it says.
Will Trump repeal Obamacare, or does it sound easier said than done?
Commonly known as Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act focuses on "providing more Americans with access to affordable health insurance, improving the quality of health care and health insurance, regulating the health insurance industry, and reducing health care spending in the US". According to Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about 12.7 million people are buying individual insurance coverage: 9.6 million of them came through the HealthCare.gov platform and 3.1 million through state-based marketplaces. According to a report in The Atlantic, before Obamacare, insurance companies could reportedly charge people more depending on what they were suffering from or deny coverage as well. Insurers were also able to keep company costs down by denying coverages but not after the advent of Obamacare, it adds.
Politico, in a report earlier this week, mentioned that Republicans aim to start Obamacare repeal in January 2017, planning to move aggressively, "getting points on the board against Barack Obamas health care law right away as early as Inauguration Day itself" which is on 20 January, 2017. This move will no doubt come at a price, as the report notes that it would be doing away with a law that covers 20 million people, especially with no alternate plan.
It's true. The Trump website, for an alternative plan, only mentions that they will follow "free market principles" and will "work together to create sound public policy" to "broaden healthcare access, make health care more affordable and improve the quality of the care available to all Americans".
More bad news follows: the legislation to repeal Obamacare reportedly exists and Congress has passed it earlier, according to Vox. The only thing standing in between is President Trump's signature, it adds.
As with every situation, this too has a silver lining. Vox further mentions that however easy the repeal of Obamacare might be, replacing it would be difficult, giving rise to a situation called "repeal and delay". Meaning, even though Obamacare will be repealed, the actual breaking down of the programme into pieces might take some time, perhaps two to three years.
Even The Hill talks about a similar situation: transitioning into another law, and smoothly. But one of the bigger talking points is that not all Republicans are agreeing with the decision to repeal this law; you have to remember that this has been one of their goals for six years. The report quotes a Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker who's concerned about how it'll hurt people who've obtained insurance for the first time. "We'll see if we can reach some sort of consensus with our Democrat friends on how to make this repeal and replace. Clearly, we dont want to do any harm to people who are in the system now. We want to be mindful of that," The Hill quoted Wicker as saying.
By Anthony Deutsch and Fergus Jensen
| AMSTERDAM/JAKARTA
AMSTERDAM/JAKARTA The Dutch prime minister on Friday called the disappearance of the wreckage of several allied warships dating back to the 1942 Battle of the Java Sea "unacceptable" and expressed hope that Indonesia would help solve the mystery.A team of international divers searching for Dutch, British and American warships ahead of the 75th anniversary of the decisive World War Two battle discovered that two Dutch ships, the De Ruyter and the Java, are no longer where they sank, the Dutch Defence Ministry said. Part of a third ship, the Kortenaer, had also disappeared.The three ships were part of a fleet of allied vessels, including Australians, that set off from the last remaining allied port in Southeast Asia, the Indonesian city of Surabaya, to stop the Japanese advance. It was defeated and thousands were killed when the vessels were sunk."The fact alone that war graves were violated is an extremely serious matter, with far reaching implications for the survivors and for all of us," Rutte told journalists in The Hague on Friday.
Rutte said the removal of the underwater graves of nearly 1,000 Dutch marines would be discussed during a government trade mission to Indonesia next week."Imagine that a war cemetery ... would be seriously damaged or desecrated, that would be totally unacceptable and the same counts for what happened here," he said.
Indonesian Navy spokesman Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta said the ships should have been protected under international law."Normally in these cases those places can be turned into heritage sites, but for this there needs to be a discussion and a written request from the government of the country that feels they own the vessel, with the Indonesian government," he said.
Rutte said "the Indonesians are working with us to get to the bottom of this" and that it was unclear who was responsible for removing the remains, which may have been salvaged for scrap.The search for the ships was initiated by the Karel Doorman Fund, named after a Dutchman who led the doomed allied naval assault in February 1942. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
BERLIN The number of Turks seeking asylum in Germany is up sharply this year, and has been rising steadily since a failed military coup on July 15, a German newspaper group reported on Friday.Germany received 4,437 asylum applications from Turkish citizens between January and October, compared to 1,767 applications received in all of 2015, the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain reported, citing government data. It said around 350 asylum-seekers from Turkey were registered each month during the first six months of the year, with numbers then rising steadily to around 485 in October. No comment was immediately available from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), which compiles the data.
"We must expect that the number of Turks who are seeking political asylum in Germany will continue to rise," the media group quoted Stephan Mayer, a senior member of the CSU sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, as saying.But Mayer criticised statements from German foreign ministry officials in which they said persecuted political opponents of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan could apply for asylum in Germany.
"We cannot solve Turkey's problems by inviting all critical citizens of Turkey to apply for asylum," Mayer told the media organisation. "That's exactly what (Erdogan) wants: that the opposition disappears."German-Turkish relations have been strained over a series of issues, including Berlin's criticism of mass arrests in Turkey and Ankara's treatment of the media, and charges by Turkey that Germany is a safe haven for the Kurdish militant PKK group.
German officials deny the Turkish accusations and say they have been working for years to prevent attacks by members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Catherine Evans)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Darya Korsunskaya, Svetlana Reiter and Vladimir Soldatkin
| MOSCOW
MOSCOW The arrest of Russia's economy minister on bribery charges has sown fear across the Moscow political elite that a wider purge may be coming of other senior officials.Several officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity described a febrile atmosphere inside government ministries following the detention of Alexei Ulyukayev, the first serving cabinet minister to be arrested in decades.Russia's Vedomosti newspaper, citing an unnamed senior security source, published names of other officials that it said had been under surveillance by domestic intelligence agencies looking for evidence of graft.They included Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Representatives of Dvorkovich and Shuvalov did not respond to requests for comment.Asked about further repercussions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he saw no connection between the Ulyukayev case and others in the government, and that only investigators could say if other officials were under surveillance. The investigative committee, the state body which investigates major crimes, denied in a statement that it had other suspects in the case and said media reports about further arrests were ill-informed."We have officially stated that the criminal case concerns one individual and one episode," the committee said. "All contrary information ... lies on the conscience of those publications that rely on dishonest, ignorant and incompetent sources."But officials say privately that they believe more arrests may be coming. One government official drew a parallel with purges of senior Communist Party figures in the Soviet Union, which often ended with the victims shot or sent to a labour camp. He noted that state investigators had said Ulyukayev had been under secret surveillance for a year before his detention, and said this was contributing to the wider sense of fear. "All of us now are under scrutiny," he said.Some of his acquaintances had considered leaving the state bureaucracy, but they were fearful this would not make them immune from arrest, he said: "You can't run away."
ROSNEFT ROLE
Ulyukayev has been charged with extorting $2 million in bribes. He is under house arrest pending trial. His lawyer, Timofei Gridnyev, said his client denied the charges.The anxiety among the ruling elite, officials said privately, was fuelled in part by the circumstances of Ulyukayev's arrest, which took place inside the offices of the state oil firm Rosneft, whose boss Igor Sechin has clashed with Ulyukayev and other top officials over policy.They said this sent a message that the prosecution was backed by Sechin, a powerful lieutenant of President Vladimir Putin, and so was likely to be pursued forcefully.
Russian prosecutors have publicly acknowledged that Rosneft played a role in Ulyukayev's case, saying the company alerted investigators in a timely fashion to evidence of wrongdoing.According to a law enforcement source and a government source, investigators have been collaborating for months with one member of Sechin's security detail, ex-intelligence officer Oleg Feoktistov, to build a case against Ulyukayev.A Rosneft spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the company's role in the case, or the roles of its boss Sechin and his bodyguard Feoktistov. Sechin and Feoktistov could not be reached directly.Several government sources who spoke about the case to Reuters said there was no evidence that Sechin or Rosneft had any motive in assisting the investigation beyond helping fight corruption.Sechin's Rosneft became Russia's biggest oil company early in Putin's rule after swallowing assets seized by the state from Yukos, a privatised firm whose boss Mikhail Khordokovsky was jailed for fraud.
Sechin has known Putin for decades and has never denied reports that he, like Putin, served years ago overseas as a Soviet spy. He is considered one of the leading figures in the Kremlin faction of former security forces veterans given top jobs running state companies under Putin.The United States has put him on a sanctions blacklist as a member of Putin's inner circle culpable for Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.While no evidence has been publicly produced that Ulyukayev was framed, that has not stopped many officials inside government ministries from reaching the conclusion that other foes of Sechin could be next.Ulyukayev, along with other senior figures in the government of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, had tried to block Rosneft's plans to take over a smaller state owned oil company, Bashneft.Some sources in the government or close to it told Reuters on condition of anonymity that they believed Sechin was pursuing a vendetta against people close to Medvedev.Said one: "It's a message to other ministers. 'If you keep arguing back, you'll end up in the same place'" as Ulyukayev ended up.Medvedev's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova, Olesya Astakhova, Denis Pinchuk, Katya Golubkova and Tatiana Ustinova; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Peter Graff)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
U.S. National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers is the leading candidate to become President-elect Donald Trump's next director of national intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.Rogers met with Trump in New York on Thursday, members of Trump's transition team said on Friday.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday described as "ambiguous" India's 'No First Use' policy on nuclear weapons and said it cannot be a substitute for verifiable arms control and restraint measures, days Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar questioned the doctrine.
"Pakistan believes the ambiguous 'No First Use' Declaration is not verifiable and amounts to nothing. It can't be a substitute for verifiable arms control and restraint measures proposed by Pakistan's standing offer of Strategic Restraint Regime," Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in his weekly briefing.
He was responding to the recent remarks by Parrikar in which he asked why India cannot say "we are a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly" instead of affirming a "no first use policy". Later he had said the remarks were personal in nature.
Zakaria said statement by the defence minister of a country that repeatedly and constantly heightens tension and maintains an aggressive posture should be a matter of concern for all.
He said signing of nuclear deals by some countries is a matter of concern as it is only reinforcing arrogance and belligerence with which India conducts itself in the region and beyond, in an indirect reference to Indo-Japan nuclear deal.
Zakaria also said Pakistan established itself as a serious candidate for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), increasing number of countries were supporting the non-discriminatory approach.
"There is also growing recognition of the fact that 2008 exemption to India neither benefited non-proliferation regime nor objective of strategic stability in South Asia," he said.
The spokesman expressed the confidence that members of the NSG would bear in mind the need to prevent further erosion of non-proliferation regime and preserving credibility of the NSG as a rule-based organisation.
He said Pakistan has expressed its openness to measures for strengthening non-proliferation objectives to the NSG, which included proposal for binding bilateral agreement with India on non-testing.
Christchurch: Seismologists in New Zealand said on Friday that this week's 7.8 earthquake was one of the most complex ever recorded and warned there was a high likelihood of further powerful aftershocks.
As a massive clean-up continued following the tremor that claimed two lives early Monday, scientists were coming to grips with the "astonishing" scale of the seismic seizure.
The official GeoNet science agency said the land moved up to 11 metres along the many faultlines in the South Island disaster zone, permanently changing the region's geography.
The quake also pushed up the seabed by as much as two metres along a 110 kilometre stretch of coastline that includes the tourist town of Kaikoura.
GeoNet said the quake ruptured at least four faults and was "clearly... one of the most complex earthquakes that has ever been observed".
New Zealand is on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which form part of the so-called "Ring of Fire", and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.
There have been well over 2,000 aftershocks since Monday and the agency said statistical analysis showed residents should prepare for more major shakes in the coming weeks.
The current probability of quakes of magnitude 6.0 and above hitting in the next month was "about 100 times larger than what we would normally expect", it said.
The warning came as warships from the United States, Canada and Australia began delivering emergency supplies to Kaikoura, which bore the brunt of the tremor.
A convoy of New Zealand military vehicles also reached the town by land for the first time, travelling via a back road after huge landslides cut the main highway and rail lines.
About 1,000 tourists were evacuated from Kaikoura by air and sea in the days after the quake but some 2,000 locals still face difficult conditions.
Marrakesh: Nearly 200 countries on Friday called for "highest political commitment" to combat climate change on "urgent priority" at a UN gathering in Marrakesh, noting that global climate is warming at an "alarming and unprecedented" rate.
The "Marrakesh Action Proclamation", which was agreed upon by all the parties 196 nations and the EU bloc taking part in the summit, was read out at the Conference of Parties (CoP) Plenary session which said it was an "urgent duty to respond" to global warming.
This can be termed as one of the main outcomes of the ongoing crucial summit on climate change.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond...we call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority.
"We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability," the proclamation said.
"We, Heads of State, government, and delegations, gathered in Marrakech for the high-level segment of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change... issue this proclamation to signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development," the proclamation said.
Nations while welcoming the Paris Agreement, its rapid entry into force, ambitious goals, inclusive nature and its reflection of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, also affirmed their commitment for its full implementation.
India had pushed for inclusion of sustainable lifestyle with minimum carbon footprint and a clear cut mention of flow of funds in the draft of the political proclamation which was earlier made.
"We, the Developed Country Parties, reaffirm our USD 100 billion mobilisation goal," the proclamation said.
It also called for an increase in the "volume, flow and access" to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave had during his recent statement in the high-level segment of the summit noted that access to adequate finance remains an "overriding concern" for India.
He had said that it is "critical" that developed countries provide finance and technology transfer support to developing nations.
The countries in the proclamation said that their task now is to rapidly build on to that momentum, together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.
"We call for urgently raising ambition and strengthening cooperation among ourselves to close the gap between current emissions trajectories and the pathway needed to meet the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement," it said.
The proclamation also called on nations to strengthen and support efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and to take stringent action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture.
The parties also unanimously called for taking further climate action and support, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
"We, who are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, encourage the ratification of the Doha Amendment," it said.
This point in the proclamation assumes significance especially as India had asked the developed countries to ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol by April next year to raise the ambition of climate actions in the pre-2020 period.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol demanded targeted emission cuts from rich and industrialised countries, mainly responsible for causing global warming. The protocol which came into effect in 2005 was to initially run until 2012, comes to an end in 2020.
Though many countries failed to achieve these targets, fresh targets in a second commitment period running till 2020 were decided at the 2012 climate change conference in Doha through what came to be called the Doha Amendment to Kyoto Protocol.
Paris Agreement was supposed to be a post-2020 climate agreement, replacing the Kyoto Protocol that will expire in 2020. However, earlier than expected entry into force of Paris Agreement means that the two agreements will run in parallel till the year 2020.
"We, collectively, call on all non-state actors to join us for immediate and ambitious action and mobilisation, building on their important achievements, noting the many initiatives and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action itself, launched in Marrakech," the proclamation said.
"The transition in our economies required to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement provides a substantial positive opportunity for increased prosperity and sustainable development."
"The Marrakech Conference marks an important inflection point in our commitment to bring together the whole international community to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time," the proclamation added.
Marrakesh: Amid apprehension that US President-elect Donald Trump might withdraw the US from the climate-rescue Paris Agreement, India on Thursday said that one should not react on assumptions and "wait" and keep a "close watch" on the situation.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, during a media interaction organised by BASIC countries, said Paris agreement is a "settled fact" and whatever is spoken during election campaigns is "different" which is why one should wait for another few months.
The BASIC ministers who met in Marrakesh on Thursday said there can be no "backtracking" on the commitments made by the developed nations and no attempts should be made to "renegotiate" the terms of the Paris Agreement.
"Coming from the largest democratic country which always goes for elections in five years, we know the test of results. Power comes and goes and whatever we speak in the election campaign is somewhat very different from when we come to power.
"Nothing official has been there (about US decision). On the assumptions, we should not react. We should wait watch and see the situation. Paris is a settled fact. World is going ahead with Paris Agreement," Dave told reporters.
He said that one should not go for words like "ifs and buts" and wait for a few more months and see the situation.
"We should wait for another few months and see the situation and then BASIC and Brics countries will decide. This is the time to keep a close watch," he said.
Before his election, Trump called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and vowed to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded last year to limit dangerous global warming.
China and the United States, the two largest emitters, gave a major boost to the accord when they signed on during a summit in September between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama.
US Secretary of State John Kerry who gave a speech at the ongoing climate change conference yesterday without naming Trump said that the "strongest skeptic" has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening.
The BASIC countries will continue to advance their "legitimate" interests of all developing nations with "emphasis" on such nations which are particularly vulnarable to the adverse effects of climate change.
The Ministers also stressed the adequate means of implementation support, in the form of new and additional climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building for all developing nations that require it is "indispensable" if countries need to meet the temperature adaptation goal set by Paris agreement.
The Ministers also welcomed the early coming into force of Paris agreement, which represents the best contract possible in balancing the circumstances of all countries.
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When he retired from Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal in 2012, Justice Kemal Bokhary predicted that a storm of unprecedented ferocity was gathering over the citys judicial system and rule of law. Though dismissed as alarmist at the time, hes turned out to be right. And all of Hong Kongs friends both within and abroad should be paying attention.
The latest blow fell last week, when the Standing Committee of Chinas parliament intervened in the controversy surrounding the swearing-in of two young and rebellious lawmakers in Hong Kong. The pair had deliberately sabotaged their first oath-taking by using insulting language and displaying banners that read Hong Kong is not China. While egregious, their behavior could have been dealt with under the Hong Kong legislatures own disciplinary procedures. Indeed, the case was under review in the Hong Kong courts. Yet the Standing Committee went ahead and barred the lawmakers from retaking their oaths, interfering directly in Hong Kongs judicial processes.
The irony is that the courts came to the same decision on their own, ruling against the pair this week; Chinas intervention was completely unnecessary. The move has done grave damage to the rule of law, a fundamental pillar of the citys system of governance. It threatens the autonomy guaranteed both by international treaty between China and Britain and our own Basic Law. In a striking march last week, thousands of legal professionals took part in a silent protest against the decision.
This would be bad enough in isolation. But Chinas intervention appears to be part of a larger plan. In recent years, the city has witnessed a progressive erosion of freedom of speech and of the press; threats to academic freedom and the autonomy of our universities; extra-judicial abduction and detention of Hong Kong citizens in China; and the arbitrary and unexplained removal from a top post of a respected anti-corruption investigator, who was looking into allegations involving Hong Kongs Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
The fear now is that the Standing Committees interpretation of the Basic Law might be extended to include other legislators who have been sworn in, but who campaigned on similar platforms to the ousted pair. The loss of just two more seats would deprive the pro-democracy camp in the legislature of its ability to veto controversial bills and prevent unwelcome changes to rules and procedures.
Even more worrying is the possibility, floated by Leung last week, that the government may now reintroduce controversial anti-subversion legislation aimed at treason, secession and sedition against China. While Hong Kong is bound to enact such legislation at some point, the government has held off ever since a first draft provoked massive street protests in 2003. Meanwhile, the central government in Beijing has made clear there will be zero tolerance for any form of social activism that promotes Hong Kongs separate identity from the rest of China.
Hong Kong citizens find themselves in a lonely place desperately in need of a champion who will stand up for their interests, but with none in sight. The citys government has failed them, led by a Chief Executive who appears more concerned with pleasing Beijing and winning reelection next year than with maintaining Hong Kongs place as a vibrant financial hub. Britain, bound by treaty to defend Hong Kongs autonomy, is increasingly reluctant to ruffle the feathers of an important trading partner.
Perhaps the saddest part is how many Hong Kongers not just the pro-Beijing camp within the legislature, but many members of the business community are willing to acquiesce to this whittling away of the bulwarks of our free society. If Hong Kong bankers and business leaders think that interference in the judicial process will be strictly limited to political and social issues, theyre sadly mistaken. Now that a precedent has been set, what is to prevent Chinese leaders from intervening in commercial disputes involving mainland companies? Where will it end?
This has been the fear ever since Hong Kongs handover to China in 1997. Nearly two decades later, the city remains Asias preeminent financial center, a global fintech hub and a great source of wealth and expertise for the mainland. It should be in everyones interest to defend its autonomy and its reputation for transparency, efficiency and rule of law. Not just Hong Kongs friends, but Chinas should remind leaders in Beijing of what they risk losing if they persist in their self-destructive course. Anson Chan, Bloomberg
Eleven academis from the University of Macau (UM) organized a seminar on Wednesday in which they voiced their opinions on the governments Policy Address, which was delivered by Chui Sai On on Tuesday at the Legislative Assembly (AL). The UM speakers belong to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and to the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Yao Jingming, head of the Department of Portuguese at UM, started by praising the policy address, and then indicating that he considered the section regarding peoples livelihood to have been the key point of the address. The professor says that the cash handout is very attractive for Macau residents, although he thinks that this policy needs to be reviewed.
He proposed that the cash handout is like chronic poisoning: once [people] get addicted to it, what can it [the government] do to solve the problem? The academic further indicated a belief that if the government in the future decided to decrease the amount of the cash handout, or discontinue it, it might create animosity toward the government. Money does not buy [lasting political stability] remarked Yao.
In the address, the government once again pledged to train human resource staff who are fluent in both Chinese and Portuguese. However, the Chinese academic questioned whether the Macau government means to train local Portuguese-Chinese speaking human resource staff or people from greater China. Yao also pointed out that this specific detail is unclear and general.
Yao recommended the local government assign four or five middle schools to conduct bilingual education in Chinese and Portuguese. These schools should each become an affiliated school of UM, according to Yao. By doing so, the education system can provide Portuguese training service to those who want to be Portuguese-Chinese translators.
Agnes Lam, assistant dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, also praised the address in the chapter related to peoples livelihood. Lam expressed the opinion that the government is not supporting the cultural industry enough.
This time, the diversification of the industries took an obvious spotlight in the address, [] it needs to have more policies to promote diversified industries, said Lam.
In addition, Lam criticised the authority for not making it clear how will they will handle problems which have been a point of concern to the public in recent months, as well as for failing to provide any clear solution to problems such as the citys traffic.
Kwan Fung, assistant professor of the Department of Economics, believes that this is still not the time for the city to judge whether Macaus economy has already reached its weakest point. He suggests that two or three more months should be granted for the public to evaluate the citys economic situation.
Thai authorities cracking down on online insults to the royal family following the recent death of their king pressed Google and Facebook for help as they shut down 1,300-plus websites last month more than they had in the previous five years combined, according to records released exclusively to The Associated Press.
While the nation has collectively grieved since the Oct. 13 passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the government has also focused on eliminating online remarks it deems offensive to the late monarch, his queen or his heir-apparent, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Thailands lese majeste law, the worlds toughest, makes defaming any of the three a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Since the kings death, Thailand has charged more than 20 people with making anti-royalty statements, requested deportations of suspects from at least seven countries and attempted to wipe out content it finds offensive from websites and social media.
The amount of content restricted in Thailand under these laws is absolutely of concern, particularly as the lese majeste provisions are used to stifle legitimate dissent, both through blocking and content removal, said Madeline Earp, who researches Asian internet censorship for the nonprofit Freedom House.
The military says the lese majeste law is necessary to safeguard the monarchy and national security.
Data compiled by the Ministry of Defenses support group and released to the AP shows that the government shut down 1,370 websites in October, more than the 1,237 shut down in the previous five years. Just two had been shut down in September.
Thailand orders the countrys internet service providers to block offensive websites. Users who click on them see only a government seal and a statement in Thai: This website contains content and information that is deemed inappropriate. It has been censored by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
Deputy Prime Minister Prachin Chantong said the government has set up a team to quickly control online content.
Thais have been attacked by websites that twist the truth, Prachin said.
The approach is different for Google, Facebook and other online and social media platforms based outside of Thailand. Prachin said he has contacted those companies and asked them to monitor and remove content that could insult the monarchy.
Prachin said Google and Facebook agreed. Both companies dispute that, and say they are only responding to complaints brought to them rather than actively seeking content offensive to the monarchy.
We have never provided account information or content of any Facebook user to the government of Thailand, nor do we proactively monitor peoples content or conversations for potential violations of local law, Facebook spokesman Tim Inthirakoth said after his company met with Prachin yesterday.
Google said that last year it removed 1,331 items at the request of Thai authorities, up from 74 items in 2014. Facebook said it had five requests related to criminal cases in 2015 and didnt produce data for any of them. Facebook and Google refused to release how many requests theyve had since the kings death, saying they will publish that in their regular biannual online reports.
Thailand has long censored online content deemed insulting to the monarchy, but has done so more frequently since a military coup ousted an elected government in late May of 2014. According to the Ministry of Defense data, the junta censored 974 websites in its first two years, more than three times as many as the prior government censored in its last two years.
Thai authorities are thought to be particularly concerned with websites with content about Vajiralongkorn, the 64-year-old designated heir to the throne who lacks the popularity of his father. The public at large has long traded rumors about Vajiralongkorns finances, hot temper and other matters. Three stormy marriages are a matter of public record. But critical news reports from abroad about Vajiralongkorn are commonly blocked in Thailand.
Thailand remains somber in many ways more than a month after the death of Bhumibol, who was 88 and the worlds longest-
reigning monarch. Millions continue to dress in black or white every day, boisterous events have been canceled and mourners are flocking by the tens of thousands to pay their respects at the Royal Palace.
Online, for the first 30 days many websites and Facebook pages were also without color. Even Googles trademark red, green, blue and yellow search box was, in Thailand, simply monochrome.
Daphne Keller at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society said internet companies doing business in countries with laws restricting speech know they will be expected to comply with the rules. One common means of doing so without deleting lawful speech elsewhere is to offer country-specific versions of services, like YouTube Thailand, said Keller.
Emma Llanso, who directs the Free Expression Project at the Washington, D.C., based Center for Democracy and Technology, said that this is a perfect example of the kinds of conflicts that make it difficult to protect freedom of speech in the digital age. AP
Two red pandas from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding arrived earlier this week at Macaus Seac Pai Van Panda Pavilion. The three-year-old pandas, one female and one male, are currently under a 30-day quarantine period. The Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) said that the duo have been in good condition since arriving in their new environment. Public visiting schedules for the pandas have not yet been arranged. Red pandas are a Class II protected species in mainland China.
UM student wins national screenwriting award
Zhu Congqian, a PhD student from the University of Macaus (UM) Department of Chinese Language and Literature, recently won a national award for best young screenwriter, beating more than 400 other submissions from 500 mainland universities. His screenplay was an adaptation of his own science fiction novel, Kong Long Ren Yu Wo Zou Chu De Qiu Ji (The Autumn the Dinosaur-man and I Left Behind). The story emphasizes the importance of children learning how to face reality as they grow up. Zhus book has received recommendations from renowned authors such as Mo Yan, the 2012 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Mainland economists suggest labor market opening
A seminar on the demand and supply of Macaus labor force was held yesterday at the University of Macau (UM) in the presence of 15 guests, including professors from UM, the Macau University of Science and Technology, and a number of top mainland universities. Zhai Zhen Wu, dean of the School of Sociology and Population Studies, said Macau has a small number of professionals holding tertiary-level qualifications, and recommended that the city increase its employment quota for expatriate workers to 30 percent of the workforce. Zhai said that Macau, as a small city, can learn from Luxembourg or Switzerland when developing its technology-related industries. He even went on to question whether it is appropriate to install robot dealers in casinos, since the dealers job consists primarily of repeated movements that a robot could easily replicate.
Art exhibition to kick off on Sunday
The Tanukis Nest exhibition will commence this Sunday at the Lakeside Gallery S2 room in Anim Arte Nam Van until December 31. Co-organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macau Artist Society, the exhibition features local artist Lio Hak Man in collaboration with 12 fellow artists, who will present their new artwork for the Paint Brush Tempering series. Since 2011, Lio has gathered his friends for joint annual exhibitions of Paint Brush Tempering to showcase their achievements and record their artistic process. The collaboration has allowed more people to evaluate their works and offer suggestions to stimulate improvement. The Walk and See Youth Artist Art Exhibition, which is currently on display at the Lakeside Gallery S1 room, will be extended until December 31.
Chinese movie week closes in Lisbon
A Chinese movie week, organized by the Macau Economic and Commercial Delegation in Lisbon and the Confucius Institute, closes today in Portugals capital. Approximately ten movies were presented during the event. The organizers said that they hoped the event would help Portuguese residents discover Chinese movies and spark interest in visiting China to seek opportunities in its giant movie market. The Chinese Cultural Counselor to Portugal, Shu Jianping, called the film week an unprecedented event.
Chinas leaders and official media are pushing for greater control of the internet and technology products as tensions surrounding a far-reaching Chinese cybersecurity law loom over a gathering this week of the worlds leading tech firms and Chinese officials.
The Communist Partys mouthpiece Peoples Daily warned in an editorial yesterday that China must break monopolies over core technologies and standards and remain untethered to other countries technology supply chains.
The commentary, aimed apparently at Silicon Valley in unusually stark terms, comes one day after President Xi Jinping called for more fair and equitable governance of the internet at the opening of the state-run World Internet Conference. Since 2014, China has hosted executives from the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Alibaba in eastern China to promote its vision of an internet that is more tightly controlled by national governments rather than running unchecked as a transnational network.
The conference this week has highlighted U.S. and Chinas competing and increasingly entrenched views about the internet, trade and cybersecurity, and the potential for these issues to become an enduring irritant in bilateral relations.
Xi reiterated this week the Chinese position of internet sovereignty over its 700 million Internet users, while other top leaders declared the countrys willingness to work with the global industry for mutual benefit if security could be assured on Chinas terms.
Earlier this month, China passed a broad cybersecurity law that gives law enforcement greater powers to access private data and requires data to be stored locally on Chinese servers. Human rights groups have voiced concern about police overreach while U.S. firms have lobbied against the measure, saying it would wall off Chinas internet and unfairly hamper their access to the market.
Other Chinese proposals in recent years have effectively discouraged state-backed companies and agencies from buying foreign products out of cyber-spying concerns. China has also encouraged its state-backed sector to develop or outright acquire technologies in strategically critical industries like semiconductors, which it believes to be an Achilles heel of the Chinese economy. Recent efforts to acquire U.S. chip companies have been rebuffed by U.S. regulators on national security grounds.
Foreign technology trade groups say the regulations have used security as a pretext for enacting protectionist trade policies to benefit Chinas tech industry, and more than 40 groups signed a letter to Communist Party cyberspace officials last week urging China to respect its World Trade Organization commitments.
We are concerned that these commitments are undermined by public statements and other forms of high-level guidance that call for indigenous and controllable substitution plans for information technology products and services, the trade groups said, while acknowledging that China faced legitimate security concerns.
Beijing has said the internet has been overwhelmingly dominated by the United States and it has backed a proposal to transfer control over some of the internets core architecture to a U.N agency, the International Telecommunication Union.
Critics, however, objected to letting authoritarian regimes like Iran and China get equal votes on matters affecting speech. The U.S. government in September privatized control over the systems by transferring them to a nonprofit oversight organization.
The Peoples Daily made clear in its editorial yesterday that China needed to avoid dependence on foreign firms particularly by breaking monopolies over core technologies and standards and not allowing other countries to control vital supply chains. Gerry Shih, Beijing, AP
The Dalai Lama will visit Mongolia this week, Buddhist leaders said yesterday, potentially sparking an angry response from China.
Davaapurev, a monk at the Gandan monastery in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, said the exiled Tibetan spiritual leaders four-day visit starting today was for purely religious purposes.
He is to receive an honorary degree, take part in religious observances and hold meetings with academics and representatives of the nations youth, said Davaapurev, who is organizing the visit. No word was given on any meetings with political figures.
The visit is separate from politics and for religious purposes only, Davaapurev said.
China, landlocked Mongolias giant southern neighbor, accuses the head of Tibetan Buddhism of seeking independence for Tibet and routinely objects to his overseas travels. Beijing has in past used the Mongolian economys heavy dependence on trade with China as leverage, cutting off rail links and disrupting air travel during a visit by the Dalai Lama in 2006.
Mongolian Buddhism is closely tied to Tibets strain and traditionally reveres the Dalai Lama as a leading spiritual figure.
However, the abbot of the rival Ikh Khuree monastery, Sanjdorj Zandan, criticized the visit as interference in Mongolias internal affairs and said it appeared the Dalai Lama planned to name the new head of Mongolian Buddhism. Davaapurev denied any such appointment would be made. AP
The proportion of international business in the local banking sector dropped slightly in the third quarter of 2016, according to statistics released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macao.
At end-September 2016, the share of international assets in total banking assets fell to 84.3 percent from 84.9 percent at end-June 2016. The share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities declined to 79.1 percent from 80.4 percent during the same period.
Non-local currencies remained the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At the end of September 2016, shares of MOP in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. HKD, USD and RMB accounted for 43.2 percent, 41.6 percent and eight percent of total international assets as well as 50.2 percent, 38.2 percent, 6.6 percent of liabilities, respectively.
At the end of September, total international assets dropped by 1.4 percent from the previous quarter and by 4 percent year-on-year to about MOP1,151 billion.
Meanwhile, total international liabilities decreased by 2.3 percent from three months ago and 5.7 percent year-on-year to about MOP1,080 billion.
Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government in local banks continued to form a major component of international liabilities during the month. This type of deposits grew by 6.2 percent to MOP463.6 billion at the end of September 2016, compared to MOP436.7 billion last year.
On external liabilities, Hong Kong and mainland China accounted for 51.5 percent and 21.4 percent of the total, respectively. Portugal and France took up 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Portuguese- speaking countries represented 1.1 percent of total liabilities.
Teresa Vong, education scholar from the University of Macau, has disagreed with the local government regarding the adoption of a standardized history textbook in local middle and high schools.
At Tuesdays presentation of the Policy Address for 2017, Chief Executive Chui Sai On noted that the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) has already reached a consensus with mainland authorities to produce standardized materials for the study of history.
Chui said that the government has already amended and published the latest Moral and Civic Education textbook, as well as a history textbook regarding China and Macau. Moreover, Chui said that the DSEJ will work closely with the Peoples Education Press (PEP), which is under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Education (MOE) of China.
Together, the two education authorities will draft history textbooks for both middle and high schools. The new textbook is scheduled for implementation at the beginning of the academic year of 2019/2020.
Vong, who opposes this decision, told the Times that, Macau and mainland China are within the framework the One Country, Two Systems policy. How can such a history book implement this policy?
She added that PEP history textbook criticizes and even vilifies capitalism, even though Macau has adopted a liberalized economy.
Some colleges in Macau currently work with a version of a history book completely drafted by the PEP. Vong considers Macau to have done a lot in order to emphasize the relationship between Macau and China.
Vong told the Times about her concerns regarding the possible contents of the history book, saying she doubted whether historical events such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 would be featured.
If these things are not talked about in the history book, then there will be a gap [in the students understanding of history], said Vong.
Chuis comments on Tuesday followed lawmaker Mak Soi Kuns question about when Macau will adopt a standardized history textbook in all its schools, and when the city will have qualified teachers for the subject.
Chui agreed with Mak on the importance of these matters and added that adopting a single history book will enhance students knowledge about Chinas and Macaus histories, as well as the traditions of the local youth. He added that it would also foster patriotic feelings in students.
Vong also remarked that Mak had shone a spotlight on the implementation for some time, which she considered to be a way of consistently leaking out a message to the public, so that people can be prepared to accept the reality. JZ
Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On has announced that the government would consider [] the feasibility of introducing a new type of public housing in order to provide the young generation with one more option [in terms of housing].
A public consultation will be organized to debate the details of the proposal.
The CE made the announcement in response to a question by lawmaker Zheng Anting during the Q&A Session that followed the Policy Address presentation.
Chui said that the proposal is justified given the pressure felt by the younger generations and middle class regarding access to their own housing.
The CE raised a similar idea at last years Policy Address, when he said that a new housing scheme might be established to cater for the needs of younger residents who are unable to buy residential properties at inflated prices. He hinted that the new policy would not be along the same lines of Macau Property
for Macau Residents, which had previously been studied and dropped.
During this weeks Q&A session, the CE had responded to another question by lawmaker Chan Meng Kam on the rich-
poor gap that has mostly affected what he called the working poor. Chui mentioned that the bigger issue behind the phenomenon was housing and related expenses.
In Macau, the income [necessary] to support a housing unit is, in fact, higher than what we have set [referring to the conditions in which residents can apply for social housing], the CE said, adding that housing is a heavy burden on family expenses. To pay for a house takes a long time. Forty to 60 percent of the income of a couple is canalized to housing.
The government will undertake all the efforts to reserve land plots for public and private housing, hoping that it will be a right balance that leads to a fall in prices since we consider that the prices are still very high, he said.
In this way, the CE pledged to find better solutions for the middle class or sandwich class, again stating that people with an income between MOP20,000 and MOP40,000 currently cannot apply for social benefits from the government but cannot afford to buy a house.
Although no details were forthcoming on the implementation of the idea, the CE explained that the government is preparing a public consultation document to collect societys opinions and suggestions on this new type of public housing, with the aim of giving another option to the population.
Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau has made new comments about his former girlfriend during a video interview in which he described her as being greedy forever.
The comments come only days after Lau issued a public disclosure of their relationship published in full-page adverts in several newspapers.
In an interview with Apple Daily, the billionaire and major shareholder of Hong Kong listed company, Chinese Estates revealed that he was recovering from a kidney transplant, and that his former girlfriend Yvonne Lui Lai-kwan had been absent for most of his hospital stays and did not know about the transplant.
The fugitive billionaire, who was found guilty in 2014 of bribery and money laundering in Macaus La Scala land deal, said his ex-lover had been making up different excuses to ask for money.
She never got enough. [] Even [if] you give her HKD10 billion, she will still betray me for HKD1 she is greedy forever, said Lau.
Lau added that his former girlfriend, who is the mother of his two infant children, would ask him to pay her back the HKD2,000 to HKD3,000 tips she gave to waiters at high-end restaurants.
In the announcement, issued in several Hong Kong newspapers, Lau stated, Prior to the breakup, I maintained and took care of Ms Lui and gave her lots of money, jewelry and other gifts, the total value of which exceeded HK$2 billion.
Yet despite the indictments, Lui still hailed Lau as the best father in the world.
I have heard your grievance. I am sorry. Please dont be angry anymore, she said. Lui also explained that it had been inconvenient to visit Lau during his hospital stays as he was already with someone else.
Lau and his business partner, Steven Lo Kit-shing, were found guilty of bribing the regions ex-public works chief, Ao Man-long, with HKD20 million to secure the site of the La Scala luxury development.
Lau was sentenced to jail in absentia for over five years, but avoided the detention by remaining in Hong Kong. The HKSAR has yet to sign an extradition treaty with Macau. LV
Pakistans order for 400 Turkish nationals, mostly schoolteachers and their families, to leave the country within 72 hours was being challenged in court yesterday as hundreds of students took to the streets to denounce the expulsions.
The developments come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making a high-profile visit to Pakistan.
The Turkish nationals include staff at the PakTurk International school chain and their family members. Ankara has accused the school of links with the movement of U.S.-based dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Pak-Turk denies.
Erdogan has accused Gulen supporters of staging the failed July 15 coup in Turkey.
The school yesterday posted a new statement on its website saying the PakTurk International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan have no affiliation or connection with any political individual or any movement or organization.
The Islamabad High Court, which took up the petition by the 400 Turkish nationals, heard arguments from the schools lawyer yesterday before a break in the proceedings, according to court official Faheem Rizvi.
The petition said the expulsion would adversely affect 11,000 students in 28 branches of the school across the country. It requested that the orders be rescinded and that the schools expatriate staff be allowed to continue to work in Pakistan, he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of PakTurk students blocked the main road in the eastern city of Lahore to protest the expulsion orders, said Pakistani police officer Adnan Naseer.
Dont play with our future, student Tariq Ahmad told Pakistani Capital News TV.
After talks in Islamabad, Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a joint press conference, pledging to enhance bilateral cooperation, share their experience in fighting terrorism and complete a free trade agreement by the end of 2017.
On the expulsion issue, Erdogan thanked the Pakistani government for taking action against what he described as supporters of Gulens network, and assured the media that PakTurk students will not suffer.
Erdogan also said Turkey is seeking help from allies in dismantling Gulens evil network, which he claimed was also a threat to Pakistans security. AP
The second Sino-Asia Pacific Medical Forum will take place in Manila from November 21 until November 23, and in Macau on November 25, 2016.
This scientific symposium will host over 400 medical experts from 20 countries and regions which include Australia, India, the Philippines, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The forum will be themed building a regional and international network in promoting healthcare and skills.
The president of the forum, Professor Manson Fok, who is also the Dean of the Faculty of Health and Sciences at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), said that the purpose of the forum is to emphasize the importance of collaborations and to build long-term relationships with all our health stakeholders. He expressed the belief that the symposium will provide medical professionals with essential medical and surgical knowledge. I am sure we will pick up new ideas, innovative solutions and insights from other countries experiences, said Fok.
VIP guests the Health Minister of Romania Dr. Evelyn Gusi, the current Secretary of Health of the Philippines Hon. Nicolae Banicioiu, Dr Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial and the new Phillipine Medical Association president Dr Irineo Bernado III, will attend the event.
The first edition of the forum was held in Manila and Macau in November 2015. This year, it will be organized by the Sino-Asia Pacific Medical Forum Committee and the Macau Healthcare Management and Promotion Association (MHMPA).
In the past year, the forum launched a special initiative between doctors in Macau and Cambodia.
In May, the Union Youth Federations of Cambodia (UYFC) and the State Secretary for Industry, Sokkung Heng, signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Faculty of Health Sciences at MUST regarding medical cooperation.
Thousands of Taiwanese protested yesterday outside the islands legislature both for and against a bill that could make Taiwan the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Organizers estimated that more than 20,000 people protested, carried placards, flew flags and chanted slogans as lawmakers deliberated the bill inside.
Most were affiliated with conservative religious and social groups that chartered buses to bring protesters to the capital, Taipei.
Some demanded an island-wide plebiscite with slogans such as Marriage and family, let all the people decide, while speakers argued that same-sex marriage would psychologically harm future generations.
Backers of the bill, separated from the main group by a line of police, waved rainbow flags and chanted their support for gay rights.
Both the ruling and major opposition parties support legalization of same-sex marriage, as do a majority of the public along with President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwans first female head of state.
The bill would change the legal definition of marriage from between male and female parties to between two parties. Supporters hope to pass it by the end of the current session in December.
Taiwan would join Canada, Colombia, Ireland, the United States and 16 other countries that have legalized same-sex marriage. But it would be a notable exception in Asia and the Middle East where many countries still ban gay sex.
Gays and lesbians in Taiwan have formed an effective lobby in recent years, with an annual Gay Pride march in Taipei last month drawing tens of thousands. AP
LEWISTON Idaho Fish and Game commissioners jettisoned a proposed rule that would have increased the length of time hunters who draw tags for bulls and bucks must wait before they can re-enter the annual drawings.
Commissioners were also briefed on an effort by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to update the states wolf management plan and began a process that could restrict the use of some trail cameras by hunters.
The commissioners, meeting Nov. 17 in Lewiston at Fish and Games Clearwater Regional Office, opted not to advance the rule they passed in July that would have increased the waiting period for people who draw antlered deer and antlered elk tags. Under current regulations, hunters who draw such tags must sit out of the drawing for the same species only for one year.
During the July meeting, they chose to increase the waiting period to two years. The move was made in response to people who would like to see better drawing odds. According to public comment given to the commission, the idea is popular.
Ive talked to a lot of sportsmen who agree with the idea of laying out two years. They believe they will have a better chance to draw, said Greg Cameron of Rupert.
But on Nov. 17, commissioners pulled the rule back from a package that will go to the Idaho Legislature this fall for approval over concerns of its effectiveness and possible unintended consequences. Blake Fischer of Meridian said the change to a two-year waiting period wouldnt significantly increase the drawing odds of unsuccessful hunters. But he said it might lead those in the waiting period to enter drawings for trophy species like moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goats.
Last year, about 4,300 people out of 42,500 who entered the drawing received tags for antlered deer and 3,386 people out of about 36,400 won bull elk tags. Deputy Director Ed Schriever said 456 of those who drew tags last year entered this years drawing for moose, sheep or goats.
Commissioners voted three to three to pull the proposal, with Commission Chairman Brad Corkill of Cataldo casting the tie-breaking vote that killed the measure. Corkill said he voted against the two-year waiting period because of the possibility those forced to wait would migrate to the trophy species and increase the already long odds for drawing moose, sheep and goats.
Wolf management
The department is in the early stages of re-writing the 2002 wolf management plan. Wolf biologist Jim Hayden said wolf populations have started to stabilize since hunting was instituted in 2011. Fewer wolves are being killed by hunters and trappers each year despite liberalizing of seasons, and the average wolf pack size has decreased from 8.1 to 6.1. Hayden told commissioners livestock depredations have declined 57 percent since hunting and trapping were allowed.
He also said there are some signs that elk populations are climbing in many but not all areas of the state. For example, over-winter survival of radio-collared cow elk in study areas across the state was 96 percent last year. That includes survival rates of 97 percent in the Lolo Zone and 100 percent in the Elk City and Dworshak zones.
Hayden said mild winters in recent years could have more do with the good elk survival rates than efforts to reduce and stabilize wolf numbers. The plan, a draft of which will be released for public review in June, is not likely to make any big changes from current approaches, Hayden said.
He noted the department wants to make sure wolves dont land back on the endangered species list and under federal instead of state control. But he said the department also wants to see elk populations rebound.
We have a (wolf) population that is in no danger of going back on endangered species list but has come down and alleviated a lot of problems. I think what that is telling us is dont look for a lot of changes.
Right now we seem to be on a pretty long path but its a very long path.
Trail cameras
Commissioners agreed to work on a future rule that could restrict the use of trail cameras that can transmit live footage to devices like cellphones or computers. Similar to rules restricting the use of aircraft to locate game, the intent of the rule would be to make sure people arent using remote cameras as same-day hunting aids.
Deputy Director Sharon Kiefer told commissioners that Colorado and Montana have adopted such rules. New commissioner Jerry Meyers of Salmon, a retired judge, warned enforcing such a rule will be difficult. He said conservation officers would need search warrants to seize cameras and the devises they send images to and predicted that prosecutors would be reluctant to take cases based on the rule.
If officers cant put a clear case together, the prosecutor is not going to want to take it, he said. I think we need to have something fairly tight.
Despite the difficulty, commissioners said they must do something to combat the increasing use of technology in hunting.
This has to be addressed, Corkill said. Im not sure how to do it.
They hope to work on the rule beginning next spring to have it ready for consideration by the 2018 Legislature.
LEWISTON A group of former Idaho Fish and Game commissioners sent a letter to state Senate President Brent Hill on Nov. 17 asking him to replace Sen. Steve Bair as chairman of the Resources and Environment Committee.
The 15 commissioners charge that Bair, R-Blackfoot, has shown bias toward the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and its governing commission.
Because of Senator Bairs influence as chairman and his demonstrated bias, we do not feel he can maintain the objectivity to fairly provide oversight of the Fish and Game Department and manage the commissioner confirmation process, they wrote. We fear if the chemistry of the committee is not changed this issue will not heal or repair itself.
If the language change of chemistry and issue will not heal itself sound familiar, its because similar phrases were used in an email that Doug Sayer of Pocatello, one of Bairs constituents, used when he advocated earlier this year that Gov. C.L. Butch Otter not reappoint two sitting Idaho Fish and Game commissioners.
When their terms expired in July, Mark Doerr of Twin Falls and Will Naillon of Challis were not reappointed to the board. Both men were among the 15 who signed the letter. Other signers include Fred Trevey, Keith Carlson, Keith Stonebraker and Will Godfrey of Lewiston and Alex Irby of Orofino.
Emails acquired through a public records request by the Idaho Wildlife Foundation showed that Bair and other legislators have been angry at Fish and Game commissioners for more than a year for not approving auction tags a proposal pushed by Sayer as well as their coolness to allowing landowners to sell hunting tags they receive from the state and their opposition to a bonus point system that would allow hunters to purchase extra chances in the states big-game-hunting tag lottery.
During the 2014 legislative session, commissioners pulled a bill that would have raised hunting and fishing fees because lawmakers said they intended to tack on amendments forcing the commission to approve auction tags, bonus points and the sale of landowner tags.
Bair, in an email sent to Sayer in the fall of 2015, referenced the clash between the commission and some lawmakers over auction tags and the other issues.
So, currently, I have never seen relationships so tenuous and stressed between the Legislature and (Fish and Game). The department has decided to take a hard policy line this coming session, knowing well that they will never get the fee increases they desire by taking such hard line positions, he wrote. In fact, last week as they reviewed their goals with us, they did not even mention fee increases. I guess they have chosen power of policy over fee increases.
Hill did not immediately return a phone call seeking his reaction to the commissioners letter.
Bair said that was their opinion when asked about the commissioners letter on Friday, adding that he appreciated the commissioners past work and willingness to serve.
Bair has been chairman of the Senate Resources and Environment Committee since 2014. He was recently re-elected to serve a sixth term.
Legislative leaders are scheduled to select committee chairmen in December.
Doerr said Bairs willingness to block fee increase legislation unless commissioners approve the proposals warrants his replacement as chairman.
We think he crossed the line and his integrity and credibility in dealing with Fish and Game matters is now in question.
Trevey said the former commissioners felt compelled to defend the 1938 initiative that created the commission and was designed to insulate game management from politics. Instead of allowing commissioners to do their jobs, he said legislators like Bair have been trying to bully them into making decisions hunters and anglers oppose.
Once we started talking to each other, everybody said, We know about this, we are frustrated about it, we are concerned if we do not take action on it, then it is in all likelihood going to continue, he said.
TWIN FALLS An April raid by Twin Falls police at a home near the Twin Falls airport didnt result in a large seizure of drugs but has now resulted in guilty pleas by four Magic Valley men accused of running a large-scale drug ring.
The four men who pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine are Miguel Angel Otaegui, 37, of Filer, James David Jones, 62, and William Lavelle Walker, 53, both of Twin Falls, and Jose Luis Hernandez.
Each faces up to 20 years in prison, a period of supervised release and a fine up to $1 million.
All four were set for trial last week, but instead they waived their trial rights and pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Theyre set to be sentenced next year.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mini-Cassia Drug Task Force began investigating Otaegui in late February. During that investigation, officers attached a tracking device to Otaeguis car, which led them to the home near the airport where Otaeguis suppliers lived.
In early April, Twin Falls police officers on routine patrol arrested Otaegui after a search of his car revealed methamphetamine, cash and a digital scale. Then on April 20, Twin Falls police raided the home at 2943 E. 3400 N., where they arrested Jones and Walker.
The raid resulted in officers finding only a few small bags of methamphetamine and not the large stash of drugs they were expecting, court documents said. But Walker allegedly confessed to operating a large-scale ring, and officers found evidence of their operation that included seven firearms and $3,085 cash, including nearly $1,000 worth of bills an undercover officer used to buy drugs from Otaegui.
The raid was the first of two busts in April that broke up large-scale methamphetamine operations in the Magic Valley. Just days after the raid near the airport, authorities intercepted a Washington mother en route to Twin Falls with 10 pounds of methamphetamine in her car.
The mother, Brenda Trinidad Jaime-Sainz, 34, of Yakima, Wash., also helped police arrest a Buhl man, 32-year Mauro Morales-Jimenez, who was one her Magic Valley buyers. Jaime-Sainz was recently sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, while Morales-Jimenez was sentenced to 13 years.
The four men who pleaded guilty Wednesday likely face much less prison time based on the charge and the strength of evidence.
Otaegui, Hernandez and Jones are scheduled for sentencing Feb. 2, while Walker will be sentenced Feb. 3.
TWIN FALLS A man accused of strangling and murdering a 20-year-old Twin Falls woman in August told a judge in a highly unusual letter that hes competent to stand trial, wont take medication and is ready to accept whatever consequences that are ahead of me in life.
The hand-written letter, dated Nov. 7, was written by Glenn Joseph Tures, 44, of Twin Falls and addressed to 5th District Magistrate Judge Calvin Campbell. It was added to Tures case file earlier this week.
Tures is charged with first-degree murder, accused of strangling Anessia Shaye Winterholer, whose body was discovered Aug. 21 in the basement of a Twin Falls home. Campbell is scheduled to preside over a preliminary hearing in the case Nov. 25.
The preliminary hearing has already been delayed several times, but Tures wrote in his letter that he doesnt plan to delay it again.
Im writing you this letter today because my defense is telling me I am not competent to stand trial due to the facts of my case and that I have had a lifelong relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Tures wrote.
Tures, who is represented by Twin Falls County Chief Public Defender Marilyn Paul, said Paul has asked him to voluntarily medicate.
And to that I say no! Tures wrote.
The letter was notarized in Jerome County, where it appears Tures is being held in custody at the Jerome County Jail. He is no longer on the roster of inmates in custody at the Twin Falls County Jail, where he was viciously beaten Sept. 5, leaving him with fractures in both cheek bones, his right eye socket, the nasal bone and his back.
Fellow inmates told jail deputies that just before the beating, Tures was starting to get weird and kept talking about the murder and telling other inmates he was God. Deputies also discovered there was a hit out on Tures because of his case.
One inmate has already pleaded guilty to aggravated battery for beating Tures, while his co-defendant is set for a preliminary hearing Friday.
After telling Campbell that he refused to take medication, Tures went on to write that hes never been in trouble in 44 years and pointed out that he turned himself in to police.
No one has or had reason to question my intelligence or my competence my whole life, Tures wrote. I am 100 percent competent to stand trial. I just want what every U.S. citizen is entitled to.
Tures then said he did not plan to extend his preliminary hearing date again.
I accept whatever consequences that are ahead of me in life, he wrote, before signing off, Thank you for your time and God bless
Tures is being held without bond on the first-degree murder charge and is set for a preliminary hearing Nov. 25.
TWIN FALLS The owner of Radio Rondevoo Event Center said her parents, both in their 70s, were the victims of an attempted robbery and shooting by a masked gunman early Sunday outside the downtown event center.
The attempted robbery was reported about 1:20 a.m. outside the downtown business located at 247 Main Ave. W.
Lupe Castaneda, who operates Radio Rondevoo with her husband, told the Times-News on Thursday the masked gunman fired a shot as he approached Castanedas father while demanding money.
Castaneda said the bullet hit her fathers car in the back passenger door, just behind where her mother was standing by the front passenger door.
After firing the shot, which police described as a negligent discharge, the gunman grabbed Castanedas father by the collar, pointed the gun at his chest and patted him down looking for his wallet, Castaneda said.
Twin Falls Police Sgt. Brent Wright confirmed that version of events.
As far as the suspect grabbing the victim (after the shot), that is accurate, Wright said. The male approached the couple, who were standing next to their car, yelled at them, fired a round into the car, then walked up and grabbed the victim and demanded all of his money. At that point, an unknown vehicle drove toward them and the suspect fled.
The bullet and shell casing recovered at the scene came from a .25-auto, Wright said.
The would-be robber, wearing a ski mask and gray hooded sweatshirt, fled empty handed, Castaneda said, because her fathers wallet was in his car. The police report wasnt clear which direction the suspect ran, but Castaneda said he fled toward Fairfield Street West and Second Avenue West.
They were shaken up, Castaneda said. Theyre in their 70s, they were shaken up. Its shocking. You dont expect that.
The victim couple was cleaning up after a quinceanera that had ended around midnight, Castaneda said. Security at the party left when the final party attendee left, but Castaneda said from now on, security will stay until the last employees leave, too.
Asked during a phone conversation why the public was not informed of the violent robbery attempt until a reporter called to ask about it Wednesday, police spokesman Lt. Terry Thueson said the departments resources were tied up investigating the murder-suicide early Saturday on Juniper Street.
JEROME No students were injured Thursday afternoon in Jerome after a Heritage Academy school bus was struck by a vehicle.
A school bus pulled through an uncontrolled intersection and was struck by a vehicle that failed to yield, school superintendent Christine Ivie wrote in an email to parents.
The crash happened around 3:50 p.m. at the intersection of First Avenue East and South Cleveland Street.
Driver Crockett Pancoast struck the rear end of the school bus, according to the Jerome Police Department. About 20 students were on board.
The collision affected the schools bus number 44. The students and driver werent injured, Ivie wrote in an email.
Because of the crash, the bus was late dropping students off at home after school.
On October 8, 1941, Nelda married William Miller in the Logan Temple in Logan, Utah. During the early years of their marriage they lived in different areas. They lived in Hyrum, Utah for about a year until William enlisted in the Army. His duty assignments took him to Texas and Kansas and they lived there until his discharge. They returned to Logan for a short time before they moved to Downey, California. Leaving Downey, they moved to Buhl, Idaho. They lived in Buhl for a short time before moving back to California. However, in 1950, they returned to Buhl, where they purchased a farm and lived there ever since.
BUHL A century-old barn known as the Wright barn burned Friday morning southeast of town.
Buhl Fire Department was dispatched at 4 a.m. to 3943 N. 1700 E. where firefighters found the two-story barn fully engulfed, said Fire Chief Andrew Stevens. Fifteen pigs mostly 40-pound weaners died in the fire, including some that were enclosed in a corral next to the barn.
The barn was fully involved before anyone noticed, Stevens said.
The barn was built in 1914 by the Wright family, who operated a 300-cow feedlot on its ranch just north of the Low Line Canal. The barn was built for livestock shelter and feed storage.
Tim and Jasmine Hargrove have raised pigs in it for the past five years.
Three pumpers and a light brush truck responded. Firefighters kept the blaze contained to the barn structure.
The fire is under investigation, Stevens said.
MURTAUGH A 30-year-old irrigation district is spending millions on aquifer recharge to raise groundwater levels in the Golden Valley area in western Cassia County.
The site of the new recharge project is one of four critical groundwater areas in the 110,000-acre irrigation district stretching from Declo to Rock Creek.
Thirteen members of the 200-member district are investing in two 30-inch pipelines that will deliver irrigation water to the Oakley fan during the growing season and recharge water during the winter.
The winterized trunk line, called the Buckhorn Pipeline, will deliver 120 acre-feet per day to be injected into active groundwater wells in the desert.
The project also includes replacing the districts West Cassia Pipeline pumping station at the Snake River with a winterized station about five miles west of Burley. The pumping station pumps and lifts water some 300 feet above the rivers edge.
The irrigation district was the first in Idaho to address the declining groundwater level, said Randy Brown, district manager and chairman of the board.
The districts High Plains Recharge Project in the 1990s was one of two pilot projects in the U.S. to study the effects of directly injecting surface water into groundwater wells.
The project took place long before the Idaho Water Resource Board recognized aquifer recharge as a beneficial use of a water right, Brown said.
The study concluded that direct recharge not only raised the level of the aquifer, it improved the quality of the groundwater because it increased water movement within the aquifer, aiding filtration.
The district began monitoring the groundwater levels in its wells and in 2010 discovered the water levels in some had dropped about 25 feet in six years, said Brian Higgs, water consultant for the district and water master for Basin 140.
To reverse the decline, the district started a recharge process called soft conversion by shutting down groundwater wells and leasing irrigation water from surface water districts. Southwest then installed the West Cassia Pipeline three 24-inch pipelines and its pumping station, to deliver 15,000 acre-feet of surface water per year to its members along the way to Golden Valley.
The district today is laying the Buckhorn Pipeline along the West Cassia Pipeline. The new pipeline will deliver an additional 20,000 acre-feet for soft conversion during the growing season and direct recharge during the off-season.
Southwests use of soft conversion recharge is the largest in the state, Brown said. The district has 52 pumping stations valued at about $50 million paid for by its members. The Buckhorn Pipeline has a $13 million price tag.
Its an unbelievable undertaking, Higgs said.
Whats in it for district members?
In 2015, surface water users and groundwater users negotiated a pivotal agreement to replenish the depleted Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, which had reached its lowest level since 1912. The agreement, bartered by Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, averted curtailment of junior groundwater rights by the Surface Water Coalition, which holds senior water rights.
Southwest Irrigation District, which has recharged for years, negotiated its own plan with the SWC to establish safe harbor from curtailment through its water management plan. The Buckhorn Pipeline soft conversion and recharge is part of that plan, Brown said.
In the settlement, the state of Idaho agreed to fund efforts to return 250,000 acre-feet per year into the ESPA. That includes the cost of winterizing Southwests Buckhorn Pipeline and its pumping station. The state also pays the district to transport the recharge water through its system.
The state is also funding recharge efforts at Murtaugh Lake on the Twin Falls Canal system, Wilson Lake on the North Side Canal system, and the recharge workhorse Mile Post 31 on the Gooding Milner Canal.
The Idaho Water Resource Boards current recharge water right is 1,200 cubic feet per second, said Wesley Hipke, recharge project manager with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, but currently we arent there yet. The boards whole intent is to develop that capacity to use the full amount.
Listen, what proof do you have that this dead lizard wrapped in the Confederate flag will not make an excellent chief strategist and senior counselor to the president of the United States?
I, for one, believe that everyone deserves a chance.
Youre not wrong that this appears to be a pigs head slowly rotting on a stake, grotesque insinuations pouring from its mouth as flies buzz around it in the island heat, but I would need to learn more about it, honestly. Im no expert.
You say that this man just painted a swastika on a church but couldnt it be a plus sign? We dont know. Some people are better at drawing plus signs than others. I wouldnt read anything into it. Maybe he just loves churches.
Yes, okay, this rabid opossum bit me on the ankle, then handed me an Islamophobic pamphlet, but we have no proof it wrote the pamphlet. This is America, where we give the benefit of the doubt.
You say, potato enthusiastically supported by the Ku Klux Klans David Duke; I say, controversial potato.
Listen, when we need to denounce an actual racist, anti-Semite, white supremacist, Islamophobe, you name it, I will be there. I promise. I will not hesitate to do that, when the time comes, clearly and appropriately labeled. I have yet to see one, but when I do, boy, I will light into him! It will be something to see.
This is not that.
I have no doubt that a real racist sexist chauvinist white supremacist will be easy to spot. I am coming for minorities now, he will say. I am an actual racist. I am, literally, Hitler, or at the very least Goebbels.
In fact, I recently read an article that pointed out, quite astutely, that we are not talking about LITERAL JOSEPH GOEBBELS here, and it reassured me a great deal. (When I think of positive things to say about people, the first place I go to is negative comparisons to Hitlers inner circle. That was what I said at my best friends wedding during the maid-of-honor speech. We dont know for a fact, I said, that Emily is one of historys greatest monsters. If that is not a resounding endorsement of someones character, I cant think what is.)
So I say, as many courageous members of Congress have said with me, what evidence do we have that Breitbarts Steve Bannon will be anything but a fine chief strategist and counselor to President Donald Trump?
We have no proof that he is threatening, other than his words and actions, the voices that he has given a platform to, and the ugly philosophy he has allowed to spread. We cannot possibly know what is in his heart. So, you know. Who knows.
There is no need to denounce him. We should wait and see. Hear him out.
But when something really counts, you bet Ill stand up and say something.
Tourists are expected to outnumber the local population of 330,000 by seven to one next year, according to official data. By comparison, last year visitors to France outnumbered the French by two to one
The number of tourists has risen by as much as 30 percent every year for the last four years, according to Icelands Tourist Board. They brought in revenues of $3.2 billion in 2015, a third of the countrys export earnings. Tourism is the single biggest employer, and many Icelanders are pouring money into services and new construction.
Its like the city is not my city anymore, Birgitta Jonsdottir, the leader of the Pirate Party, complained last month. Its like Disneyland downtown.
A poll in October conducted by the national broadcaster RUV reported that 87 percent of Icelanders want the government to raise fees or taxes on tourists.
The Tal Afar was taken from the fighters of the Islamic State on late Wednesday and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi stated that the 72nd and 92nd brigades will enter the city while the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a pro-Baghdad Shia militia, stated that our forces managed to fully liberate Tel Afar airport following fierce battles with the extremist group. The Brigades mentioned by Abadi consist of Tal Afar-based Sunni and Shia soldiers and it could signal that the Kurdish forces are being prevented from entering Sunni and Shia dominant areas after reports of vengeful attacks its people and infrastructure after liberation from ISIS.
PMU spokesman Yusif al-Kallabi told reporters that the capturing of the airbase will be the starting point for the liberation of all of the areas [along] the Syrian border. Iraqi Army officer Hamid Saadi said the control of the airbase will help to cut off a main ISIS supply route between Syria and Mosul while the General Command of the Iraqi Army announced that more than 2800 extremist militants have been killed since the operation began exactly one month ago.
Tal Afar district has served as a strategic passage for ISIS fighters to commute between Syria and Iraq and loss of the airbase is expected to weaken the groups resistance as its two de facto capitals in Iraq and Syria, namely Mosul and Raqqa, are being targeted. The group is trying to slow the Iraqi forces by placing bomb-laden vehicles in populated areas around the city and snipers according to Prime Minister Abadi.
Spokesman Kallabi said they are carrying a cleaning operation inside the airport to trace the escaping members of Daesh members who are still hiding inside the facility and the rehabilitation of the infrastructure will contribute to securing the border.
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.
If current trends in alcohol consumption continue over the next 20 years, it is estimated it will cause 135,000 deaths in England. Credit: Cancer Research UK
Alcohol will cause around 135,000 cancer deaths over the next 20 years and will cost the NHS an estimated 2 billion in treatments, according to estimates from a new report by Sheffield University, commissioned by Cancer Research UK.
The new figures, published today (Friday), reveal that by 2035 the UK could see around 7,100 cancer deaths every year that are associated with alcohol. Of the cancer types included in the report, oesophageal cancer is set to see the largest increase, followed by bowel cancer, mouth and throat cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer.
The report also forecasts that there will be over 1.2 million hospital admissions for cancer over the 20 year period, which will cost the NHS 100 million, on average, every year.
The results were based on analyses that assume alcohol drinking trends will follow those seen over the last 40 years, and takes recent falls in alcohol consumption, including among young people, into account.
Evidence suggests that the more alcohol you drink, the higher the risk of cancer. UK government guidelines, published earlier this year, advise that both men and women drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
The latest figures follow a Cancer Research UK study published earlier in the year that showed 9 in 10 people are unaware of the link between alcohol and cancer.
The impact of alcohol on cancer outcomes in England (2015 - 2035). Credit: Cancer Research UK
The report also examined the impact of introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol in England. It found that over 20 years a 50p minimum price per units of alcohol could reduce deaths linked to alcohol by around 7,200, including around 670 cancer deaths. It would also reduce healthcare costs by 1.3 billion. This follows a recent court decision in Scotland which found that a minimum unit price would not break European law.
Alison Cox, the Director of Prevention at Cancer Research UK, said: "These new figures reveal the devastating impact alcohol will have over the coming years. That's why it's hugely important the public are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer, and what they can do to improve their risk.
"If we are to change the nation's drinking habits and try to mitigate the impact alcohol will have then national health campaigns are needed to provide clear information about the health risks of drinking alcohol."
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: "These latest figures show the serious consequences for individuals, the NHS and society if the UK government continues to ignore the consequences of the nation's drinking. In particular they reinforce the need for a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol. It is clear from the report that MUP will save lives, including those lost to cancer, and ease the burden on our health service. Importantly, MUP will do this while leaving moderate drinkers and prices in pubs and bars unaffected.
In addition, we need mandatory health information on the labels of all alcoholic products, informing the public of the link between alcohol and cancer, and the new low-risk drinking guidelines.
The public have the right to know about how their drinking impacts their health, so that they are empowered to make informed choices."
More information: Angus C, Holmes J, Pryce R, Meier P & Brennan A (2016) Alcohol and cancer trends: Intervention Studies University of Sheffield and Cancer Research UK. Angus C, Holmes J, Pryce R, Meier P & Brennan A (2016) Alcohol and cancer trends: Intervention Studies University of Sheffield and Cancer Research UK. www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites ends_report_cruk.pdf
In this Sept. 27, 2016 file photo, Angelica Pereira, left, watches as her 1-year-old daughter Luiza, disabled by the Zika virus, goes through a physical therapy session at the UPAE hospital in Caruaru, Pernambuco state, Brazil. The Brazilian Health Ministry said in a Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 statement, that babies whose mothers were infected by the Zika virus during pregnancy will be monitored until they are three-years old to detect the presence of malformations other than microcephaly, a rare defect that causes babies to have smaller than normal heads and not properly developed brains. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
Brazil's Health Ministry said Friday that babies whose mothers were infected by the Zika virus during pregnancy will be monitored until they are 3 years old to detect the presence of possible problems other than microcephaly.
The statement said that besides microcephaly, babies whose mothers were infected by the mosquito-borne virus will also be watched for vision and hearing loss and malformed arms and legs.
Microcephaly is a rare defect that causes babies to have smaller than normal heads and not properly developed brains. Experts have linked an outbreak of the defect to the Zika epidemic.
The ministry said that more than 2,100 cases of microcephaly have been confirmed in Brazil since October 2015.
2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance has become a recognized global problem. Antibiotic resistance severely limits the number of antibiotics available for the treatment of diseases. Credit: ECDC
On the occasion of the 9th European Antibiotic Awareness Day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is releasing its latest EU-wide data on antibiotic resistance and antibiotic consumption. In 2015, antibiotic resistance continued to increase for most bacteria and antibiotics under surveillance. In particular, the EU average percentage of carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae increased from 6.2% in 2012 to 8.1% in 2015, and combined resistance to carbapenems and polymyxins (e.g. colistin) was sometimes reported. These two groups of antibiotics are considered last-line antibiotics as they usually are the last treatment options for patients infected with bacteria resistant to other available antibiotics. While antibiotic consumption in hospitals significantly increased in several EU Member States, antibiotic consumption in the community decreased in six EU Member States.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: "Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. If we don't tackle it, we can go back to a time when even the simplest medical operations were not possible, and organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy or intensive care even less so". He added: "The European Commission will launch a new Action Plan next year so that we can, together with our partners in the EU Member States and internationally, continue to ensure that the prevention and control of antibiotic resistance is strengthened within a one-health approach".
ECDC Acting Director, Dr Andrea Ammon, said: "Antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae is of increasing concern in Europe. More than one third of the isolates reported to ECDC for 2015 were resistant to at least one of the antibiotic groups under surveillance, and combined resistance to multiple antibiotic groups was common. Moreover, the emergence of K. pneumoniae infections with combined resistance to carbapenems and colistin is worrisome and an important warning that options for treatment are now even more limited than in the past". Dr Ammon added: "However, the decrease of antibiotic consumption in the community in six countries is a positive sign and shows that we are starting to use antibiotics more prudently. Prudent use of antibiotics is pivotal, both in the community and in hospitals, to ensure that these drugs remain effective".
ECDC's data also show that antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli, one of the most frequent causes of bloodstream infections and community- and healthcare-associated urinary tract infections, requires close attention as the percentages of isolates resistant to commonly used antibiotics continues to increase throughout Europe. In contrast, the percentage of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) showed a significantly decreasing trend at EU/EEA level between 2012 and 2015. Despite this positive development, MRSA remains a public health priority as eight out of thirty countries reported percentages above 25%.
Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe said: "Surveillance of antibiotic resistance is the backbone of our work in defence of antibiotics' effectiveness. Until we know where resistance is, we cannot prioritize action. This is why we focus on expanding the map of antibiotic resistance beyond the European Union countries through the Central Asian and Eastern European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (CAESAR) network. What the report indicates is of concern: our patients are exposed to resistant bacteria in hospitals due to overuse and misuse of antibiotics and poor infection prevention and control. We urge our leaders to use this evidence and accelerate their response to a major global health threat of our time".
Activities promoting prudent use of antibiotics are organised in more than 40 countries across the European Region during the week of 18 November to mark European Antibiotic Awareness Day. ECDC works jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, and partners World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
ECDC, in cooperation with the European Commission, will host an EU-level launch event entitled "European Antibiotic Awareness Day: the future is now". The planned interventions will not only present the current situation and future steps at EU level, but will also aim at highlighting how resistance to antibiotics is affecting our lives today and what can be done by different sectors to ensure that they remain effective. It will take place on 18 November 2016, from 9:30 to 13:00 CET, and will be web streamed here: http://bit.ly/2f7IgiQ. ECDC and partner organisations will be live tweeting from the event using #EAAD2016.
Following the success of last year's 24-hour Global Twitter conversation on antibiotic resistance and prudent use of antibiotics around the world, ECDC is again coordinating a Global Twitter conversation on 18 November, hosted jointly by participating organisations from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and WHO Headquarters and the WHO Regional Offices. The hashtags that will be used are #AntibioticResistance and #EAAD2016.
Provided by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Dr. Ethan Halm (left), Dr. Jorge Marrero (center), and Dr. Amit Singal (right) found that outreach to at-risk cirrhosis patients doubled their participation in liver cancer screening. Credit: UT Southwestern
Proactive outreach to cirrhosis patients in a safety net health system successfully doubled their screening rates for liver cancer, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found.
Cirrhosis (liver disease) patients are at high risk to develop liver cancer, which is increasing in frequency an average of 3 percent annually and has a five-year overall survival rate of just 17.5 percent.
"Finding ways to reach patients at high risk of liver cancer is critical. Liver cancer has the fastest increasing mortality rate among solid tumors in the U.S.," said first author Dr. Amit G. Singal, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences, and a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This high mortality is primarily due to low rates of liver cancer screening and high rates of late-stage diagnosis."
The study randomly divided 1,800 cirrhosis patients at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas into three groups. The first group received mailed outreach invitations for screening ultrasound. The second group received similar outreach plus patient navigation, and the third received their usual care. Researchers learned that the group receiving mailed outreach invitations were most likely to schedule an ultrasound, which doubled the overall rate of screening.
The study appears in the journal Gastroenterology.
"Our study is one of the first interventions to improve liver cancer screening and early detection among at-risk patients. The vulnerable patient population we studied in our safety net health system are those who are at highest risk of dying from liver cancer, so this intervention helped those who might benefit the most," said Dr. Singal.
Only one-fourth of patients with cirrhosis in routine care are currently screened every six months for liver cancer with an ultrasound as recommended by national guidelines. Symptoms are not usually present when the cancer is in its early stages.
"Our research previously demonstrated that liver cancer screening is underused in clinical practice, with lower rates of screening among racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients," said senior author Dr. Ethan Halm, Director of the Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Chief of the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences. "Our new study presents a model of a proactive, population health outreach strategy that can improve liver cancer screening and early detection among those at highest risk of adverse outcomes." Dr. Halm holds the Walter Family Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine in Honor of Albert D. Roberts, M.D.
According to the National Cancer Institute, liver cancer is diagnosed in an estimated 39,230 people annually. In 2013, there were an estimated 54,954 people living with this cancer in the U.S. Risk factors include a diagnosis of fatty liver disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cirrhosis, or a combination of these diseases.
More information: Amit G. Singal et al. Mailed Outreach Program Increases Ultrasound Screening of Patients with Cirrhosis for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Gastroenterology (2016). Journal information: Gastroenterology Amit G. Singal et al. Mailed Outreach Program Increases Ultrasound Screening of Patients with Cirrhosis for Hepatocellular Carcinoma,(2016). DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.042
Credit: University of Gothenburg
Polluted city air has now been identified as a possible means of transmission for resistant bacteria. Researchers in Gothenburg have shown that air samples from Beijing contain DNA from genes that make bacteria resistant to the most powerful antibiotics we have.
"This may be a more important means of transmission than previously thought," says Joakim Larsson, a professor at Sahlgrenska Academy and director of the Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research at the University of Gothenburg.
Joakim Larsson and his colleagues have previously received attention for their research on waterborne release of antibiotics from pharmaceutical production in India, which was shown to trigger the development of resistant bacteria.
Over 800 samples
In this new study, the researchers looked for genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics in a total of 864 samples of DNA collected from humans, animals, and different environments worldwide.
"We studied only a small number of air samples, so to generalize, we need to examine the air from more places. But the air samples we did analyze showed a wide mix of different resistance genes. Of particular concern is that we found a series of genes that provide resistance to carbapenems, a group of last resort antibiotics taken for infections caused by bacteria that are often very difficult to treat," says Larsson.
The results do not show whether the sampled bacteria were actually alive in the air, which would make them a real threat.
"It is reasonable to believe that there is a mixture of live and dead bacteria, based on experience from other studies of air," says Larsson.
European treatment plants
The next step for the research is to find out if resistance spreads through air from European sewage treatment plants. This research will be carried out within the framework of a larger collaborative international project that has just been selected for funding by the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPI-AMR), where the Swedish Research Council is providing the Gothenburg group's financing.
"We're going to let treatment plant employees carry air samplers. We will also study their bacterial flora and flora of people who live very close and farther away, and see if there seems to be a connection to the treatment plants," says Larsson.
More information: Chandan Pal et al. The structure and diversity of human, animal and environmental resistomes, Microbiome (2016). Chandan Pal et al. The structure and diversity of human, animal and environmental resistomes,(2016). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-016-0199-5
A tiny suspicious lesion in the liver, shown in the top right image, appeared quite visible 24 hours after the new contrast agent was injected. The top left image was taken before the injection. Credit: PLOS One
A common chemical element embedded in a tiny bubble of fat has the potential to advance cancer imaging. In a study of pet dogs that were biopsied for cancer, a new contrast agent used in CT imaging allowed veterinarians to more easily pinpoint suspicious masses and detect typically elusive tumors in the liver. The finding could lead to better cancer diagnosis in human patients.
The new materialan iodine-infused bubble that's at least 50 times smaller than a red blood cellwas tested in CT scans of 13 dogs suspected of having cancer to determine whether it would pick up naturally occurring tumors similar to those that physicians diagnose in human medicine.
In the dogs, the contrast agent made suspected lesions visible for much longer periods, which could improve the ability to catch metastasizing cancer early on, says Amy Sato, a veterinary radiologist at Cummings School who evaluated the new contrast agent with colleagues from Texas Children's Hospital and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.
In both human and veterinary patients, conventional contrast agents, which typically contain the chemical elements iodine or barium, enhance pictures of organs, blood vessels and tissues by changing the way that CT scans and other imaging tools interact with the body. When injected or swallowed, these agents block or reduce the ability of X-rays to pass through the body and allow doctors to better distinguish abnormalities from normal surrounding tissue.
Cancer that has spread to the liver, where some types of human and animal tumors commonly metastasize, often can't be seen if the contrast agent isn't visible on the scan, says Sato. Existing agents provide fleeting opportunities for clinicians to identify potential problems.
"You start to lose the ability to see the contrast on CT within three minutes," she says. "So if you do see a lesion and want to check if it's cancer, you may have to give several doses of the contrast material" to get enough images to pinpoint where to place a biopsy needle.
Because the conventional iodine-based agent is encased in a fat globule known as a liposome, it is cleared from the body via the spleen and the liver. As a result, the agent highlights tumors in both organs for 24 hours and even longer.
"The liver and spleen actually became brighter over time because cells in these organs had internalized the agent," says Sato, who worked with Cummings Veterinary Medical Center surgeon John Berg to assess the effectiveness of the new agent. "It appears that you may actually be able to see liver lesions better after 24 hours," especially those smaller than 1 centimeter (about the width of a fingernail), than you would initially.
The new contrast agent also may be safer to use in human and animal patients with poor kidney function, says Sato. With existing contrast agents, the kidneys excrete the iodine solution, which is mildly toxic. "It's usually not a problem for most people or pets," she says, "but if an older person or cancer patient has known renal disease, you certainly don't want to insult their kidneys any further."
Dogs treated at Tufts and the University of Wisconsin-Madison underwent CT scans before they were injected with the iodine bubbles. The scans were repeated 15 minutes and 24 hours afterward; then the pets underwent needle or surgical biopsy to check any suspicious lesions.
The study was published in the nonprofit, open-access journal PLOS ONE in March 2016. Its lead author, Ketan Ghaghada, an assistant professor of pediatric radiology at Texas Children's Hospital and an expert on contrast agents, says the researchers want to conduct more studies to assess the agent's sensitivity and specificity in detecting different types of naturally occurring canine tumors.
"Companion dogs develop many types of spontaneous cancers that share strong similarities with human cancers," Ghaghada says, "including tumors' size and growth pattern, which can be seen with the same imaging hardware used in humans. As a result, preclinical imaging studies conducted in companion dogs can help build the case for bringing new technologies for diagnosing and treating those diseases to the market, where they could help both people and pets."
Gubaz Sanikidze quits his party
By Messenger Staff
One of the leaders and founders of the National Forum opposition political party, ex-Vice Parliament Speaker Gubaz Sanikidze, has announced he has quit the party he belonged to for 10 years.Sanikidze stressed he did not intend to leave politics, and vowed to support the creation of a big opposition unity after the National Forum failed to overcome the mandatory 5% threshold in last months parliamentary elections.I believe a big part of the opposition made a mistake in terms of the elections; we must study the reasons of the failure, Sanikidze said.I will be actively involved in the formation of a big opposition unity, Sanikidze added.He stressed he wouldnt cooperate with the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia and the opposition United National Movement parties.However, he didnt exclude cooperation with former leader of the Republican Parry, ex-Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili, and the leader of the opposition Democratic Movement-United Georgia, also ex-Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze.A key founder and a leader of the National Forum, Kakha Shartava, said Sanikidzes decision was agreed within the party and served the aim voiced by the party shortly after the October parliamentary elections, referring to the creation of a new, pro-Western political unity.The National Forum was established in 2006 through the initiative of former diplomat Shartava.The party was a member of the Georgian Dream coalition established by ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivansihvili for the 2012 Parliamentary Elections to defeat the nine-year rule of the United National Movement, but participated alone in this years parliamentary race due to the split of the coalition.Usupashvili, who also quit the Republican Party after the elections and announced his wish to create a new, pro-Western political faction, has responded to Sanikidzes statement, saying it was more likely he and Sanikidze to continue serving the country from a different political flank.Analysts believe it is unlikely that Sanikidze will be able to coordinate the creation of any worthy political force.They believe the opposition lost a chance to unite for the October elections and take seats in the Parliament.As analyst Gia Khukhashvili said, It is unlikely that several dead political bodies will be able to create one live organism,.He stressed it would be regrettable if Usupashvili quit Georgian politics, but said he would need a charismatic individuals around him to attract electorate.It is true that the opposition had a chance to gain seats in the legislative body, but as it generally happens in Georgia, they failed to do this without a single distinguished charismatic leader, like Georgian Dream coalition founder Bidzina Ivanishvili in 2012.After the recent elections, many key figures of the opposition quit their parties, naming the need for renewal in their parties or the creation of a new political force as their reasons.There is a room in Georgia for a new political party, but it is unlikely those people who already lost their chances would be trusted again by the voters.
The News in Brief
Three NGOs address interagency commission
Transparency International Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, and the Fair Elections NGO have addressed the interagency commission with joint recommendations.
As InterpressNews was told by Transparency International Georgia's Programme Manager Levan Natroshvili, the recommendations of the three non-governmental organizations concern several issues.
"First, it is the electoral system. We have long been saying that the electoral system needs to be changed. Our favorite electoral system is a proportional electoral system. There are some alternatives, but we give preference to this system.
Our recommendations also concern the composition of the election administration, as well as some changes in terms of administrative resources, participation of political figures in the campaign, and narrowing the circle of persons, who are free to participate in the campaign.
In addition, our recommendations concern the strengthening of the institutional independence of the state audit service, introduction of some additional criteria for the election of the auditor general. One of the recommendations concerned vote-buying, election disputes and media regulations, said Natroshvili.
According to him, the interagency commission will suspend working after the official tabulation of the election results, but they were promised that the commission will review the recommendations and submit them to Parliament.
(Civil.ge)
New Deputy Head of State Security Service Appointed
Alexander Tabatadze, who served as Deputy Justice Minister over the past three years, has been appointed as new deputy head of the State Security Service.
The position of the third deputy head had remained vacant since Levan Izorias appointment as Defence Minister.
Before moving to the Justice Ministry, Alexander Tabatadze served as deputy to then Interior Minister Irakli Garibashvili since late 2012. Earlier he already served in the law enforcement agencies from mid-1990s till 2008.
(Civil.ge)
Georgias ombudsman calls on government to end female circumcision
Georgias Public Defender confirms that female genital mutilation (FGM) is being practiced in the eastern Kakheti region, a practice locals call baptizing.
Georgians learned last week that FGM is being practiced in three villages in the Kvareli municipality without the authorities knowing about it.
But the ombudsman said on Saturday that his staff began investigating the situation in October. On November 9, they carried out field studies in Kvareli, talking to locals, teachers, local government representatives, police and staff at the maternity hospital.
Locals confirmed that there is such a practice, which is called baptizing. They said that during the practice, a small part of the clitoris is removed or pierced in home conditions, the statement says.
The procedure is widespread in one of the three villages, while there are only a few families practicing it in the other two villages.
The ombudsman said locals are not aware about the possible risks and complications the procedure involves. They do not know the goal of the practice and mainly relate it to religious customs.
The ombudsman called on the government to take all measures to eliminate the recently discovered practice and handed over information it had collected to the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor Generals Office.
The practice of female circumcision in Georgias Kakheti region was first revealed by Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) investigation and reported by DFWatch.
(DF watch)
Saakashvili sure Poroshenko will not extradite him to Georgia
The former President of Georgia, who recently resigned as the Governor of Odessa, MIkheil Saakashvili, believes that Ukraines President will not extradite him to Georgia. He made this statement in a televised interview with Channel 5 Ukraine.
I have a very good impression of Petro Poroshenko. In my opinion, he will not do such a thing. Only imagine hypothetically that he will extradite me to Georgia. Even if it happens, I have 600,000 supporters there and I will be free in a week, said Saakashvili.
According to him, he believes that he will return to Kiev after three days.
(ipn.ge)
The gathering at the posh The Hamilton hotel, which drew more than 300 people, marked the 10th year anniversary of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, an influential organization that has pushed hard to improve U.S. relations with Cuba.
On the eve of the Nov. 8 presidential election, CDA Executive Director Sarah Stephens said that after a period of adapting to a new U.S. president, her organization would continue to focus on passing legislation on a bipartisan basis. But on Sunday, with president-elect Trump heading for the White House and Republicans still in control of both chambers of Congress, her message was far more sober.
We needed a night like this to celebrate, to celebrate what we have accomplished and to recommit to the work ahead, knowing there will be, sometimes, overwhelming obstacles, detours but we can get through it together, Stephens told the audience at the fundraiser.
In other remarks, Carol Browner, former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, told attendees it will be a steeper climb but added: In these last eight years, and because of everything that you have done, working in a coalition, we have seen a tremendous progress leaving behind the Cold War.
Fixing the policy on Cuba is joyful, important work, she said. The climb has become a little steeper, but I believe were are going to win, for Sarah and the CDA.
More here.
via @adamsmithtimes
Trial lawyer John Morgan's flirtation with running for the 2018 Democratic nomination for governor could upend what already looked like a potentially strong field of Democratic contenders. The Tampa Bay Times asked their thoughts about Morgan, who is not only a potential rival but also a Democratic top money raiser with a short fuse - not someone an ambitious Democrat wants to antagonize:
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn: "I don't know John. Obviously he's been a supporter Democratic causes. He's been a loyal Democrat and he puts his money where his mouth is...Whether or not at this point in his life taking on that task is something he's interested in, I don't know. Certainly it is a different skillset required to be governor. But then again after last Tuesday's results I think the conventional rules are out the window. So ultimately the voters have to decide whether competence matters and whether experience matters."
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Sue and Tim Furey looked back as they drove away from the refugee camp and saw a young boy standing in the road, crying.
The boy, Aman, was one of hundreds of people at the Diavata refugee camp outside Thessaloniki, Greece. He had taken to the Furey family, and especially their service dog, a yellow Lab named Rosie.
Sue Furey, a Sentinel High special education teacher, took a sabbatical last school year. From August 2015 to March 2016, she and her husband were in Belgrade, Serbia. She volunteered at an agency that works with adults with disabilities.
Afterward, they headed for Greece to help at the refugee camps.
It wasn't their original plan. They wanted to help at an orphanage in Romania Furey had two students in Missoula who were adopted from Romanian orphanages but found it was going to be too expensive. They would have paid about $2,000 to help for two weeks.
So they took off for Lesbos, the Greek island that's become the main entry point for refugees into Europe. Then in March, the borders closed and refugees were stranded in Greece. Many went to inland refugee camps.
"It was really an eye-opener," Furey said. "They're coming from their countries with nothing. They're escaping terror."
***
More than 1 million refugees have come through Greece since 2015, according to the International Rescue Committee.
The refugee population there currently tops 61,000, stranded in Greece due to border closures and the European Union-Turkey migrant agreement.
Diavata is one of 52 refugee camps in Greece, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with a capacity of 2,500 people. Greek refugee camp capacity ranges from 120 to 4,200, according to UNHCR's October report.
Diavata is a converted Greek army base, now with tents and housing units. As of October, there were 672 refugees at Diavata.
The Fureys' service dog became "Rosie the ambassador." While she wasn't allowed in the camp, the Fureys brought her to the gate at noon every day and the kids swarmed. She brought a lot of comfort and helped bridge the language barrier between many refugees and the volunteers, Furey said.
"The kids were super happy," she said. "They just figured out how to play and be joyful. But the parents were terrified."
At the camp, the Fureys gave out food, diapers, toiletries, clothes and infant formula. According to the UNHCR, in October half of the refugees at Diavata were women and children. The majority were Syrian.
"We felt bad because we couldn't give them everything," she said. "There was a limit."
***
One family they met had fled Iraq, and spoke English.
The father had a Ph.D. in archaeology and knew all there was to know about the mosques in Mosul. The majority were destroyed by the Islamic State, and because this man had extensive knowledge of the mosques, his life was threatened.
The family fled.
They went to Turkey first and thought they would go to Austria so the man could become a visiting professor at a university. Then the borders closed and they, along with their four children, were stranded at Diavata.
The mother, who has an advanced degree in physics, was in tears, Furey said.
"I don't know what is going to happen to my family," she told Furey.
In April, a line of tents burned to the ground after a cooking fire.
"You're living in a tent with nothing, and then that tent burns down," Furey said Wednesday morning in her classroom. "But by the next morning, the Army had cleared it all away and the (UNHCR) had put up new tents."
Furey attended Soft Landing Missoula's presentation two weeks ago on refugee resettlement in Missoula. Since August, five Congolese families, four Iraqis and two Eritreans have come here. As many as 150 refugees could be resettled in Missoula in the next year.
"I think everyone should see that," she said of information on who refugees are, where they're coming from and why they're fleeing. "These people aren't criminals. The rhetoric that they're all going to come here and rape our women is so discouraging.
"There are people out there running for their lives."
Rather than letting her anger consume her, Furey took action. In all, Furey said volunteering at the refugee camp was a good experience, one she wishes she could do again.
"I don't get dysfunctional when I'm emotional," she said. "I mostly get pissed off and fired up. It makes you want to help, and tell people about it. This is 2016. This shouldn't be happening."
***
The best part, she said, was the children including Aman.
"Those kids we met, their whole life has been war," she said.
Aman became somewhat of a "dog handler," Furey said. He would rally the other kids when he knew Rosie was coming and they would all go to the gate to play with her.
On their last day at the camp in June, they brought Rosie around one last time to play with the kids.
Then they loaded up the car and drove away.
They saw Aman standing in the road crying, and it brought Furey's husband, Tim, to tears.
High school students from Montana, Idaho and Washington looked back thousands of years and found people grappling with the same problems we have today.
The 110 students came from Helena, Spokane, and Post Falls, Idaho, for the inaugural University of Montana Classics Day. They spent Thursday hearing from professors and students in UM's Classics Program about Latin and Greek languages, culture and history.
In the end, it's a recruitment effort, said visiting associate professor Barbara Weinlich.
"What I found amazing is I sent out the invitation to schools within a three- or four-hour driving range, which is also the range of students who usually go to UM," Weinlich said. "People said they were in a vacuum and they were so glad we were doing this. There's such a demand and I'm so glad we're tapping into that."
From last year to this fall, enrollment in elementary Latin has nearly doubled to 55 students, and enrollment in elementary Greek has grown to 12. Last spring, Weinlich revived the Classics Club. She attributes the growth to more awareness of the program, as well as the relevance students have found in the classics classes.
"What we need more than ever are the humanities and the classics," she said. "It helps us understand why we are the way we are."
***
At one of the morning workshops, associate professor Matthew Semanoff led a group of Helena High and Capital High students through the basics of Greek and the first lines of "The Iliad."
"Everybody ready to read some Greek?" Semanoff told a hesitant group. "Let's give it a try."
They sounded out the Greek alphabet. (Did you know that word comes from the first two letters, alpha and beta?) They sounded out the first lines of "The Iliad" in dactylic hexameter the rhythm used in classic epic poems. They tried to read the first lines in Greek.
Semanoff's first-year Greek students are only 10 weeks into the course, but they were already reading those first lines with ease.
"By the end of spring, they'll be reading 'The Odyssey' in Greek. I'm not kidding," Semanoff said.
He pointed at a map of Greece and the Mediterranean, explaining the importance of different regions in Greek history, culture and literature.
"Five times in my life I can remember having the breath physically removed from my lungs," he said. "One was at the Acropolis."
He located stories within Homer's "The Odyssey" on the map, and related them to what's happening in the world today.
"That poem sets the tone of exploration," he said. "That's what we do in Classics. We explore the ancient world and connect it with the modern world. Many of the same things we're on a quest today to do ... they're the same themes in the Odyssey.
"These fears, dreams and aspirations that are so human to us today. Those have not changed since the development of western civilization."
***
The high-schoolers came from Helena High and Capital High, St. Michael's Academy in Spokane and St. Dominic's Convent in Post Falls.
"To get them to join the classics program would be absolutely fabulous for us," Weinlich said, with a goal of turning these into "feeder schools."
"We want to show them how practical Latin is, in the supermarket, in journalism, in law."
But the classics are often left behind or pushed to the side to make way for what's seen as more practical majors.
UM's classics program is as old as the university. It began with professor William Aber one of UM's original five faculty and the namesake for Aber Hall.
Classics is now housed in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, and has five faculty members: Weinlich, Semanoff, professor Hayden Ausland, professor emerita Linda Gillison and professor emeritus James Scott.
Classics students don't simply learn the language just like students in Spanish or French. It's also about history, culture, literature and relating all of that to what's happening in the world today.
"These days, this generation right now is looking for education that brings money," Weinlich said. "In a certain way that's the fault of my generation ... and the punishment has come 20 years late."
UM is relatively unique in its classics program, Semanoff said. The next closest are at the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Washington in Seattle.
"You can take many languages, but it's only Latin and Greek that can take you to the pinnacle of literature within a year," Semanoff said.
Helena Latin teacher Sheila Richmond said her hope is to get kids into the third year of the language.
"We have three third-years and one in the fourth year," she said. "Part of it deals with the fact that I'm between two schools."
Many high schoolers said they got into Latin or Greek to expand their vocabulary.
Richmond said it's also because of mythology.
"They love mythology, so this gives them a chance to read what they love in the original language," she said.
In one of her classes this fall, Weinlich compared the story of Cicero and the Catiline conspiracy to this year's battle for the presidency between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a tale of establishment versus anti-establishment.
The similarities are striking, she said, although the end result was different. In the old tale's case, the establishment won.
"People are so focused on money, but if you're single-minded, you're just not going to make it as a young person today," Weinlich said. "Classics is so ... modern in many ways. It really gives you something that money can't give you."
The Missoula Redevelopment Agencys board of commissioners took action on a number of large projects on Thursday, including approving the conceptual plan for the first phase of a new connector street between Reserve and Brooks through Southgate Mall property.
Mary Avenue is currently a residential street that dead-ends at the Bitterroot Spur railroad tracks, but it will eventually cross the tracks and connect with a new roadway being built by the mall. The city is hoping to get the project bid in March and start construction next year, while the malls portion east of the tracks is already underway.
A consulting team, led by DJ&A Engineers, has completed a conceptual plan of how the new street will look. The consultants took extensive public input and feel that their plan has broad community support at this point.
Mary Avenue west of the tracks will most likely get a new roundabout at the intersection with Clark Street, but the right-of-way still has to be acquired from the four property owners at that intersection. The engineers have presented city officials with a design that calls for lots of trees and other measures to slow down traffic, including large bulb-outs at corners. The MRA believes the new route will improve connectivity in the area and give kids a safer walking route to school.
The board voted to direct MRA staff to enter into a contract with DJ&A to complete the design development, final design, construction documents and bidding services for the final two phases of the project at a cost not to exceed $199,565.
Ellen Buchanan, the executive director of the MRA, said that the city will save tens of thousands of dollars by getting the project out to bid in March of 2017 rather than April or May. Thats because construction costs have been increasing by 5 percent or more each year, and anything later than March would mean the project would be delayed and prices would rise.
Time is of the essence, she said. We are courting disaster if we dont bid in March.
She said it would be better for the city to start construction as the mall is doing its work so that there wouldnt be an extended period of construction going on in that location.
Its better to tear it up once as opposed to multiple years, she said.
***
The board also approved an amended proposed land use map along with the North Reserve Scott Street Urban Renewal District Master Plan, which may guide the citys decisions in the area over the next three decades. The board will recommend the plan to the city council, which will forward it to the planning board.
The proposed land use map shows things like a public greenway on the south side of Interstate 90 along with a bike and pedestrian path connecting Grant Creek to Scott Street. It also shows possible ways for Russell Street to connect with I-90, including a possible new interchange where the road to the landfill is now. All these things are hypothetical, and would require the consent of private property owners like Roseburg Forest Products, which has so far shown no willingness to give up land.
What were looking at here is a 20- to 30-year plan, and things change over that time, said MRA assistant director Chris Behan. How all of this gets fundedagain, were looking at a couple of decades.
***
The board also approved funding for expenses necessary for conducting due diligence on a proposed $2 million purchase of Montana Rail Link property for a new park and bike path segment. The city council and the parks board have both approved a recommendation from the MRA to authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement to buy the 12-acre parcel of land, which is between North and South Avenues along Johnson Street.
The property runs along the Bitterroot Spur railroad tracks, and MRL has agreed to sell the property. The city believes it can build a new park in an under served neighborhood and connect the final piece of the puzzle to give pedestrians and bikers unblocked access to more than 50 miles of paved path stretching from East Missoula to Hamilton.
The first two phases of environmental assessments will be paid for through an EPA grant to the city, but the city needs to survey all the buildings and utilities and identify any easements and encumbrances.
The Montana Board of Regents had praise all around for the historic, $24 million gift from the Franke family to the University of Montana and for the transparency around it.
Regent Martha Sheehy, who raised questions about the lack of transparency around an earlier naming gift, thanked the Bill and Carolyn Franke family for their donation and thanked UM President Royce Engstrom for the open process.
"It's been very well handled and easy and transparent to review," Sheehy said.
The gift will go to the College of Forestry and Conservation and the Global Leadership Initiative after formal approval by the regents on Friday.
However, the regents offered positive remarks Thursday for the gift from airline company magnate Bill Franke and his family. Regent Bob Nystuen said he's wanted these major donations to be points of celebration, not controversy, and this time around, he said, "I think we got it."
"Their gift will live in perpetuity from a standpoint of what it will do for students and the faculty and the entire university," Nystuen said.
Engstrom said the gift is special because none of the family members are alums, but UM established a relationship with them nonetheless. He praised in particular Kate Jennings from the UM Foundation for her work with the family over the years.
UM and the Frankes began a relationship six or seven years ago, he said. The family has a summer home in Bigfork, and they have brought speakers from UM to talk with their guests.
"They've been tremendous business people, and they have been tremendously generous," Engstrom said.
***
At the meeting, the regents also heard a presentation about financial aid in Montana and how much of it is getting to the students who need it.
Tyler Trevor, deputy commissioner of planning and analysis for the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, said the state gives out a lot of financial aid, but it does not do so strategically.
Montana had $132 million in financial aid, not counting loans, for the 2015 and 2016 school years, Trevor said. The federal Pell Grant accounts for 40 percent of that money.
However, the Montana University System has control over roughly 31 percent of it and can influence some of the remaining 29 percent. And the state trails in the amount of money it contributes to need-based aid at $90 per student; the national average is $539.
In the U.S., 70 percent of first-time, full-time resident students receive $5,589 in aid, Trevor said. In Montana, by comparison, 83 percent of those students get $4,300 in aid.
Tuition freezes have kept part of the cost of education low, but costs such as room and board and supplies are still going up, he said.
In fact, Montana State University President Waded Cruzado of Bozeman said some students have to choose between eating meals and buying textbooks. She said the cost of one textbook alone can hit $600.
"It's totally out of control," said Cruzado.
Regent Bill Johnstone said the presentation raises a question: "Do we have a problem that needs to be addressed? Do we have a need-based support problem or not?"
In response, Commissioner Clayton Christian said he doesn't want to understate the problem for students that are struggling, but the truth is the state has done much for higher education.
"As a system, I think we have addressed that problem in many ways of keeping tuition as affordable as we can," Christian said.
***
After lunch, Engstrom and other UM officials took an estimated 20 people on a tour of the campus, highlighting infrastructure needs and successes.
A few years ago, the Montana Legislature helped the Clapp Building fix its asbestos problem in part of the structure, said Kevin Krebsbach, facilities director. But the building, which serves 1,800 students a semester, still has three floors that need asbestos abatement.
"It's safe now the way it is, but it's a ticking time bomb for us," Krebsbach said.
The group also visited the Payne Family Native American Center, one of the newest buildings on campus. Chris Comer, dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, said the building was constructed with the highest sustainability standards, and one of the larch trees that used to grow on the site remains part of the center.
"This floor is largely made out of wood that came from that tree," Comer said.
The center honors Native Americans and their traditions in Montana, and it also offers modern education with new tools, such as a tribal GIS mapping program.
At the Liberal Arts Building, the guests peeked into one of the newly remodeled classrooms. A donor helped renovate a technology corridor in the building, and an entrance onto the Oval is coming soon.
Comer said the donor is interested in making another major contribution to bring modern technology to more of the building if the Montana Legislature will fund some of the infrastructure needs.
I suspect that many of us are still reeling from the gut punch of this election cycle.
But, the question that kept gnawing at me as I watched the digital maps and talking heads dance across the flat screen, was how did we, as Americans, fall so low that we have now elected to this lands (and the worlds) highest, most powerful political office, a person who Atlantic Magazine described as the most ostentatiously unqualified major-party candidate in the 227-year history of the American presidency. How did our political system produce two candidates everybody loved to hate? How did we fail to see the parallel of pre-war Germany re-enacting itself in 2016 America?
I dont know the answer to these questions. Is it that campaigns for public office have become a theater of the absurd, funded by troughs of money from a select, powerful few who are accountable to no one? Probably. Is it that the political parties are so imbued with and committed to demanding conformity to their platforms that they have completely lost track of what is needed by our collective whole? That has to be a big part. Is it that willful ignorance has become an art form because we have marginalized and devalued education because we teach our children to regurgitate data, but not to think and retain knowledge? Yes, that too is likely. Is it because we have allowed the theocrats and oligarchs bombast and rhetoric to drown out reasoned civil discussion and debate? No doubt. Might it be because we get our news from media that sensationalizes, instead dispassionately reporting, informing and analyzing? Yes, that also. Or, is it that we just dont respect each otherit being easier to slice and dice and stereotype "we the people" into neat little throw-away doggy bags? That, too, is a part.
Likely, all of these are factors. But, I think these are merely symptoms of the greater evilthe moral and spiritual lethargy that comes from taking for granted what we have and enjoy as nation. To be sure, there are a great many of us who have nothing to take for granted. But, for the greater majority of the rest of usthe post-war beneficiaries of varying degrees of the good life, the American Dreamwe have lost sight of the privation, the struggle and the quest for excellence of our parents, our grandparents and theirs and theirs, that got us where we are today. We are secure; we have peace; we have resources; we have wealth; we have power; the lights go on every morning; we have water and food. And, these have always just been there. Gods largess to a deserving people, for those who believe in such nonsense.
It has become cliche that freedom isnt free. But, really, it isnt. I believe that if we are to keep our country from continuing to circle the drain of oblivion into which every world power has ultimately succumbed, then we must take back our national anima, our collective conscience. We need goals to use our wealth and power for national and global bettermentnot just for individual gain. We must reacquire our identity as Americans instead of being just different groups of warring individuals. We must elect statespersons to public office, instead of money-dependent, political hacks. We need leaders, not demigods. We must have vision, instead of myopia. Indeed, we the people must lead, instead of blindly following what the puppets of wealth and special interest dole out to us.
Have we ever been perfect? Certainly not. Have we ever been better? Most assuredly, we have. Can we survive another 227 years? That remains to be seen. It is really up to us.
Huckleberries to the cancellation of 15 energy exploration leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area, a place considered sacred by the Blackfeet and prized for its natural wonders by many Montanans. Oklahoma-based Devon Energy, which has held the leases for decades, this month cooperated with the Blackfeet and the U.S. Interior Department in finally cancelling them in shared recognition of the undeniable cultural and ecological value of the Badger-Two Medicine, which covers 130,000 acres of land enclosed by the borders of the Blackfeet Reservation, Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Glacier National Park.
Chokecherries to the two remaining oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine. The leases were sold in the 1980s without tribal consultation or approval, let alone any consideration for the considerable cultural and environmental impacts of energy development on these sacred lands, and for the insulting price of $1 per acre. It is long since time the last of these leases was canceled, and fortunately, efforts to do so continue.
Chokecherries to the violence, vandalism and hateful rhetoric seen across western Montana over the past week, from physical assaults to anti-Semitic flyers distributed by white nationalists. These offensive acts crossed political lines, reportedly targeting an anti-Donald Trump protester in Kalispell, a Hillary Clinton supporter in Missoula and the Lake County Republican headquarters in Polson, among others.
Huckleberries to the many acts of solidarity and kindness offered in response to the recent spate of racist, religious and politically charged incidents in Montana. From an apple pie delivered to the Har Shalom synagogue in Missoula to the full-page ad proclaiming no hate in our state published by Lee Newspapers in Montana, residents are taking every opportunity to demonstrate that our communities do not condone violence or intolerance.
Chokecherries to the mass layoffs and reductions announced last week by Selway Corporation, the largest employer in Stevensville with between 120 and 150 employees. Coal and other declining industries forced the steel fabrication company to look at diversifying its operations; unfortunately, those efforts were not enough to prevent the downturn and resulting workforce reductions, which the company hopes will be only temporary.
BILLINGS - A car crashed into a Billings business on Friday afternoon, going almost completely through a front window and into the building.
Emergency crews were called out at about 2 p.m. to Batteries + Bulbs, at 1145 Central Ave., after a blue sedan drove through a window just to the left of the building's front door.
Information on how the crash happened wasn't immediately available.
An American Medical Response crew could be seen speaking with a woman as she sat upright on a stretcher. The crew then loaded the empty stretcher into the ambulance and left while the woman spoke with the Billings Police Department.
All but the very rear end of the sedan was inside of the building, and the crash brought debris from the window and ceiling down around it. Members of the Billings Fire Department could be seen inside inspecting the building.
BILLINGS A Fiberglass Solutions employee was sentenced Monday for starting a fire that caused around $6 million in damage to one of the companies' buildings.
Kristopher Michael Harasymczuk, 31, was given a six-year deferred sentence for a charge of negligent arson after causing a fire in the Laurel building. Harasymczuk must complete 30 days of work for the Yellowstone County Sheriff's labor detail. He must also pay $100 to Fiberglass Solutions during every month of his six year deferred sentence.
Company president Robert Harris attended Harazymczuk's sentencing hearing, but said only he would be watching the situation closely.
Harazymczuk had pleaded no contest to the charge after co-workers said he flicked a lighter at the factory while they cleaned themselves with an acetone solution.
The fire began at about noon on Feb. 5, 2015 when one of Harazymczuk's coworkers at the factory caught fire, causing a massive blaze. The estimated monetary damage of the fire was five to seven million dollars.
Harazymczuk restitution over the six years would total about $7,000.
Representatives of the owners of two houseboats that have taken up permanent, year-round residence in Somers Bay on Flathead Lake defended their right to be there Thursday.
And, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners indicated it will take action by the Montana Legislature before FWP or any other agency can regulate them.
My sense is the situation is not going to disappear, its just going to grow, commission chairman Dan Vermillion of Livingston said during the boards monthly meeting.
The first houseboat arrived in the bay three years ago, according to testimony at the meeting, and a second, considerably larger one with 1,100 square feet of living space sitting atop its pontoons that is rented out to vacationers by its owner showed up in the last year to year and a half.
There are other houseboats on Flathead, but they all tie up to private docks or at marinas when theyre not in use. These two use various methods to remain in place in Somers Bay, and sit on or near the lake bed when the water level is drawn down in the winter.
Somers resident James Thompson asked the FWP Commission to take up the issue.
He and others are worried that with no regulations to prevent it and lakeshore prices that are out of reach of most people Somers and other bays on Flathead will fill up with even more year-round houseboats that are used as stationary floating lake cabins more than summer watercraft.
They have other concerns too, including the potential of sewage breaches.
***
Tony Hill of Columbia Falls, speaking on behalf Tony Price, the owner of the smaller vessel, said the houseboat has been on Flathead Lake for 30 years. It and the larger houseboat were two of seven built by the same local man, and five are still in use on Flathead, he said.
To the best of his knowledge, Hill said, there have been no issues with any of them.
Mr. Price has been inspected by both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and passed just fine, Hill said.
We understand the complaints, Hill said, but ugly I for one see nothing ugly. Its a well-kept, well-built houseboat.
Both the Somers Bay houseboats use their pontoons as sewage holding tanks. Price has his pumped out regularly, Hill said, and the chances of them leaking are small because of the thickness of the steel.
They have not leaked, they have not been a problem and it is not an eyesore, Hill said. The houseboat is lighted at night during boating season, and to not see it, youd have to be blind, or going way too fast.
Id ask the commission to consider that its never been a problem, Hill said. Now its only a problem with people wealthier than Mr. Price is.
***
Two Lakeside residents spoke against the houseboats via teleconference from FWP Region 1 headquarters in Kalispell.
My biggest concern is for how long they can stay in one place, said Bob Balding. Otherwise, were going to end up with a situation like Sausalito Bay (California), which is covered in houseboats because theres no regulation.
Rex Boller said a sailboat called Hocus Pocus anchors offshore near Lakeside from early May to late September, and while it is not necessarily used as a floating lake house, it anchors for free, pays no permits or real estate taxes, and violates the views of shoreline property owners.
The boat broke free of its anchor in a storm a few years ago, and damaged the public dock, according to Boller.
There are safety and sanitation issues, he went on, and without regulation, there will be more and more abuse, he predicted.
Its us property owners who are being abused, and its not fair, Boller said.
***
A third Lakeside resident, Darcy Lard mother of Ben Lard, who owns the larger houseboat in Somers Bay was also at Region 1 headquarters, and sought to correct information about her sons vessel.
It does have a small engine, contrary to reports that it has no propulsion, she said, and has a larger motor that is in repair.
DEQ did inspect the barge-like houseboat, which includes a living room, full kitchen, master bedroom, washer and dryer, two fireplaces, hot tub and sleeping accommodations for eight, Lard said.
But they did not demand (the sewage) be pumped out, Lard said. Ben volunteered to have it pumped safely and correctly.
Six thousand gallons of sewage was removed from the pontoons, she said, not 8,100 as some people have said.
There are several barges on the lake, Lard added. The S.S. Hodge (a dock-building barge) operates for commercial purposes and its owner lives on it. Its going to be difficult to start regulating one type of barge over another.
***
Thompson, the Somers man who petitioned the FWP Commission to take up the issue, was out of state Thursday and could not attend the meeting in Helena, or the teleconference participation in Kalispell.
Commissioner Gary Wolfe of Missoula, who has spoken with Thompson, said it would be wrong to label him anti-houseboat.
The analogy he used with me is its like camping on public lands, Wolfe said. Theres a 14-day limit for camping on most Montana public lands, including state parks, and his concern is that these houseboats are permanently anchored on public water.
Thompson told the Missoulian earlier this week hed like to see a similar two-week limit for houseboats, with a requirement that they move at least two miles away for two weeks to prevent them from remaining in the same bay for extended periods.
Vermillion, the commission chairman, said he was especially interested with the larger boat that is offered for rent on VRBO.com for $300 a night with a three-night minimum.
When it becomes a commercial venture that is affecting public property, thats certainly a valid concern, Vermillion said.
He also referenced the Bakken boom, when oilfield workers facing a lack of housing in western North Dakota moved campers and trailers onto fishing access sites and public wildlife areas in eastern Montana and stayed for months at a time.
The commission put regulations in place to deal with that, Vermillion said, but we do need the authority to do anything about houseboats on public water. Cabin cruisers and larger sailboats could also be similarly used.
You have capable and powerful legislators in the Flathead area, he added. Have them give us the tools to help you.
POLSON Anglers have caught 437,258 lake trout out of Flathead Lake in the 14 years of Mack Days fishing tournaments.
But probably only one of them has landed a bride.
When Missoula chiropractor Chris Moore decided to propose to his girlfriend, Amanda Ormsby, last weekend, he decided to make the request a memorable one.
Amanda loves fishing, which is part of why I chose to do it this way, Moore says.
Moore cooked up his surprise and, with the help of his buddy, Brandon Bretz, set about pulling it off last Sunday, during the final day of Fall Mack Days.
Moore and Bretz usually get in several days of fishing during Mack Days tournaments, but have been so busy this fall that they'd only been able to make it out for half a day, back on opening day on Sept. 23.
I called Bretz and said, Hey, we need to go fishing, and told him why, Moore says. He liked it, and I knew I was going to need some help to pull it off.
***
They climbed in Bretzs boat, headed out, and waited until there was a lull in the fishing, Moore says.
That provided the excuse for one of them to announce that Maybe we should switch it up, and put on a flat fish.
The two men had Ormsby take over driving the boat while they retreated to the stern to tie on a No. 7 flat fish lure to use trolling.
They also attached the small engagement ring box to the line while Ormsby was busy driving the boat, dropped the line in the water, let it out, and put the rod in a downrigger.
We set it on the clip as light as we could, Moore says, so the pressure of the water would kick it off and make it look like a fish was on.
Bretz took over driving duties. It took some doing to fake the bite, but when it happened, We yelled at Amanda to get the rod, Moore says.
It didnt take her long to realize something wasnt right as she reeled in the line Its not fighting, Ormsby noted and Moore edged closer to look.
What is on it? he asked as the lure neared the surface, grabbing the line and lifting the ring box out of the water. What is that?
A smile spread across his face, giving away what was about to happen.
As he got down on one knee, the box in hand, a surprised Ormsby said, Are you serious? Are you serious?
And then the marriage proposal hit a serious snag.
***
Moore opened the box.
It was empty.
Whatd you do?" Bretz asked Moore.
Its not in there, he replied, his eyes darting around the floor of the boat.
Oh, God, Ormsby said.
I was wondering if he was dumb enough to put a ring in a box and drop it into Flathead Lake, Ormsby said later. Im glad hes not.
Moore angrily flung the empty box on the floor and turned away, but couldnt hold the grin off his face very long.
In the space of about two seconds he had pulled another engagement ring box out of his back pocket, headed back down on one knee while saying, Just kidding will you marry me?
This box had the ring in it.
***
Amandas face was so funny, Moore says. After I knew I had her fooled, I pulled the ring out of my back pocket.
I was shocked. Speechless, says Ormsby, who works for Home Instead Senior Care in Missoula.
The two have known each other for about 2 years, a relationship that initially began as a friendship according to Moore, the owner of Western Montana Spine and Injury Clinic.
They had discussed marriage, he says, but Ormsby had no idea a proposal was coming her way Sunday much less one that emerged from the depths of Flathead Lake.
Oh, and her answer?
She said yes.
Even without the ring, I would have said yes, Ormsby says.
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Police arrested a woman for her ninth DUI at 2:45 a.m. Thursday after she crashed her car into the retaining wall of the Quality Inn, 2100 Cornell Ave.
When police arrived on the scene, they found a woman passed out in the passenger's seat. Police said the driver, Sheryl Brunson, 49, soon staggered up barefoot.
Police said Brunson told them she and a friend had been drinking and gambling at a nearby casino before returning to the Quality Inn. Police said Brunson refused field sobriety tests and failed sobriety tests at jail and could not blow correctly for a Breathalyzer. Police obtained a warrant for a blood sample at the hospital and said Brunson had eight previous DUIs from Wisconsin and Washington.
Brunson was arrested for driving with a suspended license, failure to show proof of insurance, careless driving, not notifying authorities of her accident, and felony DUI.
Police said Brunson's passenger was not charged with any crimes and returned to the hotel room.
Cloudiness in the Beaverhead River south of Dillon is causing consternation for fishermen as the state continues its investigation into the issue.
This summer, for the third consecutive year, turbidity showed up in the river. Personnel from the state Department of Environmental Quality first saw it in early July. The sage-colored murkiness continued through the beginning of September.
The cloudiness started below Clark Canyon Reservoir and subsided as it moved downstream, said Lisa Peterson, DEQ spokesperson, via email. It has not been evident near Dillon.
The cloudiness was first reported in August 2014 and reappeared in the summer of 2015.
Matt Jaeger, fisheries management biologist for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, has been investigating the problem along with the DEQ. Jaeger said the turbidity doesn't appear to be affecting fish numbers. But he is still trying to determine if the problem is impacting fish weight. The cloudiness could affect their ability to forage efficiently.
Darrin Kron, DEQ supervisor for water quality monitoring, said divers went down this fall to the bottom of the Clark Canyon Reservoir, which appears to be the source of the problem.
They couldnt see even with lights, it was so turbid, Kron said.
Kron said its too early to pinpoint the cause. The agency is still analyzing its data. But potential culprits include too much sediment at the bottom of the reservoir and the weather.
Kron said the agency has a number of theories and has been collecting data since 2015. The agency hopes to have definite results by January 2017.
Meanwhile, the water woes are hurting outfitters.
I cant put a dollar amount on what its costing us, but its been tough for us for sure, Brad Platt of Dillon said in a phone interview. We dont have any options but to wait it out.
Kron said the agency is sensitive to the urgency of the issue.
We understand its affecting the local tourism economy and affecting fishing guides in that region quite heavily, Kron said.
Peterson said that a large amount of resources are going toward trying to find the cause because the agency knows how much it is negatively impacting the local economy.
Platt said that once the murkiness began, it cleared up on some days but never completely went away.
Clients show up and see pea soup. Theyre envisioning a crystal clear Montana river. You can see the look on their faces, Platt said.
For the first two weeks of August, Platt had to cancel all outfitting trips due to the rivers murkiness. He said Julys low flows shut down the Big Hole River, and the Jefferson saw significantly low flows by mid-summer as well. Platt was forced to take clients to the Madison River to fish.
But that frustrates clients who want to fish outside of Dillon when they book a trip with an outfitter located in Dillon, Platt said.
Mike Geary, president of the Trout Unlimited Lewis and Clark Chapter, said his group wants to do what it can to help, but they are waiting until the DEQ has data results that can pinpoint the exact cause.
Were in a no-mans land till we get information, Geary said. Good scientific information that would be what would drive us.
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County Attorney Eileen Joyce will make $113,328 this year the most of any elected official in Butte-Silver Bow County under new salaries approved by commissioners.
The salaries formally enacted Wednesday night reflect a 1.5-percent wage increase all county employees got this fiscal year under the budget approved in August. All the increases were retroactive to July 1, the start of a fiscal year that runs through June 30, 2017.
Joyce will make $7,714 more in county pay than the $105,614 salary for chief executive. Current Chief Executive Matt Vincent has not accepted a pay raise since he started the job on Jan. 1, 2013, so it has remained the same.
Commissioner Dave Palmer defeated Vincent in last weeks election and will be sworn in as the new chief executive on Dec. 29.
Besides the 1.5-percent pay raise, employees this year are getting $30 more applied to their county health insurance.
Under Butte-Silver Bows law, salaries for county elected officials are set by ordinance. Those for other county employees are set in the annual budget, and the one enacted this past August included the pay raises.
The amended ordinance approved Wednesday simply applies those same raises to elected officials.
Here are the old and new salaries for the rest of the countys elected officials:
Sheriff from $82,719 to $83,960
Clerk and recorder from $74,507 to $75,592 (includes $2,192 for also administering elections)
Treasurer, assessor, city judge, auditor, justice of the peace, superintendent of schools, clerk of district court from $72,315 to $73,400
Coroner from $36,157 to $36,700 (also gets $600 per year for travel expenses)
The countys 12 commissioners $6,597 to $6,695 (Each also gets $1,200 annually in travel expenses. Chairwoman or chairman gets an additional $2,995 annually.)
Akua Oppong-Anane smiled broadly, watching her students at Montana Tech enjoy themselves at a laid-back, fun dinner for international students this week.
As finals creep ever closer, students seem to welcome the good company, great food, and chance to sport their nations' colors.
International Club adviser Oppong-Anane chatted easily with students who moseyed over to say hi between bites of scrumptious home-cooked food plus regular campus fare from Larry Surrisi, director of dining services.
Its wonderful, she said. Theyve done a great job. Almost all the food was prepared by students.
About 30 people celebrated in the Student Union Building Copper Room, dancing native dances, sharing native foods, displaying native clothing, and all-out relaxing at the recently resurrected International Club during International Education Week 2016.
Organizers Margie Pascoe and Sarah Raymond soaked in the joyous gathering, too, as students hugged them in thanks for their guidance.
Pascoe is the director of International Services. Raymond is director of career services. They restarted the club three years ago.
Together they help students feel less like strangers in a strange land.
Fantastic is all Joel Gadikor, 27, said when asked how he likes Tech and living in Butte. He is one of half a dozen Ghana graduate students on campus this year. All of them are mining engineering majors and expect to return home for work in the gold mines.
The chance to mingle with some of the 260 foreign students from 17 countries enrolled was not lost on classmates.
Its very interesting to know the different cultures from different countries, said Judith Buaba, 25, another Ghana grad student. She hails from the city of Tarkwa, where the countrys largest gold mine is located in the western region.
Cos Opokuware, 26, also of Ghana, joined his compatriots in showing off exquisitely colored intricate wool and silk clothing at one table.
The atmosphere was festive, hearts bright, even in light of the racial tensions across the nation in the last week since the election.
Everyone has been so kind and welcoming, said Oppong-Anane. Everyone feels so comfortable with Margie, and they know were here for them as well.
Here in Butte, we dont have a problem, said Pascoe. I havent had any students come in and report anything.
Pascoe has worked at Tech for 33 years, 30 of them in the counseling center with Dean of Students Paul Beatty. International students drop in regularly for help navigating campus or the town or simply to chat.
I love these kids, and they love me, Pascoe said. Its so rewarding. They know were going to take care of them.
Pascoe plans to conduct more education about diversity in general on campus and throw another international dinner before years end.
Oppong-Anane has lived in Butte for several years but has taught freshmen engineering for two. She has 165 students who take fundamental engineering, math, and physics for a year before declaring a major. She earned her undergraduate degree at Tech then her master's and doctorate in environmental science at the University of Florida before returning to Butte. She loves the campus, she said.
While Judith Buaba awaits the really cold Montana winter, its evident she and her peers are happy with their studies and campus life.
All it takes is a smile or a hug and a dinner where all are welcome.
You always want to get to know a familiar face, added Buaba.
Patricia Ann passed away Aug. 26, 2016, in West Jordan, Utah. She was the fifth child of 11 born to Adolph and Cecilia (Rix) Kopp on July 10, 1934, in Mandan, North Dakota.
Pat married LeRoy Ingram and they were blessed with two sons, Keith and Douglas. Divorced early, she moved to Butte in 1956 and started working as a waitress at the Moxom Cafe where she stayed for several years. Other restaurants she was proud to work for were Marthas Cafe, Norma's Dog House, Rocker Truck Stop, and the grand opening of Dean OLearys Restaurant in Wise River on Mothers Day.
She married Olaf Klevgard in 1965, and he died in 1971.
She and her boys could always be found rummaging through the mine purchased properties on the East Side for items to improve the familys home, including a 15-foot long kitchen cabinet that was hauled six blocks in the back of a 1951 Ford pickup with her son holding up the end to get it home.
In 1976, she married Ronald Fletcher and moved to West Jordan, Utah where they became independent truckers, and worked at this for 10 years. Then they opened their own restaurant on Main Street in Salt Lake City for the next five years before she retired.
She really enjoyed family and cooking, and going to yard and estate sales. Coming back to Butte around her birthday to go camping in the Wise River area for the last six or seven years, before her illness, was tops on her to-do list.
She was preceded in death by her parents and nine of her siblings; son, Doug Ingram; and grandson, Jason Holt.
She is survived by husband, Ron Fletcher; sons, Keith (Agnes) Ingram of Butte and Craig Fletcher of West Jordan; daughters, Cherie Fletcher and Peggy (Steve) Holt of West Jordan; grandsons, Keith T. Ingram of Butte and Brian Holt of West Jordan; and her dearest four-legged friend, Buddy.
She has left a huge hole in our world and was so loved. She will never be forgotten.
A celebration of her life for family and friends will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the McQueen Club.
Donations in her honor may be made to the charity of your choice.
Axelson Alternative Cremation is privileged to serve Patricias family.
Express condolences at www.mtstandard.com.
A woman injured in a fire at the Silver Bow Homes housing complex on Sunday has died in the burn center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Butte-Silver Bow Coroner Lori Durkin on Thursday confirmed that Betty Jean Zitting, 69, was the victim in the fire. Zitting died Wednesday.
Her clothes had caught fire while she tried to put out the fire, and as a result, she was burned on a large portion of her body, authorities said.
City firefighters responded to a report of a woman injured by fire in the 600 row of Silver Bow Homes near Uptown Butte just before 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Upon arrival, firefighters observed light smoke showing from the front door of the residence. Upon entering the apartment, crews encountered a fire that had been started by a candle and consumed a seat cushion. At that point, the fire was mostly extinguished by the lone resident, Zitting.
Crews focused their attention on Zitting, who had sustained severe burns in her efforts to douse the fire, according to the fire department's report.
Crews quickly helped the victim with assistance from A-1 ambulance, who transported her to St. James Healthcare. From there, she was taken to the burn unit in Salt Lake City.
The apartment sustained minimal smoke and zero fire damage, the release said. The Butte-Silver Bow Fire Investigation Team determined the cause to be accidental when a candle spilled. Fire crews cleared the scene just after 6 p.m.
Funeral services for Betty Zitting will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Chapel of Duggan Dolan Mortuary.
As I consider Governor Steve Bullocks new energy plan, a Blueprint for Montanas Energy Future, Im brought back to another place and another time.
I grew up along the banks of the Monongahela River in Glassport, Pennsylvania, about 8 meandering miles before the Mon joins with the Allegheny River to create the Ohio River in downtown Pittsburgh. My parents were steelworkers and my earliest memories are of picking up tarry pebbles alongside an oily river. The river ran black, with no signs of life. Air quality was horrible.
It wasnt until the early 1970s when the City of Pittsburgh, in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and others, embarked on an ambitious 20-year plan to clean the air and water. The challenges were immense, requiring contributions from virtually everyone.
Today, the air is remarkably cleaner in Pittsburgh. The city experienced a true Renaissance - including a vibrant downtown, reclaimed waterfront, cleaner water, and far cleaner air - which stands in stark contrast to the days when streetlights turned on during the day from pollution-darkened skies and when executives brought extra shirts to work because theirs were blackened by lunchtime!
ACHIEVEMENTS AT RISK
But we also learned in Pittsburgh that its achievements are always at risk, and that is the essential point: Vigilance remains Pittsburghs persistent but noble challenge, as it is for any city similarly engaged. Ensuring clean air and healthy spaces for the next generation should be the inherent mandate of any informed generation; you can never let up.
Today I have the good fortune to live in Montana and I love my adopted home. Our environmental issues are certainly not Pittsburghs and in some ways, it makes it even more challenging. The affront to Montanans health is far subtler, but the evidence is clear. Rising temperatures, changes in rain patterns, and increasing wildfires lead to more particulate air pollution and more plant allergens. Adverse health impacts include increases in asthma and risk of premature chronic heart and lung disease. Children and the elderly are most vulnerable, but were all at risk.
We should make no mistake - getting out in front of the effects of declining air quality by embracing a progressive, balanced approach to ensuring the health of our children and elders while ensuring economic stability is inevitable - now is the time.
TOOLS FOR CHALLENGE
The governors new plan offers tools to face this significant challenge. I appreciate that transitioning to clean renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, is complicated by not just our reliance on traditional fuels but also the historical economic dependence on extraction in Montana. We know that reliance on traditional fuel sources, such as coal, to produce electricity in the United States contributes to both air pollution and climate change, but we legitimately fear widespread industrial shift. I lived through the economic collapse of steel and coal and the degree to which my family, friends and their parents were impacted, but in the longer term, we survived and prospered in the broader perspective. Public consensus may never match scientific consensus. That is why transition with sensitivity is critical, but our higher obligation is to provide for the health of our families and neighbors.
Only with visionary thinking, persistence, and bold action can we address climate change and maintain healthy air quality, and we all have a role to play. My career has been dedicated to improving population health through education and research so that we may effectively address the health impacts of climate change. Ive lived the problem and thus wanted to share this perspective so we may all engage in thoughtful reflection about how we work together to move forward with the shared commitment to our communitys health.
The Governors plan to guide Montanas energy future is exciting and innovative and full of potential. The plan deserves the support of those of us who value clean air and who wish to leave a better world for our young people.
-- Reed Humphrey, Ph.D., is dean and professor, College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Montana, Missoula.
Labor council passes anti-hate resolution
The Southwestern Montana Labor Council passed the following resolution on Nov. 14, and submitted it for publication on the Standard's editorial page:
Statement on acceptance and nondiscrimination
Resolved:
That the Southwestern Montana Central Labor Council stands united for the ideals of diversity, acceptance, and inclusion in our unions and community. We reject the hate crimes that have swept the country since the election, and the racist and divisive tactics employed during the campaign that created these events. We believe labor and our community should be free from racism, sexism, bigotry, harassment, and oppression. We uphold these ideals ourselves, and strongly encourage our brothers and sisters in labor to uphold these ideals.
-- Chris Danielson, vice president, Southwestern Montana Central Labor Council, Butte
Initiate impeachment proceedings
Now that Republicans, and those who voted Republican, have put Donald Trump, a known misogynist, racist and low-life egomaniac into the highest office in the land, there is seemingly little that civilized, intelligent and conscientious voters can do.
There are, however, a few options available to those who wish to pursue them:
1. Leave the country. This option has a definite attraction to it because who knows where this country is headed after Trump takes office?
2. Remain in place but secede from the union.
3. Stop paying taxes. If Trump can do it, why cant everybody else?
4. At the very least, contact, needle and harass your congressman incessantly to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump immediately after he is sworn in. The sooner the latter action is taken the better.
Larry Robson, Huntley
Tired of liberals' self-serving bull
On Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Harold, was published in this newspaper declaring his embarrassment and disappointment with this country in the way WE THE PEOPLE voted. He voiced his displeasure that we want to vet our country of illegal immigrants who are drug smugglers and rapists, that we want to vet Muslim Islamic extremist immigrants who want to kill us, that we dont see these bad asses as vulnerable people, and that we dont find bigotry and misogyny a reason to stop someone from holding public office.
He referred to those Americans who support these vetting measures and have a different viewpoint from his perspective as being school yard bullies, narcissists, ignorant, liars, primal screamers, under-educated underclass white Americans, pigs, and those who embrace bigotry and misogyny. Gosh, with the exception of signaling out whites, that sounds like the blue collar multi-ethnic melting pot neighborhood I loved and grew up in.
Well Leonard, I have a news flash for you. The fact that you, the media and other minorities run your mouths off because of your disdain for America and its elections that dont reward your political agenda is in itself bigotry. This and the fact that liberals choose to create havoc in our streets to protest their self-made situations are the reasons Trump and Pence won the 2016 election. WE THE PEOPLE are tired of your self-serving bull.
That said, God bless America where we still have a freedom of choice and an electoral college that votes the way the silent majority voted in each of our 50 states this year.
-- Larry Krizan, Wise River
Why God put wolves on this Earth
So the old rancher guy asked me if I was from California.
"No," I replied, "I moved here by way of Northern Illinois."
"Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the country and highest number of murders," came his response. "How's those gun laws working out for you?"
I kinda shook my head but said nothing. People carry guns here, lots of them. Rancher guy interrupted the tentative silence:
"How did you vote on the Montana Trap-Free Initiative 177?"
Uh oh, I smell wolf blood.
Me: "Are you a God-fearing Christian? That God critter of yours put wolves on this Earth for a reason. What a kidder. Created those pesky animal scientists, too, the same ones who tell us wolves have an important role in the wondrous pageant of life.
"Since this is the only Earth on Earth, these are the only wolves in the whole wide universe. Who am I to defy God's majestic and mostly opaque plan for wolves? You trap all the wolves, you think God and his little buddy Jesus going to be happy about that?"
Then I pivoted and beat feet. Why did rancher guy think I was from California?
-- Craig Schmidt, Anaconda
Save America from stupid old white guys
We survived the incompetence and corruption of a Ronald Reagan, I can only hope we can survive the new Mussolini.
With Reagan we had maybe the worse President in history. I think Trump will break his record. Let us check out a little history. There was the Iran-Contra Affair in which Ronald Reagan illegally sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Fourteen of those very close to him were charged, but pardoned by Bush of criminal activity.
Then there was the Department of Housing and Urban Development grant fixing. Sixteen convictions came about. There were lobbying scandals, EPA corruption, Inslaw Affair involving Edwin Meese and kickbacks, savings and loan crisis, Operation Ill Wind with Wedtech Corporation convicted of bribery for Defense Department contracts. Then there was trickle down "Voodoo Economics" which failed from the get go.
He was the supreme union buster, crippling working peoples chances for collective bargaining. Then there was his condescending dismissal of the AIDs crisis. He destroyed the Palestinian hope for sovereignty. Reagan's Mental Health Reforms made homelessness an issue and his lack of compassion was an offense against our commonly-shared humanity.
But, Trump is too unintelligent to hide his ultra egoist self indulgence.
P.S. -- No working person could ever support a spoiled rich guy who never had a real job and runs his business interests from bankruptcy to bankruptcy. Fascism is here and on the rise, however, most young people in America are far too smart to fall for that.
It is up to the young to save America from stupid old white guys.
-- Michael Joseph Francisconi, Dillon
God have mercy on the United States
Thank you, President Obama, for eight years of intelligence, wisdom, patience and dignity. Thank you for pulling the nation back from the brink of financial ruin brought on by arrogance and greed. Thank you for providing access to health care for millions of Americans. Thank you for working with other world leaders to stop the destruction of our environment. Thank you, Secretary Clinton, for running a positive campaign filled with hope, inclusiveness and clarity.
I am ashamed of the man who was elected president, and his vulgarity and hostility are in stark contrast to your grace and decorum, President Obama and Secretary Clinton.
Though I am in deep despair over the next president, I am proud of the peaceful transfer of power that you both so thoughtfully provided. May God have mercy on the United States and on the world.
-- Elizabeth Kohlstaedt, Helena
What happens when mining companies leave
Butte, Basin, Libby, Upper Ten Mile. What do these places have in common?
They were at one time very productive mines. Many people earned a good wage working those jobs. The mining companies made millions. All was well.
But what do they have in common now? They are 4 of the 17 Superfund sites in Montana.
They are an example of what can happen when the mining industries leave.
Who pays for the cleanup of these sites? We as taxpayers do.
Mining often leaves a toxic mess when the mines close. I for one do not want to see the Smith River meet the same fate as the Berkeley Pit.
-- Janet Andrew, Helena
WAPELLO, Iowa - Wapello is dealing with its second Minion blaze in a little over two weeks. Wapello Police Chief Wayne Crump told the city council Thursday a second hay bale dressed as the animated character from the film Despicable Me had been destroyed late Tuesday night.
Crump said an investigation into the fire was continuing.
According to published reports, a Wapello man was arrested earlier on Tuesday and charged with second-degree arson, a class C felony, and third-degree criminal mischief, an aggravated misdemeanor, in connection with an Oct. 27 fire that destroyed a Minion and damaged a light pole in the downtown area.
Wapello Mayor Shawn Maine said Thursday that city officials and local citizens were upset over the fires and destruction of the Minions.
They were placed in the downtown area earlier this year as part of an effort to add some spark to the area, local beautification officials had reported. Planters and pole banners were also added to downtown around the same time as part of the Hometown Pride and Wapello Community Club programs.
A local businesswoman said Thursday the rest of the Minion hay bales had been removed following the second fire.
Maine said the felony arson charge was justified for the fires.
It may seem harmless, he told the council, but they did cause damage.
In other action, the city council approved a $16,852 payment to SulzCo, LLC, Muscatine, for continued work on the citys 2016 CSO (Combined Sewer Outflow) Separation Project. The payment represented the sixth the city has made for the $172,228 project.
Maine said the latest payment will likely be the last until next spring when the company is expected to finish asphalt work near the pool. That work is expected to be completed before Memorial Day, Maine said.
The council also approved the citys October 2016 Treasurers Report and approved a resolution to transfer $4,175 from several accounts to the citys Debt Service Fund to cover an upcoming bond payment.
The council also approved a tax increment financing (TIF) certification of $263,050 for the Wapello Farmers Elevator Urban Renewal area. The certification will be filed with the Louisa County Auditors office.
Maine also updated the council on a recent annexation meeting that he and other city officials attended. He said the information provided will be useful if the city moves forward with any annexation proposal once U.S. Highway 61 is realigned.
Maine also reported Louisa County Engineer Larry Roehl had advised him the Iowa Department of Transportation will likely hold a public forum on the realignment in January or February.
Planning is also still continuing on replacing the County Highway 99 bridge at Wapello, Maine said. He told the council several grants have been awarded for the project, but the type of bridge and construction methods were still under review.
MUSCATINE, Iowa Iowas water quality issues have been in the news in recent months. Due to the high level of interest in this subject, the League of Women Voters of Muscatine County is having a community wide event addressing Iowas water quality at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the Muscatine Community Colleges McAvoy Center.
Featured speaker will be David Osterberg, a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, who has a long career in the field of environmental health and environmental quality. He will speak on Can Voluntary Action Bring Adequate Water Quality, which will address the 2013 Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.
The strategy is a plan conceived to improve Iowas streams and lakes, and address the large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The plan imposes mandatory action in urban areas (improved sewage treatment plants) but depends on the agricultural sector to voluntarily change practices.
What evidence exists that it can work?
In addition to his work at the University of Iowa, Osterberg is the founder and past executive director of the Iowa Policy Project, a non-profit policy research organization. Osterberg remains active at the non-profit in water quality and energy policy research and has published widely on Iowa environmental issues.
He received his bachelors degree in economics from Washington State University, and Masters in water resources management, economics and agricultural economics, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
From 1983 to 1994, Osterberg served in the Iowa House of Representatives, serving as chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection.
For more information, contact Susan Johannsen, President, League of Women Voters, at 563-264-2365.
MUSCATINE, Iowa The Salvation Army of Muscatine held its annual kettle kickoff fundraising event on Friday, Nov. 18, at the Salvation Army headquarters in Muscatine.
Every year we have a theme, said Lt. Brook Lopez of the Muscatine Salvation Army. This year its Be the Shield and we really want to encourage people to wear their favorite superhero cape while theyre out there ringing the bell.
At the kickoff event, Lopez announced this years fundraising goal: $180,000, which constitutes almost half of the Salvation Armys yearly budget. Last year, she said, the organization reached its $165,000 goal.
These donations, she said, goes straight back to the community.
Throughout the year, the Salvation Army offers different services including free lunches, groceries through the food pantry, youth programs, worship services and emergency vouchers to cover rent or utilities. Last year, the Salvation Army of Muscatine gave toys to nearly 2,500 children during the Holiday season, provided food boxes to nearly 350 families in need and helped more than 1,000 families pay their rent or utilities.
Lopez urged the people to make a donation in any amount, no matter how small.
Every little bit helps, she said. People often say, oh, all I have is just two pennies, well, those two pennies could really help somebody. We could make two pennies stretch a lot farther here than your two pennies could in your pocket.
Each year, the organization appoints a chair who will oversee the fundraising efforts, and this years chair, UnityPoint Health Trinity Muscatine Hospital CEO Jim Hayes. Although it is his first time participating in this effort, Hayes said he is confident the people of Muscatine will be generous.
This community has a great track record of supporting people in need and this is certainly a good way to do that, so Im confident that we can hit the goal, he said.
GRANDVIEW, Iowa A worker became trapped in an industrial elevator basket, suspended more than 200 feet in the air on Tuesday afternoon inside a more than 600-foot chimney, what would be approximately 60 stories up in a tall building, amid the whirring of machinery and dim lighting.
At approximately 4:12 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov.15, the Muscatine Joint Communications Center received a request for a high-angle rescue at 8602 172nd St. in Grandview. A contracted employee of MidAmerican Energy was in need of rescue at the Louisa Generating Station.
Dan Keltner, the Fire Chief of the Grandview Fire Department, said although his team of volunteer firefighters had equipment necessary, they had not had the chance to train for a high-angle rescue operation.
Immediately all we could really do is send two guys up the ladder to assess the situation, he said.
He and other volunteer firefighters in Grandview know the basics, but lacked high-angle rescue training. Keltner said the Grandview firefighters felt almost helpless at first, because they knew they could not attempt the rescue without assistance.
I think it motivated these guys to want to learn it a lot more, he said.
When the Muscatine Fire Department received a call to assist the Grandview Fire Department in the rescue, the Hazardous Incident Response Team, a total of 11 firefighters from Muscatine, went to the scene.
Preparation
The first step upon arrival, said Lt. Joe Timmsen of the Muscatine Fire Department, is to determine the best course of action both for the worker in need of rescue and for the firefighters doing the rescuing.
If we become part of the problem we cant help anybody, he said.
The firefighters began to develop an incident action plan.
Vision from the bottom was impaired due to the low lighting, so the firefighters knew they would need to climb above the basket to examine the situation.
We had to physically get up there and see what was going on, said Mechanic Chris Brase of the Muscatine Fire Department.
The closest catwalk, or platform, above the stuck elevator was at about 420 feet up, where Brase and Timmsen, with help from firefighters Michael Hoppe, Spencer Ripperger, and others, would mount their rescue.
The ladders had safety cages, making it difficult to climb with the added bulk of gear In addition to the long climb, Timmsen said, the firefighters had to think about how much energy they were going to need after they reached the top.
They climbed for about an hour.
Its a marathon, its not a sprint, Brase said.
Planning
Because the chimney was dark and loud, Timmsen could not talk to the worker. They stopped about halfway up and tried to assess his health. After trying to talk, Timmsen eventually determined that the worker was conscious, probably tired but otherwise OK.
He could see the worker when he was right across from him in the chimney.
And finally he gave me a hand signal, he said.
The trapped worker had been in the chimney for a while before the firefighters arrived, Timmsen said, but was calm, which helped with the rescue efforts.
There was an inner circle inside the circular chimney, and the elevator cage hung in the air. The firefighters began to set up ropes to lower Timmsen down to the worker, and one to pull them over to the safety of a catwalk to the side and below the elevator.
Brase had to throw a rope to Hoppe, who was waiting on a platform on the side of the chimney, so they could eventually pull the rescuer and worker over to the platform and then climb safely down. Because of the low visibility, Brase had to guess how far away Hoppe was, and Hoppe said he could not see the rope as it swung until it was close.
It was challenging, he said.
The next step was to lower Timmsen to the worker in the elevator, still hanging more than 200 feet off the ground. They lowered him down, and he was only just able to reach the elevator cage.
Then you gotta think, right: youre in that cage. Timmsen said. Youve been working all day. Its hot, youre thirsty, no bathroom, its dark, its noisy, youve got a cell phone but its dead, cant talk to anybody, all this stuff is going on around you in the course of how much time?
But the worker, he said, was calm, and was able to walk down the ladders once the rescue was complete. That trust is helpful, Brase said, because the situation could have made someone feel panicky.
Were gonna put a harness on you, trust us, were going to swing you across to that wall 30 foot, and dont worry its only 200 feet to the ground, he said.
But the rope had only barely reached the cage, and would need to be lowered farther to reach the side of the wall with the catwalk.
Thats when we found out 200 foot wasnt enough, Brase said.
Timmsen said he could only imagine how the worker would feel when rescue arrived, but then they realized another 45 minutes to an hour would be needed to have more firefighters carry up more rope.
Teamwork
Now they all of a sudden theyve got to measure, they have to all of a sudden change everything weve got rigged up, Timmsen said.
Hoppe, with all the confusion, was on a catwalk, so communication was difficult because they could not hear each other except by radio, and even then the noise of the fan inside the chimney made it hard to hear.
Meanwhile, Timmsen was able to get into the elevator basket with the worker.
You see how now all of a sudden these three have to do everything, he said, gesturing to Brase, Hoppe, and Ripperger.
Plans often have to change, they said, because of obstacles that can be encountered at the scene of any emergency.
You evaluate and you change and you adapt, Brase said.
Battalion Chief Darrell Janssen was on the ground, talking to the main station, which had multiple calls come in, and relaying information to the men in the chimney when needed, like how much weight the elevator basket could hold or the distance between two points inside the chimney.
Its a huge team effort, Brase said.
Once they had the other ropes, they lowered Timmsen and the worker and pulled them safely to the platform on the side of the chimney. Then they all carefully climbed back to the ground.
Janssen was coordinating on the ground with the firefighters at the scene as well as the fire department, which had several calls come in during the rescue.
Keltner and the six firefighters from the Grandview Fire Department were also doing what they could to help, carrying water and equipment up and down the ladders along with other Muscatine firefighters.
Im proud of my guys; they were willing to go up as many times as they needed too, he said.
The rescue took about six hours, and Keltner said the Grandview firefighters had been on the scene for around seven hours. One firefighter was reported to have minor injuries.
It took a long time, which they always do, but in my mind the thing that measured this being a success is, I never felt like the patient was in any jeopardy, Timmsen said.
MUSCATINE, Iowa A delegation of Ukrainians from the city of Drohobych is visiting Muscatine this week. They learned about the towns history, visited local plants, and sampled some of Muscatines food.
Walter Conlon, a retired lawyer and a member of Muscatines sister city board, said Muscatine and Drohobych became sister cities in the late 90s. And Conlon, who has family ties in Ukraine, helped facilitate the connection. Since then, three delegations from Drohobych visited Muscatine, and several exchange students came to study in Muscatine.
Conlon said the visit is as important to the people of Muscatine as it is to the delegates.
The rest of the world knows a lot more about America, some of it is true and some of it is fiction, than we know about them. Theres a community in Muscatine that want to have more international involvement, he said.
Drohobych, a city of more than 76,000 people in Western Ukraine, is also located near a river. And though Muscatine is quite a bit smaller, the delegates said Muscatine delivered a few big lessons. Speaking through a translator Alexei Bibik, who was himself an exchange student and now lives in Davenport they explained what they learned.
They said Ukraine still faces challenges in wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Drohobych used to have many factories, but they are now mostly gone and the local economy is suffering. Throughout their stay in Muscatine, they toured many local factories and learned about Muscatines economy. They said they hoped the visit would encourage economic ties with the town and with the country as a whole.
They thanked the city of Muscatine for its hospitality and kindness throughout the week.
And Conlon said he learned a thing or two about Muscatine during the visit.
One of the most beautiful about escorting foreign visitors is you learn things about your own community, he said.
The delegates will stay in the area until next Tuesday.
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 piece below was written by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and published on SANews.
The opposition and all the doomsayers who still do not understand the value of transparency leadership should now hold their peace with the latest findings.
The President of the Republic, President Jacob Zuma, announced the full details of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety or irregularity in the Strategic Defence Procurement Package, commonly referred to as the ARMS DEAL.
In April 2011, President Zuma announced Judge Seriti of the Supreme Court of Appeal, as the Chairperson of the Commission of Enquiry into the Arms Deal. The Commission was composed of Senior Judges of high standing and integrity, who have impeccable track records in the legal and judicial systems.
These sons and daughters of the soil, with impeccable track records and independent minds and held in high esteem by their peers and have displayed unquestionable leadership attributes in their added responsibilities other than presiding in the Courts of Law, announced that there are no traces of corruption, irregularities or fraud in the Arms Deal investigations.
The case against the State by the opposition along with their cheer leader, Terry Crawford-Browne, have been thrown out of the Appeals Court.
The Arms Deal critic Terry Crawford- Browne, and the main Political Opposition Parties who called the results of the Commission a White Wash have lost the Constitutional Court bid to have the Arms Deal Commission results set aside.
The Seriti Commission of Inquiry probed the 1999 multi-billion rand deal case and found that there were no evidence that any of the contracts were tainted by evidence of wrongdoing. This Government had from the very beginning pronounced that it will lead a democratic Constitutional State that values and promotes transparency in the affairs of Governance.
It allowed the Seriti Commissions findings to be tested by the Constitutional court.
The people of South Africa can now come to terms with the truth with the Courts verdict and appreciate that their Government and its intentions of procuring Strategic Arms has always been transparently conducted and its commitment to promoting a peaceful united and stable continent and a better world is a reality.
South Africa is recognised and highly respected as a peace broker by the International Community.
In the year 2000, our countrys Defence Force contributed immensely to the African Union peacekeeping missions using the procured arms. The SANDF peacekeeping missions have been well appreciated by the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Darfur and the Nepals.
Our Government listens to the voice of its citizens. It welcomes and appreciates calls from whistle blowers. Respects the voice of the Opposition in Parliament. This became evident when it appointed the Seriti Commission of Enquiry into the Arms Deal procurement strategy to address the concerns of the citizens of South Africa.
Mr Terry Crawford-Browne, who has been following this case for years, led the Opposition and took the Commissions findings to the Constitutional Court where the Court finally pronounced the verdict on the matter in favour of the Seriti Commission of Enquiry. We can only hope that the Opposition will now finally respect the verdict as pronounced by the Constitutional Court.
Spectrum is the lifeblood of any wireless network. The spectrum an operator has access to determines the kind of coverage it can give, its maximum capacity, and speeds.
For Internet users, speed measurements are usually given in bits per second but bits per second is also a measure of bandwidth.
Bandwidth essentially represents capacity what the maximum amount of traffic you can load on a link is.
A wireless networks spectrum is usually measured in millions of Hertz (Hz), or Megahertz (MHz). Like bits per second, Hertz is a measure of bandwidth.
In general, the more Hertz of bandwidth a network has access to, the more bits per second of capacity it can offer.
This is why South Africas mobile networks have been begging the government to release unused spectrum that has been earmarked for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).
ICT Policy White Paper
However, South Africas Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele recently issued a policy document that will likely delay the release of new IMT spectrum for years.
Called the National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper, it not only sets aside all unassigned spectrum for a single national wholesale network, it has wording that suggests the government wants to take back the spectrum networks are currently using.
Cwele spoke about this at a recent event, saying the government does not want to expropriate private property by default.
All we want to do is that: lets share our networks. Where we can share, lets share, said Cwele.
Because many people would like to utilise these networks but dont have access.
Who should get the spectrum?
Regardless of whether the government wants to take the spectrum back, it has indicated it wont assign more spectrum to private companies.
However, it is the likes of Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, and Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) that are investing billions into their networks.
To get the maximum possible benefit out of the unused spectrum, a portion must be given to the companies that have demonstrated an effective use of their assignments.
To see who is doing the most with the spectrum they have, and making the most of their investment, we measured average speed and spectral efficiency.
We added up all the IMT spectrum assigned to operators, divided the number of subscribers by the bandwidth available, and multiplied that number by a tenth of the average speedtest results on those networks.
Dubbed the SEAS factor (Spectral Efficiency and Average Speed), this gives an indication of how effectively networks are using their spectrum.
Spectrum bandwidth figures were obtained from ICASA and subscriber numbers were obtained from the networks financial results.
Where subscriber numbers were not available, they were estimated.
Network operator Spectrum (8003,500MHz) Subscribers (mil) Subs/Hz Speedtest (Download Mbps) MHz/Mbps (lower is better) SEAS factor Vodacom 81 35.7 440.7 32.54 2.49 1,434.17 MTN 86 29.7 345.2 27.25 3.16 941.05 Cell C 76 12.6 165.8 25.94 2.93 430.01 Telkom (mobile) 162 3.2 19.8 19.83 8.17 39.33 Neotel 89.8 0.1 1.1 4.44 20.23 0.49 iBurst/WBS 54 0.044 0.8 1.07 50.47 0.09 Cloudseed 20 0 0.0 N/A N/A 0
Now read: How Vodacom and MTN can lose their cellular spectrum
After a month-long detour and mechanical problems earlier this month, the dredging crew for a long-awaited project to excavate the Napa River now has less than two weeks to finish the job.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the first dredging project on the Napa River since 1998. Workers are facing a state-imposed Nov. 30 deadline to avoid disrupting fish migrations in the waterway.
Dredging in Napa began in late September but was soon halted as the Corps contractor, Ahtna Design-Build Inc. of Alaska, moved its equipment north to excavate the port of Fort Bragg ahead of the states Oct. 31 deadline there.
Upon returning to the Napa River this month, workers have had to cope with accumulated debris and silt from the past two decades. Workers began excavating near the Third Street bridge Tuesday but encountered mechanical problems that slowed progress into Thursday, according to city spokeswoman Jaina French.
Its construction and theres a lot of moving parts, said Pamela Patton, project manager in the Corps San Francisco district. The cutter head on the dredger has sucked up tires and debris, and weve had to deal with getting it out of the head and disposing it. Its because we havent dredged there for so long, theres a buildup of miscellaneous debris that gets caught up in the machinery.
The Corps is preparing, but has not yet locked in, arrangements for completing the work if parts of the river are not excavated by months end, she said.
Plans call for clearing 60,000 cubic yards of silt from various shallow spots on a 17-mile section of river, from the Third Street bridge down to Asylum Slough near Highway 37 in Vallejo. The project will ensure a minimum 9-foot depth on the river to downtown Napa, the limit of its navigable waterway.
The project will correct shoaling problems that have increased the hazards even for smaller vessels and caused the cancellation last December of the Napa Valley Yacht Clubs annual Lighted Boat Parade.
The work is being carried out with a barge-like vessel equipped with pumps, support poles to anchor the boat to the riverbed, and a cutter head attached to a pipeline, according to the Corps. After positioning the dredge over a shallow section of river, workers lower the cutter to the channel bottom, where the cutter head rotates and breaks up sediment.
A system of pipes and pumps conveys the sediment to one of two deposit sites, one near Imola Avenue and another near the future Napa Pipe development.
With the deadline fast approaching, the Corps has expanded its dredging schedule, which Patton said will run 24 hours a day for most of the river despite earlier plans to shut down work overnight within city limits. At the waterways northern tip in downtown, dredging will shut down between midnight and 6 a.m. to minimize the disturbance for guests at the Napa River Inn, she said.
The Corps has advised those living or working near a dredging zone to expect noise of about 90 decibels, with peaks of 100 dB, as crews shift from north to south down the river. A 90 dB sound level is equivalent to being 25 feet from a motorcycle, while 100 dB is about the noise level of lawn mower or garbage truck, according to Purdue Universitys Department of Chemistry.
Such noise may affect guests at the Napa River Inn, where some guest rooms will be as close as 40 yards to the dredge, for about five days, according to the hotels manager Sara Brooks. But the impact, she added, will be less than it could be because the delays have pushed work into a quiet window between the Napa Valley Film Festival and Thanksgiving weekend.
Because of the delay it actually benefited the hotel; occupancy (this week) just isnt as high as it normally is, she said Thursday.
Gustaf Andrew Anderson passed away from heart complications in his home surrounded by his family on October 31, 2016. Gus was born on April 29, 1930 to Gustaf Eric Anderson and Elsie Marie Anderson (nee Finstrom) in Escanaba Michigan. He attended Escanaba schools and graduated from Escanaba High School in 1948. He attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois for 2.5 years where he met his wife of 63 years, Phyllis Jean Bood of Chicago, Illinois. He transferred to Michigan State for one quarter to get his science credit, then to Northwestern University to complete his undergraduate work. After graduating he went on to Northwesterns Dental School in Chicago, graduating in 1956. During his senior year at Northwestern he was one of a select few accepted by the Air Force and served 45 months.
Gus and Phyllis were married September 12, 1953 and began their life together. After graduation from dental school the Air Force moved them to March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He went into private practice in 1959.
By 1960 Gus and Phyllis had 4 beautiful children; Kristine (James Manos) Todd, Lauren (Larry Spear), and Peter (Linda). They moved their young family to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1963. Gus had a private practice limited to orthodontics in Gwinn, Michigan where there had been no dentist for several years. In 1969 the family moved to Marinette, Wisconsin as Gus expanded his orthodontic practice. In 1972 they moved to Northern California. He retired from dentistry in 1991 due to poor eyesight.
In 1982 Gus decided to follow his dream of winemaking and at the age of 52 he went back to school at UC Davis in the viticulture and enology program. In 1983 He and his son, Todd, started Andersons Conn Valley Vineyards in east St Helena. He retired from winemaking in 2001, but missed making wine in 2002 so he started Eagles Trace Winery in 2003. He finally retired in 2015.
Gus enjoyed flying and had his pilots license. He and Phyllis loved to travel and see the world. He especially loved the Caribbean, sailing, visiting the relatives in Sweden, the wine people of France and his siblings in Michigan.
Besides his wife and children he is survived by his grandchildren: Michael, Garrett, Nellie and Matthew (Marissa); his sister Elaine Faultersack (Ardie), brothers Robert Anderson (Mary) and Jon Anderson (Betsy), and numerous nieces and nephews. Grandson Andrew Spear predeceased Gus in 2010.
There will be a celebration of Gus life at Grace Episcopal Church in St Helena, CA on Thursday December 8, 2016 at 11:00 am. A luncheon will follow the service at Todd Andersons home.
He will be missed by so many!
In lieu of flowers please make a donation to your favorite charity.
Thirty years ago, mid-November was the beginning of the wine season, which culminated on Dec. 31 with bubbly, and it all started with a silly promotional campaign that was called the race to market.
Beaujolais Nouveau was the beverage, and the entire game, with every player winking just a bit, revolved around becoming the first producer to get this frivolous red wine to consumers.
French law prohibited the sale of this wine before Nov. 15 each year, but it was not a serious beverage at all. Sold primarily in French cafes by the glass to mark the end of the recently completed harvest, Beaujolais Nouveau never sold for very much money.
Made from the Gamay noir a jus blanc grape, or simply gamay, it is remarkably fruity, has very little depth, and often is served cold. Cynics would call it alcoholic soda pop.
And it doesnt keep. If you have a year-old bottle, most wine merchants would tell you to throw it away and buy a new one.
By the early 1980s, the race to market became an absurd carnival on wheels. One wine company delivered the first bottle into Paris with a tuxedoed waiter parachuting to the base of the Eiffel Tower, with another waiter standing by with a tray of glasses.
The time was usually 12:01 a.m.
One merchant delivered his cache to a New York locale using an elephant to haul boxes of the stuff. Bottles were flown on the Concorde; bottles were opened at midnight on board cruise ships.
The odd thing, of course, is that the quality of the wine has almost always been immaterial.
The Intercontinental Hotel in San Diego asked me to assess the quality of the 1985 Nouveau that had arrived moments earlier from the airport via a motorcycle brigade.
As if anyone really cared about the quality!
Regular Beaujolais can be a fine wine, but the nouveau stuff rarely is.
In fact, once the fanfare of the Nouveau race to market was forgotten, the real stuff would show up in the spring with a lot less buzz.
Real in this case means Cru Beaujolais, wines that come from one of the 10 prestige regions of the Beaujolais district, which commanded prices two and three times that of the November surprise.
Among the names that are prized are Morgon, Fleurie, Julienas, the so-called top-of-the-category Moulin-a-Vent, and the most romantic, St.-Amour.
Some years ago, the French changed the legal date on which it was illegal to release Le Beaujolais Nouveau to the third Thursday of November. That allowed the Beaujolais district to begin staging literally dozens of festivals dedicated to the young wine.
Nouveau had such a following back in the 1980s that many California wineries began to make a similar wine, some of them using gamay and others using other grape varieties. One winery gained more fame for its nouveau than any other: Charles Shaw (the original!) of the Napa Valley.
Even the Italians got into the act, some making a wine called nouvelle.
But since the wine almost never represented anything special, the Nouveau promotions eventually were seen as trivial and were abandoned.
You can still find Beaujolais Nouveau from France in United States stores in late November every year, even though the artificial race to market has long since ceased to be a big deal.
And due to the decline in interest in nouveau, so has all Beaujolais become far less important than it once was.
The Cru wines (which we will not see until March or April) represent gamay at its best. They still have a small following on the East Coast. California wine merchants still carry a small amount of a few Cru wines, and even that market is declining.
Because no bottles of French nouveau have yet been released, I can make no recommendations for the best of them. But the most recognizable Beaujolais house, Georges Duboeuf, is often the worldwide leader in quality, with the wines rarely selling for more than $10 a bottle.
A final thought: I doubt that the French created Nouveau Beaujolais to work wonderfully on Americans Thanksgiving day table, but that is certainly the wines greatest raison detre!
Wine of the Week: 2015 Alamos Torrontes, Salta, Argentina ($13): Even dedicated wine collectors should be given a mulligan if they identify this wine as Gewurztraminer, so spicy and alluring is its aroma. The grape variety, which originated in Argentina, typically makes a slightly richer, sweeter wine in the Salta District. This wine has all the flavor profiles associated with tropical fruit and the expected sweetness and aftertaste. Best with very spicy foods. Serve well chilled.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke by phone today with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The Secretary General congratulated the President-elect on his election victory and said that he was looking forward to working with him and his national security team.
The President-elect and the Secretary General both underlined NATO's enduring importance, and discussed how NATO is adapting to the new security environment, including to counter the threat of terrorism.
Secretary General Stoltenberg also thanked the President-elect for raising the issue of defense spending during the campaign, which has been a top priority for the Secretary General since his appointment in 2014. The two leaders agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing, but that there is more to do.
The Secretary General said he looked forward to welcoming President-elect Trump to Brussels for the NATO Summit next year to discuss the way forward with Allied Heads of State and Government.
Damen is currently completing minor modifications before the outfitting process is concluded. Because both vessels were available on stock, delivery is expected before the end of the year. The new Stan Patrol 4207 vessels will be renamed HMJS Cornwall and HMJS Middlesex.
Winter delivery journey
We are very proud to announce that the Jamaica Defence Force has once again selected Damen for its fleet requirements, says Damen Sales Manager Americas Alan Borde. We are looking forward to seeing these vessels in operation for this much valued client.
On completion, two teams of JDF representatives will fly to the Netherlands in order to sail both vessels back to Jamaica with Damens own expedition team. Depending on weather conditions, the vessels are expected to arrive in Jamaica in January 2017.
Preparations for re-sale
As well as the specifications for the new vessels, the contract also details a trade-in agreement that involves JDFs existing Patrol Vessels. These three vessels were built by Damen and have been in active service with JDF since 2005 and 2006.
After an official decommissioning ceremony which took place on 8 November in Port Royal, Jamaica, these vessels were handed over to Damen. A heavy lift ship will collect all three vessels in the coming weeks and transport them to the Netherlands, continues Mr Borde. Following some updating and repair works at Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam, we will offer them for sale via Damen Trading.
GoldSeek Radio Nugget: Bill Murphy and Chris Waltzek
By: Chris Waltzek, GoldSeek.com Radio
-- Published: Friday, 18 November 2016 | Print | Disqus Highlights Bill Murphy of GATA.org rejoins the show with comments on the global currency issues.
The Indian rupee is the next domino to drop as 86% of its paper money was withdrawn from circulation resulting in widespread economic chaos.
Minister Narendra Modi enforced an anti-graft measure to ban high-value currency in Asia's third-largest economy.
90% of daily transactions involve paper currency, compared to merely 30% in the US.
The once vibrant economy has ground to a halt, as truck drivers abandon vehicles en route, and ATMs are reportedly empty amid a currency shortage.
The long-term implications for the gold / silver market may be profound, vindicating the national passion for sound money.
Small denominated silver coins could fill the currency vacuum, as the typical citizen could be less inclined to trust paper currency for years to come.
China's retail investors will soon have unfettered access to North American gold / silver mining shares.
Our guest outlines how their knowledge about market manipulation and artificially sniffled price could put a price floor under the sector.
Bill Murphy insists that the PMs sector reaction following the election outcome was classic PSYOP disinformation and a market-manipulation scandal.
The PMs market could represent one of the best buying opportunities in years. Open interest in the PMs contracts has collapsed, presenting an intriguing contrarian opportunity. Bill Murphy of GATA.org rejoins the show with comments on the global currency issues. On the heels of the Venezuelan currency collapse, the Indian rupee is the next domino to drop as 86% of its paper money was withdrawn from circulation resulting in widespread economic chaos. Minister Narendra Modi enforced an anti-graft measure to ban high-value currency in Asia's third-largest economy, where 90% of daily transactions involve paper currency, compared to merely 30% in the US. The net impact: the vibrant economy has ground to a halt, as truck drivers abandon vehicles en route, and ATMs are reportedly empty amid a currency shortage. The long-term implications for the gold / silver market may be profound, vindicating the national passion for sound money. Small denominated silver coins could fill the currency vacuum, as the typical citizen could be less inclined to trust paper currency for years to come. In addition, China's retail investors will soon have unfettered access to North American gold / silver mining shares - our guest outlines how their knowledge about market manipulation and artificially sniffled price could lead to increased demand, putting a price floor under the sector. Bill Murphy insists that the PMs sector reaction following the election outcome was classic PSYOP disinformation and a market-manipulation scandal of the highest order. As a result, the PMs market could represent one of the best buying opportunities in years. Moreover, open interest in the PMs contracts has collapsed, presenting an intriguing contrarian opportunity.
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NWA Press Release
18.11.2016. Baltic countries still are strategic export markets for Georgian wine, National Wine Agency is planning active marketing arrangements for the next year. This information was announced by National Wine Agency's Marketing and PR Department Manager Irakli Cholobargia after Georgian wine presentation in Estonia and Latvia.Georgian wine presentation-degustation - Wines of Georgia, lead by Irakli Cholobargia, was held in Tallinn and Riga. The presentations were attended by native and foreign importers, sommeliers, owners of restaurants, Wine Club members, wine journalists and bloggers. One of the presentations in Tallinn was held in Sommelier School of Estonia.Baltic countries are traditional markets for Georgian wine, though we are working on a new segment young generation, to let them know Georgian wine culture and traditions. It's important for Georgian wine popularization and publicity growth, that Georgian wines are in the Estonian Sommelier School program. Also, next year, National Wine Agency is planning active marketing arrangements in Baltic countries, as strategic export markets for Georgian wine - stated Irakli Cholobargia. The presentation held in Riga was attended by Ambassador of Georgia in Latvia, Teimuraz Janjalia. In his speech, Ambassador spoke about popularization of Georgia wine in Latvia and noted, that the Embassy supports Georgian wine-makers in developing Latvian market.As Teimuraz Janjalia said, according to the data of recent two years, demand on Georgian wine in Latvia has remarkably grown and as a result, holds the first place in Baltic countries with Georgian wine and alcohol beverage (, brandy) import amount.At the degustations in Tallinn and Riga, different wines of 8 Georgian wine companies were presented. These companies are: Besini, Corporation Georgian Wine, Shilda, Tela, Wine Man, Matrobela Wines, Kakhuri and BGW.Latvia and Estonia are in the top ten of Georgian wine export markets. According to data of 10 months, 2016, over 980 thousand bottles of wine have been exported Georgia to Latvia (VI place), that is 6% higher than the similar data of the last year. As for Estonia (VIII place)- 516 thousand bottles, that is 33% higher, than the data of 2015 similar export period.
21:14
After Manohar Parrikar stoked a controversy over India's 'no first use' nuclear policy, former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on Saturday said the Defence Minister does not have the right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, especially when it contradicts the official stand.
Menon also said Parrikar's suggestion that India should give up its 'no first use' policy would not be in the country's interest both in terms of the strategic deterrent role of nuclear weapons as well as their role as weapon of war.
The defence minister does not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public particularly when that opinion contradicts the official policy of the country, he told India Today TV's 'To The Point' programme.
Parrikar last week had wondered why India cannot say "we are a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly" instead of affirming a "no first use policy", remarks he said were personal in nature.
"Why should I bind myself? I should say I am a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly. This is my (personal) thinking," Parrikar had said.
Following the nuclear weapons test in 1998, India had declared a 'no first use' nuclear policy.
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JUBA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in South Sudan's southwestern town of Yei have recovered 12 bodies of civilians who were abducted by unknown gunmen early this month, a local official said Thursday.
Athanasio Yongule, a minister in the Yei River State government, said bodies were found in two burnt huts in a neighborhood 3km from Yei town.
He said the deceased were first reported missing by their relatives on November 7.
"Twelve people were killed. Their hands were tied, shot and then taken to two separate houses and burnt. The police identified some bodies and handed them over to their relatives. We buried seven bodies who were burnt beyond recognition at the site of the incident on Tuesday," he said.
The motive of the killing is not yet clear.
The local official advised civilians not to travel to areas contested between government troops and opposition forces.
There has been an escalation in violence in the Equatoria region, where Yei and the capital Juba are located, since renewed fighting between the rival factions erupted in early July.
Last week 12 people were killed and two others injured in an attack by opposition forces in Kaya town, about 48km from Yei.
Unknown gunmen last month also attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians in Yei, killing at least 21 people, including women and children.
South Sudan has been shattered by civil war which broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, an allegation denied by Machar.
Fighting between troops of Kiir and Machar has since left tens of thousands dead and more than two million displaced.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was devastated by the July fighting. Enditem
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced Thursday that he will be stepping down in January.
Clapper told a hearing in the House of Representatives that he had handed his resignation letter Wednesday evening, and "felt pretty good."
The 75-year-old veteran said he had been planning for some time to retire after the Obama administration ends.
Clapper has served as the U.S. spy chief since 2010 and oversaw the U.S. intelligence community, which includes 16 institutions such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
KIEV, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Thursday that ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine last week have reached their highest level since the stsrt of 2016.
"The number of ceasefire violations recorded by the OSCE monitoring mission increased by approximately 150 percent compared to the week before. It was the highest number over the course of the year," Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine, told reporters in Kiev.
Last week, the conflicting sides have fired more than 3,400 shots against each other from heavy weapons, which are banned under the Minsk ceasefire agreement, Hug said, noting that the figure marked the highest number of such explosions ever recorded.
The OSCE official expressed the concern over the growing fighting, especially in residential and populated areas, saying it endangers the lives of civilians.
The number of civilian casualties in the restive region has doubled in the past week compared with a previous one, Hug said, without giving exact figures.
More than 9,600 people were killed and some 22,400 were injured in the conflict between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents that started in eastern Ukraine in April 2014.
NICOSIA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Cypriot Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has refused to comment on information regarding the supervision of IronFX Global Limited, a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) that has come under investigation and been sued in Cypriot courts for refusing to release funds to clients.
"CySEC will not make any comment," an official told Xinhua on Wednesday when asked to provide further information regarding new correspondence between CySEC and Andros Kyprianou, the chief of AKEL, the largest opposition party with a commanding position in parliament.
Embattled investment company IronFX was fined 300,000 euros(319,655.89 U.S. dollars) in November 2015, after a settlement reached with CySEC for acts or omissions in violation of the legislation under it had been licensed to operate as an investment firm.
Kyprianou wrote to CySEC in May 2015 asking why it had not withdrawn IronFx's license for non-compliance with law requirements three months after it had been fined, as it had done in the case with other investment firms.
CyCEC replied to Kyprianou that the company was still under supervision.
An AKEL party source said that Kyprianou pursued his interest in the case with a letter on Oct. 4, 2016, to CySEC President Demetra Kalogirou, requesting further information about developments in the case of IronFX.
He requested information whether the administrative investigation regarding the CIF IronFX initiated after its fining had been completed and what the results were.
"We would also like to be informed whether potential risks exist because of the CIF's activities for the position of Cyprus as a center for the provision of investment services," Kyprianou added in his letter.
IronFX has been sued by about 160 Chinese clients and investment brokers in an action filed in a Limassol Court in January 2015, claiming the company failed to meet their withdrawal requests.
The issue of IronFX was raised before the European Parliament at the end of October by Hungarian member of European Parliament Tibor Szanyi.
IronFX claims that it has been acting according to the individual contracts of investors or because investors had been cooperating with rival investment companies in violation of their contracts.
TEHRAN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations dismissed as "unfounded" the recent allegations by some Arab states that Iran is playing a non-constructive role in the region, Press TV reported on Thursday.
The accusations that Iran is meddling in their internal affairs and is also supporting terrorist groups in the region are "baseless," Gholam-Ali Khoshroo wrote in a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
"It is ridiculous that those regimes who themselves are the nurturers and exporters of extremism to Iraq, Syria and other countries are now accusing Iran of supporting terrorism," Khoshroo was quoted as saying.
In a letter to the UN General Assembly on Monday, 11 Middle East and North African countries condemned Iran for what they called Iran is continuing "to play a negative role in causing tension and instability in our region" through "expansionist regional policies, flagrant violations of the principle of sovereignty, and constant interference in the internal affairs of Arab States."
JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel's army said it arrested two armed Palestinian men who "infiltrated" Israel from the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday evening.
"A short while ago, two suspects, armed with grenades, infiltrated Israel from the southern Gaza Strip," a military spokesperson said in a statement.
Soldiers caught and arrested them near the security fence, according to the statement.
It was not immediately clear if the two men were affiliated with any militant group.
"The incident is under investigation," the statement read.
Over the past decade, Israel has uncovered multiple cross-border tunnels allegedly built by Hamas, the Islamist organization that controls Gaza, to carry out attacks against Israel.
Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast War and has ever since been cutting these territories off from the outer world.
Israel's last offensive on Gaza in the summer of 2014 claimed the lives of at least 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A new analysis published here Thursday showed that six G20 countries failed to take action in line with their Paris Agreement pledges.
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States have not been undertaking sufficient domestic efforts to match their pledged nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the agreement, according to the study presented on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22).
The study was co-conducted by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and the Economic and Social Research Council Center for Climate Change Economics and Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The report concludes that the six countries "lack overall framework legislation or regulation on climate change, and need to move from sectoral to economy-wide targets and extend the time frame of their targets to 2030."
The six countries also are "either behind on meeting their 2020 targets or have not set any," it added.
MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Marrakech climate conference has met all its targets and "exceeded expectations," said Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar on Thursday.
"This COP (Conference of Parties) is different from all those that preceded it, and is a demonstration of commitment at all levels, as confirmed by the presence of more than 70 Heads of state and government" at the high-level segment of this global event, said Mezouar following a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Mezouar, president of the current UN conference, also welcomed the commitment of non-state actors and the "achievements" made since the entry into force of the landmark Paris Agreement.
The conference, due to conclude Friday, "marks a turning point in the implementation of the international community's commitments and in the mobilization of initiatives," he said.
The Moroccan presidency will continue, throughout the next year, its work in favor of mobilizing and facilitating access to finance to help implement projects, he said.
The conference, which opened in the southern Moroccan city of Marrakech 10 days ago, has brought together thousands of government officials as well as representatives from international organizations, civil society and businesses. It aims to work out rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Some delegates also spoke positively about the achievements of the Marrakech conference, the first of its kind after the Paris Agreement entered into force in early November.
Leon Charles, chief negotiator of the Alliance of Small Island States, told reporters that the most important achievement of this meeting is the operationalization of the Paris Agreement and the adoption of an agenda to this effect.
"We are very pleased that CAM1 (the first meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement) has been convened and adopted its agenda. This is an extremely significant step because there were options on the table that could have sidetracked the convening of CAM1," he said.
The convening of CAM1 and the operationalization of the Paris Agreement are a major achievement for which this climate conference will be remembered, Charles said.
"We started to work on all major issues mandated by the Paris Agreement and got our work off with a steady start," he added.
RAMADI, Iraq, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed and 30 others wounded on Thursday in a suicide bomb attack targeting a wedding party in a town near the city of Fallujah in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.
The attack occurred in the evening when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest among a crowd of people during dinner time at the wedding in the town of Ameriyat al-Fallujah, just east of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The toll could rise as ambulances, police and civilian vehicles were evacuating the victims to the town's hospital and medical centers, the source said.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for such suicide attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.
Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 1,792 Iraqis and wounded 1,358 others in October across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.
Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S., which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.
PORT SUDAN, Sudan, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Sudanese entrepreneur said that Sudan hopes to establish a long-standing partnership with China in developing its Port Sudan harbor, as the country's economy is suffering from lack of major resources.
"We have important and strategic partnerships with the Chinese companies which have greatly helped us to modernize Port Sudan harbour and increase its efficiency," Jalal Eldin Shelia, General Manager of Sudan's state Sea Ports Corporation, told Xinhua.
He said that Chinese companies have contributed a lot such as deepening the cleats, increasing the number of docks, modernizing the delivery and shipment equipment and computerizing the procedures and customs clearances.
"For over a quarter of a century we, in the Sea Ports Corporation, have cooperation with the Chinese government. Presently we are working on establishment of free harbors on the Red Sea coast with Chinese support as well as a free zone north of Suakin town, an area upon which the Sudanese economy greatly depends," Shelia said.
"Thanks to the strategic partnership with the Chinese companies, we have managed to develop the work at the Sudanese ports where there is a wider openness on the Sudanese sea coast," he added.
The general manager, meanwhile, stressed the importance of the Sudanese sea Ports Corporation and its contribution to the Sudanese economy as Port Sudan harbour is the only gate for Sudan's exports and imports.
"The Sea Ports Corporation is a pillar of the national economy upon which the country relies to facilitate the trade movement between Sudan and some landlocked countries which depend on the Sudanese ports," he said.
According to statistics from Sudan's finance ministry, Port Sudan harbour contributes three percent of total revenues for the country's general budget.
Sudan is the sole maritime gate for a number of landlocked African countries including Ethiopia, Chad, Central Africa Republic and Congo, but Sudan has not yet made full use of the advantage.
Dr. Khider Mohamed Ahmed, a professor of economics at the Red Sea University, told Xinhua that Port Sudan harbor is far from its "maximum capacity which exceeds 11 million tons a year."
"The port has not yet managed to make Sudan the most important gate for the movement of goods and commodities for some landlocked African countries, and there are many reasons for that including the high fees set by the Sea Ports Corporation in exchange for the services it provides to the global shipping companies," he explained.
"There is also slowness in the shipment and delivery operations due to lack of modern cranes, despite the fact that this issue has presently lessened after the installation of modern rubber cranes thanks to the partnership with Chinese companies," said Ahmed.
As the main port for Sudan, Port Sudan harbor, some 890 km east of the capital Khartoum, was inaugurated as early as 1909.
MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Restrictions on technology transfer in developing countries should be removed to achieve quicker pace in combating climate change, a senior European Union (EU) official said here Thursday.
"It is important that a platform be established, allowing more speedy and efficient cooperation and transfer of technology," said Jo Leinen, vice-chair of the European Parliament delegation to the Marrakech climate change conference.
He said technology transfer is still a difficult issue due to intellectual property protection mostly concerned by the private companies which own the technologies.
The official underscored the finalization of a bilateral investment agreement between China and the EU, hoping it would act as a "door opener" for climate friendly technology to be transferred between both sides.
The EU values China as its "perfect partner" in fulfillment of climate protection goals, he said, hailing China's leadership in climate protection, and said he believes that new technologies will help China to further step up efforts in climate governance.
Regarding the possible pull-out of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change, he confirms EU's commitment under the agreement, saying that China and EU could be leaders on a global level.
"China's 13th Five-Year Plan and EU's 2020 Strategy...can increase and should increase our cooperation in new technology," he said, highlighting the cooperation in sectors of power, transport and IT will "make all operations more efficient."
Meanwhile, he also stressed the importance of public-private partnership in terms of financing climate protection measures, while public money is to cover the risks, and private money is motivated to fill the financing gap, especially if the U.S. retrieves from the obligation.
The EU "won't act passive" if the U.S. steps out its responsibility, he added, confirming possible border tax on U.S. goods under condition of an "unfair play."
ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and visiting Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao pledged here on Thursday to further strengthen relations between the two countries.
In his talks with the Chinese vice president, Hailemariam said that China's long-term and selfless assistance has played an important part in Ethiopia's pursuit for development and prosperity, as evidenced by the many joint projects all around Ethiopia that are mutually beneficial to both sides.
Ethiopia is grateful that Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to Ethiopia-China relations, Hailemariam said, adding that his country is committed to working with China to elevate bilateral relations to a new height.
Hailemariam, who is also Chairman of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), said the EPRDF hopes to learn more from the experience of the Communist Party of China in state governance.
For his part, the Chinese vice president hailed the remarkable achievements made by Ethiopia under the leadership of the EPRDF over the past 25 years.
In recent years, both China and Ethiopia have continuously maintained healthy development and the two countries have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, Li said.
He said that China will work with Ethiopia to implement the important consensus reached between the heads of state of the two countries, and the outcome of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held last December in Johannesburg, South Africa.
China stands ready to work with Ethiopia to maintain the momentum in high-level exchanges, push forward industrial capacity cooperation and cultural and people to people exchanges, enhance coordination in international affairs, and further deepen the China-Ethiopia comprehensive cooperative partnership, Li said.
Li added that the Communist Party of China is willing to deepen inter-party cooperation with the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, share experience in state governance and steer bilateral relations toward new achievements.
ANKARA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Over 20,000 people, including soldiers and military students, have been dismissed from the Turkish army in line with the ongoing investigation into the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) since the July 15 coup attempt, Turkey's Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Thursday.
Among the total of 20,088 people dismissed, 3,665 are army personnel and 16,423 are military students, Isik said during a parliamentary meeting in Ankara.
Another 2,855 army personnel are currently under investigation over similar allegations, local Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The minister vowed to fight against "FETO traitors" till the very end.
"We are determined to continue our struggle against terror," he said.
Fethullah Gulen, a 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 people were injured in the coup attempt.
MAPUTO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 73 people were killed and dozens of people injured after a tanker truck exploded in northern Mozambique on Thursday, the government said.
The blast took place in Tete province when the tanker truck was en route transporting petrol to Malawi from Mozambican central port city of Beira, the government said in a statement.
The truck blew up when local residents were gathering around the vehicle to buy fuel, the government said.
The injured had been rushed to a hospital nearby.
The government said a national team was expected to arrive at the site on Friday to investigate into the cause of the blast.
CHICAGO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen made comments about a possible rate hike.
The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 7 U.S. dollars, or 0.57 percent, to settle at 1,216.90 dollars per ounce.
During testimony before the U.S. Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Yellen told government officials that the Fed could raise rates relatively soon. This put pressure on the precious metal as the Fed's rate hikes generally trigger a rush to more lucrative investments other than gold, as the precious metal is a non-interest-bearing asset.
Investors believe the Fed may raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the December FOMC meeting. According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to at least 0.75 is at 90 percent at the December meeting and 91 percent for the February meeting.
Gold was put under further pressure as a report on Thursday released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed the consumer price index increasing by 0.4 percent during the month of October, a figure which was on the high end of expectations. Analysts note extensive strength in the price of gasoline, which jumped 7 percent.
A report released on Thursday by the U.S. Census Department also showed housing starts much stronger-than-expected, with starts during the month of October at a 1.323 million level, and permits at a 1.229 million level. Analysts note that this put extensive pressure on the precious metal as this could mean increased expectations for the U.S. gross domestic product report due later this month.
The precious metal was also dampened by the U.S. Department of Labor's weekly jobless claims report released on Thursday showed initial claims falling by 19,000 to a 235,000 level, which analysts note was extremely strong.
All of these reports, combined with Yellen's testimony, make a rate hike during the December FOMC meeting very likely. Investors will still be watching Fed speeches later this week for additional hints, as in addition to Thursday's economic reports, several Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak on Friday.
Silver for December delivery dropped 15.5 cents, or 0.92 percent, to close at 16.772 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery fell 1.4 dollars, or 0.15 percent, to close at 945.10 dollars per ounce.
PARIS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- French hopeful president Alain Juppe pledged to "a merciless war" to uproot Islamic State (IS) insurgents in Iraq and Syria, adding the option to send French ground troops on the region is not on his agenda.
Speaking about France's participation in U.S.-led military operation in Iraq and Syria in a televised debate, the conservative politician said "the fight against the Islamic State for me is an absolute priority."
"I will be committed with our allies to eradicate those who threaten us," he told state-run France2 TV.
If elected, Juppe said to consolidate the coalition's offensive but refused to send French ground troops, arguing "it is up to the countries of the region to do this work."
Asked about the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an eventual peace deal, the moderate conservative saw "no return to peace in Syria while al-Assad is in power."
The country's pollsters showed Juppe, 71, winning the first round of centre-right primary by between 36 and 39 percent, outpacing his challenger ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.
The former prime minister was set to win the run-off on Nov. 27.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A 12-member team of Chinese researchers on Thursday won the 2016 ACM Gordon Bell prize, the top award in the field of supercomputing.
This is the first time that Chinese researchers have been awarded the honor.
"It's a historic breakthrough," said Haohuan Fu, deputy director of the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi and one of the team members.
Fu and his colleagues were honored for developing a method for calculating atmospheric dynamics that could be used to improve global climate models as well as weather predictions.
The award was presented at the 2016 Supercomputing Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Gordon Bell Prize, awarded each year at the annual supercomputing conference, was established in 1987 by Gordon Bell, a pioneer in high-performance and parallel computing.
It tracks the progress of parallel computing and rewards innovation in applying high performance computing to challenges in science, engineering, and large-scale data analytics.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for prioritizing cyber counter-terrorism to cut off channels for terrorists to spread their ideology and violent extremist ideas.
Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the appeal at a Security Council meeting on security cooperation between the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Liu said the international community should adopt vigorous measures to strengthen Internet monitoring and crack down on the terrorist organizations that are using the Internet to spread terrorist ideologies, raise funds and plan acts of terrorism.
Liu noted that terrorism is posing a grave threat to the international community and counter-terrorism is an important area where the UN and OIC have conducted significant cooperation.
"China supports the strengthening of cooperation between OIC and the UN to consolidate collective security mechanism in a joint effort to maintain international peace and security," he said.
"China supports the UN and its Security Council in their cooperation with OIC in fighting terrorist ideology," he added.
Liu mentioned the international community should promote dialogue between different civilizations to achieve peaceful coexistence in harmony and to promote mutual respect, openness and inclusiveness across the world.
He also said the international community should stick to a unified criteria on counter-terrorism, forge a sophisticated counter-terrorism network and cut off the trans-border flow of terrorists to form a global high pressure upon terrorists.
China starts developing new-era exascale supercomputer (Xinhua)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A 12-member team of Chinese researchers on Thursday won the 2016 ACM Gordon Bell prize, the top award in the field of supercomputing.
This is the first time that Chinese researchers have been awarded the honor.
"It's a historic breakthrough," said Haohuan Fu, deputy director of the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi and one of the team members.
Fu and his colleagues were honored for developing a method for calculating atmospheric dynamics that could be used to improve global climate models as well as weather predictions.
The award was presented at the 2016 Supercomputing Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Gordon Bell Prize, awarded each year at the annual supercomputing conference, was established in 1987 by Gordon Bell, a pioneer in high-performance and parallel computing.
It tracks the progress of parallel computing and rewards innovation in applying high performance computing to challenges in science, engineering, and large-scale data analytics.
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed on Thursday to lift the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The decision was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Ecuador, the first of its kind since the two countries established diplomatic relations 36 years ago.
WELLINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will be sounding out fellow leaders on the future of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal at the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Peru.
Key said on Friday that he would meet bilaterally with other leaders and attend both the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Leaders' meeting and the TPP Leaders Meeting in Lima on Nov. 19-20.
"This year's APEC is focused on improving growth and living standards through initiatives such as more effective trade in services and trade liberalization," Key said.
"The Asia-Pacific region accounts for almost three-quarters of our total trade and is home to some of our most important international partners," he said.
"APEC provides a valuable opportunity to promote New Zealand as a good place to do business and invest in, and I look forward to my discussions there."
Last week Key conceded the TPP was dead "in the short term" with the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.
Trump has pledged to scrap some multinational trade deals, and branded the TPP, which was signed in New Zealand this year, as a "rape" to the United States.
Trade Minister Todd McClay said on Wednesday that New Zealand would continue "to show leadership in defense of open markets and free trade access" at the APEC talks.
McClay is attending the annual APEC Ministerial Meeting in Lima, where he expected to hold talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and APEC's proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and the TPP.
APEC brings together all the major economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
The New Zealand government passed a bill on Tuesday to align the country's laws with the TPP.
Trade Minister McClay said the passage of the TPP Agreement Amendment Bill was signal of New Zealand's commitment to continued trade liberalization.
YANGON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Four detainees have claimed that they were forced to undergo terrorist training and then join the Oct. 9 attack on three border posts in Maungtaw, Myanmar's western Rakhine state, setting fire to their own villages, the newly-formed Information Committee of the State Counselor's Office said on Friday.
The detainees, suspected of being involved in the deadly border post attacks and arrested during a recent clearance operation by the government troops, made the claim when interrogated by the authorities.
The detainees revealed a systematic recruitment of members of the Muslim community in the state by foreign extremists that was carried out by the intimidation and the threat of execution.
They said people in the village were forced to attend the course conducted at the back of the Mayin Mountain and the Muslim cleric at local mosque acted as organizer, adding that each one from local households had to join the attack, otherwise all family members would be slashed to death
According to the Information Committee's Friday news release, 59 more armed attackers were arrested during the government troops' area clearance operation in three villages, Kyargaungtaung, Gwazone and Dargyizar.
They were being further questioned.
A series of fightings have been following after nine policemen and five soldiers were killed in violent attacks by armed men on Oct. 9 on three border posts in Kyikanpyin of Maungtaw, Kotankauk of Rathedaung and Ngakhuya Office in the state.
Islamic extremists were exposed as being involved in the attacks, which were supported financially by foreign terrorist organizations, the government said.
BUENOS AIRES, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Argentine President Mauricio Macri said Thursday that his country would seek to boost trade with Canada.
"We have to strengthen trade exchange with Canada and the rest of the countries across the continent. It is the best way to generate jobs and solve our problems," Macri told a joint press conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau offered to help Argentina in its efforts to accept several thousand Syrian refugees.
"We have a lot of experience in the matter of refugees and we are willing to collaborate with Argentina in that regard, so they can receive 3,000 citizens from that country who are fleeing the war," said Trudeau.
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-operated Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), the biggest SEZ in Cambodia, is planning to open 300 factories by 2020, providing up to 100,000 extra jobs, local media reported on Friday.
The zone in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province has built 148 factories, of which 88 are up and running, SSEZ's president Jack Chen said. These were providing 16,000 local jobs.
"Under our industrial development strategy, we plan to have 300 industrial factories by 2020 that can provide more jobs to local people and create tax revenue for the Cambodian government," Chen was quoted as saying by the Khmer Times.
Factories in the zone mainly produce textiles for the European Union and the United States. Two of the companies were Cambodian and the others were foreign.
The zone has been working to attract investors from China, especially in light manufacturing industries, he said, adding that the zone is currently an industrial factory hub and would develop into the country's high-end technology hub.
Preah Sihanouk provincial labor director Yov Khemera welcomed the plan to increase the number of factories.
"The strategy to attract investment to the zone will push demand for labor high, so the big investment will generate jobs for local workers more and more," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Preah Sihanouk province, with its deep-water port, rail connection and airport, has recently seen investment by Chinese enterprise Hodo Group and Cambodia International Investment Development Group on 11 hectares of land.
In June, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen inaugurated the 100th factory in the zone and said he considered the zone as a significant achievement.
CANBERRA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A bright radio burst detected by Australia's Parkes telescope could help experts determine what lies between galaxies in the universe, scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) said on Friday.
Scientist stationed at the Parkes Telescope in rural Australia witnessed the brief, ultra-bright cosmic flash of radio waves last year and released the details of the capture following a detailed analysis of the phenomenon.
Astrophysicist Ryan Shannon of the CSIRO said the flash likely came from a distant galaxy known as VHS7 - which is "at least a billion light-years away" from Earth.
"During the millisecond that we saw the burst, it would have been in the top 10 brightest sources in the entire sky," Shannon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"This flash lasted just a third of a millisecond, making it one of the briefest we've seen."
Their camera managed to capture the radio waves in two of its pixels, allowing the scientists to effectively triangulate the source of the flash.
Shannon said the data also suggests that the cosmic web has weaker magnetic fields than our Milky Way, while there is also less turbulent gas within the far-flung galaxy.
It's the first time that scientists have been able to support this hypothesis with evidence; previously researchers could only predict what occurs in deep space. Shannon said the findings could also help scientists in weighing the universe.
"This will help explain models of how galaxies grow and evolve, and also how the universe became magnetized," he said.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski addresses the closing ceremony of the APEC Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Summit in Lima, capital of Peru, on Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Ming)
LIMA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' meeting is expected to focus on the establishment of a free-trade area in the region, as well as the role of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
The 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will kick off in the Peruvian capital of Lima on Saturday, with the theme of "Quality Growth and Human Development."
At the meeting, APEC member economies will seek to make decisions to facilitate trade and investment and consolidate liberalization policies.
FTAAP STRATEGIC STUDY TO BE APPROVED
The idea of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) was first raised during the 2006 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
During the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing, APEC member economies pushed forward the process of FTAAP by sketching out a roadmap for it.
Now, the Beijing consensus is becoming a reality. A collective strategic study on issues related to the realization of FTAAP has been completed and the final version of the study along with recommendations will be presented to leaders at the Lima meeting.
Juan Carlos Capunay, Peru's ambassador to China, said the Asia-Pacific has become divided in current trade talks, leaving the goal of trade and investment liberalization in the region beyond hope.
APEC should build a free trade area that will cover all its members and coordinate economic development in the Asia-Pacific, he noted.
Julio Chan Sanchez, Peru's general coordinator of APEC affairs, said China will play a key role in facilitating FTAAP at the Lima meeting.
At the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing, he said, China played an essential role in furthering the goal of creating a free trade zone in the Asia-Pacific.
"China's economy is progressively larger, more important and more relevant for the rest of the world, for international trade and for the global economic system," he said. "China is going to have an important role, and is going to continue to have an increasingly important role."
Echoing Chan Sanchez, Raul Salazar, APEC affairs director at the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, said the upcoming APEC meeting may well approve the strategic study for FTAAP.
"We have the obligation to continue our central topic, which is the approval of the collective strategic study, which was required by the roadmap established in Beijing in 2014. It is the hope that this year the leaders will approve the study as a step forward toward beginning negotiations for FTAAP," he said.
Salazar also praised China's contribution to pushing the idea of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific.
"This step taken in Beijing ... has forced all the members to face the reality that this is necessary for a number of reasons. Peru holds the position that we need an Asia-Pacific free trade area. It would allow for APEC's work to be deepened and would see free trade agreements proliferate," he said.
QUALITY GROWTH, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
In the context of sluggish growth in the Asia-Pacific and the world at large, the Lima meeting has set its theme for quality growth and human development.
Analysts see regional economic integration as the core agenda of the meeting, saying the theme shows an idea for inclusive development.
The meeting will be a good chance to discuss sustainable development, said Peruvian Second Vice President Mercedes Araoz.
"The agenda therefore covers all topics ranging from food security, human capital, and better integration," she added.
Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a professor of international relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said that the meeting will be crucial for boosting the world economy through political agreements, and that China will play a prominent role.
Reducing non-tariff measures and rejecting protectionism will map the course on finance and trade for APEC member economies, he said.
Another important issue will be small and medium-sized enterprises.
"I believe they can strengthen their role as new engines of the economy, if favorable conditions are created for them," said Cortes.
The APEC region, home to around 2.8 billion people, represented 57 percent of the world's GDP and 49 percent of global trade in 2014. The quality growth of the regional economy will undoubtedly inject fresh momentum into the global economy.
PROMOTING CROSS-PACIFIC CONNECTIVITY
During an APEC finance ministers' meeting in Lima last month, China's Assistant Finance Minister Dai Bohua pointed out that despite its slow growth, the Asia-Pacific is still one of the most dynamic regions that have a great potential for development.
Next, he said, APEC member economies should spur potential growth through the implementation of structural reforms, so as to promote inclusive growth and sustainable development.
At the same time, they should boost connectivity and create a sound environment for investment, and overcome bottlenecks such as poor infrastructure and other problems thwarting economic development, he noted.
Capunay said that within the framework of APEC, China and Latin American countries can continue to discuss and cooperate in such areas as trade facilitation and the establishment of FTAAP.
He also voiced the hope that with the help of the Belt and Road Initiative, Peru will strengthen trade and economic cooperation with China and other Asian countries.
The initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
The Belt and Road Initiative, which has charted a course for open and inclusive development, will not only promote connectivity, but also play an important role in boosting investment, trade and industrial cooperation among countries and regions.
Salazar said China has made great efforts to build a "much stronger, more consistent and better structured relationship" with Latin America.` "I think the stimulus the Chinese government is carrying out is helping, such as the Trans-Oceanic Railway," he said.
The coast-to-coast railway, one of the main cooperation projects between China and Latin America, is expected to create a corridor connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic.
"The planning is being done correctly," Salazar said, adding that this physical integration would catch up with other integration policies within the Asia-Pacific region.
Jack Sim, the founder and director of the World Toilet Organization (WTO)
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- "The toilet is the only thing that every time you see it, you pull down your pants. You don't do that with your wife."
Jack "Mr. Toilet" Sim, the founder and director of the WTO, is proud of his moniker and banter. Mr. Toilet's WTO, however, is not the World Trade Organization but the World Toilet Organization.
For 15 years, Singaporean Sim, 59, from the helm of the non-profit organization he established, has spearheaded a toilet revolution to improve toilets and sanitation conditions worldwide.
Sim chose to name Nov. 19 World Toilet Day, and in 2013 the day was sanctioned by the United Nations (UN).
The theme of this year's World Toilet Day -- Toilets and Jobs -- aims to promote better toilet facilities at offices, factories and construction sites.
British band Coldplay will play at the first-ever Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai, India, to celebrate the day, according to Sim.
Jack Sim receives an award in the NOVUS Summit 2016 at the UN General Assembly Hall in July, 2016.
CUT THE CRAP
"We use toilets every day, but we never talk about them," Sim said, warning that the consequence of such a silence can be fatal.
According to data from UN and World Health Organization, out of a global population of 7 billion, 2.4 billion people live without adequate sanitation. One in ten people has to defecate in the open.
Poor sanitation increases the risk of disease and malnutrition. Diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kills 315,000 children every year. These deaths are preventable.
"One fly in the toilet is deadlier than 100 tigers. Toilets are the cheapest type of health care," Sim told Xinhua.
Every U.S. dollar spent on water and sanitation generates a return of 4.3 dollars in the form of reduced health care costs, according to WTO.
Sim features in a promotion poster
CALL OF NATURE
Sim was born and raised in a slum in Singapore. His family shared one toilet with nine other households. To call the facility a "toilet," however, would be a gross over exaggeration, as it was just a bucket with two boards, on top of which people squatted.
The toilet was always full of human waste, dirty toilet paper and sanitary pads, the smell hung heavy in the thick tropical air and there were always swarms of flies, Sim recalled.
From these humble beginnings, Sim rose high, and became a successful entrepreneur -- starting 16 companies by the age of 40.
Despite his success, he was not satisfied. He felt there was more that he could do -- to really make a difference. Sanitation, he found, was often neglected and the topic was a taboo shrouded in embarrassment. He decided to answer the call of nature.
Leaving his business, in 1998, Sim established the Restroom Association in Singapore. Three years later, he founded his WTO with 15 original member countries and held the first World Toilet Summit in Singapore.
WTO aims to break the taboo around toilets and the sanitation crisis. Since establishment, it has lobbied governments, public and private sector stakeholders and the international community to prioritize sanitation in the development agenda, according to Sim.
To break the taboo surrounding toilets, the former salesman realized humor is the best weapon.
Sim features in a promotion poster
Sim featured in a promotion poster and dressed up in a James Bond costume, and the title was an inverted 007 -- "LOO." In another poster, he was a genie in a chamber pot instead of a magical lamp.
"I'm going to turn 'poop culture' into pop culture," he said.
And he did it.
It is estimated that between 1990 and 2015, the use of improved sanitation facilities rose from 54 percent to 68 percent globally, according to data from the WHO and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
UN has included the target to ensure everyone everywhere has access to toilets by 2030 in the Sustainable Development Goals launched in 2015.
In WTO's Rainbow Toilet Program in China, students in rural areas are taught how to wash their hands after using the toilet.
THE CHINA STORY
Sim's toilet revolution in China revolutionized the country's tourist industry. In 2004, Beijing held the fourth World Toilet Summit, the first time in China.
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games host was determined to improve the infamous image of its stinking public toilets to prepare for the sporting event. Over 4,000 public toilets near the Tian'anmen Square and in the Hutong area were reconstructed.
"Better toilets also helped secure the success of the Beijing Olympic Games," said Sim.
Moreover, Sim believes, toilets could be a remedy for China's slowing economy.
"When you have better toilets, you have more tourists," he said. "China's GDP growth is 6.7 percent now. But if you have a vibrate tourist market, maybe you can post 7 or 8 percent growth."
"So toilets actually generate money. It is not just an expenditure," he added.
Following Beijing, toilet summits have also been hosted by Shanghai, Hainan, Taipei and Macao. About 25,000 public toilets in scenic areas in the country will be transformed by the end of this year, according to tourism authorities.
Sim also launched the Rainbow Toilet Program in rural China. By improving sanitation conditions and promoting better hygiene in rural schools, the WTO aims to transform the lives of school children in the central province of Hubei.
Comparing his opinion of China now with that in 1986 when he came for the first time, Sim said he can see the tremendous changes since the reform and opening up. However, sanitation in some underdeveloped areas in western China is still very poor.
"I hope the next toilet summit in China will be hosted by a western city to improve sanitation there," he said. (Pictures provided to Xinhua)
Ji Bingxuan (L), vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Egypt, on Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)
CAIRO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese legislator Ji Bingxuan on Thursday met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on bilateral cooperation.
The vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said China supports Egypt's efforts to achieve stability and development and highly values Egypt's key role in the Belt and Road Initiative.
"Chinese President Xi Jinping and Egyptian president have reached important consensuses on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries," Ji said.
The Chinese senior official added that China's NPC is willing to join Egypt's House of Representatives to lift mutual political trust and enhance economic, cultural and people-to-people cooperation by providing legal support.
For his part, Sisi said "Egypt highly values the comprehensive strategic partnership with China and is keen on benefiting from China's experience in governing the country and achieving developments in various domains."
Moreover, Egypt is willing to conjoin its Suez Canal corridor development project with China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Sisi said.
He also expressed his wish that Egypt's House of Representatives and China's NPC will continue to contribute to deepening bilateral relations and boosting cooperation in various fields.
Ji arrived in Cairo on Wednesday at the invitation of the House of Representatives of Egypt. During his three-day visit, Ji also met parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal and members of the China-Egypt Parliamentary Friendship Chamber.
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Friday that it will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of iron based amorphous alloy ribbon from the United States and Japan.
The duties will last for five years starting Friday, the ministry said.
According to the ministry's final ruling, companies from the United States and Japan have dumped the ribbon on the Chinese market and such imports have caused substantial damage to the domestic industry.
Anti-dumping duty rate for U.S. imports was set at 48.5 percent, and for Japanese imports it was set at 25.9 percent, said the ministry.
It launched an anti-dumping probe into imported iron based amorphous alloy ribbon in November last year.
Iron based amorphous alloy ribbon, a solid metallic material, is used in the production of transformers and inductors.
by Victoria Arguello
CARACAS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-country tour in Latin America on Nov. 17-23 underscores the importance China attaches to its cooperation with the region, Venezuelan political analyst Vladimir Adrianza said.
Xi's state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile show that China is keen to further strengthen ties with Latin America, said Adrianza, who teaches at the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela in Caracas.
"China has a long-term vision of its relationship with other states," said Adrianza, noting that the Asian giant has substantially boosted bilateral trade for mutual benefit.
China is now Latin America's second largest trading partner and the third largest source of investment, and Latin America is China's seventh largest trading partner, and important overseas investment destination.
China has pledged to work with Latin America to bring bilateral trade to 500 billion U.S. dollars and increase its investment in the region to 250 billion dollars by 2025.
Xi is visiting Ecuador, the first leg of his trip, where China is helping the country bolster its energy infrastructure through a variety of projects, including a major hydroelectric plant.
China has also become Ecuador's leading source of financing, with Chinese investment in Ecuador exceeding 10 billion dollars.
He will then travel to Peru to take part in the 24th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will gather the leaders of the bloc's 21 member economies in Lima.
According to Adrianza, China's cooperation with countries such as Peru clearly reflects Beijing's policy of respect for sovereignty and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.
"China's (foreign) policy is marked by a high level of cooperation, not meddling in (others') domestic matters," said Adrianza.
China has been Peru's largest trading partner, export market and source of import for years, and Peru has become one of the top destinations for Chinese investment in Latin America.
As the world's fastest growing economy and home to more than 1.3 billion people, China represents both an "excellent" development model for regional countries, and an attractive incentive, Adrianza said.
"Latin America has major natural resources, and needs a model of industrialization like the one that China has been developing," the expert said.
Xi's visit to Chile will boost China's bid to internationalize its currency, renminbi or the yuan, as Chile is a key partner in the cause, Adrianza said.
Last year, the first clearing bank for transactions in renminbi in South America was opened in Chile's capital, Santiago.
A stronger yuan would help strengthen the movement to democratize global financial agencies, Adrianza said.
A growing China-Latin American relationship can help promote "multilateral" global development, he added.
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Almost two-thirds of South Koreans opposed the signing of a bilateral military intelligence pact with Japan, on which the two countries resumed dialogue earlier this month, as Japan has yet to sincerely apologize for atrocities during World War TWO, a local pollster survey showed on Friday.
According to the Gallup Korea poll, 59 percent of respondents said they object to the military accord with Japan because Seoul must not strengthen military cooperation with Tokyo unrepentant of its brutalities during the devastating war.
Seoul and Tokyo resumed talks on the bilateral deal earlier this month to directly exchange military intelligence on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile programs.
The two sides initialed the military pact in Tokyo on Monday, and it was passed in South Korea's vice ministers' meeting on Thursday.
The South Korean government is scheduled to approve it at a cabinet meeting next Tuesday, and the presidential ratification will be left for a final agreement.
Three main opposition parties opposed the rapid, unilateral push for the military accord, saying they will propose the impeachment of Defense Minister Han Min-koo.
Former President Lee Myung-bak pushed the deal in 2012, but it failed at the last minutes amid public outcry over the unilateral push without social and parliamentary consensus.
President Park Geun-hye is pushing the hush-hush deal again as public attention is being centered on a political scandal involving her longtime confidante and former aides.
The push for the deal divided public opinion as conservative voters favored the pact, which they believe is an urgent issue to defend their country from "growing nuclear and missiles threats" from the DPRK.
Pyongyang conducted its fifth nuclear test in September, just eight months after detonating its atomic device. The January nuclear test was followed by the launch in February of a long-range rocket.
The Gallup Korea poll showed 31 percent in favor of the accord with Japan as they believe South Korea would benefit from it in terms of collecting military intelligence on the DPRK.
More than half of supporters for the ruling Saenuri Party responded positively to the deal, but about 70 percent of supporters for the three main opposition parties went against it. More than two-thirds of those in their 20s to 40s also saw the pact negatively.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his wife Peng Liyuan wave as they arrive at the airport in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. Xi arrived here Thursday for a state visit to Ecuador. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Thursday afternoon, kicking off a state visit to Ecuador and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013.
Besides Ecuador, the week-long tour will also take him to Peru and Chile. In Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in the capital city of Lima.
Xi's Quito trip is the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to Ecuador in 36 years since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1980.
In a speech delivered at the airport after arrival, the top Chinese leader said Ecuador is an important country in Latin America, adding that the two nations have enjoyed long-running friendship while recent years have seen substantial development of their bilateral ties and ever enhancing political mutual trust.
He also said that the practical cooperation between the two sides have been fruitful and the two countries have supported each other on international and regional affairs.
Xi believes that this visit will achieve positive results and serve as a new and firm bridge to promote the friendly cooperation between the two countries and to open up brighter prospects for bilateral ties.
In his speech to welcome President Xi at the airport, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa appreciates China's support for his country's economic and social development.
He also said the cooperation between the two countries in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, infrastructure construction and finance has been rather fruitful, adding that he believes that Xi's visit will lift bilateral ties to a new stage.
Ecuador hopes President Xi's "historic" visit leads to strengthening strategic ties, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long told Xinhua ahead of the visit, adding that "the ties with China in recent years have been very fruitful, very significant."
Since President Correa came into power in 2007, Ecuador has focused on deepening ties with China. The Ecuadorian president's first official trip to Beijing took place in the same year of his inauguration, to bolster cooperation with China in different fields, from energy, science and technology, to economy, trade and education.
In 2015, during his second China visit, Correa and Xi agreed to elevate bilateral ties to the level of a strategic partnership.
"China views and grows its relations with Ecuador from a strategic and long-term perspective," President Xi said in a signed article on Ecuador's leading newspaper El Telegrafo on Wednesday, one day before his visit.
Despite the long distance, China has become Ecuador's third largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years.
And Ecuador is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America. Chinese investment and financing in Ecuador has exceeded 10 billion dollars, supporting hundreds of projects including major infrastructure projects such as the Coca Codo Sinclair hydropower plant, seven other hydropower plants and a dozen of highways.
"I look forward to having in-depth exchanges with President Correa and friends from various sectors of Ecuador to take China-Ecuador relations to a new height," Xi said in the article.
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's property sector has shown signs of cooling after the authorities issued a spate of measures to contain sky-high prices, an official survey showed Friday, citing fresh data for the second half of October.
Of 70 large- and medium-sized cities surveyed in the second half of October, seven saw new home prices drop month on month, up from two in the first half of the month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
"Property prices stabilized in the second half of October," the NBS said in a statement.
In the second half of October, new residential property prices in Shenzhen and Chengdu continued to decline, while the prices in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Xiamen and Zhengzhou reversed the upward trend to start declining , according to the NBS.
Compared with September, the month-on-month price index for both new and second-hand residential property in those cities retreated in October, even though most of the cities still reported rises.
The NBS attributed the "significant changes" to policies rolled out by local governments to curb prices. In early October, dozens of Chinese cities announced measures, including purchase limits and tightened mortgage restrictions, to prevent prices from rising out of control.
BRUSSELS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Germany, host countries of G20 summits in 2016 and 2017 respectively, will have new cooperation opportunities in global economic governance, experts said Thursday.
Although China and Germany do not see eye to eye with each other on some issues such as innovation and the level of development of the two countries is different, differences between the two countries would not hinder their cooperation, said Dr. Enrico Fels from the Center for Global Studies, University of Bonn.
Fels made the remarks during a speech at a seminar held here themed "G20 in Hangzhou: China, Germany and Global Governance."
With the 2017 G20 summit to be held in the German city of Hamburg, Germany will offer its insights on issues such as new financial risks, digital challenges and trade barriers, Fels said, adding that Germany shares similar views with China on these subjects.
China and Germany have a long history of economic cooperation and both countries have benefited a lot from such cooperation, the expert said.
Huang Weiping, professor from China's Renmin University, said G20 has become an important mechanism for global economic governance.
Before the 2008 global economic crisis, G20 only organized meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors, and the crisis made G20 much more essential in global economic governance, Huang said.
At the 2009 Pittsburgh summit, G20 was recognized as the main forum for international economic cooperation, Huang said.
Today's global economic situation has highlighted the importance of this year's G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, as it marked the first time that the problem of development was placed at the forefront of the global policy framework and also the first time that plans were figured out to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This signifies that G20 has transformed to a long-term mechanism of governance, Huang added.
Professor David Fouquet, vice president of the European Post Graduate School of International Strategy and Development, said that China and Germany are proactively engaged in global governance.
The G20 Hangzhou Summit achieved a lot and this is not only a challenge but also an opportunity for the Hamburg summit, Fouquet said.
Issues such as climate change and economic crisis can not be addressed without the multilateral mechanism, Fouquet said, adding that he hoped the G20 will play a greater role in global governance in the future.
Experts from China and Europe, as well as media and student representatives attended the seminar, which was co-sponsored by Confucius Institute at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), the European Post Graduate School of International Strategy and Development and the Brussels Academy for China and European Studies.
WELLINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese travelers have opened up their wallets and contributed to a record spending by overseas visitors in New Zealand, according to government figures out Friday.
The total international visitor spend was up 7 percent year on year to 10.06 billion NZ dollars (7.05 billion U.S. dollars) in the year to the end of September, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Spending by Chinese visitors was up 12 percent to 1.74 billion NZ dollars (1.22 billion U.S. dollars), making China the second biggest source of visitor spending.
While Australia remained the biggest source of spending, it was up just 1 percent to 2.44 billion NZ dollars (1.71 billion U.S. dollars).
Foreign holidaymakers spent the most in total, with a total spend of 6.3 billion NZ dollars (4.41 billion U.S. dollars), up 11 percent year on year.
"The latest International Visitor Survey results suggest that while international visitor spend remains positive, there are signs the spending has begun to stabilize after period of record growth, peaking in September 2015 at 38 percent," MBIE manager of sector trends Peter Ellis said.
"Over the September quarter, the New Zealand dollar appreciated against the currencies of most of our key source markets which likely contributed to growth stabilizing in international visitor spend," said Ellis.
Visitors to New Zealand numbered 3.39 million in the September year, up 11 percent year on year, the government's Statistics New Zealand agency said last month.
The biggest changes in visitor arrivals by country of residence between the September years were from Australia (up 80,000 to 1.38 million), China (up 77,600 to 405,500) and the United States (up 32,700 to 270,000).
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite concerns over its fiscal targets, South Africa is hoping that it can avert a credit rating downgrade, Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said Thursday.
"A lot of work has been done and put into the ratings agencies story and I think that we have a firm proposition," Jonas told reporters.
The official said he is hopeful of a turnaround of the economy in the year and noted that there is a general consensus across the board to boost the economy.
The credit rating agencies have warned of a possible downgrade by the end of the year because of South Africa's underperforming economy with over-expenditure and a worrying political situation.
Standard & Poor's has already landed in South Africa for its review, which will be published before the end of the year.
The credit rating agencies were concerned about the government's ability to maintain fiscal targets, but the South African Treasury had convinced them that it could maintain caps on spending, said Jonas.
"We need to improve growth, we need to ensure that we stick to the fiscal path that we have taken as a country."
Jonas emphasized the importance of maintaining the current ratings, as a downgrade will have devastating implications.
The deputy minster also noted that nepotism and corruption are undermining efforts for a credible government.
"Leadership that looks beyond its own narrow confines is needed," said Jonas, who has been an outspoken critic of government graft. In October, he said: "Corruption is real, it's palpable, you can feel it."
South Africa's political elite have been involved in a slew of corruption scandals, which have eroded the trust of investors and weighed on Africa's most industrialized economy.
Last week, President Jacob Zuma survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote over allegations of influence peddling, one of several scandals involving him since taking office in 2009.
A Tibetan image of Turandot compared with a poster of western opera version
There have been many adaptions of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. Now it is a Tibetan woman to give the Italian composer a new stun. Soinam Chodron has put the western classic onto the stage of Tibetan Opera, representing the ancient oriental story in an art form that is closer to the place where it is supposed to have happened.
The fictional legend is about how Tartary Prince Calaf, using his wisdom and passion, wins heart of Chinese Princess Turandot, who has turned against all men to avenge a female ancestor.
Soinam's adaption focuses on the love triangle between Turandot, Calaf and his servant Liu'er, who has a secret crush on the prince. Liu'er kills herself to protect the prince. Soinam's work is supported by the regional government's funding for young people's innovative projects.
At the beginning, Soinam planned to adapt the western classic into a mix of Tibetan Opera and Qinqiang, a folk opera in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, but she finally quit the experiment, worrying that it might end in neither fish nor fowl.
Soinam was admitted into the regional Tibetan Opera troupe in Lhasa at the age of 12. Then she spent three years learning dancing in Chengdu, a city in neighboring Sichuan Province, and another three years studying Tibetan Opera performance in Tibet University.
Now the 27-year-old performer is learning directing at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. She will become one of the first Tibetan Opera performers with a bachelor's degree when she graduates.
The adaption is an exploration of new ways for inheritance and development of Tibetan Opera, an art form that has had a history of more than 600 years, but is losing its audience in modern times, according to Palden Wangchug, head of the troupe.
During centuries of evolution, Tibetan Opera has been observing a set of strict rules, such as a mask dance at the opening and the indispensable role of fairies. Turandot also follows the rules.
The adaption has been staged in Lhasa, regional capital of Tibet, and it is also scheduled on the list of a Beijing theater. (Xinhua photos by Jigme Dorje)
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's steel exports will remain high in 2017 due to flat consumption domestically and slow capacity rationalization, a recent report pointed out, forecasting exports at 100 million tonnes next year.
International rating agency Fitch expects Chinese apparent steel consumption to remain between 700 and 705 million tonnes next year, reflecting decelerating property growth, stable infrastructure investment growth, and a favorable outlook for Chinese automobile and appliance consumption.
On the other hand, capacity rationalization will remain a key theme of the sector, with a target of 14 million to 27 million tonnes annually until 2020.
As a result, exports should remain high in 2017 as Chinese producers continue to benefit from the yuan's exchange rate and lower raw-material prices, the report concludes.
China's over-supplied steel sector experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to the sluggish economy. However, with encouragement from the upward trend of prices from the beginning of this year, many steel mills are resuming production.
Official data showed China's crude steel production increased 0.4 percent year on year to 603.78 million tonnes in the January-September period.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the United Nations (UN) Security Council to be prudent in taking actions to impose sanctions on South Sudan to avoid complicating the situation.
Wu Haitao, China's deputy representative to the UN, made the appeal at a Security Council meeting on South Sudan, noting that the overall situation in the country is still grim with many difficulties in humanitarian assistance.
Wu said that in the current complex situation, the Security Council should "send more positive signals to the outside" and encourage all parties of South Sudan to continue their implementation of the peace agreement.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders in South Sudan under UN's pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was devastated by renewed fighting that erupted in early July.
Wu said the Security Council and relevant parties should continue to encourage South Sudan's transitional government to enhance consultations with all parties involved and implement relevant council resolutions to promote peace and stability in the country.
"It is necessary to continue to push forward the political process on the issue of South Sudan," said Wu.
"The international community should accelerate its efforts to have all parties in South Sudan return to the track of political settlement and peace agreement implementation so as to resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation in a joint effort to achieve peace, stability and development of South Sudan," he added.
A UN report noted that the security situation continues to be volatile in South Sudan's capital of Juba and its nearby areas since the outbreak of violence in July.
It finds that the increasingly heinous acts of violence perpetrated against civilians in the Equatorias, southern part of South Sudan, have exacerbated existing tenuous relations between ethnic communities throughout the country.
South Sudan has been shattered by a civil war which broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.
Tens of thousands have been killed, with more than 2 million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since then.
MANILA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The body of former President Ferdinand Marcos is due to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani(Heroes' Cemetery, LNMB) in Taguig on Friday.
"Remains of the late president will be brought to Manila today for internment at the LNMB," a military official said on condition of anonymity.
The late strongman, a former military officer and a recipient of the highest military decoration Medal for Valor, died in 1989 and his body was laid in state at a mausoleum in his hometown in Ilocos Norte.
"Upon the desire of the family, it will be a private burial and was requested held in confidentiality," the official said.
"Military honors appropriate for the deceased will be rendered per existing AFP regulations. Notice was given to all concern late yesterday. The Marcos family will have a statement after the internment at a place to be announced," he said.
National Capital Region Police director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde confirmed the Marcos burial at the heroes' cemetery.
Albayalde said the remains of Marcos was flown from Ilocos Norte to Metro Manila around 9 a.m. Friday. He said Marcos is due to be interred at the LNMB around 12 noon.
SHANGHAI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai municipal authority has organized a number of companies and institutions that will offer internships to thousands of foreign students.
The program, which is sponsored by the city's education commission, foreign affairs office and the public security bureau, named 11 companies and government entities that have intern opportunities for foreigners.
Among the employers are Shanghai Textile Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai Automobile International Trade Co. Ltd., Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital and Pujiang Hotel (also known as Richard's Hotel).
Starting from 2017, intern opportunities will be posted on www.study-shanghai.org, a website for foreign students.
There are more than 56,000 foreign students from 185 countries and regions studying in 39 universities and colleges in Shanghai, according to the municipal education commission.
A growing number of foreign students want to find jobs Shanghai after they graduate.
Michael Richard, who studied for his masters at Donghua University this year, told Xinhua that thanks to the city's favorable employment policies he obtained a full time job in July.
The American said his one-year internship with a logistic company was vital to securing a full time job, and helped him understand the Chinese economy and culture.
At Donghua University, there are 4,700 foreign students on campus. They are from 140 countries and regions.
by Edgardo Loguercio
BRASILIA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries are forging closer ties with China in the hope that the Asian power can offer a chance for the modernization of their economies, Marcos Troyjo, a Brazilian political scientist, has said.
China has become an essential partner for Latin American countries, and ties with China have improved their outlook at a time of weak global growth, Troyjo, director of BRICLab, a center for studies on the BRICS bloc of emerging economies at Columbia University in New York, told Xinhua in a written interview.
"Beijing advocates comprehensive cooperation with regional countries, and Latin Americans are echoing that nature on China-Latin America ties."
The two regions' complementarity makes the relationship strategic, said the academic, as Latin America can supply China with agricultural and mining raw materials, and in exchange, China is willing to invest sizable sums to build up the region's weak infrastructure.
China has said it aims to increase trade with Latin America to 500 billion U.S. dollars and to boost investment in the region to 250 billion dollars by 2025.
In addition to complementarity in terms of trade, the two sides are in favor of multilateralism in international politics.
"The Asian giant is not only the main destination for Latin American goods, but also a potential pivot toward a new world order, where the United States would play a smaller leading role," Troyjo said.
At this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, the bloc's 21 member economies are expected to advance on a free trade zone in the Asia-Pacific region, an idea agreed at the APEC meeting in Beijing in 2014.
"In the Pacific, a White House proposal for an investment and trade partnership, which to date has excluded Beijing from the negotiations, will also lose steam," noted Troyjo, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dump.
Today, the world sees a United States that appears more protectionist, and a China that appears more open to free trade, said Troyjo.
LIMA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Thursday called on young people of APEC member economies to adapt to the changes new technologies are bringing to the world.
"The world is changing at a blistering pace," the president told the closing ceremony of an APEC summit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the 2016 APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Lima.
"What we need to teach young people is how to adapt to the world, because many specific things will continue to change," said the president.
Education must become an effective tool for socio-economic development and to help developing countries adapt to global progress, Kuczynski said.
"It will be very important to know how to learn and adapt, for which education is crucial."
Kuczynski added that the government would help SMEs in a number of ways, including reforming Peru's tax authority. He also mentioned a government plan to simplify regulations and administrative processes to help SMEs do business in an easier way and integrate global value chains.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed on Thursday to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The decision was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Ecuador, the first of its kind since the two countries established diplomatic relations 36 years ago.
In his talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Xi, who arrived in Ecuador Thursday afternoon, said Ecuador is an important country in Latin America.
Despite a long distance between them, bilateral ties between China and Ecuador have witnessed substantial development in recent years.
The two countries established a strategic partnership in Correa's second official visit to Beijing in 2015, and Ecuador is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America.
In April this year, Ecuador was hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, and China was one of the first countries to supply humanitarian aid immediately after the quake.
Xi noted that since 2015, mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides have seen rapid development in a wide range of areas, with the scale of collaboration continuing to increase.
Bilateral ties have since been greatly enriched and have been picking up momentum towards comprehensive development, he added.
The Chinese president said China-Ecuador relations have now entered a key phase where cooperation between the two countries is of greater importance to both sides.
China will continue to support Ecuador in exploring a development path that suits its own conditions, and will actively take part in Ecuador's post-earthquake reconstruction work, he said.
China is willing to reinforce practical cooperation with the Ecuadorian side in all areas, comprehensively step up the integration of interests of both sides, expand people-to-people exchanges, and open up brighter prospects for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said.
He went on to pledge support for Ecuador's presidency of the Group of 77 next year, saying that China is willing to maintain close cooperation with the G77 in multilateral affairs.
China is also willing to work with Ecuador to boost overall cooperation with Latin America and push for greater development in China-Latin America relations, he added.
Ecuador is the first leg of President Xi's three-nation Latin American tour which will also take him to Peru and Chile. This is his third visit to Latin America since he took the presidency in March 2013.
He will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting while in Lima, capital of Peru.
Related:
Backgrounder: Key facts about China-Ecuador ties
Full text of Chinese president's signed article in Ecuadorian newspaper
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The French writer Victor Hugo observed in Les Miserables that "supreme resources spring from extreme resolutions." In much the same way, China is committed to innovation and development in a green way to fight climate change.
As the world's largest developing country, China is playing an active role in negotiation and global governance on climate change.
Self-motivated and willing to work with others to save the planet, China has taken steps, including billions of dollars of investment, to tackle climate change and provide advanced new-energy technology.
The 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), from Nov. 7 to 18, was the first conference after the historic December 2015 Paris Agreement, which took effect on Nov. 4 this year and has been ratified by 96 countries and the EU.
Under the agreement, nations agreed to combat climate change and to roll out actions and investment to ensure a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable future.
Chinese culture values harmony between man and nature. With its commitment, China is practising what it preaches.
From 2010 to 2015, China had the largest net increase of forested area, with an annual increase of more than 1.5 million hectares.
China leads the world in terms of energy conservation and utilization of new and renewable energy.
In 2015, there were 340,000 new-energy vehicles on China's roads, and the country is the largest market for new energy automobiles.
At the Marrakech summit in Morocco, 50 buses made by China's Yangtze Automobile shuttle attendees to and from the conference.
China also reaffirmed that it would set up a 20 billion yuan (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) fund for South-South cooperation to help other developing countries cope with climate change, funding projects such as low-carbon model parks, implementing mitigation and training personnel.
In a document submitted ahead of the Paris talks in 2015, China pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
China vowed to peak its CO2 emissions by around 2030, raise the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent and increase forest stock by around 4.5 billion cubic meters from 2005.
The country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) also reflected these targets.
China has taken a leading role in global emissions reduction and its contribution was recognized by officials from other countries and organizations.
"China is the largest investor in renewable energy in the world," said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. "This shows China's commitment."
Executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Erik Solheim credited China's robust leadership for the adoption of the Paris climate deal in December last year, and spoke highly of China's contribution to the global green agenda.
The summit is not the finishing line but a new starting point.
Faced with growing pressure on resources and the environment, China called on countries to increase dialogues and exchanges of best practices with other developing countries, draw on each other's strengths to achieve common development through mutual learning, and deliver benefits to all people.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he had a "very candid discussion" with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, as he was seeking clarity on Trump's campaign rhetoric seen as hostile towards Japan.
Saying his 90-minute meeting with Trump at Trump Tower in New York was held in a "warm atmosphere", Abe told reporters that both men agreed to meet again "at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth." But he refused to provide any details of the discussion.
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CBS News earlier Thursday that Trump's meeting with Abe was "much more informal" in nature, given the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama would not leave office till Jan. 20, 2017.
"Any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," said Conway.
The meeting was Trump's first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton last week.
During his presidential campaign, Trump questioned several crucial components of U.S.-Japanese relations, opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and once suggesting that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons, among others.
Trump also pledged to demand higher payments from allies, including Japan, for them to keep U.S. troops on their soil or face possible withdrawal of U.S. forces.
By Matt Burgess
SYDNEY, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The global economy is crying out for leadership to stem the opposition to free-trade, yet the stagnant economic recovery post-Global Financial Crisis is having countries implementing inward looking policies.
The dynamics of European Union post the United Kingdom's referendum to leave the single market (Brexit) has created a global and regional integration challenge that's filtering throughout the developed world.
Increasing protectionist rhetoric by members of Australia's government -- both ruling and opposition power brokers -- as well as the looming Donald Trump presidency proves resistance to globalisation is gathering pace.
"That has got indirect impacts on the way APEC leaders are seeing the world," Director of the Institute of Global Finance at the University of New South Wales Professor Fariborz Moshirian, told Xinhua earlier this month.
And of course there are other regional forces at play dictating whether APEC on its own can become a force for economic and financial integration, Moshirian said, noting the friction between the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
"It's a bit complicated... everyone is trying to create their own sort of bloc," Moshirian said, adding it's essentially a battle for "supremacy and control of trade and investment within the Asia Pacific region."
Feasibility and cost-benefit studies of a free trade zone covering all APEC members, agreed as part of a proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) at the 2014 APEC summit in Beijing, are to be delivered at the Peru Summit.
The free trade zone encompassing the 21 APEC members, who currently account for over 50 percent of global GDP, should potentially be implemented no later than 2025 if agreements can be reached, just under 20 years after its original proposal by the United States.
With roughly 10-percent of national income traded, there is little risk for the United States if they pushed for FTAAP to be delayed, though they would risk isolating themselves in the Asia-Pacific.
Australia seeks to negate this, wanting to "capitalise on this moment in the global economy" though increased free-trade in the booming Asia-Pacific, but is consciences that the "impacts of change can be borne unevenly across the community".
"Countries that have embraced open trade and investment policies have experienced, as we know, significant gains in income, employment and living standards," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Business Council of Australia annual dinner on Thursday night, adding it has lifted billions of people out of poverty in the region.
"But we are living in a time where the pace and scale of change is without precedent in human history.
"Change is unsettling, and as people see things change around them, they are concerned they could be left behind. Weaker growth in incomes is feeding uncertainty, helping anti-trade sentiment find a foothold."
Turnbull said the world has seen economies introduce the equivalent of five protectionist trade policies per week over the past year, the fastest pace since the Global Financial Crisis.
"Retreating from policies that have delivered us prosperity and opportunity is the wrong call," Turnbull said.
But protectionism isn't just about trade policies, it's also the issues that influence trade.
Since the Global Financial Crisis, the developed world economies have been running extraordinarily loose monetary policy, some experimental.
It's a bid to lower a country's currency to make their exports more competitive. In effect, increase exports, decrease imports and spur the domestic economy, Moshirian said.
"But if everyone does it, it's the same thing that happened in the great depression, and you suddenly slow down free trade," Moshirian said.
The ideal solution to boost global trade, thus global growth is the failed World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha trade negotiations that stumbled because complex issues couldn't be resolved. So, nations are now forming regional trade blocks, which are politically charged.
Pushing FTAAP is using APEC to its full capacity, minimising the smaller, politically charged trading blocs such as RCEP and TPP.
An agreement on the feasibly of FTAAP proves APEC is a rightful global leader in a region of dynamic change. It's now time for APEC to pull together to agree to press the next stage, the Doha round.
"Frankly, my hope (is) that they can just not play politics, but rather be united for multilateral free trade," Moshirian said.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- With an AK-47 assault rifle slung casually over his shoulder, Allah Mohammad, while slashing an opium bulb with a vicious looking knife and extracting its milky nectar that seeps from the cuts, said that he thanks the chaos and ongoing militancy in Afghanistan as it allows him to grow poppies on his farm in the Ghorak district of the southern Kandahar province.
"The police in government-controlled areas don't allow the farmers to grow poppies, but in some areas like the Ghorak district where the government only has a loose grip, the farmers can cultivate poppies and run the easy, profitable business," Mohammad said recently.
"Planting opium poppies and converting the plant's nectar to heroin is a profitable business for the villagers here in Ghorak where government forces barely exist," the farmer said, adding that the farmers have gained experience in growing poppies and that is why they can earn three to four times more over the past few years than in the last decade.
Kandahar and the neighboring Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces where anti-government militants including the Taliban are active, are areas responsible for producing a major part of all opium poppies harvested in Afghanistan annually.
According to Mohammad, parts of the Ghorak, Miwand and Khakriz districts where security forces' presence is slim are suitable places for the farmers to grow poppies. Meanwhile, officials in Kandahar's provincial capital of Kandahar city have claimed that poppy cultivation has been eradicated in government-controlled areas.
Nevertheless, the officials have admitted that in spite of the government's tireless war on drugs, people in unregulated areas take advantage of the situation to grow poppy fields to fuel the lucrative heroin trade.
The growing of poppies and their byproducts have been on a constant rise in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001, and a survey conducted by the Afghan Ministry for Counter-Narcotics and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, released in October, revealed a 43 percent increase in the amount of drugs being harvested, compared to a year earlier.
The estimated opium production in 2016, according to the survey, was 4,800 tons, compared to 3,300 tons in 2015 and, similarly, the land used to cultivate poppies in the current year had increased 10 percent to 201,000 hectares compared to last year.
The majority of the opium, the raw material used in the manufacturing of heroin, according to officials, has been produced in the troubled provinces where Taliban militants are active.
A Taliban fighter on one poppy field, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confessed his support for growing poppies and producing the drug, saying, "Although growing poppies and producing heroin is forbidden in Islam, poverty has forced us Taliban to support poppy growing."
"It is a source of income for the farmers as well as for the Taliban, as the Taliban collect one kilogram from every 10 kg of opium produced by the farmers as 'Ashar' (an Islamic principle to collect one-tenth from legal crop yields to help the Islamic government and poor families) to support Jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan," the Taliban fighter said.
Photo taken on Nov. 17, 2016 shows the injured after a tanker truck exploded in Tete province, Mozambique. At least 73 people were killed and dozens of people injured after a tanker truck exploded in northern Mozambique on Thursday, the government said. (Xinhua)
MAPUTO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique has created a commission to investigate a tanker truck explosion that killed 73 people and injured 110 others and provide necessary support.
The commission is headed by Minister of State Administration and Civil Servants Carmelita Namashulua, Minister of Transports and Communications Carlos Mesquita, deputy minister of health Mouzinho Saide and director of the Institute for Disaster Management Osvaldo Machatine.
The commission is expected to land in the Tete province, where the explosion happened, on Friday.
According to police authorities, the tragedy occurred on Thursday when the victims were trying to still oil from the truck soon after the driver of Malawian company parked the truck.
"All happened because the driver of the truck belonging to a Malawian company abandoned the road NR7 to the interior of the community, in the process of stilling fuel, the truck overheated and exploded," said Fabiao Nhancoloco, police provincial commandant.
About 43 people died at the scene and 40 others on their way to the provincial hospital. The injured had been rushed to a nearby hospital.
The tragedy occurred in a day when Tete province registered a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius.
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A brief but heavy gunbattle erupted Friday that left at least 14 killed, including 10 Abu Sayyaf militants and 4 soldiers, in the mountain of Patikul town, Sulu Province, according to security official.
At least 9 soldiers were also wounded in the firefight, said Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of Western Mindanao Command.
The military said the fierce fighting ensued when troops under the 35th Infantry Battalion attacked about 150 Abu Sayyaf militants at the village of Buhanginan, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group in the strife province of Sulu.
The encounter came when a freed Filipino captive confirmed to authorities he saw several hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf group.
The military confirmed earlier that the Abu Sayyaf group is holding at least 22 captives, including a Dutch, German, 2 Indonesians, 5 Malaysians, 6 Vietnamese and 6 locals.
The military could not immediately say if all of the hostages are being held altogether in Sulu as there are reports the separate bandit group are holding the 6 Vietnamese sailors in Basilan.
Tan said the gunbattle in Patikul erupted about 10:20a.m. with troops attacking the Abu Sayyaf group for about 45 minutes.
"The firefight was fierce and ground troops were supported by ground bombardment utilizing 105mm Howitzer," Tan said.
Tan said the Abu Sayyaf group retreated and splintered but were subjected by heavy cannon bombardments.
He said the attacked resulted to 10 Abu Sayyaf members killed.Tan said at least 4 soldiers were also killed and 9 others were wounded.
Troops in the nearby areas conducted blocking operations to receive the escaping militants with assault.
The 350-strong Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists, is a violent Muslim terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines. The ASG is notorious for a series of kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in southern Philippines over the past decades.
The ASG operates mainly in Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi Provinces in the Sulu Archipelago and has a presence on Mindanao. Members also occasionally travel to Manila.
HANOI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of over 3.3 billion U.S. dollars from January to October 2016 with foreign direct investment (FDI) companies continuing to outweigh domestic firms in export revenue, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs on Friday.
Vietnam's total trade turnover exceeded 284.5 billion U.S. dollars during the period, including 143.9 billion U.S. dollars in exports, a year-on-year increase of about 7 percent.
In October alone, the country raked in more than 15.4 billion U.S. dollars from overseas shipments, down 0.1 percent from the previous month, nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars of which was earned from export activities of FDI enterprises, up 0.3 percent from September.
Phones and components topped the list of export commodities in October with revenue of over 2.83 billion U.S. dollars, down 2.6 percent over the previous month. They were followed by textile and garment products with more than 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in turnover, dropping by 10.7 percent.
Computers, electronic products and components ranked third with a monthly export revenue increase of 10 percent, according to Vietnam Customs.
The U.S. remained the biggest market Vietnamese goods in October with over 3.26 billion U.S. dollars, bringing 10-month exports to the country to 31.55 billon U.S. dollars.
The respective figures for China, the second biggest importer, were 2.2 billion U.S. dollars and 17.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Vietnam Customs said the country imported more than 140.65 billion U.S. dollars of commodities in the first 10 months of 2016, including 15.84 billion U.S. dollars in October.
Imports by FDI firms reached some 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in October, rising by 7.7 percent from the previous month.
Computers, electronic products and components were the goods with the biggest import turnover, 2.7 billion U.S. dollars. Machinery, equipment and spare parts were second with 2.38 billion U.S. dollars.
China continued to be the biggest exporter of goods to Vietnam, with revenue of 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in October, bringing 10-month imports to more than 40.2 billion U.S. dollars, said Vietnam Customs.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani anti-terrorism personnel killed a commander of the militant group Islamic State (IS) near the country's capital of Islamabad on Friday, officials said.
Two members of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) were also injured when Ehsan Sattai, the IS commander, in exchange of firing, in the outskirts of Murree, a scenic town, some 50 kilometers from Islamabad.
Two IS activists escaped during the shootout, officials said.
The CTD members raided a house early morning on a tip off that the suspects were hiding there. The suspects were planning to attack media houses in Islamabad and the nearby Rawalpindi city, an official told the media.
The authorities recovered rifles, explosives, bomb-making equipment and suicide vest, he said.
The suspects refused to surrender and threw a hand grenade at the raiding party, the official said. Both sides exchanged fire.
ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Ethiopia are willing to enhance bilateral ties, leaders of the two sides said here on Thursday.
Ethiopia is ready to work with China and deepen the friendly bilateral relations at all levels, including people-to-people exchanges, President Mulatu Teshome told visiting Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao.
Ethiopia attaches great importance to relations with China and has harvested tangible benefits, he added.
Mulatu further commended that the major China-Africa cooperation plans proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will meet Africa's needs and strongly promote its industrialization.
Li expressed China's willingness to follow the important consensus among leaders of the two countries to deepen cooperation in various fields.
The two countries, which have similar concept of governance and development and have extensive common interests, have played a leading and exemplary role in many aspects in China-Africa cooperation, he added.
Li also indicated that experience sharing between the two ruling parties will promote the comprehensive cooperative partnership of China and Ethiopia.
Li recalled Mulatu's prior experience in China, saying the president has witnessed the growth of bilateral relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa witness the signing of document on bilateral cooperation after their talks in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed here Thursday to boost their cooperation in production capacity, as well as economic and trade areas, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the Latin American nation.
During the talks between President Xi and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa, the two heads of state exchanged views on China-Ecuador ties, China's relations with Latin America, and international and regional issues of common concern, said the statement.
Seeking to boost production capacity and investment cooperation, the two countries pledged to implement major projects in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, communication and finance, and explore cooperation in agriculture, petrochemical industry, ship building, metallurgy and paper making industries.
China is willing to work with Ecuador in technology transfer so as to boost the country's industrialization and strengthen its capacity in independent development.
The two sides also pledged to encourage their companies and financial institutions to discuss possible cooperation on the Pacific Refinery, a large petrochemical complex in Ecuador's northern province of Manabi, which is going to be a pillar of petrochemical industry in Ecuador and the whole region as well.
On trade, Beijing and Quito seek a steady, sustainable and balanced trade growth, and vow to make it more convenient for their respective products to get access to the other's markets.
The two sides also want to enhance their exchanges in science and technology, according to the statement.
China is willing to play an active role in the Yachay City of Knowledge and Prometheus program, and facilitate the cooperation between scientific research academies, higher learning institutions and enterprises in joint research and development, innovation, as well as the commercialization and industrialization of scientific research achievements.
China and Ecuador also agreed to enhance their cooperation in education, culture, health, sports, tourism and judicial areas, bolster exchanges between media, artists and students of the two countries, increase the number of student exchanges, so as to boost understanding and friendship of the two peoples.
The two sides reaffirmed that they will continue to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and support their respective core interests and major concerns, said the document.
Ecuador reiterated its firm adherence to the one China policy and support to Beijing's efforts to achieve national unification, while the Chinese side backs Ecuador's efforts to seek a development path that fits its national conditions, and to maintain independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.
The two sides also agreed to maintain close high-level exchanges, and promote communications between their legislative bodies, political parties, and at local level as well as cooperation between their foreign ministries so as to find more common ground and enhance political mutual trust.
Also in the statement, China and Ecuador believe that practical cooperation is an important part of their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Seeking to improve their all-round cooperation, the two sides are willing to further integrate their development strategies, and give full play to a series of cooperation mechanisms in such areas as production capacity, investment, trade, agriculture and technology.
Also according to the joint statement, the two countries agree that they share broad common interests in many of the key international and regional issues.
Both countries will, within the UN and the Group of 77 (G77) as well as many other multilateral cooperation frameworks, maintain close communications and cooperation on UN reform, global economic governance, climate change, and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, so as to promote South-South cooperation and preserve the interests of the developing world.
China supports Ecuador's G77 presidency in 2017, and would like to work with the country to increase the influence and the voice of the developing countries in global affairs.
President Xi arrived in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito Thursday afternoon, kicking off a state visit to the country and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013.
Besides Ecuador, the week-long tour will also take him to Peru and Chile. In Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in the capital city of Lima.
Related:
Backgrounder: Key facts about China-Ecuador ties
By Abu Hanifah
JAKARTA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo confirmed that national security remained under full control after string of religious-related violence that took civilian lives this month.
The confirmation came out after the president's serial visits to leaders of prominent Muslim groups, police's special unit and elite units in the military in the last two weeks, aimed at assuring to get pledges of support and readiness of those key elements in guaranteeing the stability of the country.
Anxieties emerged among minorities in the country that mostly inhabited by Muslims after the massive demonstrations staged by Muslim hardliners and an explosion in a church perpetrated by a former terror convict in East Kalimantan province.
The two events have claimed two lives and injured dozens others. The explosion in the church on Sunday killed a 2-year-old toddler who had just prayed in the church along with her parents. Three other toddlers suffered from burn injuries from the explosion.
Speaking on the sidelines of his visit to the Army's Strategic Command headquarters in Cilodong, West Java on Wednesday, President Widodo said that his recent serial visits to leaders of religious organizations, police and the military was intended to comfort the public who were anxious after the occurrence of religious-related violence events.
"Their readiness was intended to comfort the public. Once the public knows that everything is ready and standby, they would be eased down," the president said.
The assurance from police, military and Muslim organizations to control their followers would significantly help government and the public in anticipating possible disturbances following the religious-related violence.
The moves conducted by the president were praised by analysts, saying that it was a correct to respond the developing situation in the country.
"The president's intensive communications with key organizations in the society and having the assurance that police and the military are in the same spirit and vision would ease down the developing tension in the country," an analyst from Islamic University of Syaruf Hidayatullah, Gun Gun Heryanto said on Wednesday.
Another analyst from psychology department at University of Indonesia (UI), Hamdi Muluk said that government has learned from impact of the massive demonstrations, taking more effective approach by involving public organizations as part of solution to settle problems faced by the nation.
Indonesian police have recently imposed suspect status against Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who made blasphemous comments against the Koran in September that eventually triggered massive demonstrations staged by hundreds of Muslim hardliners in the capital since last month.
The incumbent Jakarta governor Basuki, who is a Christian, is scheduled to run in gubernatorial election in February next year. Should the trial against him found he is guilty in the religious blasphemy case, he may face up to five years imprisonment.
ISTANBUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities on Friday detained 73 academicians from the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul as part of an ongoing crackdown launched in the wake of a failed coup in July, local media reported.
Istanbul prosecutors issued warrants for the detention of 103 academics from the university, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Of them, 73 have been detained by police, it added.
Press reports said some suspects were accused of using the so-called Bylock messaging App adopted by an outlawed organization led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of masterminding the coup attempt on July 15.
More than 40,000 people have been detained in the ongoing investigation, with some 80,000 others removed from public office in the purges.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year for higher education at the Bestepe National Congress And Culture Center in Ankara on October 18, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
ISTANBUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities on Friday detained 73 academicians from the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul as part of an ongoing crackdown launched in the wake of a failed coup in July, local media reported.
Istanbul prosecutors issued warrants for the detention of 103 academics from the university, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Of them, 73 have been detained by police, it added.
Press reports said some suspects were accused of using the so-called Bylock messaging App adopted by an outlawed organization led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of masterminding the coup attempt on July 15.
More than 40,000 people have been detained in the ongoing investigation, with some 80,000 others removed from public office in the purges.
HOUSTON, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Lone Star College's north Harris County campus in the U.S. state of Texas' greater Houston area was evacuated Thursday night after a 911 call claiming a gunman was on campus.
Houston police said they received a call from a woman at about 7:47 p.m. local time (0145 GMT Nov. 18) stating that "someone is shooting" on the public community college campus.
Police rushed to the college and worked together with college security to investigate the incident, but no gunshots were heard and no injuries were reported.
An alert about the incident was sent out to students and faculty at around 8 p.m. local time (0200 GMT Nov. 18) and the college was evacuated as a precaution.
After a thorough investigation, it was decided that the call was probably a hoax, but officials are continuing to monitor the situation.
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korean prosecutors said Friday that they may insert President Park Geun-hye's criminal charges in indictment for her longtime confidante and two former aides expected on Sunday.
An official at the special investigative unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in charge of the case told a press briefing that Park's "criminal charges" could be in question in executions for Choi Soon-sil, the president decades-long friend suspected of intervening in state affairs behind the scenes, and two former presidential secretaries.
The official was quoted by local media outlets as saying that though the prosecution office didn't fix the president's status as the accused in this case, Park is an important reference witness and her criminal charges could be in question.
Prosecutors had informed Park of being investigated as a reference witness no later than Wednesday, but Park's attorney delayed it to next week. The prosecution office postponed its face-to-face questioning of the scandal-hit president to Friday, but it didn't happen.
President Park is grappling with the political scandal surrounding Choi, who has been arrested for alleged charges of meddling in government affairs though she has no public position and peddling undue influence for personal gains. Two former presidential aides have also been detained for helping Choi abuse power.
The three are forecast to be criminally indicted on Sunday. A special prosecutor would continue to investigate the case as rival political parties agreed to a bill on the independent counsel appointment earlier this week.
If Park's criminal charges are mentioned in the indictment, the president's status could be changed into a criminal suspect, according to local media reports.
The first South Korean female leader's biggest political crisis since her inauguration in February 2013 is snowballing as even a day doesn't pass without a new speculation by local news organizations.
Park's approval rating stayed at 5 percent for three weeks in a row, the lowest for any South Korean president, according to a weekly survey of Gallup Korea, local pollster.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets in Seoul and major cities nationwide on Saturday, the fourth mass rally on the weekends since the scandal burst into a rage last month.
The embattled president is trying to normalize state affairs, appointing new vice ministers and foreign missions earlier this week. Park on Wednesday ordered a thorough investigation into a corruption scandal involving the tourism complex development in the southern port city of Busan.
The presidential office said Park will participate in the tripartite summit meeting with China and Japan, which is predicted to be held in Tokyo next month, if schedules are fixed.
The president is widely believed to chair a cabinet meeting next Tuesday, when major government policies would be approved such as the military intelligence pact with Japan and the special prosecutor bill on the Choi Soon-sil case. It would become Park's first presiding over the cabinet meeting in over a month.
MOSCOW, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A tense relationship between Russia and the United States does not meet the interests of the American people or solve the problems in the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and newly-elected U.S. President Donald Trump also discussed bilateral relations, he said during an interview with "Russia 24" TV channel.
On the issue of Syria, Lavrov said it will be one of the main issues for discussion at the Geneva meeting on Friday.
The meeting will be held in Geneva with the participation of representatives from Russia, the United States and Middle Eastern countries which are involved in the Syrian conflict.
SINGAPORE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 6,450 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes from a Malaysia-registered truck were seized at Singapore's Tuas checkpoint on Thursday, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a press release on Friday.
ICA said that the truck, driven by a 46-year-old male Malaysian, arrived at the checkpoint at about 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. The truck was carrying a consignment declared to contain 20 pallets of paper boxes. During the course of checks, ICA officers found 6,454 cartons and 460 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes hidden among the consignment.
The potential duty and Goods and Services Tax evaded amounted to about 504,400 Singapore dollars (354,038 U.S. dollars) and 50,780 Singapore dollars (35,627 U.S. dollars) respectively.
The authority added that the driver, duty-unpaid cigarettes and truck were handed over to Singapore Customs for investigations. The vehicle used in the commission of such offences is liable to be forfeited.
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday responded to Vietnam construction on a South China Sea island, urging the country to stop its occupation and illegal activities on China's territory.
"China is firmly opposed to the relevant country's illegal occupation of South China Sea reefs, and construction on China's territory," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at a routine press briefing.
Geng was responding to a question regarding a U.S. think tank report, which said satellite images taken this month showed Vietnam had lengthened its runway on the Nansha Islands.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, Geng said.
"We strongly urge the relevant country to respect China's sovereignty and interest, and withdraw its personnel and facilities," Geng said.
He urged the relevant country to abide by bilateral and regional consensus, and not to take any action that may complicate the situation.
HARBIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A floating bridge on the China-Russia border was opened Friday for winter transport between the two countries, a port in northeast China said.
The 600-meter bridge is built on six 1,000-tonne barges connected end-to-end between Heihe Port in Heilongjiang Province and Blagoveshchensk, capital of the Amur region in the Russian Far East, said an official with the port.
The bridge is designed with 10.5 meter-wide road with two-way lanes for personnel and cargo transport.
It is expected to remain open until April, when the river ice fully melts allowing for ferry operations, the official said.
A hovercraft ferry is also being used, until the river freezes.
Heihe is an important port in Heilongjiang, with Blagoveshchensk on the other side of the Heilong River. The distance between the ports' nearest points is only 100 meters.
JAKARTA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Anti-terror squad of Indonesian national police on Friday arrested five suspected militants on the outskirts of Jakarta, a police spokesman said here.
National Police Spokesman Boy Rafly Amar revealed that all the persons operated under one group, but did not give further details about the group.
Four of them were arrested in Bekasi town and another in Kalideres town, the spokesman said.
"They are coordinated under one group, but we still do not know the name of the group," he said at the national police headquarters.
"The roles of each of them are being investigated. Now they are undergoing police's investigation," Rafly added.
The spokesman noted that the arrest was carried out after the police developed several terrorist cases.
During the raids on their hideouts, Rafly said that police seized lots of evidence, but did not elaborate.
Indonesia has witnessed a series of small-scale terrorist strikes in recent months, including a blast outside a church in Samarinda city of East Kalimantan, an attack on police officers on the outskirts of Jakarta and an attempted suicide bombing in a church in North Sumatra.
Indonesia is monitoring over 50 militants who have returned home after joining IS in Iraq and Syria, according to police.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa at the airport in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. Xi arrived here Thursday for a state visit to Ecuador. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed here Thursday to boost their cooperation in production capacity, as well as economic and trade areas, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the Latin American nation.
During the talks between President Xi and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa, the two heads of state exchanged views on China-Ecuador ties, China's relations with Latin America, and international and regional issues of common concern, said the statement.
Seeking to boost production capacity and investment cooperation, the two countries pledged to implement major projects in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, communication and finance, and explore cooperation in agriculture, petrochemical industry, ship building, metallurgy and paper making industries.
China is willing to work with Ecuador in technology transfer so as to boost the country's industrialization and strengthen its capacity in independent development.
The two sides also pledged to encourage their companies and financial institutions to discuss possible cooperation on the Pacific Refinery, a large petrochemical complex in Ecuador's northern province of Manabi, which is going to be a pillar of petrochemical industry in Ecuador and the whole region as well.
On trade, Beijing and Quito seek a steady, sustainable and balanced trade growth, and vow to make it more convenient for their respective products to get access to the other's markets.
The two sides also want to enhance their exchanges in science and technology, according to the statement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
China is willing to play an active role in the Yachay City of Knowledge and Prometheus program, and facilitate the cooperation between scientific research academies, higher learning institutions and enterprises in joint research and development, innovation, as well as the commercialization and industrialization of scientific research achievements.
China and Ecuador also agreed to enhance their cooperation in education, culture, health, sports, tourism and judicial areas, bolster exchanges between media, artists and students of the two countries, increase the number of student exchanges, so as to boost understanding and friendship of the two peoples.
The two sides reaffirmed that they will continue to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and support their respective core interests and major concerns, said the document.
Ecuador reiterated its firm adherence to the one China policy and support to Beijing's efforts to achieve national unification, while the Chinese side backs Ecuador's efforts to seek a development path that fits its national conditions, and to maintain independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.
The two sides also agreed to maintain close high-level exchanges, and promote communications between their legislative bodies, political parties, and at local level as well as cooperation between their foreign ministries so as to find more common ground and enhance political mutual trust.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa witness the signing of document on bilateral cooperation after their talks in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
Also in the statement, China and Ecuador believe that practical cooperation is an important part of their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Seeking to improve their all-round cooperation, the two sides are willing to further integrate their development strategies, and give full play to a series of cooperation mechanisms in such areas as production capacity, investment, trade, agriculture and technology.
Also according to the joint statement, the two countries agree that they share broad common interests in many of the key international and regional issues.
Both countries will, within the UN and the Group of 77 (G77) as well as many other multilateral cooperation frameworks, maintain close communications and cooperation on UN reform, global economic governance, climate change, and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, so as to promote South-South cooperation and preserve the interests of the developing world.
China supports Ecuador's G77 presidency in 2017, and would like to work with the country to increase the influence and the voice of the developing countries in global affairs.
President Xi arrived in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito Thursday afternoon, kicking off a state visit to the country and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013.
Besides Ecuador, the week-long tour will also take him to Peru and Chile. In Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in the capital city of Lima.
NANJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese team on Friday won the 2016 ACM Gordon Bell prize, a top honor in high-performance computing, for an application running on China's fastest supercomputer.
It is the first time a Chinese team has won the award.
The project, named "10M-Core Scalable Fully-Implicit Solver for Nonhydrostatic Atmospheric Dynamics," presents a method for calculating atmospheric dynamics, according to the Association for Computing Machinery, which presented the award at the International Supercomputing Conference in Salt Lake City in the United States.
"The application can help improve global climate simulation and weather prediction," said Yang Guangwen, director of the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi.
The center, also one of the application developers, is home to Sunway Taihulight, the supercomputer that runs the application.
The award shows that Taihulight not only excels in terms of speed, but can also be a powerful platform for a wide range of applications, said Yang.
Since its launch on June 20, Sunway Taihulight has helped research teams in both China and abroad make over 100 achievements in 19 different fields, including meteorology, oceanography, aerospace and biology, Yang said.
According to the International Supercomputing Conference, China has 171 of the world's top 500 supercomputers, tied for first place with the United States.
Established in 1987, the Gordon Bell Prize is awarded each year at the annual supercomputing conference. It recognizes outstanding achievements in high-performance computing applications.
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China hopes that bilateral arrangements between any countries do not harm the interests of other countries, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.
Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on the meeting between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Thursday.
Geng said China is pleased to see the development of normal bilateral relations between any countries, but noted that such relations should respect the security concerns of countries in the region and be conducive to regional peace and stability.
He also said the 27th session of the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), slated for November 21- 23, is being organized.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang will attend the JCCT, in the United States.
CHENGDU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Zigong City, in Sichuan Province, plans to build a "Jurassic Park."
The city government signed a deal with Shenzhen's Fantawild Group on Thursday, with the two sides to invest 3.1 billion yuan (450 million U.S. dollars) in the tourist attraction.
The theme park, covering 67 hectares, will be next to the existing Zigong Dinosaur Museum. The park will feature virtual reality and augmented reality to "liven up" the dinosaurs and is expected to draw more than three million visitors each year.
In 1902, China dug up its first dinosaur fossil in northeastern Heilongjiang Province. In 1979, a cluster of dinosaur fossils was found in Zigong City.
Fantawild Group has built more than 20 theme parks in China, which attracted about 23 million visitors last year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa meet journalists after their talks in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
QUITO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed on Thursday to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, in a bid to further strategic mutual trust and win-win cooperation between the two countries.
Speaking to journalists together with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa hours after he arrived in Quito, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping said the two heads of state have agreed to elevate ties between their countries and make this a new starting point to seek more fruitful results in practical cooperation in various fields.
"We will treat the China-Ecuador relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, and work together with the Ecuadorian side to further development from a new starting point," Xi said.
1ST HISTORIC VISIT BY A CHINESE HEAD OF STATE TO ECUADOR
Xi is on a three-nation Latin American tour, the third of its kind to the continent since he assumed the presidency in March 2013.
The first leg of the week-long tour to Ecuador is the first state visit by a Chinese president to the country since the two sides established diplomatic ties in 1980.
Already, the visit had been described as "historic" in Quito.
"The establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership is of historic significance," Correa said when meeting the press. He said the bilateral relationship has reached an "unprecedented" level.
As the world's second-largest economy with a high speed of growth, China can play a very important role in bolstering Ecuador's development, especially against the backdrop of low oil prices, said the Ecuadorian president.
Noting China does not attach any political strings when assisting other countries, Correa told journalists that China is a reliable partner and that cooperation with the Asian country helps consolidate Ecuador's sovereignty, accelerate its industrialization and improve its capability of self-reliant development.
He said his country and China share a lot of common interests and that they can cooperate extensively. "The gate of Ecuador will always be open to you, to the Chinese people," Correa said.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP OF MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL, SUCCESSFUL COOPERATION
Despite a long distance separating the two countries, cooperation between China and Ecuador in trade and finance has yielded great success in recent years.
The two countries established a strategic partnership in 2015 during Correa's second visit to China. China is currently the third largest trade partner of Ecuador, while the latter is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America, with two-way trade reaching 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years.
In his talks with Correa earlier on Thursday, Xi said Ecuador is an important country in Latin America, adding that bilateral ties have witnessed substantial development in recent years.
Xi said that since 2015, mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides has seen rapid development in a wide range of areas, with the scale of collaboration continuing to increase.
Bilateral ties have since been greatly enriched and picking up momentum toward comprehensive development, he said.
RELATIONS ENTER NEW PHASE, HERALDING BRIGHTER PROSPECTS
The Chinese president said China-Ecuador relations have now entered a key phase where cooperation between the two countries is of greater importance to both sides.
China will continue to support Ecuador in exploring a development path that suits its own conditions, and will actively take part in Ecuador' s post-earthquake reconstruction work, he said.h China is also willing to reinforce pragmatic cooperation with the Ecuadorian side in all areas, comprehensively step up the integration of interests of both sides, expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and open up brighter prospects for bilateral ties, Xi said.
He went on to pledge support for Ecuador's presidency of the Group of 77 (G77) next year, saying that China is willing to maintain close cooperation with G77 in multilateral affairs.
China will also work with Ecuador to boost overall cooperation with Latin America and push for greater development in China-Latin America relations, he added.
For his part, Correa likened Xi's visit to "a get-together between friends," and said he believes the Chinese president's Ecuador trip will serve to boost bilateral relations and cooperation as well as bring more benefits to people on both sides.
Ecuador has always pursued a one-China policy, and is committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in political, economic as well as cultural and people-to-people fields, Correa said.
Also on Thursday, Xi and Correa witnessed the signing of a string of cooperation agreements in the areas of production capacity, investment, industrial parks, economic technologies, judiciary and media.
President Xi will leave for Peru and Chile after finishing his state visit to Ecuador. He will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, capital of Peru.
NEW STARTING POINT TO DEEPEN TRUST, WIN-WIN COOPERATION
In their talks, the two presidents agreed to make the elevation of bilateral ties a new starting point to deepen strategic mutual trust, seek greater achievements in mutually beneficial cooperation and boost the healthier and faster development of bilateral ties.
Liu Yuqin, former Chinese ambassador to Ecuador, said the decision to elevate bilateral ties represents the positive response of the two countries' top leaders to the calls for more pragmatic and win-win cooperation in all fields.
"The official endorsement has always been an essential element in boosting bilateral exchanges," Liu said.
The former ambassador said one of the most notable highlights of bilateral exchanges was the construction of hydroelectric stations by Chinese companies in Ecuador, a country rich in hydropower but hungry for energy due to the lack of infrastructure and financial and technological support.
"Take Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydroelectric station for instance, the project is the largest of its kind in South America. Together with other stations built by Chinese companies, the CCS will make the country self-sufficient in clean power and become an electricity exporter. That means a lot to Ecuador's economic development and people's wellbeing," Liu said.
Wu Baiyi, director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the tenacity of Chinese-made projects enhanced Ecuador's confidence in China and its technological edge.
EARTHQUAKE RELIEF, RECONSTRUCTION AID PROMOTES FRIENDSHIP
Bilateral amity was further enhanced after Ecuador was hit by a devastating earthquake in April this year, which killed close to 700 people, injured nearly 5,000 more and displaced 80,000. China was one of the first countries to supply humanitarian aid immediately after the quake.
China also provided cash support of two million dollars and humanitarian aid worth 9.2 million dollars to Ecuador after the fatal quake.
Chinese companies in Ecuador also dispatched staff and resources to the affected regions to participate in the disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
Correa said the Ecuadorian side appreciates China's firm support in its quake relief and post-quake construction work.
According to Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long, China has offered the most aid and support to his country in the immediate hours after the quake.
Daniel Santos with Ecuador's Disaster Relief and Reconstruction Commission said that China's helping hand will further promote friendship between the two countries.
The ambitious CCS project, constructed by the Chinese company Sinohydro, is expected to meet 44 percent of Ecuador's energy demand.
Power generated by the plant played a key role in Ecuador's quake relief in the wake of the April earthquake.
Related:
China, Ecuador pledge to boost production capacity, trade cooperation
QUITO, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Ecuador agreed here Thursday to boost their cooperation in production capacity, as well as economic and trade areas, according to a joint statement issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the Latin American nation. Full story
Full text of Chinese president's signed article in Ecuadorian newspaper
QUITO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping published a signed article in the leading Ecuadorian newspaper El Telegrafo under the title "Build A New Bridge of China-Ecuador Friendship and Cooperation" on Wednesday, ahead of his state visit to the Latin American country. Full story
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will start a state visit to Peru on Saturday at the invitation of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
During his stay in Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting and will deliver a speech to the APEC CEO Summit.
The following are some key facts about the bilateral relationship between China and Peru:
Peru established diplomatic relations with China in 1971. Since then, bilateral ties have developed smoothly with frequent exchanges of high-level visits, enhanced trade and economic cooperation and increased exchanges in the fields of culture, education, science and technology.
The two countries have established a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level of relations between China and Latin American countries.
The China-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was officially ratified by each country's government in December 2009 and went into effect on March 1, 2010.
In recent years, bilateral trade has remained on an upward trajectory, hitting a record level of nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2015.
In the first eight months of this year, trade grew by 9 percent year-on-year, outpaced by a 21.8-percent uptick in Peruvian exports to China.
China has been Peru's largest trading partner, export market and source of imports for years, and Peru has become one of the top destinations in Latin America for Chinese investment.
Chinese investments in Peru have been wide-ranging, covering mining, hydrocarbons, infrastructure, financial services and more.
Over 170 Chinese businesses have invested more than 14 billion dollars in Peru, helping to create tens of thousands of jobs and new sources of tax revenue for local communities and benefiting the economic and social development in the country.
The robust people-to-people exchanges between Chinese and Peruvians have brought them even closer.
The four Confucius Institutes in Peru have attracted more than 4,000 registered students. Meanwhile, more and more Chinese admirers of the Inca civilization are hoping to visit Peru as tourists.
Yu Zhengsheng (L), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with media representatives who attended a media summit in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 18, 2016. The summit was hosted by Beijing Daily Press Group and Taiwan's Want Want China Times Group. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor on Friday urged media across the Taiwan Strait to hold more exchanges and boost cross-Strait ties.
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks while meeting with media representatives who attended a media summit in Beijing.
The summit was hosted by Beijing Daily Press Group and Taiwan's Want Want China Times Group.
Yu said exchanges between the press on the two sides have played an important role in strengthening mutual understanding.
He said mainstream public opinion on both sides supports the political foundation of peaceful development, and the central authorities will continue to facilitate cross-Strait media exchanges.
Yu also expressed his hope that media on both sides will guide public opinion more positively and promote the bond between compatriots across the Strait.
LUSAKA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu has asked that his salary be cut by half as part of the government-led austerity measures aimed at reviving the country's economy, the vice-president said Friday.
Inonge Wina said in parliament when asked by opposition lawmakers that the government was serious about implementing austerity measures.
"This government is committed to enforcing austerity measures and the president is the first national of the country to declare that even his salary be cut in half so that the country can observe that we have to make sacrifices as leaders," she said.
She has since asked the lawmakers to lead by example and observe austerity measures as well.
The Zambian leader's current annual salary is 447,559 Zambian Kwacha (about 45,000 U.S. dollars).
The vice-president also dismissed reports that the government wanted to purchase 45 land cruisers for ministers.
The opposition lawmakers wanted to know if it was true that the government had ordered expensive vehicles for ministers at a difficult time for the country's economy.
She said the government was not in the process of buying the vehicles and that cabinet has not even discussed the matter.
File photo shows Somali refugees listen during a meeting between refugee representatives and members of UNHCR delegation at Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, May 8, 2015. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)
NAIROBI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has welcomed Kenya's decision to delay the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp and called for flexibility on the timeframe for repatriation of Somali refugees there.
Kenya said in May it would close Dadaab, which houses more than 260,000 Somalis, in November, citing security concerns. Repatriation has since been accelerated.
The UNHCR lauded Kenya's commitment to voluntary, humane, safe and dignified returns for the Somalis in accordance with international law.
Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in northeast Kenya, was set up over 20 years ago to house Somalis fleeing civil conflict.
"UNHCR now appeals to the government of Kenya to show flexibility on the timeframe for the different elements of the plan, including on returns to Somalia," the UNHCR said in a statement received on Thursday.
"Rigid timeframes will be difficult to meet. For solutions to be genuinely voluntary people must be properly informed, and able to make their individual decisions free from pressure and in full awareness of the facts."
The UNHCR said it would continue to work with the Kenyan government in pursuing the most appropriate options for the refugees.
Kenya said Wednesday it would delay the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp by six months, citing the volatile security situation in Somalia and a request from the UNHCR.
Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery said some 262,000 refugees were still in Dadaab while 16,000 had been repatriated in the last six months.
He denied reports by some human rights groups and aid agencies that Dadaab refugees were being forced back to Somalia.
The UNHCR has been involved in the repatriation of Dadaab refugees for years.
File photo shows refugees gather to watch UN High Commissioner for Refugee Antonio Guterres' visiting delegation at Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, May 8, 2015.(Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)
According to the UN agency, a survey launched months ago found that 283,558 refugees were living in Dadaab, 58,000 fewer than in the past.
The UNHCR says it has also commenced the relocation of 14,000 non-Somali refugees in Dadaab to the Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya's Turkana county.
Some Dadaab refugees will be moved to third countries. "16,000 refugees awaiting resettlement clearances will have these procedures finalized to enable departure from Kenya to third countries," the UNHCR said.
The UNHCR also called for the international community to "make adequate investments in Somalia in support of its progress towards security and stability."
Somalia is struggling to recover from some two decades of civil conflict, but still faces a potent threat from militant group Al-Shabaab.
Kenya claims Al-Shabaab members hide in Dadaab. Al-Shabaab has carried out a series of attacks in Kenya since Kenyan peacekeeping troops entered Somalia to battle the group in 2011.
TOKYO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two Japanese whaling ships set off Friday for an annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean despite widespread international opposition, local media reported.
The ships, the 724-ton Yushin Maru and 747-ton Yushin Maru No. 2, set out from the port city of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan, and will join two other whaling vessels to form a fleet, with the plan to kill 333 minke whales by March, 2017.
Japan, a signatory to the commercial whaling moratorium adopted by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in the 1980s, has been hunting whales for "scientific research purposes" in north Pacific and the Antarctic.
As meat of whales hunted by Japan was sold and ended up on dinner tables, the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in 2014 that Japan shall stop its Antarctic whaling as it is not for scientific purposes.
Japan canceled its 2014-2015 season Antarctic hunt but resumed whale hunting in the following season despite the ICJ ruling and opposition from anti-whaling countries, cutting its yearly target number by two-thirds to 333.
LONDON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- British Supreme Court announced Friday that the Scottish and Welsh governments will be allowed to intervene in the forthcoming legal battle over how Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) should be triggered.
In what will be one of the most important court cases in British legal history, British Prime Minister Theresa May's government is to appeal against a High Court ruling that parliament must vote on triggering Brexit.
The landmark case will start before all 11 Supreme Court judges on Dec. 5 and is likely to last for four days. The decision will not be announced until early in 2017.
The Supreme Court said Friday that the Lord Advocate of the Scottish government and the Counsel General for the Welsh government had been granted permission to intervene in the case.
The court is also to allow other representation in the case by the "expat interveners," George Birnie and others, as well as the Independent Workers Union of Britain.
Additionally, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland will take part in the case regarding devolution issues relating to Northern Ireland.
The High Court in London ruled earlier this month that the British parliament should have a say before Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered to start two years of formal withdrawal talks from the EU.
May said she still hopes to trigger Article 50 before the end of March 2017, paving the way for Britain to leave the EU before March 2019.
She has always insisted that the government can start the process without permission of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The High Court disagreed, prompting the appeal to the highest court in Britain.
May's fear is that anti-leave politicians could use a parliamentary process to sabotage Brexit.
GENEVA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Of the 60,000 people who have fled the Iraqi city of Mosul since military operations to recapture one of the Islamic State (IS)'s last strongholds began on Oct. 17, around 40,000 have done so in November, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Friday.
"Close to half are children, according to UN data and UNHCR surveys. Women, girls and female headed households, some of whom are survivors of abuse, account for much of the rest," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in a statement.
"There has been a marked increase over the past week in the number of people fleeing after fighting intensified in the more densely-populated urban areas of Mosul," he added.
The agency had warned before the military campaign kicked off that as many as 1.2 million civilians could be displaced by fighting.
Together with partner organizations as well as the Iraqi government, UNHCR has the capacity to host up to 700,000 people if need be.
Supported by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Iraqi troops kicked off operations last month to take back the city which fell into IS hands in June 2014 after government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
International aircraft as well as Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition artillery units are supporting ground operations there.
According to reports, more than 5,000 IS militants were initially holed up in Mosul to defend the city, though they are losing ground amid ongoing military operations.
KIGALI, Nov, 18 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government has deported to Rwanda Henri Jean-Claude Seyoboka, a suspect of the 1994 genocide that killed close to 1 million Rwandans.
Seyoboka, who has been living in Canada since 1996, arrived at Kigali International Airport on Friday morning from Canada. The deportation ends his 20-year run from justice.
The 50-year-old is the second genocide suspect deported by Canada, following Leon Mugesera in 2012.
Seyoboka is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, murder and extermination that took place in Nyarugenge in the capital Kigali, where he participated in meetings that planned the 1994 genocide, according to Rwanda National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA).
Speaking to reporters shortly after the arrival of the suspect, NPPA spokesperson Faustin Nkusi hailed the Canadian government's cooperation.
"We are grateful for the effort put in by several countries across the world towards fighting impunity and seeking justice to Rwanda genocide victims and survivors," he said.
NPPA says that in 2007, gacaca courts had tried Seyoboka case and handed him a 19-year jail sentence for genocide crimes.
Gacaca courts are homegrown courts that has tried over 2 million cases related to crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.
During the 1994 genocide, Seyoboka was a second lieutenant in the genocidal army (Ex-FAR). He fled the country in 1994.
In January 1995, Seyoboka travelled to Toronto and claimed refugee status but never disclosed his involvement in the Rwandan military in the refugee application process, which violated Canadian laws.
His legal trouble began in 1998 following his International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) interview,when his military past was disclosed to Canadian Citizenship and Immigration officials.
In early 2010, a Canadian Court denied him asylum for the sixth time due to existing evidence implicating him for participating in the 1994 Genocide.
Seyoboka has fought extradition for many years on the grounds that he could face torture back in Rwanda, but the Canadian officials dismissed his claims.
Seyoboka is the son-in-law of Col. Elie Sagatwa, one of the leading masterminds of the genocide, and brother of the wife of ex-genocidal president Juvenal Habyarimana.
In 2012, Canada deported Leon Mugesera to Rwanda. He was found guilty of crimes related to the 1994 genocide and sentenced to life in prison.
Last weekend, the Dutch government deported two genocide suspects Jean-Claude Iyamuremye and Jean-Baptiste Mugimba to Rwanda.
Currently, 12 people accused of committing genocide have been extradited from Uganda, DR Congo, Canada, United States, Netherlands and ICTR to stand trial in Rwanda.
KIGALI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) Friday announced 20 million euro in fund to support Rwanda's accountable economic governance.
The funding agreement was inked Friday in Kigali.
The grant will help improve governance of public funds and improve evidence-based policy-making and monitoring, among other things, according to Rwandan officials.
"EU regards Rwanda as the leader in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of proper use of donor money. We have high confidence in the country systems," Michael Ryan, the EU Ambassador to Rwanda, said at the signing ceremony.
Rwanda's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete said accountable economic governance is one of the top priorities for his government.
This grant is part of the EU's 460-million-euro package of support to Rwanda signed in September, 2014 with European Commission in Brussels.
RAMALLAH, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official said Friday the Palestinians are looking forward to positively working with the U.S. administration of President-elect Donald Trump to realize the two-state solution.
Saeb Erekat, secretary general of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), made the announcement in a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah with the U.S. Consul General Donald Bloom.
He also said in a statement that he conveyed to President Trump that "all types of Israeli settlement are illegal," adding that "the Israeli government's decision to annex occupied East Jerusalem is illegal, and we don't recognize it."
Erekat had earlier met in Ramallah with visiting New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully, and called on New Zeland, a member of the UN Security Council, to nack the choice of the two-state.
On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with McCully and stressed to New Zeland's top diplomat that the Palestinian leadership is exerting all efforts to keep the choice of the two-state solution.
"The efforts to keep the two-state solution between us and the Israelis are aimed at rescuing the peace process which has so far reached a deadlock due to the Israeli policies that reject the international resolutions," Abbas told reporters.
The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, sponsored by the United States, collapsed in April 2014, after nine months of futile efforts.
SHANGHAI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Eighty-five artificially-bred Chinese sturgeon, a critically endangered species, were released on Friday into the Yangtze River.
The release was carried out at the mouth of the river in Shanghai. The freed sturgeons were all 1.6 meters long. Workers also freed nearly 60,000 other fish at the same time, including protected Chinese suckers.
The Chinese sturgeon has existed for more than 140 million years. The fish has top national protection, as economic development, pollution and illegal fishing have driven it to the verge of extinction.
Progress has been made in protection of aquatic animals in the Yangtze in recent years with fishing bans, creation of nature reserves and action against illegal fishing, said Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu.
The Chinese sturgeon nature reserve at the mouth of the Yangtze was established in 2002. Since 2004, authorities have freed artificially-bred fish 17 times, involving nearly 500 Chinese sturgeon.
South African President Jacob Zuma (L) addresses the National Council of Provinces in East London, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, on Nov. 18, 2016. South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday joined the chorus of condemnation against the racial incident in which a black man was forced into a coffin by two white men. (Xinhua/DOC/Elmond Jiyane)
CAPE TOWN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday joined the chorus of condemnation against the racial incident in which a black man was forced into a coffin by two white men.
"This incident, which was posted on social media, is shocking, painful and despicable in the extreme," Zuma said in an address to the National Council of Provinces in East London, Eastern Cape Province.
In an incident that caused national uproar, two white men accused Victor Mlotshwa of trespassing on a ranch, forced him into a coffin and threatened to pour gasoline on him and light him on fire. One of the men captured part of the assault process on video.
The incident happened in Middleburg, Mpumalanga Province. The footage was shot on August 17, but has surfaced only recently.
The incident is a reminder of the deep-seated racist attitudes that still prevail among some in the country, who still regard black people as lesser human beings, Zuma said.
The perpetrators of this crime and all others who commit various acts of racism in the non-racial democracy must face the full might of the law, he said.
This incident is also a reminder of the need to continue fighting for a better life for farm workers, Zuma said, adding that given the secluded nature of farm work, many suffer in silence.
Zuma said he had urged the Department of Labor and other departments to ensure improved monitoring of the working and living conditions of farm workers.
This matter has also brought into sharper focus the question of access to land by black people, he said.
The two accused, Theo Martins Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen, have been charged with kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
BANGKOK, Nov. 18 (Xinhua)-- Thailand's 84-year-old Queen Sirikit is being treated in hospital for lung infection and a high fever, the Royal Household Bureau said on Thursday as quoted by local media Friday.
The palace has issued a fourth statement on the queen's health, announcing that Her Majesty was admitted to hospital on Wednesday after she was discovered to have a high fever.
The statement reads that doctors are treating the Queen's condition with antibiotics and that she has remained conscious. They advised her to undergo further examination at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.
A blood test has revealed that the queen had a high number of white blood cells in her system. An x-ray confirmed that she was suffering from lung inflammation.
The statement ended by saying the queen's fever has dropped and she was able to eat and breathe well.
The queen was last seen on the funeral procession of her husband, the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej who passed away on Oct. 13. The queen has been in poor health for years and has seldom been seen in public in recent years.
The country has plunged in a year-long mourning period since the late Thai King's death. The succession process of the Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn has yet to take place.
WUZHEN, Zhejiang, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese government is actively promoting Internet infrastructure of Belt and Road countries, said officials and company representatives at the third World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province.
China-Pakistan cross-border cable project, a project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been under construction since May.
"The CPEC is the shortest route that links China to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia," said Amir Azeem Bajwa, Major General of the Special Communication Organization of Pakistan. "We call it the 'digital Silk Road'."
There are 135 million mobile phone users in Pakistan, huge potential for telecom cooperation with China. Yang Xiaowei, general manager of the China Telecommunications Corporation, said at WIC that the company would cooperate with operators in the Belt and Road countries on a Pan-Asia network.
Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of industry and information technology, pointed out that China is working on unifying standards for cross-border e-commerce in Belt and Road countries to tackle technological challenges and expand new industries.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the information level of Asian Pacific and Africa are both below the global average.
In 2011, China's leading telecom company China Unicom initiated the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1), a 25,000 km submarine cable system which ventures to link 19 nations and regions across Asia, Africa and Europe.
In order to boost big data and cloud computing in the Middle East and North Africa, Aliyun, Alibaba's cloud computing subsidiary, set up a joint venture with Dubai's Meraas in May 2015. This joint venture will offer system integration services to help private companies and governments in the region to reduce IT spending.
"There are ample opportunities for Belt and Road countries to cooperate on information infrastructure, Internet applications, information content exchange, big data and intelligent manufacturing," said Yang Xiaoya, an official from ITU.
TIRANA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian Transmission System Operator (OST) and German KfW bank on Friday signed an agreement to finance a first-ever power link between Albania and Macedonia, the Albanian Ministry of Energy said.
The financing agreement for construction of the 400 kilovolts (kV) interconnection line amounts to 64 million euros (67.9 million U.S. dollars).
The link will enhance Albania's integration into the regional electricity grid and reinforce high voltage connections between the east and west of the country, closing an electricity ring with Greece, an official statement said.
On the other hand, Albanian authorities expect it to enable a direct swap of energy between two electricity systems.
A soft loan of 50 million euros is being provided by KfW in the framework of German-Albanian development cooperation, while a grant of 14 million euros is being allocated by the European Union in the framework of the Western Balkans Investments Instrument.
OST will finance 6 million euros from its budget, it was stated.
Work in the field is expected to start at the beginning of 2017 and finish in 2018. Enditem
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan are greeted by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and his wife Anne Malherbe at the airport in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
by Victoria Arguello
CARACAS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-country tour in Latin America on Nov. 17-23 underscores the importance China attaches to its cooperation with the region, Venezuelan political analyst Vladimir Adrianza said.
Xi's state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile show that China is keen to further strengthen ties with Latin America, said Adrianza, who teaches at the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela in Caracas.
"China has a long-term vision of its relationship with other states," said Adrianza, noting that the Asian giant has substantially boosted bilateral trade for mutual benefit.
China is now Latin America's second largest trading partner and the third largest source of investment, and Latin America is China's seventh largest trading partner, and important overseas investment destination.
China has pledged to work with Latin America to bring bilateral trade to 500 billion U.S. dollars and increase its investment in the region to 250 billion dollars by 2025.
Xi is visiting Ecuador, the first leg of his trip, where China is helping the country bolster its energy infrastructure through a variety of projects, including a major hydroelectric plant.
China has also become Ecuador's leading source of financing, with Chinese investment in Ecuador exceeding 10 billion dollars.
He will then travel to Peru to take part in the 24th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will gather the leaders of the bloc's 21 member economies in Lima.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa at the airport in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
According to Adrianza, China's cooperation with countries such as Peru clearly reflects Beijing's policy of respect for sovereignty and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.
"China's (foreign) policy is marked by a high level of cooperation, not meddling in (others') domestic matters," said Adrianza.
China has been Peru's largest trading partner, export market and source of import for years, and Peru has become one of the top destinations for Chinese investment in Latin America.
As the world's fastest growing economy and home to more than 1.3 billion people, China represents both an "excellent" development model for regional countries, and an attractive incentive, Adrianza said.
"Latin America has major natural resources, and needs a model of industrialization like the one that China has been developing," the expert said.
Xi's visit to Chile will boost China's bid to internationalize its currency, renminbi or the yuan, as Chile is a key partner in the cause, Adrianza said.
Last year, the first clearing bank for transactions in renminbi in South America was opened in Chile's capital, Santiago.
A stronger yuan would help strengthen the movement to democratize global financial agencies, Adrianza said.
A growing China-Latin American relationship can help promote "multilateral" global development, he added.
MAPUTO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique's Council of Ministers on Friday declared a 3-day national mourning for the truck explosion in Tete province that killed 56 people and caused over 100 people injured.
Updated information from the Council of Ministers indicated that 56 people died and 108 others were receiving medical treatment, correcting the previous report of 73 deaths.
The 3-day national mourning will start at midnight of November 19.
"During these days national flags will be at hoisted at half-mast in the national territory and in all its embassies and councils around the world," said government spokesperson Mouzinho Saide.
The Council of Ministers added that an inquiry commission had been sent to investigate the cause of the tragedy and identify those responsible.
In Tete, funeral ceremonies started on Friday afternoon and 27 bodies have been identified by their families while 16 others that are unidentifiable will be buried in a mass grave.
The provincial government in Tete said it was providing support with coffins and food products to families of the victims. Enditem
KATHMANDU, Nov. 18 (Xinhua)-- The Nepalese government is keen to see a high level visit from China at the earliest to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said here in Kathmandu, on Friday.
The foreign minister made such remarks during a meeting with newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong at his office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press statement.
"The minister conveyed the ambassador that the government is keen to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kathmandu at the earliest date," the ministry said.
The foreign minister reiterated Nepal's adherence to the long standing one-China policy, according to the ministry.
On the occasion, the two sides discussed about the implementation of various bilateral agreements reached between Nepal and China.
The two governments reached as many as 10 bilateral accords on connectivity, trade and commerce including the Transit Transport Agreement during Nepalese former prime minister K.P Sharma Oli's visit to Beijing in March this year.
Meanwhile, the ambassador also called on Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara at the latter's office.
The deputy prime minister, who is also in charge of finance, thanked the ambassador for China's incessant support to Nepal, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.
The Chinese ambassador told the minister that China is always ready to strengthen relationship with Nepal as a friendly neighbor and continue to support the country in the development process, the ministry said.
Mrs. Yu arrived in Kathmandu to take up her new diplomatic assignment as the Chinese ambassador to Nepal on Nov. 7, replacing Wu Chuntai.
The ambassador recently paid separate calls on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leaders of ruling and opposition parties, during which she had reiterated China's incessant support to Nepal.
Workers are occupied on a production line at a workshop under the BAIC Motor in Huanghua city, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Mou Yu)
LIMA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An APEC CEO survey has showed that China remains the powerhouse for APEC businesses and that a majority of respondents are confident in APEC economies.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey shows that a majority of APEC CEOs plan to increase investment, find new partners, explore untapped markets and boost their brand image in China.
According to the survey, 59 percent of respondents said they were planning to increase investment in China though they had mixed views on the outlook of China's GDP growth. Almost half of APEC CEOs believed that China's GDP will grow on average around 6 percent a year in the next three years.
Under China's new normal, business leaders tried to adapt to the shift from the previous high-speed growth to a medium-to-high speed growth, where they want to build up partnerships with local partners, build their brand in China or develop new products and services in their existing market, and carry out geographic expansion.
PwC China Chairman Raymund Chao said: "It's significant that APEC business leaders look beyond a slowdown to the long term. China is a prime example. Its scale and skills mean concerns about its slower economic growth are not enough to put business leaders off investment and expansion. China remains a powerhouse of potential for APEC businesses for new products and partnerships."
Increased competition in China is a major feature of this year's survey, as domestic companies compete with international rivals and inland smaller cities become coveted markets. This recognition of internal competition reflects the rising importance of Chinese companies.
Technology is enabling new rivals to make inroads in established industries. Companies such as Haier and Huawei from China are competing to become global leaders in industries dominated by multinationals from advanced economies. Huawei is the third-largest smartphone manufacturer and leads the charge for a slew of competitors.
Their foothold abroad has grown in proportion to their dominance at home, leading to a necessary reassessment by foreign companies, reliant on China for their profit growth.
The report also highlighted the increased competition Chinese banks are bringing to the global financial sector.
Photo taken on Sept. 11, 2015 shows an aerial view of the highest building in Puxi, east China's Shanghai Municipality. (Xinhua/Shen Chunchen)
Samuel Tsien, Group CEO of Singapore's OCBC Bank reportedly said that Chinese banks have become major competitors amid the reduced growth for banking services in the Asia-Pacific. The pie has not grown that much, but the competitors going for this pie have increased significantly, he said.
CONFIDENCE IN APEC ECONOMIES
Confidence appeared to be particularly high in APEC economies, which account for 57 percent of the global GDP and 49 percent of global trade. More than two-thirds of investment by APEC members is set to stay within the APEC area, with China, the United States, Singapore and Indonesia setting to attract the most investment, according to the survey.
With over 1,100 business leaders surveyed across the 21 APEC members, 53 percent of respondents said they were planning to increase investment over the next 12 months.
Despite these bullish investment plans, only 28 percent of APEC business leaders said they were very confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months. Some 19 percent admitted that they were not very confident.
Presenting the survey results at the 2016 APEC CEO Summit in Lima, Peru, Orlando Marchesi, country senior partner at PwC Peru, said that a subdued level of confidence in the business outlook is hardly surprising given geopolitical events this year. What's critical for the region is that business leaders hold their nerve on investment and innovation, he said.
Furthermore, this year, while more CEOs saw significant progress toward a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific, the majority of 53 percent continue to see progress as slow.
"For the foreseeable future, APEC business leaders will have to balance the short-term economic outlook with investing for the long term. The wider regulatory and tax environment is critical factors in business confidence and investment. Standing still on regulatory conditions is not the way to be competitive in a paradoxically cash-rich but slow-growth world," Marchesi said.
BRUSSELS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Defence Agency (EDA) has provided cyber awareness training to personnel of European Union (EU) naval operation in Mediterranean, the agency said Friday.
Some 100 staff from EUNAVFOR MED-Operation Sophia, EU's operation against human smuggling in the Mediterranean, attended the seminars organized by EDA last week in Rome, Italy.
The seminars covered important aspects such as mission-specific cyber threats, the legal framework applicable to cyberspace, common vocabulary and best practices when using communications and information systems.
Participants were also informed about the development and establishment of EU cyber defence capabilities for EU-led military operations and missions.
EDA started organizing cyber awareness seminars in 2014 for all the personnel of activated headquarters of EU-led military operations.
EDA is an EU agency based in Brussels with a primary mission to support the member states and the Council of the EU in their effort to improve European defense capabilities.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said on Friday that Pakistan, Russia and China will hold consultations on Afghanistan in December to explore ways to reach reconciliation and restore peace in the war-torn country.
"We attach high importance to all initiatives aimed at bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region at large," Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.
The trilateral talks have assumed importance at a time when there is no let-up in the violence in Afghanistan in spite of the advent of winter.
"Under the said trilateral meeting, a working level meeting has already taken place. The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan has raised concerns about the spillover effect due to the presence of NSAs (non-state actors) and other elements there," the spokesman said at his weekly briefing.
He said Pakistan will also attend an upcoming meeting of the Heart of Asia in India and Foreign Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz is likely to represent the country in the meeting.
To a question about the recent statement by Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah that he is looking forward to visit Pakistan, the spokesman said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has extended invitation to Abdullah and mutually convenient dates for the visit are being worked out.
BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) has protested at a markup by a leading iron ore producer that targets Chinese buyers.
"It is obviously unfair," a CISA official said on Friday, who did not name the company but hinted it is among the world's top-three iron ore miners.
When discussing new agreements with Chinese steel firms, the company decided to impose a premium in addition to prices published by Platts, a benchmark price assessment in physical energy markets, the official said.
The official said the practice damaged the current pricing mechanism and disturbed trade order, and called on the two sides to "sit down and talk" to solve the problem together.
China is the world's biggest consumer of iron ore, with the imports up 8.9 percent year on year in the first ten months.
BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States and five European Union (EU) countries expressed their support for continuing sanctions against Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict, the Obama administration announced on Friday.
The statement came after U.S. President Barack Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and the heads of government of Italy, Spain and Britain.
All the heads of state agreed that the penalties should remain in force as long as Russia did not fulfill all the obligations arising from the Minsk armistice agreement, said the statement published by the White House.
The fact that no permanent ceasefire was adhered to is worrying, said the statement, adding that security must be guaranteed and free and fair elections must be held in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
According to the statement, the participants of the meeting also made a commitment to cooperate with NATO in the future.
Obama's last official meeting with his European partners also touched upon the fight against Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and Libya as well as the refugee crisis.
The meeting marked Obama's farewell visit to Europe before the U.S. president leaves office in January.
GAZA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian young man was killed Friday afternoon during clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed along the border areas between eastern Gaza and Israel, a Palestinian official said.
Mohamed Abu Seda, 26, was killed and three others injured by Israeli gunfire in the east of al-Bureij refugee camp near the border with Israel, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of Gaza-based health ministry, told reporters.
Eyewitnesses said dozens of Palestinian young men gathered close to the fence between eastern Gaza and Israel to protest the Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave since 2007.
They said when protesters began to throw stones, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.
Every Friday, Palestinian young men walk to the borders in protest against Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Since Oct. 2015, a new wave of violence between Israel and the Palestinians has left more than 230 Palestinians killed and a couple hundred others injured.
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson addresses a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 18, 2016. Eliasson warned Friday that the situation in eastern districts of Syria's northern city of Aleppo is of grave concern as ongoing fighting between warring factions continues to hamper efforts to relieve trapped civilians. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
GENEVA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson warned Friday that the situation in eastern districts of Syria's northern city of Aleppo is of grave concern as ongoing fighting between warring factions continues to hamper efforts to relieve trapped civilians.
"The humanitarian needs are urgent. We haven't had access for a very long period to eastern Aleppo. We are definitely running out of food; it's a hugely critical situation," he said here in what was his last foreign visit before his mandate comes to a close at the end of the year.
"At the same time, fighting is going on. There is a lot of fighting in the city, and there have also been attacks from the air," he added.
The Swedish diplomat reiterated the UN's call for a nationwide reduction of violence and a cessation of hostilities which will enable much needed humanitarian work to be carried out while also paving the way to a resumption of intra-Syrian political talks seeking to broker an end to the five-year conflict.
"For the time being, we have no signs that these talks are imminent. My absolute conviction is that there is no military solution," he said.
Eliasson also said that investigations into an aerial attack on an Aleppo-bound aid convoy in September this year were ongoing, and that "an attack against a humanitarian convoy of this nature constitutes without any doubt is a war crime."
As well as Syria, the official touched upon concerning situations in the Central African Republic and Yemen, while also highlighting the importance of dealing with climate change and unprecedented migration challenges.
He further stressed the need to respect the democratic election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, adding that a dialogue with the new administration will open in due course.
Eliasson assumed office in July 2012 and has served directly under incumbent UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will be succeeded by Antonio Guterres on Jan. 1 next year.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 22nd annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise between Brunei and the United States concluded here on Friday.
According to Brunei's Ministry of defense, CARAT Brunei 2016 "serves as a credible avenue in sharing best practices, strengthening cooperation in response to shared maritime security challenges and in enhancing interoperability among participating forces of both countries."
The five-day exercise consisted of coastal-based and at-sea training events that were designed to strengthen maritime partnerships and enhance military cooperation between the U.S and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces(RBAF). Around 700 marines and navy personnel from the U.S. joined this year's CARAT exercise with personnel and assets from the Royal Brunei Land Force, Royal Brunei Navy, Royal Brunei Air Force and other government agencies.
After more than two decades of CARAT engagements, the exercise continues to be a significant platform of military-to-military cooperation between Brunei and the US, Brunei's Ministry of defense stated on its website.
Don Gabrielson, the Commander of U.S. Task Force 73, said that the U.S. "deeply values its relationship with Brunei, centered on a defense partnership that underpins our shared commitment to the peace and security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."
CARAT is a bilateral exercise series between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of nine partner nations in South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste. Enditem
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Friday appointed Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Lt.General Michael Flynn as national security advisor and Congressman Mike Pompeo as chief of the Central Intelligence Agency.
"It is an honor to nominate U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general of the United States......Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him," Trump said in a statement released on his official website.
"I am pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad," Trump said of his new security advisor, whom he called an "invaluable asset."
"I am proud to nominate Congressman Mike Pompeo as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency......He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies," Trump said.
All three men have agreed accept the posts, according to the statement.
Sessions, 69, was a U.S. attorney in Alabama before entering the Senate in 1996. He is considered to be one of the most conservative senators.
Flynn, 57, was one of the most prominent military figures who supported Trump's presidential campaign. He was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014.
Pompeo, 52, served as a U.S. Representative for Kansas since 2011. He was an early supporter of Trump's presidential bid and a member of the Tea Party movement in Congress.
This is the second time Trump has made collective appointments for officials in his administration, having earlier named Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and Stephen Bannon as his top strategist.
Other important slots yet to be filled including defense secretary and secretary of state, for both of which a number of candidates are being considered by Trump's team.
U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One for departure at Tegel Airport in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Nov. 18, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama left Berlin on Friday, ending his last visit to Germany and Europe during his term of office. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday ended his final presidential visit to Europe with a six-party talk here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government from France, Italy, Spain and Britain over key issues of foreign policy such as combating "Islamic state" (IS) and sanctions against Russia.
ABIDING BY RUSSIA SANCTIONS
The United States and five leading EU countries expressed their support for a continuation of the sanctions against Russia for the Ukraine conflict, the Obama administration announced on Friday after the six-party talks.
All the heads of state agreed that the penalties should remain in force as long as Russia does not fulfill its obligations arising from the Minsk armistice agreement, said the statement published by the White House.
The fact that no permanent ceasefire was adhered to is worrying, said the statement, adding that security must be guaranteed and free and fair elections must be held in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
On Thursday, Obama advised his successor Donald Trump to stand up to Russia if it strayed from Western principles.
"I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align."
The U.S. president also said he hoped that Trump does not simply take a realpolitik approach in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time."
COMMON VALUES
According to the statement of the White House, the participants of the meeting on Friday also made a commitment to cooperate with NATO in the future.
Meanwhile, according to Merkel, the leaders agreed that the humanitarian situation in the disputed eastern part of Aleppo should improve.
The situation in the IS-occupied cities of Rakka in Syria and Mosul in Iraq was also discussed during the six-party talk. Leaders said it was important to promote the stabilization of liberated areas at an early stage.
Obama noted it was important for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations to be maintained.
The German chancellor emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, the two major trading areas of the world.
"I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing U.S. president on Thursday in Berlin. Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible, he added.
Relations with the United States are a basic pillar of German foreign policy, Merkel said in her joint press conference with Obama.
CLOSE COOPERATION
Merkel thanked Obama for the "excellent cooperation" and praised Obama as a reliable partner in difficult times. She also expressed her gratitude for a close, trusting and friendly cooperation for a period of eight years.
The chancellor said she looked forward to a close cooperation with Trump. "Of course, I will do everything possible to work well with the newly-elected president," Merkel said.
Obama also thanked Merkel for the German contribution in the fight against Islamic State and in the Syrian conflict.
Obama's last official meeting with his European partners also touched upon the refugee crisis.
The meeting marked Obama's farewell visit to Europe before the U.S. president leaves office in January 2017.
U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One for departure at Tegel Airport in Berlin, capital of Germany, on Nov. 18, 2016. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday ended his final presidential visit to Europe with a six-party talk here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government from France, Italy, Spain and Britain over key issues of foreign policy such as combating "Islamic state" (IS) and sanctions against Russia.
ABIDING BY RUSSIA SANCTIONS
The United States and five leading EU countries expressed their support for a continuation of the sanctions against Russia for the Ukraine conflict, the Obama administration announced on Friday after the six-party talks.
All the heads of state agreed that the penalties should remain in force as long as Russia does not fulfill its obligations arising from the Minsk armistice agreement, said the statement published by the White House.
The fact that no permanent ceasefire was adhered to is worrying, said the statement, adding that security must be guaranteed and free and fair elections must be held in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
On Thursday, Obama advised his successor Donald Trump to stand up to Russia if it strayed from Western principles.
"I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align."
The U.S. president also said he hoped that Trump does not simply take a realpolitik approach in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time."
COMMON VALUES
According to the statement of the White House, the participants of the meeting on Friday also made a commitment to cooperate with NATO in the future.
Meanwhile, according to Merkel, the leaders agreed that the humanitarian situation in the disputed eastern part of Aleppo should improve.
The situation in the IS-occupied cities of Rakka in Syria and Mosul in Iraq was also discussed during the six-party talk. Leaders said it was important to promote the stabilization of liberated areas at an early stage.
Obama noted it was important for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations to be maintained.
The German chancellor emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, the two major trading areas of the world.
"I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing U.S. president on Thursday in Berlin. Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible, he added.
Relations with the United States are a basic pillar of German foreign policy, Merkel said in her joint press conference with Obama.
CLOSE COOPERATION
Merkel thanked Obama for the "excellent cooperation" and praised Obama as a reliable partner in difficult times. She also expressed her gratitude for a close, trusting and friendly cooperation for a period of eight years.
The chancellor said she looked forward to a close cooperation with Trump. "Of course, I will do everything possible to work well with the newly-elected president," Merkel said.
Obama also thanked Merkel for the German contribution in the fight against Islamic State and in the Syrian conflict.
Obama's last official meeting with his European partners also touched upon the refugee crisis.
The meeting marked Obama's farewell visit to Europe before the U.S. president leaves office in January 2017.
LIMA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, opened the 2016 APEC CEO Summit on Friday by calling on entrepreneurs from across the bloc to work to improve economic growth.
"We know where we are headed," expressed Kuczynski to a crowd of businesspeople from the 21 APEC member economies, during the on-going APEC Economic Leaders' Week.
As the host, Kuczynski said that his government is working hard to improve economic growth but this must involve a joint effort between the public and private sectors.
He expressed to the audience the importance of working hard to improve commercial ties, which must accompany the movement of capital and the creation of investments in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Trade, trade, trade. (This is) very important. After that comes investment and growth, which are crucial," said Kuczynski.
By Ronald Ssekandi, Yuan Qing
ENTEBBE, Uganda, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Wendy Maltinsky is a birder from the United Kingdom. Her passion for birds stems from her family back in Scotland. They have moved around the world in search for unique bird species.
Maltinsky is in Uganda to attend the first ever African Birding Expo that has attracted over 100 birders from Europe and the United States.
The event, which opened on Friday, is held here 40km south of the capital Kampala, on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Uganda is using the expo to showcase that it is a birding paradise.
The country is endowed with over 1,000 bird species that account for 10 percent of the globe's total bird species and 50 percent of Africa's bird species population.
All this is possible because of the richly diverse habitats from the scenic shores of Lake Victoria to the lush forests of the Albertine Rift and the banks of River Nile.
Uganda was declared Africa's Preferred Birding Destination in 2013 after Africa Bird Club voted two of its birding sites among the top 10 birders' destinations on the continent.
"The birds here are very brightly colored, we do have some of those in the United Kingdom but not as much as here," Maltinsky told Xinhua in an interview.
Laura Kammermeier, a travel writer from New York, described her birding experience in Uganda as magical.
"They (birds) are so many, they have beautiful shapes and colours. They are really exciting to see and easy to find," she said.
Nate Swick of the American Birding Association urged Uganda to fully exploit the country's potential.
Uganda Tourism Board, a government agency charged with promoting tourism, argues that birding is one of the most important tourist activities in the world, garnering chunks of money for countries that have given it priority.
The agency argued that the country now needs to market birding to reap from the tourist attraction.
Tourism now ranks as Uganda's top foreign exchange earner, contributing over 23 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product. Enditem
A customer uses her cell-phone to access the Sidian Bank mobile-app inside the banking hall at the Sidian Bank headquarters on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, June 29, 2016. Picture taken June 29, 2016. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)
NAIROBI, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A shift in droves to mobile banking by citizens in Kenya is sounding a death-knell to plastic money, whose uptake and usage has stalled despite service providers making the cards versatile.
The debit, credit and charge cards are slowly being edged out of the financial system after failing to gain traction among consumers in the face of stiff competition from mobile money.
Nearly all Kenya's 42 commercial banks have mobile banking services that allow customers to transact business on their cell phones.
Using the gadgets, they can deposit, withdraw, transfer and make payments from their bank accounts without visiting the financial institutions.
And this is causing trouble for plastic money such as debit cards because card holders must visit a bank to withdraw cash.
The inconvenience has made many citizens to fully embrace mobile money, withdrawing cash from their bank accounts into their mobile money accounts and transacting with it from the comfort of their homes.
And with about 90 percent of loans from commercial banks in the East African nation currently being disbursed through mobile phones, plastic money stands little chance to survive.
Latest figures from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) point to the fact that plastic money is in distress in the East African nation. Instead of usage and uptake going up, it has been on the decline.
As at June, there were about 11 million debit cards and 238,000 credit cards in the country, with the number of the former going down from over 11.1 million the previous month.
However, the real distress is in the usage of the cards, where transactions in June only stood at 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.
On the other hand, on average, Kenyans were moving 2.6 billion dollars on mobile money platforms every month as at June, according to the CBK, from to 1.9 billion dollars in a similar period last year.
"I no longer use my ATM card...most of my business I now transact on mobile phone," Cleophas Masiga, a vehicle salesman in Nairobi, said Wednesday.
Like many other citizens, Masiga has linked his bank account with his mobile money account using an app provided by his bank.
Thus, when his salary is credited on his bank account, he gets a notification message immediately from his bank.
And using his mobile phone, he withdraws the money into his mobile money account and pays bills, goes for shopping and sends money to his parents.
"With such convenience, who will go to the bank to withdraw money using the card?" he posed. Masiga has two debit cards from different commercial banks and he doesn't remember using any in nearly six months.
For Antony Kariuki, a businessman, he has not used his ATM card for the last three years due to security reasons. Kariuki stopped using the card when he was waylaid one day in Kitengela after withdrawing cash from an ATM and robbed.
Commercial banks have realized the changing trend and are divesting from teller machines and investing in mobile banking services.
CBK data indicates that there are currently about 2,600 ATMs across the East African nation, down from an estimated 2,800 seven months ago.
"The rate at which mobile money use is growing is a clear indication that plastic money stands no chance of growth in Kenya. With banks shifting to mobile banking, it is a matter of time before the cards die because people can withdraw money from mobile money agents conveniently found next to their homes and not necessarily from ATM machines in shopping centres," said Henry Wandera, an economics lecturer in Nairobi.
Photo taken on Nov. 12, 2016 shows a newly-built road which links Madagascar's capital Antananarivo and the road to the Ivato International Airport in Madagascar. The new road built by China was inaugurated in Antananarivo on Friday as part of the preparation work for the Summit of French speaking countries (La Francophonie) scheduled to be held in the country from Nov. 21 to 27. (Xinhua/Wen Hao)
ANTANANARIVO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- A new road built by China was inaugurated in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo on Friday as part of the preparation work for the Summit of French speaking countries (La Francophonie) scheduled to be held in the country from Nov. 21 to 27.
The road, about 4,759 kilometers in total length, links the capital and the road to the Ivato International Airport, near the venue to host the summit of French speaking countries.
Madagascar's President Hery Rajaonarimampianina praised during the inauguration the quality of the road, built by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) in a span of only six months, which followed international standards using solar system for its electricity plants.
Grateful to the CRBC and especially the chinese government, Madagascar's president said that "this road will promote Madagascar's development because it will solve the problem of traffic jam in the capital."
The Chinese Ambassador to Madagascar Yang Xiaorong said during her speech that Chinese companies are faithful to their words and show it in deed.
"This road is a concrete fruit of the win-win cooperation between Madagascar and China," Ambassador Yang said, adding that "It represents the chinese speed and promise kept by chinese part".
With assistance from China, Madagascar has made notable progress in areas of road infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, culture since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on Nov. 6, 1972.
MOSCOW, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday blasted the United States for accusations of alleged hospital bombing in Syria by Russian and Syrian government forces, saying that the airstrikes only exist in "imagination."
The U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told a briefing on Wednesday that Russia and the Syrian government had bombed "five hospitals and at least one mobile clinic in Syria," citing unsourced "reports of these things."
Denying the accusations, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov responded Friday in a statement that Russia has repeatedly asked for detailed information about the alleged strikes, which Washington has so far failed to provide.
"It has become absolutely clear to everyone that the accusations exist only in John Kirby's imagination," said Konashenkov.
According to Russian Defense Ministry, the country's air force has not launched airstrikes against any targets in Aleppo in the last 30 days.
People attend a protest against Donald Trump's presidential election victory near the Trump Tower in Chicago, the United States, Nov. 9, 2016. A number of U.S. cities on Wednesday witnessed protest against Tuesday's presidential election result. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)
By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice of White House staff has sparked an early controversy, as he prepares to take the helm at the White House.
The choice of Steve Bannon as Trump's chief of staff is taking heat from U.S. media, members of Congress, and left-leaning groups over the decision.
Bannon, who publishes online news website Breitbart, is being lambasted by a number of liberal groups for what they call promoting racist ideology in his publication. Some groups are even calling for Bannon to get booted out.
On Wednesday, 169 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Trump, asking him to rescind the appointment of Bannon. Although House Republicans were invited to sign on, none did so, according to a press release sent out Wednesday to reporters, from Congressman Jerrold Nadler's office.
"Trump's choice of Bannon will hurt him because it reinforces the view that the president is contemplating extreme action," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
"People fear that Bannon will promulgate anti-minority and anti-women viewpoints, since those were common on his website," West said.
"Many groups have expressed concern over this appointment and asked that it be withdrawn. This is very rare for that to happen in presidential politics," he added.
Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that Trump's choice of Bannon avoids alienating a large amount of the Republican Party's grassroots that propelled Trump on the path to the White House.
"Yet it raises significant concerns among Washington establishment groups about the tone of the Trump administration and potential influence from nationalist and populist players," he said.
Trump's transition to power has so far been rocky, according to U.S. media reports, with some reports even suggesting the administration is in disarray as it tries to fill more than 1,000 positions in the next couple of months before Trump takes charge.
"I think the Trump administration is at a major turning point in the transition, with significant conflict between establishment figures and outsiders, and that appears to be a major issue with the national security side of the transition," Mahaffee said.
"Regardless of Bannon, if (Trump's) inner circle is fighting against itself with major players leaving the process, combined with a struggle between those favoring loyalty versus those favoring competence, the Trump administration could be wasting precious time in getting its transition moving," he said.
Indeed, reports in U.S. media contend that the transition is in disarray, with some figures, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was fired as head of Trump's transition team.
For their part, some Democrats seem conciliatory and are seeking ways to join Trump rather than oppose him.
"I think Democrats are currently looking for areas where they might be able to cooperate with Trump, while also taking stock of the surprising loss they experienced up and down the ballot. Other than the filibuster, their only way to work towards their policy goals is via dealing with Trump," Mahaffee said.
West said that Democratic leaders acknowledge that Trump won the election and deserves a chance to show what he can do. However, as soon as he makes policy proposals, many Democrats are expected to oppose his ideas which they say are bad for America.
"Republicans will have the ability to move legislation since they control both chambers, but most Democrats will not support the more far-reaching ideas being contemplated," West added.
Donald Trump sits with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (LL) at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 7, 2016. (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Friday appointed Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Lt.General Michael Flynn as national security advisor and Congressman Mike Pompeo as chief of the Central Intelligence Agency.
"It is an honor to nominate U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general of the United States......Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him," Trump said in a statement released on his official website.
"I am pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad," Trump said of his new security advisor, whom he called an "invaluable asset."
"I am proud to nominate Congressman Mike Pompeo as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency......He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies," Trump said.
All three men have agreed accept the posts, according to the statement.
Sessions, 69, was a U.S. attorney in Alabama before entering the Senate in 1996. He is considered to be one of the most conservative senators.
Flynn, 57, was one of the most prominent military figures who supported Trump's presidential campaign. He was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014.
Pompeo, 52, served as a U.S. Representative for Kansas since 2011. He was an early supporter of Trump's presidential bid and a member of the Tea Party movement in Congress.
This is the second time Trump has made collective appointments for officials in his administration, having earlier named Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and Stephen Bannon as his top strategist.
Other important slots yet to be filled including defense secretary and secretary of state, for both of which a number of candidates are being considered by Trump's team.
People protest the appointment of white nationalist alt-right media mogul, former Breitbart News head Steve Bannon, to be chief strategist of the White House by President-elect Donald Trump on November 16, near City Hall in Los Angeles, California.(AFP PHOTO/DAVID MCNEW)
By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice of White House staff has sparked an early controversy, as he prepares to take the helm at the White House.
The choice of Steve Bannon as Trump's chief of staff is taking heat from U.S. media, members of Congress, and left-leaning groups over the decision.
Bannon, who publishes online news website Breitbart, is being lambasted by a number of liberal groups for what they call promoting racist ideology in his publication. Some groups are even calling for Bannon to get booted out.
On Wednesday, 169 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Trump, asking him to rescind the appointment of Bannon. Although House Republicans were invited to sign on, none did so, according to a press release sent out Wednesday to reporters, from Congressman Jerrold Nadler's office.
"Trump's choice of Bannon will hurt him because it reinforces the view that the president is contemplating extreme action," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
"People fear that Bannon will promulgate anti-minority and anti-women viewpoints, since those were common on his website," West said.
"Many groups have expressed concern over this appointment and asked that it be withdrawn. This is very rare for that to happen in presidential politics," he added.
Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that Trump's choice of Bannon avoids alienating a large amount of the Republican Party's grassroots that propelled Trump on the path to the White House.
"Yet it raises significant concerns among Washington establishment groups about the tone of the Trump administration and potential influence from nationalist and populist players," he said.
Trump's transition to power has so far been rocky, according to U.S. media reports, with some reports even suggesting the administration is in disarray as it tries to fill more than 1,000 positions in the next couple of months before Trump takes charge.
"I think the Trump administration is at a major turning point in the transition, with significant conflict between establishment figures and outsiders, and that appears to be a major issue with the national security side of the transition," Mahaffee said.
"Regardless of Bannon, if (Trump's) inner circle is fighting against itself with major players leaving the process, combined with a struggle between those favoring loyalty versus those favoring competence, the Trump administration could be wasting precious time in getting its transition moving," he said.
Indeed, reports in U.S. media contend that the transition is in disarray, with some figures, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was fired as head of Trump's transition team.
For their part, some Democrats seem conciliatory and are seeking ways to join Trump rather than oppose him.
"I think Democrats are currently looking for areas where they might be able to cooperate with Trump, while also taking stock of the surprising loss they experienced up and down the ballot. Other than the filibuster, their only way to work towards their policy goals is via dealing with Trump," Mahaffee said.
West said that Democratic leaders acknowledge that Trump won the election and deserves a chance to show what he can do. However, as soon as he makes policy proposals, many Democrats are expected to oppose his ideas which they say are bad for America.
"Republicans will have the ability to move legislation since they control both chambers, but most Democrats will not support the more far-reaching ideas being contemplated," West added.
QUITO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday promised further support in disaster relief and reconstruction for the earthquake-hit Ecuador.
"China will take an active part in Ecuador's post-quake rebuilding, and continue to provide support in housing, medical treatment, human resources and disaster prevention and reduction," Xi said in an address when visiting the headquarters of Ecuador's national emergency response system ECU-911.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa accompanied Xi during the visit.
Ecuador was hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April this year. Close to 700 people were killed in the earthquake, which also injured nearly 5,000 more and displaced 80,000.
China was one of the first countries to supply humanitarian aid immediately after the quake.
"(China) believes that the Ecuadorian people will surely overcome the disaster and rebuild your homes," the Chinese president said, noting that post-quake reconstruction is a top priority for the Latin American country.
For his part, Correa thanked China for its support in Ecuador's post-quake relief and national development, adding that the Latin American country is willing to deepen win-win cooperation with the Chinese side.
Earlier in the morning, the two presidents also watched a photo exhibition on Chinese aid to Ecuador's quake relief work, and inaugurated a joint laboratory at ECU-911 headquarters.
Developed by Chinese companies, the ECU-911 played a vital role in relief work following the April quake, by effectively processing a massive amount of information and sending instructions without delay, thus saving numerous lives and preventing further damage.
Currently, there are 16 ECU-911 centers across Ecuador.
In a video call with staff of the ECU-911 center in Portoviejo in the quake-hit coastal province of Manabi, Xi conveyed greetings to Ecuadorian people affected by the earthquake on behalf of the Chinese government and its people.
The Chinese government will continue to fight side by side with Ecuadorians, and together they will triumph in quake relief and reconstruction, he said.
China provided Ecuador with cash support of two million U.S. dollars and humanitarian aid worth 9.2 million dollars after the strong quake. Chinese companies owning business in Ecuador also dispatched staff and resources to the affected regions to participate in the disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. President for your country's aid to Ecuador," said Pablo Cordova, a survivor from the April earthquake.
Cordova was trapped in the debris of a Portoviejo hotel where he worked as a cleaner when the earthquake struck for 48 hours before being pulled out by ECU-911 staff. He now works at the ECU-911 Portoviejo center.
"All this time, you have been with us," he told the Chinese president.
On Friday morning, Xi and Correa also watched via live broadcast the foundation stone laying ceremony of a new hospital built with Chinese assistance in the earthquake-stricken Ecuadorian city of Chone, to replace the one that was seriously damaged in the April earthquake.
They also inaugurated a hydroelectric plant built by China's Sinohydro Corporation.
The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant is the largest of its kind in Ecuador's history and the "fruition of the great cooperation between Ecuador and China", according to President Correa.
"This is a historic day," the Ecuadorian president said.
With an installed capacity of 1,500 megawatts, the plant is expected to help Ecuador transform from a power-hungry country into a clean energy exporter and greatly contribute to the country's economic development.
The first four of the eight turbines in total at the plant were started on April 13, only three days before the quake. It remained intact during the quake and the power it generated helped with local disaster relief.
In his address, Xi noted that the upgrading of the ECU-911, and rebuilding of the Chone hospital and the completion of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant will effectively bolster Ecuador's disaster prevention and resistance capabilities, and improve its public infrastructure.
According to Xi, enhanced cooperation between China and Ecuador is attributed to both sides' firm belief in their development prospects and full understandings of the development opportunities they provided for each other.
On Thursday, China and Ecuador lifted their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and pledged to implement major projects in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, communication and finance, and explore cooperation in agriculture, petrochemical industry, ship building, metallurgy and paper making industries.
China is willing to deepen cooperation with Ecuador, seek common development and together draft a new chapter in their comprehensive strategic partnership, said the Chinese president.
Correa, meanwhile, agreed that cooperation between Ecuador and China has improved infrastructure in the Latin American country, boosted its clean energy development and bolstered the country's public security service.
All these have benefited the Ecuadorian people, he said.
Ecuador is the first leg of President Xi's three-nation Latin American tour which will also take him to Peru and Chile. This is his third visit to Latin America since he took the presidency in March 2013.
He will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting while in Lima, capital of Peru.
Also on Friday morning, Xi laid a wreath at the monument to independence heroes in Quito.
Xi arrived in Ecuador on Thursday for a state visit, the first trip to the country by a Chinese head of state in 36 years, and the first leg of his three-nation tour to the continent.
The week-long trip will also take the Chinese president to Peru and Chile. In Peru, Xi will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20 in the capital city of Lima.
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1 2022 2 290,9 , 18% 2021 36,6% .
QUITO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up on Friday his visit to Ecuador, and departs for the Peruvian capital of Lima for a state visit.
During his stay in Quito, the top Chinese leader held talks with his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa, during which the two heads of state exchanged views on bilateral ties, China's relations with Latin America, as well as international and regional issues of common concern.
Xi hailed Ecuador as an important country in Latin America, saying that bilateral ties have witnessed substantial development in recent years.
In a joint statement issued after the talks between the two presidents on Thursday, China and Ecuador agreed to lift their relationship to the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Also in the statement, the two countries agreed to boost their cooperation in production capacity, as well as economic and trade areas, and pledged to implement major projects in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, communication and finance, and explore cooperation in agriculture, petrochemical industry, ship building, metallurgy and paper making industries.
China and Ecuador also agreed to enhance their cooperation in education, culture, health, sports, tourism and judiciary, bolster exchanges between media, artists and students of the two countries, increase the number of student exchanges, so as to boost understanding and friendship of the two peoples, according to the statement.
Both countries will, within the UN and the Group of 77 as well as many other multilateral cooperation frameworks, maintain close communications and cooperation on UN reform, global economic governance, climate change, and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, so as to promote South-South cooperation and preserve the interests of the developing world, said the statement.
On Friday, the Chinese president met with Ecuadorian President of the National Assembly Gabriela Rivadeneira.
During their meeting, Xi said China and Ecuador need to keep stepping up dialogues and exchanges between their legislative bodies to promote a steady development of the two nations' comprehensive strategic partnership.
Later in the day, the Chinese leader paid a visit to the headquarters of ECU-911, Ecuador's national emergency response system, and promised further support for earthquake-hit Ecuador in disaster relief and reconstruction of the Latin American country.
Xi arrived in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito Thursday afternoon for a state visit to the country and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013.
In Lima, Peru, Xi will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20. After that, he will fly to Chile for a visit.
The pictures taken in front of the UN Headquarters in New York City on Nov. 18, 2016. (Xinhua Photo/Wu Xiaojun)
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Friday highlighted the impact of sanitation on the lives of peoples across the world as the world body is observing World Toilet Day and seeks to raise awareness to address the global sanitation crisis, a topic often neglected and shrouded in taboos.
In his message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that this year's World Toilet Day focuses on "toilets and jobs," spotlighting the impact of the lack of sanitation on livelihoods and work environments.
Activities promoting this goal are taking place around the world, including at the Global Citizen Festival on Saturday in Mumbai, India, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told reporters here Friday.
On Monday, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson will deliver a keynote address at the official World Toilet Day event at UNICEF House here in New York, the seat of the head office of the UN Children's Fund.
World Toilet Day, which falls on Nov. 19, is also designed to tackle the oft-neglected global sanitation crisis.
While the Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the 2.4 billion people around the world who live without a toilet and the rates of diseases due to inadequate access to sanitation and unsafe water, this year's theme focuses on how lack of sanitation impacts peoples' livelihoods: the UN estimates that in many countries, it creates a five percent loss in gross domestic product (GDP).
"Toilets play a crucial role in creating a strong economy," Ban said in his message. "A lack of toilets at work and at home has severe consequences, including poor health leading to absenteeism, reduced concentration, exhaustion, and decreased productivity."
Meanwhile, 17 percent of workplace deaths are caused by disease transmission -- an incentive to invest in access to proper sanitation in order to avoid the approximately 260 billion U.S. dollars that is lost every year due to poor sanitation and unsafe water.
According to the secretary-general, "every dollar invested in water and sanitation leads to four dollars in economic returns."
"Investing in appropriate toilets is especially important for women and girls, so that they have private, clean and safe facilities, and are able to manage menstruation or pregnancy safely," Ban said.
Safe access to clean toilets is critical to implementing Goal 6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for clean water and sanitation for all.
"Delivering on this basic human right is good for people, business, and the economy. Let us continue working towards a world where everyone, everywhere, has adequate and equitable sanitation," the secretary-general added.
In 2013, the UN General Assembly officially designated Nov. 19 as World Toilet Day.
by Zhang Maorong, researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations; cartoon drawing by Liao Tingting
On Nov. 17-23, Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. During the tour, he is scheduled to attend the 24th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Lima. Its Xis first visit after the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee and his third visit to Latin America (LatAm) since he took office in 2013. His ongoing tour is of great significance.Xis LatAm trip aims to enhance friendship and deepen cooperation. The three countries covered in this trip serve as important representatives in this region, have long-standing and deep friendship and a sound foundation of cooperation with Beijing.
The trip will consolidate traditional and friendly relations between China and the three countries, enhance the level of bilateral political mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, along with pushing forward the China-LatAm all-round partnership to grow deeper and write a new chapter for China-LaAm times.
Xis attendance at the 24th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting will be the highlight of the trip. He will attend a series of activities and elaborate on Beijings Proposal to promote common prosperity and deepen regional cooperation, injecting Beijings power into Asia-Pacific and global economic development.
President Xis visit is expected to build a community of shared destiny between China and LatAm and expand Asia-Pacific pragmatic cooperation. The tour would open up new prospects for China, LatAm & Asia-Pacific cooperation.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
Meteorological staff members launch a weather balloon at the landing area for Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 16, 2016. The spacecraft Shenzhou-11, which is carrying taikonauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, separated from the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab. The separation marks the beginning of the journey home for the two men, who have lived and worked in Tiangong-2 for 30 days. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)
Military personnel from China and the United States attend a joint humanitarian aid and disaster relief drill in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 17, 2016. A three-day drill started on Nov. 16 involved 134 military personnel from China and 89 from the United States. (Xinhua/Yang Zongyou)
Born in Atlanta in the U.S., the giant panda twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan returned to their hometown-southwest Chinas Sichuan province early in November. However, old habits die hard and it might take a while for them to adjust to the new environment. For instance, the naughty twins refused to eat traditional Chinese food like steamed bread of corn, and preferred American buiscuits instead. Foreign netizens are very reluctant to let them return to China, with some expressing their understanding: This is surely a lost for us, but to be fair, China is the true and only home for pandas. (Xinhua file photo)
TT deep with tech innovation
He said there are a lot of challenges in building relationships between the difference parts of the industry and a lot more dialoguing and relationship building is needed within the industry to create an environment in which it can flourish. He said industry stakehlders encountered a lot of challenges when trying to develop products or get access to capital or even in recruiting suitable candidates for their firms.
No one has any pretentions of establishing a Silicon Valley in Trinidad and Tobago, but we are trying to develop and industry that is really sustainable and viable and that supports economic diversification. He added that while Trinidad and Tobago does not have the amount of factories in high tech information technology to take over the world, there were countries including Costa Rica and Ireland which are quite small and quiet but are important players in the industry and that is where we see ourselves.
Martinez went on to say that working in a culture of innovation means that those working in the industry have to think beyond the 9-5 and recognise that it is a field that requires commitment and our markets are not protected in the same way that it would be for manufactured goods which can be protected by tariffs and different trade barriers so what it means is that we are competing with people from all over the world and we really need the drive, the commitment, the entrepreneurial spirit and really, the passion for the industry, to really build and be part of competitive and innovative companies.
He said that many of the challenges that foreign companies looking to recruit IT experts in Trinidad and Tobago would have faced up to two years ago still remain, the aim of his study was to get an understanding of the industry as a whole which was why in the course of his survey he made contact with as many as forty information technology entities of various sizes and age in business and to identify the players in the industry.
Accused Mayor absent from court
On November 2, when Paul, 72, made his second court appearance on the charge, the magistrate set the trial date for yesterday. But when the matter was called, Pauls attorney James Philbert, a retired Acting Commissioner of Police, informed the court that his client was experiencing chest pains. Philbert produced a letter to Magistrate Chankar who noted that the document was dated November 7.
She stated, based on the document, the Mayor was complaining of chest pains. It further stated Mayor Paul had an appointment for a treadmill test at 9.45 am yesterday.
The magistrate adjourned the case, in Pauls absence, to next week Wednesday, the new date set for trial. A charge against the mayor, as read out in court, alleges that on October 18, at Grant Trace in Rousillac, Paul drove a motor vehicle after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath exceeded the legal prescribed limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The mayor was granted $5,000 station bail and on his first court appearance on October 20, he pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Court prosecutor Sgt Ancil Corrie noted that there are three prosecution witnesses to testify at the summary trial.
Teen Venezuelan thief nabbed
The exercise was supervised by Senior Superintendent Mc Donald Jacob and led by Inspector Vetus Hernandez. According to reports, Inspector Hernandez and PC Williams observed the Venezuelan suspect walking along a road near the southern gate of the University of the West Indies shortly after midnight. The man was stopped and searched and a Beretta pistol and a magazine containing a quantity of 9 mm ammunition were found and seized.
Police believe that the Venezuelan was involved in several robberies in the St Augustine area and was on his way to carry out another robbery when he was held. He is expected to be placed on identification parades today following which he would be charged for several crimes.
$250,000 bail for SRP
Joseph returned to court yesterday before Forde-John for her to determine bail based on whether he was a holder of a TT Passport, so it can be surrendered as a condition of bail being granted. Joseph, 36, who was last based at San Juan Police Sub-station, was arrested and charged with robbing Chinese national Wei Hui Zhu of $406,000, at his Soledad Road, Claxton Bay home. The SRP is also alleged to have robbed Zhu of an Apple Iphone 7 ($7,000) and an FX Revolution rifle ($20,000). Another charge of robbing Jinfu Zhu of an Apple Iphone 6 valued $6,000, was also read to Joseph.
He appeared on Wednesday on those charges before Forde-John but was remanded into custody to determine whether he had a passport which the police prosecutor had requested be seized as a condition to bail. Joseph, who had been a special reserve police officer for the past three years, yesterday appeared in the prisoners docks in handcuffs. He was brought down from Maximum Security Prison in a separate vehicle from the normal batch of prisoners.
Court prosecutor Cleyon Seedan, told Magistrate Forde-John yesterday that records from the Immigration Department showed that Joseph has a passport, but it expired on July 5, 1995. Forde- John granted Joseph bail to cover the charges, excluding the charge of possession of the ammunition.
That charge was read to him on Wednesday as well but was transferred to the Port-of-Spain Magistrates court. The charge alleged that on Friday last at the San Juan Police Sub-station, Eastern Main Road, he had the ammunition while being a person exempted under Section Seven of the Firearm Act, and not being the holder of a firearm user licence in respect of the said ammunition.
When Joseph appears on Monday to answer that charge, the magistrate would determine the issue of bail. Yesterday, Forde-John did not offer Josephs attorney Sade Lee-Duprey, a cash deposit as an alternative to the $250,000 bail.
Hunt on for ex cops, suspended cops
Camera footage at the home of the victim clearly identifies the SRP from Tobago who was fired, but attempts to find him is proving to be quite difficult. The second SRP who is on suspension is believed to have assisted in the robbery by using his vehicle. Attempts to contact him by officers of the Professional Standards Bureau also proved futile.
Newsday understands that camera footage at the home of the victim only identifies two persons while the remaining four persons cannot be identified properly. Initially, officers from the North Eastern and Port-of- Spain Divisions were interviewed in connection with the robbery but they were ordered released pending further investigation.
An SRP has already appeared in court in connection with the robbery. According to reports, last Friday three armed men arrived at the home of Wei Hui Zhu, 31, of Soledad Road, Claxton Bay in a marked police vehicle, wearing police tactical gear.
Three more officers arrived in a black Sport Utility Vehicle stating they had instructions to search his home. The men found and took $400,000 as well as two iPhones.
TTPS suppressing the true murder rate
The media conference was held together with Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen, and it was called to address the recent assertions of Prime Minister Keith Rowley, that former PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar was anxious to have 438 people killed. Rowley made the statement on Tuesday night at a campaign meeting in San Juan, and he made the statement in response to Persad-Bissessars claim that the reported murder figure of 400 in the local media as of Monday November 14, 2016 was incorrect, and it was in actuality, 438.
Sturge, in the press conference, backed the Opposition Leader, affirming that her figure of 438 was accurate and produced a document cataloguing the number of murders to date for 2016, confirming the number of 438.
He said, ...It seems as if the left hand doesnt seem what the left hand is doing in the Police Service.
And its even worse with the media. We rely heavily on the media to be a check and balance on the government and to be a check and balance on the Police Service, and to report accurately.
It seems since September 7, that certain investigative journalists who touted themselves as investigative journalists, they have since passed on, were asking on these persons to be Lazarus, and its time to wake up. I say so because the media seems to be lagging behind on what the actual murder toll is...Ill first deal with the TTPS website. According to the TTPS website, downloaded today, 17 November 2016, according to the...crime stats as it stands in T&T, its 405, and after the 405, theres a question mark. So it seems as though the TTPS is not even sure that its 405. But what is interesting, is according to the same website T&T kidnappings for the year, 0.
Now I would expect the investigative journalists to do like Lazarus and wake from the dead, and ask the TTPS about Rhea Sookdeo who was kidnapped, and thats just one person who was kidnapped...So clearly, one cannot trust the information coming out of the TTPS...I dont understand how the TTPS count is 405 and the medias 408.
Charles: Kamla right to hit Govt on crime
Charles alleged that Rowley does not care about the people and is out of touch. He said Rowley failed to outline his plan to deal with crime, allegedly being blissfully unaware of the real fear citizens feel on a daily basis as a result of rising criminal activity.
People are genuinely afraid, the murder toll is over 400 and that is a fact, and the Government has yet to even articulate a crime plan or national security policy, another startling and scary fact, Charles hit.
The Prime Minister would like for all of us to pretend that our national security systems are not failing. Even as he professed his confidence in the Minister of National Security (Edmund Dillon), Rowley was conveniently forgetting that he recently included himself on the ever growing list of National Security ministers which is not a sign of confidence. Charles accused the Rowley-led administration of arrogance in how they interact with the public.
Persad-Bissessar comes under fire from cane farmers
A press release issued yesterday by the Cane Producers Association of Trinidad and Tobago (CPATT) condemned Persad-Bissessars comments on the issue at a political rally on November 11, 2016 and also took her to task for attempting to blame the non-payment of the EU grant to cane farmers on the present Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley.
According to the release, The Association notes that Mrs Persad- Bissessar failed to adequately address the longstanding issue of utilisation of the EU Grant Funding for the benefit of cane farmers during her five years as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar is fully aware that the Government and the European Delegation have signed an agreement whereby the Cane Farmers were to be the major beneficiary of this grant funding and that the Governments responsibility is to facilitate implementation of the exit plan.
Her continued statements regarding this issue are clearly an attempt to divert attention away from the fact that under her administration, hundreds of millions of dollars were collected from the European Commission, and no mechanism was put in place for the Cane Farmers to benefit. It continued that Persad-Bissessars administration, through then Minister of Planning and the Economy, Bhoendradatt Tewarie and then Minister of Food Production, Devant Maharaj, failed to cooperate with the Association to have the Exit Strategy for Cane Farmers implemented.
Additionally, the release complained that the PP attempted to win the general election by paying $27 million as cash to farmers.
The Exit Strategy was approved by the European Union Delegation in 2013, and in 2014, the Delegation committed 16 million Euros to the grant funding.
On Friday November 11, at a political rally in Barrackpore, Persad- Bissessar urged cane farmers to not accept what the Peoples National Movement administration is offering them, saying that they would be accepting less than what they are actually entitled to.
She said at the rally, I tell you do not sign those letters, do not take the less money, go to your lawyer (Gerald) Ramdeen and let us fight them in the court to get the full amount of money that you are due.
Kamla takes on EBC for errors with candidates
Persad-Bissessar is demanding a full retraction and correction of the publication from the EBC, and expressed difficulty in believing that the mistakes were unintentional. She highlighted the inaccuracies while speaking to a modest crowd of fired up UNC activists at the partys cottage meeting on Wednesday night at the ASJA Girls College auditorium in San Fernando. The Form 46, which listed the names of all the candidates and their corresponding parties for the Local Government election, was published in a daily newspaper. However, several UNC candidates were listed as PNM candidates and, further, the UNC candidates for the Tunapuna district were completely left out.
Those incorrectly listed as UNC candidates were Zoraida Rodriguez-Martinez and Gioma Martinez-Norman contesting seats in the Port-of-Spain Corporation; Chulan Kheymweti contesting a seat in the Penal/Debe Corporation; Chris Hosein contesting a seat in the Princes Town Corporation; and Chanardaye Ramadharsingh contesting a seat in the Siparia Corporation.
Gaming Bill in House today
Among other things the bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Commission for the purpose of regulating the Gaming and Betting Sectors which are, both on a global and national level, vulnerable to infiltration by money launderers and terrorist financing. The bill also seeks to provide safeguards to prevent minors and vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Persons commit an offence under this legislation if they knowingly employ a minor to perform any function relating to gambling.
Under Section 84 (1) of the Bill, a person who commits an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $500,000 and six months imprisonment.
Persons making a false statement of intent, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $5 million and to imprisonment for five years.
Before Imbert begins the debate on this Bill, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley will field questions from the Opposition during Prime Ministers Question Time, as todays sitting is the second one for the House this month. The Prime Minister may also make a statement in the House today regarding the Alutrint project which was scrapped under the PP.
At a post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Clair on October 20, Rowley said TT owes China hundreds of millions of dollars due to the scrapping of that project.
Imbert: FATCA after elections
Imbert expressed his optimism as he announced that debate on the Tax Information Exchange Bill 2016 will resume in the House of Representatives in December, after the November 28 local government elections.
Addressing a news conference at the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port-of- Spain on Wednesday, Imbert said, As soon as this local (government) election is over, we will be back in the Parliament and the first order of business will be FATCA. With Parliament expected to take its Christmas recess around mid-December, Imbert was optimistic that the Bill will be passed in the House before that and brought to the Senate in January.
Reminding reporters that the Treasury asked Government to submit a detailed action plan for implementation of FATCA requirements, Imbert said this involved passing the legislation and put the necessary systems in place to allow the Board of Inland Revene (BIR) to report to the Treasury on US citizens and corporations doing business in TT. He explained the BIR has a discretion right now and, the whole point about FATCA is that discretion is taken away. Imbert said Government told the Treasury the legislation should be passed by the end of February 2017.
We put a self imposed deadline on ourselves.
Then between then and September we will have to implement the legislation, Imbert added.
Indicating, we are on track with that at this point in time, Imbert said he had no idea how the Treasury will operate under the incoming Trump Administration.
I am assuming that the arrangements that we have with the Treasury will remain. I cant assume anything else, he said. Noting that US Ambassador to TT John Estrada tendered his resignation after the election, Imbert said this would have happened even if Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton won the election. The minister said it remained to be seen whether Estrada continues as ambassador under Trump or a new ambassador is chosen. Estrada offered assistance to Government in September in discussions with the US Treasury on FATCA.
Denver may soon allow marijuana at restaurants and bars
When it comes to marijuana, few states are nearly as progressive as Colorado. One of the earliest adapters of recreational marijuana legalization, Colorado has served as a beacon of light for cannabis advocates across the United States. If they continue to show just how successful a states economy can grow if cannabis is legalized for both medical and recreational use, every other state in the union is sure to follow.
Considering that marijuana never should have been outlawed in the first place, this is good news for freedom-lovers everywhere.
Now Colorado is set to pull off another first in regards to cannabis legislation. Soon, residents of the state may be able to smoke marijuana at restaurants, bars and other indoor business so long as the owners of the establishment explicitly allow them to do so. Of course, there are a number of regulations that stand in the way of that taking place.
Katherine Biek of Newsy reports, First, businesses will need to apply for permits that allow those who are at least 21 years old to consume marijuana in designated indoor or outdoor spaces, and those establishments can only do that if a local business group or neighborhood backs them. Its not just bars and restaurants that can apply. Any public establishment, like yoga studios and art galleries, are covered under the measure.
While you may not want to eat dinner at a restaurant while there is a cloud of marijuana smoke floating overhead, the fact that business will be legally allowed to have this happen is a win for liberty as a whole. Its not so much a matter of whether or not this is a smart business decision so much as it is a victory for business owners who are slowly taking back their rights. Less regulations means more success in the free market.
Thats whats so interesting about the cannabis industry. Even people who dont use cannabis even those who are actively opposed to using cannabis can acknowledge just how many good things it can provide for the country and the world at large. Now more than ever, the American people need to see just how much good freedom actual freedom can do for us all.
So many have lost faith in the system over the past few years that we need to remind everyone why America is the greatest country on earth. So much of that has to do with freedom, so we should become free once again. If Colorado is any indication, we are on our way.
Sources:
CNN.com
Newsy.com
NBCNews.com
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Paris climate pact irreversible, say 197 nations
Morocco,Environment/Wildlife, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Marrakech, Nov 18 (IANS) Nearly 200 nations on Friday reaffirmed their political commitment to a global climate deal that is 'irreversible' at the ongoing UN climate talks that were mostly overshadowed by US President-elect Donald Trump's comments to cut off funding to climate change programmes.
"We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," 197 parties to the UN's climate convention stated in the Marrakesh Action Proclamation issued on the penultimate day of the UN climate talks here.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and w e have an urgent duty to respond," it said.
"Indeed, this year, we have seen extraordinary momentum on climate change worldwide, and in many multilateral fora.
"This momentum is irreversible - it's being driven not only by governments, but by science, business and global action of all types at all levels," they said.
"Our task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together, moving forward purposefully to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals," the nations said.
The parties -- 196 nations and the European Union bloc -- also called for an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
The developed countries also reaffirmed their $100 billion mobilisation goal.
The countries, both developed and developing, unanimously called for further climate action and support, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
It also talked about an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
The proclamation also showed solidarity with the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Paris Agreement aims to limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by cutting greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.
With announcement of Britain, it becomes the 111th country to ratify the Paris Agreement that came into force on November 4 when more than 55 countries as well as countries representing more than 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions ratified the deal.
Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and vowed to cut o ff funding to United Nations climate change programmes.
He also said he would reduce the US involvement in the Paris climate accord .
(Vishal Gulati is in Marrakech at the invitation of the Global Editors Network to cover COP22. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
--IANS
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Paris Hilton voted for Donald Trump
United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood,Politics, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Los Angeles, Nov 18 (IANS) Socialite Paris Hilton says she contributed to business tycoon Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential election.
On Thursday, Hilton appeared in an Australian TV interview to promote her latest fragrance "Gold Rush".
Asked if she voted for Trump, she laughed nervously before confirming the news. "I've known him since (I was) a little girl - so, yes," she said.
Last week, she was approached by a TMZ reporter and asked who she planned to vote for. She refused to reveal her mind.
"My mother told me to never talk about politics or money," Paris told tmz.com.
Earlier this year, a 2003 interview with Trump was uncovered in which he told Howard Stern that he first met Paris when she was 12 years old. He described her as "beautiful".
--IANS
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Climate action 'urgent, irreversible', reiterate 197 countries
Morocco,COP 22,Environment/Wildlife, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Marrakech, Nov 18 (IANS) Nearly 200 nations have reaffirmed their political commitment to a global climate momentum that they say is "urgent" and "irreversible" at the UN climate talks that were mostly overshadowed by US President-elect Donald Trump's comments to cut off funding to climate change programmes.
"We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," 197 parties to the UN's climate convention stated in the Marrakech Action Proclamation, issued on the penultimate day of the UN climate talks here on Thursday night.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate, and we have an urgent duty to respond," it said.
"Indeed, this year, we have seen extraordinary momentum on climate change worldwide, and in many multilateral fora. This momentum is irreversible -- it's being driven not only by governments, but by science, business and global action of all types at all levels," they said.
"Our task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together, moving forward purposefully to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals," the nations said.
The parties -- 196 nations and the European Union bloc -- also called for an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
The developed countries also reaffirmed their $100 billion mobilisation goal.
The countries unanimously called for further climate action and support, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing countries, the least developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
It also talked about an increase in the volume, flow and access to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
The proclamation also showed solidarity with the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Paris Agreement of 2015 aims to limit average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by cutting greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.
Hailing the agreement, the countries affirmed their commitment to its full implementation and its rapid entry into force in the light of different national circumstances.
Meanwhile, Britain became the 111th country to ratify the Paris Agreement that came into force on November 4 when more than 55 countries, as well as countries representing more than 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, ratified the deal.
Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and vowed to cut off funding to UN climate change programmes. He has also said he would reduce US involvement in the Paris climate accord.
Without the US, delegates and analysts at the climate summit here were sceptical about the success in tackling one of the greatest challenges of this century.
"Coming just a week after the US election results, the Marrakech Action Proclamation sends a strong signal that parties are committed than ever to advance solutions to the most pressing global challenge of our times, despite international headwinds," said an independent climate expert here.
Liz Gallagher, Senior Associate, E3G, said: "Today's proclamation in Marrakech was received with thunderous applause. It just goes to show how serious countries are about getting on with their climate action plans in order to protect their economies and their people. It was a touching moment of solidarity after a bruising week."
"It's rare that so many countries unite to make a public declaration on any policy subject. This demonstrates just what a global consensus there now is around climate change... they will not let the election of Donald Trump hijack the important work being done to secure the safe future of our planet," Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid, which monitors the climate negotiations on behalf of poor countries, said in a statement.
(Vishal Gulati is in Marrakech at the invitation of the Global Editors Network to cover COP22. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
--IANS
vg/in/sac
DiCaprio stuns onlookers on Edinburgh street
United Kingdom,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Edinburgh, Nov 18 (IANS) Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio recently visited a restaurant here, and onlookers were left stunned as they spotted him on their bus journey to work.
The actor, who is in the city to speak at the Scottish Business Awards on Thursday, recently paid a visit to Home, a restaurant which gives its profits to the homeless.
He was greeted by hundreds of fans waiting outside and spent time chatting and signing autographs after they waited hours in the pouring rain to meet the star, reports mirror.co.uk
He looked dapper with his dark hair slicked back while wearing a white open-collared shirt and black trousers with matching shoes. He teamed it up with a long coat.
Tom Hunter, chairman of the Scottish Business Awards, said on its website: "Leonardo is not only a famous actor, he is a pioneering environmentalist and committed philanthropist whose charitable work is making a global impact.
"To have him address our nation's premier businesses and entrepreneurs is incredibly exciting.
"That the Scottish Business Awards is the largest awards dinner of its kind in the whole of the UK says a lot about the strength and ambition of Scotland's entrepreneurial community."
--IANS
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Forest Whitaker to join Johnny Depp in crime drama
United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Los Angeles, Nov 18 (IANS) Actor Forest Whitaker is in talks to join actor Johnny Depp in "LAbyrinth", a real-life drama that will follow the criminal investigation behind the murders of rap legends Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
Whitaker would play a journalist who teams with Depp's disgraced LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) detective, who has been unable to solve the mysterious deaths of two of hip-hop's biggest stars, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
Helmer Brad Furman will direct from a Black List script by Christian Contreras, which he adapted from journalist Randall Sullivan's book "LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G", the "Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight", and the "Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal".
Whitaker will next be seen in the first "Star Wars" stand-alone pic, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story". He also will star as Bishop Desmond Tutu in the biopic "The Forgiven" and is set for Marvel's "Black Panther" movie.
--IANS
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Mauritius threatens to take Chagos Islands row to UN court
Mauritius,Immigration/Law/Rights, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Port Louis, Nov 18 (IANS) Mauritius is threatening to take Britain to the international court of justice in a dispute over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
In the wake of the Foreign Office's announcement this week that none of the Chagossians expelled in the 1960s to make way for military bases would be allowed to return to live on the Indian Ocean archipelago, Mauritius, which claims the territory, has accused Britain of "outrageously" undermining human rights, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth criticised the British government's refusal to let the Chagossian community return to the island, which he said "always formed and continues to form an integral part of the territory of Mauritius".
He added: "In view of the purported unilateral actions of Britain, Mauritius would be fully justified in taking forward the completion of the process of decolonisation, which is now on the agenda of the current session of the UN general assembly, with a view to putting the matter before the international court of justice."
A United Nations vote in favour of referring the case to the court in The Hague would have to be obtained. The Mauritian government said Britain's "unilateral" decision to ban the right of return and to renew the lease for the US base on Diego Garcia, one of the Chagos Islands, for another 20 years breached international law.
Mauritius said Britain had "acted in blatant breach of the letter and spirit" of a judgment under the UN convention on the law of the sea last year.
"The denial of the right of Mauritians in general, and those of Chagossian origin in particular, to settle in the Chagos archipelago is a manifest breach of international law and outrageously flouts their human rights," the statement said.
--IANS
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Japanese PM, Trump meet in New York
United States,Politics,Diplomacy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New York, Nov 18 (IANS) US President-elect Donald Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the first foreign head of government he spoke face to face since he won the November 8 election.
A spokesperson said that the meeting began on Thursday evening at 4.55 p.m., at New York's Trump Tower, Efe news reported.
Although initial reports were that Vice President-elect Mike Pence would also be present at the meeting, that has not been confirmed and, in fact, the Indiana governor arrived at Trump Tower only a few minutes before it ended.
The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes and the details were not known yet.
Spokespeople with Trump's transition team announced early Thursday that possibly more information about the meeting would be released after it ended, but they insisted that the get-together would be "very informal" and they did not expect significant results to emerge from it.
"I think any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the United States will have to wait until after the inauguration," said transition team spokesperson Kellyanne Conway.
The Japanese premier made a stop in New York en route to Lima, where he will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which President Barack Obama and other world leaders will also attend.
During the election campaign, Trump was very critical of a series of US trade deals, including the one known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership linking nations around the Pacific.
He has also said that Japan is one of the countries that should pay more to the US for the military assistance Washington provides, something that has aroused concern in Tokyo and in other affected capitals.
--IANS
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Obama urged to pardon 750,000 undocumented young people
United States,Immigration/Law/Rights,Politics, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Washington, Nov 18 (IANS) A trio of Democratic lawmakers have asked President Barack Obama to use his executive authority before leaving office to pardon some 750,000 undocumented young people known as "dreamers" who were illegally brought to this country as minors by their parents.
The request was made by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Zoe Lofgren in a letter sent to Obama on Thursday in which they asked him not to abandon the undocumented people and leave their fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, 2017, Efe news reported.
"We urge you to exercise your Constitutional authority to provide pardons to 'dreamers' both retroactively and prospectively," the legislators wrote, warning of the danger to the young people who were able to temporarily postpone being deported thanks to the Deferred Action programme (DACA) implemented by Obama in 2012.
Trump promised during his presidential campaign to eliminate that program, which allowed undocumented young people to get temporary work permits and drivers' licenses.
Obama's executive action measures allowed thousands of young foreigners to come out of the shadows and include themselves voluntarily on a government list, providing their fingerprints and addresses and, for that very reason they are now afraid that they will be among the first immigrants to be deported by Trump.
"'Dreamers' face uncertainty, fear and stress, leading to psychological issues including depression, anxiety and an increased risk of suicide," the lawmakers wrote.
"Indeed, we have received reports of Dreamers who have taken their own lives as they are now facing the threat posed by the incoming president," they said, adding that "Using your pardon authority, which is not subject to reversal, to protect these young people who relied on the program you implemented is quite literally a matter of life and death."
When asked about whether their petition has any chance of success, the lawmakers said that Obama has the power to pardon both criminal and civil offences, the latter being the type of offence committed by foreigners who illegally cross the border or remain in the country after their visas expire.
Presidents usually reserve granting the most controversial pardons until their last weeks in office, and these pardons are usually provided to individuals and not large groups of people.
Nevertheless, the legislators mentioned that former President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) had pardoned thousands of men who fled to other countries like Canada to avoid having to fight in the Vietnam War.
In response to the request, a top White House official speaking on condition of anonymity emphasised that the presidential power to grant clemency cannot provide legal status to any undocumented persons and said that only Congress can regularise the status of undocumented foreigners.
--IANS
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Indian Navy inducts four indigenous sonars
Delhi,National,Defence/Security, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Indian Navy on Friday inducted four indigenous sonars to give a boost to its underwater surveillance capability.
The systems are Abhay -- a Compact Hull Mounted Sonar for Shallow Water Crafts; Humsa UG, an upgrade of the Humsa Sonar System; NACS or Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System; and AIDSS or Advanced Indigenous Distress Sonar System for submarines.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba were present on the occasion.
The sonars have been designed and developed by Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, a Kochi-based premier laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Abhay is an advanced active-cum-passive integrated sonar system designed and developed for smaller platforms such as shallow watercrafts and coastal surveillance and patrol vessels.
The Indian Navy has proposed to deploy this sonar on three of its Abhay-class ships.
Using the latest technology in hardware architecture and advanced signal processing algorithms, the sonar is capable of detecting, localising, classifying and tracking sub-surface and surface targets in both active and passive modes of operation.
The prototype of this compact sonar installed onboard a nominated naval platform has successfully completed all user-evaluation trials to demonstrate the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements.
Humsa UG has hardware architecture based on the state-of-the-art open architecture processor technologies to enable smooth upgrade of the system capabilities.
This system is proposed to be installed on seven ships of three classes of ships.
NACS determines the in-situ performance of the sonar system used to find the frequency-dependent 3-D transmission and reception characteristics of the sonar.
It is also used to measure the magnitude and phase characteristics of the sonar transmission and reception electronics and transducers.
AIDSS is a distress Sonar or an emergency sound signalling device used to indicate a submarine in distress and enable quick rescue and salvage.
It is a life-saving alarm system designed to transmit sonar signals of a pre-designated frequency and pulse shape in an emergency situation from a submarine for long period.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the ministries of defence and skill development in July 2015 to enhance the skill sets of retiring defence personnel.
In the pilot batch, 70 retiring naval personnel have been trained in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation, the Indian Navy said.
Parrikar along with Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy handed over skill certificates to retiring naval personnel on the occasion.
--IANS
ao/tsb/vt
Afghani traders face demonetisation blues at IITF
Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Human Interest/Society, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The shining jewels, elegant carpets, delectable dry fruits and other authentic Afghani attractions at the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) fail to find their worth, thanks to the cash crunch that has set in after the demonetisation move.
Afghani traders are not accepting the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and also do not have the PoS machines. They are utterly disappointment with the 36th edition of the trade fair, as there has been very limited sale of all their products, including table covers, women's dresses and overcoats.
The carpet sellers are the worst sufferers of the lot. Their carpets range between Rs 3,000 and Rs 90,000. Without the card payment service, it has become almost impossible for them to do any business.
"I have been participating in the fair for the past six years. There hasn't been anything exciting about sales this year as compared to the last year or before that," carpet trader Humayun told IANS.
"Until last year, we had a sale of at least Rs 1 lakh every day. Without asking where the ATM machine is, the customers would pay in cash. But this time, we are barely doing business worth about Rs 20,000 a day," he added.
Humayun also said: "None of us has a bank account here in India. So, we cannot get the card machine."
One of the vendors complained that the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) did not cooperate in terms of arranging the card machine.
"The ITPO should have arranged the ATM service. Instead, they told us to find Indian friends to get an account. The government should provide us some help in this regard," Siddiq Ullah said.
For dry fruit trader Jawat Khan, there is no time to exchange the old currency as his whole day is spent at the fair.
"We can't accept old currency notes as there is no time to exchange it. We are here at the fair from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.," he said.
"The quality of our dry fruits is great. We make our customers taste them before they buy, as people don't realise the richness of these nuts without tasting. A lot of it now going to just tasting, since people seldom buy due to the money shortage."
Malika Azad from the Afghani pavilion was equally distressed.
"Our dresses range between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000, but people are finding the prices too high because of this money problem in India. It is very difficult to sell anything at this point of time in this country," she said.
--IANS
mg/nir/vt
CBI to seek extradition of chopper deal middleman
Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to extradite alleged middleman Christian Michel James, an accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal, sources said on Friday.
"CBI has decided to send a request for extradition of James to central authorities in the UAE," an informed source told IANS.
James reportedly received around Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland in kickbacks paid by the firm to execute the deal for 12 helicopters in its favour in the "guise of" transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country.
An amount of Rs 6.33 crore was routed to India through James' shell company Media Exim from his Dubai-based company Global Services FZE.
James and two other middlemen, Guido Ralph Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, have been named as the accused in separate investigations conducted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Both the agencies have also issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) against James, after a city court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
An Italian court has revealed that James, a resident of London, was working as a consultant in India for AgustaWestland's AWA101 helicopter deal.
Investigators said James is currently staying in Dubai from where he has been running his companies.
--IANS
rak-akk/vgu/vt
Jindal University inks MoU with Israeli varsities
Delhi,National,Education, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Continuing its tradition of global collaborations across the world, the O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the College of Law and Business (CLB) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ)to create a framework for global collaboration in areas of academics, research, faculty and student exchange programmes.
JGU Vice-Chancellor C. Raj Kumar signed the MoU with Professor Menahem Ben Sasson, President, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Moshe Cohen-Eliya, President, College of Law and Business in the presence of visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Speaking on the occasion, Rivlin observed that education and cultural exchanges will consolidate Israel- India relations. The two nations came into being as independent entities around the same time and leaders of both national movements had intellectual dialogues like Tagore and Einstein.
"The Einstein archives at Hebrew University of Jerusalem houses the extensive letters of Tagore written to Einstein, so it is the right time for Israel and India to take the intellectual partnership further form here. The academic collaborations signed today will ensure that has begun," a JGU statement said.
The MoU aims to promote academic, cultural and personnel exchanges that can enrich the experience of students, research scholars and faculty members from both institutions, the agreement will also facilitate student and faculty exchange programs and promote bilateral cooperation on research.
Speaking on the occasion, Raj Kumar said: "International education and collaborations of this type promote knowledge exchange between global communities and enhances our student's transformative educational experience. It is with this vision that we have partnered with over 160 institutions in 40 countries since our inception in 2009."
Extolling the achievements of the Israeli universities, Kumar observed: "The leading institutions in Israel have achieved extraordinary distinctions and have rapidly evolved into world class universities. We are proud to be associated with College of Law and Business (CLB), and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) of Israel, which are amongst the top universities of the world."
"In pursuit of its vision to promote a global perspective through a global faculty, global courses, curriculum and research, JGU has fostered collaborations with over 160 universities and institutions in 40 countries across the world," the statement said.
--IANS
vm
SC seeks government's action plan on recovery of bad loans
Delhi,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday did not favour making public the names of individuals and companies with non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans of Rs 500 crore or more, and said what is important is how to recover the money and check its recurrence.
Saying that "disclosure of names would not lead us anywhere", the bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said, "We want to know why are NPAs accumulating? What are reforms (needed) so that NPAs do not recur? What are the deficiencies in the recovery system? Disclosure of names is not going to serve any purpose."
The Reserve Bank of India has submitted a list of such defaulters to the apex court in a sealed cover.
Having said this, the court asked the government to submit a comprehensive note indicating the government's action plan to recover the NPAs. The court said this should be submitted in four weeks in a sealed cover.
The court sought the comprehensive note from the government after Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the court that besides a high level committee that is looking into the banking sector reforms, the government is also independently looking into the matter of NPAs.
The court said the committee set up by the government to suggest banking reforms should submit its report in four weeks, and added that the recommendations of the panel would be subject to its scrutiny.
It fixed December 12 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
Telling the court that the committee was in the last lap of its work and would finalise its report by this month-end, the Solicitor General opposed the suggestion by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) counsel Kamini Jaiswal for an independent economist on the Committee.
He told the court that the committee that was set up in May this year has held six meetings and is in the process of finalising the report.
The Solicitor General told the court that the committee is examining all the issues that were earlier raised by CPIL counsel Prashant Bhushan in the matter.
During the hearing on October 24, the Supreme Court had said that it would hold hearing on whether the names of individuals and companies with non-performing assets (NPAs) of Rs 500 crore or more could be made public.
The court is hearing a PIL by the NGO CPIL which pointed to loans given by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd in 2003 to some of the companies with questionable track records. It was in the course of hearing of this PIL that the court focused on the recovery of large NPAs.
--IANS
pk/nir/vt
First airborne early warning system likely in December
Delhi,National,Politics,Defence/Security, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that the first Airborne Early Warning and Control System ( AEW&C) is likely to be inducted in December.
"There has been no delay in AWACS(I) Project as the current mandate of the project was to finalise on the contract of the aircraft through a global tendering process, which has been completed," the minister said in a written reply.
The indigenous Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) System is likely to be available from 2024, the minister added.
The response cited finalisation of operational requirements, delay in delivery of certified aircraft and incompletion of flight evaluation of the integrated systems due to reasons of modification on aircraft by original equipment manufacturer, as the reasons for delay in the AEW&C also known as mini AWACS.
AWE&C are airborne radar system to detect aerial threats and command the fighter air crafts for strikes. DRDO is developing an indigenous AWE&C system mounted on Embraer air crafts.
India operates AWACS system imported from Israel which is mounted on Russian IL -76 air crafts.
--IANS
rs/vgu/
Nikki Haley has "good discussion" with Trump; speculation of cabinet job
United States,Diaspora, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New York, Nov 18 (IANS) Setting aside their campaign feuds, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley had a "good meeting" here on Thursday amid speculation that she is being considered for the job of secretary of state or other cabinet positions.
"They had a good discussion, and she is very encouraged about the coming administration and the new direction it will bring to Washington," her spokesperson Rob Godfrey said after the meeting.
Trump's former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was noncommittal about a position for Haley in the Trump administration. "We're just happy to have her here for her advice and counsel and to hear about the great success story of South Carolina," she told reporters.
If Republican Haley gets a cabinet job, she would be the first Indian American to ascend to that level marking a historic milestone for the community in a year that saw a political breakthrough.
Democrat California Attorney General Kamala Harris became the first Indian American elected to the Senate. Three Indian Americans, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, and Ro Khanna of California won seats on the House of Representatives, where they will join fellow-Democrat Ami Bera of California, who was re-elected.
However, a late development cast a shadow on Haley's hopes for America's top diplomatic job. The Republican presidential candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney, was scheduled to meet Trump over the weekend. He has said that the only job he would be interested in was secretary of state, leading to new intense media speculation that he may be up for the job.
Like Haley, Romney has been a vehement critic of Trump during the campaign - and in turn was hammered by Trump. While Haley said towards the end of the campaign that she would vote for Trump, although she had reservations, Romney did not take back his assertion that he would never vote for the Republican nominee.
Trump, who ran a scorch earth campaign, is now reaching out to his critics in an attempt douse the flames discord he had flamed.
Speculations about Trump's cabinet choices have been rapidly changing. First reports said that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former UN Permanent Representative John Bolton were the front runners for secretary of state. Both came under criticism for their advocacy of aggressive foreign intervensions in contrast to Trump's own cautious policy.
On Wednesday, when Haley's meeting with Trump was scheduled, CNN and MSNBC independently quoted unnamed sources in the Trump transition team as saying that she was being considered for the foreign policy job.
Now there is mention in the media that she may be also considered for commerce secretary given her strong track record in getting foreign investment into her state.
Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar district and her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. She is married to Michael Haley.
--IANS
al/tb
CBI to seek extradition of chopper deal middleman
India,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident,Defence/Security, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to seek the extradition of alleged middleman Christian Michel James, an accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal, from the UAE, sources said on Friday.
"CBI has decided to send a request to designated central authorities of UAE (United Arab Emirates) seeking extradition of fugitive Christian Michel James through prescribed channel," an informed source told IANS.
The agency took the decision to seek the extradition of James after its investigating teams confirmed his role as a key middleman in the AgustaWestland deal, the source said.
It is also learnt that some bureaucrats and politicians are on the radar of CBI sleuths in the case but they want to question James before taking any action against them.
"Extradition is also important to take forward the investigation regarding bribes paid to bureaucrats and politicians," the source further added.
James reportedly received around Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland in kickbacks paid by the firm to execute the deal for 12 helicopters in its favour in the "guise of" transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country.
An amount of Rs 6.33 crore was routed to India through James' shell company Media Exim from his Dubai-based company Global Services FZE.
James and two other middlemen, Guido Ralph Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, have been named as the accused in separate investigations conducted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Both the agencies have issued an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) against James, after a city court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
An Italian court has revealed that James, a resident of London, was working as a consultant in India for AgustaWestland's AWA101 helicopter deal.
Investigators said James is currently staying in Dubai from where he has been running his companies.
--IANS
rak/rn
Youth Congress members protest demonetisation
Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Friday marched towards Parliament House to protest "inconvenience caused to common man" due to demonetisation of currency, an IYC statement said.
While addressing the protesters, Congress leader and member of parliament Anand Sharma said that the central government has no plan for execution of demonetisation.
"One day the government says it has sufficient currency and the very next day it reduces the exchange amount from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000," he said.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) communications head Randeep Singh Surjewala said the currency printing machines have capacity to print 300 crore currency notes in a month and that it would take seven months to print 2,100 crore notes that need to be replaced.
"Fortyseven people have lost their lives due to harassment caused because of demonetisation," he said.
The police used water canons to disperse protesters and detained many of them.
--IANS
vv/vgu/vt
India, Britain sign 3 bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements
Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Diplomacy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) India and Britain on Friday signed three more bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) taking the total number of these pacts to a total of 111 so far, an official statement said.
"The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed three three bilateral APAs here today taking the total number of APAs signed (both-bilateral and unilateral) so far to 111," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
"These three agreements cover international transactions in the nature of payment of intra-group service charges and pertain to the telecom industry. They also have a roll-back provision," the statement said.
With this, India and Britain have concluded five bilateral APAs and some more would be concluded in the near future, it added.
Authorities from both countries had earlier exchanged mutual agreements amongst them under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) Article of the India-UK Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).
The Advance Pricing Agreement programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 with a view to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce the litigation in the Indian transfer pricing arena.
An APA can be entered into for a maximum of five years at a time. Since the notification of the APA scheme on August 30, 2012, a total of about 700 APA applications have been received during the first four years of the programme, which indicates the wide acceptance by the taxpayers, it said.
"The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner," it added.
--IANS
mm/vd
EC told us not to share ink with banks: Goa poll officials
Goa,National, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Panaji, Nov 18 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (EC) has written to poll authorities in Goa not to share its stock of indelible ink with banks and other agencies, a senior official said on Friday.
"Indelible ink is requisitioned during the time of elections. A communication has come from the Commission that even the previous stock should not be given to them... we should not part with our stock," Joint Chief Electoral Officer Narayan Navti told IANS when asked if there was a directive from the EC about sharing of indelible ink with banks.
Earlier this week, as part of the demonetisation campaign, the Finance Ministry asked banks to use indelible ink to prevent people from making repeated multiple transactions at banks.
The measure was initiated in order to reduce the rush at banks all over India, which are witnessing unprecedented queues, with anxious customers keen on replacing and depositing old currency notes and withdrawing the stipulated amounts of money from their accounts.
"We will be monitoring the situation if there is any over supply... If it (indelible ink) is applied, it will last for two weeks. Because of elections, we will also keep an eye to prevent any possible misuse of the ink," Chief Electoral Officer Kunal said.
--IANS
maya/nir/vt
Modi should apologise for demonetisation deaths: Congress
Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) The Congress on Friday demanded an unconditional apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the over 50 deaths post the demonetistion move and said the series of guidelines issued in its wake showed that "confusion confounds the government completely".
The party also demanded that the government must pay adequate compensation to the families who have lost their near and dear ones. The Congress also said that printing currency notes worth Rs 15 lakh crore, to replace those that have been withdrawn, would take at least three to eight months.
The Congress further said the move was not planned and was only meant as an image-building exercise of the Prime Minister.
"We have a Prime Minister who takes a decision first, thinks later and never admits to his mistakes," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
"The problem with this government is that whoever questions them are branded anti-nationals. We demand that Modi apologise to the families of the deceased. An inquiry should be held into these deaths," he added.
The Congress also hit out at the government for bringing in new guidelines almost everyday following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
"In the past nine days, they have come up with 18 guidelines. There was no planning at all before taking the decision," said Surjewala.
Congress said the government decided to put ink on everyone's finger coming to change currency but the Election Commission has opposed the decision.
"Election Commission negated the decision to put ink. Truth is that government's right hand does not know as to what is being done by the left hand. Confusion confounds Modi government completely," he said.
Surjewala said due to demonetisation, 1,658 crore notes of Rs 500 and 668 crore notes of Rs 1,000 i.e. a total of 2,327 crore notes valued at about Rs 15 lakh crore, have been withdrawn.
"The 1,000 rupee notes are printed by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited. It has a capacity to print 133 crore notes per month in two shifts. Even if three shifts were to work, this company can print 200 crore notes per month," said Surjewala.
"If this company was to print new Rs 2,000 notes as against the old Rs 1,000 notes, the entire operation will take three-and-a-half months. Rs 500 notes are printed by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited, which has a capacity to print 100 crore notes per month," he added.
He further said: "If this capacity is doubled overnight, it will still take nearly eight months or more to print 1,658 crore notes of Rs 500."
Hitting out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Surjewala said: "There are only two lakh ATMs in the country. As per the Finance Minister, only 22,250 ATMs have been recalibrated and upgraded in last 10 days.
"If this figure is correct, it will take 110 days to recalibrate and upgrade all the two lakh ATMs. What will happen to people of the country in this period?" he asked.
The Congress also slammed the government for putting an embargo on all cooperative banks, rural development banks, primary land development banks and cooperative credit societies from either changing money or dispensing new notes.
--IANS
sid/rn
Gujarat HC allows Hardik to shift to Haridwar for fortnight
Gujarat,National,Immigration/Law/Rights,Politics, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Ahmedabad, Nov 18 (IANS) The Gujarat High Court on Friday granted Patel agitation spearhead Hardik Patel leave to shift his temporary residence for a fortnight from Rajasthan to Uttarakhand.
Hardik had moved a petition in the High Court seeking permission to change his temporary residential address from Udaipur in Rajasthan to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
"The hon'ble court had put in a condition that he cannot change his temporary residence during bail period without its permission. Hardik wanted to visit some religious places in Haridwar and so we moved a petition before seeking permission for four weeks," said Rafiq Lokhandwala, member of team representing Hardik in the high court.
Hardik, who is out on a six-month bail in a sedition case, had been barred from entering Gujarat by the court. In his petition, he had mentioned that he wished to stay at Swami Deeptanand Ashram, Bhupatwala, Haridwar, with its mahant, Swami Krishnanand Maharaj.
--IANS
desai/vd
Labour Minister seeks more mobile ATMs for workforce
Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya on Friday urged the Finance Ministry to deploy more mobile ATMs in labour areas to help the cash-strapped workforce.
"We have requested the Finance Ministry to deploy more mobile ATMs in areas like construction sites where the workforce is in large numbers," Dattatreya said at a trade organisation's event here.
With no let-up in the cash chaos due to currency shortage after the central government's demonetisation move on November 8, millions of working class people, especially labourers, have been facing untold hardship for want of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes across the country.
"We have urged the Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) to rush mobile ATMs to the areas where labourers are working in large numbers and directed the state governments to assist banks in easing the situation," Dattatreya said at a conference on "India's Social Security Agreements", organised by Assocham.
The ministry is also identifying the areas where large workforce is present, so that mobile ATMs can be deployed there.
The Labour Minister, who met Jaitley on Thursday, has sought priority treatment for the workforce, especially in the unorganised sector, in the Union Budget for the next fiscal (2017-18) to ensure social security for them.
"As the five crore construction workers do not have social security, we have made them a part of the organised workforce to avail benefits from the ESIC (Employee's State Insurance Corporation) and EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation)," said Dattatreya.
India already has social security agreements with 19 countries the world over.
"As social security is essential for migrant workers, we are working for similar agreements with more countries, including those in BRICS and SAARC groups," said Dattatreya.
Central Provident Fund Commissioner V.P. Joy said on the occasion that the EPFO was negotiating with Sri Lanka for a social security agreement between the two countries.
Highlighting the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of extending social security guarantee to the poor, the minister said auto-rickshaw and cycle-rickshaw pullers should also have the same benefits.
--IANS
fb/nir/vt
India, Cyprus ink new Double Tax Avoidance Agreement
Delhi,National,Business/Economy,Diplomacy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) India on Friday signed a revised double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Cyprus, an official statement said here.
"A revised agreement between India and Cyprus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion (DTAA) with respect to taxes on income, along with its protocol, was signed today (Friday) in Nicosia (Cyprus)," said the Finance Ministry statement.
The revised agreement will replace the existing agreement signed in June 1994 with Cyprus, which has a reputation as a tax haven.
It was signed by High Commissioner of India to Cyprus Ravi Bangar and Cyprus' Finance Minister Harris Georgiades.
"The new DTAA provides for source based taxation of capital gains arising from transfer of shares, instead of residence based taxation provided under the existing DTAA," the statement said.
"However, a grandfathering clause has been provided for investments made prior to 1st April, 2017, in respect of which capital gains would continue to be taxed in the country of which the taxpayer is a resident," it added.
Provisions of new DTAA will enter into force after the completion of necessary internal procedures in both countries and is expected to come into effect in India in respect of income derived in fiscal years beginning on or after April 1, 2017.
"The new Agreement also updates the provisions related to exchange of information to accepted international standards, which will enable exchange of banking information," the Indian finance ministry said.
Cyprus was the only country to have been blacklisted by India as a non-cooperative jurisdiction, due to lack of effective exchange of information.
India and Cyprus had entered into a tax treaty in 1994, and are obliged to exchange information.
On November 1, 2013, the Indian government had notified Cyprus as a non-cooperative jurisdiction following failed discussions to secure the desired level of cooperation.
--IANS
bc/vd
Demonetisation a game changer: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Union Law and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday dubbed the government's demonetisation a "transformative game changer exercise" and said it would bear fruits in the future.
Prasad was speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the 22nd annual conference of CBI-State Anti-Corruption and Vigilance Bureaux here.
"The present decision of our government to put 500- and 1,000-rupee notes out of legal tender is being debated... this is a natural corollary of the initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government," Prasad said.
Giving example of the Modi government's first initiative, the minister said it was the constitution of a Special Investigation Team on black money.
Explaining why Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are no more legal tender, Prasad said: "Fifteen per cent of India's GDP (Gross Domestic Product)is cash, which is very high, unlike other countries (where it is) two per cent, three per cent and four per cent."
"... and out of that 15 per cent, 85 to 86 per cent is tender of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Such a huge tender of these high-value notes impact the probity, propriety and transparency of economy and therefore the decision has been taken."
"Obviously, there will be some inconvenience. But it is really a transformative game changer exercise and it will be fruitful in future," the minister said.
He said the exercise has been taken to discourage law offenders and encourage honest citizens.
Prasad also praised the CBI and said: "The biggest legacy of the CBI is trust and confidence it invokes in the people. In spite of a general mood of dismay and disbelieve, he CBI is an important tool."
He also conferred best branch, best investigating officer and best law officer awards on select CBI officers on the occasion.
--IANS
rak/tsb/vt
Israel expresses commitment towards 'Make in India' in defence sector
Delhi,National,Defence/Security,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Israel on Friday expressed its commitment for 'Make in India and Make with India' in the security domain, said a industry release.
Participating at a 'Round table on Indo-Israel Cooperation in Defence & Homeland Security', Israeli Defence Ministry's international defence cooperation directorate (SIBAT) chief Brig. Gen. Mishel Ben Baruch (retd.) said: "We are willing to cooperate with India and transfer technologies through partnership with Indian companies. SIBAT and Ministry of Defence of Israel are committed for a long term relationship with India."
He called the event, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), "historic" and "an opportunity to find ways to enhance cooperation between India and Israel in these areas"."
Defence Ministry Joint Secretary (Planning & International Cooperation) Shambhu S. Kumaran said: "In India, defence production is set to shift from public sector to private companies and offset programme of the country is also taking shape with a target of $10 billion in next 5 years."
Emphasising on the high degree of trust shared between the two countries and the growing concern of cyber threat, Kumaran called it one of the areas where India and Israel could collaborate.
Israel is one of the leading exporters of weapon systems to India, providing missiles, unmanned aircrafts, electronic warfare and radars in last decade.
--IANS
rs/vgu/vd
'No move to seal bank lockers, confiscate jewellery'
Delhi,Business/Economy,Politics,Human Interest/Society, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Scoffing at rumours, the Finance Ministry on Friday said there was no move to seal bank lockers nor was it true that the ink of the new Rs 2,000 notes has been bleeding in some cases.
"Myth: Next move is to seal bank lockers and confiscate gold, diamonds and jewellery. Reality: This is baseless. There is no proposal to seal bank lockers and confiscate the jewellery," the ministry tweeted in its official Twitter account.
The ministry also said the Rs 2,000 notes have a safety feature, which is called "intaglio" (a design that is incised or engraved into a material).
"To identify a genuine note when you rub it against a cloth, a turbo-electric effect is generated and it is due to this that the note's ink gets transfrred on to the cloth," the ministry said.
--IANS
ap/sar
Ex-Philippines dictator buried in Heroes' cemetery
Philippines,Politics, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Manila, Nov 18 (IANS) Ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was buried on Friday at the Heroes cemetery here in a controversial and unexpected ceremony which was not announced by the country's authorities until a few hours before the funeral.
The body of Marcos, accused of being responsible for the death, torture and illegal detention of hundreds of thousands and the appropriation of about $10 billion of public funds, was transported by helicopter to the Heroes Cemetery, Efe news reported.
The former President was buried in a private military ceremony that had to be guarded by hundreds of forces of the Philippine National Police in order to avoid clashes with victims of his regime. The ceremony was broadcast live in local media from outside the cemetery.
According to photos published on Facebook by Imee, one of his daughters, the former dictator's widow Imelda Marco attended the ceremony dressed in black.
Marcos' burial comes just 10 days after the country's Supreme Court gave the green light, which, according to opponents of the former dictator's family, is against the Philippine laws.
Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said on Friday said she was also "disturbed" by the fact that the burial happened "in coordination with the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police demonstrating further that the judicial process has been thoroughly disregarded".
"(Marcos) is no hero. If he were, obviously his family would not have to hide his burial like a shameful criminal deed," Robredo added.
Several groups critical of Marcos announced they would hold a protest after the burial on Friday and over the weekend and that they will also file a judicial appeal to order the exhumation of the former dictator's remains.
Marcos' burial at the Heroes Cemetery was ordered in August by President Rodrigo Duterte, after the family of the former dictator submitted the request to previous presidents for years but had always been turned down.
After having ruled the Philippines with an iron fist for more than two decades, Marcos was removed from office in February 1986 following a peaceful protest and died in exile three years later.
--IANS
ksk/mr
Plan to launch Naga Chaitanya in Tamil: Gautham
Tamil Nadu,Cinema/Showbiz,Southern Cinema, Fri, 18 Nov 2016 IANS
Chennai, Nov 18 (IANS) Filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon, who is basking in the success of latest Tamil-Telugu bilingual "Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada", is keen to work with Naga Chaitanya in a straight Tamil film.
Chaitanya starred in Gautham's "Ye Maaya Chesave" and "Saahasam Sagipo Swasaga", the Telugu version of "Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada".
"He speaks good Tamil and I want to capitalize on it and work with him in a Tamil film. I want to introduce him to the Tamil film industry," Menon told IANS.
Happy with the response to his latest outing, which is doing extremely well in Tamil despite the demonetization effect, he said: "The announcement of demonetization feared us as it came just two nights before the release. Thankfully, it helped us in a way because other films couldn't release and we had an extended run."
With a project with Vikram and Suriya in the pipeline, Gautham also has plans for a multi-starrer which will bring together four stars from the four south Indian languages.
"Everything is still in discussion stage. I'm planning to work with leading heroes from Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam," he said.
--IANS
hp/rb/vm
Murray beats Wawrinka to reach semifinals
United Kingdom,Sports, Sat, 19 Nov 2016 IANS
London, Nov 19 (IANS) Top seed Andy Murray defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to reach the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 Arena on Friday.
Murray, fighting for the year-end first place in the world rankings, took 86 minutes to defeat the Swiss number one 6-4, 6-2, Xinhua news agency reported.
He also improved to 10 wins and seven defeats against Wawarinka, although winning one game was enough to send him to the last four.
The 29-year-old topped the group with a perfect record in the second group, beating Marin Cilic of Croatia in the first match and edged fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the second.
Nishikori also reached the semifinals as the second place finisher in the group, making his match against Cilic later meaningless.
Murray will fight for the final berth against fourth seed Milos Raonic of Canada and Nishikori meet Serbia's Novak Djokvic.
--IANS
sku/
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We spend so much time discussing todays mobile, always-connected world, that sometimes its easy to forget that not everyone has access to the Internet. Until recently, the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was among one of the places that didnt have access to cellular data coverage. For years, the 5,500 military families and staff living on the naval base had no way to use their phone. However, thanks to T-Mobile, thats finally changed.
T-Mobile has expanded is 4G LTE (News - Alert) coverage to the naval base by installing 11 new cell sites with LTE coverage. The companys CEO, John Legere, said in a statement that he is honored to offer the service as part of the White Houses Joining Forces initiative.
According to Captain David Culpepper, there was no service beforehand because coverage was run by a small private company that couldnt provide very good service. Needless to say, the military families and staff are overjoyed the T-Mobile (News - Alert) has taken over the base from said company, with Captain David Culpepper stating, The new 4G LTE coverage is a huge boon to everyone at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.
Reddit commenter nps-ca, stated that one of the reasons residents speculate the base was forgotten about is because people dont associate family life with Guantanamowhich you cant really blame anyone for. However, the user commented, Lots of families on NAS Guantanamo here [and] connectivity is a pain ... the facility is way more than just that [prison and camps], with lots of similar activities and things we get in the rest of the U.S. Hes rightthere are over 5,000 people living on that base, with normal lives, and they deserve the same kind of connectivity that the rest of the U.S. has.
Now that T-Mobile has stepped in and extended their coverage, residents on the base are receiving the same level of service as people on the mainland. As of August, people could buy postpaid and prepaid T-Mobile plans from a retail kiosk in the Navy Exchange store. The kiosk also sold smartphones and accessories, making it so that residents really do have the same phone shopping experience as people living on the continental U.S.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
Consumer news is essential to the well-being of our country. One news article could shape citizens perceptions of our nation. Therefore, news can change the course of history. With this in mind, how can news outlets and journalists cater to a new generation of consumers? Looking toward podc
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Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn. Photo: Getty Images
Donald Trumps presidential campaign bludgeoned modern norms about the acceptability of racism. The candidate proposed a religious test for immigrants, and called a federal judge unfit on the grounds of his heritage. Trump could have decided to put the racial demagoguery of the campaign behind him, and it could have been remembered as a divisive ploy to win that did not define his administration, like George Bushs manipulation of white racial panic to defeat Michael Dukakis in 1988. But Trump, perhaps predictably, is making a different choice. His early staffing choices are redefining the boundaries of acceptable racial discourse in Republican politics.
Michael Flynn, Trumps new national security adviser, would be disqualified from a normal administration on multiple grounds. He is paid by authoritarian regimes in Turkey and Russia, as well as Russias propaganda apparatus. Multiple figures who worked with him in the military describe him as unhinged, a highly negative quality for a primary foreign-policy adviser.
The singular belief that lies at the core of Flynns worldview is indiscriminate hatred of Islam. George W. Bushs administration took pains to distinguish terrorists who use Islam to justify murder from the peaceful majority. Since then, most Republicans have adopted the irresponsible talking point that it is essential to use the words radical Islam rather than phrasing calculated to win over Muslim moderates. Flynn takes this reasoning several steps further. He openly endorses indiscriminate fear of the entire religion:
Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: please forward this to others: the truth fears no questions... https://t.co/NLIfKFD9lU General Flynn (@GenFlynn) February 27, 2016
Jeff Sessions, Trumps new attorney general, originally had the political profile of a white reactionary Alabama politician in the Old South mode. The Senate rejected his bid for a federal judgeship in 1986 over a series of racist remarks hed made, some of which he confirmed. Sessions called the NAACP un-American and accused it of forcing civil rights down the throats of people, and he allegedly called a black lawyer boy and warned him to be careful how he addressed white people.
Despite his rejection by the Senate, Sessions won election in the state, and his racial repertoire has since expanded beyond the traditional Deep South mode. He has enthusiastically embraced arch-restrictionist stances on immigration. He objected to the National Endowment for the Humanities distributing books about Islam to public libraries. He is obsessed with a shadowy globalist media-business conspiracy in general, and the role of George Soros in particular.
Steve Bannon, Trumps chief strategist, has attracted perhaps the most controversy. That Bannons ex-wife has testified to his hatred of Jews has attracted a great deal of attention, but this fact both over- and understates the racial nature of his beliefs. Bannons journalistic work is centrally dedicated to the task of refashioning conservatism along white-identity lines. His publication, Breitbart News, has promoted the alt-right. Breitbart itself defines the alt-right as a more intelligent version of skinheads:
There are many things that separate the alternative right from old-school racist skinheads (to whom they are often idiotically compared), but one thing stands out above all else: intelligence. Skinheads, by and large, are low-information, low-IQ thugs driven by the thrill of violence and tribal hatred. The alternative right are a much smarter group of people.
When asked by Trump about using immigration to keep talented minds, Bannon replied, When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think Bannon said. A country is more than an economy. Were a civic society. This was false as a matter of fact, but reflected Bannons obsession with maintaining Americas white identity.
The right-wing columnist Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart staffer, has lambasted the publication for abandoning traditional movement conservatism for the alt-right version. Bannons project at Breitbart and his work with Trump is the culmination of his ideological ambitions. He has dreamed of rebuilding the Republican Party around a principle of white-identity politics. Bannon avoids explicit appeals to formal racism, though he also cultivates alliances with explicit racists.
The theme connecting Bannons ideology with Flynn and Sessions is an intensified and narrow nationalism. The Bannonites see a real America as under threat by demographic transformation, and the waves of immigrants eating away at its culture from below are in alliance with a global and disproportionately Jewish media and business elite from above. Their project is to preserve white Christian American identity, and wage a civilizational war against Islam in alliance with other white Christian powers, especially Russia.
This ideology is often portrayed as a frontal attack on traditional conservatism. It is not quite that. Its differences with the Paul Ryan version of conservatism lie mostly around the margins and in its areas of emphasis. Many Republicans agree with free trade and have even been willing to support immigration reform if necessary to defend their partys electoral viability. (In 2013, Republican barometers like Charles Krauthammer and Sean Hannity forcefully endorsed immigration reform.) But the main points of emphasis in traditional conservatism lie elsewhere. It is primarily concerned with opposing redistribution from rich to poor.
Bannon is less obsessed with cutting the top tax rate, deregulating Wall Street, and reducing social spending than the traditional GOP is, but he does not oppose these policies, either. That generalized agreement, or lack of disagreement, is the reason it is possible for white-identity conservatives and libertarian conservatives to work together under unified Republican government. Paul Ryan may not like racism indeed, he conceded that Trump had made the textbook definition of a racist comment but he is willing to work with racists to gut the welfare and regulatory states. If Trump had lost, the GOP would probably have reverted to its traditional anti-government identity very quickly. Now Trump is reshaping it before our eyes.
To hear some conservatives tell it, American Christians today are being fed to lions. Illustration: Ignatius of Antioch from the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000 AD)
One of the most popular post-election interpretive themes among conservatives is that Christians were forced to vote for a presidential candidate they largely despised (or had reason to despise) because mean old secular liberals, especially gay people, were persecuting them. At National Review the Never-Trump conservative David French gave a full but not atypical treatment to the cries of the martyrs he seems to hear:
[O]rthodox Christians feel as if theyre under cultural and legal siege because they are.
[W]ith all the social pressures on the left driving Democratic politicians to ever-more-vicious acts of religious persecution, the election of 2016 presented conservative Christians with nothing but terrible options: Vote for an immoral man who might help, vote for an immoral woman who will try to hurt, or vote for someone decent who cant win.
Frenchs case for Christians being fed to the lions is not very precise, and mostly seems to involve the disdain of academics who are not, by and large, Democratic politicians. He does at least go to the trouble of talking about orthodox or conservative Christians (not acknowledging, of course, that these words do not mean the same thing), not conflating them with Christians generally. But it does raise the question of how many millions of Christians, including quite a few who voted for Donald Trump, have read the same Bibles and recited the same creeds as French and have somehow avoided the conclusion that having to sell pizza to gay people is like a second crucifixion of Christ.
Even observers who dont share Frenchs apparent belief that conservative Christians can no longer get a job or run a business (he has clearly never spent much time in my home state of Georgia) seem to think the only possible reason Trump got 81 percent of the white evangelical vote is that these people are, as Sean Trende put it, scared by a wide range of anecdotal incidents from the involuntary servitude of bakers and pizza-makers to the threat transgender people pose to Americas restrooms. Progressives were, he suggests, poor winners in the culture wars, and have vengefully rubbed it in to the traditionalist losers in ways that helped produce President-elect Trump.
It is not clear, however, what progressives are supposed to do to avoid scaring conservative Christians into voting for any old Republican. Surely we cannot accept the proposition that anyone in the country can self-select the discrimination and employee health-care laws and regulations they will and will not obey. There are in fact exemptions that even the godless Obama administration acknowledges for religious institutions; in the interstices between these institutions and individuals claiming religious inspiration, hard cases will arise. That they are sometimes decided in favor of the discriminated-against rather than the religiously guided discriminator should not be a source of cultural panic, should it? Barry Goldwater once said, Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Should Americans who believe treating LGBT people like everyone else is a matter of simple justice hold back because some of our fellow citizens cherish injustice? And are conservative Christians rightly aggrieved if the state does not rush in and protect them from hurt feelings over the bigotry or disrespect sent their way by private individuals in academia or the media?
In some cases the pose of religious conservatives as people just minding their own business and trying to obey their consciences is even less convincing. We are often told one major reason white conservative evangelicals voted for Trump is that they very badly want pro-life justices on the Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. If one is convinced on religious or any other grounds that legalized abortion is legalized homicide, that stance makes sense. But it is not a defensive reaction to some secular-progressive effort to interfere with private religious belief. So far as I am aware, no law has ever forced a conservative Christian to have an abortion. The right-to-life cause is aimed at imposing a set of beliefs on the private behavior of people who do not share those beliefs. Being thwarted from achieving those aims is not persecution.
There is a very real argument to be made that what conservative Christians need most is better leadership: leadership that does not whip up paranoid fears in order to sanctify entirely secular political decisions. Some of the claims of persecution are almost entirely fabricated, like the bizarre idea the IRS is systematically discriminating against Christians. It is hard to imagine that the agencys alleged slow-walking of applications for tax-exempt status for political groups seeking that status to hide their donors could have become a religious cause celebres without some fairly hysterical fanning of rhetorical flames. In the end, though, the idea of Lois Lerner being the latter-day successor to the Romans in persecuting Christians is appropriately fatuous. Being denied 501(c)(4) status is not exactly the rack and the stake, the cross and the grave. Culturally panicked conservative Christians need to get a grip and realize all they have lost are political battles, not a holy war.
Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Images
Republicans have repeatedly called on President Obama to calm protesters demonstrating against Donald Trump, and on Thursday he passed up that opportunity. Speaking in Germany, Obama instead said he would not advise people to be silent.
Ive been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years, he said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And I suspect that theres not a president in our history that hasnt been subject to these protests. So I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldnt advise them to be silent.
The president also offered some advice to Trump. He revealed that he told Trump in the White House last week that successful campaigning is much different from successful governing and then suggested that the president-elect needs to get serious about the job hes two months from taking.
I think the president-elect is going to see fairly quickly that the demands and responsibilities of a U.S. president are not ones that you can treat casually, Obama said. If youre not serious about the job, then you probably wont be there very long, because it will expose problems.
Trumps choice to become attorney general is very much a man of the 80s, when the war on drugs was new and cool. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
For manifold reasons of background and ideology (and maybe some score-settling for the scuttling of his nomination 30 years ago as a federal judge), Jeff Sessions as attorney general is a nightmare come to life for people who care about the enforcement of civil rights and voting rights. As my colleague Eric Levitz explains, Sessionss entrenched position in the very last ditch of support for the 1980s-style war on drugs will create some serious conflicts with states that are rapidly moving toward legalization of marijuana.
Theres one issue, however, where Sessionss evident lack of sympathy for minority Americans and his passion for the war on drugs comes together in an especially destructive way: criminal-justice reform. As a result, a painfully constructed bipartisan and cross-ideological movement to de-incarcerate many people (disproportionately African-American and Latinos, of course) tossed into prisons as a result of the mandatory minimum sentences, which spread like wildfire in the 1980s and 1990s, could soon completely fall apart.
The criminal-justice reform effort is a rare and perhaps (in this polarized age, at least) unique example of thinkers and policy makers from very different perspectives coming together over a long period of time and gradually coming near legislative success. Among conservatives, a combination of self-conscious Christian activists promoting the possibility of rehabilitation, fiscal hawks concerned by the vast cost of American prisons, and quasi-libertarians who dislike incarcerating people for their private drug use, made criminal-justice reform not only acceptable but respectable on the right. When arch-conservative Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, and traditional liberal Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, came together to sponsor legislation reforming federal sentencing policies in 2013, it looked like a breakthrough could be possible. After another couple of years absorbed with bringing old-line conservative Judiciary Committee chairmen Republicans Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, pay dirt looked near. Figures as wildly diverse as the President of the United States and the Koch Brothers were on record arguing that criminal-justice reform was an urgent national priority.
Then, with the 2016 elections pending, the junior U.S. senator from Alabama began raining on the criminal-justice-reform parade, attacking pending Senate legislation on both traditional war-on-drugs grounds, and the new claim that America was being subsumed in a new crime wave. Jeff Sessionss close friend Donald Trump was soon echoing the claim that violent crime was sweeping the nation (untrue, but also hard to refute in the wake of homicide spikes in many cities), while his Senate wing man Tom Cotton of Arkansas argued the real problem with the criminal-justice system was under-incarceration. Revisions to the main Senate bill on sentencing reform to ensure violent offenders did not benefit kept some jittery conservatives onboard but not Sessions. Partly due to Sessionss and Cottons demagoguing on the issue, Mitch McConnell shelved action on the bill for the year.
And now Jeff Sessions is going to become attorney general, unless his colleagues prevent his confirmation (very unlikely, though the confirmation hearings could be interesting).
You cannot blame the apparent failure of federal-sentencing reform entirely on the reactionary stylings of Sessions and Cotton. There was a simmering dispute just under the surface all along of particular concern to House Judiciary chair Goodlatte as to whether sentencing reform should encompass not just nonviolent drug offenders but white-collar defendants convicted without proof of criminal intent (of great interest to business magnates at risk of criminal prosecution for violating federal regulations). Maybe the dream of bipartisan legislation unraveling the mistakes of the 1980s was a fantasy after all.
But with Jeff Sessions a man who in almost every respect is still living in the 1980s, if not some earlier decades of U.S. and Alabama history at the top of the law-enforcement machinery of the federal government, criminal-justice reform in Washington (though perhaps not in the states) is probably dead for the foreseeable future. It is unclear if Trump understands appointing Sessions is going to be a real obstacle to his proclaimed goal of winning 95 percent of the African-American vote in 2020. But we all need to understand that Trumps decision to make Sessions the beneficiary of one of his very first cabinet appointments should be the death knell for any naive hopes the new administration would create mind-bending bipartisan coalitions. Trump is turning back the clock in a big hurry.
Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images
Donald Trump has offered the position of national security adviser to retired Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, according to multiple news outlets. Unlike some names being floated for positions in Trumps administration such as potential secretary of State Rudy Giuliani Flynn has extensive experience in his field. During his 33-year career, the former three-star general dismantled militant networks in Afghanistan and Iraq and became head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Flynn was forced out of that position in 2014 owing to concerns about his leadership style, and since then he has publicly railed against President Obama, calling him a liar and describing the U.S. justice system as corrupt. While many found it unseemly that the ex-military officer was publicly criticizing his old boss and hitting the campaign trail for Trump, thats not why Flynn is such a controversial pick for a position that would give him tremendous influence over defense and foreign policy. Since leaving the military, Flynn has repeatedly attacked Islam, cozied up to Russia, and lobbied for foreign interests even as he was sitting in on Trumps intelligence briefings.
Among his many issues with President Obama, Flynn has attacked him for being too politically correct, arguing in a recent book co-authored with conservative scholar Michael Leeden that the president failed to recognize the war being waged against us. According to the New York Times, it was Flynn who convinced the president-elect that the U.S. is in a world war with Islamic militants. Flynn has said Islam is a political ideology based on a religion, which he believes the American Founding Fathers wanted nothing to do with, and hes even called it a cancer.
Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: please forward this to others: the truth fears no questions... https://t.co/NLIfKFD9lU General Flynn (@GenFlynn) February 27, 2016
In next 24 hours, I dare Arab & Persian world "leaders" to step up to the plate and declare their Islamic ideology sick and must B healed. General Flynn (@GenFlynn) July 15, 2016
Trump and Flynn both believe that the U.S. needs to work more closely with Russia to defeat the threat of radical Islam, despite Russian president Vladimir Putins human-rights abuses and aggressive action in Ukraine. Last year, Flynn was paid to give a speech in Moscow and appear at a gala for the TV network RT, where he was seated next to Putin. Flynn said he sees no difference between the Kremlin-funded outlet and U.S. media organizations like CNN.
Flynn has used social media to spread inflammatory messages from disreputable sources. He pushed conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton using the hashtag #HillarysHealth, shared a fake news story, and retweeted a message that read, Not anymore, Jews. Not anymore (he later apologized). CNN reports that his son Michael G. Flynn, who serves as his chief of staff and top aide, regularly shares conspiracy theories, expletive-filled posts, and racially insensitive sentiments on Twitter and Facebook. These include claims that Clinton aide Huma Abedin has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and that Marco Rubio is a closeted homosexual who participates in cocaine-fueled sex parties. The Times reports Flynn made dubious claims in real life as well, prompting subordinates to coin the term Flynn facts.
In another similarity with Trump, Flynns business has raised concerns about conflicts of interest. The Flynn Intel Group, his consulting firm, has ties to businesses in the Middle East, and was hired by a Dutch company owned by a close ally of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Yahoo News revealed on Thursday that Flynn sat in on Trumps intelligence briefings in August, even as he was working with foreign clients. Flynn issued a statement saying, If I return to government service, my relationship with my company will be severed, in accordance with the policy announced by President-elect Trump.
Flynn has yet to officially accept the position in Trumps administration, but some have already dismissed him as a far too impulsive and conflicted choice for such a sensitive position though thats a tough argument to make these days.
Ideally, the president-elect, who strikes me as someone with an impulsive personality, ought to have someone who is a stable hand smoothing out the rough, impetuous edges of the president, Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Thursday. The impression I have of General Flynn is that he has a like personality to the president-elect.
Photo: The Washington Post/Getty Images
Donald Trump, the first New York City kid to become president since FDR, will also be the first commander-in-chief to move to the White House from an apartment. True, his 30,000-square-foot, gilt-slathered Trump Tower penthouse is no ordinary pad, but the fact that he lives in the innermost heart of what you might call the inner city means that security arrangements dont just inconvenience a few neighbors; they screw up a sizable chunk of Manhattan. Fifth Avenue in the 50s is almost always clotted with pedestrians and cars, and this time of year it becomes even more congested as department stores turn their windows into Christmas Barneys-, Saks-, and Dior-amas. But Trumps election has turned his stretch of Fifth into the urban equivalent of the security line at JFK: Aluminum barriers squeeze traffic into a pair of lanes, sidewalks are blocked off, and pedestrians shuffle past a gauntlet of armed officers.
The city can cope with this disruption for a while. We grumble when world leaders converge on the United Nations twice a year, paralyzing the East Side, but we also recognize that statespeople need their New York fix, too. We know the excitement and irritation of moving aside for the 13-car motorcade ferrying President Obama to dinner at Cosme. But when the president-elect lets it be know that over the next four years hed like to slip back to his Tower on weekends (because, really, who wants to spend a Saturday afternoon in downtown D.C.?), that will be not a mere annoyance but a state-sponsored takeover of public space.
Weve seen it so often: Jersey barriers and modular fences, automatic weapons slung across Kevlar vests the whole visible apparatus of control and intimidation in the name of safety. We become gradually accustomed to the notion that public space is dangerous space, and that all this surveillance and exclusion is for our own good. The World Trade Center is ringed with vehicle barriers and guard booths. The police presence at this years U.S. Open in Flushing MeadowsCorona Park was so oppressive that it forced the Queens Museum to close for ten days. Other cities, too, experience temporary lockdowns that segue into permanent conditions. The French embassy in Rome occupies the 16th-century Palazzo Farnese, which is lined with travertine benches where ordinary Romans have lingered to chat for 400 years. Now, guards and bars keep the public away.
Ever since 9/11, architects and planners have looked for more genial ways to minimize potential threats: cameras, of course, but also bollards that look like charming street furniture and public structures that are tougher than they appear. Even so, militarizing the streets has become the option of first resort, establishing a presence thats as frail as it is aggressive. Paris has been bristling with security forces since the Charlie Hebdo attacks which didnt prevent the calamity of the Bataclan less than a year later. The 85,000 soldiers who kept Rio de Janeiro quiescent during the Olympics retreated after the crowds went home and the military soon found itself in a shooting war with resurgent gangs. Blatant security works like a burglar alarm sticker on a front door: It announces to aspiring evildoers that theyll do better down the block. And shooters tend to take that advice, attacking cafes, movie theaters, offices, elementary schools, and relatively unguarded streets rather than the fortified targets identified by consultants like, say, Rudolph Giuliani.
If President Trump really uses Trump Tower as his regular getaway from the burdens of the Oval Office, he will turn Fifth Avenue into an armed encampment. Trump himself may hardly notice the change just outside his door; after all, when he emerges from his black-and-gold bubble, its usually to slip into an idling car. But if he does ever go for a neighborhood stroll, hell find drivers skirting the area and clogging streets all around; retail business shriveling; and residents moving out. The rest of us will stay away and leave that section of sidewalk to the gawkers and the cops. The man in the high castle will have turned a public thoroughfare into a glowering moat.
War is peace. Freedom is a jail sentence for smoking the demons weed. Photo: Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images
One of blue Americas few consolations on the morning of November 9 was that liberals in California, Nevada, Massachusetts and (probably) Maine had gained the right to treat their Trump anxiety with self-prescribed marijuana.
Including those four referenda, the legalization of recreational marijuana has now been approved by eight states and the District of Columbia. Once legalization is implemented in all of them, 20 percent of Americans will live in a place where over-the-counter cannabis is legal on the local level.
But 100 percent of Americans still live in a place where marijuana is illegal on the federal level a fact thats attained heightened relevance following Donald Trumps revelation of his pick for attorney general.
Alabama senator Jeff Sessions hates marijuana almost as much as he loves his Confederate heritage: The former prosecutor once joked to an African-American colleague that he was fine with the Ku Klux Klan until I found out they smoked pot.
Just as that dig at cannabis is, far and away, the least alarming thing about that quote, so Sessionss racism, more broadly, is far more concerning than his passion for the drug war. (These passions arent necessarily distinct Sessions is the Senates leading opponent of ending mandatory minimum sentencing for drug crimes, a practice that disproportionately harms of African-Americans.)
Nonetheless, as leader of the Justice Department, Sessions would have the power to force 420-friendly states into compliance with federal law, thereby increasing the number of Americans who can be caged for indulging in a substance less dangerous than alcohol.
In fact, since marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 substance a distinction that marks a drug as having no accepted medical use Sessions could also crack down on the 28 states that have legalized cannabis for certain medical conditions.
During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to leave the question of marijuana prohibition to the states. And any federal crackdown would likely inspire heavy backlash, both from green state voters and from the burgeoning legal mairjuana industry.
While the choice certainly isnt good news for marijuana reform, Tom Angell, chairman of pro-legalization group Marijuana Majority, said in a statement, Im still hopeful the new administration will realize that any crackdown against broadly popular laws in a growing number of states would create huge political problems they dont need and will use lots of political capital theyd be better off spending on issues the new president cares a lot more about.
Still, if Sessions had his druthers, theres little doubt about the course of action hed pursue.
During Senate confirmation hearings for current attorney general Loretta Lynch, Sessions suggested that he viewed opposition to state-level legalization as a core responsibility of Americas top prosecutor.
I hope that you will cease to be silent, because if the law-enforcement officers dont do this, I dont know who will, Sessions said. And in the past, attorneys general and other government officials have spoken out and I think kept bad decisions from being made.
In a Senate hearing on the federal response to state-level cannabis laws, Sessions called on the government to foster the knowledge that this drug is dangerous, you cannot play with it, it is not funny, its not something to laugh about good people dont smoke marijuana.
The senator also criticized FBI director James Comey in 2014 for suggesting that he was considering loosening the bureaus hiring restrictions on applicants who have used marijiuana.
Do you understand that that could be interpreted as one more example of leadership in America dismissing the seriousness of marijuana use and that could undermine our ability to convince young people not to go down that dangerous path? Sessions demanded.
Sessions has further suggested that Barack Obamas confession of past marijuana use contributed to the increase in rates of drug overdose in the United States, and pined for the days when [t]he federal government led the way with tough sentencing, eliminating parole, targeting dangerous drugs in effective ways, and states and local governments followed.
The likely next attorney generals passion for federal leadership on marijuana prohibition stands in marked contrast to his belief that the Voting Rights Act intrudes on states rights.
But perhaps Sessions simply believes that some policies are so central to who we are as a country, they supersede state sovereignty and that jailing people for smoking weed is one of those policies, while guaranteeing African-Americans access to the ballot is not.
Cross-country has never struck me as much of a fun spectator sport. You watch a pack of people with extremely lean muscles, wearing very short shorts, run away from the starting line and then you wait until they come running back toward the finish line some 20 or 30 or 40 minutes later. But now that I know its a contact sport, my mind is completely changed.
Runner Justin DeLuzio was knocked to the ground during an NCAA 8K regional race this week at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, when a herd of deer sprinted through the course. Someone yelled, and I caught a glimpse of the deer, and I I just didnt expect it, DeLuzio told Fox Sports. It just flipped me end over end.
Who says Cross Country isn't a contact sport? Posted by Eric Bologa on Tuesday, November 15, 2016
DeLuzio managed to finish the race and, save for a few bruises, is otherwise fine. Which means Im not a terrible person for watching this video on a loop at my desk and ugly laughing.
For Novembers edition of the Cut book club, were reading books to help us try and make sense of the election result, including searing dissections of race, class, and gender from acclaimed authors like Ta-Nehisi Coates, George Packer, and Jessica Valenti. Scroll down for the best books were reading this month, and if you have other recommendations, let us know in the comments.
1. One of Us: The Story of a Massacre in Norway and Its Aftermath by Asne Seierstad
I read One of Us Asne Seierstads extraordinary and thorough journalistic undertaking about the 2011 mass murder of 77 people, most of them teenagers, by far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik over the summer. Back then, I was struck by how much Breiviks beliefs lined up with those of the alt-right (which was then gaining more and more prominence due to their support of Donald Trump): a strong emphasis on white nationalism, coupled with hatred of women and minorities. Its a harrowing and essential read for these times. Gabriella Paiella, staff writer
2. Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti
Somehow I made it through college without taking a single womens studies class, so Guardian columnist Jessica Valentis Sex Object was my first experience with literature thats pro-woman to its core. Valenti uses her own experiences to evaluate and criticize rape culture, as well as to demonstrate what it does to women to live in a society that wasnt built for them. She gives voice to thoughts I didnt even know I had, and rereading her words after the election has helped me brace myself for whats to come.
Claire Landsbaum, staff writer
3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Reading about places I live has always been a way I learn about my surroundings and relate to them. But over the past few months, Ive been attracted to accounts of different parts of America, and when people discuss dream trips all I can think of are cities within my country. My dad handed me Hillbilly Elegy a few weeks ago and I ate that up, and now realize I should read it again post-election. I also just reread The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. When I was in high school I was always frustrated that our textbooks excerpted this book but we werent required to read the whole thing, so I read it. It was grotesque, and threw me immediately into a two-month vegetarian stage, but it was aimed at the public for a social purpose, and therefore an intriguing and easy read. The parallels to modern-day America and industry workers arent all there, but it reminded me how important investigative journalism is. I look forward to living in a nation with free press, fearless journalism, and people who speak up when they see something morally wrong in our government. Emily Sundberg, Instagram editor
4. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
This memoir by an Appalachian native turned Silicon Valley investor weaves personal anecdotes with sociology to investigate the struggle of Americas white working class. While Vance provides an empathetic look at the poverty, trauma, and addiction that plague his community, he also holds his peers accountable for what he sees as a culture of blaming others. And though Vance was able to do what many around him could not move away from home and up a couple of tax brackets he is unafraid to confront the demons he continues to fight. Hillbilly Elegy is the closest Ive come to understanding why someone might vote for Donald Trump. Jessica Roy, news editor
5. Dont Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine
One thing that is particularly helpful to me in times of political uncertainty is to read works by writers from different places, or books that were released earlier than two years ago. This Claudia Rankine book of essays-slash-poems was published in 2004, which may not seem like that long ago, but is far enough away to help put things in perspective. Rankines book speaks about race in America, televisions effect on our ability to process trauma and tragedy, and what the world felt like before and after 9/11. It is immensely helpful in giving creative context to how we got where we are right now. Dayna Evans, staff writer
6. They Cant Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in Americas Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
If you dont read this book but for the sole purpose of brushing up on the recent killings of black men by the hands of police, it will have served its purpose. With Trump as president-elect, its important now more than ever that black people keep themselves educated on the injustices were facing in America. With so much political media coverage to distract us, Wesley Lowery sets out to remind us why revisiting our history is critical for racial improvement. Mars Johnson, freelance producer/fashion intern
7. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
That this book needed to be written at all is evidence of how much more progress we need in womens rights. But beyond making moral appeals, this book lays out concrete proof that the oppression of women doesnt benefit anyone. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning couple Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, the book tackles the problems of sex trafficking, forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality. Kristof and WuDunn offer concrete evidence, logical and economic proof that womens rights are human rights. Despite tackling dark topics, the book retains an optimistic tone (and doesnt come across as a slam book for men) by offering actionable ways to help and multiple inspiring stories of triumph and resilience. It even makes you laugh but most importantly, it makes you want to do good in the world and give a copy to everyone you know. Kathleen Hou, senior beauty editor
8. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Coates never mentions Trumps name, but so much of this book now seems to explain his racist, terrifying platform: White America is a syndicate arrayed to protect its exclusive power to dominate and control our bodies, he writes to his son. This now feels like essential reading to know what its like to be black and live in America, where weve come from, and what were facing. Catie LHeureux, associate managing editor
9. Whats the Matter With Kansas by Thomas Frank
I studied political science in college and Whats the Matter With Kansas was required reading. Back then the biggest political conundrum was How did George W. Bush win over middle-class voters when his policies benefited them the least? Whats the Matter With Kansas speaks to illuminate why some members of the electorate vote against their own best wishes. In a nutshell, Frank largely points to the dominance of social issues, like womens reproductive rights (or lack thereof) for example, in the political discourse that blindly sways conservative-leaning voters to support candidates with bad policies. Furthermore, triggering and deft political rhetoric lobbed from conservatives heightens hostility towards liberals, Frank theorizes. A lot has changed in the political landscape since Frank published the book over a decade ago, but the parallels to current issues are clear. Ill be giving this a reread this month. Ashley Weatherford, associate beauty editor
10. The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
Now feels like the right time to give Packers book a second read, if it at least to try to better understand what has just happened in America but to really grasp how the social breakdown of the political system has been happening for some time. Packer weaves together narratives and social dynamics ranging from a depressed, abandoned factory town, (Youngstown, O.H.), pop-culture influences (Oprah and Jay Z), Silicon Valley billionaires (Peter Thiel), Wal-Mart shoppers, food activist Alice Waters, and the incredible Elizabeth Warren. Reading this book the first time was quite painful in its honesty, but I cant help but think of how insightful it will be to read a second. Rebecca Ramsey, style director
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Its easy to forget systemic racism isnt an issue unique to the United States. This book follows the life of an immigrant boy who moves to New Jersey, through the eyes of a sci-fi nerd trying to understand his own masculinity. Diaz traces Oscars family history and the repercussions of the Dominican dictatorship with humor and just the right amount of academic footnotes. Leah Rodriguez, producer
12. And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
Randy Shiltss classic follows the stories of activists, doctors, and patients through the first years of the AIDS crisis. Its a terrifying illustration of the human cost of politics and a case study in how a vulnerable community gets organized to fight back. Molly Fischer, senior editor
Miss J (second left), model Tracey Norman, and genderqueer advocate Jacob Tobia at the the 2016 Out100 Gala at Metropolitan West. Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Here Media
For the past 22 years, Out magazine has celebrated 100 LGBTQ leaders at its annual Out100 Gala. This years event took place just two days after the election and felt more necessary than ever.
To a jovial crowd of LGBTQ leaders and advocates, Aaron Hicklin, editor-in-chief of Out, opened the event by acknowledging what was on everyones minds. Like many of you, I woke up on Wednesday morning and turned to my husband and we fell into each others arms sobbing, he said. I know that was happening all over the country. Later, he described the mood of the room and explained the importance of visibility. Ive been walking around here tonight talking to people, and the energy Im getting is game on, he said. We have to take that challenge as a community. We have to be visible. The Out100 has always been about telling stories, stories of people who live their lives out and proudly.
The Cut caught up with 25 of the nights honorees and guests, including Tracey Norman, survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and contestants from RuPauls Drag Race, to ask how they felt about the election results and the future of our country. They spoke of devastation and optimism.
Chris Salgardo, president of Kiehls
Everything that we found out and all the shock, it existed. Its there. Id rather know if somebody has a problem with me being gay or my neighbor being African-American. Id rather know. Because until we have that dialogue, were not going to make any improvements. Were not going to change anything. Were just going to sugarcoat it. Id rather get to it, rip off the Band-Aid and tackle it. We can still be stronger together. Its not over.
Tracey Norman, model
When I turned the TV on that morning around 3:30 a.m. and realized that Trump had won, I literally started screaming in my apartment. I had fallen asleep early, and when I got the news I was really devastated by it. It was overwhelming. I dont know whats going to happen. Im going to be patient, and well see what happens in six months. Ill make a decision then.
Hannah Willard, policy and outreach coordinator for Equality Florida
If Im being totally honest, Wednesday morning felt a lot like Sunday, June 12. It felt like immediate horror and disbelief that the world could be so awful and dark. In the same way its going to take a minute to continue to recover from Pulse, its going to take a minute to recover from this. But what I know for sure is that LBGTQ people are no strangers to adversity. Weve gotten back up before.
Brandon Liberati and Craig Ramsay, stars of Bravos Newlyweds
BR: We are the first federally legal married couple on reality TV that showed people into the first year of marriage equality. So for us, its been very interesting to see that people werent very educated on not Trump himself or the president-elect, but his staff and what that stood for. Its been a very emotional week because theyre talking about taking away our marriage, our whole show. And America saw our marriage.
CR: The main thing I think I am devastated over is were still two white men that are married to each other, and this far exceeds our white privilege. This is about women who voted against womens rights. Its about people deliberately having an issue with eight years of a black man as president. And us, as two white privileged men still yes, we have the LGBT rights to fight for, but also this is an eye-opener for us to fight for womens rights and minorities and immigrants.
Joanna Cassidy, actress
I think our country is going to wake up now. I just hope and pray that Mr. Trump does not undo what has been done and what history President Obama did for our country. In terms of the gays and the lesbians, I just dont want that undone. Weve really progressed and Id hate to see it go backwards. Im counting on millennials to pick up the slack here. You cant forget, and neither can anybody else. I dont call this 9/11 this is 11/9. We must remember. We must. We must stay on top of this.
Miss J (J. Alexander), TV personality
I was shocked. I was surprised. I was horrified by it. Im a little bit concerned because the future of our country is now leaning toward more transgender, so probably in five or ten years it will be normal for people to walk down the street without being beaten or dragged or put in jail. I mean women have always been strong. My mother was strong until the day she died, raising ten kids with my father. But at the same time, Im going to look at our future as a positive thing. Because if I keep thinking the negative, girl, Id be a mess.
Milk, RuPauls Drag Race contestant
I was extremely devastated by all of this. Hillary won that popular vote. I think the Electoral College is extremely archaic and outdated and I will not be sending my child to that college. I just think it doesnt make sense. Still.
Pearl, RuPauls Drag Race contestant
Im still waiting to wake up. Its almost like a weird, listless feeling. Its a weird haze, like when you wake up after doing two benzos and a Klonopin and youre, like, waiting for the buzz to wear off. I dont know. I guess this is the reality, and all we can do is hope that our daily lives dont change in a negative way.
Marti G. Cummings, drag performer
After the shock wore off, Im not really surprised. I think America has always had this underlying bigotry. Its kinda been pushed down, and Trump is allowing these people to have a voice. Now, its our job to keep pushing the agenda of equality, which is basic human rights for all people. Its our job now to be louder and prouder than weve ever been. Im happy to use my drag to do that.
Elliot Sailors, model
Im proud of everybody who is willing to be so visible. I think its really important that we dont let the fear get in the way, and also remember that here in New York were in a bit of a bubble where we are not surrounded by the people who are celebrating. We have to keep those in mind that are feeling more alone than we are and need our support more than ever.
Jacob Tobia, genderqueer advocate
I think what it means for us as a movement is that we have to double down on being intersectional and standing up for the communities that are going to be most marginalized under his presidency. We cant afford to prioritize issues that only impact wealthy, white, gay folks. We have to prioritize folks who are going to be facing deportation, who are going to be facing imminent cuts to benefits and health care, who are going to subject to those xenophobic policies that are going to be put in place. We have to build a stronger coalition movement that sees other movements, not sort of be siloed like I think weve been for the past decade or so.
Alex Newell, actor
Im still going to hold out hope until the Electoral College votes on the 19th of December. Heres hoping they come to their senses just like the rest of us have. He might shape up to be a great president. One never knows. It took Obama four years to get things in motion, so what can he do in four years? Nothing too damaging.
Drew Elliot, VH1s Americas Next Top Model judge
I think this is the most important, exciting time in America. It basically is the feeling I sense the people have around the Industrial Revolution and that type of thing. With media changing, the way we digest information, and just the way we are connected, utilizing social media, we can publish and advocate for ourselves.
R. Kurt Osenlund, managing editor of Out magazine
I know a lot of vulnerable people out there who are a lot less privileged than I am. People of color, trans people, people who might wake up and walk down the street and not know if the person next to them is their enemy. Its a really, really sad thing to feel. Ultimately, I kind of have this mantra that were going to be okay no matter what. With Out, I have the great privilege of playing a small part in showing people that we are very visible. Visibility is extremely important. Everything else is a secondary conversation. So no matter whos in the White House, were still here. Were still visible. Were still diverse and still ourselves It galvanizes us even further. What role does the media play in something like this? What did we play? What could we do differently? What could we do better? I grieved a lot, I cried a lot, and now I think Im ready to act and to look forward.
Angel Colon, survivor of the Pulse shooting
I was devastated. Im with her. We cant break down now. We gotta keep going strong. Move forward. Keep showing the world love and positivity and hope. We just got to stick together. Doing that, well do our best.
Adrian Lopez, survivor of the Pulse shooting
This election has been the hardest for America and for all Americans in this country. For everybody following Hillary Clinton, it was very surprising that he was going to win, knowing that he was very straightforward and very racist. He doesnt actually admit it, but his actions speak louder than words. It took a lot of people by surprise. Thats a lot of angry people.
Michael Deeying, board member for MBA Orlando, Central Floridas LGBT Business Chamber of Commerce
Honestly, emotionally I was devastated. I felt like the entire day, Wednesday, I was numb. I almost had a whole day of anxiety where I felt I couldnt breathe. Well have to work through this as a country and get together. Work together. Its crazy whats happened. I hope that itll work out. I hope that it was just scare tactics and rhetoric to get his base motivated. I hope, especially for LGBT rights, that we dont go backward. That would be a tragedy to happen to us, to anybody. We shouldnt let anybody feel less than they are. Were all equal. Hopefully everything works out.
Joe Saunders, Southern regional field director for Human Rights Campaign
[In North Carolina] I had been helping run the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolinas effort to win the state for Hillary Clinton, but also to unseat Governor Pat McCrory, whos one of the most anti-gay governors in the country. We were successful in defeating Pat McCrory. We were successful in electing a pro-equality state attorney general in North Carolina. We unseated Republicans who voted for the anti-gay HB2. We won up and down the ballot. Its a mixed election. There were some successes in this election cycle and there are stories that can be told about what progress really looks like for us.
Terry DeCarlo, Orlando LGBT Center director
Am I upset? Yeah. Am I mad? Yeah. But something about the LGBT community, they do their best work when a curve ball is thrown at them, and this is a big curve ball. I have a feeling that they are going to step up. Youre going to see a lot of LGBT people going, No no no, you aint going to make this happen.
Matthew Breen, editor-in-chief of The Advocate
It was a gut punch. Were in the loss of the potential not only for the first woman president that we could have had, but also the most progressive LGBT policy of any presidential candidate ever. A lot of us are really anxious that the progressive policies of the Obama administration will be rolled back, like right away. A lot of executive actions the Supreme Court is of course a frightening prospect. This years just really underscored the idea that community is so important. And we find it where we can find it. We have to protect it when we find it.
Eve Lindley, actress
I love this country, but half of it seems to not want me to exist. I dont think the answer is to pick up and leave. Theres no clear answer right now. I hope that maybe this sort of thing will cause an even more dire push for other stories to be told for African-American, Mexican, immigrant, LGBT, all the people who are not white cis male stories. Even just women in general. What a terrible week for women in America. I hope this will cause a big push to really get those stories out there, because we have to teach. In this adversity, we really have to educate. I think were tough. We can do it. Were right for the job.
Gina Gibney, choreographer
I am a leader in a very young field. I tried just every way I could to keep it together for the dancers and choreographers and staff. Theyre all devastated, and I was devastated. I can only believe our country and the people that are good and the forces of good. And New York Citys an amazing city. I think well pull together and well protest and well create art and well keep going. But its going to take me a while too; its going to take us all a while. I hope that there are some massive protests. Hes not my president.
Bob the Drag Queen, RuPauls Drag Race contestant
Im just excited that people are finally so angry theyre doing something. Americas resilient. Queers are resilient. People of color are resilient. In history, when every card has been stacked against us, theyve never been able to kick us down. Ever, not once. Theres a saying: Everything works out in the end. If its not working out, its not the end. I believe in that.
Ellie Schafer, director of the White House Visitors Office
For us it wasnt the results that we wanted. I think thats obvious. Ive been involved in politics for 20-some years. You win some, and you lose some. And so you really have to wake up the next morning, dig down deep, figure out what you stand for, and start over. Thats one of the most important things. Dont let it get you down. The sun will rise, as the president says. The earth will still continue to spin.
*This post has been updated to reflect that Michael Deeying is a board member for MBA Orlando, Central Floridas LGBT Business Chamber of Commerce, not a survivor of the Pulse shooting.
Photo: studiocasper/Getty Images/iStockphoto
A new at-home device meant to slowly stretch the skin and muscle of a womans breast is now under review by the Federal Drug Administration. If approved, it could help make the process easier for women whove had a cancerous breast removed and have chosen to undergo breast reconstruction with an implant.
After a breast is removed, prepping the remaining tissue to receive the implant can require numerous, painful visits to the doctor for saline injections into a pouch that stretches the skin. Now, the F.D.A is reviewing a remote-controlled pouch that women can slowly inflate at their comfort level, stretching the skin at their own pace, according to the Associated Press. The product is currently sold in Australia and was recently approved in Europe.
The Palo Alto, Californiabased company AirXpanders developed the small, inflatable device, called AeroForm. Using the remote control, women decide how much gas to pump into the inflatable pouch, up to three times a day. The device also comes in three different sizes and expands up to a certain point. Once its fully expanded, its removed and an implant is inserted.
Aside from giving women the ability to control the pace of their breast tissues expansion, there might be another emotional element that comes into play. In using the device, breast-cancer patients might gain a sense of control after feeling robbed of it, Dr. Deanna Attai, a University of California, Los Angeles, surgeon who is a past president of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, told the Associated Press. To a patient thats going through cancer treatment that could be a big deal.
Jason Wu at Hugo Bosss most recent show. Photo: Peter White/Getty Images
Jason Wu was appointed to design Hugo Bosss womens line Boss in 2013, to much fanfare. And the brand has been showing at New York Fashion Week usually with a passel of celebrities in the front row ever since then. But Boss wont be on the calendar come this February. British Vogue reports that the brand will be skipping next seasons festivities and instead taking strategic steps to orient its creation, marketing and communication activities more pointedly towards menswear. The changes include dropping the lines Boss Orange and Boss Green, and raising prices in European countries.
However, despite some reports that Boss might part ways with Wu, Boss denied that any rupture is happening. Our womenswear is, and will remain, a key component of our medium-term growth strategy, and the creative input offered by Jason Wu remains extremely important to us, said Ingo Wilts, chief brand officer for Hugo Boss. We value his work very highly. However, it is essential that we achieve a better balance between our menswear, which has traditionally been so pivotal for us, and our womenswear.
Megyn Kelly. Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
In her new memoir, Settle for More, Megyn Kelly Foxs steely-eyed prime-time warrior reiterates that she is not a feminist.
My problem with the word feminist is that its exclusionary and alienating, writes Kelly, who argues that the term has become overly associated with liberal politics. Why do we have to make the most divisive issues a key part of the feminist platform?
Then again, Megyn Kelly has done a lot of things that smack of the dreaded F word. On her incredibly popular news show, The Kelly File, the host has become known for challenging Republican Party doctrine with what the Times Jim Rutenberg has dubbed Megyn Moments: defending maternity leave, advocating for working women, and eviscerating misogynists on air (although she upholds the GOP status quo far more than she challenges it, these moments of dissent have made her a viral star). Her status as feminist lightning rod grew when she was targeted by Trump after pressing him on his history of sexism, making her a potent, if reluctant, symbol of his war on women. At the same time, Kelly has often done things that contribute to womens oppression; she called the gender pay gap infantilizing and a meme, has derided the movement for affirmative consent on campus as being anti-men, and regularly proffers racist stereotypes (not to mention insisting that Santa is white) just as harmful as those espoused by her Fox peers.
Still, liberals, perhaps grateful to hear from someone who doesnt always toe the party line, have rushed to claim Kelly as a feminist hero, a breath of fresh air wafting through the dank chambers of Fox News. Kelly has emerged as an unlikely feminist warrior writes Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker. Others are less enthused. Megyn Kelly Is Hardly A Feminist Icon, argues Media Matters. (Conservatives have similarly strong feelings.) Indeed, nobody seems to know what to make of Kelly, a confusion that feels tied up in feminists broader struggle to understand how so many women in this country could have cast their ballots for President-elect Trump.
Yesterday, I picked up Kellys memoir, Settle for More, in hopes of getting a better sense of who she really is. The book covers her middle-class upbringing in Syracuse, and her steady rise through the worlds of corporate law and TV broadcasting. She comes across as a hard worker and overachiever gifted with natural charisma and boundless confidence (at one point, Kelly is turned down for a job because she is too perfect). She has trouble making female friends because shes seen as intimidating and aloof, which she attributes to a protective guard she put up in the wake of a teenage bullying incident and the death of her father when she was a kid. Shes a guys girl who is used to hanging out with powerful men and has no problem with locker-room talk. She hates political correctness. Shes constantly underestimated and objectified because of her looks, which she has learned to use to her advantage. When she comes up against workplace sexism which she has, plenty she confidently shuts it down, but often defends its perpetrators as being from another generation.
Ideologically, Kelly is a tough nut to crack. Throughout the book, she never comes out as a Republican or Democrat and refuses to share her views on abortion (which she justifies by saying she wants to remain an impartial journalist). Her feminist credentials, too, are all over the map. In one breath, shell argue convincingly for the importance of paid maternity leave; in the next, shes chastising her younger self for playing into stereotypes about hysterical women and arguing that women with high voices should consider voice training.
Some of this fence-sitting is arguably a strategic move; Kelly has both a liberal and conservative audience to appease, and would risk alienating her base and being charged with bias if she appeared to lean too far to the left. Yet a lot of Kellys worldview comes with the undeniable stink of privilege: an easily digestible mantra of female empowerment that fails to acknowledge the full breadth of institutionalized sexism and how it intersects with other types of oppression.
Kelly is a friend of Sheryl Sandbergs, and one can see the Lean In stamp all over the book. I love how her brand of feminism highlights the things we can all agree on as women empowerment, advancement, equality, sisterhood and steers clear of the more divisive issues, Kelly writes. Who gives a damn what label we use, as long as we are living a life that supports other women? But which women does Kelly support? Its clear that her beliefs about which women can achieve are inextricably tied to her own trajectory, and her ability to rise to the top despite obstacles. (Oprah never made a thing of her gender or her race, Kelly says. She just wowed us all.). But lots of women particularly women of color and low-income women try very hard to settle for more (once theyre finished leaning in and trying to wow us all) and find that sheer force of will isnt enough to transcend a system that has always been rigged against them. Sure, Kelly recognizes that women have to work twice as hard and be twice as good, but she sees that less as an inherent problem with the system than a noble hurdle that can be overcome with simple hard work. I cracked the glass ceiling, Kelly implies. Why shouldnt you?
The end of the book deals with Trumps campaign of harassment against Kelly and the revelations that former Fox chairman Roger Ailes was a serial sexual harasser who targeted Kelly and many other women at the network. In both instances, Kelly vacillates between demonstrating a clear understanding of how women are systemically oppressed and reverting to the only-woman-in-the-room attitude that recurs throughout the book. At the first GOP debate, Kelly boldly called out Trump for his abuses against women, and continued to press him throughout the campaign, all while enduring constant harassment and threats. And yet, she uses the experience as an opportunity to call out political correctness. Adversity is an opportunity, and one that has allowed me to flourish, she writes. Imagine if Id had no conflict prior to this. If Id had no practice in how to shore myself up. If Id only existed in my safe space with my trigger warnings. Id have had no means of coping, she declares. Because she coped, Kelly seems to imply, other women can too even though its clear she would never wish this sort of abuse upon anyone else.
When it comes to the Ailes case, Kelly advocates for reforms in how we deal with workplace sexual harassment and argues admirably against victim-shaming, describing how she encouraged other women to come forward. The entire structure was set up to isolate and silence [victims], she writes. The more we criticize harassment victims for their understandable reluctance to go on the record, the more women well shame into silence forever. But then, in the next breath, she returns to this sort of exceptionalist thinking: Anyone being harassed needs to remember that no is an available answer. Roger tried to have me and I didnt let him. (Although she generously admits that saying no isnt foolproof.)
Which leaves us with the question: What to make of Megyn Kelly? I suspect there are many women in this country who ascribe to her brand of sorta-feminism: who want to fight back against gender inequality and discrimination, but who feel excluded from mainstream feminist ideology because they disagree with some of its inviolable principles like access to abortion. Which is not to say we should cease our battle for a more inclusive, intersectional feminism that lifts up all women, but just that we should think about reasonable ways to find common ground with women we disagree with. Kelly may be an imperfect messenger, but by virtue of her bipartisan credibility, she also has the opportunity to introduce feminist ideals to an audience that might otherwise reject them: to open womens eyes to sexism and inspire them toward their own Megyn moments, even if they arent ready to reckon with the full extent of its impact.
Her character's end on The Killing was so sad, I'm still pissed about it.
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Her killing( or maybe the aftermath bc I still think about that whole scene where they open the trunk) was one of the most memorable moments in the lifetime of that show for me.
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Omg same :((
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I stopped watching it after that. There were already things that were bothering me about that season, and her death just pushed it over the edge for me.
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i cant even remember what happened. that season wasn't very interesting to me tbh
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when i was watching that season i ended up being in a really rough point in my life and what happened to bullet hit me hard . i physically felt it. it's never happened to me before with a fictional character.
i'll always love my bb bullet <3
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sammeeeee
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But that whole season was so good
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Does that show ever get less depressing? I wanted to like it because it's set in the pacific northwest but after the third time the characters got kicked when they were down in a hole I was like I am out.
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she's cute
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she's cute and i'm happy for her
all the 'wasn't she already out' and 'duh' comments i saw last night were annoying. like yeah, sure, it's not exactly shocking, but i hate when people do that when someone comes out. it seems so dismissive
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especially since, considering her previous comments on facebook, this was something she was struggling with. nothing like having your anxiety dismissed with "lol no shit."
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that's why i hate stories about parents who are like "yeah sweaty we've known for years ;)" when their kids come out to them. so patronizing like nobody cares how long you've "known"
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it seems so dismissive
especially when she's talking how terrifying it is :/
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scream is soooo silly but i adore her and carlson's characters
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I STILL BLAME BROOKE FOR RILEY'S DEATH.
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Your icon is legit EVERYTHING!! Stella Gibson is my QUEEN! :)
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cool
she looks obnoxious in that gif tho
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forgive me 3
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also, the scream cast all tweeting/replying to that tweet with support and love was really sweet
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is it weird that the thing i'm most familiar with her from is voltron: legendary defender
good for her though!!!!
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"no, i am not ashamed"
to lie?
Edited at 2016-11-17 11:46 pm (UTC)
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ya bc there's no way that in 3 years she could've realized that she was gay when she didn't know before
especially since she was 19 when she gave that quote
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comments like this are the reason a lot of lgbt people stay in the closet.
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I don't think coming out is necessarily about shame though. Especially in the industry she's in.
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this is gross
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always doing the most, i see.
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i will never forgive brooke or the flop main character whose name i can't even remember
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Emma, which I only remember because the same actress played a character named Emma on Royal Pains, and I thought it funny that she went from Emma to Emma.
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awww that makes me happy, it's nice to see a young actress coming out as gay/lesbian
I don't think I've ever seen her in anything
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Yay for more lesbian representation
This is nice: "Im not afraid, or even if I am afraid, Im strong"
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I had to read this 5 times because I was convinced this was somehow related to Taylor Swift and the OP was just making some play on words or something about Taylor.
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Cara's still working to convert Taylor to the dark side of the homosexual agenda, give it some time.
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Good for her. Its got it to be a mill times more difficult now considering the election.
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never heard of a name like bex before
i kinda like it
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it's a nickname for Rebecca.
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oh i have never heard that before
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I thought it was short for Bexthanny
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fuck yes!! KWQEEN!
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The norm until we're all nuked and dead in the next year or so
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Wintour is very tight with the Clinton's so I really hope she won't cave on this.
I know people think it doesn't matter, but I hope she bans all the Trump's from the pages of her magazine.
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she gave melania a vogue cover before. i hope you're right (especially in light of that rumour abt HRC spread being all ready to go, what a downgrade smh) but i'm not holding my breath or anything
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mte
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Anna Wintour has always been disappointing, so I wouldn't get my hopes up. Don't forget her shenanigans with Asma al-Assad.
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She should still give Hillary the cover, and just allow Hillary to drag everyone and their mother in the interview. I'd buy multiple copies.
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Fuckface keeps it up and he's gonna be impeached before he even starts.
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Uh-oh. Japanese are heavily anchored on rules and protocol. I hope they get flak on this.
Seriously, what was Ivanka doing there? Is he too dumb to understand what were they saying?
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i read once that even when his kids were younger they were allowed to interrupt/hang out during his business meetings, so i'm not at all surprised by this.
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We are so fucked
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idt abe's team even knew the time and location of the meeting until the day of, so i guess we're also going to be treating world leaders like their time isn't important
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HOW ARE THEY SO FUCKING STUPID
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we knew he was going to do this. we knew that he is going to do as little as he can and have everyone else run shit.
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already offending our allies and his term hasn't even started yet
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why is this not good? because ivonka has no experience?
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she's been straight-up Dem since 2000.
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A week and he's already offending allies. Him telling Theresa May "let me know if you're ever in town" was embarrassing enough (bitch, you were just elected President, you'll know if she's in town, like the fuck???)
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I thought the Japanese PM said he was pleased with the meeting.
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I think this is his way of getting around the nepotism law. Ivanka isn't allowed to be a member of his administration, but if she attends/participates in everything he does, has high-level security and is heavily relied upon for advice, she is essentially a member of his administration. I don't know that anyone can stop her from being an "unofficial" advisor, especially if she's not receiving a salary.
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I hope everyone refuses to dress her. But I'm sure SOMEONE will and she could just buy off the rack anyway.
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LMAOOOOO I'm screaming imagining her in some Yeezy Adidas monstrosity at the Inauguration.
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lol
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she'll create a limited edition collab with ivanka's fashion brand and model the pieces herself. white middle america women will applaud both for their entrepreneurial sense and "bringing glamour back to the white house".
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There will be some people bending over backwards to dress her.
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respect.
maybe she can send this to some republicans so they can learn a bit about integrity
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a white putting what's right over their paycheck???
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haha perfect
and i love her statement. it's nice to see the person behind michelle obama's amazing style too.
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I was looking for this gif to post!
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LOL it's just water weight!!!!!
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lmao
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LMAO PERFECT RESPONSE
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hello
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this is so fucking funny
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lmao what's the context of this?
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I legit can't tell if this has been edited or she really did that.
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ik it's hard to tell
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It's edited. The Hello is from a campaign speech earlier in the year. There's another edit of her saying "Hello" that is absolutely hilarious.
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lol it's edited. here's the original edited video
Edited at 2016-11-18 09:11 pm (UTC)
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lmfaoooo this can't be real
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stepford wife vibes
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lmaoooo
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i fucking love this meme
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What is even happening here?
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This is fucking amazing.
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LMAO
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wait.
this isn't real is it?!
It isn't lol I'm too gullible sometimes.
Edited at 2016-11-19 05:45 am (UTC)
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Kinda O/T but maybe not... does the really obvious sexism against Melania bother anyone else? The memes and shit with her bug me a lot-- and it's been across the board this election, and it should go without saying that obviously the Michelle and Hillary ones are fucked up as well... but, Melania is the least scary part of Trump's administration for me, and I'm kinda digging her "cyberbullying" first lady cause soooo....
Ivanka will dress her, no worries.
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I think her cyberbullying platform is laughable but I don't like that she's being attacked and trolled. The constant retweeting of her nude pics is disgusting.
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Really? You don't like it? I think it's kinda visionary. The internet and technology has becoem a hueg part of our lives with little regulation, like we don't even have an "internet & technology" department or secretary to even begin regulations and we really need something done regarding revenge porn, being filmed without consent in private spaces (like that chick who filmed someone in a gym locker room, wtf?!) and so if she put a little energy into those types of things and getting it in the books, I think it'd be beneficial to us all.
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The sexism is awful.
I'm also annoyed with the we shouldn't judge her by her husbands actions. Girl bye. She is standing proud to be part of their racism and mess.
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Yep. I also don't like Chris Christie fat jokes either.
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I'm really bothered by the old nude pics of her are being spread around with "This is your first lady!!!!!!!" captions. Um.......who fucking cares? And it was years ago anyway.
And I agree. She's the least scary part of his administration, BUT she's still married to him and obviously complicit in all this.
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Personally, I try to leave Melania out of this situation when thinking about it because I don't think she signed up for this, she just wanted a sugar daddy. She is obviously a pawn and there is no reason whatsoever to celebrate her but I don't think she should be the target either.
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Yeah i'm fine with dragging the whole family but I am not cool with the misogynist rhetoric used when talking abt Melania. I'm in no ways interested in her or her life but she's probably the least harmful member of the family (save for that 10 year old boy) bc I'm sure she doesn't even want to be part of the politics.
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Ivanka will dress her, no worries.
Clearly, it's a win-win
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her cyberbullying campaign is bullshit when she's married to someone who is famous for bullying people on the internet. She has never come out against his behavior. So what kind of message does that send? clean up your own home first.
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Yes, it bothers me. Liberals spreading her nude pics and calling her a whore and whatnot shows how much misogyny there is ingrained in our own party.
As for me, I don't have any real ire towards Melania as of right now. I'm wary of her and I don't trust her at all, but I'm mostly pissed at the hypocrisy coming from Republicans who preach about ~female modesty~ but are saying shit like, "So glad we have such a classy White Lady now". Not that I want her to be slut-shamed obviously, but it's really telling.
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I got blocked from some popular fashion blogger's instagram because the day after the election she posted some meme about Melania being overly botoxed and trashy and slutty. I basically said, "I mean we're all angry, that's understandable, but do we have to attack Melania's looks and slut shame her? That's really sexist." People started accusing me of being a Trump supporter and then she blocked me.
There are plenty of valid reasons to criticize the Trumps and Melania, going after her looks or her modeling history is just juvenile.
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Yeah, there are genuine reasons to be against her and the whole famiy but her posing nude isn't one of them.
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Her cyberbullying "cause" is a backdoor to silencing the Trump administration's critics online. She's also said some anti-Semitic shit in the past. She shouldn't be slut shamed, but she's just as complicit in the Trump family's monstrosity.
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People talk about her in such a disgusting and hypocritical way. calling her "dumb" "slut" and not educated like Michelle..as if speaking 6 languages fluently is something anyone can do.
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It sort of bothers me. Like I didn't know that she could speak six languages, maybe not fluently, but that's impressive. I think she's intelligent, but I find it hard to respect her in the same way I respect Michelle, or any other the other first ladies. She's her husband's puppet, either willingly or unwillingly, and while I can't judge her on the choices she has to make for whatever reasons those might be, it makes it difficult to see her as an individual. That's my fault though, I have a hard time respecting women who base their identities solely on their relationships with men.
Edited at 2016-11-18 06:13 pm (UTC)
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I will never not laugh at the ones that reference her plaigiarism of Michelle Obama's speech, but I find the focus on her former career to be hypocritical and slut-shaming. There are a lot of reasons to judge Trump, but and there are probably many on which you can judge his wife (I will admit I have not really delved into her background because her husband is who I have the problem with), but it's sexist to focus solely on how she's used her body in her career, when ostensibly, "liberals" are all about women's freedom of choice, career, and expression.
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This is a woman who encouraged others to cyberbully a reporter who wrote a less than flattering article about her.
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I feel bad for her and their youngest son. You can tell both want nothing to do with any of this.
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tbh i have 0 room left to include the backlash she's facing into my stress and anxiety for this fucking country/world. i don't condone it but i'm not going to waste any energy trying to shield her from it. i just don't have it in me.
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It does bother me.
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Eh, I feel like there are other things we can insult her on, so i'm of two minds. don't call for her to be raped or call her a slut, but she's complicit with her racist husband, so whatever.
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I'm glad people are noticing how disgusting this is.
Melania being ridiculed and laughed at is not cute. She didn't ask for this and didn't do anything to deserve it.
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It bugs me that people call her trash and classless for posing nude. Let's not shame a woman for being openly sexual and free with her body.
But I still despise her bc there's so much to hate. Just. The laundry list is so long, why do people go for the nudes? (I mean, we all know why, but.) Just blast her for all the shit coming out of her vapid head.
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Not normalizing Trump includes not normalizing his family. This is exactly what they want you to do--"dig" his wife's movements and like his daughter and slowly become accustomed to the "good" in his presidency.
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all she wanted was donald to die so she can inherit a handsome sum of his fortune, instead her ass is gonna get scrutinized and buried the next 4 years. welp
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I kind of feel sorry for her, but I'm mostly just cackling thinking about what's going on in her head rn. She totally just wanted to be a kept woman for the rest of her days and now she has to do First Lady shit. LMAO that SUCKS.
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Yeah, and they don't even make any more money off this! (at least not legally)
Bad deal imo
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She constantly has an "I'm going to throw up" look on her face. You can tell she's absolutely miserable that this is going to be her life for the next 4 years.
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yesss GOOD. I really hope other designers do the same, but unfortunately someone will take the job eventually, but I can see the fashion industry blacklisting them for it.
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good! I didn't even know she designed for Michelle Obama. Just going from Michelle to Melania is such a downgrade and probably damaging for their business.
I hope more people join and I can't wait to see who boycotts.
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Microsoft Corporation has always been known for their image of environmental protection but this may be their biggest validation to date. The tech company announced on Monday they are in the process converting their datacenter in Cheyenne Wyoming to rely entirely on wind energy. Microsoft will be using three wind farms, two in Kansas owned by Allianz Risk Transfer AG, and the other by Black Hills Corp. in Wyoming. The farms will provide Microsoft with 178 megawatts and 59 megawatts of capacity in wind power respectively.
Microsoft uses datacenters to operate their cloud services. These facilities require an ample amount of electricity to function and the usage levels are only growing as the service becomes more conventional. Microsofts goal is to attain a level of 44 percent use of renewables by the end of the year. This is simply another dimension of competition for tech companies promoting cloud services. Amazon web services (AWS) hopes to achieve a level of 40 percent reliance on renewables by the end of the year. Google only taps into clean energy for 35 percent for their datacenters.
Black Hills Corp. is one of the two companies entering the contract with Microsoft. The publically traded company disclosed on October 25th they would be offering a dividend for any of their shareholders prior to November 15th. The stock has been showing a downward trend since the announcement but will likely rebound based on the future success with their new partner. The companys stock climbed 30 cents following Microsofts press release. Microsoft has always been considered a safe long-term investment. With an average earnings growth rate forecasted at 8.13 percent over the next five years, the company is generally a safe investment choice. Related: Trumps War On Climate Change
Under Microsofts agreement with Black Hills, any surplus power can be stored in backup generators and later distributed to the grid at a discounted rate. In terms of their public image, this will benefit both firms. Corporate promotion of renewable energy is becoming routine for industry leaders. Governments often provide tax cuts to these companies for taking the initiative and aligning their interests with global efforts. Bloomberg forecasts that the top 50 corporations that purchase solar and wind energy will have accounted for 63.4 gigawatts of total production added by 2025.
This can be chalked up as another victory for renewables as we slowly shift away from common power sources like coal and oil. Local Wyoming consumers will prefer this alternative, more eco-friendly source of power as opposed to power from the grid likely produced using power plants. On a larger scale, as we observe the nation moving away from fuel sources such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas, we can expect the price of these products to decline. Investors should write long-term futures in any of these sources as they are replaced. To hedge their bets, individuals should buy green ETFs, made up of environmentally friendly corporations.
By Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
OPECs eagerly awaited production cut agreement may have just gotten even harder to reach as OPEC members meeting in Doha are now asking Iran to freeze its output at 3.92 million barrels per day, according to an anonymous source who spoke to Reuters. This is the average daily output of Iran for October.
The amount is also lower than the 4-million-bpd Iran itself had insisted on as the minimum at which it would consider joining the freeze. At the end of October, Iran estimated its output at 3.8 million bpd and the WSJ at the time quoted an Iranian official as saying the country wanted to return its daily average to pre-sanction levels of 4.2 million bpd before contemplating freezing production.
According to Reuters, this pushing of Iran to agree to a lower cap indicates that most OPEC members are in agreement on how much the Islamic republic should pump in order to contribute to the international market rebalancing efforts.
What remains uncertain, however, is how Iran will respond to this proposal. The fact that Bijan Zanganeh, Irans Oil Minister, is one of three top officials that decided to skip the Doha meeting, does not bode well for the agreement. Nigerias and Iraqs oil ministers are also not present at the talks.
The signals that Tehran has been sending seem to be clear: the countrys top priority is reviving its energy industry after years of sanctions and its willingness to contribute to a production curb is very conditional.
Last weekend, President Hassan Rouhani officially launched commercial production at three fields along Irans border with Iraq, effectively adding 220,000 bpd to its output. Plans are to ramp this additional output by1 million bpd.
Even if Iran agrees to this level of production, it means Saudi Arabia will be cutting most of the production if the deal goes throughsomething Saudi Arabia was previously adamant that it would not do. Related: Why The Permian Just Got Even Hotter
Meanwhile, Iran has an axe to grind with Saudi Arabia for more than one reason, and the Saudis apparently continued to pump at record-high levels last month, which is probably not inspiring the Iranians to agree to stop at 3.92 million bpd.
If the deal does fall through, Saudi Arabia can point the finger at Iran, and Iran can point the finger at Saudi Arabia, the cartels biggest producer by a mile.
The final chapter of OPECs first concerted market-rebalancing effort for the last eight years is scheduled for November 30.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil prices falter at the end of a week full of OPEC rhetoric as a result of a soaring dollar.
(Click to enlarge)
Friday, November 18, 2016
Oil prices spiked this week on the renewed push by OPEC to overcome differences on a production cut. WTI and Brent rose back above the mid-$40s per barrel, up from lows seen earlier in the week. The bullish move came from news that OPEC is trying hard to actually seal a deal. Saudi Arabias energy minister Khalid al-Falih said that OPEC was targeting the lower end of its proposed range of 32.5 to 33.0 million barrels per day. That sparked a rally in oil prices. "I'm still optimistic that the consensus reached in Algeria for capping production will translate, God willing, into caps on states' levels and fair and balanced cuts among countries," Al-Falih said. Oil prices moved down slightly during midday trading on Friday, hovering at $45 for WTI and $46 for Brent. The strength of the U.S. dollar continues to put downward pressure on crude prices.
Iran a problem, but might not sink deal. The two major hurdles to an OPEC deal are the cartels second and third largest producers, Iraq and Iran. However, Algerias energy minister Nouredine Bouterfa said that Iran would not scuttle a deal. "Iran is not a problem. Iran is a particular situation and needs particular treatment. They will not have the same rule for the reduction. We will study what the best solution is for Iran, he told Reuters. "There is strong consensus among OPEC producers for a freeze.
Iraq could undermine the deal. Iraq, on the other hand, is still an open question. A separate Reuters report finds that Iraq would be forced to compensate international oil companies who operate in country if Iraq signs onto an OPEC cut. Iraq pays private oil companies a fixed fee per barrel of oil produced, and contracts with these companies include stipulations requiring compensation if Iraq forces them to cutback. That could make it much more difficult for Iraq to agree to a cut in Vienna. A source at the Iraqi state-owned South Oil Company said this wont be a problem because Iraq has no intention of cutting its output. "On the contrary, we're encouraging the foreign companies to raise production as much as they can," the official told Reuters. But to confuse matters even further, Iraqs oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi, told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he is optimistic about a deal on Nov. 30. As always, we wont know the outcome of the OPEC meeting until it happens.
IEA does not see peak oil demand. Projections for a peak in oil demand have become much more commonplace over the past year. Even the CFO of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) predicted earlier this month that demand would peak within the next 5 to 15 years. But in its annual World Energy Outlook, the IEA sees demand growing through the end of 2040. The agency sees slow adoption of EVs, and growth in oil demand in a variety of sectors not related to passenger vehicles, including petrochemicals, aviation and long-haul trucking. At the same time, the IEA warned of a shortfall in supply towards the end of this decade as the industry scales back investment. The agency said that if investment remains low in 2017 the third consecutive year of declines then a supply shortfall around 2020 would be hard to avoid. Related: Does A Link Remain Between Inflation And Oil Prices?
Obama might block Arctic, Atlantic drilling. President Obama only has two months left in office, but on his way out of the door he is hoping to make drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans more difficult going forward. Bloomberg reports that the Department of Interior is finalizing its five-year lease plan for 2017-2022, and it could leave out leases for tracts in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, two highly controversial regions for drilling. President Trump could reverse this order, but the five-year plan takes time to produce, so it could delay offerings to the industry. The plan is not yet finalized but the Obama administration is rushing to get it done before the end of the term. Separately, the Bureau of Land Management published its final rule for methane emissions from natural gas operations on public lands. The rule cracks down on venting and flaring. Industry groups immediately filed a lawsuit. Again, the Trump administration is expected to try its best to overturn the rule.
Tesla shareholders approve SolarCity takeover. Elon Musk won the approval of the takeover of SolarCity by Tesla (NYSE: TSLA). Critics viewed the purchase as a bailout of SolarCity, which as posted steep losses in recent quarter. But Musk argues that the acquisition would streamline the two businesses, creating an integrated clean energy company. Tesla is also planning to roll out a solar-powered roof next year that looks like an ordinary roof with shingles. Musk argues that the solar roof will be as cheap or cheaper than a traditional roof, hoping to pave the way for an expansion of its residential solar business.
UN warns Iran on nuclear deal. The IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, warned Iran last week on its stockpile of heavy water. Spent nuclear fuel can be extracted from heavy water, and Iran has more than its allowed limit as part of the 2015 nuclear deal. The stakes are high as incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rip up the nuclear agreement. The latest IAEA warning could add fuel to that fire.
Israel launches auction for gas. On Tuesday, Israel opened an auction for gas exploration in the Mediterranean. Israel believes that its waters could hold up to 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The bidding process will end in April.
By Evan Kelly of Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
As the U.S. dollar climbs higher and higher (and higher), the crude complex is getting blown over by the gale-force headwinds it is providing. We edge closer and closer to the main event of the month (--->>> the OPEC meeting), but for now, hark, here are five things to consider in oil markets today:
1) Venezuela is apparently set to cut Petrocaribe oil and refined product supplies by 40 percent next year - in an effort to sell its exports elsewhere for more money. Petrocaribe is an alliance of 18 Caribbean and Central American countries who receive petroleum products from Venezuela at a preferential rate.
As Venezuelan production has been dropping in recent years, our ClipperData illustrate below that even flows into the key markets of China, India and the U.S. have also seen some drop-off.
Given the proximity and sophistication of U.S. Gulf refiners, it makes sense that the U.S. is the leading destination for Venezuela's heavy crude. This is further affirmed by joint ventures in the U.S. refining hub. Venezuelan grades into the U.S. are at 744,000 bpd through the first ten months of the year, down nearly 5 percent on year-ago levels.
Venezuelan grades into India have actually increased, up 50,000 bpd versus year-ago levels to 450,000 bpd so far this year. While rising Indian demand is increasing the pull for Venezuelan crude, bartering deals are also a driver of flows, with Venezuela using its crude as a way to pay off debts.
As for imports into China, they are averaging around 190,000 bpd, slightly down on last year. Venezuela already owes China $50 billion from financing agreements made over the last decade, and President Maduro announced yesterday that a further $2.2 billion will be tapped from a credit line provided by China to provide a shot in the arm to its ailing oil industry.
(Click to enlarge)
2) Following on from the above, we continue to monitor flows of naphtha and light crude from the U.S. to Curacao. PdVSA needs this to blend with its heavy crude; if flows of diluent dry up to the island, it could indicate Venezuela's pockets are empty.
Nigeria was sending light sweet Qua Iboe and Brass River to Curacao earlier in the year, but this stopped in March (credit issues? perhaps). A sole delivery of North Sea crude arrived in February, before Kazakhstani light grade Batumi arrived in March. Since then, we have had consistent WTI deliveries, despite ongoing payment disputes.
(Click to enlarge)
3) According to the National Petroleum Directorate, preliminary estimates for oil, natural gas liquids and condensate production in October was far higher than expected, coming in 30 percent above the previous month at 1.71mn bpd. This was 10 percent higher than the government expected (a nice surprise, I bet).
4) Yesterday we discussed how loadings of Bonny Light were continuing to hold up this month, despite a resurgence of militant attacks in Nigeria. According to reports today, another grade that has been plagued with force majeure this year - Forcados - has apparently had production shut in after a pipeline was attacked in recent weeks. We are avidly watching our ClipperData for signs of exports drying up; the last loading we saw of the grade was earlier in the week.
5) Finally, natural gas storage climbed to a further record high yesterday of 4,047 Bcf, as the weekly storage report showed a 30 Bcf injection. This compared to a 26 Bcf injection last year, and a 3 Bcf injection for the five-year average; heating degree days (a proxy for heating demand) came in 35 percent below normal. It is still in the balance as to whether we will see another injection next week; we may be at the peak now.
(Click to enlarge)
By Matt Smith
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Just as Nigeria was starting to gradually increase its oil production over the past two months, fresh attacks on the Forcados pipeline earlier this month have dragged output down again, lessening the countrys chances to see its crude production materially increase this year.
Militant violence had slowed down over the past months, but with Forcados out again just two days after it had reopened following an attack in July, Nigerias output will be down again, according to market sources quoted by Platts on Friday.
S&P Global Platts has estimated that Nigerias oil production increased to some 1.84 million bpd, including the Akpo condensate grade, in October. However, with Forcados with production of between 150,000-200,000 bpd out, the countrys total output would plunge for the remainder of 2016.
Last week, Nigerias most notorious militants sabotaging oil infrastructure, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), said they bombed the Trans Forcados pipeline in the third attack in just a week on the pipeline that carries crude oil from the delta to the Shell-operated terminal of the same name.
Forcados production was impacted more than initially thought it would be, and it is very likely that exports of the Forcados grade will be offline until early into 2017, trading sources told Platts.
An oil spill caused by a militant attack has been affecting the transportation of the crude oil, and has been hampering repairs.
According to Platts, a spokeswoman for Shell has declined to comment on the oil spill, but confirmed that Forcados was still under force majeure.
OPECs secondary sources put Nigerias crude oil production in October at 1.628 million bpd, up by 170,200 bpd from September. Commenting on the October production of OPEC and its members, the cartel said in its Monthly Oil Market Report released last week:
Crude oil output increased the most in Nigeria, Libya and Iraq, while production in Angola showed the largest decline.
With Forcados out, output in Nigeria would surely drop in November and Decembera de facto production cut for OPEC, if you will, and perhaps a lucky break for the struggling cartel.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and others will receive $5.1 billion from the Nigerian government for unpaid bills dating back to 2015, according to a new deal reported by Reuters.
The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owed a total of $6.8 billion as of December 2015 in cash-calls, but struggled to pay back the operational loans due to low oil prices and a domestic militancy that caused half of the West African countrys oil to go offline for large chunks of 2016.
The new deal allows the government to pay the reduced amount over five years, without interest. Instead of cash, the Western oil companies will get their payments in the form of oil cargoes, but only when Nigerian oil production exceeds 2.2 million barrels per day.
"If for any reason we did not meet (the) threshold we will not pay the $5.1 (billion), so that is fantastic," Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kackikwu said of the deal. Next, the deal will head to the National Economic Council, a governmental advisory group, for approval.
In addition to Shell and Exxon, Italys Eni, U.S.-based Chevron and Frances Total are also involved the deal. All five refused to comment upon Reuters request.
Over the course of 2016, the Nigerian oil sector has accumulated more than $2.5 billion in debt to finance existing projects, according to the petroleum ministry.
Lagos oil-related lawsuits dont stop here.
In September, news broke that the Nigerian government is suing Chevron, Eni, Total, Shell, and Petrobras for illegally exporting crude oil worth $12.7 billion in the years between 2011 and 2014. Exxon may also join the list of defendants.
According to government officials quoted by the Associated Press, the five companies failed to declare 57 million barrels of crude exports for the period, bound for the U.S.which was discovered through discrepancies between departure and arrival declaration figures, with some loads not declared upon departure at all suggesting that the problem is related to the countrys rampant corruption.
By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil exports to 7.812 million barrels per day in September from 7.305 million bpd in August, the kingdoms self-reported figures to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.
According to energy consultant and former Saudi Aramco senior executive, Sadad al-Husseini, as quoted by Reuters:
The exports figures suggest that they will not give up a critical card that they are going to use in the OPEC negotiations to freeze or reduce OPEC production before they reach such an agreement at the November meeting.
Saudi Arabias exports in August, at 7.31 million bpd, were 310,000 bpd lower than in July, JODI data showed last month.
Since the countries themselves report figures to JODI, Saudi Arabias total crude oil production in September, at 10.650 million bpd, is the same as the direct communication figures released by OPEC, and just over the 10.630 million bpd produced in August.
Although the kingdom's production was steady, domestic use for power generation and desalination went down and exports went up, Husseini told Reuters, commenting further on the increased exports.
Saudi Arabia is one OPEC member (also the most influential) that insists that producers use the secondary sources figures reported by OPEC when determining who will cut/freeze production and who will cut how much.
Related: Saudi Arabia Issues Warning To Trump: Dont Stop Saudi Oil Imports
However, the two other biggest OPEC producers, Iran and Iraq, revolt at this idea and say the organization should use their own self-reported figures (which, of course, are higher by a couple of hundred thousand barrels per day). Iran has said it could freeze at 4 million bpd, while Saudi Arabia insists on an Iranian freeze at around 3.7 million bpd. Iraq, apart from balking at the secondary sources production figures, is pleading exemption from cuts because it is fighting ISIS.
Currently, the positions of OPECs three biggest producers look too far apart for a deal to go through. Still, the parties have more than a week to continue negotiations if they are eager enough to clinch some sort of feasible agreement.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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The stark difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was crystal clear when it came to energy before and after the election. Clinton wanted to kill coal, and since Trump was elected three coal companies stocks in particular did remarkably well in the market: Arch Coal (ARCH), Peabody (BTUUQ and Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP). While clean coal is a myth, and natural gas has been taking over coal since the fracking revolution began in the mid 2000s Trumps love for West Virginia coal miners has given those companies and miners across America new life.
Under the Obama administrations strict EPA regulations on utility emissions, particularly on coal has decimated an industry already reeling from low prices. Trump most likely will attempt to roll back these regulations, but it is still a dirty energy rapidly losing luster in the United States (US). Europe has said it is done with coal, but surprisingly the British and Germans are still relying on its cheap source of energy with China and India leading the world in coal-fired power plants.
Trump could attempt to lead a resurgence of coal as a major energy source for U.S. states, and as an export product to other nations, although in the current environment for coal, it seems quite a challenge.
Trump will also have an affect on controversial, yet possibly needed pipelines.
Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada has done an about face against the Canadian environmental movement, and is close to approving the Kinder Morgan pipeline. President Obama and President-elect Trump have both signaled they want the Dakota access pipeline approved. The Keystone XL pipeline once again looks like it will now be approved as well.
While Trump wants to clear the approval for oil pipelines, yet what these approvals show for the US and Canada is leaders recognizing jobs as a viable factor, but politicians missed a key point. The world is already awash in oil, and OPEC continues missing opportunities to bump up the price of crude at/or above $60 a barrel or higher. With the Iran-Saudi Arabia geopolitical spat not dissipating anytime soon, especially over oil, the bigger question world leaders need to answer is whether or not these pipelines are needed? Outside of domestic politics and the ability to create jobs for their citizens, which financial entities are willing to invest in pipelines that will have a tough time breaking even in a world awash in crude and natural gas?
Under the Obama administration public lands have been off-limits for oil and gas exploration though President Obama and his former Interior Secretary Jewell (a former petroleum engineer) and current Energy Secretary Moniz have both been key endorsers of fracking for American energy independence, emission reduction, and as a jobs creator. While it may seem Trump is extreme in his environmental views, he isnt much farther off on environmental policy as President Obamas Cabinet is currently.
Related: Is The Trump Presidency A Boon For Nuclear Power?
What will be seen under Trump is that regulations are slashed so exploration can be undertaken on Federal lands and coastal areas under Federal moratoriums. The real issue will then be whether or not Federal regulatory agencies have the ability to overtake State law? California as an example, which has billions of barrels of oil and trillion of cubic feet of natural gas off its coastlines, will vehemently fight President Trump and his pro-American energy administration. This is just one of the many legal battles the Trump administration may face from pro-environment-movement US states.
Fracking and drilling for US oil and gas according to President Obama was a key factor, if not the biggest factor, for why the US left the recession quicker than other countries. This agenda could unleash growth that is desperately needed for the tens of millions of Americans contributing to an all-time low Labor Participation Rate (LRP).
Joel Kotkin surmised it best why Trump won:
Working and middle-class voters went for Donald Trump and helped him break through in states Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa that have usually gone blue in recent Presidential elections.
Nothing makes value and supply chains thunder towards jobs prosperity the way oil, gas and mineral exploration does at this time.
By Todd Royal for Oilprice.com
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The safety pins are becoming symbols of solidarity for the young on the left who oppose Trump. And they're quite the fashion accessory ...
A safety pin on your clothing demonstrates solidarity with the anti-Trumpsters, and a shield from shaming. But there's a problem with the pins. The irony of it all.
I thought irony died decades ago, but it insists on reanimating itself.
They're safety pins! S-a-f-e-t-y Pins.
Safe space, safe pins, get it? Safety pins were once used to secure cloth diapers so baby bottoms wouldn't get pricked.
I had hoped they'd wear something a bit tougher, like a needle, or a bloody "Game of Thrones" spike. Can't they find some symbolism just a tad less baby-bottomish?
"These pins not the wearing of them or the pictures posted of folks wearing them are not about safe spaces," wrote Trump critic Demetria Lucas D'Oyley in an article headlined "Come On, White People: We Need More Than Safety Pins to Make Us Feel Safe" that appeared in The Root.
"They're about not wanting to be perceived as a racist. Like, 'I might be white, but I'm not like them, over there. I'm enlightened.' No, you're not. You're trendy."
The Left has entered the final throws of their denial-outrage-anger-protesting-moralizing-contempt-bitterness-snarkiness-fingerpointing-hysteria-fear precipitated by the recent election of Donald Trump. At the same time, an interesting symbol has been adopted by young, left-leaning peoplethe safety pin. I'm not sure young leftists understand the irony of the symbol. John Kass comments:The Left has achieved something quite remarkable. By overusing and misusing the epithet "racist", they have deadened it's meaning. And that's an insult to those who fought so hard against actual racists back in the day. But back to "safety."A hypothetical: Let's assume that a college age American woman wearing a small necklace with a Star of David is joined by her friends a young gay male wearing a rainbow coalition tee shirt, a young Mexican immigrant wearing a small gold cross celebrating his Catholic heritage, and a young African American female wearing tight-fitting but certainly not inappropriate workout clothes. They're interacting, laughing, and enjoying a walk together. All of them are anti-Trump, and all are wearing safety pins, of course.I wonder whether this group of friends would be safer on the mean streets of any city in Florida (one of many states that voted for Trump) OR on the streets of, say, Gaza City or Kabul, Afghanistan or Qom, Iran or Mecca, Saudi Arabia? Recall that in those places religious police sometimes brutally attack women for not wearing Sharia-proscribed clothing, gay people are murdered for being gay, and Christians and Jews are eradicated because they are non-believers.Of course, just asking that question makes me "Islamophobic," doesn't it? Or maybe "racist" or is it "xenophobic" or maybe I'm guilty of "white privilege"?You know what? The Left hurls those words around so they don't have to answer the questions associated with my hypothetical. The implication makes them uncomfortable and that takes them out of their narrative. Not to mention that it highlights their own hypocrisy in suggesting that citizens in Florida (and elsewhere) who voted for Trump are less evolved than they, but somehow, citizens in the other cities in my hypothetical are ... what? So they rely on name calling.There are many of us among the "deplorables" and the 'unenlightened" who are no longer intimidated by the Left's empty accusations of racism or Islamophobia or bigotry or white privilege. After all, consider the source.
Well like it or not, Donald John Trump is America's President #45.
A sleeping giant has awoken and hasn't spoken, but has screamed. And the new face of an evolved America is now screaming back with slogans like "Donald Trump Is A Pig," "Donald Trump Will Never Be My President," "DONALD TRUMP CLOWN UNIVERSITY," "in-SANITY," "The Donald is a Dolt," "FU Trump," "Human Dignity Now," and other off-the-cuff political credos. And these nasty phrases have even become some of the names of Facebook groups.
Some of these social media factions have only a few hundred members and some are "secret" groups. But others have tens of thousands of members, and are "public" with a few of the biggest having hundreds of thousands of members. Will social media become our fifth branch of government, after the Executive Presidency, the judiciary, Congress, and the mainstream media? I don't know, but it's certainly on its way.
It's not Trump's arrogance that bothers me. And the pigmentation of his skin and hair - that sickly orange - doesn't take me aback much, either. He could be purple, pink, or even polka dotted and I'd see a fit. Neither is it his proclivity to attack people, and sometimes these people belong to a large group - like Latinos, the physically disabled, women, liberals, the media, combat veterans, other top politicians, even other Republicans - alarming or upsetting; and let's not leave out the LGBT community. Nope. Trump could begin some sort of hobby of desecrating graves and I wouldn't be surprised. I've conditioned myself to his antics and his misbehavior.
No, what really worries me about Donald Trump is his unpredictability. He's crazy. A true nutcase.
Donald Trump - Caricature
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And Trump's unpredictability and craziness have spawned an ocean of unpredictability and craziness throughout our country. Nothing this man can and will do will shock me anymore. Conversely, nothing the masses do in reaction to the Trumpster's actions will shock me, either. Just like we learned a long time ago in high school chemistry class: "Every action results in an equal and opposite reaction." Well, even though Trump says he doesn't believe much in science, if he's watching what's going on in his subjugated constituency coast to coast, he has to at least give a nod to this scientific fact. Protests and riots everywhere. Some radical lefties even calling for his impeachment as President Elect. My big question is, what's going to be happening when he and the rest of the Addams Family take up space and add weight to the White House? And oh, there's been talk that the new First Lady doesn't like the austerity of the Executive Mansion much, and that her husband plans to rule as "Commander In Tweets" from a posh penthouse or a sprawling mansion in a warm, sunny, heavenly place.
Elvis has left the building and all that . . . . And a street person has sauntered into the operating room and is now performing open heart surgery on what will soon be a corpse.
Trump could be a closet pyromaniac, among a litany of other things he's already displayed, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise. At least to me. I have buckled myself into my roller coaster seat and I am ready for a very rough and scary ride. No frills, no thrills, just a very sick feeling in my stomach and a longing to get the hell off this amusement park monster ASAP.
Yes, if the New York Times, CNN, or the Associated Press came out with reports that it has been Donald Trump who has set three dozen wildfires throughout the Southeast in the very recent past, I'd believe it. I mean, why wouldn't I?
Didn't that video of the bus scene with Billy Bush hit you like a jackpot of insanity lighting up a slot machine? Could you believe the words - the profane descriptive phrases Trump used with Billy Bush to describe how he really treats, objectifies, and feels about women? Wasn't it shocking hearing what he said about U.S. Sen. John McCain not being a war hero? Didn't you gasp when he shook all over, rolled his eyes around in his head like a dying animal, and drooled when he mocked a disabled news reporter?
Well, friends and neighbors, these are just signs of what is to come. It's good to have low expectations, or even no expectations, right now. And quit using Twitter, open an account here on Opednews, send Rob Kall a modest personal check to bolster your mojo - believe me, a "Supporter" membership package for a year will cost you less than it takes to feed you and the kiddoes at a fast food restaurant. And for gawd's sakes, quit tweeting. It's something birds, Trumpenfuhrers, and sadistic eighth graders do.
Even if you just contribute with comments below the writers' stories and pen an occasional diary and send it our way, it's a big step up between all those misspelled words with hashtags abounding. Get real. Get with the program. Join the liberal-progressive army. Let's start slaying some fire breathing dragons instead of having them chase us all over the place. Our time has come. I'd go on but I'm out of gas and it's time for my afternoon nap. . . .
By Robert Weiner and Thekla Truebenbach
If President-elect Donald Trump means what he says about no unneeded wars, he should change the President's first briefing each day -- "The Daily Briefing" each morning -- from just military issues.
At the first presidential debate on September 26, 2016, Trump claimed: "I did not support the war in Iraq." He has criticized his former competitor Hillary Clinton multiple times because she voted for this war.
His attitude towards going to war sometimes seems to be more hesitant compared to what other commander in chiefs would do. At the NBC commander-in-chief forum on September 7 Trump said, referring to Clinton's decision of voting for wars in the Middle East: "I would be very, very cautious. I think I'd be a lot slower."
But even though Trump seems to have a quite slow and tentative approach, he could be persuaded by the military to invade other countries much quicker, because he does not seem to have a lot of expertise in the military field. The President-elect never went to war himself, he avoided the Vietnam war with the help of several deferments. Statements like "I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me. I would bomb the s--t out of them," he made at one of his rallies, engender doubt.
There is a long history of the "military-industrial complex" in the United States. In 1961, in his farewell address, President and Four-Star General Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."
The military-industrial complex describes the informal strong relationship between a country's military and the defense industry, having a big influence on public policy. Both sides participating in this bond profit by it: On the one side leaders planning wars get supplied with the necessary tools and on the other side defense companies earn billions of dollars by being involved in big governmental contracts. Much money is to be made on both ends, too much money to make independent public-policy decisions.
Trump could be subject to same conflict, despite his desires. Proof that the military complex has much power over public policy in the United States is the fact that the first briefing the president gets in the morning is a national-security briefing, mainly addressing military issues of the country and nations all over the world. The briefing paperwork is one of the most secret documents on earth, gathering very important information. It is single-subject oriented, showing the power of the military-industrial complex.
Some people said that President Obama was not as liberal as he could be. One of the reasons of that is this first briefing of the day pushing an agenda ostensibly not leaving the president a choice what he wants to put a focus on.
With President-elect Trump just learning the military business of the United States, giving the military-industrial complex even more power and the strong emphasis on military issues expressed through the President's first meeting of the day (and now Trump gets the briefing as well as President Obama), will color his administration. American politics and the economy are heavily influenced by this sector. It remains to be seen if Trump's unpredictable attitude towards the military and war will change anything about this strong bond. If he sticks to his statements claiming he wants to avoid wars, he must regulate the relationship between the military and politics.
The first briefing of the day should not mainly focus on military issues and be more balanced and less biased. This would be one way to assure that public policy in the United States of America is made for its people and not for the military.
Robert Weiner is a former spokesman for the Clinton White House and the U.S. House Government Operations Committee. Thekla Truebenbach is policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates and Solutions for Change.
Michael Flynn, expected to advise Donald Trump on counterproductive killing operations misleading labeled "national security," is generally depicted as a lawless torturer and assassin. But, whether for partisan reasons or otherwise, he's a lawless torturer and assassin who has blurted out some truths he shouldn't be allowed to forget.
For example:
"Lt. Gen. Flynn, who since leaving the DIA has become an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, charges that the White House relies heavily on drone strikes for reasons of expediency, rather than effectiveness. 'We've tended to say, drop another bomb via a drone and put out a headline that "we killed Abu Bag of Doughnuts" and it makes us all feel good for 24 hours,' Flynn said. 'And you know what? It doesn't matter. It just made them a martyr, it just created a new reason to fight us even harder.'"
Or even more clearly:
"When you drop a bomb from a drone" you are going to cause more damage than you are going to cause good. The more weapons we give, the more bombs we drop, that just" fuels the conflict."
Will Flynn then advise Trump to cease dropping bombs from drones? Or will he go ahead and advise drone murders, knowing full well that this is counterproductive from the point of view of anyone other than war profiteers?
From the same report:
"Asked . . . if drone strikes tend to create more terrorists than they kill, Flynn . . . replied: 'I don't disagree with that,' adding: 'I think as an overarching strategy, it is a failed strategy.'"
So Trump's almost inevitable string of drone murders will be conducted under the guidance of a man who knows they produce terrorism rather than reducing it, that they endanger the United States rather than protecting it. In that assessment, he agrees with the vast majority of Americans who believe that the wars of the past 15 years have made the United States less safe, which is the view of numerous other experts as well.
Flynn, too, expanded his comments from drones to the wars as a whole:
"What we have is this continued investment in conflict. The more weapons we give, the more bombs we drop, that just" fuels the conflict. Some of that has to be done but I am looking for the other solutions."
Flynn also, like Trump, accurately cites the criminal 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as critical to the creation of ISIS:
"Commenting on the rise of ISIL in Iraq, Flynn acknowledged the role played by the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. 'We definitely put fuel on a fire,' he told Hasan. 'Absolutely" there is no doubt, history will not be kind to the decisions that were made certainly in 2003. Going into Iraq, definitely" it was a strategic mistake."
So there will be no advice to make similar strategic mistakes that are highly profitable to the weapons industry?
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From Alon Ben-Meir Website
US Leader of the world
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In a recent conversation I had with students, faculty, and alumni at New York University just before the start of my program "Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir" on November 3, I had the opportunity to answer some questions concerning the turmoil in the Middle East and America's role in the world. The following is my take on some of these events and how they might further evolve over time; questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: What's your take on the status at this point of the Iranian nuclear deal?
ABM: I remember when the deal was first sealed, I wrote a piece called "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly About the Iran Deal." There were elements that are good in the deal, some were really bad, and some others I called ugly, in a sense that we didn't know how the deal would eventually unfold. Although the deal may delay Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, say for the next 10 years, I believe that Iran is still committed to acquiring such weapons, under almost any circumstances.
Iran is not seeking such weapons in order to use them -- not against Israel or against any other country. The Iranians feel they have legitimate national security concerns. With nuclear weapons Iran would inhibit any outside power from trying to effect regime change. It will be in a position to neutralize both Israel's and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals, and prevent any enemy from attacking it. I can cite several other reasons, including its concern over instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and its desire to consolidate its national identity as a superpower under the aegis of the Shiite Islamic regime. It has also ambitions to become the region's hegemon. With nuclear weapons, it would be in a position to intimidate its neighbors and enjoy greater leverage to advance its own regional political agenda.
The ugly part of the deal, so to speak, is the fact that Iran is now legally permitted to enrich uranium, albeit at a lower grade and quantity, and can keep much of its nuclear facilities almost intact, including more than 10,000 centrifuges that are merely idle. In addition, unlike other nuclear facilities that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can inspect at will, Iran is permitted to deny access to some of its military facilities without prior knowledge. This suggests that should Iran decide to move toward acquiring nuclear weapons, it still has its nuclear plants and technology, including all the centrifuges, to do just that. Even though this could invite severe punitive actions by Western powers, Iran may well be in a position to bear such measures, as it will economically be strong enough to withstand the resumption of sanctions.
On the whole, however, I think delaying Iran's nuclear weapon program potentially for 10 years was a good idea and still is. It is possible, as some in the West speculate, that the circumstances, globally speaking, could change and Iran may feel sufficiently secure and prosperous and decide not to seek nuclear weapons. That said, the West, Israel, and the Sunni Arab world ought to remain extremely vigilant and not trust Iran, who has the propensity to cheat. As I see it, Iran is committed to acquire nuclear weapons, and it is not likely to change given these reasons.
Q: Have you been in Israel lately? Are public attitudes any less anxious in Israel, now that there's been some time with the deal in place?
ABM: Those Israelis who know the dynamics of the conflict and carefully assess the Iranian threat also know that Israel possesses potentially up to 200 nuclear warheads. It is believed that Israel has submarines armed with nuclear weapons roaming constantly in the Red, Mediterranean, and Arabian Seas, and Tehran is not oblivious to that. Iran knows that should they acquire such weapons, and should they decide to go mad and use it against Israel, they could inflict unimaginable destruction in Israel. However, Israel will still have a second-strike nuclear capability that could wipe Iran from the face of the earth. Israel made its position abundantly clear: when it comes to existential threats, it will take any steps necessary to ensure the survival of the state.
Q: To somebody who is not knowledgeable, it seems like Putin is trying to reestablish the USSR. Erdogan is trying to reestablish the Ottoman Empire, Iran seems to be trying to establish the Persian Empire, and China seems to be trying to make up for three centuries of insults. Are we standing aside to let these people play out against each other, or do we just not know what's happening?
ABM: There's no surprise about Russia's ambition, or Turkey's for that matter, or what Iran or China would like to do. However, Putin knows that he cannot and will not be able to restore the so-called glory of the Soviet Union, because the Eastern European map has changed so dramatically that there will be no return to the old days. That said, he certainly wants to maintain Russia's role as a superpower that can influence events beyond its borders, and he is succeeding to some extent -- Syria provides a good example. Turkey's president Erdogan knows that he will not be able to restore the grandeur of the Ottoman Empire -- that's simply not going to happen. He is trying to become the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, but he has been rebuffed time and again.
And as I said, Khamenei wants Iran to become the region's hegemon and he will keep at it, but that too remains in question. China, for obvious reasons, want to be the dominant power in its area by virtue of its size and power. What they all are trying to do is to consolidate their power to the extent possible. And when they see a vacuum that the US has created, be that in Asia, the Middle East, or Europe, you can count on the Chinese, Russians, and Iranians to try to fill in that gap.
Q: Do you think the US could have pursued different policies to arrest some of these developments?
ABM: In this regard, unfortunately, over the last 16 years the United States has created more than one vacuum. The Iraq War has, for all intents and purposes, dismantled the Middle East previous order. However chaotic it might have been, it is considerably more chaotic today and will remain so for years, I dare say even decades to come.
And what happened here is that you have a president [Obama] who, with the best of intentions, was in many ways naive, in a sense that he thought that, given the Iraq War and Afghanistan, the US should not engage in another conflict and get more American soldiers to die in another Middle Eastern conflict, in another Arab country.
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http://tinyurl.com/h8osw2c .
Every new U.S. president brings some measure of uncertainty as to what he will say and do. However, most have arrived with a package of clues as to what that might be. We have some sort of track record of his or her style of governing, the associates likely to come with them, and their policy positions.
President-elect Donald Trump brings no such record. Moreover, his unprecedented refusal to reveal his tax returns, and the sketchy, largely unproven assertions about his business record -- whether praise or criticism -- means we have even less solid information about his behavior in the private sector.
This ever-expanding blog post attempts to identify the issues requiring attention, and begin the process of finding and revealing the clues that may emerge regarding how a Trump Administration might deal with them. Where available, there are links to media reports with more detail. The principal sources are The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The first two weeks' coverage is already posted at http://tinyurl.com/h8osw2c . All there's room for in this announcement is an introduction to a skeleton outline of issue categories.
____________________
An Introduction to Issues Being Tracked
Transition. Regardless of agendas and intentions, a functioning executive branch of our federal government requires some 4,000 presidential appointees, and supporting civil service staff, who are experienced and knowledgeable. Have their replacements been found? Are they being brought up to speed by their predecessors?
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Turkey bold stance on Kashmir has won millions of hearts in Pakistan: Ayaz Sadiq
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday said Turkey's bold stance on Kashmir has won millions of hearts as it helped in shaking the international conscience about inhuman situation imposed by India in IHK.
During his welcome address to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the speaker said since January 2016, more than 1000 innocent people have been wounded and blinded with pellet guns, more than 130 have lost their lives, and rest of the millions are languishing under un-ending brutalities and prolonged curfew.
He said India has violated ceasefire 230 times, killed 26 civilians on our side of the Line of Control and injured more than 108. Only few days ago, the unprovoked firing martyred seven brave Pakistani soldiers, he added.
He said he had briefly narrated these figures of misery and anguish to acknowledge your principled stand on Kashmir.
"We are optimistic that through unwavering support like yours, millions of Kashmiris will get their right to self-determination in near future," he said.
The speaker said, "As a matter of record, our people's relations are even older than the creation of our two modern states, which date back even much prior to the 'Khilaafat Movement' of early twentieth century, when our forefathers rose in support of their Turkish brethren."
"Both our societies have nurtured the values of tolerance and harmony, and followed the same path of peace, as taught by our great religion Islam and reflected in the poetry of Maulana Jalal-ud-Din Rumi and Allama Muhammad Iqbal," he said.
"Today, Mr President! We, the Representatives of the people of Pakistan celebrate your presence amongst us for yet another historic reason: Your convincing and over-arching victory, in the recent past, particularly, for the cause of democracy and rule of law in Turkey by mobilizing the will of people has been rightly recognized world-wide as a ray of hope," he said.
He said, "Credit goes to your (Recep Tayyip) inspiring leadership that the heroic people of Turkey --- especially the brave speaker and the courageous Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey --- rose in one voice to protect and preserve their constitution and democracy.
"While the people of Pakistan salute the courage and valour of the people of Turkey, Majlis-e-Shoora Parliament also joins me in paying our combined accolades to your exemplary devotion and dedication to your people and motherland. Great leaders, Mustafa Kamal Ata-turk and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah built the states of Turkey and Pakistan on principles of democracy, equality and rule of law."
"Our people have courageously faced the common challenge of terrorism and rendered innumerable sacrifices for regional and global peace," he said.
He said the brave armed forces of Turkey and Pakistan have inflicted fatal blow to global terrorist networks like Daesh and launched historic Operations like Zarb-e-Azb.
He said both nations have always strongly advocated the cause of marginalised and oppressed people world-wide --- be it the Palestinians, the Turk Cypriots or the people of Indian-held Kashmir.
He said, "We appreciate your vision for "Alliance of Civilizations Initiative" aimed at universal cooperation of religions, nations and cultures to address challenges of extremism. What is more, the manner in which Turkey has risen from the economic crisis of the late nineties to the present-day excellence under your democratic leadership, presents a unique role-model for all developing countries."
He said, "Pakistan-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Groups in our both Legislatures were the largest of all, reflects our mutual love for each other." He said parliament represents the will of the Pakistanis dedicated to the preservation of democracy achieved by the un-remitting struggle of the people against oppression and tyranny. "This House, therefore, eagerly awaits to benefit from the thoughts, ideas and experiences of a statesman of your caliber," he said.
Turkish President demanded Kashmir disput to resolve in accordance with will of Kashmiri ppl
ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called Fethullah Gulen a serious threat to Pakistan's security, and demanded a resolution of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan in accordance with the will of the Kashmiri people.
Erdogan addressed a joint session of the parliament today which was attended by the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan among others.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remained absent as Chairman Imran Khan announced to continue boycotting sessions of the parliament as long as the allegedly corrupt Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was leading the nation. The Turkish President said that brotherly terms between Pakistan and Turkey were not restricted to mere rhetoric but stood true to meaning. He recalled Pakistan's invaluable aid and help rendered over Turkish quake that had left the nation devastated. Erdogan mentioned that Turkey observed a day of mourning after the Army Public School (APS) was attacked in December 2014 claiming at least 140 lives, mostly children.
The president of Turkey addressed the dispute between India and Pakistan over the held valley of Kashmir. Erdogan said that the Kashmir dispute was deeply hurting the sentiments and conscience of the Turkish people. "Increasing violence in Kashmir is saddening. I urge Pakistan and India to sit and discuss the issue," he said.
He said Pakistan was still struggling against the menace of terrorism and praised the efforts of the Pakistan Army in battling militancy. He said Turkey would continue its fight against terrorism. Sharing his views on terrorism across the globe, the Turkish president said, "God has stated in the Holy Quran that He is closer to us than our jugular vein and there can be no higher power. Al Qaeda is serving as a puppet and as a tout to foment terrorism in Muslim countries, there is a war going on in Iraq and Syria. These terrorists are destroying Islam and are tarnishing its name, they do not belong to this religion," he said.
"Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria are all affected by these terrorists. I have complete faith that Muslims cannot be destroyed by these tactics, hence the terrorists must be thrown out of the respective countries."
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Pakistan on a two-day official visit on the invitation of President Mamnoon Hussain, addressed a joint session of the parliament for a third time. "Pak-Turk friendship is deepening with the passage of time," adding that Pakistan had always supported Turkey in times of crisis especially during the failed coup attempt.
"Relations between Pakistan and Turkey are far greater than just diplomatic relations. Pakistan's democracy is a model for the rest of the world," he said, adding that Pakistan and Turkey have made bilateral ties stronger in every field over the past few years.
During his address, Erdogan slammed Fethullah Gulen and said that he was trying to impose his rule over the world. "Fethullah Gulen from Pennsylvania was trying to impose his rule all over the world," he said. "Thank you for your strong support in combating the Fethullah network," he added.
President Erdogan urged Pakistan to dismantle evil network of the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO), if any, before it becomes a threat to the country's security. In today's session, provincial governors and chief minister, heads of the Pakistan armed and representations from varying political parties including Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and others, except Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were also present.
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
A core sample from a carbon storage project in Washington state showed that carbon dioxide injected deep underground into basalt rock turned into the carbonate mineral ankerite in less than two years (inset). Credit: American Chemical Society
In November, the Paris Climate Agreement goes into effect to reduce global carbon emissions. To achieve the set targets, experts say capturing and storing carbon must be part of the solution. Several projects throughout the world are trying to make that happen. Now, a study on one of those endeavors, reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, has found that within two years, carbon dioxide (CO2) injected into basalt transformed into solid rock.
Lab studies on basalt have shown that the rock, which formed from lava millions of years ago and is found throughout the world, can rapidly convert CO2 into stable carbonate minerals. This evidence suggests that if CO2 could be locked into this solid form, it would be stowed away for good, unable to escape into the atmosphere. But what happens in the lab doesn't always reflect what happens in the field. One field project in Iceland injected CO2 pre-dissolved in water into a basalt formation, where it was successfully stored. And starting in 2009, researchers with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Montana-based Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership undertook a pilot project in eastern Washington to inject 1,000 tons of pressurized liquid CO2 into a basalt formation.
After drilling a well in the Columbia River Basalt formation and testing its properties, the team injected CO2 into it in 2013. Core samples were extracted from the well two years later, and Pete McGrail and colleagues confirmed that the CO2 had indeed converted into the carbonate mineral ankerite, as the lab experiments had predicted. And because basalts are widely found in North America and throughout the world, the researchers suggest that the formations could help permanently sequester carbon on a large scale.
Cornell experts issued a report this week outlining the opportunities and challenges facing New York state's farmers and food producers as emerging digital technologies shape the agriculture industry.
For the report, Harold van Es, professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS), and Joshua Woodard of the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management investigated how farmers are incorporating digital technologies and advanced analytics into farming operations.
What they found was a gap in analytics and data management relative to the capabilities of modern-day equipment, sensors and data generation. They conclude that strategic investments in research and development, improved training in data analytics and system technologies, and reliance on the capabilities of public institutions and technology companies could impact the agriculture industry's national and global competitiveness in coming decades.
The Cornell researchers conducted a statewide survey of farmers, held workshops, reviewed prior research and performed a study on trends in "Digital Agriculture," a term for the use of computational and information technologies to improve the profitability and sustainability of agriculture and food systems.
"Agriculture, like other industry sectors, stands to see tangible benefits in the form of increased production efficiencies once digital agriculture technologies are effectively employed," said van Es. "New York has the chance to become an agricultural leader in the digital space and to fully capitalize on potential production gains, but doing so requires leveraging emerging technologies to improve the profitability and sustainability of agriculture."
The surge in digital agriculture technologies has led to the accumulation of large amounts of data. High-resolution soil data, site-specific weather maps, aerial imagery, nutrient applications, and milking and animal health records are being continuously generated by farms across the state. Much of that data can be sent via broadband or mobile connections to cloud-based services.
Most farmers recognize the benefits that improved technological capabilities might bring to the state's farms. Higher profits, time savings and opportunities to reduce environmental impacts of farming operations were cited as the largest motivators, and 74 percent said that digital agriculture technologies provide efficiencies and environmental benefits.
For all the enthusiasm surrounding the technologies, farmers expressed trepidation about how to make use of the data. About one-third of farmers surveyed by the researchers said they received insufficient technical support, and half reported uncertainty on how best to deploy technology in a way that will have an economic impact.
"Farmers today have access to advanced technologies like precision planters and combines that are generating all these data, but they are telling us they don't always know how to make use of the information in a profitable way," Woodard said.
Woodard, an expert in data analysis, said that nearly half of those surveyed reported analyzing the data generated on the farm themselves. He said asking farmers to make sense of huge data sets to improve decisions is a monumental task and, not surprisingly, can lead to frustration.
The report identified several barriers that have impeded digital agriculture in the state, including technologies that aren't specific to the type of farming favored in New York, such as forage crops, dairy and high-value specialty crops. The researchers also highlighted a need for improved research, digital communication infrastructure and educational programs to support farmers.
As the state's land-grant university and a top-tier research university, Cornell is in a position to provide analytics and research capabilities to the state's farms and food system. The researchers proposed an Institute for Digital Agriculture at Cornell that would focus on research, education, data management and business development. Among other benefits, according to the report, the institute would provide farmers a secure data center to store and analyze confidential information, and give researchers aggregate, anonymized data to develop next-generation technologies and recommendations to benefit farmers.
In the spring, Cornell plans to hold meetings to bring together leading researchers in computing, agriculture and economics to discuss ways to leverage the university's expertise.
The report, "Digital Agriculture in New York State," was commissioned by the New York State Commission on Rural Resources. Michael Glos and Aaron Ristow of SIPS and Leslie Veteramo Chiu and Tribid Dutta of Dyson contributed to the report.
More information: NYS Digital Agriculture Report and Recommendations: fieldcrops.cals.cornell.edu/ex agriculture-workshop
The orange wheel shows the circular chromosome or genome of E. coli bacteria. The spikes indicate where a molecular intermediate in DNA repair -- four-way DNA junctions -- accumulate near a reparable double strand break in the genome. Credit: Jun Xia and Qian Mei
Scientists from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions are using synthetic biology to capture elusive, short-lived snippets of DNA that healthy cells produce on their way to becoming cancerous.
Researchers said the work could lead to the development of new drugs that could prevent cancer by neutralizing "DNA intermediates," key pieces of genetic code that are produced when healthy cells become cancerous. The research is described in a new paper in the open-access journal Science Advances.
"In my lab we study how the genomethe genes in an organismchanges, in particular, how the genome of normal cells changes to transform the cells into cancerous cells," said project lead scientist Susan Rosenberg, Baylor's Ben F. Love Chair in Cancer Research and the leader of the Cancer Evolvability Program at Baylor's Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
When cells divide and make copies of the instructions encoded in their DNA, the DNA unwinds and becomes vulnerable to damage that must be repaired. Sometimes the process of repairing the DNA can also cause mutations and errors. When these errors accumulate, the cells may acquire characteristics of cancer.
"The process of editing the DNA is carried out by specific enzymesproteins that work on DNA to fix the mistakes," said Rosenberg, who is also an adjunct professor in Rice's Department of BioSciences.
(From left) Baylor College of Medicine's Susan Rosenberg discusses research aimed at capturing elusive, short-lived "DNA intermediates," key pieces of genetic code that are produced when healthy cells become cancerous, with Baylor graduate student Jun Xia and Rice University graduate student Qian Mei, who are co-first authors on a new paper about the work in Science Advances. Credit: Photo courtesy of Baylor College of Medicine
She said DNA repair usually takes several steps to complete. Between the original DNA and the final product, cells produce DNA reaction intermediates, which are crucial to the reaction but are difficult to study because they are present for just a fraction of a second as an enzyme catalyzes the changing of one molecule into another.
"The intermediate molecules are the most important parts of biochemical reactions," said Rosenberg, who holds appointments in Baylor's departments of Molecular and Human Genetics, Molecular Virology and Microbiology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. "They define what the reaction is and how it will proceed. But because they are transient and elusive, it's really difficult to study them, especially in living cells. We wanted to do that. We decided to invent synthetic proteins that would trap DNA reaction intermediates in living cells."
Qian Mei, a graduate student in Rice's Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology program and a research assistant in the Rosenberg lab, took on the task of applying the synthetic protein that could capture the short-lived intermediates. Using the tools of synthetic biology, Rosenberg and colleagues created and added packages of genes to Escherichia coli, an organism that Rosenberg's group and others have shown to be a reliable model of the genetic changes that occur in animal cells.
Rosenberg said other investigators also have attempted to trap intermediates, but they have only succeeded in a few biochemical reactions.
"We want to use synthetic proteins to study mechanisms that change DNA sequence," she said. "We do that now with genetics and genomics in my lab. But genomics, which allows us to compare the genes of normal cells with those of cancerous cells, is like reading the fossil record of these processes. We want to see how the real-time processes that change DNA happen, including all the intermediate steps, which our synthetic proteins allow us to freeze in time and isolate."
In their tests on , Mei, Rosenberg and colleagues from Baylor, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found they could discover molecular mechanisms underlying genome instability, a hallmark of cancer. In one instance, they discovered a new role for an protein that is related to five human cancer proteins. They then analyzed gene-expression data from human cancers and were able to implicate two of the five -related human cancer proteins in potentially promoting cancer by a similar mechanismone not previously implicated.
"The most exciting part in this paper for me is that we can learn something new about the mechanisms of cancer from the model," said Mei, co-first author of the new paper. "Even though bacteria and human cells are very different, many DNA repair proteins are highly conserved through evolution; this makes a good model to study how cells repair DNA or accumulate mutations."
Rosenberg and colleagues think that their approach offers significant advantages. For instance, with the synthetic proteins, they have been able to identify specific DNA-repair intermediate molecules, their numbers in cells, rates of formation and locations in the genome and the molecular reactions in which they participate.
"It is most exciting that we are now able to trap, map and quantify transient DNA reaction intermediates in single living cells," said co-first author Jun Xia, graduate student in the Rosenberg lab and in the Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences program at Baylor. "This new technology helps us reveal the origins of genome instability."
"When you know these reactions and the role each intermediate plays in the mechanisms that change DNA, you can think about making drugs that will stop them," Rosenberg said. "In the future, we hope we will be able to design drugs that target specific types of cancersdrugs that block the cells' ability to evolve into cancer cells, instead of, or in addition to, traditional chemotherapies that kill or stop cancer cells from growing."
More information: "Holliday junction trap shows how cells use recombination and a junction-guardian role of RecQ helicase" Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601605 Journal information: Science Advances
The government must improve the support it offers to resettled refugees trying to find a job in Britain, according to a group of resettlement experts from the University of Sussex.
In the first longitudinal study of its kind, academics, who researched the experiences of 280 refugees who resettled in Britain as part of the Government's Gateway Protection Programme five years ago, claim the system needs to provide better fast-track learning opportunities and mentoring schemes to help resettled refugees to find work.
The three-year research programme, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), involved refugees from Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Iraq who were resettled in Brighton and Hove, Norwich, Manchester and Sheffield.
The University of Sussex experts found that the current system does not meet the diversity of refugees coming to resettle in Britainas a result they are calling for the following changes to be made to the system:
Refugees with higher levels of education need fast-track learning routes which support them in finding employment which reflects their previous work and qualifications.
Overseas qualifications are often not recognised in the UK - pathways through the education system such as vocational training and ways of 'topping up' qualifications need to be put in place to support people.
If you don't have UK qualifications or UK work experience it is very difficult to convince an employer to hire youresearch highlights the need for buddying schemes, work shadowing and mentoring to prove you can do a job.
The government's Gateway Protection Programme resettles up to 750 refugees a year in small groups (between 60 100 people) based on nationality. Last year the former Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 the academics are now calling on the current Prime Minister Theresa May to ensure the system reflects the diversity of refugees in order for them to have optimum chance to reach their full potential.
Dr Linda Morrice, who worked on the research project, said: "Refugees who are starting a new life in Britain want to work and see this as a key pathway to integrating. This government needs to improve the current resettlement system in order to ensure refugees resettling in Britain now, like those from Syria, have the best opportunity and support to gain employment which meet their skills.
"We must shift the focus from talking about 'meeting numbers and targets' to ensuring that we have fast-track learning routes in place, especially English language learning. For people with higher-level qualifications we need tailored support to help refugees to gain qualifications and find work."
Yared, a former high court judge in Ethiopia, who resettled in the UK 10 years ago as part of the government's scheme, struggled to get a job when he arrived and is a now a traffic warden in Brighton. He dreams of being a human rights lawyer but works as a traffic warden because, he says: "Without a job you are living as a beggar."
More information: "Optimising refugee resettlement in the UK: A comparative analysis." www.sussex.ac.uk/migration/res /refugeeresettlement
Engineers at MIT can now predict a liquids droplet size distribution, including the likelihood of producing very big and very small droplets, based on one main property: the liquids viscoelasticity, or stickiness. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
If you've ever splattered paint on a canvas or sprayed a cookie sheet with oil, you likely createdaside from a minor messa shower of droplets, ranging from dime-sized splotches to pencil-point specks.
Such droplet sizes may seem random, but now engineers at MIT can predict a liquid's droplet size distribution, including the likelihood of producing very big and very small droplets, based on one main property: the liquid's viscoelasticity, or stickiness. What's more, the team has found that, past a certain stickiness, fluids will always exhibit the same relative range of droplet sizes.
Knowing how big or small a liquid spray's droplets may be can help researchers identify optimal fluids for a number of industrial applications, from preventing defects in automotive paint jobs, to fertilizing farm fields via aerial spraying.
The researchers' results were published in October in the journal Physical Review Letters. The paper's lead author is Bavand Keshavarz, a graduate student in the lab of Gareth McKinley, who is the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovation at MIT and the paper's senior author. Their co-authors include Eric Houze, John Moore, and Michael Koerner of Axalta Coating Systems, a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of paints for commercial vehicles.
A thickening ingredient
The ways in which liquids fragment, or break up into droplets, has been a fascination for centuries and an active field of study for the past few decades. Scientists, attempting to characterize liquid fragmentation, have typically focused on what are known as Newtonian fluids, such as water and oilrelatively thin, homogenous liquids that don't include any fine particles or long molecules such as polymers that would affect the way such fluids flow.
In the early 2000s, scientists derived a simple equation to describe how any Newtonian fluid behaves when atomized, or sprayed into droplets. Embedded in this equation was a single parameter, "n," which determines how wide or narrow a liquid's droplet distribution can be. The higher the value of "n," the narrower the final size distribution is.
But when this value is relatively large, the equation fails to describe the broader distribution of droplet sizes observed for more viscoelastic, non-Newtonian fluids such as saliva, blood, paint, and resins. Keshavarz and McKinley suspected that a non-Newtonian fluid's stickiness, or viscoelasticity, might have something to do with the mismatch.
"What we wanted to add to the literature was how viscoelasticity can change this parameter n, which is the most important parameter because it dictates how many droplets of a specific size a liquid can produce, compared to the average droplet size," Keshavarz says. "Now for the first time for a variety of fluids, we were able to quantify that."
"Frozen in time"
To do so, Keshavarz and McKinley set up several experiments to observe liquid fragmentation in both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. They used water and water-glycerol mixtures as the classic Newtonian fluids, and created non-Newtonian samples by mixing a solution of water-glycerol with varying amounts of polymers with different molecular weights. They also experimented with several industrial paints and resins.
Scientists have typically focused on what are known as Newtonian fluids, such as water and oil relatively thin, homogenous liquids. But theyve had difficulty predicting the distribution of droplet sizes observed for non-Newtonian fluids such as saliva, blood, paint, and resins. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The researchers subjected each liquid sample to three different atomization tests, first dropping liquids onto a flat surface, then spraying them through a nozzle, and finally, forming a spray of the liquid by colliding two jets. The team used a strobe light technique, originally developed by MIT's Harold "Doc" Edgerton, to create split-millisecond images of each experiment.
The team observed almost 5,000 droplets for each liquid they tested. Their images showed that, in general, thinner, Newtonian fluids produced a narrower range of droplet sizes, regardless of the type of experiment performed, whereas the viscoelastic fluids had broader distributions, generating larger numbers of both big and small drops.
As they were sprayed or dropped, the viscoelastic fluids created long ligaments, or string-like projections, that first stretched, then eventually broke apart into droplets.
"Each image makes the ligaments look frozen in time," Keshavarz says. "In a fraction of a millisecond, they break apart into a finite range of droplet sizes."
A universal profile
Referring back to the original equation describing the fragmentation of Newtonian fluids, Keshavarz noted that the parameter "n," which establishes the distribution of droplet sizes, is also determined by the smoothness of the ligaments that ultimately fragment into drops. In the images of their experiments, however, the researchers observed that the more viscoelastic fluids produced bumpier, more corrugated ligaments. Keshavarz hypothesized that the stickier a liquid is, the more it resists smoothing out as it forms a ligament.
To test this hypothesis, he developed a new experiment, called a "step-strain" test, in which he squeezed a liquid between two plates, then quickly pulled the plates apart, pulling the liquid up and stretching it into a ligament before it separated into drops. In high-speed imaging of these tests, the researchers observed that the viscoelastic fluids exhibited bumpier ligaments, resembling beads on a string. The stickier the liquid, the more corrugated the ligament became. The researchers measured the corrugations and found that, past a certain stickiness, the degree of a ligament's bumpiness remained the same.
From their images of viscoelastic jets, the researchers also measured the rate at which each ligament thinned, also known as the liquid's relaxation time. Similarly, they found that this rate becomes almost constant for viscoelastic liquids. The team performed some calculations to fit the relaxation time measurements into the original equation for liquid fragmentation, and found that, all other variables being known, the parameter "n" reached a minimum value no matter how sticky the fluid was, corresponding to a maximum breadth in the distribution of drop sizes.
In other words, the researchers identified the broadest distribution of droplet sizes that any viscoelastic, non-Newtonian fluid can possibly exhibit when sprayed.
"Regardless of the type of experiment, or the kind of polymer or concentration, we see this universal distribution, and it's broadly applicable to a wide range of fluids," McKinley says.
Ultimately, he says this new understanding of fluid fragmentation may be useful in a number of areas including combustion, pharmaceutical and agricultural sprays, inkjets, and the automotive coating industry, where manufacturers are looking for ways to prevent "over-spray" and increase the efficiency of spray-painting.
"When they spray a car, they have to tape the windows because no matter how careful you are, there's always some overspray, which is wasted paint," McKinley says. "Also, if you're spraying paint, the biggest drops tend to show up as defects. That's one reason you care about droplet size distribution: You want to know how big the biggest drops will be, because a good paint job at the end of the day should be a perfectly smooth finish."
More information: Bavand Keshavarz et al. Ligament Mediated Fragmentation of Viscoelastic Liquids, Physical Review Letters (2016). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.154502 Journal information: Physical Review Letters
This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
The studys nanoscale muscles are comprised of gold nanoparticles, which are connected by single-stranded DNA. Credit: University of Pennsylvania
The base pairs found in DNA are key to its ability to store protein-coding information, but they also give the molecule useful structural properties. Getting two complementary strands of DNA to zip up into a double helix can serve as the basis of intricate physical mechanisms that can push and pull molecular-scale devices.
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanoscale "muscles" that work on this principle. By carefully incorporating strands of custom DNA into different layers of flexible films, they can force those films to bend, curl and even flip over by introducing the right DNA cue. They could also reverse these changes by way of different DNA cues.
One day, the flexing of these muscles could be used in diagnostic devices, capable of signaling changes in gene expression from within cells.
The researchers demonstrated this system in a study published in Nature Nanotechnology.
The study was led John C. Crocker and Daeyeon Lee, professors of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science, along with Tae Soup Shim, who was then a post-doctoral associate in both researchers' groups. David Chenoweth, an assistant professor of chemistry in Penn's School of Arts & Sciences, and So-Jung Park, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Nano Science at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, also contributed to the study. Other Penn co-authors include Zaki G. Estephan, Zhaoxia Qian, Jacob H. Prosser and Su Yeon Lee, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Chemistry.
Adding a complementary strand to one layer of DNA bridges causes them to expand and the film to curl. Credit: University of Pennsylvania
The nanoscale muscles in the study are comprised of gold nanoparticles, which are connected to one another by single-stranded DNA. The researchers built up the films layer-by-layer, introducing different sets of DNA-linked nanoparticles at different depths. Each set of nanoparticles contained links with different sequences.
"The way the actuation works," Crocker said, "is that we add single-stranded DNA that is complementary to a portion of the bridges between the particles. When that DNA diffuses in, it turns just those bridges into double-stranded DNA helices."
Because the specific sequence of the added DNA is tailored to match different sets of nanoparticle bridges, the researchers could target individual layers of the film, forming double-stranded bridges in just those layers.
This mechanism was critical to getting the films to flex, as single-stranded and double-stranded bridges are different lengths.
"It so happens that double-stranded DNAs are longer than single-stranded DNAs with the same number of bases," Crocker said, "so when the added strand binds, the bridge gets a little longer and the material expands. If only one layer of the film expands, the film curls."
The films can revert to their original shape by means of another DNA strand that strips apart the double helices. Credit: University of Pennsylvania
The researchers also designed a way of reverting the bridges to their original, single-stranded state, undoing this curl. The strands that give the curling cue also have a "handle" that does not bind to the bridges. Pulling on this handle splits apart the double helix the added DNA forms.
"We make the strand that we added to expand the bridges a little longer than it needs to be," Crocker said. "After it forms a double helix with the bridge, there are another 7 bases of leftover single-stranded DNA dangling off to the side of the bridge. To reverse the process, we add a 'stripper' strand that is complementary to the 'expander' strand and the extra dangling 'handle.' It actually hybridizes to the dangling handle, and then pulls the expander strand off the bridge, forming a double helix in solution that floats away, allowing the bridge to revert to its shorter, single-stranded form."
Getting the films to curl or to flip over entirely is just a proof-of-concept for now, but this muscle-like flexing behavior could have a host of applications at the nanoscale.
Being able to respond to one cue and totally ignore the otherimpossible for systems that flex based on temperature or acidity changesis critical for their ability to work as diagnostic devices.
"A 'far-out' application we have thought of is in intracellular situations where we can't exactly control things with wires or wireless equipment, Crocker said. "We could make a device that absorbs or reflects a certain wavelength of light based upon the spacing of its internal layers, and we could then alter that spacing using a chemical signal. This signal could be a messenger RNA, so the device provides a single-cell gene expression readout. These intracellular devices could be read out under a microscope, or inside the body using infrared imaging."
More information: Tae Soup Shim et al. Shape changing thin films powered by DNA hybridization, Nature Nanotechnology (2016). DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2016.192 Journal information: Nature Nanotechnology
Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association
Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday asked the New York State Education Department to direct schools to hold trainings immediately for both staff and students addressing discriminatory behavior as well as behavior prohibited under the schools code of conduct.
This is in response to incidents of hate speech and discrimination in schools across New York. Earlier this week, Cuomo launched a hot line at 1-888-392-3644 that people could come to report instances of discrimination and bias. There have been reports of an uptick in reports of discrimination, bias-motivated threats, harassment and violence following last weeks election of Donald Trump.
A softball field dugout in Wellsville was vandalized with the words Make America White Again and a spray-painted swastika. At SUNY Geneseo, there was a report of a swastika and the word Trump at the Nassau Residence Hall.
Is this training really necessary? Schools review code of conduct in their procedures at the beginning of the year. I dont think anybody forgot in two months that it is wrong to vandalize things or bully or harass another student. Public schools are already required to fill out forms about instances of violence and bullying as part of the Violence And Disruptive Instances Report (VADIR).
This just seems like feel-good measures by the governor to be strong on the issue.
Time is a valuable commodity in schools and it seems like so much is taken up by trainings, assemblies and special presentations, which may be good in and out of themselves. Students are engaging in this behavior must be punished, but the need to rehash this training seems unnecessary.
This is the latest in a series of posts about Roll Call votes of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro.
Stefanik voted along party lines this week on two bills relating to Iran sanctions.
Stefanik on Tuesday voted in support of HR 6297 legislation that extends Iran sanctions for 10 years, until 2026.
Its imperative that Congress reauthorizes these sanctions so that the next administration can control this rogue regime and prevent a nuclear Iran, Stefanik said in a press release.
Her opposition to the nuclear agreement between United States and Iran was part of her re-election campaign platform.
The legislation passed by a vote of 419-1, with one Republican and no Democrats opposing it.
Stefanik on Thursday voted in support of HR 5711 legislation that prohibits the federal Department of Treasury from authorizing U.S. financial institution loans for the export or re-export of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran.
When our fellow Americans deposit their earnings in a U.S. bank, or entrust the government with their tax dollars, they do so assuming that their money will not be used in ways which undermine the security of our nation and frankly the world, said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., the bills sponsor, in comments on the House floor.
Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., said the legislation undermines the nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, and he predicted President Obama will veto the legislation.
Heck said the legislation would put U.S. aviation manufacturers at a disadvantage.
The legislation passed by a vote of 243-174, with no Republicans voting against it and eight Democrats voting in support.
Click here to read the most recent previous post in the series.
Despite being guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution, free speech hasnt always been a popular concept in this country.
We often canonize the Founding Fathers as free speech zealots. But in his 2015 book Libertys First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech, author Charles Slack shows just how unpopular the idea was to some of our nations founders.
Slack spends an extensive amount of time tackling the incredibly troubling law known as the Sedition Act, passed by President John Adams to silence those who were skeptical of the government. Adams and his party the Federalists were in power when the law passed and were able to use it to silence dissenting views from the opposition party, the Democrat-Republicans.
While the book is nonfiction, it reads like an Orwellian dystopia at times. The Sedition Act is used to jail Americans for a variety of things. One man is jailed for erecting a Liberty Poll, which is essentially a large sign voicing displeasure with the powers that be; another town drunkard is arrested after he jokes that a stray cannon ball blast should hit President Adams in the posterior.
Slack really does a good job of developing the characters in this book and making readers feel a sense of connection to these historical figures.
He highlights the likes of Matthew Lyon, an anti-establishment congressman from Fair Haven, Vermont and outspoken critic of Adams. Slack also spends extensive time developing Benjamin Franklin Bache, the grandson of Ben Franklin, and the publisher of The Aurora, a prominent Democrat-Republican newspaper in Philadelphia at the time.
Lyon becomes the first person jailed under Adams Sedition Act. From jail in Vergennes, Vermont, Lyon goes on to win his reelection bid. Fans of free speech will find themselves rooting for Lyon as they read this book. One might even find themselves cheering for Lyon in an actual fist fight on the House floor at point.
The story ends well for freedom lovers with the Sedition Law expiring and Thomas Jefferson taking the reins from Adams. But the final chapter serves as a chilling reminder that this type of disregard for a vital right is still possible in our modern world Slack points to various examples around the world to prove his point.
This book seemed incredibly relevant in the wake of a presidential election that saw both major party candidates take anti-free speech stances. Donald Trump threatened to open up libel laws, and both he and Hillary Clinton discussed closing up parts of the internet.
An important lesson can be drawn from Slacks analysis of a trying time for human liberty: Either we stand up for all free speech especially that which we dont like or we dont stand up for free speech at all.
GLENS FALLS Police believe a nationwide group of thieves known to investigators as the Felony Lane Gang struck locally on Thursday when they broke into four vehicles and stole purses at the Glens Falls YMCA.
The group has been dubbed the Felony Lane Gang because they often try to cash stolen checks in the far lane of bank drive-thrus, which police know as the felony lane because bank personnel cant see them well and surveillance cameras there historically arent as effective as in the lanes closer to the building.
Glens Falls Police Capt. Michelle Arnold said two men were seen trying to open car doors in the parking lot between 10 and 10:30 a.m., and patrons of the YMCA discovered broken windows and stolen purses a short time later.
The thieves tried to use a stolen credit card online at Amazon.com within minutes, but it was denied. The purses contained money, identification, at least one checkbook and other valuables
The thefts were believed to be part of a Florida-based ring that travels around the country, targeting vehicles at YMCAs and other places where people work out, looking for purses and wallets left in cars.
The YMCA in Wilton was the site of similar thefts last weekend, and the YMCAs in Saratoga Springs, Clifton Park, Amsterdam and Bethlehem were also targeted in the past, Arnold said.
Post-Star newspartner NewsChannel 13 reported in September that similar thefts at the Dog Park in Saratoga Springs were also linked to the group.
Three young men from Florida were arrested in Amsterdam for thefts from parked cars there earlier this month. They were caught driving a stolen car that had stolen New York license plates on it.
A national police network based in Washington, D.C., known as the Felony Lane Gang Task Force, has organized to target the group.
Arnold said consequences of the thefts can linger for years for victims.
Members of the gang not only try to use stolen credit cards, but also commit identity theft to try to cash stolen checks and use identification to open new credit and checking accounts, police said.
This can be a nightmare for these victims for the rest of their lives, she said.
Arnold said a Glens Falls city worker who saw men acting suspiciously in the parking lot near cars jotted down the license plate number of the sport utility vehicle they were driving, but the plates had been stolen and apparently put on the vehicle by the thieves to throw off investigators.
Police also planned to review surveillance camera videos from the YMCA.
Brian Bearor, executive director of the Glens Falls YMCA, said the organization plans to alert members to what happened so they can take precautions.
Weve never had anything like this in my seven years here, he said. This is a very safe area.
Arnold said valuables should be removed from vehicles when they are left unattended, and anyone who has a purse or wallet stolen should contact credit bureaus to begin fraud monitoring as soon as possible to stop identity theft.
The thieves were described as two black males, driving a white SUV. Anyone with information in the case is asked to call 761-3840.
QUEENSBURY The Code Blue shelter on Gurney Lane will be open for at least seven days beginning Monday, according to Kim Cook, director of the Open Door Mission, which runs the shelter.
This is the second year the shelter has been in a Warren County-owned building on Gurney Lane. The first two years it was on Warren Street in Glens Falls.
Were going to operate pretty much the same way we did last year, Cook said, noting that Dave Bouffard, Open Doors program director, will be coordinating the facility.
In years past, Gary Ferris of the American Red Cross made the decision on when the shelter would be open. That task has now gone to Bouffard.
The basic rules for opening the shelter are a forecast of the overnight low being 32 degrees or colder or a forecast of a foot or more of snow.
Overnight lows for next week are expected to be in the mid-20s.
As in past years, transportation will be available from the Ridge Street bus kiosk across from Glens Falls City Hall at 6:10 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
The first trip will be by Greater Glens Falls Transit and the second will be by a shuttle provided by Northway Christian Family Church. Those staying overnight will be able to take a Glens Falls Transit bus back to the kiosk each morning.
Each shift at the shelter will be covered by a staff supervisor and a volunteer. The shelter will open at 6 p.m. and close at 8 a.m.
Trainings for volunteers are scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the Open Door at 47 Lawrence St. in Glens Falls.
QUEENSBURY Northway Christian Family Church will host a free self-defense and safety seminar Sunday at its location on Homer Avenue in memory of fallen local state Trooper Timothy Pratt.
The non-denominational event will be offered to adults and children older than age 10, starting at 6 p.m. There will be tips and instruction for those who do not have the ability to learn physical methods.
Instructors will include local and Hall of Fame member Larry Waimon, a retired New Jersey police officer and senior police academy instructor who was inducted in the International Association of Martial Artists Hall of Fame in 2007, and some of his students.
Door prizes will be offered to some attendees as well.
LAKE GEORGE A Niskayuna special education administrator will become the next superintendent of the Lake George Central School District.
The Lake George Board of Education announced Friday that it intends to appoint Lynne Rutnik, the director of special education, K-12 at Niskayuna, to the position at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday. Rutnik is being offered a 3 1/2-year contract at an initial salary of $142,500. She is expected to begin work on Jan. 1.
President Tim Collins said Rutnik emerged from a very qualified field.
Mrs. Rutnik was selected from a very strong candidate pool and possesses the skills and a depth of experience in high-quality school districts necessary to engage the school community in pursuit of excellence in student achievement and to foster opportunities for all students to maximize their full potential, Collins said in a news release.
Among the qualities that district officials sought for the selected candidate that Rutnik possessed are: leadership experience in a high-performing school district, skill in curriculum and instructional leadership, skill in short- and long-range planning and excellent communication skills to engage the school and community.
Rutnik said she is honored to have been selected.
I am excited to begin my work with an outstanding Board of Education, a deeply committed and talented staff, highly engaged students, dedicated and knowledgeable leaders who support innovation in our classrooms and a community that supports advancing teaching and learning, she said in a news release. This combination makes a very special community, which I believe will allow me to lead with a shared purpose; creating systems and processes that support long-range strategic planning needed to move our district forward in preparing our students to be career- and college-ready in a global society.
During her interview presentation to the community on Nov. 2, Rutnik said she would strive to sustain excellence by questioning and challenging the status quo. However, she values collaboration and would not make rapid changes nor implement change for the sake of change.
She said previously that she would listen to the staff, students and community to assess the districts strengths, traditions and needs. She would hold listening sessions to find out peoples thoughts and send out a survey to get input from people who may not be comfortable in person.
Rutnik has been in her current position for eight years. Before that, she was an academic administrator for special education at Shenendehowa from 2006 to 2008. She served as principal for special programs with Capital Region BOCES from 2000 to 2006. She began her career in 1997 as a special education teacher at Bethlehem Middle school and then at Cairo Elementary School.
Rutnik has a bachelors degree in psychology from SUNY Plattsburgh and a masters degree in special education from the College of Saint Rose. She has certifications in New York State school district administrator and special education teacher.
Rutnik will replace Interim Superintendent Dr. Jon Hunter. Rutnik and her husband, Colonel Brian Backus, USAF, and their children, Aiylin and Owen Rutnik, share time between their familys Glen Lake home and their Niskayuna residence.
The other finalist was Menands Union Free School District Superintendent Maureen Long.
FORT EDWARD Washington County supervisors adopted a new budget with a 1.76 percent tax increase after one resident spoke in opposition and decried the lack of public involvement in the budget.
There should be 130 people here, said Tim Havens Sr. of Hudson Falls. People are apathetic.
But he did his best to persuade the Board of Supervisors to cut the budget further. The supervisors had trimmed the tax increase from 2 percent, but the 1.76 percent increase is still well over this years tax cap. The county could not raise taxes more than 1 percent to stay under the cap.
Havens told the board that, although the cap was low this year, the supervisors should have stuck with it.
Dams are built to hold back torrents of water. The tax cap is a dam of sorts. It holds back torrents of taxes, he said. I think by exceeding the tax cap this year, were making it easier to exceed it over and over. I implore you not to do it.
Four supervisors voted against the budget, but it passed with 11 supervisors voting in favor. In weighted votes, it passed with 2,378 votes in favor to 1,716 votes opposed.
Hartford Supervisor Dana Haff was recorded as absent because he had to be out of state to care for a family member, but he said he wanted his vote to also be considered a no.
The budget tax increase would raise tax bills by a range of 75 cents in Argyle to $10.50 in White Creek, for the average property owner with a house assessed at $100,000.
Of those who voted no, Salem Supervisor Seth Pitts said the issue was the tax increase.
Every year I sit here and we raise taxes and we raise taxes, he said. You dont realize how many working poor are struggling to pay their taxes.
He sees elderly residents also going to the local food pantries now because they cant make ends meet. He noted the tax increase is three times the increase they received in Social Security.
This budget, with these new positions, is wrong, Pitts said. Its wrong for the working poor of this county.
The budget added two part-time secretaries and many raises.
But Greenwich Supervisor Sara Idleman said those raises were necessary. She almost voted against the budget because she wanted everyone to get a 2 percent raise, rather than 1.5 percent, she said.
She noted, as she regularly does, that percentages cannot be compared. The Social Security increase of. 0.3 percent does not mean residents will not receive enough additional dollars to pay the 1.5 percent increase in county taxes.
If a retiree in the county received the average Social Security payment of $1,351 per month, the 0.3 percent increase in Social Security next year would amount to $4 per month. If the county budget had increased by 2 percent, the tax bill increase would have ranged from $1 in Argyle to $14 in White Creek for the year. The range now is 75 cents to $10.50.
Given the reality of the tax impact, Idleman said the board should have given workers better raises. The board voted down a raise of $3,500 for each of the two deputy election commissioners during the meeting. Theyre paid about $17 an hour, and would have gone to $18 an hour, rather than a more incremental raise of about 25 cents.
Idleman said they, and others, should have gotten the better raise.
I have very strong feelings about how we treat the people who work here, she said. I think its important we pay them adequately.
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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South Korea says North Korea has fired an additional six missiles off its eastern and western coasts, reports AP.
Addressing the audience in her opening remarks, the Chief Financial Officer of UT Bank, Ms. Gillian Slater noted that the quarterly series kicked off on the theme of Funding your business Strategies, Options & Considerations.The second edition themed,Integrated Marketing Strategy: Acquiring and Retaining Customers was facilitated by Stanford SEED. The 3rd edition, encapsulated the need for SMEs to embrace digital media and related ecosystems as a complement to traditional media in an age where value for money is crucial to business success. Ms. Slater expressed her enthusiasm for such forums in which UT Bank can bring in experts to empower SMEs.
The main speakers at the event were, the Managing Director of PopOut, Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh and the Director of New Business at Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM) Africa, Mr. Agastee Khante. The industry experts spoke extensively about deploying digital media to grow and transform businesses.
Mr. Ametorgoh commenced by explaining the relevance of having an online presence as a business owner."If you are a company and people go online to search for your product or service and they cant find you, then you are wasting your time. It is like building your house in the middle of the forest and no one knows where you are located. Your website has to be mobile device compatible, allowing for visibility and ease of access on a wide range of platforms, he said.
Mr. Ametorgoh further explained that social media is the right place for the promotion of products and services, as these platforms are gradually taking over websites. He stated that social media is content driven, in other words it feeds consumers with information while websites are search driven requiring consumers to search for information, making it easier to access social media content.
According to research, there are 3.17 billion internet users globally of which 2.1 billion are on social media platforms. He added that Facebook alone has 1billion daily active users and serves as an easy channel through which millions of people can promote their products and services.
Mr. Ametorgoh urged businesses to define their market segment, select the right platform, develop quality content and allocate a budget. It is imperative to measure the results of the above to ascertain its effectiveness.
In his presentation, Mr. Khante explained the various business operations of RDM Africa. He mentioned that the current mobile phone penetration in Africa was at about 90%, emphasizing the importance of adopting digital media marketing. He listed a number of benefits that mobile penetration in Africa brings including improved business management, supply chain and other facets of businesses.
Mr. Khante stated that, through the use of mobile devices, companies can expand their reach in advertising. He also emphasized that this is a good opportunity for business development in Africa and that SMEs should take advantage of this, given the cost implications and positive image impact.
He stressed that, Companies can advertise and reach more customers through social media and other search engines such as Google. Many people visit social media platforms and search engines to make key consumer decisions.
The 3rd Edition of the UT Bank SME Clinic was clearly a beneficial event for the SMEs in attendance as it gave an insight into the need for businesses to embrace Digital Marketing.
About UT Bank
UT Bank Limited is a mid-tier Universal Bank that is focused on the SME segment. The Bank commenced business as finance house in 1997 and has evolved into a publicly listed company with shares listed and actively traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange. It was awarded Bank of the Year 2011, Most Respected Company in 2012 and The Most Active E-zwich Bank 2014 and 2nd Runner up Most Active E-zwich Bank 2015.
UT Bank has positioned itself as a leader in SME banking and seeks to change the face of banking in Ghana through fast, efficient and respectful delivery of service. The bank is well known for providing innovative customer-oriented products with a focus on SMEs and individual customers. The Bank has 28 branches in 8 of Ghanas 10 regions, a growing ATM network and mobile banking units.
For more information, please email marketing@utbankghana.com or call 020 211 4848.
About PopOut
PopOut is a marketing agency specializing in delivering digital marketing solutions to its clients. It has a professional team of experts and strategists who have worked in the advertising, marketing and technology industries over the years and offer value for money. PopOuts areas of specialty include Digital Marketing, Social Media, Advertising, Branding, Web Development, Mobile Marketing, App Development, Display Advertising and Email Marketing. It is also known for organising annual industry events such as Digital Marketing Summit and TopApps Awards.
About Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM)
Don't block us from exercising our franchise with examination: Our vice chancellorsI have keenly apprised myself with all the promises and manifestos of the various political parties contesting the up and coming general elections even though not all of them have good message for students but some do. Political parties try as much as possible to convince students by the inclusion of student-friendly policies in their manifestos. This is because they know the value of students votes. They know students have the numbers that can make or unmake their dream of winning power.It therefore appears strange to me and so many other students that a scheme is being mounted by tertiary institution heads to prevent us from voting. What is strikingly amazing is the deliberate silence by the ministry of education on this unholy development. If students are critical to decision making in this country, then why these schemes to deny us our inalienable right guaranteed us in the constitution? Could this be a perfunctory decision to prevent students from sailing along the obvious tides in our country?I have come to the firm conclusion above because the examination timetables of many tertiary institutions have been planned in manner that endangers the franchise of students. Even though no examination would be conducted on 7th December but still majority of students cannot vote.For instance how is a student expected to write a paper from 2:30pm - 5pm on 6th December and travel to far a distance to vote. What makes the situation puzzling is that, such a student is also expected to return on 8th Dec to write another exam. Incredible!Given the trajectory of events and coming from the history where most Technical Universities which hither to were known as polytechnics have always written exams after Christmas break, this swift change in the status quo particularly in an election year is suspicious and only lends credence to the perception of many that, some unseen hands are manipulating the system to disenfranchise students. Students are at a crossroad to choose between examination and exercising their franchise.All issues aside, I want to make a passionate appeal to the Heads to take a second look at this issue and not become agents of disenfranchisement for a 'certain effect'. Students should rather be encouraged to vote since they form the academic class who understand the real issues in our country and can as such make good decisions for the benefit of our country.I also want to join the many voices calling for elections day to be declared as statutory holiday in order to enhance our elections.Elvis Osei AmponsahFormer Public Relations OfficerGhana National Union of Polytechnic Students
The actor confirmed the news during an interview with the Breakfast Club on Thursday, November 17.
ALSO READ: Nick Cannon denies refusing to sign divorce papers
Us Weekly, in an exclusive report, revealed that the former beauty queen was pregnant, with speculations that Cannon could be the father.
The TV host revealed his excitement at becoming a father again. When asked if he was the father of the unborn child, he said,
Who said it wasnt mine? Ive got a baby on the way absolutely God said be fruitful and multiply."
He adds jokingly, Im doing the Lords work everybody get a baby! Im passing them out.
This will be Cannon's third child as he is already father to 5-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan from his ex-wife, Mariah Carey.
The 28-year-old, a Guamanian-American actress and former Miss Arizona USA, is reportedly six months into her pregnancy.
ALSO READ: Nick Cannon sceptical about marriage after Mariah Carey split
The 'Americas Got Talent' host, 36, and Bell dated off and on since his split from Carey in December 2014.
The suspect identified as Unogwu Agbese, was arrested after attempting to sell off his friend's five-year-old son in Abuja, Daily Post reports.
ALSO READ: Popular society lady arrested for child trafficking in Delta
The Commands Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent, Moses Yamu, said this while parading the suspect at the command on Wednesday, November 16, in Makurdi.
He said: The father of the abducted five-year-old, Emmanuel Edeh at Apa-Agila reported the case to the police.
He had reported that his son was, last week, abducted by his friend from the village and taken to Abuja without his parents consent.
However, he ran out of luck and was arrested and the child recovered from him unhurt.
ALSO READ: Police nab notorious human trafficker
Following interrogation into the case, Daily Post reports that the suspect confessed to abducting the child to sell but was forced to return him to his parents as he was unable to find a buyer.
The boy is my friends son. I actually took him to Abuja to sell him, but I couldnt find any buyer or anyone that could connect me to a buyer. So I brought him back to the village and his parents arrested me, he said.
The suspects were apprehended at about 6:30am on Wednesday, November 16, by the police commands Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Daily Post reports.
ALSO READ: Yahoo boys in Delta arrested on their way from rituals
The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu, while confirming the arrest in a statement, said, The arrest of the suspects (names withheld) was made possible following a tip off by members of the public.
The suspects, who had been elusive for some time now, were eventually arrested after several days of intelligence gathering and painstaking investigation carried out by the police.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to being internet fraudsters and that they had defrauded many innocent victims they referred to as clients of their hard earned money in naira and foreign currencies.
They also disclosed that they often used charms to facilitate their illicit business.
This they did by hypnotising victims and commanding them to part with their dollars and valuable properties.
The suspects further disclosed that those who had fallen victims included foreign nationals and Nigerians alike.
Exhibits recovered from them included four assorted laptops and assorted criminal charms.
The PPRO also said, The Commissioner of Police, , has directed that discreet investigation be carried out about their other nefarious activities at the end of which they would be arraigned in court.
GE Healthcares is committed to personalised breast care solutions and offers a portfolio of technologies, insights and services to help meet the unique breast care needs of all women, especially those with elevated risks. In 2012, GE dedicated $1-billion of its healthcare research and development budget through to 2020 to extend its capabilities in oncology.
As a global supporter of breast cancer awareness month initiatives in October, GE Healthcare leaders from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) met the Minister of Health in Cameroon as well as potential customers in the healthcare sector to discuss GEs short- to medium-term projects in the country.
The GE team in Cameroon held a Breast Cancer Awareness Day at their office on October 28 where Dr Mananga from the General Hospital of Yaounde spoke about how to detect and prevent breast cancer. In addition, there were practical demonstrations encouraging women to do self-examinations, which included how to detect irregularities in breast tissue.
The GE teams in Ghana and Nigeria took a somewhat different approach and decided to have some fun during their combined Breast Cancer Awareness initiative. The teams had a cook-off breast cancer fundraiser where food prepared by the two teams would be judged and event sponsors could then bid for the food in an effort to raise funds for breast cancer awareness campaigns.
Both offices raised $3,518 for breast cancer awareness programmes.
The GE Nigeria Health Ahead Hub of the Womens Network with AAF Health Ahead also organised several events to raise employee awareness and to raise funds for breast cancer. In Port Harcourt, ladies participated in a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk organised by the African Health Development Initiative. In Lagos, the GE team sold pink, helium-filled balloons to their fellow colleagues and a radiologist turned a meeting room into a makeshift examination room, and using GE ultrasound machines, she examined 33 women, and answered their questions.
On the last Friday of what became known as Pinktober, all employees were dressed in pink and there was an educational talk about breast cancer by an oncologist from a cancer NGO known as Run for A Cure. The money raised through these initiatives was donated to for Run for A Cure.
The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Yaw Nketia Yeboah, the Eastern Regional Public Relations Officer who confirmed this to Pulse.com.gh said: All the officers who were injured have been discharged from the hospital. The suspects too are being questioned by the police; the 22 who were arrested are being questioned in Koforidua here.
READ ALSO: Galamsey
He, however, indicated that the place is calm. Though there was tension, everything is calm...everybody is worried about the situation but so far no more trouble has happened.
ASP Nketia-Yeboah added that eight illegal miners, as well as two police officers sustained varying degrees of injuries from the clash.
Background
Residents in the area had alerted the task force about the illegal mining activities of the miners.
According to the residents, huge trailers offloading machines and other illegal mining materials were seen in the town being used by the said illegal miners to destroy rivers and farms in search for mineral resources.
The task force, in their bid to arrest the illegal miners met huge resistance from them, as some of the illegal miners exchanged gunshots with the team.
The 2016 flagbearer of the PPP, Papa Kwesi Nduom and his running mate, as well as, other party dignitaries were at the venue to pay their last respect to the former PPP aspirant for the Klottey Korle constituency who passed away on Thursday, October 6, 2016 after a short illness.
According to him, the money [judgment debt] was paid to him legally by the state.
"The money was paid to me legally, the court didn't even say I should pay back because it is legal, the court said it is unconstitutional," he noted.
"I will continue to fight till the last drop of my blood. The list that is going around about sharing money, to who, how ??, those who claim they have the list should come out with it," he said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an application by former Attorney General to orally examine Alfred Woyome over his payment of the 51 million cedis judgement debt paid him by the state.
The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination.
Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision.
Mr Amidu's application follows a notice filed by the Attorney Generals Department at the Supreme Court to discontinue the case it had earlier filed.
Meanwhile, Martin Amidu has indicated that the GHc51 million judgment debt paid embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, can only be retrieved if Ghanaians vote for a change in government.
In his latest epistle written to the media, he accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of showing a lack of will to retrieve the money from Woyome.
Mr. Yeboah believes allowing live cameras in the court room would ensure transparency in the process and ensure that Ghanaians are updated on how our Tax-cedi was expended in this Woyome debacle.
He further argues that the move would equally end the usual media spin that characterizes court room reporting and throw more light on the matter especially the incessant tantrums and accusations of Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome to the effect that the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court has sidestepped the constitution and has rather chosen to persecute him.
The only time Ghanas Chief Justice allowed cameras in the court room was during the Election Petition case in 2012.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an application by former Attorney General to orally examine Alfred Woyome over his payment of the 51 million cedis judgement debt paid him by the state.
The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination.
Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision.
Mr Amidu's application follows a notice filed by the Attorney Generals Department at the Supreme Court to discontinue the case it had earlier filed.
Meanwhile, Martin Amidu has indicated that the GHc51 million judgment debt paid embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, can only be retrieved if Ghanaians vote for a change in government.
In his latest epistle written to the media, he accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of showing a lack of will to retrieve the money from Woyome.
On October 31, 2016, however, Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong went to court seeking to discontinue the case it filed about some weeks ago.
Convinced that government is not committed to retrieve the amount because of Mr. Woyomes ties with the NDC, Mr. Amidu applied to the court to allow him to orally examine Woyome.
Mr Amidu had earlier told the Court that an opportunity to question the businessman will unravel how Mr Woyome spent the money paid him by government in 2010 for no work done.
The Supreme Court granted Martin Amidu's request to orally examine the businessman.
Dr Nduom in a statement said, "The Citizen Vigilante has assumed what can be described as a de-facto Independent Prosecutor/Counsel in the State versus Woyome case."
He added that "the Attorney General who should be acting in that stead is refusing to retrieve that colossal amount from Mr Woyome."
Below is Dr Nduom's statement:
Today former Attorney General, Martin Alamisi Amidu is justifting Dr Nduoms position on how to deal with corruption in the country. The Citizen Vigilante has assumed what can be described as a de-facto Independent Prosecutor/Counsel in the State versus Woyome case. The celebrated lawyer is granted permission by the Supreme Court to cross-examine Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome on why he (Woyome) should refund to the State GH52 million as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Could we have gotten to this level if we had an Independent Prosecutor as Dr Nduom has been advocating all these years?
According to him, he is "determined to pay the money back", adding that he is doing so "under duress."
"I am paying back the money under duress. I feel that my rights are been trampled upon and feel persecuted," he noted.
Addressing the press at International Conference Centre in Accra Friday, he said, "I have been going to court; there were times that there would be two cases at the same time. This is the Attorney General who was pursuing me and doing all these against me, today because of the convenience, some people are saying that I am conniving with her, how can i be in connivance with her."
The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the Woyome to appear before the court on November 24, for the examination.
Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision.
But Woyome said, "I wrote the cheque without writing who it is for because I was confused who the recipient should be."
He said, the money [judgment debt] was paid to him legally by the state.
"The money was paid to me legally, the court didn't even say I should pay back because it is legal, the court said it is unconstitutional," he noted.
Read more: Woyome threatens to sue Nana Akomea
Speaking to the media at a press conference at the International Conference Centre in Accra Friday, he said, "I will continue to fight till the last drop of my blood. The list that is going around about sharing money, to who, how ??, those who claim they have the list should come out with it"
The Supreme Court granted an application by Mr Amidu to orally examine Woyome.
Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision.
He said, "Alfred Woyome is determined to pay. Alfred Woyome has arrived at a payment structure with the Republic of Ghana through its constitutionally mandated Attorney General and Alfred Woyome will pursue that by Gods grace to make sure the orders of the courts are respected."
He added that the Supreme Court erred in its ruling allowing former Attorney General Martin Amidu to cross examine him.
"I have been going to court; there were times that there would be two cases at the same time. This is the Attorney General who was pursuing me and doing all these against me, today because of the convenience, some people are saying that I am conniving with her, how can i be in connivance with her," Woyome said.
Mr Woyome will be examined by Martin Amidu on November 24, 2016 at the Supreme Court.
Background
Woyome was paid GH51.2 million after he claimed he had incurred losses for financially engineering 1.1 billion Euros for the CAN 2008 tournament and other government projects.
However, the Auditor-General's report released in 2010 said the amount was paid illegally to him.
The report resulted in nationwide controversy, with operatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who were in government during the CAN 2008 tournament claiming Woyome did no work to be paid that whopping sum of money.
The then Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey, said Woyome was contracted to help in raising money for the construction of the stadia but he failed to meet the deadline.
The then NPP government, he said, had no choice but to abrogate the contract with Woyome.
In 2009, when the NPP had left office, Woyome went to court and claimed that his contract had illegally been terminated and demanded a judgement debt from government.
The Attorney-General in Prof. Mills administration, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who failed to defend the state, rather negotiated with Woyome for him to reduce his demand on the government.
All political parties have been asking Ghanaians to vote for them, but the voices of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that are the loudest.
The incumbent president, John Dramani Mahama is asking for a second term in office whereas the flag bearer of the largest opposition party, Nana Akufo Addo, is running for the third try at winning presidency.
But have you ever wondered what the average and ordinary Ghanaian men is looking out for?
Pulse Ghanas Alice Adu hit the streets to find out what some average Ghanaian men are looking out for in this election and this is what they have to say.
We spoke to a coconut seller who was of high spirit the election is getting closer and that meant he could vote to retain the ruling party. He revealed he has been in the business for 15 years and their major problem was the fuel availability and cost since that is what is used to transport the coconut. Comparing the previous government to the ruling NDC, he said these four years had been better and he looks forward to affordability of fuel.
We also spoke to 39 year old cement block maker who said he is happy we are voting soon so he gets the chance to vote for the opposition. According to him, the load shedding activity has affected his business, since he cannot work without it making it very difficult to even buy food not to talk of feeding his family.
Mr. Malik, a mechanic who has been in the business for 5 years, also had a pretty interesting moment to share. Out of excitement he told Pulse.com.gh that, through the hard work of this government he has been able to marry, whereas before he couldnt because things under the then NPP were difficult.
Another mechanic Dan Dollar, who has been in the business for 7years, made an appeal that the ruling government should also help create employment for the youth since they are the future leaders. He expressed disappointment in John Dramani Mahamas government, claiming things have become so difficult to the extent that as a driver he doesnt own a license because it is expensive to acquire one. He asserted that he would be voting for Nana Addo because he needs change and he believes his fellow mechanics do as well.
21-year-old Gabriel, who is a sales boy at a tile shop, told Pulse that all that he wants is for the country to maintain its peace before, during and after the elections. Simply because he wanted to have people continue buying at the shop.
Emmanuel Adeku, a lotto operator, who has been in the business for 10 years mentioned that he needs this government to retire so that they could experience the change Nana Akufo Addo will bring to Ghanaians. He complained the lotto staking has reduced because people do not have money to venture and even if they come, they will borrow and he understands them because there is no money. He believes the NPP will do better.
Martin Yeboah, a vulganizer who has practiced it for close to 10 years, is happy we are voting in less than a month soon. He says he is happy because he want to retain the ruling party because of how better the market has been since he came into power in terms of money. Things have changed a lot for him and he is happy.
Farouk, a janitor, who has been in this borla business for 15years didnt have much to say. All he said was business is good now thanks to Mahama, JM toaso.
We spoke to Nana Yaw, a 45-year-old cobbler who has been in the business for 16 years. He revealed he is praying hard so the opposition can take over because things have become extremely expensive, with the kind of job he does he could buy a material for GHC 5 in the market during the NPP regime but now it's shot up thrice and many others he buys as well. NDC has made things difficult he reiterated.
So there you have it, but what are you looking out for in this election.
Speaking on Accra-based Neat FM Chairman Wontumi as he is popularly called said Amidu is incorruptible.
Chairman Wontumi said he has a firm conviction that the current Attorney General may have benefited from Woyome. He said that may have been her reason for discontinuing the case.
The Supreme Court granted an application by former Attorney General to orally examine Alfred Woyome over his payment of the 51 million cedis.
READ ALSO: Woyome questions rationale behind SC ruling for Amidu to examine him
The judge Justice Enin Yeboah ordered the business man to appear before the court on the 24th of November for the examination.
Justice Enin Yeboah in his ruling said the application was granted because there was no formal evidence of execution of the courts order for the money to be retrieved hence the decision.
According to Nana Addo, he has and will never campaign along the lines of ethnicity and tribalism, but, will rather campaign on the basis of competence, coupled with programmes and policies that will return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity.
Read more: Nana Addo assures Afram Plains residents of jobs and prosperity
Nana Akufo-Addo made this known on Thursday, November 17, 2016, whilst campaigning in Osino, the Fanteakwa South constituency of the Eastern Region, on the 3rd day of his 4-day tour of the Eastern Region.
Read also:NHIA owes Donkorkrom Presby Hospital 8 months arrears
It will be recalled that on November 10, 2012, at a mini-rally in Zualerigu in the Upper East Region, President Mahama called on Northerners to vote for him because I am a northerner.
Four years on, Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, has been reinforcing the Presidents unfortunate statements in his campaigns in the North, urging the people of the 3 Northern Regions to vote for President Mahama, because it will be extremely difficult for a Northerner to get to the Presidency again if President Mahama loses.
See more: IPP endorses Nana Addo
These statements, according to the NPP flagbearer, do not have any place in a democracy, and are messages that will only come from persons and political parties who have no campaign message for the electorate, and will prefer to set tribe against tribe in order to win an election.
I am not appealing for your votes not on the basis that I am from the Eastern Region or from Okyeman. No. I am appealing for your support so I can go into office and implement the programmes and policies I have outlined all throughout my campaign, and before you today, so we can bring progress and prosperity to all in the country, he said.
On Thursday, November 17, 2016, Bobbi Kristina's father testified in the Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Georgia, where the presiding Judge T. Jackson Bedford determined Gordon must pay for loss of life, punitive damages ($250,000), conversion ($1.575 million), assault and battery ($1.37 million), and pain and suffering as a result of assault ($13.8 million).
The amount Gordon will be responsible for paying to Bobbi Kristina's estate is $36,251,918.50, including the judge's determined value of his former girlfriend's life, $15 million.
Bobbi Brown also took to Instagram today, November 18, 2015, sharing a document writing, "Thank you all for your support. NOW is the time for District Attorney Howard to act!! #JusticeforBobbiKristina."
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The suspect identified as Gideon Chubu reportedly impersonated a soldier and duped a mobile police officer of N40,000.
ALSO READ: Man bags 14 years in prison for impersonation
Punch reports that Chubu was arraigned on a two-count charge, bordering on cheating and impersonation which both contravene Section 326 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004.
The prosecutor, Insp. Gabriel Agbadu, told the court that one Cpl. Elija Ikwe, attached to 13 Police Mobile Force, Makurdi, reported the matter at C Division Police Station, Makurdi on November 6.
According to the reports, Ikwe met Chubu who introduced himself as a soldier serving with the Chief of Defence Staff in Abuja, at Wurukum roundabout, Makurdi, on October 26.
Ikwe reported that the convict deceptively collected N40,000 from him, promising to help enlist his younger brother into the Nigerian Army.
Punch reports that the convict was later discovered to have converted the money to his personal use, as he was not a soldier.
The prosecutor revealed that Chubu was arrested during the police investigation into the case and that the suspect confessed to the crime. Chubu who pleaded guilty to the crime, begged the court for leniency.
The presiding Magistrate, Mrs Lillian Tsumba, who noted that the convict was a first time offender, said the sentence was to serve as a deterrent to others.
The Sector Commander, FRSC Ogun, Mr Clement Oladele, made the disclosure at a news conference organised to commemorate the 2016 United Nations Road Traffic Crash Victims Remembrance Day, which took place on Thursday, November 17, in Abeokuta.
ALSO READ: Road safety agency reports accidents involving 786 persons in 5 months
Punch reports that theme for the 2016 celebration is Vital Post-Crash Actions: Medical Care, Investigation and Justice.
According to the sector commander, over 1,143 persons were injured during the period.
Oladele said that most of the accidents were as a result of excessive speed, which could have been avoided.
The corps, as part of its strategic goals, is poised to reduce road crashes by 15 per cent and fatalities by 25 per cent.
The command will continue in its effort to prevent road crashes and achieve a significant reduction by the end of the year.
We enjoin motorists to shun over speeding, be more careful, check their tyres and avoid violating traffic laws, he said.
Oladele went on to state that the FRSC has enhanced its rescue capabilities by providing additional ambulances to its fleet of vehicles.
He said that the rate of crashes witnessed in the country has brought about the need for speed limiters by the corps.
ALSO READ: Niger records 147 road traffic deaths in 9 months
The prominence of speed among the causes of crashes on Nigerian roads prompted the corps to introduce speed limiters to commercial vehicle operators.
As from February 1, 2017, the corps shall begin the full enforcement of speed limiting device on commercial vehicle operators, wherein violators shall be arrested and prosecuted.
From October 1 till date, a total of 4, 976 commercial vehicles have been stopped and checked in Ogun to see if they have speed limiter or not, he said.
The first story that quickly became viral was that of an alleged seven-year-old boy who was burnt to death in a bizarre jungle justice for stealing.
Though there have been different versions of the story with many doubting its authenticity and the age of the victim, it has been established that such a cruel murder should be condemned in its entirety.
Following on the heel of the jungle justice story was that of a woman who was crushed to death by a trailer in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
According to reports, the woman was on top of a commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada and while the cyclist tried to maneuver past the trailer, her cloth got stuck in the tyre of the truck and she was dragged under it and crushed to death.
The gruesome murder of the suspected thief was once again on the front burner as we also took another look at the barbarity of Nigerians in meting out jungle justice to suspects instead of reporting such cases to the law enforcement authorities.
A few of such cases were looked at and in the end, the verdict was out that Nigerians who indulge in such acts are nothing but barbarians.
Rethink It With Ben also made the list with its expository on why the much-maligned Donald Trump won the recently concluded Presidential elections in the United States of America.
From the in-depth analysis, it was clear that Trump won because he was the choice of Americans, regardless of the hatred he exuded during the campaigns.
It was another tale of sorrow following the stabbing to death of a young Nigerian in Canada.
The deceased, a student and son of a Redeemed Christian Church of God pastor, was stabbed during a brawl at a bar by another African man suspected to be a Burundian.
According to Information Nigeria, a seven-year-old boy has been burnt to death in the Badagry area of Lagos State for allegedly attempting to steal garri from a traders shop.
Though there have been conflicting reports especially concerning the age of the victim or what he actually stole, eyewitnesses say he was caught while trying to break into a shop where food stuff are sold in the early hours of Tuesday, November 15, 2015.
The suspect, it was gathered, was nabbed by some men in the area who descended on him and beat him to a pulp before hanging a tire on his neck and setting him on fire, despite pleas by many to hand him over to the police since he had not actually committed the crime.
This is not the first time suspects have been lynched to death in the most gruesome of manners with the crowd often not wanting to know what offense they committed before killing them.
Some of them have been found to be innocent only after they have been sent to their graves.
A middle-aged woman has been crushed to death in a tragic accident that occurred in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state.
Instablog9ja reports that eyewitness who claimed to have been at the scene of the accident at the time said her dress got stuck on the trailer and she was dragged underneath its tires.
The Okada she had been riding on was in the process of overtaking the trailer when the tragic accident occurred.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has continually warned about safety on the highway which would go a long way to reducing fatalities on a daily basis.
May her soul rest in peace.
Nigerians have a double standard in dealing with poor people who commit crimes and rich people who commit crimes.
The story of a 7-year-old boy beaten and burnt to death in Lagos points out the fact that we are animals in this country.
Jungle justice and the mob mentality is still prevalent in this country and it is a sad thing. Yes, there is another version that claims the boy wasn't 7 years old, and he was trying to steal a phone and not garri. It was also said that he tried to kill one of his victims.
The murdered boy's crimes might have been longer than a West African warlord but that doesn't mean he deserved to die in such a barbaric manner.
Our society is barbaric, it kills the poor and praises the corrupt. Tyres and a keg of petrol are quick to surface when someone yells 'thief, thief!' in a neighbourhood. Within a few minutes, a crowd gathers and descends on the 'suspected' thief. His skull is cracked and his are broken before his almost lifeless body is tossed into the flames.
This has happened so many times in Nigeria. It is very rare to find a Nigerian who has not seen the charred corpse of a suspected thief killed by a mob.
The famous example of this perverted form of justice is Aluu 4. Four young men, Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lloyd, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekena Elkanah were falsely accused of theft in Aluu, a village in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State in 2012. They were subsequently lynched to death.
People around the world are still in shock over the win of Donald Trump, a serial woman abuser and racist, over Hillary Clinton in the just concluded US Presidential election.
How could this have happened? All the polls pointed to Hillary being victorious and pundits are still wondering how Trump snatched it?
But poll numbers show that Trump won 29% i.e. a third of Latino votes even after he repeatedly threatened to deport them and build a wall on the Mexican border.
You would also have expected American women, of all races, to unite behind Hillary against a man who has referred to them as dogs, pigs and even advised men to grab them by the pussy.
Yet only 34% of white women voted for Hillary while 62% voted for Trump. So clearly theres something bigger than hate, misogyny, and racism at play here.
Though lots of Trump supporters would love to hang a 'niggar', he won this election on the backs of neutrals who voted Republican. Why would they vote a man like Trump?
America might be the land of the free but it was founded on Christian values. In 2014, 280 million Americans or 70% Americans were Christians. These consists of African Americans, Latinos, and Whites.
According to the USA today 50% of Americas middle class who earn $100,000 and above voted for Trump.
Why? Frankly, because they were tired. "Mrs. Clinton comes from the establishment. It's the same old fashioned government. We don't need that anymore," Rolando Chumaceiro, a family doctor.
He admitted that Trump was vulgar towards women but still prefers him to Clinton.
The way I see it, Trump did not win, the Democrats lost. The people wanted a change and Hillary, a Democrat, simply does not reflect that change.
Solomon Odekunle, the son of a Redeemed Christian Church of God pastor, has been reported dead following stab wounds he sustained at a bar in Ottawa, Canada.
Odekunle, who gained admission to study Economics at the University of Ottawa in 2012 was stabbed during a brawl between Ndikuriyo and another person.
His sister, Deborah, gave a heartfelt eulogy for her brother whom she apparently had a high regard for.
She wrote, If I did know it would be your last, I would have given you more than a fist bump. I would have gotten down on my knees and give you the deepest bro-hug.
If I did know it would be your last, I would have pleaded with the drama leader to allow the rehearsal to linger a little so you and Peter could make us giggle a little more with some frog jump.
If I did know it would be your last, I would have treasured those great words you shared with me a couple of months ago in the technical department, have them handwritten with the best calligraphic pens, framed and given to you right after doing those frog jumps."
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, made the disclosure while parading the suspects at the command in Yenagoa, Vanguard reports.
ALSO READ: Nigerian prophet arrested for raping minor in Zambia
According to the reports, the cleric identified as Ogbomo Jerry, reportedly lured the victim to his office at Aduleama in Amassoma community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state and raped her.
Ogunjemilusi said:
Also arrested on October 6 was one 21-year-old Emanso David, who is a carpenter, for luring an eight-year-old into his workshop at Igbogene Market and raping her. He further threatened to kill her if she tells her mother.
Also on October 14, another suspect, Atika Eguini, lured another eight-year-old old into his house in Okriama Compound in Amassoma and had canal knowledge of her. The victim confirmed that she had been lured thrice by the same man anytime her elder sister travelled.
The accused, Abayomi Shorungbe, who works at the Ikeja airport and resides at 8, Ejire Lane, Orile-Agege, a suburb of Lagos, was docked on Friday, November 18, for conspiracy and assault, Punch reports.
The court heard that the offences were committed on Oct. 24 at the accuseds residence.
According to the prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, the complainant, one Mr Adewale Adejoro, is one of the tenants of Shorungbes father.
Because he hasnt paid his house rent, the accused hired two soldiers who came to the house and dragged him to an unknown place.
The accused was beaten several times and was made to write a letter of undertaking that he will vacate his apartment by end of year, he said.
Ogu said that the two soldiers who took part in the assault are still at large and that the offences contravene Sections 166, 171 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him.
Alexandar Vera reportedly admitted to having sex with her 13-year-old student and getting pregnant with his child.
According to the reports, Vera met the eighth grader during summer school as he was in her English class.
ABC News reports that their relationship quickly spiralled into a sexual one.
Vera who was an English teacher at Aldine ISDs Stovall Middle School claims she and the teenager are in love, and has been introduced to the boy's parents as his girlfriend.
Court documents reveal that the parents of the boy have accepted the relationship, go further to include Vera in family gatherings.
The documents also revealed that Vera has been pregnant with the young boy's child since January and his family is super excited for them and have been supportive of the unborn child.
The reports revealed that Child Protective Services paid an unexpected visit to the school in February, asking questions about their relationship.
ALSO READ: Married female teacher made students line up for sex with her
The accused identified as, Ibukun Ajimuda, who is also accused of maliciously damaging a television set and a CD player valued at N79,000, is a resident of No. 30, Ifesuwapo St., Olodi Apapa, Lagos, Daily Post reports.
ALSO READ: Man docked for allegedly assaulting police officer
Ajimuda is faced with a two-count charge of grievous harm and willful damage in an Apapa Magistrates Court.
The court heard that the accused committed the offences on October 28 at his residential premises.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Kokoye Olusegun, said the accused who had a misunderstanding with the victim, one Ayese Isiyeme, stormed into the apartment, and maliciously damaged Isiyeme's television set and CD player valued at N79,000.
According to the reports, the accused attacked the victim when he tried to protest over the damage in his home, inflicting injuries on his body.
Daily Post reports that following a filed report to the police by the complainant, the accused was arrested for questioning.
However, the septuagenarian pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The presiding magistrate, Magistrate M.A Etti, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000, with two sureties who are gainfully employed with evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
ALSO READ: Man arraigned in court for assaulting female police officer
According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened sections 243 and 348 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
According to a Facebook user, Mohammed Grema Adamu, the driver, Saminu Barau, a father of three, was killed in cold-blood by a police officer around the Maraban Jos area of the state on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, during a raid in the area.
The late driver who was popularly known as Danlami was said to be nursing a fractured leg and could not run when the police stormed the area and following an altercation, the police officer identified simply as Kura (Hyena), shot him dead.
In demanding justice for the late man, Adamu has created a hashtag, #Justice4Danlami, to press for justice for the man.
Here is what he wrote on his Facebook wall:
"A father of 3, commercial bus driver; Saminu Bara'u popularly known as Danlami, was killed in cold-blood by a police officer in Maraban Jos, Kaduna State.
The incidence occurred around 8pm on Tuesday, 15th November 2016, while the victim was seated outside his residence in Maraban Jos, when a team of police stormed the area in the name of patrol.
Having a fractured leg and being innocent, Danlami remain seated as the police arrived. One Police officer nicknamed (literally mean Hyena), ordered Danlami to stand up and run or he would shoot him but he (Danlami) calmly replied that he could run because his leg is fractured, displaying his crutches.
Unfortunately for Danlami, the barbaric KURA shot him to dead. Immediately after he shot Danlami, angry youths descended on KURA and were about to take jungle justice on him.
It took the intervention of some respected elders and a human right activist (name withheld) to rescue him.
The case has since been filed at Unguwan Sanusi Police Station and we learned that KURA was transferred to State CID.
Our fear is the usual; we don't want the case dead at arrival just because a Police officer is involved.
Let us stand up for justice! Let us think of his wife and 3 kids! The state government should do something!! The IGP should ensure KURA is brought to book!!!
Keep sharing until justice is done. All we want is #Justice4Danlami."
Police brutality and trigger-happy police officers killing innocent Nigerians in cold blood have been prevalent in the country for many years with the perpetrators hardly convicted.
This is contained in a statement issued by the agencys country office in Abuja.
The agency stated that the laboratory was purchased with a grant from the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) to support polio eradication activities in Nigeria.
It said that the new modular laboratory, a standard BSL2 laboratory, will support diagnosis of many viral infections like measles, rubella, rotavirus, yellow fever and dengue fever, among others.
"The Department of Virology, UI, is important in the fight against polio. It has single-handedly processed all Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) samples from states in the country.
"This is before the Maiduguri laboratory was accredited to support polio activities by WHO in 2001," it said.
It said that the new laboratory will expectedly increase the workspace and pave way for expansion of environmental surveillance in Nigeria.
It stated that Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, who accented the donation of the modular laboratory as the Vice Chancellor of the university, is expected as special guest of honour.
Dr Clement Illo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, told newsmen in Abuja that government was positive that ASUU would resolve the crises soon.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a meeting with ASUU, convened by the Senate President, the Committee on Labour and the Committee on Education, among others, ended in deadlock on Wednesday.
Illo, who described the meeting as a very positive step, said the three-hour meeting recorded huge success toward resolving the issues.
He, however, said it is still work in progress and we are still meeting tomorrow (Friday) and on Monday.
But the indications are very positive that the issues will be resolved as quickly as possible. We are sure of success on Friday but if we did not, then we will definitely succeed by Monday.
So, the possibility like I said of suspending the strike is still very positive because there is high possibility that the strike would be suspended.
This is because the issues have been very well articulated and already, there is a focus on how it will be resolved, he said.
The permanent secretary said government would do everything possible to ensure that the process of implementing the agreement was resolved as quick as possible.
He added that like I said, it is very positive, why should government not implement something it signed in good faith?.
Udenta, who teaches Government and Public Administration at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Friday.
He said that Nigerians must stand and fight together with any administration that abhorred corruption in order to redeem the nation`s image and improve the economy.
The university teacher said that the countrys economy and image had been damaged by unpatriotic elements over the years.
The lack of leadership with character, honesty and focus over the years has brought us to the level of scorn by smaller African countries.
We need a corruption-free and focused leadership as well as people that would lead the country to perform and grow from its present level.
Look at the Chinese, the Japanese and the Indians; the Europe and U.S. today recognise and accord these three countries high respect unlike before.
This is because they have proven that they can perform and can even surpass development and technological advancement of Europe and the U.S.," he said.
Udenta said that the country could no longer live in corruption and ineptitude which took it backwards even when others were rising.
This was disclosed by Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Friday, November 18.
As we speak, President Buhari is concluding agreements with the U.S. to return our stolen money in their banks. A FGN account has already been given for the return of one million Dollars from Alamisiegha, Shehu said via Twitter.
Judgement on the USD 480 million Abacha loot has been won and our Attorney-General, Malami (SAN) will be in the US next week to speak to the Department of Justice, USDOJ on the next steps for the return of that as well. The U.S is paying to Nigeria, not the other way round, abi?" he added.
Shehu was responding to claims that Buhari donated $500 million to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.
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Moments like when he cited his past affairs with beautiful Igbo women as testament that he harbours no hatred toward their ethnic group.
Moments like when the former Aviation Minister churns out one hare-brained conspiracy theory after another to explain world events.
And moments like this weekwhen Fani-Kayode inexplicably compared leader of the Independent People Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to Nnamdi Azikiwe and Odimegwu Ojukwu.
Fani-Kayode, who is facing charges bordering on money laundering, shared prison walls with Kanu and Boko Haram terrorists, by his own account.
The garrulous smooth talker recalls his prison meeting with Kanu in the following excerpts:
When I went to visit the great and brilliant freedom fighter, Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of IPOB and easily the most courageous, powerful and credible Igbo leader in Nigeria today, in his cell we had a very instructive and long discussion.
I had never met Nnamdi before and I was amazed at his depth of knowledge, his immense courage and his deep convictions.
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There is no doubt in my mind that that man is going places and in him the Igbo have an Ojukwu and Nnamdi Azikiwe all rolled into one. He is destined for greatness.
My Boko Haram friends accompanied me to that meeting, drew a ten man security cordon around me when we entered the general population of the prison and waited outside as Nnamdi and I spoke for almost three hours.
They even accompanied me to Church on Sunday and waited outside until we finished.
Kanu is Ojukwu and Azikiwe rolled into one? Seriously, Fani-Kayode?
Kanu who incites hate and violence, who preaches bigotry and preys on peoples resentment and fears, is destined for greatness?
Fani-Kayode pens a load of crap and tripe, week in, week out.
His latest detention for acts bordering on alleged corruption while he oversaw the media and publicity arm of the Goodluck Jonathan re-election campaign, will only make it worse for his reading public.
But we owe it a duty to the rest of the sane world to always call this dude out when he turns facts on their head like he does in all of his essays.
Ojukwu had his flaws, but he was an ideologue. Kanu blows a lot of hot air, but is mentally deranged. Ojukwu had a sound mind and articulated his views as succinctly as possible, even though he often came across as a misguided warlord.
Kanu jabbers and is largely irrational.
Azikiwe was a nationalist; a unifying voice for all of Nigerias geopolitical regions. Kanu preaches division and ethnic hatred. He is a gun-runner whose parents still cant explain what seized him.
Kanu cant walk in the shoes left by Azikiwe and Ojukwu, let alone fill them. He pursues an ideology that feeds off emptiness and utopia.
But we shouldnt be surprised by a Fani-Kayode who regards the likes of Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin as role models.
Fayose filed an application before a Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the seizure of his landed assets by the EFCC.
The presiding judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba expressed reservation over the absence of EFCC's counsels and the failure of the anti-graft agency to file a response to Fayoses application despite being aware that Thursday had been scheduled for the hearing.
On July 20, 2016, Justice Dimgba had granted an ex-parte order in favour of the EFCC for the interim forfeiture of some landed assets in Lagos and Abuja linked to Fayose.
The assets include four units of 4 bedroom at Charlets 3, 4, 6 and 9 Plot 100 Tiamiyi Salvage, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Other affected properties are located at 44, Osun Crescent, Maitama, Abuja and Plot 1504 Yedseram Street, Maitama, Abuja.
According to reports, over 10 Shiite members were allegedly killed on Monday, November 14, 2016, when they clashed with the police.
According to Punch, Fayose said the continued detention of the Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and other members of the sect, is a violation of their human rights.
He said All well-meaning Nigerians must prevail on the Federal Government to release Ibrahim El-Zakzaky without further delay.
The Governor also called on the human rights organisations to probe the killing of people in Southern Kaduna by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Fayose also expressed worry at the way security agencies use fire arms to disperse crowds, adding that Under international human rights law governing the use of firearms during policing operations, the intentional use of lethal force is only permitted when strictly unavoidable, to protect life.
In a months time, it will be exactly one year since Ibrahim El-Zakzaky was arrested and detained without trial. This is unacceptable in a democratic society where there should be strict adherence to the rule of law.
The allegation was made by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Shehu mentioned the Kano-Katsina dual road project as an example of one of Jonathans deceitful and ghost projects now being given life.
Kano-Katsina dual highway was awarded three years ago by the last administration. They didnt pay a kobo for its start-up. President Buhari just paid money for the first tranche of 75 kilometers and work has begun apace, the presidential aide said on Tuesday, November 15, during an interview on Express Radio in Kano state.
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Dasuki, who is the father of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki died on Monday, November 14, 2016, after a brief illness.
According to Vanguard, NASFAT described the Late Sultan as a patriot and a man of honour who stood for justice.
The Muslim group said the death of Dasuki is a loss to the Islamic community, Sokoto caliphate and to his family.
NASFAT also issued a statement saying We sincerely console and commiserate with the Sultan and the President General, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Saad Abubakar III, the Sokoto State Governor, Alh. Aminu Tambuwal, the people Sokoto State and more importantly his immediate family over this irreparable loss.
We are however consoled by his immense contributions to Islam and mankind. The late Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki will also be remembered for his steadfastness and absolute faith in Allah even in the face of severe adversity.
We pray almighty Allah to comfort the entire ummah, the Sultan, Dr. Mohammad Saad Abubakar III, the state governor Alh Aminu Tambuwwal, the sokoto caliphate and the deceased immediate family and grant them the fortitude to bear the loss while we pray Allah to forgive his sins and grant him Al-Jannah Firdaos. Amin.
The clash, which occurred during a march by the group, left many Shiites dead and several others missing.
The US made its comments via a statement. It reads:
This is the latest in a series of violent incidents between security forces and members of the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), some of which have resulted in deaths, destruction of property, and the arbitrary detention of IMN members.
The United States calls for calm and restraint on all sides, a reduction of tensions, and greater communication between Shia citizens and government authorities.
We continue to urge the government to ensure accountability for the deaths of more than 300 IMN members during December 15, 2015 clashes between the IMN and security forces in Zaria, Kaduna State.
We also call on the Nigerian government to conduct a transparent investigation of the latest incidents and bring to account anyone responsible for violating the law.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim explained, after the attack, that his men were forced to retaliate after the Shiites killed a police officer.
ALSO READ:Kaduna Governor declares Shiite sect illegal
The anti-graft agency on Friday, November 18, told the court that its request follows Ladojas refusal to appear in court, to defend a N4.7 billion money laundering charges brought against him by the Commission.
Counsel to the EFCC, Mr Olabisi Oluwafemi, from the law firm of Festus Keyamo, told the court that Ladoja, alongside his former aide, Chief Waheed Akanbi, were invited to the EFCCs office, but they shunned the invitation.
He said the accused deliberately stayed away from court and merely sent their lawyers to represent them.
He, therefore, urged the court to issue bench warrants against the accused, arguing that without their attendance in court the trial cannot proceed.
Reacting to the application for a warrant, counsel to Ladoja, Mr Bolaji Onilenla told the court that he was not aware that the business of the day was for the arraignment.
He argued that this was so because there was a pending appeal before the Supreme Court.
He informed the court that after the decision of the Court of Appeal, Ladoja changed his counsel, and then filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.
He stated that neither the accused nor their counsel were served with any court summons to appear in court.
ALSO READ: Accord Party confirms Ladoja received N100m from Anenih
Onilenla also challenged the prosecutorial powers of the prosecutor on the grounds that the fiat to prosecute was exclusively given to Fetus Keyamo.
He added that such fiat could not be transferred to any other person in his chambers.
He also disclosed that the Supreme Court had earlier dismissed Ladojas appeal pursuant to order 6 rule 3 of the procedure rules, but that an application has been filed to restore the appeal.
He added that to continue with the trial will amount to showing disrespect to the apex court and it will be an infringement on the rights of the accused.
After the submissions of the counsels the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, fixed November 25 to rule on the application for a warrant of arrest.
The EFCC had in November 2008 arraigned Ladoja along with Akanbi, before Justice Ramat Mohammed, who was then serving at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the two men conspired to convert properties and resources derived from an alleged illegal act, with the intention of concealing their illicit origin.
It also alleged that Ladoja used N42 million out of the proceeds to purchase an Armoured Land Cruiser Jeep, and remitted about 600,000 pounds to one Bimpe Ladoja in London.
Ladoja and Akanbi had both pleaded not guilty to the charges and urged the court to quash the charges.
For today, November 18 2016:
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
Fresh fears of aviation fuel scarcity hit operators
Another bout of aviation fuel scarcity appears to have begun at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, yesterday, with airline operators unable to get the volume required for optimal daily operations.
Government cant pay salaries of former presidents
Nigeria has not paid salaries and other allowances to four former ex-presidents due to lack of funds.
No deal on $30b loan, Senate tells Buhari
President Muhammadu Buharis bid to borrow $29.96 billion suffered a fresh setback yesterday as Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki declared that the position of the National Assembly on the matter remained unchanged.
THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER
FG cancels joint venture cash calls with oil coys
THE Federal Government has finally announced the cancellation of joint cash call with oil companies operating in Nigeria.
Why FG is owing ex-Heads of State 10 months salaries, allowances
THE Presidency revealed yesterday that in the last 10 months, the federal government has not paid the salaries and allowances of all former Presidents in the country.
Our refineriesll become scraps by 2019, if- Kachikwu
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday, warned that unless urgent steps were taken to immediately revamp the countrys refineries, they might become scraps in 2019, when the Dangote Refinery eventually comes on stream.
THE NATION NEWSPAPER
N2.2b fraud: Ex-ICC man to try Supreme Court chiefs
The Federal Government has hired a former International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Charles Adeogun-Philips, to lead its team of lawyers to prosecute the Supreme Court Registrar and others for alleged N2.2b fraud.
Fed Govt owes Jonathan, Obasanjo, IBB, Shagari, 10 months salary allowances
Former leaders Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and Shehu Shagari have not been paid their salaries and allowances since January.
Senate clears Durojaiye, Araraume, Sunday Dare, others for NCC
It was confirmation of appointments galore at the Senate yesterday as two Justices were endorsed for the Supreme Court, commissioners were okayed for the Independent National Electoral Commission and board members for the National Communications Commission (NCC) .
THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER
Panic in Rivers as police disperse APC, PDP protesters
THERE was panic in Port Harcourt on Thursday as the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command dispersed the protesting members of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Fraud: FG to arraign Justice Ngwuta Nov. 21
The Federal Government will on November 21 arraign a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges of money laundering and others relating to violation of provisions of Immigration Act relating to obtaining of passports.
PDP differs as Buhari says corrupt Nigerians fighting govt
Saraki said further that the 8th Senate under his leadership is working to create the legislative framework for inclusive economic prosperity to all citizens.
The Senate President made the comments on Friday, November 18, while presenting the key note address at the inaugural National Chevening Alumni Leadership Summit organized by the British High Commission and the Nigeria Chevening Alumni Association in Lagos.
According to a statement released by Sarakis Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, the Senate President said that the most educated and skilled people should take over governance and help to convert the numerous God-given resources to genuine development for Nigeria and Nigerians.
...I wholeheartedly invite you to work with us in productive partnership so that we can journey together in this difficult but necessary task to build the Nigeria that we all wish for, for us and for our children. We are here today to explore 'The Economic prosperity of Nigeria and the role of alumni in contributing to economic growth', Saraki said.
As we continue to partner with the private sector, we in the 8th Senate believe that you have a significant role to play in contributing to economic growth largely by engaging with us in government; either at the Executive or Legislative level.
We have seen from our partnership with the National Economic Summit Group (NESG), the benefits and we believe that with the caliber of alumni here, more can be achieved. Let me reassure you that we remain focused on achieving economic prosperity for all Nigerians.
As we continue to grapple with the challenge of how best to manage our natural resources, here yet is another dimension. We must urgently begin to develop a system that puts our human assets to best use.
We must urgently begin to create a system that enables us to put our best brains and minds in positions that they can contribute effectively to the development of our country. As we continue to struggle to find new solutions to the old problems that we face, people like you must be at the forefront, you must bring your expertise and experience to bear.
Our approach therefore is to create the legislative framework for inclusive economic prosperity to all our citizens. We believe that the kind of economy we must build as we face the grim prospect of a post-oil world; is that which is able to tap on the best of our human capital, the creative energy of our youth and the diverse resources of our land.
Even as we try to embrace this new thinking and solutions, we recognize the institutional challenges. This is why one of the first legislative initiatives we undertook as early as six months from resumption of office was to review all the laws that have made it difficult for people to do business in our country and frustrated investors willing to come into our economy.
The 8th Senate is confident that these bills, once passed into law, would lay a solid legislative and policy foundation for the broad-based reforms that are so urgently needed to set our country on the path of inclusive economic growth, he added.
ALSO READ:Buhari holds secret meeting with Saraki
The court in Wisconsin granted a stay to a judge's order that Dassey should be released, citing the state's appeal of the order, according to court documents.
"Mr. Dassey will remain in prison pending the outcome of the appeal," Brad Schimel, Wisconsin's attorney general who filed the emergency motion, said in a statement.
Schimel has been countering moves by the US federal judge in Wisconsin, William Duffin, who in August overturned Dassey's murder conviction. Schimel appealed that decision.
On Monday, Duffin ordered the release of Dassey, 27, arguing he should be freed while the appeal of the overturned murder conviction is processed.
Schimel quickly acted to block the release, winning approval by the three-judge appeals court.
Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were sentenced to life terms in 2007 for the murder of a female photographer, Teresa Halbach, in 2005.
Their story was featured in the Netflix documentary series "Making a Murderer," launched in December 2015. It raised questions about the US legal system and prompted many viewers to believe the pair were unfairly convicted.
Judge Duffin, in his order overturning Dassey's conviction, harshly rebuked the investigating police and Leonard Kachinsky, the public defender appointed in 2006 to represent Dassey -- a 16-year-old minor at the time.
Dassey has intellectual deficits and was unfairly pushed into a confession during a controversial interrogation, and his defense was inadequate, supporters of his release argue.
Following the Netflix series, fans called for the two men to be freed and almost 130,000 people signed a White House petition asking for a presidential pardon.
The White House explained that because the men were not convicted of federal crimes and "are both state prisoners," pardoning them was outside the scope of the president's power.
The documentary was prompted by the unusual story of Avery. He was exonerated of a rape case through DNA evidence and freed from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years behind bars.
The comment was made by a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun after Buhari said that corrupt Nigerians were using their ill-gotten wealth to fight him.
If the President, who is fighting corruption, suddenly discovers that people who have stolen are using the proceeds of corruption to fight him, I think it is an admission of failure. Corruption cannot be fought with corruption, Oyedokun told Punch on Thursday, November 17.
The President must be able to fish out those fighting him with corruption and ensure they are tried. There are allegations of corruption among those that surround the President and his party members.
He (Buhari) wont succeed because he is using corruption to fight corruption. When someone loses a horse and he unknowingly tells the person that stole the horse to help him find the horse, would the owner ever find the horse?" he added.
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The allegation was made by US non-governmental group, the American Black Group for Democracy which claimed that the money was pledged to the US Secretary of State, John Kerry in Abuja.
However, the Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu has described the accusations as crazy.
Shehu also said that Nigeria doesnt have that kind of money to throw around.
What is the craziest accusation made against President Buhari? That he donated $500m to Hillarys campaign and that Donald Trump is angry. This has gone viral, sadly Nigerians are believing it! Shehu tweeted on Friday, November 18.
President Buharis Nigeria doesnt have this kind of money to throw around. Even if the money is there, this President is the least likely person to give it as donation, and for what?" he added.
Shehu also said that Nigeria was planning to receive money from the US and not the other way around.
ALSO READ:Donald Trump wins 2016 US presidential poll
The party said Bellos administration has done nothing but to spread poverty, sickness and hardship.
The Kogi state PDP also alleged that a lot of kogi indigenes have died because of the Governors insensitivity and poor management of the states economy.
According to Punch, Chief Kola Ojo, the Kogi West zonal chairman, said This Yahaya Bello administration is heartless, inconsiderate, insensitive and irresponsive to the plight of Kogi civil servants, it has utterly failed the people as it is bereft of ideas on what to do to move the state forward.
Governor Bellos spokesman, Kingsley Fanwo, however dismissed the Partys allegations, describing it as paradoxical.
Fanwo also said Someone defecated on the floor and then turn around to blame the person parking it of being slow. The previous PDP administrations in the state were responsible for the rot we are trying to clean. The last government left the civil service morally broken. Months went without payment of salaries.
Adding that Governor Yahaya Bello is not expecting the PDP to be happy with his reforms and resolve to question previous administrations over how the commonwealth of the people was managed.
Ante Gotovina, 61, was acquitted of war crimes on appeal in 2012 before the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) alongside another former general, Mladen Markac.
On Thursday, the Croatian government named Gotovina as a "special adviser to the ministry of defence" during a meeting in the town of Vukovar in the east of the country, HINA said.
The meeting was held on the eve of the 25th anniversary of when Vukovar fell to Serbian separatists during the 1991-95 Croatian War of Independence.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said Gotovina's "advice will be precious given the challenges facing the country and the region".
According to newspaper reports in France and Croatia, the former general, who has acquired French nationality, has had a chequered history.
French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique and Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List claimed he once served in the French Foreign Legion, worked for French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen's security detail, spent time in a French jail, trained paramilitary groups in Latin America and was once involved in kidnapping and extortion.
Gotovina and Markac were initially sentenced to 24 and 18 years in jail respectively when they were found guilty of the murder of 324 ethnic Serbs and the forced displacement of some 90,000 others during an operation led by the former.
That Operation Storm practically ended the war sparked by Croatia's proclamation of independence from the Serb-dominated former Yugoslavia.
It is the first political posting assigned to Gotovina since his acquittal, although both he and Markac were given positions on an advisory security body 18 months ago.
Gotovina will link up again with a former brother in arms, Defence Minister Damir Kristicevic, another former general.
"Aren't you ashamed to repeat claims by a man who has spent time in jail?" Sarkozy retorted during the final television debate among seven right-wing presidential hopefuls ahead of the first round of their primary Sunday.
Sarkozy, who is bidding to recapture the presidency in next year's election, has for years been dogged by allegations that he accepted millions from Kadhafi during his successful 2007 run for the top office.
On Tuesday, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said he had delivered three cash-stuffed suitcases from the Libyan regime toward the Frenchman's first presidential bid.
Takieddine has been convicted "countless times for defamation," Sarkozy fumed, calling him a "liar".
Takieddine told the Mediapart investigative news site he made three trips from Tripoli to Paris in late 2006 and early 2007 with cash for Sarkozy's campaign.
Each time he carried a suitcase containing between 1.5 and two million euros ($1.6 million and $2.1 million) in 200-euro and 500-euro notes, Takieddine told Mediapart, saying he was given the money by Kadhafi's military intelligence chief.
Takieddine, a middle man in huge arms and petrol contracts between France and several Middle Eastern countries, was briefly placed in preventive custody in 2013 when he was considered a flight risk during an affair related to a submarine deal.
His claims caused fresh embarrassment for Sarkozy, who is trailing former premier Alain Juppe in the race for the right-wing presidential nomination.
Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery said the move follows a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to delay the dismantling of the camp, originally planned for this month. It has now been pushed back to May.
"I wish to announce that the government has accepted the request to extend the deadline for the completion of the repatriation of Somali refugees and the eventual closure of Dadaab refugee complex by six months," he told a news conference.
Nkaissery said a comprehensive repatriation programme would be rolled out next month at the camp, which is home to hundreds of thousands of mostly Somali refugees.
"The repatriation will continue to be carried out in a humane, safe and dignified manner," he said.
Since sending troops into neighbouring Somalia in 2011, Kenya has come under repeated attack from Shabaab, East Africa's long-time branch of Al-Qaeda.
'Forcible returns are illegal'
Nairobi has taken a hardline position, claiming Dadaab acts as a terrorist training ground for Shabaab Islamists, and has publicly and repeatedly said it would remove all Somali refugees from the country by the end of the year.
"Delaying the closure of the camp by six months is certainly better than deporting the refugees in two weeks. But with the new date... the refugees will continue to feel that they must leave," said Gerry Simpson, a researcher at rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"Forcible returns are illegal. Kenya must end its threats to close Dadaab and the UNHCR and donors must press Kenya to publicly reassure the Somali refugees and tell them that they are welcome in Kenya until they are able to return home safely."
In September HRW warned in a report that the repatriation of Somalis from the sprawling Dadaab camp violated international standards and that refugees were returning home involuntarily only to face persecution and hunger.
The Kenyan government dismissed the report.
Refugees will be returning to a country that already has over one million people displaced from their homes, where five million lack enough food and where African and Somali forces are still fighting Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab militants.
An estimated 18,000 have returned this year -- 10,000 since the announcement of the camp's closure.
But these are no ordinary students: they are Congolese refugees for whom such a qualification could spell an escape from stateless limbo.
Over the past year, a Rwandan charity called Kepler has been offering refugees in Kiziba camp the chance to take online degree courses from the Southern New Hampshire University in the United States.
Since the mid-1990s, Kiziba has housed thousands of refugees who have fled the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. It is currently home to 17,000 people, some of whom were born and raised in the camp.
Until recently a university degree was an impossible dream with local fees at a Rwandan university costing up to $1,200 (1,100 euros) a year, well beyond the reach of young refugees.
And even if they did get the money, the country's main universities are all in the capital Kigali, which is a three-hour drive from this isolated hilltop camp.
But this year, a group of 25 refugees all in their 20s began studying communications and management.
"Before finishing high school, I had no hope of going to university but now I see it's possible!" enthuses Eugenie Manirafasha, who was just six months old when her family fled to Rwanda in 1996.
Now she is one step closer to realising her ambition of becoming a hospital director.
Education for freedom
The refugees follow an online version of the US course but at a less demanding pace, allowing them up to five years to complete the degree, with much of the first year devoted to getting their spoken and written English up to scratch.
Access to higher education "is very important for refugees all over the world," says Nina Weaver, who runs Kepler's educational programmes.
Even more so in Rwanda where refugees "have the right to work and to move around freely which is not the case in many other countries," she says.
Having a degree gives them "an opportunity to integrate better" into Rwandan society, as well as a way to "give back" to the country that has taken them in, Weaver explains.
A university education also offers them an escape route from dependence on charity handouts, says Mark Roeder of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
"Tertiary education is one way to make refugees independent," he told AFP. "It gives a boost to (the) refugee mentality and gives them hope they are not being forgotten by the international community."
Unique challenges
There are currently 74,000 Congolese refugees living in five camps in Rwanda. Most are Tutsis who have suffered during successive rounds of conflict over ethnicity, land ownership and regional influence in eastern Congo.
With some of them in Rwanda for more than two decades, few are eager to return to neighbouring Congo. And their studies offer them the chance of a better life in Rwanda, or elsewhere, Roeder says.
But bringing the programme to life in a refugee camp is not without challenges.
The camp is not connected to the electricity grid meaning all the computers and the internet routers are powered by solar energy, which is not always reliable.
And students often have to balance their studies with the demands of supporting their families as well as dealing with other issues such as food insecurity.
For Manirafasha, this means holding down a job teaching the local Kinyarwanda language in the camp's high school, which brings in around $30 (27 euros) a month.
"Difficult life conditions sometimes affect my studies, like on days when I haven't had anything to eat or if I don't have clothes to wear," says this 20-year-old who lives with her parents and five brothers and sisters.
The Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD) has tracked human rights violations committed between July 1955, a year before Tunisia gained its independence from France, and December 2013 when the fact-finding body was established.
Several men and women who survived abuses under successive authoritarian regimes are appearing on national television on Thursday and Friday evenings to tell their stories before the commission.
The testimonies started with Ourida Kadoussi, the mother of a protester shot by security forces in January 2011 during the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
"They killed our children. We have not been given our rights," she said at the Club Elyssa, one of several properties confiscated from Ben Ali's entourage after his removal.
"We want to live freely, with heads held high," Kadoussi, who spoke for twenty minutes, said.
IVD member Khaled Krichi told reporters ahead of the broadcasts: "We will participate in unveiling the truth about these violations... in order to turn a page and move directly on to national reconciliation."
He said the interviewees, who will take turns speaking for up to 45 minutes, "represent entire generations" of Tunisians who endured mistreatment and oppression.
The black years of rights violations in Tunisia cover the rule of Habib Bourguiba, between 1957 and 1987, and of his successor Ben Ali.
'A historic moment'
The slew of complaints which the commission received include torture, arbitrary detentions, physical abuse and violations of freedom of speech.
Women, who made up a quarter of victims who came forward, complained of sexual abuse, until now a taboo topic in the North African country.
Tunisia has largely avoided the chaos and bloodshed endured in other Arab states that witnessed regime change in the wake of region-wide popular protests in 2011.
The IVD, which seeks to rehabilitate and compensate victims, is a rare attempt at transitional justice in the face of complaints from many Tunisians -- beset by high unemployment and a stagnant economy -- that their lives have not improved since the revolution.
IVD president Sihem Bensedrine said victims of and witnesses to abuses had come forward from across the country and were ready to testify on crimes committed throughout the commission's 1955-2013 remit period.
She described the inquiry, which is examining 62,000 cases, as "a historic moment that our children and grandchildren will read about in books".
London-based Amnesty International welcomed the public hearings, saying "victims... who have waited decades for justice may finally have a chance to have their right to truth fulfilled".
Prosecutions 'real test'
The panel, which comprises rights activists and representatives of victims, heard 11,000 women victims tell their stories behind closed doors.
In principle, it had full access to state archives and its remit covers violations of human rights -- notably voluntary homicide, rape, extrajudicial executions and torture -- by "bodies of the state and groups or individuals acting in its name or under its protection".
But the work of the panel, one of the first bodies set up under a Transitional Justice Law passed in 2013, has been long, painful and rife with challenges.
"Detractors of transitional justice, those who did not want to break with the past in 2011, are still at work" to this day, said Antonio Manganella of the watchdog Lawyers Without Borders.
"There is still a lot of reluctance from some state institutions to cooperate with the IVD," said Manganella, who heads the group's office in Tunisia.
Amnesty added: "The real test facing Tunisia's transitional justice process, however, is whether it will ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions for the crimes of the past decades."
The dates of the televised hearings are highly symbolic.
The next hearing date is scheduled for December 17 -- six years to the day since street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, prompting mass protests that exploded into the Arab Spring.
Hanoi has lengthened the runway on Spratly island from less than 2,500 feet (760 metres) to 3,300 feet, the US-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said in a report, citing images from early November that appeared to be from a satellite.
Vietnam will likely extend the runway to 4,000 feet in total, added the monitor, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Communist Vietnam is also building two large hangars capable of hosting its maritime surveillance aircraft and transport planes, AMTI reported.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea. It has reclaimed reefs and built airstrips capable of hosting large military planes, sparking anger from competing claimants led by Vietnam and the Philippines.
Hanoi and Beijing have traded diplomatic barbs over disputed island chains and waters in the sea.
Tensions have eased slightly in recent months but the issue remains incendiary on both sides.
In 2014 China moved a controversial oil rig into contested territory, prompting riots in Vietnam though tensions have simmered in recent years.
"Even amid reduced diplomatic tensions, Vietnam continues to modernise its military and seek closer security ties with Japan, the United States and India in preparation for future Chinese assertiveness in disputed waters," AMTI said in its report published Tuesday.
Hanoi did not respond to a request for comment Friday, but Beijing issued a customary rebuke and asserted its claim over the disputed Spratly chain, which it calls the Nansha islands.
"We are firmly opposed to some relevant country's illegal occupation and construction work on some of the islands and reefs of China's Nansha islands," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuan said at a regular briefing.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said a draft resolution will be presented to the council in the coming days to ban weapons sales to the African country and impose sanctions, setting the stage for a clash with Russia, which opposes an arms embargo.
"South Sudan is a nation at the precipice," Power told the council.
"In the coming days, the United States will put forward a proposal to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on the individuals who have been the biggest spoilers to achieve lasting peace," she said.
Of the council's permanent, veto-wielding members, Britain and France backed the proposed arms embargo, but Russia reaffirmed its opposition and China expressed reservations.
The move followed a recent report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who warned that South Sudan faces a "very real risk of mass atrocities" and that 14,000 peacekeepers deployed in the country would not be able to stop such a bloodbath.
The US-drafted text seen by AFP calls for a one-year ban on all sales of arms, weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment.
Power said months of talks with South Sudan's leaders had failed to persuade them to opt for peace as she made the case for a travel ban and an assets freeze on those behind the violence.
"There is no good reason why we would not deprive those who have shown a willingness to commit mass atrocities of the means of doing it more efficiently," she said.
Russian opposition
Russian Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev dismissed an arms embargo as "premature," saying it would "hardly be helpful in settling the conflict" and warning that sanctions against South Sudan's leaders would be "the height of irresponsibility."
In a barb directed at the United States, he suggested that President Salva Kiir was being targeted to share the same fate as Moamer Kadhafi, the Libyan leader toppled in 2011.
China's Deputy Ambassador Wu Haito said the council should refrain from sanctions "to avoid complicating the situation" and "send more positive signals" instead.
Returning from a visit to South Sudan, the UN's adviser on genocide prevention, Adama Dieng, said he "saw all the signs that ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians could evolve into genocide if something is not done now to stop it."
He cited perceptions that Kiir's army was "increasingly ethnically homogenous," composed mostly of ethnic Dinka, who are preparing to launch attacks against Nuer and other groups.
Dieng urged the council to end the "devastating" flow of weapons fueling the war.
South Sudan's Ambassador Joseph Moum Malok rejected the proposed embargo as a "totally unacceptable" violation of his country's sovereignty.
The authorities in Juba, confronting an "armed rebellion intent on overthrowing the government," he argued, should not be deprived of the means to defend themselves.
The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 2.5 million people displaced.
The country won independence from Sudan in 2011 with strong support from the United States.
Trump effect
Trump has cast uncertainty on the postwar world order with his vows to tear up or renegotiate international free trade agreements in order to protect US jobs.
This particularly concerns the 21 members of APEC, which account for nearly 60 percent of the global economy and 40 percent of the world's population.
The world will look to the summit for "a strong statement" to counter Trump's anti-trade arguments, said Eduardo Pedrosa, secretary general of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.
Economists expect Trump to make protectionist moves that they say may strengthen his country's economy in the near term but could threaten global growth.
"If such measures materialize, trade tensions would certainly increase, with trade war a possible worst case scenario," the Institute of International Finance said in a report.
Outgoing US President Barack Obama sought to "rebalance" trade towards deals with Asia and the Pacific.
But Trump has rejected Obama's signature trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as a "terrible deal."
Asia-Pacific security
As well as taking aim at free trade, Trump has questioned the US role as the "policeman of the world."
Allies such as Japan and South Korea are worried Trump will cut back the US military, economic and diplomatic presence in the region.
They fear that could leave them exposed to a dominant China and belligerent North Korea.
Trump has caused concern in the region by suggesting Japan and South Korea get nuclear weapons to defend themselves.
He has embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin, widely mistrusted by Obama and his allies.
US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to send reassuring signals in a series of meetings with regional counterparts Thursday, including with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
Kerry underlined "the continued strength of our partnership and alliance with Japan, the cornerstone of US engagement with the Asia-Pacific region," said Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner.
The summit officially opens Thursday evening. Obama, Putin and China's President Xi Jinping are each scheduled to give addresses on Saturday. The leaders hold their key meeting on Sunday.
The Latin American leaders in the room, including Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, will also be looking nervously to the new US administration.
On the campaign trail, Trump insulted Mexican immigrants as "criminals" and "rapists." He vowed to build a border wall with Mexico to keep out illegal migrants and threatened mass deportations.
China
China will meanwhile be pushing its own proposed trade deals to gain an edge over the United States in the battle for regional influence.
"The economic landscape in the Asia Pacific is changing rapidly, with China increasingly taking a regional leadership role," wrote Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at research group IHS Global Insight.
China was pointedly excluded from the 12-member TPP. But due to Trump's refusal to endorse the deal, Biswas said, "the TPP agreement has shifted from being a lame duck to a dead duck."
Instead, China proposes an APEC-wide Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes India but not the United States.
In Asia, where an industrial boom fueled by globalization has lifted millions of people from poverty, strong appetite for such deals means they will likely move ahead with or without the US.
Australia's trade minister, Steven Ciobo, told the Financial Times on Wednesday his country is keen to get on board with the Chinese-backed proposals now that TPP looks doomed.
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For 12 years, Lew Steinbrecher was Moline's city administrator.
At the Nov. 8 City Council meeting, he announced he was retiring. The next day, he was gone.
Who does that?
Steinbrecher's ultra-sudden departure did not come as a surprise to many, including Mayor Scott Raes.
"I kind of had it in my gut he'd be gone," the mayor said Wednesday. "We had some conversations."
He said Steinbrecher offered to hang around for a couple of weeks, but the council decided to go ahead and cut him loose, mostly because he had the paid time off coming to him and his contract expires at the end of the month.
Besides, aldermen noted, the outgoing admin is a very private person. He would not want a retirement party, for instance, because, "That's not his style," Raes said.
Steinbrecher, who worked 42 years in local government, did not respond to a request for an interview seeking to explain the timing of his departure (See: private). So, we'll just have to take city officials at their word and accept there was no funny business, despite the obvious oddity.
Though it briefly was a scramble, the council has assigned an alderman, a city planner and the finance director to team up and cover Steinbrecher's duties. A search firm will be hired to find his replacement. As a Moliner, I have appreciated his fine leadership.
But Quad-Citians have good reason to be skeptical when high-ranking city officials suddenly split.
Scott County Administrator Dee Bruemmer showed how it should be done when she announced a full six months in advance that she was calling it quits. She knew transitions in leadership take time.
This was not the case when Rock Island City Administrator Thomas Thomas resigned in September 10 days after Walmart announced it had abandoned plans to build on city land that taxpayers spent $10 million preparing for the store.
Thomas' explanation was this: "I just decided it was time to resign."
So, the city rewarded his whim with a $77,000 severance package and six months' worth of insurance coverage.
At a council meeting shortly after Thomas' announcement, resident Svend Jakobsen remarked, "In the real world, you don't get a severance package if you resign. It's just, tough cookie."
The cookie was a little tougher in Davenport when public works director Mike Clarke "retired" earlier this year. Though billed as his opportunity to retire to the East Coast, Clarke got a job as public works director in St. Petersburg, Florida, six weeks after leaving Davenport.
And when he no longer was at risk of losing any of his Iowa benefits, he came clean about the reason he left: "It was a total force out," he said earlier this year, adding that he and then-interim City Administrator Corri Spiegel had distinct differences of opinion.
A "succession agreement" followed, though its existence was not made public. An open records request forced the disclosure of the document, which showed that Clarke was to be kept on as a consultant, at a pay rate of $50 an hour, for a limited number of hours. That part of the agreement became moot when he went to work in Florida.
Of course, Spiegel declined to say anything. It's none of the public's business when public people reach public agreements that affect the public and public money.
You know what they say: Here today, gone tomorrow.
Davenport police are seeking help in identifying a man who robbed a credit union on Brady Street late Friday morning.
The robbery occurred about 11:30 a.m. at Vibrant Credit Union, 3801 Brady St. Police said a man entered the bank, implied he had a weapon and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The Davenport Police Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the robbery, and police released photographs taken from surveillance cameras in an effort to identify the man.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip via the department's mobile app, titled CityConnect Davenport, IA."
CEDAR RAPIDS Two former eastern Iowa congressmen are concerned with the hardening of partisan lines in the wake of what one called the starkest election in more than 150 years.
Republican Donald Trumps defeat of Democrat Hillary Clinton represents the greatest polarization in American society, in part because of the use of techniques that were designed to magnify a candidate and minimize an opponent in ways that have never been used before, according to Jim Leach, an Iowa City Republican who represented much of eastern Iowa for 30 years in the U.S. House.
A result, former three-term U.S. Rep. Dave Nagle of Cedar Falls added during taping of Iowa Public Televisions "Iowa Press" on Friday, is that depending on Trump, the polarization could become deeper.
I think that is a dangerous trend, but I think it's one we're going to have to live through for a while, Nagle said. Thats because of the harshness of the choices and partys rigidity of ideological thought that demands immediate adherence.
"Iowa Press" can be seen at 7:30 tonight on IPTV, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and on IPTV.org.
Leach, who as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities spoke in all 50 states on the need for civility, said the nation faces a challenge as a body politic and how we want to hold civil discourse.
He also is concerned that the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which allowed corporations and unions to make unlimited campaign expenditures, is moving the country toward a corporate democracy.
Leach, who now teaches at the University of Iowa and recently was named interim director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, did not support Trump despite believing a businessmans perspective is needed. Instead, Leach said, he wrote in Mary Sue Coleman, former University of Iowa president.
Both Leach and Nagle called for new political leaders who are willing to bridge partisan divides.
You cannot continue to demagogue all of your opponents, Nagle said. It starts with trying to find political leaders that will look for the bridge between the ideological differences to find an acceptable solution to both sides. And then the public has to have the maturity to recognize that accomplishment and give it praise and reward those who accomplish it.
That will require people from all walks of life getting involved to get the political system turned around to reflect the society that we are.
SPRINGFIELD Changes are on their way for a program that provides in-home care for more than 80,000 elderly residents after the Illinois House failed to override Gov. Bruce Rauners veto of a bill that would have preserved the existing program.
Despite warnings from advocates that the changes could result in the loss of services such as assistance with household chores for thousands of elderly residents, House Democrats on Wednesday came up four votes short of the 71 they needed to override the Republican governors veto.
The Department on Aging will now move forward with implementing changes to the community care program, which is designed to help keep older residents in their own homes and out of nursing homes. Facing a growing elderly population and rising costs, the Rauner administration is planning an overhaul of services for more than 40,000 people in the program who dont qualify for Medicaid, the joint state and federal insurance program for the poor.
Those people will be shifted into the departments new community reinvestment program, which officials estimate will save the state $200 million annually by providing services more efficiently. One example the administration has offered is having a service pick up and drop off laundry rather than paying an in-home worker to do it.
The Illinois Department on Aging worked diligently to develop a thoughtful, person-centered program that will allow our state to continue serving increasing numbers of older adults across the state in a fiscally sustainable manner, spokeswoman Veronica Vera said in an emailed statement. It is encouraging that members of the General Assembly recognize the value of this program and its primary objective to allow seniors to live independently in their homes and communities longer.
But many members of the General Assembly dont see it that way.
State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, the bills sponsor, said rolling out the changes statewide is a risky proposition.
Harris called the departments proposal a pilot program that has not been tested.
It is something that could very well put our home-bound seniors at risk, he said.
If the program doesnt work, it could result in more elderly residents moving into nursing homes, which would cost the state more, Harris said.
Vera said the department is working with local agencies that will implement the program to develop the rules that will govern it.
AARP Illinois, which opposed the new program and supported Harris bill, will now work to shape the rules to make sure that those currently in the program continue to receive services, said Lori Hendren, associate state director.
Were going to continue to have conversations with the governors office and with the Department on Aging as they move forward with their initiative of the community reinvestment program and to discuss improvements and reforms to (the community care program) now which can better sustain in-home and community care services for all those in the program, Hendren said.
One of AARPs concerns is that the state might create a waiting list for the new program if there arent enough resources to go around, but the department has said it doesnt anticipate the need for one.
CEDAR RAPIDS Iowa Democrats plan to elect a new state party chair in January despite arguments there is a need to act sooner.
We have a very urgent crisis on our hands, Mike Carberry of Iowa City said Thursday night during a nearly two-hour conference call with other members of the Iowa Democratic Party State Central Committee. He called for electing a new chair in December so new leadership in place before the Iowa Legislature convenes Jan. 9.
As a result of the Nov. 8 election, Republicans will be in control of both the Iowa House and Senate and they have an agenda to destroy what we have gained during the time Democrats controlled the Senate, Carberry said.
Iowa State Education Association President Tammy Wawro of Cedar Rapids agreed, warning there likely will be votes in the first week of the session that will impact my members greatly.
Most countries have elections in six weeks, Carberry said, arguing that a month is plenty of time before Dec. 17 for candidates to meet with committee members and present white papers on their plans for the party.
His argument did not prevail. The committee will meet to hear from candidates for party chair Dec. 17 and again in January at a date to be determined to make a decision. Its possible that meeting could be before the Legislature gavels in.
At least three people have announced they will seek to succeed chairwoman Andy McGuire, who doesnt plan to seek another term. They are Kim Weaver of Sheldon, who unsuccessfully challenged U.S Rep. Steve King; Central Committee member Sandy Dockendorff of Danville, and Blair Lawton of West Des Moines. Theres speculation there will be others.
Much of the Thursday night discussion dealt with whether committee members would be allowed to participate and vote via phone. Some members were concerned that bad weather could prevent them from attending meetings in December and January.
Others argued they were elected to show up for meetings and participating by phone was the textbook example of phoning it in.
Marcia Fulton of Creston downplayed the threat of bad weather keeping committee members from meetings.
Come on, Iowans. We get places, she said.
Marcos Rubenstein of Dubuque, who proposed participation by phone to accommodate people with disabilities as well as those who may have weather concerns, said phone presence is presence in this day and age.
The committee voted to allow members to participate in the January meeting via phone.
Nearly two weeks into enrollment for Affordable Care Act insurance plans, officials who are helping Quad-Citians get coverage say people are still signing up, even as the law appears doomed.
Meanwhile, an official with one of the major enrollment organizations says she is seeing people hurry to get on board before any changes are made.
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and Republicans who control Congress have wanted to kill the law for years.
There are lots of questions about how fast that would happen, however, and what might be put in its place.
All this uncertainty is swirling as enrollment for 2017 coverage is newly under way. The signup period began Nov. 1 and runs through the end of January. To get coverage beginning Jan. 1, people need to sign up by Dec. 15.
So far, one enrollment specialist says, the uncertainty over the law's future is prompting people to sign up.
"There's a lot of people who think they have to get on it before it's repealed," said UnityPoint Health's Linaka Kain, who oversees the hospital's enrollment activities regionally.
Kain said about 175 people have signed up so far with help from UnityPoint. Usually, the bulk of signups are to Medicaid, which the law expanded. But this year, she said, 123 had signed up for plans in the marketplace and 52 for Medicaid.
"It's a flip," she said.
Kain said customers are telling her that they're signing up because of doubts about the law's future.
"The perception is if they're in the system, it's going to help them," she said.
Last week, the Obama administration said 100,000 people had signed up for marketplace plans the day after the election. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell tweeted last week it was open enrollment's "best day yet."
Other Quad-City organizations helping people to enroll say they aren't having the same experience.
Mateo Tiry-Ortiz, outreach and enrollment coordinator at Community Health Care, said he is seeing about the same number and mix of enrollments as last year. About a dozen people have enrolled in marketplace plans and 10 in Medicaid, he said Friday.
A representative of Genesis Health System said she had not seen a significant impact she could tie to the election, either. But she did add that this week is busier than it was last week.
"This particular week has been crazy," said Jennifer Busch, an insurance specialist with Genesis.
Busch did say she is getting lots of questions from people who are curious about the law's future.
"They say, 'Do you think it will be here?' I say, 'It's a law, you just can't undo it with a snap of the fingers,'" she said.
A measure Congress passed at the end of last year, which was vetoed, wouldn't have repealed the subsidies and Medicaid funding for two years. But what happens after Trump takes the oath of office is not at all clear.
Trump's opinions on what should come next is not entirely clear, either. The president-elect, while saying he would repeal the law, has praised the part of it that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, an opinion he repeated just days after the election. He also has praised the part of the law that allows young people to stay on their parents' plans until age 26.
Advocates of the law say requiring the sale of insurance to people with pre-existing health conditions is what helps to drive up costs and any replacement plan would have to deal with that. Already, premiums in the marketplace skyrocketed this year an average of 25 percent.
Earlier this week, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart wrote an online post predicting that changes won't be made quickly.
"This means that, since the law is still in effect today, people should take steps to obtain or maintain health coverage ...," he wrote.
About 55,000 Iowans are enrolled in marketplace plans, with approximately another 150,000 in Iowa's expanded Medicaid program.
Gerhart also suggested Trump could offer "immediate predictability" by extending for two years health care plans that were in place before the marketplaces opened. Those plans don't meet the law's coverage standards. In Iowa, there are 117,000 people with those plans, Gerhart said.
President Barack Obama allowed a two-year extension in 2014 for plans that didn't meet coverage standards following an outcry from people who faced the prospect of having to buy new plans after they were told they could keep their current coverage.
Chad Pregracke makes it clear he respects the Davenport riverfront request for proposals process, but he's excited about a plan he has come up with in the event the city wants to go in another direction.
Davenport received two proposals for the barge and porte cochere at the former Rhythm City Casino, one from Muscatine's U.S. Inland Marine and the other from Restoration St. Louis, but the response has been lukewarm at best.
A review committee found one of the proposals did not meet its criteria, and only half of the committee thought the other proposal shared in the city's long-term vision for the riverfront.
Enter Pregracke, who envisions a floating park with concepts similar to Philadelphia's Spruce Street Harbor Park on the Delaware River waterfront.
"People are looking at (the former Rhythm City Casino site) and saying, 'That's ugly. I don't want that,'" Pregracke said. "All I'm looking at is the barges and what that could be."
Pregracke worked in Philadephia and saw firsthand the amount of traffic that was attracted to Penn's Landing.
As Pregracke looked out from Davenport's skybridge on the cold and windy Friday morning, he spotted a man slumped over the rails trying to fish.
"It'd be like a fishing pier like in Santa Monica where it's cool to see what people are catching," Pregracke said. "Go to San Francisco and ride your bike out on those piers. It's people of all economic backgrounds, all races, diversity, and that is what's cool about those places."
Pregracke points out the lack of signs, which he views as a missed opportunity, but is open to suggestions and uses because as he sees it, this is chance to benefit the downtown area.
As someone who has lived and worked on more waterfronts than he can count, Pregracke also has a perspective on what works and what doesn't.
He rattles off restaurant after restaurant located on barges from St. Paul to New Orleans that have failed.
"If I wasn't sure it wouldn't work or people wouldn't come here, I wouldn't waste my time," Pregracke said. "Davenport would be setting a trend, and they would be trying to duplicate this elsewhere because there's nothing else like it. If worst comes to worst and nobody came on it or the fishing sucked, there would be 10 other cities that would want this because every city is missing this."
After speaking to Muscatine-based Stanley Consultants, Pregracke received a set of renderings within a week, and he has been showing them around and getting positive feedback about.
"I've sent some feelers out there and talked to some people about," Pregracke said. "I've gotten nothing but good feedback. Based on that, I think if the city was to say, 'Hey, we want to go down that road or check into that,' I would be able to build a great team of people to make this happen."
Rene Gellerman, senior vice president of the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber was supportive of the plan because it leverages the Mississippi River as an asset and fits in with the chamber's Q2030 regional action plan.
With his renderings in hand, Pregracke is a bundle of energy and stops Rock Island's Amy Brown and her husband, who are walking on the skybridge to ask them what they think.
Brown, who recognized Pregracke from photos she has seen, thinks the vision is a great idea.
"I've got one condition," she said. "If Davenport turns this down, can you bring it over to Rock Island or try there?"
Ten minutes later, Pregracke sees two younger men are making their way to the elevator.
He quickly whips out his plans out of their cylindrical container and asks if they would visit the riverfront if a floating park was there.
The response again is overwhelmingly positive, only this time delivered with more expletives and vigor.
The Davenport City Council will meet on Nov. 29 to look at the one proposal that has not been removed from consideration, but Pregracke is hoping to get his opportunity to present his vision in December.
Pregracke, who was named 2013 CNN Hero of the Year and a recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service, said he is not a developer and sees the riverfront vision as a community project.
He wants to hear what people want and who wants to contribute or partner in his plan.
He's even willing to put in the resources to help tear down some of the existing structures, which will cost between $70,000 and $100,000, according to estimates he has received.
"This isn't going to make me any money," Pregracke said. "It's only going to take a lot of time and energy, but I'm willing to put my resources to help facilitate it if this is something the city wants to do."
The Rev. Mariah Marlin-Warfield of Rock Island's Church of Peace blessed a special Thanksgiving service and made a clear point.
"You may not always feel welcome, but you are always welcome here," she said to some 150 refugees gathered Thursday night in the community room of her church.
Fifty adults and about 100 children took part in the Family Literacy Program special event, having spent weeks in classes, learning to speak English and gaining skills to succeed in the United States.
Thursday night, in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, was Family Reading Night. There was a program, and each of the families received a package of self-care supplies. Each child took home at least one book.
To begin the event, the families gathered in a circle as a tearful Lisa Viaene, site coordinator, said her good-byes. Viaene, of Davenport, has worked with the Family Literacy Program for six years but is retiring.
Integral to the program were occupational therapy students from St. Ambrose University, Davenport. The students served food, read books out loud to the gathering, and played music.
Jonathan Manix, a St. Ambrose student from Davenport, taught the classes for about a month. He focused on life skills like writing a check, and how to count money.
Manix is the child of refugees from Laos, and the work in Rock Island was close to his heart. It was as if he were completing a circle from his parents' experiences, he said.
Viaene, the site coordinator, said the refugees all legally arrived in the United States, and 95 percent of the households have at least one person employed.
Each of them has come from a horrific situation, she said. The majority are from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Iraq and African countries of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mulei Shee, Rock Island, left Burma before the Asian country's name was changed to Myanmar. She and her husband and three children, were all at the dinner.
The family recently bought a home in Rock Island and Shee loves living in the city. "I am free here!" she said.
This is the first year that the Family Literacy Program is sponsored by the Spring Forward Learning Center, which is a partner to the Rock Island-Milan School District.
Dan McNeil, Spring Forward director, said the organization's mission is to provide free educational opportunities to all Rock Island residents.
When McNeil first visited the Family Literacy Program at the Church of Peace, he knew immediately he wanted to sponsor it. "The program has helped so many families adjust to their new life in our community and we are so proud to be a part of it."
Mike Oberhaus, superintendent of the school district, said it's a clear part of the services in the school district, and the refugees can provide residents with examples of other cultures and rituals in the United States.
"I hope we, too, can learn from the refugees," he said.
CHICAGO -- My recent, unscientific survey of Latino journalists across the country found a near-unanimous belief that the media failed Hispanics in the run-up to the presidential election.
Their reasons for criticizing the mainstream media (as opposed to Latino-focused English-language media or Spanish-language media) were varied -- from cable news networks elevating a Hispanic Donald Trump apologist who warned against taco trucks on every corner if Hillary Clinton was elected, to largely ignoring anti-Latino slams like Trump's "bad hombres" comment and Mike Pence's "that Mexican thing."
For any number of reasons, frustrations with how Hispanic stories were framed or simply overlooked made Latinos upset before the polls closed. And it infuriated them after President-elect Trump was named the victor.
"Our media failed us, our leaders failed us, and Hillary Clinton failed us. But mostly, we failed ourselves," wrote Alfredo Estrada, publisher of Latino magazine, on Facebook the day after the election. "We failed to unify against a candidate who attacked and vilified us from the first day of his campaign. There was no Latino surge, and the sleeping giant overslept. In the days to come, we'll need to redefine our relationship to our political parties and community organizations, who failed us as well. Things won't be the same again."
Sadly, even as the mainstream media are bending over backward with mea culpas about not predicting a Trump win, they're still flirting with getting the Latino vote narrative wrong again.
After the election, CNN, ABC, The Associated Press and other media outlets cited Edison Research exit polls that said 29 percent of Latinos voted for Donald Trump -- more than voted for Mitt Romney in 2012.
There's no disputing that there were indeed a significant number of Hispanics who voted for Trump for a variety of reasons, such as his stance on abortion and his promise to end Obamacare. The Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project had estimated that Trump's share of the Latino vote would be 19 percent and Latino Decisions' exit polling estimated it at 18 percent.
These numbers illustrate that, contrary to the monolithically Democrat-leaning "Latino vote" that news outlets refer to, the Hispanic electorate is diverse in its political preferences.
During a post-election telephone briefing, Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions said that Edison Research's own 2005 self-critique noted that its polling was not designed to yield reliable estimates of the characteristics of geographically clustered demographic groups, like Hispanics, and that such exit polls included larger sampling errors.
"Because of this, we suspect the overall national exit polls to not be correct," Barreto said. "We believe Latino turnout was up and the GOP got the lowest number of Latino votes ever for a presidential candidate."
Not everyone is convinced that the Latino Decisions polls were more accurate than exit polling (and some believe the firm has a political agenda because some of its staff had ties to the Clinton campaign), so we'll have to wait for national final tallies to learn how Latinos actually voted.
In the meantime, initial results should be a lesson to mainstream media outlets to put an end to simplistic reporting that popularizes terms like "the Sleeping Giant" and alternately frames Hispanic voters as almighty determiners of elections or non-entities in the electoral process. The fact is, Hispanic voters made their voices heard loud and clear on Election Day.
"We need to actually focus on the historic turnout," said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the California-based NALEO Educational Fund. "If you look at the impact Latinos have had on local elections, we've had five Latinos added to the U.S. House of Representatives in a year not following reapportionment or redistricting, the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate and we helped turn out [the much-reviled Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe] Arpaio."
Vargas told me that though the Latino surge was not big enough to outdo the surge of angry white voters in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, "we still have to recognize that traditional voter engagement absolutely worked even though Latino-led organizations were not well-funded because the voter outreach money went to non-Latino organizations that, frankly, didn't know what they were doing."
If this election has taught us anything, it's that Hispanic voters need consistent, ongoing engagement, cultivation and investment to continue to be able to make their mark on the electoral process. And that goes for both get-out-the-vote efforts and fair portrayals and coverage in the media.
Dear Facebook friends,
If you don't see me gushing over the pix of your Thanksgiving pies, take no offense. It's not that your pie is a bore (though, frankly, it is). And it's not because I unfriended you. It's because Facebook has become a platform for the sort of fake news stories that helped elect Donald Trump. In doing so, Facebook undermines our civic culture -- its creepy smile floating overhead.
I'm so out of there. I've wanted to quit for a long time, having wearied of friends' pictorials of their idyllic family and personal lives. I know for a fact that some of the most glowing portrayals come from (mostly) women who couldn't make it to noon without a fistful of meds. I still love them, and if they wish to connect, they have my number.
Though hyper-partisan fake news stories have come from both the left and the right, Facebook entrepreneurs know that the money is in plowing the Trumpian fields. And for all the patriotic memes, foreigners are behind much of the manipulation of the American public.
Kids in a town in Macedonia (that's near Greece) created over 100 pro-Trump websites, spreading phony reports such as FBI plans to indict Hillary Clinton. The Make America Great page outsources the writing of fraudulent news to a couple in the Philippines.
Compounding the evil, Facebook's design makes fake stories from fake sites such as the nonexistent Denver Guardian look like stories from the very real Denver Post. And no, blocking fake news sites from ad revenues is not going to stop politically motivated lying.
Facebook further degrades the national conversation by creating echo chambers. Its algorithm directs the "news" people like to their like-minded friends.
No chains shackle us to Facebook.
Aleks Krotoski, a technology journalist for BBC, saw a wave of Britons leaving Facebook after the Brexit vote -- mostly people opposed to leaving the European Union. "They were shocked by the fact that they had found themselves in an echo chamber, in a bubble," she told me.
Adding to my disgust with Facebook's amoral business model is founder Mark Zuckerberg's excuse for it. Facebook is not a media company; it's a technology company, he explained.
So why has Facebook been so joyfully ravaging the advertising base of real news media companies, which put sweat, pride and dollars into reporting? As just one example, Facebook last year siphoned about $27 million in digital ads from The Guardian, according to a former editor.
Zuckerberg says he doesn't want Facebook making judgments on what "news" is acceptable for its site. Funny, Facebook bans pictures of female breasts in the name of decency but sees nothing indecent about putting lies into the mouth of Pope Francis. We refer to the total falsehood, seen almost a million times, that the pope had endorsed Trump.
Public-spirited Trump voters should object to such corporate dereliction. But Clinton supporters have more reason for rage at Facebook for letting con men poison Clinton's candidacy -- at a profit to both Facebook and the cons.
I know quitting Facebook would be hard for many. It has something of a lock on group communications. But there's something of a monkey-see, monkey-do element of Facebook that when someone announces she's leaving, others do likewise.
"If you have a critical mass of people who get fed up and leave, Facebook would be in trouble," Krotoski said.
An alternative would push that day closer. We need something to challenge the nature of the commitment and the connections that people have to one another on Facebook. Surely, there are innovators working feverishly on a replacement. If they succeed, they'll make a fortune. I will help them in my microscopic way.
In the meantime, I'm leaving Facebook. Follow me.
PIERRE | Gov. Dennis Daugaard plans to appoint a new commissioner of finance and management at some point after his budget speech to the Legislature next month, his chief of staff said Thursday.
Tony Venhuizen said the former commissioner, Jason Dilges, has been placed on indefinite administrative leave pending a final decision on his status.
The change took place last week after an internal review. Staff members in the Bureau of Finance and Management were told that Dilges wouldnt be returning.
This is a personnel matter. It does not involve criminal allegations or the handling of state funds, Venhuizen said.
Daugaard delivers his fiscal 2018 budget recommendations to the Legislature on Dec. 6.
Dilges, 44, ran the budget office throughout the eight years of previous Gov. Mike Rounds administration and the six years so far of Daugaards administration.
He also worked in the budget office during the final terms of Gov. Bill Janklows administration before temporarily moving to the private sector.
Until a replacement is named, state economist Jim Terwilliger is leading the budget work and Lt. Gov. Matt Michels is overseeing Terwilliger and the rest of the bureaus staff, according to Venhuizen.
The governor does plan to appoint a permanent replacement at some point following the budget address, he said.
The departure of Dilges leaves other vacancies that need to be filled.
He was a governors appointee to the board of trustees for the South Dakota Retirement System and served on governors council of economic advisers.
He also chaired the new Board of Internal Control that is working to increase financial accountability and safeguards in state government.
Venhuizen said he expected the governor would make appointments to those positions in the coming month.
State tax revenue is running behind the estimates adopted by the Legislature for the current fiscal 2017 budget.
BISMARCK, N.D. | In a case that could foreshadow how other mass arrests will be adjudicated, a North Dakota judge has thrown out felony charges against several Dakota Access pipeline protesters arrested during a raid of the northern camp on Oct. 27.
After the raid, 139 people were charged with one felony count of conspiracy to endanger by fire or explosion and two misdemeanor counts. The prosecutors filed a single complaint and supporting affidavit against all of them on Nov. 10.
The affidavit alleges protesters at least implicitly agreed to set multiple fires throughout the day, thereby endangering law enforcement, firefighters and nearby pastureland.
But South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland was not convinced the prosecutors had made a case against each person. She notes that the prosecutor failed to specifically name who committed the crime, how and when they committed it or how they agreed to commit the crime together.
"As far as the court can tell from the facts alleged in the affidavit, these fires were set sporadically, at different locations, by different individuals, seemingly at random. The state has not alleged facts sufficient to show an explicit or implicit agreement between the 139 defendants to commit the offense charged," Feland wrote in an order to dismiss the felony charge against Yenglin Jeysien Verdugo.
Court records show identical orders also are filed with five other protesters. Nine additional protesters, whose cases were assigned to Feland, will also have their felony charge dropped, according to the Morton County Clerk's office.
It is not clear yet whether the felony charge against the other 124 people assigned to different judges will stand.
The felony charge was dismissed without prejudice, meaning a prosecutor can re-charge the case if the prosecution can provide probable cause. The protesters are still charged with misdemeanor counts of maintaining a public nuisance and engaging in a riot.
"In making this order, the court recognizes the extreme stress under which law enforcement officers and the prosecutors bringing these charges have been operating. This order should not be considered a criticism of their efforts or a suggestion the arrest in this matter was not appropriate," Feland wrote.
It is possible that the prosecutor will try to appeal Feland's order dismissing the charges.
During a court appearance for Mega Mae Plenty Chief, against whom the felony charge was dropped, Morton County State's Attorney Allen Koppy set the stage for an appeal to the state supreme court. He said the state took exception to the court's order and suggested he might make an interlocutory appeal, which is an appeal that would be heard before Plenty Chief's case is closed.
The affidavit from the Morton County State's Attorney alleges several fires were set throughout the day. Protesters lit hay bales on fire, attempted to ignite a gas tank, burned a pipeline company bulldozer and set armored vehicles ablaze, causing damage to the Backwater Bridge, according to the affidavit.
The arrests were made as law enforcement evicted protesters from a northern camp established atop the pipeline route on Dakota Access property, which they claimed as treaty land. During the hours-long confrontation, protesters set fires and threw objects at police. Officers responded with pepper spray and less lethal bullets. In total, 147 people were arrested.
BISMARCK, N.D. | The streets of downtown Bismarck were closed briefly Thursday for Dakota Access pipeline demonstrators who held signs and chanted for clean water outside the Wells Fargo branch offices and the William L. Guy Federal Building.
A group of about 150 protesters arrived at the intersection of North Fourth Street and Main Avenue around 11:30 a.m. to find a large number of law enforcement officers guarding the Wells Fargo building on East Broadway Avenue.
Employees at Wells Fargo and other downtown businesses watched as protesters walked up to the police line. One protester plopped down on the sidewalk in front of the officers with a book. She was joined by several others, who formed a circle and sang.
Protesters said they came to Wells Fargo because it was one of the banks funding the $3.7 billion pipeline.
A total of eight people were arrested Thursday in connection to the protests, according to the Bismarck Police Department.
Two men were formally charged with rape in a Pennington County courtroom Thursday while the woman who prosecutors say is the victim of the attack sat listening in the audience.
Toby M. Rolfe, 43, pleaded not guilty to third-degree rape, which prosecutors say was committed against an unconscious woman in Box Elder on Sept. 28.
Marvin S. Payne, 48, who was charged with sexually assaulting the same woman, pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting third-degree rape.
Rolfe, of Box Elder, and Payne, of Florissant, Colo., asked the court to lower their bonds of $500,000 each.
In an unusual moment during a routine hearing, the woman who was introduced to the court as the victim came forward and spoke against the bond reduction.
I fear for my children and myself, the 28-year-old woman told 7th Circuit Judge Robert Mandel. I trusted and I was let down, and Im asking not to be let down again.
She spoke for less than a minute, all the time standing behind the defendants.
Mandel decreased the bonds to $25,000 but required cash only after considering the mens danger to the community and their flight risk. He also ordered them to do twice-daily sobriety tests and appear when required.
The bond had initially been $500,000 cash or surety, meaning the men could have been released by paying a non-refundable 10 percent premium, or $50,000, to a bonding agency.
Deputy States Attorney Wayne Venhuizen had earlier told the court the prosecution held overwhelming evidence against the defendants. Four people saw the woman being sexually assaulted and saw Payne taking photos that showed Rolfe assaulting her, Venhuizen said.
In a previous hearing, the prosecutor said alcohol was involved in the incident. The woman, he said, remembers having one drink before passing out. By the time first responders arrived, she was barely breathing and her pulse couldnt be felt.
Paynes lawyer, George Grassby, had described the allegation as aberrant behavior for his client. He introduced two people who showed up in court to support his client: Paynes employer as an electrician, who flew up from Colorado, and Paynes older brother, a decades-long law enforcement officer.
Rolfes attorney, Jeffrey Connolly, described a bond of $500,000 as higher than necessary to ensure the communitys safety and to prevent Rolfe from fleeing. He said Rolfe is a local homeowner with steady employment, a single father to a teenage boy, and has cooperated with authorities in the past as a court witness.
Rolfe denied the allegation that he is a repeat offender with a couple of South Dakota convictions for driving while intoxicated.
Third-degree rape is a felony that carries a punishment of up to 25 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
WASHINGTON | The people chose Hillary Clinton. But it's the electoral vote that counts, not the popular vote, so Donald Trump will be president. And no, I'm not over it.
No one should be over it. No one should pretend that Trump will be a normal president. No one should forget the bigotry and racism of his campaign, the naked appeals to white grievance, the stigmatizing of Mexicans and Muslims. No one should forget the jaw-dropping ignorance he showed about government policy both foreign and domestic. No one should forget the vile misogyny. None of this must ever be normalized in our politics.
The big protests that have followed Trump's election should be no surprise. You can't spend all those months trashing our nation's values and then expect everyone to join you in a group hug.
How did the unthinkable happen? Is Trump, like Brexit, part of some world-sweeping populist wave? Are the Rust Belt hinterlands in open rebellion? Was Clinton just a spectacularly flawed candidate? Did FBI Director James Comey boost Trump over the top? Did too many anti-Trump voters stay home out of complacency?
There is evidence to support all of those theories. But the urgent question isn't why, it's what now.
If a normal Republican had been elected, I could say the polite and socially acceptable thing, something like, "I didn't support So-and-So but he will be my president, too, and I wish him success." But I cannot wish Trump success in rounding up and deporting millions of people or banning Muslims from entering the country or reinstituting torture as an instrument of U.S. policy. In these and other divisive or cruel or unwise initiatives, I wish him failure.
Let me be clear that I am not questioning his legitimacy as president. When the results are certified and the Electoral College casts its votes, Trump will be the nation's duly chosen leader.
But he has not earned our trust or hope. Rather, he has earned the demonstrations that erupted in cities across the country. He has earned relentless scrutiny by journalists, whom he shamelessly made into scapegoats during the campaign, and he has earned the constant vigilance of the public he now must serve.
There have been more than 200 reports since the election of harassment and hate crimes, mostly directed at minorities, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. During an interview broadcast Sunday on "60 Minutes," Trump addressed his supporters: "I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it."
That would have been a better start had he not also sought to minimize the incidents, saying there had been a "very small amount" of them; and had he not also claimed the media were somehow applying a double standard in reporting on the protests.
The most troubling post-election development thus far was Trump's appointment of campaign chief executive Steve Bannon a prominent figure in the racist, xenophobic "alt-right" movement as chief strategist and senior adviser.
On "60 Minutes," Trump hinted that he might moonwalk away from some of his most radical promises on immigration, the issue that made him stand out from the crowd of Republican contenders. He still says he will build a wall on the Mexican border, but there "could be some fencing" instead of an actual wall in places. And he said that "we're going to make a determination" about the fate of millions of undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes.
He also backed away from the idea of having a special prosecutor reinvestigate Clinton over her emails. "They're good people, I don't want to hurt them," he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
If Trump is beginning to confront reality on some fronts, that's a first step in a thousand-mile journey toward credibility and respect. But appointing Bannon is a big step backward. We must watch Trump, and judge him, every single inch of the way.
Its appropriate that Gov. Pete Ricketts and Nebraska ag leaders celebrate the successes in their trade mission to China.
Among the positive developments was the announcement that Preferred Popcorn LLC of Chapman signed a contract with its long-time Chinese partner. Nebraska officials said Tuesday that they also signed nine separate letters of intent with companies and organizations that have agreed to purchase Nebraska-made products.
However, the long-term prospects for expanded international markets for Nebraska agricultural products are more problematic.
The victory by Donald Trump has all but guaranteed that the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the agreement will not be considered in the lame duck session of Congress. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the pending new leader of Senate Democrats, also told labor leaders the agreement will not be approved.
The TPP had huge support in Nebraska, with at least 20 different ag groups backing the agreement. The Nebraska Farm Bureau went to the unusual length of producing a county-by-county analysis of the TPPs benefits. The report showed Lancaster County would benefit to the tune of $1.9 million. Totals for other nearby counties included: Gage, $3.1 million; Seward, $4.3 million; Saunders, $4.8 million; Butler, $3.2 million and Otoe, $2.4 million.
The complicated agreement would have reduced or eliminated about 18,000 tariffs that the other 11 countries have on imports with the United States.
China was not included in the proposed agreement. During the campaign, however, Trump said he wanted to set a tariff as high as 45 percent on imports from China.
During his trade mission to China and in other post-election remarks Ricketts and other Nebraska leaders have tried to stay positive about prospects for agricultural trade under Trump.
Farm country went more than 2 to 1 for Trump. The most likely payoff for that support is a decreased regulatory burden. Trump has promised, for example, to kill the controversial new Waters of the United States rules from the Environmental Protection Agency.
But prospects for more agricultural trade under Trump are dismal. Trump has also promised to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement that has benefited Nebraska agriculture.
During a conference call from Shanghai, Ricketts told Nebraska news media he still hopes to get the message to the Trump administration about why trade is important.
The editorial board wishes him success, but from our perspective the hope seems a forlorn one.
RAPID CITY | Howard Shaff, a resident of Marco Island, FL, and Rapid City, SD, author of more than a dozen books, Korean War veteran, leading figure in the South Dakota tourism business and one-time New York City cab driver, died peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, at Avow Hospice in Naples, FL. He was 87.
Born in Brooklyn two weeks before the stock market crash of 1929, Shaff lived a life that transcended cultural, professional and geographical boundaries. His father, Samuel J. Shaff, ran a drugstore in Harlem and died when Howard was nine years old. For the next 78 years, Howard kept a framed photograph of his father with him wherever he lived. The photograph was still on his desk when he died Tuesday. His mom, Sadie Honig Shaff, ran Sadies Knitting Shop in Brooklyn, NY.
As a teenager, Shaff hitchhiked across the United States and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving as an intelligence analyst during the Korean War. After the war, he got a job as a taxi driver in New York City and later established a woodworking factory in Paterson, NJ. After a fire destroyed his company in 1966, he moved his family to California and went to work for International Fabric Molders (IFM), eventually running their factory in Stamford, CT.
But through it all, Shaff only had one true occupation. He was a writer. At 14, he received his first rejection letter. He found a silver lining in that first rejection. There it was, he later recalled, a rejection letter, proof that I was a writer.
Shaff would go on to write several novels, biographies and plays. His most well known and influential work was Six Wars at a Time: The Life and Times of Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, a biography published in 1985, that he co-wrote with his wife Audrey Karl Shaff. His most recent work, published in 2009, is titled King Abraham, a work of historical fiction centered on the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln.
Shaff lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota for more than three decades. He did an oral history of the workers who helped carve Mount Rushmore for the University of South Dakota. He worked as the curator and manager of the Rushmore Historical Center in Keystone, establishing the museum as the definitive collection of the artwork of Gutzon Borglum. In 1992, he established America Tours West, a leading tour company in the Black Hills based at his K Bar S Ranch outside of Keystone.
In 2010, the state of South Dakota honored Shaff with the Ben Black Elk Award which recognizes an individual who has made tireless and outstanding contributions to our states visitor industry. He was also the recipient of the National Tour Associations Supplier of the Year Award.
Howard is survived by his wife, Audrey; his daughters, Amy, Fran and Sue; and his stepsons, Jonathan, Allan, James and Robert Karl Jr. He has 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren (with two more on the way).
Memorial services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island in Florida. In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Karl-Shaff suggests a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research.
Two Russian managers to pay $1.2 mln disgorgement in SEC case
MOSCOW, November 18 (RAPSI) Russian traders Alexander Fedoseyev and Roman Lavlinsky are to pay disgorgement of about $1.2 million in a civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to court records.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has approved a settlement that the SEC reached with Fedoseyev and Lavlinsky.
The SEC filed a lawsuit in August 2015 against 34 suspects, including individuals and entities residing and registered in Russia, the US, France, Ukraine, Cyprus, and Malta.
The U.S. regulator claims that the suspects perpetrated an international fraudulent scheme by hacking the computer servers of at least two newswire services and stealing confidential earnings information for numerous publicly-traded companies from press releases that had not yet been released to the public. That stolen nonpublic information was then used to trade securities and reap over $100 million in unlawful profits.
The U.S. regulator alleges that the information was acquired in 2012 through 2014 from Ukrainian hackers Ivan Turchinov and Alexander Yeremenko.
By early November, SEC reached settlements with 13 suspects who agreed to pay disgorgement totaling $53 million. The list includes David Amaryan who resides in Moscow and controls a number of funds registered in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. They were ordered to pay $10 million. Ukraine-based Capital Partners and its principal, Andriy Supranonok, were ordered to pay $30 million.
SEC filed in February a suit against nine other suspects, including four residents of St. Petersburg and Russian national Anton Maslov, the owner of Tarek Investors.
Meantime, the US Attorney's Offices for the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of New York initiated a criminal case against five suspects in the case. Three of them (Arkady Dubovy and his son Igor, as well as Alexander Garkusha), pleaded guilty.
Lets take a trip to a famous college. However, this is a very unique college. Even though it is over 225 years old, it has no classrooms, no labs, no student union, in fact, no students or instructors, not even a campus. Nor does it confer degrees of any kind. However, it fulfills a very important role, for this college is the Electoral College. The members of the Electoral College are the ones that cast the only votes that really count.
On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December (Dec. 19, 2016), the electors meet in their respective states to cast their votes for President and Vice President of the United States.
Generally, political parties either nominate slates of potential Electors at their state party conventions, or choose them by a vote of the partys central committee. This results in each Presidential candidate having his or her own unique slate of potential Electors. Anyone except a current office holder or anyone that has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States can be an elector.
The candidate who carries a particular state will then have his or her electors selected (the only exceptions are Nebraska and Maine, which have proportional distribution of Electors).
The Twelfth Amendment requires each elector to cast one vote for president and another vote for vice president.
Interestingly, there is no Constitutional provision or Federal law requiring Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in his or her respective states. In 29 states, an Elector who fails to vote based on the popular vote winner may be subject to fines, have his or her vote nullified, and replaced by a substitute elector. In New Mexico, an improper voting Elector is charged with a fourth degree felony. Since the establishment of the Electoral College, there have only been 157 so-called faithless electors.
If there is a tie in the Electoral College vote, the House of Representative decides who will be president, with the Senate deciding on the vice president. In both instance, each state has but one vote. The House has decided the president two times in our history, in 1800 (voting for Jefferson) and again in 1824 (voting for J Q Adams).
Under the Electoral College structure, smaller states have a lot of political muscle. For instance, based on population and electoral votes, each vote in Montana counts 2 times more than a similar vote in California. Consequently, smaller states have very little incentive to dispose of the Electoral College.
Congress is scheduled to meet in a joint session in January 2017 to conduct the official tally of electoral votes. Vice President Biden, as President of the Senate, will be the presiding officer.
So, why did the Founding Fathers set up the Electoral College in the first place? Two reasons stand out. One was the fear that the smaller states would not approve of the newly drafted Constitution unless they were protected from dominance by the larger states. Secondly, early American leaders did not really trust democracy. So they created the Electoral College as a kind of buffer in case the people voted for a truly unqualified person to be president.
By the way, in case you are wondering, whether a candidate concedes or not has no bearing on the voting of the Electoral College nor on his or her ability to later challenge the results of the election (as Gore did in 2000).
Free new or gently used clothing and household items are available at The Giveaway, an event by The Place Church that takes place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Hamilton City Hall.
This is the fourth year for The Giveaway and event organizer Denise Echterling said it is a blessing.
We are so grateful to everyone that has given generously to make this blessing happen, Echterling said. Everyone is welcome. There are no limitations whatsoever on location or size of family or anything like that.
Echterling said the first year happened because some churches in Canada donated items to our community.
We were shocked at the amount of stuff it was, she said. We had just moved to the area from Alabama and we went through our stuff. We started matching items one to one, everything that they gave we gave.
Echterling said the event has grown thanks to generous community members.
It started by people seeing others needing help and it became a part of peoples heart in this area, she said. The next year we filled up the Bedford Building. One person donated 22 tubs of baby clothes and that was exactly what was needed that time. What people donate is the very thing people need.
The Giveaway asks for donations. It can provide receipts for tax purposes.
We take donations if they want to deliver them to city hall, noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 2, Echterling said. If people want to donate a monetary gift, we can buy scarves and gloves. We are thankful for all donations but cannot take mattresses, televisions, baby car seats or computers.
This year The Giveaway will give prizes of a Bowflex, exercise bike and furniture in addition to the donated items.
Its a wonderful opportunity for people to share, Echterling said. We all have storage units and we decide hey we dont need this, lets bless someone else. Since the Roaring Lion Fire, there are so many people that need things.
Echterling said the Bitterroot Valley community is gracious.
Coming from Alabama, there was a lot of need there, but here people will pick one or two items and well offer more but theyll say no, Im good, I want someone else to have that, she said. There is a graciousness of spirit here in this valley.
The event has 20 to 30 volunteers and more are always welcome, especially strong young volunteers to help carry items to cars.
We call our volunteers VIPs - Volunteers Impacting People, Echterling said. Its amazing to see how they make an impact and are impacted.
Echterling said they do The Giveaway just ahead of the Christmas season each year.
We had several children come in and they would hide things in their pocket and we would explain everything is free and even a child gets two bags of free items, she said. The child said you dont understand, my mommy has never had a Christmas present and this year she will but I dont want her to see this. That was so moving. We are blessing kids and moms.
The Giveaway displays items by department and everything is neat and organized.
Echterling said during the event she stands at the front door welcoming everyone and explaining that each person gets two bags to fill. Everyone also gets two household items, toys, coats, and as many shoes as they want, if they fit.
We want them to walk out feeling that they won the lottery, Echterling said. We want them to be blessed and have a wonderful time. I love this giveaway. It is the most simple thing but exhausting. Its getting bigger and bigger and were honored to be a part of it.
The Giveaway is from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 3, at City Hall, 223 South Second Street in Hamilton. For more information, call 406-350-2360.
Darby Community Public Library director Wendy Campbell was selected for the Robert B. Downs intellectual freedom award from the University of Illinois, School of Information Sciences.
The Libraries Unlimited will give the award and $1,000 to Campbell at the American Library Association meeting in Atlanta, GA, on Jan. 21.
According to the award letter, Campbell was chosen for her determination in providing the cultural program, Perspectives on Islam, against community objections.
Sandy Burner, president of the Friends of the Darby Library, praised Campbells tenacity in presenting informative programs to the community.
The library brought in special speakers and there was quite a bit of backlash from the community, Burner said. Wendy was so steady in seeing to it that we could present any information that was pertinent whether or not people agreed with it.
James LaRue, Executive Director, Freedom to Read Foundation, American Library Association, nominated Campbell.
Campbells library hosted a series of Lifelong Learning cultural programs for her community of 4,000 people, he said. One of these programs, Perspectives on Islam, sparked strong protest by several community members. Campbell spoke with the patrons, met with them and various community leaders, and eventually decided to proceed with the program.
LaRue detailed the steps Campbell took to continue with the event. She contacted a neighboring library director, the county sheriff, the state librarian, the school superintendent, school board and the Office for Intellectual Freedom.
LaRue said the event was peaceful and successful.
At a time when libraries are seeking greater civic engagement, at a time when many of us are looking for more meaningful and dignified discourse, Campbells approach proved to be definitive: the speaker was welcomed warmly, listened to attentively, and questioned respectfully, LaRue said. By the conclusion of the event, the patrons gratefully applauded speaker and librarian alike. The library, meanwhile, secured its position in the community as a force for education that neither promoted nor condemned various ideas, but provided a safe and courteous forum for their consideration.
Larue said the community was inspired by the example of an extremely thoughtful and dedicated librarian.
We are so proud of Wendy, our librarian, so thrilled for the community and so delighted our Darby library has received this award, said Darby Library Board member Marie Myers.
CAMILLUS, N.Y.-- It took three years for Jeannette Artini and Jim Corbo to find their perfect place to live.
Artini, a Westvale native who got her MBA from University at Albany, and Corbo, an Albany native who got his degree from Syracuse University, met in Syracuse and later married.
They searched for a home together in Central New York that fit their criteriaa spacious home with enough room to accommodate 40 people for Thanksgiving on an ample-sized lot that offered both privacy and proximity to stores and highways.
After years of searching, they found the location: A 3.3-acre plot on the end of a quiet cul-de-sac that backs up to hundreds of acres of forest, all while being less than a five-minute drive from the Route 5 commercial strip in Fairmount.
"We found, in our opinion, the perfect location," she said.
They found the property, but couldn't find the house. So they built their own.
Artini said she designed the 3,840-square-foot home herself, including the large great room, Artini's favorite room in the house. The open downstairs floor plan includes the great room, dining room and kitchen, creating a free-flowing layout that Artini said is ideal for both intimate dinners and large gatherings.
"I think it's one of the best design concepts a house can have," she said.
The finished lower level is an in-law apartment with its own entrance leading to the attached three-car garage, as well as an entrance leading outside.
Artini and Corbo are looking to downsize and travel more, but they'll be staying in Central New York.
"There isn't a prettier place topographically than Upstate New York," she said. "Why would we want to leave this?"
THE DETAILS
Address: 143 Quartz Way, Camillus, N.Y., 13219
Price: $419,900
Size: 3,840 square feet
Acreage: 3.3 acres
Monthly Mortgage: $1,516 (based on this week's national average rate of 3.52 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)
Taxes: $8,632 (Based on assessed value of $239,600)
Built: 1995
School District: West Genesee
Kitchen: The eat-in kitchen features a full suite of stainless steel appliances, granite counters, center island and easy access to the large back deck.
Dining room: Part of the open downstairs floor plan, the dining room is surrounded by glass doors leading to the deck, filling the room with natural light.
Great room: A granite-topped wet bar with wine racks and under-cabinet glass storage flanks a fireplace, the centerpiece of the room.
Master bedroom: One of five bedrooms in the home, the second-floor master bedroom has a large walk-in closet.
Master bathroom: The master bathroom, one of four full bathrooms, features a shower and double vanity.
Outside: The yard has a 14-zone sprinkler system and a 16-by-20-foot screen house that Artini called her "summer home away from home.
Artini and Corbo are selling their home by-owner. MLS #S1006029
An open house is scheduled for Nov. 20, from noon to 4 p.m., or call (315) 373-3298 for private showing.
To nominate a listing for House of the Week, send an email to home@syracuse.com. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or on Twitter at @jacobpucci.
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Dirgha Raj Prasai
After the movement (I) of 1990, Nepal became dirty playground of foreigners. The movement (II) of 2006 was not for democracy but for making Nepal confused and failed state. The so-called leaders of Congress, UML, and Maoists were never clear whether the movement was for improvement of parliamentary democracy or for communism. The leaders are so confused. They sometimes unite and sometimes quarrel for nothing. Unhealthy alliances run in similar way. Due to their notorious activities, the corrupted leaders of so-called big party leaders are being trapped in their own grand designs. In Nepalese politics, what is the aim or objective of Congress, UML, Maoists, and Madhesis ? The answer is not clear that the traitors do not have any capacity direct the country in right pathway. Now there is no doubt that the leaders of above stated parties are guided by foreigners. Therefore they do not deserve any right to claim as leaders of the country.
Since 1990, the culprit leaders of Congress & UML believed that the constitution of Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 was the best constitution of world because they used to say they were committed to constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. In present, it seems they forgot it just as a dream. What were pitfalls of the Constitution of 1990? Why was it suspended without reason? What kind of new constitution they require? Even they are reluctant to justify it in front of Nepalese people. Maoists used to claim them nationalist. But they are completely exposed as they signed 12 point agreement on Indian direction In Delhi. Now there is painful confusion about the forward direction to be taken by Nepal. 'Crows are never the white for washing.' They are satanic but not political man. Whoever will the PM in the new Govt, but, it seems the country may face disastrous civil war.
Although there is difference in Congress, UML, Madhesis and Maoist as party, they all are directed from same point/place. The uprising of 2063 BS proved this fact. Due to traitors and corrupted leaders the country encountered heavy problems. India always exhibits its interest whenever any internal problem is seen in Nepal. Slogans like 'Republic, Secularism, Racial-federalism, complete Madhesi single or two states, are not due to Nepali people or leaders, but are part of grand design to destroy Nepal. The policy that is 'a honey tongue, a heart of Gail' by above stated party leaders has leading to serious danger in the existence of Nepal. Why such anarchy, if movement was against dictatorship. Why the agreement, made at 2006 April 24 with the King, was violated? Because it was the same agreement by which the movement was suspended. This would lead failure of these leaders in future. The main confusion and betray is interim constitution, 2006 as the agreement was already made in accordance to the constitution of 1990.
Caste, language, religion, land and mines of Nepal are considered to be highly sensitive issues. If you raise these issues without your understanding and enough homework, you will be trapped in net. Since past few years, some leaders raised these issues so lightly that their Pandora's Box has been broken and totally exposed.
In fact, there are three types residents in the country viz Anadibasi (those who are living from immortal time), Aadibasi (indigenous caste), Aaprabasi (migrants). Brahmins, Chhetri and few Newars are Anadibasi. Magar, Gurung, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Rajbansi, Tharu and Dhimal etc are indigenous castes. Unlike, migrants are Muslims, Marwadis, Madhesis and Bengalis, who came to Nepal some 300 years ago extending their business and trade. But, the Muslims, Bengalese and Marwari are not dangerous than Madhesis. The Muslim was the supporters of Nepal's unification since 1750. But, some political anti-nationalist elements who are guided from South Block, EU and CIA are creating a dangerous condition of conflicts among these three groups of residents. Federalism and racism are neither issues nor solutions of Nepal. Our realistic issue is to assure their equal and active participation in every sector of nation building.
If India claims to contribute for democracy in Nepal, then what thinks about Bhutanese democracy? Even though the democracy was introduced in 1950, India influenced Nepal making it paralyzed. The anti-Indian forces are increasing day by day in Nepal. This is failure of Indian diplomacy to treat South Asian countries including Nepal. Nepal has its own internal problems and Nepalese are able to solve them by themselves. But Indian leaders, taking few poppet leaders of Nepal, always interferes even the domestic issues. Nepali Congress, UML and Maoists are attempting to take court and Nepalese Army in their control. But they should understand that the court and Nepalese army are not private property of any political party. Besides the past history of Nepalese army is the proof that it won't compromise with any anti-nationalist power. Even Nepalese democratic and nationalist people cannot support such notorious activities. Now it is too much. 'Too much of one thing is good for nothing'.
Those who make mistake should commit it in national politics. But, in this country there are so many leaders who never commit mistakes made by them. 'To make no mistakes is not in the power of man, but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.' After sudden resignation of Maoist-led government as it made many blunders. Now, Nepalese people are reluctant to see the faces of these traitors. In clear direction of India, late Girija Prasad Koirala and his followers had kept an incompetent and pro-Indian and culprit Madhav Nepal in the chair of Premier. But, he could not do anything for Nepalese people goodness. Let the politicians know, the Nepalese people wont tolerate the country. In order to protect Nepal from the hands of traitors, all Nepalese (from in and outside of parties) people, Nepalese Army, Police, peasants, labourers, youth, women, court including the King Etc should come out and protest. Nepalese monarchy is the most convincing identity of Nepal's sovereignty & democracy.
Due to the removal of the monarchy, Nepal is facing anarchism- the lawlessness, theft; robbery, killing, corruption and scarcity of goods, political and social malpractices are increasing day by day. Nepalese people have been seen so many criminals and anarchists enjoying impunity. No leaders are responsible about the deteriorated situation. In 1999, there was a plebiscite in Australia whether to accept the British monarchy as its head of state and majority of the Australians voted for the existing arrangement. Even in Canada, the British monarchy has been accepted as its head of state. If they can accept the Queen of Britain as their head of state, why can't we in Nepal keep monarchy, which had the principle role in unifying this country, and modernize it. So, to save Nepal, there must be reinstated the permanent institution'Monarchy'. Without monarchy Nepal can't adjust. This is the right time when unified nationalist forces of Nepal should be empowered restoring the identified symbols of Nepal's sovereignty and unity- the Hindu kingdom and constitutional monarchy This can only protect the nationalism, monarchism, democracy and its norms in Nepal. Therefore, let us sacrifice for the country.
Email: dirgharajprasai@gmail.com
In this image taken off the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016 and released by Xinhua News Agency, two Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, left and Chen Dong salute in the space lab Tiangong 2. (AP)
BEIJING, Nov 18: A pair of Chinese astronauts have returned from a month-long stay in the country's space station, China's sixth and longest crewed mission to date.
Veteran mission commander Jing Haipeng and first-time space traveler Chen Dong landed in their Shenzhou 11 return vehicle on the frozen steppes of Inner Mongolia on Friday afternoon.
They had spent 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 station conducting experiments and testing equipment in preparation for the launching of the station's core module in 2018. A fully functioning, permanently crewed space station is on course to begin operation six years from now and slated to run for a decade.
The Tiangong 2 that launched on Sept. 15 is orbiting 393 kilometers (244 miles) above the earth.
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Donald Trump was elected president as a populist among Americans. So Asia might wait awhile before the New York real estate billionaire with ideas from deporting immigrants to eroding the sanctity of national parks gets around to figuring out policies for the worlds biggest continent. But Asia isnt a place Trump can ignore. Here are five reasons Trump must cooperate with Asia after taking office Jan. 20 and give the place a lot of what it wants:
1. Trump has valuable sweet spots in Asia
If personal concerns such as money play into Trumps Asia policies, we might expect him to ensure booming economies in South Korea, India and the Philippines. His company the Trump Organization developed three condominium towers in Seoul and three in other Korean cities, all open since 2007. A 75-level Trump Tower is due to stand out in Mumbai and was designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates of another Asian country, Singapore, the Trump Organizations website says. In Makati, the ritzy part of Metro Manila, the company is building a glassy high-rise with 220 large homes inspired by New York Citys most fashionable districts, the website says.
2. The president-elect needs to watch a few Hong Kong tycoons
Chinese investors in Hong Kong, per this piece from Forbes last year, once got entangled with one of Trumps properties. When his Riverside South project in New York hit financial trouble in the 1990s, Trump found Henry Cheng of the New World group. Cheng was a big-time developer and head of one of Hong Kongs richest families. FORBES has placed the Cheng familys net worth at $11.5 billion. The investors bought a mortgage and sold the project some 10 years later, earning $1.8 billion. Trump sued the Chinese partners, alleging they ignored higher bids and evaded taxes. In 2009, the Manhattan district attorney indicted some of those involved on suspicion of tax evasion.
3. Playing too hard with China would backfire at home
Trump rode China hard during the 595-day presidential campaign, calling it a cheater at trade, a currency manipulator and threatening military movement to stop Beijings expansion in nearby oceans despite protests from neighboring governments. But his tone has softened he won the Nov. 8 election.
American companies need China. Their exports to the worlds biggest market by population size totaled $113 billion in 2015, making China the third biggest destination after Canada and Mexico, the U.S.-China Business Council advocacy group says. A whos-who of American multinationals still run factories in China despite rising costs.
4. Risk of conceding Southeast Asias fastest-growing middle class
American companies would give up increasingly well-off Vietnam to someone else if Trump turns campaign talk into reality. He has criticized the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) as bad for the United States, which led formation of the 12-nation trade zone under President Barack Obama. The U.S. Congress has until February 2018 to ratify the TPP. Vietnam was to be a member of it but the country has put off its ratification.
The United States has announced it suspends the submission of TPP to the parliament so there are not sufficient conditions for Vietnam to submit its proposal for ratification, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said to the National Assembly.
Countries with Vietnam trade deals and places such as the European Union already have them get low-tariff access to the Southeast Asian countrys increasingly attractive consumer market. The middle and affluent class in Vietnam will double from 2014 to 2020 to 33 million people, more than one third of the population, the Boston Consulting Group estimates.
If Trump does in fact dump the TPP, we will unfortunately see FDI from the U.S. slow down and the chances of U.S. companies tapping into Southeast Asias fastest-growing middle class diminished, says Oscar Mussons, international business advisory associate with the Dezan Shira & Associates consultancy.
5. The Philippines is getting stronger at the expense of U.S. influence
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Greetings! I am a political scientist , specializing in International Relations , my research and teaching focus on ethnic conflict and civil-military relations . I watch way too much TV, and I like movies as well so I tend to write about both and find IR stuff in pop culture. I rant alot about American politics and sometimes about Canadian politics. I like to take ideas I once learned a long time ago and apply them to whatever strikes my fancy.
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Nov-17-2016 16:10 TweetFollow @OregonNews Water Positioned as a Top Challenge in Fight Against Climate Change at COP22 World Water Council emphasizes the need to create synergies as pillars for water security and to do justice to the African continent
The joint High-Level Segment of COP 22/CMP 12/CMA1 was opened on Tuesday, 15 November 2016, presided over by His Excellency Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar, in the presence of His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson, and the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Ms. Patricia Espinosa, also attended the opening.
(MARRAKESH, Kingdom of Morocco) - Following the inauguration of the first Global Climate Action Day for Water in the history of the UNFCCC*, the World Water Council, through the voice of Honorary President Loic Fauchon, presents today the outcomes of those discussions held during 9 Novembers Water Day. Climate Action Champion, Minister Hakima El Haite and Ambassador Laurence Tubiana, receives the key recommendations with great interest in the presence of other ministers and high-level participants during the High Level Panel on Accelerating Climate Action. They will subsequently present their summary to governments at the closing plenary of COP22 on 18 November 2018. The World Water Council salutes the Global Climate Champions of Morocco and France for their outstanding engagement in making COP22 a landmark in the history of the UN Climate Conference, by increasing the visibility for water challenges which are exacerbated by climate change. "In Marrakech, for the first time in COP** history, the issue of water is at the forefront of the agenda," says Loic Fauchon, enabling the world water community to propose concrete solutions and actions today. The three recommendations for water action brought to the attention of the United Nations and government representatives today at COP22 include: Harmonizing water and climate policies, launching a Water Action Plan for Climate Resilience and implementing the five fingers alliance concept, an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses collaborative solutions in the domains of water, food, energy, health and education Extending water access and sanitation services in Africa; Reinforcing resilient water governance and promoting participatory, inclusive, integrated, and ecological water resources management. Water is one of the most impacted resources, but water also provides solutions to these challenges. It is key in mitigating and adapting to uncertainty, both now and in the future. "Political action is now needed to recognize the role water plays in climate mitigation and adaptation, and to translate this in concrete investments, recalls Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council and Secretary of State for Sanitation and Water Resources for the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Collected within the COP22 Outcome Document of the Water Action Day, the recommendations from the world water community to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties and international climate community are: Recognize that climate change impacts water resources first and foremost; Increase visibility for water within climate discussions at an international level, in particular as it pertains to the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans; Launch a water action plan for climate resilience with a specific focus on Africa; Consider the relevance of an IPCC report focusing on water to bring the scientific evidence to decision-makers and send a wake-up call; Improve access to financing of resilient water management projects for energy, water supply and sanitation, agriculture, cities, and ecosystems, in particular for developing countries, by providing support for the development of credible and bankable projects, robust climate risk assessment processes, and involving the private sector and private finance where appropriate, while taking into consideration social, poverty alleviation, and ecological components; Support established principles on resilient water governance and water allocation. These include enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, trust and engagement; encouraging integrated and participatory water management; engaging with under-served groups and ecosystems; and implementing flexible governance mechanisms that can cope with the high levels of uncertainty in future water conditions; Improve and share water and climate change knowledge at all levels, in particular through research development and capacity building, with specific attention to gender-disaggregated data and the situation of women and girls; Increase resilience to risks posed by water-related disasters, such as floods and droughts, which are exacerbated by climate change; Recognize the need to harmonize efforts with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Webcast available live or on-demand:
http://unfccc.cloud.streamworld.de/webcast/high-level-event-on-accelerating-climate-action The World Water Council is an international multi-stakeholder platform organization, the founder and co-organizer of the World Water Forum. The World Water Councils mission is to mobilise action on critical water issues at all levels, including the highest decision-making level, by engaging people in debate and challenging conventional thinking. The Council focuses on the political dimensions of water security, adaptation, and sustainability, and works to position water at the top of the global political agenda. Headquartered in Marseille, France, since its founding in 1996, the World Water Council brings together over 300 member organizations from more than 50 different countries. Source: World Water Council; worldwatercouncil.org; @wwatercouncil #wwatercouncil *UNFCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change **COP = Conference of Parties _________________________________________
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When firefighters arrived at 910 West Alvin, they found a camping trailer and a nearby detached garage fully engulfed in flames. The blaze spread along the ground and, destroying a fence and burning neighboring yards and trees.
As featured on Fire destroys travel trailer, damages garage on West Alvin When firefighters arrived at 910 W. Alvin Ave., they found a camping trailer and a nearby de
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You might be able to argue that J.A. Bayona is not the most original filmmaker current working today, but there is no denying that he has a masterful understanding of how to direct a film that will grab (almost) all of his audience by the heart and squeeze until it bursts. His first feature film, The Orphanage, was a contemporary take on the gothic tale of ghosts and motherhood that left nary a dry or unfrightened eye in the house. His second, The Impossible, adapted the true story of a family caught in the 2004 tsunami. And with his latest, A Monster Calls, he heads back to genre to tell the story of a boy coming to terms with his mother's imminent death. On the one hand, the story of this boy is neither original not particularly compelling; on the other, there are some outstanding scenes and a genuinely heart-wrenching climax that might melt even the coldest of hearts.
Conor (Lewis MacDougall) looks after himself as his mother Lizzy (Felicity Jones) undergoes chemotherapy. Bullies at school and a difficult relationship with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) mean that Conor spends a lot of time drawing and living in his imagination. Thus comes a anthropomorphic Yew-tree monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) to talk Conor through his pain and anger in the form of old fairy tale stories.
Given its source material (a YA book by Patrick Ness), the film aims itself at a younger audience; that is to say, there is no covert subtext, the dialogue is neither particularly clever nor difficult to interpret, and the conclusion (it's okay to grieve and want the pain to end) inevitable. This does not necessarily always mean something negative; but in the case of A Monster Calls, the concentration on the exterior appearances means neglecting (or at least taking a long time to find) the heart. It feels like we are being presented a story, rather than asking us to be in the story. Obligatory scenes of Conor being bullied, of his mother ill with her treatment, of the difficult grandmother/grandson relationship; these presentations lack the necessary emotional impact.
When the Monster appears, it is refreshing; like an Ent on steroids, the Monster is a response to Conor's anger and sadness, and comes equipped to tell seemingly irrelevant stories to help Conor cope with his emotional upheaval. Neeson certainly has a voice to tell such stories, and indeed, the incredible animation of these tales is the best part of the film. Adrian Garcia and his team creating some spell-binding work, using watercolour style to tell these marvellous tales that really a lot more interesting than the main story. These tales, perhaps a bit too sophisticated for the intended child audience, are nonetheless captivating both in artistry and execution, and could stand on their own as short films.
Now, there really are no original stories anymore; in film, or any art form, all themes have been explored; what matters is either telling stories in a new way, or in an old way that still has meaning and can speak to its audience. This film has all the necessary ingredients for a successful family drama: It has the lost child, scared and alone, bullied and afraid of what is to come; a kind and caring mother; a distant but still human grandmother; the fantastical tree and its strange tales to help Conor come to terms with what he is feeling; a great score by Fernando Velazquez. The story itself is an important one for children and young people, who don't often have the emotional maturity or experience to process heavy emotions and situations.
So why does A Monster Calls lack impact? Perhaps it was only with me; I know of spectators who saw the film at previous festivals and loved it. And in the fantastical scenes, the film shines. This might be where Bayona shines: his understanding of how to use fantastic tropes to tell a story are undeniable, and like other directors such as Guillermo del Toro and Steven Spielberg, Bayona can tap directly into how children can often understand far better through stories than direct address. This could explain why Bayona's first film was a success and his second was not; high emotions work in the fantastic in a way that they don't in straight drama.
Currently a hit in in cinemas in Spain, A Monster Calls will no doubt find an audience when released in North America during the holiday season, and likely will find a healthy audience there as well. But it feels far more as if it is going through the motions than seeking to genuinely connect.
2016 has seen Korean cinema make a big push to focus its narratives on characters from all walks of life, and particularly of different sexual orientations, with several major queer films bowing at festivals from Berlin to Busan. In between those events, one unassuming independent feature from a film school may have stolen the spotlight from the rest.
Lesbian drama Our Love Story, a graduate project from the Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), is a understated and compelling tale which is more concerned with the complications of burgeoning love than the societal pressures both its protagonists must contend with. Its subtle depiction of familiar situations within a relationship which may be unfamiliar to many viewers may well have been what earned it its Grand Prize in the Korean competition at the Jeonju International Film Festival this year.
A modest art student quietly prepares for an art project at school and one day, while searching for materials for her installation, she crosses paths with a carefree bartender. Intrigued by her effortless cool she is drawn to the young woman and, despite resisting some the urges bubbling up within her, cautiously enters into a relationship with her.
Debut director Lee Hyun-ju opts for an observational approach, which proves intimate without ever feeling intrusive, instead of politicizing her narrative or highlighting the rampant intolerance towards homosexuality that still dominates Korean society. The main concerns of the narrative are the hesitancy and innocence that accompany first love, while at the same time Lee is careful to avoid the melodramatic sentimentality that typically mark this kind of narrative in other Korean films.
Chief to the film's success are the terrific performances of its leads Lee Sang-hee, playing the student, and Ryu Sun-young, as the bartender. Unlike many actresses in similarly timid roles, Lee is able project both strength and vulnerability in her character, while also layering her with a soft but nonetheless charismatic edge. On the other end of the spectrum, Ryu manages to play a larger-than-life character without ever letting her performance overwhelm the balance between her and her co-star.
The dynamic between the two stars is what drives the film and lifts above the many cautious romantic tales that litter Far East Asian cinema. Never exploitative and always authentic, Our Love Story is the most compelling example of queer cinema in Korea to arrive since the films of Leasing Hee-il (No Regret, White Night, Night Flight).
Made in Prague is one of the oldest national film showcases in the UK displaying Czech cinema. This year, the event celebrates the 20th anniversary and offers a rundown of the recent domestic cinema produced in the last two years in Londons venues such as Barbican, Deptford Cinema, The Horse Hospital or the Frontline Club. The ebb of new talent revitalized the domestic film environment, a fact demonstrated by the recent surge of Czech titles on the international circuit.
Recent Czech cinema has stepped out of the shadow of its provincialism, production and aesthetic, and delivered titles comparable to the European arthouse production. One of this years surprises is Petr Kazda and Tomas Weinrebs joint feature debut I, Olga (read the review) premiered at the festival preceding the films wide release in the UK ready to unspool on November 18. Kazda and Weinreb delivered exceptionally matured first feature outing, an existential drama in their words, revolving around the last woman to be hanged in the Czechoslovakia. The filmmaking duo opted to digress from historical reenactment in favor of uncanny portrait while touching several other topics. One of the leading ones is a contemplation over unmotivated violence exercised over innocent civilians like the one in the French coastal town of Nice. The protagonist Olga Hepnarova remains a cipher throughout the film characterized by paranoid and delusional ramblings, asocial behavior and resignation to try to fit into the society, manifesting her vulnerability only during intimate encounters. Kazda and Weinreb addressed also the taboo issue of homosexuality under the Communist rule.
Among the selected films is also Slovak-Czech project Eva Nova, recently acquired by HBO Europe to be released in the Central and Eastern European territories that the premium channel caters to. The film marks Slovak documentarist Marko Skops turn to fiction filmmaking in his first fiction feature outing. Skop utilizes documentary processes to conjure up touching a story about aging actress deciding to amend shattered bond with her estranged, now adult, son. The film reaped many accolades on the festival circuit and became Slovakias candidate into the 2017 Oscar race. Home Care, the feature debut by Slavek Horak, is the Czech Republics last year Oscar nomination telling a story about a way too self-sacrificing home care nurse helping others and unable to help herself. Horak mixes a bit of melodrama, a bit of sentimentality into the dramedy that eventually results into crowd-pleasing pop-arthouse fare.
Another debut by the newcomer Stepan Altrichter, Czech and German film Schmitke, a mystery comedy transposing Twin-Peaksy atmosphere into the woods of the Ore Mountain on the Czech and German woods where a middle-aged engineer tries to repair a wind turbine screeching in ear-piercing agony while experiencing surreal reveries. Andy Fehus debut The Greedy Tiffany (read the review), a DIY and no-budget venture into the genre of moral horror brings a breath of fresh air into the domestic production, once ripe wit genre fare.
Emerging young talent Olmo Omerzus sophomore feature Family Film was picked for the Made in Prague line-up, an unconventionally structured family film, a psychological probe and observation of an upper-middle-class Prague-based family and their survivalist dog. A social-realism comedy drama The Snake Brothers about a duo of siblings in a provincial Czech town is a timely and succinct story. Viper and Cobra are brothers trapped in a maze of aimless life. Where Viper drifts from low-paid factory job to a local pub on a daily basis, Cobras routine consists of getting money (i.e. stealing and pawning) in order to get coked up out of his head. The love/hate fraternal relationship serves as a foundation for a story about a struggle to find a way out of the labyrinth of hopelessness. Petr Vaclavs latest oeuvre, We Are Never Alone (read the review), a kaleidoscope of intertwining episodes creates a contemporary harrowing parable in an experimental form.
The 20th Made in Prague Film Festival runs until December 2 in London
Heads up, fans of Asian action films because upcoming Malaysian effort looks to be one you'll want to keep an eye out for.
Zul Azhar directs Zul Ariffin, Izara Aishah, Fazura, Farid Kamil, Azad Jazmin, Iedil Putra, Peter Davis and Omar Abdullah in this police thriller that seems to jam a bit of everything into the just released teaser. Tactical assault, hand to hand combat, a high speed gun battle on motorcycles ... there's a whole lot in here and it certainly appears as though they've done it all rather well.
This is just a first teaser leading up to a 2017 release but Malaysia has proven to have a strong audience for action films in recent years, leading to a rapid rise in production value and budgets on films looking to play to that audience and it looks here like they've got a good one. Take a look at the trailer below!
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Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier
Those who habitually put items in their recycling bins that don't belong there are the target of the ordinance amendment, not those who make an occasional, accidental mistake, said Public Works Director Jeff Demers.
In a symbolic but powerful resolution that might even make our neighbors in far-left Berkeley a bit envious, the Board of Supervisors took time on Tuesday to pass a resolution thoroughly affirming the rights of its citizens. Introduced by Board of Supervisors President London Breed, it was swiftly adopted by the Board in response to the bigotry espoused by President-Elect Donald Trump and the ratification of hatred his election signifies.
Resolution responding to the election of Donald Trump and reaffirming San
Franciscos commitment to the values his election threatens.
WHEREAS, On November 8, 2016, American voters elected an erratic, ill-informed
racist and misogynist as President; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That no matter the threats, San Francisco will remain a Sanctuary City.
We will not turn our back on the men and women from other countries who help make this city
great, and who represent over one third of our population. This is the Golden Gatewe build
bridges, not walls; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That we will never back down on womens rights, whether in
healthcare, the workplace, or any other area threatened by a man who treats women as
obstacles to be demeaned or objects to be assaulted. And just as important, we will ensure
our young girls grow up with role models who show them they can be or do anything; and, be
it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That there will be no conversion therapy, no withdrawal of
rights in San Francisco. We began hosting gay weddings twelve years ago, and we are not
stopping now. And to all the LGBTQ people all over the country who feel scared, bullied, or
alone: You matter. You are seen; you are loved; and San Francisco will never stop fighting
for you; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That we still believe in this nations founding principle of
religious freedom. We do not ban people for their faith. And the only lists we keep are on
invitations to come pray together; and, be it
Supervisor Breed
FURTHER RESOLVED, That Black Lives Matter in San Francisco, even if they may
not in the White House. And guided by President Obamas Task Force on 21st Century
Policing, we will continue reforming our police department, and rebuilding trust between police
and communities of color so all citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That climate change is not a hoax, or a plot by the Chinese.
In this city, surrounded by water on three sides, science matters. And we will continue our
work on CleanPower, Zero Waste, and everything else we are doing to protect future
generations; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That we have been providing universal health care in this city
for nearly a decade, and if the new administration follows through on its callous promise to
revoke health insurance from 20 million people, San Franciscans will be protected; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That we are the birthplace of the United Nations, a city made
stronger by the thousands of international visitors we welcome every day. We will remain
committed to internationalism and to our friends and allies around the worldwhether the
administration in Washington is or not; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That San Francisco will remain a Transit First city and will
continue building Muni and BART systems we can all rely upon, whether this administration
follows through on its platform to eliminate federal transit funding or not; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That California is the sixth largest economy in the world. The
Bay Area is the innovation capital of the country. We will not be bullied by threats to revoke
our federal funding, nor will we sacrifice our values or members of our community for your
dollar; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That bigotry may have won an election, but it cannot change
who we are, and it will never change our values. We argue, we campaign, we debate
vigorously within San Francisco, but on these points we are 100% united. We will fight
Supervisor Breed
discrimination and recklessness in all its forms. We are one City. And we will move forward
together.
Though the location still hasn't been confirmed, Eater LA has news that SF's beloved Tartine Bakery, which has been planning an LA expansion for the past two years, will be opening a huge second location of its new Manufactory concept in Downtown LA approximately a year from now. They're partnering with prolific LA restaurateur Bill Chait (Republique, Bestia, Otium) on the project, and the deal for the space sounds close to being inked.
Things are moving fast for the Tartine empire, which just launched dinner service at the Manufactory in the last two weeks after opening the bakery-restaurant at the edge of SF's Mission District in August it shares a building with the Heath Ceramics flagship store. They've also launched their own coffee line, with roasting expertise coming from a Verve alum, and added ice cream to the menu, competing with one of their longtime Mission neighbors, Bi-Rite Creamery.
The new DTLA Tartine Manufactory would be 150 to 200 seats, about three times the size of the SF location, with a 15,000-square-foot kitchen and both daytime and dinner service. Chait estimates that the bread baking operation at the new location could open for retail sales by October or November of next year, with the restaurant to follow about a month later.
Late last year, Chait and his Sprout Restaurant Group announced that he was stepping down as managing partner in order to pursue his own projects, and this is clearly the first big one. Notably, news about Chait breaking off on his own came via LA Magazine just two weeks after the bombshell last December that Tartine founders Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt were breaking off a deal to partner with Blue Bottle Coffee on a major expansion. Coincidence?
At the time, Prueitt told the SF Chronicle, "Our individual plans would be better served pursuing them independently. Coffee infrastructure doesnt really support food and food infrastructure doesnt really support coffee."
As of 2014, Robertson was talking about an imminent expansion to London which has yet to come to fruition, as well as a potential expansion to New York.
Also, as we learned last month, an earlier plan to sell off the Bar Tartine restaurant on Valencia Street to its longtime chef has fallen through, and a new rejiggering of that restaurant is set to happen soon as well.
With District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener headed off to Sacramento, the Board of Supervisors is soon to be Wiener-less. Who will fill the gaping void on that governing body for the City and County of San Francisco?
That's up to Mayor Lee, and it's the hottest new parlor games for local politicos. As San Franciscans ensured by voting down Proposition D, which would have forbidden mayoral appointees to the Board from running for election after serving their interim term, whoever next occupies Wiener's sizable shoes is going to attempt to hold on to them for some time, and incumbents tend to have an advantage. That raises the stakes a bit, so presumably, Lee is going to go for someone who is relatively electable (more on that in a moment). One further note: Wiener hasn't officially defeated Jane Kim, his more progressive colleague on the board and rival for the District 11 State Senate seat. Votes are still being counted, but his victory is being treated as a foregone conclusion.
Randy Shaw at Beyond Chron is reading the tea leaves, and he's thinking that one Alex Randolph, currently in the wings as a City College Board Trustee, could be ripe for the position. "First and most importantly, Randolph has a track record of electoral success," Shaw writes,"He just won his own four-year term on the College Board after Mayor Lee appointed him to the position in April 2015." Further, Randolph "will never cast a vote or say something publicly that will embarrass the mayor... and given Lees past experience, this factor alone will weigh heavily on his decision." Perhaps out of political correctness, or perhaps because he assumes we all know this and follow local politics as closely as he does, Shaw buries until later in his writing that Randolph would represent another black voice on the board, joining Supervisors Breed and Cohen. While we're playing identity politics, Randolph, like Wiener, is gay, and would of course also represent the historically LGBT Castro District once represented by Harvey Milk.
Shaw points out that Christina Olague in D5 and Julie Christensen in D3, two of the Mayor's past appointees to the board, have failed to win reelection, so surely he's hoping to change his luck. Correction: This post originally neglected to mention Katy Tang, the mayor's appointee to District 4. Tang has won reelection twice.
While Shaw doesn't think that Randolph, or really anyone, has or requires name recognizability to get the job, he can't come up with too many other names himself. One other is Connor Johnson, top aide to London Breed, but Shaw likes Randolph's chances better.
To Hoodline, Wiener wrote before the election that, if he were chosen by voters, he'd like the Mayor "to make a strong appointment to succeed mesomeone who will work night and day, as I have, to support our community and advance good policy at City Hall.
The District 8 supervisor would serve until the next District 8 election in 2018, and, thanks again to the failure of Prop D., there is no timeline by which the Mayor must make his appointment. Many Supervisorial decisions are made by an incomplete Board.
Previously: Scott Wiener Narrowly Defeats Jane Kim In Costly State Senate Race
It's been almost 20 years since the first novel was released, and fifteen since the first film in the series hit theaters. Those kids who first read those books and saw the movies are adults now, many with kids of their own, and while I'm sure they're sharing their Harry Potter love with those youngsters, I bet there's a part of them that wishes there were some new stories to dive into.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fits into that niche quite well, giving adult Harry Potter fans something aimed a little more at them, while still being perfectly acceptable for those younger Potterphiles.
Until recently (this week, as a matter of fact), my only exposure to the Harry Potter world was via the movies, not the books. I saw them all, and enjoyed them, but never felt particularly drawn into the world. In general, the genre isn't my favorite. But Fantastic Beasts sucked me in right away for two reasons. One, because it's centered on adults, and not kids. And the other because I am a sucker for period pieces, especially when that period is New York City in the 1920's.
Directed by David Yates, who directed the final four Harry Potter films, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling (her first), the film is based on the title of a textbook assigned to first year Hogwarts students, which was released as an actual companion book to the original series in 2001. It centers on the book's supposed author, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a magizoologist who arrives in New York with a suitcase full of critters and plans to release one into its native habitat in Arizona. These beasts aren't pretty unicorns, and most are kind of, well, beastly. (My favorite has to be the platypus-like Niffler, who seems to like shiny jewelry almost as much as I do.)
But before he can even hail a cab, he comes face-to-face with the New Salem Philanthropic Society, an anti-witchcraft cult headed by the stern Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), and her creepy adopted kids, including Ezra Miller as Credence, who looks like Buster Keaton if Buster Keaton had been beaten by his mother on a daily basis.
If that weren't enough, one of Newt's creatures escapes; he accidentally reveals his magical skills to a No-maj named Jacob Kowalski (No-maj is the American version of Muggle); and he is arrested by Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson, always charming), an investigator with the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
When his beasts are wrongfully accused of the destruction that has befallen certain areas of the city, Newt, Tina, her clairvoyant sister Queenie (Alison Sudol), and Jacob (Dan Fogler) team up to rescue the escaped beasts, and figure out just what is behind the seemingly dark magic rampages. And that's just one plotline in a film that has many.
But that can be forgiven since the movie is supposed to be the first in a series of five films. They need to set up a lot of things, like how magic in America is kept hidden, how those who practice it are segregated from the No-majs (segregation, because, America), and how a dark wizard has broken free in Europe, bent on exposing the magical world to the Muggles and taking over both. (The casting of that character is supposed to be a secret, though by now it's pretty much an open one. But, just in case, I'll just say I wonder if they're beginning to regret their casting choice in light of this past year's events, because I know the reveal didn't exactly fill me with excitement.)
This is the third Eddie Redmayne film I've seen in which he plays a character that never seems to look anyone in the eye. Newt is supposed to be shy and a bit awkward, hence the shifty looks, but it's an affectation that grows a bit tiresome. He also mumbles a lot, which meant I spent half the film wondering if I'd missed a key piece of dialogue.
Much more delightful is the performance of Dan Fogler as Kowalski, the cannery worker who dreams of opening a bakery. He's basically a stand-in for the audience, as he's exposed to more and more magic with wide-eyed wonder, and a what-the-hell-why-not attitude. Fogler's perfect comic timing also gives the movie the majority of its laughs.
Towards the end, the film gets a little too action-packed, with the city of New York (once again) on the verge of destruction. But there are enough moments of magic in the rest of the movie to make up for it, and it had me looking forward to the stories to come. Especially if Newt drops the mumbling, and pairs up with Kowalski.
Better yet, give Kowalski his own spin-off! Fantastic Feasts and Where to Eat Them. I'll be first in line.
If you were wondering what the men accused of beating disabled homeless man ai Lam look like, wonder no more: Friday morning, the San Francisco Police Department released the booking photos (aka mug shots) of the three men arrested for the two-year-old crime.
It was the night of November 23, 2014, and the 67-year-old man was asleep in a Financial District alley near Montgomery and Sutter, where he retired most nights. According to reports at the time, family members had openedup their houses to him, but Lam had declined, preferring to sleep in the rough. But that night was different,
as three men who police say "attended an event in the neighborhood" had a brief chat with a Crocker Galleria security guard, stopped for a smoke, then set upon Lam.
The men walked away following the initial attack, then returned a second time, kicking and beating Lam again, then-Lieutenant Toney Chaplin said at the time.
Lam "was unable to defend himself. He died alone after suffering these horrendous attacks."
After years of investigation, police caught a break: DNA evidence from a car theft in Washington matched evidence from the crime scene, leading investigators to 21-year-old Joseph Stull of Idaho. During questioning, Stull reportedly implicated himself in or confessed to the crime, providing explicit details of the beating and pointing the finger at 21-year-old David Peters of Stockton as one of his conspirators.
Both were booked into San Francisco County Jail, and pled not guilty on November 2 to charges of murder, second-degree robbery, inflicting injury on an elderly or dependent adult likely to cause great bodily injury, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
According to a press release the San Francisco Police Department sent with the booking photos this morning, "On November 16, 2016, SFPD Special Investigation Division along with the assistance of Stockton PD located and arrested 22-year old, Anthony Gibson-Brum in Stockton, California," allegedly the third suspect in the case. As previously reported, he was scheduled for arrangement Thursday, and like his alleged companions, remains in San Francisco County Jail, with bail set at $5 million for each.
Police say that though the trio have been arrested, investigators are still seeking additional evidence in the case. They ask that anyone who recognizes the suspects or has information on this case to contact the San Francisco Police Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or Text-a-Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.
Previously: Third Suspect Arrested In Horrific Beating Death Of Man Sleeping On SF Street
The office of San Francisco's District Attorney gained two new employees but unlike (one assumes) the rest of the staff there, these recent hires walk around without pants, eat off the floor, and relieve themselves outdoors.
That's because, says spokesperson Max Szabo, they are dogs. Pink, an 18-month-old female Labrador Retriever and Red, a 14-month-old male Golden Retriever/Labrador mix were sworn in to the office of George Gascon Thursday "to assist the Victim Services Division as part of ongoing effort to support vulnerable victims of crime."
Both pups are products of Assistance Dogs of the West, a Santa Fe, New Mexico non-profit that according to their website trains "facility dogs for work in professional group settings from private therapeutic practices, to drug treatment centers, to college campuses, to judicial districts."
KRON 4 reports that each dog cost $35,000 to "breed, raise, and train," fees covered by a state grant.
In this case, Szabo says, Pink and Red will "work with children, adults with disabilities, and people in crisis in busy legal environments" as part of "a pioneering effort to mitigate the stress and trauma that can accompany victimization using science-supported canine therapy."
Both dogs have also met with San Francisco Superior Court judges, in hopes that they may eventually be allowed into the courtroom to soothe witnesses and victims during trials.
In a press event Thursday at the Hall of Justice, Gascon placed an official medallion on both dogs, declaring them official victim specialists. "We often interview victims and witnesses that are under a lot of stress," Gascon said at the ceremony.
"There has been plenty of proof that well trained facility dogs can help witnesses and victims relax and be able to deal with what is often very stressful situations, especially when they have been traumatized."
Related: Pets Of Homeless People Provide Huge Benefits, But Often Keep Them On The Streets
Following the Democalypse of last week, some parts of the country i.e. every city are going through major anxiety crises and deep depressions while other parts of the country basically everywhere that isn't a city are doing just fine, and/or celebrating. Naturally San Francisco is up there among places where a vast majority of the population has been pretty apoplectic over this for the last ten days and we're all still trying to talk ourselves down off the proverbial ledge. For those with mental health issues or just more volatile psyches, the situation has been even worse, and the ledges less proverbial and in the case of one mentally ill woman on BART last week, it led to a racist outburst that, unfortunately for her and her family, went viral. Now Hoodline has spoken to people who work at a couple of mental health hotlines in the Bay Area to put some hard numbers to what they've seen over the last week and a half. And, indeed, people are going through it.
SFist also spoke to a couple of mental health professionals about what they were seeing in the days following the election. One, Erick Hung, Director of the Psychiatry Residency Training Program at UCSF, says that in any nationally charged moment like this there will be an uptick in patients acting out in anger, or exhibiting avoidance behaviors.
Dr. Michael Enenbach, an Associate Professor in UCLA's Department of Psychiatry specializing in children and teens, tells us, "I've generally seen people without psychiatric diagnoses with greater anxiety over the past year, mostly because of the uncertainty about the election. Those with previously diagnosed disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, have had a heightening of these symptoms. This includes both adults and children." He adds, "Kids not only pick up on the anxieties of adults around them but are also much more aware of world events thanks to social medial and the internet. In California in particular, kids are worried that their friends or family may be deported and have been greatly affected by the harsh rhetoric of the election."
Libby Craig, the Bay Area director for Crisis Text Line, a text-based crisis hotline service, tells Hoodline that messages to the hotline doubled on election night and quadrupled the next day, and their text volume has been about 150 percent of normal since the election. Also, she noted that the word "scared" was one of the most used in the texts they've received, and "The most common association of the word 'scared' was with texters dealing with LGBTQ issues."
The same has been true at traditional crisis hotlines all over the country. Courtney Brown, hotline director at San Francisco Suicide Prevention, tells Hoodline their call volume went up 30 percent immediately after the election, a spike far higher than after the previous general election in 2012 and calls there actually decreased immediately after Obama's first election in 2008.
If you are in crisis, text "BAY" to 741741 for free, 24/7, confidential crisis support from Crisis Text Line. And if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, you or they should call the San Francisco Suicide Prevention crisis line at (415) 781-0500.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
DES MOINES | Roughly $1 million in state financial assistance was awarded Friday to a pair of area economic development projects in the Sioux City area.
The state economic development board awarded the tax breaks to Gelita USA Inc. in rural Woodbury County and Rocklin Manufacturing in downtown Sioux City.
Gelita USA received $885,000 in financial assistance toward its expansion project. The planned $22 million expansion would create 21 new jobs at an average hourly rate of $20.17 and expand the companys capacity to produce collagen peptide, which is used in a variety of food, health and nutrition applications.
The state incentive package includes a $630,000 tax credit, a $150,000 sales tax refund and a $105,000 forgivable loan.
At a separate meeting in Sioux City Friday, the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors awarded nearly $500,000 in tax increment financing rebate over five years toward the project.
We are grateful for their consideration of such a significant investment in our county," Jeremy Taylor, chair of the county board, said of Gelita. "and we laud the helpful cooperation of The Siouxland Initiative, the cities of Salix and Sioux City, along with the Woodbury County Rural Economic Development Department in helping secure the project."
The expansion project, which is slated to begin in May 2017 and be completed a year later, now awaits final approval from Gelita's board of directors.
This decision will provide Gelita the pioneer in collagen peptide research and production the opportunity to meet growing customer demand for the highest quality collagen peptides supported by scientific research in the health and nutrition sector," Rob Mayberry, senior vice president of finance and administration for Gelita, said in a statement. The additional processing capacity also provides opportunity for greater flexibility and future growth
Gelita makes a variety of commercial gelatine products from pork skins and cattle bones at its plants at 2445 Port Neal Industrial Road. A unique process is used to make collagen peptides, which are produced from the same raw materials as gelatine.
At Friday's Iowa Economic Development Authority Board meeting, Rocklin Manufacturing received nearly $267,000 in state financial assistance for its planned $1.4 million renovation project at its downtown site at 110 S Jennings St.
Rocklin, which manufactures industrial electronic equipment, plans to remove two unusable buildings and renovate a third. The project will not create any new jobs, but will allow the company to retain its eight employees, according to state board documents.
The state assistance package includes almost $218,000 in tax credits and a $49,000 tax refund.
SERGEANT BLUFF | Gelita USA Inc. is seeking nearly $1.3 million in state and local tax incentives to help fund a $22 million expansion of its Port Neal manufacturing complex that would create at least 21 new jobs.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board on Friday morning will consider a $780,000 financial package that would include $630,000 in investment tax credits, refund of $150,000 in sales, service and use taxes on construction materials, and a $105,000 forgivable loan, according to state documents released Thursday.
Later in the day, the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting to consider $499,612 in property tax breaks for the project. The complex, which currently employs about 250 people, is in an unincorporated portion of the county along Port Neal Road, just south of Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff.
The new addition will expand the capacity to produce collagen peptide, allowing the company to meet a growing demand in the U.S. and other countries for the product used in a variety of food, health and nutrition applications, according to the state documents.
Gelita makes a variety of commercial gelatine products from pork skins and cattle bones at its plants at 2445 Port Neal Industrial Road. Collagen peptides are produced from the same raw materials as gelatine, but a unique manufacturing process is used, according to documents filed with the state.
Construction on the new addition is expected to begin in May, with an opening anticipated a year afterward. The company's expenditures include $5 million to construct the building and $16.8 million for machinery and equipment, according to the state documents.
Gelita USA is a division of Gelita AG, a Eberbach, Germany-based company with facilities on six continents.
The Port Neal complex is billed as the world's largest gelatine factory. Multiple beef and pork plants in the tri-state region supply raw products for Gelita, which began operations at the Port Neal site in 1968.
For the directors of Moana, backstage at Hamilton was the room where it happened.
Many nights, dressed in his Alexander Hamilton costume, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda Skyped them from his dressing room, just before going on stage.
It just worked out for his schedule and our schedule, director Ron Clements says.
For the songs demos, Miranda enlisted his Hamilton costars. By the time the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical became the hottest ticket in New York, Clements and his fellow director John Musker were more than familiar with the cast. Theres a whole additional album of songs that werent used in the movie, he says.
When Clements and Musker first met Miranda, he was just coming off the success of In the Heights, his first musical.
The two knew what they wanted.
Moana is set in the South Pacific and they were interested in marrying music of the islands to Broadway show tunes, much like The Lion King" embraced African music. To find the right person, they went to New York to meet potential composers.
We loved In the Heights and the way he was able to go from Spanish to English, Clements says. We wanted something like that in this. We also liked him he was very passionate, enthusiastic and smart.
Along the way, Miranda happened to mention he was working on a hip-hop musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. We thought, That sounds interesting. Good luck with that, Clements says. We had no idea it was going to be this huge phenomenon.
Still, when Clements and Musker saw the show in its earliest incarnation, they were convinced they had made the right choice for composer.
He was teamed with Opetaia Foai, the founder of the Oceanic music group Te Vaka. Mark Mancina, the arranger for The Lion King, was brought in to mesh the two worlds. The first time we all got together was at a music festival in New Zealand, Clements says. The three musicians put their heads together and wrote We Know the Way, a song about ancient voyagers.
At the same time, Clements says, there was a dance contest. Organizers grabbed people out of the audience. Miranda was chosen and won.
Now, the Moana team is pulling for him to get an Oscar. He already has an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize, Clements says. He just needs the Oscar. Itd be really cool for him.
No strangers to the Oscar game, Clements and Musker were among the Best Animated Film nominees for Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog. Theyre not handicapping their chances for this one (its a very competitive holiday season and there 27 animated films this year, Clements say), but it would be a fitting cap to a career that has included some of the biggest films in animation history.
A storied career
While The Little Mermaid is often credited with beginning a second golden age of animation, its not the only stellar credit on the Clements/Musker resume. They also directed Hercules, Aladdin and The Great Mouse Detective.
Clements, a Sioux City native, and Musker, a Chicago native, arrived at Disney when members of Walts original team were beginning to retire. Trained by those nine old men, they were charged with carrying on the tradition and bringing it into a new generation.
Mermaid exploded and led to a flurry of animation activity around the world.
Now regarded as Disneys old guard, the two are among the last who worked on hand-drawn animation.
Moana, Clements says, is their first CG (or computer-animated) movie. It was like learning a whole new process.
During the hand-drawn days, animators would rough out a films look, then clean it up before handling the animation. With CG animation, you have to build the characters and rig the characters. A leaf has to be made every aspect in three dimensions. Once everything is built, youre in production and it can move very fast, much faster than hand-drawn.
Still learning
While looking at scenes in early stages, Clements and Musker peppered their staff with questions: Is that the real sky? Are those real trees? And theyd reply: Thats not the real sky. Forget the trees. But the rocks, you can look at the rocks.
The detail was something both wanted, particularly since they were going to bring the ocean to life as a character.
The only tip to the past is in the tattoos on Maui, a demigod voiced by Dwayne Johnson. Those are hand-drawn and it made sense. Theyre pretty graphic.
Switching directions
Initially, Maui was going to be the lead of the film. When they took their first trip to the islands of Tahiti five years ago, Clements and Musker got a sense of the history and the transformational nature of the islands. They realized there was more to the story than they initially thought.
John Lasseter, the head of Disney animation, encouraged them to dig much deeper and learn more about the culture.
We met chiefs and elders and, in some aspects, it was like going back in time, Clements says. One told them, Weve been swallowed by your culture. One time, can you be swallowed by ours?
That prompted the addition of Moana, a teenager, drawn to the ocean. It became a true grit story, Clements says. The story of a teenage girl who teams up with a flawed demigod in a quest to save her island and her people.
A romance between Moana (whose name means ocean in many of the island languages) and Maui was never considered. They become very close but not in a romantic way. That sets her apart from Ariel and Jasmine and Tiana, three of their other heroines.
A five-year journey
Because animation is such a labor-intensive business, folks like Clements are constantly up against deadlines. This was a five-year journey but the last few months, weve been working 12 hour days, every day and Saturdays, Clements says.
That can wear on you, especially someone my age (hes 63), but were very proud of the movie.
After a whirlwind publicity tour (that will take them around the world in the next months), the two will regroup and see if theyre up for another project.
Once the traveling is over and we have a break, Clements says, well talk about it.
Thats the way all of their films have been someone gets an idea (in Moanas case, it was Musker), and the journey begins.
ABOUT THE DONOR: Wells Enterprises, Inc. is the largest privately held, family-owned ice cream and frozen treat manufacturer in the United States. Headquartered in the Ice Cream Capital of the World, Le Mars, Iowa, the company produces more than 150 million gallons of ice cream each year, including its signature brand Blue Bunny, the iconic Bomb Pop and Blue Ribbon Classics.
Screenings
Free blood pressure screenings, 9:30 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays at Countryside Senior Living, front lobby. No appointment necessary.
Programs/Self-Help Groups
Al-Anon Information Center, call 712-255-6724.
Al-Anon and Alateen, meetings locally. For times, dates and locations of area meetings, call 712-255-6724.
Alcoholics Anonymous, beginners information, call 712-252-1333.
Arc of Woodbury County, serving the mentally challenged, 5:15 p.m. meeting, second Monday of the month at Mid-Step Services, 4303 Stone Ave. For families and interested persons.
Child Care Resource and Referral, provides resources, education and advocacy for children, parents, and child care providers. Assists in child care needs. For more information, call 712-277-1180.
Co-Dependence Anonymous, 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays at First Lutheran Church, Fireside Room.
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CODA), 10 a.m. Saturdays at Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St.
Compassionate Friends, 7 p.m. fourth Wednesday of each month (third Thursday in November and second Sunday December) in Mercy Medical Center's Leiter Room. For families who have lost children. Contact Nancy Webb 712-212-4032 or Don Mulder 712-541-5512.
Eating disorder coalition awareness event, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 29 at Boy's and Girl's home and family services, 2101 Court St. Contact Lisa 712-251-0570 or Michele 712-898-2351.
Clinics
Siouxland District Health immunization clinics, call for appointment, 712-279-6119 or 1-800-587-3005.
Information
Family and Addictive Illness series, for more information, call 234-2300.
Iowa Fathers, 6 to 8 p.m. fourth Tuesday of each month at Hope Lutheran Church, Education Building, 218 W. 18th St., South Sioux City, Neb. Support group to help single, divorcing and divorced parents residing in the state of Iowa.
Mercy Pathways Outpatient Program, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, on the third floor, Mercy's Central Medical Building, 801 Fifth St., Suite 360. Provides hope, help, opportunity to connect through group therapy for individuals experiencing personal, relationship, psychiatric issues. For more information, call 712-279-5991.
Narcotics Anonymous, meetings daily, various times, dates and locations. For more information, call 712-279-0733.
Overeaters Anonymous, 1 p.m. Tuesdays at Wesley United Methodist Church, 3700 Indian Hills Drive; 6 p.m. Tuesdays at St. John's Lutheran Church, 402 Lane Ave., Storm Lake; 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Church of the Nazarene, 226 N. Main St., Viborg, S.D.; 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and 9 a.m. Saturdays at Newman Center, 320 E. Cherry St., Vermillion, S.D.; 10:30 a.m. Saturdays at Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St. A 12-step recovery program for people who have problems with food and weight. No fees.
St. Lukes Outpatient Behavioral Health Program, 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on fifth floor of St. Luke's, located at 2720 Stone Park Blvd. Offers several levels of outpatient care including partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and group therapy. This program provides support and integrated treatment to individuals experiencing personal or relationship issues as a result of their mental illness. For more information and admission criteria, call 712-279-3906.
Sobriety By Faith, 8:30 a.m. Saturdays at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. For more information, call James Mothershead at 712-577-9715.
The Link-Recovery and Freedom, 1603 Glen Ellen Road; 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday workshop, and Christian 12-step meeting 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. For all ages. Call Dee at 389-7432.
Women in Recovery, meets monthly at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1421 Geneva St. For details, call 712-255-4623.
Tarahouse Meditation Center, 8 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 6:30 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, all at 3112 Rebecca St. Three easy 10-minute sessions in small group; beginners welcome. For more information, call 490-6410.
Blood pressure and blood sugar screening, 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays in the lobby at Westwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Free to public.
Support Groups
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays at Hawkeye Club basement, 420 Jones St. For more information, call 277-5935.
Celebrate Recovery, Bible-based 12-step recovery group. Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive. Childcare provided. 712-490-3343. All welcome.
PFLAG of Siouxland, (Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays), 7 p.m., fourth Monday of January, March, May, July, September and November. St. Mark ELCA Church, 5200 Glenn Ave., in the upstairs meeting area. 712-258-3116.
Singles widowed and divorced, all ages, 4 p.m., Sundays. McDonald's at Sixth Street and Lewis Boulevard. 712-252-2675.
GriefShare, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.
HIV/AIDS Support Group, meets weekly. For more information, call Darla or Teri at Siouxland Community Health Center, 712-252-2477 or 888-371-1965.
Hospice of Siouxland, seeking volunteers. For more information, call 712-233-4144 and ask for a volunteer coordinator.
La Leche League of Siouxland, breastfeeding support group meets every third Thursday at 11 a.m. at Morningside Lutheran Church. Children are welcome. For more information, call Mary at 712-546-7280 or Jacquie at 712-255-2998.
Living Each Day Cancer Support Group, 7-8 p.m. second Thursday of the month, Floyd Valley Hospital, Conference Center Room 2, Le Mars, Iowa. Open to all cancer patients, cancer survivors and family members. No charge. Pre-register by calling 712-546-3441 or 800-642-6074, ext. 441.
Mom and Baby Support Group, 10-11 a.m. last Monday of the month at the Orange City (Iowa) Hospital, lower level. For new moms and babies. 712-737-5260.
Tri-State Sober Project, 12-step meeting, 7:30-8:30 p.m., Tuesdays, Friendship Community Church, 305 Sergeant Square Drive, Sergeant Bluff. 6-7 p.m., Thursdays, Transitional Services of Iowa, 1221 Pierce St., Sioux City.
Doug's Donors Support Group, information for organ donors and recipients, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Fridays, 5:15-6:30 p.m. second Thursdays of the month at Mercy Cafeteria Woodbury Room. 712-277-1050.
Divorce Care, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.
NAMI Siouxland, (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Support Group meets 6:30 p.m., second Tuesday of the month at Friendship House, 1101 Court St. For individuals and family members dealing with mental illness. 712-255-4209.
New Life Life Support Group, 3:30 p.m. every Saturday at 2929 W. Fourth St. Spiritual 12-step program. For more information, call Donald at 712-574-1744 or James at 712-255-7624.
Orphan Sunday, 3:30-5 p.m. Sunday at Sunnybrook Community Church loft, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive.
Post Polio Support Group, 11 a.m. first Thursday of the month at Perkins Restaurant by Menards. 712-490-8213.
Relationship Support Group, 7 p.m. Fridays at Marketplace Mall. For more information, call 239-3129.
Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, Individual and Support Groups. For more information, call CSADV in Sioux City at 712-258-7233; Plymouth County at 712-546-6764; Monona County at 712-423-3443. Advocacy and support available 24 hours a day at 1-800-982-7233. All services free of charge and confidential.
Sickle Cell Disease Support Group, 11 a.m. third Saturday of each month at St. Luke's Hospital, meeting room 1. For patients, their family and any concerned member. Call La'Keshia Rainey at 712-203-2019 for more information.
Single and Parenting, 6:30 -8:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 6 at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Drive, Sioux City. 712-276-5814.
Sioux City Association of the Deaf, 7 p.m. third Saturday of the month at Morningside Church of Christ, 5015 Garretson Ave. Regular meeting, September-May; no meeting, June, July, August and December.
Siouxland Autism Support Group, second Thursday of the month at Northwest Area Education Agency, 1520 Morningside Ave. For more information, call Julie Case at 712-490-8939.
Siouxland Epilepsy Support Group, 5 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at Prestwick Apartment Clubhouse, 4230 Hickory Lane. For anyone diagnosed with seizures or epilepsy and family or friends. For more information, call Steve at 274-6927.
Siouxland IC support group, meets quarterly in Sioux City. For patients struggling with interstital cystitis. For more information, call Jacque Dundas 316-641-9766.
Siouxland Informational Group for the Blind, 2-5 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at Northern Hills Retirement Community, 4002 Teton Trace. For more information, call 712-266-8926 or 258-8151.
Grief support group, 5:30-7:30 p.m., beginning Oct. 5 for 13 weeks (may join at any time), Crescent Park United Methodist Church, 2826 Myrtle St., Sioux City. Scott, 712-899-6315.
Siouxland Ostomy Association, 2 p.m. first Sunday of each month (except September, which will be second Sunday; and no meetings June, July, August), in Room 300 at Mercy Medical Center, 801 Fifth St. For more information, call Dick Lindblom at 251-2453.
Siouxland Parkinson Disease Support Group, 1 p.m. fourth Monday of the month at Siouxland Center for Active Generations, 313 Cook St. For more information, call Sally Reinert at 402-987-3516.
Sojourners, support group for families of persons with life-threatening illness, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Room 416. For more information, call Marjorie Jarvill at 402-241-8637.
South Sioux City Weight Support Group, 8:30 a.m. Wednesdays at St. Paul United Methodist Church, South Sioux City. For more information, call 494-1401 or 494-2133.
Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland, 520 Nebraska St., Suite 101: Women's Support Group, 1:30 p.m. first Wednesday of the month; LGBT Support Group, 1:30 p.m. first Friday of the month; Adult ADHD, 6 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; Advocacy Group, 1:30 p.m. third Tuesday of the month. For more information, call 712-255-1065.
Take Off Pounds Sensibly, group meetings various times, days and locations in Siouxland. For information on the chapter in your area, call 1-800-932-TOPS.
Voice Disorder Support Group, meets as needed at Mercy Medical Center, Buena Vista Room. 712-279-2686.
Women's Peer Support Group, in Wayne and South Sioux City, Neb., for those who have experienced domestic abuse. For more information, call the Wayne office at 402-375-4633 or 1-800-440-4633; in South Sioux City, call 402-494-7592. Help and support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Services free and confidential.
Woodbury County D.M.D.A., noon-2 p.m. first Saturday of the month at Country Friendship Acres, 4501 West St.; 7-8 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at 515 Court St. in the Community Room; 7-8 p.m. second Tuesday of the month at 441 W. Third St. in the Community Room; 7-8 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at 409 W. Third St. in the Community Room. Support group for people with disabilities and mental disorders.
Natural Mamas in Siouxland, 1 p.m., third Tuesday of each month in the Garretson room of the Morningside Public Library. All ages of children are welcome to come with moms. For sharing natural living tips, recipes, natural remedies and health, homemaking, mothering, etc. For more information, call 402-913-0038 or visit their Facebook page.
A Step Beyond support group, 3:30 p.m. second Tuesday of the month, except for August, November and December when it meets at 5:30 p.m. (no meeting in January) at the Christy-Smith Resource Center, 1819 Morningside Ave. For more information, call 712-276-7319.
Divorce care, 5 p.m., Sundays. Fireside room, Morningside Lutheran Church, 700 South Martha St.
Gamblers Anonymous meetings, 4 p.m. Thursdays at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 315 Hamilton Blvd.; 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Morningside Presbyterian Church, 4327 Morningside Ave.; 7 p.m. Tuesdays, St. John Lutheran Church; 7 p.m. Sundays, Hawkeye Club, 420 Jones St.. 712-277-2901.
Art therapy support group, 5:30 p.m. second Thursday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. Registration required, call 252-9387.
After Breast Cancer Support Group, 5:30 p.m. third Tuesday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. For more information, call Brenda, 252-9370.
After Prostate Cancer Support Group, 5:15 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at the June E. Nylen Cancer Center. For more information, call 252-9426.
Alzheimer's Association, Big Sioux Chapter Support Group, 2 p.m. second Tuesday of the month; 4 p.m. third Tuesday of the month (under age 65) at 201 Pierce St., Suite 110 (Famous Dave's building); and 6 p.m. first Tuesday of the month at the Barnes and Noble Cafe. For more information, call Emily Lord at 712-279-5802.
Christy-Smith Funeral Homes of Sioux City, extensive grief library at the Morningside location. Open to the public during weekday hours. For more information, call 276-7319.
Chronic Pain/Chronic Illness Support Group, 7:30 p.m. fourth Wednesday of the month in the lower level of the Orange City Hospital. For more information, call 712-737-5260.
Connections Area Agency on Aging, and Mercy Medical Centers Older Adult Services Welcome to Medicare, 1:30-4 p.m., the first Friday of every month at Connections Area Agency on Aging, 2301 Pierce St. To pre-register, or for more information, contact Connections Area Agency on Aging at 712-279-6900.
People are hungry. And Im not talking about anticipating a big Thanksgiving Day dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, finished off with pumpkin pie with whipped cream dancing on top.
No, people are hungry and they dont know how to get fed. So they do all kinds of things trying to satisfy their hunger that has nothing to do with consuming large amounts of turkey, dressing, or mashed potatoes and gravy.
They drink alcohol. They take drugs. They eat too much. They fight with the ones who love them the most. They argue about little things and make them into ridiculously big things. They fight the ones who want to help them. They fight themselves. They work too much. They gamble away their hard-earned money. They become bitter and the bitterness eats them up from the inside out. They become judgmental of others as they sit on top of their self-constructed pedestals.
They have no joy. They have no hope. They dont know Jesus. They become hungrier and hungrier and they dont know how to quiet the hunger that gnaws at them day and night and night and day. Its exhausting. Theyre exhausted. The people around them are exhausted, too.
In Mark 6:31-32, Jesus is exhausted. He and the disciples have been doing ministry. Theyve also just heard the news that John the Baptist has been beheaded. Theyre tired and theyre sad. They go to find a place of rest.
It shows us that we, too can get tired even when were doing what were called to do. We need times of rest. But sometimes we have to delay our rest to help others. In Galatians 6:9 it reads, So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Wow. When we help others we are blessed as well.
You know the story. Jesus sees the multitude following him. They are like a sheep without a shepherd. He has compassion for them. So he doesnt rest, but teaches them many things.
Its getting late in the day. The disciples, the practical ones, tell Jesus to send the crowd away so that they can go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something to eat.
Isnt that like us? We recognize that someone needs help and we tell them all the great places that they can go to get it. And yet, sometimes we are the ones who are called to help them. That doesnt mean we take a homeless person home to live with us. But it could mean that we buy them a meal.
Or a co-worker is unusually quiet. We could ask them whats wrong. Then take the time to really listen to what they have to say. Sometimes something as simple as a listening ear can be a big help.
Its easy to be cynical. To say, This world has changed so much. Things were simpler, better, happier (fill in the blank) when I was growing up. A little whining is okay, but dont make it a habit. Once a long time ago my friend, Sue, and I worked together under less than ideal conditions. We found ourselves whining together one day.
I feel like alI I do is whine, I said.
This place makes you into a whiner, she replied.
At that moment something happened. We decided together that we were going to stop whining. And we did. Our circumstances didnt change, but the people around us did. Our co-workers became our close friends. We even joked about the absurdity of life at our place of work. But we didnt give up and we all did good work. Much better than if we had continued to spend our time whining.
You see, we couldnt change things, but we could change how we reacted to them. Sue and I didnt have much to offer, but what we had we gave. Our kindness, our compassion and our sense of humor helped those around us.
Jesus says to the disciples who want to send the 5,000 men and the women and children away to buy food, You feed them.
Say what?
You feed them.
Thats hard to misinterpret. The disciples ask a boy and he gives up his lunch. The five loaves of bread and the two small fish. As a result, everyone is part of a miracle that day. Their physical hunger is not only assuaged, so is their spiritual hunger.
The little boy didnt have to do anything special, but to simply give what he already had. Through his generosity, everyone was fed that day.
What the Lord has already given to each one of us we can share to help others. Maybe you have a smile that lights up a room. You can use that smile to light up someones life. Many people are simply looking for a little acceptance.
What is your five loaves and two bread? What can you give that you already have? Give as an offering? Because if you follow Jesus, there will be things you have to give up. Things that were called to place at the cross. Cynicism. Hopelessness. Bitterness. Addictions. Anything that hinders us in our walk of faith.
During Thanksgiving, remember that the you in You feed them is us.
Kathy Yoder is a devotional writer. She may be reached at kathyyoder4@gmail.com.
SIOUX CITY | When patients check in at various areas of Mercy Medical Center, including the hospital's emergency department, central registration, and the Heart Center, they'll be asked to place their right palm on a small black scanning device.
The hospital went live with the PatientSecure identification system on Oct. 25 to protect patient identities and privacy. Previously, Kaitlyn Mohrhauser, manager of patient access services, said patients registering at Mercy were asked to provide a photo I.D., Social Security number and date of birth.
"Really all we had was the I.D. and the patient's word. This is a lot more effective," she said. "It's a benefit on a lot of different levels."
An estimated 2.32 million Americans have fallen victim to medical identity theft, which increased by 22 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to the Medical Identity Theft Alliance.
Misidentifying patients during record searches is another issue hospitals across the country are grappling with. According to the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, patients are misidentified during record searches at a rate between 7 and 10 percent.
According to Imprivata, the maker of PatientSecure, Carolinas HealthCare System reduced its duplicate medical record error rate to 0.11 percent with Imprivata with PatientSecure, which is 80 times better than the national average of 10 percent.
Besides protecting against identify theft and identification errors, Mohrhauser said PatientSecure is also useful when an unresponsive, unidentified patient arrives in the emergency department.
If the patient is registered in the hospital's database, all staff have to do is scan the patient's palm to learn who they are, access their medical records and contact their family members or friends.
Using near-infrared light, PatientSecure twice scans the vein pattern in a patient's palm -- which is unique to each individual much like a fingerprint -- when they enroll for the first time.
Mohrhauser said registration software tells staff whether a patient is enrolled. At subsequent visits to the hospital, the device authenticates the patient's identity by scanning their palm once.
"It will basically take a picture of that vein pattern, so when you come in the next time they'll scan that and locate you in the database that way," Mohrhauser said. "It will automatically take that patient's information from our registration software and assign it to that palm vein pattern."
She said identify theft wasn't a problem at the hospital, but she said Mercy, like many other hospitals, has patients with identical or very similar identifying information. She said a hospital in Detroit has 800 patients with the same names and birth dates.
"We do see instances where a well-meaning registrar will take the patient information and it may say, John Smith 1-21-47, and there's a John Smith 1-23-47 and they grab the wrong one and we don't notice it until later in the visit," she said.
"(PatientSecure) prevents that from happening. We have the right patient at the beginning of the visit every time if we've previously enrolled them in our database."
So far, Mohrhauser said patient reaction to the device has been very positive. She said PatientSecure only adds about a minute to the check-in process, which she said takes about 10 minutes total.
"We weren't sure how it was going to be received in the Siouxland area. Pretty much every patient that has come through has really enjoyed it and thought that it's been a great idea," she said.
"They're more comfortable with the fact that proper patient identification is at the forefront of our mind."
DAKOTA CITY | The driver of a car involved in a fatal crash in Dakota County pleaded no contest Thursday to vehicular homicide.
Christopher Cox, 45, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, entered his plea in Dakota County Court to three counts of vehicular homicide, all Class I misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of one year in jail. Sentencing was set for Jan. 4.
A misdemeanor charge of no operator's license was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Cox told authorities he swerved to miss a deer and ran off the road at about 3:40 a.m. June 9 on U.S. Highway 20 west of Jackson, Nebraska.
The car crossed the center line, went airborne into the north ditch and struck a concrete creek barrier. Passengers Connie Fauzae, 57, and Espinoza Lara, 9, both of Council Bluffs, died at the scene. A third passenger, Jose Lara, 10, also of Council Bluffs, died at a Sioux City hospital. Cox had minor injuries.
According to Nebraska's vehicular homicide statute, Cox unintentionally caused the death of another person while he was driving in violation of a state law. According to court documents, Cox did not have a valid operator's license at the time of the crash, and a review found that his driver's license issued in New Mexico had been suspended.
HOLSTEIN, Iowa | Two special turkeys took a tour of the gymnasium at the Galva-Holstein Elementary School in Holstein Thursday.
The lucky birds were selected as this years National Thanksgiving Turkey, to be pardoned next week by President Barack Obama.
The unnamed turkeys thats the job of the president next week were on display for about 100 wide-eyed kids at the kindergarten through second grade school.
Chris Domino, who produced the presidential poultry at his familys Sac County farm near Early, spoke about the pampered lives the birds lead after their selection while the kids watched them coo, strut and ruffle their feathers.
Domino explained that the turkeys in the presidential flock live the good life.
We spend time with them, feed them by hand, give them treats, talk to them, practice putting them on a podium and let them listen to the radio to get accustomed to noises and voices, he said, adding that they even get their own barn separate from the nine buildings containing 10,000 turkeys each.
That training and pampering has paid off. The turkeys stayed within their mat of bedding and rarely raised a ruckus. But whats the fun of turkeys visiting school without hearing a few gobbles?
Led by Iowa Turkey Federation executive director Grett Irwin, the kids shouted Hello! in unison to stir a response but to no avail. Fortunately, principal Mike Richard had an idea; hed yelp them.
Pulling a turkey call out of his pocket, Richard imitated the sound a turkey makes to communicate. And the real birds responded with a resounding gobble, much to the amusement of the students.
But the turkeys werent just there for a fun show. Irwin said the turkey tour let students see and learn about a lesser known commodity of Iowa agriculture. Corn and soybeans get a lot of the agricultural press, she said, but turkeys and livestock tie it all together.
This is a celebration of Iowas agriculture and bountiful harvest, she said.
The turkeys also made stops at schools in Galva, Schaller and Early Thursday. Following a sendoff ceremony Friday at the Domino farm, theyll be loaded into a vehicle and shipped to Washington, D.C., Sunday. Chris and his wife, Nicole, will fly out Monday and help present the turkeys to the president.
The turkeys will then be formally pardoned and spared from the dinner table by Obama at the White House Wednesday morning. Domino said the turkeys, to his knowledge, will then live out the rest of their lives as mascots of sorts for Virginia Tech University. The school's nickname is the Hokies, with a mascot that resembles a turkey.
This is the first time in Chris Dominos nine years as a turkey grower that one of his turkeys has been selected as the presidential bird. These were the first birds from Iowa selected since 2008, with the last one coming from the Ellsworth area.
But regardless of what region in Iowa the bird comes from, it gives the state a chance to flex its agricultural muscles on a national scale.
Iowa is part of the mainland of the country and there are a lot of turkeys here, said National Turkey Federation Chairman John Reicks. It means a lot to the people here. The Domino family does a great job and represents Iowa very well.
This week on the podcast, reporters discuss whether Gov. Terry Branstad could become the new U.S. ambassador to China, plus other election odds and ends -- and a look ahead to 2020.
On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast which re-creates the conversations that happen when Iowa's political reporters get together after deadlines have been met. This week's show features James Q. Lynch, Todd Dorman and Ed Tibbetts.
This week's show was produced by Richard Pratt and the music heard in the podcast is courtesy of The Stockyard Kings. Chat with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @OnIowaPolitics, and subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. Know an Iowa musician who should be on our show? Send their band sound files to oniowapolitics@gmail.com
LE MARS, Iowa | The trial for a Le Mars man charged with the stabbing death of his sister was continued Friday while attorneys wait for the completion of a psychiatric evaluation of the suspect.
Thomas Bibler, 34, is now scheduled to stand trial Feb. 14 in Plymouth County District Court on charges of first-degree murder, willful injury and going armed with intent in connection with the June 11 death of Shannon Bogh, 27, of Le Mars. His trial had been set for Dec. 13.
Bibler is accused of assaulting Bogh in her home at 591 15th St. SW with an edged weapon. She died a short time later at the Le Mars hospital.
Bibler was arrested without incident about 30 minutes after the assault at his apartment.
SIOUX CITY | Sioux City police on Friday announced the arrest of city man who allegedly sought men to commit sex abuse on his wife while she was passed out.
A Sioux City Police Department release announced the arrest of Andrew Lofgren, 32, from his home in the 3100 block of Floyd Boulevard. Police said an investigation showed Lofgren had placed an advertisement with the purpose of obtaining a controlled substance to give to his wife, in order to cause her to pass out.
The release said Lofgren also in the ad "requested that two males commit sex abuse on his wife while she was passed out."
Lofgren was arrested Thursday evening on the felony charge of solicitation to commit sex abuse. Detective Bruce Hokel confirmed Lofgren didn't complete his plan through the advertisement.
Lofgren was held in Woodbury County Jail on Friday.
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man who set a fire in his house and trashed the kitchen has been sentenced to 90 days in jail
Trevor Worrell, 23, pleaded guilty Monday in Woodbury County District Court to third-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief.
District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer gave Worrell a 365-day jail sentence for the arson charge and suspended 275 days of the sentence. Worrell received a five-year suspended prison sentence on the criminal mischief charge and was placed on probation for four years.
According to court documents, Worrell was intoxicated when he arrived at his house in the 1400 block of Ruby Street on Sept. 13 and became upset. He lit a pillow on fire in his bedroom before threatening to kill his sister and being told to leave the house. The fire was put out before it spread throughout the room and the house, court documents said.
Worrell later returned, court documents said, and began destroying the kitchen, throwing a microwave, coffee pot and vacuum before trying to pull down the ceiling fan.
Worrell told police he accidentally started the fire while lighting a cigarette, court documents said.
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday for having sexual contact with three teenage girls in 2012.
Lawrence Hoffman, 25, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to three counts of third-degree sexual abuse.
District Judge Jeffrey Poulson also ordered Hoffman to serve a special sex offender sentence, in which he will be on lifetime parole after completing his prison sentence. If he were to violate terms of the special sentence, he could be sent to prison. He also must register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for the rest of his life.
According to court documents, Hoffman, who was 20 or 21 at the time, had sexual encounters with the girls, ages 13, 14 and 15, from Jan. 1, 2012, through April 11, 2012, at his home in the 700 block of Burton Street and at other locations.
Hoffman would frequently hang out with the underage girls, giving them car rides, providing them with cell phones and cigarettes and taking them out to eat, court documents said.
SIOUX CITY | A South Sioux City man was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in prison on federal drug and firearm charges.
Justin Miller, 28, had pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was sentenced to 193 months in prison.
Miller was arrested March 16 in Sioux City after police busted a drug deal. He was found in the back seat of a car with a loaded .22-caliber revolver.
According to court documents, Miller and Andrew Tucker-Moreno conspired with each other and other people from 2015 through March to sell 500 grams or more of meth.
Tucker-Moreno, 30, of Moville, Iowa, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Todays top picks from our online calendar. Find more events at siouxcityjournal.com/calendar.
Commerce Connection Artists event
The Commerce Connection Artists Holiday Open House is open tonight from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Commerce Building, 520 Nebraska St. Live music Friday by Rich Brown. Enjoy refreshments and explore loads of art. Parking available in the lot behind the Commerce Building. Admission is free.
Tour of Homes
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Siouxland is hosting their annual Holiday Tour of Homes Nov. 17-19. This year will explore five beautiful homes in the Whispering Creek area. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased by calling 712-239-9890. Visit bigbrothersbigsisters.com for tour schedule.
Ode's storytelling night
Hear the stories of Siouxland immigrants from around the world, listen to live music and get a taste of authentic African cuisine. Storytelling begins at 7 p.m. at the Sioux City Art Center, 225 Nebraska St. Admission is $10. Visit the Ode Facebook page for additional information.
WASHINGTON -- Seventeen days before President Donald Trump, his spoken oath of office still lingering in the wintry air, lifts his left hand from Scripture (a leather-bound edition of "The Art of the Deal"), the Republican-controlled Congress will begin working. Fittingly, on Jan. 3 the First Branch of government will go first, flexing its somewhat atrophied Article I muscles.
When Trump reaches his desk on the morning of Jan. 21, he should find there two congressional measures emblematic of how quickly elections can have consequences. One should be the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS). The other should be legislation mandating construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. As president, Trump will have the authority and intent to proceed with construction, but Congress should make the point that this concerns national policy, which Congress should set.
The REINS Act would begin Congress's retrieval from the executive branch of responsibilities the Founders vested in the legislative branch. The act would sharply slow the growth of regulations that are suffocating economic growth. REINS would require Congress to vote on -- to have its fingerprints on -- all "major" regulations, understood as those with an annual economic impact of at least $100 million. Congress would thus take responsibility for, and be held accountable for, the substance that executive agencies' rule making pours into the almost-empty vessels that Congress imprecisely calls "laws."
After the preamble, the Constitution's first substantive word is "all": "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress." But the more than 170,000 pages of the Code of Federal Regulations contain tens of thousands of rules promulgated by largely unaccountable agencies. The agencies fill voids in congressional "laws" such as the Dodd-Frank financial reform, which mandates, but does not define -- that is left to executive rule makers -- "fair, transparent and competitive" financial products and services. As of five years ago -- it is substantially worse now -- the government itself estimated that regulations cost the economy more than $1.75 trillion, almost twice the sum of income tax receipts then.
Opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has illustrated environmentalism's, and the Democratic Party's, descent into the theater of pointless gestures. The nation is crisscrossed with more than 2 million miles of natural gas pipelines and 175,000 miles of pipelines carrying hazardous liquids. Yet our theatrically thoughtful current president wasted seven years pretending to ponder the weighty question of whether Keystone's 1,179 miles -- bringing oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska -- might somehow menace the nation and planet.
Some of the oil would be from Canada's tar sands. Keystone opponents say such oil is especially "dirty," so the pipeline, by enabling the oil to get to market, would injure the climate. But even if the opponents' allegations about the tar sands oil can be trusted, the allegations are irrelevant: The opponents evidently believe that if the pipeline is not built, Canada will simply say "Oh, dang!" and leave the world's third-largest proven crude oil reserve -- larger than Iran's -- locked up in the tar sands. The opponents evidently think that if they block the pipeline, this vast wealth will not find another way into the international oil market.
Furthermore, without Keystone XL, more oil will be transported by trains, which have notable carbon footprints and sometimes spectacular spills. Hence legislation mandating the pipeline's construction will not only create jobs, which once upon a time was a Democratic priority, it should soothe climate anxieties.
So, Congress should call this Keystone XL legislation the "Zach, We Feel Your Pain Act." After the election, someone reportedly named Zach, a Democratic National Committee staffer, suffered a hilarious eruption of hysteria. In the process of blaming DNC interim Chair Donna Brazile for the lost election (wrong woman, Zach), he said, according to The Huffington Post:
"You and your friends will die of old age and I'm going to die from climate change. You and your friends let this happen, which is going to cut 40 years off my life expectancy."
Well. Suppose Zach is 30 and expects that, although he appears to be unhealthily excitable, his life expectancy is 90. If climate change subtracts 40 of Zach's years, it is going to kill him within 20 years. Perhaps Zach can take grim pleasure from the fact that Brazile, a vigorous and cheerful 56, probably will still be spry when the Grim Climate Reaper swings his deadly scythe. Be that as it may, consider that Zach's scary arithmetic probably represents commonplace thinking within the Democratic Party, aka "the party of science."
SIOUX CITY | Business owners and residents met with city staff and consultants Thursday evening to weigh in on the latest designs for a comprehensive renovation along the West Seventh Street corridor.
Scheduled to begin in the spring of 2017, the $8.5 million project will redevelop the seven blocks stretching from Hamilton Boulevard to Wesley Parkway, as well as three to four blocks of side streets and connections. The renovation aims to modernize the street's pavement and aging utilities while increasing its aesthetic appeal.
Thursday evening's open house event, held in the City Council chambers, was an opportunity for business owners and residents to take a look at one of the final stages of concept designs and provide feedback.
"Overall, it's been very good," Jill Wanderscheid, Sioux City's neighborhood services manager, said Thursday evening of the input. "We're going to go back and look at a few things and make sure that we're being responsive to all that feedback and then we'll be looking at finalizing plans in December."
The project will include a complete replacement of the street and convert the existing four-lane setup to three-lanes -- two driving lanes and a middle turning lane -- with on-street parking and widened sidewalks. Amenities will include contoured trash receptacles and planters, bike racks, benches, new street lighting and branded "West 7th" gateway signs at the Hamilton and Wesley entrances.
The project will also leave room for a future north-south biking and walking trail along Main Street.
One of Thursday's attendees, Bryan Steussy, said he came to see what kind of amenities for bicycles would be in the area. He said he remembers one of his first visits to West Seventh Street about a year and a half ago, when he and his wife went to eat at Diamond Thai Cuisine.
"We couldn't really find a (bike rack), so we just kind of chained it outside," he said. "It was either to a stop sign or a utility pole."
Steussy said the new designs looked like a large improvement.
Dean Chapman, a Sioux City realtor, said during Thursday's open house that he also liked what he saw.
"I know there are people who are concerned about why they are spending that money 'down there.' But there's a lot of activity down there," he said. "I think we're seeing good things going on down there, good businesses."
West Seventh Street was originally platted in the 1860s and, in its early years, became known as the city's manufacturing center. In the 1920s, the area transitioned into an "auto row." It now carries a long history of restaurants, shops, and service establishments owned and operated by a diverse group of people.
"This is one of the oldest parts of Sioux City," Wanderscheid said. "With that comes very old utilities. One water main dates back to the late 1800s. We know that it's time to make those repairs and improvements."
Public meetings for the project began in early 2013, with an initial study completed in 2014. Since July, stakeholders have been working on the engineering design for the project.
Thursday, members of JEO Consulting Group Inc. and Confluence, a landscape architecture and design company, both of which have worked with the city on the project, were in attendance.
Under the project's current timeline, plans will go before the City Council for approval in mid-January. Construction is anticipated to begin in March and to finish by August 2018.
City engineer Glenn Ellis said the project will be completed in phases, starting with sections along Bluff Street and move west. He said each city block will take an estimated six weeks.
The project has an approximately $8.5 million price tag -- about $7 million for the base project, $500,000 for integrated art, $174,000 for aesthetic work along the Perry Creek Bridge, and $763,000 to cover engineering costs.
Wanderscheid said staff will upload the concept art and diagrams to the city's website Friday.
CEDAR RAPIDS | Water quality advocates who see little progress toward reducing nitrate and phosphorous pollution in the Mississippi River and Iowa waterways called for bolder action by state and federal agencies, including the possibility of farmland regulations.
When we look at the status of water quality in the Mississippi and also within the state, we just cant find much improvement there, David Osterberg of the Iowa Policy Project said Thursday during a conference call with Iowa reporters. Claims that Iowas 2012 voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy is producing results just seems too much rah, rah and not enough careful analysis.
Also Thursday, the Iowa Environmental Council and Mississippi River Collaborative echoed that concern that current programs are not working. It called for the Environmental Protection Agency to take specific action to regulate excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in state waters along the Mississippi River because Iowa and the nine other border states havent achieved any significant pollution reductions on their own.
For 20 years, we have been told the EPA and the states would address the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that causes the Gulf Dead Zone, Matt Rota of the Gulf Restoration Network, an MRC member, said on a conference call with reporters.
Despite decades of voluntary efforts in Iowa, nitrate pollution from farm runoff continues to threaten the safety of drinking water, added Susan Heathcote of the Iowa Environmental Council.
They called for the EPA to set numeric limits of allowable nitrogen and phosphorus in state waters, assessing water quality for nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that creates impaired waterways and ensuring states develop nutrient reduction strategies with specific implementation plans and adequate funding.
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants fuel toxic blue-green algae blooms in Iowa lakes and rivers, resulting in a record number of beach advisories over last two years, along with growing concern about the health impact of these toxins in drinking water supplies.
Thats not only a problem for the Des Moines Water Works, which provides water for 500,000 Iowa, but for the 260 public water supplies that provide drinking water to small towns and rural areas, Heathcote said.
However, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey defended the voluntary approach. More than 5,000 farmers have signed up to try water quality practices on their farms and others are implementing conservation practices without state assistance, he said. Forty-five demonstration projects are underway and more than 100 organizations are participating in these projects.
These reports by activist environmental organizations try to create division where in fact there is broad consensus on the need for action and the path forward, Northey said. It is unfortunate these groups try to scare the public to advance their agenda rather than work with the thousands Iowans who are committed to making changes to help improve water quality. When we work together, we can make big stride.
Despite his confidence in voluntary efforts, spokespersons for both groups said more regulation may be necessary. The Clean Water Act gives the EPA clear authority to impose monitoring, increase oversight and prioritize clean-up efforts and to ensure accountability, Rota said.
Regulation may be necessary, Osterberg said because as many as 40 percent of landowners doubt their farming practices have any impact on the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico or on local waterways. Reports show about 40 percent of landowners and producers are spending less than $1 per acre per year.
Thats not enough to move us any place, Osterberg said.
He called for a tax on fertilizer that would raise about $130 million a year in Iowa, money that could be used to fund programs that share the cost of conservation practices with landowners.
However, the water quality advocate acknowledged the political challenge they face, especially in light of the presidential election in which voters elected a candidate who called for less federal regulation.
The Clean Water Act is very clear about what the country expects as far as waters that are fishable, swimmable and drinkable, Rota said. That does not change with the new administration. So while politically it might be a little more difficult, legally and morally a lot of these recommendations will stand.
In Iowa, Heathcote would like to see lawmakers approve a three-eighths cent sale tax increase for natural resources.
Were hopeful this is a bipartisan issue (because) clean water touches all of us, she said.
The reports released Thursday can be found at http://www.iaenvironment.org/ and http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/.
Social Movements November 18, 2016 Richard Fidler
David Bushs article Syria and the Antiwar Tradition, in the November 3 issue of The Bullet , is a commendable attempt to debate what antiwar activists in Canada and other Western countries should be saying and doing about the current war in Syria.
In that country, the rebel cities that rose up four years ago in revolt against the brutal Bashar al-Assad dictatorship are now under a genocidal siege, bombed and assaulted from the air by Assads military, aided and abetted by Russian fighter jets and bombers. Their desperate
fight for survival, if unsuccessful, will put paid to the Arab Spring and with it the potential for building a democratic, anti-imperialist
governmental alternative in the Middle East for an extended period to come. Socialists everywhere have every interest in supporting the
Syrian people and opposing that war.
David Bush correctly calls for building a broad antiwar movement in this country and he cites as precedents the powerful movements against the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 70s and the Iraq war in 2003. Oddly, however, in discussing how the antiwar movement should address the
war in Syria, he wants to impose limits on the political message and alignments of the movement that in my view would contradict the goal
of building a united front of opposition to the war. In doing so, he unwittingly reveals one of the major reasons why such a movement is lacking.
David takes issue in particular with sections of the international left that seek to build a movement of support to the anti-Assad opposition and opposition to the brutal military assault on it by the regime and its allies, chiefly Putins Russia. They are framing the complex situation in Syria in ways that are completely off the mark in terms of guiding an appropriate response at home, he charges.
Modern Imperialism
For socialists in the imperialist countries, he says, the main enemy is at home. In Canada, this means focusing the antiwar movement on
Canadas drive to war while presumably putting solidarity with the Syrian people and their democratic popular uprising on the back burner. He criticizes some left opponents of the war for confusing the act of building a solidarity movement with the act of building an antiwar movement. Solidarity, he says, involves bringing awareness and material support to a group of people, while an antiwar movement is directed to stopping your own governments drive to war.
Speaking out on crimes perpetrated elsewhere is important but prioritizing the fight at home is key.
I fail to see this distinction between building solidarity and building an antiwar movement. The revolutionary socialist movement has
historically not made such a distinction: building mass antiwar movements is precisely the clearest and most direct way to express solidarity with the victims of imperialist war and the democratic and revolutionary forces on a global scale.
[P]rioritizing the fight at home, David explains, means that In Canada, the focus should be on ensuring the Liberals do not re[-]engage with airstrikes in Syria. It also means demanding the [Canadian] troops be withdrawn from the Middle East and from the Ukraine and Eastern Europe, while also advocating for more refugees to be taken in and stopping Canadas escalating arms trade.
In themselves, these are good demands. But isnt there something missing? What about the bombing, and the actually existing war that
is taking place today in Syria? Surely we cant remain silent on that.
For example, in France an antiwar committee called a demonstration for October 29 in Paris around a number of demands that speak to the self-determination of the Syrian people. Among them: Immediate end to the bombing of Aleppo and in the rest of Syria; departure from Syria of all foreign militias and occupation armies; international prosecution of war criminals; French government assurance of protection, in accordance with international law, of the Syrian people, prevented up to now from having the necessary means to defend themselves against the air bombing of schools, hospitals, markets and homes; immediate and unconditional access to the besieged and starving populations, in coordination with the democratically elected local councils; and immediate freeing of all political prisoners in Syria.
These demands, or some variation of them, should resonate with many people, not least the Syrian exile community whose ranks are now swelled by millions as a result of Assads brutal repression. In Ottawa recently, I chanced upon a group of about 100 demonstrators on Parliament Hill waving Canadian and Syrian flags. Almost all of the demonstrators were Syrian Canadians. The demonstration, I was told by the chief marshal, had been hastily organized within their community to call on the Canadian government to protest the bombing of Aleppo and other cities. The demonstrators slogans were clear and straightforward: Stop the bombing! End foreign intervention! Trudeau, speak out against Assads murderous assault!
But where was the traditional antiwar movement? And what if anything is it doing about Syria? The most recent statement
on the Canadian Peace Alliance web site is headlined Stop Bombing Syria. But it is focused on NATO. Not wrong in principle, but the statement, addressed to Canadas previous bombing of ISIS positions in Syria, is many months out of date. There is nothing on the CPA
site about the current murderous air and bombing assault on Syrias cities. And it would appear that across the country the movement is doing nothing to protest the war.
Why the silence? Is it only because Trudeau has pulled Canadas fighter jets out of Syria; after all, Canadian planes and troops are active in other parts of the Middle East. The CPA denounces the bombing of Syria by Harper and Trudeau but says nothing about the bombing now by Putin.
Shift in Global Geopolitics
In my view, the failure of the antiwar movement in Canada and elsewhere to address the situation in Syria is a reaction in part
not only to the admittedly complex nature of the military and political alignments involved but in particular to a shift in global
geopolitics that the anti-imperialist and antiwar activists are having difficulty assimilating and incorporating in their strategy. (For explanations of those alignments see the suggested readings listed at the end of this article.)
To put it bluntly, I sense a reluctance on the part of many activists to condemn the Russian bombing and its alliance with Assad when Russia itself is the target of NATO encirclement and threats of aggression, especially in Eastern Europe. This is understandable. As David Bush
notes, political and economic elites in the West are waging a campaign to demonize Russia, reflected in hypocritical attacks on some antiwar organizations for not signing on to that campaign. As David says, we must reject the view that Russia is the main enemy on a global scale. Thus it is logical and correct for him to include the demand for Canadian and NATO troop withdrawals from Ukraine and Eastern Europe among the appropriate demands for the antiwar movement of today.
But does that preclude criticism and denunciation of Russias bombing and overall counter-revolutionary strategy in Syria? That was
the view of one comrade in discussions I participated in recently. He expressed his discomfiture at criticism of Russias conduct in Syria. Where Russia is concerned, he said, we should instead aim our fire at the U.S. and NATO.
This seems an evasion to me. It is not the U.S. or NATO which are bombing the hell out of Aleppo and other dissident cities, it is Assad and his Russian ally. To be sure, Putins commitment to maintaining the Assad regime is in part motivated as a response to threatening moves
by the U.S. and NATO in other regions, especially eastern Europe. But do such maneuvers oblige us to maintain silence on Russias atrocities in Syria? (As it happens, in Syria the U.S. has been attempting to collaborate with Russia and the Assad regime in efforts to rout its Islamist fundamentalist opponents.)
It is no accident that David turns to the pre-World War I debates among socialists for historical precedents for todays antiwar movement.
Our world today is much more like the world in the early 20th century, one of contending imperialist powers of uneven strength and influence, than to the Cold War confrontation of East and West blocs that shaped global politics in the latter half of the century.
David draws attention to the linkage between war and imperialism that the early socialists made. As he notes, however, their fine resolutions
were ignored when the war broke out: most sections of the [Socialist] International sided with their own ruling class. The
correct orientation of each national group, he says, was to oppose its own ruling classs drive to war. The main enemy is at home.
I agree, but would add that this stance did not mean that socialists in one imperialist country would turn a blind eye to the crimes of other
imperialist powers in their mutual rivalry for plunder of resources, new markets and colonies. Socialist internationalism was the corollary of consistent solidarity with all the peoples and nations subject to imperialist exploitation and aggression. That is the essence of the resolutions of the Second International and the Zimmerwald Left cited by David.
United Front of Antiwar Opposition
This points us to the need for political clarity in the united front of antiwar opposition David proposes we build. He cites the precedents
of the mass movements that were built in opposition to the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 70s and the global mobilizations against the
impending Iraq invasion in 2003. In both cases, as he notes, the terms of the movement were simple: do you oppose the war? If yes, then lets join forces on that question and debate other political perspectives along the way.
What has been lost in the debate around the war in Syria is precisely this perspective, he says.
Actually, in the case of the Vietnam war, it was not quite that simple. A fierce debate was waged in the movement, especially in the United States, over the slogans that would build the broadest front of opposition to the war and solidarity with the revolution. In the
beginning many antiwar activists wanted to focus the movement on the demand for negotiations to end the war in the hope of finding common ground with bourgeois politicians by conceding some legitimate interest to Washington, some interest it could defend in negotiations
with the Vietnamese revolutionaries. Those in the militant wing of the movement, on the other hand, argued for the simple demand Out Now!, which was consistent with the democratic right of the Vietnamese people to self-determination and thus an expression of the fullest solidarity.
Over time, with mounting antiwar sentiment among the public and the U.S. troops, spurred by the military victories of the Vietnamese fighters
themselves, Out Now became the dominant slogan, and around that demand a mighty movement was built that eventually did force Nixon to
the bargaining table, where Washington was obliged to make concessions that contributed to the ultimate victory of the Vietnamese revolution. (In Canada, we also raised the demand for an end to Canadas complicity with Washingtons war.)
The point is that opposition to a war may not by itself be sufficient as the basis for building an effective antiwar united front. The central
demands must be principled and point to the clearest and most effective way to end the imperialist intervention and advance the interests of those fighting it on the ground. Thus I would question Davids assertion that in the case of Syria a united front of antiwar opposition should include all those who advocate for ending the involvement of your own ruling classes. Would that include supporters of Assad? Of the Russians, or of the other forces allied with them? David rightly rejects such alliances elsewhere in his article. I would think the central political message should include the demand for an immediate end to the bombing and the assault on the civilian population, coupled with other demands that express material solidarity with the Syrians, not their government along the lines of the slogans raised in the Paris and Ottawa demonstrations I noted above.
In the case of both Vietnam and Iraq, the war was the project of the hegemonic imperialist power, the United States, albeit in alliances
with lesser imperialist powers. And in Vietnam, the other protagonists were North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front: strong forces united around a common project of national liberation, re-unification of their country, and a break from imperialist domination.
In the Middle East today this scenario does not apply in the same way. In fact, the lack of a united anti-imperialist, anti-Hussein movement in Iraq was the primary explanation for the failure of the resistance. And disappointment over the failure of the global antiwar protests in early 2003, immense as they were, to impede the Pentagon assault on Iraq is a major factor in the passivity of the international antiwar movement today. The more recent Arab Spring, inspiring as it was, could not compensate, as it took the form of largely spontaneous uprisings that, even where victorious, did not produce major democratic or popular conquests and in Egypt were soon succeeded by a regime even more repressive than Mubaraks.
Unipolar World?
But there is a further factor as well. Todays world differs substantially from that of the Vietnam war. In the 1960s, a military, political and economic bloc led by a dominant imperialist power, the United States, confronted a bloc of states that in one way or another
had been torn from the circuits of capital accumulation under Wall Streets aegis and constituted a vital source of support and even survival for Third World liberation movements, as in the case of the Cuban revolution. Today, in the wake of the collapse of the
ostensibly socialist bloc, we need to pay more attention to the shape of the world that is emerging on a global scale. In a context of declining U.S. hegemony and the emergence of new and nuclear-armed capitalist powers like China and Russia, we must assess what that means for the anti-imperialist fighters of today.
I think it is wrong to approach Syria as just another front in some new Cold War between Russia and the U.S. and NATO. Each situation must be assessed in terms of the class forces involved, not some abstract geopolitics that overlooks the interplay of contending
imperial interests. In the post-Cold War world, a new era of national and inter-imperialist competition and rivalry, socialists undermine
their own credibility if they limit their anti-imperialism to denouncing only their own imperialism. As Gilbert Achcar argues in a valuable article, our starting point in this case must be the interests of the Arab revolution, the Arab Spring, and the popular uprising that in Syria erupted almost half a decade ago.
The challenge posed to the antiwar movement by the global configuration of forces is huge, there is no denying it. But where peoples are fighting their oppression and imperialist intervention, there is no dichotomy between antiwar resistance and solidarity with the forces
on the ground. Nor should our solidarity be determined by whether or to what degree the Canadian state is directly involved.
Yes, in Canada we must direct our fire against the Trudeau governments aggressive moves against Russia and its present and projected military engagements elsewhere, as in Africa.
But a consistent antiwar movement should also have no hesitation in attempting to mobilize solidarity with the Syrian democratic and
popular opposition for an end to the war: for an end to the bombing, withdrawal of all foreign troops (in this case mainly Russian), and emergency provision of massive food, medical and other necessary supplies to the population in the besieged cities.
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.
The Charles County Department of Community Services, Aging and Senior Programs Division is looking for compassionate and friendly individuals to volunteer for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Tax-Aide program. The AARP Tax-Aide program provides free tax preparation for senior citizens, low-income individuals, and families. Free training for volunteers is provided on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, beginning in January 2017. Upon completion of the AARP Tax-Aide Program training, volunteers will be tested to receive certification.Individuals wishing to enroll in the AARP Income Tax Training Program or have questions may contact Joan Woodland at 301-609-5712 or WoodlanJ@CharlesCountyMD.gov. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.The Charles County Department of Public Works announces that homes located in Newtown Village will be affected by construction starting on or about Wednesday, Nov. 16. The Department of Public Works-Utilities Division will be replacing the existing water system located on Wicker Lane and portions of Village Drive and White Stag Road.All homes located in Newtown Village will be affected by the construction, which will result in a series of short scheduled and announced outages. Every effort will be made to minimize the number of outages and to keep them to a maximum of four to eight hours, with most lasting for only a few hours. Construction may take up to 45 days based on weather conditions.The work on Wicker Lane will require brief interruptions to driveway access for homes on the east side of the street. Every effort will be made to minimize these interruptions and to provide access as needed. As construction progresses, sections of the community may be closed to "through traffic." Access will be made available only for residents, postal deliveries, school busses, emergency services, etc.Residents will receive additional notifications as the construction progresses. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation.If you have questions, you may contact the Project Manager, Jim Sizemore at 301-609-5603 or SizemorJ@CharlesCountyMD.gov. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.Charles County Government, in partnership with the Charles County Public Schools and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hosted the Mallows Bay Art Project on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 9 a.m. at Mallows Bay Park (1440 Wilson Landing Road, Nanjemoy). An art teacher from each of the county's seven high schools and Robert D. Stetham Educational Center brought students to capture Mallows Bay on various mediums, including sketching, painting, video, and photography.The art work will be displayed at the Charles County Government Building (200 Baltimore Street, La Plata). Art work will be showcased in a gallery during the World War I Mallows Bay Commemorative event on Friday, April 21 at the College of Southern Maryland La Plata Campus (8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata)."It is so important to promote and celebrate the arts in our schools and this partnership does that in an exciting way. To combine our cultural heritage with the talents of our teachers and students will, like Mallows Bay, last for generations to enjoy," said Commissioner Ken Robinson (District 1). "I can't wait to see what they create.""This is an exciting opportunity for students to preserve history through the arts. Students can capture the uniqueness of Mallows Bay and share it with Charles County residents through the arts," Superintendent of Schools Kimberly Hill said.Mallows Bay, located near the Potomac River, is home to the largest ship graveyard in the Western Hemisphere. In a first for the state of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nominated Mallows Bay as a designated National Marine Sanctuary. The area offers unique archaeological, recreational, historical, cultural, educational, and environmental opportunities for residents and tourists. The site includes historic vessels dating back to the Revolutionary War, remains of the largest 'Ghost Fleet' of the World War I steamships, wildlife viewing areas, fishing, boating access, and a hiking trail.For more information about the Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary nomination and public hearings, visit sanctuaries.noaa.gov/mallows-bay/ For more information about the event, contact the Charles County Government Public Information Office at 301-885-1342 or PressRoom@CharlesCountyMD.gov. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.Are your drug costs rising, or do you feel that your Medicare drug plan or Advantage plan is no longer working for you? Open enrollment is the time for Medicare beneficiaries to review their prescription drug plan and make necessary changes. To assist with Medicare open enrollment, the State Health Insurance Program is offering one-on-one appointments for Medicare beneficiaries.Medicare open enrollment has begun and will continue until December 7, 2016. New beneficiaries can select a plan and learn how the plan works, and existing enrollees can change and update their plans.For more information or to set up your appointment, call 301-609-5712. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.The Department of Economic Development hosted its annual Fall Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Greater Waldorf Jaycees Community Center (3090 Crain Highway, Waldorf). With over 200 people in attendance, participants gained an inside look behind the curtain of economic development from expert panelists of the public and private sectors.Department of Economic Development Director Darrell Brown discussed key elements of the five-year strategic plan. His presentation provided an opportunity for business leaders to learn about the implementation of the strategic plan and its objectives to build on the momentum of the county's evolution.The program touched on the area's targeted industries, various recommendations for the county, and introduced members of the newly appointed advisory board. "The business community is an invaluable county asset," said Brown. "Together, we can proactively shape the economic future of Charles County."The panel conversations focused on the future of entrepreneurship in Charles County, infrastructure and redevelopment, as well as an update about investment. Public and private sector leaders discussed their unique visions for the county."Our ultimate goal was to give attendees a rich understanding of Charles County's economic potential and the initiatives we are taking to reach this potential," said Marcia Keeth, deputy director of Charles County Department of Economic Development. "We truly enjoyed coming together to tell Charles County's story."To learn more about the sponsors of the Charles County Economic Development Fall Meeting, visit www.meetcharlescounty.com/fall-meeting . To learn more about Charles County Department of Economic Development, visit www.meetcharlescounty.com The Charles County Commissioners are seeking county residents to fill vacancies on several boards, committees, and commissions.The Nuisance Abatement Hearing Board hears residents' complaints regarding unsightly accumulation of paper, junk, vehicle parts, garbage, or leaves, and more than one foot high grass, weeds, uncultivated vegetable growth, briars, bushes, or plants on private property.The Ethics Commission ensures Charles County officials and employees are knowledgeable about and comply with Code of Ethics. The commission provides Code of Ethics education to county officials and employees; provides advisory opinions regarding the applicability of the code; and investigate alleged violations of the Code of Ethics.The Library Board of Trustees is tasked with all aspects of the library, including services, staff, rules, regulations, and other functions for the proper delivery of library services.The Board of Licensed Commissioners (Liquor Board) reviews and approves the issuance and renewal of liquor licenses in Charles County, and establishes penalties for violations.Additional vacancies include: Adult Public Guardianship Review Board Alarm Review Board Animal Matters Hearing Board Area Council on Aging Business Development Loan Fund for Women, Minorities, and Veterans Commission on Individuals with Disabilities Ethics Commission Heritage CommissionPositions will remain open until filled. A separate application must be submitted for each vacancy. Applications and a detailed list of all current vacancies are available on the Charles County Government website at www.CharlesCountyMD.gov or by contacting Carol DeSoto, Senior Commissioner Specialist, at 301-645-0691 or DesotoC@CharlesCountyMD.govOn Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Board of Commissioners proclaimed Saturday, Nov. 26 as Shop La Plata Day in celebration of Small Business Saturday. Small businesses are significant contributors to our economy and community. The La Plata Business Association presents the third annual Shop La Plata celebration, which features special offers at participating La Plata businesses, a parade, and other activities in the town. The Commissioners urge residents to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year.On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the Charles County Board of Commissioners proclaimed November as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Hospice and palliative care empowers people to live as fully as possible, surrounded and supported by family and loved ones, despite serious and life-limiting illness. Patients and family caregivers receive the highest quality care delivered by an interdisciplinary team of skilled professionals including physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, counselors, health aides, spiritual care providers, and others who make the wishes of each patient and family a priority.Hospice professionals are an integral part of providing solutions to patients and loved ones, as nearly 1.6 million patients seek their services each year. Hospice of Charles County has supported Charles County residents with needed hospice and palliative care for more than 30 years. For more information, visit www.hospiceofcharlescounty.org.
LA PLATA, Md.
(Nov. 18, 2016)The Charles County Department of Health expanded its initial investigation of a tuberculosis (TB) case involving an individual at La Plata High School after learning the person also frequents the Robert D. Stethem Educational Center after school hours. The school system has identified a small group of people at Stethem who may have had exposure to the individual.The school system will begin emailing and mailing exposure letters on Nov. 18 to staff, parents of students and any others who are thought to have had extended contact with the diagnosed individual. If parents or staff members do not receive an exposure letter, they do not need to be screened at this time.So far, the school system has identified nearly 300 individuals for screening. Health care providers will conduct the screening at La Plata on Dec. 5 and at Stethem on Dec. 6. Nurses will read the tests two to three days later. Even if the first test is negative, a second test is needed to ensure a person is not infected with TB. The health department expects to conduct the second round of screenings about 12 weeks later, or after the school system's winter break. The health department provides free TB tests to those people identified.The school system is working with the health department to ensure there is no further risk at the school or center.Tuberculosis is a bacterial illness that responds well to proper medical treatment. It is spread through the air, usually by coughing or sneezing. Generally, a person must have prolonged exposure to the person with TB in order to breathe in a sufficient number of TB germs to cause a TB infection. The disease cannot be transmitted by touching someone or by sharing eating utensils.Questions about TB or health concerns should be directed to your family physician or the Charles County Department of Health's Communicable Disease Control Program at 301-609-6900, ext. 6025, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Additional information about tuberculosis is available on the Department of Health website www.charlescountyhealth.org . A fact sheet is also available on the school system website at www.ccboe.com.
Sunday, Nov. 20 2016 marks the 18th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a part of transgender awareness week. The day marks a period of reflection on trans lives lost to violence over the past year. The day serves not just for mourning, but to examine the attitudes and policies that most affect and in some cases marginalize trans lives, and the lives of people of color every day.
The 2014 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-affected Hate Violence Report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects showed that, of murder victims
80% were people of color
55% were transgender women
50% were transgender women of color
The report found that trans women who experienced hate violence were also more likely to experience police violence, physical violence, discrimination, harassment, sexual violence, threats, and intimidation compared to those who were not transgender women.
'Injustice at Every Turn,' a report conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National LGBTQ Task Force showed more than 6,000 transgender participants experienced violence or harassment across a range of settings including educational settings, at work, in interactions with police and with family members, at homeless shelters, accessing public accommodations, and in jails and prisons.
The following memorial features those who were lost due to incidents of violence in the U.S. as was reported to local police and media outlets, and from online resources such as the Advocate. Some details may be subject to change as investigations and trials continue.
Monica Loera, 43, Austin, TX
Monica Loera, a Latina transgender woman from North Austin, Texas, was fatally shot January 22. A suspect has been arrested and charged with first degree murder.
Monica like many, was initially misgendered in police and local news reports and identified by her assigned name, a practice called out by activists as deadnaming. Many within Monicas own community were not at first aware of her death, reported the Austin Chronicle.
I heard from people in the neighborhood, once they saw real pictures of Monica, that they knew who she was," said Greg Casar, an Austin City Council member. "But before thought that the person who was killed was someone they didn't know. And I think that's important. All of a sudden, people who live nearby, said, 'Gosh, that was Monica.' Even if they didn't know her as a close friend, a lot of people in the community had at least shopped in the same stores, walked down the same streets, and lived by the same park."
A friend of Monicas, Brenda Rodriguez, told the Chronicle Monica was someone who looked out for other women and that she loved to dress up. She was funny, [and] beautiful, Rodriguez said. "... She loved Madonna, and she loved to cook."
Related Stories:
Remembering Monica Loera, Austin Chronicle
Justice Down to the Pronoun, Austin Chronicle
Jasmine Sierra, 52, Bakersfield, CA
Jasmine Sierra, a Latina transgender woman from Bakersfield, California, was found dead on January 22. a cause of death has yet to be determined and no suspects have been identified. Although Jasmines body was discovered in January, she was not identified as Jasmine Sierra by police and local media until March.
Her name is Jasmine Sierra her friend Shantell Waldo told Planet Transgender. And she was a wonderful woman who I have known for about eight years. When I first met her she had lost a shared home, and had a very hard time getting back on her feet and into housing. She had never legally changed her name, and was afraid to because she had been arrested before and was petrified of the legal system. She found a complex that would rent to her and she stayed for a while, but left because she was being harassed, and her apartment was broken into.
She never had any support from her family, Waldo said. Another friend of hers told me a story about Jasmine going to her mothers home to bring her flowers. They had both been at the house for about 15 minutes before the mother called her by her dead name and said that she had already been there too long. Like so many she had survived, on her own, and with few trusted friends in her lifeJasmine was a beautiful human being that did not deserve to have her life end like this.
Related Stories:
Bakersfield Transwoman Murder Unknown due to Deadname, Planet Transgender
Vigil Held for Jasmine Sierra Who Died in January but was Misgendered when Identified, ABC 23
Kayden Clarke, 24, Mesa, AZ
On February 4, Mesa police responded to calls from friends of Kayden Clarkes saying that he was suicidal, the Arizona Republic reported. Police reports state that after entering his home, Kayden lunged towards them with a knife, which led the police to fire. The two officers, unidentified, were placed on administrative leave while Mesa detectives investigated. Officers were not wearing body cameras, and police did not disclose how many shots were fired.
Kayden Clarke, an autistic transman living in Arizona, was known for a series of YouTube videos detailing both his struggle with Aspergers and with transitioning. One of Kaydens videos went viral in 2015. The video is of Kaydens dog comforting him during what Kaden described to the Huffington Post as a meltdown, times during which he was prone to self-harm.
Kayden described having ADHD, and PTSD and depression related to his gender identity and complications in transitioning.
"He was frustrated that no matter what therapist he saw, no one understood and neglected his desire for health and happiness," Kae Glenn, a friend of Clarke's, wrote to the Republic.
"He was stressed about life. His future. His gender. Discrimination at work and online. There was a lot of hate aimed towards him. He suffered drastically ... not because of just his body, but because of social media and his social situation," Glenn said.
Clarkes death also marks a period of exceptional tension regarding police tactics, use of force, and treatment of people with disabilities or mental illness.
Before the police arrived [he] wasnt posing a threat to the community at all, Clarkes mother told the New York Daily News. And the police came into [his] own place. They shot and killed a 24-year-old autistic, mentally ill individual whom they had been familiar with and aware of [his] special needs.
Related stories:
Dog Helps Owner who has Asperger's Attack with Amazing Results, YouTube
Mesa Transgender Man from Viral Asperger's Meltdown Video Killed by Police, Arizona Republic
Police Kill Kayden Clarke, a Transgender man with Aspergers who was Suicidal, Slate.com
Veronica Banks Cano, 30s, San Antonio, TX
Veronica Banks Cano, Latina transgender woman was found dead at a motel on the South Side of San Antonio the morning of February 19, according to KABB-TV News. Veronica was found fully clothed, in a bathtub with water. There were no signs of trauma. No arrests have been made.
Cano was from Pleasanton Texas. Joe Mendez, told Out in San Antonio that the two had attended high school and nursing school together and had been roommates before Cano moved to San Antonio in 2012. Mendez said that Cano was loved and accepted by many in our small community. She had worked as a certified nurses assistant at a nursing home in Pleasanton.
In his Facebook tribute Mendez wrote, What can I say . . . you were true to yourself, never a dull moment . . . Putting on your makeup and modeling your outfits. Thats how Ill remember you.
An anonymous friend posted Found out my friend passed away yesterday. I hope this injustice weighs heavy on the conscience of whoever caused you harm. Veronica, you were a good friend to me when I was the new girl in town and I will miss you forever amiga.
Related Stories:
Local Woman found Dead in Bathtub at South Side Motel, Fox San Antonio
Transgender Woman Found Dead in Motel, Out In USA
Maya Young, 25, Frankford, PA
Maya Young, a Black transgender woman from Frankford, Pennsylvania, was fatally stabbed on February 21. Two suspects have been arrested. Maya was the third known transgender woman of color killed in Philadelphia over the course of a year, after Kiesha Jenkins 22, in October 2015, and London Kiki Chanel in May 2015.
"She looked like chocolate and caramel," Anthony Harper, a longtime friend and former roommate of Mayas told the Philadelphia Inquirer. One side of Mayas face was lighter than the other. -- Harper called her "Twix. "She was sweet, like candy," he said. The two had met five years earlier when Maya stopped to ask him the time. "I noticed the birthmark on her face and I told her it was beautiful." Later they became roommates in West Philadelphia, Harper said.
Harper told the Inquirer Maya loved music, video games, and playing Magic: The Gathering.
Naiymah Sanchez, a coordinator with the TransHealth Information Project in Philadelphia, wrote on Facebook that some friends were posting about Young "saying 'Finally Free.' It's so sad that we feel death is freedom," she wrote. "It's sad to say it's becoming the norm and even harder as a transgender woman to wake up every day with fearing someone may ultimately feel they want to take our life."
Related Stories:
Transgender Woman Stabbed to Death in Frankford, NBC Philadelphia
Transgender Community Mourns another Philly Slaying, the Philadelphia Inquirer
Demarkis Stansberry, 30, Baton Rouge, LA
Demarkis, a Black transgender man from Baton Rouge, La., was fatally shot on February 28. An acquaintance confessed to shooting Stansberry, and was arrested and charged with negligent homicide, according to the Advocate, a Baton Rouge-based newspaper.
The day after the accident which cost Demarkis Stansberry his life, Mitch Kellaway, a former contributor to gay news site, Advocate, tweeted about Demarkis death:
#DemarkisStansberry So easy to just remember his murder. He was more. He was a man who worked 2 jobs, loved his fiancee, his dog, & rapping.
Demarkis fiancee and girlfriend of four years Myesha Brown, identified Demarkis to police and reporters, but Demarkis was identified by his assigned gender and name in initial reports.
Related Stories:
Baton Rouge Man Accidentally Shoots, Kills Friend the Advocate, Baton Rouge
Black Trans Man Demarkis Stansberry Killed in Louisiana, Advocate.com
Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson, 16, Des Moines, IA
The Des Moines Register reported that police found Kedaries body on March 2. They had been shot several times and left in an alley. The case is under investigation and no suspects have been arrested, but police told the Register that they believe Kedarie knew their attackers.
Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson was a junior at Burlington High School in Iowa. They identified as gender-fluid, and transgender using both names intermittently.
Police told the Register that there was no evidence to suggest a hate crime, but Johnsons mother Katrina, does believe that Kedaries gender identity played a role.
Laci Johnson, a Burlington High School teacher was one of many locals who attended Kedaries memorial service.
You would never know what he would do or say. Sometimes it would be shockingly inappropriate, and sometimes, it would be something that would just melt your heart, Johnson said.
Kedarie was known for their over the top fashion, joyful dancing, and generous heart.
When God made Kedarie, he knew this boy would need a little extra sass to get by in this world, said Kedaries friend Mona Ash. He was one of the most resilient kids I ever met.
He was a bright spot of sunshine, and the world is a little darker now. I absolutely loved that kid, Ash said.
Related Stories:
Slain Burlington Teen Remembered for Style and Dance, Des Moines Register
Kedarie Johnson Murder Not Random, Des Moines Register
Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum (Kourtney Yochum), 32, Los Angeles, CA
Quartney, a transgender woman of color, was fatally shot March 23 outside her Los Angeles apartment complex in what appeared to be a dispute with her former boyfriend. Police have arrested one suspect, with investigations into additional suspects.
At a vigil for Kourtney, neighbor Mariana Vazquez told the LA Times, Her boyfriend would follow her around, even come in the building sometime," said Vasquez, who lived in the apartment complex. "I didn't know her real well because she was a 'hi and bye' kind of girl. But people had seen him before and you could just tell it wasn't healthy. I wish someone would have said something."
Yochums neighbor, Amoretta Buchanan told the Times, "She was just so cute. She would always strike a pose when she said hello," said Buchanan, imitating Yochum. "She really went out of her way to keep to herself. Not everybody understood her, and she knew that could be trouble. But those who got to know her, she was such a good person."
Related Stories:
Los Angeles Trans Woman of Color Killed on Skid Row, Advocate.com
Transgender Woman is Fatally Shot on Skid Row, LA Times
Shante Isaac/Thompson* 34, Houston, TX
Shante Thompson, a Black transgender woman from Houston, Texas, was beaten and shot to death by a group of assailants on April 11. The group also killed a man walking with Thompson. Police have arrested one suspect, a second suspect has been charged, with investigations into additional suspects.
Leola Thompson, Shantes mother, was on the phone with her when Shante said she was being chased.
All I heard [her] say was, 'There they go, there they go,' and I was trying to get [her] back on the phone to ask him what was going on and he was just saying, 'Bye mama, bye mama -- I got to go,' Thompson told Fox 26, Houston. "[Her] friend came knocking on the door and told me I need to come downtown because she was dead.
Thompson, who refers to Shante by male and female pronouns in interviews, said that Shante was being harassed before her murder.
"They were bothering him. They kept on picking on him," said Thompson, "He was telling me that for a long time, they have been bothering him and bothering him. I've been trying to keep him down from this way," Thompson told CBS, KHOU.
"The rhetoric is fueling an atmosphere of hate in Houston and Texas and across the country that is causing innocent Texans to be beaten and killed," said Chuck Smith, CEO of Equality Texas, an Austin-based advocacy group. "This rhetoric is unacceptable and has real consequences for real Texans who are victims of hate crimes." Said Chuck Smith, CEO of Equality Texas.
In particular, the 2015 repeal of Houstons Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, passed in 2014 which banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other traits in regard to employment, housing, and public accommodation, has contributed to tensions in the area.
Related Stories:
Police Investigate Midtown Houston Homicides of Two People, Fox 26
Arrest in Double Murder of Texas Man, Transgender Woman, CBS News
Keyonna Blakeney, 22, Montgomery County, MD
Keyonna, a Black transgender woman from Montgomery County, Maryland, was killed April 16. Two men were arrested for Keyonnas murder in what was described as a planned robbery.
Keyonna Blakeney split her time between her fathers house in DC and her mothers house in prince Georges county, Keyonnas sister Jasmine told the Washington Post. Twenty-two-year-old Keyonna had just rented an apartment and planned to move in at months end, Jasmine said.
Someone out there is evil who did this, Keyonnas father, Kenny Linton, said in an interview, describing her as special, kindhearted, down to earth and generous to a fault.
Related Stories:
Weekend Homicide Victim in Montgomery was Transgender Female
Court Date Set for Men Arrested in Keyonna Blakeney Murder, Metro Weekly
2nd Suspect in Transgender Killing says He was at Scene but did not Stab Anyone, Washington Post
Reecey Walker, 32, Wichita, KS
Reecey Walker, a Black transgender woman from Wichita, Kansas, was fatally stabbed May 1. A 16-year-old boy was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
[She] wanted to get a degree in psychology or social work to try to become a counselor to help other people try to get through some of the same struggles [she] had been through," Reeceys friend, identified only as Victoria, told ABC affiliate KAKE, Wichita.
"She said a lot of people at the apartment complex or even around Wichita were constantly harassing her and just messing with her including leaving stuff by her front door," Victoria told KAKE. When I left on Wednesday, she was super excited happy and hopping around and very, very positive. To wake up this morning and know that that was taken from her is the worst news I could have possibly got."
Related Stories:
Transgender Woman Killed in Wichita, Advocate.com
Mercedes Successful, 32, Haines City, FL
Mercedes, a Black transgender woman from Haines City, Fla., was fatally shot May 15. Police have not identified a suspect or a motive.
Originally from Kingston Jamaica. Mercedes Successful represented her home country in the 2014 Gay Caribbean USA Pageant.
"It is extremely sad that other humans can be so dreadful and take another human's life so easily. R.I.P Mercedes Successful," wrote the Gay Caribbean organization.
Mercedes was also an active member of the drag and pageant communities around her home of Haines City Florida, the Ledger reported.
"My sis just started transitioning a month and a half ago," Damii DeSouza worte in a Facebook tribute. "She was really ready and looking forward to living her life full time as Mercedes Successful."
Related Stories:
Mercedes Successful Becomes 12th Transperson Killed in 2016, Advocate.com
Haines City Police Department Releases new Details about Homicide, the Ledger
Amos Beede, 38, Burlington, VT
Amos Beede, a transgender man from Milton, Vermont, died from his injuries after he was attacked at a homeless encampment in Burlington. Five people have been arrested in connection with Beedes death. The investigation is ongoing.
"You know when a person comes into a space and people are happy to see him? That was Amos in our space," Kim Fountain, executive director of the Vermont Pride Center told the Burlington Free Press. Amos had started visiting the Pride Center to see friends over the last year.
Matt Young, coordinator of the Howard Center Street Outreach Team told the Press that Amos, was a talented artist, and created drawings, posters, T-shirts and more for the outreach team. Amos was well connected with and active in the different homeless communities and outreach centers in the area.
Amoss wife, mother, and sister all appeared in court during the arraignment of his attackers.
"It hurts that these five people could do this," Beede's sister Ina McKinney said. "A big part of our heart just got ripped away, and that's something we'll have to live with for the rest of our lives."
Related Stories:
Burlington Community Mourns Amos Beed's Death, Burlington Free Press
Woman Denies Murder Charge in Amos Beede Slaying
Goddess Diamond, 20, New Orleans, LA
Diamond, of New Orleans, was found dead of blunt force trauma in a burned car on June 5. No suspects have been identified.
Reports of Diamonds death identified her by her assigned name and gender for four days before writer and black trans woman, Venus Selente, called attention to Diamonds transgender status on twitter. Venus gave Diamond the name "Goddess" so she wouldnt have to be remembered with her birth name.
Diamond's mother, Antoinette, told the New Orleans Advocate that no one had heard from Diamond since she borrowed a car from a friend that evening to go to a party. Antoinette described Diamond as kind, loving, and having a big heart.
Related Stories:
Trans Woman killed in New Orleans, Police Considering Hate Crime, Advocate.com
Victim Found in Burned Car in New Orleans Died of Blunt Force Trauma, the Advocate, New Orleans
Deeniquia Dodds, 22, Washington DC
Deeniquia Dodds, a transgender woman of color, was shot on July 4 in Northeast Washington, D.C. She passed away on July 13 after 10 days on life support. No witnesses have come forward, and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099. Information can also be submitted anonymously by sending a text message to 50411. A reward of as much as $25,000 is offered.
Deeniquias friends called her Dee Dee. Joanne Lewis raised Dee Dee and described her as a beautiful person NBC Washington reported. "Loved to make you laugh. Loved to make you smile," she said. "Whoever did it, I hope that justice be done to them."
Dee Dee was involved with Casa Ruby, a D.C. LGBT organization. Founder Ruby Coronado told Mic, "Deeniquia was part of the Casa Ruby family, and she is gone, but not forgotten. Her death will not be in vainPeople in leadership need to address the employment barriers that keeps trans women of color from accessing the resources they need to grow healthy and thrive."
Related Stories:
Deeniquia Dodds, Transgender Woman, Dead after being Shot in Washington DC, Mic.com
Transgender Woman, Deeniquia Dodds, Dies after being Shot in DC, NBC Washington
Dee Whigham, 23, St. Martin, MS
Dee Whigham, a trans woman of color, was killed on July 23 in a St. Martin, Mississippi hotel. A suspect was identified through security camera footage and arrested.
Dee had come to St. Martin with friends and coworkers to see the Gulf Coast Black Rodeo at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, the Sun Herald reported.
Dee was a registered nurse at a hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The hospital's CEO spoke fondly of the young woman in a statement to the Sun Herald.
"She will be remembered at Forrest Health as an excellent nurse who was well-loved by her patients," said Forrest Health CEO Evan Dillary. "I know Dee will be missed by her co-workers, supervisors, and the Forrest Health family."
Related Stories:
St. Martin Homicide Victim was Transgender Woman, Sun Herald
Mississippi Nurse Dee Whigham Becomes 16th Trans Person Murdered in 2016, Advocate.com
Skye Mockabee, 26, Cleveland, OH
Skye Mockabee, a transgender woman of color, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 1. First responders described Mockabees injuries as suspicious, later county medical examiners ruled the death an accident. A spokeswoman told the Cleveland Plains Dealer the investigation is ongoing.
Skyes boyfriend told the Cleveland Plains Dealer that Skye had gone out with a man she had met online July 31, and stopped responding to text messages about 1:30 a.m. the next morning. Skye's mother, Phyllis Carlock said Skye texted her around 3:30 a.m. and said that she loved her and the two would always be together.
Skye, a Lincoln-West High School graduate, was the fourth transgender woman of color to die under suspicious circumstance in Cuyahoga County over the last four years. The other three were Brittany Stergis, Betty Skinner, and Cemia, CeCe Dove. Arrests were made in two of the other three cases.
Related Stories:
Transgender Woman Found Dead in Cleveland Parking Lot, Cleveland Plains Dealer
Cleveland Transgender Woman Found Dead in Parking Lot Died of Drug overdose, Authorities Say
Erykah Tijerina, 36, El Paso, TX
Erykah Tijerina, a Latina transgender woman, was found dead in her El Paso, Texas, apartment on August 8, KFOX reported. Police ruled Erykahs death as a homicide but not a hate crime. An arrest was made.
Erykahs two sisters told KFOX they believed Eryka may have been targeted because of her gender identity. The sisters say Erykah was funny, giving and unapologetic about the person she was.
Shes the one that told me to stay strong and not care, Pearl Tijerina said.
Nell Gaither, president of the Trans Pride Initiative in Dallas, said in a statement
"Trans Pride Initiative would like to encourage all community and accomplices to raise our collective voices against not just the media and police misidentification, but also the broad state-sponsored stigma that is growing in Texas and elsewhere, which fuels bias that exacerbates bullying in our schools, refusal of social services, denial of employment and other life opportunities, and increases the many faces of violence with which our community is so familiar."
Related Stories:
Sisters say Murder Victim was Transgender, Fear Incident was a Hate Crime, KFOX14
Texas Army Soldier Arrested on Murder Charges for Stabbing Transgender Woman to Death, NY Daily News
RaeLynn Thomas, 28, Columbus, OH
RaeLynn Thomas, a Black transgender woman from Columbus, Ohio, was murdered the week of August 8. RaeLynns family reported witnessing her death at the hands of an ex-boyfriend of Raelynns mother who lived in the family home, WBNS reported.
Shannon Thomas told WBNS she will remember her niece as a performer, a fashionista, and the life of the party. "He took a light away from all of us," Thomas said of Raelynns killer.
While her family was accepting of her identity, her killer was open with his disapproval. Raelynns aunt and mother are calling her death a hate crime.
"In my heart of hearts, I feel like thats what it is," Shannon said. She also shared her desire to see Raelynns killer pay for his crime, saying "I want to see him go to jail forever."
Renee Thomas said the same. "Life in prison. Spend your life in prison. Thats what you do. I cant spend my life with my [daughter] because you took [her] from me. I dont want you to spend your life with your family."
The city of Columbus hate-crime laws does include crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation, but Ohio does not. Police are not investigating the homicide as a hate crime.
Related Stories:
Family of Columbus Woman killed Call it a Hate Crime, WBNS-10TV Columbus
T.T. Saffore, 20s, Chicago, IL
T.T. Saffore, A Black transgender woman, was found murdered in Chicagos West Garfield Park neighborhood the evening of Sept. 11, the Windy City Times reported.
Jaliyah Armstrong, a friend of T.T.s for the past seven years organized a vigil for T.T. on Sept. 12.
"T.T. was a lovely person," Jaliyah told the Windy City Times. "She was laughing all the time. You could be going through a bad day but once you saw [T.T.], she was such a happy cheerful person all that changed."
"Three days before [her death] she got into an altercation with a [trans] woman on Madison," Jaliyah said. "The girl pulled a knife on her and said 'I'm going to get you killed.'"
Jaliyah said T.T. did not report the incident to the Chicago Police Department, due to a prevalent fear of abuse toward transwomen from CPD officers.
"People don't know what we go through out here," Armstrong said. "They don't see the struggle being transgender on the West Side. It's crazy. I just want justice for my friend. Trans lives matter. She is the third person killed around here and there is nothing done about it."
Related Stories:
Trans Woman Murdered in Chicago, but Police Refuse to acknowledge Gender, Advocate.com
Transgender Woman Found Slain on Chicagos West Side, Windy City Media Group
Crystal Edmonds, 32, Baltimore, MD
Crystal Edmonds. a Black trans woman, was found in Forest Park Sept. 16, Baltimore police said. She was taken to a hospital, listed in grave condition, and died later in the morning, City Paper reported.
Police are investigating Crystals death as a homicide. They are offering a cash reward of up to $2,000 for tips regarding the case. Anyone with information can call Metro Crime Stoppers, (866) 756-2587, or submit tips online at MetroCrimeStoppers.org.
Related Stories:
Transgender Woman Shot to Death, Police look for Clues, City Paper
Jazz Alford, 30, Birmingham, AL
Jazz Alford, a Black transgender woman was found shot to death at the Kings Inn in Birmingham, September 23. A suspect has been charged, AL.com reported but the investigation is ongoing.
Jazz was a native of High Point, North Carolina, and had transitioned five years ago. She helped her sister, Toya Milan, to transition as well.
"She was very educated and very beautiful,'' Toya said. "She was such a loving person and we didn't know anybody that would want to hurt her...it's been a hard pill to swallow.
Jazz graduated from college in Florida and worked as a call center representative for an airline company.
"I'm still mourning of course, but I am so filled with joy right now because this monster is off of the streets and he can't harm anybody else." Toya told reporters.
"It's somebody's child he took the life from,'' Toya said. "They've got a special place for somebody like him."
Related Stories:
Man Charged in Murder of Transgender Woman at Burlington Hotel, AL.com
Brandi Bledsoe, 32, Cleveland, OH
Brandi, a 32-year-old transgender woman, was found behind a home on Clevelands East Side, Oct. 8. Medical examiners report she died from a gunshot wound to her chest. No arrests have been made. After Skye Mockabee, Brandis death marks the fifth transgender woman killed in the Cleveland area since 2012.
After initial reports misgendered Brandi, her family came forward to say that shed come out to them two years ago, a choice which took a weight off of her shoulders.
"She wasn't very outgoing before she told us," Brandis cousin John Craggett told The Plain Dealer. "She just wasn't happy with who she was. When she told us, she was honestly a lot better as Brandi. She was happy."
Brandi was an animation artist, and worked at Home Depot.
"She was really independent," John said. "A lot of opportunities opened up for her. She was looking for freedom."
Brandi had posted some pictures to Facebook, getting ready for a night on the town the evening of her murder.
I had been teasing her about her red wig," said Brandis aunt, Angie Redding-Craggett, "and she went out and got another one. It was My Lil Pony bright lavender. (When I saw the photos) my plan was to send her a message and give her the hardest time, she said.
But I never got to do that.
Related Stories:
Transgender Woman Found Dead in Cleveland with Plastic Bag around Head, Cleveland Plains Dealer
The Life and Death of Brandi Bledsoe, the 23rd Trans Woman Killed in 2016, TeleSurTV.net
Noony Norwood, 30, Richmond, VA
Noony Norwood, a trans woman of color in Richmond, Virginia, was shot on November 5 and taken to the hospital where she died of her injuries the next day. Police are investigating the case, and have released a photo of a person of interest.
Ms. Noony Norwood was accepted," said Janet Wright, Noony's aunt, NBC 12 reported.
"She was a wonderful person, and they took somebody great from us, seriously," she said.
"I just want people to know that, that was a beautiful person truly, would give you anything," explained Wright."Would help anybody without even a second thought."
Zakia McKensey, founder of Nationz Foundation, an LGBT organization in Richmond, also considered Noony family.
Zakia, last saw Noony about two weeks before her death, when she invited her to a meeting of a transgender support group at the foundation. She told GayRVA.com. She used to call me Mompie, and so she said, Mompie, I promise Im coming. I told her to be safe and be careful, McKensey said.
It needs to be talked about, said Zakia when asked about the deaths she and the trans community have experienced. People ask me about the Black Lives Matter movement and why I understand why the movement was started and Im concerned because I dont feel like its inclusive of them all. I think about all the African American transgender women who have been victims of homicide and theres no mention of them you dont hear anything about it.
Related Stories:
Family seeks Justice for Transgender Woman Killed in Southside Shooting, NBC12
Friends Speak Out, Offer Support after Southside Trans Womans Murder, GayRVA.com
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed in late November in recognition of the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, an educator on transgender issues in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1999, Gwendolyn Ann Smith coordinated a vigil in Ritas honor and for all those lost to anti-transgender violence.
For a listing of TDOR2016 events and other resources visit: TDOR.info
For resources on city, county, and state LGBT policies and plans of action, visit the National Center for Transgender Equality website at TransEquality.org
Trans Respect Versus Transphobia Worldwide (TvT) has also established The Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project, which monitors, collects, and analyzes reports of homicides of transgender and gender non-conforming people worldwide. Their reports and other resources can be found at TransRespect.org
Mike Pompeo, who doggedly pursued prosecution of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, has been tapped to become the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
President-elect Donald J. Trump, on Friday, announced plans to appoint Pompeo, a Republican Congressman from Kansas, to lead the CIA. Pompeo, Trump said, has served our country with honor and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens.
The 52-year-old Pompeo was first elected to Congress in 2010. A former captain in the U.S. Army, Pompeo is perhaps best known to the general public for his role in the Benghazi hearings.
In the congressional hearings, staged last October, Pompeo questioned Clintons handling of the attack on the U.S. consulate which claimed the life of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others. At issue was the close access Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal had to the Secretary of State personal email and cell phone number that Ambassador Stevens did not.
Hillary Clinton failed to lead, Pompeo told reporters after the hearing.
Pompeo earned his law degree from Harvard University. He served in the Army from 1986 to 1991 and went on to start his own aerospace company with aid from Koch Industries.
At CIA, Pompeo replaces John O. Brennan, who has served in such capacity since March of 2013.
The Tea Party now controls the drones, an unnamed CIA employee told the Daily Beast.
Pompeos ascension could be dicey for the U.S.-Russian restart. He is on record as saying Edward Snowden, a former U.S. defense contractor, should be brought back from Russia and given a death sentence.
(Snowden) put friends of mine, friends of yours who serve in the military today at enormous risk because of the information he stole and then released to foreign powers, Pompeo said on CSPANs Washington Journal in February.
The U.S. Senate must first confirm Pompeo and with Republicans in the majority that should be no problem. Pompeo, who is married with one son, graduated first in his class at West Point. His first order of business appears to be a shredding of the Obama administrations Iran Deal.
I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism, Pompeo tweeted on Thursday.
A civilian foreign intelligence service of the U.S. government, CIA is headquartered in Langley, Virginia and has an estimated 21,575 employees. CIAs annual budget is estimated at $15 billion.
"I am honored to have been given this opportunity to serve and to work alongside President-elect Donald J. Trump to keep America safe. I also look forward to working with America's intelligence warriors, who do so much to protect Americans each and every day," Pompeo said.
Matthew Eaton is tired of seeing his favorite businesses close in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors. First it was Out Of The Oven Baking Company and Salt This Way. And now that Humpys Pizza has closed, he wants to try and do something.
Eaton, a resident of Hollywood, has started a petition the day after Humpys closed.
Formerly located in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, Humpys was closed after the owner and the owner of the shopping plaza failed to come to an agreement on the rent. Owner Steve DeJong, who opened Humpys in 2007, said the increase in rent was just too high. The threat of a lawsuit, regarding Americans With Disabilities violations, also contributed to DeJongs decision to close. DeJong said he was sued even after correcting the minor deficiencies.
Basically, theyre raising the rent to the point where its unmanageable and not feasible to stay in business. And theyre going to raise it every year for the next 10 years. Theyre playing hardball. It just baffles me theyre not willing to negotiate. We have a third of the shopping center empty, said DeJong on Nov. 2. Earlier this month, Jonathan Gaines, principal with Rivercrest Realty, which owns the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, said he was disappointed he and DeJong couldnt come to terms on the lease.
Eaton hopes his petition, which has 765 signers as of Nov. 14, will start a conversation and help keep more businesses in Wilton Manors. He also hopes to get the city involved in
The petition is to support the business currently there. The goal really is to show we have a voice in Wilton Manors . . . to really have the city and the landlords pay attention and work something out.
We need people to invest in the community. There are already too many empty stores and lack of creativity. This city will die if we can't compete with many of the other, vibrant, communities rising around us, wrote Kevin Mahon from Lazy Lake, one of the petition supporters.
But not everyone agrees with Eatons petition.
The owners are free to do what they want with their property, wrote Fort Lauderdale resident Ken Hatton on Facebook. We are free not to patronize their businesses. Without the LBGT community, no business will survive there. We have more power in boycotting businesses that don't support our community.
Rivercrest Realty did not comment in time for publication.
To view or sign the petition, visit change.org/p/save-the-businesses-shoppes-of-wilton-manors.
Wilton Drive isnt the only street where city officials want a lane reduction to go into effect. Powerline Road, through a project lead by the Florida Department of Transportation [FDOT], will be reduced from six lanes to four.
It isnt suited to be a six-lane highway. Its primarily residential. There are single-family homes abutting a six-lane highway, said City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson.
A public meeting to discuss the plans will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Mickel Park. FDOT officials will be in attendance to answer questions and take input.
In addition to the lane reduction, a planting strip will be added through the middle of the street and the two outside lanes will be used to create a bike lane and a buffer between the road and the sidewalks/bike lanes. There will also be resurfacing and restriping work done. All of it funded by FDOT.
The improvements will be made along Powerline Road from Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale north to Northwest 29 Street in Wilton Manors.
Henderson said the city would also like the speed limit reduced but it would be up to FDOT to make the decision. Powerline Road is a state road. The city has no control over it. We want to reduce the speed of traffic and make it easier for pedestrians to walk and feel safe in the area, said Henderson.
And safety concerns have been one of the primary issues residents have talked about with Powerline recently.
One group of speeding ATV riders became such a regular nuisance that the police department began an operation to crack down on them.
Its incredibly disturbing to the neighborhood, said Mayor Gary Resnick last year. He lives
west of Powerline Road and said the group, which travels south towards Fort Lauderdale, comes through the city every Sunday evening.
Unfortunately, said Police Chief Paul OConnell, theres not much the police can do.
According to state law, police can only pursue the driver of a vehicle if they commit a forcible felony which is defined as any felony which involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against any individual. OConnell said his department is in the same position as it was last year. Even though they pose a safety hazard, were not going to increase the safety hazard by giving chase.
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.
Chinese Astronauts Land Safely After 30 Day Mission CCTV News
Two Chinese astronauts, Chen Dong and Jing Haipeng, landed safely in north Chinas Inner Mongolia region on Friday after spending 30 days in the Tiangong-2 space laboratory.
Shenzhou-11 astronauts land safely in Inner Mongolia
Looking back at the return to Earth for Shenzhou-11
Chinas manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11 successfully touched down on Earth
Footage: Astronauts exit Shenzhou-11spacecraft after landing on Earth
Review: Nine biggest events of Chinas space missions in 2016
Ontario Racing (OR) will host its sixth scheduled in-person consultation on Saturday, Nov. 19 regarding a proposed long-term funding framework for horse racing in the province.
This framework, subject to government approval, will be presented to the industry for feedback. If approved, this framework will provide the industry as a whole from owners, trainers and breeders to racetrack operators with the certainty they need to make investments in their businesses.
ORs primary objective, to this point, has been to engage directly with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. and the government to provide input to the development of a road map to sustainable funding for the industry. Now, ORs focus will shift towards engagement with the industry as a whole to garner feedback on this proposed framework.
This proposed framework is based on key principles including:
A new racetrack alliance: all Ontario racetracks that conduct live racing will be invited to create a new alliance. It is proposed that Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) will serve as the administrator of this new alliance.
Longer-term, predictable funding: Ontarios horseracing industry can invest in their businesses beyond 2021.
Ongoing accountability and transparency: decision-making based on evidence and agreed upon success indicators.
Industry leadership: racetrack business plans, race dates, purse levels will be aligned across racetracks for a coordinated approach. Ontario Racing will play a key industry leadership role in the future.
Next steps include widespread in person conversations with the industry about these principles, across Ontario. Sessions will take place in every region of the province that has horse racing. The following consultation schedule has been updated. (dates subject to change)
Saturday, November 19 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Port Perry (Golfer's Dream Golf Club, Scugog)
Tuesday, November 22 - 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Milton (Gambrel Barn, Country Heritage Park)
The five previous sessions transpired in Toronto, Dundas, Sarnia, London and Ottawa.
Ontario Racing encourages all interested parties to submit their feedback about the future of the industry by accessing its online consultation portal here. The portal includes a series of questions and the option to attach a word document, for those who would like to share additional thoughts. The proposed long-term funding framework was outlined in a webinar, hosted on October 19, and can be viewed here.
Ontario Racing will collate feedback from the industry, and this perspective will inform recommendations to government.
(With files from Ontario Racing)
Repair or Restore Your Christian Marriage
Contact: David Forman,973-477-7489,SCOTTSDALE, Az., Nov. 18, 2016 / Standard Newswire / -- "Women are beyond understanding," is the predominant excuse for a man's inability to fix failing or broken marriages. This fraudulent thinking is so accepted by the world that it's become a common joke. What a sad, but eye-opening image of Satan using a notorious worldly deception to separate what God has joined together.Photo: Author Ken NairIn the book " Discovering the Mind of Woman ," author Ken Nair illustrates how from Genesis through Revelation biblical principles prove that men not only can, but are commanded to "live with their wives in an understanding way."Radically different, but scripturally sound, "Discovering the Mind of a Woman," reveals relationship-altering concepts that renew and restore marriages. Nair says when a man follows these principles they work every time, and claims he has seen hundreds of restored marriages, many even after divorce."That's not Ken Nair boasting, but pointing to God's living word that can breathe new life into even the most broken relationships. We just need to better understand what God says about marriage that's often misunderstood in the text or not taught at all," he said.For example he quotes John 4:23: 'God is spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.'"So we go to church and raise our hands to praise music and shout amen to the sermon; but it falls far short of relationship God wants us to have with Him," said Nair."Our spirit has a language of its own: that language is our emotions, which as men, we don't fully acknowledge, and they're fleeting; yet we hope to understand our wives who are 100% attuned to their emotions, and where they live all day." Says Nair. "If a man can't identify his own spirit's language he can't recognize a woman's, and he's completely hindered in becoming the spiritual leader his wife craves."In "Discovering the Mind of a Woman," Nair explores how a man's inability to minister to his wife's spirit is the cause of a husband's failure to fulfill Ephesians 5:25 'Husbands are to love their wives unconditionally and sacrificially, just as Christ loves the Church.'"A wife's emotions, actions and even her attraction to her husband are directly related to his spiritual condition," says Nair. "She is like a mirror provided by God to reflect how Christlike, or more accurately how un-Christlike he's being," says Nair.He concedes this concept meets with strong resistance, even within the church. However, Nair says he's found incontrovertible evidence confirmed by Hebrew language scholar Frank Seekins in the original Hebrew text of Genesis where our bibles translate Eve as Adam's "helper."Nair explains, "The Hebrew word is Ezer, three letters originally pictograms represented by an axe, a man and an eye." Nair and Seekins agree this translates as "Revealer of the Enemy." "Therefore God didn't say he'd make a helper in the way we think," says Nair. "More accurately, our wife is the person made by God to 'help' us clearly reveal our sin nature, or how Christ-like we are being," says Nair. "And that understanding is the key to every man's ability to transform his life and marriage."If a man is truly willing to be discipled toward becoming more and more like Christ, his marriage will inevitably be made stronger or restored," says Nair.Another concept presented in his book that is very hard for most men to accept is the biblical difference between fault and responsibility. "Men refuse to grasp that even their wife's own sins are their responsibility," he says, again pointing to evidence in the text of Genesis."Although Eve is blamed for the fall of mankind the Bible places the blame squarely upon the man," says Nair. "God told Adam, not Eve, not to eat of the tree; it was Adam who did not keep his promise to God. As a part of Eve's curse, she must look to Adam for her value and acceptance. He charges Adam with the care of her spirit along with complete responsibility for her spiritual fitness."Nair quotes Roman's 5:12 as verification, Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all. Through one man all have sinned." "One man, not woman," says Nair.In "Discovering the Mind of a Woman," men learn to accept their responsibility; and use all of life events, regardless of who's at "fault," to discern what God is teaching Him about how he is or is not being Christ-like."I disciple men how to be more Christ-like and that requires a deep commitment to change, but men who truly seek this are rewarded with a richer relationship with God and restored relationships when necessary," Nair promises.For more than thirty years author and speaker Ken Nair, founder of Christ Quest Ministries, has helped renew and restore marriages almost exclusively by teaching men how to become more like Christ, through books, videos, live seminars, and a three-year college level course all available at christquestministries.com Ken Nair can be reached for personal discipleship and speaking engagements at ken@christquestministries.com
Judicial Watch: New Documents Show Clinton Conflicts of Interest
Unsigned Memo Contains 'Private Sector Opportunities' for Bill Clinton in Haiti
Memo from Clinton Foundation to State Department Lists nearly 200 Then-Current and Former Heads of State to be Invited to 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2016 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced that it has received 508 pages of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking information about to possible conflicts of interest between the actions taken by Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Bill Clinton's activities. More than 440 pages of the documents were redacted either in full, or with only minor notations remaining. The documents were released as a result of a federal court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department on May 28, 2013, (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-00772)).
The documents included an undated, unsigned memo entitled "Private Sector Opportunities for WJC" [William Jefferson Clinton]. The memo provided capabilities analysis of three companies with major investment interests in Haiti: Tetra Pak, Seaboard, and Cemex.
The documents also include a lengthy March 2009 email from Clinton Foundation Director of Foreign Policy Amitabh Desai to former Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro and subsequently forwarded to top Clinton aid Jake Sullivan containing the names of nearly 200 then-current and former heads of state to be invited to the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. The list includes dignitaries from Saudi Arabia, which gave $14.5 million to the Clinton Foundation; Kuwait, which gave between $5 and $10 million; Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar all of which donated between $1 and $5 million over the years. In February 2015, the Washington Post reported, "A third of foundation donors who have given more than $1 million are foreign governments or other entities and foreign donors make up more than half of those who have given more than $5 million."
In July 2014, Judicial Watch released more than 200 conflict-of-interest reviews by State Department ethics advisers of proposed Bill Clinton speaking and consulting engagements during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. The documents show that Mr. Clinton's office proposed 215 speeches around the globe. And 215 times, the State Department stated that it had "no objection." The Washington Examiner published a report by Judicial Watch Chief Investigative Reporter Micah Morrison and Examiner Senior Watchdog Reporter Luke Rosiak which notes that Mr. Clinton "earned $48 million while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy, raising questions about whether the Clintons fulfilled ethics agreements related to the Clinton Foundation during Mrs. Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State."
MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-show-clinton-conflicts-interest
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin; the two men spoke by phone on Monday. I dont expect that the President-elect will follow exactly our approach, Mr Obama said.
But my hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that ... if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable, or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatevers convenient at the time.
Mr Obama also said he had spoken to Mr Putin about cyber attacks, amid claims that Russia was responsible for hacks of emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clintons campaign that caused significant damage to the former US Secretary of States presidential bid. Cyber warfare is something we have to work on, Mr Obama said. We need to develop frameworks and international norms so that we dont see a cyber arms race.
With the forces of populism and nationalism on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, Mr Obama and Ms Merkel mounted a firm defence of liberalism and globalisation as they met for the last time before the US President leaves office. Globalism needs to have a human face, Ms Merkel told reporters.
With Britain in the throes of Brexit negotiations, French President Francois Hollande facing a tough electoral battle against Marine Le Pens populist Front National and the Obama era coming to a close, Merksl is now the most prominent face of globalism.
The German Chancellor admitted that with Donald Trump in the White House, the TTIP trade deal between the EU and the US would no longer be completed, but said she was absolutely certain one day we will come back to what we have achieved and build on it.
Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the year's end.
VANCOUVER Waterfowl enthusiasts told state officials this week they fear a proposed $13 million salmon restoration project at Shillapoo Wildlife Area will trade big losses of ducks and geese for marginal gains of fish.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to reconnect the Columbia River with its floodplain on the south portion of the state wildlife area in the Vancouver Lake lowlands.
Two leeves to the Columbia River would be breached and channels created between wetlands to restore fish access. Water control structures and pumps would be removed.
Nicole Czarnomski, project coordinator for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, told a meeting in Vancouver Monday that the effort is part of a bistate, multi-agency effort to create more rearing habitat for juvenile salmon, particularly chinook.
Bonneville Power Administration would finance the project.
The project would improve Shillapoo Wildlife Area for fish, while still providing habitat for waterfowl plus public hunting and other recreation, Czarnomski said.
This project is a choice by the agency, she said. Wed like to support multiple species.
But the proposal was not well received by a room full of mostly duck and goose hunters. State officials were peppered with questions from a skeptical audience.
Czarnomski said duck harvest would probably be about the same after the project, although might shift more from divers to dabblers.
I oppose this and I oppose it wholeheartedly, said Kurt Snyder of the Washington Waterfowl Association. Every area that youve turned tidal has gone to hell for waterfowl. Every single one them without exception. What makes you think this is different?
A pump near Langsdorf Landing boat ramp lifts water into the Shillapoo area from December to June when Columbia River levels are high enough. The increase in water benefits waterfowl and makes for stable hunting conditions.
The pump would be removed. Water levels in Shillapoo would vary, depending on the Columbia River. But the direct connection with the river would allow for juvenile salmon to move in and out.
Variability is what were introducing here, Czarnomski said.
Some at Monday nights meeting worried how that variability would affect nesting waterfowl plus whitetail deer in the area.
You call it restoration, but it isnt truly a restoration, said Jon McAninch of Grays Harbor. Im all for salmon enhancement, but Im against it when its to the detriment of other species weve built upYou displace ducks in enough places and you have loss of population.
Czarnomski said the project is still in the concept stage.
Alex Uber, a Department of Fish and Wildlife engineer, said there will be an official National Environmental Policy Act comment period this winter on the proposal.
The earliest much work would be done on the project is 2018, Czarnomski said.
She said the department will keep Shillapoo a high-priority spot for fish and wildlife.
Were building a long-term commitment with BPA, she said. Were not going to walk away.
Every area that youve turned tidal has gone to hell for waterfowl. Every single one them without exception. What makes you think this is different? Kurt Snyder,
Washington Waterfowl Association
A Cowlitz Superior Court judge Wednesday found that Tomi Dupper, the former bookkeeper who embezzled half a million dollars from the Longview YMCA, fraudulently gave her daughter land worth more than $100,000 to avoid having it seized for restitution.
Stephen Warnings ruling gives the YMCA the opportunity to seize the property from Dupper and sell it to recover some of its losses.
Dupper was sentenced in April 2014 to two years in prison. She was ordered to pay the YMCA nearly $293,000 at no less than $25 monthly. The restitution amount was based on what Dupper still owed the YMCA after she forfeited her retirement and the agency recovered some money from insurance. Of the $293,000 still owed, Dupper has paid only $350.
This June, the YMCA filed a civil suit alleging that Dupper gave 10 acres land in rural Longview to her daughter Kari Kosa in July 2013. The suit claimed the gift was an attempt to prevent it from being seized and sold to compensate the YMCA. Dupper disputed that and argued she gave the land to Kosa so she could build her own home on it.
Warning, however, agreed with the Y and ruled that the transfer was fraudulent.
The YMCA, through its lawyer, will ask the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office to seize and sell the property and give the proceeds to the YMCA as a payment towards the money Dupper stole.
Dupper wasnt at the hearing, but her daughter was.
The county assessors office values the land at $102,580.
Anthony Adam Anderson, 32, of Kalama for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine; Russell Leroy Butler, 58, of Kelso for suspicion of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine and unlawful use of a building for drug purposes; Nathan Paul Davis, 44, for multiple arrest warrants and third-degree driving with a suspended license; Edwin Michael Cecil Hill, 33, for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, obstructing law enforcement and possession of a dangerous weapon; Tommy Bryce Tift Hill, 52, of Kelso for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine; Tia Louise Moyer, 24, for suspicion of possession of heroin and a felony warrant; Vicky R. Moyer, 45 for a misdemeanor arrest warrant; Paul Allen Pennington, 27 for two felony arrest warrants; Alisha Marie Reed, 24 for felony arrest warrant and obstructing law enforcement; Cristina Lynn Sanchez, 42, of Kelso for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver; Benjamin James Vivian, 37, of Longview for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of heroin with intent to deliver and a federal felony warrant; Ariel Elizabeth Ann Yeager, 23, of Toutle for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of heroin and a felony warrant.
The move of demonetisation has raised a tempest in entire India and black marketers, and back money lawbreakers have already started hunting the alternatives to set free from Income tax and penalty implemented by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. While the rules of demonetisation have turned more intense and tough for many, mysterious benefactors in Mumbai are found to donate Rs 500 and 1,000 notes in charity boxes established at government hospitals.
According to reports from Mumbai Mirror, the demonetisation move taken by the Indian government has had an unexpected blow on Mumbaikars as the high amount of cash are being deposited in the donation boxes of public hospitals. The public of Mumbai is presently opting medical donation boxes to add gifts over the temples. After news that donations to sanctuaries will go under government scanner, black money holders have made a direct route to adding to public hospitals rather than temples.
On the ninth day of pandemonium, since the central government of India scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the donations to hospitals in Mumbai have expanded by 30-40%, and now the charity boxes are found to be over-flooded with 500 and 1000 currency notes. On the other hand, the rate of donations in temples has surprisingly gone 10% down after the declaration of scanning cash recovered from temples.
According to the public relation officer of Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Humayun Jafris statements to Mumbai Mirror, 14 donation boxes were unlocked on Saturday and surprisingly a whopping amount of Rs 1.5 lakh cash was collected from the boxes, and most of them were Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
The report also stated that, after demonetisation, the hospitals are getting around Rs. 40, 000 to Rs. 50, 000 as the weekly collection from donation boxes. As per the reports of Humayun, getting Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes from gift boxes are not new, but after demonetisation, the number of notes really hiked.
Well, an almost same case was also observed in Mumbais KEM hospital, where from 40 donation boxes, three boxes were unlocked on Tuesday and surprisingly they also have the demonetised currency notes. As said by Dr. Avinash Supe, dean of KEM Hospital, currently we have opened only three boxes, and the number of demonetised notes is three and hence we are sure the rest 37 boxes will have much more.
Mumbai: No-frills carriers increased their marker share in May, while the struggling Air India (AI) and Kingfisher Airlines continued to lose in the marketplace sweepstakes.
While Air India saw the largest fall in market share in the reporting month to 16.2 percent from 17.6 percent in April, the second largest no-frills carrier SpiceJet saw its market share rising to 18.5 percent from 17.7 percent in April, according to the latest data released by civil aviation regulator DGCA.
The largest low-cost airline IndiGo saw its market share rising to 24.9 percent in May from 23.8 percent in April, while the Jet Group saw its share more or less stagnating at 27.9 percent.
While Jet share remained where it was in April, JetLite saw its dipping a tad by to 6.5 percent from 6.8, despite a major improvement in its passenger load factor which rose from 76.8 in April to 80.5 in May. GoAir also saw its share dipping a bit to 7.2 from 7.3 percent.
Accordingly, Spice and IndiGo also had their load factor rising considerably, to 82 from 80 and to 86.3 from 82, respectively, while that of Air India remained stagnant at 70.6 in May from 70.5 in April.
Kingfisher had the deepest fall in the load factor in May to 73.3 from 77 in April.
PTI
PTI
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By Muqbil Ahmar
The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States of America will have several ramifications. The effects would range from the local to the global. One of the sectors on which he could have a significant impact is the development of space technology. Since Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk dont share a very cordial relationship, the development could have an impact on SpaceX, the most pioneering privately-operated space technology company run by the latter.
There are several reasons for such a prognosis:
1) We hardly know how President Trump feels about space programs as he has spoken very little about it throughout his campaign. But the very fact that he has spoken little during the long course of a campaign means that it doesnt figure very high on his list of priorities, although it cannot be said with certainty how exactly a new president would influence the future of space programs, in general, and NASA, in particular. If Trumps aides are to be believed the focus of NASA would be recalibrated. The Commander-in-Chief of United States Army would have a lot of role to play on how the space exploration programs pan out. He would also be setting the goals and the agenda of premier space agency NASA, said Shashank Dixit, CEO, Deskera, a leader in cloud technology and a space technology enthusiast.
2) On the other hand, President Barack Obama showed keen interest in the area and shared close ties with Elon Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX. After Musks active interventions, a number of private programs and spaceflight initiatives have picked up steam. The maverick billionaire was at the forefront. SpaceX has consistently been breaking new ground and extending the frontiers as far as space technology is concerned. President Obama supported his projects through subsidies. In fact, SpaceXs private-public business model banks on the financial and institutional support (NASA) of the US government.
Additionally, Musk and Obama shared a personal relationship as well: Musk gave Obama tours of SpaceX at Cape Canaveral, Florida; President Obama dined with Musk on several occasions; Elon Musk personally visited the White House more than a dozen times; and the Tesla Motors entrepreneur donated generously to both Obama and Clinton's election campaigns. Musk has supported the Democrat camp whereas Trump is from the Republican camp.
3) Moreover, there is no love between Trump and Musk. Billionaire entrepreneur Musk recently remarked: I feel a bit stronger that [Trump] is not the right guy He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States," SpaceX Communications Director Dex Torricke-Barton also said that the company will be fighting the Trump administration tooth and nail. Donald Trump, we will tear down your wall. I promise," he remarked.
4) SpaceX heavily depends on governments financial support: the company reportedly gets $5 billion in government contracts. That money could dry up after Trumps ascendancy. The reported figure comprises government incentives, including tax breaks, grants, discounted loans, factory construction, and environmental credits.
5) Last but not the least Trump reportedly plans to cut the US budget by over $5 trillion. Once the cut goes into effect, big ticket projects including the ambitious space programs could find themselves in limbo.
Whatever be the eventual outcome, one can only hope that President Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk would not let individual differences play a role in mankinds knowledge and exploration of the Universe.
With over 10 years of experience in the field of journalism, the author is a technology evangelist and avid blogger.
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move production at a Kentucky plant to Mexico. "I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" Trump posted on Twitter. "He will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico."
Ford has repeatedly said it has no plans to close any U.S. plants and likely could not do so under the terms of the current United Auto Workers contract that expires in 2019. Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker said late on Thursday the automaker "confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky."
"We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States," she added, in a statement. The U.S. No. 2 automaker is planning to move some small-car production south of the border.
The company builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC SUV at its Louisville assembly plant in Kentucky, where it employs about 4,700 people. It also has a separate truck plant in Louisville, where it builds pickups and larger SUVs. Ford has endured scathing criticism from Trump over its Mexican investments for nearly 18 months.
The Republican candidate repeatedly said during his long presidential campaign that if elected he would not allow Ford to open a new plant in Mexico and would slap hefty tariffs on any Ford vehicles made in Mexico. Ford said in April 2015 it planned to invest $2.5 billion to build two new plants in Mexico, adding 3,800 jobs in all. Earlier this year, Ford said it will invest a further $1.6 billion in Mexico for small-car production to start in 2018.
In September, Ford confirmed that all of the company's small-car production will leave U.S. plants and head to lower-cost Mexico by 2019, but no plants would be closed as a result. Ford has repeatedly said no U.S. jobs will be lost because of the move - and it will produce two new vehicles at a Detroit area plant that built the small cars.
In October, Bill Ford said he had met with Trump to talk about his extensive attacks on the automaker's investments in Mexico. Ford said Trump's criticism was "infuriating" and "frustrating" because of the company's extensive investments and employment in the United States.
Reuters
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China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd rallied behind Beijing's recently-imposed cyber security law on Thursday, following criticism of it from overseas technology rivals. The country's two tech giants also urged closer cooperation between the public and private sectors at China's third World Internet Conference, which has focused on heightened threats to cyber security over the past year, including disruptions to financial systems and online terrorist radicalisation.
China says the new law, which formalises broad restrictions on technology companies working in China, was designed to remove cyber security threats in "critical" industries not to target foreign businesses and will help counter terrorism. However, overseas business groups and technology organisations say it unfairly targets them with overzealous surveillance measures and local data storage requirements.
Analysts say Alibaba and Tencent operate websites and apps that have a largely local user base, and so face fewer changes in the way they store data as a result of the law. "This marks a step forward for China. We are asking [Tencent] professionals to learn from these regulations," Yang Peng, director of Tencent's Executive Committee for Information Security, said at the conference, which is organised by China's internet regulator and has also focused on building more robust global governance and the responsibility of the media.
Cyber Cleansing
Critics of the cyber security law say while China's influence in global technology has grown, its ruling Communist Party led by Xi has presided over broader and more vigorous efforts to control, and often censor, information online. Alibaba's Vice President Yu Weimin said the group has 3,000 people dedicated to security, and the e-commerce giant is "working with law enforcement" to crack down on some content.
"With all this technology together we can win the war on terrorism," Yu said. Tencent's Yang said the company is working within state regulations to clean up content, and has removed 80,000 video clips from their site this year.
Cyber security took on a greater focus among regulators worldwide in February when it emerged that hackers stole $81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh via SWIFT, the global financial messaging system. The funds were transferred to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Both Tencent and Alibaba operate online payment platforms that offer services ranging from bill payments to money transfers. Alibaba's Alipay dominates the online payments industry in China, while Tencent's WeChat payment system is increasingly popular. "Big internet companies are the ones with the means to fight cyber terrorism, which is why we need more cooperation between the private and public sector," Alibaba's Yu said.
Reuters
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By Asheeta Regidi
The recent demonetisation of Indian currency notes is a welcome move for dealing with black money. However, the replacement of the demonetised notes has become long-drawn, given the chaos at ATMs and banks. The elusive Rs.500/- note has only added to the woes of the common man. The result of this move, whether intended or unintended, is a shift to cashless transactions. The suddenness of the demonetization move has led to a spurt of digital payments, including among people with little or no knowledge of the risks involved. The rush towards digital payments is unfortunately a huge opportunity, which cybercriminals will certainly cash in on.
The move to digital payments
The recent ATM hacking in India, which compromised over 30 lakh debit cards, resulted in a loss of confidence in digital payments by Indians everywhere. Barely 3 weeks since then, before any steps were taken to restore their confidence, people have been forced to go completely cashless. This includes people, such as the poor and those in rural areas, who have little or no understanding of the online world, or the risks involved with digital payments.
From grocery shopping to taxi rides, Indians all over were forced to turn to digital payments to get on with their day-to-day lives. The demonetisation move has seen a huge spurt in the use and purchase of e-wallets, use of wallets in-built in apps, and in mobile payments. There has also been a huge increase in the purchase of Point-of-Sale devices. Many sellers who previously conducted cash-based transactions, have turned to digital payments to keep their businesses going. E-commerce companies have introduced card-on-delivery as an alternative to cash-on-delivery.
Precautions
With the rush to keep life going normally, cybersecurity is likely to take a backseat. As an immediate precaution, the following needs to be kept in mind:
- Unsecured portals and apps: The use of unsecured portals, unverified apps and wallets all become a point of access to sensitive financial data by the criminal. Ensure the presence of the s in the https URL before making an online payment. With the turn to digital payments, any unverified apps or apps for unauthorized stores downloaded onto mobile phones should be deleted, as these can become a point of hacking. Before downloading or using e-wallets and other digital payment apps, ensure that they are an authentic app, from an authentic store. Read the title of the app very carefully, and go through the terms and conditions of the app before using them.
- E-mail Spam and Spearphishing: E-mail spam is obvious tactic, such as fraudulent e-mails promising an exchange of unauthorized black money for the new currency.Another common tactic used by criminals is phishing, or the imitation of a specific organization, such as a bank, to attempt to extract financial data. One form is spearphishing, where e-mails are designed to replicate (for example) the banks e-mail. For example, a seemingly legitimate e-mail from your bank can ask you to submit your debit card details as preliminary information for exchange of the demonetized notes.
- IVR Phishing: SMSs are used in a similar manner, for example, you may receive an SMS informing you that you will be given an appointment with your bank for exchanging demonetized notes on contacting the number given in the SMS.This introduces another form of phishing, IVR phishing, or phone phishing. People dialing the phone number are connected to what sounds like a valid call center of the bank. As people are used to giving details like their ATM pins or Mobile PINs to their banks call centers, they are likely to believe they are talking to a valid center and disclose this information. Remember to double-check any such e-mails/ SMSs with your bank. Ideally visit your bank branchphysically and disclose any such information there, rather than over the phone.
- Use of PoS devices: The huge spurt in the demand for PoS devices may have led to unsecure PoS devices being sold to unsuspecting sellers. Without any mandate under law, sellers are unlikely to be very cautious about the PoS devices they purchase. Detecting a PoS device that has been tampered with is,unfortunately, difficult. It is best to exercise some caution, such as through the use of a separate account with a smaller amount of money in it for such payments.
Lastly, any unauthorized activity must be reported immediately, to your bank, and to the nearest police station. The sooner such activity is reported, the sooner measures can be taken to prevent further damage.
Need for cybersecurity laws before going cashless.
Mr. Arun Jaitley, in an interview to Economic Times, stated that the demonetization wasa logical step in the move towards a cashless society in India. While a cashless society is, perhaps, the future, rushing into it without adequate preparation is too big a risk.
To smoothen the process and ensure the financial security of the individual, the introduction of laws mandating cybersecurity measures across corporations is required. Last months debit card fraud exposed this huge lacuna in Indian law, despite the financial sector being among the few sectors with cybersecurity regulations. Existing regulations like the RBIs Cyber-Security Framework for Banks and the Guidelines on Information Security, Electronic Banking, Technology Risk Management and Cyber Fraud, have proven to be inadequate. For example, ATMs in India use the outdated Windows XP operating system, a system that can now be easily hacked for the installation of malware. In fact, the introduction of malware in several ATMs in considered to be the cause of the debit card fraud. Even e-wallets are only required under the RBIs e-wallet regulations to have adequate information and data security systems in place.
Minimum standards for cybersecurity need to be prescribed and mandated through law. Corporations with higher cybersecurity standards should be awarded some kind of incentive, such as tax incentives, to encourage the adoption of such cybersecurity measures. Reporting of data breaches should also be made mandatory. This will encourage sharing of information between banks, corporates and other institutions, which can greatly help cyberfraud prevention and control. These steps can go a long way in giving the people the protection they need while turning to the convenience of a cashless society.
The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject.
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Facebook will now allow its 1.2 billion users to automatically launch its crisis response tool, "Safety Check". According to a report by cnet.com on Thursday, this change will allow the community to decide the urgency of the nearby danger, something Facebook has struggled to grasp. In the areas of immediate danger, Safety Check allows people to notify their family and friends that they are safe. This feature of Facebook has been used during natural calamities and terrorists attacks across world.
"When Facebook had control of Safety Check, it had a high standard of what counted as a disaster. A typhoon in the Philippines might have six inches of water in your house, and in California, that'd be a big deal. But in the Philippines, we did research there, and people said this wasn't a big deal," cnet.com quoted Peter Cottle, Facebook's lead engineer on crisis response.
"In the past two years, Facebook turned on Safety Check 39 times. Compare that to 335 dangerous events flagged by its community-based Safety Check tool since the company began testing it in June. One of the first instances of a community-generated Safety Check was the Orlando nightclub shooting in June," the report said. Facebook considers an event as not being an emergency if the users ignore the Safety Check, which then fades itself.
"We can tell how many people are spreading this and marking themselves safe, and how quickly it's growing. There's a real strong measure of urgency based on the rapidness of the people who are using the tool," Cotte said. However, Facebook has been criticised for being selective when it comes to launching Safety Check tool during a crisis.
In November 2015, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had responded with a facebook post saying, ""We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can."
Reports said that Facebook was also testing out a Community Help page that "users can access after checking in as safe. There, users can post if they need shelter, food or supplies, or if they can provide any of those resources". The Community Help feature is expected to be available by January 2017.
IANS
tech2 News Staff
Google translations, though helpful, are known to put users in an awkward situation several times. Google now tries to rectify it by bringing one of the biggest update to Translate with natural language translation. Using neural networks, it will be working at improving speech recognition and computer vision.
With the new update, Google Translate will utilise Google's neural machine translation system for translating phrases and will roll out to eight language pairs. English and Chinese were the first, followed by French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish. It is believed that these language pairs will cover 35 percent of Google Translates. However, Google is said to eventually roll it out to all 103 languages.
In September, Google had deployed the Google Neural Machine Translation (GNMT) system in Google Translate for Chinese to English translation. The system handles 18 million requests every day. Chinese to English is a particularly hard language pair for machines to handle, and the system is expected to be rolled out to more language pairs.
The previous system used Phrase-Based Machine Translation (PBMT) that broke down the sentences to be translated into phrases and words for translation. On the other hand, Neural Machine Translation (NMT) considers the entire sentence as an input. When it was first tested, NMT results were as good as PBMT results. Then, Google engineers improved the accuracy of the NMT system by making it identify and treat rare and obscure words separately. These included bilingual humans to continuously rate the results of the NMT.
Eventually, Google engineers zeroed on a solution that was good enough to be deployed on Google Translate, to quickly and accurately handle the large volume of requests. The production deployment was possible because of the TensorFlow, an open source frame work for machine learning.
Besides, the company had lately announced a new Cloud Machine Learning API to help people find careers. Google Jobs API provides businesses with Google-strength capabilities to find, match and recommend relevant jobs to candidates. Cloud Jobs API uses machine learning to understand how job titles and skills relate to one another and what job content, location, and seniority are the closest match to a jobseekers preferences.Know more here.
Google blogpost states about making Cloud Vision API affordable to all. By offering the API at a more cost effective price, more number of organisations can take advantage of it. Click here to find out more.
Starting next, Google Cloud will also offer more hardware choices for businesses looking to use Google Cloud Platform (GCP). "For Google Compute Engine and Google Cloud Machine Learning, businesses will be able to use GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) that are highly-specialized processors capable of handling the complexities of machine learning applications. Making GPUs available in Google Cloud means that you can focus on solving challenging computational problems while accessing GPU machines from anywhere and only paying for what you need," the blogpost said.
tech2 News Staff
Microsoft has released its latest report on global workforce, offering a snapshot of the company's gender and racial composition as of 30 September, 2016.
According to the new numbers, women made up 25.8 percent of the workforce, which is a decline of one percent from the previous year. It should be noted that in 2014, 29 percent Microsoft employees were women. Just like other tech giant, Microsoft is struggling with gender diversity, and these numbers put it behind arch-rivals Apple and Google and even Facebook. All three now have reported women employees accounting to 30 percent or more.
Microsoft blames it on the layoffs that began as a part of restructuring at Nokia factories, which according to Microsoft had a higher number of representation from women. "This decline was largely due to the business decision we shared last year to restructure our phone hardware business (Sharpening Our Focus), which resulted in the closure of some factories (which we refer to as direct production) outside the US. The workforce at these factories had a higher representation of women, so their closure impacted our total representation of women," Microsoft writes in a blogpost.
While overall the numbers have declined, there seems to be some hop for future. "While we are disappointed in the overall decline in the representation of women at the company, we know why it happened. We are encouraged by the modest gains were seeing in female representation in technical and leadership roles, and even more significantly, by the hiring trends of the past year that resulted from our efforts to recruit top-notch female talent," Microsoft writes.
However, the company says that outside of the direct production work, the percentage of women at Microsoft has actually increased by 0.4 percentage points. The blogpost further goes on to explain that the representation of women in technical roles and women leadership roles also increased by 0.6 percentage points, each. Microsoft also talks about hiring trends. the company said that this past year, women represented 27.7 percent of all new employees and 21.7 percent of all new employees in technical jobs.
The company also revealed modest gains in the representation of African Americans/Black and Hispanic/Latino employees at Microsoft. Know more here. The company has said that it will work at creating and delivering compelling career development offerings for women and racial/ethnic minorities.
tech2 News Staff
OnePlus announced a special sale of the OnePlus Gear, the companys special branded merchandise, a couple of weeks back. While the sale was limited to a few countries, India was not one of them.
Now the company has announced that a similar sale will be happening for fans in India on 23 November.
The OnePlus Gear consists of the OnePlus Travel Backpack for Rs 2,999, the OnePlus Messenger Bag for for Rs 2,999, the OnePlus Never Settle T-shirt for Rs 999 and the OnePlus Dash Charge T-shirt for for Rs 999.
Before the sale begins, the company has announced a giveaway where a selected people will get a chance to win OnePlus Travel Backpacks, OnePlus Travel Messenger Bags in black and grey and OnePlus coupons worth Rs. 400 that can be redeemed to purchase gear on the OnePlus Store.
The lucky draw is open to new users who register on the OnePlus India store between 12:00 PM on 16 November, 2016 and 11:59 PM on 22 November, 2016. Users need to visit account.oneplus.net/login and register with their email address and password. Once registered they need to head over to the customer info page and verify their phone number to be eligible for participation. The winners of the draw will be informed via email.
The company recently announced a refreshed version of their flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 3T which is expected to launch in India next month.
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China's Shenzhou 11 space capsule landed safely in the northern region of Inner Mongolia on Friday with two astronauts aboard, state media said, completing the country's longest manned space mission to date.
China Central Television (CCTV) showed images of the craft - whose name translates as "Divine Vessel" - on the ground flanked by Chinese flags and support teams. State news agency Xinhua said the capsule had touched down "successfully" just after 2 p.m.
The two astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, spent 30 days aboard the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", which China is using to carry out experiments ahead of a longer-range plan to have a permanent manned space station around 2022.They did not immediately emerge from the capsule as CCTV said they were undergoing
They did not immediately emerge from the capsule as CCTV said they were undergoing medical examination, but space mission chief commander Zhang Youxia said in a televised speech that they were in good condition. Tiangong 2 will remain in its orbit and next docks with Tianzhou 1, China's first cargo spacecraft, which is set to be launched in April next year, according to state media.
In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1. Advancing China's space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power. China insists its space program is for peaceful purposes.
The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using space-based assets in a crisis. China has been working to develop its space program for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to established space powers the United States and Russia.
Reuters
Aditya Madanapalle
Elon Musk owned SpaceX has approached the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to get government approval for launching a constellation of satellites that will give broadband access to the United States and the World.
The plan is a part of natural progression of communications technology. International telephony was supported by communications satellites. Delivering television to the home was the next problem that was solved through the use of satellites. Recently, broadband access to aircraft and ships have been provided through satellite links. The next step is to provide broadband access using satellites, and SpaceX plans to do just that. The SpaceX constellation is expected to provide low latency connections at gigabit speeds.
The satellites are meant to be adaptable to the current terrestrial laws and requirements. Beamforming allows the satellites to deliver broadband access in targeted areas. Optical inter satellite links will make sure the constellation is coordinated in broadband delivery. The target latency is 25-35 ms. The system consists of a low profile terminal for access, that can be mounted on walls or roofs. It is expected to be a low cost service. At the end of five to seven years, the satellites are expected to de-orbit safely, without leaving behind any space debris. The de-orbit rate planned is faster than required international standards.
OneWeb also has similar plans of launching a constellation of 648 for providing broadband connectivity. Microsatellites will be used with a capacity of manufacturing upto 15 satellites a week. The satellites are being produced in partnership with Airbus. Last mile connectivity will be through low cost user terminals. The neutral network is open to integration with third-party Internet service providers.
Both OneWeb and SpaceX aim to provide critical broadband connectivity to the underserved and unserved areas. Remote rural areas around the world stand to benefit the most from these constellations. Providing healthcare, banking and education services to remote areas is one of the objectives of the constellations. In disaster situations, if the existing infrastructure is knocked out, the satellite constellations can be used to quickly deploy internet in the affected region.
A constellation of satellites providing broadband access to the underserved and unserved is not a new idea. There have been three previous high profile failures of such attempts. The Bill Gates backed Teledesic attempted to put up 840 satellites, a number that was reduced to 288 in 1997. The company folded because of escalating financial and technical risks. Tren Griffin, who worked at the Teledesic startup before joining Microsoft, details the failure in this blogpost.
A Motorola pet project, Iridium had a plan to launch a constellation of 66 satellites to provide data services. The high cost of the service, coupled with the manufacturing of the satellites, lead to one of the biggest bankruptcies in US history. Iridium filed for bankruptcy in 2009, more details are in this Indpendent article on the failure of Iridium.
Technology has progressed enough to make cheaper and smaller satellites. The Teledesic constellation of 840 satellites was expected to cost $9 Billion in 1994. In 2016, a constellation of 4,425 SpaceX satellites is expected to cost about $10 billion. Griffin claims that the communication capabilities of these satellite constellations are suitable for boosting backhaul capacity, providing services to areas affected by emergencies, for military uses, and for ships and aircraft in remote locations. The practical usage for the end-user is going to be less. Still, the constellations can contribute, either as backhaul or last mile connectivity. Over two billion gigabytes of internet traffic is expected to be exchanged worldwide in the year 2020, and every bit can only help.
Zoho today launched Zoho Desk, Zoho Desk uses customer data from past interactions and from other Zoho products, like Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects, to organise tickets and intelligently present information to agents so that they can better understand a customers problem and resolve it efficiently.
Sridhar Vembu, CEO Zoho Corp., said, Zoho has challenged conventional wisdom so many times in its history. We built the first software products from India when IT services were the rage and established them in the global market. We are now showcasing something that has never been done before: the first software product created in rural India, world-class in its refinement, competing with the best.
What started out five years ago as a small team of three engineers has blossomed into a team of over 150 people, located in beautiful rural surroundings near Tenkasi. In an industry where companies have come to believe that the only location that matters in the cloud is few square miles of downtown San Francisco, we are proving that a determined and sincere group of people can build path-breaking products anywhere, Vembu said.
We believe rural talent should not have to leave home to find opportunity. Our broken urbanisation model creates severely overcrowded and polluted megacities and denudes rural areas of talent. That is why what Zoho Tenkasi is doing matters.
Zoho Desk is the sixth product that the company has launched in 2016. Zoho Desk helps companies deliver the right solution at the right time. Its clean user interface packs innovations like Work Modes that help agents send context-aware responses, the Headquarters dashboard that provides the visibility managers need to make better decisions, and the Team Feed to help the entire company participate in customer service.
Highlights of Zoho Desk include:
Context-aware Responses
Work Modes Work Modes prioritize customer interactions in real-time on the basis of response due-time, priority, and customer type. This helps agents identify the tickets that need their attention right away.
Unified Response Editor Inside a ticket, Zoho Desk provides contextual intelligence like customer information from Zoho CRM, past conversations with the customer, and suggestions on possible solutions for the issue at hand, helping agents respond to customers effectively.
Context-Aware Decisions
Headquarters With this feature, customer service managers can monitor broad trends like volumes of interactions and customer happiness ratings, as well as finer details such as long interaction threads and recent negative feedback, all from a single screen.
Agent Scorecard Agent Scorecard is a dashboard that shows each agent their own average response and resolution time, number of open and closed tickets, and happiness ratings earned. It helps create a culture of self-management in customer service teams by allowing agents to monitor their own performance.
Context-Aware Collaboration
Team Feed Users can mention their colleagues from other departments in a social-network-style feed within tickets to provide them the complete context of the issue raised and collaborate with them to resolve it quickly. They can also follow specific tickets or customers to get real-time updates on both the web and their mobile phones.
When companies started providing online customer support, they did so through email. As a result, even today, most help desk products look like personal email inboxes. Customers have evolved from just needing their problems resolved to expecting more transparency and quicker responses, but software hasnt kept up, said Vembu. Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity for the company to grow. With Zoho Desk, we aim to provide companies with the context, understanding and tools to focus on customer happiness in every opportunity.
@Technuter.com News Service
Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt. Ltd. (HMFI), the Indian subsidiary of the Global JV Company HMG (Hannover Milano Global), is all geared to bring the new improved +91 Start-up Challenge for the young entrepreneurs of India. This year CeBIT India aims at increasing the level a notch higher to make it more robust and engaging with start-ups, SMBs and the new minds. It will include a prominent set of jury members judging the competion for the next big idea!
This year, CeBIT India will see an increased focus on Indian start-ups that will come on the same platform to share ideas, collaborate, exchange and disrupt to create something extraordinary out of the ordinary. +91 Start Up Challange is a platfrom built along the lines of Code N an international competition for start-ups and budding enterprises, held annually in CeBIT Hannover.
Talking about the start-up ecosystem in India, Mr. Mehul Lanvers Shah, Managing Director, Hannover Milano Fairs Indiasaid The incredibly enthusiastic Indian ecosystem supports the growth of entrepreneurships where the startups are the backbone. The +91 Start Up Challenge provides an impetus to these exuberated minds to grow and progress under the large companies. Unlike the previous years, this year the limelight is on exploring the challenges faced by the start-up community and ways to fight for their survival. Starts Ups will be pitching live to the jury, thus providing opportunities to interact and connect with more established enterprises.
Furthermore, CeBIT INDIA this year has collaborated with 3 Start Up associations, who will host a StartUp Incubation Summit on December 10, 2016 in the Innovation Stage at CeBIT India. These three partners are 100 Open Startups (Global Strategic Partner), StartUp Square (Global Ecosystem Partner), and StartUp Going Global (Global Expansion Partner). This incubation summit will bring together startups, academia, accelerators, incubators and industry to create a perfect ecosystem. Special keynotes will be delivered by Mr. Diksha Nigam, StartUp Invest India from National Investment Promotion Agency. Dr. Bruno Rondani, Founder, 100 Open Startups, Prashant Ajmera, Founder & Director, StartUp Going Global.
The challenge was introduced in CeBIT Indias inaugural edition in 2014. It garnered extensive popularity by capturing the attention of Infosys and IBM Ventures amongst others, looking to identify and fund start-ups with high potential for commercial success. Last year +91 Start Up Challange performed as a bridge to connect the entrepreneurs across the globe where both Indian as well as International start-ups participated in exciting challenges. The selected winners from the +91 Start-Up challenge will be taken to Germany for showcasing their idea at CeBIT Hannover 2017.
According to latest government data, India is expected to surpass UK in terms of number of start-ups launched and would be second only to the USA. By 2020, India will be home to 11,500 start-ups; employing over 250,000 people.
This year, 3rd edition of CeBIT India will be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) from 8-10 December 2016, with the theme of Discover the Business of Technology Innovation! How collaborative disruption is changing tomorrows innovation. CeBIT India 2016 is powered by technology, bringing together thought leaders, visionaries; innovators, SMEs and startups; CXOs, VCs, mentors & dignitaries and technology buyers and users across various industry segments.
Western Digital released the results of a consumer survey on the Storage needs of smartphone users in India and challenges faced by them with regard to storage and transfer of data from smartphones,conducted by Access Media International for SanDisk brand. The objective of the storage survey by Western Digital Corporation in India is to ascertain the evolving storage needs of smartphone users in India and decode the various storage challenges they face today. The survey was conducted with 1458 smartphone users across 14 cities between April to May, 2016.
Today, the digital consumer is generating more content than ever before in the form of images and videos, and with the mammoth increase in the rate of content creation, data consumption and sharing, insufficient memory is one of the key concerns of the smartphone users today. As per the survey, at least 60 percent of smartphone users run out of memory every week and they end up deleting apps and content to free up phone memory.
Addressing the current needs, AMI conducted a study sponsored by Western Digital, to deep dive into the challenges faced by a consumer while storing, transferring and sharing content across platforms, performance issues with smartphones, growing storage needs of digital consumers today and awareness around storage solutions available.
Commenting on the survey findings, Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager of SanDisk India and SAARC Retail Sales and Marketing, Western Digital Corporation,said, With the growing amount of data that is being generated today, lack of adequate storage is a key challenge for the digital consumers. And the rising inclination of consumers towards technology is bound to increase demand for storage devices that will append the phone storage and content transfer seamlessly from one device to another. We are committed to delivering innovative storage solutions and we believe that our line of mobile storage offerings can help consumers free up storage space, allowing them to take control of their content anytime, anywhere.
Additionally, Western Digital has recently launched an upgraded line-up of SanDisk Mobile Memory Solutions (MMS) suite which gives consumers the luxury of capturing, sharing and saving loads of data speedily across multiple devices and operating systems, without worrying about storage limitations. This includes the new 256GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card and the SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive m3.0. The unique storage devices, backed by SanDisks ground-breaking flash technology have been engineered to offer a seamless user experience while storing or transferring content, in an intuitive and secure way.
Key findings of the survey:
Smartphone consumption habits:
Today smartphones seem to have replaced computers and have emerged as the primary device for content consumption, creation and sharing. Around 84 percent of users spend more than four hours on smartphone applications every day.
Apps account for a large footprint of internal storage and is on a steady rise. Around 88 percent of the respondents have more than 10 apps on their smartphones.
Downloading content and storing it on smartphones is a common habit in India. Widely used applications listed in order of priority:
Social media (including Facebook and WhatsApp)
Downloading videos/music
Utility apps
Phone camera
Video and music streaming
These days consumers are creating and sharing data like never before. Around 60 percent of users share more than 10MB of data on a daily basis, out of which videos account for maximum file size transfer followed by photos and music. Around 30 percent share maximum number of photos on a daily basis, closely followed by audio files at approximately 29 percent. Video based consumption is growing at an alarming stage and is driving high storage needs at approximately 24 percent and messages at around 17 percent.
Majority of smartphone users constantly face challenge with regards to low storage space which clearly shows that majority of people are using smartphones with low internal storage. Around 65 percent of users are using smartphones with less than 16GB of internal capacity.
The Internet is a popular mode of sharing content due to its ease of accessibility and convenience on smartphones. Around 90 percent of users use the Internet as the primary mode of sharing content. The other regular options used by consumers for transferring content include Bluetooth (60 percent) and data cable (52 percent).
There is a massive increase in the rate of data consumption, creation and sharing by the digital consumers and this is only going to grow further. Over 90percent of users expect time spent on smart phones usage to increase by 20-60 percent within 6 months to a year. Over 67 percent expect an increase between 60 80 percent in content quality (Full HD, 4K. etc.) on mobile phones within 6 months to a year. This indicates there is a need for high capacity mobile storage solutions. The requirement for expandable internal capacity will be very high in the coming years. Approximately. 80 percent expect increase in data usage, out of which 77 percent expect an increase between 40 60 percent in data usage within 6 months to a year.
Challenges faced by smartphone users:
Consumers are not only capturing content, but also storing and sharing content at a rapid speed, which eventually results in low storage issues. Out of the total respondents, approximately. 52 percent of the users run out of storage every week 1 out of 3 users run out of memory every day
Consumers are facing multiple challenges with regards to smartphones performance, which eventually leads to storage issues. As a solution consumers end up deleting content/ uninstall apps. Consumers rank lack of adequate internal as one of the top two issues related to smartphone performance. Top three issues: Bandwidth Lack of adequate internal memory Battery drainage
Consumers are not comfortable transferring apps, personal audio and video files, and contacts from one phone to another when they replace their old smartphones. They dont seem to be aware of simple solutions available for them.
First action done by consumers is to delete unwanted data/ content from their phone memory. The study reveals that deleting apps and content is the most popular way to free up memory followed by data backup on external devices.
Methodology:
The study was conducted on behalf of Western Digital Corporation for SanDisk brand by Access Media International, a globally integrated strategic insights consulting firm. This survey was conducted with 1458 smart phone users across 14 top cities including 5 metros and 9 Tier I cities. Majority of the respondents who took the survey fall under the 26-35 age bracket, including young working professionals and entrepreneurs having smartphone ownership. It predominantly covered Android smartphone users (52 percent), followed by iOS (19 percent), Windows (17 percent) and small percentage of Blackberry (12 percent) users too.
@Technuter.com News Service
Khaleda offers 13-point suggestion for EC reconstitution
She says EC must be formed based on political parties` consensus
Unveiling a 13-point proposal for the formation of a new stronger and neutral Election Commission (EC) to hold credible elections, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Friday said the next Commission must be constituted based on the consensus of all political parties.
The BNP chief spelled out the proposals at city's Westin Hotel in the afternoon.
In her proposals, Khaleda focused on determining the qualifications of election commissioners and formation of a search committee for appointing election commissioners on the basis of a consensus among political parties, empowering and strengthening the EC, keeping the partisan election officials out of election duty, and deployment of defence forces with magisterial power during the polls.
She also highlighted amending the RPO, vesting magisterial power with EC officials, appointing election observers, delimitating constituencies, and updating the voter list.
Mentioning that the facilitative role of an election-time neutral administration is a must to enable the EC offer a fair and credible election, the BNP chief said she will also spell out the framework of a neutral election-time government before the nation at an appropriate time.
Khaleda came up with her party's proposal to reconstitute the EC as the incumbent Commission headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad is set to complete its five-year tenure on February 8, 2017.
The BNP chief said, "The Election Commission is to be reconstituted upon a consensus of all registered political parties of Bangladesh, and or of all political parties which had representation in the national parliament over different periods since Bangladesh's liberation."
She said the President will initially hold separate meetings with the secretary general or general secretary or representative of all registered political parties, and or with the representatives of all political parties that had representation in the national parliament over different periods since the liberation of Bangladesh.
She, however, said, "Since there are at present two major political alliances -- BNP-led 20-party alliance and Awami League-led grand alliance --in the country, there can be one representative, each from the party leading the alliances and two others assisting each of them. "The President may involve honest, qualified and impartial representatives of the civil society in the process.
The BNP chief said the President will continue talks on the qualification, disqualification and nomination of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners until any consensus is reached among the political parties.
After the meetings with the political parties, Khaleda said the President's office will publish agreed meeting minutes and unanimous decisions taken at the meetings, containing the signatures of the respective representatives of the political parties.
About the constitution of a search committee, Khaleda said the President will constitute a five-member search committee on the basis of a consensus of the political parties.
She said an active and physically capable retired Chief Justice of Bangladesh (according to order of seniority) can be made convener of the search committee.
One retired Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, an honest and non-partisan retired Secretary to the government, a renowned educationist (retired university professor) or a widely respected eminent citizen and a widely respected honest, non-partisan, efficient, and capable senior woman can be four other members of the search committee.
But all the five members of the search committee must be above any controversy who did not ever hold or presently holding any office of profit of the government.
The BNP chairperson said all the political parties will hold separate meetings with the President and each party will make specific written proposal for the appointment of the members of the search committee, and recommend two specific names and their details for each post.
Talking about the qualifications of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), she said a former head of any constitutional body, or an honest and non-partisan retired secretary to the government, who is not holding any office of profit of the government, or an eminent citizen shall be eligible for appointment as the CEC.
But a retired Cabinet Secretary and an officer who had at any time worked in the office of the Prime Minister shall not be eligible for appointment as CEC.
Khaleda said four persons, including a woman, can be appointed as Election Commissioners.
A retired judicial officer not below the rank of a district judge or equivalent, a retired defence personnel not below the rank of a Brigadier General or equivalent, a retired government official not below the rank of joint secretary or equivalent, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, an educationist with minimum five years of administrative experience (Dean/Provost/Principal), a widely respected eminent citizen can be appointed as election commissioners, she said. --Dhaka, Nov 18 (UNB)
87 killed in Aleppo since Assad regime resumed airstrikes
Since the Syrian government resumed airstrikes on Tuesday, at least 87 people have been killed in under 48 hours, local activists and medical staff said on Wednesday.
AP, Aleppo :
At least 87 people, including several children, have died since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime resumed airstrikes in Aleppo, one of which struck a children's hospital, activists and medical staff said.
After a three-week pause, airstrikes targeting besieged, rebel-held eastern Aleppo resumed Tuesday and at least 87 people have since been killed. The Syrian American Medical Association told CNN that the Al-Shaar neighborhood's Children's Hospital, Al-Bayan Hospital and the Central Blood Bank were targeted with barrel bombs.
"A horrible day for the Children's Hospital. Me and my staff and all the patients are sitting in one room in the basement right now, trying to protect our patients," Children's Hospital Director Dr. Hatem previously said in a statement "Pray for us please."
Hatem is one of three pediatricians who are still working at the hospital.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 24 people, including six children, were killed on Wednesday. The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said 27 people were killed Wednesday, while an additional three bodies were recovered from bombings on Tuesday.
Russia and Assad's regime have been accused of committing war crimes due to their at-times indiscriminate bombing in civilian populations, particularly over their alleged bombing of hospitals and schools.
Russia, Assad's key ally, paused airstrikes in mid-October to allow civilians and rebels to leave. The resumption of airstrikes in eastern Aleppo indicates Assad will move ahead with a final offensive to defeat rebels in Aleppo to seize full control of the city.
Prior to the resumption of airstrikes, Aleppo residents received a text message, most likely sent by the Syrian government, telling them to flee the city or die.
Iraqi troops advanced cautiously into eastern districts of Mosul on Friday, facing stiff resistance from Islamic State militants a day after they paused their assault due to poor visibility, officers said. Airstrikes, automatic fire and artillery were heard from dawn and one soldier was reported killed in clashes. Civilians, some of them wounded, could be seen fleeing the fighting.
According to the officers, the Iraqi forces aim to take complete control of the city's Tahrir area and from there move into the adjacent Muharabeen district. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Iraqi forces launched the long-awaited operation to retake Mosul a month ago but have only advanced into a few eastern districts. The troops have faced fierce resistance, with snipers, mortar fire and Islamic State suicide bombers driving armor-plated vehicles packed with explosives.
Social awareness to check child marriage underscored
City Desk :
Building social awareness among the community people, especially new generation, teachers, parents and leaders of influence, has become an urgent need for prevention of child marriage and dowry for substantial and sustainable reduction of violence against women. Speakers said this at a community-level view-sharing meeting in Rajshahi also unequivocally called for concerted efforts to free the society from dowry, child marriage and violence against women.
The government alone or any single organisation isn't capable to free the womenfolk from violence and repression, so community participation is very important in this regard.
Protiva Bikash Kendra, a non-government organization, organized the meeting titled "Prevention and Discourage of Child Marriage" At Kholabona village under Paba Upazila of the district. "Eradicating child marriage and violence against women is imperative in creating a glorious Bangladesh" was main theme of the meeting.
Begum Akhter Jahan, MP, addressed the meeting as chief guest with Shariful Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Paba Police Station, in the chair. Deputy Director of Department of Family Planning Dr Nasim Akter, District Women Affairs Officer Shahnaz Begum and Upazila Social Service Officer Abu Taher also spoke.
Lawmaker Akhter Jahan mentioned practice of child marriage is very damaging, especially for girls. It seems that girls are treated as burden to society, mostly in rural areas. Terming child marriage as gross violation of human rights, she said children are being married off frequently, despite multifarious interventions by the government and non-government organisations concerned.
It is vital to increase awareness regarding the negative impacts of early marriage with the help of the mass media.
She said responsive support from the community, especially local administration, public representatives, teachers, parents and influential leaders, has become must to ensure adolescent-friendly reproductive health services for reducing child marriage and child pregnancy substantially and sustainable.
Ensuring equal rights on education, training, science and technology is also important to women empowerment. Overall national development could not be possible until the children coming from the poor and underprivileged families are educated and ensured all other fundamental rights they deserve, she added.
Physical and mental development of children couldn't be possible until they were protected from violence and deprivation.
HC protection for Santals
THE High Court order on Thursday to local administration to ensure security and free movement of the members of ethnic Santals community in some villages of Gaibandha's Gobindaganj Upazila and allow them to harvest their crops in the field has come surely at the right moment. The intervention has come when over 1200 Santal families are on the run and their villages abandoned following their eviction drives by a group of local influential persons with the help of police and Rangpur Sugar Mill workers. The mayhem continued through 12 days yesterday as the helpless Santals were left unprotected.
The High Court bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath took it for hearing on a writ by some Human Rights Organizations seeking the higher judiciary's intervention to give constitutional protection to the indigenous minorities. In our view the quick action of the court must be appreciated as it has issued detailed instruction how to give protection to them and also report to the court in 10 days what legal steps it has taken over attacks on Santals and why their inaction should not be declared illegal. We believe it will surely bring sense to the local administration. The court has fixed November 30 as next date for hearing.
The Court order to local administration to allow Santals to harvest their crops without any obstacle also makes sense. It seems highly sensible when the Judges asked local administration to return their crops if anybody other than Santals has harvested it. If necessary the local administration should arrange the harvesting. We believe timely action by local administration could definitely avoid the mayhem. But its silence rather amply suggests to many as its complicity with the local groups politically linked to the ruling party.
We don't understand why the sugar mills leased over 1800 acres of land to local influential groups bypassing the Santal families. The government had acquired this land earlier in 1956 for sugarcane farming and the lease agreement said if the sugar mill does not use all land, Santals' families would get it back. Santals took the leasing of the lands as a move to grab their land and started agitation. The leaseholders now started to evict them from their villages to protect their ill-gotten land. Santals' homes were already torched, cattle herd looted and they were barred from harvesting crop. They are fleeing to escape attacks and police arrest when two were already killed in police firing and three others missing. Many are in jail and injured are treated at hospitals.
It is reassuring the Court Order asking for explanation about the role of the local administration.
The role of the Supreme Court, High Court Division included, is to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens. The Constitution gives this heavy responsibility to no one else but the Judges of the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court remains strong and brave our rights are bound to be safe and protected.
Dhaka City Ambulance Ownersa Association brought out a rally in the city centering their upcoming election and participation in a veiw-exchange meeting with Traffic Zone in Uttara on Friday.
Farmers happy with bumper yield
Special Correspondent :
Farmers across the country are reaping bumper yield of winter vegetables taking advantage of favourable weather conditions.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has set a target to bring a total of 5.28 lakh hectares of land under the vegetables cultivation this year compared with 5.10 lakh hectares in the last year.
"Farmers are getting good harvest of winter vegetables with bumper production which is expected to hit a record high this time," Md Mosarraf Hossain, Additional Secretary (extension) for the Ministry of Agriculture, told The New Nation on Friday.
He said: "A favourable climate, better access of seeds, irrigation and adaptation of modern farming know-how helped the farmers to get a bumper production".
Mosarraf claimed the harvesting of the vegetables in the major vegetable growing districts is now going on in full-swing and farmers are getting fair prices of their produces.
"Both cultivation area and production of vegetables rose consistently over
the past few years as vegetable farming has become largely profitable than other crops for the farmers," he noted.
When asked, he said, prices of vegetables are still remain high in the city markets despite their bumper harvest due to lack of efficient supply mechanism.
"Bumper harvest is not reaching the end consumers due to inefficiency in supply chain and wastage and it later push up prices of the vegetables in the markets," he added.
According to him, about 40 per cent vegetables are going waste from production to the end consumers.
Vegetable production hit 13.80 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2013-14. Production is increasing by 6.0 per cent on an average per annum, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The winter season vegetables are cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, bean, french, radish, spinach (green and red), ladies finger, basil, bottle gourd, white gourd, sweet gourd, cucumber, snake gourd, bitter gourd, gourd, parbol tomato etc.
Farmers of Bogra, a major vegetable growing district in the country, while talking to the local correspondent of The New Nation said yesterday that they are getting fair prices of their produces this time after harvesting a bumper production.
"I have cultivated cauliflower in five bighas (1.65 hectares) of land. The cultivation cost of per bigha cauliflower was Tk 15,000. But I sold my produces at Tk 60,000 that gave me a hefty profit," Shiblu Mia, a farmer of Sherpur upazila under Borga district, told The New Nation on Friday.
"I have cultivated 6,000 pieces of cabbage with an average cost of Tk 5 and sold at Tk 20 per piece after harvesting. I got fair prices of the prices and it makes me happy," Sujaul Islam, another farmer of Gabtoli upazila under the district, told The New Nation yesterday.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Bogra has brought a total of 12,000 hectares of land under the cultivation with the production target of 2,64,000 tonnes of different types of winter vegetable.
"A favourable climatic condition has led to achieve a plentiful production of vegetables in Bogra district and such a production has brought smile on the faces of farmers of all the upazilas in the district as they got fair price of their produces during the current season," Protul Chandra Sarkar, Deputy Director of Bogra DAE told The New Nation.
Sorry, Electoral College petition won't stop Trump presidency
REFINERY29 :
The presidential election of 2016 will go down in the history books as the political equivalent of a tsunami instead of the expected drizzle. As we read news of Donald Trump's plans for the first 100 days of his administration and some of his top picks for advisors, many among us are still in a state of mourning.
The first stage of grief is denial. That's likely why so many people are now asking members of the Electoral College to vote against the outcome in their states. This would mean electors representing states won by Donald Trump would instead cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton when they meet to finalize the election results on December 19. I have sad news for supporters of this plan: It's a pipe dream.
This is the fifth time in the history of our nation that the winner of the national popular vote (the person who got the most votes overall) is not the winner of the Electoral College. Most recently, this happened in 2000, when former
President George W. Bush famously won the election despite getting fewer votes than former Vice President Al Gore. Let's back up for a minute for those looking for some background. So what is the Electoral College? It's a group of 538 people who are chosen by the political parties to vote for the president and vice president. Members of the Electoral College pledge to vote according to the vote of the people in their state. There is nothing in the federal constitution that requires electors to honor that pledge, but many states have enacted laws that would punish so-called "faithless electors" who go against the outcome of the vote.
Yes, you read that right. We the people do not elect the president and vice president. The people elect the electors, who elect the president and vice president.
And what is the purpose of the Electoral College? Frankly, its purpose is to protect us from ourselves. The Electoral College acts as a filter between the voters, a potentially passionate and unruly mob, and their elected leaders. The founding fathers were worried about direct elections of the first and second most powerful person in our federal government. For instance, in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton advocated against the direct election of the president and vice president and for the Electoral College, saying that "immediate election [of the President] should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station." Put another way, voters were not viewed as being able to appropriately assess the president and vice president's qualifications without a little safety net called the Electoral College. "We the people do not elect the president and vice president. The people elect the electors, who elect the president and vice president.
"The Electoral College affects modern presidential campaigns in some important ways. First, it gives small states outsized influence over our elections. Each state is allotted electors loosely based on the population of the state, unlike, say, members of the House of Representatives. That's why California, with a population of almost 39 million, has only 55 electors, while Arizona's population of almost 7 million has disproportionate sway with 11 electors. Each elector in California represents slightly more than 705,000 people, while each elector in Arizona represents slightly more than 611,000 people.
The difference is even more stark if you look at Rhode Island, which has a population of just over 1 million people yet wields 3 electoral votes. This means each elector in Rhode Island represents approximately 352,000 people. Hence the people of Rhode Island have twice the representation in the Electoral College, or voter power, as the people in California. Second, the Electoral College also gives enormous power to so-called swing states. These states, which are seen as winnable by either a Republican or Democrat, receive an inordinate amount of attention by presidential candidates. While they come to California, a safely blue state, only to raise money, they go to states such as Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina far more often and spend much, much more money, because they are actively courting those voters. This means that the concerns of swing-state voters receive more attention than the voters in solidly blue or red states.
Many people feel, and understandably so, that whoever received the most votes in the presidential election should be the president. But more often than not, dislike of the Electoral College system spikes among voters when their preferred candidate does not win the presidency - when the same voters may have felt just fine if the results of the election were reversed and Hillary Clinton won the presidency despite losing the popular vote.
Now back to the growing chatter about the possibility that the Electoral College could reverse course and give us a President Clinton come January. Regardless of whether the Electoral College serves a good public-policy purpose, it is unlikely that we will eliminate or even reform it anytime soon.
"More than 4 million people have signed a change.org petition urging electors in states won by Donald Trump to instead vote for Hillary Clinton.
This effort may be providing Clinton supporters with false hope. First, electors, who are chosen by the political parties and are typically party loyalists who very rarely vote against their state's vote. Second, it is worth noting that 38 electors, more than have ever changed their votes in one election in the history of this country, would have to do so in order for Clinton to win the election.
In addition to the Change.org petition, many Americans are proposing that we simply abolish the Electoral College. Barbara Boxer, the outgoing U.S. Senator from California, even introduced a bill to that effect. This would revolutionize the way we hold presidential elections. People in small states and swing states would see their voting power vastly reduced. By contrast, people in populous states and cities would have a much greater say in choosing the leader of the free world.
Petitions call for Steve Bannon`s ouster from Trump`s White House
Yahoo News :
Several organizations have launched petitions calling for President-elect Donald Trump to rescind his appointment of Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon.
These pleas for Trump to reconsider his Sunday decision to select Bannon as his chief strategist and senior counselor focus largely on Bannon's prominent role in the so-called alt-right movement, which critics call a mere rebranding of white nationalism. Bannon's defenders say the left is trying to smear both him and Trump after losing the election. But his detractors accuse him of transforming Breitbart News into an online news destination for racism, sexism, xenophobia, conspiracy theories and hate. They consider it unacceptable that a man responsible for fanning the flames of racial division is on track to be one of the country's most powerful and influential men. MoveOn.org, a liberal political action committee, launched a petition urging members of Congress to vehemently oppose Trump's appointment of Bannon and use any tools at their disposal to keep this from happening. It had more than 187,000
signatures as of Wednesday morning. But it's not clear how much Congress could intervene. Unlike Cabinet secretaries and those in other high-profile positions, advisers like Bannon are not subject to Senate approval.
Jo Comerford, a campaign director for MoveOn.org, told Yahoo News that Bannon's "unabashed white supremacist, misogynist, anti-Semitic leanings" and the "bigoted vein" of Trump's campaign have no place in the White House. "There are countless examples [of Bannon's racism] offered to us by many media reports. The news service that he oversees is known for its white supremacist undergirding. There's not really anywhere you can go that you don't see Steve Bannon as the poster child for white supremacism or white nationalists," she said in a phone interview. "And the thought that he would be a senior counsel in the White House, just down the hall, if you will, from our next president, is extraordinarily alarming."
Comerford mentioned a MoveOn.org campaign called United Against Hate that has been encouraging people to take a stand against Trump's rhetoric and policy proposals for months. Early on, she said, the campaign argued that Trump's statements about marginalized communities had poisoned the election and were no laughing matter. "I'm proud that we rang that alarm bell," she said. "I wish we had been successful in keeping him out of the White House, but I'm proud we sounded the alarm, and I do think history will tell us that it would have been best if more and more Americans had been awake to the kind of nightmarish reality our nation now faces."
The MoveOn.org petition notes that former Ku Klux Klan imperial wizard David Duke and American Nazi Party chairman Rocky Suhayda have praised the Bannon appointment.
The civil rights-focused Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) - whose similar petition had gathered more than 345,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning - has called Bannon the "main driver" for Breitbart News transforming into a "white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill." The SPLC petition cites several Breitbart News reports that illustrate why the group considers Bannon a propagandist for racist and xenophobic ideologies. One Breitbart article called for readers to hoist the Confederate flag up "high and [to] fly it with pride," just two weeks after a white supremacist murdered nine people at a prayer service at a historically African-American church in downtown Charleston, S.C. The right-wing news site also published an article arguing that "rape culture" is "integral" to Islam. "Mr. Trump, during your victory speech, you pledged to be a president for 'all Americans' and to 'bind the wounds of division' in our country," the SPLC petition reads. "If you mean what you say, you must rescind your appointment of Bannon."
Shaindel Beers, a professor of English at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Ore., also launched a Change.org petition, which has more than 80,000 supporters as of Wednesday morning, titled "Steve Bannon's racist, anti-semitic, misogynistic views don't belong in the White House."
Some Democrats on Capitol Hill, such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, have already spoken out forcefully against Bannon. Meanwhile, President Obama refused to criticize the hire, maintaining his postelection olive branch with his successor.
Amid the firestorm over Bannon, Breitbart senior editor-at-large Josh Pollack is pushing back against the accusation that Bannon is prejudiced or that their website promotes a racist agenda.
"He's also very open to debate and challenge as long as you bring facts and data to the table," Pollack told NPR Wednesday. "And he has no prejudices, he treats people equally, and, in fact, during my time working closely with him at Breitbart for five years, he sought out people from diverse backgrounds and gave them a voice at Breitbart."
Long march towards Nasirnagar foiled by police
Staff Reporter :
The Shahbagh Police clogged the Minority Rights Movement, Shwacheton Shikkharthibrinda and Shadharan Shikkharthibrinda's program to start long march from the Central Shaheed Minar for reaching the trouble affected Nasirnagar Upazila in Brahmanbaria district on Friday.
The Ashuganj Police did the same thing when a group of students from Jahangirnagar University reached there en route to Nasirnagar on the day.
The three organisations announced the programme as a mark of protest against the attacks on the members of a minority community at Nasirnagar Upazila in Brahmanbaria district on Tuesday.
The students of Dhaka University under the banner of 'Minority Rights Movement' started the long march from the TSC at about 10 am.
They also brought out a procession on the university
campus demanding the punishment to the culprits and giving of adequate compensations to the victims.
When the students reached the Central Shaheed Minar, the Shahbagh Police told them not to move to Nasirnagar and requested them to return to the campus.
"For security reason, Police told us to cancel the programme" said Manik Rakkhit, Coordinator of Minority Rights Movement.
"We said, we will be responsible for our own security. But police still didn't let us go. Now, with a heavy heart, I must call off our programme," he said.
"We drafted a six-point charter of demands for the victims of Nasirnagar and collected Tk 200,000 for them," Manik Rakkhit said.
Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station Abu Bakar Siddik told The New Nation that the students wanted to go to Nasirnagar for distributing relief among the victims. But the police apprised them of security problem at Nasirnagar and arranged afterward three microbuses for going there, the OC said.
"They can distribute relief materials at Nasirnagar, but they can't hold a rally for security reason," he said.
Meanwhile, a bus carrying the students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) was stopped at Ashuganj by the police.
Robin Karmakar, Coordinator of the JU students told The New Nation that a convoy of 47 students was going to Nasirnagar by a bus. But the police foiled the voyage.
It may be mentioned that on October 30, at least 15 Hindu temples and more than a hundred houses were damaged at Nasirnagar by angry mob over a Facebook post 'insulting' the Holy Ka'aba.
3 killed in gunfights
UNB, Dhaka :
Three people, including two suspected robbers, were killed in separate incidents of 'gunfight' in Feni and Jessore early Friday.
In Feni, two suspected robbers were killed in a gunfight between their cohorts and members of Rapid Action Battalion at Lalpol on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in sadar upazila of Feni district early Friday.
The deceased could not yet be identified. Tipped off that a gang of robbers were preparing to commit robbery on the highway, a Rab patrol team went to the spot around 2:45 am, said sources at RAB Headquarters.
Sensing the presence of the elite force, the robbers opened fire on the RAB men, prompting them to retaliate, triggering a gunfight. At one stage, two robbers caught in the line of fire and died on the spot.
The Rab members also recovered five firearms and some explosives from the spot.
The bodies were taken to local hospital morgue. In Jessore, A listed criminal was shot to death in a reported gunfight between two groups of criminals at Kholadanga in Jessore district town early Friday.
The deceased was identified as Hafizur Rahman, 35, a listed criminal of Sasthitala area of the district town.
Tipped off that two groups of criminals engaged in a gunfight in the area, a police team went to the spot around 1:30 am and recovered the bullet-hit body of Hafizur, said officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station Ilias Hossain. Police could not arrest anyone as the criminal gangs managed to flee, sensing the presence of the law enforcers. Two firearms, two bullets and two shells of bullets were recovered from the spot.
The deceased, Hafizur, was wanted in a number of cases, including that of murder, drugs and explosives act, the OC said.
Form next EC based on parties unity: Khaleda
She offers 13-point suggestions
Staff Reporter :
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Friday proposed the government to form next Election Commission (EC) based on unity of all parties, ahead of the next general election.
She unveiled 13-point suggestions for the formation of a new stronger and neutral EC while spelling out the proposals in city's Westin Hotel in the afternoon.
"The Chief Election Commissioner will be honest, brave, widely respected neutral, experienced and skilled person," Khaleda Zia said.
She added: "People who served in the Prime Minister's Office or a former parliament representative will not be eligible for EC. Neutral, not controversial persons, respected to all, who will not below to retired district judge and equivalent officials, retired brigadier generals, senior lawyers and scholars will be eligible for EC."
The BNP chief called for formation of a search committee with clean slated former chief justices,
eminent citizens and common people whom the president will select after sitting with all political parties who represented in Parliament since the independence.
"Before forming the Election Commission a search committee should be formed comprising former judges, secretaries and scholars," she said.
"We ask the President to format a search body to form a neutral and stronger EC after talking with the political parties for a fair election," she said.
The BNP chief came up with the proposals as the previous EC, headed by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, is due for expiration in February next year.
She laid out a set of recommendations on formation of the new commission, and empowering it, including a set of changes to the Representation of the People's Order (RPO).
Khaleda Zia suggested formation of a five-member election commission headed by a Chief Election Commissioner and inclusion of a female Election Commissioner in the panel.
"Former chief justices who are above of all controversies, eminent citizens and people who are respectful in all walks of life will be eligible to be members of the search committee," she suggested.
Khaleda Zia said the fresh Election Commission should have its own independent secretariat, which would be neutral and have its financial liberty.
The former Prime Minister suggested that after announcement of the election schedule, the powers of administration to be reshuffled and to be given to the EC.
She asked the district commissioners and police superintendents will have to be changed and new administrators will have to be replaced to ensure transparency in the election.
Khaleda Zia advised that the magistracy power would have to be given to the election officials to take legal action against polls time troublemakers.
She also wants the Election Commission officials to be trained to improve service quality.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Tarikul Islam, Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar, Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mian, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr. Moin Uddin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Vice Chairman Major (rtd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Abdullah Al Noman, Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Shamsuzzaman Dudu, among others, were present.
Alliance leaders, LDP President Colonel (Rtd) Oli Ahmed, BJP President Barrister Andaliv Rahman, Kalyan Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, JAGPA President Shafiul Alam Prodhan and NAP Chairman Jebel Rahman Gani were also present.
Among the eminent citizens, Barrister Rafiq-ul-Haque, former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Saleh Uddin Ahmed and former VC of Jahangirnagar University Dr. Mustahidur Rahman were also present.
Cop held for snatching
Another one absconding
Staff Reporter :
A policeman was arrested while snatching money worth Tk 44.000 from an egg-trader in city's Karwan Bazar area on Friday morning.
The detained person Md Latifuzzaman, who hails from Sherpur, is a constable of Traffic Department, Gulshan North Zone under Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
A case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station in this connection.
Sources said, the egg-trader Abdul Basir was returning to his shop -- Shah Ali Traders -- at Tejgaon araat riding a rickshaw van after delivering eggs to some of his regular customers.
Two snatchers riding a motorcycle with 'police' sticker [Dhaka Metro-L 27-4743] intercepted his van when it reached near Sonargaon Hotel crossing at about 5:00am. Both of the riders were wearing police uniform. At first the motorbike crossed the van, but it again came nearer.
One of the policemen asked Abdul Basir to come down from the van, and asked why his pocket was seen swelled, whether he had been carrying any marijuana. Getting negative reply, the policemen wanted to know what he was carrying in the van.
In reply, Basir said there were 240 empty egg-cases in the van, and Tk 44,000 and a cell phone in the pocket. Hearing that, the motorcycle riders tried to snatch away the cash.
However, at one stage of scuffling, Basir caught one of the snatchers along with the motorcycle. Another policeman managed to escape the scene. The detained policeman was at first handed over to on-duty police personnel at Karwan Bazar. Later, he was shifted to Shahbagh Police Station.
Officer-in-Charge of Shahbagh Police Station Abu Bakkar Siddique said: "The man, who tried to stanch money from an egg-trader, is a constable of DMP Traffic North. They used a motorcycle for snatching."
Meanwhile, egg-traders have alleged that such type of incident is frequently happening in different parts of the capital almost everyday.
"Earlier, the snatchers had to use truck for snatching eggs. For the last one year, the snatchers wearing police uniform have been seen engaged in snatching. But this is the first time where a policeman was caught during snatching," Masum Khan, Advisor of Egg Traders Multipurpose Co-operative Society, said.
Assistant Commissioner of Ramna Zone Ihsanul Ferdous said: "We've got allegation that two policemen were on the spot. A case will be filed against them under criminal procedure act. The identity of second man, who was along with Latifuzzaman, could not be ascertained immediately."
Dhaka urged to keep its border open
UNHCR urges Myanmar to protect civilians in northern Rakhine state
Staff Reporter :
The UNHCR has expressed deep concern over the safety and well-being of civilians in the northern part of the Rakhine state, Myanmar, urging the country's government to ensure the protection and dignity of all civilians on its territory in accordance with the rule of law.
It also urged Bangladesh to keep its border open to allow safe passage to civilians fleeing in wake of the violence in the Rakhine state.
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards made the appeal at a briefing in Geneva yesterday.
"UNHCR is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians in the northern part of Rakhine state, Myanmar. We are urging the government of Myanmar to ensure the protection and dignity of all civilians on its territory in accordance with the rule of law and its international obligations," Adrian Edwards said.
"We appeal for calm and for humanitarian access to assess and meet the needs of thousands of people who have reportedly been displaced
from their homes by the ongoing security operation. The affected population is believed to be in urgent need of food, shelter and medical care," he added.
UNHCR also urged the government of Myanmar to immediately allow humanitarian actors to resume the life-saving activities they had been carrying out for some 160,000 civilians in northern Rakhine State until such activities were suspended on 9 October.
Myanmar's security forces have killed almost 70 people since taking control of northern Rakhine state last month, the army said, adding that media reports of widespread destruction in the area were "false news".
Troops have poured into a strip of land along the border with Bangladesh, an area largely home to the Muslim Rohingya minority, since deadly raids on police border posts on October 9.
Clashes escalated over the weekend when troops killed more than 30 people in two days of fighting that saw the military use helicopter gunships for the first time.
Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle sits on the board of Sunoco Logistics, which is threatening eminent domain action against property owners during a time when Angelle is desperately trying to save his political career.
Graphic courtesy Bold Louisiana
Not all of the oil in the U.S. is in Louisiana, but a lot of the refining capacity is. Oil from North Dakotas Bakken Formation has been making its way down to Louisiana refineries for years. Until now, most of that oil has moved by rail and barge, first to Port Manchac in Tangipahoa Parish then across Lake Pontchartrain to a Phillips 66 facility in Plaquemines Parish.
A partnership led by Energy Transfer Partners has been aggressively building capacity to move Bakken oil to Louisiana refineries via pipeline the Dakota Access Pipeline that has been grabbing headlines for months.
Now, the pipeline (and maybe the fight) has moved to Louisiana where Energy Transfer and its partners, Sunoco Logistics Partners and Phillips 66, want to connect refineries in Lake Charles to an oil terminal in St. James on the Mississippi River. The project is named the Bayou Bridge Pipeline; it would be a 160-mile line.
That environmentalists are fighting the proposed pipeline is no surprise. But some property owners are resisting giving up more control of their land to pipelines in general and the Bayou Bridge team in particular.
Sunoco Logistics Partners adds politics to the mix. Since December 2012, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle has sat on the companys board, earning more than $380,000 a year (see Page 137). The company is threatening eminent domain action against property owners along the route during a time when Angelle is locked in a desperate attempt to save his political career in his 3rd Congressional District runoff against Capt. Clay Higgins, a fellow Republican. The seat was vacated by Charles Boustany, who made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.
I had some of the opponents of the pipeline on "Where The Alligators Roam" on KPEL last Sunday, including one property owner who says a landman representing the pipeline group threatened her with legal action if she did not sign the right-of-way agreement.
Listen to the podcast here.
A freelance journalist living in Lafayette, Mike Stagg hosts Where The Alligators Roam, a talk show airing on Sundays at 5 p.m. on KPEL 96.5 FM. Hes also a documentarian and researcher and is currently working on a book about the oil and gas industrys relationship with Louisiana government.
In its Friday editorial, the states largest daily newspaper states clearly what anyone paying any attention to Attorney General Jeff Landry can clearly see: His election to statewide office last year has already gone to his head.
Long before what we all know will be a gubernatorial bid in 2019, Landry is already acting like hes the governor, The Advocate opines.
In legal matters, hes asserting his authority to make state policy, but alas as courts have held in different ways since 1882 he is confusing his role with that of Gov. John Bel Edwards. The two, potential rivals in the 2019 governors election, are back in court. The attorney general used his authority to review lawyers contracts with the state to attempt to block an Edwards order banning anti-gay discrimination by the state and its contractors. We believe Edwards is right on the merits of that issue, but its also important that the process be understood, not least by Landry. There is little that is entirely new under the sun. There has always been the potential for tension between an elected attorney general, who is the states chief legal officer, and a governor. The latters power and role is expansive, compared to most states in the Union. The disputes between governors and AGs go back as far as the 19th century. One of Louisianas most prominent lawyers, Frank Simoneaux, of Baton Rouge, wrote about a similar 1990 dispute and he noted an 1882 precedent. Generally, Simoneaux said, the attorney general should be independent in investigative matters or prosecuting crime, but that in civil and policy matters the AG should recognize that his role is as a lawyer. Not, in other words, the decision-maker about the merits of a case.
So back off, Jeff, before you make more of an ass out of yourself than you already have (ok, those are our words, not The Advocates.) Not to mention that he doesnt seem to be taking care of his own business while instead choosing to meddle in the affairs of the governor, as The Advocate also reported today that the state could be forced to pony up more than $25,000 because of a legal maneuver Landry attempted to stave off a deposition in a public records lawsuit filed against his office.
Read the full editorial here.
Home >Police Enforcement > Checkpoints and Stops > Idaho Supreme Court Says Even A Two Minute Traffic Stop Delay Is Too Much
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?
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A place to exercise ideas before writing about them with greater discipline.
After our time travelling through the Balkans and the rest of Eastern Europe it was time to finally head into the Baltic States for the first time. What we found here was a completely different vibes with much more western and Scandinavian influences. With Lithuanian being our first stop and probably the most overlooked it was a great opportunity to see this unique region. Vilnius is a small city with a fairytale like old town that is easy to explore on foot and with a diverse and unique range of things to see, do and experience!
Castle Hill and Gediminas Tower
The last remaining part of the upper castle of Vilnius the tower that stands here today was built in 1930 on the hill where the large fortification once stood. Few original remnants of the old castle still exist and have been restored to create a site of special archaeological interest within the city.
The first wooden fortifications were built by the Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania and the first brick castle here completed in 1409, so this site is of high historical importance to both Vilnius and Lithuania and is a symbol of both city and country. But take a hike up the side of the hill, or the funicular if you are feeling lazy and take in the stunning views over the entire city too!
Uzupis
An artistic and bohemian neighbourhood in Vilnius, Uzupis, which translates as the other side of the river, is comparable to Montmartre in Paris. However what makes it unique is that it declared itself an independent republic on the first of April 1997. However unlike Transnistria which is a serious political situation, here in Uzupis the idea of being an independent country is more of a fun and playful idea intended to make people think!
Cathedral (Arkikatedra Bazilika)
The huge main catholic cathedral of Vilnius set in the large cathedral square of the city is a major landmark and meeting place. The church is the heart of Catholic spiritual life in Lithuania as well as the coronation locations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and burial place of many important Lithuanians and Poles. The original church was built in this spot in 1251 but burnt down in 1419 and again 1530 and 1610. The current incarnation is a construction that brings together part of the remaining church from 1623 1636. The the square itself central to the citys public life being a place for public gatherings, markets, parades, fairs, concerts and events.
St. Annes Church
A roman catholic church on the banks of the Vilnia River it is a prominent landmark in the UNESCO listed old town of Vilnius and one of the most interesting examples of Flamboyant Gothic architecture in the country. Consecrated in 1500 it replaced an earlier wooden version and is part of a larger complex of important historic and religious buildings in the city including the larger Gothic Church of St. Francis and Bernadine alongside a monastery. Napoleon was said to be an admirer of the church wanting to take it home to Paris with him and it was also the site of an important rally by the Lithuanian Freedom League in 1987 to protest the Soviet occupation.
Explore the amazing Vilnius old town
The fairytale UNESCO listed old town of Vilnius is a pastel coloured delight to explore. The perfectly formed cobbled streets are awash with detailed churches, traditional pubs and quaint buildings mostly of the medieval area. Despite Vilnius itself not being a massive city it is pretty much entirely made up of this wonderful old town which makes it one of the largest surviving of its kind in Northern Europe. Wandering these streets is walk in the history books of Lithuania, the citys old town shows the various changes and era of the city and country and is exampled by the fact that gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical architecture stands side by side.
Cross over and see the old wooden houses of Vilnius
One of the most interesting areas of Vilnius is across the river and into the traditional area of Snipiskes. Often referred to as a village within a city it provides examples of some of the last remaining 19th century wooden houses that used to dominate the areas outside of the old town. Many of these dwelling are still heated by wood burning stoves and lack plumbed water, sewerage and even some roads are still unpaved. The WW1 era buildings are often inhabited by older residents whose family have lived in them since they were built. Areas of the neighbourhood have undergone 21st century redevelopment and they provide a stark contrast between the old and the new, a truly fascinating area to explore.
Gate of Dawn
One of the most important religious, historical and cultural monuments in Vilnius it both serves as a gate to enter into the old town of the city as well as the chapel of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn which sits above the entrance. Built as part of the historic defensive fortifications of the city between 1503 and 1522 it is the only one of the original nine gates into the city that has survived into the modern period.
Have a day out at the Hill of Crosses
Having been told many times that it wasnt possible to visit the Hill Of Crosses from Vilnius in one day I can happily confirm that it totally is! This eerie and mysterious place is even more impressive in person and offers an opportunity to experience something totally unique. Wandering in and out of the maze of over 100,000 crosses is like nothing else we have ever done before. A surreal, spiritual and strange place to visit you just have to make the effort to head out of the city to this wonderful place!
Check out our full write up of our day and also instructions how to get there: A day at The Hill of Crosses from Vilnius
Where to stay
When we heading into Vilnius we were shattered after a crazy couple of night buses and wandering around Warsaw with our bags. So we needed somewhere quiet, central and comfortable to stay. Well where better than Pogo hostel, right across from the Cathedral Square. They offer a large and homely social area with kitchen facilities and most importantly to us after such an exhausting few day, a private room!
They offer various sizes of rooms from large to small dorms as well as privates. The staff do a great job of hosting a reasonably priced hostel with a hotel quality finish and professional staff who also often organise trips, tours and pub crawls.
Check them out here:
Tripadvisor, Hostel World, Facebook
Have you ever visited this lovely little city?
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You are probably not aware of it, but a quiet revolution took place while you were paying attention to other things. Coffee has moved into its third wave.
If you are like most Americans, somewhere between crawling out of bed in the morning and checking your email at the office, you have a cup of coffee, most likely from an automatic coffee maker, and most likely the coffee you drink is from a major brand. This is first wave coffee.
First wave coffee is from the 20th century, when folks in the coffee business began providing coffee that was affordable and ready for the pot. Coffee brands like Folgers and Maxwell House became household names in the United States. This wave kept Americans happy and caffeinated for a long time.
But somewhere in the late 1990s, people began to notice there was difference between how the equipment for making coffee, the beans and the roasts all affected the taste of the beverage. Out of this, the second wave, or specialty coffee movement was born. Companies like Starbucks, Seattles Best, or Caribou Coffee emerged to provide individually tailored experiences to their customers.
Today, the third wave of coffee is here to slow us down. Characterized by a coffee lovers interest in the character of their coffee, the third wave puts the product itself at center stage. This has given rise to small, local roasters like The Paducah Coffee Company in Paducah or Jens Joe in Southern Illinois.
Jessica Strenge of the Paducah Coffee Company uses a Diedrich Roaster -- which is made right here in the USA -- to baby her beans.
Stephen Diedrich not only taught me all about my roaster but, I've seen them actually being made in their facility in Idaho, she stated.
Jessica relates her decision to go into the coffee roasting business was inspired by her aunt and uncle who left their day jobs to roast coffee in Cancun, Mexico in the 80s. I've always felt as if I had gold when I had a bag of their coffee.
Like many small roasters, Strenges coffee comes from all over the world, including the United States.
Our green coffee importer has several ports in the United States, all of which have different coffees, so I have quite a selection when it's time to order, said Strenge.
Strenge reflected that getting specialty, high grade coffee to roast is a privilege. I strive to bring out the best flavor of each bean because I have learned of all of the care and hard work that is put into these beans before I get them. The whole process from farmer, to hand picking of the cherries, to the drying method and distribution all over the world puts the pressure on me to honor their work by delivering the best final product I know how.
This sentiment is echoed by Jen LeDuc, owner and operator of Jens Joe, whose products can be found in a range of places in Southern Illinois, as well as in her newly opened retail store in Carbondale. On her website LeDuc expresses that Coffee is more than drink, beverage, morning jolt, etc. It has a complexity beyond the meeting of water and coffee grounds. It includes the great number of people involved in the craft and science of growing, harvesting, processing, roasting and brewing coffee. In the end, it produces a range of tastes and smells which is vast and fascinating. LeDuc uses an Ambex ym-2, -- a roaster designed for small cafes -- to yield her best results.
So when the roasting is over and its time to brew what is the best way to do it? Jessica Strenge summed it up In my opinion, if the coffee you are drinking is premium, it does not need any added ingredients. It does need a burr grinder, the best water available, and a simple brewing method. I use the pour over method everyday -- that way I can choose the temperature of the water as well as smell and watch the whole process!
Pour over coffee is just what it sounds like: A handheld cone, usually with a filter, is held over a cup, and hot water is slowly poured over coffee grounds. It is helpful to remember that coffee begins its life as a fruit. Like any fruit it is sensitive, so things like contaminates in the water can affect the taste of your coffee.
The rest of the secret seems to be in the accessories. Whether you like your coffee made with the pour over method, or cold brew, or love espresso; the third wave of the coffee movement is there for you. And hand roasted coffee makes a great holiday gift, as do grinders and other coffee brewing accessories.
So stop in to visit Jessica Strenge of Paducah Coffee Company or Jen LeDuc of Jens Joe and sit and have a cup, or bring home a bag of beans and enjoy your brew at home.
CARBONDALE Residents of Carbondale and Dongola were charged with methamphetamine violations, according to United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Donald S. Boyce.
Indicted on Nov. 8 were Kiristien M. Joyner, 27, of Carbondale, and Marshall W. Duty, 58, of Dongola, each charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and each charged with one count of unlawful distribution of methamphetamine.
Joyner was ordered held without bond pending her Jan. 9, 2017, jury trial.
The offenses are alleged to have occurred between 2013 and October 3, 2016, in Union, Jackson and Williamson Counties.
The methamphetamine offenses carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment, to be followed by three years supervised release and a $1,000,000 fine.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Williamson County States Attorneys Office and Illinois National Guard also assisted in the investigation.
Boyce also announced that in another case, 48-year-old Otis R. Elion, of Marion, was also indicted on November 8, in a three-count indictment charging distribution of methamphetamine.
That offense allegedly occurred October 17 and 18 in Williamson County. He was ordered held without bond, pending a Jan. 23, 2017, jury trial.
The methamphetamine offenses carry a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years supervised release, and a $1 million fine. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Marion Police Department Emergency Response Team, Illinois State Police, and Williamson County States Attorneys Office assisted in this investigation.
Authorities also indicted a 40-year-old Herrin man with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Leon S. Johnson was charged with an offense alleged to have occurred Nov. 4 in Williamson County.
The cocaine offense carries a maximum penalty of 5 to 40 years imprisonment, to be followed by four years supervised release and a $5,000,000 fine.
Johnson was ordered to be held without bond, pending a Jan. 17, 2017, jury trial.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group, Herrin Police Department, Williamson County Sheriffs Office, and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Williamson County States Attorneys Office and Illinois National Guard also assisted in the investigation.
While reading scripture shortly before Easter 2014, retired educator Drew Rowe of St. Matthews began reflecting on the New Testaments differing accounts of the events that followed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
His contemplation soon turned to action and -- after nearly two years of research, writing and working his way through the publishing process -- Rosen recently introduced the world to his new book, "Forty Days that Changed the World."
The gospels all describe the women going and finding the empty tomb on Sunday morning, Rowe said. After that their accounts were almost completely different. Each one tells different stories of what happened after that.
So I got interested because Im a historian. I began wondering if anybody had ever taken those accounts and put them together in one story, if anyone had tried to figure out how many different times Jesus appeared that could be documented, and if anyone had spelled out the chronology of those appearances.
Rowe devotes the first part of his book to chronicling each occasion when Jesus appeared to his followers after that first Easter morning. In addition to accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, he included information from other New Testament books, non-canonical gospels and reliable historical sources.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, gives us an account of the Resurrection, in which he talks about an appearance to 500 witnesses and an appearance to James the Just that we dont find in the four gospels, Rowe said.
He documented 10 separate occasions on which Jesus appeared to eyewitnesses in the 40 days before He ascended into heaven. The author also provides a chronology of the sequence in which those appearances took place. Each paragraph, and sometimes each sentence, has footnotes to indicate the source of the information.
In the course of it, I got interested in what the eyewitnesses had done, Rowe said. They saw Jesus raised from the dead. What did they do as a result of that?
So the second half of the book traces the eyewitnesses and the apostle Paul and some of the early converts from the time of the Resurrection until their deaths, he said. I document the deaths of all 11 of the disciples, as well as Paul and a number of the other early Christians. I was able to find out where they went, what they did and how they died. All of them were persecuted and almost all of them were put to death by Jewish authorities, the Romans or some other government.
Rowe hopes his work will provide readers with answers to questions they might have about the appearances Jesus made in the 40 days after crucifixion.
Its written for the general reader, he said. Its based on scholarly research, but its written as a story that would be of interest to general readers. Among general readers, I think that certainly people who are Christians would be interested in finding out more about the Resurrection and the early church.
But I am also very hopeful that people who have doubts about the Resurrection would read the book with an open mind.
He added that his experience as a teacher and historian proved extremely valuable in the process of researching and writing "Forty Days that Changed the World."
Rowe retired as vice president of academic affairs at Forsyth College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 2001.
I taught ancient history for 30 years, he said. When dealing with ancient history, theres just so much information that got lost in time. But we know what happened in similar circumstances. So, we can make some judgments about what wouldve happened in one circumstance if it also happened in another circumstance.
Rowe and his wife, Linda, moved to St. Matthews in 2002.
My wife and I had always been interested in buying an old house when we retired, and we looked all over North Carolina and South Carolina until we found a house in St. Matthews that we decided to buy," he said. "We bought the Zimmerman House, which is one of the oldest houses in St. Matthews. We spent a year fixing up the house and doing repairs to the house before we moved down here in 2002.
Rowe insists that the fact his wifes family lived in St. Matthews when she was young had no influence on their selection. Since that time, he has settled into the local lifestyle and now serves as a ruling elder and clerk of the Session at St. Matthews Presbyterian Church. In fact, he recently wrote "The History of the St. Matthews Presbyterian Church" as part of the congregations 100th anniversary celebration.
Rowe will spend the next few months publicizing "Forty Days that Changed the World." He already has a presentation scheduled at the Calhoun County Library at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 1 and says he will gladly do the presentation for other groups as well.
Any organization wishing to schedule an appearance can call Rowe at 803-456-0723 or email rowedrew@yahoo.com.
Rowe spent 30 years teaching ancient, medieval and modern history at the college level. In addition to his position at Forsyth Technical Community College, he served as dean of arts and sciences at Guilford Technical Community College in High Point, North Carolina. He earned his bachelors degree in history from Wake Forest University in 1968 and his masters degree from Wake Forest in 1969. He also took advanced graduate studies in history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1971-1973, and earned his doctorate in education in 1990 at N.C. State University.
Rowe has served as president of the Association of Historians in Eastern North Carolina, chairman of the Community College Humanities Association, Southern Division and as a consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Association of Higher Education. In addition, he served as project director for several grants funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education and the North Carolina Humanities Council. He has made numerous presentations at a range of national and regional conferences.
FC3 Evan Travor Williams, 22, of Orangeburg, died Monday Nov. 7, 2016, in King George, Virginia. He was stationed at Dahlgren Naval Station, Dahlgren, Virginia.
Evan attended school locally at Calhoun Academy through the eighth grade and made many lasting friendships. After high school, he moved to Pensacola, Florida, where he worked diligently to acquire admission into the Navy, as he had several hurdles to overcome based on prior injuries he had sustained playing sports. His hard work to gain admission spoke well for him. In December of 2015, he graduated from Naval Basic Training at Great Lakes Training, North Chicago, Illinois.
In the Navy, Evan met and immediately fell in love with Emily Hahn. They married in the early summer of 2016. As newlyweds, they traveled to Las Vegas and then cross-country to visit his family in St. Matthews before moving to Virginia.
Evan was always known as a polite and kind young man. He loved the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing on his grandfathers farm. He enjoyed a variety of music and movies, gaming, and good food. He had a fondness for animals and was devoted to his friends. He was a young man easy to love. He feared little and embraced adventure. These things all tell of a young man with yet much to give and live. Even though he departed an earthly life much too soon, he left many memories and lessons that will forever be cherished by those who loved him.
Among those are his survivors, who include his parents, Joseph B. Williams and Adadra B. Neville; his wife, Emily Williams; siblings Kaitlyn Williams, Amber Horton, Tara Owens, Chase Morris and Jessa Williams; paternal grandparents Pat and Kay Williams; maternal grandmother Linda Morris; maternal great-grandmother Jo Frazier; and his uncle and godfather, Chris Williams. (He was predeceased by his caring godmother, Tristan Morris). Evan is additionally much missed and loved by his aunts, uncles and cousins, with whom he was very close, and scores of friends.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, in the Williams Family Cemetery, Springfield, with full military honors accorded. Dear family friend Father Dave Whitman will preside.
Following the funeral, there will be a gathering of friends at Dome Farms.
Flowers may be sent to the care of Folk Funeral Home in Williston.
Inquire of the funeral home in regard to charitable donations in Evans memory.
Friends may call at the residence of Pat Williams in St. Matthews.
Folk Funeral Home Inc. and Crematory, Williston, is assisting the family with arrangements.
Visit our online registry at www.folkfuneralhome.com.
Two leaders with T&D Region roots are on the short list to become President-elect Donald Trumps secretary of state. Either would be a good choice. Neither seems likely to get the job.
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, a native of Bamberg, is considered among five people most likely to get the nations chief foreign policy position. Her connections to Bamberg and Orangeburg are frequently reported, with the towns welcome signs proudly proclaiming the city is home to Haley.
Less well known is Tennessee Sen. Bob Corkers connection. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was born in Orangeburg in 1952 and raised in Aiken. His family moved to Tennessee when Corker was 11, though he returned to Orangeburg County often to visit family.
The two are being mentioned along with higher-profile Trump supporters such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. The three have been among Trumps strongest supporters.
Not so for Haley, who backed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential primary in South Carolina early in 2016, shifted later to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and was outspoken in her criticism of Trump regarding his controversies during the campaign. Haley, however, did announce in the days before the Nov. 8 election that she would be supporting Trump.
Corker has been a Trump supporter, though not listed among the candidates staunchest backers in Congress. He was, however, mentioned for a time as a strong contender for the vice presidential spot on the ticket.
Haley's name was added to the list of contenders for secretary of state on Wednesday, according to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. Later, S.C. Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster stated he had been contacted about the attorney generals position. According to The Associated Press, he also said he was told Haley is being considered for secretary of state.
On Thursday, Haley was in New York for a meeting with Trump.
While Haley is frequently praised as a rising star in the Republican Party, the governor whose parents came to the United States from India and settled in Bamberg has no direct foreign policy experience other than in negotiating with business and industry about locating in South Carolina.
Corker confirmed to CNBC and others that he is being considered for the job and has had conversations with the Trump transition team. But he told The Tennessean that he doesn't expect to get the job.
Corker has been a senator since 2007. Reports have him differing with Trump on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Corker told CBS News this week that, while its good for two world leaders to begin their relationship on a "positive note," Putin has also "shown himself to be a brutal dictator-like leader" who has "worked against our national interests."
With the world deeply uncertain about Trumps foreign policy, Haley or Corker, in particular, would be stabilizing choices. Perhaps that is as much about why their names are being tossed about as any real consideration of either becoming secretary of state.
Nonetheless, it is worthy of note when two people with local roots are being considered for such an important position in the national leadership.
The election-night coverage of the 2016 vote began with images of the Clinton campaign team gathering in the Javits Center under the symbolic glass ceiling. Hillary Clinton supporters were enthusiastic, upbeat and expectant. The polls gave them every reason to expect that America was electing her as the countrys first female president. Theres just this one little detail, however: The polls were wrong and the party never happened.
Not since 1948, with the non-election of Thomas Dewey, have the polls been so wrong. Just as in 1948, however, the problem does not rest in the field of statistics, but rather in the field of research methodology.
RealClear Politics identified 16 battleground states and provided data for the latest polls in each of those states. They had combined those polls and posted an overall average for each state. We all understand that these polls include a margin of error that is mathematically linked to the sample size. All else being equal, larger samples have less error; smaller samples have more error. Although RealClear does not provide an overall margin of error for their average of polls, that margin can be easily calculated by taking into account the size of the various samples (and making one or two reasonable assumptions).
Based on these numbers, the RealClear difference between Trump and Clinton was indeed within the margin of error for seven of the 16 battleground states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, and Virginia. In one state, the polls underestimated Clintons performance. The RealClear summary hinted at a small Trump lead in Nevada, a state that Clinton would win. The other eight errors, however, were all cases in which Trumps performance was underestimated, including Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Some of these states had been correctly predicted to go to Trump (like Missouri and Ohio), but the differences were larger than anticipated. Some of these states eventually went to Clinton (like Minnesota), but the margins were much smaller than expected. Ultimately, however, the unexpected differences in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan moved the celebration from the Javits Center to Trump Tower.
Republican political consultant Mike Murphy suggested, Tonight, data died. He pointed to a very real failure of election forecasting, but his quote suggests a problem with statistics. In fact, however, the problem was in the failure to obtain representative random samples.
The error in 1948 was because many voters did not have telephones. A random sample restricted to homes with telephones might totally misrepresent the political tendencies of homes without telephones. The homes without phones generally had fewer economic resources and different voting priorities. The failure to use random representative polls of all potential voters resulted in the faulty prediction.
Although some will suggest that the polls were intentionally rigged, the fact that the error in Nevada was in the opposite direction suggests otherwise. Pollsters were trying to get an accurate read. In fact, the polling has been extremely accurate in recent elections. Based on the polling data in 2004, for example, I successfully predicted the winner in every single state.
What has changed? In 2016 we use our telephones differently than we did historically. In the past, when my phone rang, I answered it. I answered when my hands were wet, as I washed the dishes, or were dirty with grease, as I attempted to change my oil. After years of robo-calls, however, I no longer answer my phone until and unless I decide whether or not I want to talk to the caller. I check the caller ID, and I practice personal control over how I use my phone.
As a consequence, it is progressively more difficult for pollsters to complete a representative random sample of voter behavior. Our polls are more likely to predict how people who do not use caller ID will behave. It is possible that people who seek more control over their telephones might tend to be the same sort of people who seek more control over their government and other areas of their private lives.
The 2016 poll numbers might have been rigged, but not through any intentional work by the media. Rather, they were unintentionally rigged by the realistic hurdles faced by behavioral scientists, as they seek to explain and understand human behavior.
Even if we are able to fix the research methodology, it is important to remember that statistics always include a margin of error. The data only provide insights into the world. Like the weather forecast, they are not intended to provide any guarantees. Stephen Kings comment about statistical analysis is right on target: in his novel, 11/22/63, King writes: Theres always a window of uncertainty.
Too many Americans feel left behind by the weak economic growth and diminished job opportunities under the Obama administration. Too many people have seen their income stagnate and opportunity disappear since the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
As the 2016 election upset has proved, people want a president who does things differently, a president who wants to make America great again.
President-elect Donald J. Trump now has a huge opportunity to make some big changes that improve peoples lives and livelihoods. Over the last eight years, the Obama administration heaped piles of regulation on top of businesses and their financiers. Trump can help get the economy moving again by implementing some meaningful regulatory relief, by himself and with Congress. Here are five simple ways he can do that:
(1) Fire Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Hes issued regulation after regulation that made it harder for people to get access to funds. Banks have in many ways stopped lending to people who lack perfect credit or to small businesses because of the new bureaucracy involved. President Trump should exercise his appointments power, fire Cordray, and install a director who will get consumer and small business credit moving again.
(2) Rescind the Department of Labors overtime rule that looms over Americas employers and threatens job opportunities. This rule, which will come into effect in December, will force businesses to pay time-and-a-half to salaried employees who earn up to $47,476 a year. Instead of getting a raise, many employees will see their work terms changed or switched to hourly status as businesses scramble to avoid the sudden, budget-busting mandate. The new rule will affect around 5 million employees, many of whom work at universities, nonprofits or startups that rely on dedicated people working longer hours out of love for their job and mission. If left in place, the effect on startups alone one of the bright spots of economic growth could be devastating.
(3) Encourage the sharing economy. Platform apps like Uber, Airbnb and Handy have allowed people to make up income shortfalls or earn extra cash by making better use of their cars, homes or skills. Unfortunately, regulators at the Department of Labor and elsewhere have been moving to restrict these opportunities, for example, by having Uber drivers declared employees of the app firm. That increases labor law liability and significantly reduces the number of those jobs available. The new president should call off the labor regulators and allow sharing economy firms to expand. He should appoint an official in charge of looking out for people in the sharing economy throughout the regulatory process.
(4) Work with Congress to repeal Dodd-Franks notorious Durbin Amendment. It restricts the fees banks can charge merchants for use of their debit card networks which just meant banks passed on these extra costs in the form of higher annual fees, offered fewer free checking accounts, and ended debit card reward programs. By one count, these extra costs may have forced a million poor Americans to stop using bank accounts at all. Its time to recognize the Durbin Amendment is a failure and get it repealed.
(5) Negotiate a free trade deal with Brexit Britain. The president-elect may look askance at trade with China and Mexico, but he has no such worries about Britain, one of Americas biggest mutual trading partners. And as luck would have it, Britain is now looking to conduct its own trade deals following its exit from the European Union. Mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services could easily generate billions of dollars of wealth on both sides of the Atlantic, instill market confidence, and help quell worries about a global trade war. President Trumps new U.S. trade representative should invite U.K. Secretary for International Trade Liam Fox to Washington for talks, ASAP.
Trump could set these measures in motion very quickly, and hard-strapped Americans would start to see real change. We must begin to lift at least some of the $1.9 trillion burden regulation imposes on the economy every year. All Americans, whether they voted for Donald Trump or not, could get behind that.
A Pineville woman will spend the next 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty in the death of a man in 2015.
Michelle Rene Bruce, 45, of 400 Macs Landing Road, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Orangeburg to felony driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless homicide.
First Circuit Judge Ed Dickson sentenced Bruce to two concurrent terms of 10 years in prison.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, Bruce was driving a 2015 Jeep Wrangler on Old Number Six Highway in Eutawville when she ran off the roadway.
David Bennet, 55, of Paisley, Scotland, was a passenger.
Bennet died of blunt-force injuries he sustained in the accident and Orangeburg County EMS transported Bruce to the Regional Medical Center, where she was treated for serious injuries.
Neither Bennet nor Bruce was was wearing a seat belt, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Judd Jones.
Bennet was partially ejected from the vehicle.
A new BBC series is actively encouraging women from across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to apply for a brand new travel adventure series which will be broadcast on the BBC next year.
If you are at a crossroads in your life and believe that walking in a British womans shoes for a week might help you make some big decisions, then please do get in touch!
We will send the successful applicant to a mystery destination somewhere in the UK, and whilst you are there, your British counterpart will come to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and live YOUR life!
For approximately one week, you will live in each others world: spend time with each others friends and family, experience each others work routine, try each others hobbies and interests and get to know each others countries through the lens of a local rather than a tourist.
Hopefully both you and your swap will gain the perspective you need to move forward in your life with a new confidence and certainty!
Left:Shelly Ann Parris points to the spot where her boyfriend, Nicholas Layne, was killed. Right:Nicholas Layne was one of four homicide victims purported to have been committed in a space of less than 24 hours.
Shelly Ann Parris, the girlfriend of homicide victim Nicholas Layne, says she wants his family to leave her alone and to desist from accusing her of causing his death.
Parris told THE VINCENTIAN that the image she has of the perpetrator fits that of the person the police said is a person of interest to them in Laynes death, and that of three others. She insisted that she had never seen him before the night of the incident, yet, she claimed, a close relative of the deceased has confronted her, accusing her of being in a relationship with the perpetrator.
"Me never see the boy. Me feel sad Nic (Nicholas) dead, me cry because me a study him still, but me want them come off me name, stop calling my name, because I dont know about the boy, Paris appealed through this reporter.
Layne, employed as a labourer with Dipcon Engineering Services Ltd, the firm undertaking the rehabilitation of the Central Leeward highway, met his death sometime around 11pm last Sunday in Cocoa, Campden Park.
Reports are that he was awaiting transportation for the journey to his home in Edinboro when the incident that led to his death initially developed.
Parris recounts the ordeal
Recounting what she said was the worst time in her life, Parris said that she had accompanied Layne to the main road, where he awaited transportation.
She had encouraged him to leave early that evening because, she said, she had had a disturbing dream about him, to wit, that she had seen him in a pool of blood. Layne, disregarding her pleas, stayed longer that she expected.
While awaiting transportation, they noticed a "bareback male figure smoking something, she recalled.
After he was finished smoking, he attempted to catch a van, but the van did not stop. He had run towards the van and in the process, dropped what appeared to be a jersey, the young lady said.
He picked up the jersey and headed in their direction. As he got closer, he stared them down.
"I said to Nic, Nic, leh we go home, because the man ah move strange, but he refused, Parris continued.
It was when the stranger brandished a knife and pointed it in the direction of Layne that both she and her boyfriend ran. Parris said she ran through a short cut but Layne, being unfamiliar with the area, took longer to get to her yard and it was there that the perpetrator corned him.
Parris said she could see what was transpiring from her window. The man, she said, began to inflict stabs to Laynes body, then took a rock and smashed it into her boyfriends head. Layne, still conscious, attempted to get up, and the attacker shouted, Yo na dead yet, before smashing two more rocks into Laynes head, then calmly walked towards the main road.
"Me was so frighten dat ah couldnt move.. ah didnt know wha to do bu look on in horror, she said with a sigh in her voice.
A neighbour eventually called the police.
Through her grief, Parris described Layne as a quiet and helpful person, who helped to care for her two children, making certain that they had something to eat. He was even planning to assist her by building a little house in her mothers yard, Shedisclosed.
Given what has developed between she and her boyfriends family, Parris said she had no intentions of attending her boyfriends funeral.
"Me na want go to the funeral and people do me thing, so me think me going stop home, said a visibly heart-broken Parris.
Eighteen-year-old Sandy Bay resident Jorani Baptiste is currently a patient at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital under police guard. He remains a person of interest to the police in relation to the murders of Nicholas Layne, Avis Israel, Ronald Israel and Pamela Williams. (KH)
Over 50 students of the Georgetown Government School and 15 of the Pamelus Burke Government School are better equipped for school, thanks to Mr. Neil Corke .
Neil was born in Georgetown and migrated to the United States of America at a young age. He worked with the State Department and took his retirement last year.
Using his hard-earned cash, he purchased books, pens, pencils, crayons and other school materials which were distributed to the needy students at the Georgetown Government and the Pamelus Burke Government schools.
This is not the first gesture of kind-heartedness by Mr. Corke. Last year, he hosted a Christmas luncheon for over 100 persons from the Georgetown area, as a mark of appreciation for those who would have assisted in nurturing him during his formative years, and as a genuine show of love for the Georgetown community.
He also held a Christmas party for all of the children at the St. Benedict Hospital and, in addition to a feast of snacks, drinks and live music, he presented a gift to each child.
Given his spirit of giving, persons who know him expect that Neil Corke will continue to do what he can for the needy in his native Georgetown and surrounding communities.
The Taiwan Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH) medical team who are expected here this month November.
The Taiwan Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH) medical team will mount its ninth visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, from November 20th to December 10th, 2016 .
The team, headed by Dr. Nina Kao, is comprised of a Family Medicine doctor, an Otorhinolaryngology doctor, a Chinese medicine doctor, two nurses, and one Project Manager on Hospital Safety and Healthcare Quality.
During its stay, the Taiwan medical team will work closely with colleagues of MCMH, and the CCH is particularly pleased to avail the services of Mr. Hsu-Tung CHANG, an expert in the area of hospital safety and healthcare quality. Mr. Chang, the deputy director of the department of Hospital Safety and Healthcare Quality of the CCH, will share his expertise and experience with MCMH, by doing three presentations on Quality and Patient Safety, Proactive risk management and Healthcare Safety Culture.
The visiting team is also expected to provide medical services at some local clinics.
In a statement released by the Taiwanese Embassy here, the CCH affirms that it valued the cordial and mutually beneficial relationship with the MCMH, and looks forward to further strengthening cooperation with each other.
The last visit to SVG by a team from the CCH was made in May 2016.
The final World Pediatric Project mission for 2016 wound up here last weekend .
The concluding mission focused on scoliosis.
The visiting team out of Richmond, Virginia consisted of Lead Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Victoria Kirsten; Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Gregory Hale; Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Dr. Mike Estes; Mary Debbie Walton and Kelly Hasse, OR Nurses; Carter Hunter, RN; Erin Rose, Neurophysiologist; and Christopher Pinney, In-country support.
Along with these were, local adult Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Charles Woods; and visiting Adult General Surgeon with training in Spine Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery, Vincentian, Dr. Kimani White.
SVG is the designated WPP hub for the Eastern Caribbean.
Of the sixty-four patients seen on Consultation Day, a total of thirty-one patients were from St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Dominica, Barbados and Antigua, with thirty-three coming from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Throughout the ensuing week, ten surgeries were done on children between the ages of twelve and nineteen years, whose conditions were not so severe as to warrant more serious surgeries in Virginia. These operations included one spinal hardware adjustment, two removals of hardware and debridement, and seven spinal surgeries. With Dr. Victoria Kirsten leading her team, by Friday, 11th November, all cases had been successfully completed and all children were ambulating and recovering well.
The Scoliosis Mission has been lauded as an overwhelming success. According to Dr. Mike Estes, "In 2008, wed been doing general orthopedic clinics trips. The surgeon would evaluate all the children and would see lots of them with scoliosis, but we were unable to treat them here because the hospital didnt have the facility to do it. We were only able to refer one child every year to the United States to get treated, so we brought one set of instruments to operate on one child. It was a success, so we made the decision to create a purely scoliosis team from Virginia, while the team coming out of the mid-west would concentrate on general orthopedics.
Lead surgeon Dr. Victoria Kirsten, with five years experience on the missions, added, "We still see a lot of significant curves coming. It would be nicer to see smaller curves at earlier ages so that we can get people in braces and avoid later surgery. Primary care doctors will need to screen patients for scoliosis in girls between ten to twelve years, and in boys from twelve to fourteen years old, so the condition could be caught earlier.
She, however, called the programme a success in that it has helped a lot of children get surgery. "That will change them for a lifetime, she said.
The success of the programme is indicated, not only in the success on cases treated, but also in the increase in cases coming from outside of SVG. Mrs. Jacqueline Browne-King, Eastern Caribbean Representative of WPP, is currently visiting the islands with the mandate of opening up the awareness of the possibilities for treatment through the Project.
She explained, "The awareness of the work of WPP in the region has caught on and, therefore, we are having more referrals of cases that would have been left by the wayside. In all of the islands, we have seen an increase in numbers.
The project has since seen remarkable success. Since 2009 it has been able to treat about eight children a year overseas, binging the number to about forty-one since it started. Many continue to receive treatment right here at home, with only the very serious cases going overseas.
Given the identified need, WPP will from 2017, mount two scoliosis missions per year.
It is hoped that if things continue in this way, then probably scoliosis could be stamped out of the region.
A blog for students in my introductory classes in government, and any interested passersby. You'll find news items and random stories that illustrate any of the topics we cover in class. Special attention will be paid to the constitutional issues associated with contemporary issues and disputes. Feel free to send me stories you find important. Please note that due to spam, I'm limiting the ability of people to comment on these pages. My apologies.
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President Ilham Aliyev attended ceremony to launch new ships [PHOTO]
18 November 2016 [11:15] -
By Azertac
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended a ceremony to launch "Rashid Behbudov" fast passenger ship, "Ganja" tanker and "Gafur Mammadov" dry cargo ship built by Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company.
Views: 1847
By Azernews
By Laman Ismayilova
The Baku International Center of Multiculturalism has hosted a meeting with Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Maya Hristova and Chairman of the Association of Professional Mediators of Bulgaria, famous lawyer Elisa Nikolova, Azertac reported.
In his speech, Azerbaijan's State Counselor on Multiculturalism, Interethnic and Religious Affairs, academician Kamal Abdullayev highlighted the activities of the Center, its international and regional projects.
"Learning and promoting the Azerbaijani multiculturalism, which is based on love and compassion, we are also trying to spread the principles of humanity, human values. The Center regularly organizes international summer and winter schools for students studying the Azerbaijani multiculturalism in foreign countries, the academician said.
He pointed out that currently branches of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism are functioning in Germany, Israel, Moldova, Italy, Portugal and the Russian cities of Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
Today we are signing a cooperation agreement to open the eighth branch of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism the Bulgarian branch. I wish success to the head of the Bulgarian branch Elisa Nikolova, who is familiar with multicultural values of Azerbaijan and our projects," he added.
The academician highlighted activities of the Bulgarian envoy, who has played a major role in enhancing the relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.
Hristova, in turn, expressed gratitude to President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva for contribution to the reconstruction of Trapezitsa Architectural and Museum Reserve, located in the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo.
"This is a great gesture, it is very important for us. It is hard to express our feelings by words. I am conveying a great love of the Bulgarian people to the people of Azerbaijan and personally Mehriban Aliyeva, she said.
Further, Executive Director of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism Azad Mammadov and Eliza Nikolova signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the implementation of mutual activities for the promotion of multiculturalism and tolerance of Azerbaijan, implementation of joint projects and activities of the Bulgarian branch of the Center.
Azerbaijan, located on the junction of two continents- Europe and Asia, created all necessary conditions for representatives of different nationalities, religions and cultures to exist freely.
The International Centre for Multiculturalism was established in Baku in 2014, as a concrete effort to promote the values of multiculturalism.
This year, Azerbaijan hosted the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
By using the UN tribune, Azerbaijan once again showed its multiculturalism traditions, and urged the world countries to respect tolerance, intercultural and inter-civilization dialogue. Furthermore, Azerbaijan named 2016 the Year of Multiculturalism.
Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have developed friendly relations after Bulgaria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in January 1992. The embassy of Bulgaria in Azerbaijan was opened in December 1999.
By Trend
Azerbaijan is considered the most geopolitically important and promising country of the South Caucasus according to the parameters that determine the modern geopolitical characteristics, development trends and prospects of the regions countries, said Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents aide for public and political affairs.
Hasanov was addressing a meeting of the Presidium of Azerbaijans National Academy of Sciences in Baku Nov. 18 with a speech on The Current Geopolitical Development Realities and Prospects of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan is considered the leading country in the South Caucasus for its geographical, natural and human resources, he noted, adding that the qualitative and quantitative indicators of human resources in Azerbaijan are higher and more promising than in any other South Caucasus country.
Population growth in Azerbaijan was 111,000 in 2015, while it was 10,000 in Georgia and 12,000 in Armenia, he explained.
Hasanov noted that in terms of geopolitical and geoeconomic situation, Azerbaijan is the undisputed leader of the region for its most important location in the Caspian basin and South Caucasus, which enjoys rich geoeconomic potential.
Among the other factors of Azerbaijans regional leadership, Hasanov named the countrys economic and labor resources, human potential, the populations support for state policy, internal stability, national and civic unity, rich energy sources, land and sea borders with such regional leaders as Russia, Turkey and Iran, its active geopolicies with the US and big Western European countries, Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and Israel and international geopolitical actors.
He went on to say that 70 percent of the total GDP of South Caucasus in 2015, which exceeded $75 billion, accounted for Azerbaijan.
Total industrial production value in South Caucasus is $20 billion and 80 percent of this accounts for Azerbaijan, said Hasanov.
In total, $26 billion were invested from all the sources to South Caucasus in 2015, and $19.5 billion, or 72 percent of this accounted for Azerbaijan, he noted, adding that $10.7 billion of these investments was foreign.
The country completely or partially ensured its safety in many areas in terms of the self-sufficiency, Hasanov said.
Thus, Azerbaijans geopolitical and geoeconomic development and prospects are incomparable with that of other countries of South Caucasus, said Hasanov.
He added that according to the aforementioned parameters, Armenia has been in isolation from all regional and transnational projects and has suffered a severe social and economic crisis.
Armenia is a completely and utterly dependent country, noted the top official, adding that the country doesnt have any geopolitical and geoeconomic role.
Azerbaijan, for all the geopolitical and geoeconomic parameters, can be compared with such leading post-Soviet countries as Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, he said.
Hasanov said Azerbaijan enjoys a favorable position in the transnational energy export corridors and in the transportation and communication system.
Azerbaijans situation in terms of energy resources is incomparable with that of any other neighbor country in the South Caucasus, he said. Azerbaijans energy resources are comprised of 4.6 billion tons of conventional fuel two billion tons of oil and 2.6 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Hasanov went on to add that diversification of export routes has given Azerbaijan a possibility to safely deliver its hydrocarbon resources to the global market.
Geopolitically and geoeconomically Azerbaijan is also considered a gateway to Eurasia, a central state in transportation, communication and energy corridors, said Hasanov.
He added that Azerbaijans turning into a key participant of transportation and communication relations has in the past few years had a significant impact on the reconstruction, in line with modern requirements, of domestic, regional and international road and transportation infrastructure, including the many transit systems within the East-West and North-South transportation corridors.
Speaking about the current military and geostrategic situation in the South Caucasus, Hasanov said Azerbaijani armys personnel strength, the armys military and technical state, combat readiness and the quality of its weaponry are much higher than that of Georgia and Armenia.
Aside from that, Azerbaijan is considered a leader in the South Caucasus in terms of the total budget allotted to army building. In 2003, Azerbaijans military budget was $135 million, whereas in 2015 this figure stood at $4.2 billion, increasing sharply each year since then, added Hasanov.
Further speaking about the situation on borders, the presidential aide reminded that the common borderlines with Caspian and South Caucasian countries havent been fully demarcated and delimited.
Twenty percent of Azerbaijans territory, including a 132-km section of the Azerbaijan-Iran border and a 733-km section of the Azerbaijan-Armenia border has been occupied by the Armenian armed forces, he said.
However, added Hasanov, the coefficient of the border security is rising thanks to strengthening cooperation on border security with neighbor states, excluding Armenia, joint fight against transnational crime and deepening partnership on security and protection of borders on land and on Caspian Sea.
Japan-based Yokogawa Electric Corporation has completed the acquisition of Soteica Visual Mesa (SVM), a leading energy management technology provider, further delivering on a number of key objectives of its Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan.
Yokogawas Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan mainly includes expansion of its advanced solution business, focusing on customers and creating new value, said a statement from the company.
This announcement marks completion of the SVM acquisition as a wholly-owned subsidiary and initiation of the integration of SVM and the cloud-based Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider Industrial Knowledge (IK) into KBC Advanced Technologies (KBC), which was acquired by Yokogawa in April 2016, it said.
The IK business unit was established to enhance the cloud-based advanced solution business based on the technology of Industrial Evolution (IE), which was acquired by Yokogawa in December 2015. A pioneer in the use of cloud-based solutions in the process industries, IE developed a market-leading real-time DaaS solution that is deployed at many of the worlds major energy and chemical companies, it added.
Yokogawas acquisition of SVM follows an earlier minority equity investment in SVM made in December 2012. SVM has a solid track record in the energy management solutions (EMS) field, and provides production accounting and scheduling solutions to the refining industry.
After acquiring KBC, Yokogawa formed a post-merger integration team that has been charged with the task of identifying various measures and setups that will create synergy and derive maximum benefit from the integration of the companies operations, and thereby enhance our ability to offer new value to our customers.
As a result of their deliberations, Yokogawa has decided to integrate the operations of Soteica, a leading company in the EMS field, and Industrial Knowledge, a business unit with expertise in advanced cloud solutions, with those of KBC, it added.
By leveraging KBCs premier energy consulting and Visual Mesa, SVMs best-in-class real-time energy optimisation technology, it is anticipated that the combined entity will be able to expand its position in the rapidly growing EMS market in the process industries.
In the immediate term, SVMs advanced Visual Mesa utility optimisation software combined with KBCs premium energy consultancy will provide comprehensive and best-in-class energy management solutions, underpinned by leading technologies and human performance improvement. Over the longer term, this acquisition supports KBCs vision of seamlessly integrating utility system and supply chain optimisation into KBCs industry-leading process simulation platform for hydrocarbon processing facilities, Petro-SIMTM, it stated.
KBC, SVM, and IK will be led by KBC chief executive officer, Andy Howell, and will be integrated under the KBC brand. This will significantly enhance KBCs solutions portfolio and the energy management solutions business, enhance KBCs ability to develop new cloud-based services, and accelerate the companys efforts to create and sustain new value for customers.
Satoru Kurosu, executive vice president and head of Yokogawas solutions service business headquarters, said: Key strategic objectives of our plan are to expand the solution service business, focus on customers, and co-create new value with customers through innovative technologies and services.
By integrating SVM and IK with KBC, we will bring together deep and rich business, process, and operational domain knowledge across the energy and chemicals sectors, and will connect this with the cloud-based, real-time representation of plant, business, and supply chain operations to identify and implement solutions that will sustain and continuously improve performance. The benefit to our customers is unprecedented, Kurosu added.
Oscar Santollani, founder of SVM, said: We are delighted to have been acquired by Yokogawa and in doing so, unite our Visual Mesa real-time energy optimisation and production accounting and scheduling technologies with KBCs industry-leading energy and supply chain consulting practices.
Furthermore, the progressive DaaS capabilities of IK enhance our offerings and enable us to be more innovative, disruptive, and agile by leveraging the cloud in delivery of solutions and sustainability services. This is the future, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) has signed an agreement with Norway-based DNV GL at the DNV GL National Committee, to collaborate on several maritime innovation initiatives.
The agreement was signed in Dubai between Amer Ali, executive director of DMCA, and Knut rbeck-Nilssen, CEO DNV GL Maritime.
The new partnership aims to facilitate DMCAs aspirations to make Dubai a first-class international maritime gateway by investing in research and innovation and mutually sharing knowledge and experiences on the latest shipping technology, as well as developments in environmental, safety and quality concerns. The agreement will set the framework for both organizations to determine key areas of collaboration.
DMCAs collaboration with DNV GL is part of our long-term vision for Dubai to become a world-class maritime gateway. Innovation, research and technology are certainly essential factors for DMCA to provide an internationally-recognized maritime cluster and enhance the sectors efficiency and global competitiveness. In navigating through this path, it is important that DMCA establishes the right tools and methods in order to manage the impact as well as the opportunities that new technologies present to us, said Ali.
We are very positive that DMCAs collaboration with DNV GL is the right next step to push Dubais drive in promoting the Emirates position in the global maritime map and soon play a leading role in providing a sustainable platform for the global maritime sector. With DNV GLs competence and extensive experience, we believe Dubai is on track in establishing a sustainable maritime environment following highly-regarded international standards, Ali concluded.
DMCA and DNV GL will explore initiatives that will further advance the Dubai maritime sectors technological capacity in areas such as smart shipping, digitalization, big data and real time information management. The agreement also looks to promote maritime innovation programs in Dubai, the UAE and in other parts of the Middle East. DMCA and DNV GL will also involve local universities, higher education institutes, research organizations and other government bodies in Dubai and the UAE.
rbeck-Nilssen said: Dubai Maritime City Authority is taking a major step forward in terms of creating a highly competitive maritime environment with the ability to keep pace with regional and global changes. We are confident that our cooperation will yield positive results and further enhance growth and innovation in the local and regional maritime clusters, ensuring the highest standards of safety and quality.
DNV GL, an international classification society headquartered in Norway, is globally recognized for its expertise in helping companies manage risk in the maritime industry, especially in safeguarding life, property and the environment and ensuring safety and sustainability within the sector. TradeArabia News Service
The UAE has announced a three-day weekend for the public sector to mark UAE National Day and Commemoration Day.
The National Day and Commemoration Day holidays for employees of ministries and federal government departments will begin on Thursday (December 1), with work resuming on Sunday, (December 4), according to a circular issued by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources.
The authority extended its greetings to President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Their Highnesses the Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates, and the people of the UAE.
The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.
For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com
For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered.
This is separate from my speaking fee.
If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event.
Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up.
A Casper man suspected of kidnapping a woman, threatening her with a knife and sexually assaulting her in October pleaded not guilty to related charges Thursday.
During his arraignment in Natrona County District Court, Robert Lee Johnson pleaded not guilty to strangulation, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault and aggravated assault for threatening the woman with a deadly weapon.
The woman, whom Johnson knew before the incident, told authorities that he forced her into his car on Oct. 1 and started driving toward Wheatland from Casper, according to court documents. During the drive, Johnson yelled at the woman and threatened to hit her with a large flashlight and threatened to kill her with a pocket knife that he had.
The woman told law enforcement she feared for her life during the drive and considered jumping out of the car, though it was traveling about 80 miles an hour.
Johnson later turned around the car and drove back to Casper, where he forced her into his apartment. He told her he would kill her if she screamed, according to the documents.
Inside the apartment, Johnson grabbed a steak knife and held it to the womans throat before choking her with both hands, documents state. He then grabbed the womans genitals through her leggings and spat on her face.
Johnson then dropped off the woman at a relatives house. The woman then went to the hospital to get a partial sexual assault examination, which found injuries consistent with the assault the woman described, the documents state.
Casper police officers later located and arrested Johnson, who said he did hold a knife and the flashlight while driving the car to Wheatland but denied threatening the woman with them. He also denied threatening her with a knife inside the apartment and sexually assaulting her.
Johnson remained in the Natrona County Detention Center on Thursday on $50,000 bond.
The number of needy families who signed up to receive holiday food help on Monday has doubled from last year, one of the surest signs of the struggling economy in Casper.
Last year, 850 families received boxes of dry goods and a turkey to prepare a holiday meal for Thanksgiving in an effort organized by Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies and its Casper pantries.
This year, 1,700 families had signed up by the Nov. 9 deadline, according to both the WFBRs agency relations manager Tonja Funch and local poverty activist Mary Ann Budenske.
Our numbers have doubled and our financing hasnt, so we are scrambling, Funch said Thursday morning. Based on original estimates, we were ready for 1,200. When we found out the (1,700 families) number on Monday, I couldnt decide if I needed to cry or start begging people immediately for money, so I started begging.
By Thursday, a contingency decision had been made that all 1,700 families who signed up by the deadline will receive a dry goods box and turkeys will be first-come, first-served. Depending on turkey donations that may arrive by Monday, those who signed up and do not receive a turkey will get a gift card that will pay for a portion of a turkey, Funch said.
Cash and frozen turkeys may be taken to the WFBR office at 4976 Paige in the Mountain View addition on Friday, or to the Monday distribution site, which is Casper Faith Assembly of God, 4301 Casper Mountain Road.
Those who missed the sign-up deadline of Nov. 9 and are in need are welcome to go to the church on Monday at 6 p.m., and a box will be put together with whatever is available, according to Budenske.
We do have plenty of dry goods from people who have donated and will hopefully have some fruits and vegetables left from the Wal-mart donation, so if they didnt sign up, they are welcome to come at 6, Funch explained.
Families who signed up at one of the pantries in Casper for the special holiday meal distribution need to take a photo ID and the registration card they received with them to the church on Monday. The distribution begins at 11 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m.
To arrange to make a large donation, please call Funch at 232-4011 or Ashley Nickolai at 232-4016 before Monday. Donations are tax-deductible.
A group of lawmakers will sponsor a bill at the Wyoming Legislature next year that proposes sweeping changes to the way nonviolent, first-time offenders are sentenced for their crimes.
The goal is to prevent unnecessary incarceration the states prison population increases each year and to truly reform and rehabilitate criminals, using research, data and best practices in the corrections world.
The bill, which at 24 pages is unusually long for the Wyoming Legislature, is the result of three years of work for the Joint Judiciary Committee. Last year, when Judiciary Committee members asked the Legislature to consider the measure, members of another committee thats in charge of crafting the states budget killed it. They didnt believe Wyoming had the money to spend on the up-front costs required by the bill.
For first-time, nonviolent offenders, the bill would allow the judges to halt court proceedings and place the accused on probation if the defendant agrees to it for three years for a misdemeanor crime and five years for a felony.
Judges would have latitude to tailor the probation as they see fit, including requiring the accused to wear an electronic monitoring device, work, abide a curfew and complete treatment for drug, alcohol or behavioral problems.
Its pretty wide-open the best tools for that individuals issues, said Sen. Leland Christensen, R-Alta, a chairman of the committee.
The bill also changes parole revocation.
If the violation is not a felony, the Wyoming Board of Parole may send the offender back to prison for 120 days for the first violation and 180 days for the second. Currently, people who violate parole are sent back to prison for an average of two and a half years, Christensen said.
Research shows that when people commit a crime, they dont believe they will get caught, said Anthony Vibbard of the Wyoming Liberty Group, which supports the sentencing reform bill.
The threat of prison doesnt necessarily deter criminals, he said.
The bill changes how people can accumulate whats known as good time, or early release based on good behavior. The bill would now allow people to be awarded good time if they comply with their individual case plans for education attainment, drug and alcohol treatment, work and other goals. If theyre on parole, their supervisor can write a recommendation for good time, according to the bill.
More effective
The bill would change how people are punished for minor infractions of their parole or probation. A judge can send them to the county jail for two to three days instead of the current punishment, which can last years, in part due to legal proceedings.
But research shows that the swift and certain approach is more effective in rehabilitating a criminal.
This is a way to get an immediate consequence, a reminder to get bumped into the right direction, versus slammed for years, Christensen said.
The bill will cost almost $3 million, but the Wyoming Department of Corrections estimates the state can potentially save $7.6 million a year, he said.
Although long-term cost savings would be helpful to the state in the current economic downturn, the Wyoming Department of Corrections believes community safety and rehabilitation of prisoners is more important, Christensen said.
Money is not the primary motivation on this bill, he said.
Christensen and Judiciary Committee co-chairman Rep. Dave Miller visited Gov. Matt Mead last week and asked him to consider the bill as he puts together budget recommendations. If Mead recommends the Legislature budget for the sentencing changes, the bills chances of success will increase, Christensen said.
Vikki Renner of Casper supported the bill. Renner has a son serving time at the prison in Torrington. Shes involved in a recently assembled group of family members of prisoners who want to provide lawmakers input to help get the bill passed. They started in June. They live in areas ranging from Cody to Gillette and even in Utah, she said.
Renner said she likes the emphasis on drug and alcohol treatment over warehousing people. She was teary as she described scenes from Torrington of small children hugging their parents. Children are hurt by being separated from their parents, she said.
Reform is such a vital part of the corrections process, she said. Its something these guys have to work for. A lot of these guys, they want to be better citizens. A lot of their crimes were committed under the influence of drugs of alcohol. Thats not an excuse. But they were not in the right state of mind.
Renners son committed a violent crime she declined to provide details and will not benefit from the sentencing reform bill. But she still supports it because she wants the public to start thinking about rehabilitation and reform in new ways, she said.
People can and do change, she said.
Grant Elementary could close next year in the face of declining education funding and falling enrollment.
A report recently completed by the Natrona County School District recommends closing Grant at the end of the school year. The school is now at 80 percent capacity and has experienced declines in enrollment for the past three years. It also needs a new roof and foundation work.
The report also recommends vacating Mills Elementary and either selling or, as a last resort, demolishing several vacant buildings, including North Casper Elementary, Fairgrounds Center and the old Roosevelt High School.
Steering committees will consider the recommendation before the school board makes the final decision.
The 174 students at Grant will get first priority during the next enrollment process, and personnel will go to Grant to help with that process, officials said. The district will do what it can to honor students and families preferences, officials said.
We are very concerned, and the highest priority is getting our people taken care of; our staff, our students, the families, executive director for school improvement Rick Skatula said.
District officials are working very closely with (Grant Principal Shawna) Smith and they will work with the families and staff members to come together and ease this transition process in all forms of what next steps are for these families, district spokeswoman Tanya Southerland said.
Most parents picking up their kids from Grant Elementary had no idea the school might close next year. Stomping the snow off their feet on the cold sidewalk outside, few heard the 3:30 p.m. announcement made by members of the Natrona County School Board and district officials, including superintendent Steve Hopkins.
The parents said they chose the school for convenience, tradition or because they liked the teachers.
Stephanie Ryles daughter is a first-grader at Grant. She said she doesnt know where they will go.
Its an open district, but I live right around the corner and I dont like driving in the snow. Im bummed out, she said. We really love it here. Im so sad.
Heather Wells said she is disappointed the district is considering closing Grant. Her niece, Daisy Williams, attends kindergarten there.
This is a really good school, she said.
Officials said the district has the capacity to take Grant students elsewhere. Indeed, even if all Grant students are reassigned, the district will have a remaining open capacity of 300.
District officials said they dont plan to lay off any of the 33 staff members at Grant. Instead, they will be reassigned to other jobs.
We have a very well-established reassignment process, executive director of human resources Michael Jennings said. Our goal is to work with every single one of our staff members at Grant and work through the reassignment process. ... Take care of them, take care of the students, and work with them through their reassignment to other positions.
Assessing schools
Two years ago, an economic downturn lit a fire under the Board Budget Committee, Jennings said.
The Facility Condition and Capacity Study was one facet of the budget committees ongoing district-wide assessment, Jennings said. The facility review committee was Jennings, Skatula and executive director business services Dennis Bay.
The committee looked at a range of criteria as they evaluated the districts facilities, including their financial stability, how efficiently they were run, the staff per site, the enrollment figures for the past three years, and the accessibility and location of the school.
As Skatula ticked off criteria, he stressed that they never looked at nor did we ever intend to look at any schools academic performance nor did we ever look at or intend to look at any schools socioeconomic status.
Grant checked a number of those boxes: Enrollment has been declining, it needs structural repairs, and its lack of off-street bus parking forced the district to close the street near it twice a day for dropping off and picking up students.
The school has one of if not the lowest enrollment in the district, Jennings said.
After seven years of steady growth, elementary enrollment has been declining since the economic downturn began two years ago, Jennings said. The district is down more than 200 elementary students during that time, though overall enrollment is nearly flat.
Educators had already planned to move students from Mills Elementary to a new building on the old CY Junior High site near Smiths grocery store. They will begin in their new school during the 2017-2018 calendar year.
Mills population made the decision several months ago to move en masse to the new Journey Elementary School, Skatula said.
New life for old schools
Once Grant is empty, it, like the other vacant schools, will be up for sale. Bay, the business services executive director, said theres already been interest in Mills school by the town of Mills. The district is preparing to enter into negotiations, and Bay said the town could use the building for something to serve the community, like a Boys and Girls Club.
It was a very good proposal, Bay said. And its all community-based.
The Salvation Army, a church group and a developer have all eyed some of the other vacant properties, Bay said.
We dont know yet. The trustees make the ultimate decision, he said. We will advertise for proposals for these groups to submit, and then the trustees, along with staff, will review those proposals.
LARAMIE Even as the University of Wyoming grapples with more than $40 million in budget cuts, President Laurie Nichols said she still holds out hope of offering pay raises to faculty and staff next year.
I cannot tell you that I have successfully achieved this yet until we get deeper into this budget, Nichols told the UW board of trustees on Thursday. But certainly Im working toward that. I havent given up trying to get that accomplished as well.
Nichols said there will be no pay raise this year.
The states only public, four-year university faces steep budget cuts mainly because of a drop in state funding brought on by a downturn in Wyomings energy economy. To account for the cuts, the university is looking at eliminating degree programs, cutting faculty and staff positions and increasing student fees.
The university has already identified $19 million in cuts in the current 2017 fiscal year, mostly by eliminating about 100 vacant positions and offering early-retirement incentives.
The university needs to make an additional $10 million in permanent reductions in fiscal year 2018.
Nichols said the university cannot meet its budget reduction goals without cutting personnel.
Since most of the employees who accepted an early retirement incentive this year were staff members, only faculty members will be eligible for the new early retirement program, she said.
Nichols said she hopes the reduction in faculty numbers will save $4 million, of which $2 million will be reinvested into recruiting new faculty in areas that need them.
Besides the budget cuts, the university also is looking to increase revenue through higher student academic fees, increased enrollment and already scheduled tuition increases.
CHEYENNE The Wyoming Highway Patrol records office is estimating that a public records request from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle concerning troopers deployed to the Dakota Access Pipeline protest area could cost $1,800 in labor and fees to complete.
The WTE submitted a written records request under the Wyoming Public Records Act on Oct. 31, asking for any and all documents, including email communication between the Highway Patrol and Gov. Matt Meads office regarding the deployment of state troopers to North Dakota.
Specifically, the request asked for documents authorizing the deployment, compensation for the troopers and the types of equipment they were sent with.
On Nov. 14, Highway Patrol records and data management specialist Kim McLees sent an email response with two of the requested documents. Additionally, she said that the request for copies of the emails would be very timely and costly due to a specific keyword search.
Citing a recent similar request, she said that the department was estimating 40 to 60 hours of labor time at $30 per hour (minus the first hour), equaling approximately $1,800 of labor costs and fees. She also estimated that it would take several weeks to complete the request after specific keywords were given to her department.
In a follow-up email, McLees said that redaction of the documents for personnel issues and security concerns would likely take up most of the labor time. She stressed that the 40 to 60 hours was simply an estimate and that this was one of the first such requests the Highway Patrol has dealt with.
An identical information request was made through Meads office on Oct. 31 as well. The requested document was mailed to the WTE on Nov. 4 at no charge.
By email, Richard Barrett, special counsel to the governor, said that request was expedited and taken out of order based on the limited extent and scope of the request and our ability to respond on an expedited basis.
Wyoming Press Associations Executive Director Jim Angell said it is his understanding of the state law surrounding public documents that the Highway Patrol cant charge for access. That said, new rules from the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information do allow for this practice in state services.
He said the estimated cost presented here was a huge barrier to the average person looking to see documents like this.
I will cut them some slack because they have apparently never had to comply with a request like this before, he said about the cost. But its an obstacle. Whether intentional or not, its an obstacle.
Angell went on to say that the Highway Patrol is essentially asking the newspaper to put the money upfront to see what the documents say and how long it will actually take. He said this issue, and others like it under the rules from the Department of Administration and Information, likely wouldnt be resolved until the Wyoming Supreme Courts decision is received in the case between the WTE and Laramie County School District 1 relating to emails sent between board members.
As we see these rules picked up by more agencies, expect to see more bills from $500 and up to look at documents the people already own, he said. How many people will pursue their right to watch government work when faced with a $1,800 bill?
LARAMIE A Laramie man accused of providing hydrocodone to his wife before she died has pleaded guilty.
Paul Harper, 36, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a single count of felony delivery of a controlled substance, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
According to court documents, Harper's wife Kaylee Harper died on July 8 due to respiratory depression created by a combination of ethanol and hydrocodone. The death was ruled accidental.
Police say Paul Harper gave his wife some of his prescribed hydrocodone tablets for back pain.
In court Thursday, Paul Harper said he no longer used hydrocodone for pain and instead takes Tylenol.
Q: I bought a 1950s-era house a couple years ago. My problem is that the previous owner added a room onto the existing carport. Now whenever theres a heavy rain in monsoon season, the room floods. Ive tried to fix it by tearing out some landscaping and adding drainage, but that didnt work. I thought about installing a French drain that would take the water down to the street. But the grade of the house is only about a foot above the street. How can I fix this?
A: You might be able to fix this problem by shoring up the structure of the roof and then cutting off the studs at the bottom of the wall where youre having a problem. You could then put concrete blocks on the slab to create a stem wall. Then you can waterproof the wall on the outside. You could probably try to do all this yourself, but it might be better to seek the help of a licensed contractor because additional steps might need to be taken.
Basically, changing a carport into a garage and then building an addition on the finished structure always requires building a masonry stem wall of about 6 to 8 inches high along the perimeter of the concrete slab of the carport. To build wood-framed walls on top of the stem wall, a series of 2x4 plates, studs and a bearing post must be tightly installed. Thats all part of the procedure that needs to be followed in order to get a building permit from the city for the change.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Saturday morning Rosie on the House radio program, heard from 8-11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson and from 9-11 a.m. on KGVY-AM (1080) and -FM (100.7) in Green Valley. Call 888-767-4348.
Arizonans continue to lose ground against the rest of the nation when it comes to income.
New figures Thursday from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show the states per capita personal income for 2015 at $39,156. Thats an increase of just slightly more than 3 percent from 2014.
By contrast, the same numbers for the country as a whole last year were $48,112, a boost of nearly 3.7 percent.
More to the point, it means that per capita income in Arizona is 81.4 percent of the national figure.
Its true that per capita income in Arizona has always been below the national figure. But the BEA finds a steady decline since 2006 when the state hit 91 percent.
Arizona now ranks No. 42 nationwide. And the trendline is not good.
In 1995, Arizona was 35th in the nation. It slid to 37th by 2000 and 38th five years after that and hit No. 40 in 2007.
And economist George Hammond, director of economic business research at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, figures Arizonas ranking against the national figure is likely to drop even more.
The figure is a simple math equation: Divide the number of Arizonans into the total income and you come up with a per capita figure.
Economist Elliott Pollack said that can color the figures.
Maybe there are more young people or maybe there are more older people who have simply dropped out of the labor force here than in other places, he said. Pollack cited data showing the labor participation rate in Arizona at the beginning of the year at about 57 percent, versus 63 percent nationally.
Hammond, however, said that doesnt explain everything. He teased out the earnings-per-worker figure for Arizona versus the rest of the country, a move designed to filter out those not in the workforce.
Whats going on is that Arizonas wages per worker have been gradually falling further and further behind the national average, Hammond said.
And he said you cant blame that on the fact that the state has a lot of service jobs and a decreasing number of manufacturing jobs.
Its not that were more concentrated in low-wage jobs than the national economy, Hammond explained. Its that our wages are lower than the national economy.
Pollack, however, said its not that simple.
Manufacturing jobs are disappearing in Arizona. The Office of Economic Opportunity reports there are currently about 158,000 people working in that sector; in 1998 there were more than 212,000.
Thats not unique to Arizona. But Pollack said its whats replacing those jobs that makes a difference.
What we have gotten is a lot of leisure and hospitality jobs, a lot of business and professional services, a lot of education and health services, he said, jobs that pay less. So it could be a (jobs) mix situation.
Daniel Scarpinato, press aide to Gov. Doug Ducey, said his boss is aware the problem.
He recognizes that we need to diversify our economy, that we need to focus on things like biotech and the sciences and technology and attracting companies from Silicon Valley, Scarpinato said, the ones with the high-wage jobs.
Hammond said wages are tied to the states relatively low level of educational attainment.
He said back in the 1940s the average Arizonan had more education than the national average. By 1980 it had pretty much evened off.
And now Hammond said its significantly below the national figure. That, he said, makes Arizona less attractive as a place for firms that need skilled workers for high-paying jobs.
It exactly is a chicken-and-the-egg problem, he said.
Firms are going to be reluctant to move to metro areas where they dont think they have an available labor supply, Hammond said. And he said while Arizona has historically been a magnet for people from other states workers arent going to move to an area where they dont think there are going to be jobs.
Scarpinato said Ducey supports a public-private partnership to get 60 percent of Arizonans to have some degree or certificate beyond high school; the current figure is 42 percent.
And there may be something else. Put simply, while the summers can be blistering literally the weather is nicer here in the winter than lots of other places
Climate matters, Hammond said.
He said per capita personal income is a key measure of the standard of living.
But its also important to keep in mind that its not everything, he said, which is why some people dont like using that metric to measure economic viability.
They know that they feel happier here, Hammond. They dont feel like theyre 42nd in the nation as part of their happiness.
And that, in turn, figures into what Hammond calls the elasticity of labor supply.
When wages start to rise in Arizona, people are so willing to move here that theyll move in and push the wages down, he said.
But dont look to cost of living to explain the lower wages.
Certainly there are more expensive places. But the website Bestplaces.net finds that, on average, it costs about 3 percent more to live in Arizona than the national figure, with more expensive housing and groceries but cheaper utilities and miscellaneous services.
There is only one thing on the agenda for an emergency Tucson City Council meeting set for Friday morning Raytheon Missile Systems.
The council is expected to head into a closed-door meeting with its lawyers, apparently to discuss economic development incentives for a major expansion expected by the regions largest private employer.
Details of the incentives have not been disclosed. Closed-door meetings are legally allowed for negotiating economic incentives. The state is also reportedly offering financial incentives to encourage Raytheons expansion in Tucson.
Two county officials recently confirmed Raytheon is considering a major expansion of its Tucson manufacturing operations that could create nearly 2,000 new jobs with high-paying salaries.
The company has major manufacturing operations at its headquarters site next to Tucson International Airport and at the University of Arizona Tech Park on South Rita Road.
Officially, the executive session is about an amendment to a pre-annexation and incentives agreement the city has with Raytheon.
The agreement, last updated in 2009, covers a number of areas, including fire and emergency medical response inside the Raytheon annexation district as well as a special taxing district designed to offset some of the costs of expansion.
However, the maps included in the 51-page document dont reflect property purchased by the county near Raytheon in 2012 to provide a buffer for the company.
The buffer area was identified in 2010 as essential to facilitate Raytheons expansion as it was one of the reasons Tucson lost out to Huntsville, Alabama, for Raytheons new missile facility in 2009.
Officials said at the time that Raytheon didnt have enough room at its south-side Tucson site to handle the new contract.
The scheduling of the Tucson City Council emergency session suggests an imminent announcement from the company, as the council was already scheduled to meet next week.
John Patterson, a spokesman for Raytheon Missile Systems, would not comment.
City Manager Mike Ortega wouldnt discuss specifics.
I asked the mayor and council to meet because we want to discuss this important issue as soon as possible and a meeting (Friday) morning allows us to accommodate everyones busy schedule, he said.
City Councilman Steve Kozachik said he supports efforts to help Raytheon grow in Tucson.
Its all about putting the tools in place to allow them to grow and bring high-paying jobs into the community, he said Thursday night.
Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, was guardedly optimistic. He said while he didnt know anything specific, he hopes the amendment is a necessary step before a major expansion announcement from Raytheon.
The pre-annexation agreement between the city and Raytheon itself dates to 1995, with documents referring to the company as Hughes Missile Systems. Raytheon acquired Hughes in 1997.
Cheesecake Factory thinks Sam Fox may be onto something with his North Italia and Flower Child restaurants.
The California-based chain, with 193 Cheesecake Factory restaurants scattered throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, has become a minority equity partner in the two concepts with Fox and will provide ongoing capital for Fox Restaurant Concepts to grow the concepts, according to a report this week in Nation's Restaurant News.
According to the agreement, Fox will continue with daily operations of the restaurants and Cheesecake Factory has the option to acquire majority or full ownership in either or both.
North Italia and Flower Child are such exciting brands within our family," Fox, the Tucson native and founder of Fox Restaurants Concepts, told Nation's Restaurant News. After spending a good amount of time with (Cheesecake Factory chairman and CEO David Overton) and his team, it became very clear to me that we share the same values in terms of our commitment to delivering amazing food and hospitality to our guests, while also recognizing that our team members are our greatest asset.
The Cheesecake Factory deal is similar to the one P.F. Chang's owner Centerbridge Partners had with Fox for True Food Kitchen, the Andrew Weill-inspired healthful food restaurant Fox launched in Phoenix in 2008. Centerbridge took over the concept in 2012; it now has 15 locations mostly in California and five set to open in the next 18 months.
In early 2015, Fox sold his fast-casual Sauce Pizza and Wine Bar concept to Scott Kilpatrick and Todd Belfer, founders of the Ra Sushi chain. There are four Sauce locations in Tucson including at 7117 N. Oracle Road in the Casas Adobes Plaza, next to Fox's flagship restaurant Wildflower.
Tucson Festival of Books
What: Two days of exhibits, presentations, panel discussions and hands-on activities with about 400 authors that attract more than 130,000 book-lovers.
When: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 11 and March 12.
Where: University of Arizona campus.
Cost: Admission is free.
Sponsors: The UA and the Arizona Daily Star. Net proceeds will promote literacy in Southern Arizona through the Tucson Festival of Books, a nonprofit organization.
More information: tucsonfestivalofbooks.org
Up with People an international musical organization announced the launch of the Bill Holmes Legacy Fund, a $250,000 campaign to support scholarships for the graduates of two Catholic high schools in Tucson.
The funds will assist graduates of San Miguel and St. Augustine high schools who wish to travel with Up with People, campaign organizers announced during a news conference Thursday at the Jewish Community Center .
The Bill Holmes Legacy Fund is really an investment in the future of Tucson, said Dale Penny, chief executive officer of Up with People.
Our vision is that students from these two schools will return to Tucson after their time in Up with People and leverage their experience to impact the community, just as Bill Holmes did as a result of his time in Up with People, said Penny in a news release.
In July, Holmes suffered a brain aneurysm and died. He was described by campaign organizers as a key leader in Tucsons business and philanthropic communities.
He grew up in very humble circumstances in Yuma and spent three years on the staff of Up with People, said Dana Cooper, a campaign committee member.
Cooper said Holmes had said that the experience altered his life and sent him into a career of community leadership. He served on more than a dozen local nonprofit boards of directors, and San Miguel and St. Augustine high schools held a special place in Holmes heart, said Cooper.
Up with People will return to Tucson in March for a week of community service and will perform two shows at the Fox Tucson Theatre with proceeds benefiting the legacy fund, said Cooper. The shows are March 17 and 18.
The musical groups appearance is being presented by Doug and Claudia Zanes, of Zanes Law. We were blessed to be among the many, many people in Tucson who were friends of Bill Holmes, said Doug Zanes in the release.
We are proud and honored to help launch this effort to continue Bills incredible legacy by enriching the lives of Tucson youth, said Zanes.
About five masked gunmen brazenly entered a south-side church Wednesday night and robbed dozens of women and children, physically forcing some to the ground and taking their purses.
The robbers pointed their guns at the women who were gathered for a meeting at Ministerios Dios Es Mi Fuerza (God is My Strength Ministries) at 3918 S. Sixth Ave., said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. The church is on storefront property south of Ajo Way.
Some of the women suffered minor injuries.
No one was taken to a hospital, but some went on their own to seek medical attention, Dugan said.
Shortly after 7 p.m., officers were sent to the church to a report of robbers and learned that the men had fled in two vehicles.
There were between 35 and 50 women attending a faith-based, interdenominational group meeting when the masked men entered the building.
The gun-wielding men began shouting at the victims, telling them to get on the floor, Dugan said.
They demanded that the women give up their purses and were running around gathering the purses before they left the church, he said.
The robbers, who spoke in Spanish and English, were believed to be in their late teens to early 20s, Dugan said. Investigators did not release descriptions of the robbers or of their vehicles.
After the robbers left the church, many of the terrified victims left in their cars without remaining to be questioned by police, said Dugan.
Detectives are asking victims to call 520-589-8846, a special message line to leave information about the robbery. Information can be left in English or Spanish, Dugan said.
We are reaching out to the public to call 88-CRIME with any information they may have, said Dugan, adding that witnesses also may leave information on the special message line set up by detectives.
A project to rebuild a sustainable herd of bighorn sheep in the Catalina Mountains is now considered a success and no more mountain lions will be killed for preying on bighorns, state wildlife officials said Thursday.
The specialist that was responsible for lethally removing mountain lions for preying on bighorns worked under a contract, said Mark Hart, spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. That contract lapsed yesterday and we are not renewing it.
Eight lions have been killed for preying on sheep since the reintroduction effort in the Catalinas north of Tucson began in 2013. The killings have brought an outcry from many citizens who maintain that its wrong to kill mountain lions for doing what predators must do to survive and feed their young.
Hart said the current bighorn population is estimated at 65 animals. Plans call for bringing an additional 20 sheep to the Catalinas from the Yuma area next week to further bolster the herd, he said.
The number of animals living in the range following that translocation of bighorns from the Yuma area will amount to a sustainable population, said members of a citizens advisory committee working with Game and Fish on the bighorn reintroduction.
The project has reached a point of equilibrium success, said Brian Dolan, a past president of the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and a member of the advisory committee. Its our belief that with that additional number of animals were going to be able to end the active pursuit of mountain lions.
Its a fulfillment of a couple decades of my life.
Mike Quigley, another committee member and the Arizona state director of the Wilderness Society, said, The initial goal of this project was to have a viable herd of desert bighorn sheep living in the Catalinas in equilibrium with a healthy native predator population.
From the beginning of this project, our intervention in that process was supposed to be limited and of short-term duration, Quigley said. I think its a real step forward today that were ending the active pursuit of mountain lions that kill bighorn sheep.
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems plans to expand its Southern Arizona operations and add nearly 2,000 jobs over five years, potentially adding billions of dollars to the local economy.
Raytheon announced the expansion Friday, after reaching tentative agreements with officials of the city, county and state on potentially tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks and related incentives.
The Tucson City Council on Friday morning signed off on an agreement with Raytheon already the areas largest private employer with more than 10,000 local workers that will allow the company to build on city-owned land near its airport operations.
A city council vote is expected Tuesday on an amended annexation agreement and potential tax incentives.
Also on Tuesday, the county board of supervisors will consider a number of its own incentives, including support for the company's application for a free-trade zone designation, which would reduce Raytheon's property tax burden by about $16 million over the next 10 years.
The county incentive package also includes support for additional road infrastructure projects and restrictions on county-owned land adjacent to Raytheon. Supervisor Sharon Bronson told the Star Friday that the measure has her vote and expects it "to be approved."
The state has offered Raytheon $5 million through the Arizona Commerce Authority's deal-closing fund, known as Arizona Competes, authority spokeswoman Susan Marie said.
Details of that deal are still under negotiation, Marie said, but she noted that funds are conditioned on applicants hitting certain hiring and wage goals and are paid out incrementally as they hit certain milestones.
Raytheon said it plans to hire workers at all skill levels, with an emphasis on engineering and other higher-wage, technical positions.
Job creation, facilities expansion and production is expected to result in billions of dollars of economic impact for Arizona over 10 years, the city said. The additional property taxes that activity generates will be dramatically more than the taxes the county forgoes as a part of its proposed incentive deal, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote in a memo to the board Friday.
The company has seen renewed growth in its missile programs due to U.S. and allied demand for its products, which include the Tomahawk cruise missile, the AMRAAM and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and the Standard Missile series of ship-defense and ballistic-missile interceptors, Missile Systems President Taylor Lawrence said in a conference call today.
He credited local and state officials with helping Raytheon to grow by establishing a buffer area around the company's plant on the south side of Tucson International Airport and working to create a competitive incentive package.
The strong support we receive from state and local organizations is essential to our expansion plans, and will help provide Raytheon with the workforce and infrastructure to meet the growing demand we are seeing from our customers, Lawrence said.
Besides the city, Raytheon said its partners in the expansion initiative include Gov. Ducey, the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, Sun Corridor Inc., Tucson Electric Power and the Tucson Airport Authority.
On a conference call with Gov. Doug Ducey, Lawrence said details on the pace of hiring and the programs the company plans to grow or add will come later.
But he said the company has seen growth across its 20 "franchise" weapons programs and is in contention for some major new programs, such as development of hypersonic missiles.
"We're expecting a number of competitions to be decided this year," Lawrence said. "We're kind of growing across the board."
Lawrence praised local and state officials for responding to Raytheon's concerns after the company passed over Tucson in 2010 and chose Huntsville, Alabama, as the site of a new missile plant.
That decision was made because of the lack of adequate buffer space around Raytheon's airport plant and because Alabama offered a generous incentive package, Lawrence said.
After the city, county and airport worked to relocate a road south of Raytheon and swapped land to create an aerospace business park nearby, the buffer issue has been "completely resolved," Lawrence said.
Ducey called the Raytheon expansion a big win for the state and the latest example of a rebounding Southern Arizona economy, citing hundreds of new Tucson-area jobs announced by Comcast, Caterpillar, HomeGoods and human-resources systems provider ADP.
"This is great news and just more proof that Southern Arizona's economy is on fire," Ducey said.
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said some aspects of the city's deal are still being negotiated with defense contractor. However, a final council vote is scheduled Tuesday night.
"What we are hoping to do on Tuesday is bring to Council an agreement with Raytheon that would enable Raytheon to bring an additional 1,900 jobs, at least, to Tucson," Rothschild said.
As a result of the deal, the company could spend upwards of $400 million in new construction on city-owned land near Tucson International Airport, Rothschild said.
"It is a complicated deal so we will be working over the weekend to finalize the tight language," he said.
The mayor says he hopes Raytheon will build as soon as possible and expects Raytheon to break ground next year.
The amended agreement will extend the time frame of the current annexation agreement and tie tax incentives to Raytheons completion of the expansion project and creation of the new jobs, said Mike Rankin, the city attorney.
Besides the funding offered through the state's deal-closing fund, Raytheon also apparently qualifies for a refundable state income tax credit available to companies making capital investments to build or expand certain facilities, Marie said, but the company has not yet applied for that program.
The company has major manufacturing operations at its headquarters site next to Tucson International Airport and at the University of Arizona Tech Park on South Rita Road.
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems plans to expand its Southern Arizona operations by adding nearly 2,000 jobs over a five year period, the company announced Friday morning.
Raytheon, already the region's biggest private employer, said it plans to hire workers at all skill levels with an emphasis on engineering and other higher-wage, technical positions.
Job creation, facilities expansion and operational output is expected to result in billions of dollars of economic impact for Arizona over 10 years.
City officials are working on a tax-incentive deal to help Raytheon expand.
In the deal, the company could spend $400 million in new construction on city-owned land near Tucson International Airport, Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said.
These rewarding, high technology jobs will support Raytheons growth and bring even more top talent to this region, said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. The strong support we receive from state and local organizations is essential to our expansion plans, and will help provide Raytheon with the workforce and infrastructure to meet the growing demand we are seeing from our customers.
Partners in the expansion initiative include the state of Arizona, Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, City of Tucson, Sun Corridor Inc., Tucson Electric Power and the Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucsons police chief said Thursday that he wont change police policies on immigration enforcement, despite President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to round up and deport up to 3 million immigrants with criminal records.
Chief Chris Magnus said the Tucson Police Department has worked hard over the past several years to develop a relationship of trust and partnership with the immigrant community and that saddling local police with more immigration enforcement responsibilities would seriously compromise that trust.
It is important our residents understand that the policies and practices put in place over the past decade to direct and clarify how our officers interact with undocumented persons and handle immigration enforcement issues are not changing, the chief said in a written statement in response to media questions.
The Tucson Police Departments general orders on immigration policy, which were updated on Oct. 12, say that officers cant stop a person unless they believe he or she is involved in criminal activity. If the encounter is during a lawful stop and the officer develops suspicion that the person might be undocumented, the officer must make a reasonable attempt to determine the persons immigration status, unless its not practicable.
In determining whether it is practicable, officers should consider things such as workload, criticality of incident and of other present duties, available personnel on scene, location, available backup, ability to contact ICE/CBP and availability of ICE/CBP, the policy states, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Officers also need to consider if pursuing the persons immigration status could hinder or obstruct a criminal investigation, the policy says.
Under Arizonas immigration law, known as SB 1070, police are required to try to check the status of anyone they stop if they believe the suspect is in the country illegally. The so-called show us your papers provision took effect in 2012 and has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Magnus said TPD will continue to work with federal law enforcement partners and abide by all federal and state laws that regulate immigration and protect civil rights.
This means we make notifications associated with certain contacts and arrests when the individuals involved are a direct threat to public safety, are wanted for serious crimes, or have federal arrest warrants, he said.
If residents think that reporting a crime, seeking help from police or working with the department to improve safety in their neighborhoods could cause them to be detained or deported, the community becomes less secure, Magnus said in his statement.
We will not compromise our commitment to community policing and public safety by taking on immigration enforcement responsibilities that appropriately rest with federal authorities, he added. Magnus said through a spokesman that he would not answer follow-up questions from reporters.
Shortly after his Nov. 8 election, Trump promised to deport 2 million to 3 million immigrants who have been convicted of crimes.
Its unclear what role local law enforcement agencies would play and if, or how, they would be asked to assist under Trumps plans.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Monday that he also wont change his departments stance on immigration enforcement despite Trumps pledge to toughen federal immigration laws and deport millions of people upon taking office.
Sheriff-elect Napier will wait and see
Pima County Sheriff-elect Mark Napier, a Republican who begins his term Jan. 1, said Thursday that he hadnt yet made a decision about immigration enforcement policies, as there are still too many unknowns.
He hasnt had access or time to review all of the Sheriffs Departments policies and procedures, and isnt yet familiar with the current direction when it comes to immigration enforcement, he said.
It is also not completely clear what all the nuances of President-elect Trumps approach will be or how it might change our current practices, Napier said. I will be reviewing the issue when I assume office in January and when more is known about how Trumps plan might impact law enforcement at a local level.
In February, current Sheriff Chris Nanos, a Democrat defeated by Napier in the Nov. 8 election, said the Pima County jail notifies immigration authorities when a person theyre looking for is about to be released. If those authorities dont pick up the person, he or she is released from jail.
As of now, Napier doesnt intend to change that policy when he takes office, saying that he trusts that if immigration officials have placed a hold on an individual, its for a bona fide criminal justice purpose and that person is believed to be a significant risk to public safety.
AMMAN, Jordan The U.S. Embassy in Jordan on Thursday disputed Amman's claim that U.S. trainers sparked a deadly shooting incident at a Jordanian military base this month by disobeying orders from Jordanian soldiers. The shooting killed three Americans.
The three slain Americans were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They were identified as 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, of Lawrence, Kansas; 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe of Tucson, Arizona; and 27-year-old Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty of Kerrville, Texas.
They died after the convoy they were in came under fire as it entered the al-Jafr air base in southern Jordan on Nov. 4. The Americans were in Jordan on a training mission.
Embassy spokesman Eric Barbee told The Associated Press on Thursday that U.S. investigators are considering all possible motives and "have not yet ruled out terrorism."
After the shooting, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported that the slain American military trainers had disobeyed direct orders from Jordanian troops, which led to a deadly exchange of small-arms fire.
Barbee said there's "absolutely no credible evidence" for the claim. Jordan later issued a different statement removing the claim.
A fourth American soldier was wounded in the incident, as well as the Jordanian soldier who opened fire and has not yet been identified.
Brett McGurk, the White House envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group, said Jordan's King Abdullah II expressed condolences over the deaths of the Americans.
McGurk also said an investigation is ongoing and praised Jordan's role in the fight against IS, which holds territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
After 17 years working as a registered nurse in the Tucson VA system, Diane Suter says she was taken aback when a manager first pressured her to falsely record patient wait times in 2014.
Suter, 62, had just started a new job scheduling patients at a Southern Arizona VA Health Care System primary care clinic on South Sixth Avenue. Wait times were often one to three months long, but revealing the true wait times in the computer system meant the doctor missed out on bonus pay, Suters nurse manager told her.
She said, Your appointments are over two weeks out and youre costing your doctor money, Suter said. The manager showed her how to zero out wait times on their computerized scheduling system: Suter was told to input a patients desired appointment date as the same day as the scheduled appointment date, so it would appear there was no wait time, she said.
Suter complied after her manager strongly implied shed be fired if she refused. But her dogged whistleblower complaints to VA regulators and legislators contributed to the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector Generals decision to investigate the Tucson VA starting in April.
The resulting Office of Inspector General report substantiated much of what Suter alleged about wait-time manipulation and misconduct at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.
The report, released Nov. 9, recommended disciplinary action for staff who encouraged the falsifications. The report found:
Between December 2013 and August 2014, 76 percent of appointments in the Ocotillo Primary Care Clinic where Suter worked had a zero-day wait time.
In fiscal year 2013, Ocotillo clinic physicians got bonuses based in part on the percentage of patients with appointments scheduled within 14 days of their requested date. Doctor pay did not appear to be based on wait times in the following three fiscal years.
Training materials from 2014 advised staff workers to mark the patients desired appointment date as the same as the actual appointment date in some scenarios, in violation of VA policy. Some time after the fallout from the Phoenix VA wait-time scandal in mid-2014, the training materials were updated to align with VA scheduling policy.
Tucson VA spokesman Luke Johnson said in an email the practices described in the report are inappropriate and are not consistent with our ... core values of integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect and excellence.
The OIG also issued a separate report on Nov. 8 summarizing allegations about the Tucson VA dating to 2012, and subsequent investigations. Among the reports conclusions: Tucsons VA staff kept 400 orthopedic and 600 urologic appointment requests on pieces of paper, instead of in the electronic scheduling system.
A staff member who told senior leaders about these practices said that her concerns were dismissed, the report said.
Johnson said the VA apologizes to veterans for these practices, which are no longer occurring.
These reports are related to practices dating as far back as 2008, and we have made significant changes since then, he said.
Two years ago the Phoenix VA Health Care System was at the center of the scandal over dishonest scheduling practices and dangerously long wait times for veterans seeking care.
An OIG report found 1,700 patients at the Phoenix VA hospital were put on unofficial waiting lists. Veterans there waited an average of 115 days for their first appointment, but the facility reported an average wait time of 24 days, which could have led to bonuses for Phoenix VA leadership, the report said.
At the time, an OIG review did not identify problems at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.
Doctors and nurses performance pay is no longer tied to wait times, Johnson said.
Even before the recent OIG report was released, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System reviewed scheduling practices and has trained staff to be in compliance with federal VA procedures. Johnson encourages VA staff to speak up if unethical practices are still happening.
If there are any scheduling issues or concerns, leadership wants to know about them so they can be addressed, he said.
An underlying systemic problem is physician staffing issues at VA hospitals, including difficulty recruiting specialists, Johnson said. In the past couple of years, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System has hired 100 new staff members and is reviewing physician compensation to improve recruitment and retention, he said.
These initiatives have helped enhance access to care for our veterans, he said.
Johnson said that in September, wait times for primary care appointments at the Tucson VA averaged less than four days; specialty care wait times were about six days; and mental health appointments were less than three days.
Vietnam War veteran Ray Murphy, 67, said Friday he was a little shocked by the news of the wait-time fraud at Tucsons VA. Hes had only positive experiences there getting treatment for hearing problems, and his wait times are usually less than 30 days, he said. But Murphy said he has a couple of friends who have experienced very long wait times to see specialists.
I think personally that the Tucson VA is really good, said Murphy, who served three tours in Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Navy and still deals with the effects of exposure to Agent Orange. But for veterans in need of timely urgent care, he said, if theyre not getting it, thats not good.
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., said in a Friday email that she asked the OIG to investigate the Tucson VA after hearing from Suter. In a statement, she called the results of the OIG report infuriating and unacceptable.
I dont see how the VA can earn back the trust of our veterans until these systemic problems are fixed once and for all, she said.
After Suter objected to unethical scheduling practices, she suffered retaliation and a hostile work environment, leading her to leave the VA in August 2014 and seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.
The nurse manager who compelled her to falsify wait times still works at the Tucson VA, Suter said.
Johnson said the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System has appointed an administrative investigative board to review the practices identified in the OIG report.
The scope and level of necessary personnel actions will be determined based upon the findings of this board, he said.
PHOENIX The State Bar of Arizona and a former defense lawyer for Jodi Arias are asking a state judge to suspend him from the practice of law for four years over the book he wrote about the murder case.
The recommendation is based on a consent decree in which Kirk Nurmi admits breaching attorney-client confidentiality.
Nurmi was accused of violating attorney ethics rules by revealing in his book the content of confidential conversations he had with Arias and her family and revealing evidence ruled inadmissible.
If the presiding disciplinary judge approves the agreement, Nurmi avoids a disciplinary hearing and possible disbarment.
The judge has the option of accepting, rejecting or modifying the consent agreement and Arias also has the ability to object.
Help India!
By A Mirsab and Imran Inamdar, TwoCircles.net
Generally, people confine their religious activities to worship of the almighty. Some spend most of their time at Masjids offering prayers, teaching religious texts to students at Madrassa and giving charities.
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Fifty-nine year old retired teacher Usman Jamadar is not a person who is content with this fashion of activities: he does something significant that he views as religious as well as a social activity. He offers training to aspiring Hajis free of cost before they board their flights. He also plays mediator in resolving domestic disputes.
Usman Jamadar
In the 80s, I used to work in Saudi and saw Indians struggling when they come to perform Hajj. I had a feeling to train these Hajis before they come to Saudi so that they can perform Hajj with ease, Jamadar says why he thought of taking this work of training aspiring Hajis every year.
He is into this work ever since he returned to India in 1989. He was working with a Mecca-based hospital before he came back to India. After his return, he joined one high school at Solapur district in Maharashtra and would spend most of his time increasing awareness about mandatory Hajj rituals that the Hajis would have to perform and how they can cope up with the weather in Saudi Arabia, which would be very different from the local weather.
Explaining about the hardship that Hajis usually face, Jamadar says, People read in books about the mandatory arkaans (rituals) and places to be visited while performing Hajj. But when they finally come to Saudi, they face difficulties and cannot properly perform all arkaans. Therefore it was very important that these aspiring Hajis are given training with visual demonstrations before they land in Saudi.
In the past 27 years, he has trained thousands of Hajis from Solpaur District and neighboring cities without charging any money from them. He considers this work as duty to mankind as well as to almighty.
I get inner satisfaction after giving trainings to these Hajis. It gives me pleasure that my experience helps people in decreasing their hardships during Hajj. In return I only expect reward from almighty; if my training helped His servants in properly performing obligatory rituals in Mecca and Madina, says Jamadar.
According to Altaf Siddiqui, a close aid of Jamadar, training is a must for every Haji before landing in Saudi and therefore one must have some idea about what and where to perform rituals.
I am assisting Usman sir for the past 10 years. His way of training Hajis is really impressive. He always uses simple language and demonstrates everything nicely, which helps in understanding Hajj duties very easily. This training helps Hajis to perform Hajj hassle free, says Siddique.
He further says that after coming back from Hajj they always receive very positive feedback from all the Hajis.
As Jamadar is attached with Tablighi Jamaat, he holds good respect amongst the community and is a known personality, especially in Solapur district. Due to his high stature and acceptability in the society, people often bring their domestic disputes to him and ask him to mediate in resolving those issues.
Yes, this is also one of the works that I do to please almighty. I arrange meetings of elders from both the parties (groom and bride) at my home and try my best in resolving their dispute so that the marriage can be maintained and either party should not go to court, Jamadar explains how he carries mediation between disputing parties.
Irfan SM, a retired government employee from the city, has nothing but praise for Jamadar for his devotion towards social causes. He says, I have known him for many years. He is a devoted person who has changed hundreds of lives. Apart from conducting Hajj guidance programs, he is also a good domestic counselor; he has resolved hundreds of domestic disputes.
In addition to this, Jamadar leads Muslim prisoners in prayers during Eid at Central prison in Solapur and gives them sermons.
I dont remember if I had offered Eid prayer at mosque or Eidgah (place where special Eid prayers is offered) in last two decades anywhere but at jail. It gives me pleasure that I could spend some time with prisoners on Eid when they cannot meet their family, Jamadar expresses his happiness for offering yearly Eid prayer at jail.
He also adds, I not only lead them in prayers but counsel them too. I make them feel that they have wronged themselves and they should mend their ways. After their release many came to meet me and asked for guidance in learning Islam. Many came along with me in three or ten days jamaat and became devoted.
One of his students Asif Iqbal, a headmaster, accompanies Jamadar during jail visit. Expressing his thought over this distinguished service of his teacher, he says, He speaks eloquently with the prisoners. Prisoners listen to sir very carefully and feel much attached to him. I saw many prisoners of promising him that they would become responsible Muslim after coming out of jail.
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The government of malaysia through its Ministry of Education (MoE) and Microsoft has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to encourage the use of ICT in teaching and learning underscoring the importance of 21st century learning for classrooms, teachers, and students alike.
In line with Shift 7 in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to leverage ICT to scale up quality learning across the nation both MoE and Microsoft would work towards equipping the schools in Malaysia with the resources, training, expertise and technologies to help them better prepare students for life and work in the 21st century.
It would also provide teachers with tools, forums and resources to build communities where they can collaborate, share ideas and best practices, while accessing quality content. The ultimate objective of the MoU is to empower students to incorporate ICT in their schoolwork and learning.
Celebrating the partnership, YB Dato Seri Mahdzir bin Khalid, Minister of Education, said: The Ministry aspires to create an education system that prepares Malaysias children for the rapidly globalizing world. We are actively pursuing innovations to integrate ICT into teaching and learning in a meaningful way that would address needs of students and educators. Our partnership with Microsoft will play a pivotal role in realizing the potential of ICT to scale up quality learning across Malaysia.
We will continue to partner with them to construct an education system that is geared to meet the challenges of the 21st-century economy.
Partnership with schools
As part of this MoU, MOE will identify a range of schools from high performance to rural schools which will be a part of the Microsoft Showcase Schools Program.
These are defined as schools that are engaged in digital transformation to improve learning outcomes.
Together, Microsoft and MOE will then engage these schools, in which Microsoft with the advisory and guidance of the Educational Technology Division (ETD) will develop ICT-related resources like content and tools to enhance digital literacy.
Engaging teachers
As part of this partnership, Microsoft and MOE will also provide content and trainers to sharpen the digital skills of teachers. The training would be based on Microsofts 21st Century Learning Design, which looks at aspects like collaboration, self-regulation, using ICT, knowledge construction, skilled communication and creativity and problem-solving.
To encourage uptake of digital learning, the partnership encourages and showcases best practices. Every year, 100 educators will be selected and recognized as Microsoft Innovative Educators educator visionaries who are using technology to pave the way for their peers for better learning and student outcomes.
Benefits for students
Students ultimately benefit from this MoU, as they build on their 21st-century skills to ultimately improve employability, and lead more productive lives in the future.
Commenting on the MoU, K Raman, Managing Director, Microsoft Malaysia said, We applaud the efforts of the Ministry of Education and are thrilled to build together an effective platform for communication and collaboration amongst Malaysian school stakeholders. Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we remain committed to promoting 21st-century learning in Malaysia. We have some the worlds finest ICT solutions that will help the government, schools and educators to leverage the power of information technology and harness their potential in the digital ecosystem.
About Me
I am an urban/commercial district revitalization and transportation/mobility advocate and consultant and a principal in BicyclePASS, a bicycle facilities systems integration firm, based in Washington, DC. Urban economic competitiveness is dependent on efficient transit and mixed use, compact places. Therefore, I end up writing mostly about mobility and urban design. While I am based in and write about Washington, DC issues, I try to write so that "universal lessons" are evident in the entries.
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As reports of hate crimes and the harassment of Muslims across the country continue to rise, the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group is calling for a criminal investigation of an apparent hate crime targeting a San Francisco Bay Area woman who is not Muslim.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is seeking the investigation after the woman -- Nicki Pancholy -- returned from a hike in Fremonts Mission Peak Regional Preserve on Monday and found someone had smashed a window of her car, stolen her purse and left a note with the scribbling, "Hijab wearing b---- this is our nation now get the f--- out."
Victim was wearing scarf for protection from the sun
The 41-year-old Pancholy believes that someone targeted her car in the mistaken belief that the bandana she was wearing was an Islamic head scarf, or hijab. As it turns out Pancholy is not Muslim, but wears a bandana to protect her head from the sun because she suffers from Lupus, a disease, that among other issues, can make a person more sensitive to the sun.
Californians of all faiths and backgrounds should be free of harassment and intimidation as they go about their daily lives, Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of CAIR, said in a statement condemning the incident. Local police should investigate this incident as a possible violation of our states criminal statutes.
CAIR, other groups reporting spike in hate incidents
The incident comes as CAIR and other groups are reporting a dramatic increase in incidents targeting Muslims and other minority groups across the country since Donald Trump won the presidential election. The Southern Poverty Law Group says from the day after the election through Monday it had collected 437 reports of hateful intimidation and harassment.
In many of those incidents, according to the group, there were direct references to the Trump campaign and its slogans. Also this week, the FBI released a report that showed that hate crimes against Muslims across the country surged 67 percent from 2014 to 2015.
In the Fremont incident, Pancholy tells local television station NBC Bay Area that she was in shock when she saw her smashed window and the note.
That someone would feel so much hate to do this, she told the station. I realize this is the climate after the election But I didnt realize someone would be so ignorant and in so much pain to cause so much harm.
Truth-out.org published an interview with professor Noam Chomsky earlier this week, an interview that covered an array of topics that had to do with Donald Trump and American politics. One question that C.J. Polychroniou asked the professor was "Do you see any resemblance between Brexit and Donald Trump's victory?", one that Chomsky answered by drawing "definite similarities to Brexit, and also to the rise of the ultranationalist far-right parties in Europe." As Chomsky sees it Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, and Viktor Orban are political individuals in Europe that regard Trump "as one of their own."
Who are Farage, Le Pen, and Orban?
Nigel Farage is a figure active in the British political scene.
Farage, who is an interim head of the UK's Independent Party, is known for being pro-Brexit and he met with Trump recently in New York. By virtue of his own tweets, Farage has marketed himself as a man that can improve American/British relations going forward. On November 14th he tweeted from his verified account: "The British government needs to mend fences to improve US-UK relations - I can help." With 533K followers, he has about 3.5% of the followers that Trump has, however he's a figure that could gain more popularity as a British reflection of Trump. That said, the next British election isn't until May of 2020.
The British government needs to mend fences to improve US-UK relations I can help. https://t.co/1k78tf7oFK Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 14, 2016
Marine Le Pen is a French politician known for relaxing racist, nazi-like, and antisemitic attitudes in her political party, one known as the National Front party.
She was spotlighted in a recent CNN article by Melissa Bell, Saskya Vandoorne, and Bryony Jones (November 15th). She is quoted in that article as stating "Donald Trump has made possible what was presented as completely impossible. So it's a sign of hope for those who cannot bear wild globalization."
Unlike Britain, France's next election is coming up soon (April/May 2017).
I think we all have a bad taste in our mouths when it comes to political polling in North America after the Trump/Clinton pollsters missed everything. But, take it or leave it, Le Pen is the betting favorite to win the French presidency with betway sportsbook while most other ones make Alain Juppe (centre right) the favorite.
Viktor Orban is a lesser figure in European politics, because he's a part of a less-powerful country. He is the currently the Prime Minister of Hungary (right wing) with elections in that country about a year and half away (spring 2018). Orban celebrated Trump's victory according to an article with The Independent: "Hungarian PM Viktor Orban celebrates Donald Trump victory as end of liberal non-democracy" (November 12th headline/Lucy Pasha-Robinson).
Chomsky sees Europe's fascist WWII days
As Chomsky sees it, the rise of "ultranationalist far-right parties in Europe" and the rise of Trump are "quite frightening" developments. "A look at the polls," Chomsky said, "...cannot fail to evoke unpleasant memories for those familiar with the 1930s, even more so for those who watched directly, as I did as a child. I can still recall listening to Hitler's speeches, not understanding the words, though the tone and audience reaction were chilling enough."
The third and last of the 2016 Presidential Debates will kick off tonight giving Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton their final face-off before the voters put one of the two in the White House. While Trump and Clinton will have plenty to say, don't forget to keep an eye out for some of the visuals that will grace the debate stage tonight, some may actually tell a story!
Watch for that tie!
Donald Trump wore a blue tie for the first of the 2016 Presidential Debates and while he held his own, the first debate was unremarkable for him and Hillary was seen as the winner, according to Hollywood Life.
Ironically, blue being the color most associated with the Democrats, was the color Trump donned in a tie. Red, which is considered the color most associated with the Republican Party was sported by Hillary. She wore a red pants suit for the first debate.
Then at the second 2016 Presidential Debate, they switched and donned their own party's colors, with Hillary adorned in a navy blue pants suit. When Trump walked on the stage for the second presidential debate he was sporting a bright red tie and coming right out of the gate he kicked butt! Chances are if he has the least bit of superstition in his bones, he will sport a red tie again.
According to "Fox and Friends" live, Trump will come to the podium tonight trailing Hillary Clinton by six points.
Points don't mean a thing to a professor who has 100% accuracy in predicting the next president since 1984. He does this using a rather scientific method and he is well respected in his field. Using his full-proof method, he has put Trump as the next U.S. President.
Lurking from behind again?
While most would agree that Trump will need more than a red tie to turn Hillary's six-point lead around, at least a tie in that color will give him an extra boost in confidence, considering he did so well last time when he wore that splashy red!
Will we see Donald Trump's looming tactic again tonight? If you remember during the last debate he appeared to lurk over the shoulder of his opponent as she took to the microphone. Since it didn't go unnoticed by the folks at home, it surly didn't go unnoticed by Hillary. She had to have felt a bit uncomfortable sharing the stage so closely with Trump when it was her turn to speak.
Anxious or plastered smile?
As a weathered politician Hillary Clinton kept her facial expressions in check during the last two presidential debates. Donald Trump, who is far from a veteran political figure, gave his thoughts away with his facial grimaces and body language as he strutted around the stage. He needs to reel this in tonight, but he shouldn't go as far as plastering that type of fake smile often seen on Hillary's face.
Control
It will be interesting to see just how Trump positions himself on the stage during tonight's presidential debate, especially while Hillary is talking. Will he walk around the stage like he is anxious for his turn, much like what he did at the last debate? Or will he show some control as his opponent speaks this time around?
Hand shake?
That hand shake is getting a lot of attention through all three 2016 Presidential debates. The candidates didshake hands at the end of the last presidential debate,so there's a good chance they will shake hands upon entering the stage tonight. This is something they didn't do at the last debate. They both entered the stage and went to their designated seating without extending a hand forward for shaking!
Screening as the Centerpiece Gala in conjunction with AFI FEST 2016s Tribute to acclaimed international actress, Isabelle Huppert, Elle launches to wider audiences on Wednesday in Los Angeles and New York. But will general audiences be ready for Paul Verhoevens latest erotic thriller that has already heralded controversial discussions post-Cannes and Toronto film festivals? Can viewers look beyond the films opening assault to witness Hupperts tour de force performance? One can only hope.
Elle as an arthouse erotic thriller
The film follows Michele (Huppert), the head of a popular video game company after a brutal attack.
Although Michele continues to successfully manage her personal and professional life as if nothing happened, certain events trigger the complexities in her psyche. Navigating a horrific past with a man-starved mother and a naive son on the verge of fatherhood, Micheles life is further complicated by sexist and resentful employees, exes, and neighbors. And then theres the rape, Michele so carefully compartmentalized. Or did she? Let the sex games begin.
Director Verhoevens return to sexually provocative filmmaking
Paul Verhoeven has long embraced themes of eroticism and violence and his latest film continues the trend. Known for provocative and controversial storytelling Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, and Starship Troopers, Verhoeven at times is brilliant and at times ridiculously over the top.
But with Elle Verhoeven has created edgy fare laced with humor, violence, and sexual ambiguity. He knows how to keep his audience enticed. Even at moments when scenes veer to the absurd, the director reigns in expectations only to spin them out in a different direction. In the film's production notes Verhoeven gleefully states that Hupperts reaction upon seeing the film was that The most interesting aspect [of the movie] is the perpetual ambiguity.
Verhoevens decision to return the story to France
Although based on the French novel Oh by Philippe Dijian, director Verhoeven and producer Said Ben Said initially wanted the film to be set in America.
But when they continuously met with resistance from American actresses over the controversial rape scene, producer and director decided to return the setting to France. They even returned to Huppert who had long been interested in the part.
Will Isabelle Huppert finally receive an Oscar nomination?
Isabelle Huppert has been nominated fifteen times for the Cesar Award (the French equivalent of the Academy Awards), but has yet to receive an Academy Award nomination.
That could all change in 2017 as Academy voters reflect on this years Best Actress race. Although controversial in the Verhoevenian terms of sex and violence, Elle is nothing without the strong, skillfully alluring screen presence of Huppert.
Acting in nearly every scene, Hupperts Michel is a complex modern woman. Even when cold and calculating, she is authentic. In the films production notes, Huppert discusses her character Michele: She is many and varied: cynical, generous, endearing, cold, commendable, independent, dependent, perspicacious. She is anything but sentimental; she is pummeled by events but she doesnt crack. Hupperts Michele is a character who will long be remembered, as Huppert deserves to be come Oscar time.
Elle is 131 minutes, Rated R and in French with English subtitles.
Two men have been accused of killing a Syracuse University student from China during a drug deal robbery in upstate New York, authorities said on Friday.
Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said Cameron Isaac, 23, and Ninimbe Mitchell, 20, were charged with second-degree murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting of Yuan Xiaopeng.
Authorities said Isaac and Mitchell were arrested Thursday by investigators who raided and searched their homes in Syracuse and North Syracuse. Both men are being held without bail. The names of their lawyers weren't immediately available from authorities.
During a news conference, Conway said the three men agreed to meet on Sept 30 for a drug deal behind an apartment complex in suburban DeWitt, New York, about five miles from Syracuse. He would not say who initiated the meeting, what drugs were involved or whether the robbery was planned. DeWitt police had responded to 911 calls from residents in the apartment complex who reported hearing gunshots.
A black Chevrolet Camaro believed to be Yuan's car with custom license plates that read "SWAG PIP" was found in a parking lot near where his body was found. Yuan's Facebook page had a picture of him sitting on a car fitting that description.
District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the main charge could be upgraded to first-degree murder if it's that determined Isaac and Mitchell intended to kill Yuan as part of the robbery. He said the murder weapon hasn't been recovered.
Yuan, 23, was a junior studying mathematics. He was from Qingdao in East China's Shandong province and had been in Syracuse since 2011.
Fitzpatrick said Yuan's family, some of whom came to Syracuse to meet with authorities earlier in the fall, have been told about the arrests.
Yuan posted on Chinese social media website Weibo an August 2015 letter from Syracuse University that indicated he had been expelled from the university but allowed to return on 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.
In October, the Chinese Consulate General in New York called for the case to be solved expeditiously and that the legitimate rights and interests of local Chinese students are not infringed.
The launch of China Life's first ever US representative office on Wednesday confirms the company's intent to up its investment in the United States.
China Life Insurance Company - ranked No 54 in the 2016 Fortune Global 500 with 2015 revenues of $101 billion - has been a major investor in US real estate.
The company recently led an investment in a stake in Starwood Capital Group valued at about $2 billion, taking a big share of the 280 hotels spread across 40 states.
In May, China Life took a sizable (but undisclosed) piece of 285 Sixth Avenue, a landmark Manhattan office building, in a deal worth $1.65 billion.
Last year, China Life spent more than $1 billion buying US warehouses, and together with Ping An Insurance Company of China, it co-invested in a Tishman Speyer mixed-used development in Boston.
"There is still a long way to go," said Liu Huimin, vice-president of China Life, during a reception on Wednesday in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Plaza.
Liu also gave the latest numbers on the company's overseas investments: $4.4 billion, less than 1 percent of its total $466 billion in assets. With the ceiling set by industry regulators at 15 percent, meaning China Life still had much leeway.
Liu called its US representative office, located in midtown Manhattan, "China Life's front desk in the US".
"It's our commitment to wider and deeper involvement in the international market, to strengthen our cooperation with our partners in the US," he told the audience.
Other Chinese insurance companies are investing in the US and Europe, including Ping An and Anbang, which bought the Waldorf Astoria hotel for $1.95 billion in 2014.
"It is an obvious choice for them, given the sharp volatility of the domestic A-share market and the depreciation pressure on the yuan," said Grant Ji, executive director of capital markets for northern China at CBRE Group.
hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai was a graduate student in Shanghai when China and the US formally established diplomatic ties on Jan 1, 1979.
Just a few weeks after the establishment of full diplomatic relations, then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made a nine-day visit to the US, the first by a leader of the People's Republic of China.
The trip left many vivid images, such as Deng donning a 10-gallon cowboy hat at a rodeo in Texas.
The historic visit was chronicled in a 90-minute documentary Mr. Deng Goes to Washington, which was shown on Wednesday evening at the Meridian International Center in Washington.
Cui said before the screening that he did not realize at the time that visit would not only change China but also his personal life. To Cui, it was a great time to review that part of history, given the US political election was just over.
President Xi Jinping is expected to meet US President Barack Obama in Lima, Peru, this week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit. Xi and US President-elect Donald Trump talked on the phone last Sunday, a chat that Cui described as "very good and friendly". He said both hope to build a stronger and more stable relationship.
The career diplomat described the policy of stable and strong China-US ties as a bipartisan consensus in the United States over the past four decades. He said the two countries should build consensus and identify common ground.
He also hopes for continuity, such as continuing the military-to-military exchange, people-to-people ties and the more than 100 mechanisms for dialogues and coordination on bilateral and international issues.
He also called for creativity in the relationship, saying that many global challenges call for joint efforts by China and the US. He believes the two countries should show the world that they will be able to overcome the trap of great power rivalry.
"We should turn all these challenges into opportunities," Cui said.
Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski fondly recalled the dinner he and his wife hosted for Deng during the visit, praising Deng as a man of great wisdom.
Brzezinski said China and the US have major responsibilities to consult on major global challenges.
chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com
Prince William poses with an activist dressed as a white rhino. [Photo/Agencies]
The United Kingdom and China will work together to train African border forces to spot and tackle smugglers involved in the trade of illicit animal products on the black market, British Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said on Thursday.
She was speaking at an international wildlife conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, which was called to tackle the threat posed to endangered species in Africa and elsewhere that face extinction as a consequence of the illegal activity.
"During a visit to China last week, I confirmed that the UK and China will work together with border forces in southern Africa to build skills in identifying wildlife smugglers, detecting hidden wildlife products and preventing illegal goods from leaving the region," she said.
In a related initiative, Britain's Ministry of Defence announced on the same day that a British armed forces team will train park rangers in Malawi to combat poaching.
Leadsom announced the UK was doubling its financial contribution to the fight against the illegal trade in animal products, to 13 million pounds ($16.2 million).
"This global issue will only be solved through international cooperation, and the decisive action agreed in Hanoi will help to protect our wild animals for future generations," she said. At the Hanoi conference, Britain's Prince William noted that China was taking steps toward a total ban on the manufacture and sale of ivory products as part of its efforts to save Africa's elephants.
He said: "China has already signaled a total ban, the USA has instituted one, and other nations, including the United Kingdom, are considering it." But he also issued a warning. "Here is the problem," he said. "We know that we aren't moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis. Rhinos, elephants, pangolin, lionsthey are all still being killed in horrifying numbers."
The illegal wildlife trade has reached unprecedented levels, largely driven by demand from Asia. In June, authorities pledged to release the timetable for the domestic ivory ban before the end of the year.
Chinese celebrities, including Maggie Q and Li Bingbing, played their part by supporting a campaign to influence Chinese public opinion on animal welfare and global wildlife conservation.
The Memory of the Two Cities, a photography exhibition about Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat-sen, is held in Honolulu on Nov 12 in memory of his 150th birthday. Yan Dongjie / China Daily
Sun Yat-sen is one of China's greatest historical figures, and the time he spent overseas played a major role in his patriotic pursuits.
Sun came to Hawaii for college when he was 14, and Hawaii was considered the place where he developed his revolutionary ideals, said Wang Wei, a researcher from the Nanjing Municipal Government of China.
Overseas Chinese celebrated the 150th birthday of the revolutionary leader in Honolulu on Saturday.
Sun was a patriot and national hero, considered the pioneer of the Chinese democratic revolution. He led the revolt of 1911, which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and put an end to China's feudal monarchy after more than 2,000 years.
The China Overseas Exchange Association and Sun Yat-sen 150th Anniversary Hawaii Commemoration Organizing Committee co-organized the commemoration, which includes a history photography exhibition Memory of the Two Cities and the US premiere of the documentary Sun Yat-sen and Overseas Chinese, produced by China Central Television for this anniversary.
"The exhibition is a review of the history of Nanjing and Guangzhou, the two important bases in China of Sun's, in memory of the great revolutionist," said Wang.
"Overseas Chinese are the mother of the revolution," Sun Yat-sen once said, as he received widespread support from them during his pursuit of national revitalization.
Sun established Xingzhonghui, the Revive China Society, in Honolulu in 1894, a revolutionary organization aiming to "save people from mire and fire and raise the country that was about to fail apart".
The first 20-plus members of the Revive China Society were overseas Chinese, as were the majority of the members of Tongmenghui, the Chinese United League, according to the exhibition.
"When we talk about Sun Yat-sen, we all know that he was a revolutionist, but people usually forget his identity as an overseas Chinese," said Zhu Bo, director of the documentary, adding that overseas Chinese contributed a lot to the revolutionary history in China.
The production of the six-episode documentary took nearly one year; 150 people were interviewed, including Sun experts and overseas Chinese, which involved more than 170 working staff.
Zhu said that the documentary has been shown in China, Europe, Africa, Australia, Singapore, and now the US.
Sun died of liver cancer at age 58 on March 12, 1925.
"Reading all the history and cultures that I didn't know before, I feel that Sun brought up China like a father brings up his son," said Ou Zhaohua, a student at Minlun School in Honolulu, who was born in the same village as Sun in Guangdong.
yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn
Huang Kunming (second from right), executive deputy head of China's Publicity Department, attends the unveiling ceremony for the Beautiful China Photo Exhibit at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Cumbaya, Ecuador. He is pictured with the university's president Santiago Gangotena Gonzalez (right), Andrea Nina (second from left), secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, and Jose Salazar Carbonell, director of the Confucius Institute at the university. AMY HE / CHINA DAILY
A new China-themed photo exhibition was unveiled at the Confucius Institute at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito on Thursday, focusing on China's natural landscapes, cultural history and developmental growth.
"This exhibition focuses on the oneness of man with nature, showcasing China's landscapes through these beautiful photos," said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of China's Publicity Department. The photos will give viewers a sense of China's rivers and mountains, its long histories and traditions, and the current growth the country is experiencing, he said.
The nature focus shows that "the Chinese people respect nature, let nature take its course, and wants to protect nature", he added.
He said he wants the exhibit to serve as a window to better understanding the beauty and variety of China and its flourishing development in the modern age.
"There's a saying in Chinese that goes, Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times,' so we hope that through this exhibit we can honor the two countries' interactions, let more Ecuadorians particularly the youth understand China's situation, especially the uniqueness of China's culture and Chinese people's sincere friendliness," he said.
Huang spoke in the morning before President Xi Jinping arrived in Ecuador, his first stop in Latin America before he travels to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru this weekend.
Making Ecuador his first stop in the region shows that China values its traditions with Ecuador and the growing bilateral ties, Huang said.
The founder and president of the university said during the ceremony that its Confucius Institute established by Professor Jose Salazar Carbonell has seen more than 1,500 students from across Ecuador pass through in the six years since its creation.
The university has sent more than 230 students to study at Peking University through scholarships, where they majored in finance, Chinese-language teaching and Chinese philosophy, said Santiago Gangotena Gonzalez.
"Establishing the Confucius Institute with the help of the Chinese government helped contribute to Ecuadorians' understanding of China and helped promote the learning of Mandarin," he said.
A Chinese association and Chinese companies were among the first foreigners to aid in the humanitarian efforts in Ecuador after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the country in April, killing more than 600 people and injuring close to 30,000.
China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd (CAMCE), an engineering and construction company, sent volunteer workers and machinery promptly after the earthquake, helping rescue three people from the ruins, Luo Yan, chairman of CAMCE, told China Daily in a written interview.
Company workers gave blood, donated money, relief goods and gifted 20 sets of housing for persons with disabilities, "expressing the company's concern for disadvantaged groups," Luo said, "and after the disaster relief, we forged a bond with the local people that is thicker than blood and deeper than water."
CAMCE entered the Ecuadorian market in late 2011, and since then has undertaken 10 contracting projects, which include seven 911 emergency command centers, four hospitals, and a financial center. The contracts have totaled $1 billion, according to Luo. The company has 50 branch offices in Ecuador, about 300 local staff, and its projects under construction employ more than 3,500 workers.
The company's hospital projects in the coastal areas were unaffected by the quake, despite other major hospitals in the region suffering serious damage.
"The quality of our construction projects has been affirmed by the local government and the public. This fully reflects Chinese technological achievement and the important role of Chinese management in construction quality control," said Luo.
Xu Tao, president of the Overseas Chinese Confederation of Ecuador, worked immediately to help with disaster relief, sending rice, bottled water, oil, napkins, and other supplies totaling more than $100,000 to the stricken region, said Xu.
"In addition, we also sent goods via a cargo plane. Immediately after the quake we decided that it would take too long to drive from Quito to the stricken area," Xu said. "CAMCE supported us by paying for a cargo plane for us to transport donated goods."
The Integrated Security Service ECU 911 Ecuador's emergency response department coordinated with the emergency volunteers that were sent, he added.
Xu mentioned that several Chinese companies were involved in humanitarian efforts after the earthquake, including China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation and Huawei.
Haier, which produces home goods and consumer electronics, does not have formal operations in Ecuador, but is working with ICESA (Innovation and Control of Energy) to offer assistance in areas damaged by the quake, said Michael Nalwalker of the Haier Cultural Center in Qingdao. It worked with local companies to donate $60,000, which Nalwalker said will go towards repairing homes and structures in stricken areas.
"Ecuador's local home appliances technology development has a foundation in [home goods] companies like Indurama and Ecasa local factories that also produce large appliances," said Nalwalker in an e-mail to China Daily.
"Haier's energy-saving and smart home appliances can effectively reduce local energy consumption and improve resource management. This means Haier can help local governments with electrical kitchen appliance upgrades, and replacing gas-powered stoves or appliances with more efficient electric models," he said.
amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
Jack Minor is a journalist and researcher who served in the United States Marine Corps under President Reagan. He is a book editor and ghostwriter for JMPublications.com, of which he is also the founder. Also, he has written hundreds of articles and been interviewed about his work on many TV and radio outlets.
In an address from the Rose Garden, President Barack Obama pleaded with Americans to call in to sign up for Obamacare, insisting that the product was a good deal and promising he would fix the website issues.
In an appeal to Americans today in the Rose Garden of the White House, the president said that nobody was more frustrated than he was at the problems plaguing the HealthCare.gov website saying that his frustration meant that it will get fixed.
It hasnt worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work, Obama said.
However, attempting to put a positive spin on what has turned out to be a debacle and embarrassment for the administration, the president said Americans should not judge his signature legislation based solely on the website, but should look at it in its totality.
Obama said it is not just a website and that there are other ways to obtain health insurance by using the old-fashioned way of offline. He then gave out the Obamacare phone number, saying the agents could help with the enrollment process.
However, talk-show host Sean Hannity called the number on his show and talked to an agent named Erlyne. Hannity said he was not able to successfully enroll on the website and wanted to know if she could help him.
While the president said agents such as Erlyne would be able to help him, she said she had a script to read from and that they could not help people like Hannity. She explained that the website was down for 42 hours and that the only people they could help were those who completed the enrollment process.
However, if a person could enroll online there would be no need to call the customer care number. She said the best thing to do is to wait for over 42 hours, then enroll and call them back.
The president said during his speech that so far Obamacare has exceeded his expectations and that just like he promised prices have come down.
The prices are good, Obama said. People dont just want it; theyre showing up to buy it.
However, a recent report by the Heritage Foundation revealed that in 46 states insurance rates went up for most Americans.
Obama says he wants the website to work in order to get peoples money. One of the key foundations that is needed for Obamacare to work is for young people to sign up in droves in order to pay higher rates than many currently are paying in order to subsidize older individuals.
I want the cash registers to work. I want the checkout lines to be smooth, so I want people to get this great product, the president said.
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President Tran Dai Quang and Esteban Lazo, President of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power__Photo: VNA
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Parliamentary cooperation has contributed significantly to the Vietnam-Cuba relationship over the years, stated President Tran Dai Quang at his meeting with Esteban Lazo, President of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power in Havana on November 16 (Cuba time).He requested the two legislatures to continue supporting and monitoring the implementation of agreements made by the two governments, thus improving outcomes of joint projects, particularly in trade-commerce, investment, security-defense and diplomatic activities.Hailing recent socio-economic achievements of Cuba, President Quang reiterated that Vietnam persistently supports the revolutionary cause of the Cuban people.For his part, Esteban Lazo affirmed that Cuba always attaches importance to valuable experiences Vietnam gained during its 30 years of renewal and is looking forward to reinforcing ties between the two parties, states, national assemblies and peoples.He expressed his wish to visit Vietnam in 2017 to tighten solidarity and cooperation between the two national assemblies and peoples.The same day, President Quang met with Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Economy and Planning.Ricardo Cabrisas briefed the President on Cubas socio-economic strategy to 2030 approved at the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in April this year, stressing the countrys persistence in following the model of planned economy.Cuba appreciates Vietnams effective assistance in boosting food production capacity and developing the local fishery and coffee sectors, he said.The Cuban official noted his country wants to engage in more trade and investment projects with Vietnam and welcomed Vietnamese investors to operate in Cuba.The Vietnamese President said the two governments should closely work to implement their joint activities and cooperative mechanism.Quang said he is looking forward to the upcoming 34th meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee, which will review collaboration outcomes and set out new tasks in realization of the bilateral trade cooperation program for the medium term signed in 2014.He expected the Cuban Government to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises in the country, particularly in the sectors of telecommunications, oil and gas, tourism infrastructure, as well as construction material and consumer goods production.Both sides agreed to support each other at international organizations and multilateral forums.Also on November 16, President Quang had a meeting with leaders of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples and Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association.Quang praised the two agencies contribution to the growth of bilateral ties, saying he is confident in their joint work to educate the younger generations about the two countries friendship.-
Indonesian airline giant PT Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air) is currently negotiating a joint operation with a Vietnamese partner, and signed a memorandum of understanding on November 15 in Jakarta, said Edward Sirait, President Director at Lion Air.
According to the memorandum, the joint venture will be called Batik Air in Viet Nam.
Additionally, Lion Air will hold 49 per cent of the shares, while their Vietnamese partner will retain the remaining 51 per cent. Plans for the joint operation are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.
In 2014, Lion Air initially sought to establish a new airline in Australia, in which the company would hold 100 per cent of the shares. However, Lion Airs co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, stated that this plan was delayed because the airline decided to expand their operation in the ASEAN market.Lion Air is based in Jakarta, Indonesia and is the countrys largest private airline, operating as a low-cost carrier and the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia, after AirAsia. VNS
HCM CITY Crocodile farmers and enterprises have suggested establishing a crocodile breeding and production association to strengthen links between them, so they can protect the market against being manipulated by foreign traders.
The crocodile breeding industry is now relying heavily on Chinese consumption, which leads to price instability when the relationship between individual breeders and between breeders and enterprises is lacking.
These were the most concerning issues discussed by participants at a conference on improving the competitiveness of crocodile products, held by the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development early this week.
Ton That Hung, Deputy Director of Hoa Ca Crocodile Ltd Co, said the market had developed spontaneously, without planning or guidance. The lack of investment in processing technology means most products sold are raw materials.
He attributed the crocodile breeders inability to decide on prices to the lack of co-operation in production among them.
Recently, foreign traders, mainly Chinese people, visited small crocodile farms directly to buy crocodiles and crocodile leather. They no longer need Vietnamese intermediaries, so they were able to manipulate the prices, Hung said.
In 2014, crocodile prices rose to a record high of VN230,000 (US$10.3) per kilogramme, leading farms to rush to increase the number of crocodiles they produced. But now, prices have dropped to VN60,000-70,000 per kilogramme, causing losses for many households.
The affected companies have asked authorities to adopt measures to prevent price manipulation by Chinese traders, which would affect economic security.
As reported by the departments of Agriculture and Rural Development of 22 southern provinces, there are some 2,700 crocodile farms in the region, including up to 2,500 small-scale farms, which are home to some 50-100 crocodiles.
According to Hung, if the region receives proper investment in production technology and breeding stock research, it will become the crocodile "basket" of the world, bringing great benefits to the farmers and the country.
Ngo Ngoc Anh, Director of the Ngo Vo Ltd Co, a business that has experience in exporting crocodiles to European markets, said the Russian market has enormous export potential, but there are quite strict regulations on veterinary procedures, packing and packaging.
If businesses do not familiarise themselves with the requirements, it will be difficult for them to access the market, Anh said.
He said, currently, many Vietnamese enterprises producing and processing clothing, shoes and purses have to import crocodile skin. Meanwhile, domestic resources are sizeable but have not been fully employed.
Therefore, Anh suggested the HCM City Peoples Committee and the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development work with the garment processing enterprises to promote the consumption of local raw materials.
In the context of deeper integration, Tran Van Nga, Deputy Director of the Ton Phat Crocodile Breeding and Business Ltd Co, said it is necessary to create a plan and develop a strategy to shape the Vietnamese crocodile brand.
"Without strategic branding and intellectual property registration for the freshwater crocodile business in the country, domestic products will be affected and subjected to fierce competition when the time to realise commitments under free trade agreements draws nearer," said Nga.
Due to commitments to tax reduction in the agreements, particularly the Agreement on ASEAN-China Goods Trade, which is already in force, crocodile products from Thailand, Cambodia and China will flow into Viet Nam.
Nga said local crocodile businesses must have divisions responsible for marketing their products to the world. In addition, they are advised to diversify their product lines and markets to avoid continuing their complete dependence on the Chinese market.
A representative of HCM Citys agriculture department pledged to coordinate with the citys Trade and Investment Promotion Centre to seek new export markets for crocodile products and to propose measures to control trafficking by Chinese traders. VNS
HCM CITY Viet Nams food processing industry offers huge investment potential for investors both in terms of the domestic market and exports, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Speaking at an investment promotion conference held on the sidelines of the Vietnam Foodexpo in HCM City on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said the countrys food processing industry has failed to meet market demand.
She was implying it meant a huge opportunity for investors entering the sector now.
In the next 20 years, with 5-6 per cent economic growth feasible and the imminent increase in urbanisation and development of the retail market, demand for food would continue to increase, especially for high-quality processed products, she said.
Besides the promise of the domestic market, there is also huge potential for exports, she said, pointing out that for many years Viet Nam has been one of the worlds largest exporters of many farm items like rice, coffee and cashew.
Last year Viet Nam earned US$30.14 billion from agricultural, forestry and seafood exports. The figure is expected to cross $31 billion next year.
With such a wide range of investment and co-operation opportunities [available], I believe foreign investors should not miss the opportunity to exploit Viet Nams food industry. At the same time, Viet Nams businesses, organisations and localities in need of foreign investment should actively solicit foreign investment, Thoa said.
Bui Huy Son, director general of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, said with a market of over 90 million and food consumption projected to grow at 18.6 per cent annually until 2019, abundant raw materials, the Governments investment incentives and export advantages arising from free trade agreements, Viet Nam is definitely one of the most attractive investment destinations for the food industry.
The Government has sped up equitisation of State-owned enterprises, offering good opportunities for investors, he said.
The State Capital Investment Corporation is selling stocks of more than 200 companies, of which 50 are in the food industry. This will be a good opportunity for investors to do M&A deals.
ang Xuan Quang, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Agency, said the country has attracted total investment of $290.6 billion, but only $7.6 billion in the food processing industry.
The investment in the food sector has been mainly in areas that offer quick returns such as agro-processing, alcoholic beverages and seafood processing, he said.
The foreign investors have mostly been from Asian countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, and China, while investment from countries with a developed food processing industry such as Japan, the US, Australia and European nations has been low, he said.
While Viet Nam does not offer specific incentives for the sector, what it generally offers foreign investors in terms of income tax, land rental, support for developing raw material zones and others are competitive compared with the rest of the region, he said.
Claudio Dordi, the technical assistance team leader of the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU-Mutrap), said the increasing demand for hygiene and food safety makes it a good opportunity for firms with an technological edge to invest in the Vietnamese food sector.
With the countrys advantages with respect to trade policy, human resources and others, investing in Viet Nam is a win-win opportunity for foreign investors, he said.
Nam Sang Kun, a foreign expert in investment promotion at Vietrade, said Viet Nam is regarded as a new manufacturing base in the Asia-Pacific after China and many Korean firms plan to enter the country. VNS
Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) on Thursday (November 17) opened the 4th annual international conference 2016 with the theme Applied Nanotechnology & Nanomaterials in District 9. Photo thoibao.today
HCM CITY Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) on Thursday opened the 4th annual international conference 2016 with the theme Applied Nanotechnology & Nanomaterials in District 9.
The two-day conference includes three sessions themed Nanoelectronics and Devices; Nanosynthetics and Applications; and Nonomedicine and Nonobiotechnology.
The conference features 28 speakers from 12 countries including the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the host country.
Among the delegates at the conference is Professor Munir Nahfey from University of Illinois in the US, one of the pioneers in this field. He spoke about the role of nanotechnology in development of hi-tech economies.
Professor Nguyen uc Chien from the Ha Noi University of Science and Technology gave a presentation on the research of nanophysics and nanotechnology in Viet Nam.
Universities and enterprises will also give presentations on the application of nanotechnology in production. Among the presenters are Kova (Viet Nam), ZEON, Dynamic Co-Creation (Japan); Nanoglobe Pte (Singapore); Daegu University (South Korea), Viet Nam National University and Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology.
This annual conference will bring a comprehensive look on research and development trends in the world, and offer an opportunity for development of nanotechnology in Viet Nam, said Le Hoai Quoc, president of SHTP. VNS
HCM City Viettel Groups is likely to achieve its ex-Viet Nam revenue target of US$1.5 billion this year, thanks to a sudden spurt in sales in some of its new markets.
Laos and Cambodia are considered the two best and steadiest international markets for Viettel.
Unitel, Viettels Lao company, has achieved cumulative revenues of $1 billion in seven years since it entered the market and profits of $300 million. It has 2.5 million subscribers, and a 47 per cent market share in mobile subscriptions and 35 per cent in broadband.
With 4,000 base transceiver stations and 23,000km of fibre-optic cable, Unitel has covered every district in Laos and 95 per cent of the population.
Since June 2015 Unitel has been providing 4G services.
According to the London-based Brand Finance, an independent intangible asset valuation consultancy, in 2016 Unitel is the most effective telecommunications brand name in ASEAN.
Its brand value grew by 106 per cent from 2015 to $132 million, and is the top telecom brand in Laos and among the top 30 in the region.
Brand Finance also announced that the value of Viettels brand in Cambodia, Metfone, increased from $85 million in 2015 to $94 million this year.
After starting operations in 2006 and officially launching in 2009, Metfone has now become the leading operator in Cambodia with infrastructure that includes 7,000 base transceiver stations and 20,000km of fibre-optic cable. It has achieved 97 per cent coverage of the population with 5.5 million subscribers, representing a 37 per cent market share.
By 2013 Metfone had already depreciated its investment of VN45 trillion ($2 billion).
Last year its turnover was $256 million. Viettel is planning to sell stakes in Metfone.
Growth in new young market
Last year Viettel Group began operations in three African major markets -- Cameroon, Burundi and Tanzania and expects to break even in three to five years.
This year these markets have grown despite many challenges like natural disasters and foreign exchange volatility.
Yet they have achieved strong growth in terms of both revenues and subscriber numbers, with the latter rising by 21 per cent.
The two newest markets, Burundi and Tanzania, have contributed significantly with their turnover in the second quarter increasing by 19 per cent (to nearly 31 billion Burundi franc) and 40 per cent (over 26 million Tanzanian shillings) quarter-on-quarter.
With a population of 50 million, Tanzania, the most populous overseas market Viettel has invested in, has seen strong growth in terms of mobile subscriber numbers.
Halotel, Viettels local company, covers 95 per cent of the country. Subscriber numbers reached 1 million within three months of launch and 2 million within nine months.
Cameroon was Viettels second African market. Nexttel, Viettels brand in Cameroon, began operations in September 2014 and now has over 2.5 million subscribers and revenues that grew by 54 per cent last year to $35.24 million. It received the countrys award for Best Internet Service Provider.
The three African markets are expected to grow rapidly in the near future and Viettel plans to improve the quality of 3G services and expand 4G services in its international markets to meet the increasing needs of customers.
Viettels business in another African market, Mozambique, is steady, with 5.6 million subscribers and revenues of $33 million in the first half representing an 8 per cent increase year-on-year.
In Peru, whose GDP is much higher than Viet Nams and mobile density is above the saturation level of 110 per cent, Bitel has achieved a breakthrough. Its first-half turnover this year was $60 million, an increase of 105 per cent compared to the same period year.
The number of subscribers increased by 41 per cent six months after it began operations, and average growth has been around 18 per cent every quarter. Its subscriber numbers grew by five times the industry average.
Its turnover from 3G services in the first six months was 4.5 times the figure in the same period of 2015.
Bitel plans to provide 4G services from the end of this year when it will have three million subscribers.
In March this year Viettel began operations in Myanmar, the most populous foreign market Viettel has ever invested in.
Market growth has been high and demand for using data is increasing, with 60 per cent of people owning smartphones.
Last year Viettel Globals turnover was $1.4 billion and pre-tax profit, $58 million. It had 16.5 million subscribers at the end of the year.
This year first-half revenues were $493.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 13 per cent. The period marked a return to growth for the African market and growth in the Americas.
As of September 2016 Viettel had 90 million subscribers in Viet Nam and 26 million others in its nine international markets of Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Cameroon, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, and Tanzania.
GSMA Intelligence recently ranked Viettel Group 29th out of a total of 461 telecom companies around the world in terms of number of mobile subscriptions.VNS
The problems of developing, registering and marketing trademarks for agricultural produce were discussed at seminar in southern Ben Tre Province on Wednesday. Photo lehoiduabentre.vn
BEN TRE The problems of developing, registering and marketing trademarks for agricultural produce were discussed at seminar in southern Ben Tre Province on Wednesday.
These included delays in processing applications, the misuse of trademarks by non-registered products and challenges posed by free trade agreements.
o Thi Minh Tram, deputy head of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, reiterated the advantages of having a strong trademark for the nations agricultural products.
She said local firms should build strong trademarks to promote consumption of agricultural products and improve their competitiveness in local and global markets.
Over the last two years, the southern region has had trademarks issued for 30 agricultural products. This effort was supported with VN1 billion (US$45,250) from national and local funds for industrial promotion.
The 30 products include six registered by Long An Province, four by Ba Ria-Vung Tau and several others, including dried shrimp and honey by Ca Mau.
Some enterprises had not registered their trademarks because it was a time-consuming and costly process at VN35 million for each re-certification, according to the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Tran Giang Khue, an NOIP representative, said that the number of applications for trademark had increased, but the local department did not have sufficient personnel to process them in time, despite the application of information technology.
Pham Chau Hoanh of the Ninh Thuan Grape Association said maintaining and developing a product trademark after registration was also difficult because registered trademarks were being used by other products.
For instance, the Ninh Thuan Grape has been a registered trademark for long time, but grapes from elsewhere were being sold at supermarkets as Ninh Thuan grapes
Khue of NOIP said it was important to develop the quality of the product that has a trademark, failing which it would be difficult to popularise it.
In the long term, to make local trademarks strong and popular, local firms should also establish links with others in the region, Khue said.
Tram of the Ben Tre Department of Industry of Trade said that many Vietnamese goods have entered global market via intermediaries, either by supplying raw material or processing products for famous foreign brands. So customers around the world do not know what the products come from Viet Nam, he said.
With Viet Nam joining many free trade agreements, it will be very challenging for local firms to compete with goods from other countries, and this will apply to trademarks too, she said.
Therefore, domestic firms should develop strategies to build, develop, advertise and protect their trademark, she added.
They must build strong trademarks to create a reputation for their products and promote their consumption. Registering the trademark is needed to protect firms during trade disputes, Tram said.
She said trademarks are not just assets for businesses, they are also national assets because they become associated with the country. Enterprises and business leaders should keep this in mind when building and developing their trademarks, she added. VNS
Viet Nam National Petroleum Group will complete procedures to list on the stock market by the end of this year. Photo baotainguyenmoitruong.vn
HA NOI Viet Nam National Petroleum Group will complete procedures to list on the stock market by the end of this year, the company said in a public statement.
In the remaining months of this year, the company, known as Petrolimex, will finish selling its ownership in the Petroleum Logistics Service and Investment JSC on the request of the Government Inspectorate.
Petrolimex also plans to complete developing the restructuring plan for its gas station network and submit the plan to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). Petrolimex had more than 2,350 gas stations at the end of November 2015.
Suffering from lower global crude prices, Petrolimex earned a revenue of VN88.06 trillion (US$3.98 billion) in the first nine months of the year, a decrease of 22 per cent from last years number.
The average nine-month price of US crude WTI fell nearly 20 per cent to $41.31 a barrel from last years price of $51 a barrel.
However, the company enjoyed higher pre-tax profit during the first three quarters of 2016, which was at VN4.06 trillion an increase of 160 per cent from the same period of last year. That result also helped Petrolimex reach this years pre-tax profit target.
Higher nine-month pre-tax profit came after Petrolimex did not suffer heavy forex rate loss since the State Bank of Viet Nam on January 4 started using the daily reference mid-point rate for local currency trading between the Vietnamese ong and the US dollar.
A daily exchange rate helps local companies avoid accumulated forex-rate loss, because they are able to monitor the changes of exchange rate in their balance sheets on a daily frequency and calculate their business plans more specifically for each period, Petrolimex said in its statement.
The company also plans to import more gasoline to meet the domestic demand for fuel during the period of 2017 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday at the end of January.
The company said in a document sent to the MoIT that it will import 750,000m3 of gasoline in December (the month before Tet), an increase of 12 per cent from last periods number, 750,000m3 in January (the month of Tet holiday), an increase of 10 per cent, and 700,000m3 in February (the month after Tet), an increase of 8 per cent.
Based on the analysis and forecast of local demand, Petrolimex has completed negotiations with overseas suppliers and Dung Quat Oil Refinery to make sure the supply is stable.
Imported gasoline will be stored at seven sites, which are the provinces of Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Binh inh, Nha Trang, the cities of a Nang and Can Tho, and HCM City.
The company has asked its subsidiaries to co-operate with each other to assure the logistics and supply will meet the demand of local businesses and people during the Tet holiday, especially those located in the remote disadvantaged areas, schedule their selling activities and publicise their timetables. VNS
HCM CITY The US State of Oregon wants to boost trade and investment relations with Viet Nam and HCM City in particular.
Mayor of the States Beaverton city Denny Doyle, who is leading a delegation from the Portland Business Alliance, expressed the wish at a meeting with Chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong in the city on November 17.
He said US investors such as Nike and Columbia Sportswear recognised the citys attention and efforts to improve the investment climate, thus reinforcing trust of the two sides businesses in the bilateral co-operation opportunities.
The mayor confirmed that his city and the Oregon State in general were willing to support and share experience with HCM City to address problems in urban development and environmental pollution as well as improve the quality of education and life for local residents.
Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said HCM City was pioneering in enhancing the comprehensive partnership between Viet Nam and the US.
The southern metropolis has become a popular destination for US businesses and investors, he said, pledging to create the optimal conditions for US companies, including those from the Oregon State, to make investment, particularly in the fields of their strengths such as finance, start-up, logistics and seaport.
He proposed Beaverton support HCM City to build and manage the smart city for sustainable development.
Local authorities are also ready to connect domestic and US enterprises to carry out collaborative activities, specifically in education, trade and investment, he confirmed. VNS
HA NOI The fight against the illegal wildlife trade is a global issue, requiring a comprehensive collaborative mechanism and strong commitments to concrete action.
No single country could effectively combat it without liaison, Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh said at the Ha Noi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade held yesterday.
Thinh said illegal wildlife trade is no longer restricted within a countrys borderline. It has become global in scale, especially the illegal trade of elephant ivory, rhino horns, big cats and primates.
The illegal trade involves transnational and organised criminal syndicates, threatening the survival of many endangered species, causing social insecurity and undermining sustainable development for countries, she said.
Thinh invited high-ranking participants from more than 40 countries to the two-day conference to discuss solutions to effectively protect wild animals and plants from illegal trade.
Speaking at the conference, Prince William of the United Kingdom, Duke of Cambridge, also urged countries to act more quickly, more concretely to save endangered species from extinction.
He said "We know that we arent moving fast enough to keep up with the crisis and rhinos, elephants, pangolins and lions are all still being killed in horrifying numbers.
"The shocking 30 per cent decline of elephant populations in Africa in the past seven years confirmed our worst fears", he said. "While weve made progress, the truth is we are still falling behind. A betting man would still bet on extinction."
Recommended solutions
Thinh said the international community needs to implement multiple activities, including the harmonising of legal systems, eradicating markets for illegal wildlife trafficking and developing sustainable livelihoods for communities in nature reserves, she said.
Prince William presented participants with three questions and said the answers would help build a campaign of action to cope with the crisis: Why does the ivory trade continue? Are we doing enough to confront the organised criminal groups behind illegal wildlife trade and bringing them to justice? Are we doing enough to work with businesses and civil societies to bring about change?
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggested that an important step would be for all countries to criminalise the possession of illegal wildlife. Penalties should serve as a deterrent, he said.
Other possible measures include establishing national inter-agency wildlife crime task forces; harmonising national legal frameworks to facilitate the exchange of evidence among government agencies in wildlife crime cases; increasing the use of forensic wildlife science; and strengthening the capacities of customs and border control officials to deal with seizures, he said.
Finally, the international community must come together to promote sustainable livelihoods for affected communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, he said.
Vietnamese efforts
Last Saturday, the Vietnamese Government conducted the first ever destruction of over 2.2 tonnes of elephant ivory and over 70 kilos of rhino horns seized from wildlife traffickers.
The move was praised by the international community. Prince William said yesterday the destruction was a welcome sign of Viet Nams commitment.
Van Ngoc Thinh, World Wildlife Fund Viet Nam Country Director, said the destruction was a step in the right direction.
Viet Nam should use the conference to launch a concerted campaign against wildlife crime and other countries in the Greater Mekong region should follow suit starting with a clear commitment to close their notorious illegal wildlife markets, Thinh said.
A spokesperson of 13 organisations working in Viet Nam to protect wildlife and combat wildlife crime said the country has made many important commitments and agreements to end illegal wildlife trade. Now its time to turn these commitments into action and close down illegal wildlife markets and reduce consumer demand for these products, he said.
The worlds attention is on Viet Nam, and this is a golden opportunity for Viet Nam to show that its serious about combating wildlife crime.
Viet Nam is identified as a transshipment point for international wildlife trafficking rings from Africa, especially of ivory and rhino horns.
The two-day conference, hosted by the Government of Viet Nam, is scheduled to adopt a declaration that will include a roadmap to tangible and unified actions against illegal wildlife trade. VNS
HA NOI Local authorities should get more involved and significantly improve their management of environmental issues, Chu Pham Ngoc Hien, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, said yesterday.
Addressing a conference on environmental inspections held in Ha Noi, he said his ministry cannot be the first responder to major crises because it is not equipped to do so.
Le Quoc Trung, the ministrys chief inspector, said that in the last two years, they had conducted 157 inspections on around 2,200 organisations.
Fines of VN72 billion (US$3,2 million) had been imposed on more than 600 organisations and agencies for wrongdoing in environmental management, and for violations of environmental regulations, he said.
A key issue discussed at the conference involved the division of responsibilities between management agencies, especially in response to environmental crises.
Hien used the environmental catastrophe caused by Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa in April as an example to stress the importance local authorities being actively involved in resolving environmental issues.
A chemical spill from a steel factory owned by Formosa had killed thousands of tonnes of fish and destroyed the livelihoods of fishing communities in central Viet Nam.
Hien admitted that the ministry had not collaborated well with the authorities of Ha Tinh Province to respond in timely fashion to the Formosa incident.
However, the Peoples Committee and local environmental department should have been the agencies that provided the closest and most direct inspection of the corporations industrial activities, he said.
He said the ministry by itself did not have enough human and financial resources to cover environmental crises nationwide.
The ministrys current inspectorate consists of just 63 inspectors, one for each province.
There are currently 800 specialist inspectors in the whole environmental sector from the local to central levels, which is nothing compared to 4,000 officials in the public security sector, Hien said.
The Governments annual financial support for environmental inspectors was just VN19 million ($850) per inspector, which barely covered the costs of travelling to provinces, let alone taking and analysing samples, he added.
Since inspection trips can only be arranged occasionally, it was hard for the central inspectors to follow closely all environmental issues in local areas, he said.
The ministry is collaborating with the Ha Tinh environmental department to conduct online environmental observations as part of efforts to improve central-local communication, he added.
Hien stressed that with regard to the Formosa disaster, no ministry official was denying their responsibility. They are all willing to accept disciplinary measures decided by the Central Inspection Committee, he said.
Law revision
Asked why the ministrys environmental bureau failed to respond to seven reports submitted by Formosas steel corporation on testing a number of assembly lines and industrial machinery before the disaster happened, Hoang Van Thuc, deputy director general of the bureau, said that it was partly due to a loophole in the 2015 Law on Environment.
The law requires enterprises to operate industrial machines for six months before sending reports on their operation to the environmental ministry. It is only after this that the ministry would examine and evaluate the machines to decide whether their operations are safe for the environment.
The steel corporation sent the reports between January and April this year, which means that by the time the mass fish deaths happened in April, the 6-month testing period was not over, Thuc said.
By law, it was not compulsory for the ministry to examine the machinery as soon as it received the reports.
Thuc said that the administration has admitted the shortcoming and the law should be revised to allow inspections as soon as companies report on their operation. VNS
HA NOI For the first time, movie buffs in Ha Noi and HCM City will have a chance to sample Danish cinema at a film event, starting this weekend.
Danish Film Week will screen eight films - including motion pictures, animated and documentary works - that have won international awards and nominations. The festival will take place during these two weekends November 19 & 20 and November 26 & 27 at National Cinema Centre, 87 Lang Ha Street in Ha Noi and Cinebox 212 Ly Chinh Thang District 3, HCM City.
"With Danish film week, we want to introduce the Danish contemporary film industry, which has produced a vast amount of talented actors and filmmakers with worldwide reputation," said Charlotte Laursen, Danish ambassador to Viet Nam.
"Through the films, we hope to give you a glimpse of the Danish modern society and contemporary life. But more than that, we hope you enjoy the films as much as we do".
Two motion pictures A Royal Affair and The Hunt, both starring Mads Mikkelse, perhaps the most famous Danish leading man, will be highlights of the film festival. The films were nominated for Best Foreign Language picture at the 2013 and 2014 US Academy Awards.
A Royal Affair is a gripping tale of brave idealists who risk everything in their pursuit of freedom for the people, but above all it is the story of a passionate and forbidden romance that changed an entire nation. The drama has 21 international awards.
The Hunt is about 40-year-old man who is reestablishing his life after a tough divorce. Things go awry after a passing remark that leaves a small community in a state of collective hysteria, while Lucas fights for his life and dignity. The thriller won 35 international awards.
A Royal Affair will be shown at 3pm on Saturday, and The Hunt will take place at 7.30pm on November 26 in Ha Noi and HCM City.
Mikkelses Lucas in The Hunt earned him the best actor award at Cannes International Film Festival. He also has won many awards at Danish Academy Film Award and international film festivals such as Palm Springs International Film Festival in California; Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea and Rouen Nordic Film Festival in France.
He received the special prize for European Achievement in World Cinema at the European Film Awards in 2011. He was knighted in 2010 by Queen of Denmark.
The film week will also screen motion picutures thriller The Candidate; drama A Hijacking and drama Silence Heart; documentary The Circus Dynasty and animations Freddy Frogface and Mini and Mozzies. All the films will be shown with Danish language with Vietnamese and English subtitles.
Danish Film Week is held to celebrate the 45th year of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Denmark. VNS
Burke/Triolo Productions/Thinkstock Jon Pardi will ring in the new year at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas. It's part of the ACM Lifting Lives Clubs Shows series, to raise money for the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music.
Zac Brown Band's sixth annual Southern Ground Music and Food Festival will return to Charleston, South Carolina May 20 and 21 of next year.
Crystal Gayle will set the Christmas festivities in motion at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum with a performance and tree lighting November 25 at 4 p.m. CT. Wynonna & the Big Noisewill also do a holiday show December 14 in the Hall's CMA Theater.
Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
QUANG NAM The central district of ien Ban has reserved 2.6ha to build the Viet Nam-Korea Cultural Exchange Centre, Vice Chairman of ien Ban Peoples Commitee Nguyen Xuan Ha told Viet Nam News.
Ha said the US$5 million centre - funded by the Viet Nam Veterans Association of Korea (VVAK) - will include an exhibition centre, vocational and Korean language training, a Taekwondo gym and major space for hosting annual cultural activities of South Korea and Viet Nam.
The centre, located near the historic town of Hoi An and the newly-unveiled 8km Ha My Beach, aims to draw South Korean tourists and other foreign visitors.
In October, the Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation donated 52 items including documents, photos, books, visual dics, postcards and the "Viet Nam Pieta" statue to a Nangs museum to commemorate 41 years since the end of the Viet Nam war. VNS
HAVANA Oscar-winning Hollywood filmmakers Oliver Stone and Brian de Palma will join a film festival in Cuba next month, organisers said Thursday, the latest US celebrities to visit the island.
Stone will present his new film about the renegade US security analyst Edward Snowden at the International Festival of New Latin American Film, the events director Ivan Giroud told a news conference.
Stone, director of classic blockbusters such as Wall Street, has also made two documentaries about Cubas retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
De Palma will give a film workshop during the festival, which runs from December 8-18, Giroud added.
De Palmas films include the 1983 gangster classic Scarface, in which Al Pacino played a Cuban immigrant who builds a drug empire in Miami. Stone wrote the screenplay for that 1983 picture.
The United States and Cuba re-established diplomatic relations last year after decades of hostility.
The festival will also feature a film about Jackie Kennedy, wife of the assassinated US president John F Kennedy, by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain. AFP
HA NOI German director Philipp Widmanns A House in Ninh Hoa will highlight the Documentary Film Festival in Ha Noi.
The documentary is about a family history between Viet Nam and Germany. One part of the Le family has been living close to the former West German capital of Bonn for more than 40 years while the other part still resides in Ninh Hoa District in Nha Trang province.
The Le community includes relatives that are present and absent and extends into the spiritual world.
The documentary script was written by Widmann and Nguyen Phuong an. It has been been shown at many film festivals including Filmfest Hamburg and Filmmaker Festival Milano.
A House in Ninh Hoa with English subtitles will be screened on Sunday at 7pm, at the Goethe Institute Hanoi, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street. A question and answer session will be held after the screening with director Widmann.
The screening is a part of the festival which has been being held annually by DocLab and Goethe Institute since 2009. The festival this year, themed Realities Transformed, will showcase documentaries from Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia, Macao, Germany, France and Portugal.
The festival will also play The City of Mirrors: A Fictional Biography by Truong Minh Quy at 10am tomorrow. Born in 1990 in Buon Ma Thuot, the Central Highland Province of ac Lac, Quy dropped out of HCM City Theatre and Cinema School and became a successful independent filmmaker.
His experimental and personal films have been screened at exhibitions such as the Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition as well as film festivals in South Korea, Germany and Singapore.
Quys first feature-length film enters his inner world; his childhood memories and his familys life in their hometown. The 87-minute film will be followed by a discussion with the director.
A two-day workshop with Widmann on film making and a discussion on the representation of landscape in films with Vietnamese Tran Ngoc Hieu and Nguyen Trinh Thi is also part of the festival.
Panel talks with Indonesian curator Hafiz Rancajale and emerging Vietnamese filmmakers such as Nguyen Thi Tham, Tran Phuong Thao and Pham Ngoc Lan will also be held. VNS
oth relatives that are present and absent, and extends into the realm of the spirit world.One part of the family has been living close to the former West German capital of Bonn for more than 40 years while the other part still resides in Ninh Hoa. The community of the Les includes both relatives that are present and absent, and extends
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the NA's Q&A session yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa
HA NOI More than 30 National Assembly deputies raised questions to the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who was the last to appear at the NAs Question and Answer session yesterday, focusing on economic development, anti-corruption and climate change.
The PM said that the Government is determined to ensure proactive governance marked by integrity as it deals with a host of problems and is making strong efforts to overcome shortcomings and difficulties faced by the economy.
Closing loopholes
Deputy Nguyen Tien Sinh of Hoa Binh Province raised questions about the management of investments in State-owned businesses, with a loophole causing "losses of hundreds of trillions of ong".
But we cant find out who is responsible for the losses? What is the solution to this issue? And what are the measures being taken to fight corruption, which is getting more and more complicated?
PM Phuc replied that there was a mechanism to manage the State-owned businesses for specific periods. Now, capital management agencies have been set up within State-owned enterprises to promote effective use of capital.
However, transparency and supervision of State-owned businesses would be enhanced, the PM said.
He also said he has suggested tougher provisions to plug loopholes in the anti-corruption law.
The ask and offer mechanism should be eliminated, the PM asserted.
Asset declarations of high-ranking officials and curbs on their power were other measures to prevent corruption, he said.
Deputy Le Quan of Ha Noi wanted to know what measures were being taken to restructure weak banks and deal with bad debts.
PM Phuc said bad debts have caused great difficulties, but the Government has a comprehensive plan to resolve this and ensure a safe economy.
To deal with this tough issue, it is a must to build a better legal framework, especially for the operation of the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMA), while tightening control to keep the debts within the limit.
At the same time, weak credit organisations that were purchased by the State Bank of Viet Nam at 0 ong should be put under special inspection, he said.
The Government is working on comprehensive solutions to reduce bad debts and will report them to the parliament, the leader said.
Asked about the Governments view on the settlement of loss-making projects over the past time, PM Phuc affirmed that the Government will not use taxes collected from the public to cover losses of the enterprises.
The Government will try to cut losses through selling those enterprises or allowing them to go bankrupt, he said, pledging to ensure the States interests during the settlement process and clarify the responsibility of related organisations and individuals.
PM Phuc also said the equitisation of State-owned enterprises will be accelerated on the condition of ensuring State asset and transparency in the process.
Besides, the equitisation process is taking place under the supervision of shareholders. However, we will not carry out equitisation at any price. Some corporations and groups must be owned by the State, he stressed.
Agriculture restructuring
a Nang Deputy Vo Thi Nhu Hoa wanted to know what measures were being taken to minimise climate change impacts on socio-economic development in the coming years, as also the solutions being considered in restructuring agricultural production.
The Prime Minister responded that the Government had a national action plan to limit the climate change impacts. It has also set aside funds for the plan, but all localities should actively participate in this effort, he said.
Agricultural restructuring was being dealt with as an urgent task because it involves the lives of millions of people, the PM said.
He said the restructuring would include expansion of co-operatives with the aim of increasing agricultural production and promoting the development of new rural areas.
This would involve trade promotions, product marketing and provision of preferential credit, the PM added.
During yesterdays session, the PM also fielded questions about forestry policies, promotion of staff in Government agencies, use of public assets, tourism development, and education reform.
Law on Property Auction
The 14th National Assembly (NA) approved the Law on Property Auction yesterday.
The law, approved by 84.41 per cent of the NA deputies, stipulates the principles, process and procedures for property auctions, auction remuneration and expenses, violation settlement, auction result cancellation and damage compensation, and State management of property auctions.
The law goes into effect on July 1, 2017. However, a clause allowing auction organisers to collect service fees in accordance with existing legal regulations will take effect on January 1, 2017. VNS
President Tran ai Quang (R) meets Esteban Lazo, President of the Cuban National Assembly of Peoples Power. VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang
HA NOI Parliamentary co-operation has contributed significantly to strengthening the relationship between Viet Nam and Cuba, President Tran ai Quang said in Havana on Wednesday.
In talks with Esteban Lazo, President of the Cuban National Assembly of Peoples Power, he asked both legislatures to continue supporting and monitoring implementation of agreements signed by the two governments.
This would improve the outcomes of joint projects, particularly in trade and commerce, investment, security and defence, and diplomatic activities, he said.
President Quang praised the socio-economic achievements of Cuba, and reiterated Viet Nams consistent support for the revolutionary cause of the Cuban people.
He conveyed to Lazo an invitation to visit Viet Nam from National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
Lazo said Cuba always attaches importance to the experience Viet Nam has gained during its 30 years of renewal, and looks forward to reinforcing ties between the two Parties, States, parliaments and people.
He expressed his wish to visit Viet Nam in 2017 to strengthen solidarity and co-operation between the two national assemblies and peoples.
Planned economy
President Quang also met yesterday with Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Economy and Planning.
Cabrisas briefed the President on Cubas socio-economic development strategy approved at the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba in April this year, emphasising that the country would persist with the model of a planned economy.
Cuba appreciates Viet Nams effective assistance in boosting its food production capacity and developing the local fisheries and coffee sectors, he said.
He invited Vietnamese investors to Cuba, saying the country wants to start more trade and investment projects with Viet Nam.
The Vietnamese President said he was looking forward to the upcoming 34th meeting of the Viet Nam-Cuba inter-governmental committee, which will review collaboration outcomes and plan new actions to achieve medium-term targets set by the bilateral trade co-operation programme signed in 2014.
He requested the Cuban Government to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises operations in the country, particularly in telecommunications, oil and gas, tourism infrastructure, construction materials and consumer goods production.
Both sides agreed to support each other at international organisations and multilateral forums.
President Quang later met with leaders of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples and the Cuba-Viet Nam Friendship Association.
He praised their contributions to bilateral ties, and said he was confident that they would work together effectively to educate younger generations about the friendship between Viet Nam and Cuba. VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonsay Siphandone yesterday in Ha Noi. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat
HA NOI Laos and Viet Nam should consider speeding up joint investment projects like the Ha Noi-Vientiane expressway and the Hon La Khammouan oil pipeline, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonsay Siphandone said yesterday.
Siphandone made this proposal during his meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Ha Noi, as part of his ongoing working visit to Viet Nam.
The Lao leader also suggested the two countries increase co-operation between localities and step up efforts to make it easier for enterprises to do business in either market.
PM Phuc affirmed that Viet Nam will do its utmost to enhance time-tested friendship and co-operation with Laos, especially in supporting local businesses boost their investment in the neighbouring nation.
He asked Laos to suggest specific measures on building the oil pipeline from Hon La Port in the central province of Quang Binh to the central Lao province of Khammouan.
Laos should also propose ways to use Vung Ang Port in the central province of Ha Tinh as a transit place for Lao cargo, he said.
The PM said both countries should share their experiences in managing socio-economic development. He said great potential existed for further bilateral co-operation in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. VNS
HA NOI Tourism enterprises, experts and managers yesterday discussed ways to promote tourism in the northcentral region after the massive fish death crisis that hit the coastal areas in April.
The conference attracted representatives from Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.
Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), officially launched a campaign to revive the tourism industry, which suffered serious loss recently.
The environmental trouble caused major losses for the local economy, including tourism, he said.
People are still afraid of travelling to the central region, as they doubt the safety of seafood and water. Many popular tours have been cancelled.
By the end of this month, the VNAT will organise two familiarisation trips for the media and travel agents from Ha Noi and HCM City to the northcentral region to promote tourism products.
Next month, the VNAT will hold a road-show in Bangkok and Udonthani (Thailand) to introduce the region to the Thai market, which is close and accessible for overland travel.
Le Tran Sang, vice director of the Ha Tinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, suggested that apart from beach tourism, the northcentral region can lure tourists with cultural and spiritual products.
Ha Tinh will promote tours to historical relics, pagodas and ecological sites in the near future, he said.
While we overcome the environmental disaster, we can also still promote local tourism with the rich and diverse traditional culture and cuisine.
Also yesterday, the Institute for Tourism Development Research met with media and tourism agency representatives in the northcentral region.
The tourism potential of the region is very big and we should find a strategy to promote and invest effectively, said Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of the institute.
Solutions include creating specific products that cant be found in other regions, opening new tours, and upgrading the regional ong Hoi Airport. VNS
More than 200 guests from 80 countries representing more than 130 leading news agencies discuss burning issues at the 5th News Agencies World Congress held Baku. Photo report.az
BAKU, AZERTAC - Traditional and new media are essential to the rule of law, good governance and democracy," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon told participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress held in Baku.
Vietnam News Agency General Director, Nguyen uc Loi, joined almost 200 guests from 80 countries representing more than 130 leading news agencies to discuss burning issues concerning media, in general, and news agencies, in particular.
President of the News Agencies World Council, CEO of Press Association Clive Marshal, presented the UN leaders message at the conferences closing ceremony. Deputy Director General of UNESCO Getachew Engida read out the UN Secretary-General`s message.
"Freedom of expression and the media are essential to this new global roadmap for people and the planet. News agencies have an extremely important role in disseminating timely, quality information.
Shifts in technology and business models have opened new avenues for freedom of expression around the world. Ever more people are able to access, produce and share information. This exchange of news and ideas, within and across national borders, has tremendous potential for good. On the other hand, the spread of misinformation, especially hate speech, presents grave risks to peace and progress. The news media have a particular responsibility to counter this by promoting tolerance and understanding and presenting the truth fearlessly.
The international community also has a responsibility to support free media and stand firm against forces that threaten inclusive and open societies.
In the past decade, at least 827 journalists have been killed in the line of duty many, but by no means all, working in conflict zones. It is essential that their safety is preserved and respect for their profession observed. Many more reporters for traditional and new media around the world have been threatened, detained and imprisoned for doing their essential work. Too often, such obstruction occurs with Government acceptance or collusion, and the perpetrators are able to act with impunity." OANA/VNS
HA NOI Some 4,200 prisoners are expected to be granted amnesty later this year, a senior police officer said yesterday.
Lieutenant General Nguyen Ngoc Bang, Director General of the Department of Criminal Verdict Implementation and Legal Aid, said the department, which is in charge of the issue, had sent a list of qualified prisoners to cities and provinces police departments for verification.
The department, which operates under the Ministry of Public Security, also asked these police departments to introduce a supporting plan and give advice to local authorities in managing, monitoring and helping pardoned prisoners return to normal life to prevent them from committing crimes again.
The Amnesty Consultative Council will review the list of prisoners for the last time on November 22 and then propose it to the president, who will make the final decision, Lieutenant General Bang said.
Earlier in September, on the occasion of Viet Nam National Day (September 2), nearly 2,100 prisoners were granted amnesty while more than 22,000 others enjoyed reduced sentences.
In 2015, a total of over 18,000 prisoners were granted pardons.
This huge number of pardoned prisoners last year is one of the reasons why the number this year is lower, according to Lieutenant General Bang. In addition, the conditions for receiving a pardon have also been tightened to prevent future crimes, in line with regulations on conditional prisoner pardons in the Penal Code 2015.
Under a decision by President Tran ai Quang in October, prisoners hoping to be pardoned this year include those who have served half of their terms (for those with determinate sentences) or who have served at least 15 years (for those with a life sentence reduced to a determinate sentence). In addition, they must abide by prison regulations and show strong signs of rehabilitation.
For those who have served at least one-third of their sentence, receiving a pardon requires achieving a remarkable feat while serving their sentence in prison, being a war invalid, being a juvenile when the crime was committed or being over 70 years old. VNS
HA NOI The United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) and Viet Nam Red Cross signed a co-operation agreement to improve drinking water and hygiene for areas suffering severe drought and saltwater intrusion.
The agreement, signed this morning, is worth VN3 billion (US$125,000).
Some 30,000 people including 10,000 students and 15,000 women are expected to benefit from the assistance, which is applicable from now until next February in six provinces of Ben Tre, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Soc Trang, as well as Kon Tum and Gia Lai.
The assistance programme will focus on strengthening the management of rehabilitation initiatives and building resilience against droughts and saline intrusion in the project areas. It will also help strengthen human resources for community-based disaster risk management and promote communication on clean water and environmental hygiene in schools, families and communities in the area.
Children are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which carries a potential risk to their health, so UNICEF has provided emergency support in co-operation with the government in response to the drought and salt water intrusion in Viet Nam since August 2016, said Jesper Moller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Viet Nam.
President of Viet Nam Red Cross Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said this was the first time UNICEF and the organisation had directly signed an emergency response agreement, even though UNICEF has co-operated with Viet Nams government since 1975.
She said she welcomed this development.
The signing of the co-operation agreement marks an important milestone in providing support to the children affected by the drought and salt water intrusion crisis, maximising the role of both organisations in facilitating an emergency response. UNICEF and the Viet Nam Red Cross will partner to deliver emergency responses across a total of 24 schools and 12 communes over the next four months, in close collaboration with their national partners and local governments.
This partnership has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the government of Japan, which made a $2.5 million contribution to UNICEF for the emergency response to improve the well-being of women and children in the affected areas. VNS
HA NOI Environment Ministry inspectors fined Ho Ho Hydropower plant in central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh for violations in water resource management, a ministry official confirmed yesterday at a press conference.
Head of the ministrys Water Resource Management Department Hoang Van Bay said that the plant was fined over VN115 million (US$5,100) for five violations.
The plant had no annual plan to adjust water from its reservoir, was not reporting on the reservoirs operation and not following regulations on water resource observation.
In October, the plant released water, causing caused intensive flooding in central Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces.
According to a Ministry of Industry and Trade report, water was released by the Ho Ho power plant from 5.30pm on October 14 to 2am the next day, with a capacity of 192cu.m. per second, increasing the water level in lowland areas.
Torrential rainfall in these provinces at the same time as the release caused floods and submerged thousands of houses.
The plant, located between Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, was put into operation in 2010. It has power of 14 megawatt and reservoir capacity of 38 million cu.m. VNS
HA NOI A wildlife crime reduction project was announced by the US Ambassador to Viet Nam Ted Osius in Ha Noi yesterday.
The US$10 million project was funded by the US Agency for International Development aiming to reduce the impact of wildlife crime on endangered and threatened species.
Implemented from 2016 to 2021, the project is expected to reduce demand for and consumption of wildlife products, improve wildlife law enforcement and harmonise the legal framework for combating wildlife crime in Viet Nam.
The project is part of broader US Government efforts to combat wildlife trafficking which President Obama announced at the ASEAN Summit held in Laos in September.
Viet Nam is a priority country for the US under the Presidential Executive Order and US National Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking.
We are pleased to work alongside the Government of Viet Nam, national conservation groups and local communities to make a real difference in saving endangered and endemic species in the country, Ambassador Osius said, announcing the project during a panel discussion on combating wildlife trafficking held in Ha Noi yesterday.
One of the highlights of the project is the integration of technology in tackling wildlife issues.
It is part of efforts to get the message of combating wildlife trafficking out in a new and different way, a representative from the US Department of State said.
Some of the initial tactics of the project include video collaboration with Vietnamese subtitles and interactive video games and mobile applications on preserving endangered animals.
Global wildlife crime continues to rise rapidly and has reached crisis levels. According to a 2012 report by the World Wild Fund, the illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth at least $19 billion a year.
At current rates, experts predict that the worlds most iconic endangered species, including rhinos, elephants, and tigers, will disappear from the planet within the next decade. VNS
MOSCOW Russia said on Thursday it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers deployed from Russian territory.
The defence ministry said its bombers on Thursday "launched cruise missiles against targets of the Islamic State terrorist group and Jabhat al-Nusra", referring to Al-Qaedas former Syrian affiliate, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
The cruise missiles were launched from above the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said.
The planes left Russia and covered 11,000km, travelling "over the waters of the northern seas and the eastern Atlantic," the ministry said, without explaining why the planes had taken this flight path.
The ministry added that Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets -- which took off from Russias Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean -- had supported the strikes.
The strikes targeted "terrorist command centres, warehouses with ammunition and weapons", as well as a weapon-making workshop, the ministry said.
The statement did specify where the strikes had been carried out.
Earlier on Thursday, the defence ministry said that at least 30 jihadists in rebel-held Idlib province had been killed in strikes that began on Tuesday from planes dispatched from the Admiral Kuznetsov.
Tuesdays strikes marked the first time the Admiral Kuznetsov -- Russias sole aircraft carrier -- had taken in part in combat.
The Admiral Kuznetsov arrived in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast as part of a flotilla of ships sent to reinforce Russias military in the area.
The biggest naval deployment of recent years saw the flotilla sail from Russias Arctic waters down through the North Sea and along the Channel.
Russia has been flying a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia says it has halted air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo since October 18 following international condemnation over its ferocious bombardment of the city. AFP
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - A trio of astronauts soared into orbit today bound for the International Space Station, with their Soyuz spacecraft delivering some fancy French food, a saxophone and the future female commander.
NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, French rookie astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Russias Oleg Novitsky blasted off at 2:20am local time today Friday (2020 GMT Thursday) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and are expected to dock at the orbital laboratory at the weekend.
Russian space news agency Roscosmos said in a statement that the launch had been "successful" and that the spacecraft would arrive at the ISS on Saturday at 2201 GMT.
The three will carry out ISS Expeditions 50 and 51 and return home after six month, in May 2017.
This mission is Pesquets first space flight, but he is accompanied by veteran astronauts.
The 38-year-old former Air France pilot, who spent seven years training for a trip to space, posted a "LastSelfieOnEarth" photo on the European Space Agencys Facebook page in the hours ahead of launch.
Novitsky, a 45-year-old making his second ISS trip, was born in Belarus and will carry a Belarus flag with him on his second ISS trip, official media there said.
Record-breaking Whitson
Social media was abuzz about the records that the trailblazing Whitson is due to break on her third ISS mission.
The 56-year-old already holds the record for the longest time in space for a woman.
She will take command of the ISS in March 2017, a role she already held back in 2007, becoming the only woman to lead it twice. And she will be the oldest woman ever in space -- turning 57 while still aboard the ISS.
Foie gras in space
In addition to his saxophone, Pesquet is carrying coveted cargo from his home country: a selection of gourmet dishes by world-famous chefs Alain Ducasse and Thierry Marx.
"We will have food prepared by a Michelin-starred chef at the station. We have food for the big feasts: for Christmas, New Years and birthdays. Well have two birthdays, mine and Peggys," the Frenchman said at the astronauts last press conference before the launch.
Highlights include beef tongue with truffled foie gras and duck breast confit.
Whitson said the fancy French food would be a welcome change on the ISS.
"I think the thing that I find the most challenging about space flights is the lack of variety of the food," he said.
But above all she stressed the international cooperation embodied by the space missions. "I think quite the most important thing about it, its the demonstration of what people can do together."
Novitsky agreed.
"The ISS is both a home and a place of work. Its also a place for friendship, for showing to the world that we can work together and have good relationships," he said.
Space travel has been one of the few areas of international cooperation between Russia and the West that has not been crippled by the Ukraine crisis.
Only one way to the ISS
Russia is currently the only country carrying out launches to the International Space Station via its workhorse Soyuz rocket that uses the Baikonur cosmodrome, located on the arid steppes of western Kazakhstan.
The astronauts final preparations late Thursday included the painstaking task of putting on their spacesuits, a two-hour ordeal, before heading to the launchpad.
The launch of the international trio had been postponed by two days and follows in close footsteps a previous launch in October of Russians Andrei Borisenko and Sergei Ryzhikov and American Shane Kimbrough.
That blast-off was pushed back by nearly a month due to technical issues. Technical mishaps have complicated plans to extend the periods during which the ISS is fully staffed with six astronauts.
The space laboratory, where a range of research is carried out, has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000km per hour since 1998.
Pesquet, who is the first French national to be sent by the ESA since 2008, said he still "cant believe" hes headed to the ISS.
"I need to be seated in the cockpit and feel the vibrations of the launch," he said. AFP
Gamble responsibly tagline set to be scrapped Punters will no longer see the long-standing "gamble responsibly" when placing a bet online, as the Albanese government launches a new campaign to help problem gambling.
Get out of your tents, run! Terrified family detail moment five lions escaped enclosure A young family-of-four staying at Taronga Zoo have revealed they were briefly woken up during their overnight stay at the park before animal keepers rushed in a couple of hours later telling them to ditch their belongings and to run.
Andrews hits back at absolute nonsense reports Premier Daniel Andrews has rejected "absolute nonsense" claims about the repatriation of the wives and children of former Islamic State fighters to Victoria amid the state election campaign.
Melbourne Cup jockey cops massive fine and ban over careless race act Melbourne Cup runner-up jockey Patrick Moloney was fined nearly 40 per cent of his $55,000 earnings from the race after he was scrutinised for "careless riding".
Airstrikes in Aleppo kill more than 20
BEIRUT (AP) Airstrikes pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday, killing more than 20 people and hitting a water pumping station on the third day of a renewed air campaign on the besieged territory, Syrian activists and rescue workers said.
The Russian military meanwhile said airstrikes in the rebel-held province of Idlib earlier this week killed at least 30 members of an al-Qaida-linked group, including three commanders. The strikes are part of a major Syrian and Russian offensive launched earlier this week on opposition-held areas that has killed dozens of people.
In one area, recuers dug through the rubble for four hours before pulling out a six-year-old child alive. The childs mother was killed in the strikes.
Trump skit brings teacher trouble
SAN ANTONIO (AP) Two 10th-grade students at a San Antonio high school and their teacher have been reprimanded for the performance of a skit portraying the assassination of President-elect Donald Trump.
The skit, titled The Assassination of Donald Trump, was performed last week at Marshall High School. One of the boys used a gunfire sound effect from a cellphone; the other boy, playing Trump, fell to the ground.
A spokesman for the Northside Independent School District said appropriate action had been taken against the three, and the teacher had apologized.
Feds: Zoo's gorilla barrier was faulty
CINCINNATI (AP) A barrier separating Cincinnati Zoo visitors from a gorilla exhibit wasnt in compliance with standards when a 3-year-old boy slipped inside, resulting in the shooting death of an endangered gorilla named Harambe, federal inspectors concluded.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, also stated the zoos dangerous-animal response team properly followed procedures after visitors called 911 on May 28 to report a child in the gorilla enclosure. A team member concluded the child was in life-threatening danger.
The death of the 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla led to a storm of criticism.
Attack on Iraqi wedding kills 30
FALLUJAH, Iraq (TNS) At least 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Thursday, witnesses and security sources said.
A suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives blew himself up at a wedding in Amiriyat Al-Fallujah district in Anbar province, the sources said.
Some 45 people were said to have been injured. The death toll could rise due to the number of people seriously hurt in the explosion, the sources said.
The militant group Islamic State issuspected in the attack.
October was warm, but not a record
WASHINGTON (AP) Federal meteorologists say while last month merely tied for the worlds third-warmest October in history, 2016 is still on track to be the hottest year on record.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced the globe averaged 58.4 degrees, which is 1.3 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average but not as warm as Octobers in 2015 and 2014.
From May 2015 to August 2016, Earth set monthly heat records for 16 straight months.
The first 10 months of 2016 have been the hottest year to date. NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said it is likely this year will eclipse 2015 as the hottest year on record.
If the presidential election is the years top news story, a close second may be the various protests that captured our attention.
Why is protest so often considered a way to get attention for a cause? Because it works, say authors Mark Engler and Paul Engler. Earlier this year, they released This is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt is Shaping the 21st Century.
The book explores the resources and methodologies that make nonviolent protest an effective tool. It is a well-researched and engrossing text that breaks down exactly why public mobilization, demonstrations and civil disobedience can take down corrupt government leaders and bring an end to discrimination.
Many of the critical advances of the last century and a half the end of slavery, womens suffrage, the restriction of child labor and implementation of workplace safety standards and the outlawing of many forms of discrimination owe less to the legislative end game that formalized acceptance of these causes and much more to the social movements that put them on the map, write the authors. Likewise, on the international scene, an increasing number of unelected leaders have ceded power not as a result of traditional diplomacy or military maneuvering. Instead, they were ousted through the demands of unarmed mass mobilizations.
A check of the headlines shows multiple active causes demonstrators flock to. Theres climate change, officer-involved shootings of unarmed individuals and displeasure over election results. Demonstrators continue to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline. More than 10,000 British prison officers participated in a 24-protest earlier this week to push for an end to rising violence in jails. (The government squelched a strike.) In Brazil, demonstrators camped outside parliament this week to demand public workers receive the pay they were promised for their work during the Rio Olympics.
As important as it has proven itself, the strategic application of nonviolent force is poorly understood, the Englers note in their book. Nonviolence is usually regarded as a philosophy or moral code. Much less frequently is it studied as a method of political conflict, disruption and escalation. This is a missed opportunity. If we are perpetually surprised by unarmed uprising, if we decline to incorporate it into our view of how societies progress, then we pass up the chance to understand a critical phenomenon and to harness its power.
The authors are highly regarded for their work related to social justice. Both graduated from high school in Des Moines and have ties to Waterloo.
Mark Engler, a Philadelphia-based journalist, also authored How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global Economy. He is a senior analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus think-tank, a member of the editorial board at Dissent magazine and a contributing editor for Yes! Magazine.
Paul Engler lives in Los Angeles. He is the founding director of the Center for the Working Poor. He also co-founded Momentum Training, which instructs activists in the principles of effective protest. He spent more than a decade working as an organizer in the immigrant rights, global justice and labor movements.
This is an Uprising is available from most major booksellers. For more information on the book, go to DemocracyUprising.org
CHARLES CITY New vehicles didnt make it to their destination Wednesday.
Charles City police said a crash at South Grand Avenue and Highway 218 happened when a semi tractor trailer carrying new vehicles struck the underside of the bridge over South Grand.
The 2016 Western Star semi was driven by Tyler Lau, 30, of Colton, S.D. There was more than $70,000 damage done to two new vehicles on the trailer along with slight damage done to the trailer.
Police said Lau had off-loaded vehicles in Charles City and never lowered the trailer wing back down. The Iowa Department of Transportation was notified and checked the bridge. Officers were on scene for more than two hours assisting with traffic control while it was cleaned up.
Man enters plea
for sludge dump
NEW HAMPTON A Sumner man has pleaded guilty to charges he dumped sludge from the citys treatment plant.
Details werent available, but Donald James Warnke, age unavailable, pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful disposal of sewage sludge from a publicly owned treatment works Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.
He remains free pending sentencing, which will be at a later date. Under the conditions of his release, he is prohibited from hauling sludge.
An information filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Iowa alleges Warnke disposed of sewage sludge from the City of New Hamptons Wastewater Treatment Plant in a manner that wasnt consistent with regulations June 19, 2015.
Man is indicted
on meth charge
WATERLOO A federal grand jury has indicted a Waterloo man on a methamphetamine charge.
The indictment was filed Tuesday, charging Aldreias Jerome Campbell, 41, with one count of conspiracy to distribute meth.
He appeared in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
Court records allege Campbell and others agreed to distribute more than 50 grams of meth between October 2015 and the spring of 2016.
Officers with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force received a tip about meth sales and searched a home at 936 Kern St. on April 21. They found more than 40 grams of meth on top of an air duct, a digital scale and other items in a basement where Campbell was staying. Officers also found a 1,000 mg bottle of MSM, which is an over-the-counter substance used to cut meth, according to court records.
Campbell was arrested on state meth charges Nov. 8 in connection with the April search, court records state.
Waterloo homes
hit by gunfire
WATERLOO Two Waterloo homes were hit by bullets Wednesday in separate reports of gunfire.
No injuries were reported in either case.
According to police, neighbors called 911 around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday after hearing gunfire. Officers found one bullet entered a window of 435 Dawson St. while people, including children, were inside. Another bullet struck the porch.
Officers recovered one bullet at the scene.
Earlier in the day, around 1:13 p.m., residents called police after seeing a person on foot firing a number of shots into an alley in the 1100 block of Columbia Street. One bullet struck the south side of a home at 1122 Columbia St., according to police.
Officer found several spent shell casings in the area.
Man with bombs
to face charge
GLADBROOK A federal grand jury has handed up an indictment against a Gladbrook man who was allegedly found with pipe bombs in June.
The grand jury returned an indictment charging Carl Arthur Linden Jr., 55, with one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Arraignment is set for next week.
The case stems from a June 21 incident where Tama County sheriffs deputies were investigating allegations that Linden had shot two parked vehicles in Gladbrook with a pellet gun. Court records indicate he shot about nine times at one vehicle and a dozen at the other.
When deputies searched his home, they found pipe bombs in the basement along with containers for black powder and camp fuel, court records state. A pipe also was found in a glove box of a vehicle parked on the property.
The bombs had fuses attached, according to court records.
Court records describe the devices as four improvised explosive bombs and one improvised incendiary bomb. None of the bombs were registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
The house was evacuated, and bomb technicians with the Iowa State Fire Marshals Office were called to the scene.
Linden was arrested on state charges of possession of explosive materials, possession of marijuana and two counts of second-degree criminal mischief shortly after the search.
Bar burglary
is reported
WATERLOO Police are investigating a break-in at a Waterloo bar.
Employees at Fusion Bar, 1915 Bourland Ave., called police Wednesday morning after discovering the burglary.
According to police, the burglar entered the business after breaking a window and then damaged four amusement machines and removed cash.
No arrests have been made.
WATERLOO The South Waterloo Church of the Brethren and the Hammond Avenue Brethren will celebrate their 160th anniversary Sunday with a joint worship service at the South Waterloo Church. The celebration will begin with a worship service at 10 a.m. The Rev. David Whitten from South Waterloo will deliver the morning message, and the Rev. Larry McKinney from the Hammond Avenue Brethren will be the worship leader.
Merlin Harbaugh from South Waterloo and Jack Meyers from Hammond Avenue will share their reflections of their congregation.
To celebrate their 160 years of witnessing to the community and world, the congregations will assemble baskets to be shared with the local police, firefighters, hospice house and Orange School.
The worship service will be followed by a potluck in the Family Life Center. All former members and friends of the congregations are welcome to attend.
For more information, call 232-3125.
WATERLOO Judge Kellyann Lekar handed out a cold ruling to the parents of 14-year-old C.J. Rich in District Court pn midday Friday.
"I have a rule in my courtroom, and that's anyone who gets adopted has to have ice cream by the end of the day," Judge Lekar said.
Darrel Rich, who was in the courtroom with wife Julie Rich to officially adopt C.J., said he intended to follow the order.
"We're going to Culver's after this, so yeah," Rich, said, but then reconsidered his confidence.
"It's custard I hope we don't get arrested," he joked.
C.J., who has been living in the Rich home in Manchester for about four years, joins a large family. He's now the oldest sibling by about a week and-a-half.
"I don't really mind," said Isaiah Rich, 14, of losing his oldest status.
C.J. was one of 24 children adopted into 15 families at the Black Hawk County Courthouse on Friday. Lekar was joined by two other judges donating their time to make the adoptions final with courtroom proceedings.
This is the fifth year Iowa KidsNet through Four Oaks has organized the event. The organization recruits, trains and licenses foster and adoptive families in Iowa. Families from Buchanan, Bremer and Fayette counties attended the event.
The Rich family has adopted before bringing siblings, Jenna, 11, and James, 6, into their family five years ago.
Jenna agreed with Rich and Julie there was room for one more.
"I think we get along pretty well," she said.
Faith Rich, 11, agreed.
The process took a bit longer in part because the family has so many members, Darrel Rich said.
"Whenever you add more to a family of this size, there's a lot to consider," he said.
That didn't deter them from adding C.J. to their fold.
"Once we decided, we knew it was the right thing to do," he said.
Families willing to adopt more than one child or adopt siblings are helping children who need it most, said Iowa KidsNet officials.
"The best ending for a child is to stay with their siblings if they can't stay with their parents," said Christa Hefel.
Hefel said Iowa needs more families willing to foster and adopt.
"All it takes is love, consistency and support," she said.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. A former Deere & Co. employee admitted Thursday he defrauded the company out of at least $250,000 over nine years.
Harvey Ulfers, 63, of Cedar Falls, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Rock Island, Ill., to three counts of wire fraud and several counts of money laundering.
He faces up to 150 years in prison when he is sentenced March 23, U.S. District Court Judge Sara Darrow said.
However, he more likely will receive a sentence of between 21 to 27 months in prison based on federal sentencing guidelines, according to defense attorneys.
Ulfers will remain free on bond pending sentencing.
A federal grand jury indicted him in March.
Co-defendant Patrick W. Williams, 46, also of Cedar Falls, pleaded guilty to a single charge of money laundering conspiracy in April. He will be sentenced Dec. 1.
According to court documents in Ulfers case:
Around 2004, Williams and a second person who has not been identified were partners in FS Industrial Services in Janesville, which brokered scrap sales for individuals.
Williams also was an employee of Alter Metal Recycling in Waterloo and oversaw purchases of nonferrous scrap metals.
Ulfers used his position as a purchasing supervisor at Deeres Waterloo Foundry to create and approve fraudulent internal documents that allowed significantly undervalued scrap metal to leave the facility.
Ulfers, Williams and the third person conspired to launder the proceeds of the fraud through FS Industrial. The false documents created by Ulfers made it appear the recipient of the scrap material was FS Industrial and scrap metal shipments directed to the company were generally routed to Alter.
Alter sorted, weighed and issued a check to FS Industrial for the value of the scrap metal. The actual value of the scrap metal and the payment checks issued to the company far exceeded the values contained in the documents Ulfers created.
Williams obtained payments to FS Industrial from Alter, who was not aware of his involvement with the company related to the Deere scrap metal.
He then gave the check to the third person who deposited it into FS Industrials credit union account. He also directed the person to obtain specific amounts of cash from each deposit to provide to Ulfers.
The third person also issued checks drawn on the companys credit union account to Deere corresponding to the false documents, according to court documents and prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Williams and Ulfers defrauded Deere, headquartered in Moline, Ill. of at least $250,000 between 2007 and January 2013.
GLADBROOK A federal grand jury has handed up an indictment against a Gladbrook man who was allegedly found with pipe bombs in June.
The grand jury returned an indictment charging Carl Arthur Linden Jr., 55, with one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Arraignment is set for next week.
The case stems from a June 21 incident where Tama County sheriffs deputies were investigating allegations that Linden had shot two parked vehicles in Gladbrook with a pellet gun. Court records indicate he shot about nine times at one vehicle and a dozen at the other.
When deputies searched his home, they found pipe bombs in the basement along with containers for black powder and camp fuel, court record state. A pipe was also found in a glove box of a vehicle parked on the property.
The bombs had fuses attached, according to court records.
Court records describe the devices as four improvised explosive bombs and one improvised incendiary bomb. None of the bombs were registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
The house was evacuated, and bomb technicians with the Iowa State Fire Marshals Office were called to the scene.
Linden was arrested on state charges of possession of explosive materials, possession of marijuana and two counts of second-degree criminal mischief shortly after the search.
WATERLOO Two Waterloo teens face federal weapons charges in connection with shootings earlier this year.
Waterloo police arrested Jamonse Jaquan Moore, 19, Thursday on a warrant. He appeared in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Friday, and federal marshals arrested Zavyon Brian Nix, 19, when he showed up to attend Moores proceeding, authorities said.
Both are charged with possession of firearms as a drug user, and they were detained pending further hearings.
Court records allege Moores thumbprint was tied to a pistol found in 2015, and Moore is also accused of waving another gun during an October assault.
Waterloo police recovered the first handgun, a .40-caliber Glock Model 22, following a Sept. 15, 2015, shooting in the 1000 block of Ackermant Street. Several neighbors and a school bus driver called 911 after hearing shots at about 3:55 p.m., and officers found one home, several garages and a shed had been hit by bullets. No injuries were reported.
Investigators also found numerous spent shell casings, bullet fragments and the Glock with an empty 22-round magazine.
Criminalists with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation found Moores thumbprint on the magazine, and ballistics tests linked the gun to the spent casings at the Ackermant scene as well as two Chicago-area gunfire cases, court records state.
The Glocks serial number had also been removed, court records state.
No arrests were made in the shooting.
Then on Oct. 8, Waterloo police were called to a fight at 3320 W. Fourth St. around 10:20 a.m. and found a man bleeding from the head. Moore and others were found nearby in a Chevrolet Trailblazer with two semi-automatic handguns, a bag of marijuana and a bag of crack cocaine. One of the weapons had been reported stolen from 319 Newell St. in September, police said.
Moore was arrested for assault while displaying a weapon for allegedly throwing an xBox at the victims head and displaying a firearm while others had chased the victim, court records state. A test of Moores urine was positive for marijuana, records state.
Nix was arrested on misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges in connection with the West Fourth Street incident, according to court records.
Nixs federal charge stems from a .22-caliber Sentinel Deluxe revolver police seized this summer.
Officers were called to gunshots in the 400 block of Reed Street at about 10 p.m. July 24 and found Nix and others in the front yard of 427 Cutler St. They also found the loaded revolver next to stairs to the house.
Nix denied ownership of the weapon, but investigators searched his phone and found numerous photos of Nix holding and pointing a weapon that appeared consistent with the revolver, court records state. His urine later tested positive for marijuana, records state.
WATERLOO A spur of the moment thing led James Whitmer to run as the 1st District presidential elector.
He says he won out against his competition because hes a ham.
But that doesnt mean he doesnt take the job seriously. Hes one of 538 people across the country who will officially cast Electoral College ballots to choose the president Dec. 19.
Its been incredibly cool. Im incredibly honored by this. Theres 300 million people in the United States; 538 people elect the president. It is an awesome responsibility, and I never dreamed that Id be able to do this, said Whitmer, 51, a lifelong Waterloo resident.
He didnt anticipate when he signed up for the gig in April what a divisive election the 2016 presidential contest would be and therefore didnt anticipate a barrage of contacts in the past week encouraging him to vote against Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Whitmer also is not alone in receiving such requests. Iowas 2nd District presidential elector, Dylan Keller, a graduate student at University of Northern Iowa who hails from Donnellson, also has been contacted.
In a single day, Keller received more than 1,000 emails requesting he change his vote.
Definitely did not expect this kind of movement when I first offered my name for elector, he said.
But Keller has tried to find some humor in the copy and paste requests.
It is funny when it is supposed to be personalized but they use the wrong name, he said. Some of the other electors across the country have replied all to these messages. Their comments are funny, and its creating a unified group fighting against these suggestions.
While the messages have not been threatening or swayed either Keller or Whitmer the comments have been constant in the past three or four days as groups have organized to pressure presidential electors. One petition amassed 4.3 million signatures to request the Electoral College change its vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton who is expected to win the popular vote.
Keller has gotten mostly form emails, but most of Whitmers contacts have come through his public Facebook account for his private investigation company, James F. Whitmer Private Investigations.
Most of them are women that are just for some reason terrified of what Donald Trump is going to do to them, and again, a lot of them are people of color and LGBT people, and they are just concerned that he is going to I dont know what theyre concerned hes going to do. I dont know what he could do as president, Whitmer said.
Groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center that track hateful harassment and intimidation have said there has been an increase in such incidents since the Nov. 8 election as many as 300 across the country. There also have been a handful of reports of attacks against Trump supporters.
Fears about President-elect Trump are evident in some of the messages to Whitmer and Keller.
As I write this, there are millions of people, not only in our country but around the world who are terrified. I am terrified, reads an email to Keller. It references concerns about a deportation police and whether marriage equality will remain the law.
Whitmers Facebook page has received similar messages, but they tend to be more personal.
Even if there is a fine (for voting against Trump), I will pay it for you, I promise! begins one note to Whitmer. Clinton won the popular vote by more than a million votes. If you do not vote for her you are subjecting us to a person who is irrational, hot-headed, inexperienced, has criminal investigations pending, has run many, many, many small businesses out of the ground [sic], and has failed to even pay his most recent policy makers.
Whitmer initially responded to many of the messages with a polite but firm rebuttal. Then he wrote a short explainer about why he will not switch his vote.
People are ordering me not to vote for Trump, many with threatening undertones. I am tired of responding to each one individually, so hopefully they will read this. I WILL vote for Trump. He is not my first choice, but I will not be a Faithless Elector. If you think I will be intimidated by your messages ... you dont understand who I am, Whitmer wrote.
Whitmer and Keller, both long-time Republicans, neither of them had Trump as their first choice. In fact, Whitmer acknowledges Trump would have been his last choice among Republicans, though still superior to Clinton.
When electors were picked Trump had yet to secure the partys nomination. But neither man will change his vote.
My electoral vote is in no way for Trump the man but for the Republican Partys nominee that so happens to be Donald Trump, Keller said.
EVANSDALE Mayor Doug Faas is hearing state and federal wastewater regulators footsteps.
City Council member and former mayor Ron Nichols isnt, and says the city shouldnt make citizens pay now for a rainy day that may not come.
The Evansdale City Council this week approved the third reading of an ordinance raising sanitary sewer fees by $5 a month, from $15.50 to $20.50. The citys 2,100 sewer customers, in a community of 5,000 people, are billed quarterly.
Council members approved the increase, supported by the mayor, on a 3-2 vote, with Nichols voting no.
Faas said the increase is necessary in anticipation of state and federal regulatory wastewater treatment system mandates coming down the line that Evansdale either build new or possibly hook into Waterloo system. Were having initial conversations with them right now.
The city should build a reserve in anticipation of that work, Faas said. Weve got $300,000. Really we should have closer to $3 million, which would allow the city to finance work without tapping into its limited general obligation bonding capacity.
Building a new wastewater treatment facility is roughly estimated to cost $8 million to $12 million, Faas said, while connecting with Waterloo may cost $3 million to $5 million, including improvements to Evansdales system of lift stations. Evansdale lies just across the Cedar River from Waterloos wastewater treatment plant on Easton Avenue.
The improvements are anticipated due to similar treatment improvement mandates, in place or pending, on Waterloo and other communities.
Nichols wasnt buying that argument.
All this is, is building a fund for what might be a cost later, Nichols said. Im not one to save for something that might happen. It might never happen. If it does, he suggested, the reserve wont be enough and the city will have to bond for it anyway.
Meanwhile he said, that reserve is being built at the expense of citizens, including many elderly who may not be around long enough to see the benefits of any improvements, if mandated.
They need their money now, Nichols said.
He also noted the upcoming change in administration in Washington under President-elect Donald Trump could affect any pending or future mandates.
Asked whether future increases will be needed, Faas said the council decided to determine that a year at a time.
Cedar Falls council members this past spring approved an ordinance increasing sanitary sewer rates by 9 percent a year over the next three years to pay for several capital projects.
Waterloo officials had anticipated sewer rates might need to increase more than 5 percent a year to make sewer system improvements required under a consent decree the Waterloo council signed Oct. 26, 2015, with the EPA, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Department of Justice to settle alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. However, city officials said earlier this year a 15 percent increase adopted in 2015 was adequate to meet current debt payments and sewer operations.
WATERLOO The Rev. Dr. Tom Tewell will preach at First Presbyterian Church during the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday.
Tewell has been an ordained pastor for 40 years and has served numerous congregations, including the 3,500-member Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. He has been invited to speak at conferences and in congregations all over America and has taught seminars on preaching and leadership at numerous locations.
The recipient of several awards for his preaching and social ministry, his sermons have been published in Christian Century, Christianity Today and many clergy journals.
WATERLOO The Eastside Ministerial Alliance is announcing a Thanksgiving eve service.
The Rev. Helen Seenster and the congregation of Koinonia Ministries Full Gospel Church will host the annual Thanksgiving Eve worship at 7 p.m. Nov. 23. The Rev. Tom Flint, pastor of Payne Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be the guest speaker.
Koinonia is located at 2222 Falls Ave. All are welcome.
NEW HARTFORD Cathy Hoffert and Becky Gage of Cresco and Dave Merry of Waterloo will perform at the monthly gospel concert at New Hartfords community center Nov. 29.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served afterward.
WATERLOO The 21st annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, hosted by Westminster Presbyterian Church.
The event is sponsored by eight area faith communities and has been a tradition of Thanksgiving week for more than 20 years. This years recipient of the offering will be the House of Hope.
A reception will follow the service. Everyone is invited.
Congregations participating include Central Christian Church, Kimball Avenue United Methodist Church, Sons of Jacob Synagogue, St. Edward Catholic Church, Trinity Episcopal Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.
CLERMONT The annual Montauk Christmas Open House will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 4.
People can catch a ride in a horse-drawn wagon to Montauks front door. The home will be decorated by organizations and community members.
There will be a vocal performance by Olivia White and Kathy Havenstrite, piano students will entertain guests as they play the 1915 Mason and Hamlin piano and refreshments will be served throughout the afternoon.
There will be a traditional Vespers Service at the Union Sunday School beginning at 4:30 p.m. The congregation will help decorate the community Christmas tree and join in singing traditional hymns accompanied by the historic Kimball pipe organ.
There is no admission charge, and everyone is welcome.
When Donald Trump said last week he will double the American growth rate, his skeptics scoffed. The left doesnt think 4 percent growth is possible because they never came close to that target under Barack Obama.
But theres no law of nature or economics that says America is doomed to anemic growth rates. We believe with the right policy fixes, fast growth is not just possible, its probable.
In the 1980s, the Reagan agenda had quarterly growth rates of 6, 7 and even 8 percent. Over the course of his administration, the nation created about 2 million jobs per year. Now, thats a recovery. And Trump is right, if India and China can grow at 8 to 10 percent, surely we can aspire to half that growth rate.
Faster growth of the economy is imperative if America is to retain our world super-power status especially given the new rivalry of fast-growing China. This requires the new Trump plan, which will take American competitiveness seriously.
Heres how Trump will ramp up growth.
First, Trump will enact the biggest pro-growth tax cut since Ronald Reagans 1981 reform. Trump will simplify the tax code and significantly reduce marginal rates, encouraging investment and economic expansion. His proposed corporate tax rate of 15 percent would make it easier for American firms to repatriate earnings, bringing capital back to these shores.
The House tax bill is similar to Trumps. We can get this through Congress in the first 150 days.
The Tax Foundation says this will add about $150 billion in higher output.
Next, a pro-growth energy policy would develop all of Americas abundant resources oil, natural gas and coal. Trumps plan could make America the worlds No. 1 energy producer within five years, producing millions of new jobs and trillions of dollars of extra output along with new royalty payments to the government. And we will not waste hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing solar panels. Sorry, Elon Musk.
Even former Bill Clinton campaign manager Jim Carville admitted Tuesday night Obamacare is Obama-gone. Its the fastest-growing entitlement program of all, and it will be replaced with a consumer-choice health plan. This will cut costs for families and businesses by as much as 30 percent.
On the regulatory front, Trump wants to immediately repeal dozens of President Obamas anti-business executive orders. At the top of the stack headed for the dustbin is the Clean Power Plan law that has put tens of thousands of our coal miners out of work.
I am for free trade and dont always agree with Trump on this issue. But he understands the U.S. needs trade, and he himself said: I am not an isolationist.
Trump wants to negotiate from a position of strength with countries that steal Americans intellectual property or compel companies to disclose trade secrets as a condition of entering their markets. Negotiating better trade deals and enforcing the current ones would increase jobs in export industries such as agriculture and technology.
Trump also will bring an America-first, pro-business approach to economic policy. Having someone in the White House who knows how to run a business and meet a payroll has to be a psychological lift for this battered and bruised economy.
The Democrats and their gang of pundits assure us 4 percent growth cannot and will not happen under President-elect Trump. But lets not forget: These are the same geniuses who have assured us for the last year there never would be a President Trump. Wrong again.
Ballot proposal asks Kentucky voters whether there's a right to an abortion
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For the third consecutive year, Bloomberg Businessweek named Willamette MBA a Best Business School. Willamettes is the top-listed program in Oregon, one of only three in the Northwest and ranked 76 overall. Other schools include the University of Washington, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA and UC Berkeley.
The Businessweek rankings are based on a number of elements, including student satisfaction, alumni success, employer feedback and faculty expertise. More than 13,000 current students, 18,000 alumni and 1,460 recruiters completed the survey nationwide.
Were delighted to be listed among an impressive group of peer institutions, said Debra Ringold, dean and JELD-WEN Professor of Free Enterprise. Its validation for the great work of our faculty and staff in preparing our students and alumni for satisfying careers and successful futures.
The Willamette MBA program is one of only two MBA programs in the world to hold dual accreditation for business and public administration. The program was also ranked as a top tier MBA program by Forbes, Poets & Quants and CEO magazine.
Before we get started Id like to congratulate the Whiskey Jack on becoming the National Bird of Canada! The Gray Jay (once also, and perhaps again, known as the Canada Jay) inspired this feature, so I owe it a deep debt of gratitude. Now on with the show
I always sort of assumed that the Crissal Thrasher was named for a Mr. Crissal, a long-dead ornithologist, perhaps a buddy or a rival of Mr. Bendire or Mr. LeConte. After all, when bird names seem random, the blame is often to be placed on the nepotism or self-aggrandizement of the ornithologists of yore.
But not always!
Sometimes the blame is on ornithologists having no imagination at all. According to Bent, the Crissal Thrasher was once known as the red-vented thrasher, a name from the Yellow-rumped Warbler school of nomenclature and perhaps even more embarrassing. Crissal, derived from the Latin crissum for the feathers of the area around the cloacal opening, is simply a veil of classical learning thrown over the fact that this is a bird named after the patch of bright(ish) color on its lower behind. A hypothetical Mr. Crissal would never have become an ornithologist in the 1800s, as he would have been teased mercilessly from his first day in Bird School.
What about the thrasher part though? Surely this returns some dignity to the poor bird, suggesting a pugnacious spirit honed by life in its desert habitat? Alas, no. The all-knowing Wikipedia suggests that the name comes from the sound the eastern Brown Thrasher makes while flailing through the underbrush for food, but of course every non-obvious bird name has at some point been linked to the sound the bird makes. Ray Reedman attributes it instead to the long-way-round evolution of the Latin turdus into the English thrush by way of pre-Germanic languages and the British folk-name throstle for the Mistle Thrush. Given the Brown Thrashers spotted belly and ground-dwelling habits its not hard to see how early European colonizers may have lumped it in with the thrushes, its true taxonomy aside.
So, for the unfortunate Red-butted Thrush, Crissal Thrasher is a step up in the naming world after all.
Feature image by John J. Mosesso, NBII.
The $10 million acquisition is expected to close early next year and will substantially expand the port.
The Port of Wilmington, Del. is spending $10 million to acquire a 114-acre site from Chemours Company in Edgemoor, Del., about three miles north of its existing terminals.
The acquisition is expected to close early next year and will substantially expand the port, which today, has a 308-acre site at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina rivers.
The new Chemours tract is on Hay Road. Located on the Delaware River and served by rail, the tract could potentially be used as a container terminal.
The Army Corps of Engineers is about 80 percent through the process of deepening the ship channel from the mouth of the Delaware River all the way to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia from 40 to 45 feet. Ed Voigt, a spokesman in the Army Corps office in Philadelphia, said the dredging project is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Im excited by the potential for the port to use this site to better connect Delaware with the rest of the nation and the global economy said Gov. Jack Markell.
The current port is near capacity, and with larger ships coming up the East Coast, we need this space to compete for their business, said U.S. Rep. John Carney, who was elected earlier this month to succeed Markell as governor. He said the agreement is a step toward strengthening the Port of Wilmington and creating more jobs.
The port is owned and operated by the Diamond State Port Corporation (DSPC), a corporation of the State of Delaware.
Todays announcement is great news for Delawares economy, Carney said. The Port of Wilmington has been a source of good-paying, middle class jobs for thousands of Delawareans and their families.
Chemours, which was spunoff from Dupont last July, announced closure of the 114-acre Edgemoor manufacturing operation a month later. It had 200 employees and about 130 contract employees, according to a report in the Wilmington News Journal. The plant made a titanium dioxide slurry used in the manufacture of coated paper. The plant was disassembled and decommissioning was completed in March of this year. A few buildings that might be useful to a new tenant, such as offices, remain. In recent years, Chemours had received ore through the Port of Wilmington, which was then trucked to its plant in Edgemoor.
This spring, the DSPC released a strategic plan that concluded that expansion is vital to the ports long-term survival. It also detailed the taxpayer cost of maintaining the current facility at $300 million over the next 20 years, just to maintain existing businesses and their anticipated growth. The plan provided several scenarios for long term growth, which the port board endorsed, including the development of the Chemours site at Edgemoor.
While this purchase does not guarantee that a new port facility will be built at Edgemoor, it does give us a valuable option to market to potential investors, said Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, the chairman of the DSPC. The Edgemoor site will be marketed with Riveredge, located south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, as DSPCs two primary options for expansion. We are hopeful, of course, that in time, both will be developed.
William Ashe Jr., vice president of the International Longshoremens Association, said, The purchase of this property will provide the additional space required to support our existing customers and allow for increased work for our membership.
Nov 18, 2016 | By Tess
Zhuhai CTC Electronic, Chinas leading 3D printer manufacturer, recently announced that it plans to produce an annual output of 500 industrial 3D printers. The announcement was made at Chinas intelligent equipment exhibition, recently held in the southeastern city of Wuhu, where CTC was exhibiting its industrial Riverbase 500 3D printer.
According to the company, its new light-curing 3D printer, which comes with a price tag of 500,000 RMB ($72,622 USD), gained much attention at the additive manufacturing event. The Riverbase 500 3D printer, released in September 2016, marks CTCs turn away from the desktop 3D printer market towards the increasingly dominant industrial 3D printer marketa move which has been made by other top 3D printing companies like Stratasys and 3D Systems.
As part of the companys expansion, CTC has moved part of its operations to a base in Wuhu, which will allow it to increase its overall 3D printer production. According to He Siyi, CTCs Electronic PR Manager, the expansion will allow the company to reach a capacity of 40 units per month, which will in turn allow it to fill backlog orders within a two-month period.
Overall, the company plans to reach sales of 500 units per year of its industrial SLA 3D printer. Most of the orders are expected from within Chinas domestic prototyping market. As He Siyi explained, Factories in the Pearl River Delta area basically all use SLA 3D printers to replace traditional CNC processes. In this vertical segment of the industrial revolution, 3D printings rapid growth of demand is beyond our expectations.
The Riverbase 500, a highly accurate SLA 3D printer, is Zhuhai CTC Electronics flagship product. The industrial additive manufacturing system features a build area of up to 500 mm x 4000 mm x 300 mm, and is compatible with photosensitive resin from a number of vendors. The 3D printer is also equipped with the RiverOS 1.0 operating system, which features point scanning and a number of other useful tools.
As Chinas leading 3D printer manufacturer, Zhuhai CTC Electronic currently holds about 10% of the desktop 3D printer market share. With its new Riverbase 500, the company is hoping to make as much of an impact within the industrial 3D printer market. According to CTC, it has even received a significant order of 30 units from a British company, bringing it onto the international scene.
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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Nov 18, 2016
French oil major Total SA and Amsterdam-listed Corbion NV, the Dutch company that provides bio-based lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives and lactides, are joining forces to produce and market polylactic acid (PLA) a bioplastic polymers. The two partners plan to build a PLA factory with an annual capacity of 75,000 tons at Corbions existing site in Thailand, where Corbion already has a production site which will become part of the joint venture.
Total and Corbion will each own 50% of the new company that will be based in the Netherlands. The new firm will start operations in the first quarter of 2017.
PLA is a renewable polymer which is used in the food packaging industry, but also in oil and gas, electronics, 3D printing and automotive industries. Im very pleased with this joint venture, which aims to become a major player in the growing bioplastics market," said Bernard Pinatel, President of Total Refining & Chemicals. "This investment is consistent with our One Total ambition of expanding in biofuels and bioplastics, in addition to our more traditional oil- and gas-based products. Corbions unique position in the lactic acid and biopolymers value chain makes it a natural choice for Total. The joint venture will allow us to supply an innovative material that is 100% renewable and biodegradable and that responds to sustainability concerns.
Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO of Corbion, stated: PLA is one of the first renewable, biodegradable polymers able to compete with existing polymers. The joint venture, which will combine Totals technical and marketing knowledge and leading position in polymers with Corbions expertise in lactic acid and biopolymers, will enable us to supply innovative products and will accelerate market acceptance.
PLA is a fast-growing polymer market segment, with an estimated average annual growth rate of 10 to 15 percent to 2025.
Posted in 3D Printing Materials
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Davidema03 wrote at 12/7/2016 10:32:53 AM:can i have you name for a MLA7 citation please?
Mark and Christie met as undergraduates at UC Berkeley, live in Cow Hollow, and showcased their love for the Bay Area with a SF-centric wedding.
Their nuptials featured soft purple and pink colors and lots of colorful lighting including a large Christmas tree in the James Leary Flood Mansion. The bride looked beautiful in a lace gown by Jin Wang with sparkling bow-shaped earrings. The groom and his party looked dapper in their suits - with engraved flasks secretly stashed in every man's pocket. The couple made sure to snap shots at all of the city's most iconic locales.
A Google bus whisked the bridal party to the reception, which featured a white-themed candy bar as well as a classic wedding cake. As the night went on, Larry Lynch and the Mob brought the house down and the newlyweds danced the night away before heading off on their island honeymoon to Bora Bora.
Photographer:Clane Gessel Photography
Ceremony Venue: St. Vincent de Paul Church
Reception Venue: The James Leary Flood Mansion
Wedding Consultant: Fiori di Miele
Bride's Dress: Jin Wang
Bride's Jewelry: Penny Preville
Bride's Shoes: Kate Spade
Hair & Makeup:Skyla Arts
Florist, Linens, Rentals: McCalls
Invitations & Stationary: Letter Perfect
Caterer: McCalls Catering
Cake: Cake Expressions
Candy Bar: Fiori di Miele
Entertainment: Larry Lynch and the Mob
Lighting:Everything Audio Visual
Transportation: Google Bus
Registered voters ages 25 and older in Connecticut are grounded in their communities. In fact, for most (78%), young and old alike, remaining in their community for as long as possible is important with nearly half (46%) saying it is very important to them. Connecticut communities have a lot to offer residents but some lack important features.
Key findings include the following:
At least half of millennial voters say they are not at all likely to leave their community (60%) or the state (56%).
More Boomers and Millennials than GenXers have lived in their community over 20 years.
Good job opportunities are very important to most voters (78%), but over half (55%) indicate good job opportunities are needed in their community.
Dependable public transportation/well-designed and maintained streets are very important to half or more of all respondents but in need by over a quarter of all respondents.
Affordable housing and housing options for the disabled are very important to over three in five respondents yet over one-quarter indicate a community need for affordable housing and housing options for the disabled.
The AARP 2016 Connecticut Survey: Opinions on Livable Communities and Caregiving was conducted as a telephone survey among Connecticut registered voters age 25+ on issues relating to their Community, Transportation, Employment and Work, and Family Caregiving. The interviews were conducted in English by Precision Opinion from March 23rd to April 6th, 2016. For more information contact Jennifer Sauer at JSauer@aarp.org.
JamesYetMingAu-Photography/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mayors and police chiefs in some major cities across the United States are speaking out publicly against President-elect Donald Trumps proposed immigration policies.
On the campaign trail, Trump said he was going to create a "deportation force" and build a "beautiful" wall along the U.S.-Mexico border -- and get Mexico to pay for it.
In his first television interview as president-elect with CBS "60 Minutes," Trump said that once he takes office, he plans to immediately deport approximately 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants.
Twenty-one petitions have been posted on Change.org since Election Day demanding that cities, universities or states provide sanctuary to undocumented people.
Many of the cities that are pushing back have Democratic leadership and are already so-called "sanctuary cities," which generally means that they have in place some type of policy that discourages full cooperation with federal immigration authorities, according to The Associated Press.
More people were deported under President Barack Obama than any previous administration, and for years, many local governments balked at the administration's deportation efforts.
In summer of 2015, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) implemented a new program to try to establish a better working relationship with local law enforcement. In cities that participate in the program, ICE will request to transfer certain convicted undocumented immigrants to federal custody, as well as ask for notification of release dates from local law enforcement custody.
Refusal to cooperate with federal law enforcement could jeopardize federal funding to state and local governments, something that Trump has threatened and will have the power to influence.
These are some of the major cities that are reasserting their immigration policies as the new administration is transitioning to power:
Los Angeles
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that regardless of Trumps immigration push, the city will maintain its pro-immigrant policies.
"I dont intend on doing anything different, he told the newspaper. "We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebodys immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job."
The city has pushed back against federal immigration authorities since 1979, when the LAPD began prohibiting officers from initiating police action with the objective of discovering the immigration status of a person.
New York City
Mayor Bill De Blasio met with Trump on Wednesday to share a number of concerns, including regarding Trump's proposed immigration policies.
The mayor said during a press briefing after he met with the president-elect that Trumps proposed initiatives would create a rift between police and the communities they serve around the country.
He said that the proposals would show distrust between law enforcement and neighborhoods would be counterproductive."
"I reiterated to him that this city and so many cities around the country will do all we can to protect our residents and to make sure families are not torn apart," said de Blasio.
He said in a tweet that he told Trump that New York City is the ultimate city of immigrants and that attempts to mass deport people flies in the face of what makes NYC great.
De Blasio also said that he would safeguard and maybe even destroy New York City identification card records, which contain information on undocumented immigrants, if necessary.
Philadelphia
The City of Brotherly Love has been front-and-center in the battle between local government and federal immigration authorities.
As one of his first acts as mayor, Jim Kenney signed an executive order in January restoring the city's status as a sanctuary and barring most cooperation between police and ICE. The order states that city authorities will not cooperate with ICE detainer requests "for undocumented citizens who are arrested and would have otherwise been released from custody, unless the individual has committed a first- or second-degree felony involving violence."
On Monday, Mayor Kenney reaffirmed the city's stance on immigration in the wake of Trump's election, according to ABC affliate WPVI. "I vow to uphold the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, yes, by not holding people in jail without a warrant, which I think is in violation of the U.S. Constitution," Kenney said.
The mayors office today issued guidance on "supporting diversity and inclusion," which included a list of resources for immigrants that are afraid of deportation.
Nashville
Yesterday, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry issued a statement saying she does not believe that local resources should be used to enforce federal immigration policy.
"Our police officers are not immigration police, they do not ask about immigration status during stops or conversations with the public, nor do they intend to start now," she said.
She said she would do whatever she can to ensure that Nashville remains a "warm and welcoming city" for all.
Chicago
On Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obamas former White House chief of staff, said that Chicago always will be a sanctuary city.
"You are safe in Chicago. You are secure in Chicago and you are supported in Chicago," Emanuel said, according to ABC-owned station WLS.
Seattle
Mayor Ed Murray told a crowd Wednesday night that the city will remain a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, reported The Seattle Times.
"These are our neighbors, and we will continue to support our neighbors, Murray said. "We cant allow ourselves to be divided and sorted out. Thats not America."
And on Tuesday, Police Chief Kathleen OToole confirmed that the policies of the Seattle Police Department regarding immigration status will not change.
"It is the intent of the Seattle Police Department to foster trust and cooperation with all people served by the Department," she wrote in a statement.
Washington, D.C.
In a tweet, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city will "remain a sanctuary city."
We've reaffirmed DC's status as a sanctuary city and will continue to send this message because residents should feel safe. https://t.co/HCP3jS9DYV Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) November 17, 2016
Copyright 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
Upper Mesopotamia is not an alluvium land and the environment is very different from Lower Mesopotamia, the historical Land of Sumer. There artificial irrigation is a basic need for agriculture, which is developed on very large, flat surfaces, lacking of any geographical and topographical marks.
The site of Tell Beydar is located in Upper Mesopotamia and more precisely in the Upper Syrian Jezirah, a region called Khabur Triangle, a sort of delta without sea, formed by the tributaries of the Euphrates main affluents.
In Upper Mesopotamia the rate of the annual rainfall is high enough to allow for a rain-fed agriculture, which is practiced on a large scale in the plains extending from the Euphrates to the Tigris.
We are in the period when the Sumerian city-states flourish in the South, about one hundred years before being conquered by king Sargon of Akkad and being finally included in his empire (c. 2330 BC). From the chronological point of view, we are therefore slightly later than the construction of the pyramids of Gizeh, in Egypt. However, in spite of the well established contacts between Egypt and the Levant, cultural and political links between Egypt and Mesopotamia are still very few at that time.
This period also corresponds to the first golden age of Ebla, a period documented by the archives of kings Igrish-halab, Irkab-damu and Ishar-damu. It is also the time of king Iblul-il of Mari and his direct successors.
IndexBox has just published a new report World: Mercury Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020.
This report has been designed to provide a detailed analysis of the global mercury market. It covers the most recent data sets of quantitative medium-term projections, as well as developments in production, trade, consumption and prices.
Global mercury trade displayed two very distinct trends over the period under review. From 2007 to 2012, global mercury exports showed robust growth, until the trend suddenly switched in 2013. In 2014, exports fell to below half of the previous years value, and continued to fall through the end of the period under review, amounting to 34 million USD in 2015. Overall, there was an annual increase of 0.9% throughout the analyzed period.
According to IndexBox estimates, Mexico emerged as the major global supplier of mercury. 2015, Mexicos mercury exports totaled 14 million USD, which accounted for a 41% share in terms of global exports. Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and Switzerland were the other key global suppliers of mercury in 2015, with a 42% combined share of global exports.
Indonesia (+113.8% per year) and Mexico (+55.3% per year) were the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2015. Mexico significantly strengthened its position in the global mercury export structure, growing its share from 1% in 2007 to 41% in 2015.
On the other hand, Bolivia (16%, based on value terms), India (16%), Colombia (14%), Singapore (9%), and South Africa (7%) were the leading destinations of mercury imports in 2015. Imports to every major importer grew at extraordinary rates, with Bolivia leading the way with a 115.8 CAGR from 2007 to 2015. Bolivia increased its share of imports by +16 percentage points over the period under review.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION
1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.1 KEY FINDINGS
2.2 MARKET TRENDS
3. MARKET OVERVIEW
3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE
3.2 CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY
3.3 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRY
3.4 MARKET FORECAST TO 2020
4. PRODUCTION
4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2007-2015
4.2 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRY
5. IMPORTS
5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-2015
5.2 IMPORTS BY COUNTRY
5.3 IMPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY
6. EXPORTS
6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-2015
6.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRY
6.3 EXPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY
7. PROFILES OF MAJOR PRODUCERS
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IndexBox has just published a new report World: Pyrites Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020.
This report has been designed to provide a detailed analysis of the global pyrites market. It covers the most recent data sets of quantitative medium-term projections, as well as developments in production, trade, consumption and prices.
The global trade in pyrites amounted to 21 million USD in 2015, fluctuating strongly over the period under review. A 35% drop in 2009 was followed by recovery over the next four years, until exports decreased again. Overall, there was an annual decrease of -3.1% from 2007 to 2015.
According to IndexBox estimates, Italy continued to lead the way in global supplies of pyrites. In 2015, Italys exports of pyrites totaled 6 million USD, which accounted for a 26% share in terms of global exports. China, the Netherlands, Peru, and Russia were the other key global suppliers of pyrites in 2015, with a 52% combined share of global exports.
The Netherlands (+96.1% per year) and Russia (+19.0% per year) were the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2015. The Netherlands significantly strengthened its position in terms of global exports of pyrites, growing its share from 0% in 2007 to 14% in 2015.
China (67%, based on value terms), Israel (7%), Germany (5%), Egypt (4%), and Japan (4%) were the leading destinations of pyrites imports in 2015. Imports to China grew at an outstanding pace of +86.7% per year from 2007 to 2015. None of the major importers contracted their imports of pyrites over the period under review. Chinas share in terms of global imports increased by +66 percentage points, while the share of Germany illustrated negative dynamics (-13 percentage points).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION
1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.1 KEY FINDINGS
2.2 MARKET TRENDS
3. MARKET OVERVIEW
3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE
3.2 CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY
3.3 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRY
3.4 MARKET FORECAST TO 2020
4. PRODUCTION
4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2007-2015
4.2 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRY
5. IMPORTS
5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-2015
5.2 IMPORTS BY COUNTRY
5.3 IMPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY
6. EXPORTS
6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-2015
6.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRY
6.3 EXPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY
7. PROFILES OF MAJOR PRODUCERS
3 easy ways to order
Follow the link below to review a free sample or to buy the report: http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-pyrites-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/
Call us +44 20 3239 3063 to discuss your information needs and for special discounts on multi-report orders
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Radiant Insights,Inc
Integrity Applications Ltd. Product Pipeline Market report reviews detailed company profile with information on business description, key company facts, major products and services, key competitors, key employees, locations and subsidiaries and recent developments.
Integrity Applications Ltd. (Integrity Applications) is a medical device company that designs, develops and commercializes non-invasive glucose monitoring devices. The company provides glucose monitoring devices and is used in ultrasonic, electromagnetic and thermal technologies to (non-invasive) measure glucose levels in the blood. Integrity Applications product glucotrack features three different technologies; complete set of data for each reading; and history data in tabular and graphic formats; and others. The company sells its products through a network of distributors in Israel, Estonia, Turkey, Australia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, and others. Integrity Applications is headquartered in Ashdod, Israel.
Access Full Report With TOC @ http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/integrity-applications-ltd-product-pipeline-analysis-2016-update
This report is a source for data, analysis, and actionable intelligence on the companys portfolio of pipeline products. The report provides key information about the company, its major products and brands.
The report enhances decision making capabilities and help to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage.
See More Reports of This Category by Radiant Insights: www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/medical-devices
Scope:
The report analyzes all pipeline products in development for the company Integrity Applications Ltd.
The report provides pipeline analysis on all pipeline products of the company (by equipment type, by indication, by development stage, and by trial status)
The report covers detailed information on each pipeline product with information on pipeline territory, stage of development, device class, regulatory path, indication(s), application(s) and estimated launch date
The report provides detailed description of products in development, technical specification and functions
The report also covers ongoing clinical trials (wherever applicable) with information on trial name, trial objective, sponsor, trial design , trial status and phase, estimated start and end date.
Request A Sample Copy Of This Report at: http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/integrity-applications-ltd-product-pipeline-analysis-2016-update/request-sample
Reasons to Buy:
Develop business strategies by understanding the trends and developments driving the medical devices pipeline and technology landscape
Design and develop your product development, marketing and sales strategies by understanding the competitor portfolio
To formulate effective Research & Development strategies
Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies
Exploit in-licensing and out-licensing opportunities by identifying products, most likely to ensure a robust return
Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying key players of the most promising pipeline
Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage
Develop competition strategies by identifying the status and likely launch of the competitors pipeline products through review of the clinical trials, stage and of development, etc
Identify, understand and capitalize the next high-value products that your competitor would add in its portfolio
Explore Similar Reports By Radiant Insights,Inc at
SomaLogic, Inc. Product Pipeline Analysis
http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/somalogic-inc-product-pipeline-analysis-2016-update
IntegraGen SA (ALINT) Product Pipeline Analysis, 2016
http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/integragen-sa-alint-product-pipeline-analysis-2016-update
About Radiant Insight
Radiant Insights is a market research and consulting company offering syndicated research studies, customized reports, and consulting services. Our market research studies are designed to facilitate strategic dxecision making, on the basis of extensive and in-depth quantitative information, supported by extensive analysis and industry insights. Using a patented and robust research methodology, we publish exhaustive research reports covering a host of industries such as Technology, Chemicals, Materials, and Energy.Radiant Insights has a strong base of analysts, consultants and domain experts, with global experience helping us deliver excellence in all research projects we undertake.
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The global variable frequency drives market is projected to witness high growth on account of growing urbanization & industrialization and rising government mandates for energy efficiency.
The report Variable Frequency Drives Market by Power Range (Micro, Low, Medium, High), Voltage (Low & Medium), Application (Pump, Fan, Compressor, Conveyor, Elevator, Extruder & Others) and Region Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021, The global variable frequency drives market is projected to reach USD 27.11 Billion by 2021, from an estimated USD 19.38 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2016 to 2021.
Browse 76 market and 54 figures spread through 138 pages and in-depth TOC on Variable Frequency Drives Market
Download Free PDF Brochure: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=878
Top market players from the industry have been studied in order to track developments, technologies, and other key business strategies that define the market environment. The global variable frequency drives market has been analyzed based on type, voltage range, application, power range, and region. The report covers key regions including North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.
Rising electricity prices, along with increased demand for electricity and energy, is currently driving the variable frequency drives market. In addition, high potential of variable frequency drives to reduce energy consumption and enhance efficiency of the system provide a huge opportunity for retrofit applications. Government regulations to limit consumption through the use of more efficient equipment are also adding to the growing demand for the device.
Low voltage variable frequency drives are expected to lead the market
The low voltage variable frequency drives segment is expected to hold the largest share compared to medium voltage. The former has become popular mainly because of its ease of operation and size; its size is 25%40% less than medium voltage drives. Moreover, medium voltage drives are complex and difficult to handle or replace in case of a failure during an operation.
Pumps held the largest application segment of variable frequency drives market
Pumps are expected to have the maximum deployment of variable frequency drives during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to rapidly increasing industrial activities, growth of the construction sector, especially in Asia-Pacific & other developing countries, and growing oil & gas production in the U.S. & the Middle East. Asia-Pacific held the maximum demand for these drives for pumps in 2015, and is expected to lead the market during the forecast period.
Asia-Pacific: The largest market for variable frequency drives
The Asia-Pacific region holds the largest market for variable frequency drives, driven by growing urbanization and industrialization in the region. Huge investments in infrastructure development are also driving the variable frequency drives market in Asia-Pacific. The other major drivers include increasing power demand and strict government regulations on energy efficiency.
To provide an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes profiles of some of the leading players in the variable frequency drives market, namely, ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Crompton Greaves (India), Emerson Corporation (U.S.), General Electric (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Schneider Electric SA (France), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), and Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.), among others.
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The report segments the market on the basis of Voltage Range low voltage (690 V and below) and medium voltage (above 690 V); Application pumps, fans, compressors, conveyor, elevators, and extruder; Power micro, low, medium, and high power drives, and Region Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.
The market ecosystem of variable frequency drives includes raw material suppliers, comprising electronic/electrical components, metals, and sensors among others. In the later stage, manufacturing of variable frequency drives takes place where all raw materials are assembled. These devices are then distributed to distribution utilities, industries, and T&D companies.
Stakeholders:
The report caters to following stakeholders:
Variable frequency drive manufacturers, dealers, and suppliers
Manufacturing, oil & gas, mining, and process industries
Consulting companies in the energy and power sector
State and national regulatory authorities
Study answers several questions for the stakeholders, primarily which market segments to focus in the next 2-5 years for prioritizing efforts and investments.
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M&Ms flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, RT connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.
We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.
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Partners with Singapore's Top Travel Portal
Perth, Nov 18, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Flexiroam Limited ( ASX:FRX ) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Flexiroam Asia Limited ("Flexiroam") has signed a sponsorship agreement with Tripzilla Singapore ("Tripzilla").
Launched in 2010, Tripzilla is the number one travel portal in Singapore for comparing real prices and itineraries from Singapore's top travel agencies. Tripzilla collates the latest tour packages from hundreds of travel agencies from all over Singapore and aggregates them on their website for price comparison and bookings.
Flexiroam and Tripzilla together with Hotel Boss Singapore are partnering for a giveaway contest. Participants stand a chance to win a free stay in Hotel Boss Singapore and enjoy free data from Flexiroam X when they travel.
Flexiroam will be featured on Tripzilla's website with a unique landing page throughout the period of the contest. In addition, Tripzilla will be embarking on an aggressive Facebook campaign to promote the contest. TripZilla has an average monthly media reach of 15 million with majority of visitors from Singapore.
Flexiroam expects the campaign will lead to greater brand visibility and an increase in its user base in Singapore.
Miranda Zhang, Managing Editor for Tripzilla, added: "This campaign is a sponsored collaboration between Tripzilla, Flexiroam and Hotel Boss to educate and excite travellers in the region on the tangible benefits of having a fuss-free connection on-the-go, and to see roaming as an essential service for their travels."
About Flexiroam Ltd
FLEXIROAM Limited (ASX:FRX) is a leading telecommunications company offering universal voice and data services for mobile users globally. Its flagship data roaming product, FLEXIROAM X has coverage in over 100 countries with 4G speed in over 56 countries. FLEXIROAM is an asset light telecommunications company that does not own physical infrastructure yet is able to connect to around 580 network operators globally. FLEXIROAM aspires to be a household name in borderless mobile broadband service in Asia and beyond. Please visit https://www.flexiroam.com
Completes Porting to Chipset Manufacturers
Melbourne, Nov 18, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Xped Limited ( ASX:XPE ) ("Xped" or "the Company") wishes to announce it has successfully ported ADRC technologies to chipsets from both US Listed chipset manufacturers previously announced in separate Memorandums of Understanding ("MOU") signed this year and is close to finishing a port to the Telink 8269 SOC which is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
Highlights
- Xped progresses key MOU's signed in 2016
- ADRC porting completed under the terms of the MOU's with two major chipset manufacturers
- Porting of ADRC nearing completion on Telink 8269 SOC
- Introductions to large OEM and specialised gateway manufacturers have now progressed to licensing negotiations
Following on from progressing the MOU's, the Company is now formally seeking approval to release the suppressed identity of each chipset manufacturer.
All chipset manufacturers have been very supportive of the Company in its quest to port ADRC firmware onto their respective chipsets and products, with each providing access to latest silicon and engineering resources. The next step in our engagement is to co-market the ADRC integrated solution to their respective customer base.
Xped is also excited to confirm it is nearing completion of the porting of ADRC to Telink's 8269 SOC. In a further development the Company is now working with Telink to incorporate their patented BLE mesh capabilities within ADRC with this work expected to be completed in the Q1 2017 time frame.
One of the benefits of working with these leading chipset manufacturers, is the ability to offer ADRC on a range of chipsets for a number of customer and partner applications which are well suited to many vertical market segments. While we still have several months of activity engaging with our partners end-customers, this approach will allow us to scale our ADRC technology with more efficiency.
Following the successful porting of ADRC, the Company is now in discussions with clients of the chipset manufacturers, with the aim of reaching licensing agreements.
Xped has seen a high level of interest from all direct introductions made from the chipset manufacturers to date.
Commenting on these latest developments Martin Despain said: "Xped's ADRC technology was introduced to me as revolutionary, and this is why I decided to join the Company to lead them on their global quest . The market opportunity for an end to end platform utilising Xped's ADRC and RML language is unique, and offers significant value added opportunities for OEM companies and brands seeking to add a platform and software solution to hardware devices. Following expansion of engineering resources and focus on business development we are already in licensing negotiations, which we hope to formalise before the end of this calendar year. It is important to note that booking of revenue from licensing would typically take 6-9 months due to manufacturing changes and implementations by those licensing our technology."
Further updates on licensing negotiations will occur as they progress to formal signing.
The Company will also be planning a joint media release with each undisclosed MOU party once formal permission is granted to Xped.
About XPED Ltd
XPED Ltd (ASX:XPE) is an Australian Internet of Things (IoT) technology business. Xped has developed revolutionary and patent-protected technology that allows any consumer, regardless of their technical capability, to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment. Xped provides technology solutions for Smart Home, Smart Building, and Healthcare.
At Xped, were Making Technology Easy Again(TM)
Eide Bailly is adding the accounting firm Daines Goodwin & Co., effective Dec. 5, 2016, expanding Eide Baillys presence in Utah.
The partners and staff of Daines Goodwin will be moving into Eide Baillys offices in Salt Lake City as part of the deal.
Eide Bailly is the third biggest CPA firm in the state in terms of the number of staff members. Along with Salt Lake City, Eide Bailly also has offices in Ogden and Lehi, Utah. The Fargo, N.D.-based firm ranked 20th on Accounting Todays 2016 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $224.6 million in annual revenue.
Adding Daines Goodwin continues our goal of growing strategically to better serve our clients, said Eide Bailly managing partner and CEO Dave Stende in a statement. Their team will help us grow our practice in Utah and give us valuable insights from a firm with strong ties and knowledge to the community.
Being part of Eide Bailly will give the Daines Goodwin staff more career opportunities and benefits, according to tax partner Brent Daines. Joining Eide Bailly is going to give them more control over how they want to develop their careers, which is exciting, he added.
The firm has been serving clients in the Salt Lake City area for over four decades. Our clients will have access to more resources and solutions, and we will have more time to devote to serving them and being their trusted business advisors, said Daines Goodwin tax partner Chet Goodwin in a statement.
Gary Adamson, president of the CPA practice management consulting firm Adamson Advisory, helped arrange the deal.
The culture fit was what got the deal done, Adamson said in a statement. Eide Bailly has a very entrepreneurial approach to running their offices and the firm, which was important to Daines Goodwin. We talked with several firms and felt that Eide Bailly was the perfect fit for the Daines Goodwin clients and team.
The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to Congress suggesting legislative changes in the new partnership audit regime ushered in by last years bipartisan budget deal.
The modifications aim to clarify the operation of provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 related to the push-out election, the filing of amended returns by partners under some circumstances and the interaction of audit changes with certain other code sections.
The Act contains a number of provisions that are unclear, confusing or difficult to administer in a fair and efficient manner, wrote AICPA Tax Executive Committee chair Annette Nellen in the letter Thursday.
However, she noted that the AICPA appreciates Congresss efforts to streamline the ability of the Internal Revenue Service to audit, assess and collect underpayments of tax from partnerships and their partners.
The AICPA said the suggested changes would clarify the operation of certain provisions of the legislation, correct some inconsistencies, and improve the fairness and administration of the new partnership audit regime.
The new audit regime is supposed to make it easier for the IRS to audit large, complex partnerships such as private equity firms, hedge funds and CPA firms. However, the way the law was drafted also introduces some new complexities, and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen expressed some skepticism at an AICPA tax conference this week about its usefulness.
The law allows some partnerships to opt-out of the new audit regime or push out responsibility for payment of any assessment imposed by the IRS to partners.
The AICPA has already submitted a set of recommendations to the Treasury Department and the IRS for developing regulations to implement the new regime. However, the AICPA believes some issues require congressional action to ensure the development of a fair, equitable and workable Regime.
The AICPAs eight legislative recommendations include the following areas:
Expanding the push-out election to allow affected taxpayers to also push out;
Revising the push-out election to allow decreases in tax;
Allowing modifications of imputed underpayments for affected taxpayers;
Clarifying the impact on intervening years for amended tax returns;
Permitting affected taxpayers to amend returns;
Providing a convenient option for tax-exempt partners to verify their tax status upon reallocation of distributive share; and
Clarifying limitations on net operating losses.
Some Internal Revenue Service employees didnt do enough to protect sensitive taxpayer information when they were sending emails, according to a new report.
The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, found that nearly half the employees whose emails were examined sent unencrypted emails. TIGTA auditors reviewed a random sample of 80 employees from the IRSs Small Business/Self-Employed Division during four weeks in May and June 2015 for the report. They found that 39 of the employees (that is, 49 percent of the 80) sent a total of 326 unencrypted emails containing 8,031 different taxpayers personal information or tax return information internally to other IRS employees or externally to non-IRS email accounts.
Among the 326 unencrypted emails identified by TIGTA, 275 that contained personally identifiable information or tax return information were sent internally to other IRS employees. These emails were sent inside the IRS internal information system firewall, so they posed less risk of improper disclosure or improper access.
However, 51 of the unencrypted emails were sent externally to non-IRS email accounts. The employees who sent the messages failed to follow the requirements of the Internal Revenue Manual and risked exposing the information to unauthorized people.
On top of that, 20 of the emails that six employees sent to personal email accounts involved official IRS business. The report acknowledged that employees might not be aware of restrictions on using their personal email, because the Standards for Using Email in the Internal Revenue Manual dont include this restriction.
Part of the problem lies in the way the IRSs email system was set up. The IRS implemented its Enterprise e-Fax capability in early 2013 without encryption features. TIGTA found 193 unencrypted emails that contained either taxpayers personal information or tax return information were routed to the Enterprise e-Fax servers through the email system. Because the system lacks encryption, its use could result in the interception and disclosure of taxpayers personally identifiable information or tax return information.
It is critical that the Internal Revenue Service properly protect taxpayers personally identifiable and tax return information at all times, said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement. Not only is this protection required by law, it is essential if taxpayers are to maintain a high level of confidence in the IRSs mission.
TIGTA made five recommendations in the report. The IRS agreed with all of them and plans to correct the problems. TIGTA recommended the IRS consider the feasibility of a systemic solution to ensure personally identifiable information and tax return information is encrypted, and until that time the agency should consider requiring the default Outlook setting for certain employees to encrypt the email messages they send. The IRS should also ensure that managers are aware of any email violations and take the appropriate disciplinary action, TIGTA suggested. The IRS also should update the Internal Revenue Manual to specify that no IRS employee can use a personal email account to conduct official government business, and the IRS should request an information technology update to allow encrypted messages to be sent to the EEFax server, the report recommended.
Karen Schiller, commissioner in charge of the IRSs Small Business/Self-Employed Division, pointed out in response to the report that TIGTAs review did not identify any instances in which personally identifiable information was sent unencrypted to an unintended recipient. While the review found a small number of emails containing personal information were not properly encrypted, the majority of the emails were sent within the IRS firewall to other IRS employees who needed to know the information.
We are continuously looking for ways to appropriately balance the need to enable our workforce to communicate with each other and with taxpayers electronically, our taxpayers expectations for more robust electronic communications, and the overriding need to ensure that those communications are secure and guarded from external threats, she wrote. To that end, we have implemented some significant enterprise data protection initiatives.
The Internal Revenue Service needs to provide better security when transmitting taxpayers personal information to outside government agencies, banks and contractors, according to a new report.
The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that the IRS shares information with various government entities, including federal, state, and local agencies, in addition to financial institutions and contractors for tax administration purposes. The data can include some sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information along with taxpayer information.
IRS and federal guidelines require the sensitive data to be properly protected while its being transmitted to safeguard against unauthorized access or disclosure. The IRS has three ways to transfer data to outside partner organizations. They include commercial off-the-shelf products for Internet transfers, commercial software for direct mainframe-to-mainframe data transfers, and drop boxes that enable the IRS and its outside partners to send and receive data transfers.
TIGTA found, however, that the IRS did not make sure it was enforcing the encryption requirements for the three transfer methods, nor did it prevent insecure communication protocols from being used during the data transmissions. These protocols include File Transfer Protocol and Telnet, which have been found to be insecure.
The IRS also didnt fix high-risk vulnerabilities or install security patches on its file transfer servers in a timely way. For instance, TIGTA found 61 servers that had high-risk vulnerabilities, 10 servers with outdated versions of Windows and UNIX operating systems still in operation, and 32 servers that were missing 18 different security patches, four of which were deemed to be critical.
On top of that, the IRS didnt make sure the plans it drew up for correcting the various security control weaknesses actually met the agencys own standards, reducing the likelihood they would be fixed in a timely way.
TIGTA recommended the IRSs chief information officer enforce the agencys policy of encrypting all data transmissions from end-to-end using federally compliant encryption. If the IRSs outside partners cant use such encryption, the agency should ensure that risk-based decisions have been properly approved and data transmissions have been properly authorized, the report suggested. The IRS should also ensure the file transfer components are properly configured, the security patches are timely, and outdated operating systems are replaced, according to TIGTA. The report also recommended the IRS centralize and consolidate its external transfer environment as much as possible, using a managed file transfer solution that supports federally compliant encryption end-to-end for better security and efficiency. In addition, the IRS should make sure its remediation plans are effective for correcting weaknesses in a timely way, according to the report.
The IRS agreed with TIGTAs recommendation that it ensure its data transmissions are properly authorized and the agencys remediation plans for correcting weaknesses are effective. The agency partially agreed with the suggestion for end-to-end encryption enforcement, proper configurations, patching, and operating systems, pointing out that it already has those kinds of processes in place.
The IRS is fully committed to ensuring that sensitive data is protected during transmission and to preventing unauthorized access or disclosure, said IRS chief information officer S. Gina Garza in response to the report.
The IRS disagreed, however, with TIGTAs recommendation that it could further consolidate its external file transfer environment but said it would reconsider the recommendation as its partner agreements are revalidated. For its part, TIGTA maintained it believes the IRS should proactively work with its outside partners to upgrade to end-to-end encryption systems rather than waiting for the agreements because the data transmitted is highly sensitive.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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By Daisy Luther
Do you want to know who George Soros really is? He told us decades ago and nobody listened.
Check out this chilling 60 Minutes interview from Dec. 20, 1998.
Soros destabilizes economies to add to his billions and he doesnt care about how this affects the people who suffer. During the interview, he said, with regard to speculative market attacks:
I dont feel guilty. Im engaged in an amoral activity which is not meant to have anything to do with guilt.
Soros complete lack of guilt about anything seems to be an ongoing theme in his life. One segment of the interview is of particular note the part that talks about his formative years.
To understand the complexities of his personality, you have to go back to the very beginning, to Budapest, where George Soros was born 68 years ago to parents who were wealthy, well-educated, and Jewish. When the Nazis occupied Budapest in 1944, George Soros father was a successful lawyer. He lived on an island in the Danube and liked to commute to work in a rowboat. But knowing there were problems ahead for the Jews, he decided to split his family up. He bought them forged papers and he bribed a government official to take 14-year-old George Soros in and swear that he was his Christian godson. But survival carried a heavy price tag. While hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were being shipped off to the death camps, George Soros accompanied his phony godfather on his appointed rounds, confiscating property from the Jews. (Vintage footage of Jews walking in line; man dragging little boy in line) KROFT: (Voiceover) These are pictures from 1944 of what happened to George Soros friends and neighbors. (Vintage footage of women and men with bags over their shoulders walking; crowd by a train) KROFT: (Voiceover) Youre a Hungarian Jew KROFT: (Voiceover) who escaped the Holocaust (Vintage footage of women walking by train) Mr. SOROS: (Voiceover) Mm-hmm. (Vintage footage of people getting on train) KROFT: (Voiceover) byby posing as a Christian. Mr. SOROS: (Voiceover) Right. (Vintage footage of women helping each other get on train; train door closing with people in boxcar) KROFT: (Voiceover) And you watched lots of people get shipped off to the death camps. Mr. SOROS: Right. I was 14 years old. And I would say that thats when my character was made. KROFT: In what way? Mr. SOROS: That one should think ahead. One should understand andand anticipate events and whenwhen one is threatened. It was a tremendous threat of evil. I mean, it was aa very personal experience of evil. KROFT: My understanding is that you went out with this protector of yours who swore that you were his adopted godson. Mr. SOROS: Yes. Yes. KROFT: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews. Mr. SOROS: Yes. Thats right. Yes. KROFT: I mean, thatsthat sounds like an experience that would send lots of people to the psychiatric couch for many, many years. Was it difficult? Mr. SOROS: Notnot at all. Not at all. Maybe as a child you dontyou dont see the connection. But it wasit created nono problem at all. KROFT: No feeling of guilt? Mr. SOROS: No.
KROFT: For example that, Im Jewish and here I am, watching these people go. I could just as easily be there. I should be there. None of that? Mr. SOROS: Well, of course I cI could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away. But there was no sense that I shouldnt be there, because that waswell, actually, in a funny way, its just like in marketsthat if I werent thereof course, I wasnt doing it, but somebody else wouldwouldwould be taking it away anyhow. And it was thewhether I was there or not, I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So theI had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.
And now, George Soros lives in America, according to some reports, in Bedford Hills, a suburb of New York City. He donated millions to help Hillary Clintons failed presidential bid, and he funds organizations that organize protests which often become violent. We saw it in Ferguson and were seeing it right now in the anti-Trump protests going on across the US. Last week, I wrote:
This is the background of the billionaire philanthropist who is opposing the Trump presidency. Hes betting against America right now, hoping to cash in and make billions when our economy crashes due to the instability he is causing.
Without one drop of remorse. Because
I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, where this article first appeared, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
Removes Rs. 2000 cap imposed post monetization
Snapdeal, Indias largest online marketplace, today announced that it is removing the Rs. 2000 limit applied to Cash on Delivery orders, in the wake of the demonetization announcement last week. Consumers can now resume paying by cash for all orders, as per business as usual.
Following the government announcement, Snapdeal had announced several quick measures to alleviate consumers concerns. Users were not only given the option of switching to card payments from cash, but also allowed to defer their deliveries by a few days, to get time to procure the desired currency. Additionally, Snapdeal and Freecharge had launched "Wallet on Delivery" within 24 hours of the demonetization. The crucial impact of this was that customers who did not have ready access to usable currency notes, could simply pay using their FreeCharge wallet at the point of delivery.
A Snapdeal spokesperson said, We support the demonetization effort by the government, and are committed to making this transition as frictionless and convenient as possible for our consumers. We worked closely with our users throughout the last week to ensure there was no lapse in their experience, and they have responded by swiftly adopting alternative payment modes, especially the Wallet on Delivery option. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and do as required to ensure it is business as usual on our platform.
Covering 1800 KMs from Mumbai to Kanyakumari in an autorickshaw, the monk to explore thoughts & perceptions on girls education
Spearheading the cause of women empowerment via education, the latest challenge at Indi.com endeavors to initiate a conversation and spread awareness on the subject matter. Filmmaker and former monk, Ravinol Chambers, aims to explore what people from different strata of society think about girls education.
Indian film actor and philanthropist, Vivek Oberoi has voiced support to initiative. He further joined Chambers in the introductory video released at Indi.com, extending the challenge to general public. Sharing his views on the challenge, Vivek Oberoi added, I support Ravinol Chambers Street Philosophy since their present initiative is meant to aid empowerment and education of girl child. I further urge everyone to spread the word about the challenge and contribute towards creating awareness on girl education. Im very happy this challenge is supporting my charity, Food For Life Vrindavan.
Covering the distance of 1800 KMs in a Tu-Tuk (autorickshaw) Chambers is initiating conversation on girls education, which would be featured in his documentary. As part of the challenge on Indi.com, Chambers asked views on the following two questions:
'What is the value of educating girls in India today?'
'Do you think girls are equal to boys?'
Commenting on hosting the challenge, Shikha Uberoi, Co-founder, Indi.com India said, Bringing this challenge live on Indi.com has been a proud endeavor for us at Indi.com since we firmly believe in the power of education in empowering girls. This challenge showcases how Indi serves as an impact platform and can create major Buzz and virality around social change. We believe in total equality and especially amongst genders. We are so happy to enable Ravinol Chambers as he embarks upon a journey of lifetime from Mumbai to Kanyakumari in a Rikshaw. We urge our users to support the cause, spread awareness by uploading their response videos and also sharing the word on their social media platforms.
Sharing his enthusiasm, Ravinol Chambers said, I am so happy that such a platform like Indi.com exists and is supporting the cause of girl education and helping me reach out to a majority of people I could have never reached before. I am enthusiastic to meet people all the way from Mumbai to Kanyakumari and learn more about their thoughts and perceptions around the matter of girl education. I hope users will connect and support me in the initiative, reverting with their answers to my questions and sharing the same on their social networks.
In order to participate, users can upload their answers to the aforementioned questions in a video format on Indi.com. The platform would then measure the social media buzz created by each of these videos, provide cash prices and goodies in return. First three winners will take home cash prizes worth INR 6000, 3000 and 1500, along with a free Be Inspired shirt.
To know more about the challenge, please visit: https://indi.com/beinspiredfilms/educategirls
MUMBAI, India, Nov. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, international advocacy organization Global Citizen released its most recent accountability report, tracking progress for global health commitments made via the Global Citizen platform over the last five years. This is the second accountability report Global Citizen has released. It coincides with Global Citizen's first Global Festival in India.
Since 2011, Global Citizens have taken 1.42 million actions on global health resulting in 43 commitments and announcements from governments and private companies, which when they were made were set to affect more than 600 million lives with investments of $7 billion to fund and support global health initiatives.
The annual Global Citizen Festival is both a moment of celebration, but also of accountability, and the report identifies countries and organizations that have honored their commitments and are well on their way to meeting their global health goals. It also calls out those yet to deliver on their promises.
"It's vital that we hold people to account for the promises they have made to the world's poorest," said Simon Moss, a co-founder of Global Citizen. "We are hugely encouraged by the progress we've seen so far - the vast majority of leaders are delivering. But our work is far from over. Global Citizens must continue to hold our world leaders accountable in the fight to end extreme poverty."
To date, the fulfilled commitments have impacted more than 359 million lives, almost two-thirds of the way towards affecting 601.5 million lives by 2030.
34 commitments are on-track or complete. Norway, for example, has delivered on its 2014 promise to commit NOK 6.25 billion to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, helping to immunize millions of children each year against deadly diseases. Canada is also on track to deliver its C$250 million commitment to end polio eradication, helping to bring cases to their lowest ever levels.
Two commitments, however, are significantly at risk. Australia lowered its AU$130 million contribution to polio eradication to AU$86 million, putting eradication at risk. And Malawi pledged to add 17,000 new community health workers (CHWs), but there has been little evidence of increase.
Global Citizen regularly checks on the progress of these initiatives, and today's public report is call to action for Global Citizens to hold these countries to account.
Contact:
Sunshine Sachs, GC@sunshinesachs.com, 212-691-2800
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-citizen-releases-health-accountability-report-on-eve-of-inaugural-india-festival-300365743.html
SOURCE Global Citizen
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "United States Blood Pressure Monitors Market Outlook to 2022" report to their offering.
The report provides key market data on the United States Blood Pressure Monitors market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Aneroid Sphygmomanometers, Automatic Sphygmomanometers, Mercury Sphygmomanometers and Blood Pressure Transducers.
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.
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 what's the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.
Companies Mentioned:
Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
Microlife Corporation
Welch Allyn Inc.
A&D Medical / LifeSource
GE Healthcare Limited
Paul Hartmann AG
Philips Healthcare
Terumo Corporation
American Diagnostic Corporation
Rudolf Riester GmbH & Co. KG
Rossmax International Ltd.
W.A. Baum Co. Inc.
Key Topics Covered:
1 List of Tables & Figures
2 Introduction
3 Blood Pressure Monitors Market, United States
4 Overview of Key Companies in United States, Blood Pressure Monitors Market
5 Blood Pressure Monitors Market Pipeline Products
6 Financial Deals Landscape
7 Recent Developments
8 Appendix
For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/67fktk/united_states
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161118005314/en/
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470
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Related Topics: Medical Devices, Cardiovascular Devices, Patient Monitoring Equipment
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter traveled to Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 16, during a trip focused on ensuring the readiness of the U.S. military and the effectiveness of the training and equipment provided to todays warfighters.
While at JBSA, Carter spoke with Airmen who had just completed basic training at JBSA-Lackland, visited Brooke Army Medical Center at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and took part in a T-1 Jayhawk orientation flight at JBSA-Randolph.
Today we looked at a number of ways we are building the force of the future, to make sure that it is as fine as the force we have today, Carter said. That means recruiting, it means training, it means retaining and it means taking care of service members. We saw that entire arc today.
Carter explained to the recent BMT graduates that countries all around the world like working with American military members; not only because they are competent, well trained, disciplined and powerful on the battlefield, but also because of the things that America stands for.
I am so pleased to lead the finest fighting force the world has ever known. Carter said. The key reason for that is the people like yourselves. You have some very tough task masters here, but thats because you are learning from the best the world has to offer, so you can become the best the world has to offer.
During his visit to BAMC, the Armys largest and busiest medical center, Carter personally thanked wounded and ill service members and their families along with BAMC staff for their service and sacrifice.
Taking care of our service members is important, especially our wounded, ill and injured, Carter said.
The secretary ended his visit at JBSA-Randolph at the training ground for future Air Force instructor pilots and future enlisted remotely piloted aircraft pilots.
There is so much going on here in San Antonio which is relevant to our force of today and the force of the future, Carter said. I am committed to that and I am confident that our armed forces will remain what it is today, which is the best in the world.
When it comes to having the leading edge in air, space and cyberspace, non-commissioned officers from the 70th Operations Support Squadron have taken it to a new level, training Airmen on the importance of Air Force National Tactical Integration (AF NTI).
Being the lead wing for AF NTI, the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing made upgrades to its mission success with help from the 70th OSS. Their main goal is to train analyst waiting to begin their assignment as AF NTI analysts with minimal mission and manning impact, and in an efficient and timely manner. NTIs mission is to leverage critical national intelligence community information and capabilities, working as an enterprise that collaborates to enhance air component operations around the world.
As the previous AF NTI Program Manager for the wing, I was responsible for resource management, which includes systems, manning, funding and baseline training AF NTI Enterprise, said Staff Sgt. Bazil Rivera, the 70th OSS AF NTI non-commissioned officer in charge. In April 2015, I was moved into the wing mission training office for the purpose of standing up a new training course for all AF NTI analysts.
Rivera and co-workers saw a need to redefine the training Airmen received prior to moving into their new work centers. The previous training was outdated and did not meet the needs of the AF NTI enterprise, Rivera said. In order to form holistic learning environments, the team needed to understand what was missing from their training.
The main hurdle was resources, both manning and fiscal, said Master Sgt. Daniel Caulder, the 70th OSS wing mission training superintendent. Staff Sgt. Rivera has almost single handedly developed this course and has done so in a fiscally demanding environment. I'm proud of how far we've come along with minimal resources. It was a big endeavor, and one I wasn't sure we'd be able to deliver on. I expect we'll have a completely funded and vetted training for the enterprise for the foreseeable future.
The AF NTI program was able to receive an avenue for funding through Air Combat Command which allowed Rivera to begin building the foundation for the new curriculum.
Analysts Initial Certification Training and Mission Certification Training both came in the form of online handbooks that are given to Airmen as a do-it-yourself, with little oversite, Rivera said. They were not learning efficiently, so we decided to start over and started building this course. From there, we sent request to the 28 (enterprise) sites around the world for feedback on what they saw needed improvement.
The key focus for AF NTI training will be to remove the obsolete information and re-program how Airmen think and respond, Rivera said. Airmen begin with three validation classes to build and vet material before making it an enterprise requirement.
Our first validation class was held the end of April through May (2016), which introduced the shell of what we imagined the class to be, Rivera said. We had 10 subject matter experts from across the enterprise come in and help us build the course from scratch.
Once the foundation was settled and fine-tuned, teams began to build scenarios and testing exam questions to ensure Airmen were cleared to be analysts. In the next few months, a second class was conducted with a mix of experienced and new analysts. This gave instructors a better view of what was useful to the career fields progress, Rivera said. The feedback was broken down into palpable information for Airmen to better support the big picture NTI missions and its customers.
Rivera said in classes are expected to mix mostly new analysts and experienced Airmen so they can learn from each other, as well as pass along lessons learned.
Something that weve identified across the board, from all the students, was that they were able to meet analysts from all of our sites, and they found (the networking) the most valuable piece, Rivera said. What weve also identified, and are lacking in the enterprise, is that some people do not network outside of their elements, which is a problem because there are so many other elements that can help and reach out to each other. They can make new contacts, work together and build better products for their customers.
Currently, there are only a hand-full of cadre assisting with training, including active-duty and contracted civilians. Within the next few years, the goal is to have a fully supported cadre of instructors with AF NTI experience.
This training is going to benefit the entire AF NTI enterprise, Caulder said. Time wise, we will cut down their training from 30 to seven days. We're also ensuring a baseline across all AF NTI elements to better support our tactical and national customers.
Recently, another class completed their training, which put integrated and knowledge-charged Airmen back into the fight. With the 70th OSS working meticulously to upgrade their Airmen across the globe, the 70th ISRW can continue being unrivaled in air, space and cyberspace superiority.
U.S. and JASDF rescue squadrons participate Keen Sword 17
Air Force pararescuemen from the 31st Rescue Squadron and HH-60 Pave Hawks from the 33rd Rescue Squadron rescue simulated survivors during exercise Keen Sword 17 on Nov. 9, 2016, near Okinawa, Japan. KS17 involved U.S. forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces from all components of both militaries, training to conduct bilateral operations in support of the defense of Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Corey M. Pettis)
An assistant police inspector was suspended for his alleged involvement in a case of duping a real estate developer on the pretext of exchanging his old notes, a senior police official said.
Sanjay Mali, attached to Santacruz Police Station, has been suspended and his involvement in the alleged duping of Sanjay Naik, on the pretext of exchanging three crore rupees from a bank in Santacruz, is being probed, the official said.
An inquiry is going on against Mali in this connection, a senior police officer said.
Police had on Thursday arrested three persons for cheating Naik on the pretext of exchanging his money from a bank in Santacruz on Tuesday.
The accused had asked Mr Naik to come to a place near the bank two days ago, where they took his money and fled.
The accused, whose names have not been disclosed, were arrested and a case under section 420 (cheating) of IPC was slapped on them, police had earlier said, adding more arrests were likely in connection with the incident.
With Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh slated to go for assembly polls on November 19; the Election Commission (EC) on Friday expressed its concerns about use of indelible ink by banks in exchange for currency notes under the demonetisation rule.
In a letter to the Finance Ministry, the EC said: It is informed that bye-elections from some parliamentary and Assembly constituencies are currently in progress, a poll for which is scheduled to be taken on 19.11.2016. As per the provisions of Rule 49K of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, the left forefinger of electors is required to be marked with indelible ink at the polling stations before the elector is allowed to vote.
While Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are headed for assembly polls early next year, the Election Commission stated, Sub-rule (4) of the said Rule 49K provides that in cases, where the elector does not have forefinger on the left hand, the ink is to be marked on any finger on his left hand, and if does not have any finger on his left hand, the ink is to be marked on his right forefinger. Extracts from the Handbook for Returning officers issued by the commission containing instructions in terms of the aforesaid Rule 49K are also enclosed for reference.
ln view of the current by-elections and upcoming elections to Legislative Assemblies of some of the states, it is requested that the above mentioned provisions of rules regarding application of indelible ink at elections and the commissions instructions in this regard should be duly taken into consideration in the context of the reported move to apply indelible ink in connection with demonetisation process so that the same does not affect the election process in any manner, it added.
Many people, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, have flayed the move, saying marking people with indelible ink may bar many people from voting in upcoming bypolls and elections. Five states are slated to go the polls next year.
On Wednesday, when the use of indelible ink began, most banks didnt have stocks of the ink with them except for the State Bank of India and were forced to use permanent marker instead.
The school walls have a fresh coat of paint and classrooms are crammed, but it will take longer to undo the damage done to thousands of Iraqi children who lived under ISIS for more than two years.
Although the school term began officially in September, only this week have pupils in the northern town of Qayyara been re-issued with standard Iraqi textbooks, which the militants replaced with their own in an attempt to brainwash a generation.
ISIS was driven from the town three months ago in the early stages of a campaign to recapture the city of Mosul, which lies about 60 km to north and is now under assault by Iraqi security forces backed by a US-led coalition.
As ISISs self-proclaimed caliphate is eroded, a clearer picture is emerging of the groups project and the enduring mark left on those who lived through it.
We are happy to be back at school, said eight-year-old Iman, who like most of her classmates stopped attending classes after ISIS took control. They wanted us to come but we didnt want to because we dont know how to study in their language, the language of violence.
When the militants overran the area in the summer of 2014, they allowed schools to run as normal, local people said. But later they banned subjects they considered un-Islamic such as geography, history and civic education, and used boys schools as a recruiting ground.
The following school year, beginning in 2015, ISIS imposed an entirely new curriculum to inculcate children with their ideology.
Maths exercises were expressed in terms of weapons and ammunition: one bullet plus two bullets equals how many bullets?.
At that point, most parents stopped sending their children to school, and many pupils who were old enough to make up their minds left voluntarily.
As a result, most children have been set back by two grades, and since some teachers have been displaced by the violence, there is only one teacher for roughly every 80 pupils at the girls school in Qayyara.
They have forgotten their lessons Now we are reminding them, said their teacher Maha Nadhem Kadhem, pacing around the classroom, in which four girls are squeezed onto each bench made for two. We dont want them to be illiterate and ignorant.
At least 73 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in Mozambique on Thursday as they tried to siphon fuel from an overturned truck which exploded, the government said.
The truck was transporting fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira and was near the border when the accident occurred, the government said in a statement.
Injured Rushed to Hospital
The injured had been rushed to the hospital and a government team was due to travel to the area in Tete province, some 2,000 km (1,242 miles) from the capital Maputo on Friday.
Mozambique is one of the worlds poorest countries and struggles constantly with food shortages caused by drought.
The Pakistani navy detected an Indian submarine off the Pakistani coast and prevented it from entering its waters, it said in a statement on Friday, as tension between the nuclear-armed rivals simmers.
The submarine was detected south of the Pakistani coast on Monday, the navy said in a press release.
Thereafter, despite the submarines desperate efforts to escape detection, it was continuously tracked by Pakistan Navy Fleet units and pushed well clear of our waters, the press release said.
The navy also released footage and photographs of what it was said was the submarine trying to enter Pakistani waters.
In New Delhi, Indian Navy officials described the Pakistan Navys claim as blatant lies and said none of its vessels were in that area.
Relations between Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.
Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension between India and Pakistan and the countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on November 16 held a meeting with the members of the Public Council of Armenia within the framework of discussions initiated by the Ministry, press service of the Ministry told Armenpress.
At the meeting the Defense Minister presented the bill on compensation for the damages caused to the life or health of servicemen while defending Armenia, the provisions of implementing Nation-Army idea.
They exchanged views and opinions on the appropriateness of the proposed project implementation, the effective use and management, the necessity of forming transparent control mechanisms, the publics readiness to support the families of servicemen and other issues.
The Maharashtra government is in talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to raise funds for the Rs. 46,000 crore Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor road project.
We will need to raise funds to the extent of Rs. 27,000 crore which is the actual project cost. We plan to raise it from the market in the form of loan and the government has already approached ADB for raising the funds, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Vice Chairman and Managing Director Radheshyam Mopalwar said.
MSRDC is the implementing agency for the 706-km road project that will require 10,000 hectares. It has appointed SBI Capital to assist in fund-raising.
Of the total project cost of Rs. 46,000 crore, Rs. 27,000 crore, which includes Rs. 24,000 crore for civil work, Rs. 2,500 crore for node development and Rs. 500 crore for utility shifting, will be raised from market, Mopalwar said.
Asked when the actual work is expected to begin, he said, We are currently in the process of final alignment and acquiring of land. We expect that to be complete in two months. By February 2017, we feel we will be able to invite tenders and by May, we believe the actual civil work may begin. Our target is to complete the project by 2019.
He said the joint measurement process, which includes notifying land and acquiring it, will start from November 21.
The government has adopted land pooling pattern where the farmers, whose land is acquired, would be given in return fully developed land in the vicinity along with provisions for sustained livelihood.
Pediatricians around the country, faced with persistent opposition to childhood vaccinations, are increasingly grappling with the difficult decision of whether to dismiss those families from their practices to protect their other patients.
Doctors say they are more willing to take this last-resort step because the anti-vaccine movement in recent years has contributed to a resurgence of preventable childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and whooping cough. Their practices also have been emboldened by families who say they will only choose physicians who require other families to vaccinate.
...Last year, Childhood Health Associates of Salem became the first practice in Oregon to require all of its families to vaccinate their children fully and on schedule for the diseases most easily spread from person-to-person contact.
Our policy happened because it simply did not seem just to permit the kids who could not be vaccinated to face dire risks because another childs parent disbelieved vaccination, Helm explained. We did not want anyone to get measles because they passed through our waiting room....
For years, the official position of the AAP was not to dismiss vaccine-resistant families. But recently, the AAP recognized what many individual pediatricians have been wrestling with on an ad hoc basis. This summer, it announced for the first time that dismissal is now an acceptable option if doctors have exhausted counseling efforts....
The AAP found that pediatricians are increasingly likely to dismiss families who refuse vaccinations.
Well, I guess there soon won't be a need for exemptions. It seems doctor are laying down the law to parents: Either comply with vaccines OR you're out!
Of course Lena Sun at the Washington Post doesn't bother to tell us that all these vaccine zealots have no liability for injury from their vaccines--and YES, vaccines carry risk, and no one can predict which kids will have a reaction. Unlike any other medical procedure or product, we're supposed to assume that ALL kids can be lined up for the ever-increasing vaccination schedule.
This no-tolerance for vaccine exempting parents comes from the same doctors who stand around scratching their collective heads when a child has seizures, develops bowel disease, or stops speaking after being vaccinated.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2016 - Hawaiian counties that sought to ban genetically engineered crops or impose conditions on the use of pesticides have lost in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that state and federal laws pre-empt local ordinances.
Hawaii and Maui counties passed laws prohibiting open-air testing and cultivation of GE organisms in order to protect organic and non-GE farmers from cross-pollination and pesticide drift. Kauais ordinance largely targeted pesticide use but also required registration of GE crops and disclosure of their locations.
Seed and pesticide companies fought back against the ordinances, passed in 2013 and 2014, and won favorable decisions from judges in federal district court last year. Among the companies and groups that sued to block implementation are Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow AgroSciences, Agrigenetics and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.
Hawaii is extremely important for seed companies, which take advantage of the multiple growing seasons to test their biotech products and produce seed for farmers.
A Monsanto spokesperson used the release of the opinions to affirm the companys commitment to ongoing dialogue with our neighbors.
Weve heard the concerns some people have about (genetically modified organisms) and todays farming practices, the spokesperson said. We understand the responsibility we have to farm sustainably and to work collaboratively, and we welcome the opportunity to continue having conversations with members of the community. Monsanto has about 1,000 employees in Maui, Molokai and Oahu.
The court issued three separate opinions, but the legal analysis in the Maui decision also applies to the Hawaii County ordinance. Both laws targeted GE crops using similar language.
As the court explained in Atay v. County of Maui, The stated purposes of Mauis ordinance are to protect organic and non-GE farmers and the countys environment from transgenic contamination and pesticides, preserve the right of Maui County residents to reject GE agriculture, and protect the countys vulnerable ecosystems and indigenous cultural heritage.
But under the preemption clause of the federal Plant Protection Act (PPA), the court said that state and local governments may not supplement the strict controls that apply to federally regulated plant pests without the approval of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The court said the PPA expressly preempts the Maui and Hawaii county ordinances to the extent that they seek to ban GE plants that APHIS regulates as plant pests. The court added, however, that federal law does not preempt state regulation of federally deregulated, commercialized GE crops.
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But restrictions on those crops are preempted by Hawaiis own comprehensive set of laws regulating potentially harmful plants, the court said.
The state laws give the states Department of Agriculture broad rulemaking authority to enact restrictions specific to GE crops, if the department were to conclude that those crops are potentially harmful to agriculture or the environment, the court said.
That means that opponents of GE agriculture in Hawaii will have to shift their focus to the state legislature if they want to continue the battle against GE crops in Hawaii.
Kauai County approved an ordinance in 2014 requiring farm operators or applicators who use restricted-use pesticides (RUPs) to notify neighbors before they apply. The ordinance also included buffer zones and Good Neighbor provisions requiring ag operations to send weekly notices to beekeepers and property owners whose land is within 1,500 feet of the property where the pesticide is applied.
The Hawaii Pesticides Law preempts the countys attempt at regulation, the court said, noting that it establishes notification and warning requirements in connection with the application of pesticides.
Hawaii law addresses the same subject matter as Ordinance 960s pesticide notification provisions: warnings regarding the application of RUPs, the court said.
Responding to arguments from defenders of the ordinance that the states pesticide law is not comprehensive, the court said, The Hawaii Pesticides Law and its implementing rules address the entire life cycle of pesticides, including research/experimentation, transportation, storage, sale, use, and disposal.
Left unanswered by the decisions is the question of their impact on the more than 100 similar statutes, regulations and ordinances passed around the country.
#30
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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The tenth anniversary of Air Frances Paris-Yerevan-Paris flight operations was celebrated on November 17 in the Embassy of France in Yerevan, with the celebration of the French Beaujolais Nouveau wine. (Every year on the third Thursday of November, the young red vin de primeur Beaujolais nouveau is released on to the market in a frenzy of promotion, buying and drinking. Just 6-8 weeks old, the wine is intended for immediate consumption.)
Ambassador of France H.E. Jean-Francois Charpentier told reporters 10 years ago a flight was operated between Yerevan and Paris, which was a very important event for everyone.
I personally use the services of Air France, but not only based on patriotic tendencies, but I think that the air company is serving its clients very well, he said.
Air France KLM regional manager Frank van't Hof joyously recalled the first flight operated by an Airbus A320, with the presence of legendary crooner Charles Aznavour himself.
During these 10 years Air France has transported more than 500,000 passengers between the capitals. We are upgrading our aircrafts, improving the on board food service, and we always seek for ways to expand our network, Hof said.
President of the Executive Travel agency Levon Baghdasaryan added that currently the airlines operate 4 flights weekly in summers and 2 flights weekly in winters.
Its already a month since Air France offers 20-25 percent cheaper tickets for the Yerevan-Paris flight for the winter season, he said.
The first Paris-Yerevan flight of Air France was operated on April 8, 2006. The flight brought a new wave for expanding and strengthening business, tourist, as well as cultural ties.
Due to the wide network of one of the largest airlines of Europe, new opportunities were creates for Armenians of the Diaspora as well.
Air France was established in 1933. The Air France KLM group was founded in 2004, which currently operates 2200 flights a day throughout the world, with its fleet of 352. Air France KLM offers 320 destinations to 114 countries.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. US President Barack Obama called Russia as an influential military superpower, reports TASS.
My stance towards Russian hasnt changed from the very start of my presidency. Russia is an important country, its a military superpower, it has an influence in the region and the world, Obama said in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on November 17.
He said the constructive cooperation with Moscow is in the interests of Washington, however, currently there are objective differences in the mutual relations of the two countries.
During the meeting Obama and Merkel discussed the maintenance of anti-Russian sanctions. We have discussed the importance of maintaining the sanctions unless Russia will fulfill the obligations set by the Minsk agreements, Obama said.
The sides also discussed the Syrian issue. Barack Obama said the talks are the only way for being out of the Syrian crisis.
Aiken, SC (29801)
Today
Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A few sprinkles possible. High 76F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..
Tonight
Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Hovhannes Grigoryan, CEO of the Institute for Political and Sociological Consulting (IPSC), presented results of a new opinion poll on socio-economic developments, public perceptions of foreign affairs, international recognition, and Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution, the European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) told Armenpress.
The poll was conducted in July 2016 (shortly after the Four-Day War) on a sample of 1,081 people in Stepanakert and the 7 regions of Nagorno Karabakh, and cross-referenced with a similar survey conducted in March 2015.
The figures show an increase in the number of people who believe Nagorno Karabakh should be independent, compared to those who prefer it become a part of Armenia. An even more significant trend was observed among younger and educated, who support the independence in a much higher proportion (61.2% of population between 18 and 30 years support independence; 53.6% of university educated support independence).
Furthermore, public's approval of Government's performance in the sectors of Defense and Foreign Affairs has decreased, while the perception that Nagorno Karabakh is on the right track is still considerably high at 78.9% percent.
The question of peace and security remains the predominant concern for half of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, followed by unemployment and international recognition of the NKR. Despite these concerns, declared intentions for migration remain at a very low level.
Commenting on this last aspect, Hovhannes Grigoryan said that: "The poll has showed that the Four-Day war of April 2016 has not affected the migration tendencies of the Nagorno Karabakh population, which remain the lowest in the South Caucasus region, when compared to figures from similar polls conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In other words, people of Karabakh, regardless of the hardships of the unexpected war outbreak in April, are determined to stay in their country".
Member of the European Parliament Frank Engel underlined the political maturity of people in Nagorno Karabakh: "The Four-Day War changed the situation, but it hasn't changed it fundamentally. People of Nagorno Karabakh are very mature about their positions, especially on the independence of the Artsakh, and it is obvious that despite them becoming more critical of their state and authorities, they express strong loyalty to their country. Further tensions are likely to strengthen these sentiments, rather than to invalidate them.
Following the presentation of the research, Diogo Pinto, EuFoA Director said: "The results of this latest opinion poll, conducted after April's Four-Day war, very clearly show the determination and the resilience of the citizens of Nagorno Karabakh, in spite of the continued Azerbaijani aggression and attempts for destabilization. Although an overwhelming majority believes that further aggressions are likely to happen in the near future, they crave for peace and trust the OSCE Minsk Process and the international community. As European Friends of Armenia, we urge the international community and the EU in particular, not to let the people of Nagorno Karabakh down. Pressure must be kept on Azerbaijan so that it understands that only a peaceful solution is acceptable and that no further violations of the ceasefire will be tolerated".
You can download results of the poll HERE.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia Suren Karayan on November 17 held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Armenia Seyed Kazem Sadjadi to discuss the Armenian-Iranian economic cooperation prospects, press service of the Ministry told Armenpress.
Minister Karayan said the Islamic Republic of Iran is an important partner for Armenia, and it is necessary to take concrete steps to further intensify the economic cooperation of the two states.
In this context, the Minister attached importance to the exhibition of Armenian goods and services that was held in Iran this year. Suren Karayan suggested to make this exhibition continuous through a joint group. The Minister also suggested to take steps to boost inter-regional (Armenia, Iran, Georgia) tourism.
Ambassador Seyed Kazem Sadjadi presented the Minister all sectors and opportunities which will boost the economic cooperation of the two states.
The Ambassador said Armenia is an important trade hub that can connect Iran with other EAEU member states.
From the perspective of boosting the cooperation, the Ambassador attached importance to the elimination of visa regime between Iran and Armenia, the intensification of air communication, as well as the factor of the Armenian great community in Iran. In his turn, the Ambassador suggested to boost the inter-regional cooperation between Armenia and Iran.
Minister Suren Karayan thanked the Iranian Ambassador for the productive discussion and expressed hope that such discussions will be continuous.
November 16, 2016
An emerging shopping portal in Egypt is riding a growing e-commerce wave by attracting more than a million users every month.
The startup Yaoota, which was launched in June 2014 by friends Sherif El-Rakabawy and Mohamed Ewis, allows shoppers to compare prices online for products ranging from electronics to kids items.
In October 2015, the startup managed to raise $2.7 million from an Abu Dhabi family investment firm called KBBO Group.
The shopping portals co-founder, Rakabawy, said that his website was attracting about 70,000 users per month when it first got the UAE investment. Now Yaoota has 1.1 million monthly users, he told Al-Monitor.
Yaoota means hey tomatoes in Egyptian colloquial Arabic. In Egypt, street vendors selling tomatoes usually yell Hey crazy tomatoes! because of their wild price fluctuations.
A search by shoppers via Yaoota for a Casio keyboard, for instance, gets 15 results from two merchants with prices ranging from 803 to 8,454 Egyptian pounds ($50 to $528). A search for iPhone 7 Plus, meanwhile, generates 43 results from seven merchants with prices ranging from 15,799 to 21,699 Egyptian pounds.
We have so far hosted around 200 retailers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and we operate on a cost-per-click model with a rate of 35 cents per click," the entrepreneur said.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Library, a nonprofit organization backed by the World Economic Forum, Egypt is currently ranked 12th in the world in terms of best places to invest in internet-based commerce.
Data released by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology also showed that Egypt has the highest number of internet users in the Arab world, with more than half of the population or 48 million people having access to the internet.
There is a lot of potential in the e-commerce market in Egypt, Alia el-Mahdy, a professor of economics at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor. It is a large country with a huge population and a lot of untapped resources, she said.
According to the payments agency Payforts 2015 State of Payments in the Arab World report, Egypts e-commerce market will reach $2.7 billion by 2020, almost doubling compared to its $1.4 billion size in 2014. People aged 26-35 are the largest age group to buy products online.
Mahdy expects that online purchases will continue to grow in Egypt for several reasons. A large percentage of Egyptians are under 30 years old. There is huge government support for technology. There is an unprecedented growth on smartphones, and there is also a greater demand for branded products, she said.
However, Rakabawy sees a lot of challenges for the e-commerce market growth in Egypt. Only 8% of the countrys internet users are online consumers. Also, 72% of consumers use cash for their e-commerce activity.
Egypt remains a cash-based economy, Rakabawy said. According to Payfort, only 10% of Egyptian people have bank accounts, and fewer have credit cards.
If we move beyond the domination of cash society, the growth of e-commerce in Egypt would accelerate even more, he added, hoping that his startup would help such a drive. Rakabawy and his friend Ewis knew that entrepreneurship would be a tough ride.
In 1998, Rakabawy graduated from the German International School in Cairo. With a German education, Rakabawy headed to the University of Bonn, where he obtained both bachelors and masters degrees in computer science, graduating in 2003. The young entrepreneur also studied for a Ph.D. in computer science at Leipzig University in Germany and spent a semester in 2009 at the University of California at Berkeley.
In Berkeley, I began thinking about Yaoota. But I preferred not to launch the project because the e-commerce market in Egypt and the Middle East was still small at the time, Rakabawy said.
Rakabawy then decided to complete a masters degree in public management and governance at the London School of Economics, graduating in 2010.
Just three months ahead of the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and upon his graduation, Rakabawy headed back to Cairo where he worked for Booz & Company, advising technology clients in the Middle East. There, he met his partner and high school friend Ewis, who had already been working at the Cairo-based company for three years. Ewis also earned a Master of Business Administration from the graduate business school INSEAD in 2009.
At Booz & Company, Rakabawy sought to build connections, gain experience and save money for his project. In my last few months there, I created a prototype about Yaoota to test the possibility of launching the project. And it worked, Rakabawy said.
He then suggested the idea to Ewis, who was immediately interested in joining the project. The two Yaoota co-founders quit their job at Booz & Company at the same time and launched their startup shortly after. Rakabawy was also working as an assistant professor at the American University in Cairo before launching Yaoota in 2014.
The two men rented a small office at the Greek Campus, an entrepreneurial hub in downtown Cairo, and hired two developers in the beginning. Rakabawy was involved in the business and information technology department, while Ewis ran the marketing section.
We gained traction immediately, Rakabawy said, adding, A lot of users accessed our website." By 2014, Yaoota attracted 100,000 active monthly users and two of the biggest online retailers in Egypt: Jumia and Souq.com.
The two entrepreneurs then began their search for an investor and they found one from the United Arab Emirates. The investor injected $2.7 million in our company, and this is considered the largest investment so far in a startup in Egypt, Rakabawy said.
Like any entrepreneur, Rakabawy has walked the hard line of government bureaucracy, political instability, taking risks and enduring capital pressures. Yet, he believes that the startup culture in Egypt is rapidly developing despite all of these challenges. Egyptians are now accepting the idea of establishing a startup, and they are gradually becoming courageous to take risks, he said.
According to Silatech, which is a dynamic social initiative that creates jobs for young people in the Arab world, 26% of young people in the Arab world in 2010 even before the uprisings were planning to open their own businesses in the next 12 months, versus 4% in the United States.
Ahmed Alfi, the CEO of Sawari Ventures who invested over $5 million in developing Egypts startup scene through Flat6Labs, said there is optimism among young people in the Arab world about startups. He said that optimism has accelerated youths' willingness to take on the risk of starting a business despite political instability, according to the Middle East Institute.
November 17, 2016
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip In mid-October, a number of Palestinian inmates in the main correctional and rehabilitation center in western Gaza City embarked on a project to handwrite the holy Quran using Uthmanic calligraphy. The project came in an effort by the inmates to expiate their guilt in the hopes of obtaining privileges inside prison and having their sentences reduced.
Nine inmates, who took Uthmanic calligraphy courses, joined the project, which is sponsored by Dar Al-Quran and Sunnah in Gaza City. Those in charge of the project expect the project to be finished by the end of the year.
Handwriting the Quran is one of the projects carried out by the correctional and rehabilitation centers in the Gaza Strip, to alter inmate behavior and prompt them to benefit from their time in prison. As a result, the correctional and rehabilitation centers free many inmates for good conduct after they have served two-thirds of their prison sentences.
Massoud Abu Ras, the director of the division of religious preaching and guidance at the correctional and rehabilitation centers in the Gaza Strip and supervisor of the project, told Al-Monitor, "The idea came after a series of programs were carried out [and] after they were highly welcomed by the inmates in recent months. Some inmates joined the literacy programs, others pursued their university studies or joined courses to recite the Quran that were behind the launch of this program."
Abu Ras added that the nine inmates who joined the project received several Uthmanic calligraphy training courses, and while only three have mastered it, the others are in charge of adding the diacritical marks and preparing the paper and tools for the daily work.
He said many inmates at the correctional and rehabilitation main center in Gaza City and other branches in the Gaza Strip demanded that they be allowed to join the project, but because the project was relatively small, given the lack of funds, there could only be a limited number of participants. Abu Ras expected the project to conclude by the end of the year.
The project is the first of its kind at the correctional and rehabilitation centers in the Gaza Strip. The size of the page where the Quran is copied is 50 by 70 centimeters (19 by 27 inches), and the 611 pages are supposed to be bound in a single book after being carefully examined by specialists, to be placed in the library of the correctional and rehabilitation main center.
The director of media and public relations in the correctional and rehabilitation center in western Gaza City, Mohammed Hassanein, told Al-Monitor, "The inmates took part in the project of their own free will," and noted that the overwhelming majority of the inmates welcomed the idea and that participants were selected according to specific criteria.
Hassanein added that the inmates who joined other suggested projects and demonstrated good conduct while serving their sentences obtained privileges similar to the participants in the project to handwrite the Quran. The privileges include making or receiving additional phone calls, and having family visits in private rooms, instead of being separated from their visitors by a glass partition.
He explained that the cases of participants will be examined by the correctional and rehabilitation center once the project is over so that they will be released once they serve two-thirds of their sentence, or even be granted a temporary release ranging between one to three days on holidays to go home and then return to prison.
Diab K., an inmate sentenced to four years in prison and a participant in the project who asked that his full surname not be revealed, told Al-Monitor that he took part in the project after the director of the religious preaching and guidance division at the prison told him about it. He liked the idea and asked to join it, particularly since he is good at Uthmanic calligraphy.
He stressed that once the project was launched, the administration at the center granted them many privileges, such as unlimited phone calls and many family visits during which they sit with their families without a glass partition.
Samir H., an inmate sentenced to 12 years in prison, who also asked that his full surname not be disclosed, told Al-Monitor, "When the project to handwrite the Quran first started, we worked between four to five hours per day. A few days later, we requested that the administration increase our working hours so that we can benefit from our free time. The administration agreed to increase working hours between eight to 10 hours a day."
He explained that he had participated in many programs and projects that were launched by the center to occupy inmates with purposeful programs aimed at improving their behavior while in prison and when freed. He hoped that his sentence, of which he has served four years so far, would be reduced once the project ends.
Iyad Salman, the director of Aftercare Center for Released Prisoners in Gaza City, told Al-Monitor that the project to handwrite the Quran and other projects are designed to alter the inmates behavior, which is a part of the rehabilitation of the inmates in order for them to become good members of their communities once they serve their sentences.
Salman noted that as an institution providing inmates with health and social care services, they found that the conduct of the inmates improved after they took part in such projects, which prompted the center to cooperate with correctional and rehabilitation centers in order to intensify and diversify their programs and projects.
He stressed that there are psychological, religious and occupational projects, the most recent of which is one involving the Fateh Bakery in Gaza City and the city of Deir el-Balah, and one involving a clothing sewing factory in the southern Gaza Strip, where inmates are employed in return for financial compensation.
The projects and programs, which increased in recent years due to some Arab donors providing financial support, have remained limited, given the insufficient financial support provided by the Palestinian government.
November 17, 2016
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Palestinian street is currently preoccupied with the issue of reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, one of the main points stipulated in all the Palestinian reconciliation agreements that both Fatah and Hamas accepted. The PLO, which was founded in 1964, is considered the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people domestically and abroad.
The latest reconciliation agreement, which was sealed in April 2014 and is known as the Beach Refugee Camp Agreement, calls for establishing a Temporary Leadership Framework for the PLO within five weeks of the signing of the agreement. The framework would facilitate discussion of ways to reform the PLO and its mechanisms and prepare for the elections of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the legislative body of the PLO. However, the framework has yet to be enacted.
This issue remains a source of dispute among the various Palestinian factions, as no steps have been taken in this regard to this day. The stalemate has raised many important questions: Why does Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refuse to activate the PLOs Temporary Leadership Framework? And what is Hamas seeking to achieve through the PLO reform?
In a speech at the fourth Palestinian National Security Conference in Gaza on Nov. 2, Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas political bureau, urged the parties to work on reforming the PLO and restore its role as representative of the Palestinian people.
Meshaal denied talks that his movement is seeking to take control of the PLO, saying, No one has the right to dominate the PLO. We are partners in sharing responsibility and in [preserving] the nation. He stressed the need to form a common and unified authority for all Palestinians at home and abroad.
The PLO is made up of 10 Palestinian factions, most prominently Fatah, but others refuse to join: Hamas, which scored a major victory in the 2006 legislative elections, and the Islamic Jihad movement. They resist joining because the organization had recognized the State of Israel in September 1993 and its right to live in peace and security, a position both movements reject.
Hamas leader Yahya Moussa told Al-Monitor, The PLO was created to realize the hopes of the Palestinian people to achieve independence and freedom. But it has reached an impasse today and turned into a body devoid of any content as it lacks a unified political program. Its current political program is based on negotiations with Israel on a two-state solution. Hamas, which won the last legislative elections, is not part of the PLO, and thus the latter is not a representative of the Palestinian people.
Moussa added, This is why the organization needs to be rehabilitated, which is what we mean by reforming the PLO. This should be done according to a comprehensive process that tackles the structure of the PLO, its institutions, its political programs and its strategies, and that adopts all forms of resistance against the occupation, especially the armed resistance.
He explained that Hamas has yet to join the PLO as the key to the organization is in the hands of Abbas, who does not want to include us in it because we are a major force. He wants to maintain his monopoly over the small powers inside the organization so he can have the last say. This explains why Abbas refuses to call for the establishment of the PLOs Temporary Leadership Framework.
Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the PLOs Executive Committee, said the organization welcomes all Palestinian factions without exception, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Abu Youssef told Al-Monitor, The call to reform the PLO is a good and positive one as we need to include [all Palestinian] factions and agree on a unified national strategy to resist the occupation. But there are many obstacles hindering the PLOs reform process as per the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreements, mainly Hamas refusal to allow the national consensus government to operate in the Gaza Strip and to hand over management of the Gaza crossings to the Palestinian Authority.
Walid al-Mudallal, a political science professor at the Islamic University in Gaza, believes Hamas is trying to change some of the PLOs policies, about which Abbas is making unilateral decisions.
Mudallal told Al-Monitor, The PLO lost its influence on the Palestinian political scene, while Abbas controls it and does not implement the organizations decisions that contradict his policies. This is why Hamas is seeking to turn the PLO into a home for all Palestinians, and into an organization whose decisions are binding to all. Thus, the inclusion of Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions in this organization is considered a Palestinian reformist action.
Among the PLOs decisions that have yet to be implemented is the 2015 Central Committee decision to end the security coordination with Israel, which it accused of ignoring agreements signed with the PA such as the 1994 Paris Protocol. However, this decision was never put into effect.
For his part, political analyst Hassan Abdo confirmed that the reform of the PLO is not a demand by Hamas alone, but shared by most Palestinian political forces such as the Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This, he said, is because the PLO does not reflect the real policies and ambitions of the political forces.
Abdo told Al-Monitor, The reform of the PLO means turning it from an institution of individual decisions into an institution that is based on political partnership. This explains why Abbas refuses to activate the PLOs Temporary Leadership Framework that paves the way for a reform process.
Mudallal agrees with Abdo on this point, saying, Abbas fears that Hamas will pull the rug from under his feet within the organization and thus threaten his monopoly over Palestinian political decisions.
He added, Abbas is also concerned about Hamas presence inside the PLO, which would allow it to participate in the elections of the PNC which is in charge of drafting the policies and programs of the PLO and to reverse some of the PLOs policies, mainly ending its recognition of the State of Israel.
However, Abu Youssef ruled out the possibility that Hamas will reverse the PLOs policies even if it obtains seats within the PNC. He explained, No faction alone can rule the PLO since it is an organization that includes representatives of all factions that are part of it. The decisions of the PLO are subject to the vote of the representatives of these factions, and are not made by one faction alone.
November 17, 2016
The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) is showcasing a collection of works by Iranian and Arab modern artists in an exhibition titled The Sea Suspended. The exhibition, curated by the United Arab Emirates-based Barjeel Art Foundation, opened Nov. 8 and will continue through Dec. 23. The show spans 50 years of works from the 1940s to the 1990s and features artists from around the Arab world, including Egypt, Iraq, North Africa, the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula. The exhibit's title The Sea Suspended is from a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. This is the first time that an exhibition of Arab art from the modern period has been showcased in Iran.
The TMoCA says the aim of the exhibition is to provide an opportunity for scholars and students for comparative study of Iranian and Arab modern art. In an interview with Al-Monitor, TMoCA head Majid Mola Norouzi described the initiative as a dialogue between Iranian and Arab art, a point he thinks can also be important in terms of cultural diplomacy. Norouzi told Al-Monitor, In the present atmosphere, the Islamic worlds cultural image has been tarnished due to movements such as [the Islamic State]. At the same time, there are also nationalistic tensions in the Middle East that have darkened the human and cultural atmosphere between countries. He added, I think art and artists can be a pioneer in improving human relations especially paintings, which use a global language to create this understanding.
While Arab poetry may be a little known in Iran, there is practically no exposure to nor understanding of Arab visual arts. The Sea Suspended is thus considered a first attempt to introduce visual Arab artists to Iranians.
Norouzi told Al-Monitor that introducing the various art movements in the Middle East is among the museums goals in line with its policy of showcasing global art movements. So far, we have held many exhibitions by Western artists. However, we have unfortunately not had exhibitions about the art movements in the Middle East. Some of these movements may have common roots, but they have never been viewed together at the same time. Many Iranian artists and art history experts are not even familiar with Arab visual arts. One of our goals is to provide the atmosphere needed in order to acquaint Iranian artists and art critics with modern Arab art.
Amir Rad, who directs the museums new media center, told Al-Monitor he also believes that holding art exhibitions in the region is an important way to introduce pioneering Arab modern artists to Iran. Prior to this, some exhibitions were held on certain occasions, such as the Resistance Exhibition, which showed Arab artworks within the context of resistance. However, we in Iran are not familiar with the pioneering Arab modernist artists and have not seen their works. We are not familiar with an important part of the Arab art movement.
Nonetheless, Rad sees modern art as a vast field and feels one cannot put the entire Arab world into a single category. Lining up Arab countries in a way that represents them as having a shared view of modernism is not correct," he said. "This exhibition is not only about how Iranian and Arab artists look at the issue of modernism. It also looks at the different views that Arab artists from various Arab countries have about this matter.
Rad believes that The Sea Suspended explores an important period in the history of Iranian and Arab art, when the modernist movement emerged. Of course, it would have been nice if a collection of modern Western art were also displayed at the exhibition to provide a review of the original modernist works and evaluate the achievements it has brought for us without [consideration] of the pieces' origin, he said.
The exhibition's Arab pieces have been sourced from the Barjeel Art Foundation, which, according to curator Karim Sultan, was established in 2010 in an effort to introduce the depths of Arab art to the UAE and the rest of the world while highlighting common experiences and promoting cultural and artistic dialogue.
Sultan described the event as an opportunity for dialogue through which participants will learn the story of the entire Arab world. In this vein, he also relayed that the main challenge in holding such an exhibition was selecting artwork representative of the whole region.
The works by Iranian artists came from the treasure trove of TMoCA, which is also said to have the largest collection of Western modern art outside Europe and North America. An estimated 2,000 pieces of art are believed to be stored at the building. Permanent displays are not possible due to what has been described as a lack of space, as well as cultural issues. However, this past summer, a list of the artwork housed in TMoCAs vault, along with detailed information about each work, was uploaded to the museums website, making it all accessible to the public for the first time in almost 40 years.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
November 17, 2016
Prague is a favorite honeymoon destination for Turkish newlyweds, and the Czech Republic is generally idealized in Turkey as a mecca of beautiful women and febrile intellectuals, all sipping the countrys famous brews. It must have therefore come as something of a shock for many Turks to read the headline news today that two Czech terrorists had been arrested in the predominantly Kurdish town of Sirnak, in southeastern Turkey.
The pair, identified as Miroslav Farkas and Marketa Vselichova, are allegedly members of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the United States top ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The YPG is also closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Turkey considers both groups terrorist organizations and is infuriated by the YPG's cooperation with Washington.
The Daily Sabah reported that Farkas was alleged to be a sniper, described Vselichova as a female and said they were responsible for coordinating the arrival of new volunteer terrorists from Europe to Syria. Meanwhile, Takvim ran a photograph of the buxom Vselichova being whisked away by masked Turkish special forces. The Czechs were supposedly detained as they tried to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria. They allegedly confessed under interrogation that they had been trained by German special forces and in the French Foreign Legion.
The Czech Foreign Ministry presented a somewhat different version of events. Spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova confirmed that Turkish authorities had found material linking Farka and Vselichova to the YPG, but she said they had been arrested Oct. 13 in Sirnak while trying to cross the border into Iraq. This makes more sense, as Sirnak borders Iraq, not Syria.
The amicable relationship between Czechs and the YPG is no secret. Prague was one of the first European capitals in which the YPG opened a representation office, earlier this year.
Czech Defense Ministry and other officials are said to regularly hobnob with YPG cadres. Alongside Albania, the Czech Republic is one of the main sources of weapons flowing to the YPG via the US-led coalition against IS.
Czech volunteers are known to have taken up arms with the YPG. Their exact numbers are unknown, but Phillip Lohaus, a former Pentagon analyst, reckons there may be around a hundred foreign volunteers fighting with the YPG. They include Americans, Britons and Germans. Turkey says that regardless of their nationality, they are all considered terrorists.
Turkeys Western allies and Russia may have been more impressed by the formal arrests of seven people accused of membership in Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian jihadis tied to al-Qaeda. The suspects, only identified by their initials, were picked up Nov. 1 in separate sweeps in Agri, Van, Hatay and Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Turkeys all-out campaign to crush the PKK and its affiliates continues at full blast, as the mayor of Van, the second-largest, predominantly Kurdish city in the southeast, was detained Nov. 17. Protests erupted in the city, as Bekir Kaya, who was elected on the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) ticket, was hauled off to jail and a government administrator appointed in his stead.
Over the past 48 hours, the mayors of Tunceli and Siirt, both of the DBP, suffered a similar fate. Ahmet Turk, the DBP co-mayor of Mardin and one of Turkeys best-known Kurdish politicians, was merely fired. All are accused of being tied to the PKK.
According to the latest tally, some 34 DBP-administered municipalities have been taken over by the government and a total 38 mayors arrested. Seven mayors also wanted on terror charges are on the run. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, the co-chairs of the DBPs sister party, the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), were locked up earlier this month, along with eight other fellow HDP lawmakers.
Turk, speaking to the pro-PKK Firat news agency after a government administrator assumed his duties, said, The [ruling Justice and Development Party] wants through such shock tactics to subdue everyone. They can never subdue us. They will not succeed.
The pattern of Turkeys often-brutal efforts to quash the Kurds long-running struggle for greater freedom suggests that Turk may be right.
November 15, 2016
Muhammad: The Messenger of God, a film by the Iranian director Majid Majidi, opened in Turkish theaters Oct. 28, selling a remarkable 261,376 tickets in its first week. Reviews for the film, which focuses on the childhood of the Islamic prophet, have varied, particularly those by Islamists, for whom portrayals of the prophet in popular media come with high stakes.
Islamists have assessed Muhammad in terms of the role of religious sensibilities in its content, including scenes of miraculous events, as well as concerns of off-screen sectarianism and politics. Some critics have dismissed the film entirely on the ground that it is cinematic art with Western roots. On the other hand, Hayrettin Karaman, a respected religious authority in conservative Islamist circles, approved of the film when he viewed it last year.
As some Islamist critics seethed with rage, Majidis film titillated the fancy of many other conservatives, who praised his efforts. Nihal Bengisu of HaberTurk wrote, I didnt love it, but I liked it, and Ozlem Albayrak from Yeni Safak advised, Lets not be too cruel.
Much of the criticism involved accusations of Shiite propaganda. Yeni Safak pundit Yusuf Kaplan invited readers to stand up against Majidis film, which he called the last hoop in a corrupting plot. For him, the aim of the film is to present Shiism as a catalyst of interfaith dialogue and love, while portraying Sunnism as uncompromising and creating terror.
Kaplan also slammed Majidis Hollywood-like style that exhibits more Western than Islamic sensibilities and condemned the portrayal of Prophet Muhammad by an actor. Most dangerously, wrote Kaplan, the aim of the film is to create and legitimize Muslim iconography similar to Christian practices, which would lead to theological-ontological catastrophes like protestantization and paganization of religion.
Adopting a similar tone, the writer and historian Iskender Pala told the press that the state of Iran had provided funding for the film and positioned the production as part of the current sectarian struggle in Syria and the broader Middle East. Even if the Shiites lose the wars in Iraq and Syria, Pala asserted, they will unfortunately win the war with cultural wars.
Other conservative writers had more positive takes on the film. One of them, Alaatin Karaca, with Karar, did not view the production as propagandist. Religious and sectarian sensitivities are impossible to separate from aesthetic preferences, wrote Karaca. Hence, he wrote, It is impossible for Majidi to completely discard his Shiite sensibilities! He added that the same applies for Sunni directors.
Sabah's Hilal Kaplan voiced a negative opinion toward some scenes, including the represention of Muhammad as a healer and narratives of miracles that do not exist in the Islamic sources and are more akin to Christianity. Yet, she saw no elements of Shiite or Iranian propaganda in the film. Rather, she expressed hope that films like Muhammad will motivate Sunni Muslims to undertake visual projects the most influential communication tool of our time about the prophets life. In this sense, I find the film both informative and inspiring of competition, Kaplan wrote.
Much discussed in the debate over Majidis work is its physical portrayal of Muhammad. It's handled subtly: His face is never shown, but at times parts of his body are. Even this was too much for hard-core traditionalists, who condemned Shiite laxness in their religious sensibilities. In fact, to comport with Sunni Turkish sensibilities, the voice of Muhammad was muted in the Turkish version of the film and replaced with subtitles, but even this went too far for some.
An article in the Milli Gazete, a mouthpiece of the Islamist Felicity Party, included comments by theologian Cevat Aksit, who slammed the film, saying that no Sunni scholar could justify any kind of imagery of the Prophet Muhammad. You know, Christians put Jesus Christs photo in front of them and worship it. If with this kind of film you work to depict and represent the Prophet Muhammad, it becomes Christian tradition. Aksit reminded that the faces of Muhammads companions, among them Abu Bakr and Umar, are not supposed to be shown either.
Religion is not a toy, argued Aksit. Our savior prophet cannot be made into a part of popular culture. He can never be made a commodity.
The Directorate of Religious Affairs faced strong criticism from angry Islamists for not condemning the film. In response, the directorate released a statement Nov. 3 denying rumors that it played a prominent role in the film's making and financing. The statement also read that as much as the film allegedly reflects historical facts about Muhammads early life, some parts and scenes in it stray far from the truth, and certain fictive elements stand out.
The directorate confirmed that there had been communication and contact with the films writer and director during the screenwriting and claimed that its thoughts and comments about problematic parts were partially taken into account. The statement also strongly advised that people avoid sectarian rhetoric while the Muslim world is going through one of its most difficult periods.
Only a few columnists reminded readers of a fundamental point: There are no good films about the founder of Islam, except perhaps The Message, made in 1976 by Moustapha Akkad. Moreover, whoever tries to make a film about the prophet's life invariably gets slammed by fellow Muslims.
In this light, Nihat Hatipoglu, a scholar and TV commentator on religious matters, addressed a few comments about the film in an article for Sabah and noted some of the films positives. In regard to talk about the directors Shiite roots, he asked, What did Sunni countries or directors do other than censure the film? Considering that more films will come, Hatipoglu suggested that it is best to seek ways to cooperate by getting in touch with filmmakers and making collaborative films true to Islamic sources that will not illustrate the prophet or disrespect his companions.
Hilal Kaplan mentioned rumors of Qatars readiness to invest $1 billion in a seven-part movie series on the life of Muhammad and the other Abrahamic prophets and asked sarcastically, What are we doing? Heated discussions about the film's technicalities. Bravo for us.
Pala said, If only we could have made 50 films on the topic by now!" He revealed his plans to write a 30-episode series about Muhammad as seen through the eyes of 30 companions. Rather than wasting time discussing Majidis film, he wrote, it would be better to discuss how we can make better, truer and more beautiful ones.
The debate over Majidis film which has also inspired criticism from the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia and Al-Azhar University as well as a fatwa against Majidi from Indian clerics has brought to light some of the major issues in the Islamic world today. Respecting the imperatives of the religion is unquestionably important to Muslims, but sectarian biases, suffocating taboos and obsession with conspiracies against Islam sometimes cripple them from producing art, even in the service of their faith. Alas, it even stops them from sitting back and enjoying a film that does nothing but venerate their beloved prophet.
November 17, 2016
Prominent Palestinian politicians and economists in the Palestinian territories appear to be totally unfazed by threats that the Republicans in both houses of Congress and in the Donald Trump administration might cut off aid to the Palestinian government.
Mustafa Barghouti, an elected Palestinian legislator, told Al-Monitor that the United States has already reduced aid to the Palestinian government. In the past two years, we have seen a steady decline in financial support coming from Washington to the Palestinian government. Some of the remaining aid coming from the United States is going directly to local governments, and the rest is distributed to civil society organizations by USAID [US Agency for International Development].
A US official confirmed Barghoutis statement, telling the Wall Street Journal Nov. 16 that US funding, which goes straight to the Palestinian governments creditors, has dropped from about $100 million in 2014 to roughly $75 million in 2015.
Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, has a number of questions about the aims of USAID. With USAID, a large chunk of the money is spent as overhead on US-based organizations, and it is not clear what their [the organizations] goals are in Palestine.
An editorial in the Wall Street Journal published Nov. 13 called on both the Barack Obama and Trump administrations to stop aid to terrorists. The conservative newspaper supported legislation in the US Congress that would stop the flow of US tax dollars to terrorists.
According to the British daily The Sun, the United Kingdom temporarily suspended in October some of the aid to Palestinians based on claims that UK aid supposedly paying for civil servants in Gaza was being transferred to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and is making its way to what the paper called terrorists.
However, a British official told The Sun in the same article, We are not stopping the Palestinian Authority [PA] overall, just delaying it to a date when we know our money wont be going to people who do nothing in return for it. The reference here is the unproven claim that UK charity aid money makes its way to Palestinian fighters.
But Barghouti insisted that the United Kingdom has not stopped aid to Palestine and that the issue has been resolved with London.
Another Palestinian businessman interviewed by Al-Monitor also appeared not to be rattled by the US threats. Samir Hazboun, the head of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, echoed Barghoutis statement that in 2016, most US aid to the Palestinian government had stopped. USAID is still giving a small grant, but they are going mostly to local municipalities, he said.
According to Hazboun, the Palestinian government has been able to weather this reduction in US support by vastly improving its tax collection. Ramallah has been able to cover much of the cost of running the government by improving its tax collection. This was reflected in the recent report by the International Monetary Fund [IMF], Hazboun said.
In this context, Palestinian Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara said Sept. 1 that the number of taxpayers has increased from 150,000 to 200,000.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah talked about the fiscal disciplinary issue back in April when he proudly showed Al-Monitor a Feb. 11 IMF statement acknowledging the reduction of the Palestinian deficit to nearly 1% of gross domestic product.
The US move to reduce funding might have had some effects on Palestinian institutions, but these effects were addressed by the continuation of support from other countries. Education is one area that has suffered as a result of the aid cuts. The European Union, Canada, Japan and others have continued, and in certain cases increased, their support to Palestinians, Hazboun told Al-Monitor. Canada announced Nov. 16 an increase in its support to Palestinian refugees.
While Hazboun acknowledged that the Palestinian government is no longer in need of US funding, he questioned the wisdom of the move in Washington. If they are interested in stability and in developing strong economic Palestinian institutions, such a move is not very wise.
Hazboun argued that with the reduction in financial aid, the United States loses its ability to have any political influence over Palestinians. They are losing their ability to advise and persuade the Palestinian government in whatever direction they want.
Ironically, with the reduction in US funding, some press reports indicate that Israel is playing a positive role in supporting the Palestinian government to ensure that it stays afloat. The Wall Street Journal quoted on Nov. 16 a World Bank official saying that Israel has returned tax money due to the Palestinian government in a one-off payment of $262 million and has also agreed to restructure a $500 million debt owed to the Israel Electric Corporation.
As the United States prepares for a transition to a Donald Trump presidency, it is highly important to pay attention to how to structure US foreign policy in the Middle East. While the military war on the Islamic State and its affiliates will certainly continue during the Trump era, there is ample evidence to show that to defeat extremism and radicalism in the Middle East and the world, guns and drones are not effective.
The Palestinian issue might not be front and center in Trumps daily security briefings, but the new US president will soon realize what even Israel has acted on the importance of supporting the stability of the Palestinian government.
Here are the top stories in Alabama business for Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016:
The new cafe at the Innovation Depot should open in January in downtown Birmingham. It's also changed its name from Spireworks to Serendipity.
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The U.S. Dept. of Labor has awarded nearly $6 million to UAB to train students for in-demand jobs, the federal government announced Thursday. UAB was one of 23 groups to receive America's Promise grants.
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Tropicaleo, a Puerto Rican restaurant that will open in Avondale, won $15,000 in REV Birmingham's BIG PITCH competition, a Shark Tank-style contest where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their concepts to a judge.
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Here's some more Black Friday deals, including iPhones, Apple TVs, Rokus, and flying drone toys.
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Parents of current eighth and ninth grade students in Birmingham city schools are now eligible to go to an Alabama community college for free through GEAR UP Birmingham's partnership with the Alabama Community College Association.
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The Birmingham City Council is considering establishing a food tax rebate program that will allow certain residents, like low-income, elderly and disabled residents, to receive a refund on the taxes they pay on food.
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Follow all of Alabama's business news here anytime.
Alan Gardner, a professional actor, theater teacher and director who performed in dozens of Birmingham plays including a one-man show about Theodore Roosevelt called "Bully," inspired many drama students and people who loved theater, friends say.
Gardner died Oct. 27. He was 48.
Gardner co-founded City Equity Theatre, a professional theater company in Birmingham, in 2006 with Jonathan Fuller as co-artistic director.
They produced 20 plays from 2006-2015, Fuller said.
"He was incredibly loyal and supportive," Fuller said. "He was quite a storyteller. He was very gregarious, very inspirational to his students. His passion for theater and carrying it forward in Birmingham kept him going."
Gardner graduated from Berry High School in 1986 and earned a theater degree from UAB, where he met his wife, Francie Holder. They moved to Atlanta, Denver and New York to pursue acting. He earned a master of fine arts degree in acting from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994.
In 1995, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting careers but returned to Alabama to raise their four sons.
"I enjoyed a lot of things about LA, but one of the things I learned about LA is that I didn't really want to live in LA," he said in an interview several years ago. "I missed a lot of things about home. I also bugged Francie all the time -- every time we'd see a coffee shop, or an empty store, or an empty space -- anything that would make a cool theater."
Gardner's drama teacher at Berry High School was Sandra Taylor, who helped get him a full scholarship at UAB and guest directed his first play at UAB. "He was a wonderful actor," Taylor said.
She encouraged him to go to Hollywood, and he did.
Gardner landed several movie roles, including a part in the 2005 film "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Gardner played the Texarkana stage manager.
"He had some great stories about being on the set with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon," Taylor said.
A decade earlier, in 1995, he had a role as a driver in "Sudden Death," though his part got cut back, Taylor said.
"He was cast in a good role in 'Sudden Death,' with Jean Claude Van Damme," Taylor said. "He was in the dressing room and they knocked on his door and said, 'We'd like to speak to you.' They cut his part. He said, 'Have I done anything wrong?' They said, 'No, we're going to edit the script.' That happens all the time."
He also had roles in the independent films "Rustin" in 2001 and "Company M: A Mob of Soldiers" in 2012.
Gardner and his wife co-founded South City Theater, which continues to produce plays in Shelby County.
Alan Gardner, dressed in costume as Teddy Roosevelt, performed the play 'Bully' in Birmingham and also at Huntingdon College in Montgomery in 2010.
Gardner taught theater for 17 years, at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Vestavia Hills High School and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. "What Alan really wanted to do was act, but he ended up falling in love with teaching," said Taylor, who helped get him early teaching jobs at Homewood and Hoover High Schools.
In 2006, Gardner and Fuller did a two-man drama by David Mamet, "American Buffalo," in a storefront across from the Alabama Theatre.
"The play takes place in a junk shop," Fuller said. "We made it an environmental thing. It went so well, we decided to form a company."
They were both Equity actors, members of the professional actors' union, and wanted Birmingham to have an Equity theater. "We started doing shows in the summertime, about three productions a year," Fuller said. "We got a board, formed a non-profit, right before the economy crashed. It was a struggle all the way through, but we always remained in the black."
Gardner had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in 2010 after his performance as Teddy Roosevelt, underwent surgery, and endured continuous health struggles while still acting and directing, Fuller said.
"He was deeply committed; he had theater in his blood," said Tom Wofford, who worked with him as a director. "He liked meaty, gritty theater; he understood characters."
Taylor, who directed Gardner in high school and college, also directed him last year in his final performance, in "Bill W. and Dr. Bob," about the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.
"He was brilliant as Dr. Bob," Taylor said. "He was a wonderful actor."
A 6-year-old girl was shot in the back while she asleep in her home early this morning, one of two victims wounded by gunfire in Bessemer overnight.
Bessemer police responded about 1:30 a.m. to a report of a person shot in the 400 block of 30th Street South, said Sgt. Cortice Miles. When officers arrived at the home, they found the little girl suffering from what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to the back.
The girl's mother told officers the girl was asleep when someone fired into the house. The girl was conscious, but was taken to Children's Hospital by ambulance in serious condition.
Earlier, about 11:10 p.m., officers were dispatched on a shooting at the Dartmouth Avenue Convenience Store, located at 2931 Dartmouth Avenue. Miles said officers found a black male lying outside the store on his back with a single gunshot wound to the arm.
The victim told officers he was shot while inside of the store by a person that he knows. That victim was taken to UAB Hospital.
Miles said detectives are looking into possible suspects in this case. Also, he said, they are trying to determine if the shootings are related. The home where the little girl was shot is across the street from the store.
Officers, he said, were not aware of any other person shot when they responded to the convenience store.
"We pray that this innocent young child recovers physically from this assault. It is also our prayer that she is able to overcome the indelible emotional scar that she will have to carry through life," said Bessemer police Chief Nathaniel Rutledge. "It is concerning that people are so reckless as to discharge weapons with no regard to where the bullet strikes."
He said they are still investigating to find out who is responsible and will hold them accountable. Anyone with any information on these cases is asked to call the Bessemer Police Department at (205) 425-2411 or the TipLine at (205)428-3541.
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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents are the elements of hope that a progress can be achieved over the conflict, since the absence of the meeting or long-term pause have a negative impact on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Artak Zarkaryan told Armenpress.
The Azerbaijani Presidents unconstructive approach, his statements which are different from each other in his country and the negotiation table are the major reasons that today we have a prolonged conflict without any prospects of solution at this moment. Armenia remains the guarantor of the security of the NKR people and the advocate of achieving the conflict settlement through peaceful negotiations. Armenia has always been ready to meetings at any level, Artak Zakaryan said.
The MP said the Armenian side has always stated that there must be expectations from those meetings, they must be continued. He said the meetings have a meaning only in case when the agreements reached during those meetings are maintained. When Azerbaijan agrees to installation of investigative mechanisms, and which becomes an issue decided by consensus, and then, it refuses from the installation of those mechanisms, it cannot create a healthy negotiation atmosphere.
Artak Zakaryan said the Azerbaijani President is trying in such way to solve one issue, to extend his and his familys power. He said Aliyev keeps his society in an atmosphere of fear and hostility, tries to create an image of common enemy, and this in its turn facilitates the management of Aliyevs authoritarian regime in Baku.
Artak Zakaryan said after the April war Aliyev understood that he cannot solve the issue through military means. Aliyev is ready to go to great sacrifices in his army for the sake of his power, the MP said.
The Alabama Supreme Court today rejected the appeals of four men who want to bar Jefferson County prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in their capital murder cases. The men claim the state's death penalty law is unconstitutional.
In brief orders, without opinions, the Alabama Supreme Court today denied certiorari - or review - of the cases of Kenneth Eugene Billups, Stanley Brent Chatman, Terrell Corey McMullin, and Benjamin Todd Acton.
Chatman left, Billups center, and McMullin right (photo of Acton, who is in prison, not available)
In June the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals had ruled the state's capital sentencing scheme is constitutional and told Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Tracie Todd to vacate her March 3 order that had ruled it unconstitutional and had blocked the use of it in the cases of Billups, Chatman, McMullin and Acton.
The men each filed a motion to bar imposition of the death penalty in their cases and to hold Alabama's capital-sentencing scheme unconstitutional based on the United States Supreme Court's decision in January declaring Florida's death sentencing system unconstitutional. Their trials have not yet been held.
Todd agreed and declared the capital murder sentencing law unconstitutional in a 28-page order.
"The Alabama capital sentencing scheme fails to provide special procedural safeguards to minimize the obvious influence of partisan politics or the potential for unlawful bias in the judiciary," Todd stated in her ruling. "As a result, the death penalty in Alabama is being imposed in a "wholly arbitrary and capricious" manner."
The Court of Criminal Appeals, however, said that the state's capital sentencing law is constitutional.
In another case the Alabama Supreme Court also ruled in September that the state's capital sentencing scheme is constitutional.
In its ruling striking down Todd's order, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals addressed the Florida ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court and compared that state's death penalty law to Alabama's.
Both states allowed judges to override jury recommendations for life without parole or death.
But Florida's law that was struck down as unconstitutional was conditioned on a first-degree-murder defendant's eligibility for the death penalty based on a finding by the trial judge, rather than the jury, that an aggravating circumstance existed, the appeals court stated.
Under Alabama's capital-sentencing scheme a capital murder defendant "is not eligible for the death penalty unless the jury unanimously finds beyond a reasonable doubt, either during the guilt phase or during the penalty phase of the trial, that at least one of the aggravating circumstances ... exists," the Alabama appeals court ruled.
The Alabama Supreme Court today for a second time has upheld the conviction and sentence of a death row inmate who says prosecutors struck 10 of 11 blacks from the jury pool at his trial.
The decision came despite the U.S. Supreme Court's order telling the Alabama court this summer to take another look at the case of death row inmate Christopher Anthony Floyd in light of a similar case in Georgia - Foster v. Chatman. In that case SCOTUS reversed a conviction for discriminatory jury selection.
"Having considered both the briefs and Foster, this court concludes that Foster does not require a change in the outcome of this case, and we reinstate our judgment in Ex parte Floyd II," the Alabama Supreme Court stated in today's order.
On July 22 the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Alabama Supreme Court's judgment in the Floyd case and remanded it back for further consideration in light of SCOTUS's decision in May that reversed the Georgia courts' rulings in Foster v. Chatman that upheld prosecutors' striking blacks from the jury pool.
In 2005 Floyd was convicted in Houston County for the murder and robbery of Waylon Crawford. Floyd was sentenced to death.
In selecting the jury for Floyd's case, the prosecutor and Floyd's lawyers exercised a total of 36 peremptory challenges, according to the Alabama supreme Court order. Prosecutors used its 18 challenges to remove 10 of 11 African-American venire members and 12 of 18 female venire members. Floyd's counsel removed one African-American and seven female venire members. The jury consisted of six white male jurors, six white female jurors, two alternate white male jurors and one alternate African-American female juror.
Floyd, who is white, did not object to the jury based on Batson v. Kentucky, a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibiting racial discrimination in jury selection, the Alabama Supreme Court noted in its order.
The case has bounced back and forth between the state appellate courts before making it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On appeal the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals at first ordered the trial judge to conduct a hearing to determine whether the jury strikes were discriminatory. The Houston County prosecutor gave an explanation for each of the jury strikes and the trial judge upheld Floyd's sentence. The Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals then affirmed the judge's ruling.
"Floyd maintains that the reasons offered by the prosecutor for his strikes of African-Americans and females do not adequately rebut the inference of actual, purposeful discrimination because, he says, those reasons are pretextual or sham," according to today's Alabama Supreme Court order.
The Alabama Supreme Court then sent the case back with orders that the trial judge "make necessary findings of fact and conclusions of law on the following issues: whether the state's (prosecutor's) offered reasons for striking the African-American jurors it struck were race neutral; whether the state's offered reasons for striking the female jurors it struck were gender neutral; and whether the defendant has carried his burden of proving purposeful discrimination."
Again the trial judge upheld the sentence and said the prosecutor had demonstrated he had not engaged in "actual, purposeful discrimination on the basis of race or gender during the jury-selection."
The Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals again affirmed the sentence and conviction and then the Alabama Supreme Court upheld that opinion.
Floyd appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in July vacated the Alabama Supreme Court decision and ordered the Alabama Supreme Court to re-consider its ruling in light of the Georgia case.
In its order, the Alabama Supreme Court admitted that in both the Georgia and Alabama cases prosecutors had lists indicating the race of each potential juror.
"This Court considered the marked list in our previous review and has reconsidered the entire jury-selection process, including this fact, and we simply cannot conclude, even though the record does contain a list used by the prosecutor indicating the race of each potential juror, that the record in this case evidences a "concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury."
A Pinson woman was taken into custody this morning after leading lawmen on a chase through two counties.
The pursuit began about 2:30 a.m. when a Jefferson County sheriff's deputies tried to stop the driver of a 2012 Chevrolet truck for running a stop sign at Clay-Palmerdale Road and Alabama Highway 75, said Chief Deputy Randy Christian.
The driver - later identified as 31-year-old Mandy Elizabeth Vineyard - refused to stop. The chase traveled north on the highway in to Blount County and then into residential neighborhoods. It continued back to south Highway 75 and then to Miles Spring Road in Palmerdale, where the truck struck a parked sheriff's patrol cruiser, damaging the bumper. The chase continued south on Highway 75 to Tapawingo Road where authorities say Vineyard lost control and crashed.
Vineyard was taken into custody. Christian said deputies learned she had three outstanding felony warrants for probation violations on burglary charges. She was taken to the Jefferson County Jail, where she being held on charges of probation violation for third-degree burglary, resisting arrest, attempting to elude and reckless endangerment. She is being held without bond.
An adult male passenger in Vineyard's truck suffered minor injuries and also was hospitalized.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Estonia to Armenia Kai Kaarelson (residence in Tbilisi) on November 18 presented her credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan, press service of the Presidential administration told Armenpress.
The President congratulated the Ambassador on assuming her post, wished her success and said Armenia is interested in giving new impetus to the Armenian-Estonian cooperation both in bilateral and multilateral platforms.
President Sargsyan attached importance to intensifying the cooperation in all sectors by utilizing the high-level political dialogue, the inter-parliamentary ties and the civil society opportunities.
Ambassador Kai Kaarelson said her previous diplomatic experience in the international organizations such as UN and EU, that are both very important organizations for Armenia and Estonia, will contribute to carrying out her diplomatic mission in Armenia more effectively.
The sides discussed the opportunities to develop the cooperation in mutually beneficial fields, including the high technology field where Estonia achieved a great progress, and Armenia reached significant success during the recent years.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on November 18 received the delegation led by Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Jan Vapaavuori, press service of the Government told Armenpress.
The PM highly appreciated the cooperation with the EIB and attached importance to a number of ongoing and the EIB-co-financed projects such as the North-South Highway, construction of the Caucasian electricity transmission network, Yerevan Metropoliten, restoration of Yerevan water supply network, solid waste management.
PM Karapetyan thanked for the technical support of the EIB within the frames of loan programs and said it significantly raises the appropriateness and effectiveness of the provided loans. The PM said the Government is going to be more meticulous in terms of spending the loan funds taking into account their purpose and multiplier effect. In this context, he attached importance to the upcoming second phase of the agreement of the SMEs financing project between the Central Bank of Armenia and the EIB that is worth 50 million Euros.
The PM said the Government is interested in further developing the mutual cooperation, and proposed to consider the agricultural, tourism sector as possible ways for cooperation, adding that the Government is planning to present new strategies over the development of these sectors.
Karen Karapetyan informed the guests that new sectoral foundations will be established aimed at boosting the business, and it is possible to expand the partnership between the Government and the EIB on this path.
The EIB Vice-President expressed gratitude for the warm reception and wished the new Government success on implementing the reforms agenda. He said he is aware of the Governments steps aimed at improving the business environment and stated that the EIB is ready to assist the Armenian partners on that path.
At the same time Jan Vapaavuori expressed satisfaction over the cooperation level with the Armenian Government and said the EIB provided large-scale funds to the implementation of projects that have a strategic importance to Armenia.
He expressed confidence that all joint projects will continue contributing to the development and diversification of Armenias economy.
A number of other issues of bilateral interests were covered during the meeting.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will become a transit country by carrying out shipments from Europe to Iran and vice versa.
In a test option this week two maritime containers left Germany, arriving in Romanias port, transported to Poti by sea, then to Yeraskh station by trail, from where they were shipped to Iran by trucks, first deputy minister of transportation, communication and information technologies Arthur Arakelyan told ARMENPRESS.
This multimodal transit transportation way was under discussion for the past two years. However, during the Armenia EXPO 2016 in Tehran, the practical stage of negotiations was launched by the meeting of the leadership of South-Caucasian Railway and Irans transportation companies federation.
Regarding the shipment of the first containers, Arakelyan said it was a test shipment.
It allowed us and our partners to document and analyze the problems which occur on the way and jointly try to overcome the obstacles which impact the timing and price of the shipment, he said.
According to him, the containers reached Yeraskh from Poti in 38 hours, which is a quite good indicator, however it is necessary to decrease the time period.
In addition to increasing economic activeness, the creation of this corridor has also a strategic significance. Taking into consideration the closed borders with the two neighboring countries, it is extremely important for us to have a stable operating transportation corridor, he said.
In his words, the project will also contribute to the development of commercial ties with Iran.
Arakelyan highlighted the role of the Armenian Ambassador to Iran and the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia in the effective discussions between the sides.
Aly Abou-Sabaa is the Director General at the International Center for Agricultural Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA).
From making jam with cactus fruit, to reviving traditional underground canals to defend against drought, Morocco has a leading role in the fight against climate change in Africa (PDF). One of its long-standing goals has been transforming agriculture to become more sustainable.
This vital sector, which contributes almost a fifth of the countrys gross domestic product, was the inspiration for the Green Morocco Plan, launched in 2008, to modernise agriculture and make it more productive and efficient. And that need remains as urgent as ever with the rising impact of global warming.
Climate-related challenges in agriculture are also common to many of Moroccos African neighbours. Yet the biggest factor that continues to link experiences across the continent is a lack of investment to adapt and meet the growing demand for food in the face of rising temperatures.
Lack of investment
This is why the Moroccan presidency of this years COP climate summit has made African agriculture one of its priorities when addressing climate change. For the first time, pan-African experts and officials meet to discuss their best solutions while making a united plea for $30bn to put them into action.
Such regional action has become critical, as talks to include agriculture in the climate negotiations have once again failed, and will now be postponed until May 2017.
In contrast to this lack of action on a global scale, we have seen at COP22 that there is no shortage of willingness to confront climate change in Africa. Every single African country has included adapting agriculture as part of their climate change strategies submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What is missing is sufficient investment.
We have the plans, the strategies, the shared knowledge and the examples of best practice. What we really need now is funding to bring solutions such as these to scale. by
Out of the 10 countries most affected by greenhouse gas emissions, six of them are in Africa, yet the continent only receives 5 percent of dedicated climate funding.
And without investment, we cannot move forward. In Morocco, only 18 percent of farmers have access to bank loans, hampering their ability to invest in better, more sustainable methods.
The cost of adapting agriculture to cope with the effects of climate change will cost between $20bn and $30bn a year until 2030, according to the African Development Bank.
Where the money should go
At COP, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is joining forces with the Moroccan government and partners, to suggest that there are three key areas for investment that will help safeguard African agriculture in the face of climate change.
The first is better soil management. Up to 65 percent of soils in Africa are estimated to be degraded. Planting legumes such as faba bean, chickpeas and lentils that naturally fix nitrogen to the soil reducing the need for fertiliser, is an important approach to reversing this trend.
OPINION: The Muslim world has to take climate action
The production of legumes has been hit hard in Morocco in recent years, due to labour shortages and plant diseases. Improved varieties of chickpeas and lentils have been tested that will not only improve soil health but are resistant to diseases and suitable for harvest with a machine.
These lines have been well received by farmers and could now go into national breeding programmes in Morocco and beyond.
The second area is water control. A third of areas growing olives in Morocco are still using traditional flood irrigation methods, consuming water levels that are far beyond what the trees actually require.
ICARDA has been working with the Moroccan government to encourage the uptake of drip irrigation, which applies less water at the base of the tree only. Farmers can receive between 80-100 percent of the funds to install drip irrigation equipment, which can reduce water consumption by up to 70 percent.
Conservation agriculture is another important option to conserve soil-water content, particularly for rain-fed farming which is predominant in Morocco.
OPINION: Beans A mighty tool in the fight for food security
Locally manufactured seeders have made it possible for smallholder farmers to use zero-tillage technology at an affordable price. This technological package has great potential to expand if investments are made available.
The third aspect is climate-risk management. In Morocco, we have happily re-housed part of the ICARDA gene bank since we evacuated Aleppo in Syria in July 2012.
This important resource stores genetic material to help breeders develop drought and climate-tolerant and disease-resilient crops, limiting future risk to food supplies.
Bringing the collection of wheat, barley, chickpea, lentil and faba bean samples to Morocco puts them within easy reach of seed scientists, breeders and farmers, where they can be most effective.
Implementing solutions
So we have the plans, the strategies, the shared knowledge and the examples of best practice. What we really need now is funding to bring solutions such as these to scale.
Adaptation projects currently account for just 20 percent of climate public funds but need at least 50 percent in order to strike a balance with efforts that seek to mitigate the effects of climate change (PDF).
To benefit from the best methods, we need funding to expand capacity building and means of sharing our knowledge so that African countries can learn how to adapt to climate change.
There are many opportunities and solutions for how to feed the world while better coping with the climate change that we collectively work on to tackle at events like COP. But without investment, these plans will just languish on paper.
Aly Abou-Sabaa is the Director General at the International Center for Agricultural Research for Dry Areas (ICARDA) and former Vice President of the African Development Bank.
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
On the day the United States President Barack Obama thanked the Greek people for their extraordinary compassion in their response to the refugee crisis, I spoke to Haji Mohamad Lound, a Syrian refugee whose experience at the hands of the Greek and European authorities was less than compassionate.
Haji, together with his wife and four young children, was illegally returned from Greece to Turkey last month. Our situation is desperate, the graphic designer from Aleppo told me on the phone. My son has respiratory problems. I cannot find work in Turkey and we do not feel safe. I do not know where to turn. He kept asking me what the chances were that they could come back to Europe but I was not sure what to answer.
While the welcome given to refugees by so many ordinary Greek people has been extraordinary, paradoxically the further one gets from the beaches of Lesbos and Chios, the more attitudes towards refugees calcify.
Indeed, among those furthest removed from the crisis in the parliaments of Europe compassionate words are seldom matched by action.
This is starkly illustrated by the treatment meted out to Haji and his family. They arrived in Greece last month having fled the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. After a car bomb explosion shattered the windows of our home I decided it was time to pack our bags, he told me.
They risked their lives trying to cross to Europe by sea and were rescued and taken first to the island of Milos and then Leros, where they were registered and expressed their intention to apply for international protection.
Five days later, police told them they would be transferred to Athens and they were escorted to the airport by a group of officers from the EU border agency, Frontex. They boarded a plane but instead of flying to Athens, two hours later they touched down in Adana, southern Turkey. When I saw the Turkish flag at the airport my dreams were shattered, Haji told me.
Having spent more than a week in detention in Turkey, the family were given temporary protection registration documents and were left to their own devices.
READ MORE: More than 240 refugees die in Mediterranean this week
While the Greek authorities and the European Union have repeatedly insisted that all Syrian refugees arriving in Greece were having their asylum claims properly assessed, the evidence in this case strongly suggests otherwise.
Not only were Haji and his family denied the right to apply for asylum, but no risk assessment was undertaken on the danger they would face if returned to Turkey. They were also denied access to legal advice during the critical hours of their deportation.
As Haji and his family are stranded in Turkey, a further 62,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece, living in a state of constant fear and uncertainty. This is the result of the EU-Turkey migration deal and the failure of European leaders to relocate the promised numbers of refugees from Greece. by
Despite Greek authorities claims of no foul play, there is a raft of evidence, including the signed copies of documents that prove that the family had formally expressed their intention to seek international protection in Greece.
As Haji and his family are stranded in Turkey, a further 62,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece, living in a state of constant fear and uncertainty. This is the result of the EU-Turkey migration deal and the failure of European leaders to relocate the promised numbers of refugees from Greece.
While in Europe, Obama should shine the spotlight not only on often abysmal conditions for the tens of thousands of refugees stranded in Greece, but also on the failure of world leaders to adequately address the wider global refugee crisis.
OPINION: The dark side of the EU-Turkey refugee deal
As winter closes in and the global political climate grows harsher, President Obama should demand that wealthy countries meet their obligations and take in a significantly greater and fairer share of the worlds refugees.
In the meantime, Haji remains hopeful that the family may yet find a hospitable welcome in Europe and provide their children with an education. We just want to be in a place in Europe that accepts us, where we feel safe, and where our kids can go to school.
Giorgos Kosmopoulos is Amnesty Internationals Greece researcher.
The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
London The book Palestine on a Plate: Memories from my Mothers Kitchen by chef Joudie Kalla was initially launched in 2014 as a cooking app to showcase a small selection of Palestinian recipes.
As the app gained popularity, Kallas Instagram page caught the eye of the Jacqui Small publishing house, and the idea for the book was born. The newly published book takes a historical look at the recipes of Kallas family through the generations.
Born to Palestinian parents in Syria, Kalla grew up in London and studied architecture, design and French culture, after which she opted to follow her dream to become a chef. After attending the prestigious Leiths School of Food and Wine, she went on to work in several top restaurants, including Daphnes, Papillon and Pengelleys, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.
In 2010, Kalla opened her own deli in London, called Baity Kitchen, and began recording details of the dishes that she made, all passed down from her mother.
Kalla spoke to Al Jazeera about her newly released book and the importance of maintaining the identity of Palestinian cuisine.
READ MORE: Museum aims to preserve Palestinian history
Al Jazeera: Why did you decide to write this book, and what does it mean to you?
Joudie Kalla: I put a lot of thought and effort into keeping its focus on Palestine, but not something political to show the positive side of it, to keep my family history alive and to bring me closer to my home.
This book came about because I noticed that many of our cultural foods were being labelled incorrectly and being used as national dishes of other countries, and I think there has to be a line drawn.
Of course we cant take away the fact that Palestinians live in the same country as Israelis and influences are passed on, but there has to be a moment when someone says, Actually, this is food from a time before 1948, and it has meaning to millions of people.
We are grabbing hold of the past to really identify with a place called home, where our ancestors are from and where our family still lives, and where amazing, healthy, wonderful dishes have been created. by
It means a lot to me to write this book, as I am Palestinian, and if I can help give a voice to a beautiful country and its food and people, then that is what I would like to do. The fact that it has Palestine on the front cover is so important for me and many people, because we are embracing where we come from and what our land has to offer. It is an ode to our history.
Al Jazeera: In your view, what distinguishes Palestinian cuisine from other Middle Eastern food?
Kalla: There are a few differences, but mainly I am focusing it on the way my mother, aunts, grandmothers and their mothers before them cooked, and that is what makes it Palestinian. They only knew this land, so what they taught us is what makes it Palestinian.
Al Jazeera: How has your book been received?
Kalla: The reactions to the book have been extremely positive more than I imagined.
In the Middle East, even though people know how to cook most of the dishes, they are buying the book out of support, to help raise awareness and make this book really visible; to not allow our history to fade into the darkness. It has also been well received around the globe; I have received emails from people in Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia and Europe, who love this wonderful style of amazingly varied food.
For me, this is so very special. I cannot be more happy with the way things are going. I hope it continues to gain as much traction as possible. Also, we are donating 50 percent from all US sales to the Palestinian House of Friendship childrens charity, so there is also a good cause behind it.
Al Jazeera: What is your favourite dish and why?
Kalla: My favourite dish today is musakhan, although this changes daily. I just love the simplicity of it and the flavour. It just blows my mind every time I eat it.
The onions, draped in sumac and olive oil, with the delicious chicken and taboon bread are just exquisite. It is a simple, poor mans food taken to another level. It really represents Palestine for me and home.
Al Jazeera: Different regions in Palestine have different ways of cooking certain dishes. How did you choose which method to follow?
Kalla: I chose the methods my family used. I didnt want to be inauthentic and try to figure out things that I had no idea about, so I kept it as real as possible.
My family were from all over the place from Nazareth, Ramallah, Yaffa, Safed, al-Lydd and I am sure they learned many different styles of cooking things, and it shows in the recipes.
Every home has a version of their own; even if you live on the same street in Palestine, I guarantee you that no one will cook the same. I am not claiming that this book is the only way, but it is the way of my family in Palestine.
Al Jazeera: What is the historical significance of including these dishes in your book?
Kalla: The significance is to keep them alive and give them an identity. I think its fair to say that if Japan claimed pizza as their national dish, it would seem slightly out there, and I think many people will agree that while our land can be appropriated, our history cannot be forgotten.
Through our food and people like me, and others who are really trying to make a voice for us, traditions live on, and we are the generation that is doing that. We are grabbing hold of the past to really identify with a place called home, where our ancestors are from and where our family still lives, and where amazing, healthy, wonderful dishes have been created. There are so many stories behind each dish, and it would take another book to really delve into that.
I hope to write some more books and keep the narrative going in a positive light, to foster positive views about my home country through this universal medium of food.
This interview has been edited for length.
Al Jazeera crew captures dramatic footage of attack as babies are rescued from incubators by panicked staff.
Warning: The above video contains scenes some may find distressing.
An air raid has hit a childrens hospital in Syrias rebel-held east Aleppo, forcing medical staff to evacuate patients, including several newborn babies still in incubators.
The moment of the attack on Friday was captured by an Al Jazeera crew, including journalist Amro Halabi, who was reporting on survivors of previous Syrian and Russian bombing raids on rebel-held parts of the city.
Halabi was filming a man and his two children, who were suffered breathing problems from an earlier attack, when the room suddenly went dark immediately after a loud explosion.
Nurses and other medical staff were seen scrambling through the blackness, trying to rush the patients out of the badly damaged hospital as children cried out for help.
In another room, nurses grabbed babies from damaged incubators, with one staff member using a cloth to protect a visibly undernourished child before trying to console a weeping colleague, who was also carrying a newborn.
The nurses later moved the babies to another room, putting them on the floor next to each other and covering them with blankets. At least one of the infants still had medical tubes attached.
Staff told Al Jazeera that all of the babies survived the attack.
READ MORE: In east Aleppo, there is no way out
The city of Aleppo, once Syrias commercial centre, has been divided since 2012, with the eastern half largely in rebel hands and the western half largely controlled by government forces.
More than 250,000 civilians are still trapped in the east, which is under near constant aerial bombardment, with dwindling food supplies and extremely limited medical care.
Hospitals hide underground
Earlier, it was reported that at least 49 people were killed in east Aleppo in a bombardment that started late on Thursday, according to witnesses and activists. Friday was the fourth day of renewed bombing raids by Syrian government jets.
The onslaught began as Syrias ally Russia announced its own offensive on the rebel-controlled Idlib province in the countrys north and Homs province in the centre.
Since then, more than 100 people have been killed across the north of the country.
A hospital in another Aleppo neighbourhood was also bombed on Thursday night, media reports said.
Only four of seven hospitals are still operating in the district, according to Adham Sahloul, of the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports health facilities in Aleppo.
READ MORE: What will Trump do about Syria?
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists in the country to monitor the war, said dozens of air raids, artillery attacks and barrel bombs hit 18 different neighbourhoods of eastern Aleppo.
Government bombs targeted neighbourhoods with medical facilities, including the childrens hospital and a nearby clinic that has one of the few remaining intensive care units in the east of the city, the Observatory said.
Many hospitals and clinics in the besieged area have moved their operations underground after months of relentless bombardment.
The World Health Organization said it recorded 126 attacks on health facilities in 2016, a common tactic over the five years of a war that is estimated to have killed more than 400,000 people.
The Russian and Syrian governments deny deliberately targeting hospitals.
Russia denies involvement as toll since start of Assads offensive on citys besieged east climbs to 150.
At least 49 people have been killed in heavy government air strikes in the eastern part of Syrias largest city, Aleppo, witnesses and activists say.
The overnight bombardment, which began late on Thursday, was part of a wider military escalation by the Syrian government and its allies against opposition groups holed up in Aleppo.
With the latest victims, the total number of people killed in the besieged city since Bashar al-Assads government launched its military offensive on Tuesday has climbed to 150.
Activist released dramatic video footage of a rescue operation involving a six-year-old child who was trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building.
READ MORE: In east Aleppo there is no way out
The child survived after his residential neighbourhood was targeted with missiles and unguided explosive devices called barrel bombs.
Al Jazeeras Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syria border, said the bombardment was the fiercest of the past three days.
The bombs struck areas on Aleppos outskirts as well as in the city itself. The toll keeps mounting by the hour, he said.
Rescuers are trying to help as many people as possible but because this is such a widespread area, they cannot get to every location.
On Sunday, the Syrian army sent a text message to residents of east Aleppo, demanding they leave areas held by opposition armed groups within 24 hours or risk their lives during a major offensive.
Our dear people living in east Aleppo, the militants kill your children and take your women, read the text message, which declared the governments intent to retake opposition-controlled districts of the city.
About 250,000 people are believed to be living in besieged east Aleppo, and Syrian government forces have reversed recent gains made by the fighters last month in their effort to break the siege.
Humam al-Malah, a member of the Syrian Network for Human Rights in the Aleppo governorate, told Al Jazeera that humanitarian conditions are getting worse in east Aleppo.
Electricity is always cut off; [theres a] high increase in prices; an acute lack of vegetable availability; fuel is almost non-existent in markets; and the quality and quantity of supply of bread is dwindling, said Malah.
Against this backdrop, Russias foreign minister has flatly denied that his countrys forces participated in the attacks on Aleppo this week.
Sergey Lavrov issued the denial while discussing the bombing of the city on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific trade summit in Lima, Peru.
Russia is a crucial ally of the Syrian government and its military has been targeting Syrian opposition fighters with air strikes and cruise missiles.
Lavrov portrayed the recent strikes in Syria as limited.
Our air force and the Syrian air force only work in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, to prevent ISIL who might be leaving Mosul from getting to Syria, he said, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, also known as ISIS.
Artillery shelling
Elsewhere in Syria, in Ghouta in the Damascus countryside, at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured in air strikes and artillery shelling by government forces.
Residents reported substantial damage to residential areas in the town.
Also in the Damascus countryside, the Syrian government targeted an international relief agency and Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Sheha, which has been under siege for two months now.
Syrian forces and opposition fighters fought around the camp on Thursday night.
Last years UN climate change conference, COP21, was an important and historical event because so many countries agreed to the proposals made under the Paris agreement.
By the start of COP22 in Marrakech, no fewer than 96 countries of the 55 minimum required had signed up to the pact to limit global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. That number of countries has now risen to 111.
While Paris was all about the deal, Marrakech was about the detail in getting countries to sign legislation that would make the Paris objectives possible. So far, 47 of the worlds most-affected countries have pledged to use only renewable fuels by 2050.
So why all the fuss now? Evidence of climate change has been in place since as early as 1950, with extremely hot days and heavy precipitation becoming increasingly common.
The contribution of heat-trapping gases, and carbon dioxide in particular, is clear. In fact it was well documented in a paper by Wally Broecker, the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, as early as 1975.
The key message is that there is evidence of human influence. We now know that continued greenhouse gas emissions increase the likelihood of severe, irreversible impacts on people and ecosystems.
READ MORE: COP22 Turn the promise of Paris into action
Assessment of climate over the moving 30-year average points towards global warming. Increased water vapour means greater scope for heavier rainfall events because warmer air can hold more moisture and produce bigger storms.
Melting glaciers have contributed towards rising sea levels. Those levels rose by more than 20cm during the last century.
When we refer to greenhouse gases, we should bear in mind that the greenhouse effect makes Earths average temperature around 33 degrees Celsius warmer than otherwise.
READ MORE: Morocco sees no turning back for climate pact
Without it, the planet would have an average temperature of around minus 18C. The greenhouse effect, or more correctly, the enhanced greenhouse effect lifts that average to plus 15C and rising. And the rise is because of the burning of fossil fuels and their effect on the carbon cycle.
After decades of trying to get this message across we now have governments from across the world sitting down together to thrash out the right measures.
Surprisingly, the oil and gas-producing nations may have the most vital role to play as the world moves towards the use of renewable fuels. Countries across the Middle East tend to have the largest carbon footprints per head. Qatar has the highest in the world, followed by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
American scientist and researcher, Christopher Field, of Stanford University, has contributed to the field of climate change and is the author of more than 200 publications on the subject.
Field says it should be remembered that oil and gas are not as dirty as burning coal. Used in conjunction with wind and solar power, of which there is plenty in the Middle East, they have the potential to lead us all towards a cleaner, greener world.
President deposed in 1986 by People Power revolution entombed among soldiers and artists in Manila with 21-gun salute.
Despite public opposition, Ferdinand Marcos, the late president of the Philippines, has been buried in a heroes cemetery in the capital in a ceremony shrouded in secrecy .
The ceremony began at noon on Friday with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention at the Cemetery of Heroes in Manila, after Marcos body was secretly flown to the venue in an apparent effort to avoid protests.
There is a sense of doom here, coming from protesters who oppose the burial. They say Marcos was a thief until the very end, Al Jazeeras Jamela Alindogan, reporting from the military-run cemetery , said.
He cheated his way to power and killed many people.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that Marcos could be entombed in the cemetery, where former presidents, soldiers and national artists have been interred.
President Rodrigo Duterte had promised a heros burial for Marcos during his election campaign.
Still, the funeral shocked many pro-democracy advocates and human-rights victims who planned several protests nationwide on Friday to oppose the burial.
In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, opposition senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV called the burial a sinister move.
They remain deaf to the calls of the many Filipinos demanding justice for the abuses during the Marcos regime and remain numb to the pain of too many innocent victims of Martial Law.
Police said that the remains of Marcos were flown by helicopter from his hometown in Ilocos Norte for the burial in the Cemetery of Heroes in metropolitan Manila.
They also said that the ceremony was not an official state funeral.
READ MORE: Veronica Pederosa Imelda and me
Marcos was president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, when he was overthrown by a revolt dubbed the People Power revolution and forced to flee into exile to Hawaii, where he died in 1989.
His body was returned to the Philippines in 1993 and has since been kept in a refrigerated crypt in a mausoleum in his hometown of Batac, Ilocos Norte, 470km north of Manila.
More than a thousand protesters march along Katipunan Ave in indignation of the #MarcosBurial. pic.twitter.com/SCgakUFrDO via @phkule MovePH (@MovePH) November 18, 2016
In 2004, Transparency International, the anti-corruption watchdog, named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian authoritarian ruler Suharto.
The Philippines foreign debt went from $2.67bn in 1972, when Marcos declared martial law, to $28.2bn in 1986, according to the World Bank.
Japans prime minister has voiced confidence in Donald Trumps leadership after becoming the first foreign leader to meet the US president-elect.
Thursdays meeting at the Trump Tower in New York City came amid nervousness among Japans leaders about the future strength of an alliance that is core to the countrys diplomacy and security.
After the 90-minute conversation, Shinzo Abe said: The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust.
But he would not disclose specifics of the conversation because the talks were unofficial.
READ MORE: The view from Japan I think Trump would be dangerous
Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trumps pledge during his campaign to make allies pay more for help from US forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Describing his conversation as candid and held in a warm atmosphere, Abe said: Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader.
Deeper conversations
Kellyanne Conway, a Trump confidante, said earlier on Thursday in an interview with CBS that any deeper conversations about policy and the relationship between Japan and the US will have to wait until after the inauguration.
Trump, the Republican Partys victorious presidential candidate, will succeed President Barack Obama on January 20.
Al Jazeeras Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from New York City, said that although no details were given of the discussion between the two leaders, the possibilities were that the meeting was about trade, diplomacy and security.
Donald Trump has run a very unconventional campaign and is running his transition in a very unconventional way as well. Normally such meetings are held after the president-elect assumes the presidency, he said.
Trump was critical about Japan during his campaign about trade issues, saying that the country was a trade rival and suggesting that US could potentially pull out troops from Japan. So there could have been a lot of discussions in the meeting.
Japans media had dubbed Trump the King of verbal abuse during his election campaign, which was dogged by accusations of racism, misogyny and sexual assault.
READ MORE: How did the world react to Donald Trumps triumph?
Trump prompted anxiety in Tokyo when he repeatedly said that Japan, which hosts several US military bases, should pay more for its protection, especially amid rising nuclear threats from North Korea and growing Chinese military might.
He also suggested that Japan may want to pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons, a deeply sensitive issue in Japan, which is the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack.
In addition, Japanese business leaders are wary of Trumps protectionist stance after he promised to reduce imports into the US and support more manufacturing at home.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The extraordinary session ended in the Parliament of Armenia, reports "Armenpress".
The discussion of the 2017 state budget draft was on the session agenda.
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said the Parliament will stop the budget draft discussions for at least 4 days.
The MPs, factions and committees can submit their proposals within 24 hours, he said.
3.2% real economic growth and 1.7% deflator level are predicted for 2017. The revenue of the state budget will comprise 1 trillion 210 billion AMD, the expenditure 1 trillion 360 billion AMD, and the deficit 150 billion AMD. Export accelerated rate against the import growth is predicted in 2017. The budget revenues and official transfers will be 22.4% in GDP in 2017, the budget deficit will amount for 150 billion AMD. In 2017 as well the tax revenues will comprise the major part of revenues.
Head of Anti-Defamation League pledges to register as Muslim, if Donald Trump creates a database of Muslim Americans.
A Jewish head of an organisation dedicated to combating hate crimes in the US has said that if the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump creates a national database for the religions followers, he will register as a Muslim.
If one day Muslim-Americans will be forced to register their identities, then that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim. by Jonathan Greenblatt , Anti-Defamation League
As Jews, we know what it means to be registered and tagged, held out as different from our fellow citizens, Jonathan Greenblatt, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO, said on Thursday at the groups Never Is Now conference on anti-Semitism in New York.
As Jews, we know the righteous and just response. All of us have heard the story of the Danish king who said if his countrys Jews had to wear a gold starall of Denmark would too.
So I pledge to you, right here and now, because I care about the fight against anti-Semitism, that if one day in these United States, if one day Muslim-Americans will be forced to register their identities, then that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim.
Greenblatt added that Americans must stand against all forms of discrimination regardless of which group it targets.
Following Greenblatts speech, ADL started a pledge on Twitter, urging their followers to state that If Muslim-Americans will be forced to register their identities, then I will register as a Muslim in solidarity.
If Muslim-Americans will be forced to register their identities, then I will register as a Muslim in solidarity. https://t.co/YP2RBY4HhM ADL (@ADL) November 17, 2016
READ MORE: FBI Hate crimes against Muslims in US surge 67 percent
During his divisive election campaign, Donald Trump has taken a particularly hard line against Muslims , suggesting to ban all Muslims from entering the US, advocating enhanced surveillance of mosques due to fears over radicalisation and saying that he would support requiring all Muslims in the United States to be registered in a special database.
Trumps critics have long likened this proposed policy to the mandatory registration of Jews in Nazi Germany.
I will register
Thousands of Americans also voiced their criticism about Trump administrations plans for some sort of a database and pledged that they will also register as a Muslim if such a policy is implemented in the US.
The day Muslims have to register will be the day I register as a Muslim #IWillRegister #WeveSeenThisBefore pic.twitter.com/Af3xW3QDGh Alysen Miller (@AlysenMiller) November 18, 2016
If @realDonaldTrump makes Muslims register #IWillRegister my whole family even tho we aren't. I encourage all people of faith 2 do the same. Kate (@complykated) November 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/EcoAndrewTRC/status/799297435214323712
The idea of Muslim registration arose in November 2015, when Trump told a reporter that he would absolutely implement that policy.
I would certainly implement that, absolutely, Trump said, during a campaign event in Iowa. There should be a lot of systems beyond databases, he added, We should have a lot of systems.
Trump vaguely backtracked on those comments later, but the issue made headlines once again on Wednesday when Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a member of Trumps transition team, told Reuters that they are considering a milder, but still equally questionable, policy of creating a registry for immigrants from majority-Muslim countries.
On Thursday, a high-profile Trump supporter, Carl Higbie, talked about the policy on Fox News and said that a Muslim registry proposal being discussed by Trumps immigration advisers would be legal and would hold constitutional muster.
Weve done it with Iran back awhile ago, he said. We did it during World War II with the Japanese.
There have been several reports of racist, Islamophobic and anti-semitic incidents since the election that have sparked outrage, including a mosque at New York Universitys Brooklyn campus being vandalised, and several Muslim women reporting Trump supporters attempting to rip off their headscarves.
READ MORE: American Muslims ongoing civil rights fight
Black students at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) said they were afraid to attend classes after they were subjected to racial slurs and threats of lynching following the election.
A videotaped assault in Chicago showed black men beating a white man as onlookers screamed, You voted Trump!
Hundreds of Americans also detailed on social media racist attacks that have taken place since the election.
Talks in Germany on security and economic issues possibly US presidents last in such a setting before Trump takes over.
President Barack Obama has joined the leaders of major European countries in Germany to discuss an array of security and economic challenges facing the transatlantic partners as the US prepares for Donald Trump to take office in January.
Obamas meeting on Friday with the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain was possibly his last in such a setting before he leaves office.
The session expanded on lengthy talks he held the day before with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Since Obamas arrival on Wednesday on his sixth and last trip to Germany as president, he and Merkel have focused several meetings on issues of globalisation and transatlantic cooperation.
READ MORE: The view from Japan I think Trump will be dangerous
The talks come largely in the context of what the election of the Republican presidential candidate will mean to efforts to seek peace in Ukraine and Syria, the strength of the NATO alliance, trade agreements, efforts to fight climate change and other pressing matters.
Obama said on Thursday that his hope was the Brexit negotiations would be conducted in a smooth and orderly and transparent fashion and preserve as closely as possible the economic and political and security relationships between the UK and EU.
Brexit praised
Trump had applauded the British decision to exit the EU, or Brexit, and has had meetings with Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party and a key player in the British decision to leave.
On other issues, Obama said he hoped for continuity of US-European relations under Trump, saying how important it is that we work together.
Obama said that continued global leadership on climate in addition to increasing private investment and clean energy is going to be critical.
He said that the US would continue to stand united with Germany and our NATO allies in Afghanistan, and that on the refugee crisis he had put in place more robust support from Washington and that he was hoping that continues beyond my administration.
Following his meetings in Berlin, Obama heads to Peru, the final leg of his last foreign tour, for the Asia-Pacific trade summit.
Diplomat says UN special advisers warning about ethnic hatreds potential for genocide should serve as wake-up call.
The United States has circulated to the UN Security Council a draft resolution to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and further targeted sanctions amid warnings by a senior UN official of possible genocide.
Political rivalry between South Sudans President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer, led to civil war in 2013 that has often followed ethnic lines.
The pair signed a peace deal last year, but fighting has continued and Machar fled the country in July.
Adama Dieng, UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, last week visited South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
I saw all the signs that ethnic hatred and targeting of civilians could evolve into genocide if something is not done now to stop it. I urge the Security Council and member states of the region to be united and to take action, Dieng told the council.
There is a strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines with a potential for genocide. I do not say that lightly, he said, urging the council to impose an arms embargo.
Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council that Diengs warning should serve as a wake-up call.
None of us can say we did not see it coming, she said.
The Security Council has long threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, but Russia and China, which have veto powers, are sceptical whether such a move would make a difference as the country is already awash with weapons.
We think that implementing such a recommendation would hardly be helpful in settling the conflict, Petr Iliichev, Russian deputy ambassador to the UN, said.
Introducing targeted sanctions against South Sudanese leaders would be the height of irresponsibility now.
Generals blacklisted
The Security Council set up a targeted sanctions regime for South Sudan in March 2015 and has blacklisted six generals three from each side of the conflict by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban.
Al Jazeeras Kristen Saloomey, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York City, said violence is spreading in South Sudan, hate speech is on the rise, and the humanitarian situation is going from bad to worse.
Against this backdrop, the Security Council is starting to discuss this latest proposal for sanctions on South Sudan, she said.
And the people of South Sudan are looking for some signs of hope from the international community.
Sources say more than 14,000 Iraqis have crossed Syrian border since October, including 8,000 who have reached Hasakah.
More than 14,000 Iraqis fleeing the offensive against ISIL in Mosul have crossed the border into Syria since the start of the operation a month ago, sources from a UN affiliated agency told Al Jazeera.
According to the sources, as many as 8,000 of the Iraqis crossed into Syrias Hasakah province, and some are now in the al-Hol refugee camp.
Close to 5,000 have also reached Raqqa, ISILs stronghold in Syria, while hundreds of others are spread out in Deir Az Zor, Aleppo and Idlib, but are not staying in refugee camps.
Red Cross: One million could flee Mosul battle in Iraq
Medical sources also confirmed to Al Jazeera that they have treated or met Iraqi civilians in Syrias Idlib province who were coming from Mosul.
Al Jazeera has also learned that at least one family tried to cross the border from Bab Al Hawwa into Turkey, but were not allowed in.
Sources also said that the Iraqi men were afraid of going into the Iraqi Kurdish territory, for fear of being taken into custody and accused of links to ISIL, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS.
Most of the Iraqi families and individuals have come from Mosul and surrounding areas, while a small number have fled from Anbar.
Stranded at the border
Earlier reports had said that the UN was unable to deliver aid parcels to the al-Hol camp camp in Hasakah, because of security concerns.
But Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman at UNs refugee agency, told Al Jazeera that UN workers have now been able to deliver daily aid, including food and water, to the camp.
Saltmarsh also confirmed that in the last five days, almost 2,000 people mostly Iraqis have been moved to al-Hol camp. A smaller number of refugees at the camp are Syrians.
He clarified that the majority of the Iraqi refugees at the al-Hol camp predates the anti-ISIL operation in Mosul.
Currently, the al-Hol camp can accommodate up to 15,000 people, but it is being expanded to hold as many as 50,000, Saltmarsh said.
It is correct that the conditions at the border are difficult, and for us to get access to the refugees and IDPs [internally displaced people] took some time, because of the security situation and inhospitable terrain, he said.
He said hundreds of Iraqi refugees remain stranded in the border with Syria, and that the UN is trying to move them to al-Hol.
Leading up to the Mosul operation, the UN had warned that up to one million people are likely to try and escape to other parts of Iraq and Syria.
Overall, some 2.6 million Iraqis have fled the country since the beginning of the crisis in January 2014 when ISIL overran large swaths of the country, according to UN figures.
Additionally, more than one million Iraqis fled the country between 2006 and 2008 owing to growing violence following the US-led invasion and occupation in 2003.
Michael Flynn, who once used the phrase Islamic ideology sick on social media, named US national security adviser.
US President-elect Donald Trump has named Michael Flynn, a controversial ex-army general, who once said that fear of Muslims is rational and used the phrase Islamic ideology sick, as his national security adviser.
In an interview with Al Jazeera first published in July, Flynn, 57, defended his remarks on social media, saying leaders in the Muslim-majority countries need to do more and stand up.
Islam is a political ideology based on religion, Flynn told Mehdi Hasan , host of Al Jazeeras Upfront, in an interview during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
After an attack in Nice, France , Flynn wrote on Twitter: I dare Arab & Persian world leaders to step up to the plate and declare their Islamic ideology sick and must [be] healed.
READ MORE: Trump ally defends Islamic ideology sick remarks
In a separate interview with Al Jazeera in May, Flynn also refused to condemn Trumps proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
What I support is that we must understand where these individuals are coming from, Flynn said, adding that he supported the vetting of individuals and the proper screening of individuals who are coming from certain parts of the world, like Syria.
In February, the next US presidents presumptive head national security adviser also tweeted a video link with the message that Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.
With three decades of military experience, Flynn served as director of Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 until he was ousted in 2014.
He served in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a Bronze Star recipient.
Right-wing nutty
A native of Rhode Island, Flynn was one of nine children. His brother Charlie is also a high-ranking army official.
Like Trump, Flynn supports a de-escalation of tensions with Russia.
He has appeared numerous times on Russian state broadcaster Russia Today (RT) and sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at an RT event in Moscow last year.
According to The New York Times, his consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, has ties to nations in the Middle East and lobbies for the Turkish government.
Flynns appointment is not subject to Senate approval.
Flynn advised Trump during his presidential campaign. In hacked emails, former Secretary of State Colin Powell called Flynn, a registered Democrat, right-wing nutty.
Flynn led chants of lock her up, in regard to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, from the podium at Julys Republican convention.
Ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, tweeted Friday: Have deep concerns about Gen Flynn as a possible National Security Advisor. Worried about an impulsive president with a volatile advisor.
On social media, the reported appointment was also greeted with pessimism.
ISIS must be thrilled at prospect of Michael Flynn as Nat Sec Adv,Muslim registration in US. Dream of a war between West and Islam so close! Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) November 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/799611368651378688
Critics accuse proposal of encouraging child rape but officials say it will protect those too young to marry legally.
A government proposal to quash the convictions of men convicted of child sex assaults if they marry their victim has sparked furious debate in Turkey, with critics accusing it of encouraging child rape and the ruling party insisting it will protect those who were too young to marry legally.
Thursdays motion stated that in the case of sexual abuse of a minor committed before November 11, if the act was committed without force, threat, or any other restriction on consent and if the aggressor marries the victim the sentence will be postponed.
The motion was issued as part of a 49-article bill draft in a night-time parliamentary session. The motion passed, but the bill did not receive a majority vote.
The parliament will vote again on the entire bill on November 22, and if it passes, then the motion will also be validated. If this happens, it will then go to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and following his approval, it will be published in the official gazette and come in to force.
Omer Suha Aldan, a member of parliament with the opposition CHP, criticised the motion, saying it will encourage forced marriages and legalise marriage to rapists, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet.
READ MORE: Turkeys Erdogan says childless women are incomplete
If a 50 or 60-year-old is told to marry an 11-year-old after raping her, and then marries her years later, she will suffer the consequences, he was quoted as saying on Friday.
If you give him a pass by marriage, the young girl will live in a prison for her whole life, Aldan said.
Distorting the issue
The government angrily hit back at the criticism, calling the opposition claims a crude distortion of an attempt to grapple with the legal consequences of child marriage in the country.
The issue is simple, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters after attending Friday prayers in the Turkish capital Ankara.
There are people who marry early. They do not know the law, so they have children. The father goes to jail and the children is left alone with their mother.
OPINION: On Erdogan and Muslim mothers
We determined that there are 3,000 families living like this.
Under current law, the age of consent in Turkey is 18 years old, meaning individuals aged 17 or younger are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape .
Turkeys statutory rape law is violated when an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under the age of 18, but sexual contact with minors between the ages of 15-17 can only be prosecuted upon complaint.
Yildirim said the motion will be a one-off pardon for people who violated the law unknowingly.
Everyone made promises to solve this problem during their election campaigns. Everything is out in the open. This is not a pardon for rape.
Yildirim emphasised that November 11 will be the endpoint of the motions coverage, adding that If these types of marriages take place after this date, we will not tolerate it.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag also rejected the criticism.
It is a temporary regulation and it will be put into force only one time retrospectively, he told reporters on Friday.
IN PICTURES: Abortion ban latest issue to polarise Turkey
Bozdag denied that the motion would cover rape cases and said there is a current reality encouraging marriage between girls and boys under the age of 18 that the motion aimed to address, according to Hurriyet.
This step is actually being taken to protect young people who are victims of underage marriage, he said.
Those who say rapists will benefit from this are distorting the situation. People who are convicted have definitive files that indicate clearly whether there is a rape or if it is a mistake of the parents, he added.
But Yildirim and Bozdags comments were not enough to calm the social media outrage, as the hashtag #Tecavuzmesrulastirilamaz (#Rape cannot be legitimised) was still the first trending topic on Twitter in Turkey late on Friday.
The latest controversy comes after Turkeys constitutional court in July annulled a criminal code provision punishing as sexual abuse all sexual acts involving children under the age of 15.
Defenders of that law argued it made a distinction between cases of sexual acts involving a young teenager or a toddler.
In Turkey, child marriage occurs widely in all regions of the country, according to the UNs Population Fund. Although marriage can be contracted by two persons of 17 years, according to the Turkey Civil Code, it is widely known that many marriages occur before that age.
While holding a religious marriage before the conclusion of the civil marriage is not legal, the practice is widespread in Turkey and most child marriages are unofficial religious marriages.
Since these marriages are not registered, there are no accurate statistical data on child marriages.
A look at the powerful pesticide industry, its effect on the developing world and how small farmers are fighting back.
Filmmakers: Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post
In recent decades, harmful pesticides spread around the worlds less developed nations have caused immeasurable damage to populations and ecosystems.
What I have found in my 25 years of working with biodiversity, working to build ecological agriculture systems, is that chemical-free, poison-free agriculture systems, which intensify ecological processes, which intensify biodiversity, produce more food per acre and more nutrition per acre: that's the way we must go. by Vandana Shiva, activist and author of Poison in our Food
In 2013, data from the US Environmental Protection Agency showed that pesticides, which are banned, restricted or unregistered in the United States, were manufactured in 23 states for export to other countries.
Used for growing coffee, fruit, tea and other products, these pesticides are likely to make their way back to the US as residue on imported food.
Only about 2 percent of imported produce is inspected by the Food and Drug Administration. It is a circle of poison.
The environment doesnt know any boundaries. You know, dust and pollution from China settles in the US nuclear radiation from Chernobyl went over Iceland. What goes up into the environment goes around the world, says David Weir, a journalist and co-author of Circle of Poison: Pesticides and People in a Hungry World .
The documentary Circle of Poison examines how pesticides proliferated after World War II, the legal loopholes which allow the manufacture of insecticides deemed unsafe for the American people for export to developing countries, and the devastation caused by these toxic substances.
Anything that was banned or heavily regulated or restricted or unregistered in the US was being allowed by the US government and in fact encouraged to be sent overseas, almost as compensation for the companies for losing the US market, says Weir, describing how the US started exporting dangerous pesticides.
The documentary takes us to Kasaragod, a town in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where decades of spraying the pesticide endosulfan on cashew farms have caused deformities in hundreds of children. Many countries have banned this dangerous insecticide. In 2010, the US took action to ban the 60-year-old substance. It is still legal to manufacture it in the US, but only for export.
We meet children with pesticide-related illnesses and speak to activists with the environmental activism group Thanal, which raises awareness about these health problems and fights for access to safe food.
Pesticides are pushed on the grounds that its a very modern way to do farming. I remember years ago reading a book that India is underdeveloped because it doesnt use pesticides, says the pioneering Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva.
Weve made poisons the measure of progress.
In Yaqui River Valley in Mexico, we see how pesticides have caused illnesses in the children born to women working in the fields. In the Argentinian city of Ituzaingo, where the use of agrochemicals on soy crops has increased exponentially over the years, cancer rates are reportedly 41 times the national average. But local activists are fighting back. The group Mothers of Ituzaingo succeeded in getting a local ban on aerial pesticide being sprayed within 2,500 metres of homes.
The US hasnt been immune to pesticide exposure. In the state of Louisiana, residents living along a corridor of industrial facilities where pesticides for export are manufactured have suffered from chronic exposure to chemicals, which has led to a high incidence of cancer.
The Circle of Poison delves into the political history of pesticides in the US and the machinations of big industry.
Today, at least 75 percent of the global pesticide trade is controlled by six large agrochemical companies Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, Du Pont and BASF. These corporations form powerful lobby groups which drive and shape legislation that regulates farming and food production. This influence has protected the industry, particularly in the US.
In September 2016, US seed giant Monsanto agreed to a takeover by German crop chemical maker and pharmaceutical conglomerate Bayer in a $66bn deal the biggest corporate deal of this year. If approved by regulators, this will spawn the largest seeds and pesticides company in the world.
But people are fighting back by creating alternatives to the agrochemical industrial complex.
Small farmers around the world are turning to sustainable methods of agriculture after witnessing the devastation caused by pesticide use. These range from organic farm co-ops in Mexico and Argentina to a growing farmers market movement in India, but one of the most striking battles against pesticides is being fought by the Himalayan nation of Bhutan. It has set itself the challenge of becoming the first country in the world with a wholly organic agricultural system.
In the US, a business structure for the organic farming industry is emerging with profitable results.
What I thought might happen, hoped might happen and, it turned out, did happen, was the organic farm bill. People started paying a lot more attention. And that hobby type thing that the detractors called it has now turned into a $30bn-a-year business in the United States, about the only agriculture business thats growing. But also, more importantly, people started asking questions, says Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy.
Circle of Poison spans the US, India, Argentina, Mexico and Bhutan, with a wide range of interviews with activists in these countries, the people affected by crop-spraying, and experts and key figures who have led the fight against pesticides, including former US President Jimmy Carter, Patrick Leahy, Noam Chomsky and Vandana Shiva. The documentary is an important look at how dangerous pesticides have been imposed on developing countries and how people are now fighting back.
We discuss Frances use of emergency powers, and debate if the country has a secular double standard on Islam.
In this weeks UpFront we speak to the French Ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, who defends Frances security crackdown and the countrys foreign policy.
And in the Arena, we debate whether Frances secular laws have a double standard when it comes to one religion in particular.
Headliner Does Frances foreign policy make it a target?
France has been in a state of emergency since the bloody Paris attacks that left 130 dead last November.
Critics say the emergency powers are being abused, but the French government claims they are necessary to help protect the country from attacks.
Mehdi Hasan questions Gerard Araud on the effectiveness of the emergency laws, pointing out that the Nice attack happened with the state of emergency in place.
Araud is also asked whether Frances foreign policy of intervention in the Middle East and North Africa made the country more vulnerable to attacks.
Most of the French Muslims are from Arab origin, which means that they are very sensitive to what is happening in the Middle East, says Araud.
When asked about President Hollandes comment that there is a problem with Islam, Araud clarifies that it was a question of integration.
We are facing a challenge how to accommodate our Muslim citizens in a society which was basically built on Christian or Judeo-Christian roots.
In this weeks Headliner, Araud defends Frances foreign policy and the continued state of emergency.
Arena France, secularism and double standards on Islam
Is there a conflict between Islam and the way French secularism is applied, or are the laws being used unfairly to single out French Muslims?
In this weeks Arena, French Senator Nathalie Goulet, Benjamin Haddad, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC, and Yasser Louati, a civil rights activist, debate whether Frances strict secularism laws are being used to target French Muslims.
How come every single time we speak about Muslims it is either under the lens of terrorism, security measures, threat to identity, threat to French culture? asks Louati, a former spokesman for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France.
When we have attacks and we have to face terrorism, you have to react. And the way to react was maybe not the right one, says Goulet. But at the same time, you cannot show France as an Islamophobic country. I mean, that is not fair.
France is one of the countries in Europe where you have the lowest level of rejection of Muslims, Haddad says. The question of identity and integration are very central to our societies were trying to adapt principles to the emergence of Islam in French society.
For more from this interview, please visit here.
Follow UpFront on Twitter @AJUpFront and Facebook.
Julia Branton wrote the word balance on a paper lantern on the Plaza of the Americas on Thursday night to symbolize her recovery from an eating disorder.
Branton, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior, helped organize the Student Government Health Affairs Cabinets Light the Night event, a ceremony that educated students about eating disorders. About 40 students drank coffee as they visited on-campus organizations booths and listened to mental health care professionals.
Kelly Ulmer, a registered mental health counseling intern with the UF Health Eating Disorder Clinic, told students eating disorders affect people of different gender expressions, sexual orientations, races and ethnicities.
Tonight I want to highlight the fact that eating disorders are neither clean nor clear cut, she said.
Ulmer said 20 million women and 10 million men in the U.S. suffer from eating disorders. Rates have increased since the 1950s.
Recovery is possible, though, she said. Its hard, its long and its daunting. But its possible. Im among the living proof.
Branton told the audience about how a bad break-up drove her into an obsession with healthy eating during her senior year of high school, which worsened when she came to UF.
When she began canceling plans with friends to work out and stopped eating her favorite foods, she convinced herself she was fine. She lost 20 pounds in two months.
When she returned home to Pennsylvania on break, she didnt believe her friends and family when they said she had an eating disorder. Branton thought because she wasnt throwing up or binge eating, she couldnt be suffering from an eating disorder, she said
I thought I looked great because I had this very skewed image of what I looked like, Branton said. I would see the number on the scale drop, and I would be like, Awesome Julia, this is great, lets keep going.
For Branton, the word balance represents how she now lives her life.
Everyone knows part of college is figuring out a balance, she said, but a lot of an eating disorder is finding the balance between eating healthy and eating a cookie or allowing yourself to eat what you actually like.
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About 20 people attend the beginning of the candle lighting held by the Student Government Health Affairs Cabinet to raise awareness for eating disorders on Thursday evening on the Plaza of the Americas.
For the second year in a row, UF was recognized for helping its military students transition into civilian life.
On Wednesday, Victory Media, a media company responsible for the G.I. Jobs, STEM Jobs and Military Spouse publications, recognized the university as a Military Friendly School, joining about 50 other Florida institutions.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said there are about 1,000 veteran and active duty students enrolled at UF.
We consider it an honor to support veterans and help them into the next chapter of their lives, he said.
Brett Surles, 26, said he cant think of anything else the university can do to make campus more military friendly.
I dont know how were not the number one veteran-friendly campus in the nation, the Marine Corps veteran said.
The UF chemical engineering senior said he got involved with other military students on campus as soon as he became a student. He said he has made friends through the UF Collegiate Veterans Society, an organization that helps veterans adjust to being college students.
Matt Golden, an active member of the Army National Guard, said becoming involved in the veterans society has been a good way to meet other students who he can relate to.
Its not traditional college students that are here, the 24-year old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior said.
He spent part of his Thursday afternoon at the center playing The Settlers of Catan, a trading and settlement board game, with Surles and his friend Bud Ware. Golden said he goes to the center to study, relax and play games with others.
They really do welcome you in with open arms, he said.
Ware, a Marine Corps veteran, said he didnt know how military-friendly UF was until he began taking classes.
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When I was getting ready to come to school, I didnt know any of this existed, the 27-year-old UF Japanese junior said.
He said the veteran services on campus feel comfortable as a nontraditional student.
The faculty is always asking us for feedback, Ware said. I cant think of anything that needs to change, but if there were problems it would be fixed immediately.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The regular ceasefire regulations on Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line speak about that Azerbaijan is not ready for a peaceful settlement, but at the moment there is no threat for a large-scale war, Head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Artak Zakaryan told Armenpress. We should always expect a threat from Azerbaijan. Time will show how intensive that threat will be, he said.
According to the lawmaker, there is no threat for a war as there is a clear balance of power I the region. There is no such a threat also because the Defense Army of Nagorno Karabakh Republic is well able to take deterrence measures, Artak Zakaryan said, adding that Azerbaijan has appeared in a deadlock situation where neither war nor peace talks are beneficial for the Aliyev regime.
A new honor society on campus is looking to increase diversity in UFs graduate programs.
UF became the 13th school to join the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, which encourages diversity in graduate student education. The first members will be inducted in April, said Tyisha Hathorn, the director of UFs graduate minority programs.
The honor society was founded by Howard University and Yale University in 2005, she said. Juan E. Gilbert, UFs Banks Preeminence chair in engineering, wanted to bring the program to UF after hearing about it from the dean of Howard University.
The program seeks to connect minority graduate students with others across the country, she said. Because different students are a minority in different fields, this could include women in engineering, men in nursing, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans.
UF has 16 colleges, with 290 graduate programs and about 16,000 graduate students, Hathorn said. Because of this, diversity is important among faculty and students.
In the classrooms, if we have all male professors, females wont see themselves in that role, Hathorn said.
Caitlin Banks, a 24-year-old UF rehabilitation science graduate student, said she is considering applying for the diversity honor society.
Because many of her classes are small, Banks, who is half-black, said its difficult to see many minority students in them.
In UFs graduate programs, new students are paired with mentors, who are matched with each other based on their area of research and background, Hathorn said. For Banks, her mentor is also female and a physical therapist in Gainesville.
But Banks said while she believes that while diversity is important, UF shouldnt admit graduate students only to encourage it and should promote it through honor societies, such as the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society .
I think any university can do more to encourage diversity in graduate programs, but its much more complicated than doing so in an undergraduate program, Banks said.
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Jeremiah Tattersall pointed to Gainesvilles anti-discrimination plaque inside City Hall on Thursday.
Its beautiful, he said.
The Gainesville resident had just described instances of hate crimes and hate speech happening in the city to Mayor Lauren Poe and the City Commission during the public comment portion of its meeting.
As dozens of others gathered on street corners across the city to protest President-elect Donald Trump, Tattersall spoke calmly into a microphone and described a second- grader in the city who refused to let a Hispanic classmate into his group, claiming Trump is going to deport him.
He also told them about his friend who received so many death threats she had to give her phone over to Gainesville Police.
Thats whats going on in this community right now, he said.
Blocks from City Hall, at the intersection of West University Avenue and South Main Street, cars honked in approval at a group of about 20 protesters waving anti-Trump signs and gay-pride flags.
The protest was one of six organized Thursday by the Gainesville City of Resistance, a Facebook group created after the election to resist the real estate moguls past remarks and proposed policies. On Saturday, the group plans to march against fear from the Stephen C. OConnell Center to Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
Bruce Frendahl, a Gainesville resident participating in the protest, said if Trump follows through with his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, hes going to protest on the steps of the White House.
Im a little upset with the election, the 63-year-old said.
Emily Ott, a 31-year-old Gainesville resident, joined him, condemning Trumps proposal to create a registry system for Muslims in the country.
My heritage is Jewish, she said, and I havent forgotten the Holocaust.
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While protesters waved signs, one reading Trump is not my president, a man in a truck drove by with a large confederate flag waving behind.
Go Trump!, he shouted before driving past.
At the intersection of West University Avenue and Southwest 13th Street, about a dozen protesters were met with a similar reaction.
Less than an hour after the protest began, Tommy Grooms stood across the street from the protesters, wearing a blue shirt that read Trump and holding a sign that said You Lost / Go Home. As he drove by earlier, he noticed the protesters, so he decided to buy a sign at Office Depot.
He said he campaigned and voted for Trump because of his stance on immigration and foreign policy, and that Trumps rhetoric did not phase him.
I just saw them protesting a totally fair election, he said.
On the corner of 34th Street and Archer Road, Gainesville resident Jessica Adams dressed as Rosie the Riveter and protested with her son.
I think the electoral system was supposed to prevent people like Donald Trump from gaining the presidency, the 34-year-old said. This is a clear sign that the system is not functioning.
Eight-year-old Jackson Adams jumped up and down as he held a sign reading Save my Planet, which he helped his mom decorate. He seemed relieved that he and his mom didnt get any backlash.
I was afraid someone would try to say nasty stuff or try to attack us, he said
Gabriel Pelegrina arrived on Turlington Plaza at 4 p.m., expecting to meet other anti-Trump protesters.
After waiting around for about half an hour, the 19-year-old noticed no one was coming, so he went to Marston Science Library to print out some signs and hold a one-man protest.
The UF exploratory engineering freshman stood on a table holding a sign that read Climate Change is Real. He didnt let the lack of support stop him from protesting.
It kinda hurts, he said, but its OK. Everyone needs to do something to stand up for what they believe in.
A painting of Donald Trump crossed out sits on the corner of University Avenue and Main Street during a protest of the results of the presidential election. The protest was one of six happening simultaneously on Thursday in Gainesville.
I feel like, on a national level, a lot of us have been moving through the stages of grief during this past week and a half. It started with us being in absolute denial that a candidate who many of us saw to be unfit had been elected. Once the initial shock subsided we were angry, outraged at the hateful reactions of extreme supporters. Some of us tried bargaining with the Electoral College as a last resort, with the hopes that maybe, just this one time, history could be rewritten and things would work out in our favor. When we realized that wasnt possible, you could say a depression hit. It has taken a while to start moving on, but a lot of us are starting to accept the things we cannot change.
For those of us who will not accept what we cannot change, myself included, please know there are still ways to have your voice heard. There are thousands of people who have the same beliefs and convictions as you. Were banding together to make sure everyone knows we are still here, and were not going anywhere. People have been marching for immigrants, womens, human and civil rights. We march and peacefully protest in opposition to environmentally damaging projects; against policies that are inhumane. We do this in solidarity, so we can help amplify the voices of those who may not be able to speak for themselves.
Maybe Ive just been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack too much, but I can feel the revolution gaining momentum. Ive seen people who have generally stayed quiet about their beliefs start to speak out against injustice. Ive seen bonds form between complete strangers after they stand together for what they see is right. If youre interested but dont know how to get involved, scrolling through social media sites might be your best bet. Hardly a day has passed where I havent seen someone post a petition to sign or talk about events or meetings theyre going to attend. Go to a petition page and see how many people are fighting for the same thing youre passionate about. Talk to your friends about the things theyre passionate about and see where you match up. If youre here in Gainesville and are looking for a place to start, youre in luck. There will be a peaceful march Saturday, and we will meet on campus at 4 p.m. at the Stephen C. OConnell Center. We will then march together to Bo Diddley Community Plaza. For more information, you can search for Freedom from Fear March on Facebook.
My mom has told me a million times, The squeaky wheel gets the grease, meaning the louder and more vocal you are, the more likely youll get the attention you need. In this sense, it would probably benefit us all to be squeaky wheels, especially since the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives us as American citizens the right to free speech and the right to peaceful protest. The best, most beneficial thing all of us can do for our nation as ordinary citizens is know our rights and exercise them accordingly, so all sides will be heard.
At the end of the day, were in this for the future. Our progress will far outlive us, and I think that is the best we could hope for in terms of being able to make a change for the better. I think Lin Manuel Miranda got it right with these lyrics, We may not live to see our glory, but I will gladly join the fight. Lets get out there.
Alexa DeLoera is a UF political science senior. Her columns appear on Fridays.
Ever since the advent of national news outlets in America, the countrys mass media has almost universally been more liberal. Those who are more Republican have accepted this as fact, using this as a go-to line whenever debating someone of the opposite party. This election season, however, has revealed the true severity of the medias political leaning, and Republicans have finally, after decades of tolerating this as an unwavering feature of the culture, begun to say no more.
All it took for Republicans to build up the courage to fight the media monsters was the most absurd, outlandish, outspoken, yet fascinating candidate in U.S. history: Donald Trump.
Never before had a candidate verbally attacked the media as steadfastly as Trump. Every rally and interview seemed to include a swift jab at The New York Times or Washington Post, and even the presidential debates included Trump calling out moderators for being biased toward Democrats.
People called Trump and those who believed him crazy, and they had every reason to. The idea that a system as immense as the national media was actively trying to sway the countrys opinions and votes was absurd. But then again, so was the idea of Trump running for president of the U.S.
Once WikiLeaks started releasing batches of tens of thousands of emails, it was soon revealed that Trump was not, in fact, a crazy conspirator, but instead very right about the media teaming up with the Democratic Party. The evidence, much to the dismay of Democrats and pure joy of Republicans, was well documented and now public for the entire world to see.
The evidence included correspondence between CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer and the Democratic National Committee, with Blitzer asking the DNC for juicy questions to shoot at Trump during an upcoming interview. Other emails showed neutral moderators tipping off Clintons campaign to upcoming debate questions. Many have been aware of the love affair between the mainstream media and Democratic Party for years, but nobody, not even The Donald himself, could have anticipated such blatant bias.
Its one thing for Rolling Stone to publish articles titled Donald Trump Cannot Be President of the United States or for Buzzfeed to only post negative articles pertaining to Trump and not Clinton, but for massive news outlets, such as CNN and NBC, who have the gall to claim impartiality to engage in such partisan behavior , it is simply wrong. There is no way around it.
The major takeaway from this election is that the country portrayed by the mainstream media (and even some vocal celebrities) is not, in fact, reality. The media is capable of deplorable bias but not capable of manipulating politics in its favor. In the end, it is the American people who get the final say, and, well, it appears the media isnt fooling anyone.
Whether your candidate won or lost, I do think some good came from this election. Finally, the idea of full transparency is at the forefront of Americas attention. Transparency of both the government and national media is no longer only a concern for Americans but now an expectation. Now that this corruption has been exposed, it is our duty as Americans to keep those who claim to be working for us in check, to make sure the system never sinks back into such fraudulence.
The election may finally be over, but it cannot be said that no good came of it. The U.S. is still suffering from severe growing pains, stuck somewhere in the awkward adolescent years of this countrys development. That being said, the recent revelations concerning media and government transparency cannot be overstated, as they are paving the way for a more honest and candid country, which ultimately benefits us all.
Andrew Hall is a UF management junior. His column appears on Fridays.
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Its a quiet November afternoon. The air is crisp, the sun is going down, and youre sitting on your porch drinking some iced tea while reading The Independent Florida Alligator. Youre about to flip the page and make it to the Opinions Section when Lassie, the neighbors sons dog, comes running up and starts barking at you. Whats that, Lassie? you ask while standing up, clutching the paper. Lassie continues to bark. Timmy fell down the well?! you exclaim, thats the third time this month, right? Lassie barks quickly, confirming your suspicion of Timmys predictable recklessness. Hurriedly, you run over to the well, paper in hand. Help, Mister! I cant swim! you hear him gurgle while he splashes about within a manageable arms reach. Yeah, sucks to suck, Lassie. Im about to hit page six of The Alligator, and not even your bloodcurdling cries for help can stop me from reading my favorite Alligator feature
Darts an Laurels.
Another week comes to a close here in Gainesville, dear reader. A lot has gone on in this week too. Remember Dr. Ben Carson? Apparently Dr. Carson turned down a job offer as secretary of Health and Human Serivces in Trumps administration. Why? According to Dr. Carsons business manager and close friend Armstrong Williams, Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience. We cant help but remember that time several months ago where Carson actually ran for President against Trump. Seriously, Dr. Carson, what happened in the last few months that you finally realized being a neurosurgeon in no way qualifies you to hold public office? We give a laurel to you, Dr. Carson, for finally coming to your senses.
Staying in the realm of politics, were sure youve all heard by now how Trumps administration is planning on creating a Muslim registry. In terms of legally instituting this, Carl Higbie went on Fox News and said that the Japanese internment camps set a precedent for such a policy. We give a dart to Carl Higbie for his bad logic (internment camps are not registries, try again) and desire to oppress Americans and their family members.
Closer to home, our Alligator cartoonist Michael Smith illustrated a cartoon with a catch earlier this week. In the comic, one of the characters mentions that if a special symbol appears in a panel, the owner of that paper (in Willy Wonka fashion) will win a prize. The joke was that every single copy of the paper had this special symbol in it. We give a dart to Michael for deceiving our readership, a laurel to those of you not gullible enough to fall for it, and a hug to the interns that were forced to take the calls of readers thinking theyve won something.
Recently, the Alligator newsroom got in a pretty dicey debate over our lovable furry friends. A schism has been formed amongst our staff, separating the dog people from the cat people. After much deliberation, this Editorial Board has decided to give a laurel to dogs for providing unconditional love. In terms of cats, we really dont believe theyre actually domesticated animals. Humankind let them hang around as we evolved because they kill smaller and more annoying animals. So, we lob a dart at cats, because we know that they would actually kill us if they were capable of it.
Given this is our last Darts and Laurels before Thanksgiving, we feel it necessary to acknowledge the sometimes stressful family gatherings many of us are soon going to have to participate in. We give a dart to all those family members who ask us what were planning to do after college, and a laurel to that cool Uncle for taking us away from the family for a few minutes to go smoke a joint in the garage.
English News Civil society responds to Marrakech climate talks as countries reaffirm their commitment to Paris deal
- 19 Novembre 2016
Vulnerable countries come forward with plans to adopt 100% renewable energy but Africa COP sees no clear commitments from developed countries to increase long-term funding for adaptation
18 November, Marrakech: At the climate talks in Morocco, Climate Action Network welcomed that governments strongly reaffirmed their resolve to work together on implementing the Paris Agreement, even amidst uncertain political moments. As of today, 111 countries have ratified the Agreement, with several such as UK, Australia, Guatemala, Malaysia Pakistan and Tanzania, doing so in the last few days. Together they represent the greatest international cooperation to act on climate change.
That these climate talks took place in Africa, a continent particularly vulnerable and ill-equipped to tackle climate change, would give reason to believe that developed countries would commit with certainty increased support for adaptation beyond their current, inadequate plans. This has unfortunately not been the case. In these two weeks, some countries promised funds but this is woefully short of what is needed now as well as in the long-term to protect poor communities who are already bearing the brunt of the worst impacts of climate change.
Committing to embrace a 100% renewable energy future, some of the world's most vulnerable countries, the 48 countries part of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, today stated they will update their Nationally Determined Contributions before 2020.
Taking advantage of the Paris Agreements rapid entry into force and work on the rulebook being set to completed by 2018, countries really have to do more and faster.
Governments must keep their pre-2020 commitments to limit warming below 1.5 degrees C and prevent irreversible damage from the impacts of climate change. While some countries will achieve their 2020 targets and progress is promising on initiatives, such as the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, civil society organisations call for much stronger political will to ensure that all countries meet their pre-2020 targets. Developing countries must be assured financial, technical and capacity-building support to do this.
The extraordinary political solidarity that brought the Agreement into force less than a year since it was negotiated, thereby allowing the first meeting of the Parties of the Paris Agreement to take place much earlier than anticipated, must now translate into substantive action.
If governments are serious about achieving the goals from Paris, they must come fully prepared in 2017 and 2018 to review progress, scale up ambition and enhance funding for adaptation in particular.
This includes agreeing to a robust methodology for what is counted as climate finance against the US$100 billion commitment.
Marrakech marks an important moment when countries initiated the process to take the Paris Agreement forward to 2018 which will be a critical milestone to assess real progress.
Members of Climate Action Network in Marrakech reacted to the closing of talks:
Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) welcomes the progress made at COP22 in Marrakech. This COP was meant to take a step forward towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement by setting some guidelines of moving forward and this was achieved for some of the issues. There is a lot of work still to be done in the realization of goals set out in the Paris Agreement but the partnerships and overall political willingness of the countries to move forward together is commendable. In particular, the collective commitment shown towards the Paris Agreement despite the concerns arising on the climate change positions of the incoming United States President-elect Donald Trump sends a signal that the debate on the realities of climate change is over and that the world is committed to solving the climate change problem. PICAN also supports the confirmation of Fiji as the next COP23 Presidency and commends Fiji on the leadership shown on behalf of all vulnerable islands states. This is a highly significant moment as it is the very first time a small island developing state will hold presidency of the UNFCCC COP. Its going to be a Pacific COP next year. PICAN looks forward to working closing with the Fiji Presidency and showcasing the leadership of the Pacific in the year ahead. Krishneil Narayan, the Coordinator of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)
Despite fears, the spirit of Paris and the climate movement are alive and well as we saw in Marrakesh at COP22. Technical negotiations showed progress but the plight of the poorest and especially women and girls still demand a clearer roadmap and money to match. We are also calling on governments and business to make emission cuts now that respect the 1.5 degrees limit so that a desperate situation does not completely spiral out of our control. Thus, the ambitious leadership shown by 47 developing countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum pushes the most powerful countries to be much bolder and take quicker action. Wolfgang Jamann, Secretary General and CEO of CARE International
Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA) members welcome the progress made on technical front at the COP 22 but expressed their disappointment on lack of urgency shown by developed countries on delivering their promise of providing necessary funding to developing countries to cope with the incessant impacts of climate change. The agreement on process for preparing a rule book for implementation of Paris agreement, the infusion of some more money in adaptation fund and the fact that CMA the implementing body of Paris Agreement has begun functioning is all good news but the money on the table is way less than required to help the developing countries to implement their conditional NDC and close the emissions gap required to arrest runaway climate change and assist the most vulnerable and the poorest of poor in South Asia. Sanjay Vashist, Director of Climate Action Network South Asia
This years UN climate talks in Marrakech made clear that the Paris Agreement remains robust, but strong leadership will continue to be important if we are to safeguard our societies from dangerous climate change. Here in Marrakech the EU repeatedly reiterated its leadership on climate action, but these statements were followed by a visible degree of inaction. The EU turned a blind eye to the need to boost climate action in the next four years. Cancelling the surplus allowances under the Emissions Trading Scheme would have been a school book example of showing leadership, but the EU failed the test. It is high time for the EU to start walking the talk. The EU must come well prepared in 2017 and to the next big political moment in 2018, with clear plans to both scale up the ambition of its inadequate 2030 targets and present a strategy for how to bring emissions down to zero in the long term. Wendel Trio, Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
We came to Marrakech on a high note with the Paris Agreement entering into force in record time. The U.S. has been a leader on tackling climate change under the Obama administration, helping to build the global consensus around shared action that resulted in last years historic Paris Agreement. But the outcome of last weeks elections has raised serious doubts about the continued commitment of the U.S. to the international climate framework after President Obama leaves office.
Despite of US election results, ambition and efforts for making the Paris Agreement work must continue within next year and the years to come. Some Latin American countries has highlighted the importance of prompt definition of the Agreement implementations guidelines and rules. Transparency and finance are key issues that need to be finished as soon as possible, but not later than COP23. Latin American countries need to start the revision of their NDCs to increases their current goals and to find clear pathways to achieve them. Gianfranco Ciccia, node coordinator Climate Action Network Latin America (CAN-LA)
The good news is that country after country here in Marrakech made it crystal clear over the last week that they intend to implement and strengthen the Paris Agreement, regardless of whether the incoming Trump administration stays in Paris or decides to leave. Not one country has said that if President Trump pulls the U.S. out of Paris, they will follow. Numerous U.S. states, cities, and hundreds of companies have made clear their determination to stay the course on climate action. And yesterday, under the leadership of the King of Morocco, heads of state and ministers adopted the Marrakech Action Proclamation, calling for much greater ambition to meet the temperature limitation goals agreed in Paris." Alden Meyer, Director of Strategy and Policy, Union of Concerned Scientists
The UN climate talks continue to be filled with twists and turns, but they have delivered what they needed to this week putting substance behind the promise of the Paris Agreement so it can be fully implemented. The Marrakech work has not been the most glamorous, but its a key step in the chain reaction needed to roll out the agreement. Countries commitment to the Paris Agreement also passed its first stress test this week with the US election results. Unequivocally, they restated that they are in this for the long haul.
But theres a lot of work ahead of us. The emissions gap continues to grow between what science tells us is needed to protect the planet from the worst impacts of climate change and the goals and actions governments set in Paris. Urgently reducing emissions and preparing for the climate change impacts that are already affecting us are essential for the worlds future prosperity, safety and security. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF Internationals Climate & Energy Practice
The world came together in Paris to take unprecedented action to tackle the climate crisis, and in Marrakech, we came together to affirm that no individual country or leader has the power to derail that momentum. The Sierra Club is heartened by the committed resolve and continued dedication leaders around the world have shown to meaningful and lasting climate action. Climate leaders, activists, businesses, labor leaders, faith groups, environmental justice advocates, and youth leaders from across the globe convened in Marrakech with the goal of working to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis. In fact, nations are reaffirming their commitments, nearly 50 nations committed to going to 100 percent clean energy, and new research shows the U.S. is already on the path to meet key carbon reduction goals before they are even implemented. It is clear that this progress will not be stopped, even in the face of threats by President-elect Trump. Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club
The job here in Marrakech was to start writing the rulebook for the Paris Agreement and to take urgent action. But the issue of finance has thrown a spanner in the works. Although several countries have made welcome contributions to immediate finance needs, rich countries have been trying to wriggle out of their pledges to help poorer countries meet the costs of coping with impacts and greening their economies. Climate action will cost money that poorer countries simply don't have. The general message to developing countries is youre on your own.
In the planets hottest year ever, when parts of Africa are dealing with their worst drought in decades, rich countries willingness to leave developing countries in the lurch holds back climate action at a time when we need it most. Without real finance, and drastic cuts in emissions from rich countries the planet doesnt have a chance of staying under 1.5C warming. Harjeet Singh, global lead on climate change for ActionAid
The COP outcome once again failed to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, but people-powered movements around the world arent going to let our leaders get away with a COP-out. In the last two weeks, hundreds of organizations banded together to stand up to all new fossil fuel development, and dozens of climate vulnerable countries committed to 100% renewable energy futures. Climate science, the Paris Agreement, and millions of people around the world demand an end to new fossil fuel development and a just transition to renewables. Stephen Kretzmann, Executive Director, Oil Change International
While the U.S. election could have derailed the negotiations, whats happened in Marrakech has given hope that global action on climate change will not be deterred by isolated politicians. These negotiations outcome once again failed to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, but countries and social movements came together to keep pushing forward at a time when resolve is essential. The lessons of Marrakech are clear: Dont look to bureaucrats or climate-denying Presidents to take the lead on global climate action. Look to the people in the streets and in communities around the world. These are the people-powered movements resisting fossil fuels and building a renewable energy future, and this is the path to victory. David Turnbull, Campaigns Director, Oil Change International
The shock of the U.S. elections has ignited a fiery determination to fight Trumps regressive rhetoric on climate. A broad coalition of people and organizations is rising up and working together to keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground and stop dangerous and unjust projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline. We celebrate todays announcement from the countries most affected by climate change to move rapidly toward 100% renewable energy. But we have yet to see this ambition matched by some other leaders in Marrakech. While the continued commitment to the Paris Agreement is heartening, this was not the COP of Action that we were promised. We urgently need more ambitious action from the USA and other developed countries to protect our environment and people around the globe from the grave dangers of climate change. Clare Lakewood, Staff Attorney, Climate Law Institute, Center for Biological Diversity
This was billed as a conference for action and implementation of the Paris Agreement. Instead, we saw a stubborn refusal from developed country ministers and negotiators to fill the adaptation finance gap and face the fact that the Agreement doesnt fully protect lives that will suffer the most from climate change. Adaptation finance is not just an abstract numbers game. Its about providing women farmers in Africa with seeds to plant drought-resistant crops and feed their families.
These countries are doing their fair share. The Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of forty-seven countries most at risk, announced their commitment to 100 percent renewable energy. We need developed countries to live up to their end of the bargain.
The Paris Agreement was undoubtedly historic, but millions of people facing extreme and erratic weather cant afford to keep waiting. Oxfam hopes the 'Pacific COP' in 2017 focuses the world's attention on the risk that small islands in the Pacific and elsewhere face. Isabel Kreisler, Oxfam International climate change policy lead.
The last two weeks has shown that Arab countries are taking Paris agreement seriously by Saudi Arabia ratifying the agreement before the COP and countries who already ratified or in their way of ratification.
Some Arab Countries showed leadership in climate vulnerable forum like Tunisia, Sudan , Yemen and Morocco and more countries who joined this COP which are Palestine and Lebanon this shows the readiness for our region to take initiative on climate solutions. Safa Al Jayoussi, CAN Arab World Co-Coordinator
The Paris Agreement provides a good framework for climate action, but the Nationally Determined Commitments ambition is still insufficient and needs to be fixed urgently. We leave Marrakech with unfinished business. Finance is still a major issue to be figured out as well as analyzing what the impacts of the United States election are. However, it is important to note that there has been a focus on creating new action here as well. It is clear that if the world is going to act on climate change now that countries need to step and do more. Tina Johnson, Policy Director, US Climate Action Network
The Marrakech summit showed that there is unstoppable momentum to put the Paris Agreement into practice, despite the outcome of the US elections. China especially seems ready to step into the looming vacuum. The EU also has to decide whether it wants to play a global leadership role in the coming years. There are major opportunities next year where we expect the EU and Germany to show leadership, like the G20 summit in Hamburg and COP23 in Bonn. Christoph Bals, Policy Director, Germanwatch
The most striking theme in Marrakesh was the continued commitment by countries and businesses around the world to moving forward on climate change despite the uncertainty that resulted from the election of Donald Trump. That continued commitment was clear in public statements and private assurances, in the constructive spirit of the negotiations, and in the actions of the several countries who formally joined the Paris Agreement in the last two weeks. The momentum that generated the Paris Agreement and ensured that it entered into force in record time cant be derailed even by an earthquake as large as last weeks election. The direction the rest of the world is taking is clearer than ever. People around the globe are already seeing the impacts of climate change every day from record-breaking heat to floods to costly storm damage and theyre demanding a safer, cleaner, low-carbon future and the jobs and economic growth that future will entail. Nathaniel Keohane, Vice President for Global Climate, Environmental Defense Fund
It was fitting that on African soil it was the most vulnerable countries who showed the most leadership with their bold pledges to switch to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible. This is despite the fact that as poor and vulnerable nations with little historical responsibility for causing climate change, they were not required to act so quickly.
The rest of the world now needs to harness this sentiment and follow suit by doing more to accelerate the low carbon transition we need to keep temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
Although momentum has continued it was good to be reminded that our current trajectory sends us into dangerous territory and the Paris Agreement will only be effective if nations continue to ratchet up their commitments. The key date is 2018 when countries should start doing that in earnest. Mohamed Adow, Christian Aids International Climate Lead
The spirit of togetherness that made the Paris Agreement possible was alive this week in Marrakech, and it will become more important than ever in the coming months. What wasnt as evident at COP22 was a common understanding of the urgent need to support developing countries at the necessary levels. Realizing the Paris Agreements goals and protecting the worlds most vulnerable communities requires an end to the petty disagreements on finance that so often stall progress. Canada has an opportunity to play a constructive role on this and many other issues. Indeed, it is clear that the world is now looking to Canada with renewed focus. Its Canadas time to show exceptional leadership on climate change and the drive to decarbonize the global economy. Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada
The world is finally seeing the urgency for collective climate action. The meeting in Marrakesh concluded as scientists confirmed 2016 will be the third consecutive hottest year ever while a climate denier has been elected to the White House. But we are seeing leadership take center stage from many directions. The Climate Vulnerable Forum countries have demonstrated what government leadership needs to look like by committing to meet 100% domestic renewable energy production as rapidly as possible. Yet climate leadership has consistently relied on people's power. Moving forward, the climate and social justice movements stand united and more committed than ever. The only way for real climate action is to stop all new coal, oil and gas developments, financing instead a just transition towards a 100% renewable energy future for all. Payal Parekh, 350.org Global Pogram Director
The last two weeks have seen a renewed determination to move ahead with the Paris Agreement. Here at the UN, countries have taken a small step together and some are already taking the giant leaps we need. 47 countries on the frontline of climate change are setting the pace, and their commitment to 100% renewable energy shows leadership and vision, just what we need from everyone.
If governments are serious about the Paris Agreement, not a single new fossil fuel project can be licensed anymore. To avoid climate catastrophe we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, protect our forests and oceans and shift to ecological agriculture and 100% renewable energy. We will be the generation that ends fossil fuels. Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International
Hivos welcomes the reaffirmation of countries to move ahead forcefully to implement the Paris Agreement in spite of leadership changes in some countries. The most vulnerable countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum have shown the true leadership by committing to strive to be carbon neutral by 2050, meet a 100% domestic renewable energy production as rapidly as possible while working to end energy poverty and involve all stakeholders including civil society in the process. Hivos and its partners are calling on all countries to follow this leadership. These commitments have to be supported now by new, additional and adequate climate finance directed specifically for energy access through decentralized renewable energy." Eco Matser, Director Green & Inclusive Energy Programme Hivos
Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
English News International cooperation leaves no place for corrupt fugitive officials to hide
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 18 Novembre 2016
So far, 37 fugitives have been repatriated since the Chinese government released a red notice for the countrys 100 most-wanted fugitives who used to be public servants or were involved in major corruption cases. Four of the five most-wanted fugitives have already been brought to justice.
Peoples Daily One of China's most wanted graft fugitives Yang Xiuzhu, who had been on the run for 13 years, finally returned to China on Wednesday and turned herself in to authorities.
This was hailed as the latest example of the resolute determination and great effort of the Chinese government in its anti-corruption campaign in pursuing fugitives and recovering illicit assets, read a Peoples Daily editorial.
So far, 37 fugitives have been repatriated since the Chinese government released a red notice for the countrys 100 most-wanted fugitives who used to be public servants or were involved in major corruption cases. Four of the five most-wanted fugitives have already been brought to justice.
Whats more, Operation Skynet, an anti-graft campaign launched by Chinese authorities in a bid to capture corrupt officials who have fled abroad, has captured 2,210 fugitives as of September, 363 of which used to be public servants.
Both the 5th and the 6th plenary sessions of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) listed the international manhunt as a top priority of their annual agenda, the editorial said, introducing Chinas efforts to bring fugitives to justice.
All corruption cases and corrupt officials should be investigated and punished with great perseverance and zero tolerance. There should be no shelter for corrupt officials in the party! Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the meeting commemorating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, declaring Chinas determination to crack down on corruption.
In order to bring these fugitives back and recover their illegal assets, Chinese authorities have carried out both international cooperation and domestic campaigns, the editorial said.
The editorial also pointed out that authorities have increased efforts in collecting information and evidence on fugitives. Diplomatic, police, judiciary and financial departments have worked well together and a coordination mechanism at the provincial level has also been established as well.
Bringing Yang to justice, according to the paper, can be attributed to effective cooperation among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme Peoples Court, the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate, the Ministry of Justice, People's Bank of China and Zhejiang Provinces fugitive repatriation and asset recovery office.
The editorial suggested that international fugitive repatriation and asset recovery should not only be a domestic affair, but also part of the diplomatic agenda in todays connected world.
President Xi and other Chinese leaders have made clear Chinas attitude towards corruption at multilateral or bilateral occasions by bringing up the importance of international cooperation when it comes to the anti-corruption campaign, and discussing fugitive repatriation and asset recovery, the article elaborated.
Propelled by Chinas initiative, the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held in 2014 in Beijing endorsed the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption, the first anti-corruption declaration named after a capital city in APEC history.
The G20 High-Level Principles on Cooperation on Persons Sought for Corruption and Asset Recovery adopted at the G20 Hangzhou Summit held this September is also proof of Chinas anti-corruption commitment. The document put forward for the first time the principle of zero tolerance, zero loopholes and zero barriers when it comes to corruption.
Extensive international cooperation will leave fleeing corrupt officials no place to hide, the article said, citing as an example how cooperation between Chinese and US law enforcement teams contributed to Yangs extradition.
With help from Singapore, the Chinese authorities managed to bring Li Huabo, the second most-wanted suspect from China's "100 most-wanted economic fugitives" list, back for trial, the article added.
These fugitives should never bet on having a safe heaven to hide themselves as the anti-corruption campaign will be a long-term fight. In addition to domestic anti-corruption efforts, international cooperation will enable it to reach every corner of the world, the paper stressed in conclusion.
(Peoples Daily)
Dans la meme rubrique : < > More robots entering people's daily life China sees accelerated development of express delivery sector in rural areas China's FAST discovers largest atomic cloud in universe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
English News Join Hands to Fulfill Centenary Dreams and Strive for New Progress in Cooperation
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 18 Novembre 2016
China and Peru enjoy a long and deep friendship. Back more than 400 years ago, braving storms and waves, the Chinese people opened a maritime Silk Road across the Pacific. The Chinese and the Peruvians have been visiting each other ever since. In the past 100 years, a large number of Chinese traveled to Peru to seek a life of happiness on this promising land.
By H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the Peoples Republic of China, For El Comercio
I am looking forward to coming to Peru for the 24th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting and my state visit to this country at the invitation of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. President Kuczynski visited China in September. By the time of my visit, the presidents of China and Peru will have exchanged visits in less than two months. This will send a strong signal of China and Peru working together for common development.
This would be the second time for Peru to play host to the leaders of APEC economies in eight years. It marks another new and important contribution Peru makes to Asia-Pacific cooperation. Peru will have Chinas full support and cooperation in facilitating positive outcomes of the meeting.
I still recall my visit to Peru in the 1990s, which left me deeply impressed by the majestic landscape and rich natural endowments of this country. The Andes Mountains, the backbone of South America, extends from North to South, and the mighty Amazon has nourished a treasure house of minerals, fossil fuel, forests and biological resources. Peru is also known for its hard-working and courageous people, who created a time-honored history and rich culture. Its dazzling cultural heritage such as the Inca civilization, Machu Picchu and Nazca Lines are favored destinations for international visitors. El Condor Pasa and other Andean folk melodies are popular all over the world.
China and Peru enjoy a long and deep friendship. Back more than 400 years ago, braving storms and waves, the Chinese people opened a maritime Silk Road across the Pacific. The Chinese and the Peruvians have been visiting each other ever since. In the past 100 years, a large number of Chinese traveled to Peru to seek a life of happiness on this promising land. They worked diligently with the local people and actively contributed to Perus development. They were the first generation of friendship envoys who brought Chinese culture to Peru. Today, nearly one tenth of the Peruvian population descended from Chinese ancestry. The Chinese are even called by an affectionate nickname in Peru the paisano (old pal), showing the deep roots of friendship between our peoples. This is a valuable asset shared by our two countries.
Peru was one of the first Latin American countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Peoples Republic of China. Over the past 45 years of our diplomatic relations, we have treated each other with respect and equality, firmly supported each other on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns and developed strong political trust, which formed the cornerstone of China-Peru relations. Our two countries have established a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level of relations between China and Latin American countries, which embodies the high degree of our political mutual trust.
Despite the wintry state of the global economy in recent years, China and Peru are enjoying spring in their practical cooperation. Bilateral trade has remained on an upward trajectory, hitting a record level of nearly US$15 billion in 2015. In the first eight months of this year, trade grew by 9% year-on-year, outpaced by a 21.8% uptick in Peruvian exports to China. China has been Perus largest trading partner, export market and source of import for years, and Peru has become one of the top destinations in Latin America for Chinese investment. Over 170 Chinese businesses have invested more than US$14 billion in Peru, helping to create tens of thousands of jobs and new sources of tax revenue for local communities and benefiting economic and social development in this country.
The robust people-to-people exchanges between Chinese and Peruvian peoples have brought them even closer to each other. Exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science and technology, health and the judicial sector as well as between media, think tanks and youths are growing. More and more Peruvians, especially students, want to study Chinese and learn more about Chinese culture. The four Confucius Institutes in Peru have attracted more than 4,000 registered students. We welcome more Peruvians to visit China. More and more Chinese admirers of the Inca civilization are hoping to visit Peru as tourists.
China and Peru have maintained close communication and coordination on international and regional affairs to jointly uphold the common interests of developing countries. We hold the same or similar views and have consistently echoed and supported each others positions, be it on key international issues such as UN reform, climate change, sustainable development or regional ones like Asia-Pacific cooperation, Latin American integration and cooperation between China and Latin America.
I believe that the tremendous progress and strong momentum in China-Peru ties is attributable to the extensive public support for our friendship, to our enormous economic complementarity and enthusiasm toward cooperation and to the right decision of successive governments of both countries to place high importance on this relationship. The Chinese people are working vigorously to attain the two centenary goals, namely, completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the Communist Partys centenary in 2021 and building a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious country by the centenary of the Peoples Republic in 2049, and the Chinese dream of great national renewal. The Peruvian people are making relentless efforts toward a just, fair and united Peru by the bicentennial of Perus independence in 2021. Cherishing the same dream and vision, it is only natural that we should push forward all-round cooperation.
We need to deepen political mutual trust and remain partners for each other on the way ahead. We should continue to view our relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, understand and support each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns and ensure the sustained and steady growth of bilateral ties. I have said on many occasions, Only the wearer knows if the shoes fit or not. China supports Peru in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions and stands ready to enhance the sharing of experience on governance to make greater achievements in our respective development endeavors.
We need to expand practical cooperation and promote common development and prosperity. China and Peru are natural partners on the strength of our wide-ranging, large-scale and fruitful cooperation. We have set up mechanisms such as the strategic dialogue on economic cooperation and the joint committee on economic cooperation and trade. We need to formulate and implement a well-structured action plan to guide our practical cooperation in the years to come. China suggests that we intensify production capacity and investment cooperation. We are ready to provide Peru with all the equipment and technology it needs for industrialization, supported by personnel training and matching funds. This will be conducive to Perus efforts towards diversified economic development, and raise the quality and efficiency of bilateral cooperation.
We need to promote cultural exchange and cement public support for our relations. Amity between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations. We need to expand exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science and technology and tourism and facilitate the interflow of people between our two countries. China welcomes more Peruvian students to study in China and supports more youth exchanges to pass on our traditional friendship from one generation to the next.
We need to strengthen cooperation in international and regional affairs to uphold common interests. Lasting peace and sustained progress is the shared aspiration of all humanity. China hopes to work with Peru to maintain close communication and cooperation on major international issues, build a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation and contribute to a community of shared interests and shared future for all mankind.
The baton of China-Peru friendship is now passed to us. Let us join hands and work closely together to pursue the dream of our people for a happy life and promote peace, stability and prosperity of the world.
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A tremendous amount of money moves around the world every year that is not part of the official flow of money. Law and regulations requiring anti-money-laundering efforts, as well as Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions, seek to mitigate laundering. But despite all the systems of control meant to prevent these transactions, they still take place because someone is highly invested in making sure they still take place.
An important principle in addressing the money-laundering threat is recognizing that an illegal method for moving today is just as likely to be low-tech and old school as it is to be sophisticated. Modern surveillance methods and processes need to be able to counter both.
Lets start with the low-tech methods. If a criminal can leverage corrupt bankers, that opens the door to a relatively simple means of laundering. Banking secrecy is a longstanding tenet of private banking and asset management in certain countries. This tradition of secrecy means that client names will be protected from the prying eyes of employees, which, by extension, helps circumvent many of the usual legal safeguards in other parts of the world.
With the help of someone inside the bank, a dictator or oligarch can run money through several intermediaries, possibly including a private bank in Switzerland, which then ends up in an anonymous offshore account for a New York hedge fund. A hedge fund manager may have no idea who is behind a majority of the funds investors, with all the account holders just being the name of a Swiss bank.
In truly traditional private banks, customers remain anonymous: no address is held on file, and statements are kept at the bank for the customer should he or she ever bother to see them. Cash for deposit really is brought in unmarked envelopes and concealed from view. In certain countries and cities, bankers might meet their clients in anonymous cafes where the transaction is conducted, possibly via an envelope that is passed under a newspaper.
Under more sophisticated methods, Swiss banks have devised complex ways to segregate and wall off the relationships between clients and bankers. Accounts are of course numbered and assigned to specific bankers who manage the relationship. Only the banker knows the identity of the account holder. However, clients are not necessarily satisfied with such levels of care and use intermediaries to further conceal the origin of their cash. The name Herve Falciani still sends a chill down the spine of Swiss bankers because he successfully managed to download sensitive client data and take it with him outside the country.
Given the added scrutiny of regulators over the sources of funds in private bank accounts, new methods have been devised to avoid detection. One such class of transactions is known as mirror trades. Mirror trades are back-to-back trades executed purely for the purposes of sending money abroad. A trader executes a customer order to buy a certain stock, lets say for a value of 10 million dollars using Russian rubles. The trader then executes a sale of the same stock on behalf of another company in exchange for dollars, euros or pounds. Both companies have the same owner. Through the two transactions the owner has exchanged rubles for a foreign currency in a process that leaves no obvious trace to regulators.
So how would an internal compliance department identify schemes of varying sophistication?
In the case of mirror trades, a compliance team would look to identify trades made repeatedly for no apparent purpose, in which the purchase and sale of the security resulted in either no profit or just a small loss. Secondly, if the AML specialists had been doing their job properly, the very close relationship between the entities buying and selling funds or intermediaries would have turned up in the checks and controls review. Thirdly, at a macro level, if the volume of transactions was high enough, careful research might reveal schemes to squirrel away funds unofficially.
Sometimes seeing the big picture can help to uncover the small sins of everyday life in banking. Looking at publicly available research to identify the amount of unofficial flows of money between countries can help to show that there is a problem that there are schemes in play to move money. While researching capital flows between Russia and the U.K. in 2015, Deutsche Bank economists found that about $1.5 billion was flying under the radar every month. This provided a strong sense to regulators and AML departments of how significant the problem of mirror trades was.
It is understandable of course why the modern methods of money laundering still include movements of cash in unmarked envelopes. They are a lot simpler and less costly to execute than more sophisticated means and are still hard to detect. Changes in bank secrecy are afoot in some countries. The Swiss are repealing their secrecy laws, for example, and this will help to combat these simple methods. However, while financial institutions should continue to improve safeguards against newer means launderers are using to avoid detection, they must still remain keenly aware of the possibilities that low-tech solutions are still being used. It just takes one corrupt banker to enable the illegal transfer of cash. Money launderers, in low-tech ways, will still find ways of moving money that cannot be tied to its original source.
Only a strong risk management culture can prevent such events from occurring. A compliance department that enforces know-your-customer regulations and provides balance in its favor against the demands of profits and revenue targets from the front office will always be the best bulwark against the dirty flows of money.
Andrew Waxman is an associate partner in IBM Global Business Services' financial markets risk and compliance practice and can be reached atabwaxman@us.ibm.comor on Twitter @abwaxman. The views expressed here are his own.
Donald Trump can stop Barack Obama from continuing to free terrorists, and the sooner he acts, the better.
Barack Obama is a lame-duck president and, empowered by his pen and a phone (the only weapons he has ever held, no doubt) is determined to continue to carve out a dubious legacy for himself. He had promised to close Guantanamo prison during his first presidential campaign and on the second day in office he issued one of his numerous executive orders to come, this one directing that the prison be closed within one year.
Terrorists were big supporters of Barack Obama. At Gitmo they were chanting Obama! Obama! Obama! during election night and when he won started chanting to their guards and prosecutors the refrain Hey, heygoodbye
President Obama was stymied in his efforts to transfer many of them to American prisons when Republicans led an effort (joined by many Democrats) to pass a law that forbade prisoners from being moved into American prisons. But Barack Obama has found another way to release these terrorists (or detainees as liberals call them) by working to depict them as less of a threat than they are and then releasing them into the custody of foreign governments.
As Stephen Hayes has written in a Weekly Standard column, Lying About Gitmo, Obama and his team have been lying about the backgrounds and records of these terrorists to downgrade their threats to Americans and others around the world:
Let's begin with the conclusion: Barack Obama is releasing dangerous terrorists against the recommendations of military and intelligence professionals, he's doing so at a time when the threat level from radical Islamists is elevated, and he is lying about it. He is lying about how many jihadists he has released and lying about their backgrounds, all part of his effort to empty the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
Hayes assembles quite the collection of examples of anti-American jihadists that Obama has given a get out of jail card. Included among them are the so-called Taliban Five, terror masterminds released in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. All five had worked for Al Qaeda before 9/11.
Hayes writes:
Obama has also downplayed the threats from released Guantanamo prisoners in other ways. He describes the detainees as "embittered," as if the hatred that inspires them grows from their time in Guantanamo rather than their devotion to a murderous cause. Instead of rejoining the war, the recidivists are merely "trying to link up with their old organizations." Perhaps most bizarre is his description of the process he's using to determine which detainees can be transferred or set free. "The judgment that we're continually making is: Are there individuals who are significantly more dangerous than the people who are already out there who are fighting? What do they add? Do they have special skills? Do they have special knowledge that ends up making a significant threat to the United States?" Those are the criteria? Detainees can be released if the White House determines that they are no more dangerous than, say, the leaders of ISIS, AQAP, Boko Haram, Jabhat al Nusra, the Haqqani network, the Khorasan group? If this is actually the way the administration evaluates potential releases, it would explain why so many veteran jihadists have been freed. It's a process that prioritizes emptying the facility over the security of the country.
Obama has been dishonest about his policy and has downplayed threats from Islamic terrorism from the first day of his presidency to the (thankfully) last days to come. Pentagon and other national security experts have decried this minimizing of threats to America. His actions have been condemned by Congressman such as Edward Royce, the Republican head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who accused the White House of doubling down on policies that put American lives at risk and recklessness.
Climate change is a greater threat in Obamas mind.
Barack Obama seems laser-focused on closing Gitmo as part of his legacy. This would cause irreparable harm to the security of America: released terrorists have a very high recidivism rate (killing is what they live for, and released detainees have been implicated in subsequent attacks on Americans) and Gitmo has a very unique legal status that makes it absolutely crucial in our battle against terrorism. If Obama succeeds in closing Gitmo and, perhaps, turning it over to the Castro brothers (who no doubt will be glad to have more prison space for their political prisoners), it will never again be an American asset in our fight against Islamic terrorism.
Obama has justified his actions by being able to claim formally that these terrorists are not being freed; instead he has been transferring them to other nations who supposedly will monitor them to prevent their return to terrorism. In practice, this monitoring has been a farce as the various nations, some but not all of them of them Muslim nations, have looked the other way as the terrorists go back to work. Detainees have vanished; they have gone off the radar screen and found their ways back to join their fellow terrorists.
What can be done in the next two months to stop Obama?
Donald Trump has vowed to keep the prison open, and to load it up with some bad dudes. But he cant keep his promise if Obama empties the prison and fulfills his promise to close Gitmo.
President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican Congress can put foreign nations on notice that change is coming to Washington and America in January and that nations that cooperate with Barack Obama in his terrorist release program will be scrutinized in the years to come when it comes to foreign aid, trade pacts, security cooperation and a range of other measures. Some of the nations that have taken the terrorists are oil-rich Middle Eastern nations, but others are less wealthy South American nations. Would Uruguay be willing to take any more terrorists if faced with warnings from the incoming administration that moves to take them will be looked at with disfavor (to be diplomatic) in the years to come? Even Arab nations, who certainly have no reason to seek to please Barack Obama, might be reluctant to displease a President Trump who they will have to engage with the next four years.
President-elect Donald Trump has a chance to do a great deal to help defend America even before he becomes Commander-in-Chief.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian received on November 18 the delegation led by Chairperson of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev.
Armenia-Russian allied and strategic relations based on centuries-old friendship between the two peoples, as well as the implementation process of the agreements reached between the top leaderships of Armenia and Russia were referred to at the meeting.
As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, the Foreign Minister of Armenia and the Russian delegation discussed in detail a broad scope of issues of parliamentary cooperation and exchanged ideas over cooperation between the two parliaments in international parliamentary platforms.
A reference was made to the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, and ways to overcome the crisis. A special importance was attached to the Armenian community in Syria and Armenias efforts to assist them.
Minister Nalbandian introduced the situation in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) after the large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan and emphasized the necessity of implementing thagreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg.
At the request of the guests Minister Nalbandian detailed on Armenia-Diaspora cooperation.
Edward Nalbandian touched upon Armenias foreign policy priorities and answered the numerous questions of the guests.
It is no secret that religious liberty is under attack. The wedding photographer, florist, and cake baker are no longer able to practice their faith at work without fear of retribution for refusing to fall in line with the new government orthodoxy.
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment is designed to ensure that all Americans may freely live out their faith. This is not limited to freedom of worship, but includes the heart, mind, and soul of religious people, thereby guiding how people act in the public square. When a law restricts that first freedom, the American conscience is put on trial.
One way to preserve the American conscience is for individuals to pre-emptively put unjust laws on trial by way of pre-enforcement challenges. This ensures that the owner is not at risk of criminal or civil penalties for violating an ironically titled anti-discrimination law when faced with the challenge of being asked to participate in any practice that violates his conscience. Rather, a judge will be deciding only the validity of a law before its application blindsides an unwitting target.
Further, a pre-enforcement challenge provides individuals with clear guidance from the courts on what the legal ramifications might be for certain conduct before a law is adversely used against them. For example, if a law threatens a business owner for declining to help celebrate a same-sex ceremony, a pre-enforcement challenge will give the courts the opportunity to recognize First Amendment and statutory defenses to the law before any penalties are assessed.
Pre-enforcement challenges have a long pedigree in free speech cases, which carries over into the religious liberty context. For instance, the ACLU successfully brought a pre-enforcement challenge in 1999 to overturn a law that criminalized the dissemination of indecent material to minors over the internet on freedom of speech grounds. Moreover, pre-enforcement challenges have been brought successfully in a variety of other cases to protect free speech activities, including videotaping police officers, union advertising, and speech critical of the Vietnam War, to name just a few.
As the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) explains, "[i]n a free society, no one should have to be punished before they can challenge an unconstitutional law." With the principle in mind, ADF recently launched a pre-enforcement challenge in support of religious liberty on behalf of clients in Arizona.
In Arizona, Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka, the founders of Brush & Nib Studio, brought a pre-enforcement challenge against a law that would force the artists to use their calligraphy talents to literally hand-write words that violate their sincere beliefs. Phoenix Municipal Code Section 18-4(B) was amended in 2013 such that it is now a crime for any person to withhold goods or services offered at any place of public accommodation, which includes retail stores, on the basis of sexual orientation. If Koski and Duka were asked to help celebrate a same-sex ceremony by creating custom wedding invitations, they would decline as a matter of conscience, and the artists would risk being in violation of the law.
Section 18-4(B) goes on to provide a constitutionally mandated exemption that "prohibitions concerning marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression shall not apply to bona fide religious organizations" (emphasis added), but the exemption does nothing to account for the conscientious objections of religious participants in the marketplace. The Phoenix Code provides that any violators of the law are subject to imprisonment for up to six months and a fine up to $2,500 as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Koski and Duka did not wait for the authorities to come knocking on their door. Rather, the women took the fight to the courts in an attempt to invalidate the law before it is ever enforced against them or other like-minded artists. While the case is still in the early stages of litigation, if successful, it will likely serve as a model for future challenges in the name of religious liberty nationwide.
Given the success of pre-enforcement challenges elsewhere in the First Amendment realm, this strategy represents a viable opportunity for individuals to seek protection from the courts when legislatures adopt laws that threaten a person's first freedom. The culture war will rage on, but pre-enforcement challenges have the potential to provide refuge for conscientious objectors who want to live out their faith in the marketplace without fear of prosecution for doing so. It is time to put bad laws on trial before bad laws are able to do worse to conscientious objectors.
David Rosenthal is a visiting legal fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
The mainstream media, having failed to derail or even anticipate Donald Trumps victory, have now seized on discrediting one of the architects of his victory, calling Navy veteran, entrepreneur, and Breitbart publisher Steve Bannon a white nationalist. They cite as evidence some Breitbart headlines designed to provoke and attract readers as being beyond the pale. Compared to what? The New York Times, perhaps?
Publishers dont necessarily control every jot and tittle of content in their publications, but if one concedes the point of Bannons critics, those who have problems with Bannon advising Trump had no problem with race-baiter Al Sharpton serving as adviser to President Obama on, of all things, race relations: As Politico magazine reported:
A few days after 18-year-old Mike Brown was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri, White House officials enlisted an unusual source for on-the-ground intelligence amid the chaos and tear gas: the Rev. Al Sharpton, a fiery activist who became a household name by provoking rather than pacifying. In Ferguson, Sharpton established himself as a de facto contact and conduit for a jittery White House seeking to negotiate a middle ground between meddling and disengagement. Theres a trust factor with The Rev from the Oval Office on down, a White House official familiar with their dealings told me. He gets it, and hes got credibility in the community that nobody else has got. Theres really no one else out there who does what he does.
Let us be grateful for that. If one wanted to send a sane message about justice and peace, Al Sharpton is arguably the worst person to call. He is an instigator, not a peacemaker, someone who rose out of obscurity by propagating the false Tawana Brawley rape case in which New York city cops were accused of raping a black teenager. As Investors Business Daily noted, Tawana Brawley paid for her part in that big lie. Al Sharpton never has.
Sharpton embraced the hands up, dont shoot mantra meant to indict racist cops and police departments after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri after he committed a strongarm robbery on his way to assaulting Officer Darren Wilson. Blessed are the peacemakers, but Al Sharpton is not one of them.
The Sharptons of the world dont want to solve the real problems of the black community, preferring to exploit back unrest with clueless race-baiting such as when Sharpton and his National Action Network organized the Justice for All March in Washington, D.C. last December:
You thought youd sweep it under the rug. You thought thered be no limelight, he said. We are going to keep the light on Michael Brown, on Eric Garner, on Tamir Rice, on all of these victims because the only way -- Im sorry, I come out of the 'hood -- the only way you make roaches run, you got to cut the light on."
As IBD notes, Al Sharpton has made career of anti-Semitic and racial agitation:
Sharpton has made a career of racial incitement. He once called Jews "diamond merchants" and described whites moving businesses into Harlem as "interlopers." He helped incite three days of anti-Semitic rioting in 1991 in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, turning a tragic traffic accident into a riot where two people died and more than 100 were wounded. Then there was Freddy's Fashion Mart in Harlem in 1995, subject to the Sharpton campaign to drive out "interlopers." To scare the Jewish owner away, Sharpton turned a tenant-landlord dispute into a racial conflict, resulting in arson of the store and seven deaths.
So the liberal left was okay with Sharpton, but thinks Steve Bannon is a white nationalist who threatens all human decency? This comes as the Democratic National Committee considers Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the only Muslim in Congress who has deep ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, for the position of SNC Chairman. As the watchdog group Jihad Watch reports:
Ellison has spoken at a convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Yet ISNA has actually admitted its ties to Hamas, which styles itself the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Justice Department actually classified ISNA among entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood. It gets worse. In 2008, Ellison accepted $13,350 from the Muslim American Society (MAS) to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Muslim American Society is a Muslim Brotherhood organization: In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nations major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members. Thats from the Chicago Tribune in 2004, in an article that is now carried on the Muslim Brotherhoods English-language website, Ikhwanweb. Also, the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) raised large amounts of for Ellisons first campaign, and he has spoken at numerous CAIR events. Yet CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case -- so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups.
Nor did the liberal left and the mainstream media, forgive the redundancy, have problems with the curious pasts and associations of Hillary Clinton adviser Huma Abedin: As Investors Business Daily has editorialized:
Abedin also has some interesting family connections. Her father is said to be close with the Saudi government's Muslim World League, and her mother is said to be a member of the Muslim Sisterhood. World Trade Center bombing prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review: "The ties of Ms. Abedin's father, mother and brother to the Muslim Brotherhood are both specific and substantiated." The Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt with the Obama administration's approval after it had all but abandoned the government of Hosni Mubarak, a long-time ally and friend. It was while Abedin was advising Hillary that State dropped its long-standing policy of having no dealings with the Muslim Brotherhood.
As Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review, Huma Abedins family and work history suggested a devotion to Islamic supremacist ideology that may go a long way to explaining our imploding Middle East policy from Baghdad to Egypt:
Ms. Abedin worked for many years at a journal that promotes Islamic-supremacist ideology that was founded by a top al-Qaeda financier, Abdullah Omar Naseef. Naseef ran the Rabita Trust, a formally designated foreign terrorist organization under American law. Ms. Abedin and Naseef overlapped at the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (JMMA) for at least seven years. Throughout that time (19962003), Ms. Abdein worked for Hillary Clinton in various capacities.
The Democratic Party also had no problem with venerating former KKK member Robert Byrd or with Hillary Clintons admiration for Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, whose objective was the extermination of the black race. They are quite about the racism of the Orwellian-named Black Lives Matter movement or that Jim Crow laws were written by Democrats.
Steve Bannon is not a white nationalist. He is a patriotic American. Steve Bannons only real crime is helping to get Donald Trump elected President of the United States.
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.
Todays Democrat Party spends an exorbitant amount of time preaching against hate and the politics and policies of hate. It has seemingly become the central theme of all the party touches. What the Democrats dont realize is that they have so perfected the repeating of hate, hate, hate that their own message is what has done them in.
Since Barack Obamas election in 2008 the Democrat Party has steadily drifted into this label them all haters territory and since that time the party has been absolutely obliterated at the polls. Democrats have lost the White House, Senate, and House. They now control just 13 state legislatures and Republicans now sleep in 33 governors mansions.
Yet even after the election of Donald Trump last week, Democrats continue to dutifully stick to the playbook of calling everyone (but themselves) filled with hate. They are name-calling the very people they want to vote for them! Hows that a good strategy?
Hillary Clinton spent the majority of the past year speaking about, running ads about, giving campaign speeches about, and focusing during debates on Donald Trump and the Republicans hateful rhetoric. What Hillary and the Democrats cannot seem to figure out is that they are insulting massive portions of the American electorate by confusing common sense with hate and a rejection of their own dogma.
The vast majority of us Americans can differentiate between the two (common sense and hate). Todays Democrats seemingly cannot.
Whom did Hillary Clinton choose to share the stage with at the 2016 Democrat National Convention? The mothers of people (most of whom were criminals) killed by cops, thus continuing the guilty until proven innocent narrative many Dems have branded cops with.
This was not a populist move. This was Hillary and the Democrats pandering to a tiny, tiny fraction of the electorate, the cop-hate crowd, of whom theres nowhere near enough to win an election. The rest of us? The common sense of the overwhelming majority of Americans causes us to believe that, with the exception of a few bad apples, our law enforcement officers are decent, hard-working men and women doing a difficult job with honor, integrity, and a sense of duty to public service.
Americans have seen the effects of massive refugee flows into the nations of Europe from the Middle East and the problems its causing there. Common sense tells us that bringing tens if not hundreds of thousands of these refugees into our nation without knowing exactly who they are carries with it some risks to national security.
To Hillary and the Democrats this level of common sense makes you an Islamophobia and means you are filled with hate toward Muslims!
Having a secure southern border is in our better national interests. We all know there are people entering our country -- by just walking in -- who are involved in various criminal activities, drug-trafficking, gang-bangers, rapists, etc. Its just common sense for a nation to have control over its own borders.
To Hillary and the Democrats this level of common sense means you hate brown people!
Democrats believe most Americans are in favor of gay marriage but fail they recognize that its now the law of the land thanks to five people (Justices Kennedy, Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) not hundreds of millions of people. To this day the majority of Americans believe marriage ought to be between one man and one woman. No poll has ever shown anything else. But if you are such a person, in the eyes of Democrats, it means you hate gay people!
Other examples abound.
The majority of Americans are white. Also, the vast and overwhelming majority of Americans are not haters, bigots, racists, Islamaphobes, xenophobes, homophobes, or cop-haters. Telling them that they are does not endear you to them.
Democrats dont seem to understand that calling someone a racist or a xenophobe, who is not a racist or a xenophobe doesnt drive them toward you -- it drives them away. Through their constant name-calling of the American people, Democrats have driven all but their hyper-loyal, hyper-left base, the Black Lives Matter members of the world, farther away.
Prior to the election, Hillary made headlines by insulting tens of millions of Americans by saying, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the 'basket of deplorables'. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it." She then managed to pour lemon juice in that cut by adding that not only are those voters deplorable theyre irredeemable, and not a part of America. This is no way to win votes.
Following the comment a Washington Post-ABC News poll asked registered voters Do you think its fair or unfair to describe a large portion of Trumps supporters as prejudiced against women and minorities? 47 percent of Democrats and even 45 percent of Clinton backers said the description was unfair. 84 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Trump backers said the same.
Since Trumps election last week the theme has rolled on.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has said Donald Trump has appointed a white nationalist to his staff. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid chimed in with, White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trumps victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear especially African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Muslim-Americans, LGBT-Americans and Asian-Americans.
Wow, Senator, generalize much? Divide America much? Heres a flash for you: I am an African-American and Im not fearful of anything other than your supporters, who are out tearing our cities apart.
For all their talk about ending hate, an undivided America, peace, love and granola -- its the Democrat base who are the ones out looting, fighting, burning, shooting, and being out-of-control hooligans. And the majority of Americans, regardless of party affiliation, dont want to have anything to do with it, them and increasingly -- you, Democrats.
Youd better sort this out. Labeling voters, calling them names and placing your blatant disdain for them right out front for all to see is not the way to win elections. Democrats, you have done this to yourselves. You are both the purveyors and the victims of your own politics of hate.
The ongoing protests, now in their eighth day, against the election of Donald Trump as President of the U.S. can be seen in benign fashion as democracy in action, illustrations of the exercise of the right of free speech. Some of the protestors may be sincere, open-minded critics of what they perceive are Trump's policies and intentions. They do not deny the validity of his election, nor seek to disqualify it.
But the protests must also be seen less kindly as undemocratic and indeed reactionary in their refusal to accept the validity of the democratic election result.
The United States today has nothing in common with the Communist regime in East Germany in the 1950s. Nevertheless, it is well to remember the bitter remark of the German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht after the failure of the uprising of June 17, 1953 in East Germany against poor economic wage and working conditions, an uprising that was put down brutually by Soviet Union troops.
In his poem "The Solution" critical of the brutality, Brecht ironically wrote it was easier for the Communist goverment to maintain control by dissolving the people and electing another. The present day U.S protestors, whether choreographed or not or organized by groups said to be sponsored by billionaire George Soros, in their refusal to accept the will of the people want to dissolve the American people and demand both the reversal of the election result and changes in the Constitution.
Ostensibly, based on the fact that Hillary Clinton, defeated in the vote for the Electoral College but obtained a slim majority in the overall popular vote, the protestors call for the Electoral College to be abolished. They appear ignorant that 2016 is not unique. Five times before in American history, a presidential candidate has been elected by winning a majority in the Electoral College but not the popular vote in the country. Nevertheless, the protestors argue for the Electors on December 19, 2016 to ignore the votes of their states and vote for Hillary Clinton.
Protests by American citizens have been part of political theatre in American politics for some time but it is surprising that some of the present actors seem unknowingly to be playing the end of Shakespeare's King Lear. The present-day protestors overplay their role in viewing the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president as "the weight of this sad time." No supporter of Trump has ever claimed that he is, like Abraham Lincoln or Oliver Cromwell, the instrument of divine purpose.
Some protestors, whether from the Democratic Party, believers in identity politics, African-Americans, Latinos, environmentalists, and LGBT, genuinely differ from President-elect Trump on many policy issues. It is true that this point Trump has disclosed a few general views on economic policy, on a global poitical system, the renegotiate trade agreeements, and taxation policy.
But even more true is that the details of his intended policies remain unknown. The wisest words on this so far come both from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Barack Obama. Lavrov asserted it is sensible to wait for Trump's actions and not focus on his rhetoric. Obama correctly referred to Trump as pragmatic, not ideological.
In contrast, the ideology of the protestors unwilling to accept the democratically expressed will of the people has affected well known celebrity figures as well as the irresponsible New York Times, acting as a short sighted detective in pursuing its quarry. That irreponsibility and lack of objectivity in reporting is evident in reading some stories in just one day's issue, that of November 15, 2016. Trump's victory rattles Greece as it seeks stability. Trump's victory leaves Mexico mired in a state of fear and paraysis. Trump turns on the Hate. The omniscience of the NYT and the protestors it influences is staggering in its divination of a world that is hostile to Trump.
The usual celebrities take front stage. The always dramatic Yoko Ono uttered a well publicised public high pitched scream on announcement of Trump's victory. Lady Gaga displayed her charms outside Trump Tower in New York City by brandishing a placard that told us that "Love trumps hate." Robert de Niro, who felt as bad after the election result as he had done after 9/11, wanted to punch Trump in the face. Not to be left out of the theater, Barbra Streisand, Lena Durham, Cher, Amy Schumer. Chelsea Handler, among others have given way to tears.
Some of these celebrities are said to be seeking safety from the anticipated tyranny of Donald Trump. For them a few words of advice. They should take advantage of one newly published analysis of the world. They should avoid exile in the world's most dangerous countries, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Darfur, Somalia, apparently more dangerous than Beverly Hills or East Hampton. They should be warned they will find violent crime, communal, sectarian, and racial violence. an absence of government, law and order in large areas of the country, or government services barely functioning. They might experience considerable difficulties, inadequate health care, gastric problems, the possibility of Zika virus, and high level of road accidents.
Edmund Burke once wrote that democratic government is founded on compromise and we need to balance inconveniences. Trump's victory obviously means changes in internal affairs and in US foreign and military policy. Differences are inevitable on multiple issues: ObamaCare; North American Free Trade agreement (NAFTA); immigration; Syria; Iran; NATO; cooperation with Russia. Fair and desirable comment on these and other issues should await publication and implentation of policies. So far, on one issue, it appears agreeable that Trump and Russian President Putin have agreed on a major priority, fighting Islamist and international terrorism, in what seems an atmpsphere of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Protestors should be aware that Trump, warts and all, is not Daniel Ortega, prepared to rule for life in Nicaragua with a family holding key positions. They should not let genuine political differences lead to violence, communal, sectrian, racial, or to civil unrest or the absence of government law and order in areas of the country. They might not view Trump as a lovable admirable personality and have little personal chemistry wth him, but his election is to be respected as it should be in democratic systems.
Genuine criticism of the Trump presidency is wholly desirable and necessary but absurdity and lack of proportion is not. Perhaps many of the protestors would disagree that the election of Trump is, as Hollywood actor Patrick Stewart said, one of the worst things in the last 100 years. Present day protestors should refrain from dogmatic statements and displying supercilious disdain on the basis of imperfect information. They should respect the democratic system in which they live.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump's communications adviser, Jason Miller, cited former D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee as someone who has been "mentioned" as a possible candidate to head up the president-elect's Department of Education.
In 2008, Rhee won over Tea Party conservatives and Republicans with her tough stance on vouchers, charters, school choice, the unearned trophy meme, and a willingness to fight teacher unions.
The epic public relations blitz that preceded and followed her arrival in D.C. in 2007 included an interview with Oprah, a Time magazine cover, and a feature documentary touting her as the new education messiah. Obama praised Rhee months before his win in 2008.
Too bad the hype didn't match the reality.
In case President-Elect Trump is truly mulling over Rhee for DoE secretary, here are some reasons to pass this one up:
1) Rhee hired Maoist and former Obama communications director Anita Dunn to handle the various controversies she faced at the end of her tenure in D.C. and beyond. What true conservative would hire Dunn?
2) She is married to Sacramento's Mayor Kevin Johnson. Johnson is a close friend of the Obamas and was investigated by AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin in 2008 for misuse of millions of dollars in AmeriCorps funds for his charter school.
During the investigation, school personnel and alleged teenage female victims of Johnson's sexual abuse came forward with detailed accounts of encounters with the founder of the St. HOPE Academy. Chancellor Rhee, soon to be engaged to Johnson at the time, flew from D.C. to Sacramento to head off a scandal that could have tarnished her image as well. Walpin ended up getting fired by the Obama White House.
3) With the help of Obama's secretary of education, Arne Duncan, Rhee was never held accountable for the D.C. cheating scandal, unlike Atlanta's disgraced former school superintendent, Beverly Hall, who faced 45 years in prison. Hall died of cancer before sentencing.
Hall's high-stakes testing strategy led to a massive cheating scandal that took over ten years to uncover. D.C.'s former chancellor, Michelle Rhee, employed the same testing tactics during her tenure from 2007 to 2010 and had her own widespread cheating scandal exposed by USA Today in 2011, with 103 schools flagged. Never prosecuted.
4) She lied on her resume. An education blogger tried to track down evidence that she dramatically improved her grade school students' test scores during her three-year stint as a Baltimore Teach for America elementary employee. Here's what he concluded:
Rhee's resume asserts that the students made a dramatic gain: 'Over a two-year period, moved students scoring on average at the 13th percentile on national standardized tests to 90 percent of students scoring at the 90th percentile or higher.' ... There is no real evidence none at all that Rhee's miracle ever occurred.
4) Not only did the StudentsFirst CEO support Common Core, but two of its lead writers were on the board of Rhee's billion-dollar organization. On IRS 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) applications for StudentsFirst Institute and StudentsFirst, respectively, David Coleman, regarded as the architect of Common Core, is listed as treasurer and Jason Zimba as director. Zimba, a math professor from Bennington College, authored the wacky and Kafkaesque CCSS Math standards.
5) The New Teacher Project, founded by Rhee in 1997, received funding from George Soros's Open Society Institute; the far-left Joyce Foundation; and the Chicago Public Education Fund, an offshoot of Barack Obama's and Bill Ayers's Annenberg Challenge. The non-profit's goal? To replace the old-guard "bad teachers" (which was the rallying cry to dupe the right, like "bad cops") with liberal social justice warriors in elementary and high schools.
6) In March 2013, Michelle Rhee, living in Sacramento, hired Fabian Nunez, a protege of Marxist California labor union activists Miguel Contreras and his wife Maria Durazo, as an adviser for her Sacramento-based StudentsFirst.
In the 1990s, Nunez was political director of a labor federation under the support of Contreras. Contreras once stated, "Amnesty is a means to an end the elimination of poverty and a better redistribution of wealth."
In 1995, Nunez was a labor activist stirring up the masses at rallies with Marxist speeches. "We don't have economic power because we don't own the means of production." Nunez went on to lobby for the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2000 and eventually served for six years in the California State Assembly.
Shortly after he began working at StudentsFirst, Nunez said, "[H]igh profile Democrats including President Obama and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are pushing the Party to adopt much of Rhee's agenda," according to the L.A. Times.
Why would a so-called conservative in school matters employ a Marxist, and why were Obama and Duncan and Villaraigosa interested in promoting Rhee?
7) Rhee's name appeared on a program for a panel discussion in 2004 in Chicago. Who else was on the panel? The president of the far-left Joyce Foundation and John Ayers, brother of domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
8) Jenny Abramson, a 30-year-old advertising executive at the Washington Post and friend of fellow Stanford grad Chelsea Clinton, led Rhee's tight-knit group of "education specialists" while Rhee worked as chancellor. A spokesperson for Rhee's office noted that they were in daily contact with the Washington Post during Rhee's tenure.
9) At the Democratic National Convention in 2012, Rhee revealed her position on centralized control of education policy. When asked about the Republican Party's education platform "pushing control back down to the local level," Rhee replied:
We had 14,000 school boards in this country making the decisions for a long time and that is why we ended up where we ended up[.] I don't think local folks know everything.
Also, during the convention, reporters asked Rhee whether the federal government should play a role in education. She said it must have a role, and its job is to set the standards and hold the states accountable to those standards. This amounts to a central authority calling the shots.
10) Rhee has the backing of globalist billionaires Bill Gates and Eli Broad. Andy Stern, former head of the SEIU and one of Obama's frequent visitors to the White House in his first term, along with Michelle Rhee, is a member of Broad's Board of Directors.
Finally, here's what ACORN whistleblower and friend of the late Andrew Breitbart Anita Moncrief said about operatives like Rhee.
They (those with socialist intentions) decided the best way to win was to assimilate into American society[.] ... [T]hey went into the non-profits, they went into academia and in some cases they even went into the Republican Party so they could claim bipartisanship which is how a lot of these groups get funded when Republicans have power.
No way Rhee should be anywhere near the top post at the Department of Education.
If you're a feminist upset with the election of Donald Trump as president, what can you do about it? You can't take it out on him, so chances are, you do the next best thing and be offensive to the men around you.
The Times had an article about this, presenting this behavior as virtuous political protest:
This year, Svea Vikander has decided that she and Evla, her 3-year-old daughter will be the focal point of her family's holiday card. She decided to relegate her husband and son to a smaller picture below. Ms. Vikander said the card, illustrating her hope for the future, was one small thing she could do to reaffirm her place in the world, on behalf of herself and her daughter.
What kind of man puts up with that?
One woman said she'll try something small: She will return mail that is addressed to her husband but doesn't mention her, too.
This is mental illness.
Another woman broke things off with her boyfriend after he said he wouldn't be able to support her efforts to be a better advocate for minorities she is one herself. Several women shared stories of the small ways they're navigating the workplace after the election, from refusing to skirt around men clustered in hallways at a work conference to speaking up more often in meetings. "I am more vocal and less apologetic," Tara D'Haenens, who works at a medical center in South Bend, Ind., said in a Facebook message. "I no longer think of being nice as quite the compliment that I used to believe it was."
Look at how these feminists lash out at men even being called nice is now a microaggression!
My only question is this: what kind of man could be married to or even be a boyfriend to one of these women?
A) A man who enjoys being subordinate. Are there really men like this?
B) A man who feels guilty for being a man. I believe there are some men like this.
C) Men who don't like being subordinated, but put up with it for sex and companionship.
What kind of man do you think can put up with this aggressive misandrist behavior?
Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
About a week after the 2008 presidential election, I was having dinner with a Republican friend, and we were talking about how to explain to our far-left friends (we lived in New York City, after all) the fact that we had not jumped on board the historic-vote trend that had swept the nation. I told her that if anyone asked whom I voted for, I'd just tell him, "I voted for the candidate that Martin Luther King would have voted for."
My friend looked at me and said, "You think King would have voted for John McCain?" And I said, "Well, give me one reason just one why King would have voted for Barack Obama."
My friend, of course, responded as most people would: "Obama's black." But once she said that, she immediately realized how wrong her answer was.
Do we need to remind people that Reverend King marched and died for equality among all people? He championed "content of character" over "color of skin." (Obama's rabid pro-abortion record, for instance, would have been a deal-breaker for Reverend King.)
A couple of days after her recent defeat to Donald Trump, when Hillary complained that Obama was one of the reasons she lost, could she have been thinking not only of Obama 2016, but also of Obama 2008?
The always politically astute Bill Clinton recognized instantly back in early 2008 that Obama was defeating Hillary in the primaries because of his race. Bill complained about "playing the race card" because he knew back then that Hillary had indeed been (excuse the word) trumped.
Common sense tells us that if Hillary had been running against a half dozen white men in 2008, she would have easily won the nomination.
Consider Obama as a white Democratic candidate. The press would have been forced to examine his qualifications and background on an equal basis with all the other candidates. Would his connections with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright withstood even tepid scrutiny? How about his abysmal record of absenteeism in the Illinois state senate? What about his drug use in college? And how would Christians have reacted to his provocative, proactive support of partial-birth abortion?
All these associations and questions evaporated because he was, as only Uncle Joe Biden in that avuncular way of his could have put it, a "clean, articulate black man."
Equally true would have been if Barack Obama, as a black candidate, had been running on the Republican side of the aisle. The press would have dug into his background (didn't we hear how the media happily went after Herman Cain in 2012?) and accused the Republicans of offering a token black man with nefarious associations. His candidacy would have been quickly nipped in the bud.
The funny thing is, had Hillary Clinton been president for the past eight years instead of Barack Obama, Obama would most likely have been the Democrats 2016 candidate and, perhaps, easily won the election. Could America have then survived a Clinton followed by an Obama presidency?
The Reverend Martin Luther King loved this country and worked tirelessly to serve it and to save it. You have to wonder if, somewhere in the Sweet By-and-By, MLK is looking at America and smiling once again.
On Thursday, Obama at a press conference in Germany with German chancellor Angela Merkel again offered useless unsolicited advice to Trump.
Obama spent the last few months ignoring his job as president while campaigning every day for Hillary to win his third term. Now that the voters elected Trump and rejected him, Obama is touring Greece, Germany, Italy, and Peru. While in Greece, he attacked Americans who voted for Trump by labeling them as voting for the "dark side" of populism.
Thursday, Obama said:
He ran an extraordinarily unconventional campaign and it resulted in the biggest political upset in perhaps modern political history[.] ... What I said to him was that what may work in generating enthusiasm or passion during elections may be different than what will work in terms of unifying the country and gaining the trust even of those who didn't support him.
Obama, with his outsized ego, is lecturing Trump on how to act as president. He is lecturing that Trump must unify the country and gain the trust of those who did not support Trump. Obama ignored the separation of powers to bypass Congress by issuing executive orders and agency regulations. He bragged that he had a pen and a phone to issue executive orders. Think of the DREAM Act to defer deportation of illegal aliens brought here as children, passing Obamacare with only Democratic votes on a parliamentary trick by Harry Reid to avoid the filibuster, calling the Iran deal an agreement instead of a treaty to avoid the two-thirds vote in the Senate, and amending Obamacare with waivers and executive orders and agency regulations.
Obama did his best to divide Americans by race and income. He did not attempt to gain the trust of Republicans; he attacked, mocked and ignored them.
He told Republicans that he won, so Republicans need to get in the back of the bus.
He told Senator McCain during the Obamacare debate that he won, the election was over, and that was that.
Obama attacked Trump as a racist endorsed by the KKK and unfit for the presidency. Now Obama is desperate to salvage his legacy, so he attempts to act as a wise and experienced statesman.
Trump is showing class by ignoring Obama. Let him talk nobody now cares what he says.
Trump ran an "unconventional" campaign because he fought back against the lies of the Hillary campaign and its cheerleaders in the MSM and challenged the debate moderators. He worked much harder than Hillary in the battleground states by making more appearances and rallies than Hillary. He took his message directly to the voters with "yuuuge" rallies and social media.
Trump is in New York at Trump Tower, taking calls from Putin and Netanyahu and meeting with the Japanese prime minister. Trump is meeting with his rivals, such as Cruz and Romney, acting presidential. Meanwhile, Obama is doing a useless overseas trip, craving attention to remain relevant, and alternating between criticizing Trump voters and offering advice to Trump.
Instead of lecturing Trump, Obama should lecture the anti-Trump rioters to obey the law and knock off the rioting. Then he should tell the snowflakes and delicate flowers who are seeking therapy, missing school, and crying because Trump won to grow up and support Trump to unify our country.
Obama is irrelevant. Trump is president. Putin and Bibi know it.
People are protesting with signs that read "Stop Deportations Now!" Those signs never popped up before Election Day 2016.
Cornell West, a black professor at Princeton, who is so hard-left that he is disappointed in Obama, in an interview on BBC's Newsnight (1:15), reminded the interviewer that Obama has deported millions of illegals. Then Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes repeated the little known but significant factoid on the Charlie Rose Show.
The L.A. Times also acknowledges this fact but can somehow feel that Obama and Trump are different:
The Obama administration set a priority in his second term of deporting migrants with criminal convictions, and it has expelled 530,000 convicted criminals since 2013. Since taking office in 2009, Obama has expelled 2.5 million people, more than any other president. According to two senior officials in the transition team, Trumps advisors will seek to widen that net to include migrants who have been charged but not convicted, suspected gang members and drug dealers, and people charged with such immigration violations as illegal reentry and overstaying visas, as well as lower-level misdemeanors.
The L.A. Times journalist, though referencing two senior officials, has an ideological motive to make Obama seem just and reasonable, while Trump is mean and harsh and unreasonable. But the truth is that the journalist doesn't know how Trump's policies will evolve over the several months after his inauguration, and certainly not over the next year or two.
Further, the protesters are simply ideologically hell-bent on discrediting Trump's immigration policies, much as protesters of the Iraq War harassed President Bush but dissolved when Obama took over.
To review just a little, what's so mysterious about this huge number of deportations is why Team Hillary during the campaign never used this startling number to reassure the Blue Wall Dems, the working class, that she cares for their jobs, and to reassure voters that Obama has deported millions of illegals with a criminal history (beyond entering the country illegally). Maybe the Dems preach a strange brand of "social and economic justice" (which they alone get to define): they don't publicly boast that they're deporting people, and illegals can even remain and get driver's licenses, but the Dems in fact deport them behind the scenes. How is that "economic and social justice"?
In any case, the current protesters need to settle down and stop distorting and overlooking the facts.
James Arlandsons website is Live as Free People, where he has posted How to Become a Citizen in Earliest Virginia, Trumps Victory Is a Black Swan in a Perfect Storm, and Why the Dems Lost.
Donald Trump has asked Republicans who control Congress to delay action on a 2017 budget until he gets into office. House Speaker Paul Ryan has apparently agreed, but Senate Republicans have other ideas.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan said on Thursday that the House would go along with the incoming administration's request and pass a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government running at current spending levels until March.
But Republican leaders in the Senate did not immediately sign on to the plan, reflecting their desire to get contentious spending battles out of the way this year.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, left open the possibility of an agreement with the House [but won't commit to it now].
But signaling that the longstanding tensions between the House and Senate may not abate under a more unified Republican government, some Senate Republicans expressed concern that waiting until early next year could distract them from other legislative priorities.
"My opinion is that it would be better to get this year done now," said Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri and a member of the Appropriations Committee. "My preference is to do it now and not get bogged down early next year."
Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, another Republican on the Appropriations Committee, [said,] "I would think the last thing the Trump administration would want to do is spend time cleaning up an appropriations bill that was supposed to have been passed in the previous year under Obama," he said.
711 | 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
678 | October 28, 2022 16:52 Zatulin: West seeks to push Russia out of negotiation process at any cost
673 | October 28, 2022 17:40 Putin to have private talks with Pashinyan and Aliyev
646 | 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
635 | October 26, 2022 16:27 Pediatric neurologists from Yerevan conduct free exainations in Stepanakert
622 | October 28, 2022 17:54 Power supply may be restored, if Kiev recognizes Russias new regions Medvedev
609 | October 28, 2022 15:51 Garo Paylan arrives in Armenia
590 | October 28, 2022 16:05 Next meeting of Council of CIS heads of government to be held in Bishkek
A source close to the Trump transition team told CNN that Donald Trump has asked Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general in his administration.
The four-term Alabama senator was the first senator to back the president-elect and served as one of Trump's most effective surrogates during the campaign.
CNN:
The official said the offer had been made officially but it was unclear as of Friday morning whether Sessions had accepted. Sessions, 69, is currently serving his fourth Senate term and was the first sitting senator to endorse Trump. During Trump's campaign, he served as a key validator from within the Republican establishment at critical times and urged Republicans to coalesce around Trump. When asked whether Sessions had been offered the attorney general position, Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer told CNN Friday, "until Donald Trump says it, it's not official." Sessions had been in consideration for several Cabinet positions, and as one of Trump's earliest and most loyal supporters. Trump's transition team put out a read out of his meeting with Sessions earlier this week -- unusual for a meeting with a member of Trump's transition team, highlighting Sessions' record as an attorney. "While nothing has been finalized and he is still talking with others as he forms his cabinet, the President-elect has been unbelievably impressed with Senator Sessions and his phenomenal record as Alabama's Attorney General and US Attorney," the statement said. United by their hardline stance against illegal immigration, Sessions helped Trump craft his campaign's national security policy. His top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, also joined Trump's campaign. Sessions was one of President Barack Obama's fiercest opponents, voting against his nominees to the Supreme Court from his post on the Judiciary Committee and opposing Obama's other major domestic initiatives. He's broken ranks with Republicans, as well, voting against the bank bailout amid the 2008 economic collapse. The former US attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and Alabama attorney general isn't without controversy. His appointment to a federal district court by then-President Ronald Reagan sank when a former Justice Department employee testified that Sessions had made racially tinged remarks.
The choice of Sessions for A.G. will no doubt cheer the president-elect's base. The senator has been one of the most passionate and effective pro-border security politicians in Washington, and his appointment sends a strong message that Trump's immigration policies will be vigorously implemented.
Sessions has the experience for the job but will have his hands full with the career prosecutors in the civil rights division who have proven themselves to be partisan Democrats during the Obama years. Major issues like privacy and official corruption will also be on the front burner, as Trump must decide whether to continue investigating Hillary Clinton and the extent to which the government will be able to pry into the communications of ordinary Americans to fight terrorism and serious crimes.
Another good choice by the president-elect was naming Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA director. The four-term Congressman is a West Point grad and a member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is well respected by his colleagues on security and foreign policy matters and is considered very smart and tough two attributes he will need to be effective at the CIA.
As many of you know by now, Samsung had launched the Galaxy Beta Program last week, and the company is essentially allowing Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge consumers in specific markets to try out Android 7.0 Nougat beta firmware. Needless to say, Android 7.0 Nougat is the last big iteration of Android, even though the company had released Android 7.1 Nougat as well. In any case, Samsung has just started rolling out the Galaxy Beta Program in yet another region, read on.
The Galaxy Beta Program is already live in South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States, well, China is joining those countries as we speak. The company did mention a while back that the program will be rolled out to China at some point, but we did not expect it to arrive so soon. In any case, if you own the Galaxy S7 or the Galaxy S7 Edge handset in China, you can now try out the beta build of Android 7.0 Nougat with Samsungs custom UI on top of it, of course. Considering this is a beta build of Android 7.0 Nougat for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, do expect some bugs in it, and you can also send feedback back to Samsung if you find something wrong with the software, that is the whole point of this. Now, in order to get this build on your device, youll need to have an active Samsung Account, and download the Galaxy Beta Program app. The procedure is straightforward from then, simply download and install the app, and follow the instructions. It is also worth mentioning that this beta build weighs around 1.4GB, so keep that in mind once you get around to updating.
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are Samsungs most powerful devices, the Galaxy Note 7 was supposed to stand right by their side at this moment, but we all know what happened there. In any case, these two phones ship with Super AMOLED displays, Samsungs Exynos 8890 SoC (Chinese variant) and 4GB of RAM, while theyre made out of metal and glass. A stable build of Android 7.0 Nougat for these two phones is expected to land before the end of the year, probably next month, but well see.
Selfies are nothing new in the world of mobile imaging, but that isnt stopping companies from thinking up new and inventive ways to utilize the trendy photo type. Microsoft, for example, launched a selfie app back on November 8th. Now, Coca-Cola, one half of the duo of mega soda companies, and arguably the better of the two for many customers, has created a new way to appeal to the younger crowd the selfie bottle. While this isnt necessarily an idea thats going to take off and make the rounds across the globe like Cokes bottles which feature names, its a fresh idea that could help to boost its popularity with consumers as selfies are heavily marketed.
The Coke Selfie Bottle was created by the Gefen Team (an ad agency) for Coca-Cola Israel to use in a special outdoor event that Coke holds in the country called the Summer Love campaign, and it takes the effort out of snapping a picture, as it will do so automatically for you whenever it senses that the bottle has been tipped at a 70-degree angle, or, essentially whenever you take a drink from the bottle. This is possible thanks to the bottles base, which has a camera built into it and basically stares down at you directly, providing a unique selfie image of you enjoying a nice refreshing beverage.
Naturally the idea was to get the bottle to take a selfie with the goal of sharing them to social media, and the bottle will do just that, sharing the photos to both Coca-Cola Israels Facebook page as well as their Instagram account. Additionally, the bottle will share the selfie picture to the Snapchat account of the user, allowing for more exposure for the soda brand via multiple social media outlets. Since the bottle was created specifically for the Summer Love campaign in Israel, it may very well stay confined to that event, as Coca-Cola has made no announcements on plans to introduce the selfie bottle to other regions around the world, let alone as an actual product they plan to sell within retail locations in Israel. Considering how popular selfies are, though, its entirely possible that Coke could decide to look into distributing these to customers for purchase.
Over the past few years, Deutsche Telekom has made a number of attempts to sell T-Mobile US, but ever since John Legere took over, it seems the German carrier giant has changed its mind, with their CEO Tim Hoettges today claiming that hes not in the mood to sell the US carrier.
Back in September 2012, T-Mobile US appointed John Legere as their CEO and, ever since, the carrier has seen constant growth and even overtook Sprint to become the third largest carrier in the US largely thanks to Legeres Uncarrier initiative, with the company now having nearly 10 million more customers than Sprint. The carrier has grown so much, in fact, that it is close to matching the revenue generated from Deutsche Telekoms German business, with T-Mobile generating 2.156 billion euros, only slightly less than the 2.25 billion euros the DT generated from its German business in the third quarter, meaning that theyre no longer in any rush to sell the US third largest wireless provider. That said, Hoettges did say that once Trump becomes president they expect there will be more of a possibility for a sale.
T-Mobile has become such an important part of Deutsche Telekom that many analysts have suggested that the US carrier is their only chance of growth, due to the saturation of the German market, as well as their exit last year from the UK with the sale of EE which they jointly owned with France-based Orange. With T-Mobile adding 969,000 postpaid customers and a further 890,000 customers in the third and second quarters of this year respectively, the carriers lead over Sprint is only increasing and, within a couple of years, the company is sure to start closing in on AT&T. Its currently unknown if the Germany-based company will eventually look into selling the US business again once Trump becomes president, but, with the constant growth of their US subsidiary, it appears that keeping the company right now can only lead to an increase in revenue and profit. In addition to this, with John Legeres Uncarrier initiative providing constant growth, if Deutsche Telekom decided to take a long term bet on T-Mobile, they could eventually have their hands on the second or even the biggest carrier in the US market, something that is likely to be helped by Verizons and AT&Ts new focus on digital media and not on their core carrier business.
The HTC Bolt is the latest smartphone to be announced by HTC in the US. In fact, the US is currently the only place you can pick the HTC Bolt up and Sprint is the only carrier currently able to sell the device. Likewise, there has been no direct or official confirmation that the HTC Bolt will be available elsewhere in the world. However, one device that is expected to be unveiled soon enough is the rumored HTC 10 Evo. Now, the current rumors and expectations do highly suggest that the HTC 10 Evo is actually the HTC Bolt. Just the international version. Therefore, if the rumors are correct, then it looks like the international version of the HTC Bolt is about to be formally announced on November 22.
A report out of the Taiwanese website, Sogi, is today reporting that invites have been sent out to the Taiwanese media for an event on November 22. Although, it is worth pointing out that in spite of what will be a Taiwan-based event, it is largely understood that this model will become widely available outside of the US, including in Europe. While the invite does not specifically state that the HTC 10 Evo will be announced at the event, this is largely the assumption being made. Especially as the invite seems to be hinting at water and more specifically, water-resistance. Which is a trait of the HTC Bolt as it comes with an IP57 waterproof certification.
Needless to say, at this is largely expected to be an international variant of the HTC Bolt, most, if not all, of the specs are also expected to be the same. Therefore, barring any unexpected changes, the HTC 10 Evo is likely to come packing a 5.5-inch display with a QHD resolution. Inside, you can expect to find 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor. Cameras will likely be a 16-megapixel rear camera, along with an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, while additional features will likely include a fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C and Android 7.0 (Nougat) out of the box. Lastly, if this is the HTC Bolt, then it should also be expected to come without a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Either way, all is likely to become clear on November 22.
If you own the Google Pixel or the Pixel XL, then there is a fairly good chance that you will want to pick up a case for it. That is, if you have not already. Not only will a case add an additional level of protection to your new Pixel phone, but a case can also help a device to appear more unique-looking. None more so, than Googles own Live Cases.
These are cases you can pick up from the Google Store and their big selling point is that they are highly customizable. While Live Cases have been available for the Pixel and Pixel XL since launch, two new ones (which at the time were unannounced) showed up online via the Verizon store. These were the Google Earth and Google Trends Live Cases. Following which, the cases then popped up on the Google Store although only as coming soon products. Today, Google took to their blog to more formerly introduce the two cases as well as confirm that they are now available to buy from the Google Store, from Verizon and from Best Buy.
The difference between the two new Live Cases is best summed up by their names. The Google Trends case come with a matching wallpaper which lets you see what is trending on Google on your home screen. If any of the trending topics spark your interest, clicking on the rear-side button of the case launches the trending term in Google search. The Google Earth case works much the same way although instead of trending topics, the Earth cases highlights Google Earth imagery. Which can then also be further accessed by hitting the rear-side button. As mentioned, both cases are available now to buy, although they do come with a slight premium compared to the rest of the Live Case options, as the Google Earth and Google Trends Live Cases are currently priced at $50. It is also worth noting that both cases are available in more than one color. Although, if you happen to prefer the Trends case, one of the color options is still listed as coming soon. Either way, you can check out both cases in greater detail by heading over to the Google Store through the link below.
Google announced Google Play Store support for select Chromebooks back at Google I/O earlier this year to open up millions of Android apps to Chrome OS users and weve already seen a handful of Chromebooks getting this neat functionality of being able to run native Android apps on Chrome OS. Now, it looks like one more Chromebook is ready to join the list of the Play Store compatible Chromebooks as the HP Chromebook 11 G5 is reportedly getting the Google Play Store support in the developer channel of the Chrome OS. As already mentioned, the feature is still in the Dev channel and so those running on the Beta or Stable channel of Chrome OS will likely not see any changes.
If youre rocking an HP Chromebook 11 G5 and want the Google Play Store on your device, you will need to be on the Dev channel as currently the feature only lives there. To hop into the Dev channel on Chrome OS, you will need to change your channel from the Stable to Dev channel; To change the settings, follow these steps: first head over to your settings, scroll to About Chrome OS, then go to More Info, click on the Change Channel and select the Dev channel from the list. Thats it; you should soon get the Play Store rolled out to your device with a new software update. Keep in mind that since the feature is in the Dev channel and not on the Stable channel, things might not be as smooth as you might have hoped; also, Dev channel builds often contains plenty of bugs and that could break your app functionalities or create problems during your normal course of operation.
Speaking of the other devices, ASUS C301SA, Samsung Chromebook 3, Dell Chromebook 13, and HP Chromebook 13 G1 are already enjoying the Android apps via the Google Play Store in Dev channel, and adding the HP Chromebook 11 GP to the list will take it to the five devices which are currently having the Play Store feature. There is no saying about when the feature will leave the Dev Channel and make its way to the Stable Channel but now that feature is already live in the Dev Channel, you could expect it to roll out in the Stable Channel by early 2017, but again, thats just a speculation.
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: In the course of the two-day fundraising event, volunteers will make calls to close to 1,600 Armenian households in Athens and other Greek cities, to request donations toward the construction of the kindergarten of Karin Tak, a village in NKRs Shushi Region. The kindergarten-construction project, now underway, is a joint initiative with Hayastan All-Armenian Fund benefactors in Argentina and Cyprus as well as the government of Nagorno Karabakh. The project is slated to be completed in summer 2017, the Fund informed.
Although for a small Armenian community such as ours, its hard to sponsor major projects on our own, we continue to help implement them by teaming up with other affiliates of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, said Vatche Der-Garabedian, chairman of the funds Greek affiliate. I think such collaborative efforts are marvelous symbols of pan-national unity. Its thanks to this type of collaboration that projects such as the construction of the community center of Khachmach, a village in Artsakhs Askeran Region, were made possible.
Der-Garabedian added that if, as he hopes, proceeds from the phoneathon in Greece surpass expectations, the Greek-Armenian community will go on to sponsor an additional development project in the homeland.
The total raised through the phoneathon in Greece, as well as the totals of proceeds from all 2016 Hayastan Fund fundraising campaigns worldwide, will be announced at the conclusion of the organizations flagship annual event, the Thanksgiving Day Telethon, on November 24.
Emulating the successful model of the funds Pan-European Phoneathon, which is headed by the French affiliate, the Greek affiliate has held local phoneathons since 2010, to date raising a total of 140,000 euros for various projects in Armenia.
Googles Spotlight Stories have been around for the last couple of years and with each new entry they seem to continue delighting viewers. The latest short film to make its debut is called Rain or Shine and its now available to view on YouTube, and the best part is that its a 360-degree video so you can view it in a more immersive environment with viewers like Cardboard, or, through VR headsets like Googles new Daydream View headset, now that the YouTube VR app has been officially released to the public as of earlier this month. The new short is about five and a half minutes long, but Google didnt just release the new spotlight story by itself, as theyve also uploaded a behind the scenes video so those who are interested could see how the film was made.
Rain or Shine has a nice kid-friendly feeling to it, not too unlike Pearl, another recent Spotlight Story short that Google released earlier this year. The film focuses on a little girl named Ella who seems to love the Summer sunshine and cant wait to receive a new pair of sunglasses that came in the mail, and once they arrive shes all too happy to put them on and test them out. Sadly, the first moment she puts them on it begins to rain right on top of her, which dampens the moment, and her excitement. Not to be deterred, though, Ella is determined to wear her new sunglasses in the sun.
While Rain or Shine can be viewed in VR and will likely provide the most enjoyable experience, it doesnt have to be viewed in a VR headset to see the effects of the 360-degree filmography. Simply open up the YouTube app on your phone and you can spin around while holding the device to see the different angles of the video. Alternatively, you can also spin the camera around for the short through YouTube on the desktop by clicking and dragging on the screen. If you have around 10 minutes, definitely check the film out and if youre able, toss it up on Chromecast or pop it in a VR headset for your kids to view too.
The last time we had the unannounced Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) in the headlines was last month in October, when the smartphone in question was certified by Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) after it made a guest appearance in the Geekbench database a week prior. Today the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) makes another comeback, as mobile reported @evleaks recently shared a render (above) on Twitter depicting the devices frontal design.
Mr. Evan Blass, also known by the Twitter handle @evleaks, notes that the shared render depicts the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) carrying model number SM-J327P, which shouldnt be confused with model number SM-J3119 belonging to the Samsung Galaxy J3 Pro that has already been introduced earlier this year. This means that the handset seen in the render at hand is virtually the same as the one spotted on Zauba, Geekbench, and Bluetooth SIG throughout the past couple of months. As far as the smartphones design is concerned, theres really not much to be said or write home about. Judging by the front panel alone, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) follows the companys usual design formula for mid-range smartphones, including the staple physical home button flanked by two capacitive keys. The source hasnt revealed any other details regarding the smartphones hardware specs or its whereabouts, but seeing how the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) keeps popping up on radars, it should be getting closer to market debut, at least in theory. In any case, looking back at recent history, its possible that the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) will be officially unveiled by the end of November, ahead of a market launch in January 2017. That is, assuming that the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) will follow the same launch schedule as its predecessor, which was released earlier this year in January.
As far as hardware specifications are concerned, previous leaks have hinted at a 5-inch AMOLED display, a Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 System-on-Chip (SoC) featuring 8 Cortex-A53 cores operating at frequencies of up to 1.4 GHz per core, along with an Adreno 505 graphics chip, and 1.5 GB or 2 GB of RAM. In regards to software, the terminal will likely rely on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow supplemented by Samsungs proprietary user interface.
Samsung announced the beta release of Android 7.0 Nougat for its 2016 Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge devices a week ago in three important smartphone markets: the United Kingdom, United States of America and South Korea. Beta programs are designed to allow customers or users to experience an unfinished product so as to provide feedback to the company. For a major software version such as Android Nougat, a developer or in this case the smartphone manufacturer will conduct a large number of internal tests, but because smartphones are both extremely complicated and customers can download and install large numbers of third party applications, it is useful to allow the pre-release version of the operating system to be tested in the wild. This way, Samsung can hope to capture many different device configurations and uncover bugs and glitches that might otherwise not be found until the software is officially released.
For the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones, Samsung is using its toned-down user interface, called Grace UX, which has left a number of features as stock. Samsung has made a number of subtle tweaks to the interface such as the color scheme, but large parts remain as one might find on the Google Nexus devices. Googles terms and conditions of using Android means that device manufacturers must leave some features alone, such as Androids Doze power management code, but other parts of the platform may be adjusted as much as the manufacturer sees fit. Critically, Samsung have not adjusted the notification shade for the Galaxy S7 family, which means features such as in-line responses still work as stock and improves how third party applications can run.
One week after the initial launch, Samsung have released an over-the-air update for the devices, which comes in at a little shy of 100 MB as a download. The Galaxy S7 devices will automatically receive a notification of the update and give customers a choice of when to install, as showing below. Samsungs changelog reports that the changes might includes the as-expected selection of performance and stability improvements and bug fixes, but does not appear to introduce any new features to the devices. it is encouraging that Samsung appear to be taking onboard reports from existing beta customers to improve the software but at this time we do not have any confirmation of when the official release might be available.
Google had released Android 7.0 Nougat a couple of months ago. Since then, the company had launched Android 7.1 Nougat along with their Pixel devices, a variant of the OS which comes with some additional features which are exclusive to Pixel devices, even though the update itself will roll out to other devices as well, but without some features. In any case, many smartphone manufacturers are working on updating their devices to Android 7.0 Nougat, and Samsung is one of them. The company had announced their Galaxy Beta Program last week, which is essentially a program which allows owners of particular Galaxy-branded devices to install beta versions of upcoming firmware for Samsungs devices.
The company had already launched Android 7.0 Nougat beta to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, but only in certain regions. You do need to download the Galaxy Beta Program app and have an active Samsung Account to install the firmware, and it is available only in South Korea, United Kingdom, China and the US at the moment. That being said, it seems like Samsung is working on Android 7.0 Nougat update for a couple of more devices. The company had announced recently that Android 7.0 Nougat development for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge is on the way, and now SamMobile confirms that Samsung is also working on such an update for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy Tab S2. Do keep in mind that the update wont land for another couple of months, though, at least not the stable version, but it is possible (and probable) that the company will release the beta version via the Galaxy Beta Program app in the near future.
We still dont have any specific info regarding the update, but we will let you know as soon as Samsung releases some official information. As far as features go, youll probably get all the features that are included in the build that the company had released for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, plus some additional ones due to the fact this is the Galaxy Note 5 were talking about, so the company will probably include some features that were available on the Galaxy Note 7. The build for the Galaxy Tab S2 will also be a bit different, mainly because this is a tablet, though no matter whether were talking about the Galaxy Note 5 or the Galaxy Tab S2 you can expect some main Nougat features Google introduced to be included in both devices, like the all-new notification shade options, always on Doze, etc.
By most accounts, Snap Inc the parent company of the ephemeral messaging app Snapchat is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) slated for early 2017. Snap going public will signify the largest tech IPO in nearly half a decade as the Venice-based social media giant is planning to raise as much as $4 billion in investments by offering shares on the US stock market. Interestingly enough, the decision to push for an IPO only two years after the company started generating revenue is radically different to the usual strategy employed by rapidly growing Internet giants.
Facebook, for example, was postponing its IPO for nearly a decade and was already an established tech giant prior to offering its shares on the open market. Generally speaking, relying on private investments and ignoring the possibility of going public has been the preferred method of financing business in Silicon Valley for years. However, this isnt the only way in which Snap is defying industry conventions. The Californian firm also attracted a lot of attention after reports emerged that its aiming for a rather high initial valuation of its assets, ranging from $20 billion to $40 billion. As Max Wolff, 55 Capitals Market Strategist told Reuters, this enormous valuation and a very aggressive multiple dont combine well with the fact that Snap is categorically refusing to appoint more experienced management.
More specifically, the 26-year-old Evan Spiegel and the 28-year-old Bobby Murphy continue to helm the firm they founded back in 2011 as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, respectively. Industry experts speculate that the lack of experienced leadership combined with a massive IPO could discourage some potential investors from putting their money in Snap, especially since the company inexplicably refused to raise additional private investments despite being more than able to do so. Of course, there are many advantages to going public as opposed to relying on private funding, but as Snap is now reportedly going to ask 30 times their annual earnings from the US stock market, the margin for error will be rather slim. Namely, Spiegel and Murphy are bound to be under the highest level of scrutiny from shareholders, and there are still many skeptics who arent convinced the young duo will be able to grow the company on their own.
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Time will tell whether that strategy pays off for Snap in the end, but we should know more soon as the latest reports suggest that the companys IPO is slated for March, which means that the official roadshow is bound to begin by February.
Earlier this year, Google requested access to mapping data of South Korea in order to improve its Google Maps service. The company argued that for Google Maps to properly work in the Far Eastern country, the mapping data of South Korea must be hosted on servers all around the world, and not just those located in the island nation. Seoul was initially wary of that request, citing significant security issues which are a rather sensitive subject given the countrys troubles with its northern neighbor. Back in August, the Korean officials postponed the decision to next Wednesday, November 23rd. However, the judgment has apparently already been made earlier today, as Reuters reports that Seoul decided to reject Googles request, reiterating security concerns regarding North Korea.
Taj Meadows, Head of Policy Communications at the Asia-Pacific division of the Mountain View-based tech giant stated that Google is extremely disappointed by this turn of events though the company remains hopeful for the future. Meadows revealed that Google is still adamant to provide the full experience of using Google Maps to South Korean nationals in the future. At the moment, Maps services in the Far Eastern country are heavily restricted and can hardly be used for accurate navigation. Google argued that this decision by Seoul rendered its mapping service non-competitive, but the South Korean government apparently isnt too concerned by such claims.
Interestingly enough, Seoul has already proposed a compromise to Google. More specifically, the South Korean government agreed to give the tech giant access to its mapping data under the condition that Google removes satellite imagery of military facilities and other strategic sites from its service. However, Google has so far refused to do that because it claims that all of its featured images are freely available for purchase and dont break any laws. Regardless of that, Seoul argues that North Korean intelligence services could take advantage of satellite imagery of South Korean sensitive infrastructure hosted outside of the Far Eastern country. For those unfamiliar, the Korean War started in 1950 and ended three years later in an armistice, with no peace treaty ever being signed. This tricky geopolitical situation means that even more than half a century later, both sides are still acting like theyre at war because, although technically, they are. Said armistice only implies a cessation of hostilities between two militaries, and not an end of disagreements between two governments. So, until that situation is resolved, it isnt likely that Google will manage to get Maps fully running in South Korea.
Trump and his transition team is in the process of filling around 4,000 positions in the new administration that will take place beginning January 20th, when Donald Trump officially becomes President. The current President-elect has been in contact with many foreign leaders, and has already placed a number of people at different posts in his administration. But one area that he and his team have not worked on yet is the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). The current chairman of the Commission, Tom Wheeler is expected to be leaving shortly after Trump takes office. But Trumps transition team has not communicated with Wheeler or the FCC just yet.
A transition from the current FCC to the FCC that Trump wants in his administration is important. Especially with the 600MHz spectrum auction going on right now. Changing up the Commission during the auction could have negative side effects, never mind everything else that the FCC is currently working on. State Representatives from Michigan and Oregon have already urged the Commission (via a letter) to focus on the Incentive Auction for their final 10 weeks in office, and that should be their number one priority right now.
The FCC is the part of the government that governs the wireless carriers and networks in the US. Gaining a new Commission is something that Sprint and SoftBank have been looking forward too, as the current Commission has continued to block their attempt to merge with T-Mobile USA. SoftBank ultimately pulled out of attempting to buy the carrier, and opted to wait for the new President and Commission to take office in 2017. Its unclear currently who will be heading up the FCC under Trump, next year, and it looks like that may be low on his agenda for the amount of people he needs to hire and appoint in his administration. But its definitely something that the carriers are closely looking at, not just for SoftBank to but T-Mobile USA, but also for the Incentive Auction thats currently ongoing. As the current Commission imposed unprecedented rules for this auction, to help out the smaller carriers, like T-Mobile, and Sprint.
Earlier this year, the Chinese tech giant ZTE faced trouble in the United States after being hit with trade restrictions due to allegedly violating Washingtons export regulations and delivering products to Iran. More specifically, the Shenzhen-based company faced sanctions on importing US-made products to its home country. In other words, any business in the world looking to export products manufactured in the US to ZTE first had to deal with the US Commerce Department in order to get an export license. As that license wasnt exactly obtainable in practice, these sanctions would be a significant hit to the company whose global operations heavily relied on US-made products manufactured by the likes of Microsoft, Dell, and Oracle. Would be, but still arent, that is.
Namely, due to the sensitive and highly impactful nature of this decision, ZTEs representatives quickly managed to negotiate a temporary solution with the US authorities. More specifically, Washington agreed to grant the Chinese tech giant a temporary reprieve from the said trade restrictions as long as the Shenzhen-based firm fully cooperated with the ongoing investigation into the matter. While the initial relief was only valid until June 30th, it was subsequently extended to August 30th, after which the US authorities agreed to yet another reprieve lasting until November 28th. Today, ZTE announced that it has managed to negotiate another extension of the trade sanctions suspension. More specifically, the US Commerce Department has now agreed to a reprieve of restrictions until February 27th.
Cindy Lam, market analyst at the Hong Kong-based research firm UOB Kay Hian, told Reuters that theres a good chance this will be the final suspension extension issued by Washington, adding that its likely the trade restrictions will be permanently removed by early 2017. If that prediction turns out to be correct, that would mean ZTE managed to navigate through this crisis without facing any real sanctions.
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However, its still questionable whether that actually ends up happening as latest developments suggest the US may be coming down on Iran harder than ever once President-elect Trump takes office. Namely, the Iranian plutonium enrichment program that led to economic sanctions of the Middle Eastern country that ZTE allegedly violated is once again a topical subject these days after Trump suggested hell negotiate stricter concessions from Teheran. In that scenario, it seems unlikely that the upcoming US administration will be willing to cut any slack to companies that were alleged to interfere with its foreign policy.
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: The poll was conducted in July 2016 (shortly after the Four-Day War) on a sample of 1,081 people in Stepanakert and the 7 regions of Nagorno Karabakh, and cross-referenced with a similar survey conducted in March 2015.
The figures show an increase in the number of people who believe Nagorno Karabakh should be independent, compared to those who prefer it become a part of Armenia. An even more significant trend was observed among younger and educated, who support the independence in a much higher proportion (61.2% of population between 18 and 30 years support independence; 53.6% of university educated support independence).
Furthermore, public's approval of Government's performance in the sectors of Defense and Foreign Affairs has decreased, while the perception that Nagorno Karabakh is on the right track is still considerably high at 78.9% percent.
The question of peace and security remains the predominant concern for half of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, followed by unemployment and international recognition of the NKR. Despite these concerns, declared intentions for migration remain at a very low level.
Commenting on this last aspect, Hovhannes Grigoryan said that: "The poll has showed that the Four-Day war of April 2016 has not affected the migration tendencies of the Nagorno Karabakh population, which remain the lowest in the South Caucasus region, when compared to figures from similar polls conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In other words, people of Karabakh, regardless of the hardships of the unexpected war outbreak in April, are determined to stay in their country".
Member of the European Parliament Frank Engel underlined the political maturity of people in Nagorno Karabakh: "The Four-Day War changed the situation, but it hasn't changed it fundamentally. People of Nagorno Karabakh are very mature about their positions, especially on the independence of the Artsakh, and it is obvious that despite them becoming more critical of their state and authorities, they express strong loyalty to their country. Further tensions are likely to strengthen these sentiments, rather than to invalidate them.
Following the presentation of the research, Diogo Pinto, EuFoA Director said: "The results of this latest opinion poll, conducted after April's Four-Day war, very clearly show the determination and the resilience of the citizens of Nagorno Karabakh, in spite of the continued Azerbaijani aggression and attempts for destabilization. Although an overwhelming majority believes that further aggressions are likely to happen in the near future, they crave for peace and trust the OSCE Minsk Process and the international community. As European Friends of Armenia, we urge the international community and the EU in particular, not to let the people of Nagorno Karabakh down. Pressure must be kept on Azerbaijan so that it understands that only a peaceful solution is acceptable and that no further violations of the ceasefire will be tolerated".
You can download results of the poll HERE.
Public consultations on draft Constitution continued in Berdzor (Artsakh; NKR), on Nov. 17.
November 18, 2016, 12:24 Public consultations on draft Constitution continued in Berdzor
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: As Artsakhpress reports, the member of Special Commission on constitutional reforms under the NKR President Arayik Lazaran presented constitutional amendments draft. Speaking about the draft Constitutions Foundations of Constitutional Order chapter, he noted that Article 19 confirms the ties of the Republic of Artsakh with the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora.
"The Republic of Artsakh carries out political, economic and military deep cooperation with the Republic of Armenia, as well as implements policy aimed at ensuring security and the development of comprehensive ties. With the Armenian Diaspora Artsakh implements policy aimed at the development of comprehensive ties and preserving the Armenian identity, which contributes to repatriation, said Lazaryan.
He also referred to the current Constitution and to the amendments of the draft Constitution. He emphasized that the all 12 chapters are preserved in two variants, but in the new one instead of Article 142, 173 one is suggested, and most of the added articles devoted to the sector of human rights.
"In case of adoption of new Constitution, it can be changed at the initiative of President and at least one third of the total number of deputies, with the exception of a number of articles," explained Lazaryan.
The audience did not like the possibility of changing the Constitution without people's participation.
"For making any amendments to the law, it should be put to a referendum again. Even if we want to change a word, you have to consider people's opinion. Therefore, this article should be removed, otherwise it can be underwent to undesired changes," said Azat Eghoyan, the head of the Tsakhkaberd community of Kashatagh region.
During the meeting, the members of Special Commission on constitutional reforms answered the questions of the attendees of the meeting.
Today, the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Armenia Kai Kaarelson (residence in Tbilisi) presented her credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan, press service of the Presidential administration stated.
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: The President of Armenia congratulated the Ambassador on her nomination, wished her success and underscored that Armenia is interested in giving a new quality to the Armenian-Estonian relations in the bilateral as well as multilateral formats. Serzh Sargsyan stressed the importance of invigorating the cooperation in all areas, using the high-level political dialogue, interparliamentary relations, and opportunities of the civil society.
Noting that her previous diplomatic experiences were related to international organizations such as the UN and EU the organizations which are equally important to Armenia and Estonia Ambassador, Kai Kaarelson noted that it will help her to be more efficient in the implementation of her diplomatic mission in Armenia.
The parties discussed opportunities of developing cooperation in the areas of mutual interest, including areas of high technologies, in which Estonia has registered impressive progress, while Armenia in recent years has achieved considerable success.
(ANSA) - Rome, November 18 - The Bank of Italy (BoI) said Friday it expects strong market volatility in the run-up to a December 4 referendum on the government's constitutional reform law.
"Volatility will increase significantly ahead of the first week of December," the Italian central bank said in a report on financial stability.
The Italian stock market is suffering from ongoing weakness in the banking sector as investors continue pessimistic on lenders' profitability, the BoI said.
Italian banks remain "exposed to internal and international shocks that could impact capital markets and economic growth," according to the report.
However, the central bank pointed out that Italy's lenders are growing their assets and have increased their average Core Tier 1 (CET1) ratio to 12.4% - meaning that they should theoretically be able to withstand another crisis.
The CET1 ratio represents a bank's retained earnings and common equity divided by risk-weighted assets, on the premise that it should survive an economic downturn as long as it has a large enough capital cushion. "The differential between Italian market and eurozone implied volatility is high," the BoI report said. "Indicators point to a strong increase in volatility expected... ahead of the first week of December, corresponding to the constitutional reform referendum".
Center-left Premier Matteo Renzi said Thursday he would not take part in a temporary or technocratic government if a majority of the people vote against his reform on December 4.
(ANSA) - Milan, November 18 - A man suspected by Milan prosecutors of having ties with the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) organization has been identified in Iraq but not yet detained, State attorneys in Italy's financial capital said Friday.
Moroccan national Ahmed Taskour, 47, a fugitive from Italian justice, was identified following investigations coordinated by the anti-terrorism department of the Milan State Attorney's office, which was led until a few weeks ago by Maurizio Romanelli and is now coordinated by Alberto Nobili, and by prosecutor Enrico Pavone.
Milan magistrates told a press conference Friday that the suspect is a "high-ranking" militant and "an important element of propaganda" for the terror organization.
Milan judge Manuela Scudieri has issued a detention order and a European arrest warrant on international terrorism charges.
Taskour allegedly set out from Lombardy at the end of 2014 with his wife and two children, now aged 11 and 15, to fight with ISIS in Iraq, said prosecutors Pietro Forno and Enrico Pavone and Milan DIGOS anti-terror police chief Claudio Ciccimarra.
In a video filmed right after the November 13 terror attacks in Paris last year, which has also been posted to YouTube, Taskour appears with his then-10-year-old son as they both threaten the West.
The boy "hails jihad" and wishes "death to the West and Westerners" in the video, which features the logo and flag of ISIS and was filmed in Iraq, investigators said.
The duo reportedly spoke in Arabic, with French subtitles, using a number of expressions often heard in such videos to threaten Western targets, like "we will kill you in your homes".
"I congratulate our Muslim brothers and soldiers of the caliphate in France for this blessed operation, which for you, crusaders, is only the beginning - may our soldiers prevail!", the boy also said in the video allegedly filmed right after the multiple attacks in Paris on November 13 in which 130 people were killed.
Before disappearing, the family led an "apparently normal life" in Bresso, near Milan, where the boy was born in 2005.
(ANSA) - Brussels, November 17 - Italy in January-September 2016 had the highest number of incidents of threats against journalists and media outfits in the EU, a study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed Thursday. Based on numbers from the Mapping Media Freedom project, the EU agency said there were 92 cases of threats or undue pressure on journalists in Italy this year through September, up from 82 in 2015 and 58 in 2014.
This was compared to 55 cases in France, 29 in Poland, and 28 in Hungary. The Czech Republic, Denmark, and Slovakia had zero cases.
The study included a Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom around the world released in April, in which Italy was second to last in Europe, after Greece.
According to a Eurobarometer survey out today, 57% of Europeans believe their national media labors under undue political or business pressures, and just 53% thinks their national media are trustworthy.
(ANSA) - Pisa, November 18 - A Pisa judge on Friday upheld a request from the defence lawyers of Antonio Logli, the husband of Roberta Ragusa, a woman who went missing in January 2012, to have a fast-track trial. The first hearing will take place on December 2. In March Italy's supreme Cassation Court ordered a new trial for Logli, who was cleared last year of killing Ragusa.
Ragusa went missing on the night of January 12, 2012, in the small town of Gello near Pisa, after she found out her husband was having an affair with Sara Calzolaio, the former babysitter of their two children.
Logli said he only realized his wife was not around on the morning of January 13, 2012, when he reported her missing.
He told police he went to sleep the night before and woke up to realize his wife had not slept in their bed while Calzolaio later testified that he had told her to destroy the cell phones they used to communicate as lovers.
The woman's body was never found.
(by Cristiana Missori)
CAIRO - ''I have perhaps given little to this country, but Egypt has given me a lot. I feel 100% Egyptian and 100% Armenian,'' said Eva Dadrian, a journalist and writer who worked with Waheed Sobhi and Hanan Ezzat on 'We are Egyptian Armenians'.
The documentary film tells the story of the last 200 years of Armenians in the country. The film was presented on Thursday evening at the Cairo International Film Festival, which runs through November 24, in a hall filled with Egyptians of Armenian origins.
Many third generation Armenians were there that had been born or arrived in Egypt after 1915, fleeing Turkey during the genocide that began on April 25 by Ottomans that in three years killed some 1.5 million people. ''Our presence,'' the director said, ''goes back a bit farther, all the way to the Mamluk era.'' The community was thought highly of and grew especially during the 19th century under Mohamed Ali, contributing to the development of the modern state through its civil servants, translators (thanks to the ease with which they spoke Arabic, Armenian, French and English), craftsmen and ministers. A khedive even chose an Armenian, Boghos Youssoufian, as his foreign minister (from 1808 to 1844). ''Some 4,050 arrived in Port Said on September 15, 1915, brought to safety by the French navy,'' Dadrian said. In 1925, ten years later, the Armenian community in Egypt had increased substantially. ''There were about 12,000 of us,'' she said. They lived in working class areas of Cairo and Alexandria and developed trade and professions, became publishers, shop owners, craftsmen, cigarette producers and especially jewelers. They erected churches, schools and cultural centers to prevent their traditions from being lost.
The footage and the words bring the viewer back to the early twentieth century, when Egypt was cosmopolitan, open, tolerant and in which - as the protagonists repeat many times throughout - several foreign minority groups co-existed peacefully: Jews, Italians, Greeks and Maltese. There were difficult moments, however, during the early independence movement and Nasser's nationalizations, which affected the Armenians as well.
Today there are few Egyptians of Armenian origins, but their presence continues to bear witness to an Egypt struggling to maintain its tradition of tolerance.
BRUSSELS - EU interior ministers who met on Thursday to discuss an alternative to the European Commission's mandatory relocation scheme for refugees put forward by Slovakia did not give their support to it.
Italian sources say that dangers remain, however. Slovakia, which currently holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, may propose another plan to EU interior ministers in December, possibly in finalize at the leaders summit at the end of the year. Upcoming elections may play a role in the issue.
On Thursday evening, Italian interior minister Angelino Alfano asked the EU Commission to verify the calendar for relocation obligations of countries to get the process going again. The relocation process is supposed to be completed by September 2017.
Italian sources say that an ad hoc group will be set up in the next few months - in which Italy will take part - to lay the foundations for a new plan to reach an agreement on a revision of the EU's Dublin regulation.
The Slovak plan would have removed the obligatory nature of solidarity called for by the European Commission's proposal and made it voluntary. Various methods are proposed to share the burden of migration crises: from relocation to financial support, support for the protection of external borders sharing of reception capacity and playing a greater role in repatriation operations.
TEL AVIV - The former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and current chief rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Amar is at the center of a controversy after declaring in an interview with daily Israel Hayom that homosexuals are a ''disgusting sect''. Homosexuality, he added, ''is among the gravest sins'' and should be punished with death, according to the Bible.
Radio Jerusalem reported that many have called for his sacking and an organization has also pressed charges fearing his words could spark fresh anti-gay violence after a teen was stabbed to death by a Jewish zealot during a gay parade in Jerusalem in 2015. The rabbi said he can't ''cancel'' something that has been explicitly written in the Bible but recalled that he has already condemned the girl's murder.
The zealot who murdered her is ''wicked, a damned and despicable murderer'', he said.
ISTANBUL - A draft law presented by the ruling AKP party under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would release those convicted of child sexual abuse if they agree to marry the victim and the action is consensual. Presented on Thursday night in Parliament, the draft law will be discussed again on Tuesday despite firm opposition from CHP social democrats and MHP nationalists.
The pro-Kurdish party HDP is not taking part in the chamber activities to protest the arrest of some of their MPs for alleged links with the outlawed PKK.
Many NGOs say that the regulation would worsen the already existing problem of ''baby brides'' in Turkey. The proposal, which aims to suspend trials and sentences for child abuse, sparked strong protest from the public. Thousands of Twitter users have shared their indignation by posting with a hashtag that means ''rape cannot be legitimized''.
LAURA TINGLE | Australian Financial Review | Extract
IT IS regarded as a bit impolite to say so, but Papua New Guinea is an almost, if not entirely, broken state.
Almost broken in the sense that, partly thanks to us, it has never really made it successfully to statehood. Corruption remains a big problem and a direct problem for us in terms of our aid budget.
PNG is by far our biggest aid recipient and the handouts increased significantly as a result of the deal struck in 2013 - but regularly updated to have PNG host an offshore detention centre for asylum seekers on our behalf on Manus Island.
Everything is always connected to everything in this world so just think about how Manus Island has distorted our relationship with PNG in the past three years, and curbed our capacity to influence events there, or demand answers about how our aid dollars were being spent.
Cairo Film Festival showcases story of Egyptian Armenians Documentary recounts 200 years of community
(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, NOVEMBER 18 - ''I have perhaps given little to this country, but Egypt has given me a lot. I feel 100% Egyptian and 100% Armenian,'' said Eva Dadrian, a journalist and writer who worked with Waheed Sobhi and Hanan Ezzat on 'We are Egyptian Armenians'.
The documentary film tells the story of the last 200 years of Armenians in the country. The film was presented on Thursday evening at the Cairo International Film Festival, which runs through November 24, in a hall filled with Egyptians of Armenian origins.
Many third generation Armenians were there that had been born or arrived in Egypt after 1915, fleeing Turkey during the genocide that began on April 25 by Ottomans that in three years killed some 1.5 million people. ''Our presence,'' the director said, ''goes back a bit farther, all the way to the Mamluk era.'' The community was thought highly of and grew especially during the 19th century under Mohamed Ali, contributing to the development of the modern state through its civil servants, translators (thanks to the ease with which they spoke Arabic, Armenian, French and English), craftsmen and ministers. A khedive even chose an Armenian, Boghos Youssoufian, as his foreign minister (from 1808 to 1844). ''Some 4,050 arrived in Port Said on September 15, 1915, brought to safety by the French navy,'' Dadrian said. In 1925, ten years later, the Armenian community in Egypt had increased substantially. ''There were about 12,000 of us,'' she said. They lived in working class areas of Cairo and Alexandria and developed trade and professions, became publishers, shop owners, craftsmen, cigarette producers and especially jewelers. They erected churches, schools and cultural centers to prevent their traditions from being lost.
The footage and the words bring the viewer back to the early twentieth century, when Egypt was cosmopolitan, open, tolerant and in which - as the protagonists repeat many times throughout - several foreign minority groups co-existed peacefully: Jews, Italians, Greeks and Maltese. There were difficult moments, however, during the early independence movement and Nasser's nationalizations, which affected the Armenians as well.
Today there are few Egyptians of Armenian origins, but their presence continues to bear witness to an Egypt struggling to maintain its tradition of tolerance. (ANSAmed).
(by Cristiana Missori)
CAIRO - Eight square meters for 25 prisoners - American journalists, Muslim Brothers, common citizens - who were arrested by Egyptian police during violent demonstrations following the ouster of Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in the summer of 2013 star in the opening film of the International film festival in Cairo.
These characters, detained together for a whole day, are featured in Eshtebak (Clash) by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, that opened the section 'Un certain regard' at the latest Cannes Film Festival.
The movie will be presented on Friday night at the Cairo event, which runs until November 24.
It was greenlighted by censors in July and hit movie theaters. However, the film was pulled out a few days later, as denounced by the filmmaker.
And the festival's artistic director, Youssef Rizkallah, has decided to screen other controversial movies.
Several films focusing on key issues of the 2011 revolution and 2013 protests will be screened in the section dedicated to new Egyptian cinema (eight films have been produced between 2015 and 2016).
They focus on the violence of those terrible days of Raba'a Al Adaweya - when over 600 civilians were killed and thousands wounded - as well as human and sentimental relations during those events with the uprising on the background.
One of them is Sins of the Flesh by Haram El Gasad, which is set in a remote farm in the Egyptian countryside where echoes of the uprising impact the lives of protagonists, and Out of Order by Mahmoud KAmel and Bitter Moon by Hany Khalifa. A box-office hit to be screened is also Hepta: the Last Lecture by Hadi El-Bagoury, a movie based on the best seller by the same name.
There are lighter stories that talk about sex (never explicitly), food and betrayal, like the latest work by Yousry Nasrallah, Books, Meadows and Lovely Faces, presented a few days ago at the Medfilm festival in Rome. Another is the latest movie by Mohamed Khan, Before the Summer Crowds, and Nawara by Hala Khalil focusing on social inequality in the country.
Serbia: 10 million euro for small enterprise from Eu fund
(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, 18 NOVEMBER - The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSEE) signed a contract amounting to 10 million euro with the company Intesa Leasing for loans to micro and small enterprises (Mse) in Serbia.
The loans are intended for purchase of equipment and commercial vehicles, the company Intesa Leasing said. (ANSAmed)
(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL - One after the other, Kurdish-governed cities in south-east Turkey have ended up under the control of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past 48 hours, a new wave of arrests of local administrators has taken place. They are accused of ties with the ''terrorists'' of the PKK. After the detentions, four major centers have ended up under the control of officials appointed by the Turkish government to replace the elected mayors. Van, Siirt, Tunceli and Mardin, where Kurds from the DBP - the local political arm of the HDP - had won elections by a sweeping majority, are now in Erdogan's hands.
The clampdown is continuing and risks sowing new tensions a week after an attack attributed to the PKK killed a government envoy who had replaced the elected mayor of Derik, in Mardin province. There are now 30 Kurdish municipalities under the control of the central government following a crackdown in the aftermath of a failed coup on July 15.
The co-mayors of the Kurdish 'capital' Diyarbakir were also detained.
Two weeks after a police operation led to the arrest of 10 MPs from the HDP party, including co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, tension in Turkey remains extremely high.
Their attorneys have appealed to the Constitutional Court to demand their release. But expectations are low. After the attempted coup, the Supreme Court in Ankara has said it will reject pleas against measures approved with decrees on the state of emergency. In this climate, some observers say, judges are not likely to go against Erdogan's will.
Meanwhile, the first trial against Demirtas has started. He risks five years on charges of ''terrorist propaganda'' in favor of the PKK for a speech he gave in 2011. From the high-security jail in Erdine, at the border with Greece, where he is currently detained, the leader of the Kurdish opposition allegedly refused to take part in the hearing via video conference because he did not receive information on the charges against him.
The dossiers against the HDP lawmakers remain secret. The detention conditions of Demirtas are also controversial as he is allegedly jailed together with al Qaeda terror suspects.
Lawmaker Dilek Ocalan, granddaughter of the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah 'Apo' Ocalan, also risks arrest after she was ordered to appear in court.
In this climate, the remaining HDP lawmakers denounce that Parliament is not legitimate anymore, although Erdogan continues to pursue his presidential project. The draft reform that will soon be discussed in Parliament, sources in Ankara say, sets aside the figure of the prime minister and creates a system modeled after the US with no cohabitation risks.
According to government plans, with the support promised by nationalists, the reform will be approved with a constitutional referendum by spring, scrapping the current parliamentary system. In addition, under the draft reform, the two-mandate limit for the president would be scrapped, enabling Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remain in his position until the natural end of his mandate in 2019, and then run again for two additional mandates, paving the way for him to remain at the helm of Turkey until 2029. (ANSAmed)
BRUSSELS - Maltese Interior Minister Carmelo Abela said Malta "appreciates" Slovakia's initiative of opening a debate with its migrant proposal, but there must be "real solidarity" in handling the migrant crisis, on Friday at his arrival to the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting.
The Slovakian document, aimed at opening the way to "flexible solidarity", didn't find support on Thursday night during an informal dinner between interior ministers from the 28 EU member states.
Abela said the migrant crisis requires a "permanent mechanism" that can be put into place each time it's needed.
"We can't have a discussion every time there's a crisis".
Italian sources said in coming months an ad-hoc group, to include Italy, will be formed to set the foundations for a new document aimed at revising the Dublin Regulation.
EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos also weighed in on the discussion.
"There's still work to do, but the time has come to do what we say we will when we talk of solidarity. Personally, I believe that solidarity can have only one meaning," he said.
Renzi stressed EU migrants impasse at Berlin summit Sources say asylum seekers part of discussion
(ANSAmed) - BERLIN, NOVEMBER 18 - Migration was one of the issued discussed at Friday's summit of the heads of state and government of the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Britain today in Berlin, sources said.
During the discussion Italian Premier Matteo Renzi stressed the difficulties raised by the asylum-seeker crisis and the EU impasse on this issue.
The summit is the last such event at which outgoing United States President Barack Obama will participate. (ANSAmed).
AUBURN After spending 40 years as a full-time professor at Cayuga Community College, Jeff Delbel has been more of a student in retired life.
He still teaches part-time through online courses, but much of Delbel's energy has been occupied by a separate interest: writing. The 64-year-old Auburn man has been working for around six years on a series of novels the first of which, "The Flight of Jimmy Eagleson," was released Sunday.
Getting to that point, Delbel said, certainly invoked the adage, "The only writing is rewriting." He said more than 30 friends and acquaintances, including authors, have helped him through the revision process.
Learning to open up to criticism was new for Delbel, who retired as a philosophy professor in 2008. But writing the books, he said, was something he had always wanted to do with the story bouncing around in his head for several years, starting with "The Flight."
"The resolution and the friendships are, I think, the attraction of the book," he said.
Delbel will host a book signing at Downtown Books & Coffee in Auburn next month to celebrate the recent release.
The plot centers on Eagleson, a lawyer who struggles to find happiness despite his own personal wealth. Set mostly near Lake Champlain in the North Country region, Eagleson's tale sees him reconnect with longtime friends as he maneuvers his job, his love life after a divorce and a complex relationship with his father.
"The Flight" is dedicated to Delbel's uncle, James Lyman Eagleson, who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. The real Eagleson only lived to be around 21 years old: Delbel said he died in 1944, shot down in a battle at Normandy during World War II.
Delbel keeps his uncle's wings pin and picture on a wall in his home. Though he never knew Eagleson, Delbel said he always found him a fascinating figure.
"In my mind, he's a hero. He gave his life, as did tens of thousands," he said. "I'm very pleased I had the opportunity to dedicate something to him that I think would relate."
Though the fictional Eagleson is not a veteran, his father otherwise known as "The Old Man" served in WWII.
Jimmy's worldview of his father that "The Old Man" had always been closer to Jimmy's friends than his own son is shaken when he stumbles on a box of letters written by his father during wartime.
Along with the importance of strong friendships, Delbel said "The Flight" explores the theme of personal discovery.
"We all do this type of thing," he said. "When we don't know the whole story on things, we tend to fill in the blanks, do it negatively and cause ourselves a lot of anguish over things because we just can't accept that we don't know that maybe things are just fine."
In writing "The Flight," Delbel said he draws partly on his own personal experiences, such as his upbringing with his father and his own friendships.
Delbel, a Plattsburgh native, eventually moved to Auburn in 1975 after getting a degree from the University of Miami. He later earned a master's degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Some distance existed between Delbel and his father, he said. It was nothing like Eagleson's estranged relationship, but Delbel said he never knew things about his father until the two shared deep talks later in life. To that point, Delbel had made assumptions about his father's worldview that were "completely nonsense."
"I think it's important for men to explore that with their fathers," he said.
Beyond those parallels, Delbel said he lets the characters write themselves, so to speak, by imagining how they would interact in a particular situation. He surprised himself at how different they ended up from their draft forms.
He finished a draft of "The Flight" about two years before its eventual release, going through revisions and taking the advice of an author friend to "be ahead of the curve" to write the second book.
That novel, "Salvatore," is in the final editing stages and will likely be released at some point next year, Delbel said. A third is almost done, as well.
"Whether it succeeds or not is a different story, but it does tell a unique story," Delbel said.
If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.
Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.
If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.
I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.
It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.
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Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York.
This week, we spotlight Pepper.
Q: Who is your best friend?
A: Before I got "transferred" to the boys condo area, I lived with all the girls! That was an eye-opener but that's another whole interview. While there, I made the acquaintance of this girl cat named Gracie, and she gave me a lot of tips on how to survive until there was room with the boys. She was very kind to me and she will always be my BFF. By the way, Gracie really needs a home too she has been here too long!
Q: What has been your worst experience?
A: Frankly, it doesn't get any worse than being abandoned by the river! I was one of the lucky ones someone found me and brought me here. That's really all I have to say on that topic.
Q: If you could have a job, what would that be?
A: As you can tell, I am very handsome! My shelter people tell me that a lot! I'm pretty young, though, and don't have any experience, but when I'm old enough I might try my hand at modeling. I think I might be very successful at that. Otherwise, I'm really not too interested in working. I mean, really! You shouldn't be asking cats this question we are best at being lazy and hanging out on a sun spot!
Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would that be?
A: We recently learned of this very interesting place that might be fun to visit. It is in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Amsterdam is home to The Poezenboot (The Cat Boat), which is a floating shelter for hundreds of stray and abandoned cats. The Poezenboot is docked along the Singel canal, and it welcomes visitors, volunteers and those looking to adopt their own sailor cat. This sounds like an interesting place to visit but not to stay. I think I might get seasick.
Q: If you could meet someone famous, who would that be?
A: That would be Mr. Mark Twain. I am sure you have heard of him. Following is a quote from the good Mr. Twain: "A cat ain't ever anybody's slave or serf or servant, and can't be it ain't in him to be. And so, he don't have to obey anybody. He is the only creature in heaven or earth or anywhere that don't have to obey somebody or other, including the angels. ... There's always somebody a king has to obey ... but it ain't so with a cat." I must agree with Mr. Twain, and I would have loved to have met him. I would also have given him a few grammar tips! LOL!
Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share?
A: I do! Did you know that our whiskers grow to be as long as our bodies are wide? Well, they do. Whiskers dont just make cats adorable, they also serve a very important purpose. We use our long whiskers to make sure our bodies will be able to fit through tight openings. If our whiskers bend or move, then we know we wont be able to fit. This is a fact take my word for it!
Q: Do you have any advice for our good Citizen readers?
A: I do! One of the most exciting and tasty events of the holiday season is happening tomorrow! It is the dessert festival and Sweets Market being eld at the beautiful Dickman Farms from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dickman's Holiday Open House is also happening that day, and there are so many things happening that I can't list them all now. All I can tell you is that if you are lucky enough, you might find a few extra tickets that will be available at the door for $8! My people will be there to say hello, and some of my canine friends will be coming and going throughout the day! I'm not sure if I can go, but I'll ask nicely. If you can't get there, be sure to stop at my shelter home to look me up. Thank you and love, Pepper and friends!
Who knew that 60-70 years ago, when commercial fertilizers were distributed worldwide and became commonly used, that those fertilizers would accumulate by the thousands of tons in the lakes. Who could have known that the great benefits of increased crop yield and food production would eventually threaten our drinking water?
When Article 15 of New York State Environmental Conservation Law was passed, agricultural land became exempt from all water quality regulations, giving veto power to agricultural uses. Though most agriculturalists manage land resources to enrich soil and preserve resources, a few turn a blind eye to water quality measures and spread manure on frozen fields, knowing the manure and fertilizer has nowhere to go but into the tributaries and lakes.
Now that the gradual decline of water quality has finally produced toxins, Article 15 must be changed. Drinking water and milk production are both equally reliant upon healthy water. E. coli and cyanobacteria are predictably present, and cows and people are not able to drink water containing algae because the toxin is usually found where algae blooms. Lets not allow this problem to progress until our drinking water is completely contaminated. We know what to do. Lets do it. Farmers, watershed residents and city dwellers are joining together for mutual benefit.
Owasco Lake's blue-green algae visible from space; satellite helps with monitoring efforts Cold weather has brought some relief as water tests for the city of Auburn and town of Owasc
We are all proud of our local dairy farms abundant supply of milk, yogurt and cheeses. However, such abundance comes with its challenges. One cow produces manure equal to at least 10 men, therefore 2,000 cows produce manure equal to 20,000 people. To maintain the health of the herd, farms maintain solid waste practices. Some farms have installed digesters costing millions and hope to produce electricity from the manures methane gas. Some farms are employing methods to curtail runoff entirely. Now, all farms and all watershed residents need to join together. The shared costs of changing laws, changing farming practices and increasing water testing and treatment are already required and must be shared by all.
We do not have 10 years to accomplish this work. The tipping point, given the increased frequency and size of the harmful algae blooms, is upon us. We must, within this year, inform and establish the critical mass of participants and funding.
Lets all prepare ourselves to do the right thing. Farmers have to maintain or reinstall buffers and control runoff. City residents water bills have to increase. Lakeshore residents have to pull weeds and grass clippings out of the water, control septic systems, abstain from the use of lawn fertilizers and inform neighbors why they also need to do the same. The Owasco Lake Watershed Association is organized to help. Go to the website and attend the OWLA meetings.
The mayor and the chair of the Cayuga County Legislature are enlisting state and federal help. Our tax dollars are needed to put shovels in the ground. Lets put our money where our mouth is to save our drinking water by empowering our legislators through universal citizen action and support.
The Russian United Engine Corporation (UEC), the integrated structure uniting all major Russian gas turbine engine developers and manufacturers) is presenting the newest Russian civil aero engines, including the new generation PD-14 engine developed for the MC-21 airliner at the Iran Air Show 2016. The Iran Air Show 2016 will take place from 16th until 19th November on the Kish island (Islamic Republic of Iran).
The UEC has planned the talks with the civil operators of the aero technics powered by the UEC engines. Apart from the PD-14 the UEC's show exposition includes the TV7-117V helicopter engine.
We expect that Iran's aviation market (which is very promising for us) rapidly grows amid the process of lifting of sanctions, said the director general of the UEC Alexander Artykhov. We are confident, that the increase of the park of the commercial aircraft and the rise in intensity of its exploitation will create a firm ground for the mutually beneficial cooperation with our Iranian counterparts.
An important area of cooperation with Iran is providing for exploitation of the current and future park of engines, including the repairs, the components' supply and teaching the exploitants' or the specialised enterprises' personnel.
PD-14 is a base turbofan engine, which is being created by the UEC for the purpose of powering the Russian MC-21 airliner. The most up-to-date technologies and materials, including the composites, are in use. This is the first completely Russian engine for the civil airliners, created in Russia during the last decades. The flight tests have started in 2015.
The TV7-117V engine, developed for the newest Russian Mo-38 helicopter, secures the flight by turning on the emergency thrust rating with power output up to 3 750 shp. The new full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system is installed.
PD-14 engine developed for MC-21 airliner
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi-based Masdar Institute on November 1, SSL President John Celli presented an inspiring view of current space technology and how SSL is influenced by its innovative Silicon Valley environment. He also offered resources to the Masdar Institute leadership, so that the Institutes research-driven, graduate-level studies can benefit from SSLs technical expertise and long experience with satellites and spacecraft systems.
Masdar Institute launched its space concentration in the fall of 2015. The concentration is offered in seven of the institutes nine current Masters programs. It was developed to foster the advanced research areas in space science and technology needed to support the UAE national space program and space-related industries with human resources, technical advancements and infrastructure. The UAE has set itself a goal of becoming the first Arab country to launch a mission to another planet by sending a probe to Mars by 2021, and space is one of the seven sectors targeted in the UAE National Innovation Strategy, which aims to make the UAE one of the worlds most innovative countries by 2021
In partnership with Yahsat, SSL will provide programme management guidance and technical expertise to support Masdar Institutes CubeSat programme.
Masdar Institute, which was established by the UAE government in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to support Abu Dhabis economic diversification by nurturing highly-skilled human and intellectual capital in areas of strategic and economic relevance to the country and region. The Institutes advanced space concentration provides students with the opportunity to earn their chosen Masters degree while contributing to high-tech research in space technology.
As part of Masdar Institutes space concentration, students in various engineering disciplines have the opportunity to work in groups to design, integrate, construct, test and subsequently operate a miniature satellite, called a CubeSat, which will be launched and monitored via a ground station.
We are excited to have the opportunity to help provide space science education to the promising students at Masdar Institute and around the globe, who are ultimately responsible for leading us into the future of space technology, Celli added. Thank you to Masdar and Yahsat for inviting us to participate in this unique and important programme.
In the blockbuster, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the airlines Boeing 777 aircraft made a cameo claiming Turkish Airlines was flying to the movies imaginary cities; Gotham City and Metropolis.
The purpose of the campaign was to show Turkish Airlines commitment to unveiling an innovative movie-themed experience that gave fans around the world the chance to explore the iconic world of two of our favourite superheroes. This included the possibility for travellers to book flights to the airlines two new locations.
Turkish Airlines was awarded in the Product & Brand Integration category, which recognised operations promoting branded products or services via appearances in pre-existing films, television shows or other media, enabling brands to gain or reinforce status from the context in which they are placed.
The campaign achieved 125 million earned media impressions, while the adverts on YouTube reached a view count of over 30 million.
We are proud of this award as it shows Turkish Airlines commitment in offering new, innovative and unexpected experiences for its passengers and followers worldwide. said Ahmet Olmustur, Turkish Airlines' chief marketing officer.
AUBURN The Cayuga County Legislature's public forum on the county's budget started with an empty public section, but after a short period ended with three requests one for the county's Cornell Cooperative Extension, one for Owasco Lake and one for the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency.
Doug Ververs, executive director of the cooperative extension, asked legislators for $10,653 to use toward cost of living increases for staff. He said there has not been a salary adjustment in three years, and not including an increase in this year's budget would make it four. He was concerned, he said, that he would "begin to lose a talented staff."
"I fully understand that we're not a mandated service," Ververs said. "I appreciate your consideration for that salary adjustment."
Chairman Keith Batman asked Ververs if he would consider making that $10,653 a one-time bonus to staff members instead. Ververs said he would consider it.
"Because of the agricultural nature of our county, I think it's a great investment," said Legislator Tim Lattimore. "I think we need to keep it well and healthy."
Following Ververs was Charlie Greene, former town of Niles supervisor. Greene requested legislators invest $150,000 each year toward Owasco Lake, and requested various municipalities, the county and others to come together and create a $10 million trust fund for the lake. He also suggested the county buy two more weed harvesters to mow the lake.
Legislator Aileen McNabb-Coleman said while she's concerned about the health of the lake, she's concerned about getting clean drinking water to residents next year. Thursday morning she had discussed emergency management plans should high levels of toxins be detected in the drinking water with various municipalities served by the city of Auburn and town of Owasco. The cost of the plans worried her.
"It's hard for me to sit here and listen because you have an idea here, and this morning I got rained on thinking about the future," she said. "I think the water is going to be our primary problem and our primary worry."
Finishing out the meeting, Lattimore requested that $25,000 placed in contingency for the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency be put back in the 2017 budget. Batman said Lattimore could request that at the full Legislature meeting on Nov. 22.
"I'm not opposed to spending the money for a productive thing, but we do not put money in anyone's budget based upon the fact that you might have an idea, you might have a need, you might come up with something," Batman said to Lattimore. "My advice to you is, say, 'OK,' and get busy and come up with a plan."
While walking out of the meeting, Lattimore told Batman he was upset that the funding had been moved to contingency in the first place.
In other news
Despite being pulled from the agenda, the Cayuga County Legislature will still hold a public hearing on a local law that would have charged interest on those paying their taxes in two installments. Batman said because the body had set the public hearing already, it would remain on the calendar even though no legislators have expressed support for it.
The law will not be voted on at the full Legislature meeting unless someone brings it back to the floor. The hearing followed by the full Legislature meeting will be held 5:30 p.m., Nov. 22 in the Sixth Floor Chambers of the Cayuga County Office Building, 160 Genesee St., Auburn.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde leads the list of YEREVAN BESTSELLER project of ARMENPRESS.
Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorians beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
The Little Prince first published in 1943, is a novella, the most famous work of French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The Little Prince is 2nd in this weeks list.
Book of Lamentations or Book of Prayers by Gregory of Narek is ranked 3rd in this weeks list.
Written shortly before the first millennium of Christianity, the prayers of St. Gregory of Narek have long been recognized as gems of Christian literature. St. Gregory called his book an "encyclopedia of prayer for all nations". It was his hope that it would serve as a guide to prayer by people of all stations around the world.
A leader of the well-developed school of Armenian mysticism at Narek Monastery, at the request of his brethren he set out to find an answer to an imponderable question: what can one offer to God, our creator, who already has everything and knows everything better than we could ever express it? To this question, posed by the prophets, psalmist, apostles and saints, he gives a humble answer the sighs of the heart expressed in his Book of Prayer, also called the Book of Lamentations.
The fourth position in this weeks ranking is Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life. Published on September 8, 1998, it is a motivational business fable. The text describes change in one's work and life, and four typical reactions to those changes by two mice and two "little people," during their hunt for cheese. A New York Times business bestseller upon release, Who Moved My Cheese? remained on the list for almost five years and spent over 200 weeks on Publishers Weekly's hardcover nonfiction list. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37 languages and remains one of the best-selling business books.
Mark Arens Where wild roses bloom in ranked 5th. This is the second novel of the author which describes the inner world of an Armenophobic Turkish former serviceman, when he, already an old man, suddenly hears a lullaby song that reminds him of his mother and later finds out that the song is in Armenian: realizing his parents were Armenians. The same former serviceman spends his remaining life searching the graves of his parents, without knowing that it was a misunderstanding.
Fyodor Dostoevskys Stories collection, comprising several of the Russian writers works, is ranked 6th this week.
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury comes next. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel published in 1953. It is regarded as one of his best works. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The title refers to the temperature that Bradbury understood to be the autoignition point of paper.
Charents-name by Gurgen Mahari enters the list and is ranked 8th.
Veronika Decides to Die is a novel by Paulo Coelho. It tells the story of 24-year-old Slovenian Veronika, who appears to have everything in life going for her, but who decides to kill herself. This book is partly based on Coelho's experience in various mental institutions, and deals with the subject of madness. The gist of the message is that "collective madness is called sanity".
Veronika Decides to Die has been adapted for theatre a number of times, and was also used in other artistic references. The novel is ranked 9th in this weeks list.
Paulo Coelhos The Spy concludes this weeks list. The Spy brings to life the true story of Mata Hari, the famous courtesan and accused spy who was executed for treason one hundred years ago. Mata Hari was a dancer who shocked and delighted audiences during the First World War, and she became a confidant to some of the eras richest and most powerful men. She dared to liberate herself from the moralism and provincial customs of the early twentieth century, but she ultimately paid for it with her life. As she waited for her execution in a Paris prison, one of her last requests was for a pen and some paper to write letters.
To complete the bestseller list, the following bookshops have participated in the survey: Narek (51-91-36), Bookinist (53-74-13), Antares (091-90-01-23) and Zangak (23-26-49).
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Newly appointed Ambassador of Estonia to Armenia Kai Kaarelson (residence in Tbilisi) on November 18 presented copy of her credentials to Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, press service of the Armenian MFA told Armenpress.
The Armenian FM congratulated the Ambassador on her appointment and wished her success in her important mission to further intensify the relations between the two countries.
The Ambassador thanked for the reception and wisheds, ensured that she will take the maximum efforts to develop the mutual cooperation in various sectors.
A number of issues of bilateral agenda, including the cooperation in economic, trade, IT, cultural sectors, the intensification of inter-parliamentary ties, the expansion of legal framework were discussed at the meeting.
The sides also exchanged views on Armenia-EU mutual cooperation.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on November 18 received the Iranian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Head of Irans Customs Administration Masoud Karbasian, press service of the Government told Armenpress.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is not only Armenias friendly country, but also it is one of the key partners, and our political dialogue is at the highest level. However, we have a potential to further expand and develop our economic relations. The harmonious works of the customs offices of the two states will also contribute to the development of trade-economic ties, the PM said.
He informed that today at the Governments session he instructed the respective Ministries to form a working group and work with the Iranian side towards boosting the export of Armenian products, in particular, the food and agricultural products, from Armenia to Iran, as well as to discuss with the businessmen the prospects of establishing a free economic zone in the territory bordering Iran. The PM said this is a mutually beneficial chance for the businessmen of the two states, and works must be carried out on that path.
The Iranian official congratulated the Armenian PM on his appointment and wished him success.
Presenting the results of working talks with the Chairman of the State Revenue Committee under the Armenian Government Vardan Harutyunyan, Masoud Karbasian said a number of agreements were reached at the meeting. In particular, a Memorandum of understanding was signed on cooperation in customs administration, the both sides attached importance to the online exchange of information, as well as informing the Armenian and Iranian societies about the customs procedures.
We can establish cooperation towards the Eurasian Economic Union market through the free economic zone. Armenia, as a linking bridge, can play a decisive role in this sector, which in its turn will contribute to implementing joint investment projects, Masoud Karbasian said.
In response, the Armenian PM said Armenia is ready to form a respective platform towards the EAEU market.
The sides also discussed a number of issues of bilateral interest, related to the cooperation development in transportation and transit infrastructures sectors.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian leadership will discuss the proposal to make the compulsory payments to the fund, which will be established for the compensation of fallen or wounded servicemen, on voluntary basis, Head of the RPA faction Vahram Baghdasaryan told reporters in the Parliament, reports Armenpress.
We have a proposal to make that compulsory provision as voluntary, and I think this is a normal approach not to force someone to pay if he/she doesnt want to. I think, that proposal will be discussed since all proposals are subject to discussions, he said.
To the question whether changes are possible in the second reading of the bill, and the compulsory component will be removed, the MP said: There is such proposal which will be discussed.
The Parliament of Armenia adopted at first reading the bill on compensations for fallen or disabled servicemen during military operations. 102 lawmakers voted in favor, 3 against. Under the bill, a special fund will be created with the purpose of making compensations to the families of fallen/disabled servicemen. A 1000 AMD tax is set for every employed citizen, which will be collected in the fund. Employers will cover the tax for citizens working minimum wages.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and First Lady Mrs. Rita Sargsyan attended on November 18 the solemn event dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Hakob Paronyan State Musical Comedy Theatre.
As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, President Sargsyan delivered a congratulatory speech and bestowed a number of theatre figures with state awards.
In his speech, President Sargsyan stated that this is not a festive day only for the staff of the Theatre, but the entire Armenian people, since it has for decades brought together the most talented artists of Armenia. Satire genre has always been the unique feature of this theatre. It is said that people correct their mistake and say good bye to the past when they laugh. We have a lot of mistakes to correct, both of our own and others, and need to say good bye to many things. Of course, in our reality we have numerous achievements, we have splendid culture, nation-centered, always developing, but we really have some negative phenomena which we should have abandoned long ago, the President said in his speech.
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With two months left in President Barack Obamas term, his administration issued a rule Tuesday intended to clamp down on oil companies that burn off natural gas on public lands.
The new rule seeks to reduce waste and harmful methane emissions as part of a strategy to address climate change. But a new Republican administration under President-elect Donald Trump could reconsider the rule or even scrap it, although any effort to do so would likely take months.
Trump has said he will seek to sharply increase oil and gas drilling on federal lands and said on the campaign trail that restrictions supported by Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would hurt energy-producing states such as Colorado.
Energy companies frequently flare or burn off vast supplies of natural gas at drilling sites because it makes less money than oil. A government report said an estimated 40 percent of the gas being flared or vented could be captured economically and sold.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the new rule updates 30-year-old drilling regulations to meet modern standards and ensure that natural gas is used to power the economy not wasted by being burned into the atmosphere. The rule is set to take effect in mid-January days before Obama leaves office.
This rule to prevent waste of our nations natural gas supplies is good government, plain and simple, Jewell said in a statement. We are proving that we can cut harmful methane emissions that contribute to climate change, while putting in place standards that make good economic sense for the nation.
Congressional Republicans vowed to overturn the rule, calling it a midnight regulation that will drive away jobs from federal land in the West. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a letter to Obama that lawmakers will review all regulations issued in the next two months and overturn them if appropriate.
State Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N. M., called the rule a direct attack on the state of New Mexico.
The administrations claim that this rule is a fair return to taxpayers is completely false, Pearce wrote in a statement. In fact, this rule will make thousands of wells uneconomical: crushing businesses, killing jobs, and decreasing production. This action will result in reduced royalties for the State of New Mexico, which will harm funding for all aspects of New Mexicans services from schools to hospitals, and law enforcement. At the same time, this rule will create higher electricity bills for New Mexican families making families choose between making ends meet and keeping the heat on.
If the administration really wanted to accomplish these goals it would expedite the permitting process to create natural gas pipelines and processing facilities, which would capture and transport this resource. Instead, the Obama Administration decided to bow to radical special interest groups who care more about killing the oil and gas industry than protecting hardworking Americans livelihoods. I will continue to fight this regulation this year and with the Trump Administration.
The states Democratic delegation, however, including Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham, praised the rules as enabling producers to cut flaring in half and use that saved natural gas to power the states economy.
New Mexicos natural resources provide jobs and royalty payments and are an important part of our states economy we cant afford to waste any of it, the lawmakers wrote in a joint statement. But natural gas waste due to outdated requirements has cost New Mexicos taxpayers $43 million in lost revenues since 2009, and it has cost the states overall economy more than $100 million. Not only that, the waste has created an alarming concentration of methane over the Four Corners region.
This dangerous greenhouse gas is at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and a major public health hazard. These new rules will allow us to cut waste in half so we can use that saved natural gas to power our economy, and the additional revenue to invest in schools, roads, bridges and other infrastructure. And less waste means less smog and healthier people for generations to come.
Under the new rule, energy companies that drill on 245 million acres of public land, mostly in the West, will be required to capture natural gas that can be used to generate power for millions of homes and businesses.
Between 2009 and 2014, enough natural gas was lost through venting, flaring and leaks to power more than 5 million homes for a year, Jewell said. The new rule also should generate tens of millions of dollars a year that can be returned to taxpayers, tribes and states while reducing pollution, Jewell said.
The rule, developed by Interiors Bureau of Land Management, will require oil and gas producers to limit the rate of flaring at oil wells on public and tribal lands, periodically inspect their operations for leaks and replace outdated equipment that vents large quantities of gas into the air.
Most of the gas being burned at drilling sites is methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is about 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, although it does not stay in the air as long. Methane emissions make up about 9 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to government estimates.
The oil industry has argued that new regulations are not needed for methane because the industry already has a financial incentive to capture and sell natural gas. Methane emissions have been reduced by 21 percent since 1990 even as production has boomed, according to the Western Energy Alliance, an industry group.
The energy alliance, along with a group representing independent petroleum producers, challenged the rule in federal court in Wyoming Tuesday, saying the rule goes beyond authority granted by Congress.
They are dark and bleak and often end in death. Some double as articulations of the political exceptionalism of ordinariness itself. Most, though, do something more basic, and more pessimistic: They assume the fundamental dirtiness of politics, and the related idea that any hope well have of purifying the system must come from outside of it. They leave very little room for optimism about the hulking beast that is the establishment, very little room for hope that the system in placeone populated by career politicianscan take compassion and make it scale.
Washington, DCs Theater J has gone through more than a little turmoil over what it has presented in recent years; even so, its not where youd expect to see Lucas Hnaths play about a conflicted megachurch. Adam Immerwahr, the companys (new-ish) artistic director, explains why hes producing The Christians and how hes made over DCs Jewish Community Center into a megachurch.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a consent order and a fine of $1,500 to the parent company of Kwik Fill after an employee at the gas station/convenience store in Moravia dumped fryer grease into a stormwater drain.
Derrick Durbin of Moravia reported the incident in September to the DEC after he smelled a heavy grease odor coming from a catch basin near the gas station. According to a DEC spokesperson, DEC law enforcement conducted an investigation and with the help of Kwik Fill determined that an employee had been dumping fryer oil into the catch basin for three months.
It was not clear whether the employee was directed to deposit the grease in the drain, or if he or she acted alone. A spokesperson for Kwik Fill's parent company, the United Refining Company of PA, was not available for comment on Thursday.
DEC staff said the oil did not spread beyond the second catch basin down flow from the discharge point. DEC Spills responded to the scene and provided Kwik Fill with a list of contractors to conduct the clean up. A DEC spokesperson said Kwik Fill hired EMS Environmental Inc., which used a drum vacuum to remove about 30 gallons of material from the sewer system.
The United Refining Company of PA, paid for the cleanup under a consent order and paid the DEC a $1,500 penalty.
The Spanish choreographer, who earned worldwide renown at the helm of the Compania Nacional de Danza in Madrid, has not had an easy time of it at the Staatsballett Berlin which announced in September, three years ahead of time, that his contract would not be renewed. Back in Madrid for a gala, Duato explains what hell do instead. (in Spanish; Google Translate version here)
The computer screen has become a substitute for reality, dominating us not just by way of social media but old news by making artifacts like books on paper seem obsolete. I plead seriously guilty, witness this blogpost with its images and descriptions. A package that came in the mail with several new items from Cold Turkey Press got me to thinking more than usually about this. Issued in minuscule editions, Cold Turkey chapbooks, folios, and cards compose a rare yet necessary archive that subverts the ordinary in literary content and artistic quality. Their scarcity notwithstanding, they are essential cultural documents scholarly without being academic, exotic but not obscure, their intelligence distinctive. To be truly appreciated, however, these hand-made manifestations of the publishers mind must be experienced in the material world and not as digital simulacrums in cyberspace.
I once asked Cold Turkeys creator, Gerard Bellaart , the Dutch-born painter who conceives, edits, prints, binds, and distributes his handiwork from a farmhouse in France, Why publish editions limited to 36 copies? What if anything does that number mean? Well, originally it was 28, he said. Both are numerical misnomers, nothing cabalistic. He maintained that publishing 250 or even 500 copies tends to have less influence than 28 or 36. Besides, to get rid of 500 copies usually means no space for years in ones bedroom. He told me that in the nearly half century since Cold Turkey was launched with the publication of Dronken Mirakels en Andere Offers, his Dutch translation of poems by Charles Bukowski, only one book Certain Radio Speeches of Ezra Pound sold 500 copies, two editions of 250 each.
Many of the now-deceased writers Bellaart chose to publish were expatriates like himself. All were cultural dissidents: Sinclair Beiles, William S. Burroughs, Harold Norse, d.a. levy, Allen Ginsberg, Carl Weissner, to name a few, as well as earlier dissenters like Artaud, Lorca, Cocteau, Blaise Cendrars, the pre-Dadaist Arthur Cravan, and Julien Torma. But from the very beginning two writers in particular were personal favorites: Beiles, a longtime friend of his from South Africa who died in 2000 represented by posthumous chapbooks as recently as 2012 (The Idiots Voice) and 2013 (Bone Hebrew) and the British poet-playwright Heathcote Williams, who remains very much alive.
Bellaart published Williams for the first time in 1975 (Manifestoes/Manifesten, an anarchists pamphlet). That year an essay by Williams also appeared in Beiless Sacred Fix. Ever since, Williamss poems have continued to pour forth in a torrent of separately published cards, many collected in portfolios such as American Porn (2009) and Was Moby Dick Behind 9/11? (2012). At the same time Williamss chapbooks have been singularly brilliant achievements: Harold Pinter: A Portrait (2014); My Dad and My Uncle (2014); Burroughs in London (2014); and Of Dylan and His Deaths (2015).
Two of the items that came in the package, again by Williams, were Anarchys First Mention (the folio shown above) and The Copulation of Angels, a larger-than-usual card, shown here:
When Milton spoke of the copulation of angels
And Lear said, Let copulation thrive!
They were praising the way that the life-force
Overcomes death with loves sexual desire. Theres little else that life can supply,
Said John Wilkes, the peoples tribune,
But a few good fucks and then we die.
Whereupon our dusts in continuous motion . . . And who can prove that we dont live beyond the grave
With spiritualized selves enjoying vibrant spasms
Whilst other-worldly beings cluster round us to arouse usIn a transcendent land of perpetual orgasms? The Genitals are Beauty, proclaimed William Blake
And, when they merge in loves fiery fever,
Its hard not to think that alls right with the world;
that these sensations will go on forever. Heathcote Williams March 2016
The packages most remarkable item, though, also by Williams, and certainly the most ambitious, was DIOGENES OF SINOPE: Proto-Anarchist and First Citizen of the World, a narrative poem produced as a large (12.75x16.5) eight-page folio with illustrations and footnotes. Printed on Canson Dore paper for the cover and Saunders Demy Laid paper for the interior, the poem begins . . .
I dreamed I saw Diogenes
In a world reduced to rubble,
And the founder of the Cynics grinned
Through his stench and unkempt stubble. The end of the world resembled the dump
Where hed lived in a barrel amongst dogs
Scavenging scraps on the outskirts of Athens
And making fun of both men and the Gods. Plato described the wild philosopher
As a maddened version of Socrates.
Its not that Im mad, Diogenes replied,
My heads just different from yours.
The Saunders I have lugged around with me for the last 40 years or so, Bellaart tells me. The English painter Peter Blake gave me two reams in the early 70s. Precious stuff! And thats Heathcote in the barrel. Put there like Diogenes, it should be noted, by the illustrator Elena Calderas digital magic.
(Click the images below to enlarge them for a closer look.)
Full disclosure: Ive been a beneficiary of Bellaarts publishing program. We collaborated on two projects together: Carl Weissners Le Regard dAutrui, brought out as a posthumous chapbook in 2012, the year he died; and Norman O. Mustills Cuisine Rapide, a portfolio of collages, in 2013, not long before he died. Bellaart also put two chapbooks of my own on his roster: Ticket to New Jersey: A Portrait of Nelson Algren (2014) and Portraits: Williams S. Burroughs, Godfrey Reggio, Norman Mailer (2015), along with a portfolio of poems, Errato (2015).
Finally, it should also be noted that Bellaart is an enemy of perfection. His Cold Turkey productions are idiosyncratic artifacts. In look and feel they may tempt perfection, but imperfection is a value he cherishes with the same intensity that he cherishes taking risks.
AUBURN Auburn officials plan to move ahead with state representatives to transform a city parking lot into a regional tourist hub.
The Auburn City Council voted Thursday to authorize the municipal parking lot across from Memorial City Hall and the Auburn YMCA to be used as the site of a New York state regional welcoming center.
Welcome centers will be built in each of the state's 10 regions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last month. Auburn was chosen as the site for central New York's representative facility, which will feature kiosks and a Taste NY market showcasing local food products and regional attractions.
Last week, Auburn Mayor Michael Quill recommended to site the welcome center in the parking lot property, 25 South St., next to the Seward House. With city officials committed to a downtown location for the facility, Quill said the .97-acre lot is an ideal space due to its central location along Route 34 and its proximity to the city's parking garage on William Street.
His fellow councilors agreed. The plan was authorized with a unanimous vote.
"I think it's going to tie all of our sites together as a starting point, while highlighting the rest of the Finger Lakes," said Councilor Jimmy Giannettino. "I think it's a win-win for everybody."
Details about the project including site details and if there's any cost to the city are unclear at this time. City Manager Jeff Dygert said city officials will speak with state representatives Friday about a timeline as well as guidelines that will go out to firms interested in project design.
Will recommended regional welcome center site affect downtown Auburn parking? AUBURN The news that the parking lot along Lincoln Street in Auburn could become the city'
The proposal was met with support from several who attended Thursday night's city council meeting. Stephanie DeVito, executive director of the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District, said a welcome center in the "heart of downtown" will be great for foot traffic to navigate the city.
Chris Nucerino, chief executive officer of the Auburn YMCA, supports the project, though did say he is concerned with the impact on the fitness center's clients. Nucerino said he spoke with both Quill and Dygert earlier in the week about the project to address some of the concerns.
"We just want to ensure that it really is a safe point if we are going to encourage folks to access the garage, that they can get to the YMCA safely," he said.
In other news
Councilors have signed off on a proposed series of repairs to the Auburn Police Department's headquarters.
The project calls for department-wide renovations to the North Street station, with a particular focus on the command center, public lobby and processing rooms.
City councilors voted unanimously to create a capital account to track the project's budget. The renovations will not be funded through the city general fund; rather, Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler plans to utilize the APD's cache of funds from drug seizure operations to make the repairs.
City exploring renovations to Auburn Police Department Though Auburn officials still hope to eventually relocate the city's fire and police departm
Comptroller Laura Wills said the renovations will require both local and federal seizure funds accrued by the APD. With the council vote, APD's allotment of $96,058.52 in local seizure funds was transferred into the project's capital account.
In recent years, European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have started to look to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a key player in the investment and development of several different types of technologies across a multitude of industries. Relatively low labor costs, high skill levels, and applicability of a range of technologies owing to the diversity in the level of development makes the region an attractive destination for European SMEs.
While accessing the lucrative Southeast Asian markets, European SMEs are often willing to transfer some of their technologies and designs to local subsidiaries of European firms, joint venture partners, or local manufacturing and service companies. One of the challenges facing European companies entering Southeast Asia is devising creative solutions to minimize the risk to their intellectual property (IP) associated with technology transfers. A technology transfer can happen in a number of different ways. European companies most commonly transfer their technology by licensing their patents, designs, software, trade secrets, and know-how. A common misconception is that a technology transfer is limited to transfers of high technology. However, many European companies using contract manufacturing to manufacture low technology, consumer, or industrial products, such as those based on product designs, must deal with the same risks to their IP as their high technology counterparts.
It is not uncommon for some unscrupulous companies in Southeast Asian countries seeking to acquire foreign technology to obtain it either through inadvertent leakage of IP, or in breach of agreements or law. Therefore, European SMEs planning to transfer technology to Southeast Asia should have robust IP strategies in place to protect their business.
First step Secure your IP through registration
Aside from copyright, IP is administered territorially and therefore must be registered. There is no centralized system, like in Europe, through which SMEs can protect their IP regionally across ASEAN. Therefore, it is necessary to file for patents, designs, and trademarks in each individual country where the SME plans to conduct business. SMEs should also keep in mind that goods move relatively freely across borders in Southeast Asia. This could mean that a European SME might potentially discover infringements of its IP to have occurred in Laos, for instance, when in fact it only sells its products in Thailand, or has a manufacturing base in Malaysia. Given this, if budget allows, it may be sensible for the SMEs to file patents, trademarks, and designs in as many countries in the region as possible. It is also possible to register copyright in most Southeast Asian countries for additional protection, except in Singapore, Myanmar, and Brunei.
Most Southeast Asian countries operate under the first-to-file system, meaning that the first person to file for a patent, trademark, or design will become the owner of the IP of that patent, design or trademark, irrespective of the first use. Therefore, European SMEs should register their IP as soon as possible. Having the filing (even the mere application) in place before initiating talks with a partner strengthens the SMEs position and reduces the risk that a failed discussion with a potential partner could end up with the theft of IP.
Finding your Partner the importance of non-disclosure agreements and contracts
SMEs may not be familiar with using formal Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA), but it is worthwhile to consider using such documents prior to entering into talks with a partner, particularly where an SME can identify specific IP or confidential information that will be disclosed during the course of discussions. Such agreements are concise, clear, and generally of standard form and easy to draft. Furthermore, business partners in Southeast Asia are becoming more familiar with agreeing to such terms. In Southeast Asia, with each country having different laws and legal systems, SMEs should seek to obtain a different NDA for each relevant country. Obtaining an NDA by no means provides a watertight case, but it certainly assists in protecting intangible assets, in particular those that cannot be registered or easily protected under local IP legislation (e.g. trade secrets such as certain technologies, formulas, production methods, etc.).
A written contract is strongly preferable to a casual arrangement or an oral agreement. Local legal advice is recommended to ensure that a strong network of agreements is put into place. It is also highly important to ensure that the translation of the contract into the local language of the jurisdiction is accurate, as many courts will use this rather than an English or other European language contract when considering evidence.
After a suitable partner has been found, the second important step is to ensure that the agreement will be enforceable in the country where the contract will be executed. Having the ability to obtain direct relief (including preliminary injunctive relief) in a local court should be a clause that is built into all licenses. This can sit alongside an arbitration clause, but in instances of trade secret theft by an employee or third party, one will want to have direct recourse to the local courts to obtain an emergency injunction, or to carry out search and seize or asset freezing orders.
Internal IP strategy and practical considerations
SMEs, as owners of IP, will no doubt be concerned about how their partners in Southeast Asia use their IP. Therefore, it is important to have ones own internal IP management strategy in place. The following are examples of best practices to consider:
SMEs need to ensure their partner undertakes to use confidentiality agreements/clauses in its contracts with third parties and their employees. Non-solicit and non-compete clauses in employment contracts should also be considered. Regarding employees, it is important to ensure that copyright created by the employee is assigned to the employer, since most Southeast Asian countries have laws providing for employees to own the copyright of their work.
To spread the risk, an SME may wish to consider having certain components of their product manufactured/assembled in different countries or by different parties to help reduce the risk of IP being misappropriated.
SMEs should have formal training documentation protected through NDA/confidentiality agreements and where necessary ensure that their partner uses NDA/confidentiality agreements.
Valuing IP can be difficult in licensing situations. SMEs should consider minimum royalty payment clauses to protect their IP from undervaluing.
IP owners should also ensure that they are entitled to physically visit the partners premises, witness their activities, and perform quality control. This will assist the SMEs in their review of the IP and improvements.
SMEs are advised to take legal action against infringements and breaches of contract. This will ensure that the SME maximizes the monopoly rights of its IP and increases its license value.
Checklist for a Successful Business Endeavor in Southeast Asia
Register your IP first.
Conduct due diligence on your business partner.
Ensure manufacturing/licensing/distribution/franchising agreement complies with the laws of the country in which you are operating; includes the terms to ensure proper use of IP, monitoring process, and quality control; includes the terms to ensure IP is registered and owned by rights holder and not by a third party (or their employees); includes terms to get out safely and ensure that the IP is not used beyond the contract term (this happens frequently with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM); and includes terms to ensure continuation of business after ending of the agreement. Note that in some countries licensing agreements must be recorded with the local IP office to be valid.
Auditing of partner (by you or your authorized representative) to ensure no unauthorized use is being made.
Watch for infringements of third parties and have a framework in agreement for the licensees cooperation and assistance.
Ensure that the contract allows for local enforcement to stop the source of the IP violation, rather than first reverting to EU laws or arbitration. Also, note that Singapore is a major transshipment (unloading/reloading) point for the whole of Asia, and containers can be stopped.
Consider arbitration (e.g. in Singapore) as a secondary means of resolving issues. Singapore has a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) dispute resolution office that is ready to deal with such issues.
Key takeaways
Given Southeast Asias rapidly evolving economic environment that features varying levels and rates of development, it is important to have tailored strategies when it comes to technology transfer. While the region is increasingly being viewed as a single area in which to trade, it should be borne in mind that each country has its own peculiarities in terms of procedures and laws, and that each country presents its own set of risks and challenges. To ensure that SMEs are as prepared as possible, they should first conduct a review of their own IP. Subsequently, obtaining local legal advice is recommended, such as full due diligence and Southeast Asia-wide negotiations of a contract, or simply reviewing existing agreements to ensure local compliance. Finally, if there is one thing that must not be overlooked, it is the registration of IP. If an SME does not have a written contract or if it uses several partners in one jurisdiction, the fall back and underlying principles on which to enforce the IP will be the SMEs collective IP registrations. Without such precautions, the value of European SMEs IP may be substantially reduced.
The IGR office contributed Rs 21,767 crore to the state coffers in 2015-16 financial year.
The state government's average daily earning through property registration charges and stamp duty has come down to Rs 42 crore from Rs 65 crore earlier.
Mumbai: Stamp duty collection in Maharashtra has dropped by 37 per cent after the Centre demonetised high-value notes, a senior official said on November 18.
The Union government's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was announced 10 days back and stamp duty collection is already down by 37 per cent across the state, Inspector General of Registration (IGR) and Controller of Stamps N Ramaswamy told PTI.
The state government's average daily earning through property registration charges and stamp duty has come down to Rs 42 crore from Rs 65 crore earlier, he said.
"Though most of the transactions such as calculation of ready reckoner, its stamp duty and payment are done digitally as well as through demand drafts, still the collection has gone down. "The IGR offices across the state generally handle 7,300 documents daily, which has now plunged to 4,000 documents," he said.
The IGR office registers all types of property deals, including sale and purchase of land, properties, rent and lease agreements. It is the second largest revenue generating department of the state government, after excise. The IGR office contributed Rs 21,767 crore to the state coffers in 2015-16 financial year.
"There is one fee called document handling fee, where Rs 20 per page is charged from the people who are buying it. People generally pay the amount in cash at the IGR office. In post demonetisation period, I have issued a circular that the amount can be paid through demand draft. Still, the response is low," said the IAS officer.
Industry sources said a sizeable section of the total cost of a property is paid in cash and it never reflects on papers. Such deals are badly hit after the government's demonetisation move.
TUCC also welcomes the move of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discontinue the old currency of Rs 500 and 1000.
New Delhi: Central trade unions (CTUS) are scheduled to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on November 19 for pre-budget consultations where they will raise issues of minimum wage and pension.
RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which will also participate in the deliberations, said that it will urge the government to implement its notification to raise minimum wage from Rs 102 to Rs 350 per day for the entire country.
"In August, government had notified that it will provide social security benefits to Aanganwadi, Asha and Mid-day meal workers. It had set up a committee to look into the matter. We will demand that it should make adequate arrangements from this in the coming budget," BMS said in a statement.
BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said that the unions welcome the government's decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in a bid to check black money.
He said that the government should make adequate monetary arrangement in the coming budget for the implementation of various schemes such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Urban Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.
Earlier, the Trade Union Co-ordination Centre (TUCC) had said that it will raise the issue of fixation of minimum wages for all the workers across India at Rs 21,000 per month and fixation of monthly pension to the EPFO subscribers at Rs 3,000 per month at the consultations.
Besides, other issues to be taken up include budgetary allocation for social security fund for 45.7 crore informal sector workers and withdrawal of foreign direct investment (FDI) from core areas like defence, railways, banking and space.
"TUCC also welcomes the move of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discontinue the old currency of Rs 500 and 1000, which will stop the black money circulation in the economy and stop terror financing too," it had said.
Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive Indian software service group Infosys is bracing for pressure on its US business from anti-immigrant policies by US President-elect Donald Trump, who has identified clamping down on immigration as one of his three top priorities.
"Margins might be impacted in the near-term," Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said, adding the company had not yet done any simulations on how large the impact may turn out to be.
Infosys' contingency plan for the case that the group would not be able to send low-cost developers to work with temporary work visas on big tech projects in the United States would be to hire staff locally, he said.
Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive, adding that he saw no shortage in potential applicants.
"There are enough universities, enough ability to hire, enough ability to teach," Sikka said, adding he did not expect to lose market share to U.S. peers such as Cognizant.
Infosys last month cut its annual revenue growth target for the second time in three months as India's software service exporters feel the pinch of major Western clients holding back on spending.
Mumbai: Several media reports claimed on November 17 that the legal war between Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut was finally over. It was reported that the Cyber Crime Cell of Mumbai Police decided to close the investigation due to lack of evidence.
However, just few hours later, Hrithik Roshans legal team responded by slamming the reports and saying that the investigation into Hrithik and Kanganas emails has not been shut. The team has also said that case is not only in motion but a section of the media was in partnership with Kanganas lawyer to mislead people with false information regarding the case.
Media reports which suggest that the investigation into the Hrithik - Kangana emails is closed, are totally false. A section of the media in connivance with Ms. Ranaut's lawyer have sought to disseminate this false information. The investigation in fact continues and Mr. Saxena (Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime) has informed Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Counsel advising Mr. Roshan that "the case is not yet closed. Investigation is still going on," Hrithik's spokesperson said in a statement.
Previously reports suggested that the Mumbai police tracked down the email id hroshan@email.com, the alleged email account of Hrithik Roshan, to someone in the US. Since the IP address is not operational in India, the police failed to unmask the face behind those emails and decided to submit an NIL report indicating that the case is highly likely to hit dead end, a daily had reported.
Kanganas lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee called the Mumbai Polices decision to shut the case as a sign of victory saying that he is not surprised by the Cyber Cell submitting a NIL report in the case post their investigation.
This means that they could not trace any imposter as was claimed by Hrithik Roshan. Kangana has always been maintaining that there was no imposter ever, Rizwan was quoted by a daily.
However, Hrithiks team hit back instantly saying that they are still holding their side of the story, and also claimed that it was Kangana who persistently hounded Roshan on emails. It is categorically asserted that there is unimpeachable evidence to suggest that there was no relationship of any kind between Mr. Roshan and Ms. Ranaut and that Ms. Ranaut persistently hounded Mr. Roshan on emails with the intention to entice him into a relationship, the statement further stated.
The controversial tiff between the two began when Kangana called the 'Bang Bang' actor her silly ex. Following her statement, Hrithik slapped a legal notice on her and demanded an apology.
Ever since then, their on-going legal battle topped up with heated and counter-arguments has been making headlines.
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AUBURN Two Auburn men were sentenced in separate drug-related cases Thursday, but not before both raised questions about Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann.
Tyrone Matthews, of 44 Orchard St., and Adam Smith, of 10 Wheeler St., appeared in Cayuga County criminal court before Judge Thomas Leone. But all parties had a lot to say regarding recent allegations against the district attorney.
On Sept. 13, former Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Domachowski filed a notice of claim accusing Budelmann of wrongful termination and withholding "exculpatory 'Brady' material" in 15 drug cases. That has lead several defendants and their attorneys to believe they have not received all evidence from the district attorney.
Budelmann has called Domachowski's claims "imaginary," stating that the former assistant prosecutor was terminated this summer for unethical conduct with defense attorneys on cases, including defense attorney Simon Moody and his client, 40-year-old Matthews.
In September, a jury acquitted Matthews of five felony drug charges, instead finding him guilty of three misdemeanors for possessing small amounts of cocaine and heroin.
At Matthews' sentencing Thursday, Budelmann brought up "cryptic emails" between Moody and Domachowski, in which the former ADA addressed "our project" and "mutual goal" in Matthews' case.
"Their project was to tarnish the integrity of this office," Budelmann told Leone. "These allegations that I withheld Brady material ... are the result of a Syracuse reporter and a former employee with an ax to grind. ... We turned (evidence) over in discovery and we turned it over in secret emails."
As Budelmann continued to discuss Domachowski's claims, Moody objected several times, saying the district attorney's comments had gone beyond the scope of sentencing.
"We are here for sentencing, not for the DA to establish a defense in a lawsuit against him," Moody said. "This is completely inappropriate."
In the end, Leone went ahead with sentencing, giving Matthews -- a four-time convicted drug dealer -- the maximum of two years in Cayuga County Jail. Matthews has already served 14 months.
After Matthews' sentencing, 30-year-old Smith appeared before Leone and his attorney, Thomas Murphy, asked to withdraw Smith's guilty plea due to the "alleged discovery issues" at the district attorney's office.
Smith who pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony said he was worried that Budelmann did not disclose all of the information and evidence they had with his attorney.
"We did disclose that there was an issue with the confidential informant," Budelmann said, noting that they discussed the issue before Smith's plea. "There is no more information to turn over here."
Leone agreed.
"It appears to me the district attorney has provided all the information they had in this case," Leone said, denying Smith's request to withdraw his plea.
A second felony offender, Smith was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison followed by 3 years post-release supervision.
Hollywood Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has been awarded 'Man Of The Year' by GQ magazine, Australia.
Mumbai: The proud Aussie, talented surfer, doting dad and charitable, grounded, funny and successful actor has been announced as GQ 'Man Of The Year' at the Australian award ceremony in Sydney, reports gq.com.au.
His colleagues also find it hard to say a bad word about the 'Ghosbusters' star, who was once named People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive'.
In the issue, Hemsworth's 'Thor' co-star Tom Hiddleston sums up the actor appeal.
"One morning on the set of Thor: Ragnarok, I watch Chris zero in on an important scene between Thor and Loki with razor-sharp focus and commitment. The scene required a lot of nuance, but he wanted to shoot it quickly, because he had to be off-set by lunchtime in order to make it to father-daughter day at school in the afternoon," Hiddleston shared.
"That's a Man Of The Year if ever I saw one," the British heartthrob told the magazine.
While receiving the award, Hemsworth thanked his wife, Elsa Pataky and all the great women of the world, saying, "You can't have a great man without a great woman."
Other honorees include Dylan Alcott for 'Sportsman of the Year', Atlassian as 'Entrepreneurs of the Year', Iggy Azalea as 'Woman of the Year', Shannon Bennett as 'Chef of the Year', Kyle Chalmers for 'Breakthrough Sportsman of the Year' and many more.
The bench said the questions framed by this Court have been of significance and are required to be debated.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan on Thursday to file an affidavit in two weeks tendering an unconditional apology for his reported remarks against the victims of the Bhulandshahar gangrape case.
A bench of justices Dipak Misra and Amitav Roy accepted the submissions of senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for Azam Khan that if any statement made by Mr Khan insulted or humiliated the victim, he would file an unconditional apology, supported with by affidavit.
The counsel for Uttar Pradesh informed the court that the two victims were each given Rs 10 lakh and two residential houses. Arrangements will also be made for the education of the minor girl. He submitted that steps will be taken to get the victim admitted to a Kendriya Vidyalaya within a month.
The bench said Needless to say, the expenses shall be borne by the state of UP. The petitioner, who is the father of the victim, shall indicate the choice of the school within a week.
The school administration where the girl shall be admitted shall see to it that she is treated with respect, for the dignity of a woman is absolutely uncompromisable with any kind of thought or concept or idea, which some time notioned in fancy.
Mr. Fali S. Nariman, Amicus Curiae submitted that for the purpose of this case, unconditional apology may be accepted, but the questions framed by this Court on August 29 should be debated and a decision be rendered so that before anyone, who holds a public office or authority, makes a statement, would be careful in respect of a victim, especially a victim of rape or molestation.
The bench said the questions framed by this Court have been of significance and are required to be debated. It sought the assistance of the Attorney General in this regard and posted the case for further hearing on December 7 to consider the affidavit of Azam Khan.
Government transitions are never managed perfectly and never easy, Bill Gates said.
New Delhi: A day after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-Chairperson of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on Thursday backed the government's decision to demonetise Rs 500, 1000 notes.
According to reports, Gates said that transition is never easy when a government takes bold steps for the greater good but that the temporary pain caused it worth it.
"Government transitions are never managed perfectly and never easy," he said referring to the woes faced by millions across the country due to scrapping of big note.
With the Modi-government trying to move towards a cashless future in its bid to wipe out black money and corruption, Gates lauded steps taken by the country towards digitisation.
"India is pushing towards digitisation in a big way. The scale of the country means that once India gets there, the amount of digital innovation here will be greater than anywhere else in the world," Gates added.
Bill Gates also met Rajnath Singh, who asked him to support Central government's efforts for skill upgradation of workers in agriculture sector.
Commending the welfare schemes being run by the Gates Foundation in India, Singh said after the success of its 'Ananya' child care and maternal health programme in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the scheme should also be implemented in Chhattisgah, Jharkhand and Odisha where there is a large tribal population.
The Home Minister invited Gates to support the Central government's initiative to give a major push to skill upgradation of workers in India's agriculture sector, an official statement said.
Singh lauded the Gates Foundation's 'Awahan' initiative which has helped reduce the spread of HIV infection across India.
The Home Minister said the Central government has laid stress on the JAM (Jan Dhan Accounts, Aadhar Number and Mobile Governance) platform and hoped Gates' Potential Digital Financial Inclusion Models can be adopted to improve the Service Delivery System in the country, the statement said.
'The decision to put indelible ink on fingers of account holders is a senseless, Fascist and Nazist act of branding people.'
New Delhi: Congress on Thursday accused the government of "branding" people through its "fascist act" of inking those exchanging demonetised currency notes even as it charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with "disrespecting" Parliament by not hearing out concerns raised by members on demonetisation.
Party spokesperson Anand Sharma said the Modi government was "insulting and harassing" crores of Indians by subjecting them to stand in long queues to withdraw money and demanded apology from the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
"The decision to put indelible ink on fingers of account holders is a senseless, Fascist and Nazist act of branding people. It is shameful that they have done so with foreign tourists. Instead of sermonising, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finance minister should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the people," he told PTI.
He said the Prime Minister saying that he will not answer the concerns raised by opposition members in Parliament shows how he is "disrespecting" Parliament.
"The PM's stand in not being present in Parliament smacks of arrogance and disrespect for the institution of Parliament.
Narendra Modi does not have the courage to face the truth and lacks the grace to apologise to the people for the suffering inflicted on crores of Indians," he said.
The Congress leader said India's image globally has been besmirched with foreign missions issuing advisories to their citizens against travelling to India.
Sharma also accused the Prime Minister of indulging in "selective leaks" from September onwards and said "it is government's failure to maintain secrecy and selectively leak the proposed step to individuals and vested interests and groups identified with BJP."
"It is a big scam which demands an investigation. The opposition demand of JPC is fully justified and we are determined to press for it," he said.
Sharma took strong objection to Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu's remarks targeting Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad had equated the Uri terror attack and deaths in queues at banks in terms of deaths. Sharma said Naidu's statement "mischievously distorts the comments made by the Leader of Opposition".
He said, "In their desperation, Naidu and the government are seeking to communalise the comments also by raising the bogie of nationalism, which definitely is not their exclusive domain."
The former Union Minister said, "Instead of urgently addressing the situation caused by demonetisation move, the government is engaging in false propaganda and escape accountability.
'You have scrapped (Rs) 500 and 1,000, but what happened to the 100 rupee note?,' the apex court asked the government.
People queue up outside a bank to exchange their old Rs 1000 and 500 notes in Lucknow. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday took on the Centre over demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, saying, "There are difficulties. You can't dispute that."
"We will have riots on the streets," the apex court observed.
The Supreme Court dubbed as a "serious issue" the long queues outside banks and post offices and expressed its reservation on the Centre's plea seeking a direction that no other court in the country should entertain petitions challenging the November 8 notification demonetising Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes.
"It is a serious issue which requires consideration," a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A R Dave said, while asking the parties to be ready with data and other issues in writing.
Chief Justice TS Thakur said because of these difficulties, people are approaching the courts.
In response, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the queues are getting shorter and even suggested that the CJI can go out during lunch and himself look at the queue.
"Kindly go in the lunch time," the AG told the bench and took objection to senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for a private party, for allegedly exaggerating the situation.
"It's a political attempt in the court. I have seen your (Sibal's) press conference also. You are not appearing for a political party, but for an advocate. You are turning the apex court into a political platform," Rohatgi said.
"You have scrapped 500 and 1,000, but what happened to the 100 rupee note?" the Chief Justice asked the government, which replied that ATMs needed to be recalibrated because they have a single drawer for Rs. 100 notes.
"The last time you said you are working out relief but you have reduced the withdrawal amount to 2,000. What's the problem? Is it printing problem?" Justice Thakur asked the government.
Replying to the Courts question, Rohatgi said that even after printing, the new notes have to be transported to different parts of the country to lakhs of bank branches and ATMs have to be recalibrated.
We have given relief to farmers, wedding and small traders, the lawyer said.
The government earlier this week reduced the Rs 4,500 limit for the exchange of notes at banks to Rs 2,000 per day, saying it would enable more people to get cash.
To questions from the bench, the AG said Rs 100 notes are in circulation and the ATMs needed to be re-calibrated to issue new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.
He also elaborated on the steps taken by the government to meet the situation by stating that besides reducing the exchange limit, farmers have been allowed to withdraw Rs 50,000 and people having weddings at home can withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh.
"At a petrol pump, which has card swipe machine of SBI, people can go and withdraw money upto Rs 2,000. We have been monitoring the situation day-by-day," Rohatgi said and added that the idea was to push the new notes of Rs 2,000 as one note of Rs 2,000 is equal to 20 notes of Rs 100.
At this point, Sibal interrupted and said the problem is of printing as they need to print Rs 23 lakh crore, but they do not have the capacity to do that.
"Already they have frozen Rs 14,000 crore and it is not clear under which law they have done so," he said, contending that it is a serious situation where people cannot withdraw their own taxed money.
"They are trustee, how can they not let us withdraw our legitimate money," he said, adding that "the situation has turned from bad to worse".
Sibal said that the government was not concerned about the people living in remote areas of the north-east, Himachal Pradesh and Naxal-hit district of Bastar where people have to walk for 20 kms to reach an ATM.
While the Congress leader was making the submission pointing out the deficiencies and the steps taken by the Centre, the AG said, "We need not give any explanation as right now it is the interim application that has to be heard."
Realising that the bench has reservation in entertaining the Centre's application, Rohatgi said, "We will file a transfer petition".
The matter will be heard again on November 25.
The Centre has moved the apex court seeking a stay on the proceedings before various high courts and other courts except the apex court against demonetisation issue, saying otherwise it will create a lot of confusion.
The apex court had on November 15 refused to stay the government's demonetisation notification, but asked it to spell out the steps taken to minimise public inconvenience.
Out of the four PILs in the apex court on the demonetisation issue, two were filed by Delhi-based lawyers Vivek Narayan Sharma and Sangam Lal Pandey, while two others were filed by individuals, S Muthukumar and Adil Alvi.
The petitioners have alleged that the sudden decision has created chaos and harassment to the public at large and the notification of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance be either quashed or deferred for some time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address to the nation on November 8, had announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes will no longer be legal tender from November 9.
He had said the government has declared a "decisive war" against black money and corruption.
But in response to a lawyer who complained that the newly issued Rs 2000 notes bleed colour when they are wet, Chief Justice Thakur observed, then dont put them in water.
Lawyer ML Sharma, who made the complaint, is among a group of petitioners who have asked the top court to cancel the ban on Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes announced a little over a week ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A host of dignitaries wished Ms Swaraj a speedy recovery and expressed the hope that would return back to her official work.
Bhopal/Chennai/New Delhi: A day after external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted about her kidney failure, a traffic constable of Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday offered to donate one of his kidneys to her.
I want to donate my kidney to you and my blood group is O positive, traffic constable Gaurav Singh Dangi, 26, tweeted. One can live with one kidney. There can be no better things to do than donate the other kidney to a needy person, he said.
He is not alone. There are hundreds of others who have spontaneously responded in a similar vein after Ms Swaraj, admitted to AIIMS in New Delhi on November 15, tweeted that she was on dialysis and needed to undergo a kidney transplant.
@sushmaSwaraj Although with responsibility of a 5 year-old-son, I can offer my kidney to u for nations good. I m O+. May Allah s.w.t help u!, Ali Imran Naqvi tweeted.
@SushmaSwaraj Mam If you wish. I am ready to donate my kidney for you. Nation needs your services, tweeted her follower Nikhil Dadhich.
A host of dignitaries wished Ms Swaraj a speedy recovery and expressed the hope that would return back to her official work.
The responses left the minister overwhelmed. My heartfelt thanks for your kind words and good wishes. Some friends have also offered their kidneys for my transplant. I have no words to express my deep sense of gratitude towards them, Ms Swaraj tweeted.
With your good wishes and Lord Krishnas blessings, I will be able to come out of this situation, she said.
Jamia Millia Islamia, where Najeeb was reportedly last seen, is allegedly not cooperating in the probe.
New Delhi: Delhi Police's investigation into the mysterious disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed has hit a roadblock as the administration of Jamia Millia Islamia, where he was reportedly last seen, is allegedly not cooperating in the probe.
On Wednesday, the Crime Branch team had revealed that it has traced an auto driver who said he had dropped Najeeb at Jamia Millia Islamia.
However, sources privy to the probe said the Jamia administration hasn't shared the CCTV footage.
"They aren't cooperating with us. They haven't yet shared the CCTV footage with us," a source said.
Jamia authorities claimed that they have been cooperative in the probe.
"They have approached us and we are cooperating with police in every possible way," Jamia spokesperson said.
Police had also said that Najeeb had hailed the auto himself and he wasn't accompanied by anyone when he left the JNU campus thereby ruling out the theory that he was kidnapped.
Earlier, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma also approved the increase in the reward amount from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh owing to the "sensitivity" of the matter.
Najeeb had gone missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with ABVP members the night before.
Meanwhile, JNU Students Union President Mohit Pandey took to Twitter requesting an appointment with Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar to seek a status report on Najeeb's case.
"Since our VC is only active on Twitter, we are tweeting to seek an appointment with him," he said.
JNUSU General Secretary Satarupa Chakraborty tweeted, "Dear VC @mamidala90, we are waiting for your reply as JNUSU seeks urgent appointment."
JNU students and teachers have been leading a movement alleging inaction on administration and Delhi Police's part in tracing the missing student.
Congress leader Tharoor said that hostility between India and Pakistan 'can be a mood but not a policy'.
Mumbai: Expressing displeasure with the way the "ADHM" controversy was handled by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today said he favoured inviting Pakistani artists, creative people and businessmen to boost bilateral ties.
"We should welcome creative people, artistes and genuine businessmen (from Pakistan) to India," Tharoor said, during a debate in the Tata Literature Live Festival here tonight.
"We have to create a 'home away from home' situation for them," he said, adding that hostility between the two countries "can be a mood but not a policy".
In a scathing comment about the way Fadnavis handled the controversy surrounding Karan Johar-directed 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' when MNS opposed the film because it had Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, Tharoor said, "Certainly no Congress Chief Minister would have ever negotiated (with outfits like MNS)."
The Raj Thackeray-led party later relented on the condition that the producers would give a donation to Army welfare fund. Fadnavis later denied that he brokered the 'deal' between MNS and the ADHM producers.
Taking part in a debate on 'India and Pakistan can never be friends', Tharoor contended that people-to-people cooperation would improve bilateral ties.
"Create an umbrella where artists, the fashion designers and genuine businesspersons would interact more frequently, form associations which would create a constituency of goodwill," Tharoor said.
The collegiums insistence on appointing the 43 names returned is bound to result in confrontation.
New Delhi: In a move which will escalate into a confrontation between the judiciary and the executive, the Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, heading the Supreme Court collegium informed the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Friday that the collegium has reiterated the names of all 43 judges for the high courts which were returned by the law ministry for fresh reconsideration.
The CJI sitting with Justice Anil R. Dave told the AG We (collegium) met last recently and we are reiterating all the names. The appointment may be made. We will give you three weeks. The recommendations were made by the high courts of Madras, Allahabad, Karnataka, Hyderabad for AP and Telangana and Kerala as early as in January and February this year. The Bench has posted the matter for further hearing in January and by then the Chief Justice T.S. Thakur may have retired. His retirement date is January 3, 2017.
Under the Memorandum of Procedure relating to appointment of Judges, if the collegium reiterates the names for the second time, the Centre is bound to accept them and forward to the President for appointment.
The new MoP is pending consideration with the apex court as it has refused to accept the governments condition to have veto power on appointments if the person recommended for judge is a threat to national security.
The collegiums insistence on appointing the 43 names returned is bound to result in confrontation and there is a possibility of the government sitting over the names and putting them in cold storage as there is no limit for forwarding the names.
The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by Lt. Colonel (retd) Anil Kabotra and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyaya highlighting the problems of pendency of cases in various High Courts and the inordinate delay in appointing judges to fill the vacancies.
In the last hearing Centre had informed the CJI that not a single file is pending with the government; of the 77 names recommended we have appointed 34 persons and we have returned 43 names for your consideration. He also said that the draft MOP is pending with the collegium since August 3. Pending finalisation of MoP, the centre has cleared 311 names for appointment as judges.
BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpayee dismissed the talks of demonetisation move having any impact on the two byelections.
Bhopal: All eyes are now focused on the two byelections in Madhya Pradesh, scheduled to be held on November 19, billed as a referendum on the BJP-led Central governments demonetisation move.
The Opposition Congress has made the demonetisation issue its key poll plank in the twin byelections to Shahdol (ST) Lok Sabha and Nepanagar (ST) Assembly constituencies, highlighting the miseries of people in the wake of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes being banned.
People are facing serious problems following the measure. Common people are forced to stand in long queues to exchange their high value currency notes. Farmers have no money to purchase fertiliser and seeds. Simmering anger among the people over the scarcity of cash will reflect in the two byelections, and the ruling BJP will suffer defeats in both the polls, Madhya Pradesh Congress committee president Arun Yadav said.
However, BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpayee dismissed the talks of demonetisation move having any impact on the two byelections.
Demonetisation is no issue in these tribal dominated areas. The tribals of these two constituencies are more concerned about getting land lease rights. They are happy with their staple food rice and jowar, he added.
The BJP appeared hell bent on retaining both the seats, with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself taking charge of electioneering for the party.
He has deployed over a dozen of his ministers in different areas in these two constituencies to woo voters.
The campaigns of both the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress in the two byelections have gained unusual momentum after the demonetisation announcement by the Centre. The Congress wanted to project the byelections as referendum on demonetisation measure to cash in on the apparent anger of the people in the area, a state government employee posted in Shahdol told this newspaper.
Both the by-elections are witnessing two-corner contests between BJP and Congress, although, there were candidates of other parties in fray.
For the past 10 years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving has rated every state based on its drunk driving laws and reform efforts, and this year New York State has once again ranked high on the list.
According to MADD's 2016 Report to the Nation, with four out of five stars, New York was one of 10 states that has adopted stricter drunk driving laws and implemented countermeasures over the years. Colorado, Delaware, Illinois and Missouri also scored four stars while Arizona, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska and West Virginia scored 4 1/2.
Every year, each star represents one of five criteria that MADD uses to measure the state's success in curbing drunk driving. Those include sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlock devices for all drunk driving offenders, enhanced penalties for those who drive drunk with children in the vehicle, "no-refusal" activities for those suspected of drunk driving and license revocation for convicted drunk drivers.
And while New York has met most of MADD's criteria, it has not participated in "no-refusal" activities, lacking expedited warrants and punishment for people who refuse to take breath or blood tests.
Still, Cayuga County Assistant District Attorney Diane Adsit said New York has come a long way in prosecuting drunk drivers.
"The state has improved significantly in the time that I've been a prosecutor," she said Friday. "There are more serious levels of offenses now than when I started 27 years ago."
For example, Adsit said, New York State has implemented vehicular homicide statutes, something that didn't exist 20 years ago.
"When I first started, if you killed someone with your car, the worst you could get was seven years in prison," she said. "Now, you can get up to 25 (years)."
But, despite the additional statutes and charges, both Adsit and MADD acknowledge that more can be done.
"There's always room for improvement," Adsit said, noting that the District Attorneys Association of New York State continues to advocate for tougher laws.
"We've made great progress," MADD National President Colleen Sheehey-church said in a press release. "But with more than 10,000 lives lost to drunk driving in 2015, and concerns that the numbers are even high in 2016, we still have a lot of work to do."
To read MADD's 2016 Report to the Nation, visit madd.org/2016campaignreport.
However, the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way.
New Delhi: Barely a day after the Shiv Sena, a key ally of the NDA government at the Centre, joined a protest march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan with Opposition parties against the Centres demonetisation drive, Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and apparently conveyed unhappiness over the development.
However, the Sena stuck to its criticism, saying it could have been implemented in a better way.
We are with the government in their fight against black money, but common man has been immensely troubled by the way the decision was implemented. The common man is not a thief. I have conveyed to Rajnath Singh that though their intentions were right, the decision could have been implemented in a much better way, the Sena chief said in Mumbai.
The issue had triggered a political controversy as the Shiv Sena has been one of the oldest allies of the BJP. Despite this, it joined the protest march, which was led by West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress head Mamata Banerjee.
During his 10-minute telephonic conversation, the home minister is believed to have told the Sena chief that the move was avoidable, and joining hands with the Opposition against an ambitious scheme of the Centre would send wrong and confusing signals, specially when Parliament was in session.
The parties had complained to President Pranab Mukherjee that demonetisation was causing considerable hardship to the people.
Even as most parties who had joined the march sought the immediate withdrawal of the demonetisation exercise, the Shiv Sena demanded that the deadline for accepting old currency notes must be extended.
Shiv Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar had said following the march on Thursday that while the party welcomed the demonetisation move, they were against the inconvenience being caused to people due to it.
We have not signed the memorandum given to the President. We will submit a separate memorandum seeking redressal of the inconvenience caused to people. We also want the period to be extended, Mr Kirtikar said.
Shatrughan Sinha also questioned the restrictions imposed on withdrawal of money.
New Delhi: Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his bold, wise and timely move to curb black money, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha was, however, also critical of the situation following demonetisation, which he described as chaotic.
Mr Sinha demanded that accountability should be fixed as the Prime Minister has been let down by his team members. Calling the PM a dashing, dynamic action-hero, the Patna Sahib MP also blamed the government for its faulty execution while speaking to reporters outside Parliament on Friday.
Accountability should be fixed for the chaotic situation. The Prime Minister has been let down by his team and those in the government responsible for it should be identified, he said.
He also questioned the restrictions imposed on withdrawal of money, saying people are being prevented from claiming their own money. What kind of drama is this? he said.
Taking a dig over the claims that demonetisation is a surgical strike against black money, he said, The governments team should have done their homework. Dont you think it was their responsibility to take care of post surgical strike situation as well.
Mr Sinha, who has often criticised the government and his party, also said that the Centre should use the services of Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Subramanian Swamy to disseminate the official message, because they enjoy a clean image.
Mr Shourie and Mr Yashwant Sinha, who were ministers in the Vajpayee government, have been critical of the current dispensation while Dr Swamy has often attacked Finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Apparently referring to Mr Shouries comments in which he hasd taken a swipe at the measure, the cine star and former union minister said he had made good points.
He said the poor and the lower and middle classes have been waiting in queue to get money to buy food and medicine and the government must heed to good points being made by the opposition as it is a matter of national interest.
The clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign across the state was doing rounds for the past couple of months.
New Delhi: It is almost official now. The Congress is going to launch its trump card, Priyanka Gandhi, in the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. As of now, her role is confined to Amethi and Rae Bareilly constituencies. For the past four months, there was speculation that she could campaign across the state but now decks are cleared for her to play a major role. She has been actively involved in all background meetings of the UP Congress.
UP campaign committee chief Sanjay Singh said, Let things settle down first and once we finalise the name, she will definitely play a major role. While UP Congress chief Raj Babbar said, It has been decided that she will campaign for the party in UP, and she has agreed. So whenever we will get her schedule, we will use her time accordingly.
The Congress had earlier allowed the party leaders to put up the pictures of Priyanka Gandhi in the party posters. On November 21, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are expected will visit Allahabad to inaugurate an exhibition of the centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The programme is scheduled in their ancestral house, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Anand Bhawan. Leaders and delegations of Congress from several states will also be present.
The clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign across the state was doing rounds for the past couple of months. One section of the party wanted her to actively campaign in the state, while the other section was against it, stating the party should wait for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
China's Yao Tingting won best woman director award for Yesterday Once More.
A still from Another Time; Nahid Hassanzadehs debut feature was adjudged best film by a woman director.
Kolkata: Irans cinema had a memorable moment on Friday when Another Time, directed by Nahid Hasanzadeh won the best film award in the women directors category on the concluding day of the 22nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).
At a gala event at Nazrul Mancha, Ms Hasanzadeh and the producer of her film, Fery-Malekmadani, were handed over Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award, 2016 by Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon.
I want to thank the KIFF jury for the selection of my movie as the best film in the category. There is an emotion attached to it because I had suffered problems while making this movie. It is a beautiful feeling to be awarded for your effort, Ms Hasanzadeh said in her speech.
The 82-minute long film is based on Ghadir, a worker at a chemical plant who is arrested for protesting after not being paid for over a year. He is imprisoned without trial and then released a year later without explanation.
On arriving home, he finds his daughter Somayeh has given birth out of wedlock, according to the script.
At the festival, Chinas Yao Tingting took home the best woman director award for her film, Yesterday Once More.
Besides awards were given to filim directors and producers in four more categories: Best Short Film, Best Documentary Film, Netpac Awards for Asian Flims and Innovation in Moving Images.
In her address Raveena praised chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her initiative behind KIFF. State finance minister Amit Mitra who presided over the event said that film is an integral part of articulation of life.
Five other ministers: Subrata Mukherjee, Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Shovan Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas also attended the event and congratulated the winners.
Maharashtras forest department is assisting Uttarakhand forest officials in dealing with human animal conflict.
Mumbai: The Uttarakhand forest department has sought the help of Maharashtra forest department to deal with the human-animal conflict in its state that sees around 25 such deaths every year.
Currently, senior officers in the state forest department, researchers in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey Milk Colony are engaged with a team of 14 officials from Uttarakhand, including its forest officials and representatives from the severely affected areas, to give them ideas and knowledge on managing human-animal conflict. The Uttarakhand team is on a two-day visit to the city.
The state chief conservator of forest Ahmed Anwar, his predecessor Vikas Gupta and chief conservator of forests for the Pune wildlife wing Sunil Limaye, spoke about the initiatives taken by not only the park officials but also wildlife lovers who had started a group Mumbaikars for SGNP. This group has been conducting sessions with the locals residing in and around the park to educate them about the precautions to be taken.
Maharashtras forest department is assisting Uttarakhand forest officials in dealing with human animal conflict. Biologist Dr Vidya Athreya organised a presentation with a case study to help the officials understand that co-existence of human with leopard is possible if preventive measures are taken.
Dr Dhananjay Mohan, chief conservator of forests, wildlife administration, conservation and information, Uttarakhand, said, Our main aim is to get locals from the affected areas to understand that co-existing with the big cat is possible.
Mumbai Police says will look into listings on eBay, OLX to check who uploaded them, will take action.
The sites were selling old and new notes for a higher price than their worth.
Mumbai: A day after The Asian Age reported on how people were trying to sell Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes after they were denotified on e-commerce websites such as eBay and OLX, the Mumbai police's cyber Cell is looking into the listings. The Cyber crime cell is verifying what kind of currency notes are up for sale and who are the people who have uploaded the same.
The Asian Age had on November 17 reported that online reselling sites especially eBay and OLX were selling old currency notes for exorbitant prices such as Rs 15,000 and Rs 7,999.
Both the sites also had listings for the new Rs 2,000 currency note with one of the listings on eBay selling the same for Rs 2 lakh. eBay had 430 listings for the search term Rs 500 and the same had gone up to 513 listings on Friday. Both the listings on OLX for the new Rs 2,000 note had been removed.
Joint Commissioner of Police, Deven Bharti, had said that trading in currency notes especially the old ones since they were now denotified was illegal.
With the old notes being banned and not in use anymore, no one can use it or sell it unless prescribed by the government. And trading in any currency notes old and new is illegal. We will take action after going through the listing, he said.
When contacted the Mumbai Police Commissioner D.D. Padsalgikar said that he would ask the Cyber police to look into the same.
The Cyber polices temporary charge is with DCP (Detection 1) Shashikant Satav who said the police had started verifying the listings. We will go through all the listings on the said site and after verifying who these were uploaded by, we will take appropriate action, said Mr Satav.
IRF in its statement said that it would take steps to get the ban revoked.
Mumbai: The Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) owned and run by controversial televangelist Zakir Naik was on Friday shut down by the Mumbai police after it received an order regarding the same from the government.
The order served to the IRF declares that the foundation propagates disharmony and feelings of hatred among different religious communities and has been declared unlawful under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
IRF in its statement said that it would take steps to get the ban revoked.
The notice issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on November 17, lists the five cases registered against Naik and other members of the IRF with two in Mumbai, one in Sawant-wadi, one in Vengurla and one in Kerala.
The four Mumbai cases are of those registered at the Nagpada police station on August 6, 2016 against Arshi Qureshi, an employee of the IRF alleging that he goaded a youngster Ashfaq Majeed to leave the country and join the Islamic State. The three other cases from Maharashtra are ones registered in 2012 and 2013 against Naik himself for making derogatory statements against Hindu gods.
DCP Ashok Dudhe, Mumbai police spokesperson, said, Central Government of India have declared Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an Unlawful Association with immediate effect. The Mumbai police has served a copy of the notification to the office bearers of IRF.
The order further goes on to add that the speeches and statements made by Naik extol known terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden. The speeches proclaim that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claim that if Islam had indeed wanted 80 per cent of the Indian population would not have remained Hindus as they could have been converted by sword, stated the order. It added that his speeches also justified suicide bombings and were derogatory against other religions.
The order also draws attention to the incident wherein Bangladesh government alleged that Naik inspired the terrorists that bombed a cafe in Dhaka.
A statement issued by the IRF stated, The governments notification under section 3 of UAPA was served on IRF late last evening. Were studying the contents of the notification and the reasons cited for the ban and we will take recourse to all remedies available in law to get the ban revoked.
He says he enjoys the "cosmopolitan feel of Mumbai, the beauty of New Delhi, the energy of Kolkata, and the friendliness of Hyderabad".
Archer has a great fan following in India and has been a frequent visitor (Photo: AFP)
New Delhi: Popular British author Jeffrey Archer will be on a four-city tour of India from Monday to promote the final installment of his seven-book "The Clifton Chronicles" with Gurgaon being his first stop.
The 76-year-old writer, whose "This Was a Man" had a global release on November 3, will also travel to Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.
Archer has a great fan following in India and has been a frequent visitor. He says he enjoys the "cosmopolitan feel of Mumbai, the beauty of New Delhi, the energy of Kolkata, and the friendliness of Hyderabad".
He had visited India last year, in 2014 and in 2013 to promote the earlier volumes of "The Clifton Chronicles", a saga that crosses continents, and one which in which the lives and loves of Harry, Emma and Giles are tested through friendship, betrayal, and intrigue.
The author of bestsellers like "Not a Penny More", "Not a Penny Less", "Kane and Abel", "As the Crow Flies" and "First Among Equals", terms India as an amazing market.
"Indians love storytellers. You are a very large leadership. There are 200-250 million middle class readers in India. This is bigger readership than America. So India is an amazing market," he had told PTI in an earlier interview.
According to publishers Pan Macmillan India, "This Was a Man" has enhanced Archer's reputation as a master storyteller.
Spanning the 20th century, "The Clifton Chronicles" is a gripping family saga of the trials and tribulations of the Clifton and Barringtons, two families at opposite ends of the social spectrum.
Trump has spoken favourably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the country.
President Barack Obama listens to President-elect Donald Trump speak during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (Photo: AP)
Washington: Offering pointed foreign policy advice to his successor, US President Barack Obama on expressed hope that President-elect Donald Trump will stand up to Russia when it deviates from US "values and international norms" and not simply "cut some deals" with Vladimir Putin when convenient.
Obama, in a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his final presidential visit to Germany, said that while he does not expect Trump to "follow exactly our blueprint or our approach" he is hopeful that Trump will pursue constructive policies that defend democratic values and the rule of law.
He said Trump shouldn't "simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever's convenient at the time."
Obama began his presidency with a goal to "reset" ties with Russia, but they eventually plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Trump has spoken favourably of Putin but has outlined few specifics as to how he would go about recalibrating ties with the country.
Merkel, for her part, said she was approaching the incoming Trump administration with "an open mind" and was encouraged that the presidential process in the US was "working smoothly" so far.
It was the final meeting of Obama and Merkel as peers on the world stage, and both leaders spoke glowingly of each other's leadership. Merkel was matter of fact about the coming transition in power in the US, saying, "We all know that democracy lives off change." As for the limit on US presidents serving two terms, Merkel said simply, "It's a tough rule: Eight years and that's it."
Obama, speaking broadly about the incoming president, said he was "cautiously optimistic" because "there is something about the solemn responsibilities of that office, the extraordinary demands that are placed on the United States," that demand seriousness from a president.
"If you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long because it will expose problems," Obama said.
Obama said he had cautioned Trump that the skills that got him elected may be different from those needed to unify the country and to gain the trust of those who didn't support him. People will be watching "what he says" and "how he fills out his administration," Obama added.
Washington: An Indian-American couple have been indicted on human trafficking charges related to forced labour of foreign nationals primarily from India, authorities have said.
A federal grand jury charged Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife Sharmistha Barai, 38, with conspiracy to commit forced labour and the commission of forced labour.
Kartan has also been charged with fraud in contacting foreign labour and Barai with benefiting from forced labour, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.
The couple from California were arrested on October 21, on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any non-relatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them. The arraignment is scheduled for November 21.
According to court documents, between February 21, 2014, and October 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai hired workers from overseas to perform domestic labour in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Stockton and elsewhere in the US.
In advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers, the couple made false claims regarding wages and duties of employment, federal prosecutors alleged.
"Once the workers arrived at the defendants' residences, Kartan and Barai forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment. The defendants did not pay wages and used force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get the workers to perform the labour and services," it said.
The indictment alleges that Kartan and Barai struck one worker on multiple occasions, including in one incident where Kartan grabbed her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove.
Moreover, the indictment alleges that the defendants failed to pay another worker and told her that they would call the police if she tried to leave.
When she was ultimately able to arrange to be picked up from the defendants' house, Kartan refused to provide her with the access code to the gated community so that her ride could not enter, the court papers alleged.
New York State Police and local law enforcement agencies will step up patrols next week in an effort to deter unsafe driving behaviors around the Thanksgiving holiday.
In a press release Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the traffic safety initiative and said state investigators from the Department of Motor Vehicles will also crack down on underage drinking, conducting fake ID enforcement sweeps during what is traditionally one of the most popular weeks for young people to go out drinking.
"The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the busiest travel times of the year, and with the addition of underage drinking sweeps, State Police and investigators will be out in force to ensure New York's roadways are safe," Cuomo said. "To help prevent tragedy and heartbreak, I urge New York to be safe, act responsibly and pay extra attention to the road and other drivers this holiday weekend."
State and local police will conduct the Thanksgiving traffic enforcement Wednesday, Nov. 23, through Sunday, Nov. 27. That includes fixed sobriety checkpoints and searching for distracted drivers. DMV investigators will also be checking IDs at bars and taverns across the state throughout the week.
"Remember, if your holiday weekend includes alcohol, don't get behind the wheel," New York State Police Superintendent George Beach II said. "Our troopers will be highly visible to ensure everybody has a safe Thanksgiving weekend."
Colin Nathaniel Scott dissolved inside a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming after he accidentally fell into it.
Scott had reached down to check the temperature of a spring when he slipped and fell into it. (Photo: Representational Image)
New York: In a bizarre incident, a 23-year-old man accidentally fell into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and died, US media on Friday reported.
Colin Nathaniel Scott from Oregon essentially dissolved inside a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming after he accidentally fell into it, CNN reported.
The incident happened back in June, when Scott went to the park with his sister to find a place to "hot pot."
According to a recently released report from park officials, Scott and his sister went to an unauthorised area near the Norris Geyser.
"They were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get into and soak," Deputy Chief Ranger Lorant Veress told CNN affiliate KULR. "I think they call it hot potting."
Scott had reached down to check the temperature of a spring when he slipped and fell into it. Rescuers later found Scott's body inside the pool, but could not retrieve it because of a lightning storm in the area.
When they came back the next day, no remains were found beneath the spring's churning, acidic waters.
"In a very short order, there was a significant amount of dissolving," Veress said.
The parks' geyers and springs are acidic because they are fed by thermal water deep underground that picks up sulphuric acid as it rises to the surface. The sulfuric acid is produced by microorganisms that break down hydrogen sulfide in rocks and soil.
Scott's sister was recording on her cell phone when he fell in, but the park service will not release the video. Veress stressed the importance for park visitors to obey all warning signs.
"Because (Yellowstone) is wild and it hasn't been overly altered by people to make things a whole lot safer, it's got dangers," he said.
"And a place like Yellowstone, which is set aside because of the incredible geothermal resources that are here, all the more so," Veress added.
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled the 1951 law applies only to masks worn for the purpose of intimidating others.
Muslims are condemning the as a veiled attempt to ban women from wearing scarves and other religious headgear to cover their faces in public. (Photo: AP/Representational Image)
Savannah: Advocates say a Georgia lawmaker appears to target Muslim women with proposed changes to a 1951 state law passed to stop the Ku Klux Klan from wearing masks at public rallies.
Muslim-American groups and the American Civil Liberties Union are condemning the proposal by Republican state Rep. Jason Spencer as a veiled attempt to ban Muslim women from wearing scarves and other religious headgear to cover their faces in public.
Spencer says he's not targeting any specific group. His bill doesn't mention Islam or religious garments, though it does explicitly note the anti-Klan law would apply to women.
Even if it passed, Spencer's bill likely wouldn't affect Muslim women. The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled the 1951 law applies only to masks worn for the purpose of intimidating others.
Charity group founder Radha Stirling called the mentality racist and said she would not report it even if she were raped in the UAE.
The advice came following the case of a British tourist who was gangraped by two men last month, who has been arrested and charged with 'extra-martial sex' in Dubai. (Photo: File)
London: A UK-based charity has warned British tourists and expatriates in Dubai and across the UAE not to report rape, after a woman who was allegedly gang raped was arrested and charged with extramarital sex.
According to a report in The Independent, Detained in Dubai, an organisation that assists people who have become victims of injustice in the UAE, has warned against reporting rape or other crimes in the country because of the manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations and the racist preconceptions held against Western tourists.
Radha Stirling, founder of the charity, said that following the shocking arrest and a spate of recent incidents where rape victims have been detained in the UAE, she encourages woman not to report sexual assault.
Stirling says that it is often assumed in the UAE, which has a strong clubbing scene, that the raped woman was just looking for it. Because the police get a lot of complaints from disgruntled prostitutes who file false rape cases, they tend to believe that maybe the girl was just drunk and then she regretted it the next day.
Stirling called the mentality racist and said she would not report it even if she were personally raped in the UAE.
Her advice came following the case of a British tourist who was gangraped by two men last month, who has been arrested and charged with 'extra-martial sex' in Dubai after she filed a police complaint regarding sexual assault.
The 25-year-old victim said that she was on a holiday to UAE when she was attacked by two men. Following the incident, the victim lodged a police complaint.
Instead of helping her out, police officials arrested her for breaking Emirati laws against extra-marital sex.
The woman was later released on bail. However her passport was confiscated which meant that she could not travel back to her home country and could face trial for the offence and be awarded punishments such as flogging, jail, deportation or even stoning to death.
"They have taken her passport as lawyers thrash it out. She is staying with an English family but she is absolutely terrified. She went to the police as the victim as one of the worst ordeals imaginable but she is being treated as the criminal, a family member of the victim was quoted as saying.
Rape cases in UAE often require proofs such as a confession from the rapist or witness statements from adults -- due to which most cases are are often dismissed or turned around to prosecute the victim.
Zakir Naik is a radical Salafist. His Islamic Research Foundation promotes sermons via a private TV network. Bangladeshi and Pakistani authorities have already banned the latter. The preacher has praised Osama bin Laden and terrorism. Indias Muslim react with feelings.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) The Indian government on Tuesday banned the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), the NGO of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is considered the spiritual father of the bombers who attacked a cafe in the capital of Bangladesh on 1st July 1, killing 20 people.
The five-year ban has immediate effect, and stems from the preacher promoting jihad and urging all Muslims to become terrorists.
His Mumbai-based NGO, which has branches in Maharashtra and Kerala, was declared "illegal" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) because the government deems Naik's speeches as "unsightly and subversives" and received dozens of complaints in recent months.
In a statement released yesterday, Indias Home Ministry said that Zakir Naik praised known terrorists like Osama bin Laden. He has proclaimed that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claimed that if Islam had indeed wanted, 80 percent of Indian population would not have remained Hindus as they could have been converted `if we wanted` by sword.
The preacher, the ministry noted, has justified suicide bombings, posting objectionable comments against Hindu Gods, [. . .] and making other statements which are derogatory to other religions.
[S]uch divisive ideology is against India's pluralistic and secular social fabric. At the same time, without action, there is a real possibility that it might inspire Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts.
Investigations about the preacher, one of the most famous exponents of Salafi radical Islam, established a direct link between his speeches and Rohan Imtiaz, one of Dhaka terrorists.
After the attack against the cafe frequented by foreigners, the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan banned Peace TV, which is owned by Naik, and which broadcasts his speeches.
The Islamic orator is banned in the UK, Canada, and Malaysia, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
In India, the Muslim community is divided on the ban.
Mir Hadi Ali, who is president of the All India Shia Organisation, welcomed it. "Zakir Naik has said some hurtful and objectionable things about the Shiite community, he said.
He has misrepresented the incidents of Karbala and has elevated Yazid, who killed several members of Prophet Muhammad's family. He has created tension between sects and schools of thought within the Muslim community".
Others, like Syed Ahmedul Hussaini Sayeed Quadri, from the Sufi group Quadria International, have adopted a cautious approach.
Whilst maintaining that "he can never agree with" Naik's method of preaching or the Salafi strain of Islam, Quadri said, "The ban has to pass legal scrutiny. We think that the method of banning is not right."
Indias opposition parties have given the government three days to resolve the situation. About 50 people have died in connection with demonetisation across the country. For most, there is no money for weddings, while a BJP tycoon spent US$ 74 million to marry off his daughter. Meanwhile, Indias central bank wrote off the debts of 63 big businesses, owned by friends of the prime minister, for US$ 740 billion.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) India "is on its knees and there is a real risk of unrest, the Supreme Court and the opposition parties warn. The latter gave the government three days before facing possible grassroots unrest, an anonymous source told AsiaNews.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis decision to withdraw from circulation Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has "undermined the lives of ordinary people. Meanwhile and more seriously, banks cancelled the debts of 63 big Indian businessmen, all friends and supporters of the prime minister, whilst poor farmers are starving. So far, there have been 50 deaths, including some who died queuing and other in riots."
More than a week after deciding to withdraw the most counterfeited denominations in favour of a new RS 2,000 banknote, "the situation has not improved. Some incidents are really unpleasant, like that of a man who was brutally beaten by police just for asking why the officers were railing against the people in line for several hours."
For days, "the prime minister has not appeared in public, whilst his MPs are trying to curb opposition criticism at the start of parliaments winter session.
The Supreme Court questioned the governments move to reduce the exchange limit of old notes from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000, saying the situation was serious and there could be riots.
As conditions for the poor get worse, outrage is sweeping across the country over the "wedding of the daughter of a millionaire and a member of the ruling party BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), which cost Rs 5 billion (about US$ 74 million). Ordinary folks have no money to eat and weddings have been put off, whilst this politician spent a fortune."
Opposition parties have joined forces against Modi "complaining that not enough lower denominations banknotes have been printed to meet demand."
But the greatest outrage, besides the fact that BJP members knew in advance of the reform and had time to change their own money "is the fact that the Reserve Bank of India decided to write off bad loans for 63 big businesses worth more than Rs 50 trillion (more than US$ 740 billion)."
"How is this possible? Poor farmers can lose everything if they do not pay debts of 2,500 rupees? This makes no sense. Unlike ordinary people, large defaulters continue to live in luxury and travel abroad."
"Farmers are the most disadvantaged because the cooperative banks highly present in rural areas have not been allowed to change banknotes. The government fears that most of the money will be laundered in these banks as the rich use the poor to exchange large sums for them."
Modi once "was a tea seller. Now everyone says that he is making everyone drink 'tea without sugar', that is a bitter tea. He forgot ordinary Indians."
by Christopher Sharma
Prince William also present in the Vietnamese capital to raise public consciousness about the fate of the species at risk of extinction. Kathmandu optimism: "We will reach the targets set four years ahead of time".
Hanoi (AsiaNews) - Experts from around the world gathered yesterday in Hanoi to discuss the protection of wildlife, particularly tigers. Even the British Prince William was present in the Vietnamese capital to raise public consciousness about the fate of the species at risk of extinction.
Among concerns and alarmism, representatives of Nepal revealed that the population of tigers in the country has already increased by 70% and that Kathmandu will reach the targets set four years in advance.
Minister of the Environment, Shankar Bhandari, said that "if all goes well, Nepal is ready to double the tiger population by 2018, four years before the deadline set for 2022. And if we can safeguard tigers, we can also easily protect other species of animals. "
The tiger is one of the animals most at risk of extinction, with fewer than 4 thousand specimens (of which more than half in India). A century ago, the population amounted to 100 thousand individuals. In 2010 in St. Petersburg, 13 countries that are home to big cats in their territory - including Vietnam, Russia, Thailand and Indonesia - have united in a worldwide task force (the "TX2") aiming to double the number of tigers by 2022. Kathmandus aim is to rise from 121 specimens to more than 250.
Despite the good results obtained from Nepal, the experts point out that problems remain. Maheshwor Dhakal, deputy director of the Department of National Parks, said: "The lack of a census carried out with scientific methods and coordination between the various neighboring countries, makes doubling the tiger population more difficult."
Kanchan Thapa, a biologist with WWF Tigers, confirms the optimism of the Nepalese government: "If we maintain this spirit of conservatism in all areas where the tigers are at risk, we will reach the goal by 2018. Other countries are worried by the decline of tigers, but in Nepal there's already been a 70% increase ". This result was achieved mainly thanks to the control of poaching.
by Nina Achmatova
Moscow (AsiaNews) In voting Donald Trump as their next president, the American people have made a choice "for change, according to the head of the External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion. Speaking in an interview with Interfax he reflected on the result of the elections in the United States, where the campaign was characterized by a strong Russian presence, accused of interfering in a different way, in the appointment at the polls.
Hilarion stressed that "the presidential elections are a domestic affair of the USA ", but revealed he had followed the Election Day in the US media such as CNN, "with great interest", where "the commentators were shocked and tried to find an explanation "to the fact that the victory of the Republican candidate over Hillary Clinton was materializing.
"Someone blamed the FBI director, others said that the culprit was Russia," said the Metropolitan, referring to allegations by several parties that Moscow hired hackers to discredit Clinton and her party.
But according to the head of the Russian Patriarchate diplomacy, the most important aspect of this election is "the Middle East question." " American policy in the Middle East, starting from the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and to the recent events in Syria, was, in my view, shortsighted and wrong. Overthrowing the regimes that existed in the Middle Eastern countries one after another, allegedly in the name of democracy, America did not lead the region to democracy or prosperity. On the contrary, it provoked chaos, mass exodus of civilians, genocide of ethnic and religious minorities. Terrorists from the so-called "Islamic State" would not be so successful in Syria and Iraq if they did not get international support".
According to the Metropolitan, "Trump spoke about all these things directly and clearly. He criticized the American government for his Middle Eastern policy, for giving up alliance relations with Russia. And the people of America heard him".
Despite overtures to Moscow expressed - so far in words - by the president elect, Hilarion called for "not to fall into euphoria". " Time will show what kind of president he will be, whether he will fulfill the promises that he gave during the election campaign. But his election gives hope for improvement of the entire system of international relations, for the creation of a unified global coalition against terrorism".
Immediately after the victory of Trump, Patriarch of Moscow Kirill, sent his congratulations to the newly elected Head of State. "The world - Kirill writes in his message - is facing serious challenges today, and the United States of America have an important role to play in responding to them. It is only through the concerted efforts that people can oppose extremism and terrorism and defend the fundamental values of the lofty moral ideals, upon which the human rights and dignity are based".
Donald Trump is a Christian Presbyterian. In his staff that took him to victory, included several Protestant and Orthodox Christians (see photo)
It is the seed of the antichrist, the seed of the enemy". "May the Lord of us all give us the grace of Christian poverty". "May the Lord give us the grace to have this poverty of the workers, those who work and earn a just wage and do not look for more."
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The people, the people of God forgives priests many things, but not love of money, and abuse of the faithful, Pope Francis said at Mass celebrated this morning in Santa Marta - which was attended by the secretaries of the papal nuncios, at the Vatican for the Jubilee of the Collaborators of the Pontifical Representations - taking a cue from the Gospel passage in which Jesus casts merchants out from the Temple because they had turned the house of God, a place of prayer, in a "den of thieves".
Our Lord God, the house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of love. And the money-lord that enters into the house of God, is constantly seeking to enter inside. And those people who were changing money or selling things, they were renting their places, right? from the priests the priests were renting out those places and then received money. This is the lord that can ruin our life and can lead us to end our life in a bad way, without happiness, without the joy of serving the true Lord who is the only one capable of giving us that true joy.
Noting its a personal choice, Pope Francis then asked his listeners: How is your attachment to money? Are you attached to money?
The people of God have a great flair for accepting, for canonizing as well as condemning because the people of God are capable of condemning for forgiving so many weaknesses, so many sins by priests but they cannot forgive two of them: attachment to money, because when they see a priest attached to money, they do not forgive him, and mistreating people, because when a priest mistreats the faithful: the people of God cant accept this and they do not forgive him. The other things, the other weaknesses, the other sins .. yes ok, its not right but the poor man is alone, its this. And they seek to justify (his sins). But their condemnation is not as strong or as definitive: the people of God could understand this. Following the lord of money leads a priest to be the head of a firm or be a prince or we can go even higher
The Pope went on to recall the teraphims, the idols that Jacobs wife Rachel kept hidden, as an example of this attachment to material goods.
Its sad to see a priest whos at the end of his life, hes in agony, hes in a coma and his relatives are there like vultures, looking to see what they can take away. Let us grant this pleasure to the Lord, a true examination of our conscience. Lord, are you my Lord or is it like Rachel these teraphims hidden in my heart, this idol of money? And be courageous: be courageous. Make a choice. Sufficient money like that of an honest worker, sufficient savings like those of an honest worker. But all these financial interests are not permissible, this is idolatry. May the Lord grant us all the grace of Christian poverty.
May the Lord, concluded the Pope, give us the grace of the poverty of working people, those who work and earn a fair wage and who do not seek any more.
Some residents of Gush Etzion write to Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman calling for the return of Khaled Bahars body. The 15-year-old was shot dead during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians. The investigation found that he was not involved in the violence. For Palestinian activist, Israel has invented the post-mortem detention, which can be found nowhere else in the world.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have appealed to Israels defence ministry to hand over the body of a Palestinian youth, shot dead by the army, to his family for burial.
This initiative of the Jewish settlers, supported by some rabbis, is a "positive step" because it goes in the direction of respect for the sacredness of the person "after death" and goes against a decision that "deeply humiliates" families, said Adel Misk, a Palestinian doctor and peace activist
Speaking to AsiaNews, the spokesman of The Parents Circle an association that brings together some 250 Israelis and 250 Palestinians, all families of victims of the conflict hopes that the spirit of the settlers letter will reach the higher echelons of the government and that steps will be taken."
The authors of the appeal, a group of Jewish settlers, including seven rabbis, recently appealed to the Israeli Ministry of Defence to return the body of the young Palestinian man.
Residents of the settlement of Gush Etzion addressed their letter to Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, demanding that the remains of 15-year-old Khaled Bahar (pictured) be handed over to the family for burial.
Bahar was killed on 20 October when Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian stone throwers, and a stray bullet hit the boy. The signatories of the letter say that the army investigation found that Bahar apparently had nothing to do with the stone-throwers.
Among the signatories were the poet Eliaz Cohen and Michal Froman, a young woman who was stabbed by a Palestinian assailant in January at a time when she was pregnant.
We, inhabitants of Gush Etzion, with links to residents of Beit Ummar and neighbouring villages, ask that the family be allowed to bury the young man, the letter reads.
The policy to withhold bodies is a form of collective punishment put in place by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the aftermath of last Junes Tel Aviv attack that left four people dead, and 12 wounded.
The ministers decision has increased tensions in the area. For Adel Misk, Israels policy of detaining the bodies of Palestinians, whether terrorists or innocent victims, is "inhuman" and "unparalleled in the world".
"This is certainly not a barrier to or a deterrent to those who want to blow themselves up or attack Israeli civilians or soldiers. This kind of punishment is, in his view, "absurd.
There are already thousands of (live) Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, but detaining dead ones is something that has no equal in the world."
He points out that "death should entail respect for anyone regardless of religion or nationality. "Bodies must be returned to the families."
The letter by some settlers and rabbis, Adel Misk notes, is a sign of respect for the sacredness of the body, the more so since the 15-year-old Palestinian was an innocent victim.
The problem is the attitude of the Israeli government and authorities who through laws and measures the latest being the bill to legalise land grabs "want to trigger open confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, turning this (political and territorial) conflict into a religious war."
Starting in October 2015, a series of provocations by ultra-Orthodox Jews who went to pray on the Temple Mount after Yom Kippur and Sukkot sparked violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
A year into the knife intifada has resulted in the death of 238 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, a Sudanese, and an Eritrean.
by Loula Lahham
The Egyptian Church leader was welcomed by the apostolic vicar and numerous faithful. Today he baptized and confirmed children in the cathedral of Kuwait-City. Spokesman for the Coptic Church: "The Egyptian Catholics abroad know little about their mother church, this is why the patriarch wants to be close to them." The Catholic Church in Kuwait has about 200 thousand faithful, mostly migrants from Asian and Arab countries.
Kuwait City (AsiaNews) - The Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Copts, the largest Egyptian Catholic community, began his first pastoral visit to Kuwait, which will end on November 20.
Upon arriving at the airport, the patriarch said he was very happy to visit the country for the first time: "Thousands of different nationalities and faiths live in this state, known for its religious tolerance. The Egyptian community is very well received in Kuwait. For many of them, it is a second home country. "
The patriarch was welcomed by Msgr. Camillo Balin, apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia, Fr. Angelus Massoud, curate of the Coptic Catholic Church in Kuwait, the priest of the Maronite Church, the Protestant Church and some Coptic Catholic parishioners.
In his welcome speech, Fr. Massoud, who joined the vicariate in 2006, said that "this visit is of particular importance because Kuwait is the gulf country that welcomes most Egyptians, including the Coptic Catholics who take full advantage of the atmosphere of religious and cultural tolerance ".
In addition to his meetings with the authorities and with religious leaders - to deepen dialogue between faiths - yesterday patriarch Isaac chaired a High Mass in the Cathedral of the Holy Family, where he gathered a large number of faithful. Today he baptized and confirmed many children belonging to the Kuwaiti parish.
Fr. Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt, spoke to AsiaNews about the importance of the visit: "The new generations of Egyptians abroad know little about their mother Church. For this reason, His Beatitude considered it a must to help the parishioners of the diaspora. It was in this context that the patriarch made two tours in the USA, one in Australia, and several in Europe. Now he heads to the east, towards the Gulf countries that welcome millions of Egyptians of all religions".
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac asked for a special audience with the Emir of Kuwait to thank him for his reception, and congratulate him for the tributemade him by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-mon, who called the emir a "leader of humanitarian action".
The Catholic Church in Kuwait has about 200 thousand faithful mostly migrants, the majority from Asia, but also from Arab countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Palestine. This community is part of the Episcopal Vicariate of Northern Arabia, which also includes the Church of Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi. The current cathedral of Kuwait-City was built on land provided by the Kuwaiti government in 1957.
More than 100 university and college presidents signed an open letter to President-Elect Donald Trump asking him to condemn hateful acts across the nation. Wells College President Jonathan Gibralter was one of those signatures.
"In light of your pledge to be 'President for all Americans,' we urge you to condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate, and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across our nation, sometimes in your name which is now synonymous with our nation's highest office," the letter reads. "In our schools, on job sites and college campuses, on public streets and in our coffee shops, members of our communities, our children, our families, our neighbors, our students, and our employees are facing very real threats, and are frightened."
The signers state they look for "common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict," and request Trump to "protect and empower the most vulnerable."
"As President-elect, this responsibility rests heavily on you," the letter adds. "Let this be a mark of your leadership."
Some of the other colleges and universities, who signed the letter include Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Wesleyan University, Vassar College, University of Dallas and Colgate University.
According to a Wells College spokesperson, Gibralter's commitment to community-building through respectful and meaningful communications have brought him to the national level as a leader in higher education. With degrees from the State University of New York Binghamton and Syracuse University, he has long-time connections with central New York.
The Istanbul judiciary has issued an arrest warrant for a hundred teachers from the Technical University of Yildiz. They are accused of sympathizing with the Islamic preacher Gulen. In Mardin, in the southeast of the country, two mayors removed on charges of corruption. One of them is an Aramean Christian woman. Both have been replaced by an official close to Ankara.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) - This morning the Turkish judiciary issued an arrest warrant against 103 university professors from a university in Istanbul. The measure is part of the context of the investigation launched by the authorities against (alleged) members and sympathizers of the movement headed by the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
According to the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the government he is the mastermind of the coup which killed 270 people, with thousands injured.
According to reports from the television channel NTV, the ongoing inquiry concerns the Technical University of Yildiz.
A report published in Hurriyet newspaper says at least 70 teachers have already been arrested. The operation involves several teams of police and security agents, located in different points of the metropolis. More arrests are expected later in the day.
In the aftermath of the failed coup dEtat in Turkey last July, President Erdogan and the Turkish government have launched a campaign of repression against its alleged perpetrators. These include supporters of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, believed to have masterminded the coup that left 270 people dead, and thousands wounded.
Thus far, Turkish authorities have arrested tens of thousands of people, including teachers, soldiers, intellectuals, opposition politicians, businessmen, journalists, activists and ordinary citizens.
Government repression has been particularly ferocious against the most important pro-Kurdish opposition party, the People Democratic Party (HDP), whose leaders were recently arrested.
Yesterday, on the orders of the Turkish Ministry for the Interior, police deposed and removed Ahmet Turk and Februniye Akyol, the two co-mayors of Mardin, a city in the southeast of the country in an area inhabited by Turks, Arabs and Kurds.
Local sources said that police notified them of the termination of their mandate, forcibly removing them from their office. The city has been entrusted pro tempore to the governor of Mardin, Mustafa Yaman.
Februniye Akyol is of Aramean origin and was the first female Christian Aramean in Turkish history to be elected and hold a high administrative office, in spite of her religion and ethnicity. Today she was set to attend a public meeting in Italy, to speak about the condition of Aramaic communities, women and Christians in the Middle East in the context of the review "Many faiths under the same sky."
According to the indictment - although there is no evidence - the two senior municipal officials are under investigation for corruption and embezzlement. Local sources said that the charges are just an excuse to remove them and replace them with an official welcome to the central government.
The US Presidential Elections of 2016 was touted to be one of watched and discussed event in the world. It was the battle of Gladiators in which a reality businessman like Donald J Trump was pitted against the Hillary R Clinton who is deeply entrenched in the establishment and having links to Wall Street. The US Presidential Election process is a long drawn one where two parties democrats and the republicans field contenders for the post who jostle for the popular vote among the electorate and whoever takes it then faces the nominated candidate of the other party or the incumbent president. In the election of 2016, Hillary Clinton representing the Democratic Party trounced the democratic socialist Bernie Sanders to win the party nomination and be in an election face-off with Donald Trump who as an outsider fighting on Republican tickets outed nearly 13 candidates to reach coveted nomination at Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. In this sense, this election was just not another election but the battle of Gladiators between establishment favourite Hillary Clinton and the outsider Donald Trump.
In run up to the election day November 8, 2016, both the candidates were dogged in controversy Hillary Clinton in the never-ending email server saga and the groping allegations that surfaced against Donald Trump on making lewd sexual advances on various women that caused such an outcry that it nearly made Trumps rating plummet to all time low in polls. On the contrary, Hillary Clinton was dogged by the email server scandal which haunted her throughout her campaign and even led to her deposition before the US Congress in Benghazi Committee hearing. The email scandal was constantly in the headlines due to WikiLeaks dumping the emails of John Podesta (campaign chief of Hilary Clinton) and DNC which gave revealing accounts as to the internal workings of the Democratic Party and the media nexuses. The DNC leak by WikiLeaks blew up in face of the Clinton campaign which showed how the DNC Chief Debbie Wassermann Shultz conspired to make sure Bernie Sanders is denied Democratic Party nomination with unfavourable press discrediting his ideas which ultimately lead to her resignation at DNC Chief. Later the Podesta Leaks bombshell revealed how Clinton campaign managed an agreement with Bernie sanders to call quits and back way her for a presidential run and eventual endorsement by Senator Sanders. Podesta leaks also showed how media houses like CNN and its prominent anchors fixed the line of questioning or interviewing with Clinton Campaign for Donald Trump.
Hillary Clinton lead the popular vote getting 48% i.e. 62,115,634 votes while Donald Trump got 47.1% vote with 61,003,417 votes which are nearly 11 Lac votes more than him but yet Donald Trump went on to win the Electoral College comprehensively with 290 to 232 EVs.
The Email leaks by WikiLeaks on DNC & later Podestas emails did substantial damage to Hillary Clinton who was already facing credibility deficit with voters. The FBI Investigations into email scandal though closed in July 2016 did not let the issue die down. The ghost of email servers once again came to haunt Hillary Clinton when FBI Director James Comey wrote a letter to the US Congress on 29th October 2016 stating that the latest batch of emails discovered from the laptop of Clintons aid Huma Abedin and his estranged husband Anthony Weiner warrants re-opening or examination of Clinton email saga. The bombshell of reopening email investigations by FBI Director James Comey wiped out the lead which Hillary Clinton had in polls closing the race between the two candidates. Though FBI finally 48 hours before the election day gave Hillary Clinton clean chit in the latest batch of emails yet it sank the message and the narrative of the Clinton campaign what they had tried to build over last few months on the groping allegations on Donald Trump. The election campaign which had crossed all barriers of sanity was further mired by allegations of Russian involvement in propping up Donald Trump by hacking DNC emails and getting it dumped via WikiLeaks. Ironically the US Intelligence and administration categorically blamed Russia for the hacking, while Donald Trump soft-footed on Russia by praising Putins leadership and raising questions on NATO alliance being outdated.
The election process in the US began weeks ahead with many states like Florida, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina etc opening up for early voting based on their federal laws. Finally, the US went to polls on 08th November 2016 by the end of which most polls were showing Clinton ahead 3-5% of Donald Trump with once exception of LA Times tracker which consistently showed Donald Trump ahead. As the results started trickling it what seemed impossible few months back was now a reality than an outsider like Donald Trump from Republican party triumphed defeating Hillary Clinton convincingly so much so that the Blue Wall of Democrats in the North East US of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania breached as these turned red after decades fading away any remote chance Clinton had to be the first Woman President of the United States. The election results in the US Presidential Polls 2016 has severely damaged the credibility of mainstream media like CNN, NY Times etc who not only openly endorsed Hillary Clinton but failed to gauge the popular mood or the undercurrent of Change that propelled Donald Trump to victory.
The election result of Donald Trump trouncing Hillary Clinton is worth analysis as to voting pattern which reveals a lot about US Politics, Demographics and what critical role it might play out in the decades ahead. It was generally estimated that Hillary Clinton would carry Obama Coalition of 2012 (Hispanics, Blacks, Asian Americans & Working White class) and add White woman voters from Republican Party basing on the groping allegation on Donald Trump. With widespread anger in the rust belt in North East US, the Obama coalition of 2012 totally unravelled with working white class who were ignored and left out of American development story chose to vote for the outsider Donald Trump. Hence, states like Ohio, Iowa, and Pennsylvania some traditionally democratic leaning states switched to Republicans with big margins. With White working class flipping over in the Rust Belt it was even more imperative for the Clinton to shore up the base and hope to add a surge of Hispanics, Blacks and White woman in states like Nevada, Florida and North Carolina to see her through. The final numbers as we would see going ahead reveal that Clinton strategy to expand the voting base failed to yield desired results for her.
However, the major blow to Hillary Clintons campaign was the white working Class vote in states like Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania some of which were democrat leaning state. The over pandering of minorities and lack of jobs in the rust belt made critical states in the North East US flip to republican side making possible for Donald Trump to win this election by a slender margin. The said fact is further corroborated as the Democrats polled nearly 62 million votes down 7 million from 69 Million in 2008 & 66 million in 2012, while the Republicans more or less polled their vote base from 60 million in 2008 to 61 Million in 2012 and 61 million in 2016. This exhibits that it is democrats who polled less for multiple reasons like trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton, email scandals, Obama care premiums, FBI Investigations & more importantly anti-establishment catalyst like Donald Trump against a perceivably biased Media. Hence the US Election 2016 was won by Donald Trump by one of the slenderest margins in history. This can be explained if we look into numbers of some key states like Wisconsin (10 Evs), Michigan (16 Evs), Pennsylvania (20 EVs) & New Hampshire (4 Evs) were Hillary Clinton had a difference collectively of mere 1,07,000 votes and only managed to win New Hampshire by a margin of 0.3%. In the end, Clinton lost swing states like Pennsylvania by 1.2%, Ohio (18 Evs) by a Landslide of 9% and states in Blue Wall like Michigan by 0.3% and Wisconsin by 1.2% which sealed her fate. The extrapolation of various numbers from gender to race to demographics only state end result with Hillary Clinton underperforming in critical battleground states and Donald Trump hitting the right formula to secure a majority of 270 in the electoral college.
To understand the dynamics of the US Poll Results 2016 it is imperative to delve into numbers and see what end result accounts for. After the majority of counting, Hillary Clinton lead the popular vote getting 48% i.e. 62,115,634 votes while Donald Trump got 47.1% vote with 61,003,417 votes which are nearly 11 Lac votes more than him but yet Donald Trump went on to win the Electoral College comprehensively with 290 to 232 EVs. This can be further explained as we dig deeper into nos from various Exit Polls and Results which reveal that Donald Trump leads the White vote by 63% to 31% among white man and 53% to 43% among White woman. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton secured 80% vote among Black men and 94% among Black Woman, 62% among Latino Man and 68% among Latino women, 65% of Asian Americans. Hillary Clinton game of demographics failed to clinch the electoral college primarily because the Obama coalition of 2012 failed to deliver on a voting day. The numbers of African Americans for Hillary Clinton actually came down from 92% under Obama in 2008 to 88% in 2016 taking away a huge chunk of vote bank in diverse states which made the race even tighter. This issue was further compounded by White uneducated voter swing of -20% for Democrats since 2008 and the fact that even White woman voters whom Hillary Clinton hoped to turn up for her voted for Donald Trump being traditionally a Republican vote bank. Hillary Clinton and the democrats hoped that Hispanics would turn out in large numbers in states like Florida, Nevada and North Carolina to give her the presidency but to their dismay Hispanic surge had limited effect in states like Nevada and the Hispanic vote in Florida was split as White Hispanics and the Cubans in Florida are traditionally Republican voters and voted for Donald Trump.
It is essential to study the numbers because they tell the real story and the patterns as Clinton lead in Urban Areas while Trump leads in Rural areas. Trump lead by big margins in White dominated areas and White voters which show a distinct pattern of majority consolidation in countenance to the fear mongering by Democrats pandering to minorities like Hispanics, African Americans. This election in an unstated way is an assertion of majority identity against politically correct and corrupt establishment that has failed to deliver to its voters election after election. The silent assertion of White identity is not only reflective of victory of Donald Trump but also the politicking by Democrats and left liberals who are equally to equally blame for fear mongering and political correctness which made Trumps frank speak on Islamic terrorism and political corruption more convincing in wake of erupting scandals of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. The racial fault lines which had healed in 2008 with a large victory for first Black President of the United States have once again erupted with protest erupting across cities in the United States like New York, Miami, California etc where thousands have marched saying Donald Trump, not my President. It has been alleged that these protests have been orchestrated by George Soros who backed Hillary Clinton and contributed to Clinton campaign. It has been revealed by Politico that Billionaire George Soros organisation Democracy Alliance held a close door session to chalk out a plan with Donors, liberals and Union leaders to oppose the Trump Presidency on likely reforms it could make on legacy issues of President Obama. These protests have been followed by clashes and sporadic racial violence in the US further deepening the fault lines since this election campaign began. The demonization of Donald Trump by Liberals and the support of evangelicals to him (nearly 81%) have returned the spectre of White Supremacy which we had predicted in our book The New Global Order as the likely consequence of the 2016 US Presidential Election.
The demonization of Donald Trump by Liberals and the support of evangelicals to him (nearly 81%) have returned the spectre of White Supremacy which we had predicted in our book The New Global Order as the likely consequence of the 2016 US Presidential Election.
The Religious right in America of Evangelicals and Catholics overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. The evangelicals who are 26% of the American electorate and nearly 81% of them voted for Donald Trump as per the data available, despite reservations about Donald Trump of Misogyny, racism etc. while only 16% voted for Hillary Clinton. Catholics, who are 23% of the electorate, supported Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by 52 percent to 45 percent. White Catholics voted for him in far greater proportions than Hispanic Catholics, who favoured Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by, 67 to 26%. The evangelicals and Catholics who form part of the religious right in America overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump hoping he will appoint a conservative Supreme Court Justice, Defund Plan Parenthood, remove affordable care act to remove birth control and his stand against abortions some of which Hillary Clinton has actively campaigned for through her NGOs and otherwise. The trends and the voting pattern in the American Election 2016 further corroborate the resurgence of the Religious Right which could ultimately lead to deepening of racial fault lines in the US and the rise of White Supremacy in decades ahead. Robert P Jones of Public Religious Research Institute has commented on the rise of the Religious Right in US Poll Results, The wall of white Christian voters held.
A Trump presidency would invariably lead to aggressive Christian and Evangelist growth and activity across the regions of the world looking for new greener pastures.
The rise of the religious right in form of White Supremacy is further underscored with Vice President-elect Mike Pence the running mate of President-elect Donald J Trump. In a recent post at Intercept, a leading website has stated that Mike Pence is a Devout Evangelical, who has steadfastly supported the movement to Defund Planned Parenthood, Abolish ALCA, and Blocking LGTB Rights. It also discloses the links between Mike Pence and Erik Prince the former CEO of Blackwater Inc who has trained a mercenary private army to fight in conflict zones across the world from the Middle East to Africa. It details in depth as to how Mike Pence and Erik Prince have contributed to the causes of religious right centred around the interpretation of Christianity. The same ideology has also been espoused by Roman Catholic Church and this only shows how deep the links are between the American administration and the Deep State which we have vividly covered in our book The New Global Order. It is also worth pointing out here that one of Donald Trumps foreign policy advisor is Walid Phares (earlier adviser to Mitt Romney in 2012) whose past has been mired with ideologically backing and abetting the rise of Christian Militias in Lebanon in the 1980s targeting the Druze and Muslim population in Lebanon sectarian strife. A Trump presidency would invariably lead to aggressive Christian and Evangelist growth and activity across the regions of the world looking for new greener pastures. This is just a glimpse and we shall cover the rising trend of Christian militias in our further posts.
The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States is bound to have ramification around the world and more so its foreign policy. The unexpected win of Donald Trump has unnerved many of the American NATO allies and the allies in Pacific & Gulf region given the tough positions Donald Trump took in his campaign on the US Funding of NATO, Soft Stance towards Putins Russia and his commitment to Climate Deal and last but not the least Muslim ban which caused flutters with American allies in the Gulf like Saudi Arabia. However, the most critical issue before a Trump presidency would be how he deals with Russia & Assad with respect to Syrian Civil War that has killed millions and displaced equal no of people as refugees in far off lands. While Trump ostensibly has a good opinion of Vladimir Putin given his constant praise for the Russian leader and his links to Russia through advisors like Paul Manafort in respect of Ukrainian Conflict, his room for manoeuvrability remains to be tested amid pressure from Middle Eastern allies and the deep state that operates independently of the administration. Under a Trump Presidency, the US is more than likely to work with Russia in sorting out the mess in Syria with the political transition which is acceptable to all. This reset between the US & Russia however limited could provide future avenues for co-operation in shaping the geopolitics in Asia Pacific especially the Far East in respect to China. We have elucidated upon this in our book The New Global Order.
A Trump Administration will also have to come to face the prospect of rising tide of Right-Wing Nationalism in NATO Allies like France, Germany & Italy where anti-immigration wave is powering right wing parties like of Maria Le Pen in France that rails against the very idea of leftists liberals on the lines of what happened in the US Elections of 2016 or Brexit earlier on. The spectre of an aggressive Russia, coupled with rising right-wing nationalism in France, Germany and Italy will present a whole new challenge to American establishment as to how it sustains its sphere of influence which is gradually being challenged across the EU & the world. The United States under Trump Presidency will also have to deal with Hybrid warfare that has been unleashed by Russia in Europe and to a good extent in the US as was visible in the US Elections 2016. The Deep State in the US which works independently is more than likely to work in tandem with Religious right in the US to spread Christianity and Evangelist movement across the green pastures available in countries like China, India and Africa who are ripe for pickings.
While there are challenges that Trump Presidency will face on the Trans-Atlantic in Europe the bigger challenge which he will face is how to contain the Chinese Dragon and its quiet but creeping takeover of the Asia Pacific region. The flip-flop of Philippines and the issue of South China Sea will continue to test the US Foreign Policy and commitments to its allies in respect of freedom of navigation of seas. Though after being elected as President, Donald Trump has signalled his intent to back Japan against China and back South Koreas defence commitments yet countries like Japan could soon under Shinzo Abe revise its pacifist constitution and rearm itself in wake of rising regional threats and receding American might. Donald Trump detente with Vladimir Putins Russia could signal a reversal of roles of the 1970s with China at receiving end this time. The Chinese who have constantly disregarded Russian Elites being deeply Eurocentric and have charted out their own way to stake a claim for leading the Global Order eventually in times ahead. Donald Trump decision to withdraw out of TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) could further help bolster Chinas standing and reliability in the Asia Pacific region. With the rise of Chinese Dragon in the Far East, the detente between the US & Russia will become even more critical to maintain the balance.
Similarly, Donald Trump has viewed India very favourably with sections of NRI and Hindu Community openly backing him during the campaign for a strong stance against Pakistan and Islamic extremism that emanates in the region and the world. Since the US & India have already signed a strategic partnership and military and defence agreements like DTTI & LEMOA. We could expect further strengthening of ties between India & the US in respect of Indian Ocean Region when it comes to Navy, aircraft carriers and freedom of navigation of seas. While coming of Donald Trump as next President of US means a good news India yet it remains to be seen how he conducts his foreign policy viz-a-viz the deep state which has huge interests in the Af-Pak region. Donald Trumps policy in West Asia specifically viz Saudi Arabia and Israel-Palestine dispute will be keenly watched given that Israels Right Wing party Likud under Benjamin Netanyahu would seek better ties with America under Trump than what Obama could deliver in last 8 years. In this sense Asia Pacific will be the key test to the US Foreign Policy and Donald Trump would have to calibrate accordingly as cancellation of TPP or Withdrawal from Climate treaty is likely to give a head start to China leaving a question on American leadership in the region and its reliability as a security provider.
The Ascent of Donald Trump is indeed a seminal moment not only in the US domestic politics but also geopolitics. The rise of Donald Trump could fuel the racial divide leading to contrarian rise of White Supremacy which could spark civil strife in the United States. A Trump presidency could make America turn more protectionist abrogating TPP, Climate treaty and cracking down on outsourcing to boost local manufacturing and jobs. Prospect of renegotiating NAFTA or building a wall on Mexico border could further test the US Foreign Policy, including the deportation of illegal immigrants and bigger checks on the entry of Syrian Refugees. Donald Trump will also be faced with the prospect of rising gun violence and NRA lobby which backed him in the campaign. While the US could face a host of internal turbulence, the foreign policy of Trump Presidency would be equally tested in conflicts like Syria, Lawless Libya, and Tragic Yemen or a Nuclear North Korea and other hot zones in Africa and Af-Pak. A Trump presidency is also likely to be tested on the delicate on the dance of power between Wall Street, Establishment and the presidency. But how a Trump Presidency stands for American values of freedom, liberty and democracy could very well define the way forward for the US & the World. With the election of President Donald J Trump in November 2016, the ship has truly sailed on what promises to be an enthralling journey amid the storms and turbulence before the calm returns.
Kanye West Says He'd Have Voted For Trump, If He Voted At All
Trending News: Kanye Shared Some... Interesting Thoughts On Trump And Racism
Long Story Short
In a long, rambling, bizarre pause in his first show of the second leg of his Saint Pablo tour, Kanye West told his audience that he didnt vote, but would have voted for Donald Trump if hed bothered.
Long Story
Kanye West, never noted for his retiring personality, gave a very puzzling endorsement of the USAs President-elect Donald Trump. Speaking during one of many pauses during his performance in San Jose, West also admitted he didnt cast a vote.
I said something that was kind of politically correctI told yall I didnt vote, right? But I didnt tell youI guess I told youbut if I would have voted, I would have voted for Trump, he says. The crowd, probably more than a little surprised, begins to boo.
Kanye then just goes on and on and on. By some accounts, he talked politics for over an hour. (Pitchfork transcribed much of what he said. Its long and much of it is absurd, but if you like that stuff, go for it.)
Kanye now playing Blood on the Leaves. There have been 13 stops, about 1 hour of ranting so far. Raptor (@RaptorJesuss) November 18, 2016
The same man who in 2005 said George W. Bush doesnt care about black people said that black people today should stop focusing on racism.
Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism, he said. This world is racist, OK? Lets stop being distracted to focus on that as much. Its just a fucking fact. We are in a racist country, period. Do not allow people to make us talk about that so fucking long. Lets talk about whatever the fuck you wanna talk about. Lets stop talking about that, bro. Its racist, OK?
West appeared not so much to endorse Trumps ideas, such as forcing Muslims to register themselves and banning their entry into the country, building a wall to keep illegal immigrants out, threatening to upend longstanding alliances in Europe and Asia, rejuvenating the coal industry, denying climate change, restricting access to abortion, tearing up trade deals and imposing heavy and likely economically damaging tariffs on Chinese imports, so much as he seems to have been bedazzled by his unorthodox campaign style.
Theres non-political methods to speaking that I like, that I feel were very futuristic, he said. And that style, and that method of communication, has proven that it can beat a politically correct way of communication. And I fuck with that.
Kanye also repeated his promise to run for president in 2020.
The Internet, btw, wasnt that thrilled with Ye.
i hate the new kanye, the always rude kanye, spaz the news kanye.. i miss the sweet kanye, the i don't support trump kanye (@kayyebby) November 18, 2016
Kanye 2005: George Bush doesn't care about black people Kanye 2016: President Trump has good ideas on how to exterminate Muslim Americans Hussain (@Chemzes) November 18, 2016
Kanye the musician is great
Kanye the person is trash It's really like two different people Isaac Night (@IsaacNight13) November 18, 2016
I miss the old Kanye. pic.twitter.com/8bQNScmnm0 Ronald Rios (@ronaldrios) November 18, 2016
Kanye has been ranting about politics for like the last 30 minutes and people are booing and throwing stuff ???? Adithya Prabhakaran (@adithyaiscool) November 18, 2016
Own The Conversation
Ask The Big Question
When will we as a society reach peak Kanye?
Drop This Fact
Reddit user Dorian_Yes remix of Kanyes The Life of Pablo, called The Life of Paul, is also driving hip hop world crazy.
Toxic blue-green algae this year overpowered 70 New York lakes and 52 ponds, striking Owasco Lake so bad health officials detected toxins in drinking water headed to Auburn.
Save Our Streams, a project of the Izaak Walton League of America, reports that more than half of the streams tested in the United States are polluted with bacteria and carcinogenic chemicals, making them too dirty to support healthy populations of fish or too hazardous for people to swim in or not safe enough as a source of drinking water.
Under the Clean Water Act, every state is supposed to monitor all its waterways, to present their findings to the public and to restore polluted water. This is how Save Our Streams found New York measures up to these responsibilities: Transparency, F; site-specific information, F; age of data, F; frequency of sampling, C+; water quality standards, D+; volunteer engagement, D+; final grade, D. (www.iwla.org/SaveOur Streams)
If things continue as they are now, the question is not if but when will America's water become undrinkable. In the meantime, people and animals continue to suffer from polluted water, and environmental quality will continue to deteriorate. Is this the legacy we will leave to future generations?
Joel Freedman
Canandaigua
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Global firm Clyde & Co has signed as an anchor tenant at 333 George Street in Sydneys central business hub.The London-headquartered firm has signed the agreement with Charter Hall's Prime Office Fund for the long-term lease of over 4,185 square metres, according to a report from The Sydney Morning Herald.The firms space will be across levels nine to 12 in the premium development which is nearing practical completion, the report added. Clyde & Co will also house its client reception on level 15 which features an outdoor terrace.Clyde & Co opened its first Australian offices in Sydney and Perth in October 2012 after recruiting a specialist insurance team from Allens In September 2013, the firms Melbourne office was opened after the lateral hire of a infrastructure, transportation and international trade expertise specialist team comprise of lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons, Norton Rose and HWL Ebsworth In October 2014, the firm opened its Brisbane office with the lateral hire of three insurance and commercial litigation specialist partners from Sparke Helmore . This February, five partners and 25 lawyers from Australian insurance boutique law firm Lee & Lyons joined Clyde & Cos Sydney office.The firms Australian operation includes 23 partners and more than 120 legal staff in the four cities they operate out of. According to the firm in September, the Sydney office has more than doubled in head count since January 2016This move will allow our Sydney team to improve the flow of information and collaboration across our growing practices, Australia managing partner John Edmond said of the transfer to 333 George Street.The move will also further cement our brand in the Sydney legal marketplace and is evidence of our ambitions in Australia more generally following our recent move into new premises in Melbourne, at 140 William Street, which were officially launched on 1 June, he added.Clyde & Co expects to operate from its new office in Sydney by January 2017.
Public prosecutors in South Australia spent nearly $1 million briefing out matters to private counsel last year because of a persistent shortage in in-house counsel, Parliament has been told.The States Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) noted in its 2015-16 annual report that it spent $953,890 briefing out matters to the private bar, a 30.5% increase in costs compared to last year.For 2015-16, the office briefed private lawyers on 140 matters, down from the 185 the office briefed out in 2014-15 when it spend $730,850 on outside counsel. In 2013-14 the DPP spent $375,731 to brief out 76 matters while in 2012-13, it spend $492,876 to brief out 118 matters.However, the report is quick to note that the cost includes briefing external counsel for a significant ongoing matter and a High Court matter. These two matters, it said, represented almost 20% of the total 2015-16 briefing out costs.The office briefs external counsel when there is no in-house trial counsel available. However, increasingly it is becoming more difficult to cover trials in the Supreme and District Courts with in-house counsel. This trend has continued since the latter half of 2013-14, the report said.The resultant significant costs associated with that level of briefing out adversely affects the budget of the office. In 2015-16, additional funding was provided to assist in the briefing out associated with the significant ongoing matter, it added.The DPP said, however, that it is examining the financial modelling that optimises briefing out and internal sourcing using one recommendation from a review and the expertise of the Attorney-Generals office.The outcome of that financial analysis and the recommended model will be implemented to ensure that the office is efficiently utilising internal and external resources for trial work, it said.
A 56-year-old solicitor from New Yorkshire, England has been meted an eight-year prison sentence for charges of fraud and money laundering.Stephen Pickard, from Harrogate, along with three other men have been sentenced a combined total of 34 years in jail after convictions stemming from investment scams that stole more than 5 million (about $8.25 million).The other men convicted includes Keith Wharton who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court. The man who previously lived in Tadcaster and Spain was convicted of five counts of fraud and a count of obtaining money by false representation.Also sentenced was Keith Whartons son, 34-year-old Lee Wharton. The man who more recently has been living in Leeds was convicted of money laundering and received seven years imprisonment.Fifty-two-year-old Simon Kippax, also from Harrogate, got seven years for Fraud and a Regulatory Offence.Stephen, a solicitor who worked from a large Leeds solicitor firm Lupton Fawcett, acted as gatekeeper for the older Wharton in one of three fraud schemes, the North Yorkshire Police said in a statement. The solicitor was used to give credibility to the scheme and made false claims about Whartons track record and wealth.Wharton began offering investment in land, mainly in Panama through an investment club, in 2006. He promised the lands value would double in a years time. In three years, thirty investors were fleeced out of 2.4 million (about $3.96 million), the North Yorkshire Police said.The money was used by the Whartons to fund a lavish lifestyle, the authorities said, and no land was ever bought. Some victims were left impoverished because of the fraud.In 2009, the older Wharton conned a retired businessman out of 1 million (about $1.65 million). After this scheme, the Whartons recruited professionals including Pickard and conned about a dozen investors out of 1.7 million (about $2.8 million) between early 2010 and August 2010. A further 500,000 was stolen by the group in 2011 from investors.In a statement, Richard Marshall, Lupton Fawcetts managing director, renounced Pickards offending.We are dismayed that Pickard misused and abused the good name of our firm; he did so without our knowledge or authority. Once we became aware of the seriousness of the misuse we made our regulators aware of Pickards unauthorised actions and he departed the firm shortly thereafter, Marshall said.At no point was our firm in any way involved in Pickards offence. I and my fellow directors are appalled at Pickards conduct and very much regret his former association with our firm and the damage done to those affected by his criminal activities, he added.
Top Australian firms this week have confirmed deals which saw them work alongside global peers. Ashurst and Allens worked alongside American BigLaw Latham & Watkins in a milestone bonds issuance for a major Chinese state-owned enterprise. Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd., through a wholly-owned Singapore-incorporated subsidiary, issued US$355 million (about $472 million) in zero coupon bonds in a transaction that closed 15 November.The bonds are exchangeable for about 65 million shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., an iron ore producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange . This deal is the first ever cross-border exchangeable bond issuance in Australia and the first equity-linked transaction to come out from Australia since 2013.Meanwhile, Herbert Smith Freehills advised Beijing Gas Group on its first major investment in the Russian energy market through agreements with Russian state-owned company Rosneft. Highlighting the importance of the deal to both China and Russia, the transactions were signed on 7 November during a meeting between the prime ministers of Russia and China in St. Petersburg.Also this week, Clifford Chance continued its strong track record in Additional Tier 1 issuances, acting for the underwriters of China Cinda Asset Management's issuance of US$3.2 billion in aggregate principal amount (about $4.25 billion) of 4.45% noncumulative perpetual offshore preference shares.Other deals confirmed this week involves King & Wood Mallesons and Allens acting on the first acquisitions of a $3-billion Australian renewables fund, Thomson Geer helping an Australian biotechnology firm developing a possible anti-cancer drug raise capital, Ashurst advising in a major exploration and production firm acquisition and KWM acting for a private equity firm expanding its travel portfolio.
Hi,
Need help. I submitted partner visa application 17 months ago. Just received email from immigration advising that 'information has been received that you entered into a contrived relationship with your sponsor for the sole purpose of gaining permanent residence in Australia'. I have not had an interview, nor have they given any information to support the allegation. The allegation is quite unfounded. They asked that I not respond to email but post on my immi account if I want to reply. They have given me 28 days to reply. I do not know what to do. Spoke with immigration lawyer but they want significant fee to help. Anyone got any advice. Tks in advance.
Jum
LittleOne said: Congrats to you!! You are the second person I have read that has had their october 2015 820 approved.... I am low risk...and still waiting from September 2015 - the suspense is killing me haha. I hope to be celebrating soon too! All the best to you Click to expand...
Hi Little One!Fingers crossed it's any day now! We got a notification in July that it's moved in the queue and to make sure everything's uploaded, that's our only correspondence from them. We then added Form 80 and most recently Marriage Certificate, so not sure if that helped it along!Good luck!!
It was via Mark Northam I got 2 quotes - one around $1,800 the other around the $1K mark but it was lots of documents for fiance and 2 kids.
P.S. some we never submitted, but we needed translated to see if they were relevant.
Dear all,
I need an expert advice please. I applied for australian visa 4 months back and the assessment is still pending.
During the last 4 months i searched internet and found more better option in Newzealand. As that is more relevant to my field and giving me more practical opportunity as well.
Now i want to apply there, Please tell me do i have right to apply for student visa in Newzealand with a pending case in Australia. However i will withdraw my case from Australia as soon as i get visa from Newzealand.
Most of the consultants are saying 'No'. They are saying withdraw the case first and then apply in Newzealand. I am willing to do so as well.
But it's better to have a safe side
Thanks
Jeeps EcoSport rival to come with 4WD hardware; spawn a Fiat derivative as well.
Iconic off-road maker Jeep is working on getting a compact SUV to India. An SUV that will be a direct rival to the EcoSport, this new compact vehicle, however, will not just be a poser. "It will be a real Jeep," according to company boss Mike Manley, "and not something with a Jeep badge on the back. It will have real capability and be a true trail-rated vehicle, meaning it will have real off-road skills." The company acknowledges that the real challenge here will be packaging. Jamming in all the off-road hardware, making the car spacious on the inside and still keeping the car under four metres is not a challenge to be trifled with. It could mean the off-roader in question has quite an upright stance and making it ride and drive well in addition will be extremely challenging.
The small Jeep in question will slot in below the Renegade into the A or super-compact segment in Europe, and Jeep is keen to take the car to Brazil. The compact off-roader being worked on (codenamed Jeep 526) will share its underpinnings with a similar-size Fiat compact SUV, also very likely to make it to our market, and will come with Fiat engines and transmissions. Styling could follow the rectangular proportions of the Renegade and have clear echoes of the earliest Jeeps, especially the round headlamps and the seven-slot grille. Like the Compass, India is likely to be one of the first markets for this compact SUV and India could even be the mother plant for the same. To help drive down the price, Jeep could even leverage Tata and share the platform, engines and transmissions with them.
The compact SUV isn't expected anytime before 2018 and Jeep will need a stronger network to help serve such a car better.
Also read:
Jeep Compass India bound mid- 2017
Jeep Grand Cherokee, Wrangler petrol coming next month
General Motors Co.'s turnaround effort will come under fresh scrutiny Monday as the company reports financial results, but one part of the strategy appears to be working: China.
GM's sales are expected to have doubled in China during the third quarter compared with a year earlier, and are now running neck and neck with the Detroit auto maker's sales in the U.S. The company's 478,000 vehicle sales in China helped GM remain a relevant player on the global auto stage, andmore importantlyprovided much-needed profit for GM's international operation, according to a person familiar with the results.
Although not expected to be exhaustive, the auto maker's third-quarter results will provide the most comprehensive look at the company's financial health since it filed for bankruptcy-court protection in June. The company is to update its cash position, indicate how close it is to earning money in North America, and update its progress on restructuring Adam Opel GmbH in Europe.
But for GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, the most positive story lies in China, where government-sponsored sales incentives and the popularity of the Wuling microvan venture GM partially owns lifted the company's auto sales 34% in the first nine months of 2009 compared with a year earlier. GM's share of that market has increased as well, climbing to 13.4% in the third quarter from 12% a year earlier and cushioning the company's lead over its rivals.
GM's China business, which wasn't included in bankruptcy-court proceedings in the U.S., is actually composed of a web of joint ventures with Chinese auto makers. Profits are spread across those partnerships, and to other parts of GM's organization, such as GM-Daewoo in South Korea. The auto maker doesn't include Chinese vehicle sales in its revenue line, and the business isn't a source of cash needed to rebuild operations in other parts of the world.
But Shanghai has become a spiritual and physical second home for GM. The company in July decided to headquarter its international unit there, and an increasing number of GM's global purchasing and development duties are being sent to Shanghai.
The China joint ventures are a critical platform for GM's growth in several emerging markets. For instance, the company will team with a partner, SAIC Motor Corp., to expand in India. It also plans to ship Wuling vehicles, including a coming sedan, to a variety of developing nations.
The auto maker doesn't break out specific results for the China unit, and it plans to consolidate all operations outside the U.S. into the international operations.
To be sure, GM needs to turn around its ailing North American business if it hopes to be truly viable. The U.S. serves as the hub of GM production, and is still seen as offering the most profit potential of any market in the world.
The third quarter will give a fuzzy picture of GM's progress at home. While costs have plunged thanks to layoffs, debt reduction and plant closings, the company's North American operation is a shell of its former self.
The auto maker lost considerable U.S. market share during the third quarter compared with the same period in 2008, falling to about 19.5% from about 24.5%. The company also nearly halved production and increased per-vehicle spending on sales incentives, according to Autodata Corp. Even with the benefit of the U.S. government's Cash for Clunkers sales-incentive program, GM's sales volume fell.
For Mr. Henderson, momentum in China isn't necessarily lining GM's pockets, at least not yet. The bulk of the sales taking place in China are credited to Wuling, of which GM owns about a third. Wuling vans and small pickups are generally strong among light commercial buyers and farmers, and can be bought at a fraction of what U.S. vehicles cost.
GM is on track to sell nearly two million vehicles this year in China, or likely about as many as it will sell in the U.S. Two-thirds of those sales are likely to be Wulings, with the balance of the sales going mostly to the Buick and Chevrolet brands.
Buick is GM's mainline brand in China.
Profits aside, China's momentum has been critical to GM's ability to keep pace with other global industry heavyweights, notably Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Co. Both are expected to surpass GM in global sales this year, but those leads are likely to be muted by GM's strength in China.
Sales in China have helped GM fill the hole left by the weakness in the U.S. and softer sales in Europe.
China is also a rare pocket of growth amid a collection of GM operations that have been sinking for years. In the three years spanning 2006 to 2008, GM lost market share in 12 of the top 16 markets where it sells vehicles. It currently is gaining share in China.
China now accounts for at least 25% of the company's global sales, compared with 10% a year ago. Whereas three GM vehicles were sold in the U.S. for every GM vehicle sold in China a year ago, that ratio has fallen to 1.25 vehicles sold in the U.S. for every sale in China.
As GM's operations struggle to gain steam in most of the world, analysts and GM executives cite the China unit as an example of the auto maker at its best. The unit is now allowing the company to lap its chief rival, Toyota, in China.
Model de-listed on company website; available for export to Europe.
Launched in 2013, the e2o was Mahindras replacement for the old Reva electric city car. The e2o was designed as a more practical replacement to the Reva, and aimed to develop the electric car market into a more mainstream rather than its then niche standing.
Now Mahindra has taken it up a step further with a larger and more practical iteration of the e2o, called the e2o Plus. The most notable change to the model is the increase in length and wheelbase, along with the inclusion of rear doors, a more practical boot and an improved range, courtesy a larger battery pack. The e2o Plus is essentially Mahindra coming to bat for another innings in the electric car market, but now with a car that is nearing regular hatchbacks in terms of practicality.
However, while the e2o Plus is still new in the market, Mahindra has seemingly pulled out its smaller sibling, the two-door e2o, from India with the company's website no longer listing the model as on sale. In recent months Mahindra has started exporting the two-door car to Europe. Now with the advent of the larger four-door e2o Plus, the automaker could have pulled the plug on the two-door car here and is offering only for export.
It is yet not known if the two-door e2o has reached the end of the line for India or if Mahindra has plans to update its smallest electric offering.
AMG
We'll start with the most recent aspect of the 577 hp track-friendly supercar's attention-grabbing aura. Despite the fact that deliveries haven't kicked off yet, an example of the speed animal has recently been spotted on the streets of Berlin - lens tip to Autogespot for these images.Sporting itsGreen Hell Magno launch color, the thing stands out in traffic like Miss Bodybuilder 2016 wearing a dress made of LEDs.The timing has been carefully calculated, as the car goes on sale next week (November 21), with the first European owners are set to receive their cars on March next year. This isn't the first GT R roaming the streets after the vehicle's launch, though.And the influence of the GT R spreads far beyond public roads. Keep in mind that this is a supercar wearing the Beast of the Green Hell nickname. And while some of the most YouTube-friendly corners on the infamous German track, such as the Carousel, show GT R or AMG billboards, Afflaterbach has yet to reveal the Ring time of the contraption.Multiple prototypes have been spotted flying from one Nordschleife corner to another after the animal's launch , which took place back in June. And while the automaker has discussed its GT R Nurburgring effort, we only know the machine aims to beat the Porsche 911 GT3 RS PDK, a 7:20 car.Until we get to find out more about the stopwatch performance of the 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R, we'll try to keep ourselves busy with immersive images like the ones we have here.
AWD
Having made its debut at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, the Viziv-7 is described as the embodiment of enjoyment and peace of mind. Takeshi Tachimori, the corporate executive vice president of Subarus mother company, clears that mumbo-jumbo up with a better explanation about what the Viziv-7 is all about, i.e. the next three-row from Subaru.Tachimori let it slip that customers in this segment want a full-sized vehicle, which is a tell-tale sign that the 2019 Subaru Tribeca will probably blur the line between the mid- and full-size segment. Spy photos of a pre-production prototype picture the next-gen Tribeca benchmarking against a Mazda CX-9 and a Ford Explorer . For what its worth, the prototype appears to be that more voluminous and square-shaped than the first-generation model.At 204.7 inches long (5.2 meters), 79.9 inches (2.03 meters) wide, and 72 inches (1.86 meters) high sans the roof rails, the Viziv-7 Concept can only be described as huge. The wheelbase is greater still at 117.7 inches (2.99 meters). To put that wheelbase into perspective, the Ford Explorer makes do with 112.6 inches (2.86 meters). Given the circumstances, its pretty much a given that the 2019 Subaru Tribeca will be smaller than the Viziv-7 Concept.To be introduced in North America in early 2018, the second generation of the Tribeca will be gifted with Subarus Dynamic x Solid design philosophy . As for the underpinnings, Symmetricaland Subarus Global Platform are in the offing. The means of propulsion, however, is still a mystery.Will Subaru go with the tried-and-tested 3.6-liter boxer engine from the Outback ? Well find whats what for sure at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.
bought
The fuel cell-powered sedan can be yours for $369 a month for three years, provided that you pony up a $2,499 down payment and the $369 for the first month. As expected, the small print reads not including tax, registration or official fees. On a more optimistic note, the 2016 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell cost $499 per month plus $2,999 due at lease signing. Whats more, there is no competition whatsoever between it and the Clarity Fuel Cell.Not only does it pride itself on a 366-mile range, which is more than the Toyota Mirai and Tesla Model S P100D , but the Honda Clarity FCV also comes with $15,000 worth of hydrogen fuel for the duration of the lease. Then theres the 20,000-mile annual mileage allowance, the 24/7 roadside assistance, and 21 days of an Avis Luxury Rental in California. Speaking of which, the Clarity Fuel Cell can only beleased in The Golden State."Launching the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell at an affordable lease price will enable more consumers to enjoy the benefits of this spacious and well-equipped fuel cell vehicle," explained Steve Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office at American Honda Motor. What Steve actually wants to tell you, however, is that the 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell currently holds the title for the best range rating of any zero-emission vehicle The biggest downside to the Clarity FCV, however, is that it can be leased on a seriously stupid condition: the customer needs to live or to work within a 10-mile radius of a Honda-approved hydrogen fueling station. Whys that? Beats me. To be frank, I cant get it either why Honda is shooting itself in the leg like that, especially now that pluggable EVs are gaining ground.
EV
But wait, doesnt Toyota already have the iQ EV and that three-wheeler thingy called i-Road ? Right you are, but the two EVs are limited by range and by availability. As soon as 2020, however, Toyota intends to give the world a proper electric vehicle, one that people would actually buy. Its not known if Toyota intends to go up against the Hyundai Ioniq Electric or the Tesla Model X, but one thing is certain: a Toyota-branded electric vehicle in on the way.According to the Japanese companys president and chief executive officer, the pluggable EV development program will kick off in December 2016. At first, the in-houseprogram will be managed by four people. Aisin Seiki, a company specialized in transmissions and owned by the Toyota Group, as well as Denso, which is specialized in automotive electronics and its also owned by the Toyota Group, will help Toyotas EV development venture. Toyota suggests that the push for pluggable electric vehicles comes as a result of two things. First and foremost, the manufacturer shifted its focus from hybrids and FCVs to electric vehicles because the latter are a helluva lot more viable as mainstream cars. Secondly, R&D time and costs are lower than in the case of a fuel cell-powered vehicle. Another factor thats worthy of mention is the worlds burgeoning charging station infrastructure. Mazda also confirmed that its working on an electric vehicle of its own, slated to roll into dealer lots as soon as 2019. Mazda and Toyota, for all intents and purposes, are bound by a technical technological partnership since 2015. Hence, the two Japanese outfits could join forces in order to develop EVs.On an ending note, the head of research & development at Toyota Europe suggested that the next-generation Aygo city car could go all-electric
Screen shot of Ditlow via YouTube.
Clarence Ditlow, a longtime advocate for tougher safety and emission standards for vehicles, died on Nov. 10 at the age of 72.
Ditlow, both an attorney and an engineer, had served as executive director of the Center for Auto Safety since 1976. Ralph Nader and Consumers Union established the auto industry watchdog group in 1970.
Under Ditlow, the center played a major role in pushing for some of the largest safety recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata air bag recall. Ditlow also played a pivotal role in achieving one of the centers earliest goals: making air bags standard in all vehicles.
Ditlow and other representatives of the Center for Auto Safety have testified more than 50 times before congressional committees regarding auto safety, warranties and service bulletins, air pollution, consumer protection, and fuel economy.
Spanning four decades, his work forced the auto industry to make vast improvements in the safety, reliability and fuel efficiency of the vehicles on which Americans depend daily, the Center for Auto Safety said in a released statement about Ditlows death.
EAA Vintage Aircraft Association board of directors member Ron Alexander was killed Thursday in the crash of his recently restored Curtiss Jenny at Peach Tree Airport in Williamson, Georgia. An unidentified passenger was also killed. A local newspaper is reporting that the passenger was an FAA official but that has not been confirmed. Initial reports suggest the aircraft encountered some kind of difficulty on takeoff. It crashed in a wooded area and caught fire. First responders rushed to the scene but were unable to save the occupants.
Alexander founded Alexander Aeroplane Company, which was later sold to Aircraft Spruce. He had restored a Stearman in addition to the Jenny. He also established the Candler Field Museum at Peach Tree Airport. Alexander was an ex-military pilot who retired a captain with Delta after 33 years in 2002.
House Republicans have approved a bill that would cancel proposed deals for Boeing and Airbus to sell up to 200 aircraft to Iran. Doubts have been raised about whether Iran Air could actually afford the $40 billion in orders but the House vote is a clear challenge to the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran. The bill must now pass the Senate, where it will get a rough ride and if it passes there it would almost certainly be vetoed by the president. Given that the current power structure has only 60 days left in its mandate, the fate of the deal, which was a linchpin of the nuclear agreement, is in doubt.
The House bill, which passed by a 243-174 vote, specifically blocks the Treasury Department from issuing licenses U.S. banks would need to complete the transactions. The current administration already approved the deals in September. The deal with Iran specifically allowed the sale of aircraft to the state-owned airline but included strict conditions against their militarization or transfer to other entities. Boeing would get up to 109 of the orders and Airbus 112. Although Airbus is based in France, 10 percent of the parts for its aircraft are made in the U.S. After decades of trade embargoes, Iran Airs fleet is in desperate need of renewal and now consists mainly of older Airbus single-aisle airliners and ATR 72-600 regional turboprops.
18 November 2016 17:39 (UTC+04:00)
By Gunay Hasanova
The specter of corruption is a bugaboo that Armenia is not able to shake.
Recently an Armenian opposition journalist informed in his article referring to a secret organization called Mqeri dur that illicit money in the amount of $17 billion had been out flawed from the country since 1994.
Predominant oligarchy in Armenia, which is represented mainly by the state officials, may well affect the growth in the amount of illegal money takeout. For instance, according to declarations by the parliamentarians, there are 19 millionaire legislators in the Armenian parliament. Since the constitution bans the public servants from engaging in any business activity, tycoons of the poor country (32.3 percent poverty rate in 2015) turn to illegal ways of saving their fortune from the rule of law.
The Global Competitiveness Report 2015 unveiled the oligarchy-controlled monopoly in Armenia, ranking the former Soviet nation 105th among 144 countries in terms of the effectiveness of antitrust policy.
The enormous numbers of stolen money indicate on the high rank of its owners as ordinary businessmen or officials simply could not do it, bypassing the government.
For small and economically disadvantaged Armenia $17 billion is a huge amount of money that could help to save the economy. In fact, stealing such assets of money from the country can be classified as crimes against the nation.
These funds, if they stay in the country, could provide economic development and effective social protection systems as well as health services, job places, and much more. However, the country's rulers prefer looting of resources, the accumulation of personal wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens, forcing them to leave the country in a hope to better life.
Against the backdrop of the crisis in every sphere, the country continues to get multi-million-dollar loans while having no ability to shut them. Part of the funds is spent on the repayment and servicing of previous debts, part of it is allocated to unnecessary projects.
Polls conducted among country residents have repeatedly showed that people do not see any future in Armenia either for themselves or for their children.
The public realizes that almost half of the current Armenian government officials are oligarchs who utilize their power to expand their own businesses.
The latest report from Transparency International on People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia published on November 17 indicates that more than 35 percent of Armenian citizens questioned, responded that corruption and bribery was one of the three biggest problems that its government should address.
While successive Armenian governments have promised to deal with the problem and despite an Anti-Corruption Council being set up by former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, almost two in three citizens (60 percent) believe that the government is not doing enough to tackle corruption.
Armenia ranked 95th out of 168 countries that were evaluated in Transparency Internationals 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Its ranking has barely changed over the past decade.
Although the Armenian authorities deny it, the reports and surveys of International Organizations are a clear proof of how the country is corrupt.
Despite Sargsyans recent public speeches about his desire to get rid of corruption in Armenia, the actions of the president and members of his inner circle have frequently contradicted his anti-corruption rhetoric.
The Armenian state budget, not surprisingly, also faced decrease this year. In the first seven months of the current year, revenues of the Armenian state budget made up approximately 633.4 billion drams ($1.33 billion), while the expenses were 717.2 billion drams ($1.51 billion), according to the official statistical data.
The revenues of Armenian state budget decreased by 2.2 billion drams ($4.64 million) or 0.3 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Thus, it is obvious that the public money in Armenia are misused by the government while the money leaves the country, the majority of Armenians, thanks to the countrys authorities, have no choice but to live under sorrowful conditions.
Hence, the dominance of corrupted government, implementing aggressive policy, monopolies and oligarchic structures remain a major obstacle on the way of economic survival of the country.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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18 November 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
By Martha Rojas-Urrego and Patricia Espinosa
Wetlands, forests, and oceans absorb and store carbon, which makes them a vital asset for countries pursuing the Paris climate agreements targets for reducing CO2 emissions. So how can we use them most effectively?
The Paris accord was concluded by 196 governments last December, and came into force earlier this month. Now, its signatories are meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, for the annual United Nations climate change conference. Several conference events specifically focus on how countries can use natural systems to meet their CO2-reduction targets.
While the climate-change challenge is immense, so, too, is the opportunity to accelerate sustainable development and ensure a better future for everyone on the planet. Under the Paris agreement, governments have committed to reducing their carbon emissions drastically, in order to keep global warming below 2C. The vast majority of signatory countries have already presented national action plans for achieving this goal, and these plans will become more ambitious over time.
These Nationally Determined Contributions include renewable-energy targets and proposals for sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, and education. In addition, countries should consider adopting policies to manage natural capital better. The Paris agreement itself recognizes the important role that natural ecosystems play in limiting the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, and governments should not neglect such powerful tools.
Governments will need to take action to conserve existing ecosystems and restore and expand degraded ecosystems in people-friendly ways. This is particularly true of wetlands, which include all land areas such as lakes, floodplains, peatlands, mangroves, and coral reefs that are covered with water, either seasonally or permanently.
Peatlands are particularly important. Though they cover only 3% of the worlds total surface area, they store twice as muchcarbon as all forests combined. Peatland soils are composed of carbon in the form of decomposed plant material that has accumulated for thousands of years; and when peatlands are drained or burned, that carbon is released into the atmosphere. In fact, draining peatlands releases two times more carbon into the atmosphere than the aviation industry does.
In 2015, fires raged across Indonesias forested peatlands, raising concerns worldwide about how much carbon was being released into the atmosphere, to say nothing of the far-reaching health effects. Indonesias government estimates that peatland fires and deforestation alone account for more than 60% of the countrys total greenhouse-gas emissions.
Conserving and restoring peatlands could significantly reduce global CO2 emissions, which is why, in 2015, the Nordic Council of Ministers announced a commitment to preserve the regions peatlands. Almost half of Nordic countries peatlands have been lost, and this ecosystem degradation contributes 25% of their total carbon emissions.
The Paris agreement entered fully into force in less than a year. This indicates that there is global momentum for concrete action to address the causes of climate change, as well as its effects, such as the disastrous floods, water shortages, and droughts already afflicting many countries.
That sense of urgency is not surprising. According to UN-Water, 90% of all natural hazards are water-related, and they will increase in frequency and intensity as climate change worsens. But natural systems can mitigate them: wetlands act as sponges that reduce flooding and delay the onset of droughts; and mangroves, salt marshes, and coral reefs all act as buffers that protect against storm surges. And wetlands, oceans, and forests do far more than just absorb and store carbon; they also provide fresh water, and are a food source for nearly three billion people.
Countries have a readymade platform that they can use for their future wetland-conservation efforts. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty under which 169 countries have committed to conserve and sustainably manage their wetlands, is an ideal vehicle for help them reach their CO2-reduction targets, as well as meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
The Paris agreements long-term objective is to achieve climate neutrality no net greenhouse-gas emissions in the second half of this century. Climate neutrality is necessary to keep global warming below 2C; to reach it, we must reduce emissions to the point that they can be fully and easily absorbed by nature. This was the natural cycle for millions of years before anthropogenic climate change began.
Climate neutrality can be achieved through political willpower, imaginative policies, new green technologies and clean-energy sources, and a multi-trillion-dollar shift in investment toward sustainable economic sectors and infrastructure. In addition, these measures success requires cost-effective investment in conservation efforts and expansion of natural capital. Only nature-based systems such as wetlands and forests can truly guarantee success and a clean, prosperous future.
Copyright: Project Syndicate: Mother Nature vs. Climate Change
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18 November 2016 13:28 (UTC+04:00)
By Adebimpe Adebiyi
If you happen to be sitting with two other people right now, chances are one of you is malnourished. And you might not even know it. Yes, thats right: one in three people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, and it does not always look the way one might expect.
From the two billion adults who carry too much weight to the 159 million children with stunted growth, malnutrition takes many forms. As a doctor, I see women who appear healthy, but who suffer from anemia, owing partly to low iron intake. And I see relatively able-bodied men with big bellies, which elevate their risk for heart disease.
West Africa is home to some of the worlds highest rates of malnutrition. That includes the most obvious face of the condition: roughly 9% of West African children under five are wasted, or too thin for their height. At its most severe, wasting is fatal.
But West Africa also suffers from many other forms of malnutrition. One-third of children under five in the region are stunted (too short for their age), a condition with irreversible effects on cognitive development. According to the Cost of Hunger in Africa studies, stunted children across the continent receive up to 3.6 fewer years of schooling than well-nourished children.
The problem does not affect only children. Half of all women of reproductive age in West Africa are anemic. Not only does anemia contribute to almost one-fifth of global maternal deaths; babies born to anemic women are also more likely to be underweight. The result is a vicious cycle of poor health.
Perhaps the least obvious face of malnutrition is not undernutrition, but excessive weight and obesity. Today, 31% of adults in West Africa are overweight or obese. In Nigeria, my home country, the share is 33%. Beyond heart disease, that extra weight raises the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and more.
Malnutrition also has serious economic consequences. The 2016 Global Nutrition Report estimates that, across Africa, malnutrition results in a loss of 11% of GDP more than the annual losses brought about by the 2008-2010 global financial crisis.
On an individual level, adults who were stunted in their childhood a condition that has affected nearly 70% of the working population in some areas often face a diminished capacity to work and earn a living, owing to the developmental challenges they faced. The effects of wasting on human development and economic progress are almost as profound.
The imperative to tackle malnutrition could not be clearer. Yet progress has been mixed, particularly in West Africa.
To be sure, some countries have had impressive success, thanks to decisive government action. In just a decade, Ghana cut stunting by nearly half, partly through investment in areas that affect nutrition, such as agriculture and social protection. Nigers government halved the number of deaths of children under the age of five over a similar period, by making specific budget and operational decisions to tackle severe wasting.
But other countries have hardly made a dent in the malnutrition problem. In Togo, stunting rates have barely moved in the last decade. In Mali and Guinea, wasting is on the rise. And these countries are not alone.
Many other African countries may be poised to start writing their own success stories. Cote DIvoire has positioned itself to reduce stunting, while Senegal is close to being on track to address wasting. In both countries, extra investment both political and financial could have an outsize impact.
Yet donors and governments remain reluctant to provide the needed funding. According to the 2016 Global Nutrition Report, donor funds for nutrition-focused interventions are stagnating at $1 billion. Nine West African governments spend, on average, just over 1% of their budgets on nutrition.
And yet nutrition is one of the best investments we can make, with every $1 invested in nutrition yielding $16 in returns. In many countries, such as India, obesity-related illnesses like heart disease are consuming up to 30% of families annual incomes. Unless African governments start making smart choices and smart investments, the continent may face a similar fate.
Many African governments have set out ambitious goals relating to security, stability, and long-term economic prosperity. Nutrition is critical to achieving any of them. It is central to our continents development, and should thus be a high priority for our policymakers. Millions of lives depend on it.
Copyright: Project Syndicate:The Many Faces of Malnutrition
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18 November 2016 13:06 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
The government of Azerbaijan believes that small and medium businesses can contribute significantly to diversifying the countrys economy to cease dependence on the petrodollars.
The development of local entrepreneurship will lead to more growth and high quality jobs in the country, while the state stimulates and supports entrepreneurs in every possible way.
The government has revealed another key reform that will stimulate and encourage SMEs and entrepreneurs. There was offered to simplify the process of licensing for travel agencies. Travel agencies will not be required to pass accreditation for getting e-visas for tourists, thus the list of the required documents maybe cut.
This proposal is reflected in the draft law on changes to Law "On Licenses and Permits", which was discussed at the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy, Enterprise and Industry on November 17.
Following the debate, the Committee recommended the draft amendments for discussion in the Parliament's plenary session.
The country takes systematic measures to bolster entrepreneurship in the country, regardless difficult economic situation in the world.
The country has suspended inspection of entrepreneurs' activities (for the period of two years), which was earlier considered to be one of the key hindrances to the development of entrepreneurship.
Moreover, tax reforms approved by the president are expected to make radical changes in the tax system, by introducing more favorable VAT rates for the socially vulnerable layers of the population, reducing tax burden on small and medium-sized business, resolving problems during taxation of trade operations.
The government sees new investment incentives scheme as one of effective tools to stipulate business doing in the country and give a push for the development of small and medium entrepreneurship.
Now entrepreneurs receive the document of investment incentives, allowing creation new work places. Under the document of investment incentives, which cover seven economic areas of Azerbaijan, half of the revenue of an individual entrepreneur, profits of legal entity are exempted from income tax for seven years.
Priority areas for the country, which possesses a wide range of investment opportunities, are agriculture, heavy and light industry, alternative energy, tourism, information technologies and construction.
Recently, Doing Business 2017 placed Azerbaijan 65th among 190 countries in the global rankings on the Ease of Doing Business, ranking the country among 29 countries that implemented three or more reforms.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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18 November 2016 13:42 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Azerbaijan, with the great wine-growing traditions, will supply 500,000 bottles of wine to China, the world's second-largest economy.
The agreement on the wine supply was reached during the visit of the countrys export mission to Hong Kong and Guangzhou on November 9-15, according to the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry.
The Azerbaijani entrepreneurs discussed with their Chinese colleagues the opportunities of cooperation and got acquainted with new technologies for the production of wine, as well as met with local distributors and potential customers with the support of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Fund (AZPROMO).
During the visit, the Azerbaijani entrepreneurs took part in two international exhibitions of wine and alcohol producers, where the countrys products enjoyed huge interest. The national brand Savalan won a gold award at Guangzhou Interwine Fair 2016, one of the largest international wine exhibitions in the world.
Although the French wine is considered one of the best in the world, many wine lovers will agree that Azerbaijani wine is no way inferior to French one -- if not even superior in taste.
Currently, there are nearly 10 wineries and vineyards that produce wine in the country and more and more countries such as China are showing interest in the national brandy.
Today, Azerbaijani wines are exported to Russia, Ukraine, Baltic States, Poland, Belarus and the UAE .
The government has devoted considerable effort to creating the Caspian Coast wine trademark and has invested heavily in advertising the brand outside Azerbaijan. The ministries of agriculture and economy are working to develop a wine culture program.
Foreign wine has been pleasing in China market, as almost one out of five bottles opened in China is now imported from elsewhere around the world. Chinas bottled wine imports in 2015 jumped by a third in both volume and value compared to 2014, show customs figures.
The figure reached a total of 395m litres by the end of the year, a 37% increase versus 2014. The total import value was up by 37% year-on-year to reach $1.9bn.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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18 November 2016 15:42 (UTC+04:00)
By Nigar Abbasova
Ganja Automobile Plant, one of the leading players in Azerbaijans automotive industry, will start the assembly of Eurabus electric buses in the near future.
Head of the Plants Supervisory Committee Khanlar Fatiyev said that the enterprise plans to start the assemblage of buses in January 2017.
Mentioning that German specialists have already visited the plant and assessed its production capacity, Fatiyev said that the planned initial capacity of the plant will stand at 350-400 busses per year.
Representatives of the plant and German Eurabus GmbH have already discussed the issue of export to the third countries and reached preliminary agreements in this regard.
Fatiyev underlined that the cooperation is a part of the export-oriented economy pursued in Azerbaijan.
Director General of Eurobus Christian Seitz, in turn, told Trend that the Ganja Plant and Eurabus GmbH are expected to sign an agreement within 2 months, mentioning that the company has certain plans in the market.
He further mentioned that the first model of Eurabus, which was earlier delivered to Azerbaijan, have already been subjected to the approbation process. He noted that buses will be used both within the country and exported to the third countries.
We have chosen Azerbaijan, as the country is an economic leader in the region and has all necessary conditions and infrastructure for the manufacture and operation of the buses, he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Marketing and Service department at Ganja Plant Konstantin Barabanov said that the countrys Ecology Ministry has already showed interest in the purchase of electric buses.
The second generation electric bus, Eurabus 2.0 was presented in Belgium, 2013. The vehicle is considered to be more economic than a classic diesel bus and drives with zero emission. The buses with the length of 12 meters are being set in motion with the help of in-wheel electric motors ZA-wheel with the capacity of 130 kilowatt.
The bus is environmentally-friendly. The majority of filling stations in Azerbaijan possess relevant charging devices. Basic structure of the bus is made of aluminum which allows to economize and provides for lightweight of the bus.
Being located in Azerbaijan's second largest city Ganja Automobile Plant is capable of assembling up to 1,000 trucks and 2,000 tractors each year. The plant also produces tractor trailers, communal machinery, and snow removal equipment. Currently, the plant is engaged in the assembly of Belarus tractors and MAZ, KAMAZ and Ural vehicles.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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18 November 2016 18:24 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Nasiba Zeynalova was truly a brilliant actress, a unique phenomenon in the history of Azerbaijani theater and film industry.
Zeynalova, who started to star at the very young age, conquered hearts of millions bringing the wonderful women to the peak of art.
She is probably the only mother in law loved by almost all the nation, since many remembered Nasiba as great Azerbaijani mother in law for her remarkable role at the same name musical comedy.
Her father was a wealthy man from a noble family and always supported the actors, paid them salaries, and tried not to break up the troupe. In his estate, Zeynalov created a large hall for rehearsals and even built there a scene.
Jahangir Zeynalov, one of the founders of the Azerbaijani theatre, was asked, before he had children: Who will be your heir? He replied: For the time being, I do have an heir; our stage is the most likely child to be my heir. A theatre figure, he believed in a great future for the theatre. He had a daughter and he named her Nasiba. Further, his daughter grew up and continued her fathers path with distinction.
However, her happiness was short-lived, as after Zeynalova lost her father at early age. The family lost everything and lived in poverty. Therefore, Nasiba had very difficult childhood and had to work since she was just 14 years old. She had to leave school to get a job.
Everything changed after the girl met famous Azerbaijani theater director Shamsi Badalbeyli, who at that time was director of the Philharmonic troupe. He could see the potential of the young girl and offered her a job.
When she was just 21, Nasiba Zeynalova already toured around Azerbaijan as part of a traveling theater group.
The legendary actress starred in 40 films and performed in dozens of plays, creating unforgettable images.
On the theatre stage, actress played the part of Jahan khala in the operetta Arsin mal alan, Sanam in O olmasin bu olsun, Kalak khanim and Malak khanim in Young at 50, Sharaf in Durna, Nargila in Gozun aydin, Zuleykha in Ulduz, Sola khanim in We know best, Asmat in Our home, our secret, Jannat in Mother-in-law, and others.
She also played a mother who dreams of getting her mentally challenged son Mardan married in the television series Dont be Scared, I am with You by director Yuliy Gusman; the shop assistant Khanbaji in director Alakbar Muradovs psychological drama Execution by Bullet is Postponed; and grandmother Masma in the comedy film Dream by director Fikrat Aliyev.
The military movie-essay Our Jabis Muellim, by director Hassan Seyidbayli, is about the difficult lives of people on the home front during the war of 1941-45; showing their everyday existence and problems. The actresss role in this film was one of her best cinema roles of that time.
Nasiba khanim was loved by all for her beautiful acting. She was a great artist with an innate talent. Talent, enthusiasm and work these three factors were a constant unity throughout her life and work.
Azerbaijan State Musical Theatre will mark the memory of the great actress on November 24. Many prominent cultural and art figures will pay tribute to the memory of the brilliant actress.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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18 November 2016 10:24 (UTC+04:00)
A new print edition of the AZERNEWS online newspaper was released on November, 18
The new edition includes articles about: Influential news agencies assemble in Baku; Azerbaijan may increase gas export by 2035; Baku, Lisbon highlight importance of mutual political support; Baku, Kuwait ink air traffic deal etc.
AZERNEWS is an associate member of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
18 November 2016 10:21 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
Israels Ambassador Dan Stav paid a two-day visit to Azerbaijans Mingachevir and Yevlakh cities, the Israeli embassy in Baku told Trend on November 17.
The diplomat had meetings with the heads of executive power of the two cities.
The meetings discussed strengthening the bilateral cooperation in architecture and industry.
The ambassador also informed about the opportunities given by Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation for training of Azerbaijani specialists in Israel.
During the visit, the Israeli delegation visited the youth house, the museum of history and reviewed the hydropower plant in Mingachevir, the embassy said.
They also visited the Azertoxum company in Yevlakh city.
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel neared $409.9 million in January-September 2016, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.
Israel recognized the independence of Azerbaijan very shortly after the official dissolution of the Soviet Union. Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel were established in April 1992. Since gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has established a position of one of Israels closest friends in the Muslim world.
Over the last twenty years, the ties between Israel and Azerbaijan have improved drastically. The development of economic ties is particularly noticeable, as Israel rose from being Azerbaijans tenth largest trading partner to its third in February 2016.
Several synagogues are operating in the capital of Azerbaijan, as well as in Guba and Oguz regions. Synagogue, opened in Baku in 2003 is one of the largest in Europe. In September 2003, the first Jewish school was opened in Baku.
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18 November 2016 10:20 (UTC+04:00)
Over the last years Azerbaijan has successfully hosted important international events. Baku International Humanitarian Forum, World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, various sporting and other globally significant events have made Baku one of the hubs of international cooperation, first Deputy Director General of the Russian TASS news agency Mikhail Gusman told journalists as he attended the 5th News Agencies World Congress in Baku.
He stressed the importance of the discussions featured and decisions taken at the Baku Congress to the world media.
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18 November 2016 11:24 (UTC+04:00)
By Laman Ismayilova
The Baku International Center of Multiculturalism has hosted a meeting with Bulgarian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Maya Hristova and Chairman of the Association of Professional Mediators of Bulgaria, famous lawyer Elisa Nikolova, Azertac reported.
In his speech, Azerbaijan's State Counselor on Multiculturalism, Interethnic and Religious Affairs, academician Kamal Abdullayev highlighted the activities of the Center, its international and regional projects.
"Learning and promoting the Azerbaijani multiculturalism, which is based on love and compassion, we are also trying to spread the principles of humanity, human values. The Center regularly organizes international summer and winter schools for students studying the Azerbaijani multiculturalism in foreign countries, the academician said.
He pointed out that currently branches of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism are functioning in Germany, Israel, Moldova, Italy, Portugal and the Russian cities of Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
Today we are signing a cooperation agreement to open the eighth branch of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism the Bulgarian branch. I wish success to the head of the Bulgarian branch Elisa Nikolova, who is familiar with multicultural values of Azerbaijan and our projects," he added.
The academician highlighted activities of the Bulgarian envoy, who has played a major role in enhancing the relations between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.
Hristova, in turn, expressed gratitude to President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva for contribution to the reconstruction of Trapezitsa Architectural and Museum Reserve, located in the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo.
"This is a great gesture, it is very important for us. It is hard to express our feelings by words. I am conveying a great love of the Bulgarian people to the people of Azerbaijan and personally Mehriban Aliyeva, she said.
Further, Executive Director of the Baku International Center of Multiculturalism Azad Mammadov and Eliza Nikolova signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the implementation of mutual activities for the promotion of multiculturalism and tolerance of Azerbaijan, implementation of joint projects and activities of the Bulgarian branch of the Center.
Azerbaijan, located on the junction of two continents- Europe and Asia, created all necessary conditions for representatives of different nationalities, religions and cultures to exist freely.
The International Centre for Multiculturalism was established in Baku in 2014, as a concrete effort to promote the values of multiculturalism.
This year, Azerbaijan hosted the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
By using the UN tribune, Azerbaijan once again showed its multiculturalism traditions, and urged the world countries to respect tolerance, intercultural and inter-civilization dialogue. Furthermore, Azerbaijan named 2016 the Year of Multiculturalism.
Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have developed friendly relations after Bulgaria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in January 1992. The embassy of Bulgaria in Azerbaijan was opened in December 1999.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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18 November 2016 14:22 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
The rising number of Arabian tourists visiting Azerbaijan affected the real estate market of the country, along with its tourism sector. More and more Arabs wish to buy an apartment in Baku.
Bakus Ambassador to Kuwait Elkhan Gahraman, talking to Trend, confirmed this saying that Kuwaiti investors show interest in the real estate market of Azerbaijan.
"Kuwaitis like to make tourist trips and according to the statistics of recent years, they spend an average of about $10 billion during the year on such trips," the ambassador noted. "In many cases, during such trips, Kuwaitis explore new business opportunities, buy luxury apartments, houses and land lots abroad."
The ambassador went on to say that in addition, they show great interest in creation of farms, renting of large areas for breeding cattle in Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani legislation puts no restrictions on the purchase of house for foreigners. But, according to the Land Code, restrictions are imposed for private ownership of land plot, that is, foreigners cannot buy plot of land in Azerbaijan.
He further reminded that the investors of Kuwait already invested in Azerbaijans economy and chose agriculture and favorable recreational tourist areas as priority directions.
The diplomat added that businessmen of Kuwait launched their first investment projects in Azerbaijans Gabala, Ismayilli, Guba and Gusar regions.
The ambassador said that the tourism potential of Azerbaijan plays an important role for the development of economic relations between the two countries.
Recently, Azerbaijan and Kuwait signed an intergovernmental agreement on air communication, aiming to remove obstacles for opening of air links between the two countries, which will contribute to further development of bilateral economic and cultural relations between the two sides.
The diplomat expressed hope that the opening of direct flights between Azerbaijan and Kuwait will lead to a significant increase in trade relations between the two states.
The ambassador also added that Kuwait already imports agricultural products from Azerbaijan.
In particular, on the basis of a contract with the Azerbaijani juice plant in Gabala region, the Kuwait Azeri Trading Establishment Company buys products of this enterprise for delivery to the Kuwaiti market, he said.
Currently, the work is underway to expand the list of names of the goods imported from Azerbaijan to Kuwait, Gahraman said.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Kuwait in January-September 2016 amounted to $2.96 million, according to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan.
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18 November 2016 12:58 (UTC+04:00)
The first plenary session of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) was held in Baku on November 18, Azertac reported.
The event moderator, OANA Secretary General, First Deputy Director General of Russia's Tass news agency Mikhail Gusman noted that more than 80 heads and representatives of 40 news agencies attended the meeting of the supreme body of the organization.
The OANA 16th Assembly's agenda then was put to a vote and approved.
Addressing the event, OANA president, Director General of TASS news agency Sergey Mikhaylov hailed the development of information technologies in recent years. He also pointed to the establishment of the committee of ethics of OANA, saying this was important amid growing cases of journalists facing violence in some countries.
Hailing OANA's active cooperation with a number of regional and international organizations, Sergey Mikhaylov noted that a special award was instituted to recognize the efforts of those who contribute to the development of journalism.
The event then featured a ceremony to award winners of "OANA Excellence Award".
Chairman of OANA, Director General of TASS news agency Sergei Mikhailov presented awards to Yonhap's chief of the media technology department Jung Tae-sung, and TASS Executive Editor, Information Quality Control Andrey Lebedev.
Also Azertac has taken over the presidency of the OANA from Russian TASS agency.
Aslan Aslanov, Azertac Director General assumed the three year presidency of OANA.
Azertac became a member of OANA in September, 2004. The agency was elected as a member of the OANA Executive Board at the organizations 13th General Assembly in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on December 12, 2007.
At the 15th General Assembly held in Moscow in 2013, Azertac Director General Aslan Aslanov was elected as one of OANA`s vice presidents. In Moscow, Azertac was also elected by secret ballot as president of the organization for 2016-2019.
An initiative of UNESCO, the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies was founded in 1961 with the aim of expanding news exchange among regional news agencies. OANA`s members include 43 news agencies from 35 countries.
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18 November 2016 15:23 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Early marriage, evasion of children from school, child labor and violence - all these are grave violation of children's rights, said Hijran Huseynova.
The Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children's Affairs made the remark during the "Children's rights: equal rights and opportunities" event in Baku on November 18.
Huseynova, mentioning that today the number of children in the country hits 2.6 million, stressed that the country has implemented important social projects to ensure proper education of children and prevention of evasion of children from the school.
"Everything is done to ensure that children live in a healthy family atmosphere," she said, adding that for the implementation of child policy, first of all its necessary to create a reliable legal framework.
Huseynov said that solution of children's problems should be brought to the attention of society, NGOs, private sector and international organizations.
"A healthy and happy life of children is an issue concerning not only a state, but all mankind," she said.
Huseynova emphasized that Azerbaijan submitted to the relevant committee of the UN reports of three periods.
"It is encouraging that year by year the work done by the Azerbaijani government is evaluated positively," she said, noting that preparation of the next report is under way.
Police Colonel of the Interior Minister, Adigozal Adigozalov, in turn, said that since it's easy to attract children to bad habits, enlightening is very important.
The official said that the Ministry carried out relevant work to fight again this.
Protecting children's rights is a top priority of Azerbaijan, with a population of over 9.6 million. The country ratified over 30 international conventions, adopted several relevant laws, and cooperates closely with international organizations to tackle problems in this sphere.
UNICEF, promoting the rights and wellbeing of every child around the world, which came to Azerbaijan in 1993, also backing the country in this issue.
The UNICEF Country Programme for 2016-2020 will support Azerbaijan in its efforts to accelerate the realization of childrens rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to contribute to the results related to child and adolescent rights stipulated in the Azerbaijan 2020: Look in the Future Concept of Development, as well as other sectoral policies and strategies.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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18 November 2016 16:07 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan wishes success to the newly elected U.S. President, Donald Trump, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev.
The president made the remark at a meeting with a group of participants of the 5th News Agencies World Congress in Baku on November 17, Trend reported.
I think people of Azerbaijan appreciate what happened during the election, said President Aliyev. My personal opinion is very positive. People of America showed him great support despite all the polls and expectations of the leading American media and despite aggressive campaign against him. He owns this election only to himself. He deserves great respect.
President Aliyev further voiced hope that the relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan will continue successfully during Trumps presidency as they developed in the previous years.
The president said there are a lot of areas of cooperation, including political, economic and other areas. President Aliyev said there are great expectations in the world with respect to Trumps policy.
Republican candidate Donald Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, securing more than 270 electoral votes needed for his Democratic rival Hillary Clintons defeat.
Trump will take his oath of office on January 20, becoming the nations 45th president.
President Aliyev made a phone call to Donald Trump on November 17 to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election, and wish him success in his high state activity.
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18 November 2016 11:49 (UTC+04:00)
By Nigar Abbasova
SOCAR Trading, the biggest supplier of Azeri Light crude oil in the world, has reached an agreement on supplies of oil products to Burkina Fasos SONABHY Company.
Azerbaijani delegation led by Energy Minister Natig Aliyev earlier paid a visit to Burkina Faso and Benin to mull the issues of the energy cooperation.
The delegation held a number of meetings with high-ranking officials and representatives of oil industry of Burkina Faso. Main objectives of the visit were to discuss the perspectives of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and West African states, as well as strengthen the prestige of Azerbaijan and activate commercial operation of SOCAR in the region.
Aliyev said that the Azerbaijani side presented different energy projects to heads of Burkina Faso and Benin, mentioning that the projects will open new opportunities for the countries to get additional volumes of energy supplies.
Being a major importer of energy, Burkina Faso is highly dependent on energy imports, notable of oil, as the country has no known crude oil reserves or refining capacity.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 2004, while the sides also cooperate within such organizations as UNO, OIC and African Union, where Azerbaijan has an observer status.
Being headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading was incorporated in December 2007 as the marketing arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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18 November 2016 16:57 (UTC+04:00)
By Amina Nazarli
Norwegian energy companies are interested in entering the Azerbaijani market, said Bord Ivar Svendsen, Oslos Ambassador to Baku.
"Norwegian energy companies have a great interest in Azerbaijan. Almost every three months we get appeals from the Norwegian companies that have not yet started to work here, but are considering it," he said.
Svendsen further added that his country has extensive experience in oil production, noting that Norwegian companies have modern technologies in this field and ready to offer them to Azerbaijan.
The ambassador also mentioned a possibility of a visit by one of Norwegian ministers or deputy ministers to Baku to attend one of their energy exhibitions and conferences next year.
However, this question is under consideration, he said.
Svendsen has reminded that the Norwegian oil and oil service companies are already represented in Azerbaijan.
Thus, the largest Norwegian oil company Statoil operates Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in the Caspian Sea. In addition, there are six-seven Norwegian companies that supply niche products and provide services for the examination to the major oil companies, and especially BP.
Since the beginning of the 1990s Azerbaijan and Norway have developed an increasingly strong relationship. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. The Norwegian embassy in Baku was opened in 1998.
The co-operation has been growing especially in the field of energy, and several Norwegian companies have established themselves in Baku.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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18 November 2016 12:31 (UTC+04:00)
By Trend
Uzbekistan has signed 355 contracts worth $1.009 billion following the first international fruit and vegetable fair, held in Tashkent in early November, Uzagroexport Joint Stock Company said.
According to the company, Uzbekistan will export 1.421 million tons of fruits and vegetables in accordance with the agreements.
Some 32 percent of the total export products account for
vegetables, 17 percent - grapes, 25 percent - fruits, 13 percent - dried fruits, 12 percent - legumes and one percent melons and gourds.
The contracts for the supply of fruits and vegetables have been signed with the companies of Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iraq.
Some 16 million tons of fruits and vegetables are annually produced in Uzbekistan.
According to the countrys official statistics, some 2.3 million tons of potatoes, 8.2 million tons of vegetables, 1.5 million tons of melons and gourds, more than 1.2 million tons of grapes and 2 million tons of fruits and berries were grown in Uzbekistan in January - September 2016.
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18 November 2016 14:04 (UTC+04:00)
By Gunay Hasanova
The European Union will have to deal with the Syrian refugee flow in case of failure to apply a visa-free regime with Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Numan Kurtulmus said during a visit to province Konya.
He emphasized that Turkey is not obliged to host Syrian refugees.
The European Union should make its position clear and precise on the accession of Turkey to the Union, he added.
The Heads of State and the EU Member States' governments agreed with Turkey upon a joint plan to combat the migration crisis in mid-March. The program is focusing on the return of illegal immigrants arriving from Greece to the territory of Turkey and accepting legal Syrian refugees in Turkey by the EU based principle of "one for one".
Today, there are roughly three million Syrian refugees in the territory of Turkey. Approximately 300,000 of them live in the camps and the rest are scattered over the Turkish provinces. Only Istanbul is host to 40,000 refugees from Syria.
What's more, only 200 Syrians have so far been resettled from Turkish refugee camps to Europe, far fewer than envisioned by Turkey, which is currently home to more than three million displaced people.
Turkey has a long waited for its EU membership, while each application to accede to the European Union was frustrating for the government. Turkey, holding a status of an associate member at the Economic Community -- the predecessor of the EU since 1963 -- made an official application for entry on April 14, 1987.
The European Commission has proposed in May that the European Parliament and EU Council will lift visa restrictions for citizens of Turkey if Ankara fulfills the remaining conditions for abolishing visa entries until the end of June.
The list of pre-conditions included measures to prevent corruption, negotiations on an operational agreement with Europol (the EU police office), providing judicial cooperation with all EU member states, as well as the revision of the legislation on the fight against terrorism.
However, since the July 15 coup attempt, relations between Ankara and Brussels have fallen to a low as Turkish politicians lament the EUs muted response to the attempted takeover and EU leaders criticize Turkey over widespread arrests and job suspensions in its wake.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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18 November 2016 15:52 (UTC+04:00)
By Gunay Hasanova
Ashgabat hosts a meeting of the authorized representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan to discuss the draft protocol on the maritime safety in the Caspian Sea, the Turkmen government reported on November 18.
The agreement, as a framework document, creates a legal basis for cooperation among the competent authorities of the states in such areas as the fight against terrorism, organized crime, illegal trafficking of arms and drugs, smuggling, human trafficking and illegal migration, ensuring the safety of maritime navigation.
In addition, the document creates a ground for exchange of the relevant information.
"Protocol on cooperation in the field of maritime security in the Caspian Sea is associated with the important task to prevent ship accidents , protection of life and health of crew members and passengers, ensuring the safety of the vehicles themselves and the goods transported by them", the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary reported.
The Caspian region is one of the major geopolitical, economic, energy, transport and communication centers on the Eurasian space today.
The Caspian Sea is the biggest enclosed body of water on Earth, with enormous deposits of oil and gas as well as rich fisheries. It plays an important role in the transport corridors, along with being an important part of the international and regional projects.
The five coastal states -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran -- signed a framework convention on the protection of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.
A key problem to further development in the region is the unresolved status of the Caspian Sea and the water boundaries among the five littoral states.
The legal status has remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major energy projects.
Azerbaijan proposes that the Caspian Sea must be divided into national sectors based on the median line principles since it is an international boundary lake.
In turn, Iran and Turkmenistan oppose Azerbaijans position considering that the Caspian Sea must be divided into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country must have 20 percent of the sea.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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Bakersfield, CA (93308)
Today
Cloudy early with partial sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 60F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..
Tonight
Cloudy with periods of light rain. Low 46F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that his visit to Ecuador, the first state visit by a Chinese head of state in 36 years, will make positive progress.
Xi made the remarks while delivering a speech at the Quito airport, where Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa hosted a grand ceremony to welcome Xi and the Chinese delegation.
"I come here with the deep friendship of Chinese people and the wish to develop bilateral ties," Xi said, adding that he was looking forward to the upcoming meetings with Ecuadorian leaders.
Referring to the major earthquake that struck Ecuador in April, Xi said that Chinese people empathized with the Ecuadorian people.
China has provided help to the Ecuadorian people in the rescue and reconstruction work, he added.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck the northern Pacific coast of Ecuador, caused heavy loss of human lives and property damage. China had immediately announced that it would provide $2 million of cash and $60 million of materials for rescue and reconstruction.
The visit will build a solid bridge for the China-Ecuador cooperation, and bright bright future for the bilateral ties, he added.
The Chinese president is paying visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile starting from Thursday. He will also attend the APEC leaders meeting in Lima, capital of Peru, over the weekend.
Face to face with the horrors of the migrant crisis
The BMS World Mission Italy Action Team sees the reality of life for refugees fleeing war and persecution up close
The BMS Italy Action Team, based in the port of Reggio Calabria, has been there for barely a month and Sarah, Finlay, Jess and Laura have already seen around 2,000 refugees arrive, having been rescued from the Mediterranean. Some did not survive the journey with 12 people dead on board the first boat they saw.
The reality of the images we see in the news came crashing down as we watched the bodies in their bags being carried off the boat, Team Italy writes. Silence followed whilst the continuous click from the reporting photographer captured the final stage of the dead migrants long journey to escape injustice here on this earth.
The stories of some of the refugees Team Italy meet are desperately sad a father with his baby whose mother had drowned, and a girl who was brutally raped during her journey. Many have passed through Libya they talk of people being shot for the colour of their skin or for asking for wages, and about mass shootings as people get into the boats, the blog says. Ann [MacFarlane, BMS World Mission worker] has even seen a refugee come in with holes in his hands and legs from being crucified.
Team Italy, working with local volunteers, do all they can to help the refugees in difficult circumstances that they see can easily go awry. Everyone was hungry, some having not been fed since the night before, they write. Distributing the food quickly turned to chaos, as the beds were too tightly packed to reach everybody easily.
What Team Italy has learned is that you must resist the temptation to view refugees as a single group of people. It is so important to see them as individual people who have their own stories, their own reasons and their own pain, a viewpoint that is never portrayed in the media, they say.
Pray for Team Italy, Ann McFarlane and other volunteers as they help these desperate people seeking a safer and more secure future.
Please share this story with any young person you know considering a Christian gap year.
Click here for more information about joining a BMS Action Team.
This article first appeared on the website of BMS World Mission and is used with permission.
BMS World Mission, 18/11/2016
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to tackle an agenda that includes reforming the Affordable Care Act, Gov. Rick Scott is eyeing a long-sought prize.
Scott seeking federal grant to allow restructuring of Medicaid
Florida has twice rejected federal aid in expanding Medicaid in the state
Block grant would allow state to restructure as it sees fit
Scott is pushing for a federal block grant that would allow Florida to restructure its Medicaid program as it sees fit. The increased flexibility, some Republicans say, could even allow the state to expand the Medicaid coverage pool.
It's an ironic prospect, given that Florida House Republicans have for three years running rejected the Obama administration's offer of $51 billion to expand Florida's Medicaid program. The funds would provide health coverage to roughly 850,000 Floridians who don't currently qualify for Medicaid yet can't afford private coverage.
But Scott, a former health care executive, has twice reversed course on expansion. Most recently, he opposed it after his razor-thin reelection victory in 2014.
The sticking point, he said then, was the federal government's top-down control of Medicaid.
A block grant, on the other hand, would let the state determine payments to doctors and hospitals, as well as introduce potential cost-saving options like online tele-medicine appointments. The savings, Scott suggested last week, could be used to sustain and expand other parts of the Medicaid program.
"We pay these federal taxes that they want to give back to us in different programs," Scott told reporters. "Let us run the programs the way we believe for our state."
Medicaid expansion advocates, however, are cool to the block grant approach.
"It really comes fraught with risks and potential peril," said Damien Filer of Progress Florida. "It would be the people who would need this health care the most, people who are in dire economic situations, children, people with mental illness, would be the ones who would be on the front lines facing real challenges if this doesn't go the way that (Scott) is forecasting that it will."
Regardless of how the money is used, it would amount to a significant cash infusion, reforming and potentially enlarging a program conservatives have bemoaned as a definition of government excess.
The difference is that the approach is the brainchild of conservatives and, with a Republican about to assume the presidency, its enactment could be at hand.
Every dog owner knows that their pet can be taught to understand rudimentary English, like "sit," "fetch" or "stop." But despite being called man's best friend, it's not often humans try to meet their pups half-way when crossing the inter-species language barrier - after all, dogs have their own language too.
According to The Whole Dog Journal, Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas identified more than 30 body gestures that dogs use to communicate with each other. Learning just a few might help dog owners have a better relationship with their pet, as well as help them understand when to pull their dogs out of risky situations with other canines.
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
Bishop Curtis Guillory will close the Holy Door at St. Anthony's Cathedral Basilica on Sunday marking the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, according to a press release from the Catholic Diocese of Beaumont.
Toward the end of Sunday's noon mass, the ceremony will include singing of the Holy Year hymn and placing the Holy Year brick. which was a gift from the Vatican, in the Hold Door lintel. A papal medal and the decree of authenticity for the brick will also be placed in the lintel.
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The Ninth Court of Appeals has ordered a visiting judge to hold an evidentiary hearing to settle issues related to tampering cases made against two high-ranking Jefferson County sheriff's deputies.
The hearing is scheduled Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Chief Deputy Timothy Smith and Sgt. Chad Kolander want the higher court to review an Aug. 19 letter from District Attorney Bob Wortham that they claim states their cases were mishandled, as well as orders from Criminal District Judge John Stevens to a grand jury considering their charges. The men say the documents will show their prosecutions are unwarranted.
In an order filed on Nov. 15, the appeals court said the correspondence Smith and Kolander want the justices to review is "not in the record."
"On October 11, 2016, this Court granted Kolander's motion and ordered a supplemental clerk's record," according to the order. "On October 25, 2016, the District Clerk's office sent a letter which certified to this Court that the despite a diligent effort to comply with the request ... the record does not contain requested documents."
The hearing will determine whether the documents will be added to the official record for the appeals court to review.
Smith and Kolander were indicted in May on charges of tampering with physical evidence and a government document involving a process server who tried to serve former District Judge Layne Walker with a lawsuit in open court three years ago. They were accused of lying about how they obtained evidence against the process server and of rewriting a search warrant after another deputy took the evidence home.
After a visiting district judge in August quashed the indictments because the charges were "too vague," Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods reinstated Smith and Kolander, who were on paid leave for nearly four months.
Josh Schaffer, the appointed prosecutor in the case, did not amend the indictment and instead appealed District Judge Stephen Ables' ruling to the Ninth Court of Appeals.
Smith is the second-highest ranking deputy at the sheriff's office. He was the district attorney's office lead investigator in 2013. Kolander is a detective with more than 20 years at the sheriff's office.
Retired sheriff's deputy Steven Broussard also faces tampering charges. Broussard is accused of taking the evidence home before a search warrant was signed.
Walker is charged with abuse of official capacity. He was investigated for obstruction related to the process server incident.
The grand jury instead charged Walker with abusing the office after documents also contained in the case file resulted in allegations he directed county employees to work on his personal business dealings, including campaign finance reports and real estate sales.
Walker's attorney argued the grand jury proceedings were improper because of Stevens' interest in the case.
Stevens presided over the grand jury and brought the allegations to investigators' attention shortly after Walker resigned from the bench in 2014.
Ables ruled the potential conflict did not violate Walker's rights.
BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/BrandonKScott
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Eight months after Deweyville Elementary School was destroyed by floodwaters, district administrators have hired an Austin-based architecture firm experienced in working with federal grant money to repair or rebuild the school.
Architects Rabe & Partners will give the district a side-by-side cost analysis that the board will use to determine whether the district will renovate or start a new campus from scratch, said Deweyville ISD Superintendent Kevin Clark.
During a presentation to the school board on Wednesday night, Dale Rabe, owner of Architects Rabe & Partners, said he estimates it would take the firm about a year and a half to design and build a new elementary school.
The location of the new school would be a community decision, Clark said. Options include the school's current location on Texas 272 or land the district owns near the high school on Texas 12, he said.
Since the March flood, the district has been working with Federal Emergency Management Agency to secure federal funding to cover some of its costs from the disaster.
The federal agency announced in October that it would give the district $2.1 million for some of the expense of renting temporary trailers, which the district is using to house elementary students at the high school.
The district has yet to receive any of that money, Clark said.
FEMA has released the money to the state, he said, and the district is sending claims to the state for payment.
To date, the district has spent about $6 million on clean-up and on the temporary trailers, Clark said. Deweyville ISD has taken out a $3 million loan to cover costs, he said.
The district will continue to apply to FEMA for funding, he said.
In the meantime, officials are looking for extra money anywhere they can.
The board on Wednesday voted unanimously to file an application with the Texas Education Agency requesting an exemption from its annual "recapture" payment. The Texas school funding program, dubbed the Robin Hood plan, requires wealthier districts to give some of their tax revenue to the state to share with lower-income districts, but offers an exemption for districts that were declared disaster areas by the governor of Texas.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on March 17 requested a presidential disaster declaration for Deweyville and other parts of Newton and Orange counties swallowed by the Sabine River.
Clark said Deweyville ISD is the first district to ask for a recapture exemption under the disaster rule.
"No one has done this before. We're the first ones," he said.
TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said on Thursday she couldn't confirm Clark's claim but was researching it.
If the district didn't have to pay its annual recapture money, Clark estimated it would save between $514,000 and $680,000 - money, he said, would be used to rebuild or renovate the school.
After starting the school year with the district's entire student and faculty population housed in the high school, Deweyville ISD moved its elementary school and administrative offices into temporary rented trailers behind the high school in September.
Deweyville Junior and Senior High School Principal Brad Haeggquist said the community, which numbers around 1,200, is still healing months after the Sabine River inundated their homes, businesses and elementary school.
"The community is still broken," Haeggquist said at Wednesday's board meeting. "People are still living out of trailers."
Other firms that made bids to renovate or rebuild the school were Houston-based Claycomb Associates, Architects and Bridge City-based Architects, Inc. - the firm that helped design the district's temporary elementary campus.
Clark said Architects Rabe & Partners was selected because the district was looking for a firm that has experience working with FEMA to secure approval for plans and funding.
"A lot of it came down to who had the most FEMA experience," he said.
nkrebs@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/natalie_krebs
Here are five gastroenterologists in the news this past week.
Austin, Texas-based XBiotech has entered a research collaboration with Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD.
Charles Casale, MD, is joining the Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center's Community Division of Gastroenterology.
Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, spoke with Refinery29 about acid reflux and heartburn.
Beaufort Memorial Hospital in South Carolina added Marc D. New, MD, to its medical team, according to The Island Packet.
New York-based NYU Langone Medical Center developed a patient-centered care curriculum and annual award for the center's gastroenterologists. This year four medical professionals and physicians received the honor, including Renee L. Williams, MD.
The U.S. corporate tax rate is poised for change under President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump has said he plans to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate and also allow a lower tax rate on cash large corporations hold overseas, according to a 24/7 Wall St. report.
In the report, 24/7 Wall St. outlines a new research report from JPMorgan, which suggests that lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate could prove beneficial for the stocks of the following four medical technology companies.
Baxter International. Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International makes hospital and renal products. The company's shareholders are paid a dividend of 1.16 percent, according to the report. The Wall Street consensus price objective for the stock is $53.25. Baxter shares ended trading Tuesday at $46.07 a share.
Edwards Lifesciences. Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards Lifesciences is a medical equipment company that offers artificial heart valves, among other products. According to the report, Wall Street analysts feel the company's 2016 acquisition of privately held CardiAQ, which has human implants of transcatheter mitrial valves, was a good move, as Edwards is focused on the mitrial valve opportunity after achieving success in aortic valves. The company also achieved success with transcatheter valve replacement. "The stock [of Edwards] was hit hard recently and may be offering investors an attractive entry point," the report states.
Intuitive Surgical. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical manufactures the da Vinci Surgical System, a platform for robotically assisted minimally invasive surgery. According to the report, Intuitive Surgical stock has jumped nearly 90 percent since its 2014 lows, partly because of its success in hernia operations. "While robotic assistance for that operation still seems to have a lot of room to grow, it's important to remember that the market is a forward-looking machine. In addition, there are other procedures where the da Vinci robotic surgical system could add value, and the company has delighted investors with huge profit growth," the report states.
Zimmer Biomet. Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer Biomet, formed out of the 2015 merger of medical device manufacturers Zimmer and Biomet, is a medical device company that offers orthopedic medical devices and joint replacement. According to the report, the company reported weak third-quarter results, which analysts attributed to what they termed as "unforeseen supply issues." "Management lowered guidance, and at this point it remains unclear exactly how far into 2017 these supply issues will linger, which brings us to question if double-digit earnings-per-share growth is a reasonable goal," the report states.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Trinity Health to sell up to $430M in bonds to finance new hospital
8 hospitals receive credit downgrades in past month
Medicare's top 15 costliest drugs in 2015
The number of physicians who each prescribed more than $5 million worth of prescriptions increased more than tenfold, from 41 in 2011 to 514 in 2015, according to federal data obtained by ProPublica.
The number of prescribers exceeding $10 million in drug costs soared from two to 70 over the same time period, the data show. Prescribers are mostly physicians but also include some nurse practitioners.
The increased spending was largely driven by prescriptions for Harvoni or Sovaldi, new, expensive drugs that treat hepatitis C. Other expensive drugs accounting for the rise in spending on prescriptions include those that treat cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Medicare Part D, the federal drug program that covers more than 41 million seniors and disabled people, in 2015 accounted for $137.4 billion in drug spending before rebates from drug companies were factored in. In 2014, Medicare Part D spent $121.5 billion.
"The trends in this space are troubling and don't show any signs of abating," said Tim Gronniger, deputy chief of staff at CMS, according to the report. "It's going to be a pressure point for patients and the program for the foreseeable future."
Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth announced the departure of three executives from its Oregon network, according to a report by The Register-Guard. All three will step down on Dec. 16.
Wendy Apland, vice president of finance/CFO for PeaceHealth's Oregon network, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. She has been with the PeaceHealth since July 1998.
Louella Freeman, RN, MSN, CNO of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, Ore., is also leaving to pursue other opportunities. She joined PeaceHealth in 2014.
"They left voluntarily," said Marcy Marshall, a PeaceHealth spokeswoman, according to the report. "It just happened at the same time. It has nothing to do with the [PeaceHealth] system at all."
Additionally, Kris Kitz, Oregon network vice president of strategy, innovation and development, is stepping down. Due to restructuring at the PeaceHealth system level, Mr. Kitz's "local strategy leadership position has been eliminated," according to the report.
Rand O'Leary, chief executive of the PeaceHealth's Oregon network, said he will work with system CNO Victoria King and system CFO Kim Hodgkinson to find interim replacements for the open roles, the report notes.
Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, N.M., tapped Bo Beames to serve as interim CEO, according to a Portales News-Tribune report.
Here are five things to know:
1. Mr. Beames, the vice president of regional administration for Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Health Services, will step in to lead the hospital as it searches for a permanent CEO.
2. He has previously served as administrator for both Dr. Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari, N.M., and Socorro (N.M.) General Hospital.
3. He replaces Larry Leaming, who announced his decision to leave his post in October.
4. Mr. Leaming is leaving to take on the CEO role of Estes Park (Colo.) Medical Center.
5. Mr. Beames will assume the interim CEO role in January.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, R, does not want a post in President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, but he is interested in advising Mr. Trump on healthcare policy, according to an interview on Fox News.
Gov. Scott visited Mr. Trump Thursday at Trump Tower in Manhattan to congratulate him on his win. Of their meeting Gov. Scott said, "It was fun to meet with my friend Donald Trump today."
When Fox News' Neil Cavuto pressed Gov. Scott on his interest in a Cabinet position, particularly one in HHS, he maintained that he likes his job as governor of Florida.
However, Gov. Scott added, "I'm interested in doing whatever I can to help him rewrite Obamacare, redesign the government and help him work with the 33 Republican governors that have great ideas to help him be successful."
Mr. Trump's transition team issued an announcement Friday that Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is the president-elect's pick for attorney general, Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., is his nominee for director of the CIA, and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is his choice for assistant to the president for national security affairs.
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The Association of American Medical Colleges projects the U.S. could face a deficiency of 46,000 to 90,000 physicians in just 10 years. This issue is particularly acute in Arizona, as the state is ranked 34th in total active physicians per 100,000 residents, according to an op-ed penned by four healthcare executives in AZ Central.
The authors of the piece are the leaders of four healthcare organizations that are partnering to address the demand for more physicians in the state. Two Phoenix-based health systems and a family physician practice Maricopa Integrated Health System, Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and District Medical Group are partnering with Omaha, Neb.-based Creighton University School of Medicine to increase the number of practicing physicians in Arizona.
"The best way to address the physician shortage is to increase medical school enrollments and to add graduate medical education slots to our teaching hospitals," the authors wrote.
The four-way partnership aims to develop new academic and clinical education programs in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health through the creation of a collaboration, tentatively called the Creighton University Arizona Health Education Alliance, according to the article.
Although formal agreements have not yet been executed, plans are in progress for the early partnership of residency and fellowship programs to begin July 1, 2017, following approval from the national accrediting organization. Along with the alliance partners, Creighton University would launch an accelerated nursing program by January 2018, which would require state approval.
Creighton University has served as an academic hub for Phoenix for more than a decade, sending medical students to St. Joseph's for clinical rotations, according to the article. While the Creighton relationship with the Arizona healthcare organizations will be expanded under the partnership, it will continue to offer educational training to students for several other universities and programs.
The following is a roundup of recent events pertaining to hospital-union relationships, including strikes, legal battles, rallies and new contract agreements. All events were reported after Oct. 21.
1. Sharp HealthCare nurses plan 3-day strike after Thanksgiving
Nurses at San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare have notified the hospital of their plans to strike Nov. 28, according to a CW6 report. The announcement comes one week after nurses voted to reject the health system's latest contract offer and authorize a potential strike.
2. 175 layoffs fuel second union rally at UCI Medical Center
Union members rallied to protest job cuts at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., reports Orange County Register. The rally marked the second organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3299, since October, according to the article. Last month, UCI announced the layoff of 175 employees to reduce costs.
3. Suburban Community Hospital nurses rally against Prime's business practices
Dozens of nurses at Suburban Community Hospital in East Norriton, Pa., rallied to protest alleged unfair business practices and breaches of contract by the hospital's owner, Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, reports The Times Herald. The nurses are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
4. Laid-off UCSF workers rally against outsourcing
Laid-off IT workers at the University of California's San Francisco campus rallied against offshore labor, according to a Computerworld report. UCSF plans to replace a number of IT department workers, including permanent staff and contract employees, with outsourced workers.
5. Thousands of nurses to protest in Philadelphia today
Thousands of nurses in the midst of contract negotiations with multiple hospitals in the Philadelphia area were slated to demonstrate Nov. 15, according to a report on philly.com. The nurses are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
6. 2 Catholic Health System hospitals reach labor agreements with nurses
Registered nurses at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, N.Y., and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, N.Y., both part of the Catholic Health System on Long Island, approved new labor contracts, according to the New York State Nurses Association. Issues addressed in the contracts include staffing levels, health benefits and wages.
7. Union nurses ratify 4-year labor contract with Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital
Contract talks between Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pa., and its registered nurses came to an amicable end after six weeks of negotiations with nurses ratifying a new four-year contract, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal report. The contract covers 300 RNs represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals.
8. Tacoma General nurses say no to extra shifts in weeklong boycott
Nurses at MultiCare Health System's Tacoma (Wash.) General Hospital were slated to take a stand against hospital work practices by boycotting voluntary overtime and extra shifts from Nov. 10 to Nov. 17, reports The News Tribune. The nurses are represented by the Washington State Nurses Association.
9. Latest contract offer from Canton-Potsdam Hospital prompts worker protest
Canton-Potsdam (N.Y.) Hospital employees protested a decrease in benefits proposed by hospital managers in their latest contract, according to a Watertown Daily Times report. The employees, which include nurses and technical workers, are represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
10. Federal judge sides with nurses in Cayuga Medical Center labor dispute: 7 takeaways
A federal court ruled that managers and administrators of Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, N.Y., committed unfair labor practices during a union organizing campaign by nursing staff. The ruling stems from allegations by CMC nurses that the hospital had placed unlawful pressure on the nurses during their unionization efforts, Ithaca Times reports.
11. Temple workers ratify 3-year labor agreement
About 2,000 nurses and healthcare professionals represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals reached a tentative agreement with Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal report. The new three-year contract, reached Oct. 19, includes wage increases and improvements on staffing and job security, union officials said. PASNAP members overwhelmingly voted to ratify the new agreement Oct. 25.
12. University Hospital workers approve new contract, nurses no longer required to treat Ebola
Nurses and other healthcare workers at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., ratified a three-year contract that includes pay increases and new safeguards related to Ebola treatment, according to a report on NJ.com. The contract covers approximately 1,300 nurses and other healthcare workers represented by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union.
13. San Leandro Hospital nurses OK labor deal
Registered nurses at San Leandro (Calif.) Hospital ratified a new contract with the hospital, according to the California Nurses Association. The new contract covers 200 RNs at San Leandro, which is part of Oakland, Calif.-based Alameda Health System.
14. St. Mary's Hospital for Children reaches labor deal with workers
The union representing registered nurses, clerical workers and therapists at Bayside, N.Y.-based St. Mary's Hospital for Children reached a contract agreement with the hospital, according to a report on QNS.com. The agreement between the hospital and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East will affect 378 workers.
Nurses at San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare have notified the hospital of their plans to strike Nov. 28, according to a CW6 report.
The announcement comes one week after nurses voted to reject the health system's latest contract offer and authorize a potential strike.
The nurses are represented by the Sharp Professional Nurses Network, an affiliate of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. According to the union, 98 percent of 2,203 nurses who cast ballots voted to authorize a strike.
The nurses said they intend to return to work Dec. 1, according to the report.
The walkout would affect seven hospitals in San Diego County, but Sharp is prepared to use qualified, replacement nurses if their employees strike, reports CW6.
A key sticking point in negotiations between Sharp and the nurses is pay.
The Sharp nurses contend large wage increases are needed to prevent their colleagues from moving to other hospitals for better pay, according to a Times of San Diego report. Sharp, for its part, has maintained that the health system's 2015 nurse turnover rates are lower than San Diego, Southern California and state turnover averages.
Nurses have asked for a 31 percent pay raise over the term of the next contract, while Sharp is offering a 16 to 26 percent pay raise over the contract term. The systems proposed raise would be based on a nurses' experience, advancement and academic degree earned, Sharp officials have said.
Sharp managers said they still hope to avoid a nurse strike before Nov. 28, according to CW6.
"We are disappointed that the union has chosen to put our patients in the center of our contract disagreement by choosing to walk out of our hospitals," Dan Gross, executive vice president of Sharp Healthcare, said in the CW6 report. "At this time, caring for our patients is our top priority and we have taken the necessary steps to ensure we will have adequate staffing levels with excellent nurses at all times during their walkout."
Sharp has contracted with an agency that provides specially trained replacement nurses, reports CW6. The agency's nurses, per their contract with Sharp, would have to work at Sharp for at least five days, meaning nurses who plan to participate in the strike will be replaced for that length of time.
New research shows that rich Americans outlive poor Americans by nearly a decade, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper cites a study published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.
For the study, researchers said they used five-year averages for median household income to form the 3,141 U.S. counties into 50 new "states" each representing 2 percent of the U.S. counties (62 or 63 counties each) by using the 2015 County Health Rankings National Data. They ultimately compared the poorest and wealthiest "states."
The analysis revealed statistically significant differences in life expectancy, smoking rates, obesity rates, and almost every other measure of health and well-being between the wealthiest and poorest U.S. "states."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the poorest "state" created by researchers included counties from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The richest "state" was comprised of counties from Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Here are five specific differences researchers found between the poorest "state" and the richest "state," as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
1. The median household income in the poorest "state" was $24,960 compared to $89,723 in the richest "state."
2. The ratio of people to primary care physicians in the poorest "state" was twice that of the richest "state."
3. Women in the poorest "state" had a life expectancy of 75.9 years, compared with 83 years in the richest "state." For men, life expectancy in the poorest "state" was 69.8 years and 79.3 in the richest "state."
4. After looking harder into the life expectancy data, the researchers wrote, "the poorest 'state' is between 40 and 50 years behind the life expectancy achieved by the wealthiest 'state,'" according to the Los Angeles Times.
5. After comparing the richest and poorest "states" to 222 actual countries, researchers found that if the richest "state" were an independent country, it would rank eighth in the world in life expectancy for men and 25th for women, according to the newspaper. The poorest "state" would rank 123rd for men and 116th for women.
"This analysis graphically demonstrates the true impact of the extreme socioeconomic disparities that exist in the United States," the researchers concluded. "These differences can be obscured when one looks only at state data, and suggest that practitioners and policymakers should increasingly focus interventions to address the needs of the poorest citizens in the United States."
Healthcare is shifting toward a pay-for-performance future, and hospitals looking to succeed as healthcare trends toward value will have to place a large emphasis on population health.
At the Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable Nov. 8, Accenture, a global professional services company, delved into how hospitals can propel their organizations forward into healthcare's value-based future and successfully utilize data analytics to drive meaningful change in their organization during an executive roundtable titled "An Uncharted Path to the Future of Healthcare."
To better gauge what healthcare organizations envision for the industry's future and steps they are taking in lieu of this transformation, Accenture previously conducted a research study and spoke to 50 leading health system CEOs who discussed their perspectives on the healthcare landscape and how their organizations are evolving to keep pace with these changes.
"Several CEOs said that 100 percent of what they do right now will be 100 percent different in the future," said Michael Main, managing director of Accenture Strategy. "Many said that to survive the next 10 years, they are going to need to be number one or number two in their market."
While organizations increasingly understand the need to allocate resources toward population health initiatives, many organizations and even leaders within an organization have contrasting definitions of population health. During the roundtable discussion, many hospital and health system executives reported their organizations are pursuing a population health strategy. However, the vice president of medical affairs of a 365-bed hospital on the East Coast said his facility has found it challenging to tell their independent physicians they need to spend money now on a population health initiative so they can reap financial success later down the line by improving the health of their population.
Many organizations spanning the United States, including the roundtable attendees' centers, are acute care facilities that operate under a fee-for-service payment model. Despite many organizations not yet fully shifting to pay-for-performance, healthcare's future will largely depend on outcomes and population health will be of exceeding importance.
"Most of you are dominantly operating under a FFS model. When CEOs say healthcare will be 180 degrees different in the future, they are saying they will focus on the whole care continuum and treat the entire population," Mr. Main said. "When we tie the fee to value, we have to extract the cost out of the system and shift it to the lowest cost, highest quality avenue possible."
Hospitals can work to improve patients' quality of care by employing technology. Mr. Main noted that if healthcare continues to exponentially improve providers' computing ability, healthcare will demand transparency and center around the consumer. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations that fail to shift to a patient-centered mentality will likely not be prepared for what is coming down the pipeline. Becoming patient-centric also entails understanding the most pressing challenges facing your organization.
"In the 1800s, if you told hospitals that we want you to improve the population's health and decrease the number of diarrhoeal diseases and deaths you are experiencing, they would say that is not their jobs," said the CEO of a Southern-based 250-bed hospital that provides services to Tricare beneficiaries. "Today, our biggest issues are lack of exercise, obesity and tobacco [use]. We often talk about managing the disease once we know about it, but we need to get in front of that."
When implementing population health initiatives and staying on the forefront of preventative medicine, the healthcare industry has a valuable, and often underutilized tool at its fingertips data analytics. The issues related to data analytics are embedded in using these tools to effectively drive change in organizations.
"If our metrics are poorly defined and our definitions are askew, how do we bring clarity [to the healthcare system]?" Mr. Main said. "The problem is what you have been doing successfully now is not what will make you successful in the future. Your competencies have to be more related to data and science."
John Carew, senior manager of Accenture Analytics, said successful organizations follow a series of steps to obtain value from their data analytic systems. While the majority of organizations can implement data analytic systems and have endless amounts of data to dissect, the biggest failures organizations have is turning those data-driven insights into meaningful action.
"When I think of organizations that are getting their data analytics right, they look at data analytics as part of their overall organizational strategy, rather than thinking of data analytics separately," Mr. Carew said.
Healthcare is moving swiftly, but many organizations, despite their best efforts, are failing to drive insight from their data analytics. This failure is largely due to the fact that they don't make data analytics a top priority. Mr. Main cited an example of a surgeon who said the hospital should allocate its resources toward its cardiology service line as there was an influx of patients coming into the facility for these services. Another staff member probed the surgeon as to how he reached that conclusion, which created tension amongst the two staff members.
"It really came down to experience versus the science and data," Mr. Main said. "We told the hospital why don't we alleviate the tension by doing clinical segmentation so we can know where the revenue is really coming from?"
By using data, the hospital got a full picture of its services lines, allowing it to better understand how large those service lines should be. Without effectively using data analytics, hospitals run the risk of wasting valuable time and resources.
"Data analytics allows you to begin making decisions and if you decide to do population health, you can understand which mechanisms to put into place," Mr. Main added. "If big data is how we become better providers, we need to think of data analytics as part of our jobs."
Once again the DREAMS organization is grateful for the recent grants and or donations that were given to our organization, they are: Arizona Community Foundation; Forest Highlands Foundation; Full Circle Trade and Thrift Store; Mary and Joseph Herman Foundation; Phil and Carol Lyons Foundation.
Fifteen spine surgeons discuss the most important technological and technique-based innovations in spine care over the last 10 years.
Question: What technique, developed in the last decade, changed the way spine care was delivered?
Edward H Scheid Jr., MD. President, Founder of Capital Region Neurosurgery & President, Capital Region Special Surgery (Slingerlands, N.Y.): The development of minimally invasive lateral interbody fusion techniques.
The procedure, originally developed as XLIF, has led to a paradigm shift in how patients with degenerative deformities in the lumbar spine are treated. By allowing a surgeon to correct coronal imbalance with lateral grafts placed via a minimal approach, XLIF and other lateral fusion techniques have opened up an opportunity to treat patients more effectively, and allow fusions to be performed without long incisions and large posterior constructs.
Charla Fischer, MD. Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center (New York): The development of minimally invasive spine surgery has revolutionized spine care for many reasons. As a surgeon, I am now able to treat conditions of the spine with the same principles that have been developed over many years, while preserving the healthy soft tissue of the back. This allows for shorter hospital stays, faster return to work and activities and less postoperative pain. Additionally, this technique maintains the maximum amount of normal healthy tissue, and this will help the patient avoid additional spine surgeries in the future.
The development of a multidisciplinary approach to spine patients has truly revolutionized the way spine care is delivered. This allows for collaboration of spine specialists in physical therapy, pain management, nonoperative interventionalists, medicine, anesthesia, spine surgery and psychiatry/psychology. Now patients are able to maximize the nonoperative options before meeting with a surgeon. Patients who may benefit from surgery are carefully screened from the risk/benefit perspective and medically optimized for surgery. Current spine care allows for thorough understanding of patient expectations and risk of complications from a multidisciplinary team perspective.
Michael Perry, MD. Co-founder and Chief Medical Director of Laser Spine Institute (Tampa, Fla.): As I consider the techniques and advancements that have led to a change in spine care delivery, I'm immediately drawn to those that help to improve the patient experience. In tandem with the advent of new devices and procedures that no longer require invasive, lengthy incisions, minimally invasive spine surgery has changed the way both surgeons and patients perceive spine surgery. This model's shift from the hospital to an outpatient facility has not only helped to comfort patients, but it's kept them safer, with complication and infection rates shrinking drastically when comparing an ambulatory surgery center with a hospital. It's also getting patients back to work and the things they love most, faster and with a gentler recovery.
Biologics is another area primed for growth within the spine space. While research is still in its infancy, particularly related to stem cells, many feel that biologics will ultimately be viewed as an early treatment modality. The clinical application will be varied, including usage for preventive therapy, but there's no doubt that healing and regeneration from biologics will play an increasingly important role in spine care and the patient experience.
Frank La Marca, MD. Chief, Spine Section of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Health System (Ann Arbor): I feel that the development of minimally invasive lateral approach techniques to the spine has contributed greatly, over the last 10 years, to the advancement of spinal surgery and has revolutionized how we treat patients, not only with common degenerative spinal pathology but also with more complex spinal deformity problems. These surgical techniques, such as lateral interbody arthrodesis with or without anterior longitudinal ligament release, are not new per se but thanks to the introduction of minimally invasive approaches have become more accessible to a broader number of surgeons and often eliminated the need for an assistant surgeon to help in the surgical exposure.
These techniques along with novel device implants have also been shown to yield significant clinical benefits as compared to open surgical techniques resulting in an increased overall value for the healthcare system.
Richard Nachwalter, MD, and Carl Giordano, MD. Spine Surgeons at Atlantic Spine Specialists (Morristown, N.J.): There are few things that develop that are truly revolutionary. Most techniques are more evolutionary, that is, small advances. We are always striving to make incisions smaller and surgery safer. The development of image guidance, the ability to view in real time spinal implants as they are being inserted, has achieved both of those goals. We can now make surgery smaller and safer.
Jae Lim, MD. Principal Surgeon at Atlantic Brain & Spine (Fairfax, Va.): I believe minimally invasive surgery for the spine has undoubtedly changed the way spine care has been delivered in the past decade. This includes robotics, but also intraoperative image systems, endoscopes, tubular retractors, novel spinal access approaches and interbody implants that accelerate fusion/healing to name a few. I think future direction will be in restorative spinal surgery, which is a focus on procedures to replace or strengthen the different parts of the spinal column. With the upcoming advances in nanotechnology and 3-D printing, surgeons will be able to increasingly rebuild the spine rather than simply resecting and fusing.
James J. Lynch, MD. Founder of SpineNevada (Reno, Nev.): The single most influential technique developed in spine during the last decade in my opinion is the lateral approach to the lumbar spine. This procedure technique was developed and promoted initially by NuVasive 10 years ago and is commonly known as XLIF or extreme lateral interbody fusion. Due to its phenomenal game-changing effect and the disruptive technology on how we view, interpret and treat lumbar spine conditions in degeneration, deformity and trauma, the procedure has been more recently adopted by other spine companies and use the acronyms ELIF and DLIF.
No other procedure has contributed to improved patient wellbeing by minimizing the approach to fusion techniques and certainly changing the way surgeons address global alignment strategies and overall sagittal balance issues by avoiding more outdated, scoliosis, open, destructive surgical procedures. This procedure has resulted in marked improved patient outcomes in the last decade.
Mark Nolden, MD. Spine Surgeon at NorthShore Orthopaedic Institute (Chicago): Minimally invasive procedures for spinal decompression surgery have enabled specialists to deliver more outpatient care. This has led to a quicker recovery for patients and less of a need for postoperative rehabilitation.
Todd Lanman, MD, Lanman Spinal Neurosurgery, Beverly Hills, Calif.: Over the past decade, artificial disc replacement has become an attractive option for patients with degenerative disc disease who would benefit from surgical treatment. Artificial disc replacement is now a compelling rival to the current standard of care for this patient population, vertebral disc fusion. In fact, I anticipate artificial disc replacement may eclipse vertebral fusion in the very near future since replacement provides similar symptom relief to fusion with one important advantage: preserved range of motion in the spine.
We now have data from clinical trials showing cervical artificial disc replacements devices that are placed in the neck provide superior outcomes to vertebral fusion surgery. This is true whether a patient needs treatment at one or even two vertebral levels. People with lumber disc disease, that is, disease in the spinal bones of the lower back, also benefit from artificial disc replacement. Studies have now shown that lumbar disc replacement provides at least equivalent symptom relief to fusion, again with the added benefit of preserved spinal motion.
Given the documented successes of artificial disc replacement over the past decade and the superior functional outcomes it provides, I expect that within the next 10 years artificial disc replacement will become the new standard of surgical care for most patients with symptomatic degenerative disc disease.
Barry Ceverha, MD. Medical Director, Operative Program at Center for Spine Health at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (Fountain Valley, Calif.): There have been many new applications in spinal technology spinal instrumentation, biological products, the progression of MIS surgery and so on. I feel that surgical navigation remains at the forefront of new technology. This technology enhances patient safety, demonstrates better outcomes and reduces cost by reducing OR time and allowing more accurate placement of hardware. Intraoperative CT guidance with enhanced imaging will allow even more accuracy and will open new windows of application.
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD. Spine Surgeon at The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: By far, the lateral interbody technique has totally changed the way most of us practice. It has allowed us to look at the spine as a true three-dimensional construct and to start really thinking about how to change coronal and some sagittal issues. With practice, really challenging cases can suddenly look accessible and doable from a surgical perspective. It has granted access to regions of the spine that were once a struggle to get to from the posterior approach. That being said, nothing beats a great vascular access surgeon for the anterior lumbar approach. I am fortunate enough to practice with some tremendously talented vascular surgeons who have made anterior access into an art form.
J. Brian Gill, MD, MBA. Spine Surgeon at Nebraska Spine Hospital (Omaha): There have been several innovations that have forwarded the field of spine surgery including image guidance, which has helped to facilitate MIS surgeries, bone graft substitutes, such as BMP and stem cells, and disc arthroplasty procedures as this has afforded an alternative to fusion procedures generating a discussion on motion preservation technologies and how they fit into the spine surgeon's armamentarium.
Vladimir Sinkov, MD. Spine Surgeon at New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center (Nashua): Minimally invasive techniques in general have changed spine care tremendously in the past 10 to 15 years. Most of those techniques have actually been developed earlier than that, but the recent advances in instrumentation, implants, imaging and neuromonitoring have made it possible for most spine surgeons to adapt and embrace them. The technique that has changed my practice the most is the lateral lumbar interbody fusion with direct visualization of the psoas. It allows for the least invasive way to fuse the thoracolumbar spine while performing the surgery safely. My outcomes have improved [and] length of hospital stay has decreased. I can offer this surgery to patients who would not be able to tolerate the traditional open lumbar fusion due to their health, anatomy or history of previous spine procedures.
Azadeh Farin, MD. Neurosurgeon at Long Beach (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center: Spine care has changed dramatically in the last decade, prompted by several factors, including needs of an aging, more sophisticated, active, demanding and medically complex population which is living longer. Together these factors encourage the development of a myriad of new surgical techniques, medical devices and biomaterials including expandable cages, motion-preservation devices, alternative approaches to the spine and techniques for correction of spinal deformity, minimally invasive approaches, stem cell biologics, 3-D printing, rapid prototyping, transition to single use sterile packaging and nanotechnology for surface preparation.
Many of these developments successfully address unmet clinical needs and offer options to patients who before had very few to improve their quality of life. These advantages further include advances in patient safety, cost controls and information technology, outcomes collection and surgical animations although not every new phenomenon has demonstrated clear advantages over older products and techniques. Measures meant to increase patient satisfaction, include the common use of intraoperative neuromonitoring and increased use of the intraoperative microscope to help ensure safer surgeries. Additionally, the evolution of a growing number of spine surgeries from the hospital operating room to an increasing number of ambulatory surgery centers is resulting in decreased lengths of stay and cost.
Bryce A Johnson, MD. Orthopedic Spine Surgeon, Saddleback Memorial Medical Center (Laguna Hills, Calif.). Over the last decade, both the refinement of tubular or minimally invasive surgery based retractor systems and instruments as well as the advancement of multimodal pain management have really propelled the movement for faster recovery and shortened stay postoperatively. Although their development began prior, minimally invasive techniques have experienced increased interest over the last decade.
The goals of surgery remain the same as open surgery with thorough neurological decompression and stabilization, if necessary, of paramount importance. However, with lessened collateral damage, we have seen decreased postoperative pain and narcotic utilization, and, therefore, a faster recovery. This effect has been helped with advancements in multimodal pain management in the perioperative period. The more widespread use of IV acetaminophen and the judicious use of short-or long-acting local anesthetics have furthered the decrease in narcotic use postoperatively. As a result, patients are mobilizing faster and being discharged earlier.
A victims' campaigner's claim that the United Kingdom cannot quit the European Union without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland is to go before the Supreme Court.
Senior judges in Belfast on Friday agreed to refer the contention at the centre of Raymond McCord's failed legal challenge to the Brexit process for further judicial consideration in London.
Mr McCord, whose son was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries, was jubilant at the outcome.
He said: "This has vindicated everything I have been trying to do.
"The people of Northern Ireland should be deciding whether we stay in the EU or leave - 56% of the people here voted to remain."
His case will now advance to the Supreme Court alongside another unsuccessful legal bid to halt Brexit mounted by a cross-party group of MLAs.
Five issues of devolution are expected to come under scrutiny when those proceedings get underway next month.
Earlier this week Northern Ireland's Attorney General, John Larkin QC, referred the judicial review brought by Stormont politicians including Alliance MLA David Ford, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Sinn Fein Assemblyman John O'Dowd and Steven Agnew of the Green Party.
Mr McCord's lawyers sought permission to leapfrog the Court of Appeal and join them in putting their case before justices sitting in London.
The Belfast-based campaigner claims the Good Friday Agreement has given the Northern Irish public sole sovereignty to decide on their future.
His legal team predict that Brexit will cause constitutional upheaval and have a "catastrophic effect" on the peace process.
Nationalist aspirations to become part of the United Ireland and unionist desires to remain in the UK are both catered for in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
The Supreme Court will now consider whether withdrawal from the EU without the consent of the Northern Ireland population impacts on those provisions.
"This is a major step forward for our people and for victims," Mr McCord said outside court.
"The three judges believe I have a right to an opinion, unlike political people who have criticised me."
Prime Minister Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process for confirming the UK is to leave, by the end of March 2017.
Even though the June 23 referendum backed Brexit, a 56% majority of voters in Northern Ireland wanted to remain.
Last month a High Court judge in Belfast dismissed separate proceedings issued by Mr McCord and the Stormont politicians.
Mr Justice Maguire rejected claims that the British Government cannot use royal prerogative powers to begin EU withdrawal without an Act of Parliament.
But earlier this month the High Court in London held that only Parliament can trigger Brexit.
With the Government set to challenge that ruling at the Supreme Court, lawyers in the Northern Ireland cases now have their own appeal routes mapped out.
During a court hearing last week counsel for the Government claimed any move to split the two cases could ultimately prove to be a "treacherous shortcut".
Following the Attorney General's direction an order was drawn up on Monday setting out four devolution issues for consideration by the Supreme Court in the MLAs' case:
Do any provisions of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, read together with the Belfast Agreement and the British-Irish Agreement mean an Act of Parliament is required before Brexit can be triggered?
If they do, is the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly required before the relevant Act of Parliament is passed?
If they don't, do any of the same provisions restrict royal prerogative powers to trigger Brexit?
Does section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 prevent the prerogative power being exercised in the absence of compliance by the Northern Ireland Office with its equality obligations under that section?
Mr McCord's lawyers posed the same four questions, along with a fifth dealing with the requirement for the consent of the Northern Ireland public.
With a reference now made on that issue too, Supreme Court justices will consider the points along with the Government's challenge to the verdict reached by the High Court in London.
Speaking outside court, Mr McCord's solicitor, Ciaran O'Hare, explained their argument.
"Essentially the question posed is whether or not there can be any Brexit for Northern Ireland, based on the fact we have our own constitution consisting of the Northern Ireland Act and the Good Friday Agreement.
"Section one of the Act secures the unionist ambition to remain part of the UK, but also gives the possibility of a united Ireland if the people were to vote for it.
"That's why we have such an important legislative provision shouldn't be undermined by Brexit.
"We say the people of Northern Ireland are sovereign on constitutional change."
Spending by tourists in Northern Ireland increased by 5% to reach nearly 790m in the year to June, latest figures show.
And according to the report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the biggest growth in spending was by visitors from outside the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Their spending had grown by 15% to reach 514m. However, spending by visitors from the Republic over the year was down 5%, reaching 56.9m.
Between July 2015 and June 2016, there were 374,919 overnight trips made by visitors from the Republic - which was down 1% on the year before.
Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said the performance of tourism in Northern Ireland had been "positive".
And when compared with the first half of 2015, Tourism NI said there was growth in visits from the Republic in the first of this year, with 27% increase to 179,000.
There was also growth of 38% in nights spent - though business trips were down 30%.
Tourism NI chief executive John McGrillen said there had been 1.1 million visitors from outside Northern Ireland during January to June 2016, an increase of 12% on the same period a year before. He said it was also "encouraged by the upturn in Republic of Ireland trips and nights".
"This bodes well for the rest of the year and feedback over the summer months has been very positive regarding this market."
Tourism NI launched a campaign to attract more visitors from the Republic to Northern Ireland after a fall of 18% in overnight trips to 320,000 during 2015.
David Mills is made an MBE by the Prince of Wales during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
Dame Judi Dench has returned to Buckingham Palace for an honours ceremony - this time to see her partner pick up an award for his conservation work.
David Mills, who founded the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey almost 20 years ago, said he was "elated" to be given an MBE.
The 73-year-old told of his work to help rebuild the red squirrel population, something which brought the couple together following their first meeting six years ago.
Mr Mills, who breeds the endangered animals and is trying to help put them on islands across the UK, said the film star did not know who he was when she called in at the centre in Newchapel.
He said: "She has always been interested in wildlife, and she turned up as a visitor one day.
"We met and we talked, and she said if ever she could do anything for us she would be very happy to and so I asked her to open a walk-through red squirrel enclosure, which she very kindly said yes, she would do. After that, as they say, the rest is history."
Dame Judi has previously spoken about Mr Mills' influence on her interest in wildlife, and he said the pair are happy to support each other in their respective careers.
He said: "We share each other's worlds, which is lovely."
Also honoured by the Prince of Wales was Downton Abbey's executive producer Gareth Neame, who said the day made him feel as though he was in a scene from the hit television show.
He said: "It's funny for me because of course in Downton Abbey we have recreated these kinds of scenes so it's quite funny to be in the real thing."
Mr Neame, 49, who was given an OBE for services to drama, said he is "optimistic" about a Downton Abbey film, but said it would depend on whether actors' schedules allowed.
He said: "When you end the television show everyone goes their separate ways and to get everyone back again at the same time, it is challenging."
He added: "I hope it will happen."
Dr Anita Lasker Wallfisch, who received an MBE for her services to Holocaust education, spoke of her fears for the future following the election of Donald Trump in America, and the vote for Britain to leave the European Union.
The 91-year-old, a surviving member of the women's orchestra in Auschwitz, said: "You wonder where all this is going to lead. We had 70 years of peace, and of course young people don't appreciate what that means."
She said she has tried not to lose hope but added: "I think that's terrible (Brexit). It doesn't look good. And if you can elect somebody like Mr Trump, it's quite disgraceful."
Also honoured was playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair, who received an MBE for services to drama. He said he is "very excited" to be working on a play called Summer, featuring exclusively transgender actors.
He said: "The play, even though the characters are all trans characters, it never gets mentioned, that is just who they are, and so that is a huge step, I think."
It will be performed next year at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.
An auction of collectables, including David Bowie's artwork and a signed Damien Hirst guitar, has raised more than 307,000 for charity.
The specially customised Damien Hirst Butterfly Guitar - a Gibson Les Paul Goddess - signed by the artist, was the highest selling item at the Sound & Vision event at Abbey Road studios, fetching 25,000.
Guests were also treated to a special performance by acts such as former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Anastacia, as well as The Real Thing and Odyssey.
The Thursday night event was in aid of Stand Up To Cancer, a charity launched by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 aiming, to speed up the process of bringing new treatments to patients.
Describing the night as an "amazing experience", Anastacia said: "It was an honour to be in a room full of people who share my ambition to raise money for research into cancer - a cause very close to my heart.
"After beating cancer twice I'm determined to do as much as I can to Stand Up To Cancer and make sure more people survive this awful disease."
The proceeds will add to the 38 million already generated by the charity since its launch in 2012, currently supporting more than 30 clinical trials and projects.
The election of Donald Trump as US president might convince people that inaction can be the "cause of true evil", R.E.M's Mike Mills has said.
Mills, who founded the American rock group in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 with Michael Stipe, Peter Berry and Bill Buck, said he hoped the vote would galvanise society.
Speaking at an event in London marking the 25th anniversary of hit album Out Of Time alongside frontman Stipe, Mills said: " We'll see if we can get a transformative event to come out of what happened."
Stipe, who had campaigned for Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders before Hillary Clinton beat the Vermont senator to the nomination, said Mr Trump's election was a "protest vote against the establishment".
"Rather than voting for a racist, xenophobic agenda, an intolerant agenda, I think they were just trying to smash the machine."
Stipe called on Americans to "remain vigilant and get over the grief and get on with it".
Mills said the only hope he took from the vote was that it would force politicians into listening to marginalised parts of society.
"Maybe it will be a galvanising event that makes people realise that inaction can be the cause of great evil.
"One thing Trump was right about was that Washington is a completely corrupt place as are most centres of power.
"If anything good comes out of this perhaps there will be some lessening of the completely insular behaviour that occurs in Washington.
"They really don't think about anything outside their little bubble a nd maybe this will cause people to listen to a formerly ignored group of people."
The pair were speaking at The Borderline in central London where in 1991 they played under the pseudonym Bingo Hand Job after Out Of Time had been released.
Stipe contrasted the political environment of the early 1990s to Mr Trump's shock election.
"The time that this record was made was a time of great change.
"We were at war and no one knew where it was going to go but clearly what had happened politically in the US was about to change. You could feel the change in the air and I think as artists we were simply responding to that with this record.
"Sadly we have just been through that again with the American election and changes I don't think any of us are that thrilled with. I think anyone looking back over the past eight or nine months can recognise that feeling of change. Something is happening."
The album - which featured hits such as Losing My Religion and Half A World Away - has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and is being reissued alongside a recording of demos.
The pair said it was a "transformative" record for the group which thrust them into the mainstream, with Mills recalling being in a hotel bar in Israel when Losing My Religion came on.
"Everybody rushed to the dance floor, I was like you can't even dance to that. But it was the one they all responded to and that is when you know you have crossed a line."
The bassist also revealed that the group cut three or four "really good songs" from the Out Of Time because they sounded too similar to the band's previous material.
"One of the rules we had when we started writing the songs for this record was that there will be no more R.E.M songs and by that we meant if it sounds like an R.E.M song that could have been on any of the last three or four records we tossed it.
"We said you know what that just sounds like something that could have been on Document, it's gotta go away."
Two Phoenix-based civil rights activists came to Flagstaff Friday to call for the immediate firing of a Flagstaff police officer who punched a local woman in the face this week.
At a press conference in front of Flagstaff City Hall Friday, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Taylor called on Flagstaff Police Department to terminate the employment of Officer Jeff Bonar.
"Nobody is above the law," Taylor said. "We're asking for this officer to be fired."
Bonar was caught on a cell phone video striking 30-year-old Marissa Morris outside a Christmas Tree Estates home at approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday. Within hours, the video had gone viral on Facebook.
After the punch, Bonar can be seen on the video handcuffing Morris with the help of the sheriff's deputy. He booked her into the Coconino County Detention Facility on charges of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
Bonar wrote in his police report that Morris appeared to be intoxicated on a stimulant drug and had kicked him and kneed him in the groin prior to the punch. That is not visible in the video.
Morris has denied assaulting the officer. In addition to the punch on the video, Morris claimed Bonar punched her one additional time, twisted her arm and choked her with his hand around her neck. Those things are not visible on the video.
There were no obvious visible injuries on Morris Friday. Taylor said she was injured but details about her injuries would be released in the future.
"As you've seen on the video, Ms. Morris was restrained," Taylor said. "She was restrained and she was punched in the face by an officer. If this was any one of us as a citizen, we would be in jail right now for an assault charge. Just because you're an officer doesn't mean you can break the law and assault somebody."
Taylor was joined at the press conference by Morris, her boyfriend and Phoenix civil rights activist Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who announced that they planned to file a complaint asking for a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
"This is an assault," Taylor said. "He should be punished and he should be thrown in jail just like any other citizen who punches somebody with their fist would be thrown in jail."
FPD announced Thursday that it will conduct an internal affairs investigation while Northern Arizona University Police Department conducts the criminal investigation into Bonar's actions
FPD and Coconino County Sheriff's officers were at Morris and her boyfriend's home on East Blizzard Way Wednesday morning to make sure they complied with an eviction notice.
According to the police report he filed Wednesday evening, Bonar recognized Morris because he had attempted to find her Oct. 18 in another case. At that time, she had warrants for failing to appear in Flagstaff Justice Court and Flagstaff Municipal Court in unrelated cases involving non-violent offenses.
Bonar attempted to arrest Morris for the warrants Wednesday even though they had already been served and were no longer valid. FPD Chief Kevin Treadway said in a Thursday press conference that Bonar believed the warrants were still active. In his police report, Bonar said Morris started running, so he grabbed her to prevent her from escaping.
Morris is no longer in custody, having been released to the supervision of Coconino County Pretrial Services following her initial appearance in Flagstaff Justice Court Thursday. The County Attorney's Office has until Tuesday to file formal charges against her.
FPD spokesperson Sgt. Cory Runge provided additional information Friday about Bonar's history with the department.
"Officer Bonar has previously had a complaint filed on him for his use of force, which was unfounded, and four other officers and witnesses were present at the time of the incident," Runge said. "I am not aware of any complaints filed against Officer Bonar for inappropriate touching."
Morris said she wanted Bonar to be fired. She also said she is now afraid of the police.
"My grandpa was a sheriff and he would never do anything like that," Morris said. "But now, I'm not so sure I ever want to encounter one again."
Taylor said they are "looking into" filing a civil rights lawsuit against Bonar and the city.
Bonar is on paid leave from the police force and FPD has said no disciplinary action will be taken against him until its investigation is complete. As of Friday, no criminal charges had been filed against him.
Taylor suggested termination or suspension without pay would be more appropriate.
"There's many good officers out there," Taylor said. "But an officer who assaults somebody in the face who is restrained (and) who is not even doing anything wrong should be fired, should have some sort of punishment, not a paid vacation."
A Stormont department is working to smooth the path of redevelopment for one of Northern Ireland's most recognisable buildings.
Crumlin Road Courthouse is one of the most iconic landmarks of the Troubles, but since it was closed in 1998 after 150 years of use the building has suffered major damage, including arson attacks.
Planning permission was previously granted in 2004 to convert it into offices, and then in 2007 to a 161-bedroom hotel.
But neither of these proposals came to fruition, and in March 2009, a malicious fire caused extensive internal damage before two more fires later that year caused more damage to the roof. Three years ago consultants Turley Associates carried out a building condition study and put forward a range of options for the building.
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Their preferred option, costing an estimated 12m, envisaged a re-roofing and basic refurbishment of the ground and first floors for a combination of uses such as office space, performance space or cafe.
There would also be reconstruction of Courtroom 1, which has the potential to link up to the Crumlin Road Gaol tour. It currently stops at the tunnel under the Crumlin Road, leading to the courthouse.
The courthouse is believed to remain in the ownership of a private developer.
But Turley Associates recommended it be transferred into public ownership.
The firm added in its study that the owner had fully co-operated with the Stormont-led initiative. Now Communities Minister Paul Givan has expressed his public backing to bring the building back into use.
He has instructed officials to examine any barriers in place blocking the redevelopment of the building, and how these can be removed.
"I am supportive of any credible proposal to rescue and bring back into use this important listed building at risk," he said in response to an Assembly Question (AQ). "I have therefore asked my officials to ascertain the barriers that arise to doing so, and how to remove them."
DUP MLA William Humphrey, who asked the AQ, said he is concerned about the effect of another winter on the building.
"I am concerned about the building deteriorating any further and would be keen to see something done with it," he said.
"Given the state of the courthouse compared to how the prison has been updated, it looks very unsightly. It's a landmark building for north Belfast and I want to see it preserved, restored and put to good use."
A DfC spokesman said: "The Department and its predecessors have for some years been exploring the options for Crumlin Road Courthouse, an important building at significant risk.
"The building is in private ownership but has been allowed to fall into a very poor state.
"The bringing together of heritage and regeneration functions in the Department for Communities has added fresh impetus to the work to find a viable, sustainable use for the site. The Department believes that there are prospects of doing so, and that this could bring significant economic and community benefits to the area and to the city.
"The Department therefore is exploring matters such as the legal options to require the building to be repaired; and the current value of the site."
The vandalised memorial to Royal Highland Fusiliers killed by the IRA in March 1971
The cousin of one of three Scottish soldiers murdered by the IRA at the start of the Troubles has said his family was left devastated after a memorial dedicated to his memory was vandalised.
David McCaughey's cousin, Dougald (23), was killed by terrorists, along with brothers John (17) and Joseph (18) McCaig on March 10, 1971, at White Brae, close to Ligoniel, north Belfast.
Members of the IRA lured the off-duty soldiers to the remote spot after talking to them in city centre.
A memorial to the three members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers was erected in 2010 at the spot where they died, but since then it has become one of the most attacked monuments dedicated to Troubles victims.
It has been targeted more than 20 times, costing thousands of pounds to repair. Last year, a man was convicted damaging the memorial.
Now, within days of Remembrance Sunday, a second memorial to the soldiers on Ballysillan Avenue has been daubed with black paint.
The vandalism, which also included graffiti on the back of the 15-foot tribute, was discovered earlier this week.
John MacVicar, secretary of the Old Park and Cavehill branch of the Royal British Legion, which built and maintains the memorials, hit out at those behind the latest attack.
Mr McCaughey, meanwhile, told the Belfast Telegraph the news had left his family devastated.
He travels to the city frequently to pay his respects to his cousin and also regularly represents his family during services at the monument.
"I was sent a photo of the memorial and initially was confused, thinking it must have been an old photo," Mr McCaughey said.
"I was gutted to realise this was a new attack. We just wish people would let the boys rest in peace."
This latest attack was also condemned by politicians from across the community.
MLA Nelson McCausland criticised the culprits and called the incident "a vile act of vandalism".
"This was a shameful attack, and it was clearly intended to cause the maximum possible damage to the memorial," the DUP man said.
"Two of the soldiers were just teenagers when they were killed, and the families are still scarred by the callous manner in which the young men were murdered by republican gunmen."
SDLP MLA Nichola Mallon, meanwhile, described the attack as a cruel crime.
"Attacks of this nature are designed to cause hurt and pain to those who have suffered loss," she said.
"They are incredibly cruel and have no place in a society attempting to heal the scars of conflict."
UUP MLA and former soldier Andy Allen voiced his disgust at what he termed an "abhorrent" incident.
"This needs to stop," he said. "My thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues of the three Scottish soldiers as they learn of this despicable and totally unacceptable attack."
Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn described the incident as "a cowardly act".
"Those responsible should be ashamed of themselves as they have no respect for the dead and are clearly intend on damaging community relations," he said.
A PSNI spokesman added: "Police in north Belfast received a report of criminal damage to a memorial at Ballysillan Avenue on the morning of Thursday November 16. It was reported that paint had been daubed on the monument sometime overnight. Police enquiries are under way".
The families of two men 'disappeared' by the IRA and found in the same shallow grave have used inquests into their deaths to ask for assistance in finding the bodies of the remaining missing victims.
Teenage student Kevin McKee and married labourer Seamus Wright were abducted in Belfast on the same day in 1972. Their loved ones never saw them alive again.
More than four decades later, in June last year, their remains were found lying together in reclaimed bogland in the Republic.
After hearing the cases separately, a jury at Dublin Coroner's Court yesterday found that the pair were unlawfully killed.
Both allegedly members of the IRA, they were murdered because the organisation suspected them of being informers. They each died from a single gunshot wound to the left side of the head.
Afterwards, the families urged anyone with information about the whereabouts of the remaining four Disappeared to give it to the organisation established to find them.
While 12 bodies have been discovered, Joseph Lynskey, Robert Nairac, Seamus Ruddy and Columba McVeigh remain missing.
Outside court, Philomena McKee, Kevin's sister, said: "Please, please come forward. We have come this far with information that has been given, so I would plead with anybody to come forward."
The Wright family added: "Today brings final closure on a long, painful process. We would appeal that all is done to allow the remaining four families to bury their loved ones."
Earlier, coroner Myra Cullinane heard that Mr McKee's mother was left mentally tortured after her son vanished, and convinced herself he ran away to get married.
The 17-year-old from west Belfast was arrested by police in early 1972. He then went missing for several months, apparently travelling to England amid rumours the IRA was looking for him. He returned to Belfast in the late summer of 1972, but vanished again a short time later.
Ms McKee told the court her mother, Mary, died in 2011 having never found her beloved son. "As a child, I used to go out with my mother to look for him - she used to sit waiting for him to come home," she added.
"She suffered from mental health issues after Kevin went missing. Her health deteriorated from then until her death. She used to say, 'Maybe he went off and married someone and didn't want us to know'.
"She was mentally tortured. The day they (the IRA) took my brother, they took my mother too."
In 1999, the IRA issued a statement admitting involvement in the disappearance of nine people, among them Mr McKee and Mr Wright.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR), which was set up by the British and Irish Governments in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, was tasked with finding the bodies.
The IRA later provided further information that Mr McKee and Mr Wright were buried in bogland in Co Meath. However, a number of searches in the area proved fruitless.
Their remains were ultimately found inadvertently last year on reclaimed bogland near Coghalstown, Co Meath, during the search for Disappeared victim Mr Lynskey.
Mr Wright (25), also from west Belfast, was taken on the same day as Kevin - October 2, 1972.
Geoff Knupfer, a forensic scientist with the ICLVR , told the coroner the commission had been informed that the asphalt labourer was murdered at the site of his burial.
The court heard that earlier in 1972, Mr Wright, like Mr McKee, went missing for a period.
In evidence, his sister, Briege Wright, said the family was told he had been arrested. He was then apparently released, but did not come home. Ms Wright said her brother's wife, Kathleen, and his father, William, went to England to meet him.
"He was with someone else who they believed was a member of the British Army," she explained.
Mr Wright returned to Belfast on Good Friday in 1972. His sister said that on the day he vanished, he came home from work at around 6pm and then left again.
"He was never seen again," she added. "The British Army went to his house looking for him, but I don't know why."
After the jury returned the verdicts, the coroner passed sympathies to the families and expressed hope that the inquests would bring some measure of closure.
Joanna Harkin from Sensation entertains the crowd during the switch-on of the lights at Guildhall Square in Derry
Hundreds of snowmen come together for the world record attempt at the Buttercrane Shopping Centre in Newry yesterday
Snowmen, snowwomen, snowchildren and even snowbabies gathered in their hundreds at Newry's Buttercrane Shopping Centre last night as the city mounted a bid for a Guinness World record for the largest gathering of people dressed as snowmen.
And they smashed the record in style. Almost 400 people braved the winter weather - with the final snowfolk total of 398 easily beating the previous world record of 333. Organiser Catherine McGinn said: "It went brilliantly."
The organisers now have to complete the paperwork and send in their verification materials to Guinness World Records for official confirmation that Newry is now the snowman capital of the world.
Speaking as hundred of excited snowpeople thronged the Buttercrane for the Santa Parade that followed the world record bid, shopping centre manager Peter Murray told the Belfast Telegraph: "We're absolutely delighted to break the World Record for world's largest gathering of people dressed as snowmen with a figure of 398.
"The atmosphere was electric and it was wonderful that so many people came out and supported the event.
"It is fantastic to have a world record for Newry.
"It was a true spectacle and a great way to start Christmas celebrations in the city - and for us here at Buttercrane Shopping Centre."
Northern Ireland house prices have risen by more than 6% over the past year, bringing the cost of an average property to just under 160,000
Northern Ireland house prices have risen by more than 6% over the past year, bringing the cost of an average property to just under 160,000.
But new figures from the Ulster University House Price Index also show an increase of just over 0.1% over the last quarter, as the market feels the affects of post-Brexit vote volatility.
Property is worth most in south Belfast, where an average house costs almost 225,000, while the cheapest location is Londonderry/Strabane, where the average property price is just under 99,400.
Joe Frey, head of research at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, said there had been stability in the market for more than two years.
"Quarterly and annual rates of house price change may vary substantially when viewed in isolation, but overall the period since early 2014 has been characterised by relative stability in Northern Ireland's housing market," he said.
"The uncertainty that will arise over the next few years as a result of Brexit will undoubtedly impact on the market, but it is much too early to estimate the size of this impact."
Despite new legislation introduced in April 2016, which increased stamp duty by 3% for those buying a second property, the research records a rise in residential property sales over the quarter to 2,013. The report also highlights a major shift in the market share taken by newly built property at 20%, suggesting further strengthening of private sector housing development.
The figures show the average price for a property in Belfast is just shy of 172,000.
That rises to just over 189,000 in North Down, where property is more expensive than everywhere except south and east Belfast (189,700). An average house costs around 109,800 in north Belfast and 121,600 in west Belfast, while you can expect to pay 164,200 in Lisburn and 126,600 in east Antrim.
Ulster University's Quarterly House Price Index Report is produced in partnership with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Progressive Building Society.
Caring and committed staff at the hospital struggled to cope in some areas, said the report
Staff shortages have left some nurses at Craigavon Area Hospital feeling burnt out and stressed, according to a new inspection report.
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) examined conditions in the emergency department and medical and surgical wards over four days in April as part of an unannounced visit.
And while the overall findings were positive, the inspectors observed caring and committed staff struggling to cope in some areas.
Olive Macleod, RQIA's chief executive, said: "RQIA's overall findings at Craigavon Area Hospital were good.
"In each area inspected we identified strong leadership, good governance, and processes in place to provide good quality care to patients.
"While we noted a shortage in nursing staff numbers in the medical and surgical wards inspected, the Southern Health and Social Care Trust was working actively to address this deficit."
The inspection team included doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professional peer reviewers and members of the public led by RQIA's healthcare inspectors.
They spoke to patients, relatives and staff, observed delivery, and examined records to determine whether care was safe, effective and compassionate.
They also looked at how each ward was being led and managed.
At Four North, a 28-bed surgical ward, which can accommodate 34 patients during times of pressure, inspectors found staffing levels were poor with a heavy reliance on bank and agency staff.
Although additional nursing appointments had been agreed, the delay in recruitment was impacting on staff, leading to complaints of tiredness, burnout and stress.
Inspectors also noted difficulties in maintaining visual contact with higher risk patients and responding promptly to call bells, and delays in the preparation of and assistance with meals when staffing levels were low.
"We observed prompt staff responses to call bells and requests for assistance from patients when the ward had the agreed staffing levels.
"However, when the ward was short-staffed, we observed caring and committed staff struggling to meet patients' basic care needs," the report stated.
Other observations included the poor state of repair of the toilets.
At One South, a general medical ward, with gastro intestinal and rheumatology speciality nursing staffing levels were also below the recommended levels, but inspectors were told trust had been actively working to address deficits.
Issues were highlighted around patient discharge and it was noted the availability of medical staff to complete discharge letters could cause a delay.
Meanwhile, it was found the trust had been proactive in the recruitment for the emergency department with 25 new nurses having taken up post within the past year.
Although a positive step, inspectors said it had presented challenges because 70% of registered nurses within the ED had less than two years' experience.
It was also reported that the recruitment of paediatric nurses for the ED was proving difficult.
Attempts to minimise the symptoms of crowding through initiatives such as a revised triage process, escalation protocol and pathways for children were highlighted, and although some patients remained within the ED for longer than targeted time frames, inspectors said the quality of care they received was maintained to a high standard.
Mrs Macleod said: "In each area inspected we observed caring, sensitive and insightful staff working to maintain the dignity and privacy of those in their care.
"Patients also told us they were very satisfied with the standard of care and treatment they received.
"In the emergency department we observed senior nursing and medical staff directing and supporting departmental activities - and we commend this good practice.
"We also noted that the Southern Trust has been proactive in recruitment of nursing staff, and has a range of initiatives in place to minimise the symptoms of crowding in the ED.
"In the surgical ward we were told of an open and transparent culture, and staff were positive about the support they received from management.
"However, we noted the impact of staffing shortages, with a heavy reliance on bank and agency staff. While we observed good practice in relation to recording food and fluids, when short-staffed there were delays in preparation of meals and assistance provided to patients.
"The medical ward was bright and well presented, and staff told us that morale was good and they were happy working there.
"While we noted medical records were well organised, in a number of instances nursing care records did not fully demonstrate assessment, planning monitoring and evaluation of patient's needs.
"We also considered that supervision and coordination of meals required improvement."
An inquest into the death of a man found in his nursing home bed with mysterious marks on his neck has been hit by a last-minute adjournment.
Seamus McCollum, 56, who had cerebral palsy, died after he was discovered unresponsive at Maine Nursing Home in Randalstown on September 12 2011.
Previous preliminary court proceedings heard that the marks were consistent with compression of the neck, but that experts differ on what could have caused them.
Coroner Joe McCrisken had been due to examine the circumstances of the death during a three-day inquest starting on Friday.
Relatives of Mr McCollum and witnesses arrived at Belfast Coroner's Court for the scheduled hearing but, after discussions with legal parties in chambers, the coroner emerged to say he had been forced to adjourn.
He said the postponement was down to a personal issue with one of the lawyers involved in the case.
"I do not adjourn inquests unless there is an exceptional reason for doing so," he said.
"I am satisfied this is one of those times that the reason given is exceptional."
The coroner said he would relist the inquest for January.
The Children's Commissioner has said there is little evidence that children in Northern Ireland are better protected from sexual exploitation two years after an expert inquiry made recommendations.
The Marshall Inquiry, which reported in 2014, had warned that up to 145 children were at risk of child exploitation here.
But in a withering assessment of the progress made since then, Children's Commissioner Kioulla Yiasouma said there was "no concrete evidence" that professionals were working better together to address the problem.
And in a hard-hitting statement issued to coincide with European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation, Ms Yiasouma said: "I see little evidence from Government reports that our children are more protected against sexual exploitation today than they were two years ago when the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation produced its findings."
She added: "We need to see clear evidence that Government action is leading to real change in how well we are protecting young people, supporting those who work with them, and disrupting and pursuing those who seek to abuse and exploit them."
Ms Yiasouma said that the progress to date on combating child sexual exploitation was "far from good enough".
"There are too many examples of actions being marked as complete, and Government saying it has addressed CSE (child sexual exploitation) by writing guidance, agreeing principles, planning reviews and having meetings.
"There is not enough evidence to show if this is making a difference, with better trained and supported staff on the ground and young people who feel cared for and safe.
"Worryingly, the Department of Health's latest progress report has no detail about a CSE strategy which was due out for consultation in June 2016. We have no information on whether a strategy is even being developed, according to this report."
Witnesses told the Marshall Inquiry that sexual exploitation had been occurring in bars and clubs "dominated by members of paramilitary groups" where there were lock-ins after hours.
The probe also found cases where young girls had been sexually exploited by soldiers at two Northern Ireland Army barracks.
The process to distribute funds from the 80million Social Investment Fund - which awarded 1.7m to an east Belfast charity headed by UDA boss Dee Stit - has been described as "flawed" and in need of root and branch reform.
Sir Alastair Graham, the former chair of the Committee into Standards in Public Life, said there was need for reform following an investigation by the BBC's Stephen Nolan Radio Ulster Show.
The show outlined a number of issues around the system developed by the Executive which is used to award money from the fund.
It described how members of steering committees decide among themselves who gets cash and can award it to their own organisations.
The programme also outlined how there was no competitive tendering process in that only those within the steering group were eligible for the money.
It was also revealed that there was no record of a voting process of the decisions taken in awarding the money to those in the steering group.
And there were no checks by the Executive on the people who are chosen as lead partner of the steering groups.
Former head of Committee on Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham said the system appeared "flawed" and that to him there were conflicts of interest built into the system and that it needed root and branch reform.
He described parts of the process as "absurd and unheard of".
DUP MLA Emma Little Pengelly - who was involved in the process to draw up the system - responded: "I have never heard so much nonsense in all my life in terms of the issues that have been raised.
"What is absurd is Mr Graham coming on and discussing matters which he has no knowledge of," she said.
On the matter of there being no vote, she said decisions were taken on the basis of consensus and if that was not achieved, there would be a vote.
She said steering groups were made up of representatives from the political, community, business and statutory sectors.
The South Belfast MLA said steering groups - which included UUP, SDLP and Alliance members, were the decision making body and not the First and deputy First Ministers.
"There is a process of decision making and consensus is the best way," she continued, "a formal vote is not normally required if there is a consensus."
She said there was nothing to hide in the process and a focus should be on delivery as it "impacted and improved people's lives".
"There was a consultation process which went out to all the people of Northern Ireland.
"There was a project board set up and chaired by a senior civil servant it made recommendations.
"The system in place is robust.
"There is good governance on this project - and that is a fact."
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Sinn Fein Belfast city councillor Jim McVeigh - who sits on the west Belfast Social investment Fund steering group said he did not recognise the process described by the BBC programme.
He said: "We were appointed to the steering group on a cross community basis.
"People from community and voluntary organisations are involved.
"We have spent millions which has put hundreds back into work. We have numeracy and literacy projects which has improved the lives and prospects of children from the Shankill and Falls. Early intervention schemes helped prevent people from getting involved in criminal activity.
"Because of the importance of the projects we wanted to work on a cross community basis, there was consensus so we had no need to vote."
Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle, who sits on the east Belfast steering group, said he continually raised concerns while a part of the process and opposed the approach that decisions were taken by consensus and that only steering group members could become lead partners.
"It was flawed from day one," he said.
"This is not a criticism of those groups involved, this is a concern for a process devised by OFMDFM.
"It's a flawed process and needs full independent review."
Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt described it as a scandal while the SDLP's Claire Hanna said the scheme was a "slush fund".
While TUV leader Jim Allister said the Northern Ireland Audit Office should investigate the process.
On Thursday night and ahead of the Stephen Nolan show, the Executive Office put out a 14-point briefing note on the Social Investment Fund
The note described the fund as "innovative" and improving the lives of people and community facilities.
It also said reports that Charter NI has been given or is controlling 1.7 million of Social Investment Fund money create a "false impression".
It said 1.5m is going directly to fund training, secure job placements and business start ups for hundreds of unemployed and underemployed people and will be delivered by GEMS NI.
The Executive Office also said governance and financial management arrangements of Charter NI.
The overwhelming majority of Americans (80%) believe the media were biased towards one of the candidates in the coverage of the presidential election, according to a Sputnik.Polls survey. At the same time, more than half of respondents (59%) said neither local nor national media were objective. The survey was conducted in the United States by TNS UK for Sputnik news agency and radio.
According to the poll, 16% of Americans believe the national media favored one of the candidates, while local outlets remained objective. On the contrary, 5% said only local media were biased, while the national media were not. Only 20% respondents believed that the US media provided balanced coverage of the candidates.
The survey was conducted from November 3 to November 7 by the TNS UK research company in the US for Sputnik news agency and radio. As many as 1012 respondents aged 18 to 64 were asked the following question, "Regarding the presidential campaign in the United States, do you think that the media were biased towards one of the candidates?". The margin of error for the nationwide data is +/- 3.1% with a confidence level of 95%.
The body of a man shot dead by a controversial Army unit more than 40 years ago is to be exhumed by police.
Daniel Rooney, 18, was killed by soldiers from the secretive Military Reaction Force (MRF) in the St James Crescent area of West Belfast on September 26 1972.
The exhumation is part of an investigation by detectives into allegations the MRF carried out random and unjustified shootings during the Troubles.
The wide-ranging probe by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) was triggered after a referral by Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory.
The exhumation will take place at Milltown cemetery in west Belfast on Monday.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, said: "This part of the investigation relates to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Daniel Rooney in the St James Crescent area of west Belfast on 26 September, 1972.
"We have been liaising with the family in relation to this and will continue to work closely with them as we move to the next stage of this sensitive operation."
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Limavady has a new and unwanted claim to fame - as the location of one of the worst moments in Sir Richard Branson's life.
The townsfolk have never been slow to point out that billionaire Branson "landed" there in 1987 to complete the world's first transatlantic crossing in a hot air balloon.
But it has emerged that the mogul's memories of that foggy July day are far from pleasant.
In a new documentary the Virgin empire founder reveals that he was so sure he was going to die as the badly damaged balloon hurtled out of control that he scribbled out a goodbye note to his children.
"There was an enormous feeling of loneliness," the 66-year-old recalled.
"I'd had an extraordinary life and it looked like this was the last minutes of it. I wrote a note to the kids (daughter Holly, then six, and son Sam, two years old at the time), telling them how much I loved them."
Rather than "landing in Limavady, Northern Ireland", as the crash is euphemistically described on the Virgin website, the stricken Virgin Atlantic Flyer descended from 27,000 feet, gouged the ground, jettisoned two fuel tanks and narrowly missed a house and power lines before swooping back into the air and towards Rathlin Island.
It then started bouncing on the Atlantic, losing its flotation bags after an unsuccessful attempt to land on a beach on the island.
Co-pilot Per Lindstrad baled out, but the balloon started a steep ascent before Branson could follow.
After putting on an oxygen mask and writing the short note, the London-born entrepreneur prepared to parachute out, but instead piloted the craft back towards the water before throwing himself out from 60ft up.
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Both men were later rescued by the Royal Navy.
These harrowing moments in the skies above Co Londonderry were captured in Don't Look Down, which uses never-before-seen footage Branson shot on his camcorder.
And although the intrepid duo were far too busy attempting to survive at the time, they later realised that their brief contact with Limavady meant that they had in fact made it into the record books.
A journey that had begun at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, USA, on July 2 had ended 31 hours and 41 minutes later, with the Virgin Atlantic Flyer having travelled over 3,000 miles.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, First Minister Arlene Foster and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan at the NSMC meeting (Press Eye/PA)
Ministers from both sides of the Irish border have hailed the latest round of Brexit discussions as their best yet.
The UK's forthcoming EU departure topped the agenda at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Committee (NSMC) where Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan joined Stormont's First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in Armagh on Friday afternoon.
Afterwards Enda Kenny described the talks as "constructive", adding there had been a "great deal of common ground".
He said: "We have had a very constructive and a very good meeting - actually one of the best meetings that I have attended.
"One point that we all stressed at this meeting was that it is really important, from an island of Ireland perspective, that there be that strength of solidarity in respect of those common interests.
"So, when discussions do start, and I as Taoiseach will be sitting on the European side of these arguments, will be able to work to get the best deal possible for the island of Ireland north and south.
"That was a common consensus of the outcome of the meeting today which I very much value."
As well as highlighting the unique circumstances in Ireland including the land border, peace process and peace funds, the Taoiseach cautioned that Europe would not allow the UK to "cherry pick" specific deals.
"If the UK want access to the single market, they must come with that freedom of movement of people and that is a challenge and an issue that the British Government has got to focus on," he said.
The North South Ministerial Council was set up under the Good Friday Agreement peace deal and generally meets in plenary session just twice year.
Ms Foster, who earlier this week dismissed suggestions of a frosty relationship with Dublin, described the meeting as useful.
She said: "The Taoiseach has been very good to share some of the discussions that are going on at a European level in terms of the Republic of Ireland's government and we are very grateful to hear that.
"We shared our position in terms of Northern Ireland and indeed in terms of the discussions that are going on a UK basis as well.
"So, it was a very useful meeting.
"We await to see what happens in terms of the Supreme Court and we'll take it from there."
The Democratic Unionist Party leader said she was not surprised that attitudes from some European leaders had hardened in the wake of the referendum result, adding : "You can all take up positions before negotiations start but then you have to start the negotiation.
"And that's where we will be after Article 50 has been triggered."
Meanwhile, Mr McGuinness revealed the NSMC has agreed to set up a high level working group of civil servants to prepare for Brexit.
He said the apparent confusion emanating from Westminster on the issue meant "everything is on the table".
"Today's meeting was of critical importance and I think huge progress was made," the Sinn Fein MLA said.
Mr Flanagan hailed the meeting as the most engaging, important and significant of his two-year tenure as Irish Foreign Minister.
Billy Dickson with his tea container, which took five months to arrive
Billy Dickson with his tea container, which took five months to arrive
There has been an angry reaction after a major marketing campaign by a national newspaper confused Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Readers contacted the Belfast Telegraph to complain about the Brexitfast Tea Caddy promotion in the Daily Express, while Northern Ireland's longest-serving MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has called the error "appalling".
The front of the promotional Brexitfast tea tin, which is emblazoned on both sides with small Union flags, carries the slogan: 'Vote With The Leaves, It's In The Bag.'
On the reverse side, however, there are four signposts pointing to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland - rather than Northern Ireland.
Alongside the illustration the text reads: "The British Empire was built on tea.
"Throughout history whenever difficult choices have had to be made, the British gather around the kitchen table for discussion and planning over a cup of tea.
"So put the kettle on, it's time to take the bull by the horns, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to save Great Britain."
However, that represents a second error, Northern Ireland is part of the UK - not Great Britain.
A Daily Express spokesman said: "This was an external promotion and we do apologise". Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Stewart Tipping, the man who ran the campaign in the paper, said: "I certainly meant no offence."
Belfast tour guide Billy Dickson (69), who received his caddy after a five-month wait, said the "horrendous mistake" had taken away from his enjoyment of having it.
"There was huge demand so I was pleased when mine finally arrived, but when I looked at the back of the caddy I was horrified to find that Northern Ireland was listed as Ireland," he said.
"I'm looking into ways of having it modified myself but it's really disappointing that people in England don't know the difference between Northern Ireland and Ireland."
He added: "It only cost me 5.99 in postage, otherwise I would be demanding that they reproduce it and provide me with a proper souvenir."
Sir Jeffrey said such a mistake beggared belief, adding that it was difficult to comprehend such a flagrant disregard for accuracy in a national marketing campaign. "It really appals me that some of our friends in England who trumpet their Britishness have a real lack of geographical understanding of what comprises the United Kingdom," the DUP MP said.
"A cursory glance at their passport would reveal that our country is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and that the Republic of Ireland left the UK almost 100 years ago.
"Perhaps we should encourage history lessons for those interested in the future of our country because unless we understand where we've come from and where we are today, how can people work out where we're going in future?"
Anonymous teenager has been preserved to fulfil her dying wish (Picture posed/File photo)
A High Court judge allowed a 14-year-old girl who died from cancer to be cryogenically frozen so she could potentially be revived in the future.
The anonymous teenager has been preserved to fulfil her dying wish, a ruling by the judge revealed.
Her father initially objected to the idea, saying in 200 years she may have no relative or remember things.
Her mother supported the girl's request but a letter the girl wrote to the judge is thought to have played a key role in the High Court's decision.
Here is what she wrote to Mr Justice Jackson:
I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual thing done. Im only 14 years old and I don't want to die, but I know I am going to.
I think being cryopreserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up, even in hundreds of years time. I dont want to be buried underground.
I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they might find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish.
Read full judgement here
There is on-going debate surrounding the far-fetched belief that a human being can be cryogenically frozen and reanimated by future medical advances.
Scientists froze and then thawed out a rabbit brain in perfect condition earlier this year.
There is ongoing research into these scientific challenges, said Barry Fuller, professor in surgical science and low temperature medicine at University College London, as quoted by The Guardian.
A potential future demonstration of the ability to cryopreserve human organs for transplantation would be a major first step into proving the concept, but at the moment we cannot achieve that.
The Scottish Government is considering enshrining a right to food in Scots law.
It is one of a number of recommendations being looked at following the publication of a report by the Independent Working Group on Food Poverty earlier this year.
The group said that while enshrining the right would not in itself end food insecurity, it would mean the Government and other public bodies would have a duty to ensure everyone has secure access to adequate and affordable food.
The Scottish Government would be prepared to be challenged legally on how well it is implementing policies and deploying resources towards this end, within the limits of its existing powers, its report said.
Other measures recommended by the group and accepted by the Government include introducing a system to measure food security in Scotland, and calling on the UK Government to help reduce the risk of sanctions and benefit delays in the welfare system.
The charity Trussell Trust has reported a rise in the use of food banks in recent years, with problems with benefits identified as the most significant reason for the increase.
The working group was set up by Scottish ministers in October 2015 to examine food insecurity and poverty.
Equalities Secretary Angela Constance said: We have been very clear no-one should have to rely on emergency food provision in a country as prosperous as Scotland.
As the report from the working group highlighted, food poverty is a symptom of wider poverty and the UK Governments harmful welfare cuts and benefit sanctions regime has clearly pushed more and more people into an income crisis, increasing the demand for emergency food.
We want to create a sustainable solution to tackling food poverty across Scotland, and therefore I am committed to exploring a range of options, including looking into potentially enshrining the right to food into Scots law.
We will continue to work closely with individual projects to help them develop sustainable solutions to tackle food poverty. This means not only giving people opportunities to access fresh and healthy food, but to share a meal in the community and develop new skills, helping achieve a longer-term solution to food poverty.
Helen Marten has been awarded the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture and immediately said she would share the 30,000 prize with the other three nominees.
Marten, who is also nominated for December's Turner Prize, picked up the new biennial prize at a ceremony at The Hepworth Wakefield where she told guests about her plan to split it with Phyllida Barlow, Steven Claydon and David Medalla.
She then told BBC Radio Four's Front Row: "To a certain extent I believe, as I said on stage, in the light of the world's ever lengthening political shadow, that the art world has a responsibility, if not to suggest a provisional means forward, then at least show an egalitarian platform of democracy and I believe the hierarchical position of art prizes today is, to a certain extent, flawed.
"I'm flattered to be there anyway and I would be very happy if they accept to share the prize amongst the four of us."
Marten said: "I'm lucky enough to be here and to be given a visible and audible platform to be doing what I'm doing and the fact that I'm supported by an enormously generous infrastructure of other artists, critics, curators, galleries is enough for me
Simon Wallis, director of The Hepworth Wakefield and chair of the judging panel, said: "Helen Marten is one of the strongest and most singular voices working in British art today.
"Her refined craft and intellectual precision address our relationship to objects and materials in a digital age. We believe that Marten is a fitting winner of the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, which celebrates the legacy of one of Britain's finest sculptors."
The Hepworth Prize was set-up to recognise a UK-based artist of any age and at any stage in their career who has made a significant contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture.
It was presented by Christopher Bailey, c hief creative and chief executive officer of Burberry, who said: " I am so proud to have been a part of such a special evening and I am so excited for not only Helen Marten on winning the first ever Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, but also for the rest of the incredibly talented nominees.
"Their work on display at The Hepworth Wakefield is a shining example of their creativity and outstanding contribution to the development of contemporary sculpture in the UK."
Marten, 30, who is originally from Macclesfield, Cheshire, studied at the Ruskin School of Fine Art, University of London and at Central Saint Martins in London.
Her recent solo exhibitions include Parrot Problems, in Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, in 2014, and Plank Salad at the Chisenhale Gallery, in London, in 2012.
The Hepworth Prize was created to celebrate the gallery's fifth anniversary and is named after Barbara Hepworth, who was born and brought up in Wakefield. The Hepworth Wakefield has the largest number of works by the artist on permanent display anywhere in the UK.
Sophie Bowness, art historian and granddaughter of Barbara Hepworth, said: "The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture is a fitting legacy for Barbara Hepworth, one of Britain's greatest sculptors, whose career was enhanced through a variety of awards from early in her professional life."
The exhibition of all the nominees for the award runs until February 19 2017.
Nicola Sturgeon has been told to stop interfering in politics in Northern Ireland after she suggested women from here could access NHS abortions in Scotland.
The Scottish First Minister has said she will look into women from Northern Ireland accessing NHS abortions in Scotland without facing prohibitive costs.
Abortions are illegal in Northern Ireland except for cases where the woman's health is at risk.
Last year more than 830 women travelled to England and Wales for a termination.
Northern Ireland women are not legally entitled to free NHS abortions in England following a High Court ruling in 2014, which is being challenged at the UK Supreme Court.
During First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, Ms Sturgeon was asked by Green MSP Patrick Harvie: "Does the First Minister agree that the NHS in Scotland should be exploring what can be done to ensure that these women are able to access abortion in Scotland, if that's where they chose to travel to, without facing these kind of unacceptable financial barriers?"
Ms Sturgeon replied: "I am happy to explore that with the NHS. To explore both what the situation would be right now in terms of accessing safe and legal abortion for women from Northern Ireland within NHS Scotland and whether there's any improvements that are able to be made.
"I believe, like Patrick Harvie, that women should have the right to choose within the limits that we currently set down in law and I believe that right should be defended."
However, her statement has caused anger among some in Northern Ireland.
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was disappointed in Mrs Sturgeon for seeking to "interfere in what is a very sensitive issue here in Northern Ireland".
"The Northern Ireland Executive would never consider interfering in Scottish internal affairs," the Lagan Valley MP told the Belfast Telegraph.
"And I really do think the Scottish First Minister should concentrate on sorting out the economic problems in Scotland and leave Northern Ireland to sort out its own issues."
Bernie Smyth, director of pro-life group Precious Life, described Mrs Sturgeon comments as outrageous.
"She needs to butt her nose out of Northern Irish politics," she said.
"At this point in time we are discussing this here at Stormont through our own politicians who we have elected. We have not elected a Scottish politician to represent the views of the women and specifically our unborn children. So I would say to Nicola - mind your own business and set something up that is genuinely caring for the mother and the child."
Christian lobby group the Evangelical Alliance noted that the Scottish First Minister had not guaranteed anything in her statement.
Spokeswoman Dawn McAvoy said: "Whilst Nicola Sturgeon is entitled to her view, we don't want to see abortion on demand - which is effectively the situation in Scotland - brought to Northern Ireland.
"Scotland's First Minister was notably cautious in her comments offering no firm commitments.
"The law in Northern Ireland strikes a fine balance and we are campaigning to ensure that both the woman and the unborn baby are given the best possible care here in Northern Ireland," she added.
However, Amnesty International's Patrick Corrigan described Mrs Sturgeon's offer as an "indictment of the failure" at Stormont.
"Given the utter human rights failure of Northern Ireland's ministers to provide free, safe and legal abortion healthcare for women and girls here, we welcome the commitment of Scotland's First Minister to explore what can be done via NHS Scotland," he said.
"The UN Human Rights Committee recently ruled that Northern Ireland's laws prohibiting and criminalising abortion constitute a human rights violation. The Scottish Government could help lessen the harsh financial impact of that violation by allowing women from Northern Ireland to access abortions free of charge on the NHS."
SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie said she would adopt a "wait and see" attitude towards the announcement, although the party remained opposed to relaxing the law in Northern Ireland.
"We are also awaiting the outcome of a review into the guidelines governing abortion in Northern Ireland," the South Down MP added.
"We have to await the outcome of what the First Minister of Scotland said, what the extent of her explorations is, and the outcome of the current review of guidelines."
Staff at a paediatric hospital in eastern Aleppo have scrambled to evacuate babies in incubators from underground shelters after it was bombed for the second time this week.
Medics and aid workers also reported a suspected attack involving toxic gas in a district on the western edge of the rebel-held area in the Syrian city.
At least 12 people, including children, were treated for breathing difficulties, said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports health facilities in Aleppo.
Claims of toxic gas attacks are common in Syria, and reports by international inspectors have held the government responsible for using chemicals in attacks on civilians, which Damascus denies.
Airstrikes also hit a village in a rural area of Aleppo province, killing seven members of a family, including four children, opposition activists said.
It was the fourth day of renewed assaults by Syrian planes on eastern Aleppo districts, a rebel-held enclave of 275,000 people.
The onslaught began on Tuesday, when Syria's ally Russia announced its own offensive on the northern rebel-controlled Idlib and Homs provinces in central Syria.
Since then, more than 100 people have been killed across northern Syria.
The airstrikes in Aleppo hit a complex of four hospitals that had been attacked two days earlier. The latest strikes forced the paediatric hospital and a neighbouring facility to stop operating.
"Now it is being bombed. ... I am sorry. ... I have to go to transfer the children," the head of the paediatric hospital wrote in a text message.
The doctor identified himself only by his first name of Hatem because he fears for reprisals against his family.
The incubators had already been moved underground for safety, but with bombs falling all around the facility hospital workers had to rush them to a safer place despite the danger.
Hatem rushed 14 babies in incubators to another facility a 10-minute drive away while airstrikes continued, he said in a later message.
"As we drove out with the ambulance, warplanes were firing and artillery were shelling," he wrote. "But thank God we were not hurt."
Some of the survivors of the suspected gas attack were taken to the children's hospital.
The cameras of Al-Jazeera, which was broadcasting from the facility as the airstrikes occurred, went dark for a moment. When video resumed, dust was swirling and debris was strewn in the corridors.
Nurses scurried to get babies to safety, and one was seen carrying a blanket-wrapped infant. She then hugged and comforted another nurse who was sobbing as she picked up a baby.
Another hospital in a different Aleppo area was bombed Thursday night, the doctor said. The entrance was set on fire but no one was hurt.
Only four of seven hospitals are still operating in the district, Mr Sahloul said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of airstrikes, artillery and barrel bombs hit 18 different neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo.
Government bombings have targeted neighborhoods with medical facilities, including the children's hospital and a nearby clinic that has one of the few remaining intensive care units in eastern Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Many hospitals and clinics in the besieged area have moved their operations underground after months of bombardment.
The World Health Organisation said that in 2016, it recorded 126 attacks on health facilities, a common tactic over the five years of Syria's civil war. Russia and the Syrian government deny targeting hospitals.
The city of Aleppo, once Syria's commercial hub, has been divided since 2012, with the eastern half in rebel hands and the western half controlled by government forces.
Ibrahim al-Haj, a member of the Syria Civil Defence rescue unit in Aleppo, said the city "is a mess". The group of rescuers and first responders said they are struggling to put out fires set off by the bombings in at least 10 areas.
The Observatory said at least four people were killed in the city's districts.
It also said the strike that killed the seven family members took place in south-western Aleppo province. Syrian Civil Defence posted photos showing the bodies of children covered with dust and blood.
AP
WASHINGTON House Democrats urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to pardon DREAMers, in an effort to quash the young immigrants fears of deportation when incoming President Donald Trump takes office in January.
Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Luis Gutierrez, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Judy Chu said Obama has a responsibility to those young immigrants who have been protected in recent years from deportation under an executive order issued by the president.
Trump has vowed to reverse that order on his first day in office, leaving the DREAMers with targets on their backs since they had to register with the government and provide personal information, the Democrats said.
Immigrants form the fabric of society, said Lofgren of California. They live in greater fear with Trump vowing to reverse the administrative action by President Obama.
But not all lawmakers welcomed the idea of a pardon.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, said in a statement Thursday that condoning bad behavior and violating the Constitution and our laws should not be rewarded.
Pardoning criminals, felons and miscreants is not what the American people want and it is not in their best interests, Gosar said in a statement released by his office. Illegal immigration is immoral, wrong and needs to stop now. These pardons are unnecessary and condone illegal behavior and a violation of our national sovereignty.
At issue is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a 2012 Obama policy that lets undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children work and go to school without fear of deportation. Nearly 1.3 million people have received DACA protection since the program started, according to the latest government data.
But because DACA was created by executive order and not by legislative action, it can be overturned with a stroke of the pen by Trump.
At a news conference Monday, Obama said Trump should think long and hard before endangering that status of what for all practical purposes are American kids.
Petra Falcon of Promise Arizona said even if Obama is able to pardon all those with DACA protection, questions linger about their status once Trump takes office.
It would be wonderful if Obama is able to pardon these people, Falcon said. He has the authority to do so, but there is a lot that is still unknown.
More than 2 million people are still eligible to apply for deferred deportation before Obama leaves office Jan. 20 and Falcon said they should apply as quickly as possible, even if that means their application is pending in January.
Gutierrez said a pardon would not give immigrants a permanent safe place, but it would end the widespread and dangerous fear sparked by the anti-immigrant rhetoric that Trump and his supporters touted throughout the campaign.
This action is a matter of life or death, Gutierrez of Illinois said at Thursdays news conference. Were asking for the president to continue his commitment to put immigrants in a safe place.
Lofgren agreed that pardoning DREAMers named for the failed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would wash the sin away from their illegal entry into the U.S. as children.
The call for pardons comes the same week that a host of minority leaders sat down with members of Trumps transition team to clear the air over the campaigns rhetoric. Falcon called such discussions a good start, but said Trump needs to demonstrate his commitment to minority groups by walking back his campaign comments.
If he intends to repair the relationship, he has to start somewhere, she said. That includes leaving DACA alone, not building a (border) wall, not asking Muslims to register. He is frightening a lot of people.
Roybal-Allard of California said that even though Obama has just weeks left in office, he can free immigrants of their prisoner status by pardoning them.
By no fault of their own, these Americans are prisoners in their own country, living their daily lives, not knowing if they will be deported to a foreign country, she said. And make no mistake about it, if they are forced to leave the United States, it is our country that loses.
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has called on Donald Trump to apologise for his inflammatory rhetoric during the presidential campaign.
He has also asked him cut ties with campaign chief executive Steve Bannon, named as a top White House adviser on Monday by the president-elect.
That sparked an outcry from Democrats, who blasted the conservative media chief executive as peddling conspiracy theories and white supremacy.
Mr Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton, says his office received "many, many" calls asking Mr Trump to withdraw the appointment.
"What we are seeing all over this country is extraordinary fear," Mr Sanders said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
He said Mr Trump should try to "make the American people feel comfortable" by rescinding Mr Bannon's nomination.
The self-identified independent also said there may be opportunities for Democrats to work with Trump on some of his campaign promises including curbing high pharmaceutical drug pieces, renegotiating trade deals, cutting the influence of Wall Street and other ideas that will "improve life for working people".
"He said a whole lot of things. Was he serious or were these just campaign slogans?" he said. "We will hold him accountable."
Mr Sanders told reporters that he has not spoken personally to Mrs Clinton but believes she has an important role to play in the party's future.
She made her first public remarks since her concession speech in Washington on Wednesday evening, urging her supporters to "stay engaged" in political activism.
Democrats, he said, must do some "soul searching" in the coming months.
Mr Sanders is backing Minnesota representative Keith Ellison to head up the Democratic National Committee, arguing the first Muslim-American member of Congress could bring some fresh ideas to the party.
"It is time for the Democratic party to reassess what it stands for and where it wants to go," he said.
AP
A lifetime supporter of Sinn Fein could be in line for a key position in Donald Trump's administration, according to Washington insiders.
Unlike many other mainstream Republican politicians, US Congressman Peter King backed the billionaire businessman during the White House race.
His loyalty to Mr Trump has led to speculation that he could be appointed homeland security advisor - the chief counter-terrorism aide to the President.
The New York Congressman, who has voiced support for the Provisional IRA and is seen as a close friend of Gerry Adams, is considered one of the most respected experts on terrorism and security on Capitol Hill.
Yesterday's New York Times reported that Mr King was also in the running to be US ambassador to the UN.
However, most speculation is centring on a possible appointment as homeland security and counter-terrorism advisor.
While Mr King has not been lobbying for the position, sources said he was in the running because of his "incredible credentials", his ability to work with Democrats, and because "Donald likes the guy".
Asked if he would accept the senior position if it was offered to him by the President-elect, Mr King told Newsmax: "I certainly will look at it."
Peter Hoekestra, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said: "Peter would be awesome in that job." He described the 72-year-old Congressman as "one of most knowledgeable people in Congress on what threatens Americans".
If appointed assistant to the President for homeland security and counter-terrorism, Mr King would help Trump coordinate policies with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, as well as the CIA and other agencies.
Washington sources said that even if Mr King did not secure the job, he would still play a key role in Congress for Mr Trump.
"Mark my words, Peter King will be a very influential figure for the new administration," one source insisted.
Mr King was at Mr Trump's campaign headquarters in Manhattan on election night. He has vigorously defended the President-elect, hailing his victory as "a great day for the American people" and denouncing those demonstrating against him.
The New York Congressman branded the college student protesters "childish, immature and stupid" and told a local radio station: "I don't know what would happen if a real war ever came. You think back to the greatest generation, and now you have these people.
"They're having crying sessions (and) giving them comfort dogs. They're giving them group therapy because they're so upset that Hillary Clinton lost the election.
"Come on, have some guts, have some nerve, get out there. We're supposed to be a great country. Are these the morons we're counting on to be leaders in the future?"
Mr King did not support Mr Trump at the outset of the Republican primary race, but became a vocal backer after the billionaire secured his party's nomination.
Now entering his 13th term in the House of Representatives, he is a member of the House's Homeland Security Committee and is the chair of the Sub-committee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence. Once shunned by the political establishment, he has become a highly respected figure in Washington and is one of the most prominent cheerleaders for the country's war on terror.
The congressman, whose paternal grandparents were from Co Galway, became interested in Irish politics in the late 1970s. He began visiting Ireland and befriended many republican figures, once comparing Gerry Adams to George Washington.
In 1982, Mr King told a rally in Long Island: "We must pledge ourselves to support those brave men and women who this very moment are carrying forth the struggle against British imperialism in the streets of Belfast and Derry."
Three years later, he declared: "If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the IRA for it."
Mr King was once a close ally of former Noraid publicity director Martin Galvin. When he was elected grand marshal of the 1985 St Patrick's Day parade in New York, the Irish government boycotted the event in protest.
Congressman King found himself more in the political mainstream after the IRA's 1994 ceasefire, and both Tony Blair and Bill Clinton praised his role in the peace process. After 9/11, he began distancing himself from the Provisionals, arguing that they should disband.
He became known as a strong opponent of Islamic terrorism, even suggesting that President Obama "use the word 'terrorism' more often" in public.
Although he is not as vocal on Irish issues as he once was, Mr King remains on good terms with Sinn Fein and branded it "totally inexcusable" when Mr Adams was denied entry into the White House earlier this year for a St Patrick's Day reception.
A Moroccan official hosting United Nations climate talks has appealed to US President-elect Donald Trump to be pragmatic and to engage with the rest of the world in halting the global temperature rise.
Moroccan foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar, the president of the two-week talks in Marrakesh, said the conference's "message to the new American president is simply to say, 'We count on your pragmatism and your spirit of commitment'."
Mr Trump said during his campaign that he would "cancel" an international agreement aimed at fighting climate change and withdraw American tax dollars from UN global warming programmes.
His election victory spoiled the air of jubilation that has enveloped the ongoing climate talks since the landmark agreement was adopted in Paris last year.
More than 190 countries, including the United States, pledged to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions blamed for rising temperatures and sea levels, worsening droughts and heat waves.
Delegates from China to Brazil have expressed hope that Mr Trump would keep the US in the Paris Agreement despite his campaign promises and insisted the rest of the world would go ahead regardless.
The Marrakesh conference "has demonstrated that the spirit of Paris is alive and stronger than ever", German environment minister Barbara Hendricks said.
With mostly procedural issues under negotiation, countries announced various partnerships and initiatives to show their commitment to a clean-energy transition.
In a symbolic move, more than 40 developing nations on the front lines of climate change, including small island nations threatened by rising seas and drought-hit African countries, declared they would pursue 100% renewable energy "as rapidly as possible".
Many of them would require support from richer countries to switch to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Some, including the Philippines and Bangladesh, plan to expand coal power, a key source of global warming emissions, to meet their growing energy needs.
Still, the declaration signalled support from even poor countries that previously had said it was up to the West, which historically has polluted the most, to reduce emissions.
"This is a group of countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change, but they are not sitting back and complaining about being vulnerable," Jennifer Morgan of Greenpeace said. "They are acting and they are setting the pace for the type of change that we need to see in our world."
AP
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) gestures as he answers questions from the media after meeting with Donald Trump (AP)
President-elect Donald Trump signalled a sharp rightward shift in US national security policy on Friday with his announcement that he will nominate senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general and representative Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, turning to a pair of staunch conservatives as he begins to fill out his Cabinet.
Mr Trump also named retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. A former military intelligence chief, Lt Gen Flynn has accused the Obama administration of being too soft on terrorism and has cast Islam as a "political ideology" and driver of extremism.
Mr Sessions and Lt Gen Flynn were ardent Trump supporters during the campaign, and their promotions were seen in part as a reward for their loyalty.
The selections form the first outlines of Mr Trump's cabinet and national security teams. Given his lack of governing experience and vague policy proposals during the campaign, his selection of advisers is being scrutinized both in the US and abroad.
Mr Trump's initial decisions suggest a more aggressive military involvement in counter-terror strategy and a greater emphasis on Islam's role in stoking extremism.
Mr Sessions, who is best known for his hard-line immigration views, has questioned whether terror suspects should benefit from the rights available in US courts. Mr Pompeo has said Muslim leaders are "potentially complicit" in attacks if they do not denounce violence carried out in the name of Islam.
Mr Pompeo's nomination to lead the CIA also opens the prospect of the US resuming torture of detainees.
Mr Trump has backed harsh interrogation techniques that President Barack Obama and Congress have banned, saying the US "should go tougher than waterboarding", which simulates drowning. In 2014, Mr Pompeo criticised Mr Obama for "ending our interrogation programme" and said intelligence officials "are not torturers, they are patriots".
Transition officials said the president-elect's senior team would be carrying out Mr Trump's policies, not their own ideas.
"Anyone's personal view isn't what matters," said Sean Spicer, a transition communications aide.
Mr Trump did not appear, instead releasing a statement announcing his decisions. He has made no public appearances this week, holing up in his New York skyscraper for meetings. He is spending the weekend at his New Jersey golf club.
Mr Sessions and Mr Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Lt Gen Flynn would not.
Most of Trump's nominees are expected to be confirmed relatively easily given the Republican majority in the Senate. However, potential roadblocks exist, particularly for Mr Sessions, the first senator to endorse Mr Trump and one of the chamber's most conservative members.
His last Senate confirmation hearing, in 1986 for a federal judgeship, was derailed over allegations that he made racist comments, including calling a black assistant US attorney "boy" in conversation. Mr Sessions denied the accusation, but withdrew from consideration.
Some Democrats slammed Mr Sessions' nomination on Friday, including Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, who said the senator was the right pick "if you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen".
Still, Republicans were supportive. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called his Senate colleague "principled, forthright, and hardworking" and said he looked forward to the chamber's "fair and expeditious" handing of the nomination.
Mr Sessions would bring to the Justice Department a consistently conservative voice. He has objected to the planned closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and has given prominence to the spectre of voting fraud, a problem that current Justice Department leaders believe is negligible.
Mr Pompeo, who graduated first in his class at the US Military Academy at West Point, is a conservative Republican and a strong critic of Mr Obama's nuclear deal with Iran.
He has said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should enjoy due process and then be sentenced to death for taking and releasing secret documents about surveillance programmes in which the US government collected the phone records of millions of Americans.
Anthony Romero, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Mr Pompeo's views raise concerns about "privacy and due process".
Of Mr Trump's new personnel picks, Lt Gen Flynn will have the most direct access to the president. The national security adviser works from the West Wing and is often one of the last people to meet with the president before major foreign policy decisions are made.
Lt Gen Flynn built a reputation in the military intelligence community as an astute professional and unconventional thinker. He asserted that he was forced out of the Defence Intelligence Agency in 2014 because he disagreed with Mr Obama's approach to combating extremism, though his critics claimed he mismanaged the agency.
In advising Mr Trump's campaign, Lt Gen Flynn has emphasized that he believes the Islamic State poses an existential threat on a global scale. He shares Mr Trump's belief that Washington should work more closely with Moscow, and his warmth toward Russia worries some national security experts.
Lt Gen Flynn travelled last year to Moscow, where he joined Russian president Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials in a celebration of the RT network, a Russian government-controlled television channel. Lt Gen Flynn said he was paid for taking part in the event, but brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.
The president-elect is still weighing a range of candidates for other leading national security posts. Possibilities for secretary of state are said to include former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, senator Bob Corker and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who met with Mr Trump on Thursday.
On Saturday, Mr Trump is to meet with retired General James Mattis, a contender to lead the Pentagon. He was also meeting with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Mr Trump as a "con man" and a "fraud" in a stinging speech in March. Mr Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Mr Romney as a "loser".
AP
The decision has been welcomed by environmentalists (AP)
The Obama administration has blocked new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
The move handed a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming.
A five-year offshore drilling plan announced on Friday blocks the planned sale of new oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. The plan allows drilling to go forward in Alaska's Cook Inlet south-west of Anchorage.
The blueprint for drilling from 2017 to 2022 can be rewritten by President-elect Donald Trump, in a process that could take months or years.
Besides Cook Inlet, the plan also allows drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Ten of the 11 lease sales proposed in the five-year plan are in the Gulf, mostly off the coasts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.
Confirming a decision announced this spring, the five-year plan also bars drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
"The plan focuses lease sales in the best places - those with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict and established infrastructure - and removes regions that are simply not right to lease," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
"Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industry's declining interest in the area, forgoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward," Ms Jewell said.
Industry representatives reacted bitterly, calling the decision political and not supported by the facts.
"The arrogance of the decision is unfathomable, but unfortunately not surprising," said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group.
"Once again, we see the attitude that Washington knows best - an attitude that contributed to last week's election results," Mr Luthi said, referring to Mr Trump's surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
More than 70% of Alaskans, including a majority of Alaska Natives, support offshore drilling, Mr Luthi said, as do the state's three Republican members of Congress.
Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Oceana, an environmental group, hailed the announcement and praised Mr Obama and Ms Jewell for "protecting our coasts from dirty and dangerous offshore drilling".
The announcement "demonstrates a commitment to prioritising common sense, economics and science ahead of industry favouritism and politics as usual," Ms Savitz said.
Nearly 400 scientists signed a letter this summer urging Mr Obama to eliminate the possibility of Arctic offshore drilling.
AP
Mozambican leader Filipe Nyusi says he will help people after a tanker disaster (AP)
The Mozambican president has pledged support for the families of 73 people, including children, who were killed when a fuel tanker exploded.
President Filipe Nyusi said "tragedy has knocked on our door once again" in Tete province, in northern Mozambique, where the accident happened on Thursday.
Mr Nyusi was recalling a 2015 incident in Tete in which about 70 people died after drinking contaminated beer.
He said aid efforts must be "flexible" following the tanker fire in the town of Caphiridzange, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
More than 100 people were injured.
The explosion happened after a truck driver stopped to sell fuel to residents who gathered around the vehicle, according to Radio Mozambique.
A government task force headed to the scene and an investigation is under way.
Who's worse, Donald Trump or SDLP leader Colum Eastwood? I know, it seems farcical to compare the two. Trump is set to be the most powerful man in the world, swept to triumph on a tsunami of anti-establishment rage. Eastwood, meanwhile, is the leader of a declining nationalist party in small, obscure Northern Ireland.
Trump is a narcissistic demagogue; he's venal, vulgar, aggressive and given to hateful outbursts against women and immigrants. Eastwood is a young bearded chap who advocates a kinder, gentler form of politics - youthful, progressive and inclusive.
Truth be told, Eastwood is a bit of a pipsqueak when it comes to the world stage, which is why he was pilloried for his response to the Trump victory, in which he vowed to snub any White House event during Trump's presidency because of all the misogyny and racism. No doubt this rejection left the President-elect devastated, snivelling into one of his gilt-trimmed handkerchiefs.
Eastwood also said that we mustn't be angry about Trump's win. Instead he encouraged us to display "the softer sentiment of sadness".
"Trump's was not so much a victory of right over left, it was a victory of fanatical and fantasy absolutism over a more considered, coherent and kinder politics," he explained.
"It is for this reason I have said that I will not attend a Trump White House. I choose to stand by a very different set of values than those displayed by this man."
But do you really, Mr Eastwood? Because I think that you and Mr Trump share more values than you're prepared to admit.
When it comes to the crucial issue of abortion, both Trump and Eastwood are 'pro-life'. Trump wants the US Supreme Court ruling which legalised abortion to be overturned, and he says he will appoint an anti-abortion judge to the nation's highest court.
Eastwood's party, the SDLP, joined forces with the DUP to torpedo an attempt to amend Northern Irish law to allow for terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities.
Permitting women who find themselves in this most distressing of circumstances - where the child has no chance of survival - to get a termination, is the least, the absolute least, that a society which considers itself remotely humane should do. What is kind or gentle or progressive about denying a woman that choice?
Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, now the new Vice-president elect, is a hardline opponent of abortion too. In his home state of Indiana, Pence signed a law this year that, among other restrictions, would have banned abortions due to genetic abnormality. A federal judge subsequently blocked the law. But even if the legislation had stood, Mike Pence's Indiana would still be more liberal in the way it treats women than Northern Ireland. Thank you very much, Mr Eastwood.
Perhaps I am being unfair to the SDLP leader. Perhaps he has a more nuanced approach to a woman's right to choose than Trump or Pence. But if he has, I have yet to hear it. To date, I have found Mr Eastwood's responses to questions about abortion incoherent and evasive. He has said that he opposes the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland and he's said: "We have to protect life". Beyond that, it's a bit woolly.
Is Mr Eastwood's opposition to abortion absolute, or can he countenance termination in the case of rape or incest? I would really like to know.
If you are the leader of a political party, it's vital that you make your views explicitly clear on this most pressing issue of social justice.
Possibly, he's worried about the effect that any kind of softening of the SDLP's traditional anti-abortion line might have on voters.
But if you're an avowed man of principle, standing up for compassionate, progressive values in the face of Trump's ugly agenda, then canny vote-winning pragmatism shouldn't be a factor, should it?
Besides, according to a recent Amnesty International opinion poll, 69% of SDLP supporters agree with access to abortion in cases of rape or incest, with only 17% opposed. And 62% support abortion when there is a fatal foetal abnormality, as against 26%. Attitudes are changing, even in the crusty SDLP. It would be ironic if the party's youthful, future-facing leader failed to acknowledge that shift.
Colum Eastwood took a passionate stand against Donald Trump's misogyny. But to me there is something deeply misogynistic about refusing to support women's access to basic reproductive rights. Mr Eastwood should examine his own conscience, and indeed his own policies, before scaling the high moral ground.
A female prison officer was bound to a chair in Maghaberry jail
A female prison officer was tied to a chair with sticking tape by laughing prisoners during a frightening assault at the crisis-hit Maghaberry jail, in Northern Ireland.
A number of prisoners were moved to different parts of the high-security complex following the violent prank at Shimna House earlier this month.
A Department of Justice spokesman said: Following an incident in Maghaberry a review was carried out which resulted in a number of prisoners being relocated to other areas of the general population.
Details about the assault emerged just days after a second inmate at Maghaberry took his own life in as many weeks.
The body of convicted murderer Barry Cavan, who was serving a minimum 13 year sentence for stabbing to death Belfast man Dee Corr, was found on Tuesday.
His suicide occurred two weeks after that of Lisburn based killer Gerard Mulligan, 44, who was on remand for beating his father Gerard Snr to death with a breeze block.
Maghaberry insiders have told Sunday Life that relations between wardens, bosses and inmates at the jail are at breaking point.
The staff feel as if they are being made scapegoats for these recent suicides, said a source.
The fact of the matter is that the jail is seriously under-resourced and prison officers are having to do twice the work for half the pay.
Thats why weve had these suicides. They are sadly an inevitable result of years of operating on shoestring budget.
Our source pointed to the sellotaping of a female prison officer to a chair as proof of just how vulnerable officers are feeling.
The insider added: The gang involved in the sellotape assault should be brought before a court, not simply transferred to other wings at Maghaberry.
The female officer was terrified, she feared for her life.
Adding to Justice Minister Claire Sugdens problems is claims from within Maghaberry that a number of new prison officer recruits have been let go after it emerged they had links to dissident republicans.
The vetting process is ridiculous, these associations should have been picked up long before the recruits were offered jobs, added our source.
There are approximately 20 dissidents caged on the Roe House republican wing of Maghaberry.
Some of the prisoners belong to terror gang the New IRA which murdered prison officer Adrian Ismay last March in a booby-trap car bomb attack.
In 2012 the same group shot dead veteran warden David Black as he drove along the M1 motorway to work at Maghaberry.
The unexpected election of Donald Trump as president has left some members of minority groups terrified, while others believe it is a time to mobilize and educate others about issues faced in their communities.
Robert Neustadt, a Spanish professor and the director of Latin American Studies at Northern Arizona University, said people he works with, including undocumented immigrants and recipients of President Barack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, are afraid for their safety now that Trump has been elected.
Nationally we know that the Trump campaign whipped up a lot of racist elements during the campaign, Neustadt said.
Neustadt said he knows of people who have already qualified for DACA who are now afraid because the government has records of their names and addresses -- if the program is taken away, they are vulnerable to deportation to countries they left when they were children.
Throughout the campaign, Trump said he would like to revoke DACA, as well as put together a deportation force.
I think this is a very uncomfortable time in our history, Neustadt said.
Neustadt said he, like many people, was caught off guard byTrumps defeat of Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, and said allies of the undocumented community are not sure what exactly to do, or what policy changes will happen.
There are movements afoot in universities and in cities to declare themselves sanctuaries, Neustadt said. He said he knew of a petition circulating around Arizonas universities to demand sanctuary status.
Neustadt said in recent years, activists announced their undocumented and proud stance. Although he doubted those people would want to walk back on that statement, he said fear could push people out of the public eye again.
Neustadt said rhetoric against Hispanic and undocumented people throughout Trumps campaign was horrific, but its nothing new. He said anti-immigrant language was common from outspoken Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who lost his reelection bid this year after serving as sheriff since 1993. Neustadt pointed out it has been speculated that Trump could name Arpaio to a Cabinet position, specifically Secretary of Homeland Security.
One rejoices that Arpaio is out of the sheriff position, and my belief is that he should be convicted of criminal contempt of court, Neustadt said. But the election of Trump tempered our celebration of the defeat of Arpaio.
However, other minority groups characterized Trumps win as an opportunity to organize as a community.
About 24 men gathered at the meeting of the Gold N Brown Jacks, an NAU organization for black men, the Tuesday after the election, sharing mixed emotions about Trumps win.
Austin Blackmon said some in the black community felt like we had someone on the inside under President Barack Obama, and said Trumps rhetoric during the election opened the gateway for hate and discrimination.
I think Donald Trump should have watched his words better so he didnt incite violence, he said.
Tylor Brown said the election and Trumps campaign sent a message to people of color about how many Americans felt about them.
Donald Trump exposed folks who were hiding, he said.
However, Brown said he slept like a baby the night after the election.
I woke up with joy, he said. I thoroughly believe its time- if nothing else it woke my people up. Now you understand the extent of what we need to be doing.
Rahmaan Muhammad said he was glad to see Trump elected, because he said it might be a rallying point for people who have been historically oppressed.
Now people are coming together, now people are waking up, he said.
They and other members of the group said the choice between parties was like a choice between a fox and a wolf, noting incidents of police violence against black people under Obamas presidency, as well as the implementation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act under President Bill Clinton, which many criticize as inflicting unduly severe punishments with an overrepresentation of black offenders.
We already know what Republicans do, said Jason Ferguson. We know what were up against.
Many members said the Democratic Party often appeals to black people to get votes, but often does not make much progress for the black community.
On the other hand, Gold N Brown members said Trumps campaign did the opposite, and garnered endorsements from organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump was appealing to the racist vote, said Deon Young. He was looking to see what politics he could use to get elected.
The men were also critical of people who are protesting now that Trump has been elected, and said people have ignored decades of suffering from the black community.
If you ask me how last week impacted me, it didnt, Cameron Gaskin said. If it took Trump to wake you up, where have you been? Now all of a sudden were supposed to feel under duress? Weve been under duress for 400 years.
Gaskin said slaves tried to run to Canada to escape slavery, and said it is a joke for people to flee the country after an election.
Frederick Gooding Jr., a professor of Ethnic Studies and the faculty adviser for Gold N Brown Jacks, said the election and moments like it serve as flash points that remind us of where we are as a society.
Gooding said both presidential candidates represented a system that has historically oppressed the black community, and said both demonstrated they were out of touch with people of lower socioeconomic status.
Gooding said racist rhetoric that came about as a result of Trumps campaign and candidacy was at least partially the reason why so many pundits failed at predicting the result of the election.
A lot of people were not being forthcoming about where they stood, Gooding said.
A massive protest highlighting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razaks alleged involvement in a corruption scandal was to go ahead Saturday in Kuala Lumpur despite the arrest of the leader of the movement and a dozen politicians and activists, organizers said.
The leader of a pro-government group that was planning a simultaneous counter-protest in the Malaysian capital was also arrested early Saturday (local time).
Jamal Md Yunos, leader of the so-called Red Shirts, was picked up at 1:30 a.m. in Shah Alam, Selangor state, and taken to a local police station, according to his group, which is aligned with Najibs United Malays National Organization (UMNO). The reason for Jamals arrest was not immediately known.
Bersih Chairwoman Maria Chin Abdullah was being investigated for alleged activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, following her Friday afternoon arrest at the Bersih offices in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, representatives of her group said in a statement.
Mandeep Singh, the manager of Bersihs secretariat, was also arrested, and was being investigated under Section 147 of the countrys criminal code that touches on rioting, after police raided the coalitions offices, Bersih officials said.
BERSIH 5 will go on as planned and we hope that this heavy-handed action on the part of the authorities will spur Malaysians into coming down to the streets tomorrow not just to demand for institutional reforms but to protest injustices happening in the country, their statement said.
Bersih officials condemned the raid and the arrests as a blatant abuse of power and pure harassment, adding that no warrant or legitimate reason for the raid and arrests could be provided.
Chin and Singh were held at jails in the Kuala Lumpur area overnight and were to be produced in a court on Saturday, where police will seek to remand them, Melissa Sasidran, a lawyer for the two, told BenarNews.
We are waiting for the update from the police on the matter, she said.
Late Friday, Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh and Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar did not respond to requests from BenarNews seeking information about the arrests.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized Fridays arrests of Chin, Singh and others associated with the Bersih rally.
These arrests on trumped up charges are all about trying to decapitate the Bersih 5 movement on the eve of the rally by making sure that key leaders will be in jail rather than on the street tomorrow, Phil Robertson, HRWs deputy Asia director, told BenarNews via email.
If anything is undermining parliamentary democracy, its been the Malaysian governments rights abusing actions to block people from exercising their rights to free expression and public assembly, and criminalizing those who continue to demand reform and accountability from government leaders.
Malaysiakini editor charged
According to a list published by online news portal Malaysiakini, the arrestees included Anthony Loke, an MP with the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), Ronny Liu, a DAP activist and former Selangor Exco member, and S. Arutchelvan, a committee member of Malaysias Socialist Party (PSM).
Malaysiakini identified one of the other arrestees as Razali Zakaria, a member of the Red Shirts. According to the New Straits Times Online, another Red-Shirt activist, Ariffin Abu Bakar (alias Ayah Ipin Keramat) was among those into custody on Friday.
Earlier Friday, the editor-in-chief of Malaysiakini was charged with four counts of violating the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for airing videos about a corruption scandal surrounding Najib linked to state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Editor Steven Gan pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday.
Their struggle is false
The 1MDB scandal is at the heart of the rally by Bersih, a grassroots coalition of NGOs that advocate transparency in government and free and fair elections.
Najib has denied allegations that he personally benefitted from nearly U.S. $700 million in 1MDB-linked money that was deposited into his private bank accounts.
On Thursday, Khalid had declared both the Bersih and Red-Shirt rallies illegal, and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi warned the groups to cancel their planned demonstrations.
According to state news agency Bernama, Khalid said that both of the planned rallies did not meet legal provisions, especially the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
The authorities were planning to deploy 7,000 police around Saturdays rallies and were preparing to crack down on any outbreaks of violence between the Red Shirts and the yellow-shirted Bersih activists, according to the New Straits Times.
On his personal website, the prime minister lashed out Friday at Bersih, which has organized four other massive rallies in Kuala Lumpur, with the first taking place in November 2007.
The opposition parties use an NGO, which purportedly does not favor any political party and fights corruption, to pressure the government through rallies, he said in a blog post.
Is it not very clear that their struggle is false and the rally is just a movement of opposition parties hiding behind a so-called non-partisan NGO to fight a government elected by the people? Najib added.
Sakariya Waegaji, a former leader of an insurgent squad, turns himself in at a police station in Thailands Yala province, Nov. 15, 2016.
A man accused of leading an insurgent squad in Thailands Deep South for 12 years said he was tired of hiding out from the authorities, after he gave up and turned himself in this week.
Following his surrender at a police station in his home province of Yala, Sakariya Waegaji, 33, said he was prepared to fight charges of arson and possession of weapons, for which he was wanted in two arrest warrants.
Sakariya led a squad belonging to Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), a combat unit of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most heavily armed of separatist groups that are fighting Thai security forces in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South.
I have to hide all the time since the authorities issued an arrest warrant on me. Officials were always looking for me, so I fled from my neighborhood and stayed with my friends, Sakariya told reporters at Yala police station after he surrendered on Tuesday.
It had been a hardship, I was starving, so my family members consulted with each other and they agreed to contact the headman of Tambon Laba to inform the police, he said, referring to the name of a village cluster.
On Thursday, the police officer who handled Sakariyas surrender said the suspect had been bailed out, but that he would stand trial in the criminal cases.
We proceed with him according to two arrest warrants. He broke criminal codes but we are open for him to find evidence to refute the accusation, acting Yala provincial police bureau commander Col. Krisda Kaewchandee told BenarNews by phone.
We will seek an opinion from the attorney general to determine when the cases should proceed. He was cooperative with officials so we gave him some time to prepare for next bail request, he said.
According to police in Sakariyas hometown in the mountains of Yalas Kabang district, he was staying with relatives there.
Decades of insurgency
Beginning in the 1960s, insurgent groups in the Thai Deep South which encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, as well as parts of Songkhla province have fought for the region to break away from Bangkok rule. The insurgency died down but then picked up again in 2004, when the BRN regained strength.
Since the conflict re-ignited 12 years ago, more than 6,700 people have been killed in violence associated with it, according to Deep South Watch, a think-thank that monitors the region.
According to a retired Thai military general who spent seven years in Deep South, the upper echelon of the BRNs leadership installed and commanded RKK cells in every village in the region.
Each cell is assigned as a sleeper cell that operates upon the call from above in the secretive chain of command. RKK team members normally do not know the middle-level BRN members and above, retired Gen. Samrej Srirai, former deputy commander of the 4th Army Region that oversees the Deep South, told BenarNews last year, noting that the cells operated across the Thai-Malaysia border.
Beginning in 2007, the regional branch of Thailands Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) began a counter-insurgency campaign aimed at encouraging southern rebels to lay down their arms whose latest program is known as the Bring People Home Project.
Col. Pramote Prom-in, the regional spokesman for ISOC, said the project aimed to rehabilitate and return to normal life those facing criminal charges and others who fear arbitrary prosecution, even if they did not commit a crime.
About 4,000 people have joined the project, Pramote said. There are about 9,000 BRN militants whom authorities plan to re-integrate into society.
In the case of Sakariya, he likely does not qualify for the program yet because he faces trial on the criminal charges, according to Krisda.
SAN NARCISO, Calif. -- Chuck E. Cheeses is a chain of pizza restaurants and arcades that have become popular locations for childrens birt...
Fulton Limited has marked 50 years of manufacturing heat transfer solutions in the UK by hosting a ceremony at the M-Shed museum in Bristol.
The celebrations had started with a tour of the manufacturing facility that housed Fultons largest ever plant room building featuring two of the companys fuel-fired horizontal boilers.
Distributors and current and former employees attended the event, including Ronald and Bramley Palm (son and grandson of Fultons founder Lewis Palm), managing director Carl Knight and former sales and marketing director Gordon Bareham.
Speaking at the event, Knight said the companys Bristol-based manufacturing and design facility makes it possible to design, engineer and manufacture products more efficiently and assemble completed units for whenever and wherever they are needed for domestic and export customers.
Fultons UK facility has been responsible for designing and manufacturing some of the corporations highest-quality steam boilers and heat transfer systems.
The company has a solid reputation with great products and many more on the way, says Bramley and were looking forward to our future with the UK facility.
Fulton Limited is in the corporations global network that also includes production facilities in the USA, Canada and China.
A bid from Pulte Homes to rezone and add 465 residences and possibly a school near Sandy Run Creek on Jedburg Road wasn't met with open arms at a Oct. 26 community meeting on the part of local homeowners seeking to preserve the area's rural characteristics. Read moreJedburg Road residents tell Pulte Homes: 'Keep it rural'
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For Immediate Release, November 18, 2016 Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org Bishop Pushing to Stymie Protections for Iconic Bird of the West Congressman Wrongly Claims Greater Sage Grouse Protections Pose National Security Threat WASHINGTON Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) is trying to undo protections for the iconic greater sage grouse by including language in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow states with greater sage grouse management plans to block the recently completed federal land management plans and thwart the ability of the sage grouse to gain protection under the Endangered Species Act until Sept. 30, 2026. The National Defense Authorization Act, the bill that funds military spending bill, is in the final states of negotiation with members of the lame-duck Congress Conference Committee. Bishops disdain for Americas public lands and wildlife blinds him to facts and expert opinion, said Randi Spivak with the Center for Biological Diversity. What part of the Defense Departments statement that sage grouse plans would not significantly impact military readiness does he not understand? Sage grouse habitat overlaps with some military bases, yet Defense Department officials have written letters to House Democrats affirming that the greater sage grouse management plans will not affect military training, operations, or readiness to any significant degree. Bishops dogmatic view that protecting the iconic sage grouse, and the hundreds of wonderful species that rely on the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem is arrogant and dangerous, said Spivak. Extinction means nothing to Bishop and he looks for every opportunity to give away our public lands to polluting corporate interests. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been pushing back on Bishops greater sage grouse language as he did last year when the annual defense spending bill was up for reauthorization. The 2016 NDAA did not include the Bishop poison pill language. Bishop said Thursday that McCain didnt understand the issue, indicating that the Arizona senator was naive and misinformed. Bishop has made clear he is looking to overturn the greater sage grouse plans and block environmental groups from using bedrock species protection laws to protect greater sage grouse. 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, November 17, 2016 Contacts: Nina Erlich-Williams, Public Good PR, (415) 577-1153
Rod Webster, Sierra Club, (209) 723-4747
Rachel Hooper, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, Sierra Club, (415) 552-7272
Kevin Bundy, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 844-7100 x313, kbundy@biologicaldiversity.org California's Merced County to Trim Sprawl, Cut Carbon Pollution Under
Transportation Plan Legal Settlement Agreement Addresses Climate, Public Health, Loss of Agricultural Land MERCED, Calif. The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity today announced the settlement of a lawsuit challenging the Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG) October 2014 approval of a regional transportation plan and sustainable communities strategy (RTP). Under the settlement agreement, Merced officials will take measurable steps to reduce regional greenhouse gas pollution from transportation and land use. The RTP that the MCAG Board adopted fell far short of the greenhouse gas reduction levels required by the Valley Air Board, said Rod Webster, chair of the Merced Group of the Sierra Club. In a county with 56,000 asthma sufferers, in a region where sprawl is eating up our irreplaceable farmland and natural spaces, and in a world where the dire impacts of climate change are beginning to become frighteningly real, we need Merced County to do its part. To tackle such formidable challenges we will need the input and cooperation of all residents in addition to committed, informed leadership." Regional governments like MCAG are required to update their regional transportation plans every four years. Starting in 2011, SB 375 required these plans to take the risks of climate change into account by encouraging transit-friendly development and reducing sprawl-style development. The Sierra Club and the Center sued over the environmental impact report that underpinned MCAGs 2014 plan because it prioritized investments in highways over transit and failed to address concerns about public health and state climate mandates. Merced County wisely agreed to cut climate pollution by moving toward more thoughtful land use and better transportation planning, said Kevin Bundy, a senior attorney with the Center. Sprawl development and poor public transportation are major threats to California's efforts to fight climate change and protect the air we breathe. MCAGs board of directors recently adopted an amendment to its 2014 RTP that helped address some the concerns outlined in the lawsuit. Specifically, the amendment: Increases investments in public transit, ride-sharing programs, bicycle and pedestrian-friendly enhancements and incentives for alternative fuel and electric vehicle use;
Encourages land-use planning that promotes higher density and protects agricultural land;
Re-evaluates the selection criteria for RTP projects with attention to the reduction of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions; and
Commits to updating procedures to ensure that a broad cross-section of Merced County residents, including disadvantaged communities, will be engaged in community planning efforts. Under the settlement, MCAG also has agreed to meet specific deadlines in the transportation plan amendment, explore opportunities to reduce the number of miles people have to travel by car, evaluate the significance of greenhouse gas emissions in light of the states long-term emission reduction goals in the next RTP update, mitigate loss of farmland, and further improve transparency and community involvement. MCAG has shown a genuine commitment to getting its transportation planning process right and moving Merced County toward a more sustainable future, said Rachel Hooper, attorney with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP, who represents the Sierra Club. The settlement agreement has been officially accepted by MCAGs board of directors, the Center and the Sierra Club and will now be submitted to the Merced County Superior Court for final approval. To set up interviews or to receive a copy of the settlement agreement, contact Nina Erlich-Williams at nina@publicgoodpr.com. The Center for Biological Diversity (www.biologicaldiversity.org) 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 Sierra Club is the nations oldest grassroots environmental organization. It has more than 700,000 members nationwide, including more than 150,000 members in California and more than 240 members in Merced County (www.tehipitesierraclub.org). Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger LLP (www.smwlaw.com), whose attorneys are lead petitioners counsel in the case, specializes in government, land use, natural resource and environmental law. Since 1980, the firm has provided representation to public agencies and community groups throughout California.
For Immediate Release, November 17, 2016 Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org Bishop Wrongly Claims Trump Can Rescind National Monuments WASHINGTON Utah Rep. Rob Bishop falsely claimed today that the Trump administration can legally rescind the designation of a national monument. He said hed like to see President-elect Donald Trump dissolve Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, which was designed by President Clinton in 1996. In Rob Bishops world, land owned by all Americans should be taken over by those who see them as nothing but a source of profit for drilling, mining and logging, said Randi Spivak, public lands director with the Center for Biological Diversity. Fortunately there are laws that protect places like national monuments Rep. Bishop apparently doesnt understand them or doesnt think they should apply to his ideology. Congress gave the president the authority to designate national monuments on federally owned land under the Antiquities Act of 1906 for the express purpose of protecting important objects of historic and scientific importance. National Monuments are beloved by Americans and have protected some of our most iconic places. Many national monuments have become national parks over the years including Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Acadia and Olympic. Bishops wishful thinking, however, is directly contradicted by Congress's own Congressional Research Service, whose lawyers long ago concluded: There is no language in the 1906 Act that expressly authorizes revocation; there is no instance of past practice in that regard, and there is an attorney generals opinion concluding that the President lacks that authority. If Rob Bishop has his way, where would it stop? Taking Yellowstone and Yosemite off the list of national parks? Spivak said. Sadly the Trump administration has shown a disturbing interest in taking advice from right-wing extremists. Hopefully Rob Bishop isnt one of them. 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, November 18, 2016 Contacts: Kristen Monsell, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 844-7137 kmonsell@biologicaldiversity.org
Marissa Knodel, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0729, mknodel@foe.org
Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, (504) 452-4909, anne@labucketbrigade.org Feds Block Offshore Arctic Drilling, Allow New Oil and Gas Leases in Gulf Step Forward, But Five-Year Plan Fails to Safeguard Against Trump-fueled Climate Change WASHINGTON A new offshore oil and gas plan from the U.S. Department of the Interior blocks two drilling leases in the Arctic, but allows a new lease in Alaskas Cook Inlet and 10 new leases in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years a step that will worsen climate change by ensuring significant greenhouse gas pollution for the next 70 years. The plan is bittersweet. Were so happy to see the Obama administration protecting the Arctic but discouraged to see the door open for more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. We cant keep treating the Gulf like a sacrifice zone. With expanded oil drilling looming on the horizon, we need bold action on climate change now. With President-elect Donald Trump pledging to expand offshore drilling, a coalition of environmental groups called on President Obama to permanently protect federal waters from expanded oil leasing. Using his executive power under Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to withdraw areas from leasing, the president could permanently protect our climate, coastal communities, and endangered wildlife. Todays decision is a victory for the Arctic and demonstrates the growing strength of the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. But we also need to protect communities along the Gulf of Mexico, said Marissa Knodel with Friends of the Earth. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants to return to the days of drill baby drill. Thats why President Obama must use his remaining days in office to permanently keep as much of our lands and waters from Trump and his oil cronies as possible. Leading climate scientists say atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations should be reduced to 350 parts per million to avoid catastrophic, irreversible impacts. To reach this goal, the vast majority of fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Unleased federal waters contain an estimated 75 billion barrels of crude oil, more than twice that of unleased federal lands. Stopping new leases in federal waters would keep 61.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere and oceans. Break out the champagne for the Arctic victory. Those of us in the Gulf of Mexico are proud and inspired by our friends and colleagues who have worked so hard, said Anne Rolfes with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. But the victory isn't quite complete. We need to stop drilling in our Gulf of Mexico, too. We simply cannot burn this oil and stay alive on this planet. The proposed plan released earlier this year included two Arctic leases, one each in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, both of which were removed from the final plan. Cook Inlet remains in the final plan, with a lease sale scheduled in 2021, even though Alaska is on the front lines of climate change and warming at twice the global average rate. Under the final plan, there will be roughly two lease sales per year in the Gulf from 2017 to 2022, each of which will offer all available unleased waters in the Gulf. 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, November 18, 2016 Contact: Leigh Moyer, (520) 623-5252 x 313, lmoyer@biologicaldiversity.org Men Called to Action on World Vasectomy Day Day Highlights Men's Role in Family Planning Under President-elect Trump TUCSON, Ariz. The Center for Biological Diversity is calling on men today, on World Vasectomy Day, to take action for wildlife and women by getting a vasectomy. Under President-elect Trump and his administration, the threats to womens rights and reproductive healthcare could make access even more difficult. The Centers Get Whacked for Wildlife campaign urges men to consider getting a vasectomy an easy and effective way to take an active role on the issue by connecting reproductive rights not only to human rights but also to the protection of wildlife and wild places. Many women are already worrying about what life under President Trump is going to mean for access to affordable birth control. Its a very real possibility that the Affordable Care Act will get gutted and contraception costs will skyrocket, said Leigh Moyer, the Centers population organizer. When men take the burden of reproductive responsibility off their partners and support the reproductive rights movement, they can help the women and the wildlife in their lives. More than 227,000 people are added to the global population every day, and scientists agree that the planet is experiencing its sixth mass wildlife extinction. While previous extinction periods were driven by geological or cosmic factors, consensus is that the current crisis is caused by human activities. Getting a vasectomy is about the easiest thing Ive ever done. Ive been telling all sorts of folks about my experience and the procedure, said Hitesh Soneji, who got his vasectomy last year as part of the Centers campaign. I share with them my concern for our environmental problems and the direct role population plays. I share how its so much easier for me to do this than ask my wife to ingest hormones for the next 20 years. Getting whacked is great, and one of the most responsible things men can do. World Vasectomy Day was founded in 2013 by Jonathan Stack, an Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, and urologist Dr. Doug Stein in the hopes of heightening awareness of, and dispelling myths about, vasectomies. The day seeks to help increase access to the procedure and inspire more men to become engaged as equal partners with women in the family planning conversation. Since the inaugural World Vasectomy Day in 2014, more than 1,000 doctors in 40 countries have performed more than 4,000 vasectomies. This year World Vasectomy Day organizers will a host a health fair in Nairobi, Kenya and live-stream vasectomies from providers around the world. The Centers population and sustainability program promotes a range of solutions to runaway population growth, including universal access to birth control and family planning, as well as education and empowerment of women and girls. The Center has also given away more than 650,000 Endangered Species Condoms since 2009. 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.
A training event for local cardiac specialists from both the state and public sectors in advanced minimally invasive catheter-based percutaneous coronary interventional (PCI) procedures was held in Pietermaritzburg recently.
Gauteng-based cardiologist, Dr Chris Zambakides, acted as a proctor to oversee and assist local cardiovascular specialists to successfully perform two of these new highly intricate procedures at the catheterisation laboratory at the cardiovascular centre at Netcare St Annes Hospital.
According to Dr Kyle Shein, a cardiologist at hospital, the two procedures included a rotational endarterectomy (rotablation), in which a tiny drill powered by compressed air and special fluid to clear the calcified deposits were used, and a percutaneous coronary intervention to chronic total occlusion (CTO) to re-canalise a chronically blocked portion of an artery.
This training session, which proved most valuable to our local specialists, was made possible through a sponsorship by Boston Scientific. We are also most grateful to Dr Zambakides for making his time available to impart his knowledge and rare set of skills to local doctors.
Dr Zambakides, who was trained extensively in complex catheterisation procedures abroad, explains that rotablation involves advancing an extremely small drill head to the site of the blockage in the blood vessel, using catheter wires through a puncture in the skin.
The calcified blockage in the blood vessel is drilled away and thereafter a balloon or stent is forwarded to the diseased site and inflated to ensure that the vessel remains open.
In the case involving the chronic totally occluded vessel, special micro-catheters, which have been developed in Japan, were used to successfully treat and re-canalise a lesion through tiny micro-channels. One micro-catheter was advanced forward into the artery while another was advanced through the opposite artery of the chronically occluded artery.
There are still only a few cardiovascular specialists in South Africa and overseas who are familiar with treating chronic total occlusion. These are highly intricate procedures to perform and do take some training, says Dr Zambakides.
Programmes such as this are to be commended as they are seeking to impart the necessary skills to more specialists throughout our country. As proctors we are able to demonstrate the procedures and carefully guide interventional cardiovascular specialists through the operations so that they are able to get practical hands-on experience.
Ever more sophisticated technology is constantly being introduced and there is an ongoing improvement in techniques. It is important that we in South Africa are able to stay abreast of these developments.
National Geographic's climate change documentary Before the Flood has reached more than 60 million people worldwide and surpassed a record-setting one billion minutes viewed across linear, digital, streaming and social platforms, making it one of the most watched documentaries in history and the most watched National Geographic film.
The film is produced by stars Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio, with Academy Award-winning director Fisher Stevens; producers Trevor Davidoski, Jennifer Davisson, Brett Ratner and James Packer; and executive producer Martin Scorsese.
It presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society need to take to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.
The news comes a year after the Paris Climate Accord was reached at COP 21, and one day after the film was screened at COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco.
In written remarks to introduce the film at the screening in Marrakech, director Fisher Stevens said, Those of you in this room already know the urgency of this issue. You are here because you understand the problems and challenges we face as the human race moves into the future. By 2050, there may be almost 10 billion of us living on this planet. How can we sustain it at the rate we are going? How can we feed, clothe and have fresh water for that many people. We know something has got to give and we need a shift in the way we power the world.
Need to screen for Trump
Last weeks election in the US underscores the urgency of the issue and this film. Our new administration could dismantle all the good and forward momentum that has occurred over the past few years if campaign promises are actually kept. However, let us do everything in our power to make president-elect Trump understand that man-made climate change is not only real, but is happening at an alarming rate. We are currently trying to get him to watch the film and to get Leo and other leaders in the climate movement an audience with the president-elect, continues Stevens.
Critics called the film a rousing call to action and the climate change documentary Americans need to see. National Geographic took this call to heart, and the film received a rollout never before seen for a documentary film, first with a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and London, then making its global television debut on Sunday 30 October, on National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 45 languages.
Record-breaking views
It was also available free for 10 days through 8 November on a record number of digital and streaming platforms across the globe, including NatGeoTV.com and Nat Geo Apps, VOD, iTunes, Hulu, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and more. The film marks National Geographics continued push into premium programming, cementing the networks position as a leader in science, adventure and exploration.
For 128 years, National Geographic has been committed to preserving our planet, said Courteney Monroe, CEO, National Geographic Global Networks. We are thrilled that we were able to reach so many people with the film and will continue to use every resource in our arsenal to educate the world on the global climate threats we face, and arm people with the resources and knowledge to take action.
The record-setting numbers included more than 60 million unique viewers globally across linear, digital and social platforms, including 30 million viewers on National Geographic Channel in the US, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America (US: 8.5 M; Asia and Australia: 6.9 M; Europe and Africa: 10.6 M; Latin America: 3.0 M) as well as 13.4 million views on YouTube. On average, across linear TV viewing and YouTube, viewers watched at least 22 minutes of the film. In total, across all platforms, more than one billion minutes of the documentary have been viewed.
In addition, the film was also made available free to more than 50,000 college students with campus screenings across the US, and more than 1,500 requests have been fulfilled from universities, religious institutions and other organisations for private screening events around the world. The film trended on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook during its entire release.
In Before the Flood, DiCaprio interviews individuals from every facet of society in both developing and developed nations who provide unique, impassioned and pragmatic views on what must be done today and in the future to transition our economic and political systems into environmentally friendly institutions.
The feature documentary was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, London Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival. Recently, it was screened at the White House as part of the South By South Lawn event and at the United Nations, hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon with US Secretary of State John Kerry participating in a Q&A session.
Successfully redeveloping a shopping centre involves myriad considerations, not least of which is how to look after existing customers during the chaos of construction. Olive Ndebele, GM of Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria, tells us how they did it.
Olive Ndebele
When the project the size of the one that has been steadily transforming Menlyn Park Shopping Centre over the past two years is undertaken, there is going to be bleed because once-loyal customers are going to choose other retail outlets over the noise, dust and inconvenience of shopping on a construction site.
In the case of Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, however, the opposite happened. During some phases of the R2bn redevelopment, foot count numbers actually increased.
Three keys to success
There were three keys to this success. First, our brand message, be the change, allowed customers to engage and feel a part of what was happening. Second, we used hoarding not only to hide the construction but as an end in itself, as a drawcard and talking point. And third, we phased the expansion in order to minimise inconvenience to both our tenants and our customers.
The media and social media in particular, played a large role in keeping customers abreast of developments at the shopping centre and communicating a sense of excitement about the changes.
We held many activations. In April 2015, when we launched the second phase, which was the new triple-level fashion wing and included the world-famous Paris Hilton store, we ran a We brought Paris to Pretoria come raid her closet mini-campaign. This resulted in a foot count increase in the new fashion area of 3%, a total feet into the area increase of 14% from the month before and 46,457 more customers visited the new fashion wing.
Another very important part of making customers part of the project was the concierge service introduced during the final phase of redevelopment. To ensure ongoing top-notch customer service, we stationed teams of fully trained, friendly, helpful concierge ambassadors at the busiest nodes of the mall to advise and guide shoppers during trading hours, seven days a week.
Hoarding into art
The use of temporary hoarding as a unique art installation turned the perceived ugliness of hidden construction on its head. The third-phase redevelopment work, which involved the demolition of a portion of the existing Checkers Hyper and the construction of the new grocery wing, took place behind a fantastical three-metre-high origami wall that paid homage to Pretorias world-renowned jacaranda trees. The huge wall of individually cut and intricately folded jacaranda flowers, detailed jacaranda leaves and hand-sculpted proteas became a drawcard in itself.
The extensive redevelopment was broken down into several phases in order to minimise disruption. This had the threefold benefit of giving centre management a high level of control over shoppers experiences during the two-year redevelopment, minimising negative effects on tenants turnover, and allowing construction to continue unabated. It also enabled us to communicate with tenants about plans for business as usual during the redevelopment, and with a bit of extra thought and work, we were able to turn the negatives of the situation into positives.
One example of this was the temporary trading space for some of the centres best-loved stores, called The Village, which was opened on a parking level of the shopping centre during the reconfiguration of the old event arena into the new food court, fashion wing and grocery outlet.
We took a cue from the popular Neighbourgoods Market and Maboneng Precinct in downtown Johannesburg and The Village, a 8,533sqm space with a metro-grunge feel, became an interim home to 29 shops including Poetry, Old Khaki, Fossil, Sunglass Hut, Home etc., Mr Price Home and Boardmans.
For any centre planning major renovations, Ndebele offers the additional following advice. Understand the vision for the centre, the size and necessity of the renovations, how long it will all take and the probable impact on all relevant stakeholders. And bear in mind that you cannot over-communicate during a time of major upheaval at a shopping centre: use every possible outlet, from social media, PR and advertising, to hoarding and posters, to keep everyone informed, using simple, upbeat messages.
Following a statement released by McDonals SA and Humane Society International (HSI) Africa stating that the fast food chain committed to adopting a cage-free policy by 2015, animal protection groups together with Yolanda Guse , commends the franchise for adopting the same policy in their egg supply as their international counterparts.
Guse, together with the four animal protection organisations, Beauty without Cruelty SA, United Front 4 Animals (UFA), OWL South African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Animal Voice, the official South African representative of Compassion in World Farming, have been petitioning against McDonalds SA since March 2016. To date, more than 18,000 people have supported the petition.
The ripple effect
The groups have stated that thanks to the example that McDonalds SAs has set, the ripple effect in the industry will force others to adapt to humane conditions in their supply chains as more and more consumers are becoming aware of what their purchasing power entails.
Prior to the South African announcement, 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean confirmed that they would be sourcing cage-free eggs by 2025 (for their McDonalds franchises). This is over and above a similar commitment made by McDonalds in the US and Canada, as well as all of the EU, Australia, and New Zealand.
Adds Guse: We never purposefully only targeted McDonalds SA. We just believed that if their international counterparts could make this commitment, they should do the same. And now they have. We realise it took tremendous effort and investigation and were proud that as an international franchise like them, they are taking a stand and setting an example by being humane to animals.
Says Frank Molteno, Coordinator of SAFCEI's One Web of Life (OWL) programme: We congratulate McDonald's on committing to a more caring, more responsible policy for the procurement of their eggs. McDonald's decision reflects that, along with so many people of faith and growing numbers of South African consumers, they care about the welfare and wellbeing of animals, our fellow creatures. We hope and pray that this more caring spirit will soon be evident in all of McDonald's supply chain policies. We look forward to others in the fast food industry being challenged by the example that has now been set and following McDonald's lead.
An opportunity for emerging farmers
McDonald's announcement is good news not only for laying hens of the future but also for South Africas emerging farmers and for South Africas jobless. The adoption of cage-free policies by McDonald's and others will rapidly increase the demand for cage-free eggs and lead to new opportunities for smaller-scale, less capital-intensive chicken farms. This at the same time promises the creation of much-needed jobs where factory farms using battery cages employ minimal labour.
Change withing the poultry industry
Adds Toni Brockhoven, spokesperson and National Chairperson for Beauty Without Cruelty: While Beauty Without Cruelty does not encourage animal consumption, we do acknowledge the pledge made by a fast food giant, and we hope this will be the start of a serious and far-reaching change within the poultry industry, and pave the way for other fast food outlets to follow suit. We do look forward to McDonalds SAs actions in 2017 and the coming years, regarding their promise to ensure cage free products within a decade. Consumers can help to encourage the cage-free policy throughout the fast foods industries they support, by letting them know what they want. McDonalds SA is the first outlet to take a step in the right direction, and this is something of which they can be proud.
The reality of battery cage living
Concludes Guse: If people understood the reality of what battery cage living for hens really mean, they would be disgusted and outraged. That is why we were so passionate about this cause and refused to back down.
Facts about hens and battery cages in South Africa:
In South Africa, Woolworths has adopted a 100% cage-free egg policy. Cage-free and free-range eggs can also be found at Pick n Pay, Checkers, and Spar nationwide.
46 million hens are raised in South Africa for eggs in 2015
95 percent of South Africa's eggs come from hens in battery cages
7 billion eggs are consumed in South Africa annually
A battery cage is smaller than an A4 piece of paper
Battery-caged hens can't do any natural behaviours such as flap their wings, perch or nest
They get no sunlight or fresh air
They suffer psychological stress
Suffer from bone weakness, breakage, feather loss, disease, etc.
Since taking the helm at Pioneer Foods in 2013, Phil Roux has made great strides at the company. Under his watch the former food sector also-ran's operating profit margin has risen from a sorry 4% to over 11%, its headline EPS have gone up 125% and its dividend has jumped over 150%.
Roux is far from satisfied, however.
"We have just completed our corporate strategy review," says Roux. "We asked the question: is our business portfolio fully optimised? The answer is a definite no."
Roux is setting demanding goals for the R20bn annual revenue company, which includes what he terms its "power brands" Weet-Bix, Bokomo, Liqui-Fruit , Sasko, Spekko, Ceres, White Star and Safari.
"I want the group operating margin to be at least 13.5% by the end of 2018," Roux says. "There is still a lot more to do to drive cost efficiencies."
Also a priority is reducing the relative importance of maize and wheat-based essential foods such as maize meal and bread, which account for about 60% of group revenue and operating profit. It could spell a big acquisition ahead.
"Margins and cash flow on essential foods are high but the market perceives them to be commodities," says Roux. "We invest heavily in our essential foods brands but the moment you have any exposure to raw material price volatility the market can hammer you."
Despite facing inevitably tougher competition from Tiger Brands, now led by the highly experienced Lawrence MacDougall, Roux believes Pioneer can grab market share.
"We must build our brands," says Roux. "We have an overall 32% share of the 18 categories we are in. Every percentage point rise equals an extra R1bn of sales at the retail level."
Roux is confident Pioneer has the right people in place to meet the challenge. "I have a highly capable leadership team," says Roux, who shrugs off doubts that may be aroused by the recent resignation of Cindy Hess, CFO since March 2015.
Indeed, it seems Hess will not be missed. "A CEO and CFO must be a perfect fit," says Roux. He does not spell it out, but that perfect fit between Hess and him does not appear to have been there.
Whatever the case, it is not affecting strategy. "We are busy on the corporate activity front," says Roux. He is armed with up to R4bn in debt capacity on Pioneers almost ungeared balance sheet.
Acquisitions may not all be in SA. "We are looking closely at East Africa," says Roux. "I also like Eastern Europe."
Pioneer is making solid headway in the UK as well, where it has two Bokomo factories producing private-label wheat breakfast biscuits, muesli and granolas for a number of leading grocery chains. Already a sizeable operation, it is generating about R1bn in annual revenue.
However, Rouxs goal is to reduce the importance of private-label manufacture. "I want our own branded products to represent 50% of revenue," he says.
The first step came in August, with the 7.5m acquisition of Stream Foods, producer of a range of fruit snacks under the Fruit Bowl brand. "It will add sales of R250m," says Roux.
"We will be doing more bolt-on acquisitions."
Pioneer has a sound growth strategy, which holds great promise. But for now investors in the food group will need to be patient.
"It has been a year out of hell," says Roux, referring to the slump in domestic maize production caused by the crippling drought. To hedge against an expected 1.2Mt maize production fall, Pioneer had no option but to buy maize forward.
Though maize prices are now going down in the hope of early rain, Pioneer will have to wait for the futures contracts bought at higher prices to unwind. "It will make the next six months a little rough for us," says Roux.
It could spell a period of weakness ahead for Pioneers share price. If this comes, it will be weakness that can be used as a buying opportunity.
The draft Reviewed Mining Charter contains ill-considered and unachievable targets, and that its implementation in its current form will have dire consequences.
This is the view of the Chamber of Mines, which said the department of mineral resources (DMR) has not taken on board its recommendations, objections and a host of issues it has raised in the departments recent submission of the revised version of the document to parliament.
Another form of tax
The DMR has pursued the proposal that mining companies must contribute a proportion of revenues to a mining transformation and development agency.
Simply stated, this proposal is yet another royalty tax-equivalent that the DMR intends to impose on an already struggling industry, which made a loss of R37bn in 2015.
This is the most regressive form of taxation. For this reason, Treasury elected an EBIT-based royalty rather than a revenue-based one. The chamber proposed a 2% of net profit after tax contribution to community expenditure and the need for government to use the existing royalties paid by mining companies to government to supplement community development initiatives, the industry body said.
Skills funding
Further, the draft Reviewed Mining Charter requires that a portion of the industrys skills development commitments should be paid to the MTDA. This will take away much-needed funding for skills programmes and tertiary education currently undertaken by the companies and will place these funds directly with another government agency which mandate is unknown.
The DMR continues to insist that multinational companies supplying goods and services to the mining industry should pay 1% of turnover generated from local mining companies to the new MTDA. This doubles the target set in the 2010 Charter, the chamber stated.
It said this is simply an additional tax which the multinational companies will pass on to local mining companies in the form of higher prices, rendering the South African mining industry less competitive than it already is.
Historically disadvantaged South Africans
In addition, the DMR has substantially increased the targets relating to the appointment of historically disadvantaged South Africans (HDSAs) in companies, and has at the same time changed the definition. The chamber said that the new targets may be desirable, but some aspects are currently unachievable.
Roger Baxter, Chamber of Mines CEO, noted: The cumulative effect of all DMRs proposals, combined with existing corporate taxes and royalties, skills development levies and more, would materially affect the viability of an industry already in crisis.
Flawed process
The Chamber of Mines added that despite the serious viability crisis currently being faced by the South African mining sector, the DMR has not offered or displayed any interest in assisting the industry through this crisis.
Given that the mining companies are mandated with the implementation of the Mining Charter, the chamber cannot willingly accede to an outcome based on a flawed process, which does not take into account the substantive issues raised by the industry, said Baxter.
The chamber and its members urged the minister and the DMR to seriously engage with the industry on these matters prior to the publication of the reviewed Mining Charter in the form that has been described.
Undulating hills, jagged cliffs, wild beaches, indigenous cultures and a diverse array of fauna and flora make the Wild Coast a place renowned for its rich heritage and natural beauty.
Dr. Mongezi Noah
Yet, behind popular romantic visions of a rural traditional paradise, numerous communities of the Wild Coast are faced with an ongoing and dehumanising poverty crisis. Indeed, a lack of economic opportunities, together with limited access to electricity, clean drinking water, sanitation, medical amenities and education has led to a poor quality of life for many people in the region.
The potential of community-based tourism
Since the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has endorsed tourism as an economic development and poverty reduction tool in developing countries, an increase in tourism related activities may arguably provide an inclusive, sustainable answer to economic growth and improved quality of life in this part of the country. In particular, community-based tourism (CBT), stands out as an important, yet underutilised, area of potential.
CBT refers to tourism activities which directly involve local communities and their natural and cultural assets. Largely focused on the heritage of an area or region, this form of tourism, when managed effectively, promotes local and rural economic and community development. Indeed, various studies have found that since CBT is aimed at empowering people living within disadvantaged contexts, it has the potential to create significant socio-economic development opportunities for many marginalised groups.
As such, as a growing tourism niche for both international and domestic markets, CBT may offer important opportunities for unlocking the tourism potential of the Wild Coasts natural and cultural heritage.
A vehicle of cultural exchange
In addition to its socio-economic benefits, the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Charters Principles and Guidelines for Managing Tourism at Places of Cultural and Heritage Significance has highlighted tourism as an essential vehicle for cultural exchange and understanding. This means that instead of simply providing tourists with a form of staged authenticity, which perpetuates colonial ideas of African traditions, CBT encourages tourists to immerse themselves in the lived experiences and cultures of the communities that they visit.
As a result, not only will CBT allow tourists to gain a greater understanding of both the heritage and contemporary cultural practices of Wild Coast communities, people of the Wild Coast will also be given the opportunity to interact with, and learn about, people from other cultures.
In short, by focusing attention on the sustainable development of heritage resources in the area, this form of tourism can open up greater opportunities for socio-economic development in the area, while at the same time contributing towards the conservation and enhancement of its natural and cultural assets.
The importance of roads and infrastructure for tourism development
In a study published this year in African Journal for Physical and Health Sciences, researchers discussed the challenges and opportunities for CBT in the Wild Coast. Researchers highlighted the Department of Tourisms suggestion that the Wild Coast is made up of numerous zones in which community-based tourism could thrive. Despite these opportunities, however, they noted that development continues to be restricted as a result of a lack of transport infrastructure. In particular, they found that much of the road infrastructure in the province is underdeveloped, and as such, hampers possibilities for tourism development in the largely unexplored area. In relation to these findings, they argued that good infrastructure, including roads, is key for CBT to develop in the region.
GPSJane at wts wikivoyage/Elizabeth Webber via Wikimedia Commons
While the above study focuses on a South African example, the importance of roads and infrastructure for tourism development has similarly been recognised internationally especially in developing countries where tourism is seen as a crucial sector for economic growth. Indeed, various empirical studies from Southeast Europe, China, and Africa have highlighted transport infrastructure, and particularly, good roads, as playing an essential role in the development of local tourism.
As such, notwithstanding the prospects for CBT along the Wild Coast, and the sustainable opportunities to advance social and economic paradigms that come along with it, a lack of infrastructure in the region has led to limited access to, and development of, this cultural landscape. The upcoming N2 Wild Coast Toll Road (N2WCTR), and the related upgrade of connected secondary and local road infrastructure, will offer an answer to these infrastructure challenges.
Indeed, by significantly improving access to this area the N2WCTR will unlock the Wild Coasts CBT potential. That is, as part of the larger Integrated Wild Coast Development Programme, the road which has been proposed as the backbone of the governments development plans for the area will play an important role in opening up the regions untapped tourism potential.
To be sure, while ecotourism is present on a small-scale, an inadequate road network along with various additional infrastructure and service related issues have left this industrys potential stunted at best. However, as roads improve and access to the communities and natural and cultural heritage of the region begins to grow, opportunities for long-term tourism developments are set to increase opportunities that will play a significant role in the reduction of poverty and economic marginalisation in the area.
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author.
African leaders met in Morocco on Wednesday, 16 November, on the sidelines of UN climate talks to agree on a joint stance to fight global warming on the continent.
"Africa is paying a heavy price over the climate issue and is without doubt the continent worst affected," Morocco's King Mohammed VI told the summit attended by 20 African leaders.
"These disruptions... greatly hamper Africa's development and gravely threaten the basic rights of tens of millions of Africans," he said.
He said the continent needed to "speak in a single voice, demand climate justice".
France's President Francois Hollande and UN chief Ban Ki-moon also attended the summit which took place alongside the COP22 climate change conference in Marrakesh.
Ban said Africa was at the forefront of the fight against climate change, and that 36 of the 50 countries most affected by global warming were African.
Senegal's President Macky Sall said African countries would wait until 2020 for promised aid from developed countries to fight global warming.
An agreement after last year's climate talks in Paris provides for a green fund of $100bn (90bn) per year from 2020 to help poorer nations make the shift to clean energy.
Hollande said Wednesday's summit would "lay the foundations" for the plan to help Africa from 2020.
"France has made its commitments and will keep them, I will see to it," he said.
African leaders have called for more funding from developed nations to cut fossil fuel emissions and take contingency measures.
"Developed countries must shoulder their historical responsibility for emissions," Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh said on Tuesday.
The UN, too, has called for more money, especially for "adaptation" - shoring up defences against the effects of global warming.
This could mean building dykes or elevating homes as protection against rising seas, improving weather warning systems and growing climate change-resistant crops.
President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide during the 13-year-old conflict in Darfur, also attended.
He has always denied the charges.
The summit comes amid growing opposition to the ICC among African leaders, who accuse the court of prosecuting alleged crimes in Africa while ignoring those elsewhere in the world.
Burundi, South Africa and the Gambia have all pulled out of the court's founding treaty, the Rome statute, in recent weeks.
Kenya, Namibia and Uganda have indicated they may follow suit.
On Wednesday, Russia dealt the ICC a new blow by saying it would formally withdraw its signature from the Rome statute.
Hosting the summit is a diplomatic coup for Morocco as it seeks to reassert its influence in Africa.
In July, the kingdom announced it wanted to rejoin the African Union after a three-decade hiatus, and in September it lodged a formal application.
The king has since toured east Africa in a bid to woo support. After the Marrakesh talks he is due to visit Addis Ababa, where the AU is based.
Morocco pulled out of what was then called the Organisation of African Unity in 1984 in protest at the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic declared by the pro-independence Polisario Front in the Western Sahara.
The move came at the height of the armed conflict between the Polisario and Morocco over the former Spanish colony.
A UN-supervised ceasefire has been in effect since 1991 but a quarter of a century of efforts for a lasting peace have yielded few results.
Morocco controls all the territory's main towns, with the Polisario confined to a narrow strip in the desert interior.
Tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees still live in camps in neighbouring Algeria.
Algeria has long backed the Polisario and Morocco's bid for AU membership has set off what is likely to be dogged diplomatic battle for influence between the North African rivals.
Source: AFP
Cape Town-based Cactus Capital, the investment arm of Cactus Advisors, has invested in African fintech startups Flutterwave and e-Factor, following its investment into Ugandan-based mobile payment aggregator Intel World International earlier this year.
Alexander Dubovitskiy via 123RF
Speaking at the Allan Gray Orbis E2 Accelerator programme at Standard Bank Future Labs in Cape Town, Cactus Advisors founder and CEO, Zach George said the company was excited to be investing in pioneering fintech companies that had graduated from leading accelerator programmes worldwide.
About the startups
Flutterwave is a San Francisco-based team of African entrepreneurs, financial services technologists & mobile payment experts that provides end-to-end payments technology and infrastructure which enables payment service providers, global merchants, licensed money transfer operators and pan-African banks to process payments to and from Africa with one API integration. They are a graduate of the Y-Combinator Accelerator in Silicon Valley, whose graduates have included companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Eventbrite, and Instacart, amongst several others.
E-Factor is a South African-based fintech company that has created a digital factoring platform where companies can sell their receivable invoices through an auction to investors with the highest bid. By investing in these invoices, investors obtain new short-term investment instruments with low-risk returns. E-Factor (formerly called InvoiceXchange) is a graduate of the Barclays Tech Lab Africa Accelerator.
IWI Africa, also a graduate of the Tech Lab Africa Accelerator Programme, is a Uganda-based Fintech company that aggregates payments and commerce into a single platform that enables businesses to transact with their customers on any mobile device. IWI Africa gives businesses platform solutions enabling them to automate their payments and commerce and ultimately increase revenue and/or reduce their costs and general business efficiencies.
Creating an enabling environment
As Cactus Advisors, simply investing into high growth, high impact tech-enabled ventures on the continent is not good enough, unless we critically have the right enabling environment on the continent for tech startups to access markets, channel partners and customers," said George.
"Corporate Africa with its powerful consortium of financial services firms, retailers, telecommunication firms, insurance companies and media houses all of whom are yet to seriously tap into the innovation pipeline that tech startups offer provides the ideal platform for commercialising proof-of-concept agreements with startups that serves as a perfect risk mitigation shield to investors looking for returns in the African venture capital sector.
George spent three years running the Africa operations of U-Start, a global investment advisory firm for venture capital and private family offices, before he founded Cactus Advisors to pioneer corporate venture capital driven accelerator programmes on the African continent in partnership with Philip Kiracofe, an American venture capitalist and partner at Horizen Ventures Africa.
Following on the successes of the Barclays Tech Lab Africa Accelerator where 10 fintech and health-tech ventures raised a collective total of $10million along with seven engagements and Proof of Concept projects with Barclays - the pair were offered to jointly run Startupbootcamp in Africa. Startupbootcamp is a global network of industry focused startup accelerators that scales and grows startups globally by giving them direct access to an international network of the most relevant partners, content, investors and mentors in their sector.
Since the first version of the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2016 (First Draft TLAB) and the Explanatory Memorandum thereto (Memorandum) were released on 8 July 2016, the proposed amendments applicable to trusts and employee share schemes received most of the attention.
However, another proposed amendment with potentially far-reaching consequences that has received little attention since the release of the First Draft TLAB is one which could lead to a taxpayer paying tax at one rate today and another rate tomorrow, as and when the Minister of Finance (Minister) says so.
The proposed amendment
In terms of the First Draft TLAB, it was proposed that the Minister would have the power to amend the tax rates applicable in terms of various pieces of legislation, simply by announcing the amendment in the annual national budget speech. Furthermore, this amended rate would come into effect from the date announced by the Minister in the budget speech and will continue to apply for a period of 12 months from that date, unless Parliament passes legislation giving effect to that announcement within that 12-month period.
A similar amendment was already made to the Transfer Duty Act, No 40 of 1949, but was now proposed with respect to the following pieces of legislation:
Income Tax Act, No 58 of 1962;
Estate Duty Act, No 45 of 1955;
Value-Added Tax Act, No 89 of 1991 (VAT Act);
Skills Development Levies Act, No 9 of 1999 (SDL Act);
Securities Transfer Tax Act, No 25 of 2007;
Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, No 4 of 2002 (UIC Act); and
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act, No 28 of 2008.
Issues raised and National Treasurys response
An obvious shortcoming of the proposal in the First Draft TLAB which was raised during public hearings, as highlighted in the Draft Response Document from National Treasury and SARS (Response Document), was that the provision constituted a delegation by Parliament of its legislative power to the Minister. In terms of s77 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution), a money bill is required to be passed by Parliament.
In the Response Document, the problem was acknowledged and it was indicated that the proposed provisions would be amended to bring them in line with the Constitution. The wording of the charging provisions was amended and the provisions in the second version of the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2016 state that the rate changes announced by the Minister may be applied from the date announced subject to Parliament passing the relevant legislation giving effect to that rate change within 12 months of the announced effective date.
Comment
The implementation of the proposed amendments to the abovementioned legislation in its current form, could lead to a number of practical problems for taxpayers. An amendment in the rate of VAT in terms of s7 of the VAT Act, is one example that illustrates the problems that could arise.
In terms of s27 of the VAT Act, VAT vendors must submit VAT returns every month, every second month, every six months or every twelve months depending on the category in which they fall. In terms of s28, a VAT vendor must submit its VAT return within 25 days after the end of the relevant period.
Currently, s7 of the VAT Act expressly states that VAT vendors must account for VAT at the rate of 14% on the value of the supply. If the Minister were to announce in the 2017 budget speech on 28 February 2017 (a hypothetical date) that the VAT rate will increase to 15% from 1 April 2017, Parliament will have to pass legislation to this effect within 12 months of 28 February 2017.
If the legislation is not passed in time in accordance with s77 of the Constitution, VAT vendors will in theory be entitled to refunds on the basis that they should have levied VAT at the rate of 14% during this period instead of at the rate of 15%. The challenges that taxpayers have faced in obtaining their refunds from SARS, has been widely reported on recently. Similar problems could arise if the rates in terms of the SDL Act and UIC Act were amended and the necessary legislation is not passed in time, considering that payments in terms of this legislation must be paid by employers on a monthly basis.
Furthermore, the retrospective application of the legislation may also be open to constitutional challenge. In terms of s77(3) of the Constitution, all money bills must be considered in accordance with the procedure established by s75 of the Constitution and an act of Parliament must provide for a procedure to amend money bills before Parliament. The Money Bill Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, No 9 of 2009 (Money Bill Act) was passed by Parliament in this regard.
Section 11 of the Money Bill Act states that a revenue bill, being one which amends tax rates, among other things, must be referred to the National Council of Provinces, as stipulated in s75 of the Constitution. Neither s75 and s77 of the Constitution, nor the provisions of the Money Bill Act allow for implementation of legislation prior to the process in terms of these sections being followed.
The consequences of not complying with the constitutional provisions regarding the enactment of legislation could be far-reaching and could even lead to the entire legislation being declared invalid as was the case in Tongoane and Others v Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs and Others 2010, where the Communal Land Rights Act, No 11 of 2004 was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court as the incorrect procedure had been followed in enacting the legislation.
From 21-23 November 2016, international and South African thought leaders will gather at the East London International Convention Centre for the 12th Annual ICT Summit to discuss topical issues, trends and innovative ideas impacting the ICT industry.
Motse Mfuleni, CEO, ICT Summit.
Under the theme 'A connected digital Africa', the three-day event will be held at the East London International Convention Centre and feature topic-driven panel discussions and addresses by industry pioneers. It will feature over 60 speakers and aims to provide an opportunity for CEOs, senior managers, SMMEs, etc., from private and public sectors to network and identify avenues of collaboration.
Discussion topics will include 'Convergence Partners Connecting Africa through Optic Fibre', 'National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper', 'Smart Cities', 'Infrastructure Sharing and/or Open Access Models', and more.
Kicking off the summit with a keynote address will be Shola Taylor, Secretary General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, an international treaty organisation headquartered in London.
Others speakers on the line-up include Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Deputy Minister of Telecommunication and Postal Services; Vuyani Jarana, chief officer: Vodacom Business; Hon Mamaloko Kubayi, chairperson of the Portfoliio Committee - Telecommunication and Postal Services, Lumko Mtimde, CEO of Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USASSA); Mlamli Booi, CEO: Sentech; and Phelisa Nkomo, chairperson: Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA).
View the website for more details.
Since the National Business Awards was launched by Topco Media in 2002, it has brought together hundreds of innovative private- and public-sector organisations and individuals every year - the National Business Awards finalists.
Also present have been top government decision-makers, iconic CEOs and business experts. The awards draw together hundreds of thought-leaders in the same venue to celebrate South Africas most inspiring top performers. The positive energy of such a unique gathering is infectious.
This year sees the first ancillary National Business Conference taking place, in advance of the evening awards. Topco Director, Karla Fletcher, explains the thinking behind it, As a positivity-driven organisation, we realise that our responsibility is more than one of showcasing and awarding business excellence. We have a responsibility - and the networking capacity - to foster the sharing of business insight and wisdom; to provide a platform for economic leaders to share their secrets to success and their game-changing ideas.
Rising through the obstacles
The Conference, held on 17 November, saw renowned businessman and politician, Dr Mathews Phosa, give a keynote address on Rising through the obstacles. He was joined by a distinguished line-up of top speakers including Greg Solomon, Jannie Venter, Asher Bohbot, Shirley Zinn and Lance Fanaroff. It also incorporated a Fast Track Networking (FTN) session, where delegates met to engage new partnerships and growth opportunities. This session was sponsored by one of the fastest-growing and most innovative organisations in SA, the Development Bank of Southern Africa. DBSA is instrumental in helping the Southern African region to become more integrated, energy-efficient and prosperous, and Topco was honoured to have their participation in the Conference.
To find out more about the National Business Conference, email az.oc.ocpot@sdrawde.euqilegna. You can also follow @SABizAwards for the latest updates.
The South Africa Bike Festival, launched by international media and exhibition company Clarion Events UK, will return to Gauteng's Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in 2017 following a hugely successful inaugural event earlier this year. With dates confirmed for 26-28 May, the festival promises three days of "thundering two-wheeled, rip-roaring live action for a fun-fuelled day out for the whole family".
Festival organisers announced an impressive 24,522 visitors this year, with 88 industry-related exhibitors, 16 motorcycle manufacturers, 13 popular SA bands/musicians and 21 hospitality brands and food trucks.
Together with headline media partner, Discovery Channel, and festival sponsors Tiger Wheel & Tyre, ABI, SAB, Cartrack, Sun International, The Star Motoring, Michelin, Dunlop, Tissot and Monster Energy, the event welcomed visitors with the intention to ensure the festival becomes a must-attend annual motorcycle showcase in Southern Africa for decades to come. Organisers say this objective has been met with over 50% of the existing manufacturers and exhibitors already securing their participation for 2017.
Extensive research was conducted to profile the festival visitors using online surveys and at-event questionnaires. An independent research team from Tourism Research in Economic Environs & Society (TREES) concluded that the majority of respondents were in their late thirties, 67% of which were male, 22% were from outside Gauteng and over 68% attended with children under the age of twelve. It was particularly noted that visitor numbers were above average in the growing segments of the market including women, families, the emerging market and young professionals.
The number one reason for attending the festival was to enjoy a fun day out with the family, and for 15%, their main priority was about capitalising on festival discounts, special offers and browsing for a new motorbike or scooter to purchase. 39% of respondents bought merchandise at the festival and 12% of survey participants bought a new or pre-owned motorcycle at the festival or in the months following. Finally, the majority (97%) of respondents said they intend to visit the festival again in 2017.
Nicole Muller, festival director states: Our long term aim is to create a sustainable, annual and internationally recognised brand that will bring together the veteran riders to casual fans alike in order to encourage and grow the next generation of motorcyclists in Southern Africa. We are delighted that Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit share our vision and will be the venue partner for the next three years on this exciting journey. By building on the partnerships created in 2016, as well as introducing more lifestyle elements, we intend to become South Africas annual and premier motorcycle, music and lifestyle festival.
Check out the official website for details.
Food Network commissions Paul Hollywood City Bakes to film in Cape Town for series two on Food Network DStv Channel 175
Food Network announced that it will feature Cape Town in the second series of award-winning Paul Hollywood City Bakes. Produced by Reef Television, filming in Cape Town is scheduled for February 2017, with the show set to premiere on Food Network, DStv Channel 175 in May 2017.
In the second series of Paul Hollywood City Bakes the renowned British baker explores the baking heritage of cities around the world, uncovering family recipes, hotel delicacies and local favourites, before creating his own city bake inspired by the place. As well as Cape Town, Paul will also visit Oslo, Antwerp, Reykjavik, Palermo, Nicosia, Amman, Dublin, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The first series premiered on Food Network in September 2016, and to accommodate the audience demand for all things Paul Hollywood, the new series has been extended from 30 to 60 minutes.
South Africa has stunning landscapes, lovely local produce, and a dynamic baking scene. It was an obvious choice to take Paul to Cape Town for series two, said Kevin Dickie, Senior Vice President, Channels Group, Scripps Networks Interactive, UK & EMEA. We are delighted to welcome Paul back to Food Network and even more so to take him to South Africa.
Im looking forward to returning to Food Network for what promises to be another great series of Paul Hollywood City Bakes, said Paul Hollywood. When asked if I wanted to visit South Africa it was a very easy yes! There are many bakes on my list to try, but I am particularly looking forward to sampling mosbolletjies, soetkoekies and traditional koeksister.
Paul Hollywood City Bakes is the latest Food Network show to showcase Cape Town. Cape Town is also the location for the third series of Sibas Table which is filming in November this year.
The Big Top Arena at Carnival City will host The Heavyweights International Comedy Show on 11 December 2016. A mix of both local and international comedians will take to the stage.
One of the international headliners includes the multi award winning African comedic Ayo Makun who goes by the stage name AY from Nigeria. He is also an actor, writer, director, radio and TV presenter. AY has also held the ranks of being named a UN peace ambassador in 2009 for his efforts for social and economic issues affecting ordinary citizens in his country.
Gina Yashere will also lead the pack gracing South Africa for the first time. Born in London and now residing in New York, Yashere broke onto the American comedy scene with her appearances on Last Comic Standing (NBC), where she made it to the final 10. She then went on to be named one of the top 10 rising talents in The Hollywood Reporter. She is also known in the US for being the only British comedian ever to appear on the Def Comedy Jam, an HBO television series produced by Russell Simmons.
Local comedians
The local line-up includes retired lawyer and Laugh Technician Thenjiwe, who has apparently lodged a complaint with the Knowles family claiming Beyonce is her daughter.
The multitalented Trevor Gumbi, Tumi Stopnonsons and Nina Hastie will also make an appearance. The witty and energetic Tallassmo features front and centre of the show as the MC.
Tickets for the show start at R200.
On 18 November 2016, the new $150 million Victoria Falls International Airport officially opens its new and upgraded facilities to the world. The new airport has the capacity to handle 1.5 million passengers per annum - triple its previous volume - and is capable of landing some of the world's largest aircraft.
The new Victoria Falls International Airport from the runway. Photo - Tami Walker
Zimbabwean hospitality group Africa Albida Tourism (AAT) welcomes the major development, which is set to usher in a new era of tourism to the region.
The positive impact of the new Victoria Falls International Airport will be very significant and should take the destination and region to a new level in terms of arrivals, says AATs chief executive, Ross Kennedy. The socio-economic benefits will be widespread as increased and new access drives the tourism sectors growth with arrivals from additional source markets.
Kennedy added that increased interest was shown in the new Victoria Falls International Airport at the World Travel Market a major global travel trade show held in London last week. I met with many tour operators, media, and airlines at the show, and I can confirm that interest is very high and the travel industry is excited by the opening.
Zimbabwe remains a hot destination on the schedules of many tour operators across the globe, Kennedy said.
The airport
Annajulia Hungwe, PR and communications manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, said the new airport could accommodate more than three times as many passengers as before, and had been built to accommodate further expansion should rising tourist numbers in the future deem it necessary.
The new airport in Zimbabwes leading resort town has been fully operational since September. The development included the construction of a new international terminal building and the rehabilitation of the existing one into a domestic terminal.
The airport features a four-kilometre runway, a state-of-the-art control tower which is one of the most advanced in Africa and a fire station, equipped to respond to fire and medical emergencies.
Inside the international terminal at Victoria Falls International Airport. Photo Tami Walker
Facilities at the international terminal include 14 check-in counters, nine boarding gates, three baggage carousels, a dozen shops, two restaurants, 28 aircraft parking bays and parking facilities for 400 vehicles.
Check-in at Victoria Falls International Airport's rehabilitated domestic terminal. Photo - Tami Walker.
The domestic terminal features six check-in counters, two passenger security-screening facilities, one restaurant and three coffee shops, eight other retail outlets and a business-class lounge.
The airport, funded by a China Exim Bank loan to the Zimbabwean Government, was constructed by the China Jiangsu International Group.
Just when you thought the Loeries buzz was over, the Loeries' rankings are in! I chatted to some of this year's top ranked creatives post-celebrations. Here Alistair King, co-founder and chief creative officer of King James Group, shares his views.
Last year they took the title of top South African agency, with King announced as the top chief creative officer of 2015 and client Sanlam the top brand for 2015.
Royal rankings for KJ Group
King
This year, Yegs Ramiah, chief executive of brand at Sanlam and Santam, took home the Loeries 2016 Marketing Leadership and Innovation Award, paying tribute to King James and King in particular as having been key to the brands success. The King James Groups 2016 Loerie Awards haul featured the following wins a branded content video: single execution silver for New Balances Baby vs Dale Steyn; branded content video: campaign silver for Sanlams One Rand Family; digital integrated campaign bronze and a live events: sponsorship bronze for New Balances I Comrades; as well as live events: sponsorship bronze for Sanlam Financial Services Every Word is a Masterpiece; a digital and interactive social media bronze for City of Cape Towns Metro Police Ride-Along; and a live crafts craft certificate for Sanlam Financial Services Sanlam J&B Met VIP Marquee.
The King James Groups recently revealed Loeries 2016 rankings show them ranking 15th overall in the South African agency table and joint-20th for the overall ranking by agency 2016 table.
Some of team King James at the Loeries 2015. Some of team King James at the Loeries 2015. Some of team King James at the Loeries 2015. Some of team King James at the Loeries 2015. Some of team King James at the Loeries 2015.
Here, King, also part of the 2016 Loeries print and outdoor judging panel, and jury president of the Association of Practitioners in Advertising (APA) awards, which have relaunched after 12 years to reward creativity in Kenya using the Loeries Management System, shares how the group feels about all their wins, their plans to extend their winning streak next year and who they admire most in the industry
1. Share your top three emotions linked to your Loeries wins and 2016 rankings.
King: Satisfied (with what we won). Confused (by some of the winners). Determined (to keep fighting the good fight).
2. How do you plan on keeping if not bettering your rankings next year?
King: We dont have an award strategy. Well simply keep in our lane and try to get our clients to make powerful ads. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Hopefully well have some good ones under the belt before the next award show.
3. Where are you displaying your Loeries?
King: We tend to display all our prizes on the front desk, which has on the odd occasion pissed off the receptionist who claims she cant see the front door in a good year!
4. Tell us who you personally admire in the industry both an established mentor figure as well as a newcomer making waves.
King: Im afraid to start listing, but I think Molefi Thulo [ranked as top creative director for 2016], is doing a spectacular job.
Seems were all looking forward to seeing what 2017 holds! Click through to our Loeries special section for more, here for more on KIng and be sure to follow King James Group on Twitter.
MOSCOW: Russian internet providers on Thursday started blocking the LinkedIn professional networking site after a state watchdog found it broke a law on personal data storage.
"The social networking site LinkedIn has been added to a register of violators... and submitted for blocking by internet operators," Roskomnadzor communications watchdog said in a statement on its website.
Roskomnadzor's spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky said in televised comments that "in the course of today a large number of internet providers should block" the site.
LinkedIn, in a statement sent to AFP, said it was "starting to hear from members in Russia that they can no longer access LinkedIn".
The hashtag LinkedIn was topping the trends on Twitter in Russia as the news emerged.
Russia has recently cracked down on the internet -- one of the few forums left for political debate -- including prosecutions over messages or images people posted or reposted on social networking sites.
"Roskomnadzor's action to block LinkedIn denies access to the millions of members we have in Russia," the US-based company said.
"We remain interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor to discuss their data localisation request."
Representatives of LinkedIn have asked to meet with Roskomnadzor and senior staff were settling a date, Ampelonsky confirmed to Interfax news agency.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Thursday that the blockage is "in strict accordance with the law" and the Kremlin will not interfere.
LinkedIn, a US-based company, was acquired by Microsoft for $26 billion in June in the biggest ever deal for a social media company.
It has over 467 million registered members, according to its website, including over six million in Russia.
Leonid Volkov, opposition activist and founder of an NGO called Society for the Defence of the Internet, called the current standoff "a new page" in Russia's treatment of the web.
"Roskomnadzor has never before had a mandate to directly confront IT giants," he wrote on Facebook.
On November 10, a Moscow court rejected an appeal and upheld an August decision that LinkedIn broke a controversial new law that requires personal data of Russian users to be stored in the country.
The ruling also told LinkedIn to stop giving users' data to third parties without informing them.
A law passed in 2014 requires foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside Russia.
Sites that breach the law are added to a blacklist and internet providers are obliged to block access.
The law prompted a storm of criticism from internet companies but entered into force in September 2015. LinkedIn is the first such service to be taken to court under the law.
Putin's advisor on the internet German Klimenko told Rossiya-24 television he expected that "LinkedIn will meet the conditions and will be unblocked."
He suggested that the law on personal data may also be "clarified" or "amendments will be submitted."
Source: AFP
Being Boss hosts Speed Networking in Cape Town
Being Boss will host a Speed Networking event in Cape Town on 24 November 2016 at 6.30pm at Workshop 17, V&A Waterfront. The event is a business empowerment gathering, aimed at networking and empowering women in business, aspiring entrepreneurs as well as established entrepreneurs. It will allow guests the opportunity to meet with potential investors as well as source funding for their businesses.
Digital transformation is the engine for Africa Telecom industry growth, and it will also empower the innovation of other industries, it was revealed at AfricaCom, in Cape Town this week.
Image by 123RF
The AfricaCom conference and expo offers a platform for the architects of Africas digital future to showcase technologies for Africas development. Huawei, a diamond sponsor of the three-day event under the theme, Building a Better Connected Africa, revealed its key focus areas that will accelerate the proliferation of digital services in the African continent.
Huawei focused on its core businesses and is committed to empowering carriers digital transformation with continuous strategic investment aiming at opening up platform capabilities to help carriers to build an open, collaborative, and win-win industry ecosystem to accelerate digital transformation.
On its demo and experience pavilion, it exhibited a wide range of solutions, such as Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IOT), Smart Home, Cloud ,Video, SDN/NFV, Safe City, and s on. These are designed to help African telecom carriers and enterprises transform their network into an agile and flexible one and to realise Operational Efficiency, Smart CAPEX and Business Transformation in the digital era.
Connectivity prevailes as the panacea for the deployment of digital services and applications for enterprises, government and carriers. From now until 2021, the Mobile Broadband (MBB) data traffic in Africa is expected to increase by at least 26-fold, mainly driven by applications such as video, IoT and by connecting the unconnected population.
Through its cloud platform and opening basic video capabilities, Huawei Video Solutions enables customers to develop video services in the quickest manner, deliver supreme user experiences at a cost that were never possible before. The Video Cloud will help customers to quickly bring video services online, reduces the time to market, and ensures the best user experience and data security.
The technology supports multiple service scenarios, assisting customers in quick commercial use of video services, promoting industry cooperation and building a win-win video ecosystem based on increasingly open video capabilities.
Africas digital economy
Huawei's IoT solutions which are currently being launched by many carriers in Africa will drive the digital transformation of carriers broadband services by making the world of connected things a reality. Huawei's LTE-based Narrow Broadband IoT (NB-IoT) technology will enable telecom operators in the region to deliver ubiquitous, cellular IoT. This technology will spark new business opportunities in smart metering, smart parking, logistics tracking, and smart cities in Africa.
Huaweis Smart Home solution features a flexible architecture and access independence. It incorporates a smart home gateway to connect various smart home appliances, and an IoT connection management platform is required to enable various applications.
Connecting people in Africa remains a top priority. Huawei Marine is in partnership with 20 carriers to build eight new submarine cables systems and upgrade two existing systems in Africa to provide better international data access for 15 countries. To date, Huawei Marine is currently deploying the 6000 km repeatered South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL) system between Cameroon and Brazil enabling connectivity for a population of 198 million.
In Addition, this year AfricaCom was an excellent platform for African thought leaders and industry experts, to explore the role of the ICT in driving Africas Digital Economy.
A growing number of countries are now focusing on capitalising on ICT technologies that better serve people, allow for more accurate and efficient decisions, and building a Digital Economy. Many countries have formulated their national ICT strategies and Huawei's focus is centered on building an open digital ecosystem with all industry partners in a wide range of activities such as ICT investment Planning, top-level Consulting, and ICT infrastructure prioritization in order to accelerate digital transformation within different African countries and industries, and promote thriving digital economies.
Huaweis Southern Africa Region President Li Peng said, This year Huawei has demonstrated that it is best positioned to play a pivotal role in supporting digital transformation and development of ICT in Africa. Today, we see that behind a globally competitive connectivity is a strong, collaborative industry chain with high levels of technological convergence and industry integration Huawei looks forward to working closely with industries and academia in the continent to create a better connected Africa.
Mrs. Ks Army invaded her yard Wednesday afternoon.
When news spread that Paddock Lane Elementary fourth-grade teacher Judy Knispel found a stem cell donor to help treat her acute myeloid leukemia, her friends and coworkers drummed up ways to celebrate and support.
Staff and dozens of students third, fourth and fifth graders walked from the school to Knispels house to plant signs in her yard and decorate her porch and trees with ribbon, balloons and a big banner: Paddock Lane Supports Mrs. Ks Army.
The student body made signs earlier in the week, each with loving and encouraging messages.
We love you!"
"Were in this together!"
"Keep fighting Mrs. K!"
"Mrs. Ks Army is fighting for you!
After a doctors appointment in Omaha, Knispel, 61, came home Wednesday night to the signs and close friends and family waiting to greet her -- a surprise coordinated that day through text messages between her husband Scott and Paddock Lane principal Betty Replogle.
This is so overwhelming, Knispel said to the group. This is so cool, you guys. Its so uplifting to come home to this.
Paddock Lane is a big part of Mrs. Ks Army. Staff and students wear bracelets and T-shirts bearing the support groups name, as do family, friends and strangers in eastern Nebraska and other parts of the country.
The school is also supplying the Knispel family with food and kitchen supplies for the Omaha apartment they will rent for 100 days following the transplant.
She is a very, very nice teacher, said Paddock Lane fifth-grader Gavin Wolf. She believes that everyone can learn. I really loved her.
I was very, very sad because this has never happened before I feel bad knowing how hard this is for her. Im sad to know she has to go through this. But its good to know were supporting her through this.
Knispels colleagues and friends describe Paddock Lane as a great, close-knit community and a big family. They said Knispel has been a mentor for many, including new teachers, willing to give help and advice. They called her very determined and hopeful through her battle with cancer.
I feel very lucky to have the support system that I have, Knispel said. With my family and friends, Ill be able to conquer this and get through this. I just feel so honored that the kids and teachers would do all of this for me.
Knispel will begin her four-week hospital stay at Nebraska Medicine on Thanksgiving. Her donor, who she knows only as a male in a foreign country, will undergo anesthesia and a bone marrow transplant on Nov. 29. Medical staff have 48 hours to get the transplant to Omaha.
Meanwhile, Knispel will receive chemotherapy to destroy her existing bone marrow. After that, Knispel will receive the transplant through her pick line, a procedure that will take about an hour and a half. Then, she will have the DNA and blood type of the man unknown to her.
I would like to meet this person or call and say thank you, Knispel said. Theyre giving me a chance to have life back At this point in my life, its either this or nothing and nothing is not a smart choice.
It will be at least two years before Knispel can meet the man, if he agrees to the meeting.
As part of a medical study, Knispel is required after the hospital stay to live for 100 days in a rental within 20 minutes from Nebraska Medicine with caregivers (her family members) due to possible complications after the transplant, especially graft-versus-host-disease, which also has its own set of possible side effects ranging from minimal to serious.
Everything has risks, Knispel said. You can get hit by a car walking down the street. And the disease (leukemia) could still come back after this. But Im doing this for quality of life and longevity of life. There arent a lot of other options with acute myeloid leukemia.
Knispel was surprised in July to be diagnosed with the rare form of leukemia. She previously said that the hardest part of fighting the cancer is the complete lifestyle change from decades of happily and busily teaching elementary students to mostly resting.
I have a lot of faith in my doctors, Knispel said, adding that she is encouraged by documented success in the treatment she will receive. Ive had to opportunity to talk to people who have been through the same transplant and have the same diagnosis as I do and theyre getting along wonderfully.
Doctors request stem cell transplant donors between the ages of 18 and 44, usually male. Learn more at BeTheMatch.org.
According to the Myanmar Government's official sources, the encounter that took place on 12 &13 November at the Bangladesh bordering Mayin-Taung area, snatched away the life of a soldier.
The security forces found the bodies of six attackers along with one BA-94 weapon & ammunition, which were similar to the arms taken away by the militants on 9 October from the Kyi Kanpyin border police headquarter.
The Government Army arrested 36 persons who were believed to be aligned with the attackers from Pwinphyuchaung village who arrived in the location with knives & guns.
When the troops arrived at Gwason Muslim village to conduct the clearance operation, over 500 men, mostly Muslim villagers attacked the troops with small guns, knives and spears on their hands.
During the fierce attack, Major Kyaw Ze Ya, a commander of Light Infantry Battalion 345 was killed where many other officials and soldiers received injuries. Two helicopters from the Government Air Force also helped the troops in the encounter.
According to the authority, six attackers were killed at Gwason Muslim village, when they attacked the security forces with various locally made weapons.
In another accident that took place at Dargyizar Taung Muslim village, 19 attackers were killed as around 20 errant villagers targeted the troops during the clearance operation.
Later the troops found the bodies of three more attackers in the operation nearby Gwason and Dargyizar Taung villages. Over 50 houses in Gwason and 60 in Dargyizar Taung village were damaged as the attackers set the houses on fire, claimed the authority.
The Myanmar Government on Sunday officially informed that fierce gun battles continued in Rakhine, where the security forces were conducting counter-insurgency operations since nine police officers were killed in an attack on Bangladesh bordering locality last month.
The more than 700 Karen protesters said that the lifting of sanctions on Burma by the US government was too soon considering the worsening political situation in ethnic areas and the ongoing human rights violations taking place in conflict affected areas.
Karen people from as many as 18 States including Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York and Ohio joined together to protest.
Saw Day Lay Htoo, one of the leaders of the demonstration told Karen News that it is too early to trust the Burma government.
Although there have not been any improvement in Burma, the US government has withdrawn sanctions imposed on Burma it is beneficial only to the authorities, Saw Day Lay Htoo said.
We have been worried that the Burmese government would take advantage of it. The peace process implemented by the new government has yet to produce any significant developments and yet there are still human rights violations in the regions of ethnic people, the international community, including US government should not totally put their trust in the Burmese government.
The Karen protesters shouted slogans such as stop human rights violation, withdraw government troops from ethnic areas, stop the dam projects and reconsider the withdrawal of sanctions imposed on Burmese government. The protesters urged the international community to realize the real situation in Burma and to ban the sale of arms and ammunition to its government.
Saw Te Nee from North Carolina said, The aims of the demonstration was very good. However, some people were not able to participate due to their busy schedule at work. They need to have a better communication for future demonstrations.
The demonstration was held by US based Karen ethnic people worried about the lifting of sanctions imposed on Burma by the US president Barack Obama when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited the US in September.
60 days after the withdrawal of the sanctions, the US government has offered a special trade privilege status to Burma and has started buying fishery products, finished wood, jewelry a total of 500 different goods.
Because of the civil war in Burma, over 70,000 Karen people resettled in the US through refugee camps along Thai-Burma borders.
Myanmar Journalist Association (MJA), Myanmar Journalist Network (MJN), Myanmar Journal Union (MJU), Myanmar Media Lawyers Network (MNLN) and Burma News International (BNI) released the statement on Sunday [November 13], calling on the Yangon Regions Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, who filed a complaint against the Eleven Media Group CEO Dr.Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Ko Wai Phyo under Article 66 (d) of Burmas Telecommunications Law, to solve the case in accordance with the media law.
On November 9, U Phyo Min Thein said at a press conference, I have sued Dr. Than Htut Aung and Eleven Media Group under Article 66 (d) for their Facebook post. I am also preparing to take legal proceedings against them for their newspaper publication, referring to an editorial written by Dr. Than Htut Aung.
The editorial was featured in the November 6 issue of Eleven Medias daily newspaper, with the headline reading A Year After the November 8 Poll and stated many citizens, whose minimum daily wage is USD 2.50 are not satisfied with the news that a chief minister, whose monthly salary is only around USD 2,500, wears a Patek Philiphee watch worth about USD 100,000.
The five Burmese media organizations statement reported that charging the Eleven Media Group with the Telecommunication Law article 66 (d) was the Yangon Region Chief Minister turning a blind eye on the countrys media law and the press council as well as stopping the freedom of expression.
The statement went on to claim that charging them will damage the dignity of the government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party whom the people elected. Especially, since the Yangon Region Government of the NLD is using an article employed by the previous government.
Legal Aid Network also released a statement on November 11, stating that it was a mistake to charge the Eleven Media Group under the telecommunication law. The Eleven Media Groups role is to communicate to the public. Thus, the Yangon Region government should not charge them with telecommunication law, but it could press charges under media law if necessary.
Likewise, PEN Myanmar, Asian News Network and Committee to Protect Journalists, respectively, released statements calling for the removal of charges against the Eleven Media Group CEO Dr. Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Ko Wai Phyo.
Eleven Media Group have agreed to cooperate with the investigation, under the proviso that it is a transparent and fair process.
In order for media organizations to report ethically and to solve the media conflict, media law and the media conduct of ethics were passed and the press council was also founded.
Article 66 (d) of Telecommunications Law was passed in 2013, and since passing the law, 7 people were charged with the article. And, during the current governments last 7 months in office, 29 cases were charged with article 66 (d).
MIND Diet: Benefits, Foods To Eat And Meal Plan Diet Fitness oi-Amritha K
The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet, or more commonly, the MIND diet, is the combination of the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet. The fairly new diet focuses on the top brain-healthy foods emphasized by both the Mediterranean and DASH diets - leafy greens and other vegetables, berries, nuts and beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil, and wine [1] .
Developed by Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist and her team at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the MIND diet is gaining popularity due to the positive impact it has on improving one's cognitive function and reducing the risks of Alzheimer's disease [2] .
The MIND diet was developed with the aim of reducing dementia and the decline in brain health that often occurs as people get older. By combining the aspects of both the diet types, the MIND diet is asserted to be beneficial in lowering blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, diabetes and several other diseases [3] . Although both the diets separately have various health benefits for the human body, it did not have any significant impact on the cognitive functioning of individuals.
Therefore, researchers came together with the intention of creating a diet specifically to help improve brain function and prevent dementia. With both of the diet plans being based on whole foods, the MIND diet has low sodium, added sugar, and refined grains content. It is also low in highly processed foods, including sugary beverages, fast foods, and fried foods [4] .
The MIND diet does not possess any daily calorie limit or goal and does not require consuming meals on specific timings. The diet possesses a sense of freedom, which the individual can enjoy while improving their physical and mental health [5] , [6] . One of the best parts about the MIND diet is that it does not require you to completely give up your snacking habits or your favourite type of foods as the diet is encompassed of almost all varieties of foods. The diet focuses on increasing one's consumption of food that can improve the cognitive function and reduce the intake of food that can hamper your brain's performance and health.
The healthy diet plan encourages people to consume more of natural foods and limiting their intake of red meat and unhealthy fats [3] . Religiously following the diet is one of the easiest ways to keep your brain young and healthy and not be affected by the signs and symptoms of ageing and other factors.
Foods To Eat
The types of food encouraged by the MIND diet are as follows [7] :
Green, leafy vegetables: Such as kale, broccoli, spinach, or collards. Try to incorporate six or more servings per week.
Other vegetables: Chose non-starchy vegetables, due to the high nutritional value and low calories. At least one serving per day.
Berries: Include berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries (antioxidants). Eat berries at least twice a week.
Nuts: The diet does not specify the type of nuts to be consumed; so feel free to include the different varieties of nuts into your diet. Try to have five servings of nuts or more each week.
Whole grains: Incorporate whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and 100% whole-wheat bread. Have at least three servings daily.
Beans: Include all the varieties of beans such as lentils, soybeans, mung beans etc. Have beans at least four times every week.
Poultry: Eat chicken at least twice a week. You can have turkey also. But, fried chicken is not encouraged on the MIND diet.
Fish: Choose fatty fish like salmon, sardines, trout, tuna and mackerel; due to the presence of high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Eat fish at least once a week.
Wine: Drink red wine as its red wine compound resveratrol help protect your brain against Alzheimer's disease. Have no more than one glass daily.
Olive oil: Use olive oil as your main cooking oil.
Foods To Avoid
The MIND diet requires reducing and limiting the consumption of the following foods [7] :
Cheese: Limit your cheese consumption to three-four times a month.
Butter and margarine: Use olive oil instead of butter while cooking. Try to eat less than 1 tablespoon daily.
Fried foods: Limit your consumption to three-four times a month.
Pastries and sweets: Limit the consumption to no more than four times a week. Avoid processed foods and desserts like ice creams, brownies, cookies, doughnuts, candy etc.
Red meat: Reduce your consumption of beef, pork, lamb and products made from these meats. And limit your consumption to no more than three servings each week.
Benefits Of The MIND Diet
Since its debut in 2015, the diet plan has been very successful in slowing down cognitive decline in healthy older adults. A recent study conducted on the impact of the MIND diet pointed out that individuals who strictly follow the diet functioned as if they were 7.5 years younger than those who did not follow it [8] .
Let's take a look into the amazing health benefits possessed by the MIND diet apart from its ability to reduce cognitive function decline [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] .
1. Prevents cognitive decline
While discussing the benefits possessed by the MIND diet, it is necessary to point out the impact it has in preventing cognitive decline and reducing your risk of dementia and Alzheimer's. Various studies have been conducted on exploring the impact of the MIND diet and one's cognition and have pointed out that it can improve brain function and performance.
2. Enhances cognitive function
As aforementioned, the MIND diet focuses on one's cognitive skills and not only does it prevent the decline but also help enhance one's cognitive function. Studies revealed that individuals who follow the MIND diet have better memory and perceptual speed in comparison to others.
With an abundance of green leafy vegetables incorporated in the diet, the ample amount of vitamin E, folate, carotenoids and flavonoids help improve the functioning of your brain. Likewise, the berries in the diet aid in improving memory and learning abilities due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
3. Aids weight loss
One of the other major benefits of the MIND diet is that it supports healthy weight loss and management. As the diet encourages the consumption of more whole, fresh and unprocessed foods such as whole grains, beans, fish, greens, and olive oil; it eliminates the build-up of unwanted fat. Following a healthy diet also contribute towards healthy weight loss as the calorie intake is limited.
The MIND diet is asserted to contribute towards fat burning and increased metabolism; another factor pointing towards healthy weight loss.
4. Balances cholesterol levels
By limiting your consumption of unhealthy fats, MIND diet can limit the build-up of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The build-up can cause damage to your arteries and increase the bad cholesterol levels. By replacing unhealthy options with healthier ones (olive oil instead of butter), the diet help keep your cholesterol levels under control [13] .
5. Fights cancer
Packed with plenty of vegetables and legumes, berries, unsaturated fats like olive oil, fatty fish, and limited amounts of meat, the MIND diet is asserted to be beneficial in fighting certain types of cancer. Studies point out that the diet prescribed by oncologists to individuals fighting cancer has very close similarities to that of the MIND diet.
6. Prevents diabetes
An amalgam of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, the MIND diet is a definite preventive act against diabetes. It helps prevent high blood sugar or insulin resistance, thereby limiting the risks of developing diabetes.
7. Improves mental health
Nutrition is essential for maintaining a balanced mood and ensuring a lasting feeling of wellness. The MIND diet can help develop, manage and prevent the onset of various mental health problems, including depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety [14] .
8. Protects heart
Rich in nutrition and low in fat and calories, the MIND diet is a key towards improving your heart health and reducing the risks of heart disease. As the diet does not allow the accumulation of fat and unhealthy cholesterol, your heart can function well without any issues.
9. Reduces inflammation
The varieties of food incorporated in the MIND diet help control and reduce inflammation. By burning up the excess fat and removing the unwanted toxins from your body, the diet aids in reducing the inflammation caused by environmental toxins, stress and poor gut function [15] .
10. Promotes pain management
The MIND diet is beneficial for your body in so many different ways and one of it is the diet's ability to encourage healthy pain management. The diet functions by reducing the inflammation levels, which will directly cause the pain to reduce. Apart from this, the MIND diet is a good source of serotonin which helps increase your pain threshold [16] .
Sample 7-Day MIND Diet Meal Plan
In comparison to the different types of diet plans in existence, creating a MIND diet plan is not arduous. Take a look into the sample meal plan provided below [17] .
1st day - Monday
Breakfast: Greek yoghurt with strawberries, topped with sliced almonds.
Lunch: Mediterranean salad with olive-oil-based dressing, grilled chicken, whole-wheat bread.
Dinner: Brown rice with black beans, boiled vegetables and grilled chicken.
2nd day- Tuesday
Breakfast: Wheat toast with scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Grilled chicken sandwich with boiled carrots.
Dinner: Grilled salmon, side salad with olive-oil-based dressing, brown rice.
3rd day - Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with strawberries and hard-boiled eggs.
Lunch: Vegetable salad with black beans, red onion, corn and grilled chicken.
Dinner: Chicken and vegetable stir-fry and brown rice.
4th day - Thursday
Breakfast: Peanut butter and banana, with wheat toast.
Lunch: Baked fish (of your choice) and boiled vegetables.
Dinner: Whole-wheat pasta with meatballs and salad.
5th day - Friday
Breakfast: Wheat toast with scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Baked chicken and vegetable salad or stir-fry.
Dinner: Baked or oven roasted potato with fish.
6th day - Saturday
Breakfast: Oats with berries.
Lunch: Brown rice with baked fish and beans.
Dinner: Vegetable salsa with chicken and whole-wheat pita.
7th day - Sunday
Breakfast: Sliced apple with peanut butter and whole-wheat bread.
Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich on wheat bread, with carrots.
Dinner: Curry chicken, brown rice and lentils.
Healthy MIND Diet Recipes
1. Chocolate blueberry smoothie
Ingredients [18]
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 cup milk (of your choice)
teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash ground cinnamon
1 dash ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons maple syrup
Directions
Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a glass for a smoother texture.
Garnish with a few whole blueberries, and serve immediately.
2. No-sugar sesame cookies
Ingredients
1 cups whole wheat flour
tsp baking soda
tsp salt
cup tahini
cup olive oil
2/3 cup date paste
1/3 cup sesame seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 C.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the date paste, tahini, and olive oil.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones.
Put the dough in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes.
Roll the dough into small balls.
Roll each ball into a bowl of sesame seeds.
Press the ball onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes.
Tips For Following The MIND Diet
Now that we have perused the different aspects of the diet, such as the types of food to eat and avoid and its benefits, let's take a look into some suggestions that will help you follow the MIND diet [19] , [20] .
Choose bread, cereals, and pasta that are made with whole grains.
Include a few meatless entrees each week such as lentil soup.
Choose fish, skinless poultry, or beans as the primary source of protein.
Keep frozen berries on hand.
Keep unsalted nuts with you, so that you may snack on it.
Eat a green salad most days of the week.
Side Effects Of MIND Diet
Consuming too much of brown rice or nuts can prevent successful weight loss.
Eating too much fish poses the risk of pollutants and toxin such as mercury and plastic residues entering your body [21] .
MIND Diet Vs Other Diets
MIND diet vs Mediterranean diet: The MIND diet is borrowed from the Mediterranean diet. The 'M' in MIND Diet stands for the Mediterranean. The MIND diet is more detail-oriented that the Mediterranean diet and favours specific types of fruits and vegetables over others.
The Mediterranean diet can be described as being less restrictive and focuses on holistic food patterns and lifestyle [22] . It does not just focus on the types of food consumed but also other factors such as the way of eating, physical activities, bodily response to food etc.
MIND diet vs DASH diet: Similar to that of the Mediterranean diet's involvement in the MIND diet, the DASH diet is a contributor to the MIND diet. The MIND diet follows the same principles of the DASH diet but with a few simple additions [23] . In comparison to the DASH diet, the MIND diet is freer and the people who follow it has a wider range of options to chose from.
DASH diet focuses on the portion size, eating a variety of foods and getting the right amount of nutrients and is centralised on lowering your blood pressure. Whereas MIND diet focuses on cognitive decline and repair [24] .
MIND diet vs Paleo diet: In comparison to the MIND diet, Paleo diet is less healthy. The MIND diet aims at lifelong health with its rich nutritional content [25] . The protein-related modification in the Paleo diet, that is, the reduction of protein intake poses as a bit of a drawback.
MIND diet vs Keto diet: The ketogenic diet is extremely low in carbohydrates, which is one of the major drawbacks of it. Keto diet encourages only 20 per carbohydrate consumption per day, which is less than an apple. Although it has several benefits accorded to it, the MIND diet is increasingly better when compared to that of the Keto diet [26] .
View Article References [1] Morris, M. C., Tangney, C. C., Wang, Y., Sacks, F. M., Bennett, D. A., & Aggarwal, N. T. (2015). MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & Dementia,11(9), 1007-1014. [2] Morris, M. C., Tangney, C. C., Wang, Y., Sacks, F. M., Barnes, L. L., Bennett, D. A., & Aggarwal, N. T. (2015). MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging.Alzheimer's & dementia,11(9), 1015-1022. [3] Morris, M. C., Tangney, C. C., Wang, Y., Barnes, L. L., Bennett, D., & Aggarwal, N. (2014). MIND diet score more predictive than DASH or Mediterranean diet scores.Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association,10(4), P166. [4] Rogers, P. J. (2001). A healthy body, a healthy mind: long-term impact of diet on mood and cognitive function.Proceedings of the Nutrition Society,60(1), 135-143. [5] Berendsen, A. M., Kang, J. H., Feskens, E. J. M., de Groot, C. P. G. M., Grodstein, F., & Van de Rest, O. (2018). Association of long-term adherence to the mind diet with cognitive function and cognitive decline in American women.The journal of nutrition, health & aging,22(2), 222-229. [6] Darabi, A., Pourafshar, S., Suryavanshi, R., & Arrington, T. L. (2016). Comparison of three instructional strategies in food and nutrition education: developing a diet plan for a diabetic case.International Journal of Science Education,38(7), 1197-1211. [7] Aleksandrova, K., Pounis, G., & di Giuseppe, R. (2019). Diet, Healthy Aging, and Cognitive Function. InAnalysis in Nutrition Research(pp. 321-336). Academic Press. [8] Crum, A. J., & Langer, E. J. (2007). Mind-set matters: Exercise and the placebo effect.Psychological Science,18(2), 165-171. [9] Kris-Etherton, P., Eckel, R. H., Howard, B. V., St. Jeor, S., & Bazzarre, T. L. (2001). Lyon diet heart study: benefits of a Mediterranean-Style, National Cholesterol Education Program/American Heart Association Step I dietary pattern on cardiovascular disease.Circulation,103(13), 1823-1825. [10] O'Dea, J. A. (2003). Why do kids eat healthful food? Perceived benefits of and barriers to healthful eating and physical activity among children and adolescents.Journal of the American Dietetic Association,103(4), 497-501. [11] Hoover, H. C., Ryan, J. A., Anderson, E. J., & Fischer, J. E. (1980). Nutritional benefits of immediate postoperative jejunal feeding of an elemental diet.The American Journal of Surgery,139(1), 153-159. [12] Ulbricht, T. L. V., & Southgate, D. A. T. (1991). Coronary heart disease: seven dietary factors.The lancet,338(8773), 985-992. [13] Schelke, M. W., Hackett, K., Chen, J. L., Shih, C., Shum, J., Montgomery, M. E., ... & Isaacson, R. S. (2016). Nutritional interventions for Alzheimer's prevention: a clinical precision medicine approach.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,1367(1), 50-56. [14] Fresan, U., Bes-Rastrollo, M., Segovia-Siapco, G., Sanchez-Villegas, A., Lahortiga, F., de la Rosa, P. A., & Martinez-Gonzalez, M. A. (2018). Does the MIND diet decrease depression risk? A comparison with Mediterranean diet in the SUN cohort.European journal of nutrition, 1-12. [15] Abbatecola, A. M., Russo, M., & Barbieri, M. (2018). Dietary patterns and cognition in older persons.Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care,21(1), 10-13. [16] Solfrizzi, V., Custodero, C., Lozupone, M., Imbimbo, B. P., Valiani, V., Agosti, P., ... & Guerra, V. (2017). Relationships of dietary patterns, foods, and micro-and macronutrients with Alzheimers disease and late-life cognitive disorders: A systematic review.Journal of Alzheimer's Disease,59(3), 815-849. [17] Aridi, Y., Walker, J., & Wright, O. (2017). The association between the Mediterranean dietary pattern and cognitive health: a systematic review.Nutrients,9(7), 674. [18] Alban, D. (2019, 21 March). The MIND Diet: How to Eat for a Healthy Mind (+ 42 Recipes). Be Brain Fit. Retrieved from, https://bebrainfit.com/mind-diet-recipes/ [19] Kivipelto, M., Mangialasche, F., & Ngandu, T. (2018). Lifestyle interventions to prevent cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer disease.Nature Reviews Neurology, 1. [20] Walters, M., Hackett, K., Caesar, E., Isaacson, R., & Mosconi, L. (2017). Role of Nutrition to Promote Healthy Brain Aging and Reduce Risk of Alzheimers Disease.Current Nutrition Reports,6(2), 63-71. [21] Willett, W. (2017).Eat, drink, and be healthy: the Harvard Medical School guide to healthy eating. Simon and Schuster. [22] Catalano, D., Trovato, G. M., Pace, P., Martines, G. F., & Trovato, F. M. (2013). Mediterranean diet and physical activity: an intervention study. Does olive oil exercise the body through the mind?.International journal of cardiology,168(4), 4408-4409. [23] McEvoy, C. T., Guyer, H., Langa, K. M., & Yaffe, K. (2017). Neuroprotective diets are associated with better cognitive function: the health and retirement study.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,65(8), 1857-1862. [24] Cordain, L. (2010).The Paleo Diet revised: lose weight and get healthy by eating the foods you were designed to eat. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. [25] STACK, C. A. (2017). The Keto Diet: What Is It and Is It Right For You? Leave a Reply.Nutrition,1, 27. [26] Mitch, W. E., Walser, M., Steinman, T. I., Hill, S., Zeger, S., & Tungsanga, K. (1984). The effect of a keto acidamino acid supplement to a restricted diet on the progression of chronic renal failure. New England Journal of Medicine, 311(10), 623-629.
Several Nebraskans recently returned from a trade mission to China, including Gage Countys economic development leader.
Walker Zulkoski, executive director of the NGage economic development group, went on the trade mission with Gov. Pete Ricketts and other Nebraskans.
The group visited several businesses, but Zulkoski said a highlight was seeing where one of Beatrices businesses hails from.
Worldlawn Power Equipment bought Encore Manufacturing five years ago, and Zulkoski visited the Beatrice manufacturers parent company on the trip.
The main reason we wanted to make sure we got to Worldlawn headquarters was to say thank you, Zulkoski said. (Business retention and expansions) are really important to maintaining your employers It looked well for our community and looked well for the state. It was awesome to get over there and say thank you and make sure they know we got their back here.
Zulkoski visited the companys headquarters in Danyang, Jiangsu during the trip.
Worldlawn moved its operation from California to Beatrice, a move that ultimately brought jobs to Gage County. The company kept the Encore name but incorporated Worldlawns brand into it.
JiangSu World Group, Worldlawns parent company, purchased the local business Encore Manufacturing in March 2011 and moved Worldlawn to Beatrice. At the time of purchase Encore employed two full-time workers and five part time employees and its manufacturing had stalled.
Today, Worldlawn has grown in the area and recently purchased a 274,000-square-foot facility in north Beatrice, formerly used by Husqvarna, to house an expansion.
As they were kind of putting together the schedule, Worldlawn, with the building acquisition, we wanted to make sure we were on their radar and we said thank you for purchasing the building, Zulkoski said. Hopefully it continues to spur their investment in Beatrice.
Ultimately, he said the trip was about building relationships, which he felt was accomplished.
My main thing is thats its an awesome company, he said. Maybe Beatrice people were leery to say Who is this Chinese company that bought encore? I dont know if people knew the capacity that these folks have. Being over there, I think everyones minds were blown how big and well run of a company it is.
Its important for us to be at the table and important to put Beatrice on the map when you can go on trade mission like that and play a significant role in it.
Governor McCrory provides an update from Bat Cave Volunteer Fire Department in Henderson County
Contact: Crystal Feldman
Crystal Feldman govpress@nc.gov
Bat Cave, N.C. Governor Pat McCrory announced today that the state is offering a reward of up to $10,000 to be issued to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who are responsible for setting wildfires in western North Carolina. More than 46,000 acres have been burned by wildfires throughout the region, many of which are believed to have been man-made.said Governor McCrory.Anyone having information concerning these wildfires should contact Macon County Crimestoppers at 828-349-2600 or Jackson County Crimestoppers at 828-631-1125.Speaking from the Bat Cave Volunteer Fire Department in Henderson County, Governor McCrory stressed that while wildfires may have been started by people, dry conditions are causing fires to spread so people throughout western North Carolina need to continue taking steps to prevent wildfires. He also expressed concern about air quality throughout western and central North Carolina.Areas across the mountains could see sustained winds of 20-35 MPH with gusts of 30-50 MPH Saturday morning through Sunday evening. Gusty winds and lack of moisture will increase the threat of wildfires spreading across western North Carolina, as dry weather looks to continue across the state through the middle of next week. Drought conditions continue to spread eastward, and almost half of the state is classified under drought conditions or considered abnormally dry.The governor announced that the State Emergency Operations Center has been activated with the primary mission of providing and managing resources for the NC Forest Service. In addition, the western NC Emergency Management Regional Coordinating Center in Conover has also been activated. Emergency management and fire personnel are working to address Governor McCrory's top priorities of safety, protecting structures, containment and controlling costs.More than 2,100 active personnel are now involved fighting fires which have burned more than 46,700 acres and threatened 1,800 structures. The Party Rock Fire in Rutherford County remains the No. 2 priority fire in the nation, forcing evacuations in Rutherford and Henderson Counties. One shelter is open in Henderson County.A stretch of Highway 74-A leading into Chimney Rock Village from the north and south remains closed. Highway 9 was closed yesterday from the intersection at Highway 74-A in Bat Cave north to Shumont Road.In support of the U.S. Forest Service, N.C. Emergency Management's Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team has deployed a N.C. National Guard Blackhawk helicopter to be on standby, along with local rescue technicians to perform any rescues necessary from wildfire fighting operations.The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved Governor McCrory's request for financial assistance through Fire Management Assistance Grants which allow FEMA to pay for 75 percent of the emergency protective measures taken in fighting the fires including expenses for field camps; equipment use, repair and replacement; tools, materials and supplies; and mobilization and demobilization activities.
The camera loved Ben Steele, but then who didnt?
Illinois filmmaker Jan Thompson first met Steele survivor of the Bataan Death March, artist and educator in the 1990s, when she was working on films about prisoners of war. There were other former POW's she was using as subjects for her films, but Steele always stole the limelight with his humor and authenticity, Thompson said.
Ben was that remarkable individual whos an ordinary guy, but hes the epitome of what an American is, Thompson said. Im hoping that I am successful with this film to portray him like he was, a genuine man.
Steele died in September before Thompsons latest documentary film, Survival Through Art, was finished. It will premiere on Saturday, Nov. 19, in celebration of Steeles 99th birthday, which was Nov. 17.
Steeles daughter Julie Jorgenson was already working with Thompson to have the film completed in time to show to Steele and his family on his birthday. As Steeles health began to decline in late summer, Jorgenson asked Thompson to allow Steele to see the finished segments of the film.
I showed him the first two parts. He loved it. Its very exciting to see it on his birthday, Jorgenson said.
Survival Through Art, a 64-minute film, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. in the Montana State University Billings Library, room 148, just down the hall from where Steele taught art for more than two decades.
As a special fundraiser for the Shirley and Ben Steele Scholarship Endowment, 99 people will be able to see the documentary for the admission price of $99. The money will make $1,000 scholarships available, which is double previous amount awarded to students. For tickets, call 657-2244.
The other seats in the lecture hall will be taken up by Steeles extended family, friends and filmmakers, Jorgenson said.
Its actually hard to explain, but his story keeps going on and on, she said.
There are so many layers to Steeles life, Thompson and Jorgenson both said. He grew up on his familys ranch in Musselshell County, not far from where Jorgenson now lives. Steele was inspired to become an artist when he watched cowboy artist Will James draw sketches in downtown Billings at a glass shop where Steele worked. After the war, Steele returned to Montana to teach art.
Thompson said Steele asked her in 2014 to help put a book together featuring his artwork. Thompson, who teaches filmmaking at Southern Illinois University, thought a film would do a better job at conveying the various layers to his life. Thompson went $30,000 in debt to get the film made, but considered it a privilege to tell Steeles story.
We are put on this earth and we have to choose our paths. We are all going to get knocked down, but its all in how you get back up. Ben knew how to do that. His sense of humor was equal to none.
Thompson received two grants from Humanities Montana to help fund the film. She is also putting together crowdfunding pitches in coming months to allow her to do more fine tuning on the documentary before she starts to promotes it to television. Thompson also plans to make it available to purchase.
At least one Steele fan didnt ask for compensation to help with Survival Through Art.
Alec Baldwin read Tears in the Darkness and he emailed Ben. He said, You probably dont know who I am, but Ill never complain again, Thompson said.
That was a few years ago and ever since Baldwin has stepped up to help Thompson on her film projects depicting POW's.
Our connection was through Ben, she said. Alec was devastated to hear Ben had passed.
Thompson wants to express a message of hope through her film because Steele exuded such a positive attitude.
Hes the perfect role model for reconciliation, Thompson said.
She was born Neltje Doubleday, heiress to Doubleday Publishing, but for most of her life she preferred to go by just Neltje as she established her career in abstract painting in Wyoming.
At age 82, Neltje is still painting and has just published a memoir depicting her unconventional and colorful life. She will be in Billings at the Yellowstone Art Museum to read from her book, North of Crazy, a Memoir, on Nov. 18 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The 274-page book tells the story of Neltjes opulent childhood growing up in a mansion on Long Island with holiday trips to the family plantation in South Carolina.
Neltje writes of a sexual predator taking advantage of her when she was 9 years old and the scars left by her own broken marriage. She is brutally honest throughout the book.
In her prologue, Neltje writes of a hike up Crazy Woman Creek near her Piney Creek, Wyo., home outside Sheridan. After shedding her clothes, she dove into the water.
I let out a howl. I am damned glad to be alive. I am seventy-eight years old and not proud of every moment.
The book conveys the power of living in the moment. In a recent telephone interview with The Billings Gazette, Neltje spoke of following her heart, not always her head.
It never occurred to me to plan ahead and know what I was going to do. My mind doesnt work that way. I decide I want to do something and I just do it, Neltje said.
Having family money helped her re-invent her life in Wyoming in the 1960s. Neltje is a revered artist and arts supporter in Wyoming, where she received the Wyoming Governors Art Award in 2005.
Since the memoir was published earlier this year by St. Martins Press, Neltje has been traveling the country doing book signings and celebrating its release, including a recent celebration with her children in New York.
She opens the book with a fishing trip in 1940 at the familys plantation, Bonny Hall, in Yemassee, S.C. The family also had an estate on Long Island called Barberries. Even thought her lifestyle has been described as "Gatsby-like," Neltje writes about being raised by nannies and longing for love from her parents, Nelson and Ellen Doubleday, who Neltje said were alcoholics.
Neltje married at 18 and for many years lived the life of a socialite wife, entertaining at martini-fueled parties. One night, Theodore Roethke slept in their bathtub and during a manic bender held a knife to Neltjes throat. W. Somerset Maugham offered her advice on sex in marriage and other writers, artists and friends, including Oskar Kokoschka, a contemporary of Picasso, and Raoul Fleishman, co-founder of the New Yorker, were regulars at the family estate.
When her two children were 5 and 7 years old, Neltje left her husband, John Sargent, and fled to Wyoming, where her kids attended a two-room schoolhouse.
She said she wanted to write her story because when she has led an interesting life that has included both pain and liberation.
The book enabled me and forced me to go into the past, not in a cursive way but in depth. What was important to me was to meander through my life in writing this book, touch on events that mattered a great deal to me and events that tickled my soul.
Neltje has shown her large abstract expressionist paintings throughout the country, and the YAM has hosted several solo exhibitions featuring her work. Two of Neltjes paintings are in the YAMs permanent collection. She continues to paint on even larger canvases, 10 feet by 30 feet long, evoking her emotional response to the natural world.
Neltje said she is enjoying the book tour because it gives her a chance to engage with people.
The people that responded to me I have laughed with and gone out to dinner with them. One of them was a massage therapist, a remarkable woman. There was a guy who interviewed me at a book festival in Austin who was a gentle, funny soul.
Neltje said the time felt right to tell her story. She struggled for decades to put behind her the sexual assault committed by a pilot who later died in World War II. She has reached out to help other women who were sexually abused by volunteering at a womens center in Sheridan, Wyo. Neltje feels that telling her story may help give relief to women who have been victimized.
There are women all over the world who cant say a word who are abused, sexually and physically. And they are learning that they can get out, that they are not bad people, and what happened to them was not their fault, Neltje said.
The memoir is a powerful reminder that we have choices in life.
Understanding the causes of deadly outbreaks of pneumonia in Montana bighorn sheep herds seems to be getting more complicated the more that scientists delve into the subject.
The bottom line is there is still a lot we dont know, but we know more than we used to, Jennifer Ramsey, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks veterinarian, told the Fish and Wildlife Commission during its monthly meeting on Thursday.
Complications in testing live bighorns and identifying the bacteria present make collecting even baseline data difficult, she said.
Despite the discouraging tone of her report to the commission and her acknowledgement that in the past FWP has likely moved infected bighorns across the state and to other states the group authorized the transfer of 30 to 45 bighorn sheep from the southern portion of the Missouri River Breaks to the Sheep Creek area and Beartooth Wildlife Management Area between Helena and Great Falls.
Another risk is high population density, which can trigger disease outbreaks, said John Vore, Game Management Bureau chief, in explaining the reasoning behind de-populating the Hunting District 482 herd.
The population of the herd in HD 482 is over the departments objective of 292 to 358 animals. At last count the herd numbered 482. Population objectives are not necessarily based on what the habitat can support, but can also focus on surrounding landowners tolerance. Attempts to lower the herd numbers by hunting have not been effective.
There is a risk of introducing some new pathogen, Vore said, but 21 sheep from HD 482 were moved to the wildlife management area two years ago without any apparent problem.
Bighorn sheep populations, valued by hunters as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and by wildlife watchers because of their approachability and the rams impressive horns, seem in a constant struggle to avoid deadly disease outbreaks. A pneumonia thats been traced to domestic sheep is the most common cause of sheep die-offs. As a result, FWP has worked to keep the animals separated, even killing bighorns that get to close to domestic sheep and avoiding reintroducing sheep to areas where domestic sheep are close by.
Ramsey said the disease outbreaks are a serious challenge to restoration efforts. In 2015 the Fish and Wildlife Commission authorized a hunt to remove all of the bighorn sheep from the Tendoy Mountains in southwestern Montana because the animals were failing to thrive despite augmentation from other herds. Before that, FWP has authorized wardens to kill infected bighorn sheep in an attempt to halt the spread of disease.
Pasteurella bacteria are commonly found in bighorn sheep that have died, but several species and strains of the bacteria are found during outbreaks, and some healthy bighorns carry Pasteurella. So a newer theory is that the presence of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae may damage the bighorns lungs, making them more susceptible to pneumonia.
So it gets really complicated really quick, Ramsey said.
In collecting baseline data from Montana herds of bighorn sheep and mountain goats, Ramsey said nasal and tonsil swabs are taken along with blood drawn for testing. One theory is that selenium, a trace mineral, may impart some immunity. The animals are also examined for other diseases and parasites.
But Ramsey said the current methods used to test for certain bacteria, by growing cultures in a lab, arent very good, meaning theres a low probability for detection for bacteria a 10 percent chance further hampering researchers.
Were trying to do a better job of banking samples, so if another test is developed we can take advantage of that, she said.
Until then, she cant be certain that when bighorn sheep are transplanted they arent carrying bacteria that could prove deadly to the home herd.
We are moving infected sheep most likely, but at the time we didnt know, she said.
The questions surrounding bighorn sheep have sportsmen questioning the integrity of our herds, said commission chairman Dan Vermillion. How much more damage can be done? It seems like we have some serious limitations on what we can do.
An internet imagery.
BEIJING (PTI): China's spacecraft Shenzhou-11, carrying two taikonauts separated from orbiting experimental space lab Tiangong-2 on Thursday as they prepared for their journey to return to earth after a month's stay in space, the longest by Chinese astronauts.
The separation marks the beginning of the journey home for the two men, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, having lived and worked in Tiangong-2 for 30 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts.
Before the separation, the astronauts thanked their ground team and to everyone who had supported China's space programme, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
After the separation, Shenzhou-11 will remain at a point near the space lab before they are given signal by the ground team to embark on their return journey.
Around one day later, the re-entry module will descend from an orbit about 393 kilometers above Earth, a true test to its re-entry system as it has to withstand heavy friction on its outer surface.
However Tiangong-2, which is the second experimental space lab will remain in its orbit and remote experiments will continue until it docks with Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, which is set to be launched in April 2017.
The Chinese astronauts entered the space lab on October 19 after their spacecraft which was launched a day before successfully docked with the orbiting experimental space station.
The rendezvous between the spacecraft and lab took place over 393 kilometres above Earth. The space lab was launched as part of efforts to set up its own manned space station by 2022, which will make it the only the country to have such a facility in service as the current in-service International Space Station (ISS) retires by 2024.
During their stay they carried out medical experiments, space science experiments and in-orbit maintenance with human participation.
They were also tasked to undertake ultrasound tests during space travel for the first time, cultivate plants in space, and test the three winners of an experiment design competition run in Hong Kong for secondary school students.
Before they winded up their mission, the astronauts spoke about their life in the space station.
Jing who is the senior of the two said: "During these 30 days, after work we look out through the porthole to see the landscape and view the world. When the spaceship is over China, we two feel especially excited."
Chen Dong said: "I feel a bit reluctant to depart but I also feel happy and thrilled. I feel reluctant because soon we will be leaving Tiangong-2, where we have lived and worked for 30 days. It is like our home in space so I still have a sense of reluctance and attachment. I feel happy and thrilled because we are getting back to our "big family" soon."
Jing said before leaving the space lab some preparatory work like recovering experimental data, cleaning up the compartment and setting up the conditions needed to be done.
He said most of the experiments have been completed and some data transmitted back to Earth.
"The rest is saved on memory cards to be taken back to earth due to the large size of the data set. Vegetables grown in space and the silkworm cocoons will also be brought back.
Urine and saliva samples, as well as microorganisms sampled before leaving orbit will also be brought back onto the ground for analysis," he said.
Chen said one of the tasks for moving out of the lab is compartment clean-up and packing.
"When we entered Tiangong-2, we moved many things in including our necessities and experimental items, in all sizes. The bicycle which we use to exercise was unfolded in orbit," he said.
"That was equal to decorating a home in space. Now we are moving back to Earth and need to put some items back where they should be. Some items need binding while aboard Tiangong and the work is time-consuming," he said.
Chen said packing in space is strenuous.
"Both people and ropes are floating. When one end is tied, the other end of the rope flies. But carelessness is not allowed in packing. There are clear requirements on how an item should be packed, including what a packed item should look like, where it should be placed, and even whether an item should be wrapped horizontally or slantwise," he said.
Meanwhile, Jing said, "We need to sweep Tiangong clean before leaving and take away items that should be taken away; this is very important. Some trash, if left aboard Tiangong, will be dangerous. To make Tiangong's follow-up tasks possible, they must be taken away."
"Residual food waste, sanitary product waste, and some trash created during in-orbit experiments, including batteries and electrodes, will be packed and placed in the orbital compartment. The trash will then crash into the atmosphere and be destroyed together with the compartment," he said.
Different from throwing trashes into waste containers on Earth, we need to put them into compressed bags, similar to vacuum bags that are used to pack quilts at home. There is a valve in the centre and after the zipping we use a pump to remove the air," he added.
Chen said setting up the conditions before departure is similar to turning off the water and electricity before leaving a house for a long time.
An internet imagery.
NEW DELHI (PTI): India and the US on Thursday reviewed the entire gamut of projects under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route as both sides look at closing key projects including the purchase of M777 howitzers, the first deal for artillery guns since the Bofors scandal in 1980s.
Defence sources said that the deal for 145 American Ultra-Light Howitzers, costing about Rs 5,000, has recently been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
Vice Admiral Joseph Rixey, Director of Defense Security Cooperation Agency, met with his counterpart here at the Defence Ministry.
Sources said a number of key projects, including the one for 22 Predator Guardian drones, which is at an advanced stage of negotiations, were discussed besides other projects that have already been signed.
The visit comes ahead of a scheduled trip by US Defence Secretary of State Ashton Carter next month. However, sources indicated that the visit might be a tough one to make given the results of the US elections.
Rixey's visit was for the annual meeting to review defence acquisition and defence trade matters.
On the issue of M777, sources said India had sent a Letter of Request to the US government showing interest in buying the guns which will be deployed in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, bordering China.
The US had responded with a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) and the Defence Ministry had in June looked into the terms and conditions and approved it.
The offsets, under which BAE Systems, manufacturer of the gun, will invest about USD 200 million, will be pursued independently.
While 25 guns will come to India in a fly away condition, the rest will be assembled at the proposed Assembly Integration and Test facility for the weapon system in India in partnership with Mahindra.
The first two howitzers will be delivered within six months of the contract being inked, while rest will be delivered at the rate of two per month.
The howitzers that can be heli-lifted were first proposed to be bought from BAE about 10 years back.
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
On the outside looking in, the New West Partnership Trade Agreement has been a thorn in Michael Leechs side for the past few years.
Reflecting on one missed opportunity in particular, the Brandon-based Leech Printing Ltd. owner laments the preferential treatment the agreement has provided its member provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The government of Saskatchewan wouldnt allow our work to be produced back in Manitoba through our (Brandon-based) plant, so that was an inhibitor, and in my opinion that was the primary problem.
File Owner Chris Warwaruk doles out some of the lager produced by Neepawas Farmery Estate Brewery during the second annual Brandon Beer Festival at the Victoria Inn in this April 2013 photo. Warwaruk says the New West Partnership Trade Agreement, which Manitoba joined on Thursday, has become a moot point for his company.
These concerns became a thing of the past on Thursday, when Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister made good on an election promise and added Manitoba as a member of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement.
Its a positive move that will put Manitoban companies on an even footing with their competitors in provinces to the west, Leech said shortly after Pallister made the announcement.
I like open market competitiveness, he added. Id rather have an expanded market than one thats protected.
Earlier this year, Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Terry Burgess joined his colleagues in applauding the Tory pledge to sign onto the trade agreement.
They havent changed their tune, and on Thursday Burgess reflected on the days big announcement as a positive for not only Westman, but also the entire province.
Its something the chamber was advocating for; us signing onto that particular agreement to ensure that any of our businesses who wanted to compete for business in other provinces, that we had a fair shot, he said, clarifying that it will have a particularly strong impact on those in the construction sector.
Most affected locally will be the larger companies that compete in broader markets for business, Burgess said the Crane Steel Structures and Behlen Industries of the area.
While the New West trade deal might have sounded more attractive several months ago before oil took a nosedive and forced companies in Alberta to look elsewhere for work, Burgess maintains confidence that it will serve the area well into the long term.
It opens up our local markets to competitors from the other provinces, but I know our local businesses here feel very comfortable that they can compete with anyone coming into our marketplace, he explained.
Reflecting on Manitobas last few years outside of the New West trade deal as a time of lost opportunity, Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Reg Helwer said on Thursday that hes relieved to see those days of disadvantage come to a close.
We need to be part of this trade agreement, and we should be talking with and trading with our neighbours, he said, a sentiment his colleague in Brandon East shares.
It certainly allows, now, for a lot more trade back and forth, Brandon East PC MLA Len Isleifson said. Its just a great opportunity, and were just starting.
This idea of just starting is a point that would likely enthuse Farmery Estate Brewery owner Chris Warwaruk.
Based in Neepawa, Manitobas exclusion from New West trade deal initially made it fiscally impossible for the brewery to sell their product in Alberta.
It would have helped us last year, but in the end Alberta changed their promotion of it, Warwaruk explained, adding that, for his company anyway, New West has become a moot point.
Now, Farmery Estate Brewery wants to see Manitobas provincial government introduce a grant program similar to the ones in Alberta and other provinces, which bolster their local craft brewers in the marketplace.
I know the government is being selective of what theyre trying to promote locally, but I really think local craft beer could benefit Manitobans if we were supported, he said. Theres lots of room to grow the industry, here, and support it.
New West trade deal or otherwise, for Brandon-based Powell Construction Ltd., working in other provinces provides a lot of headaches, according to project manager Jessie Greenwood.
Between taxation and regulation differences between provinces, its simply easier to remain in Manitoba, Greenwood said, noting that about 90 per cent of their business remains within their home province.
As such, hes interested in seeing whether Manitoba joining the partnership will help clear up these sometimes muddy waters.
Consider Thursdays announcement as only the governments next step in hashing out these nuances, Helwer offered.
Its a big step to having that consistency, he said. We do try to work with other provinces and the States as well, but if youre not talking with them its hard to co-ordinate that legislation.
tclarke@brandonsun.com
Twitter: @TylerClarkePA
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The first town hall meeting seeking public input on Brandon Universitys Sexualized Violence Policy made clear the challenging task ahead of the committee that drafted it.
Carla Navid, BUs sexual violence education and prevention co-ordinator, and three members of the universitys sexual assault advisory group (SAAG) fielded questions from an audience of students and faculty Thursday afternoon inquiring about the effectiveness of the draft policy.
In response to many questions, SAAG members admitted they wrestled with the same concerns and are holding public consultations to ensure all voices are heard.
Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Carla Navid, sexual violence education and prevention co-ordinator with Brandon University, leads the first of three town hall meetings on the universitys new sexualized violence policy on Thursday.
Navid also acknowledged during the town hall a revised protocol, soon to be released, will describe how the university will respond to victim reports.
Joe Kruger, an anthropology student, said the policy document includes plenty of definitions but doesnt state how the university will address sexualized violence.
He referenced the known ramifications when a student cheats on an exam and suggested penalties should be specified in accusations of sexual violence.
I see a lot of language about balancing the rights of the accused, which, of course, is great, but it also seems more about protecting the university from litigation, he said.
In response, Navid said the policy document, released in November after months of deliberation, would inform the exact protocol. Currently, the universitys protocol on sexual assault considers students exclusively and does not reference other forms of sexual violence. The revised protocol, which Navid explained in an interview she completed last week, will address those shortcomings.
Ive just drafted it and Ive put it up to the committee, so thats hot off the presses, she said. They havent even had a chance to review it.
A new draft policy was recommended when it was discovered this spring that sexual assault victims were asked by BU to sign a contract promising they would not talk about what happened to anyone, except to counsellors.
The university, which faced a national backlash, apologized for mandating the behavioural contract.
Navid did not know when the updated protocol would be published, but she anticipates a similar process to this months reveal of the sexualized violence policy, where community input will be sought.
During the town hall, political science professor Kelly Saunders called describing the new policy survivor-centred is problematic.
It sort of presumes guilt right from the start rather than a focus on due process, Saunders said.
A committee member replied they wrestled with the right terminology. The policy document uses neutral terms like complainant instead of survivor or victim.
Highlighting a trauma-informed and survivor-centred approach may appear one-sided but Navid feels it acknowledges that institutions, like Canadas criminal justice system, have previously failed victims.
She said places like BU do not need to prove sexual violence happened beyond a reasonable doubt, like in the court system.
If we have evidence that this occurred then I think we have a responsibility to ensure that our members are safe.
The town hall also included questions of consent in romantic relationships between professors and students, and concerns on why it took months for a policy to be drafted after this springs scandal.
It scared students, Racheal Wu said, to realize how far behind the university was in addressing sexual assault.
Sharon Hopper, BUs chief human resources officer, stressed discussions were being held behind the scenes.
I think what happened with the incident is it really brought to our attention that my God, we need to put something better in place.
In addition to this months three town halls, focus groups have been sought and input can be submitted on the policy on the universitys website. Thoughts on the policy from members of the public is wanted, Navid said.
The board of governors is expected to receive an updated policy to review in January.
Paul ODriscoll, one of the estimated 30 people on the sexual assault advisory group, said that in 1981, his first year as director of residence hall programs, he successfully petitioned BUs board to place condom dispensers in mens washrooms.
I think the perception is were going slow (in this process) and it really wasnt very long ago that we were addressing the question of should we be providing condoms for our young men to purchase, ODriscoll said in an interview, so in a way maybe things havent moved as slowly as it seems.
He added he appreciates that students continually push for improvements in many facets, including in combatting sexual violence.
Universities are a great place to work because students keep things moving. And it can be difficult at times, but I think changes have occurred that are beneficial to our students.
The next town halls will be held on Monday at 2:40 p.m. at John E. Robbins Library and the next morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Education Building.
ifroese@brandonsun.com
Twitter: @ianfroese
Cloudiness in the Beaverhead River south of Dillon is causing consternation for anglers as the state investigates the issue.
This summer, for the third consecutive year, turbidity showed up in the river. Personnel from the state Department of Environmental Quality first saw it in early July. The sage-colored murkiness continued through the beginning of September.
The cloudiness started below Clark Canyon Reservoir and subsided as it moved downstream, said Lisa Peterson, DEQ spokesperson, via email. The turbid water has not been evident near Dillon.
The cloudiness was first reported in August 2014, and reappeared in the summer of 2015.
Matt Jaeger, fisheries management biologist for Fish, Wildlife and Parks' Region 3, has been investigating the problem along with DEQ. Jaeger said the turbidity doesn't appear to be affecting fish numbers. But he is trying to determine if the problem is affecting fish weight. The cloudiness could harm their ability to forage efficiently.
Darrin Kron, DEQ supervisor for water quality monitoring, said this fall divers went to the bottom of the Clark Canyon Reservoir, which appears to be the source of the problem.
They couldnt see even with lights it was so turbid, Kron said.
Kron said its too early to pinpoint the cause. The agency is still analyzing its data. But potential culprits include too much sediment at the bottom of the reservoir and the weather.
Kron said the agency has a number of theories and has been collecting data since 2015. The agency hopes to have definitive results by January 2017.
Meanwhile, the water woes are hurting fishing outfitters.
I cant put a dollar amount on what its costing us but its been tough for us for sure, Brad Platt of Dillon said in a phone interview. We dont have any options but to wait it out.
Kron said the agency is sensitive to the urgency of the issue.
We understand its affecting the local tourism economy and affecting fishing guides in that region quite heavily, he said.
Peterson said that a large amount of resources are going toward trying to find the cause because the agency knows how much it is negatively impacting the local economy.
Platt said that once the murkiness began, it cleared up on some days but never completely went away.
Clients show up and see pea soup. Theyre envisioning a crystal clear Montana river. You can see the look on their faces, Platt said.
For the first two weeks of August Platt had to cancel all outfitting trips because of the rivers murkiness. He said Julys low flows shut down the Big Hole River and the Jefferson saw significantly low flows by midsummer, as well. Platt was forced to take clients to the Madison River to fish.
But that frustrates clients who want to fish outside of Dillon when they book a trip with an outfitter located in Dillon, Platt said.
Mike Geary, president of the Lewis and Clark Chapter of Trout Unlimited, said his group wants to do what it can to help but they are waiting until DEQ has data that can pinpoint the exact cause.
Were in a no-mans land till we get information, Geary said. Good scientific information that would be what would drive us.
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A documentary film featuring Brandon University Prof. Doug Ramsay is set to premiere on Monday.
Closing Time: The Vanishing Prairie Beverage Room will be screened at The Forks Market in Winnipeg at 7:30 p.m.
The documentary, which was produced by Lucky 9 Productions, focuses on the struggles many rural hotel/beverage rooms face today while looking back at the history of these establishments over the last 100 years.
From depopulation, to changing social norms around smoking and drinking, to the restrictions laid out by the Government of Manitoba, running a rural pub isnt as straightforward as it used to be and many are finding it difficult to stay in business.
Along with the owners of seven beverage rooms across Manitoba, the documentary includes interviews with government departments, former bar proprietors, customers and historians. The result is a story that explores the relevance of these establishments in rural communities and the sacrifices being made to help keep them alive.
The film is available through MTS Stories From Home.
The Brandon Sun
Former Briggs Distributing office manager Kimberlee Dunn tearfully apologized for stealing almost $250,000 from the Billings company and evading taxes as she was sentenced Thursday to about a year in federal prison.
Im so sorry for what Ive done. Its ruined my life, Dunn said.
U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced Dunn, 66, to a year and one day in prison and ordered $243,691 restitution. The sentence will allow Dunn to qualify for a shorter term with good behavior.
The judge said Dunn deserved some consideration because of her age and because she had no criminal record or substance abuse problem.
Dunn pleaded guilty in May to wire fraud and to tax evasion. The judge dismissed seven other counts under the terms of a plea deal. Dunn faced a sentencing guideline range of 21 months to 27 months.
John Decker, president of Briggs, attended the hearing and addressed his comments directly to Dunn.
Shame on you, Kim. I cant even believe this happened, Decker said.
Noting he had worked with Dunn for 28 years, Decker said the headaches and heartaches she had caused him and the companys 65 employees were tremendous.
The company has had to plow through thousands and thousands of accounting entries to unravel Dunns scheme and is paying back suppliers who were victims of false entries Dunn created, he said.
Integrity is everything to us, Decker said.
Dunn also continues to show up at company events, he said. To me, thats just in your face, Decker said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich recommended a 21-month sentence saying Dunn earned and deserved it.
Dunn made a decision every day to steal from the company, Rubich said. The only thing that stopped her is she finally got caught, he said.
Briggs is a Billings company with local employees, Rubich said. It doesnt have a huge bottom line, he said. Relationships are everything to such firms, he said. That is all out the window, he said.
Briggs distributes craft and imported beers, flavored malt beverages, fine wines and non-alcoholic beverages to several Montana counties.
Assistant Federal Defender Dave Merchant argued for a probationary sentence or house arrest. Dunn, he said, had no criminal record, no substance abuse problems and didnt live a high lifestyle.
Probation would enable Dunn to begin paying restitution, he said. But Merchant acknowledged Dunn got fired the day after she pleaded guilty and that nobody will hire her.
Dunn, Merchant said, was remorseful and ashamed. He also said Dunn couldnt explain to him what drove her to steal the money. Dunn spent the money traveling to Wyoming and Colorado to see her daughter and parents and on medical expenses, he said.
Watters asked Dunn why she did it.
Dunn replied that her daughter tried to commit suicide in 2012 and had drug and substance abuse problems. She said she used most of the money to help her daughter.
Dunn also said she never had an expense account at Briggs but represented the company when she was out and about. Dunn said she bought rounds of drinks at bars as a representative of Briggs.
I dont think youre helping yourself, Watters told her.
Prosecutors said Dunns scheme ran for about four years, from 2010 until April 2014. To hide the thefts, Dunn fraudulently applied checks and credits she received from other customer accounts to customer accounts from which she had stolen cash.
Dunn created false entries and reports in the companys accounting software system. The system showed that every fake account entry was made by Dunns user account, which was password protected. Dunn also was the sole authorized user.
Another employee uncovered Dunns scheme after seeing her apply a check to the wrong account. The employee reported Dunns actions to Briggs managers, who fired Dunn and contacted law enforcement.
Dunn also failed to report the stolen income as earned income on tax returns.
Watters allowed Dunn to report to a federal prison when she is assigned to a facility.
Opinion
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I can already hear some of your voices in my head as youre reading this: Oh Cody, yet another IPA? Are you serious? I hate IPAs. Why arent you reviewing Stella Artois instead? All you ever do is review IPAs!
Well, India pale ales are a broad style of beers to the point that it can taste like a lager (Alexander Keiths) or like a wheat beer (Belgian IPAs). A common theme from a few of my friends who became IPA lovers in Manitoba was that they checked out the Driftwood Brewery in Victoria, and fell in love with its Fat Tug IPA. Fat Tug is easily one of my top five IPAs, and that includes Heady Topper from Vermont.
Driftwood Brewing makes more beers than just Fat Tug, in fact, they make a lot of amazing beers and its beer labels are some of the best in the entire industry thanks to the folks over at Hired Guns Creative out of Nanaimo, B.C.
Submitted Driftwood Brewings Raised By Wolves IPA has earned a five out of five pints rating from First Draught columnist Cody Lobreau.
This week, Im checking out Driftwoods Raised By Wolves IPA. Raised by Wolves is described as being born of equinox hops and raised under the influence of saccharomyces trois yeast. This beast developed a taste for mango, citrus and melon with a nose to match.
Im not familiar with equinox hops and havent had any beers with saccharomyces trois yeast in the past so the raised-by-wolves theme actually plays well into the theme of the beer. The beer pours a pale, cloudy, golden-straw ale with a great deal of micro-carbonation, a hint of fizz and a good deal of off-white foaminess that is reminiscent to your typical Canadian IPAs (creamy, mild thickness and leaves lots of foam bits on the side of the glassware).
The aroma is simply tasty. If you are familiar with beers that use Galaxy hops, then you are in for a treat as this beer is very reminiscent to a Galaxy-hopped IPA as its a liberally citrus-forward IPA with notes of grapefruit, melon, orange peel, peach and mango. Theres a hint of pine bitterness as well, but, in this case, theres more fruit in the hops than bitterness, almost like a fruit cocktail. My initial impression on the taste is that the hop bitterness is very much present, with a bitter pine flavour to it. The tropical citrus flavours are very much dominant in this Vancouver Island IPA. The flavours I get are pineapple, mango, bitterness of grapefruit and a hint of apricot.
I would have appreciated this IPA back in July when the heat was unbearable, but, even so, this is an extraordinary IPA thats mostly fruit forward with a hint of pine to back it up. The batch is certainly fresh and its expected to be savoured ASAP.
Driftwood cant seem to make a bad beer and this is no exception. This is an IPA I recommend to not only to the hop heads that read this column, but to those who like a sweeter, citrusy ale because this beer is just wowing me at every stage. Im going to save a bottle of this beer for Christmas when my family is away in the Bahamas and Ill be sulking. At least Ill have this beer to make it feel like a tropical paradise.
You can find Driftwoods Raised By Wolves (7 per cent ABV) at Liquor Marts in Brandon and Dauphin for $6.75 per 650 ml bottle. This will be one of the only times youll ever see me rate a five out of five pints, but its an IPA thats worth it!
Opinion
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Free? Thirty dollars? Or even more?
Those are the pricing options for wine tastings around Californias Sonoma County and Napa Valley. As in most situations, you get what you pay for. But sometimes, happily, there are surprises, too.
I was fortunate enough to take an extended trip to Sonoma in June. I sampled some of the best wines Ive ever had, toured some amazing wineries, and brought home a couple of treasures, one of which still remains on my wine rack. But the occasion to open the amazing Archimedes my most prized possession of the trip from Francis Ford Coppolas fabulous winery has yet to happen. But Ill know it when it presents itself.
In many of the smaller wineries, tastings are $10 per person for five wines. And in many cases, if you buy a bottle of that winerys product, the tasting fee is waived.
So its pretty easy to wind (wined?) up with a lot of bottles, mostly because its just so cool to be at the places where these delectable beverages are grown, created and bottled.
Some folks have expressed astonishment that Id enjoy tasting wines I couldnt get at home thinking, and to a degree rightly so, that it would be frustrating to try something you love, only to not be able to have it again (because a Canadian can only bring two bottles home). But thats part of the allure having something thats special, which in turn makes the moment special, because its a one-of-a-kind experience. Unless, that is, one makes the trip again. And I certainly want to! Anyway, Id had bubbly from the historic Korbel Champagne Cellars before. And a visit to Korbel in Guerneville is definitely recommended, because all its wine is sparkling, the tasting and tour is free, and the setting is gorgeous.
At Wine Guerilla in Forestville, which specializes in Zinfandel blends, a five-or-six-wine tasting is free if you buy a bottle, which we did. Same at Trione in Geyserville a five-wine sampling is comped when a bottle of $50 or more is purchased we brought home a bottle of the deep and meaty Henrys Blend as a thank-you to the friend whod lent us his Sonoma condo for our trip to wine-country central.
At Russian River Vineyards in Forestville, tastings are $15 per person for five wines (a Gewurztraminer, two Pinot Noirs, a Zinfandel, and a Barbera), again complimentary with a $50 purchase, but well worth the fee for the fine selection of wines and the beautiful outdoor setting. After we were done sampling, I ordered a glass of the Barbera, which I really thought was lovely. Our tasting leader, Julie, told me the vineyards that had grown the grapes from which the Barbera in my glass was made, were just down a precipice from the patio on which we sat.
While I think my hubby thought I was nuts, I took my glass of fabulous Russian River Vineyards Barbera over to the cliffs edge and toasted the vines below, thanking them for the gift that was currently in my glass. I cant explain it, but it was a slice of time that was unique to me, and Ill never forget it.
Later in the week, we ventured out of Sonoma and headed for Napa Valley, with the ultimate goal of taking the Napa Wine Train. On the way, we stopped, thanks to a dear friends recommendation, at Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards. Like Korbel, the specialty of this particular winery is sparkling wine, and these premium wine flights were delicious. My husband and I each had a three-wine tasting one was $28 and the other $33 I dont remember who had which because we shared back and forth so we could try more wines. My favourite was the Extra Brut Reserve Cuvee, but I also really liked the Brut Rose and the Carneros Cuvee. Again, like most places we visited, the setting was lovely, and I hated to leave. But we had an appointment at Ravenswood, which specializes in Zinfandel, so we moved on.
However, our GPS system really let us down here, and we ended up about 30 miles from where we were supposed to be. I called the called the winery to let them know we, regretfully, were not going to make our 2:30 appointment. Hospitality specialist Nick Estefan, with whom our tasting was to have taken place, asked, Where are you staying in Napa? We told him the name of the hotel, and he said, I have to drive right past there in about an hour, so Ill drop a bottle off for you to try.
Who does that? Just another example of unbelievable California hospitality. We werent in our room five minutes and there was a knock at the door a hotel employee handed over the typical brown paper bag, this one containing a bottle of 2013 Ravenswood Single Vineyard Teldeschi Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. We were bowled over by the gesture and so grateful to try this resonant wine. We cant get it here, but there are other Ravenswood Zins the Liquor Mart stocks, which Ill detail in an upcoming column.
Then it was off to take the Napa Valley Wine Train a dining trip that harks back to the glory days of elegant train travel that was all old-world charm with great wine and fabulous food. It was as billed, and then some a not-to-be-missed wine adventure in Napa.
Opinion
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
TORONTO Former British prime minister Winston Churchill supposedly said, about his postwar rival and the leader of the Labour Party, that an empty taxi arrived at the House of Commons and Clement Atlee got out.
It may be apocryphal, but good lord, it applies to the risible Kellie Leitch in nasty, right-wing spades. Sorry, Kellie you may be making lots of noise with your vague, hysterical demand that we screen immigrants and refugees for Canadian values and your support for Donald Trump, but scratch away at the surface and there is simply nothing there.
The most fundamental point is that the entire premise for her Tory leadership campaign is fraudulent. Like some sort of political cotton candy, it might appear nice and tasty to people who like their ideology instantly gratifying, saccharine sweet and loudly colourful, but as soon as they take a bite, it disappears.
There are, of course, some genuine challenges facing France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Britain and other parts of Europe, but not Canada. Our terrorist attacks have, thank God, been very few and carried out not by those new to the country but by old and settled Canadians. As repugnant as is any act of terror, what characterizes this country is not its threats but its stability.
Our Muslim community is arguably the most moderate in the Islamic diaspora and while there are certainly extremists around, the notion that our way of life is under siege is grotesquely misplaced. Yet Leitch and her people are trying to pump dark toxins into the bloodstream of a society that is healthy and, by and large, elegantly successful in its multiculturalism.
If this werent all so unpleasant, it would be positively funny. The sight of this diminutive politician trying to summon a rough, tough, nationalistic grimace as she posed for a magazine photograph holding the Canadian flag on what appeared to be a broomstick was the closest to unintentional satire I have ever seen in Canada. Her raw, irrational statements made in forgive me, but we have to speak truth a high-pitched and almost cartoonish voice could make this is the stuff of helium hilarity.
Yet what makes this womans behaviour even more reprehensible is that Im convinced she doesnt actually believe it. While serving as a government minister she introduced a tip line where people could report barbaric cultural practices. Essentially an Islamophobic chat room, she later appeared on national television in tears to apologize for what she had done. Now she has reversed that position once again to come out as a miniature Trump.
Or, perhaps, more Rob Ford than The Donald. Her campaign team is composed of people who worked for Ford and sometimes decided and directed his campaign. Leitch often quotes, virtually verbatim, from the former Toronto mayors playbook, emphasizing the threat of the elites and the chimerical attack on Canadian values. Ford, however, did not play the race card in the same way, and in spite of what her defenders may argue, when Kellie Leitch speaks of Canadian values she is not speaking of good old white people. She and her people know exactly what their message is and whom its supposed to reach.
Trump is the proverbial icing on the rancid cake. If he can do it, if Brexit can triumph in Britain, then why not the pocket rocket Kellie Leitch? In fact, it is entirely possible that she may win the Conservative leadership, thus dividing the party and throwing it into the wilderness until it finally comes to its senses. The Liberals will win the next election whomever the Tories elect as leader, but a Leitch victory would do far more damage than one electoral defeat. It would create artificial divisions in the country, energize an atavistic insularity, encourage the sewers to breathe and roar and diminish the democratic conversation.
If there were still a phone number where we could call to report barbaric practices, it would surely be jammed with people telephoning to report a silly woman out of her political depth who is promoting deeply anti-Canadian values purely for her own ends and acting contrary to great Canadian virtues. It might be time to publicly weep again, Kellie, with or without that flag.
Michael Corens latest book is Epiphany: A Christians Change of Heart and Mind over Same-Sex Marriage. His column was recently published by the Winnipeg Free Press.
Opinion
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This article was published 18/11/2016 (2175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Good to his election promise, Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister announced yesterday that Manitoba has finally joined the New West Partnership trade agreement with Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
As reported by the Winnipeg Free Press, with the inclusion of Manitoba, the partnership creates a common market of more than 11 million people, with a combined GDP of more than $750 billion.
This is the right step for Manitoba business, and were please to see that the Tories have righted a long-standing wrong in this province.
Ever since the New West Partnership was enacted by our Western neighbours in 2010, the former NDP government had flatly refused to join the group, even though Manitoba was invited to do so.
The reasoning for this obstinate behaviour was flawed. Former Manitoba NDP premier Greg Selinger kept repeating that his government was holding out for a larger national trade deal that would include all provinces a replacement for 1994s Agreement on Internal Trade.
In fact, the push to further remove provincial trade barriers across the country came that much closer to reality this year after provincial and federal economic ministers managed to agree on proposals for a new interprovincial trade agreement last July. But as the Financial Post reported just last month, the new Canadian Free Trade Agreement is still very much in the early stages of development.
Nevertheless, Selingers argument doesnt really explain the NDPs lack of action on the NWP file. Why not take the business agreements with other willing provinces that you know you can have, while still pushing for the removal of national barriers?
Selinger had also argued in 2015 that his government had opted not to join the New West trading bloc because the trade agreement appeared to promote litigation as a means of settling disputes.
Our concern within the New West Partnership has been the person-to-government dispute resolution mechanism, Selinger said one year ago. Yet Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall had told The Canadian Press that Selingers concerns would be addressed if Manitoba agreed to open up its boundaries. So that too seemed more a red herring than a solid argument in favour of staying on the outside of that trading block.
In reality, the refusal to pursue inclusion in the NWP stemmed from the NDPs aversion to a level playing field. The Selinger government loved handing out subsidies a fact that would have put it directly into conflict with the NWP regulations that ban member province from providing such subsidies whether direct or indirect.
At the same time, the NDP would have been unable to continue its practice of favouring sole-sourced contracts. And its favouritism for union labour would have been a thing of the past, because procurement rules under the partnership allow companies to compete for any government work over a certain price threshold, as public policy consultant Brian Kelcey noted in his column last December.
With yesterdays announcement, Manitoba businesses like Farmery Estate Brewery in Neepawa will soon have the ability to compete fairly in provinces like Alberta. Last year, the Alberta government changed its liquor pricing rules, giving craft beer brewed by member partners in New West a pricing advantage over beer from outside the trading bloc.
Farmery co-owner Chris Warwaruk told the CBC in November 2015 that the change meant an eight-pack of Farmery cans in Alberta would cost about $4.50 more than similar beer from the other western provinces.
We either have to eat some of the cost and make less (profit) per case or, if we stay at that price level, were going to definitely see a decrease in sales, he said at the time.
We have no doubt this will be a very good development for Westman businesses. At the same time, we encourage Premier Pallister to continue working on removing trade barriers across the country.
Canada was always meant to be a collection of provinces that traded freely and fairly with each other. As the Financial Post reported, the Constitution Act of 1867 declared that all articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of any one of the provinces shall, from and after the union, be admitted free into each of the other provinces.
Manitobas inclusion in the New West Partnership should merely be the stepping stone to a much larger trading bloc with all members of the Canadian federation. Given some worrisome protectionist policies coming out the fledgling Trump administration in the U.S. these trade deals are more important than ever.
KALISPELL Two Kalispell women who pleaded guilty to locking children in a dark basement without food and only a bucket for a toilet were sentenced Friday to serve time in prison despite a plea agreement that recommended deferred sentences.
"I think these children were both abused and neglected by the defendants," District Judge Robert Allison said as he issued the sentences. "I find it somewhat ironic that the parties are asking for probation for having imprisoned the children."
Alison sentenced Amy Lynn Newman, who lost custody of her five adopted children, to eight years in the Montana Women's Prison with three years suspended. He sentenced Crystal Mears, who was living with Newman, to six years in prison with three years suspended.
Both women pleaded guilty to two counts of felony criminal endangerment for locking two boys in the basement, at times without mattresses. They said they did it for the safety of the rest of the family because one boy tried to set fire to the house and another tried to choke his sister by shoving cat litter down her throat.
During the sentencing hearing, which began on Nov. 10, the children testified they were beaten and ate only peanut butter sandwiches or pasta with butter while other family members, including Mears' two children, ate regular meals. A 16-year-old girl testified she taught her four younger siblings how to pick locks on cupboards so they could steal food.
After hearing from the children, Allison said he wanted to look at the results of a family neglect investigation that led to Newman, 46, losing custody of the children.
Defense attorney Shawn Hinchey said Friday that Newman's actions were done as "tough love and a form of discipline." He said they were not the right choices, but they were not made with "an evil purpose."
Newman broke down in tears while asking the judge to consider her lack of a criminal history.
"I don't want to go to jail," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt my children. I only wanted to protect them. I feel that I am punished every day because I don't have them anymore."
Mears, 37, testified that she never locked the children in the basement and that she had memories of happy times with them.
Prosecutor Allison Howard said it was "very suspicious" to her "that all of these problems they talked about the children having don't exist anymore in the children's lives."
Howard and the defense attorneys all recommended a three-year deferred sentence for each count, as stated in the plea agreement. Hinchey along with Mears' attorney, Tim Wenz, urged the judge to sentence the women only for the crimes to which they pleaded guilty.
Allison said he spent hours reviewing the evidence and the law before deciding to sentence the women to prison. He said the children reported their lives got worse after Mears moved in. He noted the court file indicated that after the children were removed from Newman's custody, two of them ate so voraciously that they sometimes vomited.
"The physical conditions that these children were subjected to is comparable to a prison cell, but even a prison cell is better than what these kids had," he said. "At least a cell has a light and a toilet."
South Korea has rejected a request by Google to use local mapping data in the company's global maps service in a long-awaited ruling which had divided the country for months.
The technology giant said it was disappointed by the decision, which the land ministry said was based on concerns over national security.
"We're disappointed by this decision. We've always taken security concerns very seriously and will continue to provide useful map services in compliance with Korea's current map data export regulation," said Google spokesman Taj Meadows.
The South Korean government said the risks outweighed the benefits of exporting the country's mapping data to Google.
South Korea, facing the overt threat of rival North Korea, bars exporting local mapping data to foreign companies that do not operate domestic data servers.
Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, handles its maps service at data centres outside South Korea. The restrictions have limited the usefulness of Google Maps within South Korea, since the app cannot offer driving or walking directions.
The government had proposed granting permission to Google to use local mapping data for Google Maps if the company would blur sensitive information on South Korean military facilities on its satellite map.
"Our position from the start was that if it deletes security facilities, we would allow exporting (the local mapping data)," said Kim Tong-il, an official at the land ministry.
"Google's position is that it won't delete those. The question was whether we would allow that regardless."
South Korea has been divided over the issue since Google filed its request in June. The government extended an August deadline to this month, highlighting disagreements between government ministries.
The lengthy deliberation reflects growing support for Google within some government ministries which are trying to promote tourism and local firms' overseas businesses. One of the biggest inconveniences that foreign tourists run into in South Korea, which has some of the fastest and cheapest internet access in the world, is the lack of an online mapping service with navigation and directions in foreign languages.
Some local businesses and consumers opposed giving Google full access to the local mapping data, saying it would be unfair to local companies which operate local data servers to support their map services. They said Google should build data centres in South Korea instead of seeking an exemption from the rules.
Google said earlier that restricting Google Maps in South Korea would be an inconvenience for foreigners visiting the host country of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.
It also argued that restrictions on exporting the local mapping data could hinder efforts of companies to roll out global services using locations data and will deprive local consumers of cutting-edge services.
The travel industry is facing challenges as more customers make their own plans.
The issue is one of many being discussed at Travel Meets Big Data, Ireland's first industry-focused hackathon and conference.
Searches for Americans wanting to move to Ireland have doubled since Donald Trump was elected President.
Indeed.com website said Ireland is the third most popular country for Americans to move to.
An Irish bride-to-be who died on her way home from South Africa has been remembered as "bright and bubbly".
Thirty-year-old Majella Donoghue and her partner Barry Doherty had just become engaged while on holiday in Cape Town.
She fell ill while travelling with her boyfriend on a flight from Cape Town to London last Sunday. She was rushed straight to hospital in London but died there from breathing difficulties.
Majella was from Belmullet in Mayo, where local priest Father John Loftus has fond memories of her.
"Every time she was at home I'd have had a chat to her. (She was) a lovely person who'd make you feel really good just talking to her," he said, remembering her as "lovely, bright, bubbly and always in good form".
She spent some time looking after children for a charity in Vietnam.
"She was very concerned about helping people in need," said Fr Loftus.
Majella is survived by her mother Mary, twin brother Stephen, other brothers Tommy, David and Brendan and her sister Angela. Her father Willie died some years ago.
She worked at the Galway offices of Boston Scientific.
The old Labor Temple Hall on Billings South Side isnt going to remain a shell of its former self for much longer.
Community Leadership and Development Inc., a faith-based nonprofit development agency with a track record of constructing housing and providing services to people in need, has purchased the building and is preparing to abate the lead and asbestos inside the century-old hall and begin demolishing portions of it.
What will emerge about $2.8 million and maybe nine months later will be a dozen new efficiency apartments, priced below market rates; space for the ministrys offices, which are now in two buildings; increased capacity for Hannah House Ministries, which serves low-income women and their children; and, perhaps, a business incubator or an old-fashioned community meeting spot in keeping with the history of the Labor Temple Hall, at 24 S. 29th St.
CLDI purchased the dilapidated building in September, said Eric Basye, the agencys executive director, and already has the money on hand for abatement, demolition and design work, which is being done by Collaborative Design Architects.
The agency is raising money to renovate the hall and construct the new apartments, which will be built on two new floors planned to rise above the hall.
Stockman Bank will match up to $25,000 in donations to help with the work. Visit www.cldibillings.org or call CLDI at 406-256-3002 before Dec. 31 to have your donation matched by the bank.
This is something weve been dreaming about for two years, Basye said Thursday during a tour of the 14,000-square-foot hall, which has been, in turn, rooms to rent (1889-1912), a Chinese laundry and grocery store (beginning in 1912), a wholesale candy building (through 1944) and, since that time, the Labor Temple Hall. A grocery store also operated on the property after World War II through 1958.
According to a history compiled by CLDIs Lisa Reinschmidt, 25 labor unions were represented and housed in the cavernous hall, which was also used for community gatherings such as quinceaneras (the celebration of a girls 15th birthday), funerals, wakes and baby showers.
Reclaiming and restoring the hall, reconstructing the sidewalks and constructing off-street parking not only mirrors its historical past, Reinschmidt wrote, but also seeks to recreate what was once a place of pride, fellowship and community in the South Side.
Reinschmidt, who runs Hannah House and handles development for CLDI, said that opening up more space for Hannah House, at 109 S. 32nd St., will enable the ministry to serve 15 women at a time, up from eight.
We now have one room open, and we got nine applications for it in five days, she said.
The benefits of the planned new facility are too numerous to nail down, she said, but they include proximity to needed services, including RiverStone Health, case management through Family Promise and downtown employment opportunities, including cleaning positions at downtown hotels.
A lot of women we work with dont drive, she said. They have to get to work on foot and come home in the dark of night.
Our goal, she said of the expanded facilities, is to get women off of receiving services and restore their dignity.
As he showed off CLDIs future home, Basye paused inside a large, empty room that practically calls out to be transformed into a community center.
Were doing a community survey about how this space can best be used, he said, and the results of the survey will influence how the space gets transformed.
One option, he said, is a community work space to house small businesses. Tenants could pay rent on a sliding scale.
An extended area in the hall's basement once was the longest bar in Montana, Basye said. It features an old concrete safe, proof that plenty of money changed hands there.
Back in the day, Basye said, parents would bring their children to the bar to enjoy a few drinks and maybe a meal while children played in a separate area.
While CLDI doesnt plan to open any bars soon, Basye said its that kind of community togetherness that the agency will be trying to recreate at the new site.
The project is called Katapheugo, an ancient Greek term that refers to people fleeing for refuge. Thats a fitting definition, according to Reinschmidt, as the agency seeks to offer refuge and hope in a marginalized community.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has spoken to US Vice President-Elect Pence on the phone tonight, Daniel McConnell, Political Editor Irish Examiner.
During a 15-minute phone conversation, Mr Kenny congratulated the Vice President-Elect on his recent electoral success alongside Donald Trump.
According to a Government statement, Mr Kenny also expressed his intention to engage positively with the new administration on a number of issues to the mutual benefit of Ireland and the U.S.
It was said Mr Kenny raised the issue of the undocumented Irish in the U.S and expressed his determination to work with the President and Vice President-Elect in seeking a solution to the issue.
But chances of a resolution appear less likely under a Trump administration.
There is considerable disappointment in the Irish American community that little or no progress was made during President Barack Obama's two terms.
The Taoiseach is said to have referred to the economic ties between the two countries, including the long standing and productive relationship Ireland has with many US companies, as well as the fact that there are 100,000 Americans employed in Irish companies across America.
"Both men spoke of Vice President-Elect Pence's strong Irish heritage and the Taoiseach expressed the wish that the Vice President-Elect might visit here again sometime in the future," the statement added.
Mr Kenny was one of the first leaders to speak to Mr Trump following his election victory earlier this month.
This is despite describing the President-elect as a racist earlier this year.
The British and Irish Governments must work together to resolve a long-running dispute over Lough Foyle, Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister has said.
Claims over the vast estuary between Co Derry in Northern Ireland and Co Donegal in the Republic have been made since the island was partitioned almost a century ago.
After the Good Friday Agreement peace deal, a cross-border body called the Loughs Agency was handed responsibility for the waters, a key strategic naval base during the Second World War.
However, in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union, Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire has reasserted London's claim over the entire lough.
However, addressing the contentious issue after a meeting of the North South Ministerial Committee in Armagh, Charlie Flanagan said he did not accept the British claim.
He said: "This is an issue upon which there has been some disagreement for many years.
"I don't accept the claims that the whole of Lough Foyle is under the jurisdiction of the UK government. However, rather than dwell on the negatives, I think it is important that we look forward and see how best this issue might be resolved."
The Minister said officials from his department had been in contact with civil servants from the Secretary of State's Office in a bid to thrash out a resolution.
Min @CharlieFlanagan at the NSMC plenary in Armagh, where he briefed on his work in advancing Ireland's interests in Brexit discussions pic.twitter.com/NED3LLj520 Irish Foreign Ministry (@dfatirl) November 18, 2016
"I believe it is important that we work towards solutions and both myself and my department are committed to reaching a successful conclusion on this outstanding issue which has been the subject of disagreement for many decades.
"I do believe that we should work together on reaching agreement," he said.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster said a barrier on the seas would contradict the efforts to avoid a hard border on land.
Mrs Foster said: "Obviously if there's no hard border going to be on land we don't really want to see a hard border on Lough Foyle either.
"There has been a dispute over Lough Foyle and it is important that we find a solution that everyone can agree on."
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, a keen fisherman who lives close to the lough, added: "Here, here Arlene. No hard border on the land; no border on the sea.
"This has been a debating point which hopefully can be resolved by some form of negotiation between the Irish government and the British government.
"My interest is to see the salmon and the sea trout flow without interruption up Lough Foyle into all of the tributaries."
Staff at a paediatric hospital in eastern Aleppo have scrambled to evacuate babies in incubators from underground shelters after it was bombed for the second time this week.
Medics and aid workers also reported a suspected attack involving toxic gas in a district on the western edge of the rebel-held area in the Syrian city.
At least 12 people, including children, were treated for breathing difficulties, said Adham Sahloul of the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports health facilities in Aleppo.
Claims of toxic gas attacks are common in Syria, and reports by international inspectors have held the government responsible for using chemicals in attacks on civilians, which Damascus denies.
Airstrikes also hit a village in a rural area of Aleppo province, killing seven members of a family, including four children, opposition activists said.
It was the fourth day of renewed assaults by Syrian planes on eastern Aleppo districts, a rebel-held enclave of 275,000 people.
The onslaught began on Tuesday, when Syria's ally Russia announced its own offensive on the northern rebel-controlled Idlib and Homs provinces in central Syria.
Since then, more than 100 people have been killed across northern Syria.
The airstrikes in Aleppo hit a complex of four hospitals that had been attacked two days earlier. The latest strikes forced the paediatric hospital and a neighbouring facility to stop operating.
"Now it is being bombed. ... I am sorry. ... I have to go to transfer the children," the head of the paediatric hospital wrote in a text message.
The doctor identified himself only by his first name of Hatem because he fears for reprisals against his family.
The incubators had already been moved underground for safety, but with bombs falling all around the facility hospital workers had to rush them to a safer place despite the danger.
Hatem rushed 14 babies in incubators to another facility a 10-minute drive away while airstrikes continued, he said in a later message.
"As we drove out with the ambulance, warplanes were firing and artillery were shelling," he wrote. "But thank God we were not hurt."
Some of the survivors of the suspected gas attack were taken to the children's hospital.
The cameras of Al-Jazeera, which was broadcasting from the facility as the airstrikes occurred, went dark for a moment. When video resumed, dust was swirling and debris was strewn in the corridors.
Nurses scurried to get babies to safety, and one was seen carrying a blanket-wrapped infant. She then hugged and comforted another nurse who was sobbing as she picked up a baby.
Another hospital in a different Aleppo area was bombed Thursday night, the doctor said. The entrance was set on fire but no one was hurt.
Only four of seven hospitals are still operating in the district, Mr Sahloul said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of airstrikes, artillery and barrel bombs hit 18 different neighborhoods of eastern Aleppo.
Government bombings have targeted neighborhoods with medical facilities, including the children's hospital and a nearby clinic that has one of the few remaining intensive care units in eastern Aleppo, the Observatory said.
Many hospitals and clinics in the besieged area have moved their operations underground after months of bombardment.
The World Health Organisation said that in 2016, it recorded 126 attacks on health facilities, a common tactic over the five years of Syria's civil war. Russia and the Syrian government deny targeting hospitals.
The city of Aleppo, once Syria's commercial hub, has been divided since 2012, with the eastern half in rebel hands and the western half controlled by government forces.
Ibrahim al-Haj, a member of the Syria Civil Defence rescue unit in Aleppo, said the city "is a mess". The group of rescuers and first responders said they are struggling to put out fires set off by the bombings in at least 10 areas.
The Observatory said at least four people were killed in the city's districts.
It also said the strike that killed the seven family members took place in south-western Aleppo province. Syrian Civil Defence posted photos showing the bodies of children covered with dust and blood.
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Sixth-grader Abel Paulsen was thinking hed like to be a Lego Master Builder when he grows up. But he cooled on the idea after doing some research.
They dont pay well, he said.
How to give students like Paulsen, who goes to Central Heights Elementary, a robust future in the Billings job market was the focus of the Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools Educator for a Day breakfast. Participants from a variety of local businesses and groups also visited local schools as part of the annual event.
A panel of educators and business representatives said that businesses and schools have roles to play in meeting Billings workforce needs.
Part of it is exposure in schools, said Alex Tyson, the executive director of Visit Billings. We need to be advocates for our industries.
School District 2 recently finished a report on Career and Technical Education that recommended more partnerships between schools and businesses, in fields that students can enter without attending college and those that require a four-year degree.
But thats a ways off for students like Paulsen. His dad is a doctor, he said, but hes more into building and architecture for now and that could change.
While education policy often gets made on a large scale, the school visits emphasized how day-to-day education is dominated by small moments. A handful of participants in Educator for a Day toured each school. Central Heights Principal Kyra Gaskill showed four people around.
Third-graders ticked off natural features of Montanas landscape as they painted models showing mini-mountains and tiny peninsulas.
Mountains, lakes, rivers, des- said Tyler Goettel, stopping short of saying "desert" and pursing his lips in thought. His half-desert answer was actually pretty accurate, as Montana has small patches of desert scrub.
Students of varying sizes heaved larger and larger snowballs across the playground, swishing their snow pants through hallways when they came in.
In fifth-grade teacher Zoe Twichels classroom, students talked through math problems; one student solved 6 times 119 by breaking the equation down into three different problems, multiplying 6 by 100, 6 by 10 and 6 by 9, then adding the answers together. Another student multiplied 6 by 120, then subtracted six to account for one fewer multiple.
The explanations are a textbook example of how Common Core, the oft-misunderstood standards that are used as education guidelines in Montana, emphasize how students think instead of just reaching the right answer.
Gaskill said that the standards took some getting used to, even for her husband when he works on homework with their daughter.
Hell be like, 'for goodness sake, why dont they teach her multiplication like I learned multiplication,' she said. Were trying to work on process instead of always product.
Changes are coming to Central Heights next year as redistricting changes take full effect; the schools enrollment will drop, and with a greater emphasis on kids attending a school in their neighborhood, Central Heights will have a larger proportion of students from low-income families.
Sixth-graders will also move the middle schools.
Paulsen and classmate Jaxon Straus chatted with visitors Thursday about topics ranging from trading lunch foods to tutoring younger students. Like Paulsen, Straus isnt sure what hed like to do for a career someday.
Im enjoying not thinking about what Im going to be, he said, Im enjoying what Im doing right now.
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HELENA The Montana commissioner of political practices plans to dismiss an ethics complaint filed by a Republican lawmaker against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock over the governor's use of the state plane, an attorney for the commissioner said Friday.
Assistant Attorney General Stuart Segrest disclosed the pending decision in the confidential case during a hearing in federal court.
Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl confirmed that he plans to issue a decision Monday in the complaint filed by Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, but declined to say what the decision will be.
"I don't say what I'm going to do until I do it," Motl said.
Tschida's complaint alleges Bullock and Commerce Director Meg O'Leary misused the state plane by flying to a Paul McCartney concert in 2014. It also alleges that Bullock and O'Leary accepted an illegal gift by accepting an invitation to sit in University of Montana President Royce Engstrom's box at the stadium where the concert was held.
Bullock has denied any wrongdoing and said he was on state business. He has partially reimbursed the state for past uses of the state plane when he scheduled campaign events alongside official business.
Tschida sent a letter to other lawmakers about the ethics complaint a week before voters decided the governor's race between Bullock and Republican challenger Greg Gianforte. Tschida then sued Motl for saying that the lawmaker violated the confidentiality requirements regulating ethics complaints, which amounts to a criminal charge of official misconduct.
Tschida alleges in his lawsuit the confidentiality requirements regulating ethics complaints is a violation of his free-speech rights, and that Motl's threat of prosecution has silenced him and prevented him from speaking about legislative business with other lawmakers.
He is asking U.S. District Judge Brian Morris to block Motl from carrying out his threat of prosecution and to strike down the confidentiality provision.
"The First Amendment doesn't require permission of the government for citizens to speak," said Matthew Monforton, an attorney for Tschida.
Motl's imminent rejection of Tschida's allegations against Bullock was central to Segrest's argument in court Friday. Segrest told Morris that a temporary restraining order is unnecessary because once Motl dismisses the complaint next week, Tschida can talk about it to whomever he wants.
"It's going to be dismissed and therefore public under this statute," Segrest said.
Monforton urged the judge to issue an order blocking Motl from prosecuting the lawmaker, anyway. Tschida is concerned that Motl would still go after him for the alleged disclosure violations that already occurred, Monforton said.
Morris did not make an immediate decision. Instead, he ordered another hearing on Dec. 9 to hear testimony from Motl and Tschida.
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The Disturbances is a new feature-length documentary film telling the story of how Christian missionaries and Nigerian pastors helped intervene in violence in northern Nigeria in 1966, during a time of tribal genocide that preceded the Biafra War. Among missionaries from several denominations, Church of the Brethren mission workers are featured including Roger Ingold, who was Nigeria field secretary at the time. Children of Brethren mission families also were interviewed for the film.
EthicsDaily.com, a division of the Baptist Center for Ethics, produced the film. Robert Parham and Cliff Vaughn were the documentary producers.
It is an untold story that is finally getting its due on its 50th anniversary, said a release. Thousands of people, mostly Igbos and Easterners, were brutally killed in a few days in the fall of 1966 in northern Nigeria. The death toll would have been higher if Christian missionaries and Nigerian pastors had not taken action to save lives. Their heroic work has been unknown, primarily because those involved never spoke about what happenedusing veiled language and euphemisms, such as the disturbances, in public reports and statements.
Those interviewed for the project included missionaries and missionary children from the Assemblies of God, Christian Reformed Church, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Southern Baptist Convention, Sudan Interior Mission, and Sudan United Mission, as well as the Church of the Brethren.
The release noted that the producers conducted more than two dozen on-camera interviews, acquired nearly 2,500 documents, slides, and photographs, obtained several hours of missionary home movies, worked with roughly a dozen different denominational, educational, and filmic archives, and talked to scores of other witnesses.
For more information visit www.TheDisturbances.com or visit the films Facebook page and Twitter page.
Don't say Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann doesn't like a challenge.
She was in the kitchen on Friday baking a replica of the iconic Shine Dome as part of the PANDSI Mini-Bake Off fundraisers for Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Awareness Week, which ends on Saturday.
Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann in the kitchen on Friday baking her Shine Dome cake to help new mums coping with anxiety and depression.
PANDSI - Post and Ante Natal Depression Support and Information Inc - has been encouraging workplaces and groups to host their own mini cake-offs for the week. Perinatal refers to pregnancy and the year following birth.
PANDSI held a wildly successful fundraising day earlier this year with participants baking cakes from the Australian Women's Weekly birthday cake recipe book. The Canberra-based group now plans to publish its own cookbook later in the year.
The call centre of MonDial Fundraising Communications is used by charities including Oxfam, UNICEF and the RSPCA, Credit:Jonathan Carroll Interestingly, not all charities are using third party fundraisers. One, the Children's Cancer Foundation, (CCF) has remained steadfast in its rejection. In a letter to its donors last month, the charity's chairman Jeremy Smith said the CCF had never contracted with third party fund raisers and it won't partner with charities or foundations that raise funds using these types of methods. Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James. Credit:Jesse Marlow Smith said every week the CCF is approached by a commercial operator seeking to "attach the name of the Foundation to what is essentially a commercial scheme where the vast bulk of revenue would end up in the pocket of that operator. All such approaches are rejected".
Not so for most charities. This is despite the bad publicity that has befallen some of these third party fundraisers in recent months, including Appco, MonDial and Australian Sales and Promotion. In the case of MonDial, a few, including Wilderness, Oxfam and Greenpeace agreed to support MonDial entering enterprise agreement discussions with the NUW. Emails written by Greenpeace to the boss of MonDial in April say "In answer to your question, we would of course support a collective agreement and MonDial entering into EBA discussions with the NUW. We have an EA here at Greenpeace which works very well for us. My response will be the same to our other call centre partners if this is raised." After months of delays, MonDial finally pulled the plug on September 26, telling the union: "At this time, the company is awaiting final execution of the Undertaking by the FWO In the circumstances, the Company is not in a position to commence a bargaining process regarding an enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). We have of course carefully considered this decision, but under the circumstances our fullest attention must be dedicated to our staff wellbeing, ensuring our full workplace compliance and meeting our obligations within the Undertaking. We are not adverse to reviewing this decision at the completion of the Undertaking period." Over a week, the NUW visited MonDial three times and asked workers if they would like to bargain. Most said a resounding "yes" and signed a majority support petition.
According to the union, some workers said they had been warned that to sign the petition would be against the company. Then on November 16, the NUW racheted it up by lodging a majority support determination at Fair Work Australia. It did this on the basis that if an employer refuses to bargain after a majority of employees have indicated they would like to do so, then a union can make application to Fair Work for a determination that the company must bargain. A Commissioner must be satisfied a majority wants to bargain and may order a ballot of employees, in which case the company and the union fight an election campaign in effect. A series of questions were sent to MonDial asking why it had stopped bargaining with the union, how much money had so far been repaid to workers and whether any charities had stopped using its services. Its response was: "I can confirm that at this point in time we are still in communication with the NUW and we are awaiting further instruction from Fair Work in relation to this process." It said it wasn't being "obstructive" in the process and was complying with its obligations under the Fair Work Act. As for The Wilderness Society and Greenpeace, they still use MonDial. In a statement Greenpeace says: "We understand that Mondial is still in communication with the NUW, and hope to see a swift resolution to their internal negotiations with employees." Loading
Former chief executive of Boost Juice and childhood friend of Simon Crowe, Simon McNamara. Credit:Paul Jones "I have, yes," replied Bainbridge. Relationship strained The feeling, the court soon learned, was reciprocated. Speaking about the man who was emcee at his wedding, Crowe pulled no punches. More than 80 outlets are directly owned by Grill'd. Credit:Edwina Pickles
"Your honour, I have gone through this journey now since, effectively, January 2015 and Geoff has consistently misrepresented his position," Crowe told the court. "He has lied through the court process. He is somebody I cannot trust and who I detest." Grill'd co-founder Geoff Bainbridge. Credit:www.scottehler.com He has lied through the court process. He is somebody I cannot trust and who I detest. Simon Crowe speaking of Geoff Bainbridge To cap it off, he added: "I struggle to be in the same room with him. There's other people in my business who are senior who know how I feel about him and many of them share the same feelings."
It was spectacular evidence, from two men who had turned a single burger joint in suburban Hawthorn into a $300 million empire, and were now at war. In many ways, Grill'd is one of the great success stories of Australia's retail sector. Childhood friends Back in 2004, Crowe wanted to start a "healthy burger restaurant" in Hawthorn. He offered 20 per cent each to friends Simon McNamara, the former chief executive of Boost Juice, and Bainbridge, an ex-Fosters executive.
The three were more than business partners. McNamara and Crowe were childhood friends, while Crowe and Bainbridge had met at Fosters in 1999. In his affidavit, Crowe described Bainbridge as "both a friend and mentor to me" during their years working at the brewing giant. As Grill'd grew, the men prospered. From a combined investment of $500,000 in 2004, the Grill'd chain had expanded to 140 stores by the middle of last year. More than 80 are directly owned by Grill'd, with the remainder owned by franchisees. But, it seems, with the money came tension. By 2011, the decades-long friendship between McNamara and Crowe was on the rocks. Crowe resented McNamara's involvement in Spud Bar, another fast-food chain. To ease the tension, Crowe and Bainbridge bought out McNamara's share in Grill'd in mid-2011, but by now cracks in the relationship between the remaining owners were starting to emerge. In 2013, Crowe discovered that McNamara and Bainbridge were partners in the Bounce trampoline business. "Bainbridge's investment in Bounce made me question his loyalties," Crowe said in his affidavit.
Road trip Against that tense backdrop, the pair travelled to Cambodia together, in June 2013, to take part in a charity bicycle ride. "At the time we travelled to Cambodia, our relationship was strained," Crowe admits. Adding to the tensions were rumours that Bainbridge was looking to invest in a number of restaurant chains, including Fonda, Roll'd, and Baker D Chirico. These rumours irked Crowe, but the final straw came when he learned that Bainbridge was investing in a restaurant chain called Pizza Religion. "I formed the view that Pizza Religion was a competitor to Grill'd and operating in the same market," Crowe states in his affidavit. From that point on, the relationship between the friends and business partners turned toxic. Crowe saw Bainbridge's investment in Pizza Religion as disloyalty.
This is despite the fact that, in Sydney's Darlinghurst, Crowe had leased a retail site he owned to a rival pizza restaurant. That site was just 20 metres from an existing Grill'd store. By his own admission, Crowe has "restricted" and "narrowed" Bainbridge's access to the financial records of Grill'd. He has even admitted under oath he had "no understanding of director's duties", and lied to his business partner to try to get him to sign-off on company accounts. Secret valuation The court also heard that Crowe engaged Moore Stephens to conduct a secret valuation of the burger chain. It came back with a figure of $314 million, which would have made Bainbridge's stake worth almost $80 million. When Crowe was unhappy with that figure, the court was told, he changed the "inputs" that Moore Stephens used for their calculation, to get a new lower figure of $237 million. That valued Bainbridge's stake at just under $60 million. Mr Crowe offered him just $30 million, later lifting it to $47 million. Bainbridge refused both offers.
And so the one-time friends have ended up in court. Bainbridge is seeking to have chief financial officer Matt Caulfield and director Matt Reid, a partner at PwC and one of Mr Crowe's closest friends, removed from the company. He also accuses Crowe of breaching his duties as a company director, and using company staff and resources to fund his purchase of embattled chocolate company Koko Black. In a counter-claim, Crowe is seeking an order forcing Bainbridge to sell his stake, claiming it is impossible for the pair to ever work together again. After turning such a small investment into such a successful empire it's hard to believe the burger kings have ended up airing their dirty laundry in court. "I find it hard to believe that commercial people can't find a way through, Justice Middleton said on the opening day of the case. Loading
That whining noise in the background this week was mostly from politicians and businessmen trying to pretend that they have "got" the message from the election of Donald Trump as US President, and about what it means for Australians whom they have pissed-off.
"Getting it" seems to involve recognition that a good many Australians feel they have missed out on years of steady growth in Australia. They have heard words about how exciting it has been to be an Australian, and about change, adaption and resilience. But they are "disenchanted" and not galvanised. They do not trust politicians. Their jobs are less secure and, often, less well paid. They believe themselves less well-off and are less confident than they used to be about the future. Many are underemployed, many more worry about whether they will have the agility or the skills or the opportunities to refashion their careers as a result of technological change or abrupt changes in the international or national economy.
Malcolm Turnbull is on your side, and feels your pain. He understands how you feel heavens he was poor and insecure once himself. Credit:Andrew Meares
Malcolm Turnbull is on your side and feels your pain. He understands how you feel heavens, he was poor and insecure once himself. And he knows what to do. Or he doesn't but Bill Shorten does. The mere fact that each is a FAQ sample of why voters have stopped listening and have turned off is not reason not to give them another chance, now that they have heard. Turnbull helped generate despair, after all. Just like Bill Shorten did. Both sat in cabinets who made cool calculations about how much people, including the very poor, could or should take before public anger boiled over. Neither has shown any compunction about cruelty, particularly to people on welfare. And both, with equal hypocrisy, have shed crocodile tears when out of power about fairness and unfairness, about brutal and unnecessary burdens being placed on particular vulnerable groups in the economy, and about the crushing costs of living and burdens imposed by government. Neither has ever wanted for a feed or a roof over his head.
Right now, each pretends to see the problem, and its solution, somewhat differently. But one is in government, the other in opposition. And one is a party of the slightly left, while the other is the party of the fairly right. From such perspectives and such experience their scripts are fairly predictable, if hardly inspiring in confidence. And as with Pauline Hanson, a good deal of the art lies in describing the problem rather than the solution. And if the dogs are running free who can be surprised about the need for dog whistles?
There are fears the number of birds nesting in the Macquarie Marshes will fall even further. Credit:Nick Moir The Weekly Times claims that Mr Hunter swore at Ministers, including Victoria's Water Minister Lisa Neville. Ms Neville said in a statement that it was a robust discussion, and she didn't "shy away from standing up for Victorians and what's best for our state." Ibis have nested in dense colonies in the wetlands. Credit:Nick Moir "My South Australian counterpart and I shared different views," she said.
Under the current plan, 2750 gigalitres a year is being recovered from irrigators. But the government had agreed to give the states an additional 450 gigalitres of which 36 gigalitres would be recovered from South Australia if they identified ways to reduce water going to farming. Ibis numbers are down in the wetlands. Credit:Nick Moir Mr Joyce wrote he could not foresee the other states agreeing to deliver the water without significant social and economic detriment. The opposition seized on the leaked letter as proof the federal government wasn't going to honour the plan. Environmentalists fear for the future if the Murray-Darling Basin Authority proceeds with a plan to reduce the amount of water flowing into the wetlands. Credit:Nick Moir
After the meeting, Mr Joyce said he wasn't reneging on the plan, but simply acting in accordance with the legislation which bans the recovery of additional water if it causes significant social and economic detriment. In NSW, environmentalists and graziers near the Macquarie Marshes also fear that a planned reduction of environmental flows could see the number of birds nesting fall even further. Sources say the Murray-Darling Basin Authority will on Tuesday recommend a reduction of between 70 gigalitres and 130 gigalitres (equivalent to about a quarter of the water in Sydney Harbour) a year in the northern basin's environmental flows. This was supposed to have returned about 390 gigalitres of water a year from irrigators to the Northern Basin including the Macquarie Marshes - with about 143 gigalitres trickling downstream. In the middle of what should be a bumper bird breeding season after the flooding in NSW and southern Queensland, waterbird numbers are down across many areas, according to this year's 34th annual Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey by University of NSW's Centre for Ecosystem Science. In the marshes, only six of the 20 traditional breeding sites are active.
"There were more than 100,000 pairs before irrigation; now it might be only 30,000 nesting pairs, and this is supposed to be a big flood," said the centre's Richard Kingsford this week. Like the thousands of waterbirds he tracks every year, Professor Kingsford migrates annually to NSW's Macquarie Marshes to witness a "great sight of nature: tens of thousands of waterbirds breeding in wetlands". For 31 years, the scientist has flown over the wetlands, where thousands of egrets, ibis and spoonbills nest in dense colonies, as part of an annual aerial survey to estimate the abundance of waterbirds in eastern Australia. He's passionate and poetic. The marshes were a "mosaic of thousands of little mini habitats", filled with insects, frogs and reptiles, he said. Surrounded by reed beds, river red gums and coolibah trees, the birds create a cacophony of sound. Professor Kingsford has watched straw-necked ibis mow down a swarm of locusts in minutes.
Local farmers, environmentalists and scientists say this great sight only witnessed after flooding streams water across the plains is fading fast. They fear for the future if the Murray-Darling Basin Authority proceeds with a plan to reduce the amount of water flowing into the wetlands. Professor Kingsford likens the marshes to a very ill patient who has been given just enough care to get out of the ICU. "When I see the dead trees, hundreds of years old; when I see the bird breeding event not as high; when I see our predictions of the long-term impacts of river regulation ... It's obviously still an incredible place but not the same as it used to be," he said. "The extra flows got it out of ICU, but it will remain compromised without its lifeblood water. It will never be the same, but we still want something of its former majesty. "
Since irrigation began, and the Burrendong Dam was completed in 1967, it is estimated that the amount of water flowing into the marshes has almost halved. Even less may come to the wetlands in future. One hundred-year-old river red gums are dying, too, and strawnecked ibis numbers are down. "Floods create a food bonanza for frogs, insects and reptiles that form a food web for these birds and allow them to breed in large numbers," Professor Kingsford said. When the floods stop, or occur less often, the birds breed less often. Research by Professor Kingsford and others estimates the number of nests have dropped by 100,000 every 11 years. This year, the night herons have abandoned one of their favourite nesting strongholds because of a lack of water. Glossy ibis are hard to find.
Ecosystem threatened Nearly 90 per cent of the marsh is privately owned by graziers, such as fourth-generation farmers Garry and Leanne Hall. The Halls, who own a 5500 hectare mix of marshland and grazing land, have witnessed a massive reduction in egrets, ibis and spoonbills. "Total volume has been reducing and it is the future that worries us. Our expectations are becoming smaller," said Mr Hall, whose family grazes black Angus cattle. "Water is the key driver of eco system function in a wetland, and the less water, the less birds, the less bugs, the less bacteria in our soil. It distorts the whole ecosystem, which includes cattle production, and when the dry is longer, we sell less beef."
Local Indigenous groups representing the northern basin are also alarmed by the threat of less water flowing into the region, and have called for an increase. Jonathan La Nauze, of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said water had been overallocated to industrial and human use in every river system in the Murray-Darling Basin, something that had been recognised by former prime minister John Howard when he announced the creation of the authority nearly 10 years ago. "If the rumours are true, people charged with that responsibility to address water allocation are going to head in the opposite direction, the first people since John Howard to increase water allocated to irrigation." The Murray-Darling Basin Authority would only say the proposed amendments would be made available on Tuesday, followed by an 11-week consultation period. It has foreshadowed changes to the northern basin water recovery target and some groundwater water recovery targets. Sources said representatives of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority have argued they overestimated how much water the marshes needed, and it is expected that they will propose that some of this water should be sold to irrigators upstream.
Daily mean temperatures for the Arctic area north of the 80th northern parallel. Credit:Danish Meteorological Institute Then Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, weighed in: This is the second year in a row that temperatures near the North Pole have risen to freakishly warm levels. During 2015's final days, the temperature near the Pole spiked to the melting point thanks to a massive storm that pumped warm air into the region. So what's going on here?
"It's about 20C (36 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal over most of the Arctic Ocean, along with cold anomalies of about the same magnitude over north-central Asia," Jennifer Francis, an Arctic specialist at Rutgers University, said by email Wednesday. "The Arctic warmth is the result of a combination of record-low sea-ice extent for this time of year, probably very thin ice, and plenty of warm/moist air from lower latitudes being driven northward by a very wavy jet stream." Francis has published research suggesting that the jet stream, which travels from west to east across the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-latitudes, is becoming more wavy and elongated as the Arctic warms faster than the equator does. "It will be fascinating to see if the stratospheric polar vortex continues to be as weak as it is now, which favours a negative Arctic Oscillation and probably a cold mid/late winter to continue over central and eastern Asia and eastern North America. The extreme behaviour of the Arctic in 2016 seems to be in no hurry to quit," Francis continued. Francis cited the work of Judah Cohen, a forecaster with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, who has linked odd jet stream behaviour with cold air over Siberia.
Indeed, another Arctic expert, James Overland with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that the jet stream at the moment is well configured to transport warmth northward into the Arctic. "There is strong warm advection into the Arctic, especially northern-central Canada, in through the Atlantic, and east Siberian/Chukchi Sea," Overland said. The whole situation is pretty extreme, several experts agreed. "Both the persistence and magnitude of these temperature anomalies are quite unusual," Labe added by email. "Large variability in temperatures are common in the Arctic (especially during the cold-season), but the duration of this warm Arctic - cold Siberia pattern is unusual and quite an impressive crysophere/sea ice feedback." (The "cryosphere" refers to that part of the Earth's system that is made up of ice.) Abnormally warm air has flooded the Arctic since October. Richard James, a meteorologist who pens a blog on Alaska weather, analysed 19 weather stations surrounding the Arctic Ocean and found that the average temperature was about 2C (4F) above the record set in 1998. Since November, temperatures have risen even higher. "It is amazing to see that the warmth has become even more pronounced since the end of October," James wrote on his blog.
Mark Serreze, who heads the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, agrees that something odd is going on. Not only are air temperatures unusually warm, but water temperatures are as well. "There's some areas in the Arctic ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now," Serreze said. "It's pretty crazy." What's happening, he explains, is sort of a "double whammy." On the one hand, there is a "very warm underlying ocean" due to the lack of sea ice forming above it. But, at the same time, kinks in the jet stream have allowed warm air to flow northward and frigid Arctic air to descend over Siberia. "The sea ice is at a record low right now, for this time of year, that's one thing," Serreze said. "And why it's so low - again, there's so much heat in the upper ocean in these ice free areas, the ice just can't form right now. The ocean's just got to get rid of this heat somehow, and it's having a hard time doing so." Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Extent Credit:NSIDC The situation this winter could set the Arctic's ice up for very thin conditions and a possible record low next year, Serreze said, although it's too soon to say.
Former Liberal leader John Hewson has accused the Coalition of "cheap political arse-covering" over attempts to link Malcolm Fraser's 1970s immigration policies to criminal gang activity and Islamic radicalisation in Australia today.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton attacked the Fraser government's policies on Thursday, saying they were partly to blame for Australia's struggle with foreign fighters travelling to international conflict zones and suburban violence linked to newly arrived communities.
Mr Dutton said many Australians fighting in the Middle East were the children or grandchildren of migrants who settled during the 1970s and 1980s - an apparent reference to the more than 16,000 people who came from Lebanon in the wake of the 1976 civil war.
"The reality is Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes in bringing some people in the 1970s and we're seeing that today," he told Sky News.
Complementing the revival of fringe and denim, suede and bell bottoms this summer, hair trends are also paying homage to the rebellious '70s. Cue the trend of cheek bangs, with celebrities including Amanda Seyfried, Chrissy Teigen, Taylor Swift and even Australia's own fashion stylist Margaret Zhang rocking the trend this year.
And Tasmanian-born, France-based celebrity hair stylist Wendy Iles, who has serious hair cred, said if you are looking to make a statement with your hair this summer, the cheek bangs on long hair are the way to go.
Chrissy Teigen is renowned for experimenting with a fringe. Credit:Jason LaVeris
"I'm on a thing right now where I'm cutting cheek bangs on long hair. It's a remnant of the '70s (think Cher) that I'm reviving. It just takes long hair to a whole other level," said Iles, who was this year awarded the Hollywood Beauty Award for being a deeply fabulous stylist. Her editorial work has been documented in Archive: A Book About Hair.
Iles, who has worked on editorial shoots with all the biggies like Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar and on those luxe advertising campaigns where the hair is impossibly fabulous for Christian Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Goldwell, Kerastase, Clairol, Schwarzkopf, Wella, L'Oreal and Pantene has created a go-to product to keep your hair luscious all summer.
A Qantas spokeswoman was apologetic. "We're really sorry to hear of Ms Holden's experience with us. She's flown with us a number of times with Molly, without any issues, but unfortunately this time around there was a glitch in the system which didn't book Molly onto her ticket. "We're looking into the issue to make sure this doesn't happen again. We fly hundreds of Guide and Assistance dogs each year with no issues, so this is just an unfortunate one-off." Holden's Sydney trip didn't get better. On Sunday, a security guard outside the Cafe del Mar in Sydney's Cockle Bay refused to let Holden and her dog in. She had to call for senior management to persuade him that assistance animals were permitted. She was made to wait, while people stopped and stared. A spokesperson for the restaurant, Anthony Leenders, has now been in touch with the security company, contracted to the restaurant; and sent further procedures to ensure this never happens again.
"We are deeply apologetic for the situation and we can ensure it won't happen again." When Holden arrived at the Sheraton Four Points, she explained Molly needed to empty her bowels urgently. (Guide dogs are trained to relieve themselves on command.) She was told the dog could wait, then directed to a small plot of grass across a busy road, unaccompanied. "At morning tea on Sunday we were escorted to the goods lift, through the loading dock - where there were vehicles moving around, and pointed to the dirt in the middle of four lanes of traffic complete with tree roots and broken glass. It was noisy with no privacy. Dogs, like most humans, need to feel safe to expose themselves. The only bins were across the lanes of traffic and industrial sized waste dumpsters," Holden says. "This was so patently unsafe and inappropriate at so many levels. By any account, sending a vision impaired person and dog into the middle of a road, onto a dirt median strip amongst tree roots and broken glass is a gross neglect of duty of care." Sheraton Four Points management was also apologetic.
"We want to apologise for any challenges that Ms Holden did encounter at the hotel and we are speaking with the guest directly to address these." Sunday was a particularly bad day for Holden but this kind of discrimination is not unusual, she says. "I expect and want - to be treated like anyone else. That means being offered dignity, respect and independence," she says. "That was taken away in every one of these circumstances, we weren't afforded the opportunity to take part as everyone else was. "It's usually just a bus or a taxi, not major events like this."
Australia's Disability Discrimination Commissioner Alastair McEwin says he is not at all surprised. "Assistance animals are a growing issue yet service providers such as Qantas still overreact," he says. McEwin has been the Disability Discrimination Commissioner for just three months but in that time, he has seen a number of complaints from those who've experienced discrimination because of their assistance animals. "What they face has been significant . . . the law is quite clear. If someone needs an assistance animal to access a service or venue and they are being denied, that is discrimination against a person with a disability." McEwin understands that there is a lot of anxiety about how assistance animals will behave. "But these animals have been trained to behave appropriately, in planes, cafes or hotels."
After months of turmoil at the CSIRO, Science Minister Greg Hunt has stepped in with a new statement of expectations for the organisation. Mr Hunt hopes it will set the the body on the path to being the world's premier public research institution.
The statement sets a clear focus on pure science and climate research alongside the "innovation catalyst" role championed by chief executive Larry Marshall.
One leading CSIRO environmental scientist Fairfax Media spoke to described it as a "clear repudiation" of the direction Dr Marshall had been taking the organisation.
There is no new funding associated with the statement, prompting the scientist to ask: "Who is going to fund our long-term research? That's the sticker."
The jailed founder of the Brothers for Life gang, Bassam Hamzy, was passing messages to gang members on the outside through coded love letters to his girlfriend at the time, a murder trial has heard.
A female witness, who cannot be identified, told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday that her then-boyfriend would send her letters and she would pass on messages to other gang members, including Hamzy's hand-picked successor, Farhad Qaumi.
Mr Qaumi is on trial with his brother Mumtaz Qaumi, accused of organising the shooting execution of construction industry figure and standover man Joe Antoun in Strathfield on December 16, 2013.
On Friday, the female witness, called Witness M, told the court she later became romantically involved with underworld executioner Hamad Assaad, who was killed last month.
Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace says she'll be happy to take her family to Dreamworld for a ride once the park has reopened.
It comes as the state government's safety audits of Queensland theme parks are on track to be completed by the end of November.
Four people died on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld last month, with the theme park remaining closed since the tragedy.
Ms Grace said she would "absolutely" go to Dreamworld with her family.
Police are investigating after a man with gunshot wounds presented himself to hospital in the Darling Downs region on Thursday evening.
A man, 21, entered Chinchilla hospital about 7pm with gunshot wounds to his chest and arm.
Police have set up two crime scenes at Chinchilla. Credit:Glenn Hunt
Police spoke to the man and searched nearby bushland area before he was airlifted to Princess Alexandra Hospital overnight in a critical but stable condition.
Police have set up two crime scenes, one at Slessar Street, outside the hospital and another at Auburn Road, about two kilometres west of the hospital.
Senior leaders or commissioned officers in the Queensland Police Service represent 2.7 per cent of our sworn members. As a female commissioned officer I represent just 0.3 per cent of my organisation, so there is a fair chance I've encountered a few barriers along the way.
The first barrier came during the recruiting process at my medical. A height restriction of 164cm existed at the time. The doctor pulled out his measuring tape and took and minute and said, "Virginia, we have a small problem you are only 163.5cm tall. You're not tall enough."
I was somewhat dismayed as I'd passed all the other tests so how could half a centimetre hold me back? So I said, "Well, that can't be right, the Department of Main Roads says I'm 165cm," and showed him my licence. He just looked at me. So I took a chance and asked him outright "Can you just say I'm 164cm?"
That done, my second barrier came. I had to tell mum and dad I was not going back to uni. I was heading to the police academy. They were none too pleased; I suspect for two reasons.
A woman's acts of bestiality with her dog were repulsive and "completely against the order of nature", a Brisbane judge says.
Jenna Louise Driscoll, 27, will be sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to the acts, drug trafficking, stabbing another woman with a fork and, on two separate occasions, biting a child.
Jenna Louise Driscoll lashing out at Fairfax Media's photographer outside the Brisbane Watch House in April last year. Credit:Robert Shakespeare
Judge Terry Martin made the remarks during sentencing submissions on Friday in the Brisbane District Court.
Defence barrister James Godbolt said his client had been affected by the public shaming of the bestiality charge and had stopped physically attending the University of Southern Queensland.
The recent commemoration of Veterans Day gave us pause to honor and thank those who have served in the U.S. armed forces. While the military finds places for both men and women to work, in history and fiction we usually find men featured in the midst of the battles, something that started me wondering about womens participation when the bullets fly. A list of Medal of Honor winners might be a place to start to see if any women have been recipients of that highest award for bravery.
According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the award has been presented 3,498 times with all but one of them going to men. The woman, a civilian doctor named Mary Edwards Walker, at the recommendation of Gen. William T. Sherman, received it for her battlefield and hospital work caring for the wounded. Early in her career, female physicians were not accepted, which caused her problems in getting a practice established. When the Civil War started, she volunteered her services to the Union Army but was permitted to serve only as a nurse, not as a doctor, because of her gender. Later, the army did accept her full-fledged services, whereby she treated both Union and Confederate wounded.
While crossing the line to treat a Confederate, she was arrested, charged as being a spy for the Union, and spent time in a prisoner of war camp. She had adopted mens clothing for her wardrobe while opposing women's long skirts with petticoats, thinking them uncomfortable, inhibiting and a collector of dust and dirt. While she was imprisoned, she refused to wear clothing provided to her by the Confederates, who wanted her to dress more "becoming of her sex. The Southerners traded her off to the Union side after four months for one of their own surgeons. Dr. Walker wore her Medal of Honor with pride, but unfortunately, in 1917, her medal along with five others, including Buffalo Bill Codys, was revoked because of their civilian status.
Long before the United States emerged as a nation, a fascinating young woman named Joan of Arc became legendary as a leader on the battlefield. Even though it seems far afield to talk of her in this context, we will. Joan felt chosen by God to lead her fellow Frenchmen against the English in their long-running war. Somehow she persuaded her countrys leader to give her command of the army and do battle with the English at Orleans. She led her army to victory, but her future was not secure as a hero because eventually they burned her at the stake. Among many charges against her were witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man.
Two young female warriors from more recent times received attention when they were captured in Iraq, Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson, the first African-American female prisoner of war. At the time, the Army would have had us believe these women went down in glory with guns blazing. But neither one had a working weapon. Lynch spent nine days in captivity until the time of her rescue by a special operations team. After separating from the Army she received a book deal worth over a million dollars and gave birth to Dakota Ann, named in honor of Jessicas friend, Spc. Lori Piestewa, a Native American killed in the same attack.
Johnson spent 22 days in captivity before her release. She didnt dare give her captors her real name of Shoshana because it is a Hebrew name and was afraid they might think her a Jew, which at that time and place might not have bode well for her. She, too, wrote a book describing her ordeal.
In December 2015, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that all combat positions would be open to women. The announcement met arguments both pro and con, with some saying women are capable of performing the difficult and brutal tasks of combat, while others do not think many women can meet the physical rigors of combat.
To prove they could, several women recently passed the Armys elite Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga., the first to do so. While some women failed to pass, it must be mentioned that some men did not pass either. If winning the Medal of Honor is any yardstick, may we presume women will now be in positions to start earning the highest award?
Mary Edwards Walker wore her medal with pride every day of her life until she died in 1919, even though the official revocation stood until 1977 when President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation restoring it to her. The army never had any success getting the Medal of Honor returned from Walker. She told them, You can have it, over my dead body.
"I thought it was a car accident." He and a co-worker helped put out the fire with a shopkeeper at a neighbouring Optus store. Do you know more? Email scoop@theage.com.au Worker Ashley Atkin-Fone was among the first on the scene, and he searched through the smoke to try to find victims inside the bank. "I got the fire out, took four steps inside and I was shouting and shouting but couldn't hear anyone," he said
He said one of the victims was staggering down Springvale Road with blood dripping from his hands. "His face was terrible," he said. "He was screaming at the top of his voice. I've never heard anything like it." "All I could see was this black smoke, it was just an absolute mess at the front of the shop," he said. Ernie Gonzalez heard a witness say a man set himself on fire at the entrance of the bank before running inside and squirting gasoline on the carpet. "He's setting the carpet on fire as he's running towards the back of the bank," he said.
Mr Gonzalez said the bank tellers had to run through the flames to get out of the building. "I could see flames in the entrance and I could see people running out covered in charcoal - they were black," he said. Anthony Banh, who is the manager of Love Central Jewellery across the road from the bank, said he went outside immediately after people came running and screaming past the shop. "I heard a loud bang - it sounded like firecrackers - there was smoke everywhere," he said. "A guy had severe burns on his face and arms and everything. There was another man crouched on the ground with severe burns."
Mr Bahn said he was scared there would be another explosion and kept his distance, but other people came running to help the injured and use fire hydrants to put out the flames. "People were quite brave," he said. "I was shocked it took so long for the ambulance and firefighters to come." Nearby shop owners said the situation was still tense. "I saw a lot of people running in the opposite direction," Helen Yeung, a cashier at Breadtop next door to the bank said.
"I didn't know what was happening." Eric Fleuriot was at Springvale train station when several police cars sped past. "It's bloody awful," he said of the fire. "I just can't believe it." Loading
The Catholic Church has pledged to double potential compensation payments for child sex abuse survivors to $150,000 but has back-tracked on a promise to publicly release an independent review into its controversial Melbourne response victim compensation scheme.
Archbishop Denis Hart has defended the decision to withhold the report, saying it was being done in the interest of victims.
Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, who is also chair of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Credit:Joe Armao
"We're doing it because we want to cause the least disturbance to the people who have suffered," he said.
The report would instead be handed over to the royal commission, Archbishop Hart said.
It's not long until the lunchtime rush and Thai Le is preparing dish number four on his menu, Hokkien Mee, when he sees the smoke.
His restaurant is full of customers, like most of the noodle bars, pho joints and Vietnamese bakeries on Springvale Road typically are not long before noon on a Friday.
Then it happens.
"I ran straight across the road, telling all the cars to stop," he said.
Warning: This article contains images that may be confronting to some readers.
A Perth woman who had her toe sliced during a pedicure and the wound wrongly treated with cleaning chemicals has warned others of the hidden dangers of nail salons.
Jenny*, who wants to remain anonymous, suffered chemical burns to her toes after visiting a nail salon near Perth's CBD on November 1 to treat herself after finishing her working day.
She said the woman who gave her the pedicure sliced her toe with a small blade and then mistook sterilising solution for antiseptic.
Yangon: Myanmar's government on Friday rejected accusations by minority Rohingya Muslims that the military has killed residents fleeing the conflict in the north-west of the country in which at least 86 people have been killed and up to 30,000 displaced.
Hundreds of Rohingya are trying to escape the military crackdown after a recent escalation in violence in Rakhine State, say residents, adding that some of them have been gunned down while attempting to cross the river the marks the frontier with Bangladesh.
The Information Taskforce on Rakhine, formed this week by the office of de facto Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the allegations against the military, known as the 'Tatmadaw' in the Burmese language.
"Regarding those incidents, after asking the Tatmadaw and border guard troops in those regions, it is known that the information is absolutely not true," said the State Counsellor Office Information Committee in a Facebook post.
Bangkok: An Australian man wanted in Queensland on kidnapping and torture charges, and who has been frequenting bars in the Thai capital for more than two weeks, has been arrested.
Thai police grabbed 70-year-old Guido James Eglitis in the foyer of the Hotel Marvel in the Sukhumvit Road entertainment area, saying they were tipped off by an intelligence source.
Fugitive Guido James Eglitis photographed in N'Joy bar and restaurant in Bangkok's Sukhumvit Road entertainment area last month.
Police Lieutenant-Colonel Anak Prasongsuk said Thai authorities were working with agencies in Australia to speed up proceedings to extradite him to Queensland.
Mr Eglitis, who arrived in Bangkok after jail time in Cambodia, would be banned permanently from Thailand because of his "extensive" criminal history, Colonel Anak said.
Bialowieza (Belavezha) rings a bell for Russia experts as it was in these woods, on the Belarusian side of the border, that Boris Yeltsin, along with the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus, declared independence, thus signing the death warrant for the Soviet Union in 1991.
The woods - the remains of a vast primeval forest that once covered Europe - have been in the news lately because the government has started cutting down trees in unprotected areas. While the authorities say they just want to rid the forest of spruce bark beetle and outraged ecologists call the logging the thin end of the wedge, UN bodies are keeping an eye on the situation in what is a World Heritage site.
It is so untouched and precious that you can only enter the protected parts with an official tracker and you won't want to stray far from him.
The Russian Tsar's junting lodge in the ancient Bialowieza forest, Poland. Credit:Helen Womack
In fact, there is a distinctly Russian flavour here because eastern Poland used to be part of the Russian empire and the Tsar, who had his hunting lodge in the forest, went after the wild boar and cut down a modest number of trees to fire his stoves.
The local churches are Orthodox, though Polish-speaking. In the local eateries, what the Poles call dumplings and the Russians call pies, and what the Poles call pies and the Russians call dumplings, are all filled, regardless of Slav language nuance, with wild boar and berries. And all are washed down with "zubrovka" (vodka flavoured with the aromatic grass that the bison like to eat).
On our trek into the forest, we are hoping to see bison, but it is already afternoon and the autumn light is fading fast. The tracker, Miroslaw Kolodzinski, promises that among the 500-year-old oaks, we will definitely hear one of the nine species of woodpeckers, and he gives a detailed talk on how to distinguish between pine cones that have been nibbled by mice, gorged on by squirrels or pecked out by birds.
Foresters like Mr Kolodzinski have divided the woods up into squares and regularly inspect their own patches to see if there have been any changes to the trees or the subtle tapestry of the forest floor.
State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler convened a meeting of her new group of Student Cabinet members on Nov. 10.
Twenty students from schools throughout the state, ranging from fourth grade to freshmen in college, spent the day at the Capitol discussing educational policy and school experience.
And the students didn't hold back when it came to talking about what they liked and didn't like at their schools, such as a lack of Advanced Placement courses and having "flex times" in their school schedules.
This isnt a fluff type of group, neither was the first Student Cabinet. This is a group that was brought together to intently discuss policy, budget and goals for K-12 education in North Dakota," Baesler said.
In April 2015, Baesler formed the first Student Cabinet as a way for the Department of Public Instruction to hear directly from students, just as it does teachers, school administrators and parents. Cabinet members serve for 18 months.
Im extremely pleased, because the conversation we had this morning has been very meaningful. Its been very substantive," Baesler said.
Dawson Schefter, a senior at Langdon Area High School in Cavalier County, who served on the inaugural Student Cabinet, said he'd like to talk about opportunities for students to take AP classes or enroll in dual-credit courses. At his school, there aren't any AP classes and only one dual-credit course is offered, he said.
Cabinet member Peyton Cole, a freshman at the University of North Dakota, who served with the first group of students, said she appreciated the opportunity for younger and older students to share their experiences and hopes to continue that this year.
"It was really cool. I learned a lot, and it was really eye-opening to hear everyone's perspective," Cole said.
Cole Garman, of Mandan, is a freshman at the University of Jamestown and also is serving on the cabinet for a second term.
At the current cabinet's first meeting, Baesler and members discussed changes in education at the state and federal level, including rewriting math and English standards to replace Common Core and the new Every Student Succeeds Act.
Students set the agenda for their next meetings and will meet four times per year.
Student Cabinet applicants had to submit letters of recommendation and answer a series of questions, including a question on what they believed to be top issues students face. Those students were evaluated and selected by a group of people outside the state superintendent's office.
Baesler said she told those evaluating the applications that she wanted a diverse group.
I dont want all just National Honors Society kids," she said. "And I want to make sure that Im hearing what isnt going so well, and I appreciate their ability to share with me the positive things that are going on in their schools, and then also the items that they have concerns about."
There are 11 female and nine male cabinet members, from Abercrombie, Bismarck, Dickinson, Ellendale, Fargo, Hazen, Langdon, Mandan, Minot, Mohall, Oakes, Park River, Parshall, Watford City, West Fargo and Williston.
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Saturday Nov. 19 Theyve got wood!
See the forest and the trees tonight at Memory Rings, a delicate eco-fable that uses puppets, dancers in animal masks, and fairy tales to tell the story of the worldss oldest tree. This is the final night of the run, so catch it while you can!
7:30 pm at BAM Harvey Theater [651 Fulton St. between Ashland and Rockland places in Fort Greene, (718) 6364100, www.bam.org]. $30.
Sunday Nov. 20 Ha-ha Haiti
The situation in Haiti, post-Hurricane Matthew, is pretty grim, but Haitian-born comedian Tanael Joachims Jokes for Haiti will use laughter to fight the tears and also raise cash for health care group Nova Hope For Haiti. The show features some top-notch comedians, including Saturday Night Lives Sasheer Zamata (pictured), Michelle Wolf, and Kareem Green, among others.
8 pm at Littlefield (622 Degraw St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Gowanus, www.littl efiel dnyc.com ). $10.
Monday
Nov. 21
Oh, rats!
Dont let the propaganda of Ratatouille fool you rats are a filthy menace! Tonights final installment in the Our Pesky Neighbors panel discussion series will focus on the citys notorious rodent residents, with expert commentary from New York Citys rat czar Robert Corrigan, rat historian Robert Sullivan, and Department of Sanitation anthropologist Robin Nagle.
Sheer talent: Comedian Sasheer Zamata will take the stage at Jokes for Haiti on Nov.. 20.
7 pm at the Brooklyn Historical Society [128 Pierrepont St. at Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 2224111, www.brook lynhi story.org ]. $10.
Wednesday
Nov. 23
Talking turkey
Bone up on some turkey trivia at The Real History of Thanksgiving, a lecture from food historian Sarah Lohman that will reveal the secret origin of the turkey-centric celebration, look at menus from the past, and discuss dishes recently added to the holiday tradition. And it will give you some safely non-political talking points for dinner with the family the next day.
6 pm at Threes Brewing (333 Douglass St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Gowanus, www.brook lynbr ainer y.org ). $12.
Thursday
Nov. 24
Clued in
The traditional post-Thanksgiving activity is breaking out the board games but you should skip the eight-hour Monopoly session and head to Videology, where there will be a Clue game on every table, and the delightful 1985 film based on it will be screening on a loop. So if you miss Mrs. Whites classic Flames! Flames on the side of my face! routine, just wait 90 minutes and it will come around again.
6 pm2 am at Videology [308 Bedford Ave. at S. First Street in Williamsburg, (718) 7823468, www.video logyb arand cinem a.com ].
Now we dont normally just reprint press releases all willy-nilly (what self-respecting newspaper would?), but this one from Councilman David Greenfield (DMidwood) calling out restaurant guide Zagat for not including any Brooklyn kosher joints was too delicious to pass up! (And dont worry, its parve). Here it is in all its glory:
Councilman David G. Greenfield is calling on the well-known Zagat Guide to make greater efforts to incorporate a wide range of New York cuisines into its famous guidebook in light of the fact that the latest edition features none of the many delicious kosher dining options in Brooklyn.
Zagats updated 2017 edition was released recently, and while some readers say they already have Yelp for this, others claim that Zagat offers a more consistent and reliable guide to New York dining. For that reason, Greenfield said, its really a shame that the new Zagat guide offers zero kosher options in Brooklyn, which is historically home to much of New Yorks vibrant Jewish community, including several of the best kosher restaurants in the world.
In fact, the new guide lists just three restaurants in Bensonhurst, only two in Midwood, and when it comes to Boro Park, Zagat lays a big goose egg. The guide includes only eight kosher restaurants, only one of which Mexikosher, on Manhattans happening Upper West Side is new this year. It includes no kosher restaurants in Brooklyn.
I urge the editors of Zagat to seek out a more diverse array of dining options in New York, and particularly in Brooklyn, Greenfield said. We have some of the finest restaurants in the world in Brooklyn, and many happen to be kosher. But you wouldnt know that from reading the Zagat Guide. Update your Guide! Your customers and your stomachs will be glad that you did.
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Heres the second half our song-and-dance show, this one featuring international recording sensation Patrizio Buanne a good friend of the paper who spoke to the boys about his felling on Donald Trump whom he met at a Friars Club Roast of Larry King as well as how god and orgasms are connected. That and more if you take a listen now!
The interviews with Danza and Buanne are the latest great gets for Brooklyn Paper Radio, which has already interviewed filmmaker Michael Moore, Rock Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana, Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz, comic Andrew Dice Clay, NY1s Pat Kiernan, and (in less of a get), disgraced politician Anthony Weiner.
Brooklyn Paper radio is recorded and podcast live every Thursday at 4:45 pm for your convenience from our studio in Americas Downtown and can be found, as always, right here on BrooklynPaper.com, on iTunes, on Mixlr, and of course, on Stitcher.
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Abbon-DANZA!
Get ready for legendary television actor Tony Danza to serve up a heaping helping of all-American (make that all Italian-American) charm to listeners of Brooklyn Paper Radio this week giving a delectable preview of his upcoming Standards and Stories show at Brooklyn College on Sunday.
In a wide-ranging, pre-recorded interview that will be podcast during todays show at 4:45 pm right here on Brook lynPa per.com , the star of Taxi and Whos the Boss? weighed in on great American musical classics, his own upbringing in East New York of the 1960s, his extremely hot life as a hunky 65-year-old man in the city, his hero Frank Sinatra and, given last weeks election, his nemesis Donald J. Trump.
I feel like I am hallucinating when I hear people twist themselves into a pretzel to normalize this guy, Danza told hosts Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Daily News and Vince DiMiceli, editor of The Brooklyn Paper. Listen, hes the president. We hope for the best. But I heard a guy on TV the other day saying, Hes not a racist, hes not a misogynist, he walked all that stuff back. Well, when you play scorched earth, you scorch the earth. Now there has to be some kind of healing. And the healing has to come from him.
Danzas fears about the Trump administration peppered his conversation with the boys, who had invited the Brooklyn native on the air to discuss the coming concert.
Its a grown-up show, said Danza, who was born Antonio Salvatore Iadanza, by the way. Im a big fan of the American songbook because those songs have such great lyrics. And then I tell some stories to hook them into the songs to create a connection to the audience. There are show business stories, like the time I introduced my mother to Sinatra.
Introducing a mom to Old Blue Eyes will certainly get her attention, Kuntzman pointed out.
Thats when she knew I was finally a big shot! Danza laughed. And thats part of the show. I get some laughs and I have a great band. I sing, I tap dance, and then I bring out my secret weapon: my ukulele. I bring it out and its like a ray gun.
Danza said he owed a debt to Sinatra beyond helping him impress his mother. On Sunday, hell also recount how the Hoboken crooner assisted Danza from the grave.
I was doing Honeymoon in Vegas [on Broadway] and I was playing the cool bad guy, Danza said. I was having trouble with the part because I couldnt figure out if I was supposed to be funny or not. Three weeks into rehearsal and the director is thinking, Come on, Tony, get this already. I didnt want to be the weak link in the show because everyone else was so good.
So, I was at home working on it, and all of a sudden, I toss my phone down and the music went on by itself. It was Sinatra singing Im a Fool to Want You. And I thought, Wait a second! If Sinatra was alive, this is the part hed be playing. So I played it as Sinatra. The next day, I didnt say anything, but the director said, Ooh, yeah, more of that!
He wouldnt be the only one asking for more of Tony Danza. Hes a television celebrity. Hes single. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. And hes not financially stressed like Kuntzman and DiMiceli.
Im having some fun! he said. The city is great. Its a great time to be me! I talk about that in the show. Being in New York and single, as you might imagine, its nice.
Kuntzman reminded Danza, a former boxer, that he doesnt judge a man by how many times he gets knocked down, but by how many times he gets up and goes on dates.
Well, Danza said, youd be judging me pretty highly. Im having a good time. And theres a lot of good will out there. I cant imagine living anywhere else.
The interview with Danza is the latest great gets for Brooklyn Paper Radio, which has already interviewed filmmaker Michael Moore, Rock Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana, Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz, comic Andrew Dice Clay, NY1s Pat Kiernan, and (in less of a get), disgraced politician Anthony Weiner.
Brooklyn Paper radio is recorded and podcast live every Thursday at 4:45 pm for your convenience from our studio in Americas Downtown and can be found, as always, right here on BrooklynPaper.com, on iTunes, on Mixlr, and of course, on Stitcher.
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A Vinegar Hill elementary school went into lockdown after a gunman shot two people nearby on Thursday afternoon.
The shooter opened fire at Navy and Gold streets around 1 pm, and the city promptly sealed up nearby PS 287, according to police.
The pupils inside were all fine, but family members of students say they panicked when they arrived to find police tape up around the school.
I walked up and saw police and was here thinking something had happened, said a woman whose 6-year-old granddaughter goes to PS 287 on Nassau and Gold streets. Its scary.
The gunman blasted an 18-year-old man in the leg and one of his bullets also grazed a 28-year-old female bystander, according to police.
The teen hobbled to Navy and Nassau streets, where emergency responders found him and took him to Methodist Hospital. He is expected to survive, but the shooting appears to be gang-related and he is not cooperating with investigators, a police spokesman said.
Paramedics also took the wounded bystander to the hospital, and she is also expected to live, police said.
Nearly 350,000 North Dakotans cast ballots in this months general election, setting a new record.
Members of the State Canvassing Board met in North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaegers office Friday morning, with official results putting the vote tally for the Nov. 8 election at 349,945.
This came to a 61.29 percent turnout of the estimated 570,955 eligible voters in the state.
It was also 61 percent four years ago, Jaeger said. We still had 61 percent of the turnout, but the number of eligible voters was lower four years ago.
In the 2012 general election, a total of 325,862 votes cast ballots in North Dakota. There were an estimated 532,776 eligible voters that year and turnout was at 61.16 percent.
Since 1980, the lowest voter turnout was 57 percent in 1996, when total ballots cast numbered 271,861.
Thirty-eight percent of ballots were cast before Election Day, Jaeger said.
A total of 134,483 ballots were cast prior to Nov. 8. This is less than the total of 136,685 total ballots cast prior to Election Day in 2012.
A combined total of 83,534 absentee and vote-by-mail ballots were cast out of 88,195 sent out prior to the election. Early voting totaled 50,949 ballots cast before Election Day.
No election results were changed as a result of Fridays certifying of results, though Fargos District 46 state Senate race is eligible for a demand recount.
In District 46, Republican Jim Roers defeated Democratic-NPL Sen. George Sinner by 37 votes. Sinner this week said he wont pursue a recount.
Under state law, a candidate in a general election can demand a recount if the vote total is more than 0.5 percent but less than 2 percent below the highest vote-getter. An automatic recount in a general election is triggered by a margin of less than 0.5 percent.
A demand recount for a legislative candidate must be submitted in writing within three days of the state canvassing board meeting. Candidates must also provide a bond in the amount previously determined by the county auditor.
Election results and voting information can be found at www.sos.nd.gov.
Heather Wheeler, MP for South Derbyshire, has praised the entrepreneurial spirit of staircase manufacturer TwoTwenty during a visit to the companys headquarters this week.
Mrs Wheeler MP toured TwoTwentys Derbyshire-based factory and congratulated members of staff on the firms recent award wins and continued business growth.
During her visit, Mrs Wheeler MP praised TwoTwenty for its ambitious growth and development plans despite the uncertain economic climate.
Ali Wright, TwoTwentys founder and director, said: Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, weve seen a significant increase in demand for our staircases in recent months. As a result, were investing in every part of the business to make sure we can meet that demand.
Echoing comments made by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier this year, Mrs Wheeler reaffirmed the governments commitment to helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) prosper in a post-Brexit Britain.
Mrs Wheeler said: At her roundtable meeting in August this year, the Prime Minister made it clear that the growth of the UK economy is very much in the hands of our SMEs.
Im proud to represent a constituency where local small businesses are leading the way to a stronger, healthier economy. TwoTwenty is a shining example of a firm that has rolled up its sleeves and worked hard to deliver substantial growth.
TwoTwentys success was recognised at national and local level this year. The company won the Process Efficiency award at the British Woodworking Federation while, at the Burton Mail Business Awards, TwoTwenty scooped the Overall Business of the Year award.
Delaware River water treatment plant upgrades to remove contaminant
New Jersey American Water is spending $2.5 million to remove a potentially harmful chemical from Delaware River water processed by its Delran plant
Browse high quality, handcrafted clothing, gifts and accessories and enjoy a presentation of history, culture, arts and food from the small central Asian country, Tajikistan.
Come Take a Journey on the Spice & Silk Route
Thursday Nov. 17th 6PM $15 per person
Rikki Quintana, Albuquerque founder of HoonArts Fair Trade, will present an overview of the history, culture and arts of the small Central Asian country of Tajikistan. Rikki will share some of her experiences from her 2015 trip to this former Soviet republic that lies at the heart of the Great Silk Road, just north of Afghanistan. You will also learn about the master artisans she works with, many of whom are rural women who have no other source of income, and their efforts to preserve the traditional arts of The Roof of the World from extinction. If you are looking for truly unique gifts this holiday season, plan on doing your shopping here. HoonArts is the only company in the US working with the artisans of Tajikistan to open the US market, so you will not find these high quality handcrafted clothing, gifts and accessories anywhere else in the US.
Trunk Show with high quality handcrafted clothing, gifts and accessories perfect for the holidays
Menu
Vegetable Polav
Smoked Lamb
Pomagranate Puff Pasty
Black, Green and Mint Teas
SPIRITWOOD -- Planning is continuing for construction of a soybean crushing plant at Spiritwood, according to information in a grant application made by North Dakota Soybean Processors to the Agricultural Products Utilization Commission.
A copy of the application, which was submitted to APUC in June, was received after an open records request was submitted.
According to the application, North Dakota Soybean Processors is a subsidiary of Minnesota Soybean Processors. Minnesota Soybean Processors operates a soybean crushing plant at Brewster, Minn.
Calls to Minnesota Soybean Processors were not returned.
The description of the project said, Minnesota Soybean Processors is looking to build a 125K Bu/day facility in North Dakota.
The 125,000-bushel-per-day capacity translates to 42.5 million bushels per year.
The application indicates the business would be located at Spiritwood -- about 12 miles east of Jamestown near Interstate 94.
The project received a $103,000 grant from APUC in July for preliminary engineering services.
John Schneider, APUC director, said he believes the project is moving forward. APUC has distributed about half of the grant funds to the fiscal agent administering the grant.
We havent requested or received a status report on the project, he said.
According to the application, the project would be an integrated soybean crush facility and refinery that would produce soybean meal, refined bleached and deodorized oil and biodiesel.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said such a facility added to the existing plants at Spiritwood would be good for the farm economy in North Dakota.
I love all the projects around Spiritwood, he said. They have so much to offer for value-added agriculture.
The project, if constructed, would be the third value-added agriculture plant at Spiritwood. Cargill Malt processes barley into malt for beer, and Dakota Spirit AgEnergy processes corn into fuel ethanol. Spiritwood Station, a coal-fired electric generation facility, provides steam energy to both operations.
Goehring said a lack of soybean processing plants in North Dakota has cost farmers money by increasing the basis in the price. The basis is the difference between the local cash price for a commodity and the national future price for the same commodity. Commodities that can be processed closer to the farm have an increased local price, which reduces the basis.
This could put 30 cents (per bushel) more in the local producers pocket, he said.
The plant also could make biodiesel more economical in North Dakota, Goehring said. Currently, most biodiesel used in the state has to be transported from Minnesota or Iowa.
It would be great to put biodiesel in our pumps that is grown in our own backyard, he said.
A letter of support from Connie Ova, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., was included in the North Dakota Soybean Processors application to APUC.
She also said the possibility of such a plant at Spiritwood would boost the local business and farm economy.
We are very excited about the possibility of such an excellent opportunity for good jobs and value-added ag processing for local farmers, she said.
Ova said a second tenant in or near the Spiritwood Energy Park Association property may require some improvements or extensions to the rail loop at SEPA industrial park. Any necessary enhancements to the rail or other facilities at SEPA are under review, she said.
The APUC application estimated it would cost about $160 million to bring the plant into operation. Details on the number of jobs the plant would create were redacted from the application. It does not specify any timeframe for an announcement on the project or construction.
They want to be very cautious, Goehring said. This is a big deal for them.
The Narendra Modi-led central government has on several occasions chest-thumped about having changed the fortunes of and Express. Only recently it announced that had made a profit after long. However, it turns out, some part of this profit would have been made by charging senior citizens booking tickets online as much as three times the normal adult airfare across sectors in India.
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First Choice services, the used car services arm of & Mahindra, is planning to sell a portion of its stake to raise up to $50 million. The company is also eyeing around Rs 250 crore from the new business, which is branded spares or private label which was launched recently.
Speaking at the sidelines of Auto Serve 2016, organised by CII, Y V S Vijayakumar, chief executive officer, First Choice Services Ltd said that the company is planning to raise around $40-50 million, which is to support company's expansion and strengthening technology for the future.
The money will also help to expand its recently launched portal carworkz, which is being tested at Mumbai currently. The portal allows customers to book, review and rate the independent garages. Currently it is operating only in Mumbai and company plans to take this to around 15 cities. Through this digital platform the company will work with around 15,000-20,000 garages in these cities.
Speaking about expansion, he said, currently the used car services arm has 215 network now and plans to increase this to 500 in one year and to 1000 in the next two years.
The company is also planning to launch MFC Car Care by next quarter which will be a value added services and would take care of car protection and car detailing.
Mahindra First Choice services is eyeing around Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years from the current Rs 150 crore, which is brand revenue.
Vijayakumar said that the private label or the branded spares business, which was started recently would contribute around Rs 250 crore of this revenue.
The company's vision is to be one stop shop solution for car owners, when it comes to sales, services, spare parts, accessories, annual maintenance, independent garages and to know price, he added.
Leading pellet maker and a PSU under Union ministry of steel is all set to acquire 51% equity in ailing Odisha PSU-Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (Idcol) Ltd. has been one of the front-runners in picking up controlling stake in the two Idcol units- Idcol Kalinga Iron Works Ltd and Barbil and Idcol Ferrochrome & Alloys Ltd after rounds of failed bidding by other PSUs like Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and National Aluminium Company (Nalco).
Software service group is bracing for pressure on its US business from anti-immigrant policies by US President-elect Donald Trump, who has identified clamping down on immigration as one of his three top priorities.
"Margins might be impacted in the near-term," Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said, adding the company had not yet done any simulations on how large the impact may turn out to be.
Infosys' contingency plan for the case that the group would not be able to send low-cost developers to work with temporary work visas on big tech projects in the United States would be to hire staff locally, he said.
Sikka conceded that hiring people in the United States would likely be more expensive, adding that he saw no shortage in potential applicants.
"There are enough universities, enough ability to hire, enough ability to teach," Sikka said, adding he did not expect to lose market share to US peers such as Cognizant .
last month cut its annual revenue growth target for the second time in three months as India's software service exporters feel the pinch of major Western clients holding back on spending.
Infosys co-founder urged youngsters to take up more research works in mathematics. One area where India can do slightly better than the countries is mathematics. It is a field where you dont need heavy investments, labs, etc. Its time India wakes up and encourages youngsters to do more real research in this subject, Murthy said at the Infosys Prize 2016 announcement.
The Modi government's move has caused heartburn at home with the ever changing rules regarding withdrawal and exchange of currency notes, and the long serpentine lines outside banks and ATMs. However, the foreign media's coverage of what the government touts to be a landmark anti-black money policy has not been very positive.
Controversial Islamic preacher, has been extolling Osama Bin Laden, proclaiming that every Muslim should be a terrorist and claiming that if Islam had indeed wanted 80% of Indians would not have remained Hindus, the government said justifying the ban imposed on his NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).
A young farmer from Jodhpur offered his kidney for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is undergoing treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi for a kidney failure.
Its more than a week now and the banking sector is yet to recover from the move of the government. In fact, the ATM recalibration exercise has started only in the past four days and a little over 30,000 ATMs are ready for the new notes, according to people engaged in the operation.
On the evening of November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes would no longer be regarded as legal tender. The move came in the wake of the promise he made to curb black money. Ever since the announcement was made, there have been mixed reactions to it.
However, is not a new phenomenon. Countries in the past have tried to regulate their currencies and mostly failed. Business Standard brings you five instances when governments across the world failed to implement currency reforms.
Ghana
In the past couple of days, with the I-T department issuing 600 notices to jewellers, and also asking banks to report deposits, the thrifty business of transferring old currency into gold has been hit Photo: Reuters
Indian Banks Association (IBA) on Friday said banks on Saturday will not exchange old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with the new ones to perform other banking related duties, which have been on hold since November 8.
Unabated queues outside automated teller machines (ATMs), feedback that its note ban has negatively impacted small traders, farmers and those planning weddings, a rattled Narendra Modi government on Thursday announced several exceptions to provide relief to sections of the public.
Demonetisation issue rocked Parliament on Thursday as the united opposition created uproar in both houses and forced a wash-out of the second day of winter session.
The Lok Sabha managed to transact Question Hour and laying of the papers amid ruckus while the Rajya Sabha witnessed five adjournments before both the houses were adjourned for the day.
Before the Rajya Sabha was adourned for the day, the house witnessed a heated argument between Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu as the Congress leader likened those died during the withdrawal of money from banks and ATMs across the country to the Uri terror attack martyrs.
The government sought an unconditional apology from Azad but he refused to budge. Government strategists held a meeting in Parliament House after both houses were adjourned.
Sources said that both the houses are unlikely to transact any business on Friday as the government is adamant on unconditional apology from Azad and also unlikely to accept the opposition's demand in the Lok Sabha for a debate under rules that provide for voting on the issue.
Soon after the Lok Sabha met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept the party's notice for an adjournment motion, under which all other business is set aside for the debate which is followed by voting.
But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the debate should be a short duration discussion under Rule 193 as a divided message should not go from the house.
Mahajan then proceeded with the Question Hour even as opposition members raised slogans and created a ruckus in the house.
After the Question Hour ended, she disallowed notices of adjournment motion received from various political parties over the issue. Then papers were laid on the table of the house as scheduled.
"We want discussion under Rule 56 which allows voting. It will not be proper to discuss under Rule 193. Our adjournment motion should be accepted and debate should take place under Rule 56," Kharge said.
Mahajan, however, adjourned the house till 12.30 p.m., saying the debate cannot take place amid disturbances.
She also held a meeting in her chamber with the leaders of parties and government but no consensus was arrived at.
When the house met again, the scene was no different and a united opposition including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party continued with their demand of discussion with voting.
Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said the opposition was united and wanted to "censure" the government by voting.
"Today the situation is very different as the opposition is united," he said, urging the Speaker to accept their adjournment notice.
However, Ananth Kumar said: "The public is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision. We want the opposition to discuss the issue. I am sure there is no difference in opinion on curbing black money, corruption and counterfeit currency."
Not satisfied with the government's suggestion of discussing the issue under Rule 193, the opposition members started shouting slogans.
As no agreement was reached, the Speaker adjourned the house for the day.
The Rajya Sabha could not conduct any meaningful business as the opposition remained adamant on its demand that Modi be present during the debate on demonetisation and the house was finally adjourned for the day at 3 p.m. after five adjournments.
Members of the Congress, the Trinamool, AIADMK, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party demanded that the Prime Minister be present as the house discusses the demonetisation kissue.
Appeals by members of the treasury benches, including Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, that he would come as and when he wants and the debate must go on went unheard.
"Why don't you debate the issue," said Naqvi, adding that "he (Modi) will come when he has to."
The opposition members did not pay any heed to their request and gathering in front of the presiding officer's podium, shouted slogans against the Prime Minister and accused the government of being "insensitive".
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien also requested the agitating members to return to their seats but his pleas went unheeded and he finally adjourned the house for the day.
The Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) questioned the Narendra Modi governments claims on a crackdown on black money and also highlighted its poor record on recovering bad loans, or non-performing assets (NPAs), of the banking sector.
Lula's return: Brazil's left turn may be more muted this time Lula's earlier popularity lay in his redistributive policies, but this time around, he will have to demonstrate an ability to negotiate the ...
Enhancing mustard yields Genetically tweaked variety can increase production. It would be unwise for India to deny its commercialisation
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad triggered a furore among the treasury bench in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday when he compared the deaths of soldiers in the Uri terror attack with that of people standing in queues outside banks and ATMs post . The remark was later expunged by the House.
The government has sought an unconditional apology, but the Congress has backed the Leader of Opposition in the Upper House.
The government has also sought a clarification from the Congress party and its leadership on whether it stands with Azad or condemns his "anti-national" remarks.
The Congress said that Azad is correct in what he said and he will not apologise.
"I was really shocked and surprised by the remarks of Azad. This is not only unfortunate but an insult to the nation and also our martyrs," Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here.
He said that what is most unfortunate is that Azad has refused to budge from his stand.
"We want to know the stand of the Congress as Azad has refused to budge even an inch from his remarks, which is hurting the sentiments of the people," Naidu said.
"He is a responsible leader, he has done a blunder and should now apologise," he added.
He said the government is also concerned about the problems being faced by the common man post and the government is taking all measures to lessen it.
Naidu appealed to the Chair to expunge the remarks of Azad. Deputy Speaker of the upper house PJ Kurien gave the order to delete the remarks from the house records.
The Congress backed its senior party leader.
"Why should he apologise? He is correct. Our own people have died more due to the government's policy. The damage inflicted by the Pakistanis on our own people in Uri is less then the damage inflicted by Modi through his policy," said Congress spokesperson Ajay Kumar.
"People are dying of hunger and heart attacks (in queues); Isn't this the most insensitive move by the government? They only speak for the suited-booted and a few industrialists," the Congress leader said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar sought an unconditional apology from Azad, saying he has gone "beyond the Laxman Rekha".
Talking to reporters, Kumar said that he never expected such a remark from a seasoned politician like Azad.
"He should unconditionally apologise to the nation and also to the Parliament," Kumar said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dubbed Azad's remarks as irresponsible and said that Congress as a national party must support instead of obstructing Parliament.
In a recent article for The Telegraph, Sir Roger Scruton discusses the importance of national borders in Europe and the threat that the EU poses to them. He explains how religion once united Europe but since religion began to fade in the 17th century, territory took over as the principle that Europeans turn to in order to find unity. Scruton says this:
European civilisation has been steadily replacing religion with territory as the source of political unity. The process began in the 17th century, as the call for popular sovereignty and national unity began to be heard above the noise of religious conflict. Following the French Revolution and Napoleons failed attempt at a pan-European Empire, Europe emerged as a collection of nation states.
Scruton goes on to talk about how national identity contributed to the outcome of the Second World War:
Victory in the Second World War depended upon the national loyalty and patriotic feeling of the British and American people. In the world that emerged it is national identity that has offered the best guarantee of peace, as well as the only possible foundation for democratic politics. For it is only when people define their loyalty in territorial and national terms that differences of religion, class and ideology can be put aside and an elected government accepted by everyone, included the many who did not vote for it.
Talk about national loyalty, borders, jurisdiction, and democracy are extremely relevant at the current moment given the recent events that have taken place in the UK, namely Brexit. Scruton continues in his article to discuss the EU and its threat to all of these principles.
The European Union has refused to recognize the importance of borders and the territory defined by them. It has established a trans-national, bureaucratic form of legal order in which laws are not changed or adopted by popular sovereignty but imposed by official decree. It has done this out of the misguided view that borders and nations are a threat to peace. And from the same misguided conception it has insisted on the free movement of peoples around the continent leading to two enormous demographic crises, namely the loss of young people from Eastern Europe, and the over-crowding of Britain, which is the country where the international language is spoken. The first crisis makes Eastern Europe and the Baltic states indefensible, while the second makes Britain increasingly unliveable, as housing, planning, infrastructure and social identity are all put under unmanageable strain.
Sir Roger Scruton is a writer and philosopher. He has decades of experience teaching and engaging in political culture on both sides of the Atlantic. He will be a keynote speaker at Actons London conference on Reclaiming the West: Freedom and Responsibility on December 1st. This event will include six other well-known speakers, including Ryan T. Anderson and Veronique de Rugy. To register and learn more about this event, visit Actons website here and in case you wont be able to attend, a live stream will be available.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers of the state held a dharna in front of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional office, Thiruvananthapuram today, in protest against the central bank's decision not to allow primary co-operative banks to deal with the demonetised 500- and 1,000-rupee notes and exchange.
Launching the protest, Vijayan said that the co-operative sector in the state holds deposits worth Rs 1.27 lakh crore and that primary co-operative societies are stronger than urban ones. The RBI's move restricting co-operative banks from dealing with demonetised notes will impact the co-operative movement, which forms part of the day-to-day life of the people in the state, he added.
Uttar Pradesh government on Friday hiked the state price by Rs 25 per quintal or a little over 9% to Rs 305 per quintal for the ongoing 2016-17 crushing season.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday hiked the state price by Rs 25 per quintal or a little over 9 per cent to Rs 305 per quintal for the ongoing 2016-17 crushing season.
India's declined by $1.19 billion to $367.041 billion in the week to November 11 on account of fall in foreign currency assets, Reserve Bank said on Friday.
Assistance to Farmers for Crop Loss
Government of India is implementing yield based Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) which has replaced the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) & Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), from Kharif 2016 season. Comprehensive risk insurance is provided under PMFBY to cover yield loss due to non-preventable risks viz. natural fire and lightening; Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado etc.; Flood, Inundation and Landslide; Drought, Dry Spells; Pests/ Diseases etc. On the other hand, Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) provides insurance protection to the farmers against adverse weather incidence, such as deficit and excess rainfall, high or low temperature, humidity etc. which are deemed to impact adversely the crop production.
Crop insurance is a financial tool to insure the crop losses on payment of admissible premium to the insurance company. Further, under the crop insurance schemes, claims are paid to those farmers who insure their crops and pay premium under any of the notified crop/area, notified by the concerned State Govt. Admissible claims are worked out and paid as per the provisions of the respective schemes and not on any other basis like by the representation from the State Govt., team sent by the Government of India, declaration of drought/flood etc. by the State/Central Govt.
Financial assistance is also provided to farmers as per guidelines on the items and norms of assistance from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) dated 8th April, 2015 of Ministry of Home Affairs, where assistance is admissible for crop loss of 33% and above due to notified natural calamities viz.
Avalanches, Cyclone, Cloud burst, Drought, Earthquake/Tsunami, Fire, Flood, Hailstorm, Landslides, Pest attack, Frost and Cold wave. The norms of relief under SDRF/NDRF are Rs. 6800/- per ha for rainfed areas, Rs.13500/-per ha for assured irrigated areas and Rs.18000/-per ha for all types of perennial crops. Assistance under SDRF/NDRF provided is for immediate relief and not by way of compensation for the loss suffered.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri S. S. Ahluwalia, in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Defence Minister Inducts Four Indigenous Naval Systems Skilled Manpower Vital for Make In India Initiative Parrikar
The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar handed over four Naval Systems developed by DRDO to the Indian Navy at a special ceremony here today. The four indigenously developed naval systems viz. ABHAY, HUMSA UG, NACS and AIDSS which will boost underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy, were formally handed over to the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba by the Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Parrikar complimented the DRDO and the Navy for their successful joint venture in developing several naval systems, which will provide a fillip to the quest for self-reliance in this critical area of technology. I expect much more synergy between the Armed Forces and DRDO in the days to come", he said. He expressed his appreciation to DRDO for its achievements in the last two years particularly in the induction of LCA Tejas, Varunastra Torpedo, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, Rustom II UAV and several missile programmes.
The Defence Minister said, Skill development is one of the most important aspects of nation building because unless we have certified skilled manpower, projects like Make in India would not succeed." He expressed happiness that the Indian Navy has taken the lead by imparting training to a large contingent of retiring naval personnel and giving them certificates. He said that the only way to make the nations large pool of youth and manpower suitable for the emerging industry and business opportunities is by skilling them to take up specialized jobs.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy said skill initiative programme is the brainchild of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said the credit of pulling along the skill ecosystem in the Indian Armed Forces should go to the Defence Minister. Shri Rudy said the Defence Minister is not only involved in the skilling process technically but also socially as he has created a new pathway about the programme in the Armed Forces.
The four naval systems, ABHAY Compact Hull Mounted SONAR for Shallow Water Crafts, HUMSA UG Upgrade for the HUMSA SONAR System, NACS Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System, and AIDSS Advanced Indigenous Distress SONAR System for submarines have been designed and developed by National Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a Kochi based laboratory of DRDO.
ABHAY is an advanced Active-cum-Passive integrated SONAR system designed and developed for the smaller platforms such as shallow water crafts and coastal surveillance/patrol vessels. HUMSA-UG has been designed for upgrading the existing HUMSA SONAR system of the Indian Naval platforms. NACS determines the in-situ performance of the SONAR systems which are used to find the frequency-dependent 3-D transmission and reception characteristics of the SONAR. It is also used to measure the magnitude and phase characteristics of the SONAR transmission and reception electronics and the transducers. AIDSS, a distress SONAR is an Emergency Sound Signalling Device which is used to indicate that a submarine is in distress and enable quick rescue and salvage.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Secretary Department of Defence (R&D) & Chairman, DRDO Dr. S Christopher also addressed the function. Earlier, Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy jointly distributed Skill Certificates and Placement Letters to retiring Navy personnel. Amongst others, the function was attended by Scientific Advisor to RM Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajesh Aggarwal and Director, NPOL Shri S Kedarnath Shenoy.
NW/NAo/DM/RAJ
Export of LCA Tejas
The government proposes to export the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas to other countries. In this connection preliminary discussions have been held with a few friendly countries.
Presently, HAL has established facilities for manufacturing and delivery of 8 LCA per annum. There is a plan to ramp up the production rate from 8 to 16 Aircraft per annum progressively by 2019-20. This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri MI Shanavas in Lok Sabha today. DM/NAMPI/RAJ ?
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Government is taking all measures to improve quality of education in AYUSH System of medicine: Shri Shripad Naik
A total of 297 Ayurveda, 19 Naturopathy & Yoga, 46 Unani, 09 Siddha and 197 Homoeopathy colleges are imparting medical education at Under-graduate and/or Post-graduate levels in AYUSH. 123 Ayurveda, 12 Unani, 03 Siddha and 43 Homoeopathy colleges are imparting medical education at Post-graduate levels. Research in the form of Post-graduate thesis work is also undertaken by PG scholars. The courses offered by these institutes cover aspects across various disciplines.
Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani institutions are regulated by a Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) constituted under the Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act, 1970. Similarly, Homoeopathy institutes are regulated by a Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) constituted under the Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act, 1973. There is no Central body to regulate Naturopathy & Yoga institutes. The number of students taking up education in AYUSH institutes at Under-graduate level is 34541 (17202 Ayurveda, 940 Naturopathy & Yoga, 2321 Unani, 420 Siddha and 13658 Homoeopathy) and Post-graduate level is 4923 (3646 Ayurveda, 45 Naturopathy & Yoga, 174 Unani, 140 Siddha and 918 Homoeopathy). Provisions for increase the intake of students are already defined in the regulations namely The Establishment of New Medical College, Opening of New or Higher Course of Study or Training and Increase of Admission Capacity by a Medical College Regulations, 2003 read with amendment Regulations of 2013 (for ASU)" & The Establishment of New Medical College (Opening of New or Higher Course of Study or Training and Increase of Admission Capacity by a Medical College) Regulations, 2011 (for Homoeopathy)" under which institutes are applying every year and after examining the recommendation/report of the CCIM/CCH, the Central Government granting Letter of Intent and Letter of Permission to the institutes. The Central Government is also making awareness among students and encouraging them through general IEC activities like Arogya Mela, exhibitions, campaign etc. The Central Government has taken steps to promote education on AYUSH system in the country by approving the regulations for the colleges and notified by the Central Council of Indian Medicine and Central Council of Homoeopathy. The Ministry of AYUSH has established two new institutes viz. All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi for Post-graduate education and North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy, Shillong for Under-graduate education in Ayurveda & Homoeopathy. Furthermore, the Ministry has granted permission to start Post-graduate course in two research institutes of Unani namely Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine (RRIUM), Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir" and Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine (CRIUM), Hyderabad, Telangana". The assistance given by the Government of India under the component of Development of AYUSH Institutions of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) is facilitating improvement in infrastructure in AYUSH Colleges and attached Hospitals and thereby improving quality of existing educational Institutions. To promote higher education in the AYUSH systems, the Central Sector Scheme of International Cooperation has a component under which International Scholarship/fellowships in the field of AYUSH courses are offered in premier Institutes/colleges in India. This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Government organizes a seminar to familiarize senior officers of different Departments of Government of India with important features of the GST.
Cabinet Secretary Shri Pradeep K. Sinha will be chairing a half-day interactive seminar on Goods and Services Tax (GST) tomorrow. The seminar is being organized for senior officers of Government of India to familiarize them on the important features of GST.
Introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the most important reform of indirect tax system in the country, made possible by Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016. Indirect tax structure in India is highly complex with hidden costs for trade and industry. Non uniformity across the States, cascading of taxes due to tax on tax and multiplicity of taxes in the current tax laws are huge deterrents for the businesses. Introduction of GST will simplify the system, broaden the tax base and improve tax compliance. Impact of GSTs introduction will be felt by all the sectors of Indian economy. Although its benefits will start flowing right from the beginning, various stakeholders need to be familiarized with the new taxation system to ensure smooth transition. Senior government officials can contribute to this in a major way by educating the different stakeholders.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rather than speaking about the risk of not doing, avoiding or failing at something in order to succeed, the pope coaxed the business executives to consider risking doing something positive for the common good as if to encourage them to live out their faith proactively, through bold intentional free choices, despite the strong countercurrents of a materialistic, godless and self-serving secular society.
Yesterday, Pope Francis hosted a private audience in his Apostolic Palace for a few hundred international entrepreneurs and business leaders. The members of the International Christian Union of Business Executives (UNIAPAC) had gathered inside the Vaticans walls for two days of meetings for the noble purpose of reflecting on the role of business persons as agents of economic and social inclusion.
Pope Francis, not always an affirming supporter of free market capitalism, focused on some of his usual challenging caveats to business persons. While business is certainly noble and its success is a vital part of the promoting economic growth for the common good, fallen man should nevertheless be constantly wary of his weaknesses for material idolatry (especially money), selfishness (not showing solidarity), and unguarded concern for acts of corruption (intentional deceit), the latter of which Francis said was the worst of social plagues.
This holds true for all human activity, the pope reassured those present, and not just business activity. It is an anthropological-spiritual discipline that we must keep on the forefront of our daily decision making. In this way, we sharpen our prudence and hone our focus when treading uphill individual paths to holiness and salvation. By way of constant prayer and deep spiritual discernment, man can more likely make the best moral choices, even in the most cut-throat and difficult business situations.
But sometimes this is risky for the seeker and promoter of virtue.
Using a little reverse psychology on entrepreneurs who are not averse to taking big chances or being vocal leaders in their business communities, Francis focused a large portion of his discourse on risk and moral courage.
Rather than speaking about the risk of not doing, avoiding or failing to do something in order to succeed, the pope coaxed the business executives to consider risking doing something positive and real for the common good, an encouragement to live out their faith proactively not just avoiding error or sin as happens with negative risk taking.
The opposite, positive risk taking, does not focus on avoidance or preserving but on actually doing and producing. It leads to bold intentional, magnanimous, and carefully considered free choices that have real material fruits. For Francis it requires turning a deaf ear to what is trendy, enticing but wrong in itself.
In sum, it is a powerful and willful agency moral courage against very strong countercurrents of a godless and self-serving secular society.
Such risk would involve not being popular in most firms, of being disowned by ones business peers or even family, and taking risks that complicate life while having to sacrifice certain earnings, said Francis.
By taking chances toward doing something true and good for man, Francis told the entrepreneurs to assume specifically three risks: the risk of using money well, the risk of honesty, and the risk of fraternity.
In a certain sense, the pope was proposing a remedy for that which is called moral hazard in economics, by exhorting entrepreneurs to be always fair and other-directed. Above all, it is a matter of accepting full personal responsibility for the risks one undertakes, and the real negative or positive consequences ones actions may have on customers, employees, family and society in general.
Below is the translation of Pope Franciss address to the UNIAPAC business executives. The translation is my own, as there is no official English translation available on the Vatican web site. The original Spanish is found here.
Your Eminence, Mr. President of UNIAPAC, and Dear Friends,
You have come to Rome to the Vatican in response to an invitation from Cardinal Peter Turkson and the authorities of the International Christian Union of Business Executives [UNIAPAC] for the noble purpose of reflecting on the role of business persons as agents of economic and social inclusion. I want to assure you, now, of my support and prayers for your work. Gods Providence has willed that this UNIAPAC meeting coincide with the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. All human activity including entrepreneurial activity can be an exercise of mercy, while participating in Gods love for man.
Business activity constantly assumes a multitude of risks. In the parables of the hidden treasure buried in a field (Matthew 13,44) and the precious pearl (Matthew 13,45), Jesus compares obtaining the Kingdom of Heaven with undertaking entrepreneurial risk. Today I want to reflect with you on three kinds of risk: the risk of using money well, the risk of honesty, and the risk of fraternity.
Firstly, there is the risk that comes with using money. Speaking about business immediately leads us to encounter one of the most difficult subjects of our moral experience: money. I have often said money is the devils manure, repeating what the Holy Fathers have said. Furthermore, Leo XIII, who began the Churchs Social Doctrine, stated that the history of the 19th century had divided cities into two classes separated by a wide chasm (Rerum Novarum, 47). Forty years later, Pius XI foresaw the growth of international economic imperialism (Quadragesimo Anno, 109). After another 40 years, Paul VI, while referencing Rerum Novarum, denounced the excessive concentration of means and power that can lead to a new and abusive form of economic domination on the social, cultural and even political level. (Octogesima Adveniens, 44)
Jesus, in his parable on the unjust manager, tells us to make friends for ourselves with unrighteous wealth so that [when it is gone] we will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16, 9-15). All the Church Fathers interpreted these words as meaning wealth is good when placed at the service of others; if not, wealth is used unjustly (Catena Aurea: The Gospel According to St. Luke 16, 8-13). Therefore, money must serve and not rule. It is a key principle: money must serve instead of ruling. Money is only a technical instrument used for inter-mediation, for assessing values and rights, for fulfilling obligations and [procuring] savings. Like all tools, money does not have neutral value, but acquires value according to its purpose and the circumstances in which it is used. When we affirm the neutrality of money, we fall under its power. Businesses mustnt exist to make money, even though money is a measure of their [proper] functioning. Businesses exist to serve.
Thus, it is urgent we return to the social meaning of financial and banking activity, using the best intelligence and creativity of businessmen. This supposes taking risks that complicate life while having to sacrifice certain earnings. Credit must be accessible for [purchasing] family homes, for small and medium-sized enterprises, for farmers, for educational activities especially at the primary level for general healthcare, for the improvement and integration of the poorest city centers. One chrematistic rationality of the market is to make credit more accessible and cheaper for those with greater resources, while more expensive and more difficult for those with less, to the point that the poorest fringes of the population are left in the hands on unscrupulous usurers. In the same way and at an international level, the financing of the worlds poorest countries easily turns into usury. This is one of the greatest challenges for the business sector and for economists in general. Business is called to achieve a stable and sufficient flow of credit which excludes no one and which may be amortized under fair and affordable conditions.
Even if one accepts the possibility of creating business mechanisms that are accessible to all and work for everyones benefit, we must recognize that generous and abundant gratuity will always be necessary. It will also require the State to intervene to protect certain collective goods and to ensure that basic human needs are met. My predecessor, St. John Paul II, stated that ignoring this leads to an idolatry of the market (Centesimus Annus, 40).
There is a second risk that entrepreneurs must face: the risk of honesty. Corruption is the worst of social plagues. It is the lie of a person or a group to seek their own advantage while appearing to serve society. It is the destruction of the social fabric while appearing to comply with the law. It is the law of the jungle disguised as apparent social rationality. It is the deception and exploitation of the weakest or least informed. It is the crassest form of selfishness, a facade of apparent generosity. Corruption is generated through worshiping money and falls back on the corrupt person, who becomes a prisoner of that same worship. Corruption is a fraud to democracy, and opens doors to other terrible evils such as drugs, prostitution and human trafficking, slavery, trade of vital organs, arms trafficking, and so on. Becoming corrupt means becoming a follower of the devil, the father of lies.
However, [as I have said] corruption is not an exclusive vice of politics. There is corruption in politics. There is corruption in business. There is corruption in the media. There is corruption in the Churches. And there is corruption in social organizations and popular movements. (Cf. Papal Address to the Participants at the World Meeting of Popular Movements, November 5, 2016).
One of the necessary conditions for social progress is the absence of corruption. Business owners might be tempted to give in to acts of blackmail or extortion, while justifying themselves with the idea of saving their companies and community of workers, or thinking that this is the way they will grow the company and that one day they will be able to rid themselves of this disease. In addition, they may be tempted to think that this is something that everyone does, and that small acts of corruption aimed at obtaining small advantages are trivial. Any act of corruption, active or passive, is already the starting point for worshiping money as a god.
The third risk involves fraternity. We remembered how Saint John Paul II taught us that prior to the logic of a fair exchange of goods there is something which is due to man because he is man, by reason of his lofty dignity. (Centesimus Annus, 34). Benedict XVI also insisted on the importance of gratuitousness as an essential element of social and economic life, saying: Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift which expresses and makes present his transcendent dimension Economic, social and political development needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity. (Caritas in Veritate, 34)
Entrepreneurship must always include the element of gratuitousness. Relations of justice between senior management and workers must be respected and be demanded by both parties. By the same token, a company is a working community in which everyone deserves respect and fraternal appreciation from superiors, colleagues and subordinates. Respect for the other as a brother must also extend to the local community in which the company is physically located. And, in a way, all legal and economic relations of the company should be moderate while enshrined in an atmosphere of respect and fraternity. There is no shortage of examples of solidarity toward those most in need by the staff of companies, clinics, universities or other communities of work and research. This should be a habitual way of acting, the result of everyones deep convictions, preventing it from becoming an occasional activity to appease ones own conscience or, worse still, as a means to gain publicity.
Regarding fraternity, I mustnt fail to share my thoughts on the subject of migration and refugees, a theme which weighs heavily on our hearts. Today, the migration and displacement of a multitude of people seeking protection has become a dramatic human problem. The Holy See and the local Churches are making extraordinary efforts to deal effectively with the causes of this situation, seeking the pacification of regions and countries at war and promoting a spirit of welcome. But one does not always achieve everything one desires. I ask for your help as well. On the one hand, try to convince governments to renounce all acts of war. As they say in business environments: a bad agreement is always better than a good fight. [On the other,] collaborate in creating decent, stable and abundant sources of work, both in places of origin and arrival, and in these, for the local population and for immigrants. Immigration must continue to be an important factor for development.
Most of us here are from immigrant families. Our grandparents or parents arrived from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Lebanon or from other countries to South and North America, and almost always in conditions of extreme poverty. They were able to raise families, progress, and to become entrepreneurs because they found welcoming societies, which were sometimes as poor as they were, but nevertheless willing to share what little they had. Keep and promote this spirit rooted in Christianity, while also demonstrating your entrepreneurial genius.
UNIAPAC and ACDE evoke in me the memory of the Argentine businessman Enrique Shaw, one of their founders, whose cause for beatification I was able to promote as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. I recommend you follow his example and, for Catholics, to seek his help in being good entrepreneurs.
In the Gospel from two Sundays ago we read about the calling of Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1-10). Zacchaeus was that rich man, the chief of tax collectors from Jericho, who climbed a tree to see Jesus. The Lords gaze led him to a deep conversion. May this meeting be like the sycamore tree in Jericho, a tree up which all can climb, so that, through learned discussion of the aspects of entrepreneurship, one may find the gaze of Jesus, and hence find efficacious guidelines for doing business that promotes the common good effectively.
I thank you for this visit to the Successor of St. Peter. I ask you to bring my blessing to all your employees, workers and collaborators and their families. And, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you very much.
Incredible India Second Most Talked About Destination During World Travel Market (WTM) 2016 in London
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is one of the must-attended three-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. Almost 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM London.
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India participated as Official Premier Partner at WTM London 2016. At this years World Travel Market, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and for Culture (Independent charge), inaugurated the World Travel Market along with Mr. Simon Press, Executive Director, WTM London and Mr. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. India participated in full strength with 42 co-exhibitors in the India Pavilion comprising State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, tourism stakeholders etc.
Online analysis on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, forums, sites, blogs, YouTube and Instagram during the course of the three-day show has revealed, the most talked-about destinations and topics, following research by PR specialist Bell Pottinger.
India gained online traction after being named one of the hot spots for 2017 and second most talked about destinations in the world.
India Tourism is already showing signs of an upswing by way of growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in the current year. When the annual international growth rate is around 4 to 4.5%, India is witnessing double digit growth of 10.5% in the current year.
Foreign Tourist arrivals in India during the period January- October, 2016 were 69,61,660 with a growth of 10.5% as compared to the Foreign Tourist Arrival of 62,98,463 during January-October 2015. Foreign Exchange Earnings during the same period has witnessed growth of 14.7%. This positive development is expected to continue during remaining period of this year.
Domestic tourism also continues to be an important contributor to the tourism sector providing much needed resilience. There has been a continuous increase in domestic tourist visits, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of domestic tourist visits to all States / UTs from 1991 to 2015 being 13.63 per cent. In 2015, Domestic Tourism recorded tourist visits of 1431.97 million visits. During the current calendar year, the number of Domestic Tourist visits is likely to reach a record 1700 million.
JNPT Handles Highest Crude Oil at Its Liquid Cargo Terminal
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Indias number one container port, created a major record on November 16, 2016, by loading 80,640 MT of ONGC crude oil on a large vessel MT Desh Bhakta, which was berthed at LB-01 of BPCL-run Liquid Cargo Terminal. This is the highest quantity of crude oil loaded on a vessel at JNPT which has surpassed the previous highest of 80,489 MT loaded on Tanker vessel MT Ratna Urvi in June 2012.
ONGCs crude oil tanker MT Desh Bhakta, which measures LoA of 244.2 meters, arrived at JN Port on November 14, 2016 for loading of crude oil from Mumbai High region to sail ahead for MRPL refinery at New Mangalore through coastal movement with a sailing draught of 12.6 meters. JNPT started operations at 13:54 hrs on 14th November2016 for loading of the crude oil and completed it by 09:12hrs on 16th November 2016. JNPT gave topmost priority to MT Desh Bhakta operations in order to give ease to ONGCs concern of having high stock situation, and carried out quick operations to tide over the issue.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Joint Military Drills by Russian and Pakistani Forces
Russia and Pakistan held their first ever joint military tactical exercise called Friendship / Druzbah, 2016 from 24th September to 10th October, 2016. Around 200 military personnel from both the countries participated in the drills which were held at the special forces training centre in Cherat in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province. The Russian and Pakistani military servicemen shared experience and enhanced coordination while performing assigned combat training tasks. The objective of the exercise was to strengthen counter terrorism cooperation between Russia and Pakistan.
Government monitors all developments which have a bearing on national security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard the nations security. Indian Army has also been conducting similar exercises with Russia. These are conducted as confidence building measures as a part of military diplomacy. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri M Raja Mohan Reddy and Shri Ashwini Kumar in Lok Sabha today. DM/NAMPI/RAJ
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ministry of Tribal Affairs Invites Suggestion from States on the Issue of Granting St Status to Eleven Gorkha Communities
Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has invited views of various states on granting of ST status to eleven Gorkha communities viz. Bhujel, Gurung, Mangar, Newar, Jogi, Khas, Rai, Sunwar, Thami, Yakha, (Dewan) and Dhimal living in Sikkim and other Gorkha dominated States and areas. The States have also been requested to provide historical and ethnographic details as well as demographic profile including education, occupational status etc. in respect of these communities. The States may also forward the representations, if any, received from the above communities.
It may be recalled that Ministry of Tribal Affairs vide its order dated September 14, 2016 has constituted a Committee to examine and recommend granting ST status to these communities.
Smt. Vishnu Mani, Deputy Director General of Ministry of Tribal Affair is the Chairperson of this Committee. The Committee has been asked to consult Government of Sikkim and all respective States where a significant Gorkha population resides and suggest as to grant of ST Status with a mechanism to ensure fairness of reservations for these communities. The Committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.
Samir/jk
Procurement of Fighter Aircraft
An Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) along with Aircraft & Weapons Package Supply Protocols and Technical Arrangement were signed with the French Government on 23rd September, 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale aircraft in fly-away condition. The deliveries will commence from September, 2019.
An IGA for procurement of five Firing Units of S-400 Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) system along with associated equipment from Russia has been signed on 15th October, 2016. An IGA for the procurement of Kamov helicopters for Indian Air Force and Indian Army from Russia under Buy and Make (Indian) category was signed on 24th December, 2015. The terms and conditions for supply of these equipment are to be negotiated with the Russian side. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Sushil Kumar Singh and Smt Kothapalli Geetha in Lok Sabha today. DM/NAMPI/RAJ
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Gold Monetisation Scheme
To reduce the countrys reliance on the imports of gold to meet the domestic demand and to reduce the demand for physical gold; Government had launched Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Gold Monetisation Scheme in November, 2015 and the details of the schemes are available on the websites i.e. http://finmin.nic.in/swarnabharat/index.html & https://rbi.org.in.
Further till 14.11.2016, under the Gold Monetisation Scheme a total of 5730 Kilograms of gold has been mobilized and from the six tranches of Sovereign Gold Bonds issued, a total of 14071 kgs of gold units amounting to Rs. 4127 Crore have been subscribed. There are no firm statistics with the Government regarding the quantum and value of gold in possession of public and with private gold loan lending companies. However, as per estimate over 20,000 tonnes of gold is held by households, trusts and various institutions in India. To create the awareness amongst the public, Government launched media campaign on FM radio, Print Media, Mobile SMS and Social Media. Further, based on the feedback received from the stakeholders of the schemes and the reviews held, at the regular intervals necessary changes have been implemented in the schemes. This was stated by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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Surgical Strikes
Continuing and increasing infiltration by terrorists across Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir has been a matter of serious concern to Government. This is reflected in the terrorist attacks at Poonch and Uri on 11th and 18th September, 2016 respectively. During these terrorist attacks and infiltration attempts, Army has recovered items including Global Positioning Systems and stores which have had Pakistani markings. Further, captured terrorists hailing from Pakistan or Pakistani occupied Kashmir have confessed to their training and arming in Pakistan or territory under the control of Pakistan. Despite the matter having been taken up at highest diplomatic levels and through military channels to urge Pakistan to respect its January 2004 commitment for not allowing its soil or territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India, there has been no let up in infiltration or terrorist action inside Indian territory.
Based on receiving specific and credible inputs about some terrorist teams having positioned themselves at launch pads along Line of Control to carry out infiltration and conduct terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and in various metros in other States, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on 29th September, 2016 at several of these launch pads to pre-empt infiltration by terrorists. The operations were focussed on ensuring that these terrorists do not succeed in their design to cause destruction and endanger the lives of our citizens. During these counter terrorist operations significant casualties were caused to terrorists and those providing support to them. In Jammu & Kashmir along the Line of Control (LC), Army has adopted robust counter infiltration strategy which has an appropriate mix of technology and human resources to check infiltration effectively. Innovative troop deployment, proactive use of surveillance, monitoring devices and the Anti Infiltration Obstacle System have enhanced the ability to detect and intercept terrorists attempting to infiltrate / exfiltrate. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Dr. Bhola Singh and others in Lok Sabha today. DM/NAMPI/RAJ
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Terrorist Attacks on Army Bases
On 18th September 2016, a group of four terrorists attacked Rear Administrative Base of an Infantry Battalion in Uri garrison. The Quick Reaction Team of the Battalion killed all the four terrorists. A total of 19 Army personnel were martyred in the incident.
The information on total loss incurred by Army along with the compensation paid to the deceased / injured personnel is being collected and will be laid on the Table of the House. National Investigation Agency is conducting an investigation into the incident. The investigation is not complete. On 21st September 2016, Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi was summoned for demarche by Foreign Secretary and was told about Government of Indias willingness to provide proof including finger prints and DNA samples of terrorists killed in Uri, should the Government of Pakistan intend to investigate the attack. The Government of Pakistan was also reminded of its solemn commitment made in January, 2004 not to allow territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India. Army has taken necessary steps including inter alia sensitizing all troops on the security situation and the necessity to maintain a high level of vigil and security measures; review, coordination and streamlining of the response mechanism and short and long term measures to strengthen the security infrastructure. This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri T Radhakrishnan and others in Lok Sabha today. DM/NAMPI/RAJ
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A trio of Democratic lawmakers have asked President to use his executive authority before leaving office to pardon some 750,000 undocumented young people known as "dreamers" who were illegally brought to this country as minors by their parents.
The request was made by Congressmen Luis Gutierrez, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Zoe Lofgren in a letter sent to Obama on Thursday in which they asked him not to abandon the undocumented people and leave their fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, 2017, Efe news reported.
"We urge you to exercise your Constitutional authority to provide pardons to 'dreamers' both retroactively and prospectively," the legislators wrote, warning of the danger to the young people who were able to temporarily postpone being deported thanks to the Deferred Action programme (DACA) implemented by Obama in 2012.
Trump promised during his presidential campaign to eliminate that program, which allowed undocumented young people to get temporary work permits and drivers' licenses.
Obama's executive action measures allowed thousands of young foreigners to come out of the shadows and include themselves voluntarily on a government list, providing their fingerprints and addresses and, for that very reason they are now afraid that they will be among the first immigrants to be deported by Trump.
"'Dreamers' face uncertainty, fear and stress, leading to psychological issues including depression, anxiety and an increased risk of suicide," the lawmakers wrote.
"Indeed, we have received reports of Dreamers who have taken their own lives as they are now facing the threat posed by the incoming president," they said, adding that "Using your pardon authority, which is not subject to reversal, to protect these young people who relied on the program you implemented is quite literally a matter of life and death."
When asked about whether their petition has any chance of success, the lawmakers said that Obama has the power to pardon both criminal and civil offences, the latter being the type of offence committed by foreigners who illegally cross the border or remain in the country after their visas expire.
Presidents usually reserve granting the most controversial pardons until their last weeks in office, and these pardons are usually provided to individuals and not large groups of people.
Nevertheless, the legislators mentioned that former President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) had pardoned thousands of men who fled to other countries like Canada to avoid having to fight in the Vietnam War.
In response to the request, a top White House official speaking on condition of anonymity emphasised that the presidential power to grant clemency cannot provide legal status to any undocumented persons and said that only Congress can regularise the status of undocumented foreigners.
Germany could deport as many as 26,500 migrants in 2016, more than in any year since 2003, a newspaper said on Thursday, citing federal police documents.
President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held their last joint press conference as heads of state on Thursday, pressing national leaders in President Obamas words not to take for granted the importance of the transatlantic alliance. And they grounded that longstanding partnership on their conception of the bedrock principles that they believe unite North America and the EU.
The commitment of the United States to Europe is enduring and its rooted in the values we share, Obama said, our commitment to democracy, our commitment to the rule or law, our commitment to the dignity of all people, in our own countries and around the world. Merkel agreed that the transatlantic alliance is based on our shared values. The tone and content of their press conference echoed Merkels statement following Donald Trumps election as president, as well as their joint New York Times op-ed, also published Thursday, in which Obama and Merkel call on transatlantic nations to seize the opportunity to shape globalization based on our values and our ideas.
The notion of shared U.S.-European values has undergone a resurgence since Americas presidential election. French socialist president Francois Hollande urged President-elect Trump to respect such principles as democracy, freedoms, and the respect of every individual. Other EU leaders have made similar statements.
Applying these values to concrete situations, Chancellor Merkel called for additional measures aimed at climate protection, as well as expanded international development cooperation.
Its important that these disparities in living conditions cannot be allowed, in this digital period, to be too marked, she said. For his part, President Obama proposed additional investment in alternative energy and vigilance that Iran abides by the nuclear agreement he brokered.
Yet both the press conference and the missives from international leaders like Hollande are notable for the values they do not enumerate:
Religious liberty, including the freedom to live according to ones conscience within transatlantic states;
Economic dynamism that allows people to rise to the full extent of their God-given abilities;
Upholding the Judeo-Christian values that sustained and shaped transatlantic cultures for millennia; and
Encouraging strong churches, social organizations, and civil society institutions to meet national needs organically, from the bottom-up.
Nor did they mention the shared challenges facing the United States, Canada, and the EU:
Lumbering welfare state economies that sap the vitality of their most creative elements;
Demographic implosion that threatens future productivity and state pensions solvency;
Secularization, which undermines both our historically shared values and the concept of morality itself;
Mounting indebtedness and rising debt-to-GDP ratios that slow current economic growth and imperil future generations opportunities;
Large and growing segments of society that share none of the historic values treasured by the West, religious or secular; and
The strife between local self-determination and overreaching national or supranational governments.
Yet omitting these concerns undeniably impoverishes the intellectual and political discussion.
Beginning in 2017, the Acton Institutes Religion & Liberty will address these issues as they relate to the transatlantic arena. This new addition to the familiar R&L publication will feature news, commentary, and analysis from the United States, Canada, and the EU. We will seek to enunciate the values that politicians leave out of public discourse, to highlight the gaps between politically toxic rhetoric and historically verified principles of freedom and virtue, and where possible to be repairers of the breach between our current socio-political morass and the heights to which we could ascend by standing upon the firm foundation of Western values.
Watch for additional details in the days and weeks ahead.
Setting aside their campaign feuds, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley had a "good meeting" here on Thursday amid speculation that she is being considered for the job of secretary of state or other cabinet positions.
"They had a good discussion, and she is very encouraged about the coming administration and the new direction it will bring to Washington," her spokesperson Rob Godfrey said after the meeting.
Trump's former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was noncommittal about a position for Haley in the Trump administration. "We're just happy to have her here for her advice and counsel and to hear about the great success story of South Carolina," she told reporters.
If Republican Haley gets a cabinet job, she would be the first Indian American to ascend to that level marking a historic milestone for the community in a year that saw a political breakthrough.
Democrat California Attorney General Kamala Harris became the first Indian American elected to the Senate. Three Indian Americans, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, and Ro Khanna of California won seats on the House of Representatives, where they will join fellow-Democrat Ami Bera of California, who was re-elected.
However, a late development cast a shadow on Haley's hopes for America's top diplomatic job. The Republican presidential candidate in 2012, Mitt Romney, was scheduled to meet Trump over the weekend. He has said that the only job he would be interested in was secretary of state, leading to new intense media speculation that he may be up for the job.
Like Haley, Romney has been a vehement critic of Trump during the campaign and in turn was hammered by Trump. While Haley said towards the end of the campaign that she would vote for Trump, although she had reservations, Romney did not take back his assertion that he would never vote for the Republican nominee.
Trump, who ran a scorch earth campaign, is now reaching out to his critics in an attempt douse the flames discord he had flamed.
Speculations about Trump's cabinet choices have been rapidly changing. First reports said that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former UN Permanent Representative John Bolton were the front runners for secretary of state. Both came under criticism for their advocacy of aggressive foreign interventions in contrast to Trump's own cautious policy.
On Wednesday, when Haley's meeting with Trump was scheduled, CNN and MSNBC independently quoted unnamed sources in the Trump transition team as saying that she was being considered for the foreign policy job.
Now there is mention in the media that she may be also considered for commerce secretary given her strong track record in getting foreign investment into her state.
Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from Amritsar district and her full name is Nimrata Nikki Randhwa Haley. She is married to Michael Haley.
President-elect and his deputy Mike Pence are true friends of Israel in the US, the top Israeli diplomat in America has said.
"Israel has no doubt that President-elect Trump is a true friend of Israel. We have no doubt that vice-president-elect Mike Pence is a true friend of Israel, he was one of Israel's greatest friends in the Congress, one of the most pro-Israel governors in the country," Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer told reporters yesterday at the Trump Towers here.
"We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all of the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, and making the US-Israel alliance stronger than ever," Dermer said in response to a question with the Trump Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway standing on his side.
It was not clear if Dermer met the president-elect.
Meanwhile, Trump in a series of tweets said Ford Motor company has informed him that it would not be moving its plant to Mexico.
"Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico," Trump said in his first tweet.
"I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" he said in his second tweet.
It was one of the major election issues for Trump.
Microsoft will tie executive bonuses to workforce diversity goals after the company saw a second consecutive year of declines in the percentage of women employees, owing to its exit from the phone handset market. The percentage of women working at Microsoft fell to 25.8 per cent from 26.8 per cent of the company's workforce as of September 30, largely because the Nokia handset factories that Microsoft divested employed a larger number of women, said Gwen Houston, the company's chief diversity and inclusion officer. Houston said she's encouraged by an increase in women in ...
In his strongest public comments since the election, President Obama on Thursday sharply criticised the spread of fake news online and said that President-elect Donald J Trump would not remain in office for long if he failed to take the job seriously.
Philippines President said on Thursday he might follow Russia and withdraw from the Criminal Court (ICC) in response to Western criticism of a rash of killings unleashed by his war on drugs.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has offered the post of national security adviser to Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, potentially elevating a retired intelligence officer who believes Islamist militancy poses an existential threat on a global scale to one of the most powerful roles in shaping military and foreign policy, according to a top official on Mr. Trumps transition team.
While the small-time players in diamond continue to languish as a result of cash crunch induced by the Centre's demonetisation scheme, the exporters are confident that polished diamond exports from India are only slated to rise in the coming quarter, in the range of 8-10 per cent.
Explaining the situation P S Pandya, chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said, "Polished diamond exports have been rising this year, and as such we are expecting the exports to register a double digit growth rate on a year on year (yoy) basis in the coming quarter. The growth is likely to be in the range of 8-10 per cent banking on Christmas season demand."
At least 13 Afghan police force members were killed after several Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack on police headquarters in Bakwa district in Farah last night.
Security chief at Farah Police Headquarters, Mohammad Ghaws Malyar, confirmed the incident and said a group of Taliban fighters entered the headquarters on Thursday night, killed 13 policemen and took away their weapons, reports the Tolo News.
Meanwhile, a number of Bakwa residents said that Taliban members had breached a number of government offices in the district, took away their facilities and destroyed some of the state buildings.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that three police force members joined the insurgent group following the attack.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seeking their response on a petition filed by the Maharashtra Government, the Bombay High Court has issued notices to eight persons, who were discharged in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case by a special court on April 26.
A division bench of justices R.V. More and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi issued notices to the eight persons - Noorul Huda, Raees Ahmed, Salman Farsi, Farogh Magdumi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali, Asif Khan, Mohammed Zahid and Abrar Ahmed - on Thursday, seeking their replies in four weeks.
The special court's decision to absolve the accused of all terror charges was based on the Investigation Agency's (NIA) findings that showed the 2006 blasts were the handiwork of a Hindu extremist group.
After the special court's verdict, the state government filed an appeal before the high court, challenging the order to discharge the eight accused. The state government urged the high court to set aside the order.
The state government contended that the sessions' court's order was "illegal and unjust", and was contrary to the evidence on record.
In its appeal, the Maharashtra Government argued that the trial court's conclusion that Muslims would not plant bombs inside a mosque was "wrong" and had "no legal basis".
The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon, near Nashik, on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people.
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Because America is not big enough to contain the current state of hate, it seems that the Trump Effect has hopped its way over the border... into Canada. This week in Richmond, which has a large Asian population, racist pamphlets taking aim at Chinese people were distributed to several homes.The flyers, which declare "Step aside whitey, the Chinese are taking over," appear to be an attempt to draw white recipients to an "alt-right" website. The author's grievances include "being marginalized in the community your forefathers built" and living amongst "neighbors who refuse to speak your language." That would probably be Chinese people they're alluding to.It's not like Canada is immune to racist bullshit. But somebody up there is apparently eager to get in on this Trump vibe we're dealing with in the States -- and they're recruiting. The pamphlets were reportedly dropped through the mail slots of homes in the "Springs" neighborhood of Steveston on Thursday morning.Local police say they are investigating the incident."The Richmond RCMP take all matters that may be hate or bias motivated very seriously," Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dennis Hwang said. "We are currently investigating this incident. We realize that incidents like this have a direct impact on citizens and our community. We encourage people to report all incidents such as this to their local police."For what it's worth, it seems that the pamphlet was not received well."I'm pissed that someone thought this was acceptable," area resident Mike Karamanian told Richmond News."Save Richmond from what?" asked Lorne McMillan, one of the flyer's recipients. "The only thing that I think Richmond needs saving from is attitudes like the person who created these," he told the"There is no place for that divisive and racist fear-mongering in Canada, and certainly not in Richmond," said resident Kelly Greene, who was pretty quick to classify this as an American brand of hate. "We are each other's neighbors, coworkers and friends. The hate spewed in the United States is not welcome here."We Americans didn't invent that shit, but we have seen an abundance of it around here lately. Sorry, Canada.More here: Alt-right pamphlets come to Richmond targeting Chinese people
Australia's Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes are conducting the third tranche of a program aimed at helping India upskill its vocational training leaders and support its target to train 400 million people by 2022.
Australia - India Vocational Education Leadership Training 2016 is designed to build the leadership and organisational capacity of Indian vocational training institutions.
Over 120 Indian leaders from community colleges, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras, industrial training institutes and polytechnics are taking part in the program.
Participants will undertake intensive leadership training, which will equip them with extra capabilities to lead the India skills mission.
Training will be conducted by experts from Australian TAFE institutes through their peak body - TAFE Directors Australia.
This program is a collaborative effort between the Australian Government's Department of Education and Training and Indian Government's agencies - the University Grants Commission, the Ministry of Skills and Entrepreneurship Development and the All India Council for Technical Education.
Dr Amanda Day, Counsellor (Education and Research), Department of Education and Training, said the program was an important part of the Australia India skills relationship.
"Australia and India have collaborated successfully for many years on skills," she said. "This workshop will leverage Australian expertise to support India's skilling requirement."
The project also includes a one-week professional development for up to 20 Indian leaders in Australian TAFE institutes in February 2017.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While the Union Ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party MPs are demanding his apology for comparing the impact of the ban of notes with terrorist attacks, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said there is no question of apologising for his remark.
Talking to the media, Azad said, "BJP should ask apology for pushing the country to edge. The kind of situation that is presently created it is all because of the BJP government."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers of his government meanwhile met in the former's chamber in Parliament this morning.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today raised Azad's controversial remark in the Upper House and said, "Congress is trying to destroy the fight against corruption."
"The Leader of Opposition in the House should apologise to the nation for his comments against the prime minister, who is fighting for the poor and the weak," he added.
On day 2 of the winter session, both Houses were adjourned yesterday as a united opposition demanded a debate on demonetisation, including voting, which was rejected by the government.
Opposition parties attacked the Centre saying the demonetisation move has hit the poor and the marginalised.
The main opposition Congress Party on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made demonetisation announcement on November 8, and thus, until the former comes to the Rajya Sabha, there will be no discussion on the issue.
"We raised this issue in the Rajya Sabha yesterday that the demonetisation announcement was made by the Prime Minister, therefore, he should have been present in the House, and should have listened to the opposition, and answered too. We wanted his presence in the House yesterday, but he did not turn up. We have been demanding since morning, and had also made it clear to the leader of the House yesterday, that until the Prime Minister comes to the Upper House, there will be no discussion on the issue," the leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told ANI.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati also sought a reply from the Prime Minister on the ongoing discussion on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Mayawati said the issue is sensitive and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) should be set up to probe the alleged leakage of the decision on demonetisation.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hollywood Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has been bestowed GQ magazine's highest honor in its December issue.
The "proud Aussie, talented surfer, doting dad" and "charitable, grounded, funny and successful" actor has been announced as GQ 'Man Of The Year' at the Australian award ceremony in Sydney, reports gq.com.au.
His colleagues also find it hard to say a bad word about the 'Ghosbusters' star, who was once named People magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive'.
In the issue, Hemsworth's 'Thor' co-star Tom Hiddleston sums up the actor appeal.
"One morning on the set of Thor: Ragnarok, I watch Chris zero in on an important scene between Thor and Loki with razor-sharp focus and commitment. The scene required a lot of nuance, but he wanted to shoot it quickly, because he had to be off-set by lunchtime in order to make it to father-daughter day at school in the afternoon," Hiddleston shared.
"That's a Man Of The Year if ever I saw one," the British heartthrob told the magazine.
While receiving the award, Hemsworth thanked his wife, Elsa Pataky and all the "great women" of the world, saying, "You can't have a great man without a great woman."
Other honorees include Dylan Alcott for 'Sportsman of the Year', Atlassian as 'Entrepreneurs of the Year', Iggy Azalea as 'Woman of the Year', Shannon Bennett as 'Chef of the Year', Kyle Chalmers for 'Breakthrough Sportsman of the Year' and many more.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leader in delivering Internet access to emerging markets DataWind Inc. on Friday formally inaugurated its facility at Hyderabad in the presence of KT Rama Rao, Minister of IT and Industry, Telangan aand Nadir Patel, High Commissioner of Canada.
Earlier, DataWind had signed an MoU with the Telangana government when Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne visited Hyderabad to setup its second facility in India. Keeping its promise the company today launched its second State of the art manufacturing facility at GMR Complex of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
"I congratulate Suneet Singh Tuli for setting up this state of the art technology facility in Hyderabad and welcome him and team DataWind to the state of Telangana. They are the leaders in delivering Internet access to emerging markets. The Govt of Telangana will provide full support to them to ensure that their operations are streamlined and successful. The Investment made by DataWind will not only contribute to the revenue of the state but will also be instrumental in generating jobs," said Minister of IT and Industry Telangana, KT Rama Rao.
DataWind took a major step in the direction of realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Make in India' by setting up its Hyderabad facility with a phased investment of Rs. 100 crore.
The Hyderabad facility will manufacture two million units in the first year, whereas at full capacity it can reach up to five million units. The company will generate employment of around 1000 employees of which the company has already hired 500 employees.
"Canada strongly values its relationship with India, including our growing trade and investment relationship in the information and communication technology space. DataWind's launch of another state of the art facility is a prime example of the collaborative spirit between Canada and India for the benefit of our societies and of economies. DataWind's is a prime example of Canadian companies investing in India for its betterment, and reflects the best of Canadian values. We look forward to continue strengthening our partnership going forward as India strives to achieve its Make in India objectives," said High Commissioner of Canada, Nadir Patel.
Suneet Singh Tuli while thanking the Minister of IT, Telangana and High Commissioner of Canada said, "I and the entire team of DataWind are honoured by the presence of Rama Rao and his Excellency Nadir Patel who have taken out their time to inaugurate our Hyderabad facility. By producing state-of-the-art and most affordable devices in India, we not only wish to supply products that would make Indians proud, but boost 'Skills India' by generating highly skilled employment locally."
"We are humbled by the huge market support which has positioned as India's largest tablet manufacturer for the last many quarters. We expect to continue expanding our dominant position in the tablet market by increasing the range of products which will be manufactured at our newly inaugurated facility in Hyderabad and other facility in Amritsar," added Suneet Singh.
"We welcome DataWind to Hyderabad and congratulate them on the opening of their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in our airport city. We are confident that DataWind will further expand its facility adding to Brand Hyderabad by contributing effectively to the economy of Telangana and the region, in line with vision of the government for "Make in Telangana" and "Make in India"," said CEO GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, SGK Kishore.
The company has an assembly unit in Amritsar and had in 2013 set-up India's first and only manufacturing facility for touch panels. DataWind's first unit in Amritsar manufactures more than one lakh units per month, and almost 20 lakh to date.
DataWind's products break the affordability barrier and deliver Internet access across traditional mobile networks as DataWind executes its vision to empower the next three billion Internet users.
The company's success to date reinforces the fact that DataWind is the only tablet provider in India focused on providing affordable devices with Internet access. All DataWind devices come bundled with one year of free unlimited web access, and feature the most affordable plans available due to the company's unique, patented technology that reduces up to 97 percent the amount of data needed for web browsing.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Both houses of the Parliament failed to conduct business for the third consecutive day of the Winter Session as the opposition refused to halt its protests against the demonitisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes on Friday.
The opposition in the Lok Sabha resumed their protest as soon as the house assembled for the day's proceedings at 11 a.m. this morning, demanding a discussion on the subject of demonetisation through voting.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too resorted to protesting in the Rajya Sabha against Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, demanding his apology for his remark where he compared the demonetisation of higher currency with the Uri terror attack of September 18.
After the chaos created in both the houses of the Parliament, Lok Sabha was adjourned till Monday, while Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2.30 for the fourth time after they re-assembled initially following the protest.
Both the houses of the Parliament was adjourned yesterday too after witnessing protest on government's move of scrapping higher denominators of currency notes.
Besides this, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MPs too resorted to protest in the Rajya Sabha over dispute of Cauvery water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union Labour Ministry has requested the Finance Ministry for deploying more mobile automated teller machines (ATMs) in areas like construction sites and others where there is workforce in large numbers, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment, Mr Bandaru Dattatreya said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today.
"Speedy implementation is necessary, for that even our ministry has reviewed, we have given instructions to all state governments and we are requesting the Finance Minister, to see that wherever there is large number of workforce, number of mobile-ATMs should be increased," said Mr
Dattatreya at an "ASSOCHAM Conference on India's Social Security Agreements."
"Regarding the workers' areas, we are identifying areas where there is large workforce like construction sites and others," he said.
"Yesterday I had met the Finance Minister and I have given some suggestions, in which one is this," he added.
He also said that he had requested Union Finance Minister to give more priority to the workforce engaged in the unorganised sector in the upcoming Union Budget.
The Minister informed that the Labour Ministry which already has social security agreements with about 19 countries, is working out such agreements with other countries. "Our focus is now going to be on BRICS and SAARC countries also as social security agreements are very-very important for migrant workers."
He said that his Ministry would also be giving more priority to the unorganised sector in terms of social security. "There are about five crore construction workers, for them there is no social security but we have converted all of them in to organised workforce and now they will get ESIC (Employee's State Insurance Corporation) and EPFO, we are conducting speedy mechanism."
Mr Dattatreya also informed that the Labour Ministry is going to extend social security net for scheme workers including - anganwadi workers, ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, mid-day meal workers and others.
"They have been working for about 28-30 years, they do not have any help or pension, so there are two things - health coverage and pensions, these two things will be covered under social security," said the Union Minister.
Highlighting the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi's vision that even poorest of the poor get social security guarantee and benefits, he said, "For coming days, we think both auto-rickshaw and rickshaw pullers also should have social security as that is the need of the hour."
He also said that the ambitious Digital India program of the Union Government will play a critical role in spreading the social security net across the country.
"India is a nation of 125 crore people, it cannot be run by old and traditional ways, unless we use technology and unless we go for reforms, then only India will be competitive with other countries," said Mr Dattatreya.
Terming the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) as one of the largest social security organisation in the world, he said, "There are about four crore contributing members with a total corpus nearing Rs 10 lakh crores, such a big organisation, that is why we need reforms."
"We are going with speedy reforms in the EPFO, with Shram Suvidha portal, the technology mode and innovations in its process, the claims settlement has come 100 per cent and smooth operations of accounts is done in a single day, earlier the workers with a cumbersome process were facing many problems," further said the Minister.
In his address at the ASSOCHAM conference, Dr V.P. Joy, Central Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO informed that his organisation is currently negotiating with Sri Lanka for social security agreement.
"As of now we have agreements with 19 countries and we would like to
increase the number of countries and also make very effective and workable agreements so that all industry and workers are benefitted including both Indians working abroad and foreign nationals who come to work in India," said Dr Joy.
Highlighting how EPFO is currently on a technological transformation as a generation of technological reforms are taking shape, he said, "On December 1, we are launching three softwares - ECR (Electronic Challan-cum-Return), new version of UAN (Universal Account Number) and a software for direct benefit of PMRPY program, so we are making a complete electronic system for this purpose which will be launched on December 1."
Informing that EPFO had centralised its computer system, Dr Joy said, "All over the country out of our 123 offices, as of today 30 offices are working on a central computer in Delhi and all data is being shifted to this."
He said that in the next one month, before December 31 the EPFO will shift work from all its offices on the central computer. "Once the centralisation of data takes place, we will be able to do large number of benefits and reforms to our system, to benefit the employees and workers, so it will become very easy for the workers."
He said that government is issuing a notification for making Aadhar also kind of compulsory for workers so that their benefits can be instantly transferred as and when it is due.
"As part of this kind of software development, in the next three months, we would like to introduce certain improvements to this international workers' software which is being at present implemented," said Dr Joy.
Dr Joy also informed that EPFO had started a scheme whereby in the industry when the workers retire their benefits should be given on the date of retirement. "As of now it is not happening but we have given instructions, our offices are on the work, from this week on it is happening that all workers on the day of retirement, their benefits will be sanctioned and given."
He also said that EPFO would like to extend it to the international workers working in India, but for only those who are eligible upon termination of their employment without delay in an online system.
"We will put this mechanism in place in a very short time definitely within three months time and this will promote ease of doing business," added Dr Joy.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Members of an extremist group banned in Germany for inspiring more than 140 ISIS fighters with its ideology are active in the United Kingdom and seeking to recruit followers in Britain's largest cities.
The German Police launched almost 200 raids across the country at mosques, offices and homes linked to Die Wahre Religion (DWR) movement, meaning "The True Religion", this week but British security forces remain powerless to do the same, reports the Independent.
Announcing the prohibition earlier on Tuesday, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that these members were spreading "hate and anti-constitutional messages, stirring up "militant and aggressive attitudes" among its predominantly young audience, including calls to wage jihad and reject democracy in favour of the DWR's Salafist interpretation of Islam under the cover of a Quran distribution campaign.
"After taking part in DWR activities, more than 140 young individuals so far have travelled to Syria or Iraq to join in the fighting by terrorist groups," he said.
But the prohibition extends only to Germany, and thus, the DWR's British affiliate can continue its campaigns untroubled unless the UK adds it to its list of proscribed terrorist organisations.
Ibrahim Abou-Nagie, the Cologne-based cleric founded who founded DWR with Islamist Pierre Vogel, has been labelled a hate preacher in Germany, being previously investigated on allegations of disturbing peace, encouraging criminal acts and incitement to murder.
Nagie, 52, who has also been convicted of welfare fraud and misusing charitable donations in Germany, is currently believed to be in Malaysia.
Germany has banned the DWR and all its activities, including the prominent "Lies!" or "Read!" Quran distribution campaign, which has spread to countries including the UK, France, Spain and Brazil where members at branded stalls hand out hardline translations of the text in busy shopping areas.
The Read! campaign regularly broadcasts its activities, showing members handing out Quran translations, "converting" passers-by to Islam and debating the religion in busy shopping areas across the UK.
The British authorities have declined to comment on whether they were considering proscribing the group under the Terrorism Act 2000, which is used to ban groups that commit, prepare for, promote, encourage or glorify acts of terrorism.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that the police was powerless to arrest DWR supporters or stop their events in London unless the legal step was taken.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Comparing US-based religious cleric Fethullah Gulen's organisation to terror outfits al-Qaeda and ISIS, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint sitting of Parliament that the organization could harm Pakistan if allowed to carry out its activities.
"I whole-heartedly believe that [Gulen's] organisation will be eliminated as soon as possible without harming brotherly Pakistan," said Erdogan.
"I would like to state once again that Fethullah Gulen's Terrorist Organisation (FETO) is a bloody terrorist organisation posing a threat not only to Turkey, but to all countries in which it operates," he said.
The Turkish President, who is on an official visit to the country, also appreciated Pakistan's recent decision to expel the staff of Pak-Turk schools, which are run by elements allegedly linked to Gulen, whom Ankara has blamed for the recent military coup in the country.
"I appreciate the recent decisions taken by the Pakistani government in this direction and I thank you for your strong support in our fight against Feto," said Erdogan.
Erdogan said that Turkey too was taking steps to curb the Gulen Network. The Turkish government has, since July, suspended, dismissed or detained at least 110,000 people, including soldiers, judges and teachers believed to be supporting the botched coup. The country has also further closed more than 130 media outlets and detained journalists and opposition lawmakers.
Western countries have accused Erdogan of using the coup as a pretext to stifle dissent at home.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) lawmakers boycotted the session to protest against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his alleged corruption in the Panamagate.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pointing out that the battlefield is changing today and cyber warfare is no longer science fiction but a strategic challenge, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has offered his country's expertise to India in all these areas to make a safer world.
President Rivlin was delivering a special address at the dinner organised, in honour of the visiting president, by Observer Research Foundation in association with the Embassy of Israel and the Confederation of Indian Industries on Thursday night.
"There is positive and growing cooperation between our countries in many areas of defence and security. We also face a common challenge in fighting terrorism and radicalism. I am here today to affirm our commitment to the fight against global terrorism. We are here today, to carry the great potential of this partnership into reality," the president told a packed hall with diplomats, former diplomats, policy-makers and academia.
The president said " Israel wants to play a part in the Four-Colours Revolution that Prime Minister Modi has set as India's goal, that brings together the colours of the Indian flag: Saffron for solar power, Green for agriculture, White for dairy produce, and Blue for water".
The president said his country has advanced solar power systems, irrigation systems, water treatment projects, and the average milk production per cow, are just a few examples.
"Today's innovations are almost unimaginable ? and we now have companies working to make water out of air. We want to gather all these technologies, all the power of our Israeli innovations as our motivation today: To make in India!! To make with India!! To be your partners!!," President Rivlin told to thunderous applause.
"This event is not just 'another dinner.' It is a ground-breaking gathering. I would like to thank the Confederation of Indian Industry, for hosting us tonight together with Observer Research Foundation at this special gala event," he said.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi who had said that God comes to the hungry, in the form of food, President Rivlin said he introduced his experts on agriculture, water treatment, food and environment experts who are "literally planting the seeds of tomorrow".
"We already have Israeli and Indian experts, working together with local farmers, to improve Indian produce, and the lives of local families", he said. He said that Indians and Israelis are developing new kinds of cherry tomatoes (which is an Israeli invention) in Karnal. "They are already 'making in India' a future together," he remarked.
President Rivlin said next year Israel and India will be marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. "I have come here together with some of our best minds of Israeli academia, business leaders, Israeli industries, and defence industries. We are here to reaffirm our deep commitment to our shared future," he said.
Welcoming President Rivlin, ORF Director Sunjoy Joshi said through the past 25 years, through the thick and thin of it all, Israel and India have enjoyed a unique relationship born at the very basics out of admiration and respect for each other.
"The Israel-India partnership, has always so far been a source of reassurance for us. Common security concerns have made defence technology ties between our two nations a critical component of our bilateral relation. Needless to say these elements continue to be vital today and will remain one of the cornerstones of our future as well," he noted.
"Now the new emerging realities of the world enable us to rise beyond the constraints of the last century to forge a new open, broad and robust alliance that moves beyond. Having brought this relationship out of the closet now is the opportunity to unlock it's full potential," Joshi said.
Joshi said in the coming years, as the Digital Economy gathers steam and the Internet of Things take over, India and Israel are poised to be one of the early movers and shakers, the influential stakeholders.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The last rites of Lieutenant General S.K. Sinha, a World War II veteran who was considered one of the most outstanding generals of the Indian Army, was held in the capital today.
Army General Dalbir Singh, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani were among the dignitaries who paid homage to the war veteran.
The wreath laying ceremony of Lieutenant General Sinha took place at the Brar Square.
The body of Lieutenant General Sinha's coffin wrapped in the Indian flag was accorded with 12 gun salutes.
Born in 1926, Lt Gen SK Sinha graduated with Honours from Patna University in 1942 at the young age of seventeen. He joined the Army soon thereafter passing out as the Best Cadet from the Officers Training School, Belgaum. He saw combat during the Second World War in Burma and Indonesia and after Independence in Kashmir.
The General commanded battalion of 5 GORKHA RIFILES in Ladakh, a brigade in Manipur, a Mountain Division in Assam, Infantry Division in Jammu, a Corps and a field Army in the Western Theatre. He also had the distinction of serving as Adjutant General and Vice Chief of Army Staff.
During his varied career, Lt Gen Sinha, in 1949 was appointed Secretary of the Indian delegation for delineation of the Cease Fire Line in Kashmir.
In 1972 he led the Indian delegation to Italy for a conference on application of human rights to warfare. In recognition of his service he was awarded Param Vishist Sewa Medal in 1973.
As a Statesman, Lt. Gen Sinha was appointed India's Ambassador to Nepal in 1990.
A prolific writer, he authored five books including one on Jammu and Kashmir Operation of 1947-48 and his autobiography, "A Soldier Recalls".
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Unimpressed with the arguments of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) counsel Hamid Khan in the Panamagate scandal accusing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children of laundering money to purchase their London properties, the Supreme Court has asked the former to build his case and not politick.
It was not as expected by the PTI when their senior counsel opened his arguments yesterday before the five-judge apex court bench hearing the Panamagate case. The counsel quoted at length from three speeches made by Sharif - on April 5, April 22 and May 16 - to proclaim his innocence before the nation, reports the Dawn.
To this, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed that "instead of going into mind-numbing rhetoric, the counsel should have relied on the documents submitted by the Prime Minister and his family members", adding that Khan's case should be that the documents the respondents are relying on were wrong.
"Please focus on the [case] at hand," Justice Saeed advised the petitioner's counsel, adding that the court could not draw any conclusion on the basis of the Prime Minister's speeches.
Justice Saeed also expressed his apprehension at the way the proceedings were going in this case and said that this hearing would likely continue until 2099.
When the counsel pointed out that Sharif had promised the nation he would quit if found guilty, Justice .Khosa reminded Khan that the Prime Minister had made that promise with himself, not with the counsel.
The PTI's lawyer also lamented that the speeches failed to offer any explanation of how the Sharifs generated the capital to install factories in Dubai when they had gone broke after the nationalisation of their industries nor did they explain where the family found the money to revive sick industrial units that were handed over to them in 1983.
The court, more interested in the matter at hand, nudged the counsel in the direction of a financial investigation report carried out by an agency in the British Virgin Islands in 1999 for the Al-Taufiq case, where a suspicious activity report had also been generated.
At one point, when the counsel contested the Prime Minister's claims regarding the payment of Rs. 360 million in tax, Justice Khosa observed that it was not the court's job to scrutinise the entire life of a person. The judge said that the matter of paying taxes was irrelevant to the case at hand and asked the counsel to focus his arguments on the London properties.
The Chief Justice also emphasized that in criminal trials, the benefit of the doubt always went in the favour of the suspect, adding that the counsel's arguments were not a substitute for tangible proof.
"We are giving you the chance to address the court for the sake of our satisfaction, but after hearing you for over an hour, we are still at the same position," the bench observed.
"On the basis of your arguments and replies filed, it seems [the case] is not so simple that we may straightaway come to a definite conclusion and pass an order unless there is a detailed inquiry within a solid time frame, conducted by an inquiry commission headed by a Supreme Court judge," the bench said.
At one point, Justice Khosa even quipped it appeared that the judges were more prepared than the lawyers in the case, especially since an elected Prime Minister was in the dock.
The apex court will resume hearing in the Panamagate matter on November 30.
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Paris Hilton, who regards President-elect Donald Trump as a family friend, recently revealed that she voted for him in the US presidential elections.
According to the Daily Mail, the 35-year-old socialite was asked, during an Australian TV interview, if she voted for Trump, to which she replied, "I've known him since I was a little girl, so yes" confirming her support for the Republican.
"I've known him my entire life and he's always been incredibly supportive of me," she said of her relationship with Trump.
This decision of Hilton, who earlier remained tight-lipped about her decision in the polling booth, puts her at odds with Hollywood's liberal elite, which overwhelmingly rallied for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Reportedly, Trump and Hilton first met when she was 12 years old and a friend of his daughter Ivanka Trump's.
The 'The Simple Life' star is currently in Australia for a DJ tour and to promote her new fragrance 'Gold Rush' and will be making appearances in Melbourne and Sydney as she releases her latest perfume.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The pandemonium in the house between the treasury bench members and the Congress members over the issue of demonetization led to the speaker adjourn the Rajya Sabha till Monday.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice this morning following the continuous uproar in the house.
As soon as the Upper House met for the day, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) members trooped into the well of the House in support of their demand for the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board.
Soon after, the Treasury Bench members were on their feet and protesting against Azad's remark in the House yesterday.
Following this, Congress members rushed into the well shouting slogans against Treasury Bench members.
Amid noisy scenes, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that people are unhappy with Azad's comment comparing deaths of the people in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistani forces with the alleged deaths of people following the demonetisation move.
He also demanded that the Congress and Azad tender apologies to the nation.
The Lok Sabha has also been adjourned till Monday following the uproar between a massively united opposition and the treasury over the issue of demonetisation.
The government is insisting that the Congress Party apologise for the controversial remarks made by its leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in Rajya Sabha on Thursday during a demonetisation debate on the government's move to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
There was also a heated argument in Lok Sabha between Ananth Kumar and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge over the black money issue in the House.
BJP leader and MP Meenakshi Lekhi attacked the opposition on comments made by some MPs about deaths while in queue at banks, ATMs.
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The Department for International Trade (DIT) is leading a delegation of 6 British Agri-Tech companies at Agro-Tech trade show in Chandigarh from 19-22 November.
Agro-Tech, India's Premier Agro Technology and Fair, is organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Along with a couple of other Ministries from the Government of India.
The UK is the 'Guest Country' in the 12th edition of Agro-Tech. The British delegation will join the British Pavilion at Agro-Tech show in International Pavilion. The British pavilion will showcase the UK's capabilities in Agri-Tech. The UK has one of the most reputed agricultural technology sectors in the world, having contributed to the Agricultural Revolution across the world.
David Lelliott, Deputy High Commissioner to Chandigarh said:
"I am delighted to see this strong UK delegation participating in Agro-tech. This year has seen a step change in our engagement with Punjab on Agri-tech, with the visit to UK of a Punjab Government delegation, followed by a series of visits and events here, including most recently the visit to Chandigarh earlier this month of the Tech Summit Agri-tech delegation as part of the programme of events surrounding the Prime Minister's visit. The UK has high quality institutions and companies ready to provide the expertise and technology that Punjab needs, and the Deputy High Commission Chandigarh and Department of International Trade will continue to help them develop their relationships here."
The DIT led delegation is being accompanied by Luis Mulet, Trade Specialist, UK Government's Agri-Tech Organisation and includes senior representatives from -
1. Genus ABS - Genus ABS India is part of ABS Global, a division of Genus plc. They are world's leading provider of bovine genetics and reproduction services. Genus ABS India adopts its international standard for selection of bulls for semen production with regards to genetics and health standards. Genus ABS India has started producing and marketing semen produced out of the bulls born through embryos imported from North America and gnomically testing them.
2. Aviagen - The Aviagen Group is the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of broiler chickens and turkeys. Aviagen's successful and well-established genetic selection program consistently promotes continuous improvements in robustness and overall health while providing the birds with the highest quality care and welfare standards.
3. Platts - Platts Animal Bedding is a market-leading UK manufacturer and supplier of quality animal bedding, based in North Wales.
4. British Pig Association - Founded in 1884, The Association is the official breed society and maintains the Herd Books for top British breeds.
5. Aardra Systems- Aardra manufactures cost effective water management systems that safeguards water and power resources from being wasted. The systems create a unique environment whereby plants and crops are adequately kept moist and watered to enable them to thrive and flourish.
6. Trantor International - Trantor International Ltd. (TIL) is a British-owned, private company that has created and developed new kinds of more energy-efficient and more productive farm tractors. The Trantor Tractors enable users to reduce fuel consumption by as much as 40%, and increase labour productivity by more than 300%, whilst also being significant for the no-till farming system.
Fifty other top British companies ranging from Animal Science, Aquaculture, Plant Sciences and Precision Agriculture will be displaying their catalogues at the trade show.
The UK has three of the top five global universities, 20 percent of the workforce in science, over 100 science parks, well established Research and Development sites for multinational companies such as Syngenta, Zoetis and Bayer, and the world's best and most complete data-sets relevant to agriculture.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive and dubbed the policy as a disaster.
Addressing a press conference here, Akhilesh said that the Centre was unprepared, adding the implementation was so weak that the ATM machines could not accept the new currency.
Highlighting the plight of farming community, the Chief Minister urged the Centre to eliminate farmers from the purview of the demonetisation drive.
"Farmers are in crisis. This is not a natural disaster but one created by the Central Government. The ATM machines were not prepared to accept the new notes. How will the people of the nation accept them?" he said in a sarcastic tone.
"Somehow the UP Government facilitated farmers last year without the help of Centre and now when we were expecting that something good will happen, the Centre came out with this policy. Our party has urged that the farmers at least should not be brought under the umbrella of this new policy," he added.
Akhilesh also took the opportunity to highlight the fact that 50 days are not enough for complete currency exchange, adding the delay will immensely affect the Indian economy.
"The government might say that the currency exchange issue will be solved in 50 days but I sincerely believe that it will take six months to one year. And this will adversely affect the economy. Employment will be affected immensely. The whole nation is questioning the non preparedness of the Centre," he said.
The demonetisation drive has also garnered criticism from the other opposition parties including the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
BSP supremo Mayawati earlier in the day urged Prime Minister Modi to shed his stubbornness and dictatorial attitude and think about the suffering of the common man which is living in deep pain due to demonetisation drive.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday drew parallel between the demonetisation drive and the Uri terror attack.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Azad said that the Pakistani terrorists did not kill half the people in Uri than the number of people who have been dead due to the government's wrong policy.
Meanwhile, the demonetisation war continued in the Parliament today with the Opposition seeking an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi while questioning his absence.
Amid chaotic scenes, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till Monday while the Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2: 30 p.m.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation lost 7.11% to Rs 184.90 at 10:27 IST on BSE after net profit declined 4.77% to Rs 26.96 crore on 14.23% fall in net sales to Rs 932.71 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 November 2016.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 48 points, or 0.18%, to 26,179.62
On BSE, so far 43,000 shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 53,145 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 195.60 and a low of Rs 177.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 253.45 on 16 September 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 128.15 on 17 February 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past 30 days till 17 November 2016, falling 10.05% compared with 6.28% decline in the Sensex. The scrip, however, also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 10.12% as against Sensex's 6.59% fall.
The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 88.20 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation said that the company witnessed marginal growth in chemical business, however, recorded subdued performance in fertilisers because of higher carryover stocks in the country and comparatively lower volumes in ammonium nitrate due to seasonal slowdown with delayed and extended monsoons. The combined negative impact in the fertiliser sector emerging out of the delayed monsoons, inventory build- up from earlier quarter and sudden price cuts impacted the performance in Q2 September 2016, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation said. Good rainfalls followed with brisk sales and lowering of raw material costs should help improve the workings of the subsequent quarters, the company said. The softening of raw material prices, specially ammonia, would help the company combat global competition, it added.
Sailesh C. Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation said that after two consecutive droughts, the country witnessed good monsoons in the current year. The company is poised for achieving smooth production with restoration of full scale water supply and is optimistic with respect to outlook for demand growth across all businesses, Sailesh C. Mehta said.
Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation is among India's leading producers of industrial chemicals and fertilisers.
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Sales decline 4.92% to Rs 62.02 crore
Net profit of Diamond Infosystems declined 75.00% to Rs 0.03 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 0.12 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015. Sales declined 4.92% to Rs 62.02 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 65.23 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015.62.0265.230.150.320.030.120.030.120.030.12
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In Pahara, Uttar Pradesh
GPT Infraprojects announced the commencement of trail production at the Company's concrete sleeper plant in Pahara village located at Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh.
GPT Infraprojects has set up the sleeper facility in Pahara in connection with the World Bank funded Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor project for supplying concrete sleepers. This production facility, with a capacity of 400,000 sleepers per annum, is one of the 2 facilities being set up for this Rs 246 crore contract of DFC by the Company. The first facility of similar capacity in Ikari, Uttar Pradesh began trail production this September.
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India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) believes that the four-rate tax slabs of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% in GST would have a bearing on the profitability of most industries. Further, additional cess on some of the products, if absorbed by the respective businesses, would impact their margins.
GST would benefit industry as it would eliminate the cascading impact of taxes and allow unrestricted flow of input tax credit, and lower the compliance cost through simple tax regime as against the current multiple tax slabs and laws. In general, industries currently subject to taxes at a rate higher than the rates proposed in the GST Act would benefit and see margin expansions and improvements in their working capital, while those subject to a tax rate lower than the GST rates may face challenges on the margin front and increased working capital requirements.
Ind-Ra also believes that the service industries would see an increase in tax rates for most services under the new GST regime, which might have a bearing on the margins and the working capital cycle. Further, factors such as abatements, concessional duty structure, and area-wise exemptions, if not continued under GST, would have a significant bearing on the profitability of many industries.
Industries that would benefit from lower GST tax rates include cement and auto manufacturers, while those that could be impacted negatively due to GST include the cotton and downstream value chain and apparel segment of the textile industry and print media, which are currently either tax exempted or subject to concessional rates of taxes.
Abatement of tax, if not continued under the GST regime, would have a bearing on the profitability of logistics and real estate industries, while the impact on the infrastructure industry with high value contracts spanning across years would have to be assed contract-wise.
Within the infrastructure industry, contracts in project phase can face viability issues if they are unable to pass on the increase in cost due to higher taxes or if the government incentives are discontinued under GST.
The central government would compensate for any revenue loss to the state governments during the first five years of the GST regime. The GST council has agreed to factor in the tax exemptions given to the industries in the eight north eastern states and the three hilly states while calculating revenue loss for determining compensation. The governments' (both states and central) decision to continue with the area-based exemptions from central and state taxes can also impact the profitability of factories set up in the specified areas based on these exemptions.
The compelling rationale to switch from the current regime to the GST regime is to eliminate the cascading impact of taxes or simply put tax on tax which leads to increase in the price of the end product. Other equally important areas which the GST would address are the multiplicity of taxes at central and state levels, leading to cumbersome and cost bearing compliance exercise for businesses, by bringing about uniformity in tax rates and structure.
Since, the input credit would be available only on taxes paid to the central or state government and after an automated reconciliation through an IT infrastructure, users of input supply would insist on tax invoices to claim the input credit, there by plugging the leakage due to non-payment of taxes or Kaccha Bills as it is popularly known in India.
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IIFL Holdings rose 0.7% to Rs 253.30 at 13:45 IST on BSE after the company said that its subsidiary proposes to acquire the management and control of Bangalore-based Samasta Microfinance.
The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 November 2016.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 33.79 points, or 0.13%, to 26,261.41.
On BSE, so far 5,462 shares were traded in the counter, compared with average daily volume of 35,847 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 256 and a low of Rs 247.95 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 339.50 on 28 October 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 163.50 on 29 February 2016. The stock underperformed the market over the past one month till 17 November 2016, sliding 6.54% compared with 4.73% decline in the Sensex. The scrip also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 13.5% as against Sensex's 6.35% decline.
The mid-cap company has equity capital of Rs 63.42 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.
IIFL Holdings said that its non-banking financial company (NBFC) subsidiary, India Infoline Finance (IIFL), proposes to acquire the management and control of Bangalore-based Samasta Microfinance (Samasta), through acquisition of upto 100% equity shares, subject to completion of necessary due diligence, regulatory and other internal approvals. Samasta is an NBFC-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI) registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Pursuant to this, IIFL, Samasta and the promoters of Samasta will enter into necessary agreements and documents to effect sale and purchase shares of Samasta in due course upon completion of due diligence, internal approvals and regulatory process.
Samasta promoted by Narayanswamy Venkatesh and Deviah Shivaprasad, first generation entrepreneurs, began operations as an MFI in March 2008 and operates in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa through 64 branches. It currently has an asset under management (AUM) of about Rs 100 crore as on 30 September 2016. The income of Samasta as on 31 March 2016 was Rs 20.14 crore. The proposed acquisition of Samasta will help IIFL to enter into micro finance segment and extend its wide ranging financial services to their large customer base. IIFL has received an in principle approval from the RBI for acquiring the stake. The indicative time for completion of the acquistion is about 6 months.
IIFL Holdings' consolidated net profit rose 30.4% to Rs 183.12 crore on 25.4% increase in net sales to Rs 1216.12 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
IIFL Holdings is the apex holding company of the entire IIFL Group. It offers a gamut of services including financing, wealth and asset management, broking, financial product distribution, investment banking, institutional equities, realty and property advisory services through its various subsidiaries.
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IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company rose 1.86% to Rs 43.75 at 11:52 IST on BSE after the joint venture has emerged as the lowest bidder for two road projects.
The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 November 2016.
Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 16.74 points or 0.06% at 26,244.36
On BSE, so far 9,835 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 54,003 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 45 and a low of Rs 43.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 74.50 on 3 December 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 38 on 9 November 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past 30 days till 17 November 2016, falling 19.49% compared with 6.28% decline in the Sensex. The scrip also underperformed the market in past one quarter, declining 6.83% as against Sensex's 6.59% fall.
The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 121.16 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
The Joint Venture comprising IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company and IL&FS Transportation Networks in the ratio of 49:51 (Joint Venture) has emerged as the lowest bidder for the development of Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC) for the two road projects funded by Asian Development Bank under Madhya Pradesh District Roads II Sector Project on item rate basis. The first project involves widening and reconstruction of Bariya Choki-Lugasi-Garhi Malhara Road, Bamitha-Dumra Road, RajnagarBachhon Road, Khaparia Banspahari Road, Chhatarpur-Vikrampur-Rajnagar Road. The second project involves widening and reconstruction of Barghat-Kanhiwada Road, Dharna-Asta-Dondiwada- Dharmakua Road, Waraseoni-Katangi Road. The Joint Venture had quoted an amount of Rs 213.52 crore for first project and Rs 161.71 crore for second project. The construction period for the first project is 730 days and second project is 548 days.
IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company reported net loss of Rs 80.67 crore in Q2 September 2016 compared with net loss of Rs 81.87 crore in Q2 September 2015. The company's net sales rose 1.4% to Rs 356.87 crore in Q2 September 2016 over Q2 September 2015.
IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company is into infrastructure development, construction and project management.
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Punj Lloyd gained 2.35% to Rs 19.60 at 10:35 IST on BSE after the company said that its wholly-owned subsidiary executed definitive agreements with India Power Green Utility to co-develop 30 megawatts of solar assets.
The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 November 2016.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 42.47 points, or 0.16%, to 26,185.15.
On BSE, so far 1.2 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with average daily volume of 8.5 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 19.75 and a low of Rs 19.35 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 31.65 on 5 January 2016. The stock hit a record low of Rs 16.90 on 9 November 2016. The stock underperformed the market over the past one month till 17 November 2016, sliding 14.89% compared with 4.73% decline in the Sensex. The scrip, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, remaining unchanged as against Sensex's 6.35% decline.
The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 66.42 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.
Punj Lloyd said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure (PLIL), has executed definitive agreements with India Power Green Utility (IPGUPL) to co-develop 30 megawatts (MW) of solar assets in Uttarakhand. The agreements are in respect of three solar power projects, each of 10 MW capacity won by PLIL under the tariff based competitive bidding process in October 2015 to be executed by its wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) namely, PL Surya Vidyut, PL Sunrays Power, and PL Solar Renewable.
As per the transaction, PLIL will divest 49% of its shareholding in its three subsidiaries viz. PL Surya Vidyut, PL Sunrays Power and PL Solar Renewable. The special purpose vehicles (SPVs) have signed 25 years power purchase agreements with Uttarakhand Power Corporation. The company shall be responsible for the entire engineering, procurement and commissioning of the above projects. The transaction is expected to be completed once customary closing conditions and approvals are obtained.
Punj Lloyd reported net loss of Rs 211.39 crore in Q1 June 2016, lower than net loss of Rs 581.84 crore in Q1 June 2015. Net sales rose 36% to Rs 887.57 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015.
Punj Lloyd is a diversified international conglomerate offering engineering procurement construction (EPC) services in energy and infrastructure along with engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the defence sector.
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Sales decline 1.15% to Rs 19.76 crore
Net profit of Swiss Glascoat Equipments declined 9.82% to Rs 1.01 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 1.12 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015. Sales declined 1.15% to Rs 19.76 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 as against Rs 19.99 crore during the previous quarter ended September 2015.19.7619.9913.5116.462.112.241.521.681.011.12
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On 22 November 2016
Vedanta announced that the Company proposes to offer Rated Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures aggregating to Rs. 300 crores and in this regard is holding a meeting of its duly constituted Committee of the Board on 22 November 2016. The above issuance is pursuant to the approval of the Shareholders passed vide Special Resolution at the 50th and 51st Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 11 July 2015 and 29 June 2016, respectively and the Board of Directors' resolution passed at its meeting held on 29 July 2015.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that it is "anti-national" to support the demonetisation move "in the present form" as it is in reality a scam.
"It is the biggest scam of independent India. It would be anti-national to support demonetisation in its present form," Kejriwal told TV channel NDTV.
He said the scandal was intended to gather enough cash from the public so that loans worth Rs eight lakh crore given to "big businessmen" by banks could be written off.
Kejriwal said the demonetisation doesn't seem to be aimed at curbing corruption or black money or to turn a cash economy that is India into a cashless economy.
"It is not possible to convert cash economy to cashless economy overnight. It needs to be done slowly and with proper preparation.
"Hong Kong ended corruption in the 70s. Singapore did it. Even we did it in our 49-day government (in Delhi). But no one changed their currency to achieve that," the Aam Aadmi Party leader said.
He added it was achieved by taking action against the corrupt and sending them to jail.
Kejriwal said the first step towards ending corruption would be to have all the political parties declare their black money transactions.
"But by demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, not even a single penny of black money will come into the banking system," he added.
Asked what he would do if the government doesn't reverse the decision, he said he would first discuss the issue with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee before taking a decision.
--IANS
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Rejecting the demand for a CBI probe, the Tripura High Court has directed the government to conduct an audit in all 58 blocks of the state vis-a-vis MGNREGA scheme to ensure transparency, an official said on Friday.
The court direction came on a petition filed by former Congress spokesman and eminent physician Ashok Sinha, renowned lawyer Ashish Nandi and Trinamool Congress leader Arun Chandra Bhowmik, who sought a CBI probe into alleged irrigularities in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Tripura.
Rejecting the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, a division bench of Chief Justice T. Vaiphei and Justice Subhashish Talapatra on Thursday asked the government to get conducted the audit by renowned chartered accountants in 58 blocks, a Rural Development Department official said.
The High Court directed the Tripura government to engage the chartered accountants within two months to audit all accounts pertaining to MGNREGA scheme as well as the State Employment Guarantee Fund.
The court said the audit reports should be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and the Centre by the state government.
The court also asked the Tripura government to place in the assembly the audited accounts and statements of expenditure prepared by the chartered accountants.
"Once the audited accounts are laid in the state assemble the same should also be made available as a public document on the MGNREGA website."
Tripura retained the top position in the courtry for the seventh consecutive year till the fiscal that ended in April 2016 in providing jobs under the MGNREGA. A record 94.46 person days per household of work was provided in 2015-16, against the national average of 48.51 days.
--IANS
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Slamming the opposition for continued disruptions in Parliament over demonetisation, the government on Friday said the Congress was avoiding a debate in the house to save itself from getting exposed over its opposition to cleansing of the system.
"We cannot fathom why the opposition, especially the Congress and its friends, are creating an uproar in Parliament," Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told the media outside Parliament here.
"While they are posturing in public, they don't want to debate in the house. They just want to prevent themselves from being exposed over their objection to the cleaning of the system," he said after the Rajya Sabha witnessed several adjournments during the day.
Naidu, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said the opposition was trying to divert public attention from the issue.
"They don't have truth on their side; they do not enjoy public support. The popular opinion is going against them -- that is why they are creating this uproar to avoid the debate," the minister said.
Asking the Congress to come clean on the demonetisation issue, Naidu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will intervene in parliamentary debate whenever needed.
"Are you against the cleansing of the system? Are you against the cleansing of the economy? Are you against the government action against the corrupt? Or, are you concerned about the temporary problems faced by the people? Make your stand clear."
"You can't face the government. That is why you are trying to find excuses," he added.
--IANS
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Datawind Inc., a leader in delivering low-cost Internet connectivity to emerging markets, on Friday formally launched its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility here.
Coming up at GMR Complex of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at an investment of Rs 100 crore, the 40,000 sq. ft facility will manufacture 20 lakh tablets and phones in the first year. Its full capacity can reach up to five million units.
Inaugurated by Telangana's Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao and Canada's High Commissioner Nadir Patel, the plant employs 600 people and will increase the headcount to 1,000 by March next year.
This is the Canadian company's second facility in India after Amritsar, which is the country's first and only manufacturing facility for touch panels. It manufactures more than one lakh units per month.
Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind, said the company had positioned as India's largest tablet manufacturer for the last many quarters.
"We are coming out with full range of products including tabs, mini laptops, smart phones. The unit has been functional for the last few months and shipped 2.5 lakh units," he said.
Suneet pointed out that Datawind lead the tab market with a 37 per cent share.
Smart phones is the new segment for the company and it recently launched Rs 1,500 smart phone with touch screen and free unlimited Internet for one year.
"We have capacity for producing 50 lakh phones. We are focussing on low cost devices in the Rs 1,500 to 5,000 range and help bring down the cost of phones in the market."
He said the company was looking to set up a production unit in eastern India.
"We have applied for licence for Telecom operations and VNO. VNO will be a big focus of ours, will probably invest Rs 70-80 crores. As part of this we will have our own sims and offer Rs 20 unlimited browsing plan by next year. Under VNO we don't buy spectrum, don't have towers, but will be partnering with an operator and offer our own sims," he added.
Rama Rao said the government created a mobile manufacturing ecosystem in the state and in six to seven months three major manufacturers Micromax, Celcon and Datawind have set up their units here.
He revealed that European TV manufacturer Thompson is venturing into Telangana in tandem with a local company.
According to the minister, Telangana is offering and an attractive investment opportunity for Canadian companies.
More than 40 Canadian entities have their presence in Telangana. He also sought help of the high commissioner to start Air Canada flights to Hyderabad.
Datawind's is a prime example of Canadian companies investing in India for its betterment, and reflects the best of Canadian values.
We look forward to continue strengthening our partnership going forward as India strives to achieve its Make in India objectives," said the Canadian high commissioner.
--IANS
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Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio recently visited a restaurant here, and onlookers were left stunned as they spotted him on their bus journey to work.
The actor, who is in the city to speak at the Scottish Business Awards on Thursday, recently paid a visit to Home, a restaurant which gives its profits to the homeless.
He was greeted by hundreds of fans waiting outside and spent time chatting and signing autographs after they waited hours in the pouring rain to meet the star, reports mirror.co.uk
He looked dapper with his dark hair slicked back while wearing a white open-collared shirt and black trousers with matching shoes. He teamed it up with a long coat.
Tom Hunter, chairman of the Scottish Business Awards, said on its website: "Leonardo is not only a famous actor, he is a pioneering environmentalist and committed philanthropist whose charitable work is making a global impact.
"To have him address our nation's premier businesses and entrepreneurs is incredibly exciting.
"That the Scottish Business Awards is the largest awards dinner of its kind in the whole of the UK says a lot about the strength and ambition of Scotland's entrepreneurial community."
--IANS
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Sri Lanka's former ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, was arrested on Friday for suspected misuse of state funds under the previous government.
Wickramasuriya, a relative of former President Mahinda Rajapakse, was arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigations Division for allegedly accepting a $245,000 commission while serving as the envoy in Washington, Xinhua news agency reported.
He is also suspected to have defrauded more than $33,000 in purchasing a building for the Sri Lankan embassy in the US. The former diplomat is expected appear in a court later on Friday.
--IANS
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Failure to impose sanctions on leaders of terrorist organisations is eroding the UN's authority, India has warned.
If the Security Council and its agencies did not come up with a "cohesive response to global terrorism they run the risk of becoming marginalised from the most fundamental security priorities of member states whose fabric is being torn asunder by terrorists," India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday during a General Assembly debate on Afghanistan.
He reiterated a demand India made in June for designating Taliban chief Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as a terrorist and making him face the penalties of UN sanctions.
"The international community is impatient for action," Akbaruddin said.
"Earlier this week, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan himself asked a delegation of the UNSC (Security Council) Sanctions Committee to include this person, and such others, in the list of terrorists," he said.
The working of the Sanctions committee has been a sore point for India. China has used its veto to provide cover for Jaish-e-Mohammad's Pakistan-based head, Masood Azhar, from sanctions.
India says he is the mastermind of the January terrorist attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot.
Afghanistan's Permanent Representative Mahmoud Saikal also raised the problem of the Taliban and other terrorist organisations based in Pakistan.
Without directly naming it, he accused Pakistan of waging a "thinly disguised declared war" against his country by using the Taliban and other terrorist orgnisations, including the Haqqani network and the Islamic State.
He warned Islamabad, "Those who seek solace from the intention of keeping Afghanistan bleeding must remember that such actions would bleed them, too, and warrant international isolation."
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
--IANS
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Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that the first Airborne Early Warning and Control System ( AEW&C) is likely to be inducted in December.
"There has been no delay in AWACS(I) Project as the current mandate of the project was to finalise on the contract of the aircraft through a global tendering process, which has been completed," the minister said in a written reply.
The indigenous Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) System is likely to be available from 2024, the minister added.
The response cited finalisation of operational requirements, delay in delivery of certified aircraft and incompletion of flight evaluation of the integrated systems due to reasons of modification on aircraft by original equipment manufacturer, as the reasons for delay in the AEW&C also known as mini AWACS.
AWE&C are airborne radar system to detect aerial threats and command the fighter air crafts for strikes. DRDO is developing an indigenous AWE&C system mounted on Embraer air crafts.
India operates AWACS system imported from Israel which is mounted on Russian IL -76 air crafts.
--IANS
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Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has gained some ground at the final debate ahead of Sunday's first round of the conservative party's primary elections.
According to a poll, 33 per cent of the 1,012 voters interviewed saw Fillon as the most convincing against 32 per cent for Alain Juppe, the polls' favourite to win presidential election next year, and 18 per cent for ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, Xinhua news agency reported.
Despite sliding support in a tight primary race, Juppe maintained the lead, according to the poll.
Among the three candidates of France's Conservative Party and its allies, whoever wins the party's two-round primaries slated for November 20 and 27, will have a strong chance of becoming the country's next president, due to deep divisions in the Left and the public's opposition to a far-right President.
Shortly before the poll, Fillon urged voters to make up their own minds.
"We French people are a proud people, and we do not like to be dictated our choices, so do not be afraid next Sunday to contradict polls and media that had already arranged everything for you. Choose to vote for your convictions," he said.
"I have always told the truth to the French people. I have a programme that is not easy, but it is the only one that gives the French their freedom to work, to succeed, to raise their children in accordance with French values," he said.
The presidential election will take place on April 23 and May 7.
According to the country's pollsters, the presidential favourite would be a conservative and easily unseat the incumbent Socialist President Francois Hollande and beat far-rightist leader Marine Le Pen.
--IANS
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The Gujarat High Court on Friday granted Patel agitation spearhead Hardik Patel leave to shift his temporary residence for a fortnight from Rajasthan to Uttarakhand.
Hardik had moved a petition in the High Court seeking permission to change his temporary residential address from Udaipur in Rajasthan to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
"The hon'ble court had put in a condition that he cannot change his temporary residence during bail period without its permission. Hardik wanted to visit some religious places in Haridwar and so we moved a petition before seeking permission for four weeks," said Rafiq Lokhandwala, member of team representing Hardik in the high court.
Hardik, who is out on a six-month bail in a sedition case, had been barred from entering Gujarat by the court. In his petition, he had mentioned that he wished to stay at Swami Deeptanand Ashram, Bhupatwala, Haridwar, with its mahant, Swami Krishnanand Maharaj.
--IANS
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President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said higher education institutions are the torch-bearers of progress in the country, and stressed the need for quality research.
"Building institutions is not merely a brick-and-mortar activity. It represents a vision of the future, which we all want for our nation and the generations to come," he was quoted as saying by an official release.
He said shortage of teaching faculty had plagued our institutions for a long time.
"There is a need for innovative mechanisms to address the problem of vacancies on a long-term basis," Mukherjee said, adding that 70 per cent vacancies in central universities have been filled.
He made the comments during the concluding day of the Visitor's Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
Figures provided at the conference indicated the vacancies had reduced only marginally, from 39 per cent in 2014 to 36 per cent in 2016.
He said the Visitor's Conference provided a platform for central institutions in diverse fields like agriculture, pharmaceuticals and humanities to join institutions of technology, engineering, science and IT in deliberations.
"Participation by all institutions in the National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) will help create a spirit of healthy competition, eventually reflecting in our approach to international rankings. A successful implementation of 'Project Vishwajeet' could see seven to 10 Indian institutions in the top 100 in the near future."
He said that while the government will have to find a major part of funds required, we should also look at other funding mechanisms like alumni and corporate sector support.
"It can come in the form of endowments, sponsored research and creation of joint and shared research facilities," said the President.
Among the dignitaries present at the concluding session of the Visitor's Conference were Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister of State Mahendra Nath Pandey and senior officers of Rashtrapati Bhavan and the government of India.
--IANS
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Over 500 unaccompanied migrant children have gone missing after arriving in Sweden this year and the number of homeless people is growing, Swedish media reported on Thursday.
The number of asylum seeker children who go underground has gone up from 288 in 2015 to 560 this year, Xinhua news agency citing the Swedish Migration Agency.
Currently, at least 1,650 migrants who applied for asylum in Sweden as children are missing. Some have been missing for years and are now adults, while over 600 are still under 18, said Swedish Television.
A total of 327 of the unaccompanied minors who have disappeared since 2010 were between 13 and 15 years old when they went missing, 167 were between seven and 12, and 190 were under seven years old.
Swedish Television spoke to several volunteer organisations as well as to the border police in western Sweden and they confirmed that there are more and more failed asylum seekers living on the streets and that the wanted list was growing.
--IANS
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The Indian Navy on Friday denied Pakistan's claim of detecting and chasing away an Indian submarine in its waters.
The Pakistan Navy on Friday said it detected an Indian submarine near its waters and "chased it out" in time, according to Geo News.
"Indian Navy categorically denies the report as blatant lies," Indian Navy Spokesperson Captain D.K. Sharma said.
According to a Pakistan Navy spokesperson, their fleet units "chased" the Indian submarine until it left Pakistani territory, Geo TV reported.
The spokesperson further said that the Pakistani Navy's ability to "push back" the submarine was a testament to the country's anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Pakistan was "capable of giving a fitting response to any sort of aggression (by India)", the spokesperson added. He alleged that India is "trying to station its submarines in Pakistani waters".
--IANS
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Israel on Friday expressed its commitment for 'Make in India and Make with India' in the security domain, said a industry release.
Participating at a 'Round table on Indo-Israel Cooperation in Defence & Homeland Security', Israeli Defence Ministry's international defence cooperation directorate (SIBAT) chief Brig. Gen. Mishel Ben Baruch (retd.) said: "We are willing to cooperate with India and transfer technologies through partnership with Indian companies. SIBAT and Ministry of Defence of Israel are committed for a long term relationship with India."
He called the event, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), "historic" and "an opportunity to find ways to enhance cooperation between India and Israel in these areas"."
Defence Ministry Joint Secretary (Planning & International Cooperation) Shambhu S. Kumaran said: "In India, defence production is set to shift from public sector to private companies and offset programme of the country is also taking shape with a target of $10 billion in next 5 years."
Emphasising on the high degree of trust shared between the two countries and the growing concern of cyber threat, Kumaran called it one of the areas where India and Israel could collaborate.
Israel is one of the leading exporters of weapon systems to India, providing missiles, unmanned aircrafts, electronic warfare and radars in last decade.
--IANS
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In a first of its kind in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led a protest outside the RBI office here along with 17 cabinet ministers and party leader Sitaram Yechury.
Vijayan and senior leaders from the Left Democratic Front walked from the Martyr's Column and reached the RBI to denounce the Centre's decision to sideline cooperative banks following the demonetisation.
The state government views the Centre's move as an "injustice" that would wreck the very existence of the cooperative banks in Kerala.
Starting the day-long protest, Vijayan said the cooperative banking sector was the "live wire" of the rural economy in Kerala as it functions well within the rules but does not have the frills of commercial banks.
The CPI-M leader said the cooperative bank was a friend of the common man as it extends credit to him without any fuss.
"The deposit base in these cooperative banks is in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore and this banking system rises to the occasion to address the need of our ordinary people," the Chief Minister said.
Referring to the BJP, he said that some people alleged that these banks were flush with black money.
"The people standing in front of me... Does anyone of you have black money deposited in these banks?" Vijayan asked the crowd.
The Reserve Bank of India has withdrawn the facility given to the cooperative banks the right to accept or exchange the spiked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three-tier-system, with about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to the 14 district banks that are linked to the apex Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB).
Vijayan said he and his Finance Minister Thomas Issac explained the situation to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who "we felt that understood what we said.
"But as soon as this happened, the state BJP spread canards that these banks were flush with black money and after that came the decision of the RBI withdrawing the facility that was given to these banks," he said.
"This is nothing but a big rooted political conspiracy," said Vijayan.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy welcomed the protest of the Kerala government.
"We will support any move that comes to protect the cooperative banks and we are with them on this issue," said Chandy.
The BJP says that these primary societies do not follow RBI guidelines while accepting deposits.
Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, applauded the people of Kerala and their government for organising such a protest.
"We will have to take this protest forward to the rest of the country to end the anarchic policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Yechury said.
He said his party was discussing the matter with all political parties and that the withdrawal of Rs 500 and 1,000 currencies was done in haste.
He also said that the Centre did not make alternate arrangements prior to the demonetisation announcement on November 8.
"This is no way to tackle black money or to fight terrorism," Yechury said. "Forty people have committed suicide since the announcement all over the country."
--IANS
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Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya on Friday urged the Finance Ministry to deploy more mobile ATMs in labour areas to help the cash-strapped workforce.
"We have requested the Finance Ministry to deploy more mobile ATMs in areas like construction sites where the workforce is in large numbers," Dattatreya said at a trade organisation's event here.
With no let-up in the cash chaos due to currency shortage after the central government's demonetisation move on November 8, millions of working class people, especially labourers, have been facing untold hardship for want of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes across the country.
"We have urged the Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) to rush mobile ATMs to the areas where labourers are working in large numbers and directed the state governments to assist banks in easing the situation," Dattatreya said at a conference on "India's Social Security Agreements", organised by Assocham.
The ministry is also identifying the areas where large workforce is present, so that mobile ATMs can be deployed there.
The Labour Minister, who met Jaitley on Thursday, has sought priority treatment for the workforce, especially in the unorganised sector, in the Union Budget for the next fiscal (2017-18) to ensure social security for them.
"As the five crore construction workers do not have social security, we have made them a part of the organised workforce to avail benefits from the ESIC (Employee's State Insurance Corporation) and EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation)," said Dattatreya.
India already has social security agreements with 19 countries the world over.
"As social security is essential for migrant workers, we are working for similar agreements with more countries, including those in BRICS and SAARC groups," said Dattatreya.
Central Provident Fund Commissioner V.P. Joy said on the occasion that the EPFO was negotiating with Sri Lanka for a social security agreement between the two countries.
Highlighting the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of extending social security guarantee to the poor, the minister said auto-rickshaw and cycle-rickshaw pullers should also have the same benefits.
--IANS
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The man who vandalised US President-elect Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been charged with felony, officials said.
James Lambert Otis, 52, made headlines on October 26 after video of him taking a pick-axe to the star went viral, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.
The District Attorney's Office on Thursday announced that Otis "did unlawfully and maliciously damage and destroy" property belonging to the city of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in an amount exceeding $400.
If convicted as charged, he will face up to three years in jail.
The day after the star was defaced, Otis was taken into custody by Los Angeles police on suspicion of felony vandalism. He was released shortly after posting a $20,000 bail.
Asked last month what prompted him to vandalise the star and remove Trump's name, Otis told Los Angeles Daily News, "The reason why I took the star was to auction it on Election Day, and raise as much money as I can for the women who have been exploited by Trump."
He is due in court on Friday.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing flak from some quarters for scrapping Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, an Australian analyst has called for similar bans on bigger denomination currency notes Down Under too.
The call for the ban on $100 and even $50 currency notes has been accompanied by laudatory comments for Modi's bold move.
Citing Modi's crackdown, a UBS analyst Jonathan Mott has taken lead in pressing for similar demonetisation measures in Australia.
"Removing large denomination notes in Australia would be good for the economy and good for the banks," Jonathan Mott said in a communication to UBS clients earlier this week. Benefits would include reduced crime and welfare fraud, increased tax revenue and a "spike" in bank deposits, he said.
While the percentage of the banned notes in India is around 80 percent, 92 per cent of all currency in Australia is the value of $50 and $100 (US$76).
"Only Switzerland, Israel, Norway and Russia use big notes more than we do," The Age economics editor Peter Martin had despaired while urging a ban on big notes in an article published a few months back.
"Who's got them? They are mainly in the hands of drug lords, human traffickers, and tax evaders," Martin had said, answering his own question while quoting from influential US economist Kenneth Rogoff's recently released book "The Curse of Cash".
Like The Age scribe, Mott believes that the scrapping of the biggest denomination currency notes would yield a plethora of economic benefits, including a reduction in crime, higher tax revenue from fewer cash transactions and lower rates of welfare fraud.
According to the UBS analyst, if all of $100 notes are deposited in banks, the household deposit would go up by 4 percent, reducing reliance on foreign funding.
Australia is not alone where Modi's demonetisation announcement is being seen with interest. According to media reports, a number of central banks and governments around the world are looking at withdrawing high denomination bank notes.
The reasons for their interest could be slightly different from India and the UBS analyst. The digitalisation of the economy is cited as the major reason for which many countries may either completely ban the bigger denomination notes or significantly reduce their number.
Like many of its fellow OECD members, Australia is also experiencing the increasing penetration of electronic payment methods.
The ATM transactions in Australia have fallen 3.4 percent a year since 2009 while credit card transactions have increased 7.3 percent a year, a UBS research note reads.
Australian banks have already commenced dropping cash transactions from service offered to the customers. 'No cash on Saturday' signs can be seen in a number of bank branches open for business on the weekends.
In a separate but related development, Citibank Australia has decided to remove cash from its branches. The US bank may have just six branches in Australia but its move has attracted the attention of financial analysts the world over. Removing cash from bank branches is seen as a move towards digital banking.
The demand for cash handling services (including ATM withdrawals) is on a decline in Australia. In Citibank's case, the decline was even more pronounced as only one in 20 customers entered one of its six branches for cash management.
The European Central Bank is also reportedly considering withdrawing 500 euro notes because of an "increased conviction in world public opinion" such high-value notes are used for criminal purposes.
(Paritosh Parasher is a senior journalist of Indian origin. He can be contacted at paritoshparasher@yahoo.com)
--IANS
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The Congress on Friday demanded an unconditional apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the over 50 deaths post the demonetistion move and said the series of guidelines issued in its wake showed that "confusion confounds the government completely".
The party also demanded that the government must pay adequate compensation to the families who have lost their near and dear ones. The Congress also said that printing currency notes worth Rs 15 lakh crore, to replace those that have been withdrawn, would take at least three to eight months.
The Congress further said the move was not planned and was only meant as an image-building exercise of the Prime Minister.
"We have a Prime Minister who takes a decision first, thinks later and never admits to his mistakes," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
"The problem with this government is that whoever questions them are branded anti-nationals. We demand that Modi apologise to the families of the deceased. An inquiry should be held into these deaths," he added.
The Congress also hit out at the government for bringing in new guidelines almost everyday following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
"In the past nine days, they have come up with 18 guidelines. There was no planning at all before taking the decision," said Surjewala.
Congress said the government decided to put ink on everyone's finger coming to change currency but the Election Commission has opposed the decision.
"Election Commission negated the decision to put ink. Truth is that government's right hand does not know as to what is being done by the left hand. Confusion confounds Modi government completely," he said.
Surjewala said due to demonetisation, 1,658 crore notes of Rs 500 and 668 crore notes of Rs 1,000 i.e. a total of 2,327 crore notes valued at about Rs 15 lakh crore, have been withdrawn.
"The 1,000 rupee notes are printed by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited. It has a capacity to print 133 crore notes per month in two shifts. Even if three shifts were to work, this company can print 200 crore notes per month," said Surjewala.
"If this company was to print new Rs 2,000 notes as against the old Rs 1,000 notes, the entire operation will take three-and-a-half months. Rs 500 notes are printed by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited, which has a capacity to print 100 crore notes per month," he added.
He further said: "If this capacity is doubled overnight, it will still take nearly eight months or more to print 1,658 crore notes of Rs 500."
Hitting out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Surjewala said: "There are only two lakh ATMs in the country. As per the Finance Minister, only 22,250 ATMs have been recalibrated and upgraded in last 10 days.
"If this figure is correct, it will take 110 days to recalibrate and upgrade all the two lakh ATMs. What will happen to people of the country in this period?" he asked.
The Congress also slammed the government for putting an embargo on all cooperative banks, rural development banks, primary land development banks and cooperative credit societies from either changing money or dispensing new notes.
--IANS
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Filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon, who is basking in the success of latest Tamil-Telugu bilingual "Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada", is keen to work with Naga Chaitanya in a straight Tamil film.
Chaitanya starred in Gautham's "Ye Maaya Chesave" and "Saahasam Sagipo Swasaga", the Telugu version of "Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada".
"He speaks good Tamil and I want to capitalize on it and work with him in a Tamil film. I want to introduce him to the Tamil film industry," Menon told IANS.
Happy with the response to his latest outing, which is doing extremely well in Tamil despite the demonetization effect, he said: "The announcement of demonetization feared us as it came just two nights before the release. Thankfully, it helped us in a way because other films couldn't release and we had an extended run."
With a project with Vikram and Suriya in the pipeline, Gautham also has plans for a multi-starrer which will bring together four stars from the four south Indian languages.
"Everything is still in discussion stage. I'm planning to work with leading heroes from Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam," he said.
--IANS
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Independent Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday introduced a private member's bill to declare Pakistan a terrorist state.
"I had promised that I will do this after the September 18 Uri attack. The reason behind the bill is to put the spotlight on the need for India to take a strong view on Pakistan as a terror state. The main objective is to urge the government to take appropriate action to brand Pakistan a terrorist nation," Chandrasekhar told IANS.
'The Declaration Of Countries as Sponsor of Terrorism Bill' states that "Pakistan propagates and harbours agents of international terror who have repeatedly attacked the territory and people of our country... (It) poses a continual risk to the peace and security of the region".
The bill also provides for imposing legal, economic and travel sanctions on citizens of the neighbouring country.
The bill seeks to prohibit citizens of such country, which is declared a terror state, including its Head of the State, from travelling in India. It also asks for prohibition on trade, receiving or making grants, financial remittances, investments and assets along with maritime activities and overflight over India.
The bill states that immunity of officials of such countries shall be revoked and they shall not be offered immunity from any legal case in India.
--IANS
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British Supreme Court announced on Friday that the Scottish and Welsh governments will be allowed to intervene in the forthcoming legal battle over how Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) should be triggered.
In what will be one of the most important court cases in British legal history, British Prime Minister Theresa May's government is to appeal against a High Court ruling that parliament must vote on triggering Brexit, Xinhua news agency reported.
The landmark case will start before all 11 Supreme Court judges on December 5 and is likely to last for four days. The decision will not be announced until early 2017.
The Supreme Court said on Friday that the Lord Advocate of the Scottish government and the Counsel General for the Welsh government had been granted permission to intervene in the case.
The court is also to allow other representation in the case by the "expat interveners," George Birnie and others, as well as the Independent Workers Union of Britain.
Additionally, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland will take part in the case regarding devolution issues relating to Northern Ireland.
The High Court in London ruled earlier this month that the British parliament should have a say in Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered to start two years of formal withdrawal talks from the EU.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Navneet Sehgal was seriously injured when the car he was in collided head-on with another vehicle on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district on Friday, a police officer said.
"Principal secretary Information Sri @navneetsehgal3 IAS met with an accident near Unnao. Prayers for his wellbeing & speedy recovery," Uttar Pradesh Police Additional Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastava, who is posted as PRO in the DGP's office, said in a tweet.
IANS' UP correspondent Mohit Dubey, who was also in the car, was injured in the accident too.
Sehgal is currently the Principal Secretary, Information.
--IANS
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked NDA parliamentarians to reach out to people over the government's demonitisation move and explain to them decisions taken by the Reserve Bank of India and Finance Ministry to negate charges being levelled by the opposition, said informed sources.
Sources said a communication has been sent by the BJP parliamentary party, which Modi heads, to the MPs belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), urging them to address gatherings, distribute pamplets and issue press releases on the demonitisation decision and make use of the information of the guidelines of the Finance Ministry.
BJP MPs have also been told informally to reach out to people in their constituencies during the coming weekend - November 19 and 20 - and address any concerns over demonetisation, convey to people that the decision was for their larger benefit and they were facing temporary difficulties in getting cash.
The government is facing repeated attacks from the opposition over its November 8 decision to demonitise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes aimed at tackling black money and corruption.
The opposition parties have said that the move has caused immense hardships to people as they have to stand in long queues outside banks and ATMs.
--IANS
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Mosul (Iraq), Nov 17 (IANS/AKI) Around 600,000 children are trapped inside the beleaguered Iraqi city of Mosul where they are being maimed in the fighting and used as human shields, Save the Children said on Thursday.
"It's horrific that the only option these families and children have right now is to wave a white rag and pray they won't get caught in the crossfire," said Save the Children in Iraq's deputy director Aram Shakaram.
Children are paying a heavy price one month into the offensive launched by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to dislodge the Islamic State from its stronghold in Iraq, the charity said.
Up to a dozen children a day are being maimed as the offensive pushes further into the city, front-line medics and hospital doctors have told the charity. They are also being used as human shields, families have said.
More must be done to ensure the safety of civilians, Shakaram said.
"As this conflict pushes deeper into the city and becomes increasingly brutal, all parties must ensure civilians can flee safely and access humanitarian aid," he said.
"Safe escape routes must be the priority, not an afterthought."
One family in an area of Mosul still under IS control told Save the Children it had recently been forced into a local school with 600 other people to be used as human shields, the charity said.
The family was released after six hours when IS fighters decided to use relatives of police officers and Iraqi army soldiers instead, they said.
Even if they make it to safety, many children have been seriously injured in the fighting or are showing signs of intense psychological distress, Save the Children warned.
So far nearly 60,000 people have fled Mosul and its surrounds, including tens of thousands of children. Many more families are expected to try to escape and make their way to refugee camps as the offensive continues, the charity warned.
Up to 500,000 people could flee Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, as the liberation battle continues, according to the Iraqi government.
Save the Children has deployed a child protection team to provide emergency psychological first aid to children escaping the violence, and has set up safe spaces for children to learn and play, as well as literacy and numeracy classes.
"Many children have been through two years of IS and were then forced to flee through a war zone, and some told us they have seen people shot and hanged. Imagine what effect that would have on a child," said Shakaram.
IS overran Mosul in June 2014 and declared it the capital of its Islamic 'caliphate' stretching across swathes of territory it seized in Iraq and Syria during a lightening offensive.
--IANS/AKI
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South Korea on Friday refused to grant permission to US tech giant Google to use the official maps of the country, citing security concerns with neighbouring North Korea.
This means the company's Google Maps service in South Korea will continue operating with strict restrictions, Efe news reported.
South Korea based its decision on the National Security Law, established in 1947, which lays down strict restrictions to protect the country from North Korea.
The country's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement that Google will continue offering its services without being able to use government mapping data due to security reasons over the ongoing conflict between South and North Korea.
According to the ministry, Google did not accept Seoul's suggestion to remove or blur important defence or government facilities on its maps, including military bases and the presidential Blue House, located north of the country's capital.
Google has been offering its Maps service in South Korea since 2008 although it does not include walking or driving directions or 3D maps.
Local companies, including Naver and Daum and GPR operators have benefited the most from the restrictions on Google as their websites and applications offer complete map services.
The US company has been requesting for permission to use government mapping data since 2010.
--IANS
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A 14-year-old student in Pakistan's Sindh province lost his senses due to alleged torture by his teacher, the media reported on Friday.
After being strangled, Mohammed Ahmed lost his speech and suffered a paralytic attack which left his limbs motionless, Geo News reported.
Ahmed's father Ghullam Ahmed, also a teacher by profession, said the incident occurred four months ago and a few teachers were responsible for bringing his son to this state.
He said his son's school told him on August 6 that he had suffered fits.
When he reached the school, his son was covered with injuries on his face, chest, head, back and lower limbs.
Doctors in Karachi said the condition had been caused due to assault. The parents have been told his treatment is possible in the US but they do not have the money to take him abroad.
"I have six daughters and I've spent all my savings on Ahmed," Ghullam Ahmed was quoted as saying.
--IANS
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Two persons have been arrested from the Kotla Mubarakpur area here on charges of stealing motorcycles, Delhi Police said on Friday.
Sirdak alias Alex of Bhagwan Gali and his accomplice Sajid Khan of Rashi Nagar in Kotla Mubarakpur, who were in love with Enfield motorcycles, were arrested during a routine checking on Thursday night.
Police recovered three Enfield motorcycles and a Scooty stolen from different areas of Delhi.
"When police hailed them to stop during routine checking, they tried to escape by leaving their vehicle behind. Both were arrested," Additional Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad said.
Police said the accused were fond of riding Enfield motorcycles and thus targeted only new motorbikes of the particular make.
--IANS
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Security measures have been tightened for by-elections to two Tripura assembly seats scheduled for Saturday, officials said on Friday.
Both opposition and ruling parties are considering these by-polls as "prestigious electoral battles".
The Election Commission will conduct the by-elections in the Scheduled Caste (Reserved) Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies.
"Heavy security arrangements were made to hold the by-elections in both the assembly segments peacefully and smoothly. Over nine companies of central para-military force -- BSF (Border Security Force) and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) have been deployed in the poll-bound assembly segments and their adjoining areas," Director General of Tripura Police K. Nagaraj told IANS.
He said: "Besides the central para-military forces, adequate numbers of state forces, including elite and counter-insurgency trained TSR (Tripura State Rifles), would be deployed in the vicinity of the Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies."
The Election Commission has appointed three central observes to oversee the polling in the two assembly seats.
The Barjala seat fell vacant after Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar resigned on June 6 following an internal feud within the party while the Khowai seat has been vacant since the death of veteran CPI-M legislator Samir Deb Sarkar.
Both by-polls would be four-cornered contests, among Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led ruling Left Front, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
Five candidates each are contesting from the two constituencies. In all 39,007 voters, including 18,935 females, will be eligible to cast ballot in the Barjala constituency. In Khowai, 39,400 voters are eligible, among them 19,436 are women.
--IANS
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Venezuelan opposition leader Rosmit Mantilla, who has been in prison since May 2014 charged with plotting subversive actions during the anti-government protests at the time, has been freed.
"Deputy Rosmit Mantilla is released. We are moving forward," the Mayor of Caracas Carlos Ocariz, who is also representative of the opposition alliance Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), in dialogue with the Venezuelan government, said on Twitter on Thursday.
"I wish to inform the country I signed my release papers a few minutes ago. Thank you Venezuela for the support," wrote Mantilla, in another tweet.
Later, a video containing Mantilla's first statements, following his release, from a Caracas hospital where he was admitted days ago for several health issues, Efe news reported.
The deputy expressed his commitment to fellow Venezuelans going through uncertainty, to political prisoners, and to change.
He added that following two years in confinement he felt "stronger," and declared he will be at the National Assembly - Venezuela's unicameral Parliament - on Tuesday to take oath as lawmaker.
A member of the Voluntad Popular (Popular Will, or VP) party headed by imprisoned leader Leopoldo Lopez, Mantilla underwent an emergency surgery Monday and is now recuperating.
The first openly gay Congressman in Venezuela, Mantilla was termed a symbolic political prisoner by the MUD and declared a prisoner of conscience in 2015 by rights organisation Amnesty International.
--IANS
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The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) on Friday marched towards Parliament House to protest "inconvenience caused to common man" due to demonetisation of currency, an IYC statement said.
While addressing the protesters, Congress leader and member of parliament Anand Sharma said that the central government has no plan for execution of demonetisation.
"One day the government says it has sufficient currency and the very next day it reduces the exchange amount from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000," he said.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) communications head Randeep Singh Surjewala said the currency printing machines have capacity to print 300 crore currency notes in a month and that it would take seven months to print 2,100 crore notes that need to be replaced.
"Fortyseven people have lost their lives due to harassment caused because of demonetisation," he said.
The police used water canons to disperse protesters and detained many of them.
--IANS
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If its Saturday, it must be Pune suggested my wife as I struggled groggily to remember in which city her call had woken me up. Thats next week, unless this week is already next week, I informed her. Im in peering at the hotel stationery that mentioned the name of the hotel but not its city Hyderabad, though it might be Chennai. It turned out to be neither, which I discovered not during the course of the day but the following morning, at the airport, when I showed my ticket to the person manning the security, who prompted booted me back to the tail-end of the queue with a chastising lecture that if I intended to board a flight from Bengaluru, I needed to show him a ticket from Bengaluru, and not Mumbai, or Chennai, as I was apparently doing.
The stand-off on the way demonetisation had been handled persisted on Friday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad apologise to the nation for equating people dying in Uri as a result of Pakistans attacks with those who had died as a result of the stress brought on by the need to exchange currency notes. The Congress refused to apologise and rallied behind Azad. It also joined the rest of the Opposition in demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come to the House to reply.
The government and the Opposition will likely revisit parliamentary strategies over the weekend to fine-tune them. On Monday, when Parliament meets again, similar scenes are likely. The chances of Modi either intervening or replying to the debate are remote.
Of Friday, neither House of Parliament transacted any business. The entire Congress will congregate on Saturday evening for the Indira Gandhi centennial lecture, to be delivered by President Pranab Mukherjee, to kick-start the 100th anniversary celebrations of Indira Gandhi. That will be a political show of strength.
Modi met senior ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his chamber, to discuss further strategy. He has directed BJP MPs to go to their constituencies to explain how demonetisation will benefit ordinary people. How many MPs will hold such meetings and what they will say will also be a test of the PMs leadership.
The BJP came under further pressure because of developments in Maharashtra where the Opposition Congress and the NCP MLAs asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sack Cooperatives Minister Subhash Deshmukh amid reports of seizure of Rs 91 lakh from a vehicle belonging to the minister.
(Recovery of cash) proves that BJP leaders are in the possession of black money. Since the government has launched a campaign against black money and corruption, properties of the BJP leaders should be searched to unearth black money. He (the minister) should be sacked from the ministry and arrested, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.
According to reports, cash worth Rs 91 lakh belonging to the Lokmangal Group of the minister was seized by a Osmanabad municipality squad on Thursday. The cash was in Rs 1,000 notes. According to a PTI report, Deshmukh said: I have been in this business (banking) for two decades. While doing business, nothing wrong has been done. However, irregularities may happen. If irregularities have happened, there is punishment for it. I am ready to face punishment.
Has the Congress top leadership yet again lost the perception battle to the Narendra Modi government on the issue of nationalism?
With 2017 Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections hardly 3-4 months away, the state is getting ready to host big political rallies and public meetings across the different regions in the coming weeks.
As soon as met for the day on Friday, leaders on both the sides created uproar leading to brief adjournments of both the Houses. The proceedings of the day were hit by demonetisation issue for the third straight day in the Winter Session that commenced on November 16.
A total of 12 security personnel have been killed this year because of ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC and the IB as compared to 10 last year, the government said today.
However, the number of injured has drastically shot up to 66 this year as compared to 26 last year.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said there has been 167 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the IB, under the Army control, till November 14 this year as compared to 152 last year.
In areas of IB under the control of the BSF, there has been 210 violations till November 1, as compared to 253 last year, he said.
In total the Army lost 8 personnel till November 14 and the BSF four till November 1.
However, 59 Army personnel were injured as compared to 17 last year.
While 71 BSF personnel were injured last year, the number has risen to 76 as of November 10 this year.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs initiated action against 120 companies in the first seven months of the current fiscal for non-redressal of investors grievances.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal today told the Lok Sabha that action was initiated against 420 companies in 2013-14, 2,414 in 2014-15 and 89 in 2015-16 for non-redressal of investor grievances.
The figures are based on the investor grievances data maintained by the ministry.
"The Department of Economic Affairs has stated that trading of scrips is not immediately suspended on receipt of an investor complaint for non-payment of dues to investors by listed companies," Meghwal said.
He was responding to a query on whether a number of companies in default of payment of dues to small investors are still actively trading in the stock exchanges and if so, any action is taken by the government.
Till October 31 in the current financial year, as many as 1,907 complaints were received and 1,522 were resolved, the minister noted.
In a separate written reply, Meghwal said an amount of Rs 181.90 crore, including unclaimed dividends, was credited to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) till October 31 in the ongoing financial year.
In 2013-14, Rs 189.96 crore were credited, Rs 261 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 223.42 crore in 2015-16, he added.
"The amount credited in IEPF forms a part of the Consolidated Fund of India, from which the ministry receives a separate budgetary allocation specifically for making refunds to eligible investors whose amounts have been credited to IEPF as well as creating investor awareness as per the mandate of the Companies Act," the minister said.
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The 150th birth anniversary of Cornelia Sorabji, the first Indian woman student in Britain and India's first woman lawyer, has been celebrated at the India House here.
Speaking on the occasion, leading NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria described Cornelia as the "first woman to study in Bombay University, the first woman of any nationality to do law in Oxford and the first woman to practise law in India."
Noting that Britain has changed in the last three decades, Bilimoria wanted the UK government to exclude international students, including those coming from India, for higher studies here from the list of immigrants.
"They should be allowed to come, study and work here," he said.
The Acting High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik described Cornelia as a "legend."
Cornelia, the first female law student at Oxford in 1889 continues to provide a pioneering link between India and the prestigious varsity.
Cornelia was not only Somerville College's first indian student, but was also the first Indian woman to study at any British University.
On her return, she became the first woman to practise law in India and worked on behalf of women living in purdah.
Her lifetime's work as a social reformer centred on support for the poor and for women at every level of society.
Cornelia had come to Oxford with the help of a subscription raised by progressive British men and women including Madeleine Shaw Lefevre, the first Principal of Somerville.
"The Faculty of Law and Soverville College are proud to celebrate CorneliaSorabji and her achievements through the creation of scholarships for outstanding Indian graduate students in Law," a spokespersonof the Soverville College said.
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In a drive against
contraband substances in Bihar, the Customs sleuths today seized 17 kg charas from Bhelahi police station area in West Champaran district, an official said.
Acting on a tip off, a Customs team led by Inspector R K Verma recovered a bag containing 17 kg charas in 34 packets of 500 gms each, which some unidentified smugglers had hidden in a thick bush near Bhutaha Math under Bhelahi police station area, Customs Motihari Division Deputy Commissioner Pawan Kumar said.
The seized contraband consignment has been valued at Rs 1.70 crore in the international market, he said.
The smugglers had brought it from Nepal and had it hidden in a bush to escape attention of the authorities, Kumar said.
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The Supreme Court today said that the special 2G court was "correct" in dismissing a petition by Loop Telecom Ltd (LTL), facing trial in a case arising out of the 2G scam probe, for a direction to refer the matter to the Lok Adalat for settlement.
"The trial court was correct in ruling that it cannot be sent to the Lok Adalat," a bench of Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi said.
The Lok Adalat is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism by which the parties involved in civil and compoundable criminal cases try to arrive at a compromise to settle their matter. If the parties concerned do not arrive at a compromise, the matter is remanded back to the court for disposal.
The apex court was hearing the petitions filed by LTL and Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Vikash Saraf, who is also an accused in the case.
Sensing the mood of the bench, senior advocate Kapil Sibal who was representing LTL, sought to withdraw the petition and said they would file an application before the special court for compounding of offence alleged against them.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Department of Telecommunications (DoT), said, "We (DoT) are not agreeable to compounding of offence."
However, the bench pulled up DoT, saying, "Why do not you take a stand? Why do you always say what CBI says? You should take a stand. Do not always say what CBI is saying."
The apex court had earlier agreed to examine the pleas of LTL and Saraf seeking a direction to refer the matter to the Lok Adalat.
LTL had argued that it was facing trial for the alleged offence under section 420 (cheating) read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and these offences are compoundable.
As per the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), an offence under section 420 of IPC is compoundable if both the complainant and the accused arrive at a mutual consent.
CBI's special public prosecutor Anand Grover had opposed the plea, saying the case before the special court was in its final stage.
Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan, her husband I P Khaitan and Saraf are facing trial in the case along with three firms -- LTL, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd.
All of them have denied the charges levelled by CBI.
CBI had filed the charge sheet against them alleging they had cheated DoT by using Loop Telecom as a "front" to secure 2G licences in 2008.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three members of a gang were today arrested for allegedly robbing a man of Rs three lakh cash on pretext of getting his scrapped higher denomination notes exchanged, police said.
The accused Venkata Srinivas Pilla, P Ashwin and B Shivudu committed the crime in the night of November 13 after they lured the victim of getting his old currency notes exchanged with the new ones in Seethpalmandi area, Osmania University police station Inspector, V Ashok said.
Two more members of the gang, Pavan and Krishna, are still at large, he said.
Venkata contacted the victim through an acquaintance and went to his place along with Ashwin. He then introduced him as cashier of a state-run bank and assured of getting the old notes exchanged, the inspector said.
"Later, Ashwin asked the victim to accompany him to the bank, while the four members followed them," he said.
While on the way, Shivudu along with Pavan and Krishna, impersonating as policemen, intercepted their bike and started quizzing the victim, who was carrying a bag loaded with cash.
They beatup the victim and threatened him of dire consequences and then forcibly took away the cash, other valuables from him and fled, the officer said.
Venkata and Ashwin, who kept quiet during the entire incident, then made the victim board an auto-rickshaw and asked him to go home.
Later, the victim lodged a complaint and a case of dacoity was registered.
During the course of investigation, police today arrested Venkata, Ashwin and Shivudu and recovered stolen booty of Rs 2.5 lakh from them.
A hunt has been launched to nab the remaining two members, the officer added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three Indian students have recieved research scholarship this year in agriculture from Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Programme (MBBISP).
The three students include Gurcharn Singh Brar who is working in the area of improving genetic resistance to Fusarium Head Blight in durum and brea wheat.
Sreya Ghosh, whose PhD project focuses on developing and fine tuning methods for unbiased gene cloning in wheat and Karminderbir Kaur, who is working in the area of development of an in vivo haploid induction system in rice through distant hybridization & manipulation of CenH3 gene, Monsanto said in a statement.
MBBISP is a global programme that receives applications from young researchers in the field of agriculture. The programme encourages young scientists and university students to develop new plant breeding research for rice and wheat production.
The programme aims to enable and equip the scholars to apply modern breeding technologies to improve rice and wheat in India and globally.
"Since its inception in 2009, India, has achieved a milestone of producing the highest number of winners in the prestigious Monsanto Beachell- Borlaug International Scholarship Program (MBBISP). The country till date has 24 MBBISP scholars from of a total of 89 awardees worldwide that includes 30 nations," Monsanto said in a statement.
"India this year has seen three more students being added to this prestigious list who will receive the MBBISP research scholarships," it added.
The MBBISP Programme has provided financial support of over USD 3 million since 2009 to the 24 Indian students that has helped them in pursuing their PHD in plant breeding of wheat or rice at top agricultural universities in India and globally.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rescue personnel today recovered the bodies of three remaining persons, including two Nepalese, who went missing after their vehicle plunged into a lake near here, following which the search operation was called off.
With the recovery of the bodies, a total of five persons -- four Nepalese citizens and a Malayali -- have drowned in the Wednesday accident in which their pick upjeep carrying nine people broke through a bridge railing and fell into the lake at Aroor along the border of Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts.
Four others, all migrant workers from Nepal, who were travelling in the vehicle, were rescued by fishermen soon after the incident and admitted to hospitals.
Bodies of two Nepalese, identified as Madhu Khatri and Himanlal Khatri, were recovered during yesterday's search operation conducted by Navy, Coast Guard police and fire department.
A government spokesman identified the bodies recovered today as that of Shyam Khatri, Jaman Bahadur Khatri and vehicle driver Nijas Ali - a Keralite.
The search operations concluded with the recovery of the three bodies, the spokesman added.
Ernakulam district authorities have contacted the Embassy of Nepal and informed them about the accident, officials said.
Ali's funeral was held today after post-mortem, they said.
The vehicle was traced and pulled out of the water late Wednesday night, police said.
Eyewitnesses had said the accident occurred as the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed it into the Aroor bridge's railing before crashing into the lake.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thirty two Sri Lankans have joined the Islamic State terror group in Iraq, a senior minister informed parliament today and vowed to implement the proposed tough counter terrorism Act to protect national security.
"We are aware that 32 of them have left the country to join Islamic State (ISIS)," Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha said during the 2017 budget debate.
Rajapaksha said Sri Lanka would go ahead as planned on the proposed Counter Terrorism Act despite criticism.
"We know that there is criticism on the proposed act but we have to consider our security interests. You may call it draconian but we will implement it," Rajapaksha said.
He said some vested interests were trying to create instability in the country by igniting communal clashes.
We have to deal with this situation, Rajapaksha said.
Some groups were trying to brand the northern criminal group Ava as the LTTE. We have to be alert on these actions to create problems in the north, he said.
The police have arrested over a dozen of alleged Ava group members accused of perpetrating violence in the north. All of them have been placed under remand custody.
The locals and Tamil groups have levelled criticism on the proposed anti-terrorism bill.
The main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) described it as more draconian than the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four persons were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a government bus at Kundadam near Tirupur district early today, police said.
The incident occurred when they were returning to their native place in Vadugapatti in Sivaganga district after visiting their relative here, they said.
When the car reached Kundadam near Dharapuram, it collided head-on with a bus coming from the opposite direction, killing all the occupants of the car, a police official said.
An FIR has been registered in the case and investigation is on, police said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four students of the Tamil Nadu Agriulture University (TNAU) here have received the prestigious Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Programme (MBBISP), research scholarships.
The students, Bharathi Ramadoss, Pilomin Juliana, Ashish Rajurkar and Sumeet Prabhakar Mankar are amongst the 24 from the country to have recently won the scholarships, a Monsanto release said here today.
The awarding-winning work of the Indian students includes promising breeding research in enhancement of rice and wheat production.
The programme has provided financial support of approximately USD 3,42,287 to the winners from TNAU that has helped them in pursuing their Ph.D in plant breeding of wheat or rice at top agricultural universities in India and abroad, it said.
MBBISP is a global programme that receives applications from young researchers in the field of agriculture.
Since its launch in India in 2009, the country has achieved a milestone of highest number of winners with 24 MBBISP scholars, out of a total of 89 awardees worldwide.
It aims to ignite the minds of bright young Indian researchers to innovate and share their vision of Indian agriculture and help farmers produce more from the same amount of land.
MBBISP is administered by Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the US-based Texas A&M University System.
The establishment of MBBISP is part of Monsanto's three-point commitment to help increase global food production in the face of growing demand, limited natural resources and a changing climate, the release added.
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With the aim of spreading awareness about organ donation, 40 transplants will be carried out across the country on November 23, Director General of Health Services Jagdish Prasad said today.
This will be part of a week-long celebration to mark Indian
Organ Donation week, which will also include a panel discussion with five to six leaders from different religions, he said.
"Religious leaders must come forward. Their role is very vital because people still believe in re-birth which deters them from donating their organs," Prasad said.
There is a huge gap between the demand and supply of organs for transplant. As per government data, every year two lakh patients are added to the waiting list for kidney donation while only 60,000-70,000 are able to receive a kidney.
Similarly, annual requirement for liver transplants is at 25,000-30,000 livers but only about 2,000 livers are transplanted every year.
The gap gets wider for heart transplants where 50,000 transplants are required every year but only 100 transplants are achieved.
The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) was set up in 2013 to create a national network of hospitals carrying out transplants and prepare a registry of organ donors and recipients.
An important agenda before NOTTO is also to promote deceased organ donation, where most often the donor is a victim of a road accident.
India's deceased donor rate is at 0.3 per million population, whereas for a country like Spain the deceased donor rate is at 35 per million population.
With the aim to improve this rate NOTTO conducted a workshop last month called National Deceased Donor Stimulation Training Programme for ICU experts so that they talk to the relatives of a patient brought to ICU and make them aware about deceased organ transplant.
"We have now made it mandatory that ICU doctors must talk to the relatives of ICU patients for organ donation," Prasad said.
NOTTO is also imparting training to "Transplant Co-ordinators" and a total of 281 of them have been registered who will sensitise patients and their relatives about the importance of organ donation.
It is also providing free "Retrieval Training" first to medical colleges and later to district hospitals and private hospitals as well.
There is also a 24*7 toll free helpline 1800114770 to address queries about organ donation.
Indian Organ Donation Day will be celebrated this year on November 30. Several awards for best state, best hospital, best transplant co-ordinator will be given away on this day. Several organ donors as well as their families will also be felicitated.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To strengthen UDAY scheme, ABB India and IIT Madras will collaborate to develop a power management system to optimise the operation of multiple microgrids, with and without grid connection, while managing electricity supply to villages.
This system will also enable the integration of individual solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftops to a village microgrid, ABB India said in a filing to BSE.
The government is looking at a generation capacity of 40 GW in the next five years through grid connected rooftop solar PV and small scale solar PV plants.
Such clusters have the capability of generating and using renewable energy locally from one kilowatt to a few hundred kilowatts. It is imperative to network such locally distributed nano or microgrids for optimal usage of renewable power across users, keeping in mind the dynamic demand/supply situation.
Such interconnection and interleaving of microgrids with the existing distribution system and infrastructure
Will
provide economic benefits for the people, in terms of reduced outages and lower cost of power.
"The UDAY (Ujwal discom assurance yojana) scheme is the need of the hour and will foster greater corporate-academia partnerships which can contribute to solving the country's issues and I am pleased that IIT Madras and ABB have embarked on this journey," ABB India CEO and Managing Director Sanjeev Sharma said in a statement.
"We are looking forward to adding another facet to our enriching association with IIT Madras. In a country as huge and diverse as India, it is important to design models of integration with power management and load balancing for proven microgrids technology with the existing grid infrastructure," he added.
This, along with the modular nature of this technology, will enable access to reliable, sustainable and cost efficient power to even the most disadvantaged, remote areas of the country, he said.
"While India has set an ambitious target for solar energy generation, IIT Madras has been at the forefront in developing decentralised energy-efficient solar PV microgrid solutions tailored to meet India's urban, rural and off-grid power requirements," Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras said.
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AIADMK members today protested against the recent firing on Tamil Nadu fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy in the Lok Sabha.
While several opposition members were in the Well of the House demanding an adjournment motion on the demonetisation issue, the AIADMK members were also there to protest the latest incident of alleged firing on Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy.
The party raised the issue during Zero Hour amid din over the demonetisation move of the government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said he would convey the concerns of the AIADMK members to the Defence Minister and the External Affairs Minister.
Two Indian fishermen were seriously injured a couple of days ago when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat off Kodiakarai coast.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Air India is all set to take delivery of its first more fuel-efficient A320 neo aircraft in January next year.
As it works on ways to turn around its fortunes, the airline is looking to ramp up the fleet with more fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option) planes.
The national airline will only be the third local carrier after IndiGo and GoAir to operate A320 neos.
Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani today said two neos will be coming in January 2017.
In March this year, Air India signed a pact with the Kuwait-based ALAFCO for leasing 14 A320 neos and the delivery of these planes is to start from early next year.
Further, in June, the carrier had sought bids for dry leasing of seven new A320 neos for up to 12 years.
Currently, the Air India group has a fleet of around 135 planes, including nearly 70 from Airbus.
Four classic A320s of the total 15 aged aircraft are expected to be moved out of the fleet in 2016-17. The remaining ones will be phased out in a time-bound manner over the next 2-3 years.
IndiGo and GoAir fly A320 neos on domestic routes.
After turning operationally profitable in the last fiscal, Air India posted an operational loss of Rs 246.14 crore in the latest April-June quarter.
The operating loss in the first quarter of this financial year has come down from Rs 315.37 crore in the year-ago period.
Various steps such as rationalisation of certain loss making routes, closure of overseas offline offices at certain locations, phasing out of old fleet and consequential reduction in maintenance costs have been initiated to reduce the airline's losses.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Air India reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in the last fiscal.
On Thursday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha that the airline has been facing losses in the past few years on account of a multitude of factors.
These include high interest burden and airport user charges, adverse impact of exchange rate due to weakening of the rupee, increase in competition, especially from low cost carriers and liberalised bilaterals to foreign airlines.
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the Narendra Modi government of making "actionless announcements" and said it should allow the old Rs 500 notes to remain in circulation along with new notes to help the common people.
"We are looking for a solution. I have some concrete suggestions which will help restore normalcy and help all people who are suffering," she said in a statement.
The government should allow old Rs 500 notes to remain in circulation along with new notes. Also Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 10 notes must be made easily available.
"The Rs 1,000 notes may be withdrawn when circulation improves by December 30, or at your discretion," she said, adding there was no need for anymore "faltu, action-less announcements. Sometimes blunders lead to more blunders".
Banerjee along with her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal yesterday set a deadline of three days to the Modi government to roll back the demonetisation decision, warning of "widespread unrest" if the current "chaos" continues.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ami Bera, the only Indian- American in the current Congress, has increased his lead over his Republican rival by nearly 5,000 votes, increasing the prospect of him being elected for the third time.
Bera now leads Scott Jones by over 2 per cent, 119,448 votes to 114,646, according to Sacramento County Registrar of Voters.
The third-ever Indian-American to be elected to the House of Representatives, Bera if re-elected would be joined by three other Indian-Americans - Ro Khanna from California, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois and Pramila Jayapal from Washington State - in the lower chambers of the US Congress.
Excluding over-votes and undervotes, 53.82 per cent of the ballots in this latest update went for Bera compared to just 46.18 per cent for Jones.
"As our lead continues to grow, we're in the strongest position we've ever been in," Bera said.
"The reason these late ballots are coming in our favour is because of the incredible grassroots effort by our volunteers to get out the vote. The most important thing is for the Registrar of Voters and her hard-working team to continue to do their jobs and count every vote,"he said.
In 2012, Bera led Republican Dan Lungren by 184 votes the morning after election day, and his lead eventually grew to 9,191 votes.
In 2014, Bera was down by more than 3,000 votes on election night, and he came back to win by 1,455 votes.
Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian-American elected to the US Congress. He represented the 29th Congressional District of California for three terms from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1963.
If re-elected, Bera would equal Saund's record for being elected to the House of Representatives for three terms.
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The Indian Army's Corps of Engineers, also called the Sappers, today celebrated their 236th Corps Day here.
On this occasion, a wreath laying ceremony to pay tribute to martyrs was organised at the Veer Smriti at Chandimandir cantonment, a defence spokesman said.
Maj Gen A V Krishna, the Chief Engineer of Western Command, and retired army engineers paid tributes to the martyrs, he said.
"Sappers of the Western Command have been on the forefront for the development of border areas with better road connectivity and improved infrastructure for the populace," the spokesman said.
Engineers are one of the oldest supporting arms of the Army and consists of four wings -- Combat Engineers, Military Engineering Services, Border Roads Organisation and Military Survey, he informed.
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Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu today flagged-off the 'Digital India Outreach Campaign Van' in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries and top government officials.
The chief minister appealed to his legislator colleagues to extend full cooperation and support to the 'Outreach Campaign Van'.
Various Digital India program and products have been launched to provide several government services to the people using IT and to integrate the government departments and the people of India.
The objective is to create awareness and sensitize people and citizens on the various products that were launched under 'Digital India' programmes by the Centre in July 2015.
The campaign will reach out to people in rural and semi-urban areas and explain the target group by explaining the benefits and details of the services offered under e-Governance, Healthcare and e-Commerce.
"For the success of the Digital India in its true sense it is important that population in rural areas who have been deprived of the IT revolution become aware of the benefits and avail the services without any hassles and concern," Khandu said.
Outreach Campaign is a van based mobile display/exhibition unit with audio visual, IEC material.
The van will travel for around 10-15 days in a particular district depending on the population coverage.
It would carry out rural outreach campaign in Gram Panchayats, Post offices, Schools, Business Correspondents, SHGs, Haats across districts, sub-districts and villages.
"All district administrators has been informed with district-wise timeline route plan to coordinate accordingly and extend all necessary administrative support," the chief minister added.
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Bangladesh is targeting for 20,000 MW power generation over the next two years with Indian assistance, an official said here today.
"Bangladesh targets 20,000 MW power in next two years with the India help. With the assistance from IEEMA, we will look for new opportunities in the power sector. This will be initiated during Bangladesh PM's next visit to India," Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Abdul Matlub Ahmad said at an energy convention E3 in city.
NTPC was planning 1,320 MW power plant in 50:50 JV with Bangladesh Power development Board.
"Six years back, West Bengal was facing severe load shedding, but now the situation has changed drastically. Now we are providing 24x7 powers to all," West Bengal power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited today signed an MoU with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to take forward in Odisha the 'New Urban Agenda' adopted a month ago by the UN member states at Quito, Ecuador.
The Quito Declaration stresses upon re-addressing the way cities and human settlements are planned, designed, financed, developed, governed and managed, in order to reduce inequalities; promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, said a press release.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation-UNFPA collaboration envisions a smart city with special focus on the needs of young people, girls and women, it said.
To promote safety and security of girls and women, specially in urban slums, safety audits and community engagement programmes are on the anvil, the release said.
UNFPA's expertise in analysing population data will help plan and deliver services that are equitable and sustainable.
A range of innovative interventions will help look beyond a brick and mortar blueprint to factor in people-centric interventions and to name a few, are The Citizen Connect programme, Support My City volunteer programme and Neighbourhood Watch programme, it said.
To tap the demographic dividend, a youth-centric and youth -led integrated social intervention will be implemented in educational institutions of Bhubaneswar, with several earmarked for the slums of Bhubaneswar Town Centre District Area.
The MoU also looks at addressing issues and needs of women
and adolescent girls, including safety, gender-based violence and barriers to access health services, the release said.
At a special function organised for signing the MoU, Odisha's Tourism and Culture minister Ashok Chandra Panda said having won the coveted Smart City Challenge, Bhubaneswar now needs to live up to the expectations of the people.
When Bhubaneswar was formed in 1948, it covered a mere 26 sq km with a population of 40,000. Today, the city spans over 135 sq km and has more than a million people.
More than two-third of this population rise has been due to migration from the hinterlands, which has also given rise to slums. As per the estimates of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, 35 per cent of the city's population lives in over 300 slums.
Speaking on the concept of a 'socially smart city', Diego Palacios, UNFPA Country Representative-India and Bhutan, said: "In order to be future-compliant, every city needs to place its people at the centre of development."
The BMC-UNFPA collaboration will help pool expertise to assess and address the present and future requirements of vulnerable groups, such as the urban poor, women, specially adolescent girls, youth, migrants and older people, Palacios said.
"Young people have enormous potential to shape social development processes and contribute to change in norms and values. The Smart City initiative in Bhubaneswar is a unique opportunity to empower and engage young people as active partners in achieving the Smart City goals," Palacios said.
Auto components major Bharat Forge will buy US-based Walker Forge Tennessee LLC (WFT) for USD 14 million (around Rs 95 crore), a move aimed at expanding its product range in automotive and other industrial segments.
The company's finance and risk management committee has approved the proposed acquisition of 100 per cent shareholding of WFT through its US subsidiary, Bharat Forge America, the company said in a statement.
"The acquisition of Walker Forge Tennessee creates a strategic manufacturing footprint in North America to leverage our existing customer relationships while simultaneously enabling the company to address new end-market segments and broaden the product portfolio," Bharat Forge Chairman and Managing Director Baba N Kalyani said.
The proposed acquisition is focused on increasing the company's product offering in the passenger car and commercial vehicle segments as well into industrial sectors such as construction and mining, the company said.
"The transaction value is USD 14 million which will be funded through internal accruals and debt," it added.
WFT is a leading supplier of complex, steel and high-alloy steel, engine and chassis components to a diverse group of customers across automotive and industrial sectors.
The US firm is expected to record revenues of USD 28 million this year with a balanced revenue mix across the automotive and industrial sectors.
The proposed transaction will be consummated upon completion of certain conditions and regulatory approvals.
Bharat Forge shares today ended at Rs 907.40 apiece on the BSE, up 0.91 per cent from previous close.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP MP Rupa Ganguly today said there should not be different laws for different communities residing in the country and strongly advocated introduction of a uniform civil code.
She wondered if Trinamool Congress MPs, who are supporting triple talaq, had any idea about the kind of harassment the Muslim women endured on account of the antiquated practice.
Ganguly lashed out at the TMC for supporting triple talaq and opposing uniform civil code.
"How can you have separate laws for separate communities? Those who are supporting triple talaq, do they have any idea about the kind of harassment the Muslim women suffer after being summarily divorced?" she asked a rally.
The famous actress, who had mesmerised India with her powerful portrayal of Draupadi in the mega-serial Mahabharat, pointed out that in several Muslim countries triple talaq had been banned.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the TMC was supporting the triple talaq and uniform civil code in order to appease the Muslim Community of the state for the sake of vote bank politics.
"The TMC is supporting the issue because they are not interested in the upliftment of women in the country but want to pursue vote bank politics. They are not interested in education, health of Muslim community but in the sermons of the fundamentalists," Ghosh said.
The BJP's public rally opposing the triple talaq and supporting the UCC was staged when a three-day convention of All India Muslim Personal Law Board started from today.
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Brazil said today that it will continue to treat the Zika outbreak as an emergency, even as the World Health Organization considers whether to downgrade it from crisis status.
Brazil has been the epicenter of a Zika epidemic since the mosquito-carried virus, which is blamed for causing severe birth defects, caused a global alarm last year.
The WHO was meeting later today in Geneva to discuss whether it would still classify the Zika outbreak as a "public health emergency of international concern."
However in the Brazilian capital Brasilia, officials said they are not yet ready to lower their guard.
"We will maintain the emergency (status) in Brazil until we are completely tranquil about the situation," Health Minister Ricardo Barros told journalists.
Officials say that Zika appears to be on the wane in Brazil, but that data is not sure enough to be certain.
"Last year we didn't have enough tests (to detect Zika), so we can't specify how the virus circulated last year," said Wanderson Oliveira, in charge of emergencies response at the health ministry.
"We don't have a reference to establish whether it is increasing or decreasing," he said.
Since the Zika epidemic was detected in 2015, Brazil has confirmed 2,143 cases of microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small skulls and other congenital disorders such as brain development problems.
However, in nearly all cases, Zika causes only temporary effects which include a rash and flu-like symptoms.
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CBI is probing cases of ponzi schemes in which over Rs 85,000 crore of over six crore investors are involved and it is assisting the Centre in framing a legislation to put a ban on such deposit-taking activities, agency Chief Anil Sinha said here today.
"CBI alone is investigating cases in which more than six crore investors/victims spread across 26 states involving Rs 85,000 crores of public money. There are hundreds of criminal cases with state police and EOWs," he said at the valedictory session of 22nd Conference of CBI and Anti-Corruption Bureaux of states.
He also said the scope and reach of these fraudulent entities coming out with nefarious schemes to induce gullible public to invest in their dubious schemes is bewildering.
Earlier, during a conference in Mumbai in March, Sinha had said that the agency was investigating Ponzi schemes involving funds of over Rs 1.20 lakh crore.
Officials in CBI claimed that figures often change because of allegations and later its cross verifications during the investigations.
Sinha said CBI was part of the sub-group of an Inter- Ministerial Group for identifying gaps in the existing legal and regulatory framework for "deposit-taking" activities and to suggest administrative/legislative measures including formulation of a new law, to cover all relevant aspects of deposit-taking.
"As we are all aware, a comprehensive central law titled the 'Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Depositors' Interests Bill, 2016' is on the anvil," he said.
The CBI chief said the government has announced in the 2016-17 budget that it proposes to bring in a comprehensive central legislation to deal with the menace of unauthorised deposit-taking scheme.
Sinha said the conference resolved that early enactment of the proposed central law which bans and criminalises all unregulated deposits with provisions for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime to refund the depositors will go a long way in curbing the menace.
(Reopens DEL71)
"The conference also resolved that the early establishment of a 'National Intelligence Mechanism', as recommended by the Inter-Ministerial Group, would ensure timely collection and dissemination of the intelligence to prevent exploitation through such dubious ponzi schemes. The Summary of the deliberations would be forwarded to Department of Financial Services," Sinha said.
In another important step, CBI will soon write to the Centre for setting up an all stop call-centre for reporting corruption by citizens, Sinha said.
The CBI, which proposed the issue in the conference, got a green signal with the congregation resolving that the agency can proceed with the complaint centre for central government ministries, public sector undertakings and Union Territories.
"I am happy to share that the conference resolved that the CBI with the assistance of government may set up a 'National Anti-Corruption Citizen Support Centre' for lodging Corruption related complaints pertaining to Ministries/ Departments and PSUs of the government of India and the Union Territories.
"Very soon we will be writing to the state governments to join the initiative. States with similar systems in existence can be integrated with this new initiative and made interoperable, if the state so desires," Sinha said.
He added technology-enabled, secure platform effectively will engage citizen and empower them with a tool to report fearlessly against corruption.
Two returned to Earth safely on Friday after completing China's longest-ever manned space mission as the country firmed up its plans to establish its permanent space station by 2022.
Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China's manned space programme, announced that the Shenzhou-11 mission, which lasted over a month, was a "complete success".
The re-entry module of Shenzhou-11 landed safely at the expected site in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at about 1:59 pm Beijing Time, Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) said.
The ground search team reached the landing site immediately, and astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong opened the capsule's hatch by themselves.
The two astronauts were reported by the ground team to be in good condition.
They and the re-entry module will later be transferred to Beijing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Shenzhou-11 was China's sixth manned spacecraft, and also the country's longest mission to date. After its launch on October 17, the spacecraft docked two days later with China's first space lab, Tiangong-2, where the two astronauts lived for 30 days.
The mission transported personnel and materials between Earth and Tiangong-2, and tested meeting, docking and return processes.
It conducted aerospace medical experiments, space science experiments and in-orbit maintenance.
The rigorous testing helps China to firm up its plans to establish its permanent space station by 2022. By the time it will be the only country to have such a facility in service as the current in-service Space Station (ISS) retires by 2024.
The two astronauts also conducted three experiments designed by middle school students from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including raising silkworms in space.
It was the third space mission for 50-year-old veteran Jing Haipeng, the commander of the crew, who also participated in the Shenzhou-7 and Shenzhou-9 missions.
It was the first space mission for Chen Dong, 38.
The mission is a key step toward China's aim of building a permanent manned space station.
The core module of China's space station is expected to be launched around 2018, and the space station will enter into full service around 2022, with an initial designed life of at least 10 years.
It will accommodate three to six astronauts, who will stay in space up to one year.
Tiangong-2 will remain operative in orbit following Shenzhou-11's return to Earth and will wait to dock with Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft.
Tianzhou-1 will be launched in April 2017 to verify refuelling technology, a key for any space station.
Over 1 lakh tourists arrived in India on e-tourist visa in October, registering a whopping growth of 86.4 per cent over the corresponding month last year.
The UK continues to occupy the top slot among the countries availing the e-tourist visa facility, followed by the US and France.
"A total of 1,05,268 foreign tourists arrived in October 2016 on e-tourist visa as compared to 56,477 during the month of October 2015, registering a growth of 86.4 per cent," an official release said.
Launched on November 27, 2014, the facility was available for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 airports in India till February 25. It was extended for citizens of 37 more countries from February 26.
Among the top 10 source countries availing the facility in October, the UK share was maximum at 22.9 per cent, followed by the US (12.1 per cent), France (6.6 per cent), China (5.8 per cent) and Russia (5.6 per cent).
The share of Germany was 5.5 per cent, while that of Australia (4.5 per cent), Canada (3.6 per cent), Spain (2.3 per cent) and the Netherlands (2.1 per cent).
"This high growth may be attributed to introduction of e-tourist visa for 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries," the release said.
During January-October 2016, a total of 7,80,570 tourist arrived on e-tourist visa as compared to 2,58,182 during the corresponding period last year, recording a growth of 202.3 per cent.
Among the top 10 airports, where tourists availing online facility arrived, during the last month, the New Delhi Airport share was highest with 51.67 per cent, followed by Mumbai Airport (18.65 per cent), Dabolim (Goa) Airport (6.20 per cent), Bengaluru Airport (5.18 per cent) and Chennai Airport (4.97 per cent).
The share of Kochi Airport was 3.15 per cent, while that of Amritsar Airport 2.42 per cent, Hyderabad Airport 2.18 per cent, Kolkata Airport 2.08 per cent and Trivandrum Airport 1.28 per cent.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Stepping up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress today held his "draconian decision" on demonetisation responsible for the death of 55 people and asked him to apologise to their families and the country.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released a list of 55 persons who lost their lives while standing in queues at banks and ATMs in the wake of demonetisation and demanded compensation to their families besides probe into their death.
"The draconian decision of a dictatorial Prime Minister has led to 55 deaths. Who is responsible for this? The PM should apologize to the familes of those who lost their lives and also to the country. His whimsical decision has led to this," he told reporters.
He also said, "Government must pay adequate compensation to these 55 families who lost their near and dear ones. Their deaths must be investigated and consequent action taken."
He also accused the Prime Minister of "acting first and thinking later", alleging that no proper planning was made by his government before implementing the decision which has thrown the country into "financial anarchy and chaos".
Surjewala said while the people of the country are facing hardship and harassment because of the "whims and fancies" of the Prime Minister bent upon "image building". He alleged the Prime Minister was now dubbing all those questioning his demonetisation exercise as "anti-nationals".
The Congress leader also demanded that the cooperative sector, which includes banks and societies, be allowed to use old currency notes as the rural economy has been "shut" ahead of the Rabi sowing season.
He said following the "Tuglaqi farman" (diktat) issued 10 days ago on demonetisation, the entire country has been plunged into "financial emergency and anarchy", and the "hapless and helpless" people of India are languishing in long queues amid utter chaos and confusion.
"All this has been done on account of obduracy of one individual and for his image building. India has a Prime Minister who decides first, thinks later and listens to no one. When glaring mistakes and bungling are caught, anyone asking questions is branded as 'anti-National'," Surjewala said.
Surjewala alleged the Modi government has imposed "tax
terrorism" across the country. The Income Tax department has "shut" the markets and it is creating "fear psychosis" among the traders and businessmen, with the small and medium sector industry being "shattered".
"Modiji has become the new architect and symbol of tax terrorism in the country," he said.
Surjewala said the government has changed its directions on demonetisation 18 times ever since the announcement was made by Modi 10 days ago which showed its "ill-preparedness" and "ill-planning".
"Despite this mess, anyone asking questions is branded as anti-national. Time has come for people of India to ask as to who has acted against the national interest?" he said.
He said the country's image globally has been dented due to the government's action and foreign investors have taken out Rs 6,500 crore from the market.
"Foreign Institutional Investors and Foreign Portfolio Investors have lost confidence in the government. In first five days, FIIs and FTIs have withdrawn one billion USD from the economy or nearly Rs 6500 crore," he said.
Criticising government's decision to ink the fingers of those coming to change currency to which the Election Commission of India has raised objections, he said, "The truth is that the government's right hand does not know as to what is being done by the left hand. Confusion confounds Modi government completely."
Quoting experts, he said demonetisation had led to withdrawal of 86 per cent of currency in circulation and, as a result, 1,658 crore notes of Rs 500 and 668 crore bills of Rs 1000, totalling 2,327 crore notes valued at about Rs 15 lakh crore have been withdrawn.
He said the Rs 1000 rupee notes were printed by 'Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited' which has the capacity to print 133 crore notes per month working in two shifts and even if it were to work for three shifts it can print 200 crore notes per month and the entire operation would take 3.5 months to complete if it prints the new Rs 2000 notes.
Similarly, Rs 500 notes are printed by 'Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited' which has a capacity to print 100 crore notes per month and even if its capacity is doubled overnight, it will still take nearly eight months or more to print 1658 crore notes of Rs 500.
"It is thus clear that the claims of government to print new notes are hollow, deceptive and a bundle of lies,"he said.
The Congress leader said the farm sector has been worst hit by demonetisation after the government decided to unilaterally put an embargo on all Cooperative Banks, Rural Development Banks, Primary Land Development Banks and Cooperative Credit Societies from either changing old currencies or dispensing new notes.
"In one stroke, Modiji has broken the back of the entire agricultural sector. Shockingly, Modi government summarily rejected the recommendations of its own Agriculture Ministry, which wanted that farmers should be permitted to purchase seeds and fertilizers with old notes. Prime Minister Modi has paralyzed the entire agricultural economy," he said.
and BJP members on Friday clashed in Rajya Sabha over Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks during demonetisation debate yesterday, forcing adjournment of the House thrice in quick succession.
Slogans and counter slogans forced the adjournment of the House first till 1130 hours, then till noon and again till 1233 hours as similar scenes continued.
Soon after listed papers were laid on the table of the House, BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad for his remarks comparing the deaths after demonetisation with those killed in terrorist attacks. The remarks were expunged by the Chair yesterday itself.
members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding an apology from the Prime Minister and government for the hardship caused to the common man due to withdrawal of 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in the form of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes.
AIADMK members were also in the Well raising slogans over the Cauvery water issue.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked all members to leave the Well and return to their seats, assuring them that he would hear their submissions.
Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Azad's statement had given a message to the country that was sympathetic to terrorism and asked why was it so agitated when the demonetisation drive was only to hurt blackmoney hoarders.
The Chair persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues.
But with BJP members continuing to stand in the aisles and raise slogans, Congress members too were back in the well shouting slogans.
Kurien said treasury benches should not create problems for the Chair. "If you do this, what do I do? You should cooperate with me in running the House. Treasury benches should not disrupt," he said.
But the din continued, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1130 hours.
There was no change in the scenario when the House reassembled as both BJP and Congress members again started raising slogans.
While Congress members trooped into the Well, several AIADMK members were seen standing along their seats.
As the slogans and counter slogans continued, the Chair adjourned the House till noon.
When the House reassembled at noon, members from the
Opposition again trooped into the Well demanding an "apology from the Prime Minister" for causing harrassment to the people. The BJP members were also on their feet countering the Opposition.
All pleas by Chairman Hamid Ansari to run the Question Hour proceedings failed to make any impact on the Congress and other members who were raising slogans.
As the heated exchanges between the Opposition and Treasury bench members continued, Ansari said "allow the Question Hour to run. What are you doing? Please go back to your seats."
As the uproar continued, the Chairman adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 1233 hours.
When the House reassembled at 1233 hours, it again
witnessed uproarious scenes with opposition members trooping into the Well and those from the Treasury standing in the aisles demanding apology from Azad.
While members from Congress and others raised slogans like "Narendra Modi maafi maango (Narendra Modi apologise)," the Chairman tried to restore peace by repeatedly telling them, "go to your seats, you cannot do this."
However, as the uproar continued, Ansari adjourned the House within minutes for the fourth time till 1430 hours.
Earlier, the Chairman was heard saying "a minister can't do" as some ministers too were seen raising slogans.
No business counld be transacted as the din continued unabated.
The list of business today included further discussion on demonetisation of currency. Two bills were listed for consideration and passing - the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014 and the Employee's Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is to be followed by Private Members' Business.
Opposition Congress today attacked the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh Assembly over the "rise" in cases of crime against women in the state.
Initiating a discussion on the situation arising out of alleged increase in incidents of atrocities against women in the state, Congress chief and MLA Bhupesh Baghel said that despite so many agencies functioning in the state, atrocities against women have increased and the state government has failed not only to control them but also to send the accused behind bars.
He also alleged that crime against women, particularly in the tribal-dominated Bastar region, has gone up.
Citing cases of murder of tribal girls Meena Khalkho (2011) and Madkam Hidme (June this year) in alleged fake Maoist encounters and cases rape of women in Bastar, the Congress leader said no action has been taken against the culprits involved in these incidents.
"Moreover, even women public representatives were being targeted in the state," he said.
Congress MLA Devti Karma from Dantewada is being threatened as she has taken up the case of murder of two "innocent" tribal youths by police after branding them as Naxals, he said.
Questioning why no action was being taken against incumbent the Bastar Range Inspector General of Police, Baghel said, "In spite of an inquiry going on against him (Bastar IG) in Tadmetla house burning case (2011), he has been posted as a senior officer in Bastar."
Baghel also asked whether there is any rule of law in Chhattisgarh. "Despite complaints, no action is being taken against errant police personnel."
Refuting the charges, Home Minister Ramsewak Paikara said the state police force has acted swiftly in cases of women exploitation and has been continuously trying to curb the crimes.
Stating that development was the key to fight left wing extremism in Bastar, the home minister said his government had created new districts under Bastar division to ensure smooth functioning of the administration and enhance the pace of development works.
"Bastar was fast moving towards peace, the way Sarguja was made peaceful. Several steps have been taken towards upliftment and empowerment of women in rural areas," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress today justified its senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's remarks drawing a comparison between the Uri terror attack casualties and the deaths after demonetisation which has triggered a row, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was communalising the issue.
"There is no question of defending something that was absolutely correct. What Azad said that 20 of our soldiers laid down their lives in the Uri attack, they laid down their lives defending the country and we are proud of them.
"But one autocratic decision of a dictatorial Prime Minister has killed 55 innocent people. Who is responsible for it?" Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked.
"Azad rightly said yesterday that if the one questioning him (the PM) is a Hindu, he is an anti-national, and if a Muslim, then a Pakistani and this country will never accept these things," he told reporters.
Surjewala said the country is proud of its soldiers who defend and laid down their lives for the country.
"But what about that Indian who is secure because of sacrifice of those soldiers but who is insecure and unsafe and has to die on account of economic anarchy heaped upon by the Prime Minister. And that is the comparison that Ghulam Nabiji brought about. So if anybody is guilty, anybody is acting in an autocratic manner it is the BJP and the Modi government," he said.
"I have the right to question the Prime Minister and the Modi government cannot take away this right granted to the 125 crore Indians through the Constitution by its makers," he said, adding Modi has first put the country's 125 crore people to harassment and 55 people died due to his "Tughlaqi order".
Another Congress leader, Anand Sharma, also defended Azad alleging that BJP was giving communal twist to his remarks.
"Ghulam Nabi Azad is not just the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha but has been the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on whose life there have been 26 bids by terrorists. He is a man who has always stood for the nation, do we have such a situation now that BJP will decide who is a nationalist and who is not," Sharma said.
"In the Uri attack, 19 of our soldiers were martyred, but may more people have died after demonetisation. It is shameful that BJP is trying to give this a communal twist," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Opposition members, mainly from Congress, today staged a walkout from Chhattisgarh Assembly, accusing the ruling BJP of constructing an expressway after uprooting a narrow-gauge railway track in state capital Raipur to "favour land mafias".
Raising the issue in Question Hour, senior Congress MLA Dhanendra Sahu sought to know whether the government has sanctioned the project to construct the expressway after dismantling the track between Raipur railway station and Kendri.
"If yes, then what is the cost of the project and by when it will be completed?" Sahu questioned.
He said Chief Minister Raman Singh during his supplementary budget speech yesterday had said that a provision of Rs 355 crore was made forthe four-lane expressway connectingRaipurrailway station with Kendri, a patch of 13 km, in Naya Raipur but in the written reply of the question today the government denied sanctioning such project.
Sahu said both statements appear to be contradictory.
Replying to it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar said no provision was made for the expressway project under the second supplementary budget when the question over it was submitted by the Congress legislator.
"Therefore, nothing was mentioned in the reply," the minister told the House. He was answering in the absence of PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.
Chandrakar said an empowered committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary has been constituted to look into the project.
However, Sahu cited media reports which claimed that the Raman Singh government had decided to pay Rs 139 crore against land transfer to Railways for building the expressway. "But the minister is claiming that the PWD Department does not have any details in this regard," he said.
Instead of uprooting this railway track, laid way back in 1832, which connects Raipur to Dhamtari, it will be further extended to Jagdalpur to ensure travelling facility to people, he added.
Sahu said the state government had claimed that the expressway will cut short the distance between Raipur and Naya Raipur and it will be easy to reach airport.
"...Seven roads are already there to reach airport, but surprisingly why another road is being constructed? This is being done to favour land mafias," he alleged.
Thereafter, Chandrakar said the DPR (detailed project report) was yet to be drafted and its details could only be known after it.
Dissatisfied with the reply, the Congress legislators accused BJP of constructing the expressway to favour land mafias.
The Congress members and MLA Amit Jogi then staged a walkout from the House raising anti-government slogans.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An assistant police inspector was today suspended for his alleged involvement in a case of duping a real estate developer on the pretext of exchanging his old notes, a senior police official said.
Sanjay Mali, attached to Santacruz police station, has been suspended and his involvement in the alleged duping of Sanjay Naik, on the pretext of exchanging Rs three crore from a bank in Santacruz, is being probed, the official said.
"An inquiry is going on against Mali in this connection," a senior police officer told PTI.
Police had yesterday arrested three persons for cheating Naik on the pretext of exchanging his money from a bank in Santacruz on Tuesday.
The accused had asked Naik to come to a place near the bank two days ago, where they took his money and fled.
The accused, whose names have not been disclosed, were arrested and a case under section 420 (cheating) of IPC was slapped on them, police had earlier said, adding more arrests were likely in connection with the incident.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian Society of Otology should work for creating an awareness about the need for a universal new-born hearing screening programme in India, state Governor, Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam said here today.
"According to statistics of World Health Organisation, more than 360 million people worldwide have hearing loss. The number is almost five per centof the world population and consists of 328 million adults and32 million children. Hence otologists have a great role to play in today's society by providing cure to people with hearing problems," he said.
Speaking after inaugurating the 25th annual national conferenceof the Society (ISOCON-2016), Sathasivam said an otologist's timely intervention not only improves a person's health, but instills confidence to face the world.
He complimented the Indian Society of Otology (ISO) for their efforts in perfecting the latest trends in surgery and said it was through such efforts that the standard of ear surgery in India had been rated as world class.
ISO national president Dr A P Sambandan,presided the conference.
Nearly 1,200 ENT surgeons, including 50 from abroad, are attending the conference.
Live surgical demonstration of Otology, Neuro Otology and ImplantationOtology will be the highlights of the conference.
(REOPEN MES10)
Later, speaking after inaugurating the centenary
celebrationsof the Kozhikode branch of Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, the Governor said the institution had a phenomenal growth under Dr P K Varier.
More than 55,000 patients receive free medical consultation every year from the branch, which is the first branch outside Kottakkal, he added.
On the issue of quacks, Governor Sathasivam said it is a serious issue in all systems of medicine. "We need to ensure quality and authenticity in the field of medicine. Institutions should come forward to expose these quacks in the eyes of the society".
Traditional ways of treatment like the heriditary Ayurveda treatment have been neglected by the modern society,which should be checked, he said. Stressing the importance of tree planting, he said people should try to plant atleast three medicinal plants wherever they find space in their home.
It will be a crucial test for Congress nominee and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, a non- member of the house, at tomorrow's bypoll in Nellithope assembly constituency tomorrow when he crosses swords with AIADMK candidate Om Sakthi Segar.
Narayanasamy has the support of DMK and VCK while AINRC, whose founder N Narayanasamy is the leader of the opposition, is backing Segar.
The bypoll is being held to fill vacancy caused by the resignation of Congress legislator A John Kumar on September 15 to facilitate Narayanasamy, a non-member of the house, to contest the poll and get elected to the assembly to fulfill the constitutional obligation.
Narayanasamy became Chief Minister on June 6 and formed a six member ministry under his leadership with the support of DMK (having two members) from outside.
The strength of Congress in the 30 member assembly was 15 before John Kumar quit the post of MLA.
Campaigning had gathered steam over the last one month, with Narayanasamy stressing that Puducherry had scope for big development and that this potential was 'wasted' during the previous AINRC rule.
He had also said that the Congress government had come out with a new industrial policy which would add to the fast industrialisation and assured voters that no stone would be left unturned to measure upto their expectations.
AINRC founder and leader of the opposition N Rangasamy had urged voters to ensure Segar's win and 'teach a lesson to Narayanasamy".
He had opined that the bypoll was forced on people by Narayanasamy as he has been hankering after power and office'.
A team of AIADMK ministers from Tamil Naduhave also camped in the constituency to meet voters in a bid to register their backing to the party nominee.
AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik was among those who campaigned for Narayanasamy,bringing to focus his 'capability' to ensure full fledged development of the union territory.
DMK treasurer and Leader of the opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin who had also campaigned for Narayanasamy, said Puducherry would witness faster development particularly in maintenance of law and order through his stewardship.
He had also said a Global Investors Meet would take place as promised by the CM and jobs would be generated for youth.
The constituency has a total strength of 31,366 voters.
There are a total of eight contestants in the fray.
All 26 polling stations have been declared vulnerable and are being monitored by Central Armed police personnel, the Chief Electoral Officer V Candavelou had said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After entertaining audiences for a week, the 22nd edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival drew to a close today.
Iranian film 'Another Time' made by Nahid Hasanzadeh won the international competition in women director's film category in which 15 films were competing.
Organised by West Bengal government, KIFF began on November 11 after a gala inauguration ceremony attended by stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Sanjay Dutt and Parineeti Chopra.
Altogether 156 films from 65 countries were screened across 13 venues in the city. Besides, the government also took an initiative of reaching out to the masses by having small screenings in neighbourhoods as well.
China was the focus country in this festival from where eight films were screened, while the regional focus was on Marathi cinema which was represented five films.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today described cyber terrorism as one of the biggest threats to the society along with cyber crime.
Addressing the Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer Trainees of 2015 batch, who came to meet him, Singh said cyber crime has become a challenge and it is being faced by the police these days.
"There is a steep rise in the cyber crime these days. Cyber terrorism as a big danger along with cyber crime. The crimes of cyber world can be multi-layered, multi-location, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-legal, so it is difficult to investigate and reach to the criminal," he said.
The Home Minister told the Officer Trainees that they should try to establish credibility with generosity, honesty and compassion from the beginning itself.
He said the officers should work with zeal towards solving the problems of people.
Singh encouraged them to use new technologies and medium like social media and mobile technology.
This can help in curbing the distance between them and the people, he said.
The Home Minister appealed to the officers to attain higher standards of excellence along with professional standards by integrating technology in the aspects of intelligence, surveillance, communication and modern policing.
Aruna M. Bahuguna, Director, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad and other senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs were present on the occasion.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China today warned Mongolia of "serious repurcussions" to bilateral ties if it allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the country and allow the monk to engage in "separatist activities".
The 81-year-old monk is due to start a four-day visit to predominantly Buddhist Mongolia this evening as the resource rich Mongolia invited him defying China's strong objections to any country holding the Tibetan Buddhist monk.
The Dalai Lama is in a "political exile who has long been engaging in splitting China activities in the name of religion with the aim of alienating Tibet from China," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media briefing here.
"We strongly urge Mongolia to act by keeping in mind the big picture of maintaining the stable development of bilateral relations and to keep their promises made on this issue," Geng said.
"Do not allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Do not support or facilitate the separatist activities of the Dalai clique," Geng said adding that Mongolia should stick to commitment given on Tibet related issues.
China regards Dalai Lama as separatist and routinely objects his visit to any country. Recently Beijing objected to India's permission to him to visit Arunachal Pradesh, which regards as southern Tibet.
However, the invitation to the Dalai Lamaby Mongolia whose source-centred economy is heavily dependent on China came a surprise as it is currently in negotiations for a USD 4.2 billion loan from Beijing to help pull it out of a deep recession.
Mongolian Buddhism is closely tied to Tibet's version of Mahayana Buddhism.
The Tibetan monk made the first of his eight visits to Mongolia in 1979.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DataWind today announced formal launch of its manufacturing facility at GMR Complex of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, its second facility in the country.
Telangana IT and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao and Nadir Patel, High Commissioner of Canada, inaugurated the facility.
DataWind had earlier this year, signed an MoU with the Telangana government in this regard.
Rama Rao congratulated DataWind President and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli and his team for setting up the facility in Telangana and employing 600 people.
"Telangana government will provide full support to them to ensure their operations are streamlined and successful. The investment made by DataWind will not only contribute to the revenue of the state but will also be instrumental in generating jobs," Rama Rao said, adding DataWind will be doubling its head-count to 1,000 by March next year.
"We created a mobile manufacturing ecosystem in the state. Telangana State Electronic Manufacturing Policy has been a success and in 6 to 7 months, we have three major manufacturers -- Micromax, Celkon and DataWind -- setting up their units here," he further said.
Telangana, which was ranked 13th last year, has risen to number one position in ease of doing business ranking, he said.
European TV manufacturer Thompson is coming to Telangana in tandem with a local company, he said and urged the High Commissioner to ensure that the Prime Minister of Canada, who is expected to visit India, also visits Telangana.
He also sought help of the High Commissioner to put in a word with Air Canada to connect its services to Hyderabad.
DataWind has set up its Hyderabad facility with a phased investment of Rs 100 crore and the facility will manufacture 2 million units (tablets and smart phones) in the first year, whereas at full capacity it can reach up to 5 million units.
Suneet Singh Tuli said, "By producing state-of-the-art
and most affordable devices in India, we not only wish to supply products that would make Indians proud, but boost 'Skills India' by generating highly skilled employment.
"We expect to continue expanding our dominant position in the tablet market by increasing the range of products which will be manufactured at our newly inaugurated facility in Hyderabad and the other facility in Amritsar," he said.
He also said that the company will be coming out with the full range of products including tablets, mini laptops and smartphones from the unit, which has been functional for the last three months and shipped 2.5 lakh devices.
Tuli claimed that Datawind leads the tab market with a 37 per cent marketshare.
Delhi BJP activists today staged a demonstration near All India Congress Committee office on Akbar Road to protest against objectionable remarks made on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for linking Uri terror attack casualties to the deaths during demonetisation.
Hundreds of protesters raised slogans and took out a protest march under the leadership of Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.
They were stopped and detained by the police while marching towards the Congress office.
The demonstrators raised slogans against Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad for comparing the deaths during demonetisation drive with the martyrs of Uri terror attack and Congress leader Pramod Tiwari for calling Prime Minister Modi as "Hitler" in the Parliament.
Addressing the demonstrators, Upadhyay said "It is regrettable that the Congressmen who imposed emergency in the country and amassed black wealth from the coal block auctions are today denouncing Modi government which is fighting against the black money."
He charged that the parties opposing Modi and his demonetisation are those whose "black money" is "destroyed" by the move.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leaders of opposition parties and civil society members today attacked the Centre over the demonetisation move, terming it as an "astounding" abandonment of reason that will hurt the economy.
Addressing a public meeting 'Does Demonetisation Tackle Black Money?' here, former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar also dubbed the measure a "political suicide" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The speakers claimed that the stated objective of combating black money will not be achieved by the "inexplicable" decision of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes as they form 86 per cent value of the currency in circulation and over 90 per cent transactions by volume are done in cash.
They also demanded that the government come out with a list of those who have defaulted on banks loans, have money stashed in banks abroad and are named in Panama Papers.
"No (RBI) Governor would have gone ahead with such a decision or would have refused to be part of the decision-making...I have not met Patel yet.
"But from whatever little I know (about Patel), he is an honest and intelligent person. I have differences with (Finance Minister Arun) Jaitley on several issues. But he is an intelligent person...It seems Modiji did not consult either of them," Aiyar said.
The Congress leader said only a small volume of black money exists in the form of cash and suggested that it is converted into other types of assets or flows in from abroad.
He asked the government to hit at the root of the problem by tracking the route from where the money flows in, taking action against those holding black money and ensuring speedy legal recourse against them.
Hitting out at the government, economist Prabhat Patnaik said the decision defies reason at numerous level.
"It is an astounding abandonment of reason," he said even as he picked holes in the concept of cashless economy in the light of the "fact that only 30 per cent of country's population has access to banking system".
CPI National Secretary D Raja, AAP's Ashish Khetan and Swaraj Abhiyan's Anupam were among the speakers who also included representatives of bank officials' association, fishermen, trade union workers and domestic helps.
Raja asked why Modi was not responding to questions posed by the opposition MPs in Parliament on the issue.
"There are reports that 55 persons have died after the demonetisation move was announced. The government claims it was prepared before making the move. These many people would not have died was the government prepared," Raja alleged.
Khetan reiterated his party's allegation that demonetisation was the "biggest scam" in independent India.
"We need to raise voice against this scam. We will have to pay a price for this because we will be labeled as anti-national when we raise a voice. But we will fight against this undeclared emergency," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To showcase the hardships faced by common citizens due to demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, senior RJD leader Raghubansh Prasad Singh today took up a 'kudal' (digging equipment) in his hand to toil in his field in the absence of farm labourers.
Holding the kudal in his hand, Singh toiled in his field in his Shahpur village under Mahmar block of Vaishali district and made a scathing attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for causing hardships to the citizens.
"Labourers have vanished after demonetisation decision and that is why I am forced to take up the kudal myself to toil in the field," Singh, the RJD national vice president, told reporters.
"Farming cannot wait for the PM to improve situation and that is why I am working in my field," the former Union Minister said.
The BJP, however, dismissed his argument and termed his act as "nautanki" (drama).
In Patna, Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey dismissed Singh's argument and said only those having black money have been affected by the Modi government's decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes and not the labourers.
On a lighter note he added that Singh's action would help him in maintaining good health.
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Terming the demonetisation move as a "war" on corruption and black money, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said some people are opposing it because of their inability to digest Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.
He hit out at the opposition for not allowing Parliament to function and ruled out any possibility of a rollback of demonetisation.
"Different parties are taking different stands. I'mhappy that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik and Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu and others have come out in support of this decision, but some people are not able to digest it," Naidu said.
Speaking at an event organised by BJP, he said, "They have this indigestion problem from beginning itself. From day one you (people) gave mandate to Modi...They are not able to digest it."
Naidu said some people are not able to accept Modi as PrimeMinister and his growing popularity and started the "drama" of award wapsi.
"Intolerant are those people who are intolerant toward the victory of Modi. They are not able to digest it. That is why yesterday they compared Modi to Hitler, Mussolini and Gaddafi. Look at their anger because he defeated them, brought out what is beneath their bed," he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Benerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal were opposing demonetisation just for the sake of politics, the Union minister said.
He listed prominent economists, personalities and international organisations who have spoken in favour of the move and said those trying to create confusion among people "will be disappointed after aweek or so".
"They will be disappointed because there are queues and queues are shown by TVs, the moment these queuesdisappear, these people will also disappear," he added.
On disruption of Parliament over demonetisation, Naidu said the opposition, which started thediscussion on the issue in Rajya Sabha, is now trying to shyaway after coming to know that they are in a fix as theirarguments are proving to be hollow.
"It is like after marriage one is complaining about problems with stars or zodiac sign," he said.
Modi has come before thecountry with a massive social mobilisation which impacts everycountryman's life for a better tomorrow. At thisjuncture, every political party has to choose whether they are with the people's and government decision against black marketers, hoarders, arms smugglers and those running counterfeit, he said.
"There is no question of a roll back at any cost. Narendra
Modi is the last man...He will never go back on his decision," Naidu said.
"He (PM) is ready to take suggestion. We expected Parliament to function smoothly and (opposition to) give ideas, suggestionsfor improvement with regard to problems faced by people, butthey have disappointed us," he said.
Naidu said the government has taken the decision of demonetisation, keeping the national interest in mind and it is a"war" on corruption and black money.
"It is a war on corruption and black money. I know that I'm using the word, I know the meaning also," he said.
The Union minister said that in India, black money has become the biggest menace because there is almost a parallel economy in the country.
"This is a war because our neighbour Pakistan is aiding, abetting, funding, training terrorists. They want to cripple the economy of India. They want to subvert the system. T/hat is why they are printing counterfeit notes and circulating them in the country, causing a huge loss to the country," he said.
The Centre did not want to harass any party or section. It was also not done keeping the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in mind, Naidu said.
He said the biggest beneficiary of this programme willbe the poor, middle class and honest taxpayers of India.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today hailed the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, saying it will have positive impact.
"The Prime Minister has taken the decision in the interest of the nation. Execution of such historic decisions faces difficulties, but this is in the interest of the country and will have positive results in the future," she said after visiting Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati Maharaj here.
The Shankaracharya, on the occasion, appreciated the Chief Minister for her Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban initiative and said this will make the state self-reliant in water.
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India is "immensely underestimating" the threat of a water crunch despite being a downstream state with China, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said here today as he made a strong case for the "right pricing" of natural resources.
"For India, especially being a downstream state with China, we do underestimate the water resource crunch immensely," Subramanian said at the Mumbai LitFest here, when asked about the impact of finite natural resources like water on economic growth.
The northern plains support over 40 per cent of the country's 1.25 billion people which are supported by perennial rivers originating in upper Himalayas, including Chinese territory.
People have "massively" under-priced the usage of natural resources, Subramnaian said and made a case for right pricing, saying this will help solve any potential problems in that regard.
"There are things which we as government, communities or individuals can do to try and adjust the problem... And one of them is we try and price them better," he said.
Referring to the high degree of pollution around Diwali time in Delhi which also saw the visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May, he said it was largely due to burning of paddy which gets government incentives.
Underlining the need to look at "social externalities" while setting the prices of foodgrains, he said crops like pulses need to be incentivised because they fix nitrogen and consume less fertilisers.
Commenting on recent events like Brexit and election of the far-right Donald Trump as US President, Subramanian said he hoped such developments do not take the world to "crude nativism".
However, the senior Finance Ministry official, otherwise known to be very vocal with his views, chose not to comment when asked about demonetisation.
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Dutch police have arrested a "confused" homeless man suspected of triggering a security sweep at Rotterdam's airport after an anonymous tip- off about a possible terror threat.
"Rotterdam police have detained an illegal immigrant with an outstanding sentence in connection with their investigation into a possible terror threat," the Royal Dutch Military Police announced on their Facebook page.
"The suspect is a 45-year-old man without a fixed address and in a confused state, who has previously made similar false statements to the police," the military police said yesterday.
"The man is believed to be involved in the tip-off and is being questioned as police think he may have some valuable information."
The military police added that they had reviewed security measures in and around the airport, but gave no further details.
Armed military police beefed up security at the small international airport yesterday after they received the anonymous phonecall, according to Dutch media, about an unspecified terror threat.
Officers carrying machine guns and wearing bulletproof vests checked and searched some cars and buses arriving at the airport.
More armed military police officers were stationed outside the entrance to the airport, which caters mainly for flights to Britain, Spain, Germany and other European destinations.
An investigation was "immediately launched" after "an anonymous message indicating a possible threat at Rotterdam The Hague Airport" was received, the police said in an earlier statement.
"Certain extra security measures, both visible and invisible, are being put into place," the statement said, adding that Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb was being kept informed about developments.
In a short conference, spokesmen for the military police said that air traffic was not being stopped to the airport.
Flights were not affected in and out of the airport, which lies about six kilometres north of Rotterdam, the busiest port in Europe.
The Netherlands has been on high alert since the Paris attacks a year ago, and on Monday the Dutch counterterrorism agency warned that jihadist fighters returning from Iraq and Syria amid an offensive against the Islamic State group could increase the risk of a terror attack.
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Media firm Eros International today said it has partnered with leading Russian company Central Partnership to promote and distribute Indian and Russian content across multiple platforms in both countries.
The two companies will jointly explore distribution of content across platforms in India and Russia, Eros International said in a statement.
Central Partnership (CP), an affiliate of Gazprom Media Holding, will dub films from Eros' extensive film library in Russian language, which will enable the company to cater to a much larger audience in Russia and CIS.
Eros can further utilise the dubbed content on its digital platform, Eros Now, to reach out to a wider audience in Russia.
"With the rapid growth of satellite pay TV in Russia, there is an increased demand for premium digital and television content. This alliance will pave the way for CP to showcase extensive repository of Bollywood films from the Eros library on pay TV," it said.
"Furthermore, CP will also approach free TV channels to explore showcasing of Indian titles," it added.
Eros too, will endeavour to distribute CP's media assets on Indian television, the statement said.
"With our entry into the Russian market, we continue to build strong global position. The market potential is promising, and with the rise in digital consumption by local audiences, we see huge opportunity in exploiting high-quality content together to reach audiences across the two diasporas," said Eros International group CEO & MD Jyoti Deshpande.
"Our strategic partnership with Eros is a big step for both companies in their international expansion, since content from India is now under-represented in Russia and vice-versa. Our plan is to benefit from both companies' leading positions in domestic markets to change this layout," CP CEO Pavel Stepanov said.
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US President Barack Obama and European leaders pledged today to maintain NATO cooperation, and vowed to keep up sanctions against Russia, in their first meeting since the shock election of Donald Trump sparked fears of drastic policy shifts.
During a fractious presidential campaign, Trump had appeared to call into question a near 70-year-old security shield for US allies under NATO, and vowed to withdraw from hard-fought deals on the climate and Iran's nuclear programme.
The US president-elect's friendly disposition towards Russian President Vladimir Putin has also raised questions over his attitude toward Moscow's backing for President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian war as well as Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In the talks in Berlin during which jittery European partners sought reassurances from Obama, the six parties "agreed on the necessity of working collectively to move the transatlantic agenda forward", according to a statement from the White House.
That meant "securing diplomatic resolution to the conflicts in Syria and eastern Ukraine", including putting the heat on Russia through sanctions until it met its commitments under a peace deal for Ukraine.
The leaders also affirmed the "importance of continued cooperation through multilateral institutions, including NATO".
Ahead of today's huddle in Berlin, Obama sounded a note of cautious optimism that Trump could change his position once he takes on the role as president.
"There's something about the solemn responsibilities of that office ... That forces you to focus, that demands seriousness," Obama said at a press conference after talks with his host German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"And if you're not serious about the job, then you probably won't be there very long. Because it will expose problems."
But Obama also stressed the importance of a united Europe, and urged the bloc not to take for granted the transatlantic relationship that has been built up over decades.
"The EU remains one of the world's great political and economic achievements, and those achievements should not be taken for granted," he said.
Today's meeting between Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain is the first of its format since Trump's election.
It opened with the burning question of the US-led coalition's battle against Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Iraq as well as Europe's migrant crisis, before delving into the Ukraine crisis, said an aide of Hollande about the talks that lasted just over two hours.
Citing both conflicts, Obama stressed on the eve of the meeting that he hoped Trump would be "willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms".
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Japan today donated five high-tech microscopes to a city-based charitable society working in the area of eye ailments, with its envoy saying that such facilities should be used especially for ameliorating the condition of the underprivileged people.
The Japanese Embassy donated the medical equipment to Venu Eye Institute and Research Centre under the Grant Assistance Grassroots Project of that country.
"We are glad to know that the equipments we had donated earlier are being properly used and maintained. And, so we decided to give another grant. And, these equipments should be used especially for the underprivileged patients.
"Medical fees are very high and so the institute should reach out to the underprivileged society for getting them better treatment and care and for preventing them from getting blindness," Ambassador of Japan to India, Kenji Hiramatsu said.
Joint Director and Medical Superintendent of the institute, Dr Abhishek Dagar, said, this was the third grant given by the Japanese government.
"We have given grants earlier under the scheme for schools, check dams, medical facilities in Delhi and outside. And, so this new grant today is also a symbol of the friendship between India and Japan," Kenji said.
The Ambassador was later given a tour of the facilities there and he also witnessed a cataract surgery, performed by a team of doctors, using the new equipments.
The 100-bedded facility, set up over 30 years ago, has besides a base hospital in Delhi, five satellite hospitals.
"There are 37 million people blind in the world. One-third of these blind people live in India. 80 per cent of blindness is avoidable (cataract and refractive errors). Majority of the blind live in rural areas, while most of the eye care services and facilities are available in urban areas," according to the institute.
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Underlining the need for rules and regulations while issuing licence to permanent fireworks shops, the Madras High Court today directed the Centre to form a panel comprising top central and state government officials for evolving the norms in consultation with experts.
The direction was given by a bench here comprising Justices S Nagamuthu and M V Muralidharan on a PIL suo motu initiated by them following the death of nine persons in a fire crackers shop accident at fireworks hub of Sivakasi in neighbouring Virudhunagar district in October.
The judges said that as of now, there were no regulations or guidelines for issuing license to permanent shops regarding the distance between the shops and other protected work spots like schools or hospitals.
The Union Industry Secretary in-charge of Industrial Policy and Promotion should head a panel with Tamil Nadu Revenue Secretary, Additional Home Secretary, Chief Controller of Explosives and convene a meeting in the second week of December for framing the guidelines, the judges said.
The panel could take suggestions from experts in the field besides fire service and police officials, and submit a report in eight weeks to the court.
The Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, who was present in the court, said there were no rules or guidelines regarding distance between permanent shops and other protected work places.
The matter will come up for further hearing after the report is received.
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The first 'Vishwa Punjabi Sahitya Sammelan' (Global Punjabi Literature Meet) began here today with participation of over 4,000 delegates from Punjab and countries such as Canada, USA and UK.
The inaugural session of the meet, organised by city- based organisation 'Sarhad', also saw participation of Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
'Vishwa Punjabi Gaurav Awards' were given to prominent Punjabi personalities including the actors Dharmendra, Ujjal Dosanjh, Indian-origin Canadian MP Dr S P Oberoi, chairman of Apex Group of companies S Tarlochan Singh, former Chairman of National Minorities Commission and retired IPS officer P S Pasricha for their contribution to Punjab, Punjabi language and culture.
President of the literary fest Dr Surjit Singh Patar, a prominent poet and writer, said, "The relationship between Maharashtra and Punjab dates back to at least seven centuries. The history of this relationship began in the 14th century with the footsteps of Maharashtrian saint, Sant Namdev.
"For nearly two decades, the words of Sant Namdev echoed in the air of Punjab and dwelt in the hearts of Punjabi people," he said.
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India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.190 billion to $367.041 billion in the week to November 11 on account of fall in foreign currency assets, Reserve Bank said on Friday.
In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $1.074 billion to $368.231 billion. They had touched a life- time high of $371.99 billion in the week to September 30, this year.
Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, dipped by $1.155 billion to $342.772 billion.
FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves.
Gold reserves remained steady at $20.460 billion, the apex bank said.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund declined by $13.4 million to $1.462 billion, while India's reserve position with the Fund dipped by $21.5 million to $2.346 billion, the apex bank said.
A former Sri Lankan ambassador to the US, who is a close relative of ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been arrested and today sent to police custody for allegedly misusing state funds during the previous regime.
Jaliya Wickramasuriya was arrested yesterday by Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) on charges of financial fraud. He has been accused of accepting USD 245,000 as commission while serving as the ambassador in Washington.
Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne remanded him to police custody till December 2, ColomboPage reported.
The former diplomat allegedly accepted the commission in connection with a contract to refurbish the Sri Lankan embassy in the US and had reportedly remitted the money to Sri Lanka.
Wickramasuriya is a close relative of Rajapaksa. He was arrested by the FCID at Bandaranaike International Airport near Colombo when he was attempting to leave the country.
President Maithriapal Sirisena, Rajapaksa's successor, came to power on a promise to fight corruption. Soon after taking over in January last year, Sirisena ordered criminal investigations into corruption under the Rajapaksa regime.
Rajapaksa's closest family members face allegations of bribery, extortion and even murder.
Rajapaksa's two sons - legislator Namal and ex-navy officer Yoshitha - and two of his siblings are currently on bail after being charged with corruption.
Sri Lankan government has sought help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations and other international organisations to track down billions of dollars said to have been siphoned out of the country during Rajapaksa's decade in power.
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There's no doubt which side the fashion world supported during the US presidential campaign.
For years, First Lady Michelle Obama and Democrats' vanquished presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have been favorites with fashion designers who dressed them in clothes aimed at evoking their values.
But New York-based French designer Sophie Theallet has gone a step further, throwing down the gauntlet by refusing to dress future first lady Melania Trump because of the political views of her husband, President-elect Donald Trump.
Theallet is urging other designers to follow her lead.
"As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next first lady," she wrote in an open letter published yesterday.
"The rhetoric of racism, sexism and xenophobia unleashed by her husband's presidential campaign are incompatible with the shared values we live by."
"I am well aware it is not wise to get involved in politics," Theallet added.
"That said, as a family-owned company, our bottom line is not just about money."
The letter has prompted a flood of reaction on social media, much of it negative.
Theallet, 52, who has worked in the United States for more than fifteen years, is a regular fixture at New York's fashion week.
Her feminine designs have appealed to Michelle Obama, who provided welcome publicity by donning several of her dresses since 2009.
"She has contributed to having our name recognized and respected worldwide," Theallet wrote of the current first lady, indicating purpose behind Obama's fashion choices.
"Her values, actions and grace have always resonated deeply within me.
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A judge has ordered Nick Gordon to pay more than USD 36 million to the family of Bobbi Kristina Brown in wrongful death case.
Two months ago, Gordon, 21, was found legally responsible for Bobbi Kristina's death, reported E! online.
The daughter of Bobbi Brown and the Whitney Houston died in July 2015 at age 22 after being in a coma for months. She was found face down and unconscious in a bathtub in a Georgia home she shared with Gordon, who she often called her "husband".
Fulton County Superior Court Judge T Jackson Bedford had said in September that because Gordon failed to appear in court on two scheduled court dates, anything alleged by the plaintiff was admitted through omission.
"I am pleased with the outcome of today's court proceedings. I do know that Mr Gordon will be unable to slander my daughter's name in the future or obtain any benefits from the use of Krissy's name.
"Finally, I do need for the District Attorney's Office to step up and begin the criminal prosecution of Mr. Gordon. The delay in that matter is of great concern to me and my family. We need for District Attorney Howard to act now," Bobby said in a statement.
The USD 36 million includes USD 15 million for present value of life, USD 13.8 million for pain and suffering and USD 1.37 million for assault and battery.
The lawsuit had alleged Bobbi Kristina "died due to a violent altercation" with Gordon, "after which he placed her in a bathtub, unconscious, after he injected her with a toxic mixture.
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The Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry today contested in the Madras High Court the methodology adopted by mining and geology officials in arriving at a loss of Rs 1.10 lakh crore to the exchequer due to alleged illicit quarrying in Madurai district.
The granite body, in its counter affidavit before first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan, claimed that the figure was based on officials' 'assumptions and presumptions' and not on well settled trade practices.
The matter relates to a PIL petition by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy on which the court had appointed IAS officer U Sagayam as the Legal Commissioner to probe the allegations of illegal mining.
Appearing on behalf of the granite industry, senior counsel P Wilson said it has come to the federation's notice that the court was apprised that a loss of Rs 1.10 lakh crore was caused to the exchequer.
The Geology and Mining officials did not take into account the trade practices, it was submitted. Buyers were allowed allowances (to put out of sale purview) ranging from 5 cm to 20 cm depending upon the quality, colour, crakes and other natural defects. Such factors were not taken into account, it was pointed out.
However, all of a sudden, especially after August 2012, the officials started measuring "length x breadth x height" of the excavated granite pit. They measured it on volumetric basis and calculated it arithmetically without geological mapping and inputs, the federation contended.
Maintaining that this was an important aspect without which the actual percentage was determined by officials, the counter said any decision based on assumption and presumption will be flawed.
"The officials had adopted fanciful, imaginary export price while calculating the recovery and price of minerals," it charged.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing to January 11 next.
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In a restricted activity, groundnut oil prices drifted by Rs 200 per quintal at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market today owing to slackened demand from retailers.
However, other edible and non-edible oils moved in a narrow range in scattered deals and settled at previous levels.
Traders said tepid demand from retailers against sufficient stocks position kept pressure on groundnut oil prices.
They said, however, volume of business remained thin due to prevailing cash crunch in the market after government banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to flush out black money.
In the national capital, groundnut mill delivery (Gujarat) oil dropped by Rs 200 to Rs 10,000 per quintal.
Following are today's quotations (in Rs per quintal):
Oilseeds: Mustard seed Rs 2,950-3,050 and Groundnut seed Rs 2,150-2,900. Vanaspati Ghee (15-litre tin) Rs 800-1,000.
Edible oils: Groundnut Mill Delivery (Gujarat) Rs 10,000,Groundnut Solvent Refined (per tin) Rs 1,700-1,800, Mustard expeller (Dadri) Rs 8,700, Mustard Pakki Ghani (per tin) Rs 1,350-1,395, Mustard Kachi Ghani (per tin) Rs 1,400-1,500, Sesame Mill delivery Rs 8,100, Soybean Refined Mill Delivery (Indore) Rs 6,700, Soybean Degum (Kandla) Rs 6,400, Crude Palm Oil (Ex-Kandla) Rs 4,600, Cottonseed Mill Delivery (Haryana) Rs 6,650, Palmolein (RBD) Rs 5,700, Palmolein (Kandla) Rs 5,750 and Coconut (per tin) Rs 1,750-1,800.
Non-edible oils: Linseed Rs 9,900, Castor Rs 9,700-9,800, Neem Rs 5,350-5,450.
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The Madras High court today pulled up the state education department for not coming up with a strategy to provide toilet facilities in all government schools inspite of its earlier order as well as that of the Supreme Court.
The court's Madurai bench, which was hearing a PIL seeking a direction to provide toilet facilities in schools, asked what the officials were doing to implement the court order and why they could not even plan for it.
It noted that the director of school education had earlier misled the court that enough toilet facilities were provided in all the schools, forcing the court to appoint an advocate commission to inspect the schools for the real situation.
The court said that another report of the school department was not satisfactory and "makes us shed tears about the status of basic amenities in schools in the state".
Even Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were doing better in providing facilities in schools, it said.
There were schools where girls use bushes as cover for attending to nature's call, the court said, adding, such a situation should not prevail in this country 70 years after independence.
The court also wondered why power tariff in schools was more than the commercial tariff at 5.75 ps per unit, and why electricity expenses were met by parent-teacher associations in many schools.
Additional Advocate General submitted that it would not be possible to build 75,000 toilet units in schools, which do not have the facility, this financial year itself and funds could be allocated only for 22,000 units this year. The remaining schools could be covered next year.
The court said the government had already committed contempt of court by not providing toilets in all schools as ordered by it in 2014, and it was now seeking more time to complete the project.
About 1,41,000 toilets were required at the rate of one toilet per 20 students. There were about 66,610 units in schools and the remaining should have been constructed by this time, the court said.
"This only shows that officials did not have any vision and strategy to do things," it said and posted the case for further hearing on November 22 when the government is expected to give some concrete reply on the issue.
The Supreme Court had issued orders for providing toilet facilities in schools in the country in 2012 itself.
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Actor Eddie Redmayne says he will not like to see himself playing James Bond.
The 34-year-old star said he loves to see other people playing the character but will not say no if the role is ever offered to him, reported Variety.
"I definitely will not be playing James Bond. I would hate to see myself play James Bond. I love going to see 'James Bond' and seeing really freaking cool actors that I admire doing great things. Never say never, but...No. Who would I like to see as James Bond? That's a different question," Redmayne said.
The Oscar-winner finds Tom Hardy best suited for the role.
"Tom Hardy. Seeing him in 'Inception,' I thought he was so debonair. But are they even looking? See, you don't know. Nobody knows. I love Daniel Craig.
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The government today said the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has not supported the opening up of audit service sector to foreign firms.
ICAI is the apex body of chartered accountants in the country.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal said ICAI has not supported the opening of audit service sector to foreign firms.
He said the Department of Commerce regularly consults stakeholders and experts, domestic as well as foreign, for reciprocal market access in the area of services, including professional services as part of bilateral and multilateral negotiations.
"As regards audit services, while government has not received requests for market access for foreign audit firms, India has, however, not taken any commitments for audit services at the World Trade Organisation, nor in any bilateral Free Trade Agreements," Meghwal said.
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An Indian Mujahideen member, accused of helping the terror outfit in 2008 Delhi and Ahmedabad bombings, tried to escape from the JJ Hospital premises here where he was taken for check up, police said today.
Anwar Abdul Ali Gani Bagwan's luck ran out soon as he was overpowered by police constables who were earlier escorting him and common people after a chase.
The incident occurred on November 15, when Bagwan (33) was taken to the state-run hospital in Central Mumbai after he complained of some issues with his eyes.
When they reached the premises of the hospital, he pushed police constables and started running, a police official said today.
By the time Bagwan crossed the road, the constables were joined by bystanders in the chase. He was overpowered and taken into custody.
An offence has been registered against him by J J Marg Police in this regard, Senior Inspector Dileep Shinde said.
Bagwan, an undertrial, is lodged in Arthur Road prison here. He was arrested by Crime Branch in 2009.
The MBBS doctor was accused of using the IM funds for hiring flats at posh Koregaon Park area in Pune as the bases for IM members.
He allegedly procured sedatives and anaesthetics from a hospital in Pune and used them to train IM cadres in kidnapping for seeking ransom to fund terror activities. He had allegedly received terror training in Bhatkal.
According to police, Bagwan allegedly let IM use his apartments in Pune to the terror outfit's media wing which had sent emails to channels just minutes before the bomb blasts struck Delhi and Ahmadabad.
In an 1,800-page chargesheet filed before the MCOCA Court in 2009, the Mumbai Police had charged 21 alleged terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen group, including Bagwan, for being involved in the planning and execution of bomb blasts across the country, of forming an organised crime syndicate for terror-related activities, and of hacking into WiFi accounts to send emails claiming responsibility for the Ahmedabad and Delhi blasts.
On July 26, 2008, a series of multiple bomb blasts hit Ahmedabad, within a span of 70 minutes.
Similarly, Delhi was struck with a series of five synchronised bomb blasts at various locations on September 13, 2008. Scores of people were killed in these bombings.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin today said the future of relationship between India and Israel not only goes between the government and administration but between "the people of both the nations".
Rivlin, who visited the Centre of Excellence for Vegetables (CEV) here, said India could learn from Israeli experience and know how in the fields of agriculture, water saving and water cleaning techniques.
Amid tight security, the Israeli President came here along with a delegation and had a first-hand experience of the protected cultivation of vegetables at the centre which was set up in collaboration with Israel in 2011.
Rivlin visited the nursery in the high-tech green house located at the centre to get an overview of Indo-Israeli agricultural projects.
Asked about the Indo-Israel cooperation, the President said that the cooperation between both the nations is now being expanded in the field of agriculture, water and security while asserting, "We have to take care of each other".
"They (India) are asking our experience to be taught here. I believe the connection between people of India and people of Israel and the understanding .... We have to take care of each other that will bring us to lot of cooperation because the cooperation started 25 years ago and it is now being expanded to a level (where) no one can even foresee in all fields of agriculture, water.
"We have any kind of necessity to carry on, we have any kind of security and we are doing all together. We are cooperating and we are not hiding from each other any kind of business we are very open," he asserted.
He further said, "I see the future of relationship between India and Israel that something not only goes between the government and administration but between the people."
President Rivlin is on a state visit to India on the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.
India and Israel signed agreements for agriculture partnership in 2006 under which Israel has been sharing its best practices and knowledge through professional training programmes.
When asked about the technologies India need the most, the President said that Israel can share its experience and know how in the field of agriculture and lesser use of water in farming.
"We know how to do and how to arrange clean drinking water. We have every type of agriculture experience. Shortage of water in Israel has taught us to how to carry water from one part of the country to another part, how to clean water and how to bring the ability to make sea water into drinking water," he said.
"We have lot of experiences and people of India can have our experience by 'b-to b' relationship, 'g to g'...."
While taking a look at seedling of various vegetables at the centre, President said the small tomatoes which were grown here are "money maker".
Rivlin, who was accompanied by his wife Nechama Rivlin, saw the demonstration of different varieties of vegetables including tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber, chillies etc, which are grown by using poly house technique, besides having a look at the muskmelon being cultivated at walk-in tunnel.
Addressing media, while taking a look at the vegetables, he lauded the people of India for making progress in the field of horticulture by using Israeli techniques and technology at the Centre of Excellence.
"Here we are trying to give everything and our experience to help Indian people, how to do and give an opportunity to all the people for producing more," he said.
"You are doing miracle. We appreciate (you) for using Israeli knowledge and experience to become much better... We salute to the Indian people about the ability and efficiency and using our know how to be better," he said.
On this occasion, the President inaugurated the 'Friendship stone', set up as sincere thanks to the President and Israel for cooperation in establishment of centre under the Indo-Israel Agricultural Work Plan.
As many as six centres of excellence have been set up in Haryana which are for vegetables in Gharaunda in Karnal, for fruits-citrus, pomegranate at Mangiana in Sirsa, bee keeping at Ram Nagar in Kurukshetra, mango at Ladwa in Kurukshetra, floriculture in Sondhi in Jhajjar and model dairy farm in Hisar.
The visit, first by an Israeli President in nearly 20 years, symbolises the growing partnership between India and Israel. President Rivlin is accompanied by heads of business and academic delegation including 15 heads of Israeli universities.
The Israeli President arrived on November 14 on an eight-day visit to India.
"Cooperation is something that not only goes between the government but also between people. We have learnt all over the world the words of Gandhi saying those who are hungry should be given food," said an official release of Israel embassy quoting the President during his visit to Karnal.
Pakistan today described as "ambiguous" India's 'No First Use' policy on nuclear weapons and said it cannot be a substitute for verifiable arms control and restraint measures, days Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar questioned the doctrine.
"Pakistan believes the ambiguous 'No First Use' Declaration is not verifiable and amounts to nothing. It can't be a substitute for verifiable arms control and restraint measures proposed by Pakistan's standing offer of Strategic Restraint Regime," Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in his weekly briefing.
He was responding to the recent remarks by Parrikar in which he asked why India cannot say "we are a responsible nuclear power and I will not use it irresponsibly" instead of affirming a "no first use policy". Later he had said the remarks were personal in nature.
Zakaria said statement by the defence minister of a country that repeatedly and constantly heightens tension and maintains an aggressive posture should be a matter of concern for all.
He said signing of nuclear deals by some countries is a matter of concern as it is only reinforcing arrogance and belligerence with which India conducts itself in the region and beyond, in an indirect reference to Indo-Japan nuclear deal.
Zakaria also said Pakistan established itself as a serious candidate for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG), increasing number of countries were supporting the non-discriminatory approach.
"There is also growing recognition of the fact that 2008 exemption to India neither benefited non-proliferation regime nor objective of strategic stability in South Asia," he said.
The spokesman expressed the confidence that members of the NSG would bear in mind the need to prevent further erosion of non-proliferation regime and preserving credibility of the NSG as a rule-based organisation.
He said Pakistan has expressed its openness to measures for strengthening non-proliferation objectives to the NSG, which included proposal for binding bilateral agreement with India on non-testing.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Cyprus today signed the revised bilateral tax treaty under which capital gains tax will be levied on sale of shares on investments made after April 1, 2017, bringing the island nation at par with Mauritius in terms of tax treatment.
The new agreement also provides for exchange of banking information and allows the use of such information for purposes other than taxation with prior approval of competent authorities of the country.
Both had earlier in June agreed to revise the over two decade old tax treaty and decided to grandfather investments made prior to April 1, 2017.
"The new DTAA provides for source-based taxation of capital gains arising from alienation of shares, instead of residence-based taxation provided under the existing DTAA. However, a grandfathering clause has been provided for investments made prior to April 1, 2017, in respect of which capital gains would continue to be taxed in the country of which taxpayer is a resident," a finance ministry statement said.
The new agreement provides for assistance between the two countries for collection of taxes.
It also updates the provisions related to exchange of information to accepted international standards, which will allow exchange of banking details and its use for purposes other than taxation with prior approval of competent authorities of the country providing the information.
The new agreement expands the scope of 'permanent establishment' and reduces the tax rate on royalty in the country from which payments are made to 10 per cent from the existing 15 per cent, in line with the tax rate under Indian tax laws.
It also updates the text of other provisions in accordance with the international standards and consistent policy of India in respect of tax treaties, the ministry added.
The completion of the negotiation on avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion will also pave the way for the removal of Cyprus from the list of 'Notified Jurisdictional Areas' retrospectively from November 2013.
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The notification imposed tougher conditions and
withholding tax on investments coming from Cyprus.
The revised agreement is expected to contribute to further develop the trade and economic links between Cyprus and India and also with other countries. India and Cyprus have a DTAA since 1994.
Cyprus is a major source of foreign fund flows into the country. From April 2000 till September 2016, India received FDI worth Rs 45,227 crore (USD 8.9 billion) from Cyprus.
India in May signed a revised tax treaty with Mauritius under which capital gains will be levied on investments made after April 1, 2017.
Following amendment of the 33-year old tax treaty, companies routing funds into India through Mauritius after March 31, 2017 will have to pay short-term capital gains tax at half the rate prevailing during the two-year transition period. The levy is currently at 15 per cent. The full rate will kick in from April 1, 2019.
India and the UK today signed three Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) that are aimed at reducing litigation in the Indian transfer pricing arena.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed the three pacts taking the total APAs signed (both- bilateral and unilateral) so far to 111.
"These agreements are a result of the understanding reached with the Competent Authority of the UK some time ago," the finance ministry said in a statement.
The competent authorities of India and the UK had earlier exchanged mutual agreements among them under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) Article of the India-UK Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).
The three agreements cover international transactions in the nature of payment of intra-group service charges and pertain to the telecom industry.
They also have a rollback provision. With this, India and the UK have concluded five five bilateral APAs and some more will be concluded in the near future.
The APA programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 with a view to providing a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and reducing litigation in Indian transfer pricing.
An APA can be entered into for a maximum of 5 years at a time.
Since the notification of the APA scheme came in August 2012, a total of about 700 APA applications have been received during the first four years of the programme, which points to its wide acceptance by the taxpayers.
Rollback of APAs was announced in the Budget in July 2014 to provide certainty on the pricing of international transactions for four prior years (rollback years) preceding the first year from which APA is to be applicable.
The ministry said the Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan has drawn the attention of the United Nations to what it said was India's "intention" to escalate tension on the Line of Control by launching artillery barrages, which were threatening regional peace and security.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi wrote to UNSC President and and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying Indian troops in Kashmir launched artillery barrages last week in a major escalation of attacks along the LoC threatening regional peace and security, Geo reported.
"This was the first use of such weapons in 13 years and was a clear indication of the Indian intention to further escalate tensions and undermine regional peace and security," she wrote.
Lodhi said it was an effort by India to divert the international attention from its "continued violations of human rights" in Kashmir, the report said.
She called on the UN chief and the Security Council as the custodians of international peace and security to take note of the continued ceasefire violations by India that pose a real danger to regional peace and security.
She told the UN authorities that the frequency of these violations has increased over the last two months.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China today refuted allegations of denial of visa to the manager of the Indian badminton team on the ground that he is a resident of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as Southern Tibet, saying he himself cancelled his visa application.
Bamang Tago, who is also the Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Badminton Association, had applied for a Chinese visa at its embassy in New Delhi to travel to Fuzhou for the ongoing China Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
"What you said does not comply with the facts," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters here while commenting on the Tago's visa issue.
"According to what we learnt that the person you have mentioned had previously gone to the Chinese embassy in India for visa application but later he himself cancelled the visa application," Geng claimed.
Asked whether Togo was denied visa because he hails from Arunachal Pradesh, Geng said, "the way China issues visa to relevant people is a flexible approach adopted by China to facilitate exchanges between two sides pending the final settlement of the boundary question".
"It fully reflects China's sincerity and flexibility. We hope that India will work together with China to maintain sound momentum of personnel exchanges and cooperation in different fields between the two sides," he said.
China in the past has declined visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh as it considers the area to be part of the Southern Tibet.
Reports from New Delhi said Tago has approached Ministry of External Affairs after he was denied visa by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi "on ground of Arunachal domiciles", a day after applying for the travel document on November 10.
Following this External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "this matter has been brought to our notice now. Government's position on differential treatment of Indian passport holders is clear and well known. We have conveyed it to the Chinese side".
"We expect them to address this issue in the spirit of reciprocity and smooth development of bilateral relations," Swarup had said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iran denied today that it had in any way breached its nuclear deal with world powers, insisting it was meeting its commitment to cap its stocks of controlled materials.
A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency last week showed that Iran's stocks of so-called heavy water had inched above the 130-tonne level set out in the agreement.
Heavy water is not itself radioactive but is used in certain types of nuclear reactor, which can in turn produce plutonium that can be used in an atomic bomb.
The July 2015 deal with world powers sets Iran's heavy water "needs" at 130 tonnes and states that any excess must be "made available for export".
Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said arrangements were in hand to export the excess.
"Iran has fulfilled its obligations on heavy water stockpiles," state broadcaster IRIB quoted him as saying.
"We were required to put on the international market any excess over 130 tonnes and so far we have sold 70 tonnes," he said.
"Negotiations are under way with interested countries, in particular European," to sell the rest.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano had chided Iran yesterday for exceeding the agreed limit on its stockpiles for a second time.
"It is important that such situations should be avoided in future in order to maintain international confidence in the implementation," he said.
Washington has played down concerns about Iran's exceeding of the stockpile limit.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said last week that it was "important to note that Iran made no effort to hide this" and that he was "not sure whether that constitutes a formal violation".
In all other respects, the IAEA found that Iran was continuing to abide by the agreement's terms.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Income Tax Department has served a notice to authorities of Kerala's famous Chottanikkara Bhagavathy temple near here, seeking details of gold stock kept in the shrine.
The development came following reports that gold lockets were sold in bulk at the temple soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes last week.
IT sources said temple authorities have been asked to provide details of one month sale of gold lockets.
Details of those who purchased gold lockets have also been sought, they said.
Authorities of the temple, however, sought to downplay the incident.
A temple official said the IT Department had only asked them to provide details of gold stocks at the shrine.
The temple, visited by thousands of devotees from all across the country, is under the administration of Cochin Devaswom Board.
Meanwhile, sources said Cochin Devaswom Board has instituted an internal probe following reports that the temple witnessed a 'gold rush' on November 9 and 10.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CCTV footage sought by Delhi Police from the Jamia authorities in connection with the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed has been erased as the authorities store a day's clips for one month, prompting the probe team to seek help from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to retrieve the images.
The Jamia Millia Islamia administration, after initial reluctance, has shared CCTV footage with the Delhi Police's Crime Branch which is probing the disappearance of Najeeb Ahmed, but has informed it that the footage of the period before October 18 was not available.
The probe team has traced an auto-rickshaw driver who told them that he had dropped Najeeb at Jamia Millia Islamia on October 15.
"We contacted the Jamia authorities and they told us that the footage of the period till October 18 has been erased since the clips are stored only for a period of one month. We are trying to retrieve the footage of October 15 in order to trace Najeeb's movement inside the Jamia campus. We have sent the cameras to FSL so that we can get some clues in Najeeb's case," a police source said.
Meanwhile, a guard at JNU's Mahi Mandavi Hostel where Najeeb was staying had received a letter a few days ago which stated that the student was being held captive in Aligarh. However, on verification, the letter was found to be bogus.
"We checked it. The information was bogus. The letter said he's in captivity but it was found to be fake. There was no ransom demand," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said, adding that a team was sent to the address in Aligarh and it was found that the sender had used fake identity.
The reward amount for providing information on Najeeb's whereabouts has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh owing to the "sensitivity" of the matter.
Najeeb went missing on October 15 following an on-campus scuffle allegedly with ABVP members the night before.
The case was last week transferred from South District Police to Crime Branch in order to have a "fresh look" at the case.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Ocean Springs Road resident Dr. Michael Shields looks over one of the displays available at Thursday night's public meeting regarding potential improvements for the heavily-traveled road.
(Warren Kulo/The Mississippi Press)
Residents who came to Thursday night's meeting to discuss possible improvements to Ocean Springs Road were asked to use decals to indicate sections of the road they considered problem areas.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- About 20 people who live on or near Ocean Springs Road came to the Ocean Springs Civic Center Thursday night to view potential plans and offer input for improving the heavily-traveled road which connects U.S. 90 and Highway 57.
Ocean Springs and Jackson County officials were on hand, along with representatives of the engineering firm of Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc., to answer residents' questions and listen to their suggestions.
"This is the first step in evaluating what safety and capacity improvements could be made," said Paul Waidhas of Burk-Kleinpeter.
Waidhas explained that engineers will take their original concepts, couple them with input from residents, then come back with improvement plans for additional public meetings.
For longtime Ocean Springs Road resident Dr. Michael Shields, any improvements which will reduce speeding along the road will be welcome.
"There is speeding -- a lot of it," Sheilds said. "It's always been that way and it's always been a problem. Some of these ideas I'm seeing look good; others, not so much."
This map showed residents locations on Ocean Springs Road where accidents have occurred since 2011 -- although officials acknowledged it may not be all-inclusive.
Once a concept for improving the road is created, city and county officials can then begin the process for seeking funding for the project. Ocean Springs Grants Administrator Carolyn Martin explained most funding sources, such as the Mississippi Department of Transportation, require plans to be in place before they will consider supporting a project.
"The normal process is you get all the engineering and public comments together and once it's shovel-ready, you start soliciting the transportation departments -- the state transportation department, the federal transportation departments -- the folks that can help with the money," said Jackson County supervisor Randy Bosarge.
"You go after all the money you can get for the project, then whatever's left, the city and the county will work to come up with the matching funds."
Ocean Springs Road is inside the city limits until it reaches Riley Road. From there, it's county property -- hence the need for the two entities to address the issue jointly.
Bosarge and Ocean Springs alderman Chic Cody both pointed out that Ocean Springs Road's usage as a connector road to Interstate 10 makes it one of the primary outlets for residents during times of emergency, such as a hurricane. As such, state and federal funds are likely to be more readily available.
"It's one of the escape routes for Ocean Springs," Cody said, "plus, you've got the (Ocean Springs) hospital on that road. It's used to evacuate that part of town, along with (Highway) 57."
Bosarge also noted the continued growth in that area of town -- growth that could make delaying improvements to Ocean Springs Road more problematic in the future.
"It's growing out there and we have to grow that road with it," he said, "so in the future it'll be able to handle an even heavier traffic load. Better to address this now before it grows much more out there."
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make an official visit to Argentina on Monday hoping to boost investment in the Latin American nation, officials said.
It is the first visit to Argentina by a Japanese prime minister in 57 years - the last was by Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi in 1959.
Abe's one-day visit provides the latest big international encounter for Argentina's conservative president Mauricio Macri.
He has been working to boost Argentina's trade ties since he took office a year ago after 12 years of protectionist policies under his leftist predecessors.
Heading to Argentina after the APEC trade summit in Peru, Abe will meet businesspeople and members of Argentina's 65,000-strong Japanese community.
The Japanese embassy in Buenos Aires said in a statement it is "a historic visit that will seek to further strengthen bilateral relations."
The Argentine foreign ministry said the visit aims to reinforce ties "in the political and economic spheres and in trade, investment and cooperation in science, technology, culture and sport."
Japan's ambassador in Buenos Aires, Noriteru Fukushima, said in July that he wanted to multiply Japanese investment in Argentina over the next three years.
He said Japan aimed to increase investment to as much as USD 3.0 billion a year from its current level of USD 100 million.
Japanese carmakers already have major factories in Argentina and Toyota, for example, is looking to expand, said Belisario de Azevedo, an economist at Argentine consultancy Abeceb.
"Currently bilateral relations between Argentina and Japan are very much focused on investment, above all on the auto sector, with the Honda, Toyota and Nissan factories," he said.
Japan has trading agreements with Brazil, Mexico and Chile, but not with Argentina.
Japanese exports to Argentina were worth about USD 1.2 billion in 2015, according to the Argentine state statistics institute.
That was twice the amount that Argentina exported to Japan.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Popular British author Jeffrey Archer will be on a four-city tour of India from Monday to promote the final installment of his seven-book "The Clifton Chronicles" with Gurgaon being his first stop.
The 76-year-old writer, whose "This Was a Man" had a global release on November 3, will also travel to Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.
Archer has a great fan following in India and has been a frequent visitor. He says he enjoys the "cosmopolitan feel of Mumbai, the beauty of New Delhi, the energy of Kolkata, and the friendliness of Hyderabad".
He had visited India last year, in 2014 and in 2013 to promote the earlier volumes of "The Clifton Chronicles", a saga that crosses continents, and one which in which the lives and loves of Harry, Emma and Giles are tested through friendship, betrayal, and intrigue.
The author of bestsellers like "Not a Penny More", "Not a Penny Less", "Kane and Abel", "As the Crow Flies" and "First Among Equals", terms India as an amazing market.
"Indians love storytellers. You are a very large leadership. There are 200-250 million middle class readers in India. This is bigger readership than America. So India is an amazing market," he had told PTI in an earlier interview.
According to publishers Pan Macmillan India, "This Was a Man" has enhanced Archer's reputation as a master storyteller.
Spanning the 20th century, "The Clifton Chronicles" is a gripping family saga of the trials and tribulations of the Clifton and Barringtons, two families at opposite ends of the social spectrum.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jharkhand People's Party (JPP) have decided to boycott the state assembly foundation day on November 22 in protest against Raghubar Das-headed state government's proposal to amend decades-old Chhotanagpur and Santal Paragana Tenancy Act (CNT and SPT).
"We will stage a dharna during the winter session of assembly on 21st November, which will be followed by boycott of Assembly Foundation Day function on November 22 in protest against the government's move to amend the tenancy act despite the fact that the President of India had already returned the Ordinance placed before him by the government, said JPP President Surya Singh Besra told a press meet here.
Besra said as CNT and SPT were enlisted in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, the state assembly as well as Parliament could only recommend for any amendment in the Act to the President of India but did not have any right to do it under Articles 31B and 13.
Referring to a judgement by the constitutional bench of Supreme Court in 2007, Besra stated that as per the verdict of the apex court, the tenancy act enlisted under 9th schedule of the constitution can not be amended in normal condition but with the consent of President of India.
President of India had already returned an Ordinance brought by the state government in this regard recently, he said claiming that the government's move to amend the tenancy act, which was framed to protect the interest of tribal community, for the second time was not only "unconstitutional but also a contempt of court".
JPP would soon file a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court against Jharkhand Government in this regard, he said.
About Opposition parties coming under a platform in protest against the government's move, Besra hailed the opposition unity on CNT and SPT issue but it should not be politicized and misguide the masses..
In fact, former Chief Ministers Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren had themselves proposed to bring about an amendment in the CNT and SPT during their respective tenure.
Besra said the 7th General Convention of the party will be on 30th December in Jamshedpur when the party would take up the CNT and SPT issue for discussion and next court of action.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karnataka government today announced a slew of allowances to police personnel covering 90 per cent of the force and scrapping of the orderly system, but said their long-standing wage anomaly issue can be addressed only next year.
"At this point of time, it is difficult to decide on wage anomaly, because next year we are constituting a state wage revision commission, which has to discuss about the revision and send a recommendation to the government," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
The government had constituted a committee headed by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Raghavendra Auradkar to look into wage anomaly faced by Karnataka police in comparison to other government employees and police from other states. The committee submitted its report in September according to which the anomaly exists.
In June, the constabulary had threatened to go on leave protesting alleged "harassment" by senior officials, lesser pay and no proper leave, but government had thwarted it by warning strict action and by bringing police and related services under Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
The state government has, meanwhile, decided to give some new allowances to police personnel, effective from December 1, which increases their salary by Rs 2,000 per month.
Siddaramaiah said Uniform allowance had been increased from Rs 100 per month to Rs 500 per month. Earlier there was no conveyance allowance and now government had decided to give Rs 600 per month for it.
"Likewise there was no hardship allowance, now we will give Rs 1,000 per month towards this," he added.
He said this would be applicable to those from constable to Sub Inspector rank and cover about 90 per cent of the police force, approximately 80,000 people.
The Chief Minister also said government has decided to make changes to promotion rules to facilitate promotions of constables after 10 years of service, instead of 20 odd years earlier.
"If someone joins as a constable, they don't get promotion till about 20-23 years. At the most, he/she may retire as head constable or ASI. So we have decided to make changes to the rules to see to (it) that they get promotion in 10 years," he said.
Claiming that this measure would motivate the constabulary, Siddaramaiah said "now at least they may wish to wear two stars at the time of their retirement".
He also announced that the government had decided to end the orderly system in police and find an alternative to it.
According to reports, there are about 3,000 people trained to be constables, but are doing menial jobs at homes of senior police officers as orderlies.
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Siddaramaih also announced that permission has been granted to appoint 7,815 police personnel this year, including 711 Sub-Inspectors.
"(In) the recruitment procedure of 6,610 police constables; 215 PSIs (Police Sub-Inspectors) has been completed so far. About 5,000constables are under training," he said.
The Chief Minister added that steps have been taken to fillup posts that will fall vacant in the next two years.
Admitting perhaps for the first time that dispute "does hinder" the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, a state media report here on Friday said that this does not mean China should "appease" India to prevent it from playing "little tricks".
"The dispute over between India and Pakistan does hinder China's efforts in pushing the (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) forward, but this does not mean China should 'appease India' to prevent the country from playing little tricks," said the article in the Global Times - part of the People's Daily group of the ruling Communist Party of China.
It said "India should be aware that its ambition of becoming a great power won't be realised if it contributes little to promoting regional integration and regional economic development."
The article was in response to a piece by US-based analyst Panos Mourdoukoutas in Forbes magazine yesterday criticising Beijing over the ambitious project. The Forbes piece has said that China has done "very little to appease India."
The daily has regularly carried articles critical to India for the past few months. Today's was, however, a rare admission that the dispute hinders the CPEC project, which runs through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India has expressed reservations over the project that links western China to Gwadar Port in the restive Balochistan province in southern Pakistan. The project gives China easy access for trade to Central Asian states and European markets.
China has defended the project, saying it is a commercial project aimed at improving people's lives.
In the Forbes piece, Mourdoukoutas said that "China should make peace with India for forget about the project".
He said China desperately needs CPEC. It's part of China's vision "to write the rules of the next stage of globalisation" and help its export and investment engines grow for years.
"So far, China has done very little to appease India. In fact, it has done quite the opposite: repeatedly blocking India's efforts to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group," he said.
"And things could turn worse, if pro-Indian forces in Pakistan sabotage China's CPEC route. That raises the possibility of an open confrontation between China and Pakistan on the one side, and India and its allies on the other," he said.
Countering Mourdoukoutas, the Chinese media article said, "India's strategic suspicions toward China's rising presence in South Asia may hobble its ambition to be a great power, even though some observers think otherwise."
The CPEC "does not target India, and we believe that China's efforts to improve infrastructure in Pakistan have no intention of supporting the country's dispute with India," it said.
It said China has made efforts to boost regional economic integration with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar.
"However, as a strategic location connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, India's poor infrastructure is a challenge for Asian nations to become interconnected. Although China has offered an olive branch to India to help upgrade its infrastructure facilities, it seems that India is reluctant to participate in the initiative. Additionally, New Delhi's suspicions toward China have left the country vigilant as Beijing strengthens ties with India's neighbours," it said.
"Some neighbouring countries have not benefited significantly from India's rapid economic growth. This will hamper New Delhi in improving its regional influence," it said.
"However, India cannot hinder China's efforts in promoting regional integration. Additionally, Asian countries like Pakistan keep a positive attitude toward Chinese efforts to improve infrastructure in the region."
"If India still holds suspicions toward China and excludes itself from the moves of promoting regional integration, the country will perhaps end up simply watching China's influence among its neighbouring countries rise," it claimed.
With rallies in Meerut, Lucknow and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf Varanasi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to intensify his fight against demonetisation, supporting which, he today said was "anti-national".
The Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener also plans to hold similar public meetings in poll bound Punjab and many other parts of the country.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief will address the rallies in Meerut, Varanasi and Lucknow on December 1, 8 and 18 respectively, party spokesperson Deepak Bajpai said.
Kejriwal, who had given a three-day ultimatum to the Centre to roll back demonetisation yesterday, told NDTV that he will decide his next course of action after consulting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"It is anti-national to support demonetisation in the present form, which is the biggest scam, worth Rs 8 lakh crore, in independent India's history," Kejriwal said.
He will also be live on social media site Facebook at 7 PM tomorrow, to "apprise" the people on the "currency crisis" and will also "produce documents against the Prime Minister".
Between November 20 and November 30, he will address 21 rallies in Punjab, starting from Sukhbir Singh Badal's constituency Jalalabad.
AAP is locked in a triangular contest with the Congress and incumbent BJP-SAD alliance in the state which goes to polls early next year.
"Although the exact number of public meetings are yet to be ascertained, about 90 such meetings are being planned across the country where he will garner support against demonetisation of high value currency," party sources said.
Kejriwal had pitted himself against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, which he had lost by over 3 lakh votes.
Asked about BJP's criticism that he was siding with "scam-tainted" Trinamool Congress, Kejriwal said he would like the Centre to probe everyone including "myself and Mamata Banerjee", but "who is stopping it from doing so despite having all the agencies at its disposal."
Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted that the decision taken by a government that has "lost connect" with people smacked of "insensitivity".
"I am very sad that FM has plainly refused to even review and consider rollback. Modi govt has lost connect wid people n has become very insensitive," Kejriwal tweeted.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, along with his ministers, sat on a dharna in front of the RBI office here protesting against the Centre's move to "destroy" the cooperative sector in the state under the cover of demonetisation process and also took pot shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues marched from the Martyrs Column at Palayam to the RBI regional office here, before commencing the dharna.
The CM termed the Centre's move a "political conspiracy", backed by BJP, and rejected the saffron party's charge that cooperative societies are "hub for black money".
Attacking the Prime Minister, he said the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes "without taking proper precautionary measures" had led to the present "crisis" and hardships to people.
Arguing that about 84-86 per cent of currency in circulation was that in the demonetised notes, he said the sudden withdrawal had led to the "present crisis".
"It was not an appropriate decision of a seasoned administrator," he said.
Vijayan said the cooperative sector was not being allowed to accept deposits and exchange demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes which had led to "deep crisis" and attributed this to the outcome of BJP's "propaganda".
"All financial transactions in these societies have accurate inspection system and these are deposits of ordinary persons," he said, adding, the sector stands with the people of the state.
Vijayan said he and state Finance Minister Thomas Issac had met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on November 14 to apprise the Centre of the difficulties of the cooperative sector.
"We pointed out that primary agricultural cooperative societies should also be allowed to exchange notes and accept deposits. We thought there would be a favourable decision. But by afternoon, the Centre decided to take back the permission given to district banks also," he said, adding, "this was not a normal action".
Pointing that some people may be shocked that cooperative sector in the state had such deposits of about Rs 1.27 lakh crore, he said, "The sector has grown step by step and people working in this field are socially committed".
Highlighting the importance of cooperative societies in Kerala, he said 70 per cent of agriculture loans for farmers were given by the sector. Besides, it also meets the day-to-day needs of the people, he said.
Vijayan said, "Cooperative sector in Kerala has a bond
with the people right from their birth to their death. People depend for all their small needs on the sector".
To save the cooperative sector, Kerala will fight unitedly, he said.
"We need to stand together on the issue. We need to fight out forces who are trying to destroy the sector," he said.
A special Cabinet has been called later in the day to discuss the issues of the sector and an all-party meeting would be held on November 21 on the issue, he said.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury saidall India programmes and actions on the issue will be launched along with other opposition parties and his party would take the initiative.
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court today rejected a petition challenging the singing of the country's national anthem in Tamil which was allowed by the Sirisena government earlier this year in an effort to achieve reconciliation with the ethnic minority community.
Three people had filed a petition in the apex court, saying that singing the national anthem in Tamil was a gross violation of Article 7 of the Constitution and it was arbitrary and crass violation of the principle of equality and of the rights of all citizens.
The Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Priyasath Dep, K T Chitrasiri and Prasanna S Jayawardene refused to grant leave to proceed with the petition.
For the first time since the 1970s, the Tamil national anthem was sung at the Independence Day celebrations in February this year.
Tamil political leaders had welcomed the move while the Sinhala majority nationalists had opposed it.
The move, despite opposition from some quarters, was seen as an effort by the government to reach out to the Tamil minority after the nearly 26-year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra government is in talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to raise funds for the Rs 46,000 crore Nagpur-Mumbai 'Samruddhi Corridor' road project.
"We will need to raise funds to the extent of Rs 27,000 crore which is the actual project cost. We plan to raise it from the market in the form of loan and the government has already approached ADB for raising the funds," Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) Vice Chairman and Managing Director Radheshyam Mopalwar said here today.
MSRDC is the implementing agency for the 706-km road project that will require 10,000 hectares. It has appointed SBI Capital to assist in fund-raising.
Of the total project cost of Rs 46,000 crore, Rs 27,000 crore, which includes Rs 24,000 crore for civil work, Rs 2,500 crore for node development and Rs 500 crore for utility shifting, will be raised from market, Mopalwar said.
Asked when the actual work is expected to begin, he said, "We are currently in the process of final alignment and acquiring of land. We expect that to be complete in two months. By February 2017, we feel we will be able to invite tenders and by May, we believe the actual civil work may begin. Our target is to complete the project by 2019."
He said the joint measurement process, which includes notifying land and acquiring it, will start from November 21.
The government has adopted land pooling pattern where the farmers, whose land is acquired, would be given in return fully developed land in the vicinity along with provisions for sustained livelihood.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man was arrested today by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs from the airport here for trying to allegedly smuggle gold he had bought from the grey market using invalidated currency at a premium.
"We have arrested Pranav Chauhan, who was to depart to Canada via Dubai and seized 2.5 kgs gold worth Rs 65 lakhs," a customs official said.
Chauhan would have traded the yellow metal for foreign currency and had planned to bring that currency in India.
The official said this may be a unique case wherein attempt was made to smuggle gold out of India.
"Aftereffects of demonetisation is setting new trends in money laundering and smuggling activities," the official said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It's also timely as the country turns toward the holiday season, when the number of alcohol-related fatalities normally rise. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, citing 2001-2005 data, has said that the daily death toll during the Christmas and New Year's holidays rose from an average of 36 to 45 fatalities per day during the Christmas holiday period and to 54 around New Year's.
AAA Mid-Atlantic this week issued an advisory noting that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving has also become known as "Blackout Wednesday," or "Drinksgiving," because of all the barhopping, particularly among college students returning home for the holidays. Combine holiday overindulgence and heavy traffic, and the result can be deadly, John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic's manager of public and government affairs, said in a statement.
"It is not the food, it's the booze," he said.
MADD ranked the states and the District of Columbia with a five-star system based on whether the jurisdictions require all offenders, including those convicted of a first-time offense, to install an interlock ignition device on their vehicles. The devices prevent the vehicle from starting until the driver has submitted to a breath test
MADD, by using half stars, also attempted to gauge the degree of aggressiveness a jurisdiction's use of a policy is -- for example, whether a state not only conducts sobriety checkpoints but does so at least once a month.
In the Washington metropolitan region, Maryland came out on top with a score of 4.5 stars, falling short of a perfect 5 only because the state, like most, classifies drunken driving with a child passenger as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. The District received a 3-star rating, Virginia 3.5 stars.
Frank Harris, MADD's director of state government affairs, said the variation among the states' approach to drunken driving generally aligns with cultural norms and their view of government's role. States that tend to be more libertarian or embrace the philosophy that the government that governs least also governs best are also less likely to embrace the use of sobriety checkpoints, for example, as those are seen by some as intrusive.
"Some of that is just mind-set," Harris said in an interview. But he said checkpoints are also effective and have been shown to reduce drunken driving by 20 percent.
Mauritius will waive 40 per cent shooting tax for Indian film-makers for shooting on the island nation.
The decision was taken by Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, who is on a three-day visit to the city, during a meeting with Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar today.
"A number of issues were discussed in the meeting, including tourism, logistics, education, sugarcane industry and construction," Mungantiwar told PTI.
"One of the sectors that was discussed was films. The Mauritius Prime Minister has agreed to waive 40 per cent of the tax paid by film-makers who shoot there," he said.
An official who was present at the meeting said 60 industrialists and 20 Bollywood personalities were among those who were present in the meeting.
He said both sides discussed ways to make exporters and manufacturers work together in both the countries and the Maharashtra government highlighted its 'ease of doing business' initiative.
The state government also discussed how it could adopt the Mauritius model of tourism to beautify the beaches in Maharashtra.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MDMK leader Vaiko has appealed to the government to effectively intervene to help farmers, who are reportedly now not able to withdraw their money from co-operative banks, following restrictions on financial transactions imposed on the sector by the RBI.
In a statement, he said such restrictions had crippled public distribution shops run by them, besides affecting farmers who were unable to pay interest on their debts.
Those who had taken farm loan and other loans have been hit by the restrictions imposed on financial transactions by the RBI on the cooperative sector banks, he said.
Cooperative bank employees have staged protests and farmers were also picketing the cooperative banks, he said. "Government should intervene immediately,in view of the urgency,and lift the restrictions on transactions by the cooperative banks," he added.
Meanwhile, farmers staged a road roko in front of the Nagapattinam Collector's office seeking relief to the families of the farmers who had reportedly died or committed suicide due to loss of crop.
They staged the protest as officials allegedly refused to accept their memorandum seeking relief.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Imphal-based print media today halted publication of daily papers from Imphal following acute shortage of currency for exchanges with the hawkers, as the burden of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes continued to have its impact on various sectors including the fourth estate.
Seeking an alternative arrangement, from the side of the government, a sit-in-protest was also jointly organised by the All Manipur Newspaper Sales and Distributors Association and All Manipur Newspaper Publishers Association at Keisampat area at the heart of Imphal town today.
General Secretary Ajit Wangkhemcha of All Manipur Newspaper Sales and Distributors Association told PTI the resolution to stop publication of daily papers was taken during a meeting at the office of the daily newspaper Huyen Lanpao last night.
The meeting was held after certain banks in Imphal refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination notes beginning yesterday although the media houses had to pay the notes despite the "November 8 declaration" regarding demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, Wangkhemcha said.
He said not just the hawkers, morning subscribers are facing much hardship in terms of returning change as well as depositing it to the bank.
Unless the government suggested "means" to handle the hardship faced by the hawkers and the media houses and others involved, no dailies will be published, he added.
Nevertheless, there is no concrete decision on whether "publishing of daily papers will remain indefinite or not".
However, English and vernacular dailies based in the hill districts are yet to take such measures.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 20 people have been killed in intense fighting between rebels and loyalists on the outskirts of Yemen's third city Taez, military and medical sources said today.
The clashes have eliminated hope of the warring parties abiding by a truce announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry that was to have taken effect yesterday.
Loyalist military sources told AFP that 13 rebels and eight pro-government forces were killed over the past 24 hours, while the rebels reported dozens of casualties in shelling of a local market.
Two civilians were also killed and 16 wounded as rebels fired Katyusha rockets on a residential area of Taez, they said.
For its part, rebel-controlled sabanews.Net website reported that pro-government forces fired artillery rounds into areas east of the city.
A rocket crashed into a market selling the mild narcotic leaf qat, popular among Yemenis, leaving 40 casualties, said sabanews.Net, without giving a breakdown of dead and wounded.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said emergency rooms it supports or manages in Taez province had received a total of 21 dead and 76 wounded.
Among those killed was a watchman who works at the MSF trauma centre in Taez.
He was killed while "off duty when a blast hit a local market in the neighbourhood", said Djoen Besselink, who heads the MSF mission in Yemen.
"Fighting has been intensive in Taez during recent days, and hospitals on both sides of the frontline have received a continuous influx of war-wounded civilians and fighters," MSF said.
Pro-government forces are pressing on with a four-day-old offensive to recapture the presidential residence and police headquarters in the southwestern city, while the Shiite Huthi rebels have brought in reinforcements.
The fighting continued despite Kerry's announcement of a new ceasefire.
The US chief diplomat said on Tuesday that rebels were ready to observe a ceasefire plan taking effect from November 17, but President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government said it was not aware of any new peace initiative.
The Huthis and the party of their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, confirmed their commitment to the truce, in a statement on the rebel television channel Almasirah's website.
A Saudi-led coalition which is backing Hadi's internationally recognised government told AFP Thursday that "until now there is no demand from the legitimate government (of Yemen) to observe a ceasefire," adding that operations will continue.
The UN says more than 7,000 people have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since the Arab coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Authorities in Mozambique started investigations today into whether locals were illegally taking petrol from a tanker that exploded killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100.
Officials had originally put the death toll at 73 following the massive blast on Thursday in Tete province in the country's remote western region near Malawi.
By today, officials had counted 60 bodies in mortuaries as recovery efforts continued.
"In the accident, 108 people were injured, 96 of whom are still being kept in for treatment at Tete Provincial Hospital," government spokesman Mouzinho Saide said at a press conference in Maputo.
"The cabinet has created a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances, causes and responsibilities for this accident."
According to authorities' initial accounts, the truck was carrying petrol from Mozambique's port city of Beira to neighbouring landlocked Malawi.
The driver took a detour and stopped close to the Malawi border in the village of Caphiridzange to sell petrol to local people, a common practice in Mozambique.
"The truck drivers were transferring petrol into a smaller truck and they fled when they noticed there was an (electrical) short circuit," Emilia Moiane, an information ministry director, told AFP.
"Seeing the truck had been abandoned, locals came to syphon petrol off, not knowing that the truck was already burning inside."
One of the truck drivers was from Mozambique and the other from Malawi, officials said.
President Filipe Nyusi told reporters that "tragedy has knocked on our door" with the high loss of life.
"What is important now is to take action and help the affected," he said.
Photographs and video footage from the hospital in Tete showed badly burned children arriving for emergency care and adults lying on hospital beds.
"We still have a lot of cases in a critical condition, including children and two pregnant women, out of 38 cases in total," Tete hospital director Veronica de Deus said.
"The vast majority of patients have severe burns. Some have 80 to 90 per cent of their bodies burnt," she said on public broadcaster TVM.
Authorities said many of the dead would be buried in a mass grave, and announced that three days of national mourning would start tomorrow.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By-elections to Shahdol Lok Sabha constituency and Nepanagar assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, which have assumed significance as the first major ground test for the ruling BJP after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, will take place tomorrow.
According to officials, elaborate arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the by-polls.
"Total 17 candidates are in the fray for the Shahdol LS seat, while four are trying their luck for Nepanagar," an election official said today. Both the seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
Thirty companies (15 each) of armed police forces have been deployed in the two constituencies to provide security during the polling.
"Over 4,000 EVMs will be used to seal the fate of the candidates. The EVMs also carry the photographs of the candidates to facilitate the voters," the official said.
In Shahdol, total 16,00,787 voters, whereas in Nepanagar, 2,30,420 people can exercise their franchise.
While Congress has fielded Himadri Singh, daughter of former union minister Dalbir Singh and ex-MP Rajesh Nandini Singh, from Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has given ticket to tribal leader Gyan Singh, a senior minister in Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet from the reserved seat.
The Shahdol bypoll was necessitated due to death of BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste. In 2014, Paraste had wrested the seat from Congress's Rajesh Nandini Singh by a margin of over 2.14 lakh votes. The present BJP candidate Gyan Singh had earlier won the Shahdol seat twice in 1996 and 1998.
In Nepanagar, Congress has reposed faith in tribal leader Antar Singh Barde, while BJP has fielded Manju Dadu, daughter of late MLA Rajendra Shyamlal Dadu, whose death caused by an accident, necessitated the by-poll to cash in on the sympathy vote.
Besides these prominent names, several other candidates have also filed their nominations for the by-polls.
Communist Party of India's Parmeshwar Singh Porte, Lok Janshakti Party's Krishna Pal Singh Pavel, Gondwana Gantantra Party's Hirasingh Markm and Apna Dal's Sajjan Singh Paraste, among others are in the fray for the Shahdol LS seat. Besides them, total nine persons are contesting as independent candidates in Shahdol.
In Nepanagar, Republican Party of India (A) nominee Revanta and Lok Janshakti Party' Ber Singh are also trying their luck. However, there is no independent candidate in the fray, the official said.
The counting of votes will take place on November 22 and the entire poll process will be completed by November 24.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai lad Aryan Goveas could not sustain the winning run in the USD 10,000 ITF Kuwait Futures tournament and lost in straight sets in the semi-finals today.
The 18-year-old, who shocked No. 2 seed Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia in the quarter-finals of the singles event yesterday, did not serve well and went down 4-6 2-6 to German No. 3 seed Daniel Altmaier.
Thanks to his good show in the outdoor hard court tournament held in Meshref, Kuwait, Goveas earned six points and his ranking, currently 1,076, would get a significant boost and is set to dip well under 1,000 to around 925.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Expressing opposition to a common civil code and raising a host of demands including rescue of the missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, the All India Tanzeem Ulama-e-Islam, the apex body of Sufi Sunni Ulema, staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here today.
The demonstrators also tried to march towards Parliament but were stopped by police.
Later, a memorandum addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other authorities was handed over by its president Maulana Mufti Ashfaq Hussain Qadri to a police officer.
The memorandum stated that "the Law Commission's questionnaire to gauge public opinion on triple talaq and other anti-women practices across religions is a fraud and Islamic society boycott it."
The memorandum also demanded that Home Minister Rajnath Singh directly deal with the case of disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Jung. It demanded that the government ensure his safe return.
The protesters also opposed Israeli President Reuven Rivlin's visit to the country.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The famous tourist town of Nainital turned 175 years old today with its residents celebrating the occasion by conducting an all-faith prayer and cutting dozens of cakes, collected from various schools, organisations and individuals.
Zila Panchayat President Sumitra Prasad and District Magistrate Deepak Rawat took part in the celebrations held at GGIC campus along with principals of reputed schools, dignitaries and thousands of people including school children.
The programme was organised by Nagar congress president Maruti Nandan Sah, enthusiast Deepak Bisht with cooperation fromVyapar Mandal.
Nainital is said to have been discovered by a British merchant Peter Baren on November 18, 1839. People began to settle in the town only after Baren's discovery.
Having gone through several ups and downs since then, the town now boasts of being one of the country's finest tourist destinations and also is home to many reputed schools.
Maruti Sah and Deepak Bisht initiated the practice of celebrating the town's birthday a few years back and now it has become a much awaited annual event.
Historian and environment activist Ajay Rawat appealed to people to come forward to protect the ecology and natural green cover of the town on the occasion.
Principals of various schools were honoured by the organisers on the occasion. DM Rawat and Sumitra Prasad hailed the event as an opportunity for future generations to learn the historical importance of the town so that they are able to frame policies for future.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nearly 200 countries, including India, have called for the "highest political commitment" to combat the "irreversible" impact of climate change at a key UN summit here overshadowed by Donald Trump's threats to withdraw the US from the historic Paris agreement.
The Marrakesh Action Proclamation agreed by all the parties - 196 nations and the EU bloc - taking part in the summit, was read out at the Conference of Parties plenary session.
The declaration - one of the main outcomes of the summit - said the world has an "urgent duty to respond" to global warming. "Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond."
"We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority. We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability," it said.
The call came on the penultimate day of the summit tasked with drafting a blueprint for enacting the Paris Agreement adopted last December, and since ratified by 111 countries.
According to the Paris pact, the goal of limiting average global warming is set at 2 degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, by cutting greenhouse gases.
The US, India, China and other countries - collectively the three biggest emitters - have pledged to curb emissions under the deal by moving to renewable energy sources.
But US president-elect Trump has vowed to boost oil, gas and coal and "cancel" the Paris Agreement. Trump has termed climate change a "hoax" propagated by China, the second biggest emitter after the US.
The proclamation today noted "extraordinary momentum" underway on climate change, which it said was "irreversible".
The 197 nations said they issue this declaration to "signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development."
The developed countries reaffirmed their goal to mobilise USD 100 billion, according to the proclamation, which also called for an increase in the "volume, flow and access" to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
India had pushed for inclusion of sustainable lifestyle with minimum carbon footprint and a clear-cut mention of flow of funds in the draft of the proclamation drafted earlier.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave in a statement in the high-level segment of the summit recently said access to adequate finance remains an "overriding concern" for India.
He said it was "critical" that developed nations provide finance and technology transfer support to developing nations.
The countries in the proclamation said their task now is to rapidly build on the momentum achieved, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foster adaptation efforts to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its goals.
"We call for urgently raising ambition and strengthening cooperation among ourselves to close the gap between current emissions trajectories and the pathway needed to meet the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement," it said.
The proclamation called on nations to strengthen and aid efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and take action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture.
The parties unanimously called for taking further climate actions, well in advance of 2020, taking into account the specific needs and special circumstances of developing nations, the least-developed countries and those particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
"We, who are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, encourage the ratification of the Doha Amendment," it said.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol demanded targeted emission cuts from rich and industrialised countries, mainly responsible for causing global warming. The protocol which came into effect in 2005 was to initially run until 2012, comes to an end in 2020.
Though many countries failed to achieve the targets, fresh targets in a second commitment period running till 2020 were decided at the 2012 climate change conference in Doha through what came to be called the Doha Amendment to Kyoto Protocol.
This point in the proclamation assumes significance as India has asked the developed countries to ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol by April next year to raise the ambition of climate actions in the pre-2020 period.
Paris Agreement was supposed to be a post-2020 climate agreement, replacing the Kyoto Protocol that will expire in 2020. However, earlier than expected entry into force of Paris Agreement means that the two agreements will run parallel till the year 2020.
So the proclamation said that the Marrakesh conference "marks an important inflection point in our commitment to bring together the whole international community to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time."
"We, collectively, call on all non-state actors to join us for immediate and ambitious action and mobilisation, building on their important achievements, noting the many initiatives and the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action itself, launched in Marrakesh," it added.
Pascagoula seawall.jpg
The original seawall and boulevard on Pascagoula's beach that originated with surveys of 1926.
(Cooper Postcard Collection)
What and when we name our streets, highways and roads over a period of time become a part of our history.
I am dating myself when I say I remember when Ingalls Avenue in Pascagoula was Lincoln Avenue. Streets near Lincoln were also named after presidents and remain so today...Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson, and so on.
On Oct. 10, 1958, a photo and caption in the "Pascagoula Chronicle Star/Moss Point Advertiser" noted new street markers were going up renaming Lincoln to Ingalls. The mayor was Frank Canty at the time. Ingalls stretches from Bayou Casotte to the main gate of the east bank of the Ingalls Shipbuilding complex.
In the photo were R.I. Ingalls Jr., Ingalls Industries board chairman, and W.R. Guest, Ingalls Shipbuilding president.
Former U.S. Postmaster Arthur Smith of Pascagoula wrote a weekly column for the "Chronicle-Star" and on Oct. 23, 1975, gave background on many Pascagoula streets named for war heroes.
He clarified that downtown Watts Avenue was named in memory of Alton Watts, a 26-year-old member of the crew of the U.S.S. destroyer Foote, that was hit by a torpedo launched by a Japanese submarine in the South Pacific on Nov. 3, 1943. Many residents assumed the city's widest thoroughfare of that time was named for former Mayor John R. Watts or other members of the large family of that name.
Smith pointed out that Hague Street that extended from Beach Boulevard to Washington Avenue was named for Lt. (j.g.) Douglas K. Hague, a Navy pilot, who was lost at sea off North Africa on March 1, 1943. He was the 23-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. George B. Hague of Old Mobile Highway.
Firth, a street connecting Beach Boulevard and Washington Avenue was named for Ensign Stova Wilbur Firth, 22, an early casualty of World War II.
Farnsworth Avenue that runs for several blocks behind beach front homes, was originally Commerce Street. It is named in memory of Lt. Col. (USAF) Robert Atwell Farnsworth Jr. He was 42 when he died in World War II and had once lived on the beachfront in a dwelling extending back to Commerce Street.
Shepard Avenue, connecting Lakeview Drive with Williams Street, was named for Ensign Joseph W. Shepard, a Navy pilot, who was shot down in October, 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Shepard was 23 when he died and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Shepard, long-time residents on Beach Boulevard.
A newspaper article, source unknown, dated Aug. 27, 1926, gives early history of Pascagoula's Beach Boulevard. It reported that county engineer F. H. McGowen had completed a survey of the shoreline of Jackson County from the mouth of the Pascagoula River to Bayou Chicot to locate a right of way for a seawall and boulevard.
Columnist Joanne Anderson may be reached at joandy42@yahoo.com.
The NCP state unit has expressed regret over the Chinese Embassy at New Delhi denying visa to Arunachal State Badminton Association (ASBA) Secretary Bamang Tago.
Tago was nominated as the Manager of the Indian Badminton team for the Thaihot China Open 2016 in Fuzhou for ongoing China Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
The party in a statement here today expressed disappointment on the denial of visa to Tago.
"This is not for the first time that an Arunachalee sportsperson has been denied visa by China. Earlier on several occasions Chinese issued stapled visa to Arunachalee citizen who wished to visit the country," the statement said.
"India does not recognize stapled visa and therefore do not allow them to travel. In the past too, the embassy had issued stapled visas to many dignitaries, officers and sportspersons, including former Arunachal assembly speaker T L Rajkumar in 1983, senior IAS officers Ganesh Koyu, Tape Bagra and Tajom Taloh," the statement added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There is need for innovation and research & development in state-owned enterprises in order to push reforms and improve governance, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anand Geete said today.
"I sincerely feel I must emphasise and underline the need for innovation and R&D in SOE when we talk of reforms and governance," he said at a meeting of BRICS Forum on State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Reforms and Governance.
There was a need for SOEs to integrate modern-day innovation and research while accepting reforms, he said.
Quoting from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Geete said that China had surged ahead in the manufacturing sector for a number of reasons, but the country's focus on research was key to its success, he said.
Further, robotics technology was also developing fast, he said and recalled coming across robots operating machinery at an engine manufacturing plant here during an earlier visit.
Later, speaking to reporters, Geete underlined the NDA government's commitment to increasing employment generation and pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Make in India scheme was an effort in this regard.
Memoranda of Understanding to the tune of Rs 3 lakh crore have been signed under the Make in India scheme for heavy industries, he said.
To a question, Geete said that Niti Ayog was conducting a study on sick PSUs in every department and that a decision on such units would be taken after it submitted its report.
On the demonetisation issue, Geete said that the party was with the people and wanted to draw the government's attention towards the hardships faced by them.
"The government is also with the people and is making its efforts, but the party is drawing government's attention towards people's difficulties," he said even as queues continue in banks and ATMs nationwide for exchange of the now defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as well as cash withdrawal.
"The party (BJP) is not in favour of black money... So is no other party. No party can be in support of black money."
Asked if the demonetisation issue will have an impact in the coming state elections, including in Uttar Pradesh, Geete said "only time will tell that."
To a question, he said the government was not into privatisation, but was only disinvesting stakes in some of its undertakings.
"There is no privatisation. It is disinvestment. The government is disinvesting its stakes in certain percentage. It is not more than five per cent," he said.
To another question, Geete said Tamil Nadu has a conducive atmosphere for investment. "If someone wants to invest in India, it is safe to do so in Tamil Nadu.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
French investigators announced today the discovery of a weapons cache in a Paris suburb, including grenade launchers, a rocket launcher, bulletproof vests, guns and ammunition.
The arsenal was discovered early today in Evry, in an unlocked private parking garage inside a shopping centre near a commuter rail station, a source at the public prosecutor's office said.
"Nothing in this discovery leads us to believe there is a link to terrorism," the source added.
Last year's terrorist attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed, were carried out with weapons manufactured in Serbia.
France and Serbia last month launched a joint effort to crack down on arms smuggling from the Balkans region, which is still awash in weapons from its wars in the 1990s.
The prosecutors' office described the seized items as: one rocket launcher, bulletproof vests, Mauser (pistols), Kalashnikov cartridges and two grenade launchers".
An inquiry has been opened involving the judicial police as well as a special interregional unit focussed on organised crime.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One more death due to apparent stress arising out of long wait for cash was reported today as there was no respite from queues for people to get valid currency 10 days after the demonetisation that also saw Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sitting on a dharna.
With tightening of the exchange norms and use of indelible ink, the serpentine queues before bank branches have, however, shortened at some places though ATM transactions continues to be a nightmare in several cities and towns.
Chaotic scenes could still be seen at banks and ATMs as people queued up for hours to get cash to meet their daily expenses even as bank branches and cash vending machines struggled to manage the rush.
Siyaram, a resident of Balapatti in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh who had been standing in the queue for the past three days and failed to get his old notes exchanged, was taken seriously ill yesterday and was rushed to hospital where he died, Superintendent of Police Dilip Kumar Srivastava said.
The victim had been standing in the queue before the Canara Bank branch near Burz wala Kuan, the SP said, adding that police has been deployed in view of huge crowds collecting in front of banks.
The locals have repoRtedly sent a fax message to the Prime Minister's Office demanding a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the deceased.
The queues outside banks and ATMs in Mumbai and suburbs continued even as people struggling to get cash expressed unhappiness over the reduced limit of exchange.
However, despite facing problems, many people say they are with the government on the demonetisation move but also suggested the process needed better preparedness.
Standing in a queue outside a bank in Vile Parle, Pradeep Karmakar said, "First the maximum exchange limit was Rs 4,000 and it was raised up to Rs 4,500 following the protests, but now this limit has been reduced to Rs 2,000. What we will do with a meagre Rs 2,000?"
Public and private sector banks across Tamil Nadu continued to witness large number of people thronging the branches while cash vending machines were either non- functional or ran dry within hours.
Some banks faced shortage of currency leading to frayed tempers as people were told to wait for 'sometime.'
Some customers turned back disappointed as banks did not dispense cash following shortage.
Vijayan, along with his ministers, sat on a dharna in front of the RBI office in Thiruvananthapuram protesting against the Centre's move to "destroy" the cooperative sector in the state under the cover of demonetisation process.
Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues marched from the Martyrs Column at Palayam to the RBI regional office before commencing the dharna.
In the national capital, labourers and traders at Delhi's fruits and vegetable mandis were among the worst affected with sales in wholesale markets plunging and daily wage workers struggling to make a living.
At Azadpur Mandi, Asia's largest wholesale market for fruits and vegetable, migrant workers can be seen sitting idle in a huddle, waiting for work or payment to arrive.
"We used to make a decent income earlier but now getting even Rs 200 or Rs 300 is getting difficult as no work is available.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Criticising the Centre for "foisting crisis" on farmers, who have been at the receiving end of nature's wrath for consecutive years, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said the "ill-planned" demonetisation could have an adverse impact on the economy.
He said the state's farmers, who hoped that this time round they will make up for the losses of past years, have been forced to face not a natural calamity but a "government- made crisis".
"This has been forced by the government knowingly," he said, adding, "They (BJP) have the most knowledgeable persons and if such intelligent people force hardships on people what more can be said," he wondered.
Talking to reporters after presiding over a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said, "The meeting was of the opinion that farmers should get relaxation in use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes...Cooperative banks to which farmers are directly linked should get relaxation as money is not promptly reaching bank branches."
On the Centre's stand that demonetisation will check corruption, Akhilesh said cases of graft involving new currency notes are already making in some parts of the country.
"We have also come to know that corruption through new notes has already started. Such reports are surfacing in newspapers and especially on the social media," he said, claiming the goal of unearthing black money and weeding out fake currency notes will not be achieved.
Attacking the Central government over "lack" of preparations before demonetising high value notes, he said, "Even ATM machines were not equipped for the new notes...The currency exchange can take as long as six months or a year."
"People will get relief only when markets start functioning properly but till then if farmers and labourers suffer huge losses all the economic statistics will lag behind and so will the country," Akhilesh said, adding it will impact employment, factory workers and daily wagers the most.
"The entire country is today saying that preparations were not made and everything was changed suddenly. If we believe in them (the Centre) and something emerges from a neighbouring country then they will put the country into problems...If there are no proper preparations, it can spell danger to the country," he said.
Mandis have come to a "standstill" and soon reports will come how the daily wagers are facing problems, Akhilesh said.
Relaxation is being sought in hospitals and also for farmers because the government will be at a loss if any business comes to a halt, he said.
To a question on BSP chief Mayawati, he said, "Her only
problem is that the Samajwadi Party will form the government again."
"You should sometimes ask the 'pathar wali sarkar' what all she has done for the state...You meet her every day," he said referring to stone statues of Mayawati and elephants, which is her party's election symbol.
On BJP's rallies in the poll-bound state, he said, "Their top leaders are crisscrossing the districts but they have not been able to say anything on what they have done for the state which has sent the largest number of their MPs."
"They are visiting so many districts using the roads and helipads made by the Samajwadi Party government. They should tell the people what they have done and what their schemes are for the state," he said.
Referring to BJP president Amit Shah's rally in Azamgarh yesterday, Akhilesh said, "The party should have told people as to what they have done for it."
Parrying questions on infighting in the ruling party, he said, "Samajwadi Party has only one team and that is the 'cycle-wali' team and in the months to come Samajwadis are going to form the government."
On whether those sacked from the Party will come back gradually like the return of Ramgopal Yadav, Akhilesh said, "I can discuss it only within family and within the party."
Speaking briefly over the decisions taken in the Cabinet, the Chief Minister said, "Minimum support price for sugarcane has been raised by Rs 25 per quintal and nod was given to one-time payment to farmers by the sugar mills instead of two instalments."
The Cabinet also gave its assent to laptop distribution to lekhpals and expansion of PGI in Lucknow, he added.
Actor Kunal Kapoor says the affection between him and his wife Naina Bachchan has grown after their marriage.
Kunal married Naina, the niece of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, in February last year.
"Definition of love has changed after marriage, rather it has grown. I am more in love with my wife than when I was dating her," Kunal told reporters at a promotional event of his upcoming film "Dear Zindagi" here last night.
"Love is something that keeps changing. Love has vast meaning, it is different on different days for different people and different things," he said.
According to the 39-year-old actor, there is no rule book for romance.
"There is no rule of dating and romance. I have dated different kind of people, I have dated people with whom I had common interests and different interests as well. There is no process to dating or romance and in love either you connect or you don't connect with the opposite person," he said.
Meanwhile, Kunal is busy giving finishing touches to his film "Veeram", a historical drama directed by Jayaraj. It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" and tells the story of Chandu Chekavar (Kunal), an infamous warrior in the 13th century North Malabar.
"Veeram" is simultaneously shot in Malayalam, Hindi and in English with the same title.
"The Malayalam film is also shot in Hindi and English, so it was challenging to do the film in three languages. The lovely part of being an actor is you get to play different parts," Kunal said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 1500 doctors and delegates from 20 countries will attend the annual conference of Indian Rheumatology Association to be held here next week, organisers said today.
Kerala Governor P Sathasivam will formally inaugurate the conference at Bolgatty Palace on November 25.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda will be the chief guest of the conference, 'IRACON 2016'-- "Indian Rheumatology-Complex needs, Integrated Solutions".
"The theme acknowledges the tremendous growth of rheumatology in India in the last decade and underscores the need to find practical solutions to the unique challenges faced by it," organisers said.
Doctor Padmanabha Shenoy, organising secretary of the conference, said eminent speakers from around the world will attend the conference.
As part of the event, a one-day seminar is being organised on November 24 for the Rheumatology medical practitioners in the state.
Rheumatology is the study of rheumatism, arthritis, and other disorders of the joints, muscles, and ligaments.
Kerala is hosting the event after a duration of 20 years.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To tackle the menace of stray animals in Haryana, anti-rabies vaccination has been administered to 1,71,764 dogs in Hisar, Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jind and Sirsa districts of the state till October this year.
Besides, 39,033 dogs were sterlised in Hisar division during the same period.
This was disclosed in a meeting of State Level Monitoring -cum-Coordination Committee held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary D S Dhesi here today to review progress under the Animal Component of National Rabies Control Programme.
The programme is being implemented in the state by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry through the Animal Welfare Board of India.
It was informed in the meeting that in the initial stage, the sterilisation and vaccination programme had been launched in Hisar division.
An agreement was signed with non-governmental organisation Humane Society International (India) for this purpose. The agreement is valid till March 31, 2017.
It was informed that the budget provision of Rs 30 crore has been allocated for the implementation of the National Rabies Control Programme in the state.
Discussion was also held on various aspects related to implementation of the programme in the state.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asia-Pacific leaders were urged today to defend free trade from rising protectionism after the election victory of Donald Trump stoked fears that years of tearing down barriers to global commerce could be reversed.
Trump, who triumphed in last week's US presidential vote, successfully tapped the anger of working-class voters who feel left behind by globalization, vowing to protect American jobs against cheap labor in countries like China and Mexico.
The brash billionaire notably vowed to scuttle US President Barack Obama's key trade initiative in the Asia-Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), leaving a vacuum that China -- which was excluded from the deal -- is keen to fill.
As a summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group got under way, host President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru urged the region's leaders to robustly defend free trade, while the US sought to reassure worried allies.
"In the US and Britain, protectionist tendencies are taking over," Kuczynski told APEC leaders.
"It is fundamental that world trade grow again and that protectionism be defeated."
Trump's victory came after Britain's surprise "Brexit" vote in June to leave the European Union, adding to deep uncertainty about the post-war world order and the future of free trade.
A delegate at ministerial meetings held on yesterday and today said APEC ministers had expressed concern over growing protectionism in the United States, and that the mood had been somber.
The official, who asked not to be named, said US Trade Representative Michael Froman had sought to assure ministers that American core interests don't change from administration to administration.
The US president-elect is not at the summit but he looms large over the meeting of APEC, a free-trade club founded in 1989 that represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population and nearly 60 percent of the global economy.
In a clear jab at the mogul's anti-trade stance, Kuczynski said that "anyone who wants to promote protectionism (should) read an economic history of the 1930s."
He conceded that the summit's planned agenda -- a focus on "growth with fair employment" -- had been hijacked by the recent votes and urged the leaders in Lima to react forcefully.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's National Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution, strongly condemning the alleged Indian attack on Line of Control that resulted in the death of seven Pakistani soldiers.
The resolution "expressed deep concern over the tragic incident of Indian unprovoked firing in which seven soldiers of Pakistan Army" were killed at the LoC in Bhimber sector recently.
"The House took serious cognizance of the unprovoked and barbarian attack on the Pakistani border forces by the Indian army resulting in aggression and clashes," it said.
Through resolution, the House recognised the "sacrifices of Pakistan army and paid glowing tribute" to them.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SINGING_RIVER_HEALTH_SYSTEM_19042685.JPG
Singing River Hospital (file photo/Gulflive.com)
PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- While circumstances remain unclear about a sudden parting of ways between Singing River Hospital and a neurologist whose office as abruptly closed, the hospital said it relates to treatment of patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
The situation was first reported by the Sun-Herald, which on Thursday released a story detailing the sudden separation between Singing River Hospital and Dr. Terry Millette, a neurologist.
While few details are known at this time, SRHS released this statement to the media:
"Singing River Health System's highest priority is the health and safety of the patients we are privileged to serve. Consistent with best medical practices, we have internal processes in place to review the quality of care our patients receive. Recently, some questions were raised about how Dr. Millette diagnoses and treats patients with multiple sclerosis. As a result, we immediately began a review of Dr. Millette's medical activity. During the course of this ongoing review, the decision was made that Dr. Millette would no longer base his practice at Singing River."
"We clearly recognize the concern this situation may cause for Dr. Millette's patients and their families, and we are working to ensure the best possible transition of their medical care. We are working closely with regional and national experts in neurology and our clinic staff, who are in the process of contacting Dr. Millette's patients directly to assist them with their care. We have established a patient care line at (228) 809-2000, staffed by a dedicated team of Singing River employees seven days a week from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. In addition, patients may contact the Neurology Associates Clinic."
"We understand this is a difficult situation, and we are fully committed to the processes we have in place to ensure the provision of safe, high quality care for all of the patients in our community."
The Mississippi Press contacted Jackson County Board of Supervisors President Melton Harris, who said an investigation is ongoing.
"As of right now, I have spoken with SRHS Board of Trustees President Jeffrey Belk and he informed me of the hospital's decision," Harris said. "What we as a board are looking to find out is the type of impact this will have on the hospital and their patients and that is our concern."
Harris said as of Friday, the issue had yet to appear on the agenda for Monday's supervisors' meeting, but Harris said he expects it to find its way onto the agenda and this issue will be discussed in a limited capacity on Monday.
Dr. Millette could not be reached for comment.
Pakistan Navy today claimed that it prevented Indian submarines from entering its territorial waters.
A Pakistan Navy spokesman said the Indian submarines after being detected near Pakistan's territorial waters had been pushed back.
"The Indian Navy, in order to fulfil its nefarious designs, was deploying submarines. The Pakistan Navy, alert and using its extreme skill, prevented Indian submarines from entering Pakistani waters," the Pakistan Navy spokesman said in a statement.
"Pakistan Navy fleet units detected the presence of Indian submarines in the southern parts of Pakistani waters...And restricted their activity," the statement said.
The spokesman claimed that Pakistan Navy had been successful in thwarting the efforts of the Indian submarines to keep their presence camouflaged.
"The Navy had constantly pursued the submarines and pushed them back," he said.
"The Pakistan Navy is fully prepared to defend its borders and capable of responding to any aggression befittingly," he added.
Commodore (retd) Tasneem Ahmed, a Pakistani defence analyst, said Indian submarines would have been detected by air reconnaissance.
The Indian submarines might have been on an "intelligence gathering" mission when detected by Pakistan Navy, Pakistani naval experts were quoted as saying by media reports.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan has spent a hefty USD 118 billion since 2002 to combat terrorism which has significantly hampered growth and it is facing "serious challenges" to its economy, according to a new central bank report.
'The State of Economy 2015-16' report, released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) here, said the country is facing "serious challenges" in the form of low savings and investment levels, falling exports and poor spending in the social sector.
However, the report said despite the crunch, Pakistan had spent USD 118.3 billion on the 'war on terror'.
"The problem is compounded by the stop gap measures adopted to spread the tax net," the report said.
The USD 118.3 billion payment is equivalent to well over one third of its gross domestic product.
The central bank said the amount included direct and indirect losses incurred due to the terrorism and extremism in the country between 2002 and 2016.
The central bank report noted that both economic growth and social sector development have been severely hampered by terrorism-related incidents.
The report said Pakistan had received an annual grant of around USD 1 billion from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) which was approved by the US to support Pakistan in the 'war on terror' since 2002.
It said Pakistan had had received a total of USD 14 billion under the CSF.
The report said Pakistan had borne heavy losses and human suffering, including displacement of families and loss of lives due to the war on terror.
"It has also hurt Pakistan's growth as a country because the war on terror has discouraged foreign investment, hurt domestic investment and reduced exports," it said.
Since the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, Pakistan has been a major ally of the US and UN in the 'war against terror' with the military carrying out offensive against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in its border tribal regions, the report said.
However, it has seen a drop in terror-related incidents in the last one year, it said.
The central bank praised the government for macro-economic achievements and expressed hope for a better future with a higher economic growth rate.
However, it identified a number of challenges that the economy has been facing.
There are certain challenges that deserve the undivided attention of all stakeholders, the report said.
"Pakistan needs to increase its savings and investment levels. Although public investment is increasing despite resource constraints, investment by the private sector has not increased sufficiently," it said, adding that this has inhibited the country's potential growth.
The report said the country has not been able to spend as much on social sector development as it needs to.
"Be it health or education, Pakistan spends much less as a percentage of GDP than many developing countries," it noted.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Parliament was stalled for the second consecutive day today due to ruckus by Congress-led opposition parties which were demanding in Lok Sabha a debate on monetisation under a rule that entails voting and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha for resumption of discussion on the issue.
No business could be transacted in either the Upper House or the Lower House due to the pandemonium.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress and some other opposition parties pressed for a discussion on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting, that too through an Adjournment Motion which means suspension of all business.
Several notices were given by various opposition leaders for discussion under the Adjournment Motion but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected these, saying a debate could take place otherwise.
Ruckus started soon after the House met for the day, with Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge demanding that the issue of scrapping of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denomination notes be discussed through an adjournment motion and not the rule being proposed by the government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was willing to discuss the issue and there was no need to press for an adjournment motion.
As the din continued, the House was adjourned for nearly one hour till noon, minutes after it assembled.
When the House assembled again for Zero Hour, the opposition again pressed for moving an adjournment motion. But the Speaker rejected all the notices. Both Kharge and TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay insisted that the debate be taken up through an adjournment motion.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister once again urged the opposition to take up the debate under Rule 193 which does not entail voting and a formal motion.
Kumar said the opposition should not "run away" from a debate and maintained that it was up to the Chair to decide under which rule the discussion will take place.
As part of their Zero Hour references, Meenakshi Lekhi and Gajendra Singh Chauhan (both BJP) raised the issue of remarks made by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday linking deaths due to demonetisation crisis to the killings in the Uri terror attack. The remarks were expunged last night itself.
The two BJP members slammed Azad for the statement and demanded that a resolution be passed against him and he should be asked to apologise in writing.
As differences persisted and opposition continued to raise slogans like "Pradhan Mantri sadan mein aao" and "Vijay Mallya kahan gaya", the House was adjourned for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha where debate took place on demonetisation for six-hours on Wednesday, the discussion could not be resumed even today as Congress and some other opposition parties insisted on presence of the Prime Minister.
The House also saw a clash between Congress and BJP members as the ruling side raked up Azad's controversial comments and demanded apology from Congress.
Slogans and counter slogans in the Upper House forced its
adjournment, first till 1130 hours, then till noon, then till 1233 hours, after that till 1430 hours and finally for the day.
Soon after listed papers were laid on the table of the House, BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad for his remarks.
Congress members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding presence of the Prime Minister and an apology from him as well as the government for the hardship caused to the common man due to withdrawal of 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in the form of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes.
AIADMK members were also in the Well raising slogans over the Cauvery water issue.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked all members to leave the Well and return to their seats, assuring them that he would hear their submissions.
Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Azad's statement had given a message to the country that Congress was sympathetic to terrorism and asked why it was so agitated when the demonetisation drive was only to hurt black money hoarders.
Kurien persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues.
But with BJP members continuing to stand in the aisles and raising slogans, Congress members too were back in the Well, shouting slogans.
Kurien said treasury benches should not create problems for the Chair. "If you do this, what do I do? You should cooperate with me in running the House. Treasury benches should not disrupt," he said.
But the din continued, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1130 hours.
There was no change in the scenario when the House reassembled as both BJP and Congress members again started raising slogans.
While Congress members trooped into the Well, several AIADMK members were seen standing along their seats.
As the slogans and counter slogans continued, the Chair adjourned the House till noon.
After repeated adjournments, when the House met again at 1430 hours, opposition members continued to create ruckus.
Congress leader Anand Sharma accused the government of not wanting the House to run and for "destroying the poor" with his policies.
In the melee, the Deputy Chairman asked the MPs to introduce the Private Member's Bill amid continuous sloganeering by the opposition and treasury benches.
Prior to this, he read out a decision by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on a private member's bill for special package to Andhra Pradesh after its reorganisation, moved in the last session Congress member KVP Ramachandra Rao.
The Bill was referred to the Speaker to ascertain whether it was a money bill and whether it can be introduced in the Upper House. However, Kurien's statement could not be heard in the din.
Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar moved his Bill to declare any country as state sponsor of terrorism and withdraw economic and trade relations with such country and to create legal, economic and travel sanctions for citizens of that country.
Following continuous uproarious scenes, Kurien adjourned the House till Monday.
The Philippine military says fierce clashes between government troops and Muslim extremists in the country's south have left at least 14 combatans dead.
Military spokesman Maj Filemon Tan said, 10 Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed today in Sulu province, but troops retrieved only three bodies.
Four were killed and nine wounded on the government side.
Tan said army units encountered some 150 militants in Patikul township and exchanged fire for 45 minutes until the extremists withdrew.
Soldiers then pounded the rebels' position with artillery fire and put up checkpoints as they pursued the militants.
The Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the US and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation, holds more than a dozen foreign and local hostages.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was given a hero's burial with military honours today, a deeply controversial move three decades after he was ousted in a "People Power" revolution.
The ceremony began with a 21-gun salute as soldiers in parade dress and ceremonial rifles stood to attention at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in Manila, after his body was secretly flown to the venue in an apparent effort to avoid protests.
The Supreme Court said last week that Marcos, who ruled the nation for two decades until millions of people took to the streets in the 1986 military-backed uprising, could be buried at the heroes' cemetery.
The decision, endorsing a recommendation from controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, outraged many opponents of the Marcos regime who said it would whitewash the dictator's many crimes.
The surprise move by the Marcos family and the government to bury him so quickly after the Supreme Court verdict, with appeals still to be heard, caused further outrage.
Barry Gutierrez, counsel for the anti-Marcos court petitioners, said the burial was illegal because of the outstanding appeals.
"It's not really surprising that this is happening. Marcos flouted the law when he was still alive, and even at his burial, he is still breaking the law," Gutierrez told AFP.
Police only announced that Marcos's body had been flown to the cemetery shortly before the ceremony began, leaving opponents who had been planning rallies flat-footed.
"We are shocked and angered," Gutierrez said.
Thousands of riot police and soldiers guarded the perimeter of the cemetery, but there were no protesters.
Journalists who rushed to the cemetery were barred from entering. However reporters were able to view the ceremony with long camera lenses from outside.
Marcos ruled the Philippines for two decades until forced into US exile by the "People Power" revolution, a largely peaceful event that inspired democracy movements throughout Asia and around the world.
Marcos, his infamously flamboyant wife Imelda, and their cronies plundered up to USD 10 billion from state coffers during his rule, according to government investigators and historians.
The dictator also oversaw widespread human rights abuses to maintain his control of the country and enable his plundering, with thousands of people killed and tortured, previous Philippine governments said.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2004 named Marcos the second most corrupt leader of all time, behind Indonesian dictator Suharto.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress today dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a debate with the Opposition on demonetisation while accusing him of shying away from Parliament to avoid "facing the truth" when it was deliberating on the issue.
On a day the demonetisation issue rocked Parliament, scores of Youth Congress workers held a march, alleging withdrawal of high-value notes is part of a "big scam" and aimed at loot of public money.
Speaking to the protesters, senior party leader Anand Sharma charged Modi of committing "injustice" to the country and "spoiling" India's image globally by taking such a huge decision without any preparation to implement it.
He said a Joint Parliamentary Committee must be appointed to probe the entire issue.
"A debate is on in Parliament and there is a deadlock. Opposition has demanded that Prime Minister listen to us and explain his move. They (ruling party) say Narendra Modi is in Parliament premises but will not come to the House. What is this? He is avoiding Parliament to avoid facing the truth," Sharma said.
He also challenged the Prime Minister for a debate with the Opposition on demonetisation.
"We will not allow him to pile up miseries on the common citizens. It is such a big scam and loot of public money. We have demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe it. Our fight will continue till the government relents and demand of probe is met.
"People including farmers, small traders and workers are worst hit by the undeclared financial emergency by the Modi government as 86 per cent of currencies has been withdrawn in a blow to the economy."
He also slammed government's use of indelible ink by banks to mark people who withdraw money and charged Modi government with "insulting" not only people of the country.
"No government can stoop to such level where people withdrawing their own money are being marked with ink. They are withdrawing their own money and not black money. Foreign tourists are also being similarly insulted if they go to banks," he said.
He called upon Youth Congress activists to create awareness among the masses against demonetisation by Modi government and struggle against it.
Hundreds of activists marched towards Parliament from All India Youth Congress office on Raisina Road. However, they were stopped and around 450 protesters were detained and taken to Parliament Street police station. They were later released.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have handed over a copy of the Central notification banning Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for five years to office-bearers of the city-based NGO, promoted by controversial preacher Zakir Naik.
"After receiving the copy of notification from Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday, the Mumbai Police served it to IRF office-bearers (in their office at Dongri here)," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ashok Dudhe told PTI today.
The Union cabinet had approved a proposal to outlaw the IRF on Tuesday for its alleged terror activities.
In a gazette notification, the Home Ministry had said the IRF and its members, particularly, the founder and its president Zakir Naik, has been encouraging and aiding its followers to promote or attempt to promote, on grounds of religion, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious communities.
IRF came on radar of investigative agencies after one of the terrorists in Dhaka attack had allegedly posted on social media that they had been inspired by Naik's speeches.
Youths from Malavani in western suburbs who had left their home to join Islamic State earlier this year were also allegedly inspired by the preaching of the televangelist.
Police had arrested some members of IRF for allegedly motivating and radicalising group youths from Kasargod in Kerala to join ISIS. The case is under investigation of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Naik is currently out of country apparently to evade arrest, sources said.
(Reopens BES 11)
Meanwhile, IRF has issued a statement saying they are studying the notification.
"The government's notification under section 3 of UAPA was served on IRF late last evening. We're studying the contents of the notification and the reasons cited for the ban and we will take recourse to all remedies available in law to get the ban revoked," it said.
Suicide bombers attacked a checkpoint in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing two of themselves before dawn today. Two other explosions occurred hours later.
It was the fifth attack in three weeks on the city that is the birthplace of Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram.
Before 4 am today, police challenged two women and a man running toward the checkpoint opposite the Federal High Court, deputy police superintendent Victor Isuku said. One woman detonated, killing herself and the male accomplice. The other woman has been arrested and is being interrogated, he said.
No details were immediately available about two blasts that rang out around 8 am (0700 GMT).
Boko Haram has recently stepped up attacks after a months-long lull in their Islamic uprising that has killed more than 20,000 people over seven years.
Security forces have managed to foil most of the attacks. On Oct 29, two women suicide bombers blew up outside a refugee camp, killing five people. The next day, troops shot and killed a man with explosives strapped to his torso as he ran toward the same camp.
On Nov 1, a car bomb targeting a military checkpoint leading to Maiduguri exploded, killing all nine people in the vehicle. Last week, soldiers shot at three female suicide bombers, detonating some of their explosives and killing all three.
Nigerian troops this year have driven the insurgents out of most towns in the northeast. But now the insurgents are fleeing south into the central-eastern state of Taraba, the state director for Nigeria's secret intelligence agency, Shehu Saulawa, told senators there yesterday.
The insurgency has spread across Nigeria's borders, forced some 2.6 million people, mainly farmers, from their homes and created a massive humanitarian crisis in which the United Nations says 14 million people face starvation.
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Pope Francis has said he is not losing any sleep over a challenge from a group of conservative cardinals who have accused the Argentine of contradicting Church teaching.
The comments published today in the Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian conference of bishops, follow a direct challenge to the pope's authority from American Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has threatened to undermine Francis' authority in a row over the rights of remarried divorced couples.
Burke said in an interview earlier this week that it may be necessary to make a highly rare "formal act of correction" if Francis does not answer a letter he wrote with three other cardinals calling for clarification on a document penned by the pope on the theme of the family.
The challenge is "not making me lose any sleep", the 79-year-old Argentine told Avvenire.
"Sometimes criticisms are merely aimed at vindicating already fixed opinions (rather than fuelling debate). They are not honest, they are driven by a mean spirit to incite divisions," he said.
Despite shrugging off the issue, the pope's decision not to convene a traditional meeting of cardinals ahead of a ceremony Saturday to appoint 17 new "princes" of the Church is being read by some as a move to avoid a show-down with the conservatives.
Vatican expert Marco Tosatti said it was likely plans had been afoot to "resubmit" the letter, "not only among the signatories of the request for clarification, but also perhaps other cardinals, eager for a decisive word from the pope".
That would be a situation Francis would have "preferred to avoid", he said on his blog.
Cardinals Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Walter Brandmueller and Joachim Meisner had warned in their letter of a "grave disorientation and great confusion of many faithful".
Francis told the Avvenire: "Some persist in not understanding."
"It's either black or white (for them), though it's in the flow of life that decisions must be made" on what is right or wrong, he said, referring to his belief that the Church must be more flexible when examining individual cases of sinners or the outcast.
Francis said his attitude was in line with the reforms brought about under the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
"Historians however say 100 years are needed for a council to be absorbed well by the body of the Church. We're half way there."
The conservative arm of the Church has been thrown into disarray by a debate over whether those who have divorced and remarried can receive Communion. Critics say such a move would be contrary to teachings on the sanctity of marriage.
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Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today called on the two Indian fishermen, who were injured in alleged firing by the Sri Lankan Navy, at the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Research Institute here.
He enquired about their health condition and wished them a speedy recovery. The chief minister was accompanied by Agriculture and Education Minister R Kamalakannan.
R Balamurugan from Karaikal (Puducherry) and A Aravind from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam sustained injuries when the Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly opened fire at their fishing boat yesterday off the Kodiakarai coast, some 200 km from here.
The fishermen were admitted to the government hospital here.
Various political parties, including MDMK and PMK, in Tamil Nadu condemned the firing yesterday claiming that it happened in Indian waters and urged the Centre to take action to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
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Some special interest groups are clamoring to remove grizzlies from the list of federally protected species so that legal safeguards against the exploitation of these bears and their habitats will be stripped as well. Photo by iStockphoto
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The Obama Administration has done a lot of things right, but its not been good to grizzly bears. Its worked to delist these big bruins from the Endangered Species Act, even though the time is not ripe to do so.
Special interest groups including the ranching, hard-rock mining, oil and gas, timber, and ski industries, trophy hunters, and off-road vehicle enthusiasts are clamoring to remove grizzlies from the list of federally protected species. Thats because, once stripped of those federal protections, legal safeguards against the exploitation of grizzly bears and their habitat will be stripped as well.
On Wednesday the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee, a committee of bear scientists and state and federal officials, voted (with the notable exception of one member, Dan Wenk, the Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park) to approve a strategy that would hand grizzly bear management to the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. These states are not known for their abiding love of protecting native carnivores, as we witnessed with their woeful mismanagement of wolves who, after being delisted, were immediately trophy-hunted in the cruelest ways imaginable.
Ironically, this coveting of a grizzly bears hide or habitat could become the undoing of these states that are trying hurt them. For example, right now, Wyomings economy, so dependent on oil and gas extraction, is struggling. The state has drastically cut education funding and is laying off state workers. It is, however, home to two National ParksYellowstone and Grand Tetonthat are recession proof and that are also prime grizzly habitats. Perhaps, more than any state, Wyoming should appreciate that grizzly bears are worth far more alive than they are dead. Protected grizzly bears and their habitat greatly diversifies the states economic portfolio, and never more so than now. The National Park Service noted that in 2015, park visitors spent hundreds of millions of dollars while visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Most visitors go to glimpse bears and wolves. And this ecotourism nets thousands of sustainable local jobs and creates huge economic opportunities for communities that surround the parks.
By opening up a trophy-hunting season, Wyoming would open itself up to severe criticism, and that, more than anything, might keep people away. Polls show that the vast majority of American citizens want to keep grizzly bears safe and alive and not open them up for a kill by trophy hunters.
Economics aside, the urgency of the need to keep grizzly bears protected cannot be overstated. This year, 54 grizzly bears are known to have died in the Yellowstone area, and scientists estimate their actual total mortality may be closer to 76. This means that more than 10 percent of the entire Yellowstone-area population (estimated at about 700 grizzly bears), died this year. That is twice the sustainable level of mortality, according to world renowned grizzly bear expert Dr. David Mattson. And this years high death toll follows on the heels of last years record loss. It appears that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services own criterion for allowable mortality will be exceeded two years running, giving the lie to assertions that the population has recovered.
The mortality is likely driven by threats to the bears food security as a result of the loss of white bark pine to blister rust, and pine beetles and cutthroat trout to an invasive species. The Great Bear is a conservation-reliant species and must be cared for into perpetuity or face extinction.
Superintendent Wenk of Yellowstone National Park is not the only one to oppose delisting. More than 70 Tribal Nations in both the United States and Canadato whom the Great Bear, the grizzly bear, is a sacred entitysigned a historic treaty in opposition to the delisting. The HSUS has added its own voice as well, working at the grassroots level, filing two substantive comments highlighting scientific and legal flaws with the delisting proposal, and suing the states of Wyoming and Montana over the inadequacy of their plans for post-delisting grizzly management.
State and federal officials charged with their stewardship have entirely underestimated how well Americans love these iconic grizzly bears. Mother bears devote up to four years teaching their few dependent young how to survive. Far from being recovered, the Great Bears tiny remaining populations in the lower 48 states face a multitude of threats that warrant added protections, not the reduction of safeguards as proposed by the Obama Administration. The Yellowstone-area grizzly bear population is in dire trouble. We urge the Obama Administration to redouble grizzly bear protections, not lessen them.
Eminent lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar feels it is unfair to sideline several languages in the country as "regional" as all of them are national and deserve equal respect.
Gulzar says currently the best work on poetry is coming from North East, a region often ignored by people.
"If any dynamic work is happening in poetry it is in North East. We haven't paid attention there. 'Badi zinda shayari hai jo waha se aa rahi hai' (vibrant poetry is coming out from there).
"Nothing much is happening in the big languages. But a lot is happening in the languages we call 'regional'," Gulzar said.
"There is nothing like regional language, all are our national language. Oriya, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and other such languages are there with us which you can't term 'regional' and sideline. These are all national language."
The "Mirzya" writer was in conversation with diplomat- turned-author Pavan Varma at the seventh edition of 'Tata Literature Live' festival, here.
The 82-year-old writer was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement and Poet Laureate at the festival. Gulzar revealed he is working on a new project called 'A poem A day' where he has translated poems in different Indian languages.
The writer said a lot has changed the way we use several languages today, including English which we have Indianised.
"The way in which English is used here, it doesn't feel like a foreign language anymore. It has become Indianised. We don't write like Pandit Nehru anymore. Today it feels like our language.
"You can't understand the face of Indian poetry by looking or reading a poem in just one language. So through this (his project) it was a learning experience for me too."
Varma said many languages are "academically dying" today. He said people can easily read Urdu poetry, which are being written in Roman scripts.
Gulzar, to this said, Urdu was born here and is still spoken and heard but not read that much.
"Urdu is heard, spoken but not seen much. The problem is, the Urdu script. Urdu, which didn't have a nation earlier, is today the language of a nation called Pakistan. It wasn't the case earlier.
"If we keep our prejudices aside, you'll know Urdu yaha ki paidaish hai. It was born here. The sounds 'th' 'tha' 'da' 'ga' 'da' are neither in Persian nor Arabic. It was taken from the languages here. These sounds in Urdu have come from the dialects here. It began from here," he said.
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The Supreme Court today stayed all the upcoming meetings of homebuyers of Unitech Ltd for giving their approval or disapproval to a proposed compromise scheme forwarded by the company to enable it to complete pending projects.
Observing that it seems that an attempt has been made to "frustrate" the apex court's orders, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said that "proposed meetings shall stand stayed till further orders".
The bench also issued notice to the company saying that "there is suspicion that it is trying to subvert the order of this court".
It said that people who were successful at the level of the national consumer commission and are before the apex court, should get their money back from the developer.
The Delhi High Court had on September 2 granted an opportunity to beleaguered real estate firm to complete its delayed housing projects and hand over possession of flats to the buyers by opening escrow accounts and using the money deposited in it solely for these projects.
It had directed the home buyers across the country to hold meetings for approval or disapproval of proposed scheme of compromise to enable the company to complete the pending projects and hand over the flats.
Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra, who retired on September 6, in his order said that four meetings of home buyers should be held on November 20 at Mohali, Punjab, on November 27 at Chennai, on December 4 at Gurgaon and on December 11 at Noida.
The company had told the high court that it would open escrow accounts in which the amounts received from the buyers and sale of lands would be deposited, and the money would be used solely for completing the delayed housing projects.
The court had put in "abeyance" all the proceedings pending before different forums against Unitech Ltd to enable it to fulfil its commitment towards homebuyers by handing over possession of flats, had appointed a court commissioner to monitor the functioning of the escrow account.
It had clarified that cases in which directions had been issued or might be issued in future by the apex court to the company in this regard should stand exempted from the scope of the order.
The apex court had on October 19 directed the company to
refund Rs 15 crore to 39 home buyers in its Gurgaon project, saying a property developer must respect the contractual commitment and live up to the terms of the contract.
It had on August 17 directed the embattled real estate firm to deposit Rs 15 crore principal amount by September-end to pay back investors and home buyers who were not given possession of the flats on time.
Investors have told the court that they had paid money to the firm on time and the company was scheduled to hand over the possession of flats in 2012, but has not done so.
Over two dozen home buyers of Unitech's housing projects in Noida and Gurgaon had approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) after the builder had failed to give them possession of the flats as per schedule.
The consumer forum had asked Unitech to refund the money to the home buyers with interest.
The apex court had earlier asked the company to deposit an interim penalty of Rs 5 crore with the court registry after the firm challenged the order of the consumer forum which had asked the developer to pay Rs 5 crore penalty to three flat buyers in its Burgundy project.
The court had said the penalty deposited with the court will be awarded to the buyers or returned to Unitech, depending on the outcome of the case.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's son-in-law was today denied bail by a court here in a case of theft and misappropriation of his wife's property.
Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma denied the relief to Syed Mohammad Imran, who was arrested from Bangalore and brought here on transit remand, and sent him to judicial custody till December 2.
The court had yesterday denied the police plea for extension of Imran's two days remand for custodial interrogation which expired yesterday, saying enough time was given to the police.
During the arguments on Imran's bail plea, the probe agency opposed the application moved by the accused, saying that if granted bail, he was likely to tamper with the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. It also said that the probe was still on.
The counsel appearing for complainant also opposed the bail plea, saying that the offences were very serious and there were charges against the accused that he attempted to murder his wife.
Dikshit's daughter Latika and Imran had got married in 1996, but were living separately for the last 10 months.
In her complaint filed in June, Latika had alleged that Imran's attitude had changed towards her and had become aggressive and rude after her mother lost in the Delhi Assembly polls.
Latika had alleged that Imran took away papers of a piece of land owned by her in Nainital, despite having been told not to do so in May.
According to the police, she also alleged that some of the belongings, kept at her Hailey Road house in central Delhi, had gone missing and whenever she asked for these, Imran was evasive.
She also alleged that he took away jewellery and other expensive items from there.
Latika also alleged that one of her female relatives was "in connivance" with Imran, they said.
A case was registered against Imran under Sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 120 B (Criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence)and 420 (cheating) of IPC and under 66 of the IT Act.
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by daughter Priyanka Vadra and a number of top party leaders, will visit the city on Monday to inaugurate a photo exhibition commemorating the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"Sonia and Priyanka will be in the ancestral town of Nehru-Gandhi family on November 21 to attend the inauguration of 'Indira: A Life of Courage', a photo exhibition providing a glimpse into the life of the late Prime Minister and her contribution towards building a modern India," Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesman Kishore Varshney said here.
Varshney also said "there are reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi may also be present to attend the function held in the memory of his grandmother. However, we are yet to receive an official confirmation."
He said the photo exhibition will be held at the historic Swaraj Bhavan -- the house where Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1936 -- and will remain open to the public till January 5 next year.
"Besides Sonia and Priyanka, senior party leaders Sheila Dikshit, Raj Babbar and Rajiv Shukla will be present on the occasion", Varshney said.
"To spread awareness about Indira Gandhi's contribution to the nation, the exhibition will be held at various places across the country after Allahabad.
"In February, the exhibition will be held at Mumbai, followed by Kolkata in April and Bengaluru in August," Varshney added.
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Pramila Jayapal, the first ever Indian-American woman elected to US House of Representatives, has said it is becoming clear that there needs to be "a strong line of defence" against the Trump presidency that aims to curtail the rights of immigrants, people of colour, and women.
"Let us be clear: This is absolutely no time to hide in the shadows. We cannot let fear or the comfort of complacency prevent us from moving forward," Jayapal, 51, asserted.
"We must stand together-not just to stop the disastrous rollback of decades of progress in this country but to protect the vision of a united country that celebrates its rich diversity and honours its immigrants, women, and people of colour as a singular indication that we are, in fact, a truly civilised society," she said.
Jayapal was elected to the House of Representatives from the Seventh Congressional District of Washington State. She is the first Indian-American woman ever elected to the House.
Born in Chennai, she left India at the age of five for Indonesia, Singapore and then came to the US at the age of 16.
After her election, Jayapal, who ran her elections on a progressive agenda, has described Trump's victory as shocking.
"It is becoming more and more clear that we will need a strong line of defence against a Trump presidency that chooses to curtail our rights as immigrants, people of colour, and women," she wrote in a blog on Broadly published yesterday.
"We need to fight to protect the most fundamental right of a woman to make choices about her own body, but we need to do more as well. Muslim women simply should not have to worry about getting attacked on the way to the bus stop because Trump has unleashed a wave of anti-Muslim hate that has no place in this country," she said.
Undocumented mothers, who have given everything for their children (and who are often US citizens), continue to be shaken to their core by the idea that they will be targets in a political war on immigrants - a notion that makes absolutely no practical sense in a country that is fuelled by the labour of immigrants, Jayapal said.
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French authorities say a teenager was arrested this week for allegedly being linked to a French jihadi who claimed responsibility for the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice on behalf of the Islamic State group.
The Paris prosecutor's office said on yesterday that the 17-year-old boy was detained in the western town of Rennes and being questioned by a judge in Paris under a "criminal terrorist association" investigation.
The office says the teen used social networks to communicate with Rachid Kassim, who is thought to be operating from Syria or Iraq.
Kassim, whose name has appeared in connection with at least four recent terror plots targeting France, was the public face of an IS video claiming responsibility for the July 14 truck rampage that left 86 people dead in Nice.
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Three children were run over by a goods train when they were crossing a railway track here, police said today.
The children were playing at a pond near their village Ramaupur and were returning back to their homes when they met with the accident under Sayyedraja Police Station area last night.
One injured was rushed to the district government hospital, police said.
The deceased were identified as Anil (15), Sonu (10) and Chotu (12) and the bodies have been sent for postmortem, they added.
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Central trade unions (CTUS) are scheduled to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tomorrow for pre-budget consultations where they will raise issues of minimum wage and pension.
RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), which will also participate in the deliberations, said that it will urge the government to implement its notification to raise minimum wage from Rs 102 to Rs 350 per day for the entire country.
"In August, government had notified that it will provide social security benefits to Aanganwadi, Asha and Mid-day meal workers. It had set up a committee to look into the matter. We will demand that it should make adequate arrangements from this in the coming budget," BMS said in a statement.
BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said that the unions welcome the government's decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in a bid to check black money.
He said that the government should make adequate monetary arrangement in the coming budget for the implementation of various schemes such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushal Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Urban Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.
Earlier, the Trade Union Co-ordination Centre (TUCC) had said that it will will raise the issue of fixation of minimum wages for all the workers across India at Rs 21,000 per month and fixation of monthly pension to the EPFO subscribers at Rs 3,000 per month at the consultations.
Besides, other issues to be taken up include budgetary allocation for social security fund for 45.7 crore informal sector workers and withdrawal of foreign direct investment (FDI) from core areas like defence, railways, banking and space.
"TUCC also welcomes the move of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discontinue the old currency of Rs 500 and 1000, which will stop the black money circulation in the economy and stop terror financing too," it had said.
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Donald Trump has met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the US President-elect's first meeting with a foreign leader after winning the presidential elections last week.
"I am convinced Trump is a leader in whom I can have great confidence," Abe said after the meeting yesterday that lasted for about 90 minutes at the Trump Towers in New York.
Abe, whose country is one of Washington's closest allies, said the two leaders can have "a relationship of trust".
"I am very honoured to see the President-elect ahead of other world leaders. The Japan-US alliance is the axis of Japan's diplomacy and security. The alliance becomes alive only when there is trust between us," Abe told reporters after the meeting, which was closed for the press.
Presidential transition team has described the meeting as private.
This was Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader after he was voted to power in one of the most surprising results of a US presidential election held on November 8.
He has spoken with as many as 32 world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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US President-elect Donald Trump has offered the influential post of National Security Adviser to his trusted military adviser Lt Gen (rtd) Michael Flynn, who advocates cutting off aid to Pakistan if it continued to help the jihadist groups, media reports said.
A shrewd intelligence professional and a straight talker, 56-year-old Flynn was one of the top military leaders to have endorsed Trump and has been his closest military adviser for more than a year now.
"The most influential national security job in the still-forming Trump administration will likely go to a retired three-star general who helped dismantle insurgent networks in Afghanistan and Iraq but then surprised - and sometimes dismayed - colleagues by joining the political insurgency led by Donald Trump," The Washington Post reported.
If selected, he would succeed Susan Rice as the NSA.
In his latest book in August, Flynn had advocated cutting off aid to Pakistan, if it continued to help the jihadis.
"We need to have some tough love conversations with the leaders of countries who pretend to be our friends, but who also collaborate with our enemies," Flynn had said in his latest book 'How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies' that hit the book stands in August.
"Countries like Pakistan need to be told that we will not tolerate the existence of training camps and safe havens for Taliban, Haqqani, and Al-Qaeda forces on their territory, nor will we permit their banks and other financial institutions to move illicit funds for the terror network," said Flynn.
As an adviser, Flynn has already proved to be a powerful influence on Trump, convincing the president-elect that the US is in a "world war" with Islamist militants and must work with any willing allies in the fight, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia, The New York Times reported.
They both believe that the US needs to start working with Putin to defeat Islamist militants and stop worrying about his suppression of critics at home, it said.
He served as the director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's top spy agency, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and chair of the Military Intelligence Board.
Flynn was forced out of his job as director of the agency in 2014 over concerns about his leadership style.
After the ouster, he frequently lashed out in public against President Barack Obama and blamed his removal on the administration's discomfort with his hard-line views on radical Islam, the Post reported.
Fox said Flynn was in line for the NSA position, which does not require confirmation by the Senate.
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US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Senator Jeff Sessions, an opponent of the H-1B visas, as his Attorney General and Congressman Mike Pompeo as head of the CIA, media reports said today.
Alabama Senator Sessions, who was among the first Senator to support Trump in the early part of his campaign and had served was the head of his national security team has been offered the position of US Attorney General, Fox said.
Sessions, 69, also advised Trump on immigration has been an opponent of the H-1B visas.
In one of the rallies in Alabama after he endorsed Trump one of the invited speakers was an American employ of Disney Land who alleges that he was fired from the company because of H-1B visa hires.
The H1B visa is designed to allow US employers to recruit and employ foreign professionals in speciality occupations within the US. This visa programme in popular among Indian IT professionals.
The Trump Campaign has not made a formal announcement yet.
His nomination is subject to confirmation by the United States Senate.
Fox said, Trump has picked Kansas congressman and Tea Party favourite Pompeo to head the CIA under his administration.
This position is also subject to Senate Confirmation.
The Hill said the Republican Congressman has accepted the offer.
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More than 4,400 Turkish citizens have applied for asylum in Germany this year, the government said today, with numbers soaring since a failed coup attempt against Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Among them are several Turkish military officers stationed at Germany's Ramstein NATO air base, national agency DPA has reported.
Berlin-Ankara relations have been badly strained by concerns over the Erdogan government's stance on civil rights, especially its sweeping crackdown against opposition lawmakers, journalists and other critical voices in the wake of the July coup attempt.
Today, Germany's Office for Migration and Refugees said that this year it had received 4,437 political asylum requests to the end of October from Turks, compared to 1,767 during all of last year.
Numbers had steadily climbed from 275 in July to 485 in October, it said, cautioning however that the rise could not be tied directly to the coup attempt, given the long time lags for asylum applications.
German conservative lawmaker Stephan Mayer, who sits on parliament's interior affairs committee, said: "We must presume that the number of Turks who will request political asylum in Germany will rise further."
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said last week Berlin wants to "help persecuted scientists, cultural workers, journalists, who can no longer work in Turkey, come to Germany to work".
Erdogan, for his part, has accused Germany of harbouring thousands of Kurdish militants and failing to respond to its requests to extradite terror suspects of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK.
"We gave them 4,500 files. Six of them were looked at," Erdogan said before leaving on a foreign trip today. "Germany is not keeping an eye on this well.
"Terror will return like a boomerang tomorrow and hit Germany. Germany is playing this wrong. The West has become a sanctuary for terror. You say the PKK is a terror group and then support them. What kind of friendship and honesty is this?"
' Mayer, of the conservative Bavarian CSU party, was critical of the foreign ministry for stating that Germany was open to granting refuge to Turkish citizens who need it.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seeking to ensure timely implementation of basic urban infrastructure projects and achieve mission target of AMRUT scheme by 2019-20, the Urban Development Ministry has begun approving investments for various projects for the next three financial years.
Earlier, the Ministry approved action plans every year under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Urban Development Ministry also approved investments of Rs 5,815 crore for 2017-20 in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar and Tripura under the scheme.
"An Inter-Ministerial Apex Committee of AMRUT, chaired by Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (Urban Development) today approved investments of Rs 5,815 crore during 2017-20 in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar and Tripura," an official release said.
Gauba said in the meeting that "against the business as usual approach" of approving action plans every year and that too towards the end of a financial year, the Ministry has decided to accord approvals under Atal Mission for the next three financial years so as to enable advance planning and timely execution, necessary to meet the mission targets by 2019-20.
Release of central assistance will be linked to launch of all projects as approved for 2015-17, he added.
The Committee approved investment of Rs 2,279 crore for Gujarat, Rs 1,232 crore for Rajasthan, Rs 1,200 crore for Punjab, Rs 1,042 crore for Bihar and Rs 62 crore for Tripura for the next three financial years.
Total central assistance approved for these five states was Rs 2,461 crore, as per Mission Guidelines.
Under AMRUT, providing water taps to all urban households is given top priority followed by improving sewerage networks and septage management, storm water drains, public transport while developing at least one park/green open space in each city every year is mandatory.
The committee also approved State Annual Action Plan of Arunachal Pradesh with an outlay of Rs 46.67 crore and of Sikkim with an outlay of Rs 13.33 crore for 2016-17.
With this, annual action plans for the current financial year have been approved for all states and UTs except for Delhi whose proposals in prescribed form are still to be received, the release said.
With today's approvals, total investment approved in water supply, sewerage and other components under AMRUT has gone up to Rs 51,505 crore, it added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nearly 200 countries today called for "highest political commitment" to combat climate change on "urgent priority" at a UN gathering here, noting that global climate is warming at an "alarming and unprecedented" rate.
The "Marrakesh Action Proclamation", which was agreed upon by all the parties -- 196 nations and the EU bloc -- taking part in the summit, was read out at the Conference of Parties (CoP) Plenary session which said it was an "urgent duty to respond" to global warming.
This can be termed as one of the main outcomes of the ongoing crucial summit on climate change.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond... We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority.
"We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability," the proclamation said.
"We, Heads of State, government, and delegations, gathered in Marrakech for the high-level segment of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change... Issue this proclamation to signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development," the proclamation said.
Nations while welcoming the Paris Agreement, its rapid entry into force, ambitious goals, inclusive nature and its reflection of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, also affirmed their commitment for its full implementation.
India had pushed for inclusion of sustainable lifestyle with minimum carbon footprint and a clear cut mention of flow of funds in the draft of the political proclamation which was earlier made.
"We, the Developed Country Parties, reaffirm our USD 100 billion mobilisation goal," the proclamation said.
It also called for an increase in the "volume, flow and access" to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave had during his recent statement in the high-level segment of the summit noted that access to adequate finance remains an "overriding concern" for India.
He had said that it is "critical" that developed countries provide finance and technology transfer support to developing nations.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN Security Council will vote today on extending for another year the mandate of a panel tasked with investigating chemical attacks in Syria and identifying those responsible, diplomats said.
Following negotiations with Russia, the United States presented a draft resolution that renews the mandate of the joint United Nations-Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) probe until November 2017.
During its year-long investigation, the panel established that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
It was the first time that an international probe pointed the finger of blame at President Bashar al-Assad's forces, after years of denial from Damascus.
Despite the findings, Russia has dismissed the conclusions as unconvincing and said no sanctions should be imposed on Syria.
The panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.
The draft resolution obtained by AFP tasks the JIM with identifying the "perpetrators, organizers, sponsors" of attacks including among groups associated with IS or with Al-Qaeda.
It states that all "individuals, entities, groups or governments responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable."
Despite calls by Russia to extend the probe to Iraq, the draft resolution would limit the work of the JIM investigators to Syria.
Diplomats said the vote would take place at around 0000 GMT.
Calls from France and Britain for UN sanctions against Syria for its use of chemical weapons have yet to translate into action.
Paris and London have described the use of toxic gas in attacks against civilians as a war crime and pushed for sanctions to be imposed on those who carried out the attacks.
The panel's latest report said government helicopters flying from two regime-controlled air bases dropped chlorine barrel bombs on the villages of Qmenas, Talmenes and Sarmin, in rebel-held Idlib province.
The panel identified the 253rd and 255th squadrons of the 63rd helicopter brigade, which flew from the Hama and Humaymim air bases, and the 628 squadron based in Humaymim as the perpetrators.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States today proposed that South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar as well as the army chief and information minister face UN sanctions for their role in fueling violence in the war-torn country.
The names of Machar, President Salva Kiir's army chief Paul Malong and his information minister Michael Makuei were on a sanctions blacklist circulated to the Security Council, diplomats said.
Under the proposed measure, Machar, who is receiving medical treatment in South Africa, and the two other officials would face a global travel ban and an assets freeze.
The sanctions list was presented after the United States late Thursday put forward a draft resolution on imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan, where a civil war has raged since December 2013.
Russia however made clear it opposed the measure, arguing that it would further sour relations between South Sudan's leadership and the international community.
Deputy Ambassador Petr Iliichev declined to specify today whether Russia would veto the draft resolution, but added that Moscow feels "very strongly" that the measure was ill-advised.
"It's going to affect very negatively the small progress that we have achieved, especially on trying to re-start the inclusive process if we are going to sideline the leaders," Iliichev told reporters.
Russia last year blocked a previous bid by the United States to blacklist Malong along with top rebel commander, Major General Johnson Olony. Angola, China and Venezuela also opposed the move.
The council has imposed sanctions on six commanders -- three from the government side and three among the rebels.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said yesterday that months of talks with South Sudan's leaders had failed to persuade them to opt for peace as she made the case for sanctions.
"There is no good reason why we would not deprive those who have shown a willingness to commit mass atrocities of the means of doing it more efficiently," she said.
The world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 2.5 million people displaced.
The country won independence from Sudan in 2011 with strong support from the United States.
A peace deal between Kiir and Machar in August last year had raised hopes of peace, until clashes erupted in Juba four months ago.
Malong was singled out in a report by a UN panel of experts as having ordered large-scale attacks during the violence that engulfed the capital in July, forcing Machar to flee the country.
Machar later called on his followers to take up arms against Kiir's government after a replacement was named in his post as vice-president and he was sidelined from the power-sharing deal intended to end the war.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttarakhand Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution seeking Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre for infrastructural construction in Gairsain, as Chief Minister Harish Rawat underlined his government's commitment in granting the remote hill town the status of a permanent capital.
"Gairsain is not just a political slogan for us. We are trying to develop suitable infrastructure in Gairsain in keeping with the sentiments associated with the place and trying to build a consensus over the vexed issue of granting it the status of a permanent capital," Rawat said, addressing the state assembly on the second day of its ongoing session in Gairsain.
Gairsain is an emotive issue in the state,with Uttarakhand Kranti Dal which spearheaded the statehood agitation in the 1990s being in favour of the hill town in Chamoli district being declared permanent capital.
With opposition BJP staging a walkout in the House to mount pressure on the ruling dispensation to shed its ambivalence over permanent capital status to Gairsain, Rawat said the state government wanted overall development of the town with maximum connectivity besides availability of power and water.
He also said if steps were taken immmediately after the formation of the state towards making a permanent capital in accordance with the aspirations of statehood agitators, things would have been easier.
"At the time when the state was created, locating the capital anywhere with far shabbier infrastructure would not have raised eyebrows but so much has changed since then. Now we need suitable infrastructure. We are working on a plan to develop a better township in Gairsain," the Chief Minister said.
He added that road connectivity is being improvedandthe airstrip in Gauchar is also being upgraded to make it suitable for large-bodied aeroplanes.
There is also a proposal for a new airport at Ramdeval in Chaukhutia, he said.
The state assembly also unanimously passed a resolution on holding the budget session of the House in 2017-18 in Gairsain.
The current session of the state assembly is being held in the under-construction Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain.
As many as 21 legislations, including those related to creation of five universities, an amendment bill pertaining to Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Council and creation of a special river valley authority were also passed amid a walkout by BJP members.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The global watchdog tasked with destroying chemical weapons is probing more than 20 reports of the alleged use of toxic arms in Syria since August, its chief told media today.
Experts with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also believe the so-called Islamic State group may have itself manufactured mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq, the body's director general Ahmet Uzumcu said.
It was an "extremely worrying" development for the OPCW, he said, as the organisation marks its 20th anniversary in 2017 having overseen the destruction of 94 per cent of the world's declared chemical weapons.
With the United States and Russia now on target to destroy their last remaining stockpiles within the next seven years, Uzumcu said stopping jihadists and individual groups getting hold of chemical weapons was "a challenge" which was "at the top of the agenda" for the organisation based in The Hague.
He was speaking exclusively to AFP only hours after the UN Security Council extended the mandate for another year of a special joint UN and OPCW panel to allow it to investigate chemical attacks which have been reported in Syria this year.
Since August 1 there had been a number of allegations, by both the Syrian regime and the opposition rebels, of the "use of chlorine and unidentified agents in Aleppo and in northern parts of Syria" such as Idlib, he said.
The OPCW is already "collecting information and analysing" it, the OPCW director general said, to see if the allegations "are credible or not in order to deepen our investigation".
"The number (of allegations) is quite high. I counted more than 20," said Uzumcu, revealing that even yesterday the Syrian authorities had sent to the OPCW fresh reports of chemical weapons use against them.
The panel set up by the UN, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism, has already determined during a year-long probe that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
It was the first time that an international inquiry pointed the finger of blame at President Bashar al-Assad and his forces, after years of denial from Damascus since the start of the civil war in 2011.
The joint panel also found that Islamic State, which captured a large swathe of Iraq and Syria in 2014, was behind a mustard gas attack in Syria in August 2015.
Samples of mustard gas taken from attacks in Syria and Iraq have been analysed by the OPCW's laboratories in The Netherlands and "the findings do suggest that this substance may have been produced by ISIS itself," said Uzumcu.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With cooperative banks not authorised to exchange defunct currency notes, it is people living in rural and remote areas of Himachal Pradesh, mostly farmers, who have found themselves bearing the brunt of the Centre's demonetisation move.
Most of these farmers have accounts in cooperative and Gramin banks as they have taken loans from these financial institutions.
With their hardship in mind, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has urged the Centre to allow cooperative banks to exchange the scrapped currency notes.
The state government has provided a helicopter for rushing Rs 2,000, Rs 100, Rs 50 and other small denomination notes to far-flung, remote and tribal areas of the state to ensure adequate of valid currency.
As per official sources, currency notes worth Rs 29 crore have already been airlifted and sent to tribal areas.
With the advent of winter, snowfall is also likely in the coming days in these high altitude areas.
The state government is ensuring that all essential commodities including foodgrains, fuel, fodder and other items are stored in advance to tide over the winter months when such areas remain cut-off due to closure of high mountain passes after snowfall.
After the demonetisation move, Rs 650 crore had been deposited in the 15 main banks in Kangra district alone, while currency worth Rs 50 crore had been exchanged, official sources said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With tightening of the exchange norms and use of indelible ink, the serpentine queues before bank branches have shortened, though the ATM transaction continues to be a nightmare in the metropolis.
The continuing cash crunch since the November 8 announcement of demonetisation of higher value currency notes has seen people throng the banks in huge numbers.
However, today several banks witnessed no queues as exchanges norms were tightened in addition to the use of indelible ink, which kept many people away.
A manager with private sector Lakshmi Vilas Bank in the central business district of Dalhousie said, "We are not allowing exchange till 2.30 PM. But customers can come and withdraw money from their accounts within the limit".
This is why there are no queues outside and exchange would happen only for a short period- from 2.30 PM till the close of banking hours, he said.
Nationalised banks like the Bank of Maharashtra, State Bank of India and others saw no betterment in the situation as people continued to throng for exchange of old currency notes.
ATMs, however, like the past few days ran out of cash in most of the places in the city. With almost every ATM downing shutters during daytime, people crowd in front of them in the evening when word of cash vans refilling money quickly got around.
(Reopens CAl1)
CGM of SBI's Bengal circle Partho Pratim Sengupta said the bank has tied up with public sector petrol pumps IOC and BPCL for withdrawal of money through Point of Sales (POS) machines.
He said 182 petrol pumps in the state would provide the facility to start with and would continue till the situation normalises.
Besides this, SBI has pressed into service three mobile ATM vans from which customers would be able to withdraw money.
Extending their support to Triple Talaq, the women members of the All India Muslim Personal Law board today accused the Centre of interfering in the rights of minorities and urged the government to come out with plans for empowerment of women in the country.
According to AIMPLB, an estimated 10 crore Muslim women from all across the country have signed a campaign supporting the practice of triple talaq.
"India is a secular and a democratic country. Everybody has the right to pursue their own religious rights. We fully stand in support of the triple talaq among Muslims and oppose the Uniform Civil Code. A misinformation is being spread about triple talaq by the government," Asma Zehra, executive committee member of AIMPLB, told reporters.
"Divorce rate is the least in the Muslim community. The number of abandoned, deserted, and divorced women in other communities are many times larger," Zehra said.
A debate has emerged over the government's stand opposing the practice of triple talaq with some leading women politicians seeking its abolition, even as some Muslim bodies accused the ruling dispensation of waging a "war" on their personal law.
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"The government doesn't have problem with issues of women in other community such as dowry deaths, rapes, female foeticide. The sole intention of the government is to interfere in the rights of minorities. Muslim women abide by the laws made by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The laws made by them are balanced....Condition of women in Muslim community is far better than those of women in any other community," Zehra added.
A three-day convention of AIMPLB starts in Kolkata today and will end with a rally at Park Circus maidan.
"We condemn the stand of the present government for interfering in the Muslim Personal Law in the name of providing justice to Muslim women. Muslim women oppose all moves of interference in Muslim personal law and reject the attempts to impose Uniform civil Code. Lakhs of women are participating in signature campaign to show their solidarity with AIMPLB," Zehra said.
AIMPLB usually sticks to only Muslim personal laws, which broadly cover marriage, divorce (talaq), inheritance, succession and adoption-related issues.
It is an umbrella organisation which has representatives from all Muslim sects, theological schools and religious orders and is the highest decision-making body on Muslim personal laws.
Women who choose to become first-time mothers at 25 years of age or later may increase their chances of living into their 90s, a new study has claimed.
The study by researchers at University of California San Diego in the US is the first to look at age at first child-birth in relation to longevity.
The researchers found an association between a woman's age at child-birth and parity (the number of times a woman has been pregnant) with survival to age 90.
"We found that women who had their first child at age 25 or older were more likely to live to age 90," said lead author Aladdin Shadya from UC San Diego School of Medicine.
"The findings indicate that women with two to four term pregnancies compared with a single term pregnancy were also more likely to live at least nine decades," he said.
Out of about 20,000 participants in the study, 54 per cent of women survived to 90 years old.
The participants were part of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a national longitudinal investigation of women that began in 1991 in the US. The women were followed for up to 21 years.
The study also found that women who lived to age 90 were more likely to be college graduates, married, have a higher income and less likely to be obese or have a history of chronic disease.
"Our findings do not suggest that women should delay having a child, as the risk of obstetric complications, including gestational diabetes and hypertension, is higher with older maternal ages," Shadya said.
"It is possible that surviving a pregnancy at an older age may be an indicator of good overall health, and as a result, a higher likelihood of longevity," he said.
"It is also possible that women who were older when they had their first child were of a higher social and economic status, and therefore, were more likely to live longer," he added.
The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A city court has awarded six-year jail term to a youth for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl while relying on scientific evidence, even though the girl and her parents turned hostile during the trial.
Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit awarded the jail term to the youth, a resident of south-west Delhi, for the offence committed in August 2014 and also imposed a fine Rs 50,000 on him.
The court also asked the Delhi Legal Services Authority to give a compensation of the similar amount to the girl.
"In this case, the convict was related to the teacher of the victim. Considering the fact that the convict had taken advantage of the tender age of the child who could not protect herself and to the fact that the convict exploited the piousness of the relationship, the facts do not demand lenient view," the court said while awarding the jail term.
The accused was convicted for the offence committed under Section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Based on the DNA report and other scientific evidence, the court held that "the prosecution is able to prove that an aggravated sexual assault took place on the victim. Prosecution was also able to prove that it was the accused who committed the offence".
While denying leniency to the convict, the court said that "the sexual assault is against a child and thus does not deserve that convict be released on probation".
According to police, on August 19, 2014, the case was filed by the girl's mother who alleged that her daughter was raped and sodomised by the accused when she had gone for tuition.
The police had filed the charge sheet under sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of the POCSO Act.
During examination before the court, the girl failed to recognise the youth and did not support the allegations made in the charge sheet. Later, her parents also denied the allegations made in the charge sheet.
The accused, however, had pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Josephine Mason
BEIJING (Reuters) - Billions of dollars in funds exited China's commodities futures in less than a week, the most since February, as regulators curbed speculative trading in a display of Beijing's power to swiftly cool markets.
But the large-scale retreat may prove to be temporary as cash-rich Chinese retail investors could soon return to jolt commodities futures, and given China's size, again cause ripples in global markets. Many of these speculators have little investment experience but have loads of cash to gamble with, a combination that often leads to wild price swings.
The collapse in prices from multi-year highs came after major commodity exchanges in Shanghai, Dalian and Zhengzhou introduced a series of fee hikes and deposit requirements over the past two weeks to tame a months-long surge in prices. [nL4N1DG17B]
The market is "in short-term shock", Donghai Xie, chairman and chief investment officer at Entropy Capital, told on the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai on Thursday.
"It may be one or two months before the market becomes calm," he said.
In just four of China's most-active commodities markets - iron ore, rebar, coking coal and glass - a combined 17.5 billion yuan ($2.54 billion) in positions were sold between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, according to a calculation of exchange data.
The sharp decline in those positions, or open interest, suggested investors took profits as the exchanges slapped on higher transaction fees and margins.
More than 300,000 contracts of rebar , iron ore , coking coal and glass have been shed since Nov. 11, the day many Chinese markets rallied and the exchanges raised transaction fees to tame them, the data showed.
It was the biggest selloff since early February when a combined 19.3 billion yuan exited these markets, based on the data.
The selloff followed weeks of broad-based rallies fueled by retail investors, who were drawn by the upbeat outlook for infrastructure projects that require vast amounts of construction materials such as steel, glass and copper.
The upsurge and the ensuing decline in Chinese futures moved global prices. Iron ore has skidded 8 percent from last week's two-year high near $80 a tonne as Chinese futures slumped. [IRONORE/]
The selldown has spurred speculation among market participants that the major commodity exchanges were preparing to take even more stringent measures to cool prices, possibly limiting the size of positions investors could take.
($1 = 6.8906 Chinese yuan)
(Additional reporting by Gavin Maguire in Singapore; Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Rosalba O'Brien and Teresa Cespedes
LIMA (Reuters) - Leaders of Pacific rim nations gathered in Peru on Friday seeking to salvage hopes for regional trade as prospects of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact.
Discussions between the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit are expected to be dominated by fears of rising anti-globalization sentiment in the West, where many worry about losing jobs to low-wage economies, and China's burgeoning role in global trade.
"We have noticed that protectionist tendencies have begun to emerge," Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said in an opening speech. "To anyone who wants to propose protectionism I suggest that you read the history books about the 1930s."
U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to attend the summit that brings together leaders whose economies represent 57 percent of global gross domestic product.
While campaigning for the presidential election which he won, Trump labeled the TPP "a disaster" and called for curbs on immigration. His isolationist stance echoed sentiments in Britain, which voted in June to quit the European Union.
Though Obama championed the TPP, his administration has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal that was signed by 12 economies in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, but excluded China. Without U.S. approval the agreement as currently negotiated cannot come to fruition.
But Alan Bollard, the APEC secretariat's executive director, said it was premature to write the TPP off, though he expected it to be "put on the shelf" temporarily.
"I think at the minute they will sit on it and wait and see what the new U.S. administration looks like after a year or a couple of years," Bollard said.
China's Xi is expected to sell an alternate vision for regional trade by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which as it stands excludes the Americas.
The Kremlin said Obama and Putin would likely speak at the Lima summit, while a source said the leaders of Canada and Mexico would discuss the potential impact a Trump presidency could have on the NAFTA trade pact.
OPEN TO OPTIONS
In contrast with creeping protectionism in the U.S. and Europe, summit host Peru is one of the world's most open economies. It has already said it would like to join the Beijing-backed trade pact.
Others like Japan have expressed interest in moving forward with some sort of regional trade pact without the United States, Vice President Mercedes Araoz said.
"We probably will have several paths we could take, always with the commitment of having a free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region," Araoz told journalists.
Australia's Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said he hoped negotiations on TPP would continue, but in the meantime believed the Chinese-led agreement presented a big opportunity.
"If we are able to successfully land it over the coming months or the year ahead it would create again a terrific opportunity for Australian businesses to export through a common set of rules across the region," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
Business leaders, also gathered in Lima, cautioned that the world would need to wait and see what happened with a Trump presidency and Brexit but that customers accustomed to enjoying the fruits of free trade were unlikely to support the effects of increased barriers.
"The fact is that moms in Minnesota are still going to want blueberries in January, that your average consumer in England is still going to want the full assortment of products that they've been used to, and I have confidence that it will work out in a way that is practical and pragmatic," said Scott Price, Chief Administrative Officer of Wal-Mart International.
(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien, Teresa Cespedes, Caroline Stauffer, Ursula Scollo and Mitra Taj in Lima, Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Writing by Caroline Stauffer and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Alistair Bell)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a stifling office on the second floor of an anonymous building along a dusty lane in Lado Sarai the new hub for young artists in a corner of the southwestern part of Delhi a 38-year-old mens wear designer Vogue.com has called a global fashion superstar in the making sat in semidarkness. The power had gone out.
Kiran Bir Sethi was at her wits end with schooling in Ahmedabad. She struggled with how to get the best out of her young son without him losing interest in the schooling system. He often returned from school dejected and bored.
Chinese app maker just made an unusual announcement: India is its fastest growing market with 16 per cent users. Only five per cent of its users are in China. So the company is planning to invest upwards of $44 million into India, and will go on a hiring spree to get a 200-people team going in its new office in the country.
Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative.
The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles.
For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in
North Carolina has a low unemployment rate and competitive labor market.
The cost of living and doing business is low in North Carolina compared to the wider region.
To be successful, tap into the right resources to get the help you need and make sure to comply with state laws.
This article is for entrepreneurs currently running or considering opening a business in North Carolina.
In 2021, North Carolina had more than 964,000 small businesses, accounting for over 99% of businesses, with more than 1.7 million small business employees in the state. As of March 2022, the states economists showed that North Carolina had fully recovered from the economic jolt of the pandemic.
North Carolinas unemployment rate stands at 3.4%, slightly lower than the national rate of 3.6%, which means that the labor market is competitive. In addition to the generally tight labor market, it remains particularly difficult to find and retain top talent in certain industries, so employers have to get creative when it comes to compensation and opportunities for career development.
Entrepreneurs in the state are optimistic. Many cite business-friendly regulations, a manageable tax code and low costs as their reasons for operating within the state. Heres a closer look at the challenges and opportunities in the Tar Heel State, as well as resources that can help you start and grow your small business and answers to frequently asked questions among entrepreneurs in the state.
Competitive labor market
Across the country, states are contending with a competitive labor market, and the situation is no different in North Carolina. As unemployment rates return to, and even fall below, pre-pandemic levels, businesses are clamoring for skilled workers and providing better compensation, benefits and workplace perks. Attracting and retaining top talent in a competitive labor market can be difficult, especially for small businesses with limited resources that need to compete with larger companies.
The labor market in the Charlotte area can be a challenge because there are so many businesses competing for the same labor pool, said Charlie Zylstra, owner of Window Genie of Lake Norman. When looking for potential talent, my business puts a big focus on someone who understands what customer service means. We look for those who take pride in their work and want to exceed.
Some small businesses, like Charlotte-based ComplianceLine, focus on career development and skill training in addition to compensation as a way to provide value to employees and boost retention. Co-CEO Giovanni Gallo said that employee recruitment and retention have become just as important as client development (indeed, the former improves the latter).
Not surprisingly, the labor market is noticeably tight in NC, he said. Business growth and demand seems to move faster than relocation or skills growth, so good talent is dear. Every growing company would be well advised to pay attention to not just the obvious things like pay and benefits, but also build intentional investment and processes around coaching, career development, cultural engagement and, critically, a culture focused on preventing the harassment, unfairness and discrimination that wrecks culture and sends your best people to your competitors.
A quick economic recovery
North Carolinas economic recovery from the pandemic has been swift and robust. Throughout 2021, the state saw a 6.7% economic growth rate, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs. This strong recovery, paired with manageable costs and other benefits of its location, makes North Carolina an entrepreneurial hotspot.
North Carolina is at an advantage geographically, as it is centrally located on the East Coast with interstate access to other major U.S. markets and population hubs, said Morgan Crapps, a consultant with Columbia-based Parker Poe Consulting. This is frequently an important factor in a companys investment decision.
Awamary Khan, founder and CEO of The Woman Boss, told us that rural areas and certain urban regions continue to miss out on the states economic gains.
The overall indicators mask considerable disparity between regions and communities, she said. There are geographic disparities as well; a majority of counties have not recovered from the recession and continue to struggle.
Key takeaway: Though the state overall has recovered quickly from pandemic-related economic turmoil, some regions of North Carolina have been left out.
Low cost of living and doing business
While the labor market can be a challenge in North Carolina, the relatively low cost of living and doing business is a plus. The tight labor pool means costs have risen somewhat, but they remain manageable compared to some other states in the region.
There is a lot that North Carolina offers from a quality-of-life standpoint, including a relatively low cost of living, which makes it an attractive place for people to move with their families, Crapps said. The cost of labor and living has increased in recent years as a result of the successes the state has had, but it still tends to be comparatively lower than many of the markets that it competes against.
According to Sperlings Best Places research on the cost of living, North Carolina is more affordable than the average state in all of the major categories except healthcare. With 100 representing the average cost of living, North Carolina came in at 90.6 overall. The cost of groceries, housing and transportation are all below average. However, its healthcare costs come in at 107.5 on Sperlings scale, which means they are higher than the national average. Employers should keep healthcare costs in mind when crafting benefits packages for employees, especially in a state where a competitive labor market makes such packages essential to attract and retain top talent.
Manageable taxes
Tax rates in North Carolina are relatively low, earning the state the No. 11 spot in the nation from the Tax Foundation for business taxes. The top corporate income tax rate is 2.5%, which is significantly lower than in many other states, especially North Carolinas northern neighbors on the East Coast. It is a full 2.5% lower than South Carolinas top corporate income tax rate and 3.5% lower than neighboring Virginias.
The states low business tax rates are offset somewhat by a 6.98% sales tax, which is ranked 26th in the nation but remains lower than North Carolinas northeastern neighbors. The states top individual income tax rate, which applies to pass-through entities like LLCs, is 4.99%, while its neighboring states have higher rates: South Carolinas is 7% and Virginias is 5.75%.
I would say the taxation in North Carolina is favorable compared to most other states, Zylstra said. From where I moved from in Connecticut, I see the North Carolina tax policy as a huge boost to the states economy.
To me, [taxation and regulations] seem fairly relaxed, and the state overall seems to have an attitude of wanting to promote business and to make things as noncomplex as possible, added Stan Kimer, founder and president of Total Engagement Consulting and vice president of training at the National Diversity Council.
Again, though, North Carolina is a fairly large state with notable disparities, depending on your location. The precise tax burden is dependent on local and county taxes. Certain tax incentives might be available to businesses in certain locations or industries.
Incentives and taxes differ based on location within the state, Crapps said. North Carolina as a whole tends to stack up well. They also have some specific incentive programs, including one for recycling companies that can exempt eligible property from property tax, [which] makes them extremely competitive for certain types of projects.
Key takeaway: North Carolina businesses face a relatively friendly environment with regard to small business taxes.
Industries to watch and to avoid
North Carolinas Research Triangle continues to drive much of the states economic growth. Anchored by North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, opportunities abound in the Research Triangle for tech startups as well as businesses that are related to the regions highly educated, high-earning population.
Though the economy overall has recovered, hospitality and leisure continue to struggle. Entrepreneurs should be cautious about starting new ventures in these sectors.
Frequently asked questions about doing business in North Carolina
Starting a business in North Carolina requires you to select a business structure and file the appropriate tax and employer identification documents.
Do you need to register your business in North Carolina?
Yes, you must register your business when operating in North Carolina. The first step in the registration process is to choose an available business name; you can see if your desired name is available by searching the state database. You must also select a business structure, such as an LLC or limited partnership, and incorporate accordingly. Once these steps are complete, you can register your business with the North Carolina Secretary of State or county, depending on the business structure youve selected. Once you have registered your business with the appropriate agency, you will receive an email regarding the status of your newly formed entity.
How much does it cost to register a business in North Carolina?
The fee to secure articles of incorporation through the business registration process in North Carolina is $125. Depending on the type of entity you incorporate as, there could be additional fees, such as for an application to reserve a corporate name or for articles of amendment. You can review a full list of the business registration fees on the North Carolina Secretary of States website.
Do you need to register your business in North Carolina if you are a sole proprietor?
Yes. Sole proprietors still need to register their business, although they must go through the county or counties in which they operate rather than the North Carolina Secretary of States office. Each county has its own fees and processes, so review the rules of your locales before beginning the process.
What kind of licensing do you need to do business in North Carolina?
North Carolina does not require a single type of general business license, but many businesses are required to apply for a certain type of license to operate within the state. These licenses depend on your business operations, including which goods and services you offer. For more information on North Carolinas business licenses, permits and certifications, see the state website.
Does your business have to have a physical location in North Carolina?
Yes. A business must maintain a registered agent with a physical address in North Carolina. The registered agent is responsible for receiving all official communications from the state. If your company is headquartered in a state other than North Carolina, you must first register as a foreign entity. That requires a Certificate of Authority from the North Carolina Secretary of State. To obtain a Certificate of Authority, you must provide the name of your company as it appears in its home states records, the name you will use in North Carolina, the address of your principal office, the name of a North Carolina-based registered agent, the names of your current business officials and the equivalent document of authority from your home state.
How long does it take to form a new business in North Carolina?
Typically, the business registration process in North Carolina takes five to seven business days. This can vary if you register with a county (as LLCs and sole proprietorships are required to do). Generally, though, you can expect a response within one business week. The state recommends waiting to receive confirmation that your registration was accepted before purchasing any branded stationery or business cards.
How do you get a business tax ID in North Carolina?
To register your business, you will need a tax identification code (known as an EIN) from both the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the state of North Carolina. Your EIN will be used to cover sales taxes, use taxes, payroll taxes, and any machinery or equipment taxes that might apply to your business.
Does North Carolina require a DBA?
North Carolina requires a doing business as (DBA) name only if you plan to operate your business under a different brand name from the one that appears on your business registration filings. To register a DBA with the state, you must first make sure the preferred name is available with the state and no other business is already using it. You can designate your DBA for multiple counties through one filing. To search available DBAs and begin the process of registering a DBA for your business, visit the North Carolina Secretary of States website.
Resources for small businesses in North Carolina
If youre a small business owner in North Carolina who is looking for resources to help you move forward, here are a few organizations you might want to learn more about.
North Carolina SCORE
SCOREs volunteer business professionals and expert mentors give counsel and guidance to entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their businesses. The services are entirely free and volunteer-driven. Discover SCORE locations in North Carolina.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) District Office
The SBA offers financing and grants as well as consultations and counseling services, and has a North Carolina SBA District Office. There are also opportunities to apply for federal government contracts through the SBA and avenues for assistance in the wake of natural disasters.
North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Centers
North Carolina has several development centers for small businesses. Each center is dedicated to supporting the development and retention of small businesses, helping entrepreneurs do everything from crafting business plans to navigating the states tax code.
North Carolina is open for business
If you manage these challenges and take advantage of North Carolinas opportunities, such as its low cost of doing business, the state can be a great place to start and run a business. Though the economic growth rate has been modest in recent years, many entrepreneurs have created flourishing businesses here.
Ross Mudrick contributed to the writing and reporting in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
The recent demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes that brought the nation to a standstill also clashed with the country's wedding season which has left many families in a cash crunch situation.
Yoga Guru, Baba Ramdev didn't miss an opportunity to express his take on the nation's current situation.
"Many in the BJP are bachelors...they didn't realise it was wedding season...that was the mistake," joked the Patanjali founder in an NDTV interview.
"If they had done this around 15 days or one month later then there weddings wouldn't have been so badly affected," he added.
Ramdev also spoke about how the demonetisation has become a problem for people demanding dowry.
"One good thing that has come out of all this...people cannot demand dowry," said the Guru.
The government on Thursday announced families who were preparing for weddings can make a one-time withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh after many requests.
The government on Friday cautioned Jan Dhan account holders, housewives and artisans that they will be prosecuted under the I-T Act for allowing misuse of their bank accounts through the deposit of black money in Rs 500/1,000 notes during the 50-day window till December 30.
The directive comes against the backdrop of reports that some are using other persons' bank accounts to convert their black money into new denomination notes. In some cases, even rewards are being given to account holders for allowing such misuse.
The government had earlier said deposits up to Rs 2.50 lakh in bank accounts would not come under tax scrutiny as it is within the tax exemption limit. In the case of Jan Dhan account, the holder can deposit up to Rs 50,000.
However, the income tax department has noted that people are under impression that no action will be taken for deposits up to Rs 2.50 lakh during November 9 and December 30.
The ministry said "such tax evasion activities can be made subject to income tax and penalty if it is established that the amount deposited in the account was not of the account holder but of somebody else. Also, the person who allows his or her account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under the Income Tax Act".
The government has earlier said black money deposited in bank accounts during the 50-day period will be subject to tax, interest and 200% penalty.
It asked people not to be lured into the conversion of black money and become a partner in the crime of converting black money into white through this method.
"Unless all citizens of the country help the government in curbing black money, this mission of black money will not succeed," the official statement said.
It also asked people to provide information about such illegal activities to the I-T department so that immediate action can be taken and such illegal transfer of cash can be stopped and seized.
"Black money is a crime against humanity. We urge every conscientious citizen to help join the government in eradicating it," it added.
Following the demonetisation announcement of November 8, people have been queueing up in front of banks to convert and deposit the now-defunct 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
The tax department has already made quoting of PAN mandatory if cash deposits during the 50-day period aggregate Rs 2.5 lakh or more in bank accounts.
A passenger travelling to Chicago on an Air India flight found a dead cockroach in the meal that was served onboard.
Rahul Raghuvanshi who was travelling from Hyderabad via Delhi took to Twitter to express his shock and posted a picture of the meal too.
In response, Air India tendered apologies for any inconvenience caused. "We have a zero tolerance policy in this respect. Obligatory action is taking place," the airline said in a tweet.
This incident prompted the airline carrier to order a probe into the matter and also send a notice to the caterer concerned.
"Air India took serious note of the incident and issued notice to the caterer concerned immediately. Further investigation is going on," said Dhananjay Kumar, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Air India.
Alison Cowzer of East Coast Bakehouse and Dragons Den, launched the Boyne Valley/M1 Illuminate Female Entrepreneurship Programme at The Mill Enterprise Hub in Drogheda yesterday.
The programme is delivered by the DCU Ryan Academy and is a Fetac-accredited course aimed at entrepreneurs seeking to develop their business. Guest speakers on the day also included Bronagh Conlon of Network Louth and Jill Stout of CooKit Kids who participated in the first Illuminate programme.
The Illuminate programme was created by The Mill Enterprise Hub with assistance from DKIT and DCU Ryan Academy to empower early stage female entrepreneurs to develop and expand their business.
The programme is supported by Coca-Cola International Services, AIB and the Louth & Meath Local Enterprise Offices. Applications are now open with the closing date of 16th December.
The first Illuminate course commenced in October 2015 and enabled early-stage female entrepreneurs from Louth and Meath an opportunity to participate in the specially created course, which is accredited by QQI (Quality & Qualifications Ireland) at Level 6, Minor Award.
The programme fast-tracked entrepreneurs businesses to develop their business and leadership skills, achieve scale, and create employment.
Participants were given the knowledge, skills and understanding to commercialise sustainable and profitable products by completing 12 study modules including Sales Strategy, Project Management, Business Risk Management, Sustaining & Growing Your Business, Marketing and Leadership.
Business Development Manager at The Mill Enterprise Hub, Breanndan Casey said, "Its great to see Coca-Cola International Services and AIB come on board again to support local business. This keeps the price extremely competitive and the course is an opportunity to step back from day-to-day activities, and to carefully consider the long-term strategy and goals of their business, as part of the Business Model Canvas exercise."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
About us
Anti-Trump protests: "I thought of setting myself on fire"
Published on November 18, 2016
Story by Joao Fernandes Silva
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Since Donald Trump's election protests have sprung up across America, including New York City, where protesters are rallying and chanting against the new President on his own doorstep.
Jack, a teenager from the Bronx, carries a sign that says "Not my president! Go to hell fast." Four days after Donald J. Trump was elected the new President of the United States of America, the young man was one of the many who marched through down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue alongside dozens of New Yorkers who refuse to accept their new president. As they headed towards Trump Tower some chanted No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA!
More than a week later, social media groups and events are being created and used as the engine that ignites the rallies. The anti-Trump protests attract hundreds of angry, afraid and upset participants who don't plan on stopping and promise to wage war on the new president on his own doorstep.
"People need to understand how serious and horrible this was for so many Americans," says Jack. Even though he is a teenager, he has a long career of activism on his curriculum, protesting queer issues and Black Lives Matter. He sees Trump as unfit for the role and has now turned his focus towards the new President.
Willa Cowan-Essig was the planner and coordinator for one of the protests scheduled for today (18 November). Like many others, she didn't take the election results well. So she turned to Facebook to help gather as many people as possible.
"I even thought about setting myself on fire," she said. In the end, she decided she would "be shot by police" before she could spread any message so, instead, Willa and other activists plan to go nude to draw attention to themselves.
"My mom said she would bail me out if I got arrested, but she said I should make sure I had others with me so that I wouldn't get thrown in a mental institution," she added.
Willa, a freelance photographer and children's play-center worker, is one of many New Yorkers who struggle to make ends meet. "Too many people are suffering from the way things are now. No one should feel afraid for their lives or livelihood, and most people do," she argues. With Trump's election, she believes, things turn even worse for everyone. She says that "even white men will suffer with lack of health care and education and even wealthy white men will suffer when the economy does."
The native New Yorker fears that people have grown "complacent and lazy," quickly losing their focus. "I think both people and media have already normalized Trump. We've all become desensitized," she laments. However, she promises to continue protesting, in "different forms" in the future.
During his campaign, Trump promised to create a register of Muslims in the US, repeal Obamacare and build a wall on the US border with Mexico. He has also been accused of sexual assault by 13 women.
Anti-Trump protests have emerged in major cities across America, such as the nation's capital of Washington DC, as well as Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Phoenix and Dallas. Rallies and vigils have also taken place in college campuses and high school students have staged walk-outs as a means of protest.
Story by Joao Fernandes Silva
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's good news: Robert Funaro, the New Dorp resident known for his roles as Eugene Pontecorvo, a crime family soldier in "The Sopranos," and Tony Del Greco, a chief enforcer for a New York mob boss in Martin Scorsese's HBO drama series "Vinyl" -- now stars in "The Milkman's Sister," a production to run through Dec. 5 at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre in Manhattan.
Funaro has undertaken the role of Sal Furfante in the new family drama with a cast of five actors -- one of which you don't see -- in a production that takes a fifth floor Bronx tenement apartment as its backdrop.
The time frame? October of 1962 during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and all the tension and panic that unfolds between a devastated unemployed milkman, an angry supervisor of hospital linen, and their neighbors.
Written by Mark Blickley, directed by Joe Battista and produced by Roslyn McKay, "The Milkman's Sister," features, in addition to Funaro, Concetta Rose Rella, Dan Yaiullo, Jenne Vath and Chris Fougere.
Funaro, who maintains residences in New Dorp and in Manhattan explains:
"The play focuses on a nuclear threat by Khrushchev's Russia during the Kennedy administration during the early 1960's and how is affects the people in the apartment."
Performances are set for Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Nov., 19, 26 and Dec. 3 and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. on Nov. 20, 27 and Dec. 4.
Each performance is approximately 2 hours with one intermission. More info: Email 13thsttheatre@gmail.com or visit BrownPaperTickets.com/event/2657026
Other upcoming projects for Funaro? A role in "The Sinner," starring Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman, a crime thriller that's been picked up by the USA Network.
"The Sinner" is an hour long drama of a young mother who's overcome by an inexplicable fit of rage and commits a startling and very public act of violence -- and to her horror has no idea why.
Funaro's name has been no stranger to this column.
In December we boasted of his role of Sal Idello in the Vincent Amelio, Al Dente production of "How Alfo Learned to Love," a down-home fun "ethnic comedy" at Manhattan's 59th Street Theater.
FYI: Funaro got his big break when working with James Gandolfini in a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" that toured Scandinavia -- Funaro played Stanley Kowalski and Gandolfini played Mitch. Several years later when Funaro was working as a manager of Caroline's Comedy Club, Manhattan, Gandolfini suddenly walked in looking for him.
"He said there was a role available and that he could get me in the door for the auditions -- the rest, he said, was up to me," said Funaro "He's was a great guy -- a terrific man. For him to come back and look for me -- I'm really blessed by that."
Funaro, who's been acting on and off for a number of years, also appeared in episodes of "Law and Order" and was featured in "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." He also appeared in the 2007 film"American Gangster" as Detective McCann and in 2012 in "Whistle Blower," in an episode in the second season of the CBS show "Blue Bloods" as NYPD Capt. Browne.
CELEBRATIONS: NOV. 20 AND 21
Happy birthday Sunday to Mary Lee, Gail Fernandez, Michael J. Perkert who turns 9, Joan Galant, William J. Slaven Jr.,Ann Marie Henderson, Casey Romano, twins Laura Gwen and Douglas Gil Cala, celebrity/executive chef, Rob Burmeister, Roy E. Smith, and Diane Nicole Arrigo.
Monday is birthday time for Barbara Danischewski, Ronald Kilichowski, twins Adam and Brandon Kruse and Ryan Brucato, who turns 13 so says grandparents, Betty and Carl Carrara.
| BY Ricki Green |
TBWA Melbourne, Eleven and Limbs 4 Life have launched Toe Jam a fruit preserve for feet preservation ahead of World Diabetes Day.
While it might not be Australians usual breakfast order, an estimated 12 Aussies lose a limb every day, mostly feet and toes as a result of diabetes up to 85% of which are avoidable with the right care.
Toe Jam is bringing this message to the breakfast table to highlight the importance of dedicating time to your tootsies and to help reduce the risk of amputation.
Masterchef winner and host of My Market Kitchen, Emma Dean, devised the Toe Jam recipe and lovingly crushed more than her fair share of the berries to boot.
Being one of the quirkier dishes she has created, Dean hopes the jam will give Aussies some food for thought.
Says Dean: My grandmother lost sight due to diabetes, and my grandfather, a limb, so this is a cause close to my heart. Ive loved working with Limbs 4 Life to turn one of my biggest passions food, into something that will drive change. Aussies are known for their adventurous eating habits so Im hoping they are up for a taste of Toe Jam to help raise awareness of this preventable issue.
Says Melissa Noonan, CEO, Limbs 4 Life on the launch: To grab Australians attention on the overlooked issue, we knew we had to create something different. And it doesnt get more different than Toe Jam. I mean, who wouldnt sit up and pay attention when someone said they had Toe Jam for brekkie? We hope Australia gets behind us spreading the message in such a toe-curling way with Toe Jam to help us raise awareness.
Client: Care4Feet (Limbs4Life)
Creative Agency: TBWA Melbourne
Executive Creative Director: Paul Reardon
Creative Directors: Matt Stoddart. Ashwin Gopal
Creatives: Tim Woolford. Scott Canning
Senior Digital Planner: Harrison Steinhart
Account Director: Amelia van Veenendaal
Account Executive: Emily Watt
Director: Harrison Webster
Editor: Brian Patto
Producer: Stephanie Leddin
PR: Eleven
Group Account Director: Fiona Milliken
Account Manager: Jade Barringer
Senior Account Executive: Brenda Chan
| BY Ricki Green |
Behind every great Italian meal, and chef, is a great food- loving Nonna. To give these matriarchs the recognition they deserve, Sandhurst Fine Foods has teamed up with Sydney celebrity chefs and their Nonnas to host the two-week Festival of Nonna.
The project, developed by Special Group with support from Alfred on event production and Poem handling PR and influencer engagement, will see the rooftop restaurant pop-up at Redferns 107 Projects.
A foodies dream, the Festival of Nonna offers dinners celebrating Italian heritage and flavours and workshops teaching all the best customs from the boot-shaped country. More than 90 per cent of tickets had sold out within a week of going on sale.
Says Cade Heyde, managing partner at Special Group: We hope that this initiative will help to establish Sandhurst Fine Foods as a business that is about more than just bottles of pesto and olives this is a business that is immensely passionate about food, love and family.
Says Mimmo Lubrano, CEO, Sandhurst Fine Foods: Were a company built on family and tradition so we understand how both of these things shape who we are and how we enjoy food. The Festival of Nonna gives us all a chance to appreciate the people who first inspired many of us and get closer to the tastes that make Sandhurst products so popular.
Celebrity chef Andrew Cibej, renowned for his work at Sydneys favourite restaurants Vini, Berta and 121BC, will cook side-by-side with Nonna Valerie Cibej creating a five-course meal with Italian prosecco for $50 per ticket.
Workshops will be held with chefs Luca Ciano (of 2 Michelin-starred Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia in Milan), Massimo Mele (previously of La Scala on Jersey) and Sara Oteri (Series 7, MasterChef Australia), plus their Nonnas, sharing authentic, time- tested Italian techniques passed down to them, with interactive, hands-on demonstrations.
Saucy gnocchi, tender veal, delicious antipasti and other delectables from their ancestral homeland will be served up on a traditional table for guests to enjoy. Coupled with heady, aromatic wines the five-course meal is sure to hit the spot with those who enjoy food just like Nonna used to make.
Tickets to the Festival of Nonna dinners are priced at $50 and guests will enjoy a five course meal, wine, prosecco and a bag of Italian goodies to take home. Tickets for workshops are $30.
| BY Ricki Green |
Following on from the success of the last two years, the MADC After Party returns in a new venue and with new MADC star sponsor, Finch. This year the Duchess in Flinders Street will host the Melbourne industrys night of nights on December 1 and again tickets are limited, to just 230.
The last two years were sold out in the week prior to the event, this year is unlikely to be any different. The MADC Star award makes a welcome reappearance, last year it was won by DDB with Cussons Radiant Return and the creative team enjoyed a generous $10,000 trip to SXSW as the prize.
This year Finch have stepped it up even further and details of the prize are to be released next week.
Says Grant Rutherford, president, MADC: Apart from having a good old fashioned shin-dig, once again we will be awarding the MADC Star, a year-defining piece of work, campaign, or just plain outstanding thinking that defines the best of the year. Melbourne has always punched above its industry size for weight and I honestly look forward to seeing what our esteemed International judges consider to be world class.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's not every day that Al Roker of NBC's "TODAY Show" knocks on your door, asks if he's in the right place, then leads you through a crowd where Tony Danza is waiting patiently to meet you.
No. It's not a dream, but rather a dream turned reality Friday morning for Chris Mitrovich, the Huguenot resident who's in finance management -- but who doubles as an amateur chef -- in what he describes as an amazing story.
"Is Chris Mitrovich, here?" said Roker from the NBC show. "Please come out! I hear you make a good meatball."
Then he beckoned for Chris to go outside. "Do you know what 'The Turkey Trot' is?" he asked, to which Chris answered "No."
The "TODAY Show Turkey Trot," brings the NBC crew to various states throughout the country surprising foodies with their favorite celebrity chef.
Roker explained he already knew how much Chris loves to make meatballs and also knew he adopted his recipe from Tony Danza.
So, as the twosome fought their way through family members and friends, suddenly Danza burst through the crowd.
"Did you ever meet him?" questioned Roker.
Chris, who's been preparing meatballs for six years now, admits to getting the recipe from Danza one day when he was thumbing through the Internet.
Chris' wife, Kim told us: "They were so delicious, that he stuck with it."
Kim recounted: "I submitted an online note about a month and a half ago and answered 'Do you know someone who's a foodie and would be surprised as a celebrity chef?"
"In fact," said she, "They traveled all over the country and Florida and Virginia, but for the finale they wanted it to be huge because they were back in New York."
So Kim, a stay at home mom and former teacher, emailed "The Today Show" and sent a video because her hubby "simply loves to cook and always uses Tony Danza's recipes. Isn't it all about family members, good friends and good food?"
Big wigs, including a producer by the name of Jennifer Long, responded about two weeks later in what Kim reveals was such a positive experience. And from that time on it was hard for Kim to keep it a secret from her husband.
But, we should tell you, all of this didn't unfold without phone calls, emails and plenty of interaction between the TV crew and Kim, with one encounter even taking place aboard the Staten Island Ferry.
Back to the surprise: In order to have the surprise be all the more real, Kim concocted a story that Chris had to stay home Friday morning for an Our Lady Star of the Sea school parent/teacher's conference.
And to distract Chris from suspecting anything just in case he observed video equipment and trucks and buses in the area, she validated the story even further by noting they were filming a commercial on her block, inasmuch as camera crews showed up at 5 a.m.
FYI: Al Roker even did a weather segment right down the block right in front Kim's sister and brother-in-law, Jen and Greg Vernaci's, home.
The Mitrovich's are the parents of Danielle, 6, Christopher, 2 and Nicholas Jett, nine months.
Kim and Chris are still reveling in all the excitement, but said they are especially thrilled to be putting such a positive spotlight on the borough of Staten Island that they simple adore.
BTW: Tony Danza is coming to Staten Island's Center for the Arts Friday, March 10, 8 p.m. at Springer Concert Hall. Tickets: $60, $55.
Accompanied by his talented four-piece band, Danza performs a selection of his favorite standards from the Great American Songbook, as well as selections from the hit Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas while interweaving stories about his life and personal connection to the music. Perhaps best known for his starring roles on two of television's most cherished series, Taxi and Who's the Boss, Danza has also established himself as a Broadway star in such hits as Honeymoon in Vegas, The Producers, A View from the Bridge,and The Iceman Cometh opposite Kevin Spacey. The New York Times has called Tony Danza in Standards & Stories "a live wire who tap-dances, plays the ukulele, tells stories and radiates irresistible charm." Buy tickets at CFAShows.com.
| BY Lynchy |
As a culmination of a three-month management renewal exercise, DDB has added three top-class talent to its leadership team. The appointments include ex Leo Burnett and J Walter Thompson ECD Chris Chiu.
After a very short spell at J Walter Thompson Chris Chiu joins in the Chief Creative Officer role replacing the outgoing Joji Jacob who has today launched his own agency, Blk J with 3 other senior DDB Singapore staffers.
In other senior appointments Melvin Kuek joins as Managing Director and Guillaume Pagnoux joins as Chief Planner to become part of the leadership team helmed by David Tang, Neil Johnson and Jeff Cheong.
In an announcement, David Tang, CEO of DDB Group Singapore and Asia said, Having helped set up Blk J, were bringing on the Champions Team at DDB for the next lap. Chris, Melvin and Guillaume are the best there are in our business and totally nice guys. They fit the talented and nice DDB style and add to the pretty long list of top-class performers already under the DDB Group roof. It feels like we have a dream team of creative superheroes!
The move comes closely on the heels of the hiring of eight key creative hires at DDB, including Benjamin Lee of Mr. Miyagi fame as Social Media Creative Director; and four new creative leaders in Luis Fabra, Malhaar Rao, Josh Armstrong and Adithya Deepan.
They add breadth, depth and weight to what is arguably the most formidable agency team in Singapore, with an unbroken track record over the past 10 years at the Effie, Cannes, Hall of Fame and Marketing Awards, said Tang (pictured left).
More importantly, it injects fresh and exciting leaders into the steady-and-ready DDB management team to do the most cutting-edge work for its clients such as StarHub, McDonalds, DBS Bank, Republic of Singapore Air Force, SilkAir, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and Whole of Government business.
The agency group has in recent years offered highly specialised marketing solutions with its series of T-divisions in Tribal (digital innovation), TracyLocke (shopper marketing), Tasseologic (data-mining), Track (portal and e-commerce), TecEstate (3D AR for property clients) and Tango5 (social good).
Recently, it also launched a global tech hub, Equator, with the support of the Economic Development Board and opened its first satellite office in Temasek Polytechnic. Equator will serve 200 DDB offices worldwide and groom the next-generation creative tech talents in Singapore.
We have been working very hard to offer innovative, specialised solutions and deliver it with the rich diversity and the right chemistry of talents. Now, we have a dynamic team of the top-class practitioners to help our clients do the most effective, cutting-edge work, adds Jeff Cheong, Head of Tribal Worldwide Singapore and Asia.
It is evident that DDB has invested in the best practitioners and especially creatives. This echoes a saying that David Tang once made, We need more cows, not milkmen.
David stole that line from me, but now weve made it happen. Weve turned DDB from the best Singapore agency to become a creative powerhouse and a global hub agency. Chris Chiu is huge for us as a creative leader and Im really thrilled with the new talent and especially the current, proven greats we have with us, adds Neil Johnson, Creative Chairman of DDB Group Singapore.
DDB Group will also house and support Blk J, the four-person agency team comprising of Rowena Bhagchandani, Joji Jacob, Khalid Osman and Lester Lee, in an exclusive business arrangement between DDB and Blk J. It signposts a collaborative business model in the industry of big network agencies supporting indie shops.
| BY Lynchy |
J. Walter Thompson Singapore continues to add more digital firepower, appointing Ramzi Chaabane as Digital Strategy Director.
Chaabane (pictured left) has over 10 years digital advertising experience in Europe and Asia across a range of high profile brands, including Converse, LOreal, HSBC, Clubmed, Skoda, Under Armour, Danone & Unilever. He joins J. Walter Thompson from MullenLowe Profero Singapore, where he served as Digital Director. Prior to that he held the Digital Director role for Leo Burnett Shanghai. He has also worked as a digital strategist at Fullsix, where he served as lead manager on multiphased e-commerce projects for brands like ClubMed, Inside Biotherm and Etam China.
Chaabane holds an MSc in Management from Kedge Marseille Business School, and studied digital marketing at Columbia Business School. He has taught courses on digital marketing at IFAs MBA program in Shanghai.
Peter Womersley CEO at J. Walter Thompson Singapore said, Ramzi is a very dynamic, engaging person. Hes a strategic thinker with a strong track record leveraging data insight, digital innovation and planning to drive effective digital solutions for brands. This appointment follows a number of recent significant digital hires who will help us deliver effective pioneering solutions for our clients.
At J. Walter Thompson, Chaabane will work closely with Huw Davis, J. Walter Thompson Asia Pacifics regional Data & Analytics Lead and Marco Versotalo, who is both J. Walter Thompsons Global ECD on Lux and J. Walter Thompson Singapores Chief Creative Officer.
Friday, November 18, 2016 at 10:55AM
Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Mississauga, ON -Since Google is now a bona fide consumer electronics and hardware maker, it stands to reason that it needs to show off its wares in physical retails stores. Following the opening of their New York pop-up store, Google has decided to team-up with Best Buy Canada and create flagship Google Shop 'store within a store' locations in three Canadian cities.
Opening today at the flagship Best Buy Experience Store in the Heartland Town Centre on Mavis Road, the Google Shop is the first thing one sees upon entering the refreshed store space. Best Buy has changed the layout to cater more to brands rather than specific sections and Google's booth certainly has the prime space here.
Best Buy Experience Stores, "are designed to be flexible and adaptable; to allow us to alter our design and products more quickly in response to customer feedback, new technology and products. For our customers, we have added another dimension to take the in-store experience to the next level to provide expert, individualized guidance and customization to ensure our customers make the best choice for them and their lifestyle," Best Buy explains.
The Google Shop offers a gamut of Made By Google products, most important of which are the new Pixel phones. These are sold unlocked but are tethered to two-year contracts through various carriers, which means you can't just buy one full price and pop in your existing SIM card.
The Google Shop also features the Daydream VR headset and remote controller, various Chromecast devices as well as accessories such as cables, smartphone cases and of course, the latest Google Chromebooks. Other Made By Google products, including the Google Home smart speaker and Google WiFi aren't yet available in Canada but will likely be sold at these stores once they are cleared for Canadian consumption.
Google Canadas shop within a shop spaces were officially opened today at the Best Buy location in Mississaugas Heartland Centre, along with three others in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The exciting collaboration is part of Best Buys redesigned Experience Stores, and todays opening marks the official culmination of the large coast-to-coast renovation plan that saw upgrades made to more than a dozen locations. We are thrilled about the launch of our newly renovated stores and to showcase the new Google shops, says Ron Wilson, President and COO of Best Buy Canada. We are committed to providing our customers with the best service and the most exciting tech. We cant wait for the public to enjoy the special in-store experiences.
Other locations in Canada include Dearfoot Meadows and Edmonton South in Alberta and Cambie in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I asked a Google representative if these will be coming soon and the answer was, 'stay tuned.' The look and feel of the Google Shop is very much in tune with Google's aesthetic, something that was very deliberate and which Google had been working one way before the Google Pixel came into being.
"Comprised of nearly 700 square feet, our new shops are a reflection of the Google hardware brand in a retail space. Even the smallest detail, from the use of curved edges to the hand-picked colour palette, evoke a warm, inviting and playful feel. The shop is fully programmable, meaning its layout can evolve and change as Googles products do. Each shop features a structural element inspired by the simplicity and beauty of one of Googles most iconic tools: the search bar. When you view the designed structure straight on, you can see how it lightly mimics a search bar."
Aside from serving as a point of sale for Google products, the Google Shop will also run various programs for customers. This holiday season, kids can have a Google Hangout with Santa. There will also be a Santa Tracker on the large Google Maps display in the shop. Other activities include The Art of DIY, and a Makey Makey Lab which helps consumers through various creative and technical projects.
Google Guides are the in-store assistants that help customers through the selection of products and can walk users through products and features.
Mr Cook said he came very close to imposing a prison sentence, going so far as to write down that no other sentence would be appropriate.
High Commissioner for Papua New Guinea, Charles Lepani, who is the dean of the diplomatic corps, said many missions believed any traffic case involving a diplomat was exaggerated by the media and did not reflect the fact that most "most diplomats and their staff adhere to the rules of their host country".
President-elect Donald Trumps biggest education pitch during the presidential campaign was for a $20 billion voucher program that students could use at both public and private schools. So, now that hes been elected, how feasible is that? And would states even be interested in it?
The money would have to come from somewhere. Trump said during the campaign that hed like to use existing federal funds to support his big school choice program, even though he didnt say, specifically what pot of money he was referring to. The departments current budget is about $70 billion, with roughly $15.5 billion going to Title I grants for districts, and $12 billion going to state grants for special education.
Both programs have been absorbed into the blood stream of school district budgets, so re-directing the money would be a big deal.
Twenty billion dollars is a lot of money, said Vic Klatt, a principal at Penn Hill Group in post-election event sponsored by the Education Writers Association. Finding that will be an interesting challenge for them. Im not quite sure how they do it.
And groups representing school districts, teachers, state officials and others would fight it hard. If enacted, the proposal would undo decades of growth in student achievement, closing of achievement gaps, and growth in graduation rates, said Noelle Ellerson Ng, the associate executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association.
Congress would have to amend the Every Student Succeeds Act or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Trump couldnt just snap his fingers and make the proposal a reality. He would have to go through Congress, which would have to pass the change by amending either ESSA or IDEA. That may not be easy. The Senate rejected a (somewhat similar) proposal from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., last year when Republicans controlled more seats than they will in the new Congress. Trump and his allies would have to put it way up at the top of their priority listor significantly expand the GOP ranks in Congressfor it to have a chance of passing.
Allocating the money could be difficult. Title I dollars dont work like Pell Grants for low-income college students. They are distributed by a complicated formula and the amount per child varies from state to state and district to district. So the mechanics of a so-called Title I portability proposalif thats what Trump is afterarent simple. Whats more, states and school districts would almost certainly have to kick in their own funding to make it workable.
Last year, when a similar idea was under consideration in Congress, Mike Griffith, a school finance expert who works with the Education Commission of the States, noted that Title I dollars are geared toward concentrations of poverty . So a student taking Title I money from a school with a lot of poor children to a school with fewer students in poverty might be given a smaller allotment.
In a more recent interview, Griffith said it was tough to tell at this point how feasible Trumps proposal would be at the state level since no hard-and-fast details are available yet. It would depend on how the feds set it up, he said.
Not every state would jump at the opportunity. Trumps campaign website says that the school choice money would be given to states as a block grant. Its unclear if states would then have to use it for a voucher program that could be used at private schools, and whether that could be tricky, given that some states have so-called Blaine amendments in their constitutions which prohibit local funds from going to religiously affiliated educational institutions, which includes a lot of private schools.
Back in 2015, Griffith predicted that only a couple of hard-core school choice states, like Arizona, would decide to take advantage of Title I portability. But a lot has changed politically since then, and Griffith says he could imagine a couple dozen states taking a serious look at the proposal, including Florida. Roughly twenty or so other states would almost definitely reject vouchers, including California and Massachusetts. And the first takers would probably be the five states that have education savings accounts for students in special education, he said, particularly if IDEA money could be used for choice.
There are politically less-difficult ways to advance choice, and some of them might come to fruition. Trump or his education allies in Congress could propose a smaller school choice program thats a lot less ambitious than $20 billion but something more in line with President George W. Bushs Pell Grants for Kids proposal, which never became a reality. They could also decide to expand the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which offers vouchers to poor kids in the nations capital, and has a mixed track record of success. In fact, 94 percent Education Insiders surveyed by Whiteboard Advisors think the D.C. voucher program has a good shot of becoming a high priority this Congress.
Or Trump and the GOP could go great guns on charter schools, which also receive some federal seed money.
Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
"We do review the program each year, and if we feel there are problems with particular cohorts, particular nationalities, particular people who might not be integrating well and not contributing well, then there are many other worthy recipients who seek to come to a country like ours and make an opportunity their own."
The deal, to merge Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh, has gone ahead after approval by the Bangladesh high court, creating a company with 32 million subscribers, second only in the market to Telenors Grameenphone.
Axiata will own 68.7% of the merged operation. Indian group Bharti Airtel will have 25% and Japans NTT DoCoMo will have 6.3%. No price has ever been given for the deal.
Jamaludin Ibrahim, president and group CEO of Axiata, said: Axiatas proven track record of successful strategic mergers and integrations in our other markets such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia has qualified the group to lead the first telecoms merger and initiate market consolidation in Bangladesh.
Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, CEO of Robi, said: The merger strengthens the long-term sustainability of the Bangladesh telecoms landscape and business environment, and will secure faster nationwide rollout of mobile broadband as well as contribute significantly to the overall economy of the country.
Grameenphone, in which Telenor has a 56% stake, has 54 million customers. The other operators in Bangladesh include VimpelComs Banglalink, with 29 million, and a state-owned company, Teletalk, with under three million.
Ibrahim said: In-country consolidation has been one of the groups key focus in solidifying our position, unlocking profitability and opportunities of the market as well as ensuring better services to customers and the public.
Airtel entered the Bangladesh market in January 2010, when it bought a 70% stake in what was then Warid Telecom for $300 million. The Indian group bought the other 30% in 2013.
Axiatas takeover has taken longer than expected. It was announced in January 2016, and then expected to be complete by June. The companies agreed in June to defer completion until September, before finally taking an extra two months.
Ibrahim said: We are confident this consolidation will secure the countrys further development not only within the telecommunications industry but also act as further impetus to fuel a more mature business and investment environment in Bangladesh.
The Texas State Board of Education voted unanimously this week against recommending a Mexican-American studies textbook that was widely criticized for factual inaccuracies and stereotypical representations of Mexicans.
The board had asked publishers to submit textbooks that the states high schools could use to develop Mexican-American studies courses two years ago, after Republican lawmakers nixed a plan to create a statewide Mexican-American studies course, the Associated Press reports. But the only book that the board received, Mexican American Heritage, drew intense criticism for its portrayal of Mexicans as lazy and for its overall lack of accuracy and quality.
The Texas Tribune reports that Cynthia Dunbar, the CEO of Momentum Instruction, the textbooks publisher and a conservative former member of the state board, may challenge the boards plan to reject the book. The Tribune reports that while the book was revised to address criticisms, scholars found inaccuracies and areas for concern even in the revised draft.
The board announced that publishers can submit other ethnic studies texts for review. Those books would be considered in 2018.
Ethnic studies courses are growing in popularity in high schools across the country, especially in Western states, but most are currently developed at the school or district level. California is on pace to be the first state to create a statewide model for ethnic studies courses.
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Red Compartida shared network will cover 92.2% of the population of Mexico using 4G LTE technology on the 700MHz bank. It is believed to be the worlds largest open access wholesale network yet created.
Eugenio Galdon, who has headed the Altan Consortium as chairman of strategic partner Multitel, said: Everyone in the Consortium is rightfully proud at being entrusted this project, and are fully committed to fulfil Red Compartidas mission to close the digital gap and to provide efficient network access to all Mexicans.
Mexico decided to create Red Compartida in order to offer competition to the dominant America Movil, controlled by businessman Carlos Slim.
But Declan Ganley, the Irish businessman whose Rivada Networks project was excluded from the Red Compartida bidding only days before the decision, complained that people of Mexico are being given a raw deal, because Rivadas coverage plan is significantly higher than only opened bid.
He added: The cost of awarding Red Compartida without competition can be measured in millions of Mexicans left uncovered by the one bid just opened.
Rivada was excluded last week when the Secretariat of Communications and Transport said its bid was invalid because it did not include a bond for one billion pesos ($49 million). Rivada said the money had been provided, but under separate cover, and is threatening to contest the decision in the courts.
The Altan Consortium said it will be responsible for the design, installation, operation and upkeep of the wholesale mobile broadband network. The Red Compartida will be built through a public-private partnership that is expected to generate investment in excess of $7 billion over the life of the concession.
This has been a very demanding and transparent tender process, in which Altan proved that it had the most solid and trustworthy bid, surpassing all the minimum requirements by a wide margin, said Galdon.
Now it is time to draw upon our technical and management expertise to give life to the project. We have the required industry experience, as well as the necessary financial and operational muscle. Red Compartida will soon be a reality that will positively impact the daily lives of millions of Mexicans.
Red Compartida is expected to start operations on 31 March 2018.
The projects largest investor is Marapendi Holding, ultimately backed by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, with a stake of 33.38%.
The next largest shareholder is the China Mexico Fund (CMF), with a participation of 23.36%. This is a fund specifically created to invest in and finance infrastructure projects in Mexico. Its role clearly hints that much of the business associated with Red Compartida may go to Chinese equipment companies, specifically Huawei and ZTE.
But Altan has a range of other backers, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group that finances private sector ventures. Its participation is 3.34%, but IFC also manages the CMF.
Telecom companies Axtel and Megacable also hold a stake in Altan through a series of non-voting shares and without involvement in management. Each has a participation of 4.01%.
Chris Koski, global head of investment strategy for Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, said: We are excited to be building the worlds largest open access, wholesale telecom network alongside our Mexican and international partners. We are committed to ensuring that Red Compartida provides bestinclass service and coverage.
UPDATED
Longtime Cincinnati Superintendent Mary Ronan will retire at the end of the 2016-17 school year, after nearly a decade leading the school system, the district announced Thursday.
Ronans last day will be Aug. 1, 2017. In the interim, the district will undertake an internal and national search for a replacement.
It has been an honor to serve Cincinnati Public Schools throughout my 40-year career as an educator, and I am grateful to our voters and partners for supporting the students and families of our community, Ronan said in a statement.
Ronan started as a math and science teacher in the Cincinnati district in 1976.
Her nine years as superintendent far exceeded the tenure of other urban district leaders, who stay on the job an average of 3.2 years, according to a 2014 survey by the Council of the Great City Schools, the Washington-based organization that represents urban school systems.
As superintendent, Ronan launched the Elementary Initiative, which focused on improving the districts 16 lowest-performing elementary schools. In the 2014-15 school year, she also launched My Tomorrow, a college, career, and workforce readiness initiative, starting with 7th and 8th graders. Another program, Vision 2020, which started this year, seeks to improve schools with a focus on academics and neighborhood support programs.
The district also gained national attention for its community schools approachwhere health, vision, and dental centers were established on some campuseswhich expanded to 42 schools during Ronans tenure.
After many years of losing students, enrollment increased in the last five years under Ronan, according to the district.
Ronans focus on school improvement in Cincinnati earned her a place as one of Education Weeks 2013 Leaders to Learn From, an annual feature that spotlights the work of stellar district leaders across the country.
Cincinnati Board of Education President Ericka Copeland-Dansby praised Ronans leadership.
During Marys tenure, CPS has made tremendous progress, becoming the highest-performing urban district in the state and extending the districts national reputation for innovative strategies to advance student success, Copeland-Dansby said.
Photo: Mary Ronan, Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools
--Rick Lohore for Education Week
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Amid anxiety from the school community about the election of Donald Trump as president, the Denver school board passed a resolution on Thursday affirming that its schools were equitable and safe spaces for all students.
Thursdays resolution followed a Q &A fact sheet the district published in multiple languages earlier this week to help answer questions from anxious parents and students that had flooded the district since the election.
Trump campaigned on a promise of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and banning Muslims from entering the country. Last Sunday, he said on the 60 Minutes news program that he planned to deport 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records, even though experts have said that there are not 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Those statements, and others, have left educators in communities with large immigrant populations working hard to respond to students and families fears of deportation.
The Denver fact sheet assured parents that students undocumented status will not affect their education, and that the school district does not ask for such information. It also directed parents to places they could get legal assistance.
Thursdays resolution affirmed that the districts core mission was to educate all children.
Here is an excerpt:
... We recognize that national events and the current political climate have caused uncertainty and anxiety for many in our communities; and
WHEREAS, in these times, we recognize that our mission is more critical than ever because we believe that education can help us bridge our differences and can help bring us together around respect and understanding rather than fear; and
WHEREAS, we recognize that national events and the current political climate have caused uncertainty and anxiety for many in our communities; and
WHEREAS, in these times, we recognize that our mission is more critical than ever because we believe that education can help us bridge our differences and can help bring us together around respect and understanding rather than fear; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED that the Denver Public Schools Board of Education publicly affirms its dedication and commitment to all of the students and families that we serve, the employees in our District, and the members of our community. We will continue to take any and all actions authorized by law and our policies to provide equal opportunities and safe learning spaces for all of our students.
The Denver resolution echoes one passed by the Los Angeles School District earlier this week in which the school board reaffirmed that its schools were safe zones for undocumented students .
But the LAUSD already had a strong resolution in support of undocumented students, which it passed in February. While committing to ensuring equity for all students, LAUSD essentially directed its staff not to inquire about students immigration status and forward any request by the federal immigration officials to the district office or district lawyers.
Similarly, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia have also sent a letter to school districts about how to respond to incidents of bullying and harassment that have been reported since Trumps election, and how to ensure that their schools are safe learning spaces for all students.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.
Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.
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The Government of Telangana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited. Under the MOU, Microsoft will help the Government explore cloud, machine learning and mobile based solutions to improve citizen services, education, healthcare and agriculture in the state.
The Government of Telangana has been an ardent promoter of ICT solutions, particularly in the fields of agriculture, citizen service delivery, education and healthcare. Having crossed a figure of 7 crore online transactions through MeeSeva, the Government of Telangana is miles ahead of other states with its robust citizen service delivery platform.
Govt of Telangana Launched Its Digital Classroom Programme in 3,352 Schools
According to news18, The State has also launched an innovative ICT-enabled solution for government schools called TS-CLASS (Telangana State Computer Literacy and Skills in Schools) to revolutionise the way students are taught. Additionally, the Government, in collaboration with various partners, has deployed IoT enabled solutions such as healthcare teleconsulting for remote geographies and online marketplace cum support platform for farmers.
Telangana Govt Signs MoU With ISRO To Improve Education
Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Secretary, ITE&C, Government of Telangana, said, "The Government believes that ICT is the key to building not only a stronger economy but also an efficient and effective governance system. Through this partnership of ours with Microsoft, we are confident about bringing in advanced solutions pertaining to our initiatives under Digital Telangana program."
Speaking on the occasion, Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt. Ltd., said, "Over the past year we have experimented with cloud, mobile and machine learning based solutions for better citizen connect as well as to help students, farmers and patients in India. We are delighted to bring many of those learnings to Telangana and explore new use for these world-class technologies."
Internet, no more a distraction but a study tool
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) and Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University are jointly offering a course to IIM-B students to develop technology partnership between firms in India and Israel. While 28 students had enrolled for the course last year, this year 46 have enrolled.
This year, Consul General of Israel, Yael Hashavit, will address the students briefing about the course on November 22. The emphasis will be on the need for India and Israel to increase engagement at the government-government level, firm-firm level and people-people level for mutual benefit, and also stress on the scope for Israel to help Indian firms with technology, and the scope for Indian firms to help Israeli firms to achieve scale.
The course will cover the needs and opportunities in India that are not addressed because of a lack of certain technologies, and how the technologies in Israel might fill the gap if they find Indian partners who can help scale the business for India and India-like markets.
It will also help students to learn to identify technology opportunities in the global environment, particularly between India and Israel.
Technology Partnership Course Agenda
In groups, they would identify the technology needs of a company in India by interacting with key decision-makers over the term.
After discussion, the groups contact companies in Israel to identify a potential collaboration partner.
To make the partnership happen, a team of professionals with experience in the domain would assist in the last stage of the search.
Finally, the students would visit Israel to interact with key decision-makers from the Israeli companies to work towards a partnership.
Coller School offers a similar program that brings their students to interact with Indian industry. These two groups of students also get to interact with each other during the visits to deepen professional relationships.
Venue for Technology Partnership Course
IIM, Bangalore
Coller School, Israel
Faculties for Technology Partnership Course
At IIM-B
Abhoy K Ojha
Anshuman Tripathy
Suresh Bhagavatula
At Coller School
Gad Ariav
Become a Successful Project Manager
Kaya Henderson, the former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor, was censured by the local ethics board for asking for donations for the citys schools from a vendor that had a contract with the city, the Associated Press reported.
The solicitation violated city ethics rules, which bar city employees from asking for money, including charitable contributions, from vendors doing business with the city, according to the AP.
The alleged violation occurred when Henderson asked a food services company, Chartwells, to donate $100,000 to a gala honoring teachers, the AP reported. The company made two $25,000 contributions to the event, the news agency reported. At the time the company was embroiled in a whistleblowers lawsuit that accused it of bilking the city out of $19 million and providing spoiled food to students.
Other vendors holding contracts with the city also donated to the gala, according to the AP.
Henderson told the ethics board that she did not realize that asking for the donation was not allowed, and the board chose not to issue a fine, the AP said. A fine could have been as high as $5,000.
Henderson left her post as chancellor in September after nearly five and a half years. During that period the citys schools saw gains in student test scores and graduation rates.
New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education India, a global provider of teaching and learning solutions for professionals and students of all ages, launched the revised and updated version of General Studies Paper 1 Manual with the latest developments and events in every field. The book was unveiled by Chief Guest, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman NITI Aayog (National Institution for transforming India) & Kaushik Bellani, MD, McGraw Hill Education India & SAARC at Press Club of India.
McGraw Hill Education India's General Studies Paper 1 manual which has served as a complete self-study guide for thousands of UPSC aspirants for the past 33 years has been co-authored by 11 leading subject specialists.
The GS manual is systematically structured by treating each subject as a whole, and then organizing relevant information in such a way so as to cater to the specific needs of the readers. Each subject has been developed by a specialist trained in teaching that subject. The section on Current Events of national and international importance has been updated till August 2016, which gives a complete panorama of national and international affairs.
For UPSC 2017 Syllabus, click here.
Chief Guest, Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman NITI Aayog (National Institution for transforming India) said at the occasion, "The book is of great benefit to the new generation and I wish we had such self help books while we were preparing for the services. All the authors of the book have done great work and have contributed immensely to revise the book. I congratulate them on the launch and wish them all the success".
Speaking at the launch, Kaushik Bellani, Managing Director, McGraw Hill Education India & SAARC, said, "General Studies Paper 1 Manual has been the key for civil service aspirants since last 33 years. The new and improvised version is compiled by a galaxy of well-known subject experts and aims to prepare students as per the changed syllabus".
He added, "It is our committed endeavor to provide a strategic direction to the civil services aspirants' and we hope the book proves to be a crucial tool in every student's journey of preparing for the exams".
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi, co-author and Home Secretary, Government of India, said, "It was an honor to co-author the book with other veterans and I am thrilled to be a part of the journey. It was an enriching and fulfilling experience to work on the book and I am happy to have made a small contribution in the process. I wish all the success to the civil service aspirants and a great future ahead".
Excited on the launch, Dr Surender Singh, coordinator and co-author, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Shivaji College, University of Delhi, said, "I congratulate all the co-authors on the launch of the book. The book is a collaborative effort of all the other authors who have put in great deal of hard work into improvising the content. I am optimistic that the upgraded version of the McGraw Hill Education India's General Studies Paper 1 Manual will prove to be of immense help to the students".
The updated version of the book is a Bi-colour, with more boxes and illustrations for greater recall value. Larger chapters divided into smaller modules ending with practice questions for easier understanding. The book is available on all leading book stores other than the national and the regional online platforms pan India.
About McGraw Hill Education:
McGraw Hill Education India (MHE) is a leading innovator in the development of learning solutions for the 21st century. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital educational content and tools, McGraw Hill Education India empowers and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. For further information, visit www.mheducation.co.in
Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry demands University Grants Commission (UGC) to strictly execute varsity laws. In a recent order released in the first week of November, HRD Ministry has urged UGC to file FIRs against the management of universities that have been offering correspondence courses to students outside their territorial jurisdiction.
Distance Learning Rule
By law, all state universities - private and government-funded - can offer distance learning programmes only within the state they are located in. In case, the rule is not implemented, the certificates, diplomas and degrees awarded to students outside the state are deemed invalid.
HRD has in this regard been continuously asking UGC to do the needful, it is learnt.
The order has been sent after five earlier letters, urging the UGC to initiate stern action against erring institutions, went unheeded.
UGC's Circular to Remove Junk Food in Colleges Stirs Debate
Hence HRD resort to exercise its extraordinary powers under Section 20 of the UGC Act to order the higher education regulator to file FIRs against vice-chancellors, deans and registrars in order to "safeguard the interests of the thousands of gullible students who have been cheated by such universities and institutions". The UGC was asked to submit an action plan by November 15, sources said.
Some universities such as Sikkim Manipal University, Karnataka State Open University, Periyar University, Salem (Tamil Nadu), and Global Open University, Nagaland, which, according to HRD Ministry officials, have been violating UGC rules on territorial jurisdiction.
A letter written by Higher Education Secretary V S Oberoi to UGC chairman Prakash earlier this year had specified the above institutions as regular violators and urged the UGC to act against them.
Oberoi's allegation referred to advertisements released by Sikkim Manipal University in particular and stated that the advertisements were deliberately ambiguous and did not mention the institution's jurisdiction, which results in a lot of outstation students being misled into enrolling for the correspondence courses. According to inside sources, the Ministry did not receive any concrete reply to this and four other letters.
HRD Ministry's Online IIT-Pal to help IIT Aspirants Crack IIT-JEE
Many K-12 teachers nationwide want parents to be more involved in their childrens classrooms. But its a two-way street, and as one recent study suggests, the frequency of how often teachers reach out to parents may depend on their race, ethnicity, or immigrant status.
The study, highlighted by my colleague Brenda Iasevoli on the Teacher Beat blog, shows that teachers are less likely to contact immigrant Asian parents and parents of color about accomplishments and less likely to contact immigrant Asian parents about poor behavior or academic struggles, even when students need help. On the flipside, math teachers are more likely to contact parents of black and Latino students about disruptive behaviortwice as likely for black studentsthan parents of white students.
While it is well known in the education realm that parent involvement in the classroom is a key part of students academic success, there has often been an emphasis on parent behavior alone when discussing the need for improvement.
More than 65 percent of teachers want parents to communicate regularly with them , according to a recent nationwide survey of 1,000 K-12 teachers by the University of Phoenix College of Education. And more than one in three teachers think parental involvement could help to improve teacher recruitment and retention. Yet 62 percent of teachers said only about a quarter of parents get involved in the classroom.
Studies have also shown that many parents of immigrant students dont talk to their childrens teachers as frequently as U.S.-born white parents do . This is often because of language barriers or differences in cultural understandings, according to this latest study on teacher communication.
And there is now evidence that teachers own communication with nonwhite parents is affected by racial stereotypes , said the new studys author, Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, a sociologist and an assistant professor of international education at New York Universitys Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
In an interview with Education Week Teacher, Cherng said his goal in flipping the lens to figure out when teachers reach out to parents was not to cast blame, but to figure out the best way to make improvements. As a former middle school teacher, he said, he knows how important parental buy-in is. But he also found the studys results rang true in his personal experience as an Asian American studenthis own teachers never once called home about his grades or behavior when he needed it.
So how can both teachers and parents begin to bridge the lack of communication to benefit all students in the classroom?
Pamela Roggeman, academic dean for the University of Phoenix College of Education and a former K-12 teacher, offered several recommendations for parents in light of the colleges parent-involvement survey. Often parents think that to be involved in their childs learning they need to spend time in their childs classroom, but when you ask teachers, its often much more simple and boils down to one thing: communication, she said in a statement.
Its helpful for parents to identify the method of communication that teachers prefersocial media, emails, or written notesin order to stay engaged and receive fast responses from educators. They should also stay up-to-date on classroom activities and ask for feedback about their childrens work and behavior to help with areas where students are struggling.
On the other hand, the answer to improvement for teachers lies in training, said Cherng. In teacher-preparation programs, race and ethnicity are often discussed as cultural competency or multiculturalism, but Cherng thinks the conversation should be in more explicit terms. Race not only influences how teachers interact with minority students, but also with their parents, he said.
While extra training can seem like a burden, you want to know more about your students lives, he said. My mission is to train teachers so they are doing better in the classroom not only for their students, but for themselves. Particularly around issues of race where people can shut down immediately, its such an important conversation and should happen in a way that gives teachers skills.
The increasing use of technology as a platform for parent-teacher communication is another effective tool some districts use. Apps like SchoolMessenger and Ready4K! target the parents of learners in pre-K through 12 with text messages and emails for news, curriculum, and keeping in touch.
Anabel Gonzalez, an ESL teacher in North Carolina, shared in a CTQ Collaboratory post that connecting with parents who do not speak English is vital despite the challenges it may pose for some teachers. Teachers should work to avoid assumptions, take time to learn about parents heritage and language, use standard English, and communicate with care and compassion.
Reaching out to parents is not a once-a-year thing, Gonzalez wrote. Connecting with parents helps develop a valuable partnership that will undoubtedly benefit the student in the classroom.
Photo credit: Getty
Baltimore Crime Scene Tech Busted on Gun, Drug Charges
It hasn't been a great couple years for crime labs and their technicians. Last year, Harris County Texas overturned 42 drug possession convictions after initial lab tests were revealed to be false positives. At the same time, lab techs in the Massachusetts state drug analysis unit were convicted of falsifying results and stealing from the lab, affecting some 40,000 criminal cases. Even the FBI was forced to admit that forensic testimony in at least 250 cases was faulty.
And just yesterday, a Baltimore crime scene technician and her boyfriend were arrested in a raid that netted guns, drugs, and more than $100,000 in cash. Now the department is reviewing all of the criminal cases on which she was the technician.
Labs, Guns, and Money
According to Baltimore Police spokesperson T.J. Smith, officers received a tip regarding drug activity at a house several weeks ago. When officers served a search warrant on the home, they found Timika Jones, her boyfriend, Clarence Jones Jr., two handguns, a "capsule machine" for packaging drugs, and $100,000 in cash. Outside, in a car rented to Timika Jones, officers discovered another $5,000 in cash and 125 gel capsules containing "suspected heroin."
Both Jones and her boyfriend were charged with felony drug possession, intent to distribute drugs, and handgun violations, and were being held at on $250,000 and $300,000 bail, respectively.
Crime Tech
According to Smith, Jones was hired in the summer of 2015 to process crime scenes, including taking photos and gathering cataloging other forensic evidence. As a crime scene technician, Jones did not have access to the department's drug lab or evidence storage, but officials are still reviewing the cases on which Jones worked "out of an abundance of caution."
In the meantime, the department has suspended Jones without pay and is looking "to separate employment as soon as possible." Smith told the Baltimore Sun the investigation into Jones is ongoing, and this is department policy for police officers charged with a felony.
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While Jeep was busy dropping the curtain for the new Compass in Los Angeles, its Chinese arm did the same on the other side of the globe.
Manufactured locally by GAC FCA, the compact SUV made its Asian premiere at the 2016 Guangzhou Auto Show and, from the two official images released, it looks identical to the North American version.
On the Chinese market, Jeep offers the Compass in four grades, kicking off from less than RMB 170,000 ($24,800) for the entry-level Longitude and reaching around RMB 240,000 ($35,000) for the Trailhawk 4WD. Specific trim details have yet to be released, but depending on the selected variant, it can be had with features such as the 8.4-inch LCD screen, Uconnect Live and leather seats, among other things.
The 2017 Jeep Compass is offered with a choice of two engines in the Peoples Republic; a 1.4-liter MultiAir2 turbo, with 115 HP and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) of torque and the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter TigerShark MultiAir2. Jeep hasnt announced the latters output, but in the US version it delivers 180 HP and 175 lb-ft (237 Nm) of torque and can be had with a 6-speed manual, 6-speed auto, and 9-speed auto gearbox, so we could be looking at similar, if not identical, numbers.
Four-wheel drive is also part of the package, and so is the Selec-Terrain with its five different settings that include Auto, Snow, Mud, Sand, and Rock. Additionally, the compact Jeep can also be had with start/stop, adaptive-cruise control, advanced brake assist and lane departure warning.
CHINESE JEEP COMPASS
NORTH AMERICAN JEEP COMPASS
A man who legally changed his name to Evo Deadpool Gambino last summer went on a solo mission to recover his stolen motorcycle before calling the police to make the necessary arrests.
It all started when Mr Gambino, an Army veteran, noticed one of his motorcycles was missing from his home.
I was walking out to work and noticed my bike was gone. I was upset. It was nice weather to go riding, said the man. Then, by using the GPS tracker on his bike, he was able to see that it was about 45 minutes away in Northwest Houston.
When he arrived at the scene, he found a home with bike parts scattered throughout the property it was then when he finally called the police.
According to ABC13 News, since Gambino was on his way to his day job, he wasnt wearing his Deadpool costume to greet the officers which would have been pretty hilarious.
We foiled their plan, he added. They were about to put a bunch of bikes together for Lone Star Rally. I was out riding around while they were behind bars, so the jokes on them.
While an investigation is still ongoing, Houston police have so far arrested three men for the theft.
Photo: Evo Deadpool Gambino/Facebook
VIDEO
The new owners of Formula One, Liberty Media, are looking for a way to boost the sports revenue and popularity and according to its chief executive, that could involve a night race in Las Vegas.
During a conference in Barcelona last week, Motorsport reports that Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei expressed serious interest in adding a Las Vegas round to the ever-expanding F1 calendar.
I particularly like the idea of a night race in Las Vegas, he confirmed.
It is further reported that Bernie Ecclestone held talks with potentially interested parties about a race in Las Vegas earlier this year but it seems such discussions have stalled.
If a second U.S. round was added to the calendar, it might not be the only new race. According to Maffei, the existing 21-race schedule could be expanded further.
Obviously there is a limit on how much you can do. Just getting the cars around the world, but I think we can expect to grow the amount of races to a mild degree. There is a general line of interest if you increase the number of races to a point. The FIA makes more money, the teams make more money, we make more money. But new entrants tend to pay more, he said.
Whatever happens, F1 seems on the verge of getting the shakeup it desperately needs, particularly with the introduction of new cars next year.
PHOTO GALLERY
Alongside the current Ford GT GTE race car, a particularly special Ford GT40 is on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
This GT40 is owned by RK Motors Charlotte and was recently restored by Rare Driver, making its public debut at Augusts Pebble Beach Concours dElegance.
The car is a true icon for the American automaker as it claimed an historic victory at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours. Given how priceless it is, it is fitting that the restoration took 20 months and almost 4,000 hours to complete.
Rather than making the vehicle absolutely pristine and faultless, the restoration has actually perfectly mimicked how the car was first produced, complete with all its little faults. That includes the unequal length exhaust pipes and the dripping paint the car had in the mid-1960s.
In a flood of impressive new concepts and production vehicles, it is refreshing to see such a motoring icon in LA.
PHOTO GALLERY
JLRs top man, Ralf Speth confirmed that Magna Steyr will build Jaguars first all-electric model, the I-Pace in their factory in Austria.
The British electric crossover debuted in concept form at the LA Auto Show, with Jaguar planning to throw it into production as early as 2018.
Back in 2015, JLR had signed a contract with Magna Steyr to build two of its models at the latters Graz plant in Austria, without revealing which ones were going to be produced there. Jaguar Land Rovers boss spoke to AutoNews confirming that Magna Steyr will be commissioned with the production of the electric Jaguar I-Pace.
He also declined to confirm whether the second model would also be an EV or whether it would be a Land Rover. Magna has already started preparing its Graz production facilities for the two JLR models, with marketing group IHS Automotive foreseeing a production of about 13,000 I-Paces in 2019, which is going to be the first full year of the model in the market.
Magna is currently building the Mercedes G-Class and the Mini Countryman in Austria, with the latters production to end this year and be replaced by the production of the BMW 5-Series.
PHOTO GALLERY
Crossing State Lines With Marijuana
On Election Day, residents of four more states elected to legalize recreational marijuana. Three other states approved medical marijuana. That leaves the country with a hodgepodge of pot laws, and leaves many wondering how travel between weed-friendly states and not-so-weed-friendly states will be regulated. (Keep in mind that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law.)
So what do you need to know about driving with marijuana across state lines? Here's a primer:
Intrastate Marijuana Transportation
First and foremost, state law -- even in states that legalize recreational marijuana use and possession -- will govern transportation of weed within the state. So if marijuana is illegal in a certain state, obviously transportation of marijuana within that state will also be illegal. And in states that have legalized marijuana, statutes will govern how much marijuana, and in what form, a person can possess or transport, and that may vary depending on whether the person is a business or an individual. So your first stop when checking on the transportation of marijuana should be your state's marijuana laws.
Enforcement of those laws could also depend on whether the state has legalized marijuana or just decriminalized it. In states where marijuana is legal, a person can legally possess pot as long as they are complying with the rules regarding possession like minimum age requirements and maximum amount limits. In states where marijuana is decriminalized, a person might be cited for pot possession and still be subject to a small fine, but not further prosecution.
Interstate Marijuana Transportation
As we noted above, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. And the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution states that if there is ever a conflict, federal laws trump state laws. So driving across state lines with marijuana could lead to a federal drug trafficking charge, depending on how much you have in your possession. Thus far, the federal government has left the bulk of marijuana prosecutions to the states, but that isn't always guaranteed.
And even if you purchased your marijuana in a legal recreational state, like Colorado for example, and drove to a no-legalized neighboring state, say, Kansas, you could also be charged under that state's drug trafficking or drug possession laws. If you have questions about the specifics of your state's marijuana statutes, consult an experienced drug crimes attorney near you.
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Despite being a longtime electric-car skeptic, Toyota is finally leaving the door open for full-electric vehicles to join its lineup in the near future.
According to a company executive, the Japanese automaker has to consider introducing electric vehicles to markets where regulations mandate them or where the infrastructure is best suited for them.
EVs do have many challenges, said Executive VP Takahiko Ijichi. But different countries and regions have different energy policies, and depending on infrastructure availability, we would like to have a structure that allows us to consider the introduction of EVs.
Previously, Toyota were against the idea of pure electric vehicles due to their high costs, limited driving range and lengthy recharging times things which have started to change recently in the industry.
Still, the automaker is far from ready to give up their position on hydrogen fuel cells, as reported by Autonews.
If you ask the question What is the ultimate environmentally friendly vehicle? well say it will be fuel cell vehicles. And our idea has not changed, added Ijichi, before admitting that as one of the biggest automakers in the world, Toyota must cover all alternative drivetrains, which include battery-powered electric vehicles.
These comments came shortly after a Japanese newspaper reported that Toyota was planning to jump into mass producing long-range EVs by the year 2020, cars that will be able to cruise more than 300 km (186 miles) on a single charge.
PHOTO GALLERY
The small crossover that would be a Scion, if the sub-brand were still alive, made its Stateside debut at the LA Auto Show eight months after its launch at Geneva.
Slotting below the RAV-4 and set to take on the likes of Hondas HR-V, the C-HR is essentially the same car as the one sold in the rest of the world. Well, make that almost the same, as in the US it will be solely available with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four with 144 HP mated to a CVT transmission driving the front wheels.
So, no 1.2 turbo or hybrid for this side of the pond, at least for now. That compact label is a bit of a misnomer, too, as actually the C-HR sits between sub-compact and compact crossovers.
The CH-R will be available next spring in two grade levels. The base XLE comes with features like a dual-climate control, a seven-inch touchscreen display and 18-inch alloys as standard, while the XLE Premium adds a blind spot monitor and heated front seats, among others.
Toyota stresses that both trims sport its Safety Sense P driver assist and safety suite that consists of a Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Automatic High Beam.
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I looked at Drew almost in despair. I had flown all the way from the U.K. to meet with a rally team owner who had just offered me an unbelievable gift, a factory drive with his rally team, Bowler Offroad.
But he didnt want to hear about my charity.
My goal was to be the first Canuck to drive the Dakar rally, and so far everything was going well.
My co-driver at the time, Mick Extance, had called me in Canada to explain that Drew Bowler wanted to offer us a factory team position.
I knew that it could not possibly be for free. BMW charged about $1.6 million at the time to rent an X3 for the Dakar. All I needed to know was how much was it going to cost so I could crunch numbers.
As much as I struggled to believe Mick, who kept insisting it was free, I couldn't help but get a little emotional in the car. An amateur rally driver from Canada had just been offered a team drive with one of the most prestigious rally vehicle manufacturers in the world.
Then reality hit again. It was surely not the case. I would buy my ticket to the U.K. and meet Drew face to face.
When I landed, I drove to see Mick, who, like Drew, I had not met in person before.
We went for a run in the Derbyshire countryside and talked about the attitude it takes to compete and succeed in the Dakar, which Mick knew all to well.
He had finished the rally seven times previously and finished as high as 27th on a motorbike as a private entrant could this be our big break?
We showed up at Drew Bowlers farm the next morning to look at the birthing room of one of the most amazing sounding machines the Bowler Nemesis. It would be our steed in the Dakar.
We quickly set off looking like a proper rally team, two Bowler Nemesis vehicles, a big service truck and a crew of mechanics to keep everything working.
As we arrived at Tixover quarry, the realization that I was in a difficult predicament struck me. On one hand, I have just been given $500,000 worth of beautiful race equipment to test and bring back in almost pristine condition right in front of the team principal. On the other hand, in the seat beside me would be Mick, a tougher than nails, never say die competitor who wanted to know he was with a driver who could drive.
Rising to the challenge, I ended up having a fantastic day and met both objectives square on.
Later that day, I spoke to Drew about the position. He had the same answer when I kept asking how much money it would cost to enter the Dakar no money. Right, but how many sponsors do I have to get? None.
I wanted to share the vision I had about how the event could help my charity. No thanks he quickly said: I'm a race team owner I dont do charity.
Drew had no idea how much planning had gone into creating a charitable attempt with TV coverage to support children in Africa and Guatemala. I decided to tell him anyway.
At the end of my monologue, he politely shook my hand, said welcome to the team and good luck with the charity, but it was nothing he would be interested in.
The next day, I flew home. I landed to find an email from Drew he gave the idea some more thought and was all in. To say I was elated would be an underestimate.
The next few years, I spent a lot of time with Drew talking to team sponsors, in meetings with Land Rover, participating in events in the U.K. and liaising with paying drivers who wanted to rent a Bowler Nemesis for the Dakar.
I came to admire Drews calm and thoughtful approach to business.
Sadly, the Dakar never happened. Drews team had to rearrange its structure and focus after the financial collapse eight years ago. His company was almost bankrupted, but the team survived.
Even more sadly, Drew was taken away from us suddenly this past Monday. As his family and friends mourn, the racing world is coming to grips with the loss of an innovator; a true gentleman who worked as hard as anyone else around him and always found an advantage others could not.
He ran a clean team and followed the rules, which is near impossible in international competition. Bowler Offroad, is definitely the little team that did, thanks to Drews leadership.
I will always be grateful for Drew and his team offering Mick and I that opportunity.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Contributed
Nearly half of all the drivers in B.C. changed over to winter tires in the fall, compared to just 38 per cent in 2014.
That's the same year the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced new winter tire rules for British Columbia.
Since that time, drivers travelling on B.C. highways from Oct. 1 to March 31 must have winter tires that are marked with either the mountain and snowflake symbol or M+S for light vehicles. Heavier commercial vehicles must carry tire chains.
However, according to a new survey by Leger for the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC), residents of B.C. arent the only ones changing their tires for a proper tread come winter.
Except for Quebec and where winter tires are the law, 61 per cent of Canadian drivers now use winter tires.
In Alberta, 55 per cent of drivers use winter tires compared to just 45 per cent in 2014 and in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, usage has climbed 11 per cent in that same time period.
In Ontario, 65 per cent of drivers use winter tires compared with 56 per cent two years ago.
Glenn Maidment, the president of TRAC, says the increase in winter tire use by drivers is due to improvements in tire technology, particularly in tread design and rubber compounds.
Drivers adopting winter tires in record numbers is good news because it means Canadas roadways in winter are becoming significantly safer, said Maidment.
However, the fact that three in 10 motorists still do not own winter tires poses a threat to all motorists. This is why outreach to educate drivers continues to be needed. Every motorist needs to know that todays high-tech winter tires radically outperform all-seasons in all cold-weather driving conditions and offer potentially life-saving benefits.
The survey conducted by TRAC was compiled online by polling 1,518 Canadian motorists between Oct. 17-20, 2014.
Photo: RCMP
A rash of vehicle break-ins has prompted frustrated police in North Vancouver to equate property left inside of a vehicle to the supply of illicit drugs.
Did you know that the property stolen from your vehicle is often used to supply the drugs of the person stealing from you? police ask in a press release.
The citizens of North Vancouver need to be mindful of the fact that, in an indirect way, they are unknowingly supplying the means for which drugs are obtained, said Supt. Chris Kennedy, head of the North Vancouver RCMP. Property thefts are a side effect to a larger drug problem.
We can all play a part in reducing crime lock your vehicles and remove all valuables from it.
Despite warnings to drivers, North Vancouver RCMP report a recent increase in thefts from vehicles in their area.
Police say they have repeatedly seen individuals who have been caught stealing from vehicles doing so to feed a drug addiction.
People become addicted to drugs this doesnt make them evil and heartless the addiction overpowers their life, said Kennedy.
The RCMP say just a few dollars can buy some drugs and all it takes is breaking into an unlocked or locked vehicle to steal valuables often left in plain view.
For more information on how to protect your property and vehicle go online.
Photo: Contributed
Vancouver police have cracked down on a crime ring accused of stealing so much baby formula that retailers noticed a spike in the product disappearing from their shelves.
Det. Const. Doug Fell said officers have arrested a 46-year-old man who allegedly recruited as many as 20 drug-addicted people in the city's impoverished Downtown Eastside to shoplift.
Fell called it a "predatory" operation at a news conference Thursday, adding that police seized an estimated $100,000 in stolen baby formula earlier this month. Police believe the crime ring shipped an additional $200,000 of the baby food to Asia, he said.
He said the operation was a mobile fencing ring, where someone known as a fence buys stolen goods from multiple thieves.
"They feel very insulated from the criminal justice system for some reason because they're not committing the theft," Fell said, standing before a multi-coloured display of hundreds of containers seized as part of Project Lactose Intolerant.
"It's just a really good way to make money for these individuals and stay under the radar. But as you see now, they're not under the radar anymore."
Police believe the ring accounts for about 70 per cent of the baby formula stolen in Metro Vancouver. Retailers reported the jump in thefts to police.
The suspect's name has not been released as charges are pending. Fell said the man will be charged with counselling to commit a criminal act, trafficking stolen property and possession of stolen goods worth more than $5,000.
A box of formula at a store costs about $33, while the street value in Vancouver is around $12, said Fell. Sellers can pocket many times what they originally paid by moving the product to China, where consumers pay up to $90 per container, he added.
China was rocked in 2008 by a scandal over tainted baby formula, which killed half a dozen children and sickened tens of thousands more. The formula was found to contain the industrial chemical melamine, which is known to cause kidney stones and kidney failure in infants.
Photo: CTV Vancouver
Vancouver Aquarium staff say the mother of Qila, a beluga whale who died at the facility this week, is showing symptoms similar to what her daughter exhibited in the days before her death.
Aurora is now being kept in a hospital-like pool and monitored around the clock.
"The gang's working really hard. Aurora's our priority right now, and we've got a lot of folks that have put aside a lot of personal time to prioritize her, and Qila before her," the aquarium's veterinarian, Dr. Martin Haulena, told CTV Vancouver.
Qila was the first beluga born in a Canadian aquarium. Haulena said the 21-year-old whale started acting strange last week, which led to a decreased appetite.
"We did lose Qila quite suddenly," he said. "The night before she'd actually been looking a bit better, more interactive with folks, starting to get interested in fish. So it was a very sudden and unexpected and unpleasant thing to have her pass away."
Now Aurora appears to be taking the same path and isnt interacting normally with staff. She has also lost her appetite. Both whales also showed mild inflammation and abdominal discomfort.
A necropsy was conducted the day of Qilas death, but the aquarium said it was inconclusive. More tests are being done.
With more questions than answers, caring for Aurora has become a bit of a guessing game.
"She is undergoing quite a lot of intensive treatment. We're covering as many bases as we can with her given that we don't have a smoking gun," Haulena said. "We have to assume that whatever Qila succumbed to is also what is affecting Aurora, but that might not be the case."
The aquarium is also investigating whether bacteria or biotoxins were present in the belugas water or food.
with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Contributed
Large, visible flames above Peachland are causing concern but according to fire officials, there's nothing to be worried about.
An official at the fire dispatch centre said the BC Forestry Service has been conducting controlled burns in the area of Munro Lake since this afternoon.
As night has fallen, local fire departments have been inundated with calls now that the fire is visible.
However, it's a controlled burn and the BC Forestry Service has personnel and machinery on site to keep it that way.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Alberta Progressive Conservative member Sandra Jansen crossed the floor to the governing NDP Thursday, saying the moderate party she called home for 30 years is moving to embrace a far-right ideology.
"I need to be true to the values of my constituents and my own values," Jansen told reporters at the legislature, standing beside Premier Rachel Notley at a news conference.
"So I'm supporting a party now that believes in those values, too."
Jansen, a two-term MLA for Calgary North West, has been a longtime champion of equality issues, such as allowing gay-straight alliances in schools.
She quit the PC leadership race earlier this month, saying online and in-person abuse from supporters of another leadership candidate became intolerable.
"The dog-whistle politics that I heard at the PC policy conference (earlier this month) were chilling to me: eroding public education, taking away women's reproductive rights and trying to out gay kids in schools," said Jansen. "That is not my Alberta."
She said under former PC premier Peter Lougheed, the party championed progressivism.
"To see that legacy being kicked to the curb by extremists who are taking over the PC party has been heartbreaking," she said.
Notley said Jansen is a good fit.
"We share some very important values and priorities that serve Alberta well in government," said Notley.
It's the first time in Alberta history an MLA has crossed the floor to join the NDP.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Canada's opioid epidemic will be front and centre today in Ottawa, where politicians will meet with members of the medical community with the common goal of curbing drug addiction and saving lives.
The two-day summit meeting is being co-chaired by federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins, both of whom are doctors themselves.
Hoskins says the summit will reinforce the need for leadership right across the country to confront Canada's opioid epidemic.
He says the problem is affecting different parts of Canada in different ways, but it demands a national solution.
Philpott says the federal Liberal government has been very active on the file, adding that Canadians are dying everyday due to opioid use and abuse.
She says she has made it "very clear" she is unhappy with a lack of data and surveillance programs that could shed light on how many opioids are prescribed, where they are coming from and how many people are overdosing and dying.
The Trudeau Liberals are also facing pressure from B.C. Premier Christy Clark to take additional measures to stop the flow of fentanyl from China a drug that prompted that province to declare a public health emergency last spring.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the issue demands international co-operation, as well as additional personnel and technology on the domestic front.
Police Officer Who Killed Philando Castile Charged With Manslaughter
In July of this year, a Minnesota police officer shot and killed Philando Castile, despite Mr. Castile presenting no threat to the safety of the officer. Although Mr. Castile did have a gun, the weapon was permitted, and Mr. Castile advised the officer of the weapon. Tragically, his last words were about how he was not reaching for his gun, but rather for the documents the officer was requesting.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office announced this week that the officer would indeed be facing a second degree manslaughter charge, as well as two additional felony charges for dangerous discharge of a firearm. The prosecutor is quoted, saying that "In order to achieve justice, we must be willing to do the right thing, no matter how hard it will seem." At the time of the shooting, Mr. Castile had his girlfriend and her young daughter in the car with him. Thankfully, neither child nor mother were physically injured.
Aftermath Broadcast on Facebook Live
A Facebook Live video, shot and broadcast by Mr. Castile's girlfriend immediately after the shooting, depicts the officer frantically yelling about how he told Mr. Castile not to reach for it, while his girlfriend calmly states that he was reaching for his ID after advising the officer about the gun. The video shows that she did not realize Mr. Castile had been fatally shot at first, but then, about halfway into the short video, she sees that Mr. Castile passed. (Beware that the video of the incident contains graphic content).
Reports state that the officer shot Mr. Castile 7 times. The video shows that while Mr. Castile is dying, the officer is still pointing his weapon, and no attempt to administer aid was provided.
No Grand Jury Necessary
The Ramsey County attorney charging the officer in this case explained that he felt that a grand jury indictment was not necessary. Generally, prosecutors seek a grand jury indictment in order to ensure that they have enough, and good, evidence to bring the matter to trial. In Mr. Castile's case, the prosecutor clearly believes that the evidence is sufficient to show a trial judge that there is sufficient evidence to try the case to a jury.
In addition to the witness testimony, Facebook Live video, and the physical evidence, there is dash cam audio and video footage from the police car. At this point, the officer's dash cam footage has not been released.
Although the officer is still currently on administrative leave, he faces up to 10 years in prison for a manslaughter charge, as well as potentially a few more years on the other felony weapons charges.
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Photo: Peterson Gustave
Canada will give $54 million to Haiti over the next five years, including more than $2 million in immediate aid, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Friday.
The funding announcement came on the final day of Bibeau's three-day trip to the country, where she is seeing first-hand how Canadian aid money is being used in areas decimated last month by hurricane Matthew.
Most of the money will go towards long-term agricultural initiatives, but Bibeau says $2.65 million will be invested immediately to help those impacted by the disaster.
Part of that will go to the United Nations World Food Program, which is currently providing food to those left homeless.
And $1.4 million has also been earmarked for Haitian elections, which begin on Sunday after numerous disputes and delays.
Canada will help with voting logistics and provide independent observers.
Most of the money about $50 million has been set aside for developing long-term projects in the agriculture sector.
"It's resilient agriculture: the idea is to get the best projects to face climate change, natural disasters, draught and floods," Bibeau said in an interview.
Bibeau told humanitarian organizations at a roundtable meeting on Thursday that the government will show preference to projects that put an emphasis on women and girls.
One representative at the table suggested adding disabled people to that list, but Bibeau said she's starting from the premise that empowering women including financially will help to better serve other groups as a result.
The federal government is in the process of completing the review of its international aid policy, which will be presented early next year.
"I can already tell you that women and girls will be at the heart of all our priorities," Bibeau said.
Photo: Randy Millis
Emergency crews In Kelowna responded to a pair of collisions on Thursday evening.
A taxi went off the road, coming to rest in some bushes against a fence near the intersection of Summit Drive and Valley Road.
There was also a multi-vehicle crash in the Highway 33 and Gerstmar intersection. Its unknown if there were any injuries in the crash.
Photo: Okanagan College
FortisBC has made a $75,000 donation to fuel trades training at Okanagan College.
The utility donated $50,000 toward a new natural gas lab in the plumbing shop, and an additional $25,000 will go toward the carpentry and sustainable construction management technology program.
This partnership is a great fit for FortisBC, as Okanagan College trains students that could one day become our employees," said Fortis director of operations Barry Smithson.
The new lab will be utilized by students across the piping trades, and will allow the college to deliver all four levels of its new steamfitter/pipefitter apprenticeship program.
More than 1,100 openings are projected in the trade over the next eight years across B.C.
This donation is already having a direct impact on students," said Steve Moores, the colleges dean of trades and apprenticeship. "The new lab provides us with a state-of-the-art space to deliver the latest training.
Fortis contributed equipment for the lab and assisted with installation while providing a chance for hands-on learning for students.
Over the past five years, the college has trained more than 1,200 students in the plumbing/pipefitting and refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic programs.
The second donation will allow the college to purchase two calibrated blower doors to be used for training and testing. The doors demonstrate to students how different wall assemblies and construction techniques can reduce energy consumption by preventing air leakage.
Photo: Randy Millis
UPDATE: 1:25 p.m.
The Kelowna Fire Department says a mobile home fire this morning in East Kelowna was caused by misplaced fireplace ashes.
Crews were called to the scene at 11:10 a.m. and arrived to a fire that had been partially extinguished by the homes occupants. Fire crews finished off the fire and secured the scene.
The blaze was contained to the exterior of both buildings with minor smoke in the mobile home.
One occupant was treated at the scene for minor burns and smoke inhalation.
The fire was sparked when fireplace ashes were disposed of in a combustible container, which caught fire and ignited the surrounding materials.
Kelowna Fire Department would like to remind the public to always dispose of fireplace ashes in noncombustible containers and to make sure the ashes are cold before disposing of them.
ORIGINAL: 12:10 p.m.
The Kelowna Fire Department was called to the Lake City Mobile Home Park late Friday morning in East Kelowna for a small trailer fire.
Multiple trucks arrived on McCulloch Road and found light smoke coming from the doors and windows of the home. However, the occupant had already done most of the work extinguishing the fire.
Crews remain on the scene.
Castanet News has reached out to the fire department for more info.
FTC Forces Homeopathic Drug Makers to Tell the Truth
While there are countless individuals who swear by homeopathic medicines, and there are even doctors who will endorse them, the FTC has recently called into question the legitimacy of the entire homeopathic medicine industry. This week, the FTC released an enforcement policy statement clarifying their position that homeopathic drugs will face the same standards as other any other product that makes a claim about its safety or efficacy.
This means that for a homeopathic drug, medicine, remedy, or any other product, that claims to have an affect, and/or be safe, a company is required to substantiate those claims with credible and reliable scientific evidence. If a homeopathic drug maker does not have the required substantiating proof for their claims, the FTC provided two specific disclaimers that both should be included on the label:
There is no scientific evidence that this product works. The product's claims are based only on the theories of homeopathy from the 1700s that are not accepted by most modern medical experts.
Homeopathic Teething Gel Killed 10 and Injured 400 Babies
There is a rich and celebrated history, predating the founding of the country even, of snake-oil dealers selling every type of elixir you can imagine (even though none of them actually elixed anything at all). Some people might be wondering what took the FTC so long to come down on the makers of these homeopathic drugs. This move by the FTC appears to be spurred by a recent wave of poisonings related to a homeopathic ointment intended for teething babies that contained high levels of a substance known as deadly nightshade, which in case you're wondering, is in fact deadly.
Homeopathic drugs are generally made by taking substances that produce illnesses or symptoms, then diluting those substances until the harmfulness is diluted to the point of being harmless, then the diluted mixture is ingested. In the baby teething gel drug, however, the mixture was not properly diluted, such that the deadly nightshade was still deadly.
Homeopathic drug makers are obviously up in arms about the FTC's claims and new policy statement. However, consumers should be pleased as it should make the industry more transparent and accountable.
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Amazon Cracks Down on Counterfeit Sellers, Files Lawsuits
Any retailer is only as good as the products it sells, and online retailers are no different. No marketplace wants to be known for allowing counterfeit goods, especially one as big as Amazon. So it's somewhat surprising that the two lawsuits filed by Amazon this week are its first against merchants for allegedly selling counterfeit items in the company's 20-year history.
Here's a look at the lawsuits and what they could mean for e-commerce and counterfeiters in the future.
Strap In
One of the counterfeit lawsuits involves forged Forearm Forklifts (a fabric strap work to more easily lift heavy objects) and was filed against ToysNet and Disk Vision. Amazon claims it flagged ToysNet in June for selling fake items, but that Disk Vision forged invoices to prove the products were legit in order to get them reinstated.
The other lawsuit was also over fabric straps, this one filed against Joana Ferreira for allegedly selling copies of TRX's popular Suspension Trainers exercise strap. Amazon partnered with TRX developer Fitness Anywhere to block sales of the rip-offs.
Taken for a Ride
The new flurry of litigation follows months of increased scrutiny on Amazon's online marketplace. Around the same time Amazon was flagging ToysNet as a fraud, CNBC was reporting on the increased presence of counterfeit products from Chinese sellers. And Apple sued counterfeiters after finding as many as 90% of "Apple"-branded power chargers and adapters for sale on Amazon were fakes.
"When customers purchase counterfeit goods, it undermines the trust that customers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon," the company's lawsuit says, "thereby tarnishing Amazon's brand and causing irreparable reputational harm."
Amazon is hoping to minimize that reputational harm as much as possible before the holiday buying season begins. "Amazon's customers trust that when they make a purchase through Amazon's website -- either directly from Amazon or from one of its millions of third-party sellers -- they will receive authentic products manufactured by the true manufacturer of those products."
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Workers' Compensation Fraud Is a Serious Offense
Maybe you're sick of your job, or your boss, and you're looking for a little revenge. Or you've been injured on the job, recovered, and like the idea of getting paid to not work. And there's all this money in state workers' compensation insurance funds, just sitting there.
Any of these scenarios might sound tempting, but how do felony charges sound? As it turns out, the Inspector General of New York takes workers' comp fraud seriously; and you should, too.
Workers' Con
Ronald Durand may have had a legitimate workers' compensation claim back in March of 2013, when he allegedly hurt his back delivering jugs of water. But months after a back injury serious enough to keep him out of work (and while still collecting benefits), Durand was spotted in the Watertown YMCA, "bench pressing as much as 335 pounds and performing other lifts with significant amounts of weight."
Even less sympathetic are the tales of Marleen Ayen and her fiance Anthony Hull. Ayen has been collecting workers' comp benefits ever since an alleged injury in 2004. Yet she was found working at a hardware store owned by Hull, who had refused many of his own employees workers' comp benefits and also told authorities he didn't even have employees.
Workers' Comp Crimes
Durand, Ayen, and Hull were charged with a bevy of criminal offenses, including third-degree grand larceny (a felony), third-degree criminal possession of stolen property (a misdemeanor), third-degree insurance fraud (a felony), first-degree offering a false instrument for filing (a felony), and first-degree falsifying business records (a felony).
Ayen and Hull are also facing crimes tied to the workers' compensation program: failure to secure the payment of compensation and fraudulent practices. All told, the trio are facing decades behind bars, and all for some free money. And not that much money, either -- the Citizen in New York reported that Ayen had collected just $3,200 over the last 12 years of fraud. Hopefully she saved enough for an attorney.
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Nepal: new government certification for cement
ICR Newsroom By 18 November 2016
The Nepali government will start the certification of domestic cement brands according to quality in three months time, enabling them to compete in the market with foreign cement brands.
Certification will be carried out with cement falling under one of three categories: 33, 43 and 53.
At present the government does not have any legal provision to certify cement that is graded higher than 33 and therefore, all cement brands in Nepal are certified as 33-grade although producers have been claiming that some brands are of higher quality.
"We are in the last stage of finalising the draft of quality certification for domestic cement brands," Bishwo Babu Pudasaini, director general of Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) told The Himalayan Times, adding that NBSM will begin certifying cement within three months.
Once NBSM finalises quality certification draft, it will be sent to Nepal Standard Council (NSC) for final approval. NSC is headed by the industry minister.
As of now, NBSM is developing quality parameters for cement under all three grades.
"We will send the draft to NSC within a month and NSC, after studying the draft in detail, will approve it paving the way for us to certify domestic cement brands based on their quality, he added.
Published under
Kenya: Savannah Cement to raise capacity to 2.4Mta
ICR Newsroom By 18 November 2016
Savannah Cement has unveiled plans to increase its Athi River plant to 2.4Mta, almost doubling its current 1.5Mta capacity, Business Daily Africa reports.
The firm says it expects the new capacity to come online by mid-2018, with the tendering process to begin in early 2017 as soon as regulatory clearance is received. The project will see the creation of a new grinding and packaging plant.
Kenyan cement consumption has risen rapidly in recent years and the countrys producers have responded by investing in new capacity. Bamburi Cement the largest is planning to upgrade its own Athi River facility to 2.3Mta.
In total, Kenya has around 8.9Mta of installed capacity and produced 6.5Mt of cement in 2015. Analysts AIB Capital have said that housing has been the main driver of demand, although rising infrastructure investment has also begun to make itself felt.
Published under
What Is 'Non-Binary' Gender? Is It Recognized Legally?
Despite the fact that the choice of gender on official or legal documents is almost always limited to two choices, male or female, many people feel they don't fully belong on either end of the spectrum, but somewhere in the middle. One of those is Jaime Shupe, who was born with male genitalia but identifies as female, and feels more like "a third sex."
Fortunately for Jaime and others, courts and state and federal administrative offices are catching up with the evolving definitions of gender identity. In June, an Oregon judge granted a petition to change Jaime's gender from female to "non-binary."
Gender Positive
"I was assigned male at birth due to biology," Shupe told the Oregonian. "I'm stuck with that for life. My gender identity is definitely feminine. My gender identity has never been male, but I feel like I have to own up to my male biology. Being non-binary allows me to do that. I'm a mixture of both. I consider myself as a third sex."
While some cities and states permit residents to abstain from declaring a gender for IDs, transgender rights advocates believe this is the first case in the U.S. where a person was able to declare their gender as non-binary. The Oregonian reports that a court in France allowed a resident to register as gender neutral in a ruling last year. Despite Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Amy Holmes Hehn's ruling in Shupe's case, however, Oregonians are still unable to elect "non-binary" on their driver's licenses or state-issued ID cards.
Level of Proof
In some states, courts will require a sworn affidavit or evidence that a petitioner has "undergone clinically appropriate treatment for change of gender" before granting a change of gender on a driver's license, social security card, or passport, or to issue a new birth certificate. And in a few states, petitioners must submit proof that their sex has been changed by surgical procedure.
Those requirements aren't as stringent in Oregon, where residents don't even need a note from a doctor to prove they've undergone surgical, hormonal, or other treatment related to a gender transition. Judge Hehn ruled "[t]he sexual reassignment has been completed," she wrote. "No person has shown cause why the requested General Judgment should not be granted." Whether Shupe's case remains an outlier or signals a change in the legal requirements for official gender identity designations remains to be seen.
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Although the currency notes of these two denominations have become invalid, they can exchange at in any bank or post office by showing ID proof. Besides depositing money in bank accounts, the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes can also be exchanged with lower denomination currency notes at designated banks and post offices on production of valid government identity cards like PAN, Aadhaar and Election Card.
However, most of the Burmese migrant workers and traders have no Identity cards for exchanging the currencies or withdrawing new currency of 2000 notes.
As we are not the citizens, we have no right to have bank account/ATM card and ID card or PAN card. That is the main problem. Thats why we asked some friends and work owners, said a Burmese trader in Aizawl, Mizoram state.
A Burmese waiver also expressed that We were very worried when we heard the news. We have no identity cards; even some of us cannot speak in Mizo language.
Similarly, many refugees in New Delhi are being faced the problem of banning Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes earlier. But now they can use their UNHCR cards for exchanging with lower denomination currency notes at some banks.
After Rs. 2000 notes launched, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the new high-security Rs 500 notes on Sunday evening, bringing respite to people struggling for smaller change.
The demonetization was done in an effort to stop the counterfeiting of the current banknotes alleged to be used for funding terrorism and for cracking down on black money in the country.
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Luxury hotels in the historic center for a Catholic family. Only luxury hotels can provide a paradisiacal vacation for a big Catholic family. A high-level vacation for families, children and not only. The gorgeous views, divine service, and the best location are all luxury hotels. Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and more. Everyone will find their place in this corner of paradise.
Popular destinations
Breckenridge, CO, United States
In Breckenridge, Colorado, there are plenty of places to visit, whether you're a nature lover or thrill seeker. For nature lovers, the Blue River runs right through town and there are plenty of trails to explore. If you're looking for a thrill, Breckenridge is home to some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the country. There's also plenty of shopping and dining options in town, so you'll never run out of things to do.
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Savannah, GA, United States
Savannah, Georgia is a beautiful city with lots of places to visit, including Forsyth Park, River Street, and the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace. Another place to visit is the Savannah History Museum, which is jam-packed with interesting exhibits on the history of the city.
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Naples, FL, United States
Naples is known for its stunning white sand beaches and crystal-clear waters. Its also home to a wide variety of attractions, including world-class golf courses, vibrant nightlife, and interesting cultural experiences. Here are five places to visit in Naples, Florida: Naples Pier: Stroll along the pier and enjoy panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico. Fifth Avenue South: This popular shopping and dining district is home to eclectic boutiques, award-winning restaurants, and lively bars. The Ritz-Carlton, Naples: This luxurious resort is set on 26 acres of pristine waterfront property and offers superb amenities, including a world-class spa and championship golf course. The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens: This zoological park is home to more than 700 animals representing 150 species, including flamingos, lemurs, and tigers. Tin City: This eclectic shopping and dining district is housed in a series of restored waterfront warehouses and features eclectic shops, galleries, and award-winning restaurants.
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Louisville, KY, United States
Louisville is in the heart of Kentucky and is known for being the home of the Kentucky Derby. There are a lot of great places to visit in Louisville, including the Louisville Zoo, the Muhammad Ali Center, and the Frazier History Museum. There are also a lot of great restaurants and bars in Louisville, and it's a great place to visit for a weekend getaway.
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Galveston, TX, United States
Galveston is a Texas coastal town that is rich in history and offers visitors a variety of places to visit and things to do. Some of the most popular attractions include the Moody Gardens, Schlitterbahn Waterpark, and Historic Downtown. There are also a number of museums and other historical landmarks, as well as plenty of shopping and dining options.
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Omaha, NE, United States
The birthplace of Warren Buffett, Omaha, Nebraska, is a great place to visit. There are plenty of things to see and do in Omaha, from touring the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium to visiting the Durham Western Heritage Museum. Other popular tourist destinations in Omaha include the Joslyn Art Museum, the Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium, and TD Ameritrade Park.
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Columbus, GA, United States
Columbus is a charming small town in Georgia that is worth a visit. There are several places to visit in Columbus, including the Riverwalk, the Chattahoochee River, the National Infantry Museum, and the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. The Riverwalk is a beautiful walkway along the Chattahoochee River that is perfect for a relaxing stroll or a bike ride. The Chattahoochee River is a great place to go fishing, swimming, or kayaking. The National Infantry Museum is a museum dedicated to the infantry of the United States Army. It is a must-see for history buffs. The Coca-Cola Space Science Center is a museum dedicated to space science. It is perfect for kids and adults alike.
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Anchorage, AK, United States
Anchorage is a great place to visit if you're looking for an adrenaline rush. From skiing and snowboarding in the winter to rafting and fishing in the summer, Anchorage has something to offer everyone. In addition to its outdoor activities, Anchorage also has a variety of cultural and historical attractions, including the Anchorage Museum and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.
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Portland, OR, United States
Portland is a city that is located in the US state of Oregon and it is known for its art scene, food, and coffee. There are a lot of interesting places to visit in Portland, such as the Portland Art Museum, where you can see a variety of art from all over the world. Another place to visit is the Powell's City of Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world. If you're looking for a place to eat, Portland has no shortage of amazing restaurants, such as Pok Pok, which serves Thai cuisine, and Le Pigeon, which serves French cuisine. And, of course, no trip to Portland would be complete without trying some of the city's famous coffee, such as Stumptown Coffee Roasters.
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Florence, Italy
No trip to Italy is complete without a visit to Florence. This historic city is home to some of the country's most famous attractions, including the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and Michelangelo's David. There's also plenty to see and do outside of the city center, including the picturesque Tuscan countryside and the vibrant university town of Arezzo.
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Asheville, NC, United States
Asheville is a city in western North Carolina. It is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Buncombe County. Asheville is home to the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States. The city of Asheville proper had a population of 84,236 in 2010. The city is known for its art deco architecture, mountain scenery and outdoor activities, and as the birthplace of American novelist Thomas Wolfe. It is also home to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the second largest craft brewery in the United States.
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Long Beach, CA, United States
There's plenty to do in Long Beach, California without ever having to leave the city limits. If you're looking for a little adventure, head to the Aquarium of the Pacific for a glimpse of the ocean's creatures or take a walk on the boardwalk at Rainbow Harbor. If you're more of a history buff, the Queen Mary is a must-see. This retired ocean liner is now a hotel and museum with plenty of stories to tell. And no trip to Long Beach is complete without a visit to the iconic Vincent Thomas Bridge.
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Cincinnati, OH, United States
Cincinnati is a city located on the Ohio River in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. The city was founded in 1788 and named after the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of Revolutionary War officers. Cincinnati is a major U.S. city and the metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million people. The city is well-known for its German heritage, Oktoberfest celebration, and its variety of chili dishes. Cincinnati is home to three major sports teams: the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals, MLB's Cincinnati Reds, and the NBA's Cincinnati Cavaliers. The city is also home to the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. The city's historic neighborhoods include Over-the-Rhine, Mount Auburn, and Hyde Park. Cincinnati is a popular tourist destination and offers a variety of attractions and places to visit, including the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, the Newport Aquarium, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
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Laughlin, NV, United States
Laughlin, Nevada is a great place to visit if you're looking for a fun and affordable vacation. There are plenty of casinos and resorts to choose from, as well as plenty of outdoor activities and attractions. Be sure to check out the local nightlife, and don't forget to take a trip down the mighty Colorado River.
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Anaheim, CA, United States
Anaheim, California is home to both Disneyland and California Adventure Park. The parks are just a short walk away from each other, and make for a great day of exploration. Anaheim is also home to the Anaheim Angels and the Anaheim Ducks, so there's always a game to catch. If you're looking for something a little more low-key, Anaheim has a great shopping district and a variety of restaurants to choose from.
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Santa Cruz, CA, United States
Santa Cruz is a great place to visit! There are so many places to see and things to do. Some of my favorite places to visit are the Boardwalk, the wharf, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Boardwalk is a great place to go for a walk, ride on the amusement park rides, and eat some of the delicious food. The wharf is a great place to go for a walk, eat some seafood, and listen to the street performers. The University of California, Santa Cruz is a great place to visit to learn about the history of the area and to see some of the beautiful architecture. I highly recommend visiting Santa Cruz if you are looking for a fun and interesting place to visit!.
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Eugene, OR, United States
Eugene, Oregon is a great city to visit with a lot of places to see and things to do. One of the most popular attractions is the University of Oregon campus, which is home to a number of museums and a large football stadium. The city also has a vibrant arts scene, with a number of theaters and art galleries. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy the dozens of parks and hiking trails in the area, and there are also a number of wineries and breweries in the area.
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Branson, MO, United States
There's plenty to see and do in Branson, Missouri, from state parks and amusement parks to theaters and shopping. Here are some of the most popular places to visit: Silver Dollar City is a theme park with rides, shows, and craftsmen demonstrations. is a theme park with rides, shows, and craftsmen demonstrations. The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Theatre puts on a variety of shows, including "The Legend of the Shepherd of the Hills" and "The Catfish Fry." puts on a variety of shows, including "The Legend of the Shepherd of the Hills" and "The Catfish Fry." Table Rock State Park has fishing, swimming, and hiking trails, as well as a nature center. has fishing, swimming, and hiking trails, as well as a nature center. The Titanic Museum features a half-sized replica of the ship, along with exhibits about the history of the Titanic. features a half-sized replica of the ship, along with exhibits about the history of the Titanic. Branson Landing is a shopping and entertainment complex on the waterfront. There's something for everyone in Branson, Missouri come visit and see for yourself!.
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Panama City Beach, FL, United States
The white sand beaches and emerald waters of Panama City Beach, Florida, are a popular tourist destination. The city is home to numerous hotels, resorts, and restaurants, as well as amusement and water parks. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, kayaking, and surfing.
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Monterey, CA, United States
Monterey is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, United States. It stands at the southern end of Monterey Bay, on the Pacific coast. The city is also the home of the Naval Postgraduate School. Monterey is the largest city in the Central Coast region of California. The main attractions in Monterey are the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, Cannery Row, and the downtown area.
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Norfolk, VA, United States
Norfolk, Virginia is a great place to visit for its historical places and military bases. Some places to visit in Norfolk are the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk Botanical Garden, and the Norfolk Naval Station.
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Palm Springs, CA, United States
Palm Springs is a vibrant city located in the Coachella Valley and is known for its year-round sunshine, resort atmosphere and Mid-Century Modern architecture. Top places to visit include the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs Art Museum, Indian Canyons and Moorten Botanical Garden. For a truly unique experience, be sure to check out the Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale the worlds largest vintage furniture and design event.
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Palm Springs Luxury Villas
Rochester, NY, United States
Rochester is a city in western New York State and is the county seat of Monroe County. Rochester is known for its annual festivals, including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Rochester Fringe Festival, and the Holiday Folk Fair International. Places to visit in Rochester include the George Eastman Museum, the Strong National Museum of Play, the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and the Seneca Park Zoo.
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Pigeon Forge, TN, United States
Visit the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge for a unique experience. This museum is dedicated to the Titanic, one of the most infamous ships in history. Tour the ship and learn about the passengers and crew who were on board. You can even see the actual artifacts recovered from the shipwreck. If you're looking for a little more excitement, head to Dollywood. This amusement park is home to roller coasters, a water park, and plenty of other rides and attractions. Plus, the park is themed around the life and music of Dolly Parton. No trip to Pigeon Forge is complete without a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains. These mountains offer a variety of activities, including hiking, fishing, and horseback riding. Plus, the natural beauty of the area is simply breathtaking.
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Jacksonville, FL, United States
Jacksonville is less than an hour's drive from the beaches of Amelia Island and St. Augustine, and a little more than two hours from Orlando. The city has a lot to offer visitors, including a riverwalk, museums, and a vibrant arts scene. Jacksonville is also home to the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team.
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Minsk, Belarus
Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a city that has something for everyone. If you're looking for a little history, Minsk has plenty of it, with churches and monuments dating back to the 12th century. If you're looking for a lively nightlife, Minsk has that, too, with plenty of bars, clubs, and restaurants. And if you're looking for a little nature, Minsk has parks and gardens to enjoy. Here are just a few of the places you can visit in Minsk: The Holy Spirit Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Minsk, is a must-visit for history buffs. The National Library of Belarus is a huge library with more than 18 million items in its collection. The Opera and Ballet Theatre is a beautiful building that hosts performances of both opera and ballet. The Victory Park is a large park with a war memorial, a children's playground, and a lake. And for a little bit of nature in the heart of the city, the Botanical Garden is a great place to relax and take a break from the hustle and bustle of Minsk.
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Jaipur, India
Jaipur is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. It is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and is known for its palaces, forts and temples. Some of the places to visit in Jaipur include the Amber Fort, the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar Observatory and the Hawa Mahal. Jaipur is also a great place to shop for traditional Indian handicrafts.
Jaipur Luxury Hotels
Chicago, IL, United States
Chicago is a city full of culture and history. There are plenty of places to visit, such as the Willis Tower, Buckingham Fountain, and the Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is also home to many restaurants and bars, so there is something for everyone.
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Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland is a beautiful city located on the north island of New Zealand. There are many places to visit in Auckland, including the Sky Tower, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the Auckland Domain. The beaches in Auckland are also worth visiting, especially Karekare and Piha. Auckland is a great place to visit, and I highly recommend it!.
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Auckland Luxury Villas
Amsterdam, Netherlands
If you're looking for a city that's got it all, Amsterdam should be your go-to destination. From the city's lively and vibrant nightlife to its charming and quiet neighborhoods, Amsterdam has something for everyone. Be sure to check out the Anne Frank Huis, the Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh Museum, as these are some of the most popular attractions in the city. And if you're looking for a little bit of nature, be sure to take a walk or bike ride through Amsterdam's many parks.
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Berlin, Germany
There are so many great places to visit in Berlin that it can be hard to know where to start. From the iconic Brandenburg Gate to the fascinating Reichstag Building, there's something for everyone in this vibrant city. If you're looking for a bit of history, make sure to check out the Berlin Wall Memorial or the DDR Museum. And for those looking for a bit more fun, there's always the Alexanderplatz Christmas Market or the Zoologischer Garten. No matter what your interests, Berlin is a city you won't want to miss.
Berlin Luxury Hotels
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok is a city of contrasts with its gleaming temples and skyscrapers, chaotic markets and tranquil canals. While it's a popular tourist destination, Bangkok is a city that can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. Some of the top places to visit in Bangkok include the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, the floating markets and the Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Bangkok Luxury Hotels
Bangkok Luxury Resorts
Bangkok Luxury Villas
Bruges, Belgium
Bruges is a city in Belgium that is worth visiting. It is full of medieval charm and there are a lot of things to see and do. Some of the places to visit include the Markt, the Belfry, and the Begijnhof.
Bruges Luxury Hotels
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is a city in Belgium that is best known for its chocolate, waffles, and beer. But there is much more to see and do in Brussels than just indulge in the local cuisine. There are a number of interesting historical landmarks to visit, such as the Grand Place and the Atomium, as well as a variety of parks and gardens. And, of course, Brussels is also a great city to explore on foot.
Brussels Luxury Hotels
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest, Hungary's capital, is a city of thermal baths and medival, baroque and art nouveau architecture. Crowded with tourists, the city is bisected by the Danube River into the hilly Buda and the more developed and flat Pest. Among the main places of interest are the neo-Gothic Parliament, the Chain Bridge linking Buda and Pest, the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda bank, and the State Opera House and Heroes' Square on the Pest side.
Budapest Luxury Hotels
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Home to some of the best beaches in Mexico, Playa del Carmen is a favorite tourist destination for visitors from all over the world. With its lively nightlife, gorgeous coastline and ample shopping opportunities, there's something for everyone in this tropical paradise. Don't miss the opportunity to visit some of the area's most popular attractions, such as the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum and Coba, or the eco-friendly Turtle Beach. With its friendly people, delicious food and stunning scenery, Playa del Carmen is a place you'll never want to leave.
Playa del Carmen Luxury Hotels
Playa del Carmen Luxury Resorts
Playa del Carmen Luxury Villas
Denver, CO, United States
Denver is a great city for visitors. There are so many places to see and things to do. Some of the top places to visit include the 16th Street Mall, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Art Museum, and the Colorado State Capitol. There are also plenty of great restaurants and shops to explore. Denver is definitely a city worth visiting!.
Denver Luxury Hotels
Dublin, Ireland
Dublin is a city located in Ireland. It's a city full of culture, with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist spots are the Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, and the Dublin Castle. There are also plenty of pubs and restaurants to discover.
Dublin Luxury Hotels
Dusseldorf, Germany
Dusseldorf, Germany is a city with many different places to visit. The city has a mix of old and new buildings, and a variety of activities to do. The best places to visit in Dusseldorf are the Konigsallee, the Rhine Tower, and the Oktoberfest. The Konigsallee is an open-air shopping mall that has many high-end stores. The Rhine Tower is the tallest building in the city and offers great views of Dusseldorf. The Oktoberfest is a week-long festival that celebrates German culture and food.
Dusseldorf Luxury Hotels
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Edinburgh, Scotland is a beautiful city to visit. The architecture is very old and unique, and there are plenty of historical places to visit, like Edinburgh Castle. There are also plenty of parks and gardens, and lots of shops and restaurants.
Edinburgh Luxury Hotels
Rome, Italy
Rome is a city rich in history and filled with beautiful places to visit. Make sure to stop by the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. Also be sure to visit St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel while in Rome. If youre looking for a little more nature in your trip, head to the Villa Borghese gardens or the Janiculum Hill for some wonderful views of the city. And of course, no trip to Rome is complete without a gelato!.
Rome Luxury Hotels
Rome Luxury Villas
New York, NY, United States
There are many amazing places to visit in New York State. Some of my favorites are the Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mountains, and the Finger Lakes. If you're looking for a city break, New York City is definitely worth a visit. There's endless things to see and do, from touring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to visiting world-famous museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. No matter what your interests are, you'll be able to find something to enjoy in New York State.
New York Luxury Hotels
New York Luxury Villas
London, United Kingdom
London is a city rich in history and full of amazing places to visit. Some of my favorite places are Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. There is so much to see and do in London, you could spend weeks here and never run out of things to do. If you're looking for a city full of culture and history, London is the place for you.
London Luxury Hotels
London Luxury Cottages
Madrid, Spain
Madrid is one of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world. From the Royal Palace to the Prado Museum, theres plenty to see and do in Madrid. If youre looking for a little bit of nature, Madrid has plenty of parks, like the Buen Retiro Park, to relax in. And dont forget to try some of the delicious tapas and wine while youre in town.
Madrid Luxury Hotels
Memphis, TN, United States
The birthplace of rock 'n' roll, Memphis is a city rich in history and culture. From Graceland to Beale Street, there are plenty of places to visit in Memphis. Be sure to check out Sun Studio, where rock 'n' roll was born, and the National Civil Rights Museum, which tells the story of the African-American civil rights movement. Memphis is also home to some amazing food, so be sure to try some of the city's famous barbecue and soul food.
Memphis Luxury Hotels
Miami Beach, FL, United States
There is much to explore in Miami Beach, from the famous Art Deco district to the vast beaches and crystal-clear waters. Outdoor enthusiasts will love the opportunities for fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, while history buffs can explore the ancient burial mounds at Miami Beach. Shoppers and foodies will find plenty to keep them busy, with vibrant neighborhoods like Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive offering unique boutiques and award-winning restaurants. And of course, no trip to Miami Beach is complete without a visit to world-famous South Beach.
Miami Beach Luxury Hotels
Miami Beach Luxury Resorts
New Orleans, LA, United States
You can't visit New Orleans without trying some of the local food. Beignets, Po' Boys, and gumbo are just a few of the must-try dishes. While you're in town, be sure to check out the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and St. Louis Cathedral. If you're looking for some nightlife, Bourbon Street is the place to be. And, of course, no trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Mardi Gras!.
New Orleans Luxury Hotels
Milan, Italy
Milan is a city located in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a popular tourist destination because of its historical and artistic heritage. Some of the places you should visit while in Milan are the Duomo, La Scala, and Castello Sforzesco.
Milan Luxury Hotels
Naples, Italy
Naples is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Italy. There are countless places to visit, such as the Royal Palace, the Museum of San Martino, and the Church of Gesu Nuovo. Naples is also home to excellent shopping and dining options. Be sure to enjoy a cup of coffee at one of the city's many cafes and take a stroll through the picturesque streets.
Naples Luxury Hotels
Paris, France
Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. It's home to iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, as well as a thriving nightlife and restaurant scene. If you're looking to explore all that Paris has to offer, here are some of the top places to visit: The Eiffel Tower: This iconic landmark is a must-see in Paris. Climb to the top for stunning views of the city, or take a ride on the elevator to the bottom for a closer look at the structure. The Louvre Museum: This world-famous museum is home to some of the most famous works of art in the world, including the Mona Lisa. The Notre Dame Cathedral: This beautiful cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris. Make sure to climb to the top for some amazing views of the city. The Champs-Elysees: This famous avenue is a popular destination for shopping and dining. Be sure to wander down the street and take in all the sights and sounds. The Arc de Triomphe: This towering arch is another iconic landmark in Paris. Climb to the top for some amazing views of the city.
Paris Luxury Hotels
Paris Luxury Villas
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague is a city rich in history and culture. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Old Town Square. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars to enjoy, and the nightlife is vibrant. Prague is a truly unique city and a must-visit for anyone traveling to the Czech Republic.
Prague Luxury Hotels
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Located on the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana is known for its beautiful beaches and turquoise waters. This paradise is a favorite destination for travelers looking for a Caribbean getaway. Punta Cana is home to a wide variety of resorts and activities, from enjoying the sand and surf to golfing, spas, and shopping. Nature lovers can also explore the areas jungles, caves, and waterfalls.
Punta Cana Luxury Hotels
Punta Cana Luxury Resorts
Punta Cana Luxury Villas
Marbella, Spain
If you're looking for an idyllic and luxurious Spanish escape, look no further than Marbella. Located on the country's Costa del Sol, Marbella is home to stunning beaches, top-notch resorts, world-class golfing, and much more. A visit to Marbella is the perfect way to experience all that Spain has to offer.
Marbella Luxury Hotels
Marbella Luxury Villas
Marrakesh, Morocco
Marrakesh is a city in Morocco that is full of culture and history. There are several places to visit in Marrakesh, including the Palace of the Bahia, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the Saadian Tombs. The souks (markets) are also a must-see, where you can find everything from souvenirs to spices to traditional clothing. Be sure to enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants or cafes in Marrakesh; the food is delicious and the atmosphere is always lively. Marrakesh is a wonderful city to explore and definitely worth a visit!.
Marrakesh Luxury Hotels
San Francisco, CA, United States
San Francisco is a popular tourist destination, and for good reason. There are plenty of things to see and do in this vibrant city. Here are some of the top places to visit: 1. Fisherman's Wharf: This neighborhood is home to a variety of shops and restaurants, as well as a popular pier where you can enjoy views of the bay. 2. The Golden Gate Bridge: This iconic bridge is a must-see for any visitor to San Francisco. 3. Alcatraz Island: This former federal prison is now a popular tourist attraction. It's a must-see for fans of history and crime dramas. 4. Chinatown: This colorful neighborhood is home to some of the best food in San Francisco. Be sure to check out the Dragon Gate entrance. 5. The Mission District: This trendy neighborhood is home to hip restaurants, bars, and art galleries.
San Francisco Luxury Hotels
Moscow, Russia
Moscow, Russia is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some of the most popular tourist attractions are the Kremlin, Red Square, and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Other great places to see include the Bolshoi Theatre, Gorky Park, and the Tretyakov Gallery. There are also many churches and other historical buildings to explore. Moscow is a lively city with a lot of culture and nightlife. There is something for everyone to enjoy in Moscow.
Moscow Luxury Hotels
Venice, Italy
Venice is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The city is built on a lagoon in northeast Italy and is known for its canals and gondolas. There are many places to visit in Venice, including the Grand Canal, St. Marks Square, and the Rialto Bridge. Venice is also home to many museums, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Venice Luxury Hotels
Vienna, Austria
Vienna, Austria is a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Vienna, including the Hofburg Palace, the Ringstrasse, and St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna is also home to some of the world's best shopping, including the Karntner Strasse and the Graben. Finally, no visit to Vienna is complete without experiencing the city's world-famous nightlife.
Vienna Luxury Hotels
Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich is a marvelous city located in the heart of Switzerland. It is a city that has something to offer for everyone. From amazing restaurants and beautiful architecture to exciting nightlife and gorgeous parks, Zurich has something for everyone. Some of the most popular places to visit in Zurich include the Bahnhofstrasse, which is the city's most famous shopping street, the Lindenhof, which is a beautiful park with amazing views of the city, and Grossmunster, which is a stunning Romanesque church. Zurich is also home to some of the best museums in the world, including the famed Museum of Art and the Swiss National Museum. With its mix of old-world charm and modern amenities, Zurich is a city that is definitely worth exploring.
Zurich Luxury Hotels
Acapulco, Mexico
If you're looking for a Mexican vacation spot with plenty of history and culture to explore, Acapulco is a great option. From the archeological wonders of the ancient city to the stunning coastal views, there's something for everyone in Acapulco. Plus, with its temperate climate, it's a great escape from colder winter weather.
Acapulco Luxury Hotels
Acapulco Luxury Resorts
Acapulco Luxury Villas
Nashville, TN, United States
One of the United States' most interesting places to visit is Nashville, Tennessee. There's plenty to see and do there, from the Grand Ole Opry to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Music is a big part of the city's history and culture, so be sure to catch a show while you're in town. Other popular attractions include the Ryman Auditorium, the Parthenon, and the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Nashville is also a great place to eat, with a wide variety of restaurants serving up everything from barbecue to Mexican food. So if you're looking for an exciting and diverse city to visit, be sure to add Nashville to your list.
Nashville Luxury Hotels
Nashville Luxury Villas
Atlanta, GA, United States
What's not to love about Atlanta? From the iconic Georgia Aquarium to the World of Coke, from the Fox Theatre to Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta offers a wealth of destinations for tourists. Sports fans will want to check out the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and history buffs will enjoy the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Braves fans can take a tour of SunTrust Park, and shoppers will enjoy the many boutiques and malls in the city. There's also a great restaurant scene in Atlanta, and music lovers will want to check out the many venues offering live music. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation spot or a place to explore on your own, Atlanta is a great choice!.
Atlanta Luxury Hotels
Miami, FL, United States
The Magic City is a top tourist destination for a reasonthere are endless things to do in Miami! From exploring the trendy neighborhoods and dazzling beaches to soaking up the Latin culture and nightlife, Miami is jam-packed with amazing places to visit. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. Wynwood Walls: This outdoor art exhibit is a must-see for any art lover. The colorful murals are awe-inspiring and definitely Instagram-worthy. 2. Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: This estate is dripping with luxury and opulence, from the grandiose architecture to the expansive gardens. It's the perfect place for a day of relaxation. 3. South Beach: This world-famous beach is a must-visit for any sun-seeker. The crystal-clear water and soft sand make for the perfect day-long beach getaway. 4. Little Havana: Experience Cuban culture at its best in Little Havana. From delicious food to lively music and dance, there's something for everyone in this vibrant district. 5. Art Deco District: This district is home to Miami's most iconic architecture. Take a stroll down the charming streets and admire the colorful buildings that make Miami so unique.
Miami Luxury Hotels
Miami Luxury Villas
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo is a must-see destination in Japan. There are endless places to explore in this city - temples, shrines, gardens, and more. The Shinjuku district is a great place to start, with its neon-lit streets and myriad shops and restaurants. For a taste of traditional Japan, visit the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa or the Imperial Palace. Nature lovers will enjoy the Hamarikyu Gardens or the Hama-rikyu Teien Garden. And for a unique experience, take a trip to Mount Fuji.
Tokyo Luxury Hotels
Tokyo Luxury Villas
Buenos Aires, Argentina
There are plenty of places to visit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some popular tourist destinations include the obelisk, the Casa Rosada, and the Puerto Madero district. Every barrio (neighborhood) has its own unique culture and flavor. San Telmo, La Boca, and Palermo are some of the most popular barrios. There are also many parks and plazas, such as Plaza de Mayo and Plaza de la Republica, that are worth checking out.
Buenos Aires Luxury Hotels
Hamburg, Germany
One of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany is Hamburg. From the lively and colorful harbor district to the grandiose City Hall, there is plenty to see and do in Hamburg. Some of the other popular places to visit include the Reeperbahn district with its pubs and nightlife, the Planten un Blomen botanical gardens, and the architecturally stunning Rathausmarkt square.
Hamburg Luxury Hotels
Lisbon, Portugal
The capital of Portugal, Lisbon is a city of fascinating contrasts. From its coastal location, visitors can enjoy stunning ocean views, while its hilly, narrow streets are home to a maze of charming traditional homes and lively nightlife. A city of 7 hills, Lisbon is a bustling metropolis with something for everyone. Here are some of the top places to visit: The Belem Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Lisbons most iconic landmarks. This 16th-century fortress and lighthouse is a must-see for visitors. The Alfama district, with its winding streets and tile-roofed homes, is the oldest district in Lisbon. This is the perfect place to get lost and explore the citys history. The Lisbon Zoo is a great place to enjoy a day out with the family, with over 2,000 animals from around the world. The Christ the King statue, located atop a hill in the suburb of Almada, offers impressive views of Lisbon and the river Tagus. The Lisbon Oceanarium, located in the Parque das Nacoes district, is home to more than 12,000 marine creatures and is one of the largest aquariums in Europe.
Lisbon Luxury Hotels
Lisbon Luxury Villas
Malaga, Spain
Malaga is an attractive seaside city in southern Spain with a long history. There are many places to visit in Malaga, including the Gibralfaro Castle, the Alcazaba fortress, and the Malaga Cathedral. Malaga is also home to a variety of museums, including the Picasso Museum. The city is well known for its beaches, and there are many delightful places to relax and enjoy the sun and the sea.
Malaga Luxury Hotels
Malaga Luxury Villas
Munich, Germany
When planning a vacation to Munich, Germany, be sure to include these top places to visit: The Marienplatz is a must-see square in the city center, featuring a beautiful Glockenspiel show and the Old and New Town Halls. The Englisher Garten, Europes largest city park, is a great place for a relaxing stroll or a picnic. OlympiaPark is home to the famous 1972 Olympic Stadium as well as a huge amusement park. The Frauenkirche is a stunning church in the old town with a Glockenspiel of its own. Beer lovers will want to visit the Hofbrauhaus, the worlds most famous beer hall. For a bit of history and culture, check out the LudwigMaximilians-University and the Deutsches Museum. There is so much to see and do in Munich these are just a few highlights!.
Munich Luxury Hotels
Granada, Spain
Granada is a city in southern Spain that is known for its Moorish architecture and history. The city is home to the Alhambra, a palace and fortress that was constructed in the late 1300s. Visitors can also enjoy the citys many churches, including the Cathedral of Granada. Granada is also a convenient base for exploring the other cities and towns in Andalusia.
Granada Luxury Hotels
Bucharest, Romania
Bucharest is a city full of history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Palace of Parliament, which is the world's largest civilian building. Other places to visit include the old city center, which is full of charming streets and buildings, and the Botanical Garden, which is the largest botanical garden in Romania.
Bucharest Luxury Hotels
Bologna, Italy
Bologna, Italy is a beautiful city with plenty of places to visit. Some popular tourist destinations include the Piazza Maggiore, the Tower of Asinelli, and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. There are also plenty of museums and churches to explore, and the city is full of charming restaurants and cafes. Bologna is an excellent destination for a vacation, and there is something for everyone to enjoy in this amazing city.
Bologna Luxury Hotels
Porto, Portugal
Porto is a port city in Portugal that is well known for its wine. It's also a city with a long and rich history. There are many places to visit in Porto, including the old city center, the Dom Luis I Bridge, and the Clerigos Tower. Porto is also home to the famous Port wine caves, which are a must-visit for wine lovers.
Porto Luxury Hotels
Cologne, Germany
Cologne, located on the Rhine River in western Germany, is a city well worth visiting. The city has a long and rich history, dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. Some of the city's most popular tourist attractions include the Cologne Cathedral, Hohenzollern Bridge, and the RheinEnergieStadion. Additionally, Cologne is home to a wide variety of museums, shops, and restaurants. In fact, the city has been ranked as one of the best places to live in Germany. So, if you're looking for a great European city to visit, be sure to add Cologne to your list.
Cologne Luxury Hotels
Istanbul, Turkey
If you're looking for an exotic and affordable vacation destination, look no further than Istanbul, Turkey. Filled with historical places to visit and bargains to be found, Istanbul offers something for everyone. Be sure to visit the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque while you're there. Don't forget to bargain for the best prices when shopping in the bazaars, and enjoy some delicious Turkish cuisine while you're at it. Istanbul is sure to leave you with a lasting impression.
Istanbul Luxury Hotels
Istanbul Luxury Villas
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai is a fascinating and exotic city that offers visitors a mix of traditional Middle Eastern culture and modern, cosmopolitan life. There are plenty of places to visit in Dubai, from the towering skyscrapers of Downtown Dubai to the luxury shopping malls and luxurious hotels of the Palm Jumeirah. Don't miss a chance to experience an Arabian night out on an epic dhow cruise, or take a trip out into the Arabian Desert to see the stunning sand dunes.
Dubai Luxury Hotels
Dubai Luxury Resorts
Dubai Luxury Villas
Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp is a city located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital of the province of Antwerp and has a population of over half a million people. Antwerp is a popular tourist destination due to its many historical buildings, museums, and art galleries. Some of the most popular places to visit in Antwerp are the Cathedral of Our Lady, the City Hall, the Rubenshuis, and the Antwerp Zoo.
Antwerp Luxury Hotels
Lyon, France
Lyon is a beautiful city in the south of France that is full of culture and places to visit. Some of the most popular places to visit in Lyon are the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere, the Place Bellecour, and the Vieux Lyon. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere is a beautiful cathedral that is a must-see when visiting Lyon. The Place Bellecour is a large square in the heart of Lyon that is full of restaurants and cafes. The Vieux Lyon is a district in Lyon that is full of old buildings and is a great place to wander around and take in the sights.
Lyon Luxury Hotels
Athens, Greece
If you find yourself in Athens, there are definitely some spots you won't want to miss. The Acropolis, Parthenon, and Olympic Stadium are all essential stops, but there are plenty of others, too. If you're looking for a bit of history, the National Archaeological Museum is a must-see, while nature lovers will enjoy a visit to the botanical gardens. If you're looking to relax, take a walk along the beach in Glyfada or head to the Plaka district for a charming and picturesque setting. No matter what you're interested in, Athens has something for you.
Athens Luxury Hotels
Athens Luxury Villas
Helsinki, Finland
While in Helsinki, make sure to visit these popular tourist destinations: The Senate Square and Lutheran Cathedral The Sibelius Monument Ateneum Art Museum Market Square Helsinki Zoo.
Helsinki Luxury Hotels
Vilnius, Lithuania
The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is a picturesque city with a rich history. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is full of charming churches, narrow streets, and pretty squares. There are also lots of museums and other places of interest to visit, including the Hill of Crosses, Gediminas Tower, and the Presidential Palace. Vilnius is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and bars to enjoy in the evening.
Vilnius Luxury Hotels
Reykjavik, Iceland
A city of remote beauty, Reykjavik is teeming with interesting places to visit. One of the worlds most northern capitals, Reykjavik offers stunning landscapes and a wealth of cultural experiences. From the iconic Hallgrimskirkja church to the popular Golden Circle tour, theres plenty to see and do in Reykjavik. Be sure to check out the citys lively nightlife scene, too you wont be disappointed!.
Reykjavik Luxury Hotels
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Some of the most popular places to visit in Glasgow include the Gallery of Modern Art, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Riverside Museum, and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. There are also many wonderful parks and gardens to explore, including the Botanic Gardens and Glasgow Green. For those interested in history and architecture, there are many fascinating old buildings to see, such as the Glasgow Cathedral and the University of Glasgow. And for those looking for a lively nightlife, Glasgow has no shortage of pubs, clubs, and restaurants.
Glasgow Luxury Hotels
Los Angeles, CA, United States
As the birthplace of Hollywood and home to some of the world's most recognisable landmarks, there's no shortage of places to visit in Los Angeles. Start by exploring the city's iconic neighbourhoods like Beverly Hills and Hollywood, then venture out to attractions like the Griffith Observatory, Venice Beach and Disneyland. And don't forget to savour the city's world-famous cultural scene, with its abundance of museums, theatres and restaurants.
Los Angeles Luxury Hotels
Los Angeles Luxury Villas
San Diego, CA, United States
San Diego is a city located in California and is a major tourist destination. One of the main reasons people visit the city is for its many beaches. Coronado Beach, Mission Beach, and Pacific Beach are some of the most popular and are all within close proximity to the city center. Other attractions in San Diego include the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and the USS Midway Museum. Restaurants, bars, and shopping can be found throughout the city, and world-renowned museums, like the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, are also located in San Diego.
San Diego Luxury Hotels
San Diego Luxury Resorts
San Diego Luxury Villas
Washington, DC, United States
Washington, D.C. is a city full of history and places to visit. Some popular places to visit are the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, and the Smithsonian. D.C. is also home to a number of monuments and memorials, like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. There are also a number of museums in D.C., like the American History Museum and the National Air and Space Museum.
Washington Luxury Hotels
Cancun, Mexico
Cancun is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. Aside from its beautiful beaches, there are plenty of places to visit and things to do in Cancun. Some of the most popular attractions include the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza, the eco-park Xcaret, and the nightclubs and bars in the resort district.
Cancun Luxury Hotels
Cancun Luxury Resorts
Cancun Luxury Villas
Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Virginia Beach is one of the top tourist destinations on the East Coast. From the Virginia Beach Boardwalk to the miles of sandy beaches, there's something for everyone to enjoy. There are also plenty of restaurants, shops, and other attractions to keep visitors busy. Some of the most popular places to visit in Virginia Beach include: The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. : This aquarium is home to more than 20,000 animals, including sharks, dolphins, and rays. The Virginia Beach Boardwalk: This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. This 3.5-mile boardwalk is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach. It features a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and amusements. First Landing State Park: This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. This park offers miles of hiking and biking trails, as well as a beachfront area for swimming and sunbathing. Cape Henry Lighthouse: This lighthouse is one of the oldest in the country and offers stunning views of the Chesapeake Bay. There are plenty of other things to do in Virginia Beach, including dolphin and whale watching tours, kayaking, and golfing. Whether you're looking for a fun family vacation or a romantic getaway, Virginia Beach is sure to please.
Virginia Beach Luxury Hotels
Virginia Beach Luxury Resorts
Beijing, China
If you're looking for an amazing cultural experience, be sure to add Beijing, China to your travel bucket list! With beautiful temples, charming hutongs (traditional alleyways), and a lively food scene, there's something for everyone in this bustling city. Plus, Beijing is home to some of the most iconic attractions in China, like the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. So if you're looking for an unforgettable East Asian adventure, be sure to add Beijing to your list!.
Beijing Luxury Hotels
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul is a metropolitan city that is home to over 10 million people. It is a city full of culture, history, and a vibrant nightlife. There are plenty of places to visit in Seoul, including the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and N Seoul Tower. The Jeongdongne district is a must-see for anyone interested in art and culture, and the Itaewon district is a great place to go for a night on the town.
Seoul Luxury Hotels
South Lake Tahoe, CA, United States
Known for its dramatic lake and mountain scenery, South Lake Tahoe offers visitors plenty of places to visit and things to do. Some of the most popular attractions include floating down the river on a tube, hiking the trails in the summer and skiing or snowboarding the slopes in the winter. The city also has a variety of restaurants and nightlife options, as well as casinos for those looking to try their luck.
South Lake Tahoe Luxury Hotels
South Lake Tahoe Luxury Resorts
Daytona Beach, FL, United States
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is approximately 40 miles northeast of Orlando, and 85 miles southeast of Jacksonville. The city is known as "The World's Most Famous Beach." Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida. The Daytona Beach area is a popular tourist destination. It is well known for its beaches, sports events, and motorsports. Daytona Beach was the birthplace of NASCAR and home to its first track, Daytona International Speedway. Dayton Beach also features a large number of tourist-oriented businesses, such as motels, restaurants, and bars.
Daytona Beach Luxury Hotels
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The coastline of Rio de Janeiro is breathtaking, and the views from Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain are unforgettable. Rio's world-famous beaches are the perfect place to relax and enjoy the sun and the surf. The city's rich culture and history can be experienced in its many museums and in the lively nightlife. Rio is also a great place to shop for souvenirs.
Rio de Janeiro Luxury Hotels
Rio de Janeiro Luxury Villas
Jaco, Costa Rica
Jaco is a town on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It's about an hour drive from San Jose and is a popular spot for surfers, sunbathers, and tourists. There are a number of beaches in the area, as well as restaurants, bars, and hotels. If you're looking for a place to relax and enjoy the Costa Rican sun and beaches, Jaco is a great option.
Jaco Luxury Hotels
Oslo, Norway
Oslo, Norway is a city with plenty of places to visit. You can find the peace and tranquility of nature parks and green spaces, experience the city's vibrant nightlife, or take in the historical and cultural sights. Here are a few of the top places to visit in Oslo: The Royal Palace: Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Oslo's Royal Palace is the official residence of Norway's king and queen. The palace is open to the public year-round, and offers a glimpse into the lives of the royal family. Vigeland Park: Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. Considered one of Oslo's most popular tourist destinations, Vigeland Park is home to over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park is a great place to spend a sunny day outdoors. The Maritime Museum: This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. This museum is home to a variety of exhibits on Norway's maritime history. Visitors can explore everything from Viking ships to modern submarines. The National Gallery: The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. The National Gallery is Norway's largest art museum, and home to a vast collection of paintings and sculptures from the country's most famous artists. Aker Brygge: Aker Brygge is a popular waterfront district in Oslo, home to a variety of bars, restaurants, and shops. The area is a great place to people watch and enjoy the view of the Oslo Fjord.
Oslo Luxury Hotels
Lima, Peru
If you're looking for a city that's bursting with culture and flavor, Lima, Peru is the place for you! This vibrant destination is home to some of the most amazing places to visit in all of South America. From ancient ruins to lush rainforests, there's something for everyone in Lima. Here are just a few of the must-see attractions in this amazing city: The Larco Museum is one of Lima's top tourist destinations. This incredible museum is home to one of the largest collections of pre-Columbian art in the world. The Historic Center of Lima is a must-see for any history lover. This vibrant area is home to some of the oldest architecture in Lima, including the iconic San Francisco Monastery. If you're looking for a little bit of jungle in the city, head to the Parque de la Reserva. This lush park is home to beautiful gardens, a zoo, and even a butterfly farm! No trip to Lima would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu. This ancient Inca citadel is one of the most iconic sites in all of South America.
Lima Luxury Hotels
Ankara, Turkey
Ankara is the cultural and political center of Turkey. The city is home to many museums, including the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and is a popular destination for tourists. The Citadel, the Ataturk Mausoleum, and the War of Independence Museum are all popular tourist destinations in Ankara. The city is also home to a vibrant nightlife and is a popular destination for students.
Ankara Luxury Hotels
Birmingham, United Kingdom
There are plenty of great places to visit in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Some of the most popular places to go include the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and the Black Country Living Museum. These places are all great for tourists, as they offer a variety of attractions, including beautiful gardens, interesting art, and a recreation of an old-fashioned town. Additionally, there are plenty of other great places to visit in Birmingham, such as the Jewellery Quarter and the German Christmas Market.
Birmingham Luxury Hotels
York, United Kingdom
With a rich history that spans back over 1,000 years, York is a must-visit destination in the United Kingdom. Explore the city's medieval architecture and narrow cobblestone streets, or enjoy a leisurely walk along the River Ouse. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of cultural experiences, such as the York Minster cathedral, the Jorvik Viking Centre, and the National Railway Museum. There are also plenty of shops and restaurants to enjoy in York.
York Luxury Hotels
Inverness, United Kingdom
Inverness, Scotland is a must-see destination on any traveler's list. Filled with rolling green hills, historical sites, and plenty of outdoor activities, there's something for everyone in this charming town. Start by exploring the city center, which is home to a variety of shops and restaurants. Make sure to check out the Inverness Castle, which offers commanding views of the area, and the Inverness Cathedral, a beautiful example of medieval architecture. Outside of the city center, there are plenty of other attractions to explore. The Loch Ness Monster is said to make its home in the loch here, and visitors can take boat tours to hunt for the mythical creature. If you're looking for a more active adventure, take a hike in the hills or go fishing on the loch. No matter what you choose to do, Inverness is a beautiful and welcoming town that is sure to charm you.
Inverness Luxury Hotels
Marseille, France
The Vieux Port (Old Harbor) is the oldest port in France. It is a beautiful place to visit with its sailboats, restaurants, and cafes. The Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica is also worth a visit. It offers stunning views of the city. If you're looking for a more lively atmosphere, head to the La Canebiere. It's a wide avenue with plenty of shops and restaurants.
Marseille Luxury Hotels
Marseille Luxury Villas
Honolulu, HI, United States
Honolulu is a city located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, United States. It is the most populous city in the state of Hawaii and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu. Honolulu is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world and is located in Honolulu. Other places to visit in Honolulu include Diamond Head, the USS Arizona Memorial, and Hanauma Bay.
Honolulu Luxury Hotels
Honolulu Luxury Resorts
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Bar Harbor, ME, United States
Famous for lobster and stunning ocean views, Bar Harbor is a popular destination in Maine. There are plenty of things to do in the town and its surroundings, including hiking, biking, whale watching, and exploring Acadia National Park.
Bar Harbor Luxury Hotels
Colorado Springs, CO, United States
There are many places to visit in Colorado Springs. Garden of the Gods is a popular park with beautiful rock formations. Pike's Peak is a 14,115 foot mountain that offers great views and outdoor activities. The Broadmoor is a world-renowned resort with lovely gardens and a championship golf course. Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge and a popular tourist spot.
Colorado Springs Luxury Hotels
Fort Myers Beach, FL, United States
Just an hours drive from the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach is a popular tourist spot, especially in the winter when the snowbirds migrate down. The seven-mile-long beach is known for its white sand and clear water and is a popular spot for swimming, sunbathing, fishing, and kayaking. There are also a number of restaurants and bars in the area, as well as a few stores.
Fort Myers Beach Luxury Hotels
Biloxi, MS, United States
There are plenty of places to explore in Biloxi, Mississippi from the citys iconic Beaches to the picturesque Bay Saint Louis. Venture into the citys downtown area to check out the many shops and restaurants, or take a walk along the shoreline. No matter what you choose to do, youre sure to have a great time in Biloxi.
Biloxi Luxury Hotels
Palermo, Italy
If you're looking for a city with a rich and diverse history, Palermo is the place for you. This coastal city in Italy is teeming with medieval architecture, churches, and cathedrals. Be sure to check out the Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Europe, and the Palazzo dei Normanni, the seat of the Sicilian government. Don't miss out on the city's vibrant nightlife and vast array of restaurants that serve up some of the best food in the country.
Palermo Luxury Hotels
Palermo Luxury Villas
Manila, Philippines
The capital of the Philippines, Manila is a fascinating city with a rich history and a vibrant culture. There are plenty of places to visit in Manila, including the walled city of Intramuros, the Rizal Park, and the Manila Bay. The city is also home to a large number of churches, including the Manila Cathedral and the San Agustin Church. Manila is a great city to explore on foot, and there are plenty of restaurants and shops to enjoy.
Manila Luxury Hotels
Zermatt, Switzerland
Zermatt is an alpine village in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is famous for its ski resort, mountaineering and hiking trails. The views of the Matterhorn from Zermatt are iconic. The village is car-free, making it a cyclists' and pedestrians' paradise. There are many places to visit in Zermatt, including the village's beautiful churches, impressive museums, and great restaurants.
Zermatt Luxury Hotels
Basel, Switzerland
Basel is a city located in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel has a population of about 176,000 and is the third most populous city in Switzerland. Basel has many interesting places to visit, including the Basel Munster, the Basel Rathaus (town hall), the Basel Zoo, and the Munsterhof, the old town square. Basel also has a number of art museums, including the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Fondation Beyeler, and the Schaulager. Basel is a great city to visit, and I highly recommend it!.
Basel Luxury Hotels
Copenhagen, Denmark
There are a number of places to visit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include Tivoli Gardens, Nyhavn, and the Rosenborg Castle Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is a beautiful amusement park that has something for everyone. It is perfect for a day of fun with family or friends. Nyhavn is a charming canal district that is popular for its brightly colored houses and lively atmosphere. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing cruise down the canal or take a seat in one of the many cafes and restaurants. The Rosenborg Castle Gardens are home to a majestic castle as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. There is plenty to see and do in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Copenhagen Luxury Hotels
Steamboat Springs, CO, United States
Steamboat Springs is located in northwestern Colorado. The town is named for the steamboats that traveled up the Yampa River in the 1800s. Today, the town is a popular tourist destination, known for its skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and rafting.
Steamboat Springs Luxury Hotels
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is home to many tourist attractions. Some popular places to visit in Abu Dhabi include the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Ferrari World Theme Park, and the Yas Island Waterpark. There are also a number of museums and shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, making it a great destination for those looking for a mix of culture and leisure.
Abu Dhabi Luxury Hotels
Abu Dhabi Luxury Resorts
Abu Dhabi Luxury Villas
Bogota, Colombia
There's a lot to see and do in Bogota. Some of the top places to visit include the historical La Candelaria district, the cobblestone streets of Plaza de Bolivar, the Monserrate mountain, the Bogota Botanical Garden, and the Gold Museum. La Candelaria is home to many brightly-colored colonial buildings, churches, and plazas. Plaza de Bolivar is the center of Bogota and is surrounded by important landmarks like the Presidential Palace and the National Capitol. The Monserrate mountain is a popular tourist destination due to its stunning views of Bogota. The Bogota Botanical Garden is the largest in Colombia and features a wide variety of plants and trees. The Gold Museum is home to the largest collection of Pre-Columbian gold artifacts in the world.
Bogota Luxury Hotels
Cebu, Philippines
Due to its location and its rich history, there are plenty of places to visit in Cebu. Some of the most popular tourist destinations include the Cebu Taoist Temple, the Fort San Pedro, the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, and the Magellan's Cross.
Cebu Luxury Hotels
Cebu Luxury Resorts
Lagos, Portugal
Lagos is a small town in Portugal with a population of around 22,000. It's located in the Algarve region and is a popular tourist destination. Some of the places to visit in Lagos are the beaches, the old town, and the Marina. The beaches are beautiful and there are a lot of them to choose from. The old town is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways with lots of shops and restaurants. The Marina is a great place to walk around and watch the boats.
Lagos Luxury Hotels
Medellin, Colombia
Some places to visit in Medellin, Colombia are: the Botanical Garden, the Ethnographic Museum, the Jardin Botanico, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Park of Lights, and the San Pedro Claver Church.
Medellin Luxury Hotels
Genoa, Italy
While there are many places to visit in Genoa, one of the must-sees is the city's cathedral. Dedicated to San Lorenzo, the church features an intricate Gothic facade and a Renaissance interior. If you're looking for a place to take in some stunning views, head to the Genoa Aquarium, which is located on the promenade stretching along the city's harbor.
Genoa Luxury Hotels
Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam. Its a bridge town thats best explored on foot. The narrow streets are a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese architecture. There are tailors, artisans, and lantern shops galore. The food is also some of the best in Vietnam. Be sure to try the local specialties, like Cao Lau and White Rose dumplings.
Hoi An Luxury Hotels
Hoi An Luxury Resorts
Baku, Azerbaijan
Baku, Azerbaijan is a city with a lot of culture and history. There are a lot of places to visit, like the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower. There are also a lot of great restaurants, like the Flame Club, which has a great atmosphere and delicious food.
Baku Luxury Hotels
San Luis Obispo, CA, United States
San Luis Obispo is a city located in the central coast of California. It's known for its natural beauty, relaxed vibe, and abundance of things to do. Some of the top places to visit in San Luis Obispo include the Madonna Inn, Hearst Castle, and the Paso Robles wine country. The city is also home to a variety of beaches, parks, and other attractions. In addition, San Luis Obispo is a great place to live, with plenty of restaurants, shops, and other amenities.
San Luis Obispo Luxury Hotels
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The city is located on the west coast of the island and is the administrative, commercial, and industrial center of Sri Lanka. Colombo is also the center of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, with numerous Buddhist temples. There are a number of places to visit in Colombo, including the Galle Face Green, the Dutch fort, the Pettah Bazaar, and the Sri Lankan National Museum.
Colombo Luxury Hotels
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
The city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia is home to some of the most stunning temples and historical landmarks in the country. The city is also a great place to enjoy traditional Javanese culture and cuisine. Some of the must-see places in Yogyakarta include the Borobudur Temple, the Prambanan Temple, and the Sultan's Palace.
Yogyakarta Luxury Hotels
Cefalu, Italy
Looking for a beautiful and historic place to visit in Italy? Look no further than Cefalu. This town is teeming with history and stunning architecture, and its location on the coast makes it the perfect place to relax and take in the stunning scenery. Don't miss the Duomo di Cefalu, a 12th century Norman church that is definitely worth a visit, or the Palazzo dei Normanni, a former royal palace.
Cefalu Luxury Hotels
San Jose, CA, United States
San Jose, California, is home to a variety of tourist destinations. Some popular places to visit include the Winchester Mystery House, the Tech Museum of Innovation, and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. There are also a number of lovely parks, such as Kelley Park and Plaza de Cesar Chavez, that are well worth a visit. San Jose is also home to a number of great restaurants, so be sure to check out the local cuisine. Whatever your interests, San Jose has something to offer visitors.
San Jose Luxury Hotels
Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in China. There are many places to visit in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Victoria Peak, and the Temple Street Night Market. Hong Kong is also a great place to shop, with many high-end malls and markets.
Hong Kong Luxury Hotels
Hong Kong Luxury Resorts
Orlando, FL, United States
Orlando is a city in the central region of Florida, in the United States. The city is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the metropolitan area also known as Greater Orlando. Orlando is well known for its theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld Orlando. Other tourist destinations in Orlando include the Holy Land Experience, the Orlando Science Center, and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the United States.
Orlando Luxury Hotels
Orlando Luxury Resorts
Orlando Luxury Villas
Philadelphia, PA, United States
If youre looking for a place thats rich in history and culture, Philadelphia is the place for you. The city is home to numerous iconic landmarks, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Theres also a great variety of museums and other attractions to explore, such as the Philadelphia Zoo and the Please Touch Museum. And, of course, Philly is the birthplace of Americas favorite sandwich, the cheesesteak. So why not visit Americas most historic city and see for yourself what all the fuss is about?.
Philadelphia Luxury Hotels
Nice, France
France is known for its many beautiful places to visit, and Nice is no exception. With its stunning coastline and mild climate, Nice is a popular tourist destination. Some of the most popular places to visit in Nice include the Promenade des Anglais, the Castle Hill, and the Old Town. There is also a wide variety of shops and restaurants to enjoy in Nice. If you're looking for a beautiful and relaxing place to visit in France, Nice is definitely worth considering.
Nice Luxury Hotels
Nice Luxury Villas
Singapore, Singapore
Singapore is a popular tourist destination, brimming with cultural and natural attractions. From award-winning restaurants to serene gardens and pristine beaches, there is much to explore in this diverse city-state. Here are some of the top places to visit in Singapore: 1. Marina Bay: This iconic waterfront district is home to stunning architecture, world-class landmarks, and a vibrant nightlife. 2. Gardens by the Bay: These stunning gardens feature a mix of plants from around the world, as well as towering sculptures and a biodome. 3. Chinatown: This lively district is home to traditional Chinese shops and restaurants, as well as vibrant street markets. 4. Little India: This neighborhood is known for its vibrant culture and colorful temples. 5. Sentosa Island: This resort island is home to sandy beaches, lush rainforests, and a variety of entertainment options.
Singapore Luxury Hotels
Singapore Luxury Resorts
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Nottingham is a city in the East Midlands of England. It is one of the United Kingdom's major cities, with a population of over 321,000. The city is home to two universities, Queen's Medical Centre, and seven football grounds. Nottingham is known for its lace-making and bicycle manufacturing. The city has a rich history, dating back to the Bronze Age. There are plenty of places to visit in Nottingham, including the Nottingham Castle, the Sherwood Forest, and the National Ice Centre. The city also has a lively nightlife, with a variety of pubs and bars.
Nottingham Luxury Hotels
Cannes, France
Cannes is a city located in the south of France. Some of the places to visit in Cannes are the Palais des Festivals et des Congres, the Boulevard de la Croisette, and Le Suquet.
Cannes Luxury Hotels
Cannes Luxury Villas
Park City, UT, United States
Park City, Utah, offers visitors a wealth of places to visit and things to do. Main Street, with its charming shops and restaurants, is a must-see. The Park City Museum tells the town's fascinating history, and the Park City Utah Temple is a beautiful sight. For outdoor enthusiasts, there's plenty of skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and mountain biking in the summer. And don't forget to visit the Olympic Park, where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.
Park City Luxury Hotels
Park City Luxury Resorts
Port Angeles, WA, United States
If you're looking for a quaint, small town to visit in the US, Port Angeles is worth a stop. Located in the state of Washington, it's right on the Pacific coast with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains. There's plenty of things to do in the area, from hiking and fishing to whale watching and enjoying the local restaurants and breweries.
Port Angeles Luxury Hotels
Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
If you're looking for a fun-filled Florida getaway, look no further than Fort Lauderdale! With its miles of pristine beaches, world-famous shopping and vibrant nightlife, there's something for everyone in this seaside city. Here are some of the top places to visit in Fort Lauderdale: Las Olas Boulevard: This popular shopping and dining district is home to some of Fort Lauderdale's most upscale boutiques and restaurants. The Beach: With its wide, sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, Fort Lauderdale's beach is a major draw for visitors. The Everglades: Just a short drive from Fort Lauderdale, the Everglades are home to an abundance of wildlife, including alligators, bald eagles and manatees. The Broward Center for the Performing Arts: This world-class performing arts center is home to a variety of theater, dance and music performances. So what are you waiting for? Book your trip to Fort Lauderdale today!.
Fort Lauderdale Luxury Hotels
Fort Lauderdale Luxury Resorts
Myrtle Beach, SC, United States
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to visit in the area, including amusement parks, beaches, and golf courses. Myrtle Beach also has a lively nightlife, with plenty of bars and restaurants.
Myrtle Beach Luxury Hotels
Myrtle Beach Luxury Resorts
Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg is one of the most visited places in Austria. It is a city rich in history and culture. There are many places to visit, such as the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Mirabell Palace, and the Salzburg Cathedral. There are also many hiking trails and parks to enjoy.
Salzburg Luxury Hotels
Pattaya, Thailand
Pattaya is an amazing city with plenty of places to visit and things to do. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand, Pattaya offers something for everyone. There are lovely beaches, interesting temples, great shopping, and exciting nightlife. With its moderate climate and affordable prices, it's no wonder Pattaya is a favorite destination for tourists from all over the world.
Pattaya Luxury Hotels
Pattaya Luxury Resorts
Pattaya Luxury Villas
Dallas, TX, United States
Dallas is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the ninth most populous city in the United States and the third most populous city in the state of Texas. Dallas is also the main city of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city's prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, and its position as a major transportation hub for the South. Dallas is home to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, and transportation. The city is home to the world's largest airline hub and the third largest cargo airport in the United States.
Dallas Luxury Hotels
Kolkata, India
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. The city is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River. It is the second most populous city in India, after Mumbai, and the third most populous metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi. The city is notable for its colonial architecture, art and culture, and for its overwhelming poverty. Kolkata is home to the Indian Museum, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the National Library of India, and the Indian Statistical Institute.
Kolkata Luxury Hotels
San Antonio, TX, United States
San Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Texas. There are plenty of places to visit in this city, from the well-known River Walk to the exquisite Spanish missions. If you're looking for a fun place to spend the day, you can't go wrong with San Antonio.
San Antonio Luxury Hotels
Seattle, WA, United States
There are many wonderful places to visit in Seattle, Washington. Some of the most popular attractions include Pike Place Market, the Seattle Space Needle, and the Museum of Pop Culture. There are also many parks and gardens, such as Volunteer Park and Seattle Chinese Garden, as well as plenty of restaurants and shops. Located on the other side of the world, Western Australia is a great place to visit for those looking for something different. Some of the most popular attractions include Rottnest Island, the Margaret River region, and Monkey Mia. There are also plenty of beautiful parks and gardens, such as Kings Park and Botanic Garden, as well as restaurants and shops.
Seattle Luxury Hotels
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool is a city located in North West England and is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom. The city is known for its football teams Liverpool and Everton, The Beatles, and its maritime history. Liverpool is a popular tourist destination and is home to various tourist attractions including Mersey Ferry, Liverpool Cathedral, and Albert Dock.
Liverpool Luxury Hotels
Malmo, Sweden
Malmo is Sweden's third largest city with a population of over 310,000. It is located in the province of Scania on the country's southern tip. Malmo is a vibrant city with a strong arts and cultural scene. There are plenty of places to visit in Malmo, including the Malmo Castle, the Botanical Gardens, and the Turning Torso skyscraper. Malmo is also home to a large shopping district and a lively nightlife.
Malmo Luxury Hotels
Gothenburg, Sweden
Goteborg, Sweden's second largest city, is a major port on the country's west coast. It's a popular tourist destination, known for its lively nightlife, beautiful architecture and delicious seafood. Some of the city's highlights include the Liseberg amusement park, the Botanical Garden, and the charming old town district. Goteborg is also home to a large number of museums, including the Volvo Museum, the Maritime Museum and the Universeum science center.
Gothenburg Luxury Hotels
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana is the capital city of Slovenia and is a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Ljubljana, such as the castle, the old town, and the cathedral. The city is also home to many museums, art galleries, and parks. Ljubljana is a great city to explore on foot, and there are many restaurants and cafes to enjoy.
Ljubljana Luxury Hotels
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Australia is a vast country with plenty of stunning places to visit, but Sydney is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations on the continent. From the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the beautiful beaches and lush national parks, there's something for everyone in this lively city. There's also a thriving food and nightlife scene, so you'll never run out of things to do in Sydney.
Sydney Luxury Hotels
Sydney Luxury Villas
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
There's a lot to love about Melbourne its lively arts and culture scene, its parks and gardens, its diverse range of restaurants and cafes, and its stunning architecture. Here are some of the best places to visit in Melbourne: - Federation Square: This iconic square is a great place to people-watch and take in the city's impressive architecture. It's also home to a number of museums and galleries, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the National Gallery of Victoria. - Queen Victoria Market: This vibrant market is a must-visit for foodies and shoppers alike. It's the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere, and offers a vast array of fresh produce, meat, seafood, and souvenirs. - Melbourne Cricket Ground: If you're a sports fan, be sure to check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the largest cricket stadium in the world. It's also home to the Australian Football League, and has hosted a number of major sporting events, including the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Union World Cup. - Royal Botanic Gardens: These beautiful gardens are a great place to relax and take in some of Melbourne's natural beauty. They're home to a number of different gardens, including the Australian Garden, the Sculpture Garden, and the Japanese Garden.
Melbourne Luxury Hotels
Melbourne Luxury Villas
Vancouver, BC, Canada
The top places to visit in Vancouver are Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, and Chinatown. These are all must-see attractions that offer an array of activities, scenery, and history. Stanley Park is a world-famous urban park that features greenery, beaches, gardens, and a stunning view of the North Shore Mountains. Granville Island is a vibrant neighbourhood with unique shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Gastown is the city's oldest neighbourhood and is home to charming cobblestone streets and funky boutiques. Chinatown is one of the largest and most vibrant Chinatowns in North America and offers delicious food, interesting history, and vibrant culture.
Vancouver Luxury Hotels
Toronto, ON, Canada
From the CN Tower and Hockey Hall of Fame to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Distillery District, there are plenty of amazing places to visit in Toronto, Canada. With something for everyone, Toronto is a great city to explore. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your trip today!.
Toronto Luxury Hotels
Montreal, QC, Canada
Montreal is a vibrant city with something for everyone. There are plenty of places to visit, including the Notre Dame Basilica, the Olympic Stadium, and Mount Royal. The city is also home to a lively arts and culture scene, with theatres, art galleries, and music venues. Montreal is a great place to visit year-round, with festivals and events happening throughout the year.
Montreal Luxury Hotels
Seville, Spain
Seville is one of the most visited places in Spain for a plethora of reasons: its stunning architecture, tapas bars, flamenco and great weather. The Giralda Tower is a must-see when in Seville as is the Plaza de Espana. Andalusian culture is heavily present in the city and is best experienced by wandering the narrow streets and alleyways, popping into a lively tapas bar for a drink and some snacks or enjoying a flamenco show.
Seville Luxury Hotels
Seville Luxury Villas
Ocean City, MD, United States
Ocean City is a seaside resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, on the Atlantic coast. It is well known for its long promenade, its fishing, and its crab cuisine. There are plenty of places to visit in Ocean City, including the boardwalk, amusement rides, shopping, and restaurants. You can also visit the Assateague Island National Seashore, which is home to wild horses, or head to the nearby town of Berlin for more shopping and dining options.
Ocean City Luxury Hotels
Cambridge, MA, United States
If you're looking for a quintessential New England town to visit, Cambridge, Massachusetts is the place for you. With its elaborate architecture and Colonial history, Cambridge is a lively town with plenty of things to see and do - perfect for a weekend getaway. Some of the places you won't want to miss include the Harvard University campus, the charming and lively shops and restaurants in Harvard Square, and the leafy paths of the Cambridge Common.
Cambridge Luxury Hotels
Laguna Beach, CA, United States
Laguna Beach, California is a place known for its stunningly beautiful coastline, excellent restaurants, and art galleries. But there's more to Laguna Beach than meets the eye. Here are some of the best places to visit in Laguna Beach: Crystal Cove State Park: This state park is known for its coves, tidepools, and bluffs. It's a great place to go hiking, swimming, and snorkeling. Heisler Park: This park is a great place for a walk or a picnic. It's also home to some of the best views of the Pacific Coast. Downtown Laguna Beach: This charming downtown area is home to art galleries, boutique shops, and excellent restaurants. Aliso Beach: This beach is known for its excellent surfing and swimming conditions. It's also a great place to take a walk or enjoy a picnic.
Laguna Beach Luxury Hotels
Hot Springs, AR, United States
In downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, you'll find historic buildings, antique shops, and art galleries. For nature lovers, there are also plenty of places to visit, including the Garland County Arboretum, Ouachita National Forest, and Hot Springs National Park. Spa enthusiasts can enjoy a relaxing day in one of the area's hot springs. And no trip to Hot Springs is complete without a visit to the world-famous Bathhouse Row.
Hot Springs Luxury Hotels
Sedona, AZ, United States
There are many places to visit in Sedona, Arizona. Among the most popular are the Chapel of the Holy Cross, Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and Boynton Canyon. The town's unique red-rock formations and ancient ruins offer plenty of photo opportunities. Visitors can also enjoy hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Sedona is a great place to relax and take in the natural beauty of the Southwest.
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Sedona Luxury Resorts
Boulder, CO, United States
Boulder, Colorado is a breathtaking city nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The city is home to stunning views, ample outdoor recreation, and a lively arts scene. Outdoor enthusiasts will love exploring the city's many trails, parks, and open spaces. History buffs will enjoy checking out the city's museums and historic sites. Culture seekers will appreciate the city's many theaters, art galleries, and restaurants. No matter what your interests, you'll find something to love in Boulder.
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Key West, FL, United States
Key West is a small island off the coast of Florida that is filled with history, charm, and fun places to visit. Its lush tropical setting and the laid-back vibe of the island make it a popular destination for those looking for a relaxing getaway. There are plenty of places to explore in Key West, from the charming historic district to the crystal-clear waters of the Florida Keys. Here are some of the top places to visit in Key West: -The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum: This iconic museum is dedicated to the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West for over 20 years. -Duval Street: This lively street is the heart of Key West's nightlife and is home to many bars and restaurants. -The Southernmost Point: This landmark is located at the end of Duval Street and is the southernmost point in the continental United States. -The Key West Lighthouse: This picturesque lighthouse is a popular spot for tourists and offers stunning views of the island. -The African American Heritage House: This museum is dedicated to the history and culture of African Americans in Key West. -The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory: This attraction is home to over 2,000 butterflies and a variety of other tropical plants and animals.
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Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden is a city with many places to visit. One place is the Vasa Museum, which is home to a ship that sunk in 1628 and was raised from the ocean floor 333 years later. The ship is preserved and on display in the museum. Another place to visit is the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Swedish monarch. The palace is open for tours, and visitors can see the royal apartments, the throne room, and the Hall of State.
Stockholm Luxury Hotels
Destin, FL, United States
Looking for a place to visit in Florida? Look no further than Destin! This city is home to beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, and plenty of places to shop. No matter what you're looking for, you can find it in Destin. Be sure to check out the Destin Harbor and the fishing pier for amazing views and plenty of things to do. If you're looking for a place to relax, head to the beach and enjoy the sun and sand. There's something for everyone in Destin, so be sure to visit this amazing city!.
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Destin Luxury Resorts
Ashland, OR, United States
There are many places to visit in Ashland, Oregon. Some of the most popular places are the Shakespeare Festival, Lithia Park, and Mt. Ashland. The Shakespeare Festival is a great place to see some of the best plays in the world. Lithia Park is a beautiful park with a river running through it. Mt. Ashland is a great place to go skiing in the winter.
Ashland Luxury Hotels
Seaside, OR, United States
One of the most beautiful places on the Oregon Coast is Seaside. With its wide, sandy beach and majestic promenade, Seaside is a popular tourist destination. There are plenty of places to eat and shop, and the Seaside Aquarium is a must-see. Visitors can also enjoy fishing, whale watching, or just taking a leisurely stroll along the beach.
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Newport, RI, United States
Newport is a picturesque town located in southern Rhode Island that is home to some of the most visited tourist destinations in the United States. The city is known for its miles of beaches and historic mansions that line the coast. Some popular places to visit in Newport include the Cliff Walk, the Breakers Mansion, the Museum of Yachting, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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Siena, Italy
Siena, Italy is a popular tourist destination, thanks to its well-preserved medieval city center. The city is famous for its art, food, and wine. Siena is located in the heart of Tuscany, making it the perfect base for exploring this beautiful region of Italy. Don't miss the Duomo (cathedral), the Piazza del Campo, and the Torre del Mangia.
Siena Luxury Hotels
Reno, NV, United States
Home to the University of Nevada, Reno and a wide variety of cultural and natural attractions, Reno is a great place to visit. Some of the top places to see in Reno include the Nevada Museum of Art, the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center, and the Reno Events Center. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy hiking and skiing at Lake Tahoe and biking and kayaking on the Truckee River. In addition, Reno is home to a diverse array of restaurants and nightlife venues.
Reno Luxury Hotels
Atlantic City, NJ, United States
Atlantic City is a popular East Coast tourist destination, known for its boardwalks, beaches and casinos. There are plenty of places to visit in Atlantic City, from the Boardwalk Hall and the Absecon Lighthouse to the Atlantic City Aquarium and Lucy the Elephant. For a more thrilling experience, head to one of the city's casinos, where you can try your hand at blackjack, slots, roulette and more. Atlantic City also offers a wide variety of restaurants, from seafood spots to pizza places, so you're sure to find something to your taste. And if you're looking for some nightlife action, the city has you covered there too. Atlantic City is definitely a place worth visiting!.
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Lake George, NY, United States
Looking for a place to visit in upstate New York? Look no further than the stunning Lake George. This picturesque locale is located in the heart of the Adirondacks and is known for its pristine beauty and terrific recreational opportunities. Visitors can enjoy hiking, biking, boating, fishing, and skiing, among other activities. Don't miss the chance to take in the spectacular views from the summit of Prospect Mountain or from the water's edge.
Lake George Luxury Hotels
Buffalo, NY, United States
If you're looking for a city that has it all, Buffalo is the place to be. From its vibrant downtown district to its abundance of parks and nature preserves, there's something for everyone in Buffalo. Here are some of the top places to visit in Buffalo: 1. The Buffalo Zoo - One of the top zoos in the country, the Buffalo Zoo is a must-visit for animal lovers of all ages. 2. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery - Buffalo's answer to the Louvre, the Albright-Knox is home to some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. 3. The Buffalo-Niagara Heritage Village - This living history museum offers a glimpse into what life was like in Buffalo in the 1800s. 4. The Buffalo River - Take a walk or bike ride along the Buffalo River, one of the city's most picturesque areas. 5. Delaware Park - This large park is home to a variety of attractions, including a zoo, a golf course, and a nature preserve.
Buffalo Luxury Hotels
Rochester, MN, United States
Rochester, Minnesota is a city with plenty of places to visit. There's the Mayo Clinic, the Apache Mall, and several other shopping areas, as well as a variety of restaurants. There are also a few parks and golf courses. For those who love the outdoors, Rochester is also close to several state parks and the Mississippi River.
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Duluth, MN, United States
If you're looking for an amazing place to visit, Duluth, Minnesota should definitely be at the top of your list. This city is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States, and there are plenty of things to do here that will keep you entertained for days on end. Some of the most popular places to visit in Duluth include the Aerial Lift Bridge, the Glensheen Mansion, and Chester Creek Park. Additionally, there are a number of excellent restaurants and shopping areas in the city, so be sure to explore everything that Duluth has to offer.
Duluth Luxury Hotels
Maputo, Mozambique
Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and a city full of culture and history. There are many places to visit in Maputo, such as the Jose Eduardo dos Santos Museum, the Maputo Cathedral, and the Rua da Independencia. Maputo is also home to the Maputo Bay, which offers beautiful beaches and great seafood.
Maputo Luxury Hotels
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, located on the northeast coast of Spain, is a renowned tourist destination and one of the most popular cities in the world. There are plenty of places to visit in Barcelona, such as the Gothic Quarter, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and more. The city is also home to a lively nightlife and some of the best restaurants in the country.
Barcelona Luxury Hotels
Barcelona Luxury Villas
Split, Croatia
Split is a city on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is the second-largest city in Croatia and the largest city in Dalmatia. It has a population of over 200,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, which includes the City of Split and the surrounding towns, has a population of over 330,000. Split is a popular tourist destination and is the home of the Diocletian's Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other popular tourist destinations include the Riva, the Peristyle, the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, and Sustipan.
Split Luxury Hotels
Split Luxury Villas
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik is a city on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the administrative center of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Dubrovnik is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Adriatic".
Dubrovnik Luxury Hotels
Dubrovnik Luxury Villas
Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
Byron Bay is a magical place. It's no wonder that it's one of the most popular destinations in Australia. The town is set in a beautiful location, surrounded by rolling green hills and the bright blue ocean. There's plenty to do in Byron Bay, whether you're looking for a relaxing beach holiday or an adventure-filled trip. Some of the top places to visit in Byron Bay include the iconic lighthouse, the stunning beaches, and the lush rainforest. There's also a great nightlife and plenty of restaurants and cafes to enjoy. If you're looking for an amazing Australian getaway, be sure to add Byron Bay to your list!.
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Wellington, New Zealand
If you're looking for a little slice of heaven on earth, look no further than Wellington, New Zealand. With its gorgeous landscape and plethora of activities, there's something for everyone here. Whether you're a nature lover or a city slicker, Wellington has something special to offer. Top Wellington attractions include the Zealandia eco-sanctuary, the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens, and the sprawling Te Papa museum. For those who love getting out into the great outdoors, there are plenty of hiking and biking trails, as well as lovely seaside towns and villages to explore. And of course, no trip to Wellington would be complete without trying some of the delicious local cuisine be sure to sample a traditional Maori hangi feast! So what are you waiting for? Book your flight to Wellington today and start planning your perfect holiday!.
Wellington Luxury Hotels
Saint Louis, MO, United States
If you're looking for a fun place to visit with a rich history and plenty of things to see and do, look no further than Saint Louis, Missouri. This vibrant city is home to a variety of interesting attractions, including the Gateway Arch, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. There's also no shortage of restaurants and shopping options in Saint Louis. So, whether you're looking for a place to explore new cultures and cuisines or you're just looking for a place to have some fun, Saint Louis is a great option.
Saint Louis Luxury Hotels
Bloomington, IN, United States
The city of Bloomington, Indiana is home to a variety of attractions and places to visit. The Indiana University campus is a popular destination, as is the city's historic downtown district. Monroe County Courthouse
Having meetings with the public once per month will offer transparency regarding the Hluttaws work, since recent criticism has surfaced about the Hluttaw and what was actually being done, according to Hluttaw representatives.
We, the Hluttaw, will meet with the civil organizations once per month. Additionally, in between, we also welcome any questions from the public at any time said Daw Tin Ei, Speaker of Mon State Hluttaw.
The respective Hluttaw representatives will meet the public to explain their particular activities for a better understanding regarding their elected representatives work. The media groups can also question and advise the Hluttaw as regularly as necessary, according to Dr. Aung Naing Oo, deputy speaker of the Mon State Hluttaw.
Last month, the Mon State government group met with CSOs. We, the Hluttaw group, must also meet with media groups, CSOs and locals. Then, the public will know clearly about the Hluttaws programs, said Dr. Aung Naing Oo.
Starting in March, 2016, the current Mon State Hluttaw has been active 8 months and the Hluttaw has had 3 regular conference sessions and one special conference. So far, they have submitted 17 proposals and discussed 62 questions.
Currently, the Mon State Hluttaw has 31 representatives, comprised of 20 representatives from Mon States 10 townships, 3 ethnic representatives, and 8 representatives of Tatmadaw [army].
Obamacare has some significant structural problems, all stemming from the way it gives the whip-hand to insurance companies, who get to demand ever-larger sums from both the government and Obamacare users; nevertheless, the ability to get insurance makes an enormous difference for people contemplating starting innovative businesses and stepping away from big, lumbering corporations that are big enough to extend coverage to their employees.
My own family's move to the USA from the UK was only possible thanks to Obamacare; I have pre-existing medical conditions that made me uninsurable as a freelance writer, small business owner and novelist, and any move to the USA without some way to get healthcare would have put my whole family's finances from our home to our retirement to our daughter's college savings at risk (I'm pinning my hopes on California making good on its promise to lead the resistance to Trumpism, including the extension of a state healthcare plan that could even include single-payer healthcare or a public option).
In a compelling piece, CNN Money speaks to a diverse collection of small business owners who were able to start new firms only because of Obamacare, because of pre-existing conditions (like surviving cancer), or the need to keep their children insured, or because their loved ones have chronic health problems like profound autism.
Donald Trump's election may mean the end of the computer repair shop Jefferson Roberts opened eight years ago in Smyrna, Tennessee.
Roberts is diabetic and can't risk being uninsured. A month of insulin costs $1,100.
Knowing Obama planned to reform health care, he left his job. Rejected by insurers on the individual market, he was "lucky" to get into his state's high-risk pool for those with pre-existing conditions. When the exchange opened in 2014, he signed up for "even better insurance at a much more reasonable price, with subsidies. Finally, I was able to rest easy, knowing that I had good coverage."
Now, he depends on his Obamacare insurance to keep him alive.
Trump's vow to repeal the health reform law has left Roberts caught between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't want to close the shop to which he devotes 72 hours a week and look for a job with benefits. But he says he can't take the chance that Trump's plans could leave him without coverage.
"When President Obama was elected, I finally saw that I might have the chance to run my own business," said Roberts, 50, who worked in corporate IT for years. "I'd have to run away to save myself. I'm healthy and I'd like to stay healthy."
Entrepreneurs to Trump: Don't take away our Obamacare
[Tami Luhby/CNN Money]
FamilyBreakFinder created this map, featuring the slogans of every country's official tourism board. The key division, I think, is between ones that could apply to any country and ones that identify something specific to the country. [h/t Leigh]
Generic:
USA: All within your reach
Chile: All are welcome
India: Incredible India
Specific
Peru: land of the Incas
Mongolia: Go nomadic
Britain: What a knife island.
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*M*ake what you will of this. In the modern era of partisan polarization, which can be dated back to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, only the presid...
News / National
by Staff reporter
THE Minister of Home Affairs Dr Ignatius Chombo is proposing to amend citizenship clauses in the Constitution as part of legislation reforms.If the constitutional amendment is adopted, this would be the first time the country would have revised parts of its constitution that came into force in 2013.Dr Chombo, in a prepared response submitted to Parliament on his behalf by the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Dr Douglas Mombeshora during Wednesday's Question and Answer session, said the proposed constitutional amendments had already been forwarded to Government."The Ministry has made submissions to Government for amendments of certain provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe regarding the Citizenship Law. As such, we therefore await the said amendments to the Constitution," said Dr Chombo.The Minister did not give more details on the proposals.Dr Chombo was responding to a written question by Zanu-PF MP for Kadoma Central, Fani Phiri, who wanted to know procedures being taken by Government on the status of people considered to be "aliens".According to chapter three of the Constitution, a person can be a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth, descent, or registration. It says citizens by birth are persons who were born in Zimbabwe provided that when they were born either their mother or their father was a Zimbabwean citizen or any of their grandparents was a Zimbabwean citizen by birth or descent.On citizenship by descent, the Constitution says: "Persons born outside Zimbabwe are Zimbabweans by descent if, when they were born either of their parents or any of their grandparents was a Zimbabwean citizen by birth or descent. Or either of their parents was a Zimbabwean citizen by registration and the birth is registered in Zimbabwe in accordance with law relating to the registration of births."One can be a citizen by registration if he or she has been married to a Zimbabwean citizen for at least five years and satisfies conditions prescribed by an Act of Parliament.Citizenship by registration can also be acquired by any person who has been continuously and lawfully resident in Zimbabwe for at least 10 years and also satisfies conditions prescribed by an Act of Parliament.It can also be granted to a child that has been adopted by a Zimbabwean citizen.
News / National
by Staff reporter
THE dualisation of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is expected to commence soon as feasibility studies for the stretch from the border town to Bulawayo are now complete, a Cabinet Minister has said.Government intends to dualise the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu road as well.Beitbridge is the busiest inland port in the region as it is the gateway to South Africa for most countries in Sadc.In an interview on the sidelines of the commissioning of a bridge in Umzingwane on Wednesday, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Dr Joram Gumbo said everything was going according to plan for the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road."We did it with assistance from Comesa. The feasibilities studies are over and have been handed over. We will soon flight tenders in the newspapers seeking contractors to help us with the feasibility studies for the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls stretch. As soon as that is done documents will be tabled for consideration for the release of money and construction of the road. It's important for our economy as heavy volumes of traffic use this road," said Dr Gumbo.Turning to Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu road, the Minister said the project will be ratified by Cabinet to pave way for contractors to bring equipment into the country for the commencement of the project. "As soon as we sign the concession agreement money will then be realised for the project. We have two contractors, Geiger International, an Austrian company and China Harbour from China. By the end of the month they will be bringing equipment into the country. We are anticipating that the construction of the road commences beginning of January," said the Minister.He said it will take two-and-a-half years to complete the 400 kilometre stretch from the Beitbridge to Harare."The project has been divided into segments of 100km each which will be done simultaneously. However, the stretch from Harare to Chirundu will take a bit longer as it is expected to be completed after four years. I'm however happy that we are getting 40 percent of the resources from local people. The supply of cement, quarry, and some equipment has been ring- fenced for locals and that will create employment," he said.Dr Gumbo said there was a need to expedite the completion of these roads especially the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu one, before the country loses transit business to neighbouring countries."This road is important for us and the Southern African region as it is a transit road into the region."As Zimbabwe if we don't construct the road we will lose business to Kazungula Border Post as our colleagues are mooting a road that passes through Botswana and into Zambia," Dr Gumbo.
BASF has started engineering for a stepwise capacity increase of its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production facilities at the companys Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana. Capacity will be increased incrementally from 300,000 metric tons per year to around 600,000 metric tons per year.
The engineering for the capacity increase of the MDI synthesis has already started. In subsequent steps, which will be implemented in alignment with business development, the MDI precursor units in Geismar will be expanded accordingly, said Stefano Pigozzi, President of BASFs Monomers division. The usage of latest proprietary technologies will ensure best-in-class productivity and energy efficiency.
Stefan Doerr, head of the regional business unit Monomers North America, added: With this investment, BASF will support the growth of its North American customers. Our existing infrastructure at the Geismar site combined with the competitive raw materials based on shale gas make the Geismar site ideally suited for this investment. The experienced BASF team at the site will ensure smooth implementation of the project.
News / National
by Staff reporter
VICE-PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and the G40 faction have been dragged into a case in which Zanu-PF Bulawayo youth chairperson Magura Charumbira is charged with impersonation.Charumbira is alleged to have visited Save The Nation Building and masqueraded as a police officer to a private tutor, Maxwell Kandiero, before ordering him and all the occupants to vacate the premises.He pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Batanai Tuwe on Wednesday.Charumbira claimed the complainants were sent by the G40 faction to tarnish his image.He said G40 members in Bulawayo always accuse him of belonging to the Mnangagwa faction."The truth is I never misrepresented as a police officer. They were sent by Antipas Banda and his team, who call themselves G40," Charumbira told the court."They want to undermine my image because I want to be over all as chairman (sic)."He alleged his rivals in the ruling party wanted him to relinquish his chairmanship, but he had refused to do so, resulting in them cooking up allegations against him.Charumbira said G40 members hated him because of his popularity in Bulawayo and the help he offers to many people in the city."They say I am affiliated to Mnangagwa and that is not possible. They wish to have me fail, as I want to run as a member of the National Assembly," he said.But Kandiero insisted Charumbira visited his workplace and claimed to be a police officer before ordering him and his students to vacate the building.The matter was remanded to November 18 for continuation and Charumbira is out of custody.The court heard that Kandiero of Pumula North, a private tutor, was teaching his students at Save The Nation Building on September 16 this year when Charumbira and Andrew Munyoro visited.They allegedly identified themselves as police officers from Bulawayo Central, saying they had come to evict the occupants from the property.Kandiero asked them to produce their identity particulars, but they refused before he allegedly turned violent.Charumbira allegedly ordered all the students out of the building and demanded the keys from the complainant.The students complied with the order and Kandiero called Efeso Mumera, who rushed to the property and discovered that the alleged police officers were known Zanu-PF members.Mumera enquired, since when had they became police officers, but they allegedly became violent. Kandiero reported the matter to the police, leading to their arrest.
WUZHEN, China Outraged Americans are calling on tech companies to crackdown on "fake news" a call that is echoing a world away at a Chinese Communist Party-backed conference on the future of the internet.
In the week since Donald Trump triumphed in the U.S. presidential race, internet companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter have been accused by some of bolstering his rise by giving people a platform to spread fabrications packaged as valid news reporting. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg initially brushed off the criticism, saying that "99 percent of what people see is authentic." He soon changed course, deciding, alongside Google, to stop some of the worst offenders from making money off ads.
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The debate about social media's role in Trump's rise and the question of policing online content resonated at this week's World Internet Summit, a bizarre event where Chinese censors mixed with Cambodia's prime minister and a smattering of American tech executives at a resort outside Shanghai.
The summit, now in its third year, is an expensive effort to spread an alternate vision for the internet. California-types talk about "connectivity" and imagine a borderless world. President Xi Jinping prefers to talk about "cyber sovereignty," an internet where each country controls a slice of the web.
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As the architects of the Great Firewall, the system of censorship that controls what the country's 700 million internet users read and see, China's leaders are longtime advocates of a web where the state provides "security," vetting what content is and is not safe.
It is not "safe" for people in China to use Google's search engine, or instance, nor can they download the Facebook App. Searching for information about the wealth of certain Chinese political figures and hundreds of other things is also out of bounds.
And it's not just blocking sites and search terms. The Chinese Communist Party sees social media as a threat to social stability and worries that citizens connecting online could lead to "color revolutions" or mass unrest.
Chinese internet companies are asked to hire in-house censors to vet posts on mirco-blogging platforms such as Weibo and chat services such as Weixin. On these and other platforms, there are periodic crackdowns on "fake news" and "rumor-mongering" all in the name of protecting the public good.
"It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts," read a July 2016 missive from the Cyberspace Administration of China.
American officials and companies have been vocal critics of China's paternalistic web policing, calling the Great Firewall a barrier to trade and a violation of human rights. On the eve of the conference in Wuzhen, Amnesty International urged U.S. companies like Facebook to "resist China's Orwellian vision of the internet."
To be clear, the United States is far from adopting China's vision of the internet or anything close. Blocking purveyors of "fake news" is different than blocking entire websites and search terms, or criminalizing dissent.
But it was striking to see how what's happening in America became a focus at the Wuzhen conference. Over two days of speeches, several people referenced Trump's rise as evidence of why the internet must be more tightly controlled.
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On day one, Robin Li, founder of Baidu, shared his thoughts on Trump. He was not, like many Americans, surprised by Trump's victory, Li said. The nature of the internet, particularly social media, made his rise "inevitable."
Li said Trump, unlike Clinton, understood that "conspiracy" and "extreme emotional expression" thrive online. Now U.S. tech and media have learned they need to step in, he said.
Fear of an unbridled internet ran deep in Wuzhen. While Facebook VP Vaughan Smith delivered a peppy talk on artificial intelligence in one room, another group gathered to discuss "cyber terrorism," blaming social media for the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Kam Chow Wong, a former Hong Kong police officer who now teaches criminal justice at Cincinnati's Xavier University, used words like "extremism" to describe student activism in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
He said authorities need to do more to control social media. "If you regulate in an appropriate manner, it will make it more useful, then it will be more free."
"I don't think anybody knows why Trump won, but it's a good move that the U.S., is trying to regulate social media; it's overdue."
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The Washington Post's Congcong Zhang contributed to this report.
The Empire Man, modeled on the late Elmer Lynn Hauldren, makes the "i" in "Empire" on a sign in a new Empire Today retail store in Commack, N.Y., photographed Jan. 22, 2015. (Brian Harkin / Chicago Tribune)
Empire Today, the Northlake-based flooring company best known for its incessantly aired TV jingle, has been sold to private equity firm H.I.G. Capital for an undisclosed amount.
The only number known to be associated with the deal is 800-588-2300, the familiar singing coda to Empire's commercials, which likely will be branded onto new audiences across the U.S.
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While terms of the acquisition, announced Thursday, were not disclosed, H.I.G. plans to drive growth for the Empire brand, spreading its in-home flooring services, and presumably its jingle, beyond the 68 markets it currently reaches.
"H.I.G. has spent a great deal of time with our team and the business, is entirely supportive of our vision to become America's first and best choice for installed flooring, and has made this investment to help us achieve that goal," Keith Weinberger, CEO of Empire Today, said in a news release.
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Founded in Chicago in 1959 as a small, family-owned business by Seymour Cohen, Empire was sold to a private investment firm in the late 1990s and expanded nationwide. It now bills itself as the largest in-home sales flooring company in America.
In May, Empire announced a bricks-and-mortar initiative, partnering with J.C. Penney to launch an Empire-branded store-within-a-store at seven locations in Florida and suburban Washington, D.C.
"Empire is a market leader with a compelling customer value proposition, a unique business model, an incredible brand and significant growth prospects," Brian Schwartz, an executive managing director with H.I.G. Capital, said in a news release.
Empire and H.I.G. did not respond to requests for comments Friday.
The acquisition also includes Chicago rival Luna Carpet, which was purchased by Empire for an undisclosed sum in January 2012. Both brands have continued as separate operations, replete with their own distinctive jingles, under one corporate roof.
The Empire jingle first hit the airwaves in 1977 when new spokesman Elmer Lynn Hauldren wrote and recorded the ditty with his a cappella group, the Fabulous 40s. Hauldren, who also created the folksy Empire Man character, died in 2011 at age 89.
Luna was founded in 1958 as an in-home shopping plastic slipcover company by Turkish immigrant Salamon DeZara. The company added carpet sales a few years later, and launched its own TV jingle in 1997 in a bid to expand beyond its Hispanic customer base and go head-to-head with Empire.
Luna moved into retail in 2007, and operates showrooms in Addison, Deerfield, Lake Zurich, Naperville, Oakbrook Terrace and Schaumburg.
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Founded in 1993, Miami-based H.I.G. has more than $20 billion in assets under management.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
A leading candidate to be President-elect Donald Trump's treasury secretary was deeply involved in running a bank that has received $900 million in federal bailout money and that has been accused of discrimination - examples of the potentially thorny conflicts of interest that could plague Trump's nascent administration.
Steven Mnuchin was the finance chairman for Trump's campaign, and three people close to the presidential transition team said that at the moment he is among the most likely candidates to helm Treasury. Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs veteran, made his name as a private investor when he led the 2009 purchase of failed subprime mortgage lender IndyMac, the California bank whose long lines of customers waiting to withdraw their money became an enduring image of the financial crisis.
Central to the deal was a promise by federal regulators to cover a significant share of the bank's losses - a guarantee that lasts through 2019. In addition, the bank - later renamed OneWest - has repeatedly faced criticism over its attempts to foreclose on homeowners who were in the process of modifying their loans, among other practices.
On Thursday, an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development accusing the bank of locating branches in predominantly white neighborhoods while avoiding minority communities, including two years in which only two black borrowers received home loans across six counties.
"If you look at the story of IndyMac and OneWest, it's a story of hardship, foreclosure and pain for working communities, and a story of profit for investors," said Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, the umbrella organization representing more than 300 community groups that filed the complaint.
Mnuchin's long involvement with the bank could raise questions about his ability to lead an agency at the forefront of the government's oversight of the financial industry. OneWest was purchased last year by the financial firm CIT, which is partially overseen by Treasury. It has been named a "systemically important" financial institution - often informally called "too big to fail" - worthy of additional scrutiny because of the risk it poses to the economy in a crisis. Mnuchin is on CIT's board of directors and owns $100 million in company stock, according to compensation research firm Equilar.
"Whenever you have someone coming from the financial sector, you're going to see issues, especially post-bailout," said Jordan Libowitz, communications director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Mnuchin is one of several Cabinet candidates and members of Trump's transition team whose close ties to the industries is drawing criticism from some lawmakers. Oil industry magnate Harold Hamm is under consideration for energy secretary. The list of financiers advising Trump includes Anthony Scaramucci, Steve Feinberg and John Paulson, who was one of Mnuchin's partners in the deal to buy IndyMac. Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose consulting company has had extensive contracts with foreign governments, could be the next secretary of state.
Other widely discussed candidates for treasury secretary, including JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon and private equity financier Wilbur Ross, might face conflicts of their own.
A spokesman for Mnuchin declined to comment. But a person close to him, speaking on the condition of anonymity because his employer does not allow him to talk on the record, said that while at the bank, Mnuchin's "entire mission was to save people's homes."
CIT said in a statement that it "is committed to fair-lending and works hard to meet the credit needs of all communities and neighborhoods we serve."
The purchase of IndyMac is just one of the many complex deals that Mnuchin has struck over his decades in the upper echelons of finance. He spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs before leaving to join an investment fund set up by hedge fund investor - and prominent Democrat - George Soros. Mnuchin helped back the construction of Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago - and was later sued by Trump in an effort to secure more favorable terms. And after moving to California to take control of IndyMac, Mnuchin reinvented himself as a film producer and financier, putting out blockbusters such as "Avatar" and "Suicide Squad."
Mnuchin would not be the first Wall Street veteran to be recruited for treasury secretary, of course. Robert Rubin spent more than two decades at Goldman Sachs before joining President Bill Clinton's administration. Henry Paulson Jr. was chief executive of the storied investment bank when he was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush and moved to sell about $500 million in Goldman stock upon his confirmation.
Government ethics experts said Mnuchin could avoid conflicts of interest by severing his ties to the industry. If Mnuchin were nominated, the Office of Government Ethics and the Senate committee overseeing his confirmation would recommend how to proceed. It would almost certainly entail Mnuchin's stepping down from executive positions, the experts said, and it could include creating a blind trust for his assets or divesting his holdings in financial firms.
"The only way for him to be treasury secretary is to sell all of his holdings in financial services companies," said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush.
Libowitz, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, agreed. "That way the public can rest assured that whatever decisions they make are not for their personal profit but for the good of the American citizen."
Still, Mnuchin's connection to a bank under criticism over its handling of consumer mortgages and still receiving government aid could complicate his appointment, particularly amid the rising populist sentiment against Wall Street that helped propel Trump to his presidential victory.
"Steve Mnuchin is the ultimate Wall Street insider, a wheeler-dealer," said Marcus Stanley, policy director at the nonprofit coalition Americans for Financial Reform. "That gives us a lot of concern. We are opposed to having people who are Wall Street insiders being the people who regulate Wall Street."
The Trump transition team did not respond to a question about the steps his Cabinet would take to diminish conflicts of interest.
Mnuchin decided to invest in the banking industry after watching news coverage of the run on IndyMac in 2008, according to an interview he gave four years later to Bloomberg News. It was a major gamble during the collapse of the housing market. IndyMac was ground zero for some of the worst lending abuses, including shoddy documentation and high loan-to-value ratios.
He offered to pay $1.55 billion for the remains of IndyMac: about $13.9 billion in assets covering 57,000 homeowners. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a government agency, had taken over the bank and was desperately seeking buyers at a time when financial markets were cratering and even the nation's biggest banks were trembling.
To lure buyers, the agency promised to share in any future losses on the bank's outstanding loans. Mnuchin and his partners were responsible for the first $2.5 billion, then the FDIC would cover 80 percent of the losses until they totaled $3.8 billion.
After that, the government would reimburse the bank for 95 percent of its losses. The bank is expected to reach that level - and continue receiving government payments - by 2019, when the agreement ends, according to documents on the FDIC's website.
"Steven was the guy who rode in on a horse when nobody else would," the person close to Mnuchin said. "He was the guy who showed up to save it."
As an owner and chairman of the bank, Mnuchin was actively involved in steering its direction, according to the Bloomberg News interview. Under his leadership, the bank not only survived but also expanded as he bought other failed lenders across California.
The result was a windfall for Mnuchin and his private equity firm, Dune Capital. CIT acquired the bank last year for $3.4 billion, roughly double the original sale price.
"Right from Day One, when you have a venture deal like that, you are thinking of how do I exit? How do we liquefy our profits so we can go on to the next thing?" said Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Alexandria, Virginia. "It was a very profitable deal for Mnuchin and company, and I don't fault them for that."
But the bank remained a target for consumer advocates and watchdog groups under Mnuchin. In the complaint filed Thursday with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, advocates alleged that only 11 of the bank's 74 branches are in Hispanic neighborhoods. One was in a majority Asian neighborhood, and there were none in predominantly black communities.
The complaint covers the final year of Mnuchin's tenure at OneWest; the sale to CIT was completed in August 2015. The California Reinvestment Coalition's analysis of loans made that year alleged that only 8.4 percent of mortgages went to Hispanics, though they accounted for 43 percent of the region's population. It also alleges that the bank did not properly maintain foreclosed homes in minority areas.
"The evidence included in this complaint suggests that OneWest Bank has steered clear of people of color in its assessment areas for a number of years," said Sharon Kinlaw, executive director of the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley. "We want to know how many people were harmed and we look forward to learning what HUD finds out."
But the person close to Mnuchin said the bank had sharply curtailed its mortgage lending to focus on working through IndyMac's massive portfolio of distressed loans. Though the bank was part of the federal government's earliest attempts to modify mortgages, the majority of its business was servicing loans owned by others.
OneWest successfully modified many of the hundreds of thousands of loans it managed after purchasing IndyMac and other failed banks. But as the housing crisis deepened, Mnuchin's bank came under criticism for the pace of its foreclosures and what customers complained was a hard-line stance.
Their frustration hit a peak in 2011 as homeowner Rose Gudiel led a protest in front of Mnuchin's home in the tony Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. Gudiel said she missed her mortgage payments after her younger brother was fatally shot and she was furloughed from her state government job. Gudiel said she was applying for a loan modification when OneWest issued a notice that it would foreclose.
About 100 demonstrators gathered outside his home. They brought a mattress, a nightstand and a lamp to illustrate her fear of sleeping on the streets if she lost her house.
After the protest, Gudiel said she qualified for a loan modification and hasn't missed a payment since receiving it. She is still living in her three-bedroom home outside of Los Angeles. In an interview, she reflected on what she would tell the man who could be Treasury secretary now.
"If you're going to hold that type of position, I hope you know how to truly help this country," Gudiel said. "The only way this country is going to come ahead is if you help the people that live in it versus taking them out of their homes. They end up being a charge to society versus a contribution."
Philip Rucker and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report.
Julie Horowitz Jackson, center, owner of Virtu in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, helps Maura Daly find a gift Nov. 17, 2016. The morning after the presidential election, shell-shocked customers gathered on the shops couch, sharing hugs and shedding a few tears. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
After Thanksgiving assuming families survive the political standoffs expected to plague dinner tables across the country America will officially launch its annual shopping spree, saddled not only with turkey hangover this year but also election malaise.
As the nation tries to transition from rancor to merriment, retailers are watching to see if the feelings of doom or elation that have divided the populace will affect how people spend during the industry's most critical quarter.
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Historically, elections haven't had much impact on consumer spending, but experts say this election, extraordinary for the shock of Donald Trump's long-shot win as well as the viciousness of the rhetoric, could be different.
Will optimistic Trump supporters race to the mall? Will grieving Hillary Clinton supporters opt to stay curled in balls of despair? Will the uncertainty of what may come in the Trump era cause everyone to cut back their shopping lists? Will eggnog have a good year?
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Zandra Cross, co-owner of Love Christian Center in Kankakee, Il., works in her store Nov. 15, 2016. Cross says her customers were happy Trump won but is not sure whether a recent sales boost has anything to do with the election. (Lauren Zumbach / Chicago Tribune)
No one knows, of course. And whether heightened post-election emotions make a dent in spending depends on how long they persist into the holiday season.
But Eileen Knauff, for one, expects to fill her shopping basket a bit differently.
Knauff, 22, who lives in Libertyville, did not sink into the mass depression that consumed many of her friends after Trump's surprise win. But as she hits the stores for holiday shopping, she plans to keep those friends, many of them in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and concerned their rights are at risk, in mind.
"I'm trying to get more meaningful gifts, something I know they'll appreciate," said Knauff, who is working as a restaurant hostess while she applies to graduate school.
"Make the holidays as good as can be before everything goes south."
The vast majority of Americans 81 percent said in a survey a day after the election that the result won't change their planned holiday spending, as most believed the economic impact of Trump's policies won't be felt until next year, according to Conlumino, a research agency and consulting firm focused on retail and consumer behavior.
The nation is split on whether the Trump administration will make households worse or better off in the long run, with slightly more thinking household finances will become more favorable, the survey found. But that doesn't mean they'll spend more today, said John Yozzo, managing director at FTI Consulting.
After a long and divisive election, are consumers in the mood for holiday spending? (Chicago Tribune)
"It's all very murky at this point," Yozzo said.
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Holiday shopping forecasts had been positive pre-election, thanks to strong economic indicators including low unemployment rates, positive wage growth and an overall stability of commodity prices, like gas and food, that offset increases in health care costs, said Steve Barr, U.S. retail leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
PwC, which in a survey found that Americans expected to spend 10 percent more this year than last, was anticipating the best holiday season since the start of the Great Recession.
Whether the uncertainty or intensity of emotion triggered by this election changes the outlook remains to be seen.
"I think we all need to watch and see what happens with consumer sentiment over the coming weeks," Barr said.
A PwC analysis of election cycles over the past 20 years found no meaningful trends in holiday shopping after elections, Barr said.
Other research has shown election outcomes can affect people's perceptions of the economy, but not how much they actually spend.
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Even if there is a consistent negative trend in consumer sentiment going into the holidays, Barr said, shoppers could shift their dollars from gifts to more experiential items, like concerts or dinner out, that allow people to feel connected during challenging times.
"If we see continued unease across our communities, I'm optimistic that we may see people pull closer together and spend that time with family and friends," he said.
In deep blue Chicago, some retailers said obsessive focus on the election and the grim mood in its aftermath kept shops quiet in the days surrounding Nov. 8.
Albert Karoll, owner of Richard Bennett Custom Tailors & Shirtmakers, was optimistic that funk would lift, despite a "palpable sense, even among clients that are Republican voters, that damage has been done to the national psyche that may not heal so quickly."
The wound might even spur more buying, he said.
"I think there's a lot of escapism going on, no matter what side of the fence you were on," he said.
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Sixty miles south in Kankakee County, where a majority of voters backed Trump, some consumers said they are cautiously optimistic but expect business as usual when it comes to shopping.
Gene and Sue Lincoln, 71, of Momence, said they were "feeling pretty good" about the election outcome while walking around Northfield Square Mall in Bourbonnais on Tuesday.
"I think he's got the business sense," Sue Lincoln said of the president-elect.
Still, "I'm not going out and making any big purchases," said Gene Lincoln, who with his wife ran the Momence Progress Reporter newspaper before their daughter took the helm. "We're just trying to get a head start on Christmas for the grandkids."
Though uncertainty about the future can dampen discretionary spending, research on emotions suggests the grief felt by a swath of the electorate could actually cause people to shop more.
"I think people are going to want to come together and connect with the people they care about," said Julie Horowitz Jackson, owner of gift boutique Virtu, in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. A Clinton supporter, Horowitz Jackson promised discounts to anyone wearing a pantsuit or "Nasty Woman" shirt on Election Day, and the morning after, shell-shocked customers gathered on her shop's couch, sharing hugs and shedding a few tears.
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Feeling sad tends to make people more short-sighted, focusing on immediate needs and desires at the expense of long-term interests, or can make people more generous because they wish to feel better about themselves, said Oleg Urminsky, professor of marketing at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
Sadness also influences the kinds of gifts people give.
"We've done some research which finds that gift givers are highly motivated by their own experience of the recipient's reaction how the recipient's smile makes the giver feel more than by how helpful or useful the gift will be for the recipient longer-term," Urminsky wrote in an email. "So, if the election has an effect on giving, I'd expect it to make Clinton supporters likely to spend more than they usually would, and in particular to spend on the fun gifts that are most likely to get them a big smile or a hug."
Whether shopping to fight grief actually works is another question.
A 2014 study found that it can to a point.
In the research, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, people were run through several experiments in which they were shown film clips to make them sad and then put in situations where they could shop or not. Those who did shop reported feeling less sad afterward, though the study didn't examine long-term effects. The thinking is that people feel sad because they feel out of control, and making choices which are in abundance at the mall restores that control.
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But sadness is not the only feeling gripping Trump's opponents, said study co-author Scott Rick, associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
"There's anger, fear, anxiety, disgust, dread," said Rick, who is not a Trump fan. "It's a whole rich rainbow of bad feelings, and they're not fleeting."
Rick's experiments found shopping did not ameliorate feelings of anger, which the researchers induced in subjects by showing film clips depicting bullying. The difference between sadness and anger, he said, is that sadness is generally a reaction to uncontrollable forces in the environment, like disease, while anger is often in response to an interpersonal assault.
More than shopping, grieving Clinton supporters may find relief in donating to charities whose causes they worry are at risk, Rick said.
"That sounds like a very productive version of retail therapy for people feeling the Trump blues," he said.
As for Trump supporters, chances are that they will be more confident in the future than they were before, but that doesn't necessarily translate into greater spending today.
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Rose Aldridge, 52, of Kankakee, had "mixed emotions" about Trump's victory even though she voted for him. She's feeling more cautious about spending and warier of taking on another mortgage.
"I'm just really unsure what he's going to do," said Aldridge, a stay-at-home mom with a 14-year-old son. "He's got good plans, it sounds good, but actions speak louder than words."
But Zandra Cross, 75, co-owner of Love Christian Center in Kankakee, said business has been unusually brisk for this early in the holiday season. While she isn't sure the sales boost has anything to do with the election, she and her customers, who oppose abortion, were happy to see Trump win.
"It's the first thing they say when they come in: 'Thank you, Lord,'" she said.
Some shoppers opposed to some of Trump's views say the main difference in their consumption habits this year is that they are avoiding brands they associate with him.
Pooja Kansal, 27, said she owns Ivanka Trump boots but never plans on buying that brand again. Kansal, who splits her time between her fiance's home in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood and her hometown of Munster, Ind., is of Indian descent, and said reports of hate crimes have made her anxious.
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"I have always cared about politics but always had the sense that things would be OK," said Kansal, who recently graduated from law school and is studying for the bar. "Now I feel concerned for my safety and my family's safety."
As she rested on a bench at Chicago's Water Tower Place with a shopping bag, Samina Khan, 62, said she doesn't expect the election to change her shopping habits this year, but it could change whether she spends her money in the U.S. at all.
She and her husband, Sameeh Khan, lived in Elgin for 15 years and had four kids there before moving back to their native Pakistan in 1988, and she said they return to the area often to visit family and friends.
But the couple, who said they never before felt like foreigners, feel people are colder to them now, and suspect it is driven by Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims and rising expression of anti-immigrant sentiment. The couple described how Sameeh Khan, a 71-year-old physician, was pulled from the security line at the airport for a 30-minute screening.
"If they keep doing this, who will want to come?" Samina Khan said.
Moneca Soto, 31, of Bellwood, said she isn't letting the election outcome drain her holiday cheer.
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A hairstylist and mom to an 8-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter, Soto is an ear for customers despairing about Trump's win. While Soto believes Trump should "bring some positivity" to the nation in the face of reports of harassment and hate speech following his election, she wants to give him a chance. Her goal is to remind people to keep living their lives.
"It's up to you how you handle it," Soto said. "I'm still going to bring Christmas in."
aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @alexiaer
Twitter @laurenzumbach
The new house built at the southwest corner of Brown Street and University Drive replaced a early 20th century neighborhood home that Valparaiso University tore down, and the University on Monday stopped a rezoning petition it filed. (James D. Wolf Jr. / Post-Tribune)
Residents of the neighborhoods north and east of Valparaiso University received good news as a planned rezoning was pulled by the university.
The university had petitioned the city to rezone the house at the southwest corner of Brown Street and University Drive from neighborhood conservation to campus.
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However, after getting a favorable recommendation Oct. 11 from the Plan Commission and having a public hearing on the rezoning at the Oct. 24 City Council meeting, the university stopped its request.
City Planner Tyler Kent told the council on Monday that the university asked that the rezoning request be pulled from the agenda.
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The university had torn down an early 20th century house on the property that VU's General Counsel Darron Farha said was not salvageable and built a new 3,500-square-foot home there for a home for the residential housing coordinator who'll oversee the new sororities on Union Street to the south.
No university representatives were there to comment, but Kent said, "it's a permitted use, so it's not necessary."
Farha was not available for comment on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to a person in his office.
At the Sept. 19 Plan Commission meeting and at the Oct. 24 City Council meeting, residents and members of the Upper Brown and Monroe Neighborhood Association protested the rezoning as another infringement by the university on the neighborhood.
In September, Brown Street resident Richard Stith said rezoning it to campus designation would give the university "a blank check," for land use in the future, despite it being on the end of a residential street.
City Council Member Diana Reed, D-1st, who is also secretary for the Neighborhood Association, had called the measure "spot zoning" at a Plan Commission meeting.
Other residents noted the house now faces University Street instead of Brown.
Also at the meeting, the council approved renewal of the three-way liquor license for Good Husband Inc. for Fork & Cork restaurant at 66 E. Lincolnway and formerly known as Bonne Femme.
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However, the council tabled approval of the license for Furinkazan Sushi & Bar at 21 E. Lincolnway at the owners' request as negotiations are continuing with Margarita's Bar & Grill for the purchase of the site and license transfer.
In Indiana, three-way liquor licenses that allow sales of beer, wine and hard liquor are allotted by population, but Valparaiso has gotten state permission to have 10 three-way licenses for its historic downtown.
James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Dreading flying over the holidays, or really anytime? Airlines know it, and are trying to make the journey more bearable, with everything from quicker security screening at the airport to flights that more reliably show up on time and when they don't, snacks to soothe "hangry" fliers.
But it may take a while for the efforts to convince travelers like Linda Landrum. The 63-year-old Chicago resident isn't looking forward to braving the airport crowds on Tuesday with two frozen pies in her carry-on for a Thanksgiving visit to relatives in New York. But Landrum, whose family usually hosts the holiday feast in Chicago, decided it was better than making her 90-year-old mother-in-law arrive at the airport hours early and lug her bags through long security lines.
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"It has to be done," said Landrum.
Summertime, not the winter holidays, is the busiest time to fly. Industry trade group Airlines for America's summer travel forecast projected 2.51 million people would travel worldwide on U.S. airlines on average each day between June and August, compared with 2.27 million daily over the 12-day Thanksgiving period.
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Travel website Orbitz.com predicts O'Hare International Airport will be the busiest U.S. airport at Thanksgiving and second-busiest at Christmas.
With an influx of less-experienced travelers who might be taking a once-a-year-flight home for the holidays, extra baggage from passengers carrying gifts and greater risk of snowstorms that can scupper finely tuned flight schedules, happy can turn to hapless pretty quickly.
Airlines that transport travelers from point A to point B relatively hassle-free win bragging rights and top spots on reliability reports, not to mention loyalty from happy customers. Those that drop the ball risk the very public wrath of stressed-out, short-tempered fliers who take to social media to vent their gripes. The price of delays and cancellations even when weather-related and not the airline's fault adds up fast, from revenue lost when planes sit idle to the cost of rebooking stranded passengers on new flights.
That's a big incentive for airlines to roll out services to smooth the process.
United Airlines and American Airlines introduced a handful of automated security lanes at O'Hare earlier this month. The airlines are hoping to avoid a repeat of May's lengthy lines that made hundreds of passengers miss flights.
The new lanes are designed to keep holdups from halting the rest of the line. Each lane has five stations where passengers can deposit their luggage without waiting for slower passengers ahead, with bins that are 25 percent larger. A conveyor belt automatically pulls flagged bags into a separate area for inspection while problem-free bags continue rolling down the line. A parallel conveyor belt automatically returns empty luggage bins so agents can focus on the actual screening.
Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, wants to make it easier for customers to keep track of their bags. Delta, which already includes radio frequency identification tags in its bag tags, now will send notifications to passengers who use its app, telling them when their bags have been loaded onto the aircraft and where to find them at the baggage claim. The tags also make it easier for Delta to track down lost bags.
Passengers like flashy perks but care more about whether they arrive at their destination on time, said Bob Mann, president of airline consultant R.W. Mann & Co.
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"All you have to do is be late and all that stuff goes down the tubes," he said.
Across the board, U.S. airlines have been doing slightly better on reliability, according to Airlines for America. About 81.5 percent of major U.S. airlines' flights arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled time in the 12 months ending in September, up from 78.8 percent a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
During the week surrounding Thanksgiving last year, nearly 17 percent of flights departing from O'Hare took off at least 15 minutes late and about 1.3 percent were canceled, according to Transportation Department statistics. The delayed flights took off about 65 minutes behind schedule, on average.
And while the average flight arriving at O'Hare during Thanksgiving week last year showed up just under a minute early, the 13 percent arriving late were about 78 minutes behind.
Full holiday flights and schedules can make it tougher for airlines to recover from delays, particularly when bad weather knocks out several flights, but 2015 Thanksgiving week departure delays and cancellations were below average for the year at O'Hare.
Industry analysts say airlines often try to boost those on-time numbers with a mix of measures that give some cushion when flights fall behind, such as scheduling longer than necessary flight times, using extra planes and employees, and making real improvements in efficiency.
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United has said it thinks becoming a more reliable airline can generate $300 million by 2018 by trimming costs associated with idle aircraft and delays, and by winning back passengers wary of United's reputation for having more late and canceled flights than some major rivals. In the first 10 months of this year, 14 percent more United flights, including regional carriers, arrived on time compared with the same period in 2014, the airline told investors Tuesday.
United is working on being more proactive about maintenance and cutting the time it takes to get an arriving airplane ready for the next departure, said Chief Operations Officer Greg Hart. The airline has a new playbook for turning around flights landing behind schedule so United can recover, not continue falling behind.
"It's time we're going to give back to the schedule. We're going to fly our airplanes harder," he said.
When all else fails, airlines attempt to mollify stranded passengers, and food helps.
If an American flight at O'Hare is delayed by two hours or more, for any reason, the airline will bring an assortment of free drinks and snacks to the gate. After three hours, passengers will get a selection of sandwiches, such as breakfast sandwiches in the morning or a turkey croissant roll later in the day, said Dee Hogan, American's managing director of customer care.
Other major U.S. carriers make fewer outright guarantees, especially when not taking the blame. Delta's airport customer service employees will sometimes bring out snacks, drinks and games for passengers delayed at the gate, but, like United and Southwest, the airline doesn't have hard and fast rules spelling out when customers are entitled to extra goodies, said spokesman Brian Kruse.
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But as the holiday crowds descend, there's only so much airlines can do to keep fliers feeling festive.
"They're all trying to be more reliable," said travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group. "While it helps manage congestion that they haven't added too many flights, there's no question the system is still overburdened at peak times. And there's nothing you can do about the weather."
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laurenzumbach
Grapes ripen in the hills of Virginia, home to more than 250 wineries. (Karly Pope / Moment Open)
If asked about American wine today, Virginia would not be the first, second or even third place that most of us think of.
But the roots of America's wine industry are in Virginia and today, roughly 410 years after the first settlers arrived in Jamestown, the state has a thriving commercial wine industry. The fact is, only four states are home to more wineries than Virginia: California, Washington, Oregon and New York. So maybe Virginia should be the fifth place we think of when we think about American wine. Five out of 50. Not bad.
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A dozen years after Jamestown was founded, Britain made grape-growing mandatory by law for every male settler, and the quest to develop an eventual American wine industry was underway. Wine lover George Washington and America's wine-nerdiest president of all, Thomas Jefferson, tried their hands at grape growing in Virginia (allegedly with little success, despite several years of effort from each of them). Jefferson, you may recall, was the American ambassador to France before he was president, and it was during his time in Paris that he was bitten by the wine bug. Two of our first three presidents had Virginia wine ties, and so will our 45th. Yes, the president-elect owns a winery in Virginia. It bears his surname, naturally, and is run by one of his sons.
Although Virginia's grape-growing interest dates to 1607 (at least Jamestown's interest dates that far back), the state's wine industry did not begin to show signs of what it would become until relatively recently. In the early 1980s, Virginia was home to a half-dozen wineries. Fifteen years later, there were close to 50, and in 2005, there were more than 100. Today, the number of wineries in Virginia tops 250.
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The state is home to seven official wine regions (Middleburg, Monticello, North Fork of Roanoke, Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace, Rocky Knob, Shenandoah Valley and Virginia's Eastern Shore) that produce a handful of good-quality grapes. Red Bordeaux varieties particularly cabernet franc and petit verdot, but also cabernet sauvignon and merlot are popular and successful in Virginia, as are chardonnay, viognier and another French white variety called petit manseng. The grapes often endure tough weather conditions, including excessive heat, humidity and rain at various points during the growing season. But the commitment to winemaking in Virginia has deepened steadily in recent decades, and talented new professionals from the United States and Europe have consistently joined the community.
The wines of Virginia are not especially cheap and not as widely available as wines from some other states. But there are good wines being produced in Virginia, and if you're looking to mix up the variety of bottles in your stash, this is a good place for that.
Below is a selection of Virginia wines from a recent tasting. They are listed by color (white first, followed by red) and in ascending order, according to price.
WHITES
2014 Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve With notes of citrus, pear and minerality, this wine, fermented and aged in stainless steel, has a soft, medium-body mouthfeel followed by zingy acidity on the finish. $22
2014 Bluestone Vineyard Estate Grown Chardonnay This is a rich and buttery New World chardonnay with a whiff of smoke, and classic vanilla notes that are not cloying or over-the-top. $23.50
2014 Horton Vineyards Petit Manseng Made completely from the French grape variety petit manseng, this wine is viscous with notes of honey, but also bright and full of tropical fruits and citrus. $25
2014 Michael Shaps Honah Lee Vineyard Petit Manseng Butterscotch, orange peel, tropical fruit and spice emerge from this full-bodied white, composed mostly of petit manseng, blended with 5 percent roussanne. $30
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REDS
2013 North Gate Vineyard Meritage This Bordeaux blend offers blackberry and other ripe dark fruits, along with many layers featuring fig, coffee, leather and cedar, all pointing to a long finish. $26
2014 Cardinal Point Vineyard Clay Hill Cabernet Franc With cranberry, eucalyptus, leather, spice and smoke, this wine was aged for more than a year in French and American oak barrels. $30
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2012 Fabbioli Cellars Reserve Cabernet Franc Blackberry, plum and spice sum up this wine, which has a lusciously soft mouthfeel, and clocks in at a reasonable 12.5 percent alcohol. $35
2012 Naked Mountain Winery & Vineyards Petit Verdot From the Blue Ridge Mountains, this wine offers jammy dark fruits with a touch of vanilla, a balancing savory quality and a silky texture. $36
2010 Granite Heights Evening Serenade Plum, pomegranate, vanilla, spice and stinging acidity lead to a clear and convincing cherry finish in this blend of 80 percent merlot and 20 percent cabernet franc. $41
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2013 Glen Manor Vineyards Hodder Hill Dark fruits and leather characterize this age-able powerhouse blend of 67 percent cabernet sauvignon, 28 percent merlot and 5 percent petit verdot. $50
2014 Keswick Vineyards Cabernet Franc Estate Reserve Full of cranberry, herbs, coffee, cocoa and spice, this 100 percent cabernet franc, aged 10 months in oak barrels, is full-bodied, deeply layered and complex. $50
2013 Stone Tower Winery Hogback Mountain This blend of 69 percent cabernet sauvignon and 31 percent merlot has notes of plum, dark fruit, wet earth, tobacco and cedar. $69
food@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @pour_man
News / National
by Staff reporter
Civic groups and social movements, among them Tajamuka/Sesijikile and #ThisFlag , vowed to "shut down" major cities such as Harare and Bulawayo today in protest against corruption, alleged human rights violations and the impending introduction of bond notes.They vowed to go ahead with the mass protests despite a police ban on their demonstration.Police in Harare and Bulawayo banned today's protests, citing the organisers' failure to file their application within the stipulated time.One of the co-ordinators and Occupy Africa Unity Square spokesperson, Patson Dzamara, said they wrote to the police in Harare advising them of the demonstration, but were warned against going ahead with the protest.But Dzamara vowed they would defy the police ban."We are heading towards a total precipice and we cannot continue like this. The time for us to draw a solid line in the sand has come," he said."Cognisant of the fact that (President Robert) Mugabe and his minions won't listen to our outcry, we must speak to them in their own language."We must get into the streets and tell them we are tired and unhappy at their misrule, leadership failure, corruption and Zanu-PF-made poverty. We can't just whisper about it in our little corners or rant on social media and end there. We must take a stand, action is critical."Dzamara said they had notified the police of their intentions and would defy any ban. #ThisFlower leader, Stan Zvorwadza said there was no going back tomorrow, arguing police had no mandate to tell them how to proceed with their demo."We follow the Constitution and as social movements, there is nowhere written that police must regulate us. It's game on and we will not bow down. We are not afraid of them and come Friday we will be there," he said.Police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi professed ignorance of the planned demonstrations."I am not aware of that demonstration. I cannot comment on something I am not aware of," he said.
The Theo Ubique Theatre, since 2003 a mainstay of the Rogers Park cultural district and well known for its skilled, hyper-intimate productions of Broadway musicals, is likely moving to Evanston.
Despite the new suburban address, Theo Ubique's custom-designed new home in a gutted former retail building actually is across the street from the City of Chicago. The new address, which comes with a shared parking lot, is 721-23 Howard Street.
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Theo Ubique is to be the beneficiary of an effort by the Evanston city leaders to attract more arts groups to Howard Street (Evanston had previously negotiated with the Strawdog Theatre Company, which recently lost its longtime Chicago home, but those negotiations fell apart).
Theo Ubique plans to take up residence in a city-owned building, renovated for them at a cost of $1.4 million, according to materials prepared for Evanston's Economic Development Committee and made publically available on the city's website. Theo Ubique has agreed to raise a little more than $200,000 on its own. It then will pay rent on the space.
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"We'll get there," said artistic director Fred Anzevino, expressing excitement at the move. According to Anzevino, the new space will be twice as large as the company's current home at the No Exit Cafe, and will allow for a full bar and food-service operation. Instead of 52 seats, the new theater would have 86 seats, many of which would be at tables.
The other big change for Theo Ubique, which has an annual budget of $285,000, would be the chance to run its own catering option. At present, the food and drink profits go to the operators of the No Exit Cafe.
"We will have to expand our staff," Anzevino said. "We have to up our game, but I think we are ready for this artistically."
Anzevino said he would continute to produce four shows a year, perhaps with expanded off-night programing and longer runs.
The deal has yet to be signed, remains subject to further negotiation, and has yet to be approved by the full Evanston City Council. Anzevino says he hopes to moves his company in July 2018.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
@chrisjonestrib
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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 new and pricey drug was shown to slow disease progression in advanced breast cancer patients. (Glow Wellness / Getty Images/Glow RM)
A recently approved drug can help slow the progression of advanced breast cancer, a new clinical trial confirms.
The drug, called palbociclib (Ibrance), was approved in the United States last year for treating advanced cases of ER-positive breast cancer. That means the cancer uses the hormone estrogen to help fuel its growth.
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The approval was based on an earlier-stage study in which the drug, used along with a standard drug called letrozole (Femara), helped keep women's cancer at bay. Palbociclib doubled the time patients remained progression-free compared with letrozole alone.
The new findings, published in November in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirm earlier results in a larger group of women.
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"We found that the degree of clinical benefit was, again, remarkable," said lead researcher Dr. Richard Finn, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Among postmenopausal patients in the trial, those given the drug combination typically remained progression-free for just over two years. That compared with just over 14 months for women treated with letrozole alone.
"This is an incredibly important step" in improving the outlook for women with advanced breast cancer, said Dr. Antonio Wolff, a professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
"We know this isn't the final answer," added Wolff, who wrote an editorial published with the study. Other drugs aimed at stalling advanced breast tumors are in development, he noted.
But palbociclib should be considered "a new standard" for treating advanced ER-positive breast cancer, Wolff said.
Palbociclib is the first in a new class of drugs designed to inhibit two enzymes called CDK4 and CDK6, which help ER-positive breast tumors spread. Palbociclib is a capsule taken once a day for three weeks, followed by one week off.
Letrozole, meanwhile, works by lowering estrogen levels in the body.
About two-thirds of breast cancers have receptors for estrogen and/or the hormone progesterone, according to the American Cancer Society.
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In this latest trial, Finn's team tested palbociclib/letrozole as a first-line treatment for advanced cancer that had spread beyond the breast. They randomly assigned 666 women to receive the drug duo or letrozole alone, and followed them for up to three years.
At that point, 44 percent of women in the palbociclib group had either died or seen their cancer progress. That compared with 62 percent of women on letrozole alone, according to the study.
Women on the drug combo typically remained progression-free for nearly 25 months, versus roughly 14 months for women on letrozole, the researchers found.
Once patients like these have a progression, they can try other types of hormonal therapy or, eventually, chemotherapy, Finn said. Since chemo has harsh side effects, delaying it could improve a woman's quality of life, he noted.
Palbociclib has side effects too. One of the most common seen in two-thirds of women in this study is neutropenia. That's a drop in a type of white blood cell, and it could leave women vulnerable to serious infections.
However, Finn said, the neutropenia caused by palbociclib appears to be different from chemo-induced neutropenia in that it's "temporary."
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Wolff agreed. The drug seems to put certain white blood cell precursors "to sleep," he explained, and the effect can be reversed by lowering the dose.
Side effects that could affect quality of life, Wolff said, include fatigue, nausea and pain. Each of those problems affected a little more than one-third of patients on palbociclib.
Most often, Finn said, those side effects were on the milder side and happened in both treatment groups.
He and Wolff said the drug combination should be considered a standard treatment for advanced ER-positive cancer.
One big question, though, is whether palbociclib ultimately extends women's lives. The trial has not gone on long enough to determine that, Finn said.
"But the hope is, this will also improve overall survival," he said.
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Another question, added Wolff, is whether some women with advanced cancer can do just as well with hormonal therapy alone, at least to start.
That's important, he said, because of palbociclib's side effects and price tag.
Pfizer Inc., which funded the current trial, set the cost of palbociclib at close to $10,000 a month.
Ongoing studies are looking at whether the drug can also help prevent recurrences of earlier-stage breast cancer. In that scenario, the issues of side effects and cost will be even more important, Wolff said.
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In this photo provided by Audrey Peterman, she and her husband, Frank Peterman, pose in 2012 in front of Camp Denali in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve. They are co-founders of the Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great Outdoors conference. (Bill Walter)
A few years ago, a dear friend and I traveled to the Grand Canyon a trip we'd talked about taking for a decade before we actually made it happen.
It was my third visit to the copper-colored wonder of the world, but my friend had never been. I grew up with parents who drove us all over the United States looking at national parks. My friend, who is African-American, grew up with a family who told her to avoid them.
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White folks didn't want her there, my friend's grandmother warned her. She wouldn't be safe.
Audrey Peterman can relate.
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Peterman is a lovely soul whose life mission is to make our public lands more accessible to and more accessed by people of all races, ethnicities and cultures. I tracked her down a few days ago because I needed some inspiration, and nobody does inspiration better.
In 1995, Peterman and her husband, Frank, set off on a three-month road trip from their Fort Lauderdale apartment to see, for the first time, the nation's parks from Acadia in Maine to Yosemite in California, with stops at the Badlands, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and whatever else intrigued them along the way.
"My mother was in her 60s, and Frank's mother was in her late 70s," Peterman said. "These women panicked. 'We're going to be on our knees praying until you come back!' 'How could you be so foolish?'"
Their friends warned them to bring guns.
"We said, 'No. We are citizens of the world,'" Peterman said. "The Earth belongs equally to all."
The couple wrote a delightful book about their road trip, "Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care" (Earthwise Productions). And while they recount zero negative encounters during their adventures, Peterman is acutely aware that her family's fears my friend's family's fears were not unfounded.
"Many of the travesties that happened to black people happened off the beaten path," she said. "Once you have seen people hanging off trees, you have almost a visceral fear associated with the woods."
And it sticks. Close to 300 million people visit national parks each year, and a full 78 percent of those visitors are white, according to a recent National Parks Service survey.
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But to deprive yourself of our natural gems is to exacerbate those historic stains on humanity, Peterman said. She wants to acknowledge and alleviate them.
"It's time to explore and take ownership of the stunning natural, cultural and historic treasures that make up the totality of the American experience, in its continually evolving state," she writes in "Legacy on the Land." "Knowing who we are, and where we have come from, is the simplest and most effective way to unite us as Americans. Our national parks were set aside for this very purpose."
The Petermans co-founded a national conference, Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great Outdoors, in 2009. In 2014, the couple founded the Diverse Environmental Leaders National Speakers Bureau.
They are also part of the Next 100 Coalition, which calls for a more inclusive public lands system from the people who manage and oversee the spaces to the stories that are told about the sites' histories to the people who are targeted and engaged to visit them.
"Over and over it struck us that nature is the great equalizer," they write in their book. "In the supernatural beauty, among the multitude of natural processes all going on simultaneously, people seem to identify with each other as human beings, stripped of the masks of race, color or social status. This is how people really should be living."
Doesn't that sound lovely?
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"When I saw my first national park Acadia it was transformative," Peterman told me. "When I looked out at the great beauty untouched by human hand, I thought, 'The same entity that made that also made me. And if that's beautiful and perfect, so must I be too.' I've seen myself as nothing but beautiful and perfect since then, and I see everyone else as beautiful and perfect too."
Her greatest goal, she says, is to draw us back to our common humanity and remind us we're part of something greater than ourselves.
"We don't run the world," she said. "We can't save the world. The world saves us."
But we can protect it from further degradation. And we can connect ourselves to it in ways that teach us important lessons about what brought us to this moment.
Peterman gives a presentation called, "The National Parks Are the Glue That Holds Our Country Together." In it, she talks about the legacy of this nation's black, brown, Asian and Native American ancestors.
"When we understand those things, no person can come back to us and say, 'We are taking back our country,'" she said.
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"The first time I went to Valley Forge," she said, "when I learned that, in that dire winter when Gen. Washington's army did not have clothing, did not have shoes, had to forage for wood and food and left their bloody footprints in the snow when I learned there were black men and Native American men there, nobody can tell me I don't have a place here.
"When I go to the Everglades, and I know it's part of the Underground Railroad, where my ancestors traveled south and ended up in Haiti and Cuba and the Bahamas," she continued, "I know the battles that got us where we are today."
All over the country, all through time, she said, she has learned about the strength of the human spirit.
"I cannot be made afraid," she said. "Love is the greatest force on Earth.
"We are called upon to love each other. And when you're in nature, you can really see how much you are loved and how much has been given to you."
hstevens@chicagotribune.com
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A supporter of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump gets emotional as the election results begin to break for Trump during a party at a hotel in downtown Phoenix on Nov. 8, 2016. (Laura Segall / AFP/Getty Images)
I don't understand white women.
Fifty-three percent of you chose an indisputably unqualified man for a job over a woman who could run circles around him.
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Isn't that the very thing you're always complaining about in the workplace?
Here, you had an opportunity to place a woman in the most coveted position in our land. And you blew it.
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For the life of me, I can't figure out what to make of that.
It wasn't like the qualifications of the two candidates were even close. His resume made him look like an apprentice compared with her stellar achievements. Yet, you decided that he deserved the job.
Perhaps you thought he was a better fit. How many times have women heard that excuse when being turned down for a position? After all, the predominantly male power structure the Congress in this case would feel more comfortable with someone at the helm who looks and thinks like them.
We know how quickly they dismissed everything that African-American man had to say over the last eight years. Certainly, a woman couldn't fare any better than President Barack Obama. What America needs at this point in time is a white man who knows how to get things done.
And white women, exit polls show that you apparently bought into that ridiculous, stereotypical notion.
It wasn't just the uneducated ones who voted for Trump, either. Forty-five percent of you hold college degrees.
Black women thought you were serious about breaking that glass ceiling. But when you were close enough to touch it, you turned around and walked away. Maybe it wasn't all that important to you after all.
If white women struggle to achieve equal status with white men, know that it is twice as difficult for black women. Still, 94 percent of black women voted for Clinton. And unlike white men, of which 63 percent voted for Trump, 80 percent of black men voted for Clinton.
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So while everyone's pointing a finger at someone else for messing up this election, when it comes to black voters, you need to keep your hands in your pocket. Don't dare accuse black voters of staying home in urban cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Cleveland and allowing rural white voters to outnumber them at the polls. Latino women turned out in stronger numbers than you too. Sixty-eight percent of them voted for Clinton.
Everyone else did their part. You didn't do yours.
Of course, I'm not blaming every white woman. The 43 percent of you who voted for Hillary Clinton are as dumbfounded as black women are. Clearly, there's a problem within your ranks, and you didn't even realize it.
According to a study by the Center for Talent Innovation, a New York-based think tank that studies labor trends involving gender and other areas, black women and white women view power in completely different ways.
As it turns out, black women are nearly three times more likely to aspire to a powerful position with a prestigious title than white women. The reason is simple. Black women are used to being in control.
We come from a long line of matriarchs black women who prevailed as breadwinners despite a relentless undertow of discrimination and economic hardship, according to the 2014 study, "Ambition in Black and White: The Feminist Narrative Revised."
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But here's the problem. Despite our hunger for leadership roles, black women for the most part are invisible to corporate management. African-American women hold only about 5 percent of managerial and professional positions.
We don't have anyone in our corner, either. Only 11 percent of black women have sponsors or senior advocates, according to the study.
Though white women are ambitious, the study showed, they tend to have misconceptions about power, which keep them from pursuing leadership positions. According to the study, 56 percent of white women believe the burdens of leadership outweigh the rewards.
The study surmises that their ambivalence is likewise shaped by history. For centuries, the study said, white women have been confined to homemaker and helpmate roles norms that have proven difficult to escape.
In other words, some white women carry a lot of guilt about being in charge. They'd rather sit back and let their men take over.
I know lots of white women who defy these characteristics. They're smart, ambitious, fearless and driven. Indeed, Hillary Clinton, is one of them.
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But, political leanings aside, I can't help but wonder if this is why some white women voted against their own self-interest.
A friend who teaches at a major university in Texas told me that her white female students offered various reasons for voting for Trump, ranging from anti-abortion to taxes. She's convinced that some women blindly followed their men who convinced them that they should support Trump for political reasons, while overlooking his blatant misogyny.
Who knows if that's what really happened. What we do know is that white women have to accept a large part of the blame for why Hillary Clinton isn't going to be the first female POTUS.
And as far as black women are concerned, you can be sure of this: We're going to think long and hard the next time white women ask us to follow them up a ladder so they can leave us out on a ledge.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng
I receive many fine letters from readers, but only one came stuffed into the mouth of a fish.
A dead, dry, stuffed fish it was, a dark green smallmouth bass.
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"This fish is a little dry," said the cryptic note. "Let's meet for some fresher fish at Shaw's."
It was on a square of canvas, a detail from the famous "The Rahmfather" portrait of Mayor Rahm Emanuel as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" that still hangs on my office wall.
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"The Rahmfather" arrived mysteriously on the loading dock the year before. Who sent it? No one knew. Mayor Emanuel, aka Mayor Rahmfather, wanted it. Each time he'd visit the Tribune he'd ask me if he could have it.
And I kept saying, "No" because it was just too cool to give up.
After the fish arrived, I went to the shadowy lunch with Tribune cartoonist Scott Stantis as one of my bodyguards. I wondered if we'd end up on the floor, with two in the back of the head, Outfit style.
We were ushered into a private room. A man sat at a table.
"Please don't kill me," said Stantis, bravely.
And there was Eric Brightfield, father of "The Rahmfather," with a grin.
He promised he wouldn't have us killed, but would we care for oysters to start?
"That was so Eric, wasn't it?" said his wife, Dawn, who was at FitzGerald's in Berwyn the other night with her and her husband's sons Evan, 24, and Luke, 21.
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"He loved that Rahmfather epic," Dawn said. "That was so Eric."
It was a memorial service for Brightfield, 56, the creative genius and owner of ImageFiction, which creates amazing virtual buildings and video of everything from skyscrapers to the refurbished Wrigley Field from architectural drawings.
Brightfield died, friends said, along Chicago's Riverwalk last Thursday around sunset, as he was warming up for a workout with a trainer, surrounded by the beautiful buildings he loved.
Brightfield was a friend to many and perhaps Oak Park's most notorious prankster. There were so many people at FitzGerald's expressing their love for him and his family that there was no place to sit, hardly a place to stand, and the crowd spilled outside, listening to the stories.
Stories of his best pranks and memories of his legendary Halloween parties at FitzGerald's, transforming the club into Studio 54 one year, a tribute to Dead Rock Stars the next.
Artist Eric Brightfield, left, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, and Brightfield's son, Evan Brightfield, pose beside a "Rahmfather" print created by Eric Brightfield. The print was presented to mayor Emanuel at his downtown office on Dec. 20, 2012. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
One year he put up Christmas lights at his home and had a realistic mannequin hanging from the gutter, with a ladder off to the side.
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"Police, firefighters, neighbors, people would just stop and think a man was falling off the roof," said his friend and neighbor of 27 years, Steve Parker. "And it didn't look like a mannequin. He set the bend of the knee just right, the ladder off to the side, a string of lights falling. It looked like a man fighting for his life, and it scared people. He was that good and he loved it."
Outside FitzGerald's was "Brightfield's Bleachers," a replica of the bleachers at Wrigley Field that he'd helped club owner Bill FitzGerald put together so neighborhood Cubs fans could sit outside and watch the World Series. FitzGerald had set a giant TV screen in one end of the lot. And Brightfield made sure the bleachers were just so.
"He had this amazing creative ability," FitzGerald said. "We had the bleachers set up before the series. He printed out the grandstands, the ivy on this gigantic printer he had. He loved people and fantastic things, and his mind never stopped creating. And he woke up every day, thinking, 'What's going to be fantastic about this day?' That was Eric."
And this was Eric too: When he heard that Mayor Emanuel wanted a copy of "The Rahmfather," he made sure to make one.
We brought it over to City Hall before Christmas a few years ago, Brightfield and his son Evan who inspired his father to make the original "Rahmfather" along with reporter Will Lee, who wrapped the gift in Snoopy Christmas paper, and me.
The mayor loved it, and some fools stupidly suggested Rahm and I would soon have something of a bromance.
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No bromance, but Emanuel loves the portrait still, keeping it on display in his office to this day in a frame we gave him with a brass plaque inscribed in an ancient language: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
"Remember," Brightfield whispered to me, "off the record, yours is bigger."
He was a phenomenon, a "supernova, no filters, no boundaries," said his friend Parker.
"When he'd just moved onto the block, one of the neighbors had a great Christmas display of lights," Parker said. "And this neighbor came over, worried, having received an official letter from the village, warning him about the lights.
"It said: 'We have received several complaints related to your extensive Christmas display. Although the village encourages ethnic diversity, and we understand that this display is only an extension of your strong religious beliefs, we have received numerous complaints. Air traffic controllers have complained, and several residents have also complained about power outages. Perhaps you can turn off your lights after 7 p.m. so that the children could get some sleep'," Parker read.
"And the neighbor was upset, but then we looked at the signature.
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"It was officially signed 'Ima Grinchski."
Ima Grinch-ski?
"Yeah," Parker said. "That was so Eric."
Listen to "The Chicago Way" radio free Chicago in podcast form at http://wgnplus.com/category/thechicagoway/.
jskass@chicagotribune.com
Twitter@John_Kass
The post-election meltdown has set some on edge as to what may come up in conversation at the family Thanksgiving get-together. (Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images)
Many Americans, afraid of almost everything these days so afraid of being afraid that they're easily herded like political livestock will look to Thanksgiving with just one thing on their minds:
Fear.
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It's true and you know it. You're afraid somebody will say something. And you're afraid that you'll respond, and you will.
That's when the jellied cranberry hits the floor.
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And Mom starts saying, "No! No! No!" and a Mr. Kass archetype shouts at you to move to Canada and don't come back, and soon, old and young are wrestling on the floor saying hurtful things like "I hate you!" that can't be unsaid.
That's when your loving Thanksgiving family becomes just like the Twittersphere, but with real people you know and once loved, instead of hatefully anonymous cartoon heads.
But don't worry.
I've come up with a few hints so that you may have a nice Thanksgiving without having to call 911 and wait in the driveway for the cops like a jabbering sweaty mob.
I know what you're afraid of. It's the political talk. It just might be safer in our postmodern America to argue about religion.
Because if you talk politics, and you know that you will, some jolly conservative uncle might trigger you with comments about the Electoral College and minority rights and the future of the republic.
Or the brilliant liberal niece covered in safety pins might do the triggering, condemning half of the dining room table as racists, Cheetos lovers and illiterates.
And that nice Rockwell moment, with Dad in his cardigan carving the brined turkey, will turn to hell as everybody shouts curses and Grandmother begins to weep.
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What's worse is that after the fight, the hostess will have to be brave and say, her eyes terribly bright: "Anyone for dessert?"
And everyone will feel guilty, until somebody says something and it starts all over again.
So to not let that happen, here's what you might consider:
Drinking.
I don't mean a timid sip of sherry either, but pounding down a series of scotch and sodas or Manhattans or martinis even before you reach for the lightly salted mixed nuts.
(And just as an aside, why is it that somebody always rudely picks out all the Brazil nuts and the cashews and leaves the peanuts? Don't you hate that?)
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So drink instead, preferably on an empty stomach, and drink hearty.
Alcohol, which is often given a bad name at family gatherings, might make you happy and funny and content and tolerant of opposing views. It might cause you to compose limericks that make everyone laugh in thanks.
Or, when your conservative uncle says that democracy is really "two wolves and a lamb voting on dinner," you might just stab his hand with a fork, pinning it to your aunt's dinner table, as you smile and watch his eyes.
On second thought, don't use alcohol. But we have to do something.
What about segregation, not racial, which everyone knows is wrong, but gender-based?
Just send all those evil white males in the family down into the basement and lock the door. If you don't have white males at Thanksgiving, you're cool.
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You don't have to be cruel. Toss a turkey leg down the steps; maybe send a child with a tray of queso dip and chips.
"How long?" some might whine.
You: "For eternity!"
"I watch CNN, so why do I have to stay here with the uneducated?" another might bleat.
You: "Shut up and check your privilege!"
Don't give in no matter how they beg. Keep them in the basement until they're about 80 years old and relatively harmless.
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Unless of course, there is a war or space alien attack; then you may let the young ones out to join the Army to defend us.
But for God's sake, keep those who are over 35 down there for a good 40 years until they're no longer dangerous.
After a few days, they'll begin to devour each other.
Now, you might get lucky and have a Thanksgiving gathering of people who don't give two figs for politics. But that means you have a house full of 7-year-olds and all they'll want is mac and cheese, so good luck with that.
But what if your liberal relations and friends start acting up on Thanksgiving?
They're agitated still. And they might be surly. You'll know they're spoiling for trouble if they say something like, "A book? You've actually read a book? Without pictures?" and titter into the backs of their hand.
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Or, what if a few accuse the host and hostess of promoting a deplorable feast as gluttonous thanks to a Supreme Being that they insist does not exist?
"You're in charge of the means of production and you offer this groaning table while others are in need? What would Elizabeth Warren say?"
You can't very well lock them downstairs with the white males. So the best thing would be to just shut up and smile and apologize for everything. Don't provoke them.
Just stare at the festive holiday Jell-O on your plate, examining the floating fruit chunks in that horrid gelatinous mass, and give silent thanks that you're all together again in one house.
On Thanksgiving.
Listen to a new episode of "The Chicago Way" podcast here: wgnplus.com/category/thechicagoway.
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jskass@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @John_kass
Susan Bragg, an avid Hillary Clinton supporter, will be spending Thanksgiving with members of her family who voted for Donald Trump. (Annie Grossinger / Chicago Tribune)
His emotions still raw over the presidential election, Mike Risley is nervous about politics getting in the way of peace this Thanksgiving.
The 59-year-old Naperville man said he, his wife and their three 20-something sons are used to being the blue sheep in a mostly red flock at gatherings of their extended kin. But, this year's get-together seems especially fraught with stress.
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"I won't even talk to my family," Risley said. "We're still going (to Thanksgiving dinner), but it's going to be tense. We just disagree."
Psychology experts say the particularly contentious election could exacerbate typical family squabbling this holiday season, especially among relatives on separate sides of the political fence who may be seeing each other for the first time since Donald Trump's stunning victory.
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Holiday gatherings can already be rife with tension when some family members don't particularly get along. Add to that differing political opinions and the flow of wine, and it can be a recipe for conflict, said Mark Reinecke, chief psychologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"There's a level of tension and pressure that's just naturally there," he said. "Beyond that, you're bringing together family members ... who don't get together very often. It's been a divisive couple of months. They're going to share their thoughts and opinions.
"There's always an uncle who's a bit ... unfiltered," Reinecke said.
And while a civil discussion among those who differ politically isn't impossible, "if it's a family where this could become ... divisive, then it's probably best to not talk about politics," he said. "It's a tug of war. Just don't engage in it."
In the best scenario, the holidays could actually provide an opportunity for families to understand another political perspective from those they know best.
For those who do wade into political talk this holiday season, Reinecke and other experts say avoid personal attacks, be respectful and remember the value of family and the common ground you share.
But Risley said his strategy this year will be avoidance of the election when he sees his Trump-supporting relatives. He's advised his children to do the same.
"We're telling (the kids) not to bring it up unless somebody else brings it up," Risley said. And, "be civil."
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Looking ahead to Christmas, though, Risley said for now he's planning to skip the gathering they usually attend at another family member's home because, "I'm still so mad."
While avoiding controversial conversation is one thing, psychologists say completely shunning family gatherings could be extreme and unnecessary, though it appears to be happening as a result of the election.
Reinecke said he's heard of someone dis-inviting a daughter to Thanksgiving dinner after learning how she voted on Election Day.
"That is a concern," he said. "She's going to remember that for the rest of her life."
It's one thing to "de-friend" people on Facebook, which appears to be a common as of late. It's another to cut family ties, added Claudia Pitts, clinical psychologist and professor at National Louis University.
Instead, experts suggest tips to get through the day, which is supposed to be a celebration of family, not a political debate.
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"These are relationships that I hope outlast a presidency," Pitts said. "Remind yourself that even though you disagree with these people, these are your people."
Pitts has developed a slogan for politically divided families this season: "Diffuse, distract and decline."
Diffuse by "softening" any polarizing comments and try to find common ground, distract by changing the subject away from politics and decline by directly saying, "Can we not talk about this? I don't want to mess up this holiday," Pitts said.
She also advises minimizing alcohol consumption, using humor to lighten a conversation if it risks turning angry and even developing a "safe word" with someone who could use it as a signal to get you out of a conversation when needed.
It's also best to prepare for the holiday by getting a good night's sleep, she added: "Don't get yourself in such a state that you're exhausted and upset before you show up."
Reinecke also suggests that hosts be proactive in developing positive dinner conversation, recalling his own Thanksgiving dinner last year when his wife provided colored pencils and paper turkeys for guests to color. Hosts could also purchase conversation cards, which suggest topics for the dinner table, he said.
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"There are all kinds of things that gently direct people away from politics," he said. "The larger goal is, this is meant to be Thanksgiving. Nobody is going to change somebody else's political beliefs, so don't try."
But, Matt Motyl, professor of psychology and political science at University of Illinois-Chicago, said it's important to confront the tough topic.
"If we don't have these conversations, there's no way to understand the other side," he said. "We just have these negative caricatures."
Motyl acknowledges that "doesn't make these conversations any easier ... but I would argue if we try to go into these conversations and push aside the stereotypes ... then we might be more open-minded."
The advantage of hearing the opposing political view from family, he said, "is that family is probably not going to disown us. ... Families presumably love each other. It's hard to love somebody and just assume they're evil or ignorant. You give them more latitude when they do something you disagree with."
Members of the Bragg family said they're able to discuss their political differences and still remain a close unit.
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For Susan Bragg, 64, of Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood, completely avoiding politics over the holidays may not be possible.
Her siblings and their families got together the weekend after Election Day, when she soon discovered she was in the minority of her siblings when it came to her political leanings and her fierce support of Hillary Clinton.
While there were some uncomfortable moments, Bragg said the family still had a great time, and will remain tight despite their differences. And, while she'll try to avoid conflict at Thanksgiving, Bragg said she can't completely avoid the topic forever.
"I can't keep silent. I will keep needling them because I'm right," she joked.
But she said she'll choose her moments wisely. "You love them because they're family and you'll find other things to talk about and be happy about."
She will spend Thanksgiving with her brother Bruce Bragg, 62, who said he has no problem avoiding arguments during political conversations, even if close family members disagree with him.
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"I'm not going to argue. If someone feels that way, that's fine. That's how they voted," said Bruce Bragg, who voted for Trump.
He said he's already had several conversations with his daughter Sheryl Colaur and her wife, who supported Clinton and want him to understand their views. At Christmastime, Bruce Bragg and his wife will travel out of state to spend time with both of his daughters.
Colaur, 31, said her sister suggested to the family that there be no political talk during holiday gatherings because of differences of opinion.
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Colaur said she's also worried about being around other family members who voted for Trump. She said she's already had to diffuse conversations during family gathering throughout the campaign season.
She's even blocked certain family members on Facebook, who have also blocked her.
"I can have respectful disagreements," Colaur said, but added she thinks this election has brought out too many negative exchanges. "So I never bring it up, but I can't stay quiet."
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Because of that potential for negativity, Northwestern's Reinecke said that while learning about each other's political differences has value, there's a time and a place, calling to mind Aristotle's philosophy that "man is a political animal."
"Yeah," he said, "but not over the Thanksgiving table."
kthayer@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @knthayer
Todd Ricketts, right, hugs sister Laura as brother Tom address the crowd at the Cubs' World Series rally at Grant Park on Nov. 2, 2016. (Charles Rex Arbogast / AP)
Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump on Saturday, a day the president-elect also is to talk to Mitt Romney and retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis about potential posts in a new White House cabinet.
An aide to Ricketts deferred comment on the meeting to Trump's transition team, which announced the president-elect's Saturday schedule to reporters in New York.
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"These meetings that the president-elect is holding are showing that he is meeting some of the best, brightest and most qualified people, not only to fill specific roles within the administration, but also to give advice and counsel," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said. The meetings will be held in Bedminster, N.J.
Ricketts was an influential factor in late campaign season fundraising for two allied groups that backed Trump: the Future45 super political action committee and the related independent expenditure 45 Committee, which does not have to disclose its donors.
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The groups got a late fall infusion of cash via commitments from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, as well as from Joe Ricketts, the patriarch of the family who founded TD Ameritrade.
The Adelsons gave $5 million to the super PAC and pledged $25 million more to the effort to back Trump, and Joe Ricketts donated $1 million to the super PAC. Todd Ricketts told supporters in late September that the pro-Trump effort was on its way toward raising $70 million, CNN reported at the time.
Todd Ricketts also was an at-large delegate for Trump in the Illinois delegation to the Republican National Convention in July and took part in Chicago and suburban fundraisers for his presidential candidacy. He is a board member of TD Ameritrade and a business investor and consultant.
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The Ricketts family's involvement in the Trump effort was a sharp turnaround from the primary campaign, when they funded the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC. That prompted Trump to warn on Twitter in February: "They better be careful, they have a lot to hide."
At that time, the Rickettses were heavily invested with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's White House bid. Todd Ricketts was a donor to a Walker-aligned super PAC and the family's matriarch, Marlene Ricketts of Nebraska, donated $5 million to it.
Also scheduled to visit Trump on Saturday is Romney, the GOP's unsuccessful 2012 presidential candidate and a sharp critic of the president-elect during the campaign. There has been speculation that Romney could be offered the post of secretary of state.
Mattis, a retired Marine general who served as head of U.S. Central Command, also will meet with Trump. He is being touted as a possible secretary of defense.
Others on the Trump list for Saturday include a pair of potential candidates for education secretary: Betsy DeVos, who's from an influential Republican family from Michigan, and Michelle Rhee, a former District of Columbia schools chancellor.
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Samantha & I are pleased to welcome our new born daughter. She is a blessing to us. Whatever you do in life always fight for your family pic.twitter.com/Fy6nFTrvWz #ThisFlag E Mawarire (@PastorEvanLive) November 17, 2016
Zimbabwe's #ThisFlag protest pastor Evan Mawarire has a new daughter, he said on Twitter Thursday in an announcement that may make his decision to take his family into exile four months ago more understandable."Samantha & I are pleased to welcome our new born daughter. She is a blessing to us. Whatever you do in life always fight for your family," Mawarire tweeted.See his tweet below:Launched online in April, Mawarire's #ThisFlag movement against state corruption and poverty rattled longtime president Robert Mugabe and his government to an extent not seen for years.In a short time, the 39-year-old pastor managed to inspire Zimbabweans to speak up and take action, notably in supporting a mass stayaway in July. But Mawarire was arrested soon afterwards and faced serious charges. He spent a night in custody, was released after a day in court to huge celebrations - and then left almost immediately for South Africa and the US, taking his family with him.It is likely that the baby was born in the US, though that has not been confirmed.Mawarire posted a photo of himself holding a newborn on his verified Twitter account. His shirt was emblazoned with the word Zimbabwe.He already had two young children when he launched #ThisFlag : in fact, he has previously said that he made his first protest video out of frustration when he could not find the money for school fees. It was not widely known that his wife was expecting another child.The pastor has come in for some criticism for "abandoning" the movement when he did, however necessary it was for his and his family's safety.Some Zimbabweans immediately took to Twitter to offer their congratulations.
Jason Van Dyke approaches the bench as his case is called for a status hearing Nov. 2, 2016, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
The special prosecutor assigned to investigate a possible cover-up by Chicago police in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald said in court Wednesday that a special grand jury has been impaneled to hear evidence in the case.
Patricia Brown Holmes, the special prosecutor, said the special grand jury will begin issuing subpoenas over the next 30 to 45 days. She did not disclose if the grand jury has heard any evidence yet, but she said she will file documents under seal on Thursday with Leroy Martin Jr., the presiding judge at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
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During the brief hearing before Martin, Holmes said the special grand jury is made up of 26 people 16 grand jurors and 10 alternates.
Martin named Holmes to look into whether officers lied to justify the October 2014 shooting of 17-year-old McDonald. Holmes' investigation also could extend to police supervisors, according to lawyers who sought the appointment of a special prosecutor.
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A dashboard camera video of the shooting showed Officer Jason Van Dyke opening fire within seconds of exiting his police SUV as McDonald walked away with a knife in his hand, contradicting many of the officers' written accounts that the teen had lunged at police with the knife.
Van Dyke is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.
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Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson recently moved to fire Van Dyke, three other patrol officers and a sergeant he accused of lying about the shooting.
Grand jury proceedings are kept secret by law. Grand jurors can ask questions and help steer the investigation, but the prosecutor typically still plays a key role in who, if anyone, would be indicted.
Holmes has said the investigation could last anywhere from weeks to months before the grand jury decides whether to indict any officers or not.
In February, a coalition of about 25 community groups, prominent attorneys and a member of McDonald's family filed a petition asking that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate not only McDonald's shooting but also the officers at the scene. State's Attorney Anita Alvarez opposed a special prosecutor during her hard-fought re-election effort earlier this year, but after her primary loss, she withdrew her opposition.
Judge Vincent Gaughan, who is overseeing the criminal case against Van Dyke, appointed Kane County State's Attorney Joseph McMahon as a separate special prosecutor to handle the prosecution of Van Dyke.
sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com
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Three people were indicted on charges of aiding a fugitive and obstruction of justice stemming from the Oct. 28 fatal shooting of a 39-year-old Park Forest resident.
Earlier this week, Josiah A. Clark, 34, was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in the Oct. 28 homicide of Jason McCullough.
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Police found McCullough dead from at least one gunshot wound about 5:45 p.m. Oct. 28 after being called to his home in the 200 block of Arcadia Street, police previously said. An autopsy later determined McCullough died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Detectives believed the shooting stemmed from a dispute between two people who knew each other, according to the release.
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On Friday, police announced that three other people had been indicted on charges related to the homicide.
Imanee Davis, 18, of Park Forest, and Jabari Davis, 38, of Chicago Heights, each face a charge of aiding a fugitive, according to a news release from the Park Forest Police Department. Joshanda Clark, 35, of Glenwood, faces a count of obstructing justice.
A warrant was first issued for Clark's arrest Oct. 31, and he was arrested Nov. 2 in Minneapolis, according to records. He remained Friday in the Hennepin County Jail on $2 million bail, according to the jail's website. His next court hearing there is scheduled for Dec. 7.
The man accused of shooting a Bensenville store clerk during a holdup testified Thursday that he was not involved in the crime.
Stephan A. Russell, 23, of Chicago, was the final person to take the witness stand in his trial, where he is charged with the first-degree murder of Hussein Saghir.
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Saghir was shot outside Sam's Tobacco and Food Mart on the night of Jan. 29, 2014. Two friends of Russell accused their fellow street gang member of shooting Saghir, but Russell denied it.
"I wouldn't shoot him at all. I didn't shoot him," he told jurors at his DuPage County trial.
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Attorneys are expected to present their closing arguments Friday afternoon before giving the case to the jury.
Earlier Thursday, Russell's sister and mother testified that he was home at the time Saghir, 36, confronted two men in hooded sweatshirts outside his store. One of the men was armed and he shot Saghir once as the storekeeper tried to keep the robbers at bay.
Saghir's brother and 3-year-old nephew were inside the store, and police say Saghir was trying to keep the robbers out.
Several weeks after the shooting, authorities arrested three men. Two of them, Kenneth Bardlett and Tremayne Davis, identified Russell as the shooter. Russell's attorney, Roger Malavia, contends that Davis actually shot Saghir.
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A video camera captured images of the shooting, including the gunman's distinctive maroon hooded sweatshirt. Davis admitted that the sweatshirt belonged to him, but testified that Russell put it on before he and Bardlett committed the attempted holdup.
In his testimony, though, Russell said that at the time of the shooting, he was at his mother's apartment in the 3500 block of West Armitage.
"I had a responsibility," he said. "I was watching my siblings."
Police arrested him in March 2014, about two months after the slaying, and an officer reported that Russell said that he wouldn't shoot anyone unless it was in self-defense. He admitted in court that he made the statement, but said it wasn't made in relationship the shooting of Saghir. Under cross examination, Russell said he was unable to provide context for the statement.
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Authorities say Russell, Bardlett and Davis drove to the Irving Park Road store in Bardlett's van, followed by two men, also gang members, in a second vehicle. Following the slaying, police released video of the holdup to the media, which led to the arrest of the trio. The other two men were not charged.
Both Davis and Bardlett made plea agreements for lesser sentences in exchange for testimony. Bardlett, however, refused to answer almost any questions about the shooting when he testified this week.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
Years before he became the unofficial "Mayor of Chinatown," celebrated chef Tony Hu says he left his family's Sichuan Province farm in shame after bombing a college entrance exam.
Over the next three decades, Hu used that humiliating experience to fuel his ambition, training as a chef and building a thriving restaurant business in Chicago that prosecutors said did nearly $40 million in annual sales.
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But on Friday, Hu, twice turned and gave a full bow in a federal courtroom packed with supporters before he apologized to his family for entangling them in a scheme to hide nearly $10 million in cash receipts over a five-year period, skirting about $1 million in sales taxes to Illinois.
"I feel such a shame for what I have done," he said in a quiet, raspy voice. "I was very proud of my accomplishments. But now I am lost. I cannot sleep, I cannot eat, sometimes I feel like I don't want to live."
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U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve sentenced the restaurateur to a year and a day in prison and fined him $100,000. The extra day qualifies Hu for good time credit.
Hu had already paid $1.087 million in court-ordered restitution, selling several restaurants to generate the cash, his lawyer said.
"This court cannot send the message" that if you're wealthy enough to pay restitution "you can walk," St. Eve said. "You've lived the American Dream, but that does not give you the license to ... defraud the state."
Lawyers for Hu, 49, sought probation, but prosecutors asked for about 4 1/2 years in prison.
Just three days after he was charged in May, Hu pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges. As part of the deal, prosecutors agreed not to charge the family members he'd brought into the scheme.
When the FBI raided Hu's Chinatown home two years ago, agents discovered a veritable "assembly line" for doctoring sales records for the two sets of books he kept for his businesses, federal prosecutors said.
Three piles of receipts were found in Hu's living room: records on his couch still to be doctored, those already altered with handwritten figures that grossly underreported what his restaurants actually took in, and cash receipts and income reports from restaurant managers that he planned to destroy, prosecutors alleged.
St. Eve said agents seized more than 100 large garbage bags stuffed with receipts. Hu was training his nephew in the scheme, chastising him at one point for showing him the actual sales records instead of the cooked books, prosecutors said.
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Hu's attorneys said Hu had been trained to report only part of the receipts when he took an ownership interest in his first Chinatown restaurant and simply continued the practice as his business expanded.
"Tony foolishly believed this was the practice of doing business in Chinatown," said Sheldon Zenner, his lead lawyer.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ridgway scoffed at that explanation.
"Greed is the only explanation," Ridgway said. "Why else would you perpetuate a fraud of this magnitude?"
A 2012 Tribune feature on Hu indicated he had ambitious plans for the next five years, including opening restaurants in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and even having his company, Tony Gourmet Group, traded publicly on the stock market.
The probe became public in October 2014 when FBI and IRS agents raided eight of Hu's restaurants in Chicago and a ninth in suburban Downers Grove. The restaurants had to be shuttered for several hours as agents carted out boxes of records.
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As part of the probe, agents dined while undercover at two of Hu's restaurants to try to learn more about how a record of transactions was maintained, even questioning waiters on the subject, the court records show.
It's unclear how many restaurants Hu now runs, but at one time his business numbered as many as a dozen restaurants, the bulk of them concentrated within a half-square-mile area near the heart of Chinatown.
He was best known for the Lao Sze Chuan franchise, but he also owned restaurants in the north and west suburbs and even Connecticut and Las Vegas at one time.
Hu, whose given name is Hu Xiaojun, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and will not face deportation because of his felony conviction. Zenner told the judge Friday he would seek permission for Hu to visit his elderly mother in China before reporting to prison in February.
The acclaimed chef hasn't yet explained to her why he's going to prison, Zenner said.
sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com
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El Rukn operated out of this heavily fortified former movie theater called the fort in the 3900 block of South Drexel Boulevard in the Oakland neighborhood in the 1980s. (Chicago Tribune)
Derrick Kees is a convicted killer, a onetime member of the El Rukn gang's notorious "hit team" responsible for dozens of murders and attempted murders ordered by gang leader Jeff Fort.
Having already served decades in state prison for murder, Kees, 59, has for the past three years been serving out a 25-year sentence on federal racketeering conspiracy charges, a term that should keep him locked up well into his 70s.
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But now, a federal judge is being asked to spring Kees from prison early. And it's not Kees' lawyers who made the request.
In an unusual motion filed Thursday, the U.S. attorney's office sought to reduce Kees' sentence to 12 years in exchange for his anticipated testimony in an ongoing trial involving another alleged former El Rukn general, Nathson Fields, who claims he was framed in an infamous 1984 double murder that sent him to death row.
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If U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer approves, Kees could be freed as soon as November 2021 as much as 13 years early.
It's the second time in less than two years that prosecutors have gone to bat for an imprisoned El Rukn hit man in exchange for testimony in Fields' civil proceedings.
In December 2014, the Tribune first reported that Earl Hawkins, a former El Rukn general once described by prosecutors as a "trained killer," was quietly released from prison at least 10 years early after he testified against Fields at a hearing over his petition for innocence as well as at the first trial over Fields' lawsuit.
Ironically, federal prosecutors cite Hawkins' release after 30 years in custody in their argument that Kees' time should be reduced, saying his sentence "will still exceed that of all the other cooperating El Rukn witnesses."
But the filing does not mention prosecutors' role in obtaining Hawkins' early release. The jury that had awarded Fields only $80,000 in damages had not been told of the release, a key reason why U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly overturned that verdict and granted Fields the new trial now underway.
Kees' motion has lawyers for Fields once again demanding answers. After Fields' trial wrapped for the day on Thursday, attorney Jon Loevy likened the move to paying off a witness.
"We want to see every communication between the federal government and the people at this table," said Loevy, pointing at lawyers representing the city and two Chicago police detectives accused in the alleged frame-up.
Kennelly ordered the defense to turn over any emails or other messages exchanged with the U.S. attorney's office about the request to reduce Kees' sentence.
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Attorney Leonard Goodman, who represents Fields in separate litigation seeking a certificate of innocence, told the Tribune on Friday that while commonplace in criminal cases, it's highly unusual for federal prosecutors to cut deals with prisoners in exchange for testimony in a civil trial. He alleged that unless there's a bona fide public safety reason to negotiate for a prisoner's release, it's tantamount to bribery.
"I've never seen it," Goodman said. "What possible public safety reason could there be in a civil trial to be letting serial killers out of prison?"
Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, had no comment Friday.
For three decades, Kees has figured prominently in the historic but also controversial El Rukn prosecutions that decimated the gang's leadership.
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In 1988, Kees was convicted in state court in the 1981 machine-gun slaying of El Rukn rival Willie "Dollar Bill" Bibbs outside a bar and sentenced to 55 years in prison. Facing even more time in a federal racketeering case, Kees cooperated with authorities and wound up testifying against many of his cohorts, including implicating Fields in the 1984 double murder of Jerome "Fuddy" Smith and Talman Hickman.
Kees testified at numerous proceedings that he had helped plan the Smith and Hickman murders and that after they were carried out, Fields reported to him that it was "a good exercise."
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Both Fields and Hawkins were convicted. But Circuit Judge Thomas Maloney, who presided over the bench trial, himself was later convicted of pocketing $10,000 to fix the case, only to return the money in the midst of the trial when he suspected the FBI was onto the bribe. Maloney instead convicted Hawkins and Fields and sentenced both to death. The judge was later sentenced to almost 16 years in prison for fixing that trial as well as another murder trial.
The El Rukn cases were also fraught with allegations of misconduct by the U.S. attorney's office. Several convictions were reversed after it was alleged that former gang leaders cooperating with the government received clothing, money and other gifts, obtained drugs and even had conjugal visits with their wives in federal offices.
In 1993, an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where numerous cooperating El Rukns were being held, told authorities looking into the misconduct that he saw Kees smoking marijuana inside the jail, according to Tribune reports.
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Twitter @jmetr22b
A person was fatally stabbed at the Hawthorne Race Course Nov. 16, 2016, police said.
A man who authorities said was stabbed to death in the horse stable area at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney has been identified, officials said Friday.
Three men had been in custody Thursday in connection with the stabbing, but Stickney police provided no new details about the incident.
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The dead man was identified as Rodrigo Flores-Garcia, 30, by the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was listed as living in Cicero, which borders the racetrack.
The police received a call about 6 p.m. Wednesday about an unresponsive person in the stable area, which is not accessible to the public, authorities said. The racetrack is located at 3501 S. Laramie Ave. in Stickney.
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The man was transferred to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, but succumbed to his injuries.
Police initiated a homicide investigation and detained who they said were three persons of interests. The Cook County state's attorney's office Thursday had no information on the victim or the three people in custody.
Stickney police said they will release more information to the public when it becomes available.
Hawthorne is currently hosting it thoroughbred racing season.
Anyone with information is asked to call Stickney police at (708) 788-2131.
Joseph Ruzich is a freelance reporter.
Mohammed Hamzah Khan, of Bolingbrook, was arrested Oct. 4, 2014, at O'Hare International Airport as he tried to board a flight to go abroad and join Islamic State, authorities said. (Mohammed Hamzah Khan Facebook)
Mohammed Hamzah Khan had just been sentenced to a little more than three years in prison Friday for trying to fly overseas to join the Islamic State terrorism group when the judge told him to pay close attention to the way he'd just been treated under U.S. law.
Though Khan had faced up to 15 years behind bars, he'd instead been given a remarkable second chance, U.S. District Judge John Tharp said. He was afforded his right to counsel, his family and friends were allowed to support him in court and federal authorities had agreed to provide resources for years to come to get his life back on track.
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It was the opposite of what he would have faced under Islamic State's brand of justice, Tharp said.
"Instead of a public beheading, you've been given a public trial proceeding," Tharp said at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing. "The enemy government has not tried to kill you. It has tried to help you."
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Khan, 21, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and black skull cap and sporting a thick, dark beard, showed no reaction as the judge handed down the sentence of 40 months in prison. Khan has already been in custody for two years, and with good behavior he'd be eligible for release in August when he plans to enroll in college.
Left to right, Zarine Khan and her husband, Shafi Khan, listen as their lawyer Tom Durkin speaks to reporters about the Khans' son Mohammed Hamzah Khan (not shown) at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
By all accounts, it was an extremely lenient sentence for a conviction of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. But it came with a creative twist: In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Khan to remain under court supervision for at least 20 years after his release, one of the longest periods of government monitoring ever ordered in Chicago's federal court.
Under the deal, which was crafted after months of negotiation between prosecutors and Khan's attorneys, Khan must seek "psychological and violent extremism counseling," perform at least 120 hours of community service each year he's under supervision and allow court personnel to search his cellphone, email and computer without a warrant.
After court, Khan's father thanked the judge, the FBI and prosecutors "for what they have decided for our son."
"We are very excited for his future," Shafi Khan said in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.
The sentencing brought an end to a case that garnered national headlines in October 2014, when Khan, then 19, was arrested at O'Hare International Airport as he tried to board a jet to Vienna with a connection to Istanbul. Traveling with Khan were his sister, then 17, and 16-year-old brother, who were both questioned at the airport by the FBI but were not charged.
Khan's arrest came as U.S. national security and counterterrorism officials were voicing growing concern over radicalized Americans traveling overseas to join Islamic State, which at the time was seizing large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and committing high-profile beheadings of journalists, aid workers and other captives.
Of particular worry were the group's burgeoning recruitment tactics that used glitzy videos and other online propaganda to radicalize young, disaffected Americans.
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After Khan's arraignment in early 2015, his mother, Zarine Khan, delivered a tearful but stern message accusing Islamic State recruiters of "the brainwashing and recruiting of children through the use of social media."
"Leave our children alone!" she cried.
According to his plea agreement, Khan and his sister had been talking online with Islamic State members in Syria who offered to help them get to the Middle East to join the terrorist organization. Khan admitted plotting to travel to Turkey so the contact could guide him and his siblings across the border, according to the reports.
To fund the trip, Khan got a job as a stock clerk at a Menards store in July 2014. By September, he had saved enough to buy three round-trip tickets for himself and his siblings at a cost of $2,679, according to his plea agreement.
Khan told agents he expected his position with Islamic State to be "some type of public service, a police force, humanitarian work or a combat role," according to the charges. Notes left by the siblings for their parents who were not aware of the plot begged them not to tell law enforcement.
As he had argued previously, Khan's lawyer, Thomas Anthony Durkin, told the judge Friday that Kahn was a "naive and foolish" teenager who fell victim to the Islamic State's slick offers to become a part of something bigger than himself. Durkin said Khan's main goal was to join an Islamic caliphate and live according to Muslim doctrine, not fight a holy war against the U.S.
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But the judge said he didn't think "for a second" that Khan believed he was going to work as a chef or some other civilian job once he arrived in Syria or that Islamic State "was an organization that would respect that kind of wish from an able-bodied 20-year-old."
"Mr. Khan set off to join and aid a terrorist organization that believes it is appropriate, indeed believes it is holy, to kill anyone who disagrees with its religious dogma," Tharp said.
Khan's family emigrated from India but has lived in the Chicago suburbs for many years, according to Durkin. Khan was born in the United States, graduated from high school and attended one year at Benedictine University in Lisle. He has no prior criminal history.
Since his arrest, Khan has provided ongoing cooperation in other terrorism cases, sitting with prosecutors for four extensive debriefings totaling more than 20 hours on the recruitment tactics used by Islamic State, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Hiller.
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The information he provided helped build cases against an Islamic State fighter and recruiters one who died before he could be charged and another who remains under investigation. He also offered to testify in the recent prosecution in Great Britain of Islamic State recruiter Mizanur Rahman, but ultimately it was decided his testimony was unnecessary, prosecutors said in a recent filing.
Khan faced up to 15 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors agreed to ask for a five-year prison term given his cooperation with law enforcement.
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When offered the chance to speak in court Friday, Khan declined, saying, "Yeah, I don't wish to make any statements right now."
In his closing remarks, the judge urged Khan to take advantage of the break that had been given to him by a court system that treated him with compassion and respect.
"Nothing can better expose the moral depravity that is ISIS than to contrast its barbarity with the very high standard of civilized behavior," Tharp said.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
Many of Chicagos immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal permission express concern for the future following president-elect Donald Trump's pledge this week to immediately deport as many as 3 million people. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)
Lily Martinez had never been involved in activism.
But after Donald Trump was elected president, the 20-year-old Little Village resident felt an immediate call to action, determined that his stance on unauthorized immigrants saying he intends to immediately deport millions would not define her community's future.
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So the day after the election, she took a train to Trump Tower, joining thousands in protest.
Trump's win has prompted alarm in the immigrant community, but it's also sparked a sense of duty among many to actively fight his proposed policies, including those who have never been involved in immigration advocacy.
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"I've never been a part of anything like this. It feels like I'm living in a different time period," said Martinez, who is a U.S. citizen. "The fact that I have to stand out on the streets and cry and scream and lock hands with people beside me, it feels like I'm living through the civil rights movement."
Martinez's own predominantly Latino neighborhood, typically vibrant, is now "gloomy," she said. Elders no longer sit outside on the streets. People fear deportation and don't think they have the resources to obtain the documents they need, so they "just don't want to show their faces."
Although Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised Chicago would continue to be a sanctuary city, where local law enforcement cannot ask about residents' immigration status, families and activists are uncertain whether that protection is enough. Trump vowed during his campaign to block federal funding to sanctuary cities, ramp up deportations, increase prison sentences for those who re-enter the country and build a wall along the Mexican border.
The immigrant community as a result feels powerless, unable to predict either the swiftness or severity of the enactment of Trump's plans.
For example, those who've found relief through President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offers some legal protection to about 742,000 people who were brought to the U.S. as children and stayed here illegally, now fear Trump will rescind the executive order that created DACA.
Various pro-immigrant groups are urging unauthorized immigrants to avoid applying for government programs such as DACA, concerned their information could be used to tip off enforcement agencies.
About 450,000 unauthorized immigrants lived in Illinois in 2014, compared with about 500,000 in 2009, according to a study released in September by the Pew Research Center. Unauthorized immigrants make up 3.5 percent of Illinois' population and 24 percent of all foreign-born residents. About 71 percent of the state's unauthorized immigrants are Mexican.
"We don't know how to even get ready because we don't know how (Trump's) politics are going to look," said Laura Mendoza, a 27-year-old who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 6 and is a DACA recipient. "But we're not gonna go ahead and leave, and do what they want us to do 'go home' because this is home for us."
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It's not clear what Trump's policies, once in office, will be. But before the election, most Trump supporters viewed immigration as a "very big problem" in the U.S. and overwhelmingly support his proposed border wall, according to an August survey by the Pew Research Center. Local Trump supporters, such as 32-year-old Adam Keene, of Palatine, still stick with those beliefs but say the issue is complex.
It's important to note, he said, that Trump said he plans to immediately deport unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories, something Keene supports. But when it comes to dealing with unauthorized immigrants without criminal backgrounds, there should be an easy path to citizenship which could help unite the country, he said.
Laura Mendoza, 27 is a volunteer with The Resurrection Project and a DACA recipient. The Resurrection Project in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood is giving workshops for people worried about the the Trump presidency. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
"These aren't easy conversations we're having right now there's a lot of opposing viewpoints on this," Keene said. "But I think everyone would agree that if people don't love America, if they don't respect American values and American laws, then they don't have a place in America."
Futures in flux
A 26-year-old Chicago attorney, who asked not to be identified by name for fear of legal repercussions, has kept her legal status a lifelong secret, anxious about the stigma that came with the truth. She was born in Saudi Arabia, where her Indian father had been working, and she and her family moved to the U.S. three months later on a visitor's visa. They overstayed, and her younger brother was born in the U.S.
The attorney didn't learn she was an unauthorized immigrant until she was a teenager. But her status posed one obstacle after another: Her options for college were limited, even though she graduated at the top of her class, and she had to build her resume off unpaid internships and minimum-wage jobs.
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If she were deported, she said, she would be sent to India, a country she has never stepped foot in. Trump's election has her thinking about other options, such as moving to Canada and practicing law there. Or, she said jokingly, she could "aggressively date" and marry a U.S. citizen.
She finally revealed her status to a friend after the friend mentioned how all unauthorized immigrants "clean bathrooms and work the fields."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at Lurie Children's Hospital about protecting immigrants' rights in wake of Donald Trump's presidential election win. Nov. 14, 2016. (John Byrne / Chicago Tribune) (John Byrne / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
"Some of my friends who don't know my story fall into that category," she said. "(Trump supporters) think they're yelling 'Go home' to people who wash their bathrooms ... but they're also yelling 'Go home' to lawyers and doctors and highly accomplished people."
DACA recipient Erendira Rendon, 31, came to the U.S. from Oaxaca, Mexico, when she was 4.
"I'm worried," said Rendon, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "My parents are 60 years old. My dad has had more than half his life in the U.S. They are still undocumented, and they are getting older. And they can't work forever. And they are not getting some sort of help when they retire."
Now, she's assisting families through the Pilsen-based nonprofit The Resurrection Project, which aids Chicago's Latino community through organizing, education and community development.
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"President-elect Trump ran on the deportation of us, and people elected him," Rendon said. "I just don't understand how you ... vote to tear families apart and deport people that are in your communities. That's what a vote for Trump was. That's what a vote for Trump meant to me."
Those anxieties were shared by many of the two dozen people who attended an informational workshop Thursday at The Resurrection Project's resource center in Pilsen, where the organization's leaders answered immigrants' legal questions and a licensed clinical counselor walked the group through a breathing exercise to ease their stress.
The organization's managing attorney, Julie Reiter Pellerite, fielded a salvo of questions in Spanish: What do I do if I'm detained? If I applied to DACA, will an immigration official come to my home? Should I apply for a renewal?
Since the election, she's been screening unauthorized immigrants to see whether they might be eligible for a certain visa or immigrant visa petition for battered spouses.
"There's a renewed fear among the community, the fear of deportation," Pellerite said. "So our responsibility is to counter that fear with facts and to inform people they have rights."
The Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center has been flooded with calls from people concerned about their immigration status and DACA paperwork, said Tara Tidwell Cullen, the center's director of communications. The center is a legal-aid organization that provides resources to unauthorized immigrants in Chicago and the U.S.
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And a family support hotline at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has received more than 300 calls this past week from those desperate for information. Volunteers are overwhelmed, said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at the coalition.
"As anxious as people are, they're also staying strong and they're standing in solidarity with each other. They know what's coming and they have a sense of what's going to be necessary," Tsao said. Unauthorized immigrants, like citizens, have the right to remain silent and the right not to answer their doors, he said.
"We're still gonna be in the fight. We're still going to make sure our families and communities are protected."
A call for action
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Attorney Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz had planned to slowly return from a leave of absence after years caring for her children. But this year, she decided to "fast-track" her return in light of the election.
"The rhetoric in this election reinvigorated my passion and reminded me to stand up for core values: fairness, equality and justice. I'm diving in because I feel so strongly about these issues," she said. "They're the reason I became involved in law. I learned lawyers are on the front lines defending those founding principles: liberty, justice, equality. These issues are front and center in immigration."
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Gong-Gershowitz had primarily handled commercial litigation in addition to pro bono immigration cases. But her motivation to attend law school was sparked by a civil rights attorney who represented her grandparents against deportation.
"The irony of that is my family came for many of the same reasons that a lot of others are now," she said. "For me, when I learned about my family history, it seemed to me like one of the finest ways to honor (the attorney's) gift to my family was to pay it forward."
meltagouri@chicagotribune.com
tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com
nmoreno@chicagotribune.com
Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.
Topspin
Chicago's 80-strong, Mayor Rahm Emanuel-fronted delegation to see Archbishop Blase Cupich's elevation to cardinal in Rome counts the city's top cop Eddie Johnson among its number.
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Including Johnson with the political donors and dignitaries taking the charter flight for the ceremony underlines the importance of the moment -- and reflects the personal relationship he shares with Cupich, according to a Johnson spokesman. But it also could end up being bad political optics for the mayor and the superintendent if violence grabs headlines in Chicago while they're touring St. Peter's Basilica.
Emanuel has the fight against crime at the forefront of his agenda, trying to overcome the city's notorious national reputation and repair relations with residents who live in neighborhoods where they don't feel safe or trust police. Time and again, he has pointed to Johnson's tireless work as key to that turnaround.
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Being out of town at crucial moments has been an issue for Emanuel before. When his school board closed dozens of public schools in 2013, he was vacationing with his family at a ski area in Utah, a fact not lost on his critics.
And when a Chicago police officer shot and killed teenager Quintonio LeGrier and mother of five Bettie Jones on the West Side last December, Emanuel was in Cuba on a family trip. Emails released months later showed the mayor contacting staff from there to keep close tabs on the public fallout from the shootings.
In this case, Johnson's inclusion in the Rome trip will not compromise the decision-making at CPD, according to department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The superintendent is checking in via phone regularly with First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro and other department officials, Guglielmi said.
"There won't be any breakdown," Guglielmi said. "The department is bigger than any one individual." (John Byrne)
What's on tap
*Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner are in Rome to watch Archbishop Blase Cupich get elevated to cardinal.
*City Treasurer Kurt Summers will be out with 47th Ward Ald. Ameya Pawar to promote holiday shopping at local merchants.
What we're writing
*Suffering in secret: Illinois hides abuse and neglect of adults with disabilities.
*Chicago aldermen call for city's animal shelters to become no-kill.
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*Chicago cop in LeGrier shooting death case mistakenly returned to street duty for four months.
*CPS worker gave private student data to charter school network.
*SEIU workers threaten to strike during busy holiday travel weekend.
What we're reading
*Prosecutor admitted in FBI report that Englewood Four teens coerced into false confessions.
*Just hasn't been the same since the "snap into it" ad campaign.
*Table service coming to McDonald's, my good chap.
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From the notebook
*Kirk gets call from Bibi: Outgoing Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, defeated in his bid for re-election, said he received a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Got a nice call today from Israeli PM @Netanyahu. Told him I'll keep finding ways to strengthen US-Israel alliance after I leave the Senate," Kirk said on his official Twitter account.
In his losing campaign to Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Kirk was a prime opponent of the U.S.-led multinational deal to curb Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons. Kirk opposed the deal and warned Iran will still present a danger to Israel. (Rick Pearson)
*Roskam gets win against Boeing: West suburban Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam scored a win Thursday when the House voted 243-174 to approve legislation blocking the Treasury Department from issuing licenses to finance aircraft sales to Iran.
Roskam, of Wheaton, has been a vocal opponent of allowing commercial aircraft sales to Iran, contending the country has a history of using such planes to transport weaponry and troops to assist the Syrian government.
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Iran recently agreed to purchase 200 new planes from Boeing and Airbus, prompting Roskam to push for the ban. It also prevents the Export-Import Bank from financing such sale agreements. (Rick Pearson)
*The Sunday Spin: On this week's show, Chicago Tribune political writer Rick Pearson's guests are Rebecca Shi, executive director of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition; Democratic political consultant Tom Bowen; and former Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine. The "Sunday Spin" airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN 720-AM.
Follow the money
*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.
Beyond Chicago
*Trump Cabinet candidate list grows with Romney, Petraeus.
*Trump son-in-law looking at White House role.
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*Trump plans Jersey getaway weekend.
*Ohio Democrat comes out of nowhere to challenge Pelosi for House minority leader.
A man who was adopted from South Korea by Americans when he was 3 years old landed on Thursday in his native country one that is completely unknown to him after he was deported from the United States, an official and his lawyer said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had ordered Adam Crapser deported because of criminal convictions, including assault and being a felon in possession of a weapon.
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His life story highlights the failings of an adoption system that put him in the homes of one set of parents who abandoned him and another that physically abused him and other adopted children, his Seattle attorney, Lori Walls, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
ICE spokeswoman Rose Richeson told AP in an email that the 41-year-old Crapser arrived in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday morning aboard a commercial airline flight escorted by ICE deportation officers.
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Richeson said Crapser was arrested by ICE on Feb. 8 after serving a 60-day sentence for menacing constituting domestic violence and attempted coercion. He had been held in an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington since then. A judge could have allowed Crapser to stay in America but decided on deportation. Crapser's supporters said he waived an appeal because he couldn't stand to stay in the detention center any longer.
Walls said she is astonished that the fact that Crapser "was adopted, abandoned and abused ... carried relatively little weight in the decision that the immigration court made."
"The U.S. government facilitated the adoption out of Korea," she said. "No one followed up to make sure he was safe. When that first family abandoned him to foster care he was not visible there was no follow-up."
No one ever sought U.S. citizenship for him. He and his older sister were adopted by a family who lived in Michigan and who later abandoned them after they moved to Oregon, Walls said.
Brother and sister were split up. Crapser was eventually adopted by parents in Oregon who assaulted him and other children in their care. His adoptive parents were convicted of multiple crimes. Crapser eventually left the home and was arrested after he broke in to retrieve some of his belongings from his orphanage in South Korea, Walls said.
Crapser later got into further trouble with the law. He came under the scrutiny of federal immigration authorities after he applied for a Green Card and they saw his criminal record.
"I'm hopeful Adam figures out how to make a life in that country, where he doesn't speak the language read the language or know anything about the culture," Walls said.
His birth mother in South Korea, who had put her son and daughter up for adoption because she couldn't afford to keep him, is learning English so she can communicate with him when they're reunited, The New York Times reported recently.
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"His birth mother, because of publicity in South Korea, came forward," Walls said, adding that a DNA test proved the relationship. Walls noted that the mother is disabled, has a low income "and can't be much help for him."
"I spoke with Adam a couple of days ago," Walls said. "He was trying to stay positive, but I mean it was clear talking to him that he was scared. He's going to a country where he can't even read the street signs."
Walls said there might be legal remedies for Crapser to return to the U.S. but that it would be "an uphill battle."
Associated Press
News / National
by Mary Charamba
Prominent lawyer Fadzayi Mahere has been arrested together with a dozen other anti-bond-notes activists in Harare's Africa Unity Square.By lunchtime about 40 people had been nabbed, Bulawayo24.com heard.Police reportedly rounded up everyone on site at Africa Unity Square.On her Facebook page, Mahere had vowed to take part in the protests.
President Barack Obama waves before boarding Air Force One as he departs following talks with European leaders on Nov. 18, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall / Getty Images)
BERLIN President Barack Obama departed Europe on Friday after a final round of crisis talks with U.S. allies about hotspots including Ukraine and Libya, even as he sought to ease concerns about possible policy shifts under the new White House.
The victory of President-elect Donald Trump has startled European allies after campaign pledges that seemed to pull back from the traditional U.S. commitment to transatlantic security.
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Obama urged the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain to continue seeking solutions with the incoming administration "on the basis of the core values that define the United States and Europe as open democracies," according to a White House statement.
Obama joined with his European counterparts in strongly backing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the cornerstone of Western security, while backing their calls to uphold sanctions against Vladimir Putin's Russia, which is seen as backing pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine.
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Also on the agenda was the Iraqi-led battles to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State and the resumption of attacks in Aleppo and other parts of Syria by government forces and ally Russia.
"The president emphasized that de-escalation and a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict are the only viable ways to end the suffering, prevent another migration crisis," according to the White House statement.
Although Obama's visit here had the usual trappings, including a group photo with the five European leaders who had converged in Berlin to meet with him, it had a more subdued tone than in the past. By midday, he had left the German Chancellery under a light drizzle for Air Force One to head to his trip's final stop, Peru.
The summit took shape as Europe is awash in its own tensions, over Britain's exit from the European Union, differences on defense strategy and a rise of populist nationalism that is challenging the fortunes of several leaders across the continent.
Maintaining European and U.S. sanctions on Russia in particular remains a top concern, given signs of a possible thaw between Washington and Moscow under Trump.
This week, Trump and Putin agreed in a telephone conversation that U.S.-Russian relations were "unsatisfactory" and vowed to work together to improve them, according to the Kremlin.
But Obama has said the president-elect, in their one-on-one meeting after the election, "expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships," including with NATO.
During Friday's talks, Obama and European leaders "unanimously agreed" on the need to press Russia to stand by promises to help calm the conflict in Ukraine, and they said that "Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia" must remain in place until it does.
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In a joint news conference with Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, after the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed impatience that peace in Ukraine was still far from reach.
"Not enough progress can be seen," she said.
Rajoy described thriving populism as one of the most important issues confronting the European Union, acknowledging that 2017 would be a difficult election year, with nationalist forces vying for power in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Merkel, commenting on her growing influence in the European Union and globally, said: "One person alone can never solve everything, we're only strong together. . . . I will do what is my duty as the German chancellor, namely on the one hand to serve the people in Germany, but that includes for me to work for European unity and European success."
Even among European powers, there are varying positions on Russia. Some urge warmer ties, while others are warning against cozying up to Putin in light of the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the rebel clashes in Ukraine.
Speaking on Thursday to the media beside Merkel, Obama urged Trump to "stand up to Russia" at the right times.
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"My hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest if we just cut some deals with Russia - even if it hurts people or violates international norms or leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in countries like Syria - that we just do what is convenient at the time," he said.
Obama, in talks with Merkel, conceded Thursday that it would be "naive" of him to expect a breakthrough in the Syria conflict before he leaves office. Syrian President Bashar Assad, speaking to Portuguese TV, earlier this week opened the door to a change under Trump, whom he described as a "natural ally." Merkel cautioned on any bargains with Assad.
"He has brought untold suffering on his people, if you look at Aleppo and other places," she said. "When you talk to the many Syrian refugees who have fled here to Germany, they will be able to tell you their own personal story, and the majority of them - the great majority of them - fled from Assad, and most of them not even fled the Islamic State. So I don't see him as an ally."
The wild-card nature of Trump's presidency is amplified in Europe by its own internal pressures.
Nowhere are those tensions more on display than in the talks over Britain's departure from the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a one-on-one meeting with Merkel as the Germans are calling for stiff penalties as the price of Britain's exit.
Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance minister, laid out a tough bargaining position with Britain in an interview with the Financial Times. He insisted that any deal would mean London must still pay billions into the E.U. budget beyond its exit date from the bloc, perhaps stretching to 2030. He also said Britain should be prepared to see financial service industries flee London in favor of cities such as Germany's Frankfurt so that they can provide better service to the European Union.
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Particularly in the wake of Trump's election, European leaders are calling for the region to take more responsibility for its own security. This week, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen singled out Britain for being obstructionist as other member states moved to forge a deeper defense alliance, including a possible European army.
"The biggest resistance is coming from the British," von der Leyen told the German weekly Die Zeit. "The USA will always be our most important and closest partner, but we Europeans cannot derive our strength from America's. . . . Europe must decide whether it wants to shape events or be a pawn."
Underscoring the heightened concern, European officials are speaking in increasingly stark terms. Manuel Valls, France's prime minister, issued a dire warning during a conference in Berlin on Thursday, calling for Berlin and Paris to quickly forge deals to improve economic growth and generate jobs amid strong challenges from anti-establishment nationalists.
"Europe is in danger of falling apart," Valls said in the German capital. "So Germany and France have a huge responsibility."
BATON ROUGE, La. Police say one person has been critically wounded in a shooting on Southern University's campus in Louisiana.
The university said in a statement that its Baton Rouge campus was on "lockdown" late Thursday and students and staff members have been warned to "shelter in place" until further notice,
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The school's statement said the male victim of the shooting was taken to a local hospital. His condition wasn't immediately released.
Southern said its campus police department was working with other law-enforcement agencies to search for suspects involved in the shooting.
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Associated Press
LUDOWICI, Ga. A fugitive accused of attempting to murder police officers fatally shot a deputy U.S. marshal trying to arrest him Friday in southeast Georgia, where other law officers returned fire and killed the suspect, federal authorities said.
The U.S. Marshals Service said 53-year-old Patrick Carothers, deputy commander of the agency's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, died after being shot twice as a team of officers tried to serve a warrant at a mobile home in rural Long County.
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The slain suspect was identified as Dontrell Montese Carter. He was wanted in Sumter County, South Carolina, on charges of attempted murder of police officers, domestic violence and illegally discharging a weapon during an incident in September, the Marshals Service said in a news release.
The agency said Carothers and his team had tracked Carter to a mobile home just outside Ludowici, about 55 miles southeast of Savannah. Carothers was shot as they were entering the home.
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Law officers returned fire and shot Carter multiple times, the Marshals Service said. Both men were taken to area hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.
"The fugitive who killed Deputy Commander Carothers was extremely dangerous, wanted for trying to kill law enforcement officers and deliberately evading authorities," David Harlow, deputy director of the Marshals Service, said in a statement. "Pat is a hero and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and five children."
Carothers served 26 years with the Marshals Service and had been deputy commander of the fugitive task force for more than a year.
Associated Press
Reporting from Washington With the Democratic Party lost in the post-election wilderness, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is aggressively reasserting himself, offering his vision for the path out as he takes on a leadership role in his caucus as the chair of outreach.
In a wide-ranging conversation Thursday with reporters, Sanders who plans to continue to serve as an independent, not a Democrat offered a preview for where his progressive wing wants to take the Democratic Party. He also had some choice words about President-elect Donald Trump, particularly when the conversation turned to his threat to prosecute Hillary Clinton.
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"It would be almost beyond comprehension," Sanders said at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "This is the United States of America. We do not prosecute our political opponents and try to throw them in jail. It would completely divide this country. It would be an outrage."
The Sanders plan for a Democratic comeback, though, doesn't involve battling every Trump initiative. His colleagues, he said, would be better served by picking their fights selectively. Trump co-opted the Democratic agenda with a populist pitch. Here's where Sanders wants Democrats to go now:
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Work with Trump on trade
Although Sanders finds many of Trump's campaign promises deeply disturbing, he warned that Democrats would be foolish to resist an argument at the core of Trump's economic agenda: that international trade deals should be renegotiated.
As other lawmakers bristle at Trump's vows to tear apart the North American Free Trade Agreement and smack tariffs on American companies that move their factories abroad, Sanders wants to hold Trump to those promises. Doing so, he said, will send a clear signal to the displaced Rust Belt workers who voted for Trump that the Democratic Party can deliver for them.
"It is high time corporate America understands they cannot get the benefits of being American corporations while at the same time turning their backs on the American working class," Sanders said.
Though he doubts that Trump will crack down on companies as promised, Sanders argued that Democrats should work with him "to tell corporate America you cannot keep running all over the world searching for cheap labor while you destroy the working class of this country."
Dont sugarcoat the Obama years
Democrats talk often about how much the economy has improved under President Obama, and Sanders said it's a fair point considering what a mess the president inherited. But the Vermonter said that the pressing that case overlooks the reality that the middle class is shrinking rapidly. Displaced workers who once earned good livings in now-shuttered factories and mines are only going to be repelled by the argument that everything was bad before and it is good now.
"Democrats too often have ignored that over a 40-year period the middle class of this country has been shrinking," Sanders said. "Real wages for American workers have gone down. Inequality has gone up. Those are real issues, and the Democratic Party has got to address them."
Keep racial justice front and center
Hundreds of callers have flooded Sanders' office phone lines, urging him to keep pressuring for the dismissal of Stephen Bannon, the right-wing media executive and white-nationalist favorite recently named Trump's chief White House strategist. It's a reflection, Sanders said, of how far outside the mainstream of American opinion Trump is when he delivers his rants on Mexican immigrants, Muslims and the state of African American communities.
"I will not compromise with racism. And I will not compromise with sexism. And I will not compromise with homophobia. And I will not compromise with Islamophobia," Sanders said. "There are areas I would have hoped that in 2016 we would have put behind us."
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To that effect, Sanders, the newly minted chairman of outreach for the Senate Democratic leadership said Democrats need to redouble their efforts to forge ties with the minority groups that have traditionally supported them but just are not coming out to vote in the numbers Democrats need to win. "We've got to build on the current base," he said.
Hit climate change hard
Democrats regularly call climate change an existential crisis, yet they hardly discussed it in the general election. Sanders suggested that is a mistake. Now the White House will be inhabited by a president who has labeled climate change a hoax and who wants to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency.
"We have got to focus much more attention on this," Sanders said. "The future of this planet is at stake. We have got to bring together people to demand Mr. Trump listen to the scientists."
It is not just the planet at stake, but also politics. Other Republicans who have interpreted their election wins as a mandate from voters to roll back environmental protections have hit serious turbulence. And the posture toward climate change in the states, as well as around the world, has changed substantially since Republicans last held the White House. Entire economies have been reoriented around renewable energy, and countries like China and India are embracing calls for emissions reductions they once spurned.
Trump will be walking into a political hornet's nest if he pursues his plans to scrap every federal climate change program, and Sanders said Democrats should start putting more focus there now.
Ornery is good
One thing that is not part of the Sanders plan is a charm offensive. Grumpiness remains the Sanders charm, and the Vermonter was as ornery as ever while sparring with the media Thursday.
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More than once he answered a question by referring reporters to the final chapter in his book, titled "Corporate Media and the Threat to Our Democracy." A reporter's question about who the Democrats should nominate in 2020 drove Sanders nuts. "We haven't inaugurated this president and we are taking about 2020," he scolded. "Because it is easy to write about. What about talking about climate change and if the planet survives? ... Those are the issues the American people need to be talking about. I don't mean to be rude, but the American people are tired of that. They really are. People are turning off their TVs. They are tired of all that stuff."
Twitter: @evanhalper
President-elect Donald Trump claimed credit on Thursday for keeping a Ford plant in Kentucky from moving to Mexico. But the company never planned to move the entire plant, only one of its production lines.
On Thursday night, Trump tweeted: "Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico"
Then followed it up with this tweet: "I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!"
Ford has never announced any plans to move either its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, which produces the Lincoln Navigator, or the Louisville Assembly Plant, which produces the Lincoln MKC, to Mexico.
In a statement on Thursday night, following Trump's tweet, the company said it had told Trump it would cancel a plan to shift production of a single model the MKC from Kentucky to Mexico. The company last year indicated it would be moving MKC production out of Louisville, though it did not announce where it was going. At the time, union leaders said the shift would not cost any jobs in Kentucky.
"Today, we confirmed with the president-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly Plant will stay in Kentucky," the company said in a statement. "We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States."
In a follow-up email exchange, a Ford spokeswoman confirmed that the MKC production had been slated to move to Mexico.
This week, Ford chief executive Mark Fields reiterated that it was moving forward with plans to shift production of the Ford Focus to Mexico from Michigan.
Trump has criticized those plans, which the company says will not cost any American jobs, because other models will be produced in the Michigan plant instead.
In an interview with Reuters, Fields highlighted the investments the company was making in domestic plants most notably, in Kentucky.
Ford announced a $1.3 billion investment in the Kentucky Truck Plant late last year. It said the move would create 2,000 new jobs.
Bill Ford Jr., the company's executive chairman, said in October that he had met with Trump over the then-candidate's frequent campaign attacks on Ford's decision to move small-car production to Mexico.
"I've had a very good meeting with him," Ford Jr. told the Economic Club of Washington. "He's a very good listener and he knows the facts."
Richard Spencer is the chairman of the National Policy Institute, which has set itself up as a center for the so-called "alt-right." (Joshua Roberts / For The Times)
As he watched the news of the presidential election in the last week, Kory Duquette became increasingly agitated. Pundits were blaming a "whitelash" for Donald Trump's win and called it a massive exercise of angry white ballot power.
Civil rights groups said the president-elect's victory has inspired dozens of attacks on blacks, Latinos and Muslims by people who shared Trump's suspicions about immigrants. Commentators said that in his quest for a win, Trump pandered to America's darkest racist impulses.
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Duquette, a 37-year-old Trump supporter from Alabama, was ready to fight back.
"#Whiteshaming doesn't work anymore! you label me? you wonder why Trump won?" Duquette, who is white, posted this week on Twitter. "Tired of being classified with untruths."
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Duquette voted for President Obama eight years ago and would never call himself a racist. Like many Americans, he was sold on Trump's promises to create jobs and fight terrorism. But there was also something else that attracted him.
Trump has eliminated "that uncomfortable feeling of being afraid to speak your mind as a white man," said the 37-year-old prison guard. "There is nothing wrong with being white."
Much has been said about the rise of white nationalists who have felt emboldened by Trump and his association with people and groups known to espouse anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic views.
One of the more widespread effects of the Nov. 8 election may be the emergence of a broad array of everyday Americans who insist they're not white nationalists but say the president-elect has made them more comfortable in their white skin.
In an era of dueling "black lives matter" and "all lives matter" campaigns and regular debates over free speech and political correctness, Duquette, who says he has heard the phrase "white privilege" one too many times, said he now feels vindicated.
Kory Duquette (handout photo)
"We were, I felt, backed into a corner and told, 'You white people had your day, it's our turn now,'" he said this week from his home in Arab, Ala. "I feel Trump broke that P.C. barrier, made me feel comfortable again to speak out."
Trump's election has thrust race even more squarely into the simmering national debate over justice and American identity.
Protesters have blocked streets in dozens of cities over a vote they see as affirming racism and xenophobia.
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There has been widespread alarm over a wave of hate incidents directed at minorities across the country, the largest number seen since the period after Obama's election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Some Trump supporters have been beaten in public as well.
This week, the mayor of Clay, W.Va., resigned after praising a friend's Facebook comment that called First Lady Michelle Obama an "ape in heels" and celebrated her imminent departure from the White House.
In Wells, N.Y., graffiti was painted on a dugout wall featuring a swastika and the words, "Make America White Again."
At a Starbucks in Miami, a white customer began yelling, "Trump! Trump" at a black barista, declaring he was the victim of "white discrimination."
At New York University, students found Trump's name written on the door to a Muslim prayer room on campus.
The Ku Klux Klan announced it would hold a Trump victory parade in North Carolina next month.
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One of the catalysts for controversy has been Trump's naming of Breitbart News executive chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, as a senior advisor. Bannon once called his website the "platform of the alt-right," a movement broadly associated with white nationalism.
He has been accused of making anti-Asian and anti-Semitic remarks, and both critics and supporters say his influence will allow his self-described "virulently anti-establishment" ideas about women, gays and others to permeate the next U.S. administration.
Since the election, Bannon has said he doesn't agree with "ethno-nationalist" parts of the alt-right, though critics say that such views are a central part of the movement.
Already, there are signs that many of those on the fringes of U.S. conservatism are angling to position themselves closer to the centers of power.
Richard Spencer, the chairman of a small alt-right policy institute in Montana who has spoken about "peaceful ethnic cleansing" and a "proxy war" on immigration, is now scouting for office space in Washington.
Trump's win "was white Americans of all classes revolting against political correctness," said Spencer, whose National Policy Institute has been described by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group.
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Whites are "expressing a desire for identity politics, or at least the beginning of it," he said.
Spencer has long argued that politicians and the media have falsely convinced whites they should feel "guilty" while encouraging racial pride among blacks, Asians and Latinos.
Few listened. Then Donald Trump began to rise.
"There is no way he doesn't know of us," said Spencer, whose group, now housed in home offices, plans to host a conference Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
Already, there is push-back. On Wednesday, Twitter suspended five accounts that Spencer used with about 100,000 followers in total as well as those of dozens of other alt-right handles.
Still, variations on alt-right ideas are capturing attention.
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"We're coming to the realization that white self-hatred is a sickness," said Timothy Murdock, a 46-year-old alt-white podcaster from Dearborn, Mich. He said he considers himself "pro-white," but feels the alt-right movement could get better traction by going to battle against "diversity."
"There is great attention to the term 'diversity,' that it means 'too white,' coupled with open borders," said Murdock, whose podcasts frequently talk about "white genocide."
Sociologists and hate speech experts say white nationalism and white identity politics are vastly different and don't necessarily bleed into each other; instead, they fall on a spectrum.
Some of today's debates hark back to lawsuits and protests in previous years over such issues as university affirmative action admissions policies. Even then, many Americans were arguing that whites had suffered under policies meant to correct long-standing racial disparities.
No one in those cases was advocating a return to segregation, said Thomas Maine, a professor at the City University of New York who is writing a book on the alt-right movement.
"The alt-right has a hardcore, and then it has a population manifestation," said Maine. "People have embraced the idea that Americans need to take hold of their racial identity. If we do that, if we are more radical about it than we have been before, this will bring us out of our funk."
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Duquette, the Alabama corrections officer, said he could support that idea.
"I should be out and be able to say I'm a proud white man," he said. "But those lowlifes that have taken ahold of that phrase like the Klan have it so we have to walk on eggshells."
Christine Bolan, a 35-year-old construction project manager in St. Paul, Minn., said there is "a lot of misunderstanding about what Trump's message actually is."
Christine Bolan (handout photo)
He is "brash but gives everyone a chance," she said. He "doesn't put labels on people" and "is a businessman."
On the one hand, Bolan, who is white, thought it was "really cool" to have a black president. But in the end, she thought "Obama cared more about black people." Democratic politicians have too often tried to make her "ashamed to be white," she said.
Mark Potok, a civil rights activist who tracks hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the election has "emboldened" the radical right.
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"Virtually every major white supremacist leader in the U.S. thinks Trump is the best thing they have seen in more than half a century. They're calling him 'our glorious leader,'" said Potok. "They feel Trump and the Trump campaign have legitimized their concerns and brought them into the mainstream. And they are not entirely wrong."
jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com
Jaweed Kaleem is The Times' national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
If the world didn't know that Sen. Tim Kaine had just lost the vice presidency, a crushing defeat for the man, the Democratic party and millions of American voters, nothing about his demeanor would give it away.
Smiling broadly, Kaine sat in his Senate office Thursday with the air of a man who had just won the lottery.
"I'm disappointed because I think I would have done a good job and I think Hillary would have been a great president, but I have a job to do here that in some ways may have gotten more important," he said, bluegrass music playing in the background.
He ruled out a run for the White House in 2020 but will seek reelection in 2018, and Republicans are gunning for him. They are bolstered by a sense of dominance over American politics not felt since 1928 and believe they have a deep bench in Virginia.
"I'm assuming it's going to be the hardest race I've ever run," he said. "Presidential elections we do well. Off-year elections are tough."
Pressed repeatedly, Kaine did not want to talk about what went wrong for Democrats this election.
"While I have some thoughts, I'm not objective about it," he said.
Joining the ticket just three months before Election Day, Kaine couldn't have had much say in strategy or the contours of the race.
He said Hillary Clinton ran into historic head winds trying to be the first female president and noted that only two Democratic presidents were elected following a two-term Democratic presidency - Martin Van Buren and Harry Truman.
Kaine, chosen in part because of his ability to communicate with Latino voters in fluent Spanish, offered no explanation for why the campaign didn't win more Hispanic votes, except to say that no minority group is monolithic.
He said he understood why daily protests continue around the country more than a week after an election in which Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the office.
"I view it as people are afraid, and I think they have reason to be afraid," he said, adding that he will go to battle over what he called the "normalization" of bigotry that he sees in President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist.
Kaine said he had no advice for protesters other than to encourage them to get involved in politics at the state and local level. "Look, civil disobedience has an important role in the history of this country," he said. "I'm not encouraging folks, and I'm not discouraging them."
Kaine said he always thought there was a chance he and Clinton could lose, but on election night, the results from the conservative Richmond suburb of Chesterfield, where Trump had a relatively weak showing, convinced him that they would win.
It hadn't occurred to him, he said, that Democrats could win Virginia by a bigger margin than President Barack Obama did in 2012, and win the popular vote by more than 1 million votes, and still lose.
Kaine moved to Virginia's capital city and served as Richmond's mayor, as well as lieutenant governor and governor, in hopes of making the state more progressive, he said. He had never lost an election.
Kaine said had felt an "interesting set of emotions" once it became clear that Trump was surging ahead in the electoral college count. Like much of the country, Kaine stayed awake past midnight to await the final results. Then he took a nap.
Late the next morning, he introduced Clinton with hastily prepared notes scrawled on a piece of hotel stationery. After the speech, his wife, Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton, kept the paper for their children to cherish.
The William Faulkner quote he recited - "They kilt us, but they ain't whupped us yit," - was one he clung to when he lost difficult cases during his 17 years as a civil rights lawyer.
He and Holton spent the weekend in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they "kvetched" a bit but mostly reflected on the good things in their lives, he said. They will celebrate their 32nd anniversary on Thanksgiving Day.
On Tuesday, Kaine drove himself to Washington, returning to the predictable rhythms of the Senate and his Russell Building office.
On Friday, he plans to travel with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and other lawmakers to a national security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a trip he has made every year as senator.
Kaine sits on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, and although he's not officially part of the leadership, he said he plans to vigorously defend principles such as the constitutional powers of Congress, which could be crucial under Trump.
Calling the Democratic Senate minority the "only emergency brake" on matters of fundamental values, Kaine said he is proud of his colleagues for focusing on Bannon and "not allowing the appointment of someone who has connections to anti-Semitism and white nationalism to be just normalized."
But common ground could be found with the Trump administration over a sweeping infrastructure bill that was also a Clinton priority, he said.
He has said he would like to fashion his Senate service after retired senator John Warner, R-Va., who spent 30 years in office.
Virginia Republicans had praised Kaine's bipartisanship in the past but criticized his presence on the national ticket and his comment Thursday that he will seek reelection.
Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck said the announcement suggests he's inappropriately mixing government service and politics.
After nonstop travel to 40 states, Kaine relishes his return to home life in Northside Richmond, "where nobody calls me Senator."
The day after the election, he and Holton flew back to Richmond from New York on the campaign plane.
After they said an emotional goodbye to the Secret Service officers with whom they had grown close, Kaine said, he climbed the back steps to his kitchen and puttered around for a few minutes before going into his home office.
Peering out the window, he watched the government vehicles pull away one by one.
A wave of emotion came over him, he said.
It was relief.
WASHINGTON As one of President-elect Donald Trump's closest and most consistent allies, Sen. Jeff Sessions is a likely pick for a top post in his administration. But when Sessions faced Senate confirmation for a job 30 years ago, it didn't go well.
Nominated for a federal judgeship in 1986, Sessions, R-Ala., was dogged by racist comments he was accused of making while serving as U.S. attorney in Alabama. He was said to have called a black assistant U.S. attorney "boy" and the NAACP "un-American" and "communist-inspired."
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Sessions was the first senator to back Trump during the campaign and is an architect of Trump's immigration, counterterrorism and trade policies. His name has been floated for attorney general and secretary of defense. The Trump transition team released a statement Thursday saying the president-elect is "unbelievably impressed" with Sessions, citing his work as a U.S. attorney and state attorney general in Alabama.
But confirmation for the four-term lawmaker, even in a Republican-controlled chamber, is not guaranteed.
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Sessions had been confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate in 1981 to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.
In 1986, however, his racially charged comments and record on civil rights as a U.S. attorney, which Sessions denied and defended, prevented his nomination as judge from going forward, even in a GOP-majority Senate. Sessions later withdrew from consideration, though he went on to become state attorney general and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1996.
"Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era, which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past," the late Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy, said during the 1986 confirmation hearing. "It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge."
During the hearing, a former assistant U.S. attorney, Thomas Figures, who is black, said Sessions referred to him as "boy," and told him to be careful what he said to "white folks." Sessions said he never called Figures "boy," but Kennedy produced a letter from an organization of black lawyers that said Figures made the allegation about Sessions to the organization's investigators at least twice.
Sessions told the committee that he told Figures to be careful what he said to "folks."
"I believe that the statements and actions of Mr. Sessions regarding race, and regarding civil rights, impact tremendously on whether he is decent," Figures told the committee. Figures died in 2015.
Sessions was also criticized for joking in the presence of an attorney with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division that the Ku Klux Klan was "OK" until he learned they smoked marijuana. During his confirmation hearing, he said his comment about the Klan "was a silly comment, I guess you might say, that I made."
Sessions told the committee he made the joke while his office was investigating the 1981 murder of Michael Donald, a black man who was kidnapped, beaten and killed by two Klansmen who slit his throat and then hanged his body in a tree in Mobile, Alabama. The two men were later arrested and convicted.
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Sessions said he never meant the joke to suggest he supported the Klan. He said the joke was intended to convey that he thought it was "bizarre" that Klansmen had smoked marijuana after one of their meetings.
"All of us understood that the Klan is a force for hatred and bigotry and it just could not have meant anything else than that under those circumstances," Sessions said, noting that he had been involved in the decision to try one of the killers in state court so he could face the death penalty.
Sessions' spokesman said the senator was unavailable to be interviewed for this story.
Barry Kowalski, a former Justice Department attorney who was in Mobile, working with Sessions on the Donald case, said he was there for the so-called joke about the Klan, and he did not interpret it as a racist comment. He said it was a joke. "That was totally hospital room humor," Kowalski told the AP Thursday.
"I can only speak from what I saw," Kowalski said. "He couldn't have been more supportive of making sure we got convicted the murderers of the last black man who was lynched by the Klan."
Gerry Hebert, another former Justice Department attorney who had worked with Sessions in the early 1980s, told the Judiciary committee about racist comments Sessions made regarding the NAACP being un-American and said Sessions agreed with another person's comment that a prominent white civil rights lawyer was a disgrace to his race for trying voting rights cases.
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"I filed all these things away thinking, 'God, what a racist this guy is,'" Hebert told The Associated Press.
During Sessions' confirmation hearing, then-Sen. Joe Biden asked Hebert if he would be comfortable trying a voting rights case before Sessions as a judge or whether he would ask that Sessions be recused because of racist comments he had made. "I would certainly raise the issue, absolutely," Hebert responded.
Most of the senators who voted against Sessions in 1986 are no longer alive or in office. Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy is the only one who voted against him still in the Senate.
Today, Sessions would face confirmation as a member of the chamber. Senators often are deferential to current and former members who are nominated for Cabinet posts. The last time the Senate rejected one of its own was in 1989 when then-Sen. John G. Tower, a Texas Republican, could not get confirmed as President George H. W. Bush's defense secretary amid reports of heavy drinking and womanizing.
If Sessions is nominated for a position in the Trump Cabinet, his confirmation hearing could occur as early as January. The Republicans will have only a 52-48 advantage, assuming Republicans win an upcoming Senate election. That means Sessions couldn't afford to lose many votes from members of his own party. If there are Republicans upset by his comments not just years ago about race but also what he has said in recent years about immigration his confirmation could be a challenge.
Sessions is an immigration hard-liner, not in step with mainstream Republicans. In the past year, he has supported mass deportations for immigrants in the country illegally, suggested that the administration quickly deport unaccompanied children and families who have been caught crossing the border illegally, linked terror attacks against the U.S. to Muslim immigrant families and complained that the Obama administration has increased the number of green cards issued to immigrants from "Muslim-majority countries."
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South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would support a Sessions nomination.
"I'd vote for him. I like Jeff. He was the early, only supporter for Donald Trump in the Senate," Graham said. "And I believe Jeff Sessions has earned the right to serve President Trump in the highest levels, and I think he's a good, competent, capable man."
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would also support Sessions, spokesman Conn Carroll said. "Sen. Lee has worked closely with Sessions in the Senate and has the utmost respect for his abilities," Carroll said.
Sessions was asked by reporters at Trump Tower Thursday whether he thought he would be confirmed by the Senate.
"People have to make that decision. The actual senators will cast those votes on any confirmation," Sessions said.
Associated Press
Ann Gerber, seen here on May 10, 1992, at Arlington Park, also was editor of Lerner's Skyline newspaper. (Jose Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Ann Gerber wrote for local Chicago newspapers for more than 70 years, authoring a sometimes-catty gossip column that was a must-read for the city's socialites and political class.
Always beautifully attired, Gerber was at home at social events at elite venues like the Casino Club, where she built relationships that invariably led to scoops and eyebrow-raising blind items.
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"She was the most sparkling and the most charming and the most informed person, and somehow or other she was able to take notes under the table or something," said socialite, author and public relations guru Sugar Rautbord. "I think she had sources all over the world she was so au courant with her info."
Gerber, 90, died of heart-related problems on Nov. 15 at her home in East Lakeview, said author Sherrill Bodine, a longtime friend. Gerber previously had been a longtime resident of Skokie.
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Raised on the North Side, Gerber attended Senn High School and then Wright Junior College and Northwestern University. At 16, Gerber began writing for the Lerner Newspapers chain. By 1950, she began working as the chain's gossip columnist. She also eventually became the editor of Lerner's Skyline newspaper, which was launched in the 1960s and covered the city's Near North Side.
"On my first day at Lerner (in the late 1960s), the first person to introduce herself was Ann Gerber," said Patrick Butler, now a reporter for Inside Publications. "I found her always consistently friendly, helpful and caring. She was the kind of person who helped make the workplace. She was one of a rare kind."
Butler remembered Gerber's laserlike focus on celebrities and frequent coverage of socialite Bonnie Swearingen, the wife of Standard Oil of Indiana Chairman John Swearingen.
"We used to joke how Skyline never went to bed without at least one story about Bonnie Swearingen," Butler said. "She had her fans and knew her audience, and she taught us a lot of things that we didn't even know we were learning."
Crain's Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz, who worked with Gerber at Lerner Newspapers, said she was "her own little private force of nature."
"She loved gossip, and she was upfront about it," Hinz said. "She would write about anybody. Her heart was in the right place, and she loved what she did and was good at it."
Marc Schulman, the president of Eli's Cheesecake Co., recalled Gerber's willingness to tout social causes in an age before social media.
"It was Ann who captured thousands of events and highlighted so many worthy events," he said. "She and her husband were just really elegant people who enjoyed Chicago and made it really special. Ann was always there and was willing to help and willing to help good causes. We forget what it was like when the community paper was the way to help Chicago."
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Philanthropist Abra Prentice Wilkin, herself a former gossip columnist for the old Chicago Daily News, labeled Gerber a "tigress" who was "always looking amazing."
"Her costumes got more and more outrageous as the years went on. She was absolutely a character, and there's never been anyone like her before or since," Wilkin said.
Wilkin remembered Gerber's love of blind items in her columns.
"She would always start with an outrageous blind item, and no one could believe it," Wilkin said. "She covered a scene and covered it well. And she was a good broad. She had a sharp eye and could see detail, but she wasn't bitchy."
Former Lerner Newspapers reporter Felicia Dechter, who along with Butler had recently been working with Gerber on Gerber's memoirs, called her "a dear friend and a longtime mentor, and underneath that tough exterior was one of the most generous and caring people I know."
"She was sharp as a tack and loved nothing more than a juicy story," Dechter said. "She was the ultimate gossip queen."
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Gerber, who proudly drove a car with the vanity license plate "CATTY," left Lerner in 1987 to join the Chicago Sun-Times as a gossip columnist. Things unraveled in 1989 when she wrote a thinly veiled blind item about Oprah Winfrey's longtime beau, Stedman Graham, which prompted outrage from the talk-show host and led the Sun-Times to fire her.
After that, Gerber returned to Skyline and resumed writing her column. She stayed with the paper after it was sold to Inside Publications in 2012.
Battling health problems, Gerber retired from writing her column in late 2015.
A first marriage ended in divorce. Gerber is survived by her husband of more than 50 years, Bernard Kaplan; and a stepson, Jeffrey Kaplan.
Services are private.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelancer.
Forgive me for what is going to sound like an odd analogy, but the street demonstrations across the United States have given me an uncanny sense of deja vu.
I live part of the time in Warsaw, and I was there last year during an ugly election. Hateful screeds about Muslim immigrants (though there are hardly any Muslim immigrants in Poland) and angry "anti-elitist" rhetoric overwhelmed a stiff and unpopular female leader; the center-right and center-left politicians split into quarreling factions, allowing a radical populist party to win with a minority of voters. Upon taking power, it set out to destroy the country's democratic and state institutions: the constitutional court, the independent prosecutor, the independent civil service, the public media.
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Poles took to the streets. There were huge demonstrations, the largest since the collapse of communism in 1989. Nobody had expected them, and like the recent demonstrations in U.S. cities following the presidential election nobody had planned these marches in advance. A year later, here are some reflections on their value:
Protest makes people feel better.
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Because the government's language was vicious and angry, the demonstrators tried hard to be nice and polite. During protest marches, they didn't walk on the grass. They chanted for "freedom, equality, democracy," which has a nice lilt to it in Polish. The middle-aged ex-radicals who had demonstrated against communism in the 1980s felt energized and young again. The boost to morale was real. I am sure that's true for many marching in New York or San Francisco this week, too.
Protest, if not carefully targeted, achieves little.
The Polish protests were meant to "defend the constitution," a very theoretical goal. Because they were about a principle, not a policy, the government found them easy to ignore, and the slogans never inspired younger or rural voters. Sound familiar?
The calculus did shift, it is true, when hundreds of thousands of Polish women dressed in black joined a national protest against a very harsh proposed abortion law. The protest was aimed at a specific measure. It took place not just in Warsaw and Krakow, but also in every city in the country, as well as many smaller towns. Perhaps the sight of so many angry women spooked the party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is an elderly bachelor; perhaps the thousands of photographs that appeared all over the world frightened the prime minister, who is female. In any case, this targeted, well-organized, broadly based single-issue protest had far more impact than the general marches, and the government withdrew the law.
Protests inspire conspiracy theorists.
Authoritarian personalities don't believe in spontaneity. They think that everything is part of a plot to deceive them. Donald Trump's first tweet, as president-elect, referred to protesters as "paid." Similarly, Kaczynski has implied variously that protesters are former members of the communist party or secret police, that they are agents of foreign powers or that they are, in the words of another radical politician, in the pay of an unnamed "Jewish banker." This line of thinking allows the rulers to discount the protesters. If they are "paid" or "foreign" or "manipulated," after all, then they can be ignored. Also, the hard-core voting base in Poland, about 20 percent of the country can be inspired to focus its hatred and anger on the "traitors" instead of listening to what they are trying to say.
Politics matter more than protests.
A year after the street movement began, its leaders, the "Committee to Defend Democracy," have become an important part of national political culture. Their marches and meetings inspire people. Their television appearances are carefully watched. But because they kept their distance from political parties, they haven't much altered opinion polls. The government is still supported by a committed minority. The center-right and the center-left remain splintered into smaller groups. If anything, the protest movement seems to have solidified a general disdain for politics and a dislike of politicians in general.
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In a democracy, real change comes through politics, political parties and elections.
Poland, although damaged, is still a democracy. If the people who are willing to put time into demonstrations also prove willing to work on behalf of candidates in local elections or to become candidates themselves they will achieve far more. A mayor is in a far better position to resist attacks on the civil service than a man carrying a sign. A different parliamentary majority could block the would-be authoritarian government altogether.
The same thing is true in the United States. Five Democratic senators could do more to block extremist judges or damaging policies than 5 million or even 50 million people chanting slogans. Protesting might make you feel better, it might win a few battles and it might attract attention. I'm sorry if you are angry at "the establishment," but you need to work for it and within it if you want it to change.
Washington Post
Anne Applebaum writes about foreign affairs.
News / National
by Simbarashe Sithole
Bogus lawyer Sofat Chumbu (54) was finally convicted at the Bindura provincial magistrate's court after defrauding a number of people in areas around Mvurwi.Chumbu was sentenced to pay US$200 fine in addition 7 months were suspended on condition that the accused pays back the complainant Eleven Gaura a sum of US$700 on or before the 30th of December 2016.The bogus lawyer is said to have been a liaising officer for a Harare lawyer who never showed up in Mvurwi prompting Chumbu to impersonate him and representing people at the Guruve magistrate court as a registered and practising legal practitioner. In violation of the Legal Practitioners Act [Chapter 27:07] section 9 (1).His luck ran out when he defrauded Gaura of an amount estimated at US$1000 and Gaura filed a police report at Mvurwi police station promoting the police to investigate his authenticity.The police went to the Law Society of Zimbabwe and discovered that he did not exist in the register of practising legal practitioners and did not have a practising certificate and was arrested.Meanwhile, bogus lawyers seem to be mushrooming in Mvurwi and touting for work in the name of legal aid.
Donald Trump will start his first job as a government employee on Jan. 20. For human resources professionals working with the White House, this must be an "on-boarding" experience like no other. In case none of their existing boilerplate welcome letters fits for this president-elect, I offer an updated version:
Mr. Trump:
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Welcome to the company! We in the Human Resources Department of the United States of America congratulate you on your new job! Your start date is Jan. 20, 2017, and your starting salary will be $400,000 per year as a full-time employee (though we understand that you have opted for the $1/year salary plan; please be sure to complete the appropriate tax forms).
Our role as human resources professionals is to help you succeed. You have a big job ahead as president, and we know it might feel overwhelming. We're here to help you get acclimated and address any concerns you may have regarding your job description: running the free world.
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We understand you've already had a few meetings with your new staff as well as the outgoing executive team. Great. They're a terrific bunch, with years in many cases decades of experience in running the federal government. We reviewed your file and noticed some gaps in work experience. It appears that, aside from a brief internship of sorts with your father, this is your first job as an employee. We can imagine the anxiety you must feel, and so we are making available our full catalog of 6,452 training videos, which you can access from your desktop computer. We highly recommend you watch them all.
But because you have never been an actual employee, we thought it important to introduce you to your 314 million or so new supervisors your bosses. This will be awkward, and we can explain the math further in our first in-person orientation session, but it's important you know that fewer than half of your new bosses wanted to hire you. More of your new bosses actually wanted to hire another job candidate, but we have a hiring process at this company that dates to its founding more than two centuries ago and you know how some companies are resistant to change. But we digress
To get you up to speed for your Jan. 20 start date (that's just about two months, so make time to study!), here is an overview of the people you will be working for. For brevity, we will call them "Americans."
We recognize that you've already connected with many Americans who are much like you the older-than-65, non-Hispanic white males who did not serve in the military and earn far more than the median household income, $53,482. You no doubt will find comfort surrounding yourself with those like-minded Americans, but we encourage you for the good of the company and for your own professional success! to get to know your other bosses, as well, including:
159 million women and girls (yes, they outnumber the men and boys)
117 million non-white Americans
18.8 million foreign-born American citizens
3.3 million Muslims
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5.7 million Jews
2.1 million Hindus
37.8 million Americans living with a disability
(according to 2014 Census Bureau data; religion data from a 2015 Pew Research Center study.)
You work for all of these people now, Mr. Trump, and you will have to answer to them. Some are micromanagers, some will ignore you completely. They may make you feel uncomfortable and they can be harsh. But again, we want your first-ever experience as an employee to be a positive one, so we encourage you to work hard for all of them. Your new bosses, the Americans, will provide regular performance evaluations in the form of local elections and regular communication with you and your colleagues in Washington and in the 50 statehouses.
We've noted your penchant for communicating via Twitter. Social media served you well during the long interview process and helped you get the job. We've seen previous high-level employees stumble with technology, so use it with caution, Mr. Trump. We recommend adopting other regular forms of communication that allow for more than 140 characters at a time, and our internal communications team will be happy to teach you how to use our email server and write professional memos.
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We've also noticed some red flags in your record, Mr. Trump, that compel us to recommend extra sexual harassment training. We will review existing federal laws with you regarding workplace conduct and provide links to more training videos for you to watch before your start date. We can't emphasize enough how important this is to your professional development and your own success!
We also will schedule extra training sessions with you to review topics such as: Conflicts of Interest, Foreign Influence, Nepotism and Professional Conduct. Please clear your calendar, as these sessions are lengthy.
Finally, we see that you are not alone in your unfamiliarity with this organization and so your new colleagues will be expected to attend all training sessions as well. We are delivering copies of our employee handbook, referred to as "The Constitution," to all new staff members. We understand you don't read much, Mr. Trump, but we encourage you to at least skim the document and give extra attention to 10 amendments collectively called the "Bill of Rights." We'll have wallet cards made up for the full staff as a reference tool.
Welcome to the team, Mr. Trump. We will organize a coffee and cake social for your staff as soon as our on-boarding process is complete.
With wishes for great professional success,
Human Resources
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United States of America
Lara Weber is a member of the Tribune Editorial Board.
lweber@chicagotribune.com
It was lonely being a Donald Trump supporter in the legal academy. Of my thousands of colleagues teaching law in this country, I don't think more than a few dozen believed that he would have made a better president than Hillary Clinton, and not more than a handful of us were willing to go public with our support.
It has always been a risk to be a Republican teaching in a law school, where many teachers see a thin line between support for the GOP and bigotry or insanity. And yet, enough Americans liked what they saw in Trump to give him a smashing Electoral College victory.
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How did it come about that law professors grew so out of touch with much of America?
To a hammer everything looks like a nail, and to a law professor everything is a problem in jurisprudence. Accordingly, it's my guess that the legal academy, over the past 80 years or so, began to wander too far from common sense, or, to be more precise, to depart from the essentials of the rule of law. Law professors forgot the most important notion that undergirds our legal system the basic principle endorsed by the framers, that ours is a government of laws, not men (or women).
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What this is supposed to mean is that we adhere to the original understanding of our Constitution and laws, and that if legal change is to be accomplished it is done not by judges or presidents, but by legislators or the American people, through constitutional amendments.
Since Franklin Roosevelt lambasted the U.S. Supreme Court for its "horse and buggy" definition of interstate commerce, however, the court, in recoil, has felt an obligation to rewrite the Constitution to meet the needs of the times, as the Supreme Court under Justice Earl Warren did with abandon, and as subsequent courts have done, most notably with Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges.
The court has advanced the cause of human rights, undeniably, but at a cost of self-government by the American people.
This has been justified in the legal field through theories arguing that the Warren Court was engaged in teasing out "principles" of justice inherent in the Constitution, and, more boldly, by theorists who maintained that, at bottom, all law is politics.
A rear-guard action in the academy was maintained by those who lamented the Warren Court's failure to adhere to our tradition that the Constitution should be neutrally applied, without a thumb on the scale to implement policies favored by the justices. That view was best expressed by the late justice and former Chicago law professor Antonin Scalia, who ridiculed the idea of a "living Constitution" and maintained that the only valid jurisprudence was one that assigned law-making not to the judges but to legislatures. It is no coincidence that President-elect Trump singled out Scalia as his favorite justice. And it is probably no coincidence that President Barack Obama's executive orders stretched the law and Constitution to new lengths, often beyond the breaking points. He went to Harvard Law School in an era when critical legal studies, which challenge and overturn accepted legal norms and standards and practices, were at their zenith.
It seems to be well understood that some conservatives (I'm one) adhered to Trump early on because of the view that he would appoint a conservative like Scalia to the Supreme Court. But I can't help but wonder whether the many millions who voted for President-elect Trump also understood what the legal academy had all but forgotten, that what was at stake in the past election was nothing less than the rule of law and self-government itself.
Stephen B. Presser is the Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History emeritus at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law and author of the forthcoming "Law Professors: Three Centuries of Shaping American Law."
Dozens of Chicago radio stations suspended their programming on Nov. 14 to broadcast what sounded like a half-hour "infomercial" for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The free air time, spearheaded by the Radio Broadcasters of Chicagoland, was framed as a substantive interview exploring critical issues facing our city. Instead, we were treated to a smorgasbord of Emanuel's campaign talking points.
Citizens of Chicago deserve real conversations, not the sort of political posturing we heard from Emanuel during his interview with veteran news anchor Bill Kurtis.
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Let's look at the issues addressed during the broadcast, and what was ignored.
Education: Threatened with another teacher strike, the mayor decided it was in his best political interest to negotiate in good faith and do what others long suggested and the mayor had insisted was untenable: Use surplus TIF funds to plug financial holes. This didn't come up.
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Emanuel wasn't asked, and didn't address, any questions about the school closings over the past few years or a report on how kids at "welcoming" schools fared after the closings. There was no mention of Barbara Byrd-Bennett and the SUPES scandal, or of the ouster of one of Chicago's most effective school principals, Troy LaRaviere. No, everything is hunky-dory.
He also was not asked about the inflated graduation rates that Chicago Public Schools regularly released under his watch, and that he touted repeatedly during his reelection campaign. It was only after an investigation by WBEZ and the Better Government Association that the public learned thousands of dropouts had been classified as transfers, artificially inflating CPS graduation rates. This sounds like politics as usual in the Emanuel administration.
Violence: Nearly 700 Chicagoans have been murdered so far this year more than New York and Los Angeles combined. In October alone there were 78 murders, more than double the number in October 2010, shortly before Emanuel took office. And this is in a city with a declining population.
But we commend the mayor for finally committing to hiring hundreds of additional police officers especially since he called the idea "fairy dust" when proposed by Chuy Garcia during the 2015 mayoral race. Hopefully, he will follow Garcia's advice and ensure that new hires and current officers receive proper training and reflect the communities that they protect.
Emanuel touted mentorship as a way to reduce violence. Mentoring has some value, but tackling violence requires real economic development in the neighborhoods, more jobs, community policing and well-funded local schools where children learn skills that they need to succeed in our economy.
Community investment: The mayor promoted his $100 million Chicago Community Catalyst Fund, which was approved by the City Council this week. As Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa, 35th, detailed in a recent In These Times web post, the fund does not target economically struggling neighborhoods and will operate with little or no public accountability. It also is not subject to oversight by the inspector general. Currently structured, it sure looks like a Rahm Emanuel slush fund to support his reelection. Turning it into a real community investment program would require significant changes. Economic investment is desperately needed in many communities, especially in the South and West sides. This is not a responsible way of achieving that goal.
Over the next few years, Chicagoans deserve real conversations about the issues, not infomercials.
Clem Balanoff, a former Illinois state representative, was the Illinois state director for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Abdelnasser Rashid was its Illinois deputy state director. Both worked on Chuy Garcia's mayoral campaign.
Congress is not, to put it mildly, the most popular institution in the United States. Its approval ratings are low. It has developed a reputation for mindless obstructionism. And when Donald Trump promises to "drain the swamp" in Washington, D.C., he seems to be talking in large part about the legislature.
Congress may also be the last, best hope of those who fear substantial parts of Trump's announced agenda.
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Our national legislature has a reputation for fecklessness in disputes with the White House. After all, legislation nearly always requires the president's signature, so how can lawmakers hope to rein him in? But this standard view is too myopic Congress does a lot of things other than pass legislation, and most of them do not require presidential assent. Moreover, many of them can form effective tools with which to push back against the president's agenda.
Yes, Republicans will control both the House and the Senate in January, just as they do now. But if Democrats vote as a bloc, it wouldn't take that many GOP defections to check Trump. And there are already early indications that at least some Republican lawmakers might want to do just that.
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Consider what I call the congressional "personnel power," one key part of which is the requirement of Senate advice and consent for judicial appointments and numerous executive appointments, ranging from Cabinet posts on down. Assuming that Republican John N. Kennedy wins the Louisiana Senate runoff next month (as seems likely), Republicans will have only a 52-48 edge in the upper chamber, which means that just three Republican defections, alongside a unified Democratic caucus, could defeat a nomination.
Obviously, most Republicans will not oppose Trump at every turn. But there are plenty who might be inclined to oppose him at least occasionally. Sens. Ben Sasse (Nebraska), Jeff Flake and John McCain (Arizona), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) either opposed or withdrew support from Trump in the general election. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is a libertarian who recently told The Washington Post that he was disinclined to support Trump's reported favorites Rudolph W. Giuliani or John Bolton for secretary of state; Paul might be inclined to oppose other hawkish national security nominees, as well. It should be possible to assemble at least three from that group of eight (and perhaps other Trump-skeptical Republicans) to defeat extreme nominees.
Across the Capitol, party discipline is generally stronger in the House, and partisan gerrymandering means that many members will worry more about drawing primary challengers for opposing Trump than about alienating moderates by supporting him. But if relations sour between the White House and Congress, even the GOP-controlled House might consider using its powers of investigation and contempt to keep close tabs on the administration. These powers have been used to significant effect in recent years, first by Democrats overseeing the George W. Bush administration and then by Republicans overseeing the Obama administration. House Speaker Paul Ryan has a notoriously on-again-off-again marriage of convenience with Trump, and Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who chairs the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has expressed some Trump-skeptical views. They might be inclined to hold hearings about controversial policies and ask tough questions of members of the administration, especially if Trump's popularity sinks lower once he's in office.
Both chambers might also use their power of the purse, simply refusing to fund agencies or activities that they find odious. (Surely, at any rate, if Trump's campaign promises are to be believed, no money need be appropriated to finance the construction of a wall on our southern border.)
For example
In pushing back against a president of their own party, Republicans would hardly be doing something unprecedented, even in the current age of heightened partisan polarization. George W. Bush's attempt to nominate Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court fell to bipartisan opposition, as did President Barack Obama's nominations of Goodwin Liu to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Dawn Johnsen to the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and Debo Adegbile as head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. And actual failed nominations undoubtedly underestimate the influence of intraparty pushback: Obama nominated Janet Yellen to chair the Federal Reserve after a number of Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, made clear that they would oppose Lawrence Summers for the post.
Unsurprisingly, presidents tend to face the most intraparty pushback when their standing with the public is lowest. Trump will enter office having lost the popular vote, with very low favorability ratings and in the face of massive protests. This will free some Republicans with strong ideological commitments to oppose him (Paul on the national security state comes to mind). Other Republicans will see an opportunity to begin staking their claim to the future of the party by putting some distance between themselves and Trump (Sasse and Ryan may well fall into this camp). Still others represent districts or states that may be close enough to make a "centrist maverick" reputation valuable (Flake and Portman, maybe).
Double cross
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None of these motivations is likely to lead to opposition on all, or even most, matters. Party loyalty, even if not absolute, is still strong. But for any given issue or appointment, a relatively small number of House members or (especially) senators whether motivated by ideology, status-seeking within the party, constituency placation, some combination of the above or something else entirely could join with Democrats to block some of the Trump administration's most extreme actions.
Democrats in both houses would therefore be wise to consider ways of reaching across the aisle to never-Trump and Trump-skeptical Republicans, in an effort to make shared use of these congressional tools of opposition. This will stick in many Democrats' craw, and with good reason: Republicans did not do much reaching across the aisle over the last eight years. But Republicans will soon control all three branches of the federal government. Republicans will set policy for (at a very minimum) the next two years. Democrats would be wise to work with them where they can find common ground against Trump's worst policies. If the bipartisan will to use them can be found, Congress has the tools with which to push back.
Washington Post
Josh Chafetz is a professor of law at Cornell Law School. His second book, "Congress's Constitution," will be published in the spring.
President-elect Donald Trump talks to the media while joined by his wife Melania Trump, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 10, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson, Getty Images)
Would you work for Donald Trump? Would you promote his policies, such as they are, to a foreign government and its citizens?
Or would you, on principle, refuse to do it and abandon a profession you cherish?
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This is the dilemma that confronts our diplomats. A change in administrations, especially if it also entails an alternation of parties in power, is a fraught time for the foreign service. The loyalists of the victorious party, who will make policy and occupy many senior positions in the State Department, are committed political operatives.
Whether Democrat or Republican, they are fiercely partisan. Having spent months, even years, ardently dedicated to their party and its candidate, they find it inconceivable that career diplomats don't bring the same passion to politics.
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They appreciate intellectually the nation's need for a professional foreign service, but viscerally can't accept that it can function effectively. You are, must be, either a Republican or a Democrat, they think. You can't possibly serve both parties with the same energy and commitment.
In the first months of the Clinton administration I was approached by a new appointee at the State Department. More curious than accusatory, he asked how I and my colleagues, after 12 years of supporting Republican presidents, could now pivot and embrace the policies of Bill Clinton.
Will President Clinton, I asked, seek ways to make the country more secure and more prosperous? Will he want to maintain our alliances, increase exports and foster international understanding? Will he encourage his diplomats to advocate for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and free markets? If so, these are the very principles that have animated American foreign policy since the end of World War II.
To be sure, I added, each administration seems to have a pet policy or two. There have been various interpretations of national security and what most threatens it, differing views on international commerce, but every government since Truman's has sought to strengthen alliances and expand trade. The difference has been in emphasis, not goals.
Until now. If Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric is to be believed, his administration will not honor Article 5 of the NATO charter, which notes simply that an attack on one is an attack on all. He will jettison trade agreements. He will condone territorial aggressions and countenance murderous regimes.
He claims, with ample justification, that the United States has failed in its efforts to build nations and establish democracy, especially in the Middle East, and that these failures have exacted an alarming price in the nation's blood and treasure. But we have suffered other, more costly defeats think Vietnam and not abandoned an activist foreign policy. We have remained engaged with the world.
It has taken decades of constant attention and unwavering determination, of creative statecraft and countless sacrifices, to build the postwar architecture of defense pacts and trade deals that has made us secure and rich. In the process, we have also made the world a safer, more prosperous place.
Is a Trump presidency prepared to toss it all away? And will he expect our diplomats to be the handmaidens to his odious policies?
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This, I'm sure, is on the minds of my former colleagues at the State Department. Imagine you are working at the embassy in Beijing, and the new American president keeps his word and imposes a 35 percent duty on Chinese imports, and the Chinese respond in kind. How do you prevent the relationship from collapsing?
If you are based in Latin America and our government begins to deport millions of Hispanics, how do you repair the image of the United States, a country built by immigrants and proud of its ethnic, religious and racial diversity?
If you are in any of NATO's European capitals, sharing a war-scarred continent with a Russian strongman bent on territorial aggrandizement, how do you reassure our allies that your president really won't renege on our treaty commitments?
One understandable reaction would be to pack up and call it a career, invoking principle and conscience. That happened, I have been told, quite often during the later years of the conflict in Vietnam. It also occurred, but rarely, during the Balkan crisis of the 1990s and as a result of the Second Gulf War.
But career diplomats know that they will be called on to promote policies they personally find mistaken, misguided and myopic. They realize, that for America's security and prosperity, a professional foreign service is essential. If hundreds of officers were to quit on principle it would undermine the nation's ability to conduct effective diplomacy. It would weaken America.
Then there are personal, pragmatic reasons to stay. Officers have families and bills and dreams of a rewarding career. A decision to resign would be agonizing.
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If I were still active, I would hold on to my letter of resignation for the time being. The Trump administration deserves a decent interval to develop and deploy its policies.
Meanwhile, I would like to think, maybe the responsibilities of the office will sober the man, make him re-examine his ideas, adjust his approach and moderate his speech.
Maybe he will listen to the counsel of wise and experienced professionals, become aware of the judgment of history and know that, in a real sense, his actions will have consequences. Maybe.
Robert J. Callahan, a retired diplomat and former Chicagoan, served as U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua.
Long lines snaked through the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare Airport Monday May 16, 2016 where one line reached almost to the glass window at the far north end of the terminal. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Donald Trump's upcoming move to the White House has left many Americans considering a move of another sort: out of their homeland. According to a Morning Consult/Vox poll, more than 25 percent of the populace thought of retreating to more attractive ground in the event of a Trump win. Fortunately for them, there are some options.
For a long-term exit plan, ancestry is the easiest and cheapest route. Direct descendants of an Italian male citizen (or female if born after 1948) can apply for Italian citizenship no language or cultural tests required. It's even possible to register and collect the documents at an embassy or consulate abroad before traveling there. Irish grandparents or Polish great-grandparents may supply another route available to many Americans, if you have the right paperwork. And if Nazis stripped your Jewish ancestors of German citizenship, Germany and the rest of the European Union may be open to you as well. Indeed, with an EU passport in hand, you are free to live in any of the member states, including the United Kingdom (at least for the moment).
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For the elderly, Trump's promise to end Obamacare is of particular concern. Where can one go that's far enough away, yet close enough to home? Canada, unfortunately, protects its publicly funded medical system with strict laws that limit an influx of the aging.
Mexico, however, is more generous. Retirees with an average bank balance of $25,000 and at least $1,500 in post-tax income every month can easily apply for a residence permit. In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and Chile, the hurdle is even lower $1,000 to $1,200 in monthly income. Island lovers might cast their gaze toward the Caribbean, where a number of countries boast citizenship-by-investment programs. Dominica is the cheapest option for a single applicant; anyone can become a citizen by donating $100,000 to the government, and the new passport brings with it the right to live in any of the 20 countries comprising the Caribbean Community.
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Those thinking of leaving Trump's America might also wonder about housing. Indeed, this can be the ticket to securing residence rights. Buy a home in Greece worth at least $275,000, and you qualify for a residence permit. The same holds true in Spain and Portugal for slightly more.
Purchase a sizable holiday villa in Antigua, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia or Grenada, and a passport is yours. Those willing to up the ante might consider Malta or Cyprus, which offer citizenship in exchange for a real estate investment and economic contributions. But the price tag for these EU countries is much higher: $1.3 million and $2.2 million, respectively. You might do better finding a male Italian ancestor.
A world of possibilities lies open to those looking further afield. There is residence in Tonga for a verified annual income of about $4,600, retirement in Thailand if you can prove a monthly revenue stream of $1,800, or in South Africa for $2,600. Those hoping for a return on their money can secure papers by investing $75,000 in the Philippines or just $30,000 in Peru and $12,000 in Gambia.
Identity politics can structure options as well. Some environmentalists might worry about Trump's promise to end U.S. support to United Nations programs to combat global warming. For them, there is Panama, which grants a residence permit in exchange for the purchase of five hectares (roughly 12 acres) of land in a government reforestation project. Muslim Americans, concerned about personal safety, might consider Indonesia, where residence is available to applicants with a minimal monthly income and an Indonesian housekeeper in their employ.
Leaving the United States, however, doesn't mean giving up U.S. citizenship, which is a lengthy and costly process. The basic fee runs more than $2,000, and the wealthiest of those who choose this route face an even heftier bill, one equivalent to the taxes they would pay if their global assets were sold on the spot. And even if Trump prefers to avoid the IRS, Americans abroad still must file and pay tax on earnings over $100,000.
But maybe it will be worth it at least for those who have the possibility of leaving. Not everyone has the ancestry or the funds to seal an escape. The unequal access to exit options is perhaps a fitting reflection of the United States today. The schisms that underwrote the vehemence of the election inequalities in birthright and bank accounts aren't really all that different.
Washington Post
Kristin Surak is an American professor who teaches politics at the University of London and is writing a book about investor citizenship.
Sally Kohn and Ben Shapiro seen at Politicon 2016 at The Pasadena Convention Center on Sunday, June 26, 2016, in Pasadena, Calif. Shapiro was blocked from speaking at DePaul University. (Colin Young-Wolff / AP)
Tough talk, ugly speech you've heard it all year from Donald Trump. His politically incorrect style of communication is everywhere, but it's harder to find on the campus of DePaul University, where the administration blocked another appearance by a controversial conservative speaker.
Here's what happened, according to the DePaulia student newspaper: Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire visited DePaul on Nov. 15 to appear at an event with conservative author Christina Hoff Sommers. He didn't get far. Campus security prevented Shapiro's attendance, saying he wasn't part of the officially approved program and not on the list of pre-registered guests.
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Shapiro knew how to respond outside the event hall as a video camera rolled: "If I attempt to enter that hall, right there, just to hear somebody speak, or if I attempt to ask a question or engage in free speech, you will have me arrested?" he asked a security official. "I'm glad in a city that has some 4,000 shootings to this date, you have 30 members of security just for a 5-9,165 (pound) Jewish guy."
Bystanders laughed at his self-deprecating remark. Shapiro certainly can play to a crowd and make a point. It's a shame he wasn't permitted to perform for a full audience. Why couldn't he? Because DePaul remained tied up in knots over the question of how to manage speaker events that may offend some members of the school community.
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There's at least six months of history behind this kerfuffle, dating to spring when Milo Yiannopoulos of right-wing Breitbart News brought his political circus to DePaul. His event, sponsored by the school's College Republicans, ended in a melee because Yiannopoulos said some ugly things. Being offensive is what he does. In the aftermath, DePaul's president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, acknowledged that allowing protesters to shut down a speaker was wrong. The right approach, he suggested, was to "welcome speakers, give their ideas a respectful hearing, and then respond with additional speech countering the ideas."
Fast forward to August: The College Republicans and DePaul Young Americans for Freedom test the school's resolve by reinviting Yiannopoulos and adding Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor, to the billing. DePaul says no, citing security issues. Meanwhile, the school is creating a task force to revise DePaul's Guiding Principles of Speech and Expression.
Tick-tock, more time passes, and Trump wins the presidency based in part on his incendiary language. Then he names Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News, to be White House counselor. Hmm, maybe there is something serious to explore in the political clash between right and left. Shapiro, no fan of Bannon, would have been a very interesting lecturer for engaged students to hear a week after the election. But nope, too risky for DePaul.
DePaul said Shapiro was blocked not because of his ideas but because he hadn't been pre-approved as a speaker or guest under revised speaker program guidelines. Shapiro devised a clever workaround, calling in to the event from a nearby theater to invite the audience to meet him there for a discussion. That evidently went off just fine. The DePaulia said he attracted an overflow audience.
Back on campus, the hand-wringing persists. DePaul, as a private university, controls campus access and can approve or refuse guests as it sees fit. This isn't a First Amendment right to assembly issue; it's an issue of academic exploration. Universities can give in to the demands of students and others who won't tolerate disagreeable ideas, or they can uphold the standards of academic freedom and free expression Holtschneider espoused.
In this case, DePaul had a few days' notice and could have allowed Shapiro to appear with adequate security on hand. That would have served the interests of students and made a powerful statement about a university as a marketplace of ideas. Students would have heard Shapiro, engaged him and reached their own conclusions about the values and merits of the conservatism in the era of Trump.
True, there is a lot of confusion today about the country's political direction. There is polarization, there are hard feelings. That's part of life in a democracy. Learning how to confront political differences in a civilized manner is a tough lesson to embrace. Unfortunately, DePaul missed another chance to play the role of enlightened teacher.
Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
Donald Trump, at the Republican National Convention in July, has a plan that could potentially boost the economic growth of the country. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)
If you're able to think past President-elect Donald Trump's nasty campaign bluster (we hear yoga and kitten videos help), you'll discover something soothing, even exciting in his electioneering promises to create jobs: Elements of his economic plan could boost growth and standards of living here and nationwide.
This is potentially good news for millions of jobs-starved Americans.
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There are yuuuuge caveats. Trump has not been good on details, he's a serial exaggerator, and he's completely out to sea in his insistence that America has the option to unplug from global trade. He also pays little heed to the nation's $20 trillion debt, the looming threat of Social Security insolvency and Medicare's unsustainable cost trajectory. If Trump ignores America's glaring balance sheet woes during his presidency, things will go badly for the country. But Trump, unlike President Barack Obama, is a business guy and dealmaker at heart, and the country could benefit from having that perspective in the White House.
Trump's a real estate developer who views the American economy as a fixer-upper: It requires work but has great bones. His overall approach is free market-focused and pro-growth. Parts dovetail nicely with traditional Republican principles. So his job-creation philosophy is both sound and potentially doable since the GOP will control both houses of Congress. Expect negotiations on the details, though.
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One prong of the strategy has the direct potential to encourage business investment, and thus hiring: Trump would cut business taxes, with the corporate rate dropping from 35 percent to 15 percent. Many Democrats acknowledge that the current high rate puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage. Fixing that could lead some big corporations to stay on-shore or move here, rather than base themselves in countries with lower taxes.
He also proposes offering a one-time deal to American multinationals to entice them to bring home some of the estimated $2.6 trillion in profits they have parked overseas. That money sits (and works) abroad because if it were returned now it would be hit with the 35 percent rate. Trump would allow repatriation at a 10 percent rate. Companies could use the money in various ways, including investing in their businesses here, while the Trump administration could put the revenue windfall to work on bridge repairs, airport projects and other public works that create construction jobs.
Another Trump priority: reducing onerous federal regulations that hold back business activity. We see in Illinois how public officials impose rules and ask questions later maybe. Think of all the ways Chicago makes it hard for food trucks and other small businesses to get up and running. In Washington there are buildings full of agencies churning out reams of rules and requirements that needlessly constrain job creation.
"In the regulatory agencies, getting rid of the Obama people and putting in people who are not anti-business will have a huge impact," Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Trump, tells us. Yes, that's a partisan talking. And no, we're not naive. We don't advocate shutting down environmental, financial and other valuable layers of oversight. But we've also seen enough dumb rules enacted and good business proposals nixed to know that the path to greater U.S. job growth is more likely to wind through a boss' office than a regulator's.
In the energy industry, for example, we argued that it was a mistake for the Obama administration to kill the 1,200-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline. Approval has been hung up for years over environmental concerns that don't withstand scrutiny. One overriding truth: It's more dangerous to transport oil by rail or truck than by pipeline. Trump seems inclined to approve the deal, an $8 billion investment by a Canadian company in the Great Plains, and in true dealmaker fashion suggests he'd like "a piece of the profits" for U.S. taxpayers.
We part paths with the president-elect on some issues. The country needs to clean the skies to fight climate change, so we can't see reinvigorating the coal industry, as Trump does. Also, as noted above, global trade deals are good for U.S. businesses, consumers and millions of workers. As is true across the agricultural and industrial Midwest, Illinois' farms and factories are major exporters.
Plenty of congressional Republicans agree with us on these issues, and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, a Chicago Democrat, is a big trade booster. We hope other Illinois Democrats, such as U.S. Sen.-elect Tammy Duckworth and incoming U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, push early and often for smart policies even if they come from a rival party's administration.
Yes, Republicans and Democrats will have to hash out their practical and philosophical differences. But when the starting point of a conversation in Washington is debating whose ideas for job creation are better, it will be a good day for everyone.
"If you're in this country and you're a criminal if you're a drug dealer, if you're a murderer then you should be deported from the United States of America."
No, that's not President-elect Donald Trump talking. It's U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Chicago, who has advocated longer and louder than anyone on behalf of immigrant communities. His point? Chicago and other so-called "sanctuary cities" are not in the business of sheltering the people Trump calls "bad hombres." The goal is to protect everyone else.
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Trump says as many as 3 million criminal immigrants are in the U.S. without permission. He has promised to deport them, and he's prepared to play hardball to secure the cooperation of local police departments. He's threatened to block federal funding to governments with sanctuary policies, which shield immigrants who are in the country without permission but are otherwise law-abiding from being deported. That includes Chicago, Cook County and dozens of other jurisdictions around the country.
Since Trump's election, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has joined the mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and others in reaffirming that their police officers won't become de facto immigration officers.
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It could be a costly impasse. Chicago got more than $1 billion in federal funding this year for all sorts of programs transportation, health care, education, law enforcement and others. Next year, it's counting on $1.3 billion.
Trump couldn't shut off the funding without backing from Congress, and Emanuel brushed off the threat, saying he doubts Trump is serious about targeting "every major city in the United States." U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, said he hopes Trump won't risk alienating lawmakers who represent those cities.
We wouldn't place any bets on what Trump will or won't do, but lawmakers are likely to think twice. Last year, House grandstanders passed a bill to cut off federal law enforcement grants to sanctuary cities, but the Senate wisely let it die.
Police in sanctuary cities typically won't detain people based on immigration status if they would otherwise qualify for release. A driver who's here illegally doesn't risk being deported over a speeding ticket. An immigrant arrested on suspicion of shoplifting can be released on bail pending a court date. The reasoning: Public safety suffers when local police are viewed as immigration agents. Crime victims or witnesses are less likely to cooperate if they fear they'll be deported. Sanctuary policies also spare local taxpayers the cost of holding people until the feds get around to deporting them.
In Chicago, an executive order signed by Mayor Harold Washington in 1985 prohibited city employees, including police, from asking about immigration status when providing services. A 2012 ordinance sponsored by Emanuel allows police to cooperate with federal immigration agents only if the person in custody has been convicted of a serious crime or is the subject of a criminal warrant.
Many of Chicagos immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal permission express concern for the future following president-elect Donald Trump's pledge this week to immediately deport as many as 3 million people. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)
Emanuel has sought to reassure immigrants that "you are safe in Chicago, you are secure in Chicago and you are supported in Chicago." On Wednesday, dozens of aldermen signed on to a resolution that reaffirms the city's ordinance. It rejects the idea of a religious litmus test for immigrants or the creation of a government national registry based on religion or ethnicity. And it says Chicago will resist "any attempt by the president-elect to hold federal funding to the nation's economic centers ransom to an inhumane immigration agenda."
We hope Trump's threat is an empty one. There are 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. without permission. Most of them are leading peaceful, productive lives. Study after study shows they are less likely to commit crimes than the population at large. Our communities are safer when they are able to interact freely with police.
Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
"Why," a reader recently asked after Donald Trump's stunning presidential victory, "don't you liberal mainstream media columnists get over it and write something positive to unify the country?"
Why, I wondered, must it be left up to liberals to repair the divisions ripped open by conservatives like Trump?
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Maybe Trump supporters have a right to gloat after putting their guy over the top after almost every major poll indicated that he probably was going to lose.
But two questions still keep tongues wagging: Why are they so angry, and what can be done about it?
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A newly released study of 2,411 voters by the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation confirms one thing that others have found: Trump benefited heavily from a widespread belief that the federal government ignores ordinary people.
Although this perception crosses party lines, pollsters heard it from Republicans more than Democrats and from Trump's voters most of all.
Democrats who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders' insurgent campaign expressed more anger than early supporters of Hillary Clinton did, but both groups were outdone in anger by the Grand Old Party's voters.
For example, 9 of 10 voters overall in the survey agreed that "Elected officials think more about the interests of their campaign donors than the common good of the people." Among those who agreed "strongly" were 63 percent of all voters and 72 percent of Trump voters.
And who can blame them? The hotbeds of Trump and Sanders support have been mostly small-town and rural communities that feel economically depleted and woefully untouched by anything out of Washington except empty promises.
It's not policy or ideology that drives the voter discontent, the survey found. It was the sense that they are being ignored, shoved aside by politicians who are eager to focus on campaign donors, party organizations and shadowy "special interests."
By the way, because all interests are "special" to somebody, I translate "special interests" to mean "interests other than my interests." The term is far from new. William Safire's "Political Dictionary" traces "special interests" and its sister "narrow interests" back to President Theodore Roosevelt.
Yet, dissatisfaction with government has reached new heights, according to Steven Kull, PPC director, in a news release. In the 1960s fewer than half of voters complained that government was run by "big interests," according to Kull's office. In recent years this number has risen to about 92 percent.
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Which leads to the always-important question of what can be done about this discontent? One answer comes from Voice of the People, the nonpartisan nonprofit organization founded by Kull that released the survey.
VOP aims to bridge the gap between politicians and the people they are supposed to serve by forming a "scientifically-selected, representative sample" of constituents in each congressional district. These "Citizen Cabinets" would be consulted on current issues and provide a voice that reflects the values and priorities of their district or state.
My initial reaction: Don't we elect congressmen and senators to do that?
After all, it is in the interest of politicians to serve their constituents and stay in touch if they want to keep their jobs. Layering in another group of community spokespeople sounds like a classic Washington prescription for every crisis: Form a committee.
Sometimes such committees solve problems. But usually they simply meet until the problem goes away or everybody stops talking about it.
Yet the Citizen Cabinet idea tested well in polls. So did reducing the amount of money flowing into politics. Yet Barack Obama, no less, showed how record amounts can be raised through internet appeals, and Donald Trump has shown how a shameless publicity hound can generate more free publicity than most candidates ever could afford to buy.
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I prefer another idea favored by PPC: Abolish political gerrymandering. Let a panel of citizens or judges draw congressional maps instead of leaving it to state legislators. A few states have done it in recent years, but it's catching on elsewhere about as slowly as any other idea that asks the powerful to give up power.
Almost any idea that makes sitting politicians feel less comfortable about their political futures is OK with me. The less secure they feel, the more quickly they respond to angry voters.
Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.
cpage@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @cptime
In some ways, Gov. Bruce Rauner had a pretty good week.
Illinois' senior U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, widely seen as the most formidable opponent for Rauner if, as expected, he runs for re-election in 2018, hung on to his leadership position in Washington and formally ruled out a gubernatorial bid Wednesday.
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When Democrats failed to win control of the Senate in the Nov. 8 election, speculation had increased that Durbin would challenge Rauner rather than slog along whipping votes for a minority caucus that can do little now but obstruct legislation. But that prospect evidently looks a lot more pleasant than entering a very expensive and inevitably very nasty race for the right to preside over a state in deep crisis. Go figure.
Durbin's withdrawal leaves no obvious Democratic front-runner and foretells a fractious and costly primary fight.
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Meanwhile, the Illinois Labor Relations Board handed Rauner a victory in his nearly 17-month standoff with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state's largest public employee union. The ruling, released Tuesday, declared that contract negotiations had reached a formal impasse, which gave Rauner the option of unilaterally imposing terms on the union.
While such a move would risk a highly disruptive strike of nearly 40,000 state workers, having the power to make it arguably strengthens Rauner's hand in his budget negotiations with the union-friendly Democrats who control the General Assembly.
But about those negotiations
In other ways, Rauner had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
In high-level meetings Tuesday and Wednesday in Springfield, Democratic leaders showed no signs of knuckling under to Rauner's demand that they agree to elements of his long-stymied, 44-point "turnaround agenda" before he agrees to sit down with them to hammer out a full-year budget.
The budget standoff, which formally began July 1, 2015, has put a strain on the state. Fixed expenses have been outpacing revenue by an estimated $30 million a day, even as vital programs have suffered for lack of funds.
A special-briefing report issued Wednesday by the legislature's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability estimated the state's worst-in-the-nation unfunded public pension liability at $129.8 billion, more than three times what it was a decade ago.
The same day, the Governor's Office of Management and the Budget released projections that, at the current rate, the state's backlog of unpaid bills $10.7 billion will hit $13.5 billion by next summer and will top $20 billion by the summer of 2018.
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Is it too soon to declare an emergency? Too soon to demand that leaders of both parties set aside their wish lists, agenda items and putative reforms and as quickly as possible agree on a plan to cut spending and raise taxes in a way that stanches this geyser of red ink?
Rauner and his Republican allies say it is too soon.
They evidently consider this crisis to be leverage, though they congratulate themselves on having taken off the table, for now, in the name of compromise, all but a handful of Rauner's 44 agenda items. The governor and his allies are still holding out for business-friendly adjustments to workers' compensation laws, the imposition of legislative term limits, a freeze in local property taxes and changes to pension laws.
Rauner says such changes will have long-term positive effects on the state's economy and therefore on the lives of ordinary workin' families.
Even if that claim weren't debatable, it would be one for another day. Each idea deserves a separate and full hearing in the General Assembly and ought not be a chit in negotiations that involve the fate of the vulnerable residents who rely on imperiled human-service programs.
The Democratic leaders say it's not too soon to get down to straight budget talks.
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They're continuing to block Rauner's peripheral demands and insist he fulfill his constitutionally mandated obligation to propose a budget in which anticipated expenses match anticipated revenue, something he has yet to do.
Yes, sure, legislative horse-trading and policy give-and-take has long been part of the budgetary process. But by explicitly and publicly setting out his pre-conditions early on, the rookie governor backed Democrats into a corner where they had to say no.
If Democrats were to capitulate to Rauner's "or else " threats this time, they'd establish a precedent that would encourage him to hold out for a new set of "turnaround agenda" items next time and the time after that. And they'd abandon the principle that budget negotiations should focus on budget items and avoid sweeping unrelated ideological propositions, such as the idea that term limits make governments work better.
Rauner's nemesis, longtime Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, may be steely and charmless. And he's certainly complicit in the practices that have put Illinois into such a sorry place economically. But he and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton are right to refuse to negotiate with a hostage-taker.
Rauner can defer without surrendering. He can lead rather than attempting to bully.
And if he does, he and the state of Illinois may have better weeks ahead.
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Re: Tweets
I thought the best entry of 11 in the Tweet of the Week contest was, "When a movie says 'Based on a true story,' it means this is sort of what happened but with way uglier people," by @HollyMemphis. But by a wide margin, online voters favored this riff on current events by @JermHimselfish: "'Just accept it, you lost, now get over it' said the person waving a Confederate flag."
What weird reason do you have, if any, for not subscribing to "The Mincing Rascals," Chicago's best bipartisan news-related podcast in which the regular panel features Kristen McQueary, Steve Bertrand, John Williams and me? Asking for a friend.
Twitter @EricZorn
How To Not Get Hacked On Dating Sites
Love Dating Apps? Here's The Trick To Not Getting Hacked
This article was originally published by AskMen UK.
If the announcement this week of the AdultFriendFinder hack has frozen you in your love-tapped tracks, you may be wondering if any of your online and app-based dating exploits are safe.
After all, its one of the largest data breaches ever recorded, with some 412 million accounts across the globe compromised. It comes after last years Ashley Madison hack, which revealed the details of 37 million users of the extra-marital affair dating site.
Lets face it: in 2016, we are all at risk of a data hack, whether our devices are storing state security secrets, or the phone numbers of three girls wed love to more than virtually click with. And what, with the NSA ever working its global surveillance project, plus the evidence that even the encryption credentials of https, VPN and 4G are fallible, its enough for any man of dignity and a few dodgy internet searches in his browser to retreat into Luddite tactics of only hitting the local pub in want of a date.
Thankfully, there are some workarounds.
RELATED: Avoid Malware And Hacking With These Tips On How To Watch Porn Safely
1. Use A Unique Email Address
Out of the AdultFriendFinder hack came the revelation of multiple UK government email addresses used to register accounts. Basics: dont use your work or personal email address when you register with the site; it takes two minutes to set up a brand new account on Gmail and you know youre only going to be receiving junk notifications anyway, which you really dont want sending to your daytime desktop.
2. Hack-Proof Your Password
Its amazing how many people dont use top-notch passwords a Facebook hack this week revealed that a whopping 120,000 people actually used 123456 as theirs. The best passwords contain a combination of letters, numbers and other characters if possible, and are not repeated on other sites. If an app requires a phrase, try to scramble grammatical convention and avoid anything that makes an easily memorable sentence eschew cat in the hat for stable stone going monkey, for example. Youve heard it a hundred times, but avoid obviously memorable dates your birthday, or that of a close friend or relative. You should update your password every 6 months but no more often. Researchers at the University of Carolina found that users who did change their passwords more frequently tended to use variations on a theme of previous passwords, thereby making them easier to hack. Instead, its better to create a more complex password which you change less often.
3. Choose An App That Fits Your Privacy Needs Best
Dating apps are divided into two categories those that use Facebook or LinkedIn to verify your identity, and those that dont. There are benefits to both.
Its well established that Tinder meshes so well with Facebook that users can track you down to your Facebook profile in a matter of minutes. For a multitude of reasons (usually associated with your Facebook privacy settings), thats not desirable for multitudes of people who wants a potential date checking out when you last updated your relationship status? And what if you dont want your friends on Facebook to know youre propositioning a mutual connection, especially when it hasnt even come off yet?
Thats why an app like BeLinked that verifies you through LinkedIn might be preferable. After all, the only information youre directly privy to is who your potential paramour has collaborated with during office hours. As CEO Max Fischer explains, Theres a greater element of accountability with linking through your LinkedIn profile. It can ensure users with plenty of mutual connections are on their most courteous behaviour. But on the other hand, if you mess up, your story might just become the subject of water cooler conversation."
The other option is to use an app that doesnt require a Facebook account such as OkCupid or Plenty of Fish. The benefits of this are obvious greater anonymity, no risk of cross-contamination nor that dodgy photoset from Ibiza 2012 sullying your chances with your shortlist.
Given that these kinds of apps arent just drawing info from established profiles, the downside is that they prompt users to input extensive data about their preferences and predilections. Think about it dont put anything in a dating app that isnt already public knowledge, unless you really dont mind it becoming public knowledge (such as a preference for fly-fishing). You might find yourself pouring your heart out onto the profile page in a way you wouldnt even do after five shots of mezcal. Plus, with OkCupid, theres an extensive sexual preferences survey, which most people seem to find entertaining on a lonely Friday night. These kinds of apps give you more control over your privacy, just as long as you exercise some self-control.
4. Avoid Geo-Locating Apps
Finding out that the hottie youve been watching for a week walks down your road every evening can add an extra frisson to the possibility of crossing paths. Thats why apps such as Tinder or Happn, which highlight the proximity of your matches, can make the dating game feel that little bit less like roulette. On the other hand, go on a bad date with someone in your locale and its a ball-ache to manage the anxiety that comes with worrying if youll bump into them ever after.
And then theres the worst-case scenario what if you attract a bona-fide Gone Girl who can figure out exactly where you live? Back in 2014, Tinder found itself in hot water when it was revealed that its geo-location method could enable users to be found right down to their latitude and longitude. So if you dont want to be tracked down to your exact coordinates, choose an app that allows you to stipulate your general location without tracking your movements, such as Bumble, unless you approve otherwise.
5. Beware Of Dating Service Ads
Its a sad fact that dating sites are awash with fake profiles many of which have been created by the organisation itself. A 2013 investigation by Panorama found that some dating professionals were actually selling information culled from other online services to purposefully create profiles, which led to an investigation by the Information Commissioners Office.
But in a sneakier, more complicit move, dating sites can actually create a profile with your data if you click on an ad for their services on a site like Facebook the click equals consent.
The solution is simple, then dont click through to a dating service on a whim. Do your research via Google, and never download an app via anything but the original, registered organization.
6. Choose A Service That Doesnt Sell Your Data
The major players in the dating industry have extensive and established databases of millions of genuine members. But new services are springing up every day, and as they do, they are often buying their initial database from another company which provides a white label database.
Whats more, theres usually a sub-clause nestled deep in the terms and conditions that informs you that your information will be used by affiliates, and this is how they get around this being a simple breach of your privacy. So how do you find out if the service youre using is doing this, short of reading all those ts and cs?
Well, stick with the major players: Tinder, Howaboutwe, CoffeeMeetsBagel or with home-grown or elite start-up apps, such as The Inner Circle or HerSmile, that specifically stipulate they will never sell your data.
7. Avoid Unsafe Subscriptions
Heres a conundrum. Research done on the user experience of dating services finds that individuals who pay for their products tend to be more invested in making genuine connections. At the same time, any online transaction carries a potential fraud risk, depending on how tight the security is surrounding its operation. So how do you know as user when its safe to splash the cash?
Cosmo Currey, CEO of HerSmile explains: A transaction is safe if it goes through a service that is PSI compliant, a hard-to-reach standard which is generally held by banks and Paypal. Our app uses a PSI compliant service called Braintree, which is related to Paypal, to process payment for our services. It means that we never hold any users credit card information, and that were never in danger of leaking or losing that info.
So youre looking for authentication of your purchase by your bank, or the use of Paypal. Be wary of any other pro-forma, and look out for reassurance that the service will not hold details of your card numbers or bank account.
Nichi Hodgson is a journalist, broadcaster and sex educator. She is the director of the Ethical Porn Partnership and author of Bound To Me, a memoir that details her experiences as a professional dominatrix.
The state's lingering budget woes are casting a shadow of uncertainty over the village of Arlington Heights, where officials are proposing a $180 million budget for 2017.
"Obviously, the Illinois budget crisis is looming over all of us, and there does not seem to be any indication of which way this is going," Village Manager Randall Recklaus said at a Nov. 14 public hearing for the proposed 2017 budget.
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The village's proposed 2017 budget increased roughly 9 percent from last year's $165 million budget, and the proposed 2016 property tax levy for the village and library will rise roughly 1.4 percent, officials said.
But officials remain concerned that the state's budget crisis could potentially have a negative impact on Arlington Heights in the future, in particular, if Illinois legislators attempt to tap into the roughly $31.4 million 43 percent of the village's projected 2017 General Fund revenues which are distributed by the state from taxes including sales tax and income tax, said Thomas Kuehne, the village's director of finance.
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In addition, the village is anticipated to receive $1.8 million in revenues from the state from the Motor Fuel Tax, which is the primary source of funding for the village's street resurfacing program, $1.8 million from the Home-Rule sales tax, and $612,000 in taxes paid to the Northwest Central Dispatch, adding up to a total of $35.6 million in revenues, Kuehne said.
While Arlington Heights has a minimum General Fund reserve policy of 25 percent of its annual operating expenditures, the village currently has 39 percent General Fund reserves, totaling $28 million, Kuehne said.
Kuehne said maintaining adequate reserves is an important factor that helps the village receive lower bond interest charges when borrowing money for capital improvement projects, is a source of emergency funding, and provides a buffer during economic downturns.
The reserves could also help officials deal with the negative impact on its budget if the state were to begin tapping into anticipated tax revenues, Kuehne said.
"Having adequate reserves would also allow the village the time needed to digest and plan around potential actions by the state that may have an adverse effect on the village's finances," Kuehne said.
kcullotta@tribpub.com
Twitter @kcullotta
Business leaders discussed the impact of Donald Trump's upcoming policies on the local economy during a meeting of the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News)
Aurora business leaders are taking a wait-and-see attitude to the impact President-elect Donald Trump will have on the local economy.
At an Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting at Aurora Country Club, Madeleine Doubek, publisher of Reboot Illinois; Ben Taylor, executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Great Lakes office; and Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy and spokesman from the Illinois Policy Institute, discussed the national as well as state election results with area business people.
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Aurora Mayor Robert O'Connor said Chamber members and local businesses "need a sense and understanding of what direction we are going in."
"We're hoping to get a better touch and feel as things occur, and local business and government are interested in how this is going to play out," he said. "You don't always get a sense of things during the campaign people then are in their own worlds, and there are promises made. Now, there is the reality of the moment. We need to know the direction for business, taxation, and regulatory policies."
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Taylor said that in terms of the soon-to-be-installed Trump administration, three "opportunities" would likely present themselves that could have local impact.
"Based on Mr. Trump's platform and the things he has said, I suspect there is going to be a rollback in terms of some of the regulatory agencies and their tentacles that are affecting the growth of jobs," Taylor said. "I also think we'll be looking at tax reform and finally some kind of transportation package. Every local Chamber cites that as one of their priorities improving and rebuilding the infrastructure."
Doubek said it was critical that Illinois employers and employees from all sized companies "become politically engaged and active in state and federal government as we have reached the tipping point of crisis."
"Our representatives need to know there is going to be some pressure to get the economy going again," she said. "They need to reflect the election results. Everywhere there are frustrated people. Change frightens all of us, but let's give the new administration some time and see where it goes."
She said people need to take a deep breath concerning Trump's election.
"Those with fear to the point of protest need to try to focus on constructive engagement and remember this is how millions of other people felt four or eight years ago," she said.
The state's budget issues were also on the minds of business people at the meeting.
Michelle Meyer, executive director of Mutual Ground, who said that "many times, not-for-profit groups are forgotten" when government begins to rework its budget priorities.
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"People forget that we are a business too, and have insurance and health and workman's comp issues as well," she said. "The state budget, as we know, has many difficulties and we wonder where funding might come from."
Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy and spokesman from the Illinois Policy Institute, talks about post-election concerns during a meeting of the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News)
Dabrowski spoke largely about the "bottleneck and strangle hold" that has existed in Springfield for 30 years and predicted the state might now finally have some new direction.
"The 'super majority' has been broken, and nationally there has been a repudiation of the status quo," Dabrowski said. "I think there is going to be a change of mentality in Washington, D.C., and hopefully this is going to bring back an impetus for growth."
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
Aurora aldermen are set to vote on annexing about three acres on Austin Street, north of Mountain Street, that contains a landscaping business.
The property is near the Farnsworth Avenue bridge over Indian Creek that will be the subject of a major rebuilding project in the next two years.
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The project, which includes regrading, a new bridge, road resurfacing and a change in the incline to the nearby bridge over the railroad tracks, will run between Mountain Street and Sheffer Road.
The property in question, owned by Griselda Escalante and Salvador Carrasco, runs along Indian Creek. As part of the annexation, the slope of the land along the creek would be changed to make Indian Creek flow better underneath the new Farnsworth bridge.
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"Part of what will happen is the floodplain will be reduced," said John Phillipchuck, attorney for the property owners. "It will be an improvement."
The land contains Carrasco's landscaping business, which he owns with his son, and also a private residence. The annexation would bring the property in as a residential use, allowing the landscape business to continue there.
Eventually, the property would be divided into three lots, with one open to commercial development.
There also will be open space as part of the improvement along Indian Creek, which would have its own zoning.
Currently, the land is in unincorporated Kane County with farm zoning.
slord@tribpub.com
Months after moving to purchase a house for students in a special education program, Community Unit School District 308 board members are considering relocating the program.
Board members have discussed moving the Oswego-based district's transition program at the end of the school year, after officials said residents near the transition program's house have expressed concerns about traffic. The board moved in June to purchase a house for the program on Brock Court in Oswego.
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The program, designed to help special needs students between 18 and 22 years old move from school to further education, employment or life in the community, relocated as part of a district plan that involved moving kindergarten classes into students' home schools and shifting preschool classes and some other special education programs. The transition program and other special education programs were housed in the 308 Center, known as the old Traughber Junior High School building, which officials have said needs large-scale improvements.
At a meeting Monday, district officials said they met with residents on the street to discuss concerns, and one resident spoke before the school board Monday to express concerns about parking, buses and safety because of traffic on Brock Court.
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"We have impositioned these people," board member Danielle Paul said. "I mean...when you've got people who are in tears who have lived on that court for 40 years, we've kind of taken over that whole court."
Superintendent John Sparlin told the board the district was working to resolve the issues, but would also discuss the future of the program in that house.
School board President Matt Bauman said if the board decides to relocate the program, a board committee should vet any future site and receive input from a special education administrator..
Sparlin floated the idea of moving the program into a mobile on school property. He said the transportation department used to be housed in a trailer on district property, and though that trailer no longer exists, the necessary utilities and parking remain available at the site.
The move to purchase the house for the transition program was "not well thought out," board member Greg O'Neil said.
The district had originally budgeted $248,000 for the house, but expected the purchase price to be less.
sfreishtat@tribpub.com
Twitter @srfreish
Students work in a class at the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora. (Sarah Freishtat / The Beacon-News)
Aurora's Illinois Math and Science Academy has been named the second-best public school in the country by a rankings website.
The 2017 school listing came from Niche, a website that compiles data to create profiles and rankings of schools, colleges and places to live. Niche also listed IMSA, a selective residential high school that draws students from across the state, as the second-best high school in the country for science, technology, engineering and math.
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The website's top school in America was Adlai E. Stevenson High School in north suburban Lincolnshire.
The public school rankings were based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, test scores, college data and ratings from users of the website and were created from an analysis of more than 80,000 public schools and 10,000 school districts, according to the website. They took into account factors including academics, teachers, and culture and diversity.
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Jose Torres, president of IMSA, said the school was honored by the recognition.
"We continue to build on this excellence to create a transformational experience for both our residential students, as well as students across Illinois who benefit from IMSA's innovative educational approach through our statewide outreach efforts," he said.
sfreishtat@tribpub.com
Twitter @srfreish
Members of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employee Council 31 rally Thursday outside the union's Homewood office. (Nick Swedberg / Daily Southtown)
More than 100 state employees rallied near their labor union's Homewood office Thursday afternoon following a ruling that contract negotiations for them and others had stalled.
Workers at the rally said the threat of a state-wide strike by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employee Council 31 is "very likely" given Tuesday's decision by the state labor board. Across the state, AFSCME workers held similar rallies on Thursday.
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Union members disagreed with the ruling from the Illinois Labor Relations Board that said negotiations over a new contract with Gov. Bruce Rauner had reached an impasse, saying they are still willing to negotiate.
Union workers are operating under a contract that expired in the summer of 2015.
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More than 100 state employees rallied near the labor unions Homewood office Thursday afternoon. (Natalia Diaz)
The ruling opens the door for Rauner to impose his terms on the new contract.
Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly earlier this week called the board decision "fair for taxpayers and state employees."
The Rauner administration wants to implement cuts that would save the state $3 billion over four years.
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the union plans to appeal the decision if the Rauner administration doesn't return to negotiations.
Union workers said a date for a vote to strike has not been announced. But it could come soon, if a compromise on a contract isn't reached, said Natalia Diaz, a 33-year-old public aid eligibility assistant who protested in Homewood.
"Nobody wants to be out here in the snow," Diaz said.
The state's largest labor union has never gone on strike before.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Brittany Adams, 29, of Chicago, works as a case worker for the Illinois Department of Human Services. She rallied with other workers near AFSCME Council 31's new Homewood office, 935 175th St.
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State human services already have been hit by budget cuts, affecting programs that provide child care or help to disabled people living independently, Adams said.
"The cuts have been detrimental," Adams said.
Rauner's last offer to the union included a bonus for work attendance, reduced holiday pay, new rules for overtime pay and provided no across-the-board guaranteed salary increase.
Union officials claim Rauner broke off negotiations 10 months ago, that his proposal would freeze pay for four years and would jump health care costs for workers by 100 percent.
"We want a fair contract. That's all we want," Adams said.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said the government will increase policy support for new forms of agribusiness to bolster rural economy.
"Large-scale agricultural operations in new forms will lead agricultural modernization," Wang said when addressing a meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.
The meeting discusses cultivating new types of agribusiness and increasing the scale of agricultural operations.
Wang called for promoting the development of family farms, large and specialized agricultural operations, farming cooperatives and other emerging forms of agribusiness.
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China's top justice on Thursday called for international cooperation on intelligent courts and rule of law in cyberspace governance.
Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court was addressing the third World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Zhou said IT has raised the quality and efficiency of trials, reinforcing social equality and justice in general.
Countries need to share their best practices in IT in courts, Zhou said.
Rule of law in cyberspace will ensure the cybersphere is safe, orderly and accessible to all, Zhou added.
The WIC, running from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18 this year, is an annual meeting of the world's tech firm bosses, academics, and government officials to discuss current Internet trends.
The State Bureau for Letters and Calls is investigating the death of a petitioner in southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to an official statement on Thursday.
The younger brother of Yang Tianzhi being interviewed in Bangou village, Yuechi County, Sichuan Province of southwestern China, Nov. 16, 2016. [Photo: cqcb.com]
In August this year, Yang Tianzhi, 68, from Yuechi County in Sichuan, was tricked and taken away by several people near the reception area of the Beijing bureau where he had gone to file a petition. Yang was allegedly taken back to Sichuan against his will and died afterwards.
The Bureau has described the case a "serious criminal offense" and ordered the Sichuan bureau to investigate.
No organization nor any individual is allowed to hinder citizens from filing legitimate petitions and once identified, obstructionists can be severely punished.
The bureau has written to its local offices nationwide, requiring them to pay due attention to such illegal behavior.
Two 17-year-old minors, a female and a male, were sentenced to jail last month for bullying a fellow student, aged 15, in May.
In both cases the sentences were reprieved. The female received a two-year jail sentence, with a reprieve of three years; the male 18 months, with a reprieve of two years.
The two, both from the Real Estate College, were sued for humiliating women.
Prosecutors said a female teenager surnamed Min had taken her schoolmate surnamed Bao, the victim, together with four other students, aged 13 to 15, to a dormitory room around 10pm on May 11.
There they bullied Bao by writing humiliating words on her face, beating and slapping her, forcing her to smoke, dropping cigarette ash on her, and hurting her breasts, said prosecutors.
Yu, the male defendant, who was living in a nearby dormitory building, was said to have encouraged Min and her friends to pour water on Bao, force her to dance on the balcony and use their smartphones to record their behavior, sending the images to him.
The defendants made Bao kneel down, while beating her with plastic bottles and slapping her face. The bullying continued until 1am the next day, causing injuries on Bao's head, said prosecutors.
The court said Min and Yu had committed the crime of humiliating women but decided to give them a lighter punishment as both of them were younger than 18 and they had turned themselves in to police and confessed. The other four were not sued as they were under 16.
The court confirmed Min as the prime culprit, while Yu was classed as an accessory.
Education authorities launched an investigation into the affair in June after media had reported on it. Investigations found Bao and six other students were persuaded by their former school Huanglou Middle School to transfer to Real Estate College, an educational training agency that was not qualified for academic degree education.
Authorities ordered the "college" to remove all illegally admitted students, who should have been protected with the same rights as other students undergoing nine years of education in primary and middle schools. One of the students has returned to Huanglou, while the other six, including Bao, have been admitted into vocational schools, according to Shanghai Morning Post.
After the bullying incident came to light, Shanghai Education Commission asked all district education bureaus to regulate schools and training agencies to protect students during their education.
The commission also called for cooperation among families, schools and society in general because school bullying was a complicated matter.
The Ministry of Education released a notice in May, asking all primary and secondary schools in the country to crack down on oral, physical and online abuse.
Last week, the ministry released a guideline on education on how to deal with bullying, together with the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League.
The guideline suggested schools improve ideological, moral, legal and psychological education of students.
Officials will be held accountable for serious incidents of bullying or violence in areas under their jurisdiction, according to the guideline.
More than half of the corrupt Chinese officials recently netted after fleeing abroad opted to turn themselves in.
Yang Xiuzhu, the most wanted fugitive on the "red notice", returned to China and turned herself in on Wednesday after being on the run for 13 years.
She is one of 37 fugitives named on the "red notice" listing 100 major corrupt Chinese officials that have recently returned back to the country.
Of these, 22 were persuaded to turn themselves in.
China has three main ways to bring back fugitives; persuading them to surrender, repatriation and extradition.
In 2015, seven were persuaded to turn themselves in voluntarily, seven were repatriated and two were arrested in China, after the notice was issued by Interpol in April of that year.
Beijing Normal University criminal law expert Huang Feng said persuading fugitives to return, with the help of the host country's law enforcement agencies, was the easiest option.
He said it was the most economical and effective way to bring them back as it avoids the complex and lengthy procedures of extradition and repatriation.
The host countries may also repatriate the fugitives after receiving evidence of their crimes.
Yang Jinjun, the brother of Yang Xiuzhu, who fled to the United States in 2001 and was brought back in September last year, is the first of the "red notice" officials to be repatriated to China from the US.
While many of the more than 40 extradition treaties China has signed with foreign countries are with Asian and developing countries, some countries, including the US, Canada and some European countries, are popular destinations for fleeing corrupt Chinese officials.
Two of China's most-wanted fugitives, suspected of economic crimes, will be extradited from France to face trial at home, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security confirmed earlier this month.
More fugitives are expected to be sent back now that China is ready to begin talks about sharing confiscated ill-gotten assets with cooperative governments, the Chinese law-enforcement official said.
As of June 2016, China has brought back 2,210 fugitives, with 363 former employees of government agencies or related entities, from more than 70 countries and regions, and recovered illegal money and assets of 8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion), according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Plans to ease the banning of Japanese food imports in Taiwan have triggered violence on the island amid growing public anger and distrust of the approval procedure of the island's leadership.
Since Saturday, violence has erupted at 10 public hearings around the island on whether to lift the ban on food imports from five prefectures in Japan that were contaminated with radiation after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
At a public hearing in Kaohsiung on Saturday, tables were overturned and people were heard shouting that the government was turning a blind eye to public health and holding rushed hearings due to a secret deal with Japan.
The hearing was suspended amid protests and violence.
In Hualien, bloody violence erupted 30 minutes after a hearing began on Monday. There were also violent protests in Taoyuan, Xinbei, Taichung and Taipei.
Taiwan's authorities banned food imports from Japan's Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by a huge earthquake and tsunami.
Last year food products, with false origin labels, made near Fukushima nuclear power plant were found to illegally have entered the island. Taiwan authorities demanded that Japanese food exporters submit their origin credentials.
After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in May, it announced a two-stage proposal stating that Taiwan plans to keep a ban on the import of food from Fukushima but conditionally allow imports of certain products from four other Japanese prefectures.
The implementation of the first stage of the plan was to serve as a reference for the further relaxation of the restrictions in the second stage, possibly about six months later.
Last Thursday, amid growing public complaints, the DPP abruptly announced plans to hold ten public hearings in the following three days. Taiwan's law stipulates that plans for public hearings should be announced 10 days before hearings are held.
A survey conducted by the opposition nationalist party has shown 74.6 percent of the public do not want the restrictions lifted.
On Monday an editorial in the China Times, a leading newspaper in Taiwan, censured the DPP for not checking the safety credentials of Japanese food or having a management plan for future imports.
Local legislators, including in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Taichung, have decided to amend laws banning imported Japanese food that could be contaminated by the nuclear disaster.
In 2015, Taiwan's health authorities admitted that they were considering lifting the ban on food imports from nuclear-tainted areas due to pressure from Japan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile from November 17 to 23. Apart from the bilateral engagements during the key tour, he will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' meeting in Lima, Peru, on November 19 and 20.
His visit to the three Latin America countries is of great importance. It is his third visit to Latin America since taking the presidency in March 2013 and demonstrates the importance he attaches to this region.
The visit will improve cooperative partnership between China and the three nations. I wouldn't be surprising if the trip and the discussion with the leaders of these countries usher in new horizon of cooperation and development in the bilateral relations.
Xi starts the trip with a visit to Ecuador. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1980, but the full potential of the relationship could not be utilized due to lack of high level engagements. Xi's visit is expected to bridge the political gap through extensive talks on multiple issues.
He will also meet Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to explore ways to improve bilateral relations. The two presidents will also take part in the signing of a series of deals. They will also meet with the press and attend a launch ceremony of an assistance program together.
After Ecuador, Xi will travel to Peru, which is the first country in the region to have a strategic partnership with China. It shows the desire on both sides to increase high level visits and regular interactions with each other. He will also meet the Peruvian President of Congress Luz Salgado.
Chile will be the last destination of President Xi. Chile has special ties with China as it was the first nation in the region to ink a bilateral agreement with China regarding China's membership in the World Trade Organization and a free trade agreement with China. Xi is scheduled to hold talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and attend a signing ceremony.
Latin America has special importance for China as it is increasing its investment and presence in the region. China wants to deepen ties, and the range of agreements expected to be signed during this visit will help us understand the level of success achieved through the visit.
China is constantly looking forward to expanding relations by having free trade arrangements and cooperation in the fields of trade, investment and development. Latin America has great potential and Chinese assistance will prove instrumental in changing the fate of the region.
The data shows that already commercial and economic ties are deepening between Latin America and China. Trade volume between China and Latin America increased more than twenty-fold during the past decade, reaching 236.5 billion dollars in 2015. Currently, China is the second largest trade partner and third largest source of investment for the Latin America countries. Also, Latin America is China's seventh largest trade partner.
China's money and investment have been playing a major role in transforming the landscape of Latin America. For example, Chinese help will change Ecuador from a power-deficient country to a clean energy exporter. This will in fact change the fortunes and greatly contribute to economic development.
Apart from economic assistance and capital investment, China can also help these countries with technology. It has been seen that countries like the United States normally hesitate to transfer technology to developing nations. Worldwide it has been seen that transfer of technology quickly changes the fate of the recipients. It decreases dependence on others and brings economic and political stability and real freedom for smaller nations.
Apart from hard power, China should also focus on increasing its soft power in Latin America. It is not just the hard cash and technology but soft powers like cultural exchanges, movies, education and health tourism that can play a role in further cementing the ties.
Expansion of soft presence will be key to achieving the goal of "all-round partnership of cooperation" between China and Latin America.
Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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The Kremlin on Thursday denied reports about a possible visit by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to Russia after his inauguration in January, saying there have been no specific discussions about this.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Izvestia newspaper, quoting an unnamed high-ranking source in the U.S. Republican party, said Trump was planning to visit Russia after he assumes his responsibilities as president in January.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there have been no talks regarding the possibility of Trump's visit so far, and those reports were unchecked information "that looks like a spoof."
During a phone conversation on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump vowed to make efforts to normalize the "extremely unsatisfactory" relations between the two countries.
Peskov said Putin and Trump did talk about their intentions to hold a meeting in the future, but did not mention a possible date for a meeting during their conversation.
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Eleven militants including a Taliban shadow governor for northern Saripul province have been killed over the past 24 hours, Ministry of Interior said in a statement released on Thursday.
"Crackdown against enemies which launched Wednesday around Saripul provincial capital the Saripul city has left 11 rebels dead, including Mawlawi Najibullah nickname Attaullah the shadow governor of Taliban for the province," the statement added.
Mawlawi Najibullah was a notorious commander of Taliban militants who had organized subversive activities and terrorist attacks against government forces in Saripul province, the statement said.
Taliban militants haven't commented.
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A total of 110 people have been killed over the past 24 hours in air raids in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, activists said Thursday.
Rescuers inspect a destroyed building in the Syrian village of Kfar Jales, on the outskirts of Idlib, following air strikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes on November 16, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
SkyNews Arabia TV cited activists as saying that 90 civilians had been killed by Russian and Syrian aerial shelling on rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo.
Another 20 civilians were reportedly killed by shelling that targeted the town of Batabo in the western countryside of Aleppo.
The report said the death toll could likely rise due to the large number of wounded people and the poor medical conditions in the eastern part of Aleppo.
Other activists said that over 50 airstrikes, and 300 artillery shells targeted eastern Aleppo on Thursday.
On the other hand, activists said that the rebels fired over 40 rockets against government forces positions in the city of Sfaira, southeast of Aleppo, and the residential area of 1070 Project, west of the city.
However, Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out airstrikes on Aleppo since last month.
Russian defense ministry claimed that Russian and Syrian jets had not bombed Aleppo for the last 28 days, Interfax news agency reported.
This comes as the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said Tuesday that jets from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean had launched their first strikes on Syria in the northwestern province of Idlib and the central city of Homs.
"Today at 10:30 and 11 am (0730 and 0800 GMT), we started a major operation to conduct mass fire damage on the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front's positions in the Idlib and Homs provinces," Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.
"For the first time in our naval history, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov started taking part in combat," he said on Tuesday.
Shoigu said that the Russian Admiral Grigorovich frigate targeted terrorists in Syria with Kalibr cruise missile strikes.
Idlib has emerged as the main stronghold for the rebels, as the entire province is under their control, except two Shiite towns that are still loyal to the Syrian government.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed on Thursday the European Union (EU) and the United States must maintain their efforts to reach a common trade agreement.
It was important that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations would be maintained, said Obama at a joint press conference with Merkel after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin.
Merkel emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, two major trading areas of the world.
The negotiations had made a lot progress, but they could not be "ended now", said Merkel.
"I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing U.S. President, while calling on the countries of Europe to strive to maintain the 28-nation bloc.
People have to cultivate these achievements and fight for them, said Obama, adding that Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible.
Meanwhile, Obama warned his successor, president-elect Donald Trump, of the important principled task in relation to Russia.
"I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align."
The U.S. president also said he hoped that Trump would not simply take a realpolitik approach in cutting deals and doing "whatever's convenient at the time."
Merkel thanked Obama for the "excellent cooperation" and praised him as a reliable partner in difficult times.
She expressed her gratitude for a close, trusting and friendly cooperation over the eight-year term he served.
The Chancellor said she would "do everything possible to work well with the newly-elected president."
Obama also thanked Merkel for Germany's contribution to the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and to the Syrian conflict.
In an interview with German broadcaster ARD and German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Obama had previously warned of growing political tensions in industrialized countries.
"If the global economy does not react to people who feel left behind when inequality continues to grow, we will see the split in the industrialized countries expand," Obama was quoted as saying.
Obama and Merkel will meet with French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday in Berlin to exchange views on the future of the Ukraine crisis, the future approach towards Russia, the civil war in Syria and the fight against IS.
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The European Union (EU) on Thursday pledged more than 700 million euros (about 744 million U.S. dollars) in aid to the Central African Republic (CAR) , a poor country coming out of one of the worst conflicts in its history.
The pledges were made at the Brussels International Conference for the CAR, which drew delegations from over 80 countries, international organizations and agencies.
The European Commission pledged 409 million euros for the period 2016-2020, while additional pledges from the bloc's member states amounted to 298 million euros, according to a press release of the Commission.
Overall, with contributions from partners, the pledges to the CAR total 2.06 billion euros.
"Our EU pledge today will support the efforts of the national government's ambitious reform agenda to give its population the peace, security and economic prosperity they deserve," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who co-chaired the conference jointly with CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera.
A substantial amount of the EU's pledges, as well as a number of contributions from the international community, will be channeled through the Bekou Trust Fund, which was set up by the EU and a number of its' member states in 2014. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars)
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South Sudan's army on Thursday denied claims that opposition forces led by sacked First Vice President Riek Machar had taken three towns in southwestern and northern South Sudan.
Army spokesman Santo Dominic Chol confirmed to Xinhua that there had been fighting in different parts of the country, but refuted the claims made by Machar-led SPLM-IO party.
"They (SPLM-IO forces) attacked our positions in Yei River (State) and in areas of Unity State but we repulsed them. They are just trying to mislead the public. They did not capture any ground," Chol said.
He said SPLM-IO forces had intensified attacks on areas under the government control in recent weeks.
SPLM-IO spokesman Dickson Gatluak on Wednesday claimed that their forces took control of Bazi along the South Sudan-DR Congo border, Morobo in Central Equatoria State and Kaljak in Unity State.
Gatluak also said 20 aid workers who were said to be taken hostage during the weekend fighting in Nhiadiu in northern South Sudan, had returned to their places of work "safely".
He disputed claims by the government that the aid workers were abducted by opposition fighters, saying they were trapped by the weekend clashes but left there after the situation calmed down.
South Sudan fell into civil war in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was shattered by renewed fighting that erupted in early July.
Machar, who was reinstated as Kiir's deputy in April, fled Juba after the July fighting and was later sacked again.
He is now in residence in South Africa and has called for his supporters to topple Kiir's government.
Tens of thousands have been killed, with over two million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since late 2013.
Flash
Authorities in South Sudan's southwestern town of Yei have recovered 12 bodies of civilians who were abducted by unknown gunmen early this month, a local official said Thursday.
Athanasio Yongule, a minister in the Yei River State government, said bodies were found in two burnt huts in a neighborhood 3km from Yei town.
He said the deceased were first reported missing by their relatives on November 7.
"Twelve people were killed. Their hands were tied, shot and then taken to two separate houses and burnt. The police identified some bodies and handed them over to their relatives. We buried seven bodies who were burnt beyond recognition at the site of the incident on Tuesday," he said.
The motive of the killing is not yet clear.
The local official advised civilians not to travel to areas contested between government troops and opposition forces.
There has been an escalation in violence in the Equatoria region, where Yei and the capital Juba are located, since renewed fighting between the rival factions erupted in early July.
Last week 12 people were killed and two others injured in an attack by opposition forces in Kaya town, about 48km from Yei.
Unknown gunmen last month also attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians in Yei, killing at least 21 people, including women and children.
South Sudan has been shattered by civil war which broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, an allegation denied by Machar.
Fighting between troops of Kiir and Machar has since left tens of thousands dead and more than two million displaced.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was devastated by the July fighting.
Flash
The body tasked with monitoring South Sudan's peace agreement has decried the flare-up of armed clashes, ethnic and political tensions, and lawlessness in parts of the war-torn country.
Ambassador Augostino Njoroge, Deputy Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), said increased armed groups had led to a rise in cases of killings and property damage.
"The political and security situation has become complex. Insurgency, other armed groups and an ongoing conflict especially in some areas of upper Nile, Unity and Equatoria regions further complicates existing ethnic and political tensions," he said, adding plans and efforts to set up cantonment areas for the integration of fighters had become difficult due to the situation.
Njoroge was speaking in South Sudan's capital Juba as he opened a two-day workshop on the integration of fighters in South Sudan.
South Sudan has been shattered by civil war which broke out in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized a rebel force.
Tens of thousands have been killed, with over two million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since then.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was devastated by renewed fighting that erupted in early July.
"We strongly call on all parties to lay down their weapons and engage in peaceful and inclusive implementation process that will enable a safe and effective cantonment process," Njoroge said.
The JMEC is overseeing the implementation of the August 2015 peace deal.
Machar, who was reinstated as Kiir's deputy in April, fled Juba after the July fighting and was later sacked again.
He is now in residence in South Africa and has called for his supporters to topple Kiir's government.
Flash
With leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set to gather in Lima, Peru during the weekend, a detailed policy agenda has been laid out ahead of their arrival.
The meeting is designed to expand economic opportunities for those that have reaped fewer benefits from open, integrated markets in the past, and improve economic growth rate and living standards for the 3 billion people of a region that accounts for 49 percent of the world trade volume and 57 percent of the global GDP. It also must contend with an upsurging negative views about globalization.
Luis Quesada, chair of 2016 APEC Senior Officials, on Wednesday detailed the priorities to be discussed by ministers on Nov. 17-18 and the economic leaders at the weekend.
The first priority is investment in human resources to cultivate a workforce suitable for the 21st century, especially in terms of innovation and new technologies, according to Quesada. The talks earlier this week outlined support for more business-compatible, productive staff through education reform, career training and enhanced skill development.
The second priority concerns the modernization of small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), which APEC hails as a pillar of developed and developing economies alike, as well as their integration into the global value chains.
Quesada highlighted the accomplishments made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with regards to SMEs, hailing them as an example for APEC. SMEs account for over 97 percent of the total firms and the majority of employment in the region.
The third is food security and access to water, an area where Quesada acknowledged more efforts needed to be made.
According to him, APEC has not made the same progress in lifting tariffs for food and agricultural products as it has for manufacturing. Doing so would allow the public to have access to a broader range of food choices and improve food security.
All these priorities will be discussed under the umbrella of globalization, especially when the APEC members ponder the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
A recent rise in protectionist sentiments, manifested by Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential elections, is leading APEC members to consider how to continue globalization policies.
"There is a firm belief across APEC in the enduring power of globalization and trade to build prosperity in the region," said Quesada. "The advantages of these forces must be more evenly felt to sustain public confidence in them."
In the eyes of Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, APEC's non-legally binding platform sets it apart from a backlash directed towards legally-binding economic integration mechanisms.
"In the current environment, the region's soft approach to globalization and trade could be the best way forward. It offers incremental, yet significant change that is not just tolerated but actually welcomed by all corners of society," he concluded.
Kilamba, c. 2012 Anyone who has been to Luanda knows that the city lacks housing. The hotels are extremely expensive, and researchers h...
A Chinese clerk counts US dollar and renminbi banknotes at a bank in Huaibei city, East China's Anhui province, Jan 22, 2015. [Photo/IC] Advisory panel says Chinese SOEs should be barred from controlling American companies
China sharply criticized a report on Thursday by a United States congressional panel that suggested US lawmakers ban China's State-owned enterprises from acquiring US companies.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the report is based on "prejudices and stereotypes" and stressed the importance of "a fair and good environment for Chinese investment".
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission's annual report released on Wednesday said that the US Congress should prevent Chinese SOEs from acquiring or otherwise gaining effective control of US companies.
"The report has again revealed the commission's prejudices and stereotypes against China," Geng told a daily news conference in Beijing. He said he had no interest in commenting on the specifics of the report, which he called a "cliche" that has the same tone every year.
While Chinese companies are asked to abide by local laws and regulations when investing overseas, China also hopes that other countries will also play fair, he said.
China-US trade and economic cooperation is the "ballast and propeller" of the bilateral relationship, Geng said. The two countries' interests have been closely intertwined in such a way that this relationship is important to both countries.
"The healthy, stable development of China-US trade and economic ties is in line with the fundamental interests of both countries and their people. I believe that the US side will consider the fundamental interests of its own people and adopt a policy that is conducive to bilateral trade cooperation," he said.
Earlier this month, 12 US senators urged the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to reject a Chinese aluminum company's proposal to purchase a US aluminum products maker, on grounds that it would damage the US defense industrial base.
The report comes at a sensitive time as president-elect Donald Trump's transition team is preparing its trade and foreign policy agenda and vetting candidates for key economic and security positions. During the presidential campaign, Trump targeted China frequently and threatened to impose stinging tariffs.
However, experts noted that the advisory report is not legally binding.
Almost all of the commission's reports on China are negative, said Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University. "The US should stop treating normal investment as a political and national security issue. Although some US political elites call for imposing restrictions on China's investment, proposals are different from concrete deeds."
Since Trump's top priority as president will be to improve the US economy and employment, "trade and economic cooperation with China is especially important in this regard", Li said.
"The commission is just a suborganization of the Congress," said Tao Wenzhao, a researcher of Sino-US relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Tao said he does not believe it will influence Washington's trade policy.
The 27th China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade will be held in Washington, DC, next week and Vice-Premier Wang Yang will attend.
Zou Shuo and Reuters contributed to this story.
Beijing encouraging companies to boost investment, imports
China will encourage its companies to increase their investment in the Philippines, while raising imports from the Southeast Asian country, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
Ministry spokesman Sun Jiwen said at a news conference that the two sides were negotiating a five-year economic and technological cooperation plan starting from 2017, which will identify key bilateral cooperation fields.
More bilateral cooperation methods are in the pipeline, according to Sun. Both countries will discuss establishing an economic and trade cooperation zone in the Philippines.
The 28th China-the Philippines Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation will be held at the beginning of 2017, co-chaired by Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Ramon M Lopez, secretary of the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry.
"China will continue to expand imports from the Philippines, especially agricultural products, and encourage Chinese companies to invest in the Philippines," said Sun.
In addition, China will consider offering financial support to the Philippines' infrastructure construction, and hopes the country will confirm a list of priorities as soon as possible, Sun added.
Earlier this week, Wu Zhengping, director-general of the Ministry of Commerce's department of Asian affairs, said China will encourage its companies to set up a large industrial zone in the Southeast Asian country.
While the total trade volume between China and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations increased 0.1 percent year-on-year to 2.38 trillion yuan ($346 billion) between January and October, trade between China and the Philippines grew 10.7 percent to 252.8 billion yuan during the same period, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.
Trade between China and the Philippines amounted to $45.65 billion in 2015, up 2.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.
The two countries' economic and trade relations will heat up after the recent visit of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to Beijing, experts said.
Prior to that, Philippine direct investment in China was $38.67 million in 2015, down 60.16 percent from the year before, according to financial data provider Wind Information.
"Even though both countries have disagreements on some issues, it doesn't mean they are incapable of building better business ties, especially in the fields of trade and investment," said Feng Yaoxiang, spokesman for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
He Jingtong, a professor of trade policy at Nankai University in Tianjin, said that China and the Philippines also reached a consensus in August to speed up the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
A worker assembles an air conditioner at Gree's plant in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Major Chinese home appliances and air conditioner maker Gree Electric Appliances Inc has suspended a plan to buy Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy Co, after failing to win approval from the electric vehicle maker's shareholders, according to a statement from Gree.
Gree, based in Zhuhai of Guangdong province, announced in early August it would buy all the shares of the new-energy vehicle manufacturer for 13 billion yuan ($1.89 billion), in a strategic move aimed at diversifying its businesses.
The termination of the acquisition plan would not have a negative effect on its major business, the home appliances maker said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday evening.
The Shenzhen-listed company resumed trading on Thursday, after a suspension since February, with its shares rising 1.96 percent as of the close in trading.
According to the regulations of the Shenzhen stock market, Gree would not be allowed to issue new shares for any major acquisition plans.
Gree was informed by the Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy Co on Wednesday that shareholders of the electric vehicle makers had not approved the acquisition plan, which was revised in early November, according to the company statement.
Zhuhai Yinlong sold more than 7,000 new vehicles in 2015, with its production value reaching more than 10 billion yuan, according to the company.
Gree said in the statement that it would continue to look for more opportunities for business growth and improve its profit and boost its technology in the competitive home appliance market.
The company's suspension of the acquisition plan followed its president Dong Mingzhu's resignation as chairman of Gree's State-owned parent company, Zhuhai Gree Group, in October, as part of new regulations under which on individual cannot be chairman of both a holding group and a listed company, according to Nanfang Daily.
Early this year, Dong said the company would boost its market presence by diversifying its businesses, including entering the electric vehicle and mobile phone industries.
However, industry insiders said the termination of the acquisition plan would help Gree concentrate more on its core business base.
"Some shareholders in Gree even do not agree with the acquisition as the company reported slow business growth in new sectors," said Liang Zhenhua, a home appliance researcher with the Guangdong Household Electrical Appliances Trade Association.
According to company sources, Gree reported 82.42 billion yuan in sales revenue in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 1.11 percent.
Midea Group, a major home appliance manufacturer in China based in Guangzhou, has seen its human labor force greatly reduced at its Wuhan factory since the introduction of an intelligent production line.
"We have made intelligent production a strategic goal of the group," said Yang Hao, general manager of the company's Wuhan factory.
In 2015, Midea revamped its conventional production line into an intelligent one by installing more than 200 robotic devices. Now it has become one of the most advanced machine assembly lines in the world.
The average number of employees working alongside the production line has dropped from 160 to 51. Meanwhile, the qualification rate of products free of defects has increased from 97 percent to 99 percent.
"The biggest advantage of intelligent manufacturing is its accuracy," Yang said. "Humans make mistakes because they can get tired. But a machine does not doze off."
The number of workers at the Wuhan factory, which is the biggest manufacturing base of Midea in China, has gone down from 11,000 in 2011with monthly production capacity of 500,000 unitsto 4,300 with monthly production capacity of 630,000 units in 2015. In other words, its production capacity has increased by 26 percent while the number of workers has gone down by 39 percent during that period.
At the same time, the company said that the cost of intelligent production line is 22 percent lower than the conventional production line.
The company plans to invest 4 to 5 billion yuan ($582 million to $728 million) in the next four to five years to turn all of its factories into intelligent ones, Yang said.
"We need to take a very prudent approach. First build a demonstrative production line, then a workshop and eventually a factory," he added.
Air conditioners manufactured on intelligent production lines are expected to make up 30 percent of the company's total output in 2016. That share is planned to increase to 50 percent in 2017 and to more than 70 percent in ensuing years.
Meanwhile, Midea is making efforts to increase the percentage of local equipment used in its intelligent production lines.
"Imported equipment has high stability and accuracy but is five to 10 times more expensive than locally manufactured equipment," Yang said.
"We need to work with our local suppliers to help them develop equipment that can compete with those from other countries."
A Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc Grand Vacations Club hotel stands in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, Feb 24, 2016. [Photo/VCG]
BEIJING - China's outbound direct investment (ODI) is surging despite weak global growth as Chinese companies continue to internationalize their business.
Non-financial ODI increased 53.3 percent year on year to reach $145.96 billion in the January-October period, easily surpassing the total for 2015 of about $121.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
In October, ODI grew 48.4 percent year on year to reach $11.74 billion.
China's overseas investment reached 162 countries and regions, most of which has gone to Hong Kong, ASEAN, the European Union, Australia, the United States, Russia and Japan in the first ten months, with the United States posting the strongest year-on-year growth at 173.9 percent.
ODI continued to exceed foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, which rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach about $98 billion in the same period. China's ODI exceeded FDI for the first time ever in 2015, becoming a net capital exporter.
In addition to growing investment volume, the pattern of China's ODI is changing rapidly as the consumer and services sectors gather momentum.
China's overseas investment started with raw materials, moved on to infrastructure and manufacturing, and is now starting to focus on big-name consumer brands and high-tech companies, according to a research note from HSBC.
Official data showed that in the first ten months, most of the investment flowed to commercial services, manufacturing and retail, with equipment manufacturing almost quadrupling last year's investment.
Once dominated by large state-owned enterprises in search of iron ore and copper, China's ODI now includes private sector giants buying US film studios and European fashion houses, along with state-backed companies snapping up new tech firms, the HSBC note pointed out.
The HNA Group is a good example of the trends. The private conglomerate from south China's Hainan province extended its push into the leisure sector with a high-profile deal to buy a 25-percent stake in Hilton in October.
In the past two years, the company has spent about $23.8 billion in cross-border acquisitions, including hotels and commercial real estate, in order to extend its value chain and strengthen its aviation core business, according to the note.
Official data showed that Chinese companies continued to work closely with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. They signed construction contracts worth over $84 billion during the period, up 30.7 percent year on year.
However, HSBC noted that investment in the Belt and Road countries has been moderating in recent months due to global uncertainties and a high comparison base in 2015.
With the global economy showing signs of recovery, more projects are reaching the implementation stage, cross-border connections are becoming more sophisticated, and financing support is gradually strengthening, HSBC said in the note, adding it expects China's investment in the Belt and Road region to grow at a stable pace in the next couple of years.
BEIJING - China's steel exports will remain high in 2017 due to flat consumption domestically and slow capacity rationalization, a recent report pointed out, forecasting exports at 100 million tons next year.
International rating agency Fitch expects Chinese apparent steel consumption to remain between 700 and 705 million tons next year, reflecting decelerating property growth, stable infrastructure investment growth, and a favorable outlook for Chinese automobile and appliance consumption.
On the other hand, capacity rationalization will remain a key theme of the sector, with a target of 14 million to 27 million tons annually until 2020.
As a result, exports should remain high in 2017 as Chinese producers continue to benefit from the yuan's exchange rate and lower raw-material prices, the report concludes.
China's over-supplied steel sector experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to the sluggish economy. However, with encouragement from the upward trend of prices from the beginning of this year, many steel mills are resuming production.
Official data showed China's crude steel production increased 0.4 percent year on year to 603.78 million tons in the January-September period.
China's largest microchip maker Tsinghua Unigroup has denied media reports on Friday that it had discussions with United States chip firm Micron Technology on technology licensing and collaboration.
Yangtze River Storage Technology, of which Tsinghua Unigroup is the major shareholder, said in a statement to China Daily that: "Up to now, it has never held negotiations with Micron or any other company on any topic."
The announcement came after Japanese media quoted the company's vice chairman Ding Wenwu as saying that the firm was in discussion with Micron for cooperation.
But Yangtze River Storage Technology said Ding had "never made any comment or released any information on this".
Tsinghua Unigroup had planned to buy Micron for $23 billion, but the bid failed last year.
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Final preparations are underway to bring the two Chinese astronauts back to earth on Shenzhou-11.[Photo/Xinhua]
The two Chinese astronauts on the Shenzhou XI space mission have completed their monthlong stay in the Tiangong II space laboratory and will soon return to Earth.
Mission commander Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, floated out of the space lab 393 km above Earth and returned to the Shenzhou XI's re-entry capsule on Thursday morning. The Shenzhou XI spacecraft then departed Tiangong II at 12:41 pm, the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement, adding that the astronauts will arrive back in China on Friday.
Jing and Chen embarked on the space trip aboard the Shenzhou XI spacecraft, which departed from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on Oct 17. They entered Tiangong II, which was launched in mid-September from the same center, on Oct 19.
Their 33-day journey is the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts. Previously, the longest space trip involving Chinese astronauts was the 15-day Shenzhou X mission in June 2013.
Before leaving Tiangong II, the duo expressed their gratitude and respect for Chinese space workers and those who support the nation's space exploration efforts.
Tiangong II will remain in orbit and continue to be used for scientific experiments. It will receive the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft in April next year, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
China Central Television reported on Thursday that groundworkers at the landing site in Siziwang Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region have carried out several drills and are ready to welcome the astronauts.
Snow leopard fur suspects busted in Inner Mongolia
Xinhua | Updated: 2016-11-18 08:58
HOHHOT -- Five suspects believed to be involved in the smuggling of snow leopard fur were seized on Tuesday, according to the Manzhouli Customs anti-smuggling bureau Thursday.
A police officer with the bureau, surnamed Zhang, said they received a report in September that a Mongolian had smuggled snow leopard fur from Mongolia to China.
After investigation, local police arrested the Mongolian, a Chinese intermediary, and three Chinese buyers while they were doing a deal in a hotel in Manzhouli City on Tuesday. Police also seized snow leopard fur and 50,000 yuan ($7,279 dollars) at the scene.
Zhang said customs from both China and Mongolia were cooperating on the case. It is still unclear whether the leopard was killed in China.
Snow leopards are a Class A protected animal and are classified as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are usually found in the Himalayan ranges of central and south Asia, and typically live at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 meters. The animals have been found in 12 countries and have been spotted in China's Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.
The animal has rarely been seen in the wild this century due to loss of habitat and poaching. There are an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards living in the wild, in addition to around 650 in captivity worldwide, according to official statistics released in 2015.
Under China's criminal law, those who smuggle animals and their products can face five years in jail and fines. If the circumstances are especially serious, the offender shall be sentenced to jail terms of more than 10 years or even life imprisonment, and also to confiscation of property.
The declining economy of Northeast China, which was once the country's industrial base, is reaching a bottom and is less likely to decline sharply in the future, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission said on Thursday.
Zhou Jianping, director of the commission's department for revitalization of the northeast region, admitted the difficulties that provinces in Northeast China face, but pointed out some highlights of the region's economic recovery, including rapid growth of emerging industries, stable employment and a good harvest.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, GDP growth in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning lagged behind a majority of provinces and regions in the first quarter. Liaoning province was the only province to report negative GDP growth - minus 2.2 percent - in the first three quarters.
"The economies of Jilin and Heilongjiang are gradually recovering from last year, and Liaoning is expected to maintain economic momentum next year," Zhou said.
The economic slowdown of Northeast China, once one of the most industrialized regions in China, has received wide attention from the central government.
A guidance issued by the State Council on Wednesday advanced 14 policies, including deepening reform of administrative systems and State-owned enterprises, inspiring vitality and accelerating the upgrading of industries.
According to Li Pumin, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the guidance requires a provincial cooperation mechanism between Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, and a city-level mechanism between Shenyang, Dalian, Changchun, Harbin and Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenzhen.
"The mechanism aims to bring projects and investment to Northeast China through market cooperation and supports the effective connection of the region's equipment manufacturing advantage and East China's demand in order to enhance the core competitiveness of industries in Northeast China," Li said.
"The governments in Northeast China should learn to use economic, policy, market and legal means more often to promote local economic and social development, while resorting to administrative means as little as possible," Zhou added.
Hebei province ordered all villages to finish examining and recording abandoned wells by the end of this month, and to take follow-up measures to eliminate their potential danger.
The order came five days after a 6-year-old boy fell into an abandoned well and died in Zhongmengchang village in Baoding.
Local governments were asked to fill or seal all abandoned wells as soon as possible to avoid similar incidents, according to an emergency announcement by the provincial government.
The announcement also ordered local governments to determine who is legally liable for any damage that wells still used for irrigation may cause.
The incident in Baoding triggered anger among the public that no government organizations or other institutions had paid attention to the danger of abandoned wells.
Since last year, 31 people have fallen into wells across the country, 80 percent of whom were children, and 40 percent died, Beijing News reported.
Yet the government departments involved all declined to take responsibility for the deaths.
The Hebei Bureau of Water Resources said it gave permission to dig wells, but was not responsible for the management of abandoned wells, according to a report by Hebei Daily. The newspaper received similar replies from provincial departments such as agriculture, and housing and urban-rural development, denying responsibility.
Governments at the grassroots level said they didn't have budgets for handling abandoned wells, while villagers who use the wells for irrigation do not offer to fill them.
Villagers can receive subsidies when digging a well, but get nothing for filling in an abandoned one, Zheng Fengtian, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, said in an interview with China Central Television.
"It should be made clear who is responsible for a well from the time it is dug," Zheng said.
After the incident in Hebei, neighboring Tianjin municipality started to check all wells to eliminate safety risks.
Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are close to completing a 33-day space journey, and on Tuesday, they talked with Xinhua News Agency.
You will say goodbye to space and come back to Earth in a few days. Could you describe your feelings?
Jing Haipeng: Our leaders, colleagues and comrades-in-arms on Earth have been supporting us. They work around the clock, cheer us on and provide us with support. There are still two more days to go, and we will be more meticulous and strict in every detail to ensure the safety of the payload.
Chen Dong: I feel reluctant because soon we will be leaving Tiangong II, where we have lived and worked for 30 days. It is like our home in space, so I have a sense of reluctance and attachment. I feel happy and excited because we are getting back to our "big family" soon, back to Earth, and back to our motherland.
What work do you still need to do?
Jing: All work is progressing on schedule. There is also some preparatory work to be done, including recovering experimental data, cleaning up the compartment and leaving Tiangong II in the right condition.
Most of the experiments have been completed and some data transmitted back to Earth. The rest is saved on memory cards to be taken back to Earth due to the large amount of data. Vegetables grown in space and the silkworm cocoons will also be brought back.Urine and saliva samples as well as microorganisms samples will also be brought back for analysis.
Chen:When we entered Tiangong II,we brought many things in, including our necessities and experimental items, of all sizes. Now we are moving back to Earth and need to put some items back where they belong.
Packing in space is strenuous. There are clear requirements on how an item should be packed, including what a packed item should look like, where it should be placed, and even whether an item should be wrapped horizontally or slantwise.
Jing: We need to sweep Tiangong II. Residual food waste, sanitary waste, and some trash created during in-orbit experiments, including batteries and electrodes, will be packed and placed in the orbital compartment. The trash will then crash into the atmosphere and be destroyed with the compartment.
Chen: Getting Tiangong II in the right condition before departure is similar to turning off the water and electricity before leaving a house for a long time. Tiangong II will be used over the long-term and dock with space cargo ships. We have to make sure that electricity,water, gas and communications are set up properly. In total there are between 40 and 50 tasks to be completed.
TAIPEI -- Plans to ease the banning of Japanese food imports in Taiwan have triggered violence on the island amid growing public anger and distrust of the approval procedure of the island's leadership.
Since Saturday, violence has erupted at 10 public hearings around the island on whether to lift the ban on food imports from five prefectures in Japan that were contaminated with radiation after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
At a public hearing in Kaohsiung on Saturday, tables were overturned and people were heard shouting that the government was turning a blind eye to public health and holding rushed hearings due to a secret deal with Japan.
The hearing was suspended amid protests and violence.
In Hualien, bloody violence erupted 30 minutes after a hearing began on Monday. There were also violent protests in Taoyuan, Xinbei, Taichung and Taipei.
Taiwan's authorities banned food imports from Japan's Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba prefectures after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by a huge earthquake and tsunami.
Last year food products, with false origin labels, made near Fukushima nuclear power plant were found to illegally have entered the island. Taiwan authorities demanded that Japanese food exporters submit their origin credentials.
After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in May, it announced a two-stage proposal stating that Taiwan plans to keep a ban on the import of food from Fukushima but conditionally allow imports of certain products from four other Japanese prefectures.
The implementation of the first stage of the plan was to serve as a reference for the further relaxation of the restrictions in the second stage, possibly about six months later.
Last Thursday, amid growing public complaints, the DPP abruptly announced plans to hold ten public hearings in the following three days. Taiwan's law stipulates that plans for public hearings should be announced 10 days before hearings are held.
A survey conducted by the opposition nationalist party has shown 74.6 percent of the public do not want the restrictions lifted.
On Monday an editorial in the China Times, a leading newspaper in Taiwan, censured the DPP for not checking the safety credentials of Japanese food or having a management plan for future imports.
Local legislators, including in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Taichung, have decided to amend laws banning imported Japanese food that could be contaminated by the nuclear disaster.
In 2015, Taiwan's health authorities admitted that they were considering lifting the ban on food imports from nuclear-tainted areas due to pressure from Japan.
ZHENGZHOU -- The central province of Henan will train more than one million "new, professional farmers" to provide "solid support" for its agricultural modernization, authorities said Thursday.
Henan has more than 100 million registered residents, a substantial share being farmers. The province produces about a quarter of the country's wheat. The challenges of an aging population and a workforce increasingly attracted by industrial employment opportunities, the province faces the daunting task of ensuring it has sufficient farmers to support agricultural development.
According to Henan Department of Agriculture, the province will train 200,000 professional farmers each year and have a farming workforce of at least one million by 2020.
The courses will include professional agricultural skills and entrepreneurship skills, according to the department. The government will choose individuals with a long-track record of large-scale agricultural production including leaders of rural cooperatives, rural company managers and returning migrant workers.
China's top justice stresses intelligent courts, cyberspace rule-of-law
Xinhua | Updated: 2016-11-18 09:17
HANGZHOU -- China's top justice on Thursday called for international cooperation on intelligent courts and rule of law in cyberspace governance.
Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court was addressing the third World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Zhou said IT has raised the quality and efficiency of trials, reinforcing social equality and justice in general.
Countries need to share their best practices in IT in courts, Zhou said.
Rule of law in cyberspace will ensure the cybersphere is safe, orderly and accessible to all, Zhou added.
The WIC, running from Nov 16 to Nov 18 this year, is an annual meeting of the world's tech firm bosses, academics, and government officials to discuss current Internet trends.
XI'AN - A former senior legislator in Northwest China's Gansu province was sentenced on Thursday to 12 and a half years in prison for accepting bribes, according to a court.
Xi'an Intermediate People's Court in Shaanxi province also decided to fine Lu Wucheng, former deputy head of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial People's Congress, one million yuan ($145,000). Lu's gains through bribery were confiscated.
From 2006 to 2014, Lu accepted bribes totaling 16 million yuan while holding such posts as vice governor of Gansu province, Communist Party chief of provincial capital Lanzhou, and deputy head of the standing committee of the provincial legislator, said the court.
The defendant accepted the bribes to seek benefits for others in development projects and promotion.
Postgraduate students attend the commencement ceremony at Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
LONDON - Times Higher Education (THE) on Wednesday published the sixth annual Global University Employability Ranking, revealing that 14 Chinese universities make into the ranking.
The ranking shows that employers consider Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to be the best Chinese institution at producing graduates with the skills they need for the workplace. HKUST was ranked 13th in this global ranking of 150 universities.
The next five Chinese institutions to make this prestigious ranking were Peking University (17th), Fudan University (37th), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (53rd), Tsinghua University (59th) and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (73rd).
Graduates from American universities are the most employable, with California Institute of Technology leading the pack, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
THE said the research -- commissioned by HR consultancy Emerging and drawn from 2,500 recruitment managers from large international companies -- shows US institutions continue to have a strong grip among global employers, taking 37 places in the 150-strong ranking.
Large global employers based in China were also surveyed as part of the research, revealing that Chinese employers value adaptability, the ability to work in a team and communication skills above the other non-academic skills graduates may possess. Chinese employers placed more importance than those around the world on the ability to work under pressure, and less importance on flexibility.
"A university education brings a host of life-enhancing benefits but for many students, launching a successful career is one of the most important outcomes. For these students, the sixth Global University Employability Ranking will bring them insight and clarity they can't get anywhere else," said Phil Baty, THE World University Ranking editor.
According to THE, the survey behind the ranking asks those responsible for graduate recruitment in large international employers to define what they look for and which universities are the most successful at producing graduates who meet their needs.
The institution said the findings are drawn from 20 countries and reveal some clear distinctions in what employers consider to be the most important employability skills. For example, employers in France, India, the United States and Britain seek students with strong communication skills, while Chinese and German managers consider adaptability to be the most important.
THE is an authoritative source of data, analysis and information about higher education, an essential resource for academics and professionals working in higher education, as well as students and their families.
THE was founded in 1971 and has been online since 1995, publishing news, opinion and the World University Rankings.
A photo taken by astronaut Yang Liwei. [File Photo]
The return of Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong is attracting public attention, so it's perfect time to remember those who devoted themselves to the manned space program but were not able to go into space.
Wu Jie and Li Qinglong were among the country's first 14 astronaut trainees and even went to Russia for training before the country finally founded its first team of astronauts. But they never got the chance to go into space. Wu retired from the team in June this year. Their efforts inspired their peers and pushed ahead the manned space program.
Here, we reveal their stories and discover what happened to them.
48 hours in minus 50 degree
China had just started its manned space program in 1990s, and the scientists faced lots of difficulties at that time. China could only send astronauts to Russia's Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre for training.
Wu Jie, born in 1963, and Li Qinglong, also born in 1963, were chosen to undergo training at the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre in 1996. They completed the fouryear course in just one year and graduated from the center.
During the training, Wu and Li were once taken to the snow field in the Arctic Circle where they lived for 48 hours in minus 50 degree. They had only some essential food and few biscuits.
"During the two days, we seldom slept and our bodies were aching in pain," Li said. He lost 2 kilograms during the training.
Tons of discarded clothes smuggled from overseas are piled up at Tuyang port in Shenzhen on Thursday. [Photo by Zhou Mo]
Nearly 450 out of 1,046 tons of discarded clothes smuggled from overseas were transported for incineration from Tuyang port in Shenzhen on Thursday in Shenzhen Customs' latest crackdown on solid waste smuggling.
Customs also arrested six suspects involved in the case, including one Taiwanese.
The 441 tons of waste were first seized by the Shenzhen border force on Sept 4 on a vessel from Hong Kong, where they were loaded, Wang Mingwei, an anti-smuggling official from customs, said.
The vessel was originally bounded for Taiwan, but the suspects changed the route on the way and drove the vessel into the Shenzhen sea area where it was seized, he said.
The illegal items and suspects were then sent to Shenzhen Customs for investigation.
In a separate case in June, 605 tons of smuggled discarded clothes were seized. The waste was burned in August.
The two cases are the biggest in terms of the amount involved over recent years, customs said.
According to a suspect, the discarded clothes were mainly collected from Japan and South Korea and were intended to be sold to the mainland market. Officials said the exact destination is yet unknown, as the case is still under investigation.
"We attach high importance to the disposal of the solid waste," said Chen Lei, deputy head of division of accounting at Shenzhen Customs, who is in charge of the matter.
"Stains can obviously be seen on some of the clothes, which may cause serious harm to the environment and people's health. We are making all our efforts to supervise the disposal process to ensure th waste does not enter the market," Chen said.
Solid waste includes electronic waste, household garbage, discarded clothes, construction waste and so forth. Smuggling of more than 5 tons of waste is seen as a serious case and smugglers can be held criminally liable.
Shanghai helps foreign students find internships
Xinhua | Updated: 2016-11-18 13:16
SHANGHAI - Shanghai municipal authority has organized a number of companies and institutions that will offer internships to thousands of foreign students.
The program, which is sponsored by the city's education commission, foreign affairs office and the public security bureau, named 11 companies and government entities that have intern opportunities for foreigners.
Among the employers are Shanghai Textile Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai Automobile International Trade Co. Ltd., Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital and Pujiang Hotel (also known as Richard's Hotel).
Starting from 2017, intern opportunities will be posted on www.study-shanghai.org, a website for foreign students.
There are more than 56,000 foreign students from 185 countries and regions studying in 39 universities and colleges in Shanghai, according to the municipal education commission.
A growing number of foreign students want to find jobs Shanghai after they graduate.
Michael Richard, who studied for his masters at Donghua University this year, told Xinhua that thanks to the city's favorable employment policies he obtained a full time job in July.
The American said his one-year internship with a logistic company was vital to securing a full time job, and helped him understand the Chinese economy and culture.
At Donghua University, there are 4,700 foreign students on campus. They are from 140 countries and regions.
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A 6-year-old boy has been killed by a falling metal locker outside a fruit market in Ankang, Shannxi province.
The accident on Monday also left his mother with serious injuries.
Police are working with the victim's family and the supermarket.
According to the boy's father surnamed Hu, who has watched supermarket footage of the incident, the tragedy occurred just after 7pm when his wife removed her bag from the locker. The heavy locker then fell on them, crushing the boy and his mother's legs.
People passing the market quickly pulled the cabinet off them and found the boy.
The victims were taken to hospital, but the boy died from his injuries after two hours of emergency treatment.
"The right leg of my wife was broken and she is still receiving treatment in hospital," said Hu who works out of town as a migrant worker and was not living with his wife and son at the time.
The 2-meter-high locker was mounted on a step outside the market for customers to store their bags before they enter the market.
A local resident said that the newly-opened market used pieces of wood to keep the cabinet in place as the surface of the step had a slight incline.
The market has been closed for investigation.
Market manager surnamed Yang said that he and his colleagues felt extremely sad for the victims and would do their best to comfort the victims' family.
"We have paid the treatment cost for the victims and hope to consult with the victims' family to reach an outcome," Yang said.
Police obtained the video monitoring record for investigation and arranged discussions between the two sides.
An attack by a robot that left a man needing stitches at a technology fair has been blamed on incorrect operation.
The attack on a visitor at China Hi-tech Fair 2016 on Thursday was caused by misoperation, organizing committee of CHTF said on Friday.
A visitor was reportedly injured on Thursday after a robot named "Xiaopang" displayed at the China Hi-tech Fair ran into a window, smashing it into pieces.
The visitor's leg was wounded by broken glass and he was taken to Peking University Shenzhen Hospital by an ambulance. He later went home after receiving a few stitches.
The accident took place at about 2pm when the exhibitor, Spreadview Century, a Shenzhen high-tech enterprise, was demonstrating the robot to visitors.
In a statement, the fair's organising committee said the employee mistakenly hit the "forward" button, instead of the "reverse" one, leading to the accident
An exhibitor surnamed Zhang whose booth is located near the accident site told China Daily that he heard a loud noise when the accident happened and saw many people gathering at the site.
Display of the robot had been withdrawn from the site by Friday afternoon.
The robot was produced by Beijing robot company Evolver. It was developed for children aged between four and 12 years old for educational use, according to media reports. The device made its debut in November 2015 at the World Robot Conference.
CHTF, known as the country's biggest and most influential technology show, is an annual event during which enterprises and organizations from all over the world share and trade their latest technologies and products.
This year's fair, held in Shenzhen from November 16 to 21, has attracted more than 3,000 exhibitors from 37 countries and regions across the world.
Overheated property markets in major cities have started to cool down after authorities took measures against speculative buying and a potential home market bubble. However, a long-term effort is needed to make the market stable and sustainable, analysts said.
Last month, new home prices dropped in seven cities, compared with six in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which monitors housing prices in 70 cities nationwide.
In Shenzhen, where housing prices rocketed by more than 30 percent, a record, in the past several months, prices declined by 0.5 percent in October.
"After first-tier cities and some key second-tier cities launched cooling measures, home prices have obviously become stable," Liu Jianwei, NBS senior statistician, wrote in a note posted on the NBS website.
Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Xiamen and Zhengzhou began to see home prices switching from rising to dropping in the second half of October, with average prices down by between 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent compared with the first half of the month, he noted.
Housing authorities in more than 20 cities have launched various measures against speculative buying to curb rapid home price growth, including setting stricter requirements for qualified buyers, higher down payments and limits on buying second and third homes.
Yan Yuejin, an analyst with property research agency E-House China R&D Institute, said the residential property market is "digesting these policies and measures gradually, and it is likely for the market to have rational and stable prices in the near future".
Ma Junwei, an analyst with Deyi Realty in Shanghai, said it will require a long-term effort by regulators and local authorities to battle speculative buying while keeping supplies stable for buyers with solid demand, including those who plan to buy their first home or upgrade their housing.
In Shanghai, real estate agents said they have noticed that homebuyers have become more rational.
"Buyers are starting to take their time and study their options. They will compare prices, designs and locations and bargain with sales representatives," said Luo Dingjun, sales manager at Jinyu Property Marketing.
"This was not the case two months ago, when they rushed to buy for fear that if they hesitated, prices would grow too fast and they would no longer be able to afford."
The re-entry capsule of Shenzhou XI spacecraft landed in Inner Mongolia on Friday, bringing home two astronauts from China's longest-ever manned space mission. LI GANG / XINHUA
China will start to recruit and train the third generation of its astronauts beginning next year and will turn engineers into space fliers, a senior space scientist said on Friday.
Huang Weifen, deputy research head of the Astronaut Center of China, revealed the plan at a news conference in Beijing about three hours after two Chinese astronauts returned to Earth from their monthlong space journey.
"We have finalized the plan," she said.
Huang added that to meet the requirements for a future space station, "we will expand the candidates' scope, by selecting not only pilots from the Chinese Air Force but also engineers in the space industry. Those engineers will be trained to become spaceflight technicians to take part in future missions".
The preparatory work is proceeding well, she said, adding that the success of the Shenzhou XI-Tiangong II mission has shown that China is now able to support astronauts' long-term stay in space.
Astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong returned to Earth at around 2 pm on Friday after completing China's longest-ever manned space mission.
They opened the re-entry capsule's hatch by themselves at the landing site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and were carried out of the capsule by medical workers.
The two were in good condition and were to be flown to Beijing on Friday evening together with their re-entry module, said a statement from the China Manned Space Agency.
Jing and Chen began the space trip aboard the Shen-zhou XI spacecraft, which departed from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on Oct 17.
They entered Tiangong II, which was launched in mid-September from the same center, on Oct 19.
General Zhang Youxia, top leader of China's manned space program, said that the Shenzhou XI-Tiangong II mission was a "complete success".
The mission was China's sixth manned spaceflight and is expected to pave the way for a permanent space station, which the country plans to start building in 2018 and put into service in about 2022.
The space station will consist of three parts: a core module and two space labs to which it is attached, each weighing about 20 metric tons. It will operate in orbit for at least 10 years, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Also at Friday's news conference, Wang Zhaoyao, the agency's director, said that the country will launch its first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1, in the first half of next year to dock with Tiangong II.
The mission will test technologies of in-orbit fuel supply for the future space station, he said.
Currently, Tianzhou 1 is being assembled and tested. It will be lifted atop a Long March 7 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the island province of Hainan, Wang said.
Top Chinese and Ecuadorean cultural ambassadors said on Wednesday they hope that new Chinese books translated into Spanish will help cultivate a better understanding of Chinese culture, politics and history among Ecuador's people.
Ecuador has an important place in Spanish-language literature, presenting many notable authors, and the book exhibition - also brings noted Chinese authors, said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Spanish-language versions of titles such as The Literature of China, The Political System of China and The Encyclopedia of Chinese Culture will give readers a sense of Chinese politics, economics and culture, Huang said at the Month of the Exhibition and Sale of Chinese Books in Quito, Ecuador.
A scene from Keeping Up with the Joneses [Photo provided to China Daily]
Hollywood action comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses has taken an unusual route to promote itself holding underwear shows in China's big cities to draw moviegoers.
The equivalent of the 2005 spy thriller Mr Smith & Mrs Smith, the 101-minute Keeping Up with the Joneses is about a government spy "couple", Tim (Jon Hamm) and Natalie (Gal Gadot), whose real identities are discovered by their neighbors, a suburban couple.
After a series of adventures, the four team up to fight a criminal group.
Three underwear shows, inspired by the film's scene featuring Natalie wearing only underwear to have a conversation with her female neighbor, were recently held in cinemas in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, to promote the movie.
The film has grossed nearly 12 million yuan ($1.76 million) as of Nov 18. It opened in Chinese mainland theaters on Nov 8.
Related:
New Sino-French action film
Tian Yucheng, representative of the State Council Information Office, addresses the opening ceremony. [Photo/Art.China.cn]
"Experience China in Peru", an art exhibition themed on "Humans and Nature", opened at the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and Peruvian History in Lima, on November 16. It will conclude on December 8.
The exhibition showcased 36 art pieces, created by artists from 18 APEC members. These artists have their own tastes to express and stories to tell. To some degree, their creation is affected by the deep-rooted tradition in their motherlands. Asian exhibits contain ink and wash paintings, and exhibits from Canada and Australia are more modern and Latin Americans' works teem with imagination and symbolism. But they all have a point to make. Some concerns the harmony between men and nature; others reflect urbanization-induced pollution.
Four exhibits are from Peru. They once made appearance at the Beijing International Biennial Art Exhibition and were later given to China. Their homecoming symbolizes the two nations' friendship.
The relationship between humans and nature has always been the focus of Chinese culture. The core of Chinese philosophy is "nature-human unity", which inspires numerous ink and wash paintings. Surprisingly, some exhibited ink and wash paintings were created by New Zealanders and Canadians. This validates the cultural exchange between the east and west world.
The exhibition will further cement the China-Peru ties and shed a positive light on artistic collaboration within APEC.
2016 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Peru ties and also the Year of China-Latin America Cultural Exchange.
A suspicious object is detected at the construction site in Xiangyang township.[Photo/Chengdu Economic Daily]
Detection of a possible bomb disrupted work at a construction site in Guanghan, Chengdu city of Southwest China's Sichuan province last Saturday. It later turned out that the suspicious object was a pot containing ancient Song Dynasty (960-1279) chinaware.
According to reports by Chengdu Economic Daily, a construction team excavated an iron jar-like object when digging a ditch in Xiangyang township.
For fear of a possible undetonated bomb, the workers stopped operations and called the police.
The fourth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, which aims to further promote dialogue among civilizations and uphold Chinese culture, opened in Nishan, Shandong province on Nov 15.
The three-day forum, themed "Traditional Culture and Ecological Progress Marching toward a Green and Simple Life", attracted more than 250 distinguished specialists and scholars from domestic and foreign universities, colleges and scientific research institutes.
Zhang Rong, president of Shandong University and vice-chairman of the organizing committee of the forum, said the theme was intended to explore and promote a green and simple lifestyle globally, to better harness our resources and protect the environment.
Three topics were discussed during the forum, including ecological wisdom in different civilizations, ecological civilization and simple lifestyle, and ecological civilization and sustainable development.
Gao Shuqun, deputy secretary-general of the Nishan forum organizing committee, said environmental protection would be top of the agenda at the event.
The forum also featured a sub-forum on women's rights, which opened on Nov 16 with a focus on gender equality and female empowerment.
Meanwhile, a global platform was established in Nishan to promote women's causes worldwide.
Liu Chuansheng, top official of Beijing Normal University and vice-chairman of the organizing committee, said the establishment of the sub-forum and platform was aimed to increase awareness of women's rights protection worldwide.
"The sub-forum was set to make women's voices better heard, and to stimulate the attention of women worldwide," she said.
The First Nishan Forum was held in September 2010, during which the Nishan Declaration of Harmony was issued, calling for dialogue and communication among civilizations.
Nishan is most well-known for being the birthplace of legendary Chinese teacher and philosopher, Confucious.
The fourth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations opens in Nishan, Shandong province on Nov 15, attracting more than 250 distinguished specialists and scholars from domestic and foreign universities, colleges and scientific research institutes. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
A sub-forum on women's rights opens on Nov 16, to focus on gender equality and women's empowerment. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Wang Ming instructs an autistic 3-year-old in Lanzhou, Gansu province. Wang must repeat the same word as many as 1,000 times before the child can pronounce it. Cao Zhizheng / for China Daily
AN AIRLINE rejected a father taking his 13-year-old autistic son onto a plane on Tuesday on the grounds that "the child's behavior was weird". Beijing Youth Daily commented on Thursday that the airline's dogmatic refusal to allow the juvenile passenger to board the aircraft exposes a lack of understanding of autism.
Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.
Children with autism, when they are forced to do something they don't want to do, will become aggressive to different degrees.
But these children are controllable if their guardians can take good care of them. China has more than 2 million children under 14 suffering from autism. Most of them live a normal life, because of their families' thoughtful care. And some autistic children are gifted in certain areas, such as art and music.
The airline does have the legal right to refuse to allow a passenger to fly. But the airline's rude refusal to allow the boy to board the plane saved its ground staff and cabin crew the little extra effort required to take care of the child.
Two years ago, the ice bucket challenge in many countries awakened the public to know about, and raised money for patients of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Today, the airport incident should remind the government and social organizations to take actions to raise the society's awareness and deepen people's understanding of autism.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the Central Urban Work Conference in Beijing, Dec 22, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua]
THE STATE COUNCIL, China's Cabinet, published a detailed regulation on promoting transparency of governmental affairs earlier this week. Compared with similar past regulations, the new one, for the first time, clearly requires local governments and departments to respond to major incidents of concern to the public within five hours, and hold press conferences within 24 hours. Beijing Youth Daily comments:
Increasingly more local governments or departments find themselves too slow to react to incidents of concern to the public. In the past, when some incident happened, officials usually had plenty of time to discuss how to deal with it, but nowadays that's no longer the case.
To make it more difficult, the public are paying increasingly more attention to government affairs. Many rumors emerge this way, with the public eager to know and the local government officials too slow to react.
That's why the newly published regulation is welcome. It not only reemphasizes the existing principle of promoting transparency in government affairs, but also sets out detailed requirements for local governments, which must now make transparent information about urban planning, tax collecting, social welfare and all other major affairs, unless the parts are concerned with State secrets.
This is necessary because if local governments are allowed to selectively publish their information, that will only curb, instead of promoting, government transparency.
More importantly, the new regulation clearly sets deadlines for local governments to respond to public opinion incidents: Five hours for the initial response and 24 hours for a news conference. This means local government officials no longer have any excuse for delaying their responses.
The regulation also requires the leading officials of local governments or departments to respond to the public's questions, instead of delegating that to lower officials. This is an important principle, too, because the leading officials know more about the decision-making process and should be responsible for the decisions they make.
Thus, the new regulation is both welcome and necessary for local governments.
The nutrition improvement plan, which was introduced in 2011 to help pupils in poor regions improve their nutrition with government-sponsored lunches, will be rolled out nationwide, the State Council, China's Cabinet, said on Nov 15.
The plan is aimed at helping pupils from poor regions get enough nourishment so that their academic performance and health don't suffer because of the lack of nutrition.
Over the past five years, the nutrition improvement plan has been piloted in about 137,000 primary and secondary schools across the country and more than 33.6 million pupils have received free lunches. The plan will be enlarged to cover all poor counties.
As a comparison, the UN helps provide free lunches for 17 million pupils in 67 nations worldwide, and officials from UN World Food Programme said they expect to learn from the experiences of China.
At a recent seminar held in Beijing on the issue, Hu Xiaoqi, a researcher on children's nutrition at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, outlined the benefits of the free lunches on students' health and said more attention should be paid to giving teachers in poor regions training on nutrition and its role in kids' healthy development.
President Xi Jinping and guests attend a photo session during the opening ceremony of the first Ministerial Meeting between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY
President Xi Jinping is visiting Latin America for the third time since 2013. The frequency of his high-level visits to the region reflects the priority China gives Latin America in its diplomatic agenda. And that Ecuador, Peru and Chile are the three countries Xi is visiting this time indicates China's continued efforts to diversify its economic exchanges with the region.
Against the background of Donald Trump's election as the president of the United States and the uncertainty it has created for the open, but changing, world order, Xi's visit proves China's commitment to globalization. Its recent international initiatives, such as the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and BRICS New Development Bank attest to its effort at global integration. Latin America is not behind in that effort.
China has announced the establishment of a settlement bank in renminbi in Chile, the first in the region, to promote the use of its currency. This should assure the region's countries of China's increasing terms of engagement with the world.
China's transformation toward an innovationand consumption-led economy offers many opportunities. Its economic slowdown, inherent in that restructuring process, is already affecting Latin America. While two-way trade grew in double digits for years, in 2014 the region's exports to China fell for the first time this centurydown 10 percentreflecting its declining appetite for the region's raw materials.
Latin America's export basket to China is not very sophisticated. In 2013, for example, commodities represented 73 percent of the region's exports to China, compared with 41 percent for the rest of the world.
However, the changing dynamics in China are pushing Chinese outward foreign direct investment to record levels and encouraging its companies to transfer their industrial operations abroad. Since China is already a capital exporting country, its "new normal" could reverse the inter-industry flows that have prevailed with Latin America. Doing so implies strengthening their trade and investment linkages by furthering the integration of their value chains.
President Xi Jinping calls for increased international cooperation in cyberspace governance in a speech via video link at the opening ceremony of the third annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, on Wednesday.Feng Yongbin / China Daily
The third World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, has attracted government officials, business leaders and academics to discuss the future of the digital world and commerce.
With "internet" being the keyword at the forum, President Xi Jinping also delivered a speech via video, calling for China to "work with the international community to ensure the common well-being of humanity, uphold cyber sovereignty, promote more fair and equitable global Internet governance and bring about an open, inclusive and secure cyberspace that features equality, mutual respect, innovation and orderly development".
The beautiful water town of Wuzhen, which is also called "Eastern Venice", has already hosted two world internet conferences. With China receiving so much attention overseas and global internet companies trying to enter China, it is only fitting that the conference is held here, in the land of more than 600 million online users and e-commerce that is growing at a head-spinning pace. Moreover, Zhejiang province is home to the internet giant Alibaba, which is at the forefront of the industry.
The conference was attended by leaders of Chinese and foreign online conglomerates such as Alibaba's Jack Ma, Baidu's Robin Li, LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, Qualcomm's Derek Aberle and others who discussed ways to govern cyberspace better.
Moreover, one of the highlights of the conference was the expo, where the tech companies showcased their latest products. For example, Baidu presented its innovative driverless car. One of the interesting inventions was "EyeVerify", which makes shopping easier. You can relieve your pocket out of cash with just a blink of an eye! That would come quite handy for the online shoppers before and during the Singles Day on Nov. 11.
People are less worried about sharing their private photos, hold their savings and make purchases on the online platforms. In China, it is especially distinguished. The experience of a German expat in Hangzhou who went a whole day without cash and used WeChat money to pay for everything, including transport fare, is a good example.
At the same time, that's where the vulnerability lies. Last year's World Internet Forum was dedicated to cyberspace security issues and how to solve them. This year as well, the speakers called for the law-regulated internet space.
It is clear that we need more privacy protection rules, as new advances bring new problems. And as this year's topic is centered on innovation, that's what the authorities should care about.
There is hope, though, that by uniting efforts the companies will be able to find a way to its consumers' hearts with the innovative ideas, and conferences, like the one being held in Wuzhen for the third year in a row, will contribute to the world safety in the internet era as well as offer solutions how to bring innovative ideas into global practice.
Anastasia Sukhoretskaya is a senior blogger with China daily
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website.
President Xi Jinping and guests attend a photo session during the opening ceremony of the first Ministerial Meeting between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY
President Xi Jinping has embarked on his Latin American tour. His trip included stops in Peru, Ecuador and Chile, three countries that have a long history of ties with China. This is his third trip to the region in three years, a sign of Latin America's strategic importance to China.
"Just as distance tests a horse's strength, time will show a person's sincerity." With this Chinese saying, Xi expressed his views about the future of Sino-Latin relations. China's commitment to the region is here to stay, and bilateral ties will continue to get stronger.
Three points are key to determining the degree of success of bilateral relations in the short and mid-term.
1. Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure
Every leader in the region knows that without a boost in infrastructure investment, Latin America will not be able to continue on its development path. As a Latin American living in China, I witness on a daily basis China's unrivaled skills in building and developing infrastructure.
However, for cooperation in infrastructure development to succeed, first, the local unions need to be ready to accept Chinese workers at construction sites. Although there is a sacrifice to be had in terms of local jobs, there are greater long-term benefits for the whole society. Second, Latin American leaders need to try harder to keep and fully execute their legal commitments and avoid situations like the one in Mexico, where a contract first awarded to China railway to build a high-speed railway was later canceled.
2. What can Peru, Ecuador and Chile expect?
Latin America is a very heterogeneous region. Just as Roberto Mangabeira Unger, the renowned Brazilian professor, said, there is no such thing as "Latin America" - a concept created by US scholars.
Chile and Peru probably are the countries that have benefited the most from China's rise.
Chile has some of the smartest trade and investment specialists in the world and its private sector is now getting involved in sophisticated deals with Chinese companies. If the country's relation with China continues to move in that direction, Chile will become a model for other countries in the region on how to do business with China.
Peru's diplomats are doing an extraordinary job. This is the second time President Kuczynski will meet Xi Jinping in less than six months. This visit gives Peru a unique chance to set a start date for the construction of infrastructure projects currently under negotiation.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has said that this is "the most important visit by a foreign leader ever". Of great importance is how the Andean nations capitalize on this visit and share its fruits with other countries in the region, taking advantage of platforms like CELAC.
3. For Latin American SMEs, China is the way to go
More and more Latin American SMEs are realizing that, for companies of their size, China is usually the road less traveled, but, sooner than later, the China road will take them to a more prosperous land.
However, in order to take advantage of the China opportunity, they will need to invest time in designing their own China strategies. Take the case of the opportunities offered by platforms such as Connect Americas of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a project launched with Chinese government support. On this platform, Latin American companies can even find purchase requests from Alibaba. This shows that the Chinese government made the right decision when it joined the IDB back in 2008, as this created more opportunities for entrepreneurs of both regions to engage with one another.
Last, Latin American countries need to do a better job when it comes to brand building in China. With the exception of the Chilean wine brand Concha y Toro and, to some extent, the Mexican brand Bimbo, Latin American brands have not been able to create strong bonds with Chinese consumers.
The author is an entrepreneur from Uruguay and the former head of the international department of the Foshan Bureau of Commerce.
China's Global Newspaper
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WELLINGTON - Chinese visitors would be crucial to the recovery of the north Canterbury economy after the quake, particularly in the hard-hit township of Kaikoura in New Zealand, famed for its coastal scenery and whale-watching, a tourism industry group leader told Xinhua Tuesday.
Tourism industry and government agencies are moving to bolster confidence in China, New Zealand's fastest growing and second biggest tourism market, in the wake of the 7.5-magnitude quake, which killed two people in the north Canterbury region, said Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts.
Tourism and government agencies were closely monitoring reactions in China, Roberts said.
New Zealand tourism chiefs had issued an urgent appeal to prospective Chinese visitors after early Monday's deadly earthquake: Don't cancel your travel plans.
The industry had learned from the Christchurch earthquakes, which killed 185 people in 2011, that the international media coverage risked portraying New Zealand as a whole devastated, said Roberts.
"To date, we've been checking and there've been very, very few reports of people canceling planned trips to New Zealand, which is good," Roberts said in a phone interview.
"But we do know from China in particular that yesterday, immediately following the quake, there was some anxiety and Chinese travel companies were receiving calls from customers about their planned trips to New Zealand this summer. Hopefully they're getting the right information to them that there is no reason to cancel a trip to New Zealand."
The TIA was part of the government-organized Civil Defense visitor response group, which was arranging "official messaging" through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), embassies and other channels.
"The key from a tourism perspective is that New Zealand is still open for business. Yes, there's some disruption in north Canterbury, but the rest of the country is unaffected and we certainly want to welcome our tourists to keep coming to New Zealand over summer," said Roberts.
"We know from the experience of the Christchurch earthquakes that Christchurch took a big hit and other parts of the South Island also did -- parts of the South Island that were actually completely unaffected by the earthquakes -- so we want to try to avoid that."
Monitoring the public response and getting out "good information" would be a key focus of MFAT and the government's Tourism New Zealand agency, which has an office in Shanghai, over coming weeks.
Massive landslides cut off road and rail links to Kaikoura, making it accessible only by sea and by helicopter and sparking an airlift evacuation of about 1,000 stranded travelers on Tuesday.
"We'd want to support Kaikoura and get it back on its feet once the immediate cleanup is carried out and the road is reopened. Hopefully the tourist flows will begin again for whale-watching and all the other activities because it's very important to that town that it's able to get back in operation as soon as possible," he said.
Recovery of the tourism market was also essential to Chinese airlines that had recently begun direct flights into Christchurch and to Chinese carriers that were flying to New Zealand for the first time via the main gateway of Auckland.
"They're flights from new regions of China for the first time coming into New Zealand, so those airlines will be keen to have those planes filled up," Roberts said.
US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at election night rally in Manhattan, New York, US, November 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
MOSCOW - The Kremlin on Thursday blamed outgoing US President Barack Obama for the deterioration of ties with Russia, which it said would make it difficult for US President-elect Donald Trump to mend bilateral relations.
In a briefing before Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Peru for the APEC summit, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that the Obama administration has driven Russia-US ties into a "dead end", making it hard for Trump's team to improve relations.
Yet Ushakov said Moscow is ready to work with the new US administration, a readiness which he said Trump shared.
In their first phone conversation on Monday, Putin and Trump agreed that bilateral relations "could not get any worse", Ushakov said.
During the conversation, both sides vowed to review the current soured ties, noting the need to create a solid foundation for bilateral relations through the development of trade and their economies, which would help "stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation," according to a Kremlin statement.
Ushakov did not rule out contacts with representatives of the Trump team before Jan 20 when the inauguration of Trump is due to take place.
But he said it is at present unclear with whom contacts should be conducted, as the new team has only just begun to form.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe listens to questions from the media about his meeting with US Republican President-Elect Donald Trump at the InterContinental Barclay Hotel in New York, November 17, 2016. [Photo/IC]
NEW YORK - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday he was confident of building trust with Donald Trump following a meeting in which he sought clarity on campaign rhetoric from the US president-elect that cast doubt on long-standing US alliances.
After the hastily arranged 90-minute meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Abe called Trump a trustworthy leader, although he said he would not disclose details of the conversation because the talks were unofficial.
The Republican president-elect will succeed Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
"The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust," Abe told reporters. Describing his conversation as "candid" and held in a "warm atmosphere," Abe said: "Alliances cannot function without trust. I am now confident that President-elect Trump is a trustworthy leader."
He said he had agreed to meet again with Trump "at a convenient time to cover a wider area in greater depth." It was not clear if such a meeting would occur before Trump's inauguration.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters on Friday in Tokyo that it was beneficial for Abe to meet Trump before he becomes president, given that Japan-US relations were vital to both countries.
The conversation came as Japan's leadership was nervous about the future strength of an alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and security.
Abe and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his election campaign to make allies pay more for help from US forces, his suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons and his staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
US President Barack Obama is welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel upon his arrival at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, November 17, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama agreed on Thursday the European Union (EU) and the United States must maintain their efforts to reach a common trade agreement.
It was important that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations would be maintained, said Obama at a joint press conference with Merkel after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin.
Merkel emphasized that she had always spoken out for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States, two major trading areas of the world.
The negotiations had made a lot progress, but they could not be "ended now", said Merkel.
"I continue believing that the EU is one of the greatest achievements in the world," said the outgoing US President, while calling on the countries of Europe to strive to maintain the 28-nation bloc.
People have to cultivate these achievements and fight for them, said Obama, adding that Britain's exit from the EU should be conducted as "smoothly and orderly and transparently" as possible.
Meanwhile, Obama warned his successor, president-elect Donald Trump, of the important principled task in relation to Russia.
"I've sought a constructive relationship with Russia," said Obama, "My hope is that the president-elect coming in takes a similarly constructive approach, finding areas where we can cooperate with Russia where our values and interest align."
China's climate envoy on Thursday urged developed nations to increase the financial support they had pledged in the Paris pact, as they face a possible curtailment of financial support from the United States.
"Developed countries should speed up their pace to fulfill the committed financial support as they had pledged," said Xie Zhenhua, head of the Chinese delegation, after two weeks of negotiations at the Marrakech Climate Conference.
"Developing countries did not see progress on the allocation of funding," Xie said at a news briefing with ministers from four emerging developing economies China, India, Brazil and South Africa which share a similar stance on climate change.
Negotiations on financing will continue if there are no concrete plans after the climate talks close on Friday, according to Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa of South Africa.
In the Paris Agreement, developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion in funding by 2020 to support developing countries combat climate change.
They reaffirmed their pledge in the Marrakech Action Proclamation released on Thursday.
However, the proclamation, which has no legal force, raises concerns over whether developed nations would fulfill their pledges as scheduled.
"Now we are facing with a possible withdrawal of funding from the United States under Donald Trump's presidency. If he follows his pledges during the campaign, other developed nations should step up," Xie said.
"$3 billion is not a large amount and should not be a problem for other developed nations to put up," Xie added.
The United States, as the world's largest economy, pledged to contribute around 3 percent of the $100 billion climate funding initiated by the United Nation's Global Environmental Facility.
Bai Yunwen, a climate researcher at Greenovation Hub, said that other developing countries face more pressure on climate finance if the United States withdraws, "because other developed nations may lack the motivation to comply if the United States withdraws".
"But China's active involvement in terms of providing support to other developing countries can be complementary to support climate actions," said Erik Solheim, director of the UN Environment Program, referring to the South-South Cooperation Fund initiated by China.
WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Donald Trump Friday appointed Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Lt.General Michael Flynn as national security advisor and Congressman Mike Pompeo as chief of the Central Intelligence Agency.
"It is an honor to nominate US Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general of the United States......Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him," Trump said in a statement released on his official website.
"I am pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad," Trump said of his new security advisor, whom he called an "invaluable asset."
"I am proud to nominate Congressman Mike Pompeo as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency......He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies," Trump said.
All three men have agreed accept the posts, according to the statement.
Sessions, 69, was a US attorney in Alabama before entering the Senate in 1996. He is considered to be one of the most conservative senators.
Flynn, 57, was one of the most prominent military figures who supported Trump's presidential campaign. He was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014.
Pompeo, 52, served as a US Representative for Kansas since 2011. He was an early supporter of Trump's presidential bid and a member of the Tea Party movement in Congress.
This is the second time Trump has made collective appointments for officials in his administration, having earlier named Reince Priebus as his chief of staff and Stephen Bannon as his top strategist.
Other important slots yet to be filled including defense secretary and secretary of state, for both of which a number of candidates are being considered by Trump's team.
President Xi Jinping arrives at the Quito airport, Ecuador on November 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that his visit to Ecuador, the first state visit by a Chinese head of state in 36 years, will make positive progress.
Xi made the remarks while delivering a speech at the Quito airport, where Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa hosted a grand ceremony to welcome Xi and the Chinese delegation.
"I come here with the deep friendship of Chinese people and the wish to develop bilateral ties," Xi said, adding that he was looking forward to the upcoming meetings with Ecuadorian leaders.
Referring to the major earthquake that struck Ecuador in April, Xi said that Chinese people empathized with the Ecuadorian people.
China has provided help to the Ecuadorian people in the rescue and reconstruction work, he added.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck the northern Pacific coast of Ecuador, caused heavy loss of human lives and property damage. China had immediately announced that it would provide $2 million of cash and $60 million of materials for rescue and reconstruction.
The visit will build a solid bridge for the China-Ecuador cooperation, and bright bright future for the bilateral ties, he added.
The Chinese president is paying visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile starting from Thursday. He will also attend the APEC leaders meeting in Lima, capital of Peru, over the weekend.
By An Baijie in Sardinia, Italy and Wang Qingyun in Beijingg | China Daily | Updated: 2016-11-18 07:59
Mediterranean country is a trusted friend and partner, Xi tells PM Renzi
China hopes Italy will play a positive role in contributing to a long-term, steady and sound development of China-Europe ties, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday in Italy.
Xi emphasized that the European Union is a vital pole in the world while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Sardinia, where Xi's plane stopped overnight on his way to Latin America.
The president also said that China supports the prosperity and stability of Europe, which is undergoing big changes.
Calling Italy a trustworthy friend and important partner in the EU, Xi said that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Italy ties.
The president encouraged the two countries to better dovetail the Belt and Road Initiative with Italy's developing strategies.
Xi also extended his sympathy to Italians affected by a strong earthquake that hit the country in October, and he said he hoped Italy's people would overcome difficulties and rebuild their homes as soon as possible.
Renzi said Italy is willing to work with China to enhance cooperation in such areas as the economy and trade, energy, innovation, culture and tourism.
Meanwhile, Italy is committed to boosting China-Europe relations and to working with China to maintain world peace and stability, the Italian prime minister said.
Xi and Renzi previously met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September.
As bilateral ties made big progress in recent years, Chinese companies have actively taken part in the privatization of Italian companies, while Italy invested in 5,478 projects in China by the end of March, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Cui Hongjian, an expert on European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said "a considerable basis" has been established for bilateral cooperation, but the two countries need to better connect their development strategies to fulfill their great potential.
Italy's location on the Mediterranean Sea gives it an edge in cooperating in the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Cui.
Italy, a founding member of the EU, is playing an important role in consolidating the European integration process following Britain's plan to exit the EU, he said.
In addition, Italy can play a positive role within the EU to help address the recent twists and turns of China-EU ties caused by issues including China's market economy status, Cui added.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
Huang Kunming (center), of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, and Raul Vallejo (right), Ecuador's culture minister, open the book fair in Quito on Wednesday.[Photo by Amy He/China Daily]
Top Chinese and Ecuadorean cultural ambassadors said on Wednesday they hope that new Chinese books translated into Spanish will help cultivate a better understanding of Chinese culture, politics and history among Ecuador's people.
Ecuador has an important place in Spanish-language literature, presenting many notable authors, and the book exhibition - also brings noted Chinese authors, said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Spanish-language versions of titles such as The Literature of China, The Political System of China and The Encyclopedia of Chinese Culture will give readers a sense of Chinese politics, economics and culture, Huang said at the Month of the Exhibition and Sale of Chinese Books in Quito, Ecuador.
The exhibition is part of a larger international book fair at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana.
Huang said he hopes the literary exhibition will help Ecuador's readers to experience the depth of Chinese literature, and he believes the exhibition will deepen literary cooperation between the two countries as well as overall bilateral relations.
He also said the Spanish version of President Xi Jinping's The Governance of China offers a window into how Xi manages state affairs, his philosophies and his determination to reform the country. More than 6 million copies of the book have been published worldwide, he said.
Xi was to arrive in Ecuador for a state visit on Thursday before taking part in the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, this weekend.
Raul Vallejo, Ecuador's minister of culture and heritage and an author, said the books are an opportunity for Ecuador's people to understand thousands of years of Chinese history, adding that Xi's book presents a contemporary approach.
Contact the writer at amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
President Xi Jinping meets with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Quito, Ecuador on November 18, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
China's help to Ecuador will have no additional conditions as the two countries are making joint efforts to establish brotherhood ties, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.
Xi made the remarks while meeting with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Quito during his historic state visit to the South American country. He is the first Chinese president to visit Ecuador since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1980.
"I saw that the (Ecuadorian) people were quite friendly along the street," Xi said, adding that China aims to provide practical help for Ecuadorian people.
"I came here with the deep friendship of Chinese people and the good wishes of developing bilateral ties," Xi said in a speech delivered at the Quito airport, where President Correa hosted a grand welcome ceremony for the Chinese delegation.
During the meeting, the two countries signed a number of cooperative documents covering areas including infrastructure, finance and investment.
Correa expressed gratitude for China's financial support in the country's infrastructure, saying that China has financed Ecuador's seven hydropower plants.
"With the hydropower plants, Ecuador has become one of the world's most efficient country in the use of clean energy," he said, adding that as many as 90 percent of the country's power is from renewable energy including hydropower.
Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
People walk into the Museum of the Nation, where the 2016 APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting will take place from Nov 19-20, in Lima, Peru, November 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
LIMA - Leaders from the Pacific Rim economies are gathering in Lima, the capital city of Peru, for an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting. Following are basic facts about the city.
With around 9 million residents, or a third of Peru's overall population, Lima is the largest city in the South American country. As Peru's political, economic and cultural center, the city registers more than two-thirds of the country's GDP, taxes, bank deposits and private investments.
The city was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535. Till the middle of the 18th century, it had been the capital and the most important city of the Spanish dominion in South America. It became the capital of the Republic of Peru in 1821.
Although severely damaged by earthquakes, the downtown area of Lima still homes a number of historical sites, including the Plaza de Armas, the Plaza San Martin, the San Francisco Convent and the Cathedral. That part of Lima is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lima is also home to one of the oldest higher learning institutions in the Western Hemisphere. The National University of San Marcos, founded in 1551, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.
Despite its location in the tropics and in a desert, Lima's proximity to the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean leads to temperatures much cooler than those expected for a tropical desert, with an annual average temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius.
High relative humidity produces quickly passing morning fog from December to April and persistent low clouds and mist from May to November. The city has sunny, moist and warm summers and cloudy, damp and cool winters.
While relative humidity is high, rainfall is very rare. With an average annual precipitation of 15 mm, the city is known as one of the driest capitals over the world.
Lima hosted the 16th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in 2008.
On Nov 17-23, Chinese President Xi Jinping is paying a state visit to Ecuador, Peru and Chile. During the tour, he is scheduled to attend the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima. It's Xi's first visit after the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee and his third visit to Latin America (LatAm) since he took office in 2013. His ongoing tour is of great significance. Xi's LatAm trip aims to enhance friendship and deepen cooperation. The three countries covered in this trip serve as important representatives in this region, have long-standing and deep friendship and a sound foundation of cooperation with Beijing.
The trip will consolidate traditional and friendly relations between China and the three countries, enhance the level of bilateral political mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, along with pushing forward the China-LatAm all-round partnership to grow deeper and write a new chapter for "China-LaAm times".
Xi's attendance at the 24th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be the highlight of the trip. He will attend a series of activities and elaborate on Beijing's Proposal to promote common prosperity and deepen regional cooperation, injecting Beijing's power into Asia-Pacific and global economic development.
President Xi's visit is expected to build a community of shared destiny between China and LatAm and expand Asia-Pacific pragmatic cooperation. The tour would open up new prospects for China, LatAm & Asia-Pacific cooperation.
The author is a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations; cartoon drawing by Liao Tingting.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks when visiting the headquarters of Ecuador's national emergency response system ECU-911 in Quito, Ecuador, Nov 18, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
China will take an active part in the rebuilding of earthquake-jolted Ecuador and provide support in housing, medical treatment and earthquake prevention for the South American country, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed," Xi said, adding that China had provided various forms of assistance immediately after the 7.8-magnitude quake hit the northern Pacific coast of Ecuador.
Xi made his remarks while attending a ceremony to unveil a joint laboratory at Ecuador's national emergency response system, also called ECU 911.
Accompanied by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, the Chinese president also watched the live broadcast of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Chone Hospital and the completion ceremony of Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydro power station.
The hospital is to be built with Chinese assistance in the earthquake-stricken Ecuadorian city of Chone in northwestern Manabi province, to replace the one that was seriously damaged in the devastating earthquake in April. The new hospital will be completed in 20 months by China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd, a Chinese engineering company.
With a power generating capacity of 1.5 million kilowatt hours, the CCS hydro power station was started building in 2010 by China's State-owned Sinohydro Group. The hydro power station could meet 40 percent of Ecuador's national power needs.
President Xi Jinping said on Friday that the legislative authorities of China and Ecuador should enhance exchanges and communications in areas including legislation, supervision and governance.
Xi made his remarks while meeting with the president of the National Assembly of Ecuado, Gabriela Rivadeneira.
Mentioning that China and Ecuador had upgraded their bilateral relationship to the overall strategic partnership on Thursday, Xi told Rivadeneira that legislative authorities' exchanges are important for the overall strategic partnership.
China would like to enhance cooperation with Ecuador in all areas to bring real benefits for the people of both sides, he said.
The Chinese president is paying a state visit to Ecuador on Thursday. It's the first visit by China's head of state in the past 36 years since diplomatic ties were established. Xi will also visit Peru and Chile, and attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting, to be held in Lima over the weekend.
Calling China a brother-like partner, Rivadeneira expressed gratitude for China's support in the reconstruction work at the earthquake devastated region in Ecuador.
Ecuador's National Assembly would like to enhance cooperation with China's National People's Congress to push forward bilateral ties, he added.
China and Ecuador agree to raise bilateral ties to level of comprehensive strategic partnership
President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, are welcomed by Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and his wife, Anne Malherbe Gosselin, after arriving at the Quito airport to start a state visit to Ecuador. JU PENG / XINHUA
The help that China offers to Ecuador will have no conditions attached, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday as the two countries agreed to raise their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Xi met with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in Quito during his state visit to the South American country. Xi is the first Chinese president to visit Ecuador since diplomatic relations were established in 1980.
After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a number of cooperative documents covering areas such as infrastructure, finance and investment.
Xi said China-Ecuador relations have entered a key phase. China will continue to support Ecuador in exploring a development path that suits its own conditions, and will take part in Ecuador's post-earthquake reconstruction work, he said.
He said China aims to provide practical help for Ecuadorians.
"I come here with the deep friendship of the Chinese people and best wishes for developing bilateral ties," Xi said in a speech at the Quito airport, where his host held a grand welcoming ceremony.
Correa expressed gratitude for China's financial support in the country's infrastructure, saying that China has financed seven of Ecuador's hydropower plants.
"With the hydropower plants, Ecuador has become one of the world's most efficient countries in the use of clean energy," he said, adding that 90 percent of the country's power comes from renewable energy.
China is the third-biggest trade partner of Ecuador, while Ecuador is China's major energy partner in Latin America and a major destination for Chinese investment.
Bilateral trade volume reached $4.1 billion last year. Bananas, shrimp and flowers are Ecuador's major exports to China.
More than 90 Chinese companies operate in Ecuador, and some have been involved in the country's biggest projects, such as its largest hydroelectric plant.
Wang Yulin, China's ambassador to Ecuador, said bilateral ties will get a boost from Xi's visit.
"Pragmatic economic cooperation has produced palpable benefits for people in both countries," said Wang.
"China and Ecuador are highly complementary, natural partners for cooperation in the economic field. They have enormous potential for cooperation in such areas as production capacity, investment and clean energy," said Wang.
Cesar Navas, Ecuador's minister of security and coordination, said Ecuadorians are grateful for the timely assistance China offered after the April earthquake.
"We trust Chinese quality and efficiency, which can help build a hospital that will last 100 years," he said.
Milton Reyes, a professor and researcher of Asia-Pacific affairs at the Latin American Integration Association, said China's respect for Ecuador has encouraged Correa's government "to seek to elevate bilateral ties based on the potential to expand cooperation".
Xi's visit will also take him to Chile and Peru, where he will attend the 24th APEC Leaders' Meeting in Lima over the weekend.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
For Ecuador, China is a remote country across the vast Pacific, yet the geographic barriers did not divide them when the South American country was jolted by a deadly earthquake in April.
The 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck the northern Pacific coast of Ecuador, caused heavy loss of human life and property damage. China announced immediately after the quake that it would provide an aid fund of $2 million and $60 million in materials.
During his state visit, which began on Thursday, President Xi Jinping will discuss offering help for Ecuador's rebuilding work, including the construction of hospitals, houses and roads.
A new hospital is to be built with Chinese assistance in the earthquake-stricken city of Chone in northwestern Manabi province, to replace one that was seriously damaged by the devastating earthquake in April.
Daniel Santos, of Ecuador's disaster relief and reconstruction commission, said the new hospital will be completed in 20 months by China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd.
Actually, Ecuador's national emergency response system, ECU 911, which was a vital resource in the aftermath of April's powerful earthquake, was also developed by Chinese companies.
Apart from the earthquake rescue and rebuilding, China and Ecuador's cooperation has also flourished in many other areas.
Of the eight hydropower plants under construction or completed, seven were built by Chinese firms.
"Even mountains and seas cannot distance people with common aspirations," Xi wrote, quoting a Chinese saying in his article published in Ecuador's El Telegrafo newspaper on Wednesday.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has also given his explanation of the close Ecuador-China relationshiphe broke with his country's reception norms and went to airport to welcome the Chinese president and his delegation. Such a high-level greeting is rare in international diplomatic practices.
According to a Chinese saying, "when brothers come together, there is nothing they cannot achieve."
For Ecuador, China is definitely a trustworthy brother.
Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
QUITO - Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up on Friday his visit to Ecuador, and departs for the Peruvian capital of Lima for a state visit.
During his stay in Quito, the top Chinese leader held talks with his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa, during which the two heads of state exchanged views on bilateral ties, China's relations with Latin America, as well as international and regional issues of common concern.
Xi hailed Ecuador as an important country in Latin America, saying that bilateral ties have witnessed substantial development in recent years.
In a joint statement issued after the talks between the two presidents on Thursday, China and Ecuador agreed to lift their relationship to the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Also in the statement, the two countries agreed to boost their cooperation in production capacity, as well as economic and trade areas, and pledged to implement major projects in oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, communication and finance, and explore cooperation in agriculture, petrochemical industry, ship building, metallurgy and paper making industries.
China and Ecuador also agreed to enhance their cooperation in education, culture, health, sports, tourism and judiciary, bolster exchanges between media, artists and students of the two countries, increase the number of student exchanges, so as to boost understanding and friendship of the two peoples, according to the statement.
Both countries will, within the UN and the Group of 77 as well as many other multilateral cooperation frameworks, maintain close communications and cooperation on UN reform, global economic governance, climate change, and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, so as to promote South-South cooperation and preserve the interests of the developing world, said the statement.
On Friday, the Chinese president met with Ecuadorian President of the National Assembly Gabriela Rivadeneira.
During their meeting, Xi said China and Ecuador need to keep stepping up dialogues and exchanges between their legislative bodies to promote a steady development of the two nations' comprehensive strategic partnership.
Later in the day, the Chinese leader paid a visit to the headquarters of ECU-911, Ecuador's national emergency response system, and promised further support for earthquake-hit Ecuador in disaster relief and reconstruction of the Latin American country.
Xi arrived in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito Thursday afternoon for a state visit to the country and his third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013.
In Lima, Peru, Xi will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 19 to 20. After that, he will fly to Chile for a visit.
Huang Kunming (second from right), executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Ecuadorean officials attend the opening ceremony for the Beautiful China Photo Exhibition at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador on Thursday. AMY HE / CHINA DAILY
A new China-themed photo exhibition was unveiled at the Confucius Institute at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito on Thursday, focusing on China's natural landscapes, cultural history and developmental growth.
"This exhibition focuses on the oneness of man with nature, showcasing China's landscapes through these beautiful photos," said Huang Kunming, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
The photos will give viewers a sense of China's rivers and mountains, its long histories and traditions, and the current growth the country is experiencing, he said.
The nature focus shows that "the Chinese people respect nature, let nature take its course, and wants to protect nature", Huang added.
Huang said he wants the exhibit to serve as a window to better understanding the beauty and variety of China and its flourishing development in the modern age.
"There's a saying in Chinese that goes, 'Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times,' so we hope that through this exhibit we can honor the two countries' interactions, let more Ecuadorians-particularly the youth-understand China, especially the uniqueness of China's culture and Chinese people's sincere friendliness," he said.
Huang spoke in the morning before President Xi Jinping arrived in Ecuador, his first stop in Latin America before he travels to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru, this weekend.
Making Ecuador his first stop in the region shows that China values its traditions with Ecuador and the growing bilateral ties, Huang said.
The founder and president of the university said during the ceremony that its Confucius Institute-established by Professor Jose Salazar Carbonell-has seen more than 1,500 students from across Ecuador pass through in the six years since its creation.
The university has sent more than 230 students to study at Peking University through scholarships, where they majored in finance, Chinese-language teaching and Chinese philosophy, said Santiago Gangotena Gonzalez, president of the university.
"Establishing the Confucius Institute with the help of the Chinese government helped contribute to Ecuadorians' understanding of China and helped promote the learning of Mandarin," he said.
Xi says it's only natural that the two countries should push forward all-around cooperation
Peru will have "China's full support and cooperation" in achieving positive results with the upcoming APEC leaders meeting in its capital, President Xi Jinping wrote in an article ahead of his state visit to the country.
In the article published in Peru's El Comercio newspaper on Thursday, Xi said the presidents of China and Peru will have exchanged visits in less than two months by the time of his visit, which "will send a strong signal of China and Peru working together for common development".
He also called for the two countries to conceive and implement a well-structured plan to guide pragmatic bilateral cooperation in the coming years and suggested intensifying production capacity and investment cooperation.
Xi will attend the APEC meeting in Lima this weekend and make a state visit to Peru on the second leg of his three-country, weeklong trip to South America.
"We are ready to provide Peru with all the equipment and technology it needs for industrialization, supported by personnel training and matching funds," Xi said.
China also welcomes more Peruvian students to study in China and supports more youth exchanges to pass on our traditional friendship to the next generation, Xi said.
Nearly one-tenth of Peruvians have Chinese ancestry, something the Chinese president regards as "a valuable asset" shared by the two countries. Chinese are called by an affectionate nickname in Peru: paisanos (old pals).
"I believe that the tremendous progress and strong momentum in China-Peru ties is attributable to the extensive public support for our friendship, to our enormous economic complementarity and enthusiasm toward cooperation and to the right decision of successive governments of both countries to place high importance on this relationship," Xi said.
"It is only natural that we should push forward all-around cooperation," the president said.
Juan Carlos Capunay, Peruvian ambassador to China, said "Peru is the only country that has signed a free trade agreement, established a comprehensive strategic partnership, as well as setting up dialogue and a committee for discussions with China".
Capunay said he believes that the three instruments are the basis when China handles relationship with other countries.
It is the right time for Peru and China to further promote their economic ties to higher level, said Fernando Gonzalez, a Peruvian economist and director of the APEC Studies Center.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
(Photo : Getty Images) A US advisory commission is calling the government to probe outsourcing to China has weakened the US national defense system.
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A US advisory committee has urged for a government inquest into how far outsourcing to China has weakened the US defense structure.
In its annual report, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission pointed out that the U.S is facing a growing threat of Chinese spying.
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The report says that Chinese spies have been infiltrating US organizations and has urged the congress to ban Chinese state enterprises from acquiring ownership and control of US firms.
The committee is worried that China's growing military strength might embolden it to use force while pursuing its interests.
"China's pursuit of expeditionary capabilities, coupled with aggressive trends that have been displayed in both the East and South China seas, are compounding existing concerns about China's rise," the report said.
According to the committee, the ongoing reforms in the People's Liberation Army of China will strengthen Beijing further. They are also worried by the fact that China is close to complete the construction of its first domestically produced aircraft carrier.
The report went on to say that given China's enhanced strategic lift capability, strengthened employment of special operation forces, and more experience in operating beyond its borders, it may resort to use force to protect its interests.
The committee warns that China's rising stock among US allies and partners in Asia should further serve to alarm the United States. According to the panel, the United States response to the threat by China has been sluggish due to lack of coordination in the intelligence community.
The report recommended the US State Department to educate US students going to China on the recruitment methods used by Chinese agents.
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(Photo : Getty Images) A US panel is voicing out concern of China's increasing interference to Hong Kong's affairs, fearing this may affect the semi-autonomous city's international financial hub status.
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A US congress panel has warned that China's interference in Hong Kong's affair is increasing at alarming pace, expressing fear that this may have an adverse impact on former British colony's status as an international financial hub.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, however, did not take note of the ongoing pro-democracy movement in the semi-autonomous city that has been trigged by the oath taking controversy last month.
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Nonetheless, the commission in its 33-page report took serious note of the recent abduction and detention of five booksellers, who were arrested for allegedly selling gossipy political content in the former British colony.
"This incident has threatened the maintenance of the 'one country, two systems' framework and led some observers to question Hong Kong's status as a leading global financial hub," the report said.
The report goes on to add that the incident increased local fear about Mainland China's interference and caused record turnout in September's legislative election.
Talking further about election, the report said, "The election took place against the backdrop of an alarming rise in mainland China's interference in Hong Kong."
Citing the interference, the panel urged the US State Department to conduct a fresh probe in the issue of Hong Kong's autonomy.
In response, China gave a standard reply that Hong Kong is its internal affair and some external forces are hatching a conspiracy.
"In order to try to split the country, some forces have openly sought foreign support," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing. "Those who attempt to use foreign forces to achieve their own political goals will not succeed."
The word 'foreign forces' was apparently aimed at US and UK, as they have more vocal in raising concern over Beijing's alleged interference in the semi-autonomous city.
UK transferred the control of Hong Kong city to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" agreement. The agreement made it binding on the Chinese government to ensure non-interference in legal system and the autonomy in wide range of areas remain intact.
The international community, composing mostly of western countries, has often accused Beijing of breaching this agreement.
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TagsHong Kong, china, China and Hong Kong, Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, U.S and Hong Kong
(Photo : Getty Images) A general view of the Intel booth at the International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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During his keynote speech at the LA Auto Show on Tuesday, Intel chief executive officer Brian Krzanich said that the chip manufacturer will invest $250 million within the next two years towards the development of autonomous cars. It is a major investment for Intel, and it clearly shows how committed the company is towards the future of self-driving cars.
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Following Krzanich's statement, many in the tech world wonder what Intel's plan will be. Some say that the company might create its own fleet of self-driving cars, while some believe that Intel will focus into chip-making and development of microprocessors with emphasis towards its application in the autonomous car platform.
Regarding its plans for the autonomous car platform, Intel said in a statement, "These investments will drive the development of technologies that push the boundaries on next-generation connectivity, communication, context awareness, deep learning, security, safety and more."
According to The Verge, Intel is gearing up to delve deeper into the software side of the autonomous car platform instead of providing car hardware for car manufacturers to use in their own models.
During his keynote at the LA Auto Show, Krzanich said that the tech industry should prepare for an inundation of data once autonomous cars start hitting the road. Krzanich said that a single autonomous driving car can download and upload more than 4,000GB of data each use as it relies on self-driving technologies like camera, sensors, GPS, and lidar.
It is important to note that Intel is not known for its software business. Moreover, the company is still catching up to new platforms like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things.
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TagsIntel, Self-driving cars, intel investment, Autonomous Cars, LA Auto Show, Brian Krzanich
(Photo : Getty Images) Volkswagen revealed on Thursday its plans to form partnership with China's ride-hailing app giant Didi Chuxing and to focus on increasing its electric car sales by up to 400,000 by the end of the decade.
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The German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) on Thursday made two big announcements about its future plans for China's auto market. The auto giant announced that it is likely to tie up with Didi Chuxing to form a high-end ride-hailing service and will focus more on sales of electric and hybrid vehicles to increase its market share in the Chinese market.
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Volkswagen did not elaborate on its plan to enter the ride hailing market but said that it is already in talks with officials of Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-hailing company. The ride-hailing company stamped its authority in the domestic market, after buying Uber's operations in the country.
On sales of electric car or 'new energy vehicles' (NEV), Volkswagen said it aims to become one of the biggest players in this new market. The automaker has set the sales target of 400,000 cars till 2020 and 1.5 million vehicles till 2025.
"We have to do more in the NEV area. The government is pushing, the general environment in China is pushing that," Jochem Heizmann chief of VW's China's operations told reporters ahead of the Guangzhou auto show.
The German auto giant is all set to introduce its first 'made in China' NEV vehicle under its globally famous Audi brand. The vehicle will be manufactured in joint venture with China's state-owned auto company FAW Group.
Additionally, Volkswagen has tied up with SAIC Motor to manufacture more vehicles under Audi brand, while it is also exploring opportunities to enter in venture with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC Motor) to produce electric vehicles.
Heizmann said he is hopeful that the Chinese government would allow the firm to go on with three joint ventures in the country.
Volkswagen is not the only auto company that is planning to go green in a bid to increase its market share in the world's largest automarket. Other big companies like Hyundia, Honda, and General Motors have all announced big plans to capture the nascent but lucrative electric car market of China.
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A Canadian citizen who was held by Chinese authorities says she was tortured and forced to confess that she bribed a former top official who later becomes a critic of the government.
You Ziqi was arrested at the Beijing airport in 2014 while traveling with her son to the Hubei province. She was then allegedly detained on fraud charges.
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You claimed Chinese authorities forced her to testify that she had bribed Xie Weidong. The Chinese government also seized You's family assets approximately worth $10 million.
Her testimony was then used to issue a red notice against Xie, who was a businessman and a former supreme court judge before immigrating to Canada two years ago.
Both Young and Xie say that the case against them is based on false testimony. They believe that the case is being instigated by officials in the Communist party trying to cover up the plundering of You's family assets.
"I have come from inside the system. I know very well the extent of corruption and darkness there," Xie told the media.
David Matas, a lawyer who has extensive experience in the human rights field in China, said that these kinds of scenarios are a common occurrence in the country.
"They operate by attacking friends, relatives, neighbors and business associates as a way of getting the target. They drain the pool to catch the fish," Matas said.
The allegations against You dates back to 1999 when she represented her brother in a debt dispute. The case landed on Xie's desk and he ruled in You's favor.
Xie said that one of his sisters had bribery charges pinned on her by Chinese authorities to force him back.
Canada repatriates dozens of people to China each year, despites claims of human rights violations.
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(Photo : Getty Images) A rescue team run to a model of Shenzhou VI during a pre-launch drill at a landing site in the Badan Jara Desert on September 14, 2005 in Jinta County of Gansu Province, northwest China.
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The two Chinese astronauts aboard the Shezhou-11 have successfully returned to Earth on Friday, according to a live broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV).
Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, who have been staying and working in the Tiangong-2 space lab since Oct. 18, have landed safely in the northern region of Inner Mongolia.
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CCentral Television revealed images of the Shenzhou-11 on the ground flanked by Chinese flags and ground teams. The capsule successfully touched down at 2:15 p.m. Friday local time (01:15 a,m, ET), according to Reuters citing Xinhua.
Before the astronauts were allowed to go out from the capsule, medical examinations were conducted. But Zhang Youxia, the space mission's chief commander, assured in a televised speech that both are in good condition.
According to NASA Space Flight, the Chinese astronauts, who conducted the six crewed mission for China, carried out several experiments including on-orbit examinations of the crew's hearts, lungs, and biochemistry conditions, and effective prevention for space motion sickness. The duo also had the chance to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the flight days.
Meanwhile, the Tiangong-2 will remain in its orbit and will resume conducting experiments until it docks with Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, which is expected to be launched in April 2017.
"Tiangong is a precursor testbed of capabilities. Building toward the large space station has always been the culminating goal of the Shenzhou program," Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor from the Naval War College, told CNN.
The Shenzhou-11 started its return journey on Thursday. It separated from the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab at 12:41 p.m. (Beijing Time).
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(Photo : Getty Images) Analysts say the uncertainty of Trump's election win has provided China the perfect opportunity to win its neighbors over to its side.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping is ready to fill in the political void left following the recent election of US President-elect Donald Trump by strengthening ties with Latin America and pushing for regional free trade pacts at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru this weekend.
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Accompanied by more than 500 Chinese businessmen, President Xi is expected to seize the opportunity to advance and promote the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to replace the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has already expired.
Amid Trump's threat that he will pull the US out of the TPP, which he said is a "death blow" for the country's production jobs, the Obama administration last week announced that it would not push for the ratification of the pact.
Strategies
Joining the TPP is one of the strategies that the Obama administration has taken in its pivot to Asia foreign policy which has suffered several setbacks including the Philippines' anti-US rhetoric and Trump's refusal to advance the TPP deal.
Several Asian countries have agreed to scrap the TPP deal and have expressed interest in joining the China-led regional trade pact.
The RCEP is a regional trade pact between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six other countries in the region.
Non-ratification
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said that his country would not ratify the TPP and would instead join the Beijing-led RCEP.
Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said Canberra would likewise scrap plans to ratify the TPP and would study another regional pact being pushed by Beijing known as the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
Analysts say the chaos brought by Trump's election has provided China the perfect opportunity to win its neighbors to its side.
Economist Arthur Kroeber said Trump's lack of interest in regional trade pacts such as the TPP "gives China an opportunity to execute geopolitical influences and sort of write the rules of regional integration in the Asia-Pacific region."
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TagsAPEC summit, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Trans-Pacific Partnership, President-elect Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi jinping
'Big Bang' Steven Hawking insists future is limited on earth & Franklin Graham agrees 18 November, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |
NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) Humanity's only hope for survival is to look to the stars, the world's most famous physicist has said, and one of the world's leading evangelists agrees with him in part.
"I don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet," Stephen Hawking told the Oxford Union debating society earlier this week.
Hawking was discussing the origins of the universe and said he hoped scientists would soon be able to use gravitational waves to look into the heart of the "Big Bang" the moment scientists claim all of the cosmos spontaneously erupted into existence.
To me, you don't have to be a physicist to see the awesome power of the Master Creator when you see the innumerable stars and all of His vast creation. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
Hawking doesn't actually believe the world will end in 1,000 years. Instead, he believes 1,000 years from now is the beginning of a window of statistical probability when something catastrophic could occur on earth. Before it does, he said, humans should "remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet."
"Try to make sense of what you see, wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up," Hawking said.
Hawking said he believes humanity can one day jump off of earth and find a future among the heavens.
Evangelist Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan's Purse, said he believes Hawking is partly correct. Humanity could look to the stars, he said in a Facebook post. But to Graham, it doesn't make sense to look to the heavens unless humanity is looking for life in the God who created them all.
"Well known physicist Stephen Hawking is in the news for announcing that he didn't think people would 'survive another 1,000 years without finding another place to live besides Earth," Graham wrote.
"As human beings, our time is limited for sure we're not promised another breath, another day, or another year. But if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we can rest confidently in the hands of the One who created us and breathed life into us. He created this amazingly intricate universe we live in."
Graham wrote that Hawking's comment about looking up to stars is one with which he can agree.
"To me, you don't have to be a physicist to see the awesome power of the Master Creator when you see the innumerable stars and all of His vast creation. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Him," Graham wrote.
Graham posted Nehemiah 9:6 beneath his comment:
"You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You."
The Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, who heavily fined bakery owners Aaron and Melissa Klein for declining a request to bake a cake for the lesbian couple's wedding, lost his race for Secretary of State.
Avakian had slammed $135,000 on the Christian bakery owners for refusing to bake the wedding cake for lesbian couple because of their religious beliefs.
He had also ordered a Portland bar owner to pay $400,000 fine because he asked a group of transgender people not to frequent the bar, claiming that they caused disruption in the business.
Republican Dennis Richardson, who is a lawyer and a Vietnam War veteran, won the popular vote. The historic result ended a nearly 14-year Democratic control over statewide offices, as Richardson became the first Republican to win the office since 1985.
The responsibilities of the Secretary of State include managing elections and public records, and auditing public accounts.
Richardson's victory in Oregon came as a surprise to many as it is traditionally a Democratic-leaning state and one of the six in the country where state House, Senate and the seat of Governor are all controlled by the Democrats.
"I think people in Oregon were uncomfortable with Avakian's stated objective of expanding the scope of the Secretary of State's office to broaden a progressive agenda," Oregon political analyst, Rob Kremer, told Independent Journal Review.
Because of the hefty fine by the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), the Kleins had to close their business, though the fined amount was raised by generous donations.
"The people of Oregon have spoken," said Aaron Klein, co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa. "Hopefully with the guy that won, we'll see religious freedom start to grow in this state."
Kleins' bakery 'Sweet Cakes by Melissa' has served gay customers before, but the owners refused to bake the wedding cake because they said it would be tantamount to taking part in the ceremony which was not in line with their Christian beliefs.
Iran's house church movement is on the rise despite ongoing persecution of Christians, according to various media reports.
Last week, Mohabat News reported that over 200 natives and Afghans were baptised near Iran, and that the mass baptizing service was organized by eight local churches.
"According to our contacts in Iran, the house church movement is seeing astounding growth. This is despite the intense persecution the house church movement faces from the government," Stark, International Christian Concern's Regional Manager for South Asia, told The Christian Post.
God Reports, an activist platform, said that the Iranian church is witnessing a spectacular growth and may be one of the fastest growing churches in the world.
"The word that a lot of our senior leadership team has been using recently is momentum, the Lord is really doing something," said Mark Howard of Elam Ministries.
"We see incredible opportunity," he added, "reaching Persian speaking refugees in Europe, planting churches in Iran - people are so open right now."
"Every day we have many coming to the Lord. If you give a starving person food and water they will want to share it. That's what they find in Jesus. They are so hungry and thirsty for the truth. They are experiencing it in a powerful way. When they do they want to share it with others."
God Reports quoted Elam Ministry as saying that Iranians have a special affection for Jesus who they see as a "revered prophet." The ministry said that many Iranian poets have written about Jesus.
"They [Iranians] are spiritual people. As many search for truth and hunger for the truth, it is natural to look for that in Jesus. When someone tells them about Jesus they are eager," Howard added.
Christians continue to face persecution in the country. Many believers, especially Muslim converts, are arrested for practicing their faith or are harassed in day-to-day life.
Recently, three Christians were sentenced to 80 lashes by a Sharia court for drinking holy communion wine. The three men were Christian converts from Muslim backgrounds, and were imprisoned for several weeks before being released on bail.
It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Sharia law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to another religion.
In June, three Azerbaijani Christian men who were attending a wedding in Iran were arrested and put in Evin Prison. They were imprisoned for two months, and charged with engaging in missionary and anti-regime activities. They were released but may be arrested again.
"Prayers are definitely needed to continue for these men that they won't be rearrested, because that can happen in this country and it has," said Emily Fuentes of Open Doors USA. "But we're thankful they're out of prison, because that's also not the fate for many Christians."
The election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. President came as a shock to some Christians across the nation, but perhaps equally shocking was the exit poll result that 81 percent of evangelicals voted for Trump.
Numerous Christians have written, tweeted, and posted their opinions online in light of the exit polls in terms of what evangelical now means, and how they will associate themselves with or distance themselves from the term.
Fuller Theological Seminarys president Mark Labberton and president emeritus Richard Mouw issued a joint statement on Monday, saying that the term was blurred during the elections season both because of the media and because of some evangelical voices.
This polarization, even among evangelicals, led some to conclude that evangelicals on both sides were increasingly and inextricably bound to and complicit with scandalizing words and actions that degrade people and contradict and betray the gospel of Jesus Christ, they stated.
Evangelical has value only if it names our commitment to seek and demonstrate the heart and mind of God in Jesus Christ, they said in the statement.
They added that Fuller will continue to identify itself as evangelical because of its non-negotiable commitment to the evangel, Gods good news.
However, some were more quick to distance themselves from or criticize the term, particularly the term, white evangelical.
Ray Ortlund, pastor at Immanuel Church, tweeted on Wednesday, I am not a white evangelical. I am a Christian, a grateful member of the gloriously diverse Body of Christ.
Congratulations to white evangelicalism on your candidates win. I dont understand you and I think you just sealed some awful fate, tweeted Thabiti Anyabwile, contributor to The Gospel Coalition. Im not alone in seeing serious problems with evangelicalisms witness at the moment, he added in a blog post.
Author Preston Yancey tweeted, So I guess Im not an evangelical. Because Im not whatever the hell this is.
For white evangelicals who now feel like strangers in a strange land, this has been my experience as POC for most of my life. Lets talk, tweeted Helen Lee, author and director of marketing at InterVarsity Press.
Others in the public sphere shared similar sentiments as that of Fullers presidents, expressing disapproval for what the term evangelical has been used to refer to, yet still not completely disassociating themselves.
Katelyn Beaty, former editor at Christianity Today, wrote in an op-ed to the Washington Post that she felt that she woke up on Wednesday after the elections to an evangelical family [she] no longer resembled.
Although recently I have wished it were otherwise, evangelicals are my people, Beaty added. But this time, this election, I cant defend my people. I barely recognize them.
Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, wrote a blog on Christianity Today titled, No, Evangelical Does Not Mean White Republican Who Supports Trump. He explained that researchers often use the term evangelical to really mean White evangelical, which could present inaccurate portrayals of the group.
Some have said they dont want to use the label anymore, embarrassed because of its identification with Donald Trump. But thats backwards, Stetzer wrote. Its not the label that supported Trump, its people White Evangelicals, primarily. But its not politics that unite all Evangelicals; its the gospel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Russia will remove its signature from the founding treaty of the organization, which had been on the papers since 2000 but were not ratified.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the ICC did not serve its purpose effectively and that "during the 14 years of the court's work it passed only four sentences having spent over a billion dollars."
The decision by Russia also came a day after the ICC said in a report released this week that Crimea and Sevastopol are in a situation amounting to "an ongoing state of occupation."
Recently many African countries have also withdrawn from the ICC.
The United States is not a participant of the ICC, even though it had signed the treaty also known as the Rome Statute in 2000. The US withdrew its intent of ratification in 2002. The Obama administration sought to cooperate with the ICC when it sent a US delegation to attend the annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague in 2009.
"The U.S. also signed but has not ratified the Rome Statute [just like Russia until recently]. Basically, they will not allow their citizens to be tried by anyone except the American courts," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Politics magazine.
The Rome Statute was ratified by 123 nations. Some of the countries which have not signed or ratified the treaty include India, China, and Indonesia.
Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte also stated his intent to pull out of the ICC.
"They are useless, those in the international criminal [court]. They [Russia] withdrew. I might follow. Why? Only the small ones like us are battered," Duterte said.
Most African and European countries are still members of the tribunal founded in 1998.
I felt uncomfortable as my friend Danny and I sat down to watch the latest Marvel comic book movie. He and I have been watching big-screen heroes together for more than 20 years. From The Hobbit to Harry Potter, from Star Wars to The Matrix, from Batman to Ant-Man, we love these stories of lonely characters who are catapulted out of their comfort zones, reluctantly recruited into rebellions against evil, and transformed into sacrificial heroes. And apparently the rest of the moviegoing world agrees with us. What could be more ordinary?
But life has felt anything but normal during this week of dramatic and deeply troubling news. I didnt know if I could focus on, much less enjoy, Doctor Strange.
Nevertheless, as I drove home afterward, Danny and I couldnt stop talking about this latest variation on the classic hero story. It has an unusual twist that I find, um, strangely reassuring.
A thousand new film reviews and articles are tracing Stranges history. Its easy to learn about how Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, the pair who first imagined Spider-Man, designed this spaced-out sorcerer who battles evil throughout alternate universes.
And its easy to see why director Scott Derricksons adaptation for the Marvel movie super-franchise is such a success. First: Marvel is a machine that makes blockbusters. Second: Strange boasts standard-setting special effects. (Many say its inspired by Inception, but its wildest moments have equivalents in comics that predate Christopher Nolan.) Third: Strange is played by one of this universes biggest starsSherlocks Benedict Cumberbatch as the goatee-sporting, cloak-draped hero. And fourth: It sticks to the basic Iron Man outlinerich ...
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I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
Thousands of Indonesians protested this week after police named the Christian governor of the nations capital, Jakarta, as a suspect in a blasphemy investigation.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, was appointed in 2014 after his ally and predecessor, Joko Widodo, was elected president. A key presidential ally, Ahok is running for re-election in February.
At issue is the way he used a verse in the Koran when speaking to a group of fishermen in September. Do not believe everything that people say, he is reported to have said, because often you are deceived by using 51st of Surah Al Maidah (the fifth chapter of the Quran).
The verse warns Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as allies; some read it to mean that Muslims are not to vote for those of other faiths.
Buni Yuri, the man who uploaded part of the speech to his Facebook page where it went viral, did not include the word using in his transcript, which ...
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The French government introduced plans this fall to create a digital trading hindrance to pregnancy websites that dont clearly identify their pro-life view.
Being hostile to abortion is an opinion protected by the civil liberties in France, said Laurence Rossignol, minister for families, children, and womens rights. But creating websites that appear official but actually give biased information designed to deter, to blame, or to assign trauma is not acceptable.
Pro-life websites can continue to exist, but they should not be able to deliberately deceiv[e] users by posing as official or neutral sites, the French government stated.
One site the government is targeting is the popular ivg.net, which says that abortion involves risks that can appear quickly or over time. The site, which is named similarly to the governments official site, also includes testimonies from women who regret their abortions, information ...
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2 Kids Adopted From China by Different Families Can't Stop Hugging When Reunited; Mom Says 'It's a God Thing'
A little girl from China adopted by a family in the United States was happily reunited with her best friend she left behind in an Asian orphanage, thanks to the efforts of their respective adoptive parents.
According to a report from Fox 8, American couple Andy and Sharon Sykes from North Texas decided to take care of four-year-old Hannah, who grew up in an orphanage in China.
While going over Hannah's adoption materials, they noticed a photo taken during her early years where she is seen joyfully playing with and holding the hand of a little boy.
Seeing the joy in the little girl's eyes in the photo, the Sykes couple was determined to find Hannah's best friend from the orphanage. Later on, Sharon was able to learn that Hannah and the little boy even shared a weekend foster mother and even called each other brother and sister.
Because of these discoveries, Sharon made a post on her Facebook account seeking help in finding the little boy. What happened next were nothing short of miraculous: A couple living in the same area, the Clarys, decided to adopt the little boy Hannah left behind in the orphanage in China.
Just recently, the little boy, who was given the American name Dawson, flew to the United States to meet his foster family, and to finally reunite with his best friend. Sharon was able to capture on video the joyful moment when Dawson and Hannah were able to see each other again.
"They just shared a sweet and special bond. They were so close and we can't just imagine leaving him in China and have a forever family himself," Sharon told Good Morning America.
In her Sept. 9 Facebook post, Sharon says what happened was "a God thing and an answer to prayer," noting that it saw "the right people, in the right place at the right time... a miracle."
Dawson's mom, Amy Clary, also witnessed the moment of pure innocent bliss between Dawson and Hannah.
"He was so excited. He was so giddy. He just ran up to her, hugged her, and they rolled to the ground," she shared.
Aerosmith 'Farewell' tour 2017 schedule & dates: Band announces details of European leg
Aerosmith has been performing since 1970, and their roots go all the way back to 1964 when vocalist Steven Tyler still performed with The Strangeurs, which is also known as Chain Reaction. After 46 years together the band is going to release one more album and have a farewell tour which will take place starting in 2017.
Billboard reveals that the "Aero-Vederci Baby!" tour will start in 2017. The band has no current plan on when the tour might end, even if it takes place during and after the launch of their new album, but they have hinted that it could go on until 2021. A full rundown of the tour's schedule is found on their website.
Tickets will begin going on sale this Friday, but the shows won't start until next year, with the very first performance scheduled on May 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The tour will continue on May 20 in Batumi, Georgia, and on May 23 in Moscow, Russia. The band will then move on to perform in Munich, Germany on May 26.
On May 30, Aerosmith will be performing in Berlin, Germany and at Krakow, Poland on June 2. On June 5, they will be in Copenhagen, Denmark and then in Solvesberg, Sweden on June 8. June 11 will see the tour move over to Donington Park, UK, and on June 14 they will be in Dublin, Ireland. On June 17, the tour will take place in Clisson, France.
On June 20, the group will return to Germany, but this time, in Cologne. They will then perform in Florence, Italy on June 23 and in Lisbon, Portugal on June 26. Aerosmith will be in Madrid, Spain on June 29, in Barcelona, Spain on July 2, and they will end the European tour at Zurich, Switzerland on July 5.
It is still unconfirmed if the tour will take place outside of Europe, such as in the United States or Japan, following the July events. It is also unconfirmed when their final album, which will release during this tour, is going to be released.
Catholic Church One of the Most Culturally Diverse Institutions in the U.S., 'Groundbreaking' Report Shows
The Roman Catholic Church is among the most culturally diverse institutions in the United States at present, with a mix of white, Hispanic, Asian and African faithful, a recent study revealed.
According to the Catholic News Service (CNS), the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University was commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church back in 2013 to conduct a study to determine the size and distribution of ethnic communities in America.
The research showed that less than 6 percent of the 1.3 billion Roman Catholics around the world live in the United States. The survey covered 6,332 parishes with "particular racial, ethnic, cultural and or linguistic" communities, or about 36 percent of U.S. parishes.
Of the population of Catholics in America, most are still white or non-Hispanics, numbering to over 42.5 million. Latin Americans or Hispanics are the second biggest ethic community in the U.S., with a population of more than 29.7 million.
The survey also showed that over 2.9 million American Catholics are Asian or Native Hawaiian; more than 2 million are black African-American or African or Afro-Caribbean; and 536,601 are American Indian or Alaskan Native.
The same study also provided a glimpse of the average age of Catholic faithful in the U.S. based on racial profile. White American Catholics have the highest median age at 62, while Latino Catholics are aged 39 years old on the average. Taken as a whole, American Catholics have a median age of 52.
Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio, Texas, chairman of the committee that commissioned the study, described the findings as "groundbreaking."
"The Catholic Church in the United States has always been a very diverse entity, but it is the first time that all available data was brought together to map this diversity nationwide in remarkable detail," Archbishop Garcia-Siller told CNS.
"It is also the first time that parish life was looked at from the point of view of the experience of diversity. Multicultural parishes are a growing phenomenon in the United States. This is what makes this study so fascinating and groundbreaking," he added.
Christians Who Fled Boko Haram Had To Eat Leaves To Survive
Christians who fled Boko Haram's attacks have faced "open discrimination" in refugee camps and have been forced to eat leaves to survive, according to a Nigerian bishop.
Around 3,000 families 15,000 people have been supported by persecution charity Open Doors, which has provided food and cash to help them survive for the next few months.
Many of them are from Gwoza, the city declared by Boko Haram as the capital of its 'caliphate' in 2014.
Because of the discrimination they have faced, Christians are gathering in informal camps. Bishop William Naga, leader of the Borno chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said: "The governor did his best when the Christians had to flee their places in 2014 and 2015. But when the care of the camps was handed over to other organisations, the discrimination started.
"They will give food to the refugees, but if you are a Christian they will not give you food. They will even openly tell you that the relief is not for Christians. There is an open discrimination."
Jack van Tol, Open Doors director for West Africa, said: "We're very grateful to be able to assist families who were suffering so much. Reports reached us through our church networks that many Christians were in dire need of food aid. Many had resorted to eating leaves."
Bishop Naga said: "Christians in Borno State are traumatised, displaced and truly they have lost hope. In the Gwoza area there is no single church standing. In the eastern part of Gwoza Christians were a majority. And even inside Gwoza town and in its surroundings there were many Christians. Now there are no Christians left in that area."
He asked Christians to pray for them, saying: "Let our brothers continue to pray for us that we will not give up our faith, but that we will continue in our faith dynamically, strongly, vibrant and bold. [In] Most of our places everything has been looted, churches have been burned down. Our livelihood has been taken away from us. But there is one thing that has been not taken away: our faith in Christ Jesus has not been taken away from us."
Conservative Anglican Churches Buck Trend Of Decline
Conservative Anglican churches have bucked the trend of decline to show an increase in attendance over the past five years.
The Church of England as a whole has seen a seven per cent drop in the number of people at weekly services since 2010. But those churches with more strict teaching on issues such as the infallibility of the Bible, women priests and same sex marriage report a dramatic increase in regular attendance.
Churches with ties to the conservative grouping Reform grew in average weekly attendance at a rate of between three and four per cent year on year for the past five years. This compares to a decline of between one and two per cent yearly across the wider CofE.
They also have typically larger and more youthful congregations. The average weekly attendance for Reform-linked congregations was 99 compared to 40 in the CofE as a whole and only 18 per cent were aged over 70 compared to 30 per cent in the wider Church.
Reform is a conservative evangelical grouping within the Church of England that strongly opposed the introduction of women bishops in 2014. They also teach about the "infallibility and supreme authority of 'God's Word written'" as the only tool for resolving arguments about Christian teaching.
They also emphasise the "wrongness" of sex outside heterosexual marriage particularly in "homosexual forms".
ReNew is an annual conference organised by Reform alongside Anglican Mission in England and Church Society two other conservative groups.
The conference has similar teaching in opposing women having a role in church leadership and in understanding the Bible in the "literal sense as the inspired and unerring Word of God".
Susie Leafe, director of Reform, told Christian Today: "Without these churches the collapse of the Church of England would be even more noticeable."
Reform asked churches with clergy who were members of Reform or who had attended their ReNew conference to report their statistics every year for the last five years. More than 300 churches contributed to the results that support research from Canada showing theologically conservative churches grow faster than those with a more liberal leaning.
Leafe said Reform's member churches were spread across the UK with different neighbourhoods and congregations. She added they varied in style from the traditional to the charismatic. "What the leadership of these churches have in common is a belief that the Bible is our authority in matters of life and doctrine and the teaching we find in its pages about Jesus Christ is reliable, coherent, challenging and life transforming," she said.
Each church did not respond every year so the data is not complete, but offers a clear picture of growth in the midst of steady decline.
Reform's statistics back up research to be published in next month's Review of Religious Research that suggests churches with strict teaching on hell and a literal reading of the Bible grow faster than more liberal churches.
"Conservative believers, relying on a fairly literal interpretation of scripture, are 'sure' that those who are not converted to Christianity will miss their chance for eternal life," said David Haskell, the lead researcher. "Because they are profoundly convinced of [the] life-saving, life-altering benefits that only their faith can provide, they are motivated by emotions of compassion and concern to recruit family, friends and acquaintances into their faith and into their church.
"This desire to reach others also makes conservative Protestants willing to implement innovative measures including changes to the style and content of their worship services."
Family Sues Megachurch After Daughter Drowns In Pastor's Swimming Pool
An Indiana megachurch is to be sued over the death of an 18-year-old woman found unconscious in the church pastor's swimming pool.
Domonique "Nikki" Smith died on June 1 2015. She never regained consciousness after being found floating face down in the swimming pool at her pastor's home. Smith's family are now suing that pastor's church, ABC7 Eyewitness News reports.
"We need the closure. I need to know my baby's life was not taken in vain," said Vicki Walker, Smith's mother.
On Thursday Smith's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the megachurch Family Christian Centre, and its pastors Steve and Melodye Munsey. Smith had been babysitting the Munsey's 6-year-old granddaughter.
Max Solomon, Smith's family's attorney, said: "The more we looked into it, the more we asked questions, the more questions we had."
The suit filed in Lake County Indiana civil court accuses the ministers of the Munster, Northwest Indiana megachurch of negligence. Smith was found unconscious on 29 May 2015, and died on 1 June 2015. Melodye Munsey and another woman had been at the Munseys' home at the time of the incident. "She should have been watching my child, while [Smith] watched their child," Walker said, according to the Northwest Indiana Times.
Walker's local counsel Trent A McCain said: "Instead of attending to her immediately, she [Munsey] made a judgement call and said, her soul has left her body, there's no sense of urgency."
The Lake County coroner had ruled Smith's death an accidental drowning, although no water was present in her lungs. Toxicology tests showed no signs of drugs or alcohol. Because Smith's organs were donated, there was no autopsy.
Smith's family decided to take legal action after seeing security video footage from the day Smith was found, which Schererville police acquired from the Munsey home. The family say it doesn't show everything and question an alleged 15-minute gap in the footage.
"There were a lot of things that looked very suspicious," said Walker. "I believe the tape was altered."
The Church has declined to comment on the lawsuit, while the Munsey family's attorney said on Thursday that he had not received a copy of the civil complaint and could not yet comment.
Finding It Hard To Forgive? 10 Bible Verses On Mercy
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you," said CS Lewis.
Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian faith. God sent his only son to take the weight of our sin and die in our place, that we might be forgiven, be intimately connected with our Father, and have eternal life. But there's also a call on Christians to forgive others, too which isn't always easy to obey.
Here are 10 Bible verses to remind you of God's mercy, as well as the importance of learning to exhibit grace ourselves.
Ephesians 1:7-10
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."
Matthew 6:14
"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
Ephesians 4:31-32
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Psalm 103:8-12
"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Isaiah 53:5
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
Acts 10:42-43
"He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
Isaiah 43:25
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."
Colossians 1:13-14
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Psalm 130:4
"But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you."
Isaiah 1:18(b)
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Five Prophetic Writers From The Past Who Help Us Understand The World in 2016
The world in 2016 is a baffling and troubling place for many of us. Even some who are happy with the political developments this year have become uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the future and the precarious position of the economic, social and political order on both sides of the Atlantic. Here we look at five 20th Century authors who not only described their own time, but who will help us to understand our own.
George Orwell
Despite writing in the 1930s and 40s, Orwell's prophetic edge means his work remains fresh, applicable and vital today. His understanding of how totalitarianism develops and what must be done to oppose it should now be widely read and understood. The obvious places to look are his most celebrated novels 1984 and Animal Farm, but his brilliance was also captured by his essay writing. His relevance has sadly never been greater, with East and West threatened by nationalist leaders.
"Is it perhaps childish or morbid to terrify oneself with visions of a totalitarian future? Before writing off the totalitarian world as a nightmare that can't come true, just remember that in 1925 the world of today would have seemed a nightmare that couldn't come true." (Looking Back On The Spanish War)
Hannah Arendt
Arendt was a Jewish philosopher and writer who died in 1975. Her most famous work is Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil written while observing the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the most senior Nazis to be captured and put on trial. Her observation about the banality of evil that Eichmann was merely 'following orders' offers a chilling insight on the need to actively oppose wrongdoing. Her lesson for the 21st century are obvious we must play our part in standing up to those abusing power, rather than acquiesce.
"In an ever-changing, incomprehensible, world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything is possible and that nothing was true... one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness." (The Origins Of Totalitarianism)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer was a pastor and theologian of the Confessing Church the movement which opposed the Nazis. Already a theological heavyweight by the time the Second World War came around, Bonhoeffer felt compelled by his Christian convictions to oppose Hitler and even to take part in an assassination attempt. His teaching about the risk of cheap grace remains significant to the Church "Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate." Bonhoeffer's wisdom for the 21st Century is clear the Church must never surrender its role as the moral compass of society.
"There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God's commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross." (Speech in Fano, Denmark.)
Martin Luther King Jr
Dr King was murdered in April 1968, not long after many of the most famous legal victories of the civil rights movement had been won. Yet although the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were now law, King would not rest. His attention had widened to encompass not just racial injustice but economic and social injustice. He railed against the Vietnam War and against the poverty in which many whites as well as blacks found themselves. Dr King's message is still sadly urgently needed after decades of western entanglement in wars in the Middle East (continuing today in Yemen) and the racial injustice which remains.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." (Letter From The Birmingham Jail)
Dorothy Day
Day, a Roman Catholic activist, campaigner and writer, died in 1980, having lived a life committed to justice. She founded the Catholic Worker movement that combined living in community with radical acts of justice and civil disobedience. She was a critic of capitalism and communism and inspired a movement which remains a worldwide force.
"The world was in terrible shape, and I'm glad we stood up and said what we believed; but a lot of the time we'd say these beautiful things about justice and fairness and equality, but we weren't so nice to each other. We'd be jealous and we'd gossip, and we'd be moody and difficult and rude and inconsiderate. Why do I say 'we'? I mean I would be all that and if at the time I ever came near to knowing what I'd become, I'd dodge, I'd duck, I'd go on the offensive: the terrible Wall Street bankers. Lots of them were terrible and so were lots of us."
Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy.
Fulani Militants In Nigeria Torch More Christian Villages, Murder Babies, Women And Children
Muslim militants in Nigeria have torched four more villages in Nigeria and murdered more than 35 Christians, including women and children.
Some of the murdered children were barely more than babies, aged under two. Bodies were burned so badly they were unrecognisable.
International Christian Concern reported that 200 Fulani herdsmen attacked four villages in Kaduna State. Churches, homes and other buildings were gutted. Thousands of people were displaced.
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SKPU) described the attack.
"It has now become abundantly clear to even the worst sceptics that Southern Kaduna has become a killing field, where genocide is taking place unabated. Clearly, our zone and our people under the support of a powerful group of terrorists that are well funded, are systemically being eradicated," the organisation said.
The SKPU said this latest "pogrom" left whole villages completely burnt to the ground. It is calling for permanent military and other defences to be installed in areas vulnerable to attack and for land seized by the militants to be returned to the lawful owners.
"The villages that have come under the onslaught of the terrorists have also been calling for deployment of security personnel in the forest, mountains and flashpoints rather than the highways, but these calls have not received any favourable response," said the SKPU. "The pattern that has emerged, sadly now, is that attacks occur with impunity usually followed by fire fighting and feeble cosmetic measures by security agencies and the government that have failed to yield any dividend."
The attacks came just one day after the unveiling of a "public apology billboard" at a busy roundabout in the area, and a pledge by the State Governor to donate millions of Nigerian dollars to rebuilding places of churches and the Shia mosques that have also been destroyed in the violence.
The union insisted security must be improved first. "The rebuilding of churches and mosques will not serve useful purpose where the villages are deserted and unoccupied."
These attacks were in Nigeria's middle belt. World Watch Monitor reports that between January 2013 and May 2016, 826 Christians have been killed and 878 injured and 102 churches destroyed or damaged.
Baroness Cox, who narrowly escaped an ambush by Islamist Fulani militants on a visit to the plateau state of Jos in Nigeria a few days ago, said in an interview with Hassan John that was passed to Christian Today: "We must love Muslims as people, we must reach out to Muslims as brothers and sisters.
"We are all part of our Lord's creation but also we must be very aware of the threats from the militant Islamism, the kind represented by Boko Haram and where aggressive Islam is determined to establish its caliphate.
"That is what we need to pray about. We need to pray for the government of Nigeria, we need to pray that there will be preservation of democracy and freedom and justice in Nigeria, and that is very much a prayer focus for the Christians in the north.
"For the Christians in the rest of Nigeria, when one part of the body of Christ suffers we all suffer. I would have hoped to have seen more support from the peaceful parts of Nigeria and the very wealthy churches particularly in the south for brothers and sisters suffering up here... I think we should all try to be worthy of the faith that the Nigerian Christians are living and dying for up here in this part of Nigeria in the central belt and in the north."
John Hagee: Israel, Not Abortion, Won Trump The Evangelical Vote
Israel was the "hidden issue" of the presidential election, and clinched the evangelical vote for Trump, megachurch pastor John Hagee has said.
Hagee told Newsmax TV on Thursday: "The Democratic Party did not bring it up... But the Republican Party, particularly with Pence and also with Donald Trump, made it an issue that America was going to stand with Israel.
"I also believe that abortion had something to do with it, but Israel was the main issue that drove the people that we know to vote like they had never voted before."
Hagee, 76, is senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, and also founded Christians United for Israel. He is well-known for his frequent interventions in public affairs, especially his unwavering support of the Israeli government.
In May, he gave an implicit endorsement of Trump, though didn't mention the candidate by name. "I'm going to vote for the candidate that's going to make the US military great again. I'm going to vote for the party that is going to solve the immigration problem, not the one that has created the immigration problem. I'm going to support the party that brings jobs back from China... I'm not going to vote for the party that has betrayed Israel for the past seven years," Hagee said in a video message.
"If you can read a newspaper, you know who I'm talking about. No candidate is perfect, but I want you to go vote and may God give us a leader who has the courage to put America first and stand up for we the people."
White evangelicals backed Trump by 81 per cent to 16 per cent on November 8.
'Nobody Should Be Forgotten': Catholic Church Urges Prison Reform
Criminal justice reform is vital, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said today, as he urged employers to 'ban the box' that bars many ex-offenders from finding employment after prison.
Nichols was speaking at a press conference following the Autumn 2016 meeting of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales.
Most job application forms will feature a 'tick box' inviting applicants to indicate whether they have committed any criminal offences. However, ticking this box almost always results in an applicant not being considered further for the post.
Challenging this practice, the Rt Rev Richard Moth, lead bishop for prisons, said in a video message: "We as bishops call for the removal of such tick boxes. Such action would not make work places unsafe. It would, however, make possible a conversation for all job applicants, a conversation that for the ex-offender, could lead to employment, and the road away from a life of potential re-offending."
Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in the UK, said that the Church would integrate the 'ban the box' policy into their own diocesan recruitment practices, as a way of emphasising the need for the rehabilitation of offenders. The Church has increasingly made impassioned calls for criminal justice reform, and outlines proposals for such change in its recent document: The Right Road: A Catholic approach to prison reform.
Nichols spoke of how priests, particularly during this Year of Mercy, have emphasised prison visits, and the Church has made provision for more prayer books for prison chaplains. The Church is also keen to tackle the serious issues of the physical and mental health of prisoners, addressing the crisis of self-harm and suicides that currently pervades Britain's prisons.
Bishop Moth emphasised "the call for our prison system to truly embrace the road of rehabilitation, which in the words of Pope Francis, 'benefits and elevates the morale of the entire community.'"
He added: "Prisons are not isolated institutions, standing disconnected from the outside world, they are an integral part of our communities, and our treatment of prisoners reflects on the whole of society."
On his recent visit to a prison in Philadelphia, Pope Francis told inmates there: "This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in getting back on the right road... All of us are part of that effort."
Nichols referred to Pope Francis' comment on incarceration: "There but for the grace of God go I."
Emphasising the Catholic Church's celebration and recognition of the Year of Mercy, which finished last Sunday in the UK and this coming Sunday in the US, Francis had told prisoners: "Please see the door of your cell as a door of mercy."
In The Right Road, Pope Francis is quoted: "Where there is mercy, justice is more just, and it fulfils its true essence. This does not mean that we should throw open the doors of prisons and let those who have committed serious crimes loose. It means that we have to help those who have fallen to get back up."
Suicide Bombers Target Worshipers At Church In Nigeria
Two suicide bombers today targeted worshipers at a church in Maiduguri, Nigeria, but were stopped at a checkpoint by security forces, according to local media.
One female bomber blew herself up, killing a male who was also wearing explosive devices.
A second female was arrested at the scene.
Worshipers were gathered at the Saint Hilary Catholic Church for early morning mass on Friday, not far from the home of the Catholic Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese.
A security source told Nigeria's leading newspaper The Nation that the bombers were "heading for the church".
"We heard a loud bang which shook our entire building," one of the priests of the church said.
"I thought we were under a Boko Haram attack until I later found out it was suicide bombers that exploded at the check point."
Borno State police spokesperson Victor Isuku confirmed the incident.
"By 3:50am today, mobile police personnel on guard duty opposite the federal high court, sighted three suspected suicide bombers (two females and a male) running towards their sandbag. They ordered them to a halt for questioning," he said.
"In the process, one of them detonated the IED strapped to her body, killing herself and one other male accomplice. The other female survivor was arrested alive and subsequently handed over to the military for further exploitation and necessary follow up actions."
Isuku said police detonated unexploded IEDs on the bodies of the deceased, and had restored order to the area.
Borno state has been a particular target of Boko Haram an Islamist militant group that has been active since 2009.
A report in 2013 stated that at least 100,000 Catholics had been displaced in the Diocese of Maiduguri as a result of the militants, and more than 350 churches attacked. On Tuesday, the UN warned that 75,000 children are at risk of dying within "a few months" due to a famine caused by Boko Haram's insurgency.
Upon his election last year, President Muhammadu Buhari pledged to stamp out the terrorist group but has as yet failed to do so.
Some territory has been reclaimed from the group, but an estimated 2.6 million people remain displaced and more than 20,000 people have been killed.
Terrorist Attacks On West Soar 650%
Deadly terrorist attacks on the West soared by 650 per cent in 2015, statistics released this week reveal.
The shocking rise in OECD member countries is despite a 10 per cent fall in deaths from terrorism globally. The Global Terrorism Index 2016 was released by the Institute for Economics and Peace on Wednesday and said the drop in the total number of deaths is the first fall since 2010.
"This decline in terrorism deaths is mainly attributed to a weakened Boko Haram and ISIL in both Nigeria and Iraq due to the military operations against them," said the report.
"However expanded activities by both of these groups in other countries is posing new threats in other parts of the world."
Despite the overall fall in deaths a record number of countries have recorded their highest levels of terrorism in the last 16 years. This was largely because the number of people killed by terrorism in Niger, Cameroon and Chad increased by over 157 percent in 2015.
The number of deaths in OECD countries rose from 77 in 2014 to 577 in 2015.
The report pointed to a "complex global picture" where 76 countries improved their score according to the index while terror attacks in 53 countries worsened. The report pointed out that as military efforts have affected terror groups in their home countries, they have changed their focus to "lone wolf" attacks overseas.
"While the weakening of ISIL and Boko Haram in their central areas of operations in Iraq and Nigeria is positive, this change has coincided with two key negative trends which have driven up terrorism in the rest of the world," the report said.
"The first is ISIL's shift in tactics to transnational terrorism, not just to other parts of the Middle East but to Europe as well. The second key negative trend is Boko Haram's extension into neighbouring West African countries, which has led to Cameroon and Niger rising to 13th and 16th in the GTI."
It added: "ISIL's role in this increase was significant as more than half of the 577 deaths were in connection to the group.
"The attacks by ISIL in Paris, Brussels and in Turkey's capital Ankara, were amongst the most devastating in the history of these countries and reflect a disturbing return of the transnational group-based terrorism more associated with al-Qaeda before and immediately after September 11."
'Why White Women Shouldn't Date Black Men' - Racist Fliers Distributed At Southern Methodist University
Fliers titled "why white women shouldn't date black men" were distributed across Southern Methodist University campus in Texas last week.
Reasons given were "he's much more likely to abuse you", "he's much more likely to have STDs" and "your kids probably won't be smart", according to The Daily Campus student newspaper. The fliers appear to have been published by Alt Right, a white supremacist outfit.
The leaflets feature a number of smiling white blonde women next to straight faced black men before giving examples of failed relationships saying they are "horrific and sadly predictable".
Southern Methodist University released a statement on Tuesday this week condemning the "racist and hateful message in these fliers". The "concerned students" have met with SMU's Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the statement added.
"These messages have no place at SMU and are in opposition to SMU's values and commitment to an environment free from discrimination."
SMU's president Gerald Turner added in his own statement on Wednesday: "In challenging times, the country should be able to look to those educated in one of our nation's finest universities to provide insightful analysis of the nation's events that would guide us to to go forward individually with mutual respect, even when mutual agreement may not be immediately possible.
"The entire community must recommit to discouraging and eliminating such unacceptable behaviour."
A surge in racially charged incidents has swept across the US in the wake of Donald Trump's election as president.
Although the flier does not mention Trump the reference to the Alt-Right will raise concerns after the Republican named Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist in the White House.
World's Oldest Stone 10 Commandments Sold For $850,000
The world's oldest stone inscription of the 10 Commandments has been sold at auction in California for $850,000.
The two-foot-square slab of white marble is believed to have been carved in the late Roman period as early as AD 300 for a synagogue in western Israel, in what is now the modern city of Yavneh.
It is carved in a script used by the Samaritans derived from Hebrew and Aramaic and lists nine of the commandments from the book of Exodus, omitting "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" and adding one adopted by the Samaritans exhorting worshippers to "raise up a temple" on Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank city of Nablus.
The Samaritan sect was repressed by the Romans in the mid-400s and the synagogue may have been destroyed then or later, perhaps by the Muslims or the Crusaders.
It is officially designated one of Israel's "national treasures", but the Israel Antiquities Authority approved its export on the condition that it is displayed in a public museum.
Heritage Auctions director of ancient coins and antiquities David Michaels said: "The sale of this tablet does not mean it will be hidden away from the public. The new owner is under obligation to display the tablet for the benefit of the public."
The owner has chosen to remain anonymous.
The tablet was the centerpiece of an offering of Biblical historic artifacts, all thoroughly researched and authenticated, and owned by the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, New York, according to ArtDaily.org.
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The Houston Airport System is expecting 1.5 million holiday travelers at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports between Friday, Nov. 18, and the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Both airports are forecasting more fliers than last year. Bush Intercontinental is predicting an increase of roughly 19,000 people for a total of 1.2 million. Hobby is expecting about 32,000 more travelers for a total of nearly 363,000.
Nationwide, holiday travelers are expected to increase 2.5 percent to 27.3 million people flying globally on U.S. airlines, according to industry trade organization Airlines for America.
To help ease travel headaches locally, the Houston Airport System is sharing hacks for getting through the airport.
"I want them to get where they want to go faster and more easily," said Kathleen Boyd, head of marketing for the Airport System. "I want them to have information at their fingertips."
MORE: Q&A: Airport director aims high as he navigates the oil slump
First things first, she said fly2houston.com can provide information on parking availability, flight status and security wait times. Security wait times are available at Hobby and for Terminal A at Bush Intercontinental. She expects that will expand to all terminals at Bush Intercontinental in time for the Christmas holiday travel.
Terminal C at Bush Intercontinental, she said, has a parking garage that "only frequent fliers know about." Don't go into the first garage but instead drive past Terminal C and there is another garage.
For dining, fly2houston.com can help travelers search for specific food options including local food, gluten free and kid friendly and check restaurants' operating hours. The Skyway, an above-ground people mover at Bush Intercontinental, can take travelers to other terminals for their favorite eats. Kids enjoy the ride, too.
"If your kids love trains and you're post security, you can go back and forth on that Skyway," Boyd said.
Travelers with an American Express Centurion or Platinum cards get free access to the new American Express Centurion Lounge in Terminal D. Other American Express cardholders can pay $50 to enter, space permitting, and United lounges charge a $59 one-time fee for non-members, space permitting. Priority Pass, which provides its members access to a network of lounges worldwide, is accepted in the Air France and KLM lounges in Terminal D at Bush Intercontinental.
RELATED: Airport lounges ascend as competition intensifies
The Harmony in the Air program will provide music at both Hobby and Bush Intercontinental. And for art lovers with extended layovers, she said art-specific online maps will guide them to notable pieces at Hobby and Bush Intercontinental.
"Wherever there's art, we have a terminal and level-specific map," she said.
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When it comes to criminals involved in drugs and money laundering, two of the biggest names are Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Pablo Escobar. But criminal empires aren't exclusive to men.
Mexico's attorney general is offering rewards for information leading to the arrests of eight women linked to multiple crimes.
EXTRADITION BATTLE: 'El Chapo' could see death penalty if sent to U.S., attorneys say
According to the Spanish-language newspaperEl Pais and the online Mexican news outlet Narcotrafico en Mexico, the women are accused of such crimes as human trafficking, drug trafficking and murder.
Mayra Elizabeth and two other women known as "The Kitty" and "La Beba" are suspected members of the Los Zetas Cartel and are believed to have played a part in the 2011 attack on the Monterrey Casino Royale. The fire bombing killed 52 people. Los Zetas were in a battle with the Gulf Cartel at the time, according to reports.
Kenia Rocio Priego Alarcon is accused of organized crime and trafficking minors. The Mexican government is offering $500,000 for information about her whereabouts.
DRUG WAR: What Trump's presidency might mean for drug cartels
Patricia Murguia Ibarra and Rain Eunice Hernandez Mata are wanted for child trafficking crimes. El Pais reports Ibarra is the former director of the Center for Adaptation and Family Integration, a hostel in Nuevo Leon. In 2009, three children disappeared during her time as director. Authorities believe the children became victims of human trafficking. The newspaper reports both women fled to unknown locations after the case went public.
In 2012, a recovered child told authorities that Ibarra and Mata kept him hidden at family members' houses. Authorities are still searching for the two women.
EXOTIC PETS: What happens to lions and tigers when their cartel owners get raided?
Since 2010, Erkia Valenzuela Dynora Obeso has been one of Mexico's most wanted criminals. She's accused of laundering drugs from Colombia to Mexico. Narcotrafico en Mexico reports that authorities believe she launders her drug money into real estate and cars.
Maria Beatriz Rendon Corona is part of Los Granados, an international organization known for human trafficking, according to El Pais. Corona is accused of pimping, trafficking and organized crime in Mexico and the United States. While two of her alleged accomplices have been arrested, she has evaded capture.
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Donald John Trump Jr. is the oldest of the five Trump children.
He works in his father's business empire and often appeared in his dad's "The Apprentice" television franchise.
Here are nine things to know about the first son.
MORE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FIRST FAMILY:
9 things to know about the other girl, Tiffany Trump
The Trump whisperer: 10 things to know about Jared Kushner
"Little Donald": 9 things to know about Barron
The spare: 9 things to know about Eric Trump
Anyone who has been in Houston during a flood knows it is not a fun time. At all.
However, the Air New Zealand travel magazine apparently didn't get the memo, because they featured a promotion for Houston using a heavily-edited flood photo.
A vehicle crashed into an apartment complex in southwest Houston on Friday morning injuring two children and their mother, according to police.
The incident occurred around 9:15 a.m at 8077 Creekbend Drive. Sgt. C. Nickerson with the Houston Police Department said the driver was traveling northbound when the motorist ran a stop sign and then struck the Braeswood Forest Condominiums.
Two children both age 2, their 27-year-old mother, and the suspect were transported to area hospitals. The extent of their injuries were not given.
The children, mother and father were inside when the vehicle struck their apartment unit. Nickerson said officers were doing a routine patrol of the area when witnesses approached them about the incident.
Robert Hunt III, an apartment resident, was sitting in the living room and on the computer, when the vehicle crashed into his unit.
He said his wife and 2-year-old twins were in the bedroom, when the impact of the crash moved the bed and caused debris to fall on top of the bed. He recalled trying to remove some debris off his son from the crash.
"He just crashed through the house," Hunt said. "Totally, totally out of the blue."
He said his wife has a concussion, and his daughter had a gash on her forehead. The father does not know the extent of his son's injuries. They are all currently being treated at a local hospital.
Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said the incident has been classified as a non-fatal accident and one person has been taken into custody.
Bill Montgomery/Houston Chronicle
Bush Intercontinental Airport is one of seven U.S. gateways that will receive a portion of $110 million that British Airways has earmarked for customer experience upgrades.
The airline plans upgrades at its business class lounges in Houston, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. British Airways chairman and CEO Alex Cruz announced the changes Thursday in New York.
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Art Sisneros will be on the hot seat when Texas electors gather Dec. 19 in Dallas.
Sisneros, 40, an industrial welding supplies salesman from Dayton, was chosen as the elector to represent Congressional District 36, which includes Liberty, Newton, Jasper, Tyler, Polk, Orange, Hardin and Chambers counties, at a time when the field of Republican candidates was much broader.
"Ted Cruz was still in it then. John Kasich, too. There were other options besides Trump. I never expected he would be the candidate for the Republican Party," Sisneros said.
Sisneros said his religious faith makes him reluctant to pledge support for Republican president-elect Donald Trump. But that puts Sisneros in something of a bind.
Once named an elector, Sisneros signed a non-binding affidavit pledging support for the Republican nominee, but this also came before some of the more salacious revelations about Trump at the end of the election cycle.
Sisneros, a devout Christian, believes Trump fails match up to the biblical qualifications of a presidential candidate for the United States, though he hasn't decided how he will vote.
"I don't think Trump is a Christian and I don't think anyone takes his claims that he is a Christian seriously," Sisneros said. "My personal feelings are irrelevant; however, I do think it's important that I meet the qualifications that God has placed on me as a voter."
In early fall on a blog post titled "Biblical Voting in the Age of Trump," Sisneros explained his decision to hold true to his faith, even if it meant going against the Republican Party.
"It seems clear to me that God both calls me to vote and directs me to only vote for men who fear Him and are just according to God's law. He doesn't expect or allow me to add to his qualifications and seek for perfection. He also doesn't hold me accountable for all the sins that these qualified men commit once in office. He does, however, give me clear commands for who is qualified and expects me to be obedient with my calling as a voter. Therefore, I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Donald Trump for president," he wrote.
While some Christians may rationalize voting for Trump, Sisneros said he cannot.
"We have been told for so long that we have to vote for the lesser of two evils, but that leads to an evil person being elected. I think the Republican voters allowed their fear of Hillary Clinton to motivate them to support Trump, instead of their fear of God," he said.
Sisneros' ambivalence toward Trump has caused a backlash among Republicans in Liberty County. Many of those outraged at Sisneros took to social media to ask him to reconsider his vote, which could very well be cast for Thomas Hoefling, a third party write-in candidate and for whom Sisneros voted in the general election.
"...Liberty County Republicans, you chose Art in good faith that he would represent you, not himself. If he does not use his electoral vote for Trump as this county voted, then he should never be allowed to represent the county again," wrote Gayle Coleman, wife of former Liberty County Republican Party Chairman Ken Coleman, on her Facebook page.
Ryan Daniel, who became the county's party chairman in June, said in a written statement that he still expects Sisneros to vote for the candidate who won the congressional district - Trump.
"However, vilifying one another over differences of opinion is inexcusable and has no place in our county party," Daniel said.
Since announcing his reluctance to vote for Trump, Sisneros said he has been inundated with phone calls, text messages, social media posts and emails.
"I think I have heard from every angry Trump supporter. I've also heard from Hillary supporters and Bernie supporters. Most of those just want me to not vote for Trump," he said.
In the weeks leading up to the Dec. 19 assembly, Sisneros will be weighing his options.
"I haven't decided what I will do. Part of the reason is there are moral implications of who I vote for and there are also moral obligations from signing the pledge," he said. "If people have confidence in me, then they know where I stand."
State Republican Party officials were called for comment but they declined, in part because Sisneros' one vote will not change the outcome of the election.
"This is purely principle," Sisneros explained, " and I have to vote for what I can live with."
More than a dozen honorees, from a justice of the peace to an artist and the owner of the popular local restaurant Italianos, earned recognition as 2016 FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center's Women of Achievement.
During a special reception with past Women of Achievement Sunday, Nov. 13, the newest crop of women will be recognized at the Women of Achievement Gala Jan. 21 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.
"FamilyTime has been around since 1977, and we still have people volunteering today that were with us then," Judy Coz, executive director of FamilyTime, said during the reception. "We have four locations in three counties, including our Thrift Store in Porter, our Counseling Center and Shelter both in the Humble area, and the counseling center and Thrift Store in Dayton. We are delighted to recognize these 13 women and honor each of them for their contributions to our communities."
MARI OMORI - THE ARTS
A talented artist in her own right, Omori is a true force in promoting fine arts events and activities in the Lake Houston community. She shares her knowledge, training, artistic and creative talents with the public in gallery presentations and with her students as professor of art at Lone Star College-Kingwood.
JENNIFER VANDENBROOK - EDUCATION
Throughout her 22 years in education, all of which have occurred in Humble ISD, Vandenbrook has made a significant difference in the lives of many students, parents and staff members. Currently, as a counselor at Pine Forest Elementary, she has implemented crucial programs that enhance learning and the well-being of students, including: Kids Hope USA Mentoring program, Backpack Buddy, Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students), Cookies with the Counselor, Panther PALS (Peers as Leaders), No Place for Hate (Anti-Bullying Campaign) and Comfort Dogs.
NANCY COZAD - Volunteer
Cozad has volunteered in the community for 26 years. Her biggest volunteer effort has been with Humble ISD and the district's Education Foundation. She has served on bond committees, district decision-making committees and in many PTA board positions. In addition, Cozad has volunteered for more than 20 years with the Humble Area First Baptist Church as an adult choir member, music librarian, children's choir director and wedding coordinator.
PAT MORLEN - Community Activist
A retired teacher, Morlen is dedicated to spending much of her time helping others, as she cares about people and the community. In addition to teaching, being a mom and a military wife, Morlen also became a surrogate mother to the young enlisted soldiers and their families. During deployment, she was the Readiness Group Leader making sure all went well, and holding hands when things were not. In the political arena, Morlen is serving as the first vice president of the Kingwood Area Republican Women and is currently a Harris County precinct chairperson, an election judge and a member of the Harris County GOP Ballot Security Committee.
MIA HOYT - Homemaker:
In describing Hoyt, many have said that she is the most selfless person that they know. Her dedication to family and community is something to be admired. In an 18-month period, they fostered 8 children. As a foster mom, Hoyt took over the emergency care of two children, ages 5 and 18 months, from the same family. These children were physically abused and exhibited severe developmental and behavioral delays. According to her friends, Hoyt's unconditional love and care for children, especially as a foster parent, has positively affected the lives around her.
ALEXANDRIA HOUSTON - WOMEN'S ADVOCATE
In honor of her cousin, a victim of domestic violence, Houston created BEAT DV (Becoming Educated and Aware Together about Domestic Violence) to empower women and educate the community about the perils of domestic violence. The organization also provides hair care services, clothing, holiday parties, and school supplies for the shelter. In addition, every Thanksgiving Houston holds a fundraiser, "Twenties for Turkeys," which raises money to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for the women and children at the shelter.
SUSIE KUMBARCJA - ENTREPRENEUR
On any given night, there is a crowd enjoying food and fellowship at Italiano's restaurant. The owner, Kumbarcja, grew up in the restaurant business and learned from an early age how to keep the customers walking in the door. Starting from Romas, a small local pizza place, Kumbarcja and her husband, Al, built Italiano's with one thing in mind-offering great food at affordable prices so the community can enjoy a night out. Kumbarcja works the counter, greets people, directs waiters, serves food, clears plates and stops by tables to see if anything is needed. Whether it is a school event, a local charity event, or a fundraiser for a church, Kumbarcja's generosity is endless.
LANELLE JOHNSTON - BUSINESS
Johnston has been an Associate of CruiseOne of Kingwood since 2003 and is a CLIA Master Cruise Counselor. Johnston provides exemplary, personalized service to her clients. She also provides exemplary service to her community. Johnston has held several positions as an elected officer for the Kingwood Area Republican Women, representing the club at both the local and state level. Under her leadership, KARW has received several awards. Johnston also serves as a mentor to aspiring business leaders. She is a charter member of the Deerwood Toastmasters, which was formed in 1994 and she teaches leadership skills and assists those interested in starting their own Toastmasters club.
BARBARA HEMPHILL - HUMAN SERVICES
Fifteen years ago, Hemphill started a support group for caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. When she realized that many who needed the group could not attend, she developed a website designed to keep dementia caregivers aware of current information, local resources, and educational events. In 2014, she co-founded Kingwood Memory Cafe, a nonprofit which assists Lake Houston area families living with dementia in its early stages. In addition to these projects, Hemphill works each year with the Kingwood Caregiver Conference and an Alzheimer's Association photography and poetry project.
LANA WALKER - VISIONARY
Walker has been involved in several outreach ministries but wanted to start her own ministry to benefit women who need assistance in the community. With some encouragement from Lake Houston United Methodist Church and a vision, Lana started Handbags of Hope where she collects gently used purses and wallets, and fills them with almost everything's women would need for a fresh start. She has delivered more than 500 filled handbags to FamilyTime where they are distributed to women in crisis that FamilyTime serves. Her enthusiasm for Handbags of Hope is contagious, prompting other organizations, such as the Rotary Club and the several High Schools, The Commons Ladies Club in her Neighborhood, Churches, friends, and family, to donate to the ministry and offer to help stuff the purses.
MEGAN MARIETTA - MEDICAL
Marietta serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Kingwood Medical Center. During her tenure, she has overseen the construction of an additional 211 inpatient beds, The Women and Children's Center, a 24-hour Emergency Care Center at Fall Creek, two observation units, cardiac and neurosurgical operating room suites, a Neuro Endovascular lab, the cardiac catheterization lab expansion, the Breast Center expansion, and an inpatient rehabilitation unit. In the community, Marietta has served on the Greater East Montgomery County Board of Directors, the Lake Houston YMCA Board, and the Montgomery County United Way Board.
LARYSSA KORDUBA - SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Korduba is the first woman to serve as our Justice of the Peace for Harris County Precinct 4. As judge, Korduba has made many changes in streamlining the operations of our local people's court, taking the office from paper-driven to a more computer automated operation. Her changes are saving time and money for area taxpayers. Korduba has also focused on making sure students stay in school. She works hard with them, and their families, to help them understand the importance of getting a High School diploma and has promised to attend their graduation as a way to encourage them to finish.
LORI SCHERR - SPIRIT OF FAMILYTIME
Scherr's generous nature and warm personality have been a gift to many. Whether as a Girl Scout leader, Art and Environment Minister or international children's sponsor, Lori gives from the heart with quiet efficiency and passionate dedication. Scherr has co-chaired FamilyTime's Mothers Are Jewels Luncheon for the past three years and helps with FamilyTime's other annual events such as the gala and candlelight vigil. Sharing FamilyTime's passion to help those in need, Scherr co-founded the Home Again Ministry at Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church.
Jared Kushner is the husband of future first daughter Ivanka Trump and a close confidant of her father, President-elect Donald Trump.
But he has been a prominent figure in New York real estate and media for a full decade.
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Part-time guide for Northstar Tours in Canada, David de Meulles, was leading a bus when he saw something he'll probably never forget.
Meulles had just stopped the bus near a sled dog sanctuary. A polar bear that according to an article on ABC had just woken up from a "cat nap" approached a nearby dog.
"The bear then just started gracefully petting the dog like a human" Meulles told ABC. "It was incredible to see such a powerful animal be so friendly with such a small dog. Normally, these animals are known as killers."
DEVASTATING: The Arctic is melting, affecting polar bear habitat
The Churchill, Manitoba native told CBC News he has seen bears interact with dogs, but never to the level he witnessed on Nov. 12. Churchill is located on the coast of Hudson Bay in the far northern reaches of the province.
Luckily he managed to capture the "mind-blowing" moment and uploaded the video to YouTube, where it has gotten nearly 800,000 views.
"It was a beautiful sight to see," said Meulles to CBC. "I just can't believe an animal that big would show that kind of heart toward another animal."
The polar bear might not be endangered yet, but the has been categorized as "vulnerable" because the population is steadily decreasing.
Take a look through the gallery above to see some on the species that are officially ranked as endangered.
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Scenic Houston knows how to throw a mean fundraiser.
The streetscape planning and revitalization organization's winning formula is simple: al fresco reception, minimal programming, and killer speeches.
This year's chairs Julie Peak and David Hightower went above and beyond, having produced the non-profit's highest-attended and most financially successful annual dinner with $390,000 raised.
Truthfully, late October's near-perfect weather didn't hurt.
Around sunset, more than 360 supporters clinked glasses on Houston Country Club grounds before heading into the tony venue's sunken ballroom. There, Houston Public Media's and soiree emcee Ernie Manouse encouraged presenters to keep remarks short and sweet.
"I have one important role," said board chairman Harry Masterson. "To extend a huge thanks to our chairs and ambassadors."
Indeed, a room full of civic leaders, including former mayors Bill White and Annise Parker, and past honorees attended the festive occasion. Just when it seemed that the evening would wrap in record time, one key figure, sitting Mayor Sylvester Turner, arrived later than expected to present honoree with an eponymous "Larry D. Johnson Day" proclamation.
"I cannot say enough about Broadway (Street)," Turner said of Scenic Houston's latest endeavor. "It has literally transformed in our presence."
Cheered on by family, peers, and members of his decades-long breakfast club, Johnson closed the show.
"I grew up with a love of scenery," he shared. "Growing up in West Texas, the scenery yes, there were tumble weeds was a little bit different, but just as a wonderful."
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Montgomery County residents left a recent town hall meeting with more questions than answers after the East 1488 Montgomery Community Association of Montgomery County hosted a forum for residents to voice their concerns over rising fees on their water bills.
But the state agency they feel is most responsible, the San Jacinto River Authority, opted not to come to the town hall citing ongoing litigation between the SJRA and the cities of Conroe and Magnolia.
Representatives from the Lone Star Ground Water Conservation District were also unable to discuss details related to the lawsuit.
"They were unprepared," said Jeremy Smith, who lives in Durango Creek in Magnolia, arguing that the officials who did come were not able to succinctly or effectively answer any of residents' questions.
The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District is one of many groundwater districts throughout Texas. The LSGCD regulates groundwater resources in Montgomery County.
In response, cities like Conroe partnered with the San Jacinto River Authority to reduce their use of groundwater.
But residents say, as water delivery fees from the SJRA rose in recent years, they've been powerless to curb rising fees and feel they've been kept in the dark about the transparency of those charges.
"Show us the cost, show us the breakdown," Smith said, "If you can give us an intelligent answer then we'll back off."
City officials such as former Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said they now regret the partnership, and have protested that the SJRA's seats on the LSGCD board are a conflict in interest. The lawsuits from Conroe and Magnolia prompted the SJRA to countersue after the cities chose not to pay the higher rates.
Kathy Jones, LSGCD general manager, said regarding proposal to change the LSGCD board from appointed to elected was an attempt to change the rules that govern the district.
"I believe there is a push from the plaintiff in the lawsuit because they have a weak case, and this is their attempt to change the rules and regulations to take over the board."
Recently re-elected state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, ran on a platform of greater transparency among water districts, pointing to potential conflicting relationships between SJRA and LSGCD.
"In an area like Montgomery County, where jurisdictions overlap and interests compete, it may take legislative intervention to ensure we are keeping it fair and holding government accountable," he said.
Smith, who lives in one of the least impacted parts of the county, said he and his neighbors are still plenty concerned.
And for other residents throughout Montgomery County, some families have seen fees that are quadruple what the actual water bill was. They said for some, its even been in the thousands of dollars.
One family has seen their fees steadily jump over the last two years. After another spike (adding seven and a half cents per 1,000 gallons) earlier this fall, the pair had enough after seeing a fee on a $299.50 water charge was $403.49 for a total water bill of 735.94.
That for a house without a pool occupied by a couple in High Meadow Ranch.
"My neighbors are paying less for a bigger house," resident John Daring said of the inconsistency of the SJRA-related fees.
For Daring, his issue is less with his direct water provider and more with the state agencies which he feels are handicapping providers by forcing them to pass high charges onto their customers.
He's also skeptical of the SJRA which reasons that they must hike prices to compensate for "a critical funding shortfall" due to "unexpectedly high rainfall," something that some hydrologists have disputed.
While litigation is pending, some officials told the crowd of around 200 to be engaged and write their local and state officials to enlist their help in resolving the issue.
For Melder, he regrets tying his residents into the partnership.
"Unfortunately, the greatest mistake that I made as the mayor of Conroe, Texas; I trusted two state agencies. One of those is SJRA, the other Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District," he said.
The Houston dentist whose care earlier this year left a 4-year-old girl severely brain damaged may no longer practice medicine in the state of Texas.
The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners Friday voted to permanently revoke the license of Dr. Bethaniel Jefferson, whose licensed has been temporarily suspended since January, when the incident occurred. The revocation will become final in 25 days.
The action comes two months after a state administrative judge recommended the permanent revocation of her license. She ruled that Jefferson failed to meet a minimum standard of care in her treatment of Navaeh Hall, including not "recognizing and responding to the emergency situation," when the girl had a seizure and went into shock.
The case dates to January, when Navaeh's parents brought her to Jefferson's clinic for seemingly routine treatment of teeth decay. There, Navaeh was given excessive levels of sedatives, overmedication that deprived her of enough oxygen.
In hours, state records show, Navaeh suffered brain damage and dystonia, a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions. She spent three months in a rehabilitation hospital, unable to walk, talk or respond to instructions, before being discharged to home care in April.
"Nevaeh will never recover from her injuries," James Moriarty, the family attorney, said in a statement. "However today's decision is a victory for her parents, and all parents who take their kids to the dentist. We applaud the Dental Board, and State Administrative Law Judges who, through their actions today, are protecting other children from negligent dental practitioners."
Moriarty has filed a civil lawsuit in Harris County against Jefferson on behalf of Nevaeh's parents in the matter.
The dental board's vote was unanimous, except for one member who abstained. On Friday, attempts to reach Jefferson for comment were unsuccessful.
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A slew of Houston protest leaders have been arrested in the past week on charges ranging from simple jaywalking to felony tampering with evidence, prompting allegations that police are targeting local organizers in an effort to shut down protests following the presidential elections.
The result could be a "chilling effect" on free speech, said defense attorney Brian Harrison.
At least seven people including leaders with Black Lives Matter, the Black Panthers, a local socialist group and other organizations were arrested during a string of Houston protests.
"It is my belief we are in the middle of a police campaign to tamp down on demonstration and protest after the election," Harrison said.
Some protesters claim police are zeroing in on local organizers.
"The leadership is being targeted," said Ashton P. Woods, a leader in the local Black Lives Matter movement.
When asked about the allegations, Houston Police Department spokeswoman Jodi Silva highlighted the department's experience with covering public events and officers' ability to help make sure everyone can exercise their right to free speech.
"There are times there are arrests when the violations of the law are committed," she said, "but any time somebody feels that the department has treated them unfairly we request them to make an internal affairs complaint."
One of the most publicized cases was the arrest of Sheree Dore, a Black Lives Matter organizer and homeless advocate accused of punching a police horse.
Even as Dore appeared in court Monday where the judge more than doubled her bail prosecutors were preparing to file similar charges against another protest leader, Joseph Wade, who often attends Houston protests dressed like Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.
During a rowdy Nov. 10 anti-Trump protest, Wade was initially arrested and cited for jaywalking, according to court documents.
Three days later, he was charged with felony harassment of a public servant for allegedly spitting on the officer who told him not to jaywalk.
Then on Tuesday, prosecutors filed another felony charge alleging that Wade punched a police horse named Sgt. Curly.
Harrison, Wade's attorney, said he believes HPD keeps files on protest leaders "and they have ended up arresting a number of those people this week. But whether that's enough to say that they're actively targeting the leadership, I don't know."
Bryan Sweeney, a Black Panther who was arrested both at the Nov. 10 march and again on Tuesday, was more outspoken.
"They're telling the leaders things like, 'We're going to arrest you today,'" he said.
But whether are not police are targeting specific people, Harrison said, the arrests are unprecedented.
"I am not aware in the 16 years that I've been active in Houston politics of any string of arrests like this flowing from demonstrations in Houston and I think it is most clearly sending a message to people stay away," he said. "Stay home or you will be arrested."
The protesters say arrests won't stop them. More actions are planned for the next week, including a Sunday afternoon anti-Trump demonstration at Westheimer and Post Oak.
"You can jail the revolutionary but you can't jail the revolution," Sweeney said.
Problems related to construction of a new $2.5 million animal adoption center have created months of delays and increased costs, city officials told members of the Pasadena City Council at a Nov. 15 meeting.
Mayor Johnny Isbell said the problems were so extensive they had considered firing the contractor at one point.
"We were seriously thinking about jerking away the contract," Isbell told the council. "We had serious concerns because the plumbing was sticking up everywhere and we had to get that straightened out before they could pour the slab."
In May, the council awarded a $2.5 million construction contract via competitive bidding to Houston-based IKLO Construction for the new animal adoption facility. Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful by presstime.
Isbell said officials were able to get the project back on track with help from the project's architectural firm, Civil Concepts Inc. The city now proposes paying the firm up to $50,000 to help oversee the construction process on an "as-needed" basis. Robin Green, Public Works Director for the city of Pasadena, told the council the project was behind schedule by several months because of bad weather, but he expected construction to be complete by next March.
The measure was unanimously approved on the first reading. The council is expected to grant final approval on Nov. 29.
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SAN ANTONIO An 18-year-old UTSA student was arrested Wednesday for allegedly getting a soft drink refill from a restaurant on campus and assaulting one of the workers who tried to force him to pay, according to court documents.
Justice A. Falade was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery, which poses a maximum sentence of between five to 99 years or life in prison.
Falade allegedly walked over to a soda machine dispenser on Monday in the John Peace Library food court and filled a personal cup with a beverage and walked away.
An employee at the food court, described as being 65 years of age or older, confronted Falade and said he had to pay for the drink. He allegedly told her no because it was his own cup and tried to walk away, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by mySA.com.
When he walked away the woman said she would call police and started doing so. Falade then allegedly grabbed the phone out of her hand and walked away with it. She attempted to get her phone back by pulling on the mans backpack.
When she reached for her phone, he allegedly grabbed her by her left wrist and slammed her to the ground, the affidavit said.
Falade confessed to the theft incident but disagreed on the manner that the complainant landed on the ground, the affidavit said.
He said he gave her ample warning to let go and then jerked his arm away from her, causing her to stumble and fall, according to the affidavit.
A witness intervened and grabbed Falade, throwing him to the ground and telling him to get out of the area, according to the affidavit.
Falade was identified via a still photograph from surveillance footage.
The woman suffered a contusion to her left hand, a right shoulder sprain and a sprained left wrist, the affidavit said.
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Landry's Inc. filed a defamation lawsuit against a California-based animal welfare organization over allegations made about the living conditions for the white tigers at the company's Downtown Aquarium.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Harris County, accuses the Animal Legal Defense Fund of defaming the company with "deliberately false accusations of animal mistreatment and criminal conduct," over four captive-bred white Bengal tigers that have been housed at Houston's Downtown Aquarium since 2004.
In the lawsuit, Landry's accuses officials with ALDF of making false statements about the tigers, saying they are kept in "deplorable" conditions harmful to their well-being. The company says the organizations distributed "false information" through social media, interviews and their public website.
In a statement released late Thursday, the ALDF said "We have received the lawsuit and we're currently reviewing the allegations."
Update: Judge tosses defamation lawsuit over Landry's tigers
Landry's says ALDF is attempting to coerce them into giving up their tigers and sending them to a "sanctuary" that they deem appropriate. If not, the animal welfare group will file a lawsuit in federal court based on the Endangered Species Act.
The Downtown Aquarium is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an animal exhibitor and is regularly inspected under the Animal Welfare Act. Landry's also said the Downtown Aquarium is fully accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Zoological Association of America.
"The Downtown Aquarium has never been cited for a non-compliance with the AWA nor has it had any Animal Welfare Act violations related to the care of its tigers or any other animal," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit should not come as a surprise to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In September, an attorney for Landry's said the company planned on taking the legal action because of the "false" and "manipulative " statements made by the group.
The lawsuit seeks a retraction of the statements and damages to the "jurisdictional limits of this Court."
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Carl Conyers, the 21-year-old University of Houston student who went missing earlier this week, has been found safe, according to police.
Conyers is the son of Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. The 87-year-old congressman is currently the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Michael Rosen, a spokesman for the University of Houston, said campus police received a tip from Conyers' girlfriend Daisha Lewis and then located the student at his apartment complex in the 3700 block of Southmore around 1:30 a.m Friday.
"The primary concern of the university and the university police was being able to ensure Mr. Conyers' safety and being able to reunite him with his family," Rosen said Friday.
Conyers was interviewed by Houston Police Department investigators and then was released to his family.
Police said the UH student was found in good health, but circumstances surrounding his disappearance are still under investigation.
Tuesday, Conyers had reportedly disappeared with his bike and car being left behind at his apartment complex.
His close friend Corey Gentry also confirmed Conyers was found Friday morning, but could not provide any further information.
The FBI and Secret Service had joined in the search for the missing student on Thursday.
According to a report this week out of Austin the YETI company will soon open its first flagship store in one of that citys busiest and most-popular shopping districts.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that the Austin-based brand known for its heavy-duty drinking tumblers and ice chests will soon open up a store featuring all things YETI at 220 South Congress.
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Despite concern from LGBTQ activists, a Texas state senator's office says a bill addressing parents' right to full disclosure of school information would not force schools to "out" students who identify as sexual minorities, her chief of staff said.
Sen. Konni Burton, R-Fort Worth, filed Senate Bill 242 on Thursday for the 2017 Texas Legislative session that begins Jan. 10 in Austin.
The two-page bill states that a parent is entitled to all of a school district's written records about their child's "general physical, psychological or emotional well-being (except information related to child abuse). An attempt by a school employee to conceal or encourage a child to withhold information is grounds for discipline, the bill states.
TOP 10: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick lists his top 10 priorities for the new legislative session
Equality Texas, a nonprofit organization that works to secure equal rights for sexual minorities through legislation and education, on Friday issued a statement opposing Burton's bill.
"Until kids are not kicked out of their house for being gay or transgender, and until kids are not being beaten by parents for being gay or transgender, we owe it to kids to protect them," said the statement from Steven M. Rudman, Equality Texas board chairman. "We believe Sen. Burton's legislation would essentially destroy protected communications between a student and an educator...."
Some also worry that the bill would also put lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) Texas youth at risk of being placed in so-called "reparative therapy," which is based upon the premise that homosexuality is a mental health problem, according to the progressive website TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com.
KEEPING SCORE: Houston ranks near bottom in LGBT equality report
"That is an unfortunate interpretation," said Elliott Griffin, the senator's chief of staff, on Friday.
Nothing in the bill should be construed to mean that a child could be forced into reparative therapy, he said. "I have no idea why they would draw that conclusion."
Burton's proposed bill came about in response to the Fort Worth school district issuing new guidelines about transgender students, which triggered an uproar over parents' loss of access to complete information, Elliott said.
There was also concern with how the guidelines were developed at the administrative level, without involving the local school board or getting parental input, Griffin said.
As Burton noted in an op-ed piece she wrote in May, she was "appalled" that the school district would be willing to share information with a third party if it was deemed necessary but kept parents on a "need to know" basis.
Nonetheless, Griffin emphasized Friday that Burton's bill does not include a duty to report information unless a parent asks for it.
SUNDAYS TOO: Dallas church could be in trouble for giving LGBTQ members full rights
Texas already has legislation that outlines a parent's right to have information about their children, and the proposed bill would clarify and make stronger those existing statutes, Elliott said.
SB 242 "streamlines" the legislation, he said, by consolidating in one place existing provisions that now appear in several different parts of Chapter 26 of the Texas Education Code.
If a student talks to a teacher or counselor about being gay or identifying as some other sexual minority, Burton's proposed bill is silent on how the teacher would be required to respond, he said.
"We wouldn't presume to tell an individual teacher what to do," Elliott said. "If you (as a parent) call and ask about your child, you should have the expectation that the school isn't going to withhold valuable information. It's existing state law."
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As the White House announced its annual turkey pardoning for the day before Thanksgiving, an animal rights group claimed that the Pennsylvania farm that supplies turkeys to the first family keeps its birds in densely crowded, inhumane conditions.
The advocacy group, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), said it filmed animals at Jaindl Turkey Farms in Orefield, Pa., over several months beginning in June. In video and images released by the group, the animals appear to struggle to move and fight one another for space. Some appear sick or injured, and some of the birds have mutilated beaks.
"Some were so deformed that they could no longer eat," text in the video reads.
David Jaindl, the owner and president of Jaindl Farms, called the DxE video a "gross inaccuracy."
DxE is a frequent critic of the meat industry, particularly of what it says is a bogus animal-welfare ratings system at Whole Foods Market.
"The President has been duped by Jaindl Farms into promoting violence against animals," DxE investigator Tiffany Walker said in a statement. "We're asking him to look at our findings and denounce, rather than promote, Jaindl and other animal-abusing enterprises."
Jaindl said the group filmed a "recovery barn" for sick turkeys and said animals intended for sale to Whole Foods are kept elsewhere at the 219-barn facility.
"These individuals illegally trespassed and staged what you saw in that video in many different instances, and I am furious," he told The Washington Post.
Gregory Hostetter, Pennsylvania's deputy secretary for animal health and food safety, visited Jaindl's facility this week and praised the operation.
"They actually have some of the best animal-husbandry practices," he said of the farm.
Jaindl also said that the barn appeared overcrowded because turkeys were moving toward the trespassers' lights.
"Anybody who knows the first thing about poultry knows you can't do that," he said.
The White House declined to comment, referring questions to the National Turkey Federation. The federation provides the live birds pardoned by the president each year, and each year it chooses a different supplier.
Jaindl says on its website that it provides the turkeys the first family eats, not the ones a president pardons. The company says it "has sent two Grand Champion turkeys to the White House each Thanksgiving" and that one of its brands "has been selected by the National Turkey Federation to supply the turkey that graces the holiday table at the White House each Thanksgiving" since 1962.
However, Jaindl turkeys have not been eaten in the Obama White House. In 2014, The Post reported that Obama had donated the turkeys to charity each year during his administration.
"I will bring a couple less fortunate turkeys to a great organization that works to help out our neighbors here in D.C. who need it most," Obama said in 2013. "And I want to thank Jaindl's Turkey Farm in Orefield, Pennsylvania, for donating those dressed birds for the fifth year in a row."
Wayne Hsiung, an organizer for DxE, claimed that the group visited 80 percent of the barns on site and found similar conditions. The idea that animals in one barn were better cared for, he said, defied logic.
"If you believe that story, you must believe in Santa Claus," Hsiung said.
A letter from Jaindl's legal counsel sent to DxE accused the group of "ecoterrorism" and said the video's "editing/captioning grossly misrepresents what was captured."
"If ever you could have chosen the wrong operator as an example of poor treatment of turkeys, you certainly have done so in this instance," read the letter from Joseph A. Zator II. "It is your organization that has harmed turkeys. Sneaking into a hospital barn in the middle of the night, when such activity causes the birds to crowd and stampede, thereby injuring many."
Whole Foods said the turkeys in the video are not the ones it buys from Jaindl.
"Whole Foods Market has the highest animal welfare standards in the industry, and we take any allegations of mistreatment of animals by a supplier very seriously," Robin Kelly, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a statement.
AUSTIN -- The State Board of Education ended a months-long battle over a controversial Mexican-American studies textbook Friday, officially rejecting the text critics have lambasted as erroneous and offensive.
The board voted unanimously to exclude the "Mexican American Heritage" textbook from the list of texts recommended to Texas' 1,247 school districts. However, individual schools and districts still can opt to use the book.
AUSTIN -- After decades of planning and controversy, the first monument honoring the contributions of African-Americans to Texas history will be dedicated Saturday at the Texas Capitol.
Gov. Greg Abbott will join members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus -- along with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a former House member and caucus member -- at the 10 a.m. unveiling on the south lawn of the historic statehouse of the large bronze friezes that will form the centerpiece of the new monument.
Nearby are much-older monuments honoring Confederate soldiers for their service during the Civil War. Texas was a part of the Confederacy.
It is the second memorial dedicated to a specific ethnic group. The Tejano Monument, dedicated to Mexican-American history in Texas, was installed in 2012 just east of the Capitol entrance driveways, across from the site of the African-American memorial.
The new monument features portrayals of the African-American experience in Texas -- from exploration in the 1500s to slavery and from emancipation to achievements in the arts and sciences -- and has been in planning for decades in what originally was to have been a statue honoring Juneteenth and the end of slavery.
"This is part of people's history, and you can't walk away from the reality of it all," Ed Dwight, the Denver-based artist who designed the memorial, said in an earlier statement. "Each state has experienced slavery and civil rights in a different way because they had different laws and different fervor."
Officials with the State Preservation Board, which maintains the statehouse, said the new monument joins 20 others across the Capitol grounds, including statues honoring volunteer firefighters and veterans of five wars.
Dwight said he started work on the memorial in 2010 and the final product cost about $3 million to complete. A foundation for the memorial raised more than $2 million for the effort, and the Legislature two years ago contributed more than $1 million.
"After many years of hard work bringing the Texas African American Historical Monument to the Capitol Grounds, the stories of struggle and triumph of African-American Texans will be properly consecrated at our state's capitol," state Rep. Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement.
In an earlier statement, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said the monument serves as reminder of the progress Texas has made toward achieving equality, and the work that remains.
"As we've seen in recent battles over textbooks and Confederate monuments symbols matter," Ellis said. "History belongs to us all. And students of every color and creed should see themselves reflected in our museums and our history books. Texas is and has long been a vibrant, diverse state. We are all strengthened when we begin to understand, celebrate and honor all of our histories instead of denying or distorting those histories."
The Legislature's original plan for an African-American monument was much different than the memorial to be dedicated on Saturday.
The first plan in 1999 was dropped after the statue was completed and quickly drew criticism that one figure on it closely resembled then-state Rep. Al Edwards, a Black Caucus leader from Houston who had advocated for the project. It was never installed.
State officials said Friday that as part of the dedication ceremonies, Buffalo Soldiers will post the colors and a choir from the historically African-American Huston-Tillotson University will sing.
NASA scientists recently found evidence pointing to the fact that Mercury is undergoing a planetary "global contraction," meaning the solar system's smallest planet may be getting even smaller.
Researchers who study high-resolution pictures of Mercury's surface argue that a massive 2-mile deep valley has formed as a result of the planet's shrinking.
The metaphor of the moment is that Donald Trump is the dog that caught up with the car. Multiple members of his own transition team have used this analogy when explaining their scramble to catch up. The truth is that almost no one on his own team thought he could win. They planned, or didn't plan, accordingly.
A more apt reference, especially after Trump's inauguration, might be the Pottery Barn Rule. Colin Powell popularized this doctrine in the foreign policy context. The then-secretary of state warned George W. Bush about the consequences of invading Iraq: "You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all." As Bob Woodward recounted in a 2004 book, "Privately, Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called this the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it."
-- Trump and the congressional Republicans who have chosen to make their bed with him are responsible for what happens from now on. There is now no one to blame if they can't pass budgets, avoid shutdowns, deal with sequestration, replace Obamacare, destroy ISIS or reverse the continuing loss of manufacturing jobs. If climate change gets worse, it's on them. If Syria continues its downward spiral, it's on them. If more countries acquire nuclear weapons, it's on them. It may be totally unfair, but that's the way our system works.
-- This is a rude awakening that faces every president, regardless of party, but it will be especially acute for someone who has demonstrated a preternatural unwillingness to take personal responsibility for anything.
Barack Obama constantly blamed Bush and the Republicans for the lingering effects of the Great Recession, but by the 2010 midterms - just two years after the greatest economic calamity in 80 years - most voters were sick and tired of what they saw as excuses. Fairly or not, they punished Democrats for their pain. Congressional Republicans made a strategic decision not to help Obama; it paid political dividends but corroded public faith in the institutions of government. Now congressional Democrats are faced with a similar choice.
-- Republicans are about to have unified control of government for the first time since 2006, which was three years before the birth of the tea party movement. The GOP has changed dramatically during the intervening decade, lurching rightward from being for smaller government toward being anti-government. Then the party's rank-and-file nominated someone for president who is simultaneously promising the biggest tax cuts ever, a massive increase in defense spending and steadfast opposition to any entitlement reform.
The last time Republicans had unified control of the government, the American people were so happy with how it went that they made San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House and a community activist turned law professor named Barack Hussein Obama the first black president. Both developments were unthinkable to many at this juncture in 2004. Trump's rise is, at least to some degree, a belated over-correction to the overreach of Pelosi, Obama and Harry Reid during their two years with super-majorities.
-- The GOP now has a lot on its plate for the first 100 days. Many Republicans in the Capitol are talking about trying to use reconciliation to repeal Obamacare in January. Trump has suggested his top priority will be an infrastructure spending package.
Trump's appointees need to get confirmed. Attorney General-designee Jeff Sessions, whose nomination to a federal judgeship was blocked in the 1980s by a bipartisan group of senators because of alleged racist comments he had made as U.S. attorney, will not be able to coast through the Judiciary Committee, despite the fact he is a member. (In fact, that actually hurts his prospects - because he cannot vote for himself.)
Much more importantly, because it will shape the country for a generation, the president-elect must quickly decide on a Supreme Court pick. A bunch of the names on his list of 21 could face heavy resistance.
This week, Trump made his first stamp on Congress as House Republicans bowed to his wishes and announced plans to extend government funding through March, despite warnings from top GOP senators that such a short-term spending strategy will wreak havoc on the first several months of his presidency. In addition to the big-ticket items, Trump will now need to negotiate a bill to fund the government. This could wind up wasting a lot of time and blunting any early momentum he might get.
Politically-savvy Republican lawmakers on the Hill are baffled by the decision to pass only a three-month C.R., instead of clearing the deck. "It'll only get harder," said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. "You'll have a smaller margin of error in the Senate, and we're not likely to get any Democratic cooperation in the new year." Trump allies argue that they'll have more leverage without needing to deal with Obama, and they bet that Democrats will never allow a shutdown. But, here again, they will own the outcome of the spending fight.
-- Will deficits matter to this unified Republican government? The GOP has a long history of only caring about the national debt during election years and when they are out of power. Fiscal discipline has tended to go out the window when they're the ones who get to write the checks.
Ronald "Reagan proved deficits don't matter," Dick Cheney reportedly said in 2002 as he pushed for a second round of Bush tax cuts at the same time that the government was ramping up expenditures for the war on terror, homeland security and Iraq.
When Reagan took office, the size of the national debt was $1.1 trillion. When he left, it was $2.9 trillion. The debt increased by more than $5 trillion during Bush 43's presidency.
-- Nothing in Trump's business record, which includes six bankruptcies, suggests he will be a deficit hawk. If Trump was still a Democrat, which he was the last time Republicans ran Washington, many GOP lawmakers would loudly worry about this. But we're already seeing some of the likeliest conservative dissidents fall in line.
-- The influence and intellectual integrity of conservative outside groups will be tested as never before in the coming months, from the Koch political network to Heritage Action and the Club for Growth. The GOP relentlessly attacked Obama's "stimulus" in 2009, turning it into a dirty word, but it looks like the party is about to get behind the same sort of massive infrastructure spending. There is also a push by Republican members in the House to bring back earmarks, though it has been put off for now.
-- Besides winning, what are Trump's core convictions? Every leak out of Trump Tower only bolsters the narrative that Trump lacks a cohesive worldview or a coherent ideology. As Herbert Hoover once said of FDR, Trump is a chameleon in plaid. He ran against Common Core; now he's considering two Common Core cheerleaders for Education secretary. He ran against interventionism, but now he's mulling John Bolton for State. He spent months lacing into Mitt Romney as the symbol of a broken GOP; now his team is floating that the 2012 nominee could be asked to run Foggy Bottom. Trump promised to drain the swamp; now he's relying on swamp creatures to show him how.
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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United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. Heres hoping that it is the pleasure of President-elect Donald J. Trump to keep junkyard-dog federal prosecutor Preet Bharara on the job long enough to finish the extraordinary work he has undertaken in New York.
Custom has it that U.S. attorneys stand ready to depart when a new president is inaugurated. Bill Clinton, taking office in 1993, demandedand receivedresignation letters from all 93 federal prosecutors. New brooms, as they say, sweep clean. Bharara, if not a new broom, is certainly a big one, and hes been sweeping clean since President Obamaon the recommendation of Senator Charles Schumerappointed him U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2009. Thats one of the most challenging prosecutorial posts in the federal government, albeit one that has generally focused on Wall Street and the financial markets. Bharara widened the brief to include New York government at the state and local levelscoring spectacular, if substantially incomplete, results.
Former New York assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and one-time state senate majority leader Dean Skelos are on their way to federal prison; former key aides to Governor Andrew Cuomo await formal indictment in separate scandals; and New York City mayor Bill de Blasios administration has been hamstrung by at least five investigationsmost of them conducted, initiated, or materially aided by Bharara.
Not since Manhattan district attorney Thomas Dewey went after Tammany Hall to splendid effect some 80 years ago has a single prosecutor had the effect on political corruption in New York that Bharara has already achieved. Yet for all of that, much remains to be done, with not much time to do it if standard succession conventions are observed.
New York will never be free of corruption. Greed, stupidity, and arrogance are part of the human conditionarguably nowhere more acutely than in the Empire State. Bhararas singular service to date has been to impose a measure of restraint on business as usual. Going forward, rare will be the gathering of politicians and other players where the folks at the table wont wonder who among them is wearing a wire. And that is all to the good in a state known for its political culture of corruption.
De Blasio is heading into his reelection year, with Cuomo presumably to follow in 2018. For better or worse, each deserves unequivocal conclusions to the investigations and related activities that Bharara has initiated. The prosecutor needs to drop the hammer or lift the cloud, to be blunt. And New Yorkers need a clean resolution also, for otherwise, a restoration of confidence in their government is impossible.
For any of that to happen, Bharara needs time and support. Questions loom, not least among them this: Will the new U.S. attorney generalwhoever that might beprovide Bharara that time and support? Any president-elect has a lot on his plate. Given the circumstances, President-elect Trump likely has more distractions than most. But he is a New Yorker; he cant help but understand whats at stake. He can do his hometownand the rule of lawa substantial favor by extending Preet Bhararas tenure.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Throughout the 2016 Republican nominating process and the just-concluded general-election campaign, Mitt Romney stood out as one of Donald Trumps harshest critics. The former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential candidate was a charter member of the Never Trump brigade. Romney questioned Trumps integrity, his competence, and his temperament in unambiguous terms. Trump responded in kind. Hes a loser, Trump said of Romney at a May rally in Anaheim, California. He choked like a dog . . . and he walks like a penguin onto the stage. Did you ever see? Like a penguin!
Now comes news that Romney will meet with the president-elect this weekend to discuss the possibility of becoming Trumps secretary of state. If true, its surely one of the most unexpected political reversals in modern history. It might also work, both for Trump and the country.
Appointing Romney as his chief diplomat would make Trump look strategic, high-minded, and gracious in victory. It would likely calm the nerves of American allies around the globe, who might prefer Romney to more hardline candidates whose names have been mentioned, such as John Bolton or Rudy Giuliani. It would also play well at home: Romneys reputation has rebounded among Democrats, some of whom now regret their over-the-top demonizing of him in the 2012 campaign. A Secretary of State Romney could be all upside for President Trump.
What does Romney get out of it? In a heavily covered speech in March, the former GOP nominee predicted that a Trump presidency would lead to economic recession and that Trumps bombastic style would complicate Americas ability to project power. Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart, said Romney. Im afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart. Statements like that are hard to misinterpret. Were Romney to take a job in the Trump administration, hed have to find a way to explain those comments.
At 69, Mitt Romney is unlikely ever to hold elective office again. If he still wants to serve in government, this could be his last chance. Its clear that Romney cares deeply about the United States and its future (even Democrats can admit that now). Accepting Donald Trumps offer to become secretary of state, should it come, might be the best gift he can give his country.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Concurs de selectare a 2 consultanti care vor realiza un curs de analiza tranzactionala pentru profesionistii din sectorul educatie in vederea sprijinirii integrarii copiilor refugiati in institutiile de invatamant din RM
Before leaving Pulitzer Hall, the Columbia Journalism School building in Manhattan, on Election Night, I stopped by our makeshift newsroom to absorb some of the evenings excitement. It was still early in the process; polls were just beginning to close around the country. Students were gathering and checking in with their professors, who were their editors for the night. There was a sense of history in the making.
My mind went back 44 years, to November 7, 1972, when I was a student at the school. I was just 23 years old, but on that night, I got to cover a presidential election and write about it for a special edition of the Columbia News. We followed the results on an AP teletype machine that spewed out state totals and on a black-and-white TV featuring Walter Cronkite on the screen.
The school was much smaller back then (after all, this was before Watergate made our profession sexy). There were 123 students in my class, roughly half our class size today. But the division of labor for election night wasnt all that different. Some students, their pockets full of dimes, got to go to the campaign headquarters and phone in scene and color (from pay phones, of course), while others, like me, were on the rewrite bank. I typed my story on an IBM Selectric.
It was not a late night. President Richard Nixon, running for re-election, trounced Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, winning 49 states. McGovern won Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Nixon even beat McGovern in his home state of South Dakota.
By contrast, the night of November 8, 2016 was a long one. It was after 3 am when Donald J. Trump took the stage and claimed victory. A huge, unanticipated upheaval had taken place in America, and few of us in New York media circles had seen it coming. At a Columbia Journalism School forum the next day, students were visibly upset and many, especially women and people of color, spoke about their fears. They worried aloud about Trumps incendiary comments during the campaign about women, Muslims, African Americans, and the press. After all, here was a candidate for president who said he planned to open up the nations libel laws so we can sue them and win money.
I took the microphone and reminded the students that, like Trump, Richard Nixon, the president of my youth, was an ardent foe of press freedom. He wiretapped journalists phones, unleashed the Internal Revenue Service on them, and featured them prominently on his enemies list. In one landmark case, he went to federal court to stop The New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers, a secret history of American involvement in Vietnam. (Nixon lost when the Supreme Court reversed a lower court injunction and allowed the Times to keep publishing.) Nixon won by a landslide that night, I told the students, but most important, he never served out his term. He was forced to resign less than two years later because of two young and smart reporters on The Washington Post.
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As George Packer reminds us in this weeks New Yorker, Nixon was felled by more than Woodward and Bernstein. It was the courts, the Congress and, as we later learned, the FBI, whose deputy director, Mark Felt, turned out to be Deep Throat.
But this was no time for a full history lesson. My purpose was to highlight the role of the press in bringing Nixon down and draw a line from Nixon to Trump. Weve been through worse, I added.
Nixon-Trump comparisons are not new. In fact, Trump himself made one on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. I think what Nixon understood is that when the world is falling apart, people want a strong leader whose highest priority is protecting America first, Mr. Trump said, according to The Times. The 60s were bad, really bad. And its really bad now. Americans feel like its chaos again.
The Times reported that quote in a news analysis by Michael Barbaro and Alexander Burns headlined Its Donald Trumps Convention. But the Inspiration? Nixon.
In an evening of severe speeches evoking the tone and themes of Nixons successful 1968 campaign, they wrote, Mr. Trumps allies and aides proudly portrayed him as the heir to the disgraced former presidents law-and-order message, his mastery of political self-reinvention and his rebukes of overreaching liberal government. It was a remarkable embraceopen and unhesitatingof Nixons polarizing campaign tactics, and of his overt appeals to Americans frightened by a chaotic stew of war, mass protests and racial unrest.
There was no mention in that article that Trump was also using Nixons playbook in his treatment of the press, especially what he saw as the elite East Coast liberal media. Like Trump and his Twitter account, Nixon found his own way around the establishment press by taking his case directly to the people through the new medium of television. Television turned out to be both his friend and his undoing.
In 1952, when Nixon was the vice presidential nominee running with Dwight Eisenhower, his place on the ticket was in jeopardy because of a report in the New York Post that he had access to a secret rich mens trust fund that enabled him to live lavishly. Nixon delivered a half-hour televised address in which he defended himself and said that regardless of the charges against him, he was going to keep one gift: a black-and-white dog who had been named Checkers by the Nixon children. It became known as the Checkers speech.
In 1960, however, TV was not so kind to him when, running for president against John F. Kennedy, he appeared tired, sweaty and nervous on the screen during a presidential debate. It has often been said that people who heard the debate on radio thought Nixon won; those who saw it on TV thought Kennedy won. Nixon did not have a face for TV.
TV was also his undoing because his fall was played out for all to see when the Senate Watergate hearings were broadcast gavel-to-gavel on PBS and witnesses like John Dean, the former White House Counsel, boldly testified that the president knew of the cover-up.
Trump too is a creature of TV. He has exploited it brilliantly, from his game show, The Apprentice, which ran in various formats across 14 seasons on NBC, to hosting Saturday Night Live, to making the rounds of the late-night talk shows. Although he has blundered during the campaign, in the debates and in interviews, TV remains his friend. Twitter is his constant companion.
Trump also shares Nixons antipathy for the press. Some of Nixons most enduring quotes are about the media. In 1962, when Nixon lost in his bid to become governor of California, he bitterly lashed out at the media, saying now that all the members of the press are so delighted that I have lost, Id like to make a statement of my own. Just think how much youre going to be missing.
He later added: You dont have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.
It wasnt, of course. In one of the great political comebacks of all time, Nixon defeated a host of challengersincluding Governor Ronald Reagan of California and Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New Yorkto secure the Republican nomination for president. He went on to beat Vice President Hubert Humphrey in the general election to become the 37th president of the United States.
He started his presidency with this axiom: The press is the enemy. That was what he frequently told the White House staff, according to Mark Feldsteins Poisoning The Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washingtons Scandal Culture. At first, Nixon gave the main attack role to his vice president, Spiro Agnew, who labeled the press a small, unelected elite, and famous called them nattering nabobs of negativism, a phrase penned by William Safire, then a White House speechwriter.
Agnew was forced to resign in 1973 after being charged with accepting more than $100,000 in bribes while holding elected office in Maryland. He surrendered his role as vice president roughly a year before Nixon, facing impeachment, would himself be forced to resign.
There were others in the White House who picked up Nixons anti-press mandate, including G. Gordon Liddy and Howard Hunt, who plotted to assassinate one of Nixons major irritants, the syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, a tale told in detail in the Feldstein book. The plot was never carried out, but the two would later plan another White House caper: the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington on June 17, 1972, a scandal investigated by two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward, 28, and Carl Bernstein, 29.
My students especially like to hear the story of these two reporters. When I invoked their work at the J School forum, several students thanked me for injecting a note of hope at a dismal time.
You have your work cut out for you, I told them. The goal is not to fear Trump, but for Trump to fear you.
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Ari L. Goldman is a professor of journalism at Columbia and the author of four books, including The Search for God at Harvard and Being Jewish.
Saul Alinsky, the legendary community organizer, has long figured in the radical rights conspiracy theories about contemporary liberal politics. Hillary Clinton wrote her honors thesis on Alinsky when she was an undergraduate at Wellesley College, and Barack Obama worked for a community-organizing group that based its approach on Alinskys methods when he first arrived in Chicago after law school. For people on the right, this was prima facie evidence that the two technocratic liberal centrists were secret revolutionaries burning with the desire to overthrow the republic.
Just as the radical right has long been obsessed with the radical lefts successes in the 1960s and early 1970s, it has also been obsessed with Alinsky. One of the figures whose efforts have now had the result of bringing the alt-right into the mainstream, Andrew Breitbart, was particularly fixated on Alinsky. This is significant in light of the fact that Breitbarts protege, Stephen Bannon, has been anointed by Donald Trump as his senior adviser.
Before his death in 2012, Breitbart wrote at length about what the radical right could learn from Alinsky in his book Righteous Indignation. Riffing on the famous Alinsky quote that the real action is in the enemys reaction, Breitbart spins the idea this way: If you do a good enough job, you can force them to make a mistake. When they do, you must be ready to exploit it.
Trump and his entourage have been pursuing this strategy, with great success, from the beginning. On the day that Trump announced his candidacy, he declared that he was going to build that wall on the US border with Mexico. This created a great deal of laughter and derision on the right, but also outrage among liberals.
The pattern was established. Trump outraged his opponents. His opponents outraged response proved that they were every bit as intolerant as Trump made them out to be. This proof of fury and intolerance on the other side added to the certainty of Trumps supporters that they had chosen the right man.
Related: Eight steps reporters should take before Trump assumes office
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Now that Trump has been elected president, his practice of Alinskys precept has intensified, especially with regard to the press. Trump knows that his supporters want a revolution, so he has adopted the style of a revolutionary. You think of Lenins terse definition of politics as Who-Whom: as the practice of one group or faction or social class acting against another. Trump is the Who. The media is the Whom. More often than not, Trump has been playing his media adversaries like a salmon.
Trump makes mostly nice on 60 Minutes then tweets something nasty about the media and the media responds full-throatedly, an example of wounded pride that Trump can then display, like the head of a moose, to his followers.
The furor in the media serves as more proof to Trumps followers, who have been accused of intolerance, that the intolerance is all on the other side. After feeling like Whoms for so long, Trumps supporters can feel like Whoslike people doing to rather than being done to. Trump can claim that he is not even the president yetand look at all the outrage and opposition.
The dark irony is that the media is getting all the transparency it ever asked for. Trump could just as well have hidden Steve Bannons twisted influence and kept him as a private consigliere, a sort of Clark Clifford of the extreme right, as he may well do in the end. Instead he chose to use Bannon to incite the liberals, a tactical provocation that will keep inspiring and fortifying his supporters.
Revolutionsthe imposition of martial law, the gradual curbing of precious libertiesare led by the lean and the hungry, not by comfortable, corpulent white males in their sixties and seventies.
Forced into the role of enemy, compelled to play the role of reactor, the media is caught in a dilemma: If they refuse to take the bait and allow Trump and his cronies to get away with inflammatory rhetoric and dangerous decisions, they risk allowing democracy to slip further into the gutter. But if they continue to take the bait and rise up in outrage and opposition, they add to Trumps legitimacy in the eyes of his supporters.
A lot of journalism now is, understandably, being led by various scenarios, the worst of which play right into the hands of the impending administration. Perhaps the media should resist its tendency the follow the darkest master narrative, and contemplate a brighter future. Here is my stab at a chain of events that might temper the medias hysterical reaction to Trumps and his associates every word and move.
As other people have pointed out, Trump has no ideology. Without ideology, there is no impetus or rationale for an authoritarian instinct to become an authoritarian programto become, in other words, a revolution.
Revolutionsthe imposition of martial law, the gradual curbing of precious libertiesare led by the lean and the hungry, not by comfortable, corpulent white males in their sixties and seventies. And revolutions are made by dispossessed people with nothing to lose who are swept up into a vision of an ideal future, not by hard-pressed people trying to hang on to what they have who are lost in a memory of an ideal past.
In contrast to Trump, Reince Priebus, his new chief of staff, does have an ideology, but it is not a fervent vision. He wants to achieve the goal that has driven the American right since the New Deal, which is to virtually abolish the income tax and remove every regulation and social entitlement standing in the way of the accumulation of wealth.
Priebus, Ryan, and Mitch McConnell, guided by Vice President Pence, will quickly adapt to Trumps inflammatory style because it both conceals their low-keyed revolutionary aims and makes their objectives look moderate compared to Trumps rhetoric and symbolic gestures. Trump will quickly adapt to their genial fiscal extremism because it serves his lifelong greed.
In many ways, Trump is their hostage. That could be why he is now seeking counsel from people like Chuck Schumer, and even Mitt Romney. The images of Trump being escorted by Ryan through the Capitol building days after the election gave the impression of a wolf being led to slaughter.
In the end, this fragile entente of crazily conflicting interests and personalities will come crashing down, torn apart by its own self-defeating momentum, the way Trumps competing casinos in Atlantic City drove each other out of business.
In the meantime, as the new regimes policies, again and again, disappoint and betray Trumps supporters, Trump will rely on people like Bannon and other extremist proxies, and on inflammatory gestures, in hopes of stirring the media pot in order to create the enemys reaction. If this happens, the enemys reaction will convince Trumps supporters, despite the evidence to the contrary, that they have, at least, been vindicated.
The issue of how the press should react to Trump and to what degree is no small thing, especially at a time when the mainstream liberal mediaup until the advent of Trump, anywayhas been on the verge of implosion. Its own crisis has the effect of making the media turn, against its will, into itself more than it ever has.
Lately it seems that the establishment media are pouring an inordinate amount of energy into addressing charges that it waited much too long to take a genuine, committed interest in the suffering part of the country that has made Trump president. Surely these resources are better spent on digging into every aspect of a Trump presidency, and on its associations, funding, and enablers. By dramatically responding to accusations of ignoring the rest of the country and spending time reporting on it now, the media makes its own shortcomings the story and turns its sudden new awareness into a virtue that is nevertheless irrelevant.
The medias peculiar complaints about how Trump is limiting access to him and his team are another way the media, almost unconsciously, ease back into the center of whatever story they are telling. The days after Trump met with Obama in the White House were full of indignant reports of Trump, unlike previous president-elects, not allowing a pool of reporters to accompany him on his visit.
Its not clear, however, that access to a president who holds the press in utter contempt would be more productive than no access at all.
Its not clear, however, that access to a president who holds the press in utter contempt would be more productive than no access at all. What, exactly, would access to Trump and his inner circle achieve? The lies would come fast and furious. The contradictions would reach seismic proportions. The media would go from being an enemy whose reaction is a tactical blessing to a sometime friend, subject to all the manipulations and predations of an enemy. In this case, preserving the Who-Whom relationship that Trump has created with the press would provide a bracing clarity.
Related: Journalisms moment of reckoning has arrived.
The complexities and the ethics of access are issues that journalists have wrestled with seemingly from time immemorial. In the case of George W. Bush, access facilitated the sowing of disinformation that had a fatal and still-reverberating effect in the Iraq War.
With Obama, the vaunted access and transparency of his administration seemed to induce semi-paralysis, at least for Obamas first two years, in many of the journalists who were covering him. Its surprising to read some journalists saying now that Obamas administration was opaque. Obama was the subject of countless interviews and profiles, and at least two long, loving books about him and his presidency.
There Obama was, with both houses of congress controlled by Democrats and most of the country nearly brought to its knees by the events of the Bush years, ready to give him what he wanted. Yet as Obama withdraw from his healthcare initiative, seemingly stunned and disheartened by the militant opposition to it, refusing even to appeal to his fellow Americans on the subject from the Oval Office, the access-soaked journalists around him wrote eloquent, sometimes beautiful, tributes to his virtues, and to his place in history.
In that instance, access was an obstruction to clarity. In the case of Trump, a lack of access could turn out to be the strongest motivator behind great and consequential journalism. Think of Gay Taleses profile of Frank Sinatra in Esquire, for which he never met or spoke with Sinatra, and multiply the free play of unmasking and demystification in that piece one thousand times.
We are living in a moment when, thanks to the Internet, words take on the aspect of worlds. Someone in West Virginia writes something ugly about the Obamas on social media, it gets picked up and the enemythe opposition to Trumploses all perspective, broadcasting the sentiment as if it were widely held and, in the process, making it part of the political discourse. In the 1930s, the far right, which portrayed FDR as a pernicious Jew and called him Roosenfelt, spread a rumor about Eleanor Roosevelt being given syphilis by a black man. But this atrocious slur never made its way out of the fetid swamps of fringe malice and paranoia.
Now, thanks to the digital echo chamber, similar linguistic atrocities are not just widely circulated rumors, they have the potential to become fake news. Even if they dont end up in that category, because of the fact that they live on your screen, seen by millions of people, such sentiments can create the illusion of a collective movement when they are held by a relative small crowd of people. The effect, once again, is to incite hysterical reaction on the part of Trumps adversaries, which will bring more and more supporters to Trumps side, and increase the fervency of people already behind him.
It is another conundrum facing journalists now. On the one hand, Trump has been exposed, time and again, as a liar. On the other hand, a few words from his mouth or on his Twitter feed can abruptly change the news narrative for days.
In the eighties, people spoke of the Reagan Revolution. In terms of Reagans radical tax cuts, and draconian cuts to social programs, thats exactly what it was.
At the same time, Reagan, as previous conservative administrations had done, wielded the specter of communist influence to great effect. American involvement in Latin America, especially El Salvador and Nicaragua, captured the American publics imagination and dominated the evening news. Most Americans didnt pay much attention to Reagans social policies. Trump will use the war against ISIS and wild, toothless gestures at curtailing civil liberties, in the same way.
In the case of Trump, a lack of access could turn out to be the strongest motivator behind great and consequential journalism.
On many levels, the media response to Reagan was patient, conscientious, relentless, and revelatory. But behind that was the creation of an oppositional culture which became so excessive that it gave conservatives ever new cultural pretexts to continue their reductive economic policies. The 1980s saw the birth of a politically correct thinking at the universities that, to some extent, made its way into mainstream culture.
The result was Allan Blooms Closing of the American Mind, William Bennetts The Book of Virtues, and the beginning of the so-called culture wars. The toxicity of this adversarial culture, created in opposition to Reagan, had, among other effects, the unlikely result of helping to bring about, after eight years of Reagans Republican presidency, the election of yet another Republican to the White House, George H. W. Bush.
The media became so caught up in the culture wars that many mainstream journalists failed to keep hammering away at the big stories of their time: Reagans fatal combination of massive tax cuts and massive defense spending; the increased radicalization of Muslims in the Middle East as a result of Bushs first Gulf War; Clintons transformation of the criminal justice system into mass incarceration, as well as his fateful repealing of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had prevented financial monoliths. As all this was unfolding, the rise of atomized identity politics in response to the conservative assault on vulnerable social groups justified, in the eyes of many people, the conservative claim to be defending the common good.
The real action is in the enemys reaction. We, as journalists, had better take extra care these days to strike the right balance between reacting and overreacting if we dont want to be used as pawns in someone elses strategy. Sometimes it seems that all the press wants is for Trump to agree not to set up concentration campseven as he confers with Republican leaders on how to completely dismantle whats left of Americas public spaces, public institutions, and protections for the poor and the vulnerable. We will have our civil liberties, but nothing else.
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Lee Siegel , a widely published writer on culture and politics, is the author of six books and the recipient of a National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism.
Fake news isnt new.
Think back to Hurricane Sandy four years ago, when incredible amounts of false content circulated, including claims the NYSE was flooded and sharks appeared on flooded streets in New Jersey. At the time, there was much debate about how to deal with these issues. The New Yorkers Sasha Frere-Jones called Twitter a self-cleaning oven, suggesting that false information could be flagged and self-corrected almost immediately. We no longer had to wait 24 hours for a newspaper to issue a correction.
Post presidential election, we are reckoning with the scale of misinformation circulating online, enabled by social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. As we look to fix our broken information ecosystem, the most frequent suggestion is platforms should hire hundreds of editors who work in multiple languages and decide what should or should not be seen. But, as Jeff Jarvis wrote over the weekend, we need to be careful what we wish for: We dont want Facebook to become the arbiter of truth.
Instead, I would encourage the social platforms to include prominent features for filtering and flagging. They should work with journalists and social psychologists to invent a new visual grammar so that when content is fact-checked, debunked, corrected, or verified, those processes are transparent and available to anyone seeking to understand more about the origins of a story.
Related: Eight steps reporters should take before Trump assumes office
One way this could work in the form of a watermark, embedded with the original piece of content. It is dispiriting seeing a false claim garner thousands of retweets while the separate correction collects only 20 or so. These watermarks would work like a spam filter, making it more likely I would see authenticated content on my feed rather than fake content. Some fake content might slip through, and some authentic content might be marked as spam, but like my email inbox, Ill take the imperfections if it improves my access to information.
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We have much bigger problems than just the fake news sites circulating on Facebookthis is a concern for news organizations using social media to discover content, as well. To begin to develop a grammar of fake news, I collected six types of false information weve seen this election season.
1. Authentic material used in the wrong context
Donald Trumps first campaign ad purported to show migrants crossing the border from Mexico, when the footage was actually migrants crossing from Morocco to Melilla in North Africa. This content isnt fake, but the context is wrong.
In the weeks leading up the election, a video emerged that appeared to show ballot-box stuffing. As Alastair Reid from First Draft News, of which I am a member, explained, the date stamp in the top left hand corner shows it was captured on September 18, the date of elections in Russia. A quick Google reverse image search also confirms the origin of the footage. Again, the content isnt fake, the context is wrong.
2. Imposter news sites designed to look like brands we already know
Eric Trump and campaign spokesperson Kellyanne Conway both retweeted this fake ABC news site:
If you look closely at the URL, you see its abc.com.co, which is not an official ABC News domain. The New York Times and Daily Mail have also recently been copied. Clone Zone is a site that makes this incredibly easy to do.
NowThis was also the victim of a hoax; someone used NowThis branding to create a fake video in early October. Because NowThis publishes entirely on social media and does not have a destination website, it corrected this perception on the social web. As more brands live in a purely distributed environment, the social networks have a responsibility to find a way for corrections to travel with content.
3. Fake news sites
Out of all these types of misleading content, fake news sites have been subject to the most scrutiny since the election. Work by BuzzFeed journalist Craig Silverman over the past few weeks has highlighted Macedonian teenagers creating fake news articles purely to make money. His most recent analysis shows how much engagement fake news articles gathered on Facebook.
The infamous Pope endorsement story originated on WTOE 5 News, which describes itself as a fantasy news site on its About pageone click too many for most users. There should be ways to flag such sites that are blatantly creating fake stories.
Brian Forde, a researcher at MIT, recently compared fake news with email spam. We accept the need for junk folders despite occasionally losing good emails, he said, because the alternative is drowning in a sea of spam. It seems that social media users would benefit from some automated process that mark sources as fake. If users ever want to dive into that junk feed they can, but they probably wont.
Related: Journalisms moment of reckoning has arrived.
4. Fake information
Besides fake news sites, fake information is also frequently presented in graphics, images, and video. Designed to be highly shareable, these memes fill up newsfeeds and are often so creative and convincing in their delivery that most users do not think to question their authenticity, let alone know how or where to start checking.
These images were circulating online just before the US election, incorrectly claiming people could stay at home and vote via text.
5. Manipulated content
Images and videos that have been deliberately manipulated are a huge part of the news ecosystem. Because they can be created easily by bedroom hoaxers, they are often trivialized and dismissed as merely mischievous. But just as prank calls are no longer funny when made to an emergency service, photoshopped hoaxes are no longer harmless when they relate to an election, terror attack, or humanitarian crisis.
This photograph surfaced online a couple of weeks before the US election and appears to show an ICE official making an arrest at a voting station.
A simple reverse image search shows that the two men were edited into the original photograph, which was actually taken in Arizona during the primaries in March. Again, this example highlights the importance of finding a way for corrections to travel with fake content. Expecting every user to perform the same verification checks is not realistic or efficient.
6. Parody content
Parody content makes it hard to think about creating algorithmically driven rules to label fake content. (Although, it would certainly be possible to create a database of satirical sites all over the world. This might even help people who fall for The Onion.)
When Chuck Todd interviewed Rudy Giuliani on Meet the Press, he pushed Giuliani about a tweet he had sent in reference to the first debate:
When Giuliani made it clear he hadnt tweeted this, Todd was forced to explain to viewers that the tweet had actually come from a parody account, which describes itself as a pastiche of the former mayor in its bio.
Related: Bad headlines editors probably wish they could take back
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Claire Wardle is the Research Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and the co-founder of Eyewitness Media Hub.
WikiLeaks is on a post-election PR crusade to limit the fallout following a presidential campaign in which it became part of the story. After Donald Trumps win, the organization once known as an equal opportunity leaker was seen as a puppet of the Russian government, releasing documents with partisan aims against Hillary Clinton.
There is a desperate need for our work, Sarah Harrison, a staffer at WikiLeaks, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times. Last week, WikiLeaks staff held a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), inviting Reddit users to send in questions about the organization and its publication of the emails of John Podesta, Clintons campaign manager, during the final weeks of the campaign.
WikiLeakss founder, Julian Assange, was not a part of the Reddit discussion; Assanges internet was shut off in October at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been since 2012, to prevent him from interfering in the US election. Harrison and other unnamed members of the organizations staff of more than 100 reiterated the hardline stance Wikileaks takes on transparency for the powerful and privacy for the rest. But there were interesting insights into how WikiLeaks sees its relationship with the press. When asked, as if on a blind dating show, about WikiLeakss most unique trait, the staff wrote:
I think our most unique trait is our ability to push the boundaries of journalism. This began a decade ago when we were founded by Julian Assange with his invention of an online anonymous submissions platform. This has now become commonplace in many newsrooms. We then pushed the boundaries of publishing in full and allowing the public direct access to the searchable archives of source documents. Along with our perfect track record in verifying documents and years of dealing with government hostility, we will continue to publish fearlessly for the publics right to know.
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While some of WikiLeaks claims can read as arroganceour perfect track recordits answer highlights an important change: WikiLeaks used to be the presss only source for anonymously submitted online document dumps. Since then, the press has developed its own digital capabilities and a comfort with leaked materialand WikiLeaks has strayed from editorial curation and toward publishing unedited archives.
WikiLeaks first emerged as an international player in 2010, when it published information on the Afghanistan war and US diplomatic cables. At the time, it was cited as a press hero, in the tradition of Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.
Related: Eight steps reporters should take before Trump assumes office
Charlie Beckett, author of WikiLeaks: News in the Networked Era (2012), argues that this era was WikiLeakss most effective because it worked in tandem with journalists, who vetted and redacted sensitive information after consulting with the US government. Journalist Craig Silverman wrote in CJR at the time that Assange had outsourced the burden of verification to the news organizations it worked with.
But even then, Assange was well known among editors to be controlling of information and secretive himself. There was, as former Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger writes in his introduction to Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy (2011), great interest and some respect in Assanges work among the press. But Assange was unable to settle on a single role: was he an editor or an activist?
Assange drew unfavorable comparisons to Edward Snowden, the other major leaker of this era. Snowden relinquished control of the documents he took from NSA to journalists at The Guardian, The Washington Post, and others. WikiLeaks, by contrast, retains the publishing role.
Rusbridger, who later published Snowdens documents at The Guardian, wrote that Assange was willing to don whatever outfit best served his ends: He acts like a leaking source when it suits him. He masquerades as publisher or newspaper syndicate when thats advantageous.
The car crash came, Beckett said, after Assange became angry with The Guardian for disclosing a password to WikiLeakss encryption. David Leigh, investigations editor at The Guardian at the time and co-author of WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assanges War on Secrecy, says it happened earlier: Assange became angry with The Guardian after they refused to suppress the sexual misconduct allegations against him.
WikiLeaks moved away from working alongside journalists and stopped redacting documents. While there is no evidence anyone has been harmed by a WikiLeaks publication, there have been close calls. The organization was heavily criticized earlier this year after it *linked to the names and addresses of millions of women in Turkey. WikiLeaks offers monetary, crowd-funded rewards for certain documents, such as a copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
For many reporters, WikiLeaks allegiance to its sources will sound disconsonant with journalism in the public interest. WikiLeaks denies bias itself, but without curation it is bound to adopt the biases of its sources. It is now more like a British model of publishing, suggested Beckett. In UK mainstream media, targeted stories are par for the course.
Since the first WikiLeaks dump, newsrooms have become more savvy about handling anonymous data dumpseffectively acting like WikiLeaksbut less successful when it comes to reporting on these issues.
Rusbridger writes that, in the atmosphere of the original leaks, swaths of data were largely unfamiliar to journalists, using skills of data analysis and visualization which were unknown in newsrooms until fairly recently. He describes the initial process at The Guardian of sorting through WikiLeaks data, which was unprecedented:
The first thing to do was build a search engine that could make sense of the data, the next to bring in foreign correspondents and foreign affairs analysts with detailed knowledge of the Afghan and Iraq conflict. The final piece of the journalistic heavy lifting was to introduce a redaction process so that nothing we published could imperil any vulnerable sources of compromise active special operations. Making sense of the files was not immediately easy. There are very few, if any, parallels in the annals of journalism where any news organization has had to deal with such a vast databasewe estimate it to have been roughly 300 million words (the Pentagon papers, published by The New York Times in 1971, by comparison, stretched to two and a half million words).
Today, such processes are not as cumbersome or unfamiliar. Many journalists have PGP keys, which enable them to be contacted confidentially. Several newsrooms, including The New York Times and The New Yorker, have the capability to receive leaks anonymously through a tool called SecureDrop, and more than 80 news organizations are on the waiting list. While it requires a significant initial investment, the organizations who use it find it well worth the trouble. According to a recent report from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, news organizations with SecureDrop admit tips for stories have come in this way, but they will not identify which ones.
Related: Journalisms moment of reckoning has arrived.
When it comes to reporting on technically complicated stories like hacks and leaks, on the other hand, journalists are relatively unequipped. The coverage of the Podesta leaks, for instance, focuses on the timing and newsworthiness of the leaksquestions that are bread and butter for the pressand less on the mechanisms by which WikiLeaks gained and shared the information. For that, private security firms and the US government are the main sources.
One way that newsrooms can begin to understand what can and cant be made transparent is by implementing such policies themselves. That way, theyll begin to understand what questions to ask of others, and where to put pressure.
For instance, newsrooms that use SecureDrop need to be as transparent as possible and decide what parts of the interaction they can make public: Which stories have been reported from leaked information? When was that information leaked? Perhaps this will come in the form of a typology that deconstructs under what circumstances certain pieces of information can be shared.
Before the election, the conversation around Wikileaks focused on the question of whether or not the press should report on the Podesta emails, since they are so targeted, uncurated, and not even clearly newsworthy.
The verdict, rightly, was that the press should report on the leaks: Glenn Greenwald argues in The Intercept, and Trevor Timm in The Guardian, that it is the journalists job to take what was leaked, decide what is newsworthy, and report on it. The role of the press is not only to report the leaks, but to interrogate the information and assess its newsworthiness.
But now, after the election, there is another layer of transparency that is the presss job to add: transparency on WikiLeaks itself.
* Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated WikiLeaks published contact information for women in Turkey. It has also been updated to reflect a note from David Leigh, investigations editor at The Guardian at the time.
Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today
Nausicaa Renner is digital editor of CJR.
A glass of wine with dinner? Or maybe some marijuana?
Denver voters have approved a first-in-the-nation law allowing willing bars and restaurants to give patrons the option to use marijuana alongside a cocktail or meal. The catch: Smoking pot wont be allowed inside, and the locations would have to first get the approval of neighbors.
Denver voters approved Proposition 300 on the same day that the nations largest state of California and two others legalized pot for all adults and five more states approved pot for sick people signs of societys increasing tolerance for the drug.
Its the sensible thing to do, said Emmett Reistroffer, a Denver marijuana consultant and campaign manager for the pot-in-bars measure. This is about personal responsibility and respecting adults who want to have a place to enjoy cannabis.
Denvers measure takes effect immediately, but it has a lot of caveats.
First, interested bars and restaurants would have to show they have neighborhood support before getting a license to allow marijuana use. In addition, patrons would have to bring their own weed to comply with state law banning the sale of both pot and food or drink at a single location.
Patrons at participating bars could use pot inside as long as it isnt smoked. The law does provide for the possibility of outside smoking areas under restrictive circumstances. The law also allows for non-service establishments, such as yoga galleries or art galleries, to set up pot-smoking areas or hold events serving both pot and food and drink.
Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the national Marijuana Policy Project and a Denver proponent of the consumption law, said the measure would reduce instances of tourists smoking pot on sidewalks and in parks because they have nowhere private to consume weed.
A Denver billboard promoting the measure featured a large arrow pointing to a sidewalk below, telling voters that without a provision for social pot use, folks will keep smoking pot in plain view.
We are setting up a system that is still more restrictive than what we see with alcohol consumption, Tvert said.
Supporters of the measure had no guess on how many establishments would apply for the permits or how long it would take for them to demonstrate community acceptance and receive permits. So it could take many months before Denver sees any Amsterdam-style coffee shops.
The measure sunsets in 2020, unless city officials renew the licenses or voters make the pot-in-bars measure permanent.
Current Colorado law allows jurisdictions to decide for themselves when pot could be used in public. The result is a hodgepodge of local ordinances related to marijuana clubs.
Denver is the first city to allow use in bars and restaurants.
The entire goal of this initiative is to provide adults with private places where they can consume cannabis so theyre not consuming in public, said Tvert, who said the initiative helps not just tourists but adults who may not want to use pot in front of their kids, or tenants whose landlords exercise their right to ban pot use.
Alaska is the only state that expressly regulates on-site consumption at pot retailers. However, the state doesnt allow use in bars or restaurants, and its still working on rules for how those pot-shop tasting rooms would operate.
Californias recreational marijuana measure approved last week allows pot clubs, and legalization measures approved in Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada dont rule out on-site pot consumption on private property.
Opponents of the Denver measure predicted neighborhoods would resist bars, restaurants and other venues seeking pot licenses. They warned the measure wont properly protect the public from stoned patrons leaving a bar that allows smoking and drinking at the same time.
How can these businesses possibly monitor patrons for marijuana intoxication? opponent Rachel OBryan said in a statement Tuesday.
The measure would require any interested bar or restaurant to specially train staff in marijuana use and submit an operations plan to show how it would prevent marijuana use by underage patrons. Applicants must also specify strategies and procedures for identifying and responding to the potential over-intoxication of consumers.
Colorado lawmakers are expected to consider a bill next year to give all jurisdictions a green light for allowing pot clubs or cafes, though marijuana activists hoped for a similar measure last session and were disappointed.
Mayor Dan Horrigan headshot 2016.jpeg
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan wrote an open letter to Akron residents urging people to show tolerance for all ages, religions and nationalities, and urging the president-elect to reach out to all Americans, not just those who voted for him.
(City of Akron)
AKRON, Ohio - In the wake of one of the most divisive elections in U.S. history, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan wrote a letter to Akron residents about what's to come.
"... as the Mayor of Akron, I will continue to fight for what I believe is best for this city and all of its residents, without apology and with deliberate intent," he wrote.
Horrigan said neither he nor anyone in his household voted for Donald Trump. But many of his friends did, he said. He encouraged Akronites to show tolerance for all ages, religions and nationalities.
He also urged the president-elect to reach out to all Americans, not just those who voted for him.
About 51 percent of Summit County voters chose Hillary Clinton, compared to 43 percent for Donald Trump. Late Tuesday, hundreds of residents came to Highland Square for an anti-Trump rally.
Take a look at the letter below.
Fellow Citizens of Akron,
I feel compelled to take some quiet moments to myself and pen a letter specifically to you. On a national scale, it has been a tumultuous and divisive year, and understandably, some of this division and tension has trickled down to our City. While we may not know how the next few years will play out, we can control how we support and interact with each other here in our community.
I want to be clear: as the Mayor of Akron, I will continue to fight for what I believe is best for this City and all of its residents, without apology and with deliberate intent. As a public servant it is my job, my administration's job, and every City employee's job to serve Akron residents. I firmly believe most people in public service care about doing what's best for their constituents and try to help residents every single day.
So as we advocate for Akron in Washington and Columbus, work to bring good jobs and educational opportunities to the area, strive for thriving public spaces, keep your streets safe, staff your community centers, pick up your trash and repair your streets, I hope we continue to build your trust and faith in government and elected officials.
Secondly, the nation has voted and Donald Trump will be our president. I did not vote for him, nor did anyone in my household, but I know many people, some dear friends, who did. Most felt a need for change and looked to a political outsider to deliver it.
Now we must move forward. Of all the awesome and too-numerous-to-list responsibilities that President-Elect Trump will have, I can think of none more important right now than as the "tone setter." He will set the tone and tenor for the next four years. There are many of our fellow citizens who are, understandably, in fear of what that tone will be; and fear can have a paralyzing effect on progress.
As a fellow public servant, I strongly urge our new president to reach out to all Americans -- those that voted for him, those that didn't, and those that didn't vote at all -- and show them that there is no room in our United States for misogyny, racism, bigotry and hatred and every other "ism" that attempts to divide us as a country.
Refusing to tolerate these are not Democratic or Republican standards, but human standards. We will never be able to improve our economic and social prospects if we value individualism and exclusion over shared responsibility and collective action.
Wouldn't it be novel if we all took to heart the directive to simply "love thy neighbor," instead of "love only thy neighbor who looks and thinks like me"? Black, White, Nepalese - we are Akron. Democrat, Republican, Independent - we are Akron. Gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, young, old - we are AKRON. We must never forget that there is more that binds us than divides us.
I cannot control what happens outside our city, but I can promise you this: I am here. I am listening. I vow to be a mayor for each and every one of you, and to serve you with integrity and compassion and fight for you with conviction. Every single day.
Daniel Horrigan
Mayor, City of Akron
Operating a vehicle under the influence, Interstate 71: An intoxicated Berea woman, 46, was arrested and hospitalized after she lost control of her vehicle and rolled it over at about 1:15 a.m. Nov. 4 on I-71 southbound near Snow Road.
The woman and her passenger were taken to Southwest General Health Center by ambulance. Their injuries were not life-threatening. Police didn't say what kind of vehicle the woman was driving.
Operating a vehicle under the influence, Fry Road: A Brook Park man, 55, was arrested at about 3:15 a.m. Nov. 5 after he crashed and abandoned his car in a construction-zone ditch on Fry near Sylvia Drive.
The man was intoxicated. Police found him sitting on his front porch about five minutes after the accident. He was not injured.
Disorderly conduct, Holland Road: A 64-year-old woman fought her daughter-in-law, 46, at about 6:55 p.m. Nov. 6 in a Holland driveway.
Either the woman or daughter-in-law live on Holland but police didn't say which one. A neighbor called police after seeing the women fighting. Police didn't say how they diffused the situation. They referred the case to the city prosecutor for review.
Damaged property, Holland Road-Sylvia Drive: A concrete mixer damaged an empty school bus at about 8:30 a.m. Nov. 3 near the Holland-Sylvia intersection.
The concrete mixer, moving at about 5 mph, backed into the side of the bus. No one was hurt, and the vehicles were not badly damaged.
Disorderly conduct, Cedar Point Road: A Brook Park man, 48, and a North Olmsted man, 19, fought each other at about 8:15 p.m. Oct. 31 outside a Cedar Point Road house.
A neighbor called police after seeing the fight. The men were not intoxicated. Police advised both men not to fight anymore.
Disturbance, Bowfin Boulevard: A Bowfin man, 37, called police at about 8:20 p.m. Nov. 7 and said his neighbor was harassing his pit bull dog.
The neighbor was snapping scissors at the dog, who was outside in his owner's yard. Police advised the neighbor to stop his behavior.
Operating a vehicle under the influence, Smith Road: A Cleveland man, 50, was arrested at about 1:50 a.m. Nov. 6 after police caught him speeding on Smith. An open container of beer was in his car.
Operating a vehicle under the influence, Brookpark Road: A Mount Vernon woman, 41, was arrested at about 5 p.m. Nov. 5 after police saw the car she was driving hit the curb several times. She was drunk and had 11 bags of medication in her car.
Sudden illness, Glenway Drive: A Glenway man, 41, was found unconscious by his mother at about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 9 in his home. He had overdosed on heroin, and was taken to Southwest General Health Center.
To comment on this story, please visit the crime and courts comments page.
ODonnell-Fischer.jpg
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John O'Donnell, left, has been raising money since Election Day for a possible legal battle. O'Donnell and his opponent, Cincinnati appellate Judge Pat Fischer, are in a tight race.
(File photos)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John O'Donnell is raising funds for possible legal challenges as he remains locked in a tight race for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ohio Republicans backing Cincinnati appellate Judge Pat Fischer -- a conservative candidate who leads O'Donnell, a Democrat, by more than 24,000 votes in unofficial results -- are working to secure donations for the same possible legal battle.
The fundraising efforts come as county election workers across the state prepare to count provisional and absentee ballots, and determine whether certain ballots are eligible. O'Donnell and Fischer's allies are expected to keep a close eye on the processes, and court challenges to whether certain ballots should be counted have occurred in past elections.
Republicans currently control the Ohio Supreme Court 6-1. Republican Cincinnati appellate Judge Pat DeWine beat his Democratic opponent on Election Night. Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican, ran unopposed.
The counting of provisional ballots will not start until Saturday, Ohio Secretary of State's spokesman Joshua Eck said. The final tally is not expected until the end of the month.
O'Donnell trails Fischer by 0.6 percent, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State's Office. Under Ohio law, the gap between candidates must be 0.25 percent or lower to trigger a recount. O'Donnell's hope is that the ballots that have yet to be counted may turn the race in his favor.
O'Donnell's campaign has sent fundraising emails to supporters since Election Day on Nov. 8. Campaign manager Bill DeMora said in an email that "we are raising funds to prepare for a recount, as the R's are doing as well."
One email says "the race for Ohio Supreme Court is too close to call and with hundreds of thousands of outstanding ballots, our work is not done. We need to ensure every single vote is counted. And right now, it is crucial that we have the resources necessary to do so."
The Ohio Association for Justice, a trial attorneys' advocacy group, also sent out an email urging people to donate to the Ohio Democratic Party to help O'Donnell win.
The Ohio Republican Party is also making efforts to raise money. In a fundraising email titled "Don't let them steal it," Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges writes that the party needs support because "one critical race that was so close that it's being contested by the Democrats."
Borges writes, "Will you chip in $10, $25, $50 or whatever you can right now to help fund our 'Victory Defense Fund' and help us fight back! Ohio's Democrats have had terrible candidates for years now but they'll resort to anything to try to steal a race from us. They're desperate but they're also well-funded."
Ohio GOP spokeswoman Brittany Warner said Thursday that the party's internal analysis shows that Fischer will maintain his lead as the provisional and absentee ballots are counted.
But she said the Democrats "have made efforts in the past to try to fight the results" through litigation.
"We obviously want to be prepared should that happen," Warner said.
While Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff backed Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential race, he says he is looking forward to the future with President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.
"I'm not a Republican. And I'm not a Democrat either. You know that I view myself just as an American. And I'm looking forward to a great future," Benioff told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Thursday.
Benioff also said that he believes Twitter played an instrumental role in electing the new president. What he is most excited about is that the election is now over, allowing the country to move forward together.
"I certainly respect the results and the will of the American people I respect democracy. And I want to move forward with an open heart and an open mind," Benioff said.
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Jim Cramer was shocked that Wells Fargo has managed to transform from the most loathed stock of the financial sector, to the most loved. "When it comes to this seemingly endless bank rally that began when Donald Trump won the election, that means look no further than the stock of Wells Fargo," the "Mad Money" host said. The stock has been in the penalty box with Wall Street since the discovery that accounts were opened without client permission, which prompted the resignation of CEO John Stumpf. However, ever since Trump was elected on a platform of tax cuts, deregulation and massive government spending, bank stocks have been on fire, Cramer said. "Wells Fargo has gone from worst to first, an amazing turn that proves, without a doubt, the bank rally is real and it's terrific," Cramer said.
U.S. President elect Donald Trump speaks at election night rally in Manhattan, New York, November 9, 2016. Mike Segar | Reuters
Like it or not, Cramer also found some stunning similarities among the reactions to Donald Trump's electoral win, the tenure of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan's actions in 1991. "I reach back to those two incidents because they led to growth spurts that brought people back to the stock market in drives," Cramer said. "They changed the perception of the asset class from negative to positive and I think that could be exactly what is happening right now." Cramer couldn't help but notice a change in the stock market since the election of Trump. There is a sense of optimism about stocks that extends to both Republicans and Democrats, he said. Whether investors love or hate him, they are buying stocks.
While Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff backed Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential race, he says he is looking forward to the future with President-elect Donald Trump in the White House. "I'm not a Republican. And I'm not a Democrat either. You know that I view myself just as an American. And I'm looking forward to a great future," Benioff said. Benioff also said that he believes Twitter played an instrumental role in electing the new president. What he is most excited about is that the election is now over, allowing the country to move forward together. "I certainly respect the results and the will of the American people I respect democracy. And I want to move forward with an open heart and an open mind," Benioff said.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. Adam Jeffery | CNBC
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: "I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!"
"He will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico," the President-elect tweeted.
But Ford has repeatedly said it has no plans to close any U.S. plants and likely could not do so under the terms of the current United Auto Workers contract that expires in 2019.
This is not the first time Trump's comments about Ford production have been called into question. Last year, he took credit for Ford moving work from Mexico to Ohio, while the automaker had already made the decision in 2011 - long before Trump announced a run for president.
Spokeswoman Christin Baker said Ford "confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky".
"We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States," she added, in a statement.
Managers who invest the money of the world's super-rich have been pulling out of hedge funds and increasing their allocation to private equity and private debt, a new survey found.
The UBS and Campden Research survey of 242 family offices globally found that there was a 0.9 percentage-point decrease in allocation to hedge funds and a 2.3 percentage-point increase in allocations to private equity. Family offices are the investment houses that manage money for ultra-wealthy family groups.
"Ultimately families are patient investors," said Dominic Samuelson, CEO of Campden Wealth, citing two main reasons for the shift.
"Most of them have been extremely successful in creating and establishing businesses and organizations, so it is quite natural for them to want to be engaged," he said. Private equity typically becomes deeply involved in managing and growing individual businesses, while hedge funds are more likely to trade in securities.
"Secondly, you have to be very pragmatic about where the hedge fund industry is today. It doesn't mean that hedge funds are over, but families are challenged by the fee structures of hedge funds. They are not entirely convinced that there is alpha there at the moment," he said.
For the January-to-October period, hedge funds were up 2.85 percent, although they were down 0.48 percent in October, according to data from Eurekahedge released on Wednesday, citing their in-house Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, which includes around 2,800 funds with multiple regional mandates. That was compared with the average fund's rise of 1.65 percent for 2015, the data showed.
So far in 2016, global family offices have returned 3.1 percent year-to-date, with around 14 percent of portfolios on average invested in private equity and private investments, while Asia Pacific family offices have seen year-to-date returns of 3.9 percent, with around 23 percent of portfolios in those assets, the survey found.
The survey attributed the better performance of Asia Pacific family offices compared with their global peers to a greater focus on private equity.
Family offices in Asia were particularly interested in co-investment ideas, noted Patricia Quek, UBS' managing director and country team head for Singapore ultra-high net worth and global family offices in Southeast Asia.
Brandon, who asked to withhold his last name to maintain his privacy, has been living out of a 128-square-foot truck for over a year to save on rent .
In general, Americans are not prepared for retirement especially single Americans but that's not the case for one 24-year-old Google employee based in the Bay Area.
Brandon moved inside this 2006 Ford a year and a half ago to save on rent.
As a result, he saves about 82 percent of his income, which has allowed him to pay off $22,000 of student loans and puts him on pace to retire by 30 with a little over $1 million.
We asked the Google software engineer to share his best advice for making early retirement a reality.
1. Make a plan
"Get a plan together as soon as you can," he tells CNBC. "The sooner you have a plan, the sooner you'll see your contributions compounding into something meaningful and substantial."
"Getting a plan together" means deciding exactly when you want to retire or be financially independent, Brandon explains.
2. Maximize tax-advantaged accounts
Figure out which tax-advantaged accounts you have available to you and how much you can contribute to them.
3. Streamline
Finally, "evaluate your priorities and cut out the cruft from your life," says Brandon. (Cruft is a coding-derived word for redundant and unnecessary clutter.)
This is the first time Amazon has done Alexa-exclusive deals, and highlights the way the Seattle-based technology giant wants to expand the capabilities of its AI assistant as it faces competition from the likes of Apple's Siri and Google Assistant.
Users need to say, "Alexa, what are your deals?" The voice assistant will respond and allow people to order the deal via Amazon.
On Friday, the U.S. e-commerce giant announced it was offering exclusive deals to its Prime members that can only be ordered through an Alexa-enabled device like an Amazon Echo its smart speaker.
Amazon is trying to get you used to the idea of speaking to Alexa its artificial intelligence (AI) digital assistant.
Amazon recently expanded Echo into the U.K. and Germany after launching it in the U.S. in 2014. AI assistants are seen as the next battleground for technology companies as they can be integrated across different devices and keep users locked into an ecosystem. For example, Alexa is installed across Amazon's tablets, Fire TV and Echo. Amazon has also integrated it into hardware that it doesn't make such as a connected thermostat called Ecobee. All the information Alexa Is gathering from users' requests can be used by Amazon to target customers with product recommendations.
Other technology firms are also boosting the capabilities of their own AI digital assistants. Apple's Siri is now integrated into its wireless AirPods for example. Google Assistant is across Android devices, as well as in Google Home the company's own smart speaker. Amazon's advantage currently is its ability to link Alexa to its e-commerce business.
Revenue from smart audio hardware will more than triple over the next four years, rising from an estimated $1.4 billion this year to over $5.5 billion by 2020, according to Juniper Research, so it's seen as big business for technology players.
And gathering data through voice can also help companies like Google, Amazon and Apple, personalize their services even further.
Amazon's exclusive Alexa deals start on Friday and go through November and December, which includes the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events.
Deals this weekend include a 32-inch Samsung 1080p LED TV for $119 or $30 on a Sphero Star Wars BB-8 App controlled robot.
Prime members who have "1-click" check-out enabled on their Amazon account will be able to shop via Alexa.
"You have to be concerned about those kind of statements," Kathwari said Friday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."
Kathwari, co-chair of the newly formed Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council , was reacting to a February tweet from retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has been chosen as national security advisor by President-elect Donald Trump . Flynn wrote, in part, on Twitter "fear of Muslims is rational." Trump's team had vetted Flynn as a possible vice presidential running mate, NBC News reported in July.
The best way to combat Islamophobia is to highlight the successes of Muslim-Americans, said Farooq Kathwari, chief executive of home furnishing firm Ethan Allen .
Kathwari said the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council co-chaired by Stanley Bergman, chief executive of health care products distributor Henry Schein is not aimed at talking about the people who are being discriminated against.
"What we want to talk about is to show the contributions of Jewish and Muslims in America," he continued. "The best way to building a brand is to show the positive contributions."
Kathwari also said he's glad the election is over because consumers did hold back some spending before the vote in the face of uncertainty, "but not as much as" he had thought would take place.
Since Trump was declared the winner, Kathwari has been encouraged by the rally in the stock market. "For our consumer, that's an important element and I believe that is going to help us really move forward."
While criticizing Flynn's tweet, Kathwari said, "The country needs change," adding in the past five to 10 years "we have stalled."
But change has "got to be done sensibly; it's got to be done with wisdom," he said.
A Muslim immigrant from India, Kathwari and his wife, Farida, donated $1 million in 2015 to Western Connecticut State University to support an honors program named for their son Irfan, who was killed in Afghanistan in 1992, according NewsTimes in Danbury.
Some web commentators accused Irfan Kathwari of being a radical Islamist because of his presence in Afghanistan during the turmoil in Soviet-backed Afghanistan. Kathwari said his son had been upset by the Russian invasion of the country and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to the NewsTimes.
Chipotle Mexican Grill and Bill Ackman are nearing a settlement that would give the hedge fund billionaire a say in the burrito chain's boardroom, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A source told CNBC that talks are ongoing between the two parties, but are fluid and may not result in an agreement. This person said it is unclear what the parameters of an Ackman-Chipotle settlement would be.
Earlier this month, Ackman said he has had an "extremely constructive relationship" with the company since he took a nearly 10 percent stake in September.
A settlement could smooth tensions between Chipotle and its shareholders, who have been frustrated by the company's attempts to recover from cratering sales in the wake of a foodborne illness outbreak.
The Denver-based company has faced criticism from investors for having an insular board that lacked racial and gender diversity, which, according to CtW Investment Group. Critics also say the board doesn't have enough experience in the restaurant industry.
"The food-safety crisis really exposed shortcomings in Chipotle's management and governance," Jeff Gramm, a small activist who owns about $8 million in shares, told the Wall Street Journal.
In April, CtW addressed Chipotle shareholders in a letter asking them to withhold support for the reelection of two directors during annual shareholders' meeting in May. While the directors remained part of the board, at least for another year, Chipotle hoped to gain back investor's trust by interviewing new members in August.
So far, the company has yet to make any announcements about new hires.
"The dialogue we've had so far with Pershing has talked about driving long-term shareholder value, talks about recovering the business model and from what they've said so far, they believe Chipotle is a special brand and we're going through a tough time right now and they want, just like everyone else, to see us recover our sales, recover our business and if we do that we're going to get back to our previous stock price and add shareholder value from there," Jack Hartung, Chipotle's CFO said on CNBC's "Mad Money" on last week.
Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.
Macquarie's David Konrad, one of the Wall Street's top analysts, upgraded his rating on Goldman Sachs to outperform from neutral, citing the likelihood of a better environment for the investment bank due to Donald Trump's economic agenda. "We are recommending a shift in exposure within this space to names that have more leverage to capital markets ... and away from global banks whose multiples may remain suppressed owing to decreased trade and currency volatility, particularly in the EM [emerging markets]," Konrad wrote in note Friday to clients titled "Universal Banks: A new world order." "We believe GS has more earnings levers than peers, should fiscal stimulus and lower corporate taxes help increase economic activity driving better earnings leverage for the leading global adviser in M & A." In another move, he downgraded Citigroup shares to neutral from outperform. "We are downgrading Citi ... as we believe the events such as the US election and Brexit may not favor a global bank such as Citi relative to more domestic stocks," he wrote. Konrad's picks have a 26 percent one-year average return and an 81 percent success rate for a profit, according to analyst ranking service TipRanks. That places him in the top 10 percent of all Wall Street analysts covering any industry. He raised his Goldman Sachs price target to $245 from $190, representing 17 percent upside from Thursday's close. Konrad lowered his Citigroup price target to $56 from $57, representing 1 percent upside from Thursday's close. The analyst cited how Goldman Sachs is trading at a 7 percent forward price-to-earnings valuation discount versus its peers, even though the bank has above average return-on-equity numbers. He forecasts the investment bank will report earnings-per-share in 2018 $2 higher than Wall Street consensus as its merger and acquisitions business will benefit from a better economy. "In addition, we believe GS will achieve improved valuation through the shift in business mix with less exposure from I & L [investment and lending] and increased revenue mix from higher-multiple businesses such as Investment Management and Investment Banking," he wrote. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a campaign rally with democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at St Saint Anselm College on October 24, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Elizabeth Warren joined some of her Democratic colleagues in blasting Donald Trump's attorney general pick on Friday.
The president-elect picked Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama as his attorney general, giving him clout with supporters who cheered his pledges to crack down on illegal immigration. Democrats and some independent groups have raised concerns about Sessions' hard line immigration views and racially insensitive statements that contributed to him getting passed over for a federal judgeship in the 1980s.
Sessions will likely get confirmed in the Republican-majority Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he "strongly" supported the appointment of Sessions, whom he called "principled, forthright and hardworking."
Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts, accused Trump of "embracing the bigotry that fueled his campaign rallies," calling on him to "reverse" his decision.
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While President-elect Donald Trump's national security advisor pick, Ret. Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, is smart and quick on his feet, he is also a very "hard-line actor" when it comes to reacting to Islam, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis told CNBC on Friday.
And that, he believes, is counterproductive. "I think he will play to the darker angels of this administration in terms of adopting very, very aggressive stance, very hard power, very anti-Islam," he said in an interview with CNBC's "Power Lunch." Stavridis, who said Flynn used to work for him in Afghanistan, believes the United States has to find ways to make connections with the Islamic World. "We're not going to be able to kill our way to victory here. You need hard power, certainly, to deal with the Islamic State, for example, but the long game is that mix of hard and smart power that allows you to make connections."
Retired United States Army lieutenant general Michael T. Flynn Getty Images
In addition to Flynn, Trump's transition team has also announced that Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, is Trump's choice for CIA director and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, is his choice for attorney general.
For Stavridis, the next two to watch are Trump's choices for secretary of state and secretary of defense. He believes it's important that the secretary of state has some level of international experience, connections around the world and a vision for the country. Names like former presidential nominee Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani have surfaced as possible contenders for that role. "Mitt Romney would be a move toward a more centrist foreign policy that I think would be helpful for the Trump administration in terms of reassuring global allies, partners and friends," Stavridis said. He also thinks a "moderate centrist" like Stephen Hadley, a former national security advisor to President George W. Bush, could send a positive signal globally and to the military if he were named secretary of defense. Meanwhile, Trump still has to get his names through the Senate, although Flynn's appointment doesn't require Senate confirmation. Democrats could try to hold up the more controversial nominations, but Trump does have a Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
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On Friday, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican Conference chair, told CNBC she's "excited" to be part of a unified Republican government. "This is a tremendous opportunity that we've been given. And it's our time to think big, to reimagine this government and really to put people at the center of it," she told "Power Lunch." When asked if the party would try to work with Democrats on the issues or forge ahead without them, McMorris Rodgers said she is always looking for opportunities to work across the aisle.
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"Our bilateral relations are very good, they are very close in the areas of business, of the economy," Merkel said. "The European Union and the United States of America are the big important economic areas for us, which is why I always have come up strongly in favor of concluding a trade agreement with the United States of America."
Germany shipped more goods to the U.S. than any other country in 2015 with exports increasing 73 percent since 2010, according to the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research. Top exports include automobiles, machinery, and electrical goods. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced the necessity of a strong U.S.-German trade relationship in a joint press conference with President Barack Obama Thursday in Berlin.
"Everybody hopes that we will see better decisions from now on from Trump than in the election campaign," said Thilo Brodtmann, executive director of VDMA, Germany's engineering federation representing more than 3,000 companies. "If you believe in what has been said during the campaignthat would be of very harmful."
As uncertainty looms over President-elect Trump's White House priorities, German companies are holding out hope free trade will win over protectionist policies in the West Wing. Businesses expressed skepticism over Trump's anti-globalization rhetoric on the campaign trail, saying the future president is more likely to take a balanced approach to trade relations with Germany, its crucial economic and political ally. But some worried Trump's "America-first" promise could infiltrate the alliance.
German business leaders caught off guard by the election of Donald Trump are facing the prospect of a new U.S-German trade relationship.
The irony is that deteriorating U.S.-German relations might actually jeopardize German manufacturing investments in the U.S. and thereby pose a threat to the very jobs Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to boost.
Multinationals like Germany-based chain saw maker Andreas Stihl AG & Co. have exported more than their products to the United States. The company brought German-style workforce training and advanced manufacturing to its U.S. headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
"We're very proud of the fact that our products are German engineered but also built in America and the fact that we add so much value over here," said Bjoern Fischer, president of the company's U.S. subsidiary Stihl Inc.
Fischer said he was optimistic about Stihl's growth prospects in the U.S., citing the company's long-term business strategy. He said operations in both the U.S. and Germany will continue to take advantage of a global manufacturing environment under president-elect Trump.
"Both countries are obviously very strong countries with very large markets," he said. "That cooperation will continue and I'm sure we'll find solutions."
Fischer pointed to possible benefits for business under a Trump administration, including lower corporate tax rates and reduced business regulations. He said there were "two sides of a coin" from a stronger dollar in the U.S., which has appreciated since the election.
"All the components that we buy overseas are benefiting from a stronger dollar so that helps us, but a strong dollar overseas makes our product more expensive to other parts of the world," he said.
Increased trade barriers would likely pose problems for German industrial companies with large footprints in the U.S., said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He said German multinationals might not be able to produce or sell their goods in the U.S. as easily as before.
"The irony is that deteriorating U.S.-German relations might actually jeopardize German manufacturing investments in the U.S. and thereby pose a threat to the very jobs Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to boost," Kirkegaard said.
He added disagreements between Trump and Merkel over climate change could further deteriorate the U.S.-German business relationship. Kirkegaard said efforts to fight climate change within Germany are "completely uncontested," and Merkel does not want to defend her country's position to the United States as she gears up for the 2017 German elections.
"If Donald Trump goes ahead and does what he said he would do during the campaign and takes the United States out of the international climate agreement, then I would predict that the political and economic response from Germany would be very negative," he said.
German industry leaders insist they will continue to push business initiatives like TTIP, a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the U.S. The proposed legislation has met opposition on both sides of the Atlantic.
"German industry will continue to work towards a fair TTIP with good regulations for both sides," said Ulrich Grillo, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in a statement.
Grillo pointed to more than 5,000 German companies represented in the U.S., saying the country must continue to honor its responsibilities as a global leader. An estimated 1.5 million jobs in Germany depend on trade with the U.S., according to the Ifo Institute.
"The United States must continue to support open markets," Grillo said in the statement. "Everything else would be poison for the economy."
Other industry leaders were skeptical Trump would follow through on trade restrictions, dismissing his anti-trade language as fiery campaign rhetoric.
"We hope that there will be some learning curve when answering the question of free trade and the necessity for trade," VDMA's Brodtmann said. "It will show quite quickly that any kind of protectionism will harm the macroeconomic data of the U.S. as well as elsewhere."
When a relationship gets serious, we start to share more of our lives. We borrow each other's cars. We move in together. Inevitably, we start sharing each other's technology and even our passwords.
But your device says a lot about you: Your pastimes, your taste in music, your curiosities and the things you shop for. So how do you maintain your privacy online, even with the people who are closest to you?
More from USA Today:
Cybersecurity experts offer advice for incoming Trump administration
SpaceX looks to the skies to bring faster Internet
Airbnb hosts can now also make money as tour guides
Here are a few simple tricks to help you keep your secrets under wraps. (Note: Apps and websites do not always work the same across all devices and operating systems. If something isn't located in the menus precisely as I say, look around for a similar action.)
Amazon
Amazon tracks not only what you have purchased, but also what you have browsed. If you share an Amazon account, both can pose a major problem especially this time of year.
The good news is that you can easily cover your tracks. To erase your browsing history, from your account settings, look for Personalization. Go to Personalized Content >> View and Manage Your Browsing History. Here, you have a few options. You can remove only certain items or all items as well as turn off browsing history, so you never have this issue again.
Let's say you want to make it more difficult for someone to find out what you have ordered. Amazon will not completely delete your order history, but you can archive individual orders. Casual snoops will have a harder time seeing what you have purchased. From your account settings, go to Your Orders. Select the item you wish to hide and select Archive order.
You can use the Amazon app as an additional holiday security measure. Suppose you have purchased a pair of shoes for your spouse, you've archived the order, and now you're waiting for the package to arrive. But you're receiving so many boxes this time of year, how do you know which delivery to open and wrap?
With the Amazon app, you can scan the barcode on the box to immediately find out what's inside. It works like a charm unless your spouse has secretly ordered something for you!
Google
Google often auto-completes your search terms based on personal information, such as your location and previous searches. Anyone looking over your shoulder or borrowing your device might be surprised by the guesses Google makes. Google products that collect your information include Chrome, Google Maps, and YouTube.
To delete your search history on Google, you need a Google account. Just log in, go to My Activity, and remove items individually.
Better yet, take control of the data Google saves about you. Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to stop Google from collecting data about you.
Most browsers have a similarly easy way to delete your browsing history, and the controls tend to be in your browser's preferences. Keep this in mind, especially if you're researching something a little unusual.
Facebook
For many of us, Facebook is like a sprawling digital yearbook. Maybe you have a family computer, and you usually forget to log out of Facebook. Other people use the same computer, they stumble into your Facebook account, and they notice your conspicuous search history.
Your significant other may wonder why you've become so curious about the person you once invited to the prom, no matter how innocent your interest.
The easiest way to avoid an awkward conversation is to open your Activity Log. Select More >> Search >> Clear Searches. Or you can remove each search item one by one.
Your Facebook Activity Log stores a lot of data about you. Click here for tips to clean it up and prevent things from coming back to haunt you.
Netflix
We all have our guilty pleasures, especially when it comes to movies. You may have privately viewed Lars Von Trier's "Nymphomaniac" and thought it was a great work of art-house cinema, but that could be hard to explain to a roomful of people.
If you want to hide past screenings, just go to My Account >> Viewing History. Be advised that items aren't always deleted immediately; it may take 24 hours for your lists to update on all devices.
Netflix also allows you to create multiple profiles. Many households don't bother with this unless they have children, but if you want to keep your viewing history private, you can create a personal profile and protect it with a password. Click here to learn how to do this as well as access secret Netflix categories.
Go incognito
Every major web browser including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera has private, or incognito, browsing settings. Turning this feature on means your browser will ignore cookies including ad-tracking cookies and won't record your browsing history. It's almost like you weren't online. Click here to learn how to enable this simple step to keep your browsing history a secret.
Maintaining privacy is one of my favorite themes. To learn other ways to protect your information, be sure to listen or download my podcasts, or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. From buying advice to digital life issues, click here for my free podcasts.
Imagine free-falling to Earth, hurtling down like a sack of potatoes going faster than the speed of sound, with some weird light illuminating your path.
Normally the next step would be suddenly waking up. But what might be someone else's dream was Alan Eustace's reality.
Eustace, 57, spent 13 years working at Google before this death-defying leap from the stratosphere. In doing so he crushed three world records while breaking the sound barrier. But all that aside, the natural question here is why? Is this the nerd's version of a midlife crisis or Google's in-disguise man of steel?
Turns out: neither.
The son of an aerospace engineer, Alan grew up "immersed in Apollo missions." It's no wonder that drew him to all things space and science. An engineer, pilot and sky diver, his skill diversity was just right for Google arguably the world's largest repository of knowledge and incubator of unthinkable ideas.
As Google's senior vice president of knowledge, much of Alan's day job was overseeing engineering and development efforts in maps, search and research. While still at Google, he became part of the "StratEx" project.
StratEx was conceived to create an inexpensive, reusable and safe way to explore the stratosphere.
Until StratEx, the only way to get to the stratosphere was in a heavy, cumbersome, expensive, complex and potentially dangerous capsule the technology first used nearly 60 years ago.
Enter space technologists.
The team created a spacesuit that would allow Alan to safely dive through the stratosphere. ILC Dover, which created all the Apollo mission suits, made its first commercial suit for Alan.
This suit also separated Alan's jump from the much-publicized Red Bullbacked-effort by Austrian sky-diver Felix Baumgartner. Red Bull used a specially designed pressurized capsule technology versus a space suit. The size, weight and complexity of the capsule required a much larger balloon to go to an altitude that was more than a mile lower than the StratEx record.
Hyperloop One, the developer of a futuristic high-speed transportation system, settled a lawsuit with four former employees.
"Hyperloop One is pleased to announce that it has reached a confidential resolution of litigation with its former employees and looks forward to continuing to execute on its business plan," the Los Angelesbased company said on Friday in an emailed statement.
The company was sued in July by co-founder Brogan BamBrogan and a group of early employees who claimed Hyperloop One's top leaders misused funds, breached their fiduciary duties and conspired to enrich themselves.
Chief Executive Officer Rob Lloyd told his staff in a memo obtained by CNBC that lawsuits "often halt momentum until they can be resolved. That didn't happen here."
The most common uncouth word to show up in conference calls over the last 10 years was "damn," as in "pretty damn profitable." Words like "a--" and "s---" also showed up hundreds of times across more than 100,000 transcripts in both positive and negative contexts ( as in "we kicked a--!").
Using a fairly wide definition of profanity that includes most words that are frowned upon in polite society, it's clear that a small number of companies are responsible for a good portion of foul language in conference calls. These include Cypress Semiconductor, Titan International, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Wynn Resorts and Emerson Electric. Major household names like T-Mobile and Yum Brands are also relatively high on the list.
For the most part, executives stuck to the less offensive curse words, but there have only been a few instances of CEOs dropping f-bombs while talking to investors. We found thousands of profane words in the transcripts we searched, but use of the f-word tends to make people sit up and take notice. While profanity in earnings calls seems to be on the rise compared to the last few years, we didn't find any CEOs who had used an f-word in the last three years.
As President-elect Donald Trump comes forth with the first official appointments to his administration, it is less important to focus on political parties than on the skills required to effectively solve the country's problems, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn said on Friday.
"I think it's less important to say, 'Well, this one's a Republican, this one's a Democrat, this one's for the East Coast, this one's for the West Coast.' Let's put our attention on having the skill set that's necessary to achieve the goals that Mr. Trump would like to achieve in the next couple of years," she said.
"What we have to do is allow [Trump] the opportunity to build out a group of individuals that he will have confidence in and that he knows are on the same thought pattern," said Blackburn, an executive committee member of Trump's transition team.
Blackburn told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" that while she thinks the Trump administration will eventually include women and members of different races, the focus at the moment is finding the most qualified person to do each job.
"Just as you look at problem-solving for a corporation, you do the same thing when you're looking at re-engineering a federal government that has grown far too large and has become so bureaucratic it is [incapable] of solving the problems that the citizens have," she said.
Blackburn said she has not been offered any positions or had any conversations with the president-elect about serving on his administration.
She said that Trump's first three picks Rep. Mike Pompeo for CIA director, Rep. Jeff Sessions for attorney general and former Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn for national security advisor reflect the top concern of the administration: national security.
And, despite Flynn being a controversial figure, Blackburn said the former general's record of good decision-making judgment while serving his country makes him a very good fit for the job.
"I think you look at the whole of General Flynn's background and what you see is someone who is very committed to this country, who is willing to have laid his life down for this country and for our freedoms, and I don't think that that can be discounted one bit," Blackburn said.
The representative said Flynn, who advised Trump on foreign policy matters over the duration of his campaign, will bring the same discernment as a military general to his new role as national security advisor in how he gathered, processed and distilled information.
While many CEOs look for some down time at Thanksgiving, Boston Market's chief plans to be in the trenches, helping to serve around 1.1 million customers a hot meal.
Thanksgiving is the "Super Bowl" for Boston Market, CEO George Michel told CNBC. The chain sees revenues double during the week, with sales on Wednesday and Thursday five times higher than regular days.
Michel will join his employees at one of the company's New York locations this year scooping heaps of mashed potatoes and packaging sides of stuffing, creamed spinach and mac n' cheese for hungry customers.
This is the sixth-consecutive year that Michel will have spent Thanksgiving on the front lines, a tradition that has extended to several of Boston Market's executives.
"Some customers come and eat in the restaurants, some pick up meals to go home, some pick up side orders or pies as gifts or to supplement their own meals," Michel told CNBC. "We also do a large catering business" during Thanksgiving.
In total, holiday sales in November and December account for about 20 percent of the company's annual business and Thanksgiving business, alone, has grown more than 100 percent in the last five years.
Michel said Thanksgiving traditions are changing, especially for younger generations.
"People are getting busier and busier with their lives and spending less time planning Thanksgiving than they did before," he said, explaining that many consumers have been so focused on the election that they haven't had time to think about the holiday.
Boston Market hopes to snag business from a variety of consumers with its wide range of food options. Michel says that the chain sees a lot of hospital workers, airport employees and Black Friday retailers during Thanksgiving all folks who are working and unable to cook a full meal or attend a family gathering.
"It's very stressful cooking dinner for 10 to 20 people," he said. "[Consumers] are looking for solutions to take the risk out of cooking the turkey."
The company is offering catering packages that include a whole, precooked turkey or rotisserie turkey breast with a selection of sides for those who want the full Thanksgiving meal, but want to skip the hassle of cooking.
Premium buffet catering, which includes three sides, two choices of meat (turkey, ham or chicken), cranberry walnut relish, cornbread and pie slices, cost $13.49 per person and can be picked up in store or delivered.
Deluxe buffet catering includes two sides and costs $11.49 per person and, of course, the chain offers its day-of Thanksgiving meal for $12.99.
Yuri_Arcurs | Getty Images
1. Know your numbers.
What percentage of employees in the company are female? How many women are in executive roles? What portion of exiting employees are female? Every company leader should know the answers to these questions, Prophet said. You can't address a problem without understanding the extent of it.
2. Develop empathy.
It's easy to empathize with people who lead lives similar to yours. The task becomes difficult when you encounter people who are different from you. Leaders should rise to that challenge in order to build their ability to empathize, Prophet said. "Seek out experiences where you are exposed to people unlike yourself and you're able to see the world through their lens," he advised.
3. Model the whole person.
As a leader, you are a representative for all employees. Regardless of whether your employee looks like you or has a similar lifestyle, you are their representative. Leaders need to take this responsibility seriously and work to model the whole person, Prophet said. If you don't have kids, try to understand what it's like to be a working mom or dad and what company policies could ease that burden. By actively seeking out opportunities to understand their employees, leaders can become more responsive.
4. Practice inclusive meetings.
Large boardroom meetings can be intimidating for anyone, but especially women and minorities, who are often battling stereotypes of incompetence. It's important that leaders step up and foster an environment that encourages everyone to voice their opinion and be themselves. "Work happens in meetings, and having non-inclusive practices in meetings is a death sentence for the health of the culture in the company," Prophet said.
Let each employee finish their thoughts without interruption. Give everyone an opportunity to speak so no one is made to feel invisible. If employees feel valued in those settings, they will be more likely to actively contribute their ideas.
5. Erase cultural biases.
While President-elect Trump is keen to "bring jobs home" and "set up a special deportation task force" for illegal immigrants, his "beautiful" Mexican wall plans may ironically end up benefiting a Mexican company.
In a report from Alliance Bernstein dated July 2016, the analysts write that "despite arguments concerning which government will pay for construction, the large quantities of materials required may necessitate procurement from both sides of the border. Cemex (one of the world's leading cement producers and a Mexican firm) appears best positioned regardless with cement, RMX, and aggregates facilities throughout the border region."
In fact, Alliance Bernstein says that Cemex stands to benefit regardless if the wall is paid for by Mexico or the US.
However, the analysts make the point that neither country were likely to commission companies from the other country if they were to foot the bill, but the US might still choose Cemex USA- the US subsidiary, where profits will ultimately flow back to Mexico.
The analysts add that "other companies who we expect to benefit most include CalPortland, GCC, Martin Marietta and Vulcan"
Another firm with presence in the border region is LafargeHolcim, the world's biggest cement maker. Asked by CNBC this morning if the company was willing to provide materials for the construction of the wall - we got, well, stonewalled. Eric Olsen merely said:" We are focussed on infrastructure. And the real infrastructure needs in the US are building bridges and roads. We see tremendous needs there."
Carolin Roth is anchor for Street Signs and covers the Swiss market for CNBC. You can follow Carolin on Twitter @CarolinCNBC
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"If Trump imposes a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports, China-U.S. trade will be paralyzed," Global Times , a Chinese state-run news agency, wrote Sunday. "China will take a tit-for-tat approach then," it added, mentioning everything from Boeing orders to agricultural imports such as U.S. soybeans and corn.
U.S. soybean exports to China have been strong this year, but the sharp rhetoric on trade from Trump during the campaign now is translating into tough talk from the communist nation about possible retaliation if the new administration imposes tariffs.
Ag exports from the U.S. approached $127 billion in the latest year, and besides being the world's top corn exporter, the U.S. is a major seller of soybeans globally with about half of the crop going overseas to customers such as China. Ag exports to China have grown more than 200 percent in the past decade and last year topped $20 billion.
"The current uncertainty diminishes the appetite foreign businesses have to investment in U.S. businesses," said Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory in a report released this week. According to Rabobank, the U.S. food and agriculture industries are "one of the main drivers of global agriculture and trade."
Candidate Trump called China a "currency manipulator" and threatened to put into place 45 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. He also threatened trade with Mexico, including getting rid of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA deal, which would have serious implications for agriculture and other industries.
President-elect Donald Trump's tough talk about China's trade policies during the campaign has rankled the communist nation and now raises the possibility of a backlash to the U.S. agricultural industry.
Meantime, candidate Trump called NAFTA the "worst trade deal in history" and may push to renegotiate the 22-year-old agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Overall, Mexico and Canada represent nearly one-third of the total U.S. agricultural exports.
"Any change to U.S. agricultural trade agreements will not only affect global prices and trade dynamics but also U.S. farmer margins," according to the Rabobank report.
At the same time, Rabobank said there are NAFTA implications in terms of currency fluctuations such as the Mexican peso. It expects Mexico's exports to the U.S. might benefit from the depreciation of the peso, and Brazil, a major agricultural competitor on the global market, could become more attractive than the U.S.
Then again, others suggest the weak peso and strong dollar is making some U.S. ag products more expensive for Mexico.
"There is concern that corn shipments to Mexico will fall off a little bit due to it costing more for Mexico to buy corn," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst for Futures International in Chicago.
Nearly one-fifth of total U.S. food and agriculture exports go to Mexico.
Elsewhere, President-elect Trump's plans to crackdown on undocumented immigrants may complicate efforts to attract domestic migrant farm workers. Trump has said he will deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a "big beautiful wall" at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The ag and food sectors, whether fresh produce, livestock or food service companies, are "highly dependent on migrant labor," according to Rabobank. There's also been a trend of rising labor costs, which the bank's report blames on the stricter immigrant laws and increased opportunities in other sectors.
The ag industry has been asking for immigration reform to deal with undocumented workers and to help alleviate the farm labor shortage. The labor shortage has been widely recognized in fruit and vegetable production but it is increasingly being found in other ag areas such as dairies and poultry operations.
Some farmers rely on the foreign guest farmworker visa program to hire help during harvest time. However, there have been delays in the paperwork processing reported in California and at least a dozen other states.
"The current process has so many limitations on it that a lot of folks end up with their crops literally rotting in the field because they don't have anybody to pick the crop," said Dale Moore, executive director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C.
The Farm Bureau official added, "We know it will be necessarily tied into the broader process of immigration reform."
"America's workers were told to put down their tools and go to college so they could all design the next iPhone. The dirty task of actually making those things would happen somewhere else, at lower wages. That's simply ridiculous and we have a generation of college grads with mountains of debt competing for low paying jobs."
That model has been good for top engineering grads and marketers, but it failed to provide living wages for middle-class workers. It has also served investment bankers and stock investors well, while undermining our government tax base.
Multinational firms like Apple avoid paying wages to U.S. workers and avoid American environmental regulations while managing corporate shell games that hide billions of dollars overseas. That money should be building infrastructure in America instead of piling up in Irish and Caribbean banks.
Meanwhile, America's workers were told to put down their tools and go to college so they could all design the next iPhone. The dirty task of actually making those things would happen somewhere else, at lower wages. That's simply ridiculous and we have a generation of college grads with mountains of debt competing for low paying jobs.
The result has been growing economic inequality and the political disruption behind this election. Like every nation, we need an economy that provides decent wages and dignity for all levels of workers, and we need that more than we need cheap consumer goods.
The president-elect will adjust U.S. corporate taxes to competitive levels and reduce burdensome regulations. That will be good for the mid-sized businesses that actually pay these taxes and it will encourage the larger ones to start paying. Trump's plan also calls for balancing our chronic trade deficit and leveling the playing field for the U.S. We will finally hold our global competitors to account for currency manipulation, cheating and lax regulatory enforcement.
We must also demand reciprocal market access. If it is illegal for Americans to own property or firms in "strategic sectors" in China, then why are they doing that here? If Facebook and Twitter are illegal in China, then why is Alibaba allowed to run its dubious IPO on Wall Street?
While this will disturb global markets in the short term it will be far from the apocalypse that the establishment fears. America still holds the most valuable consumer and capital markets in the world. Nations will choose to accommodate a United States that trades strategically and fairly. The alternative is to continue the discredited "Free Trade" experiment that has resulted in 30 years of climbing deficits and accumulating debt.
Tech firms that adapt to the new economic reality will flourish. Startups that invest in America's productive workers and develop the tools they need to compete globally will prosper. Finally, GDP growth will return to levels that can actually sustain the demands on our government, without borrowing money from our global competitors. Shared prosperity will produce a more pleasant political environment for us all.
Commentary by Greg Autry, an educator, writer and serial technology entrepreneur. He is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Entrepreneurship with the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, where he teaches small business management and technology entrepreneurship. Dr. Autry's research is focused on innovation policy and the influences of government on entrepreneurial environments.
Follow CNBC's Opinion section on Twitter @CNBCopinion.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to narrowly mixed open Friday as traders eyed a host of Fed speakers. On Thursday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen gave testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Yellen, like many other Fed speakers, reaffirmed that a rate hike is coming soon.
Kansas City Fed President Esther George is set to speak in Houston at a joint conference of the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Kansas City at 9:30 a.m. ET, with Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan speaking there at 1:30 p.m. ET, while New York Fed President Bill Dudley will hold a press briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Fed Governor Jerome Powell are also slated to speak.
On Friday morning ET, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning towards supporting a rate hike next month and argued on Friday that the real question now is the Fed's rate path in 2017.
On the data front, Friday will see leading indicators released at 10 a.m. ET.
On the earnings front, Foot Locker posted mixed results, beating earnings estimates and missing on revenues as comparable store sales rose 4.7 percent. Abercrombie & Fitch is also set to report before the bell.
In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx-600 index was around 0.26 percent lower on Friday. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite in China closed 0.47 percent lower, while the Nikkei in Japan closed 0.59 percent higher.
CNBC's Patti Domm contributed to this report.
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., center, reacts to the technique of Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., far left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., participate in a First Nail Ceremony that launches the construction of the Inaugural p
The final inauguration budget for the Jan. 20 event hinges on the proposed event calendar the Trump Presidential Committee puts together, said Chris Geldart, director of the District of Columbia's Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA), which oversees the district's planning for the presidential inauguration. "We will know if we need to increase our budget based on the amount of events they want to have." The presidential inaugural period is officially five days before and four days after the date of inauguration.
But with a meeting Friday between Tom Barrack, chairman of the inaugural committee with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and homeland security officials, it was anticipated the price tag for security and infrastructure could go even higher.
The city was appropriated $19.9 million in the president's budget for both security and inauguration-associated infrastructure costs. That allocation pales in comparison to allocations to Cleveland and Philadelphia, the host cities for the Republican or Democratic national conventions, which each received $50 million to pay for security.
With the inauguration just 62 days away, CNBC has learned the amount of money originally set aside for the District of Columbia for inaugural safety and infrastructure spending is not enough, prompting the city to ask Congress for an additional $10 million for Donald Trump 's swearing in.
The Presidential Inauguration Stand is seen under construction from the newly-restored Capitol Dome at the US Capitol on November 15, 2016 in Washington, D.C.
HSEMA concentrates on the security and safety of inaugural attendees and started planning for the inauguration back in April, meetings with federal authorities began in July. Based on those meetings, the current budget for the HSEMA is $29.9 million for the 18-20 district agencies assisting in the coverage.
"If more events are added beyond the balls, swearing in ceremony and religious service, the budget could increase to cover more area and security," explained Geldart. "For example, Obama did a whistle stop tour. That added to the budget because of the manpower needed to cover the event." HSEMA went back to Congress in July asking for the additional $10 million.
The agency started planning for the inauguration back in April and started their meetings with federal authorities in July. Based on those meetings, the current budget for the HSEMA is $29.9 million for the 18-20 district agencies assisting in the coverage.
"If more events are added beyond the balls, swearing in ceremony and religious service, the budget could increase," Geldart.said. "For example, Obama did a whistle stop tour. That added to the budget because of the manpower needed to cover the event."
Crowds are estimated to be less than the Obama 2009 inauguration but more than the 2013 inauguration, between 800,00 and 900,000 people. But that number could change. "Over the coming month, we will keep in touch with the hotel association, church organizations and bus providers to give us a better understanding of that number," said Geldart. "We have A, B, and C plans already in place. If we see crowds as large as at the historic 2009 inauguration of President Obama, we are ready to park buses along roadways and if needed along (Route) 395. But we are not anticipating that."
As of right now, 3,000 law enforcement officials from departments around the country and 7,000 national guardsman will be securing and coordinating crowd control.
This is not the first inauguration where Washington, D.C. would request additional funds. For the 2009 inauguration, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland requested $75 million from the federal government to offset the costs of extra police, fire and medical services used during the days around the inauguration.
Geldart stressed if no additional monies were allocated to D.C. that does not mean it would impact the security provided. "We will still direct the proper amount of security necessary as well as build the infrastructure needed for the inaugural events. We will make sure the nation has a peaceful transition of power from one president to another."
SYRACUSE, N.Y. Syracuse University has formed a search committee to find and hire the next dean of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
The 14-person committee includes university leaders, faculty, staff, and board of trustees representatives, according to a university news release.
Syracuse has hired Isaacson, Miller, a Boston, Massachusettsbased recruitment firm, to assist with the search effort.
The new dean will succeed S.P. Raj, professor of marketing and chair of the department of marketing, who is currently serving as interim dean.
Raj was named to the interim post after Syracuse Universitys removal of Kenneth Kavajecz as dean of the Whitman School following his arrest in a prostitution sting in the town of Salina.
The university announced the removal of Kavajecz on Sept. 14.
A key Syracuse University official expressed confidence about the upcoming search.
I am eager to begin the process of identifying a world-class business leader to guide the Whitman School into the future, Michele Wheatly, vice chancellor and provost, said in the release. The Whitman School has never been stronger and continues to experience tremendous growth and success. That success, combined with the Whitman Schools entrepreneurial and student-centric approach to business education, makes the dean position one of the most attractive leadership opportunities in higher education today. I have no doubt we will attract the very best and brightest minds in business education.
J. Michael Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, will chair the committee.
Haynie is also a professor of entrepreneurship in the Whitman School.
The search process will be a collaborative effort between the search committee and the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the Whitman School, Syracuse said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
The James A. FitzPatrick nuclear-power plant in Scriba. Photo credit: Entergy website
SCRIBA, N.Y. The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) on Thursday announced approval of the sale of the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Scriba to Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC).
The agreement to continue operation of the plant will save about 600 jobs, according to the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Under the deal totaling $110 million, New Orleans, Louisianabased Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) will transfer FitzPatricks operating license to Chicago, Illinoisbased Exelon, which describes itself as the owner of the nations largest nuclear fleet.
Our finding today is that the public will be well-served by the transfer of ownership of FitzPatrick, Audrey Zibelman, PSC chairperson, said in the commissions release. Exelon has an excellent track record as the owner of nuclear power plants, and we fully expect it will operate FitzPatrick in a safe and reliable fashion.
Final transaction closure is dependent upon regulatory review and approval by federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017, the PSC said.
The companies credited Cuomo with helping to facilitate the transaction. The governor had asked the PSC to adopt a clean-energy standard (CES), which will provide hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies, funded by utility customers, to help keep nuclear-power plants open in upstate New York.
The PSC on Aug. 1 approved New Yorks clean-energy standard.
As a result of the CES, Exelon will reinvest millions back into the nuclear units, including upwards of $500 million in operations, integration and refueling expenditures for the upstate plants in spring of 2017, all of which will have a positive impact across the state, the PSC contends.
Exelon has committed to refueling FitzPatrick in January 2017.
Exelon operates two other nuclear-energy facilities in upstate New York, including Nine Mile Point, located near FitzPatrick. Its other plant, R.E. Ginna, is in the town of Ontario in Wayne County.
Together, Exelons two Upstate plants provide carbon-free electricity for more than 2.5 million homes and businesses while employing more than 1,500 full-time staff, the PSC said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
Photo credit: St. Bonaventure University Twitter page
OLEAN, N.Y. St. Bonaventure University announced Friday that it has selected
Dennis DePerro, dean of the Purcell School of Professional Studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, to be its 21st president.
DePerro will start in his new post at St. Bonaventure, located in Olean, on June 1, 2017.
St. Bonaventure said in a news release that it will introduce DePerro to its campus community, at a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, weather permitting.
Trustees unanimously selected DePerro on Sunday, Nov. 13, after an eight-month search process that involved more than 70 members of the campus community, the release stated.
St. Bonaventure has been led by Andrew Roth, interim president, since Aug. 1, when Sister Margaret Carney, retired. Roth will work closely with DePerro on a transition plan next spring and summer, the school said.
[DePerro] is a great fit for St. Bonaventure University. His innovative enrollment efforts, allied health program development, and commitment to the liberal arts in a Catholic setting make him an ideal president, Robert Daugherty, chair of St. Bonaventures board of trustees, said in the release. What was gratifying is that, even though we had a couple of very strong finalists, the Boards decision was unanimous. Thats how much confidence we have in Dr. DePerro.
DePerro, 57, was VP for enrollment management at Le Moyne for 18 years before becoming the inaugural dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies in 2013. He helped secure a $6.5 million gift last year for the school, renamed the Kathy and John Purcell School of Professional Studies, which specializes in allied health and education offerings.
St. Bonaventure established a School of Allied Health this fall.
St. Bonaventure has made an excellent choice by selecting Dr. DePerro as its next president, said Le Moyne College President Linda LeMura. I have had the pleasure of working closely with Dennis over the past 13 years. He has done a tremendous job advancing the mission of our Jesuit college. Le Moynes loss is St. Bonaventures gain.
DePerro has spent his entire 35-year career in college administration; for eight years (1982-1990) in admissions and alumni relations at his alma mater Canisius College, and for five years (1990-1995) as dean of admission and financial aid at Marietta College in Ohio before going to Le Moyne in 1995.
A Buffalo native, DePerro was one of Le Moynes first two participants in the inaugural Ignatian Colleagues Program, a national program developed to strengthen lay leadership through formation and focus on Jesuit mission and vision.
During DePerros 18 years as VP for enrollment, Le Moynes undergraduate enrollment grew from 1,680 to 2,400, while graduate enrollment rose from 390 to 650 over the same period, the release stated.
DePerro has a doctorate in higher education management (2006) from the University of Pennsylvania, a masters in educational administration and supervision (1988) from Canisius, and a bachelors in biology from Canisius (1981).
St. Bonaventure said it used the recruiting firm Witt-Kiefer to conduct the national search, which began in March with the naming of a 12-person search committee made up of seven trustees and five members of the campus community.
DePerros wife, Sherry, is a VP at Cadaret, Grant and Co., a national financial advisory firm headquartered in Syracuse, per the release. They have two sons who are students at Providence College.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com
Celebrates 365 days of existence.
THE MMM Nigeria, a community of mutual aid and donation exchange on Thursday donated about N2.5 Million to hospital patients in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital who are suffering from deadly ailments and without hope to settle their hospital bills.
According to one of the members, Eleyele Benjamin said MMMs Save a life Charity programme is part of motive the group was founded to assist those who are in need contrary to popular saying that its founded to defraud prospective members of the public.
READ MORE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MMM NIGERIA (REGISTRATION AND HOW IT WORKS)
He said, what we do in our community is providing help for each other. We provide for people in need at a time when other people who dont need, pay for them and get rewarded after 30 days.
And part of the motive of the organization is providing for the less privileged. We have come here and seen that there are a lot of people in need financially and we are here to render the assistance.
We believe that if we save these peoples lives today, they would be the ones to save other peoples lives tomorrow.
We are here to also enlighten people that the scheme is not a scam and to enlighten them on social responsibility by the community, Benjamin said.
READ MORE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MMM NIGERIA (REGISTRATION AND HOW IT WORKS)
He added that the organization is not faceless as its believed in some quarter.
He explained further that the community is not a scam nor a faceless organization of people saying if not, they wont troupe out enmasse to offer the assistance.
Eleyele also maintained that the way the community is fashioned, nobody owns it saying therefore, so far people are joining and increasing, it wont run down and would be sustainable.
Speaking to journalists, a mother of a 12 years old girl, Oyindamola Oluwadare, who is suffering from a heart failure in University College Hospital, UCH Ibadan and therefore needs a sum of N4 Million to be flown abroad for surgical operation said she noticed her daughter was complaining of chest pain two years ago.
She said after diagnosing her, it was learnt she has developed heart ailment. Now, we need almost N4Million and we have only gotten only N2.6Million. I borrowed N1.4Million from cooperatives.
READ MORE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MMM NIGERIA (REGISTRATION AND HOW IT WORKS)
The mother of the SSS 1 student of Command Day Secondary, Mokola, Ibadan, Mrs. Rachael Oluwadare said she really thank MMM. Her statement reads, I have toiled hard to get the N2.6 Million out of N4 Million we actually need. I thank MMM that its paying the balance of N1.4Million on our behalf.
Other beneficiaries of the charity programme were 4 years old boy, Ayoade Muhyeed who needs N300, 000 for an eye surgery, Ariyo Taofeek, a physiotherapic patient, Rafiu Anuoluwapo, Akeem Sakirat Olagunju Akeem, Later Adeshina, Olalekan Kehinde and six other patients in the hospital.
READ MORE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MMM NIGERIA (REGISTRATION AND HOW IT WORKS)
I wrote an application in asp net (3.5).
From an .aspx page should be interfaced a script in asp.
I meant that the aspx page after viewing waits X seconds and then using HTTPRequest and POST call the asp page.
In the aspx page I inserted a timer that delays the execution of the asp page X seconds.
When I use firefox working properly, while chrome is in the loop, that is the status bar see that continually draws the current page without stopping, ending only when I close the course page.
Searching the net I saw that chrome and safari have some incompatibility.
Where did I go wrong ?
What can be done to solve this problem, taking into account that I can not replace the ASP page with an .aspx, because it uses COM objects that do not know the features?
Someone enlighten me !!!
Good day
We have the requirement to invoke a Microsoft Outlook Meeting request from an Intranet web page without having the following (well known) message:
An ActiveX control on this page might be unsafe to interact with other parts of this page. Do you want to allow this interaction?
We want to use the standard installed (client side) Microsoft outlook libraries for that.
We do not want to relax the Local intranet Zone in IE by means of the standard resolution method of enabling the Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting Setting.
ASP.NET This is a simplified version of the code, the message is invoked by the highlighted portion < body > < form id =" frmScheduleAMeeting" runat =" server" > < div > < input id =" btnScheduleTheMeeting" type =" button" value =" Schedule the meeting" onclick =" ScheduleTheMeeting()" style =" width: 200px" / > < /div > < /form > < script type =" text/javascript" > function ScheduleTheMeeting() { var theApp; var theMeeting; var theApp = new ActiveXObject( " Outlook.Application" ); var objNS = theApp.GetNameSpace( ' MAPI' ); var theMeeting = theApp.CreateItem( 1 ); theMeeting.Subject = " Will this time suit you?" ; theMeeting.Location = " Your Office" ; theMeeting.Recipients.Add( " someone@microsoft.com" ); theMeeting.Start = " 01/01/2017 10:00:00" theMeeting.End = " 01/01/2017 11:00:00" theMeeting.ReminderMinutesBeforeStart = 15 ; theMeeting.BusyStatus = 1 ; theMeeting.AllDayEvent = false ; theMeeting.BusyStatus = 1 ; theMeeting.Save(); theMeeting.Display(); theMeeting.Recipients.ResolveAll(); theMeeting.Save(); } < / script > < /body >
We have tried to mark it safe in the registry as safe for scripting (7DD95801-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4) and safe for initializing from persistent data (7DD95802-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4).
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa751977(v=VS.85).aspx
This is the registry setting we used (the one is the standard GUID for outlook, the other is the GUIDwe get when we add a reference to mso.dll in a VS.net windows form Application
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}\Implemented Categories] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}\Implemented Categories\{7DD95801-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2DF8D04C-5BFA-101B-BDE5-00AA0044DE52}\Implemented Categories\{7DD95802-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\Implemented Categories] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\Implemented Categories\{7DD95801-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4}] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\Implemented Categories\{7DD95802-9882-11CF-9FA9-00AA006C42C4}]
Any ideas on what else to try?
If you did manage to change it so that it was marked as "safe for scripting", then any site on the internet could use it to wreak havoc on your users' email.
Try creating your own ActiveX control to perform the specific tasks you need, and locking it down to your intranet site:
Per-Site ActiveX Controls (Internet Explorer)[^]
Alternatively, see if you can do what you need with an iCalendar file, which would have the added advantage of working in other browsers and calendars too.
GitHub - rianjs/ical.net: ical.NET - an open source iCal library for .NET[^]
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
Hello, our company website is getting hit hard from malicious bots. I wish to propose a solution which involves changes to our web.config file. The trick is that I wish for the general search engine traffic to continue; I'm just interested in preventing the malicious bots.
This is an example of what I'm seeing online:
http://blog.arvixe.com/how-to-block-malicious-bots-and-spiders-in-web-config
The author seems to be restricting all search engines. Is this correct? If so, does anyone have an alternative that will allow for general search engine traffic to visit but restrict specific malicious bots? (I'd prefer to edit the web.config, since I don't believe that malicious bots care about the robots.txt file.)
Thanks!
Over the years, the bots just change their names over and over and it becomes a circular task that chews up so much time.
I guess to anwser your question, no I have not used the web config or knew that method existed. I'm just saying that manual operation of adding bots to that config is time consuming.
IMHO, the best solution is to just block an entire country using something like a Sonic Wall.
You can create automated programs that will detect and block by IP Address, but the bot activity will detect the block and notify it's master of it; then the master will put your website on a army of machines starting in Russia, then China and so forth. If you keep blocking those, then the army grows till it wraps around the world and it's 24/7.
So after 4 years of experimenting, I finally just broke down and bought a $2K Dell NSA 2600 Sonicwall and purchased a 3 year contract to filter out bad stuff; works like a champ now and they do all the work.
Now I can focus on just writing better more efficient code to keep user data safe.
Globalism is Socialism on a planetary scale.
I appreciate your thoughts about web.config. Too bad there is no way to stop malicious bots that doesn't require spending $$$.
Hi Professionals,
We have a complex application developed in asp.net web forms and ajax. the Application is very heavy and contains many complex functions. Lengthy (Header/details) forms, Complicated Gridviews and all supported with ajax controls.
the application has been enhanced for the last 10 years to keep it with the latest tehnology and trends.
we are planning to do major enhancement to the application - converting it to HTML5 and jquery/bootstrap
the developers advising to re-develop the application in MVC because it is fully support jquery/callback and bootstrap
I am not sure if we can go to in this direction or not. the current application is event based. most of the events are handled in the server side. for example we have a form with many sections being displayed or hidden based on a selection from multiple dropdowns. for that we are using asp.net panel with visible property.
and we have other screens with gridviews loading huge data (more than 50,0000 rows) and we used the gridview built-in paging and sorting. beside we also have nested grids (Expand/Collapse) for each row of the parent grid
I am not sure if all of these functionalities can be achieved by MVC/Bootstrap.
could you please, advise.
Hussain Mohammed Saleh Attiya
ISP Technical Manager
Atyaf Telcom - Bahrain
The underlying technologies are still exactly the same, the separation of concerns is just more clearly drawn.
It will take time, though.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli
Nathan Minier wrote: Your team will just need to be prepared to work more in JavaScript.
Why?
I mean, is that a trick question?
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli
Nathan Minier wrote: MVC does not provide a shake-and-bake ajax-supported event-driven control model. MVC does provide all of that, and these are possible, only fact is that we don't use this anymore.
Download the boilerplate template, it contains most of Angular, Bootstrap. What are they?
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan wrote: Download the boilerplate template, it contains most of Angular, Bootstrap. What are they?
They're JavaScript and CSS, not MVC.NET. That's kind of the point: you have a proper separation of concerns between the server and client processes.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli
However you can't really "convert" such an app as you have from a server-side methodology to a client-side one. I think you can maybe re-engineer some things such as, for example, ditching datagrid paging and instead use jQuery to call web methods to return the data as pages and then update the DOM directly. These things are no less possible in webforms than MVC.
The way I see it you can only add these types of enhancements and introduce these techniques a bit at a time, or you can commit to full rewrite the app and take the opportunity to improve it in many areas as I'm sure the app would benefit from this. If you do commit to do that then moving to MVC at the same time would be a good thing to do, but it will involve a complete re-write and there will be a steep learning curve for your team.
However don't think you have to use a certain server-side technology to use a certain javascript framework, as it's all just html.
The main concerns you have to look for:
1. Time - MVC is not RAD!!!
2. Separation. While in ASP.NET Forms you could bend the rules and mix layers MVC will break under same conditions, and for that the design/develop cycle must be more precise and time consuming...
3. Knowledge of client side technologies... MVC gives you grate control over the final output of rendering, but it can be a burden as you HAVE TO take care for almost every details for your own...
4. OO? Not really. MVC views can not inherit the same way web forms do, so all the idea of master pages and inheritance must be redesigned...
To make it clear - there is no actually anything will stop you from porting your application, but it will be a big challenge and you and your team will have to learn a lot of new things and ways of doing them...
On a personal note: We are in the middle of a similar process. We are merging an ASP.NET Forms and a Win Forms application into a new - modern web application. We are talking about thousands of pages in the final project...
Our final solution is to write our own framework, that enables developing the same way we used to do with Web Forms, but translates old style code to MVC like... So we actually mixing ASP.NET Forms and MVC in a way that still enables RAD development with full OO, but take advantages of the MVC (modern) based development...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
Best call or decision I ever made. I can't wait to deploy the new app and run it. I thought about all the cool stuff I had already had ending up throwing in the trash and writing even better stuff to replace it.
So now I have the whole setup, EF6, automatic migrations, node.js, bower, gulp, bootstrap, fontawesome; with automatic css, js, image compression on every build, and package updates. I can validate a form off a model or just in JQuery. I save 3 hours now every time I publish a change.
It took me 6 months to really learn all of the above, but now I'm jamming fast creating very functional single page apps and so forth with very reusable code. Once you past the learn curve, your reusable code propels you forward at a very fast rate. I's say I'm 8X faster now than Web Forms.
Those complex headers your asking about, you can write an Attribute "OnActionExecuting" class, that will do your header work, and add the name to the top of the controller Action to run it every time that action is called. I have a bunch of these now, one I use for shopping and checkout for security and to replace the Identity module.
Ajax work is a breeze; for I have an Ajax controller that does nothing but ajax calls, returning a JsonResult; just pure json back.
I don't know about the gridview, but suppose you can write something from scratch, it's just HTML. But HTML5 and Bootstrap has stuff that can replace it.
IMO; wish I would of made the move years ago.
Go for it!
Globalism is Socialism on a planetary scale.
jkirkerx wrote: My web app was written in VB, so I had to convert to c# as well.
I'm not sure you had to convert it - it's possible to write MVC using VB.NET:
Getting Started with ASP.NET MVC 5 using Visual Basic[^]
But it was probably a good move anyway. Most of the samples you find tend to be in C#, and you'll have fewer people mocking your choice of language.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
I'm no writing any more VB programs in the future.
much easier to write c# now and faster, less typing.
Thanks Richard!
Oh project is coming along sweet now. Been awhile since I asked for help with MVC, getting much better at it and the whole. Just love this stuff!
Globalism is Socialism on a planetary scale.
Hussain Mohammed Saleh Attiya
Sr. System Analyst
Gulf air - Bahrain
Hi,
I am part of a MVC Web application that contains a Web API. Unfortunately, as I am new to MVC, could the experts out there help me how to integrate the WebAPI into my MVC please?
Thanks
here if you want to call the API server-side (e.g. from within an MVC controller). If you want to consume it on the client side, you could use AJAX or similar with the API URL.
djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem
Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.
sunsher wrote: help me how to integrate the WebAPI into my MVC please? Do you want to access Web API or access it in MVC?
The latter is as simple as calling functions on your API object, former one requires a bit of setups, such as routing configurations etc. Be more specific so we may help you.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
Hello, I have a web page that is using similar code to a second page that works perfectly. Both pages have listviews. Immediately following the listviews I have datapagers.
Page 1 (the working page), has a listview, and a datapager. I have three fields for this datapager. To simplify things, the first field looks like:
It works as expected.
Page 2 also has a listview. I have a datapager. If I leave out any fields for this datapager, the web page renders. (I just don't see any pagination control.)
Here is where I attempt to just add a single field to the datapager:
Doing this generates what I consider to be a bizarre, crazy error:
Control 'DataPager_ctl00_ctl00' of type 'LinkButton' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server
Huh? Why would trying to add even one field to this datapager give me this error? The code for the listviews and datapagers for both web pages are nearly identical. Where both datapagers are defined I am using the runat="server" directive. The directive for the datapager that isn't working resembles this: